RUN

After making sure the little guy is okay, Clark took it from Metropolis and to Wayne Manor, where many critters already thrived on the Manor Grounds.

The little hedgehog, named Biscuit, is still living his best life there when Bruce brings Dick home.

The boy doesn't speak, barely eats, and Bruce is having a hard time connecting with him despite a shared tragedy between them.

Then, one day, Dick wakes him up in the middle of the night.

"Superman is in the garden."

Bruce is out of bed in an instant, and he and Dick confront the hero together.

"Just came to see how Biscuit is doing," Superman explains and smiles at Dick who is shyly hiding behind Bruce.

The name gets the boy curious, so Clark shows him the hedgehog.

He and Bruce spend the rest of the night answering Dick's question about hedgehogs and watch Biscuit look for food.

The boy is completely exhausted, sleeping soundly in Bruce's arms by the time the sun rises.

A few years later, Biscuit is long gone, but his babies are roaming the gardens in his place, and Bruce and Clark teach another Robin about them.

Then another.

Damian is his only blood-related child.

He notices quickly that Damian is just like him. Too much like him. Sometimes, it’s like staring in a mirror and seeing his younger self instead of his reflection.

It’s a different time now, and people are more accepting than they ever were; the chances of Damian being treated the way he was are zero, especially with him around to protect his son. He knows this, yet his hands shake as he tucks them into his pockets, watching as Damian babbles on about a self-interest of his.

He watches, he always watches, to see how his children interact with Damian. Always ready at a moment's notice to jump in and meditate, to explain away the strange habits Damian has formed.

He doesn’t have to.

His children also watch, then adjust, and then they accept him.

So… easily.

When Damian has an emotional outburst from being overstimulated by his siblings, instead of snapping at him or giving him the silent treatment, they allow him to de-stress, then apologize for pushing him over the edge. They don’t rant and rave about how he needs to get off his high horse like with him

When Damian shrinks away from physical touch, they respect his boundaries and don’t push him. They don’t snark about how he thinks he’s too good for their touch like with him

When he’s up in the late hours of the night from insomnia, they stay by his side and comfort him. They don’t tell him to go back to bed and leave him with a hollow feeling like with him

He knows it’s childish, stupid, and wholly immature, but his heart clenches and his stomach twists itself into a nasty knot.

It’s not fair.

Why can his children understand that Damian’s brain is wired differently, but when it comes to him-

Bruce always cuts his thoughts off there. He would never want to breed resentment in his heart for any of his children, especially Damian. He’s glad that Damian is getting all the love and accommodations that he needed but never got.

He’s ecstatic watching the young boy grow and thrive in areas where he still feels unsteady and unsure. He knows Damian will take the world by storm and be a billion times better than he ever was

Bruce knows that he is simply too much of a problem, a burden, to be correctly loved. He keeps hoping and hoping like a stupid child that someone will love him unconditionally

He finds himself drifting away, keeping to himself, and locking himself away in his bedroom or office. He can control all his hurt, pain, longing, and sorrow.

It hurts too much

But once again, all he gets are texts demanding he stop being so selfish and making everything about him. He doesn’t know why they’re mad at him this time; he honestly doubts that they know why they’re mad

It’s his place in their lives

Jason dies, Bruce is drowning in his grief. He's murderous, vengeful, nothing can distract him from his pursuit of revenge against the man that killed his son.

Then he gets a call.

It's Clark.

The Joker has Lois.

"She's pregnant, Bruce."

Bruce, wanting Joker dead. His son buried only a week ago, that clown somehow has made himself the ambassador of Iran. Clark is trying to dissuade him, but Bruce will go to the UN tomorrow, and exact his revenge. For Jason.

He's packing his utility belt when the call comes through. He wants to make sure he has everything he needs to turn that clown into nothing more than red dust.

He almost doesn't pick up, sure Clark is just going to try and talk him down yet again. But something twists in his gut, an awfully similar something to that feeling before he realised Jason hadn't stayed, and he picks up.

