Priscilla_Mack  you thought you could escape angst? hahahaha no

THIS IS REVERSE BY THE WAY SORRY

Another CW for suggestive themes 

Dick had been off the Bat family's radar for a while. He'd gone off to university and insisted that he wanted to be left alone. He wanted complete independence and, although it was hard for them, they allowed it. Most had faith in him, Damian less so since he couldn't think how Dick was going to pay for university fees. His question was answered one fateful night in Bludhaven.

One of Batman's cases led the family to a strip club in Bludhaven that was coincidentally not far from Dick's university. They had sent him a text to see if they could meet up and take this on together but he hadn't responded. They didn't think too much of it since he was a busy university student now so they went ahead with the mission with the thought to stop by his apartment at the end of the night. They were undercover for this mission and planned to remain low profile so they could find a stripper that would trust them enough to tell them where the guns were being sold. Upon entering the club, they split up but remained in contact using their comm units. "You've all got $1000 dollars, that should last 10 dances or 5 private rooms. Choose your targets wisely," Bruce reminded them. They nodded and picked out people in the crowds. Jason had just ordered a drink and was looking around to make sure his family members didn't notice him. "You're new here," the bartender stated, pouring his shot of whiskey. 

"Just got into town. Heard this place was one of the best," Jason responded. 

"You came here on a good night then. Bluebird is performing. There's a reason the owner hogs him all night," they mentioned. The lights lowered a little in the club and the music got a tad louder. The bartender smiled and gestured towards the stage. "Looks like he's on." Jason turned around out of interest. He was thankful he didn't take a sip of his drink because he would've spat it out upon seeing the stripper. His brother, Richard John Grayson-Wayne, was on stage. Shakily, he reached to his comm unit. "Uhm, look on stage," he said quietly. The shock had taken his voice. There was silence. He could tell everyone was just as stunned to see the baby of the family in a sparkly blue thong pole dancing to some pop song. 

It took the entire performance for them to be knocked out of their shock when the owner got up and held out his hand for Dick to take. Dick flashed him a smile and elegantly walked down the steps then followed him to one of the private rooms as a sea of disappointed faces watched. "That's the seller," Tim stated. 

"I've got visual on three bodyguards outside the room," Bruce added. "Jason, create a distraction. Everybody else, masks on." Jason nodded and got up. He walked over to a group of guys and threw his drink over them. They whipped around and Jason thumbed over to a group of different guys who were really drunk. The men got up and started yelling, revving up the drunk guys who thought they were all that. Soon a fight broke out and the three bodyguards guarding the door ran to break it up. When they did, Bruce, Tim, and Damian slipped into the private room. Dick was sitting on the owner's lap whilst the man's hands traversed his body. "Hands off of him!" Batman yelled. Dick turned to see them and went instantly red with embarrassment whilst the owner just got angry. 

"One-second baby," he told Dick, moving him off his lap. He stood up and showed them his gun as a threat though it did nothing to intimidate the three heroes. "I suggest you get the hell out unless you want bullets riddled through you." Nightwing narrowed his eyes and threw a smoke bomb on the floor. Before the man could even reach for the gun he was thrown to the ground and had handcuffs on. Batman grabbed Dick and dragged him to the nearest exit to the alley. Dick's mind was running a thousand miles per hour as he was snatched from the private room and thrown into the alley. "B, I know this looks bad but-"

"I don't want to hear any of it," Batman snapped. He got out the keys to the Batmobile and pressed the button for it to come to their location. "Get in the car and wait there till we finish this mission. You're in a lot of trouble young man." Dick sighed and got in, knowing better than to argue against him. 

