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In the whirlwind after Bruce's death, Dick did a lot of things in his grief that weren't fully thought through. The one coming to mind now, as he woke up in the medical bay face to face with an alive Bruce, was the marriage certificate between Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne locked in the fireproof safe.
Bruce didn't stick around Gotham long enough for Dick to bring it up. He barely stayed long enough for Dick to exchange ten words with him about his son before jetting off to some country that supposedly needed Batman more than his family did.
After the excitement of Bruce's return wore off, Dick's life settled back mostly to how it had been. He spent a lot of time contemplating how to break the non-Batman changes to Bruce, of which the faked marriage was the biggest. Or since Bruce didn't seem to care, maybe it wouldn't be an issue. No one important knew about the marriage certificate—Dick could leave it locked away to be forgotten.
Damian was the first one to comment on the awkward situation Dick was now in, a few weeks after Bruce's return. Batman and Robin were downtown, regrouping on the National Bank building after chasing down a pair of thieves.
"Do you plan to remain married to my father?" Damian asked as Dick joined him perching on the roof ledge. The question almost sent Dick over the edge in surprise.
"I...haven't thought much about it," Dick lied.
"I would prefer you remain my legal guardian, since Father does not appreciate my talents." Dick had enough experience with decoding Damian's words to hear the worry he wasn't voicing—Damian didn't want to be left with a man he didn't know and who didn't seem to like him. Bruce had always had trouble expressing emotions and Damian had never seen the softer side before Bruce appeared to die.
Dick tried to assuage Damian's worries. "If he ever decides to come back to Gotham, we can talk about it then. But I won't leave you alone. You'll always be my Robin." Damian nodded seriously and immediately grappled away. Dick smiled and took off after him. Damian may not have spent much time with Bruce, but his emotion avoidance techniques were very similar.
Alfred was the next to speak up. He was the one who spoke with Bruce most often and updated Dick on his international activities. It was during one such update as Dick prepared to go on patrol that Alfred said, "Master Bruce will be returning to Gotham next week, hopefully permanently. Should I ask a lawyer to pull together divorce papers?"
The batarang Dick was about to put into his utility belt slipped out of his hand and clanged against the floor. "What?" he asked hoarsely. He cleared his throat and repeated in a normal tone, "Sorry, what?"
Alfred raised a curious eyebrow. "Divorce papers that Master Bruce could sign when he returns next week. If you recall, you legally married him in order to become Master Damian's guardian."
"Right, yes," Dick needed to sit down. He plopped down on a bench and dropped his head into his hands. "I should...figure out what to do about that. Divorce papers."
Alfred walked closer to stand next to Dick and place a hand on his shoulder. "I believe Master Bruce will understand the extenuating circumstances, if that is your worry."
"Sure." That wasn't exactly Dick's concern. Bruce would probably make a comment that there was an easier way to get legal guardianship over Damian, but wouldn't care specifically that Dick had falsified a marriage.
Dick's thoughts were wrapped around the fact that he very much wanted the marriage to be real. While Bruce had been dead, he could vaguely pretend Bruce returned Dick's feelings with no repercussions. But with his return, it was back to the reality that Bruce had no such interest and Dick had twisted the memory of their relationship. Bruce could never know Dick had sometimes pretended they did get married before Bruce died, imagining Bruce's subtle smile as they exchanged vows.
Divorce papers delivered to Bruce by Alfred while Dick fled to Bludhaven would be the easiest route, avoiding discussion altogether and letting any emotions fade before Dick next had to speak to Bruce. If it weren't for Damian, maybe Dick would do that. But Dick had promised a discussion.
"I don't think divorce papers are going to cut it, Alfred," Dick said. "Not unless you think you can sneak in a custody agreement. Damian's finally settled in and I worry how he will take Bruce coming back."
"You have a point. Master Damian's and Master Bruce's relationship was...contentious. It may be better to ease them back together."
"So, I'll talk to him when he gets back. Then once we've figured things out, we can get those divorce papers."
When Bruce returned and immediately opened the manor back up, Alfred went to join him at the house. Damian stayed with Dick in the penthouse and neither of them tried to contact Bruce, prolonging the inevitable.
Dick had fetched his Nightwing outfit before Bruce's official return and when they descended to the Batbunker to get ready for patrol, Dick pulled it out instead of a Batsuit.
"Can Robin even go out with someone else?" Damian asked, eyeing up Dick's outfit.
"Robin flying with Nightwing may not be as common as with Batman, but it is a tradition," Dick replied, settling a domino mask on his face for the first time in over a year.
They rode out into the city, Dick's shoulders relaxing and feeling lighter every moment without a cape. The first place he could, he dove off a building without bothering to shoot a grapple first, Damian shouting "Nightwing!" after him. Dick closed his eyes, for just a moment, and let himself fall—free of the Batsuit, free of the voice and the scowls and the attitude. Nightwing spread his arms and flew.
