Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

/

Dick isn’t sure when it first happens, that first time he thinks of Rachel, Gar or Kory as more than part of his alliance. Part of his team. It doesn’t suddenly hit him in the chest at full force, but rather happens gradually, a collection of moments and images in his mind that he’ll replay over and over again when he feels himself losing track of who he is.

He isn’t sure when those three became such an integral part of who Dick Grayson has become but he certainly doesn’t mind it in the slightest.

One of the earliest moments he can recall is with Rachel. They go out to the coffee shop down the street, something the two of them do often. Kory and Gar tend to sleep in later than him or Rachel and Dick likes to let them sleep, the smells of breakfast normally being what wakes them up and carries them into the kitchen.

Dick has always been an early riser. Practices at the circus started at the crack of dawn and even despite Bruce’s nocturnal activities even he made sure Dick was up early for training or breakfast before tackling a day of being the face of Wayne Enterprises. He isn’t surprised to normally be the first one up in the tower, but he is surprised when only twenty minutes after he has sat down with a coffee, Rachel shuffles out of her bedroom and stumbles over to the kitchen to fix herself a cup. She doesn’t sleep well; he knows she has nightmares often and Dick thinks she likes the fact someone else is an early riser so she doesn’t have to wait out the quiet mornings alone. Dick makes sure to brew enough coffee for two after that first time and leaves a mug out for her to use when she joins him.

It’s a routine for them and Dick cherishes it. This piece of normal he can offer Rachel after everything she’s been through. She doesn’t comment on it but he sees her smile at him over the rim of her coffee mug and honestly, that smile is more than enough for him.

Some mornings are worse than others for her, he knows. There are mornings when the circles under her eyes are darker than normal and a haunted look takes over her blue eyes and it kills him. He wants to be able to erase whatever she saw in her nightmares that scare her, but she doesn’t talk to him about them and he doesn’t pry no matter how much he wants to.

She’s edgy on those mornings and restless and it takes Dick a while to realise she hates feeling cooped up. Rachel told him once about the locks on her old bedroom door and how her mother would lock her in for both their safeties and as Dick watches her eyes darting constantly to the glass windows and the world outside the tower he understands.

So, on those days he places his coffee down on the table, pretends the taste isn’t as good as normal and asks Rachel if she fancies a trip to the coffee shop.

“For proper caffeine.” Dick insists despite the fact they have a state-of-the-art coffee machine in the tower, “And we can bring those two sleepyheads back breakfast.”

Rachel’s eyes light up and she rushes to change out of her pyjamas so they can go. The walk soothes her and Dick finds himself taking a longer route to the coffee shop just to let her have longer to relax and shake off her nightmares.

They order larger coffees, both black although Rachel heaps sugar into hers like it’s milk in a latte and he thinks he should say something about the amount of sugar but he doesn’t because she sighs after the first sip and Dick can practically see the tension drift away from her shoulders.

He is struck with an odd thought. That he wishes he could slay the demons that haunt her at night so they don’t have to pretend they’re here for him when really it’s because Dick would do anything to make her happy and too-sweet coffee outside makes her happy.

Dick hopes his company has something to do with that smile on her face but he doesn’t want to assume. It is really good coffee, after all.

/

Kory gets injured and Dick thinks his heart might jump out of his chest at the sight of her blood. Her powers are gone and while she’s more than capable, she’s more breakable than before. Dick knows she would still try to melt him with her gaze alone if he ever told her that.

Still, the uncomfortable fear of loss settles into his chest because he can’t lose her.

He doesn’t know when that happened. At what point since meeting her Dick decided he couldn’t handle losing her.

Rachel and Gar watch him patch her up from the doorway, eyes wide and fearful and Dick feels his heart jump for the second time because they can’t lose Kory anymore than he can.

“She’ll be fine.” Dick reassures them firmly, “She just needs rest.”

He hopes he’s telling the truth.

As it turns out Kory is resilient with or without the healing factor and she is fine. After day five of the medbay cot she all but growls at him that if she can’t get out of this bed soon she’ll murder him. Dick smirks at her.

Maybe he does have a thing for dangerous women.

He also knows not to mess with them so he moves Kory out to the living room, setting her up on the couch in front of the television while he goes out to pick up more painkillers and bandages. The sight that greets him when he returns with a bag full of supplies and a pizza for dinner is enough to stop him in his tracks and notice the way his heart speeds up.

Kory is where he left her, curled up on the couch with her back against it and a blanket wrapped around her legs. She’s mindlessly watching television but her eyes catch his at his entrance and he can’t help the soft smile on his face because Kory isn’t alone.

Rachel is tucked up in front of her, one of Kory’s hands around her waist to stop the girl from falling off the edge of the couch where she is balanced, her face is pressed against Kory’s shoulder and Dick can tell she’s asleep. Further down he spots a mop of green hair and finds Gar sprawled out, wedged between the back of the couch and Kory’s legs which he is using as a pillow, one arm thrown out over both her and Rachel, mouth open as he snores gently, feet hanging over the end of the couch.

It so domestic. And it jars him for a moment because both those kids like peaceful and content and Kory’s eyes sparkle with amusement. Dick can’t help but smile wide at her, setting down the bag in his hand quietly.

“They waited about ten minutes after you left to come out here.” Kory tells him softly, “I think they were more scared than we realised.”

Dick nods, “They saw a lot of blood. They aren’t used to you not healing straight away.”

“Me either.”

Dick knows losing her powers has been hard on her and he’s already vowed to do whatever he can to help her get them back. Gar shuffles in his sleep but doesn’t wake, Kory moves a hand down to smooth over his hair affectionately.

“He talks in his sleep, you know?” She says gently with a smile, “Something about monkeys, I think.”

Dick smiles, “He takes after someone else I know.”

The statement stops him because it sounds so natural and intimate, that Gar takes after Kory who likes to do the same. The connotations of that doesn’t escape his notice, that idea of family ringing in his head again.

But Dick Grayson is no good at family.

And yet here they are, everything he cares about. Everything he loves, curled up on the couch like it’s a normal lazy Sunday.

“If that pizza is for us you’re going to need to bring it over here.” Kory’s eyes drift to the box still in his hands, “I think I’m stuck.”

“Gar’s all deadweight. You’re definitely stuck.” Dick smiles as he walks over to them, finding a spot on the floor with his back to the couch near Kory’s feet. Rachel seems to sense his presence because as soon as his back is against the couch her legs have shuffled so her toes are tucked against his shoulder blade.

“We should wake them up for dinner.”

Dick hums, taking in Rachel’s sleeping face and twisting his head slightly to see Gar wrinkle his nose in his sleep like he smells the pizza.

“In a minute.” He tells her.

He wants to live in this moment forever.

But soon enough Gar wakes up when the smell of pizza grows stronger and Rachel shuffles when he moves, managing to kick Dick in the shoulder as she twists round, and mutters there better not be pineapple.

There isn’t. Dick knows his kids.

As Gar grabs for the first slice of pizza, Dick tries to push down the swell of family and contentment rising up within him.

/

Dick’s been working on a suit for Gar for months now, trying to find the right material that won’t rip or tear as he changes because Dick doesn’t want him to be vulnerable out in the field and he knows Gar hates having to get naked before he can transform. Sometimes there isn’t enough time for that and then Gar has to borrow someone’s coat until they can get him a spare set of clothes.

Dick always keeps a bag of Gar’s clothes in the car, just in case.

Rachel’s suit had been easier to design but Gar’s was more urgent. Dick wanted him to be protected, not just from destroying clothing but from anything they might be up against.

So, he works in secret for months, sending emails back and forth with Stu to design something that will allow him to keep on while he changes. Rachel’s suit will be a birthday gift but he told Stu to put a rush on Gar’s, Dick wants him to have something sooner.

When its ready Dick drives to pick it up and he has to admit it’s better than he could have hoped for. He just hopes it works. Stu spent a lot of sleepless hours getting the material just right and Dick will forever be grateful to him.

Gar is in the training room when he gets home, new silver suitcase in hand and he offers it to him with a shy smile he hopes Gar understands.

The boy takes it with wide eyes, “For me?”

“If you don’t like it, we can tweak the design, but I wanted it to be a surprise.” Dick tells him by way of explanation as Gar presses his thumb to the scanner and the case clicks open.

His eyes go even wider and his smile threatens to take over his face.

“This is awesome!”

Dick smiles at that, “It should stay in one piece when you change. I hope. We should test it to make sure.”

That’s all Dick says because then Gar is hugging him, arms thrown around Dick’s neck and Dick doesn’t need to see his face to know the boy is still grinning. Dick returns the hug, holding the boy to him tightly and his breath catches in his throat because he did this. He made Gar this happy.

“You have no idea what this means to me.” Gar tells him without breaking the hug.

Dick squeezes tighter, chest loosening, “I just want you to be safe.”

They pull apart and Dick sees the wealth of emotion in Gar’s eyes, “No one has ever done anything like this for me before. The Chief never…”

Dick can feel his own emotions surging, “I’m sorry you went through that, Gar. But you never have to go through that again, okay?”

Gar’s eyes grew glassy, and he nods solemnly, “So, can we test it out?”

“Of course. It’s yours.”

Dick turns around to give him privacy to change and Gar lets him know when it’s safe to turn back around. The suit fits him perfectly, the material lightweight and breathable as per Dick’s request and he knows Gar likes it by the way he keeps running his hands down the fabric.

“Hey, Dick?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really happy we’re together. All of us. You, me, Rachel, Kory.” Gar tells him wistfully, “It feels like we’re a family, you know? Us against the world.”

Dick swallows because it does feel like that and he has no idea when it started but he knows he’d die or kill to protect them.

Because they are his family.

And that thought scares the shit out of him.

“I’m always here for you, you know.” He says awkwardly, hoping it’s enough because that’s all he has right now.

He wants to say more. That somewhere along the way he fell in love with these kids and their little family, and he knows how lucky he is to have found them because they all saved him as much as he saved them. More even more so.

But the words get stuck in his throat because family doesn’t last long with him and he can’t let anything happen to them and if he says the words then it becomes more than just a secret thought in his head. It becomes real.

“Okay,” he breathes, “Let’s see what you got.”

The suit works as designed and stays in tact while Gar shifts but that still doesn’t stop Dick from worrying about him out in the field because he’s still just a kid.

And Dick knows if there is any hint of trouble around then his kid will find it.

Dick might joke Gar gets sleep-talking from Kory, but Kory will openly argue that the knack for trouble can only be from Dick.

A trait both their kids share.

Their kids.

Christ, he was in serious trouble.

/

It’s Rachel that breaks down his last defence and honestly, there is probably something poetic about that.

They’re supposed to save each other.

Dick often catches himself thinking about Gar and Rachel as his in the corner of his mind and promptly ignores it. It’s becoming a regular occurrence if he is being honest with himself, whenever they do something to make him laugh or fill him with pride and he just stares at one of them for a minute because damn it, his kids are something special and he hates the fact there were people out there they once called family that didn’t realise it.

Dick would never make that mistake.

He’s awoken in the middle of the night by a scream that has him bolting up in bed trying to get his bearings. He could have imagined it or been in the grips of his own dreams but the following sound of a door slamming down the hall tells him everything he needs to know.

Rachel was having another nightmare.

She got them a lot when Dick had first met her but since coming to the tower they weren’t as frequent, something Dick is thankful for. Sometimes she’ll even tell him about them over their morning coffee now, a little wall in her that Dick has managed to knock down. He wonders whether it was her father, her mother or herself she saw tonight. It’s always one of those three.

He’s moving before he is even fully awake, needing to check on her and make sure she’s okay. He slides out of bed quietly, so he doesn’t wake Kory who is now a permanent fixture in his bed and one Dick loves but right now there’s a little girl that needs him.

Her bedroom door is open when he gets there and her bed empty, sheets thrown on the floor like Rachel couldn’t wait to be free of them. He knows where to find her; they’ve done this before. He makes his way to the bathroom, the light a soft glow illuminating his way and knocks gently on the door.

“Rach?” He calls softly, hoping not to wake Gar who is probably still asleep in the next room.

There’s no answer but he hears a muffled sob from behind the door and cautiously opens it. Rachel is exactly where he knew she’d be, inside the bathtub with her knees pressed to her chest, arms around them like she’s trying not to rip herself apart from the inside.

His heart breaks at the familiar scene, remembering a motel room where Rachel was crouched in the tub, a line of crucifixes on the edge of the tub like a safety line. Tonight there are no hastily drawn crosses, just a little girl that is haunted by too much shit.

“Rachel?” He calls softly, not wanting to startle her as he crouches down beside her.

She sniffles and Dick can see she is shaking when she finally raises her eyes to meet his, “Trigon.” She tells him softly and that’s all Dick needs to hear to understand.

He rises with a sad sigh before climbing into the tub with her, settling himself at the opposite end. The cold of the tub bites through his t-shirt and wakes him up and he awkwardly manages to squeeze his legs in on either side of Rachel.

“What are you doing?” She asks and Dick knows under normal circumstances she’d laugh but not tonight.

He shrugs, making a show of getting comfy, “Looked cosy. I didn’t want to miss out.” He keeps it light; Rachel will talk to him when she’s ready. He knows that she always does.

“Your hair is a mess.” Rachel snarks, eyeing the floppy locks of brown sweeping his forehead.

Dick hums, “Well, I was asleep.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for, kiddo.” Dick tells her, “Besides, you can’t mock my hair when you’re wearing pyjama bottoms with cartoon cats on them.”

Rachel’s eyes dart to her own pyjamas and this time he sees it, a ghost of a smile.

“He wanted me back, Dick.” Rachel tells him and Dick doesn’t react to the sudden change in topic. Her thoughts always come out jumbled after a nightmare, like there is too much in her head so she flits from one thing to another to try and calm down.

Dick waits, he knows there’s more.

“He wanted to destroy the world, he wanted me to destroy it. You, Gar, Kory. He wanted me to start with you and prove my loyalty. He said I belong with him, that I was just like him and I…”

Dick can’t hear her sound so scared anymore, his heart squeezes at the tears in her eyes, “You’re not like him, Rach. You’re nothing like him.” He says it with venom, and he hates Trigon can still get to her even if it’s only in her dreams.

“There’s a darkness in me, that’s from him.”

He shakes his head, “No it’s not. There’s darkness in everyone. Me, you, even Bruce.”

“In my case it’s more literal.” Rachel reminds him.

“He can’t hurt you anymore, I won’t let him.” Dick promises her, “You belong here, with us.”

Rachel sniffles again and before Dick can react she is crawling over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and fitting herself against his chest so she can bury her head in his shoulder. Dick wraps her up in his arms, stretching his legs out so Rachel can fit better at the side of him. He just holds her, for minutes or hours Dick isn’t sure but it isn’t the most comfy place to be, the tub is cold against his body and Rachel’s elbow is digging into a rib.

Still, Dick doesn’t move a muscle. He’ll sit in the tub with her for as long as she needs.

“I wish I had a dad like you.” Rachel says softly into his neck and Dick almost misses it.

That’s the first time anyone has acknowledge the idea of them being his kids aloud and Dick can’t help but wonder if it’s still Rachel that’s shaking or if it’s him.

He wishes for that as well. More than she could ever know.

And he’s still scared.

But as both him and Rachel have echoed back to each other: sometimes there is just no time to scared. Especially not this time because there is a little girl in his arms. His little girl and she needs him.

“You have me, Rach.” He tells her, lips pressing against her forehead, “I’m not going anywhere.”

She clutches at him tighter, and Dick starts softly rubbing her back until she stops shaking and Dick is sure she’s calmer than before. She sniffles against him, “You don’t do family.”

Dick sighs, “Apparently I do now.”

Rachel snorts, “I’m glad.”

“Me too, sweetheart.”

They fall back into silence and Dick can feel his back twinge in protest, but he ignores it, “You, Gar, Kory, you’re my family, Rach. I didn’t plan on it; I didn’t think I wanted it, but I do. You’re the most important thing in the world to me, okay?”

Rachel nods against him, “Okay.” He can hear her smile. “Can we stay like this for a bit longer?”

Dick would give her anything at this point, leaning down he presses another kiss to her forehead, “Absolutely.”

“Will you tell me about your parents?”

“What?” The question catches him off guard.

Rachel shrugs, “What were they like?”

He hasn’t talked about them in a long time. Not really, not the personal things. He never even talked about them with Bruce. It didn’t feel right. But now? Sitting in a bathtub with a girl he thinks of as his own daughter, Dick finds he doesn’t know where to start.

“My mother loved sunflowers.” That was random but it sort of just came out, “She used to try and plant them in every city we stopped with the circus. She didn’t have much of a green thumb though.”

Rachel smiles, “What about your dad?”

Dick sighs, “He was a good man, he used to read to me as a kid when I couldn’t fall asleep. Sometimes he’d stay up with me for hours because I’d beg him for one more chapter and another after that.”

“I’m sorry you lost them.”

“They would have loved you, you know?” Dick tells her, “You and Gar, family was the most important thing to them, especially in the circus.”

“What about Kory?”

Dick smiles wide, “Oh my mother would have loved Kory. She loved any woman who could hold their own against a man.”

They stay like that for hours, Dick telling Rachel stories about his parents and the circus before she finally falls back asleep against his chest and then he just holds her, not wanting to let her go.

His kid.

Kory will have to help him out of the tub later, he knows. His back is numb and his legs are asleep but one glance at Rachel and he can’t find it in himself to care.

When he heads to bed the next night he finds a hand drawn picture of a sunflower on his bed. He’d recognise Rachel’s art anywhere and Dick is so overwhelmed by the picture that he sticks it up on his wall next to a photo of the four of them that was taken a few months ago on a movie night and the only photo he has of his parents from their circus days in their Flying Graysons costumes.

His family is pretty great.

/

Dick gets better with the idea of family and embracing it. He grows more physically affectionate, undoing all of Bruce’s teaching being guarded and mysterious. He hugs them more now, ruffles Gar’s hair and kisses Rachel’s forehead when they’ve impressed him in training. He even danced with Kory in the middle of the kitchen because the radio was on and he wanted an excuse to have her in his arms for a moment.

This is his family, and he is goddamn proud of that.

He wonders if Bruce ever felt like that looking at him as a kid. He hopes he did.

Dick arrives home one evening after seeing Bruce to the smell of spices and tomatoes in the air and Gar and Kory’s laughter in the kitchen. He eagerly follows the sound until he spots them. They are working side by side as Kory chops vegetables and Gar stirs a pot on the stove with a wooden spoon. Dick smiles softly at the sight, watching as Kory scoops up her chopped peppers and throws them into the pot, Gar stirs it before bringing the spoon to his mouth to taste.

Kory swats at his shoulder with a playful smile, “It’s for dinner!” She tells him.

Gar hums, “Taste test. It’s a crucial stage in the cooking process.”

Dick breathes a silent laugh at that as he crosses his arms over his chest. They both look so happy and at ease and the feeling of domesticity hits him like a freight train.

God, he wants this forever.

That’s the only thought running round in his mind when Rachel nudges him from behind, “How was Gotham?”

Kory and Gar notice him now, smiles on their faces to welcome him home.

“How was Batman?” Gar asked with all the excitement of a kid on Christmas and Dick can’t help but chuckle.

“Both are fine. What’s all this?” He asks as Rachel sits down at the counter and steals a chopped tomato off Kory’s chopping board.

“Dinner.” Kory exclaims, “Gar wanted to cook.”

Gar shrugs, “It’s a casserole. Nothing fancy.”

Dick walks over to him and places his hands on Gar’s shoulders to peer into the pot, “Smells amazing.” He tells him before also stealing a tomato off the chopping board and backing away before Kory can hit him.

He doesn’t ask what brought all this on because one look at Kory’s worried eyes and he knows. Gar was the one with the nightmares this time. Dick has learnt pretty quickly that whilst Rachel likes to have company when she has a nightmare and do nothing but focus on calming herself down, Gar prefers distraction. He needs to keep busy.

Dick has often found him in the training room at odd hours of the night or making smoothies at all times of the day so he can experiment with different recipes and he knows what is really going on. Gar isn’t as open about his nightmares as Rachel but sometimes he’ll go to Dick or Kory and tell them. Then they’ll do whatever they can to distract him.

With him in Gotham Kory must have suggested cooking as a way to focus on something else. Gar shoves the rest of the chopped tomatoes into the pot, safe from Rachel and Dick’s thieving hands and stirs again before stealing another test. This time Kory lets him.

“It needs something.” Gar muses, eyes scanning the herbs on the counter before finding the one he wants and sprinkling some into the pot. He stirs and tastes and nods his head in approval. “Dick, you have to try this!”

Dick smiles, happy to see the smile on Gar’s face and makes a show of taking the spoon out of the boy’s hands to taste it for himself. It’s delicious. Full of flavour and perfectly seasoned. Gar is a natural.

Dick grins, “Wow, this might be the best casserole I’ve ever tasted. Just don’t tell Alfred I said that, okay?”

Gar takes back the spoon, “Family secret. I swear.”

There’s that word again, the one that actually makes Dick feel like a Grayson that can fly.

“Well, some of us in the family are hungry so can we eat now?” Rachel asks with a smile.

Kory claps her hands, “Family dinner, Rachel and Dick set the table while we plate up?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Dick responds as Rachel grabs the bowls and cutlery. He picks up the bread rolls and salad bowl from the side and follows her to the table to set up.

The smile on his face stays in place all evening, even after their family dinner when Gar suggests a game night and Kory tries to cheat claiming she doesn’t understand the rules. Especially then.

/

It’s not long after that Dick realises exactly what loving these people means, what being a family will cost him.

He won’t survive losing them, he knows, not anymore. The more he loves them, the more he’s scared out of his mind that one day he’ll lose them. A part of him wants to run but he can’t force himself to go. Selfless or selfish he isn’t sure, but he needs them. And he wants this for as long as he can have it.

It’s a few months later when Dick is hit with a second thought, maybe they aren’t the ones who will be gone. An old enemy from his Robin days resurfaces and is out for blood, specifically Dick’s and he knows that it’s his fault for bringing this to their family’s doorstep. He watches the determination on Kory’s face, the conviction in Gar and Rachel when they vow to help him win this fight as a family.

He really doesn’t deserve them.

But he has to keep them safe, whatever happens he needs to know they’ll be okay.

He can’t stop them from fighting with him, he tried to go it alone before and that didn’t exactly rank as his proudest moment. He won’t let them down like that, but he does plan for the worst. For a day when he might not be there to look after them. Because if it isn’t this fight, it might be the next one or the one after that. Dick needs to ensure if that day comes, he isn’t leaving them with nothing.

So, he calls Bruce, and they work out everything Dick can think of to ensure Kory and the kids will be okay without him just in case.

When the paperwork is all sorted, and the fight is getting closer and closer to home Dick knows it’s time to come clean. He waits at the end of the bed whilst Kory is in the shower with a folder full of papers in his hands and a grim look in his eyes.

He doesn’t know how to do this. How to tell Kory that he’s planning for a day when he might not be around. She’ll hate it but he hopes she’ll understand just how much love Dick has put into this plan, into making sure her and the kids will be protected once he’s gone.

She steps out of the bathroom ten minutes later, wearing those soft purple sleep shorts and one of his stolen shirts and Dick grips the folder in his hands until his knuckles are white. He wants to stuff the papers under the mattress and pretend they don’t exist. Just take another night to be with Kory, to wake up tomorrow and make breakfast whilst waiting for Rachel to shuffle into the kitchen looking for coffee. But he needs to do this now because they are running out of time and Dick isn’t sure when the next attack will happen, but he knows it will and he knows it’s going to be targeted at him.

He’d rather die than let anything touch her or their kids.

Kory stops in front of him, clearly noticing the worry in his face and the folder in his hands. She frowns and Dick swallows thickly before meeting her gaze.

“We need to talk.” He tells her and although Kory is clearly confused she moves to take a seat beside him, long legs stretched out in front of her.

He isn’t sure how to start so he passes her the folder with a shaky hand and Kory takes it but doesn’t move to open it, “What’s all this?” she asks him softly.

“Plan B.” Dick replies, “Incase something happens to me, everything is in there that you might need. You’ll be okay, you and the kids.”

Kory shakes her head, “Are you planning on something happening to you, Grayson? Because I thought we agreed to do this together, as a family.”

“We did. We are. I’m just… I need to make sure that whatever happens you guys are going to be okay.” He sighs, “And if I’m not around then I think you should take the kids and get out of this life. Have something normal, Kory. The kids could go to school and you could all start fresh. A safer life.”

“Without you.” Kory adds because she knows he won’t.

Dick can feel her eyes boring into the folder in her hands with disgust and grabs her knee, “It’s plan B, a just in case. My way of protecting you guys if I’m not around. I chose you, Kory. I chose all of you and I just want to make sure you’re going to be looked after because you’re my family.”

Kory nods bitterly, “You better keep choosing us, Dick because we’re not a family without you and I never want to have to open this folder without you right next to me. You got that?”

“I got it.” Dick promises, “I’m not planning to do anything stupid; I just want to protect you. If there is anything else you need, call Bruce. He helped me put all of this together, he’ll help you.”

She doesn’t respond but she does open the folder, eyes scanning the legal documents inside. Dick waits with bated breath and she watches her eyes take in each paper before flicking to the next one. He knows what she’s reading, months of his planning and secretly setting up paperwork for her and the kids.

The first sheet is a deed to a house. Five bedrooms, two bathrooms, in the suburbs just outside the city. Dick drove past it once and could just see their little family there. It had a porch and red brickwork, in a good school district (he checked) and he doesn’t want them to have to stay in the tower if he isn’t coming home. He put both his and Kory’s name on the deed so even if he isn’t around the house is still hers. Theirs.

There are other documents that Bruce helped him forge, birth certificates for Kory and the kids along with passports so they all have some form of ID. Dick put his own in the folder as well, for safe keeping.

The next three pages Kory flicks to takes her longer to scan and Dick knows why she paused at them. Three different bank accounts. One for her and the other two for Rachel and Gar. Bruce helped him make sure there was enough money in there for them to be comfortable. Funds for college or anything else they might need.

He knows it’s not the amount that makes Kory pause though, it’s the names on the account. Kory Grayson. Garfield Grayson. Rachel Grayson. He didn’t need to do that, he knows, he could have used their own last names, but he wants people to know how much they mean to him. Dick wants to give his family everything even his last name and this might be a selfish way to do it but he figures they can always change them if they don’t want it.

Kory doesn’t say anything, but he can see the shake of her hand as she flips the paper. The adoption applications for Rachel and Gar. The paperwork has all been filled out so all they would need to do is file them, but Dick didn’t want to do that before at least asking Rachel and Gar if they would even want that first. Him and Kory have talked about it, becoming their legal guardians, it would be easier and ensure they could stay together as both Rachel and Gar are still minors in the eyes of the law and he wants to make sure that Kory has everything they might need to keep their family safe.

She flips to the last page and Dick’s heart squeezes because he suddenly remembers what it is and he definitely should have talked about it with her first. A marriage license. For him and Kory. He didn’t need to include it; they can be a family without getting married but Dick wants to marry Kory. He wants her to properly have his last name and all he could think about was if he isn’t around to ask her one day then he wants her to know that he intended to do it. That he wanted her forever.

Kory meets his eyes then; Dick can see the tears in them as she carefully places the papers back in the folder and closes it. He waits for her to speak, or yell, or maybe burn him to a crisp.

“You know if you asked the kids about adopting them, they would both say yes.” Kory tells him and that’s definitely not what he thought she’d say.

Dick nods, “I don’t want to ask them like this. I don’t want them to think it’s because of everything that’s happening right now. If we all get through this then I’ll ask them, I swear.”

She hands him back the folder, “I want you to put this in a drawer because the only time I want to see this again is when we both decide to give a normal life a go. Together.”

Kory is firm and Dick can only nod as he rises to put the folder safely in his nightstand drawer so she’ll know where to find it if the worst happens.

“And Grayson?” She calls out to him softly, eyes sparkling, “If you want me to marry you, I expect there to be an actual question involved.”

Dick smiles then, “I can do that, Princess.” He teases her with the nickname and gets a pillow thrown at him in response but she’s smiling too, and Dick thinks her smile is brighter than the damn sun.

“I love you, Kory.” He tells her because he knows he doesn’t tell her enough.

As it turns out, they survive the fight ahead of them although Dick does have to spend a good few days in the medbay and Kory doesn’t mention the folder again until one morning when she walks into the kitchen and place some papers down by him on the kitchen counter.

He scans them, eyes lighting up when he sees they are the adoption papers for Gar and Rachel.

He beams at her and drains his coffee, grabbing the papers off the counter as he stands.

He needs to find his kids. He has a very important question to ask them.

/

They fall into a routine after the adoption gets finalised, both Rachel and Gar seem a lot more relaxed at the idea of making their little family permanent and Dick is nothing short of ecstatic at the idea that these kids are officially his. Even Kory seems happier at the idea of their little family becoming tighter. He hasn’t asked her to marry him yet but he has a ring and he has time. He wants it to right.

Both the kids have less nightmares now so Dick is more that a little worried when Gar shakes him awake one morning at 3am with wide eyes and messy hair.

“It’s Rachel.” Is all it takes for Dick to practically jump out of bed and sprint past Gar to Rachel’s room.

He barely registers the fact that both Gar and Kory are following him to Rachel’s room because his heart is pounding and he needs to reach her. When he finally does get to her bedroom he sees her sitting on the floor with her back against the bed, curled in on herself and sobbing.

Dick moves closer, slowly so he doesn’t scare her and that’s when he sees the blood on her fingers. She’s hurt. His heart gets even faster as he drops to his knees beside her.

“Rachel, what happened?” He asks softly but she doesn’t seem to hear the question.

It’s Gar that speaks from his spot with Kory in the doorway so they don’t crowd her, “I heard a cry when I walked past her room to get some water so I checked in on her and there was like this black cloud around her, I think she’s hurt.” His voice is shaky and Kory automatically draws him to her side with an arm around his shoulders.

Dick nods, focusing back on Rachel. He reaches out gently, brushing his fingers over her shoulder and her head snaps up to meet his. There are tear marks on her cheeks and Dick feels the bile rise up in his throat.

“I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know.” She sobs at him and all but collapses towards him hoping Dick will catch her.

He does, gathering her in his arms until he feels her wince and then he’s immediately pulling away to look at her again, “You’re hurt?”

“My side.” She tells him, “It’s bleeding.”

Dick nods like he’s in control even though he’s spinning completely out of control because his little girl is hurt and bleeding and he couldn’t stop it. He sees Rachel’s eyes go to the doorway, Gar and Kory’s worried gazes, before locking back to his. She’s overwhelmed, he knows, and this he can fix.

“Kory, why don’t you and Gar make some hot chocolate? I don’t think anyone is sleeping again tonight.” Dick says softly and thankfully Kory understands because she nods, steering Gar away from the door to give them some privacy.

“Thank you.” Rachel says softly, “I couldn’t…”

Dick shushes her gently, “You’re okay. Let’s get you up, sweetheart.” He gently grips her arms and guides her up so she can sit on the edge of her bed whilst he kneels at her side, he can already see the dark spots on the side of her t-shirt that tell him she’s bleeding a fair bit. “Can you lift up your shirt so I can see?”

Rachel seems to hesitate for a moment before breathing through her nose sharply, lifting up the hem of her shirt enough so Dick can get a look at the wound on her side, just above her hip. They look like scratch marks, three of them curving slightly on her side. They aren’t too deep, the blood already clotting but he can tell by the hitch in her breath that they are painful.

Dick nods, “Okay, I’m going to get the first aid kit and we’ll patch this up.”

“I’m sorry.” Rachel says as Dick rises to get the supplies.

He stops and places a kiss on her forehead, “It’s not your fault.”

He’s back in record time with the first aid kit and Rachel is still holding her shirt up when he kneels back down and sets to work cleaning the wounds with slow and gently movements, cataloguing every wince Rachel makes in the process.

“You’re angry.” Rachel’s voice breaks through the silence as he dabs at the biggest scratch mark and Dick hadn’t noticed how tense his shoulders are until she speaks.

He sighs and unclenches, “I’m worried about you. I don’t know how to fight your nightmares and now they’re attack you in your sleep.”

“It’s my problem.”

“And you are my problem.” Dick sighs, finishing with the wipe in his hand, “You’re my little girl and when your hurt I want to fight the whole world to keep you safe.”

Rachel stills him with a hand over his and forces Dick’s eyes to meet hers, “You do keep me safe. You keep all of us safe.”

“Not from things I can’t see.” Dick responses as he grabs some gauze and a bandage to dress her side.

“I love you, D…Dick.”

His heart thumps wildly in his chest, “I love you too, Rach.”

He finishes up with the bandage and the sudden Rachel is back in his arms, flinging her own around his neck and crushing him to her and Dick holds on like he hopes it will be enough to chase away the nightmares.

“You can say it you know.” He tells her softly, one hand on the nape of her neck, “I won’t pass out.”

That gets a small chuckle out of her that she hides into his shoulder, “You promise?”

He smiles, “Only one way to find out.”

She squeezes him a little harder, “I love you, dad.”

What did he ever do to deserve this kid?

“I love you more, kiddo.” He replies as he pulls away and helps her stand, “We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

“I know we will.” Rachel replies, “But I’m not a kid.”

He chuckles, “Okay, more marshmallows for me then.”

Rachel shoves him playful which only makes Dick smile wider despite the fear still lodged in his gut, he wraps an arm around her shoulder and guides her to the direction of the kitchen where hot chocolate and the rest of their family are waiting.

/

There are days when Dick still can’t believe he has them, this family. Days when he can’t believe he once thought he wasn’t any good at family because honestly, now Dick thinks his family are the best part of his life.

It’s unexpected, the overwhelming sense of love he has for them. He hasn’t felt like that since before his parents died and pretty much resigned himself to never feeling like that again. But that was before Kory, Rachel and Gar invaded his life and made themselves at home. Gave him a home.

There are still little moments when that overwhelming sense of love still hits him like a shockwave to remind him of just how lucky he is to have them. Those quiet moments when they get to enjoy being a family.

Gar finds him one afternoon, clutching a book in his hand with a shy smile and Dick raises an eyebrow in question.

“I found this in the library.” The boy says by way of explanation and hands over the book to Dick.

