Dick walked in with a smile aimed at a distraught – as much as he could get – looking Damian, then he was grabbed by the shoulders and stirred into the kitchen.
"I swear to God and the Devil, Dick, if that kid twitches in your general direction, I'll shoot your knees and make you walk home."
"Golly gee! My actual home or like, the manor?"
"Dick." Jason was not a morning person.
"Jason, you're crowding me. Go sit, I can handle coffee and doughnuts. I was a cop, you know."
Dick held it together with a nice little smile until Jason stepped back into the living room glaring all the way, to only then grab the edges of the sink and take a deep calming breath.
It didn't work.
What the hell was he doing? He should be getting Damian to a therapist or something, not making small – albeit threatening – talk with his estranged little brother.
"Okay" he heard Jason from the other room "We're way behind with this, but I'm gonna check how your shoulder's doing and everything. So for the sake of everyone's fingers and eyes and shit, you're gonna put your hand on my shoulder and if anything hurts, if anything fucking tickles, you press those assassin little fingers. Lightly. And don't give me that fucking face, we both know you'd rather have your arm fall off than tell it hurts."
Dick stretched his neck back to take a look of what was going on with the two and his eyes boggled at the sight. Damian was sitting on the back of the couch, hand placed on Jason's shoulder even as he scowled – and… was that a pout? – at the top of Jason's head, while Jason was busy examining him thoroughly with a concentrated expression.
While fingers traced his ribs, Dick kept expecting Damian to flip his shit and shove his way out of there, but it was Jason's face that contorted painfully.
"Fuck, kid, I said lightly!" Jason complained, trying to get away from Damian's hand "Tell me what hurts."
Damian stared at him with a blank expression and Jason let his head fall back dramatically.
"Show me, dumbass."
Dick had no idea how this… relationship worked, but he was pretty sure that was no way to talk to a traumatized kid. Even if the kid was Damian. But then again, Jason didn't know what had happened, so he kept acting like… Jason. And Damian still had that blank look, so maybe he was catatonic or something, which would explain the not talking, but he seemed pretty responsive before, so maybe-
Holy shit, Damian just crinkled his nose and rubbed his eye with the back of his fingers all childlike before looking away and pointing to his own torso.
If Dick was any less of a Flying Grayson, he would've fallen on his ass. Like, sprawled on Jason's kitchen floor, maybe even hitting his head on the way down or something. As it were, he just took a shocked step back and kept watching.
Jason's hands came up halfway and froze "You're gonna bite my finger off if I touch you, aren't you? Do it yourself."
Damian arched what could only be a challenging brow and Jason huffed out a laugh "I'm on to you. Come on, lift the shirt."
There was a long knife wound on Damian's ribs, though it wasn't deep enough to reopen, it was an angry inflamed red. "You see" Jason sounded annoyingly unimpressed "This is exactly why I have to keep poke-checking you for injuries." he sighed and poked the cut, for emphasis Dick guessed "Someone must've gotten pretty close and personal to do this." Damian slapped his hand away and shrugged "Did it happen while you were picking fights with those clowns?" staring hard at his own knees, Damian shook his head "Okay." Jason nodded and leaned back on the couch "Okay."
If Dick stared just right, if looked like Damian was sitting on Jason's shoulders.
"I'm gonna get some cleaning stuff for that, I don't want you getting pus all over my t-shirt."
Dick jumped and got back to pretending he was opening boxes and whatever.
Ok, so Damian wasn't catatonic. In fact, he and Jason were getting along famously and Dick didn't know what to think about that. The night before, Jason asked why Damian hadn't gone to him and Dick said that he didn't know. Because he didn't.
So he thought a lot about it, when he should've been sleeping actually, and realized that he still had no clue whatsoever of how Damian rationalized everything. Because Damian couldn't possibly be scared of him. Could he?
It didn't make sense. Dick would never ever hurt Damian and the kid was bound to know that. Wasn't he?
