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Bruce is exhausted.
Once, foolishly, he would have thought that well over a decade of vigilantism would have prepared him for raising kids.
Or at least the sleep deprivation brought on by the flu going around Gotham Academy.
It hasn't.
For two weeks Bruce's days have been full of warming up soup and online doctor appointments and baths and changing PJ's and not having a second to himself. With Alfred away on his annual leave he has been alone with three sick boys until all he wants is to sleep.
But Dick has insisted on staying in Bruce's bed every night even though he recovered from his own illness days ago, Jason had also spent a handful of nights in his room where Bruce could keep an eye on him and naturally Tim hadn't wanted to stay in his bedroom while everyone else was cuddling. As much as Bruce loves his boys, sharing his bed with several fever ridden children who spend their nights squirming and clinging to him has not been restful.
He finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel when Jason's fever broke, so naturally Timmy had come down to breakfast the very next morning clutching his blanket with glassy eyes. Bruce hasn't dared to even set him down since because if Tim gets even the slightest idea that Bruce wants space he'll refuse to be taken care of to not be a burden and Bruce can't deal with his baby hurting any more.
Not on top of Dick's clinginess, Jason's defensive insistence he's fine despite dissolving into flashbacks at the drop of a hat, and Tim desperately wanting not to be left alone for even a second.
Bruce is exhausted and his skin itches and he wants desperately to have a shower and a few hours to himself, feeling himself edging closer and closer to a full meltdown with every passing hour.
The only thing keeping him together right now is the thought of the couch in the living room and the fact that Tim being half asleep means he might at least get a light nap, if Dick and Jason can keep from bickering long enough for him to fall asleep that is.
And he's so close, he'd finally gotten Tim in and out of the bath without too much fuss and into his favorite batman themed footie pajamas when his phone rings. He answers without checking caller ID, no one unimportant has his personal number anyway.
"Bruce" he blinks, frazzled and wondering whether Clark has been listening in on them again, if he can tell Bruce is five minutes away from dropping his sick kid in Dick's lap so he can go cry in the bathroom before he has to go back to being a functional adult. "Hello" he feels awkward as soon as he says it, rubbing Tim's back to distract himself.
"Hi" he can hear the worry in Clark's voice, the awkward silence that drags on a few seconds too long then "Bruce you're five minutes late, I just wanted to check that you were alright." He feels a little frozen, swallowing and bouncing Tim when he stirs "Late to what."
The silence is heavy and Clark sounds almost incredulous when he responds "The monthly meeting, the one you insist we all attend" his stomach drops, fuck. "Bruce are you alright?" Probably not but he's already on his way down to the cave "I'm fine, it's been a busy week, I'll be there momentarily. Please apologize for the delay." He hangs up, too stressed to listen to Clark's fumbling kindness.
He'll tell Bruce he doesn't have to go and right now he will be far too tempted to listen.
So he pulls the suit on and texts Dick to keep an eye on Jason and that they can order delivery, he hesitates a moment, glances at Tim's damp hair and heavy lidded eyes where he's snuggled into the kevlar chest plate, and tells the boys he's taking Tim with him before he can second guess himself.
Dick and Jason are too young to watch Tim while he's sick anyways and he won't take it well if Bruce leaves.
It's- well the League was sure to learn about the boys at some point, it's not like Dick is much of a secret as it is and he's sure some of them have already figured it out.
Trying to distract himself from the sudden abrupt change to his evening plans when he is already at his wits end he punches his codes into the zeta tube in the cave, his other hand rubbing Tim's back in a soothing repetitive motion. "Sweetheart are you awake?" Tim makes a small quiet noise in response and Bruce feels his chest getting all warm, even six months ago Tim would have been responding in full overly rehearsed sentences, hands perfectly still.
"We're going to go to the watchtower alright?" Tim nods, grip tightening nervously as he stims with the edge of Bruce's cape as he steps into the zeta. Tim makes a displeased noise at the flash of light but it's over quickly, the familiar darkness of the cave giving way to the Watchtower's sleek white and steel and bright light.
Bruce blinks once against the unpleasant lighting, grumbling as he adjusts Timmy and makes his way to their main conference room.
He expects to be able to slip in without much fuss but every single person is staring at him the second he walks through the door and there is a reason Bruce is so careful to be on time, besides the creeping knowledge that something terrible could happen if he's not.
