The next morning, Damian was surprised when Dick pulled up outside the Manor and tossed him a helmet.  “We’re going on the bike?”

Dick grinned.  “Only way to travel, kiddo.” 

When Grayson had said he would take Damian to school, the boy had assumed it would mean Dick driving him in one of the many cars in his father’s collection, with accompanying reminders not to lower himself to Pendleberry’s level.

Pendleberry.  The acid in Damian’s stomach danced.  He still had no idea what he was going to do.  Every fibre of his existence told him to stand up and teach the condescending arsehole a lesson. A few quick punches would wipe the smile right off his smug face. However, any retaliation would disappoint his father.  He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Saying something to someone would mean his word against Pendleberry and the child didn’t like the odds of anyone taking his side.

“Besides,” Dick stated as Damian climbed up behind him, “I wanted to make sure you couldn’t hide your sword in the trunk.”

Damian rolled his eyes. 

“Hang on.  Bike only has two speeds.  Stop and GO!”  With that, Dick gunned the machine and it shot off - 0 to 100 in a split second.

The ride was exhilarating and for ten short minutes, Damian relaxed - well, relaxed as much as one could while holding on for dear life on the back of one of the most powerful motorcycles on the planet as Dick engaged boosters to leap cars and did wheelies along the top of a train.

Dick didn’t slow as he roared up the long driveway to the school, pulling in with a squeal of tires, which was mega cool.  Not that Damian cared for a single moment what these unimportant gnats thought but he couldn’t supress the smile as a dozen boys pointed and yelled as they arrived.

Climbing off the bike, reality crashed into place.  He had English in second period. His only plan was to keep his mouth shut, but he’d tried that before and Pendleberry always asked him questions and then ridiculed him for his answers.

“Thanks,” Damian stated, handing Dick the helmet, his face set straight with determination.

Grayson dismounted, removed his own helmet and hung both on the handlebars.

Damian watched uneasily.  “What are you doing?”

“I’m walking you in.”

“What? Why?” What on earth was Grayson up to?

Dick unzipped his leather jacket, removed his motorcycle gloves and shoved them inside before rezipping.  “You trust me, don’t you?” Damian stared up into Dick’s calm face.  The boy looked away, considering the question.  He didn’t trust easily but he trusted Dick - trusted him more than he had trusted anyone in his short life. 

“I guess.”

“You guess?” Dick pressed.

Damian dragged his attention back to the relaxed man staring down at him. “Yes, I trust you.”

Together they headed along the path that snaked from the carpark to the quadrangle of buildings. There were very few people in this area, the students collecting on the courts and oval and the parents and chauffers conducting their conversations in the carpark.

 Dick inclined his head toward the very impressive three-storey assembly hall.  The building had the ominous look of something out of the Middle Ages… like many of the older structures in Gotham.  On the far left-hand side was the bell tower that rose from the roof into the sky another 5 storeys.  “A kid bet me I couldn’t climb to the top of the bell tower when I was about your age.”

Damian glanced up at him.  “You didn’t?”

“Red flag to a bull.  I got quite a way before a teacher spotted me.  She started yelling and waving her arms like she was trying to take flight and come up there and join me. Come down!  Come down!” 

Damian smirked and they stopped walking, both focusing on the tower atop the Assembly Hall.

“So, I start climbing down.  Then another teacher appears down here and starts yelling for me to freeze.  Come down!  Freeze! Come down! Before I could tell them both to relax because climbing was kid’s play for me, the principal arrives announcing that a fire brigade had been called, told everyone to be quiet and ordered me to wait. Then he starts reassuring me at the top of his lungs - everything is going to be okay; you don’t need to be scared, son, but whatever you do, don’t look down. By this time, half the school is down here gawking at me. Then the football coach decides to be a hero and starts climbing up to ‘save’ me, but he gets vertigo and freezes and I’m just in the process of deciding if I should rescue him when suddenly my day got a whole-hell-of-a-lot worse.”

The pair exchanged a glance.”

“What happened?”

“Bruce appeared down here.  Someone had called him.”

Damian smirked, his mind’s eye filled with an image of a young Dick Grayson, casually hanging on the side of the tower one hundred feet in the air in front of hundreds of people… a scene of total chaos.

“And father…”

“Was very understanding.”

“Really?”

“No.”  Dick winked and started walking again. “The car ride home was in absolute silence. He didn’t say a single word to me. But he was grinding his jaw.  You know how he does when he’s trying not to explode?”

“You were in deep shit.”

“Oh yeah.  The moment we entered the house I got a sixteen-minute lecture.”  Dick proceeded to do his best impression of Bruce.  “What did you think you were doing?  What were you trying to prove?  An innocent civilian could have been killed. You know you can’t show your abilities. You have a responsibility to use your gifts and training for the good of others - blah, blah, blah.”

“I’ve heard that one a couple of times,” Damian chuckled.

The pair had arrived at the door of the main building and Damian glanced back at the Assembly Hall tower. “So, how far up did you get?”

“I’ll show you tonight when l race you to the top,” Dick whispered.

