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Dick is 9 when he first meets Superman.
“It’s so… colorful!”
Bruce hums in agreement.
It’s not often that Gotham can be described as ‘colorful’ but the Pride parade certainly does liven up the gloomy city. His penthouse balcony offers an unrestricted view of the whole spectacle and the 9-year-old Dick is taking it all in with all the awe of an excited child who is used to constant noise and crowds.
“Look, look!”
Logically, Bruce knows the railing is too tall for Dick to fall over it. Nevertheless, he keeps a gentle hand on Dick’s shoulder, if only to ease his own nerves. Dick is bouncing on his feet, pointing at where a group of dancers is performing an exotic performance while moving with the flow of the parade.
“May I offer you a flag?”
Dick gasps. Bruce smiles, sort of. In front of them, Superman is floating in mid-air, holding a rainbow flag out for Dick to take. Dick has lived with Bruce for a little over a year now, and not once has he ever witnessed the boy be shy. Now, however, he seems to be honestly starstruck and leans back against Bruce’s legs.
“Go on,” Bruce encourages him. “It’s okay.”
Blushing slightly, Dick takes the flag from Superman. “Thank you, Mr. Superman, sir,” he says politely, one arm around Bruce’s thigh.
“You’re very welcome. So, I take it that you’re the very Dick that I keep hearing so much about,” Superman replies.
Dick’s mouth falls open. “You know my name?”
“Of course,” Superman chuckles. “Bruce here talks almost of nothing else these days.”
Bruce would deny it, except there’s some truth to it. Next to him, Dick seems to get over his shyness like it was never there.
“You know Bruce ?”
“He’s the Justice League’s most valuable consultant,” Superman says.
“You never told me!” Dick exclaims.
“They don’t need me very often,” Bruce says modestly.
“But you know Superman! And… And Flash! And all of them!”
“I don’t actually kno…”
“Can you come for dinner, Mr. Superman? You can bring all your friends,” Dick says. “We have plenty of room.”
“Maybe one day,” Superman says in that way adults tell children it will probably never happen without actually saying it. “I have to go now, though. I promised to hand these out,” he adds, waving the handful of flags he still has.
“Okay!” Dick chirps out.
“It was very nice to meet you, though. Happy Pride!”
“Happy Pride!” Dick yells out to retreating Superman. “Bruce! That was Superman! The Superman!”
“Yes, it was.”
“You should have told me!” Dick scolds Bruce.
“I know. I’m sorry. I just didn’t realize you liked him so much,” Bruce says.
“Who doesn’t like Superman?” Dick says.
“Criminals?” Bruce suggests and Dick rolls his eyes.
“I’m not a criminal. I’m gonna be a hero, too,” he proclaims.
“Oh yeah? What are you going to call yourself?”
“Robin,” Duck says without any prompting.
“Robin?”
“Mama called me Robin. Because I can fly,” Dick explains, his gaze on the parade again. “Not like Superman, though. But I can.”
He sits down on the balcony floor, seemingly lost in thought. Bruce sits down next to him and for a while, neither one says anything.
“Can I help you? The next time you help the League?” Dick asks then.
“I guess you could…”
“YES!” Dick practically screams before Bruce can finish and then Bruce has a hugful of Dick wrapped around him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“...observe,” Bruce wheezes out. “If it’s nothing dangerous.”
“I’m brave!”
“I know you are,” Bruce says. “You’re the bravest boy I know.”
Dick giggles. “You could be a superhero, too,” he says.
“You think?”
“Yeah! You could be the Broody-man. Or - or… My-Favorite-TV-Show-Is-The-News-man!”
“How about Tickles-His-Cheeky-Ward-man?”
Dick shrieks when Bruce digs his fingers into his sides. From the corner of his eye, Bruce sees Superman dash at them in alarm, but the hero relaxes when he sees Dick laughing, albeit quite hysterically, and flies away without interrupting.
“Stop! Stop, stop, stop!”
“Serves you right for thinking I’m no fun,” Bruce says as he lets Dick catch his breath.
