Thank you L. VanDattea ! 8D

Damian carefully put his foot onto the kitchen floor, finally feeling free of the damn basement. Smirking, he stepped out of the doorway, crossing his arms, when the back door banged open and Drake came running in, slamming it closed and breathing frantically as he threw back his hood.

Drake wrapped his arms around himself, rubbing them, trying to stop the shaking as he shook his head as if trying to get rid of some terrible memory. Damian frowned as he watched. It seemed that Drake had no idea he was there as he whimpered, shaking his head, still trying to clear it, his eyes watering.

Sniffling, Tim rubbed his eyes to stop the tears that stung them. "I'm sorry, Dick, I'm sorry..." he mumbled, slipping off the gloves. "I'm so sorry... but you were leaving... I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

With that, Tim slid to the floor, taking in deep, shuddering breathes. He had been in the kitchen only a few minutes before, putting things away and grabbing a cup of water, since Bruce had fallen asleep watching the movie and Dick had been dozing off. It was when Tim had gone outside to throw away the trash that he'd seen Dick leaving.

Leaving!

In a panic Tim had run to grab a baseball bat before following his brother out. Running as fast as he could, Tim had caught up to Dick, his heart pounding in panic, his eyes wild, his ears filled with humming that wouldn't stop. Dick wasn't allowed to leave! Why was he leaving?! Bruce had said NO!

Family is important!

No leaving!

Bam!

Tim swung the bat, knocking Dick down. After that it was all blurry, and even though he could hear Dick crying and struggling, he couldn't stop. He wasn't going to let him leave! He wasn't allowed to leave! They were family and family didn't leave!

It wasn't until Dick cried out for Bruce that Tim snapped out of it. In shock, Tim ran back to the house. Nothing Tim did calmed him down until he curled up on the floor, holding himself in a tight ball and slowly relaxing, his body going limp. For a few seconds he laid there perfectly still.

Damian watched as Tim sat up slowly, letting out a deep breath as he stood up, staring off into nothing, those dull eyes closing. Whatever the attack Tim had had was, it was suddenly over. He opened his eyes, blinking in confusion and looking around before that gaze settled on him.

"Oh, Damian, you can leave the basement now." Tim folded his hands in front of him, a small smirk hidden behind the smile. "That's such a shame."

"Watch it, Drake." Damian growled, taking a step toward him.

"Tim!" Bruce called. "Tim, come here!"

Tim suddenly turned into sweet, soft-spoken Drake. "Yes, Bruce."

Damian watched him go as if nothing had happened. Snorting, he turned to grab a blood bag he planned on drinking. There was one thing he would miss about feeding off Drake and that was the pain it caused the other vampire.

Dick sobbed as he was lifted up like he weighed nothing. His leg was on fire. Just because he was immortal didn't mean it hurt any less. God, it burned! Dick could already tell that he was badly bruised. It hurt so bad that whoever had attacked him had used a spell to knock him out, because he was fading in and out every so many seconds. Holding on weakly to Bruce, he panted, cold sweat covering his body as Bruce rushed him upstairs to his room.

Once Dick was set down on Bruce's bed, he whined in pain. He almost reached out for Bruce, but stopped, reminding himself that he shouldn't. No, Bruce had clipped his wings, stopped Dick from doing what he wanted to do.

Bruce had killed her.

However, being in pain, and considering whoever had attacked him had come out of nowhere with no warning, and considering Dick should have been able to sense his attacker and hadn't, the whole episode had scared him, and like any young man or vampire he just wanted his dad.

"Don't worry, Dick, we'll have you fixed up in no time." Bruce ran his fingers through his hair. "Just relax, alright? Tim! Tim, come here!"

From the other room, Dick heard his younger brother. "Yes, Bruce."

The small vampire came in and paused, looking at Dick in shock. "Dick, what happened?" Tim ran over. "Are you alright?!"

"Y-yeah." Dick gulped, his leg on fire. "Nothing t-to worry about."

"Tim, get me a pan of cold water," Bruce said, as he grabbed a pair of scissors to cut off the jeans. "We need pain medicine and bandages."

"Yes, Bruce." Tim pressed himself against Bruce's side for a moment to comfort the man before running off to get what he was told to get.

"Good boy," Bruce smiled as Tim ran off. "He's such a good boy."

Dick stared up at Bruce, trying to ignore the burning pain. "Bruce...? What's wrong with Tim...?"

