Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The boy was quiet, but the slight creak from the door woke Damian instantly. He stayed still, keeping his breathing even and not making a sound as the boy crept over. He could feel eyes on him. He waited for the boy to break the silence first.

“Damian?” 8-year-old Richard Grayson whispered. “Damian?”

Damian cracked an eye open and peered over at him. “Yes, Richard?”

Richard, or ‘Dick’ as he liked to be called (much to Damian’s distaste), bit his lip. He shifted, glancing down at his feet as his fingers picked at Damian’s sheets.

“Richard.” Some would say his voice was too stern for the still-grieving boy, but it worked well for snapping Richard out of his thoughts—at least most of the time. Said boy looked up quickly.

“I...Bruce isn’t home, and I…” Had a nightmare . Damian didn’t need him to finish. Richard had moved into the Manor a few months ago, but he still had frequent nightmares. Father was always his go-to when they happened. Damian was his second choice when the first was gone. He had been somewhat annoyed by it at the beginning but had long since grown used to it. He had warmed up to the boy, something he denied whenever Drake or Brown tried to tease him about it.

Taken out of his thoughts, Damian simply lifted his blanket, knowing that that was enough invitation for Richard, who scrambled into the bed with wild limbs. Richard settled quickly, snuggling up against Damian. The boy draped his older brother’s arm over his body, knowing that Damian didn’t mind but would never instigate the action himself, and sighed happily.

“Night, Dami.”

Damian looked down at the boy—this boy who had somehow dug his way into Damian’s heart, more than his other siblings had—and curled his occupied arm tighter.

“Goodnight, Richard.”

Chapter Text

Tim held up a card.

“Apple.” Dick said. Tim held up another card. “Um...Tiger.”

Dick had moved in just a month ago. In that time, he had grown used to the Manor’s dark, maze-like halls, warmed up to the idea of having brothers and sisters, and found out that Bruce Wayne was Batman and the rest of his siblings were his partners.

What he had not done was master English.

His Mami and Tati had taught him some, enough to hold a very basic, fractured conversation, but Bruce said that he had to go to school soon, and that he needed to learn English first. Everyone helped in their own way, but Dick liked Timmy teaching him the most. Timmy had colorful cards with pictures on them. He was also a lot more patient.

They were still only on basic cards, but Tim was confident that Dick would move onto the more complicated cards and sentences soon.

“Timmy? S-Snack now?” Dick was starting to get a headache trying to remember all these words. Food usually made his headaches better.

“How about we get through a few more. Then, we can have a snack.” Dick nodded, understanding most if not all of what Tim said.

“What’s up?” Jason suddenly popped up behind Dick, causing him to jump. He turned around with a beaming smile though.

“Jay!”

Jason chuckled and ruffled Dick’s hair. “Hey, Dickie.” He glanced over at Tim and noticed the cards. “English time?”

Dick nodded solemnly. “English time. No like. Hard. Want snack.”

Jason bit his tongue in order to keep from laughing. “Yeah, English sucks. Lots of double—even triple—meanings. You’ll learn, better than Cass at least.”

When Cass first showed up at the Manor, she could perfectly read and write English and understand when it was spoken; she just couldn’t speak a word of it. She begrudgingly learned enough to get by in school but refused anything more. She prefered to speak with body language.

Dick puffed his cheeks and turned back to Tim, who held up another card. “Playground!” Dick’s eyes lit up. “Timmy! We go playground?”

This time, Jason laughed with Tim joining in. He secretly hoped Tim would say yes. Jason loved the playground.

“Sure, Dick. We can go to the playground after we have a snack.”

Tim started putting the cards away as Dick bounced around, knowing they wouldn’t get any further with English lessons with Dick so distracted.

“Jay! Jason! Go playground!” Jason grinned and took Dick’s hand, leading him towards the kitchen.

“Yeah, Dickie. I’ll go to the playground with you guys. I wanna swing.”

“Swing!”

Tim stood, leaving the cards on the dining table. He’d put them back in his room after they got back. He hurried to the kitchen. Alfred would be upset if they ate anything too sugary—not to mention how scary Dick was on a sugar high. The kid could be worse than a Gotham villain.

Tim shuddered and quickened his pace. No, there was no way he was going to let that happen.

Chapter Text

Dick was sitting in class, working on math problems, when the intruder alarm went off. The panic on the teacher’s face told Dick that this was not a drill, and a bolt of fear shot through Dick. Jason was a couple hallways away. He hoped Jason would be okay.

The teacher, Ms. Hanson, locked the door and quickly ushered the children into the farthest corner from the door. Dick bit his lip. He wished he knew what was going on. Was there only one intruder? Were there twenty? Fifty? Why were they here?

Dick pressed the emergency beacon on his belt, knowing Jason would do the same. He let out a shaky breath. Batman would be here soon. They’d be fine.

He was startled out of his thoughts by a bang at the door. A few of the kids let out screams, quickly shushed by the teacher, but it was too late. The intruders knew they were in the room. The banging grew louder—some of the kids were crying now—when suddenly the door burst open, sending splintered wood to the floor. Armed men in black filtered into the room, pointing their guns at the children.

“We don’ wanna hurt anyone.” One man sneered. “This c’n all be over real quick. Just tell us which one of ya’s is Richard Grayson. We know he’s in here.”

“Nooo!” Dick heard Jason yell in the hallway. “Don’t touch him!” There was the sound of a scuffle and the unmistakable crack of metal against flesh. The hallway fell silent.

“Jason!” Dick couldn’t help but blurt out. The man who first spoke zeroed in on him. Dick’s eyes widened in terror as he tried to run, but the first man was quick and grabbed him easily. He was yanked up and flung over the man’s shoulder.

“Please. Please don’t do this.” Ms. Hanson stood, holding her hands up placatingly. “They’re just children. Please.”

The man swung his gun at the woman, smacking her in the head and knocking her to the ground. “Shut yer trap, lady! Or one o’ these kiddies is next!”

Ms. Hanson didn’t move, presumably unconscious. The rest of the kids started shrieking, but the first man paid them no mind. He lugged Dick out of the classroom. Dick could see Jason unconscious over another man’s shoulder, blood trickling from his temple.

Dick whimpered. “Jason?”

They were taken to a white van in front of the school and thrown in the back. They were both tied up and blindfolded and were soon left alone. Dick tried not to cry as the van started up. This was his first time being kidnapped. Jason wouldn’t wake up, and Dick didn’t know what to do. He had to be brave though. Bruce and the others would save him and Jason soon. He just had to hold out long enough. He decided to kill time by going over some of the more complicated English words Timmy had been teaching him.

Firetruck...debris...tricycle...handkerchief…

The van soon stopped, and Dick and Jason were yanked out of the van. He was carried inside of a building—a warehouse judging by the echo—and was tied to a chair. The blindfold came off, and Dick could see Jason sitting across from him. One of the men kicked Jason’s chair.

“You gonna wake up soon or what, kid?” Jason didn’t respond.

Another man approached, and Dick immediately knew he was the leader. He held himself with a calmer confidence than the other men, and the other men fell silent and looked to him as he walked closer to Dick.

“You scared, chum?” Dick bristled at the nickname. Only Bruce was allowed to call him that. “This is your first kidnapping, huh? Don’t you worry your little head. Everything will go real smooth as long as your old man gives us the dough.” Like pizza dough? Why would they want that? “Any problems and—well, it won’t turn out to swell.” The man grinned, his yellow teeth inches from Dick’s face.

“Your breath is gross.” Dick wrinkled his nose. Jason would say that, right? He always had something to say when someone was being mean to him.

Dick’s head snapped to the side, his cheek stinging. His eyes watered, and he couldn’t help but sniffle.

“Hey!” He turned and saw Jason’s head rising slowly. “Don’ touch him, y’ dirty bastards.” Alfred would not be happy if he heard Jason talking like that. Dick was just happy that Jason was awake.

“Then teach him some better manners.” The man spat on Jason and walked away. He stopped by the man standing closest to the boys. “If Wayne doesn’t answer within an hour, do whatever you like to the younger one, Rick.”

Rick grinned and looked at Dick, licking his lips, sending shivers down Dick’s spine. He had an idea of what this man wanted to do, and he really hoped Batman and the others would get there soon.

When the leader was gone, Dick turned to Jason. “Jason? You okay?”

Jason smiled. “Yeah, I’m okay, Dickie.” He sounded a lot better at least. “You just hold on, okay? Batman will be here soon.”

“Have you been taken before, Jay?”

Jason nodded, wincing as pain shot through his head. “Yeah, but don’t worry about me. How are you doing?”

Dick bit his lip. “‘M okay. I didn’t get hit like you did.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve gotten worse.”

“Shut up, or I’ll do it for you.” One of the men growled—not Rick. Dick gulped and looked down. Jason glared at the man.

An hour later, the leader came back in, a cruel smile on his face. He looked over at Rick. Rick grinned and turned to Dick. Dick wanted to throw up.

“Looks like Brucie didn’t come through for you.” The leader sneered. “Rick, you know what that means.”

Rick sauntered over to Dick and grabbed him, causing him to cry out. Jason shouted and tried to get out of his binds.

“Shut the fuck up, kid, or Richard here is gonna go home missing a few fingers.” Dick let out a sob as Jason fell silent, and the man began to feel him up. Rick’s grimy hands against his stomach sent shudders through his body. His hands started going lower when the lights suddenly went out. Rick removed his hands, and Dick sighed in relief.

“Get the lights back on!” Dick heard the leader yell. The sounds of bodies hitting the floor echoed throughout the warehouse. Gunfire went off, lighting up the dark warehouse like strobe lights. Dick could see the shadows of his siblings. He smiled.

“Dick!” Jason yelled. “Duck your head!”

Dick did as he was told, squeezing his eyes shut. It would be bad if his siblings had come all this way just for him to get hit in the head by a stray bullet.

He suddenly felt hands on his arms and let out a scream, only to be shushed.

“Shh! I’m going to cut you free. Shadowbat’s— Damian’s —voice reached his ears, and he relaxed. Damian would keep him safe. His eyes had adjusted to the dark and he looked over to see Spoiler cutting Jason free. As soon as the rope came off, he flung himself at his oldest brother, gasping as he tried to keep back the tears.

“I’ve got you.” His brother murmured. He put a hand to his ear. “Redbat. Batgirl. We’ve got them. Let’s clear out.”

The gunfire ceased, and the lights came back on. Dick blinked, letting his eyes adjust before taking a look around the warehouse. All of the men were either unconscious or tied up. Batgirl came over, and Shadowbat handed Dick to her. Dick clung to her, watching as Damian marched over to one of the conscious men. He yanked the man up, fisting his hands into the man’s shirt.

“You’re going to tell me who hired you, and you’re going to do it now.” Damian growled.

“Y-You don’ scare me.” The man stuttered. Shadowbat smirked, sending the man into hysterics.

“Okay! Okay! It was Black Mask. Saw an opportunity with the new kid, ya know? Thought it’d be easy. Then thought two kids in one, ya know? Get more money. That’s all I know, okay!”

“Good.” Shadowbat punched the man, knocking him out like his friends. He dropped the man and looked over at his brothers and sisters. “Let’s go.”

“Police have already been notified.” Redbat said. Shadowbat nodded and made his way outside with the others following quickly.

As much as Dick wanted to be taken straight home, he and Jason had to wait for the police to arrive. Bruce was with them, running up to the two boys and taking them into his arms.

“I’m glad you’re safe.” Bruce said, letting go of them and squeezing their shoulders.

“We’re good, and we got to see Shadowbat and Redbat and Spoiler and Batgirl!” Dick grinned. This was the first time his civilian identity would have met them. He was going to play it up as much as he could.

“I’ll have to thank them next time I see them.” Bruce smirked.

“Can we get ice cream?” Dick asked.

“Yeah, Bruce. Can we get ice cream?” Jason asked.

The boys both gave him puppy dog eyes, causing Bruce to sigh. He could never really say no to those eyes. Both boys cheered and started dragging Bruce to the car. Bruce looked over at the Commissioner, who smiled and nodded. The boys had already given their statements and had been checked out by the paramedics; they were free to go.

“Jay?” Jason opened his eyes and peered over at the clock. 1:47 AM. He groaned and turned over, seeing Dick standing at the side of his bed.

“Yeah, Dickie?” He murmured, rubbing his eyes.

Dick bit his lip and looked down. “Had a nightmare ‘bout the man.”

Jason thought for a moment before suddenly understanding. He growled quietly, causing Dick to whimper. He stopped and reached out for his younger brother.

“Did you want to sleep with me tonight?” Dick nodded and quickly scrambled into the bed, curling into Jason’s side. Jason smirked as he wrapped his arms around the boy.

Damian and Tim were gonna be so jealous in the morning.

Chapter Text

“Dami?” Damian’s eyes moved from the book he was reading over to Dick. He quirked an eyebrow.

“Yes, Richard?”

“Is Santa gonna know that I’m at the Manor instead of at the circus this year?”

Damian opened his mouth, ready to tell the boy that that was ridiculous—Santa didn’t exist—when Brown jumped in.

“Of course, he’ll know! He’s Santa!” Stephanie beamed at Dick. Dick gasped excitedly and ran off, shouting something about having to make a list. Once he was gone, she turned to Damian.

“Don’t you dare ruin Christmas for him.” she growled, poking Damian in the chest. “This is his first Christmas without his family. We’re gonna make it the best one ever. Got it?”

Damian narrowed his eyes and pushed down the urge to grab her hand and break it. “He’ll have to learn eventually.” He turned his nose up at her.

Stephanie glared. “He’s eight years old, Damian. I know you didn’t exactly have a normal childhood, but most eight-year-olds still believe in Santa. He’s already lost his parents. Don’t take this away from him too.”

Stephanie turned and left before Damian could reply. He gritted his teeth and stalked off. Brown had a point, not that he was willing to admit it. This would be the first time they would pretend that Santa existed though. Damian had never believed—hadn’t even heard of Santa until he came to the Manor. Stephanie, Cassandra, and Tim were too old to believe by the time they became part of the ‘family’. Jason was at the age of belief when he had been adopted, but his family had never been able to afford to keep up a pretense of Santa, so they hadn’t needed to pretend for Jason. Richard though…

Damian sighed. As much as it would pain him, he’d pretend—if only to avoid the wrath of the rest of the family.

“Tim!” Jason came barging into Tim’s room, much to his annoyance. He was currently working on calculus homework and didn’t want any distractions.

“Can’t you bother me later? I’m in the middle of something.”

“This is important! Please, Tim?” Tim sighed and set his pencil down. There was no way he was going to get his homework done with Jason begging. He spun around in his chair, giving the eleven-year-old a pointed look.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know what to get Dick for Christmas!” Jason flung himself onto Tim’s bed, pushing books and papers aside to make himself comfortable. Tim hoped he hadn’t messed up the pages too much.

“Why don’t you just ask him?” Tim turned back to his calculus work, hoping that would be enough for Jason.

“I tried! He won’t tell me!” Jason moaned, moving so that he was hanging from the bed. “He says that the gift has to be ‘from the heart’ and telling me would mean I wouldn’t put a lot of thought into it or whatever.”

Tim set his pencil down once more, worried. “Is that what he really said?” Shit. What was he going to get Dick now? He was originally going to get Dick an iPod, but was that heartfelt enough?

Jason groaned. “You see! Not that easy!”

Tim sighed and stood. There was no way he was going to get his homework done now. “Come on, let’s see what the others are getting him. Maybe we can brainstorm together—make it easier for all of us to figure out what to get him.

Jason rolled off the bed and stood. “Yeah! That’s a great idea! Let’s go!”

“I already got my gift for him.” Stephanie said, smirking. Cass stood next to her, nodding—she had already gotten her gift for Dick too. Tim and Jason groaned and turned to Damian. Damian’s smirk matched Stephanie’s, and the boys threw their hands into the air.

“How have you all already figured out what to get him!” Jason cried. He pointed at Damian. “Especially you, Mr. I-Can’t-Have-Feelings!”

“Did you come up with that name all by yourself?” Damian snarked. Jason glared.

“Okay. Okay.” Tim stepped between them. “How about this? Why don’t you guys tell us what you got him, just so we don’t accidentally get him the same thing?”

Stephanie pursed her lips for a moment before nodding. “Okay, that’s fair enough. But don’t you dare get him the same thing.” She pointed her finger at Tim, who held his hands up. “I got him plushies of all our superhero selves, plus Batman.”

Damn, that was actually pretty good.

“Made plushie of Robin. Stephanie help.” Cass said. And damn, that was pretty good too. Everyone turned to look at Damian, who gazed back steadily.

“The first thing Father gave me when I came to the Manor—besides the position to be his partner—was a framed photo of Alfred, him, and myself. He told me photos hold cherished memories, and that they are priceless. So I got him a framed photo of all of us together.”

Everyone was silent for a moment.

“I think that’s the most sentimental thing that’s ever come out of your mouth.” Jason said. Damian sent him a glare.

Tim sighed, asking almost desperately, “Can you guys think of anything that Jason and I could get Dick?”

They shook their heads. Stephanie spoke. “Nuh uh, Tim. We all came up with ours on our own. Besides, it won’t really be from the heart unless you come up with it yourselves.”

Tim and Jason groaned and walked away, dreading the disappointed face Dick will give them if they didn’t come up with something.

“Bruce! Bruce! Bruce! It’s Christmas!” Dick jumped on top of the man, shaking him until he groaned.

“All right. All right. I’m getting up.” Bruce sat up and glanced at the clock as Dick ran out of the room shouting Damian’s name. 8:05 AM. How did the kid wake up so early? Jason, Tim, and Stephanie never got up this early. Damian and Cassandra did, but they never woke him up.

By the time he made his way downstairs, still dressed in pajamas, the others were all sitting around the tree. Jason looked like he was falling asleep on Tim’s shoulder, but everyone else looked alert enough. Dick was busy pointing out all the presents to his siblings.

“Look! Look! Santa came! And he brought everyone presents!” He ran up to Damian, who somehow managed to look more put together than Bruce, even though he was also in pajamas (at least he had a shirt on). “Dami! Dami, look! You got presents too!”

“I see, Richard.”

Alfred came around with coffee and hot chocolate, which were grabbed gratefully from everyone. Soon, Dick was settled enough that presents could be passed around. It was agreed that Santa’s presents would be opened first and then the family’s presents.

“Whoa!” Dick hugged the present he had just opened—a game console—and stared at his family in awe. “Santa never got me anything like this before!”

“You must have been extra good this year.” Stephanie said, smiling at him. Dick beamed.

Opening Santa’s presents went well enough. Jason also got a game console along with the latest games. Stephanie was given jewelry and dress she had been eyeing at the mall (she didn’t even want to think of how Bruce had possibly known about it). Cass got some books she had been wanting but hadn’t had time to get. Tim got the latest laptop model. Damian received a bamboo mat katana. He nearly thanked Bruce for it but quickly caught himself and changed his thanks to Santa. Bruce, of course, didn’t receive any presents from Santa and neither did Alfred.

Now, it was time to open the family’s presents to each other.

Dick went first, handing a present to each family member. Damian opened his first, which contained a sketchbook and pencils.

“I know you like to draw so I got you a book to draw in, and there were all these cool pencils in the store that came in different sizes. Alfred says that they help with lines and shading and stuff.” Dick looked up at Damian, grinning widely. “Do you like it?”

Damian nodded. “I like it very much. Thank you, Richard.”

Dick’s grin grew wider as he ran to give Stephanie her gift. When she opened it, she found two large pillows that looked like waffles. Stephanie burst out laughing, picking up Dick and squeezing him to her body as some of the others chuckled. “Oh my god, Dick. I love them! Thank you.”

Dick giggled and waited for Stephanie to let go before making his way over to Cass. Her present was a DVD of The Little Mermaid. She looked to him questioningly. Dick bit his lip before speaking.

“There’s a princess named Ariel who loses her voice and so she has to try to get Prince Eric to like her without speaking, so—so I thought of you. Alfred said that we don’t have any Disney movies here, which I think is weird ‘cause Disney’s awesome, so we got some. I thought maybe you’d like this one as a present.” Dick looked up at her shyly. Finding a gift for Cass had been a little tougher than the others, so he hoped that she liked it.

Cass smiled, resting a hand on his head. “I like it.”

Dick smiled widely, his whole face lighting up, and hugged Cass. “Can we watch it tonight? Please? Please?”

At Cass’s nod, Dick cheered and ran off to grab his gift for Tim. He held it up to Tim, who took it with a small smile and unwrapped it carefully. It was a poster, and Tim choked as he unrolled it. Stephanie leaned over to look at it and burst out laughing.

“Oh my god!” She squealed. “It’s Conner!”

It was an official Superboy poster. Conner was posing with his arms crossed and a smirk as he winked. Tim turned red.

“Do you not like it?” Dick asked worryingly. “I wasn’t sure what to get you so Jason said that you and Superboy were really good friends and that you’d maybe like something that reminded you of him so he said to get you a poster.” Dick’s lip was beginning to wobble. Did he get Timmy a bad gift?

“It’s fine, Dick. I love it.” Tim reassured the boy. He sent a dark glare at Jason, who was desperately trying not to laugh, when Dick looked away. A snicker escaped as a thought went through Jason’s head.

“Hey, Tim. You should get him to sign it.” Tim smacked Jason as Dick came over with Jason’s present.

Jason immediately tore into his gift when it was handed to him and held up an action figure of Kid Bat.

"Sweet!" Jason grinned. "It's me!"

"It's the newest version, see?" Dick pointed. "The old version was of Timmy, but they changed the parts that you changed when you became Kid Bat."

Jason grabbed Dick in a hug, ruffling his hair. "It's awesome! Thanks, Dick!"

Bruce’s present was held up shyly by Dick. It was small—contained inside an envelope—and held a picture.

“I wasn’t sure what to get you, so Alfred said I should draw you a picture.” Dick said, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

The picture had 'My Family' written at the top. Below it, each family member was represented as a stick figure. Bruce smiled at some of the facial expressions Dick had given them.

"I ran out of room so I had to put myself in the corner." Dick pointed as the others came over to take a look. Stephanie and Jason were laughing while Damian was frowning.

"You got everyone just right." Jason said, snickering.

"I really like how you drew everyone's hair." Stephanie commented.

"I love it, Dick." Bruce really did. He was framing this and putting it in his room.

The rest of the gift-giving went as well as expected. Dick had also drawn a picture for Alfred, who said he'd hang it on the fridge. Small fights broke out as gag gifts were given (Stephanie's gift of condoms to Damian was not appreciated). Thanks and hugs were shared. At one point, a tickle fight had broken out when Stephanie had given her gift to Dick. Damian was declared the winner when Dick had taken refuge behind him, and Damian had refused to let anyone get near him. Finally, Tim and Jason were the only ones who had not given Dick their gifts yet.

"This is a joint gift from us." Tim said, handing Dick their gift. Dick's eyes lit up in curiosity as he unwrapped it, revealing a scrapbook. He flipped it open and gasped, tears springing to his eyes.

"I contacted Haly's about getting pictures while Jason put the scrapbook together." Tim smiled nervously. His smile fell as Dick stayed silent and flipped through the book, which contained pictures of everyone Dick had known. It even had some pictures of his family that he didn't already have.

"Dick?" Jason asked, worried. Was it a bad gift? Did they mess up?

Dick looked up, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks as he flung himself at the two. He wrapped his body as much as he could around them as he began to sob.

"Th-Thank y-you." Dick cried. "I—I love it."

Tim and Jason wrapped their arms around Dick to keep him from falling, sighing in relief.

"Glad that you like it." Jason was grinning again. "Now, can we go eat? I'm starving!"

The group laughed and stood, making their way to the dining room. Dick held Jason and Tim's hands, chattering about playing games and watching movies after breakfast.

This had been a good Christmas, the brightest one yet. Damian didn't regret not telling Richard about Santa. He understood now that the boy had needed it, and maybe the rest of the family did too.

Chapter Text

Bruce and Tim were the only ones at the circus that night.

Bruce was going on a date to keep up his playboy appearance, and Tim had been a huge fan of the Flying Graysons for years. Tim had decided to sit away from the couple. Sitting with them would have been awkward (that woman was like a fucking octopus when it came to touching Bruce), and the woman would have just thrown glares at him when she thought Bruce wasn’t looking (like she did in the car).

As the Graysons’ bodies slammed into the ground, Tim regretted his decision to not be near his guardian. He sat, frozen, as screams filled the tent. He wanted to look away so badly, but his eyes wouldn’t move—stuck on the broken, bloody pulp that were the Graysons. And then there was a moving body among them and oh god it was the kid—their kid who had seen the whole thing. Tim stood finally, racing to the crying child who was shaking his family and getting blood all over him and screaming in some language that Tim didn't know. Bruce got there at the same time—without his date—and pulled the child away. The kid tried to fight, reaching for his family, but he was no match for someone who went out as Batman every night. Tim just stood and watched as the kid collapsed against Bruce, heaving. The police eventually showed up, and the child was taken away.

A sudden hand on his shoulder caused Tim to jump. His head snapped up to see Bruce looking at him worriedly. He squeezed Tim’s shoulder, searching his eyes for...what? Shock? Trauma? Fear? Tim wasn’t sure what he felt at the moment. He felt more numb than anything else.

“Are you all right?” Bruce asked. Tim swallowed, unsure how to answer.

“Is he going to be all right?” He countered. The boy was gone now, probably taken to the station.

Bruce didn’t answer, once again searching Tim’s eyes. Eventually, he just squeezed Tim’s shoulder again and steered him towards the exit.

“Let’s go home. Tina is already at the car.”

Tim had seen a lot in his time as Kid Bat and Redbat, but seeing that family die so brutally, unable to do anything, left Tim with nightmares for days. He wasn’t loud enough to wake anyone up, but he knew that he looked bad. Everyone eyed him worryingly during the day. Looking in a mirror, Tim could tell he was paler, making the dark circles under his eyes stand out more. He couldn't imagine what the kid was going through, having seen it at a younger age than Tim was and being related to the victims.

About a week later, Bruce was sitting them all down in the living room. Most of them had an idea what this conversation was going to be about. Bruce was a sucker for orphans, and this one probably resonated a lot closer to Bruce's own feelings than the rest of them. The kid was the only one of them who had witnessed his family being murdered (at this point they all knew about Tony Zucco), just like Bruce did when he was a child. 

"When's he going to be here?" Stephanie asked before Bruce could even start talking.

Bruce was silent for a moment. "I'm hoping within the next few days. There have been some...problems with getting the paperwork done."

"What kind of problems?" Jason looked curious. He wasn't sure how to feel about the situation. It'd be cool not to be the youngest in the family and to have a little brother, but there was a little voice in the back of his mind wondering why Bruce needed another kid.

"They're searching for other family, but it doesn't seem like that will lead anywhere. The fact that Richard doesn't speak English is another issue. Now, they're trying to see if he's an American citizen. The circus needs to provide a birth certificate. I've been trying to speed it up as much as I can, but there's only so much that I can do." Bruce looked frustrated with himself and then suddenly angry. "And then, of course, there's the matter of where he's been placed."

"What do you mean?" Damian finally spoke.

Bruce clenched his fists. "Apparently, the orphanages in Gotham are full, though I'm beginning to believe some of them just didn't want to take in a traumatized, non-English speaking child. They had nowhere to put him, except for the juvenile detention center."

Gasps filled the room. Damian and Stephanie stood, outraged.

"Jesus, Bruce." Tim breathed. That was no place for a child, especially a traumatized one like Richard.

As much as Damian didn't want another 'sibling', he couldn't imagine what it would have been like if Colin had been placed there. He wasn't going to allow a child to stay there if he could do anything about it.

"Get him out, Father. As soon as you can." Damian stormed off, most likely to go train. It usually helped to calm him down.

"Whatever you need us to do, we can do it." Stephanie looked determined, as did everyone else. Bruce felt pride as he looked over everyone.

"I'd like it if you could go out and get some stuff to set up for his room. It'll be next to Jason's. I don't know what he likes so just start with something basic. He can choose how to decorate his room once he gets here."

 Jason stood and saluted. "We can do it! Come on, guys!"

Jason, Stephanie, Cass, Tim left, leaving Bruce alone. He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. This was going to be a messy introduction, he just knew it. But when was it not? Everyone that Bruce had adopted had been (for lack of a better word) messed up in some way when he had first brought them into his home. Damian had been trained as an assassin for his whole, and he did not take to Bruce's way of fighting crime well at first. The kid had eventually calmed down enough to stop killing and maiming, much to Bruce's relief. Tim's father had still been alive when he had come to the Manor but, even at his young age, Tim knew his father would never be able to take care of him if he woke up (he eventually did but was later killed). Damian also was not very subtle about his dislike of Tim, which led to some nasty arguments. They still fought a lot, though it was a lot less violent these days (mostly because Damian had somewhat warmed up to Tim after an incident with the Joker). Stephanie's father had also still been alive (and he still was) when she became part of the family, but he was a villain, leaving Stephanie with some emotional damage. Cassandra had been in a similar boat as Damian, being trained as an assassin but without the ability to speak, though she had at least realized that killing was wrong sooner than Damian had. Jason had been a 'street rat' as he liked to call it. His father had been absent, and his mother had died of overdose. Jason had been a rage-filled boy, similar to Damian, but there had been so many family members at that point that the rage ebbed with the support he was given by so many people.

At this point, Bruce should be an expert on helping troubled children, but every time a new one came, he felt just as lost as the last. Maybe with Richard, he'd be able to help the boy more, better understanding the trauma he was going through better than he had with his other children.

 Jason raced to the front door as he heard it creak open. Bruce and Alfred were finally home! He ran around the corner, skidding to a stop when he caught sight of the kid.

The kid was a mess. Cuts and bruises littered his body, poorly hidden by the oversized jumpsuit he was wearing. Jason's mouth dropped open in shock just as the others came around the corner. They, too, froze when they saw the boy. Stephanie sucked in a shocked breath while Cass just looked sad. Damian was radiating anger while Tim almost looked like he wanted to cry.

"Everyone, this is Richard Grayson." Bruce was giving them that look, the one that said 'get your shit together'. "Richard, this is Damian, Stephanie, Cassandra, Tim, and Jason."

Richard glanced up through his bangs. "Hello." He whispered with an accent they couldn't identify.

Stephanie gently made her way over to him, bending down to be eye level with him. She smiled. "Hi, Richard. As Bruce told you, I'm Stephanie." She held her hand out for him to shake, but Richard flinched away. Her heart broke at the terror in his eyes. "Hey. Hey. Shhh..." She tried to soothe him. "No one here is going to hurt you. I promise."

Richard's eyes darted around the room, confused and scared. He glanced at Bruce, pleading with his eyes for help while also making sure to keep Stephanie in his peripheral.

"I don't think he understands you, Stephanie." Bruce said. "As far as I can tell, he can only speak broken English."

"I sorry." Richard whimpered. He understood what 'broken English' meant. He hoped they wouldn't be mad at him. He just wanted to go back to the circus, but the mean lady said that he couldn't.

"It's okay. You know, Cass here doesn't speak much English either." Stephanie pointed to Cass, who gave a wave and small smile.

"Hello, Richard."

"Dick."

If Stephanie hadn't been crouched right in front of the boy, she wouldn't have heard what he said. "What?"

"Dick." He peeked up at Stephanie through his bangs. "My name Dick."

"Well, all right then. Dick it is." Stephanie smiled once more, trying to relax the boy.

Meanwhile, Damian scoffed. What a ridiculous nickname.

Jason creeped his way over, stopping beside Stephanie. The kid sure was short. How old was he? Five? Six? His youth made the cuts and bruises on his body all the more sickening to Jason.

"Hey, kid. Who did this to you?" He pointed at the various injuries on Dick. Dick looked at Bruce.

"Answer Jason's question, Dick."

Dick bit his lip. "Boys. They no like me. Say I 'fresh meat' and 'gypsy trash'. Hurt me. Say it funny."

Once again, the Batfamily felt rage at the people who hurt this child, but there was nothing they could do about it now. All they could do now was treat the boy better and hope he could learn to trust them.

 "Hey, do you wanna play a game?" Jason asked. Dick perked up.

"Game?" Dick suddenly frowned, suspicious. "What game?"

"Um..." Jason wracked his brain for a game that didn't require reading or speaking English. "Trouble?" Jason immediately realized his mistake when Dick's eyes widened, and he prepared to run. "Wait! No! Not that kind of trouble! Um, can someone help?" Jason looked around desperately.

"It's a very fun game." Stephanie tried to soothe Dick once more. "You don't need to know any English to play, just how to read dice."

"...Show me?" Dick was still suspicious, but the blonde lady, Stephanie, was being nice. She wasn't like the mean lady who took him away from the circus and yelled at him. Stephanie talked quietly when he was scared. He liked her.

Stephanie beamed, glad that Dick was willing to show them some trust. "Of course!" She reached out for his hand, which he hesitantly took. Stephanie stood and looked at the others. "Does someone else want to join us and play? We got one more spot."

Cass raised her hand, feeling that maybe she could get along with the boy with their lack of speech. The four of them walked off, leaving Bruce, Damian, and Tim standing by the front door.

"Are you absolutely sure about this, Father?" Damian asked. He wasn't sure how he felt about the child yet. The boy was quiet and scared. How would he react to mobs of reporters and kidnappers, all trying to get a piece of the kid? The stares that would follow him everywhere?

How would he react to Batman?

"I'm sure, Damian." Bruce's voice snapped Damian out of his thoughts. "I wasn't going to leave him there any longer."

Damian nodded. "All right. If you say so." He left, leaving Bruce and Tim alone.

It was silent for a moment before Bruce interrupted it. "Are you okay, Tim?"

