Brothers To The Bitter End

19

Tim winced slightly as he knocked on the door. Dick was always happy to see him, but telling his brother that he needed to stay on a permanent basis? He wasn't sure how his brother would take that, especially since Wally, Roy, Lian, Ricky, Jason, and Damian all seemed to be staying at Dick's with no intention of leaving and Stephanie and Cass, who were currently taking down crime in Europe, dropped in for unexpected visits of unknown durations rather frequently (neither girl seemed to be capable of remembering that putting their leather suits in the wash made them shrink).

Dick opened the door before Tim could chicken out. "Timmy! Hey! Come on in,"

As Tim sidled in he gave Dick an odd look. "Have you sprouted an extra pair of legs out of your shoulders since I saw you?"

Dick laughed and an unmistakable snort sounded from somewhere behind Dick. "For the protege of the self proclaimed 'World's Greatest Detective', you're not very quick on the uptake, Drake,"

"Wait, Demom Spawn?"

Dick turned around and revealed a very smug Damian hanging upside down off of Dick's shoulders. "Yes?"

"What are you doing there?"

"Gray calls it "playtime." I call it demeaning, but it makes him happy," Damian shrugged as best he could upside down, "so I allow him to do it."

"I . . . am at a loss . . . wait, where's Jay and Roy and Wally?"

Dick chuckled a little. "Roy and Wally decided that it was getting a little crowded with two growing kids and the rest of us, so we bought the house next door to make a bigger yard, and Wal and Roy moved over there to give themselves more space. Jay part times here, but during the day and into the evenings he stays over there to watch Lian and Richie."

"Well, that makes my next request a little easier,"

"Uh-oh. I hear a big request coming. Shall we continue this over dinner?"

"Quite so, Master Richard, but I so believe that I shall cook dinner while you and Master Timothy catch up," Alfred had quietly entered through the front door and was carrying multiple bags under his arms looking entirely at ease.

"Alfred!" Dick would have thrown his arms around his old butler if his hands hadn't been full of Damian's ankles.

"Release me, Grayson! I must get a look at this man," Damian wiggled out of Dick's hands and flipped off his back and landed neatly on his feet. Damian straightened, coming about midway up Dick's chest, and eyed Alfred. "So you're the infamous Batler?"

Alfred returned Damian's appraising stare. "That I am, Master Damian. I must say that I am quite impressed."

A small smirk crossed Damian's lips. "I quite feel the same about you. Much more impressed than I was by your former employer,"

"Former employer?" Tim exclaimed. "But how did you . . ."

"Simple," Dick interjected. "The fact that you're here with what looks like the remains of what stuff was left at Bruce's place when you were supposed to be spending winter break over there,"

"Plus the fact that you commandeered your foster parent's butler," Damian added smugly.

"Lends the assumption that you and Bruce had a bad falling out. And ipso facto, thusly, and ergo you must need a place to stay on a permanent basis, thus bringing you back to our humble abode about two and a half weeks early,"

"And that is legitimate proof why Robin is always more talented than Batman," Jason concluded satisfactorily, coming out of the kitchen and eating a salad for no apparent reason. "'Sup, Alfie. Long time no see,"

"Master Jason. I see you're still the healthiest eater out of the entire family,"

Jason grinned, but said nothing due to the enormous amount of lettuce he had just shoved into his mouth.

"What I wanna know," Dick said, trying to steer the conversation back to topic, "is what you and Bruce had a falling out about,"

"I believe that is my cue to begin dinner and your cue to retire to the living room," Alfred said, gently steering the four boys into the living room.
*************
"How much does Bruce still remember about us?" Dick asked as they finished up their delicious meal of pasta. Alfred had joined them for dinner tonight since they didn't really have a place for him to eat otherwise.

"I don't know," Tim admitted. "I was afraid of probing him for information because the few times I tried, he got really violent,"

Jason sighed. "I did tell him those memory pills were extremely volatile,"

Damian snorted. "As if Father would ever listen to someone like you,"

Before Jason could retaliate, Dick cut them off. "So you're saying that Bruce is searching for us, but doesn't remember us, and that makes it dangerous for you,"

"Sort of? I thought that I should at least warn you guys that Batman was on your trail,"

"We appreciate the warning, Timmy," Jason said, actually being kind for once as he ruffled his younger brother's hair. "But I sincerely doubt that Bruce is going to be able to corner us. He certainly wasn't able to when we were with the League,"

Damian chuckled darkly. "Even the great Batman himself is no match for the shrewdness of the League,"

"Regardless of whether we believe Bruce can catch up with us or not," Dick interjected smoothly, "I think it's for the best if you don't go back to the manor,"

"Yeah, I kind of figured. It's been weird there anyways with the wedding preparations going on,"

"Hmph. I have no idea what Father sees in that villain. I would've thought it would be against his 'bring everyone to justice' routine,"

"I always pegged him with Diana anyways," Jason said, stabbing Damian's hand with a fork after the Demon tried to grab the last roll off Jason's plate.

"Wonder Woman? Really?" Damian snorted.

"Even though I find this conversation of Master Bruce's potential partner in life riveting," Alfred interrupted before Damian could argue in favor of whoever he believed to be Bruce's soulmate, "I do believe I had better excuse myself to begin putting the house in rights. Especially since I am sure that Mr. West's and Mr. Harper's house is at least a hundred times worse than this one,"

"Wait, are you saying?" Dick asked hopefully.

"Yes, Master Richard. Since all of you boys are here, I believe that my duty is here with you rather than with Master Bruce, whose judgment I have been calling into question as of late,"

"Oh Alfred!" Dick hugged the butler who smiled and patted the affectionate young man on the back.

"Well, this whole situation is turning out just great," Jason smiled briefly before attempting to pry Damian off of his arm where the Demon had latched on with teeth and nails. "Little help here?"