Author's Note: Thanks to soccernin19, Wombo Combi (Don't worry, I have plans to show you some of Alfred's reactions to what's going on soon! As for the possibility of Nightwing possibly becoming Batman, you'll just have to wait and see. And I have to make everyone cry because I'm evil like that!), and Guest 1 (They are getting along incredibly well considering that it is those too!) for reviewing the last chapter! I own nothing.
Tim slept restlessly, nightmares of Bruce getting ripped apart in hostile dimensions haunting him until sunrise. At just after six in the morning he had finally given up on getting any more rest and wrapped himself in a bathroom before stumbling, bleary eyed down the stairs. It took him a moment to register what was going on when he reached the kitchen. Alfred was bustling about, as was his usual routine, but there was a dark haired woman drinking from a steaming cup. She was seated with perfect poise on a bar stool on one side of the counter and she turned deep brown eyes toward him when he entered the room. "...Cass?" he questioned after a moment.
He approached her cautiously, as if he were reaching out toward a ghost. She smiled and ruffled his hair. Her own hair no longer hung past her shoulders but had been cut neatly so the ends tickled her chin. "Tim," she replied gently, as if reassuring him that she had really arrived. Unable to help himself, Tim lunged forward and hugged her tightly. Cassandra delicately wrapped her arms around him as if she were holding something fragile and precious.
For a moment Tim was simply content to bask in the comfort of being held. After all the arguments of the past couple days it was nice to know that someone still cared for him. At last he leaned back a little, loosening his hold on Cass. His older sister's arms settled back at her sides but she didn't move away from him, studying him like a curious bird. "Cass can I talk to you?" he asked her nervously, uncertain whether she would reject his theory like the others had. In response Cass abandoned her cup of tea and took him by the arm, gently leading him away towards the living room where they could talk for the time being without being overheard.
Roy's neck ached. The archer groaned and stretched uncomfortably in the chair he'd been sleeping in. That was rising on his list of things he never wanted to do again unless he had no other choice. Roy turned towards the bed only to see it empty. Pure panic overwhelmed Roy and he was scrambling for the door before the fact that Dick was missing had even fully sunk in. He was in such a panic that he almost collided with Alfred as he burst out of Damian's room and into the hall. The old butler skillfully dodged Roy who stumbled to a halt and sputtered out an apology. The butler only observed him with mostly hidden amusement and said, "If you are searching for Master Dick then I can assure you that he is much better and went to shower fifteen minutes ago."
"Thank you Alfred," Roy managed to get out and butler nodded before continuing down the hall, pausing once to knock on the door Roy knew for a fact was Jason's. The butler vanished around a corner, probably to fetch Oliver, and Roy shook his head in bemusement before heading downstairs. The last thing he wanted to do was kill brain cells trying to wrap his head around the strange dynamics of the Batclan. He'd allow Dick or Jason to explain what he needed to know and try not to worry about the rest.
Jason groaned when someone pounded on his door. "Five more minutes Kory," he slurred out, burying his head deeper into the pillow. Distantly he felt the bed move as someone else burrowed deeper under the blankets. That was enough to wake him fully, sending him catapulting out of bed. He found himself standing at the edge of the bed staring at Damian. The boy was curled up in a tiny ball underneath the covers, on tiny hand clutching on to the blanket that was practically pulled over his head. He vaguely remembered the kid falling asleep on his bed and being too tired to bother heading back to Dick's room. From the arrangement of the blankets it looked like the boy had cuddled up next to Jason some time after they'd both fallen asleep.
Jason considered shaking the ten year old to wake him up and then thought the better of it. He might not have kept a knife under his pillow but the kid had already proved he was dangerous enough without a weapon. The older boy settled for throwing a pillow at what he could see of Damian's head. The boy shot upright, wide eyes fixing directly on where Jason stood. Those eyes narrowed when they fell on the older boy and barely a minute later Jason was batting away the pillow that had come soaring across the room at his head. "Not bad kid," he said with a smirk. Damian growled at him and tried to burrow back under the covers. The kid had definitely been a cat in a past life.
In response to Damian's attempt to go back to sleep, Jason grabbed the blankets and yanked them off the bed. Damian launched himself off the bed and at the older boy with surprising speed. The two banged into the door which swung open and tumbled into the hallway. Jason caught a glimpse of Dick watching them with a bemused look on his tired face. Then he found himself busy trying to keep Damian from taking advantage of pressure points. The two tussled for a couple minutes before Jason managed to get the situation under control, managing to pin Damian under one arm. "Hey Dickie bird," he said as cheerfully as he could manage, pulling a squirming and obviously unhappy Damian up and keeping the kid pinned at his side.
"J-Jason?" Dick stammered, looking as if he'd seen a ghost. Jason smirked. "How-When-?" Dick finally shrugged off his shock and lunged forward, wrapped his arms around the wayward bird. Jason grudgingly allowed it, mostly because he'd have to release Damian if he wanted to do anything about it. Dick seemed to sense Jason's irritation and backed off. He looked worn thin but no longer ill. "Cass is home. She's downstairs with Roy, Oliver, Tim, and Alfred," Dick told Jason. I'll understand if you leave, his eyes said. Part of Jason wanted to bristle with irritation but he knew Dick's wariness wasn't unwarranted. Jason had determinedly avoided everyone in the family aside from his big brother after the showdown with Bruce and the Joker.
"I'm only leaving if you're coming down like that," Jason said after a moment of deliberating about the best way to respond to that. After the times they'd worked together as Nightwing and Red Hood had given Jason insight into his older brother's habit and insecurities, enough insight that he knew Dick had abandonment issues and wasn't about to blindly trust that Jason was going to stick around.
Dick glanced down, flushing slightly when he realized he was wearing boxers and had a towel in hand. "I'll, uh, I'll get some clothes on and meet you down there," he offered. Both older boys startled a little when Damian snickered. Both turned their gaze towards the young boy who'd gotten control of his emotions and now stared impassively back at them. After a moment Dick shook his head and headed for his own bedroom.
"Come on kid," Jason said, locking his worry for his older brother away in a box where it belonged. "Let's go down and catch up with the other kiddies." Damian snarled at that, squirming in his hold, but Jason ignored the irritation and tugged the boy down the stairs. Time to surprise his siblings.