Chapter 25

All I Want For Christmas is You

On Christmas morning Link woke up before everyone else, like usual. With winter break, Ed had been spending almost all his time sleeping, but he'd promised to let Link wake him up for Christmas. What he'd expected was for Link to jump up onto his bed and wake him up gleefully, shaking him until he was awake enough to push Link away. What actually happened was much different.

Link gingerly and timidly poked Ed until he groggily woke up. At first, Ed wasn't even sure it was Christmas. Little kids always got worked up about holidays like this one, where there was both cake and presents, especially for them. Link had been acting so normal the last few days, Ed forgot that Link wasn't a normal little kid.

"It's Christmas," Link whispered when Ed finally opened his eyes.

"Is it?" Ed asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

Link nodded, his face stoic but his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Is Gordon up?" Ed asked, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

Link shrugged.

"Well, you'd better go get him too, then," Ed said.

"You don't think he'd get mad?" Link asked quietly.

"I can't think why?" Ed shrugged.

"Okay!" Link chirped. He scampered out of the room. He was much more agile without the casts and crutches slowing him down. Ed laughed at how eager Link was. He was so young.

Gordon hadn't been woken by a child on Christmas in over a decade. And he'd never been woken by a gentle nudge before. Barbara would launch herself at him from the other side of the room screaming bloody murder.

"Link?" He squinted, reaching clumsily for his glasses. Link's small hands presented them to him.

"It's Christmas," Link said, the same expression still on his face.

"So it is," Gordon laughed. "Why don't you go wait in the living room? We can open presents after breakfast."

"Can I open one before breakfast?" Link asked.

"Sure, we can do the stockings before breakfast."

"Thank you!" Link smiled and scampered out of the room.

Gordon rolled out of his bed and laughed. He missed living with children. Despite all the teenage rebellion and extra food bills, the joy of raising a child outweighed any cost. Well, most children. He never knew what he did wrong with James Jr. He prayed it wouldn't happen again with Ed or Link.

There wasn't a fireplace in Gordon's house, so instead the stockings were hung on the windowsill in the living room. When Ed and Gordon entered the living room to celebrate Christmas with Link, they found Link sitting on the couch, hugging his green and red stocking to his chest, waiting patiently for them to get there.

There wasn't much room for a tree, but Gordon'd managed to rearrange the furniture enough to fit the smallest plastic tree the hardware store sold that still fit presents underneath. He hadn't used a real tree since Poison Ivy turned them killer nearly ten years ago. It was hard to imagine it'd been fifteen years to the day since Batman first took to the rooftops.

"Can I?" Link asked, eagerly squeezing his stocking to his chest.

"Just a moment, son," Gordon said. "I need coffee first."

"Oh, okay," Link pouted.

Ed slumped onto the couch, slouching like there was no tomorrow, and sighing so loud the whole block might've heard it. Unlike Gordon, who always made an effort to be ready for work the moment he was out of bed, sometimes when he was still in bed, Ed was still in his boxers and the black tank top he slept in. He even went so far as to scratch his crotch. At least he felt at home, Gordon frowned. He hadn't missed this part of living with a teenage boy. He hadn't missed much, to be honest.

When he returned, mug of coffee in hand, Link had handed Ed his stocking. Link was really the only one who was excited. But that was as it should be, Gordon supposed. It was also the youngest children who were still excited for the holidays. Gordon was just praying nothing at work would pull him away from this.

Gordon leaned against the doorframe to the kitchen while Link and Ed rummaged all of the small goodies he'd put in their stockings. Ed was easy to buy gifts for, he'd gratefully accept almost any book, so he'd gotten him a few of the classics, like Animal Farm and 1984. There was a sale on fancy collectors editions of George Orwell novels at Barns & Noble. They were also having a sale on Tolkien, but Gordon wasn't sure if Ed would appreciate High Fantasy as much as he would Orwellian. He also bought Ed an iPhone to replace his flip phone, despite Ed's claims that he didn't want one. They were handier than a flip phone.

It was Link that was the problem. All he'd asked for was a puppy. He was content enough with his bike, but Gordon didn't have the foggiest idea what Link was into and he showed little interest in books. He hadn't even talked to Ed about any interests other than chess, and he couldn't think of any chess related paraphernalia that was fitting of Christmas. And a gift card felt too impersonal for a gift from a parent to a child, if one could describe their relationship like that.

