Hello, This is one shot, and characters are definitely ooc, since it's Reversed AU. Thank you to princessofparodies54 for Arabic translations! Here you can have some basic info about this AU, before you start to read!
Damian- Reversed age 24
Alias; Night Guard (Made up by author) Met Bruce when he was ten, like in the canon.
Tim-Reversed age 19
Alias; Red Robin. Met Bruce when he was eleven, became his side kick year and half later.
Jason- Reversed age 15
Alias; Blue Jay (Made up by author). Met Bruce when he was eleven/almost twelve. Became a sidekick when 13.
Dick- Reverse age 12
Alias; Robin. Met Bruce when eleven, Became sidekick pretty much in a week. (Of course against Bruce's wishes and to other's amusement. Bruce had no chances in that argument.)
Bruce- Age; The hell I should know? Still Batman. (Very, very tired Batman. Being guardian of four fighting obsessed and adrenaline junkie boys can do that to you.)
Alfred- Age; Immortal.
Welp, that was pretty much it! Have fun and please don't kill me!
~O~
Damian Wayne, aka Night Guard, was many things;
Proud, intelligent, mature, strong by both physical and mental standards, unsocial, uncooperative, rude, sarcastic... The list goes on and on. (Not so much in a positive way thought...) Most people also believed strongly that Damian didn't care about anyone. And they were right for the most part. (Night Guard was a little more complex than that.)
Damian didn't care about people. Well, in his words, he didn't care about 'Annoying and ignorant peasants that think they are superior to him'. Other than that, he was actually pretty fine with civilians. As long as they didn't talk to him, touch him or look at him... Yeah, he was still working on his public social skills. (Colin was expectation of course, but he was one of the few he could imagine tolerating.)
But what many weren't aware of, was that Damian was actually very possessive over the things he DID care about. Those who did know, were mostly those who Damian considered as his and cared about. And well, if all of them didn't know that, it wasn't like Damian was going to educate them about this fact. (Assassin or not, that would be just too fucking humiliating.)
Damian was currently staring at his younger (adoptive) brothers; Timothy Drake-Wayne (Aka Red Robin), Jason Todd-Wayne (aka Blue Jay), and Richard Grayson-Wayne, or Dick as he preferred to be called, (aka Robin), with a blank face.
The said trio were wrestling on the floor of the Wayne mansion's living room, screaming, yelling and laughing in volumes that would make a stranger think that there was a flock of roosters fighting in the room. Jason seemed to have the upper hand at the moment, though Tim wasn't going down quietly and Dick was looking like ready to turn the tables.
Damian followed their playful game from the door way with almost a warm glint in his eyes. While it had taken time at the start, he had grown to like his chosen family. Damian had been ten when his mother, Talia Al Ghul, brought him to meet his father for the first time and left him under his father's care.
And from there, his world had been turned upside down without any warning.
(It had been so... DIFFERENT. Everything that he would have had to done to make his mother acknowledge him, was only making Bruce more disappointed, and Damian wanted his Father to be proud of his son so bad, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do- In the end they needed Alfred's help to get things sorted out.)
Their road together had been anything but smooth. From the very start, they were facing each others head first, neither one willing to give in even for an inch. Bruce DID want to get to know his son, but he had no idea of what he was supposed to be doing. He DID KNOW however, that he loved his son, and he had no intensions of letting his only son come along to his crusade. But he forgot that Damian wasn't an ordinary ten year old, and he soon grew restless. (So, in the end, like a father, like a son.)
First he actually asked if he could join his father on patrols, since he was more than capable of defending himself. (Bruce was actually very proud that he had swallowed his pride for that small moment. He did tell Damian about that, at some point.) But of course, Bruce immediately shot the idea down. It took many, many sneak outs, thug fights and arguments, for Bruce to finally agree to take Damian on a patrol with him, if only for the sole reason that he could watch after his damn son.
From there on, their relationship started to grow more fond in a slow, bumpy but steady space. Thought, expect for some occasional hugs or other actions like that, those things were pretty rare between them. That didn't mean that they loved each others any less. Damian had actually calmed down considerably when he got Titus and Alfred the cat. They helped him to release so much stress, and he was slightly more cheerful after gaining his two companions. (And of course there was the magnificent case of the Batcow. Bruce still wasn't very sure what happened that night.)
Then, when he finally found his place with his Father, they came along.
