With shaky hands, Dick grabbed his phone and texted Bruce.

Hey
Sorry for telling you this so late but me and Babs decided to go to the mall together after school
Her dad is picking us up
See you later

The text sounded suspicious even to Dick. Dick always told Bruce if he was going to go out with friends beforehand. He doubted he'd fool the detective with a lousy text, but hopefully it'd be enough to give him enough time to go after the murderer of his parents.

The blue-eyed child swiftly passed the school staff, said he'd be walking home today, and made his way to Crime Alley.

It was ironic how Dick knew how to get there- despite the fact that he's never been- only because of Bruce's teachings. The person who would not want him there the most.

Dick had to take a taxi to get there. It was dangerous and stupid; he was a nine-year-old alone in the grimy streets of Gotham, vulnerable to getting caught in the claws of the vermin who lived there. Not to mention that this was all obviously a trap.

He didn't care, and he knew the risk. He'd wandered Gotham alone before, this wasn't anything new. Also, he could defend himself now. And if anything actually happened, he had his phone in his bag. He could call for help if necessary.

Not that he would need to. Dick would make sure of it.

The driver gave the kid a questioning glance but shrugged it off. He got paid, and that's all that mattered to him.

With a slight gulp, Dick stepped out of the last taxi and eyed the dark, worn out, apartments around him. He hesitantly began walking to the spot he had only ever heard of. Tony was right; he did know where the man would be now that he was there. Only someone like him would make the meetup spot this cruel.

Background city noises could be heard, but it was eerily silent where he was heading. Every rustle made Dick's breath hitch, and he wondered if this really was a good idea.

No going back now, he reminded himself and kept going forward.

Until he stopped and inspected the ground beneath him.

The spot Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed.

"It's about time, kid. I was beginning to think you'd chickened out on me," a male's voice announced from behind. Dick whirled around.

"Why did you want me here?" Dick questioned immediately. He glared at Zucco warily. "I don't think you came to turn yourself in. I can help you with that, though."

The mobster cackled. "Ah, this is too funny. I love my job."

Dick gritted his teeth. "Stop playing around."

The man smirked. "Where's your new Daddy, anyways?"

"Answer my question first," Dick hissed.

"Hmm, I'll admit. I'm impressed. I didn't expect you to be so snappy," Zucco commented. "I'm sure it'll get old soon enough, unfortunately."

Dick gave the man an incredulous stare. He didn't know what he expected, but it wasn't this. The man was acting totally weird and almost casual!

"If you don't surrender now, I'll fight you," Dick stated. He tried to sound intimidating but the words sounded strange coming from his mouth. Did he sound like he was trying too hard to be tough?

"Is that so?" Tony Zucco teased. Then he began pacing towards him.

Dick quickly got in position and raised his fist. All of his training had been to prepare him for this moment and more. Despite the anger growing in chest, he felt a little excited to show Tony Zucco what a fool he'd been to underestimate him. He'd been waiting so long for this.

Then out of nowhere the man's arm stretched and extended with the speed and force of a snapping turtle, and swept Dick's legs. He hit the ground painfully but quickly recovered by rolling out of the way of the next attack.

"What the-! W-what- or who- are you?!" Dick gasped. Last time he checked, Tony was not a metahuman.

As if answering his question, Tony's face began to stretch and change unnaturally until he had the appearance of a woman with a red, figure-hugging suit and short, black hair.

"I am Madame Rouge, and I am here to retrieve you," the woman declared dramatically. Tony's voice was gone and now replaced with her French accent. She leaped at Dick once more with her frightening elasticity.

Dick yelped and tried dodging her attacks. She was too quick. The woman's extra long fist launched itself into Dick's chest, and sent him flying backwards towards a wall.

What the HECK?! Dick internally screamed as he winced at the pain in the back of his head and back. He came to face Zucco and take him down, and now he was the one getting his butt beat by some crazy villain lady!

Only then did the seriousness of the situation dawn upon Dick, and he decided to run. He jumped to his feet, coughing from the brutal punch, and bolted away.

"Go, run! I like a challenge!" The woman hollered from down the alley where Dick had ditched to find a place to hide. From her spot, she grinned at him as if she were a cat spying on her prey.

He wasn't focusing on whether he should find help or not, he just wanted to get away from this Madame Rouge lady, so he went to hide behind a trash can.

That was until he heard a shout.

Oh no, she has someone!

Any fear that Dick had for his life vanished as he rushed to the source of the noise. He was surprised to find a group of teenagers- they looked like high schoolers- cornering another teen. The bruised young man's wallet was snatched from his hands by a gang member. "Give that back! I worked damn hard for that!"

An adnormally muscled man (there's no way he was a teenager anymore) only snickered as he was handed the money and began to count it.

Dick stepped foward. "Leave him alone!" He should probably be running away right now, but his heroic insticts got the best of him.

