A/N: So this is my first fanfiction. Ever. So it probably won't be perfect, but I hope that it's OK at least. I would love feedback, both positive and negative. If you are going to give negative feedback, please don't flame and don't just say that it's bad, tell me why. It would really help me. This is a batfam fic, and the Wayne kids are all... well, kids. They were adopted at different ages than in the comics, or in Damian's case, Bruce found out about him a whole lot earlier in life. Now I'll just let you get on with this little (long) one-shot. Enjoy!
Dick- 15 Jason- 12 Cass- 10 Tim- 8 Damian- 2
Water, Water Everywhere
Everything was peaceful in Wayne Manor. This was a very rare thing and Alfred hummed merrily to himself in tune with the lovely melody that played on the old radio as he spent his day dusting and cleaning, brushing and sweeping. He loved all the kids that resided in Wayne Manor, he really did, but they were so... energetic and whatnot and Alfred was just thankful that today everyone was quiet.
Dick wasn't complaining about not being allowed to have another cookie (even at fifthteen, the boy was still crazy about them), Jason wasn't stirring up trouble (which was way too suspicious), Cass was... well, quiet and well-behaved, as per usual (such a sweet little angel), Tim wasn't running around the house and knocking things over like a madman (he was very clever, but he was such a klutz) and young Master Damian wasn't crying his heart out or hitting Tim with his toys (he really loved hitting Tim with objects for some reason).
Alfred continued to sweep the floor (he refused to use a vacuum cleaner. He only used those for extreme cases) undisturbed. When he had finished sweeping the entire ground level, he went into the kitchen to see if there were any ingredients that he needed to buy. He was going to go to the tailor's to pick up Dick and Tim's new formal outfits (both boys had outgrown their old tuxedos and the Wayne family had been invited to yet another formal dinner party next week... not exactly a ball, but for Bruce's children, who despised balls, this was a step up), so why not go grocery shopping as well? But today he decided that he didn't need to make a big fancy dinner. No, he was going to make an easy and delicious recipe for tonight. After all, after he went shopping and prepared dinner, he could just relax. As much as Alfred loved to work, he loved relaxing just as much. He certainly wasn't getting any younger and having to look after four children, a teenager and Bruce (who may or may not count as a kid) took up a lot of his energy. He really should get a day off.
Just after Alfred had finished checking the cupboards to see if he needed anything, Dick strolled in the kitchen. Alfred had his back turned to him, so naturally Dick's first thought was to steal from the cookie jar. He reached out a hand to grab a cookie when Alfred's hand gave it a sharp slap.
"Ow!" Dick exclaimed, rubbing his hand (even though it didn't hurt at all). "Come on, Alfred! Just one! Pleaseeeee."
"Absolutely not, Master Dick. Dinner will be ready soon."
"What? But you haven't even started!"
"I'll be starting soon. Besides, you'll spoil your appetite if you eat any more cookies than you already have."
"But dinner's like four hours away! I'm more concerned about what's for lunch!"
"Master Dick, you've already had your lunch." Alfred pointed out.
"I did?" Dick asked, confusion spread across his face.
"Indeed you did."
"Well I'm still hungry!" Dick whined. When are you not? Alfred thought of the boy, but didn't say it out loud.
"Well, that is just too bad. You'll just have to be patient." Alfred replied. "Now, how does French onion soup and beef bourguignon sound to you for dinner?" he asked before Dick could say another word.
"Beef what?" Dick asked plainly. Alfred just shook his head.
"Never mind." Alfred said. "Master Dick, I am leaving now to pick up your suits from the tailor's. Are you absolutely certain you don't want to come with me?"
"Alfie, I'm a teenage boy. I have much better things to do than go pick up tuxes. And before you ask Timmy, he doesn't want to come either. But hey," Dick patted Alfred's shoulder, "you have fun grocery shopping." Dick indicated to the shopping list that Alfred held in his left hand. With that being said, Dick started running out of the kitchen.
