{Bludhaven}

{July 9, 04:42 EDT}

{2018-Team Year Eight}

Dick ran his hands through his hair for perhaps the eightieth time since he'd left to 'speak to Officer Grayson'. He'd showered, changed, picked a distinct but not overwhelming cologne, and spent more time restyling his hair and picking his clothes than he did for most dates. He needed to minimize the visual similarities between Dick Grayson and Nightwing, but he also felt more nervous than he'd expected to about properly meeting his new brother. The guy was about his age, rather than being a kid brother like Jason and Tim when they'd first met or even just a few years younger like Cassandra, and that had Dick a little off-balance. Plus, there were all the oddities-Trey's scars, Tim's report of his behaviour on the beach, his extreme shock at Dick revealing that Bruce Wayne was his father. The reason Trey had given, surprise at being related to somebody wealthy and famous, wasn't implausible, but seemed inadequate for the strength of Trey's reaction. It wasn't overplayed fake surprise, but genuine shock. The thought struck Dick that perhaps Trey was a trap and just didn't know it-his amnesia might be genuine, obscuring his true intentions even from himself. He might have been given false information about himself to work from, hence his surprise at what he thought he knew being contradicted. The one thing that seemed certain was that somebody, most likely Trey's mother but possibly somebody else, had been keeping him secret from Bruce-but why?

Dick mulled the idea over as he drove to the place where he'd agreed with Conner to meet. They were in a neighbourhood that was pretty bad even by Bludhaven's standards, but even if Conner and Trey weren't both intimidatingly bulky guys, Dick figured the sight of Ace would give the most desperate mugger pause.

He rolled down his window as he approached the corner where the trio were waiting, peering uncertainly at the them as if trying to decide if they were who he was looking for or not. "Excuse me," he called, "are you… Trey…?"

"Officer Grayson?" Conner said. "Nightwing told us about you." He sounded painfully awkward; he'd never been much good at compartmentalizing between "superhero" and "secret identity", probably a side-effect of his superhero life being much more his real life than his secret identity was. Dick wasn't sure that Conner had spent much time having a secret identity since graduating from college, aside from keeping up with some friends on Facebook. The ease with which Dick switched between the two halves of his life always seemed to disquiet the half-Kryptonian.

"Nightwing told me about you, too," Dick said, leaning out a little more to look at Trey. "Damn," he commented, "you really look like Bruce." Trey jerked, looking startled. "Dick Grayson," Dick said, holding his hand out to Trey.

"Trey Malone," Trey said, shaking Dick's hand. "And this is Ace," he added, gesturing to the dog.

"Hey, Ace, nice to meet you, too," Dick said, letting Ace sniff his hand before scratching the dog's ears. "Is he okay to ride in a car?"

"I think so. I mean… he was fine in the alien spaceship or whatever we got picked up in earlier," Trey said, looking in the back of the car. "Is it okay to let him onto the back seat?"

"Sure," Dick said, reaching back to move a box of case files onto the floor and then unlocking the car doors. As soon as Trey opened the back door, Ace hopped in, stretching himself contentedly across the back seat. He looked comfortable enough with the vehicle, even yawning and settling down for a nap.

"If you have any questions about where we found him or what happened, get in touch with Nightwing," Conner said, glancing at Dick. "Robin'll keep an eye out for you in Gotham, Trey."

"Okay. Thanks," Trey said, nodding at Conner. "For everything. Thank the rest of your team for me, too."

"Will do," Conner said, patting Trey on the back and nodding briefly to Dick before stepping back to let Trey get into the front seat next to Dick. The half-Kryptonian stood and watched as Dick pulled away, heading for the road to Gotham just as dawn was breaking.

"You know," Trey said, craning around to watch until Conner was out of sight, "I don't think that guy's human. I mean, I don't think any of them were human."

"Probably not," Dick said vaguely. "I'm not sure any of those capes-and-tights types are. Are you okay? Nightwing said something about a sea monster…"

"I'm fine, they patched me up," Trey said, tapping a bloodstained tear in the shoulder of his jacket. "Do you know that Nightwing guy well?"

Take that as an entirely innocent enquiry, Dick reminded himself, even if it isn't. "I'm not sure anybody does," he said with a shrug, "but most cops around here have met him a couple of times. I've picked up enough weird cases to meet him a few more times than most. I don't know if he's human or not, before you ask."