It’s small and leatherbound. He recognises it instantly. It’s one of his. One of the few things he took from his days at the circus and kept throughout his life. He flips open the cover to the title page and sees the familiar handwriting in the top right-hand corner.

Property of John Grayson. The name has been crossed out and replaced with his own in a child’s handwriting. Property of Richard Grayson. That’s been crossed out too, the final addition being added by him a few years later after he decided he didn’t much like being called Richard. Property of Dick Grayson stares back at him from the page.

“It used to be my dad’s.” Dick tells Gar as the boy takes a seat beside him, “It was my favourite growing up. We used to read it all the time. Eventually he just gave it to me to look after.”

Gar smiles, “Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea?”

“I was obsessed.” Dick laughs, “The year 1866 was signalized by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.” He quotes it off by heart and is mildly surprised he still remembers the opening word for word. He flips to the first page just to check.

“Well, don’t stop there.” Gar tells him leaning back against the couch next to Dick, “I want to know what the remarkable incident is!”

He smiles but doesn’t comment as he settles back and picks up where he left off, reading the page out loud for Gar the way his father used to do for him.

They are a couple of chapters in when Rachel joins them. Dick lifts his eyes from the page, Gar’s head now resting on his shoulder as the boy stretches out along the cushions and Rachel takes one look at them, taking in the rainy weather outside and instantly moves to Dick’s other side. She wedges herself under his arm, placing her head on his chest and makes a show of getting herself comfortable. Dick waits until she’s settled and then picks up where he left off, his voice accompanying the sound of rain hitting the windows as he reads.

Kory comes home a few hours later, wet from the raining and takes in the sight of both kids asleep on Dick’s chest as he continues to read from the book in his hands and Dick sees the smile curve onto her face.

“Aren’t they a little old for naptime?” She asks with a warmth that makes Dick’s smile grow.

“Never too old for a story, Kory. Especially a childhood classic.”

“You are such a dad, Grayson.” She tells him with affection as she goes to change into some dry clothes, leaving them on the couch.

Dick watches her go and then spares a glance down at the kids asleep against him and that overwhelming sense of love hits him again.

It hits him for a second time when Kory comes back to join him, sitting on the other side of Rachel with a motion for Dick to keep reading. He smirks at her but continues on with the story until the rumble of Gar’s stomach wakes the boy up and they all decide to stop for dinner.

Dick looks over at Kory again.

Tonight, he decides, he’s going to ask this woman to marry him.

/

Dick feels like his world stops the day Rachel gets kidnapped by some cult following of Trigon’s who believe she’s the key to resurrecting him. Finding out she was missing and watching the CCTV footage of those guys injecting her with something so she can’t fight back makes the bile rise in his throat and one look at Kory tells Dick that they will both be spilling blood for their little girl tonight.

Gar insists on coming with them to save Rachel once they track her down to an old, abandoned church and Dick can hardly say no although he wants to. He wants to keep Gar safe and protected but he knows it’s too late for that and Gar loves Rachel too.

Dick has his Nightwing suit on and he already promised himself he was leaving here with his little girl; he doesn’t give a damn who gets in his way. They have a plan; Dick is going for Rachel while Kory takes care of the stragglers. She has more firepower than him and he doesn’t want to waste a second in getting to Rachel. Gar will back up Kory if anyone tries to run.

He enters the church while Kory is busy with Trigon’s followers and Dick swiftly kills the ones left that charge at him. He can see Rachel tied down at the altar, trying to fight without her powers. She bites someone that comes close to her and Dick feels a surge of pride because even without her powers she is far from powerless. She reminds him so much of Kory in that moment.

Another disciple comes at him and Dick cracks their head against the wall, blood spraying onto his cheek.

“Dick!” Rachel calls out in panic and he can see another disciple of Trigon’s with a ceremonial knife in hand.

“Get the fuck away from my daughter!” He calls out with venom, already running at him.

“She will bring him back. It’s her destiny.” The disciple tells Dick like that justifies strapping a fourteen-year-old girl to a stone slab and using a knife on her.

Dick sees red and hears a growl from somewhere behind him which means Gar and Kory have made their way inside, “I will tear every single one of you apart for touching her.” He vows, the tug of violence from long ago when he wore a different costume stirring in his soul. No one touches her.

“She needs to be reunited with her father. They will cleanse the world together.”

Dick growls, “He is not her father.”

He charges and both him and the discipline go down, knife clattering uselessly to the floor. He hears Rachel yell and sees a bright burst of light that can only come from Kory. Their family, fighting together, for each other. Dick gains the upper hand quickly, fist smashing into the man’s face over and over again until his knuckles are slick with blood and he can see nothing but red.

“Dick!” It’s Rachel’s voice that brings him back to himself and forces him to stop.

He shoves himself to his feet and stumbles over to her, helping her off the slab as he releases her ropes and Rachel falls into him, her arms locked tightly around his waist as she buries her face into his chest. Dick hesitates because there is blood on his hands and he doesn’t want to taint her with it but then Rachel lets out a shiver and Dick’s arms are around her, cocooning her against him as he takes in the damage around them.

The church is ruined, smashed pews, loose stones. Kory doesn’t look much better than him, blood flecking her neck and Gar morphs back into his human self with a small cut above his eyebrow but otherwise seemingly unhurt.

Rachel is still shaking against him, “My powers didn’t work. They gave me something.” She mumbles into his shirt.

“I’ve got you.” Dick promises, “You’re okay. I have you.”

Kory and Gar make their way to them by then and instantly join the hug. Gar throws himself at Rachel’s back, arms curving around her body to Dick’s side. Kory squeezes into Rachel’s other side, one arm around both Gar and Dick as they all hold each other with Rachel pressed tightly in the middle.

“You’re safe baby girl.” Kory whispers softly against Rachel’s head, “They can’t hurt you anymore.”

Dick feels Rachel stop shaking but she doesn’t loosen her death grip on his suit, so he doesn’t loosen his either. Kory and Gar seem just as content to stay like that for a little while longer.

So, they do. They take comfort in their family being whole and back together. In winning this fight and being able to hold each other. Dick knows Rachel will have more nightmares after this and he hates it. Hates that there is nothing he can do to stop them because Trigon’s damage has already been done.

“Can we just go home?” Rachel asks them after a while.

Dick leans down to kiss her head and gets Gar’s hair in his eye, “Yeah sweetheart, let’s go home.”

No one moves to let go though and Dick doesn’t realise until this moment how scared he is that one day this life they lead won’t end in a family hug. It will end in tears and pain and loss and he isn’t sure he would survive that; he isn’t sure they would either.

He catches Kory’s gaze and she seems to be thinking the same thing as she reaches up to smooth down Gar’s hair. Dick catches sight of her engagement ring on her hand.

“I think it might be time for Plan B, Grayson.” She tells him softly.

Dick thinks back to that folder still in his nightstand, that normal life he set up for them just incase and nods his head, “I think so, too.” He tells her, giving the kids one last squeeze before everyone untangles themselves from the hug.

“What’s Plan B?” Gar asks as Rachel wipes her eyes.

/

Dick is surprised that it doesn’t take much convincing for the kids to get on board with the plan of moving out of the tower, getting out of the city and trying something closer resembling a normal life. He brings out the folder from the nightstand (missing the adoption pages that had been taken out when Kory gave them to him and Dick officially asked the kids if they could adopt them) and places it down on the counter for them to inspect.

Gar is excited about the idea of school and it suddenly hits Dick that he hasn’t really been before. The Chief wouldn’t have bothered with much in the way of home education, leaving Gar to teach himself so he’s bouncing at the idea of really getting to go to school for the first time.

Rachel is more apprehensive; she’s done school before and didn’t enjoy it. Kids can be mean, and she doesn’t want to go back to a religious school. Dick promises her it’s a state school, he doesn’t want them to go private like Bruce did for him, he wants them to have every experience including public school. Kory reassures her they can scope the place out before signing her up, they’ll find a school Rachel likes even if Kory personally has to drive her there every morning.

Rachel agrees when she sees a picture of the house, her eyes lighting up at a proper home. She had one with Melissa but it was full of religious statues and crucifixes and a mom who was scared of her. Dick knows she wants that normal feeling of a family home that’s light and warm. Full of laughter and love and he wants to give it to her. That’s what he’s offering when he slides the folder towards her and tells them what Plan B is.

So, they shut down the tower and pack up their stuff to move into the suburbs.

Dick wants to laugh at that because he can’t believe he’d ever willingly want to move out of the city. But then again, he never thought he’d willingly trade his Porsche in for a minivan. Things change.

They pull up at the house and everyone climbs out, staring up at their new home with wonder. It’s a fresh start and while they aren’t burning their suits this time Dick feels like this is the right thing to do. He’ll keep all their cases safely tucked away in the closet just in case they ever need them but seeing the way Rachel and Gar grin at each other as they take in their new family home makes it all seem worth it to him.

“Well, I guess you should go pick out a room.” Dick tells them and he’s barely finished the sentence before both kids are running off towards the front door shouting about who gets the biggest room.

“We get the biggest room!” Kory shouts at their backs with a sigh before she looks over at him, “You sure you’re ready for this, Grayson?”

Dick smiles, wide and genuine, “Are you?”

She curls an arm around his waist and Dick tucks one of his around her shoulders, “Domesticity here we come.” Kory says softly.

They still need to get married; Dick suggested the lake house that Bruce owns because the view is incredible and neither of them believe in religion. Kory insists on wearing purple rather than white and Dick doesn’t care if she wears her pyjamas as long as he gets to call her his wife. They have time to plan the rest though and the thought makes him giddy.

“Just moving in?” A voice calls out from behind them, and they break apart to see an older couple standing on the sidewalk, a dog with them. The woman who spoke gives them a smile.

“That’s the plan.” Dick replies as the thunder of footsteps hit the porch and race towards them.

“Mom!” Rachel calls out.

At the same time Gar shouts, “Dad!”

All the adults chuckle and Dick’s heart is set ablaze. They don’t always call them that, sometimes they both do though, when they are happy or tired and every time makes Dick’s breath catch in his chest.

Rachel and Gar reach them, bouncing excitedly as they take in the strangers.

“Sorry, we’re Sarah and Matt Benson, we live down the road at number 12.” The woman, Sarah, introduces, “And this is Apollo.” She motions to the dog with a wave of her hand.

Gar reaches down to stroke him behind the ear with a smile, “We should get a dog.” He muses and Rachel looks at him with wide eyes like it’s the best idea she’s ever heard.

Kory saves him from that one, “How about a goldfish. They look fun.”

“And boring.” Rachel comments.

Kory raises an eyebrow before turning back to Sarah, “Nice to meet you. We’re the Graysons.”

Dick beams at hers and nods like she hung the moon, “I’m Dick, this is Kory, Rachel and Gar.”

“We’ll leave you guys to it.” Matt smiles, “Sorry for starting the dog debate.”

They head down the sidewalk and Gar turns to him, “We could get a dog though. Complete the family vibe.”

“We already have a tiger.” Dick points out, “No dog.”

Both the kids pout and Kory cuts in before it can turn into an argument, “Okay, let’s see who’s picked what room.”

The kids both nod and take off again, leaving him and Kory to trail after them into the house.

“The Graysons?” Dick asks with a smirk.

Kory gives him a matching one, “The Graysons.” She confirms.

A family.

/

Chapter Text

Some days are harder than others, Dick soon realises, and while everyone wants this chance at a normal life it doesn’t always mean their pasts will leave them alone and let them have it. Because they aren’t – as Gar puts it – 100% normal. They all have demons, more literal than those their neighbours face, and sometimes those demons can’t be pushed back down.

The suburbs are fine, small town life just far enough away from the city that it’s quiet and they aren’t drawn to the trouble that comes with city life but close enough to it that they aren’t completely isolated either. Gar and Kory adjust the quickest to their new family life, never having seen it fail before their eyes and both optimistic for the safety and togetherness this life brings. It takes Dick and Rachel longer to acclimatise, they’ve both done family before (although never like this) and they are both scared of failing before they’ve even started.

Dick vows to himself he won’t let that happen. He will protect this thing they have with his last breath.

So, he throws himself into it, knowing Rachel will follow his lead. Jobs, school, groceries, family movie nights. They fall into a rhythm that Dick loves more than he can say although judging by the smile he sees on Kory’s face when he catches her watching him sometimes, she probably already knows.

He thought the temptation of putting on the suit again would be too great, that it would be him that had the biggest problem with leaving the past behind, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t yearn for the violence and the fear of losing them, he doesn’t see the crimes happening in the city and feel a responsibility to stop them as a hero rather than a cop. Sometimes he forgets the cases are even in the closet until he is hunting for a jacket and catches them with the corner of his eye.

He knows why it was easier than it should be to let that part of his life go. Them. His family. Gar’s laugh and Rachel’s coffee habit (Dick is still trying to find a way to switch out to decaf without her noticing or him and Kory also having to drink it) and Kory’s smile. Those are the things that drive him now, those are the things he wants to cling on to with everything he has. Giving up the suit was hard but gaining them makes it all worth it.

But that doesn’t instantly make them a normal family and that’s okay. Dick loves his family just the way it is and he knows when the hard days come he’ll do everything he can to help his family through it.

Rachel normally gets it the worst, she’s still young and her powers are changing constantly. Dick worries for her, he knows Kory does as well because they spend many nights talking together in bed about how to help their daughter control this power rather than fear it.

He isn’t sure what wakes him up that night, whether it was a noise or Kory stealing the covers once again like she isn’t a furnace of heat all on her own but when he opens his eyes he is met with whirling black clouds inches above his face. Even in the darkness of their bedroom he can see the tell-tale sign of Rachel’s power moving through the air. He sits bolt up in bed, searching for his kid in the dim glow of the room except she isn’t there. Dick has woken up to her standing over him before, scared as the power seems to pour out of her but this time he finds nothing, his eyes tracking over the black clouds looking for a trail to follow, the door is still shut though and no light glows beyond it.

Dick shakes Kory awake gently, trying to not to startle her as he makes out the cracked window of their bedroom and the blackness trailing out of it. By the time Kory is sitting up with raised eyebrows, Dick is out of the bed, throwing on a t-shirt as he scans out the window for the centre of the clouds.

He finds Rachel out in the garden below, at the eye of the storm, arms outstretched as the red gem on her forehead glows bright in the night. The blackness is surrounding her like it might swallow her whole and Dick knows she can’t bring it back in.

“Rachel?” Kory asks gently, climbing out of bed as she moves a hand through the black mist.

Dick sighs, already heading for the door, “Get Gar and meet me out there?”

Kory is already heading for Gar’s bedroom as Dick runs through the house to get to the backdoor.

He grabs his jacket off the back of the kitchen chair before heading through the open backdoor and rushing through the blackness to reach his kid. He can barely see Rachel through the mess of clouds surrounding her but he can hear her sniffles and feel her panic through the mist and follows that.

“Rach?” He calls out, the wind whipping at his hair as he pushes forward, bare feet already numb against the cold grass.

Rachel lets out a sob, “Dick, I can’t pull it back in. It keeps expanding!”

He follows her voice until he finds her, ghostly pale against the mass of blackness seeping out of her and his heart lurches, “I’m right here, Rach, you can do this.”

He sees the tears on her cheeks and knows she has been trying to make it stop for a while before it woke him.

“I can’t.” She tells him with a shake of her head, “I couldn’t stop it and I couldn’t find anything and I thought being out in the open would help but it keeps getting worse.”

Dick nods, “Just breath, okay? It feeds off your worry and fear, Rach so first thing we’re going to do is take some deep breaths.”

She nods shakily and Dick can see she’s trying to follow his instructions. He takes a few steps closer to her, inching his way towards her gently. Dick makes his breathing as loud and slow as possible, hoping Rachel will focus on it and match her breathing to his.

Her eyes stop glowing and the blackness thins out slightly around them as she breathes deeply, and Dick feels a surge of pride at that. He smiles encouragingly at her and takes another deep breath. Rachel copies his actions.

“It’s not going away.” She says her voice calmer than before.

“Neither am I.” Dick promises, “We can do this, Rachel.”

Dick slides the jacket in his hand around her shoulders, fussing with it so it covers her without her having to put her arms through. His jacket swamps her and not for the first thing Dick is struck with how small she really is. Just a kid, with a wealth of power she can barely control and never asked for.

“Rachel!” It’s Kory’s voice that cuts his thought off and Dick turns to see her and Gar make their way through the blackness to join them.

“You guys shouldn’t be here; it might hurt you.” Rachel tells them when Kory takes her hand.

Gar moves round to take her other hand, hair wild from sleep, “We got you, Rachel.” He tells her softly and Dick is so overcome with the sense of family and love that he feels, his eyes pricking.

He nods, hands moving to cup Rachel’s cheeks, crouching down slightly so he can meet her eyes, “We’re all here, sweetheart. Now you have to pull it back in.”

“I can’t. I tried.” Rachel replies, voice small and Dick feels her shudder although he isn’t sure if it’s from the cold or her power.

He leans up to place a small kiss on her forehead, “Yes, you can.” He promises, meeting her gaze again, “You’re a Grayson, there is nothing you can’t do.”

It’s a running thing in their family now, something that Kory started whenever the kids did something impressive or in her opinion ‘badass’. She’d beam at them and say something cheesy like “You’re such a Grayson” or “Careful, your Grayson is showing”. It was meant to tease him but secretly Dick loves it because they are Graysons and soon Kory will be as well and he’s planning on using that phrase a lot as payback when they get married.

Rachel smiles at him and Kory and Gar get closer to either side of her, like they are trying to lend her their strength. Dick watches as Rachel closes her eyes, hands never leaving her cheeks as she focuses. Eventually the blackness recedes, curling around her and absorbing back into her body. Dick really hopes none of their neighbours are awake and staring out their windows right now because he isn’t sure how they can explain this one.

When the blackness is finally gone, Rachel opens her eyes and Dick can see how exhausted she is. How much this power drained from her and he already knows he’s going to be keeping her off school today so she can rest.

“That’s my girl.” He says softly, bumping her on the nose with a knuckle as he moves to stand up right. Rachel wrinkles her nose at the action, and he knows she’s about to rat him out for treating her like a kid but he doesn’t care.

Kory saves him from that one.

“You’re freezing.” She tells Rachel, fixing Dick’s jacket firmly around her shoulders before her hands start to glow softly, helping keep Rachel warmer.

Gar shivers and crosses him arms, “Don’t worry about us. We’re totally fine out here in the freezing cold.” He jokes and Dick loops an arm around the boy’s neck in solidarity.

“You get used to it, especially when you share a bed with a cover stealing heat machine who definitely doesn’t need all the covers.” Dick responses, throwing Kory a wink.

She huffs, “It’s a comfort thing, covers are comforting.”

Rachel fits herself into the curve of Kory’s shoulder, “You are really warm.” She comments as she pulls Dick’s jacket tighter around her frame and Kory wraps an arm around her for good measure.

They start walking and as soon as Rachel is close enough, she reaches out to tug Dick to her other side. He goes willingly, dragging Gar along with him by the arm still around his neck. They walk back towards the house like that, all bare foot in pyjamas, a line of defence against the cold.

“Thanks for helping me.” Rachel mutters between him and Kory and Dick squeezes her shoulder.

“Anytime.” He tells her, “Although next time I’d prefer it if you wake me up rather than your black cloud.”

Rachel grins sheepishly, “I didn’t mean to. I was scared and I knew you’d fix it. Fix me. I must have called it to you.”

“Let’s go you inside before we freeze and Kory has to thaw us out.” Dick replies with a smile.

“I’ll make hot chocolate!” Gar replies.

“It’s 2am.” Kory’s voice is all amusement.

Gar nods, “And we’re not asleep so hot chocolate is a must.”

Dick raises an eyebrow at Kory, “You think we should be responsible and tell them to get some more sleep?”

Kory laughs, “You think they’d listen?” She retorts, “Besides, I won’t say no to marshmallows.”

Gar fist-bumps the air and Dick knows they will all be welcoming in the sunrise together with hot chocolates and the heating on full blast.

/

There are still days when Dick is caught off guard with just how lucky he is. How lucky he got to find them when he most needed them. Normally it’s on the long days at the police station working a case when the urge to come home to his family is too strong to ignore that those feelings hit him. While Kory is busy trying out different things to see what she likes and where she fits but mostly enjoying to freedom of having options, Dick returned back to his work as a detective, managing to get a transfer to the police department down here. He still prefers working alone rather than with a partner but now there is a picture on his desk of him, Kory and the kids after they went ice skating one day shortly after moving into the new house. Kory was graceful on the ice; Dick was a quick learner thanks to his circus abilities and acrobatics. Rachel clung to his arm and refused to let go as he moves them around the rink and Gar managed to find the joy in the activity even when he was falling over more than standing up. The picture on his desk is of their wide smiles and flushed cheeks after they finished, everyone packed in close together so Gar could snap the picture on his phone. Dick loves it and when Gar gave him a copy for Father’s Day, he knew immediately that it was going to sit on his desk with pride so he could smile at anyone who asked about it and say proudly: “that’s my family”.

That this point Dick is fully accepting that he’s gone from being a lone wolf to a family man and he loves it. He loves them.

Especially on days like this one when they still manage to catch him by surprise.

He is exhausted when he turns the key in the front door lock to let himself into the house, having spent most of the day in an overheated office filling out paperwork for his latest case. He’s late getting home and wants nothing more than to fall into the couch cushions and not have to move for an hour.

Dick makes his way into the house and is immediately confronted with laughter, high and melodic, and music drifting from the living room where they set up his record player and vinyl collection after moving in. He follows the sound and stops in his track in the doorway, taking in the sight before him.

The laughter is coming from Kory and Rachel as they dance around the coffee table to the beat of the music. Dick instantly recognises it as Kory’s favourite as the chorus of ‘We are Family’ kicks in but it’s Gar that steals the show. He’s standing on the coffee table in his sock clad feet, throwing out 80s moves that make even Dick cringe for him but the smile on his face is more than worth it. None of them have much rhythm for dancing, Dick notes, watching as they jump around the space twirling and laughing at each other and it makes Dick beam in their direction.

His family.

It still takes his breath away to see them like this. He can feel the exhaustion and tension from the day melting away just watching them all this happy and carefree. He wants to pull out his phone and record this moment but Kory spots him before he can and twirls her way over to him and into his arms.

Dick laughs at her, steadying her with his hands on her waist as Kory tries to catch her breath with a wide smile.

“You’re late.” She comments, no hint of anger in her voice.

“I’m sorry to have missed the dance party.” Dick replies, dropping his head to give her a quick kiss.

Kory pulls back, looking over her shoulder at their kids, “Rough day at school, they needed to let loose.”

Dick’s eyes track over to Rachel and Gar, still dancing to the music, “It seems to be working.” He muses as another loud burst of laughter comes from the kids.

“You look like you’ve had a rough day too.” Kory replies softly.

He shrugs, “Just long. But I’m home now.”

“Which means you have to dance!” Kory laughs, tugging him further into the room.

Dick tries to protest weakly, “Kory, no, I don’t…”

“Don’t lie to me, Grayson. I know you have moves.”

Rachel and Gar are doing The Robot, but they still smile at him as another chorus of the song starts up and Dick knows he wants nothing more than to join in with their laughter. Nothing will cure his rough day faster than this.

He sighs dramatically and sees the sparkle in Kory’s eyes at her victory, but he grabs her hand and twirls her under his arm. He can dance, a little awkwardly sure, but he has the light step and grace of an acrobat so he can manage a half-decent dance when he puts his mind to it. Kory laughs merrily as he pulls her back to him and dips her low enough that the ends of her hair sweep the floor.

Gar and Rachel stop dancing and are now staring at him with wide eyes.

Dick shrugs.

“What? You think because I was raised by Batman I can’t dance?” Dick asks with a smile, bringing Kory back up and spinning her again.

Rachel shakes her head, “Teach me!”

He chuckles, securing an arm around Kory, “On the next song.”

“Actually, we’ve been playing this one on a loop for the past hour.” Gar admits, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.

Dick shakes his head, not the least bit surprised, “My vinyl better be in perfect condition.” He warns with a smile, “Remind me to educate you guys on music made after this song was released.”

Kory pokes him, “This is a classic.”

“There can be more than one classic, Kory.”

Gar jumps off the coffee table for the final verse of the song, grabbing both of Rachel’s hands as he pulls her around trying to follow Dick’s lead. She bursts out laughing but goes along with it anyway, making her movements big and dramatic which makes everyone snort.

“I like this.” Kory mutters softly near his ear.

“Me too.” Dick replies, eyes drifting to their kids.

They both know they aren’t talking about the song anymore.

/

Dick’s barely through the kitchen before Kory has him cornered, tugging at his tie and leading him up the stairs to their bedroom.

He mumbles around her mouth as he tries not to bump into anything, “The kids?”

“At the cinema.” Kory replies with a coy smile, leading him through their bedroom door.

Dick nods, “I didn’t think you’d be home this early.”

Kory pulls back, “Grayson?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

“Okay, Princess.”

She flinches slightly at the nickname and Dick wants to pause because that’s new. Something is troubling her; he can tell by the look in her eye underneath the haze of desire and want. He wants to stop, to find out what’s wrong with her but Kory seems to have other plans as she pushes him down to their bed and Dick practically melts under her.

After, he thinks, he’ll talk to her after.

It isn’t until they’re lying together in bed, cuddled up close with Kory’s head on his chest as her fingers doodle on his skin that Dick voices his concern to her. She’s gone quiet, something that isn’t normally like her and it scares him more than he realises.

“Want to talk about it?” He asks gently running a hand down her back.

“The sex?” She muses, “Which part would you like to talk about?”

It takes him a moment to realise she’s quoting the same words back to him that she said when they first slept together in a dingy motel in the middle of nowhere. Back before all of this. When everyone was still so afraid and uncertain.

The distraction doesn’t work because he knows there is more to this. He can feel it in the tense line of her body against his.

“Kory?”

He waits but he thinks nothing would have prepared him for her next words.

“I need to go back to Tamaran.”

Dick’s blood freezes in his veins, his heart starts beating wildly as anxiety pools in his gut. She’s leaving them? Leaving him?

How did he mess this up without even knowing?

“What?” He breathes out in a whisper, trying not to hold her tighter and refuse to let her go.

Kory sighs sadly, “They sent a delegation to track me down. They found me at work this afternoon. Tamaran political trouble, they want me to go back and help smooth things over. They think people will listen to me because…”

“Because you’re their princess.” Dick finishes and it all starts snapping into place. Her flinch at the nickname, sex as a distraction tactic to hold off on telling him for a little while longer.

Kory laughs bitterly and sits up, Dick follows her movements, settling his back against the headboard.

“I told them I couldn’t go.” She tells him, “I don’t want to go. You, Gar, Rachel. That’s what I want, Dick, but I…”

He gets it, “But you need to go.” Because whether he likes it or not that’s her responsibility, her past, her planet and he wants her to have those things. He doesn’t want her to have to choose.

“It’s still my responsibility and if I can help then I should, right?” Kory asks, fiddling with the ring on her finger. The one he put there.

He sighs because he understands what she’s asking and knows what he needs to say next even if a part of him wants to be selfish and tell her not to go. To stay here with him. He can’t do that to her though, he loves her too much.

“You should go.” He tells her instead, his heart squeezing painfully.

Kory looks at him then, eyes big and sad, “I’m coming back.” She seems to read the worry in his face, “A week. Two at most and then I’m coming home. I don’t care if things have been sorted by then. I may be a Princess of Tamaran but I can’t stay there. It isn’t home anymore; it hasn’t been in a long time.”

Dick swallows the lump in his chest and reaches for her hand with a small smile, “Well, you did agree to marry me.” He reminds her with a smirk, “Unless this is the world’s most subtle break-up?”

She sniffs and curls back into him, “In your dreams, Grayson.”

“In my dreams we’re already married.” Dick responds and he wants to cringe because it’s painfully obvious how gone he is for the woman in his arms.

“About that…” Kory starts.

He shakes his head, “Don’t worry. Two weeks tops, we can start properly planning the wedding afterwards. Although if you want a wedding cake Gar is going to want to taste test it first.”

“I want to get married before I go.”

Dick stops in his tracks because there is no hint of teasing in her voice, the conviction in his eyes confirms that thought. Suddenly, his mouth feels too dry.

“Kory, you don’t need to do this. You’re coming back, that’s all I need to know.” Dick promises, wondering if the suggestion is for his benefit. They both have a track record of leaving for longer than they originally planned and he doesn’t want her to feel like she needs to rush this. Things are different now, they are different now. They are a family.

She sits up again, “I want to. I want to marry you and we have all the paperwork. The marriage license is still in that top drawer.” She gestures to his bedside table, “I don’t want to wait. Unless you do?”

“I’d want to marry you right here in this bedroom if that’s what you wanted. I love you, Kory. I just want this to be special for you, I want it to be everything you want.” He tells her softly, sitting up so he can close the gap between them.

She shakes her head, “We both agreed we wanted it to be small. We both agreed we wanted to do it at Bruce’s lake house rather than a church. I know you have the rings already, Grayson.”

He pretends to be shocked, “That was meant to be a surprise!”

“Then don’t leave your jacket on the kitchen table for things to fall out of the pockets.” She retorts, “I love you, Dick. I want this. I want to leave knowing this is what I’m coming back to.”

He kisses her, boldly and deeply, “Okay.” He smiles when they part, “Let’s get married.”

He has Alfred to thank for being able to plan a wedding in a week but he is glad both him and Kory only want something simple. His parents got married on the road with the circus before he was born. On Tamaran, weddings are a big affair spanning days. Kory said she always hated the idea of a wedding being for the guests more than the couple. So they find their own way to do things.

Bruce lets them use the lake house, it’s secluded and picturesque and Alfred has managed to turn the deck into an aisle so they can get married overlooking the water. Gar is his best man (although Donna insists she’s his second best man) and Rachel is Kory’s bridesmaid. Alfred agreed to conduct the ceremony and Dick knows he was more touched than he let on. Bruce is there too, fixing the flower in the button hole on Dick’s grey suit like a father would and for the first time in years Dick feels at peace with the man and can see the pride radiating from him. Gar’s suit is black which stands out shockingly with his green hair and Dick can’t help but tug at the boy’s tie like Bruce fixed his suit before. Fatherhood is so very unexpected.

The other Titans are there as well. Donna is snapping pictures on her camera and Hank and Dawn look more settled than Dick has seen them in a long time. Even Jason doesn’t look like he hates being there so Dick considers it a win.

Rachel comes into view first, in a black skater dress and her blue hair curled. She looks more grown up than Dick has ever seen her and he needs to remind himself that she’ll be fifteen soon and has never been a kid even if he still thinks of her as his little girl.

Kory wears purple and Dick loves her even more for it because not only does she look like a goddess, but she also looks like the love of his life with her soft pink curls and a bunch of wild sunflowers that Dawn brought for her to use.

In his mind, she’s been a Grayson for as long as Gar and Rachel has but there is something about making it official that makes him giddy. He told her he doesn’t actually expect her to use his name but Kory insists she wants it.

So, Kory Grayson it is.

Dick doesn’t stop smiling for the entire day and he knows Donna captured some good shots by the way she constantly checks her camera and beams every so often.

They exchange rings and vows and promises and then shortly after their kiss both he and Kory are flooded by Rachel and Gar clinging to them with hugs and smiles and Dick thinks he might be a Flying Grayson after all.

Because today, in this moment, he is soaring.

Kory will leave for Tamaran in a few days, after spending some time with him at the lake house that Bruce has graciously offered them as a honeymoon stay while Donna takes the kids back home and plays Auntie.

He doesn’t know how long he’s wanted to feel like this. To feel whole. Since his parents’ death maybe. But standing there with Kory, Gar and Rachel he knows without a shadow of a doubt that he has everything he never knew he wanted.

Dick Grayson is finally whole.

/

“Should we wake him?”

The voice belongs to Rachel, but Dick is already awake, has been since his bedroom door was pushed open and two pairs of feet shuffle closer to his bed.

He lasts three days without Kory before he realises how useless he is without her. Not that he will ever admit that out loud. He can’t call her or contact her while she’s on Tamaran and the bed feels too empty without her. The house feels too quiet without her bubbly laughter or her teasing. The kids miss her too, he knows, Rachel seems quieter and Gar spends more time in the kitchen to distract himself. Dick often finds baked goods or elaborate dinners when he comes in from work but doesn’t comment on the mess.

Kory would have and the thought makes him smile.

“If we wake him, he might think something’s wrong.” Gar’s voice pulls him back to the present and Dick stays on his back with his eyes closed waiting to find out what’s going on because neither one sounds like they just woke up from a nightmare and need his reassurance.

“Overprotective dad mode is a lot.” Rachel muses and Dick wants to frown. Overprotective dad mode? That’s a thing? He’s not… is he?

He thinks about all the times he’s lost sleep worrying about these kids and knows that’s definitely a thing he does.

Damn it.

“We should wake him.” Rachel continues, “Or go back to our rooms and pretend we were never here?”

“This is stupid.” Gar comments, “Kory will be back before we know it.”

“Exactly.”

“And if Kory was here she would definitely have something to say about interrupting her sleep.” Dick’s voice rings out with a hint of amusement and he knows Gar and Rachel startle at the sound.

“You’re awake?” Gar asks.

He hums softly, “With you two chatterboxes standing by my bed? Yeah, I’m awake.”

“We’re sorry.” Rachel says sheepishly and Dick blinks in the darkness to see her twisting her fingers together.

He sits up and wipes a hand down his face, “Is everyone okay?” he asks, trying to scan them both in the dark of the room.

Gar sighs, “It’s stupid, we couldn’t sleep because…”

Rachel cuts him off, “Kory always leaves the bathroom light on at night and my room is too dark without it and I went to turn it on but then I stopped because that’s Kory’s thing. She always does it, but she isn’t here to do it right now.” She takes a deep breath, “We just really miss her.”

“Like a lot.” Gar adds.

Dick sighs softly, “Me too.”

“I went to raid the fridge for a midnight snack and those weird muffins she likes are still in there but they go off tomorrow and she won’t be back until next week.” Gar tells him and Dick is hit with how vulnerable he sounds. He didn’t realise just how settled these kids are in their family dynamic and Kory being gone is the first real disruption to it they’ve had.

