Chapter Text
:)
It started as one of those rare days in Gotham. Sunlight, laughter, warmth — the kind of day the Batkids never got enough of. No patrols, no emergencies, no calls from Bruce halfway across the world. Just four brothers with nowhere to be and nothing trying to kill them.
Dick had made sure of that.
“Come on, you guys,” Dick had begged a week ago, bouncing between his brothers in the manor’s study. “One day. One single day where we act like actual siblings instead of vigilantes with family trauma.”
Tim barely looked up from his laptop. “We are vigilantes with family trauma.”
Jason raised a brow from his seat on the windowsill. “And you're asking Damian to agree to a picnic?”
Dick pouted, arms crossed. “Not a picnic. Just… a day out. Drive somewhere. Talk. Hang out. Maybe eat something that doesn’t come out of a box labeled ‘Field Rations.’”
Damian scoffed. “I don’t ‘hang out.’”
“Exactly,” Dick said, whirling toward him. “You don’t. None of us do. But maybe we should. You know... learn how to be around each other when no one's bleeding out or yelling over coms.”
Jason glanced at Tim, then at Damian. “He’s got the puppy eyes.”
“I’m not swayed by emotional manipulation,” Damian said immediately.
Dick gave him the full-blown eye-shimmering, lip-pouting, heart-melting look.
Damian flinched.
“…Fine,” he muttered.
“YES!” Dick grinned, punching the air in triumph. “We’re doing this. Friday. No bail-outs. I will drag each of you out personally.”
He was practically glowing.
And none of them had the heart to say no to him. Not when he looked so damn happy.
Gotham Outskirts – Midday, weekend
They’d driven out of the city in the Wayne SUV with Dick in the front seat, humming along to an obnoxiously sunny playlist he’d crafted. Jason groaned every time Taylor Swift came on, but never actually turned it off.
Tim sat in the back, head finally not buried in a device, smiling more than he had in weeks. Damian drove, surprisingly calm behind the wheel, letting Dick take over the GPS and occasionally correcting his directions in that smug “eldest brother” tone that made Dick roll his eyes fondly.
They stopped by the lake an hour outside Gotham — a place Dick had found on one of his solo hikes.
The day passed like a dream.
Jason brought a frisbee, and they actually played like normal people. Damian pretended to be above it all but still ended up soaked when Dick tackled him into the water. Tim documented everything with surprisingly good candid shots — one of which captured Jason trying (and failing) to throw Dick over his shoulder.
They ate greasy burgers from a roadside diner, sat on a blanket near the water, and watched ducks fight in a way that had Tim providing fake sports commentary.
Dick laughed until his stomach hurt.
For once, they weren’t a team. They were a family.
Mid-Afternoon:
Batbros being protective ( like hawks)
Later, when Dick wandered off to explore a nearby trail, humming to himself, his brothers followed — but not too close.
“He thinks we don’t notice when he vanishes alone,” Jason muttered, arms crossed.
“I think he just likes the quiet,” Tim said softly.
“He’s too trusting,” Damian added, scowling at a squirrel. “He doesn’t check his six. I saw a hiker back at the diner eyeing him too long.”
Jason smirked. “That guy? I already scared him into leaving town.”
Tim raised an eyebrow. “How?”
“Classic glare. Told him Dick was spoken for. Didn’t specify by who.”
Damian gave a small, rare snort.
They continued tailing Dick at a safe distance, hidden in the trees — three shadows watching over their light.
Dick had no idea.
He never did.
Late Evening – Drive Back
Rain began to roll in as they packed up. Heavy clouds pressed low over the hills, and the air shifted from warm to sharp with the scent of ozone.
Dick, still damp from their water fight, tugged Jason’s hoodie tighter around himself in the passenger seat.
“You sure you’re good to drive, Dami?” he asked, glancing over.
“I’m the most qualified,” Damian replied evenly, adjusting the mirrors.
Tim yawned from the backseat, head against the window. “I think I ate five chili dogs. I might die.”
Jason chuckled. “Make sure to aim for the window, replacement.”
“You’re in the splash zone, Todd.”
Dick laughed softly. “God, I missed this.”
Jason turned to look at him. “You see us, like… yesterday.”
“Yeah,” Dick said, smiling out at the rain-streaked windshield. “But not like this. Not when we’re just… us.”
Damian gave him a sidelong glance. “…You’re the reason this even happened.”
Dick shrugged. “You guys need someone to guilt-trip you into having fun.”
Jason snorted. “You’re not guilt-tripping. You’re just criminally adorable.”
Dick blushed. “Shut up.”
Jason ruffled his hair. “Make me, baby bird.”
The car swerved gently as Damian corrected for a bend in the road. Rain intensified, sheets of water falling fast, and the forest on either side turned to shadow.
“I hate Gotham weather,” Tim muttered.
“Visibility’s dropping,” Damian said, voice tightening.
Dick leaned forward, peering through the windshield. “Should we pull over?”
“Just a bit further,” Damian said. “We’re not far from the main highway.”
They never made it.
The Crash
It happened in seconds.
A flash of movement — a deer? Some animal? — darted across the road.
Damian swerved instinctively, tires screeching.
The road was slick. Too slick.
The rear tires lost traction.
The SUV spun.
Dick shouted something — a name, maybe — and Jason reached forward instinctively.
But then—
Impact.
The passenger side slammed into a tree trunk with a deafening crack of metal and glass.
Dick’s side.
The airbags deployed.
Windows exploded.
Rain poured in through broken glass.
Silence, then groans, then—
“Dick?”
“Dickie?!”
And then: pain.