"Have you got everything you need?"
Bruce walked towards the front door and was about to leave when he thought of something. He looked back into the house.
Alfred turned around in confusion.
"Would you.... Would you like to go with me this time?"
Alfred was shell-shocked.
"Are you.... Are you sure, Master Bruce?"
"Yes, it's.... it's what my father would have wanted."
"I'll go pack my things."
Bruce sat at the dining table reading his newspaper when Alfred approached him."
"I noticed you haven't packed for the annual camping trip, Master Bruce. You haven't forgotten, have u?"
Alfred said as he set Bruce’s coffee on the table. Dick stops midway through his breakfast.
"No, Alfred, I haven't forgotten. I've just been too busy. And with Dick around, I think we should just skip it this year."
Bruce answered Alfred, ignoring Dick's confused glances.
"Why Master Bruce, you haven't missed a day, I don't think you should start now?"
Dick was getting increasingly annoyed, understandable as a 6-year-old.
"Missed what? What's going on?"
"I'm busy. Besides, I can't exactly leave Dick alone in the manor. And before you suggest staying behind, you know I'm not letting you do that."
"Actually, I was going to suggest you bring the boy along this year."
Alfred nodded towards an excited Dick Grayson.
Before Bruce could protest, Dick jumped out of his seat in excitement.
Dick exclaimed as he began jumping up and down.
"It would be a good bonding experience for you and young master Richard."
Bruce looked thoughtful and sighed.
"Are you sure you don't want to come, Alfred?"
"No no, I have far too many chores to do. You boys enjoy yourselves."
Dick was excited. It was his first time going on a trip with Bruce since moving into the mansion. Bruce was so busy with work, they seldom had time to hang out and it often made Dick wonder why Bruce fostered him in the first place.
"So what exactly are we doing again?"
Dick asked, as they headed out.
"When I was little, my dad would take me to hiking in the forest just north of the manor. We would camp the night and watch the sunrise in the morning."
"Sounds cool. I've never been camping before."
Bruce smiled fondly at the boy.
"When my parents died, I invited Alfred along with me. And it kind of became a tradition for me and Alfred."
Dick nodded. Bruce had told him a little about his parents' death, but he knew it was still a touchy subject.
"My dad promised to take me camping once."
Bruce looked at him with interest.
"But Haley's circus was always moving. We never even had a chance to visit the woods."
Bruce listened with interest. He patted the boy on his head. Alfred was right, this would be good for him and the boy.
Bruce suddenly stopped abruptly. Dick frowned in confusion.
But Bruce did not answer. Instead, he picked a pebble from the gravel floor. Dick looked on with interest.
"Choose a nice stone. You're gonna need it later."
Dick nodded and grabbed a pebble that caught his eye.
They continued on their hike and finally found a nice clearing.
"We're here. This is the campsite."
Dick placed down his things. Bruce did the same, then took the pebble from his pocket and walked over to a corner where a pile of stones were gathered.
Dick followed him curiously.
Bruce took it a marker and handed it to him.
"Write your initials and place down the stone."
He placed down his own rock on a little pile of rocks labeled 'B.W.'
"Each time we come here, we place a rock until we make a little rock mountain. This is mine."
Then he pointed to a smaller stack beside his own labeled 'A.P.'
Then he gestured to the largest stack labeled 'T.W.'
Dick did as he was told and admired the other rock structures.
"Whoa. That's tall. Your dad must've come here often."
"He used to come here all the time with his dad. N now I come here with you."
Dick registered the information, and a wide grin spread across his face.
"Come on, Cass. You should come with us this year! It'll be fun!"
Cass shook her head, stubbornly.
It was the annual camping trip. Bruce and the boys were all packed and ready to go. It was extra exciting, as it was Duke’s first trip with the family.
Steph placed an arm around Cass.
"Yeah, you're never going to convince her to come to your little 'Boy's trip'."
"They're right, you know. We all tried."
"Plus, with the boys out of the house. Alfred lets us throw a little girls' night."
Duke looked at them, impressed.
"How'd you make Alfred agree to that?"
"As long as we clean up after ourselves and keep the guest list to a minimum, Alfred sometimes even joins us for mani-pedis"
"Fair enough. Come on, let's make sure Tim isn't over-packing. Again."
"Yeah, last year he tried to bring 10 packs of instant coffee. Alfred caught him just in time."
Duke laughed at that. At the corner of his eye, he noticed Damian arguing with Bruce on bringing his pets along on the trip.
Duke felt a little silly carrying a pebble in his pocket, but the rest just gave him mysterious grins and said he'd find out later.
Finally, they reached a clearing. Duke began unpacking his things when he noticed the others gathered in a corner.
"What are you guys... doing?"
That's when he noticed the little rock structures with each of their initials. The boys grinned as they added a new rock to their structures.
Duke was still watching in amazement when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Bruce smiling at him and handing him a marker.
Duke smiled and took the marker. He wrote 'D.T.' on his pebble and set it beside Damian's.
"Hey, Bruce! Your pile is almost high as your dad's!"
Jason commented, ruining the perfect moment.
Note: I wrote this a while ago. It was inspired by something, but I can't remember. The first half is also missing. If I find it, I'll post it.
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