Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Bruce licked his new puppy, smoothing down stray hairs and hopefully lulling Dick to sleep. His puppy was so restless at night, half from his own wild energy and half, Bruce suspected, to distract himself from his grief. Bruce knew from personal experience how hard it was to ignore pain when everything else was still and quiet.

Dick squirmed, and Bruce paused, but Dick settled quickly. Good. He was getting comfortable, not trying to escape again. He had no idea how Dick always managed to get onto such high objects when he set his mind to it, but he had already had to howl at Dick for half an hour to get him to come down off the chandelier this morning.

Bruce nuzzled Dick’s tiny neck in appreciation and affection. For all the gray hairs that he was giving Bruce—which was currently three, but Dick was only nine, so there was plenty of time for more—Dick was the best thing that had ever happened to Bruce.

Bruce hesitated with his face against Dick’s fur…his strange fur.

Alfred said it was normal, healthy even, but Bruce was worried. He didn’t remember his fur being so…It was hard to explain, but Dick’s fur was both too stiff and too fluffy. Bruce had been a healthy wolf pup, and his fur had never looked like that. The stiff fur was mostly on his legs, and Bruce worried that Dick had developed some sort of fur disorder.

It didn’t seem to hurt Dick or affect his human form, so it was likely not dangerous, but Bruce was still looking around for a specialist he could trust. He didn’t want to make Dick self-conscious, though, so he wasn’t going to comment on it yet.

Dick raised his head and made a soft puppy noise at Bruce. It sounded a bit strange, slightly accented, but it warmed Bruce’s heart to hear it. Even though Dick said he didn’t want another father, Bruce couldn’t help but see Dick as his son after caring for the boy for only three short months.

Bruce gave a low, happy howl and licked right over the top of Dick’s head. Dick rocked with the movement, falling over on his back, and Bruce licked him again and again. He loved his puppy so much. His sweet little boy who needed to sleep.

Dick yawned and crawled between Bruce’s forelegs, snuggling up against Bruce’s chest where it was warm and safe. Bruce chuffed, pleased, and laid his head down over his puppy. If he’d been a human, he would have smiled.

His pack was growing strong. For the first time in nearly twenty years, he was not the only wolf in the Wayne Pack.

Dick woke when the light started to filter in through the curtains. Since he’d started to sleep in Bruce’s room more often, Dick noticed that the curtains were open a bit more often. It made the room look brighter, and not just because the light, so Dick was happy. Bruce got broody if the room was too dark. He was like a flower, only opening up if it was sunny.

Dick laughed in his head and tried to not shake too much so he wouldn’t wake up Bruce. Bruce probably wouldn’t want Dick to be thinking that he was just a grumpy flower, but he was.

Dick yawned and stretched his wings, then settled back down with his head on Bruce’s furry leg to wait for Bruce to wake up.

It was…different, having a wolf as a guardian.

For one, Bruce couldn’t fly. He could do the zoomy rope things, but that didn’t count. Second, Bruce didn’t nest. Sure, he snuggled, but he didn’t build a nest very meticulously and carefully so that everything was just right for sleeping in.

Dick didn’t exactly not like those things about Bruce. He missed having no one to fly with him and no one to build him a nest, but it was also nice sometimes that Bruce wasn’t like his parents. He didn’t have to decide if he liked Bruce’s nests better or his mom and dad’s, which was nice, and if he wanted to get some alone time, all he had to do was fly up.

There were other things that were different that Dick definitely liked, and one of those things was how big Bruce was. Bruce was so huge, especially compared to a little chick like Dick, and he was always so warm and soft. Dick’s body still had trouble regulating his own body heat in bird form sometimes, so it was nice to have a heat pack that gave hugs. He also liked how Bruce never got mad at him, even when Dick kind of deserved it. Bruce got worried, too worried, but he hadn't gotten really mad yet. Dick didn’t think he could handle someone being mad at him right now.

