Title: Kicking and glaring
Author: Rea Treoni
Rating: T
Characters: Damian Wayne, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake.
WARNINGS: Some swears words.
Original idea from: colerfulldarkness666
Note: The character's age is a little up. Each of them is three years older. So, Damian's 13, Tim's 22, Jason's 27, and Dick's 29.
Disclaimer: I don't own any Batman related character. They are DC Comics's.
"Are we there yet?"
"Jay, I have the same answer I had five minutes ago when you asked for the twelfth time: No." answers Dick from the driver's seat.
"Now, shut the fuck up." spats Damian from the back seat, kicking Jason's seat.
"Stop kicking my seat, Demon Spawn." Jason hisses, turning around to glare at his little brother, who glared back just as hard.
"Stop asking stupid questions then" was the reply.
"Um" let out Tim, in the middle of the glaring contest between both brothers and looked up from his book to catch Dick's eyes on the review mirror of the Jeep, clearly asking for help.
"Settle down, guys." orders Dick patiently, his eyes not leaving the road "Damian, stop kicking Jason's seat. Jason, stop with the questions."
Both brothers grunted but complied to their older brother's words, not before flipping each other off with the finger.
"I saw that." interjects Dick disapprovingly.
"Well, good for you, Dickie Bird." mocks Jason drily, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at the passing trees outside his window.
"I still don't know why you keep asking, Jay," speaks Tim with an arched eye brow "It's not like we haven't come here twice a year for the past three years."
Jason turned around to look at his brother "Well, Timothy, as you may well know: I'm a man of rules," he sends a glare to the three of his brothers when each of them made a unconvinced snort at his words "And it's a rule that when you are having a road trip, one of the passengers must ask the annoying questions," he continues offhandedly "and that's usually the child of the group's job, but seeing as our child is a stuck up pine tree with a sword, I thought the job fell on me to fulfill."
Damian's snorts "Are you actually admitting that you're a child, Todd?"
Tim coughed trying to hide his snickering "He got you there, Jay"
Jason raised his finger and pointed at Damian "Shut up, Demon Spawn"
"Okay!" exclaims Dick loudly, putting on the brake and turning around to see his brothers "Gentlemen, we have arrived." he announces happily.
"About time" grunts Jason as he stepped outside and stretched his limbs.
"Alright, men, gather up" calls Dick, both hands on his hips, smiling broadly. His brothers lazily walked towards him "You know the drill: Unload the truck and then decide on what to do to prepare the camp and get it settle, okay? Good! Let's get this camp started!"
It was around two in the afternoon when the four brothers finished setting the camp. Dick and Damian had been in charge of putting up the tents (You're putting it wrong" "I could use some help, Dami" "I'm telling you it's wrong, how much help do you want?") while Jason and Tim went to the woods to collect firewood ("Jason! Take Tim's hand so you don't get lost!" "That was ONE time! Fuck you, Dick!").
"Stop poking me with that stick, Jason!" grunts Tim annoyed, brushing off the stick from his ribs.
"Can we go to Hegios, now?" questions Damian impatiently, tapping his foot on the floor repeatedly.
Dick hums approvingly as he snatched Jason's stick from his hand and throws it to the pile of firewood a few feet from them, ignoring his brother's offended shout "Yeah, let's go. Hegios must be anxious"
"He must be, I mean, Winnie hasn't seen the kid in a while before he went to hibernation" says Jason shrugging and picking up his backpack. The rest of them followed his brother's example, picking their own backpack.
"He should be in his cave by now." says Tim, looking up at the sky "He's usually done eating by this time."
"Good, then he won't put much of a resistance when I put on him the red t-shirt I brought for him. I promised Roy a photo of the actual Winnie the Pooh." nods Jason pleased.
"The last time you tried that you ended up with a large scratch on your shoulder, Jaybird" reminds Dick, turning his head slightly to look at him over his shoulder "And a black eye from Damian."
Jason waved him off "That's why I brought a jar of honey with me this time."
Tim chuckles by his side "Smart man."
Dick shakes his head in amusement before turning to his right to talk to Damian "What do you think, Little D –" he cut himself up when he notice his little brother a few meters in front of them, walking faster by the second "Damian" Dick calls but his brother doesn't seemed to hear him.
"Well, someone is impatient" murmurs Jason.
Dick frowns uncertain but hums either way.
Meanwhile, Tim arches an eyebrow, watching curious the form of his little brother and his quick pace. The young man glanced around him and noticed that for a livid forest, it was awfully quiet, which was weird enough because it was around this time of year that the animals liked to go out and search for food after a long winter.
"Guys?" Tim calls "Is it me or is it too quiet?"
Dick and Jason shared a look. "Having in mind that we are always the first humans to arrive when camping season starts, Baby Bird, I don't find it that weird."
"Isn't it this time of year that hunting season also starts?" Tim questions skeptical.
"Well, yeah, Tim, but there's no hunting allowed in this forest. Bruce and Damian made sure of that two years ago, remember?" reminds Dick casually.
"I just find it strange that the animals are not outside."
Jason waved him off with his hand and placed his arm around Tim's shoulders "Relax, Replacement, they're probably lazy and sleeping."
Tim rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to retort when a shout a few meters from them caught their attention. Quickly recognizing Damian's voice, the three brothers run towards their brother's direction.
"Damian, what's wrong?" asks Dick, concern all over his face as he saw the back of his little brother, who was kneeling on the ground with Hegios lying in front of him.
Damian didn't answer and focused himself to work on whatever he was working on, his back still facing his brothers, grunting in frustration from time to time.