"What? Oh, uh, yeah." It was a lie, and they both knew it. What little sleep he already got as a Bat was eaten into by nightmares. Maybe seeing Dick here and recovering would help him though. Tim hoped it would. "Look, Bruce. I'll be fine, I promise. I'm just...working through some things."

Bruce watched him for a moment (Tim was really starting to get sick of that) before nodding. "All right, but if you need anything, please come to me. Okay?"

"Yeah, I will. Thanks, Bruce." Tim smiled. He watched Tim go, finally leaving Bruce alone in the room. He stood for a moment, listening to Stephanie's exaggerated exclamations as the game was played in the other room. He smiled to himself, making his way to the living room. 

It would take time, but Bruce believed that Dick would come around to living at the Manor, and his children would come to love Dick as their own.

Chapter Text

Something wasn’t right.

Bruce set his newspaper down and looked around the table. Damian was busy reading another copy of the paper as he ate breakfast. Stephanie was chatting to Cassandra about going shopping later as they ate. Tim and Jason seemed to be having some sort of debate over which action movie was better. Bruce’s eyes furrowed.

Where was Dick?

“Have any of you seen Dick this morning?” Bruce asked. Usually, he was up before Stephanie and Jason, devouring food just as wildly as Jason (a bad habit he learned from said boy), but Dick was nowhere to be seen.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to the empty seat beside Jason. They all frowned.

“Maybe he’s still sleeping?” Stephanie suggested, but she sounded worried. It wasn’t like Dick to sleep in so late. He hadn’t even patrolled last night, which meant he had gone to bed earlier than usual.

“I should have said sooner, though I was going to inform you after breakfast—” Alfred stepped into the room. “—but I believe Master Richard has come down with a cold.”

“Oh yeah.” Jason said. “That’s been going around school. Lots of kids have been out sick.”

“Check on him?” Cass asked.

The Batfamily stood and quickly walked to Dick’s room. Inside, they found Dick bundled up in blankets, his nose whistling as he breathed. He was sleeping soundly, so his family decided to leave him to let him rest. They’d visit him later once he woke up.

Dick ended up sleeping until noon. When he woke up, he felt terrible . He broke out into a coughing fit, rattling his aching bones. His eyes were watery, and his nose felt stuffed.

He was miserable .

“Dickie?” He heard Stephanie call his name over his coughing. She hurried over to his side, sitting on the edge of his bed and rubbing his back. His coughing eventually subsided, and he looked up at Stephanie with bleary eyes.

“Steph’nie?” Stephanie continued to rub his back. She grabbed a tissue with her free hand and held it over his nose.

“Blow.” Dick giggled but did as she commanded. Stephanie quickly threw the used tissue away and smiled down at the boy. “Are you hungry, Dickie? Alfred made you some soup.”

Dick thought for a moment before nodding. Stephanie grinned and stood up, ready to go get the food for him, when Jason suddenly barged into the room. Dick yelped and jumped, sending him into another coughing fit.

“Jason!” Stephanie scolded. Jason froze, eyes wide in surprise.

“Oh, uh...oops?” Jason laughed nervously before making his way to Dick’s other side. He hopped onto the bed, ducking as Stephanie swatted at his head.

“Dasonnn!” Dick whined. “You’re gonna get sibk!”

“Nonsense, Dickiebird! I’m healthy as a horse! I’m invincible!” Jason puffed out his chest, ducking again as Stephanie made another attempt to smack his head.

“Be careful, Jason! He’s sick! He doesn’t need you to rile him up!” Dick looked exasperated as Stephanie and Jason broke out into an argument, but his eyes lit up as another figure entered his room.

“Timmy!” His shout stopped the fight going on above him as he reached for his older brother. Tim laughed and set the tray he was holding on the nightstand next to the bed. He scooped Dick up, letting the boy rest his head on his shoulder.

“Are these two being mean?” Tim asked teasingly. Dick nodded solemnly, ignoring the “Hey!” that came from said two. Tim laughed and shooed the others away from the bed. Stephanie and Jason stood reluctantly, grumbling to themselves as Tim set Dick back on the bed. “It’s a good thing I got here in time then.”

“Did ya bring Albred’s soub?” Dick asked, looking at the covered tray.

“I sure did.” Tim lifted the lid, revealing Alfred’s famous chicken noodle soup. Dick licked his lips and settled back into bed. Stephanie made sure he was propped up while Jason helped Tim set the tray up on Dick’s bed.

"Fank you!" Dick chirped and dug in.

"Slow down, Dickie. You don't wanna throw up, do you?" Stephanie laughed and started rubbing his back again. Dick nodded, his mouth full of soup, and began to eat slower. He was halfway through the bowl when he started falling asleep again. The three older siblings stifled their laughter as Tim stopped Dick from faceplanting into the bowl. Stephanie eased him back onto the pillows while Jason and Tim removed the tray table. They tucked Dick's blankets around him. When they were done, they stood for a moment, watching the boy as he slept.

"He sure is a cutie." Stephanie noted, cooing at the sleeping boy.

"I guess." Jason, of course, agreed with Stephanie, but he wasn't going to say that out loud.

"Come on, guys." Tim put his hands on their shoulder. He steered them towards the door. "Let's let him sleep. 

A knock on his door brought Damian out of his meditation. "Come in."

"Dami?" Dick trotted into the room and over to Damian's side. He sniffed, clearing his nose a bit. He was starting to feel better but wasn't at 100% just yet. "We're gonna watch a movie. Will you come watch it with me?" Dick peered at him with doe-like eyes.

Damian scowled. He wasn't one for 'family time', but they both knew that Dick's puppy dog face never failed to get Damian to join in. Every time he tried to say no, tears would fill Dick's eyes, and Damian's resolve would crumble. He sighed and stood.

"Fine, but I have to agree to the movie."

Dick cheered and grabbed Damian's hand. "Okay! Can we watch Monster's Inc.? It's a really good movie! Jason says that Cass is like Boo and Alfred's Mike Wazowski and Stephanie is Mike's girlfriend, which is really weird, and he's Sully and you're the grumpy lady! I think you could be Sid though 'cause he's super sneaky like you. 'Cept you're not a bad guy."

Damian glanced down at Dick from the corner of his eye. "Uh huh." He had no idea what Richard was talking about, but he was sure it was an animated movie. It didn't seem to be about princesses at least. "Who does that make Father, Drake, and you?"

"Um..." Dick tapped his chin as they walked down the stairs. "Jason said that Bruce is the evil spider man, but I don't believe that, and Timmy is Sid's sidekick. I don't remember his name. Jason says he could also be the guy that gets shaved and exploded 'cause he had a sock on his back. I'm the yeti!" Dick beamed. Damian definitely had no idea what Richard was talking about now, but the idea of Drake getting shaved made him chuckle.

"Fine. I will watch this movie, but I refuse to be some irritable woman." He'd find a more suitable character for himself—maybe this 'Sid' that Dick was referring to.

"Yay!" Dick tugged Damian into the living room, where the rest of the family had set up with blankets and pillows. Alfred had brought in drinks and popcorn, much to everyone's glee. Dick sat on the couch and yanked on Damian's arm until he sat beside him. Jason sat on Dick's other side, and Tim sat next to Jason. Stephanie and Cass shared the loveseat while Bruce sat in the remaining armchair.

"Dami says we can watch Monster's Inc., but he can't be the grumpy lady." Most of the family stared at him, confused, while Jason smirked. The movie was soon started, and Dick wormed his way under Damian's arm. Damian watched the movie with rapt attention, comparing his father and siblings with Jason's classifications. He glared at Jason when 'his' character came up, but Jason simply grinned at him. He agreed with Dick, he was much more like the Sid character. He thought that Richard should have been Boo, but her lack of speech and the bubbly personality of the yeti justified Cassandra and Richard's character matches.

Dick passed out about halfway through the movie, snoozing peacefully against Damian's side. Had it been anyone else, he probably would have shoved them away, but it was Richard, and Richard got away with just about anything when it came to Damian. When the movie ended, Damian lifted Richard into his arms.

"I will take him to his bed. Good night." He left swiftly, making sure not to jostle his charge. He gently laid the boy down on his bed when he got to his room, making sure to tuck the blankets comfortably around him. He didn't want Richard waking up in the night because he was cold or the blankets were too tight around his body. Damian stared down at the boy for a moment before making his way to the door and shutting off the light. He made sure the nightlight was on and was about to close the door when he stopped and looked back into the room.

"Goodnight, Richard."

Damian shut the door quietly and strode to his room. He still had twenty more minutes of meditation to do before he went out as Shadowbat.

Chapter Text

Dick hated Bruce’s parties. He had to wear a stuffy suit, and people gossiped about him when they didn’t think he could hear them. He was currently hiding under the table with a plate of rolls, listening as the ladies standing at the buffet line blabbed about Bruce Wayne.

“And he took in another child! Ronald or Raymond or something.” The woman sniffed haughtily. “I mean, first he had the bastard child, but I mean, who could be surprised at that. Brucie has had so many women on his arm. I’m surprised he hasn’t had more children. Why take in any other children though? What is the point of keeping them? It can’t be for the publicity if he keeps doing it. Besides, there’s so many better children he could have taken in than the circus beast.” The other woman laughed. Their heels clicked as they walked away

Dick was on the verge of tears. The whole reason why he was hiding under the table was to get away from the stares and whispers that followed him. It seemed that no matter where he went, people were going to say mean things about him.

“Are you okay?” Dick whirled around to find a little girl, about 5 years old, staring at him. She had crawled under the table and was sitting next to him. She had pretty red hair with a purple headband in it and was wearing a sparkling purple dress that poofed out. Her blue eyes watched him worriedly.

“‘M fine.” Dick mumbled and wiped at his eyes.

“No, you’re not.” Her cheeks puffed out as she scowled. She crawled back out for a moment before coming back with a napkin and handing it to him.

“Thanks.” Dick sniffled, and wiped his face with the napkin. He held out his hand. Alfred always said to shake someone’s hand when introducing yourself. “I’m Dick. What’s your name?”

“I’m Barbara.” Barbara shook his hand but didn’t let go. “It’s my first time here. I kept asking Daddy to bring me ‘cause I thought it’d be fun, but this party is boring .” She stuck out her tongue. “Parties are supposed to be fun.”

Dick giggled. “Yeah, Bruce’s parties are really boring. I wish I could leave, but Bruce says I have to stay.”

Barbara’s eyes widened. “Oh! You’re Dick Grayson, aren’t you?”

Dick blushed and looked away, frowning. “Yeah. So?” She was going to treat him differently too. All the kids did when they found out he was Bruce Wayne’s new kid.

“ So those mean ladies were talking about you. Is that why you’re sad?” Barbara frowned. “You shouldn’t listen to them. They’re stupid.”

“That’s not very nice.” Dick mumbled, but he was starting to smile.

“So’s what they said.” Barbara picked up one of the rolls and threw it at him. “Now, I’m bored, so let’s have fun.”

“Did somebody say fun?” Jason poked his head under the table, grinning. “Hey, Dickie! Did you make a friend?”

“Hi, Jay.” Dick smiled, but it was more subdued than his usual one. He gestured to the girl. “This is Barbara.”

“Hiya, Barbara!” Jason beamed, a wicked gleam in his eye. “I heard that you’re bored! I say we ditch this snorefest!”

Dick frowned. “But Bruce said we have to stay.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “It’s not like we’re gonna leave the Manor. Timmy managed to sneak us away and now we’re setting up a pillow fort in the living room. Cass went off to make popcorn. I’m here to find you and steal dessert.”

“I like pillow forts!” Barbara grinned, eyes wide in excitement. She grabbed Dick’s hand and pulled. “Come on, Dick!”

Dick giggled and followed, quickly standing beside Jason. Jason handed him and Barbara a plate.

“Here. Fill this with as many cookies and cakes as you can. We’re gonna have our own party.” Dick and Barbara quickly did as he said, piling their plates high with food. The three of them headed for the exit, skirting their way around the guests. Some of the adults glanced at them but quickly ignored them and went back to their conversation. The three children trotted into the living room, where half a pillow fort was already built. Barbara set her plate down and gleefully made her way to the pile of pillows, intent on helping to finish make the fort.

Tim looked up from where he was gathering DVDs. “Who’s this?”

“ I’m Barbara.” Barbara raised her nose at him and sniffed. She found it rude that he didn’t directly ask her for her name. Tim stifled a laugh.

“Okay, Barbara. I’m Tim. Do you like Disney movies?” Tim held up some movies. Barbara’s eyes lit up before narrowing in suspicion.

“Do you have Little Mermaid? It’s my favorite ‘cause Ariel has red hair like me.”

“We sure do.” Tim held up the movie, letting out a chuckle at Barbara’s excited gasp.

“That’s Cass’s favorite movie.” Dick put his plate down and helped Barbara to build the fort. Jason joined them. “It’s ‘cause she doesn’t talk a lot, like Ariel. She also likes Mulan.”

Cass walked in at that moment with the popcorn, which Jason went to grab from her. Cass laughed and ruffled his hair. She noticed there was another person in the room and looked at her curiously.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Barbara.” Said girl puffed her chest out proudly and grabbed Dick’s hand. “Dick’s my friend.”

Cass nodded and smiled at the girl. She made her way to the pillow fort, which was just about done, and helped to put the last few blankets in place. They all crawled inside and settled the food in front of them.

Dick looked around, his eyebrows furrowed. “Hey, why aren’t Dami and Stephanie here?”

Jason scoffed. “‘Cause they’re adults, and they’re at the adult party. This is the kids and teens party.” Dick nodded seriously. It made total sense to him.

The four kids and teens stayed there for hours, devouring the food as they made their way through Disney movies. Barbara and Dick were starting to fall asleep when a startled yell jerked them awake.

“Barbara? Honey, where are you?” The door burst open, revealing Bruce, Commissioner Gordon, and a few cops. The Commissioner sighed in relief when he saw the group.

“Daddy!” Barbara launched herself toward her father. “Look, Daddy! I made friends!”

Commissioner Gordon hugged his daughter tightly, glad that she was safe. He turned to Bruce and the cops. “You can call off the search now. I’m sorry to have disturbed your party, Mr. Wayne.”

“Nonsense.” Bruce waved him off as the cops left. “You didn’t know where your daughter was. I know how it is.” He eyed his kids knowingly. “What I want to know is why you guys left the party.”

“‘Cause it’s sooo boring!” Jason whined. “So we had our own!”

“Yeah, Daddy!” Barbara pulled back to look at her father. “We made a fort and watched movies and ate food and it was really fun! Can we do it again?”

“Not tonight, you can’t. We’re going home.” The Commissioner turned to Bruce again. “Thank so much again, Mr. Wayne.”

“It was my pleasure.” Bruce smiled.

“Can Barbara come over and play again?” Dick asked, eyes pleading. He scampered over to his dad and wrapped his arms around his leg.

Bruce laid a hand on Dick’s shoulder. “Only if Commissioner Gordon says it’s okay.”

Jim hesitated. His daughter was young, just out of toddlerhood, and the youngest in the Wayne household was three years older than her. His wife did say that Barbara needed friends though, and it looked like she had been having fun tonight. He looked down at his daughter’s pleading eyes and sighed. Barbara cheered, knowing she had won.

“Just tell me when you leave next time, okay Barbara?” Barbara nodded quickly. Jim hefted her up higher in his arms. “Say goodbye to your friends, Barbara.”

Barbara turned and waved. “Bye bye!”

Dick grinned and waved back. “Bye!”

The Commissioner and his daughter left, leaving the Waynes alone.

"I'm tired." Dick yawned. He held his arms out to be picked up, which Bruce granted.

"It's time for you to go to bed." Dick nodded slowly and laid his head on Bruce's shoulder, closing his eyes. "Goodnight, everyone."

Bruce carried Dick to his bedroom. He helped the boy out of his suit and into his pajamas and tucked him into bed. He smiled down at the boy and ran a hand through Dick's hair.

"Goodnight, chum."

"Night, Bruce." Dick snuggled into the blankets, closing his eyes. They suddenly snapped open. "Bruce! I forgot to tell you!"

"What is it?" He looked at Dick, amused as the boy vibrated with excitement.

"Barbara has really pretty hair! Doesn't she? It's really red!"

Bruce chuckled. "Yes, it is. Is that all?"

"Yeah." Dick smiled. "Night, Bruce."

"Goodnight, Dick." Bruce turned off the light and closed the door. Suddenly, he froze, any amusement he felt sliding off his face. Dick had called Barbara pretty—well, he called her hair pretty. Was that the same thing for children? Did Dick have a crush on the girl? Bruce shook his head. No, that was ridiculous. Dick was only 8-years-old. He couldn't have a crush on the girl...

...could he?

Chapter Text

“This is ridiculous.” 17-year-old Damian scowled in his oversized costume. The baby in his arms merely giggled.

“At least you’re a teenager.” 8-year-old Drake pouted up at him.

“Yeah.” 11-year-old Brown hefted the sleeping toddler in her arms more securely onto her shoulder. “I don’t wanna go through puberty again. Once sucked enough.”

“Yes.” Cain agreed as she petted 4-year-old Jason’s hair.

“We should probably call Batman. I don’t think we’ll be able to get back on our own.” Tim looked around the alley they were in, curling in on himself. He subconsciously stepped closer to Damian and gripped his cape. Rationally, Tim knew there was nothing to be afraid of—it was just a bunch of shadows—but his overactive child’s mind came up with all sorts of monsters that could be hiding in the dark.

“-tt- Fine.” Damian’s eyes widened in surprise, as did Stephanie and Tim’s. He hadn’t made that sound in a long time, finally overcoming the habit at the age of 19. It seemed that their minds were reverting to act as they did at that age. Damian hoped that their memories would not regress as well. Dealing with everyone, including himself, would be a nightmare.

The baby in his arms cooed at him, bringing him out of his thoughts. Damian shook his head and brought a hand to his ear. “Batman? We need some assistance.”

Bruce frowned at his children. Damian was frowning right back, while Stephanie was smiling at him. Cass was holding Stephanie’s hand and watching Bruce silently. Tim seemed to be hiding behind Damian—Tim had once mentioned he had been an extremely shy child, which had thankfully mostly gone by the time he had come to the Manor. Jason was pouting up at him from Damian’s other side, but that may have been because he had been denied when he asked to hold the baby in Damian’s arms.

The baby.

It was one thing to take care of a teenager and children, even one as young as Jason was now, but Bruce had never had to look after a baby. The thought terrified him. What if he accidentally hurt Dick? How often was a baby supposed to be fed? Changed? Bruce shuddered at the thought.

“We’ll get this figured out as soon as possible. The results for the blood tests should be ready soon. Whatever was in Poison Ivy’s plants that did this should be detectable.”

“I wanna hold the baby.” Jason crossed his arms and tried to glare at Bruce, but it came out as more of a pout on his cherubic face.

“What if Damian helps you hold the baby?” Stephanie suggested.

“Okay!” Jason reached up, making grabby hands up at Damian.

As Damian helped Jason hold Dick, Bruce pondered their actions. They seemed to be devolving into how they acted at the age they were currently at. Damian had already tutted three times, and Stephanie seemed to be bouncing with energy. Bruce was a bit worried about Cass. Her body was stiff, eyes darting around the room, as she gripped Stephanie’s hand. Tim, of course, was more timid, jumping every time some raised their voice even a little bit. Jason was certainly crankier, and Dick, if possible, was more bubbly. He hoped their memories remained intact. It would be impossible to handle them if Damian was the only one who knew him.

“I’ve taken the liberty of retrieving your old clothes and putting them in the boys’ rooms.” Bruce nearly jumped as Alfred spoke next to him. He didn’t even hear the man come in. “I’ve also bought clothes for the girls. I did not think they wanted to wear any of Master Jason’s clothes.”

“You got that right, Alfred.” Stephanie grinned at the butler and tugged at Cass’s hand. “Come on, Cass. Let’s get changed.”

“Allow me to dress Master Dick.” Alfred took Dick from Damian, who looked relieved. There were many things Damian would do for Richard, but changing diapers was not one of them. “If you could help Master Jason into his clothes, it would be much appreciated.”

“I can do it!” Jason pouted.

“I’m sure you can, Master Jason, but I think Master Damian should be there just in case you need help.”

Jason whined but didn’t argue further as Damian led him upstairs. Tim had somehow disappeared, leaving Bruce alone as Alfred walked off. Bruce groaned, rubbing at his head.

This was not going to be easy. He just knew it.

Where did he go wrong?

Dick and Jason were currently bawling. Tim was crammed in a nook behind the bookshelf and would not come out. Cass was waving a knife while Stephanie tried to calm her down. Damian was bleeding from his leg, and he was pissed about it.

And an angry Damian was a dangerous Damian.

Alfred was currently out grocery shopping, which left Bruce alone with the disaster.

All he had done was try to gather the family to watch a movie. A movie would keep everyone calm and together. It was during the movie, though, when everything went to shit.

It all started when Jason began to look confused while watching the film.

“Jason?” Bruce asked worriedly.

“What…?” Jason looked around. He stood and backed away from the group.

“Jason?” Stephanie stood. “Are you okay?”

“Who—Who are you?” Jason’s lip trembled. “Where’s Mommy?”

Stephanie gasped while Damian stood. He approached Jason slowly

“T—Jason, it’s all right. Your mother left you here for us to watch.”

Jason shook his head. “Nuh uh! Mommy don’ know no fancy people like you!”

While Stephanie and Damian tried to calm the boy down, Bruce looked down at Dick, who he was holding in his arms. Any intelligence he had seen in the baby’s eyes before was gone. Now, Dick was staring at him curiously as he sucked on his fist. He pulled it out of his mouth with a pop and waved, grinning. “Bah!”

Bruce looked around, suddenly worried. “Tim?” Tim had disappeared. “Damian, where’s Tim?”

Damian left Stephanie to calm down Jason as he looked around. He noticed a foot disappearing behind the bookshelf and pointed. “There, Father.”

Bruce and Damian approached the bookshelf together and peered behind it. “Tim? Tim, it’s okay. Nobody is going to hurt you.”

Tim had tears in his eyes as he shook his head. Damian tried to reach in, but his arms were too short, and he and Bruce were too big to climb in themselves. They turned to Cass to ask for her help, but she was also gone. Bruce panicked.

“‘M gonna call the po-lice!” Jason shrieked. Tim jumped, and then suddenly Damian yelled, and there was a knife sticking out of his leg. Cass leapt into the room, waving the knife in front of her. Damian yanked the knife out of his leg and glared at Cass. Jason saw the bloody knife and the knife-wielding Cass and screamed. This caused Dick to start sobbing.

Now, Bruce was struggling with a wailing baby, a freaked out toddler, a terrified child he couldn’t reach, and a girl who was armed and believed she was an assassin. Luckily for him, Stephanie and Damian still seemed to be themselves, but he didn’t dare to hope that would last very long.

First things first: deal with the child with the weapon.

Bruce handed Dick to Damian and stood in front of Cass, putting on his Batman aura. He glared and spoke in his most commanding voice. “Cassandra, stand down.”

The two stared at each other for what felt like minutes before Cass slowly put the knife down. He pointed to the corner. “Stand over there and wait until I call for you.” Cass moved to the corner and stood, watching him intensely.

Next was calming down Jason and Dick.

Bruce had to calm Jason down first; Dick would only stop crying once Jason stopped. He crouched in front of Jason slowly, holding his hands out to show that he meant no harm. He was about to tell a terrible lie, but it was the only way to get Jason to trust him...at least he hoped.

“Jason, your mother is in rehab. You know what that is, right?”

Jason paused in his crying and looked up at Bruce. He slowly nodded. “Yeah. She back there?”

“Yes, Jason. And she wants you to stay here while she gets better.”

Jason narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Why didn’ she tell me she was leavin’ me here? Why here? Mommy allllways leaves me with Mrs. Hooper.”

“Everyone thought it would be better if you stayed with some other children. That way, you could maybe make some friends.”

Jason was silent, eyes searching Bruce—even at that age Jason didn’t seem to trust anyone. Finally, he nodded. “‘Kay, but no funny business, mister.”

Bruce couldn’t help but smirk. “No funny business.”

Meanwhile, Dick was still crying. Damian was trying to calm him down, but Damian had a hard enough time taking care of child Dick. Trying to appease an infant Dick was practically impossible (only practically because Damian would never admit defeat).

“Give him to me.” Stephanie held her hands out. Damian handed the baby to her. Dick was a little heavy for her, so she moved to the couch. There, she slowly rocked him and hushed him until Dick finally fell silent. Apparently, the crying had worn him out because he was soon asleep.

Stephanie looked up at them. “You need help with the other one?”

“Please.” Bruce looked almost desperate at this point. Stephanie set the baby down on the couch and hopped off, making her way over to the bookshelf. She peeked behind it and smiled as kindly as she could.

“Hey there...Did all the noise and strangers scare you?” Tim looked up slowly and nodded, hunching in on himself.

“It’s okay to come out.” Stephanie held out her hand. “I promise. If anything does happen, I’ll protect you.”

Tim stared at her hand, unsure. Slowly—agonizingly slow—Tim reached out and took her hand. He squeezed out of the bookshelf and stood next to Stephanie, gripping her hand.

Bruce sighed in relief. “Thank you, Stephanie.”

“No problem.” She grinned nervously. “So, uh, you’re Bruce Wayne, right? Can you tell me why I’m here?”

Bruce’s heart sank at the unfamiliarity in her eyes. “It’s...It’s a long story.”

“Father?” Bruce turned to Damian. “Why do I have a knife wound in my leg?”

Bruce sighed.

Chapter Text

“You took in children?” Damian looked furious.

“I did.” Bruce kept his face emotionless. He had already had this talk with Damian. He wasn’t going to fight about it again.

“And we have been de-aged by seven years, making me the only one that actually knows you.”

“That is correct.” Bruce nodded. “I’m going to need your help. They all come from...unique backgrounds. Cassandra’s is at least somewhat close to yours. She’s been trained as an assassin, but she has not been taught to speak.”

“And all these children fight as your partners?”

“Stephanie is actually supposed to be eighteen, so she’s not a child anymore, but yes. Along with you.”

Damian eyed the baby in Bruce’s arms, who was playing with the buttons on the man’s shirt. “I will not care for the infant.”

“I won’t ask you to unless I really need you to.” Bruce adjusted the baby. “I’ve got four kids and a baby who have no idea who I am or what’s going on. I can’t tell them the truth of why they’re here because they definitely wouldn’t believe me, except maybe Stephanie. She’s always been open-minded.”

“I’m not good with children, Father.” Anyone who didn’t know Damian would say he looked angry, but Bruce had learned his son’s tells, and he knew that Damian was actually somewhat nervous.

“I know, Damian. I promise you though, you get a lot better at it when you’re older. You just need to try.”

“I will do my best, as I always do.” Damian glanced away.

“I couldn’t ask for anything more.” Bruce smiled.

“So Mr. Wayne says you don’t talk.” Stephanie had gathered all the children into a circle, trying to keep everyone calm. She still wasn’t sure why she or the other children were here, but it definitely beat being at home with her crappy dad. She was kind of worried about Cass, who scared everyone with her attack, so Stephanie tried to befriend the girl. Maybe she could keep the girl from attacking anyone else. She could maybe even get the girl to lighten up.

Cass simply nodded, eyes flitting around the room. She always seemed to be doing that, as if she was calculating potential weapons and escape routes.

“Hm…” Stephanie frowned before brightening. “Hey, do you want me to teach you? That could be fun, right? And you gotta know how to talk in the real world.” She looked at the other two children in the circle.

Tim was content to read the books he was provided, but he would look at Stephanie in awe every so often. The girl was so outgoing and social and everything else that Tim wasn’t. When she addressed him and Jason, Tim froze.

“Sounds kinda boring but okay.” Jason pouted.

All eyes turned to Tim, who slowly nodded. “Okay.”

“Cool!” Stephanie beamed. Before they could get started, though, Bruce and Damian walked in with the baby. Bruce crouched down to get eye-level with his kids while Damian just scowled.

“I have to go to work, so Damian is going to watch all of you. He is in charge, so you all need to listen to him. Understand?” Bruce made sure to look every child in the eye, especially Cass and Jason. They all nodded. Bruce stood up and handed Dick to Damian, whose face twisted in disgust.

“Father—”

“I know, Damian. I’m sorry. I have to go to work, though, and Alfred has to come with me. I promise to be back as soon as I can.”

“Make it quick.” The children watched Bruce leave. Stephanie smiled up at Damian.

“Hi! We’re gonna teach Cass how to talk! Wanna help?”

Damian narrowed his eyes at Stephanie. According to Father, this was the future first Batgirl. He didn’t see what was so special about her. However, Father said he needed to be ‘nice’ to the children. Besides, maybe he could dump the infant on the girl. She seemed proficient enough to take care of it. He looked down at said infant, who gurgled at him. Damian scowled at it.

“Fine.” Damian sat down and shoved the baby into Stephanie’s arms. “Take this.”

“Hey!” Stephanie glared. “That’s not nice! And he’s not a ‘this’! He’s a him!”

Dick’s lip wobbled, and he began to sob.

“Way to go, stupid!” Stephanie tried to rock the baby while Damian fumed.

“It was not my fault. You were the one who shouted.” Damian sniffed as he turned his head away from her.

“You’re mean…” Jason pouted at Damian.

“I am not here to play House.” Damian sneered. “I am here because my father believes you all need to be watched and kept from leaving.

“And someone needs to watch the baby.” Stephanie glared at Damian. “I don’t think you’re the right person though. Do you even know how to take care of a baby?”

“Of course.” No, he did not. His mother did not see the need to teach him. He had been training to be a warrior, not a caretaker. “But I will not stoop so low to care for one. That is your job.”

Stephanie stared at him. “I’m eleven. I don’t know how to take care of a baby!”

“You seem to be doing fine on your own.” He nodded to Dick, who was slowly calming down.

“Yeah, I can comfort him, but I don’t know how to feed him or—or change him!” Stephanie shoved the baby back into Damian’s arms. “You take care of him! You’re the oldest here!”

“That does not mean I have to take care of him.” Damian pushed the baby back into Stephanie’s arms.

“Mr. Wayne said that you’re in charge, so you have to take charge of him!” Stephanie dropped the baby into Damian’s arms again.

“...While your logic is objectively sound, that does not mean I will lower myself to caring for an infant. That is your job.” Damian shoved the baby back into Stephanie’s arms, except Stephanie’s arms were beginning to get tired, and the baby slipped. Dick hit the floor with a thump. There was a beat of horrified and tense silence, and then the baby began to wail.

“Oh my god! Oh my god! We dropped the baby!” Stephanie burst into tears.

“You dropped him.” Damian glared at her, then glared at the baby. Dick only cried harder.

“Make it stop!” Jason had his hands over his ears while Tim’s lip wobbled. Tim didn’t like it when people yelled, and the wailing from the baby wasn’t helping. While no one was looking, Tim crawled away to go hide.

Cass, meanwhile, was staring at the baby in fascination. She had no idea a person, especially someone so small, could make so much noise. She walked over to the baby and peered down at it, tilting her head to the side in curiosity. Dick’s cries subsided as he noticed the girl.  He copied her head tilt.

Jason, not hearing the terrible noise anymore, took his hands off his ears and looked up. Noticing the two children staring at each other, he giggled, finding the image hilarious. This caused Stephanie and Damian to stop arguing. When they saw the pair, Stephanie began to giggle as well while Damian frowned.

“Thanks, Cass.” Stephanie smiled at the girl. She picked up Dick and rocked him. “I’m so sorry that Damian and I dropped you. I promise we’ll never do it again.” Damian snorted, causing Stephanie to glare at him. Suddenly, she frowned and looked around.

“Hey, where’s Tim?”

Tim was lost.

He had been trying to find a hiding spot, but somehow he had gotten turned around, and now he had no idea where he was. Tears filled his eyes as he wandered the halls. Thoughts of being lost forever—never being found—plagued his mind. He was never going to go home. Tim stopped and curled up into a ball on the floor. He cried.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump. He whipped his head back and saw Cass staring down at him. He was slightly unnerved by her silence and piercing gaze. He held his breath, waiting to see what she would do.

Cass simply removed her hand from his shoulder and held it out to him. Tim eyed her hand warily. He knew what she was capable of and wasn’t sure what she was going to do with him. He decided to take her hand and let her lead him, thinking that it was better to risk whatever Cass might do to him than to stay lost forever.

Cass ended up leading him back to the living room, where Stephanie was panicking. When she saw Tim, she handed the baby to Damian and launched herself at Tim, wrapping her arms around him.

“There you are! Why’d you leave? I was so worried!”

Stephanie’s words confused Tim. She was...worried about him?

“Why?” Tim asked softly—Stephanie almost didn’t hear it.

She looked at him, confused. “‘Cause you’re my friend.”

Tim stared at her, unsure what to think. He had never really had any friends before. Sure, there were some kids he sat with at lunch, but that was just to keep each other from sitting alone. They weren’t actually friends. But now, this girl says that he was her friend. He didn't understand why.

"Why?"

Stephanie's confusion grew. "Well, I think you're nice. You're kinda shy, but that's not bad." Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Maybe we should teach you to talk more too!"

Now it was Tim's turn to be confused. "But I know how to talk."

"But we can teach you to talk more. Maybe." Stephanie beamed. "Please?"

Tim bit his lip. "O-Okay."

"Yes! Come on!"

When Bruce came home, he heard talking going on in the living room. He smiled, happy that the children were finally getting along. He walked slowly to the living room. He couldn't quite hear what was being said, but it sounded like Stephanie was talking the most. He found his children all sitting in a circle in front of the TV. Stephanie saw him and gasped, shouting excitedly.

