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Batman had agreed to let him do a single lap of this block, which was unusually generous of him for being just inside Crime Alley. He relishes the time. Flips and soars his way down the streets, quiet of course , Batman wouldn't have let him otherwise.
He's nearing the side street they'd left the Batmobile when he hears shouting. Small shadows dart in several directions as nears the car.
He's surprised to see his dad guardian Dam mentor scruffing a flailing, messy pup next to the Batmobile, which is rather conspicuously, missing three tires. Dick takes a breath, evaluates the pup, both small and scrawny, likely underfed, and underdressed for the cold in layers of threadbare jackets.
He swings down. Lands just behind the mismatched pair.
"Having some trouble, Batman?" he lobs a grin in B's direction but his eyes remain on the pup. Dark hair and blue eyes held wide, darting between the two caped figures and scanning their surroundings, looking for an out.
"He was with a group of older kids. They ran when I approached," approached, more like swooped down menacingly from above, "left him holding the tire iron." and while his voice might hold the low, level register of Batman, something about his tone is all Bruce. His eyes are hidden behind the cowl but Dick can still see the look there. Somehow equal parts contemplative and eager, appraising and yearning. Can imagine his gaze scanning over the puppy, logging every relevant detail: his worn and stained clothes, layered strategically to combat the worst of the biting wind, his unkempt hair which seems hastily chopped into uneven segments, his shoes , store brand and on their last legs, holes just beginning to wear through near the big toe and heel. Assessment complete, Dick cocks his head, folds his arms across crimson fabric, lightly reinforced at the behest of the B-man.
"Your friends don't sound too nice, pup," he grins when scrawny kid bristles, turns his head to face him, sticks up his little chin.His scent spikes with something bright like defiance.
"They're not my friends," indignance written across his face in bold features as this pup tries to puff up his chest from a suspended position; he gets impressively close. "They said we would make a lot of money," this he grumbles, soft and to the side, cast towards the eery quiet of a darkened residential Park Row street at night. Not meant for the masked figures flanking him but heard nontheless.
"Doesn't look like it worked out," at Dick's words the kid tilts his head to meet his gaze head on and scrunches his nose,
"Those jackasses made me lookout then ditched me with the evidence!" The pup kicks the little leg out in front of him; Dick snorts, this kid's what six? Seven? It's honestly pretty adorable to watch him gripe about his little crew. Bruce cuts in.
"He hit me with the tire iron." Dick barks out a shocked laugh at that, grinning wide as he addressing the boy,
"You hit Batman with a tire iron?!" the kid darts his eyes back and forth between them, ducks his head with a blush creeping over cheeks that still cling desparately to their babyfat despite his thin frame, maybe he caught the amusement in Bruce's voice too. He bites his lip and meets Dick's eyes again. Searching.
Maybe he expected to be clapped in irons by now.
He shrugs. Dick laughs again. He can't believe he missed that! The image of this pint size tire thief valiantly taking on The Batman was going to be fodder for his mid-patrol jokes for a while. Maybe forever.
"Well that's pretty impressive, it's hard to get a hit on B-man!" Batman lets out a huff of breath through his nose but Dick sees the flick of his lips, the brief twitch of his jaw. His eyes stay locked on the tiny delinquent. The kid doesn't smell quite so much like sour fear, Dick did a decent job diffusing things then. He meet's Batman's eye and smiles when he receives the lightest upward tilt of his chin for confirmation.
"Pup, you aren't in trouble, or in any danger. Now, I'm going to let you go and you and Robin can put the tires back on the Batmobile. Please don't try running, I promise we're faster than you," the pup goes a little rigid. A little pale. Dick barely keeps himself from throwing his head back and groaning because really B? "After you two are done we can go to whichever BatBurger is closest and get a meal. How does that sound?" the pup stays silent for a long moment, gone still sometime during Batman's spiel. Appraisal and fear and contemplation pass over his face before he pulls back his shoulders, tilts his chin higher to meet their face, seems to steel himself,
"Can I get a milkshake?"
