Prologue

Disclaimer: I own what rocks dream about. This goes for all chapters.

I will also be posting notes at the beginnings of chapters that include explicit abuse. There will be summaries of those chapters: you do not have to read them if you don't want too. If I miss a chapter that you feel includes possibly triggering content, please tell me and I will post a note at the beginning of that chapter. Thank you for your help.

Sometimes abuse will be in flashbacks, which will be separated from the rest of the story by ~~~~~~~~~ lines. There will still be summaries of the flashbacks and chapters, and warnings at the beginnings of the chapters, however you can read around the flashbacks and only use the flashback summaries.

There WILL NOT be explicit sexual assault in this story.

Be forewarned; this chapter does feature abuse. If this is traumatic for you, you don't need to read this chapter: the basic gist is that an 8 year old Dick lives with an abusive Bruce Wayne, and Dick doesn't realize what's happening is wrong.

"Dick, get over here!"

Dick, who had been standing unobtrusively behind his adopted father, Bruce Wayne, moved forward silently. His large blue eyes widened at the realization that he had done something wrong. Doing wrong things was bad, especially when they were wrong for Daddy.

"This is cooked badly."

Dick could see that. To most people it wouldn't look like much, but Dick could see the slight discoloration in the eggs that Daddy had revealed. Since Dick was the only other person in the house besides Daddy, and since Daddy obviously wasn't going to cook, (the very idea was ridiculous!) the task fell to Dick. And Dick hadn't done good enough.

It had been a busy beginning of the day. There were things to clean, and Daddy had wanted a massage, but that was no excuse for doing bad. The 8 year old boy bowed his head and awaited his punishment.

"Can you see that, Dick?"

"Yes, Daddy."

The fist came out of nowhere, and Dick didn't try to defend himself. He had to be punished for bad things if he was going to learn. His head bounced off the tile floor, and he immediately started crawling to his hands and knees.

A foot slammed into his side.

Dick started crawling to his feet again, moving closer to give Daddy an easier hit. This time his head struck the table hard. Lights flashed in his vision, and he barely felt himself hit the ground. Unsure of which way was up, he nevertheless attempted to struggle to his feet, managing to find his balance.

He was sure a small flow of blood was running down his face. He tilted his head back to ensure it didn't stain the carpet. Staining the carpet was bad too.

"Are you going to be bad again?"

"No, Daddy."

"Clean yourself up before you stain the carpet."

Dick hurried to do as he as told. Daddy might need something while he was gone, and he wanted to give Daddy everything.