After how they were both raised before they met him and Kory, Dick understands why they are having a hard time with the temporary change in dynamic. For them, change equals something bad.

“We’ll go to the store and buy fresh muffins tomorrow, so she has them for when she gets home.” Dick promises, “And I’ll start leaving the bathroom light on before I turn in.”

Both kids nod but don’t move, “She’s coming back, right? She promised.”

“Of course, she is.” Dick replies, “Kory loves you both so much. She’ll be home before we know it.”

Only 5 days to go, he adds silently.

“Can we stay here tonight?” Rachel says, eyes downcast.

Dick smiles into the darkness before pulling back the covers to invite them in. Rachel takes the offer first, slipping into the side of the bed nearest to her with a smile and Dick tries not to jump when he feels her cold feet against the leg of his pyjama pants.

Gar hesitates for a moment before climbing over to the other side of him and burrowing under the covers until all that’s visible is a mop of green against the dark blue pillowcase. Dick settles back down between them, the bed feeling too cramped and stuffy compared to the emptiness moments before, but he embraces it as the kids on either side of him shuffle around to get comfortable.

“I wonder if they have muffins on Tamaran.” Gar asks sleepily from Dick’s right.

Rachel is already half asleep to his left, “Probably not. It doesn’t have us either.”

Gar hums, “True. Tamaran doesn’t have us and we’re the best.”

“We should do something to celebrate Kory coming home.” Rachel adds.

“Like make a banner that reminds her we are the best.” Gar muses.

Dick sighs in the dark, “If you don’t go to sleep, you’re both grounded.” He warns with a smile.

“Sorry, dad!” They reply in unison before both kids finally fall silent.

/

Some days being a father to two teenagers is terrifying to him. Especially when he gets phone calls from the school in the middle of the afternoon when both Gar and Rachel are meant to be safely learning in their classrooms.

“Mr Grayson? I’m calling about your son, Garfield?” The female voice on the phone tells him and Dick feels the knot in his gut tighten.

“Is he okay? What happened?” Immediately a thousand scenarios are rising up in his mind, each more worrying than the last.

“He had a fall in gym class, a few kids said he hurt his arm quite badly and now he’s locked himself in the boy’s bathroom and refuses to come out or let anyone in. We were hoping you might be able to come down and…”

Dick cuts her off, already out of his seat, “I’m on my way.” He says before hanging up.

He rushes out of work in the middle of the day without a thought to tell anyone where he is heading, he just knows he needs to get to Gar because he’s hurt and apparently locked in a bathroom which can’t be a good sign. Dick knows when Gar is threatened or scared, he can’t always control his transformations and if he felt the tiger trying to break free he’d try and get away from people as quickly as possible.

It’s not until he’s in the car heading to the school that he remembers to call Kory. She doesn’t answer and Dick knows she’s currently at work so he leaves her a voicemail he hopes doesn’t panic her too much and puts his foot on the gas.

He makes it to the school in record time, parking illegally outside the front office and pulling out the emergency bag of clothes he keeps in the back before rushing up the steps. His gut is still churning and he knows it won’t stop until he finds Gar and sees the kid is alright with his own eyes.

“Gar Grayson?” He asks the woman behind the desk, “I’m his father. Someone called me?”

She nods, “Thanks for coming so quickly, we’re not sure if he’s hurt or feeling sick. He’s locked in the bathroom on the second floor, we didn’t want to break it down until we called you to try and coax him out. We have the first aiders on standby.”

Dick barely hears her as she leads him to the bathroom where Gar must be locked in. He can tell instantly by the amount of people standing worriedly outside the door and his heart squeezes painfully in his chest. He pushes past them to make his way to the front of the crowd, hand reaching up to knock gently on the door.

“Gar? Buddy, it’s me. Open up.” He calls out and hears a low growl of warning on the other side of the door.

This isn’t good.

Dick spares a glance at the people around him, “Can we get a little space here please?”

The woman from earlier nods in sympathy and ushers everyone away from the corridor leaving Dick alone with a locked door and an angry tiger behind it judging from the growl he just heard.

He sighs with his head against the door, tests the lock once more and then rummages around his pocket for a paperclip to pick the lock. It doesn’t take long; old school locks aren’t the best and this one looks rusted and well used.

Dick opens the door gently, eyes trained on any hint of a green tiger as he slips inside the smallest gap possible. He doesn’t want Gar getting out whilst in tiger form. That’s something Dick isn’t sure they will be able to explain.

He relocks the door from his side so they won’t be interrupted when he hears another low growl of warning that has him freezing for a moment. He turns slowly, coming face to face with a green tiger holding his right paw up like he’s in pain.

“It’s just me, Buddy.” Dick tries, keeping his voice soft and gentle, placing down the bag in his hand onto the tiles.

Gar snarls and then lets out a whine of pain that has Dick worrying. He crouches down, making himself smaller so Gar doesn’t sense him as a threat.

“Come on, Gar. That looks like it hurts, and we need to take a look. I can’t do that whilst you’re in tiger form. I need you to change back for me.” Dick continues but the tiger simply growls again and dips his head.

Dick sighs, “Please? I can’t walk out of here with a green tiger but that arm looks bad so I swear to god if I have to pick you up and carry you out to the car like that then I will, even if you try and bite me.” He says, “Then we’ll probably have to move to a new city because I’ve just blown our cover by carrying a tiger into the emergency room but I don’t give a damn if that happens because you’re hurt Gar, and I need to take care of you, okay?”

The tiger cocks his head to the side as if he recognises Dick or at least registers the words and Dick watches as he limps off to one of the bathroom stalls with a painful whine. He waits as the whine turns less animal and more human before Gar stumbles back out of the stall naked and cradling his arm to his chest.

“This really hurts.” He moans sliding down the wall near the sinks with a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead.

Dick can see his arm is definitely broken, already looking an angry colour against the rest of Gar’s skin. He moves quickly, unzipping the bag of clothes and finding trousers and a jacket Gar can put on. Gar manages to wiggle the joggers up his legs fine, but the jacket is a no go, Dick helps him slip it over his good arm and leaves it dangling like that. They can make it to the car like this without any issues and that’s all Dick cares about.

“We need to get to the hospital. That’s broken.” Dick tells him softly, smoothing the hair away from the boy’s forehead.

Gar grimaces, “I don’t like hospitals. The last time I was… The Chief…”

Dick swallows the bile in his throat, “I won’t leave your side for a second, okay? But this arm is going to need an x-ray and a plaster cast.”

“I didn’t think…” Gar huffs, “I fell awkwardly on the rope ladder. My arm took the brunt of the fall. I haven’t felt pain like it since The Chief first found me and I knew the tiger was going to get out. I didn’t want to change and hurt anyone.”

Dick nods, sitting back against the wall with him, “You did the right thing. You didn’t hurt anyone. They called me after the kids in your class explained what happened. It’s going to be okay.”

“I didn’t mean to pull you out of work.”

“I don’t care about that.” Dick frowns, “I care about you, Gar. They told me you were hurt and I was halfway here for I could even form a coherent thought. You scared me.”

Gar lets out a pained laugh and slumps against him, finding a place for his head on Dick’s shoulder, “Sorry dad.”

Dick wants to smile but his eyes drift down to Gar’s arm again and he can’t find it in him to smile whilst Gar is clearly in a lot of pain. “We have to get out of here, okay? Car’s out front, I can carry you but it might jostle your arm more than if we try and walk it.”

Gar nods, “I can walk it.”

Dick helps him stand on shaky legs and supports Gar from his good side as he tries to gain his balance enough to take a step.

“This really, really hurts.”

Dick’s heart breaks for him, “I was eight when I first broke my arm. Fell from the trapeze and landed awkwardly on the safety net.”

“You broke your arm?”

“Also, a wrist from a lost fight and three fingers while training with Bruce.” Dick sighs, “Warn me if you’re about to go tiger on me, okay?”

Gar nods, “I’m good. It’s like he knows you’re here and you’ll take care of it. He isn’t trying to get out anymore.”

“I will take care of you.” Dick promises placing a kiss on the side of his head as they hobble their way out towards the car.

They spend three long hours in the emergency room and Dick manages to call Kory and tell her everything will be okay but maybe she should pick up Rachel from school, so she doesn’t worry about why Gar isn’t there. Dick helps distract Gar from the pain by telling him the stories of his own broken bones when he asks and about that one time he was sure a fight with The Joker left him with broken ribs but Bruce wasn’t convinced so sent him to school anyway. Dick still swears they were broken but it did help increase his pain tolerance.

When they finally make it out of the hospital Gar is sporting a new bright green plaster cast and his mood has vastly improved which helps Dick relax.

“Do you think it will stay on if I transform?” Gar asks him, eyeing the cast.

Dick frowns, “I’m not sure. We probably shouldn’t test it out. I don’t want to be back here every other week for a new one.”

Gar nods, “I agree. Besides, Rachel is going to love creating a piece of art on this thing.”

She does. She spends hours after dinner with a sharpie in hand and Dick wants to laugh when he sees the finished masterpiece. She’s drawn a Robin watching over two chicks in a nest. Kory loves it and swipes the pen next to doodle ‘Grayson’ on the side on his cast. Gar’s eyes light up at that before taking the pen off her and handing it over to Dick.

He sighs, settling down so he can add his own addition to the cast. He can’t draw worth a damn but his attempt at a tiger is passable enough that it only gets a small round of laughter.

“Thanks for being there today.” Gar tells him softly when Dick hands the sharpie back over.

Dick smiles softly and leans forward to press a kiss against Gar’s forehead, “Always.” He responds as he ruffles a hand through Gar’s messy hair.

/

“Where’s Kory?”

Dick looks up sharply to see Rachel standing in the doorway as he sits at the kitchen counter with a coffee. It’s early, far too early for her to be up and by the way she’s clutching her stomach Dick knows something is wrong.

“She’s already at work, they needed her in early today.” He tells her, eyes taking in the paleness of Rachel’s skin and the way she’s hunched over slightly, “What’s going on, kiddo?”

She shakes her head, “I need Kory.”

That has him both puzzled and scared because whatever it is, she feels like she can’t tell him and Dick isn’t sure how to help if he doesn’t know what’s wrong.

He spins in his seat, giving Rachel his full attention, “I can call her but I need to know what to tell her.” He tries, “Maybe we can fix it ourselves?”

She snorts and then grimaces, “No, this isn’t a broken wing Dick Grayson special.”

“Try me.”

Rachel pauses as if considering it and turns her eyes to the floor as she mutters, “I think I started my period.”

Dick blinks owlishly at her. That’s not what he was expecting and suddenly he wishes Kory were here as well because she’d know what to say.

“Okay.” Is what Dick manages to come out with.

Rachel sighs, “Started my period as in my first ever one. That’s why I need Kory.”

Dick nods, mind still processing. She’s fourteen – almost fifteen - so of course she’s at the age when these things start but Dick has honestly never thought about it before. Rachel looks a little scared as she finally meets his gaze and Dick swallows down his own lump of fear. He can handle this. He’s a dad now, Rachel’s dad, and having a teenage daughter means he needs to be able to deal with these things.

It’s not like he’s clueless. He grew up with Donna Troy and is married to Kory. He understands enough from those two to know how to start to deal with a period, but this is Rachel’s first one and Kory would definitely be able to handle it better than him.

But Kory isn’t here, and Dick is.

“Okay,” he repeats, standing up, “Kory keeps her supplies in our bathroom cabinet under the sink. Why don’t you go and grab what you need and we’ll get you back into bed and I’ll call her?”

Rachel bites her lip, “Dick, my bed… I need to change… I didn’t mean… it started while I was asleep and…”

He understands as Rachel’s cheeks flush and once again he knows they are both wishing for Kory.

“Okay, you go grab what you need and get into our bed and I’ll put the sheets in the wash.” Dick tells her softly.

Rachel grimaces, “No, I can do it. You don’t have to deal with…”

“Sweetheart, it’s fine.” Dick promises, “You’re in pain, right? I’ll bring you something to help. Just go get yourself sorted and I’ll handle it.”

Rachel bites her lip again, “Okay.” She says softly and Dick watches as she carefully walks towards the stairs still clutching her stomach.

As soon as she’s out of sight he collapses back into his chair and rubs a hand over his face. He is so unprepared for this. He pulls his laptop closer to him and starts up the search engine as he grabs his phone and dials Kory’s number. He needs help on this one.

“Dick?” Kory answers, “Everything okay?”

His eyes are glued to his laptop screen, “Rachel just started her period and I’m freaking out.”

“It’s normal.” Kory reminds him, “Is she okay?”

“In pain and a little overwhelmed. I sent her to grab some of your supplies from the bathroom.”

Kory hums down the line, “Good. I’ll bring some stuff home for her. I’ll leave early, think you can cope until I get home?”

Dick’s eyes scan his screen, “Do you really go through this every month? This diagram looks terrifying.”

“Grayson, get off Web MD.” Kory orders, “It’s fine. Heat will help with the cramps. Painkillers if she needs them. Sweet food is a must and maybe keep her off school today.”

He nods, committing her advice to memory, “Okay, and her sheets are…”

“Soak them in hot water before you put them in the wash.” Kory replies, “You sure you can handle this?”

“Absolutely.” Dick affirms, “Just come home soon.”

When he finishes the conversation with Kory and closes the laptop, he takes a deep breath. He can do it. He understands the basics to survive until Kory gets home and can explain whatever needs explaining about these things to Rachel.

He heads to grab her sheets first, quickly stripping the bed and balling up the sheets to take back to the kitchen to soak them in hot water. He’ll put fresh sheets on her bed after he’s got Rachel settled. He finds a hot water bottle and fills that up to help with the pain, grabs a bottle of painkillers from the cabinet and makes Rachel a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows just in case.

When Dick enters his bedroom, Rachel is curled up on Kory’s side of the bed in a ball, arms around her stomach and Dick can see she’s in pain.

“Here.” He tells her softly, offering her the hot water bottle for her cramps and putting the hot chocolate on the beside table in front of her. “Kory said it helps with the pain. You can have two painkillers if you need as well.”

Rachel grabs the hot water bottle, shoving it against her stomach and curling around it, “Thank you.”

He sits on the edge of the bed, at a loss for what to do now, “I brought you a hot chocolate and Kory’s going to finish work early and come home. No school today.”

She nods, “This sucks.”

“Oh, you’re a fan of school now?”

“I meant…” She gestures vaguely to her stomach.

He nods, “I know.”

Another cramp must hit her because she curls even tighter and lets out a small whine, “How does Kory do this every month?”

Dick laughs, “Painkillers and snarky comments mostly.”

“Thanks for not freaking out.” Rachel tells him, “I know this isn’t something guys normally have to deal with.”

“Rach, it’s fine. It’s normal, between Donna and Kory I’m not going to pass out the second someone mentions having a period.” Dick replies.

She uncurls slightly, “I think the heat is helping.”

He smiles and brushes her hair back, “That’s good. Maybe try and sleep some more? It might help.”

“Okay.”

He moves to get up, but Rachel’s eyes stop him, “What’s wrong?” He asks.

“Can you stay?” She asks, “Just until I fall asleep?”

He nods with a smile, “Sure, kiddo.”

“I’m not a kid.” She reminds him.

“I guess not.” Dick replies, “You want me to read to you?”

Rachel’s eyes glance to the books over by the desk, scanning the titles, “Do you have To Kill a Mockingbird in here?”

That catches him by surprise, “That’s a new request.”

“We’re meant to be reading it for school.” She replies.

Dick nods and goes to grab it from the stack of classics over by the desk, the cover a little beaten up from his own school days, “This might be considered cheating.”

She hums as her eyes close, “Your voice helps me relax.”

There is a surge of warmth in his chest and Dick finds himself flicking to the first page as he settles down in the chair by the window to start reading, eyes drifting to check on Rachel after every few paragraphs.

When Kory comes home with a bag of supplies in her arm she pauses in the doorway of the bedroom and Dick stops reading at her arrival.

“I knew you could handle it.” She tells him softly, “She okay?”

Dick places the book down, “The hot water bottle helped. She’s been asleep for a while.”

“And she got you to read to her?” Kory laughs, “Such a dad, Grayson.”

It’s a familiar taunt and Dick smiles, “Thanks for stopping me from freaking out earlier. I can’t say I was prepared for this today.”

Kory hums, “They’re growing up.”

He looks at Rachel curled up in their bed, “But they’re still our kids.”

She beams at him from the doorway and Dick feels like she’s gifting him the sun in her smile.

/

Dick can feel pain and nothing else, the bright lights in the ceiling almost blinding him as people move around him and bark orders at each other.

The bullet tore through his shoulder and he hears the doctors tell each other (or maybe they’re telling him) that he’s lucky because it missed all the important arteries and organs. A good, clean shot, they say. Dick saw the amount of blood through his shirt and doesn’t think there is anything clean about it.

He’s getting slow. The suspect he was chasing got the drop on him and Dick wonders whether he’d have managed it if he was still Nightwing. Probably not and the bullet wouldn’t have needed to be fished out by doctors. Maybe he was just unlucky, maybe he’s getting complacent. He isn’t sure but it sits heavy in his gut.

“Dick!”

It’s Kory’s voice and then his view is haloed by her curls and her worried green eyes and he knows he’s in trouble. He feels her hand take his and he squeezes, letting her know he’s okay.

“I know that face.” He attempts at humour, but his voice is weak and scratchy, “I’m in trouble.”

“Big trouble.” Kory agrees, her eyes going to the back of the room where Gar and Rachel hover. They look scared and Dick hates himself for it.

“I’m okay,” He promises them, “Just a scratch.”

“Made by a bullet.” Rachel retorts.

Dick winces, he’s in more trouble than he thought. He didn’t mean to worry them. He didn’t mean to get shot. It just happened.

They doctors filter out of the room to give the family privacy and Dick is grateful because he knows this is going to be bad. Rachel’s eyes look like they might start glowing and Gar wouldn’t look at him.

He fucked up.

Kory’s worried eyes scan his face, taking in every inch as if she’s performing her own evaluation on his condition despite the doctors already telling her he is going to be fine, the patch up went smoothly and a square bandage on his shoulder is all the can be seen of the gunshot wound.

Rachel approaches the bed, but Gar hangs back and it makes Dick’s heart hurt.

“I’m sorry.” He tells them, “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“We were worried!” The outburst is from Gar and it startles him because Gar is normally so refined with his emotions, “You can’t just go around getting shot like it’s nothing.”

“Gar.” Kory warns.

“No, we aren’t meant to worry about stuff like this anymore. That’s why we left the tower. That’s why we’re here. Normal life, Dick, you promised.” Gar continues, approaching the bed as he rats Dick out and honestly, Dick thinks he deserves it because the kid is right.

Dick promised them a safer life when they moved out of the city and a chance to be a proper family and Gar and Rachel trust him to honour that promise. He knows how comfortable the kids have grown with their family, he knows how much it changed them and he hates himself for making them worry they are about to lose it. To lose him.

“Sometimes the job is dangerous.” Dick says softly, “But that’s no excuse. I made you guys a promise and I intend to keep it. I’ll do better.”

Gar stares at him intensely and Dick can see his eyes glass over, “They just said you’d been shot and I thought…”

Dick nods, “Flesh wound, I swear. A couple of weeks and I’ll be good as new.”

“We can’t lose you, Dick.” The statement catches him and Gar shakes his head, “We can’t. We’re not a family without you.”

“He’s right.” Rachel adds, “If you’re not there then who will try to feed us cauliflower pizza? Or sit with us after a nightmare or make Kory laugh so hard she snorts through her nose.”

“That was one time.” Kory cuts in.

“I’m not going anywhere, guys. I promise.”

Gar closes the gap and envelopes Dick in a hug that pulls at his shoulder but Dick doesn’t care as Gar clings to him and he clings back, “You better not or Kory will kick your ass.” He hears Gar muffle into his shoulder and Dick’s eyes go to Kory.

“Well, I definitely don’t want that.” Dick replies with a smile.

He feels Rachel’s cool clammy hands on his arm, one palm over the bandage on his shoulder. Then he feels warm and tingly instead of pain. Gar senses something too because he pulls back and when Rachel pulls her hands away from Dick’s shoulder it feels better.

Dick pulls off the gauze and is met with his smooth skin, no gunshot wound, no stitches. Not so much as a blemish to suggest he was ever injured. He looks at Rachel in shock and awe.

“How?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugs, leaning closer to Kory, “I wanted you to be okay and I just felt this surge of power in me.”

He looks down at his shoulder again and is struck by how powerful Rachel actually is. They are working on the control, but the power is there, “Thank you.”

She nods, “Don’t scare us like that again.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Dick nods.

“Okay but new problem.” Kory cuts in, “How are we meant to explain this miraculous recovery to the doctors?”

“Fast healer?” Gar smiles.

Somehow, Dick doesn’t think that’s going to cut it.

/

Having two superhero teenagers with traumatic pasts leads to a lot of nightmares. Dick has come to expect that and he knows how to deal with them now. He knows Rachel likes to talk about them, she likes company as she calms down after her dreams haunt her. He knows Gar doesn’t like to open up until he’s ready but prefers distraction, anything to keep his mind off his nightmares until he can deal with them.

Having a superhero wife with a past that only comes back to her in pieces leads to nightmares that Dick isn’t sure how to fight. Kory doesn’t get them a lot, sometimes when she is hit with a strong memory from her past that doesn’t always makes sense, but otherwise she sleeps better than the rest of them.

When she does have a nightmare though, it’s bad. Dick is never sure how to help her because Kory pulls away after a nightmare, she retreats like she’s under fire and feels too far for him to reach out and grab her. And Dick gets it, he used to do the same when his own nightmares plagued him before they became more to each other than whatever they were when they first met. Now when he has a nightmare, Kory is always there for him. She knows what to do or say, whether it’s holding him close to her and reassuring him or allowing Dick to lose himself to her body until he can find the words to talk through his dreams. Kory is always there, and she always makes it better.

Dick wishes he knew how to help her through hers.

He wakes one night to an intense flash of bright light and the smell of smoke, barely registering Kory’s cry and her frantic haste to get out of the bed like something is chasing her. She’s on shaky legs and backs into the beside table, knocking over the lamp in her attempt to flee.

Dick is up and on his feet in seconds, eyes scanning Kory for injuries. There is a charred section on their bedroom floor and Kory looks at it like she wants to drown in it. Dick flips on his own beside light and sees her shaking on the other side of the bed.

He tries to go to her, but she holds up a hand to stop him.

“No.” her voice is scared and she’s not meeting his gaze, “Stay back.”

“Kory, please.” He tries to take another step.

“No.” She insists, and her tone makes him freeze, “Just stay there. I can’t… I need…” She’s backing out the room and Dick wants nothing more than to help her.

“Just tell me what’s happening?” Dick pleads with her.

Kory shakes her head, eyes falling to her hands, “I can’t… I could have hurt you.”

Dick eyes the charred patch of carpet with a worried gaze, “But you didn’t.”

“I could have.” She snaps and he knows it’s out of fear more than anger, “I’m going to sleep downstairs. I can’t… I’m sorry…”

She out of the room before Dick can stop her.

He wants to follow her with everything in him, every instinct urging him to track her down but he knows when Kory feels backed into a corner she'll put up more walls.

Tonight had been a bad one, one of the worst since they got married and it makes Dick worry a hole in the floor because he feels useless. If he can't help her through this then what good is he? As a husband, as a man, as her family.

He sighs, looking at the scorched carpet that hits him like a punch to the gut. Screw it. He isn’t letting her lock herself away, this isn't about her hypothetically hurting him. It's about whatever she saw in her nightmare that she doesn't want him to know.

Dick pads down the stairs, making a pit stop to check on the kids. Both are still asleep thank god and the soft glow from the living room tells him that's where Kory is.

He stops by the kitchen, picking up a bottle of scotch and a glass of water before heading towards the couch. Kory isn't asleep, she's sat on the floor between the couch and the coffee table, her eyes glassy and her knees up to her chest.

Dick approaches cautiously, he doesn't want a fight but he doesn't want her to be alone. As he inches into the room and Kory looks at him but doesn't stop him he proceeds, dropping the glass of water and bottle of scotch onto the coffee table in front of her.

"Pick your poison." he tells her softly.

She meets his eyes, green to brown and grabs for the scotch. That's how Dick knows it’s really bad.

"Can I?" he gestures to the floor next to her and Kory shrugs, so he takes that as an much of an invite as he is going to get.

Dick settles himself beside her as Kory swigs the scotch straight from the bottle before passing it to him. It's a peace offering, he knows, and it takes it eagerly as he swallows his own mouthful.

"I'm sorry." she tells him as he passes the bottle back, "I didn't mean to snap."

He shakes his head and watches her take another sip, cradling the bottle to her chest, "It's okay. It was a bad one, right?"

"Really fucking bad." she agrees and offers him the bottle.

Dick takes it and holds it, "Don't shut me out, please?"

It sounds desperate and Dick forces down the wince at how vulnerable the words are in the air between them.

"Dick, you don't need..."

"But I am worried." He cuts her off because he knows where Kory is going with that statement, "I love you, Kory and when you wake up scared from a nightmare I'm always going to worry. I'm always going to want to help."

She steals the bottle back out of his hand, "What if it's not something you can fix?"

"Then at least I can still be there for you, so you don't have to go through it alone."

Kory seems to consider that, taking another sip from the bottle before sighing and placing it on the coffee table out of her reach. That's a good sign and Dick spares her a glance. She's both vulnerable and preparing for battle in that moment and the thought jars him.

"Tamaran. My sister. Apparently, her quest for the throne started when we were teenagers." She lets out a bitter laugh, "I fell into a lake of some kind. I must have been about 16, drunk off my ass after a wedding party. I was drowning, Dick. I could feel the water burning in my lungs and throat. I could feel the panic and my power was useless and Blackfire stood and watched. I don't know if she just froze or if she thought it would be easier for her if I drowned but..."

She trails off awkwardly and Dick can see her eyeing the bottle of scotch again. His heart lurches for her, not all her memories from Tamaran are good and the bad ones are always difficult to hear.

"How did you get out?"

Kory shrugs, "Royal guards found us, someone came and got me. I didn't tell our parents about Blackfire. I didn't want her to get in trouble. If only I knew."

"She's family, Kory. You wanted to give her a chance, there's nothing wrong with that." he tells her.

Kory laughs, a bitter sound that Dick barely recognises, "One daughter who wants the throne above everything else and one daughter who doesn't want it at all. How messed up is that?"

Dick sighs sadly, he wants to reach out and touch her but he doesn't want her to retreat from him again. He's so unsure now and he hates it.

"You didn't hurt me, you know that right? " Dick says softly and Kory turns her head to face him, her eyes big and solemn.

"I know." she nods, "But I can't control my power when I'm dreaming and you're..."

"Breakable?" Dick offers.

"Human" Kory amends.

"I love you. So much." he tells her because he doesn't know what else to say.

She softens at his words, "I'm sorry I left our room. I regretted it the second I was alone."

"I'll always come and find you." he promises.

Kory melts into his side and Dick wastes no time in pulling her into him and giving her as much warmth and comfort and love as he can muster.

"So corny, Grayson."

Dick smirks and kisses her temple, "You want me to stop?"

Kory drags herself even closer, as if there was any space between them in the first place, "Never stop."

They stay like that for hours and Dick can feel her grow heavy against him and finally return to sleep. He waits another hour to make sure she won't wake up before he moves, scooping her up in his arms and settling her on the couch.

The sun is rising, and Dick knows he's on the early shift at work so he needs to get ready but he doesn't want to leave her. Not like this. He wants to hold her and maybe cook breakfast and make her smile after last night. But Kory would scold him for hovering and Dick knows she'd be right.

He sighs, leaning down to kiss her forehead softly as Gar walks in. His hair is ruffled and he's rubbing sleep out of his eye as he takes in the scene.

"Nightmare?" he asks as Dick straightens.

"Yeah, try and let her get some more sleep, okay?"

The boy nods, going to the kitchen to grab a box of cereal and then settling down in front of Kory, scooping dry cereal out of the box. Dick knows he'll sit there at her side until she wakes up so she's not alone and Dick loves him for that. For the way he loves Kory.

He ruffles Gar's hair, "Love you, Buddy."

Gar smiles around a mouth full of cereal, "It’s okay, Dick. I got her, you should get ready for work before you're late."

Dick nods, sparing one more glance at Kory before heading for the stairs.

Gar's voice calls him back, "I love you too!"

His heart speeds up, even after all this time.

/

"What do you think?" Rachel asks as she enters the living room, turning from side to side for Dick to see from his spot on the couch.

She's wearing a black dress, thick tights, and her normal boots. Some light makeup on her face and her curly hair immaculate. She's beautiful and dressed up. Dick frowns.

"Did I forget about a family dinner reservation or something?" He replies, unsure why she's dressed up and glances down at his own dishevelled shirt from a day at the station.

Kory floats into the room with a smile, "She has a date, Grayson."

Dick frowns again, "Who has a date?"

"I do." Rachel cuts in, "So, outfit? Like it, yes or no?"

Dick blanches, "A date?" he repeats, testing the words on his tongue. They feel weird. "With who?"

"Jimmy."

As if that single name means anything to him. Dick places his book back on the coffee table and eyes Kory with a look of betrayal, "You knew about this?"

Kory shrugs, "It's a trip to the cinema with a boy in her class, Dick. It's not like it's a night away from home."

Dick visibly feels the blood drain from his face, "She's too young."

"I'm 15!" Rachel protests.

"And what were you doing at 15?" Kory points out.

That's the thing that has him worried, "Exactly why she shouldn't go. Teenagers, Kory. One track mind." Dick replies.

"I'm standing right here." Rachel huffs, "And Jimmy will be here soon."

"He got a last name?" Dick asks her.

"Mullens." Rachel mutters before pointing a finger in his direction, "Dick, you cannot do a background check on my date!"

Yes, he really can. Anyone spending time with his little girl needs to be fully vetted by him and slightly intimidated first.

"Ease up, Grayson. It's her first date, she's nervous enough." Kory reminds him.

Dick studies Rachel then, she's smart and he's taught her how to protect herself. It's not her he's worried about. It's the boy he knows nothing about that is going to be spending a few hours in a dark cinema with her.

"If I can't run a background check then I want to meet him." Dick tells her.

Rachel groans, "No! It's just a cinema trip, Dick. Don't go all overprotective dad mode on me."

Too late. He can feel the need to protect her rising even if it's irrational. It still feels like his job.

"Your curfew is at nine, Rach." Dick tells her, "If he drops you back a minute later I will arrest him."

Rachel scoffs, "For what?"

"Loitering." Dick quips with a smirk that Rachel is definitely not amused by.

"Kory!" she protests.

Kory laughs, "Oh no, I told you to give him warning. You're on your own, baby girl."

"Dick, come on! You know I can look out for myself. Jimmy is nice, we're in the same art class. Gar has met him and you know he would have told you already if he was worried." Rachel points out.

Dick considers this because he does know Gar would come to him if he was worried about this guy and the thought that at least Gar has met him helps ease Dick's mind.

"Fine, but I get to meet him on date number two." He replies.

She nods, "Deal."

"And you call me if you need anything, okay? You feel the slightest bit uncomfortable, you call me and I'll come get you. You need a lift, you call me. You so much as change your mind and don't want to go..."

"I'll call you, I promise!" Rachel finishes for him, closing the distance between them and throwing her arms around him. "Thank you!"

Dick returns her hug with a vice like grip. She's growing up and whether he likes it or not he is going to need to be able to deal with boys and heartbreaks and dating. Dick wants her to be able to come to him with this stuff. He wants to be kept in the loop.

"Nine." He reminds her when the pull away and there's a knock at the door signaling the arrival of her date.

Rachel nods and kisses his cheek, "Nine." she confirms as she heads for the door.

"Rach?" Dick calls out, "You look great. Beautiful."

She beams, "Thanks dad."

Then she's gone and Kory is eyeing him with a shit-eating grin.

"Are you about to have a heart attack?" She asks with a smile.

"I'm still undecided."

"Are you going to question Gar about him?" She questions.

Dick nods, "Absolutely. Then I'm going to run a background check."

Kory shakes her head with a laugh, "God help anyone who takes an interest in our girl."

"I just want her to be safe."

"With you around I can't imagine her being in any danger."

The statement warms his chest and Dick smiles. That's all he wants. For her to be safe and happy. That's all he wants for all of them and with that he turns to find Gar, he needs some information on this Jimmy kid.

/

Christmas sneaks up on him and Dick has never really given it much thought before. He always used to volunteer to work over the Christmas holidays, Bruce wasn't big on family affairs and Donna occasionally invited him to spend it with her if she wasn't off photographing in faraway countries.

But he has a family now and Dick can see Rachel and Gar light up at the idea of a proper family Christmas so this year he's determined to pull out all the stops for them.

He takes Gar with him to get a proper tree and they spend hours trying to find the perfect one. They spend even longer trying to get the thing in the car so they can bring it back home but it's worth it when Rachel and Kory come back with bags full of decorations and the kids spend the afternoon hanging tinsel and lights and baubles from the tree once Dick has set it up in the living room.

Him and Kory go shopping, trying to figure out what to get the kids. They get Rachel new art supplies and Dick manages to track down some rare first edition copies of her favourite books. They find Gar some vintage posters and a bunch of new games. He'll buy Kory something when she's not with him although Dick isn't sure what to get her yet.

They get snow for the holidays and Rachel and Gar are giddy at the sight. Despite being teenagers they still drag Dick out of bed one morning to build a snowman that turns into a snow fight leaving them all shivering and in need of hot chocolate.

Dick thinks he might like Christmas after all. Especially a Christmas spent with them.

Christmas morning sees them all gathered in the living room, presents surrounding the kids as they tear into the wrapping and Dick tries to snap pictures on his phone to freeze this moment forever.

He gets new vinyls from Gar and Dick wonders how long it took for the boy to track down these titles. Rachel gives him some new sketches that he loves and some vintage memorabilia she tracked down from Haley's Circus (with Kory’s help). Dick is speechless, knowing how long he spent tracking down the only poster advertising The Flying Graysons he has. He envelopes them both in a hug and swears he isn't going to cry.