Bruce stirred and absently licked Dick’s ear. That was another thing that was different that he didn’t know about. Bruce constantly groomed Dick. Dick’s parents had preened him, but not as often as Bruce plopped down over top of him and just started grooming him. It was sometimes very nice, but sometimes so boring.

 Bruce yawned, then shifted. Human arms gathered Dick up and against Bruce’s warm chest. Dick warbled happily, then mimicked a happy wolf-pup sound he’d found on the internet.

Bruce smiled down at him. “Good puppy.”

It was a weird thing to call a chick, but Alfred said it was fine, so Dick just made the puppy noise again and let Bruce carry him down to the breakfast table.

Bruce definitely knew that Dick was actually a bird. It was just a thing he said, like how his mom called him her sweet robin even though he was a parrot.

Probably.

Chapter Text

Jason squeezed himself through the bars of the gate at the end of the driveway. Even as thin as he’d become, it was a tight fit, but then he was through.

As soon as he was through, Jason started moving toward the forest nearby, his tail wagging despite his scabbed over paws. He wished he could shift to being a boy with longer legs, but he couldn’t risk getting seen. Besides, being a boy used too much energy, and he had to preserve that energy for later.

He’d need to hunt some before he tried to break in, though, because little fox paws were not good for breaking windows or picking locks.

Hunting would be easier here, and safer. Jason had hunted before a couple times in the park, but it was hard when he had to keep watch for predators and animal control and traffickers. There wouldn’t be stray dogs here, though, and he could stay out of view of the humans until it was time to strike, so all he had to worry about now was owls and coyotes and maybe raccoons.

His first objective was to make himself a den for the night. He’d been saving his energy to shift to his human form to make himself a shelter in the woods, so it wouldn’t take long to get a makeshift den put together, and then he could sleep.

Jason yawned and stretched all the way from his forepaws to his tail. He was looking forward to getting to sleep somewhere safe and secure after his bumpy ride in the back of a landscaping truck and the trek from the next house over. Why did these people need so much land?

Everything was resting on this plan. Wayne Manor had to be loaded with rich people stuff that Jason could sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars. If he managed to pull this off, he could get enough money for a hotel room all winter, or at least for the worst of it.

Jason shook himself and continued his slow walk toward the woods. It would work.

It had to.

Bruce was trotting around the perimeter of his territory when he smelled the foreign scent at his front gate. His nose twitched as he paced back and forth, trying to catch the hours-old scent trail and figure out what had entered his territory.

It was definitely an animal of some type, but it smelled like a dirty Gotham alley, not like Bristol. Interesting. A rat? But it didn’t smell like a rat. It didn’t smell like a raccoon or dog either.

Bruce found the trail and set off after it. Perhaps he should have gone to get backup from Dick, but whatever the strange thing was smelled young, there was only one scent. He could deal with one young animal, if it was anything to worry about at all.

The trail led into the woods, then…changed. The animal scent was gone, and there was a distinctly human scent out of nowhere. An animal shifter? A young animal shifter, all alone.

Finally, Bruce could place the scent. It was a puppy! A wolf puppy! Why would a wolf puppy come to Bruce’s territory unless he wanted to be part of Bruce’s pack? Bruce had a very good pack for pups. Alfred was such a good caretaker, and Dick would be an excellent brother, and Bruce tried his best to be a good father.

He had a brief worry that Dick’s fur condition might be contagious, but he dismissed it. He had never caught it from Dick, and they slept together in the den most nights.

The scent shifted back to tired puppy-scent, then stopped at the base of a large oak tree. Bruce’s tail wagged, and he approached. His new puppy! So close!

As Bruce got closer, he realized that the pile of sticks and twigs at the base of the tree weren’t just debris, but they were a small shelter. Thick sticks were leaned against the tree, then covered with leaves and thinner branches to create reasonably decent cover. Such a clever pup!

Bruce didn’t want to scare the puppy, so he approached slowly even though he wanted to hurry. He needed to get the puppy home and into bed! After a night in the woods, his puppy would probably be so dirty too, so Bruce would need to groom him.

