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Ring!Ring! ...... Ring!Ring! ..... Ring! Ring!
Tim groggily lifted his head from his pillow before letting it flop back down. He folded the pillow over his ears until his phone stopped ringing.
Ring!Ring! ......
Tim nearly yelled in frustration as his phone went off again. The sound of his shrill ringtone piercing through his makeshift pillow barrier.
Tim had finally managed to fall asleep after patrol and had only been asleep for a few hours he figured. The teen had been burning through case files, in addition to his schoolwork, diligently over the past week and he had been looking forward to catching up on some long awaited sleep.
Realizing the caller was going to keep pestering him until he answered, he snatched up his phone from the nightstand beside his bed and mumbled into it,
“Mmmph?”
”Wakey, wakey, Replacement. We need to initiate ‘Operation Big D’.”
Tim shot up in bed at Jason’s words on the other end of the phone,
“Huh? Right now? Are you sure? Everything seemed alright tonight. I didn’t hear anything otherwise.”
“Yup, I’m positive. Just checked in and yeah we gotta get over there,”
“Mhm. Yeah. Need me to bring anything?” Tim asked,
“Glad you asked. All I need you to do is to wake the demon and get both yer asses over there ASAP”, Jason hung up his end of the call as Tim rolled his eyes.
“Sure, Zombie. Leave me to handle the Demon spawn,” Tim grumbled as he put on a clean pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt.
Tim brushed his teeth and then padded over to Damian’s room and hoped to high heaven that he wouldn’t get a dagger through the hand for waking the young hellion.
He slowly approached the bed where he could make out the small sleeping form under the covers. Tim considered how to best reach out and rouse the boy from his slumber,
“What do you want, Drake?”
“ACK!!” Tim jumped in surprise and stumbled backwards caught completely off guard by the unimpressed voice.
“You need to work on your stealth skills, Drake. I heard you lumbering like a big oaf through the hall and into my room,” Damian stated matter of factly still laying as though he was asleep.
Tim scoffed and retorted,
“Unlike you, I wasn’t trying to be a sneaky creep. I just got off the phone with Jason. He said we need to engage, ‘Operation Big D’.”
Damian sprung up and out of his bed. Concern was immediately evident across his young face,
“I shall get dressed and meet you downstairs. I will drive,” Damian insisted urgently,
“You’re 10. I’m driving since I actually have a license,”
“Tt...” Damian tutted as he walked into his closet in order to find some clothes.
Tim turned and left the room. He headed downstairs in order to wait for Damian.
The intoxicating aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted into Tim’s nasal passages before he entered the kitchen. Tim spotted Alfred who was gathering some ingredients for breakfast,
“Good Morning, Alfred,”
“Master Tim! I was not expecting you to be awake so early. I was beginning to prepare breakfast,”
“Uh, you might want to hold off on that. It’s time for, ‘Operation Big D’. Damian and I are headed over and we’re going to meet Jason there. We might not be back tonight depending on how things go,”
Tim fished out a travel coffee mug from a cupboard in order to make sure he would be able to stay awake during the drive out of Gotham.
Alfred frowned. His mouth formed a tight line of worry,
“Very well. I shall notify Master Bruce when he awakens,”
Alfred walked briskly across the kitchen and pulled a baking sheet full of his legendary cookies out from the oven.
The butler hurriedly popped the cookies, which were still piping hot into a cookie tin.
He placed the tin beside Tim, as Tim finished tightening the lid on his now full travel mug.
“Thanks, Alfred. Your cookies make everything better,”
“I wish that was true, Master Tim. Thank goodness for you and your brothers. If possible, all of you return to the manor tonight. I will cook supper,”
“Hopefully we’ll be able to do that. I’ll let you know either way,” Tim informed.
The lanky teen gathered up his coffee and the cookie tin as he heard the rush of footsteps down the staircase,
“Gotta be off now, Alfred. Thanks for the cookies,”
“Godspeed, Master Tim. Call the manor if anything urgent is needed.”
Tim and Damian set out on the road in a hurry to reach their destination which was about a 30 minute drive away.
Tim called Jason from his car,
“Replacement,”
“Jason, we’re en route. What’s your ETA?”
“I’m 10 minutes away. Had to tie up a loose end real quick before heading over. I picked up some groceries too since I’m assuming there won’t be any over there,”
“Tt, Todd! Get over there without further delay!”