After dinner he calls Bruce to wish him a Merry Christmas and promises to bring the family up to visit for New Year. It's the best his relationship with Bruce has been in a while and Dick wonders if being a father changed this part of him as well. He understands Bruce's actions when he was growing up more now that he's a father. These kids didn't just save him, Dick thinks, they're healing old wounds and closing rifts they didn't even know were there.

Kory kisses him under mistletoe and Dick thinks life can't get much better than this. The kids are excitedly looking over their presents and showing each other what they got.

This is a moment Dick knows he'll cherish forever.

A proper Grayson family Christmas.

The making of a tradition. The solid foundation of his family right in front of his eyes. His home.

Chapter Text

Dick has to admit, being on vacation has its perks.

The sun is shining, he can hear the waves in the background and the sound of Gar and Rachel playing with a beach ball a few feet away as he reclines back on a towel, hands behind his head soaking up the heat of the day.

A beach day was a great idea, he thinks to himself.

“You’re looking pretty smug there, Grayson.” Kory’s voice teases him from her side of their beach towel.

Dick turns his head, smiling at her. She’s laying on her front, propped up on her forearms as she reads a beat-up old paperback (one Rachel recommended to her), her pink curls wild and hanging over one shoulder. She’s beautiful and he’s so goddamn lucky it’s unreal.

“Just enjoying the view, Princess.” He tells her happily, eyes glancing over to Rachel and Gar.

Their kids are playing volleyball, throwing the ball at each other to hit back over the net. Gar is in board shorts, green hair blowing in the slight breeze. Rachel hits a hard serve sending Gar diving into the sand to catch it, her black swimsuit and pale skin a stark contrast to the heat of the sun. They look happy and that in turn makes Dick impossibly happy.

Kory closes her paperback and pushes the sunglasses off his face causing Dick to squint at the brightness, then she’s there hovering in his view and blocking out the light so he can see properly.

His smile grows, “You look like a sun goddess with the light behind you like that.”

“So cheesy.” She laughs but leans down to give his nose a peck before pulling back and presenting him with a bottle of sunscreen, “Do my back?”

Dick takes the bottle and sits up, getting to work on lathering up her back so she doesn’t burn. He wonders briefly if Kory can even get sunburnt, considering she’s an alien with starfire in her veins but he doesn’t mind taking his time as he ensures her shoulders are fully covered with the lotion.

“They look happy.” Kory muses and Dick watches the kids over her shoulder.

“They do.”

Once he’s finished Kory takes the bottle back, pouring some onto her hand before calling out to Gar, “Reapply!” As throws the bottle at him. Gar dives for it and catches it in one hand, him and Rachel taking a time out to lather up as well.

Kory rubs her hands together, spreading the pool of lotion over them before smoothing them over his chest and shoulders to cover him in sunscreen as well before moving onto his face, neck, and ears. Dick laughs but lets her work.

When she’s happy her job is done, they go back to watching their kids, “I didn’t think I would ever love anything or anyone this much.” Dick tells her, a note of sadness in his voice.

Kory frowns, “Is that a bad thing?”

“No.” He smiles at her, “It’s the best thing.”

“They love you too, you know.” She tells him, “We love you.”

Her eyes sparkle and the sun frames her in a golden glow as he replies, “I know.”

“Heads up!” Gar calls out and Dick manages to catch the ball heading for his face before it can hit him.

“Sorry!” Rachel calls sheepishly and Dick knows the throw must have been hers.

He shakes his head and gets to his feet, “You will be. Doubles?”

“Parents against kids?” Kory asks with a smile, getting to her feet as well.

Gar shakes his head, “No way, you two are ruthless.”

“Girls against boys.” Rachel decides and Kory laughs making her way over to Rachel’s side.

“Now that I can do.” Kory says with glee, “You ready for this Grayson?”

Dick smirks, walking over to Gar, “Absolutely, losing team buys ice cream?”

“Deal!” Rachel shouts.

He throws the ball in his hands and catches it, getting himself into position as Rachel and Kory eagerly await his throw. Gar seems confident at having Dick on his team and he knows it will be tough to call which side will win.

He shakes his head with a smile and serves the ball over the net.

Rachel and Kory end up winning 8-7 although Dick insists they cheated on the last one because the sun was in his eyes. He still buys everyone ice cream and they watch the sun set over the waves together on their beach towels and he knows Gar and Rachel will be asleep in the backseat on the ride home before they even hit the highway.

Yeah, he’s definitely starting to like vacations these days.

/

Dick is on his way home from work when he gets the call. He’s late and it’s already dark out by the time he leaves the station. He managed to text Kory and tell her he’d be missing dinner and by the time he’s finally wrapped up his work it’s pushing close to 9pm.

When Rachel’s name flashes up on the screen he frowns, accepting the call and switching it to handsfree. She was meant to be out with her boyfriend tonight, a cinema trip and then dinner if he remembers correctly so he’s surprised to hear from her. It’s only been a few weeks and Dick has checked Jimmy out thoroughly and while he might not like the kid all that much (and Rachel still refuses to introduce him to anyone who isn’t Kory) he was happy to find his background check came back clear, and Dick made sure to dig deep. So, for the most part Dick lets Rachel’s judgement take the lead on the dating front, although he constantly reassures her he’s there if she needs anything.

Dick can tell something is wrong the second he accepts the call.

He can hear sniffles from her end and a ragged breath that can only be his daughter.

“Rachel?” He asks gently, eyes firmly on the road.

There’s shuffling at her end of the phone, like she’s pressing it closer to her ear, “Dick?” Her voice is small and he can tell she’s been crying, “Can you come and get me?”

His heart pounds in his chest and threatens to break through his ribs, she sounds too vulnerable, and he needs to know what’s happened, “Where’s Jimmy?” Dick asks, knuckles white against the steering wheel.

“He broke up with me.” Rachel replies, “Then he left.”

Dick reacts as any good parent would. He slams on the brakes to bring the car to a stop, ignoring the sound of a car horn behind him as he grabs the phone from his lap and switches it to his ear. Thoughts of murder and pain are on his mind as he hears Rachel sniffle again. He is going to kill this kid. He doesn’t even care that murder is bad. This kid needs to be taught a lesson in respect.

“Where are you?” Dick says, seething but trying not to let it show in his voice. Rachel is his first priority.

There’s a pause at the other end of the line, “I don’t know. I just started walking. There are warehouses up the street.”

He’s already opening up the find my friends app on his phone and zooming in on Rachel’s name to see which street she’s on. Industrial district, downtown. He can make it in 20 minutes. 10 if he uses the siren he keeps in the glovebox of his car.

Dick nods to himself, dropping the phone back to his lap as he starts the car, switching lanes to head towards Rachel.

“Dick?”

He makes a sharp left, “I’m on my way, sweetheart. 10 minutes tops.” He promises, pushing down on the gas a little more and watching the speed inch up.

“Thank you.” Her voice sounds a little steadier, but Dick can tell she’s shaking and pretending she’s fine.

He grits his teeth, “Stay on the phone with me until I get there, okay?”

“Okay.” She says quietly and then after a pause, “We didn’t even get to eat.”

It’s 9pm and Dick wonders just how long she’s been out on the streets by herself working up the courage to call him. He hopes not long but keeps his foot on the gas regardless, reaching for the siren to help clear a path to Rachel.

“I haven’t either.” Dick tells her, “We’ll grab something together. I’m almost there.”

He makes it in just under 10 minutes, broke a few laws in the process and has planned out the murder of a teenager in surprising detail by the time he spots her. Rachel stands from her spot on the curb, wrapping her arms around herself as Dick slams on the brakes and gets out of the car.

Rachel meets him halfway, running up him with such speed that when she crashes into him it sends Dick stumbling back a few steps. Then she’s in his arms, and Dick wraps them around her tightly so he can squeeze her to him. He feels a knot of relief loosen in his chest as Rachel clings to him. She isn’t wearing a coat, just a thin cardigan and Dick understands why she was shaking on the phone to him.

He pulls away gently, smoothing Rachel’s hair back from her face so he can get a good look at her. Her eyes are rimmed red and her cheeks flushed with the cold.

“Did he hurt you?” Dick asks, scanning her for any signs of distress with acid in his throat.

She shakes her head, “I’m fine, I swear.”

He takes in her face again and lets out a sigh before crushing her back to him, “No, you’re not.”

Rachel snuggles into his chest and Dick wants to kill this kid all over again. Who breaks up with a girl and leaves them alone in the middle of the night? For the first time in so long Dick contemplates getting out his Nightwing suit and paying this kid a late night visit so they can have a chat about respect and being a decent human being but he knows that chat will end in Dick beating him to a pulp for hurting his daughter and he can’t beat up a kid no matter how much he wants to.

Rachel pulls back to wipe her eyes and Dick’s heart breaks. Break-ups are never fun, he knows, having had his fair share before but the first one really does suck. He shrugs out of his brown leather jacket before slipping it over Rachel’s shoulders hoping to keep her warm. She smiles and slips her arms through the sleeves. It swamps her, Dick can no longer see her fingers, lost to the fabric, but she brightens slightly and wraps it tighter around her small frame.

“Come on,” Dick tells her, “I’ve got the heating on full blast.”

He leads her over to the car and Rachel slips into the passenger side as he jogs around to the driver door. They both settle into the seats, heating blasting through the vents but Dick makes no move to start driving.

“I’m fine.” Rachel tells him, catching the worried way he knows he’s watching her.

“What happened?”

She shrugs, “We went to the cinema and were deciding on dinner when Jimmy said he didn’t think it was working out. He’ll probably be dating a cheerleader by the end of next week.”

Dick bites his tongue but the words come out anyway, “So, he just left you there!?”

“Dick, it’s my fault. I didn’t want to get back in the car with him after that. I just wanted to be left alone.” Rachel tells him.

He shakes his head, “I don’t care. Rule one of being a decent guy: you don’t leave a girl alone in the middle of the night, even if she’s pissed at you.”

Rachel sniffles again and clutches his jacket tighter to her, “I think you’re the best guy I know.” She says softly and Dick feels his breath catch because he’s sure not everyone would agree but having Rachel say that to him makes love bloom in his chest.

He reaches out to her and Rachel shifts awkwardly until she’s back in his arms, “I’m sorry guys your age haven't figured their shit out yet. They will, eventually. You’ll find someone great, Rach.”

She sighs, “He’ll have to be considering who my dad is.”

Dick chuckles against her head and places a kiss on her forehead, “You want me to beat him up for you? I’ll do it.”

“No,” She replies, and Dick can tell there’s a smile on her face, “Can we get pizza? And maybe fries? Oh and a milkshake.”

He squeezes her again, “Whatever you want, sweetheart.”

“I love you, Dick.” Rachel tells him, “Thanks for adopting me.”

The statement catches him off-guard and he pulls back, Rachel’s eyes don’t leave his and he swallows thickly, “I love you too, Rach. Thanks for letting me adopt you.”

They stay like that for another few moments before Dick finally starts the car and heads for the nearest drive thru. Rachel snuggles back into his jacket in her seat looking a lot happier than when Dick found her. He is blown away by the resilience of his little girl, her generosity and her kindness and her capacity to love.

Dick knows she’s going to grow up to be a hell of a woman and he’s going to be the proudest dad in the world to witness it.

Rachel Grayson is a goddamn marvel to him most days.

/

It’s the two-year anniversary of them officially adopting Gar and Rachel and Dick wants to do something special as a family to mark the date. Rachel and Gar would be happy with pizza and a movie night and Kory suggested heading out somewhere, hitting the road like they used to do.

Dick has another idea.

They do hit the road, but he has a specific destination in mind and after two days of driving they pull into a large field, full of people and stalls and tents.

Gar’s eyes light up, “A circus?!”

One of the only travelling circuses left but just the sight of the big tents and the smell of caramel and popcorn in the air in enough to transport Dick back to his own childhood. Haley’s closed down after his parents, but he managed to find this one easily enough.

“A circus.” Dick confirms as they bundle out of the car and Gar drags Kory to get in line for tickets.

Rachel lingers with him, “Are you sure this is okay?” She asks Dick softly.

He takes in the familiar sights, the laughter, the rides, the stalls and nods, “I haven’t been to a circus since my parents’ deaths.” He tells her, “But I used to love it. The atmosphere, the people, the magic.”

“You didn’t have to bring us here if it’s painful.” Rachel replies.

Dick wraps an arm around her shoulders, “It’s not. I want to have good memories of the circus again and I think being here with you guys will help. This is probably the closest you’ll get to meeting my parents.”

She nods, nestling closer to his side as they join Gar and Kory, “Thanks for letting us be a part of this.”

They get to the front of the line and Dick spares them a glance, “Four tickets please, including the show.” He tells the ticket seller, eyes drifting to the tents behind the booth.

This feels right. Graysons back at the circus. It’s in his blood and he wants nothing more than to share it with them.

The knot of apprehension in Dick’s stomach eases as he watches Rachel and Gar take in the circus for the first time, they bounce around the different stalls and pull Dick and Kory into the various smaller tents to explore. He loves seeing the circus through their eyes, he had forgotten the wonder it held for kids who came to visit and there is something in the way his kids light up that makes him feel warm and whole.

Kory holds his hand, eyes scanning his face every so often, but she says nothing and Dick is thankful for that. This was always going to be hard on him, coming back here, but they make it worth it. He is thankful he can share this with them, another piece of himself he can give over to his family.

They stay for hours and Gar insists on trying out every game stall they pass. They buy popcorn and candy apples and anything else with a high sugar content and Dick knows they’ll both be passed out in the backseat on the way home.

It’s starting to get dark when they make their way into the big top tent for the final show. Dick knows what’s coming and tries to brace himself for the sight of trapeze artists in the rafters, swinging and twirling through the air and between bars. He feels the bubble of fear rise up in him as the stunts get more elaborate and he knows exactly what they must be feeling. The excitement and adrenaline and fear pumping through their blood as they swing. He remembers it well.

Dick is lost to the sight before him, wondering if his parents would have ever tried a routine like this one. It’s more flamboyant then The Flying Graysons but still impressive and has captured the attention of the crowd. This will be act they all leave talking about, Dick knows. The one that will stay with them.

He feels Kory slip her hand into his and gives it a grateful squeeze as he continues to watch the act. The last time he was at the circus he left as an orphan and now he’s back with his family. There is something jarring about that Dick can’t quite place. He remembers the fall, his fear as he swung helpless from the bar and the curtains fell. He remembers the moment he became an orphan, watched by the crowd wanting entertainment. As if sensing his distress Rachel, who is sat on his other side, takes the hand closest to her and Dick spares a glance to see her reach out for Gar’s on her other side as well.

Dick lets out a breath through his nose, focusing on Kory’s and Rachel’s hands in his own. Of his family around him as the act on stage heads towards its end. He doesn’t see them though, he sees himself and his parents, their old routine. He sees the laughter of their training sessions and the way his mother almost looked like she could fly when she was on the bars.

When he thinks about them falling, he stops himself, thinking about Rachel on the bars instead. Of that time Trigon messed with his head and Rachel came for him. He caught her. He saved her. He didn’t let her fall.

The end shows and everyone around them bursts into applause but his family refuse to let go of each other’s hands. Dick can feel tears pricking at his eyes and Rachel leans her head on his arm.

Kory’s eyes burn into the side of his face, “Are you okay?” She asks.

Dick isn’t sure how to answer at first. There is so much churning up inside him and for a moment he wonders if it was a mistake to bring them here. To come back. But then he spares a glance at her, turns to look at Rachel against him and Gar giving him a small nod for support and he settles.

He squeezes Kory’s hand, leans down to kiss Rachel’s head and nods, “Yeah.” He surprises himself with how true it is, “I’m okay.”

People start filtering out, but they stay seated, “That was epic.” Gar tells him and Dick loves him for that, for the easy out Gar is giving him.

“The amount of practice they have to do, it should be.” He smiles thinking about his own gruelling training schedule at Haley’s.

Rachel lifts her head, “Thank you for bringing us here.”

“It was a big part of my life. So are the three of you.” Dick tells her, “Thank you for being here. All of you.”

Kory smiles softly, “We didn’t do anything.”

“You did more than you can ever know for me today.” Dick tells her.

 He means every word. He wouldn’t have come back here without them. He wouldn’t be the man he is today without any of them.

/

“Detective Grayson?”

Dick looks up to see a young, uniformed cop standing awkwardly at the side of his desk, the anxiety rolling off him in waves as he calls for Dick’s attention.

“How can I help you?” Dick replies, brow furrowing. He doesn’t know why the young officer is here to see him and the way the younger man is shifting from foot to foot tells Dick he clearly isn’t bringing good news.

The cop – whose name badge reads Cortes – rubs the back of his neck, “We uh…” he pauses and Dick waits patiently, “We have your wife downstairs, we’re about to book her for processing…”

He hears nothing else, already on his feet and heading for the stairs. The young officer races after him. Kory is downstairs? Kory has been arrested? Dick’s mind is sent reeling with that information. What’s happened? She is hurt? His heart hammers in his chest as he starts heading down to the processing room where apparently his wife is being held.

“What happened?” Dick demands to the officer still on his heels.

The other man seems out of breath as he replies, “Reports of a disturbance at the bar on 5^th. The owner called it in, apparently one customer had a little too much to drink and got aggressive with the bar staff.”

Dick’s blood freezes. Kory works in the bar on 5^th. She’s still trying to find something she likes and wants to try as many different things as possible. Currently she tends the bar downtown where the owner lets her experiment with mixing different cocktails and creating new ones for the menu. She isn’t sure she likes it enough to stay but Dick knows she likes the work enough for now.

“Is she hurt?”

“What?”

He spins on the stairs, nearly causing the cop to ram into him, “Is my wife hurt?” He asks with a low voice that is meant to intimidate.

It works and Dick sees the other man swallow, “N-no, maybe you should just see for yourself?”

He turns and takes the rest of the stairs in record speed until he reaches the processing room, his new shadow right behind him.

Dick scans the room and instantly finds Kory on a chair, hands cuffed in front of her with a look of boredom on her face.

“Kory!”

Her head snaps up to meet him as Dick barrels his way towards her, “Are you okay?” He crouches down in front of her, hands on her face as he checks her for injuries.

“I’m fine, Grayson.” She tells him in a voice that makes it an obvious answer. Of course, she’s fine, she’s Kory. The Warrior Princess of Tamaran. Dick wishes she’d stop trying to give him a heart attack though.

“You were arrested.” Dick points out, breathing a sigh of relief that other than the handcuffs she’s completely fine.

She shrugs, “A misunderstanding, right Cortes?”

The young man behind Dick looks sheepish, “There was an altercation at the bar between Mrs Grayson and Mr Jeremy Bates, the drunk causing trouble.”

Kory snorts, “By altercation the kid means I laid him out for trying to grab my arm when I refused to serve him another.”

Dick nods, turning back to Cortes, “Charge?”

“Assault, Detective Grayson.” Cortes replies, “Mr Bates claims she gave him third degree burns. He’s currently being treated by paramedics.”

He turns back to Kory, giving her a sharp look. She stares back and Dick can see she’s trying not to laugh again.

“She gave him third degree burns?” Dick says with an easy breath, “With what? Her hands?” He chuckles as if it’s the most amusing thing he’s heard all day.

Cortes still looks sheepish, “He does have burns on his arm.”

“And we have no proof my wife caused them. No source of heat behind the bar that could have inflicted those wounds. He could have walked into the bar already burned and then started a fight.” Dick points out.

Kory is watching him with a quirked eyebrow and Dick is trying not to get distracted by her, “So it’s the word of a drunk man against a sober employee doing her job by refusing to serve him alcohol?”

Cortes says nothing as he ponders the thought and Dick wonders just how green he actually is.

“Get the handcuffs off her right now.” Dick demands and the order jolts Cortes into action. He gets to work on freeing Kory’s hands as Dick makes eye contact with her again, this time he can see the smile on her face.

“What about the fight?” Cortes asks as he frees Kory, standing back up and letting Kory do the same.

Dick frowns, “You took statements from the eye witnesses in the bar and from Kory?”

“He did.” Kory chips in, “He was very thorough.”

She is enjoying this far too much for Dick’s taste. Cortes visible relaxes at her praise and Dick wants to point out he shouldn’t be so relieved when complimented by the detainee, but he lets it go.

“Okay, so the guy will sober up and you can take his statement. He’ll probably drop it; I can’t imagine he’ll remember much about this afternoon and even if he wants to take it further it seems like plenty of people can attest to it being self-defence.” Dick replies, “Job done, paperwork’s all yours Cortes.”

Kory raises a hand, “So I can go now?”

“Unless you want to make a complaint about being wrongfully arrested and have Cortes here have to fill out more paperwork?” Dick asks with a grin. Cortes visibly pales.

Kory pretends to think about it, “I’ll pass. I promised the kids I’d make lasagna tonight and this guy looks like he’s having a day. What did you do to him, Grayson?”

Dick pretends to look shocked, “Nothing. He’s fine, right Cortes?”

Cortes looks like he wants the floor to swallow him whole, “Right.” He affirms weakly.

Dick claps him on the back, “Good man.” Then turns to Kory, “I’ll walk you out.”

She smiles and leads the way through the station with Dick on her heels. They make it all the way to his car before he finally speaks.

“What the hell, Kory?”

She turns, “I know I shouldn’t have used my power, but the guy was an asshole and grabby. You would have done the exact same thing and you know it.”

“Getting arrested?” Dick responds.

She snorts, “Cortes looked a little sick when I told him who my husband was. I feel sort of bad for the guy.”

Dick snorts, “He’ll be fine. He’ll probably get stuck with a partner for another year before they give him a solo job again though.”

“I really didn’t mean for this to be a big thing. I was only trying to give him a little heat so he’d let go of my arm but then he had to made a move on Becca and well, she’s a teenager for godsake. He deserved it.”

Dick abruptly pulls Kory to him and kisses her, his hands on her arms as Kory melts against him. God, he loves this woman. When they pull part Kory is breathless, and Dick isn’t much better.

“I love you.” He tells her softly.

“Not that I’m complaining but what was that for?” She’s referring to the kiss and it makes him want to kiss her again.

He shrugs, “Because you’re such a mom.”

Kory laughs and swats his shoulder, “Sorry for all the trouble, Detective Grayson.”

Dick smirks, “Protecting teenage girls against drunken assholes? I should probably be thanking you; you showed more restraint than I would have.”

She smooths his tie against his shirt, “Well, you’ve always been a hothead.”

“Takes one to know one, Princess.” He reminds her and leans in for another kiss.

As they kiss Dick thinks Kory Grayson is something else. A truly incredible woman and he is so in love with her it scares him a little.

/

“They took Gar!”

That’s how Dick feels his world fall away from him, with those three words from Rachel’s mouth as she rushes in through the door in a panic.

CADMUS. He doesn’t know how they tracked them down or why. They took his damn son on the way home from school and knocked his daughter out so she couldn’t fight back.

Dick is ready to burn the place down brick by brick.

Kory is already one step ahead of them, rushing to the closet where they keep their old suits. They are going in full force. Dick is not going to let them hurt Gar, not again. Never again.

He should have been more vigilant, more tuned to the fact CADMUS was rebuilding after their last encounter and part of Dick wants to call Bruce and ask why the League is even letting CADMUS stand as a brainchild of Lex Luthor’s villainy. But he doesn’t have time because he needs to get to Gar now.

That’s how they end up storming through CADMUS in their suits, Nightwing heading up the three-person rescue mission. Rachel manages to clear them a path using her power and Kory ploughs ahead, burning up anyone who tries to stop them. Dick has his weapons at the ready, electricity crackling as he pins up a man in a lab coat against the wall.

“Where is he?” His voice drips venom and beside him Kory glows orange.

“The tiger is being tested.”

Dick punches him in the face and hears his nose break, “He’s a fucking kid.”

Black smoke curls around them and Dick knows Rachel is holding back with everything in her, the control she’s showing is impressive, but he can’t think about that now. He punches the man again, blood splattering onto his suit.

“Room?”

“We can help him.” The man replies, “His power…”

“Let me make myself perfectly clear,” Dick hisses, “If you hurt our son in any way, I will bring this building down to the ground.”

“512.” The man gasps, “Room 512.”

Dick shoves him to the ground, following Kory as she leads the way, Rachel following behind him.

When they find Gar it’s worse than Dick can imagine. Gar isn’t a tiger but a green wolf, growling at the door with a dead scientist at his feet, throat ripped out. Dick wants to be shocked that apparently Gar can change into other animals but right now all he can focus on is that these bastards took his son and hurt him and made him kill to protect himself.

Kory crouches down, one hand out to soothe the wolf in front of her and Dick follows suit, tugging Rachel down with him so the animal doesn’t view them as a threat.

“We’re here baby boy.” Kory calls to him, “We’re right here.”

“Come on Buddy, let’s get you out of here.” Dick adds, “Let’s go home.”

“Please Gar.” It’s Rachel’s voice, thick with tears, that seems to have the animal recognise them. It tilts its head to the side, eyes fading from green to brown.

Dick watches as the form changes and Gar comes back to them, naked and shaking, a mess of blood around his mouth dripping onto his chest.

“I didn’t mean…” He trails off helpless, “So much blood. They wanted to…”

“Shhh,” Kory soothes, “You’re safe now, we have you.”

Gar’s eyes move from her to Dick, and he can see the horror and guilt rising up in them, “It’s okay, Gar. You did what you had to do. It’s going to be okay.” He reassures the boy inching closer.

Gar shakes his head, “I bit him.”

Dick glances back at the body and moves himself so he is blocking Gar’s view of it. He reaches out and cups Gar’s cheek in his hand, ignoring the blood, “Look at me.” Dick pleads, bringing Gar’s focus to him while Kory moves to grab a sheet to wrap around their son, “None of this was your fault. None of it.”

“The blood.” Gar shakes and spits out blood like he might be sick.

Dick moves to steady him and when Gar looks at him again, tears streaming down his face something in Dick breaks. He uses the sleeve of his suit to wipe Gar’s mouth and chin clean, blood soaking into the black material instead and Gar lets him do it. Kory comes back with a starch white sheet and drapes it over Gar, tucking it around him. Gar clings to the edges, covering himself and then Dick is there, curling his arms around his son and pulling him into his chest where Gar tucks his head down and cries. Kory falls to her knees beside them and presses herself against Gar’s back so he’s protected on all sides and Rachel grabs at his hands to comfort him as he breaks down in his parents’ arms.

He catches the worry and rage on Kory’s face over the top of Gar’s head and knows he looks similar. How could they do this? To a boy? A kid who never even asked for any of this shit, just had the misfortune of meeting the wrong people offering safety and providing none. Dick wants to wage war against anyone who ever hurt this kid.

“Let’s just get out of here.” Dick tells them, “Let’s go home.”

They help Gar stand on shaky legs and Dick knows he isn’t going to be able to walk out of his own. Without a second thought he leans down and scoops the boy up into his arms, grunting a little as he adjusts to the weight. He is heavy but Dick will manage, he isn’t about to put Gar through any more pain by asking him to walk and he doesn’t want to let the boy out of his sight.

“I’ll go check the corridor is clear.” Rachel tells him, heading for the door with her black smoke curling out of her.

Gar says nothing, just wedges his head between Dick’s shoulder and jaw and clings to him. Dick has never seen him this fragile and it scares the hell out of him. This is yet more trauma Gar will have to deal with and he makes a silent vow that he won’t be alone. They’ll handle it as a family, whatever Gar needs, Dick will make sure he has.

He’s almost out the door when he notices Kory isn’t following and turns to look at her glowing orange, hands outstretched in the middle of the room.

“Kory.” He warns.

“They hurt our son, Grayson.” She replies, anger burning on her tongue, “I’m tearing it down.”

Dick isn’t about to stop her, he shifts his hold on Gar and nods, “Meet us at the car.”

“Better get going, it’s about to become a furnace in here.”

She’s fireproof, he isn’t. Dick spares her one more glance, “Five minutes or I’m coming back to get you.” He tells her before he leaves.

At the car they watch as flames engulf the building, a scattering of people darting madly out of the doors. Gar is settled in the back seat, sheet tightly wrapped around him watching it burn. Dick and Rachel stand next to the open car door on either side of him waiting for Kory to join them.

“They told me you weren’t going to come.” Gar says quietly.

Dick leans down to look at him, “We will always come for you and we’ll fight our way back out. You’re never alone, Gar. Never.”

Rachel points to the building, “Besides our mom is a total badass.”

Kory is walking through flames to get to them, wiping her hands on her suit and Dick sees light in Gar’s eyes for the first time since they found him.

“What are we waiting for?” Kory asks as she approaches, “Let’s go home. You’re driving.”

She pats Dick’s chest before sliding into the back with Gar without another word, holding the boy close to her as Dick and Rachel settle themselves in the front. As he drives, Dick’s eyes flicker to the back seat where Kory is talking quietly to Gar, running her fingers through his hair. He wonders what she’s saying but knows they have this in common. This power that burns them from the inside out and they don’t understand. Gar’s eyes close at her words, finding a sense of peace in them and Dick puts his foot down.

He needs to get them back home; he needs to call Bruce to make sure CADMUS isn’t going to spring up somewhere else. He wants to be able to give Gar this peace of mind, to tell his son that he is safe.

That Dick will ensure it, no matter the cost. That Kory and Rachel will too.

/

They've been a family long enough for Dick to know one simple fact. He knows his kids. He knows what they like and what they don't like, he knows their favourite foods and which ones to avoid buying because it will be left uneaten. He knows how to diffuse arguments and soothe worries. He simply knows his kids.

That's how he knows there is something very wrong when Rachel makes it down one morning in the summer with dark circles under her eyes and pale cheeks. It's just the two of them, Kory and Gar still asleep upstairs and probably will be for at least another hour, and Dick has the coffee ready for Rachel with a mug left on the side waiting.

She goes to it instantly, as she normally does but she doesn't meet his eyes and that's how he knows something is off. Normally she'd give him a sleepy smile and talk to him as she fixes her coffee just how she likes it (way too much sugar, no milk) but not today.

Today, she comes to sit next to him at the counter and Dick notices she shuffles her chair even closer so every time he picks up his own coffee mug they end up brushing elbows. He says nothing. He knows Rachel will come to him when she is ready, whatever it is, she'll tell him once she has worked it over in her mind.

That's just what she does.

Except this time she doesn't. Dick waits with his coffee for her to clue him in and Rachel barely looks at him, giving him short answers like she's distracted by something else on her mind.

He hangs around so long hoping she'll talk to him that it makes him late for work and it's only when he's grabbing his jacket and dumping his mug in the sink that Rachel finally, finally fixes her gaze onto him.

"Do you have any active cases right now?" She asks and it makes Dick pause because it's not a question she normally asks him.

He shrugs into his jacket, "Just one. Robbery downtown, we have a suspect though, just waiting on forensics to come in."

"You'll be careful, right?"

Dick looks at her then, looking more vulnerable than he has seen her in a while and walks round the counter to her, dipping his head to meet her gaze, "What's going on?"

She shakes her head, "Nothing. I just worry about you that's all."

It touches his heart but not as much as Rachel launching herself into his arms a second later. Dick stumbles back in surprise but holds her firmly to his chest, dropping a kiss into her hair, "It's just work, Rach. I'll be back for dinner."

She squeezes his middle like she doesn't want to let him leave, "You promise?"

He has no idea where this is coming from but Dick squeezes her back, "I promise."

Rachel only gets more worrying throughout the day. Dick's phone goes off every hour with a text from her asking if he's okay. He is, mainly doing paperwork until the DNA results come in and at lunch she even calls him. Dick doesn't mind, he loves his daughter and is happy to talk to her but he can tell there is more to this and it sets him on edge because its clear Rachel is also on edge.

By the time he gets home, later than normal thanks to a long interrogation with the suspect, Rachel seems to have hit the next level of whatever this is.

She is waiting for him as soon as he opens the door and flies at him when his feet cross the threshold without a second delay. Dick stands there, Rachel in his arms as he kicks the door closed with his foot so he doesn't have to break the hug. Kory comes to the hallway and he raises an eyebrow at her. She shrugs and Dick understands she has no idea what's gotten into Rachel either.

This isn't like her. She isn't normally this clingy or worried about him and Dick wonders why she's suddenly so worried when he's out of her sight. He goes to work every day and Rachel never reacts like this.

Dick notices her lingering in the doorway as he takes off his jacket and tie, grabbing the plate Kory set out of him and serving himself some food. She watches him as he eats like she is scanning him for injuries and Dick frowns. What is going on with his little girl?

The final straw comes when he walks out of the shower later than night to Rachel sitting outside the bathroom door on the floor, hands on her knees.

"Okay, enough. What is going on?" He asks gently, running the towel through his damp hair, his feet and chest bare but a pair of joggers on his hips.

Rachel jumps up and follows him to the bedroom where Dick grabs his t-shirt from the chair and slips in on and throws the towel in the hamper. She's biting her lip like she's nervous and he feels his heart spike at the look of fear in her eyes.

"I told you I'm worried about you." Rachel tells him but Dick isn't buying it.

"This is overkill, Rach so you want to try that again?"

She pauses and Dick takes a seat at the end of the bed, giving her the floor to explain herself to him.

She shrugs, "It's nothing, it's silly."

"If it bothers you then it's not nothing." Dick insists, "Just talk to me? Please?"

Rachel wrings her hands together and when Dick catches her blue eyes he can see unshed tears reflected in them.

"I watched you die." Her voice is small but clear and it throws him.

"What?"

"Last night, in my dream. We were talking, a normal day and then something happened and you were bleeding and I didn't know what to do or how to stop it and there was so much blood and I couldn't heal you..."

Dick understands now. The over-worrying, the calls, the way she doesn't want to let him out of her sight. She's scared something is going to happen to him and she won't be able to stop it.

"Oh, sweetheart." He moves quickly, engulfing Rachel in his arms and cradling her to his chest, "You're okay, I've got you. I'm right here."

"You were dead, Dick, and I couldn't..." Her words die in her throat and Dick holds her tighter, kissing her forehead once, twice, three times until he feels her calm down in his arms.

When he pulls back, he guides her to sit on the bed with him, "I'm okay, Rach. It was just a nightmare."

"Trigon was just a nightmare once too and it turned out to be a warning."

Dick nods, "But this isn't Trigon. I'm okay."

