Jason slept that night for a few reasons. For one thing, he was tired from not sleeping last night. For another, he had to. There was a chance tomorrow could result in some very draining high-stress situations. At the very least Dick was going to be all over the place and Tim and Damian would need to be briefed on the situation. And then there was Damian. What would he do with Dick?
Jason worried and wondered and planned. But, finally, he slept.
And woke up to the unfamiliar situation of Dick lying stiff as a board beside him, eyes wide in anticipation.
"So… excited huh?"
Dick's head whipped around, and Jason was presented with the beaming radiance of a smile that would give Jason's own Dick Grayson a run for his money.
"I'm so happy."
Jason smiled. "So am I. You know, we do have to wait till 10:40ish till they get here. It's only…" he glanced at the clock. "8:30."
Dick's face screwed up as he sighed through his nose. "Yeah. I know. But it's really close!"
"Yeah. It sure is, kid."
Dick grinned and shifted, shoulders and chest twitching as he glanced toward the door. Jason laughed, deep and shaking off the last vestiges of sleep. "You ready to go?"
Dick nodded, eyes shining eagerly. "Yeah!"
Jason, reclining against a wall, grinned to himself as he watched Dick run around like a headless chicken, double and triple checking everything he could think of to make sure everything was perfect.
Dick Grayson, Jason was sure, was a good kid.
Dick tripped over his feet and face-planted into the ground.
"Whoa, there, shrimp." Jason strode over and pulled Dick to his feet by his collar. "You good?"
Dick nodded emphatically, glancing around with vigor. Obviously, kid was anxious to go and quadruple check everything.
"Look. Dick. I don't want to worry you or anything, but we gotta talk a little. Kay?"
Dick looked up at him inquisitively.
"Look, when Tim and Damian get here… I dunno. They could be hurt, okay? We don't know. They may not have got enough to eat, wherever they were… you just gotta be ready to help me take 'em to the bathroom with those medical supplies, kay? Now I'm not say'in they're gonna be hurt. But they might. So. You just gotta be ready, alright kid? They'll probably be fine." Jason ruffled Dick's hair. "But we'll just be ready in case, right?"
Dick nodded hesitantly. "They'll be okay?"
Jason smiled, big and hopeful and reassuring. "Of course." Now, there was the fact that they may very well be okay. Jason didn't know. They could be fine and dandy. They could also not, but maybe they were fine.
Jason hopped to his feet and clapped his hands together. "Okay! Let's go!"
Jason scanned the room and wondered if he'd forgotten anything. Behind him, Dick shifted foot to foot, scanning the room for any sign of teleporting older brothers. The furniture in the room had all been moved out (Jason didn't think anyone would suddenly materialize inside a table, but that was no reason to take chances.) Taking a deep breath, Jason decided that he'd done everything he could think of. It was time to stop worrying.
Turning around, he smiled at Dick. "Now it's time for the really hard part."
Dick looked up inquisitively.
"Waiting."
Dick wrinkled his nose, took a deep breath, and balanced on the tips of his feet. "What time is it?"
Jason checked his watch. "10:13."
"Do they have to get here at 10:40?"
"No."
Dick flinched. "I already asked that."
"Yep."
Dick's eyes shifted as 'sorry' played on his lips. He settled for ducking his head and slumping his shoulders as repressed energy wracked his tiny body.
Jason reached out and ruffled his hair. Light reached out to caress the room, sloping into corners and lifting the veils of shadows from the nooks and crannies furrowed into the room. Tim and Damian were coming.
Dick gasped, and his hand twitched. Jason enveloped Dick's hand in his own. But only for Dick's comfort. Not to assure himself that no matter what he'd pull one little brother out of this in one piece.
Dick glanced up at him. "Jason, we forgot to plan what to say!"
Jason grinned down at him, hiding the tightness in his eyes. "Kid, something could always throw a wrench in the works. Sometimes the best plan is a vague outline."
Dick nodded violently, hand tensing in Jason's, blue eyes wide as light of gentle rainbow hues played over him.
Tim's hair was black, in stark contrast to the rest of the light playing over his body. Damian's was starting to darken, and the paleness of skin was beginning to make headway as well. Fingers reached out, moving from the haze and establishing themselves as individual digits.
And Tim fell out of the light. Jason reached out at lightning speed, dropping Dick's hand and grabbing Tim before he hit the ground. Balancing him on his left hip, his right arm moved to catch Damian. Good thing Tim was scrawny and Damian was practically a dwarf.
Laying the two on the ground, Jason scanned over their bodies with an efficiency born of practice, death, and more near-death experiences for himself and siblings than he dared to count.
No visible wounds. A quick ghosting over their prone bodies proved that nothing seemed broken, and, more to the point, they were not dying of starvation. Pulses low but fairly steady. Temperature low, but not dangerously so. Dehydration. Quick pupil check: something at least similar to concussion.
