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I.
Everybody who knew Dick Grayson on a personal level knew one thing about him- he was a very tactile person.
Be it punching or hugging, he liked contact, touch was his love language.
It was one of the reasons why things were so awkward when he first moved into the manor- he was just a kid and he was used to sleeping in cuddle piles either with his parents or with others in the circus, but Bruce… He was different.
Omegas tended to be cuddlier by nature, physical and tactile and wanting to keep their pack close, to comfort and shield and nurture. Of course, not all omegas were cuddly, but they all tended to share a natural instinct to bond through touch and physical affection.
And yet, even as an omega, Bruce had a bit of an aversion to touch, Dick wasn’t sure why, it was clear Bruce was starving for it but he also seemed uncomfortable accepting it and reluctant to initiate it, he required a massive level of trust.
Back then Dick didn’t really understand personal boundaries, he was just a child in desperate need of love and support, of safety and kindness, so he pushed.
He hugged Bruce at every chance he got, he cuddled to him on the couch on movie nights, he snuck into Bruce’s bed when the nightmares came. Robin was no different, he would snuggle under Batman’s cape, he would climb onto Batman’s lap in the batcave while they worked on the computer, he would laugh and leap-frog over Batman on the training mats, hang onto Batman’s back as they flew and laugh even harder then.
Little by little, Dick wormed his way into Bruce’s heart.
By the time he was ten they touched all the time, simple things like soft thoughtless scentings, little nuzzles, hand holding, Dick’s head on Bruce’s lap when they watched TV, Dick riding Bruce’s shoulders or climbing on his back when he was bored, hands touching as Bruce taught him to play the piano, pressing back-to-back when they fought together, leaning on each other during a stakeout, sharing food at hours of the night.
And of course, Dick slept almost exclusively in Bruce’s bed, whether Bruce was there to cuddle with him or not.
It was good. It was innocent and loving and Dick never felt safer in his life.
It was good time in Dick’s life. Despite his age and his rage, despite the rigorous training and all the violence he witnessed, it was still good, he was happy and they brought justice to those that needed it the most.
Nowadays, on his coldest and loneliest nights, Dick liked to look back and remember that one time it started raining on patrol- it was pouring and freezing and lightning cut through the sky like tears in the fabric of space, Robin hid from the downpour under Batman’s cape and instead of weathering the storm to keep patrolling, the massive omega picked him up and carried him home where they cuddled by the fireplace in pajamas with some of Alfred’s peppermint hot chocolate while a rerun of Grey Ghost played on the TV.
It was one of his fondest memories.
But all good things come to an end.
Some time after he formed the Titans with his friends, Dick finally presented. Everyone was actually a little surprised, they all expected little touchy-feely playful Dick Grayson to be an omega, or at least a beta, but when he turned out to be an alpha nobody really knew what to make of it.
It didn’t really change anything. At least, Dick didn’t think it did?
He was growing up and his scent was sharper and ruts sucked but he was still the same person, he still felt the same and thought the same, still fought and loved the same.
Most people seemed to agree but Bruce… He slowly started to grow quiet, even more than usual, he still looked at Dick with pride and affection but now there was touch of sorrow clouding his expression as he began to pull away.
“You’re too old to still sleep in my bed, Dick.”
It hurt a little but Dick supposed it was true, he was a teenager and he did appreciate some privacy, especially as his body changed.
Still, Bruce stopped picking him up, stopped holding his hand, stopped cuddling with him on the couch or scenting him before school or nuzzling him before bed.
It hurt.
Bruce was still Bruce, he didn’t really change, the coldness and awkwardness and the many masks he wore weren’t really new, but Dick went from the happiest he could be to the loneliest very fast.
It would take him years to understand the change.
Dick started to resent his alpha presentation but he took solace in his friends. The Titans didn’t care about his gender, they were always happy to pile up and cuddle, so many of them were even more desperate for contact and affection than even Dick was so they were happy to follow his lead, they were happy to trust and lean on each other and love much like the best of chosen families.
For a few years, his Titan pack sustained him, he even dated some of them and loved them with all his heart, but things at home kept getting harder, Bruce got more and more distant and Dick chaffed against that authority when there was no affection to tamper it, to make it worth it.
The friction it caused sparked fights, Dick was a headstrong teenager with big feelings after all, and as the years went by, they started arguing and butting heads more and more.
