BATMAN \ NIGHTWING \ ROBIN \ RED ROBIN

POKER AND KODAK MOMENTS

Author's Notes

The timeline for this one-shot fic is after events depicted in the Batman and Nightwing series and before the DC 52 Reboot. Don't know what the new Nightwing writers are going to keep or ignore for the reboot Nightwing Series, so this fic takes the position that everything that happened thus far in the DC universe will still remain as true and that the reboot series (if applicable) are the characters' continuing adventures.

Disclaimer

Batman, Nightwing, Robin, Red Robin, and all characters belong to DC and other respective copyright holders. The fic, however, belongs to me.

"And why are we doing this stupid game again, Father?"

Bruce's tightlipped reply to Damian was, "It's a way to do something together as a family. It'll also help all of us exercise our instincts. Try first and then tell us what you've learned afterwards."

"Yeah, but people cuss at these things."

"And your point being…?"

After letting out a huff, Damian muttered, "No one's going to let me do that, so half the fun's taken away."

"There are other ways to express your feelings other than cursing or hurting anyone, Damian. Now come with me. They're waiting for us."

Alfred, Dick, and Tim just finished setting up everything for this particular weekend family activity – Texas Hold 'Em.

A disinterested-looking Damian slumped in a chair, looking at the set-up.

Dick patiently explained to Damian the rules of poker and how Texas Hold 'Em varied from regular poker. He enlightened his youngest brother regarding poker hands, starting his enumeration of the weakest hand to the strongest hand. He told the boy as to how three cards would be burned before each community card was dealt as well as how betting would progress for each turn. Afterwards, he defined the positions of dealer, small blind, and big blind.

Tim thought aloud, airing out misgivings by saying, "Is this is a good idea? I mean Damian and I are under-age and we can do something else other than –"

"Don't understand the rules or just too chicken for this game, Drake?" deadpanned Damian as he gave Tim a taunting smirk.

"I've played this game many times before, thank you very much," Tim retorted, his eyes narrowing at Damian.

"Easy, you two," said Dick in a good-natured manner.

Seconds after Dick felt that Tim and Damian have cooled off, he patted Tim's arm. "I know what you mean, but this won't be gambling since there isn't any money involved. Second, we're all family here…although that is never an excuse for playing your best…or for me to win all your chips in the end."

A wry grin escaped from Tim's lips. "In your dreams, Dick…."

With a chuckle, Dick told Tim, "Watch and learn, Tim. You'll see."

"Now how about it…? Just a couple of hands…. If it gets boring for either you or Damian, we'll change our activity," said Bruce with a slight smile. "Agreed, you two?"

Bruce's younger sons looked at each other before respectively managing to give their "yes" on the proposal. Tim's approval came in the form of a quiet nod and a smirk after Dick winked at him. Damian gave his consent by shrugging his shoulders and letting out a quick grunt of relent after he saw Dick glance his way and gave him an encouraging smile.

Bruce looked towards Alfred, the latter giving him a nod and a subtle glance that trailed back to Dick. It was as if Alfred had just told Bruce, "Master Dick has it under control, Sir. Don't worry."

The soft smile that Bruce gave Alfred was more than enough to let the latter know that he was relieved – at least for now. When Dick passed their way to grab the snacks that the entire family had worked on to prepare, Bruce gave his eldest son a grateful pat on the back.

Dick could not avoid glancing back at Bruce, nor could Alfred avoid taking note of the moment.

Father and eldest son exchanging nods…Bruce giving Dick a grateful smile subtly laced with familial affection…Dick showing through his reciprocal smile that Bruce's rare displays of fatherly affection was always something that he welcomed and treasured…Alfred resting his hand on Bruce's shoulder – his way of acknowledging and praising the latter's attempts for being more emotionally open since his return to Wayne Manor and to those who loved and needed him.

All of them eventually got together at the table with food and drink well within reach and shortly thereafter, the game proceeded.

As the game progressed, Alfred, Bruce, and Dick took turns in explaining the mechanics of Texas Hold 'Em to Tim and Damian. Father and eldest son could tell that Alfred had words of subtle disdain laced in his explanations. They knew that Alfred always thought that Texas Hold 'Em was a bastardized version of what he referred to as "true" poker. They also knew that over time, the eldest father figure in the Wayne household learned to accept the game for the best and worst that it could offer since it was another avenue towards family bonding and fun.

After a good amount of hands dealt and with each player having nearly the same stack as the rest – with Dick having a slight advantage over Bruce, the runner-up – Bruce asked Tim and Damian, "So do you two get the hang of it now? Continue?"