They ended up with the generic stocking stuffings, sugary treats and tiny puzzle toys. Gordon's stocking was empty. Barbara was usually the one to fill it, but she'd moved out seven years ago. Once Gordon was certain Link had spoiled his appetite on the candy canes and jelly beans in his stockings and both boys had sufficiently fiddled with their puzzles, Gordon herded them into the kitchen for breakfast; eggs, bacon, pancakes, and peppermint hot chocolate. Link and Ed started throwing mini marshmallows at each other. Gordon hated to stop them from having fun, but it was too early in the morning for a mess.

"Alright, now," Gordon said, collecting the dishes. "I want to save most of the presents for when Barbara gets here in a few hours."

"But I don't wanna wait that long," Link pouted. Link gazed wistfully out the window. "Hey, Ed, wanna build an igloo?"

"Sorry, not built for snow," Ed said, knocking his knee. "Well, I mean, I could have kept the arctic version, but the alloy's harder to transmute, so I didn't."

"You're no fun," Link pouted harder. "And you still won't play chess with me."

"I like liking you and I hate loosing," Ed said.

"Butt face," Link stuck his tongue out at Ed.

"Fart breath," Ed stick his tongue right back.

They filled the next few hours watching Christmas specials on the TV. Gordon was busy in the kitchen getting the lunch and dinner ready. Ed was reading a scientific article about the known multiverse and particle vibrational frequencies. It was written by a scientist named Francisco Ramon.

Link was a little disappointed that, other than the stockings and the special breakfast, so far Christmas had been like any other day. Sure, the TV had some specials on, but Gordon didn't want him watching anything other than the children's versions of Netflix and Hulu. He didn't know how to feel about Gordon treating him like a small child. On one hand, he was a small child, but on the other, he'd seen and done things Gordon could only dream of in his nightmares.

"What's that you got there?" Gordon asked Ed once he was finished in the kitchen. Ed held up the cover. "Interesting?"

"If I could just figure this out, I could transmute myself through the multiverse," Ed said. "Apparently, if you can shift the vibrational frequency of something at the atomic level, you can go to parallel worlds. The Flash can do it. The problem is aim. All I know is my solar system fell through a crack in spacetime, so even if I could figure out my original universe's vibrational frequency, it'd just shift me into empty space."

"That could cause a slight case of death," Gordon pointed out.

"Wow, you're such a genius," Ed snarled sarcastically.

"I didn't get to the top by being an idiot," Gordon smirked, tipping his mug mockingly towards Ed.

Ed grunted. "My biggest problems are that changing the vibrational frequency of living matter with alchemy would probably cause a rebound, which could be fatal. Plus, I don't know where my planet is and I don't know how I would figure out how to land in a specific location in another universe, not to mention that most of space is just empty, and then the parts that aren't usually aren't habitable, so unless I can aim incredibly well or am incredibly lucky, I'm not going anywhere."

"What you need is a navigation system."

"Yeah, but there's nothing anywhere I can find on that. Only hypotheses on how to get to another dimension, nothing's been proven!"

"Well, we got here, so that's proof, right?" Link asked.

"I mean scientifically proven. No one's written anything down about successfully getting to a parallel world on purpose."

"I know there's a Leaguer who can do that, but she wasn't exactly a conventional scientist. She was more interested in Super Mario than the Laws of Thermodynamics. She might have written something, but chances are, if she did, the League will have them under lock and key somewhere."

"Was?"

"She's been presumed dead by the media. No official source, the League won't comment, but no one's seen or heard from her in three years and she was a very prominent figure in social media. She was a habitual tweeter. She'd even tweet good morning and goodnight. Then one day, it just stopped, no explanation, go goodbye tweet. Nothing. Some of her followers even made missing persons reports after a few days of that."

"Ugh," Ed groaned. "I just keep hitting dead ends! This sucks!" Despite it sucking, and despite it being practically a dead end, Ed went back to reading, and was once again lost to the world.

"Do you think he'll ever find it?" Link asked Gordon quietly, knowing Ed could no longer hear him. "Or… or will we get to live here forever?"

"Do you want to stay?"

Link shrugged, his face turning red. "I mean, I… don't want to loose Ed and you're… the nicest grownup I've ever met and I don't… I don't know."

"Have adults been mean to you?"

Link's face turned even redder, and his ears followed suit, but he didn't answer.

"It's not something to be ashamed of, Link," Gordon said sternly. "It's not your fault."

Link curled up and hid behind his knees. Though Gordon's words were kind and sincere, they did nothing to quell Link's fear that if Gordon knew, he would hate him. He'd stop wanting him. He'd stop being so nice.

Gordon sighed. It was worth a shot, he supposed. Link had encroached the subject and he hoped it was an opportunity to get to the bottom of Link's anxieties. Maybe he should take the boys to a therapist, but he didn't think Christmas was the best day of all days to try and bring that up. He wanted them to actually enjoy the holiday.

