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They all walked back into the cave, bruised and battered from that night's patrol. It hadn't particularly been a good night. Not their worst night. But definitely not their best. Dick, somehow, still had a smile on his face even with a dark bruise forming under his eye and the slight limp he had after he took a particularly hard fall.
Damian and Jason both had scowls on their face and Tim had walked right up to the computer monitor the second they entered the cave.
"Well that sure was a fun night!" Dick quipped earning him three glares.
"I'll say. We should totally do that again sometime." Steph winked at Dick and patted him on the back as she went by.
Thank God for Steph. Even though Dick was used to getting glares instead of responses, he was always glad when someone decided to talk back to him. If Dick and Steph were locked in a room together, there probably wouldn't be a moment of silence.
Dick managed another smile, ruffled Damians hair and then hit the showers. When he came back out Tim was still at the computer. It took some coaxing (and a promise of free coffee for a week) for Dick to get Tim to get some sleep. With Jason and Damian already in their bedrooms and Tim heading that way Dick let himself power down just a little. His phone buzzed in his pocket and Dick went to pick it up.
"Rough night on patrol?" Dick had known it would be Barbara before he even picked up, but he found himself smiling softly hearing her voice.
"You could say that." Dick said with a sad laugh. He was walking through the halls of the manor towards his room.
"B just sent me the report." Dick could hear the tension is her voice as she spoke. Bruce probably needed some kind of intel from Barbara and that was usually the way he asked for it. Sending the report was a silent way of asking for help. "Seems like thanks to you, everyone should be glad they're alive."
Batfam patrol is supposed to be a team effort which usually started with them all getting separated into smaller groups to patrol different parts of the city. Bruce had placed Damian, Tim, and Jason together while he Dick and Steph were together. This was a slightly unusual setup, but nonetheless they obeyed. The night had started off slow with Steph and Dick busting some small group thugs while Batman had decided to follow a lead elsewhere. That's when things started to blow up. When Dick went to check in on how his brothers' were doing he found all three of their comms unresponsive. One of Batman's cardinal rules is to never leave your patrol post, but Dick had a feeling something was off. He and Steph decided that Dick would go investigate while Steph stayed in their designated area. Bruce's rules be damned. (Though Dick knew he'd be getting a lecture later.)
Forty minutes later Dick found himself hiding in the ceiling of a warehouse while his three brothers were gagged and tied up below him. They all looked unharmed, but Dick's primary task seemed to be the bomb placed in the center of the room counting down from 60 seconds. Dick didn't know if he could disarm the bomb in time and he didn't want to take any chances.
The goons who had taken his brothers had already scattered at that point, but his brother's still hadn't gotten out of their bonds which Dick found odd, until he realized they were all attached to a wire. Meaning any form of premature escape would set off the bomb early. Dick had flipped down from the ceiling and discovered that the wire connecting his brothers wasn't directly connected to the bomb in the middle of the floor, meaning if he could just move the bomb his brothers would be safe. It was times like this that Dick wished he could fly and just throw the bomb into space. The clock was at 45 seconds and Dick doesn't think he'd ever moved faster in his life, he sent his brothers' what he hoped was a reassuring smile, grabbed the bomb, ran out the door and hopped on his bike. He ignored the muffled grunts of protest he could hear coming from his brothers and took off. He assumed the bomb was just meant to take out the warehouse so if he could just get it far enough away, and escape the debris field he would be safe. Once Dick assumed he was at a far enough distance with clear land he threw the bomb as far as he could and swiftly turned his bike around flooring it. He managed to escape most of the debris field, but a stray rock had hit his tire and sent him flying. He covered his head and waited until the worst of the explosion was over before hopping on his bike and heading back to the warehouse where his brothers were already getting out of their bonds.
"Father will be angry you left your post." So much for a thank you. Damian rubbed his wrists where he had been tied up. Dick just gave him a lopsided smile.
"Just glad you're all safe lil' D."
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"If Bruce is actually mad at you I'll kick his ass." Dick smirked at Barbara's comment and opened the door to his room.
"I don't doubt you will Babs." Dick heard the phone click as Barbara hung up and he sat on his bed staring at the ceiling. After he decided he wouldn't be going to sleep that night, he did what he usually did when he couldn't sleep.
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After Dick had left to go find the others Steph hadn't really had a lot of action, but she was still occupied for the rest of the night. After Dick filled her in on what happened she had tried to talk to Tim, but he just seemed upset. No matter what Steph did or said, she couldn't crack a smirk out of that boy, but she still tried. This family was a bunch of bricks when it came to emotions or talking. Steph didn't know how Dick lasted all these years. Especially when it had just been him and Batman. The biggest brick of them all. Steph found herself wandering towards Dick's room when she assumed no one had probably bothered to check on the man who almost blew himself up to save them.
She opened the door and was momentarily shocked to find it empty, but then she saw the open window.
"Well Mr. Daredevil, you liking the view up here?" Steph climbed through the window and walked over to where Dick was lying on his back looking up at the sky.
Dick just smirked. "Hey it's better than me swinging from the chandelier again."
This earned a laugh from Steph as she lied down next to him.
"I came to see how you were doing." Steph said, not taking her eyes off the sky. Now she could see why Dick liked it up here.
"I'm great and you Steph?" Steph forgot what it was like to be asked that. A simple question rarely muttered from anyone else in the Batfamily. Dick had always been the one to come to check on her if he thought she was upset, the others would just let her be. Well Cass and Alfred sometimes too, but Dick was always the best at cheering her up.
"Do you ever get sick of it?" Steph blurted out. She wasn't exactly sure where she was going with this, but she felt it needed to be said. "I know I do." She continued.
"Sick of what?" Dick asked, this time turning his head towards Steph confused by her sudden outburst.
"Being happy all the time, smiling all the time, for them. They don't even react! They don't do anything.They were mad at you for saving them! They're like a bunch of robots."
Dick chuckled sadly and turned his head back towards the sky.
"That's what we have each other for Steph. No games me and you. We don't have to be okay for each other all the time."
Steph smiled up at the sky feeling a little more at ease. Dick was right. They alway had each other. Even if Dick and Steph were their own kind of robots. Always smiling. Always happy.