When he grappled back up, an irate Robin awaited him. "You're an imbecile," Damian spat.
The grin on Dick's face grew and he was about to respond when a voice came from the shadows instead. "Nightwing enjoys flying. You shouldn't learn from his example."
Dick's grin faltered momentarily, but he made sure to fix it back on before turning to face Batman. "Knew you'd be out here to catch me if something happened."
"And when you do it in Bludhaven?"
Well, Dick didn't have an answer for that and shrugged. He changed the topic. "Robin's with me tonight. I apparently need to get him used to how Nightwing operates."
Though Dick couldn't see it, he could feel Bruce's stare through the cowl. "I need to assess Robin, ensure he's ready to be out."
"Already done," Dick replied through gritted teeth. Though he was happy it was no longer his responsibility, he did not miss Batman and his need for control.
"I'm right here," Damian muttered, though he was watching the two of them very closely, furrowed brow betraying his confusion. He'd never really seen Batman and Nightwing, had never learned of their tendency to fall back to arguing.
Dick tapped Damian on the shoulder and started backing towards the roof edge. "Sorry, Batman, already claimed him! We can talk later about it!" He hoped Bruce would let him have the last word as he jumped towards the next building, Damian close behind.
Unfortunately, he didn't think that small conversation boded well for a future discussion on custody arrangements. After Nightwing and Robin retired, Dick sat in the Batbunker and stared at his phone, text history with Bruce opened up. The last messages were from a few weeks before Bruce's trip through time, before everything turned upside down. It was Bruce asking if Tim was with him—another Robin borrowed—and Dick's response with a picture of the two of them on his couch.
They didn't really talk before, they didn't talk when Bruce returned, and now they were only going to talk because Dick refused to let Damian go. (And maybe somewhere in his heart, he didn't want to let Bruce go. Maybe Bruce wouldn't want to sign the divorce papers. Maybe Bruce would—)
Dick sent a message.
Bruce responded surprisingly quickly, suggesting Dick come to the manor the next day. Dick could put off their discussion no longer.
The next day found Alfred welcoming Dick inside. "Master Damian did not come with?"
"He said he was going to do schoolwork." Alfred raised an incredulous eyebrow and Dick chuckled. "I know. But I didn't want to drag him over."
"He will have to return to the manor eventually," Alfred said.
Dick gave a weak smile. "That's why I'm here. I told Bruce we have to finally talk about this."
Alfred placed a comforting hand on Dick's shoulder. "Good luck. Master Bruce is downstairs."
Downstairs wasn't where Dick wanted to have this conversation. He wanted to keep it as far from Batman as possible. "Any chance you can convince him to come up?" Dick asked.
"I'll see what I can do."
Dick trailed Alfred most of the way to the clock, but turned off into the lounge next to Bruce's study. It looked like the furniture had been rearranged a little since the last time he'd been in here, playing hide and seek as a kid and trying to get the layout of the manor memorized. He settled in on an armchair, hoping Alfred wasn't too long in convincing Bruce to come up. The longer Dick had to wait to have this conversation, the more wound up he felt.
Dick was about to give up and go downstairs when Bruce appeared at the door, dark circles under his eyes and grease staining his fingers. Had he slept at all?
"Hi, Bruce."
"Dick." Bruce nodded in greeting and sat down in another chair, not seeming to care that Alfred was sure to scold him for spreading dirt on the upholstery. "What did you want to talk about?" As he always seemed to these days, Bruce had a stranglehold on any emotion and Dick couldn't read anything from him, whether he was annoyed to be having this discussion or glad to see Dick.
Dick dove right in. "It's about Damian. I want him to come with me when I move back to Bludhaven." Bruce made to open his mouth but Dick kept talking. "He's not a normal kid, but we have a good relationship and I think it would be best to encourage that. We can come visit and stay for the weekend or something, but I think jumping from living with me full time to you full time would be terrible and make him regress back to how he was when he first arrived."
Bruce watched Dick intently as he talked, but didn't try to interrupt again. When Dick finally closed his mouth, all Bruce said was "He's my son."
"Yes, well, if you weren't aware, he's my son now, too. Legally, I mean." There was no reaction from Bruce. "Did...Alfred told you about the marriage certificate, right?"
Bruce was silent for a moment. Then he answered, "He did."
"So, I was thinking that maybe as part of the divorce papers, this could be a custody arrangement. Since we're going to have to file that anyways. Just...formalize it." Bruce had always been hard to read, but since coming back it had been even more difficult for Dick. Dick couldn't pick up anything—no reaction to the falsified marriage, divorce, or Damian's situation.
"You will still bring him here? I should get to know him better."