Now he can't check the meeting notes or the tower's security, and what if he makes Tim more sick dragging him here? Not to mention being late means the meeting could run longer and he doesn't want to scare his boys if he's not home on time. And if he's late someone could break into the manor and hurt them but he can't check the security because he doesn't have time, and everyone is looking at him-
Without thinking about it his fingers find Tim's tiny wrist, pressing to his pulse, counting each even heartbeat. Clark frowns at him but Bruce ignores it, he can't lose count, not with Tim already being sick, he could miss something important-
He sits down, only lifting his gaze away from his son's tousled hair to try and determine why the meeting hasn't restarted only to find every person in the room staring at him.
"You've acquired a child" Arthur says in a weird tone and Bruce blinks "Wait whose kid is that?" Oliver is glancing over the room like he thinks someone else is going to appear out of thin air and claim Tim. Against his own common sense Bruce clutches Tim closer, the four year old shifting into a more comfortable position in his lap.
"Daddy, blanket" Tim murmurs, tugging on his cape for emphasis as the room goes unnaturally quiet. Bruce doesn't respond verbally, too busy assessing his coworkers confusing reactions as he wraps Tim carefully in his cloak, the little boy promptly smushes his face back into Bruce's chest, for once he doesn't seem aware of the tense atmosphere in the room.
"You have a kid!" Hal says far too loudly and Bruce shoots a glare at the man when Tim stirs. "Yes" Bruce replies, finding the chocolate milk carton and goldfish crackers in his belt that are Timmy's favorite snacks, he keeps some in the cave for easy access, rubbing his back absentmindedly as he perks up at the sight of the snack, Bruce is just relieved his appetite is improving.
"Wow" someone says faintly as he sits there awkward and stiff, wondering what the point of showing up was if everyone was just going to stare at him like a zoo animal. "I can't believe Batsy has a kid" Hal adds faintly "must be lonely huh kiddo? You guys live in a cave or what?"
Bruce is already opening his mouth to shut down the prying questions but Timmy frowns, glaring at Hal across the conference table. "Why would we live in the cave" he says, always practical and Bruce obviously knows the cave comment wasn't so literal but he can hardly blame Tim for thinking it was when they do have a cave. "Timmy-" He starts quietly but Tim is still glaring at Hal with his very unintimidating four year old stare "And I'm not lonely, my brothers play with me all the time!"
Another ripple of movement and noise goes around the room and Bruce glares harder, especially at Clark and Barry, the former trying to hide a smile while Barry looks like Christmas has come early. At least Diana has the grace to be subtle.
"Brothers, plural?" Oliver's ridiculous shocked expression is almost worth the stress of this evening, almost. "How many kids do you have exactly?" Arthur asks and Bruce would really like to get on with business or get home but he has clearly backed himself into a corner he didn't realize was there.
"Three" there's hardly a point in lying at this point with what Tim has already said.
Everyone is staring.
"And Ace" Tim reminds him while Bruce sighs "And Ace" he agrees, smoothing back Tim's hair.
Seeming satisfied Tim happily munches on his goldfish, still wrapped in his cape.
"Oh my god how long have you had kids, how old are they, how old are you-"
Bruce glares and Oliver promptly shuts up, though Bruce has known him long enough to know it won't last.
Sure enough, five minutes into the meeting he cuts Clark off in the middle of a sentence.
"So why's the kid with you, your wife run away?" The teasing edge barely covers the raw curiosity and Bruce puts everything he has into glaring back at Hal who at least has the decency to look cowed.
"I don't have a mommy anymore" Tim adds plainly and maybe under the stress of this interaction Bruce can be grateful Tim is becoming more comfortable speaking to strangers but in this moment he wants nothing more than for him to go back to sleep. Suddenly he has no idea why he hadn't just called out of the meeting. The room is the quietest Bruce has ever heard it.
He sighs.
"Timmy, remember when I said we were going to be quiet so I could pay attention to my meeting?" Tim clams up immediately "I'm sorry" he goes from happy to near tears instantly as Bruce rocks him, shushing gently. "You don't have to be sorry sweetheart, you haven't done anything wrong. But now that the meeting is starting I'm going to give you your headphones and iPad to play until you are ready to go to sleep" Tim nods, accepting the tablet "Okay daddy" he agrees as Bruce brushes his hair back and plops the headphones on.