"No running inside the house!" Alfred yelled after the boy and could hear Dick's footsteps slowing down a little. He shook his head fondly after him before grabbing one of the many car keys from the counter (what they were doing there and not in the key rack, he had no idea) and heading for the front door. Just as he was about to leave the mansion, he felt someone tugging his arm. He looked down to see Tim.
"Where are you going?" Tim asked the aging English butler.
"I'm going shopping, Master Timothy. I should be back soon." Alfred replied.
"But... who's going to take care of us?" Tim asked so innocently, big orbs of blue looking up at the man.
"I believe Master Dick is responsible enough to keep an eye on all of you."
At Alfred's words, Tim seemed to brighten up. Dick was his favourite brother. The only brother who didn't constantly tease him or hit him with objects. Of course, Dick sometimes playfully teased him, but Jason did it constantly and most of the time, it wasn't so playful. Tim's mouth formed an `O´ and he grinned at Alfred. "OK!" Tim said before dashing away. Alfred didn't even bother to tell him not to run indoors. He opened the door and stepped outside. Dick was a responsible boy behind his playful child-like nature. He'd look after his siblings. He was too old for a babysitter now. And with that thought, Alfred left the premises.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Everything was eerily quiet in the house. Cass and Jason were in the living room playing a game of chess, Damian was just crawling about on the floor and Tim was curled up in an armchair, reading a book. Everyone seemed content with what they were doing. Everyone except Dick. Dick was bored. So bored. He wanted to do something, anything! He thought staying at home and supervising his younger siblings would be fun and that they could play, but they were all too immersed in whatever it was they were doing. Surely they couldn't be having fun? Dick had gone downstairs and asked if they wanted to play or needed anything. But Jason had replied that they were old enough to look after themselves and that Dick ought to just leave them alone. Which was very rude, in Dick's opinion, but that was just Jason. So Dick had left them to their own devices and now here he was, in his room, dying of boredom. Maybe he should have gone with Alfred...
...or not. He could still have fun, right? So the fifthteen year old boy raced downstairs, sliding down the banisters. As he drew nearer to the ground, he kicked off from the banister and performed a front flip off it. He then went off to find his siblings. He found them all in the living room. Damian was whacking Tim with a toy truck and Jason was losing to Cass in their chess game. To be fair, she had her `ability´ to read people and was therefore always one step ahead of him.
"Hey guys! Wanna do something awesome?" Dick asked his siblings.
"Yep!" Tim hopped up from the armchair, just wanting an excuse to get away from his demon of a little brother.
"Guys?" he turned towards Cass and Jason.
"We're kind of busy." Jason said through gritted teeth. He was on edge and was a very bad loser. Of course, he hadn't lost yet, but one mistake and Cass would win. He wouldn't -couldn't- be beaten by a girl (even if said girl was stronger than him, both physically and in chess).
"Oh come on! I have a brilliant idea! It'll be so much fun!" Dick exclaimed. Tim was already on board with the idea and he assumed little Damian was too, all he needed to do was convince his other incredibly stubborn siblings.
"Like I said, we're busy. Now leave. I'm on the verge of defeating Cassandra once and for all." Jason grinded out, narrowed eyes focused on the chess board. Tim and Dick exchanged a look and Cass raised an eyebrow.
"Is that so?" she asked in amusement.
"Yeah, it is so-"
"Checkmate."
"Wha-!?" Jason stuttered, staring at the board in disbelief. He had been defeated by Cass's Queen. He gaped for a while, then closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes once more.
"You- you distracted me." he turned to Dick. Dick lifted his arms in a surrendering manner.
"Dude, I didn't do anything. You lost all by yourself. She was beating you so bad." Dick said.
"She was not."
"I was too." Cass piped up, staring at her elder brothers as if she knew something was going to happen.
"Well- you cheated!"
"How?"
"That- ability thingy! You knew which move I was going to do!"
"Well, you were a bit pre...dicta...ble." Cass replied, screwing her eyes as she spelled out the last word. She had improved her language abilities a lot, but there were still a lot of words that she had difficulty with.
