Chapter Text
Dick has always wanted a little brother. Even in his circus days, he wished for another little Grayson to appear. He didn’t know how it all worked. Where babies came from and such didn’t matter to him either. All he knew is he wanted a sibling. He’d be the coolest, best big brother ever.
Then his parents fell.
And he was adopted by Bruce Wayne.
Needless to say, there was a lot of anger in him. First, he lost his parents along with everything he had known until that point in life. Second, it turned out that his parents didn’t have a tragic accident but were actually murdered. And third, his dream of having a baby brother was officially crushed, being adopted by a playboy billionaire who can’t seem to settle down with anyone.
Then he became Robin and life went on. He learned how to live with an empty chest, a void where his heart is supposed to be. Things went on: he was Robin for a few years, fell out with Bruce and left to become Nightwing.
Then came the miracle called Jason Todd. A little kid who, unknowingly, closed the rift between father and son. It happened like this…
At 03:17 on a Thursday morning, Dick gets a phone call. He is very tempted to ignore it and turn back over. He got home only ten minutes ago and just fell asleep. But then again. It could be an emergency at this hour.
“Hello?” man, his voice is scratchy.
“Dick,” Bruce sounds relieved. Understandable: Dick is more likely to ignore Bruce than anyone else.
“B? Everything alright?”
Bruce grunts – expected – and Dick hears a tiny voice in the background lecturing someone on… proper kidnapping etiquette? What?
“I had a thought. And I wanted to ask your opinion.” Woah. Unexpected. “How do you feel about having a little brother?”
Dick sits up in bed. “Are you serious? What, you thinking about adoption at three in the morning--”
The kid is still going on about kidnapping, shit-
“Wait, did you kidnap a child?”
Bruce grunts again, but adds after a beat, “…no.”
“You did!” Dick cackles, “holy shit, this is amazing. But, to answer your question, B, I would love to have a little brother. Also, you owe me the full story. Wait, what does Alfred say about all this?”
This is possibly the longest conversation Dick has had with Bruce in so long. It’s… nice. Really nice.
Dick couldn’t sleep at all after the call. His exhaustion from before has completely disappeared, replaced by his excitement to meet his new little brother. And by morning, he is arriving at the manor.
Alfred greets him warmly with open arms and a smile. Separating from the hug, Dick notices two big blue eyes blinking at him from beneath the butler’s coat. Crouching down to the little boy’s level, Dick can’t help his grin when he steps out from his hiding place.
“Hey, it’s Jason, right? I’m Dick.”
For a moment, there’s nothing, then, “Your name is Dick? Like, on purpose?”
Jason’s mouth snaps shut, a look of fear flashing through, but before he can start to backtrack, Dick only chuckles and says, “yes, on purpose. And for that, you have to hang out with me all day!” And just like that, all the tension in the boy’s shoulders disappears. Dick stands and holds out his hand, “Have you explored the manor yet? I can show you all the best hiding spots, come on.”
Jason puts his tiny hand in his, only managing to hold three of Dick’s fingers, and off they go.
Around lunchtime, Bruce finds the two boys in the kitchen, chatting up a storm while watching Alfred prepare lunch. Dick is in the middle of a laughing fit and Jason is watching him with a smug little grin. Dick notices the new presence in the room first as he is wiping the laughter tears from his eyes.
“Oh, hey B, you’re here. Come home early? Or did you take the day after the brutal take down from last night?” he snickers.
Bruce raises an eyebrow, “what take down? And, yes, I slept in this morning.”
Dick looks at Jason and then back at Bruce, “heard you got your ass kicked by a kid last night.”
“Hn.” There is a small quirk of lips, and the man sits down at the kitchen counter with the two boys.
“So, how old are you, Jason?” Dick takes a sip of his hot chocolate – and spits it right back out at Jason’s answer.
“Twelve?”
“Yes, twelve. What’s the big deal?” Jason crosses his arms and puffs out his cheeks cutely.
“You’re so small!” Dick exclaims, wrapping his thumb and forefinger around the boy’s wrist.
Jason looks down and mumbles, “yeah, well, three meals a week will do that to you.”
Dick lets go of Jason’s arm and pulls him onto his lap, and surprisingly – though after a moment’s hesitation – the boy cuddles in close as Bruce watches the moment. He is torn between being happy that his new son is so accepting of his very tactile new big brother, and sad about the clear signs of touch-starvation. He ends up settling for relief at the immediate bond the two seem to be forming.
Alfred sends Bruce a knowing look as he cleans the counter of Dick’s hot chocolate mess. They both know already that Dick would do anything for this little boy. That is a fact.
A month later, Dick is still at the manor, and happy for it. He wouldn’t miss this moment for anything. Bruce has a surprise for Jason at dinner and Dick can’t wait to see Jason’s face. Alfred baked a cake for the occasion. They wanted to give Jason a proper feast, but his stomach hasn’t adjusted to richer foods – or even having three meals a day – yet, so a standard vanilla cake for dessert after a dinner of vegetables and mashed potatoes.
Dick records the way Jason’s face lights up at the documents Bruce slides over to him. Alfred appears at the table with the cake in hand saying, “welcome to the family, young master Wayne.”
Jason looks up at Bruce with wet eyes before jumping him with a hug. Dick doesn’t think they were supposed to hear the soft “you’re letting me stay” coming from Jason, and nobody comments on it.
After dinner (and cake) the family moves to the entertainment room for a movie night, where Jason falls asleep tucked safely between his new brother and father halfway in.
It was inevitable that Dick had to leave for Titans duties again. But many promises of daily phone calls, texts and pictures later, his Little Wing let go of his waist.
(“’Little Wing?’” Jason asked the first time Dick called him that out loud.
“Yeah! ‘Cause I’m Nightwing. And you’re my little brother, so Little Wing!”
“Dork.”)
Here at the Titan’s Tower, Kori is smiling fondly at Dick as he gushes about his adorable new baby brother. Though, he’s pretty sure Donna is about to throw something at his head to get him to shut up, which is fair, but he can’t help it! He has been talking non-stop about Jason; he’s all he can think about.
He can't wait to see him again. He thinks of introducing him to the other titans, Jason already knows who they are - even if he has no interest in the vigilante life, he still does his research.
Dick will wait before letting his friends meet his baby brother. He doesn't want to overwhelm him, after all.
Maybe in a couple of months.