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Damian was always the most obvious, even if he tried to hide it, his body language and absolute devotion to his Batman always gave him away. He was tender.
It had been a total struggle for Damian to adjust to life with his father and away from his Batman. He never thought of Dick as anything other than his partner or the non-biological son of his father. But when Dick was pushed away from Gotham by Bruce, Damian began to understand that his feelings for his Batman ran deeper than he himself thought.
The days were longer and more monotonous, totally different from the days with Dick, which always seemed to be sunny and full of happiness, even if Damian didn't admit it at the time.
Bruce saw his youngest son's pain, the anguish and discomfort that being away from Dick caused her, but his jealousy and insecurities blinded him and he continued to push his eldest son away from him, without realizing that he was further breaking the bond. his already fractured relationship with him.
Duke and Tim weren't so obvious, Bruce had to admit that. But they made the mistake of not checking to see if the cave was really empty when they arrived.
Bruce was inside the Batmobile, still and calm. He had argued with Jason (again) and now he just didn't have the energy to get out of the car, so he just stood there completely calming down when his two sons arrived.
A small smile crept across Bruce's lips as laughter filled the cave. This week, Duke was on night patrol with the rest of the family since they were on vacation. It was fun having all of his kids together (except for Dick, because Bruce is an idiot).
But he didn't expect his smile to fade so quickly.
“Man, I really think Dick would be a great father.” Duke assured, fun, admiration and security emanating from his words.
“He is already a father.” Tim assured, quickly.
Duke laughed.
“Come on, Tim, even though he's some kind of father figure to us doesn't mean we're some kind of son figure to him.” Duke said lightly.
They both got off their motorcycles.
"I know, I know". Tim said as they began to leave the cave parking lot. “But you can't deny that he has that father thing, you know, that instinct or something. Also, I remind you that he went to one of my parent-teacher conferences. He took responsibility for all of us on more than one occasion and even when he was Batman we functioned better under him under Bruce. The difference between them is that Dick doesn't see us as soldiers, Bruce does." Tim assured lightly, his voice still mocking and full of joy.
Duke snorted in response.
"Yeah, but make sure Bruce didn't hear that or 'Wing might be in trouble." Duke muttered.
Bruce squeezed the steering wheel hard. How dare Dick take his children away from him? How dare he?
And yes, Dick was brutally reprimanded for even the slightest thing for the rest of the month, well, he would have been if it weren't for the fact that he walked away from Bruce as soon as he started bothering him too much.
Bruce knew that the relationship between him and his children was always turbulent to say the least, but he really expected it from his daughters. Frankly he should have known how this would end considering everything that happened recently with his children.
Steph and Cass had entered a math contest, where the prize was money they planned to donate to charity. Bruce knew it, but he couldn't be present.
The Joker had escaped again and he needed to be on the lookout for any suspicions. So he told his daughters that he couldn't be present. They were disappointed, it hurt Bruce to see the disappointment on their faces, but this was more important.
But Bruce did not expect to see his two and only daughters on television hugging Dick after winning the contest.
Dick's arms were draped over Casa and Steph's shoulders in a half-hug, as they both wrapped their arms around Dick's waist. All three were smiling from ear to ear as the interviewer held a microphone close to their faces.
“We didn't know you were so good at math, ladies.” The interviewer commented.
“Well, Dick was a champion at math. He supported us and helped us get here, he is like our dad.” Steph assured with a huge and happy smile.
Cass nodded her head solemnly before saying, “we love you, Dick.” And kiss Dick's cheek.
Dick looked at both girls in bewilderment and then smiled from ear to ear, tightening the hug.
Bruce's blood boiled before this. His girls, his only daughters, were taken from him by Dick.
Dick couldn't enter Gotham for several weeks after that.
Bruce could understand it from his younger children, he really could if he tried hard enough, but Jason?
Jason is almost the same age as Dick, this was already too much.
Dick and Jason were on a rooftop drinking some beers and looking at the horizon. Bruce didn't spy on his kids (he does, he totally does), but Dick and Jason's communications had been down for almost two hours, their trackers marking them in the same place, which wasn't always a good thing, but Bruce didn't expect to hear something like this.
“Come on, man, he's our father, you know what he's like.” He assured Dick's amused voice.
