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Morning. Early. Pool. That was the basic registry going through Tim's head. He had no idea why they were there but it seemed that nobody else did either. Tim would guess it was four, maybe five in the morning. Damian was standing next to him groaning.
“Father, why did you call us out here? It's still dark.” Yes it was. Quite dark. The only lights were the pool lights, the starlight, and the moonlight. “Normal people are still asleep in their warm, cozy beds. I thought we were normal.”
Tim snorted while Jason said, “Speak for yourself, shrimp. Nothing's normal after you've risen from your grave. Which I would like to be back in right now because then I would be asleep and not here.”
“Sleep is for the dead, Jason,” Bruce told him seriously and Tim was inclined to agree.
“My point exactly,” Jason told him with an amount of snark to his voice it should have been illegal.
Bruce gave him a look. Just just grinned back, not giving a shit.
“You did set yourself up for that, Bruce,” Babs told him.
“You kinda walked into it,” Steph agreed.
“What are we doing, Dad?” Dick asked curiously. He had a slight idea but he wasn't sure. This wasn't something he remembered ever doing with any of the Bats. He'd done something like this with Wally before though. That is, if this was what he thought it was.
“We are going to practice breathing into each others mouths,” he replied, completely serious and Tim was wondering how he didn't break, ever.
Oh right. Because he's Batman. Tim felt himself getting antsy. If they were going to do something like that, Tim felt like he should probably go brush his teeth first. He couldn't remember the last time he had a proper meal, but he was pretty sure nobody really wanted to taste the peanut butter that he had eaten from the jar a few hours back. But instead of going anywhere, he continued to pay attention like the good robin he was.
“You mean like mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?” Damian asked, completely clueless. “We already know how to do that, Father.”
“Almost, but not quite, Damian. Now, I know there are going to be incidents in your careers or already have been incidents,” he turned his gaze to Dick before going back to addressing the group as a whole, “where you, both, or all parties won't or didn't have any access to re-breathers or you only had one re-breather...” He trailed off when he caught sight of Tim walking back into the manor. “Tim?” he asked.
Tim flung his arm the air and waved it in a dismissive manor. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Listen to directions that way you know what to do. I have a few things to close down in the Cave, some files to save on my laptops, and then I'll be back out. I have the feeling that this will take more than a few hours to get down and I don't want any mishaps in my files.” He turned and gave Bruce an award-winning smile, possibly something that he'd picked up from Dick. “I'll be back in a few.” In truth, he had already saved and shut everything down. He just really wanted to freshen his breath.
“What a nerd,” Jason commented after Tim was out of earshot.
“That's totally not what he's doing,” Steph said knowingly. She smirked. “He's too OCD to leave without saving his files and shutting things down to be sure nothing happens to his case files and stuff. He's totally freshening up,” she teased.
“What a dweeb,” Jason commented, shaking his head.
Dick elbowed him playfully. “You're just making us think you find it silly. In all honesty you think it's endearing because you want him to kiss you, Jason,” he teased.
Jason shot him a scathing glare. He shook his head. “Whatever, Discobird,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Talk to me when Discowing comes back into style.”
Damian huffed, getting irritated by the two idiots behind him. “Ugh, I don't care what he's doing,” Damian complained. “He's taking valuable time that could be used for practice. The sooner he gets back, the sooner this can start, and the sooner the two idiots behind me can—” Jason got shoved into Damian's back and he whirled around, his heel connecting with the back of Jason's knee which sent him sprawling into Dick. “And the sooner these idiots behind me can stop being just that!” he shouted. He stalked away from the group so he was standing a foot away from Alfred's flower boxes. “At least over by the flowers I don't have to worry about getting pushed over!” he shouted. “And you wonder why I prefer my furry friends to humans,” he scoffed, directly address Bruce. “My furry friends won't accidentally on purpose push me into the pool either,” he said, glaring at Stephanie.
Bruce tried to tune out the fighting by staring at the door leading into the manor. Why did Tim have to be so quirky? Bruce honestly wondered that everyday about every member of his family. He loved them, but sometimes their quirks kicked in at the most inconvenient times and this just happened to be one of them.
“Dick, stop messing with Jason,” Babs scolded him, knowing Bruce was already tuning out the fighting. “Jason, come stand over here next to me and Cass.” Jason did as he was told and moved away from Dick. He wasn't going to complain about that. “You two aren't allowed to be near each other until Tim comes back and the training session begins.”
Jason wasn't going to complain about those stipulations but Dick was pouting. “But, but, but...” The puppy face.
