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Family trips were rare, which was exactly why Alfred made it a point that they must go. Not with Bruce, obviously. He had his Batman shtick to uphold, so he was out of the equation before it was even written.
Alfred also said he was going to stick back (to make sure B was "cared for", or in other words: that he didn't die from lack of sleep or starvation, both of which more plausible than being killed on patrol), so the six of them were now stuck to each other for the next ten days.
They could've been eight if Babs and Steph didn't bite the dust but both had an excuse not to come – Steph had already signed up to be a camp advisor at some kids' summer camp and Babs was… Babs. Not exactly the pinnacle of excitement when it came to trips.
Really though, the more surprising part of it all was that Jason got on board with it. That Damian got on board with it. That anyone whose name wasn't Dick or Duke were on board with it. Maybe one of Poison Ivy's pollens was in the air, because it felt like Tim was the only person who thought the trip was a bad idea.
He was sure that by the time they were back in Gotham, either one of them could be dead from the hands of another.
"I just don't understand why we have to go to a hotel when Bruce's got a perfectly functional, uninhabitable estate in Pasadena." Tim tried to reason, or in Jason's words – to complain. "We can go there! And it's free! And no money would go to waste."
"You're worried about wasting money." Duke replied in shock. "Bruce's money. A billionaire's money."
Bruce, sitting on his favourite armchair in the living room, raised his eyebrows as well but for a completely different reason. "How do you know about Pasadena?"
"I mean if you put it like that, obviously it'll sounds ridiculous." Tim didn't even glance at Bruce. "But, like, wouldn't you feel more comfortable, knowing you have a whole place to yourself?"
"Have you seen the top-floor apartments at the hotel, dude?" Jason was plastered on the long couch and Tim knew for a fact he was pretending to read his book. On the other end of it was Cass, who nodded at Jason's words and a couple moments later showed her phone screen to Tim. "I know I'll feel right at home with a view like that and a room service 24/7."
Tim groaned softly, then shoved Cass' phone away. He'd already seen pictures. She didn't need to convince him about the goddamn rooms.
"Dick?" He pled at his oldest brother. "Please. You understand what I'm saying, right?"
With every one of them in the living room, it felt like they were holding one of their usual rapports after a mission, and not talking about something as mundane as a vacation. Trips and parties and "fun" were Brucie Wayne's thing, so Tim couldn't understand why they had to do it too. Not even for a camera or a newspaper column either!
"You know I don't like to pick sides, Tim but it does sound nice to get away for a few days." Dick said apologetically. "Jay's also got a point."
Jason scoffed and flipped a page. "Of course I do. I always have."
Cass kicked him sideways.
"If we stay at Pasadena, who's going to cook and clean? At least with the hotel we know none of us would go hungry or – God forbid – burn the house down."
"Quite an impeccable point, Master Dick." Alfred smiled from his corner by the hallway.
"Cleaning service is provided every day. The resort's quiet, the beach's nearby." Dick added as Tim was glaring at their butler. "It'll be fun!"
"Then what about our duties?" Tim switched gears, realising he wasn't going to get through them with the hotel thing. "We can't, just... Abandon everything! Anyone could strike at any time!"
"Like who?" Damian spoke at last. He was sitting on the floor and while normally, his back would be pin-straight, he'd slumped a little to play around with Alfred the Cat. He kept trying to catch the feather on Dami's stick and he'd succeeded a few times, making Damian gouge it out of his claws. "Most reside in Arkham at the moment and you would know that if you hadn't been so busy running around with Conner those last weeks."
"Says the one who wouldn't stop begging Bruce to invite Clark and Jon over."
"At least with him, I can have a productive conversation. With you Drake, that is rarely possible and you're proving it right now."
"Last time I checked, your "productive conversations" with Jon included animal trivia, not politics."
Damian gave him a dirty look. Tim stuck out his tongue and closed his arms tighter.
"Okay. Enough, please." Bruce took off his glasses with a sigh. It was odd seeing him at home past sunset, not to mention in his robe and nursing a glass of wine. Tim felt like he'd been transferred into an alternate universe because this wasn't the Bruce he knew.
Maybe he'd been swapped out. Maybe the real Bruce had been kidnapped and everything was a setup to get them out of the city, so they could wreck havoc. Clayface...? It couldn't be. They fought him last month and Clayface took some heavy damage. They didn't catch him though. It'd been foolish to disregard him just yet.
