Chapter Text
"So, remind me again why we are meeting this early?" Dick said through a yawn, even as he accepted the cup of coffee Tim was handing him. It wasn't that he didn't like spending time with his brothers. He loved it, in fact. But, being a vigilante, with a terrible sleep schedule, he was also a huge fan of what sleep he did get. Something he was pretty sure his brothers also felt. It was also very strange that both Jason and Tim had asked to spend time with him today, together. As much as he loved that Tim and Jason were on reasonably good terms these days, it was still less common for them to decide to hang out together. The fact that they asked for him to join in just made it a little stranger. It would be one thing if they wanted a buffer, but that wasn't the feeling he was getting. If anything, it felt a little bit like they were targeting him for a prank. Except that he wasn't getting the feeling of gleeful or mischievous anticipation. They seemed more nervous.
"Breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day," Jason, the hypocrite, said. As if Dick wasn't fully aware that Jason rarely woke before noon. "And this place makes an awesome breakfast. At least according to you. Besides, at least it's not your cereal."
Dick shrugged. If they weren't going to tell him yet, they wouldn't tell him yet. Maybe he'd figure it out eventually. If not, at least he got to spend some time with two of his brothers at a dinner that made the absolute most amazing omelets. "This place does do awesome breakfasts. I just wish they were open later than three in the afternoon."
Tim just gave him a slightly shaky smile and slid into a booth, eyeing Dick to join him. Since it made more sense to share a booth with Tim than with Jason, Dick did so. "Anything you recommend?" Tim asked, looking at the menu.
"Everything is good, but I love their omelets the most. They also make an amazing French Toast."
For a while, things were pretty quiet. Dick was pretty sure that the three of them probably hadn't gotten close to eight hours of sleep combined. He knew he wasn't the only one who was a little slow to wake up on a good day. Placing their orders and a little small talk was good enough until the coffee kicked in.
Finally the coffee and food seemed to wake everyone up enough that Dick dared to ask his next question. "So, you asked to spend the day together, and I'm totally up for that. But did you have anything in particular in mind? I mean, other than breakfast at Bludhaven's best dinner." One of the few that he was mostly positive wasn't in some way mob-owned. Not that he hadn't been to a few of those too, partially because patronizing mob-owned business was kind of inevitable in Bludhaven, and partially because some of them had absolutely amazing food. Hmm, if they decided to stick around all day, was it worth taking them to Vito's? The pasta was probably Alfred-level good, and they were pretty discreet with the mob deals.
Tim and Jason exchanged a glance that Dick pretended he didn't notice. Yes, they were absolutely clearly up to something, and yes, he was definitely the target, but it still didn't feel bad. "Um, what would you be doing if we weren't here?" Tim asked. "I know you're off today."
Dick nodded. "Probably catching up on sleep a little." He couldn't resist. "Planned to do some more... paperwork. Probably take some time at the gym. Did I mention there's actually an acrobatics gym in Bludhaven? They don't have a trapeze, but they do have rings and silks." It had existed before he moved here, but once he discovered it, Dick had quickly become a member and donated regularly. In fact, he was on his way to becoming a silent partner in the business. "But since I doubt any of that interests you..."
Another look was exchanged. "Actually, maybe we could see the gym?" Tim asked, sounding very hesitant.
Dick tried not to look too skeptical. He probably failed, but he did try.
"Hey!" Jason objected, "Sure, we aren't your level, but you did teach both of us at least some acrobatics. I'm probably not flexible for most of it anymore, but I still remember a couple tricks. Pretty sure Timmy's even better."
Dick shrugged. They had something for all levels, including the newest of beginners so it probably wouldn't hurt to let them try if they had their hearts set on it. "Though, I seem to recall someone informing me that all that bendy, flying nonsense was pretty useless." He made sure to smile as he said it, even if he had been just a little hurt at the comment. Then again, Jason never had been good at being shown up, especially when he felt it was something he couldn't do.
Instead of bantering back, Jason looked very much like he was trying to hide a flinch. Dick, who had been starting to stand up, sat back down. Which was more than a little awkward since Tim had also started to stand and was now caught half-way in between.
"Um, Dick?" Tim asked. "Weren't we...?"
"After you two tell me what's going on. It feels halfway like I'm being set up for a prank and halfway like you're expecting me to suddenly die and don't want to tell me."
Tim and Jason exchanged another almost panicked look. “Um, neither of those are the case,” Tim said.
"Glad to hear it. Now, what is happening?"
