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Chapter Text

Dick always locked his windows at night, he lived in Bludhaven so going out leaving them unlocked was just asking for trouble, even if you were Nightwing. And Dick prided himself on his security, being raised by Bruce Wayne had made him something of an expert and so far, it seemed to have worked and he'd never had any problems. Until now.

It was late, gone midnight and Dick had just finished a particularly strenuous patrol. All of his limbs hurt, he could feel himself getting a headache and he was exhausted. He just wanted to have a hot shower and then crawl into bed. He pushed his apartment door open, shucking off the hoodie he was wearing over his Nightwing suit and flicked on the light.

What he was not expecting to find was Jason Todd sitting in one of his armchairs, his helmet discarded on the coffee table, looking for all the world like he lived there.

Dick yelped in surprise, cursing himself for not realising there had been someone in his sitting room when he opened the door. Especially not fucking Red Hood. 

Jason smirked at Dick's reaction.

'Hey there Dickie.' he said. 'You miss me?'

'You broke into my apartment .' Dick said, feeling slightly hysterical. 'The fuck?'

'You weren't answering your phone.'

'I was on patrol!'

'Yeah I know…'

'You broke into my fucking apartment!'

'Yeah we established that.' Jason said with a wink. 'I thought you'd be pleased to see me.'

Dick groaned and sank down onto the couch. This was not the way he had expected tonight to go.

'I am, Jaybird.' he replied. 'But you scared the shit out of me.'

'Call me that again and I'll knock your front teeth out.' Jason said, pleasantly enough but there was no disguising that it was a very real threat.

Dick held up his hands in surrender and cast his eyes over his brother . And honestly, he looked dreadful. He was pale with bruise-like circles under his eyes and a half healed cut across his jaw. The Red Hood suit covered his entire body but Dick could guess that there were more scars and bruises hidden beneath the clothing.

The thought made him want to wrap Jason up in his arms and keep him safe from all the shit the world wanted to throw at him. But it also made him want to go after the arseholes who hurt him and give them a taste of exactly what Nightwing was capable of when they messed with people Dick cared about.

'Can I get you a drink? he asked, standing up. He didn't want to scare Jason off again by asking too many questions about what had happened to him 'Beer? Or I got coffee and that weird herbal tea that Bruce drinks…'

'Beer's great.' Jason cut him off. 'Thanks.'

When Dick came back from the kitchen carrying two bottles of beer, Jason had kicked off his boots and was sitting with his feet up on the coffee table. Dick had to stop himself yelling at him.

'You alright?' he said, passing Jason his beer and sitting back down. 'What did you need?'

'You text me.' Jason said with a shrug. 'Figured you wanted to see me.'

Dick groaned, that text he'd sent when he'd last been at the manor.

'I did that for Tim.' he said irritably. 'He said he was sick of us fighting so I texted you to get him off my case. I didn't think you'd actually just show up.'

'The kid knew we weren't talking?' Jason said, 'Huh.'

'He's a genius,' Dick said, stifling a yawn. 'He figured it out.'

'Do you want to patch things up?' Jason asked, taking a sip of his drink. 'I'm not opposed to it.'

Dick threw his hands in the air in frustration.

'I want us to be ok again, I do,' he said. 'But you have got to stop picking fights with every single crime boss in Bludhaven. I'm sick of worrying that one day I'll be bringing you home in a body bag.'

'Well it's happened before.' Jason replied nonchalantly. 'Death ain't always permanent Dickie.'

'No.' Dick growled, surprised by how much he sounded like Bruce. 'You know the Lazarus Pit isn't some get out of jail free card. You don't just keep trying it until you get it right.' 

Dick had seen Jason 'die', he'd been to his funeral for fucks sake, he'd buried him. But then there was that whole business with the Lazarus Pit and Jason came back but it was like something had got lost in the process, like he'd left a bit of himself behind in the pit. 

Jason took another swig of his beer and grinned in that unnerving way that painfully reminded Dick that he wasn't really all there.

Dick was exhausted, and he just wanted to get out of the Nightwing suit and go to bed but he wasn't leaving things like this with Jason.

'Look, give me five minutes to get out of this suit and then we can talk about it properly, ok?' he said. 

Jason nodded and Dick hurried to his room to gst changed.

When Dick emerged five minutes later, wearing leggings and a baggy blue sweatshirt, he realised that Jason had moved to the sofa and had apparently fallen asleep. 

Dick knew that Jason was a criminal and only a few hits away from becoming a crime boss himself. But Dick looked at him and only saw his little brother, his face softened by sleep. He looked like a kid again. 

So Dick decided to let him stay, he didn't have the heart to wake him up. He wondered how long it was since Jason had a proper night's sleep, in a place where he felt safe.

He grabbed a blanket from the back of one of the armchairs and draped it over Jason before switching off the light and going to bed himself.

