Family can build or break you.
In this case, the former is true. Dick relies heavily on his brothers, but he still feels guilt. He sees himself as weak and broken, useless to the rest of the team. When seen through Damian or Tim's eyes, however, he's struggling. Suffering. But he's alive, and that's all that matters.
The Batman family is everything to each other, whether they're blood or not, whether they're criminals or not. Family sticks together, and brothers… brothers need each other now more than ever. Alfred watches over the household when they return, and everything is quiet again.
"Drake! Drake come quick I need help!" Damian cried, sprinting through the mansion toward his bedroom. Tim sat up from where he'd been reading in his window seat and leapt to the door, his book falling to the hardwood floor. He dove into the hall as Damian rounded the corner and Tim caught him as he tripped. Damian shoved him away. It was just the three of them in the mansion, save for Alfred; with Bruce on patrol he'd been tasked to watch Dick and Damian the first night that they recovered.
"Damian what happened?" Tim asked, grabbing the boy's shoulders. He looked pale and he was trying to hide his trembling body. "You shouldn't be running around like that with a fresh gunshot wound," Tim added, pulling up Damian's shirt to see if he was bleeding through his bandaging.
"I'm fine," he snapped, shoving Tim's hands away. "It's Richard. We were listening on the communicators when Father and Barbara came across Harley Quinn. Grayson went insane. I told Father not to give him that medication I told him that it made Richard crazy-"
"-Hey. Okay, lets go calm him down, okay?" Tim looked at him reassuringly, and Damian's nose wrinkled in disgust. Now that his initial shock had worn off, he lashed out in embarrassment at having come to Tim for help.
"Follow me," he said shortly, pulling his arms out of Tim's grasp. Tim followed him down to the Batcave, where Dick lay on the ground, tied up and unconscious.
"What the hell did you do to him!?" Tim cried, rushing over and untangling the line from around Dick's torso. Damian crossed his arms.
"I restrained him."
"Why is he unconscious?!" Tim demanded, making sure his pulse was regular as he rolled him onto his back.
"I had to sedate him." Damian sniffed, glaring at Tim. Tim pulled Dick's shirt up to check the bandages on his side, and caught sight of the singed fabric and burns on Dick's chest.
"You son of a- you electrocuted him!?" He gaped up at Damian, and the boy's nostrils flared in anger as his cheeks reddened.
"He tried to escape! Father doesn't exactly keep a neat work space and the taser gun was right next to the sedatives-"
"-With the drugs he's on you could have killed him, Damian!" Tim shouted, standing. Damian's hands balled into fists at his sides.
"I didn't, though, did I?!" he retorted. "I didn't want to do it, he caught me off guard!"
"Oh don't pretend like you didn't enjoy it, you little demon!" Tim snapped.
"I didn't-"
"-You probably picked up the taser on purpose, didn't you?!" Tim jeered angrily, stepping protectively in front of Dick. Damian glared at him hatefully.
"No I didn't, Drake! Don't-" Damian yelled, but Tim cut him off again.
"-Don't what, Damian, what-"
"-I love him just as much as you do!" Damian screamed, shoving Tim back. He tripped over Dick and fell back onto the floor of the cave, and Damian dropped down onto his stomach, pounding on Tim's chest. He punched him across the face and Tim tasted blood in his mouth. Trapping Damian's arm by his head, Tim threw him off of him and stood up, coughing. "Richard isn't hers, and he isn't yours!" Damian shouted angrily, rushing at Tim again. Tim ducked when Damian leapt into the air to kick him, and quickly did a backflip as Damian came around to sweep his legs. Tim blocked Damian's fist and, instead of fight him, pulled him in to his chest, wrapping his arms around him.
Damian hit Tim's back furiously and Tim held onto him, angry tears streaming down the boy's face. When he finally stopped fighting, Damian stifled a sob and hung limply in Tim's embrace, wrapping his wiry arms around his brother. "I hate her too, Damian," Tim whispered sadly. "And Dick is all of our brother. He's sometimes more of a father than Bruce is."
Damian was silent for a while. "I'm sorry, Drake," he said softly, and Tim released him. Damian sat on the ground by Dick and irritably rubbed the tears from his eyes. "Childish to cry, over something like this."
