Chapter Text
“Are you sure I agreed to this because it doesn’t seem like something I would agree to?” Dick said as he watched his brothers grab box after box and place it into a moving van.
“Yeah, Dickface you agreed to this now grab a box I don’t want to be here all day I have other shit to do,” Jason said grabbing another heavy box to carry down the stairs.
“Jason you don’t have to be so mean he’s just confused,” Tim said taping a box labeled photographs.
Dick was moving back into the manor today due to yet another TBI which has left him with lasting side effects, confusion being one of them. He and the family had decided that he would move back into the manor for the time being so he could be properly cared for.
“Mmh I just don’t think I want to move back into the manor,” Dick said sitting next to Tim who was on the floor.
Dick liked his independence he knew that he had his bad days where he struggled to concentrate on tasks or maybe forgot things but he could take care of himself. Just because he had a few hits to the head didn’t mean he needed a babysitter all of a sudden.
“It won’t be too bad. I’ll be there and Jason basically lives there too-”
“I heard that replacement!” Jason yelled from the hallway.
“And I’m sure Damian, Duke, and Cass will love having you around more. Hey, we can even have family game nights and family movie nights it’ll be fun.” Tim said.
“Yeah,” Dick said pulling his knees to his chest.
He was excited to spend more time with his family, but he just doesn’t feel like this was his decision. He loves his freedom and now it feels like it’s being stripped away with each box that was being taken downstairs.
“Ok, only a few more boxes to go. You guys wanna stop at Bat Burger on the way back to Gotham or have whatever is left from the lunch Alfie made,” Jason said.
“I already ate lunch,” Dick said putting his head down on his knees.
“Dick we’ve been here all morning with you. We brought bagels and then we started to pack up your stuff.” Jason said walking over to the area Dick ate at.
“You didn’t even finish your bagel,”
Now that Jason was mentioning it he was still hungry. He lifted his head and walked towards Jason who handed him his half-eaten plain bagel with strawberry cream cheese. As he bit into it he questioned whether or not he really could take care of himself anymore. Maybe this was for the best. He just felt so confused today like nothing anyone was saying made sense.
“Hey, I know that this isn’t the easiest thing for you. Moving back into the manor like this, but it's for the best. We just want to make sure you're ok.” Jason said placing his hand on Dick’s shoulder.
Tim and Jason finished packing the van and made the hour-long journey back to Gotham deciding not to stop at Bat Burger. About 15 mins in Dick fell asleep with his face pressed up against the window. Tim who was sitting in the middle seat of the moving van sighed.
“It’s really hard to see him like this. Somedays he’s normal and other times he can’t even remember whether he ate or not. I hate that this is happening,” Tim said looking straight ahead into the stop-and-go traffic they were currently stuck in.
“He is normal Tim. This is his new normal sometimes he’s confused, but it doesn’tt make him any less of the person we know. On the days he’s having a hard time we’ll just help him.” Jason said also looking straight ahead.
“That’s not what I meant. I know that this is his new normal, but I just wish it didn’t have to be” Tim said.
“Yeah,” Jason said letting out his own sigh and taking one hand off the wheel to take a drink of water from his water bottle.
It was hard for Jason to see Dick like this as well. As much as he wanted to pretend like he wasn’t affected by this sudden change he was. Sometimes it felt like the brother he knew was gone completely.
Tim looked at his eldest brother and then looked away. He was going to help him and if that meant creating a new drug to help with brain damage then so be it.
About an hour and 30 mins later the boys pulled up to the manor Dick was still sleeping, but they decided not to wake him yet as they unloaded the truck. The rest of the family wasn’t at the manor due to school, work, or not being in town.
“Why does he have so much stuff this box is labeled pots and pans, but I’ve never seen Goldie make anything besides cereal,” Jason said as he pulled the heavy box out of the back of the trunk.
Dick made a lot of food in his apartment, but it was an ongoing joke with his family that he only ate cereal. He did eat a lot of cereal because it was easy to just throw it together with his busy schedule.
“Maybe we can donate it, Alfred already has pots and pans,” Tim said as he opened the big manor door for Jason.
“Master Jason, Master Timothy how did the moving go,” Alfred said as he made his way towards the boys.
“It was good. Dick is a little confused today though” Tim said.
“I see and where is Master Dick,” Alfred said as he put a hand on Tim’s shoulder.
“Dickie’s in the truck sleeping,” Jason said as he put the heavy box full of pots and pans down.
Alfred nodded and walked out of the manor and towards the big moving truck and saw his eldest grandson asleep against the big window.
Dick’s condition was a fairly new devolvement the family had found out about when Dick didn’t show up to family dinner 4 weeks ago. At first, no one thought much of it and figured the first boy wonder was just busy on a new case and forgot to tell them he would not be attending. It turns out this was not the case. The week before the scheduled dinner Dick had been hit in the head by a member of a new gang that got the drop on him. He hadn’t been feeling the best that week due to something he had caught from one of his students at the gymnastics studio but he still went out as Nightwing.