Sighing, Jason's shoulders drooped. They should be fine. Turning around, he flashed Dick a thumbs up, chest tight as his eyes. "They're gonna be fine!"
Dick smiled and rushed forward, eyes still shining with worry over his unconscious brothers.
"They need water and sleep, but they should be okay. Help me get Tim on my shoulders, okay? He's real gangly so I can hold him on better. Dami's all little so I can just carry him on my hip. I can even use both hands to hold Timmy on."
Dick helped Jason position Tim, whereupon Jason demonstrated his previous point by draping Tim's body over his shoulders, piggyback, legs and arms dangling over Jason's chest. Damian fit on Jason's right hip, and one of Jason's arms could easily snake around Damian's body and still assist his other hand in holding Tim on by gripping his wrists and ankles.
Dick tagged along behind, 'helping' by telling Jason if it looked like anybody was about to fall off.
Jason made way to the bedroom, and, having left the door open earlier, walked in to lay down first Damian, then Tim, ignoring the fact that there were two beds in the room and placing them on the same one. Then he tucked them in together as close as physically possible.
Just because he was setting a good example for DIck didn't mean he couldn't have some fun. He finally had brothers he could prank again!
"Alrighty, Dick, let's get some real fluffy blankets and some heating pads. They're a little chilly, so we're gonna warm 'em up."
Dick nodded vigorously and dashed off down the hall for blankets. Jason now came to a dilemma. Should he, or should he not attempt to wake the two? Rest would probably be good for them, rest was dangerous? It could be that the longer they were unconscious, the harder it would be to wake them. There was only one option, really. If it could be dangerous for them to stay asleep, they'd have to be woken up.
Jason moved into the adjoining bathroom and retrieved some smelling salts. Good thing this Bruce was, as well, well prepared.
He walked back into the room at about the same time as Dick returned. "Hold up, kid. We're waking 'em up, first. You can put those on the other bed for now…" Jason waved a hand vaguely, as Dick complied in his peripheral vision.
Positioning himself beside Damian (smaller and in more danger) Jason placed the ammonia inhalants under the boy's nose. Lightly patting his cheek, Jason pursed his lips. "C'mon, kiddo. Wakey wakey."
Damian twitched.
"Damian. Don't be scared, but you need to wake up." Code for: Damian, you're in danger. Wake up. Be civilian.
They were all supposed to respond to their own phrases, even if unconscious. As much as possible.
Damian squirmed. His eyelids fluttered.
Jason glanced to the side, and Dick's eyes were wide as saucers, trained on Damian as if he were the most wonderful thing he'd ever seen. Jason veiled a twinge of jealousy.
Damian coughed. His eyes fluttered open. Jason pushed Dick back slightly. Damian was sure to be discombobulated, and the sight of his precious Grayson in miniature was not going to help anyone.
"Hello. Do you know my name?"
"Todd. Only you would [cough, cough] presume that I could [cough] forget someth-[gasp]-ing that sim-[cough]-ple."
"Do you know your name?"
Damian gave him a dirty look as he took deep breaths. "You are purposefully…" Damian trailed off, glaring at Jason, eyes sliding out of focus. Jason sighed. He didn't think the two were in any danger. Tim should be fine without being woken.
"Go to sleep, brat. It's good. We'll wake ya' up later."
Damian did so, but not before giving Jason a lovely stink eye. Jason huffed a laugh at the eleven year old and turned back to Dick.
"Well, they're gonna sleep a while, and then they're gonna be okay. The worst that's happened is that we now have too much food, and should probably make soup. That aside, most of the food we made should keep pretty well. So we should all be fine!"
Dick looked at Jason curiously, shifted his eyes, and smiled at him, nodding shallowly. "Okay."
Jason sighed. "You got a question?"
Dick shook his head no. Jason nodded his head yes.
"Yes, you do, I can tell. What is it? Jason stretched and cracks moved up his back.
"Um… why call Damian a brat? I thought you liked him?"
Jason winced. Oops. Him and his big mouth. "Uhh… that's… complicated, see. See, sometimes siblings will… that is… they insult each other, but it's because they like each other. Really. It's like wrestling, but with words. You aren't really trying to hurt anyone's feelings, but…" Jason yawned. Seriously. It had been a stressful week. His schedule was all thrown off, nights were spent worrying, and days were spent trying to anticipate every problem Dick could possibly have and solving them before they happened.
And now Tim and Damian were here. Crazy to the fifth power. Yeah, no.
"Okay. Dick. I'm tired. It's about to get really crazy in here, and I want a nap, because soon I'm not gonna be able to get one. You tired?"
Dick shook his head no. "I can stay in here and make sure nothing happens to them!"
Jason smiled. You know what, kid, you do that. Sounds great. Tell me if they start waking up, kay?"