"Predictable? ME?!"
"She's right. I mean you practically gave up that pawn for slaughter. There's no way a pawn can beat a rook. Face it dude. You suck." Dick stated the obvious.
"Oh, what would you know about chess anyway?" Jason exclaimed angrily, throwing his arms up in defeat. "I'm done. I'm going to my room." he said and left before anyone could say anything. Cass looked distraught. She hadn't meant to hurt her brother's feelings. She thought he would take it lightly and wave it off or something because they were siblings. But then again, this was Jason they were talking about...
"Don't worry about it, Cass. Jason's just a sore loser." Tim said, hoping to lift the girl's spirits up.
"Yeah, don't worry, Cass. I'll go talk to him." Dick said and ran upstairs to confront his younger brother. He knocked on the door. "Jaybird, it's me. Dick. Open the door."
"Go away."
"Aww, don't be like that, Jay! It was just a stupid chess game. It's not a big deal. Just open up!"
"No. Leave."
"I'm not going anywhere until you open this door, young man." Dick imitated a stern voice before pounding on the door once more. "Come on, J-" he was cut short by Jason's bedroom door flinging open. Jason was glaring at him, the single white lock in his messy, jet black hair looking more silver than white.
"What do you want?"
"Seriously, you're overreacting. Cass beat you at chess. Big deal. I admit, I shouldn't have made fun of you and told you that you sucked. That was insensitive of me. I apologise. But dude, we do this kind of stuff all the time. You are not the sensitive type. There have been way worse things said to you and you just took them calmly and came up with a great comeback. I mean-"
"Dick."
"Yes?"
"Shut up." Jason said, an annoyed expression on his face. Then Dick finally caught on. Of course Jason wouldn't just storm off after his ass got kicked in a chess game. This was something else.
"This... this isn't about the chess game, is it?" Dick said and Jason gave him a somewhat amused look.
"Finally figured it out, huh? Still, it's sooner than I expected you to find out..."
Dick gave his brother a suspicious look.
"Find out about what?"
Jason sighed. "You should probably come in." he opened the door a little more so that Dick could enter. Dick childishly rushed over to Jason's bed and bounced on it. Jason squinted his eyes at him.
"Dick."
"Yes?"
"Get off my bed." Jason ordered. Dick didn't listen, but at least he stopped bouncing. Jason marched over to his bed, shoved Dick's legs off and took a seat at the edge of his bed. They were both in a sitting position and Dick turned serious.
"Now what's this all about, Jason?" Dick asked. Jason sighed.
"It all started when me and my friend-"
"My friend and I." Dick automatically corrected. Jason scowled at him. He wasn't going to take any of Dick's nonsense.
"Do you want me to tell you or not?"
"Sorry. Proceed." Dick said. Jason rolled his eyes but continued anyway.
"So my friend and I were at school. Then these three goons show up. They're about your age. They challenged me to a fight. Me. Can you believe the nerve of those guys? So of course, I took them up on their offer- what? They started it!" Jason reacted to Dick's look of disapproval.
"Apparently they just challenged you. You accepted their challenge."
"Well... they didn't so much as challenge me as walk up to my face and laugh and point and call me `street rat´ and `charity case´. You know, the usual. I tried to ignore them, I really did. But then they said something... something that really grinded my gears."
"What did they say?" Dick asked in concerned curiosity.
"Well..." Jason bit his lip and turned away from Dick. "It was about you."
Dick's eyebrows shot up. "Me?"
"Did I stutter?"
"What did they say?" Dick repeated his original question.
"They started calling you a circus freak. They said we were all charity cases and that Dad would... you know... give us back as soon as possible. To the system. That he was just keeping us for the publicity, the popularity and so the the public would think that he's the perfect guy. Then they said that you were crazy or some shit and... they- they said that because you were insane or whatever, you planned your parents' death or something. Made them fall to their deaths or something." Jason barely had time to say the last word of his sentence as Dick seemed to explode.
"WHAT?! They said that?!" Dick exclaimed angrily.