***

When Dick's alarm sounded on his phone at 7am the next morning, he groaned and groped around on his bedside table until he found it. As he silenced his alarm, he saw he had a message from Jason. Frowning, he pushed himself up in bed, brushed a few stray strands of hair away from his face and read the text.

Jason Todd 6:15 am: thanks for letting me crash. I'm sorry I couldn't stay, talk soon. J 

Dick sighed. He should have known that Jason wouldn't hang around but it hadn't stopped him hoping that he might have decided to stay for a little while longer. Dick had been hoping they could talk more, and maybe get some breakfast before he had to go to work.

He did think he might have got through to Jason a little bit, and that he might stop taking such unnecessary risks now. If he did that, Dick thought they definitely had a second chance at making their friendship work.

***

As it turned out, it seemed that Dick had got through to Jason. In the weeks that followed, Dick saw less and less of him on patrol and Red Hood was cropping up less frequently on the police reports that crossed his desk. It seemed like he was keeping his head down and out of trouble for the most part. Of course his name still showed up from time to time but it seemed he'd at least stopped picking fights he couldn't win.

Then, one day a few months after his impromptu visit to Dick's apartment, Jason turned up at the police station of his own accord. Dick had just finished work and was crossing the parking lot to his motorbike, helmet in hand, when he spotted another bike parked in the space next to his and a familiar figure was leaning against it.

'Hey little wing.' Dick greeted him, even though Jason was as tall as him now and twice as broad. 'What are you doing here? Thought the police station would be the last place you'd wanna be.'

Jason shrugged.

'I'm not wanted for anything, Red Hood is.'

Dick couldn't argue with his logic, the police weren't currently looking for Jason Todd. And Dick had to admit, he looked a lot better than the last time they'd met. The circles under his eyes were less pronounced and there weren't any fresh cuts on his face. He looked well, for Jason.

'Did you need something in particular?' Dick asked. 'I was just heading home.'

'I thought we could go for coffee.' Jason said, studying his fingernails. 'If you're not busy or anything, I thought it would be nice to catch up.'

Dick considered this, he didn't have any plans before he went on patrol later, and Jason had been behaving a lot more responsibly lately. So Dick nodded.

'Come on.' he said, swinging a leg over his bike. 'Follow me, I know a place.'

***

At some point, and Dick couldn't put his finger on exactly when it happened, Jason started meeting him after work fairly regularly. Normally on a Wednesday, (or a Thursday if Dick was on a late shift on Wednesday) , he'd come out of the precinct and Jason would be leaning on his motorbike, waiting for him.

And slowly, he could feel them getting back to how they used to be, friends as well as teammates. Jason wouldn't tell Dick where he was living, which wasn't surprising. Red Hood wouldn't want a cop knowing his address, even if said cop was actually his brother. 

Sometimes they took their bikes out for a spin, sometimes they'd go for a coffee or sometimes they'd go back to Dick's place and watch a movie. Those evenings, Jason would often fall asleep on Dick's couch, curled up under a blanket.

***

Jason never stayed long in the morning, oftentimes he was gone before Dick got up for work. He didn't mind, and Jason always texted him later to say thanks for letting him crash but sometimes Dick did wish he'd stick around a bit longer, give them a chance to talk. He didn't think much of it, just that Jason would stop by every now and then and that'd be it.

And that was just their routine, Jason came over, slept on the couch and was gone in the morning. That's the way it always went.

Until it didn't.

One night, when Jason was staying over, Dick was awoken in the very early hours of the morning by what sounded like screaming coming from his sitting room. Alarmed, Dick pulled on a t-shirt over his pyjama pants and practically sprinted to the living room, thinking an intruder had somehow got in.

What he found, when he clicked on the lamp however, was Jason sitting on the floor next to the couch, his arms wrapped around his knees, and tears streaming down his face.

And Dick understood immediately that the screaming had actually been coming from Jason. He must have been having a nightmare or a PTSD flashback. He knew it happened sometimes, but he'd never been around to witness it.

He also knew better than to try and touch Jason, even though his instinct was to gather him up in his arms and hold him until he felt better. But that would probably make him lash out and that would just cause even more problems.

So instead he did exactly what Tim had told him to do if this happened and sat cross legged on the floor a little way away from Jason, to give him space.

'Hey Jayce.' Dick said calmly. 'It's Dick, I'm right here. You're safe. Can you talk to me buddy?'

Jason looked at him through his tears, he looked absolutely terrified.

'He's gonna kill me.' he said, his voice saturated with panic.

'Ok.' Dick said, keeping his voice level. 'You're not there, you're in my apartment in Bludhaven ok?'

This seemed to bring Jason back to his senses and he blinked rapidly.

'Dick.' he said with a hiccup. 'He was there, The Joker. I thought it was happening again.'

'Nightmare?' Dick asked.

Jason shook his head slowly.

'Not exactly,' he said. 'Kinda, maybe. It felt like I was awake, like I was still there even after you came in.'

'Flashback then.' Dick said, 'Do you wanna stay sitting down here or can we sit on the couch and talk?'