"Joker had Lois," Clark greets him with, frantic. "I know— I know you're struggling, B, but I need you. She— she's pregnant, B."

"He has your child," Bruce voices. That's what it comes down to. That's why Clark is calling him.

"Please, B. I need Batman. I need you."

Bruce hears his friend's unspoken plea.

"We won't lose your son too," Bruce assures, and hears Clark gasp out thanks into the receiver.

Bruce goes with Clark. They execute a plan to save Lois. Bruce's grief only gets the best of him once, but Clark gently turns down his suggestion of elimination.

"We're heroes," Clark reminds him. "We take him alive."

They're heroes. They take him alive.

And after Bruce slams shut the door to the police car, he turns to Clark, where he cradles Lois' dead body.

Clark does not lift his head for a long time, but when he does, his eyes are burning red.

Lasers shoot past Bruce, and blow the police car to high hell.

Bruce watches the explosion with a sick satisfaction, the grief of his son, of his friend, of his nephew, all celebrating the fires that rage around a corpse.

Jason dies, Bruce is drowning in his grief. He's murderous, vengeful, nothing can distract him from his pursuit of revenge against the man that killed his son.

Then he gets a call.

It's Clark.

The Joker has Lois.

"She's pregnant, Bruce."

Superbat fling. Or, well. Clark has a fling for Bruce. Bruce falls head over heels for Bruce. And, as flings are wont to do, they end.

Clark goes to Bruce when they were supposed to meet up, their hangouts that always ended up with significantly less clothes by the end of the night. Hangouts, because only Bruce considered them dates.

Clark sits down giddily next to Bruce and grabs his hands, a smile breaking out over his face. "I think Lois likes me!"

Bruce freezes. Clark keeps going, talking about how he hears her pulse pick up around him, hears her breathing change, and even yesterday had it confirmed by overhearing Jimmy tease Lois about it.

It's ironic in a painful way that Clark can understand the vital signs of the girl he likes to mean she likes him, but can't understand the ones of the man he's been fucking for months as his entire world comes crashing down.

Bruce smiles, and claps Clark on the shoulder. "I'm happy for you."

They spend the evening planning out how he'll ask out Lois. The clothes are still on when Clark leaves, and Bruce goes to dinner despondently. Dick looks up when he reaches the table, and frowns.

"Did you and Clark break up?" He asks, because he's torn into the room earlier to say hi to his favourite uncle, and as he often fantasised aloud, future step-father.

Bruce chuckles, shaking his head, but can't manage to muster a smile for his ward. "Turns out," he hums, "we were never together."

Lois says yes when Clark asks her out.

Bruce smiles and congratulates him.

Lois says yes when Clark asks her to marry him.

Bruce smiles and congratulates him.

Lois says yes when Clark asks if it's true.

Bruce smiles and congratulates him.

He sends them both flowers the first time. He offers to pay for the wedding the second. He hands over his card for baby shopping the third.

He never says anything about his feelings ever again. He's happy for them, and that is no lie. They are both his friends, and he loves them dearly. Simply, sometimes, not in the way he's supposed to.

"When did you start calling Dad Uncle Clark?" Jon asks, floating in the air above Damian, looking at Dick.

Bruce's eldest shrugs. "When I was younger. Him, me, and B were a pretty tight-knit group, so he graduated to uncle status pretty quickly."

Bruce thinks that's the end of it, and smiles at the memories. Then his son opens his big mouth, and deconstructs all of Bruce's carefully maintained lies with a single sentence.

"I actually thought about calling him 'Dad,' too."

Bruce feels his blood run cold. His other children perk up, as does Clark, while Dick remains in a world of his own.

"You did?" Clark asks, and he can feel the Kryptonian's eyes on him, can feel that familiar probing gaze that means he's heard Bruce's vitals and is looking for the injury that caused it.

Dick hums, buried in his phone. "I mean, yeah. You acted like a dad anyway, and I knew it was only a matter of time."

"Until what?"

