Chapter Text
Bruce wasn’t sure what got into him.
When Dick had arrived at the manor that morning, Bruce had gestured him to come in through the garage but the officer barely had time to get out of his car before Bruce was pinning him against it and kissing him senseless.
“Missed me?” Dick chuckled between kisses, his hands fisted in the older man’s shirt as he practically sucked on Bruce’s tongue just to be cheeky.
Bruce made a grumbled neutral sound but just kissed the man harder, pressing him into the banged up rusty car. He honestly didn’t know why he was getting so clingy but he hadn’t seen Dick in a couple of nerve-wracking days, he figured he deserved some slack.
“Bruce…” Dick broke the kiss with a smile and tried to push him away ever so slightly but that just gave Bruce an opening to start kissing along his neck. “Come on, B, we have things to do!”
Despite his protests, Dick was practically giggling and making breathless little sounds that just egged Bruce on further and led him to sucking a dark little hickey on the officer’s throat. He’d much rather kill some time playing his boyfriend (and damn, it was weird to call him that after so long keeping their relationship secret) than do what they had planned for the day.
There was a sound of someone clearing their throat by the door to the house proper, Bruce didn’t let go but turned his head just in time to watch Dick blush at the new arrival.
“Oh… Hm… Hey, Al!” The officer greeted awkwardly and a little shy.
“Good afternoon, Richard.” Alfred greeted, his expression politely blank.
Bruce sighed, a little sulky, but finally straightened up and let go of Dick to look at Alfred.
“I do believe you’d be more comfortable having your conversation inside.” Alfred suggested.
Bruce gave a little grunt of agreement and Dick winced a little from embarrassment.
“I guess there’s no point hiding it anymore, is there?” The officed rubbed nervously at the hickey blooming on the curve of his neck.
“You were hiding it?” Alfred cocked an amused brow before he turned to head inside. “I’ll get some tea.”
Dick blushed a little harder and took Bruce’s hand, intent on following but Bruce pulled him back at the last second for a last little kiss.
“B…” Dick admonished softly but returned the kiss nonetheless. “We can’t avoid it forever.”
“I know, I know.” He grumbled but stalled further by staring at Dick’s car. “I should get you a new car.”
The vehicle was twice as old as Dick, it was rusty and banged up, the seats were discolored and one of the side windows was even cracked. Bruce knew Dick had bought it cheap when he dropped out of college and was still penniless and unemployed but it just didn’t look safe, especially when Bruce had several better cars in his garage that barely ever got touched.
“Don’t you dare.” Dick scolded. “We have more important things to worry about than you buying me stuff I don’t need.”
“But it looks…”
“I know what it looks like, but it gets from A to B and for now that’s all I need. I’m not trashing a car that still works, that’s so wasteful.” Dick argued but he smiled knowingly.
“Well, you’re not driving our child around in that thing.” Bruce muttered grumpily.
“Deal.” Dick laughed. “Now stop stalling and let’s go get this over with.”
Bruce resisted the urge to roll his eyes and let Dick pull him into the house and towards the kitchen where Alfred was busy steeping tea.
“That smells nice.” Dick’s smile was still firmly in place as he and Bruce took a seat at the kitchen table.
“Earl grey, master Bruce’s favorite.” Alfred explained pleasantly, setting some lemon cookies on the table in front of them.
Dick looked at Bruce for confirmation and then back at Alfred with the tiniest scrunch of his brows.
“I’ve been meaning to ask…” The officer watched Alfred take a seat in front of them. “What’s with the titles? I thought you adopted Bruce when he was a child, why the whole ‘master’ thing?”
“Habit. My relationship with the Waynes was always something outsiders would disapprove of so to this day I simply remain the butler for all the world knows.” Alfred smiled with the smallest of chuckles and began to serve the tea. “And if you must know, ‘master’ is more of an endearment, it’s a formal title used mostly for children.”
“It is?”
“Quite.” Alfred gave a little nod and stirred some honey into his on tea. “Now, why did you request to speak to me specifically while the children are in school?”
“Well, we’re dating.” Dick said, slipping his hand into Bruce’s.
“I am aware.” Alfred sipped on his tea, still infuriatingly hard to read.