“Hmmph, why hello to you too Tater Tot,”
Tim interjected before Damian could spit out whatever death threat was on the tip of the kid’s tongue,
“See you in a few minutes, Jason”,
With that, Tim ended the call.
~
Jason pulled up to the shabby building on his bike and grabbed the multiple bags of groceries from the back compartment on his motorcycle.
He considered using the fire escape to enter the residence, but given that the sun was starting to rise, he settled on walking through the front door like a normal person instead.
Luckily he didn’t need to buzz up to the correct unit since a woman was leaving the building at the same time that he approached the doors. Jason attempted to put on the least menacing smile he could manage so the woman wouldn’t bother to question if he actually lived there.
Fortunately, she must have had some sympathy towards the large man with no free hands to open the door himself, and so she held the door open for him so that he could enter.
Jason grumbled at all of the stairs he had to climb since the building had no elevator. Once he reached the correct door he knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again a little louder this time.
No answer.
Jason set the grocery bags down in front of the door and proceeded to pick the lock. He figured this would be less conspicuous and ultimately less satisfying than just kicking the door in.
He pushed the door open after a quick few seconds of picking the lock.
He gathered up the bags once again and used his foot to close the door behind him.
Once in the dark and chilly apartment, Jason dumped the bags and his bike keys onto the kitchen table and flipped up the light switch. He did a quick visual scan of the unkempt living space.
‘Bingo! There he is,’
Jason made out the lone figure sitting on the couch. The unmoving figure was nestled into the corner of the furniture near the armrest. Knees drawn up to his chest, head buried in his knees and hands gripped in his thick black hair.
Jason rushed over and plopped down next to the figure who had either not noticed, or just didn’t have the will to acknowledge Jason’s entry into the apartment.
Jason reached his hand out and placed it lightly on his brother’s shoulder,
“Dickie? Hey... it’s me.”
Dick didn’t look up, but trembled slightly. Jason grabbed a nearby throw blanket and wrapped it around his older brother.
“Dickiebird, it’s going to be alright. Whatever it is... you’re not alone anymore, ok?”
Jason flung his arm around his brother and pulled him in to a smotheringly tight hug.
That touch did the trick as Dick dropped his hands out of his hair and slumped over to bury his face in Jason’s large chest.
Jason continued to hold on as violent sobs racked Dick’s body. Jason ignored the wet sensation growing on the front of his shirt.
Dick’s sobs quieted to a more ragged, hitched breathing a couple of minutes later.
Jason recognized that they must have been in that position for a little while when he heard a rustling to his side. He peered over the back of the couch and noticed Tim and Damian climb in through the window one after the other.
Both boys rushed over to the couch when they registered that Dick was upset.
“Richard?” Damian inquired tentatively,
At the sound of Damian’s voice, Dick pushed away from Jason and sat up straight,
“Dami! Timmy! What are you guys doing here?” Dick inquired. He tried to look and sound as though he hadn’t just been bawling his blue eyes out all over his brother’s shirt just mere moments prior. The wet patch still very clearly evident on Jason’s chest/shoulder area.
“Dick, are...are you okay?” Tim inquired,
“Oh you guys. I’m fine, you know how I am. I cry over everything. No need for alarm.” Dick grinned wide.
The jovial look Dick plastered over his previous face of despair was so perfect that if Dick’s younger brothers didn’t know that Dick was such an expert performer, he might have completely fooled them.
Jason decided he was having none of it, “Dickie, we know you’re not ok. Stop this fake shit. You don’t have to pretend.”
“Jay-“
“No! Look, when I called you after patrol you gave me one word answers that made no goddamn sense and you sounded like you were zoned the fuck out. Normally you chat my fuckin’ ears off my head. So I engaged, ‘Operation Big D’.”
Dick blinked as he looked at Jason,
“Huh? Operation what now?”
“It’s something we realized we needed to do for you, ‘Big D’,” Tim replied.
Damian crossed his arms over his chest and elaborated,
“Richard, you always take time to discover what is troubling each of us. You recognize and assist us with our problems, however you often fail to acknowledge your own struggles.”
“...Yep. Like short stack is saying, you’re shit at taking care of yourself. So, ‘Operation Big D’ is what we called our plan to step in and help you when you’re down.”
“Oh...” Dick’s smile dropped and his lip quivered slightly.
“Dickie, it’s your day to be taken care of by us for a change instead of the other way around. We’re gonna feed you and tidy up around here and then hang out. You don’t have to tell us what’s wrong if you don’t wanna, but if you need a shoulder to cry on you have 6 of ‘em, ok?”
