POV Tim
Tim watched in awe as the Robins and Batgirl take out the criminals, he had been prowling the streets looking for them for months now and this is the first time he's able to catch them in the act, though he is a little disappointed that The Bat isn't with them.
It was only once they are tying up the criminals that he remember his camera but once he got it ready and trained it at them the criminals are all tied up and they had already disappeared. "Oh man..." He said in disappointment.
"What are you doing here?"
Tim jumped in surprise and turn around to see one of the Robins hanging upside-down behind him with Batgirl leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and the other Robin perch on the box the Robin who's now in front of him is hanging from.
"I-I..." Tim is speechless, they are right in front of him and he can't help but smile as he greedily takes in each and every detail and files them away in his mind.
The hanging Robin, and the bigger one out of the two now, flip off the box and land gracefully and silently in front of Tim. "You shouldn't be here." He chirped as he walk towards Tim and wrap his wing around him.
Tim is so excited to finally meet them and for the first Robin to wrap his wing around him as they lead him out. He knows that he is rambling once he is no longer speechless and instead of being annoyed they looked amused and happy as they listen to him and answer as many questions as they can.
POV Bruce
As his kids are escorting one Timothy Jackson Drake back home, Bruce is tracking down his future daughter. There is no doubt in his mind he would take her in, she is better off with him than living on the streets, orphanage or foster home and he will try his best to give her a normal life even though he knows she will take her spot next to Barbara as a fellow Batgirl sooner or later.
But that is for future Bruce to worry about, right now he has a scared and confused little girl in front of him and he knows exactly why.
First off, he is The Bat, he probably seems like a Demon to her.
Second, she can only communicate through body language and his body language as The Bat is all wrong. Like a non-human had found themselves in a human body and is struggling to move it without actually knowing how a human should move.
Problem, he can't move normally as The Bat. He had trained himself to only move like this and it stuck a little too well.
Solution, take off his mask and talk to her as Bruce Wayne.
He did a quick sweep of the place with his magic to make sure there isn't anyone or cameras around before he remove his mask. The change was instant, his movements are more relaxed and human-like. It did wonders of lessening the fear and confusion in her eyes and replacing them with curiosity.
He gives her a gentle and patient smile as he uses body language to speak to her in hopes to convince her to come home with him.
~Batcave~
Bruce stare down at his sons and partial daughter, shut up, he knows that Barbara isn't his but she is while she's Batgirl so that makes her partially his daughter, who are looking up at him oh so innocently.
He let out a sigh as he covers his eyes. "Explain to me again why the Robins and Batgirl had brought a child to Bruce Wayne's doorstep?"
"The kid has a name." Barbara pretend to look offended.
"Yeah! His name is Tim and he's a really good kid." Jason cross his arms and tried to look like a disappointed parent.
"And he's all alone in his house, Dad. We can't just leave him there, all alone in his big, cold and empty house." Dick said it to guilt Bruce into taking Tim in.
"Besides, you brought back a girl! You can't be mad at us for bringing Tim back!" Jason pointed out and point at the girl sitting on The Bat's seat, watching them quietly.
"She is trained and nonverbal, no orphanage or foster family would be able to handle her. And she has clearly been homeless for a long time so that means she had escaped from whoever trained her." Bruce explained as he rub his forehead.
He knows that he went 'screw the timeline' but he didn't expect his kids to find their future brother all on their own.
"Okay, he can stay and I'll see what I can do to keep him here." He told his kids even though he already have plans on how to get Tim into their family.
Dick, Barbara and Jason cheered as they high-fived each other and once they calmed down; they turned their attention to the new girl.
"Hello! I'm Dick Grayson-Wayne, it's nice to meet you!" Dick greeted with a big smile on his face that fell when he saw the girl back away from him and press herself against the chair.
Bruce gently pats Dick's head. "She needs time to get used to all this, just give her time." He said softly and smiled when Dick nods his head with determination in his eyes.