Of course Alfred knew, he had been the first person Bruce told when he decided to announce it to the family, hell, he’d been the one to cook dinner for the couple of dates they had in the manor so far. But, as Dick had put it, it was one think for Alfred to know Dick as his friends’ kid, it was another to accept him as his son’s partner.
“Yeah, of course you are.” Dick was flustered, his usual unshakable confidence seemed to be failing. “That’s not really what this is about… I mean, it is, but it’s more than that.”
Bruce knew just how desperate Dick was for Alfred to accept their relationship, it was the same feeling Bruce had got when he met with the Graysons a few days before and it was nerve-wrecking.
Alfred didn’t say anything, he just waited quietly for Dick to get to the point. For his part, Dick looked at Bruce pleadingly, silently begging for help.
“Dick will be replacing me as Batman for a while.” Bruce went straight to the point, squeezing Dick’s hand in what he hoped was a reassuring way.
Alfred seemed a little taken aback by that, eyebrows raising as he leaned back and crossed his arms casually. “So he knows about your double life?”
“That’s actually how all this started…” Dick admitted with a sheepish grin and waved between the two of them. “Batman and officer Grayson were a thing for quite a while before he… Before we decided to stop with the secrecy.”
“I see.” Alfred took another sip of his tea and looked and Bruce. “And why is it that he needs to replace you? Going somewhere, master Bruce?”
“Not in the foreseeable future, no.” Bruce played with his own teacup, twirling it in one hand while the other still gripped Dick’s a little too tight.
“Then why?” Alfred insisted, he knew how important Batman was to Bruce, knew that his mission was practically his whole life, and therefore he knew Bruce would never step down if he had a choice.
The problem was that Bruce didn’t know exactly how to talk about the baby yet, he was cautiously happy about it, he really was, but it was difficult to talk about it with others, it made him feel uncomfortable in his own skin and that was a feeling he hadn’t had to deal with in many years and was hard to explain to people who had no reason to understand it.
It was the reason he’d been dreading having to tell his family about it.
Dick, the saint, squeezed Bruce’s hand again to get his attention and volunteered to be the one to break the news. “Do you want me to be the one to tell him?”
“I am starting to worry.” Alfred admitted.
“You don’t have to be, it’s a good thing.” Dick smiled and when Bruce didn’t reply he decided to continue. “We’re having a baby.”
Alfred gave a very fake and deeply fond sigh. “Again, Bruce? Should I just put the adoption agency on retainer?”
Bruce scowled and shifted uncomfortably, Alfred was misunderstanding and Bruce was getting restless and anxious.
“It’s not like that.” Dick laughed softly, as if the whole situation wasn’t life changing and insane. “Bruce is pregnant.”
At long last, Alfred seemed stunned silent for a moment before he looked at Bruce with piercing blue eyes.
“Is this true, master Bruce?”
Bruce chose to just nod, still nervously playing with his teacup but otherwise appearing perfectly composed (or least, he hoped so), while Dick smiled at him affectionately.
“And you… Are going through with this?” Alfred looked cautiously between the two of them before focusing on Bruce again. It was hard to tell what he was thinking but he was likely worried for Bruce.
“Yes.” Bruce and Dick replied in unison, which just made Dick grin even more.
“Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy for you.” Despite his words Alfred still looked concerned and was holding his teacup much too tightly. “Are you sure you can handle this, son?”
“I know it won’t be easy, I am ready for the repercussions.” At least he hoped he was, he was convinced he was strong enough to endure the next few months and if he happened to be worried… Well, nobody needed to know.
He was prepared though, he had been reading all material the doctor had given him and was following all the rules and taking all the vitamins, he also had plans in motion for any contingency that may arise.
“And I’ll be there to support him.” Dick promised, letting go of Bruce’s hand only to wrap his arm around his waist.
Alfred nodded, still aloof and hard to read. “I take it we plan to keep this from the media?”
“Yes, Lucius will take over while I work remotely and we will be avoiding the public eye for a while.” This was more comfortable, Bruce much preferred answering questions and outlining plans than having to explain the original issue.
“And I already put in the request at the precinct to be moved to the day shift so I can take over the cowl.” Dick added for his part.
Alfred seemed to consider all this for a moment and then he stood up, walked around the table and pulled Bruce up into a tight hug, patting his back soothingly like he used to do when Bruce was just a little kid.
