Bringing My Children Home

A huge Thank You to everyone who Reviewed, Favorited, and Followed!

Disclaimer: I am only borrowing the Bat family to practice my art.

Chapter Seven

Bruce

What had alarmed Jason, had been somewhat eased by the demonstration. The watchfulness was not gone, but it was clear he had seen that as skilled as Damian was, he was still just a boy who did not have the strength to fully use those skills. Having been trained in the offensive style of the League of Assassins, Damian had their same weaknesses. The preteen would easily hold his own against a simple thug or five.

Against one of Bruce's other children, he had no advantage. At best, he could possibly take Stephanie down, but after tonight's demonstration Bruce was satisfied that the structured education under Jason was giving her finesse in her fighting.

"I see you two were hard at work protecting the city," he addressed Robin and Batgirl. They both beamed at him as they shook their heads like dogs, sending rain water everywhere. "I trust the storm was keeping the riffraff in their beds."

They nodded.

"Ok. Go get yourselves dried and to bed," Bruce ordered. "Damian, go to bed. I will talk to you tomorrow."

"I think I'm going to head up, too," Jason yawned.

"Sounds like a good idea," Stephanie agreed.

"Wait a moment, Stephanie," Bruce said, opening one of the cabinets and taking out the finished gauntlets that Alfred and Tim had completed that morning. "Here is the first part of your improved costume. We're going to be adding some extra armor as well as storage, but I wanted these done first, so you can begin learning how to fight with them."

Her mouth dropped open. "Really?"

"Yes."

He showed her how to put them on, bitterly reminded that he had failed her. Yet, when she was wearing them she beamed up at him, face full of trust and satisfaction. He rested his hand on her shoulder. As a child, Dick had easily conditioned Bruce to accept and give physical affection. Jason's death had diminished that, but after his return, and the debacle of Tim's family, Bruce had forced himself to give them more touches, hugs, affection.

It had been needed on Jason's bad days. It had been needed to reinforce his promises to Tim that the boy was welcome. Even Cass had grown more content the more affection she received. Naturally, Dick had gloated over his superior understanding.

"Thanks, Bruce. For everything," Stephanie threw her arms around him.

He only hesitated a moment, before returning the embrace. Then they headed upstairs together. Mentor and student. Father and daughter. Stephanie was his now. Arthur had no more claim.

"Pillow nest in Tim's room!" Jason hollered as he almost knocked them both down while racing a pile of pillows down the hall from his room to Tim's. A series of pillows came flying out of Cass's room into Tim's, nearly hitting Bruce in the face.

Stephanie grabbed Bruce's arm, used it to hoist herself up, and kissed his cheek.

"'Night, Bruce. Hey! Those are my pillows!"

Dick would want pictures. Fortunately, Bruce knew how to get into Tim's surveillance. He knew better than to join them tonight, when Lucius had insisted on an 8 am board meeting. It was unlikely any of them would sleep for hours.

Behind him, he heard a door open. When he glanced that way, he saw a pair of confused blue eyes watching as Cass shot across the hallway into her brother's room, with most of her blankets piled high. There was a thud, and laughter rang out from the four of them. Then Damian saw Bruce looking at him, and quickly shut his door.

A small pang of regret ran through Bruce. They had not invited Damian into their sleepover. The father could not fault the others, as his preteen son had made no effort to belong. Still, he wished the boy could settle into the manor, and have pillow parties and prank wars with his siblings.

The wish lasted until the next day.

The next morning, right before his board meeting, Bruce's infiltration of Tim's room surveillance revealed the cause of the previous evening's tension, and likely the very reason Jason had thrown a pillow party. Damian had left Tim a death threat. Bruce's throat wanted to close, as his mind warred between fury for Tim, and dread for Damian.

He has seen the confusion on his youngest son's face, while he watched the others having their fun. It warred with the rage displayed when he stabbed the dagger into Tim's bedroom wall. Such a threat could not be taken lightly from someone raised in the League of Assassin's. Yet, that moment of vulnerability had taken Bruce's heart. In the vicious little child, he had seen a moment of brokenness, that matched with the edges of the rest of the Family.

How was he to save Damian and protect Tim?