Bruce pleads the universe to make Dick stop talking.

"Until Bruce put his money where his mouth was. I mean, he—" Dick's mouth clamps closed, and Bruce sighs. Too little too late, universe.

Tension settles over the room like a weighted blanket, and Bruce feels all eyes on him. He does not look up from his book.

"Bruce what, Dick?" Clark says, and Dick rests his phone on his forehead, letting out a mortified groan.

"Nothing."

"You and Supes were a thing?" Steph asks.

"No."

"No."

"Ye— No. Shit."

"Dick?" Clark's voice is stern, and Bruce curses the universe. He's like a dog with a bone, Bruce doesn't stand a chance at getting out of this.

"Dick."

"Sorry, B."

"You're grounded."

"Yeahhhh that's fair." Dick ducks back behind his phone, and Bruce slides a bookmark between his pages before setting the novel aside.

He lifts his eyes to meet Clark's, and tips his chin up. Clark meets his gaze firmly, and studies him. "I'd like you to explain, Bruce."

"Don't play stupid, Clark. Dick has given you more than enough information to figure it out."

"You were in love with me."

"Yes."

"You wanted to marry me."

"Yes."

Jason whistles lowly, Tim stares at them with wide eyes, Kon looks like he's experiencing revelations, and Bruce can see Cass' worried gaze scanning his form.

"We've never dated!" Clark protests.

Even Jon winces at that.

Bruce swallows. "So it seems. But at the time, I believed we were. As did Dick, and Alfred. Diana too, naturally."

Clark rubs his hands over his face. Bruce's eyes catch on his wedding ring. "But we—"

"We spent most of our time together, you were all but co-parenting my child, and we ended up in bed together most nights," Bruce interrupts. "Forgive me the mistake, Clark, but you didn't exactly set clear boundaries between friendship and whatever it is you catagorised our relationship as."

"So you've just...stuck by my side as I married and made a family with another woman?"

Affectionate little nibbles or snapping his teeth when he’s angry.

It confuses Bruce to no end but over time he finds it endearing and starts missing it as Dick gets older and turns to less unusual methods of communication.

Of course he’ll still do it occasionally if he’s particularly exhausted or distracted, a special little thing thats just theirs.

Until one day they’re in the Watch Tower after some near world ending event and everyone in the League and the Titans are exhausted beyond belief, especially the non metas, and all Dick wants in the world is something to eat before bed.

But Bruce is convinced he needs something healthy and nutritious to recover his energy and all Dick wants is some sugary cereal and he’s so tired and overwhelmed and distracted that when Bruce reaches across the counter to stubbornly take away the box after he’s only had two bowls Dick just leans forward and bites his hand in retaliation.

In front of the whole League and his team, completely on instinct.

He goes bright red under his domino while Bruce just stands there in shock with clear indentations on his hand, trying not to cry. He’s also tired from the mission and overwhelmed with how much he missed Dick’s little ways of showing affection and he promptly shoves the cereal back towards Dick.

He hesitantly reaches for the box, still blushing while Bruce is all teary eyed under the cowl as they sit in awkward silence at the counter.

Within a week the story of Nightwing biting Batman has passed to every member of both teams and no one knows what to think. Naturally neither Dick or Bruce clarifies anything but the story goes around for years with crazier and crazier variations.

Even though it’s silly neither of them can bring themselves to lie about it.

He's more metal than flesh, and his blood is pumped with maybe 20 years of toxins and poisons. Any baby wouldn't survive to infancy, least of all a few hours after birth. Besides that, there's also a risk of Bruce dying to childbirth too.

Could you imagine that Bruce gets pregnant and everyone is begging him to get rid of the kid. His family has begun borderline guilt tripping him, saying things that are as horrible as: "you want another kid so you can pretend you didn't fuck up with all of us." They've probably already tried to sicc abortifacient meds on him too.

Meanwhile Bruce withstand all of the scrutiny, absolutely ruined in tears because he knows they're right, that there is no chance this kid grows up happy and safe as long as they came from his body, but Bruce so desperately wants to have this one thing for himself that he is holding it off just hanging onto meager hope that it might be different.......