"There haven't been many cases recently, which is why I believe you should enjoy the downtime." Bruce continued. "Who knows when another opportunity like this would come and if you really care about my money Tim, I suggest you don't waste them by not going. Everything's already been planned and booked anyway."
"Do I have a choice to not go?"
Half of the room responded with variations of a "No", that made Tim's expression sour.
"All I ask is that you behave amongst yourselves." He unlocked his tablet once more, glasses back on the tip of his nose. "No killing each other. No missions. No property damage to anything in or beyond the hotel."
"Don't add to the population. Don't subtract from the population." Duke began reciting. He'd already sent that post in their group chat and it'd gotten a few laughs, and a thumbs up from Alfred. "Don't go to jail or the hospital and don't get in the news. Got it."
But judging by Bruce's reaction, he'd definitely missed it. "Exactly. Thank you, Duke. Oh, and no alcohol either."
"Fuck, seriously?" Jason immediately moaned. Cass and Dick too, didn't look pleased. "C'mon, Bruce!"
"I'll make sure to check your transactions, so don't give me a reason to freeze your cards, understood?"
"What's the point of sending us to an all-inclusive trip when you're closing the bar before we'd even got to it?"
"For my own peace of mind, Jason."
"And my own collapse, making me deal with everyone sober."
"Are you... drunk right now?" Dick asked carefully.
"No but I wish."
"Okay." This time, Duke cut them off. "I've got a more important question."
As the conversation swerved elsewhere, Tim's shoulders slumped with defeat and he dragged himself to the nearest available spot, sinking into its cushions. He thought of going to his room but he'd realised that he might miss on valuable information if he did it. Besides, he fully expected to be working tonight and the coffee he'd drunk an hour ago wasn't helping his already heightened nerves.
Tim spent the rest of the week praying for a Hail Mary to ruin their plans. It wouldn't be the first time it'd happen but it really was one of the first when it didn't. He even waited until the last moment to pack and was the last to leave the Manor, holding the front door like the act of letting go would physically hurt him.
Was Bruce not worried of leaving the six of them look after one another? If Tim was in his place, he'd be a nervous wreck but then again, Bruce had always trusted them a little too much. Either his faith was extremely misplaced for the occasion, or he saw something in them that Tim couldn't.
Probably the former.
"Mind if I sit next to you?" Dick asked as soon as the light for the seatbelts turned off.
Tim glanced at him over his work tablet. He'd stolen one of them from the Batcave last night, to keep track of what was going on in Gotham. In their line of work, ten days for a vacation was the equivalent of being tied to a chair in someone's basement for three months. Anything could happen and they'd be able to do jack shit.
It's not that Bruce wouldn't be able to handle himself. He had JL's artillery of aliens and metahumans, and Clark was the kind of guy who'd fly over to Gotham if Bruce's heartbeat sounded weird. Tim couldn't blame him though. Kon was just the same.
"Sure." Tim shrugged and Dick gave him one of his big smiles, then sat.
The rest had also spread out around the private plane in couples. Duke and Cass were playing war with cards and he could hear Duke's occasional complaint that somehow, Cass had cheated, taken all the Kings and was beating him unfairly. At the front, Jason had sat (in Tim's opinion) like a spider in a web and mulling over his next chess move while Damian's patience was running out.
These two were way too competitive and Tim could tell Dami was trying his best not to give Jay any hints.
"It's evident which move you have to make, Todd." His voice littered with frustration. "Your rook directly faces—"
"I can see that and no, I'm not letting you take it with your bishop next." Jason cut him off, his scarred face caving even further.
In the corner of his eye, Tim sensed Dick looking between him, the tablet and the chess masters. They listened to their brothers bickering. To Dami winning and walking Jason through the game and where he went wrong. Jay didn't like losing – much less being told how he lost – but Damian was so earnest in his explanations that it seemed to quench his brother's distasteful remarks.
"Wanna play something too?" Dick attracted Tim's attention again.
As if he'd just realised he was staring, he quickly turned back to the tablet.
"No, it's fine." He said. "I don't feel like playing really."
"Mm." A pause. "But you feel like stalking Gotham's streets, huh? A little early for that, don't you think? B's cowl hadn't even cooled off from last night."
Tim snorted. "I'm not stalking. I'm just… You know. I'm looking at something."
"Something." Dick repeated teasingly. "Clayface might feel offended if he heard you're calling him "a something". Be a little more considerate, man."
His face burnt with embarrassment.
"Why're you reading his file anyway?"