Babs gave him a half-grin and shook her head. “You act like you're not gonna get him back, Dick. It's just until you two are partners in this training exercise.” She smiled. “Then I promise I won't get between you two.” She winked at Dick.
“Ewww!! God, Babs!” Jason complained, looking totally horrified and disgusted. “No! Eww!!! So not. Do not imply things!” He shook his head. “I'd rather kiss our Babybird.”
Laughter came from behind Jason. “You'd rather kiss me than do what?”
Jason whirled around. “Fuck, Timmy! Don't startle me like that.”
Tim laughed and gave Babs a high-five. “Told you I can scare the crap out of him, sis. All it takes is a distraction and a quiet pair of feet.” He noticed Damian over by the flowers. “What the hell did I miss?” he asked, missing the way Jason silently glared at him.
“You just missed the idiots being idiots,” Damian informed him, daring to take a step away from the flowers. Now that Jason was standing between Cass, Babs, and Tim, there was nothing stopping them from throwing him in the pool.
“Atten-TION!” Bruce shouted, calling order to the whole group. “As I was saying before Tim—” His eyes landed on his youngest adopted son, eyes looking him up and down, trying to take in what he was wearing. A red and black lace thing with Superboy swim-trunks. Bruce wasn't going to question, and didn't. He had vowed to himself years and years ago that he was going to let his children make their own life decisions. He decided that back when Tim was still Robin and found one of Bart's shoes in the highest reaches of the hall closet. Whatever it was doing there, Bruce still had yet to find out. “—so kindly decided to leave us to change his outfit.” Tim grinned, toying with the black lace of the top. “There have been and or may be times in your careers as crime-fighters that you will need a re-breather and won't have one or you won't have as many as you need. That's where this comes in handy. I want you to learn to art of transferring air to another person while they are still underwater.”
Damian wretched while Jason took in the whole group. What was he doing here? He was way over his head with this. Besides, it's not like he hadn't practiced this with Roy and Kori. Well, he hadn't, but he'd much rather do it with them than this idiotic group. Even seeing the pretender in that stupid get-up. It didn't even match. He didn't fit in. Jason felt so out of place.
“This is ridiculous, Father,” Damian announced. “I do not have time for such trivial matters!”
“That's where you're wrong, Damian. It's not ridiculous.” Addressing the whole group, he said, “Learning a technique like this could turn out to be a life-saver one day. Green Lantern and Aquaman had a training session just like this with the rest of the League last week. It got me thinking that I need to teach this to you kids. And once I've thoroughly taught it to you kids, you can take it and teach it to your respective teams.” He looked at Jason with a smile and glanced over at Tim as well. “Believe me when I say this training technique can save lives. I can't tell you how close I was to almost drowning a few times but, thankfully, Lantern gave me air before I did.” He paused, eyeing the group. “This is not only a training exercise, but it's also team-building and takes a lot of trust.” He eyed Damian and Jason. “I know not all of you like one another, but I pray, for your own safety and the sake of this family, that you all at least trust each other. If you don't, then I suppose I have my work cut out for me.” He glanced around at the rest. He knew he didn't need to worry about the girls. It was just the boys that he felt uneasy about.
“Wally and I have practiced this a few times in the past. If you need a partner to demonstrate, I'm all for it,” Dick told Bruce with a smile.
“Thank you, Dick. I'll demonstrate a few times and then you should break up into teams. Also, before I begin, Damian had a fair point with his first question. It is a lot like mouth-to-mouth except it's underwater. Also, there needs to be a perfect seal between the partners' lips. You can't allow any gaps or openings whatsoever because then you lose air and the partner who is underwater is breathing water into their lungs.”
Dick and Bruce demonstrated for about ten minutes or so, until everyone full understood what they were doing. They also switched on who was taking air and who was giving it.
“All right,” Bruce said when they were all properly clad in swimwear and all in the pool. “Pick a partner.” The kids paired off: Cass, Babs, and Steph, each taking turns with each other; Dick and Tim; leaving Jason and Damian with each other. “Now what I want you to do is, first, decided who will give air first.”
Cass pointed to Babs and Steph, indicating that she wanted them to do it first. Babs nodded and addressed Steph. “Give air or take air first?”
“I wanna know how it feels to take air, honestly. It sounds like a really bizarre sensation and I really want to experience it.”
“All right then. I'm pretty good at giving mouth-to-mouth, if you know what I mean,” Babs told her flirtily. She smiled and laughed.
“You wanna go down on me or I go down on you?” Dick asked Tim jokingly.