While the other two were clearly trying to communicate something nonverbally, Dick ran out of patience and tried to figure out the answer to his own question. As far as he could remember, neither of them had any exposure to any of the various mind-altering substances that the Gotham Rogues so loved to throw about recently. Nor had either of them reported any head injuries, though getting either of them, (well, any of them) to honestly report those could be like pulling teeth sometimes. But Tim had been yellow listed due to being sick. He shouldn't have even been out and about. In fact, he was just now getting better. Jason, well, he would probably hide an injury, especially one he thought might get him side-lined, but hopefully he would at least admit anything that could alter his sense of reality.
When had he last seen each of them? Tim had been before he got sick. He remembered that. Nothing particularly stood out about the encounter. Jason... had been when Dick invited him over and Jason saw the blanket fort.
Dick groaned and buried his head in his hands. "I don't know what Jason told you, but I'm fine. I may have been having a bit of a bad day, but everything is fine now." Okay, it had been a bad week, but there was no need to go into that.
"Um, what?" Tim asked, like a liar.
"Uh-huh. So, this has nothing to do with Jason mentioning the blanket fort."
"The what?" Okay, that sounded like genuine confusion.
"I didn't tell him that." Jason sounded somewhere between sympathetic and amused.
Dick glared without heat. "Then what did you tell him? And don't even try to tell me you didn't."
Once again, Jason and Tim seemed to be trying to practice telepathy. Dick ignored them to pay the bill. It was as he was scrawling his signature that he spotted the date written on the receipt. Oh. That was why he woke up feeling melancholy. It took him another minute to remember that he had mentioned to Jason that his father's birthday was coming up. He hadn't mentioned a date, but if Jason went to Tim for help, well…
"Ah. You looked it up."
Jason paused, then nodded. "Yeah. Just..."
"I'm fine. Really."
"Sure," Tim agreed. "But that doesn't mean the day might not be better with some company, right?"
Dick took a breath and thought about it for a minute. For whatever reason, and he desperately told himself it wasn't because he was a bad son and an awful person in general, his parents' birthdays rarely affected him much. Especially after the first few years after their deaths. Some years he didn't even realize they had come until days later. At least not on a conscious level. The day of their deaths, he was usually some shade of disaster. Christmas, Halloween, and Valentine's Day, their favorite holidays, they were always on his mind even if he now associated a lot of the holiday with his new family. Father's Day and Mother's Day would probably never not ache on some level. Even their anniversary would have him fighting depression and general moodiness. But their birthdays, even if he remembered, always seemed to sneak up on him.
In retrospect, there was usually a fair bit of moodiness on those days too, even if he didn't realize why until a couple days later. But now he remembered. The day of. And suddenly could barely breathe from just how tired he felt. It had been a busy couple of weeks, and the last thing he wanted to deal with now was emotions. And they would definitely come now. They probably would have anyway. Maybe it would have been even worse if he didn't know why. But was he up to dealing with emotions and being fine and okay for his brothers?
Then again, did he have to be? Hadn't he told them often enough that it was okay not to be okay sometimes? Hadn't they told him the same? Hadn't he been thoroughly scolded for trying to keep all his problems to himself and told that he could confide in them too?
They were staring at him now. He could tell even without looking.
"Dick?" Jason said, hesitantly. "If you don't want us here, we'll go. But if us being here can make it easier, whether it's talking about him or distracting you all day..." Dick huffed a laugh. "Anyway... Do you want to go to that gym?"
Dick thought about it for another moment. "Not right now. Maybe... Maybe later. What if we go back to my place? I can tell you a bit more about my Dad. Maybe a few stories. We'll take it from there?"
"Sounds good." Tim smiled. Jason didn't smile, even looked like he was trying to seem slightly put out, but nodded in agreement.
Yes, a quiet day for now. Maybe share some stories, maybe watch a movie or two. Possibly later he would take them to that gym and show them some of the things his father had taught him. That seemed a decent way to spend his father's birthday. Happy birthday, Dad.
Epilogue: Some weeks later
Dick wasn't sure what had started the fight. Sometimes with Jason or Bruce, there really didn't need to be a reason. Especially when interacting with each other. Normally, Dick mostly tried to stay out of their fights, because quite frankly, getting involved tended to only result in both of them mad at him. It didn't even have the benefit of getting them to stop being mad at each other.
On the other hand, he couldn't stop himself from keeping an ear on them, not so much the words as the tone. Listening to keep sure that things didn't go too far. When they got mad it was just too easy for the metaphorical knives to come out. The fact that they were both ignoring that the cave was full of almost everyone in the family, all desperately trying to pretend they weren't watching this train wreck coming, only made it more likely they would probably need an intervention. Unfortunately, Alfred, the one most likely to shut this down and keep them from irrevocably injuring each other and ruining their relationships, wasn't here. Tim wasn't comfortable when either Bruce or Jason started shouting and practically shut down when confronted with both. Cass might manage but she never knew what to say. Neither of them would listen to Steph, and as much as he loved Damian, interpersonal relationships were not exactly his specialty.