A smile spread across Dick's face. "You should! Once you get past the bluster, he's surprisingly sweet. He just needed time to deprogram whatever Talia taught him and realize what I could—what we could offer him." Dick was expecting more of a fight, but maybe he'd be able to get out without even raising his voice.
Bruce nodded. "If you plan to bring him here, then I don't see why we can't leave the marriage in place." What? There was no way Dick heard that correctly. "It would be easier for Damian if we both have parental rights. Then you or I would be able to pick him up from school or meet with his teachers without having to wave my last name around."
"Ah, he's not going to school," Dick interrupted.
Bruce frowned a bit at that. "When he goes to school, it will be easier. Why is he not in school?"
"I mean, he's doing homeschool. But putting him in a fifth grade classroom didn't seem like a good idea for a kid who we only finally got to stop sleeping with a knife last week," Dick said, sidetracked by Bruce but quickly getting back on topic. "But, wait, what do you mean leave the marriage in place?"
A small furrow appeared above Bruce's eyes. "Exactly that. I had never planned to marry. This is not my preference, but I can't deny the benefits. It seems the public is unaware so there's no need to modify our behavior. I see no drawbacks to being married to you."
There was Dick's anger, bubbling up. "And what about me? What if I wanted to marry someone? Are you only going along with this because it's easy? I never took you as someone content to sit back and take no action."
Bruce waved a hand carelessly. "It's not about taking action. We can divorce at any point. The marriage is convenient for what we both want right now. And you were the one to put this marriage in place."
"Because I thought you were dead and your son was the only bit of you I had left!" Dick shouted. He suddenly found himself standing over Bruce. "Without a legal tie, Hush would have had control over him! He could have taken him away or done who knows what in his attempt to be you."
"And I appreciate you making sure Damian would be taken care of." Bruce paused and Dick could feel him trying to analyze his body language. "Why is this upsetting you? Did you want me to be unhappy that you falsified a marriage between us?"
Bruce didn't get it. Dick tried to get himself back under control, but instead what came out of his mouth was "I wanted you to feel anything at all: anger, disgust, joy—anything other than nothing." Bruce's eyebrows leapt up in surprise. Did Dick reveal something? He didn't think so, but he also didn't think he could stay in this room any longer. "Whatever. Let me know when Damian can visit," Dick said, turning to go.
"Wait." Bruce stood and moved towards Dick and when Dick turned around, it looked like Bruce had reached a hand out but decided not to make contact and dropped it. "Dick, I didn't mean to upset you. I'm...still getting adjusted to living here again." Bruce stepped a little bit closer. "When you said—you wanted me to react in some way. It seemed like you wished I had reacted positively?"
Dick's shoulders hunched. He had hoped he hadn't given anything away, but clearly Bruce had picked up something. "I hate when you do that. Stop trying to read me. We're fine. The marriage can stay and I'll bring Damian over some time. Okay?" Dick made for the door once more, but this time Bruce did grab his arm to stop him, grease transferring from Bruce's fingers to Dick's jacket he hadn't bothered removing when he arrived.
"Dick. I'm trying to understand. Do you...want to be married to me?"
"Why would I?" Dick desperately tried to think of something to say to make Bruce stop talking about this. "You came back to life, a miracle, then left with barely a word. You would be a terrible husband. I could do much better."
"You could," Bruce agreed. "But you want this marriage. Dick..."
"Bruce, please. Drop it. Let me go home." Dick desperately did not want to have this confrontation. Bad enough if Bruce knew, but if he said it out loud, there was no way Dick could come back.
Bruce let go of Dick's arm. "One last thing." Dick braced himself for Bruce's next words but instead found Bruce's hand landing on his cheek and Bruce's face moving very close to his. Wide-eyed, Dick's mind raced as he tried to figure out what was going through Bruce's head, staring into his blue eyes, though Dick's gaze couldn't help but fall to look at Bruce's lips. Dick's tongue darted out quickly to wet his lips. There had to be another reason Bruce moved so close, right?
"Tell me if you don't want this," Bruce said, eyes not leaving Dick's. Dick couldn't find any words, too overwhelmed with confusion and a growing glimmer of hope. He closed his eyes and tilted his head upwards, hoping they were finally on the same page.
Warm lips pressed lightly against Dick's. He stopped thinking altogether and threw his arms around Bruce's neck to pull him in. Dick tried to put everything into the kiss—communicate through action to Bruce. Bruce must have received the message because he pulled away for just a second to tilt his head to the side and kiss Dick even more deeply.
Dick wanted the kiss to last for hours, but he let Bruce pull away. "Dick, I..." Bruce had always been better at actions than words.
There was only one question Dick cared to ask right now. "You aren't just doing this because you think it's something only I want?"
Bruce shook his head. "I care for you." It was enough. Dick ducked his head to rest it underneath Bruce's chin. Bruce wrapped his arms around Dick and hugged him tight.
There would be more to say later, but for now Dick savored being in his husband's arms.