Tim thought about the question in relation to what they were doing. “If you're going down on me that means you're going down to me,” he muttered to himself. He glanced at Dick, not at all phased by the way Dick posed that question. “I don't care. Do you want to go under first or me?”
“You can go down on me then,” he answered with a smirk at Tim.
Tim smirked back. “Nah, maybe later.” He chuckled. “I will however give you air.”
Dick laughed at that. “Sounds good to me, Timmy.”
Damian glared Jason. “I hope you've brushed your teeth, Todd. I don't want to be tasting rotting flesh when I kiss you.”
Jason glared at Damian. “I don't taste like rotting flesh,” he growled defensively. “And it's not a kiss. It's a training exercise. I'm just giving you air. You should be thankful I'm not allowed to let you drown. I don't like this any more than you do, brat. Just be glad I'm not shoving you under the water right now.” Jason fell quiet. He could feel Bruce's eyes on him.
“All right,” Bruce said, gaze still fixed on Jason. This really was going to be interesting. “Now that that's out of the way, after fifteen to twenty minutes, depending on how partners are going, I'm going to yell out switch until all the partners have been cycled through. If there are no questions besides the painfully obvious questions of why and do we have to then please begin. If you have other questions, please address me personally. I'll be over there,” he gestured to the lawn chairs sitting by the waters edge, “keeping an eye on your progress.”
“We got this,” Dick assured Tim before ducking under the water.
Tim nodded in agreeance, a nervous knot in his stomach. He'd never kissed Dick before. And that was practically what this was. Well, not exactly, I guess. He had to admit that the exercise was quite intimate. He glanced over at the girls. They were laughing and having fun, not at all phased by any of this. He hear grumblings from Jason, but brought his attention back to Dick instead. Dick had given the signal and Tim took an lungful of air. He ducked under the water, keeping his mouth closed. Shyly and carefully he pressed his lips to Dick's. They moved their lips together, keeping them pressed tight and Tim breathed into Dick's mouth. Dick gingerly touched his arm reassuringly and, keeping their lips together, they closed their lips, and Tim pulled back, resurfacing. That wasn't so bad. He waited until Dick gave the signal before going back down again.
Jason was finding more difficulty with this. Honestly, he wished he were doing this with Kori and Roy. He watched the demon bird under the water, looking closely for the signal. And there it was. Jason swallowed air into his lungs and ducked under the surface of the water. He placed a hand on the center of Damian's back so he couldn't pull back. He gently placed his other hand on the back of Damian's head and pressed his own lips to those of the demon's. He blew the air into Damian's mouth and, keeping his eyes open underwater, gauged Damian's reaction. Jason watched Damian's eyelids flutter closed and grinned to himself. He liked getting that reaction out of people, especially his brothers. He broke the kiss and rose to get more air.
The girls were having the most fun with this exercise. Steph tried not to giggle while Babs was giving her air. It tickled and she didn't understand why. Babs lips felt like velvet against her own and having the air pushed into her was a strange feeling but it was also extremely relaxing. It was a calming sensation and she was really curious to try it out with Cass next.
Tim and Dick had switched places now. Tim was under the water and his life was in Dick's hands. Not that Tim minded that one bit. He trusted his oldest brother with his life.
He signaled to Dick that he needed air and a second later Dick ducked down into the water and firmly placed his lips against Tim's, making sure there weren't any gaps. Tim gingerly matched the movements of Dick's lips, taking the air that Dick transferred to him, and felt Dick run his hand through his hair before he quickly pulled away, leaving Tim just a slight bit flustered. He wasn't sure but that felt less like air transference and more like an actual kiss. He let out a few bubbles, releasing some air, and signaled Dick again, just to make sure he wasn't reading too far into things. He signaled to to Dick and Dick ducked under the water again, pressing his lips firmly to Tim's again.
A single hand rested softly on the small of Tim's back as Dick blew warm breath into Tim's mouth. Tim tried his hardest not to concentrate on the small details because if he did, he was gonna become lightheaded. Getting lost in the details was such an easy thing to do. For one, Dick was being so gentle; two, the air had a slight sweet, trademarked Grayson taste to it; three, the air felt warm and Tim knew it was only warm because of Dick's mouth.
Tim cut his thoughts off there because if he didn't he wouldn't be able to stay under the water for much longer. Yep, definitely a kiss. He decided to log that away to study later. He released some more air and signaled Dick down again. This time, Tim stopped him before he could press their lips together. No kissing this time he signed. He wasn't sure if Dick would understand it, but immediately knew he did when his face fell. Tim stroked his cheek and signaled for air again. He smiled and so did Dick.