The two gave their respective nods, their reply and reaction reflecting the stark contrast between the two brothers. Tim softly smiled and was obviously having a great time. Damian was having a good time as well, although his eyes reflected as to how much this game stirred the competitive spirit within him.

For this round, Tim would deal the cards. Alfred had the button, which meant that he would be the last player to place a bet as well as the one who would have the most leverage in keeping the pot as low or as high as he would like. Bruce was the small blind and Damian was the big blind.

After burning the first three cards, Tim laid down the flop – the ace of diamonds, the king of hearts, and the ten of hearts.

Each player glanced at his hand and decided to keep playing. Tim, the first one, placed his five-chip bet and the rest matched his small stack of chips. As the one dealing the cards for this round, he then promptly pushed the chips towards the middle to form a small pot with Alfred's help once all the bets were secured.

Dick was outwardly tightlipped and calm yet inwardly chuckled as his eye quickly took note of Tim and Damian's respective reactions since they have seen their hands, thinking, "Quick learners but still amateurs…. I could read them so clearly… Damian thinks that he has something good already with this flop. Tim's still waiting."

Seconds later, Dick's split-second gaze quietly shifted towards Bruce and Alfred. "Hmmm… Poker faces, although both of them look as if they're still waiting for something too. We'll see if my two pair will hold up."

Once Tim felt that everyone was ready for the turn, he burned the three cards on top of the deck and then proceeded to place down the fourth card.

"Ace of hearts… Very good for me," thought Dick as his glance went to Bruce since the latter would now be the first one to decide on whether to call or to fold. He figured correctly that Bruce would stay for this round.

After Tim called and matched the ten chips that Bruce had laid out, Damian followed suit.

Dick glanced at Alfred, the latter looking casual. "Tim's more confident on this one. He must have a flush in his hand. Damian's confident from the beginning. He might have a straight, but he'll probably be in for a big surprise depending on the last card."

Dick called Damian's bet as well, testing the waters to see as to what Alfred would do.

When Alfred called and matched the bet just as the rest did, Dick thought, "He must have a good hand, too. We'll just see about that…."

Tim then gathered this round's bets and combined them with the current pot. Once that was done, he burned three cards and placed the last community card called the "river" on the table…

The king of clubs….

Five cards were now before all of the players – the ace of diamonds, the king of hearts, the ten of hearts, the ace of hearts, and the king of clubs. Tension crept up for each passing second of silence as each player once again studied the cards in his respective hand, the shared cards resting on the table, and the other players around him.

After a handful of silent minutes, Bruce sighed and shook his head out of quiet dismay – the very first signs of emotion that he allowed to slip out since the five of them sat down and played. "Not my night tonight. I fold."

"Take over as dealer now?" Tim proposed to Bruce.

Since Tim was still in the current round along with the others and that he was the designated dealer for the next hand, Bruce was more than happy to oblige. He accepted the deck from Tim.

Before Bruce placed his now-folded hand into the deck, Damian said, "Wait, Father…."

Everyone's attention focused on Damian, who added, "Don't put your card away so quickly. Once this round's done and before we start the next one, I'd like to see what everyone had in his hand."

Bruce and the others gave a nod. The whole purpose of this exercise was to "read" each opponent's hand, anticipate each opponent's next move, cut losses just at the right time, and bluff one's way through a win when the opportunity permitted.

In compliance to Damian's request, Bruce placed his two pocket cards before him. He then told his youngest son, "All right. It's your turn. Since this round now starts with you, you can either check or bet."

"I bet," said Damian after giving Bruce a nod, piling up ten chips before him.

Tim did not give his move a second thought. "All right…. I call your ten and then I raise twenty." He piled up and then pushed thirty chips in front of him. Once he was done, he declared. "Your turn, Dick…"

Dick, also calm throughout the game, declared, "I call your thirty, Tim, and then I raise you for another thirty." He then fell quiet, thinking, "We'll see if Alfred has a good hand. There's no way that I'm going to let that sweet pot go without a fight."

Bruce quietly scanned his surroundings, raising his eyebrow for a split second. He had his hunch about what exactly was going on at the table. He had a gut feeling as well regarding what cards could potentially be in each player's hand. Now that he folded his hand, at least he was free in the meantime to see if his intuition was right on the money.

"Very well… I see your bet, Master Dick, and I raise it by three times your raise," said Alfred as he began stacking his chips before his opponents.

Bruce, Dick, Tim, and Damian were momentarily stunned as they watched Alfred finish his task. Each player wondered why Alfred had made such a bold move considering that he was a consistently conservative player.

Once Alfred was done, he told Damian, "Your turn, Master Damian."