Tim had told him to let Jason decide what happened after these episodes, to make sure he knew he was in control and making the decisions. He said it helped to calm him down.

'Couch.' Jason mumbled.

Dick stood up, and held out his hand, Jason took it and Dick helped him to his feet and supported him over to the couch.

***

Dick didn't want to leave Jason on his own, so he wrapped a blanket around Jason's shoulder, and stayed sitting on the couch beside him so they could talk, if he wanted to.

'You can go back to bed if you want.' Jason muttered. 'I'm fine.'

Dick shook his head.

'Not going anywhere bud,' he said. 'I'm awake now anyway.'

Jason shrugged, and tucked the blanket more securely around himself. Dick decided that distraction was the best course of action in this scenario.

'I remember when Bruce first brought you home.' Dick said. 'I wasn't even living with him then, I was in San Francisco, I'd just come back to pick up some tech.'

Jason's face broke into a reluctant smile.

'I remember that day,' he said. 'I was reading in the cave and then you walked in. Dick bloody Grayson. Never thought I'd ever get to meet you.'

Dick smiled to himself at the memory of walking into the batcave to find this scrappy teenager sitting at the BatComputer with his feet up on the desk, reading a battered copy of Great Expectations .

'I didn't know what to make of you at first.' Dick admitted, with a chuckle. 'I didn't know Bruce had found another Robin so that was one hell of a way to find out. Pretty sure you hated me actually.'

'I never hated you.' Jason said. 'I never did. How could I?'

His voice was slurred from tiredness and Dick wondered if he was on the verge of falling back to sleep.

'Hey Jaybird.' Dick said softly. 'I'm gonna head back to bed, leave you to sleep.'

'Thanks.' Jason muttered, looking half asleep already.'G'night Dick.'

Chapter Text

When Dick awoke the next morning, the first thing he did was stick his head around the sitting room door to check on Jason. His younger brother was still fast asleep, cocooned in the blanket. Not wanting to wake him, Dick tiptoed into the kitchen and set the coffee machine going to make drinks for both of them.

When he re-entered the sitting room, with a mug of steaming hot coffee in each hand, Jason opened his eyes a little, a slightly dopey looking smile on his face.

'Oh I'm sorry.' Dick said, setting the coffee down and perching on the edge of the couch. 'I didn't mean to wake you, I had to get up for work.'

'S'fine.' Jason replied with a yawn. 'You brought coffee so you're forgiven.'

He sat up and stretched, before holding out his hand so Dick could pass him one of the mugs.

'Besides,' he said, smiling ruefully. 'I did wake you up at three in the morning because PTSD hates me having a good night's sleep.'

Dick winced, it still knocked the wind out of him when Jason talked about his trauma so casually. But it worked for him so Dick didn't say anything about it.

'It happens.' Dick said. 'I've got to get ready for work but you stay there if you like, god knows you need your sleep.'

Jason shook his head.

'S'okay Dickie.' he said. 'I'll finish this and then get out of your way. I'll be gone before you know it'

Dick didn't protest, even though he was more than happy for Jason to stay, he just grabbed his coffee and hurried back to his bedroom to get ready.

***

Dick checked on Jason before he headed out to work, fully expecting to find the couch empty and Jason gone. However, it seemed that Jason was more exhausted than he'd let on and was curled up fast asleep again, his coffee sitting half drunk on the table.

He hovered awkwardly in the doorway for a moment, wondering what to do. But he couldn't wait too long or he would be late. Again. So he headed back into the kitchen and scrawled a quick note on the back of a receipt and left it on the counter.

'Hi Jay, had to head to work but didn't want to wake you. I'll see you soon. Dick

***

It was past midday before Dick looked up from his computer at the precinct. He was drowning in paperwork and he hadn't had the time to check his phone. There weren't any new messages from Jason so he assumed he'd slept in a little longer and then headed home.

Dick's stomach gave a resounding growl to remind him that he hadn't eaten yet, so he tried his best to put his concerns for Jay out of his mind and headed to the bodega across the street to get some lunch.

***

Dick hadn't heard from Jason all day so he was surprised to find him sitting up at the breakfast bar in his kitchen leafing through a book when he unlocked his door at six o'clock that evening.

'Hey.' Dick said, dumping his bag on the floor. 'Thought you'd gone home.'

Jason looked up from the book and smiled, and Dick saw he was wearing one of his old sweatshirts, a faded out grey one that was a couple of sizes too big on him but fit Jason perfectly.

'I wanted to cook dinner.' Jason explained as Dick went to put a fresh pot of coffee on. 'But I didn't know when you'd be home, and I didn't wanna disturb you at work, I know you're busy.'

'That's very sweet Jay.' Dick said. 'But you didn't have to, you're always welcome here, you don't have to earn your keep.'

Jason shrugged and hopped down from the stool, crossed over to the refrigerator and started rifling through it.

'When did you last go grocery shopping?' he asked, turning away from the refrigerator to frown at Dick. 'I'm a good chef but I'm not a miracle worker.'

