Hey Babs, it’s me. I hope you’re doing alright. I know you haven’t heard from me in a while and well that’s because I’ve been busy.

As I’m sure you heard from Al, I’ve been taking this... trip I guess to find myself like in those movies. And it’s been...  nice. I got to see Metropolis (you’d have loved it there, the technology they have over there is something I haven’t seen before), got to see New York and (almost) got an autograph from Mr. Fantastic. It’s been wonderful,amazing, fantastic but... Well I haven’t found solid answers.

You know how Bruce is and well, I thought working with him was complicated but leaving his side has also felt complicated.

And I miss Al. I miss Pete, I miss all of you and it hasn’t been easy without you guys.

And on the night I left Al... Well Al was the one to send me off. You know how he is, his eyes are almost as  sharp as Bruce’s. And he said something... Something I haven’t been able to get out of my head.

...

Bypassing the security systems was easy. Hell, getting out of the manor was easy but that was to be expected, he was trained by the best.

He was out in the field, with nothing on him except a backpack, the clothes on his back and q handsome face when he heard footsteps behind him. Dick frowned.

“Look Bruce, I’m not staying no matter what you...”

But it wasn’t Bruce. It was Alfred, dressed as immaculately as ever and holding a bag over his shoulder.

“Al I’m sorry I didn’t...”

Al raised a hand to stop him.

“I remember when Master Bruce brought you here,” Al said. “I was surprised. The first thing he told me was to find an empty room, make sure you were bathed and fed. After I was sure you were asleep...” Al’s smile was sad. “Well you weren’t going to sleep that night were you. It would be impossible, I went and asked him why he brought you here and he told me everything.”

“I was against him drafting you in that... That war of his,” Alfred said. “I had already seen Master...” Alfred cleared his throat. “Bruce, I had already seen Bruce’s childhood go away and I wasn’t going to let it happen again. But... You... You proved to be different from Master Bruce. His endless plight hadn’t consumed you yet and I thought maybe, just maybe you’d be the light he needed to push him out of the darkness but...” Al looked down wistfully. “That wasn’t to be.”

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“Al I’m...”

“No need for you to apologise,” Al said. “This isn’t your responsibility to bear. I have raised you, raised you like a son and seen you do wonderful things but there comes a time when a bird needs to leave it’s nest and soar to even greater heights. This is your time.”

Dick had to try his hardest not to let his eyes well up.

“I brought you this bag with some possessions, money and the like...” Alfred said.

“No,” Dick said. “I don’t want Bruce’s money.”

“Its not Bruce’s money,” Alfred said. “You think I’ve dealt with this phase in Master Bruce’s life without pay?”

Dick chuckled. He opened the bag seeing clothes Alfred bought for him during his birthday, the picture of his mum and dad he forgot and...

His Robin outfit, mask, gadgets and all. In

“Al I don’t want this,” Dick said. “I’m not Robin. I want to put that behind me and...”

“I know you, Master Dick,” Alfred said. “I know you well enough to know that you can’t just put that aside easily.”

Dick glared at the outfit, anger and confusion swirling around him like a cyclone. But he put that aside, promising himself that once he was out of Al’s sight he would throw it, burn it. He hated this outfit, he hated everything it represented.

“Goodbye Master Dick,” Alfred said. “I hope whatever path you take is fruitful.”

He tracked his way through the Mansion grounds, disabling traps and security systems, making sure he wouldn’t alert Bruce he was leaving.

Pretty soon he was out of Alfred’s site, the mansion was but a dot in the distance and the suit?

The suit was still in his bag.

...

I can’t tell you why I still have it. Its like a curse or a disease. I hate wearing it, I really do but when I hear a call for help or when I see someone in trouble I can’t help but wear it. A normal person would call the cops or something but I can’t do that, not when I know I can do something to help.

Anyways, I’ve been all around New Jersey and New York, seeing all the cities but there was this one city. This one city that seems to be calling to me.

Now I know that sounds weird, especially since I have enough money to take a trip from here to Los Angeles on a first class plane but this city has been home to a lot of weird incidents. People have been seeing green animals, other people say there’s a girl who turned into a crow and there’s been some sightings of the Human Torch, you know the guy from the Fantastic Four.

I don’t know why I’m so drawn to that place, it seems to be shady and run down and not a lot of people live there. There’s a lot of crime in the area so maybe I’m a little homesick. Theres a lot of quirky buildings like a pizza shaped pizzareia and some great parties college kids throw but otherwise compared to Metropolis and New York and other cities in the West Coast it’s nothing special but I still want to go there.

Anyways, the bus for Jump City leaves in a few hours and I still have to get some things packed. Say hi to Pete for me and I hope physio goes well for you.

With Love

Dick Grayson.