Jason snorted in clear annoyance, there was a brief pause in the conversation as they both drank their beers until Jason spoke again.
“Sometimes I wish you were our father.” Jason muttered.
“Jay.” Dick whispered.
“Come on, Dick, you are a father figure to us, you are the only one who is willing to get his hands dirty for us, you are understanding and you are always there when we need you. Bruce is our father, a demanding, annoying, stubborn, controlling, distrustful and emotionally unavailable father figure. But you are the complete opposite, Dick. You are not our father, but you are a father figure to us.” Jason explained, his voice confident and strong, loaded with emotions and truths.
Dick was silent for a moment that was eternal in Bruce's eyes.
“I’m glad you trust me, Jay.” Was Dick's short response. Dick stood up, leaving Jason behind. “But I can't have the honor of being a father figure, I've failed all of you too much.” Dick added in a dull voice.
Jason sighed.
Bruce was silent.
Dick jumped off the roof leaving Jason behind.
“Why do you keep distancing me from the family?” Dick's words were sharp and full of contempt.
Bruce didn't even bother to look at him and instead continued working on the Batcomputer. The cave was full tonight, Duke and Cass were training on the mats, Steph and Tim were talking to Barbara, and Jason and Damian were arguing while Jason fixed the Batmobile, all of them turning to look at Dick as soon as he spoke.
Dick was behind Bruce with his body tense, he was trembling slightly and there was a cut on his abdomen which bled dangerously even when Dick continued to put pressure on the wound. Bruce did not notice this injury.
"I do not know what you're talking about". Bruce declared nonchalantly.
It was a lie, of course, but he wouldn't admit the truth to his family.
“You are a bastard, what the hell do you have against me now? Did something like that kill your dog?”
Bruce stopped typing on the keyboard for a moment.
“You're upset, calm down.” Bruce said seriously, it wasn't a request, it was an order.
“I'm perfectly fine, idiot. Just answer, What the hell is wrong with me?” Dick demanded.
Bruce clenched his fists.
“Richard, you should sit down.” Damian's voice caught Dick and Bruce's attention, breaking them out of their bubble.
"I'm fine, honey". Dick assured in his sweet, confident voice.
Bruce gritted his teeth.
“This is my son, Dick.” Bruce stated seriously. “They are all my children, you will not separate them from me.” Bruce stood up abruptly, knocking over his chair as he did so.
It was just at that moment that he could notice Dick's bleeding wound. There was a worrying pool of blood on the floor beneath Dick, he was pale and couldn't stop shaking.
“You should sit down.” Bruce said, suddenly worried about his eldest son.
“Fuck your false concern. I hope to bleed to death so that this shit remains on your conscience.” Dick growled, taking a step back.
Bruce walked over and ripped off Dick's mask to check his eyes. Dick shook himself, but he no longer had the strength to struggle.
“Were you poisoned?” Bruce exclaimed in alarm.
"Yeah! I was! This could have been avoided if you weren't a jealous parent of your own child. I know you know, I know you already know how they see me. You can't keep me away, much less in the field! I'm going to die, Bruce, there is no way you can stop this poison and my death will be your fucking fault!" Dick shouted agitatedly.
Bruce went pale, there were only a limited amount of poisons for which the antidotes were unknown, if Dick was infected with one of them, he was practically dead. Bruce couldn't stand that.
“Dick, I-.”
“Shut up and let me die in peace.” Dick muttered as he went boneless in Bruce's arms.
Everyone ran towards Dick, alarmed and on the verge of tears.
“You can't die, you of all people, you can't die!” Jason shouted as he came to his side.
Bruce sat on the floor and held Dick against his chest.
"Baba". Damian whispered.
Dick sobbed wet and ugly.
“I'm sorry, I should have been with you, I shouldn't have fought with Bruce.” Dick whispered weakly.
“Forget that shit, you can't die!” Tim exclaimed.
Dick's breathing became slower and slower.
“Bruce, take care of them.” Dick whispered.
Bruce hugged Dick tightly to his chest.
"I love you son. “I’m so sorry, I was an idiot, I’m sorry, please forgive me.” Bruce said desperately.
Dick chuckled.
"Calm down, I'll be fine." There was a pause. "I love you all".
Dick stopped breathing.