Dick nodded silently and managed to utter a sincere, “thanks guys,”
“Alright pipsqueaks, you guys straighten up in here and I’ll start cooking up some breakfast,” Jason casually ordered as he stood up to start his task, “Dickie, you just chillax and do whatever the fuck you want, ok?”
Dick stood up and shoved aside his urge to tell his brothers not to bother helping him out. That he was entirely unworthy of their time and efforts. He worried that any protest on his part would insult their so called, ‘Operation’. So, instead of arguing he simply pushed down the tinge of queasiness that was creeping in,
“I think I’ll take a shower if that’s alright,”
“Sure thing, Dick. Oh! Alfred sent cookies over as well!” Tim exclaimed as he gently shook the tin he was holding.
Dick smiled and ruffled Tim’s hair as he left for the bathroom.
~
Once in the bathroom, Dick started the shower and removed his clothing. He stood in front of the full length mirror on the back of the door as he waited for the water to heat up and was confronted by the sight of dark bruises covering his entire torso, chest and upper arms.
He could make out the finger and hand shaped bruises received from the group of thugs who had gotten the jump on Nightwing. The gang had grabbed and held him down and roughly groped him during the previous evening’s drug bust gone wrong.
The goons had managed to get the top of Dick’s suit down to his waist and one of them had bitten into Dick’s shoulder, breaking the skin.
Dick closed his eyes tightly as he felt aggressive hands pulling at his hair and the lips of the leader closed in and kissed roughly at his neck.
Dick could feel each sensation as though it was happening all over again; re-living the feeling of helplessness as he was unable to get the large men off of him despite his elite combat abilities.
In a stroke of pure luck, and just as he could feel large, calloused fingers snake under the waistband portion of his suit, one of the thugs in another part of the building dropped a large crate from a forklift causing a loud boom which momentarily distracted everyone.
During this minuscule window of opportunity, Dick was able to thrash his way free, grapple his way up and out through a skylight and avoided further violation.
But here in the safety of his own bathroom, as Dick visually scanned the damage for the first time, he came to the realization of how helpless he had been to stop the men.
Dick tore his eyes away from his reflection and fell to his knees hard before he vomited into the toilet.
Dick flushed the toilet and climbed his battered body into the shower.
As the hot water hit him, Dick crumpled up and laid himself down in a fetal position on the floor of the shower. He felt grateful that he didn’t have to put on a brave face all alone in the bathroom. Despite his brother’s best intentions his stubbornness refused to allow them to see his weakness.
A firm knock sounded and Damian asked through the door,
“Richard? Is everything alright? You’ve been in there for over 30 minutes. Do you need assistance?”
Taking in a deep breath Dick sat up and called back,
“I’m good, Dami. Be out in a minute.”
Dick quickly (or as quickly as his sore body allowed), slapped some shampoo in his hair and rinsed it out just as hastily.
After towelling himself off, he hurriedly applied antibiotic ointment to the bite, while he tried not to examine it too closely.
Dick threw on oversized T-shirt and sweatpants, drew in a steadying breath, and tried to move fluidly to avoid alerting the others of the injuries to his body. He followed his nose to the delicious aromas of Jason’s home cooked breakfast all the while hoping that he could keep the food down.
~
“Jay that was delicious, thank you,”
“No problemo, Dickie. You want more? You ate like a bird.” Jason pointed out.
“I’m good for now thanks. Here let me help with the dishes at least,” Dick insisted,
“Nope, Timbo is gonna do them,” Jason advised,
Tim froze with his forkful of food still in his mouth, his eyes shot up towards Jason,
“Mmmmph?!”
“Hm, I don’t hear any intelligible objections, so Replacement on dishes it is!”
Jason grabbed Dick by the arm to lead him up and onto the couch, but stopped abruptly when Dick inhaled sharply,
“Dickie? What is it?”
“Ah, nothing, Jay. Just a bruise I picked up on patrol last night,”
Jason pushed up Dick’s sleeve and saw the purple-black finger shaped bruises wrapped around Dick’s bicep,
“Dick, what the actual fuck?! What fucking happened?”
Dick noticed all three sets of eyeballs looking quizzically at him.
“Nothing Jay, just drop it, alright?”
Dick pulled his shirt sleeve out of Jason’s hand and back down his upper arm.
Jason bit his tongue and reminded himself that he had told Dick that he didn’t have to talk about what was bothering him earlier. He wished that he could take back that statement. Jason ultimately relented,
“Fine. Ya. Ok let’s watch a movie then?”
