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“Timothy. Why do you look so pathetic?” Damian said, while standing over Tim. The Incubus looked up, squinting at the younger demon as light streamed in from behind him. The Luciferean haughtily glared down at him, arms crossed and a single eyebrow arched.
Tim couldn’t help but glare back. Damian was the very last thing he wanted to be dealing with right now. Tim wanted quiet. He wanted alone. He wanted to get away from everything “demon” just for a little bit.
He definitely didn’t want to deal with the Luciferean who went around spouting things about “being the stronger species” and “being better than a simple sex demon”. He hardly wanted to be a demon, let alone constantly hearing how terrible he was at it.
So, he had tried to hide out and feel a little bit more normal in this tiny nook in an empty room at the back of the Manor.
The room was some kind of old office with empty shelves and a dusty desk standing tall against a window. The door had been locked before Tim picked it and began to make the room a small hideout for himself. He didn’t exactly know why he had had the sudden urge to gather blankets and clothes that smelled like his pack mates and had the faint, lingering taste of their comfortable emotions, but he obeyed and had made the stolen clothes into a small nest for himself.
Even as he made the little bed, he knew something was wrong with it. His instincts tried to tell him to move, to go closer to the pack, to nest somewhere else that would have stronger scents and emotions. But he held back and forced himself to stay in the corner of the empty room where he’d be less of a bother.
“Go away, Damian,” he growled and, for once, the sound was more demonic than human. “I get it. I’m pathetic and weak and whatever else you want to say. I’ve heard it all before, so save me the lecture and go away.”
Tim rolled over, curling further into the pile of blankets. They were a weak substitute for cuddling with Jason or Dick. They felt scratchy against his skin, too cold and grating to be the warmth of another body.
He desperately wanted to go to one of his brothers. To feel Jason rumbling against him and shifting the emotions swirling around them into something warm and insanely comfortable. Or to feel Dick holding Tim in his arms and pouring feelings into him, banishing the emptiness inside of him that relentlessly tried to eat him whole.
Only Dick could feed him, but either of them would help make him feel less alone.
He fought to keep the deep ache of loneliness from spilling out into his bonds.
“Todd is searching for you.” Damian said, tutting at the end of his sentence. “He knows something is wrong. He is practically tearing the house apart to find you.”
Tim could detect the tiniest hint of what might be concern in the other impling’s scent.
“You should reveal yourself to him. It would certainly save Grayson and Father the headache of finding you.”
Tim stubbornly did not release the mental shielding he was placing on his bonds. He could feel his pack trying to find him. The way that they tugged and pulled, an almost physical pleading to Tim’s heart. He could sense Jason’s tight concern, worry, pack and Dick’s find, comfort, make safe and Bruce’s worry, worry, child worry. He could feel all of his family’s emotions, baring down on him in a huge, protective flood.
One that he felt like he was going to drown in if he revealed himself to them. He was already so much work for his pack. He was awkward and reliant on them in a way he never was when he still believed he was human. He was like a baby all over again, and all he wanted was to not feel so helpless.
He hated it. He was terrified of it.
His mother and father had hated neediness and punished it with long strings of abandonment whenever he tried to bring up the emptiness that was constantly chewing on his insides. His body had ached all the time, he was constantly tired, everything inside of him screamed that something was terribly wrong and he needed his parents.
But every time, every single damn time, he tried to reach out, he had been shoved further into an empty room and the hole inside of him grew and became more painful.
He learned quickly to stop asking, to be happy with what little he was given inside of being greedy for more.
This house already gave him so much. They didn’t hesitate to meet Tim’s needs, even though Tim didn’t know what he needed himself. They gave and gave and gave, so how could Tim dare ask for more.
“Look Damian,” Tim said with a heavy sigh as he faced his youngest brother. The Luciferean stood proudly with his back straight and his head held at a haughty angle. Something about the pure arrogance in the stance turned Tim’s stomach and left a bad taste in his mouth.
“I’m here for a reason and that reason is that I don’t want to be found. So either get it over with and call Dick and Jay, or just leave.”
Damian’s eyes narrowed, taking in his pitiful excuse of a nest and Tim miserably flopped on top of it.
“You are unhappy,” Damian said shortly and Tim rolled his eyes. The kid really was a genius. “Why do you not go to Todd if you are unhappy?”