Tim was definitely the hardest one for him to accept, being the first one out of the trio to enter Damian's and Bruce's lives. At the time he and his father had been in a very heated... Disagreement, and Batman had been seen without his sidekick, Little Bat, for a long time. While his father continued his night life as Batman, Damian had started a new life under the name of Night Guard. He lived away from the mansion, in one of his safe houses that was located on the other end of the city, as far away from Batman's territory as possible, without him actually leaving Gotham. (He had come to like the city by then, and he had no intension of leaving.)
He and Batman actively avoided one another, which had eventually proved to be a bad idea.
Imagine Damian jumping on the roof tops as Night Guard, when a small (Seriously, Tim had looked more like a seven year old than eleven) kid jumped out from the shadows, frantically trying to tell him that Bataman was in trouble and needed help... That was one of those interesting nights that gave Damian a headache when he thought back on them.
(Tim often brought it back when they were fighting, if only to prove that he had managed to catch him by surprise that night. Damian had to use some serious will power not to kill the kid.)
In the end, he and Bruce came into an agreement, and Timothy Drake become Batman's new side kick, the Red Bat. Tim did change his vigilante name after Jason came along, wanting to continue their bird theme and choosing Red Robin as his new alias.
(Damian was secretly glad that the younger boy had created a new name instead of taking his. 'Little Bat' was actually a nickname that his mother had called him as a young child, but only a very few times when they were alone. His father had also adapted this nickname. Bruce's voice was often much softer than usually when he called him that. For those reasons, Damian hold the name dear.)
He had been sceptical about it for a long time, (And he was still a little annoyed that he had been replaced) but he made it his mission to make sure that the boy didn't get himself killed. That would just be troublesome.
While Bruce and Pennyworth mostly handled Tim's training, (As Damian was known to be rather... Ruthless. They wanted to train the boy, not KILL HIM.) Damian would every now and then help Tim with his form if he was struggling and even taught him some of his own moves.
While they were never very cuddly or touchy with each others, they DID have their moments. Once in a while, they would be found from the library, both sitting in bean bags that Tim had subtly brought there, with Tim reading a book that Damian may have recommended, and Damian sketching something. It also helped that aside from Bruce, Tim was the only one who understood Damian's mother language, Arabic completely. (Still, they probably-no, DEFINITELY fought the most out of the siblings.)
Next in came Jason, the little troublemaker that had actually managed to steal three of Batmobile's feels.
(Damian wasn't sure whenever to be horrified, amused or ashamed for his Father, so he decided to be neutral. He would also deny to his grave that he snickered when Bruce came in with a fuming street kid. The second Jason opened his mouth, Tim immediately liked the kid. Damian on the other hand could feel the migraine coming from miles away.)
Jason had been a ball of anger, frustration and fear, who slashed out at anyone who came close to him. At first he was completely assured that Bruce would be throwing him out of the mansion the next day.
(Yeah right; Bruce had a much worse with Damian. Not that Jason was EASY. It was that while Jason had been a whole new force of nature on his own, but at least the kid didn't have a sword/dagger on him at all times. Bruce was still a little bitter about the time that Damian had half-accidentally slashed his favourite shirt to shreds while in a mood.)
When Jason finally calmed down and understood that he was there to stay, he started to get more energetic and cheerful. It was actually pretty nice chance of space to have some laughter echoing the mansion. But then Jason started getting restless. Damian and Tim could already see the pattern here, and they tried to warn Bruce, but the man wanted to be optimistic and just said that things would be different this time. (And didn't that work out just splendidly...)
Long story short, Jason soon become a hero trainee, (with Bruce wondering why the universe hated him) going by the name Blue Jay.
Damian also noted that the presence of the younger boys seemed to make Bruce... Lighter. He wasn't as tense as before, and he actually smiled more often. (Damian was startled to realise that he was the same.)
Then there was The Joker accident...
That was probably the closest case that the Bat clan had come to killing someone. Damian pretty sure that if he had offered to end Joker then, Batman wouldn't have argued. (Well, aside from Damian, the closest case anyway. Bruce still wasn't quite alright with it, but Damian had promised that he didn't kill unless it was his last resort.)
Bruce had been lucky that both Tim and Damian had been out that night, or they might have actually lost Jason. Jason was unconscious for a week, and he was under a strict bed rest for three more. Bruce had hardly slept until Jason woke up, and Damian had been pretty much in charge of everything until his Father deemed that Jason was heathy enough physically. Tim was able to get Bruce to get some sleep and to eat every now and then, but other wise the man was only ever absent from Jason's bedside for patrols, until the youth was on his own feet again.