“I think you’re fun. But in a broody way,” Dick grins. Then his expression turns more serious, and he asks quietly: “Do you think I’d be a good hero?”
“I have no doubt you’d be one of the best,” Bruce tells him.
“Maybe I could become a cop! Then I could help people.”
Bruce manages to hide his wince under another hum. The idea of Dick working in the toxic, corrupted environment that is Gotham PD makes his stomach turn.
The image of his little boy holding a gun doesn’t help either.
“Bruce?”
“There’s plenty of ways to help people,” Bruce says to evade talking about the possibility of a career in the police force. “If that’s what you want to do.”
Dick shrugs. “I like helping people. But I like other things, too.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you’re only 9. You have plenty of time to decide. And even when you do decide, you can always change your mind,” Bruce says.
“Like you changed your mind about having kids?”
...what?
“What?”
“Alfred told me you once said you’re never going to have kids. Now you have me,” Dick explains. “I mean, I guess you could… change your mind again. And give me back. That’s…”
“Hey, no,” Bruce cuts him off. “You don’t have to worry about that, okay? Ever.”
“I don’t. Not really. Not anymore,” Dick says. “You can call me your son if you want. I - I can be your son and… and my parents’ son, too.”
Bruce wonders how the conversation turned to this. He’s learned over the last year that Dick’s mind does sometimes tend to make 180 degree changes without warning, but nothing could have prepared him for this.
“I’d be honored,” he says, his voice rough.
“I might not call you dad yet.”
Yet .
“That’s okay, Dick. You know it is.”
“...you are, though.”
Bruce feels his eyes burn. “I know.” He pulls Dick into his arm and places a soft kiss on the crown of his head.
Together, they watch the rest of the parade float by before retreating inside for lunch.
--
“So?”
“So, what?” Clark asks Diana. “It’s a Pride Parade. It was fun.”
“I’m not talking about the Pride Parade!” Diana says. “Did you meet the kid?”
“Oh! Yeah. He’s cute. Invited us over for dinner,” Clark replies.
“And?”
“...and?”
“Is he happy?” Diana asks. “Is he healthy? Does Bruce take care of him? Is he scared of Bruce? Is he traumatized?”
“Of course he’s traumatized, he watched his parents die!” Clark says. “But all things considered, yes, he seems happy. He loves Bruce and it’s clear that Bruce loves him. I don’t know why you’re so worried.”
Diana huffs. “Don’t pretend you didn’t find it weird when you heard he’s taken in a child,” she says.
“Well, sure. But the fact that he’s an apparent womanizer and more rich than anyone has any right to be doesn’t automatically make him a bad parent.”
“He’s also…”
“I know, Diana. But the kid is fine. I’m pretty sure he could not have found anyone else who knows what he’s going through better than Bruce. And Bruce has not appeared in one single tabloid since Dick moved in. I think it was good of us to check but we can all rest easy now. I’m sure you’ll agree with me when you meet him.”
Sighing, Diana seems to relax. “Fine. I trust you. But I’m keeping an eye on them.”
“You’re such a mother hen.”
Diana doesn’t dignify that with a reply.
--
Jason is 13 when he first meets Wonder Woman.
He knows he’s dead.
He knows.
No one survives an explosion and lives to tell the tale.
He wonders what he did to deserve Hell - it’s too hot for Heaven. Then again, he’s not sure if Heaven even exists. It’s probably just a fairytale to fool people into not murdering each other even though everyone ends up in Hell in the end.
Yeah, that’s probably it.
He’s dead and he’s in Hell. That’s why it’s so hot.
“Hey. It’s all right. You can open your eyes now.”
Wow, Satan has a really comforting voice. Also, she’s a woman?
“Come on, now. You’re okay. Your father will be here soon.”
“Huh?”
Slowly, Jason opens his eyes. He blinks and at first, all he sees are the flames. Then, bit by bit, his senses return and he hears the sound of emergency vehicles, people yelling orders, the roaring of the fire. He feels the hand in his hair and then, sees the beautiful, smiling face looking down at him.
“What?”
“We found you just in time,” the woman, who Jason decides cannot be Satan, tells him. “A few more seconds and you would have blown up with that building.”
