missing-spleen

[missing-spleen]

heeheehoohoo

[missing-spleen]

Another one inspired by this anon who asked abt fics where Dick turns out to be younger than everyone thinks and the recs that were given:

Can be pretty much any setting I suppose, sometime when Nightwing is supposed to be 21. His friends all threw a big party for him. Dick Grayson had a special gala hosted by Bruce Wayne and everything. He’s been drinking (well, he’d been drinking illegally for years now with his friends, but that’s beside the point). Fact of the matter is, Dick is supposed to be 21 and he’s done things that wouldn’t otherwise be legal for someone under 21. He had a whole phase where he needed a cigarette every time he had to deal with Batman (Camels, the best cigarettes, either Blue or Gold, because Dick has Good Taste). That phase may have started before he turned 21 because Roy gave him one after a particularly bad fight with Bruce and then couldn’t say no whenever Dick asked for another.

But really, he hadn’t actually been eight when Bruce took him in. His parents and the circus changed his age on paper all the time so he’d meet the minimum age requirement to perform with them. In Gotham, that minimum age was eight.

In reality, Dick was five. They said he was short because he was a gymnast. It wasn’t totally unbelievable.

But then he forgot to tell Bruce about it until it was several months after living with him and being Robin, and Dick was scared that if he told him the truth, that he’d lied about his age, that Bruce wouldn’t want him anymore.

So he never told anyone. And he was able to convince Bruce to let him be homeschooled the first year or two, and Alfred was a rigorous teacher. He was all caught up with his supposed age group by the time he started at Gotham Academy. Then, he overcompensated so much that by the time we was supposed to be 13, it was recommended he go into high school instead of 8th grade.

It was a lot. It was a stressful time. Dick was a ten year old freshman and also Robin on the side. Bruce really shouldn’t have given him such shit for not wanting to go to college, he was so burned out. But he couldn’t tell him why. It was exhausting. Besides, Dick gets plenty of college credits by doing the random online class here and there. Dick actually managed to get a degree, he just never told anyone. One day, he’s going to whip it out during an argument with Bruce just to prove a point and spite him. He has it all planned out.

But now, there’s some magic shenanigans going on, and everyone on the planet over the age of 20 is separated from those under 20.

And Nightwing is with everyone under 20.

No one says anything at first, Nightwing is the obvious leader of those on his side of things, and they coordinate with the JL on the other side via Captain Marvel going back and forth to relay messages.

But as soon as the threat is dealt with and everything is back to normal, Batman is standing with one of his hands gripping Nightwing’s arm so tight, there isn’t a doubt in Dick’s mind that it’s going to leave a bruise.

“Hey B,” Nightwing says, chuckling nervously. “Good to have you back.”

“Tell me why you were on the side with everyone under 20.”

“Well, you see, that’s a funny story-”

“I’m not laughing, Nightwing.”

Everyone else is very clearly eavesdropping, they’re all obviously just as curious. And Dick feels like he’s under a microscope. He can feel himself starting to hyperventilate, and he pushes all the panic down and sends his most charming smile to Bruce.

“Can we talk about this at home?” he asks, his voice strained. “Please?”

Batman squeezes his arm a little tighter, then loosens his grip. But he keeps hold of Nightwing’s arm, then drags him to the transport room to take him back to the Batcave without saying a word.

“Please don’t be mad,” Dick begs once they’re back at the Batcave. “It wasn’t - I didn’t do it in purpose! I just, it always changed, everything was happening so fast, and then you brought me home, and you were really nice to me and Alfie was really nice to me and I didn’t want to leave and I was scared you wouldn’t want me anymore and-”

“Dick, Dick you need to breathe,” Bruce tells him, pushing the cowl down and guiding Dick to sit near the Batcomputer. He peels Dick’s mask off slowly, gently, then cups Dick’s cheek in his hand. “Just tell me what’s going on. Please.”

“You have to promise you won’t hate me,” Dick begs, and he’s so mad that he can feel tears starting to form in his eyes, that his vision is starting to blur a little bit.