Bruce cut off the jeans and carefully started to slip off the pieces. "Wrong? What are you talking about? Tim's perfectly fine."

"No, he's not!" Dick sat up before falling back, groaning. "Bruce, what did you do to him? Did you put a spell on him or something?!"

"Dick," Bruce almost growled. "I would never put a spell on my children. You know that I love you four too much to ever do such a thing like that. Now here, let me help you get this off."

Dick groaned as Bruce eased off the jeans. Once the jeans were off he could see the beginning of bruises. Bruce frowned, gently checking his leg. Dick cried out a few times before Bruce shook his head.

"It's broken."

"What?!" Dick struggled to sit up. "That's impossible! It's not easy to break our bones unless... Unless..."

"Unless it was another vampire." Bruce frowned, carefully rubbing the broken leg before pressing down. "Hold on, son. We need to set it."

The bone made a sickening crack as it popped back into place. Dick screamed, tears falling as he lost his breath. Shaking, he watched Bruce wrap his leg up gently. When a strong hand ran through his hair to bring comfort, Dick cursed himself as he relished the comfort from his dad. Something he had done often when he was little and gotten into trouble before hurting himself.

Chuckling made Dick open his eyes. In shock, Dick looked up at Bruce. In his weakened state, his want to be back with his family and under his father's wing had thrown him for a loop, because Dick had curled up to Bruce just like old times.

"How have you been, chum?"

Dick sighed sadly before pulling away and rolling over to lay down. "I'm fine. Tired..."

"I see," Bruce rubbed Dick's shoulder before leaning over to kiss his son's head. "I'll come check on you in the morning. I need to check on Jason and Damian. Tim, look after him, will you?"

Dick tensed.

When had Tim come back?

"Yes, Bruce." Tim smiled before setting down the pan of cool water and hugging Bruce. "I'll take good care of him, Bruce. You can count on me. Oh, and Damian can leave the basement."

"Thank you for telling me." Bruce kissed his forehead. "Remember what I told you, Tim?"

Tim smiled, pressing into the affection. "Family is important."

When Bruce went to kiss Dick's forehead, he flinched away, not meeting the other's eyes. There was the sound of the door closing before Dick looked up at it. Water being wrung out of a cloth made Dick look over at his second youngest brother. Tim had a small knowing smile on his lips as he looked over at Dick before placing the cold cloth on his forehead.

Dick's returning smile was a bit strained. Not that he didn't love his little brother, because he did, he loved them all, but there was something very wrong with Tim at the moment. Something unnatural about the third Wayne child. Now that Dick was paying more attention, he could see that something was very wrong.

Dare he say creepy?

Yes.

"This will make you feel better." Tim smiled and pulled one side of the covers down. "I'll keep you company."

"Uh, don't you have things to do?" Dick asked, feeling uneasy. "I didn't feed Damian, I bet you anything he's hungry."

"He's fine now." Still smiling, Tim curled up on the spot next to Dick, pulling the covers back up and fixing them over their legs, tucking against Dick's side tightly. "He can eat by himself now."

"Oh, that's good." Dick scooted a little bit away from Tim. "Maybe you should check on... Jason. He's been feeling sicker lately."

"Bruce just said he was going to check on him," Tim countered, pushing Dick back onto the bed before pulling the blankets up to finish tucking him in. "I bet they could use this time to catch up with each other."

"Yeah..." Dick wiggled more, trying to move all the way over when Tim wrapped his little arms around his arm. "Uh, you know, I'm hungry, Timmy, can you bring me a bag?"

"Dick, we need to ration those," Tim frowned, before poking Dick's stomach. "You're getting fat."

Letting out an offended gasp, Dick looked at Tim in shock. "I'll have you know that I'm actually underweight, Mr. Smarty Pants!"

Tim let out a small hum like he was tired before he curled up on Dick's chest, sighing, eyes closing. Then he relaxed, going limp. Dick paused. Had he really just fallen asleep? Carefully, Dick tried to move Tim off when he felt something prick him.

Groaning softly, Dick's eyes drooped.

Smiling, Tim opened his eyes before sliding off the bed.

Confused about what had just happened, Dick watched through hazed eyes as Tim shifted him, moving him around until Dick was in the middle of the bed. Then Tim tucked Dick in tightly. Dick couldn't move an inch because of how tightly he was tucked in.

Lips pressed to his forehead. "Good night, Dick."