Tim

As far as Tim knew, Dick was unaware of the death threat. Bruce was aware. He had pulled Tim aside the next morning, to gravely make sure Tim understood the significance of the knife. While Tim already knew, he was grateful for this sign of Bruce's continued affection. Even in the conflict that having a blood child must cause, Bruce still wanted Tim.

It made Robin feel a bit guilty about manipulating Damian into a rage. He had not expected the death threat, he merely wanted to test Damian's skills, like they all did. After a week of his nasty barbs, it had felt good to show that he was smart enough to outthink Damian. He just should have shown it in a less taunting way.

Damian brought fear to Tim, not because of the death threat, but because he had a right to Bruce that Tim would never have. It hurt more than he had expected. After all, being the third Robin meant he knew he would give his cape to a newcomer someday. Probably Damian, if he could be freed from the indoctrination of the League.

"This has been a stormy spring," Dick noted, as he stared out the window into the nighttime storm. No one offered a reply. The ferocity of the storm had kept them off patrol.

Bruce and Stephanie were reviewing the final touches of her new costume. Jason and Cass were playing checkers. Even Damian was there, seated in a regal armchair with his tablet in hand. Directly in his line of sight, Tim was also on his tablet, reviewing his current cases.

Both Tim and Damian's tablets were facing each other. No doubt Damian was recording Tim, in the same manner the older boy was recording him.

"So, Timmy, your birthday is coming up in two weeks. What shall we do?" Dick asked.

"I'm going to get my license as soon as I can. I'm also going to review my schooling. I might try to graduate in winter instead of spring," Tim answered. "Bruce and I have talked about letting me intern in various departments of Wayne Enterprises, for a few months after I graduate. I know a lot already, since I get to hang out in Bruce's office or R&D every week."

"All excellent plans, but I was actually referring to how we are going to celebrate our baby bird's sixteenth birthday."

This was said loud enough to attract the attention of the rest of the family.

"Right. We are going to have a grand birthday bash this year!" Jason hollered, dramatically throwing his hands up and scattering the checkerboard. A look at Cass's smug face promised he had intentionally used exuberance to end the game, before he was forced to cede victory.

"Would you want to go to an amusement park?" Dick offered.

"Or we could go out of town."

"I'll bet it would be fun to go out on Bruce's yacht now that it's warm enough."

Quickly Jason, Stephanie, and Dick interrupted each other as they poured out ideas. Tim glanced at Bruce with a question. His mentor was looking back with that strange fond smirk that meant he was enjoying the noise. A nod from Bruce promised that they could make plans for Tim's birthday.

Tim was bewildered by the notion, and glanced around the room for advice on what he was expected to do. Cass pointed out that the yacht was Jason's favorite thing to do, not Tim's. Of course, Stephanie interjected that Tim did not have a favorite thing to do. Letting his siblings argue over his favorites and not favorites, Tim glanced across the room.

Damian's tablet had tilted downward, no longer watching Tim. He was eyeing the other four with mingled disfavor and curiosity.

"Tim gets to choose," Cass said, covering Jason and Stephanie's mouths. Put on the spot by the sudden beaming attention, Tim stammered a few unintelligible words.

"Don't worry, little bird," Dick said. "You don't have to choose now."

"We didn't do anything extra special for your birthday," Tim pointed out.

"I think, Bruce allowing Dick to invite half the heroes of the world to a party, in the manor no less, was pretty special," Jason taunted.

"Could we do something simple, like just have a night off and watch a movie as a family?" Tim asked softly.

"If that is what you want, I am sure the Birds of Prey will agree to patrol that evening," Bruce agreed.

Dick

Dick Grayson was perfectly aware that Bruce and Tim did not think him subtle. He was loud and flashy, was as ready to smile and laugh as he was to fight, and would, on occasion, force family members into unwanted bonding times. To the serious-minded Bat and Robin, this was a weakness. More than once, Dick surprised them with a sudden, strategic plan after talking about the most ridiculous things.

It had taken him an hour to see that something had happened between Damian and Tim.

"So, do you have footage of what has caused the tension?" He asked Bruce the morning after the discussion about Tim's birthday.

"I sent it to your tablet."

It amused Dick to watch Tim intentionally bait Damian into breaking into the teen's room. They had all walked on egg shells around the boy for the first week, waiting to see if Damian's arrogance would dry up, and how Bruce would respond to this new family member. With nothing major happening in that first week, they were moving on to actual tests of his skills.