“I could never hate you.”

“Could’ve fooled me!”

Dick’s voice is strangled, scared. And it breaks Bruce’s heart. Sure, they’ve had their disagreements. And sure, Bruce may have told him to stay with his friends for a while so Bruce could cool down between arguments. But he loves Dick. He’s always loved Dick.

“Please just tell me what’s going on,” Bruce begs. “Because you have no idea how scared I was when I realized you weren’t with us. I thought I’d lost you, that the spell must have made some people disappear entirely. Please, Dickie, just tell me.”

Dick looks at him for a moment, both of them quiet. But then Dick is closing his eyes and tears are falling down his cheeks and he lets out a muffled sob as he holds a fist over his mouth.

“It’s not how I wanted you to find out,” he whines, not opening his eyes. “I didn’t know how to tell you, I didn’t know what to do!”

“You don’t have to know,” Bruce says gently. “Nothing in this family ever seems to go how we originally plan, does it?”

Bruce laughs a little, his smile feeling a little less forced when Dick lets out a wet huff of a laugh.

“They changed the documents all the time so I could perform,” Dick says quickly. “Different cities and countries have different rules, different age minimums. For insurance or something, I dunno. People changed their ages all the time in the circus, I thought it was normal.”

Bruce feels his stomach drop, but he moves to hold Dick’s hands and squeeze them tight.

“How old were you when you came to Gotham?”

“They told me I was eight in Gotham,” he says, but then he opens his eyes. “But they were good parents! It wasn’t anything bad, it was so we could perform together, so we could be a family!”

“I don’t think they were bad parents,” Bruce says quickly. “Not at all. But Dickie, I need to know how old you were, how old you are now. Please.”

“I forgot, at first,” Dick explains. “When you took me in. I just forgot, I swear, I didn’t keep it a secret on purpose. But then my birthday was coming up and you thought I was turning nine and I remembered I wasn’t and I got so scared and I didn’t want you to get rid of me.”

“I would never get rid of you,” Bruce assures him. “And I’m not going to be mad, I promise.”

Dick is quiet for a moment, and he doesn’t say anything until his breathing has evened out, until he’s calmed down and not panicking.

Then he admits in a quiet voice, “I was turning six.”

“So you were five?” Bruce gasps. He’d been kneeling in front of Dick’s seat, and he falls back to sit on his feet, feeling like he had the wind knocked out of him. “Oh God, you were five.”

Dick doesn’t say anything, but he nods his head. Bruce feels like he’s just had ice dumped over his head.

“You’re eighteen right now?” Bruce asks.

“Yeah.”

“Jason is older than you?”

“Barely!” Dick huffs. “Only a few months! You can’t tell him, don’t tell him!”

Bruce smiles then, because leave it to the sibling rivalry to be what gets Dick to snap out of his panic.

“We have to tell them, chum,” he says gently. “You can’t keep it a secret anymore.”

“Why not!”

“Dick,” Bruce sighs. “Do you really want to keep it a secret now? Now that you’ve told me?”

Dick is quiet for a while, but he doesn’t pull his hands away from Bruce.

“And you’re not drinking again until you’re actually 21.”

“That’s not fair!”

“I think it’s plenty fair.”

“You’re being totally lame!” Dick whines. But whatever. Dick will just drink behind his back with his friends like he did before he turned fake-21.

[missing-spleen]

“Dick Grayson is Bruce’s greatest accomplishment” “Nightwing is everything Batman can’t be” “Dick is the best of us”

And. AND. There’s so much of Bruce in Dick, so much of what he could have been without the trauma and self-imposed isolation, that when the JL talks about Nightwing being so good in contrast to Batman, they don’t always realize how much of that goodness is Bruce’s.

Dick stands on his own as a team leader and a kind man, but to say he built himself from the ground up would be a lie. Bruce filled in the cracks around an angry, traumatized child. He gave Dick what he didn’t have. His goodness lives on in Dick because it can’t always live on in him.