Dick zones out a bit from the conversation after a while. Finishing off his fries, gaze fixed at a point beyond the window pane and down a dim street only illuminated in glowing patches from streetlights overhead.
He isn't expecting Batman Bruce, that's Bruce right now, to offer the pup a safe place to sleep and shower and a set of clean clothes. They don't normally take home street kids. Despite the shock he's still quick to Bruce's defense as a non-pedophile weirdo.
The boy, Jay or maybe just J, listens to his assurances while chewing on the end of his milkshake straw; he'd finished two shakes and a Double Batburger with Bacon and Cheese combo meal by the time they reached this point in the conversation.
"I promise, Jay, B's a good man. He's never done anything weird or bad or inappropriate to me or made me feel unsafe or hit me. We put people like that in prison. I would never let him do anything to you." He's not sure why he's going along with it, sure they can't just let him run back into the alleys but, they could've taken him to a shelter right?
Bruce Wayne had been doing a lot to clean up the local shelters and group homes since Dick was younger and had even begun operating Wayne Foundation shelters and pantries, so there are good options. Places with people vetted by Bruce. Well probably vetted by an extremely airtight system of people that Lucius put into place but Lucius is good at what he does. Scary good.
Point is, they could take Jay somewhere safe that isn't their home, for a second something unpleasant flares up in his stomach, something ugly and possessive that he doesn't really want to investigate further, but then his eye's slide back to Jay's face, and something in Dick's heart sings at the thought of the little pup sat across from him at the little family dining table in the kitchen at the manor. Not the formal one, the one with the nook and bench seat in the window where Dick eats his Cinnamon Toast Crunch while Bruce blinks blearily into his black coffee (gross). A little sibling to love and protect and play games with and teach and keep safe.
So when the pup meets his eyes with a questioning look, hard lines threatening to give way and soften, Dick smiles warmly and slowly, so slowly, slides a hand, palm up and open, across the slightly sticky surface of the table. It rests in the relative silence of the Batburger while Batman watches on. Careful. Practiced stillness. Becoming a part of the scenery. As good as a statue. Unobtrusive. Symbolic.
Dick knows he isn't the only one whose breath catches in his throat when Jay responds with his own tentative, shaking hand stretched out at a pace like slow motion to rest on top of Robin's. At the sensation of pressure against his gloved palm Dick finally lets the tension seep from his shoulders. He suppresses the urge to smirk at B. An incredible show of restraint if he does say so himself. Which he does. He will, rather, but not now. Now is too sacred a moment, too fragile. Now could crack and shatter on the pointed edges of Robin's sharp grin. Now demands his full attention. Now, he closes his hand.
It's gentle and slow and there are still plenty of opportunities to back out, escape. Jay just lets him clasp them together and offers a hesistant smile back; Bruce's shoulders slump and Jay's face looks like it might crumple any second under the heavy weight of exhaustion and relief. Dick just feels a sudden wave of elation that catches him off guard. He thinks maybe he knows what it's like to fly on the ground.
"I'll go get the car, you boys meet me out front when you're ready."
Robin had followed along as Jay went to retrieve a backpack with his belongings in it from a boarded up apartment in one of the more run down buildings. Now, Dick sits in the small backseat with Jay on their way to the Cave. Anxiety radiates off of him in waves. Dick holds his hand the whole ride. It's cold and clammy, squeezing his palm in little twitches when Bruce moves his arms too fast to switch gears or fiddle with the readouts and instruments and screens
It's only when Dick and Bruce take off their scent patches that things really click into place.
"You're an omega," it's not a question. An observation, full of shock, a hint of awe. Dick doesn't have to look to know he's talking to Bruce. His father cuts an intimidating figure in every one of his personas, large and powerful, even dressed-down in his soft sweaters and slacks. From the streets of Gotham to the Boardroom of Wayne Enterprises, B is a known force and shouldn't be trifled with. To most people that means he must be an Alpha. It delights Dick every time he gets to watch Bruce put some sexist bastard back in his place. That's not who this kid is though. This is a pup who fears alphas. Dick doesn't want to think about what that might mean right now.