“Sure. You can pick.” Dick said to Jason before he turned to walk into the living room.
The three younger heroes shared a concerned look among themselves. Damian rushed off to sit beside his favourite brother.
Jason broke the silence,
“Chop chop, Replacement, these dishes aren’t going to do themselves...”
Jason smirked at the glare he received in return.
~
Jason had picked the first movie and when that was over, Tim was allowed to select the second one. Damian complained about both choices but didn’t offer any movie suggestions of his own.
Dick couldn’t really say what they were watching since he drifted in and out of sleep numerous times. Dick tried not to fall into a deep sleep fearing that he might have a humiliating nightmare with his brothers present. The eldest had laid himself across the couch with his head in Damian’s lap while his feet rested on Jason’s. Tim chose to sit on the side armchair.
All of a sudden, there was a knock at the apartment door,
“You expecting company, Dickie?” Jason asked getting up to answer the door,
“Not that I’m aware of,”
Dick shifted to sit up, noticing that his body had stiffened up quite a bit more during the course of the day.
“What’re you doing here, old man?” Jason asked gruffly,
“Thank you for the warm welcome, Jason.”
“Father,” Damian acknowledged as Bruce walked in to the living room area where his sons were lounging.
“Hiya, B,” Tim greeted. Bruce squeezed the teen’s shoulder.
“B? Is something wrong?... I mean... what brings you here?”
Dick was genuinely perplexed given that Bruce hardly ever visited Dick at his apartment. Dick could count on one hand the number of times Bruce had visited him in Bludhaven over the years.
Bruce shifted awkwardly in place for a few seconds before clearing his throat,
“I was speaking with Alfred and he explained that Jason, Tim and Damian were involved in, ‘Operation Big D’? So I figured I would clear my work schedule for the day and -ahem- see if you boys needed a hand with anything...”
“Take a seat, B. We’re just watching movies right now,” Dick patted the seat next to himself,
Bruce sat and rested his arms along the back of the couch casually,
“Actually fellas, Alfred was wondering if you all wanted to come back to the manor. He has been cooking up a storm for you guys and we can finish the movie marathon there. Chum, you can stay with us at the manor for as long you’d like,”
“B... I don’t know... I should really look at my case files. I was working on a big drug bust last night...” Dick trailed off at the memory of the bust attempt that went horribly awry.
“Please come, Richard,” Damian nestled up to Dick and wrapped his arms around his older brother in a pleading hug. Dick bit his lip and winced slightly at the pain of the pressure against his bruises but didn’t notify Damian of the intense discomfort.
“Ok, I’ll come. But on one condition,” Dick relented, “...Jay, you have to come too,”
Jason practically growled at his older brother, “Fine, Dickface.”
~
Back at Wayne Manor, following the consumption of Alfred’s incredible meal, all of the boys plus Bruce piled on to the couches in front of the gigantic tv.
Tim and Damian drifted off to sleep and Jason appeared to be nodding off as well.
Only Dick and Bruce remained awake enough to watch tv. Dick focussed on the warm safety of his adoptive father instead of his intrusive thoughts as he snuggled up next to Bruce.
Bruce ran his fingers through and gently worked out the tangles in Dick’s hair. He peeked over at his younger sons who appeared to be asleep before asking,
“Chum?”
“Yes, B?”
“Will you let me take a quick look at your injuries?”
Dick froze, so Bruce added,
“I noticed you have been moving a little stiffer than usual, plus back at your place when Damian hugged you it appeared to cause you a great deal of discomfort that you seem to be concealing,”
“Bruce, I don’t... I can’t ....” Dick stammered before finally settling on, “I’m fine,”
“I wasn’t asking that, Dick. I asked if you’ll let me just take a look for myself. Please. It would help to put my mind at ease.”
Dick sighed and resigned himself to the fact that his stubborn detective of a father would only keep persisting and so Dick slowly leaned forward and tugged his T-shirt off.
“Fucking hell, Dickface!”
A gruff voice exclaimed from across the room. Jason. Turned out he had been awake enough to hear Bruce’s request.
“Oh chum,” Bruce breathed out shakily. He noticed the type of injuries, including the handprints, and examined the gruesome looking bite mark on Dick’s shoulder.
“I’ve had worse, B, it’s honestly not that bad. Just wasn’t quick enough to get away from the pack at first,”
“Dickie! Come on!” Jason practically yelled, “Did they rape you? I’ll find those fuckers and kill them all!”
