Guys! It's been so very long! I'm so sorry it's taken so long. I'm in my senior year of high school, so there's a ton of events and crap I have to go through. Not to mention I had to write a play an entire 4 months earlier than I usually have to. Augh, it's been so hectic! Just a warning, NaNoWriMo starts in a few days, so I haven't got a clue as to when the next update will be. I usually write other things to get through writer's block, so I'm hoping to work on this and my NanoWrimo project at the same time. So much work is involved this next month, guys. But I'm working on it, I promise! I'm not going to abandon this, and I know the ending. So don't think I don't have a plan.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It was kind of fun to write. It's also longer than usual. Once again, sorry for the wait.
Wally growled, stomping down the stairs, past Alfred and M'gann with their trays of scones, and into the living room, where Damian was huffing over being bed ridden for the next week. As soon as he entered the Wayne boys were quiet. There was a woman Wally hadn't seen yet, red hair and glasses were the only things he needed to see in order to understand she was hot.
Also downstairs was Superboy—their Superboy, if the constant frown was any indication. Conner was looking at him, understanding the frustration he was feeling and acting upon. The Waynes did not, however, and found his scowl unwelcome.
"What's up with you?"
"Batman." Wally snarled back at Damian. "He's holing Rob up there and won't let anyone in."
There was a soft sigh behind him, and M'gann was entering the living room as well. "I made him scones, but it seems only Alfred can go in."
"Did you get to see Rob at all?"
She shook her head. "No. I heard him though, and I'm going to try establishing a connection after Alfred comes back. I don't want to disturb him while he's eating."
"Link us all up then." Wally gave a look to Conner, who nodded.
"What's this link you're talking about?" The redhead asked, leaning over the couch with her arms on the top of Damian's head and her chin resting on her arms.
"It's a mental link." M'gann told her, watching as she stood up and held a hand to her forehead, taking a step back. "Oops, I didn't mean to say that mentally. Uh, hi, I'm M'gann, but you can call me Megan."
The woman took a moment to recover, but hesitantly introduced herself. "I'm Barbara."
"Barbara, what lovely name!" M'gann clapped her hands together and smiled. "Are you also a part of this family?"
Barbara took a moment to think about it. "I guess you could say that. These guys are like little brothers to me."
"Wait a second, that suit… don't tell me!" Wally took a step back, eyes wide. "You're Batgirl?"
"Duh." Jason rolled his eyes. "Haven't we all been over this introduction thing?"
"I wasn't here." Barbara pointed out. "How do you know—Oh, that's right. Dick said I was Batgirl in your dimension, right?"
"I don't believe it." Wally looked her over, earning a few glares from Jason, Tim, and Damian. Barbara was too busy trying to remember what exactly Dick had told her about his dimension.
"There's a Batgirl?" Conner asked, sharing an equally confused glance with M'gann.
"Of course there's a Batgirl! As soon as we get Rob back home, he's introducing us." Wally declared, a wide smirk on his face.
Jason narrowed his eyes. "Who says he's even going back?"
The grin faded and Wally shifted into a more defensive stance. "What do you mean? We're taking him home."
"He already has a home." Tim bit out. "His home is here, with us."
"Robin is not part of this dimension." Kaldur said, entering the room from the kitchen behind Conner.
"He is now." Jason sat up straighter. He was itching to fight, despite his still very broken ankle.
"He doesn't belong here!" Wally snapped.
"Oh, and he belongs with you?" Damian snarled. "I can see you've taken excellent care of him."
"He was living on the streets, he refused to let anyone help him, and let's not forget the nightmares." Jason added. "Tell me, how does that say to you 'I loved my life and I want to go back.'?"
Young Justice looked stricken, but Wally refused to give up the argument. "Yeah, I see you've taken great care as well. That's why we had to dig him out of a pile of rubble a mile high!"
Tim launched, tackling Wally to the floor and sending punches toward his face. Wally quickly recovered, wrestling against the offending arms, retaliating with punches of his own. M'gann pushed Tim off of Wally telepathically and after Babs had caught him, sent a batarang or two her direction.
Conner leapt into the action, tackling Barbara down and Damian released his own batarangs. He couldn't really move, but he was going to defend his family nonetheless. Jason launched himself onto Conner's back, wrapping his arms around Conner's neck to choke him. Kaldur went to pull Jason off, but Tim recovered and tripped him before he could get there.
Wally, with a burst of speed, crashed into Tim and the wall, busting through it and into the kitchen. Tim struggled to get free, but Wally had him pinned. Conner got off of Barbara and instead threw Jason into the couch, tipping it over and sending Damian sprawling across the floor with a sharp yelp of pain.
Barbara then turned to M'gann, who used her powers to lift Barbara off of the floor and into the air. Of course, in retaliation, a rather explosive device was sent flying towards the Martian. Things from there got a little hazy. The explosion sent M'gann through the railing of the staircase and out into the sitting room. Conner erupted into a fit of rage, pouncing back on Barbara as soon as she had unceremoniously been dropped onto the floor.
Kaldur, realizing things had gotten out of hand, tried to hold Conner back, but then Kon came out of the kitchen, holding apart the still snarling Tim and Wally. He dropped the two in order to hold back Conner, leaving Tim to launch back onto Wally.
Damian was still hissing curses and holding onto his hip in agony. The fall had jolted the very tender wound. Jason was trying to regain his breath, but still very aware that he had his knife and a well aimed throw could seriously injure Wally, who managed to get the upper hand on Tim, now suffering a very bloody nose.
"You will stop this immediately!" Alfred's sharp voice commanded from the chaos.