"I am." Bruce offers a smile and his upturned wrist. Gentle motions. Jay shuffles stiffly forward, caution written in every rigid line of his frame. The scent of patient/protect/pup/safe hits Dick along with the soft scent of jasmine and green tea. The muscles in Jay's shoulders relax some, the lines softening, curving downwards. Drooping. Suddenly he seems so small. So young. A tiny frame already bent so much by gravity. Pulled down, down, down by whatever lead him to living in a delapidated apartment halfway exposed to the elements where they'd watched him gather his meager belongings.
And clearly exhausted. Bone deep fatigue and a world-weary gaze that doesn't belong on the round face. Dick can't read the expression on the pup's face, too complex to work out after a night of patrol, Bruce had let him stay out longer after they'd come across Jay. Bruce's face is startlingly open, in a way he can't remember seeing since he was still nearly-mute with grief and waking nightly with awful night terrors. The face his father wore when he appeared at his bedside, lamp flicked on and Dick bundled up into large arms in a single movement. That same impulse reads clearly in the way Bruce's muscles tense now, keeping himself still. Figting the urge to wrap the pup in his safe arms and keep him there. "I promise you, Jay, no harm will come to you here. I would never hurt you or any other pup and I would never let someone come here and hurt my pack," at those final words Jay 's eyes snap to Bruce's. Scanning over the omega's expression with a searing suspicion etched far too deeply into his soft features.
Whatever he reads there must be convincing enough and his eyes soften, go wide and a little glossy, flicking to meet Dick's. Questioning. Searching for an answer in his gaze. Hope and suspicion and fear and a cutting biting loneliness swiirl through Jay's eyes in a maelstrom. So Dick smiles soft; nods. They can be pack. Brothers. Littermates. Nestmates. Friends. He does his best to channel that into his scent. Those blue eyes widen, impossibly wide, and return to Bruce; he lets his frame relax further, not all the way. That's ok. They'll work on it. They'll figure it out. One day Jay won't have to stand like fear is the only thing keeping him upright. Won't struggle against the weight of life. Until then they'll carry the weight for him; let him grow tall. Dick makes that promise to Jay in his head and glances towards Bruce to catch his eyes. What he finds there tells him he isn't alone in this solemn oath.
"I'm going to go get changed and shower before I head up to bed. I'm sure Dick's willing to show you where you'll be sleeping if you'd like," with another smile Bruce slowly rises and heads towards to lockers and showers. Silence settles over them in his wake.
"Ok Jay! I'm gonna go shower too before heading up. If you also want to the showers are this way, there are stalls don't worry, and they lock. If you want to wait until you get upstairs that's fine too." Jay just nods in response and stays rooted to the spot. Dick ruffles his hair and lets his wrist trail just for a second over the crown of his head, he'll be showering soon so there's no point in a proper scenting right now. Later maybe.
Dick scrubs furiously, determined to get back out there before Bruce. The pup seemed to calm down once he'd recognized that B's an omega but that doesn't mean he'll trust him. Omega's aren't automatically saints and plenty have been complicit in or even active enablers of abuse before, or perpetrated it themselves. Dick's mind wanders while he hastily scrubs himself down, washing away sweat and city grime down the drain. Who put in the plumbing down here?
He's barely dry and pulling wet fabric awkwardly over his limbs and stumbling out of the lockerroom when the scent of slightly sour milk hits him, his puppy is afraid. He doesn't need to check to know Bruce is still showering, he might even lecture Dick on proper hygiene later, the sound of running water hitting the tiles had been clear in the lockerrooms.
He rounds the corner and manages to fully pull his arm through the soft clingling fabric of the longsleeve thermal he'd thrown on when the source of Jay's fearful scent becomes clear. Oh right, Alfred. He smiles at Jay, aims for apologetic, sheepish, a hint of rogueish charm perhaps?
