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On a normal night, Jason would rather die again before doing what he was about to do. But then again, this wasn't a normal night.
Tonight, he'd almost lost his brother. Again. Dick had almost died, right in front of all of them, and while he'd survived - barely, but it was a hundred times better than the alternative - it was still fresh enough that Jason couldn't escape the image of his brother's pale, limp body every time he closed his eyes.
So here he was, awake at 2am, making his way across the freezing top floor to Dick's room. He was in desperate need of a good night's sleep, but seeing his older brother half-dead hadn't done that any favours so hopefully seeing his brother alive and resting peacefully would. If nothing else, it was too late to turn back and DIck's bed was likely way warmer than out here.
Unfortunately, it seemed he wasn't the only one with the same solution for the nightmares. He'd been so focused on entering Dick's room silently that he hadn't realised there was already sounds in the room until he'd turned around after closing the door behind him.
"You've got to be kidding me," he said, resisting the urge to slap his forehead or better yet, strangle the two already arguing in a whisper within the room.
"I was here first, Drake…"
"Just scooch over…"
"First of all," Jason announced, loud enough to get his younger brothers' attentions but still quiet enough not to disturb the only one actually getting some sleep. "Both of you shut up before you wake Dickface. Secondly, what the fuck are you two doing here?"
Damian and Tim both turned to look at him; the youngest just a lump under the covers, the other half falling off the bed though both were barely visible in the dark. He could only just see Dick's still form under the blanket on the other side of the bed. His breath catches at that, his heart stuttering at the way Dick just lay there, not moving… but then he does move, the gentle rise and fall of the covers and Jason can breathe again.
Tim's voice brings him back to the current situation, answering Jason's question with his own. "What are you doing here, Jason?"
"Oh fuck you. I think we all know, so better question, why are you arguing when we could all be under the warm covers, dea- fast asleep already?" He'd stopped himself just in time before saying the word. It wasn't as if death was a rare occurrence in their lives, and this time wasn't the first time they'd almost lost of them. It definitely wouldn't be the last either, but the wound was still too raw, and it always hit harder when it was the threat of losing one of his brothers, especially Dick. Either way, he tried to brush it off and covered up his emotions with his usual snark for Damian and Tim's sake.
"In case you didn't notice, it's really cold," he sneered.
"No it's not."
"That's because you're under the covers already, Demon Spawn."
"Father is no demon, Drake - " Damian fired back, but cut himself off because just at that moment, Dick stirred and they all froze. They stayed still and silent until he'd settled back down again, and then a few extra seconds just to make sure he really was asleep, then Jason took his opportunity.
Moving quickly, he made his way across the room and shoved the other two aside, onto the bed, careful not to disturb Dick by doing so.
"Shut up and move over," he whisper-shouted.
"Stop shoving!"
"Drake, your elbow is in my face- "
"Jason, why are your hands so cold- "
"Keep quiet!"
A muffled yelp came from Damian. "Whose freezing feet just touched my leg?" He hissed.
They each shifted, trying to get comfy, but only managing to cause more trouble.
"Oof, your knee- "
"My hand, you're on my- "
"Hey, you did that on purpose- "
"St'p f't'ng," Dick mumbled, and they all froze, staring at him. None of them could tell whether he'd been just mumbling in his sleep or they'd woken him up, but it didn't matter. They were all helpless to do anything but watch as he turned in his half-conscious state and draped an arm over all of them, effectively trapping them. It was yet to be determined whether he'd done it on purpose or by coincidence but it served its purpose. If any of them moved now, they risked waking Dick - something none of them had any desire to do in the least because it'd be mean, and the guy needed his rest.
As such, they were all forced to stay in their current positions, as uncomfortable as they might be. Over the next few minutes, they each took turns shifting the slightest bit so no one was actively in pain from a stray elbow in the chest or anything. Unable to argue for fear of disturbing Dick's sleep, they stayed quiet and eventually, they all fell asleep.
About an hour and a half later, unbeknownst to the sleeping brothers, the door of the bedroom slowlycreaked open. A sliver of light illuminated the room, revealing the multiple forms to the bed to the one peeking in, but soon enough, that one became two. A brief flash and click later, the two were gone, the door once more closed and the room returned to its initial darkness.
"Todd, could you please move Drake's arm?" Damian whispered. "It is over my face."
In response, he received an exasperated groan. "Why can't he do it?" Jason whined, still desperately holding to the last dregs of sleep quickly slipping away from him.
