A/N: You heard me. Former-Talon!Dick. And Damian. This is going to be fun...

.o.o.o.

Chapter 1: Thoughts

.o.o.o.

Damian knew all about Dick Grayson. He knew the press story: that Bruce Wayne had wanted to adopt him after his parents were killed, someone else in the circus was a relative and kept him, the boy was abused and Bruce got custody from the ringleader, who'd been "surprised and concerned" to find out about said abuse.

He also knew the truth—that Dick Grayson had been taken by a group that brainwashed certain people into killing machines and Batman had rescued him before he was fully lost to their control.

And finally, he knew that he'd been here for three months and only had four words said to him by the man: "Hello, Damian" when they'd met and "have fun" when his father had cleared time to spar with him and Grayson had passed them on his way to patrol.

Oddly enough, Grayson seemed the least adverse to his presence among his new "brothers." Jason (whom Damian could not refer to by a last name due to it being 'Wayne' by adoption) tended to keep his distance, but it was clear that he would be willing to strike Damian if the younger went after Drake again. Knowing how hard Jason hit was probably the second reason Damian didn't go after his new worst enemy, and the first was his father's clear disapproval.

It was obvious his father was grooming Drake to become Batman. While the boy's fighting skills were clearly lacking, in his detective abilities he easily outstripped Jason's—not that the older boy was completely stupid or anything, but he was nowhere near Drake's level. Evidently his father thought Drake's combat abilities would improve with time.

Therefore, Damian tended to gloat whenever he figured something out before Drake, since it was the teen's place in the family to be 'the smart one' and it obviously rattled him a bit to have his place usurped by a ten year old.

"Hey, squirt, you seen Timmy around here?"

Damian looked up at Jason with a scowl. The redhead just loved to make cracks about his height…or current lack thereof. "Did you somehow manage to misplace your little brother?"

"Cute," Jason said with that tight smile that Damian had to admit would probably strike fear into a cowardly criminal's heart. "So, he's not down here being all Tim-ish on a case or calling Bruce on the coms?"

"No, Drake is not here, he is communicating with his teammates in his room," Damian said. "I believe he has ceased overanalyzing his latest screw up."

Jason went to rap him on the head, Damian caught his hand.

"Look, kid, stop this little 'I shall gloat about solving all cases I solve before Timmy' thing. It's driving him nuts and it's on my nerves," Jason said.

"I am not gloating. I'm stating the fact that I found the main racketeer first," Damian replied. "Maybe Drake just needs to stop being bothered by it."

"Listen you little brat. I'll make this clear. No one, no one really wants-"

"Jason."

It was soft, and the voice was a little raw, underused. But it made Jason let go of Damian's collar and Damian found himself releasing the redhead's other hand.

"Dick," Jason acknowledged, looking shamed.

"Go find Tim," the oldest offered. "I'll…" He nodded awkwardly at Damian.

Jason raised an eyebrow, but went when Grayson jerked his head at the cave entrance, his expression becoming a bit sterner.

Damian stared at his 'oldest brother' contemplatively. Dick Grayson was smaller than Jason, wirier in build, most likely due to his acrobatics training, and clearly did not present the physical threat to Jason that Jason presented to Damian (at least without Damian being allowed to inflict a lethal technique in retaliation). Yet Jason immediately bowed to him, allowed the quiet man to dictate his movements.

Grayson smiled, apparently realizing he was being analyzed, and sat across from Damian. "Conclusions?"

Damian jerked. He hadn't expected Grayson to be so blunt. "There is obviously more to you than just physical ability, since Todd could probably overpower you, yet listens to you at the drop of a hat."

Grayson just chuckled, "Oh, Dami."

Damian's eyes widened. How did Grayson know his mother's nickname for him? Or was it just the most obvious way of shortening his name and Grayson was trying to be familiar? "Oh, what?"

Perhaps this could offer some insight into Grayson's mindset or the family dynamics. He clearly was not handling either properly.

"You're so cute," Dick laughed. The man grabbed him and Damian knocked him away with a firm uppercut, before dropping into a defensive stance. He knew Grayson's past, knew what he could do.

Grayson rubbed his jaw for a moment before laughing. "Hug gets a punch, huh?"

Damian blinked. A hug? The man had been trying to hug him? The angle had been a bit odd, but he supposed it made enough sense… "I don't do hugs."

