Chapter Text
Dick hadn't given much thought to what kind of a dad he would be.
He knew that he wanted kids (someday) and he had aspirations of family trips and movie nights. Sometimes he'd bring himself back down to Earth and acknowledge that it wasn't likely to be as picturesque as it was in his mind's eye, that his job and his vigilante career would make it pretty hard to be around for his kid all the time.
But that was a problem for future Dick to worry about. At least, Dick thought it was.
The thing about Dick was this; he loved with everything he had. He put his entire self into his relationships, platonic or otherwise. He wasn't capable of not doing it. It tended to get him hurt, more often than not, but he didn't put up walls like most might. He left himself open and vulnerable.
That was how Dick found himself, sitting at his desk at the police station, idly texting a 5 year old.
Dick was honestly not sure how little Jasmine Fenton had gotten his phone number, but he was delighted that she wanted to talk to him. Jasmine (it's Jazz!) had been one of the best parts of dating his ex. The girl had been much younger at that time, and Dick was surprised that she even remembered him after all these years.
His phone pinged, alerting him to a new message. He smiled and opened the text from Jazz, only to pause. It was a picture of Jazz herself with a younger child in her lap. Black hair, blue eyes. Young.
Dick suddenly couldn't breathe.
Which was absurd, he couldn't help but scold himself. For all he knows, that's Jazz's cousin, or neighbor, or maybe Maddie had started dating someone who had a child of their own. But Dick had a gut feeling, and it rarely lead him astray. He wanted to call the girl and talk to her, but he quashed the feeling and sent her a text asking who the picture was with.
It was the longest minute of Dick's life as he watched the three little dots in the corner that indicated Jazz was responding.
Danny!
That, of course, did not in any way answer Dick's question. Well, ok, it answered his question, but it didn't give him the information he wanted. But that was alright; Dick had certainly solved cases off less information. He winced a bit at the thought of this random child being a case. Bruce had clearly influenced his way of thinking more than he had thought.
Dick let out a breath before hesitating and looking at the computer in front of him. Technically, legally, Dick wasn't allowed to use the database for personal reasons. And he certainly couldn't just ask Bruce to use the Batcomputer and look into his for him. The only other computer that he could find that kind of information on was back at his apartment.
So, his options were as follows: try and get more information out of Jazz, dip out of work early and go home to do his own research, or stay at work until his shift was over and worry about looking up this kid after he got home.
Dick lasted about 3 more minutes before he faked being sick and went home.
Daniel "Danny" Fenton. Three years old. Mother, Madeline Fenton. Father unknown.
Dick wasn't sure how long he had been staring at the information in front of him. Reality had tilted on its side and Dick wasn't sure that time was even still working the way it was supposed to. It had been almost four years since Dick and Maddie had broken up. If he was being honest with himself, Dick didn't really think about her at this point.
They had dated when Dick had moved to Wisconsin for college briefly after a fallout with Bruce. Maddie had been living there with Jazz, who was one at the time. She had already graduated from the University of Wisconsin, but still lived near campus. Jazz's father, Jack, had passed the year before from an illness and it left Maddie a little trapped with a newborn.
Judging by the address Dick was looking at currently, she had managed to get out of Wisconsin. Jazz was enrolled in a school in Amity Park, Illinois. Danny was registered at a daycare in the same town.
Why had Maddie never told him about Danny?
It was possible, Dick supposed, that Maddie had found someone else shortly after she and Dick broke up, but he wasn't betting on it. The end of their relationship had been explosive. Maddie had spent a lot of their time together showing Dick just how much he wasn't Jack. Dick was no stranger to grief and what it did to people, especially when it was unexpected and he had been patient and caring and tried to make things easier on Maddie. Make things better for Jazz.
But Maddie didn't see it that way. She became bitter and angry and the entire thing came to a head when Dick said he needed to go back to New Jersey. Maddie hadn't wanted to go to New Jersey; it wasn't prime for her area of study. In the end, they'd broken up, Dick had gone back to New Jersey, and he hadn't heard from Maddie since.
But apparently he should have.
Weeks of arguing with Maddie later, Dick found himself in Amity Park, Illinois.
To say he was nervous was an understatement. Wally was the only one who knew where he was right now. Bruce thought he was on a mission with the Titans. The Titans thought he was taking care of something in Gotham. Dick had decided to tell Wally, only because he needed to make sure someone knew in the event that something happened.
Dick could admit to himself that he was nervous. Not only had his conversations with Maddie been less than pleasant, but Dick wasn't sure how his son was going to react to meeting him. Jazz had told him that she and Danny were excited to see him, but Dick wasn't sure how true that was.
Dick took a breath an got out of the car.
The house in front of him was… strange. Mostly because of the giant, flashing sign that said "Fenton Works" across it with what looked like some sort of space ship precariously balanced on the roof. He knew that Maddie was an inventor, but he had no idea what the purpose of the device could be. It was giving him super villain lair vibes and that was not making him feel any better about his situation.
Dick shook the thought from his head and took the steps up to the front door. He knocked on it, and had barely managed to pull his hand back before the door opened. Jazz grinned up at him, brightly.
"Dick!" She cried and wrapped her arms around his legs.
Dick chuckled and mussed her hair a bit, "Hey there, Jazz."
Dick glanced back toward the door and his breath caught in his throat. Danny was peering at him from behind the door, looking a bit uncertain. Dick had felt many things in the last few weeks since he found out about Danny, but none of them had prepared him for what he'd feel, actually seeing his son in person.
His bright blue eyes, dark hair, flushed cheeks, Dick was completely knocked off his feet. He took a moment to remind himself to breathe before he relaxed into a smile and offered Danny a small wave. Danny hesitated a little before waving back.
Dick looked back at Jazz, "Where's your mom?"
"Working!" Jazz answered, taking Dick's hand and leading him into the house. Danny moved away from the door, keeping his distance as he seemed to study Dick.
"You're home alone?" Dick asked, looking at Jazz in alarm, even as he closed the front door behind them.
"She's downstairs," Jazz replied and Dick relaxed a little. At least Maddie was still in the house, even if she wasn't actively watching her children.
"So who's taking care of you and Danny?" Dick asked, looking around, expecting to see a friend or maybe Maddie's sister come out of the shadows.
"Me!" Jazz answered with a bright smile, "I take care of Danny."
"All by yourself?" Dick asked. He wasn't overly familiar with developmental levels when it came to kids, but he was fairly certain that a five year old wasn't equipped to take care of a three year old.
Dick was distracted from that train of thought by Danny tugging lightly on Dick's jeans. Dick was quick to kneel down next to Danny and offer him a smile.
"Hi, Danny."
Danny eyed him for a moment before looking over at Jazz and then looking back at Dick, "Jazzy says you're my daddy."
"She's right," Dick offered Danny another smile, "I've been very excited to meet you."
Danny offered him a shy smile, "Wanna see my toy?"
"I would love to see your toy."