"Hi Jay, I guess you met Alfie, huh?" Jay fidgets where he stands, shifting weight from foot to foot shoulders stiff as a board, fingers fingers fumblings idly with with fraying hems of his jacket sleeves. His eyes flash to meet Dick's and he can't quite suppress the ensuing wince when he sees the betrayal barely concealed under fear and suspicion. Jay opens his mouth to speak—
"I've already introduced myself to the young master and informed him that I've prepared a room for him upstairs," Alfred interjects and Dick's grateful, he has a feeling Jay probably had some choice words for him about letting him get snuck up on by a male Beta stranger.
"I can show him the way! Thanks Alfie," Dick starts towards the stairs and beckons Jay to follow.
They ascend the Cave stairs in silence save for the sound of Jay's shoes and Dick's slides hitting the stone floor. Jay's been quiet since, well, the whole time really. So was Dick, when he first came here. He wasn't too much older than Jay seems to be now and so sad and scared and lonely. Not that he was alone or had any reason to be scared, but it was hard for him to comprehend how drastically his life had changed, even if trying to remember a time before the halls of the manor makes his head hurt and chest ache with an unnameable itching longing.
He fills the silence before his thoughts careen any further and he slips into that place he so rarely floats off to these days. A quiet empty place that brings out concerned glances and low worried voices from the men tasked with his care. An abridged tour he settles on, with himself playing guide. Jay seems to enjoy the character at least and when his scent brightens up Dick's own responds in kind.
Jay's tense posture returns when they enter the hall with the bedrooms. It's an old style of manor and the family wing has only a couple of rooms in the hall that sit outside the large set of double doors leading into the wing. Dick pushes it opens and lets Jay follow him into the first room. It's a little family room with a plush sofa, a loveseat, a round coffee table a tv and some shelves. He waits by the next door, already swung open and lets Jay evaluate the room before carefully picking his way through it. The next room is the pack nest, something Dick learned is typical in old manors, even though their pack isn't really big enough to necessitate one. The large nest in the middle is something between Bruce's and Dick's full of comforting scents and soft fabrics. Jay stills eerily. Dick has to watch intently but he figures Jay is still breathing, just frozen. Maybe he smells Clark? He tries not to think about why Jay would freeze like that at the sight of a pack nest. Doesn't want anger to seep into his scent when he needs Jay to trust him not to hurt him, to keep him safe.
When the little pup doesn't respond to his voice he opts for soft chirping and trills. Slowly the pup turns his blank gaze toward Dick who smiles and continues calling to him, trying hard to keep desparation out of his tone. Jay blinks slowly, eyelids moving across clear blue like molasses. When they open again they seem a bit clearer, more focused, aimed closer to Dick's own. The blinking continues until he manages a soft trill in response and finally blinks away whatever was filling his vision before. Dick risk moving closer and while he keeps his motions slow Jay still flinches when he starts. Eventually he reaches him and presses Jay's head against his abdomend before shuffling them quickly to his own bedroom door.
"This is my room, you can stay here tonight if you want," he'd crawled out of bed and into Bruce's nest routinely in the early days, until Bruce let him know he could just go there straight away if he needed to. His room had seemed cavernous in the dark. Foreboding shadows hiding who knows what manner of monstrocities. Bruce's warmth and scent and the sound of his breathing had made it so much easier to close his eyes and rest. Made the shadows seem like shrouds of safety settling over them for the night. Jay looks at him
"Okay, um, Mr Alfred said," a breath "Mr Alfred said there are some clothes for me in my room?" the hesitation in his voice pulls at Dick's heart again but he maintains the easy smile across his face.
"I can go grab them if you want, or you can check out your room, it's the one across from mine,"
"Can you get them?" He collects Jay's new clothes, handmedowns from Dick that he didn't realized got stored away and not like, donated or something. At least they can be put back to work now!He notices the packaged toothbrush resting on the desk by the door on his way out and grabs that too. He skips his way back to his new little brother, sweathshirt and pajama bottoms, socks and underwear tucked neatly into his arms. Hi finds Jay stood in the exact position he'd left him in. A frown tugs at Dick's lips but he brushed the feeling aside. Baby steps. He's scared.