When he reached the opening, Bruce got down on his stomach and peered inside. He was met by a pair of too-bright blue eyes—a sure sign that this puppy was a shifter, and Bruce’s heart melted.

The puppy was so small. It looked healthy, with four properly-shaped, properly-proportioned legs, a tail that looked just as it should, and ears that stuck up just right. Bruce felt a stab of relief and guilt. He loved Alfred and Dick, but physical mutations often arose from underlying health conditions, and he frequently worried about the two of them. It was a mercy to not have to worry about this pup so much, though he was certainly far too tiny.

The puppy barked—he was saying hello! His sweet little yips made Bruce wish he was in human form so he could smile. Instead, he barked back.

Bruce edged a little closer till his head was just barely inside the pup’s little den. Clearly, the puppy liked him, so Bruce could pick him up and carry him inside now! It was hard to get any farther in without bringing the whole shelter down on top of the pup, so he waited for the puppy to come to him.

Instead of running up to Bruce to be carried, though, the puppy turned and ran away, straight into the back of the den. Since it was only made of sticks and leaves, the pup burst through, and everything collapsed on Bruce’s head.

Bruce blinked in surprise, then stood up, shaking leaves from his fur. He must have misunderstood. Maybe the puppy was scared. Maybe he didn’t know that there was a strong, kind pack here ready to take care of him and love him forever. If he didn’t know, and Bruce just appeared in his den, it made sense that the puppy was scared, but the pup couldn’t be running around in the woods at night alone. It was dangerous! A pup so small would be easy prey for an owl to snatch up and devour, or the pup could fall down a hole and get stuck, or any number of horrible things.

Bruce trotted after the pup, easily keeping pace despite how fast the puppy was running. Poor thing. The scent of fear was rising quickly, but the puppy was so small and weak and couldn’t get away.

Bruce stepped in the pup’s way, bent down over him, and gently closed his jaws around the back of the puppy’s neck.

The puppy whimpered in fear as Bruce raised him into the air and turned toward the Manor. Bruce wished he could croon comfortingly to the puppy, but his mouth was full of his new pup.

Jason was going to die.

The wolf shifter was going to eat him, and he was going to die.

He whimpered as the wolf carried him toward the Manor. It wasn’t fair. How was he supposed to know that Wayne had a shifter body guard?

He was being stupid. Of course stupidly rich people would protect their money however they could. He should have never come here in the first place. He would have been starving and freezing to death in Crime Alley, but at least he wouldn’t have been dead.

There was nothing Jason could do but dangle helplessly from the vicious jaws closed around the back of his neck as the wolf brought him straight up to the back of the house. If he wasn’t eaten, then they might call the police, and if they called the police…

Jason whimpered again. He’d heard what happened to the kids the police caught, and he’d fought so hard to keep from being one of them.

There was a large dog door in the back door, big enough that even an adult could crawl through. How rich did you have to be to not think twice about having a hole in your house big enough for a giant wolf to come in and out? Certainly rich enough to not need to take a pound of flesh from a kid who only weighed three pounds!

The lights were off, but Jason could make out the shadow of an oven and refrigerator and cabinets, so they were in the kitchen. His stomach tightened. Maybe the wolf had only brought Jason in so he could season Jason’s meat and cook him on the stove instead of eating him raw.

Jason waited for the wolf to set him down and shift or just kill Jason and get it over with, but the wolf carried him through the kitchen and into the belly of the house instead.

The wolf carried him through oppressively dark halls that seemed to wind on forever because the house itself hated Jason. He was probably being taken to some secret murder dungeon so he could be tortured. But then they were going upstairs, and dungeons weren’t usually upstairs.

The longer he was carried, the less likely it seemed that the wolf was going to call the cops. There had to be a phone somewhere that he could have used instead of dragging Jason through the entire house, but he hadn't been eaten either, so what option did that even leave?