"I'm Jason Wayne. I'll help you with your studies." He jerks his thumb towards Dick. "He isn't a very good teacher when it comes to things like math, English and all that." He shrugs his shoulders.
"That's not fair, Little Wing." Dick pout unhappily. "I am a great teacher!"
That made Barbara snort. "You confused Jason and he had to come to me for help." She smirked when Dick pout even more before turning back to the girl. "Hi, I'm Barbara Gordon, you can come to me for help with your studies or if you just want someone to talk to. It's nice to finally have another girl around."
Bruce smiled softly as he watch his children bicker playfully and smiled, even more, when he noticed Cassandra's body language, 'curious, longing and relaxed'. Yes, she will be able to find her place here and he will give her a chance to have as normal of a life as he can give her.
~Wayne Tower~
It took time because the both of them are on the opposite end of the world but he finally managed to sit down with Jack and Jane Drake, his youngest's parents and yes, he does see Tim as his already and like his other children, including Cassandra, who he had already adopted, he is protective of their baby bird.
"Mr and Mrs Drake, it is nice to finally meet you." Bruce smiled as he wave them to take a seat.
Jack and Jane aren't stupid, they are Gothamites as well even though they are rarely around much. They know who Bruce Wayne is, the face of the most important company in Gotham and while he might be kind and caring he is also ruthless when it comes to what he feels is right. It makes it impossible to bribe him and with The Bat as his protector, no one dares to threaten or hurt him or his family.
The Bat agrees with everything Bruce Wayne is doing, seems to love all the improvements to their city, and he would do anything to keep The Wayne family tragedy from happening again so Bruce and his family would continue to make their city a better place.
The last person who thought they can kidnapped Bruce's oldest child to force him to do what they want... It did not end well for them. The Bat was merciless as he rescue the child while Bruce did not hesitate to destroy their company ruthlessly and made it clear to all that his family is off-limits.
He is truly living up to his name as Gotham's Prince, perhaps even better than any real royalty would have. Then again, The Wayne family isn't that far off from royalty, as one of the founding families of Gotham City, the most powerful of the founding families, and the only one who made it to the modern-day, blood of another founding family, Kanes, running through Bruce's veins.
If Gotham is to have a Royal family there is no doubt in anyone's mind it would be the Wayne family.
Of course, Bruce knows it all so he knows that even though he doesn't inspire the same fear as The Bat when he is Bruce Wayne, he knows that a vicious smile is all he needs to make them nervous. "I'll cut right to the chase, I am going to adopt your son, Tim, and love him as my own."
He takes out the adoption papers and slides them over to them. "And you will let me without a fight."
"But he's our son!" Jane argued as she glared at Bruce for even suggesting that they give him up.
"Mr. Wayne, if my memory served me right, you have already adopted two sons and you just adopted a daughter recently, you don't need our son." Jack said calmly even though he is just as angry as his wife.
"I don't think you understand," Bruce kept the smile on his face as he lean forward, resting his elbow on his knees and resting his chin on his interlocked hands. "You will let me adopt Tim or I will report you to the police for child neglect and drag your name through the mud myself. And just before you think of denying it, The Bat and his colony know that you have been neglecting your son and to what extent the neglect goes, they are actually the ones who brought it to my attention."
He tilts his head and makes his smile look a little more innocent even though they know there is nothing innocent in this situation. "I am only giving you this chance because Tim still loves you for some reason. So sign the papers and let Tim be Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne, son of Bruce Wayne from now on."
When Bruce put it that way there is no way for Jack and Jane to refuse, knowing how dangerous Bruce Wayne and The Bat can be when they are working together. They both sign the papers and ran the first chance they can.
If they had stayed a little longer they would have seen a grinning Bruce pass the papers to an equally grinning Robin that had stepped out of his shadows, even though it's still day time Dick wanted to pick up the papers the minute they were signed and show it off to everyone but Tim, he'll get to see it once the paperwork went through. And seeing as Bruce gave him more control over where in Gotham he can teleport to, he'll be dropping off the papers and if someone sees him as Robin? Oh well. Not their fault if people start digging because they are curious.