Rachel sniffles, "I can't lose you, Dick."

"Hey, look." He replies, picking up her hand and placing it over his chest, right over his heart, "Feel that?" He asks, his fingers tapping the beat of his heart out on the back on her hand, "I'm right here. Not going anywhere."

Rachel presses her hand more firmly into his chest, her own fingers tapping in time with his against the fabric of his t-shirt. Dick lets the action soothe her; let's Rachel reassure herself that he's completely fine.

"It was so real." she whispers.

Dick swallows the lump in his throat, "It isn't. Besides, if I was in danger, I'm pretty well equipped to handle myself, don't you think? I haven't gone that soft, I can still take a fight."

That gets a smile out of her and Dick watches her eyes drift over the closet where they keep the old Titans suits, "And if not then I'd save you." She tells him.

Dick chuckles, "I don't doubt that. You've definitely done it enough times."

"Well, you saved me too. It's only fair, right?"

Dick leans in and kisses her forehead again, "Right. A very wise kid once told me we were meant to save each other."

Rachel's smile grows, "She sounds like she needs coffee and pastries from that bakery in town we love."

Dick chuckles, "Does she now?" He lets Rachel's hand slip from his chest, "We'll go tomorrow. Father-daughter day, okay?"

She nods eagerly, "Okay." Then with a pause adds, "I'm sorry about today. I just needed to know you were okay."

"I get it, it's okay. Don't be afraid to tell me this stuff though. I can help." Dick replies softly, "You don't have to keep anything from me, I'm always here."

Rachel flings her arms around his neck and nuzzles her nose into his chest, "I love you, Dad."

Dick breathes a sigh of relief, wrapping his arms around her back, "I love you too, Sweetheart."

/

Dick reaches for another plate from the stack to his left, submerging it into the sink filled with soapy water as he scrubs it clean. He doesn't need to do this he knows, they have a perfectly good dishwasher a few feet away but Dick sometimes likes the simply task of washing up that keeps his hands busy while his mind drifts. It reminds him of being a kid at Wayne Manor again, back in the early days when he felt uncomfortable with Bruce's wealth and grandeur and often found helping Alfred with dishes as a good way to keep himself grounded.

Dick likes to keep busy. He always has done.

At the circus, everyone pulled their own weight and chipped in. There was no time for slackers and so he often sought out tasks to keep himself occupied, especially when his mind was turning over an issue or a puzzle to solve.

He finishes with the plate, dropping it onto the drying rack before going back for another dish on his left. His eyes scan out the window, to the setting sun that gives their porch an orange glow when he feels two slim arms curl around his waist and Kory's lips press against the fabric covering his shoulder.

"You know, we have a dishwasher right there." She tells him, her voice soft and Dick can tell just from her tone that she's exhausted.

He hums thoughtfully, "I know, I just prefer the long way."

"What's on your mind, Grayson?" She removes her arms from around him, moving so she can lean back against the counter next to him and see into his eyes.

Dick both loves and hates how easily she can read him. He doesn't want to burden her with his insecurities right now, she's bone-tired and he had planned to run her a bath and give her a stress-free evening, but Kory isn't going to let him if she knows he's worried.

"The kids." He admits softly, "I hate seeing them like that."

Kory nods, understanding in her eyes, "It was food poisoning, Dick. It wasn't your fault. That restaurant in town needs to be shut down."

Dick's already one step ahead of her and made sure to place a call to the health agency, using his rank as detective to get a rush on an inspection.

Gar and Rachel and a few friends had gone out to eat after school and they both came down with food poisoning that night. Dick had been worried, never used to seeing them ill and hating how useless it makes him feel.

"I know, I just felt so helpless. I know you did as well." Dick tells her watching as Kory softens at the thought of the last few days.

"I hate it too." She admits, "But they are practically back to their usual selves. No more pain or throwing up or us staying by their bed in case they need anything. Kids get sick sometimes, even the force that is Dick Grayson in dad mode can't stop that."

She's right. He knows she's right. But it still feels like his heart is in a vice every time he thinks about finding Gar slumped over the toilet retching or Rachel stumbling into his arms, sweaty and achy and tired.

"Stop it." Kory warns and snaps him back to the present.

"I'm not doing anything."

She scoffs, watching as he moves another dish to the drying rack, "You're brooding. You have the face. That's what Gar calls it, your brooding face."

He wants to deny it but she really can see through him, "Sorry Princess," he says sheepishly, flashing her a smile, "I'll work on it."

Kory seems satisfied with the answer and a smirk grows on her face, "Or we could always..." she trails off as she scoops her hand into the soapy water, collecting the bubbles in her palm and quickly smoothing her hand over his cheek and chin, coating his face in bubbles, "Wipe that broody look right off your face." She finishes with glee, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

Dick blinks, and blinks again before looking at her. Kory's eyes dance and Dick can feel the smile making its way onto his own face, "Oh yeah? We could do that... We could also..." He grabs his own handful of bubbles and wipes his palm down her nose before Kory can blink.

She lets out a squeal that turns into a laugh, "Oh, it's on Grayson!"

They descend into a playful moment splashing each other with water and bubbles until Dick's shirt is soaked and clinging to him and Kory's hair is damp, a collection of suds near her eyebrow. She scoops out more ammunition from the sink and Dick lunges for her, grabbing her to him so her back hits his chest and he can grab her arms in his hands, keeping the mountain of bubbles away from his shirt.

"Dick!" She laughs, trying to spin round again.

Their laughter must bring the kids out of their rooms because when Dick looks up Rachel and Gar are standing in the doorway watching them with wide smiles.

"How are you guys feeling?" Kory asks and Dick makes no move to release her.

"Much better," Gar replies and Rachel nods with a smile.

Dick is happy to hear that, the colour in their cheeks speak for itself. He frees one hand from Kory to reach behind him and scoop up more bubbles from the sink.

"They look like they need freshening up." Dick tells Kory softly, feeling her relax at his words.

"I couldn't agree more." She replied, moving out of Dick's arms to launch herself at Gar. She wipes a handful of bubbles from his forehead to his chin, "Perfect."

Gar splutters, wiping his eyes with a smile, "Oh that's how we're playing it, huh?"

Rachel eyes Dick cautiously, "Dick, don't you dare."

He beams at her, "Come on Rach, give me a hug."

She shakes her head, "You'll get it in my hair!"

He launches for her, quicker than Rachel can dodge him and manages to smear bubbles over her cheek and neck. Rachel blinks, frozen for a second before rushing to the sink for her own ammunition.

"Okay, let's go." Gar chimes in, grabbing the bottle of water left on the side and unscrewing the lid, throwing water in Dick and Kory's direction.

All hell breaks loose and shrieks of laughter rupture through the kitchen as they attempt to soak each other. Dick is happy to see them happy, especially after the past few days and doesn't complain when Rachel manages to soak the rest of his shirt or when Gar gets the back of his head with a splash of water that slides down his back.

By the end of the night they are all soaked to the bone (and the kitchen looks like a tidal wave hit it) but happy, Rachel and Gar arguing about who gets the first shower while him and Kory make their way to their own bathroom.

When he slips into bed beside Kory that night he feels lighter, the smile on his face still firmly in place as he folds Kory into his arms and turns out the light.

His family really is everything.

/

“Hey Dick, you got a second?” Gar asks from where he’s leaning across the counter in the kitchen from him.

Dick scans his face, sees the hint of nervousness lingering in Gar’s eyes and promptly shuts his laptop, making sure Gar knows he has Dick’s full undivided attention.

“Always, Buddy.” He tells him with an easy smile, “What’s going on?”

Gar shifts from foot to foot and Dick wonders what he’s about to say that has been so rattled. He hasn’t picked up on anything in Gar’s behaviour lately that would be a cause for concern. He’s enjoying school, he just got the cast taken off his arm and Dick knows he’s excited to be able to have full mobility when playing video games. Rachel, much to Gar’s dismay, still isn’t at his level even with a busted arm.

“I need dating advice.” Gar’s eyes drop to a spot on the counter and Dick tries not to choke on air.

This was not what he was expecting.

“Dating advice?” He repeats, the words sounding weird in his mouth.

He gets a nod in reply before Gar finally looks up, “How do you tell someone you like them? How do you know if they like you? Why is this so complicated?”

Dick snorts out a laugh, “Look, I might act cool and collected with Kory but trust me, she was the brave one at the beginning of our relationship.”

“Dick, we all know you were a goner for Kory from day one. There was nothing cool or collected about you.” Gar points out and Dick winces at the memory.

“Hey, I handled it just fine.”

Gar laughs, eyes shining, “Right.” He stands up straight and squares his shoulder, trying to carry himself like Dick, “Kory, I’m not going to tell you my feelings because I’m dark and complicated and have Batman issues, but I will stand here and tell you how great you are with the kids and that there’s an extra seat in the car with us. I’m not going to actually tell you to take it but please take it.” Gar mimics, lowing his voice as he pretends to be Dick.

He frowns, he was not like that. At all. He was being respectable and frankly, he was a mess and Kory deserved better. They both agreed they had shit to sort out before they became anything more to each other.

“Batman issues?” Dick questions with a glare.

The boy shrugs, “Robin issues?”

“And we’re back to you.” Dick replies, swiftly moving the conversation away from him and back to Gar. He doesn’t want to go down that road today.

“Right, so how do you tell someone you like them?” Gar asks, hands crossed over his chest.

“With words?” Dick quips, “That’s always worked for me.”

“That was the worst dad joke you’ve ever told.”

Dick smiles, “Couldn’t resist.” He loves the way Gar tries to hide a smile whenever he makes a terrible quip or remark, like he’s trying not to show Dick he’s funny, but he can’t help it, “So, tell me about this girl?”

Gar pauses, eyes darting around the room while he brings a hand up to rub the back of his neck, “So here’s the thing… what if it’s not a girl?”

Oh.

Okay then. Dick might not have guessed Gar was attracted to guys on his own but he is completely open to it. Suddenly, the boy’s nervousness is understandable and Dick nods to himself because Gar likes guys and that’s great.

“Not that I don’t like girls,” Gar rambles with a flush in his cheeks, “I do. I just, right now, it’s… he’s… a guy.”

Dick smiles, warm and accepting, “So, bisexual?”

“I think so.” Gar responds, “I’m still working it out myself.”

“Okay, we’ll you don’t need to label it if you don’t want to. You like who you like.” Dick responds, “So, tell me about him.”

And that’s all there is to say on the matter. He watches as Gar relaxes, a smile on his face as he tells Dick about the boy in his English class that sits in front of him and has the top score on Gar’s favourite game. They talk about the books they are reading for class, which games they play and where they’d like to travel one day. Dick can’t help but smile as Gar talks.

“Firstly, do you know if he likes guys too?”

“He’s gay.” Gar confirms, “Came out to his parents last year. His mom wasn’t cool about it.”

Dick frowns, “That sucks.”

“He’s single, we’ve talked about it, but I just don’t know whether telling him is a good idea. If things with his mom aren’t great, then maybe me putting my feelings out there is only going to make the situation worse?”

“The issue with his mom has nothing to do with you. Some people can’t understand that loving a person can sometimes mean loving someone of the same sex. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just a fact.” Dick tells him gently, wanting Gar to know he can be trusted with this information, “I think you should just talk to him. Don’t force it, just let it come up naturally when you guys hang out. Maybe somewhere out of school? Read the situation and trust your gut if you feel the moment then go with it.”

Gar nods, “Feel the moment. I can totally do that.”

“Just don’t overthink it. You’ve already talked about your sexualities, so it isn’t going to be completely random, you know there’s a chance there.” Dick replies.

“Is that what you did with Kory?”

He laughs, “Kory is more of a seize the moment than go with it type.” His smile gets wider just thinking about his wife, “You know it didn’t come together straight away. We had to get on the same page first but when we did? The first time I stopped being scared and had my shit figured out and I told her that I wanted her? It felt like it was heading that way for a long time, you know? Kory and I, we were always on the edge of something, but we couldn’t get out of our own way.”

Gar smiles, “And then you married her.”

“And then I married her.” Dick beams, “Well, there was a whole lot of stuff in the middle as well but my point is: it all worked out in the end.”

“And me and Rachel are both grateful for that,” Gar replies, a teasing edge to his tone, “God knows watching you make puppy eyes at her from across the room was bad. Not as bad as her secretly checking you out when you weren’t looking though. There are some things a kid doesn’t need to see from his parents.”

Dick’s eyes go wide, “She was checking me out?”

“Seriously?” Gar asks incredulously, “You’re married to her, why it that a surprise?”

“It’s not. Just good to know.”

Gar pretends to dry heave, “And that’s my cue to leave.”

Dick smiles but stops Gar before he can walk out the door, “Gar, thanks for telling me.”

The boy shrugs and before Dick can form a thought, he’s being enveloped by Gar’s arms around him as the boy hugs him from behind, fitting his head into Dick’s shoulder, “Thanks for being cool about it.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t be?” He reaches up with his hands to lock onto Gar’s arms and return the hug.

“No.” He shakes his head, another smile curving on his lips, “I knew you would be.”

With that he leaves, releasing his hold on Dick before turning and heading out the door. Dick stares after him with his own smile on his face.

His kid is pretty great and it’s moments like this when Dick thinks he’s pretty good at the parenting thing himself. He still has so many moments of insecurity, of second-guessing himself, because he’s responsible for these two humans and he wants to be the best for them.

But little moments like today with Gar make him think he’s giving them what they need. A good, stable home that’s loving and supportive and safe and maybe that’s enough.

Still, Garfield Grayson is the bravest person he knows, and Dick is nothing short of honoured that he gets to see him grow like this, past all the trauma of his childhood and the fear of the tiger inside him to the boy who survived it all and keeps on growing.

/

"Kids, if you don't leave in the next five minutes you're going to be late to the dance!" Dick shouts up the stairs at them before returning to the living room.

Kory is leaning against the doorway with a quirked eyebrow and a playful smile, "Such a dad, Grayson." She teases softly but there is something new in her eyes Dick can't read. Something he hasn't seen in her before.

He wants to question her about it but he hears the thunder of footsteps on the stairs and knows now isn't the time.

Gar and Rachel barrel towards them in a rush of wide smiles. It's the evening of their senior dance and Dick knows they are both excited and nervous for it.

Rachel rushes over to Kory with a hairclip in hand and she seems to communicate with her silently because Dick watches Kory smile, take the clip and move closer to Rachel to help tame her hair.

Gar shrugs sheepishly, gripping the ends of the tie in either hand as he approaches Dick and he softens at the sight. They've practiced this but Gar still hasn't gotten the hang of it and Dick knows it's harder than it looks. Bruce had him trained by the age of 13 to be able to tie a tie several different ways and use a proper bowtie rather than a clip-on.

Dick takes the ends of the tie out of Gar's hands and gets to work while the girls do the same with Rachel's hair. He pulls the tie gently so one end is longer than the other and slows his movements so Gar can take them in.

"Over, wrap around twice," Dick instructs as he does the movements with the tie in his hands, "Under, up and through. Then you pull and straighten it up."

He nestles the tie against the starch collar of Gar's shirt and tucks the end into his black suit jacket with a flourish.

Gar beams, "I'm never going to get that."

"Don't worry, my bowtie skills are still as woefully as ever. Thank god for Alfred is all I can say." Dick replies, smoothing out the collar of Gar's suit with a proud smile, "You look great."

Gar ruffles his hair nervously, "Thanks."

Rachel and Kory join them, one side of Rachel's hair pinned back artfully with her hairclip.

Dick smiles, "And you look beautiful."

He thinks Rachel blushes at the statement but can't be sure, "Thank you. The car should be here any minute."

"I hope they have good music." Gar muses.

"What are you guys going to do while we're gone?" Rachel directs the question at him and Kory and Dick can feel his face burning.

"Date night." He replies, giving Kory a wink.

The kids share a look and both grimace at the thought of what date night could mean.

In the distance a car horn sounds, signalling their ride. Dick takes a moment to take them both in. His kids, dressed to the nines for a school dance. This slice of normal, they finally did it. In this moment it suddenly hits him. He helped give them this, a childhood, a normal life of school and friends and homework.

He's damn proud of that.

Kory rushes to envelope them both in a tight hug, "You both look amazing, have fun tonight." She tells them as she pulls back.

They look to him expectantly and Rachel frowns at the look on his face, "You're not going to get all emotional, are you?" she asks teasingly.

Dick scoffs, "Me? Emotional? Coming from the girl who cried during movie night last night."

"Your eyes do look a little glassy, dude." Gar agrees and suddenly he feels very seen.

"I'm just happy, okay? Look at you guys, heading to your senior dance. I'm so proud of you both."

Rachel smiles, "Definitely emotional."

"It's sort of endearing." Gar teases.

Dick snorts, pulling them both into a hug so they'll stop teasing him, "Give me a break or I'll ground you both."

They laugh into his shoulders and Dick squeezes them once more before letting them go.

"You guys better get your ride." Kory reminds them, "Don't worry, I got papa Grayson here."

She loops her arm through his and Dick shoots her a glare that labels her as a traitor. He's allowed to be a little emotional. These kids have come so far, survived so much and now they're soaring. Not for the first time, Dick is proud and honoured to be their father.

The kids leave with waves and a chorus of goodbyes before the door shuts behind them leaving him and Kory alone in the quiet of the house.

She bumps his shoulder with hers, "Date night?"

Dick nods, "Takeout?"

"Definitely," She hums, "You know, they'll be thinking about college before we know it. The house is going to feel very quiet."

"Too quiet." Dick agrees, "I have to admit I sort of like the chaos of having the kids around."

Kory looks at him then, eyes wide and unreadable, that same thing flickering on her face that Dick saw earlier.

"You mean that? About liking the noise and chaos of the kids?" she asks and she seems unsure to him now, biting her bottom lip.

He frowns, "Of course. I wouldn't change anything about having those kids in our life. It was messy and complicated and fucking scary for a while but this family, Kory? Our family is everything to me."

"I'm pregnant." She blurts out, eyes wide as the words leave her mouth.

Dick's whole world freezes because that wasn't what he was expecting. She's... And they're.... Oh wow.

"What?" His jaw drops in shock for a moment, "How long have you known?"

She doesn't meet his gaze, "About a week. I was going to tell you sooner but we haven't really talked about babies properly and I just needed to get my head straight about it."

He pauses, "You don't want..."

"I do." Kory says strongly, "I just... I spent so long trying to figure myself out. I never really fit on Tamaran, never really lived up to what was expected of me. Then I came here with no memories and spent so long trying to figure out how I fit in this world, this life..."

Dick pulls her to him gently," You fit with me. With this family. "

She nods, her smile big and bright, "Yeah, I guess I do."

He lets out a laugh then and picks up her, spinning her round in his arms until Kory is laughing too.

"A baby." he says in wonder when he puts her down, not letting her leave his arms as he places his forehead against Kory's, smiles matching each other.

"A baby." She repeats.

"I love you so much."

Kory beams, fingers digging into his biceps, "You ready for this, Grayson? Late night feeds, constant crying, little sleep. Rachel and Gar were a little easier to handle."

He slips a hand down to her stomach, warm palm curving over her still flat skin, "I think we're up to the challenge." He tells her.

"Another little Flying Grayson in the mix it is." Kory smiles, her hand coming to rest against his on her stomach.

"Besides, this kid is going to have the best big brother and sister in the world." Dick reminds her.

"Oh god, we're going to be outnumbered."

"We've faced Trigon and Deathstroke." He points out, "We can handle three kids instead of two. Even if one is in diapers and crying a lot."

"I love you." Kory replies and Dick can't wait any longer. He closes the gap between them, kissing her deeply, they're hands still tangled together over her stomach.

Right where the new addition of their family is growing.

Dick doesn't know what he did to deserve her or their kids, but he'll never stop being thankful for whatever brought them into his life.

Family, Dick thinks, are the people that you choose, and he knows he'll never stop choosing them.

Chapter Text

At first, he sees nothing. No light, no structure, just an endless darkness that creeps into his bones, his soul.

Dick feels like he is swallowing shards of broken glass and his feet move although he can’t make out a direction or even a surface below his feet. Is he actually moving? Or just being weighed down by the abyss?

Then he sees it.

A blinding light that gives shape to everything in front of him. Suddenly, Dick wishes for the dark. What he sees before him now is nothing short of horrific and as much as he wants to run he can’t seem to move, to look away, to scream.

The bodies of his family litter the ground by his feet.

Gar is bloody and Kory’s eyes are open and lifeless. He feels the bile rise in his throat, but no sound escapes him.

He forces his eyes away and sees Rachel, half hidden in the shadow, blood marring her pale face.

No, he thinks, or maybe he screams it. Dick isn’t sure anymore.

He falls to his knees in the blood and dark of it all. They can’t be…

He was meant to be protect them.

But here they are. The bodies of the people he loves in front of him.

And here he is. A boy masquerading as a man, but still just as broken and damaged as Robin had been when he used the suit to cling to violence and rage instead of hope and love.

This is how Dick Grayson falls.

Dick jolts up in bed with a start, heart pounding wildly in his ears as he gulps down frantic breaths. It felt so real. The blood soaking into his knees, the fear, the bodies of his family. He can feel the sweat cooling on his skin and then he feels Kory’s hands smoothing down his spine as she sits up next to him and something in him loosens the tiniest bit because she’s here, she’s alive.

“Dick,” Her voice is soft and sleepy, and he feels her press a kiss to his bare shoulder, “Another one?”

He doesn’t need to answer her, his nightmares have been plaguing him for the better part of a week now and Dick doesn’t understand where they came from. Why this fear at losing them is lodged so deeply in his chest that he thinks it might actually crush him.

Kory hands are constantly moving against his back, his shoulders, his hair, providing him with comfort from the simplicity of her touch. Dick tries to breathe but even that seems heavy in the darkness of their room tonight.

“The same.” He tells her when he feels like he can compose a sentence.

Kory responds with another kiss on his neck, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” He can’t even think about giving a word to the images from his dream, “I just need to go check on the kids.”

“They’re fine.” She promises and Dick knows she’s right, but he needs to see that for himself. It’s the only way to calm himself down.

He sighs, running a hand down his face as he swings his legs over the side of the bed, “You should go back to sleep,” he tells her softly, “You’re sleeping for two now.”

He knows she’s smiling without having to see it. She’s only about six weeks pregnant but every time someone brings up the baby Kory beams like she can’t quite believe it’s real. He can’t either. Rachel and Gar are far too excited by the addition of their family though and Dick knows this kid is going to have such a strong loving family behind them he isn’t worried about not being enough.

“Are you going to come back to bed after?” Kory asks him, pulling him back from his thoughts.

Dick nods even though she can’t see him, “Yeah, just give me a minute. I’ll be back before you can miss me.”

He gets up and Kory lets him go. This is how it works with him. He has a nightmare and then he has to address the need to check on the rest of their family. He’ll be on edge until he does, and Kory seems to understand that. She makes a show of getting comfortable again, pulling the covers up over her.

“Whatever you saw, we’re all safe.” She promises as Dick stumbles blindly to the door.

For now. They are safe for now.

In the hallway he can see properly, Kory always leaves the bathroom light on for Rachel and it helps guide his way. He peeks into Rachel’s room and smiles when he sees her curled up on her bed with a book in her hands, she must have fallen asleep reading.

Dick approaches the bed quietly, taking the book out of her hand but being careful not to lose the page because she might kill him if he does and places it on her nightstand. Then he grabs her covers, pulling them up to her shoulder. Dick can’t resist leaning down and placing a kiss on the girl’s temple as he smooths out the hair on her cheek.

Rachel sighs sleepily, “Dick?”

He winces, he didn’t mean to wake her, “Yeah, it’s me. Go back to sleep.”

Her eyes are open now though and she softens, “Another nightmare?”

Apparently, he hasn’t done a good job of hiding them and he knows that’s probably because of his insistence to check on her and Gar most nights this past week.

He nods, “It’s okay. Just doing the rounds.” He tells her like it’s completely normal.

“We can go sit in the bathtub if you want?” She yawns adorably, “It always works for me.”

Dick wants to laugh and cry at that because how many times has he tracked Rachel down to the bathtub after she’s had a nightmare and crawled in there with her so she isn’t alone? Too many for him to count. But he doesn’t think it’s going to be as effective for him and she really should be sleeping, not worrying about him.

“It’s okay Rach, I can handle this one.” He kisses her head again, “Go back to sleep.” He whispers before making his way out of her room.

Gar is next and he’s thankful Gar sleeps like a log, so he knows the boy won’t wake up to the late-night check in. Gar is sprawling out like a starfish on the bed, one leg up against the wall, one arm dangling over the edge. Dick gets a twinge in his back just from looking at his son but makes his way over to see the way his mouth hangs open slightly in sleep as he mutters something Dick can barely hear. He leans down and places a kiss on Gar’s forehead.

He’s fine. Everyone’s fine.

He needs to get a grip.

Dick finds himself in the living room on the couch afterwards, doesn’t want to take all this back to bed with Kory. She’ll worry and he hates giving her something to worry about. He reclines back, legs propped up on the coffee table and ignores the chill in the air around him that sends goose bumps throughout his skin.

It was just a dream.

He doesn’t know how long he sits out there, maybe minutes, maybe hours before the pad of feet find him. He looks up to see Rachel and Gar standing in the door, Kory just behind them. All of them watch him with worried faces and it makes Dick want to break down.

He doesn’t know how they all came to be out here. Did Rachel wake Gar? Did Kory? Or did he when he went into his room? But they all left their beds for him and it makes him feel impossibly whole.

Gar trudges over, covers wrapped around him like a cape as he settles himself to Dick’s left, pressing close enough that Dick’s left arm is covered by his blankets. Kory and Rachel approach together, Kory moving to the end of the couch so she can rest her back against the armrest and throw her feet into Dick’s lap, her long legs on display in her shorts. Dick grabs her calf, warm and soft, and rubs his thumb against her skin in thanks. Rachel is all arms and legs as she steps over Kory’s legs, making a nest for herself in the space between him and Kory, leaning her back against Dick’s right arm and tucking her feet under Kory’s shoulder blade near the end of the couch.

Dick is engulfed in love and warmth and his family weighing him down from all sides and he feels lighter than he has in ages. No one says a word as they get comfy, Gar’s head finding his shoulder, Kory’s toes tucking under his thigh so they don’t get cold and Rachel leaning back against his arm. Everyone touching him in some way and lending him their love, their strength.

“You guys don’t need to do this.” He tells them but he doesn’t want them to go.

Kory wiggles her toes against his leg, “We’re not letting you go through this alone.”

Rachel nods, “You never let us deal with our nightmares alone, so you don’t get to either. And if you don’t want to talk about it then that’s fine. We’ll wait out the morning together.”

“You save us from the things that go bump in the night, we save you.” Gar adds in, “Especially if you don’t want saving.”

Dick lets out a strained laugh. His family really are remarkable. He relaxes into them, the feel of them around him and the warmth they bring to his heart. For the first time tonight, he isn’t thinking about his nightmare, he’s just thinking about how lucky he is to have them.

And also, that they should get a bigger couch.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Rachel asks him gently.

Dick shakes his head, “No, I just want to stay like this for a bit longer.”

And so, they do.

/

Kory’s already waiting for him as he gets out of the car, she seems as confused as him as to why they’ve been called down here in the middle of the day.

“Did she say anything to you on the phone?” Dick asks as he gets out and locks up, making his way over to Kory who is perched by the main office.

She shakes her head, “Just that Rachel had been in a fight and we were both needed in the principal’s office to discuss the situation.”

It doesn’t make any sense. Rachel isn’t the sort to get into fights at school. She’s a model student, always does well in her classes, homework handed in on time. Yet, when Kory called to tell him the receptionist at Rachel’s school wanted to see them about a fight, he started to worry this was something to do with her power. Did she feel threatened? Was she hurt?

“Fighting isn’t like Rachel.” Dick tells her as they walk up the stairs to sign in with the receptionist.

Kory smooths her hair back, “She’s capable Dick, you made sure of that.”

“For Titans training, not school yard disputes.” He replies.

They are ushered quickly into the Principal’s office and his eyes quickly fall on Rachel sitting on one of the seats. She ducks her head when she sees him, but Dick can see a small scratch mark on her cheek as she does. He offers Kory the seat next to Rachel and moves to stand between the two chairs.

“Mr and Mrs Grayson,” The Principal greets, she’s an older woman with high cheekbones and crows’ feet, “Thank you for coming down. I’m afraid there has been a bit of a scuffle at lunch and Rachel here was caught hitting another pupil.”

Dick’s eyes go wide, and Kory turns to look at their daughter, “Rachel?” She questions.

Rachel bites her lip, “Mark was being an asshole, he shoved Sarah into a locker because she refused to give him her math homework.”

“As you can imagine, we have a zero-tolerance policy on violence at this school.” The Principal addresses them, “Issues are to be sorted out with words not fists, Miss Grayson.”

Dick knows there is more to this. Rachel isn’t the type to hit first, ask questions later, “Hold on a minute, shouldn’t this Mark kid also be here?”

“Mr Madson was on the floor when a teacher found them, no one saw him throw a punch.”

“Rachel.” Dick says softly, crouching down to meet her eyes, “What happened?”

“Mark wanted Sarah’s homework and she said no. Then he started calling her names and pushing her. Sarah and I both asked him to back off and he didn’t listen, when she tried to walk away, he shoved her so she tried to shove him back but he’s bigger than her. Mark got angry and raised his fist, he was going to hit her… so I step in and hit him first.” Rachel replies, her blue eyes boring his Dick’s brown ones. He hears Kory make a surprised sound behind him.

“The punishment for such actions is expulsion.”

Kory scoffs, “You’re going to expel her for standing up for her friend?” She asks incredulously, “Seriously?”

“We don’t tolerate violence, Mrs Grayson, even in the defence of a friend.” The Principal replies sharply.

Dick frowns, “So this Mark is getting expelled as well?”

The look on the Principal’s face tells him everything he needs to know, “As no one saw…”

He cuts her off, “You’re willing to expel an A class student for protecting her friend but not the bully who started the violence in the first place?”

“That’s bullshit.” Kory remarks and the Principal’s face turns white.

“Kory.” Dick warns.

She stands up, full of fire, “No, it is. You don’t tolerate violence, that’s great unless it’s some kid thinking he can get away with hitting a girl because she gave him an answer he didn’t like. That’s a great way to foster the masculinity of the future. You’re a woman, surely you can’t agree with that.”

Dick’s sure he could hear a pin drop at the statement and honestly, he doesn’t think Kory is wrong.

“What about if we find an alternative.” He offers before Kory can think about burning a hole in the wall with her hand, “We’ll deal with disciplining our daughter for her actions and you find a way to resolve this without anyone getting expelled.”

The Principal cocks her head to one side, “I suppose if Miss Grayson were to write an essay on why violence is never the answer to be handed to me on Monday and we keep her off school for the rest of the week to make that point crystal clear we can all move forward from this? It is very out of character for your daughter, after all.”

“Right.” Dick agrees, “She’ll write the essay.”

Which is ironic considering they all used to choose violence as a way for good men and women to stop doing nothing in the face of injustice. Rachel really is more of a Grayson than he knew.

“Okay.” Rachel replies, “I can do that.”

Kory nods, “Perfect. Glad we could find a resolution. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ll take our daughter home to reflect on her actions.”

Dick can hear the mocking in her tone and has to bite his cheek to stop himself from laughing as they usher Rachel out the door and wish the Principal a good day.

“Am I really in trouble?” Rachel asks him on the walk to the car.

Dick pauses, “You’re grounded, that’s for sure.” He tells her, “And you do have to write that essay but I’m not going to tell you standing up for your friend is wrong. It would go against everything I’ve ever said to you during training.”

Kory loops an arm around her neck, “Definitely grounded. But tell me, where’d you hit him? Did it leave a bruise?”

“Kory!” Dick protests but he can see Rachel is smiling.

“What?” She smiles at him, “You taught her self-defence, Grayson. Don’t get mad at me if she’s using it. You should be proud, you taught her well.”

“Oh yeah, my daughter almost getting expelled fills me with the warm and fuzzies.” He deadpans as he unlocks the car door.

Rachel smiles sheepishly, “Actually, I did use that combo move you taught me back at the tower. The jab to the stomach followed by the right hook.”

Kory laughs, “She’s a chip off the Grayson block, that’s for sure.”

Dick knows he shouldn’t endorse this. He definitely needs to be the firm parental figure here, but he can’t help but be a little proud of her for standing up for herself and her friend and not letting some bully push her around. He taught her to look after herself so he doesn’t think he can be mad when she does.

He sighs in defeat, “Did you keep your thumb to the side like I told you?”

Rachel beams, “Yeah, and I squared my shoulders first for better aim.”

Kory and Rachel both look at him with wide smiles and he shakes his head, “That’s my girl.” He responds with a laugh and bumps her nose with a knuckle.

“But I’m still grounded?” Rachel asks as he opens the car door.

Dick raises an eyebrow at her, “Still grounded.”

/

Dick Grayson loves his wife. He really does. But Kory has a habit of trying to give him an early onset heart attack.

She’s fierce and stubborn and he loves it, except when it comes to her safety then he tends to want to pick her up and tuck her into bed with him so he knows she’s safe. It’s irrational, he knows, and Kory would kick his ass if he tried it.

So, he deals with the occasional metaphorical heart attack and tries not to scowl at the amusement Kory gets from his overprotectiveness.

She loves messing with him and he loves her.

That doesn’t mean his overprotectiveness doesn’t get worse after he finds out she’s pregnant.

When Dick walks into the kitchen after his shower, hair still slightly damp he doesn’t expect to find Kory balanced on the counter top, head halfway buried into the back of the cupboard as she rummages around for something.

He takes in the chair she’s pulled up to the counter to climb up and the way she’s on tiptoes to be able to reach into the depths of the cupboard they keep the teabags and Dick’s eyes immediately go wide at the sight.

“What are you doing?” He asks coming over to her. His voice startles her and Kory bangs her head as she leaves the depth of the cupboard to look at him.

“Trying to find the herbal tea. I know we have some back here. It’s meant to be good for morning sickness and right now that’s kicking my ass.” She tells him like she isn’t standing above him on the counter giving him mild anxiety.

Dick reaches out a hand for her, “Why didn’t you ask me to grab it?”