“I didn’t blow up?” Jason asks.
“No,” the woman confirms. “Superman got you out. He’s helping the firemen to put the fire down now.”
“How did you find me?”
“It was a team effort. But it was your father who eventually figured it out,” the woman says.
“You mean Br…”
“JASON!”
The woman’s attention turns to the frantic voice calling Jason’s name. Groaning, Jason sits up, only then realizing that he’s lying down practically in the woman’s lap. He doesn’t have time to blush about it before he’s wrapped in Bruce’s strong arms, squeezed into the man’s chest. “Jason… Oh God, Jason, I thought… I thought…”
The Dick’s there, too, and he’s openly sobbing as he presses his forehead against Jason’s shoulder. Jason doesn’t say anything, still dazed, but closes his eyes again and breathes in. Bruce smells of aftershave and laundry detergent instead of smoke, and it clears Jason’s head just a bit.
“Thank you, Wonder Woman.”
Wonder Woman?
“I merely kept him company. It’s you and Superman who rescued him.”
“You helped. A lot. Thank you.”
“Wait, wait…” With a little push, Jason manages to untangle himself from his family. His brain is processing the words Wonder and Woman but it’s not until he sees her in all her glory that he really registers them. His jaw drops and now he is blushing. “Holy shit.”
Dick lets out a wet chuckle. “You’re his favorite,” he says. His voice is raw and if Jason would be able to look at anything but the perfection in front of him, he’d see what an absolute mess his brother is.
“He has good taste,” Wonder Woman says with a small smile. “I am really glad you are okay, Jason Todd.”
“How do you know my name?” Jason asks. He thinks he does. He is not functioning properly.
“I have been searching for you for the last four hours,” Wonder Woman replies but somehow says it in a way that doesn’t make Jason feel like he’s an idiot for not realizing that. “And obviously, I have heard quite a few stories about you from Bruce.”
“You have?”
“Why, yes. Only good ones, I assure you.”
Before Jason can fully wrap his mind around the idea that Wonder Woman listens to stories about him , a part of the burning building collapses behind them.
“I should go help. We’ll meet again,” Wonder Woman says before running off to help the rescue workers.
“Did that just happen?” Jason says as he watches his future bride leap over a fire truck.
“Yes. It did. All of it,” Bruce says and Jason knows he doesn’t just mean Wonder Woman. “God, Jason, I’m so sorry.”
Jason frowns. “About what?”
“I shouldn’t have lost my temper. You never would have…”
“What? Gone for a walk to cool off? I go for walks all the time!”
“Yes, but…”
“Look, if you really need to hear, then fine. I forgive you. But this,” Jason says, gesturing to the still-burning remains of the warehouse. “Was not your fault. Besides, I’m okay. More than okay,” he adds with a little, happy sigh. “She doesn’t age as we do, right? You think she’d wait for me to be old enough if I asked?”
He knows he’s more traumatized than what he lets on. He has to be, he just escaped a building that exploded seconds later. For now, however, he’s still just happy to be alive, and surrounded by the protective barriers that are his father and older brother and with the memory of Wonder Woman’s touch still lingering on his skin, his mind lets him be comfortable and calm.
The nightmares will come later.
“Can we go home?”
“Yes. Yeah, let’s go,” Bruce says. He and Dick help Jason stand up and together the three of them walk away from the scene to where Alfred is waiting with the car.
“Hi, Al,” Jason greets the butler who replies with an uncharacteristically shaky: ‘Master Jason’.
It’s not until they are half-way there that Jason realizes they are not going back to the penthouse but instead driving to the Manor. He’s glad because he’s sure they’d see the smoke and the halo of the flames from the apartment and none of them need the reminder. Jason can feel Dick shaking next to him and Bruce’s arm around him is just tight enough to be a bit uncomfortable.
He doesn’t complain.
Two hours later, Jason has eaten as much as his stomach allows him to (he doesn’t notice that Bruce barely eats a bite), he’s dressed in his most comfortable clothes and buried in the piles of blankets and pillows he has on his bed. Bruce is sitting on the edge of it, stiff and stern.