Dick firmly pressed his mouth against Tim's again. This time Dick didn't place his hand on Tim and Tim didn't feel like he was gonna be lightheaded again. He smiled to himself when Dick resurfaced. He followed a moment or so after, breathing in the chill of the early morning. God, he wanted back under the water.
Damian and Jason had switched positions as well, Jason under the water now, Damian as his air supply. He wasn't too keen on those odds but he wasn't gonna quit and leave. He was going to stick this out. He was going to last. But why did it have to be with the demon? He'd rather be practicing with Babs or Cassie. God this was stupid. He was so lost in thought, he didn't even see Damian come down to give him air. When Damian's lips touched his own he flew out of the water and knocked into Tim.
Tim got pushed into Dick who, consequently, got pushed into the water as well. Both boys came up for air and began to question Jason on what had happened when Jason started yelling at Damian.
Bruce was instantly at attention, watching his children closely. He was expecting a break like this at some point. It was early, neither Jason nor Damian had been sleeping well and it was bound to happen at some point.
“God damn it, you little demon spawn! I didn't give you the signal yet! I didn't need air! I was thinking! Can't you lot just leave me to my fucking thoughts!” He didn't want to be here. He wanted sleep. He wanted to be with Roy and Kori and be in bed wedged between the two of them.
“Jason, is—” Babs started to ask him if everything was all right, but before she could finish her question, he rudely cut her off.
“No! No! Nothing is okay! Just leave me to myself and leave me the fuck alone! It's fucking early, I haven't slept in days! Just leave me THE FUCK ALONE!!”
Bruce could see the tells. Jason had been having nightmares again. He wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason Damian hadn't been sleeping well either.
Damian clenched his jaw, instantly hiding his hurt, but Bruce had caught it. The hurt expression that had streaked across Damian's features and was instantly hidden. He didn't like being vulnerable or letting others see his pain. Damian rarely let others see when he was physically hurting too. It was concerning to Bruce, but he knew it had a lot to do with Damian's pride. Cass was at his side instantly though. They both watched as Dick and Barbara were at Jason's side in an instant to comfort him and figure out just what was wrong.
Bruce sat back down, still keeping watch over his children. He was proud of them figuring things out among themselves. It made him feel like they really had grown as a family. Things were working themselves out despite all the yelling and he was happy.
Tim stared at Jason as well, even though he had an idea of what his older brother's issue was. He was next to be at Damian's side. “It's not your fault, Dami,” he reassured his little brother, nuzzling his wet hair. “I think he's having nightmares again.”
“What do you know, Drake?” Damian spat at him, turning away sharply.
Tim jerked away from Damian and his scathing tone. Geez... Even when he tried to help, he couldn't. He wasn't sure if it was him or if it was Damian or if it was typically just a mutual thing. Instead, he turned away and swam over to Steph, leaving Cass to figure Damian out. “What did I do this time?” he asked Steph, who had seen the whole thing from Jason and Damian to Damian and Tim.
“Nothing,” Steph assured him. “You did nothing. He's the one who thinks he's at fault for what happened with Jason. Really, it wasn't his fault either. You know that neither of them do really well when they haven't had much sleep. And neither of them have. Damian's been tossing and turning for the past few nights and Jason hasn't been sleeping either.” She stared Tim in the eye. “Neither of them are you, you know,” she teased, elbowing him in the ribs.
He sighed and looked around at the groups. Cass was holding Damian, nuzzling his hair and whispering things to him. Tim tried to listen or even read her lips but it was impossible because she was near silent and her lips were moving against Damian's hair, making it impossible to read. He didn't doubt that she was calming him in Arabic though. He looked to Jason next. He had crawled out of the pool and Dick and Babs had followed him. Babs was holding him while Dick was stroking his back. Yeah, some kind of horror nightmare relapse. Tim knew the feeling, quite well in fact. It was half the reason he didn't let himself sleep at night.
“How much sleep have you been getting lately, Tim?” Steph asked him, concern seeping into her voice as she studied him. She leaned in close and he didn't pull back, knowing that she was studying the dark circles under his eyes. “God, Tim. You look like you haven't slept in over four days.”
Tim looked away from her searching gaze. “More like three days.” He looked back into her eyes. “Four nights though.”
“You're going to sleep after this exercise, even if I have to put you to bed myself,” Steph promised in complete seriousness. “Not kidding. I'll ask Bruce for a tranq if I have to.”