A couple more punches were thrown before the violence died out. Alfred descended the stairs, very angry and with Mary and John right behind him.
"I cannot believe without an adult in the room for two seconds, you have managed to destroy a good portion of this house."
"Alfred—" Barbara was silenced with the raising of a hand.
"I will have none of it, Miss Gordon. All of you are at fault here."
"What was this about?" John asked, looking at the devastation and the injuries the children were nursing.
"They're trying to take Dick away from us." Tim answered, shoving Wally off of him.
"We're taking him back home!" Wally snarled back. "His real home!"
"His parents are here!" Jason shot back. "You really want to tear him away from them?"
"Enough!" Alfred roared. "We will discuss this later. Master Richard is trying to rest, already disturbed by the noise from this morning's fiasco. I will not be surprised if he is preparing to defend himself from the very monsters that sent him into this state."
Guilt ran through them. When they had dug him out of the rubble, he was so disoriented and M'gann had allowed them to feel the fear Robin was harboring. None of them thought about what the noise would do and what nightmares it could bring up.
Mary took another few steps down the steps, looking absolutely horrified. "You are fighting over whether Dick stays or goes?"
The silence was enough of an answer.
"Dick should be the judge of that, don't you think?" John shook his head. "Or perhaps not. Perhaps none of you thought at all."
"If you would just let us see him—" Wally tried, but was cut off.
"See him? You can't even keep yourself together. Dick doesn't need the stress of this; he's been through enough these past couple of weeks." Mary took a deep breath. "We will let him decide when he ready to see you, any of you."
Mary and John retreated upstairs, and through the guilty silence, they heard Dick ask;
"Are they hurt?"
Alfred sighed, letting the question sink in before picking up a chunk of the staircase railing. "We are going to clean this up, together, and we are not going to say a word. Understood?"
With a triad of "Yes, sir.", Young Justice picked themselves up and helped the Batfamily to their feet. Damian was exempt from cleaning, still in great pain from his fall. He was instead taken to his room for solitary rest. The cleaning process was long and painfully silent. Alfred only answered questions about cleaning, and despite the animosity towards each other, they all managed to get along and work together.
Dick sighed, tossing his head back and forth on comfortable pillow out of sheer boredom. At least, until he heard the yelling and the loud thumps and thuds of a fight. He wasn't the only one. Alfred, who was writing down medical information jumped at the sounds. Mary and John, who were sitting with Dick at the time, also jumped at the noise.
The thought of an attack on the manor brought them all to their feet. Well, Dick tried to, but was promptly told to lay back down and stay quiet. Although he was irritated at the treatment, Alfred and his parents left the room before Dick could even protest.
A lot went through his head as he heard the explosion. It nearly sent him out the door. He managed to stand up without too much trouble. His lungs hurt, but it wasn't like he was Damian and couldn't move about. His brothers were down there!
…Since when had he considered them brothers? He'd just sort of showed up in their lives after a moment of weakness. Honestly, he was surprised they didn't kick him out. He was stealing Bruce away from them, or at least that's how Dick would have felt.
Was it when they brought him back to the manor? Was it when he'd spent Christmas with them, and shared in a tradition he'd never known before? Christmases were always quiet and a time to reflect on family that they'd lost. Here, it was a time to celebrate family they'd always had.
Was it when he taught them how to fight, how to defend themselves from the psychos living in Gotham? Was it when he'd taken charge and gone to rescue Bruce? Or was it when he realized they'd been brothers all along, he just hadn't met them yet?
The thought sent a strange chill through his body. All of a sudden it became harder to think about leaving. There was a loud yell—Superboy. How could he forget about his friends, his partners? M'gann, Kaldur, Conner, Wally, Artemis, they were all part of his life now. They were down there, fighting whoever for his safety.
The fighting stopped, and fear flashed through him. Were they okay? Who won? He made his way to the door slowly, preparing to pounce if the wrong person entered the upstairs. After a moment, two sets of footsteps made their way upstairs. Dick tensed and the door opened. At the sight of John and Mary, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are they hurt?"
"They'll be fine. There was no real danger." The bitterness in his father's voice confused him. "What are you doing up? We told you to stay in bed."
"I want to see them."
"No, Dick," Mary refused, placing a palm on his cheek, "it's not the right time."
"I'm fine." Dick pressed. "I can walk without dying, and I'm ready to see them."
"They aren't ready to see you, son. Not yet." Gently, John pushed him toward the bed. Dick pushed away and out of his father's reach. "Dick—"
"What aren't you telling me?" Dick clenched his fists and frowned. "I'm not a child anymore. You can't just hide things from me… not after not seeing you for so long."
"They were fighting over you, Dick." John answered. "They need to work out some things themselves before they're ready to see you. You don't need that right now, alright?"
"Fighting over me?" Dick took a moment to think about it. They must have been fighting over who he'd be staying with.
"Let them work it out. We need to talk about a few things first."
"Like what?"
"Like what's going to happen in the next few days or so." John took a seat and hoped Dick would get the hint. He didn't, or if he did he chose to ignore it. "It's going to be hard for you, son. You have a few decisions to make."
Dick sighed and leaned back against the wall. "I know."
"We're here for you, whatever decisions you make. You know that, right?" Mary asked. "We'll support you."
"Yeah, I know."
I just want to say welcome all newcomers! I got a bunch of people who reviewed telling me they stayed up to some ungodly hour of the morning reading it all. You guys are really all so sweet. I really did need the bad reviews guys, so don't feel bad about it at all! Thank you so much for all the good ones as well! They are a constant motivation!