DC I'M BEGGING YOU TO JUST GIVE ME AN AGE FOR DICK GRAYSON HOW IS HE 21, 23 AND 27 AT THE SAME TIME

anyway I'm gonna go with 23 in this current time of 2023, so he would be 10 in 2010 so this takes place in 2010 and we're all gonna just deal with that which is so stupid when I only wanted to know for a throwaway line 

For being so against Robin at the start, it seemed some members of the Justice League warmed to the idea. Soon it wasn't just Dick anymore but instead, he was joined by Donna, Garth, Wally and Roy. He'd immediately been excited to meet the new members and with some sleuthing and light stalking, he'd met them briefly. 

Wally had warmed to him instantly and Bruce began to complain of Barry probing him for a playdate between their proteges. Roy and Garth were hesitant at first but soon their mentors were suggesting a group meet-up. Donna watched him interact with Diana first before breaking her stern expression with a bright grin and talking almost as fast as Wally with a sugar rush. 

It had been meeting her that finally made Bruce give in to the group of children meeting up properly. Well, Diana had stated they would spend time together and there was no good way out of it without getting in her bad books. There were suggestions of a team but Bruce refused to acknowledge it.

Dick put on his coolest clothes, a bright red t-shirt with a black long sleeve underneath and acid wash jeans, and made his curls a fashionable mess. 

"Are you going to brush your hair?" Bruce asked with a ghost of a smirk. 

"I did. This is cool, y'know?" he answered. "Are you ready to go?"

"Not yet. We need to talk first." Dick raised an eyebrow but waited for him to speak. "Whilst you're with the others, I need you to make a mental note of their strengths and weaknesses." He frowned and tilted his head with curiosity.

"What for?"

"Contingency plans." The contingency plans always left a sour taste in his mouth. He didn't like that they existed but he understood that they were important. There were plenty of villains out there with enough power to control their minds and whilst Bruce was formidable as Batman, supers could be even worse. He didn't like to think about it but Bruce thought about them plenty. He was always looking for new weaknesses, new strengths, anything that would help in the case an out-of-control superhero turned on those they swore to protect. 

"Can't it wait? I wanna have fun today, I don't wanna think about that."

"It's your duty as their friend and a hero to know this. If they ever controlled and hurt innocent people or you for that matter, they'd never forgive themselves. It's not easy but it's for the best. When you come home, I want it listed and I want it on my desk before patrol."

"But I have homework."

"This is homework too. Let's call it friend work."

"Sounds clunky, you'll have to work on the name," he replied. Bruce rolled his eyes affectionately. 

"I will. Now I'm going to be in a meeting whilst you stay with them. I'm trusting you to do this for me, do you understand that?" He nodded. "And how important it is?" He nodded again and scuffed his shoe on the floor. If this is what a good friend did then of course he'd do it. "I wouldn't be surprised if the others have told them something similar. It's part of the job." 

"You think so?"

"Sure."

They didn't.

"What're you writing?" Wally asked, already leaning over to look at the page. Immediately, he noticed his name along with the others and some initials beside them. "Ooo, doing a birthday list or something? FYI, I know you're rich so I want a Wii because I gotta see if it can track my  speed on Just Dance."

"No, I'm doing my friend work. I'm supposed to do it after we meet but I've gotta do a mission report and my AP Chem so I'll do it now," he explained with a smile. "B is pretty strict on this type of stuff so he'll flip if he sees it's not done."

"Friend work?" Donna repeated.

"Yeah, friend work. Like homework but the subject is your friends and hand it to your mentor after the meet-up." At the confused glances, he assumed that they must call it by a different name or do it another way. Every hero had these types of lists but Bruce was always blunt in his naming so there was probably a more flowery way to say it. He tried to get it changed to something bat-related but he could only win so many battles on that front. "You know, you list everyone's names and then do their strengths and weaknesses. For your contingency plans."

"You're writing down our strengths and weaknesses?" Roy exclaimed, snatching the paper away. He scowled at the initials and threw the notepad back at the acrobat. "What do the initials mean?"