"Uhh…"
Dick wasn't going to laugh in his face if he shared his fake Bruce theory, right? Not laugh, maybe, but he'd definitely call him paranoid or dense. Or he'd feel offended he was making excuses to ditch their holiday. The Clayface thing would only make sense if the guy knew their secret identities and besides, what did he have to gain from pretending to be Bruce? Or Batman?
There wasn't enough evidence for a solid case yet. He should probably keep it in.
So, he said the next best thing he could think of, "I wanted to see if he left any tracks after he escaped. It's dangerous to leave him unattended for long."
Dick broke a laugh, slumping deeper in the soft beige chair. "You can say that for any villain in Gotham, you know? He's not the only one who needs looking after."
"Yeah, I know." Tim pursed his lips. "We still have to cover our bases though."
"Man…" He tilted his head and the fondness in his gaze made Tim's hold on the tablet ease. "It's scary how much you sound like Bruce sometimes. I mean look. If he's not worried, then you shouldn't be either. Worst case scenario, we'll cut the trip short and go back. I doubt it's gonna happen though. They'll have to go through B and Clark first and you know neither of them would go down this easily."
Tim stared at the tablet, comfort and concern brewing in his chest. Dick was right. Who was Tim to worry about two of the most capable men in the tristate area, in the whole country even?
"C'mon." Dick gently took the device and turned it off. He put it on the bottom shelf of a nearby table and lifted his legs, bending like a true acrobat to fit his body on the seat. "If not a game, we can watch a movie. Wally recommended me this blockbuster where Hal makes a cameo. He said the guy's made for the camera."
"Don't tell me it's the movie I'm thinking about."
Dick gave him a mischievous grin. "It's exactly the movie you're thinking I'm thinking you're thinking about."
"The reviews were horrible for it!"
"Yeah but Hal killed his part. Worth a watch, right?"
Tim wasn't so sure about that but Dick had already taken the remote and scrolling through the action movie collection. Just like with any other member in the Wayne household, it was very hard to argue with Dick when he set up his mind to something, so Tim let it be.
They had over five hours to kill and truth be told, a movie with a good company could take more than that. Dick wouldn't stop pausing it, going back and commenting. The CGI in some places was ridiculous and the "hero" conversations weren't realistic whatsoever. Tim kept cringing every time they opened their mouth.
"Is that how people imagine we talk to each other?" Duke asked when he stopped for a few minutes to watch with them. "That's horrible!"
"I think the guy in the black and purple is supposed to be some knock-off version of Bruce." Dick mentioned.
"If that's the case, which one of us is the kid?" Jason leaned over Tim's seat. "And let me tell you right now, it's definitely not me."
Tim tilted his head; squinted. "He kinda has your Robin costume though."
"No he doesn't? I wore pants unlike Dickiebird."
"When? I would've known." Tim grimaced but was left unnoticed.
"Did you seriously have to bring this up?" Dick groaned, making Duke laugh and pat him on the shoulder.
"Hey it's all good, man. Fashion was different back in the prehistoric era."
Dick shook his head in disbelief, no matter the smile he wore like a champ. Eventually, all of them gathered by the TV and even Cass was laughing when the culmination in the last twenty minutes happened. Damian was especially disgusted with the romance between pseudo-Bruce and charlatan Cat Woman, claiming that Talia would never treat Bruce like that.
Sure, Dami.
A car was already waiting for them when they landed and Tim got stuck between Jason and Duke, with Dick at the front and Cass and Damian at the back. Duke was showing Tim a new game he'd started playing and everyone had to make a double take when he shared how much he spent on it to buy the in-game currency.
Those were Bruce's money, obviously, but Tim thought that a game like this didn't deserve a single dime. Gotham's taxpayers were funding Duke's obsession and if they ever found out, they'd surely riot.
Still, Duke was terribly convincing and Tim, Jay and Cass ended up downloading it too.
"We must check out the multiplayer option, okay?" He told them, having made a circle with their phones. "The leveling system is super quick in the beginning and look— No, not like this! Cass—"
"Wait, fuck. I fucked up." Jason sucked through his teeth. "What level 1 boss has this much health? No. Fuck. Shit!"
"Jay, you gotta wait for the cooldown before you do the combo. You can't just—"
"Did I do it right?" Tim asked.
"Thomas just explained why you didn't." Damian pointed somewhere on Tim's screen.
"Guys, please…"
Knowing Dami, he'd never stoop so low as to play it himself but he was curious, so Tim had tilted his phone to give him a better look. Dick checked them in and like a mother goose, he was pushing them towards the elevators. Tim almost bumped into someone while hitting the buttons too hard.