'Umm.' Dick said, actually unable to remember the last time he actually did a decent food shop. 'Last week, maybe.'

'Christ.' Jason said, shaking his head, a box of eggs in his hand. 'I'll rustle up an omelette for us but you gotta promise me you'll go shopping.'

Dick nodded and poured coffee into two mugs, passing one over to Jason, who took it gratefully. 

'I promise.'

Jason didn't look entirely convinced but started rummaging through the cupboard for a pan instead.

'Go.' he said, with a wave of his hand. 'Go watch TV or something, I can't cook with you watching me.'

Dick grabbed his mug of coffee and ambled off to get changed out of his work clothes and into something more comfortable. He might have been all put together at work and when he was running around as Nightwing but when he was at home? He was honestly a bit of a slob.

Once he'd changed into sweats and a hoodie, he flopped onto the couch and idly flicked through the television channels, half paying attention and half listening to Jason banging about in the kitchen and singing along to some old rock song that was playing on the radio.

Eventually he grew bored of sitting around, and wandered over to the kitchen, poking his head around the door. Jason had his back to him, and was totally engrossed in frying up an omelette.

'I know you're there.' Jason said, without looking round. 'You're really shit at sneaking and your floorboards creak.'

He turned around and gave Dick a crooked smile.

'Dinner's nearly done. Could you grab some plates?'

***

They ate sitting up at the breakfast bar, Dick having hurriedly shifted piles of documents out of the way so they could put their plates down.

As they ate, Dick broached the question that he'd been mulling over for the last few weeks.

'How'd you feel about staying here for a bit?'

Jason put down his fork and frowned, like he didn't understand the question.

' What are you on about?'

'Come live here for a while.' Dick said. 'I like having you around. I'll need to clear all of the junk out of the spare room so you don't have to sleep on the couch.'

'I do have my own place Dickbrain.' Jason said. 'It's just not always the safest place for me to be, but I can handle it.'

This was the problem, Dick thought, that Jason wasn't always safe in his own home. Dick knew he'd failed him once and he'd died because of it, the safer he could keep Jason, the better.

'Just think about it ok?' he said. 'The offer's always there if you change your mind.'

'Thanks.' Jason replied with a wry smile. 'But I promise I can take care of myself.'

Dick wasn't convinced but he let the subject go, Jason was stubborn and trying to push him would just lead to him distancing himself and that was the last thing Dick wanted.

***

It was a couple of weeks later and Dick was fast asleep, wiped out after a pretty gnarly patrol night, when a crash made him sit bolt upright in bed. He swore to himself as he jumped out of bed and grabbed his ecrisma sticks from where he'd left them when he got in, and crept towards the sitting room.

He was sure he double locked the window, so if burglars were able to get in, he needed to rethink his security. He was also fully prepared to beat the shit out of whoever had just broken in, but as he switched on the light, his stomach flipped. It wasn't a burglar, it was Jason, lying in the middle of his sitting room floor, his arms wrapped around his torso, a bloodstain slowly blossoming under his fingers.

Dick threw his sticks to the side and was on his knees by Jason's side in an instant, pressing his hands over the top of Jason's in an attempt to stem the flow of blood.

'Hey Jay.' he said, trying to keep Jason awake. ''What happened bud?'

He attempted to mask the panic in his voice, to not let on that he was frantic with worry that Jason was going to bleed out in front of him.

Jason opened his eyes and gave him a weak smile.

'Run in with some of Scarecrow's goons.' he said, his voice slurred. 'One of them pulled a knife and I didn't get out of the way quick enough. Stupid.'

A growl escaped Dick's throat, how dare those idiots even touch Jason, if Dick ever got his hands on them, they'd regret messing with him. But he could think about that later, right now he needed to focus. He took a few steadying breaths, feeling the white hot rage ebb away enough that he could concentrate.

'Stay with me Jay.' he said firmly as Jason's eyes threatened to flutter shut again. 'I need to look at that wound real quick. God, what were you even doing getting tangled up with those idiots?'

Jason didn't answer so Dick figured he wasn't up to talking, so he moved his hands away from Jason's stomach.

'I need you to move your hands for a sec.' Dick continued. 'Need to check your stomach, can you do that?'

For a second, Jason didn't respond at all and Dick was momentarily scared he'd lost consciousness, but then he moved his hands from his torso and Dick tried to ignore the fact they came away bloodied.

Trying to work both quickly and gently, Dick peeled the ruined hem of Jason's shirt away from his stomach, eliciting a hiss of pain from below him.

'Sorry Jay,' he murmured, using the same soft voice he used when he was patching up Damian's skinned knees. 'Won't take long, promise.'

He glanced down at Jason's bare stomach, appraising the damage as quickly as he could. There was a lot of blood but the wound itself was long but not deep. Dick guessed Jason getting himself over here had made it look worse than it was, it was nasty and he'd need stitches but thankfully Jason wasn't in imminent danger of dying from blood loss.