The light flicked off just as whatever the stuff Tim had pricked him with took over.

Jason licked his dry lips. He still wasn't feeling too good. Whatever germ he had caught wasn't leaving him. Rubbing his stomach, Jason rolled over onto his back for a second before rolling back onto his side. It was easier to stay on his side.

The door opened.

Grumbling, Jason looked up to see Bruce there. "Hey."

Walking in and closing the door, Bruce took a seat on the chair next to Jason's bed. "Still not feeling good?"

"Nope." Jason looked up at him angrily. "What the hell did you give me, Bruce?"

"Just a tranquilizer." Bruce reached out to brush away the sweaty bangs, but Jason pulled away from the touch. "It shouldn't have lasted this long."

Groaning, Jason rubbed his stomach, trying to ease the pain there. "Give me something to make it stop."

"Jason, tell me where you're hurting?"

Jason growled at him for a minute before just letting it go. He didn't have the strength to fight right now, and besides... As much as he wanted to just yell at the man to leave him the hell alone, it wouldn't get him anywhere.

"My stomach hurts a lot."

Standing up, Bruce carefully rolled Jason onto his back before helping pull up his shirt and push the sleeping pants down to the hip bones. Bruce looked over his son's stomach, seeing no bruising or injury.

Jason closed his eyes against the feel of strong hands and fingers working over his stomach, carefully searching for internal damage. It made Jason both happy and sick that Bruce still cared about them even after the fall out they'd had. A part of him wanted to go back to the time where all of them lived together happily and another part was angered by what had happened to his mom.

Jason had two moms. One who had left him with his father and stepmom. His stepmom he considered his real mom, since she took care of him the best she could. Catherine did everything she could, watching over him as they faced the cold world. That was until one day...

Bruce paused in his examination when the boy sat up suddenly, pained by old memories.

"I missed you, son," Bruce said, wrapping Jason into a hug.

Enveloped in strong arms, Jason could remember when they had held him close when the nightmares would hunt him. Closing his eyes, Jason remembered when these same arms had saved him.

[I don't know... a few years after he meets Dick?]

Both Jason and his mom waited by the window as his father counted the money.

Catherine sat on the chair with Jason on her lap, rocking them back and forth. Both of them were nervous about the money. William wasn't one to work and he was a heavy drinker.

Catherine worked as a maid for an inn keeper family. She made up what her husband spent in booze and drugs. She watched Will riffle through the money slowly since he was still on something.

Her stepson, Jason, leaned against her, watching. For a young boy, she knew that he understood what was going on. When she had first met William, she had thought the man was single. Not married to someone!

Being a fool, she had been fool enough to stay with the man. When the woman left William, she had walked right up to Catherine, shoved a little one-year-old boy into her arms and left.

Just like that she had met her stepson, Jason Peter Todd.

She also found out that no one really cared about the poor baby. This was proven when he ate anything that he could chew down and swallow. He could barely stand, let alone fend for himself.

He passed for smaller than normal due to the mother's lack of care. Catherine had been pregnant with William's child at the time, so she was lactating. She had chosen to feed Jason that way, hoping that what little milk the boy got would somehow make up for the lack of it.

After two months of secretly feeding the baby, she could see the changes. The much needed baby fat returned, the little boy's health improved so much that she couldn't help but fall in love.

This was her child now.

Her son.

So she treated him as such.

However, William only got worse. One day when Catherine was about five months along, Jason fourteen months, they had been up in the nursery where she was cuddling Jason up in a blanket, telling him a story as she nursed him. The door had slammed open.

Jason had been too young to remember what had happened. However, Jason wasn't too young to understand that his mother had lost the baby. After that, she had kept Jason close, kept him as far away from William's eye as possible.

Now, years later, here they were. They'd lost their nice little home, lost almost all their possessions, their life savings gone, her wedding ring? Sold for food. Because she would be damned if she let her son go hungry.

When William staggered, trying to count the rest, she carefully stood up, picking up five-year-old Jason and carefully sneaking out of the house. Once she'd taken the first step outside, her face hardened as she picked up speed.

"Catherine!"

"Mommy!" Jason cried softly in fear.

Catherine took off into a run, holding her baby tight. She ran down the alleys, holding Jason tight so she wouldn't drop him. She'd had enough. If he caught them, then surely that would be the end of them both.