Everyone's heads whipped towards him. The gang member's frowns turned into smirks as their eyes lowered on the boy.

"I'll get the punk. Looks like he got money," the bulky one informed.

"Hell yeah," a smaller one encouraged. "We'll see if this guy's hiding anything from us." The rest of the gang turned their attention to the beaten up boy.

The man didn't even give Dick a moment to talk. He grabbed him by his backpack, lifted him high into the air, and shook him violently out of the straps.

Dick huffed as he fell on his butt.

"Let's see what's in here," the man sang. He began to dig through Dick's bag.

"You can't just steal whatever you want," Dick lectured as he got back up. "If you want money you should get a job. I know a place you could-"

"Quiet," the man interrupted. Clearly, he wasn't interested in a job.

Dick sighed. He really didn't feel like fighting these people, but he would if they didn't give him and the other boy's stuff back.

The man found the pouch with the berries. "Ooh, what's this? It smells tasty," he asked. He opened it and put a berry between his two large fingers.

Dick faltered and reached his hands out. "A-ah, don't eat that-! It could be dangerous!"

The gangster didn't listen. He plopped the fruit in his mouth and chewed happily. Then he started to sway. His eyes became groggy, and he fell backwards.

Dick put his hands up to his mouth.

"BOSS?!" The high schoolers squealed.

The man remained on the floor, motionless.

Dick ran up to him and felt for signs of life. He exhaled in relief when he felt a pulse. He could've died!

"What did you do?" One of the teens questioned desperately.

"He's a meta!" Another accused.

The gang gasped and stepped back.

Meanwhile, the beaten teen ran up to Dick and hid behind the child.

"Get them all! They've been stealing my stuff for days now!" He shouted.

Dick scratched his still throbbing head. "Um-"

"No! Wait, please!" Someone pleaded.

"He took down our boss," A tall gang member whispered. "You know what the rules are."

"Indeed," another added. He stepped foward and bowed down.

"Please become our boss and teach us your ways!" He exclaimed passionately.

HUH???!

"No, no, no, no! I think there's a misunderstanding!" Dick stammered.

"We apologize for attempting to take your belongings! Please forgive us, boss!"

"I- I can't be your boss!" Dick reasoned.

"Of course you can! You took down our last boss, so you may take his position!" The highschooler explained. "Please, we need someone to guide us!"

Guide...? Hmm... he wondered.

"Alright, fine," Dick suddenly agreed. He stood straight and summoned his inner boss. The gang let out a relieved sigh. The boy behind him raised a brow.

"But," the child added, his face becoming stern, "you must prove that you are sorry with your actions. You also never apologized to this person here." He gestured to the boy behind him.

"We're sorry!" They all shouted.

Dick put a finger to his chin and looked up as he thought of a punishment. "Pick up all the trash from the streets in all of Gotham! And no more scaring or threatening people!"

The gang appeared opposed to the idea, but too compliant and semi-fearful to argue.

"If you guys are really sorry, and if you really want to be guided by me, then become helpful members of society. I will happily become your boss if you do that," Dick stated.

"Yes, Boss!" They all screamed determinedly. They needed a boss, and having one that could easily defeat enemies would be super useful. If obeying his wishes pleased him, then they'd do so without a doubt.

Dick smiled at them. It was fun to be in charge for once. He bent down to get his stuff back, but the gangsters threw themselves on the floor and picked up the backpack for him.

"Uh, thanks," Dick said. He didn't get a response; the high schoolers were looking behind him. He turned back and narrowly missed a stretchy punch.

"Boss!!" The gang cried.

"Everyone, run!" Dick ordered as he scrambled back up and got in position to fight yet again.

They looked unwilling to leave him, which was actually pretty sweet, but they would only get in his way and could get hurt.

"I'll be fine! Just go!" The raven haired boy shouted. "Don'tforgettopickupthetrash!" He added quickly.

They reluctantly obeyed.

Dick and the woman's shadows danced as they fought on the offense and defense.

"That was no fun," Madame Rouge said, feigning sadness, "you all were much too loud to serve a challenge. I am-"

Dick caught the chatty woman off guard by grabbing his backpack and throwing it at her. While she was distracted, he side kicked her into a muddy puddle.

She growled at that. The villain pushed the backpack off of her face, and furiously pinned Dick down onto the puddle.

"You are no longer amusing," she snarled. "It is time to end the games and take you t- AH!"

Convulsing, she fell off of the boy as sudden footsteps approached the two. Madame Rouge glared at Dick and quietly muttered, "I will return," so that only Dick could hear. She weakly extended her wobby arms and flinged herself away before another jolt of electricity could strike her.

He watched her disappear until a short man stood before him. Dick looked up at his savior.

Oswald held a hand out for him, flickering remains of electricity sprouted from the tip of his umbrella in his other hand.