Link was saved from Gordon trying to delve deeper by the ringing of the doorbell. "I'll get it," Gordon said, placing his mug on the coffee table before going to the door. "Edward, will you put on some pants," Gordon said as he passed by Ed, who was still in his pajamas.

Ed grunted when he heard his name, but made no move to don more appropriate attire for a family gathering.

"Dick, I told you not to ring the doorbell, I have a key," Barbara said as Gordon opened the door. "Dad! Hi!"

"Barb," Gordon gave Barbara a hug. "Any particular reason you're bringing Dick Grayson over for Christmas."

"Dad, we've been dating for almost a year now, you know this."

Gordon grumbled something under his breath and let them in.

"How are my two favorite brothers!" Barbara said cheerily, putting a small pile of presents under the diminutive tree.

"We're your only two brothers," Ed grunted.

"Haha, okay!" Barbara quickly made a B-line for the kitchen, making a face at her father to follow her, leaving Link, Ed, and Dick alone with one another.

Dick sat down on the couch between the two of them, grinning like an idiot. Ed vaguely remembered Tim and Jason talking about their older brother, but Ed didn't know much because he usually just tuned them out, as he did with all things school related. Somehow, he was still an A student.

"What'cha reading?" Dick asked.

Ed did not acknowledge Dick's presence.

"Cool, cool," Dick brushed it off. "What'cha watching?" He turned to Link as soon as Ed gave him the cold shoulder.

Link shrugged. "Cartoon Network. It's just Christmas specials."

"Nice. Mind if I join you?"

Link shrugged again.

Since that wasn't a no, Dick decided to join in. Link found that he was a very loud watcher of TV. It only took Dick a few minutes of comically reacting to the cartoon characters to get Link to start giggling along with him. If Ed hadn't noticed Dick's presence before, he did now. Ed didn't want to be petty, he didn't want to spoil anything that made Link smile, but it still made him mad that Link was giggling and it wasn't with him. Link was his baby brother.

When Gordon returned, Barbara close behind, the first thing he said was, "Edward, for the love of… will you please put on some pants?"

Ed grunted at him and angrily stalked to his room, grateful for an excuse to get away from the elder 'Wayne' who was getting friendly with his baby brother. Those Wayne boys were really starting to get under his skin. First Tim and Jason wouldn't leave him alone at school and now their older brother was here, in his house. The nerve of them.

"When Ed gets back, can we open presents?" Link asked.

"We still have to wait for Harvey to get here."

"If Uncle Harv gets here," Barbara laughed. "Oh, come on, Dad. Let him open his presents."

Link was still timid to push his luck, but if he hadn't've been, Gordon could see in his eyes that he'd be begging.

"Oh, alright," Gordon sighed, giving in. They'd teamed up on him. You'd think they grew up knowing that trick.

"Yay!" Link practically leaped off the couch, and grabbed the closest present with his name on it. He could recognize it because, despite not knowing how to read, he could recognize his name from the place on his desk in school, and he knew none of them said 'From Link' because he hadn't gotten anyone anything.

As soon as Ed returned, this time with pants, Link made to tare open the wrapping.

"Wait, Barb, can you record this, or something?" Gordon asked. "I can't figure out my phone."

"Pfft," Barbara playfully shoved her dad. "You're such a geezer." Geezer or no, she still took out her phone.

"Can I open it now?" Link whined.

"Go ahead, it's recording."

Impatiently, Link ripped off the wrapping, then he tore open the little cardboard box. It was a stuffed toy, but it didn't look like other stuffed toys. This one was in the shape of a bone and looked like it was designed to be chewed on. At first, he was confused, then a lightbulb when off in his head. He looked to Gordon for confirmation, his face filled with glee and hope.

"I figured you could give that to your new puppy," Gordon said.

"Thank you!" Link jumped off the couch and slammed into Gordon, wrapping his arms around him. He'd never hugged anyone before, but he was so caught up in his excitement, Link was hugging Gordon before he had to time to decide to hug him.

"You're welcome, son," Gordon laughed, ruffling Link's hair.

"Ed!" Link jumped from Gordon right to his brother, knocking the wind out of him, too. "Look!" He practically shoved the toy into Ed's face. He had the biggest grin Ed had ever seen on him. Ed thought seeing Link happy would make his day, but it just made him miserable.

Despite his twisting heart, Ed grinned and said, "Pretty great!" He too ruffled Link's hair.