"Mr. Wayne! Look! Look! We're teaching Cass to talk!" She nudged Cass. "Say something!"

Bruce couldn't help but smile, finding the whole thing sweet. Having them get along like this was more than he could hope for—

"Fuck."

...

"Damian!"

Chapter Text

Bruce was in the Batcave, working on the cure for the kids. He would have liked to have Damian with him, but he felt that it was better for Damian to watch the kids. Sure, Stephanie was responsible enough, but she was only eleven. Besides, the kids were bound to get into trouble, and Damian would be able to rein them in. Damian wasn’t exactly happy about being ‘stuck’ with the children again, but he understood the importance of keeping an eye on them.

“Master Bruce.” Bruce looked up from his work to Alfred, who stood beside him. “I would recommend taking a break—maybe spend some time with the children.”

“I can’t.” Bruce looked back down at the chemicals he was mixing. “They need me to create an antidote.”

“I’m sure they’d understand if you took a break. Besides, you should enjoy while they are this age. You won’t get another opportunity.”

“Alfred…” Had Bruce thought of that? Of course he had. The only one of those children that he had actually known at their age was Damian. He had not only thought of getting to know his children at their current age, but for a moment, he had considered keeping them as they were. He could give them the chance to have a normal—well, more normal—childhood than the one they originally had. But he couldn’t do that to them, especially Dick. They deserved to go back to their true ages.

“Sir, as much as I want the children back to their own ages, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Get to know them. The antidote can wait a few hours.” At least it was summer vacation, so none of the children had to go to school.

“It’s not fair to them for me to wait, Alfred.”

“Master Bruce, you have been down here for hours. At least come up for lunch.” Alfred glared at Bruce.

At the mention of lunch, Bruce’s stomach growled. He held Alfred’s gaze for a moment before dropping his shoulders. He had never been able to win an argument against Alfred. Bruce looked back down at his work, narrowing his eyes. He heaved a sigh and stood.

“Fine, but I’m only staying for lunch. Then, I’m coming back down here.”

“Of course, sir.”

It was interesting to see that the children still had the same mannerisms as their older selves during lunch. Jason stuffed his face, no matter how much Alfred asked him not to. Cass, Tim, and Damian ate neatly and quietly. Stephanie chatted while eating, occasionally making faces and cooing at Dick. Dick, of course, babbled as he ate. He shrieked with delight at the faces Stephanie made and generally made a mess of himself. He was somewhat neater as a child, but Alfred had yet to get the child to successfully eat without getting food somewhere other than his mouth.

“Bah dah!” Dick used one hand to feed himself cereal while the other hand had a tight grip on one of Dick’s stuffed animals—not Zitka since Alfred didn’t want to risk anything happening to the elephant while Dick was a baby.

Soon, lunch was finished. Bruce stood, ready to go back to the Batcave, when Dick was suddenly in his arms.

“Master Bruce, why don’t you give Master Damian a break and watch the children?”

“But Alfred—”

Alfred just slightly narrowed his eyes at Bruce. “Master Damian has been watching the children for hours. I am sure that he would like a break.”

“I would.” Damian was extremely wound up from watching them, and it took everything he had not to snap at them whenever one of them annoyed him. “I need to meditate.” Damian left before Bruce could argue.

“Alfred, I need to work on the antidote.”

“They can wait a few hours. Besides, they should not be unsupervised.” Alfred looked at him pointedly.

“But—”

“No ‘buts’, Master Bruce.” Alfred gathered everyone’s plates and left the room, leaving Bruce alone with the children. Bruce didn’t move, unsure of what to do. Dick was the youngest child he had ever had to take care of. He wasn’t really sure what to do with these children, especially Jason and Dick.

“Hmm.” Bruce looked around at the children—looked down at the baby. “What...do you all like to do?”

“Play!” Stephanie and Jason’s answers were obvious.

“Read.” Tim’s quiet answer was also expected.

Dick gurgled, which wasn’t very surprising either.

“...Fuck?” Well, Bruce tried. He really did, but Bruce gave up any hope with these kids at Cass’s answer.

“I have an idea, but you have to listen to everything I say. If you break any of my rules, the fun will be over.”

The children’s eyes widened at the prospect of doing something fun—the mystery of it adding to the appeal.

“We’ll listen!” Stephanie exclaimed, bouncing excitedly. “What is it?”

Bruce smirked. “Follow me.”

As long as everything went according to plan, it was the best of both worlds. Bruce brought the children down to the Batcave, sending them into silent awe for almost a minute. He made sure to keep them away from the weapons and vehicles and kept an eye on them while he worked on the antidote. Unfortunately, he could only work with one arm. He was nervous about leaving Dick with the children, and he didn’t have anywhere to safely put Dick down, so he was forced to hold him in one arm.

“Father?” Bruce looked over at Damian, who had just exited the elevator. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” He wasn’t expecting Damian to come down here, though maybe he should have. The boy did like to train, a trait that he still had as an adult.

“-tt- I was going to practice with the training dummies.” Damian narrowed his eyes. “Does Pennyworth know you’re down here?”

“No, and we’re going to keep it that way.” If Alfred knew that he had brought the children down here, there would be trouble. “I could use your help with the antidote though.”

Damian made his way over to his father and looked at the chemicals. He picked up a beaker and narrowed his eyes at the liquid inside. “I’ve mostly worked with fear gas and Joker gas antidotes. Once or twice, I’ve made antidotes for Poison Ivy’s sex pollen.” He peered at the formulas on the computer screen. I haven’t seen anything like this before, but I’ll do my best as I always do.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything more from you.” Bruce shifted the baby in his arms to better secure him before going back to working on the antidote.

It was about four hours later when the antidote was finally finished. In that time, he had had to reprimand Jason for trying to wander off multiple times and warn Cass to stay away from the weapons. Tim and Stephanie thankfully stayed put, though he often had to answer questions from Tim when he felt brave enough to ask them. The antidote was finally done though, which meant Bruce could get his children back. He missed them, no matter how infuriating they could get sometimes.

“I need everyone to come over here. Please.” As the children scampered over to Bruce, he suddenly had a thought. He turned to Damian, murmuring. “Could you go get everyone’s costumes? It'll make this much easier."

Damian did as he was asked and brought the costumes over to the children. Stephanie noticed the costumes an gasped. "Are we going to play dress-up?!"

"...Yes. You're all going to play dress-up." Bruce put a smile on his face as he handed a costume to each child. Cass and Tim looked suspicious, but Stephanie and Jason were excited. Bruce changed Dick into his Robin costume and looked at Damian. "If you don't mind, you and Dick will be going last. It'll make it easier." Damian nodded. Bruce lowered his voice. "I'm going to need you to prepare to grab Cass. She's going first."

Bruce kneeled and looked around at the children. "You guys don't remember this, but I took blood samples while you napped yesterday. You're all sick, but I have something that'll make you better."

Immediately, all the children looked suspicious. Bruce knew they were about to run, so he grabbed Stephanie and shouted to Damian. "Now!"

Stephanie screamed, letting out a cry as Bruce injected her with the antidote. Her body went limp, so Bruce set her down gently and made his way over to Damian, who was struggling slightly with Cass.

"I would suggest hurrying, Father." Damian growled, gritting his teeth. Bruce quickly stuck another needle in Cass and pressed down on the plunger. She, too, went limp.

Tim and Jason had run off, with Jason screaming. This caused Dick to cry. Exasperated, Bruce pressed a needle into Dick and set him down on Stephanie's stomach (He didn't feel comfortable laying a baby on the stone ground). Bruce and Damian glanced at each other for a moment. They nodded and took off for a child. Damian went after Tim while Bruce chased after Jason.

Tim was proficient at hiding, but Damian knew this cave better than him and was able to find him easily. He dragged the child back to the lab and grabbed a needle, roughly pressing the needle into Tim's arm. Damian let Tim drop to the floor and watched as his father plucked a running Jason from the ground. Jason shrieked, but quickly died down as the antidote was injected into his body. Bruce carried Jason over to the lab. He frowned at Damian when he noticed Tim slumped on the ground. Damian simply shrugged, not caring.

Bruce set Jason on the ground and walked over to Damian. They stared at each other for a moment before Damian held out his arm. Bruce took his arm and injected the antidote into it. Damian slumped, but Bruce caught him and gently laid him on the ground.

Bruce probably should have put them in their beds instead of leaving them on the ground, but it was too late to do anything now. He watched them slowly grow, adjusting their costume whenever it was shifted out of place.

Stephanie was the first to wake up, as expected. She groaned and sat up, unconsciously grabbing Dick so that he did not slide off her body. She looked around, confused, and cracked her neck. She noticed Bruce and stood shakily, adjusting Dick so that his head was against her shoulder.

"What the hell happened?" She rubbed at her head. "What was I doing on the ground?"

"I'll explain when the others are awake." Stephanie looked around and noticed the others. Her eyebrows shot up.

Cass was the next to awaken. Then Tim. Then Jason. All three groaned and sat up within moments of each other.

"Did the Batmobile run over me?" Jason whined. Bruce, Stephanie, and Tim snorted.

Dick moaned from Stephanie's arms. "Tati?"

"He's here, Little Bird." Stephanie ran a hand through his hair. "And everyone else too."

Dick blinked up at Stephanie before laying his head back on her shoulder. "'M tired. And achy."

"I think we all are." Stephanie held back a giggle. She looked up at Bruce. "So, bossman. What happened?"

"Isn't it obvious?" All heads snapped over to Damian, who was just now sitting up. "We should all remember being de-aged. Our minds must have regressed as well."

Bruce nodded. "You all forgot being older. It was...chaotic at first."

"Well, we're all back now." Stephanie smiled.

"I wanna hear what happened. Did Cass try to stab anyone?" Jason looked between Bruce and Cass.

"She stabbed Damian." Bruce turned. "Now, come on. I'm sure that Alfred is wondering where everyone is."

"Is it dinner time?" Jason asked. "I'm hungry!"

"You're always hungry." Tim said, rolling his eyes. Jason stuck his tongue out at him and ran off to the elevator. Dick climbed onto Stephanie's shoulders and asked her to run, to which she complied. Cass and Tim chased after them, wanting to get on the elevator before it left. Damian glanced at Bruce, who nodded. Damian nodded back and quickly walked after the others, leaving Bruce alone in the Batcave. He smiled and began walking to the elevator.

It was good to have his children back.

Chapter Text

“Jay! Jay! Play with me!” Dick tugged on his older brother’s arm eagerly toward the jungle gym. Jason grinned and laughed, letting the younger boy pull him along. He had taken to being an older brother quickly and happily. Until Dick had come along, he had been the youngest at 11 years old, but now he got to be a big brother just like Tim and Damian. It’s not that he didn’t like being a younger brother, but it was nice not being the youngest.

Tim and Stephanie watched from a picnic table where they were both doing homework. Dick and Jason had begged to be taken to the park. Bruce was at work, Damian had already gone off to hang out with Colin, and Cass was on a field trip, leaving Tim and Stephanie to take them—not that they minded.

Jason and Dick climbed around on the jungle gym for a bit, where Dick showed off his flexibility by bending around the bars. Then, they went down the slides over and over. At one point, the even raced up the slide a couple times. The boys then ran to the swings, where Dick showed off his skills by flipping off the swings. They eventually got bored with that and began to play Tag.

Tim took his eyes off them for a minute to work out a problem when he felt a tap on his leg. He looked down to see Dick beaming up at him.

“Tag! You’re it!”

“Dick, I have homework to do. I can’t—”

Stephanie stole Tim’s book and stood up. “If you wanna do your homework, Tim, you’re gonna have to tag someone!” She ran off with Dick quickly following.

Tim sighed, staring down at the table as if to ask ‘why me?’. He noticed Dick watching him, his smile slowly falling as Tim had yet to stand, and sighed again. He climbed out of the picnic table and immediately sprinted after Stephanie, trying to catch her by surprise (and get his book back). Stephanie noticed and shrieked. She ran off with Dick not far behind.

Dick, seeing that Tim was focused on Stephanie, veered away from her and towards Jason, who was watching everyone with a grin on his face. When he saw Dick running towards him, his grin widened. He gestured to Dick to keep quiet and led him to the playground. They climbed inside one of the tunnels and crouched, watching as Tim continued to chase Stephanie.

“Why aren't we playing with them?” Dick whispered.

“‘Cause this is much more fun. Let's see how long it takes them to notice that we’re gone. Then, we’ll be playing hide n’ seek when they try to find us.”

“Ohhh…” Dick nodded.

“It'll probably be awhile though.” Jason said, watching as Stephanie put more distance between her and Tim. “Tim’s a slowpoke compared to the rest of us.”

“He is the smartest though.”

Jason snorted. “Maybe you think so. I think Damian thinks he's the smartest. And I think I'm the smartest.”

“Why’s that?” Dick was confused. Dick thought that all of his brothers were smart, but Timmy was obviously the smartest to him. Timmy was really good with computers and was taking advanced classes. He read a lot more than the others too.

“Damian thinks he’s better at everything, which he’s wrong ‘cause no one is better at everything . I’m smarter ‘cause I got street smarts. They’re the most important smarts.”

“Why’s that?” Dick asked as he watched Stephanie taunt Tim by waving his book at him. He heard Tim yell for Stephanie to give it back, but she just ran off.

“‘Cause you need them to survive on the streets. If you don’t got street smarts, you die. And that’s why I’m the smartest. I survived. If you put Timmy on the streets, he probably wouldn’t—at least at my age he wouldn’t have.”

“Oh…” Dick frowned. Jason didn’t talk about his life before meeting Batman often. “What about Dami?”

“He probably could survive, but not in the way people usually do. Dami’s a loner. He wouldn’t know where to go for food and shelter. He’d be able to get it on his own, sure, but you gotta know people—the right people—if you wanna find better food and shelter.”

Dick nodded, absorbing this information. “I think I get it." 

“Good.” Jason watched as Tim melted into the trees when Stephanie wasn’t looking. When she walked by, looking for him, Tim leapt down and tackled her. He stood and held his book up victoriously. Tim paused and looked around, finally noticing that the two younger children had disappeared. “Looks like they finally noticed that we’re not playing Tag anymore.”

Dick giggled. “Took them a while.”

Jason laughed quietly before shushing Dick. “Now we gotta be quiet so they don’t find us.”

Dick nodded eagerly, putting his hands over his mouth to stifle his giggles.

Meanwhile, Tim and Stephanie were running around in a panic, calling out for Dick and Jason.

“Bruce is gonna murder us.” Stephanie moaned as she searched the bushes.

“Not if Damian gets to us first.” Tim looked around the seemingly empty playground. It was getting late, so all the families had gone home—it was never safe being outdoors at night in Gotham. Tim was really starting to get worried now. Sure, they all knew how to defend themselves, but he would rather not be caught in Gotham at night. His eyes suddenly locked onto the tunnels.

Were those heads that just ducked down? 

Tim made eye contact with Stephanie and subtly gestured to the tunnels. Stephanie smirked, an idea forming in her head. She whispered into Tim’s ear, and a smirk slowly formed on his face. They both walked to the trees and disappeared.

“Jason?” Dick peered out of the the tunnel worriedly. “They’re gone.”

“What?” Jason looked out, but he couldn’t see them. “Where did they go?”

“Did they leave us?” Dick’s lip wobbled. “Did they not want us anymore? ‘Cause we hid from them?”

“Of course not!” Jason wrapped his arm around Dick. “Maybe they’re playing Hide n’ Seek too.”

Dick sniffled and wiped at his nose. “You think so?”

“I’m sure so.” But Jason wasn’t. He had his own insecurities—Damian and Bruce weren’t exactly forthcoming with their emotions, except with Dick. He couldn’t blame Dick though. If Dick had any superpowers, it was the ability to make everyone love him. Jason didn’t have that ability, so sometimes he wondered. 

Jason and Dick peered out of the tunnel again when Tim and Stephanie suddenly popped up on both sides of the tunnel. “Boo!”

Jason and Dick screamed, jumping so high that Jason hit his head on the ceiling.

Dick pouted. “That wasn’t nice!”

Stephanie crawled inside and pulled Dick into her arms. “Well, it wasn’t very nice for you to hide from us.”

“It was Jason’s idea!”

“Hey!” Jason squirmed away as Tim made a grab for him. “You went along with it!”

“Whether or not it was Jason’s idea, we should be getting home.” Tim finally managed to get ahold of Jason and dragged him out of the tunnel. “It’s getting late. I’m sure Alfred’s getting worried.”

“You think he’s gonna take dessert away.” Dick asked worriedly.

“I’m sure he’ll understand.” Stephanie said as she pulled Dick out of the tunnel and walked towards the car. Tim was close behind her with a struggling Jason.

“I can walk on my own!” Jason finally managed to break out of Tim’s arms and landed on his feet. He stuck his tongue out at Tim and ran ahead.

Tim sighed and shook his head while Stephanie and Dick laughed.

"Hurry up!" Jason waved from the car. "I heard Alfred was making chicken tonight! And rolls!"

This only caused Stephanie to laugh harder as Tim joined in. Stephanie and Tim broke into a jog and got into the car, quickly speeding off.

After all, Alfred was making chicken tonight.

Chapter Text

Catwoman swung across the rooftops, waiting for her Bat to come and find her. Their meetings were always entertaining—in more ways than one. Bruce could deny all he wanted, but he flirted with her and enjoyed it.

She was debating robbing a bank to draw him out when she saw a figure on the next rooftop. It was much to small to be her Bat. She hopped over, curious, and saw the smallest of Batman’s children, Robin, peering out at Gotham. He seemed to be searching the rooftops but whirled around when he heard her land behind him.

“Catwoman!” Robin appeared to be both happy and nervous to see her, piquing her curiosity.

“Hello, little bird.” Catwoman smiled at the boy. She had a soft spot for him—more than Bruce’s other children, though that might have been because he was the youngest (and the cutest). “Were you looking for me?”

Robin glanced away and nodded quickly. He seemed to be hiding something behind his back. She quirked an eyebrow but stayed silent. She would let him talk first.

“I—I have something for you.” Robin bit his lip and thrust his present into her hands. She looked down at it cautiously.

...It was a card.

Robin looked down at his feet with a blush. He fiddled with the edge of his cape, wrapping it around his body like a security blanket. “My art teacher wanted everyone to make a Mother’s Day card. I—I tried to tell her that my mom...she…” Robin swallowed and clenched his fists. “The teacher didn't listen. She said it wasn't fair if everyone else had to make one and I didn't. She said I could just throw it away after we were done.”

Selena was silent for a moment. “...So why are you giving this to me?”

Robin turned away. “I didn’t want to throw it away, and you—Bruce and you are really close and you’re nice to me when we aren’t chasing you ‘cause you stole something. You’re like a...um…” He hesitated. “If—If Bruce had to marry someone and they had to become my—my new mom, I’d like it if he married you.” There. He got it out.

Catwoman was frozen. She glanced down at the glittered monstrosity of a card, finally realizing that the messy handwriting said ‘Happy Mother’s Day’, and opened it. Inside was a crude drawing of her and Robin holding hands and smiling. Selena’s chest warmed at the sight.

She looked over at Robin, whose fidgeting had gotten worse as he waited for her reply. “Oh, little bird…”

Catwoman knelt in front of the boy and carefully wrapped her arms around him. It was a little awkward—she wasn’t used to giving affection (at least the kind that didn’t involve her Bat), and the boy had stiffened at her touch. He slowly relaxed, melting into the hug.

Catwoman pulled away slowly and put her hands on his shoulders, making sure to not damage the card she was holding. She looked into the whites of his mask. “Thank you. I love your card.” She couldn’t help but smirk. “And I would also like it if I was the one Bruce married.”

Robin smiled shyly at her. He looked away for a moment, a contemplating look on his face, before he ran in and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He released her and backed up to the edge of the roof, grinning from ear to ear.

“Thank you, Catwoman! Happy Mother’s Day!” He jumped off the roof and grappled away, leaving Selena to watch after him. His delighted laugh caused her to smile as her heart warmed. She waited for him to disappear from her sight before taking off herself. She looked down at the card once more and decided she could take a break from the banks and museums tonight; she had to make sure the card got home safely.

“Happy Mother’s Day, my little bird.” Catwoman took off. She had plans to make with Brucie.

Chapter Text

Dick was happily eating cereal in the dining room when Damian stormed in and sat down roughly in the chair across from him. Dick paused, blinking, and put his spoon down.

“You okay, Dami?”

“I’m fine.” Damian snapped, causing Dick to flinch slightly. He was used to Damian’s anger—that was just who he was—but it still hurt when he was mean sometimes.

“Master Damian.” Alfred reprimanded Damian as he set a mug of black coffee in front of him.

Damian glanced away from both of them. “...I apologize, Richard.”

“S’okay.” Dick tilted his head. “Did something happen? Did you ask Colin to come over and he said no?”

“What?” Damian was snapped out of his thoughts for a moment. “No. It’s none of your concern, Richard.”

Dick puffed his cheeks out. “Is too. You’re upset, and not your usual upset where you’re grumpy all the time and pretend to hate everyone.”

Damian raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

Dick nodded. “Yeah! And you gotta tell me what’s wrong so I can make you feel better.”

Damian sighed. “It’s not something you can make better, Richard.” Damian hesitated and eyed Alfred, waiting for him to leave the room before speaking again. “...My mother contacted me last night.”

Dick’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Your mami contacted you? Is—Is that a bad thing?”

Damian paused, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as well. “Of course it is. Didn’t anyone tell you about her?”

Dick shook his head. He knew that Damian had come to the Manor when he was ten years old, surprising Bruce. He had never been told why though. He had always assumed that Damian’s mami was dead since no one ever talked about her. He never exactly asked though, not wanting to pry into the other’s lives. Parents were always a taboo subject in the Batfamily.

Damian pursed his lips and looked away. “Did anyone tell you who the League of Assassins were?”

Dick nodded. “Yeah. Bruce was teaching me about bad guys and mentioned them. He said that…” Dick’s face screwed up in thought for a moment. “...Ra’s al Ghul was the leader? Is that right?”

Damian nodded back at him. “Yes. Ra’s has a daughter named Talia...She’s my mother.”

Dick was silent for a moment. “...So your mami was a bad guy like Steph’s tati was?”

Damian scoffed. “Cluemaster was nowhere close to my mother’s level. Cluemaster was an idiot. My mother…” Damian fell silent. Even after fourteen years, six of which they have not spoken, thinking about his mother still caused pain in his heart. He had voluntarily chosen his father over her, but she had chosen the League over him and Bruce. After all these years, it still hurt.

Dick bit his lip. “What did she say?”

“She wants to meet up with me.”

“Did she say why?”

Damian shook his head and clenched his fists under the table. “No, and she refused to take ‘no’ for an answer.”

“Where does she want to meet?”

Damian narrowed his eyes. “Why do you want to know?”

Dick beamed. “‘Cause I’m coming with you, of course.”

Damian stood and grabbed his mug. “No.”

“But Dami!” Dick stood as well and ran after Damian. “I can be there so that you won’t be alone when you see her!” He’d also be there to make sure she didn’t do anything to hurt Damian, but Dick thought that Damian would get mad if he said that.

“No!” Damian whirled around and glared at Dick. “I do not want you anywhere near my mother. She is manipulative and evil. I do not want to think of what she could do to you.”

Dick was a little hurt by Damian’s anger, but he understood. “Okay. I won’t come with. Just—Just be careful, ‘kay?”

Damian nodded. “Of course. I’ll be fine. I would appreciate if you did not tell anyone about this.”

“I won’t!” Damian walked off with his coffee, leaving Dick alone. Dick knew he should tell Bruce about Damian’s mami, but he knew Dami would be mad if he said anything. He couldn’t let Dami deal with his problem alone though. If something happened, Dick would forever feel guilty about not doing anything. So Dick made up his mind.

He was going to follow Damian to his meeting.

Dick was so going to get in trouble for this, but he could always say he was working on his stealth skills.

While Damian had been brooding upstairs, Dick had gathered some trackers and placed them on Damian’s motorcycle and any car of Bruce’s that Dick had seen him drive, making sure there was at least two on each vehicle. Damian was paranoid and would probably search for any bugs or trackers before leaving. He wasn’t sure how Damian was going to get to the meeting, or where he was even going, so he felt it was better to be safe than sorry.

After finishing with that, Dick grabbed some snacks from the kitchen and stuffed them in an extra pouch in his utility belt as he got dressed. He then hid in Rexy and waited.

After a few hours (and some of Alfred’s cookies), Dick was about ready to fall asleep when one of his trackers was suddenly activated. He sat up in Rexy’s mouth and rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t heard Dami come into the Cave which meant that he had taken one of Bruce’s cars. Dick mentally patted himself on the back and jumped down from Rexy. He raced over to his motorcycle, which he was totally not allowed to drive without supervision but this was an emergency, and hopped on, racing out of the Batcave.

It seemed Damian had found one of the trackers in the car, but not the one in the Shadowbat toy, which had happened to be in the car from their last trip (Dick had wondered where that toy had gone).

It seemed that Damian was heading for the Gotham Docks. Dick decided to take the long way there so that he didn’t accidentally run into Damian.

By the time he got to the docks, Damian had already parked and was standing in front of a woman and some people that looked like ninjas. Dick climbed on top of the closest warehouse and sat silently, trying to listen to the conversation.

“Hello, my son.” Talia took a step forward—as if she was going to hug her son—but Damian took a step back.

“What do you want, Mother?” Damian growled.

“Can’t I just want to see my son?” Talia tilted her head to the side and softened her expression. “I have missed you.”

Damian narrowed his eyes. “We have not spoken in six years. You obviously want something, so just tell me what it is so we can end this."

Talia sighed. "You get your impatience from your father. Very well. I have watched you and your father over the years and recently, he has been taking in a bunch secondhand children." Dick was hurt by that comment. "While I do not understand his reasons, he obviously has no need for you anymore. Come back to the League, Damian. Take your place as the Heir to the Demon." Talia held her hand out. "Stand by my and your grandfather's side once more."

Damian was silent, floored by his mother's accusations and offer. Talia took his silence as him contemplating and took another step forward.

"I sent you to your father to learn his ways and eventually take his place as the Batman. It has been fourteen years and that has not happened. It may never happen with his other...proteges vying for his mantle. Come home, Damian. Come home to your true family."

Damian stayed silent, scaring Dick. Was he really considering leaving their family just to go with his mother? Even after all the mean things she said about them? Plus, she was wrong! All of them needed Damian! He was the oldest besides Bruce. He was the original partner of the Batman. He was loved and wanted by all of his family. Couldn't he see that?

Dick couldn't take the silence anymore and leapt forward with a cry. "Dami, no!"

Heads snapped up as the young boy landed and bounded to Batman's oldest. He jumped into the man's arms, which wrapped around him automatically. Damian stared down at him, shocked.

"Richard, what are you doing here? How did you find me?"

Dick sniffled and wrapped his arms around Damian's neck. "I put a tracker in my Shadowbat toy. It's in your car." He looked up at Damian with watery eyes. "Are you really gonna leave us? I don't want you to go!"

Talia watched on with distaste. "This must be my beloved's newest adoptee. Richard, right?"

Dick looked over at Talia and glared at her. "You leave Dami alone! He's the bestest big brother, and everyone loves him! You're mean and a liar and—and ugly!" Alfred would not be happy if he heard Dick say that.

Talia's expression screwed up in disgust. "My beloved's choices in children has seemed to deteriorate. The Drake child was okay, as was the Cain girl, but this circus child will clearly ruin his name. No manners at all, this one. Absolutely abhorrent."

Damian finally snapped. "You will not talk to him that way." He sent his mother a glare that made petty criminals wet themselves. "You made it clear years ago that you did not wish to see me anymore, and I you. Now should be no different. As much as my siblings annoy me at times, they have been more caring than you ever were. Leave, and do not contact me again."

Talia was silent for a moment before raising her chin. "I see. You are truly lost then." Talia backed away, sending a glare at Dick. "We will see each other again, my son, but it will not be under friendly terms. Goodbye. I hope you do not regret your decision."

Talia and the assassins boarded a small boat and took off. Damian waited for the boat to disappear from his sight before carrying Dick to the car. He strapped Dick in before pausing.

"Richard...How did you get here?"

Dick grinned sheepishly. "I took the motorcycle here."

Damian stared at him for a moment before breaking out into a grin. "Well, we should make sure we get that home before Father finds out. Luckily, it has autopilot built into it."

Dick giggled as Damian went around the car and slid into the front seat. He tapped on his phone before turning on the car. As he drove, he looked in the rearview mirror to look at Richard. "...Thank you for coming to the meeting. You went directly against my wishes, but...thank you."

Dick beamed at him. "S'no problem! I had to make sure you were okay!"

By the time they made it back to the Manor, Dick was asleep in the backseat. Damian gently unbuckled him and lifted him out of the car. As he carried Dick inside, taking him down to the Batcave and changing him out of his Robin costume, Damian couldn't help but let a small smile slip out.

He had definitely made the right choice.

Chapter Text

“Timmyyyyyyy!” Tim sighed as he felt a tug on his arm. He set his book down on the table and looked over the armchair to see a little face peeking up at him with begging eyes.

“Yes, Dick?”

Dick beamed and came around the armchair. He slapped a large book into Tim’s lap, causing an ‘oof’ to escape him. Dick pushed the book over and scrambled—kneeinthecrotchkneeinthecrotch—into Tim’s lap. He beamed up at the teen and held the book up.

“Read to me, please.” Tim took the book and looked at the title, Stone Fox.

Tim pursed his lips. “Dick, I don’t think this is the book for you.”

Dick pouted up at him. “But there’s a dog in it! Please? Pretty please?”

“Dick, I really don’t think you’ll like how it ends. It’s a—”

“Don’t tell me!” Dick slapped his hands against Tim’s mouth. “No spoilers! That’s Steph’s job!”

Tim snorted at the pun but still frowned. “I’m serious, Dick. You won’t like the ending.”

Dick crossed his arms. “I don’t care. It’s about a dog, like Titus and Ace!” Dick looked up at Tim with wide eyes that began to water. “Please, Timmy? Pretty please with sugar on top?”

As much as Tim did not want to read Dick this story, no one could resist the puppy dog eyes, not even Damian. He sighed, causing Dick to cheer, and hoped that the outcome wouldn’t be as bad as he thought it would be.

“Fine. Fine. Stone Fox.” Tim opened up the book and began to read to Dick.

“What did you do?!” Stephanie covered her ears as wails filled the Manor.

“I tried to warn him!” Tim winced as the wails grew louder. He wasn’t even in the same room as Dick anymore. Bruce was in the library instead, trying to calm the poor boy down. “I knew it had a sad ending! I knew he’d be upset! I told him he wouldn’t like the ending, but he refused to pick another book!”

“Did he use the eyes?” Stephanie asked. Tim nodded, causing her to sigh.

“You tried your best, Tim.” Stephanie shook her head. “Those eyes get the best of us.” Another wail sounded. “But you should have tried harder!”

“Damian is going to kill me.” Tim ran a hand through his hair.

“What is wrong?” Stephanie and Tim jumped at Cass’s voice. They whirled around to find her standing behind them, rubbing her eye.

“Shit, were you sleeping?” Cass nodded.

“I’m sorry, Cass.” Tim said. “Dick wanted me to read him a book. I tried to tell him he wouldn’t like the ending, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“What ending?”

“The dog died.”

Cass nodded, a look of contemplation on her face. She nodded again and marched into the library, where Bruce was still trying to calm Dick down.

“It’s okay, Dick! It’s just a story. It’s not real.” Bruce rubbed the boy’s back, but nothing was working.

Cass suddenly marched up and kneeled in front of Dick. She put her hands on his shoulders, causing a break in his sobs. “We will watch a movie.”

Dick hiccupped and rubbed at his noise. “We will?”

Cass nodded and picked the boy up. He was still crying, but it was much quieter now. She carried him out of the library and smirked at the shocked looks on Tim and Stephanie’s faces. She walked into the living room and set Dick down on the couch.

“Lilo and Stitch.” Dick nodded, and Cass began setting up the movie.

An hour later, Dick felt much better as he watched the movie. He was sad when Stitch was going to be taken away, but he knew the movie had a happy ending. He had just about gotten over the Stone Fox issue when the movie ended.

“Can we watch another movie?” Dick asked. Cass nodded. Dick got up and searched the DVDs before lighting up and picking one out.

“Let’s watch this one! It has a dog on it!”

Cass took the DVD and looked at the cover. There was a cute yellow dog (Cass didn’t know the name of the species) with a red ribbon around its neck.

Marley & Me.

It looked cute enough, and maybe it would push the last thoughts of the dog dying in Stone Fox out of Dick’s head. Certain that it would help, Cass put the DVD in and started the movie.

“At least it’s not my fault this time.” Stephanie and Cass glared at Tim as Dick bawled in the living room. Bruce was once again trying to calm the poor boy down.

“So what did you do?” Stephanie asked Cass. Cass held up the DVD, causing Stephanie and Tim to groan.

“You hadn’t seen that one yet, had you?” Cass shook her head, her eyes sad with guilt (not to mention sad from the ending of the movie).

Stephanie sighed and peeked into the living room. “Well, at least Damian and Jason are gone.”

“That doesn't help us calm Dick down.” Tim frowned. “What do we do?”

Stephanie’s eyes lit up as an idea popped into her head. “Who wants ice cream~” She sang as she entered the living room.

Dick paused in his crying. “Ice cream?”

“We’ll get anything you want.”

Dick sniffled and wiped his nose. “Really?”

“Uh huh.” Stephanie picked the boy up and wiped the tears from his cheeks. “But only if it'll make you feel better. Would it help?”

Dick nodded. “Uh huh.”

