Dick noticed all the stares he received the moment he walked in the classroom. Had it been like this last time, too? He shoved the thought away as he told the teacher good morning and sat down in his seat. He took his notebook and pencil out from his backpack and set it on his desk.

The desks were set in groups, and every desk in Dick's group was occupied. "Hiya, Dick. Why weren't you at school yesterday?" A boy with blonde hair asked. Dick had already forgotten his name.

"Yeah, we missed you." A female student commented.

Dick gulped. "Thanks.. something came up. I'm fine, though."

"If you want, I can tell you what work you missed and stuff." The blonde offered. Dick remembered his name now, it was Dieter.

"Ah," Dick stammered, "u-uh, thanks. I could use that."

Dieter smiled before filling his classmate in, "Well, we learned some new vocab words- so you'll probably need to copy those- and we watched a video about how the Declaration of Independence was made- don't worry, you should be glad you didn't watch it; it was so boring- and-"

"And we had music for specials! I wish you could've seen it: We had a sub and he went to play the guitar and when he played it, it was horrible! But he thought it was good! We were all trying not to laugh because that would be mean, but I guess he could tell and he just put funny videos on the projector so we could forget about it!" The other classmate interjected.

Dieter and the girl laughed. Dick gave an unconvincing chuckle. He didn't like how he couldn't tell whether they genuinely liked him or if this was an act. They didn't seem scared.. but that was the point, wasn't it?

A hazel eyed girl in their group quietly listened to their conversation but didn't join. Dick remembered her.

"Hey, before class begins, how about you tell me about yourselves more? I don't really know that much about you guys." Dick suggested. "You should go first, Shelly. If you want."

The girl's eyes widened slightly by surprised and she became sheepish. "U-um.. sure, I guess. I don't know what to say.."

"Anything you want," Dick explained, "just something so I can know more about you."

Shelly shrugged softly. She opened her mouth hesitantly while everyone watched. "I like to play the piano. I'm still a beginner but I want to become as good as my parents. They were the ones who made me take lessons. At first, I hated it, but now, I think it's nice." Her eyes landed on Dick's nervously, as if seeking approval.

"Oh, so you must really like music class?" Dick asked kindly.

Shelly smiled and nodded.

"Wow, the piano looks really hard to play. You have to practice a lot to get good. You must have a lot of patience, that's super impressive!"

Shelly blushed and looked the other way. She squeaked a small, "Thanks."

"Me next!" Dieter insisted as he leaned forward from his seat. Dick gestured for him to go.

"I was raised in Germany but born in Gotham. Ask me to translate any word from English to German and I'll do it. Google translate who?" He joked. "Haha, but seriously, man, I've been, like, everywhere! I used to live in Asia for a while, too."'

Dick's lips stretched and his eyes widened in surprise. "That's so awesome! I used to travel a lot, too. All around the world! And I'm also from Europe! We have a lot in common!"

Dieter wink at Dick and blue eyes met another shade of blue. "Yeah, dude."

Dick turned to the other girl, who's name he didn't remember. "What about you?"

The girl seemed to have lost her excitement from earlier. She was slouching, leaning her cheek on her hand, and playing with her hair by twirling a few dark brown strands around her finger. "I'm not all that special. I'm not really good at anything and I've lived in Gotham all my life," she muttered.

"No way," Dick dismissed, "Everyone's special in their own way. You don't need to do certain stuff for it to be true."

The girl stared. She had a questioning look in her gaze as if she couldn't tell why he was being nice. She smiled at the comment nonetheless.

Dick felt bad that he still didn't know her name. But he didn't know how to ask without possibly hurting her feelings. Thankfully, another student answered his unspoken question.

"Yeah, Rebecca, he's right." A boy from another group spoke up. Apparently most of the class had been ease dropping because their attention was on Dick's group. The boy looked at him, "You're actually really nice."

Dick understood the underlining message. We didn't expect that.

Dick remembered what Bruce had told him the other day and in the car. With that, he found courage to raise his hand. Ms. Wendy noticed and said, "Yes, Richard?"

"Could I get up and tell the class something?" He questioned. His brows were furrowed. From determination or nervousness? He didn't know.

The teacher glanced at the clock. "You may, but please don't take too long; today's lesson will be starting shortly."

Dick nodded and got up from his seat. Why were his hands shaking? Why was his heart racing? Dick wanted to laugh, he was getting anxious over something so small, but everyone's eyes were glued to him. Were they silently judging him?

He inhaled before speaking his heart. "I- I just wanted to say that.. I know that everyone knows that I'm Bruce's.. kid or whatever, but... but I don't want anyone to think of me any differently because of it. I want to make friends like any other kid in this school, and that means that you guys don't have to pretend.. for anything. I'd never use Bruce's job as a way to scare you guys. That's not who I am. I just want people to like the real me. And if you don't like the real me, that's okay." Dick scratched his head. "Um yeah, that's all I have to say, I guess."

He tried not to run back to his seat to escape the mixed reactions he received. Some kids smiled, others appeared confused, a few whispered to each other, and some just didn't seem to care.

Ms. Wendy walked back to the front of the class. "That was lovely, Richard. I'm glad you decided to share that. I'm sure that your classmates agree. Now, let's begin using those vocabulary words in complete sentences. "

Everyone, but the teacher and Dick, groaned. Why didn't Dick make his cheesy speech longer? The kids thought, it would've stalled more time from having to do work!

