Anonymous asked: 3. "I care about you." batfamily (: or the sequel everyone's been asking me about

When Bruce gets home late from a meeting with Lucius on a cold winter evening, he's surprised to find his children waiting up for him in the living room.

Well. Not quite waiting up, he thinks as he walks into the room and sees most of his kids sleeping on various pieces of furniture. Tim is curled up in an armchair, and the love seat across from him in occupied by Stephanie and Cassandra. Jason's sprawled out on the floor, and all four of them are wrapped up in blankets. On the main couch in front of the fireplace, Duke is dozing on the side closest to him, a blanket around his shoulder's, too. Next to him is Damian, completely cuddled up to Dick in his sleep, and Dick is...

Awake.

Bruce's half-smile falls into a grimace. He doesn't like that look on Dick's face. It can only really mean a few things, and based on the arm Dick has curled around Damian and the panic attack in the shower that Dick had had the other day, Bruce thinks he knows what it's about.

Bruce sighs and runs a hand down his face, prepping himself for the conversation he should have had with Dick two days ago, when Dick had come downstairs for breakfast the morning after, a smile plastered on his face as he led a groggy Tim into the kitchen. Bruce hadn't spoken up then, just like he's never spoken up about it. He'd let it slide, and he regrets it now.

Dick still looks exhausted, but unlike the rest of his siblings, he isn't sleeping. Even though he must know Bruce is in the room, he keeps his eyes on the crackling fire, and Bruce thinks that it's now or never.

"Dick," Bruce says lowly, but Dick doesn't even twitch. Bruce moves in front of where Dick's sitting on the couch, gets in front of Dick's line of vision, and crouches. And it's only then that Dick's gaze meet Bruce's. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Dick says, his eyes settling on Bruce's shoulder. His voice is hoarse, and it almost sounds like Dick's been crying. That thought twists Bruce's heart into a shape he can't identify, and he can't help it when he seeks Dick's hand out and holds it in his own, squeezing it lightly. Dick squeezes back, and says in a somewhat steadier voice, "I'm okay. I've just had a rough week."

Bruce hums, and they sit in the soft silence left behind by Dick's words. The room is quiet beside the even breathing of Bruce's children, and Bruce squeezes Dick's hand again when he sees Dick's expression scrunch up and his hold on Damian tighten slightly.

"You know," Bruce says, his voice gentle and his expression what he hopes is open, "I know that sometimes I don't make it clear, but I do care about you. All of you."

"I know," Dick whispers.

He sounds like he's on the edge of breaking down, and there's that ache in Bruce's chest again, like his heart is being ripped out. It always feels like this whenever one of his kids gets hurt. Physically or emotionally. Especially if it's this kid—and. That's what he is, isn't he? He's still Bruce's kid. His son. And Bruce doesn't ever know how to handle this. He wonders what he was thinking all those years when he decided to take Dick in and raise him.

(That's not true. Bruce knows exactly what he was thinking. And he knows that if he hadn't decided to take Dick in, then he probably wouldn't be here now.)

Bruce detangles his fingers from Dick's and manages to move Damian to rest on Duke's shoulder instead, just in time to catch Dick when he crumples forward with silent sobs. Amazingly, Damian doesn't wake up, and Dick pushes himself forward, sliding arms around Bruce's middle and collapses onto the floor, practically in Bruce's lap, his head buried in Bruce's shoulder.

Bruce just rocks Dick back and forth, holding the back of his head. Dick's shaking with the force of his sobs, and Bruce closes his eyes, wishing he could take the hurt away from his son. This hard enough for him to bear, and he can't even imagine what Dick's going through. He doesn't even know what the problem is.

But that seems like something that can come later, when Dick isn't literally crying into his shoulder. For now, Bruce is here for Dick. This time really is different.