"That's kinda freaky," Trey observed. "...Does that just seem kinda freaky because I can't remember anything before about six hours ago, or is that really freaky?"

"It's kinda freaky," Dick allowed with a chuckle. He glanced back to check that Ace was behaving in the back seat as he shifted gears to speed up on the freeway, but the dog was dozing calmly across the seat. "So… amnesia, huh?"

Trey nodded. "First thing in my mind is waking up on that beach with Ace," he sighed, propping his elbow up on the window and leaning his forehead against his hand. "Then a bunch of superheroes found me, then a sea monster attacked, then they told me Bruce Wayne's my dad… I have no idea which part's the weirdest."

"Can't blame you for being freaked out," Dick said sympathetically. "I don't think I'd know what to make of it all, either. I don't really know what to make of it. I mean, it's not the first time we've found out about a kid of Bruce's that he didn't know about-if you remember that he's famously rich, you probably remember what else he's famous for. But he's still kicking himself for not knowing about you until now."

"So… you really don't know anything about me?" Trey asked hopelessly.

"Sorry," Dick sighed, "but I promise you, we're going to find out where you're from and what happened to you. Until then, you've got a home and a family, at least. Whatever's happened, whatever's going to happen, you don't have to deal with it alone."

"...Thanks," Trey said quietly, looking away out of the window for a moment before looking back to Dick. "So… you're my adopted brother, huh?"

"Yep," Dick said, smiling comfortingly at Trey. "I live in Bludhaven these days, but I can take some time off and come back to Gotham for a bit if you want a guy your own age around. I love Bruce, Cass and Alfred, but the Manor's a hell of a big, intimidating house."

"Alfred?" Trey asked. "Who's he?"

"Officially, family butler-unofficially, family," Dick said with a chuckle. "He's the most English guy you will ever meet. He raised Bruce after his parents were murdered, and helped raise me when Bruce took me in. The earthly god of cooking, organization and knowing what everybody everywhere is doing at all times. Cass is also around-she's our sister, and your half-sister, I guess. She's seventeen, we think. She's only been living with us about five months, since her mother died. She's got language issues that, um… well, I don't think her childhood's been great to her so far, but we're learning sign language with her, give her a way to communicate. She's pretty affectionate, and she will absolutely hug you if you let her, though. And if you ever come across her while she's dancing, don't make a sound, just watch, she's amazing."

"...Okay then," Trey said with a slight smile. It was the first time he'd looked anything other than lost, sad or shocked. "...What's he like? Bruce? For real, I mean. I know the kind of stories you hear about him, but you must know better than the tabloids what he's actually like as a person."

Dick nodded. "Bruce is… he's great, but I'll warn you now, awkward as shit. Like I said, Alfred mostly raised Bruce, and I love Alfred, but he's not exactly emotionally open and he passed that on to Bruce. Even if they can be weird about showing it, though, both of them care a lot. Just… with Bruce especially, you might have to just take it on faith that he is trying. He works a lot-as well as running Wayne Enterprises, he runs the Wayne Foundation charities and he takes those very seriously. At the end of the day, he just wants to help people. Y'know, I think I will take some time off to hang around. I'm a master at the art of Bruce Whispering, I'll show you the ropes."

"...Thanks?" Trey said, smiling a little again. "He can't be that bad at it. I mean, he raised you, and you're a pretty nice guy."

"I am indeed very pretty and very nice," Dick agreed with a smirk, finally making Trey laugh. Dick sobered a little when he continued, "other things you should know… there's two things Bruce absolutely will not talk about, or at least won't answer questions about. One's his parents, and the other is Jason."

"Who's Jason?" Trey asked, a guarded expression returning to his face. Dick felt bad about having to puncture the laughs, but they were getting into Gotham and he needed to forewarn Trey about what subjects were, essentially, the West Wing of Wayne Manor.

"I'm telling you now to pre-empt you asking Bruce that question at some point… Jason was my little brother," Dick said solemnly. Still is, he thought stubbornly. "Bruce adopted him when he was twelve. It's… really a longer story than I can get into just now, but he lived on the streets for a long time before Bruce took him in, and sometimes he'd sneak out to go roam his old haunts. One night, he snuck out and… didn't come back. The police found his body a few days later. He was fifteen."