But Jason still suffered from night terrors and panic attacks. They did drop to much fever as time went on, but they were still there. And Bruce or Pennyworth wouldn't always be there, (not for the lack of trying, thought) so Tim and Damian took it upon themselves to also help their brother. Tim was able to talk Jason out of a panic attack, whenever one occurred. The two of them would play videogames at night when they couldn't sleep. (Tim himself also suffered from nightmares very often, so Jason had plenty of company at night.)
When those failed, or when it was particularly hard night and Tim was also too shaken or unavoidable, they would go to Damian. Damian didn't mind. He never called them out about it, and he was actually helpful.
His methods changed pretty often; other times he would make them meditate, some times he allowed them to sleep in his bed while he watched over them or told them stories. Stories about the endless desserts of sand, of the warm wind that blew over the land and the smell of spices that hung in the air. He used his ability to mimic voices actively while story telling, claiming it to be for practice. (He always had a rather fond looking expression when he told those stories.) Some nights he just sat there, silent and collective while petting their heads, like they were Titus or Alfred the cat.
Then there were the most restless nights, that they spent sparing/rough housing each others. (Jason liked these the most. He was never one to stay put.)
(Even Bruce and Damian had rough nights. And while Damian had claimed to be too old for it, Bruce's bed was always open to them for cuddling.)
When Bruce brought Dick home, Damian, Jason, Tim and Alfred were all certain that the man had a serious obsession over little boys with black hair and blue eyes. (And Bruce didn't deny it. He had been about to roll his eyes, before stopping to think. He paled, but he never said anything.) Dick had them all around his little finger in no time, but that didn't mean that the youngest bat wasn't a nuisance of his own. After a serious of events, Dick became part of the Bat clan as Robin, and he turned into the brightest sunshine that the mansion had seen in years.
And the biggest trickster too.
Seriously, Damian almost lost a count of how many pranks the twelve year old had done over the year he had been living in the manor. And when Dick joined forces with Jason and Tim? No one was safe. (Expect Alfred. No prank was worthy of the man's wrath.) Damian was normally just peeved about them, but few times he had actually lost his temper so badly that he had chased three of them around the mansion for hours, throwing batarangs and waving his katana at them.
But over all, while they drove Damian crazy with their antics, he found that he didn't want them to be any other way.
Damian shook himself out of his thoughts as he focused back to the mess in front of him.
Tim and Dick had finally pinned Jason, and at the moment they were tickling him without any mercy. Damian was half temped to just leave them be, and go to patrol with his Father alone.
But he shook his head. They were supposed to be leaving in a moment, and Damian's side still stung from last night. It had been a rather sever for past few nights, since the criminals of Gotham had been very active lately. The only reason why the three youngest had so much energy, was because Bruce had a rule that anyone under seventeen wasn't allowed to fight any major villains like Joker or Deathstroke, etc. And even then Tim was the best one out of them to avoid direct fighting.
He and father on the other hand, were beat. They would definitely use help tonight.
"Jason, Timothy, Richard, stop fooling around and get ready for tonight's patrol. Father is already in the cave, and he is waiting us to appear any minute." Damian finally announced, making the trio stop.
"AhAAHAaa...Hehehee... Huff...Huff... sure, if these two would kindly fuck off from my back." Damian rolled his eyes at Jason, but gave the other two a gesture to make them move.
"Thank you."
"But you do know that this means Tim and I won~?" Dick grinned, shooting behind Damian after making the comment. Jason glared at the youngest boy, but made no move to give a chase.
"That's a foul move you rat." Jason frowned, (pouted) making Damian roll his eyes as he started to march towards the cave.
"Yeah, and you left me alone you traitor!" Tim snarled, dodging as Jason tried to catch him into a headlock. While Tim WAS nineteen, and he wasn't particularly small for his age, just thin, Jason was very muscular fifteen year old who would no doubt become as big as Bruce when he grew. He already reached Tim's eye brows. Tim was more about speed and accuracy, not brutal strength. (Still stronger than an average man, thou.)
"Nope. Nope. Noooot this time Jay."
"Aw don't be such a sport spoil Big Wing!" Jason grinned. He crackled while chasing Tim and Dick down to the cave, Damian trailing after them, muttering something about "imbeciles".
~O~
Dick was ready first, and he was quickly next to Bruce, already climbing to the passenger seat of the Batmobile.