The knife ended the amusement.

"This explains Jason's nightly pillow party in Tim's room," Dick commented.

"Yes. I've told Damian that death threats were not allowed, but he seemed to take it as a rebuke for making the threat, instead of just getting the job done," Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. "The simple answer should have been to give Damian back to Talia."

"It's not?" Dick was surprised. He had expected to find himself asked to help track down the wayward mother.

"No, it's not. You probably have a few arguments planned against the idea, anyway," Bruce pointed out smugly. Dick shrugged. "I can't do that to Damian. I've tried to make sure the rest of you have a safe place here, despite what some of your parents were. I can't send Damian away without being one of those parents."

Bruce's fists tightened around the arms of his chair. Dick sat cross legged on his rolling stool. They both glanced at the video surveillance of Damian training his young, strong body.

"Is he a threat to Tim?"

"Head to head, in a fair fight, he would not stand a chance," Bruce replied. "Damian's intelligent and cunning. He lacks subtlety and concealment, but he uses words very well. He has already seen how fragile Tim's confidence is."

"What has Tim done?"

"He's keeping Damian under surveillance. After the threat, he tricked the girls into believing he was afraid to tell me or you, so they went to Jason. Jason went into protective mode, and pretty much told me to test Damian's skills so we knew what threat he was. Tim explained that he wanted Jason to be the one to want the exhibition."

"Damian doesn't see Jason as that much of a threat," Dick agreed. "Jason can poke and prod at Damian, without Damian realizing his irritating bluntness is helping us learn his weaknesses."

Bruce nodded. "I don't know what to do, but let this play out for now. Damian has realized that Tim has been observing him, and is forced to slow down his own surveillance. I will repeat my warnings not to harm Tim."

Cass

"I think Damian is jealous of us," Stephanie said bluntly, as she climbed onto the cave ledge, where Cass had situated herself, with a good view of the boys in the cave below. "He watches us with a confused look, and sometimes, he wants to join us."

A proud smile bloomed on Cass's face.

"Good job," She told her friend. "You read that well."

"Well I've never been clumsy about who people were," Stephanie pointed out. "I don't hear people's intentions from their bodies like you do, but I can empathize. There's not much too it. You just have to listen."

"And watch," Cass said.

Both their eyes dropped to where Tim was stretching. Damian was on the other side of the cave, also stretching in preparation to complete Dick's newest arrangement of the obstacle course. The boys were watching each other, learning from each move, each word, each unguarded moment. Tim was far more guarded than Damian. While the younger boy openly displayed his disfavor and dislike of the teen, Tim concealed his feelings with a serious expression. When Tim stopped his stretches, Damian ran for the course, smugly working his way swiftly and strongly through it.

Tim's body displayed satisfaction. He had meant to goad Damian into going first. Naturally, Damian would show off, expecting them all to be awed by how strong, how quick his eleven-year-old body could be. Dick was playing on the trapeze ropes, Jason was tinkering with his gauntlets, and Bruce was watching some video surveillance of the location they had learned was going to be robbed by the Winter Bike gang, but they were all aware of the rivalry happening.

It was impressive to see Damian swing among the bars, climb the ropes, even walk a tightrope. He was skilled. Both the ancient al Ghul blood and the elite Wayne blood had granted him every advantage of body and mind. He had the right of respect for his physical abilities.

When Tim went, he moved slower than normal, faking less agility, less strength, less grace than Cass knew he possessed. This was why Tim was so good at being Robin. He could make you think he was just a kid in a costume. Criminals went for the easier target, only to find out that it was a mere mirage.

How strange that two boys raised by parents who wanted them as tools would be so different. Damian had been told he was elite, that his very lineage gave him rights, and strictly formed into a small, deadly assassin. On the other hand, Tim had been told to be quiet, to be good, to be a mere puppet. One had learned to make noise, so his superiority was noticed, the other had learned to conceal himself, so he would be forgotten.

Damian openly displayed his triumph, sneering at Tim's time through the course. After patrol, when Damian had retired and only Cass was in the cave, she would watch Tim fly through the course with all his deadly grace. Damian would not see this, and believe Tim was weaker than he was.

Thanks for reading! Use the awesome review/comment section to let me know what you think. I welcome constructive critiques. Reviews make my day!

A day off means I'm posting a chapter early!