A/n: Just a fun little fic about the batbros.


Jason was so ready to just fall onto his bed and let the world fall away to the reprieve of sleep, but it seemed his life was never so simple, even if he had a night off of patrol today.

He'd just come back from a busy day; getting info on an up-and-coming gang he might have to interfere with soon, meeting up with some friends, both work related and for social purposes, gone to run other errands and all in all, tired himself out. So tired, that when he reached his apartment and put the key in the doorknob, he opened it without checking around or listening to his gut which said something was off. Since it wasn't necessarily a bad feeling or a warning from his subconscious, he paid no mind to it, but he really should have.

No sooner than when he's opened the door and stepped in that an excited shout sounded.

"Jaybird!"

Jason wasted no time in even letting himself really look at his older brother and just took one glance to make sure he wasn't so tired he was hallucinating - unfortunately he wasn't and it was real - before he pivoted.

"Nope, not dealing with this today," he said, walking right back out the door - or at least that was what he'd intended to do before the Demon Brat appeared from thin air to close the door and block that exit before Jason could escape.

"Ah!" Jason couldn't help the small shout of half-surprise half-frustration that slipped out at the sudden appearance of the most recent Robin. "Where - why are you two even here?" He pivoted again to make it clear the question was posed to Dick too, who opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted before he could actually say anything.

"Three," the new voice piped up from Jason's left, and he stared at Tim who'd just walked out of the bathroom. "I'm here too," he said.

Jason took a second to process it all. "But why?" He exclaimed, indignant and resigned since he knew better than to hope they'd leave in the next hour.

Dick just shrugged from where he was sprawled on the couch, glancing at Jason before picking up the remote and turning his attention back to channel surfing on the tv as he answered. "Eh, I ran out of cereal."

As undignified as it was, Jason was tired, and so all he could do was splutter in response, arms waving madly and almost decapitating Damian in the process. "You live in Bludhaven!" He managed to get out. "It is an hour long drive to get here! You literally have a fucking 24 hour convenience store and a grocery store five minutes away from your apartment!"

Dick just shrugged again, completely unbothered by Jason's outburst. Jason himself knew he'd get nowhere with his oldest brother so he turned to the youngest who was still stood behind him, blocking the door.

"Why are you here?" He narrowed his eyes, but Damian had seemed to have adopted Dick's carefree manner and also looked completely unbothered by the fact he was ruining Jason's intended chill and relaxing day off.

"Drake informed me he intended to visit you so I - being unable to fulfil my duties as Robin tonight - thought I might join him. I thought I may as well get a meal out of the journey; while Pennyworth's cooking is adequate, it occasionally leaves something to be desired."

"Like my food?"

"Exactly," Damian said, as if merely stating a fact while he moved to join Dick on the couch.

Jason just sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and for all the world feeling like Bruce. "Fine. Fine," he repeated, voice more defeated and resigned the second time, his hand dropping like his resolve. "But what about you? Why are you even here in the first place, let alone bringing the Brat along?"

"First of all," Tim started, standing straight as he turned to Jason. "I did not tell Damian I was coming, he followed me, so I did not bring him either. Not on purpose. Second, I was gonna come over anyway for your help with a case and these two showed up."

"Yeah," Dick added, drawing the word out in a way that said what he was suggesting next was something Jason wasn't going to like and leaning his head back over the couch to look at his younger brother. "And since we're all here, we might as well have some of your cooking, and watch a movie or something before we leave."

Jason took a deep breath. He was tired, and he'd planned to take tonight for himself, just catching up on sleep and tv and doing nothing at all. But he knew he had no choice in the matter of his brothers staying if Dick's sad little puppy-eyed hopeful look was anything to go by, so he might as well take the opportunity to take control of whatever happened next. They were intruding on his night off, in his apartment, expecting his cooking as their dinner. If he played his cards right, the night might yet be salvageable.

He also could see it in Dick's eyes. There was more to this night than there seemed. Now that Jason thought about it, it had been a little while now that he'd seen his brothers all together, life getting busy and opportunities for meet-ups becoming scarce and hard to come by. So maybe bonding was all that this was - which as much as Jason wished it wasn't impulsively planned for tonight at his place, he still could enjoy - but the more he looked into his brother's famous baby blues, the more he saw that something about DIck was off and he needed this more than he was willing to admit. And Jason - for as much as he claimed to hate the lot of them - did really love his brothers, and wanted to help. So he'd make this night work, even if he wasn't totally happy with it.