[missing-spleen]

But I think it would be so funny if, because Dick was so young when Bruce took him in, that so many people forget that Dick isn’t Bruce’s biological child. Like once Dick is older than say 16/17, most interviewers and reporters and journalists drop the “adopted” part of “adopted son,” and sometimes they might even comment on how much Dick looks like Bruce, how similar they both are.

And maybe sometimes Dick and Bruce even forget. Like Dick knows Bruce isn’t his biological dad, but maybe he thinks of his parents as like “mom and first dad” and Bruce is “second dad” and he sort of forgets that he’s not actually related to Bruce.

Bruce knows that most of kids are adopted. But the others were all older when Bruce first took them in (maybe they were all at least 13, so already in their teens) but Dick was an itty bitty little thing. He was only 8. And he didn’t go to school at first when Bruce took him in, because he had been home schooled and he’d been nervous about going to a normal school, so Bruce didn’t make him start going to Gotham Academy until the following Fall, and even then he was only in the third grade. Practically a baby.

Maybe when Dick is in his 20s, he and his siblings are being interviewed before a gala. And something comes up about being adopted, and the others all say their bits, but then when the interviewer turns to Dick, he’s just chilling with his arm around Damian, and he looks at the interviewer like he’s waiting for the next question. And maybe the interviewer is looking at his notes, looking for the next question, and Jason elbows Dick in the ribs and just says, “Dickface, don’t you have anything to add?”

And Dick hisses and swats Jason’s arm in retaliation, but he looks confused. And then he just, “Oh, I’m adopted too! I forgot lmao” and all of his siblings are so confused at how he can forget that, but Dick just smiles and chats with the interviewer (who’s looking very sheepish bc he also forgot). The only one who doesn’t look baffled is Damian, because Damian firmly believes that if any of his siblings turn out to secretly be his blood sibling, it will be Dick. He maybe sort of hopes it will happen sometimes.

Maybe when they’re around the Justice League as Batman and Nightwing, a newer member might ask how old Batman was when Nightwing was born. And they both sort of blue screen for a minute before Dick laughs and says, “oh, that’s right, I’m adopted! He’s only like 15 years older than me, give or take.”

“Don’t you dare age me,” Bruce hisses. “I’m only 14 years older than you.”

Dick just snorts at him. The other JL member looks so startled that Batman seems to actually have a sense of humor.

[missing-spleen]

Jason: ugh, I want ice cream so bad Steph: same. Do we have any? Jason: nah. We gotta get bruce to drive us to get some Steph: do you not have a motorcycle . . . ? Jason: she’s in the shop Tim: Dick, you’ve gotta be the one to ask Bruce Dick: uh, why do I have to? I didn’t even say anything Jason: youre the oldest. You never ask for anything to any time you DO ask for something Bruce says yes Dick: Dick: I feel like there’s something there I should be insulted about, but whatever. *walks into living room* hey, Dad? Can we go get ice cream? Bruce: ‘course, chum. Dick: Dick: *looks to Jason* you do I know I will be abusing this power, yes? Jason: I mean of course. It would be downright shameful if you didn’t.

[missing-spleen]

jjjj referente to this:

[missing-spleen]

Damian settling in to life at the manor but he keeps forgetting that Jason is supposed to be dead and after a slip up where he mentions an interaction he had with Jason recently in front of the bats he panics and just tells them he’s a medium and that he can see and talk to Jason’s ghost. unfortunately that just makes things worse because now the family all think Damian can speak to dead people and they keep asking him to get victim’s information on murder cases and Damian has to keep bullshitting answers and desperately hope that he’s somehow on the money so they don’t figure out he’s lying. eventually it gets to the point where Damian is doing double detective work; doing the case normally with the bats and then sneaking off alone to solve the case ahead of time so that when Bruce asks him to use his abilities to get information he already has it on hand and can pretend a ghost told him who the murderer is.

eventually, of course,

Bruce: we have reason to believe that Red Hood wasn’t wearing his helmet when he made this kill; however nobody alive saw his identity. Damian, do you think you could contact the victim and find out what Hood looks like? That way we could have a profile sketch to add to his case.

