Chapter Text
Dick couldn’t help but wonder how he got here as a fist made contact with his jaw. The punch confuses him enough for the goon to get the upper hand, slamming the young Robin into the cement. He truly thought this was the end, his only hope being Batman noticing he was missing from his bedroom. The chance of that being slim since Bruce’s girlfriend Talia was staying at the manor.
Robin closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow, only for it to never come.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, hoping that Batman had come to his rescue. Hoping that his mentor had cared enough to check on him after the fight they had.
To his surprise, it wasn’t his mentor that stopped the final blow, it wasn’t even a vigilante or hero that he knew of.
It was a woman dressed in almost all black.
Her combat boots, tights, skirt, and leather jacket were all shades of black, while her shirt was red, the only colored bit of her outfit.
“Hey, kid, are you doing ok?” The woman asked, crouching down next to him.
Dick wasn’t able to give a response before blacking out. He wasn’t sure why, but his nerves seemed to have calmed in the woman’s presence, eliminating his adrenaline and fight or flight response.
When he came back to consciousness, he was still wearing his mask, but his uniform was changed out for a pair of sweatpants.
His chest, arms, knuckles, and face were covered in bandaging, and he seemed to be in some type of medical area.
“Glad to see you’re doing better,” the woman claimed as she walked in.
“Where am I?” Dick asks, confused.
“Secret temple, somewhere in Tibet.” the woman answered with a shrug.
“What?” Dick stared at her blankly.
“Don’t worry about it kid. All you need to know is that my name is Marinette, and this is my home. Oh! And you have a few bruised knuckles and ribs, nothing was broken though, but you should still be careful.” Marinette claimed.
“Why are you helping me?” Robin questioned. It was strange for anyone in Gotham to help out like that unless they were a hero or a vigilante.
Marinette simply gave him a shrug before gesturing for him to follow her. Having nothing else to do but sit in bed alone, or follow the random person who was helping him, Robin chose to follow Marinette.
They ended up in what seemed like a kitchen, but a few things seemed too out of place for it to be a normal kitchen.
“Do you have any food allergies or preferences on what you want for breakfast?” Marinette asked while gesturing to a stool at what was probably the kitchen island.
“Uhh… No food allergies… Can I have pancakes?” The masked child asked in a hopeful tone as he took a seat on the stool.
“Sure! What kind do you want? I can make chocolate chips, blueberries, cinnamon sugar, strawberries, bananas, or plain vanilla.” Marinette questions as she began taking out the base ingredients for pancakes.
“Can I have Chocolate chip with lots of toppings?” He answered unsurely, causing Marinette to smile softly at him.
“Of course!” Marinette says before grabbing a pen and paper to hand the young robin. “Here. I’m sure your guardian will be worried about you, but I’m not comfortable with letting you leave while still injured if you’re just gonna go back to fighting recklessly.”
Dick took the paper, unsure what to write.
Should he tell Bruce that he was injured and a stranger had come to his rescue and also seemed to be taking care of him till he was healed?
No.
Bruce would only care that he disobeyed the grounded order.
Did his mentor even know he was gone?
Would Bruce care that he was gone or missing?
He probably wouldn’t notice till it was pointed out to him.
Alfred might notice.
Who was he kidding it was Alfred of course he would notice.
Would staying here to heal cause problems for Alfred?
How does someone explain that they didn’t run away from home but were simply beat up badly?
Does he make it seem like he ran away?
What should…
Dick’s train of thought was interrupted when a hand softly landed on his shoulder. Not enough weight to feel trapped, but just enough weight for the young vigilante to ground himself.
“Hey,” Marinette spoke softly, her bright blue eyes having the same calming effect they had before he had passed out after the fight that had brought him here.
“There we go, just focus on my voice, sweetheart. Take a breath in.” She instructed him while moving her hand from his shoulder to his hair, lightly combing her hand through it.
“One two three four. Out, two three four. In, two three four. Out two three four.” Marinette spoke softly, at a calming pace.
“You’re doing such a great job,” Marinette says with an encouraging smile.
“I… Sorry… I didn’t… I…” Dick tried to explain his thought process but couldn’t find the words.
“Shhh. It’s ok. You have no reason to apologize. Do you want help writing the note for your guardian?” Marinette questioned.
Dick didn’t answer for a while, unsure what to say.
“You know, when I was little, I used to have the hardest time doing things for myself. I even created a happy-go-lucky persona that I would use whenever someone was around because it made them more comfortable. This persona helped to comfort others even when I felt like breaking. The people who understand this, and know the real you will have no problems with you taking a mental health day or week.” Marinette said as she moved away to continue making breakfast.
Dick took a deep breath, before beginning to write.
_____
Hi B.
Not sure when you will find this note, but leaving a note makes it so you don’t need to worry. Look I need time to breathe. I’m sure you think that your way of thinking is universal or something, but it’s not. It doesn’t even come close to how I process stuff. So I decided I’m gonna take a few days or weeks for myself to calm down. Please don’t look for me. I plan on returning to the manor but I just need space right now.
Dick Grayson
_____
During Dick’s stay with Marinette, he felt like a spoiled brat. Marinette seemed to always know what to do or say to make him comfortable. She even did gymnastics with him when she deemed his injuries healed enough to do such a physical activity.
When it came time for Dick to go home, he felt bad for not wanting to leave. This random, secret, temple, somewhere in Tibet, felt like more of a home than Wayne manor did sometimes.
Marinette wasn’t too happy about his leaving either, but gave him a necklace with a bluebird sitting on a branch. She claimed that all he had to do was ask the bluebird to bring him home. Wherever he deemed home to be, in other words, the necklace would serve as his way back and forth from the manor to the temple.
While this didn’t seem possible, Dick had already suspected Marinette of being magic, so this was just confirmation to him.
Dick gave Marinette a tight hug.
“Hey, this is only a see you later, not goodbye,” Marinette informed him with a smile.
“I know…” Dick said with a pout.
Marinette smiled at him before making the, go on, gesture.
“Oh! My name is Richard Grayson, by the way.” Dick said before disappearing after the bluebird.
Marinette only chuckled to herself at the boy’s seemingly random idea to tell her his real name.
Upon Dick’s return to the manor, to his surprise, he was greeted with a hug from Bruce and no Talia Al Ghul insight.
Dick froze at the unusual contact from his mentor.
“Uh… Hi?” Dick said quietly, a little confused. He looked to Alfred for help on what to do.
“You were gone for quite a long time, Master Richard. I do believe Master Bruce was worried when he noticed your suit was missing and none of your trackers were working.” Alfred informs him before walking off to presumably make breakfast.
“I… left a note?” Dick tells Bruce, still a bit confused.
Bruce released Dick from the hug with a sigh, unsure what to do next.
“Do you want to spar while we wait for breakfast?” Bruce asked.
“Sure!” Dick lit up with a smile. It’s been a while since he was able to spar with anyone.