The plan sucked.
Tim had let himself get dragged by Jason's prodding and Damian's manipulations, well, alright. Heknewhe was being manipulated, and he was ready to out-manipulate them both…
Yet here they were, Jason had driven them to Dick's apartment and promptly scadoodled before he could be questioned about -for example, how he knew exactly where Dick lived.
Bruce knew because hewas obsessedhad taken Dick home once at Damian's rather see through insistence that Gotham was dangerous. Bruce didn't need much convincing anyway but Dick seemed both touched and concerned about Damian's apparent fear of the city.
Damian knew, because of course he did. It made Tim wonder again how long Damian had been hiding something this big from them. And why.
Tim knew because he had, uh… well, he'd hacked a couple CCTV cameras around the diner. And okay so what if he had tracked Dick home? He was just trying to keep him safe. Damian may have been laying it on thick but he wasn't wrong, the city was dangerous.
Gotham didn't know what kind of flame it had burning at its very heart, and if Tim could spare twenty minutes to make sure that flame wasn't snuffed on its way home? Well, that was just smart resource-allocation, really.
So anyway, that's how they all knew, but Jason?
The man had thrown a right fit after Damian made his big revelation. He claimed he didn't care, but he had been more volatile for days after.
He claimed it didn't matter, 'Dick was just a civilian, Just a guy. Nothing special, he hadn't been trained, he didn't know nor would he care about their lives.' He didn't- he didn't- he didn't…
Seemed like an awful lot of denial to Tim, and they weren't even near the river.
Dick had, though.
Hehadcared about them, and their lives, and their feelings. Even if he only knew them as civilians, Gotham's most famous… uh, family.
And that had pissed Jason off even more.
Tim had tried to keep tabs on him, make sure he wouldn't confront Dick and mess this up for everyone. He suspected Bruce had done the same. Jason wasn't so easy to track though, but he hadn't, far as he knew, gotten anywhere near Dick.
Which was a relief.
But it also kept him -kept themon edge that something inside Jason might blow up sooner rather than later. And it might bring down the tentative foundation they've been trying to rebuild -or build, from Dick's perspective- with their long lost—
With Dick.
Damian harrumphed, snapping Tim out of his thoughts.
"What?" Tim asked
"I said" he looked very put upon at having to repeat himself, Tim didn't even feel bad "that once we are inside, you should behave, Drake"
"What the heck-youbehave. Demon" Tim said, irritated.
Damian rolled his eyes and crossed his arms "you keep being embarrassing every time you're in Grayson's vicinity" he shrugged slightly. "It was just a piece of advice," he muttered, raising a hand to knock on the door.
"It's open!" They heard Dick's muffled voice say from inside the apartment.
Tim turned to look at Damian "Don'tmake it a thing, Damian" he warned. The demon kid was already glaring daggers at the door.
"Itisa thing, Drake." Damian said with a deep frown "he left the door unlocked.In Gotham" he muttered to himself.
Oh boy.
"Can you check if I left my charger in the bathroom, please?" Dick asked distractedly as he looked under the couch for said charger. The thing couldn't have grown legs and walk away by itself…
There was a knock at the door and he smiled. His friend was a little early, but no big. He was ready to go… except his phone had died and now he couldn't find his charger. Great.
"It's open!" He yelled, now looking under the pile of clean laundry he had on a chair, he had to get this done today, he made a mental note.
He was a little startled when he noticed a small pair of designer shoes. When he looked up, there was a very agitated-looking Damian Wayne. The foot wasn't tapping on the floor, but Dick felt like it definitely would be, if Dami was a different kind of person. What had he done wrong now? He wondered.
He smiled and stood up "Hello Damian, good morning!" He greeted the kid with the usual level of cheeriness that Damian insisted was never necessary, but Dick could practically see his Irritated-at-Grayson-O-meter drop a little. Cute.
"And Tim!" He waved back at him, a little confused now that he had a moment to catch up. "Hello? Sorry, Hi! What are you guys doing here this early?" He waved them over. Both boys moved closer to the couch -Tim took a seat, but Damian hesitated, still looking like he wanted to yell at Dick about something.
"Damian." Tim said quietly, but Dick's apartment was so small there was no shot that he wouldn't be heard "Watch it. Remember why we're here" Tim said. Well, didn't that sound interesting, he thought.
Damian sighed, looking mighty annoyed about having to let go whatever grievous offence Dick had committed in the thirty seconds since they arrived.
"Everything okay?" He asked them, he had no clue what 'remember why we're here' meant, but sounded ominous, when said like that. "You got at least five hours of sleep, right?" He asked Tim.
When Tim didn't call after a couple hours, he finally fell asleep, but hoped the teen had gone to bed like he said he would and hadn't stayed up doing homework all night. Dick had wanted to text him earlier but that's when he realized his phone was dead.
Tim started nodding, but hesitated "uh… actually. Well… there was a- it's kind of- I mean you totally don't have to- Damian's just- I mean, not just him, we're-" Dick was startled by the barrage of unfinished sentences, but at least he got one thing. There was something amiss.
"Alright, what's going on?" He asked, now more focused on his surprise visitors, glancing between them to see who would crack first. Damian sighed again and finally decided to take a seat, next to Dick, rather than next to Tim. He noticed.