“You have my full support, as always.” Alfred assured with a dignified smile and watery eyes, he then extended his hand to pat Dick’s shoulder too. “You both do.”
“Thank you.” Bruce deflated, he returned the embrace and sighed with a little relief.
“Yes, thank you, Al.” Dick looked relieved too and wrapped them both in a too tight embrace of his own.
When Alfred finally disentangled from them, he was back to his unflappable self and decided to pour everyone more tea and bring up the thing Bruce was dreading the most.
“When do you plan to tell the children?”
“Hm…” Bruce grumbled a noncommitting noise.
Alfred had just been the first hurdle after all, he wasn’t looking forward to having to repeat the conversation with his children, not when it meant it could extend to a birds and bees talk and cause more negative feelings regarding Dick’s rapidly growing place in the family.
“We were hoping to do it today…” Dick shot Bruce a look for confirmation and put on his most humble smile. “Can you help us?”
“This is a lot of change for them very suddenly, they might not react the way you expect.” Alfred warned with a sympathetic wince.
“We have to tell them sooner or later.” Bruce would much rather avoid the conversation until the baby actually arrived but he knew it wasn’t feasible.
“Alright. I’ll do what I can.” Alfred agreed with a sharp nod.
*
“B, this is too big.” Dick huffed, looking at himself in the locker room mirror.
The officer had shed his blues and was trying on one of the batsuits- the original one, simpler and with no heavy armor bits, just Batman’s special brand of stretchy everything-proof fabric with his armored bat insignia under the cape.
Dick was right though, it didn’t quite fit.
Bruce was a tank of a man, Dick was more feline, leaning towards skill instead of raw power. He was slightly shorter than Bruce, very muscular but also slenderer than Batman, built for acrobatics instead of brute force, not to mention his hips were just a tad slimmer, his chest a little more compact and his shoulders just the slightest bit wider, it caused the suit to stretch and sag in all the wrong places.
“I’d say Batman has some big shoes to fill but, hey, apparently the boots are the only part that fits!” Dick bounced on his soles for emphasis with a tiny chuckle.
Bruce didn’t answer, he was too busy making mental notes to add to a new suit design he’d send to Lucius later that evening.
“And why is the cape so god damn heavy?” Dick’s bouncing nearly had him tipping backwards when the weight on his shoulders messed with his balance.
“It’s not that heavy.” Bruce frowned, he always liked the weight of the cape, it was comforting and just right to ground him, the texture was just right too.
“It weighs more than your expectations.” Dick joked, fighting to get the cape off.
“It’s necessary.” He countered grumpily.
“I’d fight better without it.” With the cape finally off, Dick did a slow spin in front of the mirror and Bruce couldn’t help but notice that at least his backside looked quite spectacular in the suit.
“It’s bulletproof, fire retardant, insulated, aerodynamic, and it’s good camouflage at night. It also hides your figure to make it harder for opponents to hit you.”
“And the fact that it makes you look huge and scary and inhuman has nothing to do with it?” Dick challenged with a smirk and raised a hand before Bruce could answer. “Don’t even try to deny it.”
“Wasn’t going to.” He grumbled.
It was true, the fear and intimidation factors were a huge part of the Batman persona, he’d explained that to Dick in the past. Nonetheless, he conceded that the suit was slightly ill-fitting on Dick and that could be dangerous on the field.
“I can talk to Lucius, I’m sure he has a prototype for a lighter cape.” Bruce conceded.
“Great but what about the actual suit?” Dick waved at himself.
“We can tailor a new version to your size.” Bruce finally picked a tablet to jot down all his notes.
“I believe that is where I come in.” Alfred, who had been lingering in doorway for a full minute, finally stepped in with a measuring tape in hand.
Dick thanked him and, no matter how difficult it was for someone so hyperactive, he stood perfectly still while Alfred took all his measurements and dictated them for Bruce to write down.
An hour later, Dick was back in his civvies and Bruce was giving him a tour of the whole cave and all its functions. They had already been to the medbay, the lab, the armory and the training rooms but it was the main cavern that seemed to really get Dick’s attention.
“I’m still amazed that you have a literal bat cave.” Dick was in awe of his surroundings, staring as some bats squeaked and flew by them. “What’s with the giant penny though?”