He sighed again, resolve completely broken. He ignored Dick for now - his brother picking up on the shift in his demeanour anyway and now smiling quietly - and instead focused on the other two.

"Does Bruce even know you two are here?" He asked them, genuinely curious and for safety reasons.

Damian rolled his eyes. "Tt, Father is on patrol and therefore likely is unaware or simply does not care."

"Hey," Dick said, eyes bright as he looked at his youngest brother happily. "That rhymed Dami, nice!" He held up his hand for a high five, not receiving one but not letting it hinder his energy. He turned to Jason, shit-eating grin on his face. "I don't live with him anymore so I don't think Bruce cares about where I go."

"Yeah, that's why I didn't ask you Dickfa - I swear to god Replacement, if you so much as glance at my coffee, I will tie you to the bed and play lullabies or white noise in the background and sit on you until you snore," Jason addressed Tim, having spotted the boy opening cabinets one-by-one in the kitchen, who'd frozen the second he'd been called out.

Subtly, Tim withdrew his hand and closed the cupboard, not even having the gall to look guilty. Instead, he changed the subject swiftly with answering Jason's initial question.

"I personally haven't seen Bruce in like, two days, so I think he probably just assumes I'm still in my room."

Jason blinked and fought the urge to pinch his nose again, Dick frowning from the couch. "Yeah, that's a problem. You really need to do something about that, Timmy."

"I think we all have 'problems' Dicky," Jason spoke before Tim could have a chance, having noticed something in the cupboard before Tim closed it. "If we didn't, I don't think we'd have met. But if you're so adamant about talking about our problems, why don't we start with the fact that you finished my cereal!"

The empty cardboard box had been lying on the shelf below the coffee, dark void of nothingness facing Jason so he could see it clearly. Dick had completely forgotten about the tv - command of it now in Damian's hands - and twisted to face a disgruntled Jason fully.

"There was barely anything in it!" Dick retorted. "You really need to but some more Jayjay."

"I'm not you," Jason shot back. "I don't go through two boxes each week, unlike some people."

Dick pouted and turned back to face the tv - pointedly away from Jason - settling further into the couch as he grumbled. "It's not two boxes…"

"Todd, kindly hurry up and cook dinner. I'm beginning to feel hungry."

"You're hungry then go make something yourself," he snapped at Damian. "That or go back to the manor. I'm not your cook."

And with that, he started down the hallway that led to his room to get changed, calling out behind him to the others, "I better not come back to the kitchen on fire or anything!"


Five blissful minutes of solidarity later, he emerges in comfier clothes to find that thankfully the rest of his apartment is still intact. Dick is still on the couch, tv remote back in his hands as he scrolled through channels once again with Damian sulking beside him. On the kitchen table, Tim sat typing on his open laptop.

Jason completely ignored them all as he grabbed his keys from the shelf near the door and put on his shoes.

"Where're you going?" Tim asked, looking up. Jason spared him a quick glance.

"We are going to grab groceries like normal people." He emphasised the 'normal' as he looked pointedly at Dick, who dramatically put a hand to his chest in mock hurt.

"What do you mean, 'we'?" Tim asked, returning Jason's attention to him. "And why?"

"'We', as in you and me, and why is because I can't carry all the stuff I need to make dinner for four people by myself. But don't think you two get a free pass on dinner either," he said, turning to the remaining two brothers on the couch. "You, Dickie boy, get to help me cook - which I really hope isn't going to be the biggest mistake of my life - and the Demon Brat is gonna help set the table and clean up afterwards. If you three are gonna crash at my place with no warning or good reason, then I'm gonna make you do your part. No freeloading here."

"Okay, fine with me." "Whatever, let me just grab my jacket." "I suppose it is reasonable enough," came the varied responses, satisfying him enough for him to relax a little, finally seeing a way to salvage the night.

"Good," he said, then turned to Tim. "Grab the extra helmet too, Tim, it's in the closet. One more thing," he added, addressing everyone now. "I need to know if you guys are staying over tonight, because then I'll pick up some extra toilet paper or some shit, I don't know. I just need time to mentally prepare for waking up to your ugly mugs at least five hours before I have to actually deal with it."

Damian was the first to answer. "I shall have to inform Father if I do, however my decision will depend upon Grayson."