Tim’s hand twisted into one of Jason’s stolen shirts. “I don’t want to bother him. I already take up so much of his time.”
Damian was silent, regarding Tim with an unreadable expression before he seemed to come to a decision in his mind. He swivelled on his heel and strode out of the room. Tim watched with wide eyes as his littlest brother left and the room became empty once again.
Tim thought he’d be happy about that. Happy to be left alone, exactly like he wanted. But as his smallest brother walked away, something inside of him shattered and whined for him to come back. His instincts screamed at him to call the impling back, to chuff like Jason did to bring an impling close. He wanted his pack.
The empty room yawned around him feeling suddenly bigger than it had only moments ago. It was huge. It was empty. It was an entire manor for one single child.
One child that would give up everything just to have his parents come back. Parents that promised that they would be home two weeks ago. Tim’s heart cracked as he stared out at the dark, lonely room around him. He thought he had left this place. He was stupid to think that he could ever fully escape it. Why did he think that he deserved something more that loneliness and the ache in his chest that was eating him alive?
Oh, he realised as tears began leaking from his eyes. I’m crying.
He bit back a sob, and curled into the smallest ball he could. Something inside of him screamed for him to release the tight hold he was keeping on his emotions, and a tiny bit of his control slipped.
A shock of distress and misery fell into the bonds he had with the rest of his pack mates and he could instantly feel their panicked response.
Just as quick as it went out, Tim grabbed ahold of it again, drawing it in and pushing it far away from where his pack mates could feel it. It was an uncomfortable sensation, but at least then he wouldn’t burden the rest of his pack with feeling it.
Tim nestled into the blankets trying to fool himself that the shirt he was putting his nose into was Bruce.
He was laying in his small nest for a while, slowly letting himself fall asleep when suddenly the door opened again.
Tim’s eyes widened as Damian stepped back into the room, holding a huge bundle of blankets that Tim recognised from the movie room. His instincts purred at them. They would be perfect for a nest, large and filled with his pack’s scents and content, relaxed emotions.
Damian didn’t speak as he dumped the blankets on top of Tim. The incubus yelped in protest, but froze when he felt his little brother slip into the nest and up against his side. The incubus remained silent as he watched Damian begin to organise the blankets into a satisfying shape.
“I know you did not grow up with demon role models, so I will excuse your oversight in how to construct a proper nest,” Damian said finally when the blankets were put into a comfortable position and Tim felt something inside him relax. He didn’t know why exactly this was good, but his instincts told him that this was much better.
“I didn’t even know that demons nested,” Tim said, nestling into the blankets, which also brought him closer to the Luciferean. He was pleasantly surprised when Damian didn’t pull away and instead let Tim curl around him. The Luciferean began to stutter out a tiny purr and the gentle waves of heat from the small demon sunk into Tim’s bones.
He didn’t exactly know how he did it, but he took the emotions swirling around them and eased the misery from earlier away. He amplified the warm, good emotions just like Jason did, and it felt so natural that Tim almost couldn’t believe it.
Damian sighed into him and settled into Tim’s arms.
There was silence until Damian finally spoke, small and hesitant.
“My mother used to tell me that incubi and succubi were useless unless they were trained.”
Tim tensed, but didn’t pull away.
“She said that they were stupid and couldn’t think past their emotions or sex. She hated them more than other species, I think. She was merciless on the incubi and succubi she kept at the League and said then only had they needed training to have value.”
Damian began trembling into a tiny ball and Tim couldn’t help but draw him closer.
“The League kept them around to be torturers or for… comfort. She didn’t let them socialise with other demons; she isolated them into tiny rooms until they were needed. And… and I could hear them sometimes. I heard my mother training them and what they were forced to live through and…”
Damian shuddered and Tim couldn’t even imagine what kind of horrors his smallest brother witnessed while in that hellhole.
“When I saw you alone in this room, it reminded me of that and... I’m sorry. I know I’m not good like you or Todd or Grayson, but I’m trying to be better. I’m sorry I called you a sex toy and pleasure slave. You’re not and you’re not dumb. My mother was wrong and you definitely don’t need… training.”
Damian stared out at nothing, but there were dark memories flashing behind his eyes. The Luciferean didn’t talk a lot about his past in the League, but whenever he did it made Tim’s skin crawl. There were mentions of bloody trials, of submission bites that left him unable to move or defend himself and, of course, the amputation of his tail. There was more, Tim knew there was more, and a lot of him was scared to find out.