Bruce grinned, watching Steph take care of Tim. They may not have been perfect, but they were a family. He glanced between Jason and Damian. They were a family with major issues and abnormal dysfunctions, but they were all there for each other and that's what really mattered. He stood up from his chair again. “All right, kids.” He let his eyes roam over them all. The girls looked like they could do this all day. Dick looked pretty pumped about this exercise as well. Tim looked like he hadn't slept in a week. Jason looked ready to kill someone if something else happened. Damian looked like he was going to keep to his room for the next few days unless it was to come out for food. “If you're all calmed down now, let's continue this exercise. You guys are doing good. All I'm asking is for another hour of time and then you can have the rest of the day to yourselves.” He looked straight at Tim. “No going down to the cave. No case work for the rest of the day.” Tim looked pouty. “I mean it,” Bruce replied sternly. “Now switch!”
Jason grumbled. He seriously did not want to continue doing this. But if he had the rest of the day free, maybe he could find a way to escape this hell that was—unfortunately—his family. He looked at Babs, silently questioning.
“I'm sorry, Jay,” she told him sincerely, giving him a kiss on the top of his head. “Cass wants to do the exercise with me next and I told her she could.”
“I'll do with you though, Jay,” Dick offered.
Jason rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Discobird.” Jason didn't fight him or push him away when Dick followed him into the water though. He didn't call Tim over and ask if they could be partners instead.
Tim looked around. Dick and Jason had paired off, Cass and Babs had paired off. That left only Steph and Damian; and as well as Tim got along with his ex, he felt that doing this with her might have been crossing a line, a line that he didn't want crossed. Besides, he shouldn't be leaving Damian alone.
“Go,” Steph told him with a light shove and a smile. “I'm fine with the girls.”
Tim did as he was told and went to stand next to Damian. He cleared his throat, feeling awkward.
“Tt,” was all he got in reply. That annoying noise. That noise meant so much, but it also meant so little. It could literally mean a thousand things but at the same time it could mean nothing at all. Tim figured that there were times Damian used it cover his insecurities. It was just figuring out when those times were. It could be now, it could be covering his hurt over Jason's reaction.
Or it could be him saying 'Go away, Drake' like he always does, Tim reasoned with himself. “Do you want to go under first or should I?” He didn't look at Damian. He couldn't have thoughts of Damian clouding his head as he did this exercise. He thought it was breath-taking with Dick? Dick was nothing compared to Damian. His skin, his lips, his eyes. Tim didn't add any adjectives to any of those because that thought that it was Damian in general was enough to have him breathless.
“I'll go under first.” He almost ducked under the water before he noticed Tim still staring at him. “Tt.” He rolled his eyes at Tim. “And stop staring at me. It's unsettling. I'm fine, Drake. If I could, I'd ask you to go away, but this is one of Father's ridiculous family-bonding exercises. We both know that he wouldn't very well appreciate just getting out of the pool and going inside to change.” He studied Tim, who had stopped responding. “Okay, whatever. But if I drown, I'm haunting you until you figure out how to get me to go away.” He quirked an eyebrow. Still no reaction. “Which means you'd have to have me exorcised but I doubt you're intelligent enough to figure that out.” Nothing? No comment, no sass, no backtalk? Damian was rather disappointed but he took a lungful of air and ducked under the water.
Tim snapped out of his stupor after Damian had gone under the water. Oh god, this was bad. He couldn't stop staring at his little brother. Tim didn't register anything that was said after I'll go under first. Damian could have been insulting him and he'd never know. But those lips. He couldn't stop staring at them. They were dark in color, darker than Dick's, matched his skin tone. His beautiful dark skin. He loved everything about Damian physically, but Tim was drawn to his face especially. His skin tone was luscious and Tim loved his nose especially but nothing compared to those deep jade eyes that Tim felt like he could drown in. Tim thought Damian's nose was adorable because of the freckles that littered it and spread across his cheeks. He loved the way the were spread out under his eyes. And when he smiled... God, his smile was absolutely to die for. And his lips... Tim wanted to feel those lips against his and just... Tim was feeling nervous because that's just what was going to happen now. Whenever he got the signal. He watched Damian under the water.
And there it was. Tim sucked in a lungful of air and dove under. He prayed this would go well, that he wouldn't mess it up, that Damian didn't get a lungful of water because of something he did wrong. Oh, god. This was going to be horrible.
His gaze met Damian's under the water, a light blush dusting his face, and he leaned in, pressing his lips to Damian's soft ones. They were soft and felt kind of like Dick's had, but not so much. Something like... No. Stop thinking. Be professional. You're training, Drake, he told himself. Although, it sounded suspiciously like Damian's voice.