"Not running away from you, Pennyworth. I call," said Damian, feeling rather challenged and refusing to fold. To him, he had the best hand. He had his eye on the prize – the huge and still-increasing pot for this round.

Tim glanced at Damian for a second and then declared, "I call."

Damian snickered. "You sure about that, Drake…?"

"Yes I am," said Tim as he threw a glare towards Damian, and then later on shook his head while he allowed a wry smile escape from his lips.

Dick then looked at Alfred, thinking out loud, "Pretty bold, Alfie. What do you have?"

"You pay first, Master Dick, and then you'll find out," was Alfred's genial reply.

With a smirk and a chuckle, Dick said, "I'm not folding, Alfie. Not this hand. I'm all in."

A quietly observing Bruce thought as Dick pushed all of his chips slightly away from him and closer to the pot, "This will be interesting…."

"I'm not letting go, either. All in," said Alfred as he followed Dick's move.

Bruce then glanced at Damian and Tim, asking them, "And you two? All in, too…?"

Once Tim and Damian pushed their chips and combined them with the pot, Dick and Alfred did the same thing while Bruce monitored the entire table's activity.

The pot was huge. Tim and Damian had their respective way in expressing their excitement. Dick and Alfred, although more reserved in their reactions during game-time, were on edge as well.

Bruce slightly smiled and announced, "Show your cards, gentlemen – starting with you, Damian." He then inwardly smirked, thinking, "Someone's in for a big surprise…."

Damian laid out his pocket cards – the jack and queen of diamonds. Combined with the community cards, he had an unsuited straight immediately from the flop.

Tim smirked, satisfied with the outcome. "I beat you, Damian." He then laid out his pocket cards – the queen and nine of hearts. Combined with the community cards, he had an ace-high flush.

Damian was utterly seething, so tempted to curse out his frustration but held back. If there had been something – anything – flying or crawling by his feet or into his hand, he would have grabbed and squashed the life out of its body in front of everyone.

Damian's glance instinctively shifted to Dick. He saw his eldest brother, former partner, and co-mentor give him a soft and understanding smile for the mild expletive that he just uttered against Tim. The eye contact alone between eldest and youngest son was more than enough for both parties to get the message across.

Damian closed his eyes and calmed down a bit, as if he were reasoning out to Dick, "Fine, fine. I get it. He's my brother, too, according to you. I'm doing my best, you know…."

Dick's smile, although still subtle, exuded more of a hint of warmth and empathy that Damian would understand. "I know, Damian. Thank you."

Bruce then asked, "Dick, your turn. What do you have?"

Dick let a smug smirk escape from his lips. He placed his pocket cards before him for all to see – the ace and ten of clubs. "Full house – aces over kings. Read 'em and weep…."

"The hell! Damn it!" huffed Damian with clenched teeth and fisted hands.

When Alfred was silent for a while, a euphoric Dick smiled as he leaned forward to claim what he thought was now rightfully his. Since he assumed that Alfred's silence meant that the latter would fold, he happily declared, "So this pot's mine."

But before Dick could lay his hand on the huge pot, Alfred said, "Not so fast, young Master. My two pair beats your full house."

"A two-pair hand doesn't beat a full house. It never does," said Dick with an incredulous frown.

Bruce could not help but smirk. He knew where this was going…

"Mine does," said Alfred as he laid out his pocket cards – the king of spades and the king of diamonds.

Dick's eyes squinted and then went wide in disbelief, his mouth hanging open for a couple of seconds. Still in a state of denial, he blurted out, "You said that you had two pairs!"

"I do have two pairs, young man. My hand wins," said Alfred in a nonchalant manner.

"Very cute, Alfie, but that is not two pairs," Dick complained with a pout, his right index finger pointing at the cards that Alfred had. He felt that this moment was just too surreal for him to comprehend.

"Master Richard, I do have two pairs. I have a pair of kings in my hand and there is another pair of kings in the community card. One pair, two pairs…"

"But that makes it a four-of-a-kind. Four kings, not a two-pair!"

"Tomato, to-mah-to…. Two-pair, four-of-a-kind…. Different name but still the same, Master Richard…."

To Bruce and Alfred, the priceless look on Dick's face was so reminiscent of the exuberant and innocent young boy that brightened their lives day after day. The image triggered so many good memories that it made Bruce chuckle and Alfred smirk. In an effort to spare a now-flushed Dick and his wounded ego from further embarrassment, Bruce and Alfred respectively tried – and failed – to curb their reaction.

Bruce still smirked, telling himself as Dick kept shaking his head, "My hunch was right. I haven't lost my touch."

Alfred rose from his chair, giving Dick a warm and fatherly pat on the shoulder. "The pot is mine, young Masters. I'll get more refreshments…start all over again…that is if you're all still up for the challenge of continuing the game."