Damian:

Damian: *deep sigh*

-later, on the phone-

Jason: you never fail to entertain me, little buddy

Damian: may i remind you i’m doing this for your benefit. help me.

Jason: i mean i don’t know what the fuck i’m supposed to do about it, just lie about what i look like.

Jason: OH- tell him i look exactly like Scarface.

Damian:

Damian: you want me. to say you look exactly like a famous movie character. and you think that will go well, do you?

Jason: when i was a kid Bruce told me he’d never seen the movie before so i made him watch it with me, and i swear he fell asleep like three minutes in. he swore on his life he paid rapt attention but i don’t believe him. if he doesn’t clock that you’re lying, then i’ll finally have confirmation and justice will prevail.

Damian:

Damian: i don’t think you take this as seriously as i do

Jason: womp womp, just do it

Damian: how are you the older brother out of the two of us

-

Damian, handing over a perfect sketch of Scarface: this is what i got from following the victim’s descriptions.

Bruce:

Bruce:

Bruce: *pinning it to a case board* incredibly detailed, amazing job, son. now-

Dick, stepping forward: isn’t that-?

Tim, putting a hand on Dick’s elbow and whispering: hold on, hold on. clearly he’s lying, but Bruce is fucking dumb, and wouldn’t you rather watch for a bit and see how this plays out, before we go digging for the truth?

Dick:

Dick: a fair point- great sketch, Dames! we’ll have Hood in no time with facial recognition like this!

[missing-spleen]

did y’all know that in victorian times it was really common after somebody died, that their family members would clean up the corpse, prop them up, and take post mortem photos with them?

Jason kills the Joker and instead of being normal about it he decides to antagonise Bruce by taking professional photos with the guys corpse in different outfits and poses while in full Red Hood gear and leaving them in the batcave for Bruce to find. he thinks it’s hysterical. Bruce thinks it’s psychologically damaging and he has no fucking clue how to get Red Hood to leave him alone OR how he can even get into the fucking batcave. eventually Tim finds Jason without a mask leaving another photo and figures everything out.

Tim: so you’ve just been doing this for months? isn’t the corpse like… decayed?

Jason: no i took like a hundred in advance before i cremated the fucker. so i can do this for like another year.

Tim, remembering the shit he had to go through on his 16th birthday so really Bruce has what’s coming to him:

Tim: that’s actually kinda funny.

Jason, delighted: right?!? i still have the suit i was buried in, too, so i’m thinking of making myself look corpse-like for a couple selfies and taking it one step further.

Tim: ok well that’s diabolically cruel.

Tim:

Tim: you know i’m somewhat of a photographer myself…

Jason: this is the start of a beautiful secret friendship, Replacement.

[missing-spleen]

I want the entire Justice League to just be so fucking scared of Dick!Robin. He’s like 8-10 when they first meet him, but he’s somehow more horrifying than Batman. He’s teeny tiny and a cross between a fluttery little sprite and a shadowy demon. They’re still not sure if Batman is human or not, but they’re all convinced that Robin is some sort of entity. He’s a ghoul, a spirit, an eldritch horror that must haunt Gotham for some Godforsaken reason. And he either picked Batman to latch onto, or Batman saw him and plucked him up and thought he’d make a good companion.

One day, he gets so mad at Green Lantern for poking fun at Batman that he bites him so hard, Hal’s arm bleeds. Batman had grabbed him by his cape and dangled him in the air, telling him to apologize, but Robin just hung there with his arms crossed and a pout on his face. He did eventually say sorry. They all knew he didn’t mean it. He had blood drying on his lips. He didn’t wipe it away. It wasn’t until Batman put him down that the bat even noticed, then used his cape to clean him up.

The next time they saw him, he was giggling and asking Hal if yellow is his greatest weakness, and if his own yellow cape causes Hal pain. Then he leaned forward and whispered, “I hope it does” before giggling again and skipping away to ask Superman something.

Hal didn’t come to the Watchtower for two months after that.