"You're allowed to, Damian." Tim said gently, dropping the subject at that. "Let's see if we can't get Dick upstairs."
"Master Damian, Master Tim, what is all the commotion about?" Alfred asked, entering the Batcave. Tim glanced at Damian, and then he looked at Alfred.
"Dick had another panic attack. Damian and I got into an argument, nothing to worry about, Al." He smiled tiredly. Alfred saw Dick and pursed his lips.
"Is there anything you need to make this situation easier young sirs?" Alfred asked calmly. Tim glanced at Damian again, and Dick groaned at their feet.
"He's really heavy," Damian said quietly.
"I keep a gurney for situations such as these." Alfred went to get it, leaving the two of them alone with Dick again. Tim watched him for a minute.
"Want to dump water over his head to see if he wakes up?"
"Don't be stupid, Drake," Damian snapped.
"Just a suggestion…" Tim sighed.
"If he wakes up, we have to deal with him."
Tim laughed a little and looked down, nodding. "I guess you're right." Alfred rolled the gurney over by Dick.
"Shall we," he asked unenthusiastically. Tim snorted and lifted Dick up with some effort, placing him gently on the gurney.
"It's kind of sad that you have a gurney," Tim admitted.
"I got it when Master Bruce first started his night time excursions." Alfred pushed the gurney toward the door. "How do you think he was taken care of?"
"I meant it's a little sad that you had to get one in the first place," Tim sighed. He'd always felt a little bad for Alfred.
"I was unable to stop any of you from living this lifestyle, so I became prepared. I'm not young enough to carry any of you anymore."
"Oh," Damian said quietly, looking down. They all got onto the elevator, a bit cramped with the gurney in the middle. Tim pressed the button.
"I have no complaints, though. I wouldn't have had the honor of watching any of you boys grow up," Alfred said quietly, looking down at Dick. Damian smiled a little and Tim patted Alfred's shoulder.
"You make hanging around here a lot more bearable," Tim smiled. Dick turned his head a little, prying his eyes open. He blinked up at Damian in the light.
"What the hell happened?" he asked hoarsely.
"You went crazy," Damian told him sourly.
"Are you feeling all right, Master Richard?" Alfred asked, concerned. Dick looked between the three of them. He was a bit pale, and he closed his eyes again, dropping his head back on the gurney.
"Just a little sick." And incredibly humiliated, he thought. He didn't want to imagine what Damian and Tim thought of him. They must have thought he was weak; a complete emotional wreck. He hated that they'd had to come to his aid like that, and for something so immature. So trivial.
"Well at least Damian didn't kill you," Tim muttered.
"Yeah," Dick shook his head slowly, sitting up carefully as the elevator doors opened. He closed his eyes against the nausea. Damian marched away in a huff.
"He was really worried about you," Tim whispered. Dick steadied himself against Tim's shoulder.
"Thank you, Alfred. Sorry to have woken you," he said, the pain in his side flaring up again. His hand involuntarily shot to the wound and he winced, his teeth clenched.
"I don't go to bed until Master Bruce comes home," Alfred said as he took Dick's arm to help stay upright. "It tends to be a useless endeavor."
"Al, that's gotta be hell for you," Dick said in surprise.
"Just as long as he always comes home, I'll be fine."
Dick smiled a little as they helped him up to his bedroom. He sat on the bed, laying back against the pillows. "Tim, would you go down to the Batcave, check up on Babs and Bruce, and tell them we had an incident here? Bruce should understand, if they aren't home already."
"I told Batman as you were having your panic attack," Damian said coolly as he came into the room. "And I already tried to contact them while you were having your little makeup session in here. Neither one responded."
"Well, shit," Dick sighed, throwing the covers off of him. "That's our cue."
"No!" Damian shouted suddenly, glaring at him. "This is exactly how you freaked out the first time tonight, you kept trying to leave. Father gave us strict orders to stay put." Dick stared at Damian, stunned into silence.
"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?" Tim demanded. Damian looked at him coolly.
"I trust you to go find Father."
