A Hundred Ways to Become a Wayne
batfamily + oc insert
tw: none
wanna read more? here’s the table of contents!
want to read the first fic in the hundred days series so you understand what’s going on here? here it is!
sorry this is so short, AGAIN, I’m STILL having trouble deciding where to cut these chapters off 😭 we’ll be out of the medbay in the next chapter i promise
part forty-five
❝ AWAKE AND ALIVE ❞
SUNDAY — SEPTEMBER 13 — 4:04PM
ASTEN DIDN'T WAKE UP UNTIL FOUR THE NEXT DAY.
Bentley had been drifting in and out of consciousness for hours. Every now and then Alfred would run a test, or give him some more pain medicine, and every single time, Bruce was there just like he said he’d be. A few times, Dick was there with him. Once, Jason was. It was a blur up until somebody started screaming, at which point Bentley was suddenly very much awake.
He was disoriented and didn’t even have time to realize who was screaming until the screaming stopped, and a few people were grouped around Asten’s bed.
Bentley blinked and took hold of his surroundings again. Jason and Alfred were near Asten’s bed. Dick and Damian were in the other room, along with Barbara. Tim, Duke, Steph, and Cass weren’t there.
Bruce was right next to Bentley, where he said he’d be. And… something warm was right next to Bentley.
He glanced down at himself and realized that he wasn’t the only one in the bed, but that, since they were both so small, Nico had curled up on the end of the mattress like some kind of cat and was sleeping there, completely unaware of the sound or movement around him.
Suddenly, Asten wasn’t screaming anymore, but crying. Crying so pitifully and terribly that it reminded Bentley of the night his parents died.
“It’s alright,” Bruce said, and instinctively, his hand came up to rest on the top of Bentley’s head, drawing his attention away from Asten.
He looked around again, his eyes landing on future Nico, who was standing strangely in a dim corner, watching Asten closely. With a glance around and a wink in Bentley’s direction, he zoomed across the room with a blip that made him disappear in a warp of light.
Bentley and Asten were both awake. Did that mean his job was done? That he was gone?
“How are you feeling?” Bruce questioned. Bentley took a second to focus on his body. His head was hurting pretty bad, and so was his whole abdomen where he’d been stabbed. His ankle was sort of throbbing as well. He was still kind of floaty and loopy, though, which meant some pain medicine was probably working.
He ended up shrugging. “Everything kinda hurts.”
Bruce’s hand began to move in his hair. “I’m sorry. You’re due for more pain meds in about an hour.”
Bentley said nothing, but glanced back over at Asten, who was being quietly consoled by Jason. He wasn’t just crying anymore — he was hyperventilating and shaking and looked a whole lot like Bentley thought he looked during an anxiety attack.
Bentley inhaled. “Will he be okay?”
Bruce’s hand continued to move through his hair and kind of really reminded him of Dick.
“Yes, bud. He’ll be okay,”
A few moments of silence passed where Bentley could only sort of make out what Jason was saying to Asten. He gave up halfway through listening because it was too quiet.
In the midst of the quiet, Dick came into the room with a bright (but at the same time dull?) look on his face and in his eyes. Bentley attempted to push himself so he was sitting up, and while it was still very painful, it was successful this time — Bruce situated the pillows behind him and whatever little pain meds were still working were doing a very good job for a kid who’d been impaled.
Dick walked over, and in one swift movement, hugged Bentley as gently as he could.
“I love you so much, kiddo,” It sounded like his eyes were misty — Bentley didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he relaxed into the familiar embrace, bringing his arms up and around Dick’s shoulders in return. This sure does beat dying alone in a pile of debris.
“I love you, too.”
When Dick moved (which took a long time, but no one had expected any less.) Damian was standing behind him, near Bentley’s bed.
Dick moved out of his way, and a moment of silence passed where no one did anything. Bentley was just happy to be there — happy everyone was there. Happy to be breathing.
Damian moved quickly toward Bentley, like he was ripping a bandaid off, making a decision before he could convince himself not to.
Damian hugged him.
Bentley was frozen and tense for a solid three seconds before he decided that might make Damian not want to do it again. Then he hugged him back. Had Damian ever actually… did Damian even hug people? Bentley wasn’t sure he’d ever even seen Damian hug someone.
“I am glad you are alright,” Damian said, stiffly removing himself from Bentley’s embrace. “I am in your debt.”
“No you’re not,” He replied, searching Damian’s face for any tinge of emotion. There might’ve been a layer of something clouding his eyes. Might’ve.
“You saved my life,” Damian replied simply, crossing his arms. “I can not take generosity like that for granted — I owe you.”
“I already have everything I need,” Bentley replied, and he saw Bruce smile in his peripheral.
Damian sighed. “One day, you will need me. Then we will be even.”
Bentley said nothing, but nodded in response.
Just then, the other someone curled up on the medbay bed began to shift.
Bentley glanced down at Nico, who was laying next to his legs, just in time to see his blue eyes flutter open and bounce around. They landed on Bruce, on Damian, on the bed, the walls, on Dick, who was off to the side.
When they finally landed on Bentley, you’d have thought he was a parent coming home from deployment. Nico nearly fell off the bed at the speed that he moved, whamming into Bentley in a way that definitely would’ve hurt worse if he wasn’t hyped up on so many drugs.
“Whoa, Nico, easy,” Bruce started.
“I was so scared. I woke up when you were having surgery,” The blonde muttered, hiding his face away — probably because he was nearly in tears. “I was afraid you wouldn’t wake up.”
Bentley, although stunned, hugged him back. “It’s okay, I’m fine.”
Nico made a funny sound. “You need to learn what those words mean.”
Bentley said nothing, and after a minute, snickered. “I guess so. Are you feeling better?”
“A lot,” Nico replied, finally letting go of him. “Y’know, less pukey and sick and stuff.”
“That’s good,”
A moment of silence passed. Nico glanced over at Asten, so Bentley did, too.
He was still crying, but not as badly as before, and Jason was standing next to the bed, facing away from Bentley, talking.
In a flash and a blip, Nico crashed into Asten, too.
Jason backed off, turning on his heel and letting his eyes rest on Bentley with a little fond look.
“Hey, kid. How are you feeling?” Jason questioned. He ruffled his hair for only a second, to which Bentley smiled.
“It still hurts,” He replied honestly. “But I’m okay.”
Jason smiled faintly. “I’m glad.”
Bentley smiled, and the room fell into quiet again.
He glanced over at Asten and Nico. Nico was still hugging the life out of him, and Asten was simply letting him. Bentley met his eyes over Nico’s shoulder. They shared a faint smile.
Everything would be okay.
—
dedicated to @sassenashsworld 💚
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