Dick is enamored by Superman. He loves him. Follows after him all the time, is always asking Superman to take him flying. Clark takes him every so often, but cackling laugh Robin lets out while they’re in the air sends a chill down his spine.

Martian Manhunter admits that he once accidentally brushed against Robin’s mind, but all he picked up was distorted circus music.

That freaks everyone out, and now they hear it in their own heads whenever they catch a glimpse of Robin.

When he starts growing like a real boy? Horrible. Creepy. They don’t like it one bit. He’s acting too human, he’s making them think he’s real.

When he starts hanging out with their sidekicks? Nope. They all try to put a stop to it. The sidekicks all disobey them with a roll of their eyes. Then he becomes the leader of their little group, calling themselves the Titans? Oh God, he must be starting some sort of army.

Then a new Robin appears, and they all meet Nightwing, but they have no idea Nightwing used to be Robin. So when Nightwing becomes a member of the JL, they don’t think twice about him. They think Nightwing is a great guy. Very open. Very friendly. They all consider him a good friend.

Then it comes out after a few months that he used to be Robin, and all the original JL members practically squeak and distance themselves from him immediately. They’re terrified of him.

“You’re the little demon that bit me?” Hal shrieks.

Nightwing laughs, but he’s shrugging and looking so sheepish, so embarrassed.

“You were being mean to my dad!”

And the fact that Batman is Nightwing’s dad just makes them all freeze. Because they never actually considered that an option.

They’re still convinced he’s not entirely human, though. It would explain how he’s so flippy and bendy.

Dick has way too much fun when he realizes they actually think he’s not a human. He torments them just a little bit, in retaliation. Bruce watches from afar, both annoyed with his coworkers and amused by his son’s antics.

[missing-spleen]

De-aged Jason Todd and his morally-grey parental figures + Dick

[missing-spleen]

Batman: * enters the room with a bunch of children following behind *

JLA: ???

Green Lantern: Huh

Green Arrow: Batman, who the fuck are these kids?

Batman: Language

Batman: These are my children. Agent A is sick so I had to bring then in

Wonder Woman: I am not acquainted with the hero know as 'agent a'

Aquaman: As long as they don't cause trouble I don't see the issue

Flash: ???

Flash: You don't see the issue? Batman didn't have any kids until not that long ago where did they COME FROM???

Batman: ...

Batman: Oldest one i found in the circus

Batman: Second eldest was born from the shadows

Green Arrow: Wha-

Batman: Third one, i found in the trash

Batman: Fourth one followed me home after I forgot the door open

Batman: And my youngest my ex mailed to me

Aquaman: Mailed??

Batman: I tried to return him but the post office guy said neither Heaven nor Hell wanted him

Batman: Or anyone in Gotham, for that matter

JLA: ...

Flash: ...

Flash: ... sorry I asked

[missing-spleen]

I will never get over your bad dad Bruce Wayne posts, they’re so so good. I especially love the one where Dick flinches everytime Bruce raises his hand. If you could please bless us with some bad dad Bruce Wayne and protective batfam/titans/jl/Wilson’s/literally anyone else I’ll be forever in your favor.

it’s so fun to think about the Gotham villains or even Dick’s own villains find in out about the abuse and being pissed. Maybe they spy on him and find out about it. Slade Wilson standing in a room full of the worlds greatest villains: I have put cameras in the bat cave, let us see what secrets the great Batman is hiding!

The entire room watching as Bruce screams at Nightwing and ends up hitting him:

Everyone collectively: What the fuck

Honestly the idea of someone recording/spying on Bruce and Dick privately to mess with him but them being horrified at the results is so delicious. Also do you like any other fandoms or crossovers? (Sorry for the long ask, I just have so many thoughts about them)

Oh anon, you’ve awakened something in me. Because I LOVE the idea of people spying on the batfam for literally any reason, but it just always seems so implausible for the bats not to notice they’re being spied on or that someone’s messed with their security system or whatever? Anyway

Hmmm let me think let me think.

So like. Maybe Dick is like almost-13. He’s still Robin. 