“Great! Let's go then!” As Stephanie walked out of the room with Dick in her arms, she caught Tim and Cass’s eyes and growled quietly. “Deal with anything that even hints at a dog dying while we’re gone.”

Tim and Cass nodded, so Stephanie smiled and left, talking to Dick about all the flavors she wanted to try.

When Damian and Jason later came home and found stuff missing (movies, books, magazines, etc) and the mysterious remains of a fire in the backyard, Jason only had one question.

“Hey, where's our DVD of Eight Below? Dick and I wanted to watch it.”

“NO!”

Chapter Text

Being brought up to the Watchtower for the first time was an experience itself. Robin stared around himself, gaping, as heroes of all kinds walked by him. He was somewhat hidden in Batman’s cape, gripping the man’s hand tightly—somewhat out of shyness, somewhat out of excitement. The few Leaguers who noticed the boy behind the cape smiled sweetly at him while giving Batman a smirk.

Unfortunately, none of Dick’s brothers or sisters came with them. Batman was insistent that Dick come alone to be introduced as all the others had been. Dick had heard Stephanie mutter about Batman not trusting them to not destroy the place. Timmy had muttered back that people always stared when the whole Batfamily was together on the Watchtower. Dick wasn’t sure which person was right.

Batman led Dick into the meeting room. Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan, not John Stewart), Green Arrow, and Black Canary were all there, sitting at the table. Robin’s jaw dropped even further as he fell back against Batman’s leg. Batman caught him easily and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, Bats!” Flash rushed over and ran around Batman. “Where’s the little guy? Didn’t you say you were bringing him today?”

Batman resisted the urge to sigh. “He’s here. Robin, come out now.”

Slowly, Robin inched his way out of Batman’s cape but still keeping a tight grip on it. He couldn’t help but stare at Superman (his most favorite superhero of all time, much to Bruce’s displeasure). Superman gave him a smile, and Robin couldn’t hold it in anymore. He let go of Batman’s cape and ran over to Superman.

“Hi, Superman! I’m Robin! I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long, long time, but Batman always said it wasn’t the right time so when he said I would get to meet everybody I was really excited! Will you take me flying sometime? I love flying, and I’ve always wanted to go! Have you really traveled around the world so quickly that you reversed the Earth’s spin and it went back in time? That doesn’t seem physically possible and I’ve been listening to Timmy talk a lot about science stuff! Can you—”

“Robin, that’s enough.”

Robin snapped his mouth shut and grinned sheepishly at Batman. “Sorry.”

Wonder Woman approached him next and bent down. “Hello, little warrior. I am Wonder Woman, but you may call me Diana.”

Robin stared at her for a moment before remembering his manners and sticking his hand out. “I’m Robin!” He suddenly bit his lip and looked at Batman, unsure whether or not he could say his real name. Batman nodded, and Dick turned back to her. “But you can call me Dick!”

Green Arrow snorted but stopped when Black Canary elbowed him in the side. She stepped forward and kneeled. “It’s very nice to meet you, Robin. I’m Black Canary.”

One by one, each of the Leaguers introduced themselves. With each introduction, Dick was able to reign himself in a little more, but he still couldn’t help but grin widely. He was meeting the greatest superheroes in the world! Including Superman!

Batman was a little ways away from the group. Robin was always shy around new people at first. He usually opened up pretty quickly once he got to know them though.

Batman suddenly felt eyes watching him. His eyes narrowed as he glanced around the room, stopping on the door. It was cracked open just enough for someone to peek in. He glared at the door, knowing who was behind it.

Robin looked over at Batman and, noticing his glare, looked at the door. He gasped excitedly and bolted for the door, surprising the Leaguers. The door opened, and Robin leaped into Shadowbat’s waiting arms. Robin shoved his face just under Shadowbat’s jaw and wrapped his arms around his neck.

“You’re here!” Robin pulled away to beam at his brother. “Are the others here?”

“No.” Shadowbat rumbled. “It’s just me.”

Robin suddenly frowned. “But I thought Batman said you couldn’t come?”

“I did say that.” Batman was suddenly in front of them, glaring at Shadowbat, who glared right back. The other Leaguers approached warily.

“Hello, Shadowbat. It is good to see you again.” Wonder Woman said. Shadowbat turned his glare on the Leaguers before looking back at Batman.

“I don’t trust them with him.”

“Hey!” Green Lantern protested. “We’re heroes, aren’t we? We wouldn’t hurt the kid.”

“You lost Kid Bat.”

“That kid is really good at hiding.” They had been told not to play hide n’ seek with the second Kid Bat, but Jason had been insistent. And who could resist a child’s puppy dog eyes? They should have known he would be just as good at hiding as his mentor.

“Be nice, Shadowbat.” Robin patted Shadowbat’s cheek. He hopped down from the man’s arms and took his hand. If anyone else had done it, Damian would have immediately let go, but that would upset Robin, and nobody liked upsetting Robin. Robin led him over to Superman, and Shadowbat resisted the urge to groan. He hated all of the Leaguers, minus a few he tolerated, such as Black Canary. Superman was one of the ones he hated the most.

Superman was also Robin’s favorite superhero. It didn’t help that Alfred bought Dick Superman merchandise whenever he was annoyed with him or Father. This only caused Shadowbat to hate Superman more.

As Robin started chatting at Superman, Shadowbat resigned himself to a long day. It was his fault—he had gone to the Watchtower to look after the boy when he was told strictly not to—but it was worth it. He was the only one who could truly protect the boy.

“This was the best day ever.” Dick gushed as Bruce tucked him into bed.

Bruce smiled. “Yeah?”

Dick nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! I met Superman! And the Justice League!”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, chum.” Bruce ran a hand through Dick’s hair.

Dick smiled. “I’m glad Dami was there too. He needs to get out more.”

Bruce chuckled, knowing that Damian was currently standing outside the door and could hear everything Dick said.

"Next time, can everyone come?" Dick pouted up at Bruce. "I missed them today."

"Yeah, chum. They can come next time. I just wanted you to meet them by yourself. Everyone else did."

"But it's not as fun! We coulda played games!"

Bruce thought back to when the League had lost Jason during hide n' seek. "Next time. As long as it's not hide n' seek. I'm afraid they're not very good at that game."

Dick grinned. "That's 'cause they don't play with us!"

Bruce chuckled again. "Maybe you should teach them some time."

Dick giggled. "But then it wouldn't be fun 'cause they'd always find us."

Bruce ran his hand through Dick's hair one more time as he smiled. "All right, chum. I think it's time you go to sleep now."

Dick pouted. "'Kay. Night, Bruce." Dick looked over at the door and called out. "Night, Dami!"

There was a pause before a rumbled 'good night, Richard' sounded behind the door. Dick giggled and closed his eyes. Bruce turned the nightlight on and turned Dick's lamp off. He closed Dick's door quietly and found Damian still standing in the hallway.

"You went against my orders and came up to the Watchtower." Damian glared at Bruce.

"I don't trust them."

Bruce sighed. "You never have."

"They're imbeciles. If they can't even keep track of Jason, they have no hope of being able to take care of Richard, especially in battle."

"That won't be happening for a while."

Damian raised his chin. "It will never happen if I have anything to say about it." He glanced at the door and narrowed his eyes. "Especially that blundering Kryptonian."

Bruce quirked an eyebrow. "I don't think Dick would like that."

Damian turned and started walking to his room. "He'll get over it eventually. We are the best, after all, not that idiot."

Bruce couldn't help but smirk as Damian went into his room for the night. It seemed Damian was more annoyed by Dick's choice of favorite superhero than he was.

He did hope Damian was right about changing Dick's mind though. He could only take so much Superman merchandise in his manor.

Chapter Text

“Richard, what are you doing?” Damian’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked up at Dick, who was dangling from the chandelier.

“Thinkin’.” Dick replied without even looking at Damian. Damian only became more confused.

“...About what?” Damian asked slowly as he debated whether he should get the boy down or not.

“Things.” Dick gently swung his body. The chandelier creaked but held steady—Dick was at light as they came.

Damian pursed his lips. The boy had only been here for about a month. He had warmed up to the rest of the family once he had cheered up a bit, but Damian was still not used to his eccentricities. He had once found Richard sitting in the pantry, eating cereal from the box, at 1 AM. Richard also had the habit of touching people as much as possible, whether it was tapping, hugging, handholding, or even kissing on the cheek.

Damian didn’t like it. He decided that Richard was fine for now—the chandelier would hold up—so he left the boy to his ‘thinking’.

“Timmy?” Tim felt a tug on his pants and looked away from his computer to see Dick staring at him with puppy-dog eyes. Tim mentally sighed. He wasn’t going to get work done any time soon.

“Yeah, Dick?” Tim smiled kindly.

“I wanna play a board game, but Dami put it up too high last time in my closet. I can’t reach it. Will you get it for me, please?”

“Of course.” It was a simple enough request, and if he didn’t get roped into the game, he could get back to his book report and get it done by tonight.

Tim stood, and Dick immediately grabbed his hand and led him to his room. While Tim went to the closet to get the game, Dick sat on his bed. Tim reached up and grabbed the game but before he could turn around and give it to Dick, something caught his eye. It looked like a box was sticking out from underneath a pile of Dick’s toys. Tim moved the toys aside and found a container filled with cereal boxes.

So this was why they kept running out of cereal.

“Dick...What is this?” Tim turned around and held up one of the boxes. Dick looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“Um...nothing.”

Tim glanced back at the stash. “I’m pretty sure this isn’t nothing.”

Dick pouted. “I like cereal, and Alfred says I can’t eat it for every meal like I want to.” Dick looked to the side. “Also, I get hungry at night.”

“I’m pretty sure Alfred would throw a fit if he saw this.”

Dick whined. “But you have a coffee maker hidden in your closet!”

Tim froze. “...How do you know about that?”

“Jason gave me five dollars to steal something for him. Your room is very messy by the way.”

Tim sputtered. “What—You know what, we’ll talk about that later.” Tim put the cereal and toys back. “I won’t mention this to anyone if you don’t mention the coffee maker to anyone. Deal?”

Dick grinned and held out his pinky. Tim wrapped his pinky around Dick’s. “Deal.”

Tim let go and handed Dick his board game. He made his way to the door before pausing and turning around. “Hey, does Jason know about the coffee maker?”

Dick nodded. “Yeah, but he keeps bread in his closet, so he can’t tell anyone.”

Tim snorted but wasn’t surprised. He was about to leave when Dick spoke up once more.

“Hey, Timmy? Will you play the game with me?”

Dammit.

When Dick sat in the dining room for lunch, Bruce was going over Wayne Enterprises reports. He glanced up once to look at him and did a double take.

Dick was currently covered in makeup, from eyeshadow to blush to lipstick. He even had his nails painted. Bruce set the reports down slowly and turned to the boy.

“So what did you do today, chum?”

Dick beamed at Bruce. “I played with Stephanie today! She said that Cass doesn’t like playing Stephanie’s games with her so I said I would! It was fun, but it also tickled a lot, and I had to hold still sometimes.”

“...I see.” Bruce wasn’t sure what to say. He was going to have to have a talk with Stephanie though. And maybe Cassandra. Girls were supposed to be into makeup at her age, right?

Dick continued to ramble, unaware of what Bruce was thinking. “And then Stephanie said I should invite Barbara to play with us next time! Can she come over tomorrow? Please? Please?”

Bruce internally sighed. “I’ll have to check with Commissioner Gordon to see if it’s okay first.”

“Yay!” Dick shot up from his chair and hugged Bruce, burying his face in Bruce’s suit. Bruce held back from cringing. It was an expensive suit, and he was pretty sure Dick was getting bubblegum pink lipstick on it. Not that he actually cared for the suit, but Alfred was going to have to clean it.

Dick eventually leaned away and went back to his seat. When Bruce looked over at him, he held back a laugh. Dick’s makeup had smudged, making him look as if he had done the makeup instead of Stephanie. Dick didn’t notice, sighing dramatically instead.

“I’m hungry. Do you think lunch is almost ready?”

“I don’t know.” Bruce struggled to keep a smirk off his face. “Why don’t you go ask Alfred?”

Dick’s eyes lit up. “Okay!” He slid off his chair and scampered to the kitchen.

Bruce picked his reports up again to look them over. Everything seemed fine, and it looked like their profits had risen again this month. He would have to thank his employees in some way, maybe a bonus—

“My goodness!”

Bruce didn’t hold back his laugh that time.

“Zitka! Zitka, where are you?”

Jason, who was sitting on his bed, looked up from his homework curiously. He could hear Dick shouting in the hallway. It was just him, Dick, and Timmy in the Manor tonight—the rest were currently on patrol, and Alfred was running errands. Tim had a huge project due the next day, and Jason and Dick needed to catch up on their homework.

“Zitkaaaa!”

Jason knew that Tim wouldn’t hear Dick yelling. He probably was blasting music through his headphones. Jason couldn’t blame him though. Shouting was typically heard at all hours of the day in the Manor; headphones were the only way to block it out.

Jason set his pencil down and slid off his bed. He peeked his head out into the hallway to find Dick wandering by his door as he looked around worriedly.

“What’s up, Birdie?” Jason asked. Dick jumped and spun around. His lip wobbled, causing Jason to tense. He couldn’t handle Dick crying.

“I finished my homework and wanted to play with Zitka, but I can’t find her anywhere!” Tears filled Dick’s eyes, so Jason rushed to comfort the boy. He wrapped an arm around Dick and hugged him to his side.

“Well, do you remember where you last left her?”

Dick pouted. “I thought I left her in my room ‘cause we were playing Batman and Robin earlier.” Dick pouted even more. “I had to be Robin ‘cause Zitka wanted to be Batman.”

Jason found this to be strange. Why didn’t he just be Batman? It’s not like the stuffed animal could do anything. He shook his head mentally. “Is there any other place you could have left her?”

Dick’s eyebrows furrowed in thought. “Mm, maybe in the living room. Cass wanted to watch a movie. I mighta brought Zitka. I can’t remember.”

“Let’s check the living room then.” Jason led Dick down the stairs and to the living room, where signs of Cass and Dick’s movie session were still apparent. There was an empty popcorn bowl on the coffee table, and blankets and pillows covered the couch. Jason dug through them, thinking that maybe the elephant was buried under them.

It wasn’t.

Dick’s lip wobbled as their search came up with nothing. He tore away from Jason and ran to the dining room. “Zitka! Where are you?”

“Dick! Hold on!” Jason chased after him. He grabbed Dick’s arm to still the boy and put his hands on his shoulders. “Look, just...think really hard, okay? Is there anywhere else that Zitka could be?”

Dick’s face scrunched up in deep concentration. Jason stood still, waiting silently for Dick to answer him. It felt like forever before Dick’s eyes lit up. Before Jason could say anything, Dick slipped from Jason’s grip and took off again. Jason groaned and chased after him again. Dick ended up running to the kitchen, where all of his action figures and stuffed animals were standing in a circle. Inside the circle was Zitka.

“Um.” Jason had no idea what this was about. “Were you playing earlier?”

Dick grabbed Zitka and hugged her to his chest. He nodded eagerly at Jason. “Uh huh! Zitka was a villain, and she captured me and was gonna feed me to her animals friends ‘cause they were starving so the Justice League came and saved me!” Dick beamed and began to gather up his toys.

Jason stared, unsure of what to say. What did one say after hearing something like that? He blinked, watching Dick for a few more seconds before backing out of the kitchen. “O...kay. Well, I’m glad you found Zitka. I’m gonna go finish my homework now, okay?”

“Okay!” Dick chirped as he cleaned up.

Jason left the kitchen and went back to his room, still weirded out by what Dick said. He kind of wanted to tell someone about it, but how could he? No one was going to believe him.

(Tim would about 3 weeks later when he found Dick’s Superman action figure tied up and dangling over a sink filled with water [a toy shark was floating on the water—one of Dick’s bath toys]. Neither incident was mentioned to anyone else.)

Chapter Text

Grayson was like a duckling in that he followed behind Damian everywhere. At first, he was annoyed by it. He would spin around and snap at the boy to leave him alone. Sometimes, Grayson would see another family member and wander off to follow behind them. Most of the time, though, he would just stare at Damian with wide eyes. Damian would stare back, but he usually had somewhere to be, so he would walk off and sigh as Grayson followed after him. Eventually, Damian got used to it.

But then Damian woke one night to see eyes staring at him from his doorway. He internally cursed and sat up, glaring. “Grayson, what are you doing?”

Dick’s eyes widened, and he disappeared, quickly shutting the door. Damian could hear the boy running back to his room. He debated whether to get out of bed but decided against it. It was too early in the morning to deal with that.

But then Grayson appeared the next night.

And the next night.

And the next night.

Eventually, Damian got used to it. He tried to confront the boy about his behavior, but he never answered. Bruce didn’t have an explanation. He tried to ask Dick, but he could never get Dick to speak above a mumble. Damian then went to Alfred, who was able to provide some insight.

“Perhaps he is trying to figure you out, sir. You are...quite different from the rest of this family. You haven’t taken to him like the others have.”

Damian narrowed his eyes at Alfred, but eventually figured the butler wasn’t making a jab at him and stalked off, muttering a ‘thank you’ at Alfred.

Grayson became braver and began to enter Damian’s room at night. Each night, he came a little closer to Damian’s bed. Damian always pretended to still be asleep, knowing that the boy would take off like some spooked animal the moment he realized Damian was awake.

One night, Grayson came in as usual, but this time he was making soft noises. Damian’s eyebrows furrowed before he realized that Grayson was crying. He opened his eyes slowly and looked over at the boy, who had looked away from Damian to rub his eyes. He looked back over and made eye contact with Damian. He made to run, but Damian’s voice stopped him.

“No, Grayson.” He beckoned the boy closer, who approached warily. Damian sat up and lifted the boy’s chin with a finger. “What is bothering you?”

Dick sniffed and rubbed at his nose. “I—” He bit his lip and looked away, whispering so quietly Damian had to strain to hear him. “I had a nightmare.”

Damian hummed and watched the boy, his face twisting in discomfort. He wasn’t very good at comforting upset children. That was usually Stephanie’s job.

“Can I…?” Dick shuffled his feet and played with the hem of his nightshirt (Superman, Damian noted distastefully).

“Can you what.” It was late. Grayson needed to speak, or Damian was going back to bed.

“Can I sleep here tonight?” Dick refused to look at him as he whispered it. Damian’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Why?”

Dick looked up, his tears forgotten for a moment as he also seemed confused. “Well, Bruce is on the Watchtower, and Alfred doesn’t seem like he’d let me sleep with him, and everyone else has school in the morning so I didn’t want to bother them…”

“That does not explain why you want to sleep in another person’s bed.”

Dick paused. “Do you—Did you never sleep in Bruce’s bed?”

Damian scoffed. “Of course not. It’s childish, and I never had need to.”

“Not even when you were little?” Dick took a step closer to the bed, surprise evident on his face.

Damian paused for a moment, thinking. He had an extremely vague memory of asking to stay with his mother one night, but she had refused. He hadn’t tried again.

“No. I did not.”

Dick gasped. “That’s horrible!” Without Damian’s permission, Dick scrambled into his bed. He crawled over Damian and sat beside him, wrapping his arms around the man. Damian stiffened, only just barely refraining from launching the boy across the room. It wouldn’t be right to hit the child, no matter how much he itched to.

“No wonder you’re so grumpy! Bruce is really grumpy sometimes, but he can be happy and funny too. You’re always grumpy though.” Dick still felt nervous around Damian, but he pushed it down. He had a duty now. “Bruce isn’t always really huggy and stuff so I’m gonna hug you lots to make up for it!”

Damian narrowed his eyes at him, not liking the idea at all. He was not a hugger. He tried to extract Dick from his waist, but the boy refused to let go, tightening his arms instead. Damian gritted his teeth.

“Grayson, go back to your room.”

Dick flinched at the tone but held on.

“If you do not let go of me, I will take you back there myself and you will not like it.”

Dick let go of Damian reluctantly and hopped off the bed. He paused, hoping that Damian would change his mind, but the man said nothing. Damian watched Grayson leave, eyes narrowing as he felt a strange sensation in his chest. He ignored it and went back to sleep.

Grayson continued to follow him around, but now he would wrap his arms around Damian’s legs or try to jump into the man’s arms to give him hugs.

Damian despised it.

...at first.

As much as he loathed to admit it, Grayson was starting to grow on him. There was just something about the boy that lit up the room he was in, and it was affecting Damian. When he had first met the other members of the ‘family’, they had tried to befriend him, but he had turned them away quickly, especially Drake. No matter how hard he tried, though, Grayson would not give up.

“Dami!”

And then there was the nickname.

“Grayson, how many times do I have to tell you? Do not call me that.”

Grayson put his hands on his hips. “Then don’t call me ‘Grayson’. Call me Dick!”

“No.” There was no way in hell he was going to call someone by that horrible nickname.

“Well if you won’t call me by the name I want you to call me, I won’t call you by the name you want me to call you.”

Damian narrowed his eyes. It was a logical argument. “...Fair enough.”

“So you’ll call me Dick?” Dick asked hopefully.

Damian scowled. “No.”

“Then I’ll call you Dami.”

Soon, Damian actually started to like having Grayson around. It was disgusting. Todd and Brown teased him about it. Drake had done it once, but a chase around the Manor had resulted in a broken wrist and ankle, so Drake did not try it again. He liked that Grayson followed him—it meant that he liked Damian more. He didn’t mind the hugs so much—they actually did not feel so bad.

Damian once again found himself waking up to the barely there creak of his door. He saw Grayson freeze in the doorway. “Come in.”

Grayson crept in quietly and shut the door. He made his way over to Damian’s bed, trying to stifle his sniffling. Damian frowned uncomfortably.

“Did you...have another nightmare?”

Dick nodded, his lip wobbling. “Uh huh.”

Damian looked sideways. He could...possibly try to be comforting. Grayson had come to him—a thought that filled Damian with pride. He could comfort the boy.

“Did you...want to sleep here tonight?” Grayson had asked to do that last time. Damian had declined, but he could make an exception this time.

Dick took that as an invitation and scrambled into Damian’s bed. A knee made its way into Damian’s crotch, but he stayed silent, only tensing slightly. Grayson settled next to him, cuddling into his side. He wrapped his arms around Damian’s waist and sighed happily.

“Thanks, Dami.” Dick murmured. Damian pursed his lips.

“You’re welcome...Richard.”

Chapter Text

“Bruuuuuuuuuuce!” Bruce immediately held his arms out and caught Dick.

“Dick, you know you’re not supposed to slide down the banister.” Bruce’s lips twitched as he tried not to smile.

“But it’s so fun.” Dick jumped out of Bruce’s arms and spun around, flinging his arms out. “Look at the costume Alfred made for me! Isn’t it the best costume ever?”

Bruce finally took in Dick’s costume and nearly scowled, just barely able to hold it back. Dick was wearing a Superman costume; he even had the signature curled hair on his forehead.

“It’s...great.” Bruce forced a smile on his face as Dick took off, holding his arms out and making whooshing sounds. Jason was the next to bounce down the stairs, wearing a Han Solo costume.

“Bang!” Jason aimed at Bruce. “You’re dead!”

Before Bruce could say anything, he heard a scoff at the top of the stairs and looked up to see Stephanie and Cass descending, each wearing the other’s costume. “It’s not ‘bang’, Jason! It’s ‘pew pew’! Everyone knows that!”

Jason rolled his eyes. “But that sounds so lame. It doesn’t nearly sound as badass.”

“Language.”

Bruce was ignored as Stephanie answered Jason. “Like ‘bang’ sounds any more badass?”

“Language.”

“Honestly, Father, why do you even try? You’re not Alfred.” Damian walked down, dressed as usual, though there was something off about his clothes…

“Where’s your costume?” Bruce asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Damian sighed. “Richard insisted I wear one, but I refused to dress up as any of the ‘heroes’ that he suggested, so I am going as a billionaire playboy.” Now that Damian had mentioned that, Bruce could see that his shirt was unbuttoned at the top, and his clothes looked a bit more ruffled than usual—was that his jacket? Bruce frowned, not sure how to feel about Damian’s ‘costume’ when Dick ran up.

“Can we go trick-or-treating now? Please? Please? Please?”

Bruce rested his hand on Dick’s head to calm him down. “We can go in just a moment. We need to wait for Tim.”

Dick whined. “I don’t know why Timmy’s taking so long! His costume is really easy!”

“You know what his costume is?” Stephanie asked. Dick nodded.

“Yeah. Kon came over yesterday to drop it off. Timmy didn’t want anyone to see. I think he thinks we’ll make fun of him.”

Stephanie’s eyes lit up as she smiled deviously. “Oh really? What’s his costume? Is it really embarrassing?”

Dick grinned cheekily. “You’ll just have to see. I’ll go get him!” Dick ran up the stairs and disappeared into Tim’s room.

“Dick, no!” Everyone heard Tim shout.

“Come onnn!” Dick was whining. He was going to pull the puppy-dog eyes on Tim at any moment.

They heard footsteps, and Dick suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs, walking backwards as he dragged Tim. Stephanie immediately burst out laughing when she saw his costume. Tim was dressed in Kon’s clothes. He looked like a child dressing up in his sibling’s clothes; they hung off of him, making Tim seem even skinnier than he was. Bruce mentally noted to tell Alfred to feed Tim more.

“Shut up.” Tim grumbled, blushing. He let Dick lead him down the stairs. “The Team decided to dress up as each other, and I pulled Kon’s name out of the hat.”

“I bet they rigged it.” Stephanie murmured to Cass, who nodded in agreement.

“Can we go now?” Dick was already starting to tug at Bruce’s hand.

“Wait, shouldn’t Bruce have a costume?” Stephanie grinned, ignoring the glare that Bruce sent her.

Dick gasped. “You’re right!” He pouted up at Bruce. “Bruce, why aren’t you wearing a costume? We’re a family . We’re all supposed to dress up.”

Stephanie was going to be washing the Batmobile when they got back. Bruce would make sure of it. He looked down at Dick, whose wide, sad eyes were practically boring into his soul. He sighed.

“I don’t have a costume, Dick. I didn’t think I needed one.”

Alfred suddenly appeared by his side with a shopping bag. “Well then, it is a good thing I bought one for you, Master Bruce.”

Bruce frowned at Alfred but couldn’t say anything as Dick cheered and thanked Alfred. Bruce took the bag out of Alfred’s hand and went up to his room to change. When he took the costume out of the bag, he was not happy.

While everyone else’s costumes had been homemade or borrowed (but still was the real thing), Alfred had gone out and bought Bruce what had to be the cheapest Batman costume he had ever seen. It was made with flimsy polyester and had a cloth utility belt. The eye holes were cut out so you could see his eyes, and the cape was made with some shiny cloth.

He hated it.

He absolutely hated it.

Alfred would never buy something so cheap-looking, but it would be impossible to recognize him as Batman in this costume. He was sure Alfred did this as a joke. Everybody (except maybe Dick) would make fun of him for days, maybe even weeks, after tonight. Bruce didn’t even want to think what would happen if Hal Jordan or Barry Allen saw him in it.

But the look on Dick’s face when he came down the stairs made it worth it.

“Bruce! Bruce!” Dick bounced up to him, smiling from ear to ear. “You’re a superhero too! Now we can all match!”

Bruce looked over at Damian and Jason and looked back at Dick. “What about them?”

Before Dick could answer, Jason cut in. “Han Solo is a hero! He saves a whole galaxy!”

“And Damian?” Bruce looked at him. Damian quirked an eyebrow.

“I am you, aren’t I?”

“I thought you were a billionaire playboy?”

Damian shrugged. “I see no difference.”

Dick tugged on Bruce’s cape. “See? We all match! Now let’s go!”

For the most part, trick-or-treating was uneventful. The kids marveled when other dressed up like them, though everyone laughed at the inaccuracies. Bruce had to cut it off when someone (Damian) got incredibly detailed when describing how a little boy’s cardboard batarang would get him killed if he were to actually fight a villain.

Bruce was a little wary to be trick-or-treating in the city. Even without the bigger villains, there were still muggers, drug dealers, and—Bruce mentally shuddered— pedophiles . It was the perfect night for men with ‘candy’ to lure children away from safety.

Bruce didn’t have to worry though. When one such pedophile tried to approach Dick while Jason excitedly showed off his king-sized candy bar, telling the boy to follow him down the alley for a bunch of candy, Dick had kicked the man in the shin and shouted about not letting the man molest him.

And if the man was left bloody and bruised in the alleyway by a certain someone (Damian), well, Bruce didn’t see anything.

There was a quick run-in with Commissioner Gordon, who was taking Barbara out. She was dressed as Batwoman, much to Stephanie and Cass’s dismay. Commissioner Gordon squinted at Stephanie and Cass’s costumes, thinking that they looked a little too realistic, but chalked it up to them being able to have costumes custom-made with the money they had. He had a great laugh at Bruce’s costume though.

By the time they got home, Dick was falling asleep in Bruce’s arms. He kept a tight grip on his bag of candy, letting Bruce bat Jason’s hand away whenever the older boy tried to playfully grab it. Bruce was going to take Dick to his room when Jason suddenly shouted, causing Dick to shoot up in Bruce’s arms.

“Halloween movies!”

Dick’s eyes lit up, and he squirmed in Bruce’s arms until the man set him down. Everyone but Damian and Bruce, who followed at a leisurely pace, raced for the living room, which was already stocked with popcorn, pillows, and blankets. The title screen for The Nightmare Before Christmas was on the TV screen. The “Monster Mash” was playing quietly throughout the manor. Dick thought everything was perfect.

Everyone settled down, with a brief struggle as Bruce wanted to leave for a moment to change out of his costume. One look from Dick made him sigh and sit down though. Dick snuggled between Bruce and Damian, content. As the movie began, Dick looked up at Bruce and tugged at his sleeve until Bruce tilted his head to the side and lowered his ear.

“Thank you.” Dick whispered. This was his first Halloween without his parents, and he knew Bruce did things he otherwise wouldn’t have to make Dick happy. Bruce’s lips quirked up into a smile as he ruffled Dick’s hair.

“Of course, chum.”

Bruce and Dick settled back to watch the movie.

When Alfred walked into the living room a few hours later, the credits for Hocus Pocus were playing, and everyone was asleep. Alfred smiled and turned off the TV. He threw blankets over those that didn’t have one or had kicked theirs off and turned down the lights. He was happy to see the almost peaceful expression on Master Bruce’s face, which had slowly relaxed over the years as each child burrowed their way into his heart.

Alfred left the living room, intending to catch a few hours of sleep himself. It wasn’t often the Batman took a night off, letting Alfred take a night off as well, and he planned to take full advantage of it.

Chapter Text

“Wow…” Dick gaped as he stared around Mount Justice. It wasn’t as cool as the Watchtower or the Batcave, but it was still cool to see. This was where Young Justice hung out, the team that Tim formed a year ago. Dick hadn’t met the other members of Tim’s team yet, but that was why he was here today.

Well, kind of.

Apparently some of the other members of Tim’s team had younger siblings (or a younger/older cousin in Bart’s case), and they had decided to bring all of them together for a playdate. Kon and Secret didn’t have anyone to bring, so they weren’t going to come, which was fine. They were both busy with other things anyway.

Tim and Dick, dressed at Redbat and Robin respectively, were the first ones at Mount Justice, allowing Dick to explore. As he wandered around the main area, the zeta beam announced Impulse and a guest. Bart raced into the room with a ginger-haired child on his shoulders. Bart set the child down, who zoomed over to Dick. The boy didn’t seem to quite know how to stop, though, and crashed into Dick, sending both of them to the floor.

“Sorry! Sorry!” The ginger-haired boy helped Dick up. “I’m not very good at stopping yet. Unc—I mean, Flash is still teaching me. Impulse too. This is so great! You’re Robin, right?”

Dick stood and nodded. “Yeah, I’m Robin. You’re Kid Flash, right?”

The boy grinned proudly. “Yep!” He paused. “Or, I’m gonna be once I get more control over my powers. I’ve only had them for a few months.”

“I heard you recreated your uncle’s experiment.”

Kid Flash nodded eagerly. “Uh huh! Oh!” Kid Flash stared at Robin with wide eyes. “You know that Flash is my uncle?”

“Well, you did basically say ‘uncle’ before changing it to ‘Flash’, but I also know that you’re Wally West. You’re ten years old. You’re uncle is Barry Allen, the Flash, and Impulse is your cousin, Bart Allen, who is the Flash’s grandson from the future.” Robin smiled while Kid Flash’s jaw dropped.

Bart snorted and nudged Tim’s side. “He’s a real mini-Batman in the making, isn’t he? Or maybe a mini-Redbat?”

Tim rolled his eyes and didn’t comment.

“Well, since you know my real name, you can call me Wally!” Wally held out his hand, which Dick shook eagerly.

“I wish I could tell you my name, but Batman says not to tell anyone.”

Wally grinned. “That’s okay! Uncle Barry told me that Batman’s super secretive and all that.”

“Great!” Dick was relieved. He had been a little worried about Wally’s reaction, especially since he knew Wally’s real name. He tried begging Batman to let him tell his real name, but Bruce didn’t trust the children not to go blabbing. He was already unhappy that Tim’s teenage team knew his name.

The zeta beam suddenly announced Arrowette and Speedy, causing the two boys to turn in curiosity. Speedy was a lot newer to the business compared to Robin, only having been around for a few months or so. Speedy was around the same age as them, about a year older than Kid Flash. Robin and Kid Flash were both excited to meet him and hoped to become friends (they needed friends).

Kid Flash was the first to approach the boy, racing up to him as he babbled. “Hi there! I’m Kid Flash! Nice hat! Why do you wear it? Wouldn’titjustflyoffwhileyourerunningaroundhowdoyoukeepiton—”

“What?” Speedy interrupted, staring. He had no idea what the kid was saying.