Around an hour later, Batman returned to the car whilst the others took their motorcycles. Nobody wanted to be stuck in the Batmobile when the topic of "my son is a stripper" was hanging in the air. Dick shifted uncomfortably in the seat and it wasn't just because of his thong. He could feel how mad Batman was at him. Steam would be coming out of his ears if they were in a cartoon. "I'm taking you back to your apartment. You'll get some clothes on and then you're coming home. You can't be trusted on your own," Batman stated. There was no talking him out of it. Maybe Dick could escape one night or something. Either way, he wasn't going to argue when he still wasn't entirely sure if the Batmobile had the ejector seat that Jason warned him about years ago. The ride to his apartment was silent and Batman threw a blanket at his ward to cover himself up. Dick was still bright red from his brothers seeing himself rather indecently. Motorcycles pulled up and he got glares from all three. Nightwing threw him a bag with his name on, the one he'd taken to the club. "Get into the apartment then open the window for us. Got that?" He nodded solemnly and walked into the apartment building. A few minutes later, they noticed a window open so they walked up the fire escape and climbed inside. "I can't believe you, Grayson. You were raised better than this," Damian snapped. 

"Yeah, what the hell were you thinking?" Tim added. 

"Did getting a part-time job sound like too much effort? Trust you to get prissy because Bruce over there decided to show you some sympathy," Jason asked. Dick didn't say anything. He just walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind him. They glared at the door as though it would go straight through and burn holes in the other's back. 

Then the door locked and the sound of muffled crying rang through the empty apartment. This was the first time any of them had been to this place. It was kept clean but there was hardly anything in it to keep clean. There were two bean bags and an inflatable chair, all of which looked cheap. A laptop was charging on the floor and there were a ton of textbooks dotted about. All around, it looked like the place had been robbed of anything of value. Part of the cooker's knobs had been broken off but it looked like they'd been broken long before Dick rented out the place. There was a hum and chug from the fridge that didn't sound at all good. Everything in the kitchen looked ancient. If they could put one label on this place it'd be cheap. Even the area sucked and they'd been nervous about him moving to it. Had he not been trained to be a vigilante they would've been up late every night worrying about him. Suddenly, there was an all-new thought running through their minds. Did Dick have to strip to afford things? Tim walked over to the locked bedroom door and knocked on it lightly. "Dickie?" he called through the door. 

"I didn't want to be a stripper," Dick announced. "Nowhere would hire me."

"Why?"

"Because I'm Dick Grayson! It was always you're overqualified, this isn't the right fit for you, we don't want our employees getting distracted, this isn't a place to learn to be humble! The only thing that would pay well and accept my job offer was stripping," he explained. The family all grimaced. This really was a be all end all option. 

"Open the door okay? We're not mad, we were just...okay we were mad but we didn't get the full story. We want the best for you and you know the dangers strippers face in Gotham so we were worried." There was some shuffling before the door opened. Dick was wearing sweats and was rubbing his eyes, sniffling to himself. Tim immediately pulled him into a tight hug. It felt weird hugging him after not seeing him for so long. He glanced into the bedroom and saw a mattress on the floor with thin sheets. God this place must suck to live in. "I'm sorry. I know I could've done more to find a job but I panicked when my rent bill came in." He pulled away and tried to wipe away the rest of the tears that were threatening to fall. 

"How much are you paying for this - no offence - dump?" Jason asked.

"About $1400 a month. Then there's textbooks and uni fees and food and electrics," he answered. "I know it's basically a scam but everywhere else is more expensive for less space."

"You could've asked us for help. I have a university fund for you for a reason," Bruce reminded him. 

"Then I'd be a trust fund kid. I wanted to do it on my own no matter what. I thought I was getting prissy." Jason winced at his words being thrown back at him. Maybe that wasn't the best descriptor to use. "And stripping wasn't even that bad. Not until that owner got all handsy with me. I was getting paid well, the other strippers were really nice and I-I felt handsome. I've not felt that confident in myself since I was a kid."

"You can feel confident in yourself, we're not saying that it's just stripping is..." Damian's sentence trailed off. He had his own opinions about it but he didn't want to be too hurtful with them. Dick had just cried his eyes out.

"It ruins the Wayne reputation I know." 

"That's not-"

"Look I'll pack up my things and I'll go back to Gotham just drop it. Please." They nodded and he walked back into their room. 

Aside from the off-colour jokes from time to time, nobody really talked about the whole stripping thing. Though, if you got him drunk enough and promised never to tell a soul, Dick would give you the best tea from working in a strip joint for a year.