'Put your hands back where they were.' Dick instructed, standing back up. 'I'll stitch you up and get you some painkillers but you're gonna be fine.'

Jason groggily did as he was told, pressing his hand back over the cut. Then he said something but it was so quiet that Dick didn't catch it.

'What's that?' he said, leaning down. 'Missed that, sorry.'

'You're so nice' Jason said, sounding slightly delirious. 'Just thought you should know.'

Dick had to bite back a laugh at the unexpected compliment, Jason must have been really out of it to be saying Dick was nice. He shook his head and straightened up.

'I'll be right back.' he said, 'Don't move.'

***

'He did what?' 

Bruce's voice on the other end of the phone sounded worried and pissed off. Which was quite a reasonable combination given the fact Dick had woken him up at three in the morning to inform him that Jason had a stab wound.

'Got in trouble with some of Scarecrow's goons, far as I can tell.' Dick replied, glancing at Jason who was now passed out on his couch underneath a blanket. 'One of them went at him with a knife but luckily they just nicked him, I've fixed him up.'

Bruce sighed, and Dick gnawed anxiously on a hangnail. He looked over at Jason again but he still seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

'He needs to come home.' Bruce said, finally. 'I don't care what he's done, he's gonna get himself murdered if he carries on like this.'

'He won't do that.' Dick replied heavily. 'But I'll try and convince him to stay with me for the time being so I can at least keep half an eye on him.'

'Fine.' Bruce said. 'Call me when he's awake OK?'

Then the call disconnected abruptly.

'Bye then.' Dick muttered sarcastically to himself before turning his attention back to the sleeping man on his couch.

He'd stitched Jason up without too much trouble but had discovered that he'd cracked a couple of ribs too by the looks of it. There wasn't a lot Dick could do about that so he'd dosed Jason up on painkillers and tucked him up on the couch so he could at least get some rest. He'd passed out almost immediately, and Dick had phoned Bruce.

Now, Dick settled back into the armchair, too keyed up to go back to bed. He also didn't want Jason waking up alone and disoriented when the painkillers wore off. So Dick stayed, curled up in the chair whilst Jason slept, his breathing deep and even.

****

Dick didn't intend on falling asleep but his body apparently had other ideas because the next thing he knew he was opening his eyes and light was spilling through the window into the sitting room.

He was momentarily confused about why he was sleeping in the armchair but then the memories came flooding back like a slap in the face. Jason.

Dick jumped to his feet and cast his eyes over to the where Jason was lying. To Dick's relief, his eyes were open and he gave a small crooked smile.

'Jay.' Dick said, hurrying to sit on the end of the couch at Jason's feet. 'How are you feeling?'

'Shit.' Jason said, struggling to sit up and wincing as he did so. 'What's the damage?'

'Knife wound.' Dick said. 'Superficial but it's gonna scar, I stitched you up. And two cracked ribs I think but seems like you just found that out for yourself.'

Jason nodded, and lay back down slowly. He gritted his teeth and Dick figured he was probably still in a lot of pain. Dick made a mental note to get him some more drugs, healing broken ribs was uncomfortable to say the least.

'I've got some codeine if you want it.' Dick offered. 'And I need to call Bats in a minute, said I would when you woke up.'

'Nah, I'm okay for now.' Jason said, even though that was a blatant lie. 'Could murder a cup of tea though?'

'I can do that.' Dick replied with a smile. 'But seriously Jay, what the hell? Why were you even going after those goons anyway?'

'They were threatening the kid.' Jason replied, his brow furrowed. 'I heard them when I was doing routine surveillance. Said they were gonna kill Robin if any of us fucked with them again. I wasn't having that. He's nine Dick. Younger than the rest of us were.'

Jason was fiercely protective of Damian even though it was the rest of the world that needed protecting from the youngest bat. Even so far as going after Scarecrow's men apparently.

'Dami can look after himself.' he said smiling. 'You don't need to put yourself in danger. Not any more than you normally do anyway.'

'You worrying about me Dickie?' Jason asked, clearly amused. 'You don't need to.'

'You got stabbed.' Dick pointed out. 'I'm gonna make that tea now.'

***

Dick called Bruce back whilst he was waiting for the tea to brew. He updated him on Jason's condition and Bruce insisted on sending Tim over to help out so Dick could get some rest.

Dick didn't argue, he was running on empty and having Tim over would mean he could grab a couple of hours of shut eye that he desperately needed.

After he hung up with Bruce, Dick grabbed the two cups of tea and a packet of painkillers and headed back into the sitting room.

'Tim's coming over.' he said, sitting down on the end of the couch and passing Jason a cup of tea and two tablets.

Jason had somehow manoeuvred himself into a sitting position, and Dick wanted to yell at him to lie back down before he jarred his broken ribs. Dick knew from falling off the trapeze multiple times that broken ribs required you to stay still to heal properly.

'I don't need babysitting.' Jason said grumpily, swallowing the pills down with a gulp of tea.