The fight that had him hanging up the Robin cape was bad, but Dick realized much later that Bruce wasn’t really being cruel, he was pushing Dick away because he didn’t know how else to encourage him to spread his wings and find his own way, become his own man outside of the Bat’s shadow, he was proud and trying to do the right thing but trust Bruce Wayne to not know what to say when the topic was feelings, trust him to always do things the hardest way.
II.
When Bruce adopted Jason, Dick was still sore and trying to prove himself, so he wasn’t around a lot, but it still stung to hear that Bruce had legally adopted a kid when he had never adopted Dick, it stung even more that he gave Jason the Robin mantle that was supposed be Dick’s.
He was bitter, he didn’t want to like Jason.
But then he met Jason, saw him in action, and couldn’t help but love the scrawny little scamp.
Jason was loud and proud, but he was also innocent and nerdy, he loved to fight but he also loved books and school and he looked at Dick like he hung the stars in the sky (the same way Dick used to look at Bruce).
It was Jason that brought Dick back to the manor for real, it was him that had Dick coming back to the pack.
But liking Jason didn’t make it hurt less when he came to the manor one night and saw Jason and Bruce cuddled in an impromptu nest on the couch with popcorn for movie night.
Jason was in comfortable black shorts and a cozy overstretched band t-shirt, Bruce was in his classic black turtleneck and grey pants and smelling faintly like he’d just burned through a heat recently. Jason’s legs were folded under him, his head casually pillowed on Bruce’s shoulder, Bruce’s arm wrapped around the pup while he nuzzled and scented the kid’s hair, his other hand holding up the popcorn bowl, both tangled in blankets while some loud action comedy blared on the screen.
Pheromones wafted warmly through the air, spelling out security and happiness, intertwined with Bruce’s ocean scent and Jason’s subdued smoke.
It was domestic and comfortable, almost sweet.
Dick could only deduce that it was him. It was his fault. Bruce could still show affection, Bruce didn’t change, Dick did.
Dick presented as alpha and ruined everything.
He wasn’t quite sure what that prickly feeling in his insides was, he assumed it was jealousy because there was nothing he wanted more than to climb into that couch with them, but instead he turned back around before they noticed him and joined Alfred in the kitchen for tea.
III.
When Jason died everything went to hell.
Bruce became even colder than before, always angry and looking for a way to lash out at everyone. He kept everyone at bay and let out his grief and frustration on the criminals of Gotham, using far more force than necessary and taking far more risks.
He acted almost suicidal in his fights, and his anger would boil over at every little thing. He was pure rage, guilt and grief made human.
When Tim popped up and asked Dick to be Robin again, to help save Bruce from himself, Dick couldn’t do it, Bruce had shut him out, and Dick’s own mission was too important. Besides he didn’t think he was what Bruce needed.
Though, he did agree that Batman needed a Robin.
Dick encouraged Tim, helped train him, and supported Tim when he took the mantle of Robin against Batman’s will. He didn’t think this would make things alright again but he was willing to let the kid try.
Bruce didn’t want Tim, he had to recognize the boy’s skill, his talent, and most of all his wits and analytical mind, but he still didn’t want Tim, not in his pack and not on the streets. The only reason he eventually allowed it was because he knew Tim would never give up and he would rather not see the boy get killed.
(It also didn’t help that Tim’s neglect at home stirred Bruce’s natural protective instincts as an omega, making him want to care for the pup, but that just seemed to make him angrier at himself.)
Deep down, Dick knew there was more to it than just anger and grief- Bruce was scared.
Scared of opening his heart and losing someone again, scared that he was doing the wrong thing and getting his family killed, scared of dishonoring his love for Jason by replacing him, scared of letting anyone else close, scared of being vulnerable again. He needed to be a rock, an impenetrable wall protecting his city.
Dick knew all this but he too was grieving, he too needed to heal. He just did it differently.
Dick dated a lot. He loved Kori, he loved Wally, he loved Babs. He loved each of them dearly but in the end, it never worked out, he always felt like it wasn’t enough and he didn’t know why, and they all kept telling him that they weren’t who he really wanted.
He didn’t get it, but he didn’t regret loving them.
Then Stephanie and Cassandra joined the team. And the cracks in Bruce’s resolve started to show.
Steph wasn’t as patient and obedient as Tim, she goaded Batman out of his shell, she was an agent of chaos that everyone loved, that could incite people into action and spin everything into a positive and humorous light. Bruce still didn’t let her in, still kept her at arm’s length, but somehow, she had him cracking smiles when nobody else could.
