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Damian was doing his regular rounds of the house before his bedtime when he stumbled upon an unexpected scene. The door to Grayson's room was open a sliver, revealing the eldest Robin to be slumbering peacefully. What was odd was the hand stroking his cheek.
There was a strict no-stroking policy at Wayne Manor, due to its tetchy inhabitants. Tim was likely to lick the offending hand, while Damian would throw a fit at any affectionate overture that did not come from Grayson. It was useless trying to curb Grayson's hugs, for the man simply would not cease in his efforts to cuddle. It was far easier to give in. Jason would just shoot the hand off. Bruce would allow the stroking, but it was exceedingly uncomfortable for the stroker, as Bruce's stubble was as hard and unforgiving as his personality. Alfred was not to be touched, period.
So the question was, who was the mystery stroker?
Damian crept towards the room, his heart thudding. Who dared to fondle his Grayson? Some lech who had managed to sneak past the Manor's defenses, no doubt. Peering through the door, Damian saw a masked man leaning in close to the sleeping Dick, his hand traveling to cradle the man's neck.
Damian saw red. No one would touch his Grayson.
With a swift jump, Damian jumped on top of the attacker and stabbed him with his trusty dagger. Instead of dying on the spot like Damian would have liked, the villain rolled away, and the stab meant for his jugular only sliced his shoulder. The masked intruder yelled and leapt away, and out of the window.
"Away with you, vile scum, and may Lucifer's hounds feast on your innards!" Damian cried as Dick leapt out of bed.
"Dami, what happened?" Dick gasped, smothering him in an unnecessary hug.
By this time, the rest of the Bats had gathered in various states of undress. Bruce looked dishelvelled, having fallen asleep in his suit, and Tim was clad in only a large shirt, no doubt stolen from Bruce's wardrobe.
"Damian, what happened? Is everyone alright? Tim, why do you always steal my clothes? Don't I buy you enough of your own?" Bruce thundered.
Before Tim could open his mouth to spout some inane reply, Damian butted in. "I saw an intruder! He was caressing Grayson, so I stabbed him. Unfortunately, he was skilled, and avoided my blade, but I still cut him," Damian said proudly.
Bruce looked horrified at Damian's latest attempt to murder, and looked ready to lecture him, but was cut off by a loud squeal emanating from Dick. "My brave, little, brother! You protected me! My sweet, little, killer cake!"
"Mmph!" Damian protested as he was affectionately strangled. Bruce smiled at the sight and led Tim away to strengthen the security around the manor, leaving Damian to suffer Dick's love.
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The next time it happened was on patrol.
Dick has just walloped Two-Face and was in the process of tying him up for delivery to the authorities when he heard the patter of small feet and the clang of metal-on-metal. Pushing a bound Two-Face aside, Dock looked up to see Damian giving chase to a masked man, yelling obscenities at him.
"You dare to spy on my partner, foul creature! I shall gouge your eyes out and present them to Beelzebub!" Damian was crying.
Beside him, Two-Face let out a low whistle. "Damn. You ought to bring the new kid out more. He's enough to make any thug shit his pants." Dick knocked the villain out and called Commissioner Gordon, who arrived on the scene to see Nightwing placating an angry Robin.
"Commissioner," the new Robin said, advancing on the older man. "This is the second time that a masked man has been spying on Nightwing! I will provide you with what little I was able to discern about him, and would request that you execute the man!"
James Gordon gaped at the raging child, as Nightwing proceeded to calm him down. "It's alright, baby Bird, you were there to watch my back. I trust you, no one's going to get me."
"But what if I'm not there!?" Robin asked, hysterical. "What if you are with Red Robin, or worse, Red Hood? They're both imbeciles!" Taking a deep breath, the boy continued, "There is only one thing to do. I shall be your permanent partner from now on, so that I may take care of you."
"But Robin is Batman's partner," Gordon butted in. "That's how it's always been."
Damian shot the man a look of pure contempt as he stalked off to tug Nightwing away. Dick allowed himself to be dragged away, pointing to the trussed up villain in the corner and waving merrily.
Commissioner Gordon watched the duo walk away, with Nightwing suddenly swinging Robin onto his hip to smother him with happy hugs. Incredulous squeaking filled the night, as the commissioner happily read Two-Face his rights.
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"Father, I would like to request a transfer for both myself and my partner," Damian announced, clamerbing angrily onto a sleeping Bruce's lap. Bruce thrashed awake and stared down at his pint sized doppelgänger.
"Where to?"
"I was thinking that we could go and visit grandpa," Damian said.
"Grandpa's dead, son."
"Grandpa Al Ghul, not Grandpa Wayne," Damian said, exasperated. "I have appraised him of Grayson's stalker, and he agrees with me that a change of scene would be good."
Bruce scowled at the thoughts of the interfering, old, coot. "I'm wise to your grandpa," he growled. "Not only does he want to take you away, he wants to take my other sons as well!"
Damian frowned. "Don't be ridiculous. Grandfather doesn't like Todd at all."
"I'll bet he loves Dick, though," Bruce grumbled. "Stupid, son-stealing, old codger."
"He also invited Drake."
"No!"
Damian walked away in a huff, leaving Bruce to brood angrily. It was time to take action.
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"Goodnight, Dick," Bruce said warmly to his eldest son.