Considering the trek to his room, he reconsidered. Sometimes, being in a mansion had some cons. Stupid distance between everything in the house was one. Yeah, no.
"I'm just gonna be right down the hall, kay? If you need me." Dick nodded, smiling, and Jason took a break from babysitting /emergency med prep and took a nap. Just before he drifted off, he had the flash that taking naps was exactly what he'd made fun of Bruce for doing when he was 14 and naive. How the tables had turned…
Jason yawned, rolled over, and checked his watch. 12:52. Yeah. Lunch. That. Tim and Damian might be ready to eat. Jason shoved the cocoon of blankets from his legs, mourning the cold already. Shoving his feet into his shoes he lumbered down the hall. Pushing open the door, he looked in on Dick keeping dutiful guard over his brothers. Dick didn't hear him come in (bats were always silent), so Jason cleared his throat as he shifted forward to creak against the wooden floor.
Dick glanced up and smiled. Happy. Peaceful.
"Hi, Jason! They didn't wake up and nothing happened."
"Well something happened to me; I got some sleep. Dick, appreciate sleep." Jason pushed off the wall towards Tim and Damian. "It's great."
Dick looked a little confused, but nodded. "Yes, Jason."
Jason sighed. "That wasn't an order…" settling down beside Tim and Damian, he started poking Damian's cheek. "Hey. Hey, kid. Dami. Damipoo. Damsisnookiwookums."
Glancing over his shoulder Jason reconsidered Dick. "Um, Dick? They're gonna be confused enough already when they wake up, so if you could just step into the hallway for a little bit so they can't see you, that would be great. They know what you look like as a kid, and they'll be real confused if they wake up and see their big brother size small. You can come right in in a few minutes, they'll be real happy to see you."
Dick nodded, slid off the bed, and dashed into the hallway. Jason turned back to his mini assassin of a brother. "Damian. You need to wake up now. Come on."
Damian groaned weakly and his arm twitched as if to bat Jason away like a whining insect. "Ooodd."
Jason grinned. "You can do better than that. What, the mighty heir of the demon rendered dumb by a simple jaunt through dimensions? Todd. Say it with me: Tod-"
As it turned out, Damian had very quickly regained use of his fist.
"All right Tim." Jason demanded, wondering how he could be tired right after sleeping and wondering if he should have brought an ice pack with him. "It is your turn to wake up. Do it now." Jason shook Tim's shoulder roughly, conscious of a pouting baby assassin behind his shoulder. Tim moaned something that sounded like 'coffee' and tried to bury his face in the pillow.
"No, no, no." Jason declared, pulling the blanket fully off of Tim, picking the teenager up, and holding him sideways in the air, arms, legs and head dangling limply. Tim was not happy with this turn of events, and started kicking feebly, eyes fluttering open. Jason dumped him unceremoniously on the bed. "Up Timbers. There are things you must know." Jason grinned at his siblings, being sure to put a warning glint into his eyes. Damian was awake enough to recognize it, and Jason had a quietly authoritative hand on Tim's shoulder to give him the message.
"Tim, Damian, you are never going to believe what happened."
"Waed." Tim interrupted. "Izzer coffee? Ah smell coffe."
"No." Jason responded smugly. "That is a coffee scented candle, thank you for waking up and talking, you can have coffee when you get lunch."
Tim looked offended and slightly betrayed, but turned his head towards Jason grudgingly.
"We have gone to a different universe. While I know that this is confusing and kinda scary for all of us," insert meaningful glance here "we are just going to have to get through this as a family." Tim blinked at him in confusion, raising an eyebrow. Damian opened his mouth. Damian was not allowed to open his mouth.
"Also, that family is a little bigger than we thought it was going to be… we all know our dear big brother Dick, correct?"
At the mention of Dick, Damian straighted, an invisible rod up his spine.
"Well, when I came here, I learned that Dick was here too! Kind of! He's a little kid: 8 years old! And we're going to take care of him! He's a little bit of an ACK." Jason smiled, and it didn't touch his eyes. An ACK was an informal code word for an Abused Civilian Kid: helpful because it could easily be incorporated into conversation in front of civilians. "He used to live with his version of Bruce, who is not here, but we really need to find him."
Damian's eyes had widened before narrowing, undoubtedly already planning Bruce's demise. Tim looked a lot more awake, and also somewhat sick, undoubtedly planning how to track Bruce down. He also seemed to be scanning the room for signs of eight year old children.
"Dick, come on in! Your brothers would like to give you a hug!" Jason had scarcely finished his sentence before Dick pummeled into Damian, pulling back and moving forward at once, beaming and happy beyond all imagining.
"Damian!" Dick's voice was saturated in disbelief and wonder, adoration pouring from his face, an almost worshipping shine in his eyes. Damian stared down at the child with his arms tight around his chest. That was exactly how he used to look at his mother.