And Deathstroke has decided he wants to get dirt on the bats, because Batman did something to piss him off. Or maybe because Robin refused to be his apprentice last time they crossed paths. Idk. Either way, he’s teamed up with some of the other villains because he figured he’d give them a preview and then they can all bid against each other and he’ll give the highest bidder the codes to hack to batcaves security. 

It’s Ra’s al Ghul, Black Mask, Two-Face, and Lady Shiva. All excellent choices, all people who don’t like the bats for one reason or another.

They think maybe they’ll get some intel on what the next case the bats work on will be, or what they’re currently working on, or even the kind of training they’re doing so they can better anticipate their moves in the field. Hell, maybe they’ll even take their masks off. Although, most people in the room know who Batman and Robin are behind the masks.

But what they see on the feed is worse than they could have ever imagined. Because it starts so normally, they see Batman training Robin on a set of mats, and every so often the Bat gets a hit in, but it looks normal. It looks like typical training.

Until the Bat hits with full force, and it sends Robin tumbling back. The kid catches himself, flipping back up on his feet, but he wobbles. He’s clearly getting tired, he’s sucking in deep breaths, and a bruise is peeking out from beneath the collar of the shirt he’s wearing, and his left knee buckles when he tries to brace himself for the next blow.

And Batman doesn’t hold back. He keeps hitting, and the words he spews are muffled, not totally caught by the surveillance system, but they can hear it well enough. He’s calling the kid a disappointment. Saying he’s weak, he’s useless, and the real kicker, saying that Robin is fighting like a child. Maybe because he is a child, is a thought that runs across all of their minds.

But then, once Robin is slumped on the floor, blood dripping from his split lip, is when Batman really shocks them. Because he says something so unbelievable, something that they never would have thought would come from Batman’s mouth.

He tells Robin, “You’re still far from your potential. And you know until you reach your full potential, you’ll stay a ward.”

Robin looks so upset, looks heartbroken.

“But - But you said you’d adopt me this time,” Robin stammers. “You said for my birthday-”

“That was when I thought you were taking your training more seriously,” Batman barks at him. “You disappointed me, Robin.”

“But - But it’s not about Robin!” the boy shouts, sounding desperate. “It’s - it’s about me!”

“And you’ve disappointed me,” Batman spits. “Again.”

Robin is hyperventilating, he looks so lost and so small and so upset. 

“And if that’s all you’re going to do, then you can get out. Now.”

“B?”

“I don’t want you here tonight. Get out of my sight.”

“Wait, B-”

“You can come back once you’ve decided to take your training more seriously.”

They all watch as Batman kicks Robin out. As he kicks out a boy who’s not even a teenager yet. They watch as the kid tries so hard not to cry, as he leaves the batcave while clearly favoring his right side, and they all look around at each other. Because they’ve all come to the same conclusion.

First, they’re going to make sure Robin isn’t bleeding out in an alley somewhere or something. Then, they’re going to go rock Batman’s shit.

Slade finds Robin huddled in an alley not far from Gotham Academy, cleaning blood from his face and holding a still-wrapped ice cream bar to his face. He bought it from a convenience store around the corner, and once Slade convinces him that he’s not going to hurt him, that he’s going to help, Dick admits in a tiny voice that he thought he could use the ice cream bar to ice his split lip, and then once it melted, he could eat it. 

It’s a terrible situation, but for some reason, it just totally charms Slade. And finally, after months of pestering Dick to become his apprentice, Dick actually goes with him. Because he’s so upset and he’s so hurt, and Slade is promising him a home and a family and to never ever hit him like how Bruce just did. And for some reason, Dick actually believes him.

Once Slade lets the others know that he has Robin somewhere safe, they lure Batman out into Gotham. And they all just gang up on him. He manages to get away eventually, but not before getting the absolute shit kicked out of him.

[missing-spleen]

Dick: Hey, Tim, your birthday is coming up, do you want anything?

Tim: Actually-

Jason, munching on a sandwich: Nah, that motherfucker was born by C-section. It's not his birthday, it's his release date.

Steph and Babs: *shoots water out their noses*

Bruce: JASON!