He gives his son a pat on his head before he left and start packing up, he's off work early today to go to a very important meeting he doesn't want to be even a second late for.
~Arkham Asylum~
"Harv!" Bruce cried out in happiness when he saw his friend and rush over to hug him. "How have you been? Are they treating you right? Did they make the changes and upgrades with the money I donated?" He asked as he fuss over his friend. He has always been grateful that Harvey had stayed his friend even after he pushed everyone else away, he would have fallen into a dark hole if he was left alone.
Harvey smiled, Bruce's visits have always been a welcomed one, especially for the staff. He would never make trouble if one of Bruce's visit draws near and he doesn't need to be handcuffed nor does he needs his coin, not when it comes to Bruce.
They had been normal friends in the beginning but when Bruce lost his family...he looked so lost and hurt. His heart aches when he saw him and he had always wanted a little brother...Bruce is younger than him and he really likes the guy so... It all worked out in the end. Harvey gets the brother he always wanted and Bruce gets the support he needs.
Harvey's eyes soften as he wraps his arms around Bruce and hugs him close. "I'm fine, they actually treat us as humans instead of animals and yes, they did use your money as you intended them to, the food is so much better." He chuckled softly as he let Bruce fuss over him, it feels nice...it makes him feel normal.
"And how have you been? Has your company gone bankrupt over how much money you are donating and funding into your projects?" Harvey might have said it like a joke but he is completely serious. If Bruce has money problems and goes bankrupt...well he is too nice to lose everything so he might have to find a few people to...make some very generous donations to him.
Bruce snorted as they walk over to the couch and sat down next to each other, being the most generous donator has its perks. And someone who can make someone in The Rogues Gallery behave, even for a while, is a miracle. "I've not gone bankrupt, I've actually been doing well and I'm not going bankrupt anytime soon so don't worry about me." He smiled as he pull out a photo album from his bag and show it to Harvey.
"Dick has grown taller, soon I'm going to have a hard time picking him up." Bruce sigh sadly but give the picture a fond smile. "Jason is growing as well, I have a feeling he's going to be bigger than me when he's all grown." He flips the page to show Harvey his two new children.
"This is Cassandra, my sweet princess, she's the same age as Jason but older. She was homeless and she can't speak but she has grown so much in the short time she's with us. She has picked up ASL very quickly and she's working on her speech. Barbara is helping her whenever she comes over." He has a look of pride on his face.
"And this is my youngest, Tim. He's such a sweetheart and he's very smart. He's a little shy at the beginning but he had opened up a lot and his siblings have taken it upon themselves to spoil him."
Harvey can see the love in Bruce's eyes as he speaks of his children and he is happy for him but it is not going to stop him from teasing him. "You have an adoption problem, Bruce. At this rate, you'll be adopting every child in Gotham."
Bruce rolls his eyes. "I don't have an adoption problem, Harv." If Harvey thinks that he has a problem with 4 kids he can't wait to see what he'll say when he sees how many kids he will have in the end.
Harvey raises his eyebrow but he can't help the smile on his lips. "Two kids not long after adopting your second? Are you trying to fill up your Manor?"
Bruce huffed softly. "To be fair, Cassandra was brought to me by The Bat and Tim was brought to me by the Robins and Batgirl."
Harvey's smile immediately drop into a frown, The Bat might be protecting Bruce in a way but he still doesn't like him around Bruce. "Explain!" He demanded as he clutch his fists.
Bruce is a little sad that Harvey hates the other side of him but he doesn't let it show. "Cassandra can only communicate through body language and you can imagine how unsettling it is for her around the Bat. As for Tim...apparently, he was wandering around alone at night and the Robins and Batgirl brought him home but they saw that his house is empty and got him to admit that he is home alone most of the time so they brought him to me. I just got his parents to sign him to me, had to threaten to report them for neglect if they don't sign." He sighs sadly as he leans against Harvey. "They were so touch starve, Harv. So hungry for love... How could I turn them away?"