"Yeah..." Jason's face also showed signs of anger. "I wasn't about to let them get away with that. I shoved the ringleader and told him to shut his filthy mouth about you. Then they made jibes at me, mocked me, said the reason I became a street rat in the first place was because I was spoiled and something didn't go my way so I ran away. That was the last straw. I punched the guy in the face. Then we started to fight and for some reason... I lost." Confusion was etched on both Jason and Dick's faces. "Bad things had been happening to me all day. I failed my test, I got detention, Mrs Harks embarassed me in front of the entire class, I got into a fight and lost, got a week's worth of detentions because of it and things have just turned out for the worst for me. I should have won that fight, Dick. I'm strong, I've been learning martial arts, not only that, but it was Batman who trained me. The Batman. All my years out in the street made me tough. I'm way tougher than those assholes. But I lost, and now I can't seem to focus on anything. Tim and I even made a bet to see who was the smartest. I'm older than him, I've learnt more, but he still won. I lost ten dollars. That's not much seeing as who our Dad is, but still. I lost. Then Damian and I had a little car race to see who'd win... bit pathetic, really, but... he won! I was defeated... by a toddler! Then Cass just had to one up me in chess." Jason took a break from his rambling and sighed. "I know it was just a chess game, but ever since those guys beat me up, I've been losing at everything."
"Wait a minute... was this last week's Monday when you came home with that black eye?"
"Yeah..."
"I knew you didn't run into a pole!" Dick said, immediately mentally beating himself up for believing that pathetic excuse. Dick kneaded his forehead with his fist. "Does Bruce know?"
"No."
"I thought not." Dick sighed.
"Then why did you ask?"
"I don't know, why did you lose?" Dick retorted bitterly. He hadn't meant to sound so sharp, he was just beating himself up for not knowing what was wrong with his little brother. Unfortunately, Jason didn't know that and immediately became defensive.
"See? I knew you would just rub it in my face!" He snarled at Dick and immediately leapt up from his bed. That was when Dick realized his mistake and stood up too.
"No, Jason! You took it the wrong way! I wasn't rubbing anything in your face, I swear. Look, I'm sorry, OK? Let's just calm down and just forget that I said that."
Jason was still giving Dick a death squint, but atleast he calmed down... a bit. Dick then remembered what they had been talking about in the first place.
"I mean Jesus, Jason! You didn't have to get into a fight on my account."
"Yes I did. And they weren't just dissing you, Dick. They were dissing this entire family. Even Alfred!"
"Really?" Dick asked quizically.
"Fine, I just made that up. They didn't say anything about Alfred. But still! They were being disrespectful little shits!"
"Don't let Bruce hear you say that." Dick smiled at his brother's choice of words.
"I'm pretty sure he'd agree with me."
"So why haven't you told him yet?"
"Because... I'm kind of scared of how he'll react." Jason admitted shamefully. "I had a weeks' worth detentions and because the only days you can go to detention are Tuesdays and Thursdays, I still have a detention left."
"And you just served four detentions without Bruce or anyone else's knowledge?"
"Yeah. I just had to tell Alfred that I was hanging out with a bunch of friends."
"So you lied to Alfred?"
"Yes. And don't even start," Jason pointed a finger warniningly at Dick, "You've done it before to get out of trouble, too."
Dick shifted uncomfortably. "Well, yes, but I felt guilty about it."
"Who said I didn't?" Jason said, but Dick just ignored him. Jason had fought three older guys... for him? While he was truly touched by his brother's actions and surprised that he lost the fight, he was also a bit disappointed that Jason would just start a fight. Although really, Dick knew that it was those goons -whoever they were- that had started it.
"Seriously Jay. You really shouldn't have fought them, even if you were sure that you could beat them. Just because you can beat someone up, doesn't mean you should. You should have just ignored them and walked away."
"Oh? Like you?" Jason asked, glaring daggers at Dick. Dick sent him a confused look. "You're such a hypocrite. You wouldn't have walked away. You would have kicked their asses!"