“Souvenir from a case.” Bruce could tell him the story some other time.
“And the dinosaur?” Dick ran his fingers along a leg of the giant figure.
“I like dinosaurs.” Bruce shrugged, it was another long story for a different time.
“That’s cute.” Dick grinned as they finally came to a stop in front of the main computer.
Bruce took his time teaching Dick how the batcomputer was organized and how to work it, he coded in Dick’s prints and password to access it and was halfway through his lesson when there was a flashing little notification on the corner of the screen announcing an incoming call, Bruce chose to answer it and a bespectacled redhead popped up on the screen.
“Hey, Bruce, I saw you logged into the system. I have that security footage you wanted…” Barbara trailed off when she finally focused on her screen. “Er… Is that Dick Grayson?”
“Hello, Miss Gordon.” Dick gave a little wave to the miniscule camera.
“Hi…” She frowned. “Am I interrupting something? Why is he in the cave?”
“And how do you know about the cave?” Dick retorted with an amused smirk.
“Barbara is an associate of mine.” Bruce explained as vaguely as he could, he didn’t know if Barbara was willing to reveal her identity as Batgirl and he chose to respect her privacy on the matter.
“Am I missing something?” The redhead was still staring at them in confusion.
“Dick will be stepping in as Batman for a few months.” Bruce explained, also hoping to avoid yet another talk about why he needed to step down.
“Why?” And as expected there was the topic again.
“It doesn’t matter, I’ll still be working behind the scenes.” Bruce dodged the question entirely, he was sure Barbara would figure it out eventually.
“Alright… But why him?” She seemed almost suspicious. “I knew you two were sleeping together but can you really…”
“Wait, wait, wait! You knew?” Dick gasped, leaning closer to the screen.
“I have eyes everywhere and I’m the one that scrubs any possible bit of data that can link back to Batman. Of course, I knew.” Barbara rolled her eyes.
“Oh…” Dick blushed a little awkwardly. “Bat’s out of the bag then, I guess.”
“The point is, I trust Dick.” Bruce announced, putting an end to the subject.
“Ok, ok.” Barbara surrendered. “Welcome to the team, Dick.”
“Thanks, Barbara.” He grinned, still pink in the cheeks.
“Does Batwoman know about this yet?” She asked with quirk of her brow.
“I thought you were Batwoman.” Dick tilted his head, still smiling, it was hard to tell if he was joking or not. “You know, with the lovely red hair and all.”
“Close but no cigar, officer.” Barbara teased, tapping her nose.
“No, Batwoman does not know yet.” Bruce finally answered, he wasn’t sure why but the innocent little bit of flirting was annoying him.
“Well, you better tell her before you put pretty boy here in the suit. Who knows what she’d do to him.” Barbara was absolutely right.
“I have it under control.” Bruce muttered as he skimmed through the data Barbara was sending him.
“Hey, does this mean the Commissioner is involved in… all this?” Dick waved around at the cave in general. “I always wondered, what with the signal and all.”
“No, he’s not. And if he finds out about me, I will personally make a mousepad out of your pretty skin.” Barbara pointed threateningly at the camera.
“Understood.” Dick raised both hands in surrender. “Your secrets are my secrets.”
“Ok, good.” Barbara nodded sternly. “Anyway, Bruce, I’m sending you the rest of the footage you wanted. Will you be patrolling tonight?”
“I…” Bruce hesitated and glanced at Dick’s expectant face before sighing in defeat. “No, but I will be here.”
“Ok. See you soon.” Barbara waved and the call disconnected a second later.
“You do know there’s a rumor on the streets that Batwoman and Batman are a couple, right?” Dick commented casually, almost distracted.
“Oh god, no!” Bruce made a disgusted face. In hindsight he should have guessed as much but just the idea of himself with cousin Kate was enough to make his skin crawl.
Dick laughed softly at his reaction. “I figured as much. Will I ever get to meet her?”
“Most likely.”
“Cool. Can I see the car now?” Dick practically bounced like an excited child.
“You’ve been in the batmobile before.” Bruce frowned.
“Not in the driver’s seat.” The officer grinned mischievously.
Bruce rolled his eyes but smirked and abandoned the computer to drag Dick off to the vehicle hangar.