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Dick hadn’t realised how attached he had gotten to Bruce until he had to share Bruce. Up until Jason had tried to rob Bruce of his tires, Dick had been Bruce’s only child.
Dick had Bruce’s full attention and affection. He hadn’t realised how badly he messed up running away to create his own superhero group until he came home after months apart.
He drove into Gotham from Star City and parked in the drive way. Alfred had greeted him first.
“Hello Master Richard, it’s nice to see you again”
The elderly man said, so much warmth in his tone. Dick gave Alfred a hug.
“It’s good to see you too Alfie”
He whispered into his shoulder. They held each other for a few moments until Dick let go.
“Master Bruce is most excited to have you back. He’s still at work but he’ll be home soon, so run along now and I’ll get your bags in”
Alfred told him, gesturing for Richard to go inside. Dick smiled softly and did what the man said.
He quickly went in and made his way to his old room. When he opened it, it was exactly the same as when he left it all those months ago. Dick smiled widely.
He packed his things quickly and laid back on his bed. It was soooo good to be back. At some point he must have fallen asleep because some time later he heard a knock on his door.
He drowsily opened his eyes, groaned a few times and then reluctantly got up. He opened the door to Alfred.
“Hello Master Richard, dinner is ready”
The Buttler told him and walked away. Dick took a few seconds to process the information. He blinked a few times and did a stretch.
Once he was done, he put on his snorlax slippers and walked out into the hallway. He then went through the manner and was about to greet Bruce when he saw some urchin hugging his dad. His dad!
Richard stood frozen. Anger bubbled under his skin as he watched on. What the fuck was this little twerp doing hugging Dicks father!! Why was Bruce letting this happen!!
Screw this!! He was going to put a stop to it!! Dick marched over to the pair. When Bruce saw Dick he let go of the cretten and immediately embraced him.
Richard melted into his dad’s hold.
“Oh Chum. I missed you so much”
Bruce whispered into his ear as one arm wrapped around him and the other combed through Dick’s hair. The tender moment was ruined by the other child in the room.
The kid had walked over to them and tugged on Bruce’s jacket.
“B, who’s this kid?”
He asked. Bruce then let go of Dick, putting his arm around him instead.
“Right, the two of you wouldn’t have met just yet. Richard this is your new little brother, Jason”
He said addressing Dick as he gestured to the kid, Jason.
“And Jaylad, this is your older brother Richard”
Bruce said as he addressed Jason, gesturing to Dick.
Richard simply nodded to Jason and quickly turned back to Bruce.
“B, I have so much to tell you!”
He exclaimed, leading Bruce over to his chair at the head of the table. Dick sat next to him and began to chatter his ear off about everything that happened over the months he had been away in Star City.
Bruce had his whole attention on him the entire conversation. It felt nice. That is until Dick was half way through a story and Jason had decided to interrupt.
“B, remember you told me you would look over my homework and then read Pride and Prejudice to me”
Jason said, Bruce who had his attention on Dick suddenly looked at Jason and ruffled his hair affectionately.
“Thanks for the reminder Jaybird”
Bruce replied, fondness in his tone. He then turned to Dick.
“I’m sorry Chum but I need to help Jason. I’ll make time for you tomorrow ok?”
Bruce said as he got up from the table with his empty plate. Dick only tightened his hold on his cutlery. Bruce ruffled Dicks hair and went away from the table with Jason in tow.
The anger bubbled just under his skin again. After a few seconds, he forced himself up and away from the dining table.
After that encounter, Dick had decided he would visit his dad more often. Consequently though, that meant that he got closer with Jason.
The kid had wormed his way into Dicks heart but the little turd had begun to make faces at him whenever he hugged Bruce. He wanted to punt the kid into the sun!!
It was one afternoon, when he was back at the Titians Tower from his latest trip to Gotham that he had figured out that this weird feeling had been Jealousy.
He had been ranting about this to Cyborg one afternoon. The older of the two had been on the couch watching TV when Robin came in and began to rant at him.
When Dick finally stopped his rant, the older teenager simply looked at him with something akin to recognition.
“It sounds to me like you’re jealous Rob”
Cyborg answered. That sentence made Dick freeze.
“I mean, it’s only natural that you feel this way. You and your dad seem pretty close you had been an only child for so long and when another kid comes into the picture, you’re bound to feel jealous of the attention”
Cyborg explained as continued to watch some show on the Titans couch.
Dick had wanted to laugh it off. He had wanted to tell Cyborg he was wrong. Richard wasn’t jealous!! That’s ridiculous!
But the more he thought about it, the more he felt like that world matched his feelings perfectly. He hated seeing B’s attention off of him. He hated seeing Jason wrapped around Bruce.
It made him so mad!!
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Dicks next Jealous stint had been after Jason’s death. His death had but a strain on his and Bruce’s relationship. It shook the both of them to the core.
Richard had put all his energy into his work that he hardly ever visited Bruce from Bludhaven.
Bruce had put his energy towards crime fighting. He was colder, more calculated. Dick hated seeing this side of his dad.
So Richard kept his distance from Bruce as Nightwing. Hoping that giving his dad some space would do him some good.
On the rare occasion he managed to ask for time off, he turned to the manor to see not one but two more teenagers in the manor.
