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Damian babbled and cooed in the most adorable way, and Dick absolutely melted. His baby brother had just learned to walk enough that he could be on his own feet for longer than a couple seconds, which was great in this case.
It was Halloween, and Damian was in a tiny little fluffy bear costume. It was the most adorable thing ever, and Dick just couldn’t put him down.
Dick peppered kisses onto his baby brother's face, and his brother was letting out the most adorable baby giggle Dick had ever heard. Dick melted a little more. “ Aww , my little baby,” Dick gushed.
“ My little baby.” Bruce corrected, filling a bowl with candy.
Dick ignored him. “You're so adorable. You're my little peanut, aren't you? My tiny adorable little baby boy.”
Damian squealed, and waved his chubby hands in joy. His big sea green eyes looking at his big brother with complete trust and adoration. The hood to his head costume was pulled down, reviewing Damian’s short black wisps of baby hair. Damian was adorable and Dick was obsessed.
“Tim, are you all dressed?” Bruce called.
“Almost,” Tim called back, Jason helping him with the back zipper. Jason was biting his tongue in concentration, telling Dick that the zipper was not the easiest thing. “I just need to grab my basket.”
“And you, Jason?”
“I’m almost done, just give me a second. I need to get this stupid zipper up.” Jason grunted, fighting with the cheap zipper.
Jason has decided that fifteen years old was too old to dress up for Halloween, and opted to wear his civilian clothes instead. Dick, however, believed that there was never a “too old” for Halloween. Especially since it meant free candy. Heck, Dick was eighteen and was still dressing up.
Plus, it meant he got to see his baby brother waddle around looking like the cutest thing ever. That was also one of the down sides to his baby brother learning to walk. It meant that now that Damian could walk on his own, he took full advantage of that. He wanted to walk everywhere , and explore everything. That meant that Dick couldn’t hold him.
Usually, Damian would be cradled in his arms, and Dick could cuddle him and kiss him all he wanted. And Dick wanted to a lot , because Damian was just so Damian , and that’s all he needs to be. However, lately Dick had been missing the familiar weight in his arms. He was going through baby cuddle withdrawals, and it was hard.
He was just glad Damian was allowing him a few moments of cuddling before they took off.
“Done.” Jason announced, giving one last patt to the zipper on Tim’s back.
“It’s all zipped?” Tim questioned.
“All zipped.” Jason confirmed.
“Yes!” Tim grabbed his Trick or treat basket, and turned proudly to Bruce. “Ready.”
Tim’s basket had the large letters ‘12’ on it. Tim took great pride in being a new twelve year old. He had been so excited to be a pre-teen, and once he finally reached it he told everyone. Dick thought it was cute.
Not only that, but Tim had wanted to be a big brother for the longest time . He would always go on and on about how he would be an awesome big brother, and that he needed a little sibling.
This year, Tim got both of his wishes. Being a pre-teen, and being a big brother.
To Tim’s credit, he was one of the best older brothers Dick knew. He would wake up every night with Damian whenever the baby would cry, or make a fuss, even when Bruce claimed that Tim needed to sleep as well. Tim always refused, instead opting to comfort his baby brother.
“Good. Dick, are you and Damian ready?” Bruce asked, grabbing his keys off the table.
Dick placed Damian onto the floor so he could grab the baby’s basket, only to scoop Damian back up. “We’re all good over here.” Dick confirmed.
“Do you have the diaper bag? Baby food?” Bruce questioned, obviously nervous for his youngest. In Bruce’s defense, all Dick, Tim and Jason had come to live with him way after their infant years. He never had to worry about something as innocent, vulnerable and fragile as Damian was now.
“I have everything.” Dick assured.
“Great. Let’s go then, I want to get this over with.” Jason sighed.
Dick followed his family outside, and placed Damian into his tiny car seat. Dick couldn’t help but admire his baby. Damian was so small, and cute. And so so perfect.
He made sure to tell Damian that.
Dick rubbed their noses together in a burst of affection, and marveled about how tiny Damian’s little button nose was.
“Aww, baby.” Dick gushed, giddy with love. “You're so perfect.”
Damian reached up and grabbed a fist full of Dick’s hair, his big eyes filled with wonder.
“ Hey , don’t pull my hair.” Dick pretended to lecture, waving his finger towards Damian’s. Damian giggled and grabbed Dicks finger, attempting to shove it in his mouth.
“Can you move? I need to get in.” Jason pushed Dick out of the way, and Dick frowned.
“Ask politely, Jason. You can’t just go around shoving people-“
“I do what I want.” Jason spat.
Dick didn’t like that answer. “ Jason .”
“ You’re the one who wanted to go trick or treating so bad, and now you’re making us late.” Jason aggressively buckled himself in. It was obvious he was unhappy with having to go out.
“ Jason, you can’t go around shoving people.” Dick repeated, authority clear in his voice.