"But you didn't." Dick pointed out and Jason gritted his teeth. Dick said he wouldn't make fun of him...
"Are you mocking me, dickhead?" Jason seethed.
"Of course not! And don't call me a dickhead! I'm just saying, that you shouldn't give them the satisfaction of getting to you. Yes, I would probably have beaten them up for what they said in the heat of the moment. But I'm not perfect; I make mistakes."
"I'm not perfect either."
"You are to me, Jaybird." Dick said and Jason froze. He didn't know how to react to that.
"Er... thanks?" he said, not knowing what to say.
"I'm serious, dude. You're way better than me."
"Nuh uh." Jason denied.
"It's true. How could you not be perfect? You're my little brother."
"Well- I... I. See... you're basically everyone's favourite brother!" Jason exclaimed. Dick just shook his head, a smile forming on his face.
"Jason, I- you know what? Never mind. If you want to get into fights, that's Bruce's problem, not mine. It's only my problem if you get hurt. Just win next time, OK?" Dick said, knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to get through to Jason. There were going to be more fights, no question about it. Dick just hoped that Jason wouldn't get hurt.
"You have my word." Jason grinned. Dick leaned forward to ruffle his hair again when Jason batted his hand away. So Dick just gathered him up in a bone-crunching hug.
"You're such a cutie pie! Yes, you are! Yes, you are!" Dick teased in one of those `baby´ voices. Jason looked disgusted and tried to get away from his big brother, but to no avail.
"Gah! Get off me!" Jason ordered. Dick just threw Jason on the bed and tickled him mercilessly.
"Never." Dick growled playfully in response. Jason aimed a kick at Dick, but Dick easily dodged it and gave Jason hell. Jason couldn't stop laughing and was nearly breathless when a knock sounded at the door. The two brothers didn't hear it and continued with their little game.
"Jason? I just came to apo-" Cass's voice said as she entered the room and froze at the sight of her big brothers. She smiled softly as the two didn't even notice her. They seemed to be having so much fun. Cass decided to leave them to their own devices when a hand grabbed her arm before she could leave.
"And just where do you think you're going, little miss?" Dick grinned maliciously at his sister. Knowing exactly what he was about to do, Cass's eyes widened and she began to protest, "Dick, I just came here to check on Jason, I should prob-ably leave now." she said and the two brothers exchanged a look before nodding in silent agreement before turning on their little sister. Dick immediately pulled Cass towards himself and Jason pounced on her, tickling her mercilessly. Cass could easily have fought him off, but she just batted him away.
She enjoyed moments like these. She loved her brothers dearly and she knew that they loved her too, but sometimes she felt excluded due to her limited vocabulary. Things got worse when Dick decided to tickle her. Now Cass was really scared. Dick was the tickle master of the house, feared by all. Cass fell down on Jason's bed, leaving Dick and Jason an opening. They immediately tickled the life out of her. Now, Cassandra was never the one to scream, shout out or giggle a lot. But she let out a sort of short-lived high-pitched squeal when Dick tickled her extremely ticklish spot (she never had a ticklish spot before she met Dick). It surprised both her elder brothers and they stopped in shock and Cass dashed out of the room before they attempted to torture her again. The two eldest siblings stared at one another before Jason smirked and raced off to chase their little sister. Dick grinned happily and chased him in return. Jason accidently collided with Timmy.
"Sorry there, buddy." he apologised quickly before taking off again. Dick, however, decided to include Timmy in their little game. Evil. He grabbed Timmy and hoisted him up with one arm (boy, did Timmy put on weight since the last time this happened) and followed Jason who was pursuing Cass. Little did they know that Damian had managed to get out of his cot (how did he even get in...?) and was gleefully toddling after Dick. Jason managed to corner Cass in the living room.
"No way out, little sis. Surrender and I may decide to take a small mercy on you." Jason smirked evilly.
"Never!" Cass yelled before trying to run out of the room only to be caught by Dick. Wow, Dick was stronger than he thought. Lifting a ten year old with one arm and an eight year old with the other, Dick tried his best not to collapse. He set Cass and Tim down and Tim tried to escape, only to be caught by Jason.