Tim moved his lips in time with Damian, just like he had with Dick. He gently blew the air into his mouth and then, after they had closed their mouths, he pulled back and resurfaced, leaving Damian stunned.
Damian blinked and held onto the air he was given. It tasted like Tim and it surprised him. It tasted minty fresh and left him with this unrequited feeling. He wanted to kiss Tim, to lick his lips and taste the inside of his mouth. He liked this and he wanted more of this and it wasn't just the mint he wanted more of. He wanted more of Tim. The kiss—because what else could you call it?—left his lips tingling lightly and he needed more.
He wanted to hold onto the air Tim had given him, because what if this was an actual mission? He couldn't just go wasting precious air. Though, he knew he could hold his breath longer than any normal person should be able to. It was all part of his training with the League. Besides, he didn't want to seem desperate to Tim. But, he told himself, they also needed the practice. So what would releasing a few bubbles hurt?
After another minute, he was signaling up to Tim that he needed more air. Seconds later, Tim was back under the water with him. Damian was fighting the urge to pull him in for a real kiss as he stared into Tim's bright blue eyes. Damian closed his own eyes as Tim leaned in and pressed his lips to Damian's again. Tim barely moved his and got no response from Damian. He gently glided his tongue across Damian's lower lip, his heart pounding in his chest. Damian gasp in reaction and quickly resurfaced, coughing.
Tim resurfaced after Damian, apologizing profusely. “I didn't mean to make you choke, Dami. I'm so sorry. That's not what I had intended. You weren't responding or reacting and I didn't know if you were lost in your own head or what. I'm so sorry!”
Steph whirled around, watching the scene. She smirked. She could only guess that Tim had tried to make it more of a kiss than it should have been.
It caught Dick's attention as well, but Jason was gesturing to him for air. He grinned, getting a lungful of air and ducking under the water. He gently brushed his hand through Jason's white streak, slowly moving a thumb across his forehead. He gently cupped Jason's chin and leaned in, pressing his lips with Jason's. They're lips moved in sync and Dick could taste the most recent cigarette of Jason's. Cigarette smoke always reminded Dick of Jason, especially when he was gone for that period of time. Now that he was back, it was always calming and relaxing. There was a part of him that wanted Jason even though he knew that he could never have Jason. He blew the air into Jason's mouth, closed this kiss, and rose back to the surface.
Jason wasn't sure why, but being with Dick, practicing this exercise with him, was helping him calm down. He wasn't sure if it was the exercise in general or not though. He wondered if he would feel this calm with Babs too. He finally decided he probably would. She and Dick were just so familiar to him. He'd be too afraid of going off on Tim like he had on Damian and he wouldn't be surprised if Damian didn't let him come close anymore. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if Bruce didn't let him come close to Damian anymore. He sighed, letting air escape. He debated rising to the surface, but he figured, in rising to the surface, he'd just walk out of the pool and out the back gate, down to his car. He wondered if anybody would follow and his chest felt hollow at the thought of nobody going after him. He didn't even know if Dick would chase after him. Perhaps, maybe he felt that Jason needed time to himself. That would be the only sensible reason that Dick wouldn't chase after him. Still though, the thought of nobody coming after him made his chest feel hollow and made his heart ache.
Jason felt a hand gripping under his arm, gently lifting him out of the water. He quickly found himself being pulled against Dick's chest. “I love you, Jay,” he murmured quietly. “Please don't leave today. I know Bruce said the rest of the day was free but I don't want you to leave yet. Last night was the first night you've spent here in the matter of three months. Please stay,” he requested.
Jason silently nodded. He swallowed, unable to speak. Was he dreaming? This was completely in his head. That's it. He was drowning. This was the end again. Good-bye world.
Jason dared to glance up at Dick. This couldn't be all in his head. His subconscious was never this kind to him. He pulled away from Dick just a little, putting a small amount of space between them so he could stand fully on his feet. He then leaned in a bit and quickly found his lips pressed against Dick's. Jason felt dizzy, like his head was swimming. And he wasn't sure if Dick had closed the gap between their lips or if he had actually fallen into Dick. Gravity was a cruel mistress and his dizziness helped nothing.
“Whoa, Little Wing, I got you,” Dick told him, holding Jason against him, a strong arm keeping him held securely by the waist and the other by his shoulders. “Why don't we take a small break?” he suggested. “You can catch your breath and after we can continue.”