“Do you need anything?”
“Nah. I’m good.”
“You’re sure?”
“I know where to find you, old man,” Jason says.
“You do. And come find me, if you need me. Okay? You can wake me up any time you want.”
“As if you’ll sleep.”
Bruce opens his mouth but closes it almost immediately and Jason grins.
“Well, I hope you will,” Bruce finally says. “But in case you can’t, I’ll be in my room if you want company.”
“Gotcha.”
Bruce stands to leave. He hovers, then slowly leans down and stops, giving Jason a moment to move away if he wants. When Jason doesn’t, Bruce closes to distance and gives the boy a small kiss on the forehead.
“Good night.”
“Good night,” Jason says.
He’s already feeling the pull of sleep and the exhaustion grants him a dreamless night.
As predicted, it doesn’t last, and he finds himself sneaking into Bruce’s room the next night. Bruce is sort of half-awake and acknowledges Jason with a small, knowing smile. Jason doesn’t say anything, just tucks himself into the bed and turns onto his side. He feels Bruce settle next to him and soon enough, they are both asleep.
--
“I’ll admit one thing,” Diana says as she sips her tea while Clark taps out their report of the explosion.
“And what is that?” Clark asks.
“Bruce Wayne really does love his children.”
--
Tim is 10 when he first meets Superboy.
He just doesn’t know it. Not until afterwards.
He’s waiting for Bruce to finish an interview so they can go have lunch, bored out of his mind in one of the chairs outside Bruce’s office. School’s out for summer, and while Jason is taking the advantage to sleep in late every day, Tim prefers to tag along with Bruce. He doesn’t quite understand where the urge comes from, but Bruce allows it, so he doesn’t complain.
(Bruce allows it because he does know where the urge comes from and will do all he can to make sure Tim knows he will never be abandoned again.)
Except he wants to complain now because the interview is taking forever and he forgot his WaynePad in Bruce’s office.
“Who are you?”
Tim jumps. He had not heard the elevator. A boy about his age is staring at him with a tilted head and a curious expression.
“Who are you?” Tim asks back, a little defensively.
“My name’s Conner. Conner Kent,” the boy introduces himself. Tim hears a hint of an accent.
“Oh,” Tim says. “Is Clark your dad?”
“Eh. Sorta,” Conner says. “Is Bruce yours?”
“Sort of,” Tim replies. Conner chuckles. “My name’s Tim. How do you know Bruce?”
“Clark does all his interviews, so I’ve met him a couple of times,” Conner replies.
“Huh… And what are you doing here?”
“Gotham has like… one of the best diners in the world!” Conner proclaims. “Clark let me tag along so that we could go have lunch there, after he’s done with the interview. I hung out in the lobby but it got boring so I came up here to see if he’d be done soon.”
“He left you alone in the lobby?” Tim says.
“Yeah? Why?” Conner says, clearly sensing the absolute horror in Tim’s voice.
“This is Gotham .”
“And?”
“You don’t leave kids alone in Gotham. Anywhere!”
“I was surrounded by like… a zillion guards!” Conner laughs. “Besides. I can handle myself.”
Tim huffs.
“What? You don’t beli…?”
“I thought I told you to stay downstairs.”
Finally Tim thinks as he jumps up when Bruce and Clark emerge from the office.
“You did,” Conner says but doesn’t comment further. “Now let’s go, burgers await!”
“You up for burgers, Tim?” Bruce asks and it’s clear he and Clark have already made arrangements to have lunch together. Tim shrugs because sure, why not burgers, but he’s a bit annoyed about not getting rid of the boy who thinks he can handle Gotham all by himself.
The kid knew nothing.
“Have you been here before?” Conner asks him when they step through the doors of the diner. Tim shakes his head. “Well, you are in for a treat! I recommend the Bruceger.”
“The… Bruceger?” Tim repeats.
Clark laughs. “They have a burger named after your old man here,” he says. “I’d forgotten about that.”
“Me, too,” Bruce mumbles. “It’s quite large, though, Tim. You might not be able to finish it.”