Kid Flash smiled sheepishly as Robin walked up. “Sorry. I’m still trying to get used to not speaking so fast.”

Speedy was still staring. “Right…” He turned to Robin and grinned. “You’re Robin.” He held out his hand. “Speedy.”

Kid Flash pouted while Robin shook Speedy’s hand. “Good to meet you, Speedy! I’ve seen you on TV! You’re pretty cool.”

“Psh! I’m cool. I’m the best!” Speedy proudly pointed a thumb at himself.

“Mmm, I don’t think so. I think I’m the best.” Robin grinned. Robin jumped into a backflip and landed on one hand. “You’ve got nothing on me and Batman.”

“Yeah?” Speedy crossed his arms and quirked an eyebrow. “You’re on, kid!”

“Aren’t you a kid?” Kid Flash asked.

Speedy ignored him and stepped up to Robin. “I can totally take you on. Let’s do it! We can have them judge us.” Speedy pointed to Arrowette, Impulse, and Redbat, who were watching amusedly and trying hard not to laugh.

“Right-o, Speedo.” Robin rolled to his feet and stood, smirking. Before they could start anything, the zeta beam announced Wonder Girl and a guest. Two girls walked in, and the boys stopped. Robin recovered more quickly and bounced up to the new girl, throwing a quick “Hello!” at Wonder Girl.

“Hi!” Robin held out his hand to the dark-haired girl next to Wonder Girl. “I’m Robin! Who are you?”

The girl stared at his hand suspiciously for a moment before looking up at Wonder Girl, who nodded encouragingly. The girl took his hand and shook it firmly. “I am Donna Troy. You may call me Troia.”

“Ohh, that’s a cool name!” Robin smiled and waved the other boys over. “Guys, come meet Donna!”

Speedy resisted the urge to gape when walked over to her. She was beautiful.

He was in love.

Of course, he couldn’t say anything like that to her. She’d probably punch him. Green Arrow had told him a little bit about where Wonder Woman came from. Donna looked a lot like Wonder Woman. Did she come from the same place? Did that mean Donna didn’t like boys?

While Speedy was worrying, Kid Flash was eagerly shaking Troia’s hand and speaking a mile a minute. “It’s so cool to meet you, Donna—Troia—whatever you want to be called! Do you have the same powers as Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl? This is so cool! Meeting everyone! We should all hang out and stuff all the time!” Kid Flash gasped. “Wecouldcreateourownteam! Wouldn’tthatbesocool!”

Troia watched him, not really sure what to say. She found Kid Flash funny, like that puppy she saw at the park once with Wonder Woman. Robin was like that puppy too, in the adorable way. He was not as hyperactive as Kid Flash seemed, but he had a contagious smile and laughed at Kid Flash’s antics. Troia smiled softly.

The other boy, Speedy, had not said anything yet, which confused Troia. She watched him fidget, looking like he would say something before shutting his mouth again. She finally had enough and spoke first.

“Do you not like me, Speedy?”

“W-What?” Speedy was snapped out of his thoughts. “Not like you? No! No! I just, uh, wasn’t sure what to say.”

“Is it not custom to say hello to a new person?” Troia quirked an eyebrow.

“Well, yeah, but I just—I don’t know…” Speedy muttered the last part, blushing. He was totally screwing this up!

Troia narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before holding her hand out. “Hello. I am Troia.”

Speedy stared for a moment before taking her hand. “I’m Speedy. Green Arrow says I probably shouldn’t say my real name, but—”

“It’s Roy Harper.” Robin cut in, grinning cheekily. Speedy spluttered, and the teens watching them laughed.

“They are so cute together!” Wonder Girl whispered.

“I think they’re going to get along just fine.” Arrowette said. She smirked at Redbat. “And you were worried something would happen.”

Redbat held his hands up in defense. “Hey, if I brought Robin back hurt or upset, I’d be scrubbing the Batmobile for days. I was just being cautious.”

“I feel a little bad for putting Donna in a group of boys, but maybe it’ll get her used to them faster.” Wonder Girl watched Troia.

Troia was watching the boys, who were now tumbling around in a playfight. She was fine with just watching. She didn’t want to accidentally hurt one of them. Besides, it was nothing like the way the Amazons fought. This fighting was less controlled, less precise. Troia rolled her eyes.

Boys.

She had been a little annoyed at first when Wonder Girl had introduced her to this group of boys, especially since she was the only girl. They did not seem to be as bad as some of the older Amazons had described men, but maybe that was because they were still young, not molded to the ways of the patriarchy as Wonder Woman had once noted.

If she later blushed when she was helping Speedy up after being thoroughly defeated in a sparring match against Robin, she was not going to say anything.

(Besides, he blushed too.)

Chapter Text

It was Cass Day, as Dick liked to call it. On Cass Day, Dick and Cass spent time together—just the two of them. Dick felt that he didn’t spend as much time with her as the others sometimes, so he decided that there would be days that he would spend time with just her. Cass never really said it, but she enjoyed these days just as much as Dick did.

They were currently sitting on a bench in Robinson Park. They were both eating ice cream they had bought from a nearby stand. They weren’t talking very much, but Dick didn’t mind the silence. It was just a part of Cass. It was calming.

When Dick finished his ice cream, he looked up at Cass. “Hey, Cass? Do you wanna walk?”

Cass popped the last of her cone in her mouth and nodded. They both stood and walked slowly towards the center of the park. Dick slipped his hand in hers, and Cass smiled.

Dick chattered as they walked, knowing that Cass wouldn’t mind. She was a good listener, much better than Jason or Tim. Jason always got bored after a while, and Tim usually started worrying about something and accidentally stopped listening. Cass always listened all the way through though.

“So Barbara and I were exploring the backyard, and we found this really cool rock that looked like her dad’s mustache—”

Cass stopped and signaled for Dick to be quiet. They were almost to the fountain in the park. Usually, there were sounds of children playing, someone playing the guitar, and quiet conversations between friends and couples.

It was deadly silent.

Both Cass and Dick were alert. Cass dragged Dick behind a tree, and they both looked out, trying to find the reason for the silence. Dick suddenly cried out, and his hand was yanked from hers. Cass looked back and saw vines lifting Dick into the air. Cass reached for him but had to jump away as more vines reached for her.

“Look at this cutie.” Poison Ivy purred as Dick was carried over to her. She ran her fingers down his cheek, making Dick shiver. Ivy pinched his cheek but quickly drew her fingers away as Dick snapped his teeth at her.

“You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?” Poison Ivy grabbed Dick’s chin roughly and pulled him towards her. “You’re going to make a nice little hostage.” Dick wasn’t really all that scared—Ivy wouldn’t hurt him if she wanted a hostage—but he whimpered and forced tears to gather in his eyes to play the part of the innocent, scared child.

Ivy, who had been sneering before, suddenly stiffened and looked around. She looked back at Dick with narrow eyes and growled. “Where’s your sister?”

Dick looked around and realized that Cass had disappeared. He hoped she hadn’t gone to far, just enough to call the rest of the family. He didn’t want to be left alone with the villainess.

Suddenly, Poison Ivy cried out and whirled around, giving Dick full view of the knife sticking out of her back. Dick didn’t have much time to think about that as Poison Ivy was suddenly flying back from the kick in the face that Cass delivered. Dick cheered as he watched his sister approach the villainess. Ivy held her hand up to attack Cass with her vines, but Cass was expecting that. She dodged the vines that came up from the ground and leapt toward Poison Ivy. With a swift kick to the face, Poison Ivy was knocked out, and Dick was released from the vines trapping him. He quickly ran over to Cass, who was cuffing Poison Ivy.

Dick wrapped his arms around Cass. “Thanks, Cass! That was awesome!”

Cass smiled and pet his head. “You are welcome.”

Dick heard sirens in the distance. “Did you call the police?”

Cass nodded. “Already knew.”

“Okay.” Dick looked around before looking back up at Cass. “Can we leave the park and go to the mall instead? We don’t have to wait for the police, right?”

Cass shrugged and took Dick’s hand. She didn’t really want to wait around for the police to show up. They’d probably ask questions that she didn’t feel like answering. “Come.”

“Great! Timmy’s birthday is coming up and I wanna get him a gift…” The two siblings walked off, and Dick continued his story about the funny rock.

Dick was busy browsing the mystery books, trying to find one interesting enough that wouldn’t be too obvious for the teen detective and that he hadn’t already read. Cass had a hardcopy of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid in her arms.

Dick turned to Cass. “I can’t see the top shelves. Are any of the books bigger than the ones on the lower shelves?” Dick reasoned that getting the biggest book would probably be the best decision. Bigger meant better, right?

Cass peered at the books on the top shelf and plucked one up. She held it out to Dick for inspection.

“Ohhh!” Dick’s eyes widened. “That’s a big book! It’s bigger than my arm!” Dick held his arm up to the book. It was indeed thicker than his arm.

Satisfied, Dick and Cass made their way to the front counter to pay for their books. Once they paid, they turned to leave the store, but a crash made them pause. Dick and Cass heard screams coming from outside the bookstore. The maniacal laugh that followed made Cass sigh.

“Riddle me this!” The Riddler was grinning from ear to ear as he stood atop the fountain in the middle of the atrium (What was with villains and fountains today?). “When I eat I grow, and when I drink, I die. What am I?”

Dick thought for a moment. “A fire?”

The Riddler swung his staff towards Dick. “Exactly!”

The Riddler made to push a button on a device he held, but before he could, an object flew through the air and hit the Riddler in the head, sending him into the fountain water. When Dick got a closer look, he realized it was Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid. Cass stalked over and climbed into the fountain. She snatched the device out of the stunned Riddler’s hand and stepped yanked him out of the water. She growled.

“Riddles. Are stupid.”

With a punch, the Riddler was knocked out. Cass let him slump over the edge of the fountain. She looked around for her book and found it floating in the water. She picked it up with a frown, noting the ruined pages. She climbed out of the fountain, letting the security guards take over arresting Riddler, and made her way back to the bookshop, where Dick was watching her with an awed look on his face. She smiled at him and took his hand as she made her way back into the bookstore. She walked up to the front counter and held up her ruined book.

“I need another.”

The cashier, who had been gaping, shook her head and beamed. “Let me get that for you! This one’s on the house, okay? That was awesome!”

The cashier ran off to get Cass another copy while Cass looked down at Dick in confusion. “On the house?”

“I think it means free.” Dick grinned. “That really was awesome, Cass! I just wish our day didn’t keep getting interrupted.”

Cass hummed, and the lady returned with the book.

“Here you go! Feel free to come back anytime!” The cashier waved as Dick and Cass left.

“Next?” Cass asked.

Dick hummed. “Can we go to the movies? I heard 2 Robot, 2 Pirate is out! Can we go? Please?”

Cass nodded, and Dick cheered before dragging her away.

The sequel wasn’t as good as the first, but Dick was enjoying it so far. They were about halfway through the movie when it suddenly cut out, plunging the theater in darkness. Someone screamed.

“Oh come on.” Dick muttered. Cass rolled her eyes.

“Ladies and gentlemen!”

“Oh geez.” Now Dick was the one rolling his eyes. “We shouldn’t have gone to see a sequel.”

A spotlight shown on Two-Face, who was standing at the front of the theater, a gun in each hand. Dick groaned and looked over at Cass, who had disappeared. He sighed and sat back, waiting for Cass to do whatever she was going to do.

“Now everyone here is gonna cough up their money, jewelry, anything in their pockets really.” Two-Face gestured at one of the two men at his back. “You! You go collect the stuff.”

While watching the man go around and collect people’s wallets, Dick had to wonder what Two-Face was doing at a movie theater. Maybe he just couldn’t help himself with the twos in the title. Dick shrugged to himself. It didn’t really matter as long as he was stopped soon.

Two-Face started to rant, not noticing that the henchman beside him was quickly taken out by a shadow and dragged into the darkness. “Hurry up! And if anyone moves in a way I don’t like—” Two-Face fired his gun in the air, causing people to scream and duck.

Cass suddenly appeared from the ceiling, aiming a boot at the back of Two-Face’s head. He went down hard, his guns clattering away from him. He tried to reach for one but cried out when Cass crushed his hand with her foot.

“You are done.” Cass aimed another kick at his head and knocked him out. Cass made sure to keep her face shadowed in her hair before melting back into the shadows. She didn’t want anyone recognizing her.

The police burst into the theater not long after Cass reappeared beside Dick, and the final man threw his hands up in the air.

“I give up!” His eyes darted around the room, looking for the mysterious hero that had taken out Two-Face and the other henchman. The police cuffed the man and the other two unconscious men and dragged them out of the room. While the police were questioning witnesses, Cass and Dick snuck out.

They made their way back to the park slowly, where Alfred would be picking them up soon. Dick swung their intertwined hands as he looked up at her with a grin.

“You were really cool today, Cass.”

Cass smiled. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, I just wish our day didn’t keep getting interrupted.” Dick looked away and pouted. “I mean, it didn’t ruin our day, I guess, but still. So not cool.”

Cass nodded in agreement, not really knowing what to say.

Dick hummed and looked up at Cass again, a gleam in his eye. “Well, since we didn’t get our full Cass Day, we’ll just have to do it again tomorrow, yeah?”

This time, Cass grinned back at him.

Chapter Text

They first realized there might be a problem when Dick suddenly collapsed.

When Jason fell ill two days later, and reports of an alarming amount of other children becoming sick came out, they knew that a villain had to be behind it.

The question was which one?

The boys were kept in the same room, sharing Dick’s bed so that everyone could keep a better eye on them. It was heart-wrenching, watching the two boys slowly getting worse before them. Everyone took turns between caring for the boys and looking for the villain or a cure. Everyday, the number of children being reported sick were rising, and they all worried that death wasn’t too far behind.

The symptoms started out normal (high fever, hot/cold flashes, congestion), but then they got worse. Dick was the first to lose his appetite, vomiting whenever he tried to force himself to eat. He could barely keep down water. They put him on a saline drip to keep him hydrated, but wanted to wait to use a feeding tube. They weren’t sure Dick’s body could handle even that.

When Dick’s eyes and nose started bleeding, Bruce locked himself in the Batcave. The poor boy was so weak that he couldn’t even cry out in pain. He whimpered every once in awhile, but that was all he could manage. Jason wasn’t far behind.

The best and worst thing happened two days later. Through the blood that was now coming out of his mouth, Dick let out a slightly hysterical giggle—one that sounded very familiar. They now had a lead for who was causing this mess. They weren’t sure how he did it, but they now knew that the mad clown—the Joker—was behind this. He had to be. They’d beat the shit out of the Joker to get the information needed (as Stephanie put it) and tear apart the city to find where his base of operations was.

They needed to work as soon as possible—for after that giggle, Dick had immediately fallen into a coma.

They thought watching the boys before had been almost too much to bear, but Stephanie had to leave the room after watching Jason try to wake Dick.

Jason had woken from his nap. They didn’t want to tell him about Dick, but they knew he would figure it out soon enough. Jason had immediately denied it and had turned to Dick. He flopped one arm onto Dick’s shoulder and weakly shook the boy, his rasping voice calling for Dick to wake up. When Dick didn’t move, Jason became hysterical, so much that he had to be sedated. Stephanie had immediately left the room so the others wouldn’t see her cry.

The next day, a child was reported dead. A four-year-old girl named Katie Atkins. Other children began to follow.

They were running out of time. They needed to find the Joker.

“Damian?” Jason peered at the man sitting beside him through bleary eyes. He had been moved to his own room after Dick had fallen into a coma. He didn’t need to see Dick in that state. “Are we going to die?”

“No.” Damian answered, wiping at the blood on Jason’s face. “We are working day and night to find the Joker. It is only a matter of time.”

“Dick’s dying.” Jason rasped. Tears mixed with the blood. “He won’t wake up. He...He...”

“He will be fine.” Damian refused to let Richard die. If he had to work until he dropped, he would. Richard was...too good to die.

Jason sniffled, coughing and choking slightly as blood slid down his throat. He whimpered. “I don’t wanna die.”

Damian felt rage boiling within him. Jason was always so confident, so sure of himself. Watching him cry in his bed, terrified of dying, he looked liked the child he actually was. It took everything in Damian not to show his anger. He didn’t want to stress the boy any more than he already was.

Jason drifted off to sleep. It was pretty much all he did now, and Damian worried that he wouldn’t wake up every time Jason closed his eyes. One day he wouldn’t.

Just like Richard.

Joker was going to pay.

“I have something!” Cass said into the comm. Batman immediately raced to the Batmobile while the others, who were scattered around the city, listened to Cass’s coordinates and heading to the Joker. Tim, who was on duty with Alfred to watch Jason and Dick, regretfully stayed behind.

Batgirl was the first to arrive at the Have-A-Laugh Joke Emporium. None of them had thought to look here. Business had still been going as usual. The Joker must have kept the store owner alive and paid him off or scared him enough to keep him quiet and avoid suspicion.

Batman was the next to arrive, followed closely by Shadowbat and Spoiler. Batman couldn’t help but think it was like old times with just the four of them—before Tim and Jason and Dick. Now was not the time to reminisce though.

The store was large, but they were sure Joker had to be in the back since the store stayed open. The layout of the building Batman pulled up showed that the storage room was big enough to hold Joker, a few goons, and whatever tricks and plans the Joker was probably working on. There was a back door that led to the storage room. The only other way into the storage room was through the store, which was probably being patrolled, if the Joker was smart. Batman couldn’t pull up any camera feeds—they had all been knocked out—a definite sign that something was going on in the building.

“Spoiler, you and Batgirl will take the back. Shadowbat and I will go through the front. If there are alarms on the doors, they’ll know we’re here the moment we walk in, so be quick.” Spoiler and Batgirl nodded and disappeared around the side of the building. Shadowbat looked to Batman. They nodded to each other and opened the door.

Alarms blared, and clown-faced goons poured in from every aisle. Shadowbat and Batman jumped into the fray, adrenaline spiking as they began to teach these thugs why they shouldn’t mess with the Batfamily.

Tim was sitting beside Jason while Alfred was in Dick’s room. Jason was currently sleeping. Tim had tried to pass the time by doing his homework, but he couldn’t concentrate while his youngest brother was dying just a room over.

Come to think of it, how long had Jason been asleep?

“Jason?” Tim shook the boy gently. Jason slowly opened his eyes. His eyes slid over to Tim, who sighed in relief. His relief had come too soon though, for Jason suddenly let out a cackle, his eyes bulging before sliding up in his head. He closed his eyes and fell limp.

“Shit!” Tim stood, not sure what to do. There was nothing he could do, and Tim hated that. He hated not being able to do anything. He hated being left with his thoughts—the calculations and what-ifs and worst case scenarios.

“Master Tim!” Tim heard Alfred shout from Dick’s room. Terrified, Tim raced to the other room, only to be met with the sight of Dick seizing on his bed, his chest heaving with laughter. Tim froze, unable to tear his gaze away from Dick’s wild, bloodshot eyes.

“Master Tim! I need your help!” Tim snapped out of it and ran over to the bed to help Alfred push Dick onto his side. Blood was getting everywhere, and Tim knew he would be feeling it on his hands for days.

Suddenly, Dick threw his head back and stiffened, a grin stretched across his face. His whole body was tense for about 5 seconds before he collapsed. Tim and Alfred were frozen for a moment before Alfred surged forward and felt for Dick’s pulse. Feeling none, the butler began to perform CPR.

“Oh God. Oh God!” Tim didn’t know what to do. Dick was dead. His little brother. Tim couldn’t move. He couldn’t look away as Alfred switched between compressions and breathing into Dick’s mouth.

“Master Tim, go check on Master Jason. See if he has woken up.” Alfred ordered, not looking up from Dick.

Tim didn’t move, trying to remember how to move his mouth. He still hadn’t looked away. “Coma. He fell into a coma just before...before…”

Alfred paused for just a moment before continuing his compressions. “Then go get towels and water. We need to clean up Master Dick.”

Tim swallowed and nodded. “Towels. I can do towels. And water.” He ran off.

When he returned a few minutes later, it was to Alfred sitting in the chair beside Dick’s bed and wiping his forehead. Tim looked over at Dick and noticed his chest rising and falling. He was breathing.

He was alive.

Tim let out the breath he was holding and brought the towels and water over to Alfred. While Alfred removed Dick’s sheets, Tim wiped the blood from Dick’s face and body and changed him into new pajamas.

Once the boy was lying in bed again, Tim collapsed into the chair next to Alfred. That had been too close, and Tim was worried that next time, Alfred wasn’t going to be able to save Dick.

Batman needed to hurry. Dick (and Jason) didn’t have much time left.

“What’s the matter, Batman? Did Bat Brat and Bird Boy get sick? Did they die yet?” Joker teased as he swiped at Batman with a knife. Batman easily dodged and fought back, trying to get a hit in as Joker danced away.

Spoiler and Batgirl were busy fighting Harley Quinn while Shadowbat searched for the whatever had made the kids sick. As much as he wanted to fight, they needed to find out how to synthesize a cure, and they could only do that by finding out what was used for the disease.

Harley giggled. "Ya ain't gonna find anythin', Batty! We burned everythin'! Nothin' left to study."

"Shut up!" Joker snapped at her.

Harley flinched. "But, Puddin', it was all airborne. They won't be able ta find anythin' ta look at."

"I said shut up!" Harley nodded, terrified for a moment before going back to grinning and fighting Spoiler and Batgirl.

Batman was thinking now. He had wondered how the Joker had managed to affect so many kids at once, especially now that he knew the disease had been airborne. Spreading something like that over a whole city would be incredibly difficult. But if he had concentrated it somewhere, even to just a few areas instead of the whole city, it would be much easier. And if it was more concentrated, it might have left a residue behind. They could collect that and make a cure from it.

Batman knew where they had released the gas.

"Shadowbat! Get to the nearest school now!"

Shadowbat knew what Batman was thinking and quickly left. He managed to hear Joker yelling at Harley before he took off on his motorcycle towards Richard and Jason's school, which was only a few blocks away. The school was secured well with electronically locked doors and alarms at every possible entrance. Batman had created an override code, however, in case he had ever needed to get into the school. He had one as Bruce Wayne, of course, but it would have been suspicious to use it, so he created one for Batman as well. Everyone but Jason knew it, since Bruce knew Jason would probably use it to pull some sort of prank.

"Override B-051939."

Shadowbat dashed through the doors as soon as they opened and searched for the nearest vent. Finding one, he climbed onto a table and opened the vent, peering in with a flashlight. He was in luck—it was warm out, meaning that the school kept the air conditioning on to keep the school cool. Heating would have spread the gas, but the cool air allowed the gas to crystallize. Shadowbat scraped some of the crystals into an evidence bag and pressed the comm in his ear. "I've got it. Heading back to the Batcave."

"Please hurry." Drake's shaky voice spoke over the comms, almost startling Shadowbat. "Dick...he..."

Shadowbat didn't need to hear anymore. He ran out of the school and hopped onto his motorcycle. It roared to life, and he took off towards the Batcave, hoping he would make it in time. It was terrible to admit, but of his siblings, Richard was not the one he could lose, especially since they were so close to finding a cure.

The roar of Shadowbat's motorcycle echoed in the Batcave. It came to an halt with an ear-splitting screech as Shadowbat jumped off and raced towards the lab. Drake was waiting for him, and Damian couldn't help but notice the dried tear tracks on his face. He didn't comment, instead choosing to analyze the gas crystals and figure out how to synthesize a cure. Drake went upstairs after some time, muttering something about checking on Richard. The Batmobile and the girls' motorcycles came in soon after. Having heard Tim on the comms earlier, Stephanie and Cass ran for the elevator to check on the kids. Batman joined Damian, who had taken his cowl off.

"I'm almost done." Damian said, not looking up from the chemicals. He could feel his father nodding beside him, watching him work. Damian felt a hand on his shoulder and snapped his head up. He looked to his father, who looked determined.

"Go check on Dick and Jason. I can handle the rest."

"Father—"

"Go, Damian." Batman squeezed his shoulder. "You've done well tonight. Go look after them."

Damian hesitated for a moment before nodding stiffly. "All right." He glanced at the chemicals. "Just...hurry."

Batman nodded, his mouth set in a grim line. "I will."

Damian hesitated once more before jogging over to the elevator. As he rode up, he couldn't help but wonder if Batman would make a cure in time. Drake had sounded scared when he mentioned Richard. How bad was he? He couldn't be dead—Drake would have said so. He must be close though.

The elevator doors opened, and Damian quickly stepped out and speed-walked towards Richard's room. He stopped in front of the door, hand on the doorknob. He braced himself for however Richard could look and opened the door.

Bruce let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He had done it, made the cure, but now he needed to get it distributed to the rest of Gotham as quickly as possible. He pressed the comm. "Damian, I need you down in the Batcave."

Damian answered and said he would be down. As Bruce waited, he separated a small portion of the cure to give to Dick and Jason. The rest would be sent with Damian to Gotham General. The doctors there could make a bigger supply and distribute it to the children faster than Batman could.

The elevator doors opened and Damian quickly made his way over to Bruce, who gently handed him the vial. "Take this to Gotham General. I'll let Commissioner Gordon know you're coming."

"What about—"

"I've got them." Bruce held up the vial for Dick and Jason. "They're going to be okay. Now go."

Damian nodded and hopped onto his motorcycle, speeding out of the cave. Bruce didn't waste any time. He quickly ran over to the elevator and took it up to the study, sending a quick message the Commissioner as he did. Alfred would not be happy about him wearing the suit in the manor, but Bruce didn't think Alfred would mind too much this time.

Bruce dashed out the doors as soon as they opened and ran up to Dick's room. Bruce found everyone sitting around Dick's bed. They all looked up at him as he came in. Bruce held up the vial, and they all immediately sagged with relief. They backed away from the bed as Bruce came over, who sat down at a chair and gently slipped his hand behind Dick's head. He lifted the boy's head a little and put the vial to his lips. He let about half the liquid slide into Dick's mouth before taking the vial away. Bruce set the boy's head back down on the pillow. He then went to Jason's room and did the same thing.

With the boys having drank the cure and Damian delivering the rest to the hospital, everyone could do nothing but wait for the boys to wake up. Bruce wouldn't relax until they did.

 Dick's eyelids felt heavy, like Jason was sitting on his face again—or maybe holding down his eyelids. That wasn't nice. Why was Jason doing that?

He heard someone gasp. "He's waking up!"

He felt a little strength return and managed to crack his eyes open. Thankfully, the room was dim, so his eyes didn't have to adjust too much.

Blearily, he gazed around the room and saw everyone sitting around his bed. He glanced over beside him and saw Jason grinning at him. Memories rushed back, and Dick gasped. He let out a cry and reached for Jason, too weak to launch himself at his brother like he wanted to. Jason scooted over and wrapped his arms around Dick.

"You're okay!" Dick beamed, tears in his eyes. His body ached with every movement, but he didn't care as he returned Jason's hug.

"Me? You were the one who was really bad off." Jason smiled, but Dick could see the lingering worry in his eyes. "I heard Tim got really scared, but he won't tell me what happened."

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Tim shuddered, causing Dick to frown.

"Well, I'm okay now, right?" 

Stephanie laughed softly. "Yes, you are. Now, come here you." Stephanie enveloped him in her arms. Dick sighed happily. Of all his siblings, Stephanie was the most affectionate. Her hugs were always nice, and Dick really needed it at the moment.

Dick suddenly remembered that he and Jason hadn't been the only sick ones and looked at Bruce worriedly. "Is everyone else okay?" He gasped. "Is Barbara okay?" Dick didn't know what he'd do if Barbara had died.

"She's fine, Dick, and so are the others." Bruce reassured, running his hand through Dick's hair. "Damian got the cure to the hospital. All the kids have been treated; they're just waiting for the last of them to wake up."

Dick let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He had a lot more questions—who did this? why did they do it? how did they do it?—but right now, everything was okay.

His stomach growled.

He was hungry. The questions could wait.

Dick put on his best puppy dog face and looked at Bruce. "I'm hungry. Can I have Lucky Charms for dinner?"

The resounding laughter, snort from Damian, and sigh from Alfred that followed made Dick grin. Alfred would give him the cereal, if only because he had almost died. Dick knew he was taking advantage of that, but it was worth it.

Lucky Charms was his favorite cereal.

Chapter Text

“Hi, Titus!” Dick plopped down next to the old dog. “Hi, Alfred!” He waved to the cat. Both animals were lazing in the sun. Dick ran his hand through Titus’ fur while said dog ignored him, keeping his eyes closed as he dozed.

Dick loved that Damian had so many animals. There was Bat-Cow (who was in the backyard), Alfred the Cat, and Titus. Tim told him that Damian had even had a turkey once, but he had died a few years ago. Unfortunately, Damian’s pets were old, which meant they never had the energy to play. At the circus, Dick had had plenty of animal playmates. Dick missed them.

“I bet you played with Dami a lot when he first got you.” Dick said as he pet Titus. He paused for a moment, thinking. “Well, if Dami played. Bruce said that Dami’s always been grumpy. He plays with me sometimes, but I don’t think he really likes it. He always looks really uncomfortable. Jason and Stephanie and Cass play with me, and Timmy reads to me. But…” Dick bit his lip and looked away, pausing in his petting. “I miss playing with Zitka. She was an elephant. She was my best friend at the circus, even more than J-John.” Dick fought back tears. It still caused so much pain inside to say his cousin’s name.

Dick resumed stroking Titus. “She used to pick me up with her trunk. Sometimes, I climbed onto her back, and she’d walk around the grounds.”

Dick sighed and flopped down next to Titus. He sniffled. “Jason plays with me—and Timmy when I beg. But Jason’s gonna get old and not wanna play anymore. That’s what Bart said happens when a kid becomes a teenager. And Jason’s already twelve!” Dick was silent for a moment. “And...well...my only friend is Barbara. She’s not here all the time like Jason is, and I think her dad worries about being friends with me ‘cause I’m older.”

Dick’s lip wobbled, and he curled up against Titus.

Unknown to him, someone was watching him from the entrance to the living room. They snuck away quietly, determined to make the boy feel better.

“Bruce.” Had Bruce not been Batman, he would have jumped and spilled coffee all over himself. Cass was quieter than him when she walked, but he was trained to sense when someone entered the room. The others in the house weren’t as lucky.

“Yes, Cass?” Bruce finished pouring his cup of coffee and turned to face his daughter.

“How much is elephant?”

Bruce blinked. “What?”

Cass sighed in frustration. “How much is elephant?”

Bruce tried to figure what she meant because she couldn’t actually mean what he thought she meant. “Like a stuffed animal elephant?”

Cass shook her head. “No. Elephant. How much?”

Bruce sighed. Why couldn’t his children be normal? “Why do you want to know how much an elephant costs?”

Cass frowned. “Dick is sad. Needs elephant.”

Bruce’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What? Why is he sad? And why does he need an elephant?”

“Lonely. Needs a friend. Misses Zitka.” Cass was beginning to feel exasperated. Dick was sad, and that needed to be fixed now. Bruce had the money to buy an elephant, and it wasn’t like they hadn’t had weird pets before. Why was Bruce asking so many questions?

Bruce frowned. Dick was lonely? It seemed almost impossible for someone to be lonely in the Manor, but it did make some sense. Everyone but Jason was far older than Dick. Contrary to Alfred’s belief, Bruce had noticed that Dick only ever had Barbara over.

Yeah, okay. Dick was probably lonely.

“I’m not going to get Dick an elephant. Even that’s a bit much for this house.” He held his hand up before Cass could interrupt. “However, I’m sure we can find a friend for him. Why don’t we go look together?”

Cass narrowed her eyes for a moment before nodding. She wasn’t happy that they weren’t getting an elephant for Dick, but hopefully they’d find something that Dick would like.

It took a few days to make everything final, but Bruce and Cass had found the perfect friend for Dick.

When they walked into the Manor with said friend, they found Dick sitting on the couch with Damian while Stephanie was sitting in the armchair. The TV was on, but Dick seemed to be the only one paying attention to it. Damian and Stephanie seemed to be communicating silently about Dick, their eyes darting back and forth between each other and said boy. Dick was watching the TV glumly and seemed unaware of his older siblings’ interaction.

“Dick!” Cass made her way over to Dick and knelt in front of him, her eyes lit up in excitement. Dick blinked in confusion—it wasn’t often that Cass looked that happy—and sat up.

“Yeah?” He asked, albeit a bit warily. Why did Cass look so excited?

“We have a friend.” Cass looked up behind Dick, so he turned around and saw Bruce standing in the doorway. At first, he didn’t understand what Cass was talking about—it was just Bruce—but then he saw something wriggling in Bruce’s arms. It was small and black, blending in with Bruce’s black, long-sleeved shirt. It took a moment, but Dick realized that Bruce was holding a puppy. He gasped and vaulted over the couch. He ran over to Bruce and gaped at the puppy in Bruce’s arms. Bruce set the puppy down, which immediately ran towards Dick.

Dick picked up the puppy and looked at Bruce with wide eyes. “Is this for me?”

Bruce kneeled down and nodded, smiling. “He is. But you’re going to be in charge of taking care of him. Can you do that?”

Dick nodded furiously. “I can! I can!” The boy was smiling from ear to ear as he cuddled the puppy. He grabbed onto Bruce’s shirt and half-hugged the man, making sure to not crush the puppy. “Thank you! Thank you!”

“It’s Cass you should be thanking.” Bruce looked up at the girl. “She’s the one who suggested getting you a pet.”

Dick turned and ran to Cass, wrapping one arm around her leg to give her a half-hug. “Thank you, Cass! Thank you! Thank you!”

Cass laughed and bent down to return the hug. “You are welcome.”