"Dami –"
Dick was interrupted as Hegios let out a pained whine from his place on the ground. The three older brothers froze in shock before walking over the pair, eyes widening at the sight of the bear trap clinging to Hegios's left paw, clutching it hard.
"What the hell?" whispers harshly Jason, frowning angrily.
"This shouldn't be here. Ranger Johnson said he hasn't seen any hunters entering the forest, and they have morning patrols every day." says Tim incredulous and upset for the animal.
The teenager paid no attention to his brothers' arguing; he focused on getting the trap off Hegios's paw with no success. Angry and frustrated tears started to gather up around his eyes and his actions started to get a little bit more panicked by each fail.
"Damian" he hears Dick's strong voice by his right and he feels a hand dropping on his shoulder, giving it a small but firm squeeze. Damian looks up and meets his brother's intense gaze, full of understanding and promise.
"Take a deep breath." Dick orders softly, and after a few tries, Damian inhale and exhale in control, managing to stop the shaking on his hands he didn't realize he was doing. "Now, let me help, little brother."
Damian's blue eyes turn to him, a little uncertain but nods, sniffing softly and moving to make room for his brother.
It took a little bit of time and some tools from Tim's backpack, but they finally managed to get the trap off Hegios. The bear was still whining pitifully, licking around his wound carefully, while the thirteen years old patted soothingly the bear's fur.
The three older brothers stood behind the pair; Dick was on his cellphone, talking with Ranger Johnson and requesting medical help for Hegios, his eyes checking up on Damian and Hegios every few seconds, while Jason and Tim talked to each other a few feet apart.
"This is ridiculous" spats Jason, pacing around Tim "When I find the bastard that dared to do this, he will have a nice talk with Mrs. Antoinette."
Tim unfolded his arms and placed his hands on his hips "I don't think a talk with your gun is gonna make it better, Jason"
Jason turned to face him "Don't underestimate the power of Mrs. Antoinette, Timbo"
"Look, I'm just as angry as you are, but we need a plan to capture this asshole." Tim says, waving his hands "It's clear that the hunter came and placed the trap right after the morning patrol left their shift, which means that he must be still around here somewhere, you know, to capture his 'prey'."
"Then, let's find that son of a bitch." suggests Jason. Tim nods, liking the idea.
"Ranger Johnson is on his way along with some veterinarians." Informs Dick as he walked towards them, putting away his cellphone and crossing his arms over his chest.
"What did he said about the free hunter in the forest?" Tim asks.
"He said that he will send some rangers around the forest to catch him."
Jason and Tim shared a conflicted look before Dick spoke again "So, you two better hurry and find him before they do."
Both brothers sent a smirk to their older brother and high fived each other.
"There we go!" sings Jason two hours later with fake happiness, dropping the body of the hunter with force to the ground "All tied up and hurt."
The man groans and sent a glare towards Jason "This is outrageous. What do you think you are doing?" he asks indignant.
"We're returning the favor" answers Tim, sitting on one of the trucks near them. "You know, after what you and your trap did to our friend and many other animals."
The hunter squirms around until he managed to sit properly "Hunting is a sport."
"Not when you're hunting where it's illegal, you imbecile."
"Why do you even care?" the man spats angrily.
Jason whistles low "Well, for starters: You hurt Hegios, who happens to be my animal friend. Also, you made my little brother upset, so there's another reason."
"Not to mention that your actions are illegal and you're a criminal for hunting where is clearly forbidden" adds Dick casually from the back, leaning against a tree.
"Oh, I'm so sorry your stupid little brother cried over his plushy bear." mocks the hunter with a laugh before grunting in pain when Jason's fist connected with his jaw.
"Listen, you asshat, my little brother is basically Snow White: he can befriend a shark and take over the entire city of Atlantis if he liked water that much," Jason shrugs his shoulders offhandedly "He can have any kind of animal to haunt you down and skin you alive."
"But instead," continues Tim, walking behind the hunter "He's gonna haunt you down."
"So, my advice is to start running." cackles Jason gleefully, while slapping the hunter strongly on the shoulder.
"But –But I'm still tied up." the bearded man stutters.
"Ah, well, sucks to be you, huh?" shrugs Jason, standing up and walking away with Tim close behind.
"How does it feel to be the prey, man?" shots Tim behind his shoulder "All yours, Little D." he says to the trees.
"Not too rough, Damian." says Dick, holding a finger up and pointing something behind the hunter's head "We still need to take him to the Rangers and then the Police."
The buffy man breath hitched when something sighed right by his ear.
"Noted." Came the cold whisper and sent shivers right down his spine.
Once back in their camp, the four brothers sat in front of the bonfire, the youngest of them watching the wood cracking and the older ones watching him. "Are you okay, Dami?" Dick asks softly, rubbing his little brother's shoulder.
Damian just nods stiffly.
"Come on, Demon, we're making s'mores, the ones you actually openly admit to love?" tries Jason, holding up a s'more as an example and placing it on the thirteen years old's lap.
Damian didn't knowledge the offered s'more.
"Hegios will be fine, Damian." comforts Tim, sending a small smile to his brother. "He's in the town's Veterinary Center as we speak, all patched up and sleeping."
"Yeah, kid, Winnie is strong and big, that injury was basically a splinter to him" jokes Jason.
"He was in pain" murmurs Damian sourly and the three brothers shared a look.
"We know, Buddy." whispers Dick, pulling Damian closer to his body "That hunter is under custody right now, he won't hurt any animals ever again."
Damian hums and a few moments later, he picks up the forgotten s'more from his lap and took a bite. The brothers shared a smile.
Hope you liked it!