Tim settles on a boring old cheeseburger while Conner orders the Bruceger with extra fries and an Oreo milkshake. Tim finds it a bit funny that Clark doesn’t comment on his sort-of son’s appetite. He declines when Bruce asks him if he wants a milkshake, too, but quietly asks if he could have one of those iced coffee drinks that are mostly milk. “You’re going to become a coffee addict by the time you’re in high school,” Bruce says but it’s the tone that makes Tim’s mouth twitch. “You wouldn’t be able to make that de-caf, would you?” he asks the waitress, who nods. “Good. You can get addicted to the taste before you get addicted to caffeine.”
While they wait for their food, Bruce and Clark chat about what Tim describes as ‘boring adult stuff’ and Conner is playing something with his phone. Tim regrets that he still doesn’t have his pad and tries to entertain himself by observing the city outside the diner window.
“Hey, do you know this game?” Conner suddenly asks and shoves his phone in front of Tim.
“Sure,” Tim says because who hasn’t heard of Pokemon Go? “My brother plays it.”
“You don’t?”
“There aren’t many Pokestops around the Wayne Manor.”
“Yeah but… When you go outside and stuff?”
Tim shrugs. “I don’t go out much.”
“Why?”
“Why would I?”
“Don’t you go to school?”
“Of course I go to school.”
“So why don’t…?”
“Stop pestering him, Conner,” Clark interrupts Conner’s question and Tim is grateful. “Besides, the food is here.”
The food is apparently good enough to distract Conner from questioning Tim’s habits. So what if he prefers computers to the outdoors? He goes out enough, he’d just rather stay close to home instead of venturing somewhere in search of Pokemon. Who cares for Pokemon when he can try to catch pictures of real animals.
“Tim?”
Tim blinks. “What?” he asks Bruce, who is looking at him funny.
“You haven’t eaten a bite.”
Oh. So he hasn’t. Tim picks up his burger and digs his teeth into it and okay, it is good. Sure, he’s used to Alfred’s cooking by now, but he can still appreciate that this burger has been cooked perfectly.
“I told you,” Conner says, grinning, when Tim almost moans. The burger manages to somehow make him blind enough to not notice when Dick suddenly comes through the diner’s door. “Okay, I am hurt,” Dick declares when he reaches them and it’s only then Tim even sees him. “I had to pester you about coming to dinner for years and here you are, having lunch with my brother the first time you meet him.”
“Get your own fries,” Bruce says when Dick steals a few of his.
“Nah, I already had lunch,” Dick replies even as he steals a few more. “Anyway, Clark? Care to explain?”
“In my defense, I didn’t know your brother would accompany Bruce to work today,” Clark says. “And since I had Conner with me, it felt logical.”
“We’re going to be friends,” Conner tells Dick as he gestures between himself and Tim.
“We are?” Tim asks.
“Of course! We’ve met, we’ve talked, we’re going to be friends. Can I have your number?”
“Uh…”
He does end up giving Conner his number, if only to stop the other boy from poking him. Conner texts him that same night with the selfie that he insisted on when they were done with lunch. Dick had taken it, him being the only ones standing, and it’s a sort of funny picture with three grinning faces and two almost-smiling-but-not-quite-because-we-don’t-take-selfies faces.
Huh, Tim thinks as he looks at the picture. From this angle, Clark almost looks like…
“Clark is Superman?!”
He exclaims that as he bursts to the kitchen, where Dick and Jason are setting the table.
“Well,” Dick says. “You figured that out way quicker than I did.”
“Shit, your brain’s quick. Yeah, yeah, sorry Alfred,” Jason says when he receives a glare from the butler.
“So he is?” Tim says. “Superman?”
“I’ve told him about 20 times that the glasses are not enough,” Bruce sighs as he steps into the kitchen, too. “Well done figuring that out, Tim.”
“And that… that makes Conner. Superboy?”
“He’ll be delighted he won’t have to hide it from you,” Dick says.
“But you can’t tell anyone,” Bruce tells him sternly. “Okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” Tim sits down, a little overwhelmed by this new information. “No wonder he thought he could handle Gotham,” he says quietly, more to himself than anyone else.