"Goodnight, Bruce. Why're you fiddling with the door?"
"I've installed a new lock," Bruce said proudly. "See you in the morning."
"Bruce!"
Bruce shut the door, pleased with himself. In the distance, he could hear Timothy screaming blue murder. "Bruce! Let me out!"
Bruce whistled all the way to his room, finally at peace.
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The masked menace would not let up.
Damian had caught him ogling Grayson through the library window, on patrol, in the park, and he even had the audacity to lay a hand on Grayson's back during an especially brutal fight.
Curiously, Dick did not seem fazed, and continued with his life as per usual. Convinced that there was more to the story, Damian followed him back to his apartment one day, with his friend Colin in tow.
"Now, remember, when you see the man get close to Grayson, you transform and kill him, okay?" Colin nodded meekly and the boys hopped on their bikes to follow Grayson to his apartment.
They had scarcely approached the door when they heard hushed voices coming from the kitchen.
"Damian's getting suspicious. I wish you'd just come over without the mask one day, so we wouldn't have to meet in secret like this," Dick's agitated voice was whispering.
"Yes, because that would go down so well with your old man," the masked man grumbled. "He'd disown you too." The man sighed. "Baby, I missed you."
"I missed you too," Dick whispered, closing the distance between them.
The man placed his hand on Dick's firm tush, and that was when all hell broke lose. Colin transformed into his monsterous alter-ego and rushed the man, who went flying into the stove. Dick tried to diffuse the situation which had now become both Abuse and Damian pummeling the man who was now in fetal position.
"Boys! Boys! Stop that this minute!"
"He touched your b-bum!" Damian choked out angrily. "Stand back, we're protecting you! Die, masked scum!" He cried, and went back to pummeling the man.
It took several minutes before Dick could coax Colin back into his human form, deposit him on the sofa with a cup of cocoa, and then drag Damian off of the man. Damian gnashed his teeth as Dick murmured consoling words to him, and the man finally crawled out of the oven to nurse his wounds.
"Reveal yourself, foul goat excrement!" Damian yelled. "How dare you lay hands upon my Grayson!"
The man groaned and undid his mask, revealing a bruised and battered Jason Todd. "Ow," he saidd, as way of introduction. "Dickie, I'm hurt. C'mere and kiss me better."
Damian gaped at the unrepentant man and leapt up once more, only to be restrained by Dick. "It's alright, baby bug," Dick cooed. "Jason and I have been seeing each other for ages now. We wanted to tell the family-"
"You wanted to tell them, not me-"
"-but it was never the right time. I'm sorry you found out this way, but we love each other. You understand that, right?"
Damian pondered over Dick's words before burrowing into his brother's hold. "Don't let him take you away. You belong with me! You're my partner! He'll ruin everything!"
"Oh my God," Jason muttered in horror. "Don't tell me that my competition is my ten year old brother!"
"No, no," Dick laughed. "Damian, I promise that you'll always be the first man in my life, and you'll always have a special place in my heart. I swear," he said, hugging the insecurity out of his brother.
Damian accepted the snuggle and glared at Todd, who was gingerly poking a bruise. "You're too good for him," he whispered venomously to Dick. "There's still time, leave him for someone better. I know several men in the League of Assassins who would love to court you."
Jason leapt up in rage. "Why you little-!" He growled, reaching to throttle Damian. Damian expertly dodged and ran off, with Jason in hot pursuit.
The tense night air was split by the genuine laughter of Dick Grayson.
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"What's with the spread for dinner, Alfred?" Bruce asked, settling into his chair. "Tim, are you wearing my scarf, you loathesome boy?"
"But you don't look good in it!" Tim protested. "You have a really thick neck."
"I can't believe that you let that murderous maggot talk us into this," Jason muttered as Damian glowed beside Colin. Dick patted his hand soothingly and cleared his throat. Bruce paused in his chastising of Tim to look up and spot Jason for the first time.
"Agh!"
"Bruce, be nice," Dick pleaded. "Jason and I want to tell you something."
"I'm doing Dick, I'm not going to stop, and there's nothing you can do about it," Jason snarled.
Bruce looked like he was going to pitch a fit, so Dick intervened. "I love him, Bruce. And he loves me too," he said.
"Yeah," Jason agreed. "I love him more than life itself. Granted, my life's pretty shit, but the sentiment holds. I took a bullet for Dickie just last week."
"That's because you were standing in front of him and goading a gunman," Tim interjected.
"I could have moved, but I didn't! I love him, dammit!"
Dick simpered and took Jason's hand while Bruce waged an internal war. Finally, he sighed. "Fine. Just don't do the nasty where we can hear or see you," Bruce grumbled. After a while, he smiled. "I just want all my boys to be happy."
"Aw, thanks, Bruce."
"Thanks, B."
"The feeling is reciprocated, father."
"I love you and your scarves, B."
"Thank you, Mr. Wayne."
Bruce looked up at the last voice, eyes focusing on a small redhead seated next to Damian. "Who are you?"
"I'm Colin, sir."
"Did I adopt you?" Bruce asked, panicking. At Colin's shake of the head, he relaxed.
"I'm here with Damian, sir," he added innocently.
It took five minutes to dislodge the baby carrot from Bruce's windpipe.