Jason shook his head. “I got this, Dickiebird. Give me two minutes and you can be under that water while I go down on you.” Jason winked at him and ducked back under the cool water, calming himself down.
Yep, nope, not a dream. That was one thousand percent real. Jason was beside himself with giddiness as he swam around the girls, past Damian and Tim. He popped out of the water next to Dick. “Okay, let's finish this silly little exercise.”
Dick grinned at his little brother and ducked under the water. He stayed like that for a small span of time and then let out a few bubbles and signaled Jason under. Jason got a lungful of air and joined Dick under the water. He pressed his lips firmly to Dick's and, movements synced, blew the air into Dick's lungs.
Damian stopped coughing but Tim decided it was better that Damian stay above water, that way he wouldn't accidentally start coughing while underwater. Damian agreed but that meant that he'd be the one kissing Tim and, for the first time in his life, he was feeling nervous and self-conscious and shy because of Tim. Something was wrong. This wasn't right. What the hell!? This was Tim he was talking about. What was wrong with him? Everything? Nothing? No, that wasn't right. Something had to be wrong. Maybe he'd ask Grayson to check his temperature when they were done with this whole ordeal.
Tim was giving him the signal and, for once, he found himself at a loss at what to do. He couldn't let his brother down but, dear god. What the hell was wrong with him? It was Tim for crying out loud!
Finally, he did what he knew he had to do and, with a lungful of air, ducked under the water and pressed his lips to Tim's. He shuddered at how soft they felt against his own. He bit back a small moan and blew the air into Tim's mouth.
Damian's lips were soft against Tim's. They felt like they were a little chapped, something he hadn't caught the when Tim had ducked under the water to give him air. Despite that, they still like velvet against Tim's. Tim resisted the urge to wrap his arms around Damian and pull him in for a real kiss. He was so taken by Damian's sweet taste. It tasted different from Dick in a good way. Where Dick tasted like sugar and cereal, Damian tasted like honey with a hint of cinnamon. He also tasted a little bit of sweet grass. Tim wasn't completely surprised about that last one. It was something he knew Damian liked to chew on.
Tim found himself taking a breath and pulling away from Damian at the same time. He started choking under the water. “Fuck!” he shouted when he broke the surface, coughing and trying to catch his breath. He coughed a few more times. “God, why—” followed by more coughing, “am I so bad—” he crawled over the edge of the pool, “when it comes to air?” He sprawled out, flopping on his back. “I'm taking an air break, Bruce,” he called out. Followed by more hacking.
“Switch!” Bruce called out. “Last time. Girls, can you go stand over by Tim? Make sure he's okay?” he requested.
“I'm fine, Bruce!” he called out. “Just, you know, I should stop trying to be a fish.” He rolled onto his stomach. He looked over at Bruce. “I know adults tell kids that they can be anything they want to be, but different species aren't usually on the list.” He looked over at Steph. “Sorry, Steph, looks like we can't be fish together after all.”
She laughed. “You're such a nerd,” she said, dragging Cass with her until they were standing next to him. “I know what that was about though,” she told him with a snarky smirk. “You like him,” she said knowingly. She winked at Tim. “It's okay. That little Bat is quite the eye-candy.”
Tim glanced over at Damian and Dick and was extremely thankful that Damian was under the water. He looked back at Steph. “Yeah, I have a thing for Damian.” He looked down at his hands, wringing them nervously. “Which I won't be able to do anything about because I have no idea how he feels. I don't know if he still wants to kill me or what. I just...I don't know.”
Cass smiled at him. “You have a soft spot for the dead ones,” she stated and looked at Jason and then Stephanie to make her point clear. “That's okay. And he doesn't hate you. He'd rather die again than see you dead, especially by his own hands, Tim.” She spoke softly and clearly. “You should talk to him later.” She smiled gently, her eyes soft.
Dick got the signal from Damian and ducked under the water, giving his little Robin air. Dick felt like he was soaring. Jason had kissed him. Dick wasn't sure if he had actually meant to though. That worried Dick a bit because it seemed as if Jason had lost his footing. Maybe he needed to check his temperature and make sure he didn't have a fever. He pressed his lips to Damian's and felt him respond needily. Dick blew the air into his mouth and studied Damian's eyes. There was something about them. Pleading. A cry for help? He looked confused. It did look like he was asking for something though. Dick would need to ask him about it when they were done.
He surfaced for air of his own and Damian followed. “We need to talk, Grayson,” Damian told him when he surfaced. “I...There's something I need to get off of my chest.”