[missing-spleen]

Oh my god. So similar to my other post where all the Wayne kids find out that Dick was never actually adopted by Bruce.

So imagine they’re all back at the manor, they’re interrogating Bruce on why he never adopted Dick, and Bruce insists he can still adopt Dick now even though he’s an adult, but Dick is getting nervous the more insistent he gets.

And it turns out it’s because he was already adopted by someone else. But it’s another Justice League member.

“What?”

Bruce is speechless. He’s bamboozled. He’s livid.

“HAL, I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!” he shouts as he zetas into the watchtower.

“Hal! Abort, abort! Code: Daddy Warbucks!” Dick screeches as he runs in behind Bruce.

Hal is scrambling to leave before Batman can actually beat him to a pulp.

“Dammit, kid, you were supposed to give me way more notice than this!” Hal screeches right back, and he’s already being chased by Bruce. He isn’t even in his Batman get-up, he’s still in his clothes from dinner. He has slippers on.

“You adopted my kid?? When did you adopt my kid?” Bruce is shouting at him.

“You’re the one who kicked him out!” Hal shouts back. “He wasn’t even 16 yet! He needed someone to sign the release forms for the Olympics!”

“HE WAS IN THE OLYMPICS?”

“HAL! THAT WASA SECRET!”

“YOU BATS HAVE TOO MANY SECRETS!”

Idk I just want chaos with Bruce finding out another league member adopted Dick. Hal is an easy target.

[missing-spleen]

Okay but I love the thought of Dick being the only Wayne kid that was never actually adopted. He was only ever a ward. As soon as he turned 18, Bruce technically had no further responsibility for him.

And perhaps that has always sort of fucked with Dick’s head. He always feels lesser than compared to the rest of his siblings. Half the time, he questions if he can even actually call them his siblings.

He and Bruce fought so much when he was a teenager, and Bruce never formally adopted him, and Dick had been living exclusively at Titans Tower for over a year by the time his 18th birthday rolled around, and the rest of the Fab Five may have had to make sure at least one of them was with him at all times for a few days around his birthday because he was so upset, because he was officially no longer Bruce’s problem, because Bruce didn’t even text him a happy birthday message, because he was mourning the loss of a second family and he had no idea what to do.

He and Bruce have since made up, and they’re on much better terms now, but the fact of the matter is that Dick is still technically not a Wayne.

And maybe none of his siblings even know about it until it’s brought up during an interview. Dick gets nervous, but no one can tell other than his siblings. He looks cool as a cucumber to the interviewer and the audience, but his siblings can all tell he’s upset. The interview ends soon after.

And now they’re all in the dining room at the manor, questioning Bruce, questioning Dick, asking them what the hell the interviewer meant by Dick not being adopted. And Bruce has to nervously admit to all his pissed off children that he never adopted Dick. That he and Dick had been on the outs when he was a teenager, and he turned 18 while living away from the manor, and he’d just never adopted him. But that didn’t mean he didn’t love Dick, because he absolutely does, and still thinks of Dick as his son, still loves him.

But that’s not good enough for the others. They refuse to let another interviewer upset their oldest brother like that again. They insist that Bruce needs to adopt Dick now. Immediately.

And now it’s Dick’s turn to get awkward, to get nervous. Because he insists it’s not necessary. He knows Bruce loves him. He doesn’t need to be adopted, he swears.

Turns out, it’s because someone already beat Bruce to adopting him.

“Deathstroke adopted you?” Tim shrieks.

“To be fair, I didn’t realize it was real until a few years ago!”

“What do you mean you didn’t realize it was real?” Jason questions.

“I thought we were just posing as father and son, I thought it was fake documentation!”

“When the hell did this happen?”

“When I was sixteen.”

“Dick,” Bruce says slowly, and Dick sinks in his seat a bit as he turns back to Bruce. “Why would you have thought Slade Wilson had fake adoption documentation for you when you were sixteen?”

Dick laughs nervously, his fingers tugging at the ends of his jacket sleeves.