After that was when he started to show signs of another TBI, but the symptoms were bad this time. The first couple of days he just felt like he had a bad concussion, but after day 3, it felt like something more. The headache that he first got when he was hit didn’t seem to go away no matter how much medication he took in fact it only got worse as time went on. Next came the decreased coordination when walking around in his apartment he would often times trip on nothing and land flat on his face. Day 5 is when his family started to notice the decrease in text and calls from their older brother. Finally, day 6 is when they knew something was wrong when Dick didn’t show up to the scheduled family dinner.
After the dinner, Tim, Jason, and Damian made their way to Blüdhaven to check on him thinking their brother was just overworking himself again. Dick was on the couch when they entered his apartment and his eyes looked glossed over.
“Hey, big bird,” Jason said moving closer to the couch.
Jason could tell something was wrong with Dick the moment he walked into the apartment. Dick was usually one of the messier bats, but the state of the apartment was the worst that Jason has ever seen his brother's space. They took him straight to the bat cave where Leslie was already on standby due to patching up Steph earlier and staying for dinner. She did a full workup on him and determined what happened. That’s when they discussed how they should handle the situation. Dick stayed at the manor the following week and became more like himself. They discussed as a family the best options and ultimately came to the conclusion that Dick should move back into the manor.
Alfred moved closer to the moving van and saw Dick start to stir.
“Ah Master Dick I’m glad to see you awake would you like to come inside I was just about to make tea,” Alfred said.
Dick looked at Alfred as he tried to remember what was going on. He knew he was at the manor, but he didn’t remember why. He simply nodded his head because tea did sound really good right about now.
Dick climbed out of the moving truck and it finally hit him. He was here because it was moving back into the manor. Tim and Jason were probably somewhere inside.
“I assume you’ve already had lunch,” Alfred turned to him as they continued walking towards the front door.
“Yeah I think I did,” Dick said vaguely remembering a discussion about Batburger. He didn’t remember eating lunch but he also didn’t remember breakfast so it was probably just one of those days.
Both Alfred and Dick walked into the manor and into the kitchen. Alfred prepared the tea and sandwiches which Dick was thankful for because he was hungry it turns out.
“Master Dick I must say I am going to enjoy having you around more. If you would like I could use some help making dinner this evening if you would be up to it,” Alfred said setting down all the items needed for the afternoon tea.
Dick was startled out of his thoughts and looked around as if had forgotten where he was. It only lasted a few seconds and he quickly gained recognition.
‘The man is talking to you he thought to say something’ but he couldn’t remember what they were talking about.
“Sorry Grandpa… I mean Alfred I just- I um can you repeat what you said I didn’t catch that,” Dick said looking at the cucumber sandwich that was placed on his plate.
“No worries lad I was just asking if you would like to help me prepare dinner this evening,” Alfred said.
“Oh, yeah I think that would be fun. What's on the menu tonight.” Dick asked and took a bite of his sandwich.
“Mapo tofu as per master Duke’s request,” Alfred replied.
‘Duke was his brother. Right? Only one way to be sure’ Dick thought.
“My brother sure does love mapo tofu,” Dick said.
“He does indeed,” Alfred agreed.
‘I need to get a notebook and start putting all these names in it so I don’t forget who everyone is,” Dick thought as he took another bite of his sandwich.
“Alright, everything’s out of the truck. Tim and I are going to return it and pick up my car we’ll be back later. Does anyone need anything while we're out” Jason said.
“I need a notebook and a pen oh and candy,” Dick said looking at Jason.
Jason smiled at the request not expecting Dick to ask for anything. Even though he was sure they had spare notebooks and pens lying around the manor Jason decided he would pick up the requested items.
“Yeah sure thing big bird, Alfie you need anything,” Jason said.
“I’m quite alright Master Jason but thank you,” Alfred said.
Dick and Alfred continued to have their afternoon tea and sandwiches. Alfred was struggling with how different his oldest grandchild seemed to behave. He was still the bright cheery person he had always been, but sometimes when Dick would look at him it was as if he had no clue who he was.
After eating Alfred went to clean the kitchen and Dick went to the living room to watch Tv. Dick turned as he heard the front door open and people walking down the hall.
“No the concept of dressing up and going to a stranger's house to beg for candy seems idiotic and childish. I will not be participating and neither should you,” Damian said walking deeper into the manor.
“Aw come on it’ll be fun we can go as the teenage mutant ninja turtles. You can be the green one and I’ll be the orange one,” Duke said walking into the living room and sitting next to Dick.
“Dick can be the blue one. Right, Dick?”
‘This is Duke my brother and the little one is also my brother his name starts with a D I think it's Daren’ Dick thought.
“Oh uh yeah I think that’ll be fun,” Dick said as another person walked into the room.
“Hey, Chum how was the move?” Bruce asked.
This one was easy Dick thought. It was his dad. He started to feel bad that he couldn’t remember his name, but it probably didn’t matter because it was his dad he would just call him dad. It wasn’t a big deal.