Harvey's eyes soften as he wraps his arms around Bruce and holds him close, knowing that he doesn't care about his scar side. "You have such a big heart, Bruce. That's what I love about you but you have to be careful, don't let anyone take advantage of you." He said softly as he gently run his hand through Bruce's hair. Oh, he knows that Bruce can take care of himself but he tends to see the good in people and try to help them even though they don't deserve help... Like he is doing with The Bat's Rogues Gallery.
"I'm not a kid, Harv." Bruce mumbled as he buried his face in Harvey's chest as he cuddle closer, not caring that people would think less of him because he's a man cuddling with a man. Harvey is his friend and he will cuddle with him whenever he wants...or whenever he can.
Harvey chuckle softly and gently kiss the forehead of the man he had come to love as a brother. "I know you're not but I still want you to be careful. Gotham is not a safe place to be."
"And yet we stay with no intention of leaving our homeland." Bruce smiled up at Harvey. "I will make things better for all of us. Just you wait and see."
And Harvey believes him, he believes that Bruce is going to make Gotham a better place. But at what cost? How much does Bruce have to give to make that future he had been working so hard to create happen? It would be so much easier to take over Gotham and force everyone to change, Bruce has the power to do that, but his sweet kindhearted baby brother won't do that to the home he loves, even if the path he chose might kill him someday.
~Batcave~
Bruce looks down at his grinning children, and one that is staring up at him in awe, and let out a loud sigh, he really should seal up that entrance. "So let me get it straight, you asked Tim if his house has any secret rooms because manors should have secret rooms and left him to do your 'homework'? Tim decided to see if there's any here and that's how he found the Batcave all by himself?"
"I saw that the grandfather clock isn't working and figure that's the entrance to a secret room." Tim said softly in hopes to get the rest out of trouble, not knowing that they aren't actually in trouble because their pushover for a Dad would probably let them get away with murder.
Bruce smiled softly as he pats Tim's head. "You're a very smart kid, Tim. I'm proud to have you in my family."
Dick and Jason light up at that. "Does that mean baby bird can join us?" Jason asked hopefully.
"No, he still needs to be trained and he is way too young to be running around." Bruce said even though he knows that his two oldest son knows that he can be bullied into letting Tim join them and he had already placed all the necessary spells on Cassandra and Tim. He takes out the papers when he saw their confused look and smiled when he saw all their faces light up.
"How did you manage to get it through so quickly?" Dick squeals in happiness as he hugs the stunned Tim.
"I have my ways." Bruce smiled as he pull Tim out of Dick's arms to hug him. "Welcome home, Son."
Tim tear up as he clings to Bruce. "I'm home, Dad..." He whispered something he had always wanted to say as the rest of his siblings comes in for a hug. He had never felt so loved in his life and he never want it to end.
~Riddler's hideout~
Bruce is a weak man. He wanted Tim and Cassandra to enjoy a few years of a loving normal childhood with a bit of training but Tim had been trained by his siblings while he's busy and Cassandra is already fully trained so after a few months they break out the puppy dogs eyes and he crumbled. He gave into them in under a minute, there's no need to worry about Cassandra and Tim is properly protected so why not? If they really want to do this who is he to say no to his children?
Which is why he is currently in Edward's hideout, it is now a tradition for them to meet Edward first but his children are impatient and don't want to wait for him.
Did he mention that he is a weak man when it comes to his children?
Anyway, it seems that Edward has guests over and they are currently frozen in fear as Edward greet him happily.
"Bat, I didn't know you make house visits, what brings you here?" Edward asked as he beam happily
"They didn't want to wait." The Bat chirped, shocking Edward's guests, as he lift his wing and two brightly colour blurs and one dark colour blur rushed out and attach themselves onto Edward.