His costume was designed so that it allow Dick to have free movement and to be as light as possible on him. And it was also definitely the most bright coloured out of the whole Bat clan. And thank god Damian, Tim and Jason had seen the first designs, 'cause there was no way they were letting a twelve year old kid jumping around the town in some underwear. (After they heatedly pointed out this little fact to sleep driven Bruce, man made the needed changes in a heart beat before falling asleep on his feet. Only Night Guard, Red Robin and Blue Jay went out for few nights. That time Bruce slept more than he had in years.)
Next Tim came out, with Jason jogging after him. Tim's uniform was kind of a mix between Batman and Robin, but it definitely had his own touch to it.
Blue Jay's costume was actually the only one without a cape, but Jason stated that it would just be in his way. Jason's fighting style relied more on his strength, and he wasn't all that flexible, so his costume looked the most normal out of them all.
He had a black body suit, with a dark grey jacket, that's hem went slightly past his waist. The hem and the back of his sleeves had a similar blue, black and white pattern as the on found from Bluejay's wings, and the sleeves had cuts to allow free movement. Jason also had a similar utility belt as Red Robin, just brown, and to top it all, he had a blue domino mask, that covered the bridge of his nose, like a little peek.
(Over all, they had one grown man jumping around on the roof tops dressed as a Bat, and three age varying teenagers running a bird theme.)
'How did this become my life again?' Damian wondered for the thousandth time as he mounted his motorcycle.
Night Guard's uniform consisted a black body suit, that had red speed arrow marks, with green out linings on both upper arms. Damian had utility belt like everyone else, black boots, that reached his knee and where he also hid some of his batarangs. His black cape reached the back of his knees, and it had bat's wing patter on the bottom, and a hood that covered his head and face.
At first, Bruce had been against the hood, saying it would get in the way, but he gave in after Damian proved that he was able to fight while blinded, so hood would be no problem. His domino mask was dark green, and at it's ends it had spikes that curled around the sides of his face. On his hands, he had dark green fingerless gloves, that allowed him to wield his katana with a firm grip, which was in it's sheet on his back. (Damian outright refused to part from his sword, it was part of his soul and his pride. And since Bruce trusted that Damian wouldn't kill anyone, he let him keep it.)
( The sword unnerved anyone who saw the gloomy figure of the Night Guard, whenever they were from justice League or Arkham. All expect the Bat clan flinched whenever Damian would draw out his katana, or even touch it lightly. This made the rest of the superheroes respect them even more, for they were able to stand face to face with the merciless Demon...
Damian of course, was very pleasant with the reactions he got. Bruce just sighed, thinking that he was too used to this.)
~O~
Patrol had been pretty calm so far. Batman and Robin had handled few robberies, while Blue Jay and Red Robin caught a smuggler and few individual shooters attacking the civilians. Night Guard had been mostly just making his rounds, (since the mere sight of him was rather imitating), looking for anything suspicious. He zipped between the cars with his motorbike, enjoying the moment of quiet.
'Thought, quiet never lasts long in Gotham...' He thought with a small scowl.
Suddenly, Damian had a very familiar feeling. He immediately scanned his surroundings, spotting at least three familiar looking ninjas jumping on the roofs. He stiffened when he realised that they weren't following him like usually, instead they continued moving towards East, like Night Guard wasn't on their tails. 'I have a bad feeling...'
"Night Guard to Bat clan, state your status immediately. I repeat; state your status immediately." Night Guard quickly contacted the others with a comlink, and after registering all of their locations he cursed out loud.
"Night Guard, what is it?" Red Robin quickly reacted, now concerned. Night Guard speeded up to keep tailing the ninjas on the roof tops while he replied.
"Night Guard to Red Robin and Blue Jay, I have spotted three members of the League of Shadows heading your way, and I'm high tailing them. For now, find a spot without civilians."
There was a stiff silence, before Batman's voice broke it.
"I'm almost there. Red Robin, you take the Batmobile and get Robin and Blue Jay to the cave as soon as possible. Avoid contact with the League. Nigh Guard and I will distract them and throw them off your tail." Night Guard could almost see Robin's and Blue Jay's expressions, and quickly put in before they protested.
"Blue Jay and Robin; DO AS YOU ARE ORDERED. Do NOT try to make any contact with the League, and follow Red Robin." While he snarled in a harsh tone, bats could hear the worry and ... Fear? in his voice. Robin and Blue Jay immediately followed the command.
"Right..." Came from Robin, but Blue Jay just gave a grunt as he moodily followed Red Robin as they jumped to an abounded street. For a while it was silent, and Night Guard wasn't sure if he was actually breathing till he heard the coms rustling again.