That had been one of the worst parts. Sitting in the Cave with Jason's body, realizing that a plausible explanation for his death meant they'd have to ditch his body somewhere for the police to find, drop it in the icy Gotham River so the water and temperature would mess with the wounds and time of death. Dick hadn't been able to handle it; Bruce had had to knock him out to take Jason's body. He wondered how Bruce had handled it, how it had felt to let Jason go into the water and fly back alone, but Bruce had been closed off when he came back and hadn't come close to opening up again for months, not until after Tim had gently but insistently made his way into their lives. He wondered if Jason knew about any of that now, if it mattered to him what they'd done with his body.

"Shit… I'm sorry," Trey said quietly. "Don't ask about the dead people. Got it."

"Bruce'll sometimes come out with stories unprompted, but he'll shut down if you ask any direct questions," Dick explained. "I don't mind talking about Jason if you ever come across anything you want to ask about, though… a lot of his stuff's still around the Manor in places, especially the books. He was always leaving notes in them." He smiled faintly in nostalgia, even though it somehow hurt even more now that he knew that Jason was back than it had when he was dead. It hurt more knowing how angry and bitter Jason was now compared to the bright-eyed little brother that Dick had known.

Trey nodded, looking out of the car window as they drove over the Robert Kane Memorial Bridge. The dark, dense bulk of Gotham was falling away behind them while ahead of them were strewn the larger, more lavish mansions of Gotham's wealthiest. The contrast was stark. Trey fell quiet, watching them drive past larger and larger buildings that grew more and more distant from the road, increasingly hidden behind their own gardens, walls and gates. Wayne Manor itself was entirely invisible from outside of the grounds, the entrance gates half-hidden among the forest that was carefully tended around the estate's edges.

Dick was relieved to note that the paparazzi vultures who'd been hovering around the gates of Wayne Manor trying to get an exclusive picture of the new Wayne Heiress seemed to have drifted off after her first public appearance last month. They'd practically camped there for Dick's first month at the Manor-Jason's, too. Wonder how long they'll hang around when word of Trey gets out? he wondered, glancing at Trey out of the corner of his eye. Trey was staring at the gates of the Manor with a faintly sad look on his face, rubbing his shoulder injury. It would only take one hack with a camera to notice a resemblance...

But today, there was nobody but Alfred's voice on the intercom. "May I help you?"

"Hey, Alfie, it's me," Dick said.

"Ah, Master Dick. Bringing Master Trey, I presume?"

"Sure am," Dick said, leaning back into his car as the gates swung open.

Ace sat upright, wagging his tail and barking happily as they drove through the gates and into the trees. Trey leaned back to scratch the dog's ears. "Almost there, boy," he murmured, glancing at Dick. "Master Trey?" he asked.

"Suck it up, he absolutely will not stop doing it," Dick advised wryly. "Took me days just to bargain him down from 'Master Richard' and I've never gotten him to shift since."

Trey opened his mouth, but didn't say anything, his gaze distracted by the sight of Wayne Manor appearing through the trees.

Dick wondered what Trey was thinking. Was he excited by the sight of the tremendous residence? Amazed? Intimidated? I was a bit of all three, Dick recalled. His first glimpse of the Manor had been characterized by awe-it was so big and old that he'd thought it was a castle from a fairytale, the amazement pushing everything out of his head for a few magical seconds, but the closer he'd gotten, the more frightened he'd been by the concept of living there. Aside from some confused notions about castles being full of frightening things like ghosts and dungeons (both of which Wayne Manor did have, in its own fashion), the house was just too big. He'd lived most of his life sleeping in a trailer or train compartment with his parents, surrounded at all times by dozens of people and animals. Living in such a huge house with only two other people around (two very quiet, non-tactile people at that) had been almost painful at first.

When he looked back at Trey, though, the guy didn't look excited or scared, just… kind of sad.

Dick pulled the car around the side of the building and into the garage where the most-used cars were kept. Trey's gaze turned a little covetous as he looked over the Mercedes, the Lamborghini, and the Bentley.