Dick held the puppy in front of his face. It yapped and licked his nose, causing Dick to giggle.

“You wanna give it a name, Dick?” Bruce asked.

“Hmm…” Dick narrowed his eyes. He had to think of the perfect name for the puppy—something awesome.

“Mmm…” Blackie? No. Lucky? No. Batman would be a cool name, but he didn’t think Bruce would like that. Plus, it might get confusing.

“I’m going to call him Ace.” The puppy barked, and Dick grinned. “You like that name?” He looked up at Bruce. “Can I go outside and play with Ace? Please? Please?”

Bruce nodded. Dick cheered and raced out of the room with the puppy. Bruce sent a look to Stephanie and Cass that said ‘please keep that child out of trouble’. Stephanie laughed and jogged after Dick with Cass following at a slower pace. Knowing Dick, trouble would find him no matter where he was.

Damian waited for the sound of Stephanie and Cass’ footsteps to fade before turning to Bruce and quirking an eyebrow. “A dog?”

Bruce’s lips briefly twitched up into a smile. “Cass wanted to get him an elephant.”

Damian scoffed. “Where would we have kept it?”

Bruce shrugged, smiling knowingly. “We made it work for Bat-Cow, didn’t we?”

Damian’s eyes snapped to Bruce. “Bat-Cow is much smaller than an elephant.”

“Just like you needed a pet—pets, really—when you were younger, Dick needed one too.” Bruce moved over to the window. Looking out, he could see Dick rolling in the grass with his new puppy while Stephanie and Cass laughed. “And just as Titus made a good first pet for you, I thought a dog would make a good pet for Dick too.”

“Hmph.” Damian joined Bruce at the window. He watched the boy play and had to concede that Dick looked happier than he had the last few days. "I will agree that the dog will be good for him."

"And at least he didn't name it after one of us." Bruce smirked while Damian glared at him.

"I was honoring Alfred when I named my cat!"

Bruce chuckled. "Yes. Yes. I know. You've told us many times."

Damian's eyes flared, but he knew there was nothing he could say that would not make his father laugh. Instead, he straightened and stepped away from the window. "...I will see you at dinner."

Bruce watched his oldest son leave before turning back to the window. He knew he shouldn't tease his son, but Damian could use it every one in a while. He'd get over it soon enough anyway.

Dick suddenly looked up and saw Bruce looking out the window. He held up the puppy and shouted a 'Thank you!'. Bruce couldn't hear it, but he could read Dick's lips. He smiled back at Dick, who waved and turned away to run towards Stephanie.

Bruce turned away from the window, satisfied that Dick would be fine with Stephanie and Cass watching him. He made his way up to the study, deciding to get some Wayne Enterprises work done before dinner. With the new puppy, the Manor was probably going to be more chaotic than usual in the next few days (or weeks, considering how this family was). It was worth it, though, seeing how happy the dog made Dick.

(Bruce wouldn't think it was so worth it a few days later when he found out the puppy had somehow gotten in and had an accident in his study.)

Chapter Text

“Bruuuuce! Bruce! Bruce!” Bruce sighed and closed his laptop. It looked like he wouldn’t be getting any work done.

Dick ran into the study and launched himself into Bruce’s waiting arms. Bruce lifted Dick into the air and settled the boy in his lap. “Yes, Dick?”

Dick was already pulling the puppy dog eyes out, making Bruce wary. Pulling them out early usually meant Dick wanted something that Bruce might not approve of.  “I wanna go with you to work.”

Bruce’s eyebrows rose. That wasn’t what he was expecting Dick to say. “You do?”

Dick nodded. “Yeah! I’ve never been before. Can I go with you tomorrow? Please? Please? Tomorrow is a teacher work day, so there’s no school.” Dick clasped his hands together and looked up at Bruce, pleading. “I’ll be really really good! I promise!”

“All right. All right.” Bruce laughed. “You can come to work with me. I may have to go to some meetings, though, and you won’t be able to come with me. Will you be okay with that?”

“I’ll be fine!”

“Okay then. You can come to work with me tomorrow.”

Dick cheered.

“Wow!” Dick stared around, mouth gaping, as he and Bruce walked through the extravagant lobby of Wayne Enterprises. Their footsteps echoed on the marble floor as they walked up to the elevator. There was a man sitting at a desk next to it—a security guard—and Dick waved to him eagerly.

“Hello!”

The security guard waved back with an amused smile. Dick didn’t stop waving until the elevator doors closed. Bruce swiped his card and pressed the button for the top floor.

“This place is sooo fancy!” Dick commented, looking around the large elevator. Bruce couldn’t help but chuckle. Jason had said the same thing when Bruce first brought him here.

The elevator doors opened, and the two walked out. Dick once again was looking around, cheerfully waving and greeting everyone they walked by.

They approached large double doors with another desk with a person sitting next to them. This desk held a young woman, who greeted Bruce with a bubbly “Good morning, Mr. Wayne!”.

Her eyes flicked to Dick, and the woman cooed. “And you must be Mr. Grayson!”

Dick blushed and ducked his head, whispering so quietly Bruce and the secretary almost didn’t hear him. “Hello.”

Bruce chuckled and ushered Dick into his office, an “Awww!” from his secretary following after them. Dick forgot about being shy almost immediately as he wandered around the office. He stopped at Bruce’s desk and hauled himself up onto Bruce’s giant leather chair. He spun himself around for a bit before catching a glimpse of the window (really a glass wall). He jumped off the chair and ran to the window, pressing his hands and face against the glass.

“Whoa! We’re really high up!”

Bruce chuckled as he made his way over to Dick. He laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder and looked out at the view with him. “We are. Wayne Enterprises is the tallest building in Gotham. Much higher than the buildings we tend to jump off at night.” Bruce smirked at Dick as the boy giggled. Bruce was about to offer Dick a tour when there was a sudden knock on the door, and the secretary poked her head in.

“Mr. Wayne? I am sorry to bother you, but Lex Luthor is on line one, and he doesn’t seem to be very patient.”

Bruce sighed and silently cursed Luthor as he put on a charming smile for the secretary. “Thank you, Emily. I’ll take that right away. Do you mind watching Dick until I’m done?”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all, Mr. Wayne!” Emily held out a hand for Dick. “Come on, sweetie. I bet I have some colored pencils and paper around here for you to draw with.”

Dick looked back at Bruce, who smiled encouragingly, before making his way over to Emily and taking her hand. He pouted, not wanting to leave Bruce, but he knew that he couldn’t interrupt Bruce’s important work, even if it was with Lex Luthor.

“It’s fine, Dick. I shouldn’t be too long, okay? And then I’ll give you a tour of the place.”

“Okay!” Dick nodded, feeling a little better as Emily led him out of the room. Bruce would be done soon and then they could spend the day together.

Dick sighed and flopped back into the extra chair Emily had pulled up for him. It had been almost three hours , and Bruce still hadn’t left his office.

Emily glanced at him sympathetically. The poor kid had gotten tired of drawing half an hour ago and had to be really bored. She pursed her lips and glanced at Mr. Wayne’s door.

“You know, it’s getting around to be lunch time. Why don’t we go down to the cafeteria and get you something to eat?”

Dick’s eyes lit up, and he sprung off the chair. “Yes, please! Can I get ice cream?”

“Only if you’re good.” Emily tapped his nose and smiled. She knew she was going to get him ice cream anyway. How could she deny him when he was so cute!

Emily quickly wrote a note for Mr. Wayne in case he finished before they got back and stood, taking Dick’s hand. As they made their way over to the elevators, they passed by other workers, all of whom received a greeting and wave from Dick. The women practically melted at the adorable child while the men chuckled. They rode down to the second floor and walked into the cafeteria.

Emily knelt down in front of Dick. “Now what would you like to eat? Do you want a sandwich?”

“Can I have peanut butter and jelly?”

“Sure!” Emily stood and led Dick over to the sandwich line. She had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made for Dick and had a sub made for herself. She added an apple and a knife to the tray holding their sandwiches and led Dick over to an empty table. One thing Emily loved about Wayne Enterprises was how well the company took care of its workers. The cafeteria had all sorts of food made by gourmet chefs, and it was all free .

“Would you like some apple slices, Dick?” At Dick’s nod, Emily cut the apple, putting most of the pieces on his plate while keeping a few for herself.

“After you finish eating, we’ll go get you some ice cream.” Emily leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. “This is just between you and me, but the ice cream here is some of the best I’ve ever had.”

Dick’s eyes widened in awe. “Really?” He asked, his mouth slowly forming into an excited grin.

Emily nodded seriously. “Really.”

Dick quickly ate his lunch, only slowing down when Emily reminded him to. When he finished, he jumped up from his seat and tugged at Emily’s hand. “Can we get ice cream now?”

Emily laughed and stood. “I promised, didn’t I?” She led him over to the dessert station. Tables were filled with all sorts of desserts, and a cheery man stood behind the ice cream counter. Dick gaped in awe and pressed his hands and face to the glass, his eyes darting around as he took in all the flavors.

The man beamed down at Dick. “Well, hello there! Is there anything you’d like to try?”

Dick stared at the flavors, trying to decide which one to try first. He ended up trying three flavors before deciding on Chocolate Fudge Brownie, which had chunks of brownie in it, much to Dick’s delight. The man put two large scoops in a cone and handed it to him. Dick grinned up at him and said a happy “Thank you!” before trotting over to Emily, who had picked up a small piece of cake for herself. They headed back to their table, with Dick already smearing chocolate on his face as he simultaneously ate his ice cream and thanked Emily. When they finished dessert, Emily went to grab Mr. Wayne’s usual lunch before heading back up with Dick.

Bruce was just finishing up his conference call when he received a frantic knock on his door.

“Come in.” He called.

The door opened to reveal a frazzled Emily. Bruce immediately sat straighter as the woman brought his lunch over.

“What happened?” Bruce asked, tone serious.

Emily burst into tears. “I swear I only took my eyes off him for a few seconds!”

Bruce stood and quickly made his way to the door, every worst case scenario running through his mind while Emily chased after him. He would reprimand his secretary, but he knew that Dick was one of the best of his children at sneaking away (minus Damian and Cassandra). Hopefully, someone would find him soon. Dick still wasn't very good at being away from Bruce for too long.

Dick had no idea where he was.

He knew he shouldn’t have gotten off the elevator when Emily wasn’t looking, but the man who had gotten off on this floor had mentioned his brother while he was on the phone, and he thought Damian might be here. Besides, he wanted to explore too.

But now he had lost the man who had said his brother’s name while looking into a room. It took him a bit to find the elevators (Wayne Enterprises was huge ), but when he did, he couldn’t get back to the top floor. He needed to swipe a card like Bruce did, which he obviously didn’t have. Dick sniffled and whimpered quietly as he looked around.

A woman suddenly poked her head out of one of the rooms. “Hey, sweetie. Are you all right?”

Dick stayed silent, trying to hold back his tears. The woman came out of her office and approached the boy, kneeling gently beside him. “Hey, it’s okay. Are you lost? Can you tell me your name? I might know your mom or dad.”

Dick wiped at his nose and whispered. “My name’s Dick.”

Why did that sound familiar? The boy looked familiar as well. He was probably one of her coworker’s kids. She had been told about and met someone’s kid so many times that they all kind of blurred together.

“Can you tell me your mom or dad’s name? The one who works here? I can probably help you find him or her.”

Dick almost found it funny that the lady didn’t recognize him. Sure, Bruce tried to keep him away from paparazzi as much as possible, but most people still recognized him anyway. It was kind of nice. It was definitely a change from the ladies at Bruce’s parties that tried to be nice to him to get to Bruce and then talked badly about him behind his back.

“Bruce is my daddy. Not my first daddy, but...but he’s my daddy now.” It took some time, but Bruce really was like his tati now. He didn’t use ‘tati’ with this woman though. Only Bruce and his family could hear that word. It was special.

“Bruce...as in Bruce Wayne?” The woman’s eyes widened. No wonder the boy seemed familiar. She felt stupid now. How could she not recognize the newest son of her boss?

“Okay. Okay.” The woman took a deep breath and smiled at Dick. “Why don’t we go down to the security officer and get him to page Mr. Wayne? Does that sound okay?”

Dick nodded. The woman held out her hand, and Dick took it.

Bruce was just about to send out a memo about his son when he received a call from security.

"Yes?" Bruce asked immediately.

"Mr. Wayne, it seems that your son wandered off and couldn't get back to your floor. He's been brought down to the lobby."

"I'm on my way. If you could inform Emily that she can quit her search, that would be appreciated. She's currently on the 15th floor" Bruce hung up when he got an affirmative and immediately strode to the elevator. When he reached the lobby, he found Dick sitting in the security guard's chair with a lollipop while the guard and a woman stood by him. They all looked up when the elevator doors opened, and Dick broke out into a wide smile at the sight of him. Dick hopped out of his chair and launched himself at Bruce, who was already prepared to catch him.

"Bruce!" Dick took the lollipop out of his mouth and stared up at him with wide eyes. "I'm sorry I got off the elevator! There was a man talking about Dami and I thought he might be here so I followed the man but then I lost him and then I couldn't get back to the top floor 'cause I didn't have a card, and I was really sad but then Miss Lana found me and brought me down here so the guard could call you! I promise I'll never do it again!" Dick wrapped his arms around Bruce's neck and clung tightly.

"It's fine, Dick. Just don't do it again." Bruce ran his hand through the boy's hair. "You also need to apologize to Emily. She's been very worried about you."

"I will! I really am sorry."

As Dick calmed down, Bruce looked over to the woman who had found Dick. "Lana, right? You must be Lana Forrester. Thank you for finding my son."

"Oh! Um—" Lana was suddenly flustered. "You know who I am?"

"I try to know all of my employees. I hope that does not make you uncomfortable."

"Oh, no! It doesn't! I'm just surprised. You have a lot of employees, Mr. Wayne."

"And all of you are important." Bruce flashed her one of his 'Brucie' smiles. "All of you are what keeps this company running." Bruce hefted Dick higher into his arms. "Thank you again for finding Dick. Why don't you take the next two days off paid? It's the least I could do to thank you."

"That really isn't necessary—"

"Please, take it. It'll make me feel better that you are thanked properly." Bruce flashed her another smile and headed back to the elevator. "I'll make sure the right people know. Have a good day, Miss Forrester."

"You—You too!" Lana called as the elevator doors closed.

"Thanks for taking me to work today, Bruce." Dick smiled up at the man from his bed. "And I'm sorry I caused so much trouble."

Bruce was sat beside the boy, running his hand over the boy's hair. "It's all right, Dick. Jason pulled something similar the first time he came to work with me too."

"Really?" Dick's eyes widened.

"Really. But that's a story for another day." Bruce stood and turned Dick's lamp off. "Goodnight, Dick. Sleep well."

"Goodnight, Tati."

Bruce smiled and closed the door. He still hadn't gotten used to Dick calling him that, and he probably never would. He didn't mind, though. He liked being a dad.

Chapter Text

Tim had no idea how Cass did it.

Though to be fair, she didn’t have to take Jason too.

Every once in a while, Alfred believed that Tim was spending too much time in the house (and did not appreciate it when Tim mentioned that he got out to go on patrol every night). Alfred would always insist on Tim taking the two youngest out for the day—going shopping, to the movies, etc. The boys were always ecstatic when Alfred would announce that Tim would be taking them out.

Tim never was.

Alfred knew that these little outings never went well, right? Tim always mentioned that day’s disasters to Alfred while he was making dinner, hoping that would convince the butler to never again force him to do it.

Unfortunately, it never worked.

Currently, Tim was running through the mall, trying to catch up to his brothers, who had raced off for some new store that had opened. He could just make out the cape on the back of Dick’s Superman shirt. The boys raced inside a store, and Tim almost let out a groan when he saw which one it was.

Of course. The Lego store.

By the time Tim made it to the entrance, the boys were already ‘ooh’ing and ‘aah’ing over the superhero themed playsets. Tim made his way over to them. Sensing his presence, they immediately turned around and each held up a Lego set.

“Tim! Can I get this? Please?” Dick begged, holding up a set of the Watchtower. Despite its simplicity, it was remarkably accurate.

“I want this one!” Jason demanded, not even bothering with asking. His set contained Wonder Woman and her invisible jet.

Tim sighed. Well, if Alfred was going to force him to take the boys out for the day, he’d do what they asked, Bruce’s money and spoiling be damned. “You know what? Sure.”

The boys cheered. Jason grabbed another Lego set depicting what the Batcave potentially looked like (none of them were ever more than 40% accurate) and ran up to the counter without even asking Tim about it. He could tell Tim had reached his state of ‘done’ and was going to take full advantage of it. Dick, the little angel, merely took Tim’s hand and dragged him to the counter.

After paying for the toys, the boys ran off again with some shout about lunch. Figuring they were heading to the food court, Tim ran after them again. No amount of shouting or asking would make them slow down as Tim learned during the first three outings. Now, he just tried to keep up.

When he made it to the food court, Dick and Jason were already bouncing up and down in front of the McDonald’s. Jason slapped a twenty down on the counter, which was supposed to be his emergency money, and waited for their food. Tim walked up and just looked at them tiredly.

“We ordered for you too, just so you know.” Jason said, ignoring Tim’s look. “You’re welcome.”

Tim just sighed, grabbed the food, and went to find a table. Dick watched him worriedly but didn’t say anything.

They sat down and began to eat. After a few minutes, Tim set down his burger and spoke. “All right. I’ve tried this before, and it’s never worked, but I’m determined to try again.” Jason rolled his eyes while Dick pouted—Tim was always trying to ruin their fun. “If you guys behave just for today, I will hack into the Watchtower and let you mess with it in one way.”

Dick and Jason’s eyes widened at the prospect. Jason spoke first. “Any way?”

“One way.” Tim stressed. “And it can’t badly damage the Watchtower.” Batman was already going to be so pissed about this, but Tim was tired. He just wanted peace.

Dick and Jason looked at each other before turning back to Tim. “Deal!”

Tim sighed in relief. He was going to be washing the Batmobile for weeks, but it was worth it to get a few hours of not chasing after the kids or cleaning up one of their messes. It was as if once Bruce, Damian, or Alfred wasn’t there to reprimand them, they just went absolutely nuts.

Tim still wasn’t sure the boys would stay true to their word, but they surprised him. Not once did Dick or Jason run off or roll around in the mud when they went to the park or caused any sort of headache for Tim. The only suspicious thing they did was whisper to each other. Tim wasn’t sure what they were saying, but he was sure they were coming up with ideas for how they’d mess with the Justice League headquarters.

But now that meant he would have to help them prank the Watchtower in some way.

As soon as they got home, Dick and Jason cornered Tim in his room. Dick latched onto his arm so Tim couldn’t run.

Tim let out a sigh. “All right. A deal’s a deal. What do you want to do to the Watchtower?”

Dick let go of Tim and leaned in to Jason to whisper to each other while Tim waited. Finally, the both nodded and turned back to Tim with cheeky grins.

Jason was the one who spoke while Dick latched onto Tim’s arm again. “We want to lock Green Lantern in the bathroom.”

Tim furrowed his eyebrows. That was a strange request. He shrugged. It wasn’t the worst thing they could have thought of.

Apparently, Tim was taking too long because Jason became frustrated. “Can you do it or not?”

Tim nodded. “I can do it.”

Dick spoke up. “And we want you to record it!”

Tim paused at that. “...Why?”

Dick beamed. “It’s a present for Bruce! I heard him grumbling about Green Lantern again and how he always talks back to Bruce and questions his ideas and stuff, so Jason thought we could cheer him up by embarrassing Hal.”

Tim’s eyebrows rose. “Huh." This may actually not get him in trouble. "Okay then. Let’s do it.”

“Bruuuuuce! Bruce!” Bruce smiled slightly as he heard his youngest call his name. He was currently in the Batcave, trying to figure out where the latest weapons deal was going to happen (it was going to be a warehouse, but he needed to figure out which warehouse). To Bruce’s surprise, Dick wasn’t alone. Jason and Tim had followed him down.

Dick launched himself at Bruce’s lap and sat up on his knees, grabbing Bruce’s shoulders excitedly. Bruce quirked an eyebrow and smiled in amusement.

“Yes, Dick?” He could see the boy was bursting to tell him something.

“We have a present for you!” Dick beamed. Tim cleared his throat awkwardly and stepped forward with his laptop.

“I owed them a favor, and they insisted it be this.”

Now curious, Bruce turned his attention to the laptop. There was a paused video of one of the men’s bathrooms on the Watchtower. Tim pressed play, and Bruce saw Hal Jordan washing his hands. Bruce quirked an eyebrow at the boys.

“Just watch it.” Jason said with a grin that probably should have worried Bruce. Bruce turned back to the video.

Hal went to leave the bathroom, but the door wouldn’t open.

“Um, hello?” Hal waved at the door. When it didn’t open, he kicked it. “Hello!”

“Whoever is doing this is not funny and is going to get a serious ass-kicking once I’m out of here!” Hal pounded on the door.

“...Hal?” A voice called from the other side of the door.

“Supes? That you?” Hal asked.

“Yeah, what are you doing?”

“What the hell do you think I’m doing? I’m trapped! Get me out of here!” Hal slapped the door.

“I’ll call Cyborg up to work on the door.” Superman said through the door.

“What? No! Bust through the door and get me out of here!”

There was a pause. “Why can’t you break through the door?”

At this, Hal blushed slightly. “My ring is dead.” There was a sigh from Superman. “Look, it happens. I can’t get out, so you get me out!”

There was another pause, and Hal grew frustrated. “What’s taking so long?”

Superman sounded sheepish as he spoke. “Batman threatened to make the next person who broke something that wasn’t during an attack to pay for the damage. I don’t have the money to pay for the door.”

“What? Who cares? He’ll still pay for it!”

Superman heaved another sigh. “Look, it’s unnecessary to break the door. I’m sure we can get Cyborg up here and get you out within the hour.”

Bruce suddenly paused the video. “How long did it take to get him out of the bathroom?”

The three boys grinned, and Tim was the one to answer. “Five hours. Cyborg turned out to be on a mission, and Hal knew you wouldn’t pay for anything he personally damaged. Eventually, Martian Manhunter zeta-ed in and just phased him out.”

“Jordan would be right.”

“So, did you like your present?” Dick asked, smiling up at Bruce.

Bruce glanced back at the screen. Technically, he should at least chastise them. He shouldn’t give them the idea that they could do this whenever they wanted, but Jordan had been especially annoying this week, so he’d let it slide just this once. “I liked it very much.”

“Yay!” Dick smacked a kiss against Bruce’s cheek and jumped out of his lap. "I'm gonna go play now!"

Jason had no say as he was dragged off by Dick, leaving Tim and Bruce alone. They heard Dick call a "Hi, Alfred!", trading places with the butler to take the elevator up. Alfred approached the computer.

"Ah, Master Tim. It seems your outing with the boys went well today. Maybe you should go on those outings more often now that they have improved."

Ah, crap.

Chapter Text

Dick admired Damian as most little brothers admire their oldest brother. And as most little brothers did, Dick tried to be just like his big brother.

This did not always work out well.

Bruce tried not to sigh as Dick held up the mangiest cat he had ever seen. One eye had obviously been clawed out, it was missing patches of fur, and one of his ears looked like it had been partially bitten off. Dick, of course, didn’t seemed to be bothered by any of this as he beamed up at Bruce.

“Her name is Diana! For Wonder Woman! Can we keep her please?”

Dick had apparently found the cat while on patrol, and it had somehow taken to Dick. The cat hissed at Bruce from Dick’s arms, but cuddled up to the boy’s hands.

Bruce kneeled down, avoiding the cat as it swiped at him. “Dick…” Bruce swallowed as Dick’s eyes suddenly became sad and watery and changed his tactic. “I don’t know if Alfred would like this cat living with us. Who knows what kind of diseases it has?”

When in doubt, blame Alfred.

Dick pouted and clutched the cat to his chest. It buried its face in his neck. “But I gave her a bath! And we can take her to the vet!”

“I just don’t know, Dick.”

Dick’s lip wobbled and he spoke accusingly. “But you let Damian keep his animals!”

Damian’s animals weren’t this ugly, Bruce thought.

“I don’t think she and Ace would get along very well.” Bruce said gently. “I know Diana likes you, but she doesn’t seem to like anyone else.”

“She’s friendly! See?” Dick suddenly thrust the cat into Bruce’s arms. Immediately, the cat screeched and clawed at Bruce, leaving long scratches on his hands and arms. Despite that, Bruce held on and gave Dick a knowing look. Said boy deflated, knowing he had lost. He sighed loudly and looked down at his feet.

Bruce laid a hand on Dick’s shoulder, who moved the cat aside as it tried to swipe at the man again “Look, why don’t we take it to a shelter at least? I’m sure they could find a family for Diana.”

“You sure?” Dick asked.

Bruce smiled. “I’m sure.”

He was not.

Bruce sat down for his morning coffee and pulled out the paper. He was only on page three when he heard a light object hit the table.

“Dick, I thought you knew you can’t jump on the table.” Instead of hearing Dick sigh and get off the table, Bruce heard a small squeak. His paper snapped down.

Sitting in front of him was a rabbit. After staring for a moment, neither moving, the rabbit hopped forward and chewed on the edge of the lowered newspaper.

Bruce let out a breath through his nose and called out. “Dick!”

The rabbit, terrified by the loud noise, immediately scampered away. Bruce cursed quietly and stood but decided to wait for Dick before chasing after the rabbit.

Dick slid into the room a minute later, eyes wide and hair sticking out everywhere. “Yes?” His eyes darted toward the stairs, and he twitched frequently.

“Do you have something on your mind?” Bruce asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“What?” Dick looked at Bruce before his eyes went back to the stairs. “No.”

“Well, I have had a very interesting morning, Dick. Can you guess why?”

“Um…” Dick bit his lip, suddenly paying more attention to Bruce. “Did you find Dinah?”

Bruce sighed—Dinah, of course—and asked patiently. “Is Dinah a rabbit?”

Dick nodded. “I found her in the yard. She didn’t run away when I got close to her, and she’s really cute, and she needed a home.”

Bruce resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose; that would only make Dick feel worse. He kneeled down and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Dick, Dinah is a wild rabbit. She needs to live in the wild.”

Dick’s lip wobbled. “But I love her.”

“And I’m sure she loves you, but she might have a family out in the wild. You don’t want to take her away from her family, do you?” It was a low blow, and Bruce doubted the rabbit actually had other rabbits waiting for it, but it was probably the only way Dick would willingly give Dinah up.

“No…”

“Then you need to find Dinah and release her back where you found her.” Bruce squeezed Dick’s shoulder.

Dick bowed his head and nodded. He didn’t want to give Dinah up, but he didn’t want to take her away from her family either. He turned around and stared at the floor as he shuffled out of the room. Bruce frowned but didn’t go after him. Dick would get over it eventually.

Bruce stood up and sat back down at the table. He found where he left off in the paper and picked up his coffee. He had only gotten through half a page when Jason poked his head into the room.

“Hey, Bruce? Why are there pellet things in the hall?”

Bruce set down his paper and sighed.

Dick stood there with a horse.

“His name is Clark.”

“No.”

A pet store wasn’t the strangest place Batman had fought a villain in, but it was up there. Robin had been in charge of getting the animals out of danger while Batman fought Harley Quinn, who had decided she wanted to kidnap every pet store animal in Gotham while Joker was in Arkham.

The fight was short. Harley had accidentally smashed a fish tank and, while she knelt down to try to save the fish, Batman swooped in and knocked her out. Batman left Robin to help the fish while he carried Harley out to the waiting cops. When Batman went back inside, Robin held up a fishbowl with a goldfish in it.

“Can I keep him please? Pretty pretty pretty please?” Robin begged. “I named him Barry because he’s red and yellow.”

Batman sighed internally. He really should say no, but maybe this would deter him from taking in any strays for a while.

At Batman’s nod, Robin cheered and ran for the Batmobile. Batman left some money on the counter and followed him out.

The fish did not deter him.

Dick had found an injured bird in the backyard this time, a starling if Bruce recalled his birds right. Dick had hid it in his room, hoping Bruce wouldn’t find it.

He hadn’t. Damian actually had and had told Bruce.

Now they were both standing in Dick’s room as said boy pouted up at them. He clutched the bird gently to his chest defensively.

“You can’t get rid of him.”

Bruce wasn’t deterred. “Dick.”

“You can’t!” Dick cried, hunching over the bird. “You can’t!”

Bruce glanced at Damian, who only quirked an eyebrow. He wasn’t going to say anything. After all, Damian had collected many animals as a child. Who was he to forbid Richard from doing the same thing?

Bruce glared at Damian before turning back to Dick. “Why can’t he go back in the wild?”

Dick stared up at Bruce determinedly. “Because his name is Bruce, so you can’t get rid of him.”

There was a quiet snort from Damian. Bruce shot him a look and kneeled down in front of Dick. “Dick, I’m honored you named the bird after me, but we can’t keep him.”

Dick burst into tears. “Why not?! You kept all of Damian’s pets! Timmy told me he had a turkey!”

Bruce was beginning to get a headache. “Well, unlike you, Damian was a lot more lonely.” He ignored Damian’s glare. “He didn’t have any siblings at the time and—” Bruce leaned closer and whispered loudly. “—he didn’t have many friends either.” Damian would yell at him later, but it would be worth it if it not only got Dick to get rid of the bird but also stop taking strays in.

Dick sniffled. “R-Really?”

Bruce nodded solemnly. “Really. So he needed those pets. But you don’t, do you? You’ve already got Ace and Barry. And you have all your siblings and Barbara and all the friends you made with other heroes your age, right?”

Dick nodded and rubbed at his eyes. “Right.”

Bruce smiled. “Good. Now, we can bring the bird to an animal hospital if you would like, but we can’t keep him.”

“Okay.” Dick looked down at the bird in his arms. “Can I at least say goodbye?”

“Of course you can, chum.” Bruce stood and held out his hand. “You can hold him in the car and say goodbye when we get there. Is that okay?”

Dick nodded and took Bruce’s hand. He looked at Damian. “Are you coming with us?”

It took effort for Damian to unclench his teeth and not growl. He managed to answer calmly enough. “No.”

Dick frowned. “Okay.” He looked down at the bird. “Come on, Bruce and—” He looked up at Bruce and giggled. “—Bruce.”

Bruce chuckled and led the boy out of the room.

(Dick stopped collecting animals after Bruce the bird, but that didn’t mean there weren’t other ways he tried to be like Damian.)

Chapter Text

English was a difficult language with double meanings and slang and rules that didn’t make sense. Dick did his best to learn, but sometimes he still slipped up.

“It is nice.” Dick stated, beaming at his new friend. He and Wally had declared themselves best friends just hours before and now were watching a movie.

“What’s nice?” Wally asked.

“To have a boyfriend!” Dick was smiling so hard it almost hurt. He had three brothers, but they were not the same as a friend. He had never had friends before but now, in a matter of months, he had made two friends! Dick’s smile quickly fell as he realized Wally looked upset.

“We’re not—I mean—We—” Wally blushed a dark red. He didn’t know how to respond. “We’re just friends, Dick. Best friends! But not—”

Dick was confused.  “What’s wrong?”

“Dick, we’re not—we’re not boyfriends.”

Dick furrowed his eyebrows. “But...I am a boy.” He paused. “Are you not a boy?”

Wally spluttered. “I’m a boy!”

Dick became frustrated. “Then why are you not my boyfriend?”

Wally opened his mouth to reply, but paused. “...Dick, what do you think boyfriend means?”

Dick threw his hands up. “Friends who are boys! What else would it be?”

Wally was silent for a moment before suddenly bursting out into giggles. Dick watched, his frustration growing as he waited for Wally to calm down. What was so funny? First, Wally was mad, and now he was laughing? Was this normal for friends?

“That’s not what boyfriend means, Dick!” Wally said through his giggles. “Boyfriends are boys that kiss and hold hands and go on dates and stuff. I am your friend, and I’m a boy, but I’m not your boyfriend, and you’re not mine.”

Dick sat silently as he processed this information. “So you are still my friend? And you are a boy?”

“Yes!”

Dick pursed his lips. “Is this an English thing?”

Wally shrugged. He was no longer laughing, but he still had a smile on his face. “I guess so.”

Dick nodded. The room was quiet, save for the movie playing, until Dick interrupted again.

“Does this mean Barbara’s not my girlfriend?”

“Cass, you would not believe the day I had.” Dick heard Stephanie talking as he walked by Cass’s room. “Eric tried hitting on me today, which didn’t work of course. That guy’s ego is bigger than Wayne Tower.”

Dick’s eyes widened, and he poked his head into the room. “Someone tried to hit you today?” Dick raced over to Stephanie, who was sitting cross-legged on Cass’s bed with said girl, and stared at her in worry. “You beat him up, right?”

Stephanie giggled and reached out for Dick, who happily went into her arms. “No, Dick. Being hit on means the person liked me and tried to make me like him by talking to me.”

Dick stared up at Stephanie. “Then why does it use the word ‘hit’?”

Stephanie hummed. “Well, I’m not really sure. Maybe it’s because sometimes it’s unwanted, like when you get hit by someone.”

Dick frowned. It wasn’t really a good explanation, but it was probably the best he was going to get. He sighed and pulled away from Stephanie’s arms. “Okay. It’s still weird, though.”

Stephanie laughed while Cass nodded. Cass understood, but she just thought English was stupid, so she didn’t really care when she got phrases wrong.

“Now, get out of here, squirt.” Stephanie pushed at him lightly and smirked. “Cass and I are talking about girl stuff, so no boys allowed!”

“Timmy?”

Tim looked up from his chemistry homework and saw Dick standing at his door. “Yeah, Dick?”