All of Bruce's sons nodded. Bruce nodded as well, exchanging smirks with Alfred.

As Alfred walked away, Dick quietly asked with a frown while his stare continued to rest on his pocket cards, Alfred's hand, as well as the community cards, "What the hell just happened? How did I not see that?"

Containing his smirk, Bruce said to Dick, "You didn't anticipate what was going on. I had a full house, too. Tens over aces… Difference was that I folded and you didn't."

Damian looked at Bruce with narrowed eyes. "You had a full house and you folded, Father? Why?"

"Because I felt that Dick and Alfred had better cards than I did, so I cut my losses right then and there..."

Dick murmured, "I can't believe this. A full house and I lost. I'll be damned."

Bruce shook his head again and cleared his throat, stifling what could have been another hearty chuckle. "Alfred got you, Dick. Hook, line, and sinker…plain and simple…. Just lick your wounds and accept that he got you, and he got you good."

Seconds later, a wry smile escaped from Dick's lips. While his index finger pointed at the cards, he asked Bruce, "You're still gloating about this lovely Kodak moment, aren't you? You want to take a picture of how the three of us lost everything to Alfred's monster hand?"

Bruce relaxed and smiled at his sons. He had a teasing twinkle in his eye as he told Dick, "A former MI-6 spy besting three out of four detectives in this house, which includes my eldest? Who wouldn't? It's priceless."

"Yeah, and you're quoting from the wrong commercial," said Dick with a chuckle. He had a hand rest on the nape of his neck. "Yeah…the old man got the three of us, and then some…."

As Dick, Tim, and Damian continued their loud chatter about the last round while Alfred returned with more refreshments for everyone, Bruce looked at the entire scene and inwardly smiled. He let that warm feeling that radiated from his heart soak into the innermost core of his being. He was at home with his father and three sons…this reality being a far cry from the lonely life that he silently feared that he was doomed to have.

Bruce then looked at Damian, thinking back on the times when Dick and Tim were respectively children. He thought about the shortcomings that he had made as a partner, a friend, and a father to his two elder sons, his train of thought laying out to him that, "Maybe I'd do better this time around. I should've learned something from the past."

Alfred let out a contented sigh, approaching Bruce and standing beside him. Being loud enough for Bruce's ears alone, he said with a smile, "One day at a time, young man…one day at a time… After a handful of years, you've mended matters with Master Dick. Master Damian will come around. Same as Master Tim in terms of anything related to Master Damian. Such things take time between fathers and sons."

"I'm glad that he has overcome it."

"Master Richard, you mean?"

"Yes."

"Oh, you mean his trials? Yes, he sure has. Amazing what time and familial kindness can do to one's soul…that and a good kick in the pants from his father."

After letting out a subtle sigh and continuing his observation of his three sons, Bruce commented, "Just look at them, Alfred. Dick and Tim have grown up a lot, haven't they?"

Alfred rested his hand on Bruce's back, his tone reassuring. "And so have you. So have you... Soon, Master Damian will follow suit. I'm sure that he'll follow the path that you've laid out for his older siblings. Just be patient with him. Be open with him…."

"The same advice that you've given me during Dick's time…. The advice that I should've heeded quicker than I did…."

"Yes, young man. You're most definitely right." Alfred paused for a minute, taking in the happy moment and letting it fill and warm his heart. He then broke the silence by adding, "Life is similar to poker. You can hide what you have in your hand for the time being. Your opponent tries to anticipate what you have, what you're thinking, what you're going to do with your hand. Sooner or later, though, the time comes when you must show your hand. There'll also be times that you must invest all that you have to reap the fruits of any possible outcome - sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. The only difference with poker and life is that within the walls of this house, those who share the table with you are not opponents...and the object here is not to win but to live and love with those around you...and that one must give his all not just when the time comes, but all the time. You know that very well because that is how much you love those who have become part of this family and your cause...especially those three boys."

Feeling so humbled and vulnerable, yet at the same time safe and comforted, Bruce gazed at Alfred. "I couldn't agree with you more, old man. I love you. Have I told you that lately?"

"Maybe not in words, young man, but you've said the same message to me many times without words...in so many different ways," replied Alfred with the warmest of smiles. "And I, as well as your children, have always loved you too...more than you'll ever know."

Bruce smiled at Alfred and nodded, telling himself as he and the latter watched his three sons interact with each other, "I am enjoying this Kodak moment, Dick. I've actually enjoyed every Kodak family moment. They all started on the day that you've stepped in this house and into my life. Definitely priceless…and I'd never trade them for anything in this world or the next…."

END