Link rode the high from that present for the rest of the day. He was so happy, he completely forgot about everything that made him sad. When Bullock popped in to wish his old partner and closest friend a merry Christmas, Link took all of Bullocks time marveling over how awesome it was gonna be to have a puppy. It was all he could talk about. He didn't think he'd spoken that much in one day in his entire life.

Later, after dinner and after Dick and Barbara left, Ed offered to help Gordon clean the dishes. Usually Ed refused outright to do chores, so Gordon was pleased for the help. Link offered to help too, but Ed talked him out of it and told him to go and think of some names for his future dog. Link was too happy to question it, but Gordon wasn't.

After five minutes of Gordon cleaning and Ed drying, Ed said what was on his mind. "What happened to not being able to afford the both of us and a dog?"

"That was more of an excuse to see if he'd stop asking," Gordon laughed. "Link's responsible, I trust he can take care of a dog without too much help. And besides, if he needs any help, I'm sure he'd turn to you first."

"Yeah, because I'm the one who bought him a puppy," Ed snarled sarcastically. "He'll definitely like me more now."

"Is that what this is about?" Gordon snapped, putting down the plate. "Which one of us is his favorite? I thought you were better than that."

"It's not…" Ed grumbled. "I am! It's just… if… if you keep going around, buying his love with puppies and shit, he might… he might not want to stay with me and I'm… I'm tired of losing the people I care about, one way or another. I can't… I just…" Ed took a deep breath. "I can't lose him, too."

"Edward, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to separate you. That's the last thing I want."

"Yeah, whatever," Ed tossed the dishrag onto the counter. He looked like he wanted to say something more, but he didn't. He left Gordon to finish cleaning the dishes alone.

Ed found Link sitting on the couch, playing on the Wii U Gordon bought for both of them. He figured they could pass the time with it, as long as they did their homework first and promised not to play past ten. Ed sat down on the couch next to Link.

"Room for another player?" Ed asked.

"Yeah," Link handed Ed the game pad and grabbed one of the remotes. "Can you do voices for the characters?" Link asked.

"Sure, I can try," Ed smirked, playfully elbowing Link. "Come up with any cool names for your dog?"

"No, I was thinking of naming the puppy after I get it, so that I can give it the right name."

"That's smart. Don't want to name a dog Spot if it doesn't have any."

"Yeah."

"Link," Ed said, his voice growing heavy. "Do you think… the longer we're here the harder it will be to leave?"

"Oh… uh…" Link fidgeted. "I dunno. Do… do you think he'll let us take my dog with us when we leave?"

"I don't see why not," Ed answered, relieved that Link wasn't even thinking of not going with Ed. "It's gonna be your dog, not his."

"Yeah, but, aren't we his kids?"

"Who told you that‽"

"N… no one," Link mumbled. "I just thought that… you know… since he adopted us…"

"That was just so the foster system wouldn't separate us. We're not his kids."

"He calls me son, though."

"He calls a lot of boys your age 'son'. That's just what old people do," Ed snapped. "It doesn't mean anything. It's not like he cares."

"He doesn't?" Link whimpered.

Ed faltered. He forgot that Link believed everything he said. He couldn't tell when Ed was just angry and venting bull to try and calm down. But Link might start liking Gordon more than him, and to his horror, he didn't stop. "Of course he doesn't actually care. We're the only one's who're gonna look out for us in the long run. We've got to stick together."

"Oh," Link said. He stopped paying attention to the game. He sounded crushed. "But… what about the puppy? Why would he get me a puppy if he doesn't care?"

"He's probably just doing it to shut you up. I mean, you've been asking him nonstop for almost a month. That's gotta get annoying."

"I…" Link choked on his words. "I didn't mean to… I didn't… I thought he was okay with it? He wasn't getting mad. I thought… oh," Link sniffled quietly.

Ed felt like scum.

"How… how much longer do you think we'll be here?" Link asked softly, between sniffles.

"I dunno, a couple more months, maybe," Ed shrugged, doing his best to focus on the screen and not Link's crestfallen face. He hated how he felt, but he couldn't go back now. He'd already said it and the subject had already been changed. "I think I'm getting close to testing. I'm gonna write a message to Al in the code our old man wrote his old notes in and send a bunch of them to other universes. Each one is going to have a number on it and the vibrational frequency of this universe. Whichever one Al gets, he'll send a note back. I'll know it's him because he knows the code."

"Couldn't someone break the code?"

"No, the note won't be long enough. And alchemists are famous for hiding their notes in plain sight. To a normal person, it'll look like a piece of a recipe book, but Al will recognize it."

"What if he doesn't find any of them?"

"Then I'll try again. I'll keep trying until he answers or I find a better way. I'm getting us home, I promise."

Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review.