Damian fell silent with frown and Tim felt his instincts pushing him to be protective over his newest brother. A purr began to rise in his chest and he tucked the Luciferean’s head under his chin. He felt Damian tense immediately, before slowly melting into Tim’s hold. The impling chirped a little baby sound and rubbed his head along Tim’s jaw line.
“Thank you for saying that, Dami. I appreciate it.” Tim nuzzled the little impling back and felt their bond hum with happiness. The smaller demon’s body was insanely warm and Tim suddenly knew why Dick had been dragging the little impling into hugs all the time.
There was a brief pause before Damian slowly spoke again. “Why do you stay alone in this room? Would you not be happier with the pack?”
“I…” Tim’s voice stuck in his throat because he would be happier if his pack was here, but that vicious voice inside him kept chanting about how much of a burden he was and he couldn’t bring himself to ignore it. “I don’t want to be a burden. Sometimes I think I just need to get away all their overprotectiveness.”
Damian didn’t answer, but he did begin to pull away from Tim. Alarm instantly flared in Tim’s gut and he clutched the smaller impling close.
“Do you not want me to leave? You told me to go away earlier and I’m infringing on your nest now.”
“No,” Tim said quickly, his knuckles were white with how tightly he was holding Damian. “No, you can stay. I’d like you to stay.”
“Then I will stay Timothy.”
They didn’t talk after that, only fell asleep as Tim amplified calming emotions and Damian simmered in warm comfort.
Jason was just about ready to pull his hair out. He was pacing in the living room, practically beating a worn path into the floorboards, while Dick stood to the side with his arms crossed.
He had been closer earlier, but then Jason growled at him and he got huffy and stood at a greater distance away.
Jason couldn’t help but be a little guilty at that. He didn’t like snapping at Dick (outside of the playful impish snaps when they were teasing each other); it made him feel feral and like he was betraying his own pack.
He knew that Dick didn’t mind. His older brother didn’t like it, of course, but he didn’t see it as the betrayal that Jason did.
Jason just… he hated that the action came so quickly with his anger. He hated that his first instinct was to lash out. He hated that he heard echoes of Willis in the snarls.
He shivered, pausing in his pacing and crossing his arms over his chest.
He wasn’t Willis. He didn’t…
He was just so stressed.
Tim had disappeared and now they couldn’t find Damian either.
Had they gotten taken? Abducted while in their own house? How in the hell had someone managed to sneak into the bat house without anyone noticing?
Were they hurt? Scared? Waiting for them to rescue them?
Jason had felt Tim’s brief distress and misery through the bond. He knew the rest of his family had felt it too; brief but solid proof that their implings were in trouble.
God, he was so fucking useless. He couldn’t even protect his brothers when they were in the same building as him.
“Jason,” Dick’s voice was firm and sudden, startling him out of his own thoughts. His brother had moved to the couch, and was sitting waiting for Jason to respond. “Come here.” There was just a little bit of a chuff at the end of the sound, human, but enough to play on the instincts rolling inside of him. Instincts that immediately told him to obey when his big brother called him like that.
Jason didn’t think; he reacted and came to Dick without hesitation.
He sat heavily on the couch and slumped into Dick’s side.
“I don’t know how I feel about you learning how to do that,” Jason said as Dick wrapped him in a side hug. It helped take away the panic that was haunting the back of his mind.
“None of the Manor’s alarms are tripped. There’s no signs of break ins or that they left. This house is huge. They are probably just playing hide and sneak in a corner somewhere.”
“But what if—“
“Don’t get yourself lost in what ifs Jay. You’ll just spiral. Bruce has already started searching for them in Gotham. You and I need to scour the mansion and make sure our kiddos haven’t gotten lost.”
A lot of Jason wanted to be tearing up the streets with Bruce, but what Dick said was right. There were no signs of break-in or break-out. No signs of any movement in the Manor. For all intents and purposes, the boys should still be in the house. It was just a matter of finding them, which was easier said than done in a building that was practically a castle.
“Come on, Little Wing, we will save the cuddling for later once we find the implings.”
Jason and Dick began to systemically go through the rooms of the Manor.