"This isn't fair! Why don't you and Dick go against each other?" the little genius shouted desperately at Jason. Jason's only reply was showing Tim his trademark smirk. And so started the tickle war of the century. Jason tickled Tim, Dick tickled Cass, Dick tickled Jason, Cass tickled Tim, the cycle never ended and it was all against all. The four siblings did not notice the fifth Wayne child and youngest sibling crawl in. Damian managed to stand up on his legs and waved his arms about, wanting to join in. So he did what he did best; he took one of his toy trucks that was still in the living room and whacked Tim with it.
"Ow!" Tim yelped and looked down to see Damian. "Time out!" he called out to Jason.
"Sorry, bro. No such thing as `time out´ here." Jason grinned.
"Damian hit me!" Tim exclaimed, pointing at the guilty party. Damian turned to look at Dick, his wide grey eyes boring into his soul.
"I did not!" Damian denied adorably.
"Yes, you did!" Tim glared at his little brother.
"I deed not, I deed not, I deed not!" Damian said quickly.
"Jason!" Tim exclaimed, giving Jason the `tell him to stop´ look.
"Hmm, looks like little Dami is in need of a lesson." Jason said and Dick, who had secretly been listening in while wrestling with Cass (to see who could pin who first...long story), came over to his brothers as Cass followed him.
"What's Damian done this time?"
"That foul demon hit me!" Tim exclaimed with narrowed eyes.
"Hey, hey. Damian isn't a demon. He's just a toddler, he didn't know any better." Dick said reprovingly. Tim's jaw dropped in disbelief and when no one was looking but Tim, Damian sent him a smug look.
"No need to worry though, Timmy-boy! Dami here is about to learn his lesson." Jason said manacingly. Dick frowned.
"Go easy on him, Jay. He's only a toddler."
"I know." Jason replied without dropping the grin as Tim fumed beside him. Jason scooped up his youngest sibling and began attacking Damian's stomach with tickles. Cass and Dick resumed their little who-can-pin-down-the-opposition game and Tim, feeling a little like an outcast, stormed off to his bedroom. He took out a water balloon and rushed over to the tap. He knew what he was about to do was so, so wrong and that he'd be in so much trouble but he didn't care. His siblings were ignoring him and he didn't like it. Once the water balloon was half-way filled with water, Tim turned off the tap and tied a knot. His water balloon was ready. One down, three to go...
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Dick, Jason, Cass and Damian played and chased each other around the house. None of them noticed Tim spying on them, a basket of water balloons in his hand. Well, Cass did, but she obviously didn't think of it as a threat as she continued to chase her brothers. Tim took a water balloon, aimed it at her and threw it as hard as he could. Unfortunately for Tim, Cass's super sharp reflexes saved her from getting soaked and the splash that the balloon emitted on contact with the wall alerted the others. Tim, taking advantage of their shock, started throwing water balloons wildly at random. Two of them hit the spot. One hit Dick's leg, the other hit Jason's stomach and the last one (the one that missed) almost hit Damian's head, causing Damian to burst into tears.
"TIM! You can't throw a water balloon at a toddler!" Dick scolded Tim angrily as he comforted his baby brother while Cass raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her younger brother and Jason tutted and shook his head. Tim narrowed his eyes at them all before turning on his heel and ran upstairs to refill.
"Good going, Dick. You made him upset." Jason said. Not that he really cared.
"He hurt Damian!"
"Guys..." Cass said and pointed upwards at her brothers' confused looks. They could hear tap water three eldest siblings realised what Tim was going to do and went to find their own stashes of water balloons. They were supposed to use those outside the Manor and they weren't supposed to aim at any living being (unless if said being is a bad guy), but no one was home to enforce the rules. Tim had just started a water balloon war. The siblings attacked each other with the water-filled balloons, mindful not to hit Damian.