Only when they settled in their rooms too, did Tim realise he'd forgotten his tablet altogether.
It was embarrassing to admit that… They got addicted. By the skin of his teeth, Dick managed to get them off their phones in time for dinner. The hotel's restaurant was spacious, yet private. The staff put them on the upper floor of it and they had a perfect view of the resort, the distant golf court and the ocean. Tim wondered how many golfers had swung so hard that they'd lost their ball in the water.
Probably a lot. None of the Waynes were golf people but when they were checking the reviews, Jason saw that a few known metahumans frequented this place. If they didn't cost the resorts dozens of golf balls per year, he didn't know who else.
To everyone's surprise, their day ended early. The jetlag overrode Tim's evening coffee and he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. When they were picking their rooms, he and Cass had chosen the same one which – in Tim's eyes – was a blessing.
Duke snored. Dami still slept with a light on. And the noise machine Dick had brought might as well be a night club speaker from how loud it was. Tim was that kind of annoying sleepers who needed perfect conditions, or their mind would not rest.
If not Jason, Tim would've picked Cass as his roomie. He didn't need to deal with noise or lights, or Jay's night terrors that woke him up at inhumane hours. What he did have to look out for, however, was Cass' sleepwalking. She was silent – the most silent of them all. Her footsteps never echoed. Her clothes didn't make a single sound when brushing against one another.
Nothing happened on the first two nights. Their first (proper) day, they checked out the beach and Jason got buried under a pile of sand while Duke tried to make him into a merman.
"You want a six-pack?" He asked, sliding a stick across his fake belly. He'd added the Robin logo over the drawn bikinis too, and Tim sent a picture to the group chat, so the others could have a laugh.
The second day, Cass picked a hike trail not far from the resort and on their way, they stumbled upon a flock of chickens trying to cross the road. The joke was there, somewhere, but Dami's attempt to catch one of the chickens ended with their owner yelling at them.
"I'on't care if it's your money or Daddy's money! Get back to your swanky resort and stop bothering my animals, you spoilt brats!"
Tim wasn't sure why Jay got so mad. The guy wasn't wrong but with the newbuilt anger, Jason was flying through the trail until they lost him completely. Duke had to use his powers and they went offroad, climbing rocks and moss. Tim secretly regretted not bringing a grappling hook because it was steep.
The sound of falling water intensified. The ground turned a little damp. They found Jason near a hidden waterfall and he'd taken off his shoes to dip his feet in the small lake. It was kind of nice, actually. They hadn't brought spare clothes but Dami was the first to wade through the water, noticing the fishes swimming around.
Against his better judgement, Tim rolled up the sleeves of his pants and followed.
"It's coming your way!" Dami yelled. "Catch it!"
Tim took a swing but the fish slipped and his shirt was now dripping wet. Behind them, Duke and Dick were laughing.
"If I have to get wet, so will you." He stated and began splashing them.
"You little asshole—!" Jason cursed, unwillingly caught in the crossfire.
It's a famous saying that the cameraman never dies and in this case, Cass remained the driest. She recorded everything – from Dami and Tim fishing with their hands, to Jason running after Tim and the two of them trying to drown each other before Dick had to stop them.
That was the second time Tim regretted not having a grappling hook. When they finally got back to the hotel, he and Jay looked like they got their asses kicked. The amount of times they'd slipped and fallen was more than any work-related injuries they'd had over the years. Excluding the obvious, of course.
A few rocky falls couldn't compare to dying, Tim was sure.
Everyone were tired. Nobody even uttered the word "restaurant" and instead, they ordered half of the room service menu and Jason slipped a couple of bills to the server to bring him beer. They didn't know how but Bruce called them right after the lady left to scold Jay. He hung up the moment he heard the words "Were you trying to order alcohol?".
Jason fell asleep in the middle of a game mission (how he did that was a mystery) and Dick carried Dami to their room because he was dozing off by Jay. When Duke's eyes started burning, he left as well.
"Wanna play some more?" Tim turned to Cass.
She smiled and nodded, laying on their beds while battle music played quietly from their phones. They managed a few more rounds before Cass pointedly turned off her lamp and slipped under the covers.
Every bone and muscle in Tim's body screamed for a break, yet his mind kept him in that odd state between reality and dreaming, listening to the outside world. Ocean waves from the open window. Distant chatter from the restaurant. A light that every so often peeked through the closed curtains.