“It was good,” Dick said standing up from his spot on the couch. He looked at the time it was a little bit past 3 Grandpa was probably starting prep for dinner and he was supposed to help.
“I’m going to go help Grandpa with dinner,” Dick said and walked out of the room.
Bruce was confused as Dick left the room. He knew this had gotten bad some days, but he didn’t know it was to this extent. The last time Bruce had talked to his oldest son was last night and he seemed coherent and was giving him an earful of how he didn’t want to move back into the manor.
Duke who was still on the couch turned to Bruce with a puzzled look.
“Does he always call Alfred Grandpa?” Duke asked.
“Pennyworth is Richard's Grandfather figure so I don’t think it’s out of the ordinary for him to refer to him as such,” Damian defended.
“Yeah I guess so, but he barely looked at you when you came in the room usually he would attack you with hugs,” Duke said.
“Richard is simply respecting me by not invading my space unlike some people,” Damian said and look at Bruce.
Bruce had given Damian a hug when he picked him up which embarrassed him in front of his classmates. Damian was excited to have his favorite brother and his Batman living under the same roof again. He was also in denial that anything was wrong with his idol.
“I think Dick is just having a rough day, moving can take a lot out of someone.,” Bruce said looking at the two boys.
“Why don’t you too go get out of your uniforms and start on your homework,” Bruce said.
Dick walked to the kitchen to find a girl with black hair next to his Grandpa.
Cass waved and Dick waved back and walked up to Alfred.
“Master Dick why don’t you go wash your hands and then we can get started,” Alfred said.
Dick walked over to the kitchen sink to wash his hands.
“He’s different,” Cass Signed.
“Bad day,” Alfred signed back.
Cass nodded and left the kitchen to let Alfred and Dick make dinner together.
Halfway through making the dinner Jason and Tim came back.
“I am never going to the mall with you again!” Tim said walking through the hallway in search of Dick.
“Oh come on that dude had it coming he kept staring at us like he wanted something,” Jason said.
“That “dude” went to my school and he wanted to give me his number,” Tim shot back.
“Well you’re like 14 you don’t need to date anyone anyways,” Jason shot back following him down the hall and into the dining room.
“I’m not 14 I'm 17 and it’s none of your business who I date,” Tim said setting the items down on the table Dick was setting.
“Dick we got you the notebook and pens you wanted,”
Dick looked up with a soft smile on his face. It was nice to hear his family being normal around him. Most of the day was spent with him being confused about what was going on, but 15mins into cooking with Alfred he felt clarity.
“Thanks, Timbo,” Dick said as he set the last plate on the dining table.
“I think Alfred is done with me “Helping” him so I’m going to go lay down until we eat. I’ll be in my room if anyone needs me,” Dick said.
Dick left the dining room and walked upstairs with the notebook and pens in hand. The notebook was a nice black leather with a blue “D” on the front. It looked and felt expensive.
“He seems better, more lucid,” Tim said.
“Yeah,” Jason said in a small voice.
Dick reached his room and opened the door. Boxes littered the floor. He wanted to start unpacking but the task he had in mind was more important. He looked through all the boxes until he found the box labeled pictured. In the box, there were framed pictures as well as pictures that he never got around to framing.
Dick sat at his desk with the pictures and glued them down into the notebook and wrote descriptions for each one.
Under a picture of Bruce and him Dick wrote. ‘This is your dad you call him Bruce or B he took you in when you were 8’
Under a picture of Damian, he wrote ‘This is Damian your little brother you call him little D, Dami, or Damian he’s a little prickly but he’s sweet’
Dick continued to glue the different pictures of his family in the book and also wrote down any important information he needed to know about his situation in case he forgot.
Dick was about to write down facts about Nightwing when he heard a knock at the door.
“Come in,” Dick said as he turned around in his chair and closed his notebook.
He didn’t want his family to know what he needed the notebook for, but in a family of detectives, he was sure they already knew.
Bruce walked in and sat on the bed.
“Alfred said dinner is just about finished,” Bruce said.
“Oh ok I'll be down in a minute,” Dick said.
Bruce just nodded and got up from his sitting position. He wanted to talk to Dick about some changes that they needed to make to ensure his safety but now probably wasn’t the best time. They could just pretend that everything was normal for tonight.
Dick walked to the dining room where everyone was already seated. Dick took his normal seat next to Damian and set his new notebook next to his plate.
“Thanks again for the notebook Jay it really nice,” Dick said.
“Yeah don’t mention it,”
“Yeah it only cost me a date,” Tim mumbled.
Jason elbowed Tim and Tim went to slap Jason.
“That’s enough boys,” Alfred said as he walked into the room holding the main dish.
Dinner was nice and everything felt normal. Cass told stories of the new dance she was working on. While Duke spoke on his plans for him and Damian to go trick or treating which was protested by Damian. Jason stated that was going to stay at the manor until his new safe house was renovated and Tim said he wanted to go to the pumpkin patch.
Dick watched his family with Ambivalence knowing that he might wake up and not recognize them or not understand how much they mean to him.
He made a note to write that down in his notebook later.