"Eddie!" Two Robins and a Batgirl chirp happily as they cuddle the man they almost knock over.
"Hello kids, did you miss me that much?" Edward chuckle softly as he sat down and let the older Robin perch on his shoulder like a real bird, the younger Robin cling onto his chest and Batgirl is curled up on his lap, more like a cat than a bat.
"Missed you!" The older Robin chirped.
"But not why we're here~" Batgirl turn to where The Bat is standing with his wing still lifted. "They are shy."
Edward's eyes widen. "They?" It hasn't been that long since he met the second Robin, is it possible that The Bat had gotten more children during that short period?
The first figure to step out looks like Batgirl but her hair is black, she is smaller and her movements is more like The Bat's jerky movements than the Robins and first Batgirl.
The second figure is the smallest out of all of them, slender like the first Robin and shy like the second Robin had been.
The second Batgirl chirp and squeaks as she slowly walks towards Edward with the third Robin hiding under her wings.
"She said 'Hello, it is nice to meet you, Edward. We've heard a lot about you.'" The third Robin translated shyly, he had created a proper language with his siblings' help and Cassandra had picked it up faster than English.
"She's having a hard time picking up human language but we are working on it." The Bat explained when he saw the curious look on Edward's face. "And I won't do that if I were you, Jonathan." He chirped even though he has his back turned to them.
Jonathan jumped when he heard The Bat talking to him, he was going to grab his fear gas, he knows that it doesn't work on The Bat or his colony but it is still comforting to have it in hand. "How do you even know what I am doing?" He asked once he got past his fear.
The Bat glance over his shoulder to look at Jonathan. "I have to be aware of where your fear gas is, I don't want my children to have any more junk food."
"Junk food!?" Jonathan spits out in anger, forgetting that he talking to someone he fears.
The Bat turn around to give Jonathan his full attention and let his children have their fun with Edward. "Yes, junk food." He nods his head like he hasn't just insulted Jonathan's life work.
"Why I ought..." Jonathan growled and would have launched himself at The Bat to strangle him with his bare hands if Jervis didn't hold him back.
"Calm down, my love. He feeds on fear remember? The fear created by your gas probably tastes better but isn't as good for them and that's why he is mistaking it for junk foods." Jervis reasoned, not wanting his love dragged back to Arkham anytime soon.
"That isn't any better!" Jonathan hissed as he struggle to free himself from his boyfriend's hold without actually hurting him as The Bat watched on in amusement.
"Eddie Dear, we'll be going now. Jon is a tad upset." Jervis announced over Jonathan's 'Unhand me! I'll show him junk food!' as he drags him out of The Riddler's hideout; struggling and hissing like a cat about to be forced into a bath.
Edward looks up from the kids that he is entertaining when he heard Jervis call out their leave and is surprised to see Jonathan so angry. "What happened?"
The Bat just smile innocently and shrug his shoulders. "No idea."
Edward knows that it is a lie and made a reminder on his phone to ask Jonathan or Jervis the next time he meets either of them before turning back to the kids who are trying to get his attention away from The Bat. He'll have to say he is completely successful in winning the kids over but the downside is that he doesn't have much time to spend with The Bat...but he is warming up more so he guess Joker was right.
~Batcave~
Bruce was getting his kids ready for the night when he got the call and almost lost his shit in front of his kids.
Their universe doesn't follow the comic's timeline but it seems that the majority of the important stuff still happens. That's not good, not good at all but he is glad for the protective spell he placed on Barbara, even though it did not fully protect her at least it won't cause her to lose her ability to walk, but he'll have to figure out why the spell failed in the first place later. "Calm down, Barbara. I'll see if I can find The Bat and pass on the information to him. You focus on recovery now. I'll see you later." He said just in case someone is listening, before turning to his kids.