Dick trotted over to Tim’s desk and held up his social studies book, a frustrated pout on his face. “I don’t understand.”

Tim quirked an eyebrow and pushed his chair back. “What do you not understand?” He asked.

Dick huffed and flipped open the book to the back where a map of the United States was printed. He pointed to Kansas. “This is Kansas, yeah?” He looked up at Tim.

“Yeah…” Tim answered, not sure where Dick was going with this.

Dick then smashed his finger into Arkansas. “Then why is this not Ar-Kansas? Why is it Arkan- sah ?”

...Ah.

“Well, that’s because the states were named using different languages.” At Dick’s confused look, Tim continued. “Arkansas was named for a Native American tribe and is pronounced the French way, which doesn’t sound the last ‘s’. Kansas, on the other hand, was named after a Native American tribe and is pronounced using the English way, which usually does sound the last ‘s’.”

Dick huffed. “That’s stupid. Why did they do that?”

Tim’s lips quirked up. “It wasn’t just the English who settled in the U.S. originally. There were also the French, the Spanish, and a few other countries as well. Arkansas and Kansas are Native American words, plurals of the tribe names. The French discovered the area in which Arkansas is now, and pronounced the plural Native American word like they would in their own language. Kansas had a related tribe living in its region, which was discovered by the English, and they pronounced the plural word like they would in their own language.” Dick still looked somewhat lost, so Tim shrugged. “America’s weird. We’ve got states and cities named in multiple languages, not just French and English. We’re like one big melting pot of languages.”

Dick tilted his head. “Melting pot? What does that mean?”

Tim sighed, smiling good-naturedly and ruffling Dick’s hair. “I’ll tell you another time. Did my explanation help at all?”

Dick shrugged. “A little, I guess.” He still thought it was stupid, but at least there was an explanation for it, unlike some of the other phrases and terms Dick had come across while living with Bruce.

“Alright if that’s everything, I need to get back to my homework. I’ll see you at dinner, okay?”

“Kay.” Dick left Tim’s room and headed towards his own.

Now to figure out why New Hampshire was pronounced like Hamp-sher rather than Hamp-shy-er…

English was a strange language. Dick didn’t think he’d ever figure it out.

Chapter Text

Dick cried out as the crack of thunder jolted him from sleep. Dick clutched his blanket and his stuffed elephant, Zitka, tightly as he glanced around his room. In their trailer back at Haly’s, he would have been snuggled between his parents, his mother singing gently to him while his father attempted to stay awake. He and his mother would always end up giggling as John’s snores cut through Mary’s singing. The trailer would be filled with the light from their lamp, and the small space would be a comforting presence because where could a monster hide?

Dick could not say the same for the Manor. In his large, dark room, the lightning made the shadows dance and climb, and Dick could just imagine sharp teeth and claws coming out of them and snatching him away. The old building creaked and groaned with the wind, creating all sorts of ominous noises that taunted his imagination. Terrified, Dick threw the blanket over his head and trembled as he hugged Zitka to his body.

Dick knew—Dick knew—the tapping at his window was just the tree outside of his window being pushed against the glass by the wind, but what if it was one of Gotham’s villains coming to hurt him? Bruce was rich and famous, and it was well known that villains loved trying to kidnap his kids to get a ransom from the man.

Maybe Scarecrow had already shown up, and that was why he was so scared. What if he lowered the blanket and saw the man staring straight at him, ready to douse him in fear gas that would bring the monsters in his room to life?

He shouldn’t be scared. He was Robin! He was a superhero! Superheroes weren’t supposed to be scared of stupid things like the dark or thunderstorms. He just...He had to be brave. His brothers and sisters wouldn’t be scared, so he shouldn’t be either.

Thunder boomed, and Dick scrambled from his bed and toward the door, Zitka still clutched in his arms.

No one said he had to be brave alone.

Dick made a beeline for Bruce’s room and launched himself at Bruce’s bed with a cry. Said man shot up straight in bed, arm up and ready to strike, when he registered the small weight crawling over his lap before snuggling into his side. He lowered his arm with a sigh and wrapped the other one around the trembling child.

“Sorry for waking you, Bruce.” He heard Dick mumble into the blanket.

“It’s fine, Dick.”

It didn’t take long for Dick to still. Once he was surrounded by Bruce’s warmth, it was much easier for him to relax and fall asleep.

Bruce looked down at the sleeping boy and smiled. Dick was the first child that came to sleep with him when he had nightmares. Damian had been too proud when he had been a child. Stephanie and Cassandra had been too old by the time they joined the family. Tim and Jason hadn’t been used to seeking comfort (or still wasn’t in Jason’s case). Bruce knew that Dick would be too big to do this one day, but for now he would take advantage of it as often as possible.

When Alfred came in the next morning, he found them in the same position, a contented smile on both of their faces as they slept. Alfred slipped out and went to find the camera. This kind of moment was rare, and he knew Bruce would appreciate being able to look back on it.

Chapter Text

When the anniversary came around, it ate at Dick like a parasite.

Dick thought he had been healing. In the early days after his family’s fall, he believed he would never truly smile or laugh or feel happy again. Over time, he got used to living at Wayne Manor. There weren’t quite as many people as there had been at the circus, but there were enough that Dick was almost never lonely.

He had no idea how he would  have survived without his siblings.

With their help (and Bruce and Alfred too), he learned to smile and laugh and feel happy again. He had even made a friend or two. He had never had real friends his age at the circus—besides John, but he was Dick’s cousin so it didn’t count.

So, Dick thought he was healing, but all those feelings—the suffocating depression, the self-loathing, the overwhelming guilt—all came rushing back in an instant when he looked at his Word of the Day calendar and saw the anniversary was four days away.

Dick had stumbled, just catching himself on his desk. His breath whooshed out, leaving Dick so dizzy he thought he’d faint. The room was just starting to tilt sideways when a knock at his door brought him back to reality.

“Y-Yeah?” Dick cleared his throat and prayed whoever had knocked didn’t notice anything was amiss.

“Come on down for breakfast, Dick!” Stephanie called through the door, “You don’t wanna be late for school, do you?”

Dick would rather put his head between Killer Croc’s jagged teeth than go to school right now, but he didn’t have a choice. “I’ll be down in a sec!”

“You may wanna hurry before Jason and Cass eat it all!” Steph’s twinkling laugh faded with her footsteps, and Dick let out a sigh of relief. He quickly finished getting dressed and headed downstairs, grabbing his backpack as he left his room.

Getting downstairs was easy enough, but dick had to pause before entering the dining room.

The one thing that sucked about this family? They could read you as if you were telling all of your secrets yourself. Hiding anything from the others was a constant training exercise—one that Dick failed a lot .

Dick exhaled and forced his body to relax. He didn’t attempt to smile—the force of it would give him away immediately. He shuffled into the room and climbed into his usual chair (next to Bruce at the head of the table, across from Damian, and next to Tim). Luckily, it seemed Tim had pulled an all-nighter. The teen’s focus was entirely on his oversized mug of coffee.

Damian was reading the paper along with Bruce (they had two copies delivered to the Manor to keep the peace between the two men), so that knocked out two more pairs of prying eyes. Jason, of course, was heartily digging into his food, and Steph and Cass were talking about whatever it was teen girls talked about.

If Dick could just keep quiet, he could get through breakfast before losing himself in a crowd of children who couldn’t read him.

Forty-five seconds after Dick sat down, Damian’s paper snapped down, revealing narrowed eyes pointed straight at the boy. “You are quiet.”

Dick cursed mentally (sorry, Alfred).

He squinted back at Damian. “I thought you didn’t like me talking.”

The eldest Wayne son continued to stare. “This early in the morning? No. It can be quite annoying. However, my feelings on the matter have never stopped you before.”

Everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch the exchange, even Tim, though his eyes kept sliding back to his mug.

“Is everything all right, Dick?” Bruce asked. Why did he have to interfere?

“I’m fine,” Dick answered, trying not to sound annoyed, “Just a little tired from last night’s patrol.”

“We did get back later than usual,” Stephanie said with a point of her finger. He could faintly hear Cass mutter about “stupid breakout.”

“We’ll end patrol a little early tonight, then. If it’s quiet.” Bruce brought his paper back up.

“Thank God.” Everyone turned as Stephanie spoke. “I have a paper due tomorrow that I have not started.”

With this confession, the focus was now on Stephanie, allowing Dick to slump in relief.

He looked up and found Damian still watching him.

Frick.

“Mr. Grayson!” Dick startled and looked up from where he was drawing swirls in his notebook. “Care to tell us the answer?”

“Um…” Dick took a moment to read the board before answering, “Seventy-two.”

Ms. Mayor pursed her lips, but since he got the answer right, she couldn’t say anything. Her eyes scanned the room before she found her next victim. “Tommy! Why don’t you tell us...”

Dick tuned her out and went back to swirling his pencil across his notebook.

It paid to be smart.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Dick packed up his stuff slowly. Thankfully, he was the first one out, as everyone else was either in middle or high school, which meant he had time before the car ride home.

Shouldering his bag, Dick followed the other children out the door. There was a nice big oak tree that Dick was going to sit under outside. The shade would hide him from the other students. The cold from being in the shade wouldn’t be very pleasant in Gotham’s freezing March weather, but Dick had endured worse.

Dick felt more than saw the rock headed towards him and ducked just in time for it to soar over his head.

“Hey, circus trash!”

Dick sighed. Since his siblings’ intervention a few months before, bullies didn’t bother him as often, but sometimes they got brave. Dick glanced up and saw three boys towering over him. He recognized Mikey Rothchild standing at the front. The other two boys—one of whom was Brian Hanson with the pornstar (Dick still didn’t know what that was) mom—flanked him.

Dick resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was so not in the mood for this today. “What do you want?”

Brian stepped forward, eyes blazing with rage. “My dad is still giving me crap for Bruce Wayne dropping his company. Because of you, my games are gone, and my parents went to Bali without me! And Spain! And Prague!”

“Shut up, Brian,” Mikey said, shooting a glare at said boy before turning it on Dick. “Your gypsy butt might have hit gold with Bruce Wayne, but you're nothing more than good press for him. He already has a horde of his own adopted brats, why would he need you?”

Dick clenched his fists. It was a question Dick often asked himself.

“And what’s it been? A year? It took about that long for Jason Todd to be around before Brucie took you in. He’s probably shopping for another dirty charity case to take home right now.” Mikey sneered. “And after a year, that toy will wear out. And the one after that. And the one after that…”

Dick was trembling, but not from fear or sorrow. No, Dick was angry. He was just holding himself back from tackling the stuck-up brat to the ground and using everything he had learned from Bruce and his siblings to instill the fear of God in the kid. Dick inhaled and exhaled slowly, mentally counting to ten like Damian had taught him.

Just as he was reaching eight, the third kid, Darren Caldwell, finally spoke up. 

“Maybe next time he’ll get one that’s not a gypsy thief. Bruce Wayne’s probably too dumb to realize it’s stealing from him. Who knows what would happen if he had two of them?”

...

Awareness came back to Dick slowly. He was aware of multiple voices. Most were calling his name, but one was screamingscreamingscreaming. He felt arms wrap around his torso, but still he swung down, ignoring the deep ache in his fists. The screaming increased as he was dragged away, and Dick was startled to realize that he was the one making that noise.

“Hush. Hush,” he heard Cass speak in his ear and realized she was the one holding him. Slowly, he felt the anger drain away, causing him to go slack in his sister’s arms. With the anger gone, Dick was only left with an aching loneliness.

He wiped at his tears and whispered, “You can let me down, Cass. I’m good now.”

Cass took a moment to look at him before nodding and setting him down. Once Dick was on his feet, he turned and saw Stephanie and Tim looking at the three boys lying on the ground. Dick blanched when he realized he couldn’t figure out which boy was who. There was so much blood.

“I…”

Stephanie whistled. “Whatever they said must have been bad. And is that Brian Hanson? I thought Tim dealt with that brat.”

“Steph.” Tim frowned at her before looking back down.

“I’m sorry,” Dick whispered. Fresh tears gathered in his eyes as he fisted a hand in Cass’s shirt.

What had he done?

“Dick…” Stephanie came over and wrapped her arms around the boy. “I’m sure whatever they said was awful, and you were completely justified.”

Dick sobbed. Bruce was going to hate him when he found out, and then the man was going to send him back to juvie. Nobody would want him, and he’d be all alone.

This was the second worst day of his life.

“Calm,” Cass said softly as she ran her hand through his hair. Dick only cried harder.

Dick had been grounded from patrol.

As more and more people had gathered around the scene, Dick had just...detached from reality. No matter who asked, no matter what tone was used, no one could get a reaction—let alone an answer—out of the boy. 

Jason had told him later that by the time the 12-year-old had gotten out of school and found the others, there had been a screaming match between two of the boys’ fathers, Bruce, and the principal of the elementary school.

The bullies’ fathers had called for expulsion and a lawsuit. Bruce said he would counter sue. The security cameras obviously showed the boys initiating the interaction and even potentially causing physical harm by throwing a rock at Dick. Not to mention past evidence of bullying against Dick.

The principal just looked like he wanted to sink into the ground.

Nobody had come to an agreement by the time the ambulance had arrived. The boys were loaded in with Mikey's dad promising retribution before the doors were closed.

Dick was now sitting on the windowsill in his room, staring out at the night sky. He wasn’t worried about school—at most he’d be suspended for a few days. No, he was far more worried about what Bruce was going to do.

What Dick had done was unforgivable. He had used his training to hurt civilians (even if he didn’t remember much of the fight). He had let his emotions get the better of him. Batman never would have reacted the way he had, and neither would his siblings (except maybe Jason, but...no, Jason was so much better than him).

Dick was a liability, and as such, was useless to Bruce. Dick wasn’t even that much. He was a burden. He would drag Bruce and the rest of the family down with him.

They’d get rid of him, and he’d be alone again.

Dick’s breath hitched. He couldn’t do it again—be all alone in the world. He simply wouldn’t survive it, especially this close to…

Dick fisted a hand in his shirt, twisting the material until his fingers were white with strain. Tears slowly made their way down his cheeks, and he struggled to hold in the gasp of pain his body so desperately wanted to let out. He couldn’t have Alfred walking by and hearing him. The older man would ask questions, and Dick really didn’t want to answer any.

Time passed (Dick wasn’t sure how much), and Dick was startled out of his thoughts by a knock on his door. He looked over and saw the door crack open, Bruce poking his head in. When the man caught sight of Dick, he frowned. Dick resisted the urge to shrink back.

“Dick, what are you doing out of bed? It’s nearly 3 in the morning.”

Dick blinked and looked at the alarm clock sitting on his nightstand. The glowing numbers read 2:56, and Dick’s world tilted as he was overcome by a sudden fatigue. Bruce rushed into the room and caught the boy before he could fall off the windowsill. This time, Dick did flinch.

Bruce’s frown deepened as he carried the boy over to the bed, tucking him in. Dick immediately turned, curling away from Bruce. The man sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, gently running his hand through Dick’s hair.

“I’m sorry that you couldn’t go on patrol tonight, chum. With everything that happened today, I was worried that you wouldn’t be fully focused, and I didn’t want to risk you getting hurt.” Dick flinched again, and Bruce sighed. “It’s my fault really. I should have realized the date.”

Dick’s eyes widened and he turned his head to peek at Bruce. Bruce smiled. “There you are.” His smile dropped. “I know it’s not the actual day yet, but I know how hard the week leading up to it can be. And based on what I saw in the security footage, I can guess what those boys were teasing you about.”

Dick turned away again, biting his lip. He didn’t want to talk about it.

Bruce lowered his hand and rubbed the boy’s back comfortingly. “It’s not your fault. Everyone has a breaking point, and you were just pushed to yours today. I’m not saying that I condone your actions, but I understand. Based on the evidence, I’m sure I can push for a lighter punishment. You might still be suspended for a few days, but that wouldn’t be a first in this family.”

Dick looked back again, surprised. Bruce chuckled.

“Oh yeah, Damian and Jason have had their fair share of suspensions, especially from when they first came to the Manor.”

Dick hesitated before turning over all the way to face Bruce. He looked up at his father figure and asked quietly, “So you’re not gonna get rid of me?”

Bruce’s eyes saddened as he gathered the boy in his arms. “No, Dick, I would never get rid of you. You’re here to stay.” He cupped Dick’s cheek. “Nothing will make me get rid of you, understand? Nothing.”

Dick’s eyes watered as he leaned into the touch. “I—yeah.” His voice cracked.

Bruce smiled. “Good.” He tucked Dick back in and smoothed a hand over the boy’s forehead, brushing away stray locks. “Now, you need to sleep. I’m thinking I’ll keep you home tomorrow. Hopefully, the principal and I can come to a decision by the end of the day.”

“Are you gonna be here too?” Dick asked.

“I need to go into the office tomorrow.” Bruce looked away before letting his eyes slide back over to Dick in mock contemplation. “...But I suppose I could bring you too, as long as you don’t mind running errands with Alfred while I talk to the principal later on.”

Dick’s eyes lit up. “Can I really? I promise to be good with Alfred!”

“Well, as long as you promise…” Bruce replied with a smirk.

Dick nodded eagerly. “I do!”

“Then I suppose you can come to the office with me. Besides, Emily’s been asking me when I’m bringing you again.”

Dick shot up and wrapped his arms around Bruce. “Thank you! Thank you! I promise promise promise to be good!”

Bruce let out a chuckle and gently pushed Dick back down after giving him a pat on the back. “Good. I also need you to go to sleep. It’s late, and I have to get up early for a meeting.”

Dick nodded, so Bruce stood and made his way over to the door. Before he closed it, he heard Dick slur another “thank you” and looked back. The boy’s eyes were already closed, exhausted from the day’s events and the late hour.

He smiled and closed the door.

“Father.”

Bruce turned around and found Damian standing there, eyes on the door. Damian glanced over at Bruce. “How is he?”

This time, Bruce was the one to look at the door. “He’ll be okay,” he murmured.

Damian nodded once. “Good.”

There was a silence between them, both listening as Dick began to lightly snore. Damian was about to walk away when Bruce spoke up.

“You should join us tomorrow at the office. I think he’d like that.”

Damian pursed his lips, eyes narrowing as he searched Bruce’s face. After a moment, he nodded. “I suppose that would be best. Your assistant is not competent enough to watch him well, and it would be best for me to be at that meeting as well. The principal is a coward. He’ll be easy to convince.”

Bruce rolled his eyes, but didn’t otherwise comment. It was too late in the evening (morning?), and he really didn’t want to hear another rant about Emily losing Dick again.

“Sure, that sounds great, Damian.” Bruce clapped a hand on the younger man’s shoulder before making his way to his bedroom. He had to get up in 2 hours, and he was not looking forward to it.

Chapter Text

When Bruce had gone to bed on Friday night, he had expected to be able to sleep in a little, considering he wouldn’t have to go to work the next day. That plan went out the window when a ball of energy burst into his room and launched itself onto his stomach at approximately 7:30 in the morning.

“Bruce!” Said man blearily peeked his eyes open to see his youngest child beaming down at him. “Bruce! It’s snowing!”

Bruce sighed internally. There was no way he was going back to sleep—not with how excited Dick sounded—so he opened his eyes all the way and sat up, bringing a hand up to Dick’s back so the boy wouldn’t become unbalanced. He managed a smile and raised his eyebrows. “Is it? I didn’t notice.”

“That’s ‘cause you were sleeping.” Dick bounced with a pout. “But now you’re awake so get up so we can see the snow!”

Bruce let out an exaggerated groan and turned, swinging his feet over the side of his bed. He kept his grip on Dick, who wrapped his legs around Bruce’s torso and locked his arms around the man’s neck. Bruce put a hand under Dick’s bottom to support the boy as he left his room and made his way toward the dining room. Dick babbled the whole way, excitedly informing Bruce of every activity they were going to do in the snow today.

“That sounds like a fun day, chum, but we need to eat first.”

“But snow!”

“But breakfast.”

Dick sighed as if eating breakfast was a huge inconvenience. “Fine, I’ll eat first, but then we’re gonna play in the snow!”

Bruce was unsurprised to see Damian and Cassandra already in the dining room, the latter looking over Damian’s shoulder as he read the paper. At Dick’s and his entrance, the two looked up, Damian raising an eyebrow at Bruce’s state of undress while Cass hid her smile in her mug of coffee. Bruce glanced at Dick and back at Damian, who nodded once in understanding.

Bruce sat at the head of the table and gratefully took the mug of coffee Alfred handed him, the butler seemingly showing up out of nowhere. A few minutes later, Stephanie and Jason stumbled in just as Alfred was setting Bruce’s plate in front of him. The boy took one look at Bruce and snorted.

“If only the villains could see you.”

Bruce sent a glare Jason’s way, but his second youngest ignored him and sat next to Dick.

Breakfast went as usual with Dick chattering away about all the things they were going to do in the snow. As soon as he was done, he shot out of his chair. He had one foot out of the dining room when Alfred spoke from behind him. “I hope you are leaving to go get dressed, Master Dick.”

Dick stopped and turned a sheepish smile toward the butler. “Yes, Alfred.” He ran from the room, eager to get dressed so he could finally play in the snow. When he came down a few minutes later, he made a beeline for the front door, only to be stopped by Alfred once more.

“Please wait for the others to join you, Master Dick.”

Dick groaned. “But Alfred—!”

“No buts, Master Dick."

Dick whined but let go of the doorknob and marched back to the stairs. He plopped down and crossed his arms, a pout on his face. Tim, who had finished breakfast and was on his way upstairs to get a jacket and some gloves, stifled a smile as he passed the boy.

Dick continued to wait as Bruce and his siblings slowly trickled out of the dining room. He fought the urge to groan as they—to him, at least—took forever to get their winter gear and make their way back to the foyer.

Finally, everyone was gathered at the front door, so Dick jumped up and ran to Bruce, clutching at his leg as if his life depended on it.

“Can we go out now?”

Bruce chuckled and ruffled Dick’s hair. “We can go out now, chum.”

Bruce hadn’t even finished his sentence before Dick was out the door, sprinting into the yard and flopping face first into the snow. Jason wasn’t far behind him, though he chose to fall onto his back. Dick rolled over onto his back, face pink from the cold, and began to make a snow angel.

The rest of the group followed at a slower pace. Stephanie was the first to break off to join the boys, followed quickly by Cass. Tim was reluctantly pulled along while Bruce and Damian stood to the side. Damian was glaring at the falling snow, still not used to the cold even after all the years he’s spent in Gotham.

Damian felt more than saw the projectile heading towards the side of his face. He held his hand up to catch it but was surprised when it exploded in his hand. Cold snow splattered against his cheek and the side of his neck. He scowled and looked to the right, finding Stephanie standing a few feet away with a smirk on her face and the remnants of snow on her glove. Her smirk grew and he only had a moment to realize what she was going to do when she shouted, “Snowball fight!”

It only took seconds for the air to fill with flying snowballs. Damian immediately ducked and gathered snow into his hands. He would have liked to find cover, but, unfortunately, the lawn was clear of any trees, bushes, or any other places that could provide protection.

Dick had come to the same realization and made a beeline for Damian. “Dami, protect me!” He ran around and clutched at the man’s leg as Damian straightened back up. Damian let out a sigh but didn’t say anything. He let Richard stay behind them as they both threw snowballs at the others. 

Bruce had tried to leave, but Dick had grabbed his pant leg with a death grip, so the man was stuck next to Damian while projectiles flew around them. Dick ran between the two for protection as he flung snowballs at his siblings. 

Despite their limited movement, Bruce and Damian were able to dodge most of the snowballs, though by lunch everyone was pretty much soaked. After lunch, clothes were changed, and everyone was back outside again, this time building snowmen. Jason and Dick had been adamant about building one on their own, so Tim, Stephanie, and Cass paired up to make another one. Once again, Bruce and Damian stood to the side and watched the others.

Dick and Jason were apparently trying to build the largest snowman they could with their limited height. The base of their snowman was as tall as Dick, which became a problem when they tried to add their second layer. They spent a few minutes trying to lift it over their heads, but the second large snowball proved to be too heavy. They set it back on the ground before Dick dejectedly shuffled over to Bruce and Damian. He looked up at them, pouting.

“Can you help us pick it up?”

Bruce smiled down at Dick. “Of course.”

Jason huffed his annoyance but allowed Bruce to help. There was no way they were going to add the middle layer by themselves, but Jason swore they were going to put the head on by themselves, even if he had to get a ladder.

Bruce stepped back and watched Dick roll the head while Jason ran inside. He came back out a few minutes later with a step ladder and a bag. Bruce quirked an eyebrow at the latter but didn’t say anything as Jason put the bag down and set up the ladder next to the snowman. Together, Jason and Dick carefully lifted the snowman’s head and climbed up the ladder to place at the top of the snowman. Satisfied, Dick jumped off the ladder and ran off to gather sticks while Jason went to find stones.

The youngest came back a few minutes later with an armful of sticks, dropping them next to the bag. Curious, Dick peeked into the bag and, when he realized what was in it, turned to look at Jason excitedly. At Jason’s smirk and nod, Dick grinned and picked up the two largest sticks in the pile, adding them as arms to the snowman as Jason made his way over. Together, they pulled out something large and black from the mystery bag and settled it on top of the snowman.

It was then that Bruce and Damian realized it was the cape and cowl for Shadowbat’s suit.

“Oh my god!”

Stephanie’s shout had interrupted Damian before he could say anything about Dick and Jason’s snowman. When he and everyone else turned towards the second group to look at her, Damian felt his indignation grow.

Stephanie had the habit of frequently changing hobbies. Since moving into the manor, she had tried to learn how to play a variety of instruments, attempted to write short stories and poetry, and joined a different sports team each school year. Unfortunately, after a few months, she would grow bored with it and move onto something new. Stephanie’s current hobby was sculpting, a skill which she had apparently decided to use to make a less traditional-looking snowman.

It looked like Damian.

Had he been less angry, he would have appreciated the detail of its features. While not perfect, the likeness of the snowman to Damian really was well done. As it was, though, both groups of his siblings had decided to make a snowman of him (not to mention Jason stealing his cape and cowl from the Batcave), and this could only be a slight against him.

“Wow!” Dick ran over to get a closer look at their snowman (snow-Damian?). “This is really good!”

Stephanie laughed. “Thanks! I think this is my best work yet!”

“We made Dami too! I was gonna just put tiny sticks on his head to make hair, but Jason got his Shadowbat stuff, which is so much better!”

“I saw!” Stephanie replied jovially, “What are the odds that we both made a snow-Damian?”

Bruce kept one ear on the conversation but turned away to check on Jason. Looking back at Jason and Dick’s snowman, Bruce found that his second youngest had wrapped a spare utility belt around the snowman and was now adding a frown made from some of the rocks he had gathered. When the last stone was in place, Jason turned and smirked at Damian.

Bruce put a hand on Damian’s shoulder, stopping the other man from going after Jason. “Let them have their fun.”

Damian growled, “Father—”

“Think of it as a compliment. They put time and effort into making you.”

Damian narrowed his eyes but settled down, only to be riled up again when Jason stuck his tongue out at him. Bruce tightened his grip on Damian’s shoulder to keep him in place and sent an admonishing look towards Jason, who only grinned back.

“Dami, are you okay?”

Bruce and Damian looked down to find Dick standing next to them, frowning as he stared at Damian with worry. Bruce glanced at Damian, who was staring back at Dick. His gaze briefly moved over to Jason before moving back to Dick. Damian took a deep breath and relaxed his body.

“I am fine, Richard. Jason was merely attempting to get a reaction from me, but as you can see, he did not succeed.”

Dick blinked. “Kinda looked like he did to me.” He didn’t give Damian time to react as he turned around and smiled at the others. “Can we go sledding now?”

The others raced off to get their sleds, and Bruce followed, patting Damian on the shoulder as he passed. “Just let it go, Damian.”

Despite his outrage, Damian still acquiesced when Richard begged him to ride down the hill with the boy. Of course, that meant being heckled by Drake and Brown that he was “whipped,” but Damian didn’t care too much. They were just as weak against Richard’s baby blue eyes, if not weaker.

After a few hours of sledding, everyone headed back in for hot showers and dinner. For once, Dick actually started nodding off after dinner, worn out by the day’s events. Bruce carried the boy upstairs, changed him into his pajamas, and tucked him in. He was just leaning down to turn on Dick’s nightlight when his youngest spoke.

“Thanks, Tati.”

Bruce stood and made his way back over to the bed. Dick smiled dreamily up at him as Bruce ran a hand over his hair. “I’m glad you had a good day today, Dick.”

Dick’s eyes lit up even as he struggled to keep them open. “The best day.”

“You say that almost every day,” Bruce replied, chuckling.

Dick’s eyes closed, finally losing the fight to stay awake. Just as he was falling asleep, he murmured, “S’cause every day with y’guys ‘s the best.”

Bruce’s breath caught for a moment. He stared at Dick and ran his hand through his hair once more before leaving the room. He paused at the door and turned back to look at Dick one more time before turning the lights off. “Good night, Dick.”

“Nigh’...”

Bruce smiled and closed the door.

Chapter Text

Dick held onto the back of Damian’s shirt tightly. He wanted to hold Damian’s hand, but the older man needed both hands for using weapons in case they ran into any monsters (and Dick didn’t just mean zombies. Humans could be just as bad, as he had unfortunately learned).

“Dami?” Dick whispered and tugged on Damian’s shirt. “‘M tired.”

Damian peered down at Dick, who stared up at him with watery eyes. Damian had been keeping them going all day, believing that staying on the move would be their best bet at staying alive.

After all, they had both learned the hard way that nowhere would be safe forever.

Damian sighed and looked around. He refused to go anywhere near the big cities, knowing that they would be swarming with the undead. The woods were okay to walk in during the day. It was great cover from human enemies, and they could climb trees and sleep in them for the night if need be. However, the woods did not hold the supplies they needed, and he knew that Richard did not like sleeping in a tree for more than one night. The duo tended to travel at the edge of the woods, making stops in small towns for supplies and a bed. 

Damian took a look at the map and looked at Dick. “The next town is about fifteen minutes away. Can you make it that far?”

Dick hesitated for a moment before nodding. They continued on—Damian striding forward confidently while Dick peered around fearfully. Dick didn’t like showing fear. Watching Bruce and his siblings, as well as fighting villains as Robin, had taught him not to. But then the zombies came, and that had changed things. Dick peered up at Damian before lowering his eyes, guilt churning in his chest.

Everything was different now, and it was all his fault.

There was a case of someone attacking and biting here and there, no more than one for every couple of states, but the numbers eventually grew. Cases grew to one per major city, then 10 per major city. 50. 100. 1,000.

Numbers eventually stopped being published.

The Justice League did their best, but heroes were stuck trying to defend their own cities. Some heroes were lucky. Zombies couldn’t break through Superman or Wonder Woman’s skin, so they were at no risk to take on hordes.

Other heroes were not so lucky.

It was the image of a snarling Green Arrow, his left arm dangling uselessly as what little flesh was left clung to bone, that decimated the hope of heroes and civilians everywhere.

Flash eventually fell. Black Canary, too. Captain Marvel was never heard from again, and the image of the military putting down zombies in Fawcett City until they too were overrun had many believing he had fallen as well.

(Bruce was the only one to recognize the dark-haired zombie child that had stared blankly into the camera before a bullet to the head took it out.)

Batman and Shadowbat were the only heroes in Gotham to go out after that. Bruce would have preferred Damian stay home, but his son was an adult, and Bruce had learned early on that there was no stopping Damian when he wanted something.

That didn’t stop him from adding extra padding to the Shadowbat suit.

Ironically, it was not Batman who finally succumbed to the hordes.

It was Bruce.

Wayne Manor had the best security money could buy, but even that couldn’t account for the sheer amount of force hundreds to thousands of zombies could put on the gates. Eventually, the weight became too much, the gates fell, and Wayne Manor was stormed.

Dick had been roughly woken by Tim, who had dragged him out of bed and down the hall away from the stairs. A chorus of snarls echoed from the front entrance. Dick’s heart stopped.

“Timmy?” Dick whispered.

Tim didn’t answer as he ran into Jason’s room.

Jason was not in bed.

“Fuck!” Tim dragged Dick back out into the hallway, almost running into Cass. He let go of Dick and grabbed her frantically. “Have you seen Jason?”

Cass’s eyes hardened as she shook her head. A scream rang out.

“Jason!” They heard Stephanie cry.

“Fuckfuckfuck!” Tim ran a shaky hand over his hair. He felt a hand close over his own and looked at Cass.

“Calm.” Cass said.

Tim breathed deeply and exhaled. “Okay. We need to clear a path to the Batcave. It’s the only way we’ll get out of here safely.”

Cass nodded once and ran off. Tim turned around and knelt in front of Dick, resting his hands on the boy’s shoulders.

“We’re gonna get out of here, okay? No matter what, I will make sure you get out of here.”

Dick nodded, fighting back tears. “Do you think Jason’s okay?”

Tim’s lips twitched down. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

Dick knew he was lying, but he didn’t say anything. They both needed the lie.

Tim stood and gripped Dick’s hand tight. “Cass is gonna start clearing a path for us. I’ll help. If you see an opening to the clock, you go for it, understand?”

“But—”

Tim’s grip tightened. “Go for the clock. No matter what. Tell me you understand, Dick.”

Dick hesitated. “I-I understand.”

“Good.” Tim took another breath. “Let’s go.”

From the top of the stairs, Dick could tell it was chaos. He couldn’t tell if his siblings were in the foyer. Too many heads were too close together for him to distinguish zombie from human. 