"Here you go! Hopefully they fit ok, they used to be mine," Jay returns his smile with a small shy one of his own so he continues, "bathroom's right over there and I have a couple extra towels under the sink. Let me know if you need any help with the shower controls or something, they're pretty straightforward. Ummmmmmm, I think that's it. I'm gonna get in bed but I'll stay awake until you get into bed okay?"
Jay quickly voices his ascent, having practically started vibrating when Dick mentioned the shower. He darts with remarkable speed towards the bathroom and Dick stands there staring at the closed wooden face of the door until the rush of the shower turning on pulls him from his thoughts. He shuts the door to the pack nest for Jay's peace of mind and crawls his way into his nest, rearranging pillows and blankets to make room for his new nestmate. He doesn't try to push away the warmth flooding his chest at the thought and purrs happily into the pillows and the empty room while he waits.
Jay's shower is long, but Dick can't really blame him, it'd probably been a while sense he'd been able to shower and besides that, the water presssure on the shower heads Alfred had in was amazing. Dick's tired though, he scrolls mindlessly through various apps on his phone to try to stay awake, listens to footsteps approach, bids Bruce goodnight when he pops his head in, before he leaves he stops to look over towards the occupied bathroom door with a furrowed brow, contemplating, evaluating, then pulling himself away with a soft hum and a smile cast Dick's way "Goodnight, chum.", he returns to his scroll holding his eyes open with concentrated effort as the words and images start to blur into each other,until he hears the click of the bathroom door opening.
Jay emerges from a cloud of steam and the smell of tropical scented shampoo Dick had insisted on last time he went to the store with alfred, He's not so sure about it anymore, maybe he should've just asked for a neutral one, or the nice lavender Alfie usually gets. The pup's curls are ruffled on top of his head from the towel and Dick's pajamas seem to swallow him with excess fabric. It makes something in his chest swell and he can't help the way he bounces a little bit in place; waves the puppy over and eagerly shows him the spot he'd prepared in the nest for him. His fluffy head of curls peers over the edge, standing just a little on tip toes to see over the large bed, eyes flitting over the structure, nostrils flaring just slightly.
He pads over to stand right beside the bed as he takes a closer look at the nest, eyes quickly scanning the walls of blankets and pillows and sweatshirts before landing on the hollowed out space Dick had clear for him.
"You can sleep here with me if you want, I made you a space. Bruce will take us to the store so you can get blankets you like and your own clothes and then I can help you make your own nest if you want," he smiles at the little pup shifting from foot to foot beside the nest, fighting every instinct to grab the boy and haul him into the nest. "Oh, um, also this is Zitka. She's mine but you can hold her if you want,"
Seconds pass at an agonizing pace before Jason hesitantly take the elephant and crawls his way into the little hollow. There's no helping the low rumbling pur emenating from his chest at the sight of their new little puppy curled up in his nest.
Lights flipped off he darts back to his nest to climb in slowly, shifts his way over until Jay gets the idea and shuffles into his arms, burrowed into his chest with his fingers curled in the soft fabric of Dick's pajama shirt, his arms wrapped securely around him, Zitka winds up smushed between them but he doesn't mind right now. Right now he has a new pack mate and everything in him is singing at that fact. He wonders how long it takes to form a pack bond. Could it happen after a night of knowing each other? Did their alpha and omega need to claim him first? He rubs little circles over his puppies back while he thinks. Only interrupted by a shaky voice, wavering with exhaustion, cuts through the silence,
"Is it really safe?" His voice is so small in the dark room, fragile, maybe even hopeful. Dick nods.
"He won't come in?"
"No, he won't."
"Your alpha?"
"Like I said, he's in Metropolis, and if he was here, he wouldn't come in either," a tense moment passes. Silence blending into the dark. Eventually, slowly, Jay's shoulders relax.
His tiny frame seems to sag in Dicks arms and he shifts them both. Just a little. Just enough. Pulls him close. Face pressed to Dick's chest. Tucked away safe.
He's asleep in minutes and Dick buries his nose in the pup's curls before letting himself drift off.