Then, a red alarm blared in Tim's head. He felt like he was being watched; like someone else was in the room and standing by his bed. Tim woke up and his heart skipped a beat when he saw Cass looming over him. She was catatonic but her eyes were open and staring at him intently.
"Jesus Christ, Cass." He huffed, holding his chest. "You scared me."
She didn't say anything. Not that Tim didn't expect it.
"You alright?" Tim tried to relax his stiff shoulders. Despite her looking awake, it suddenly dawned on him that she wasn't. "Ah. Uh… Do you want me to, um. Make you space?"
Another nothing.
"Okay, uh." He decided to move regardless and when he did, Cass silently joined him. She curled up. Her eyes closed and she took one last breath before she fell deeper in her slumber.
Tim cracked a smile. They hadn't slept in one bed since forever, and the presence of another body felt comforting. As he laid next to her, the sounds and lights slowly vanished and Tim's mind finally took a rest.
By the end of the week, conversations about work were nowhere to be found and that was a feat, considering how all of them were complete fanatics about it. Bruce himself hadn't mentioned anything on their nightly phone calls and Tim wouldn't be surprised if Alfred had implored him to keep his mouth shut. More-so, it was a shock that Bruce had managed to do it.
Steph was sending pics from the summer camp. Dick snuck up a few candids of their own group going places and having fun. Bruce too, started sending photos to show them he was in the middle of boring meetings or pompous galas.
Tim realised, he didn't mind the trip as much as he thought. He missed Alfred's cooking, obviously, but he liked… them. He liked feeling like they were a real family and not just a group of kids their adoptive, vigilante dad gathered off Gotham's streets.
With Dick moving to Blüdhaven. Jason's constant fights with Bruce. Cass' often disappearances. Damian's holier-than-thou attitude and Duke's daylight patrols. They never had time to be just siblings. Just that. Not colleagues or friends.
Siblings.
"You having fun, bud?" Kon asked him on the phone.
The six of them were on a ferry today, cruising down the West Coast in a private boat Cass paid for. Jay was supposed to do it but sometime in the night, Bruce had frozen his card. He had it coming though. His third strike came yesterday when they found this super dingy restaurant in the middle of nowhere and Jason successfully bought home-brewed cider.
"The wife's special," had said the owner.
Tim figured that their personal driver had ratted on him and in the background, Tim could hear Jay conspiring on how to get it back to him. Tim hoped that Bruce had provided the driver with health insurance because knowing Jason, he'd either slash his tires, breaks or choke him in his sleep.
"Yeah, it's fine." Tim replied. His gaze drifted towards the others – to Cass and Dami who were taking pictures; to Duke who sat in front of their older brothers and playing on his phone again. "It's, uh. It's pretty good. We're on a ferry right now."
"Can I join?"
Tim let out a laugh. "You're going to fly across the country for a ferry ride? I think the flight itself would be more interesting than that."
"I'm bored, dude." Kon complained. "There's literally nothing to do in Kansas and I'm like, ninety percent sure that the thing I ordered online got lost. I was going to fly over and get it myself but Ma Kent's not letting me. Said I'm not "using my legs enough". Can't you believe it?"
"To be fair…"
"Nope. Don't say it. Be on my side, please."
"Okay, okay." Tim laughed again. "I'm keeping it in."
"You're back the day after tomorrow, right?" Kon changed the topic. "Don't you wanna come to the farm for a week?"
Normally, Tim would've refused. Gotham knew no rest and he knew that things would pick up once they're back. And yet…
"I'll think about it," came out without thinking.
Kon perked up. He wasn't expecting that answer either. "Wait, really?"
"Yeah, dude. I'll think about it."
"Hell yeah! Oh my God, that's awesome."
Tim could already imagine him kicking the air with delight.
"Look!" Damian yelled from across deck, making all of them turn their heads. "A pod of dolphins!"
"Noo, seriously?" Kon's whine came from the speaker. "I wanna see them too!"
Their group gathered together and Tim hung up the phone, promising to take plenty of pictures. The wind slowed with the boat. The sun peaked behind the single cloud in the sky and Tim came just a little closer to Dami who'd already started listing facts about dolphins. With how mature he was for his age, Tim always forgot that – at his core – Damian was just a kid who really, really loved animals.
"Hey." He prompted. "Does anyone wanna go to the zoo later? I heard they have an albino tiger there. My treat."
Hardly could he explain what he felt when he saw Dami's expression. His sparkling gaze. His barely-contained excitement and his failed attempt at keeping it cool. But, Damian was happy, and so was Tim.
"I can't fucking believe it." Jason craned his neck to look at Tim's phone, then stole it altogether. "Fuck, dude!"