"Shh," Tim hissed. "Dick might wake up. And I can't move if you don't give me space to."
A slight shift of the blankets and Tim had enough space to manoeuvre into a comfier position with his arm notably not smooshing poor Damian's face. "Ah, thank you. Finally I can breathe," Damian sighed, before he sneered in disgust. "Ugh, your face is even more horrifying up close."
"Imagine how it was for me then to wake up to you, two inches away from my nose," Tim fired back withh maybe not his proudest retort, but he didn't have time to come up with a better reply.
"Nonsense. Your arm was covering my face, thankfully blocking my view and yours."
"Yes, thankfully, or else I don't think I'd have survived the day. I purposely put my arm there so had time to mentally prepare beforehand - "
Another shift of the blankets and the two younger boys found themselves facing groggy version of Jason's death glare - still plenty threatening and annoyed. "Ughh, shut up! Both of you. Let me get a few more minutes of sleep… how Dickface is still asleep is beyond me," Jason grumbled with a hint of jealousy as he shifted again to face away from them.
The two were quiet for a few moments before Tim spoke, addressing Damian. "He is still asleep right? Dick?"
"Grayson has the enviable but inconvenient ability to 'sleep like the dead' as they say," Damian answered, sparing a glance behind him at their oldest brother who was indeed, still undisturbed, or at least it seemed. It was hard to tell with him facing away from the rest of them.
Tim rolled his eyes. "God, can you not just speak like a normal kid for once?"
Damian frowned. "But I am not 'normal'. I am superior."
Tim opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted.
"I just want five more minutes. Is that too much to ask?" Jason cried, whipping around to glare at them again.
"Wow, grumpy much?"
"When people don't let me sleep, yeah. In fact, when they get too annoying, then - "
"St'p f'ghting or 'm gonna kick you all off m' b'd," a voice slurred.
They all froze as Dick turned to face them, propping himself up on his elbows slightly as he blinked sleepily and yawned. Tim and Jason turned to glare at a narrow-eyed Damian.
"You said he was 'sleeping like the dead'!" They accused in a hissed whisper. Damian frowned and opened his mouth to respond, but stopped when he noticed Dick rubbing his eyes, almost falling back onto the bed in the process if not for the pillows supporting his arms that held him up. He answered for the youngest boy.
"I was, until you all kept…," another yawn interrupted him, and it was enough to sap all his strength apparently since he fell face-first back into his pillows. "Arguing," he finished, voice slightly muffled. The effort of having to now move his face from in the pillows to looking at his brothers seemed to take most of his remaining strength and by the time he was left looking at the other three, his eyes were half-closed already.
A chorus of apologies sounded.
"Sorry." "Sorry." "We apologise for the disturbance."
Dick just smiled sleepily, and for a moment, they all wondered if he'd fallen back asleep but it seemed he hadn't as he spoke a few seconds later. "'S'okay. Love you g'ys anyway." Then he blinked his eyes open, eyebrows drawn in confusion as he seemed to finally realise something. "But, um, why're you in m'bed?"
His three brothers all glanced at each other or at everything but Dick's face, trying to find an explanation.
"Um…"
"Well, Damian was here first…"
"I… the events of the previous night… afterwards…"
After a few more minutes of various mumbled excuses and muttering that resulted in Dick almost falling asleep again, Jason sighed and finally gave a straight answer.
"We were all worried about you and didn't want to sleep alone, but because we're all idiots- "
"- or just super smart," Tim interjected, earning a scoff and some quiet mutterings from Damian as Jason rolled his eyes and finished.
"- we all had the same idea for the perfect solution and I'm actually impressed at your bed for being able to hold all of us."
A moment of silence passed. Finally, Tim spoke up.
"Dick?"
"Mm?" Came the sleepy response.
"Were you even…?"
Dick's eyes blinked open as if he just remembered people were actively talking to him before drifting closed again. Even so, he did answer. "Yeah. My bed's pretty solid. We should do this more often, I like it. Best," - another yawn - "sleep I've gotten in a while."
While none of the others actively said it, they all felt the same. They all silently savoured the moment but soon enough, Tim and Damian were back to insulting each other, even going so far as clambering over Jason to get some distance between them by making him the barrier. By the time they'd all gotten free of the tangled sheets - Jason with some threats of violence as promises of revenge for the bruises he'd now have from the younger two's elbows and knees - Dick had fallen back into a deep sleep.