"You like cars, Trey?" Dick asked in amusement as he turned the car off and unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Apparently," Trey said with a smirk. The smirk vanished and he went stiff as a board when the door to the house opened and Bruce stepped into the garage. "Is… that him?" Trey asked quietly.

"Yep," Dick said, patting Trey's shoulder. "Just remember, he's more afraid of you than you are of him. C'mon."

Dick unlocked the doors and stepped out of the car. "Morning, Bruce," he said, walking around the front of the car. "I don't think I've ever seen you awake this early in my life!" More like he never went to bed, he admitted to himself. I could sure do with some sleep soon myself...

"Good morning, Dick," Bruce said, looking from Dick to Trey. "Thanks for doing this. And you must be Trey," he added as the young man in question stepped out of the car.

"Um, yeah," Trey said, closing his door and reaching for the back door. "And this is-WHOA!" As soon as he opened the back door of the car, Ace burst out, barrelling towards Bruce. Dick saw his mentor brace for impact, but Ace didn't knock him down. The huge Great Dane just bounced in a circle around Bruce, barking happily, before squeezing against Bruce's side and nuzzling against his hand, tail wagging fit to bust.

"...Hello there?" Bruce said, gingerly patting the dog, which caused another booming, joyful bark.

"I'm just spitballing here," Trey said, giving a weak laugh, "but I think Ace likes you."

"Didn't know you were so beloved by animals," Dick snickered, leaning back against the hood of his car with a grin.

Bruce just scratched the dog's ears with a bemused expression as he looked up at Trey. "It's good to finally meet you, Trey," he said seriously. "I'm sorry that it's taken so long." He held out his hand to Trey.

"Nice to meet you too," Trey said awkwardly, shaking the proffered hand. "I mean, it's not your fault if you just… didn't know I existed. I wonder why mom never said anything…" He looked down, folding his arms as his expression went sad again. "I wish I could remember her," he said quietly.

"We'll do everything we can to help you get your memory back," Bruce assured him. "I know a doctor you can talk to-she's very good and very discreet. She won't tip off the press about you. They were a nightmare when I adopted Dick and Jason, and they've been hounding poor Cassandra… they'll be twice as bad when they get wind of you. I don't want you to have to deal with them until you're ready."

"I dunno, maybe we should let 'em loose and see what they find," Trey said with a smirk.

Dick laughed. "You'd need Bruce's yacht to get through all the bullshit and speculation before they found anything useful," he chuckled.

"You seriously have a yacht?" Trey asked, gaping.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Bruce said with a little smile. "How about a tour of the house first?" He headed back towards the door into the house. Ace followed as if glued to Bruce's side.

"Man, that dog loves Bruce," Dick marvelled. "Maybe he smells good or something?" He caught himself before he made a comment on the dog's snap judgements of people-the only other person that Ace had really reacted strongly to was Robin, and Officer Grayson probably shouldn't know anything about that.

"Even my dog has abandoned me," Trey sighed dramatically as they followed Bruce and Ace into the house.

Alfred was waiting for them just inside. "Welcome home, Master Dick," he said warmly, "and welcome to Wayne Manor, Master Trey. I am the butler, Alfred Pennyworth."

"Nice to meet you, Mr Pennyworth," Trey said, looking Alfred up and down with the slightly amazed expression of someone who didn't know that butlers were still an actual thing in this day and age.

"Just Alfred, please," Alfred insisted.

"Don't suppose I can ask you to just call me Trey?" Trey asked, glancing at Dick, who grinned and shook his head.

"Under no circumstances," Alfred said flatly. "Have you gentlemen had breakfast yet?"

"Uh… I actually can't remember the last time I ate," Trey admitted, rubbing his stomach. "Literally."

"Oh, damn… I'm sorry, Trey, you should've said something, we could've swung by a cafe to get coffee and food on the way here," Dick said guiltily. Or maybe I should've noticed that the Team didn't go to get food after picking Trey up last night and nobody'd found my stash in the bunker… some detective I am.

"I actually didn't realize until right this minute that I was hungry," Trey said wryly. "Can the house tour start with the kitchen?"

"An excellent idea, Master Trey," Alfred said. "This way, if you please…"

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Happy New Year, folks! I had a good time having my parents over to visit-I hope you all had a good new year too and that 2018's being good to you so far. Have Ace being a good, good dog and Dick being a good, good big brother.