"What? What happened!" Duke rushed over.
Tim bit his lips, so he didn't grin. "I got the sword."
"You got the sword? The sword?" Duke took the phone from Jay, making an audible gasp. "Holy crap! There's, like, point seven percent chance on this banner! Be honest. How much did you grind for it?"
His smile dropped. "Uh…"
Duke raised his brows expectantly but Jason caught on quicker.
"Dude." He deadpanned. "How much?"
"Not a lot."
"How much?"
"A bit."
"How. Much."
Tim sighed loudly. "Like… Nine batarangs, I guess."
"Nine what!" Dick exclaimed so loudly, it startled Cass awake.
"I said it's not much!" He began protesting. "Duke has spent way more than me on it!"
"You're a filthy cheat. Both of you." Jason leaned back sourly and whether it was plane seat itself or the position, but he kept adjusting himself until his legs were in Tim's personal space. "A lying, spoiled, dirty cheater. None of you deserve that sword."
Those ten days had softened Tim, because he couldn't believe he was letting that slide. The personal space thing, not Jason's remarks.
"You would've done the same if your card wasn't frozen and you know it." He snarked back.
"Well… I guess Bruce's money has to go somewhere, right?" Duke half joked, half defended him. "Can't be all bat equipment and philanthropy."
"Of course, because a phone game does more good to society than both of those things, does it not Thomas?" Damian narrowed his brows from his own corner of the plane.
This time, he'd picked Dick as his chessmate – objectively, a worse choice than Jason but the only one he had. Tim was counting down the minutes until he gave up on his oldest brother though, and suggested another game. Like backgammon. Or nothing. Tim could never guess what Dami might want to do next.
The young Robin kept surprising him throughout the trip and Tim would lie if he said it was a bad thing. He found new sides of Damian that he never would've if they weren't forced to hang out, and Tim secretly hoped Dami felt the same. Maybe in the future, they'd keep getting closer. And who knows? One day they might actually admit to like each other's company.
"Richard, I can't do this anymore." He stated. "You don't know any of the fundamentals and I gave you multiple openings that you didn't catch. Maybe it would be better if you joined Thomas on his video game."
Tim and Jason looked at them and Jay took out his phone to capture Dick's disbelief. Tim's shoulders shook with laughter.
"Duke, you're next." Damian suddenly called as he was putting the chess pieces (mostly Dick's) back on the board.
Duke's own laughter died at once. "Why me? Why not Tim? He plays better than me!"
"Because he'd be too busy trying to get his debit card back from Todd."
"Wait, what?" Tim's eyes widened as he looked at Jason.
"Why's everyone a fucking rat nowadays?"
"Did you steal my card?"
"Nu-uh." Jay said.
Like an absolute liar.
And while Tim couldn't overtake him through sheer power, he could by numbers. Dick was on Jason's ass the moment he saw Tim wrap his limbs around Jay, searching his pockets with the finesse of a thief. They went down and Dick restrained Jason for long enough, so Tim could check his inside pockets and shoes.
"You seriously— You put it there?" Tim yelped when he found his black card stuck behind his boxer's band on his hip. "Dude!"
"I could've put it deeper but the space was occupied." Jason snarled.
"By what? You tiny—"
"Okay!" Dick yelled enthusiastically. "Enough, please. What did B say before we left?"
"No adding or subtracting from the population." Duke said confidently, cathing Cass off-guard and making her laugh.
Damian stared at him in a mixture of shock and disappointment. "You said that, Thomas. Father told us to restrain from causing property damage to anything in or beyond the hotel."
"No. He said— Hey, Dickhead!" Jason groaned in pain as Dick twisted his arm harder.
"That is not what Father said."
"For God's sake..." Tim put the card back in his wallet. How did Jason manage to steal it and put it back, he had no idea. "I'm never travelling with you again."
The light for the seatbelts turned on and the plane gradually descended towards Gotham's Airport. As if time was going backwards, Dick sat next to Tim and fished out the tablet from its place.
"Make sure you and B catch your shapeshifter this time, yeah?" Dick winked.
The tablet felt heavier than before – like a reminder of what he'd abandoned in the name of "fun". He remembered his stupid theory about Bruce, his doubts about the trip and his absolute certainty one of them might die. He was glad his siblings proved him wrong and even though some things were back to normal, those memories they'd created together would stay with him for a long time. Those pictures, their echoing laughters, their smiling faces.
Tim would protect them, just like his family protected Gotham.