Chapter Text
Bruce had noticed the change, he always did. But for the first time in so long, he couldn’t place what had changed. Whether it was the undeniable presence of someone new in the shadows, or the fact his oldest son wasn’t telling him something.
Dick was hiding something, he was sure of it. The lack of communication recently had put a strain on teamwork, and would surely put lives in danger sooner or later.
It wasn’t that his son couldn’t have secrets. Everyone had them.
But when Dick looked so much happier than he had in so long? When Dick was, for the first time, distracted? Bruce wanted to know what had caused it, especially if there was something he could be doing better.
Tim was sitting beside him. Tim knew. Tim had come to Bruce first. Try as he could, he couldn’t deny Tim’s similarities to him. He wanted to, though. He didn’t want Tim to end up like him. But he shared Bruce’s general paranoia in a way that none of the others did. And he’d noticed.
Noticed the way Dick was walking with a spring in his step these days. Noticed the way Dick smiled more often. Noticed the way the dark circles under his eyes, always covered but always there, had vanished.
He loves his son. And he wants nothing more than for him to be happy. But something had definitely changed. And Bruce didn’t like not knowing.
But he had to wait. His kids would come to him with anything important. Dick wasn’t his little boy anymore, not the kid who hung from chandeliers to mess with Alfred or put stickers on Bruce’s cape to cheer him up.
( Even if he still did those things as an adult occasionally. )
He had grown. Grown in a way Bruce was proud of. And would come to Bruce if anything concerning had happened. That was just what Bruce would have to believe.
His children were always a top priority. But the worries about Dick didn’t occupy as much of his mind as this new figure did. They could handle themselves for the most part, and they were not unknown. Not like the sightings of a cape disappearing behind a corner, at least.
It seemed to be a new vigilante, or someone who wanted to be. Bruce couldn’t voice if he was a danger or not– there was not nearly enough evidence of such– although the uncanny ability of being able to hide from Barbara's sight was enough to raise uncertainty that this was a mere amateur.
Jason had encountered him once, but his approval seemed to cloud his apprehension. The figure had been taking care of a rather vile person, one who Jason disapproved of. He had always hated crimes like those foul ones.
( So did Bruce. )
But that incident seemed to paint the figure in a good light to the rest of the family. They didn’t seem all that concerned. But it was someone whose motivations and powers were unbeknownst to him. And he hated not knowing, especially when it came to his city.
Therefore, due to this unknown, he was currently seated at the Batcomputer. He’d been seated there, hunched over and contemplating, for the better part of the day. Tim had attempted to get him out to the cave, though it had not been successful.
Which is why he had now been looking through security footage, reports, sightings and articles for around seven hours.
Jason’s encounter had left a lot to the imagination. The only description his son could give was of a figure with a red cape. Their weapon of choice was a sword. He had little to work with. Almost nothing to decipher.
News reports were scarce. No one seemed to be as concerned with the figure as Bruce was. A lot of Internet users had taken to them though. They’d even made a name for themself. ‘The blade’, after their signature weapon. The only thing anyone could catch sight of.
He was worried, to say the least. Worried about the city. Worried about his family. He was always worried. He worried so his children never had to.
✦
To say Tim was kind of worried about Bruce would be an understatement.
Bruce has been looking at news articles and reports upon reports of the new figure that had been inconsistently showing up in Gotham.
For the past seven hours straight.
Don’t get him wrong, Tim has his fair share of curiosities about the figure. Their identity, their powers, whether they had any at all, and their status as either a good guy or a bad guy was relatively unknown.
There’s been recordings of them getting some major hits on an asshole Jason had been after, only to flee the scene when Jason arrived. They’re an interesting topic for everyone staying in the manor at the moment.
However, Tim thinks Bruce is being a bit much.
He’s supposed to be benched, but when has that ever managed to stop any of them from being Gotham’s local busybodies?
At the three hour mark, Tim had tried to tell Bruce to knock it off, to no avail. He’d just gotten a grunt and then an annoyed look that made Bruce’s message clear: ‘hypocrite’.
He’d remained silent after that.
Yes, he had managed to inherit his Dad’s worst workaholic traits. Akin to Bruce, he just couldn’t stop himself from meddling, even when he was supposed to be off duty. That didn’t mean he couldn’t recognise or criticise Bruce’s fervent work episodes.
He’d been staring at the different articles, police reports, and even twitter threads on the identity of Gotham's mysterious new figure for too long, even by Tim’s standards.
( The twenty nine open tabs were starting to bother Tim. Who needs that many Tabs open? )
Finally, his Dad sighed and swept all the things off of the monitor table, swiftly turning the computer off.