"Dick?"

He watched the emotions play out on his brother's face as he considered. He seemed a little surprised at the offer in the first place, then glanced between each of his three brothers before slowly answering.

"If it's okay with you, Little Wing. I can take care of breakfast in the morning to pay you back."

Jason just shrugged. "Whatever, I don't care. Just don't trash the place before I get back, and don't complain about having to share the couch with the brat. Got the helmet, Replacement? Good. You can let me know your decision on the way - we've wasted enough time already and even I'm getting a little hungry now too."


The ride to the nearby grocery store was short, the place thankfully open until late.

On the way, Tim informed Jason of his decision to stay at the apartment too. They made the deal that if that was the case then Tim needs to actually sleep. "I'm not letting you deprive yourself of sleep in my house," Jason had put it, and Tim had agreed albeit slightly reluctantly.

As they went inside the store and meandered down the isles - Jason only having a vague idea of what to make and depending on the shelves to inspire him to have a better idea - he casually brought up what had been on his mind.

"Hey, Tim," he started, glancing sideways at his younger brother as he decided which pasta shape to buy. "You wouldn't happen to know what's up with Dick, would you? He just looked a little off, so you know anything about that?"

"Dick?" Tim paused for a second, thinking before shrugging. "I don't know but… I think… wasn't he supposed to go on a mission with one of his old teams or something sometime recently? I remember him being excited about getting to meet Lian sometime because of it."

"Huh, okay," Jason said, nodding absently as he filed that information away before changing the subject. "Anyway, you think I should make white sauce for the pasta, or tomato?"

"Tomato," Tim answered, and they quickly bought the last few things and went on their way back home.


They got to work on dinner as soon as they got back, Jason showing Damian where everything he'd need to set up the table was - that particular task done within minutes. Dick got up to help cook, as was previously agreed upon, and while there wasn't too much to do, Jason had an ulterior motive for asking Dick to help. So since Tim's job was done, and Damian was finished the first bit early, he sent them to find a good movie to watch as Dick followed some of his instructions on prepping their dinner.

For a few minutes, they worked in relative silence, each brother doing their respective jobs as the two youngest argued over possession of the remote behind them. As they worked, Jason took time to really observe Dick now, wondering how to start the conversation.

His older brother was always energetic, happy, though he'd seen the guy in his worst moments before. It wasn't exactly one of his worst moments now, but it wasn't one of his best, that much was obvious. While he was still relatively happy, Jason could pick up on the subtle undertones of melancholy in his brother's smiles, the pain in his eyes, both physical and emotional. Whatever mission Dick had just come back from had obviously left its mark and Jason doubted - with Tim's lack of knowledge on the whole thing - that Dick had talked to any of the family yet and was still dealing with the aftermath of the mission.

He cleared his throat. "So, Dick… how's it going? Everything okay?"

Dick didn't answer immediately. Until then, he'd been stirring the cooking pasta and now paused, gently taking out the wooden spoon and laying it aside as he covered the pot. He turned around and leaned against the counter, glancing at Jason as he answered.

"It's… going," he started slowly. "Everything's not really okay, but when is anything in our lives really ever okay, so compared to that I guess things are okay?"

Jason set down the knife he'd been using to chop up some of the few vegetables he was adding - more out of an obligation to Alfred to serve something actually nutritious to his brothers - and looked at Dick who'd taken a sudden interest in the wood of the table in front of him.

He thought about what to say next, but he got the sense that for once, his brother didn't feel like talking about his feelings. Out of all of them, Dick was the most likely to do so, but sometimes he was also the last to say anything especially to any of his brothers. His oldest brother and his stupid self-sacrificial tendencies; considering himself a burden on others as he urged others to do the exact things he himself neglected to do for himself. But sometimes, it was just as simple a matter of not being ready to talk about it.

"Well, if you want to talk about it," Jason said hesitantly, offering a small sympathetic smile. "I'm here all night and apparently you are now too."

Dick looked up at him now, a grateful look in his eyes. "Thanks, Little Wing," he said quietly, corner of his lips quirking up the slightest bit. The moment lasted only a few seconds before a shout came from Tim and Damian, snapping Jason and Dick back to the kitchen. Jason rolled his eyes and went back to his chopping of vegetables, ignoring the way his older brother was looking at him endearingly.