"Red Robin to Night Guard, I have Robin and Blue Jay, and I'm now taking them to the cave." Night Guard gave a small sight, before he perched up. Red Robin's voice was tense, and Night Guard could tell he wanted to say something else, but the other was hesitating.
"Red Robin, say what you have to say, I'm almost on the League members." While Night Guard's voice was strict it had a warmish tone underneath, which made Red Robin sigh.
"Don't do anything stupid, Demon."
"Of course not, I'm not you Drake."
"No names on the field Demon." Night Guard gave out a huff before he caught up to the League members, who finally showed that they had been waiting for him. 'I hate family reunions...'
~O~
"... Why did Batman and Night Guard sent us back?" Robin questioned, seriously concerned. It wasn't like Night Guard to snap at them like that. (Well, he did snap all the time, but not like THAT.)
"Yeah, we can handle ourselves just fine! And he said there were more than one, so the two of them would have much better chances of beating them up if we were there too!" Blue Jay commented, sounding annoyed and frustrated that he was bulled away from field. In the back of his mind, the fifteen year old still had a thought that they didn't trust him, and he was constantly trying to prove himself.
But Red Robin knew his brother, and right now, he could see and hear that they were actually concerned for their guardian and brother.
"The League of Shadows is no laughing matter. You two aren't ready to face them, let alone fight. Batman and Night Guard want to ensure you two are safe, before confronting them about their presence in Gotham. Ra knows very well that this is Batman's area; he wouldn't wander here if he wasn't planning something that will effect the Bat clan directly." Red Robin explained as he made a tight curve.
"And they won't be fighting alone. I'll go back to join them once I get you two to Agent A." Both boys started protesting after that, and Red Robin instantly regretted he opened his mouth.
"NO. You two are too young, and Night Guard won't hesitate to maim me if something happens to you two."
The all jumped when they heard Batman cut in through their coms. "Red Robin, you STAY IN THE CAVE TOO. I've spotted Talia; Night Guard and I will handle this."
"But B-!" Red Robin was about to argue, and they both knew he would win if he got a second word out, so Batman beat him to it.
"No. It's an order." And that was the end of it. Then, there was a rustle, and Red could hear Night Guard grumble something.
"Keep them out of trouble Red." And then the line went quiet.
The trio fell silent, frustrated, afraid and so God damn worried. 'This has to be some kind of superpower; there is no way a normal human could make such a scene.' Tim thought with a slight growl, wondering how the hell he ended up here. 'Right; I couldn't keep my nose out of the drama that goes around Batman...'
Jason was cursing Bruce in all four languages he knew, like the man would suddenly appear and scold him for such use of language. 'Cause B can definitely read thoughts. There is no other explanation.' (Damian wasn't even a question; the older male wasn't even a human if you asked anyone.) Dick was clearly troubled, and he got this look, like he was about to ask something.
"Hey, why did Night Guard react... Like that? I haven't heard/seen him so on edge before." Red Robin instantly gave a small wince, he could just see the bat-glare that the oldest would give him if spoke now. Jason saw that Tim was still hesitating, so he decided to give him a little bush.
"Yeah, it wasn't like Demon. He sounded seriously fucked up." Jason agreed, also confused.
"... You heard it yourselves; Talia Al Ghul is in the city too." At their confused looks, Red Robin gave a grimace. "And while Night Guard definitely isn't very happy to see her again, I don't think that he likes that his mother put her underlings on our tails. And after last time they saw each others? That's not going to be a very warm reunion."
Dick's and Jason's jaws fell down and they just stared at Tim in shock/horror. Then Dick's eyes widened when he remembered one particular document he had seen once when he was sorting through old reports.
"Doesn't the League of Shadows have a bounty over his head?" Red Robin gave a grim nod.
"YUP. Set by Talia Al Ghul herself... She wants him dead. Has wanted for a long time now."
"...Shit."
"Shit indeed Jason..." Tim didn't even comment on the language. "Shit indeed..."
Rest of the ride was very silent.
~O~
"Talia." The name rolled off from Damian's tongue like a venomous acid, but despite this, Talia smiled at him sweetly. It made him sick.
"Damian. Darling." Bruce didn't show any acknowledge to the name. He just stood next to Damian, silent like the shadows around them. (They weren't actually very silent. Damian could hear at least a small dozen of heart beats.)
