"This isn't going to work" Tim declared, the plan had been falling apart since its conception -what else did they expect?

"It already has, Drake" Damian scoffed "He trusts me.And you, for whatever reason" Damian crossed his arms leaning back in his seat.

They had followed the scraps of the plan that remained:

Damian was in danger. Check.

Alfred couldn't keep them all safe by himself. Check.

The manor is too conspicuous to be safe. Check.

Bruce's not in town to help. Check.

The GCPD was… incompetent at best. Double check.

No one would think to look in a random apartment at the heart of Gotham…ongoing.

The story had holes. Too many to keep track of, but they were focusing on one leak at a time. The proverbial ship that was their plan hadn't sunk yet.

'Dick had no reason to distrust them' that's what Damian had said. (Reworded)

"Alright, replacement, gremlin, can you speak now?" Jason's voice filled their ears, it sounded like he was walking, but he sounded calm. That was a red flag, Jason was never calm.

Dick had asked his… Nick, to step outside for a moment after they speedran through their story while the man ('interloper'Damian insisted) was taking the trash out.

It had none of the dramatics they had planned the night before, just a lot more desperation than expected.

Dick and Nick had planned a…weekend getaway.

Well, okay. Notreally. They were going camping with some friends, or so he said.

Tim had thought that was the end of it. Dick was busy, they hadn't planned for that.

He didn't say no.

Instead he pulled himself away from Damian, asked them to wait, and walked towards the door just as Nick was making his way back. They both stepped outside, muffled voices filtering in but nothing Tim could make up.

"Dick has a boyfriend," Tim told Jason.

"Unconfirmed," Damian interjected.

Tim thought it was actuallyveryconfirmed. The level of intimacy they showed wasn't new… didn'tfeelnew.

It felt domestic.

Nick was taking Dick's trash out,for Christ's sake.

Jason whistled on the other side of the comm.He sounded amused. "Hold on." he said, and the comm went silent. Muted. At a time like this.

Typical.

Nick and Dick came back inside after a while, too long for their frayed nerves. Tim looked at Damian.

Well…hisfrayed nerves.

Damian looked like the cat that drank the cream, mildly annoyed, but satisfied.

Tim would like to be as delusional, seemed pleasant.

Nick glanced at them -face blank- before disappearing into Dick's bedroom, a few moments later he came back out, a small duffle bag in hand. Dick loitered at the door, waiting for him.

They were being quiet and Tim tried not to listen in (unlike Damian), but he heard a sheepish apology from Dick, and Nick's reply was simple. He placed a hand on the back of his neck using it to pull Dick into a bruising kiss. Then a more tender peck to his cheek, and then he left without another look at them.

Tim sighed in ears warm.

Damian was tense, but less murderous now that they were alone.

"Does Alfred know you're here?" Dick asked, walking back towards them after making sure the door was securely locked. Tim felt his cheeks warm as well when he noticed Dick's bitten-red lips.

Tim gave a tentative nod.

Dick pulled a charger out of his pocket, plugged in his phone, and waited for the familiar ping before leaving it face down on a pile of clothes in the chair. Then he sat back down next to Damian. "Y'know I was only a cop for like two minutes, guys. Are you sure we shouldn't tell Nick about this? I can vouch for him being one of the good ones in the force," he said again.

Both Tim and Damian had adamantly refused to bring Nick into this, even(especially)after Dick told them the man was acoprecently reassigned from Bludhaven.

"No.. yeah. I mean it's not that we distrust him" Tim said. Damian looked like he disagreed very much with that statement. But didn't comment on it, thankfully. "It's just… uh, complicated" He said. Which was probably the only full truth they'd said so far.

Dick seemed doubtful but nodded "I'm just not entirely sure how much help I can be," he rubbed the back of his neck with a slight smile. "But you're welcome to crash here. Whatever you need," he said.

Both Tim and Damon nodded their thanks.

"I'm sure Alfred has already spoken with Mr.-Bruceabout this, right? but I'd like to contact him as well, if that's okay?" Dick briefly nodded towards his phone to indicate his intentions. "He should have a plan for this kind of thing, no?" Dick wondered.

An alarm sounded inside Tim's head.

No way could Dick talk with Bruce about this. Notever. But especially not now.

Then he remembered Bruce wasn't reachable at the moment and sighed in relief. That's one less problem for now.

"Pennyworth knows," Damian assured him, torn between acting like a regular kid in danger, and being too proud to show any kind of weakness -even if it was fake.

"Sure, he's… uh, trying to run damage control. His hands are full with Jason at the manor and all" Tim rambled.

He remembered too late that no one had dropped the Jason bomb on Dick yet.

They were trying -he, Bruce, and Alfred- to protect both Dick and Jason -for very different things, brought on by the same catalyst: Jason's anger issues and resentment against Dick.

Damian wanted Jason (and everyone else) away from Dick for his own undisclosed agenda. But he was a problem for another day.

"Jason?" Dick asked, curious. Of course he'd picked up on that.

"He's um…" Tim scrambled for an explanation.

"A leech," Damian tutted.

Dick looked at Damian, who huffed but didn't press on. "Is he… another brother I didn't know about?" he asked.

Well, that's one way to put it. Tim thought. "Um… something like that," he shrugged. "He's just Jason."

Dick sighed and placed his arm around Damian's shoulder protectively again. Tim had seen the little gremlin getting closer to the older man, and he'd gotten exactly what he wanted.

Tim wasn't jealous of the contact.Really.

He'd just noticed Dick had a Red Robin case on his phone,hisRed Robin suit. Not Jason's. That was enough for now.

A low ping sounded in his ear, probably Jason checking in after he was done with whatever he'd been doing.

Dick had said yes.

Dickcared. He did.

Tim felt bad. Hehadlet himself get roped into this. He'd never doubted Dick, but Dickgenuinelycared, and they were just having a pissing contest over him. They weren't being fair.

Damian just looked satisfied.

Jason pinged again.

Tim ignored him.