"If criminals only knew that Batman's greatest weakness was pouring coffee..." Jason's voice startled Dick so much that his hands twitched around the doughnut box sending up a cloud of sugar "Hey, you've been antiqued."
"How can someone with such a loud mouth be so fucking quiet?"
Jason shrugged and stole a doughnut "You're acting weird" he said around a mouthful "Well, weirder. It's not helping your case at all, and I might still shoot you."
Dick shook his head bewildered "Why are you even telling me that?"
"You know…" Jason waved the doughnut around searching for the right words "For the record."
When Dick finally joined the two, Damian was still perched on the back of the couch, following Dick's movements with his eyes and Jason was making a show of looking distracted.
It was immensely awkward, which probably was what Jason wanted from the beginning, the asshole.
"So," Dick began, handing Jason a cup of coffee "How is it going?"
"Yes or no questions, Dickhead" Jason said quietly, taking a quick sip "It's not that hard."
What Dick really meant to ask was lost somewhere in between 'are you okay?' and 'do you have any idea how fucking worried I was about you, you little selfish fuck?!', which were, by the way, both yes or no questions – see, Jason? He could do it too –, but what came out was "Are you scared of me?"
Jason snorted into his cup and started to choke "Oh God, there's coffee coming out of my nose…"
Like Dick needed to feel any more stupid.
Damian was so shocked with the question he only spared Jason a quick disgusted glance and eyed Dick again, his brows arched so high they almost touched his hair.
Dick was almost repeating the question when Jason, who was still kinda laughing and clutching his nose, saw the look on Damian's face. "Did he answer you? Dick, why didn't he answer you?"
"I don't know?"
"Why would he be scared of you? You're an idiot."
Dick was nodding enthusiastically when the words clicked "You are not helping."
"You should leave." Jason started to stand, but Damian's hand grabbed his shoulder "What." he barked, but Damian's grip just grew stronger "You want him to stay" Jason translated doubtfully.
Damian's nod was tentative, but his expression was resolute.
"You want me to stay because you are not scared" Dick needed the reassurance, but Damian was never one to give it willingly.
The boy looked at Dick, really looked and shook his head.
Jason sighed angrily and his stiff posture deflated "I hope you two ladies know that you'll have to tell me what the fuck is going on eventually. This shit's getting annoying."
"Sorry, Jay-Jay" Dick ran a hand over his face and sat down opposite to Jason "I think this is Damian's story to tell." because, really. How the hell was Dick supposed to even begin to tell Jason what happened? In front of Damian no less.
Maybe if he could get Jason alone. In a contained environment.
"Oh, haha, his story to tell. Very funny. Mock the mute kid, you insensitive moron! And you" he pointed a finger at Damian's nose "Stop laughing."
Damian wasn't laughing per say, but he did have a little amused expression, which was pretty much the same, considering who this was. It was pretty darn cute.
"Oh fuck" Jason groaned "We're having a family moment, aren't we? This is disgusting and completely your fault" he pointed at Dick, but kept looking at Damian so the culprit was anyone's guess.
Damian didn't seem concerned in the least and made a quick grab for a doughnut before settling back on his perch and frowning at the way the sugar clung to his fingertips.
The silence had Jason drumming his fingers on his thighs, Dick was just about to recognize the song when it stopped "What now?"
Dick blinked "What?"
"I mean… You wanted to find the kid, and here he is, obviously alive and well and somewhat clueless about what the hell to do with that doughnut" Damian scowled at Jason's profile even as he was about to wipe his sugar coated hand on the back of Jason's black t-shirt "So yeah. What now?"
Dick wondered if this was Jason giving him a way out of the awkwardness or baiting him into saying something stupid. But if the impatient look on Jason's face told him anything, he just wanted to know what would happen next. For real.
