Family Ties Chapter 1 School Days

The phone rang in Bruce's study. He snatched it up on the second ring. "Wayne Manor…Yes, Bruce Wayne speaking…Ah, Principal, how may I help?...Jason and Tim? What have they?...Yes, I see, I'll be right over." He slammed the phone down. Almost as an afterthought, he indulged himself in throwing it across the room.

As he stormed down to the garage, he ran into Dick. "I know that look," his eldest son said. "What happened?"

"Tim and Jason got into a fight," Bruce growled

"Who with?" Dick sighed.

"Each other." Bruce resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his boys' antics.

"Ah. I assume they both…?" Dick trailed off, letting a slight tremor run through his body to signify injury or incapacitation.

"Nothing serious. Yet." Bruce bit off the words before musing that if that kind of behaviour kept up, he'd be the one causing injury.

"Want me to come with you?" Dick offered, avoiding flinching from the aggravated fury in his father's eyes.

"That would be wise. Thank you," Bruce said, thankful that he'd have someone to help him keep his temper in check. Really, didn't those boys know what acceptable behaviour in public was yet?

They got into one of the less flashy cars and drove off.

When they reached the school and were shown into the principal's office, Tim and Jason were glaring at each other over folded arms. "Alright then, what was it about this time?" Bruce sighed.

"He showed me up in class," Jason muttered.

"You're in the same class?" Dick asked, slightly confused. He hadn't been paying attention when Bruce told him he'd sorted out schooling, but there was a three year age gap; surely that counted for something.

"Jason had to go back a few years, and it clashed with Tim's advanced placement classes," Bruce explained to Dick before turning back to Jason. "What do you mean, 'showed you up'?"

"He needs to work on his chemistry, that's all," Tim said, mildly irritated, and, potentially, mockingly.

"Just 'cause I can't recite the Periodic Table-!"

"Enough!" Bruce exclaimed. "Would you both stop being so petty?"

"Sorry," they both muttered, looking at the floor.

"Now grow up!" he growled, looking so frustrated even Dick had to take a step back lest it turn to anger.

"Ah, Mr. Wayne?" the principal interjected. "We have a policy that any student fighting gets sent home for the rest of the day. Do you mind…?"

"Not at all," Bruce smiled tightly. "I'm sorry my boys have made such a bad impression on you. They are usually capable of behaving; I'm sure they'll do better in the future."

"At least Damian isn't here," Dick added under his breath.

At that moment, as if on cue, Damian barged through the door. "Miss Curtis says I'm to give you this," he said, presenting the principal with a handwritten note. Then he looked around. "Let me guess. Drake and Todd were fighting, so you had to come get them. What's Grayson doing here?"

Behind them, the principal quietly read out the list of misdemeanours while Bruce and Dick glowered at Damian, and Tim and Jason stared daggers at each other. "Disrespect, threatening students, bad language, violent behaviour…Mr. Wayne, would you please take this one away as well?"

Later, in the car home, the apparent stupidity of the boys was sinking in. "I can't believe this," Bruce exploded from the front passenger seat. "On your first day, all of you end up in the principal's office! Can't you behave yourselves for one day?!"

Squashed in the back, the three disgraced Wayne boys muttered apologies.

"Do you have any idea how hard it will be to get you educated if you insist on behaving like that?"

Bruce paused for breath, and Damian jumped in. "So why'd you bring Grayson?" he demanded again, squirming and worried; Dick had been the one who originally taught him proper behaviour.

"Because I'm not sure I could drive in a straight line right now," Bruce growled, nodding to Dick behind the wheel.

"The mind boggles as to how you got into trouble, Tim," Dick said. "What made you fight Jason? Besides the obvious."

"It wasn't the obvious. He was moaning about having to learn molecular structure, and I said it was important to know. He said he already knew all the chemistry he needed, and started listing explosive compounds. The teacher started looking nervous, and I told him to stop it. He said why, and I told him he had too limited a field of expertise, and he hit me."

"You sneered at me! In class! Not only am I studying pointless subjects with children years younger than me, the Replacement sneers at me!" Jason shot a furious glare, and probably would have tried punching Tim if Damian hadn't been in the way.

"Tim, don't sneer at Jason. Jason, don't hit Tim. And stop calling him 'Replacement'," Bruce said. "Damian? Care to account for your behaviour?"

"They're all stupid, worthless wimps and the teachers are pig-ignorant-"

"Damian!" Bruce counted to ten before continuing. "You can think whatever you like about them, as long as you behave as if you respect them."

"Why?"

"Because that's the right way to do things! If you can't act the part to the general public, how can I trust you to act correctly anywhere else?"

"I'm a good actor." Damian responded sulkily.

"Well, prove it." He sighed wearily. "You three are grounded until further notice. You can use the time to catch up on what you should be studying right now."

The boys started hissing recriminations at each other, only to fall silent at the look Bruce shot them in the mirror.

They managed fifteen minutes without fighting. Bruce knew, because he started a stop-clock after shutting himself in his study. Reluctantly, he tracked down the source of the disturbance. He soon found Tim and Damian rolling around on the floor, trying to tear chunks out of each other. Dick was trying desperately to separate them, to no avail. He gestured for a watching Jason to help him, and finally got them apart.

"I don't care what that was about, but I don't want to see it again," he said. "Go to your rooms."

As the boys slunk off, Bruce beckoned Dick. "What happened to Tim? He's such a good kid; what's his problem?"

Dick shrugged. "He's sharing a home with two guys who tried to kill him, what do you think's the problem?"

Bruce sighed. "I'm sure they'll sort it out eventually."

"Hopefully before someone gets maimed," Dick muttered, before heading back to his own studies.

AN: Welcome to Family Ties! This is the story of how the Bats go through their daily lives, full of excitement, injury, and of course, interacting with each other. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Please give me feedback at whatever point you fancy, whether that's as you read or when you get to the end. I love reviews, and I'm always willing to try and answer your questions.

A huge thank you to my wonderful beta batfan7, whose magic touch makes these chapters shine.

Enjoy the ride.

Katara Harkness