“Because I’m not an invalid?” Kory scoffs, “Besides, incase you forgot I’m taller than you, Grayson, I figured getting it myself was easier.”

Dick concedes her point but still keeps his hand outstretched until he sees Kory sigh and take it, letting her use his shoulder for support as she climbs down to the floor again.

“You’re pregnant.” Dick reminds her, “What if you fell?”

She softens at his words, “Pregnant doesn’t mean ill, Dick. I’m perfectly capable of getting myself a cup of tea.”

He knows that, he does, but the need to protect her seems to be getting fiercer lately.

“You’re right.” He nods, “I just… if anything happened to you or the kids, I don’t think I’d survive it.”

He wouldn’t. He knows that for a fact.

And that’s what it boils down to, ever since Kory told him she was pregnant. This constant fear that he’d lose her or Rachel or Gar or this baby. He’s had a family before and lost them and it was almost the end of him. It would have been if it weren’t for Bruce and even for Robin, for the outlet he gave his pain and grief.

But losing them?

That would be the end of Dick’s whole world.

Kory looks at him then, grabbing his hands in hers with a sad smile, “Okay, we need to talk.”

He can feel the tightness in his chest at her words and knows they’ve reached a breaking point in their stalemate. Kory’s been following his lead that everything is fine and with one look Dick knows she isn’t going to humour him anymore.

“I’m…”

“I swear to god, Grayson, if you say you’re fine I might actually make you sleep on the couch tonight.” She huffs, “I love the overprotectiveness, really, even when it’s annoying but this is a whole new level. Are we really going to pretend it has nothing to do with your nightmares?”

Dick sighs because she’s right. He told her what he sees at night, the blood and the horror that haunts him. He feels it rising in his chest now and squeezes her hands tighter, like Kory is the light that can chase the darkness away.

“I know I’ve been worrying you lately…”

“Understatement,” She cuts in, “The kids see it too, you know? We’re all worried so tell me what’s going on.”

He almost doesn’t want to give it a voice, to put it out there for other people to have to deal with it but he knows he needs to. Keeping it bottled up isn’t healthy and Kory is looking at him with so much love he can’t help but choke out the words, “I can’t lose you, any of you.” He whispers, forcing the words out.

Kory sighs sadly, as if she were expecting the answer, “Your parents?”

He nods, “Ever since you told me about the baby, I just keep thinking that the bigger our family gets, the more there is to lose.”

“Oh Dick.”

“I want this with you. This life, our kids, this baby. All of it. I do.” He says passionately, pulling her hands to his chest, “And sometimes it terrifies me that I won’t be enough to protect you.”

“But you have protected us.” Kory replies, “How many times have you saved Rachel and Gar? How many times have you protected us even from ourselves? That’s what you do, Dick Grayson, you save people.”

He feels his chest cave then and pulls her to him, breathing in the scent of her as Kory slides her hands to his back, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She tells him softly, “We’re all okay.”

“I’ll work on the overprotective thing. I don’t want you to think I think you’re helpless because I don’t. God Kory, you’re… everything. Strong and fierce and more than I could ever deserve.”

She kisses him suddenly and it stops his words on his tongue. Dick feels the last bit of insecurity and fear slip away from him as she pulls back, “Maybe you should call Bruce?”

“Bruce? You think he’s going to have some sage words of wisdom on this?”

She tilts her head to one side, arms around his neck, “He seems to have wisdom on everything, but I think you need to talk to him about this. It’s something he can relate to. Growing up in a life where your number one fear is losing the people you love, again.”

Dick frowns, brows furrowing, “I don’t know…”

“If you call him, I’ll let you grab the teabags for my tea.” She bargains and Dick knows she’s trying to keep it light for him.

God, he loves her.

“Okay Princess, you win.” He relents because he thinks she’s right. Bruce might be just the right person for this.

Kory’s fingers play with the hair curling at the nape of his neck, “I always win.”

He smiles then, easy and natural, and it grows as Kory smiles back at him.

“And just for the record, Grayson?” She adds with a coy smirk, “On my planet, pregnant women can still join the army and fight in wars.”

Dick balks at the thought, “No wars, but I’ll concede on not freaking out about you standing on countertops from now on.”

Kory smiles at him again and suddenly Dick isn’t sure whether she was joking about pregnant Tamaran soldiers or not.

It’s going to be a long eight months, he thinks.

But this, this is how Dick Grayson learns to soar.

/

He hates the early shift. There is something fundamentally wrong about having to drag himself out of bed when the sun hasn’t even risen yet and Kory feels so soft and warm in his arms. But they take it in turns having the ghost shift at the station and Dick knows he needs to get up.

He’s quiet as he gets ready for the day so he doesn’t wake Kory, the pregnancy has been tiring her out lately and he wants her to have as much sleep as possible before Rachel or Gar end up waking her when they get up for school. Dick leans down to kiss her cheek softly before he leaves the room though, smiling at the little sigh from Kory as he does.

In the kitchen he grabs his badge and his tie from the table where he left them last night and picks up a banana from the fruit bowl as his breakfast. He’ll get coffee on the way to work to avoid being late. Dick goes to grab his jacket when he notices something off.

The porch light is on and the front door is unlocked which is strange considering Dick made sure to lock up last night before he and Kory turned in. He frowns, shrugging on his jacket as he makes his way to the door to investigate.

He isn’t sure what he expected but the sight of Gar sitting outside on the porch in one of those old creaky wooden chairs Dick was meant to get rid of isn’t it. The boy is still in his pyjamas, worn red plaid bottoms and a black t-shirt and he doesn’t even notice Dick open the door and step onto the porch with him. Gar’s gaze is fixed on his hands, hanging limp over his knees.

There’s a rustle of wind against Dick’s jacket and he knows Gar must be freezing because he doesn’t have a coat or even shoes on. If the boy does notice the cold, he doesn’t react to it though, whatever is on his mind to have him out of bed this early in the morning cancelling out everything else.

“Gar?” Dick asks softly, walking towards him with measured steps so not to scare him.

Gar’s head jerks at the sound of his voice, glancing quickly at Dick before returning his gaze to his hands.

“What time is it?” The boy asks him, his voice detached in a way Dick isn’t used to hearing.

“Early. A little before five.” He replies, “When did you wake up?”

“I didn’t go to sleep.” Gar tells him like that’s a perfectly acceptable answer.

Dick’s frown deepens, moving to sit himself into the chair next to Gar’s. It creaks under his weight and Dick tries not to move incase it collapses under him as he leans forward towards his son and takes in the haunted look on his face.

“You’ve been out here all night?” He asks incredulously.

Gar simply shrugs, “Not all night.”

Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. Dick can feel it in his very bones as Gar glares at his hands like he doesn’t recognise them.

“Nightmares?” Dick tries because he knows since CADMUS Gar has been getting them a lot more lately but normally the boy wakes him or Kory. He doesn’t shut down. Dick wonders what he saw to have him pull away like this. To close up this much.

“If I don’t sleep then I can’t get nightmares.” Gar tells him logically and Dick feels his heart break because suddenly he understands. The reason Gar is out here, the reason he didn’t come to him or Kory. The reason he looks so tired and haunted.

He doesn’t want to face what awaits him in his dreams.

And Dick understands that, really, he does. Talking to Bruce about his fears helped, a lot, and he found once he understood his own dreams, they stopped haunting them. He wants to do that for Gar, he wants to be there for him through this trauma he knows Gar is struggling with. But Gar is so different from Rachel, she seeks Dick out for solace, for comfort, for strength. Gar shuts down for protection, for survival, for preservation.

Dick ignores the stone settling at the pit of his stomach as he softens.

“That plan isn’t going to work forever.” Dick tells him gently, “You need to sleep sometime.”

“Whenever I close my eyes, I see blood.” Gar’s voice is bitter and hollow and far too jaded for a kid, “It’s coating my hands and I feel it in the back of my throat like it’s trying to choke me.”

Dick feels his eyes prick with tears because this is so much worse than he thought. Gar’s trauma has been slowly eating him alive for weeks and the boy has been pretending he was fine.

And Dick didn’t see it.

It’s the first time in a long time that he feels like a failure as a father.

He covers Gar’s hands with his own, hiding them from the boy’s view, “There’s no blood. There’s nothing there.”

“I’m damaged.” Gar says it like he’s sure, like he’s thought it over in his mind and this is the only answer he has come up with.

Dick shakes his head, “No. Don’t ever say that.” He can hear the emotion in his own voice and raises a hand to Gar’s chin to get the boy to look at him, “You went through hell, Gar. We all have. But you’re here, alive. I thank God for that every day.”

“The rest of you don’t let it affect you. You aren’t scared to fall asleep or haunted by the things you’ve done.”

“Listen to me,” Dick replies, “All of us have our trauma. We’re all a little damaged, honestly. But how you deal with it, how you respond to it? That’s what matters. That’s the only thing that matters now.”

Gar sniffles and for the first time Dick feels him squeeze the hand Dick still has on top of his, “What if the Chief was right…”

“No. he wasn’t. That man was a monster and I wish I could kill him for what he did to you, but you are strong, Gar. You can move past this. We can, together. You aren’t alone in this, not for a single second. I’m here. Kory, Rachel, we’re all here.”

“How do you do it, Dick?” He asks, “How do you move on from everything you’ve been through like it’s nothing.”

Dick sighs, “It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever do, not letting the past define you. No letting all the bad shit change you. I should know, it took me years to realise that’s exactly what I was doing with Robin, letting my trauma define me, shape me into someone I didn’t want to be.” He pauses, slotting his hand into Gar’s, “You are better than I was. You always have been.”

“I just wish I was normal.”

“If I could give you that, I would in a heartbeat.” Dick tells him.

Gar nods, “I know, but you’ve given me this family. You’ve given me enough.”

Dick can’t help but pull the boy to him then, listening to the creak of their chairs as Gar collapses against his chest and wraps his arms around Dick’s waist, clinging to him like a monkey. Dick holds him as tight as he dares, as if he can patch the boy back together with nothing but his will. He can’t, he knows, and that knowledge kills him.

“We’ll do this together.” Dick vows, “You just need to tell me what you need. Don’t shut me out because you think it’s going to be easier.”

He hears Gar snort against his shirt, “Like you’ve never done it because you don’t want to burden us.”

Dick knows Gar has a point and kisses the top of his head, “I was wrong. Surrounding myself with family, with people I love? That’s how I deal with my damage. That’s how I fight it. It took me too long to realise that. I’m better with you guys in my life.”

“I think I am too.” Gar replies as he pulls away and Dick doesn’t comment when he sees Gar wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand.

Dick cups his cheek, “One day at a time, okay? What do you need?”

Gar seems to think for a moment before giving Dick a sheepish smile, “I am pretty tired.”

This Dick can do.

He nods mostly to himself before pulling the boy up with him and heading back into the house. He steers Gar to the couch and watches him sink into the cushions before heading to the kitchen for a glass of milk.

“Really?” Gar smiles, “Milk and cookies?”

“I’m pretty sure Kory ate the last of the cookies.” Dick replies, sitting down next to Gar with an easy smile.

“I keep a secret stash behind the coffee, I figured that would be safest considering she can’t drink it anymore.”

Dick raises an eyebrow, “Hiding cookies from a pregnant woman. A dangerous move.”

Gar’s smile grows as he stretches out on the couch with his head in Dick’s lap. He lets out a yawn before speaking, “Like you don’t have an emergency stash of M&Ms behind the cauliflower.”

He does and now he needs to find a new hiding spot.

Gar yawns again and Dick can see his eyes growing heavy as he curls his hands into his chest.

“Wait, you were leaving for work, right?” Gar asks sleepily.

Dick calms him by running a hand through Gar’s hair, “Don’t worry about it. It can wait.”

Gar doesn’t respond because he’s already asleep and Dick knows he’ll be calling in sick at the station and letting Gar take the day off school so he can watch over him and make sure he gets some proper rest.

Gar’s trauma isn’t going to heal overnight, Dick knows, Gar has been through more than most, but he will stay with him and figure it out for as long as his son needs him.

He refuses to fail Gar for a second time.

/

“What’s all this?”

Dick’s question is met by three pairs of eyes meeting his gaze from where he stands in the doorway. They’ve been busy today, he notices, taking in all three wide smiles that tell him his family are very pleased with themselves.

It’s Gar that answers, “It’s a blanket fort for movie night.”

Dick takes in the scene in front of him. They seem to have collected every blanket and pillow in the house to set up their fort, including stealing the couch cushions to act as a buffer between them and the carpeted floor. The couch itself had been pushed back and the coffee table moved to one side to make the space big enough for all of them and someone had managed to string up blankets from the ceiling, so they draped down to the floor, giving their fort the look of a tepee hut.

They’ve been very busy.

“We stocked up on snacks.” Rachel tells him proudly, holding up a share bag of popcorn in one hand and a bag of M&Ms in the other (probably because she knows they are Dick’s favourite).

Kory is sitting next to Gar with her legs crossed, already in her pyjamas along with the kids, “Don’t look at me, this was Gar’s idea.”

Gar nods, taking full credit, “Everyone should know how to make a blanket fort, Kory. The mini-Grayson will thank me for this when they’re older.”

“Mini Grayson?” Dick raises his eyebrow taking in Kory’s smile.

“I’m sticking with it until you guys decide on a name.” Gar tells him.

Kory laughs, “Maybe we should wait to find out the sex first.”

“If it’s a boy Gar is a great name.”

Dick shrugs out of his jacket, “Having two kids named Gar might be a bit confusing.”

“Okay, maybe not Gar.” The boy concedes.

Rachel watches the whole interaction with a smile on her face, digging into the popcorn in her hands, “Come on Dick, Kory has never seen The Incredibles before, she’s going to love it.”

An animated movie about a super family? Of course she’s going to love it, Dick thinks, as he toes off his shoes as well. When he’s ready he approaches the fort but Kory stops him with a raised hand.

“Nice try, Grayson. I’m told forts are pyjamas only.” Her eyes twinkle and Dick feels the urge to kiss her.

He does as instructed and heads to change into his own pyjamas to settle down and watch the film with his family. When he comes back Dick claims a space for himself in between Rachel on his left and Gar on his right with Kory on Gar’s other side. She’d become more protective over their son lately, especially with Gar’s nightmares although Gar had been doing better at dealing with them and always comes to the two of them after one now.

“Hand over the M&Ms.” He tells Rachel as he flips onto his stomach, propping himself up onto his forearms so he can see the screen.

Rachel gives him the bag with a smile and settles down mimicking his position on her stomach, bag of popcorn in front of her, feet up in the air so they touch the side wall of their blanket fort.

Kory starts the movie as she digs into the bag of cookies her and Gar are sharing and as much as Dick tries to concentration on the screen he can’t seem to focus because he’s surrounded by this amazing family, his amazing family. Moments like this are ones he cherishes and there has been so much worry in their house lately, first him and then Gar. He thinks, hopes, this is a sign they are coming out the other side of it, stronger and more united than ever.

Rachel shifts closer to him and Dick lets the smile curve onto his face. Not for the first time he thinks about his parents and how much he wishes he could let them know he turned out okay. That he doesn’t stay angry forever. He’ll find a family, a place to belong. He feels like it’s important they know that. Maybe they already do. Dick has been toying with the idea of heading back to Gotham to visit their graves, something he hasn’t done since he was a kid, maybe asking Kory to come with him because he also isn’t sure if he’s ready yet. The trip to the circus was more of a struggle than he thought, and he really doesn’t want to take a step backwards and fall into the cycle of more nightmares. Maybe one day.

By the end of the film, it’s only him and Kory left awake. Rachel is all but using him as a pillow, her head against his shoulder blade as Dick is still on his front. It’s been uncomfortable for a while but he doesn’t want to move and risk waking her, he can feel the press of Rachel’s cheek against his back and the touch of her palm near his spine through his t-shirt as she cuddles in close to his side.

Gar is curled on his side facing Dick, using Kory’s arm as a pillow as she curls around him, one hand smoothing over Gar’s arm reassuringly in his sleep. The smile on the boy’s face makes Dick feel relief that the nightmares have spared him for another night.

“Lightweights.” Dick scoffs, nodding his head towards Gar.

Kory smiles in response, “They’ve been constructing this thing for most of the day. They even drew up plans before they started.”

“It’s great.” Dick’s eyes drift to the impressive blanket structure surrounding them like a warm cocoon of protection, “Maybe we’ll just let them take fort duty for the little one?”

“Sometimes, with everything they’ve been through, I forget how young they really are.” Kory tells him, brushing Gar’s hair away from his forehead.

Dick feels the warmth of Rachel settling over his back and understands exactly what she means.

“Do you ever get hit with how amazing they are?” Dick asks softly, “Like out of nowhere, this jolt of how fucking special these kids, our kids, are?”

“All the time.” She beams.

Dick sighs, “Gar wishes he were normal. I’ve never asked Rachel, but I think she’d choose to be as well given the choice.”

“I wish we could give them that. I wish I could take all the pain and suffering they’ve been through and carry it for them, so they didn’t have to deal with it.” Kory’s voice is soft, but Dick knows how much she wishes they had a happier childhood. He wishes for it as well, that they were all together from the beginning so they wouldn’t understand what nightmares were and how fear could consume them. What pain feels like.

“You’re such a good mom, Kory.” He breathes out, eyes drifting down to her stomach where there is the slightly hint of a curve.

She seems to follow his thought, one hand moving to cover her stomach, “You know this baby could have powers as well. They’ll be half Tamaran and I’m not even sure what that means, whether they’ll possess starfire or take more after you.”

He nods gently, “I’ve considered it.”

“And?”

“And what?” Dick asks, “Powers or not, this baby is going to be loved. If they end up with powers, then what’s one more powered kid in our life? We’ll handle it. We taught Gar and Rach control, and this baby would have your powers, so we’ll understand them more. If they turn out to be like me, human, no special abilities…”

“You definitely have special abilities, Grayson.” Kory cuts in.

“If they don’t have powers then that’s okay, one less thing to worry about. But it doesn’t matter to me either way.” Dick finishes, eyes meeting hers.

Kory breaks away first, “You know, you’re the most normal one here. Don’t you ever wish you picked someone more like you? Someone who…”

“Don’t even finish that sentence.” Dick warns her, eyes fiery, “You’re it for me, Kory. I’ve never loved anyone like I love you, powers, alien heritage and all.”

Her eyes glass over and Dick wonders if she’s going to cry, “Damn hormones.” She mutters, refusing to let the tears fall and he falls a little bit more in love with her.

“Clearly the baby agrees with me.” He teases gently, feeling Rachel’s hand grip his t-shirt at his back but he knows she’s still asleep by the steady breathing.

“You Graysons,” She huffs, “Always causing me trouble.”

“Technically, Princess, you’re a Grayson too.”

Kory beams at him, “Yeah, I guess I am.”

They end up sleeping in the fort, not wanting to wake to kids and Dick ends up with a bad back for a few days afterwards but he doesn’t care because he knows when he wakes up in the morning the first thing he’ll see is the faces of his family and that’s worth it, all the pain they’ve been through, the loss, the insecurity. To have this right here.

This is how Dick Grayson wins.

/

Dick heads out towards the car in the surprisingly warm afternoon planning to stock up on groceries so they actually have something to cook for dinner tonight. They ordered pizza last night, so Dick knows they have to put something on a plate with vegetables to try and balance it out.

Their neighbour, Mrs Henderson, an elderly lady who spends most of her time gardening and trying to gift Kory seeds to get her into the hobby is out on her porch, phone in hand when she spots him. Dick gives her a smile and a wave in greeting, he doesn’t want to get blacklisted by their neighbour for appearing unfriendly although he instantly regrets that decision when the older lady starts hurrying down her steps and making her way over to him.

He really hopes he isn’t about to get more seeds to present to Kory, his wife really isn’t a gardener and the last thing he needs is her trying and failing to pot seeds because she doesn’t want to upset the old woman by throwing them out, only to be disheartened when they die in a few weeks. The baby really is playing havoc with her hormones right now.

“Dick!” She calls out as she closes the distance between them, and Dick plasters a big smile on his face.

“Mrs Henderson, how’s the hip?” Was that rude to ask? He really is bad at small talk.

“Do you have a ladder in there?” She points towards Dick’s house and he frowns because he definitely doesn’t think a lady with a dodgy hip should be thinking about using a ladder.

He pockets his car keys, “A ladder?”

“For the cat.”

Dick’s frown deepens, “I didn’t know you have a cat.”

She huffs, “I don’t. They are little menaces, always peeing in my tulips.”

“Of course.” Dick agrees, really wishing Kory had been here for this conversation. She was better at small talk than him, Dick is convinced she could charm Satan himself (and she’d already charmed Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd so really, she’s halfway there).

Mrs Henderson is still talking, “…And there it was stuck up in my tree meowing loud enough to scare the birds. I was just about to call the fire brigade. Or do you think the pet shop would be better? Maybe a cattery, do we have a cattery?” She pauses for breath, “The thing is probably sick, it looks a shocking shade of green. Probably been rolling around in god knows what…”

That caught his attention.

“There’s a… green cat stuck up a tree in your garden?” Dick asks.

The lady huffs again, “You’re a pretty one but slow. That’s what I just said.”

Dick ignores the insult because of course a green cat can only mean one thing. Gar is currently stuck up a tree in their neighbours’ garden and probably can’t change back whilst he’s scared.

“Don’t worry about calling, I’ll come and get it down for you.” Dick tells her with a smile, “I’m sure that will be the last you see of him.”

Mrs Henderson seems to accept the offer and waves a hand to beckon Dick to follow her back over the road to her house. He does, keeping step with her as she leads him round back to the garden and over to the large tree at the bottom of it that takes up a hell of a lot of space. It’s an old one, lots of twisting branches and drooping leaves.

And there near the top, clinging onto the branch with its claws is a small green cat. Gar.

The cat meows when he spots Dick, like he recognises him but still refuses to budge even an inch. Instead, he stares down at Dick with those green catlike eyes in steely determination that clearly says: I’m not moving. I’m stuck. You’re going to have to come to me.

He sighs in defeat.

Gar had been experimenting with his powers a lot lately, having learnt he could change into animals other than a tiger he wanted to understand it so Dick agreed to help him train once a week like they used to back at the tower. So far Gar had turned into a wolf, a snake, a rabbit and one time even a snail. But a cat is new.

“Told you, you’re going to need a ladder.” Mrs Henderson tells him as she glares up at the cat.

Dick shakes his head, “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Don’t damage the branches. This tree has been here longer than you’ve been alive.” She warns, “I’ll fix you some lemonade.”

“Oh, that’s fine, I don’t need…”

She cuts him off, “It’s homemade, you’ll love it.”

“Okay, thank you.” Dick smiles and watches as she walks back into the house to prepare him a glass. He doesn’t like lemonade, never has done but he isn’t about to tell Mrs Henderson that.

He focuses his gaze back on Gar, “You owe me for this, Kiddo.”

The cat simply blinks at him, doesn’t even bother to meow in agreement.

Dick stretches his arms out in front of him and shakes them loose. He’s been trained in acrobats since birth and often climbed the tree outside his window at Wayne Manor to escape. This should be a piece of cake.

He jumps, catching the lowest branch and swinging himself up. His muscles burn at the action as he weaves his way past branches to reach Gar. The cat stays where he is, watching Dick’s approach with wide eyes. Dick hopes that’s a look of awe and gratitude as he finally reaches his hands up to the branch where Gar is, his feet on a lower one.

“I’m pretty sure we made a rule about experimenting with your powers without supervision.” Dick tells him, “How did you even get up here?”

The cat meows but makes no move towards him and Dick figures that’s all the answer he’s going to get.

Gently, he reaches out and grabs the cat around the middle, lifting him off the branch with the scrape of Gar’s claws on the wood and into his arms. The cat meows again, claws digging into Dick’s t-shirt.

“Ouch.” He tells his temporarily furry son, “Those are sharp you know.”

Securing Gar with one hand, Dick uses the other to start climbing his way down the tree, cautious of every move causing Gar’s claws to dig into his skin.

“If you make me bleed, I’ll put you on dish washing chores for a week.” Dick warns with a hint of a smile watching Gar’s tail fluff up in protest, “Hey, you got stuck up here, don’t blame me. Mrs Henderson was about to call the fire brigade.”

They make it down in one piece and once Dick’s feet are back on solid ground, Gar releases his hold on Dick’s shirt with a small meow that Dick takes as a thank you.

“I got you, Buddy.” He says, stroking Gar’s furry head, “No more trees though, okay?”

The cat jumps out of his arms quickly and in the next second Gar is back to human form, standing beside Dick with a smile and no clothes.

“I’ve been up there for hours, man.” Gar tells him, “Damn dog chased me across the street and then I couldn’t think of another way to get out of reach.”

“Gar!”

The boy looks down to see he’s naked and flushes instantly, diving behind the nearest rose bush to cover himself, “This is getting awkward.”

“Why aren’t you in your suit?”

The boy waves a hand, “I wasn’t planning on turning into a cat today! It just happened and then I saw Kory left the back door open and I thought I’d go find her to show her cat-me and then a dog came out of nowhere. A big dog, Dick.”

Dick rubs a hand over his face, “Okay, we need to get you out of here before Mrs Henderson sees you. I have no idea how I can explain this one. She might have a heart attack.”

Gar nods, “That would definitely be bad.”

“She’s in the kitchen, go out the back gate and then meet me at home.” Dick tells him already shrugging at out his hoodie to give to Gar. The boy takes it gratefully, wrapping it around his middle.

“You’re not coming with me.”

“I’ll be home as soon as I choke down this lemonade and pretend it’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” He promises.

Gar smiles, “Hey Dick,” He calls, “Thanks for coming to get me.”

“You’re lucky Mrs Henderson came and told me otherwise we’d probably be having to steal you back from a cattery.” Dick jokes, “And the last thing I need is Rachel and Kory deciding to adopt a cat while we’re there.”

Gar’s smile is bright as he heads for the back gate, but Dick calls him back, “Grab some clothes when you get home. You’re coming grocery shopping with me as punishment, and we’ll talk about focusing your training on turning back into yourself, so this doesn’t become a recurring thing.”

The boy nods, “Sure thing, Dad, enjoy the lemonade!”

Then he’s gone and Dick really wishes he could ground him for that last jab, but he also couldn’t help the smile on his face at the thought that only his son could turn himself into a cat and get stuck up a tree.

Days in the Grayson household really are never dull.

/

The sound of his phone ringing from his bedside table where it’s charging is what wakes Dick up. His bedroom is still dark, and he’s cocooned himself around Kory, her back pressed snuggly to his front as both their hands are tangled over her stomach, her baby bump seems to be growing by the day and Dick loves the curve of it against his palm.

He groans in protest because it’s definitely too early for a phone call and he knows it will probably be the station needing him in for a new case.

“Answer the phone, Grayson or it’s going out the window.” He hears Kory grumble next to him and Dick has to smile at that because Kory is a big fan of her sleep and hates to be woken up without the promise of breakfast.

He kisses her shoulder in the dark in reassurance that he’s on it before rolling over, hand blindly moving over his beside table to grab his phone. The clock on the side reads 2:41am and Dick wants to groan again because he definitely isn’t getting anymore sleep tonight.

Then he sees the display and he frowns. Facetime. Rachel. Those two words on his screen seem to jar in his brain because they don’t make sense in his sleep fogged mind.

Rachel is currently in New York, on a school trip with her art class to a bunch of museums and art shows for the weekend and Dick can’t help the fear that lodges itself into his throat at why she would be calling him in the middle of the night from New York.

He quickly accepts the call and relaxes a little at seeing Rachel’s face appear on his phone screen. She’s in her hotel room by the looks of it, in her pyjamas not looking the least bit sleepy. Dick’s own camera square in the bottom corner shows nothing but darkness and the faint outline of his face, he doesn’t want to wake Kory but putting on the lamp until he knows what’s going on.

“Rach?” He asks, voice gruff with sleep, “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

He watches her bit her lip, “I’m fine. I just… I can’t sleep.”

Dick relaxes slightly, rubbing a hand over his face and he moves to get up from the bed so he doesn’t wake Kory.

“Hold on a sec.” He tells his daughter as he fumbles around in the dark to find the door and slip into the hallway, making his way to the living room and switching on the light. His camera flashes with brightness and Dick holds the phone out in front of him so Rachel can finally see his face as he settles himself down on the couch with a dramatic flop.

“Sorry, I know it’s late.” Rachel mutters and Dick can see she’s embarrassed for calling by the way she ducks her head.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart.” Dick tells her with an easy smile, “What’s going on?”

She shrugs on screen, “I’m not used to being away from you guys, I guess. It’s weird not having you down the hall.”

Dick nods because he understands. He hates being away from his family overnight as well and tries to avoid it whenever possible. There is a sense of stability and safety he and Kory had provided these kids since moving to the suburbs, something they have never had before, so it’s understandable that Rachel feels uneasy without it.

“What did you do last night?” He asks her because this is her second night away from home and tomorrow will be the last one before she’s back and Dick can go pick up her from the school where she’ll get dropped off.

“I read.” Rachel tells him, “I finished that series I was telling you about. You have to read them, Dick, they are so good.”

He smiles softly, “I’ll start the first one tomorrow and we can talk about it when you’re home.”

The mention of home makes her smile drop and Dick watches as Rachel folds her arms around herself.

“Rach? Did you have a nightmare?”

She shakes her head, “No, I just really miss you guys. I miss home.”

He never thought Rachel would be the type to get homesick but then she’d never really had a supportive and loving home to miss. Dick is struck by the difference in her now, the stability in her life allowing her the chance to be vulnerable, to be a kid.

“I could put the phone in Gar’s room, and you can listen to the sound of his snoring and muttering in his sleep.” Dick offers, “It will be just like being back in your room.”

That gets a small smile out of her, “I didn’t wake Kory, did I? She needs to sleep.”

“You know Kory, takes a lot to disturb her sleep.” Dick replies with a smile, “I knocked a shampoo bottle over in the shower yesterday morning and she didn’t even stir.”

“Anymore kicks yet?” Rachel asks.

The day before she left, they felt the baby move for the first time. Kory had been able to feel it for a while, but it was the first time Dick and the kids had been able to experience the small flutters against their hand. Rachel was in awe about it and constantly wanting to feel Kory’s stomach to see if she could feel anything.

It really was breath-taking.

“Only to protest at Kory eating pepperoni on her pizza. Apparently, the baby isn’t a fan.” Dick tells her, “Gar thinks it’s because the baby is trying to tell us they want to be vegetarian.”

Rachel lets out a laugh, “Of course he does.”

They lapse into a moment of silence and Dick takes in the dark circles under her eyes, “You need to try and sleep, sweetheart. All-nighters aren’t good for you and I’m sure you have a packed day tomorrow.”

“I know.” She sighs, “I did try. It’s just too quiet and I know it’s not home, you know?”

Dick nods, “Why don’t I stay on the phone with you until you’re asleep?”

“But then you won’t be getting much sleep either.”

“Don’t worry about me, okay? I’m the parent, besides, it will be good practice for when the baby gets here.” He reassures her as he reclines back along the couch, resting his feet up on the cushions.

Rachel seems conflicted, “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Not even a little bit.” Dick responds, “Come on, lay down and get comfy.”

He watches her shuffle around on the bed, climbing under the covers and laying back down. She props up her phone so it’s facing her in bed, but she doesn’t have to hold it and Dick smiles softly as she pulls the covers up to her chin and curls on her side, the same way she’d normally sleep at home.

Dick props his phone on his chest, his hair a mess from sleep and the angle unflattering for his chin but Rachel doesn’t seem to mind as she keeps her eyes fixed on him through the screen with a soft smile.

“Thanks, dad.” She says softly and it makes Dick melt.

“Anytime.”

Another few minutes pass before Rachel lets out a sigh that draws Dick’s attention back to her screen, “Can you maybe… read to me?”

Not an unusual request, it’s something Dick’s done countless times before for both her and Gar and his eyes drift to the books on the coffee table for reading material. He finds the perfect one tucked under her sketchbook.

Dick props up his phone against a mug on the coffee table and grabs the book, “I have the perfect thing.” He tells her holding up a copy of The Art of War that has Rachel rolling her eyes at the screen.

“What is it with you and that book?” She asks, “It’s so boring.”

“Don’t tell Bruce you said that it’s one of his favourites. I must have read it sixteen times as a kid.” Dick replies, flipping to the first page, “If nothing else, it will send you to sleep faster.”

Rachel seems to agree with his point because she doesn’t comment any further and Dick lies back down on the couch so she can still see him as he begins to read.

He isn’t sure at what point Rachel finally falls asleep but when he next looks over to his phone, there she is, breathing deeply clutching the covers in her fist. Dick smiles softly as he closes the book and reaches out for his phone once more.

“Sweet dreams, Rach.” He tells the screen and the little girl sleeping peacefully hours away from him.

/

Exam season hits the Grayson household like a hurricane that leaves Dick flapping around like a mother hen, dropping off coffee and snacks to the kids at regular intervals and Kory reminding them to take a break or go for a walk every few hours so they don’t burn out. Finals are more intense that Dick can remember and both Gar and Rachel are stressed about it for different reasons.

All of Rachel’s teachers predict high grades of her and Dick knows she feels the pressure to perform. He knows she’ll do brilliantly but he also resents the amount of pressure teachers put on kids to live up to their expectations.

“Whatever happens, I’ll be proud of you.” He tells her with a kiss on the forehead as he places a mug of coffee and a bottle of water down in front of her.

Rachel barely registers the statement as she scribbles furiously into her notepad.

Kory appears at her other side, pushing a banana and a sandwich at her elbow, “Eat, baby girl.” She urges, “Breaks are just as important as studying.”

Dick’s pretty sure Rachel would work herself into the ground without even realising it if they weren’t there to constantly remind her it’s not unhealthy. Dick decides exam season is the enemy in the Grayson household.

Rachel does take breaks when they push her though and she’s always better for it. Dick urges her to come out on a run with him in the afternoon – something he doesn’t do often but will start making a habit to help get her out of her head – and Kory drags Rachel out to the store with her and buys her ice cream (which Kory swears has nothing to do with her cravings at all) as a reminder that it’s okay to reward herself for all the work she’s putting into her revision.