'It was a compromise. Bruce wanted you to come to the manor. I said you could stay here and he backed off. But I do need to get some sleep.'

Jason didn't argue the point, just continued sipping his tea. 

***

Tim arrived about an hour later, having been dropped off by Alfred. He had his rucksack slung over his back and a Wonder Woman travel mug in his hand. He was blinking owlishly in the weak morning light, looking slightly nonplussed about being woken up so early on a Saturday.

'How is he?' he asked, the moment Dick opened the door.

'He's in pain.' Dick said. 'But he's sleeping right now, I gave him some codeine and it seems to have knocked him out.'

'Okay.' Tim said, shifting from foot to foot. 'What do you need me to do?'

'Just sit with him for a couple of hours. I need to sleep for a bit, that's all. He's not due more meds for three hours or so but if he wakes up before then, it'll be good for someone else to be there.'

Tim nodded his understanding and headed off towards the sitting room, pulling a book out of his bag as he went.

Dick was confident that Tim knew what he was doing, Jason was in good hands. So he sloped off towards his bedroom, fully intending just to lie down for a couple of hours so he wasn't sleepwalking his way through the day.

***

He was awoken an hour later however by his phone ringing on his nightstand. Dick groaned and groped around until his hand found the phone, he peered at the caller ID and saw it was Bruce calling.

'Hello?' Dick said with a yawn.

'Oh good you're awake.' Bruce said.

Dick sat up in bed and ran a hand through his hair.

'Well I am now. I thought Tim coming over was so I could get some rest.'

He could hear someone talking in the background, it sounded a lot like Damian.

'It was.' Bruce said, sounding harassed. 'But when Dami woke up and found out what happened to Jason, he insisted on coming over. Started walking and everything.'

'So you've ended up giving him a ride.' Dick concluded, swinging his legs out of bed. 'Figures. What's your ETA?'

'Twenty minutes.' 

Dick huffed out an annoyed breath, he hadn't been bargaining on his apartment being full of Bats.

'Fine, but you can't stay long, Jay needs to sleep. I'll see you soon.'

He ended the call, and headed back into the sitting room to check on Jason and Tim. He was pleasantly surprised to see that Jason was awake again and looking a lot brighter and more with it. Thankfully, he'd also not attempted to sit up again, and was lying on his back with the blanket draped over him.

Tim was sitting at the other end of the couch, reading a book and laughing at whatever was on the page.

They both looked up as Dick walked in, and Tim smiled nervously at him.

'You're awake already?' he said, sounding confused. 'We're okay here, you can go back to bed if you like.'

'Bruce called.' Dick replied. 'Apparently Dami heard about Jason and insisted on coming over, they'll be here in twenty minutes.'

'God.' Jason said irritably. 'I got stabbed, do I really need more visitors?'

'It's Damian.' Dick said with a shrug. 'When's anyone stopped him from doing anything? I'm gonna get dressed. Tim I think there's a spare top of Jay's in the laundry basket.'

Tim nodded, so Dick headed off to his bedroom to try and make himself presentable, despite the fact he'd had about three hours sleep total and most of that was sitting up in an armchair. 

Twenty minutes later, Dick, Jason and Tim were all sitting around drinking coffee and talking. Tim somehow managed to manoeuvre Jason into a sitting position without jarring his ribs, which Dick was grateful for. 

The buzzer sounded, signalling Bruce and Damian's arrival. Dick made to stand up but Tim shook his head.

'I got it.'

Dick mentally prepared himself for the arrival of the tiny, human shaped maelstrom that was Damian Wayne. Jason leaned over and patted Dick's hand sympathetically.

'Stop stressing Dickie, it's fine.'

The front door slammed, and Dick could hear voices in the hallway. It sounded like Damian and Tim were arguing about something and Bruce was unsuccessfully trying to intervene.

Then the noise made its way to the sitting room as Damian came barrelling in, ignoring Tim's protestations 

The youngest bat stalked over to the couch where Jason was sitting and stood looking down at him, his arms crossed across his chest and his customary scowl on his face.

'You are an absolute idiot Todd.' he said with no preamble. 'What were you thinking?'

'Nice to see you too sprog.' 

'Hey, go easy Damian, he's meant to be recovering.'

Bruce appeared in the doorway with Tim, holding a bulging paper bag and a tray of coffee cups.

Dick raised his eyebrows, looking pointedly at the bag.

'I brought breakfast.' Bruce explained, 'To say sorry for waking you. And I figured you wouldn't have had time to make anything.'

'What did you bring?' Jason interrupted with interest.

'Stopped by McDonald's and picked up some breakfast rolls' Bruce explained. 'Where do you keep your plates Dick?'

Dick stood up and walked over to Bruce.

'I'll give you a hand with that. Dami, don't jump on the couch, you'll hurt Jay. Tim, make sure he doesn't.'

***

Once they were in the kitchen, Bruce looked around with raised eyebrows whilst Dick retrieved plates from the cupboard. Dick could almost feel him judging how small the place was compared to Wayne Manor.