Dick could just say he wanted to take Damian back home and that would be that. Jason would be back to being the Red Hood and their sometimes enemy, Dick would get Damian talking again somehow after towing Timmy away from the computer, it'd be fine.
"We could watch a movie or something?"
Jason had a snarky comeback just on the tip of his tongue, Dick was on the verge of an epic grimace already, but Damian decided that it was a good time to take a bite into his doughnut, but when he did, he cringed instantaneously.
"What is it?" Dick leaned in and touched Damian's knees, but the boy just scrunched his nose harder.
"You've never had a doughnut before." Jason stated way too calmly for Dick's taste, but Damian blinked through teary eyes and shook his head "Too sweet, huh?"
Dick watched in amazement as Damian swallowed hard and nodded, Jason nodded back and handed the boy his cup.
"Don't give him coffee" Dick chastised and punched Jason on the shoulder "He barely sleeps as it is."
Jason ignored him completely "Small sips, kid."
"You're such an enabler."
"Let him have his fun, Dickwad."
Dick cuffed Jason upside the head and smiled at Damian, who was peeking at him and Jason over the cup. This is exactly what they needed, this… Dick didn't wanna say 'normalcy' because this was as far from normal for them as it could get, but they could deal later with all the… earth shattering everything, because whatever this was, it was what they needed.
And if Dick was completely honest, he was a just a tinsy bit jealous of how Damian acted with Jason. He wanted to be a part of that, so he scooted closer to Damian's skinny legs and made himself comfortable.
Yeah, they could forget everything for today.
We could steal time, just for one day…
"You see that, little dude?" Jason stage whispered "It starts by dressing up as disco reject, then the humming of David Bowie begins, soon we'll have to lock him up in Arkham."
"Can't I just be happy, Jay-Jay?"
"No, you're creepy when you're happy."
That only made Dick smile bigger.
They huddled on the couch, Dick and Jason on either side of Damian's legs and watched TV.
Jason complained about everything Dick wanted to watch ("Fuck no." "Why not, it's a great movie." "It's a cancer movie, it smells like a cancer movie." "What the hell is a 'cancer movie'?" "You know, someone gets cancer, suffers like a fucking dog and dies in the end, when by the way, you'll be bawling like an infant, so no.") and since they could never decide which one was right, they would leave the decision to Damian, who kept changing sides just to watch the older two fight. The boy never said a word, barely even made a sound, but his eyes shone mischievously the whole day, Dick thought he really looked like a ten year old for the first time ever.
They stuffed their faces with doughnuts, gorged in pizza and washed it all down with soda.
It was a mundane and slow day.
It was pretty badass.
But when the night came Dick knew it was about to end and he didn't think he'd be that sad about it. He turned to find Damian looking down at him, the boy shot a glance to the night sky through the window and back at Dick. It was surprisingly easy to understand him.
"Yeah, I think I gotta go." he said, voice so low it was almost to himself, but Damian was still paying close attention to him. "You wanna come with me?"
Jason's head made an appearance from the other side of Damian's legs, expression drowsy – which in turn made him look insanely young – and dripping with disbelief, but Dick knew now that even if he thought Jason was unstable and psychotic, there was no denying he was taking pretty good care of their littlest brother.
And if someone had been through enough shit, it was this boy, who deserved – and probably needed – some control over what happened to him.
Dick couldn't – wouldn't – fuck this up.
"Because you can stay here if you want to, but I'd be happy if you came with me."
"I'm so glad you asked me what I thought about the brat staying here longer" Jason quipped and Dick kicked his shin.
"It's your choice." Dick told a contemplative Damian "What do you say, Little D?"
Damian turned rigid, barely even breathing and Dick turned to Jason guidance, but only found the same confused mirrored on his brother's face.
"Little dude?"
Damian shook his head then; he stood on the couch, looked at Dick with wide eyes still shaking his head and stormed off to the bathroom.
"Huh. So shit like that happens to you too." Jason commented frowning at the bathroom closed door.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"Hell if I know."