Dick tentatively placed an arm around Damian's shoulders and felt him tense for just a second before practically melting against his side. "Is everything alright at home?" He asked gently "Is Alfred okay? Br- Mr. Wayne?" He pressed further.
Bruc- Mr. Wayne-Bruce, had asked Dick to call him 'Bruce' the few times they've interacted, but it still feels too weird. What business does he have calling Gotham's prince by name?
Though, he supposes, the same business he has being acquaintances -friends, with his sons.
Tim took a breath and tried to look like he was centering himself before speaking. He had to sell this if the plan was going to work. "Sorry… yeah, everything's… well, Alfred is okay. And Bruce too" he said honestly.
Alfred had pleasantly bid them a good day when the three of them left the manor -had to be an odd sight for sure, they didn'thang out, outside of vigilante activities- not knowing what kind of stupid plan they were about to implement.
And Bruce hadn't checked in since he left a couple of days ago -but that was just how it always was.
"I am being targeted in a kidnapping plot" Damian deadpanned.
Tim almost facepalms, but manages to stop himself. That was not part of the plan, Damian! He wanted to convey with the look he gave the young ex-assassin.
Tim noticed the hand on Damian's shoulder give a gentle squeeze, like letting him go would teleport Damian to the kidnappers. Tim could see the gears turning in Dick's head. He didn't gasp, or began panicking -which would've been understandable for a civilian- instead he asked them to start from the beginning. But he never let go of Damian.
And Jason said Dick wouldn't care.
They should've bet money.
Damian showed Dick the note they'd brought with them, it looked legit, because it was.
All of them were constantly being threatened -Bruce, Alfred, Tim. Not Jason, since he left the nest a few years ago. They had even been kidnapped, multiple times. Well… everyone but Damian, so far.
He was still a new addition, not everyone was in the know that the new kid hanging around 'The Wayne's' in pictures was Bruce's actual son.
The point is that there was no shortage of those kinds of notes back at the cave, why waste time fabricating one when they already had some on hand.
Tim saw him first, there was amanleaving Dick's bedroom- or.. ah what he supposed was the bedroom. He hadn't studied the building's plans or anything. That would be weird.
Another weird thing was that man, Dick lived alone, who was he? Why was he here? What's goingon?
Tim went to ask but stopped when the man -what the heck- touched the back of Dick's neck and said something about a charger, holding -indeed a charger- up in his hand like a trophy.
Tim blinked at the interaction, Dick smiled at him distractedly -still not letting go of Damian- and thanked him for finding it, Damian glared, and then…
Then the man leaned down and kissed Dick.On the lips.
He did that like it was the most normal thing in the world.What the heck.
The man noticed Damian first -which… honestly, fair. Kinda hard not to notice a kid sending such a strong wave of hatred at him. Even Tim could feel it, though he wasn't sure if it came from Damian, or from his own flabbergasted brain.
"Oh, hi" he smiled tentatively "Sorry, I didn't know you had company, babe" he laughed, his hand still resting on Dick's nape. Like he was staking a claim to him.
Damian looked like he was going to have a stroke.
"Grayson- what is the mea-!" He started saying, promptly shutting his mouth when Tim very conspicuously kicked his leg.
This plan had derailed far sooner than Tim thought it would. Now what?
What if Dick didn't follow their script?What if he really didn't care because he had a handsy guy to-
What if this guy recognized them? What if he went to the police about the kidnapping in a misguided act of good-samaritanism.
Oh boy.
"Sorry to interrupt?" Nick said "but ah… are you ready to go? Or…" he asked unsure, looking at the two boys as if waiting for them to excuse themselves and leave. No way. Dick thought.
Dick removed his arm from around Damian, but only to pat the boy's head in a 'don't worry I'm still here' kind of way he hoped was comforting enough.
"Actually… uh… Change of plans?" he told Nick, "Can you-" Hold on, Dick thought. They needed help, and.. Nickcould behelp.
He knew how Mr. Wa- Bruce felt about police, but surely… "Can you… uh, take out the trash, please?" Dick asked Nick from out of nowhere, startling not only the man in question, but also Tim and Damian.
Nick looked at him like he knew exactly what was going on -God, Dick really hoped he didn't- but agreed with a smile and a gentle touch to Dick's cheek, almost as tender as he'd touched him last night.
It made Dick blush a little, but he squashed down the fuzzy feeling blooming in his stomach and focused on the matter at hand.
Damian was in danger, and Tim looked so… well, there were many emotions on his face, Dick couldn't pin-point a single one. He was anxious about his little brother, he supposed.
The silence stretched to the point of awkwardness while they waited for Nick to leave with the trash bag in hand, Dick was regretting his poor excuse, he knew it was dumb the moment he said it, but he also had just been told someone wanted to potentially hurt this child he'd come to care so much about. How was he supposed to come up with anything better?
"so… that was-" Tim started saying, but this time Damian wouldn't be silenced.
"Who is that- that..man, Grayson?!" He asked, his chest puffed, looking more like a scandalized parent than a child in any kind of peril.
Focus, Damian! Tim willed him mentally, trying to make the little demon come back to the script. He subtly pressed the button hidden under his sleeve,Houston we have a problem.He knew Jason would get the message.
"Why was he in your bedroom? You didn't mention you'd have…company" he continued raging on.
Jason beeped back.
Tim could see their flimsy plan crumbling. Might as well, he thought.
The plan sucked.
