Chapter Text
Before chapter 6 part 1
Dick held the fainting boy in his hands, not moving. It was not rare for people to mistake someone for a person dear to them. Especially kids, especially when they are half conscious.
But somehow Dick felt like the boy called out for him, not someone who the kid mistook him for, but him. Even though Nightwing knew the answer, he was still nervous. The reason might have been that it was the first time civilians mistook him for his dad.
Yes, that must be it, that must be why he was so nervous, right… right…?
The sound of his brothers arguing snapped Dick out of his thoughts.
"What do you think you are doing, kid?" Jason snapped at Damian, gripping Damian's hand tightly.
“Hands off my hood.”
“Don't you think you owe an explanation for why you attacked a boy without reason!!!”
“boy”, Damian said with a little smirk on his face.
“You don't even know what you're talking about. Don't you realize who this boy is?”
“There is nothing in him you could count as 'boy, '” Damian spat out like a snake holding venom too long.
It was a heated discussion. Jason needed an explanation, and Damian didn't give him any. Neither was backing down. It was tense. Dick didn't even know what was going on; he also needed an explanation, but not now… when civilians were around. It was not a very crowded place; in fact, there was no one except them. That gave Dick little relief.
The boy was in a deep sleep. Nightwing still didn't know what was going on, but first things first, he needed to take care of this child. Dick held the kid tightly against his chest and quickly stepped up. He moved toward his motorcycle.
Damian noticed that. he quickly slept away from Hood's thigh grab.
“Put. down. it, Nightwing,” he shouted, aiming the sword at the boy.
Dick couldn't understand what his little brother wanted, yes Damian was a little aggressive, but he never aimed a sword at a child... Even though Nightwing knew this boy could be a problem, he still didn't let go of him. In fact, he held him even more tightly now.
He glanced at his brothers, one aiming a sword at a child, and the second making things even worse. And only one question was coming to Nightwing's mind.
“WHAT THE F@#$ IS WRONG with these TWO?!!!!”
Unconsciously, he looked at Damian.
His brother's glare was actually enough for Robin to let his sword down, like he just realized what he was doing. Jason comes close, looking at the boy in his brother's arms. Silence settled, nobody was saying anything, nobody was trying to speak up or explain anything, because they all knew some of them had just realized it was not a place to talk.
+++
The ride to the batcave was silent without the usual chatter; there was no laughing, no teasing, no talking about case or life stuff. Damian was sitting behind Jason. Behind them, Dick was driving Peter in some kind of baby backpack. And finally, after what felt like hours, they were at their destination.
Jason and Alfred took Peter to the med bay for meta-humans. Damian was left to Bruce and dick now waiting for Damian's explanation, which never came.
“Damian”
Dick said. His voice showed that he was not angry anymore and was asking Damian to talk.
“Aren't you going to ex-”
“There was nothing to explain! You are making a big mistake!"
Damian cut his brother's speech. More angry than when he was aiming a sword at a boy.
“If you don't tell me, how can I know what you think yelling changes anything?”
Dick does not want to yell, especially with his siblings, especially with Damian, because he knows how hard it was for his youngest brother to open up in the first place and how much progress they went through to gain his trust. One wrong move and it can be over.
Damian tried to leave, but dick held his hand firmly. Robin stopped
“Damian”
Dick tried again with more pleading in his voice. Not letting go of his hand.
Damian looked back not to Dick, but to his father, who did not say anything yet. Bruce's mask was off, and yet his face said nothing. But his eyes were a different tale. People who knew him definitely could tell that he was actually worried, even though it did not show.
After a stretched silence, Damian sighed, and dick let go of his brother's arm. Robin still took one step back, creating some distance between him and dick.
“He is not what you think he is; that creature is dangerous."
Dick was a little surprised by his brother's choice of words.
“Why do you call him a creature?”
Bruse said his tone was more demanding, but not rough.
“ Because he is one.”
“That doesn't answer a question,” dick said firmly.
“Can't you see it?” Damian was shouting now, but felt like he was questioning the intelligence of the people beside him.
“See what, Damian?” Batman said, now kneeling to Damian's size.
Damian cannot make eye contact. He didn't know it was because of yelling just now or how worried his father's eyes seemed when looking at him.
“Wh…who does he look like?” After some moments, he finally said it
All of them knew that the answer was easy to handle, but it did not change a thing. The room became more tense, as if the temperature had suddenly dropped. None of them moved, even the time seemed to freeze to torture them.
“Richard, he looks like Richard.” Damian's voice was calm, but it could not be any louder to Dick.
“What?...what are you saying?"
Dick asked, but it was more of a whisper than a question.
Damian's mouth opened again, but the Dick could not hear any word coming from his brother's mouth. His ears were beeping and blocked. Was he on a plane?
He had a SON? How long? How old was he when… boy cannot be older than 8! Impossible. He was not in a relationship. IT CANNOT BE at that time, maybe as a civilian… NO NO they would tell them…right RIGHT? So I missed 8 years. IT CANNOT BE the boy– That meant… NO! NO!NO!
Dick! Dick! Suddenly, he was back to reality, his dad was calling him, Bruce's arms were holding Dick, and roughly shaking him. Dick didn't even realize where he was for a little while, then he slowly remembered, he was with Bruce and Damian talking about a boy th… a Boy, which was his SON.
Dick took a deep breath, which he actually didn't know he needed. His heart was beating so fast that Superman would get a headache. He looked at Bruce and Damian, both of whom looked concerned about his mental state.
“I'm fine.”
Dick said, now with a smile on his face, he gently brushed Batman's hand away from his shoulder. Dick tried as much as he could not to seem panicked, but deep down, he had a tornado going on.