As they ran, something small ran out of nowhere, tripping them. She cried out when she fell, her fear increasing when Jason tumbled out of her arms. The fear and panic moved her before she could think. She stood, grabbing him, but her mothering instinct made her look back to see another little boy sitting on the ground, sobbing loudly.

"I are lost, Bruce!" the boy screamed. "Daaaaaaaddy!"

"Where are you, you little bitch?!" William screamed.

Leaning down, Catherine scooped up the boy by the back of his shirt before running. If she left him, William would kill the child. Still, carrying two was weighing her down, and if she didn't think of something soon they would all be in for it.

Luckily Jason pointed to a bunch of crates. Running to them, she dropped the kids into one of the boxes before hauling herself up and into it, pulling the top on. The other boy was talking frantically in a language she didn't know, but Jason, her little angel, knew what to do and clamped a hand over his mouth. She covered them just as William ran by, screaming and threatening what he was going to do to them when he caught up to them.

Breathing hard but trying not to make a sound, Catherine held her hand over her heart before scooping up the boys. Jason shed no tears, but he did tremble. He thought they were going to get caught this time.

"Shhh," Catherine said softly, pulling them close and holding them tight. "It's alright, do not worry... Mommy's here... everything is going to be alright, Mommy's right here."

She didn't know if the other little boy understood her, but Jason needed to hear the words as they held tight to her. She rocked them gently until the tears, the shaking, and the whimpering stopped. After that, she sat back, leaning against the crate.

What was she going to do?

William had gone too far. She wasn't going to return to him. But how was she going to leave this hell?

She couldn't.

Because William would just take Jason from her, because she wasn't his real mother through blood. Sighing, she sat up a bit. They would wait a few hours, then she would find out whose little boy this was. Poor kid must be scared... what was the kid doing?

"Jason, is this kid eating my arm?" she asked in disbelief.

Jason, who had been curled up on his left side, sat up. "Hey, don't be eating my mom!"

Sure enough, the blue-eyed boy was nibbling on her arm, little teeth trying to poke through her skin. Jason reached over, pulling the boy back by his hair.

"Don't do that!"

The boy whined before he started to lick at her skin, nibbling again.

"Poor thing must be starving." Catherine sighed before looking at Jason. "How about you, Jay? You haven't eaten since this morning and it's well past midnight by now."

"I'm not too hungry," Jason said, but his stomach gave him away. He flushed before hugging her. "I'm okay, mommy, really."

"You two stay here. I'll go see if I can find you something. Jason, make sure to keep him safe."

Jason made a face at the little boy who was still nibbling his mother's arm. "Fine."

Catherine left, searching as carefully as she could. She was unaware of the shadow that followed her. She tip-toed around the dark alleyways, looking for something. Finally she found some food someone had left out. It was cooked, probably left over from dinner.

The dark shadow watched her as she gathered up the half-eaten biscuit, a small chicken leg, and a couple of pieces of carrots before she took off. He was following her because she had a scent on her that belonged to him.

Once back in the crate, she split the food up for the boys. The little boy who didn't know much English sniffed the food before shaking his head at it, as if it had done something horrible to him.

"You either eat or starve," Jason said, taking one bite from each thing his mother gave him before offering it to her. "I'm not too hungry."

"You gotta eat, Jason. You don't want to get sick."

"You haven't eaten either," Jason said, before pushing the chicken into her mouth. "Please?"

"Just one bite." She took the smallest one she could manage. "Mm, it's yummy."

Jason looked at her, full of worry. She smiled at him sadly. "You shouldn't know such worries of the world, my love."

"Please eat."

"Well, how about we both eat, hm?"

Jason made a face. "I don't want you to do that."

"Well," Catherine said with a mocking smile as she unbuttoned her top a little. "Wasn't it you who said we both had to eat? Besides, there has to be someone around here drunk enough. I'll distract them and you snatch some coins."

"I guess."

"I know you don't like it, but it's our only option." She rolled up her sleeves. "Ready to go- Ouch!"

Jason's mouth dropped open.

The little kid had bitten into her arm.

[Present]

"Do you remember when you lost Dick, and when you found him he was with me and my mom?"

Bruce groaned and face palmed. "He was technically a baby vampire and prone to wandering off, and when I found you three you were pick-pocketing and Dick was trying to eat you two."

Jason snorted before nodding, leaning against the headboard. "Not that we had the choice. We starved most of the time and she had so many miscarriages because of that bastard that when there was nothing to eat she would find a way to keep us from starving."

"Do you miss her?"

