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The white light nearly blinded Nightwing's eyes. His body attempting to shield Robin and Red Robin from the light. He could hear Batman and Red Hood somewhere to his right as the light fully engulfed them all.
Everything went black.
When he awoke it was a sort of slow, floaty feeling as his consciousness tried to register where he was.
‘Damian, Tim,’ Nightwing immediately shot up, ignoring the headache forming, and looked around.
Lying on what seemed to be cots were Tim and Damian both stripped of their belts, masks, and other weapons. Jason was lying on another cot but Dick could tell from his measured breathing that he was already awake and just feigning sleep. He too was stripped of his helmet and mask along with any weaponry he carried.
Taking another glance around to observe his surroundings, ‘glass’ was his immediate thought and ‘containment cell’ was his next. They looked almost exactly like the cells they kept in the Batcave.
Dick then internally panicked when he noticed Bruce was missing.
He quickly started to get up, a bit unsteady but with the usual gracefulness all his movements seemed to possess and looked to his left.
In another cell, Bruce was already awake (also stripped of his cowl and belt) and having an intense staring contest threw the glass at a tall cloaked figure.
Neither party acknowledged Dick’s presence.
"Who are you?" Bruce growled.
"I could ask you the same question," The cloaked figure responded. "After all, it was you imposters who intruded.”
‘Imposters?’
Batman and the mysterious figure didn’t stop sizing each other up. And while Dick could see that the figure was tense and hostile in his stance, Bruce appeared calm but his clenched fist gave away his agitation.
The cloaked figure shifted his head to him not showing any hint of surprise in his body language at him being awake. Nightwing could feel the dark look being thrown in his direction.
"I won't ask again, who are you? And who sent you?" The cloaked figure was spinning a knife in his hand.
Bruce’s eyes narrowed even more but before he could say anything a beeping noise brought the figure’s attention to the computer screen.
DNA match Bruce Thomas Wayne
DNA match Richard John Grayson-Wayne
DNA match Jason Peter Todd-Wayne
DNA match Timothy Jackson Drake
DNA match Damian al Ghul-Wayne
The shadowed man stared at the results and the knife in his hand stopped spinning.
He looked back at Bruce, then back at the screen, looked at Dick, and back at the screen again.
The man sighed deeply and his body shifted into a more exasperated stance.
Incoherent muttering in what sounded like Arabic came out of the man’s mouth.
He turned, slowly, reaching up to take off his hood. Black hair appeared, almost exactly like Bruce’s. A feeling of familiarity settled in Nightwing as he observed the man more closely.
The broad shoulders, the tall height, and even the voice.
The now uncloaked figure took off his domino mask, but Dick already knew who he was as bright green eyes looked back at him.
"My name is Damian Wayne, and I would appreciate it if you told me how you got here."
~~~~~
”Dimension travel?”
Dick tried to suspend his belief. He logically knew that dimension travel would be as possible as time travel was but still, even with proof before his eyes it was something he had trouble wrapping his head around.
The older Damian nodded his head and glanced at the results on the computer. “With what you’ve told me seems to indicate as such. Dimension travel isn’t new to us but what you’ve said confirmed it. Plus the blood samples are a hundred percent match. If you were imposters there would have been some discrepancy or no match at all.”
Older Damian looked back at them, still locked up in the containment cells.
“But I would still like to verify some details. If the other three would stop faking unconsciousness so we can converse more adequately.”
Dick whirled around to see Jason already on his feet with Tim and Damian closely behind. He didn’t even notice his two younger brothers were awake, much more focused on the older Damian.
“I already knew you were awake,” Dick gestured to Jason. “When did you two wake up?”
Younger Damian huffed. “If you had paid more attention you would know the answer to that.”
“When older Damian introduced himself.” Tim answered. His eyes darted between the two Damian’s.
Older Damian’s neutral stare briefly glanced at Jason and his younger version but it seemed to pause at Tim. His breath hitched briefly.
An unidentified look flashed across his face but was gone as if it was never there. His gaze quickly turned to look at Jason.
“Would you mind recalling how you got here?”
Jason’s eyes meet Dick’s as if trying to see what he should say.
Dick tried to convey that he should tell the truth and it seemed to have worked As Jason began to speak.
He summed up in his usual gruff tone that they were on their way to stop a huge weapons auction that was supposed to have alien tech and other dangerous wares. As they were just about to finish the job, an unidentified man seemed to have grabbed whatever weapon was nearest and fired directly at them. A white light, darkness, then they were here.
Older Damian was silent for a moment before he nodded and turned to Bruce. “That lines up with what you said. I already ran other tests and there wasn’t any indication that you are non-human or otherwise and the blood test did come back positive ....”
He trailed off and his eyes swept across them again. He approached the cell that held Bruce and typed on the electronic pad. The door made a sound and opened.
He did the same to the one Dick and his brothers were in.
Bruce immediately placed himself in front of them and Dick moved to be shoulder to shoulder to him.