He becomes a bit more enthusiastic about the friendship after that, and it doesn’t take too long before he actually enjoys Conner’s company instead of the thought of being friends with Superboy.
--
“He figured out who you are from one picture?” Diana exclaims.
Clark shrugs. “What can I say? The kid’s smart.”
“And he knows who Conner is, too?”
“He’s a Wayne, Diana. We can trust him.”
“He has not been a Wayne that long,” Diana protests.
“Relax. It’s not like he needs the money he’d make from revealing our secret.”
“That is not funny.”
“I disagree.”
--
Damian is 7 when he first meets the Flash.
And he’s not happy.
“I thought I made it clear!” he says angrily. “I accept no less than Superman!”
“Damian, hush!” Bruce chastises his son.
“But Father, we need to find…”
“Supe is off-world,” Flash cuts Damian off. “But I promise, I’ll do everything I can to find your brother.”
“Tt.”
Damian crosses his arms across his chest and glares. Bruce knows this is a facade to hide how worried he really is, but he still wishes Damian wouldn’t insult their best chance to find Dick.
His oldest has been missing for two days, taken from a gala where he had apparently been drugged without anyone noticing. No demands for ransom have been made yet, which makes Bruce uneasy. Money is a clear motive that Bruce would understand and he would gladly pay anything to have his son back - not knowing what the kidnappers want means Bruce doesn’t know if they plan to even keep Dick alive.
He feels helpless.
“I’ve already checked pretty much every inch of Gotham. I don’t think he’s in the city.”
“They could be keeping him under ground,” Tim suggests. The bags under his eyes are prominent as his skin is even paler than usual. Bruce knows he has barely slept for the last two nights but can hardly force him to without being a hypocrite.
“I’ve been talking to my contacts in Crime Alley. None of them have heard of any business or activity in the sewers or the underground system,” Jason says.
“You have contacts in Crime Alley?” Flash asks.
Jason shrugs but doesn’t answer. Bruce has his own thoughts about Jason’s contacts but keeps them to himself - they’ve argued about Jason’s activities often enough.
“Oooohkay, apparently I won’t hear more about that. I’m gonna go back out there, Bruce you keep looking through the CCTV footage to see if you can locate the van. Let me know if you’re contacted,” Flash says before dashing off.
Obviously, Flash is on the case because his nephew insisted, but Bruce knows that this is personal for Barry also. It’s personal for all of the Justice League, who by now are well acquainted with Bruce’s boys, except for Damian who, before today, has only met Clark. That’s why Bruce trusts Barry more than GCPD, even though it feels like the entire population of Gotham City is putting pressure on the force to find ‘everyone’s favorite Wayne’, as Jason puts it.
Damian still has his doubts, though.
“They could have at least sent someone whose catchphrase is smarter than ‘back in a Flash’,” he mumbles.
“He’ll find Dick,” Bruce says even as his heart clenches in his chest, because the fastest man in the world or not, it could be too late.
He ushers the boys inside and heads straight for his office where he sits down to do what Flash had suggested. Jason hovers behind his shoulder, his phone buzzing constantly. Tim is furiously tapping on his pad while Damian starts to pace around, murmuring ‘not so fast, is he?’ and ‘probably tripping on his shoelaces’.
“Wait!” Jason suddenly says. Everyone freezes. “Shit, I know who that is!”
He points to a figure on the screen. The video is from the night Dick was taken and the man Jason has identified is dressed as a waiter.
“Look,” Jason says and leans closer. “There.”
Bruce zooms in and sees it, too. Behind the man’s ear, there’s a tattoo.
“That’s Mark Herald,” Bruce says.
“The guy who went bankrupt because you pulled his funding?” Tim says.
“For doing more harm than good but yes,” Bruce confirms.
“This is about revenge,” Jason says. “He’s taken Dick…”
“To Miami,” he and Bruce finish at the same time. With a calm that only comes from such fear that it causes numbness, Bruce presses the communication device given to him by the League to tell Flash: “Dick’s in Miami. Herald Water Cleaners.”