“Funny story,” he says, his voice getting higher. “So he sort of kidnapped me and blackmailed me to be his apprentice for a while? When I was with the Titans?”

Bruce blinks at him, and all of his siblings are staring at him with open mouths.

“How long were you his apprentice?”

“Oh, you know,” Dick tries to laugh, waving a hand in the air to try to look nonchalant, “eight months or so? It’s such a fuzzy time, who could know for sure!”

“Eight months?” Bruce repeats slowly. “You were held captive by him for eight months, and you never told me?”

“You just said it yourself, we were on the outs!” Dick says quickly. “I didn’t wanna bug you!”

“Bug me?” Bruce looks like he’s about to start panicking. “You thought telling me you’d been kidnapped and blackmailed for nearly a year would bug me?”

“Well, you’d just replaced me,” he ignores the way Jason lets out a strangled sounding noise, “and by the time I got back you seemed so happy with your new kid and everything and I just didn’t wanna get in the way? Or like, bum you out?”

Dick’s own breaths are starting to come in too quickly, and he’s damn near hyperventilating, and he standing from his chair and making his way towards the door as if no one will notice if he moves slowly enough.

“Anyway, I was in a pretty bad place once the Titans got me back, and I probably would’ve been no fun to be around anyway. It’s all fine though! Everything’s fine! And Slade’s not even a total asshole anymore, he even actually checks in every so often. He’s a decent dad, all things considered. Speaking of which, look at the time, I think he wanted to get dinner with me and Joey and Grant, I better get going! Kay great talk good seeing you catch ya later!”

He bolts out of there so fast, Wally would be so proud. He didn’t mean to mention the dinner with the Wilsons he was headed to, but he was nervous, dammit, it just slipped out.

He’s a total wreck by the time he gets to Slade’s, and they all notice. When Dick tells them what happened, they all laugh at him.

Dick has really not had a very good day. It’s been a very bad day, actually. And now he’s stuck ignoring a million texts and calls from Bruce and his siblings.

He asks Slade if he can hide at his place for a few days. Slade easily agrees.

[missing-spleen]

dont think i ever posted this. my first ever dick grayson

[missing-spleen]

Happy Father’s Day here’s a little thought for you guys

One year, the batkids all decided to band together and make a photo album of their baby photos.

Some are easy. Duke has the easiest access because most of his parent’s possessions are accounted for in Gotham. It’s pretty easy to make copies of the ones they choose. The Thomas’s had a lot of pictures too. They have the classic first birthday where Duke is covered head to toe in blue icing from his Cookie Monster cake. They also have Duke screaming in Mall Santa’s arms followed by a picture of him with red wet cheeks gnawing on a candy cane.

Same with Tim, tho there’s not a lot in comparison. Not that his parents were absent, just that there’s a lot less candid ones. Just birthdays and studio photos kinda deal. There’s an especially cute photo of him in a teeny tiny tux.

Talia has a whole binder full of Damian’s baby pics including some art works he did and his baby teeth. Those she’s not willing to part with tho. There’s a cute one where he’s doing a finger painting and Talia captioned it “Damian exploring Abstract Expressionism” and frames the outcome beside the picture.

Cassandra’s are a little harder to track down, but there are a few. They are mostly taken to track her progress, and it’s a bit depressing to see chubby baby Cass who just learned to walk already learning martial arts. But there’s a few where she’s doing puzzles and that’s pretty cute.

Dick had to go to Haly’s Circus to look. Luckily they keep a little memorial wall for the Graysons and there’s some with Dick in them. There’s one where his mother his holding him while he’s dangling from a trapeze bar with a big gummy smile.

Jason’s is the hardest to find. But he manages to track down a preschool photo. He’s smiling big and awkwardly with his hair slicked down and a tidy polo shirt.

When Bruce opens it, he immediately get tears in his eyes. And like, he doesn’t cry a lot, but seeing his babies as babies. It just hits him like monster truck and a few tears drop but he never sobs or anything. It’s probably the best Father’s Day gift Bruce has ever gotten and it’s really hard to beat the following years