He found Cass was at the bottom of the stairs, a sword in each hand (probably taken from Damian’s room). She cut through the horde as Tim and Dick ran down the stairs. When they caught her eye, she tossed Tim a sword. With Dick in the middle, they slowly began to move towards Bruce’s office—Cass cutting a path in the front while Tim made sure nothing came after them from behind.

As they passed the kitchen, Stephanie came out, her eyes wild with rage. She had a bloody kitchen knife in her hand and blood all over her shirt.

“Steph?” Tim asked nervously, staring at the blood.

“Jason’s dead.” Stephanie growled.

Cass spied a bloody rip in Stephanie’s shirt by her shoulder. Her stomach dropped.

It was a bite mark.

“Steph—”

“Go.” Stephanie’s grip tightened on the knife. “It’s too late for me. I’ll buy you some time.”

Stephanie gave a war cry, raising the knife as she attacked an undead woman reaching for Tim.

“STEPH!” Dick cried out as Tim dragged him away. He watched as his sister became overwhelmed, disappearing under a mass of arms. Blood sprayed.

Tim was distracted, desperately trying to drag Dick away while keeping the undead at bay. He didn’t notice the child crawling up behind him until he felt pain just above his ankle. He shouted and shook the child zombie off, taking a chunk of skin and muscle with it.

Dick stopped and stared at the bloody mess with tears in his eyes. “Timmy?”

Tim swallowed, only hesitating to stare at the wound for a moment before dragging Dick again. “There’s no time. Move!”

Dick ran along with Tim, feeling tremendous guilt about Tim’s bite wound. If he hadn’t struggled—hadn’t tried to go back for Steph—Tim wouldn’t be doomed. Tears streamed down his cheeks, but he kept up with the older boy.

Cass and Tim butchered their way through the chaos, eventually making it to Bruce’s study. They found said man and Damian in there, out of costume but fighting. Bruce took one look at them, eyes falling for just a moment when he realized it was only the three of them before becoming filled with rage, and fought his way toward them.

“Keep the entrance clear!” Bruce called to Damian, who nodded and continued to decapitate anything that came near him with the sword that he had thankfully kept in the study.

Dick was shoved around as the others kept him out of range of the zombies until they eventually made it to the clock. Once the elevator was open, he was pushed inside with Cass and Damian. Bruce looked to Tim, who shook his head slowly. Bruce’s face crumpled for just a moment before hardening. Together, they turned toward the horde.

“Bruce?” Dick whispered. The doors began to close. “Bruce!”

Dick threw himself forward with a cry, but Cass and Damian held him back. He wailed as the doors slid shut, slamming his fists into them, but it was no use.

They were gone.

In minutes, over half of Dick’s family had been slaughtered, and he could only blame himself. If he had woken up faster, maybe he could have been better prepared to save Jason and Stephanie. If he hadn’t been so stupid , he wouldn’t have gotten Tim bitten, and Bruce wouldn’t have stayed behind with him.

When the elevator opened, Cass and Damian marched out with Dick quickly following behind them. A look passed between his two older siblings, and Cass went to the armory to collect weapons while Damian went to prep the Batmobile. Dick followed Cass, thinking that four hands were better than two for gathering weapons. Dick threw himself into the task to avoid his emotions. Now was not the time to break down and grieve.

The warning snarl came too late.

Dick whirled around just in time to see a zombified Alfred loom over him. He didn’t know when the man was bitten or how he had gotten into the Batcave, but it didn’t matter now. Dick choked on the butler’s name and fell back into the wall of weapons, a new wave of grief crashing over him as he stared up at Alfred. He threw up his arms, knowing it would be useless. Even if he hadn’t been surprised, Dick wasn’t sure he would have been able to fight Alfred, despite it not really being him anymore. He closed his eyes and waited for pain.

“NO!”

Dick opened his eyes to see Cass pulling Alfred back, her hand dangerously close to his snapping teeth. He stayed frozen on the ground, wanting to help but being unable to move. In the distance, he could see Damian running towards them.

Zombie Alfred knocked his head back into Cass’s nose. She let go for a moment, which gave Alfred just enough time to lunge for Dick once more. Dick cringed but, with a cry of rage, Cass sprung forward and wrapped her hand around Alfred’s mouth, mere centimeters from Dick’s face. There was a crunch, and blood ran down Cass’s fingers.

Dick finally found his voice. “Cass!”

Reaching forward, Cass grabbed a knife from the wall and shoved it into the side of Alfred’s head. The former butler went limp, and Cass gently lay him on the ground.

Cass caressed Dick’s cheek with her non-bloody hand before turning towards Damian, who had finally made it to them. They stared at each other, eyes solemn, before Cass knelt before Damian. Damian brought his katana up.

“Wait!” Dick shouted as he jumped up. Cass turned her head towards him with a smile that did not reach her eyes. She signed to him.

I love you. Goodbye.

Dick screamed as Cass was beheaded.

The last two remaining members of the Wayne family had stayed silent for a long time after that. Dick had helped Damian pack the Batmobile before leaving the Batcave for the last time. They drove from town to town, gathering supplies and witnessing humanity fall further and further. Eventually, gas ran out, in both the car and the towns, and the Batmobile was abandoned on the side of the road with countless other cars.

They slept in trees and dirty motels in the middle of nowhere. They ate from cans and boxes and whatever animals they ran across in the woods (as much as Damian loathed to eat the last, but even he had to admit it increased their chances of survival). Throughout it all, neither of them spoke.

And then one night, as they were scouting potential trees to sleep in, a group of people dropped down from the trees. Had Damian not been so exhausted, he would have noticed them watching sooner, but that was his mistake.

Two of them grabbed Dick and held the boy down while the others pointed their guns at Damian. One of the men holding Dick pressed his nose to the boy and breathed deeply.

“Fresh meat. We’re gonna have a feast tonight, aren’t we?” the man said, grinning with blackened teeth. “Like veal.”

Dick whimpered—the first noise he had made since the Manor (not counting his nightmares), “D-Dami…”

Damian saw red.

When he came back to himself, he found himself standing in a sea of red and severed limbs, his body and sword dripping blood. Richard stood before him staring at him with wide eyes but thankfully did not look scared. His katana clattered to the ground as Damian moved forward and crouched before the boy, He rested his hands on the boy’s thin shoulders.

“Are you all right, Richard?” Damian asked.

Dick nodded, unshed tears swimming in his eyes. He lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Damian’s neck, and sobbed into the man’s shoulder. Damian held the boy tightly, indulging the irrational part of him that wanted to assure that Richard was here and fine. After a while, they broke apart to loot the bodies for weapons. They would find a tree to sleep in, far away from where the men had appeared in case they had a camp nearby. They spoke quietly into the night until Dick finally fell asleep, feeling safe for the first time since the zombies had stormed Wayne Manor.

Dick never told Damian how sorry he was that it was his fault that it was just the two of them left. He was terrified of the man’s answer. Would Damian blame him as well? Would he not? Dick wasn’t sure.

 He didn’t know what he would do if Damian believed it as well.

Chapter Text

Dick was ten years old when he lost his father for a second time.

Dick trembled within the dinosaur, clutching his knees to his chest as he listened to Damian and Tim argue below him. They didn’t know he was here. He had come here to hide and grieve alone—a dumb choice, now that he thought about it, but he wasn’t exactly in his right mind when he ran down here. Not long after, Damian and Tim had stormed into the Cave, screaming at each other.

“He’s alive, Damian! If you would just take one second to look at the evidence—”

“Father is dead! We all saw it! You are in denial, Timothy, and I refuse to enable your insane ramblings for one more second!” Damian snarled.

“Fine! If you and the others won’t listen to me, I’ll find Bruce on my own.” Tim spun around on his heel and marched out, stopping briefly at Damian’s quiet words.

“You are a fool, and you will get yourself killed.”

Tim took a deep, shuddering breath. “I’ll show all of you that you should have listened to me.” He stormed out.

Silence filled the Batcave as Damian stood there, clenching his fists. Dick startled as the man shouted in rage and punched the wall. He let out a whimper.

Damian’s head shot up at the sound, eyes zeroing in on Dick curled up in the dinosaur’s mouth. The man sighed, giving himself a moment to close his eyes and breath before reopening them and making his way over to the boy. 

He looked up at Dick and spoke softly, “Would you come down please, Richard?”’

Dick sniffled but didn’t move. Damian was worried he would have to go up after the boy, but thankfully he didn’t have to wait long before Richard began to uncurl himself. He climbed down from the dinosaur and stood in front of Damian, head bowed as he tried to hold in his tears.

Damian knelt down and tried to look into Dick’s eyes. “I’m sorry you had to see that. It must have been very unpleasant.”

Dick trembled as he raised his head to look at Damian. “Is it true what Timmy said? Is Bruce alive?”

Damian sighed and rested a hand on Dick’s shoulder. “In our line of work, it is honestly always a possibility. But I was there that night, and—” Damian swallowed, looking away briefly as grief overwhelmed him.

Damian had spent more of his life with his father than he had with his mother. For sixteen years, he had fought by his father’s side. He had grown from a child idolizing a glamorized image of his father that his mother had instilled in him to an adult who had learned of the true man that lay underneath his father’s armor. Despite being father and son, Bruce and he were equals. They didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but Damian knew that, at the end of the day, his father had his back and vice versa.

And now he was gone.

Damian let out another sigh and looked back at Richard, who watched him warily. He ran a hand over the boy’s hair as he continued, “—and the likelihood of Father being alive is miniscule.” As the boy’s face broke, Damian drew in into a hug. “We are all grieving, Richard. This is just Timothy’s way. It will hurt even more for him when he finally accepts the truth, but we will just need to be there for him when he does.”

“But he left.”

“He did, but he will come back.”

“But you said—”

“I know what I said,” Damian replied, regret eating at him. He would have never said those words if he had known Richard was listening. “I will admit, I wasn’t lying. If Timothy is not careful, he will get hurt. I am sure, however, that Stephanie and I can keep a decent eye on his activities.”

Dick wrapped his arms around his older brother’s neck and nestled his head against his chest. “You promise?” he whispered.

Damian stood, holding the boy securely in his arms. Richard was getting far too old to be carried around like this, but he could indulge the boy just for tonight.

“I promise.”

When Dick was eight years old, he lost his entire family before gaining a new one.

When Dick was ten years old, he lost his father for a second time before gaining a new one once more.

Damian, in many ways, was still his older brother. After all, he had spent the last two years thinking of him as one, despite their massive age difference. After Bruce died, however, he had become Damian’s responsibility, and Damian had stepped up to the plate. There was a change in their dynamic, as subtle as it was. Before, Bruce and Damian had split responsibilities with the younger ones. Now, however, it fell fully on Damian to take care of the others, especially now that Tim was gone. Stephanie did her best to help, but she was still trying to keep track of Tim, who was a slippery one.

Dick didn’t think much had changed with Cass and Jason, who both had been much closer to Bruce than they had been with Damian. Dick was honestly a little afraid to ask. Dick loved all of his siblings, but the idea of having this special relationship with Damian alone…it was really appealing to him. Dick had been an only child before suddenly gaining five siblings. He felt slightly guilty, but he really liked the idea of having something that he didn’t have to share with the rest, even if it was just a different type of relationship with Damian.

Robin stood on a rooftop, hands on his hips as he looked out at Gotham. Damian, outfitted in a new version of the Batsuit that still paid homage to his Shadowbat costume, stood next to him with a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Are you ready?” Damian asked.

Dick didn’t answer right away, eyes locked onto the Wayne Enterprises logo at the top of Wayne Tower. It was still prominent despite the distance between them. To Dick, it represented everything he had lost while still shining with hope. Thomas and Martha Wayne were gone, and now Bruce was too, but Wayne Enterprises—and in turn the Wayne legacy—continued on.

The Batman legacy continued on too.

Robin looked up at Batman and smiled. Their family was still broken. Tim was missing, Stephanie and Cass weren’t really around as much anymore, and Jason still locked himself up in the library most days. They still helped out, of course. They still had each other, but sometimes it felt like it was just Dick and Damian against the world.

Batman’s legacy started out with the Dynamic Duo, Batman and Shadow.

Dick thought it was time for a new Dynamic Duo to take to the skies.

“I’m ready.”

Chapter Text

Dick had thought Mother’s Day had been difficult, but Father’s Day proved to be an even bigger challenge for him.

At least with Mother’s Day, he didn’t have any guilt about replacing his mami. Sure, he had given his card to Selina, but he only saw her about once a week or so. He considered her a mother figure, but he did not yet consider her Mom. 

Father’s Day was a different matter.

Dick didn’t want to replace his tati. He loved his parents more than life itself, and he still had a difficult time wrapping his mind around the fact that he would never see them again, though months had passed since their murder.

But…

He couldn’t deny the feelings that were brewing the longer he stayed at Wayne Manor. He couldn’t deny the joy he felt with every story Bruce read to him before bed or the safety he felt when Bruce let him crawl into the man’s bed after a nightmare. He couldn’t deny the way the words “daddy” and “tati” bubbled at his lips before he swallowed them back down.

It felt like the worst betrayal to his father, but he still couldn’t help it.

Dick could also admit that he was afraid. How would Bruce react to him referring to the man as his father? He knew the others referred to Bruce as their dad (for the most part at least), and Bruce seemed happy to be referred to this way, but what if Dick was the exception? Bruce already had so many kids, including a biological one! Why would he want another?

Dick knew he was probably being ridiculous, but his time in the detention center—as well as the harsh words from his fellow classmates—had done some serious damage to his self-image. Dick could admit to that.

As Father’s Day approached, Dick began avoiding Bruce. It wasn’t too hard at first. Bruce spent a lot of his time either at Wayne Enterprises or patrolling Gotham. However, Dick could only ask one of the others to read him a story before bed instead of Bruce so many times before the man would get suspicious.

Bruce finally spoke up one night after patrol. The others were heading out of the Cave when Bruce asked, “Dick, do you mind staying back for a moment?”

Dick froze. “O-Okay.”

The others glanced at Dick but continued heading out, giving the boy’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze as they passed him. Bruce waited for everyone to leave before speaking again.

“Did I do something wrong?”

Dick startled. “What?”

“Did I do something wrong?” Bruce repeated, looking uncharacteristically hesitant. “I’ve spent the last few days trying to think of anything I could have done to upset you, but I’m coming up blank.”

“You didn’t!” Dick blurted out. “You didn’t do anything. I…It’s me.”

Bruce was silent, and Dick worried that he would ask for more information. Dick wasn’t sure how to explain his feelings, and he didn’t want to upset or disappoint the man. Thankfully, Dick didn’t have to worry. Bruce informed him that he wouldn’t pry for now, but if Dick did need someone to confide in, he always had his siblings.

Dick left the Batcave with Bruce, an idea forming in his head.

“Timmy?”

Tim paused his reading of The Lightning Thief from the Percy Jackson series and looked at the boy beside him. He and the others weren’t sure why Dick was avoiding Bruce, but they figured he would come to one of them eventually. It seemed like now would be that time.

“Yes, Dick?”

Dick bit his lip and hesitated. Tim smiled at him encouragingly. “What was your first Father’s Day like without your dad?”

Tim froze before mentally facepalming. Of an entire family of detectives, none of them could figure out that Dick was feeling conflicted over his feelings about Bruce as the holiday approached. And of course, Tim was the one he approached about it. It made sense when Tim thought about it. While his dad hadn’t been the best, he had been leagues above the fathers of the rest of his siblings (except Damian, of course). If anyone was going to come close to what Dick was currently feeling, it was Tim.

“It was…difficult. My dad and I had our ups and downs, but he was still my dad, and I loved him. I still love him.” Tim paused. He had to think about his next words very carefully. “I just want you to know, Dick. My dad is still my dad, no matter what. Even though I consider Bruce my dad, it doesn’t mean I’m replacing my biological dad. He’s just…another dad.”

Dick sniffled and inched closer to Tim, who took the hint and wrapped his arm around his younger brother. Tim continued, “I think if your dad could see you now, he’d be so happy to know that you were able to find a family to love and take care of you until you could see your parents again.”

Tears gathered in Dick’s eyes. “Do you really think so?”

“Well, I can’t say for sure since I never knew him, but from the way you talk about him, I believe so. He sounds like he was an amazing man.”

Dick sniffled again and rubbed at his nose. He cuddled closer to Tim and shakily said, “Yeah, he was.”

Tim ran his fingers through Dick’s hair. “You don’t have to think of Bruce as your dad if you don’t want to—it’s your choice. Just know, though, that if you do think of him that way, that doesn’t mean that you consider John any less your dad either. You can have two dads and love them both equally. It’s like…It’s like having two best friends, you know?”

“Like Barbara and Wally?”

“Exactly.” Tim smiled. “Whatever you decide, we’ll all support you.”

“Thanks, Timmy.”

Tim read one more chapter of the book to Dick before tucking him in for the night. He stared at his Superman night light as Tim left the room, resolving to talk to Bruce the next day.

If the next day happened to be Father’s Day, that was just a coincidence.

“Bruce?”

Bruce looked up from his desk and found his youngest standing in the doorway to his study.

He smiled softly. “Hey, chum. Come on in.”

Dick shuffled into the room slowly, his head down and his hands hiding behind his back. It was so different from the boy’s usual exuberance and bouncing step that Bruce immediately became concerned.

“Is everything all right, Dick?”

Dick nodded but stayed silent, making his way around the desk to stand in front of Bruce.

“M’sorry I’ve been avoiding you lately, Bruce.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Bruce said, cupping Dick’s cheek. “You know you don’t have to tell me—”

“I want to!” Dick paused and took a deep breath before speaking again. “I want to. It’s not fair to you, so I want to tell you.”

Bruce waited as Dick seemed to gather his courage.

“Father’s Day is today.” Bruce tensed but let Dick continue. Dick’s voice wobbled as he spoke. “I…I love my tati, and I miss him a lot. It hasn’t even been that long…” Dick cut himself off before he could finish that thought. “He’ll always be my dad, but I think…I think you might be too.”

Dick looked away, not wanting to see whatever expression was on Bruce’s face. “I’ve been avoiding you because I feel really guilty. I don’t—I don’t want to replace my tati. But Timmy said it wouldn’t be replacing him. I’d just have two dads.” Dick still wasn’t looking at Bruce. “But if you don’t want that—”

Dick stopped as another hand cupped his other cheek. He looked up to see Bruce staring back at him with an unreadable expression.

“Dick—” Bruce cleared his throat and started again. “Dick, I don’t want to replace your father either, but I would be honored to be considered your dad. I already consider you my son.”

“Really?” Dick asked, eyes watering. 

At Bruce’s nod, Dick’s arms came out from behind his back, thrusting something into Bruce’s hands. Bruce looked down to see a handmade card with Happy Father’s Day! on the front. 

“I gave one to Selina on Mother’s Day,” Dick said, like a confession. 

“I love it,” Bruce replied, touched. This was definitely going on the fridge.

Dick and his siblings spent the rest of the day showering Bruce with love and cliche gifts. His siblings were happy to see Dick snuggling up to Bruce on the couch, and Tim gave him a knowing smile.

Dick still felt pain, knowing that he would never again celebrate this holiday (or any holiday) with his parents, but as he stood in front of their graves, hands clasped with Tim and Bruce, Dick thought that he’d be fine. He’d see his parents again, of that he was sure. In the meantime, his family would be there for him, and he’d never be alone again.

Chapter Text

Jason read a lot of books, Dick noted.

His older brother didn’t seem to discriminate between what he read either. It felt like every time Dick saw him, he had a new book in his hand. Dick noted everything from Goosebumps, to YA novels, to more of what Jason called “the classics.”

Dick had read a few of the books that he had seen Jason with at some point, like Magic Treehouse and Nancy Drew, but Dick wasn’t sure what the appeal was of the bigger books that Jason read. They looked pretty boring, with no pictures and fancy words. But Jason seemed to enjoy them, so maybe they were fun?

He had overheard Alfred telling Bruce that Dick needed a hobby other than being Robin. Reading was a hobby, wasn’t it? Maybe he should see what all the fuss was about.

There was just one problem.

“Jay? What does ‘chastised’ mean?” 

Dick stared up at his brother and pointed at the word in his book. Normally, Dick would go to Tim for questions about English words, but Jason was the expert at reading, so maybe he should have been going to his youngest older brother all along.

Jason glanced away from his homework and over at Dick, eyebrows shooting up in surprise to see the book he was reading last week in his younger brother’s hand. “Uh, to scold someone.”

“What does ‘scold’ mean?”

“Uh…basically telling someone that what they just did or said was bad.”

“Ohhh! Okay! Thanks, Jay!” Dick ran in for a quick hug before skipping away, nose buried in the book.

Jason blinked, momentarily forgetting his homework as he stared after Dick. He preened to himself after a moment, realizing that Dick had come to him for a question. Dick was unaware (or at least they believed he was unaware), but there was an ongoing competition between his siblings for who the youngest went to the most each month for advice or questions or comfort after a nightmare. Usually, Damian or Tim would be in the lead, but it seems like Jason might start moving up the board.

Jason grinned to himself and turned back to his homework. This would definitely be something to rub in Tim’s face later.

Later came a lot sooner than Jason expected.

“Jay? What does ‘in-num-ray-bil’ mean?”

Quiet enveloped the living room as all chatter ceased. Tim’s head turned so fast from where he had been talking to Steph that Jason swore he heard something crack. Jason opened his mouth to answer, a smirk growing on his parted lips as he looked at Tim when said brother interrupted.

“Do you mean ‘innumerable,’ Dick? It means that there’s too many to count.”

Dick frowned at the teen. “I was asking Jay, Timmy. It’s rude to interrupt.”

Steph barked out a laugh before clapping a hand over her mouth. Cass, who sat next to her on the couch, smacked her shoulder in admonishment, though she too was fighting to keep a smile off her face. Even Damian’s lips twitched. It was always entertaining to see Timothy being knocked down a peg.

Tim was gobsmacked. “Um, right…Sorry, Dick.”

“Sorry, Jason.”

Now, Tim was gritting his teeth. “Right. Sorry, Jason.”

 “You’re forgiven.” Jason shot Tim a smirk and turned to Dick. “It’s pronounced ‘innumerable’ and it means that there’s too many to count.”

Even Damian, who was sitting in an armchair with a book, couldn’t help but snort. Stephanie’s hand was the only thing keeping Tim on the couch.

“Thanks, Jay!” Dick said brightly. He went over to Damian and crawled into the man’s lap to continue reading his book. The older man rolled his eyes but said nothing.

Jason could feel Tim’s glare and knew that he’d be answering for the supposed transgression in training, but it was totally worth it.

He stuck his tongue out at Tim for good measure, though.

And that was how it went for the next couple of weeks. Dick would go to Jason to ask him a question about a word or phrase, and Jason would answer, shooting Tim a smirk or grin if the teen was in the room too. If he wasn’t, Jason would text him about it. He could tell it was getting under Tim’s skin, and Jason was taking great pleasure in it.

One night, Jason saw Tim leaving Dick’s room. Jason opened his mouth to make another jab when he noticed the dejected look on Tim’s face. His head and shoulders were hanging lower as well, and Jason frowned. “Tim?”

Jason saw Tim tense, but the older boy did not stop and continued walking back to his room. “Not now, Jason.”

Jason followed after him. “No, seriously. What’s wrong? Is something wrong with Dick?”

“I don’t know. Is there?” Jason faltered as Tim turned a glare towards him. “You two seem to be BFFs recently.”

“What?”

Tim let out a harsh breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Dick stopped asking me to read to him before bed. He said something about needing to read alone.” He sent another glare Jason’s way. “Did you say something? I don’t know what I did to you, but you didn’t have to turn Dick against me—”

“Whoa, what? I didn’t do anything!” Jason felt a pang in his chest at being accused by his brother and took an involuntary step back.

“No? Then why is he suddenly going to you all the time for help with words? I’m the one that’s been helping him with his English. He used to come to me for that. He used to ask me to read to him at night, but he started without me tonight, and it’s—it’s like he wants nothing to do with me anymore.”

“Maybe he’s just getting older?”

“No. He goes to you now. I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts asking you to read to him.” Tim let out another harsh sigh and stalked off, throwing back, “Just…leave me alone.”

Jason stood in the hall, watching Tim storm away. Tears pricked at his eyes, never having been chastised like that by his older brother. Did Tim hate him now?

This wasn’t fun anymore. Jason needed to find out what was going on with Dick. He knew he didn’t start whatever this was, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to get blamed for it.

Jason peeked his head into Dick’s room and found his younger brother sitting up in bed, reading the latest Warrior Cats book that Tim had previously been reading to him. Dick looked up and beamed when he saw Jason.

“Jay! Perfect! What’s a rah-vine?”

Jason gave a hesitant smile back and walked into the room, sitting next Dick on his bed. “It’s pronounced ‘rah-veen’, and it’s like a valley with really tall cliffs on either side of it.”

“Oh! Thanks, Jay!”

Dick went back to reading. Jason watched him for a moment, biting his lip. Finally, he spoke up, “Dick, if you’re struggling with these words, it might be easier to step down a bit and then work your way back up.”

Dick looked up, blinking in confusion. “What?”

“You’re always asking about what words mean. I’m really happy that you’re trying to learn and reading lots of books, but it’s not so fun to read when you don’t know what words mean, you know?”

“Oh.” Dick looked back down, hiding his face as much as he could with his hair. He refused to look at Jason as he asked, “Is it really annoying?”

“What?” Jason leaned back in shock. “No! Of course not! I just know that reading was never fun for me when I didn’t know what was going on.”

“But you’re always reading! You always know what’s going on!”

A lightbulb went off in Jason’s head. “Is that why you’ve been asking me instead of Tim about words? Because I read a lot?”

Dick still did not look at Jason as he nodded. Jason sighed and wrapped an arm around his younger brother.

“I know you didn’t mean to, Dickie, but you’ve made Tim pretty sad.”

Dick’s head shot up in shock, tears springing to his eyes at the thought of upsetting one of his siblings. “What?”

Jason nodded. “Yeah. He’s been pretty sad that you’re not asking him stuff and don’t want to read with him anymore. To be honest, he thinks I did something, so if you could clear that up that’d be cool.”

Dick’s lip wobbled, and he threw himself into his brother’s arms. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I just—I just wanted to be like you. You’re always reading stuff, and I wanted to see what was so interesting about reading by yourself.”

Jason felt his heart skip a beat at his brother’s words, and he pulled the boy into a tighter hug. No one had ever really looked up to Jason before. There never really was anyone around to do so. He felt his chest warm and a smile form on his face as he rested his cheek against Dick’s hair. 

“Thanks, Dickie. But you don’t have to do all the stuff I do to be like me. Besides, being like me is super cool, but it’s even cooler to be like you.”

Jason felt Dick’s head shift as the boy moved to look up at him. “You mean it?”

“Totally.”

Dick rested his head against Jason’s chest. “Okay. Reading can be kinda boring anyway, especially when it’s alone.”

Jason shifted Dick so that they were facing each other, still loosely holding the boy in a hug. “Why don’t you ask Timmy to read to you? I know he was real excited to get to the end with you.”

“Yeah, okay,” Dick replied, nodding. I wanna say sorry too.” Dick leaned in once more to give his brother another hug before grabbing his book and running out of the room. “Thanks, Jay!”

Jason smiled, satisfied that he had fixed the situation.

Tim would later come to him and apologize for being so harsh to him. Jason would forgive him, of course—he would have been pretty upset too—and they would come to an agreement about helping Dick.

Not before Jason got his revenge with an epic prank, of course. But that was a story for another day.

Chapter Text

“Do you ever miss your parents?”

Jason blinked and looked over at Dick, who stared at the sky above them. They were lying on the roof of the Manor, stargazing as they snacked on some of Alfred’s cookies and drank hot chocolate. The blankets they were sharing kept the chill of the fast-coming autumn away. Jason thought they were having a nice time, getting away from their older siblings, but it seemed that Dick had other things on his mind.

“My dad? No. He sucked a lot, and good riddance. But my mom? She made a lot of mistakes, but she wasn’t a bad mom.” Jason bit his lip and looked back at the stars. “I miss her.”

Dick hummed, a frown marring his usually cheerful demeanor.

“...What about you?” Jason knew it was a dumb question to ask, but he hated the silence that had followed his answer.

“I miss them a lot,” Dick replied, pulling the blanket closer to his chin. “I miss them every day. Sometimes, I have dreams where they’re still alive, and then I wake up in the Manor really confused until I remember they’re dead. Then, I get sad.”

Jason’s grip tightened on the blanket, turning his knuckles white. This conversation was quickly heading into territory that Jason didn’t feel comfortable with. “Have you talked to Bruce?”

Dick sighed. “Yeah. He understands, but he also doesn’t.”

“How so?”

“He was raised by Alfred after, but Alfred had already been in his life. You guys… You guys weren’t.”

Jason waited for Dick to continue, his brow furrowing as the silence went on again. “...And?”

Dick remained quiet for a moment before speaking again. “Do you think… Do you think if Bruce had a chance to make it so that his parents never died, he would take it?” Dick continued before Jason could reply. “Because if he made it so they never died, he probably wouldn’t have met us.”

“What?”

“‘Cause if Bruce’s parents never died, he wouldn’t have become Batman. He wouldn’t have gone to train with the League of Assassins, so he wouldn’t have Damian. If Batman didn’t exist, he wouldn’t have met Steph or Cass or you. Timmy once said that Bruce sees himself in us, so would he have taken us in if that was no longer true? Where would we be now?”

“I—” Jason didn’t know what to say. This was definitely not something he had thought about, but now he couldn’t stop. Jason was only 14 years old, but it felt like he was having a midlife crisis at the moment.

Dick noticed his older brother’s panic and winced. “Sorry.”

“It’s—It’s fine.” Jason took a deep breath. “What exactly brought this on?”

Dick shrugged. “Just been thinking lately.”

“Have you talked to the others?”

“No, you’re the first person I told.”

Jason’s heart warmed at his brother’s trust in him, and he hoped he wasn’t breaking it with his reaction. “Thanks for telling me.” He swallowed nervously as he thought about Dick’s question. “I don’t know if Bruce would take the chance or not. I would hope he wouldn’t, but…” 

Dick’s question had hit a little too close to home with Jason’s insecurities. Jason knew that Bruce loved them, but did he love them more than his parents? The people he had idolized for the last 30-something years? Jason wished he could confidently answer that Bruce would choose his kids, but their adoptive father had always been a wild card.

Dick nodded at Jason’s silence. “Yeah.”

They fell into an awkward silence, ruminating as they stared at the stars, until Jason finally blurted out, “would you?”

Dick blinked and looked over at his brother curiously. “Would I what?”

“If you were given the opportunity to make it so that your parents never died, would you take it?”

“Oh.” Dick went back to looking at the sky. Jason could see him fiddling with the blanket, though his expression was contemplative. He squashed down the urge to pick at the blanket as he waited.

The silence went on long enough that Jason was about to tell his brother nevermind when Dick spoke again. “If you had asked me three years ago, I would have said yes. My parents and the circus were my whole world, but I’m forgetting things now.” His voice trembled, choking with tears, and Jason took his hand. His younger brother gave him a wobbly smile. “It’s harder to remember what they sounded like or how they laughed. How exactly their arms felt when they gave me a hug. What they smelled like. It’s going away, and I can’t stop it.”

Dick swiped at his eyes. “But now I have you guys. I can smell Alfred’s hot chocolate. I can hear the sound of Damian’s pencil as he sketches in the living room. I feel the warmth of my second family surrounding me as we fall asleep during movie night.” He squeezed Jason’s hand. “I can’t give it up. I can’t live in a world where I don’t have you guys anymore. I think my parents would understand.”

Jason rolled over, pulling his brother close and pressing their foreheads together. He was fighting back his own tears as he listened to Dick’s speech, moved by the love his younger brother had for them. “I can’t imagine a world without you guys either. I miss my mom, but I think she’d understand too. I think she’s happy I found a good place with good people.”

Dick wrapped his arms around Jason in a tight hug before letting go and rolling back to look back at the sky again, smiling wryly. “Thanks, Jay. Sorry for bringing the mood down. I’m usually the one bringing it up.”

Jason hummed. They fell back into silence as they watched the stars, but it didn’t feel awkward or tense this time. Jason was just starting to fall asleep when he heard a shout from further down the roof. He jolted up and found Stephanie climbing up, their other siblings close behind.

“Hey, squirts! Having a party without us?”

Jason was slightly annoyed that their hangout was being interrupted—this was supposed to be for just the two of them—but it subsided when he saw the smile break out on Dick’s face. His little brother had been far too gloom and doom, and if this was what it took to cheer him up, Jason would let it slide. He called out to his oldest sister, “yeah, but it’s no dorks allowed!”

“Damn.” She turned back to the others. “You hear that? Sorry, Tim. Damian. You’re not invited.”

Tim rolled his eyes as he climbed onto the roof. “And what about you and Cass?”

“Not dorks,” Cass replied as she appeared behind him, ruffling his hair.

“I am not going back down,” Damian said, the last to make it onto the roof.

Jason’s older siblings crowded around, laying out their own blankets and pillows. He grumbled but was quickly appeased with refills of Alfred’s hot chocolate and cookies. They all piled together with Dick and Jason in the middle. He wasn’t sure if the others had sensed the mood when they came up, but their close proximity and warmth seemed to ease his baby brother. Even Jason couldn’t help but sink into the comfort of his siblings as Stephanie and Damian argued about personal space.

Jason and Dick didn’t share their conversation with their brothers and sisters, and they didn’t ask. Maybe Dick would open up to them more in the future about his fears, but that could wait.

Jason reached out and took Dick’s hand. The younger boy looked over, shooting Jason a small smile.

Even if Dick did open up to them in the future, Jason would take satisfaction in being the one that Dick came to first.