"Just don't add to my own depression too much or I might actually start caring about you and it'll become a while thing," he added in an effort to lighten the mood. Dick just breathed a laugh, but there was a tightness to it. Jason glanced at him. "Fine," he sighed, answering the unasked question and two seconds later, he was awkwardly patting Dick's back as the older man had his arms wrapped around him.

After a few seconds, Jason softened and hugged Dick a little tighter. He hadn't realised until now how long it'd been since the last time he'd gotten one of Dick's big hugs, and he hadn't realised how much he missed them either. He'd found that with all the bad things in his life, in all of their lives, it made them treasure the small things more. Dick's hugs had gotten him through some hard times, and now it was his turn to give that comfort back.

They stayed that way for a little while longer. At some point, Jason caught Tim's eyes on them before they flicked back to the tv and whatever movie they'd started.

"Hey," Dick's muffled voice spoke. "You smell that?"

"Shit," Jason cursed, pushing away from Dick and quickly moving to the oven to save the garlic bread they'd made before more than just the edges got black. After that, they focused on the food they were making, intent on not ruining any more of their meal. As they continued working, Jason pretended not to notice how subdued Dick had become, all acts and pretences of being okay seemingly given up on, though out of exhaustion or the fact that Jason now knew something was wrong and there was no point of it anymore - though there hadn't really been a point to start with - he couldn't tell.

Not long after, dinner is served and chairs at the table are arranged so that everyone can watch the Disney movie that Tim and Damian had found and agreed upon to watch. Once they've all finished, they move to the couch - Damian taking his seat next to Dick slightly later due to having to clean up - and just sit and watch the movie.

Much to Jason's surprise, Tim falls asleep pretty quickly, and Damian curls up comfortably against Dick, drifting off too. Jason doesn't remember falling asleep either, but he's woken up a short while later to stifled sobs. He turns his head to look at Dick beside him, silent tears running down his brother's face, and Jason does nothing more than put his arm around the guy and hold him close but it seems to be enough. Dick buries his head in Jason's chest, the same way Jason has done with Dick and Bruce so many times before, and eventually, his shoulders stop shaking and Jason gets too tired to keep rubbing circles on Dick's back anyway.


He once again doesn't remember falling asleep, but when he wakes up again, Damian is sprawled on the empty space beside him, Tim is gone from his other side - the sound of a flushing toilet a pretty good indicator of where he's gone - and the sounds coming from the kitchen tell him that Dick is making good on his promise to take care of breakfast.

For as much as his night might have been ruined by the sudden appearance of his brothers, maybe it wasn't so bad to have them here, he concluded, feeling warm and happier in that way he inevitably did with his family near him. After a quick, subtle glance over the back of his couch at Dick smiling at Tim - a tired smile, but a genuine, happy Dick one - he decided that he can let himself sleep a little longer. He did good work last night so he deserves it.

He got Dick back to his normal self which meant that he didn't have to play the role of oldest brother any more. Even better, he was getting breakfast pre-made for him, and Dick probably wouldn't burn down the place in doing so. Right?

The smell of something burning reached his nose, along with a curse muttered under his breath for once not coming from him. No, he didn't swear quietly when he finally did.

"Goddamit, Dickface, you can't even manage fucking breakf - !"

A pillow to the face didn't let him finish.


A/n: To be clear, the pillow in the end was thrown by a disgruntled Damian who was mad at having been woken up from his beauty sleep. And don't worry, Jason just told himself he helped to get out of brotherly duties, but in reality it's because he does love Dick. Also, by the end of it I wasn't really sure how to end it so it kind of devolved into a bit of… I don't know but I hope you still liked it?

Anyway, I have so many ideas for similar situations like this so this is only the first chapter of what might be either a very long or just a five chapter fic. Do not expect regular updates for this. Even with this one, I've had the idea for a while but I finally wrote it because I need to write a short play for something and I could not come up with any ideas so I took this pre-existing one and am gonna make this into a more generic story and script. Hopefully it's not too terribly difficult. Hopefully…

Well, I will put it out there that if you have any requests for occasions where one (or all) of them show up at one of the others' places that you might want to see me write here, then I might consider them. Might, so please don't be offended if I don't because I might also just be taking months to actually write it lol. Oh my god, I just remembered it's December now. Random, but time flies fast… or is it just me?

Stay safe and see ya soon.

- CrowofArcadiaOaks