( Without even closing the tabs? Geez, that’s a bit much even for you, Bruce. )
‘I was supposed to tell you Alfred was making cookies. Like, about four hours ago.’ Tim makes the exaggerated motion of checking a watch on his hand, which gets an amused eye roll from Bruce.
They make their way to the stairs in relative silence. Him and Bruce have never really been the talking kind, usually there’s a more sociable member of the family like Dick or Steph or even Jason to fill the silence. Even in their absence, the lack of conversation wasn’t uncomfortable.
He had always associated the quiet with an absence of care. That had always been the case in Drake manor. His childhood home always had an air of inherent stillness. But this silence was not negligence. He knew Bruce cared.
“Timmy.” Bruce says, and Tim realises it’s his first spoken word in a few hours. Bruce had a tendency to go non-verbal at times, but it hadn’t been happening much these days.
Bruce tended to go quiet when things upset him. And right now, he seemed very, very worried.
“What’s wrong?” Tim asks immediately, and Bruce frowns. Obviously it’s the new figure, but new vigilantes pop up in Gotham all the time. But Tim had a clearer idea of why Bruce was so fixated on them. He could understand where Bruce was coming from, because could understand Bruce’s anxieties more than any of the others.
“They’re avoiding the Oracle’s cameras. Very efficiently.”
“Yeah, they’re hard to avoid. I’m sure only one of us could -“
Oh.
Tim turned to make eye contact with Bruce. Bruce wouldn’t look at him.
“Do you think.. They have inside help?”
Bruce furrowed his brow, “I trust all of you with my life.”
“But you’re considering it.”
“How else would they be able to avoid Oracle's cameras so well? They know every blind spot. I can’t help but think it might be someone in the family.”
“Look, I get it. But don’t let it get to you. Don’t do that to our family.” Tim’s voice came out more emotional than he’d meant it to get. He couldn’t help it. They were all together for once. They were all happy.
He looked up at Bruce, who shook his head and sighed. “They’re not doing anything bad. I’m not even sure if they’re in the vigilante scene.”
Tim snorts. “Yeah, maybe they just like beating up rapists in their free time.” Bruce blinks, unaware of the sarcasm, “I used to do that as a teen.”
After a moment of stunned silence, Bruce turns to read Tim’s expression. “What?” He asks.
“Yeah, nothing. I’ll just file that away in my head for later.” Tim replies.
“You’re on the bat computer too much. It’s making you talk weird.”
“That’s rich coming from the guy who was just on it for seven hours.”
Bruce sighs, but the corner of his mouth twitches up like he’s suppressing a smile.
They’ve all been happier recently. Cass is back at the manor, so Steph visits often. Duke has been happier too, even after everything that had happened the year prior. Jason had been showing up more than usual, and even occasionally staying the night. Dick has been way happier than usual. His big brother seems to smile even when people don’t look at him these days. Even Tim and Damian have been getting along. They’d even hung out the other day, a weird but welcome experience for Tim.
The family was happy. They were doing better. And whoever was going to come in between that, well..
Tim resolved to look into this mysterious figure. He needed to solve the problem before it even became one.
✦
“So.” Bruce says, sitting down at the dining table with all of them and looking positively conflicted. He looks at the empty plate that used to have cookies on them. He looks kind of like a kicked puppy.
“So?” Jason drawls, shooting Tim a questioning look. Tim gives him a worn expression.
“The new. Person. Vigilante.” Bruce starts, and they all groan. Maybe they’d all been spending too much time together, even their reactions to Bruce’s bullshit were synchronised.
Bruce doesn’t even seem surprised. Instead he looked around for a moment.
“Where’s Dick?”
Jason is unimpressed. “Did you forget he lives in Bludhaven or what?”
“Usually he’s here when we’re all hanging out though,” Tim cuts in, “He has some kind of a sixth sense for that stuff.”
Consider Jason confused as fuck. “So you guys just never invite him for stuff? Just count on him to show up?”
“Yeah, pretty much.” Tim shrugs.
“Wow. I’m sure that does wonders for his mental health. Do you guys actually just count on him to show up?”
Damian looks annoyed at Jason’s insinuations. “Richard knows he is wanted here. He shows up when he needs to. He is family, there is no need to invite him. I do not see how inviting him could affect his mental state positively.”
Jason’s about to shoot back an annoyed statement, but he’s interrupted by the door ringing.
“That’ll be him.” Tim says, giving Jason a smug look. He looks at Cass for help, but she seems to be lost in thought. He flicks her hand just softly enough to not cause her to not judo flip him or something of the sort. She looks up and shrugs.