Cass was different. Cass seemed to understand Bruce in a way that other people couldn’t, they often talked without any words at all; Cass wasn’t afraid to hug him even when he growled, and she was so strong in battle that Bruce wasn’t afraid that she would break just by being near him, so he hugged back.
It was Cass that convinced Bruce that pack, that family, wasn’t a weakness. She hugged him and scented him and always knew how to translate his awkward moods into words of pride and encouragement for the others.
With Tim, Bruce learned to accept his protective instincts again, he also learned to trust once more.
With Cass he slowly opened up to showing affection again, to accept the love that was given to him.
With Steph he learned to smile again.
Dick was proud, and while he felt like he had no place in Bruce’s home, the kids disagreed and pulled him back in. And wanted to be there, oh how he wanted to be there.
Dick loved easily and these kids were no exception- they were his children and, more importantly, his pack.
And when Steph showed up pregnant? Bruce became even more aggressively protective than ever and though he didn’t know how to show it, he tried so hard to be supportive.
Strangely enough, even though the whole situation was dramatic and complicated and Steph ultimately chose to give her baby away for their own good, it was those months that helped the pack grow together and form more solid bonds.
Bruce adopted Cass.
Eventually, Bruce adopted Tim too.
One day Dick showed up after patrol to find them all in a cuddle pile in the living room.
By the looks (and smell) of it, Tim had finally presented as an omega, a little bit of a late bloomer, and was experiencing his first heat symptoms, slumped drowsily and feverish over Bruce. The older omega held him and gently rubbed his back with massive calloused hands, purring ever so slightly for comfort while Cass was snuggled behind Tim and holding him protectively, Steph was slumped asleep across Tim and Cass with chocolate smudges on his cheek.
All of them still in the undersuits of their uniforms, capes strewn around and tangled with blankets and pillows to form a makeshift nest, all of them looking worn out but pouring out safety, comfort and affection in their scents.
Dick was happy for them, he loved them all, loved his family, but he still felt like the odd one out, like he no longer knew where he fit in all this. That weird prickly feeling in his gut was still there but fizzed up his spine like pop rocks and seemed to choke up his chest. He still wasn’t sure what it was but it was so big that he felt like his body couldn’t contain it all.
Nonetheless, wanted so badly to join them, so after he made sure they were comfortable and safe he snuck into the nest. Surely Bruce wouldn’t mind, right? This was about Tim after all, and Cass was an alpha too and he seemed to appreciate her presence.
Dick just wanted to support them, show his love, he would be damned if he let Bruce stop him but he sure would prefer if Bruce welcomed him.
In the end, Bruce didn’t say anything at all.
IV.
When Red Hood showed up it was pandemonium.
The whole thing was a shitshow but once they found out Jason was alive things just got even more complicated.
Jason was acting ruthless and had no scruples but he was still the boy they lost all those years ago, a boy that was still hurting and confused, he was still family. Even though he tried so hard to be their enemy, they still loved him.
It took years.
Years for Red Hood to understand that he hadn’t actually been replaced, years for him to learn that Bruce always cared, years for the younger pack members to get to know Jason and slowly bond with him too, luring him back into the pack with their shenanigans.
Dick too, tried his best.
Jason was a stubborn and hard-headed as Bruce, morally grey and a complete wildcard, but he wasn’t evil, he still had his heart in the right place, he still wanted to make things better even if he went about it in the most questionable way.
In the end it didn’t matter, because Dick still loved his little wing, even though the kid was taller than him now, it was still the boy he loved like his own flesh and blood.
Nonetheless, even after the hatchet was buried and an unsteady truce arose, even after Bruce and Jason learned to love each other again, Jason still avoided affection.
Jason couldn’t escape Dick’s hugs and he was happy to goof around with Tim and Steph or spar with Cass, but he avoided anything too personal or too intimate, he avoided the manor and family events, he was always there to help with the mission but getting him to join them for Sunday brunch was like pulling teeth.
And then one day Nightwing got dosed by Ivy with something new that had him delirious, and Red Hood didn’t know what else to do but bring him back to the cave.
Dick didn’t exactly remember what happened after they got to the cave but he remembered slowly waking up in the nesting room, surrounded by the scents of the whole pack. Jason was there. Bruce was there too, watching over them very attentively and worried.
He felt soft pajamas against his skin and a tight grounding grip hugging him.
It was actually nice, Jason had been protective enough that he had stayed, fallen asleep with his arms around Dick’s waist and his head in Bruce’s lap.
Dick expected to feel that tingle that he still thought might be jealousy but seeing them just made him feel warm, he was still too loopy to really figure out what else he was feeling though and quickly drifted back to sleep.