"What are you doing here? I thought we made it very clear that you and your people weren't welcome here." Damian managed to keep his head, but he still hissed slightly at the end. Batman gave him a slight glance, telling him to calm down. Night Guard bristled, but followed the order. It wouldn't do any good to lose his cool now.
"Why, Damian, aren't I allowed to check in on my son? Damian, I know we have had... Disagreements. But I think it's time that we get over them, and that we return home. Together. We could be mother and son again, we could be a Family once again." Damian gritted his teeth, and he swore that Batman's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"No. No, you aren't allowed to 'check on me' anymore. Not after you put a bounty over my head." Damian's eyes narrowed under his domino mask, and his shoulders rose slightly. "And I don't appreciate that you told your underlings to go after Red Robin and Blue Jay to get attention."
Talia just shrugged with a chuckle. "You know very well as I do that I have no permission to touch them. My father will keep his promise that he will not touch any of the other children of Batman." Her eyes narrowed at Damian.
"You my son however, is not included in that promise."
"I believe I made it very clear that Ra was not to come anywhere near my children. That includes my oldest son." Batman cut in, growling. Talia paused, her smile dropping as she stared straight into the whites of his domino mask.
"And he is mine as well. Therefore, I have a per-"
"NO YOU DO NOT HAVE A PERMISSION!" Night Guard roared, and in a blink of an eye, he was in front of the Demon's daughter, the tip of his katana pressed against her throat. The ninjas acted immediately, but Talia rose her hand to prevent them from interfering. Damian didn't even blink as he kept hissing at his mother.
"You lost your tittle as my mother the second you declared that I was to be killed on sight! Before that, I held some hope that you actually cared, but I see now that I was always, always, just another pawn. Nothing more. But that changed when I decided to stay with Father! I became a threat instead of your perfect heir. YOU gave me away. So never, NEVER, try to take back that claim!"
There was a moment of silence as Damian removed his sword and seethed it, before he returned to his father's side. He stared straight into the eyes of Talia, the Daughter of the Demon, the woman who he had once thought as his mother. Who he had wished would come to get him back to home so many times, back when he first came to Gotham.
Now he really saw what she was. He saw the half-insane look in her eyes. Saw what he could have become. Now she was just another enemy. Just another mission. (He really had wished that things could be different. He really had.)
"And I already am home. This city is my home. My family is here, in Gotham." Night Guard felt Batman stepping closer to him and a comforting present of his father's hand on his shoulder. He shared a secret smile with his father, before his eyes turned slid and they both dropped into fighting stands.
"And you are a threat to them." And the fight broke out.
~O~
Red Robin was pacing back and fort in the batcave, waiting for Damian and Bruce to return. Jason was sitting in the chair by the computer, Dick sitting on his laps. Both were uncharacteristically quiet, and if Tim wasn't so busy worrying over the older duo that was. still. out there, he would have been more concert over the fifteen and twelve year old. He and Alfred had managed to get Dick and Jason to change into their pyjamas, but the two of them were too stubborn to leave the cave.
So now Jason had some grey track pants and a black top with yellow Batman-logo on it, (Christmas present from Tim), and he was probably holding Dick so close partly that he'd just to stay warm, since it was pretty chilly in the cave. Dick wasn't much better with his blue shorts and T-shirt with Superman's logo (Bruce had been so annoyed at Tim...), and he was trying to stay as close to Jason as humanly possible. Tim was still in his Red Robin get up, in case he was called to help, but his cowl was down, showing his worried frown.
"Hatchuu!"
Tim and Jason jumped, before relaxing when they realised that it was just Dick. Tim stopped pacing and came up to them, still glancing towards the entrance every now and then.
"You two should really go upstairs; ask Alfred if he could make you some hot chocolate or something." At the stubborn looks he got, his lips twitched up a little. "I promise I'll call the second they come back."
Even then the two were a little reluctant to leave, until Tim gave them the best bat glare he could muster. 'Still not on the same level as Bruce or Demon, but it got them to move...'
Right then, two motorbikes came screeching in. (He left his bike to Bruce.) Tim's eyes widened when he saw Bruce stumbling as he came down from the bike, while Damian particularly fell to the floor. Before the two of them could say anything, Tim was already calling Alfred as he tried to help them to the med bay.
"Master Timo- OH MY GOODNESS!" Aaand Alfred was here. Tim had gotten Damian to one of the tables, and he was trying to stop the bleeding from his side.