“Okay, fine, whatever. I won’t, just go away .” Jason crossed his arms, leaning full into his ‘moody teen’ faze.
Dick thought about correcting Jason’s manners for a moment, but then decided to let this one time slide. After all, Jason wasn’t usually like this. Tonight was just not his night. For one, he was forced out of the house, and he also had some kind of drama going on with some of his friends. Either way, it was no excuse to his behavior, but Dick would rather address it later. For now, he wanted to have a good time with his family, especially since this was Damian’s first Halloween.
Dick walked around, and got in shotgun side.
“Are we all ready? Everyone buckled?” Bruce asked.
“Yup!” Was Tim’s cheerful reply.
When Bruce pulled the car into reverse to back out the drive way, Dick jumped, suddenly remembering something.
“I need to buckle Damian!” Duck exclaimed, and the car was quick to stop.
“I already did.” Tim assured him. Dick turned around to look, and saw that Damian was, in fact buckled up nice and tight. Tim was halfway infront of the baby’s car seat, having paused a game of peek-a-boo because of Dicks outburst.
Dick let out a sigh of relief.
“Okay. Everyone ready?” Bruce asked one last time.
When everyone said yes, they pulled out of the driveway, and headed towards a safer neighborhood.
———————
“Say thank you!” Dick encourages . He was holding both Damian and Damian’s candy basket. At first Damian had been happily waddling around on his own two feet, but he couldn’t walk for too long. He was only still learning, and too much movement was too much for his tiny chubby little legs.
Damian made a gurgling sound, and Dick liked to think that it was his own adorable way of saying thank you. Damian then clapped while giving a toothless smile, as if proud of the sound he had made.
It was the cutest thing Dick had ever seen.
He just wanted to squeeze him, and kiss him and just eat him up. However, he would wait till Damian’s bed time. That way, his baby could get some sleep, and Dick could get some snuggles. It was a win win.
Dick thanked the lady at the door, and then went to join his family on the sidewalk.
“Good job, Damian!” Tim praised, going on his tippy toes to plant a kiss to the baby’s cheek. “You're going to be talking in full sentences any time now.”
“Are you excited for him to start talking, Timbo?” Dick asked.
“Yes! I can’t wait to talk to him. We’re going to have so much fun talking about stuff!” Tim jumped up and down in excitement. “He’s going to sound so cute!”
Dick chuckled. “He is, isn’t he?”
Damian let out a small coo, as if agreeing. Dick squeezed his chubby little cheek in a rush of adoration, and gave the infant a little squeeze.
Jason stood off to the side with crossed arms, looking bored out of his mind. He had been refusing to talk the whole time, still upset about being forced to come with them. “Can we hurry?
“We’re going to be out here for at least another hour, Chum.” Bruce placed a hand on Jason’s shoulder.
“What?!” Jason exclaimed.
Dick ignored his younger brother when Damian started whining and wiggling around in his arms, wanting to be set down.
He placed his baby brother on his own two tiny feet, and gave the little boy a kiss on the cheek. “Happy?”
Damian babbled happily, and bent down to smack his chubby hands on the grass.
Dick stood, and turned to Jason, handing him Damian’s candy basket. “Do you want some? Dami won’t mind. He can’t even eat most of it anyways.”
Jason scowled, but took the basket. “Why are you even getting him candy? He’s a baby, he won’t care.”
“For the experience.” Dick shrugged, and turned back to Damian to pick the baby back up.
Dick paused when the grass was empty, no green eyed baby in sight.
Dicks heart spiked, but he turned towards Tim, almost sure he would see his kid brother holding the infant.
Tim stood there, fiddling with his costume, but there was no baby in sight.
Dick quickly turned to his father, only to see that Bruce didn’t have the baby either.
Dick’s heart seemed to stop for a moment, and panic flooded him. “Where’s Damian?!”
——————————————
Jerry was having a great day.
He usually worked for himself, but some guy had offered him a butt ton of money to kidnap some billionaire’s kid, so he obviously took it.
Jerry didn’t know what the man would do with the baby once he got it, but he didn’t care much. He only cared about getting paid.
That’s exactly why he had snatched the kid, and drove off with him five hours ago.
It hadn’t been all too hard. He had followed the family, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
It was purely luck that the little boy had been put down, and decided to wander off. The baby had waddled to pick a flower. The kid looked like he was going to hand it to the man that had been holding him previously, but then Jerry swooped in silently and grabbed him.
However, he was now questioning taking the man up on his offer as he drove along the dark road with a screaming infant in the backseat. The spoiled kid hadn’t shut up for the past hour, and Jerry was starting to lose his patience.
“Do something, Marcus.” Jerry gritted.
“Do what? I don’t know how baby’s work.” Marcus shrugged.
“I don’t care what you do, just make the kid shut the hell up, or I’m throwing him out of the car.”
“We won’t get the money then.” Marcus pointed out.
“ I won’t get the money then. I’m aware.” Jerry gritted his teeth in agitation.
