Chapter Text
Duke sat up in his bed and set aside the Physics homework he had been slaving away on for the past hour. It really wasn’t how he wanted to spend his post patrol free time, but the work was due in two days, and he was worried that if he didn’t get it done now, then he wouldn’t get it done at all.
Duke stretched his arms, but then sighed and pulled the textbook back onto his lap.
Just then, a knock came from his door. After Duke called out a quiet “Come in” the knob turned and Bruce poked his head in.
“Going on patrol, now.” He grunted, and Duke grinned. He had to admit that it felt good to know that Bruce cared enough to let him know when he was heading out.
“Sounds good. I’d watch the east corner of the Diamond District if I were you, I heard some whispers of something earlier.” he paused. “Call if you need help, I’m only working on some homework.”
Bruce eyed the open text book and pages of notes spread over Duke’s bed and sighed. “Good to know I have one responsible child,” he said and ducked out.
Now, this wasn’t too out of the norm. But there was something of Bruce’s words that seriously rubbed Duke the wrong way. No, it wasn’t that Bruce hadn’t acknowledged Duke’s offer of help. It was -
Being called responsible.
Duke frowned. He liked to think of himself as responsible, but it was the connotations that Bruce was implying. There had been several times over the past year that Duke was hailed as ‘the good child’ or ‘the sane one’ or ‘the well-behaved bat’ which if he were being honest, he didn’t think fit him at all.
Didn’t they think of the time he decided he could take on The Riddler by himself?
Or when he kept running away from foster homes to look for his parents?
Or became one of the Robins?
Or an official vigilante?
And one who wore bright yellow at that (though to be fair that was partly Bruce’s fault. Though Duke did keep the design when he revised it …).
And patrolled alone during the day!
Or when he disobeyed Bruce multiple times for so many reasons? One of the biggest when he didn’t tell him he suddenly got shadow powers?
Duke sighed. “I’m starting to believe Tim when he says that he’s the actual World’s Greatest Detective.”
He liked Bruce and the family, and living in the Manor, he honestly did. But sometimes he wished he could be seen as something other than Bruce’s poorly thought out assumption.
But there wasn’t anything Duke could do about it. He was already one of the stranger members of the family, so it wasn’t like he could rebel a bit.
Wait, that was it!
Duke grinned as he grabbed his laptop from his bedside table and pulled it open, then quickly typing in what he was looking for. After a few minutes of search, Duke had hit the jackpot.
“Oh, this’ll be fun,” he said as he smirked down the screen, and what it read.
How To Become A Rebellious Teenager.