He knows their tag-team parenting during exam season works when Rachel slumps down next to them on the couch in the evenings, calling it quits on her revision of the day, and asks if they can watch a movie or play a card game. Have family time.

The answer to that question is never a no.

Gar is different, and Dick knows he struggles with the motivation to revise. He doesn’t excel at school like Rachel does although he does have subjects he likes more than others, so his revision always feels like much more of a chore to him. Gar feels the pressure to do well in his exams despite academics not being his strong suit and Dick admires him for that. Unfortunately, that means Gar can often get frustrated when he doesn’t understand something important for the exam.

Kory makes him smoothies and salad bowls which Gar shoves down one-handed while writing notes with the other hand and she’ll always ask Gar to explain what he’s currently revising to her so he can test out how well he knows the material. Kory is brilliant, she asks all the right questions, never having gone to school on Earth and Dick loves the smile Gar gets whenever he successfully teaches Kory something new.

Dick makes sure to give Gar all the encouragement he can, praising Gar on the amount of work he is doing and the grades he gets on his practice questions because he needs Gar to know that exam results aren’t everything.

“Do your best and that’s all I need to be proud of you, Kiddo.” Dick tells him with a ruffle of his green hair.

Kory appears in the doorway, “If you can teach me about photosynthesis then you have this exam nailed, I promise.”

It works and Gar’s shoulders lose their rigidness.

Dick makes sure to drag Gar away from the desk at regular intervals, so he doesn’t overwork. He lets Gar teach him how to play the latest game on his Xbox and they spend an hour laughing and joking around while Dick keeps losing and Gar keeps breaking the high score record. Kory ropes him into going out with her to the farmer’s market so they can stock up on fruit and vegetables for “revision snacks” and spends her time making different smoothie concoctions with gusto, dragging Gar away from his revision to taste-test each one and help her think of a name.

It works and Dick knows these little breaks help with his revision as much as the actual work does.

Gar often comes to him in the evening with flashcards and asks Dick to help quiz him on a topic. He always does, happy to spend another hour or two picking out questions to ask Gar and feeling a surge of pride at every right answer.

When the exams actually come around, both kids do well thanks to the effort and hard work they put in and pass with flying colours. Dick and Kory take them out to dinner to celebrate and promise them a fun-filled day out in the summer of their choice.

Dick pins their result letters to the fridge, next to photos of their family and a scan of the baby from Kory’s last appointment and beams every time he sees them.

This is how Dick Grayson realises he already has everything he could ever want.

/

“We’re an odd family, aren’t we?”

The question makes him freeze from his spot on the couch and whip his head round to see Rachel leaning against the doorway, school bag still in hand. She’s biting her lip and Dick can tell whatever is on her mind is making her nervous.

He frowns, “Where did that come from?”

Rachel shuffles a few feet further into the living room, dropping her bag to the ground, “We don’t look alike. I’m so much lighter than Kory or Gar. Even your skin looks tan next to mine.”

Dick drops his book onto the couch, not caring about losing his page when he takes in Rachel’s worried expression. He stands and ushers her over to him.

“Did someone say something to you?” He asks gently, hands moving to grip Rachel’s shoulders when she gets close enough.

The girl continues on as if she hadn’t heard him, “And we all have different hair colours, like radically different. We don’t look like we’re a family. Like we belong together.”

Dick’s heart squeezes like a vice in his chest, “Okay, take a seat with me.”

He guides her to the couch spot he’s just vacated and perches himself on the coffee table in front of her so he can watch her reactions, their knees bumping together in the small space.

“I just wish we looked more alike.” Rachel sighs, “Families are meant to, right? Inherit their eye colour and hair colour and skin tone.”

“Everyone’s different, Rach. Everyone’s unique.” Dick tells her, “Not all family members have to look alike.”

“But a lot do.” She protests.

Dick frowns, “Someone at school commented on it?” He guesses and knows he is right when Rachel’s shoulders slump.

“You’re only 30, too young to be my actual father.” Rachel tells him and Dick pretends the statement isn’t like a knife to his chest because he knows it’s true, “And we’re all so different in our appearance. It’s like a literally reminder that we weren’t always a family.”

He shifts forward to grab her hands, “Okay, I might not have been there from day one and Kory might not have given birth to you. I didn’t get to see your first steps or Gar’s first word. But I am your father, Rach. I’ll always be your father because I love you and you chose me. Genes, DNA, all that stuff, it doesn’t matter. What matters is who we choose, the people we fight to be in our lives against everything.”

A lone tear trails down her cheek and Dick’s thumb wipes it away, “I just wish…”

“I know, sweetheart. I wish you were mine in that way too, I wish I got to see baby Rachel and hold her and protect her.” Dick smiles wistfully, “But we can’t change the past, and none of it matters when we have this right here. This family, our family. You are my daughter.”

“I know it’s silly.”

Dick lifts her chin with his fingers so he can look at her, “It’s not. And we might have different skin tones and hair colours but we’re more alike than you think.”

“Really?” She sounds like she doesn’t believe him, and Dick’s smile only grows.

“Absolutely. You’re as stubborn as I am, and as fierce as Kory. We both love reading and whenever you’re concentrating on something you tilt your head to the side just like I do. When you’re angry you stand straighter and cross your arms over her chest and you remind me so much of Kory that I have to do a doubletake.” Dick tells her, “Gar’s the same, he talks in his sleep just like Kory does, but he bottles things up when he’s scared like I do. Kory thinks he’s adopted my half-smile and I know for a fact he takes after Kory when he’s anxious because he fiddles with his hands just like she does.”

Rachel softens, “I never noticed that before.”

“If you spend enough time around certain people you start to pick up their mannerisms, their habits. We’re no different. And all those shared traits, all those little things that you pick up from me or Kory? That’s proof of our family right there. Grayson traits. Because whether we look alike or not, we’re all Graysons.” Dick replies, his voice thick with emotion he is trying to hold back.

His little girl throws herself into his arms and Dick catches her, winding his arms tightly around her so he can rest his chin on her head with a sigh of contentment.

“I love you.” He hears Rachel mutter against his shoulder, “And you are my father.”

Dick places a kiss into her hair, “I love you too.”

/

They’re having a girl.

They found out today and were greeted by eager excitement from Rachel and Gar when they returned home, both bouncing up and down as Dick drew out telling them they would be gaining a sister in a few more months.

He was overcome with emotion at the thought of another child, another daughter and knew Kory was as well. Rachel and Gar couldn’t stop talking about their new little sibling and all the things they wanted to show or teach her. Dick knew they would be the best big brother and sister this baby could ask for.

Another little Grayson.

When did he get so lucky to have three beautiful children and an incredible wife?

Kory was currently laid out of the couch with her head pillowed in his lap, her t-shirt pushed up, so her rounded stomach was on show. Gar and Rachel sit opposite them on the coffee table, eyes glued to Kory’s belly with delight and fascination.

The nurse at their scan had told them about this little trick when she asked whether they had other children and Kory responded that they had two who were excited about the new addition. Resting on Kory’s stomach was a glass of water, only half full and light enough to rest on her belly comfortably without fear of it falling off.

Their unborn daughter is active today and every kick to Kory’s stomach sends ripples through the water in the glass. Rachel and Gar watch each one with rapid interest like Kory is a wildlife documentary and they can’t believe their eyes.

Dick is in awe as well; it was still so surreal to him. A baby, their baby, currently growing while they talked. It is like something out of a dream for him, everyone he loves so close and happy.

“Now we know it’s a girl, you guys can start thinking about names.” Rachel says, watching another ripple in the water as Kory smooths a hand down her side like that kick hurt.

“Whatever it is needs to be epic.” Gar agrees, “Maybe you could name her after Donna?”

Dick chuckles, “As much as Donna would love that, I don’t think so.”

“On my planet, naming a child after someone important is the highest form of honour.” Kory tells him, “A grounding to family.”

“What about your mother?” He suggests, “Keep up a Tamaran tradition?”

Kory wrinkles her nose, “Definitely not. That’s not one that will work well on Earth.”

“What about Mary?” Rachel throws out, “After Dick’s mom.”

Dick shakes his head, “It’s a nice idea, Rach but I think it’s a little old fashioned.”

Kory seems to be considering it though because she moves to steady the glass on her belly, “What about a name that pays homage to your family and mine?”

“You have something in mind?” Dick asks with a coy smile because he can tell she does.

“Mary, on Tamaran it would translate to Mar’i or Mari as we could spell it.” Kory tells him, “It means ‘sunshine’”.

Dick pauses, testing the name out on his tongue, “Mari? Mari Grayson.”

A smile breaks out on Kory’s face as he says it and he has to admit he loves it. The perfect combination of both of their worlds and their family. Gar nods in approval and Rachel smiles.

“I like it.” Dick tells her softly, “A lot.”

Kory beams, “Me too.”

“Alright, little Mari it is.” Gar announces, “Beats calling her Mini-Grayson.”

Kory’s hand moves to her belly and Dick knows she received another kick, “I think she likes it as well.”

Dick softens and moves his hand on top of Kory’s, slotting his fingers between hers on her stomach. He leans down to kiss her head.

“We have to start decorating her room.” Rachel tells them, “I have a plan for a whole feature wall I’m drawing up in my sketchpad.”

“And I’m excellent with a paintbrush.” Gar adds.

Dick smiles, “Okay, this weekend we’ll decorate the nursery.”

“Yellow.” Kory decides, “soft yellow, like the sun.”

“Yellow.” Dick agrees with a smile.

This, he thinks, this is as close to magic as he’s going to find on Earth and he’s going to hold on to it tightly.

This is how Dick Grayson learns to let go of the traumas of his past and embrace the promises of his future.

Chapter Text

Dick tugs at his tie for the seventh time in as many minutes, feeling uncomfortable as his eyes scan the room full of people.

He should never have agreed to this.

He would have much preferred to spend an evening at home with his family watching a movie than having to suit up in black tie and make small talk with a bunch of people for Wayne Enterprises. But Bruce had been insistent.

Dick knows he can’t really argue, his relationship with Bruce is much better than it had been and after he’d sent Alfred in to play the ‘family card’ Dick found himself reluctantly agreeing to bringing Kory and the kids to this gala to celebrate the Wayne Foundation.

He tugs at his tie again, eyes finding Kory in the crowd as she makes her way to him. Dick has taken up residence near the drinks table for the better part of an hour, surveying the crowd from a distance rather than attempting to mingle.

Kory flashes him a brilliant smile when she spots him and Dick feels his heart lurch. She is breath-taking tonight, soft pink curls and a floaty purple dress that does nothing to hide her impressive baby bump. They are three weeks away from her due date – another reason why Dick didn’t want to attend tonight – but Kory had promised him she wouldn’t give birth in the middle of Bruce’s speech in an attempt to placate him.

She reaches his side then, huffs dramatically as she leans into his shoulder and he knows she’s tired. She’s been working the room like she’s born for it (and in many royal ways, Dick supposes she is) and he in awe of her. She’s charming and considerate, she laughs at boring jokes and asks all the right questions to have people eating out of the palm of her hand. Dick really had no chance when it came to her, he knows, he was always going to fall for her. She’s magnetic and electric and he feels a surge of pride that everyone here knows she came here with him.

That she’s Kory Grayson.

It still baffles him sometimes.

Kory straightens up and rubs a hand over her stomach, “If one more person tries to touch my belly tonight, I will end up crisping them.”

Dick smiles, reaching out a hand to touch her stomach knowing he can get away with it. He does, and Kory softens at his touch, letting him soothe their unborn daughter, “You want to leave?”

She hums thoughtfully, “We shouldn’t, Bruce still has to make his big speech.”

“He’ll get over it.” Dick tells her, “He probably won’t even notice.”

They both know that’s a lie.

Dick spots a flash of green hair weaving through the crowd, arms loaded with food as Gar makes his way towards the other side of the room. No sign of Rachel, he frowns, tracking his son’s movements as Kory speaks.

“My feet are killing me.”

“It might help if you take off the heels. You’re nearly nine months pregnant.” He reminds her gently, having already told her twice he thinks the heels are a bad idea.

“Pregnant is still capable, Grayson.” She responds but grabs his arm for support so she can slip off the heel on her feet. Dick lets her, helping her balance from one foot to the other until both heels are off and her feet are hidden by the length of her dress.

He sees her relax again and takes the shoes out of her hand, so she doesn’t have to hold them. The flash of green hair he’s been tracking disappears suddenly under a table and Dick frowns again.

“I think our children are up to something.” He tells Kory, nodding in the direction Gar was headed.

“Without us?” The teasing in her tone is evident and makes him smile.

“Let’s go find out.”

He grabs her hand, weaving through the crowd in the direction Gar was heading and manages to successfully dodge Kory out the way of any eager hands trying to touch her stomach. She stays close to him, using his arm as a barrier between her belly and the smiling faces aimed in her direction. That’s how Dick can tell she’s as drained as he is.

They’ll round up their kids and make a swift exit.

When Dick reaches the table Gar disappeared under, he sees the table cloth rustling and hears Rachel’s laughter from underneath it. He squats down and gently lifts up the table cloth from the floor to reveal both his children sitting under the large round table, cross-legged with the torch on Gar’s phone acting as a light source. In between them is a haul of party food that they are steadily making their way through.

Both pairs of eyes widen at the intrusion, growing more comical as Kory leans down to peer into their little haven as well, rather awkwardly given the size of her stomach.

“Hello, food bandits.” Dick greets with a smirk.

Gar continues to shovel a bite of stuffed pepper into his mouth and swallow before speaking, “Hey, Dad. We can explain.”

“These people are really stuffy.” Rachel tells him, “And boring. They keep trying to pinch my cheeks like I’m five.”

Gar nods, “I think they think I’m in some sort of Joker fan club because of the green hair.”

“So, you went into hiding?” Dick asks gently.

Rachel nods, “We have collectively decided we aren’t party people.”

Dick looks at Kory and she shrugs, “They have food. I’m in.”

He watches as she hikes up she dress so she can still on the floor and shuffle into the space under the table, Gar shifting to make room for her. Dick shakes his head with a laugh and crawls under there with his people, dropping the table cloth back down after him so they are all squeezed in under the table together, hidden from the rest of the party.

That’s how he ends up spending the rest of the night under a table at a fancy Wayne gala with his family.

Kory grabs the plate of cheese and grapes from Rachel’s lap and tucks in, sighing in happiness as she pops a cube of cheese into her mouth. It’s been one of her pregnancy cravings lately, Dick has been making sure they always keep three different styles of cheese in the fridge at all times so she has options (and he doesn’t need to make a last minute midnight dash to the store).

“We’re sorry for missing the party.” Rachel tells him, offering him a plate of fruit.

Dick snags a square of watermelon, “I’m not. This is much better.”

“Definitely.” Kory agrees with a smile, stealing another cube of cheese from the plate in her lap, “Although it might take Superman to help get me off this floor.”

“Superman’s here?!” Gar’s eyes light up.

“No, he isn’t.” Dick tells him.

“Don’t play with my emotions like this, Mom.”

Rachel laughs and turns to Kory, “Don’t worry, between the three of us I’m sure we’ll be able to get you out of here. Right, Dick?”

He nods, “Absolutely. We’ve got you, Princess.”

It takes a few tries, but they do manage to get Kory back to her feet once the speeches are over and then the foursome head towards the exit. If Bruce notices their early departure, then he doesn’t comment and for that, Dick is thankful.

This life has never really been for him.

Besides Bruce probably had his hands full with Jason almost setting fire to the drapes in the back of the room after knocking over a candle. The perfect cover from them to make their escape.

Back at home, they all curl up together on the couch in their rumpled party outfits, passing round a tub of ice cream with four spoons and this, this is the life that has always been for him.

/

The sun is bright and Dick is grateful for the sunglasses on his face as he sits in the stands on Gar’s school field, waiting for the track race to start. Kory is next to him in light cotton shorts, Rachel on his other side in her usual black attire. Dick is surprised she isn’t sweating but her skin is as pale as ever, eyes watching as Gar warms up below them in his starting lane.

His son wasn’t thrilled about joining the track team, Dick knows, sport isn’t Gar’s favourite activity, but he needed a Physical Education credit to pass and decided track would be less painful than joining a sport team.

Gar would be easy to spot with his bright green hair anyway, but Dick doesn’t zero in on that. Instead, his eyes are drawn to the black t-shirt he wears with the word ‘GRAYSON’ embossed across his shoulders at the back and the number ‘03’ underneath. Dick would spot that anywhere.

Kory and Rachel spent the morning making them matching t-shirts in white that they all wear in the stands. Black block lettering across their back that reads ‘GRAYSON’ in solidarity. They are that kind of family now, Dick thinks, and he is more than happy with that knowledge.

“Come on Gar!” He shouts from the stand, grabbing the boy’s attention causing Gar to spin around towards him and give him a little wave.

The runners take their starting positions as their track coach calls their attention.

Dick senses Kory tense next to him, going deadly still and he turns to face her, “Are you okay?”

She pats a hand over her stomach, “Yeah, the little one is just excited.” She tells him, not meeting his gaze but Dick can see she’s gritting her teeth.

The starting pistol sounds and the crowd erupts into shouts as the runners take off. Rachel stands next to him, clapping and chanting Gar’s name as loud as she can. Dick smiles, watching the blur of green as he gains speed around the track.

Kory grabs his hand and Dick wonders if she’s nervous for Gar, he holds hers tightly, letting her squeeze his fingers as Gar closes the distance and slips into second place.

He may not enjoy track but all that Titans training must have paid off because Gar is good at it. Dick wonders if it’s an animal instinct making him faster and giving him an edge as Gar rounds the last corner, gaining on the guy in front.

Kory stands up and he joins her, eyes wide as Gar pulls in even with his competitor for the home stretch. Two-hundred metres left. She’s still squeezing his hand and Dick can see her biting her lip.

Gar pulls out in front a little, just enough to see him cross the finish line first. Their family cheers for him loudly and proudly and Gar slows down to catch their gazes, giving them a smile and a quick thumbs up.

“He won!” Rachel shouts with glee.

“Grayson?” Kory’s voice is wavering next to him and Dick squeezes her hand again.

“I know you were worried, Kory but he did it!” Dick grins, “Our son is a champion.”

Kory nods, “And that’s wonderful but…”

“I know, he doesn’t like track…”

“Dick, that’s not what I…”

Dick can barely hear her over the crowd, “We should grab Gar and go out for dinner to celebrate.”

“My water broke.”

That stops him cold.

He looks down at her stomach then back to her with wide eyes. The hand squeezing, the lip biting. She wasn’t worried about Gar losing, she was in pain.

Dick panics and Rachel comes round him to hold Kory’s other hand as his wife’s shoulders hunch.

“How? You’re not…” Dick trails off, “Are you sure? Aren’t you meant to have the contractions before it breaks?”

Kory looks sheepish despite the thin layer of sweat on her forehead, “They started in the car on the way here.”

Dick blanches, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to miss Gar’s race.”

Of course she didn’t. Kory Grayson is nothing if not stubborn.

She grimaces as a wave of pain hits her and Dick is there, holding her up and helping take her weight, “Okay, okay. We need to take you to a hospital.”

“I thought we agreed a hospital might not be the best idea considering I’m an alien.”

“I don’t care. We’re closer to the hospital than we are to home and we’re running out of time, Kory. Your water just broke.”

Kory huffs, “Funnily enough I remember that.”

Rachel scans the crowds until she finds Gar, “I’ll grab Gar and we’ll meet you at the car?”

Dick nods, “Okay,” Kory grips his hand tighter, “But hurry.”

They make it to the hospital in just under twenty minutes, Dick feels like his heart is going to burst right through his chest the whole time.

They kids stay in the waiting room while Dick follows Kory into the delivery suite, holding her hand throughout the whole thing (even when she almost breaks his fingers from the pressure of her grip). She spends most of the time she isn’t pushing cursing him out which Dick thinks is fair because it looks like it hurts a lot.

Then he hears his daughter’s cry.

Mari Grayson is born at 9:04pm and placed in Dick’s arms in a bundle of blanket. She’s perfect, button nose, skin a perfect mix of his and Kory’s and dark hair already on her head. He feels his eyes burn with tears as he brings her over to Kory.

Kory openly cries, smoothing a finger over her nose with a smile, “We did good, Grayson.” She tells him softly.

Dick leans down to kiss her forehead, “You did very good, Princess.”

Rachel and Gar have their noses pressed against the window of the door, trying to get a peek and Dick waves them in despite the nurses only allowing one visitor in the room at a time. Kory hands him back the baby as Rachel and Gar move closer, peeking over the little bundle in his arms.

“Guys, meet your new little sister.” Dick tells them softly, shifting to the side so they can get a better look.

Gar waves, “Hey Mari, thanks for making me a champion and a big brother on the same day.”

Dick smiles gently at that, watching Rachel tug the blanket more securely under Dick’s arm, “Don’t worry Mari, us girls have to stick together with these two around.”

His heart is too full to put into words as he secures Mari with one arm, wrapping the other around Rachel and Gar and bringing them into the other side of his chest with a smile. Kory meets his gaze from her place on the bed, tired but blindingly happy.

“Welcome to your family baby girl.” He tells Mari softly.

“Welcome to the Graysons.” Kory adds with a wistful smile, ushering them closer to her so she can take Rachel and Gar into her arms.

Dick thinks, right here in this moment, that Kory is the actual heart of him. The part of him that beats for her and these kids and this life.

She’s the part of him that keeps him going, that lets him hope and love and fly.

She’s those late-night evenings he didn’t want to face alone, those quiet moments that give him purpose and meaning and clarity.

Kory Grayson is his everything, she’s given him everything, and together they built this life, this family.

Their own version of happiness.

/

Adjusting to life with a new baby is a lot harder than it looks and Dick tries to make sure he shares as much as he can with Kory until they find a balance. He got paternity leave from the station and the past few weeks for the family have been filled with settling Mari into life as a Grayson.

It’s the middle of the night and Dick is awake, having offered to take the next turn with Mari so Kory could get some much-needed sleep. His youngest daughter seems content enough to be held and rocked gently until she decides she’s hungry, her cries starting softly and growing louder.

“Hey now,” Dick shushes her softly, “I guess we need mom after all, huh?”

He continues to rock the baby gently in his arms as he makes his way back to their bedroom so Kory can feed her when he notices Rachel’s bedroom door is now open and a softly light from the bathroom is spilling into the hallway. He frowns and Mari’s cries get louder.

Kory is already awake and shuffling to sit up in the bed when Dick comes in with their newest addition in his arms, she buttons her shirt as Dick hands Mari over to her sheepishly.

“Sorry, but she has an appetite as big as Gar’s.” He tells her, watching as Kory settles the baby into her arms.

“Definitely.” Kory smiles, “I got this, Grayson. You might as well try and sleep.”

Dick shakes his head, “I want to check on Rachel first, I think she’s up.”

Kory nods, “I thought I heard her door open.”

He leaves Kory to nurse Mari and heads towards the bathroom door, light still glowing from behind it. He raises a hand to knock softly on the wood.

“Rachel?” He calls out.

She doesn’t answer him, but he hears a shuffle from the other side and a bang which can only be from the bathtub. His heart freezes because if Rachel is in the bathtub in the middle of the night it can only mean one thing.

“I’m coming in.” He warns her and when he gets no reply he pushes open the door slowly, peering inside.

Rachel is there, curled up with her knees pressed to her chest in the bathtub in her pyjamas. She’s breathing heavily, Dick can see her shoulders moving from where he is in the doorway.

“Oh Rach.” He says softly, closing the door behind him and climbing into the tub with her like he normally does when he finds her like this. It’s a trick fit, she’s taller now, taking up more space but he manages to cram himself into the other end, taps digging into his shoulder, “Another nightmare, sweetheart?”

Rachel shakes her head, eyes darting to a booklet perched near her on the edge of the tub. Dick frowns, reaching around her to grab it. It’s a college brochure, one of the many she’d been given at school to look at. Applications are starting soon and both her and Gar have been encouraged by school (and Dick and Kory) to think about college courses and where they might want to go. If they want to go at all.

Rachel does, Dick knows, although Gar is still deciding if there is any course that will hold his interest long enough.

“College? That’s what caused the tub session?” He prods because he doesn’t understand. He didn’t know Rachel was getting so worked out about college.

“There are so many options, and all my teachers are telling me to think practically. What’s going to help secure my future? What career will give me security? But what if I pick the wrong course or the wrong school?” Her words come out in a rush, like they’ve been going round in her head in a loop for a while.

So, this is what she’s struggling with. Her future.

Dick grabs her hand in his and squeezes it, “It can’t be anyone else’s decision but yours, Rach. It’s your future and as long as your happy that’s the main thing.”

“But it’s so much money for…”

“No, don’t make it about money. You and Gar are set. Kory and I made sure of it. The money is already there for you, whatever you decide.” Dick tells her firmly; the money has been in an account for her and Gar since Dick first thought about adopting them.

This is part of a larger issue, he knows, he can see it in his daughter’s eyes as she looks at him. So small and uncertain.

Dick squeezes her hand again, “You know what? Let’s get out of here. Grab some shoes and a coat and meet me at the car in five.”

She frowns as he climbs out of the tub, holding out his hands to help her out as well, “Dick, it’s the middle of the night.”

“And we aren’t sleeping. Let me go tell Kory we’re heading out and we can go.”

“Go where?”

Dick smiles, pushing Rachel towards the door, “On an adventure.”

They bundle into the car a few minutes later, both still in their pyjamas under their coats and shoes. Kory assured him she’d be perfectly fine while they were gone and Gar was still soundly asleep when they left so it’s just him and Rachel as they head towards the city in the dead of night.

He stops for coffee at her insistence, and they get take-away cups for the rest of their journey. Eventually, Dick pulls up at the end of a dirt road, the Golden Gate Bridge looming in front of them in the distance, lit up in a glow of orange headlights as the sky begins to lighten.

“What are we doing here, Dick?” Rachel asks, clutching her coffee close to her chest.

Dick turns off the engine and opens the door, “Come on.”

He leads her to the front of the car and moves to sit on the hood, sliding back with his own coffee cup to recline against the windshield. He pats the spot next to him, urging Rachel to join him.

She huffs, passing Dick her coffee to hold while she jumps up and settles herself beside him, leaning back against the car so she can take in the sight of the city skyline before her. Dick hands her back her coffee wordlessly, taking a sip of his own.

“We’re here to watch the sunrise?” Rachel guesses with a coy smile.

He laughs, “Not quite. We’re here to talk.”

“We could have done that in the house.”

“No, we couldn’t.” He takes another sip of coffee and sighs, nodding to the view, “Tell me what you see?”

Rachel hums, “I see the bridge, I see the city, the lights, cars. What I don’t see is why we’re here.”

He smiles at her sass, “You drew this is your sketchpad. It was one of the first drawings you showed me after I opened up the tower. It was really amazing, Rach.”

“It felt like home, you know? This city, you. I drew it because I wanted to remember that feeling.”

Dick nods, “And now everything is changing.”

“I don’t want to go to a college a million miles away because they might offer me a scholarship. I don’t want to do a course my teachers think would be a good investment in my future career.” Rachel tells him softly, “It’s all so overwhelming, Dick. I’m not sure I have it all figured out yet, I know I’m meant to but…”

“You’re not.” Dick replies, “When I was your age I was running around with Bruce in a mask, taking classes he picked out for me because I didn’t want to let Alfred down and beating up bad guys at night as a way to channel my pain. You think that was me having it figured out?”

She sighs softly, “But it led you to being a cop. To being a hero. You love those things, so ultimately it was the right choice for you.”

“I don’t know about that but what I do know is you’re allowed to decide for yourself how you want your future to go. I want that for you.” Dick tells her.

“Even if I don’t become a lawyer or a doctor or a something equally as impressive?” Her voice is small and Dick hates how much this is affecting her.

He pulls her into his side, sloshing his coffee over his pant leg, “I just want you to be whatever it is you want to be. I want you to be happy and to love life. I want you to have a future you can run towards, full of hopes and dreams and excitement. I want you to have a life as big and complicated and messy and wonderful as you’ve made mine. That’s what I want for you, Rachel. I don’t care what that looks like, I just care that you get it because it’s what you deserve.”

She curls up next to him and wipes her nose on the sleeve of her coat, “I think I want to go to art school.” She tells him softly.

Dick smiles, “I know.” He places his coffee down on the hood of the car and reaches into his coat pocket to pull out a small leaflet and hand it to her.

Rachel takes it, reading it out loud, “The Art Institute of Chicago.”

“They have an open day in a few weeks. We could fly down there and check it out if you want? See what you think?” Dick offers gently.

She pulls away slightly to meet his gaze, “You picked this up for me?”

“I know you, Rach. You’re talented and you love art, you should be studying something you’re passionate about.” Dick urges her, “Kory and I both thought art would be the obvious choice.”

Rachel nods, “It is. Or was. It’s not exactly a transferable skill, or a career with job security.”

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re happy.”

“Chicago?” She asks with a smile.

Dick shrugs, “We can research other ones as well, but Chicago isn’t a million miles away. A few hours tops by plane, besides Donna’s in Chicago so you’ll have someone in the city.”

“It’s perfect.” She tucks her head into his shoulder again, “Thank you.”

“Always.” Dick tells her, kissing her forehead and wrapping his arms around her, “Whatever you need, I’m here. You know that.”

They watch the sunrise together, huddled on the hood of the car and Dick wishes she’s stop growing up. That he could hold onto her for a bit longer and not let her go. But he will, because he loves the bones of this girl and she’s building a future of herself. One he gets to be a part of and support her with and that means having to let her grow up.

He’s going to insist on family dinners every month though and weekly video calls.

She might be growing up but he’s always going to be her dad.

/

It soon becomes painfully clear to everyone in their household that Mari’s favourite person is Gar.

Dick wasn’t sure when it happened, but it had. It almost seemed like Gar had the magic touch over his youngest sister, when Dick or Kory couldn’t get Mari to settle Gar seemed to be able to calm her with nothing more than a quick cuddle and a funny face.

It was heart-warming to watch how quickly both kids had taken to the new baby.

Dick pauses in the doorway of the living room, hearing Kory in the shower upstairs, to admire the sight before him. Gar and Rachel had offered to entertain Mari so Kory could take a few minutes to herself to shower and freshen up and Dick could tackle the number of dishes that had been piling up in the kitchen.

He smiles to himself as he watches his oldest children peering into the basinet Mari is lying in, Gar pulling a funny face at her while Rachel tickles her belly with a finger. These kids love her already and Mari is definitely smitten with both of them.

Gar leans over and grabs her small hand, letting Mari curl her tiny fingers over one of his larger ones, waving it back and forth gently. Rachel sighs happily, smoothing a finger down Mari’s cheek with a grin. Even Mari looks to be smiling and enjoying the attention as she keeps her eyes fixed on her siblings with rapid interest.

Dick isn’t sure what it is, the astounding colours of Gar’s hair or the blue of Rachel’s eyes, that gains Mari’s utter fascination but he is thankful for it when he gets to watch moments like these. All of his kids together, safe and happy.

He wishes he had a camera to freeze this moment and keep it forever with him, but his phone is still upstairs so he settles for propping himself up against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest and admiring the view before him.

Mari lets out a happy baby gurgle that makes Gar laugh, her grip still tight on his finger.

“You’re very strong for someone so tiny.” Gar tells her in a whisper like he’s imparting a secret.

“With Kory for a mom and Dick for a dad she’s going to be a badass.” Rachel tells him.

Gar reels back, “You can’t swear in front of the baby!”

“That’s not a swear word, Gar.” Rachel laughs, “Besides it’s true. Look at us.”

“Total badasses.” Gar agrees with a smile.

Dick smiles too, not wanting to draw their attention to him in the doorway. They haven’t spotted him yet and he likes how carefree they look in this moment. He doesn’t want to break it.

“She looks like them.” Rachel says gently, one hand smoothing over the baby’s fluffy hair, “The dark hair has to be from Kory. Before the pink, I mean.”

Gar nods, “The eyes are all Dick.”

“Warm and reassuring.” Rachel agrees and Dick knows they are looking down at Mari’s brown eyes, so similar to his own.

“Like a golden retriever.” Gar adds.

He can’t help it; Dick lets out a chuckle that sounds like a snort causing both teenagers to turn round to look at him.

“How long have you been standing there?” Rachel asks him.

“Long enough to hear Gar compare me to a golden retriever.”

The boy shrugs with a grin, “Golden retrievers are great. Friendly, loyal, protective.”

Dick pushes himself off the doorframe and makes his way over to them. Mari lets out another hum as he comes into her field of vision and Dick leans down to rub her stomach in greeting.

“You better be on my side in this one, kiddo.” He tells Mari in mock seriousness and gets nothing but a blink as his response.

Gar manages to get his hand back from her gasp, “Don’t worry about daddy, Mari. He’s just bitter because he knows I’m right.”

Dick scowls, “You’re not too old to be grounded, Buddy.”

“Then what would you do without the Mari Whisperer?” Rachel asks with a grin, “Face it, Dick. Gar is like our secret weapon.”

Gar puffs his chest with pride, “She just knows greatness when she sees it.”

“Okay Greatness, don’t forget to bring your laundry down otherwise I’m not doing it until next week.” Dick tells him.

“Don’t worry Mari, he pretends to be grumpy because he’s just a big softie.” Rachel tells the baby, “Rule one: never fall for the grumpy act.”

“It’s not an act!” Dick protests weakly.

“Rule two: he always threatens to ground you when he feels emotional. He’ll never do it though.” Gar adds gleeful even though Mari seems to be taking no notice of the words of wisdom in dealing with her dad for future reference.

“I can ground both of you!” Dick retorts, knowing he won’t. Damn, he really is a softie, isn’t he?

Rachel’s smile widens, “Rule three: if in doubt about how he’ll handle the situation? Hug attack!”

Before Dick can respond both Gar and Rachel launch themselves at him in a ‘hug attack’ knocking Dick back onto the couch and causing Mari to laugh at the thumping sound they all make when they hit the deck from her safe spot in her basinet.

Dick takes the brunt of the fall onto the cushions with Rachel and Gar falling with him, arms a tangled mess around him as the hug him close to them. Dick wants to protest but finds his only response is curling her arms around both of them and squeezing them tightly against his body.