If this baby didn’t shut up soon, Jerry was going to kill him, money be damned.
“What do you mean you?” Marcus asked, his stupid face twisting in confusion.
Marcus was new to the business; he didn't get how Jerry played.
“I got the kid, I get the money. You got a problem with that?” Jerry took a hand off the steering wheel, and placed it on the gun in his pocket.
Marcus cleared his throat. “Nah man, it’s fine. Calm down.”
“Good. Don’t question me again, and shut the damn kid up!”
Marcus nodded, turning around in his seat to face the infant. He jiggled his keys in front of the baby, who quickly stopped crying to stare in amazement at the jingling keys.
————————————————-
Marcus may not have the best moral compass. After all, he kidnapped people for money.
However, kids are where he draws the line. Marcus loathed the idea of kidnapping a kid, let alone an infant .
But here he was. Sitting in an abandoned warehouse, a sleeping infant on his lap, and Jerry on the phone a little ways away.
Marcus may have only known Jerry for a few days, but he already hated two things about him. One, Jerry was okay with taking kids, and two, Jerry had scammed him.
Marcus was promised fifty percent of the money if he helped, and now he was being told he would get none.
No. Marcus was not okay with either of those things.
Marcus looked down at the kid, and hated how similar he looked to Marcus’s own kid.
He didn’t like this. He didn’t like this at all.
The poor kid had tired himself out after hours of crying. He had slept through the night, which Marcus appreciated, but he immediately got straight back to crying in the morning. Marcus knew enough to know he wanted his family.
They had the baby all night. Marcus hated to think about the kids' family. What were they thinking? Were they worried?
Marcus only knew the infant's name. He didn’t know why he had been targeted, or who his parents even were.
Jerry thought about his own daughter. She was older than this kid, but she was still so young. The thought of someone taking her sent chills down his spine. She was too young for all of this, and this kid was no exception.
He was a tiny little guy, and he didn’t deserve to be going through any of this.
Marcus shot a glance at Jerry, making sure he was far enough away.
Marcus made up his mind. This could get him caught. It could lock him up for life. However, it was the right thing to do. He pulled his phone out from his pocket, and called a well known number.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“Yes, I’m calling because I have information about the missing boy, Damian Wayne.”
—————————————
It was only two minutes later when the man arrived. He was apparently the guy who wanted the baby.
Marcus eyed him wearily as he approached.
He was dressed in all black, as if he were some sort of ninja. Marcus would have laughed if the situation were different. Who did this guy think he was?
He held a big briefcase in his hand, presumably filled with the promised money. Marcus didn’t like this.
The guy didn’t speak. He simply extended his hand to take the baby.
Marcus wished the police would hurry. If this guy got his hands on this kid there was no telling what he would do. It was obvious he didn’t want the baby for ransom. If he had, he would have taken the baby himself, and not paid someone else to take him.
No, this man wanted him for something else. The thought did not sit well in his stomach.
None of the possibilities sounded good.
“Give him the kid, Marcus.” Jerry barked.
Marcus didn’t take his eyes off the man, and he held firmer to the whining infant in his arms. He needed to stall them, only until the police arrived. It couldn’t be that hard, could it?
Turns out, he didn’t have to.
Sirens blared in the distance, quickly approaching. The ninja guy immediately turned, and made a quick escape. He was light on his feet, and Marcus couldn’t even hear his footsteps.
Jerry pulled out his gun, and pressed it to the infant's head. Damian had started crying again.
“Wait!” Marcus yelled.
“Why should I?” Jerry growled.
“Think about this. You kill this kid, you get charged with murder. You’ll be locked up for life, maybe even worse. You don’t want this.”
Jerry scowled, squeezing the gun.
“Baba,” the baby cried.
“Just put the gun down.” Marcus ignored how strongly his heart was pounding.
Jerry pressed the gun forwards in rage, and for a horrible moment he thought Jerry was going to kill the kid. Instead, he lowered the weapon.
——————————————————
The police led them into the station.
The police had been quick to detain them, grabbing the kid and handcuffing him and Jerry. The buyer had been nowhere on sight.
While they were being escorted to the cars, Marcus couldn't help but feel dozens of eyes watching him. Nobody else seemed to notice it, but he could have sworn he saw people watching them. Each dressed in the same black garments as the ninja man, and each equally as silent.
Marcus didn’t worry about that for long, instead thinking about what he was going to say to his wife. She didn’t know what he was doing for money. Marcus didn’t have the heart to tell her what he did.
As they were led into the police station, he saw what he assumed to be the infant's family.
The father was holding the infant protectively, and they were surrounded by three boys. The family was a crying, blubbering mess, but they were happy. The tears were tears of pure relief.
Marcus could only imagine the horrible, agonizing fear of losing your baby.
Marcus allowed a bittersweet smile to cross his face as he watched the infant giggle as kisses were peppered to his face.
He would probably be locked up for life, but it was worth it.