Jason swung from the wolf’s jaws, awaiting his fate until the wolf nudged open one last door and carried Jason into a dark room, and not just any room.

It was a bedroom.

Jason yipped and thrashed as best he could, panicked. No, no! He didn’t want this, he didn’t want this!

The wolf did even seem to notice Jason’s struggles. The wolf effortlessly hopped up on the bed, laid down, and set Jason on the mattress between his paws.

As soon as the wolf let go, Jason took off toward the door. Maybe he could make it—

Jason didn’t even see the giant paw before it came crashing down on his back, shoving him face-first into the bed. Jason keened and struggled weakly, but there was nothing he could do.

It wasn’t fair. Jason wanted to sob. Even if he shifted human and tried to run like that, he was still weak, and even if the wolf was also tiny and weak in his human form, all he had to do was threaten to shift into a wolf and tear Jason to pieces if Jason didn’t behave himself.

The wolf leaned over and dragged Jason back over by his neck and bracketed him in with muscular legs that must have weighed more than Jason and scythe-like claws at the ends of huge paws.

There was no escape, only pain or surrender.

 Jason wanted to fight, he did, but he had barely eaten, and he’d already used so much energy to get here and build himself a shelter, and he just couldn’t struggle anymore when he knew he couldn’t win.

Jason closed his eyes and braced for the wolf to start…whatever he was going to do first, but he wasn’t prepared for the giant tongue laving over the top of his head.

…What?

Jason stalled, too confused and petrified to move as the tongue came back and swiped over Jason’s back. The wolf was…grooming him?

Jason took a deep breath and pressed himself as far as he could into the down comforter, wishing he could disappear. This didn’t make anything better. The wolf was cleaning him so Jason wouldn’t get him dirty when the wolf decided to make his move. That had to be it. There was no other reason for a wolf to be grooming a stray fox kit he’d found trespassing.

Another option occurred to him just as the wolf licked his ears—that tickled—and it was only slightly better than the first.

It was rare nowadays, but Jason had still heard of dangerous predator shifters being kidnapped as puppies and raised to be loyal guards for their rich owners. Bruce Wayne of all people could certainly afford a trafficked guard wolf, and maybe the guard wolf wanted Jason to be a guard too.

That would mean food, warmth, and shelter, but Jason didn’t want it. He wasn’t just a dumb animal! He wasn’t going to sit and stay like a good puppy and let an “owner” scratch his ears! He wasn’t going to risk his life to save someone who forced Jason into slavery! He was a human with rights!

The grooming continued, slow and methodical and kinder than it had any right to be. Jason’s bones were slowly turning to melty soup the longer the wolf nibbled out mats in Jason’s fur and licked away the dirt and grime from Gotham and his night in the woods.

The wolf finished cleaning every part of Jason that he could reach, then gently nudged Jason’s side with his snout. It took Jason a moment to realize that the wolf wanted him to roll over and let the wolf clean over his ribs and belly.

Jason nearly snarled at the wolf or bit his whiskers and pulled them all out. He might not be fighting the grooming so far, and it might even feel good, but he didn’t lie belly-up for anyone but his mama to clean him or for his dad when Dad was being really scary, but he didn’t just go around baring the most vulnerable parts of his body for just anyone.

At the same time, though…Jason did want to be clean, and this wolf was being nice so far…so he probably wouldn’t bite Jason and tear out his innards. And if Jason was going to be stuck here forever, it would be better if his fellow prisoner liked him at least, right?

There were some parts of his body that even his mama never groomed, though, but if the wolf wanted to touch him there, Jason would be helpless to stop him. The wolf had been gentle so far, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to hurt Jason.

The wolf licked over top of Jason’s head again. Jason shuddered and melted just a little more. He hadn't been groomed or even just touched kindly in so long, and every one of his primal kit instincts wanted to give in and bask in the gentle affection. The wolf could overpower him anyway, so what could Jason even stand to lose by letting himself be groomed for the first time in years?