V.
When Damian was dropped on Bruce’s doorstep things were really awkward for a long time.
Bruce was still struggling to reconnect emotionally with Jason. Steph and Tim had broken up for good even after she had come back from the dead. Barbara was fighting with Dick. Kate was struggling to save her villainous sister. Cass was away looking for her mother.
Things were a little difficult, and throwing a gifted but socially inept, arrogant and highly aggressive child into the mix was like adding potassium to water- it was bound to explode.
Bruce took responsibility for Damian, of course he did, but Bruce didn’t trust Damian, not when he had been raised in the League of Assassins, not considering how he was conceived, not when he tried to kill Tim. Bruce might be paranoid but he was smart not to ignore the threat of Ra’s Al Ghul’s influence on the pup.
And things didn’t really get better after that, Damian was too entitled but he was really just a brainwashed child with severe social difficulties that he had probably inherited from Bruce, considering that the man had no idea how to express himself to the boy and kept coming off as gruff, unimpressed, distant and uncommunicative.
Dick kept lecturing Bruce that he was going about the situation the wrong way, but he himself was too busy to be there and help.
And then Bruce died.
Dick… Dick was devastated.
He didn’t actually know how else to describe the enormity of what he felt, it was like the world had collapsed around him, like the ground and pulled away under his feet. It was just… Devastation.
Why hadn’t been there? What was so important that his last words to the man he… to Bruce, where a lecture? Nothing seemed that important.
Everyone was devastated actually.
The Robins fought for the cowl, not because they actually wanted it but because they each wanted to prove something, they each wanted to the connection to Bruce, they each wanted to change Batman and do things their own way. It didn’t go well at all.
In the end, Dick became Batman, he hated it but understood the role better than anyone (because he knew Bruce better than anyone), he was determined to upkeep Bruce’s legacy because no matter what complicated feelings he had around the man, he still loved him.
Afterwards, Jason ended up going back to mercenary work but he was too emotionally unstable and, ironically, acting very much like Bruce did when Jason died. Tim was convinced that Bruce wasn’t really dead but they had a body, they had buried him, and Dick was too busy being Batman, trying to help Jason, and deciding to raise Damian, to really pay attention to his brother’s theories.
Tim disappeared to try to prove his point. Damian became Dick’s Robin.
It wasn’t easy, it took Dick months of patience to break Damian’s habits and teach him about compassion and empathy, but slowly he grew to love the boy. Damian was an excellent Robin not because he was like Dick but because he wasn’t, they tempered each other and created a balance, much like Dick used to do with Bruce.
It was a very long grueling year but Dick did all he could to protect Gotham and keep his pack from falling to pieces while keeping his grief quiet, screaming on the inside behind his confident smile.
Dick actually considered adopting Damian, it made him wonder for the millionth time why Bruce hadn’t adopted him… but he had long come to terms with it, and in fact he was glad that Bruce hadn’t adopted him because they never felt like a father and son and Dick’s current feelings would be… Even more complicated if they were legally parent and child.
Dick actually had the paperwork filled out to adopt Damian when a miracle happened- Tim was right, Bruce came back.
It was so bizarre, years later Dick still didn’t understand how Bruce got lost in a time rift, how he’d even gotten back, but he didn’t care, he was just so happy to have Bruce back that he could burst.
Things weren’t really a sea of roses after that either, the pack had crumbled somewhat in Bruce’s absence and they all needed to heal, to build themselves back up, they all needed time together.
And Bruce needed to learn to be a real parent to Damian too.
It was then that Dick decided he wasn’t going to stay at bay anymore, Bludhaven was still his turf but Gotham was his home and he would be in his family’s lives as much as humanly possible, so much that he could bet they’d grow sick of him and he wouldn’t care.
And that led to today.
A year after Bruce came back and so much drama later.
They had been having a family dinner that Dick couldn’t attend because of an emergency in Bludhaven but then there was a bigger emergency in Gotham that had the whole pack on the field and forced Nightwing to rush over to help. They saved the day, of course, but it involved some collateral damage.
Bruce (with Oracle’s help) ultimately apprehended Hugo Strange for recruiting others in Arkham and masterminding the whole thing but the chaos in the city involved Scarecrow and Joker, which was a truly nightmarish combination.
Robin got hit with fear gas, Red Hood had to protect the youngest from Joker and his goons in a burning building, severely outnumbered and suffering a horrendous case of PTSD.