It briefly occurred in Jason's mind - all of theirs though none of them admitted it - that Dick falling asleep so quickly and easily was slightly concerning. Of course, it was good that he was getting the rest he needed, but the fact that he still needed so much meant he maybe wasn't as okay as they'd thought after the events of the night prior. None of them were overtly worried though, since he still had a smile on his face as he slept.
They all quietened, making a unanimous silent decision to let the guy sleep for as long as he could.
"You two may go," Damian started, speaking softer than either of the other two had ever heard him speak though they knew it was for Dick's sake and for the sake of letting him recover. "But I do not intend to leave Richard to his own devices even in sleep. I shall be staying until he wakes."
"Like I trust you alone with Dick sleeping," Tim scowled, even if his words held no truth. They all knew Damian would be maybe even too protecting over Dick, especially since their brother was currently injured and incapacitated. "I'm staying too."
"Oh, great," Jason groaned. "Now I can't leave either."
"I don't see why not, Todd."
"Yeah, you wouldn't." His answer only served to further confuse Damian so Jason continued. "So I'll spell it out for you. Before I came in last night, the two of you were squabbling worse than a married couple. The second I leave, you're gonna be at each other's throats and with Dickie boy incapacitated, I'm the oldest and therefore have obligations. Like letting him sleep and stopping you two from fighting."
"Whatever."
"Very well."
Damian proceeded to head back towards the bed, gently climbing back under the covers when a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed him, pulling him close with surprising force for someone supposedly sleeping. He yelped, then glared at Tim who was holding in his laughter after seeing the youngest brother effectively become a teddy bear for the oldest within seconds. Jason just rolled his eyes, before they settled on Dick's face, that look on it that he had when he was sad but trying to hide it, noticeable even with the guy's eyes closed especially since there was a suspicious wetness glinting on his cheek.
The mood in the room sobered quickly as they all noticed it, sharing a glance while Dick wrapped himself around Damian - who let him without complaint. Jason and Tim hesitated to join the other two on the bed, but Dick made the decision for them, waving them over with a weak hand. Wordlessly, they complied, Tim moving around to the other side of the bed before climbing in so Dick could serve as a barrier between him and Damian, letting him comfort his older brother without having to engage with his younger one.
Jason just waited until Tim was settled before simply launching himself onto them all, making Damian yelp, Tim shout, and Dick just let out a wet laugh. Once they were comfy again - or as comfy as they would be with a full grown man lying across their legs - they moved closer to their oldest brother without anything needing to be said. After a few moments of comfortable silence and some awkward manoeuvring from Dick so he could wrap an arm around Tim too, Jason spoke.
"You're so needy sometimes, Dickface."
The comment earned him another wet laugh, Dick finally opening his eyes a little to look at Jason, sharing a tired, bittersweet smile just for him. The message was clear, and Jason swallowed hard before shaking it off and rolling his eyes instead.
"Oh, don't get all sappy now, Dickie; you know I cry easily when someone else does."
Instead of a joke, Dick just let his head fall back down onto the pillow and close his eyes, the smile growing softer yet. "I love you guys," he said quietly.
"So you've said," came Damian's muffled response.
"An' I'll keep sayin' it 'til I die," Dick replied, half-asleep and yawning already as if the words he were saying were as casual as stating the weather and not suffocating his brothers with his love.
Jason cleared his throat, his emotional quota filled for the whole year at this point. "Yeah, yeah, love you too. Now sleep so you can get better and I can get back to pranking you or beating your ass in training without feeling bad."
There was no response this time, but a quick glance at Dick confirmed that it was only because he'd already fallen back asleep.
Over the next hour or so, Dick mostly remained fast asleep, Damian had fallen asleep again and woken back up, though only half-way so he remained in a half-asleep stupor from then on, and Tim had fallen asleep and stayed asleep. All the while, Jason stayed cozy, lying by/on their legs, content to just watch over his brothers.
At one point while Tim and Damian had both been snoring, Dick had seemingly had a nightmare and Jason had to murmur reassuring words until his brother stopped breathing so hard and eventually woke up dazedly. During the brief time he was awake, they talked a bit, about random stuff in their lives and such but Dick had still been very incoherent and quickly succumbed to sleep again.