He squeezes his eyes shut for three seconds, counts, then opens them and turns to the table.
"I apologize for the delay, the meeting can continue." Everyone stares at him.
"What happened to your wife?" Bruce wants to snap so bad but J'onn speaking up for the first time with his gentle concern is significantly harder to be angry at then the earlier prying, not to mention the fact that it would be easy for J'onn to get the information without asking if he wanted. He's concerned for Bruce and Bruce is tired. "Nothing, I've never been married, Tim's biological parents lost custody of him that's all. And before anyone asks all of my boys are adopted from different families. I can't share more, this is too much already, now could we please proceed with the meeting."
Finally, people move on, awkward and with a lot more staring than Bruce would like but at least they get something done. It makes the whole thing feel a little less useless even if his hands are still twitching anxiously an hour and a half later.
Bruce has a suspicion that when he gets caught up on sleep and this situation stops feeling like a fever dream the reality of what has been revealed will feel overwhelming.
But right now it is hard for anything more than vague anxiety to pierce the haze of exhaustion. He wants desperately to crawl into bed and sleep, maybe it'll finally be more than a few hours, now that none of the boys have a fever-
"Bruce," he blinks but doesn't respond to Clark, standing up with Tim held tightly to his chest. He just needs to get to the zeta and get home and get Timmy and Jay to bed and then he can sleep. "Bruce," he flinches when Barry speeds in front of him and Tim shifts but doesn't wake up "We're coming back with you."
It's a testament to his exhaustion that Bruce says "Why" without thinking, before he can just say no.
Clark's eyebrow creeps up and Bruce glares, adjusting Tim in his arms.
Barry probably has the right idea keeping his mouth shut and letting Clark take point, Bruce finds it just a fraction harder to be short with him, what with Clark's easy sunniness and concerned gaze. "Barry is going to take Dick and Jason for a sleepover and I am going to sleep in Tim's room with him and you are going to sleep for at least twelve hours.
"What if-"
"If Jason has a nightmare I will fly you there" Bruce struggles to come up with another reason this is a bad idea but the truth is that he is so tired and so stressed he would do anything to sleep alone in his bed like Clark is offering. "But Tim will-" he doesn't finish, tries to come up with something but even with the stream of terrible possibilities he can't focus on any thought long enough to come up with a legitimate reason not to take Clark up on his offer.
Not to mention Clark's presence mitigates many of the dangers and Bruce will be able to protect them better if he is alert.
"Thank you" it's stiff and awkward at best but Clark beams at him as they make their way down the hall towards the Zeta beam, he's nearly there when he suddenly pauses.
"I- they all know now" It's hardly news to Clark and Barry considering they were there, but Clark pats his shoulder gently "Yes" he isn't sure what he thought the result of bringing Tim would be but suddenly he feels unmoored by the whole thing, this should have taken meticulous planning and-
"Bruce bed now" Clark doesn't get bossy often but he doesn't have the energy to protest, allowing himself to be tugged through the zeta, handing over Tim who wakes up slightly but settles easily enough against Clark, still clutching Batman's cape around him as a blanket, batman jammies poking out from under the black fabric as his chest goes tight.
He doesn't want the children out of his sight but he also wishes desperately to crawl into his bed and sleep until he feels something besides itchy restlessness under his skin.
He supposes he trusts Barry and Clark more than most people, he knows they will watch his boys.
Finally giving in to Clark's nagging he disappears into the cave showers, changing to sweats, hugging a still bickering Jason and Dick and checking that Jason has his anxiety medication in case he has a nightmare or panic attack and Dick his ADHD medication and Zitka and that they both have changes of clothes before Barry drags his two oldest away.
He spaces out enough that he hardly notices they've left the cave until Clark is practically pushing him into his bed. He holds Tim out and lets Bruce press a kiss to his floppy black hair, giving his surprisingly settled child a goodnight hug as Tim mimes tucking him into bed.
If nothing else it makes a small amount of the tension that his built up beneath his skin melt away.
Clark was right, he needs to sleep
Whatever has come out today, he'll deal with it tomorrow, he'll be a better father to all three of them when he can keep his eyes open long enough to get through a full Disney movie.
After all he did promise Jason they could watch Mulan tomorrow.