They got out and Red Robin and Spoiler were there in a flash to help them while Batgirl was already halfway across town chasing down Scarecrow and Nightwing did his best to save terrified civilians and coordinate with the authorities.
It all worked out for Gotham but not so great for the Bat pack.
When Nightwing finally arrived back at the manor after everything had been handled, he was terrified of what he would find, what injuries needed to be patched, what near death experiences and traumas needed to be addressed, but the batcave was quiet.
He discovered all the others in the cave’s panic room- surprisingly they seemed physically ok except for some nasty scratches and bruises but they were all cuddled together in a nest, still wearing undersuits and piled together like puppies.
Damian was dozing, he looked a little sweaty and shaken but he wasn’t panicked or hallucinating, they had probably given him an antidote already but he was clearly feeling vulnerable and curled up in a ball on Bruce’s lap. Jason wasn’t much better, he was curled to Bruce’s side, still awake and looking shaky and pale, his eyes were very red like he had been crying and his hands were in bandages.
Bruce held both of them, petting Damian’s hair in an act of affection that was very rare between the two, he was also scenting Jason and speaking softly to him while gripping the back of his neck in a grounding gesture. Cass was pressed behind Jason, showering him with affection even as her scent screamed danger in the most comforting way, telling everyone that she would protect her pack to the death. Tim was cuddling on Bruce’s other side, letting Damian hold his hand in a crushing grip. Steph was sprawled trying to touch as many of them as possible as Alfred quietly cleaned and bandaged her cuts and scrapes.
Dick’s first reaction was surprise, taking a long moment to absorb all the details and make sure they were really ok.
His second reaction was immediate relief so deep that the tension seeped out of his bones and made him feel like a wet noodle to the point that he had to lean against the doorframe for support.
His third reaction was overwhelming affection and a deep desire to protect this moment, to hold it in his hands and never let anyone so much as breathe on his pack wrong.
And his fourth reaction… Well, that one was a doozy.
Dick was leaning on the threshold, watching them all very protectively, when he eyes fell on Bruce- the intimidating omega currently looked like a very large teddy bear, comforting his children and exuding warm pheromones that filled the room with the scent of safety and love and relief, he looked so tired and disheveled and there was still worry in his eyes, dark shadows haunting his pale scruffy face.
Bruce had never looked more handsome in Dick’s eyes.
The weird prickly thing inside him was back, but it was bigger now, spreading a crackling sort of warmth up to his ribcage to suffocate his lungs and squeeze his heart like an overbearing and passive-aggressive hug. Dick recognized it this time.
It wasn’t jealousy at all, there was a tiny bit of that in there, as well as a cocktail of anxiety and complicated feelings years in the making, but for once he wasn’t confused, he wasn’t clouded by doubts and denial.
It was love.
Dick Grayson loved this ridiculous, infuriating, awkward, gorgeous, brilliant old man.
He loved how handsome Bruce was, how smart and devoted to his cause, how compassionate and upright he was. He loved how weird and obsessive Bruce could be, loved his quirks and his flaws, he loved how brutal and competent the omega was on the field. He loved Bruce’s loyalty and willpower and determination.
But most of all he loved how Bruce loved- he loved that even though the omega didn’t know how to show it, even though he didn’t use his words properly, Bruce still loved his family with everything he had, with all his heart, he provided for them quietly without expecting anything, he made them better, he trained them and respected them, he would die for them, would go to the ends of the universe for every single one of them.
Bruce didn’t always know how to be an omega, he didn’t always know how to parent, but he tried his best and he loved with every single cell in his body.
Yeah, Dick was in love with Bruce Wayne and had been trying so hard to lie to himself about it for years, too afraid of what it would do to their relationship, too scared of rejection, always worried that if he upset the delicate balance he had Bruce, he would lose the rest of the pack too.
But Dick no longer cared about his fears.
Seeing them like that, all of them alive with Bruce keeping them together and safe, keeping Dick’s family safe, supporting them in their time of need… It made him realize that even if Bruce rejected him, that wouldn’t change anything, it wouldn’t make him love any them any less.
Dick didn’t know yet what was going to happen between him and Bruce, but in that moment he allowed himself to accept that he wanted the omega, that he admired Bruce and was proud of him, that he was an omega anyone would be lucky to court.
Dick loved Bruce and someday he would tell him but not that night. That night, he closed the panic room’s door and crawled into the nest, scenting every one of them before he sat at Bruce’s back, his chin propped on the burly omega’s shoulder as he purred and smiled.