Damian snorted.  “You’re on.”  They exchanged a horizontal fist punch, sealing the challenge.

“Where do we find Pendleberry?” 

For a few delightful moments the no-win situation Damian found himself in had been forgotten. The child allowed his arm to fall to his side. “Dick, I…”  Again, he searched Grayson’s face. The composure in the blue eyes drained the boy’s concern.  It was time to accept help from someone he trusted. “This way.”

The pair strode down the largely empty halls.

Damian stopped outside a door and inclined his head.

Dick peered inside.  There was a well-dressed man sitting at a desk at the front of the classroom typing away on a laptop.  “Mr Pendleberry.  Do you have a moment?” Grayson asked, entering.

The teacher looked up, eyeing the leather-jacketed man critically. His gaze swept to Damian, flooded with surprise and then returned to Dick. “And you are?”

“Dick Grayson.”

“Ahh.  You are down as the emergency contact for young Master Wayne. I don’t usually conduct parent-teacher meetings without an appointment, Mr Grayson.”

“I know how busy you must be,” Dick acknowledged, striding further into the room.  “If we could just have a moment… two minutes tops.”  Dick looked back at Damian and his tone became firm.  “Come on.  You have something to say.”

The teacher rose to his feet as Damian joined Dick in the classroom. Pendleberry was a big man, almost as big as Bruce, Dick noted.  There was also an underlying arrogance in his tone that men like him always had.

“Mr Pendleberry, we know that Damian can be…  challenging, shall we say.”

“Yes,” the teacher acknowledged, carefully.

“But from this point forward, Damian is going to do his best to be respectful and positive.  Aren’t you?”  Dick prompted.

“Yes,” the boy replied, quietly.

Pendleberry couldn’t hide the pleasure he felt at seeing the boy squirm.  “Young Master Wayne is a very bright boy, but you are absolutely correct.  He has been disrespectful on a number of occasions.”

Damian opened his mouth, but Dick’s hand clamped his shoulder. “And Damian is sorry for that, aren’t you?” Damian dragged his irate eyes from Pendleberry and let them settle on Dick.  “Aren’t you?” Dick demanded.

“Yes.”  It was forced out through his tightly clenched teeth.

“Good.  Can you go and wait for me in the hall, please?”  Confused and annoyed, Damian followed Grayson’s instructions.  He wasn’t sure what had been achieved by him apologising to the arrogant idiot of a teacher who belittled him in front of his peers.

Dick waited until the boy reached the door and then turned back to the teacher. “Thank you for taking the time to see us.” 

“Any time… and it’s Douglas. Damian needs a firm hand. I imagine things are not easy at home either.”

“I want you to know you have our full support to pull him up on any and all disrespectful behaviour… and to punish him as the school sees fit.” The teacher’s bright eyes beamed triumph. “However, the sarcasm stops.”

The other man blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“And so does the bullying.”

Pendleberry looked astonished. Evidently, he wasn’t used to being challenged.  The teacher stood up taller. “That is a very serious accusation.”

“Damian is a lot of things, Douglas but he is no liar. So, let’s be clear,” Dick smiled a lethal smile and stepped forward into Pendleberry’s personal space.  “He’s disrespectful, you pull him up with our full support.” Grayson leaned closer.  “You bully him again and…”

Dick’s voice dropped so low Damian couldn’t hear what was said, but Pendleberry’s face drained of colour.

Dick stepped back and offered his hand.  Pendleberry responded, taking the proffered fist automatically, but he was clearly shell-shocked. “Thank you, Douglas.  I’ll be checking in with Damian daily… to ensure he is being respectful.”  Dick held the man’s gaze just longer than comfortable, and then spun on his heels and exited the room, Damian falling into step beside him.  

“What did you say to him?” the boy whispered.

“That is between me and Douglas.”

- Sons - of – the - Bat -   - Sons - of – the - Bat –

Dick unzipped his jacket and threaded his gloves on as he approached his parked motorcycle.  There were more people around now, the carpark filled with several million dollars’ worth of vehicles.

“What did you say to him?”  Damian repeated.

“Don’t worry, Damian.  I didn’t threaten him, just strongly suggested that next time, he picks on someone his own size.  Okay?”  Dick waited as Damian processed what had happened.

Finally, the boy nodded. 

“He gives you any further trouble, call me.  He knows this is between him and me now.”  Dick put on his helmet and mounted the bike.   

Feeling overwhelmed, Damian reached out and gripped Grayson’s arm. “Dick… thanks.” ‘Thank you’ was not something Damian had experience saying. 

Dick grinned easily. “Hey, that’s what big brothers are for.” He glanced at his watch.  “Crap, I’m late and the red head who is waiting has a fiery temper.  Beautiful green eyes but man…” With a wink, he pulled the visor down and shot off in an explosion of sound.

A large group of boys jogged over to join Damian, watching the bike accelerate.

“That your father, Wayne?”

“No, that’s…”  In the past, Damian would have described Dick as his father’s former ward. “…that’s my older brother.”

“Cool.”

Damian’s heart swelled with warmth. “Yeah, he is.”