"That was Barbara, she was shot by The Joker and her father was kidnapped. I'm going to go look for him and I need Jason and Tim to stay while Dick and Cassandra patrol together." Bruce gives them a stern look. "You two are to stay together, even if you are well trained you two are still young and not cleared to go on patrol alone."
Dick, Cassandra and Tim nods their agreement as Jason protested. "We can stick with them too! We can help!"
"Jason, Barbara was shot, she's hurt. My spell failed for some reason and I can't risk you or Tim getting hurt. Dick and Cassandra are trained and have the experience both of you don't." Bruce turns to Dick and Cassandra. "You can go after low-level Rogues but anyone else you must report to Alfred and wait for me to take care of them."
"And if it is the Riddler?" Dick asked as Jason pouted at the side and Tim remove his uniform.
"...You may take Tim and Jason with you." Riddler is the only main Rogues he trusts with his children. "But if they are asleep let them. They need it. I really have to go, be careful." Bruce put on his mask and teleport away to find Jim.
~Batcave~
It was scarily easy for Bruce to find Gordon tied up in a warehouse, just tied up, there wasn't anything around trying to drive Gordon crazy and he's still in the clothes he was wearing when he was taken, and he should be happy that Gordon is alright but it just makes him feel nervous and worried that Joker is up to something bigger. He knows that he is planning something bigger...he just doesn't know what yet.
But he had a guess when he teleported to the cave and find his family panicking. "What's going on?" He growled, a quick look shows that Jason is missing.
His children turn to him with guilt all over their faces but Alfred is the one who answered. "Master Jason wanted to help..."
"We...I let him come with us for a bit before sending him home." Dick said softly as he looks away in shame.
*He was supposed to come back but he never returned.* Cassandra chirped as she fight back tears. She has the most training and experience out of all of them but she had already failed her family. She lost her little brother...
"We tried to teleport to his side but it's like something is blocking us..." Tim has a bit of fear mixed into the guilt, he should have done more to stop him.
Bruce sighs softly and pulls off his mask as he walks towards his children and pulls them all into a hug. "Don't worry, I'll find him and bring him home safe." He promised before putting his mask back on and gently pat Alfred's shoulder before teleporting away to Jason's side.
~Warehouse~
There is nothing blocking him and he isn't at all surprised that he appeared in a warehouse with a gagged and tied up Jason and Joker standing next to him.
"Welcome Batsy~" Joker giggled as he lean down to wrap an arm around Jason. "We were just about to start the fun without you because you were taking so long~"
"Let him go, Joker." The Bat demanded as he takes a step forward and immediately step back when Joker hold up the trigger for the bomb.
"Ah ah ah~ You don't get to make the demands after all the work you made me go through~ Do you know how long I had to plan all this because you won't come with me?" Joker pouted. He let go of Jason and take a step away from him as he points at the bomb not too far from them. "But this, this is going to get me what I want without you trying to get away!" He laughed as he press the button and drop the trigger as he turn to run out.
Bruce was already panicking when he saw the bomb and when Joker pressed the trigger to start the bomb? He didn't think, he couldn't. He only have a few seconds so he follow his instincts instead of his brain.
He straightens the protection spell he has on himself with as much magic as he can pour into it as he runs towards Jason and transfers it to his son as he hugs him. "I love you, Son." He whispered as he tuck Jason in his arms so his body is shielding him from the blast as the bomb went off.
POV Dick
Dick feels nothing but worries and guilt once he found out that Jason is missing, he should have let him stay or sent him back himself, and he definitely shouldn't have allowed him to come in the first place. Dad has always done everything he can to keep them safe and give them whatever they want. He should have known it wasn't a good idea to let Jason go with them when Dad put his foot down on that matter. Some big brother he turned out to be...
He did not have a lot of time to wallow in self-pity, not long after their dad left to find their missing brother a call came through from Jason.
"Help! Dad isn't...Dad isn't waking up! And there's so much blood... Oh god... Dad! Please open your eyes! Please! I'm sorry, I'll listen to you from now on, just please open your eyes!" Dick can hear Jason begging with so much fear in his voice and he felt his heart drop to his stomach.