“And that Mari Grayson,” Rachel laughs in his arms, “Is how you deal with our dad.”

“You two think you’re both real smartasses, huh?” Dick huffs out with a scowl but then Gar starts laughing and Rachel joins in and Dick can’t do anything but hold them and smile because damn it, the hug attack worked, and he definitely isn’t about to admit that.

/

“Well, if this isn’t the picture of domesticity?”

Dick isn’t sure what he expects from a Tuesday morning, heading up to the porch of his home with Mari in her baby sling against his chest, but the sight of Hank and Dawn waiting for him by the door is definitely not it.

“Hey Stranger.” Dawn smiles at him and Dick feels dread pool into his stomach because he knows already this isn’t a social call. He didn’t know they were coming; they didn’t call first which means they’re in trouble.

They’ve come to ask for his help.

Rachel is in town grabbing a few new art supplies from the store and Kory drove Gar to check out a college nearby which means it’s just him and Mari and Dick can’t help but feel exposed like this. His old life merging with his new in the span of a single sentence. It feels… wrong.

“You guys did tell me you were coming by.” Dick greets, “Kory and the kids aren’t…”

“We came to see you actually.” Dawn responds.

Yeah, definitely not a social call.

“I’m sorry but can I ask?” Hank nods towards the baby, “Is she safe in that thing, it’s like you’ve tied a sheet around your back.”

Dick lets out a chuckle and peeks down at Mari, sleeping peacefully in her cocoon against his chest. He had the same thought when he saw Kory first carrying her like this, but Kory explained the benefits of the baby sling and the special way it needs to be worn and Dick asked if she could show him how it works.

He has to admit he loves it now, it’s convenient to have Mari close to him but have both hands free and hearing their heartbeats seem to soothe the baby and lull her to sleep allowing Dick or Kory to keep her close and still get things done rather than holding her in their arms. It makes him feel closer to his daughter, he knows it’s one of the reasons Kory prefers it as well, and it’s meant to prompt bonding as well as calmness.

“Perfectly safe, I promise.” Dick replies, moving past them to unlock the door and let his old friends into the house.

“I’m dying for a cuddle.” Dawn tells him, “I can’t believe this is the first time we’re meeting her.”

“Donna not with you?”

Hank shakes his head, “She doesn’t approve of the fact we’re here.”

“Hank!”

“What?” He shoots back at Dawn as Dick keeps walking towards the kitchen to unload the groceries in his hand, “He’ll figure it out when we fill him in anyway.”

“Fill me in on what?” Dick asks, busying himself with unpacking the food so he doesn’t focus on the anxiety at their presence pooling in his gut.

They’ll ask for his help and he’ll feel like he has to give it. He’ll want to give it. That’s who he is. The guy who would do anything for his friends. But that means putting on the suit, risking his life, leaving his family. And that’s not who is he, not anymore.

So, Dick really doesn’t want them to ask but if Donna isn’t here then he knows they will.

He’s waiting for it.

“We’ve got a bit of trouble…” Dawn starts.

“A lot of trouble.” Hank amends.

“Back home. An old Gotham pal of yours, Scarecrow?” Dawn continues, “We were hoping you’d be able to help. You’ve fought him before and… we could really use you on this one, Dick.”

There it is.

Dick doesn’t answer right away, arms wrapping around Mari protectively like he can spare her from hearing this conversation but she’s asleep and she doesn’t understand the weight they’ve just placed on him.

“Guys, I really wish you were here for anything else. It’s great to see you, really but…”

Hank nods, “We know, the timing isn’t great with the new baby and all but we’re talking about a couple of days tops.”

“We really need your skillset on this one, Dick. The last time we went up against him we got our asses handed to us and ended up choking on fear gas.” Dawn tells him, her eyes big and imploring.

All Dick can think is this isn’t fair. What they’ve come here to ask him isn’t fair.

“I promised the kids we were done, okay? Safe, normal life.” Dick tells them, “And now there’s Mari to think about too, I can’t just leave at the drop of a hat and put on the suit and play hero.”

The sound of the front door opens and all of them freeze.

“Dad? I’m home!” Rachel calls out, pausing at the sight of Dawn and Hank as she enters the kitchen, “I didn’t know you guys were coming down.”

“It was a spare of the minute decision.” Dawn tells her cryptically, eyeing Dick to gauge his reaction.

She doesn’t need to. Rachel knows him too well, she looks to him and then Hank and Dawn and back again before shaking her head, “No.” She replies, looking at him helplessly, “No way. Tell me they aren’t…”

“Rach, can you take Mari and get her settled in her basinet please?” Dick asks gently, working on freeing Mari from her sling.

“Tell me they aren’t here for Titans business.” Rachel replies.

“I’m dealing with it.” Dick promises, “Please take your sister for me?”

Rachel eyes Hank and Dawn once more before moving to help take Mari from his arms. Once she has Mari in her arms, she moves towards the living room when she pauses in front of Dawn for a moment.

“Don’t ask him to do this, please.” Rachel all but begs, “If you ask you know he’ll do it. He’ll do anything to help. But we need him here. So please Dawn, if you ever cared about him, don’t ask him to help you.”

“Rach…” Dawn’s voice speaks volumes. The damage has already been done.

She shakes her head, “How could you? He deserves to be happy, why couldn’t you just stay away?”

Then she leaves, taking Mari with her to get her settled and Dick swallows the lump in his throat. He knows Rachel is speaking from a place of fear, fear for him, but he can’t help but agree with her. Why did they have to ask?

Donna isn’t here because she doesn’t agree they should have come. She, like Rachel, like him, know how much this life means to him and doesn’t want to ever have to ask him to sacrifice it for some trouble they’ve found that they can’t quite handle.

Dick thinks he was screwed from the moment he saw them on the porch.

Because he knows he can’t refuse to help them after they’ve asked for it.

Kory would call it being a good man, he calls it a guilt complex over everything that went down with Jericho all those years ago that he still can’t shake.

“I’ll talk to Kory and the kids.” Dick sighs in defeat, “Then we’ll come up with a plan.”

Dawn smiles in thanks, having no idea that the decision he just made is cutting him up inside.

Kory takes it better than he expected, she isn’t happy with the idea of him putting himself at risk (especially because she can’t come with him to lend a hand because Mari is still nursing and Kory can’t express enough milk to cover a few days) but she tells him to go, echoing a time when Dick told her to go back to Tamaran before they got married. She knows he needs to do this, putting it into words better than he ever could: “If you don’t go and something happens to them, you’ll never be able to forgive yourself.” She’s right, he knows, but the way she says it makes him want to get down on his knees in front of her and beg her to make him stay. She won’t because she loves him too much and for that, he loves her even more.

The kids aren’t as accepting about it. Rachel is angry at Dawn and Hank for asking and one night before he leaves, he hears her on the phone talking to Donna about it. He can do nothing but hold her tightly, promise to come back and try to explain why he can’t bury his head in the sand and enjoy what they have if Dawn and Hank are out there trying to take on a fight they can’t manage alone. Gar is impassive, gives him the cold shoulder like it’s a personal betrayal and Dick supposes he deserves that because on some level it is. He promised them a way out of this life, a normal family, and now he’s digging his suit out of the closet and working out to make sure his muscles are still in peak condition ready for a fight.

He’s letting them down and he hates it.

But what choice does he have? He lost his choice the moment Dawn asked for his help because he can’t say no and watch them die after he refused to join the fight. Dick knows he isn’t going to be able to live with himself if that happens, the guilt will eat him alive, and he knows that will affect their family as much as him leaving for the fight will.

He was doomed either way.

Four days after he leaves them, he wakes up in a hospital bed to the sound of raised voices and a searing pain in his gut. The fight is fuzzy in his head, but he thinks they won, he remembers the gas filling his lungs and falling? Did he fall? His throat is burning and dry and he can see the outlines of them now, outside the hospital room window as they continue to shout at each other.

Kory, Rachel and Gar are standing with their backs to him, forming a line of defence between his room and Hank and Dawn opposite them, looking thoroughly remorseful as his family gives them a dressing down he knows is going to be brutal.

“You shouldn’t have asked him in the first place!” Kory’s voice booms, “You knew he’d have to say yes. You used the guilt from all that stuff with Jericho to sway him into thinking he had no other choice to help you.”

“Kory, I know you’re upset… we all are…”

“He almost died!” Rachel shouts, hands thrown up in the air, “We could have lost him. Did you ever think about that when you came here? When you asked him to suit up again? Did you think about his family?”

“We’re his family too.” Dawn’s voice is softer, the guilt clear.

“Family doesn’t treat each other like this.” Gar bites out, “Family would have respected the fact he was happy without the suit and the violence and the only reason he went was because you asked. Donna understood that, so why couldn’t you?”

Kory seems to sense him then because she turns and notices he is awake through the window. Dick sees her squeeze Rachel’s shoulder and slip from the line to come into his room. He is relieved to see her, pink hair frizzy from lack of sleep but seeing her means he is home. He made it back to them.

“Dick.” Kory’s voice is a whisper, the emotion thick.

He reaches out a hand to take hers, ignoring the pain. He definitely fell off something. A roof maybe? He pushed Hank out the way and took the brunt of the hit, that was it. That’s how he fell. That explains the pain.

“I’m so sorry, Princess.” He tells her, “I was trying to…”

She shakes her head, “They told us. It’s okay.” She pauses for a minute, “I mean I’m so mad at you right now for almost getting yourself killed but we can talk about that later.”

“It’s a date.” He tries to smile but it turns into a grimace and his eyes drift to the argument outside his room, “Where’s Mari?”

“With Aunty Donna. She came after Rachel called to say you were going to help. She isn’t happy with you either.”

He nods, “She’ll have a lecture waiting for me, I’m sure.”

“She ripped Hank and Dawn a new one. I was actually a little bit scared.”

“I could have said no.”

Kory huffs out a bitter laugh, “No, you couldn’t have.”

“I love you.” He tells her.

She softens, shoulders slumping, and Dick can see how much he worried her. He tugs her closer by their joined hands and shuffles slightly on the bed, making space for her. Kory fits herself against his side, curling up in the small space on the mattress with him as she can rest her head on his chest and breathe him in. Dick holds her tightly, lips brushing her hair.

“You are not allowed to die on me, Grayson.” She mutters into his skin, “Not ever.”

He smiles into her curls, “Got it. I’ll remember that one.”

“Maybe write it down.”

He squeezes her, ignoring the pain in his stomach at the action when the door to his room opens again and Gar and Rachel enter. Hank and Dawn are hovering behind them, seemingly unsure whether to come in or not. Dick doesn’t focus on them but ushers his kids over to him.

The relief on their faces breaks his heart as the make their way to his side. Rachel squeezes herself onto the other side of the mattress, curling up like Kory so he’s blocked in on both sides. Gar climbs up as well, perching near his hip on Rachel’s side so he can lay his head against Dick’s ribs on his uninjured side.  

Dick tries to hold on to all of them, tears leaking from his eyes as they hold him back. It hurts but he can deal with it to have them close.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Dick whispers, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

They hold him tighter, and he thinks he can feel Rachel’s tears on his skin although they could be his own. Dick isn’t sure anymore.

“I love you guys so much.” He tells them.

And he does, he really does.

/

Dick is on his way back from work when he gets the call from Gar. He’s only been back for a few weeks, Mari having just turned 4 months old. He took longer off then he needed but he cherished the time with his family. Especially with the kids moving to college in the summer, he feels like he’s on borrowed time with them. Rachel seems set on art school and has applied to several, she has a bunch of art pieces she’s currently putting together to show the colleges before making a final decision. Gar seems unsure about college as a whole, leaving his application to the last minute because he still hasn’t settled on what he wants to do. Dick’s been helping him go through the options and seeing what Gar seems to gravitate towards, if college is even something he wants to do. Dick has told him it doesn’t matter whether Gar feels like college is the right fit for him or not as long as he’s happy.

So, when Gar calls him on the way home Dick thinks it’s another college question and quickly answers it.

“Hey Buddy, what’s the course?”

There’s a pause, “Urm Dad? Can you maybe come get me?”

“From where?”

“Eldrich Labs.” He sounds guilty and Dick can hear rustling in the background.

He frowns, “Why are you at Eldrich Labs?”

“Don’t get mad, okay?”

He doesn’t like where this is going, “Garfield Grayson, why are you at Eldrich Labs?”

“Did you know they test on animals? Bunnies, Dick! Cute, harmless, fluffy bunnies!” Gar tells him, “So I went to investigate, to see if it was true and I couldn’t just leave them here. The cages are tiny, and they are being experimented on like they don’t have feelings, like they can’t feel pain. So, I hid in the toilets waiting for the workers to leave and planned to free the bunnies.”

“Gar!”

“I know what it’s like to be put in a cage and experimented on, Dick. I couldn’t just leave them, it’s wrong.”

Dick sighs, already turning the car around to head to Eldrich Labs, “I know that, and I get it but there is a way to do these things, Kiddo. I’m a detective, I could have pulled some strings and got them investigated.”

“They could have been dead by then.” Gar says sadly, “Please don’t tell Mom, she thinks I’m at the library.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes, okay. Hang tight.”

Another pause and a shuffle of feet follows before Gar replies, “Urm okay but I’m sort of locked in.”

“What?”

“The doors are on a timer so when the workers left they locked up for the night and I was going to use the side door I came in through but that’s locked as well.” Gar says sheepishly.

Dick pushes his foot on the gas, “So let me get this straight, not only have you committed theft and breaking and entering to a restricted building, but you’re also trapped there?”

Gar nervously chuckles down the phone, “But I freed the bunnies.”

“Ten minutes.”

He makes it in eight thanks to his speedy driving and makes sure to park around the back, so the cameras don’t pick up his car. Gar is waiting by the door, forehead pressed against the glass from the other side, three baby bunnies in his arms and more at his feet.

Dick hurries over to him, knocking on the glass to get his attention and Gar’s face turns into a wide smile when he spots him, holding up one of the bunnies in his arms like a victory. Dick shakes his head, pulling out a paperclip from his pocket and getting to work on the lock.

“You’re grounded.” He tells Gar through the glass.

Gar cups his ear and mouths “what” like he can’t hear him, but Dick knows he can from the grin he still wears. He manages to unlock the door, avoiding tripping the alarm and out spills a dozen bunnies across his feet followed by his son carrying the others.

“You’re grounded.” Dick repeats.

“I was doing what you taught me. You know, good men and women not doing nothing.” Gar replies, holding the bunny aloft again for emphasis.

Dick shakes his head, “I could arrest you for this, you know. It’s a crime. Several, in fact.”

“Come on, Dad.” Gar pleads, “You don’t agree with this anymore than I do.”

Dick doesn’t but he still isn’t sure about the methods Gar used or the fact he just became an accomplice in helping Gar escape. Being a cop is tricky some days, especially with his kids.

“Let’s get home, we’ll discuss it.”

“Wait, we can’t leave the bunnies out here, they might be hit by a car. We have to take them to a field or something.” Gar protests.

Dick raises an eyebrow, “Of course we do.” He deadpans.

That’s how they end up driving out of town with a car full of bunnies to release them into the freedom of grass and trees. Dick wants to be angry, but he can’t find it in him when he sees the smile on Gar’s face as he releases his furry friends and watches them head off in the grass.

“I think this is what I want to do.” Gar tells him softly, watching the bunnies disappear into the distance.

Dick folds his hands over his chest with a smile, “Become a criminal?”

“Rescue animals.” Gar responds shyly, “Maybe open up a sanctuary or a rescue centre or something. Do you think that’s too impossible?”

Dick softens because it’s perfect for his son. He loops an arm around Gar’s neck, drawing him into Dick’s side, “I think it’s perfect and we’re going to find a way to make it happen.”

Gar beams.

Dick loves this kid. Gar Grayson is his true north, inspiring him to be better and to question things. He guides Dick home when he feels lost because Gar always seems to know what’s right. Dick admires his son greatly for that.

He’s the part of Dick that wants to constantly be better and hope for things, to see the joy in the world that Dick spent far too long seeing in shades of grey. But Gar makes him see the vibrant shades of colour as well.

Gar is like a warm sunny afternoon, he thinks, his favourite kind, full of hope and joy and possibility and if he wants this then Dick is going to help him make it happen.

/

“Oh, you like the sun, my little sunshine?” Kory coos from her spot on the blanket to Mari, who is sitting up clapping her hands together in her little sunhat opposite her mother.

It’s a warm day and they decided to spend it together in the garden. Kory and Gar had prepared a bunch of food and Dick had found a large blanket that he laid out on the grass for them to sit on. There was no better way to waste an afternoon in his opinion.

Kory is playing with Mari next to him, rolling a ball towards their daughter much to the little girl’s delight. Gar is at the other end of the blanket tucking into fruit and vegetable skewers with gusto as he watches the game, occasional providing commentary. Dick is sprawled out on his side, his body acting as a barrier whenever Mari gets a little bit excited and launched the ball in his direction with a book in his hand, he often peeks over the pages to watch Kory play with their daughter. Their other daughter has set up a little art nook off the blanket with her sketchpad and a palette of paint out next to her, careful to keep the paint tubes away from Mari as she tries to come up with a new painting.

It is the last part of her college admission for Chicago; they requested a drawing on the theme of ‘family’ and Rachel has been trying for days to get it perfect. She has sketched out a portrait of their family in beautiful pencil lines and shading but according to her it is still missing something that would give it an edge for her application. She’s been experimenting with colour for the past few days trying to offer the drawing something new.

Dick looks up from his book when he feels the plastic ball hit his leg and looks up at Mari to see her laughing. He scoops it up, “Your aim needs work, baby girl.” He chuckles and rolls it back to her.

In response Mari lets out a big yawn, forgetting all about the ball.

Kory smiles, “I think it’s someone’s naptime.”

“Oh no Mari,” Gar chuckles, “There’s no escape!”

Kory scoops her up into her arms with a flourish and stands up, perching Mari on her hip, “I’m going to put her down, want anything from the kitchen on my way back?”

Dick shakes his head, blowing Mari a kiss which makes her laugh and then doing the same for Kory which earns him an eye roll as they leave the group to head inside for Mari’s nap.

“This should not be this hard.” Rachel groans, opening the tube of purple paint with an angry swipe, “It’s about family and I have the best one.”

“Not arguing with that,” Dick grins, “Maybe take a break? You always say your best ideas come when you aren’t actively thinking about them, right?”

Rachel sighs and rolls her shoulders to ease the tension out of them, “I guess so.”

“Yeah Rach, you just gotta lighten up.” Gar agrees, leaning over onto his side to peer at her sketchpad. His elbow lands on a tube of green paint causing it to squirt out over Rachel’s tights and arm. She stares down at the mess of green blobs before bringing her gaze up to meet Gar.

“Okay, that was my bad.” Gar offers, raising to his feet with his hands up in surrender, “But green’s a good colour on you.”

Rachel huffs and stands as well, her hands closing around the purple paint tube she was opening. Her gaze is menacing and even Dick starts to worry for Gar’s safety.

“You know what’s a good colour on you, Gar?” She asks sweetly and before Gar can take a breath, she squeezes the tube, a thick dollop of purple paint exploding onto his shirt and oozing down his front, “Purple.” She finishes gleefully.

Gar looks at Dick and he shrugs, “Nope. Not touching this one.”

His kids’ eyes meet for a brief moment and then madness descends. Gar lunges for the blue paint pot as a weapon and Rachel holds the purple tube aloft in warning.

“Guys.” Dick warns as Gar squeezes the tube and Rachel dodges the splatter of paint which ends up landing on Dick’s shoulder and cheek.

They both pause to look at him as Dick calmly closes his book and gets to his feet, “Okay then, you asked for this.”

He grabs the tube of red paint closest to him and squeezes it into his hand before flinging it in Gar’s direction, watching as red specks sprinkle the boy’s nose and hair. A paint war descends as they all spring into action, diving for more paint to hurl at each other. Dick manages to dodge the green from Gar but ends up taking a hit of purple on his pant leg. Rachel is covered in blue and red clumps on her stomach and left cheek while Gar’s t-shirt which was once white is now a mesh of different colours.

Kory comes back out into the garden holding the baby monitor whilst Dick is ducking from a paint attack from Rachel, putting Kory right in the crossfire. She gasps in shock as the cold purple paint hits her stomach and they all freeze.

“At least it’s purple.” Rachel mutters weakly.

Kory nods like she has accepted her fate and grabs the yellow tube of paint, “Okay but you’re all going down for this.”

Her attack is precise and brutal, and they all end up getting hit. Dick gets yellow paint in his hair (his hair!) which Kory seems particularly happy about. Rachel gets her back coated in a thin line of yellow and Gar’s black shorts end up with yellow splatters on them. Kory doesn’t fair much better and Dick volunteers to sacrifice himself and hold her still so the kids can launch a counterattack, covering her in purple, green and blue paint as they shriek with laughter and Kory tries to wiggle free.

They stop when the paint runs out, happy colourful explosions that look like their children, and Dick spins Kory round to face her attack. She kisses him instead, tugging his paint-stained t-shirt to bring him closer and fusing their lips together. Dick’s hand cups her cheek, coating it in more red paint as he returns her kiss, pulling her against him.

“That’s it!” Rachel’s voice breaks them part, holding up her sketchpad in triumph.

Dick frowns, drawing back from Kory to look at the paint splatters marring her sketch of their family.

“Rach, your work. I’m sorry I didn’t…” Dick tries to apologise because he knows how long she worked on it.

Rachel only smiles bigger, “No, this is it. This is my submission.”

“A sketch covered in paint splatters?” Kory asks with a raised eyebrow.

“A sketch covered in paint splatters.” Rachel confirms, “Don’t you see it? The theme is about family. This is our family, not just this two-dimensional grey shade. This violent explosions of colour, real and vibrant and unique. These paint splatters hold the memory of this day, right here, all of us together having a paint war in the back garden. That’s our family, summed up in one painting.”

Gar squints at the sketchpad like he’s trying to see what she sees, “That’s pretty deep, Rach.”

“It’s brilliant.” Dick assures her because it is. He quickly grabs his phone and flips to his camera, holding it up in the air so everyone can bundle in close and he can snap a picture of them, big smiles and a rainbow of paint stained faces. He’ll send it to Rachel later so she can attach it with her submission as proof of the story behind her art.

Rachel Grayson is many things, an artist, a daughter, a sister, a fighter. But Rachel Grayson is also his soul, vibrant and glowing.

She’s the part of him that reminds him how lucky they are to have this, the part of him that yearns for this peace and love and sanctuary they have build here.

She’s like a chilly autumn morning, the crisp fresh air and first hint of sunrise over the clouds. She’s those mornings where they share coffee and conversation, full of inspiration and comfort and colour. And she’s going to be an amazing artist one day, of that, Dick has no doubt.

/

“Where are the kids?” Kory asks as she steps into the kitchen to find him cooking, a pot already on the stove as Dick chops up peppers on the chopping board in front of him.

“I gave them some money and sent them out to the cinema.” Dick replies as he continues chopping. Kory brings the bag over to him and places it near his elbow on the counter. Dick had asked her to run to the store and grab a few ingredients for dinner and when she left both him and the kids where on the couch arguing about which film to watch.

Now however, there were no kids in sight, and he was planning on cooking up a storm (Gar had left him with very detailed instructions on how to cook his vegetable lasagne which was one of Kory’s favourite dishes).

“And Mari?”

Dick shrugs, “I figured it’s never too young to get them into horror films, right?”

“Dick Grayson, you did not send the kids off to the cinema with our baby in tow.” Kory chastises him with wide eyes making him chuckle as he moves onto the courgettes and starts chopping them up into little cubes.

“Relax, Princess.” He smiles up at her, “Mari has been changed and it already in bed asleep.”

“And you’re cooking?” Kory notes with a hint of confusion.

“And I’m cooking.” Dick confirms with a flourish, motioning to the pot on the stove simmering nicely on a low heat, as per Gar’s instructions.

Kory’s brows furrow as she leans over to inspect the contents, “You’re cooking vegetable lasagne.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“What’s going on, Grayson?”

Dick finishes chopping, putting the knife down before wiping his hands on a dishcloth and moving over to her, “Date night.”

“Date night.” Kory parrots back.

He nods, smile on his face, “It’s been a crazy few month with Mari, and the kids going through exams and college applications. I thought it would be nice to have an evening just for us.”

Kory softens, hands smoothing over his shoulders as she steps closer to him, “That would be nice.” She purrs.

“So, the kids won’t be back for a few hours. I have the baby monitor right here although Mari shouldn’t wake up for a feed for another few hours either.” Dick tells her, “And I’m cooking for you.”

She beams at him, green eyes sparkling in the low light of their kitchen, “How can I help?”

Dick leans in to kiss her softly, “You don’t. You go upstairs where I’ve already ran you a bath and relax.”

“Impressive.” Kory smiles, “Trying to get laid?”

Dick flushes at her flirting despite the fact they’ve been married for a while now, “Trying to remind you how much I love you.”

Kory kisses him again, “It’s working. On both counts.”

“Good,” Dick replies, “Now go before your bath gets cold.”

Kory leans back in for one more kiss before she does as requested, leaving the kitchen to head up to their bathroom and have a soak. Dick knows she needs it, with adjusting to Mari’s presence in their life and the stress of the kids finishing school they’ve both been stretched pretty thin lately. He hopes this will relax her tonight, remind her how important she is to him.

Dick spends the next twenty minutes reading – and then re-reading – Gar’s instructions of the lasagne to make sure he gets it right before popping it in the oven to bake. He’s pretty proud of himself, makes sure to take a picture to send to Gar as proof he can cook just fine before he grabs Kory a drink from the fridge to bring up to her.

The bathroom is a cloud of steam when he enters, Kory still in the bath with candles along the edge and bubbles forming a blanket over her and the water. Her hair is piled on the top of her head so it doesn’t get wet but she opens her eyes when she hears him come in and smiles softly at him. Dick can tell she’s already feeling better then before by the way her shoulders sit.

“Did you burn it?” Kory asks cheekily as she lifts her legs, knees breaking through the bubbles to taunt him.

Dick scowls, “I can cook just fine, you know. I survived before you guys came along.”

“Rachel told me about the take-out when you first met.”

“We were in crappy motels, okay. There weren’t many culinary choices to offer her.” Dick defends as he places a glass of sparkling grape juice on the side of the tub for her. She can’t have alcohol yet so this is the next best thing.

Kory takes it with one bubbly hand and sips, “Candles, bubbles, drinks service, dinner. Really impressive.”

“What? I can’t be romantic?” Dick asks, sitting down on the floor next to the tub and leaning his back against the wall so he can look at her. He brings a knee up to rest his arm on it as Kory settles her glass back on the side.

She laughs softly and Dick is struck by how much he loves her laugh, has always loved it, but especially like this. When it’s soft and intimate and just for him, because of him. It makes him melt.

“Married life clearly agrees with you. I don’t remember much romance at the start of our relationship.” Kory smiles wistfully, her fingers moving over the edge of the tub near his knee.

Dick laughs at that, “You mean propositioning me with tequila whilst I was dressed only in a towel wasn’t your idea of romance, Princess?”

“I was getting tired of waiting for you to come to me.” Kory retorts, “And you still made me wait after that.”

“But we got here in the end.” Dick replies softly, thinking about how far they’d come since then. Three beautiful children, a home, a life together. Some days he can still hardly believe it.

Kory sits up, the water sloshing around the tub as she does so she can get closer to him, “Yeah, I guess we did.”

He leans in to kiss her but before he can the alarm from his phone sounds in his pocket. Dick sighs and shifts to grab his phone and stop the sound.

“Did you set an alarm for the food?” Kory laughs.

“I didn’t want to burn it.” Dick protests, “I need to get it out the oven. Dinner in ten?”

Kory nods, “I’ll be there.”

He gets to his feet, slips the phone back in his pocket and heads for the door when Kory’s voice calls him back, “Grayson?”

Dick sticks his head back round the door, “Yeah?”

“I love you.”

The smile on his face is answer enough and he leaves Kory in peace to go and rescue their dinner.

He plates up the lasagne with does smell incredible and makes a mental note to thank Gar for being a culinary wizard and adds some fresh salad that Kory came back with earlier. He carries everything into the living room and places it on the coffee table when Kory comes down, thinking a cozy evening on the couch would be better than sitting at the table.

She seems to be reading his mind when she arrives, soft and smiling, wearing her little purple shorts and one of his old t-shirts that she stole from him ages ago. She looks happy and content and Dick falls a little more in love with her.

Kory takes a seat next to him on the couch, reaching for her plate and tucking her legs up under her as she gets comfort. Dick stretches his out in front of him, digging into his food, feeling Kory’s elbow brush his ribs every time she takes a bite.

Life doesn’t get more perfect than this, he thinks, as he and Kory trade easy conversation and laughter along with their dinner.

He wouldn’t be half the man he is today without her, the thought makes him warm as Kory ribs him about his attempts of being subtle before they started figuring things out together in the early days and Dick knows he might have been an idiot then but he isn’t one now.

Loving this woman is one the best things he’s ever done in his life, along with being a father to their children.

/

Graduation day comes round faster than Dick was prepared for and he could barely believe it was his children up there, lining up in their caps and gowns. Kory stands next to him in the rows reserved for family with Mari in her arms and Donna on his other side. She’s come down specifically to see Rachel and Gar graduate, planning to stay for the week to celebrate with their family. Her camera is slung round her neck and she is taking so many pictures Dick knows she’d already replaced the memory card twice.

The kids keep looking over at them and waving excitedly and it makes Dick’s heart beat wildly. Those are his damn kids, graduating and heading into their future. There was a time Dick wondered if they would ever have this. A time when Rachel was so small and scared, and Gar was so quiet and apprehensive. A time when he was alone and searching for salvation and Kory was searching for a home and her memories.

But that was a long time ago.

They weren’t those people anymore, scared, and haunted and adrift.

Now they are a family, clinging to each other despite everything that comes their way.

Dick is proud of that.

Donna elbows him in the ribs to get his attention, “You’re not going to cry, are you?”

Dick scowls, eyes never leaving his kids up front, “In your dreams, Troy.”

“Looking a little glassy eyed there, Bird Boy.” She teases and Dick has really missed her. Not for the first time he is glad she is standing here with them.

“That’s my favourite one.” Dick replies with a smile, their old banter as easy as ever between them.

Donna snaps another picture before turning her lens in his direction. Dick glares at the camera as she snaps her shot. Definitely not a good one.

“You’ve been a nervous wreck all day.” Kory points out and Donna grins in triumph at her ally. Dick’s scowl deepens.

He tugs at the collar of his shirt, “It’s a big day.” He points out, “Besides the last time we were here you went into labour. I’m getting flashbacks.”

Kory swats him, “So dramatic, Grayson.”

Dick grins at her, wide and playful and hears the snap of Donna’s camera knowing she got the shot this time.

Gar and Rachel are next up, and they fall silent to watch as they make their way onto the stage. Gar first, swiftly followed by Rachel because it’s in alphabetical order.

Garfield Grayson.

Rachel Grayson.

They clap and cheer and holler as they collect their certificates and make their way off stage, both ducking their heads to hide their blushes at being centre of attention in front of such a large crowd. Dick’s heart surges with pride and Kory’s smile matches his own. Donna is still shouting near his ear in celebration. Even Mari is clapping in Kory’s arms.

They did it.

His kids. Amazing and perfect and unbelievably his.

They make their way through the crowd to get to them and Dick watches the flashes of blue and green hair approach with glee. The caps and gowns aren’t doing them any favours and he’s glad Donna is getting pictures because he definitely needs one framed.

“We’re officially done here!” Gar fist bumps the air as he waves his certificate at them, moving to take Mari off Kory and spin her in a circle, “What do you think to that, Mari? School is officially out.”

Rachel slides the cap off her hair, “Are you crying?” She asks Dick with a smile.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” He growls.

Donna shrugs, “Because we all know you’re soft.”

He does feel a little misty eyed, but he isn’t about to admit that, pulling Rachel into a hug instead.

“I’m so proud of you both.” Dick tells them when he releases her and scoops up Gar and Mari next, Rachel being enveloped into Kory’s side.

Donna nods, “I need to get a photo of this. Everyone squeeze in.”

They do it without complaint. Dick moves to Rachel’s side and Gar takes her other one, Mari still in his arms between them. Kory nestles in against Gars free side for the photo. Both Rachel and Gar lean down and kiss Mari’s cheek, one on either side, as Donna snaps the picture causing the little girl to laugh.

Dick already knows it’s going to be one of his favourite photos.

“Donna, you better get over here.” He tells her before she can take another one. She does, working her way to his free side and fiddling with the camera so she can get them all in the photo, holding her arm high to squeeze everyone in before capturing another photo.

Things start wrapping up and Kory suggests they head out for dinner to celebrate. Dick helps Donna grab her camera bag along with Mari’s diaper bag, slinging both over his shoulder as they follow the rest of their family to the car.

“I’m proud of you, you know.” Donna tells him, bumping her arm with his.

Dick smiles, offering her his arm to take. She does, linking her arm through his, “I didn’t do anything.”

“Of course not.” Donna mocks, “Only settling down, becoming a father, a husband. Giving up the suit. Robin. You didn’t do a thing.”

“They weren’t sacrifices, Donna. They were things I wanted.” Dick points out.

She smiles, “I always knew you’d make a great dad one day. Maybe not to two superpowered teens you picked up on the side of the road but…”

“Rachel found me at a police station and Gar…” Dick starts but she cuts him off.

“My point.” Donna draws out, “You were made for this, Dick. Fatherhood. Kids, Kory. This life. I know there was a time you thought you weren’t, but I always knew it.”

“Oh yeah, how so?”

Donna gives him a wide smile, all teeth and charm, “Older, smarter, prettier. Don’t forget it, Wonder Boy.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He assures her, matching her smile with one of his own.

Up ahead of them, his family is waiting by the car, Kory’s got both arms slung round Rachel and Gar’s shoulders, and his smile only grows.

He isn’t sure he agrees with Donna about being made for this life. He remembers the feeling of blood on his knuckles and pain carving into his chest a little to well to ever claim that but looking at his family? How far they’ve all come?

Dick Grayson knows with absolute certainty that while he might not have been made of this, he was made to find them. All of them. This family.

They’re Graysons, after all, and Graysons always seem to find a way.

Together.