Dick was pulled from his musings as something in Jason's tone screamed danger to him. Stop them. Intercept. Make sure this did not end in one of those conversations both regretted but neither knew how to take back. He was heading over, no idea at all what to say when the words started to penetrate his thoughts.
"You aren't just some lone wolf! You are part of this family. Act like it," Bruce snapped.
"Oh, really? Now I'm part of the family. And when you get paranoid about me, my methods, and my friends and decide to leave me out of the loop? When you can barely look at me because all you see is a murderer who came back wrong? Am I part of the family then?"
Well, this was probably as good a chance as any. And there were definitely plenty of cameras in the batcave. And if he was lucky, maybe it would even be enough to break up the fight.
Dick stepped up and slung an arm over Jason's shoulders, not moving when the taller man almost hit him reflexively. "Of course. Jason Grayson is always part of my family."
For a minute, there was absolute dead silence in the cave as everyone stared at him. The silence was broken by Jason's roaring laughter as he doubled over. Dick didn't blame him, Bruce's face was a picture.
The best way he could think of to describe it was as if Bruce had been about to take a bite of ice cream only for someone to have suddenly switched it out for grapefruit at the last second. Then it was like he swallowed that grapefruit whole. The shock and almost betrayal on his face only to fade into strained but slowly relaxing humor.
"I wasn't aware you had adopted your brother. I think mine might still take precedence though," Bruce finally seemed to be seeing some humor to it. Either that or he wanted this stupid fight over before it could get worse and one of the participants laughing too hard to continue was better than most of their options.
Jason shook his head but couldn't seem to manage words. Or air, apparently, as his face was turning almost as red as his helmet.
"How come he gets to be a Grayson?" Damian asked with a sulk.
Oh, well, he couldn't let this go to waste, now could he? "Oh, Dami! Of course you can be a Grayson! In fact, you can all be Graysons if you want. Didn't I teach you all the family business and traditions?"
Dick ignored Bruce quietly pointing out that he had done that too, as if vigilantism and negative self-care could be compared to the noble art of acrobatics.
"Cass Grayson," Cass said with a small smile and a slight nod.
"Um, Cassie, Sweetheart..." Bruce started.
"Sounds great!" Steph smirked, doing something on her phone. "I'm not ready to give up my last name, but maybe hyphenated?"
"Do you think I should go Drake-Grayson or Grayson-Drake?" Tim asked, holding up a cup to hide what Dick just knew was a sly smile, but nothing hid the mischief in his eyes. "Duke might not be ready for a name change, but we'll mention it at least.
"Of course. And even if he isn't, he's still just as much a Grayson. And personally, I think Drake-Grayson sounds better." Dick said nothing about overhearing Bruce once muttering about how despite his offers, none of his kids wanted to share his name.
Somewhere in all that, Jason managed to gain control of himself. "Okay, time to move the Grayson Family Reunion upstairs. It's cold down here."
All in all, Dick was more than satisfied with his efforts. He had broken up a fight that could have gotten vicious, prevented a possible rift in the family, and maybe started a new in-joke. Not bad at all. Even if Jason would probably hit him if he ever called him Jason Grayson again.
Then they got upstairs. Alfred was setting a cake on the table. There were some confused looks around. It was late to be pulling out a cake. Why would he pull one out now? "Hey, what's the occasion? Not that I'm ever going to want to turn down your cake." When had he even made it?
"I was informed that there was a family reunion. I could hardly fail to provide adequate repast, now could I?" Alfred gave one of his barely there smiles.
Dick laughed. "I see. Well, I'd ask how you heard, but I imagine it was a Grayson who told you."
"I would say so. Now, as to the particulars..."
"Don't worry, you don't have to be an acrobat to be a Grayson."
"Helps, though," Tim muttered.
"Of course it helps. But when you consider what it takes to balance the running of the household, supplying everything necessary for night work, and everything else, clearly Alfred is the best mental acrobat I've ever seen!"
Everyone agreed. About then, Bruce finally came in, changed into day clothes and having managed to ditch most of the Batman mindset. "Can anyone join this party, or is it Graysons only?"
"I don't see why it would matter." Dick said, hoping it wasn't a step too far. "You'd be here either way, wouldn't you?"
Jason huffed a little but grabbed an extra chair, even though there were enough. Bruce got the message and sat down. "To Family."
"To Family."