"They're abbreviations since you guys share the same weaknesses as your mentors but some of you have different ones. Like for you, Roy, I put EC because you're emotionally compromised which can be a strength and a weakness depending on the situation," he explained. "That's a tricky one, I might get marked down by Mr Emotionless for listing it as a strength but I'm sticking to my guns here."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He raised an eyebrow and took the sheet of paper back, looking over his work. He thought he got it pretty spot on and it was a big help that they were similar to their mentors but maybe he overestimated how much they had in common.

"Did I interpret your behaviour wrong? B said I'm good at it but he might've just been trying to hype me up," he replied. He frowned when he noticed everyone was stepping away from him like he was a bomb about to go off. "What?"

"Dick, you can't just write up your friend's weaknesses!" Wally told him as though he was stating the obvious.

"I'm also doing your strengths," he countered. 

"Not the point," Garth replied. "We're supposed to be friends and you're here writing how to take us down."

"We are friends," Dick insisted. "It's my job to do it."

"It's not your job at all. We're a team and more importantly, you're meant to be our friend," Donna told him sternly, folding her arms. Their teammates soon stood beside her as though they were getting ready to fight but Dick only felt more confused.

"I am your friend."

"No, we're friends," Donna said as she gestured to her fellow teammates before glaring at him. "You're not our friend. Obviously, you're just here to spy on us for your mentor. That's all you Bats do. You're off the team and we better not see you at our next meeting."

"But-"

"You're not welcome here anymore," Roy snapped. "Get out."

"I don't-"

"He said get out!" Donna shouted. He flinched at her voice and quickly gathered up his things, running out of the room. He wasn't due home for another hour and he couldn't go back by himself but he also doubted he'd be allowed to wait right outside of the room. Bruce told him not to interrupt the meeting either so he couldn't pop his head in and explain what happened. He bit his bottom lip as his eyes began to burn and walked through the halls of the Watchtower until someone came to get him. 

When the meeting was over, they went to collect their proteges. Everything seemed fine at first with the group chatting over some new game that was going to come out until they noticed they were one short. 

"Please tell me Dick isn't doing his disappearing thing," Barry groaned. It scared him every time. They needed to put a bell on him. Instead of giggling like they were in on the joke or looking around having not noticed he'd left in the first place, they turned to him with frowns.

"He's not allowed to be here anymore," Donna spoke on behalf of their friends. 

"Why?" Bruce asked.

"He was writing our strengths and weaknesses! It's probably the only reason he tried to meet us so he could take us down," Roy answered. "He called me emotionally compromised. My emotions are totally in check!" Oliver chose that moment to look away rather than contradict him. 

"Wait, Dick was making that list?" Diana asked. They nodded and she whipped her head to Bruce. She knew Dick since he was little and there was no way he would do that without someone interfering. "What did you do?"

"Nothing."

"Bruce, what did you tell him to do?"

"He called it friend work," Garth pitched in. The billionaire cringed slightly. "Did he want to do it?"

"Not at first. I explained that it would be better that if you were ever compromised, knowing how to take you down would mean you don't hurt anyone and you wouldn't be upset," he admitted. "Listen, I understand your hesitancy-"

"These are children!" Barry shouted. "Our kids. We're supposed to teach them right from wrong and you're using your child for your agenda? We've told you before that the contingency plans are too dangerous and you decide "hm not dangerous enough let's add kids and make my kid do it for me" That's a genius idea. Amazing parenting, you should write a book on how to mess up your kid's life in 5 easy steps you absolute-"

"Okay, buddy let's walk this off," Arthur said, stepping between them and grabbing the speedster's shoulder to lead him out of the room. 

"Let me get this straight," Roy began. "You told Dick that this was a good idea for our benefit so he would agree?"

"He thought you would be doing the same and it's what good friends do."

"You suck," Wally commented, the other kids nodding their heads in agreement. 

"But you'll let him back in?"

"To get away from you, definitely."