"Me? By myself? While you stay behind?" Tim glanced at Alfred and Dick. "Who are you and what have you done with Damian?"
"Can't you go alone, Drake? Or do you need your trusty team of sidekicks to back you up?" Damian sniffed, ignoring his last comment. "Don't push your luck. You're the only one who can go find Father without explicitly disobeying him, so I need you," he paused, and then added "not as much as you think. I could always do it myself, but then Father would be furious with you for letting me out of the house. Your choice."
"Okay, okay, fine, but I'm just glad I have witnesses for this moment," Tim said as he backed out of the room. Dick laid back deeper into the pillows, and Damian sat down on the foot of his bed. Dick stared at him for a moment.
"We have almost identical wounds. How in the hell can you be walking around? I can barely stand." He sighed, watching him.
"Youth, old man," Damian smiled smugly. "The young are resilient."
"I'm not that old," Dick muttered. Damian paused, looking distant.
"Then maybe it's everything else, for you. A broken heart can be more fatal than any injury," he said quietly. Dick sat up, staring at him.
"That's a good line, coming from a ten year old with no love life," he said quizzically, watching Damian. The boy looked down.
"It is Selina's."
Dick bit his lip and nodded slowly. "I'm sorry I've been so unstable. I can't tell you how embarrassing and… just humiliating it is. I'm acting like a bitch and hurting all of you guys," he smiled a little.
"Just as long as you are aware," Damian told him.
"Master Damian," Alfred scolded. Dick laughed.
"No, Al, it's ok. He's right." Dick turned to Alfred. "And I have a request- an order for you, of the utmost importance, if you don't mind."
"How can I be of help young sir?"
"Take the night off." He smiled tiredly. "Damian and I should sleep and won't need anything else from you tonight, Tim should be home with Bruce any minute now. Thank you."
"Of course." Alfred bowed his head before leaving. Dick grabbed Damian's arm and tugged him across the bed.
"Come on."
"Where are we going?" Damian hissed in surprise.
"You're coming right here. Come on," Dick tugged him closer, pulling him under the covers.
"Why are you doing this to me again?" he demanded.
"Because you're my brother, and you won't sleep if you go back to your own room. You're as nocturnal as your father is now come on." Dick smiled, pushing Damian's head down on the pillows.
"You are so needy Richard," Damian whined.
"And you are so whiny, Damian." Dick smiled, closing his eyes. Damian pouted and turned his face away. Crickets chirped outside the open windows, and Dick listened in the hall to Bruce's footsteps. They came closer and the door cracked open. Bruce peered in to see Damian and Dick asleep in his bed, and Dick opened one eye to watch Bruce smile a little and close the door behind him. Tim looked at him confusedly in the hall and Bruce ran a hand through his hair.
"We'll let them sleep, for now. News can wait," he whispered. Tim cocked his head, staring at him in shock.
"Seriously, Damian hugs me and now you're not gonna wake them up for Batman business? Is this real life?" Tim waved a hand in front of his face.
Bruce rolled his eyes and then caught sight of Selina slipping into his bedroom over Tim's shoulder. "You ought to get some sleep, too, Tim."
"Why? I'm already dreaming," he joked as he beelined for his own room with a big yawn. Bruce smiled after him, glanced at Dick's closed door once more, and nodded. He walked down the hall to his bedroom and closed the door behind him. Selina straightened the covers on the bed and smiled at him.
"Are they asleep?" She asked quietly.
"I hope so. I saw Alfred on the way in, and he told me what happened." Bruce let out a big sigh. Selina blinked slowly, smiling at him.
"I'm proud of you, for how well you're handling them." She whispered. She didn't bother asking what had happened, she could only assume from what she'd heard before.
"I don't know what I'm doing," he admitted.
"I'd beg to differ. You raised Dick from boyhood, and he's a wonderful young man." Selina sat, patting the bed beside her. "All of these boys can more or less take care of themselves. But they need your guidance. You're good at that." Bruce sat beside her with a chuckle.
"It seems like you're better at this than me."
Selina smiled gently and kissed his cheek, running one hand over the symbol on his chest. "Then why don't we do something we're good at together?"