Jason couldn’t just choose between the two sides of his mind, the boy and the kit, but when the wolf nudged him again, Jason didn’t fight as he was tipped onto his side.

The wolf nuzzled against Jason’s neck with a soft woof. Jason stilled as the cold nose touched his skin and warm breath rustled his fur, but the woof had sounded pleased, so he wasn’t going to hurt Jason yet probably.

The wolf pulled away and started licking under Jason’s chin, then down his chest. Jason trembled as the wolf continued down his ribcage and closed his eyes as he waited for the wolf to go lower.

The wolf seemed to work quicker at his ribs and chest than he had at Jason’s back, even though the fur on his chest was dirtier because Jason had to sleep on the ground most nights, but Jason relaxed minutely. The wolf wasn’t lingering, so he probably wasn’t interested in touching Jason while he was vulnerable.

Once Jason’s entire ribcage had been cleaned, the wolf nudged Jason back onto his stomach with one of those big killer paws, leaving everything private untouched.

Jason’s brief moment of relief was cut short when the wolf stood up on the bed. Were they leaving? Or was something else about to start?

The wolf hopped off the bed and shifted into a massive human with his back to Jason. Jason whimpered and crawled toward the pile of pillows at the head of the bed. Maybe he could hide under them before the wolf could turn around.

No such luck.

Broad human hands intercepted Jason and swept him up to the human’s eyelevel. Jason whined in fear, then went still.

That was Bruce Wayne.

Bruce Wayne didn’t own a shifter, didn’t employ a shifter. He was a shifter, just like Jason.

Everything went spinning on its head. If Wayne wasn’t a trafficker, then he probably wasn’t going to train Jason to be a pet or a guard dog, and if he hadn't called the police yet, then no one was going to call the police at all. Jason had heard whispers that Wayne liked little boys, but when Jason had asked Dr. Leslie after finding out that she was Wayne’s doctor too, she had told him that it was all a lie, and Jason trusted Dr. Leslie because Dr. Leslie always sent Batman after guys who groped their kids.

Wayne pulled Jason up against his body and spoke with a voice that reverberated through Wayne’s chest and into Jason’s head. “It’s okay, puppy. You’re okay. I’m going to go get you something to eat, then you can go to sleep, sweetheart. You’re safe here.”

Jason whimpered. That couldn’t be true, because if all those things were true, and Wayne didn’t want to hurt him, then why in the world would Wayne want to bring a fox kit to his bed then personally groom him and treat him so gently? Even though it had been scary as fuck, Wayne had only been kind to Jason, much kinder than any other rich person who found a fucking street rat fox would be.

Wayne leaned down and pressed a small kiss over the bridge of Jason’s nose before setting Jason down on the pile of pillows. It felt like sinking into a cloud.

Wayne gave Jason a brief scratch behind the ears before whispering a goodbye and leaving Jason to sag into the pillows in peace. What was this night?

The weariness in his bones that had been kept back only by intense adrenaline sunk in the moment he was comfy. He needed sleep. His night had been interrupted by being discovered, and he hadn't slept well in two years on the streets.

Maybe Wayne was going to feed him, maybe he wasn’t. Maybe Wayne had an evil plan, maybe he didn’t. Either way, Jason was tired, and he was safe for the moment, maybe forever, so he was going to sleep.

Bruce arrived back at his room with a mug of soup for his new baby puppy. Despite the early unrest, the pup had calmed after being groomed. That was to be expected, of course. Grooming was both a physically and emotionally satisfying activity, and it was always the best course of action to calm any wolf puppy.

Puppy.

Bruce took a deep breath and smiled broadly. He had another son, who’d practically giftwrapped himself and trotted up the manor steps. Another son he couldn’t wait to see in human form and at the breakfast table and at galas and in a Gotham Academy uniform. He couldn’t wait to spoil his new pup rotten, and even more than that, he couldn’t wait to tell Dick and Alfred.