- - - - - - - - -

Dick got to be the door holder on the class's way to lunch. Shelly, who was at the end of the line, asked him to stay behind with her. "Sure," he said.

In a quiet voice, Shelly muttered, "you're really cool, y'know."

Dick blinked, "um, thanks?"

Shelly warily glanced at the kid in the line in front of her. She didn't seem to be listening, she was busy talking to a friend of her own.

"When.. when I hit you the other day, during P.E... I was so worried that I'd get in trouble. But you said you weren't mad and- and then you stood up for me when everyone else was mad. It surprised me. It was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me." She explained timidly.

Dick gave her a sad smile. "You don't fit in very well, do you?"

"No," Shelly admitted, "I'm too quiet for anyone to notice me."

"Well, that's okay," Dick assured, "just keep being yourself. I'll be your friend."

Shelly returned his smile. "You really are different than what everyone thought you'd be like."

Dick opened his mouth to respond, but he heard someone shout his name from the very front of the line.

I'm the door holder! Ack, I forgot! Dick remembered as he ran the open the cafeteria door for his classmates.

Lunch was similar but different to last time. There were less kids hovering over him and it was a little more calm overall. Dieter, Shelly, and Rebecca stuck around with him while a few other kids he got to know more did as well. The remaining classmates minded their own business and hung out with their own friends.

Dick wasn't worried anymore and neither were his classmates. He was so glad he decided to come back to school. The third graders ate and spoke about their favorite TV shows and Disney movies like normal kids until it was time to return to class.

But of course knowing Dick's luck, the cheerful and carefree atmosphere wouldn't last too long.

- - - - - - - - -

It was dismissal and the students were walking out of the classrooms to get home or talk to their friends. For some reason people kept bumping their shoulders against Dick's. At first he suspected it was an accident. Or was coincidence a better word?

Then Barbara walked up to him. Before he could even say hi, she grabbed his hand and walked into an empty janitor's closet.

"Um-?" Dick began.

"Listen, I don't know what you did, but I guess you sorta convinced everyone that you're a 'normal kid', A.K.A a bully target." The redhead explained with a serious expression.

Dick stared at her, wide-eyed. That explained all the shoulder bumping.

"Oh... That's sucks.. but I can handle it. It's not that big of a deal, but thanks." Dick said as he rubbed his right shoulder. "I should go, Bruce is probably in the carline-"

"You don't get it, do you?" Barbara interrupted. She glowered at him like he'd done something wrong. "The older grades aren't as nice as the kids in your class, Dick. They'll do more than just some small shoving. I heard them talking. They're mean."

Dick frowned. "Why, though? I haven't done anything to them.."

"Some people are just like that, Dick. They like to push the people they think are weak around," Barbara explained. She seemed really concerned which worried Dick.

"Ah man.. should I tell Bruce?" Dick asked.

Barbara sighed and shrugged. "Dunno. It's your choice, I guess. But I think you should do it. I don't want you getting hurt. The thing is, if you tell Bruce, he'll probably talk to the principal. And if he does that, everyone will know that Bruce did do something for you. And whatever you said will seem like a lie and people will be scared of you again."

Dick slumped. "Darn it! This is a tricky situation..!"

Barbara just observed him as he stared at the floor, nibbled on his thumb's fingernail, and contemplated his next move.

"You have a phone, right?" She questioned.

Dick glanced at her suspiciously and nodded.

"Give it to me," she ordered.

Dick slowly reached for it in the side pocket and took it out. He handed it to her hesitantly.

"Relax! I'm just putting my number in," Barbara stated, "so tell me what you decide on. And if you need my help, you got it."

"Oh," Dick breathed, "thanks, Barbara. That's really nice! Thanks for warning me."

He returned his phone and they just smiled at one another until Dick jumped. He shoved the device back in the pocket and threw the closet door open. "Igottago,dontwannaleavebrucehanging-thanksforeverything!Seeyoutomorrow,byeeee!" He blurted as he ran down the hall, leaving Barbara behind.

The fifth grader shook her head as she watched him scurry away. That boy was going to get himself in a lot of trouble on way or another.

Dick was approaching the door to the carline when an adult whispered his name sharply. He whirled his head to look behind him, exasperated, expecting to be scolded for something.

No one was there, the hallways were empty. What the heck?

Dick turned back to the door when he heard the sharp whisper again, it sounded urgent this time. Dick, half annoyed and half puzzled, looked back again. Behind a wall, was a man who gestured at him to come towards him. He wore an ID and formal clothes so Dick suspected he was a teacher or staff.

Dick was bewildered. Did the teacher need help? Was he hurt? Dick walked towards the man and into the dark, empty hallway.

Before Dick could even analyze the situation, someone grabbed him from behind and pushed a cloth against his face. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe! He thrashed helplessly in pure panic and tried tugging the large, powerful hand away from him. The cloth over his nose was doing something to him, he could feel it. A wave of exhaustion hit him and his hands slid off the wrist he'd been pushing on and he felt his legs wobble. He began to feel the world spin and turn black before he hit the ground.

Besides his unconscious body that was being lifted up by a strong man, was his backpack where a faint vibration from a phone call could be heard.

Good ol' chloroform haha :D I've always wanted to write a scene like that