Dick's eyes burned as he accepted the hand. it was harder to get up than expected. The adrenaline was beginning to wear off, and he remembered just how tired he was.

"How did you know?" Dick whispered.

Oswald gazed at him sympathetically. "You left your location on."

His location was on. Of course! Dick barked a laugh that went on until it turned sour, and then it began to sound more like sobbing than laughter. Tears started to trickle out of his eyes. "I thought I'd find him. I knew it was a trap and I still went! Oswald, she looked like him! She looked like Tony Zucco!"

The man pursed his lips. "I've only heard about the woman you've encountered. I know that she has shape shifting abilities and elasticity. I don't know why she'd be after you, though. Was her intention to kill?"

Dick shrugged. "I don't know. It seemed like it! She was so fast and strong and- ugh! I don't even know how she got in my school!"

Oswald froze. "She was in your school?"

"I mean, she has to have been! How else would she give me the envelope?" Dick facepalmed, which only aggrieved his current headache. "I didn't show you. Here." He pulled his backpack from the muddy area, took the crumbled note, and gave it to Oswald. "It was in my desk."

Oswald inspected it. "That's so odd... she even knew who the murderer of your parents are. The case was never truly investigated by police, so how would a random criminal know about this?"

Dick shrugged again and wrapped his arms over his torso in a self-hug. "I'll never find Tony," he muttered hopelessly.

Oswald frowned pointedly at him. "Don't be so pessimistic; it doesn't suit you. I'll help you find him, Dick."

His words had little to no affect on Dick. The boy just stood there, staring at the floor, and tried not to throw a fit.

The wealthy man sighed, brought an arm around Dick's shoulders, and pulled him close. "I mean it, Dick. We'll find the real Tony Zucco together. Understood?"

Acting as anything but a cold person was hard for The Penguin, and initiating comforting contact was even harder, but when it came to Dick, the man found it less difficult to do. Strange.

Dick looked up at him and smiled. "Okay," he muttered. Then he around a gave Oswald a real hug.

Oswald became stiff, but he counted to five seconds before pulling away. That was five more seconds than he would allow for anyone else, so he hoped Dick was grateful. Especially because the boy was getting mud all over him.

The nine-year-old went to get his backpack, which was also covered in dirt and mud, and put it on. "So, uh... I kinda snuck here... I have no idea what I'm going to tell Bruce," he said. "Wait, how did you even know I left school to get here?"

"Wayne called me to ask if I knew where you were," Oswald explained. "I thought you were kidnapped again, but the man said that you texted him a petty lie, indicating that you ran off for some reason. I tracked you down using your location from the phone. I thought that you were upset, and that's why you ran away, but then I found you fighting Rouge. If I had known that a criminal was after you, I would've brought my men with me. I was lucky to have the advantage of surprise. It's a good thing I almost never go anywhere without my umbrella."

Dick felt a shimmer of happiness hearing that. Even without his henchmen, Oswald tried to save him. He could've been hurt or killed, but he did it anyways. Oswald didn't realize it, but that meant the world to him.

"I'm sure you have a lot of explaining to do with Bruce Wayne, so it'd probably be best if we left now," Oswald suggested.

To Oswald's dismay, Dick held onto his arm as they walked to his car. "If I tell Bruce that you saved me, then he'll know that I lied about not talking to you anymore," he brought up.

"Not necessarily," the man argued. "You could just say that you never deleted my contact, and I checked your number because I was wor- I was curious of your whereabouts. It really isn't much of a lie."

Dick nodded. "That's true. I'll say that."

Once they hoped into the car, the two didn't say much until Oswald spoke up. "How long were you fighting this woman until I arrived?"

Dick bit his lip. "Ah. She, like, just jumped at me when you came. She changed her looks and then we fought like five seconds before you came. So you came just in time," he said.

The young boy didn't like the fact that he's been lying to everyone so often. But Oswald couldn't know that he managed to hold her off for several minutes, or else he'd ask where he learned to fight. He also couldn't let him know about him becoming some random gang's boss.

Just like how Bruce couldn't know he was still friends with the people he said he wouldn't be friends with. And Barbara and Artemis couldn't know that he found out that his adoptive father was a vigilante (Oswald couldn't know that either, too). And Dieter, Shelly, and Rebecca couldn't know that he was staying up late reading things way out of the level and typical range of interest of a regular third grader.

Dick pressed his temple against the window. What had he gotten himself into? When had he started depending on being so dishonest?

And would anyone catch him in his lie?

References that you probably didn't notice.
-Strong Woman Bong Soon (which inspired a lot of scenes in this chapter+ more in the future)
-BTS Jimin (that last sentence.... Caught in a lieeeeeeeee!)

So uh... Dick's a gangsta now! Lol, we'll see more about that later...

Btw, here's some fanart that my sister decided to draw for this story! it looks great, sis! *whispers* I think she's slowly getting into the fandom!