“Jay, shut up!” Dick snapped in a harsh whisper. He glanced over at Tim and Damian who were still miraculously asleep. Dick pleaded with his eyes for Jason not to wake them.
Dick’s eyes then welled up as he glanced towards the door and noticed a shocked Alfred looking at him as well.
Dick tipped his head back and breathed in a deeply in an attempt to calm himself.
“Ok, let’s all remain calm,” Bruce soothed in a low voice, “Dick, I just need to clarify in case you need medical attention, were you sexually assaulted?”
“No. I swear I wasn’t. I managed to get away when they got distracted,”
“Ok,” Bruce exhaled in relief, “are there any other injuries we should be helping you with?”
“No. It’s only what you see.” Dick replied.
“Chum, I am sorry this happened. I wish we would have been there to help you,”
“Indeed, Master Dick. I will fetch you something for the pain,” Alfred added.
Jason paced the room like a rabid animal. Unsure where to direct his bubbling rage he whispered harshly, “Dickface, what the hell were you doing busting up a drug operation alone? You should have requested backup!”
“Jay, I really didn’t think it would get out of hand... I have handled things like this on my own before,” Dick explained as he pulled his shirt back on.
“That’s just it though, Dickhead! You always worm your way in on my cases as backup, but why the fucking hell don’t you ask me for help? Don’t you value your fucking life?!”
“Jay, I’m sor-“
“Don’t fucking apologize, Dick. I... I have to get out of here. I can’t even look at you right now,” Jason punched the door of the room open fully as he stormed out of the room in a rage. The resulting bang had startled the two younger heroes awake,
“Father? Richard? What has happened?” Damian asked looking around,
“Nevermind, Dami. I guess ‘Operation Big D’ is over guys, thanks anyway. I’m going to head upstairs now and try to get some sleep,” Dick replied and then walked out of the room.
~
A sleepless bunch of hours of tossing and turning later, Dick decided to see if anybody was up and around the manor.
Alfred informed that Bruce, Tim and Damian had headed out on patrol and that Jason was down in the gym after returning from patrol early.
Dick decided to take a chance and peeked into the gym to see Jason punching and kicking the heavy bag in a variety of combos.
“Little Wing? Is it safe to enter?” Dick carefully prodded,
“Yeah Dickie, come on in. I’m done anyway,”
Jason grabbed a towel and sat on a bench. Dick handed Jason a bottle of water which the younger downed in just a few big gulps.
Dick grabbed a couple of ice packs, wrapped them in towels and placed them on the backs of Jason’s hands in order to ice his heavily bruised and swollen knuckles.
Jason watched Dick gingerly tend to his knuckles incredulously and shook his head. He wondered how ‘Operation Big D’ went from him trying to help Dick back to the status quo of Dick helping him.
Dick appeared to read his mind and answered,
“Just let me help you now, Jay. Don’t forget that I’m the big brother.”
“Look, I’m really sorry I overreacted earlier, Dickie. I was supposed to be helping you without judgement but, shit, I lost it when I saw that those assholes touched and hurt you,”
“It’s alright, Jay. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I felt... weak or embarrassed, I guess. I didn’t want to admit that it did mess me up. You’re right that I shouldn’t have been such an idiot,”
“Dickie, I don’t blame you for what happened. I know I was mad that you didn’t ask me to help you make the bust, but you didn’t know what those fucking perverts were going to do. It’s not your fault. I’m really glad you were able to get out before they.... you know,”
“Yeah, me too.”
After a few minutes of reflective silence, Jason suggested,
“Well Dickie, since all the nerds are out, wanna bug Alf to make us some more cookies?”
“What happened to the ones Tim brought over to my place earlier?”
“Replacement ate almost all of them on his own. He nearly bit my hand off when I tried to grab one! I don’t know how that fucker is still so lanky. He eats like 10 times his weight in food,”
Dick laughed,
“Young teenaged metabolism, Little Wing,” Dick nudged Jason in the side with his elbow, “so Jay... does this mean ‘Operation Big D’ is still on?”
“Yup, Dickie. Absolutely.”
Dick hugged Jason and engulfed Jason’s large frame with his own smaller one,
“Thanks, Little Wing,”
Jason did his best to hug Dick back while being mindful of his injuries.
Alfred as per usual, whether through his own intuition or some cleverly hidden home surveillance, had already had some cookies baking in the oven and had two fresh cups of tea waiting for them when the two young men made their way into the kitchen.