If older Damian noticed the protective positioning he didn’t say anything about it.
They weren’t given back any of their confiscated belongings but were led to a more open area closer to the Batcomputer.
"Okay," Damian said as they avoided the chairs in favor of standing. "I will go inform the others and have Pennyworth bring down some spare clothes for you. Stay put, and don't touch anything. I will know if you do."
With that, he silently walked away, leaving the dimension travelers alone.
~~~~~
With the older Damian gone it finally felt like they could breathe.
"This is so fucked up," Jason said. "Alternate Dimension, older Damian, who seems he could totally outclass the little demon brat.”
Damian glared at him and opened his mouth ready to retort only for Dick to interrupt.
"Okay, let's not argue right now. We don’t know anything about this place or our other selves. Sticking together is our only option. Right, Bruce?”
Bruce didn’t look at him, deep in thought, before he softly spoke. "He walks like Talia."
"What?"
"He walks like Talia, the other Damian," Bruce said. He looked at the younger version of his son. "You walk more like how Dick does. The older Damian walks like her."
Dick didn’t know what to say to that. He knew his stint as Batman and Damian’s mentor influenced how Damian held himself to to see it so pointedly makes Dick wonder about all the other changes.
“The others…” Tim seemed to be looking at something, not paying any attention to Bruce. “Would that be us?”
They all moved their heads to where he was staring. Glass cases of uniforms were displayed.
What Dick assumed to be Batman’s case was empty. The one next to it, ‘Damian’s’ Dick thought, held a costume reminiscent of the league of assassins that made his heart clench a bit. The black hood and dark gray ninja garb with a multitude of knife harnesses. A katana and belt were haphazardly tossed at the bottom of the case. Older Damian must’ve hurriedly changed before he went upstairs.
The next case was empty. There wasn’t any indication of who it could be from afar and it didn’t look like it was regularly used.
The next uniform was black with cardinal red accents similar to Tim’s Red Robin outfit. A black utility belt wrapped around the waist and the insignia on the chest area was a black bird, wings spread out with red on the tips.
Dick froze at the case that held an almost identical version of his Robin costume. Bright red, green and yellow coming together that stood out among the more muted colors of the others.
There were a few other empty cases that seemed more fit for a woman than a man and Dick deduced that they were probably for the Batgirls or whatever they went by in this universe.
“Yeah,” Dick said. “Probably.”
Dick couldn’t wait to see Damian as an older brother. However, there is a part of him that dreads to find out these differences. Jason readily came to mind. Was Jason's fate the same? Did he fail to save him again? What about Tim? Was he alright? Why did that look appear on older Damian’s face when looking at Tim?
More thoughts raced through his head as he couldn't help but wonder the hows, the whys, and the whens.
~~~~~
The sound of feet coming down the stairs broke the heavy silence of the out of place Bats.
Dick zeroed in on what was a miniature version of himself. All bouncy and smiley, looking like he was ready to ask a million questions. It kind of left the older, more weary Dick questioning if he misremembered how he acted as a kid.
“Was I really this hyper as a kid?” Dick whispered to Bruce. Bruce gave him a look that clearly said, ‘Just as a kid?’
Turning away from the obviously biased Bruce, he moved onto the person looming over mini-him like a protective shadow.
‘Jason’ Dick thought. He couldn’t help but feel a swell of emotions bundling up inside him. ‘He’s alive and whole’
The builds between the two Jason’s were different. Their height was the same but Dick’s Jason was a bit more muscular. Not to say the other Jason wasn’t but obviously relied more on agility and reflexes than his counterpart.
‘Must be Damian’s influence’ Dick thought.
No white streak either. Dick was momentarily relieved at that. Hopefully this Jason was able to avoid the fate of his Jason and not that this universe’s lazarus pits worked differently.
Older Damian, now in civvies, still had a blank expression on his face but he hovered around mini-Dick and mini-Jason.
“Oh my Batman! This is so cool! Look Jason, I'm older than you! I look so cool! Am I going to look like that when I grow up? Why is bigger Jason glaring at you? He looks just like you! But cooler! Ah! A tiny Damian and Tim—”
The ball of energy was lifted off the ground by a semi-amused Jason.
“Slow down birdie you’re going to give them an aneurysm with all your talking.”
Tiny Dick wiggled out of his grasp but complied still bouncy on his feet.
“These two have agreed to go by Richard and Jay for as long as you’re here. Is that acceptable?”
Dick looked at the older Damian and nodded. “That’s fine, and my Damian can go by Dami, what about Tim?”
The now christened Dami glared up at Dick for giving him a nickname without being consulted but didn’t say anything besides a quiet scoff.
“Timothy is currently elsewhere,” Damian glanced at the Tim currently here, “but our Tim can be called Timothy while yours can keep Tim.”
Dick hummed in agreement before making sure Tim agreed. He couldn’t help but wonder what ‘elsewhere’ means.