Jason’s heart raced as he started with the least used rooms in the house. He went through dusty bedroom after dust bedroom until finally he landed on one that was slightly less dusty than the rest.
And more than that, the room was filled with the mesmerising swirl of comfortable incubus emotions.
Finally, finally, the panic inside of him died.
He rumbled as he entered the room and chuffed like Dick had done earlier to call to the implings. There was a sleepy murmur and a quiet answering trill that he recognised as Damian.
Ah, so both of them were here.
He stalked through the room until eventually he found the nest with both of the pack implings curled up inside it. Damian was glaring up at him, caught between being angry and ignoring him and falling back to sleep. Tim seemed to try to shake the sleep out of himself but was getting caught up in his own comfortable emotions.
Jason smiled at the little amateur emotion manipulation and twisted the feelings around them to make the sleepy less oppressing.
Tim roused and straightened in the nest, but didn’t leave it. He gave Jason a dopey smile and a quick little purring chirp.
“Jason, you came,” he said in greeting when Jason crouched at the corner of the nest. The impling sat up, leaning forward and practically toppling into Jason’s chest when he tried to nuzzle under his jaw. “I was lonely and Dami helped me. He made the nest better.”
“I see that,” Jason laughed, helping to leverage Tim but into a comfortable position in the nest he built.
It was a minor miracle to find the Luciferean cuddling with the Incubus. The implings had a rough beginning and now grudging orbited around each other. Occasionally fights broke out and there was hissing and spitting, but luckily there weren’t anymore serious threats on anyone’s lives.
Jason had the suspicion that they would become true brothers eventually, they just needed to get used to each other.
Putting a filter on some of Damian’s most offensive comments would also help.
The incubus looked down to his youngest brother and met his eyes. The Luciferean flinched back a bit, still not completely comfortable around Jason. He was still wary after their terrible introduction, and Jason couldn’t help but still watch the smallest demon closely.
He had threatened Jason’s pack. He had attacked their most vulnerable. He had gone after everything that Jason held dear.
The incubus knew that the chances of Damian trying another stunt like that were low, but he still hadn’t earned Jason’s trust.
Not yet. But helping to settle Tim into a nest and staying with him when he was in obvious distress was earning Damian some bonus points.
Jason nodded, rumbled low in his chest and gently bumped foreheads with the Luciferean. The impling accepted the motion and gave Jason a tiny, hesitant purr.
“Did you know that demons made nests?” Tim said as he settled down to sleep again.
“I did know that. I just hope you’re ready for the eggs when you start to lay them.”
Tim jolted forward, paler than ever with pure horror written on his face and souring the emotions around him.
“What?”
Jason kept a serious face for ten more seconds until he couldn’t hold it anymore and he broke down into peals of laughter.
“Jason! Jason! Please tell me you’re joking!”
The demon kept laughing, holding his stomach as Tim began to hit him with a pillow.
“You” smack “are” smack “such an ass.” Smack.
Jason smirked, grabbing the pillow and wrestling it away from Tim. The smaller impling growled playfully at him, flashing fangs that were barely coming in. A bit of warmth flickered inside him when he saw that Tim was finally looking healthier and acting like he should.
“Awww, little Timbers isn’t ready to be a mama?”
Tim flopped into his nest, burying his face into a pillow. “Go away. I want to die now.”
“Do not be dramatic, Timothy,” Damian said while poking Tim in the shoulder. The younger incubus hissed lightly and swatted at the demon’s hand.
“Yeah, Timothy, don’t be dramatic.” Jason teased, coming into the nest and laying near Tim’s other side.
Tim groaned and rolled on his back. “I’m in hell.”
“Makes sense considering you’re surrounded by demons,” Jay quipped, earning himself an eye roll from both of the implings. Brats. He was going to have to tattle to Dick on them.
He pulled out his phone and texted Dick that he had found the boys and where they were in the Manor. Dick responded with a slew of colourful emojis and that he was coming.
Jason also took the time to message Bruce, so the man wouldn’t continue trying to tear Gotham apart for the boys. It took a couple seconds, but eventually Bruce texted back “Thank you. I’m returning home.” Which was a pretty average Bruce text.
Jason settled into the nest, curling his larger body around Tim and letting himself revel in the warm relaxation of knowing his pack was safe. He had a couple minutes of peace, right before Dick burst into the room and cooed about how “cute the demon cuddle pile” was.