"Quick Alfred! I think his previous wounds have opened up. He needs lots of stitches, so far I have found three fatal wounds, all bleeding heavily-" Before Tim could continue, Damian cracked his eyes open for a millisecond.
"... T'm... are Qaiq Azrd... and Sumanah... Safe..?" It was really sloppy, and Tim saw that Damian was loosing consciousness, so he quickly answered.
"Yeah, yeah, Jason and Dick are safe. But if you aren't awake when they get here, I might not be."
"... Tha's... Fine" Good, good, Damian was talking. Tim needed to distract him while Alfred cleaned the wounds and started to stitche them.
"Geez, thanks for caring. You know I was almost worried for you a sec." Damian gave a huff, that was probably meant to be a laugh.
"Ye'h right Akhi..." Crap, Damian's eye lids were closing.
"If you close those eyes now, I swear I'll sell Alfred the cat and Titus to some run down animal shelter that'll just make a sausage out of them." Damian's eyes magically opened and he gave him such a bat glare that would make Superman take a cover.
"Don' you... Dare..." Tim sighed, moving a little so he wasn't in Alfred's way.
"Yeah, I won't, Akhi. Just... Don't close your eyes until I say you can." Damian didn't exactly nod- that was pretty hard at the moment- but Tim saw that he got it. He gave out a slightly relieved breath as he went back to his work, so that the idiot he was tending didn't bleed to death.
Meanwhile Bruce started cleaning his own wounds, all the while keeping a close eye on them, once a while giving Damian a gentle smile when their eyes met. They were home.
~O~
Several hours later, when Alfred and Tim had patched up both Bruce and Damian, Tim finally changed to some casual clothes. He went up to look for Jason and Dick to tell them that Bruce and Damian were back, only to find them fast asleep on one of the couches. Jason had curled up around Dick, who was peacefully dozing against the older one's chest.
Tim chuckled under his breath and snapped a picture. After putting his phone away, he hesitantly came closer. He felt a little guilty that he had to wake them up, but then again, they had asked to be informed when Bruce and Damian were back. Tim lightly placing his hand on Jason's shoulder, ready to jump back if Jason slashed out. (Waking up one of the bats was always a bad idea, and one was to be ready for anything if they wanted to survive through this.)
As expected, the teenager's eyes snapped open and his whole body tensed up, before relaxing upon seeing his older brother. "...Tim?"
"Yeah; it's me. Bruce and Damian are back. They were pretty beat up, but they'll survive. " Jason's eyes widened, and he was completely awake now. He sat up, Dick still in his hold, as he listened to Tim's repost. "Bruce is writing a report, but Damian is asleep. He is also on pretty heavy pain meds, but knowing him, he'll be up in the morning."
"Can we see them?" Jason was getting impatient, he wanted to see them for himself. Dick mumbled something, but he didn't wake up. Tim shook his head, and gave a pointing look at him when he was about to protest.
"Please Jay, just go to sleep. I can talk with Bruce so you two can skip school tomorrow, but I don't want you two to stay up 'till Demon stirs." Jason hung his head, knowing he had lost this battle, and Tim ruffled his hair. "Their fine. Now go, Bruce should be coming up soon, and if he sees you two here, he's going to flip."
Jason smirked a little, before he gathered Dick so he could be carrying him. Tim watched as his brothers disappeared to upstairs, and gave a sigh. 'Welp, better go and get Bruce to call them as sick for tomorrow.'
With that thought in his mind, Tim headed back to cave, mission in his mind. 'I will need a shit load of coffee after this conversation...' He walked past Alfred, who kindly decided not to comment that it was 04.45 am.
~O~
Jason didn't sleep well that night. Well, he rarely slept well. No one from the Bat clan usually slept completely peacefully. (This included Alfred. The man was just better at keeping his nightmares to himself.)
By morning, he had completely given up on sleeping, and just went down to kitchen to help Alfred. The older man wasn't surprised to see him, and just accepted his help. Jason was actually very proud to say that he was only one out of them that Alfred had allowed to do more than just make cereals.
(Damian was acceptable cook, but never really bothered to do anything for anyone else than himself. Dick was... Well, he hardly knew anything about cooking so there was that, and Tim would survive on his own, but Alfred still didn't trust him to his kitchen after the legendary accident with a Thanks giving turkey. And Bruce?... Well, the man had somehow managed to set the toaster on fire. Needless to say, without Alfred the man would have been dead a long ago.)
(Bruce really couldn't believe that people could live without their own Alfred. Everyone needed Alfred. He was just that good.)