"I was just trying to be nice."
"You always are. Must be exhausting."
"You have no idea."
Dick left and Jason still had a traumatized mute assassin hiding in his bathroom.
"Damian's story to tell…" he repeated Dick's words from before and wanted to gag a little. Why he even listened to the crap that sprouted from Grayson's mouth was beyond him.
He should've just cornered Dick in the kitchen and demanded to know what was going on, who knows, he might've even gotten an almost straight answer from the asshole.
Walking over to the bathroom, Jason thought briefly about knocking before discarding the idea and picking up the Robin uniform that was still lying on the floor. He found the tear in the Kevlar where Damian was cut up and wondered how someone got close enough to do that kind of damage.
The blood spatter on the leggings caught his eye, but it didn't really add up. The kid had been brawling with Gotham's scum, there should be blood, but why was it on the back?
The clothes fell from his hands back to the floor, because it didn't matter what he'd been thinking earlier, he wasn't all that sure he liked where this was going.
He let himself fall seated on the couch and let his head fall back with a sigh; the sound of the bathroom door opening made him close his eyes and concentrate on the steps. Jason felt the cushions dip when Damian climbed up and warmth enveloped his head as the kid sprawled over the back of the couch on his stomach. In his mind's eye, Jason imagined himself wearing Damian as a scarf, and the image only became more vivid when a bony knee landed on his shoulder.
"Is that your way to tell me you're tired?" he asked with a smirk, without opening his eyes.
Damian's breath was shaky across the shell of his ear, but when Jason made it to turn and look, the little shit's forearm pushed his head back as it was. So they stayed like that, Jason with crossed arms and legs kicked out comfortably and Damian draped behind his neck.
Jason was beginning to nod off when there was a shift in Damian's breathing, but what really startled him was the barely accented whisper "Grayson called me. On that night. He said…" the kid hesitated, but Jason kept still and waited "He said Drake was hit with Sex Pollen."
Dick saw what Jason meant by telling him he was creepy when he was happy. The cowl only made the effect triple. He didn't give a fuck.
Let the criminals deal with nightmares over having their asses handed to them by a smiling creepy Batman, who the hell cares?
He was almost finishing up with patrol when Alfred's voice piped up "Uhm, master Richard? We've had a situation here that requires your attention."
Oh no, not today… "What is it? Is someone hurt?"
"Minor injuries only, yet I insist on your presence here as soon as possible."
Dick expected mayhem. Uncontrollable, unstoppable chaos. He found a puzzled Alfred and security footage.
"What is it, Alfie?" he asked, voice laced with hysteric humor "You're starting to freak me out."
"We've had an unexpected visitor tonight."
"Who?"
Alfred simply sighed and pressed play.
Dick frowned at the screen when he saw Jason chatting with Alfred, even smiling – Dick took it all back, Jason was the creepy one with that honest smile – and giving the older man a one-armed hug.
"What did Jason want here?"
"He requested a moment to talk with Master Timothy."
Dick's gut twisted uncomfortably. On the video Jason lounged on the hall, completely unconcerned until Tim showed up dragging his feet, when he was within arm range, Jason threw the most vicious sucker punch Dick had ever seen. Tim's head came this close to doing a 360 degree turn and he crumpled boneless.
Jason flexed his fingers once and Dick didn't need the audio to figure out his last words before leaving.
"You're lucky I didn't kill you."
A/N.: Fucking FINALLY! This chapter was so hard! I even think it turned out a little too long, but after all the work I couldn't bring myself to split it or something.
But I kinda like it... Hope you guys do too!
Oh and I've said it on my other fic, but just so everyone knows, I'm taking tumblr prompts (you don't have to follow me, seriously. I suck at tumblr-ing, just like my crap and I'll be happy), so if you guys are interested, let me know!
And I'm gonna go 'cause it's like 3 am here, what am I even doing here?