'Small enough for you is it?' he snapped, placing the plates down on the counter with slightly more force than was necessary.

'I didn't say anything.' Bruce protested. 

'Yeah, but you were thinking it. I don't need all the luxury of the manor, I'm happy here.'

'I can see that. Bludhaven is lucky to have you.'

Dick was slightly taken aback by this, he sighed and leaned back against the counter.

'I'm glad you're here though. Really.' he said. 'Sorry I snapped, I've had about three hours sleep.'

'It's fine, I'm grateful you've been looking after Jay. I know you said it was Scarecrow's men but why?.'

Dick hesitated for a moment, he hadn't told Bruce why Jason had gone after Scarecrow's goons because he didn't want to worry him more. But he figured Bruce deserved the truth.

'He heard them threatening Dami.' Dick admitted. 'He didn't like that they were gonna go after him, so he went after them first.'

Bruce sighed and then patted Dick on the shoulder.

'He's got a good heart that boy, he just doesn't use that brain of his. I'm glad he's got you looking out for him.'

***

The other Bats left around lunchtime, Tim was going to Bernard's house and Bruce had to bodily drag Damian away, explaining firmly that Jason was injured and needed rest. Damain was still arguing when Bruce steered him out of the door, calling over his shoulder to Dick that he'd call him later.

Once the door clicked shut, Dick went back into the sitting room. Jason was laying back again the arm of the couch, looking totally wiped out 

'Sorry about that.' Dick said, sitting down beside him. 'I didn't expect Bruce and Dami just to show up like that. How are you feeling?'

'Sore.' Jason said, his eyelashes fluttering. 'I think I'm gonna have a shower though, I feel gross.'

'Let me take a look at your wound before you do. Need to check you've not pulled your stitches.'

'I've barely moved all morning.' Jason chuckled. 'But sure, go ahead if it makes you feel better.'

Hesitantly, Dick reached over and gently pulled up the hem of Jason's t shirt to examine his stomach to examine the stitches. They looked absolutely fine, and Dick was quite pleased he'd managed to do such a good job on them.

He pulled the fabric of the t shirt back down so Jason was fully covered again.

'You're all good.' he said. 'But take it easy in the shower. I don't really wanna have to redo them. Um..shout if you need me ok?'

***

Jason went off for his shower, wincing slightly as he walked but otherwise, reasonably steady. Dick watched him go before starting to clear up the remainder of their breakfast dishes. 

He had just finished loading the dishwasher when Jason poked his head around the kitchen door. He was wearing the same shirt as earlier and a pair of soft looking grey sweats. His hair was still damp and curling around his face, he looked miles better and Dick couldn't help but smile at him. 

'Just come to let you know I successfully showered without ripping my stitches out.' he said cheerfully. 'My ribs are killing me though.'

'Go sit down.' Dick.' We can watch some of that shit TV you like.'

Jason poked his tongue out, but headed back into the sitting room while Dick turned on the dishwasher.

'When can I go back to my place?' Jason asked as Dick sat down next to him. 'I don't want to be a burden'

Dick gaped at him, confused as to how Jason could even be thinking like that, like Dick would ever see him as a burden.

'You've got a fucking stab wound and two cracked ribs Jay.' he said. 'You're not going anywhere until you're healed. And you're never a burden to me, don't ever think you are.'

Jason huffed but didn't argue.

Jason

On Monday, Dick went back to work. He hadn't wanted to at first, fretting about it instead of just leaving.

'Are you sure you'll be okay?' he asked Jason. He was pacing back and forth so much across the sitting room rug that Jason was surprised he hadn't worn a hole in it.

'Chill out' Jason said from where he was lounging on the couch, grinning lazily up at him. 'I'll be fine, just be eating, sleeping and watching garbage on Netflix.'

'But what if you need something?' Dick asked him anxiously, 'And I'm not here?'

'Hey.' Jason said, snapping his fingers. 'Breathe, you're spiralling. Nothing bad is going to happen.'

'If you're sure…'

Dick didn't sound entirely convinced.

'Go.' Jason said, 'Go to work, I'll be here when you get home and I'll call you if I need anything, promise.'

'Fine.' Dick said with mock annoyance. 'I need to pick groceries up on the way home so I might be late.'

***

Jason had intended to try and tidy up the sitting room a little, Dick hadn't really gotten around to it since he'd been looking after Jason for the last couple of days so it felt like the least he could do. But as it turned out, broken ribs and stab wounds were not conducive to doing housework so Jason ended up spending the morning lying on the couch watching reruns of Golden Girls. The show was a guilty pleasure that he'd never admit to the others, especially not Tim.

After he'd eaten a quick lunch of leftover pizza, Babs turned up, claiming she was looking for Dick which was an obvious lie because she had to know he was working. Jason strongly suspected he'd sent her over to keep him company which was actually really sweet. Jason napped while Babs worked on her laptop so she really didn't need to be there but he appreciated it nonetheless.