"You will," Grayson said. "Official Nightwing policy." He turned to leave. "Sorry for the startle."

"I-I was not startled!" Damian yelled.

He heard Grayson laugh again, and was pretty sure he heard another mutter of "so cute."

.o.o.o.

"How was the little demon?" Jason asked as Dick appeared in the kitchen.

Dick shot him a look.

"…Little demon who is also our little brother," Jason amended.

"Think we had a moment," Dick replied, digging around in the cabinets. "Tim?"

"Fine, was talking to Beast Boy about a mission. Damn, kid hasn't been the same since Connor…you know," Jason said.

"They were close," Dick said. "Like you and Kyle and Donna."

"Yeah," Jason said, not willing to stay on the topic of 'friends who did or could die'. "So, had a 'moment' with Damian, did you?"

"He's cute," Dick said.

"Cute?" Jason asked. "He threw Timmy off the dinosaur! And I know he only hasn't gone for me because I'd beat the tar out of him!"

"He's cute like you were," Dick said. "Trying to be tough and not need anyone."

Jason squirmed. "Oh, no, tell me I was not as bad as that one. Please, Dick, I'll clean your room or let you make me do aerials or something but please."

Dick smiled. "Bad in different ways." He looped an arm around Jason and nuzzled his hair a bit, not tall enough to reach the top of his head anymore. "It's adorable."

"Dick, don't take this the wrong way, but you're crazy," Jason said.

Dick just waved and wandered off, probably to perform his own check-up on Tim.

Jason squirmed slightly as his big brother left. He remembered being scared when he came to this big house, waiting for the other shoe to drop. After all, he'd tried to take the tires off the godamned Batmobile and was being rewarded? Get out.

He hadn't known that Bruce had been drafting adoption papers back then. He'd barely even seen him as Bruce Wayne at all—the society parties scared him, so mostly he knew Batman, the man hoped to partner with. He hadn't thought he'd fit in Bruce's other world.

He remembered hiding in his room during one of them parties, feeling like shit. Then someone was hugging him and there was a face buried in his hair.

Bruce hadn't ever hugged him yet, just an arm around the shoulder or a pat on the back or head. This was a full-body 'I'm not letting go until I know you're okay' hug.

He'd figured out it was Dick—the boy had scars on his arms that were pretty noticeable when he wore tank tops—and he remembered choking out some version of "why?"

"You're my little brother and I love you," Dick said. Jason remembered how childish it had sounded. "You love me?"

He'd nodded, and received another little nuzzle in return.

Dick had made a sort of pleased noise. "Bruce loves you too. He's bad at showing, but he loves you."

Jason had paused. "Have…we ever talked before?" He'd seen the kid around the manor but he wasn't sure they're really…talked.

"Nope," Dick had agreed. "Feel better?"

"Yeah," Jason had confessed, hugging his brother back.

Jason shook himself out of the memory. Bruce had taught him to protect and given him a chance, but Dick had made him Robin. It wasn't until he'd given the name down to Timmy that he'd even known that it had come from Dick's mom.

"Jason? You all right?"

"Huh?" he looked up from his sandwich. Bruce looked concerned. "I'm fine Dad, really."

An appraising look. "I see. Well, get some sleep. I've got a plan to dislodge the drug runners near the docks tomorrow and I'll need you and your brothers in top form."

"Batgirl and Spoiler handling the streets?" Jason asked.

"That's the plan. Tim in bed yet?"

"I think Dick went to make him. The kid forgets he has school," Jason shrugged. "It happens."

"I remember Dick suggesting we drug a certain seventh grader with caffeine," Bruce replied.

"That wasn't my Robin schedule, that was a really boring science teacher combined with the fact that you'd moved me past basic bio ages before," Jason replied. "Speaking of schooling kiddies…what about the one in the cave?"

"Damian's down in the cave?" Bruce asked. "I'll go get him. He needs to get to bed too."

"I noticed I didn't get an answer!" Jason called after him. Not that he needed an answer.

One didn't exactly send assassins to elementary school, after all.

.o.o.o.

Okay, some stuff will be revealed later, but as of now: Jason was the first Robin, Kon-El is currently 'dead' and the ages are: Dick—25, Jason—almost 21, Tim—16, and Damian—almost 10.

The rest is to be revealed, oh readers!