There is no way...right? Their Dad has the best protection spell in the world! There is no way he could have gotten hurt... But he did say that there might be a problem with the spell because Barbara got hurt and that's why he didn't allow Jason and Tim out today...
Dick paled as realisation finally set in. "Stay here and help Alfred prepare the medical wing." He ordered Cassandra and Tim as he point to the unused but well stock medical wing that he had thought was a waste but is now glad Dad didn't listen to him; where Alfred is rushing around getting everything ready.
Cassandra and Tim are clearly worried and want to follow but didn't. They nod their heads and rush over to help Alfred.
Dick teleport to their location and he's sure his heart stopped when he saw the blown-up warehouse and he can clearly hear Jason screaming for their Dad to open his eyes from under the debris.
He shakes his head, he can panic later, his dad and little brother needs him right now. "Robin, are you alright?" He called out, remembering to use their code name as he starts pulling off debris until he finally reach his father and brother.
What he found almost made him sick, Dad's cape, which they all love to hide under, is buried off along with the back of Dad's uniform, showing the burnt skin underneath and a pole that had gone through his shoulder.
But, even though he is heavily injured, even though he is probably dying, he is on his arms and knees to keep Jason safe and give him space to move around.
And Jason, completely unharmed, is laying under him screaming and crying as he clings to their father.
Dick carefully, and with great difficulty, pulled their Dad and Jason out, feeling sick at the amount of blood but too afraid to see what other injuries he has. "Come on, let's go home." He wraps an arm around Jason and the other around their Dad as he teleports them home.
He doesn't know how but he managed to pull the hysterical Jason off their Dad and place him gently onto the table so Alfred can fix him before pulling his siblings back upstairs so Alfred can work in peace.
The rest of the night was a blur, he knows that Jason, Tim and Cassandra tired themselves out but he couldn't sleep knowing that their Dad is fighting for his life and there's a possibility they could lose him.
He watched over his siblings as they slept and made them breakfast even though no one is in the mood to eat, especially Jason. He looks like a shell of himself but ready to burst into tears at the drop of a hat.
Jason is the first one on Alfred when he finally emerges from the cave, asking him so many questions at a time Alfred couldn't get a word in until he calmed down.
"Master Bruce is stable right now but he needs his rest," Alfred said softly, looking older than he really is. "It is almost dinner time, how about I make something light?"
Dick shake his head. "Go to sleep, Alfred. You look like you are dead on your feet. We'll take care of dinner and check on Dad in a few hours."
Alfred looks like he wants to argue but one look at Dick's face made him shut his mouth and nod his head. "Very well." He tries to hide how tired he really is as he heads upstairs to rest.
He made sandwiches and while Tim and Cassandra are trying to feed Jason; he managed to slip away to check on their Dad.
He really wished he had checked in on Dad immediately after Alfred went to bed because the first thing he noticed is the empty bed with a single joker playing card on his pillow.
His siblings immediately know something is wrong when he rushed into the room, looking as pale as a ghost. "We need to get Alfred." He managed to get out.
"Why? What happened to Dad?" Jason is immediately on his feet, looking as pale as Dick as the worst scenario, Dad is dead, runs through his head.
All Dick could do is lift up the joker playing card and before he knows it, they were all running upstairs to get Alfred, freezing right outside of their Dad's room, Jason, Cassandra and Tim running into Dick's back when he suddenly stopped without warning, when they heard a familiar voice singing inside their Dad's room.
"Hush, little brother don't say a word,
Joker's gonna catch you a Robin bird,
and if that Robin bird won't sing,
Joker's gonna steal you a diamond ring,
and if that diamond ring is brass,
Joker's gonna steal you a looking glass,
and if that looking glass is fake,
Joker's gonna get you a horse and cart,
and if that horse and cart should break,
you'll still be the sweetest little Bat in town."