Another boy with black hair and blue eyes and a girl with blond hair and green eyes. Bruce had been in the manor as well when Dick walked in.
He made his way to the living room when he saw two strangers cuddled up to his father!!
The boy and Bruce both looked over to see him. The kid had practically pounced his way to Dick. He smiled so brightly it actually hurt his eyes.
“It’s such an honour to meet you Mr. Nightwing sir! I am such a huge fan of yours!!”
He sqealed in delight. Richard stared down at the kid in disbelief. Bruce sighed heavily as he approached the two.
“This is Tim Drake. He managed to gather intel on us without us noticing and black mailed me so he could be the next robin”
Bruce explained tiredly. The kid was still vibrating where he stood. Dick then looked up to see the blond girl koala hugging Bruce.
“This is Stephanie Brown. She just kinda started coming around and we’re not sure who her parents are”
Bruce explained when he saw Dick staring at Stephanie.
The same bubbling sensation began to bubble up lolling at Bruce with Stephanie. It made him soooooooo mad.
“B! B! Look, it’s us!! We’re on the news!!”
Tim screamed as he bounded over and took Bruce’s arm and dragged him over to the couch. Bruce laughed, bright and filled with fondness. Like how he used to laugh, before Jason’s death.
Dick tightened his hold on his suitcase and forced his legs to carry him to his room. Those two made his dad laugh again!! That should have been his job! But instead he buried himself in his job.
He couldn’t be there for his dad and now his dad has two more children who made him smile as brightly as he had. As Jason had.
He felt so guilty over that. He should have been a better son. Maybe if he had, maybe Bruce wouldn’t have had to look for comfort elsewhere.
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The next stint had been when Bruce had adopted yet another kid. Cassandra.
The girl had been the daughter of Lady Shiva and Cain. They trained her to be a weapon for Ra’s.
She was quiet and never spoke a word to anyone. She was silent and deadly. She was sent to surveillance and kill Batman.
That was when Bruce began to try and get to know the child. He always kept lollipops on him and used them as a means to get her to trust him.
It took a while for Bruce to use sign language but once he did, Cass had been ecstatic. After a long while, Cassandra had arrived at the manor.
The girl was holding her side and was barely awake. Bruce had carried her to the infirmary where Alfred did what he could to save her life.
After that, Bruce then decided to adopt the girl.
She had promptly changed her last name to Wayne. Cassandra Wayne.
Dick was happy. Really!
He loves Cassie with all his heart.
However, that familiar jealousy feeling came one afternoon. Dick was at the manor.
He was on the floor playing a game of Uno with Timmy and Stephanie. Bruce was content on the couch, doing work of some kind when Cassandra came in.
She walked in, her fluffy, black blanket was hung around her like a shawl. She pointed at Bruce.
“Dad”
Was all she said before she launched herself at him, curling herself on Bruce’s Lap. That had been the first time anyone had heard her call Bruce ‘dad’. Bruce adjusted himself and put his work down and ran his fingers through Cass’s hair.
Now this wouldn’t do!
So Dick stood up, dropped his UNO cards and tucked himself against Bruce’s side. If Cassandra was going to cuddle with his dad, well, he’d do it too!!
That was how it was for the rest of the afternoon. Cassandra asleep with her head in Bruce’s lap and a jealous Richard curled up on his side with Stephanie and Tim on the floor playing a new video game with Bruce.
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When Jason came back to the family after years of isolation, it was jarring to say the least. It was tentative and quick to snap.
However he came around for game nights and movie nights and hung out with his siblings.
It took years for Jason to trust Bruce again. But it did happen. It was a rocky journey and often times it was unstable.
It the end Jason made it back home with his family again. So now, here the family was, sans Grayson and Bruce, together in the living room.
It was tense and uncomfortable to say the least.
“Any ideas on how we’re going to get B and Dick to get along again?”
Tim asks, after a few hours of suffocating silence.
“Nothing to do. The old man and Dick are stubborn as each other”
Jason replies as he tosses a ball up and down in the air from where he lays on the floor.
“There has to be something we can do!”
Stephanie said exasperated. She hated to see the two fight.
“Hug dad”
Everyone turned to face Cassandra. She was sat on the floor near Jason.
She turned her attention to the floor when she realised her siblings were looking at her.
“Hug dad”
She repeated. This time it was a little softer.
“Cassandra is right. Hugging father is only way to get Grayson to talk to him”
Damien said, standing up from his position on the couch. That’s when everyone’s attention went to him. He gazed at them with so much judgement.
“What! Have none of you seen how jealous Grayson gets when anyone hugs father?”
He asks rhetorically and stalks off. Jason threw the ball up and then got up from the floor.
“Lil wing is right. Dicks a jealous dumb dumb and we should exploit it!”
He said, grinning as wide as he could. The rest of the siblings looked at each other with apprehension but ultimately agreed to the plan.
Which is how, a few hours later, Dick came crashing through the manors library windows, seething.
He stomped over to Bruce and hugged him before anyone could get a word out.
Bruce thought nothing of it as he wrapped his eldest in a hug, glad to have him home. However, unbeknownst to the father and son, the rest of the siblings were plotting.
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