After eating breakfast, Jason sneaked to the batcave. He had done as Tim asked, he had waited till morning, and now he could go and see his brother.
But it turned out that he wasn't the first one.
Jason came to an stop when he saw Dick sitting in a chair by one of the sick beds, where Damian was laying, with rather unhealthily pale skin tone. There were IVs on him, two leading blood into him while the third one had fluid. He had a heart monitor on him, probably just to warn if he was getting worse. Jason grimaced at the number of stiches on him, or at those that weren't covered by bandages.
Finally he sifted his focus to Dick, who hadn't raised his gaze from Damian even for a second. "Hey little Wing, what are you doing here? I'm pretty sure I didn't hear you coming down here while I was in the kitchen."
"I came down here after everyone went asleep. Well, everyone minus Alfred and Tim. He is on his twelfth mug of coffee, by the way, and he was up the whole night apart from small naps, so he isn't in all that good mood." Jason whistled at that, not that surprised that Dick had sneaked in.
"And he has guts to lecture us about unhealthy life styles." Dick's lips twitched up, and he shrugged.
"Well it IS Tim; for all we know he could be living on coffee."
"You mean that the coffee could be living on Tim. Seriously, his obsession over it is getting out of hands."
"'Getting out of hands'? Seriously Jay?" Both had a small grins now, and Dick was finally looking up from Damian.
"Yeah, yeah, have fun by insulting my only life source." Jason and Dick jumped a little when they heard Tim grumbling as he marched in, nursing what looked like a brand new cup of coffee.
"Really Tim, that's not healthy." Tim answered Jason by flipping him the bird, as he checked Damian's stats.
"Well, our bad living habits aside, Demon should be up any minute now." As if from cue, Damian cave a raspy, snarky comment.
"Ugh, can't a person have some quiet around here?" All three immediately dived in for the oldest, but before they could crash on him, they remembered his not-so-great-state.
"Phew, so you are still breathing." Jason threw back, and Damian opened his eyes and arched an eye brow as he sat up.
"Did you doubt that, Ya Tafil?" Jason paused, struggling to remember what the words meant, but failed.
"No fair; I'm still learning Arabic." Jason denied to his very grave that he pouted. It was a frown damn it!
"Tt, excuses." Damian smirked, and Dick laughed at them, even though he neither had no idea what Damian had just said. "It's good to see you feeling better Dami!"
Tim also chuckled, as he actually understood Arabic, but offered no translation. He then frowned, as he gave Damian a serious look. "Damian, what happened last night? B said that Talia was there; what did she want?"
(While he would never say it, he was actually scared that one day Damian would decided that he had had enough of Gotham. That one day he would pack his things, like he never was there, leave and go back to Ra's. Back to killing and trying to conjure the world. He was scared that his older brother would lose himself to that side of himself.)
Damian didn't answer immediately, and the other two teenagers fell serious as well. They had all been worried sick, and judging by the turn of the events, rightfully so. Finally, after a deafening silence, Damian sighed while he gently shook his head.
"Nothing she could get, fortunately. She and her minions won't be back for a good while; if not because they would have learned their lesson, then because Talia won't be moving around like usually a lot for a good while. If ever." He shook his head at their worried frowns.
"Enough of that now. Come here my Asfoor sageer. It's cold in here and Titus isn't allowed in the infirmary."
They hesitated a moment, before Dick inched closer to him, and carefully lied next to Damian, so the older man could throw his arm over his shoulder. Jason did the same on his other side, while Tim curled up on the foot of the bed. Damian started humming quietly under his breath, while making small circle motion with his fingers on Jason's and Dick's shoulders. The trio started to relax, slowly falling asleep, while Damian watched over them.
(If they saw him smiling at them at some point, well, none of them showed it.)
Bruce was happy to find all four of them down there, fast asleep, with no bad dreams to haunt them.
~O~
Hi! This is my first Batman fanfic, and I'm pretty new to the fandom, so please forgive me for any mishaps. But then again, this IS an AU, so I guess it's fine? Anyway, I really love Reversed birds, and Damian, so, heeeereeee we have it!
Once again, Thank you to princessofparodies54 for Arabic translations, they were a great help! (Words and terms used are not written like this, but they are pronounced like this.)
Qaiq Azrq means Blue jay, the bird.
Sumanah is Robin, the bird.
Ya Tafil means You Are A Child. Akhi means brother, and Asfoor Sageer is A Little Bird.
Thank you for reading, Please Review and let me know how I did!