Sometime around 11 am, the door creaked open and Bruce peeked in. He paused in the doorway, blinking at the surprising scene before him. He'd half-expected that the boys would have left Dick's room by now, if it hadn't been a dream in the first place when he'd come to check on his eldest son and found all four of them dozing, together, in one bed. It had still been hard to believe despite having the pictures to prove it or not.
Even so, now what he found was Dick still sleeping soundly which was reasonable to expect, but he hadn't expected to see Damian glaring daggers at him from his spot trapped under Dick's arms - which in itself was a testament seeing as those same arms were unharmed ; Tim peeking up groggily from behind Dick on the other side of the bed; with Jason sprawled over their legs, propped up on one delicately placed elbow as he held a finger to his lips as he met Bruce's gaze, the look in his eyes enough warning for what would inevitably happen to Bruce if Dick was awoken because of him.
Bruce stared for a few seconds more, still digesting it, before he smiled, acknowledging what a rare occasion it was for them all to be in one room, just relaxing. Intending to just leave them be, he was about to turn but was stopped by blue eyes opening sleepily, meeting his own eyes before Dick's scrunched close as a yawn overtook him. When they opened again, the question in his gaze was evident.
Quietly, Bruce closed the door behind him, but instead of stepping out and doing so, he stepped in and walked toward his sons. Carefully, he sat down to test that the bed could take his weight - which it did, proving that it'd been the right choice to buy an extra sturdy bed for his ward after Dick had shown a tendency in his childhood to jump on the bed.
Now that he was satisfied they wouldn't all end up on the floor, he looked back at his sons, gently pushing a sleepy Tim back down, brushing Dick's messy hair out of his now-closed eyes, adjusting the boy's arm around Damian slightly so his youngest could breathe easier, and just raising an eyebrow at Jason who continued to lounge comfortably on top of his brothers.
They stayed that way for a while, just enjoying the peace of the morning that only comes when the daylight shines from the edges of the curtains and everyone's awake but too comfy to get up yet. That kind of peace was rare in their family, their household, their lives, but it only made it all the better when it did happen. Those moments were the ones they held closer, treasured all the more for it, even if it didn't last nearly long enough.
"Jason, I can't feel my foot."
"Shut up, Timmy. You're ruining the moment."
"Ah, no don't move, now the tingly thing is happening!" Tim complained.
"So what did you want me to do?" Jason protested indignantly.
"Oof. Todd, kindly watch where you knee is before I take off your kneecap and - "
"Damian," Bruce intervened, a hint of warning in his voice, though they all knew he was just saying it as a formality. "You know the rules. No threatening… Jason please move your foot from my face."
"Oops, sorry," Jason apologised, in a way that clearly said he'd done it on purpose, even if he did move his foot. Eventually. After wiggling his toes right in front of Bruce's nose and grinning at him.
"Ahh-oomph." The cry was accompanied by a thump.
"What was the infernal noise?" Damian asked at the same time Jason burst into laughter, wiping away tears of mirth. "Oh my god, ha, this is gold," he wheezed.
Bruce sighed. "Tim fell off the bed didn't he?"
"My foot is still tingling!" Tim shouted in disbelief and discomfort. "Oh great, it's trapped in the sheets…"
"Yeah, I should come by more often if this is the kind of thing I see - "
"Jason, please help your brother - " Bruce said, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. It was too early for this.
Jason dived after Tim, reaching out as far as he could while still fighting laughter.
"Todd! Your foot just hit me in my unmentionables - " Damian griped, pushing Jason's foot away and cauing his brother to almost lose his balance and join Tim on the floor.
Tim, for his part, was still struggling to free his foot, staring at it in horror. "The tingling is spreading what the f- "
"Tim…" Bruce warned.
The door opened, and Alfred stepped in, not fazed in the least by the chaos before him. "Masters, I believe it is time for breakf- oh dear, is Master Dick still sleeping?"
"How the f-"
"Jason!"
"'M awake," came the drowsy response. "Just not ready to deal with this r'now."
"Ah, understandable," Alfred nodded, as Dick buried his face further into his pillow. "Well, whenever you desire your breakfasts, they shall be waiting downstairs. Should you need me, I shall be doing the laundry.'
"Thanks Alfred," Bruce called after the butler as he swiftly left the room.
The boys wasted no time in returning to their previous antics.
"Todd, I swear - "
"Yep, not going back to sleep now. Too awake," Dick groaned, then propped himself up on his elbows so he could look at all of them, a wicked grin growing on his face. "Well, who's ready to get evicted from my room?"