"Ah!" Tim exclaimed as he was ambushed by Jason and he dropped his ammunition. With no ammo, Tim was practically defenseless and was now the main target of everyone in the room... that included Damian, even though his preferred weapon of choice was a toy truck. Dick rushed back to get more water balloons but was hit by Cass as he was filling his water balloon up with water. "Hey! We're only allowed to fight downstairs!" he said noisily at her.
"Says who?" Cass replied with a shrug. Tim gaped at his supposedly angelic sister and quickly filled up all of his water balloons as Cass headed downstairs to attack her older brothers.
"Avast ye, ya yella bellied barnacle!" Jason's shout could be heard all throughout the house.
"Barnacles?" Dick said in confusion before getting hit in the face by Jason's water balloon. "That's it! I ain't going easy on you anymore!"
"Easy on me? Ha! You wish, Dickybird!" Jason exclaimed and hopped away from Dick's water balloon. The siblings continued their war and did not notice that three hours had passed since Alfred left them on their own. The kitchen, a tiny portion of the living room and Tim's bedroom were soaking wet. They didn't know that Alfred was already at the door, fumbling with the house keys and struggling to hold everything. Alfred would rather make one trip carrying everything than have to go back for seconds. He finally got the right key and opened the door. He hummed as he walked and when he reached the kitchen, he dropped everything that he was carrying.
The kitchen was a mess. Not only was it soaking wet, but there were water balloon bits that littered the place. Alfred clutched his heart as he saw that one of the doors on one of the fridges (they had more than one fridge now) was wide open. He was just about to call Dick and demand an explanation when Tim came running in the room. He stared in horror at Alfred.
"Uh oh." Tim said rather loudly and ran away. Alfred was about to follow him when he almost slipped on the slippery floor.
"MASTER RICHARD!" he bellowed. He had a surprisingly strong voice for his age. On one of the upper floors, Dick could hear the muffled yell and cringed. He took his time going downstairs and when he was at the kitchen entrance, he was met with a furious butler. He was about to say something when Jason popped up out of nowhere and threw a water balloon at Dick's face. Again. Alfred gasped in horror. "Master Jason!" he reprimanded, his moustache twitching.
"Alfred!" Jason responded in an equal amount of horror.
"Master Dick, Master Jason, care to explain what the bloody hell is going on?" Alfred demanded, trying to remain calm. Jason and Dick exchanged a look. Alfred only swore when he was really, really mad. Jason bit his lip and ducked his head.
"W-well, you see-"
"It was my fault." everyone turned in the direction of the source of the voice. Tim.
"Your fault, Master Timothy?" Alfred raised an eyebrow, evidently thinking that Tim was taking the fall to get Dick out of trouble.
"Yes sir. You see-"
"No. It was my fault." Cassandra said, popping up out of nowhere just as Jason had. Dick blinked and Jason rubbed his eyes. Where did she come from?
"My fauwt." little Damian squeaked. Alfred shook his head as Tim stared at Damian in disbelief.
"I don't care whose fault it is. Dick, tell me what happened." Alfred commanded.
"We had a water balloon fight." Dick admitted, ashamed of himself. Alfred understood that kids wanted to have fun but...
"In the house?" he asked rather stiffly.
"Sorry sir." Dick said and looked to his siblings, silently indicating that they should all apologise too.
"Sorry, Alfred." Jason, Cass and Tim said in unison.
"Sowwy Aufwed." Damian said, bowing his head. Alfred's eyes seemed to soften a little. He took in a deep breath and sighed.
"All of you will be cleaning up." he stated firmly. This statement was met with groans and protests.
"What about Damian?" Tim asked.
"Well of course he's not cleaning up! He's only two years old! He couldn't have possibly contributed to this. Unless... you gave him...was he involved in any way in this?" Alfred asked suspiciously but was only met with silence. "Was he?" he repeated a little more forcefully. If Dick allowed a two year old to use a water balloon...
"Of course not!" Dick protested in horror. "He didn't do anything, Alfred, I swear!"
Alfred closed his eyes and gave a small nod.