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
Damian thought about Tim and how he felt. He felt awful about the whole air thing. He wasn't even sure what happened. Tim choked on water and was now sitting out and Damian felt that that as his fault and he didn't know what to do. “I'm...confused.” He wasn't looking into Dick's eyes. “That's all. Other than that, I'm fine.”
“Confused about what, Dami?” Dick asked, genuinely curious.
Damian shook his head, still not looking at Dick. “I-I...It's nothing.” Damian felt his face heating up. “Damn it, Grayson, it's nothing,” he muttered irritably, still not looking Dick in the eye. “Now go under the water so we can finish this stupid exercise.”
Dick did his best to keep the grin down but from the glare he got from Damian, he didn't do a very good job. He ducked under the water and held his breath for a bit before signaling for air.
Jason stared at Babs under the water. Three minutes under the water and still nothing. He tapped her on the shoulder and she came up. “What's up?” she asked him.
He gave her a confused look. “You weren't signaling. I mean, I know you can hold your breath probably better than the rest of us around and in the pool, but are you still participating?”
Babs chuckled. “Yeah, I was just testing to see how long I really can hold my breath.” She became serious. “But you're right. That means I'm leaving you up here to stew in your thoughts and I shouldn't be doing that.”
“Thank you,” he said with a nod. “Babs, when we're done with this, can I ask you something?” He quickly glanced at the water around Damian, knowing Dick was down there somewhere. “It's about Dick and I don't get it. Doing this exercise with him was strangely calming and I don't know. I'm confused about the way I feel and what I should do.”
Babs smiled reassuringly. “I'll help you figure out your feelings toward Dick.”
Jason glanced away. “I do not have feelings for him. I just... I don't know. I'm confused. I feel differently around him than I do around Tim. Tim and I are more brothers than Dick and I. Even Damian is different. Sure, the little hellion and I don't typically see eye-to-eye and we get on each others nerves on the best days but even that is normal. Not even Roy and I always see eye-to-eye. He and I have our bad days. And Star... God, Kori is amazing. She and Dick were wonderful for each other. And now I'm rambling. The point is, being around Dick is like... I don't know how to explain it. Doing this with him, it was dizzying.” He glanced back at Babs. “In a good way. I just... I don't know, Barbara. Do you think he and I would ever work out? I mean, would we even have a chance? God, what am I saying?” He groaned out loud. “This is stupid. I'm worrying about the pretty boy Grayson.” He shook his head. “Just tell me that I don't have a chance so I can move on and continue this stupid exercise.”
Babs gazed at him with soft eyes. “I'm not gonna tell you that you don't have a chance, Jason. Dick is complex and you know that. Don't tell yourself that you don't have a chance with him. Like I said, he's complex.” She pulled him into a loving embrace and held him for a few a minute. “I do agree that we should continue the exercise though,” she muttered into his hair.
“So, you think I might have a chance with him?” Jason asked excitedly. He felt like a puppy and he didn't know why. Well, yes he did. But a puppy? He laughed. Jason had looked up to Dick for the longest time but he always felt like he'd never be good enough. And now here Babs was saying that he might have a chance. And she'd spent more time around Dick than he ever did. Babs wasn't the type of person to just say things either.
“Don't sell yourself short, Jay. I'm pretty sure you have a chance with him. I'm not just saying that either.” She pulled away from him and smiled brightly. “Why don't we continue the practice and talk about this later.”
Not more than five seconds later, Alfred walked out of the Manor with an armful of towels. “Breakfast is ready,” he told them. “I suggest you all...” He didn't need to finish speaking because everyone was already getting out of the pool and grabbing towels.
“Thanks, Alfie,” Dick said. “I think the hunger might be getting to all of us. Jason and Damian haven't been sleeping well either.”
“No, they haven't,” Alfred agreed. “Neither has Tim. But come on. Let's get inside and eat and then let you kids get more sleep.”
After breakfast, most of the kids ended up in the living room.
Tim was the last one there because he kept almost falling asleep in his food. He flopped on the couch and curled up around Damian, who had curled up in a corner and already fallen asleep. He tugged the blanket off the back of the couch and laid it over them.
Babs, Cass, and Steph were either in or sitting next to a recliner, listening as Babs read out loud.
Dick and Jason were the only ones missing. Jason followed Dick to his room. Dick said that he could sleep there if he wanted to. He stripped down to his boxers and laid down, falling asleep almost immediately. Dick followed suit and laid down next to him. He curled up next to Jason, wrapping his arm protectively around his little brother and nuzzling into his hair. “I love you, Jason. Nothing can hurt you here. I promise.”