“Roger that,” Flash tells him shortly and Bruce’s only hope now is that Mark had not counted on anyone finding Dick so quickly.
“Father?”
Bruce blinks. Damian sounds his age, for once, but only because he now sounds honestly scared. He’s standing next to Bruce now, eyes wide and unsure. Bruce pulls him close and for once, Damian doesn’t protest. Tim collapses onto a couch and Jason takes his turn to pace as they wait, wait, wait…
They only have to wait for 5 minutes (but it feels like a whole lot longer).
“Got him,” Flash suddenly says and Bruce nearly falls off his chair. “He’s okay. I can’t carry him all the way to Gotham, though, the speed could hurt him. I’ve called for a League Jet.”
“Thank you,” Bruce breathes out. “Flash found him,” he tells the boys. Jason puts his hands on his knees and takes a few deep breaths. Tim closes his laptop and seems to deflate. Damian, if possible, holds himself tighter against Bruce.
Two hours later, Flash is helping Dick down the jet’s ramp. The jet has certainly picked up the interest of Bruce’s few and scarce neighbors but he honestly doesn’t care. Dick has a blanket around his shoulders but other than that, seems fine.
“I’m fine,” he says, as if to confirm Bruce’s thoughts, when Damian rushes forward to wrap his arms around Dick’s waist, tightly. “I’m fine, Dames.”
“You nearly weren’t.”
Later, Dick would tell Bruce exactly how close to ‘not fine’ he had been when Flash had rushed to the scene. He decides, however, that his 7-year-old brother does not have to know.
“Why Miami?” Flash asks, seemingly out of curiosity.
“Wayne Enterprises funded a project to help clean the harbors there,” Bruce says with a firm hand on Dick’s shoulder. Damian refuses to let go even as Jason and Tim crowd in to welcome Dick home, too. “When we found out it was just a distraction from their more… destructive practices, we pulled their funding.”
“Huh. So that’s why he tried to dr…”
Flash swallows the rest of his sentence when Dick shakes his head.
“...anyway. Uh. I should get going. Supe will demand a detailed report of this,” Flash says, pointing to the jet with his thumb. “Try to keep out of trouble, yeah?”
“I will never be able to thank you enough,” Bruce says earnestly.
“Nonsense, I’ll be banging on your door for help soon enough, I’m sure,” Flash replies with a wave of his hand.
“You have my gratitude, too,” Damian says, still clinging on to Dick like a koala. “I’m guessing you are not as useless as I thought.” (“Dames!”)
“I’m touched,” Flash chuckles. “I’ll see you around, Wayne-clan!”
And, literally in a blink, he’s gone and the Jet is taking off.
The ‘Wayne-clan’ spends the rest of the day as a pile on the couch. Damian let go of Dick enough for Alfred to check him over but other than superficial cuts and bruises, he’s declared healthy. It doesn’t escape Bruce how tense he is, though, and situates himself in a way that Dick can lean on him as much as he wants while still holding his arms around Damian. Damian would claim he’s offering Dick comfort but Bruce has an inkling that this sudden need for physical affection comforts Damian just as much, if not more.
They don’t talk much and one by one, the boys fall asleep. Bruce doesn’t dare to move and settles in for a night that will give him back pains for a week.
It’s a small price to pay, for the certainty that his family is safe and sound.
--
“Guess what?”
“What?” Clark asks, tired. The mission had been long and draining and he’d rather not play guessing games with Flash right after finally making it back to Earth.
“Baby-Wayne told me I’m not useless,” Flash says with a grin.
“Wow. How did you manage that?”
“I saved Dick from drowning. Apparently, that means I…”
“Wait, what?”
“Oh. No, he’s totally fine, safely home being pampered as we speak. Anyway, they called me when they couldn’t reach you and…”
Clark tunes Barry out as he focuses on finding the steady heartbeat he’s learned to recognize as Bruce’s. It’s slightly elevated, he notices, and drowned in four other heartbeats. The image of the little family all tangled up makes him smile a bit and he turns his focus away from the heartbeats to allow them their privacy.
Diana never had anything to worry about.