Damian showing him all his artwork because he knows that he will get the brightest smile and a “That looks beautiful sweetheart” every time

Dick being so excited to bring his dad to his gymnastics show because he knows that Bruce will start crying every time he lands a trick, without fail, and that means the women that come to watch will have someone else to fuss over

Someone at WE mentioning they don’t trust Tim because of his age and Bruce immediately scheduling a company wide meeting so he can express just how exceptional his son is. Tim’s face is the most red it has ever been the entire time

Cass doesn’t even have to do anything, he is just always looking at her with a fond little smile and on the verge of tears but sometimes, when she wants a little more then normal, she will take one of Jason’s books and read as much as she can aloud. That man absolutely loses it and hugs her as tight as he can while sobbing about how far his baby has come

Jason acts like he couldn’t care less about Bruce’s support, but the first time he overhears Bruce talking about him at a gala, telling some rich idiot who was questioning business decisions that Jason is the most competent man he has ever known and would trust him with not only the WE weapons department but his life, Jason pointedly does not look at Dick, who has a shit eating grin on his face, and walks as fast as he can to the bathroom

He catches a smile that’s a tad too fond, and he’s like ‘oh, they’re dating,’ and when they announce it a few months later, Bruce is unsurprised cause he labeled them as dating forever ago in his database

He doesn’t realize that some relationships are secret and being kept from him, because he naturally finds those things out. He is the world’s greatest detective after all. Any microexpression made in his presence has been analyzed and dissected easily

One of the kids thinks they’re hiding their relationship so well, but Bruce already knows how long they’ve been dating and where their first date was (cause they used his card to pay for everything)

He doesn’t say anything because… well, why would he? As long as there isn’t too much interference with their vigilante life, most of his children are grown adults and can do what they want.

Bruce is only oblivious to his own relationships. Or maybe, he simply chooses to ignore the obvious signs and act oblivious, simply because he believes it’s a better solution

If there’s someone who likes him, he knows it. Of course, he does; he’s been flirted with and hit on his entire life.

But if someone likes him and he also likes them back, then he suddenly can no longer use that big brain of his to tell what the other person is actually feeling

He truly believes he wouldn’t be able to give the other person the kind of love and attention they deserve while he lives his double life, even if this person was also a hero and had their own double life

It’s illogical, so he’ll pretend that he has no idea the object of his attraction also seems to be attracted to him, and he’ll keep them at arm's length. It’s the best he can do for them

Sooner or later, they’ll come to understand that he is nowhere near the wonderful, caring, compassionate, and good person some people see him as. He’s got darkness in him. He’s a monster that is barely being contained by his crusade to make his city a better place

Damian : Me, I’m behind the wall.

Duke : I'm in the fridge!

Cass : I’m in the ceiling.

Dick : And I'm in the closet.!

Steph : We accept you just the way you are, Dick!

Dick : No! I’m literally in the closet!

Jason : Love is Love~

Bruce : We love you too chum.

He thought he had been ready.

Ready to stand by Batman’s side, like the two Robin’s before him had, they too were children like him. He should have been ready.

He wasn’t.

He could still smell the blood, could still see the way the body had become slack and flopped to the floor when the frantic knife had entered easily.

The way the blood pooled, and how even when it was removed later by the police, a jelly like goop was still left behind on the pavement. It looked like strawberry marmalade had simply been left behind on the ground, and not like it had, second before, been inside of a breathing human.

He wasn’t ready to have to wash the blood off his boot and gloves when he returned to the Drake manor either.

Bruce had said something on the way back, had apologized some and tried to comfort him, but it had become a jumbled mess as it simply made the images, smell and feeling return even worse.

Alfred had offered to take the suit, but it didn’t feel right, and he had slipped away the second he could.

Tim didn’t think he had cried that much since he had been a toddler.

He wasn’t sure he was ready for the next one either, but he would have to be.