Tim nodded absentmindedly, still staring at the trio, curiosity on his face.
Dick turned to look at Bruce who was slightly frowning. Not in the ‘I’m angry’ way but in the ‘I don’t know how to process these emotions’ way.
He nudged Bruce in the side urging the man to say something.
Bruce said nothing.
“I contacted an outside source to see if the device you mentioned existed in ours. If the search turns up empty we can alway build it ourselves.” Damian informed them.
“Who is the source?” Bruce finally said holding eye contact with Damian.
Damian didn’t falter. “A reliable source. Need to know only.”
Bruce grunted, not at all happy but didn’t push further.
“Why’s your hair white?” Jay asked. He was looking at Jason up and down, studying him.
Dick winced at the question. Seems other Jason was just as blunt as his.
“What’s it to you kid?” Jason raised an eyebrow and his lips twisted into a sneer.
Jay shrugged, not at all affected by the older’s tone. “Just asking, I’m pretty sure I already know though, Tim-“
Damian cleared his throat, interrupting him and giving him a look.
Jay gave a look back. “What?”
Damian just shook his head in resignation. “You’ve seen them, now will you two finally go to bed?”
Jay and Richard gave him identical looks of annoyance.
“But Dami!” Richard whined as he tried to climb onto Damian’s back.
“Richard.” Damian shot back, gently thwarting his attempts.
Jay just looked on amused.
Dick couldn't help but smile at them. This is exactly what he imagined Damian would be as an older brother.
“Jay, if you would?” Damian gripped Richard by the collar holding him out like a scruffier cat.
Jay hummed and allowed Richard to climb onto his back. “Come on baby bird. You heard him. We have school in the morning. They’ll still be here tomorrow.”
“You mean today, right?” Richard teased. His limbs wrapped around Jay like a small octopus or a limpet.
“Don’t get smart with me.” Jay teased back. He adjusted his hold so as to not drop him.
Dick observed his family’s expressions. Jason seemed to have a look of disbelief at the interaction while Damian turned away in disgust.
Tim was contemplative and Bruce was…Bruce.
Dick really wished he didn’t have all the emotional competence in the family.
(Which, according to Barbara, was much but he digressed.)
Richard looked at the dimension travelers, totally ignoring any discomfort that they may have shone, smirking with determination. “I will be getting answers out of you! Just you wait!”
Jay was heard laughing as he carried the boy out of the cave.
Seriously, Dick didn’t think he was this much of a well…troll.
(Everybody would disagree. To his face.)
Damian’s posture shifted and Dick reflexively straightened up. It was like when he was still Robin and Bruce would give a look that meant serious talk.
“As you can see my family appears to be the reverse of yours.” Damian tilted his head. “But I can see that experiences don’t all match up.”
Bruce, finally in his element, spoke. “Is there any information we should know concerning this universe? Any threats we should be aware of?”
Damian’s face twisted into a grimace. “You will not be leaving the manor in any way, shape, or form. Threats will not be an issue. Information will be on a need to know basis and right now all you need to know is that we’re already working on getting you back.”
Jason growled in annoyance. “That’s it? What, do we just wait patiently while you give next to no information on what to expect?”
Dick internally agreed with him. He understands that this is Damian’s universe but what if something happens that they should be prepared for? He didn’t want to accidentally say something or do anything that could be wrong on account of lack of knowledge.
Bruce verbally agreed. “Where is my counterpart? Or the Justice League-“
Damian raised a hand to stop him.
A shocked silence engulfed the cave.
Dick didn’t think anyone outside of Alfred could interpret Bruce when he was in Batman mode. He could see the same thought cross his siblings faces.
Bruce gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes but did stop talking.
“Batman and the Justice League are currently not available and will continue to be unavailable for the duration of this…incident.” Damian smiled humorlessly. “And I will be expecting complete cooperation if you want to get back to your universe.”
His posture screamed authority and a will to make sure they complied.
Dick placed a hand on Bruce’s shoulder and whispered in his ear. “Bruce he’s right. He knows best in the current situation. We can compromise later when we’re a bit more settled.”
Bruce pursed his lips but nodded. At least for now, when they were vulnerable and out of depth, he would comply to protect his children.
Dick turned back to Damian.
He was watching the hand Dick placed on Bruce’s shoulder with a pensive expression. Damian met Dick’s eyes and whatever he saw it seemed to regress back to a neutral stance.
A loud 'Ah-hem' was heard.
Everyone turned towards the sound.
Alfred Pennyworth, looking the same as always, was standing there. A pile of clothes in hand.
"While I imagine there are important things to discuss, I have clothes for you and guest rooms already prepared. I’d advise you all to take a breather and pick this back up when the sun has risen.”
His tone left no room for argument.
Damian looked at them one last time. "Fine. Follow Pennyworth instructions and don’t wander off. Pennyworth if you would?”
"Of course Master Damian, and you?"
"Don't worry about me," Damian said with his back already turned towards them. "I have a call to make."