He asked her about it once he'd woken up.

'Dick put you up to this?' he asked as they sat together drinking the tea that Babs had just made. 

'Maybe.' Babs replied, tipping him a wink before her face became serious. 'He cares about you Jay, he wants to make sure you're alright.'

'That's Dick Grayson in a nutshell.' Jason said, 'Always needs to look after everyone, even grown ass adults who can take care of themselves. He asked me to move in y know?'

Babs smiled softly at him, her eyes full of understanding.

'I get it, I do. You were a street kid for such a long time and you didn't have anyone else. I remember when we first met, you insisted on doing everything on your own.'

'I didn't have a choice.' Jason said bitterly. 'I couldn't rely on anyone else.'

'Well, maybe you don't have to do it all by yourself anymore. We love you and we want to help you if you'd just let us.'

Jason instantly felt uncomfortable, he wasn't one for deep heart to heart conversations. Unfortunately for him, Babs seemed to be as bad as Dick about wanting to talk about feelings. It was infuriating.

 She was right though, he was bad at letting people help him, he'd been basically looking after himself until Bruce took him in when he was thirteen. And even then, he'd struggled to accept that people really did genuinely want to help him out. 

'Fine.' Jason muttered. 'I'll stick around here for a bit, gotta be better than moving back to the manor.

***

Babs left a little before five, saying she needed to get back to Gotham, and Jason was a little sad to see her go. Her presence was calming and familiar, like a comfortable old jumper.

As a result of spending most of the afternoon napping, Jason actually felt human enough to shower and put on clean clothes before Dick got back from work. He idly wondered what Dick had picked up from the store because he really wanted to cook dinner for them both. Apparently lying around all day doing nothing made him twitchy, and he was practically climbing the walls when he heard a key in the lock and the front door opened.

'Jay?' Dick called from the hallway. 'You awake bud?'

'Yeah.' Jason called back. 'I'm in here.'

Dick crossed the room and plonked himself down on the couch next to Jason before hugging him, gently so as not to jostle Jason's broken ribs.

'How you doing?' Dick asked, yawning and rubbing a hand over his eyes. 'I meant to call at lunch but work was crazy.'

'I'm fine.' Jason replied. 'I had Babs to keep me company. I assume you put her up to that.'

'I will neither confirm nor deny that. I went shopping by the way, what did you want to do for dinner?

'I was thinking I could cook.' Jason said brightly. 'Make a stir fry or something.'

Dick frowned at him.

'You're meant to be taking it easy.' he said.

'I'm making a stir fry, not running a marathon Dickiebird. I don't know what kind of cooking you're doing but it's not usually very strenuous.'

Dick didn't argue with him, and Jason was pleased. He enjoyed cooking, it was his way of de-stressing and he'd got quite good at it. Besides, Dick was not a good cook, he'd been known to burn microwave mac n cheese in his time.

They unpacked the shopping together, then Dick went to change out of his work clothes whilst Jason set about chopping vegetables and frying up chicken for their dinner. Jason immediately began to relax, there was something therapeutic about the repetitive tasks.

When Dick had changed his clothes, he sat up at the breakfast bar and went through some case files whilst Jason cooked. Jason found he didn't mind him being there when he wasn't talking non stop and being a massive distraction. And Jason actually felt happy, hanging out with his big brother, like either of them had a normal life.

He shook his head and went back to cooking.

***

They took their food into the sitting room and ate sitting on the couch. Well, Jason was sitting on the couch, Dick sat on the floor, his legs sprawled out in front of him.

And suddenly Jason was hit by an overwhelming wave of imposter syndrome. His Dad's voice was in his head, telling him how he'd never amount to anything and how worthless he was. But here he was, hanging out with his brother and roomate, he had a family that cared about him and a life he was somewhat proud of, and there was still a part of him that didn't think he deserved it. 

'You're brooding.' Dick said from the floor, without looking around. 'What's the matter?'

'And how the fuck would you know that?' Jason asked. 'You can't even see my face.'

Dick deposited his empty plate on the coffee table and twisted around in a way that would be uncomfortable for a normal person, fixing Jason with a questioning look.

'You went quiet.' Dick replied, like it was obvious. 'You're getting in your own head about something little wing.'

'Just because I don't feel the need to fill every silence with inane chatter.' Jason said, 'Doesn't mean something's up.'

'Yeah. But something is up. So spill.'

'It's just all..all this.' Jason said, gesturing around the room. 'You, the Bats, this family. I just feel like I've stolen someone else's life, like I don't deserve it.'

Dick inhaled deeply and then sighed. Like he'd been expecting Jason to say it.

'You think I've never felt like that?' he asked. 'That I've never felt like I don't belong, because I have. A lot. But guess what Jay, you do belong and you do deserve it. The world gave you absolutely nothing and you pulled yourself up regardless. You deserve this family and to be happy. And I won't ever stop telling you until you believe it.'