"Everyday." Jason sat back a bit. "Did you love my mom, Bruce?"

Bruce gave him a sad smile. "I loved her very much. I miss her every day."

Looking away for a second, Jason leaned into Bruce, who hugged him tightly. "We had everything... why did she do that...?"

"Oh, Jason," Bruce sighed deeply, his voice rumbling as he pulled Jason closer. "She was a good woman—a good woman who had the misfortune of falling."

"She overdosed!" Jason gritted his teeth. "She left us!"

"I know, son, but she's in a better place. I'm sure she watches you all the time."

"You don't understand, she left us all alone!"

"I understand," Bruce said, pulling back to run a thumb over Jason's cheek, "because my children left me alone too."

Jason sat there in stunned silence. Bruce kissed his forehead before turning to leave, bidding him a good night.

A few seconds later Tim came in, nudging the still-stunned Jason into bed before tucking him in just as tight, leaving a cup next to his bed. For a moment Tim paused, going back to pat his brother on the arm before leaving.

Walking over to the master bedroom, Tim entered, seeing that Bruce was sitting on a large chair and looking out the window. Looking around for a second, Tim walked over to Bruce before easing his way onto the man's lap.

Bruce pulled Tim close, rubbing his son's arm with his thumb. "Ah, Tim, what am I going to do?"

"About what, Bruce?"

"About the family." Bruce sighed, leaning back. "There must be something."

"Well, maybe," Tim started, but then shook his head. "No... never mind, it's stupid."

Bruce tilted Tim's head up. "None of your ideas are stupid, Tim. Tell me what's on your mind."

"Well, since Damian's better... we can go back to Gotham, back home to Wayne Manor, and there we can start fixing up whatever is broken."

Bruce thought about it for a minute before nodding. "That's a good idea, Tim. Tomorrow we'll start packing. Where is Damian?"

"In bed." Tim sighed. "I would love to stay and talk to you, Bruce, but I did tell him I would read him a story."

"Well, I'm glad you two are getting along." Bruce kissed Tim's forehead. "You shouldn't keep him waiting."

"Yes, Bruce." Tim stood up before pausing and looking back at him. "Bruce?"

"Yes?" Bruce turned away from the window.

"Um... we'll fix everything that's broken... right?"

"As much as we can."

Tim stared blankly before nodding.

Damian struggled under the sheets. Normally he could easily slip out of mere sheets, but the damn ropes that kept him down on the bed weren't helping. Growling, Damian struggled again, but stopped when the door opened.

"Drake," Damian growled. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"I brought you a book," Tim said, sitting down on the bed. "It's about a rabbit who steals a bear's hat and the bear looks and looks for it but can't find it."

"Tt." Damian threw his head back. "And does the bear find it?"

"Yes." Tim looked over the book. "The rabbit wasn't smart enough."

"I see." Damian paused, noticing the far-off expression Drake wore. "Drake?"

Nothing.

Damian watched his stepbrother for a long time as the other just sat there staring at nothing. In fact it was like the other was in a whole different world as he stared at the wall his eyes wide and his lips parted slightly. It clicked slowly for Damian. Oh, how his old family would be ashamed of him just now realizing that the little fool was under a spell. Cursing himself, Damian pulled at the ropes again.

He would need a plan fast.

"Family is important."

Damian looked up to see Drake's eyes wide. "Yes, Drake, family is important."

"Then why do you keep trying to leave?" Tim asked, almost hurt. "Why?"

He wanted to yell at Drake that he was crazy but stopped at a sudden thought. "I am not trying to leave, Drake."

Tim's eyes narrowed. "Yes, you are! You tried to leave twice!"

"I was leaving... to get Grayson and Todd," Damian lied. "I thought if I brought them home than it would make father happy."

At this, Tim only stared.

A-ha! Damian knew he had something. "Maybe it is you who doesn't want us all to be together."

"No!" Tim stood up, pacing around.

"Drake," Damian said, trying to keep his voice level and calm, something that was very hard to do. "We need to keep the family together. You and I must work together to make that happen."

Tim quickly tucked in Damian before leaning down to smirk at him. "Nice try, Demon Spawn."

Damian screamed in anger as Tim slammed the door.

Tim crawled into Bruce's bed before curling up against Bruce's chest. Bruce's large hand came up to rub his back. Sighing happily, Tim slowly drifted off to sleep knowing that everyone was in the house safe and sound.