"Very well. Master Dick, I am very disappointed in you. I expected that at fifthteen, you'd be a lot more responsible." Alfred said, causing Dick to feel guilty. Alfred's anger, he could take. But his disappointment? No. And what about Bruce? How would he react?
"I know sir. I'm sorry." Dick apologised again.
"It wasn't his fault! I kind of started it." Tim said, twirling his fingers, starting the whole thing up again.
"Don't be silly, Timmy. I did." Cass said, not wanting her little brother to get in trouble.
"You all siwwy! I did!" Damian stated, probably not knowing what they were talking about in the first place. The ghost of a smile appeared on Alfred's face. It was so sweet seeing them take the fall for one another. They may fight sometimes and not be related by blood, but they were true siblings.
"As I have told you all before, I do not care who started it. Dick was in charge and he allowed things to escalate." Alfred said and Dick knew he was right. He was the eldest, he should have taken charge of the situation. This, though, did not help and made Dick feel even more guilty. If they had just moved the fight outside, none of them would be in trouble (or actually, they might have been because wet and dirty clothes and Alfred were not a match made in heaven). But now not only was he in trouble, but his siblings were too. Some big brother he was.
"Are you going to tell Bruce?" It was a stupid question, Dick knew, but he couldn't stop himself from asking. Alfred looked at each individual in the room with a blank expression. He stared at each hopeful, adorable face.
"As your father, he has the right to know the truth." Alfred stated plainly and Dick and his siblings knew all hope was lost. "But," Dick looked up again hopefully, noticing the spark of amusement in Alfred's eyes, "if you clean up before he arrives, I see no reason to tell him-"
He couldn't say anymore. He was cut off by every child or teenager racing out of the room to hopefully dry all wet things and clean up the plastic bits of balloons.
"Hey Alfie! Where's the mop?" Dick's voice rang from the next room. Alfred sighed and shook his head fondly as he left to show Dick where the cleaning equipment was.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Dick sighed happily. He and his siblings had succesfully managed to mop up the kitchen, get rid of the water balloon pieces, soak up the water in Tim's room and destroy (clean) any evidence that there had been any water incident. Dick and his younger siblings heard the sound of clanging keys and knew that Alfred and Bruce were home (Alfred had gone to pick up Bruce from a... thing). Dick ran over to the sofa and jumped on it while playing with a fussy Damian. It was Cass this time who curled up into an armchair and read a book quietly, making herself as small as possible. Jason and Tim were playing cards.
"Hey Dad." Jason said as Bruce walked in.
"Hi Bruce." Dick smiled at Bruce.
"Hello, boys. I see you've been behaving yourselves."
"Yep."
"When don't we?"
"No question about it." Dick, Jason and Tim said all at the same time. Bruce noticed the book that Cass was reading.
"`Little Women´. Well done, Cass." Bruce praised his daughter and ruffled her hair. Cass smiled in return. Reading was sort-of-but-not-really easier than speaking. "It's a good book too."
This peaked Dick's interest. "I didn't know you read that book."
"I haven't." Bruce stated plainly and Dick rolled his eyes. Of course. "But there are a lot of things you don't know about me, Dick."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Dick said before Damian realised that his father was in the room.
"Fwader!" he exclaimed, crawling over to Bruce. Bruce gently picked his son up and allowed a small smile to come across his face. He bounced Damian on his hip, making Damian giggle and Dick and Cass smile as Tim scowled in jealousy (he used to be the youngest, after all) and Jason focus on winning the card game (he was not about to lose again!). Bruce turned back to his other four children.
"So how was your day?" he asked.
Dick, Jason, Cass and Tim all exchanged looks. None of them could think up of something quick enough, not even Jason. If they took too long to answer, Bruce would get suspicious.
"I ain't telling him." Jason said flippantly before returning to the card game.
The End
A/N: Wow. I just finished my first fanfiction! Yay! I'm really not sure if I did good or not and I didn't know how else to end the story so I ended it like that. So I'm not qite happy with the ending, but what's done is done. So was it good? Bad? You can tell me in your review ;)