“I’ll go get it, I haven’t seen him in a while.”Duke offers, smiling. They all offer various gestures of affirmation, so he goes.
A few moments later, Jason hears two pairs of footsteps. “Hey guys!” Says the cheerfully bright asshole. Maybe Dick is some sort of eldritch being who manifests when people mention him. Jason wouldn’t be surprised.
“Richard. Father is being irritating.” Damian complains lightheartedly. Bruce grunts, mildly annoyed. Dick laughs.
“What is it this time, B?”
Bruce raises his eyebrow. “This time?”
Cass beams at Dick and gestures to the empty seat beside her. Dick gives her a matching bright grin in return and rushes over to embrace her.
She’s possibly the only one ( apart from Duke ) who Dick can hug without getting punched. Or stabbed, in Damian’s case.
Bruce seems to get back on Topic. “The new vigilante.”
“He’s not a vigilante, we don’t know for sure.” Tim replies quickly.
“It seemed pretty sure when he was beating the shit out of a rapist.” Jason gave Bruce a long look before continuing, “He’s got my respect. I like him.”
“Maybe he just likes beating up rapists in his free time.” Duke suggests.
“Ah, a man of culture.” Jason says, and sees Dick smile ever so slightly.
Bruce ignores them. “Cassie?”
Cass looks up at him unblinkingly. “He’s.. dangerous. But not bad.” She pauses for a moment, before saying, “I can take him.”
The statement seems to get a laugh out of Dick. Jason laughs too. Damian smiles. They all know it’s probably true.
“Do you think he has any relation to the new vigilante in Blud?” Tim continues Bruce’s tirade, looking at Dick.
“Oh, you mean Purpled? I don’t think so. I can ask him if you want, though.” He says good naturedly, “Or interrogate him.” He adds for good measure.
“The vigilante- Oh my god, can we come up with a better name? I sound so lame.” Tim grits his teeth. “You always sound lame, Timothy.” Damian say smugly.
“Tim, don’t strangle him.” Bruce cuts in before they can do anything, but he doesn’t look quite focused on them. Dick puts a hand between them, a brave act. The Demon could get stabby, and Tim was prone to biting.
After a few seconds, Bruce asks, “What do you think, Dick?”
Dick looks up in surprise, with Duke on his shoulders and Tim hanging off of his shoulder, involuntarily from the looks of it. Jason doesn’t even bother to wonder how this even happened in the few minutes he’d looked away.
Bruce probably feels like this all the time. Maybe he should cut the old man some slack for the first time in his revival.
Bruce gave Jason an exasperated look, which was somehow fond. Jason just smiled back at him, which caused him to roll his eyes and look back at Dick. He decided he’d think about it.
“About ‘The Blade’? I know he shows up in ‘Haven, but I’ve never actually seen him.” Dick shrugs, “I can’t really say much about him, I don’t know the guy. But I don’t think he’s actually dangerous.”
✦
“Tech. Techno. Baby. Darling.” Dick flops onto the demigod, who drops the axe in his hand to catch him.
“Bruh.”
“You dropped an axe on the floor.” Dick frowns.
“It was that or you.”
Dick wrapped his arms around Techno’s waist. “You’d never drop me.” He says, smiling up at Techno.
Techno glares at him, and he laughs. They both knew it was true.
“Are you tired?” Techno asks, after a moment. Dick nods enthusiastically, “Bed. With my wonderful husband. Please.”
“Life partner. We’re not married.” Techno deadpans.
“Not yet!”
They just stare at each other for a bit. Dick thinks Techno looks very soothing. Not beautiful in the way he’d found Babs or Star. He knew what he had with Techno was different. But it was still love, love by the likes of which he’s never known.
Techno was safe. If Dick was with Techno, he knew he’d be safe.
Techno raises an eyebrow at him. “What?”
“What, What?” Dick parrots.
“You’re smiling.” Techno says, the start of a smile starting to tug at his own lips, too.
Was he? He hadn’t even realised. Smiling came so easy these days.
“It’s nothing, you sap.” Techno gives him an unimpressed look. It’s clear he doesn’t buy it.
“You know, my family asked about you today.” Dick says offhandedly, and Techno’s face develops a look of horror that Dick thinks is quite funny.
“Heh?”
“Yeah. They think you’re some kind of vigilante.” He says, pushing Techno’s hair out of his eyes. Who cut it? It’s uneven.
“What did I even do? I stayed out of your vigilante businesses.” Techno looks annoyed.
“That guy you beat up. Jason saw. You probably shouldn’t have done that.”
“He deserved it.” Techno’s eyes shine with a fierce kind of anger.
Dick sighs softly and leans against Techno. He’s so lucky.