They set out by themselves to cover the watchtower. Dick was small and mastered hide and seek in his first month as Robin so they needed to split up. He could be anywhere and everywhere or he could be somewhere else entirely. They hoped he was still there even if their efforts at finding him continuously turned up fruitless. 

Right as Diana was about to head back and give up the search, she heard sniffling. Glancing around the room she noticed a lump in the darkness underneath one of the consoles. She sighed to herself and walked over, dipping her head underneath it. Dick had his back pressed against the dusty wall and his legs tucked up close underneath his chin. He was quite small when he stood normally, especially compared to everyone else, but he looked impossibly smaller now. Although he was only a year or so younger than herself, Donna felt like she was looking at a baby rather than a colleague. She could see why everyone babied him so much in his first years as Robin and even now.

"Hey," Donna greeted. Dick's head snapped up and watery blue eyes met hers. "Do you wanna come out?" He shook his head. "Can I sit with you?" He shrugged which she took as a shy yes and she crawled under. She left a healthy amount of space between them and sat cross-legged beside him. "Bruce admitted to misleading you." He hummed and wiped at his leaking eyes. "You know friends don't list down each other's weaknesses, right?"

"I know that now!" he exclaimed. "I just- I suck at making friends my age. Everyone at school thinks I'm a freak and a charity case. They only talk to me when their parents want an invite to Bruce's stupid galas." He wiped his tear-stained cheeks and scowled at the floor. "B said this would be different. He promised that you would like me. It's all the same though."

"We do like you."

"You just feel bad for kicking me out of the group. That's pity not liking someone and I've had enough pity. I don't want anymore."

"I think I know who I like and dislike," Donna stated confidently. "I like you. I liked you before we found the list and I like you now when I found out it wasn't your idea."

"It doesn't matter anymore."

"Of course, it matters."

"No, it doesn't. If B admitted to having contingency plans when you told him what happened and you guys think that's bad, we'll never see each other again."

"Just because our mentors might not be friends doesn't mean we can't be."

"Yeah, it does. You're telling me your mentor isn't gonna see me differently now? That she won't be looking over her shoulder whenever I'm there?" She shrugged. "Exactly. I'll never see you or the Justice League again." His scowl grew stronger and bore a hole in the dusty floor. "He said it's what I'm supposed to do. He said I wouldn't like hurting people if I ever got mind controlled and finding out weaknesses now was good. That way we can stop each other if something bad happens."

"So what's the plan for Batman?"

"I don't know. He says I can't know until I'm older. Whatever that means."

"Does he have a plan for you?"

"Probably but that's easy. Run me over with a truck or something." She couldn't help but chuckle at that. "A year ago, B got mind-controlled and tried to hurt me. He hasn't been the same since. He always framed contingency plans as something that we don't like to do but we have to if something like that happens."

"I know you and Bruce are close so when he says something you believe him."

"That's the thing, I don't do that! I'm not some baby that does everything he tells me. I know Bruce, I should've known there was something more but I just didn't." He took a long pause before finally looking at her. "Is Bruce a bad guy?"

Donna's first thought was to say yes. Bruce had manipulated his protege so he could get what he wanted and who's to say he didn't agree to the idea of them being a team just so he could get the information he wanted? Yet she'd seen Bruce with him. He was patient and seemed happy that Dick was making friends. He went off the deep end when Dick was hurt and he'd immediately set off searching the moment he could. A bad guy who was just using someone wouldn't care like that. 

"I think Bruce struggles to know who are enemies and who aren't. To be honest, he's a little paranoid." He laughed under his breath.

"Yeah, you get used to that." 

"Think you're ready to get from under here? We might need to stop off in a bathroom to wash your face. It's covered in dirt. Actually," she paused and licked her thumb before trying to wipe his face like a mother would with her child. He recoiled with a cackle and she chased after him. "C'mere!"

"You're so gross!" he giggled, quickly crawling out with her close behind.

"You're dirty!"

"You'll give me a disease!" 

There began a friendship and a life long distrust of Bruce's intentions.