Chapter Text
Dick hated CADMUS. CADMUS always did the creepiest experiments and they just looooved clones. He was on the clean up crew. The Justice League had taken care of the top floors and were currently further down into whatever horrid depths were below. Honestly, he was happy to be here on the second floor, trying to help the poor rats, bunnies, and lizards that had been experimented on. It was clear they had been doing something with regenerative qualities, based on the Lazarus Water the League had been able to find. Also the strange, slightly glowing green limbs that some of the animals sported was kind of a dead give away. He was helping Robin with some rabbits when Batman approached him.
“Nightwing. Robin. You’re needed below,” he told them curtly before turning around, his cape flapping dramatically. And they said Jay was the dramatic one in the family. Dick sighed, before putting the rabbit in a cage to be transported to S.T.A.R. labs.
“Come on Robin,” he said, dusting off some imaginary dirt from his suit before standing up and offering his hand to the younger man. “His tone didn’t sound good, something must be up.” Robin took his hand and they made their way after Batman. The older man was waiting for them in front of the elevator. Dick could tell from the firm press of his mouth that something was bothering Batman - Bruce. Robin (Damian) was silent as well, picking up on the fact that something was amiss.
The elevator went deep. Level 19. The doors opened, Batman stepped out, leading them towards the large, liquid filled cylinder. Inside was a human child. The long, black hair moved gently in the water. As the child was not clothed, they could see that it was a boy. Or at least, male presenting. Semantics. Dick was being distracted by the small things.
“We have reviewing the data in regards to this… this specimen. It seems that once the alarms went off that we were here, they attempted to destroy the evidence of his creation and purpose. What we did find,” here, Batman paused, then continued, “was that they used DNA of a Robin. It doesn’t say which one. That part is… gone. I have called your brothers. He will be transferred to the Watchtower, where we can determine his parentage and determine what will happen with him. I merely… wanted you two to be able to see him.”
Superman came up and put a reassuring hand on Batman's shoulder. Those two were sickenly sweet, if you knew what to look for. Turning back to look at the tube, Dick stared at it. All of them had black hair. The boy’s skin wasn’t as pale as Tim’s. Nor was it as dark as Damian’s. He was likely either Jason’s or Dick’s. Dick hasn’t been Robin in years though.
“Hey B, is he just a straight 100% clone? Or does he have all sorts of DNA in him? Kinda like a chimera?” he asked curiously. Batman looked up briefly from the documents.
“I don’t believe he is a clone. Similar to Superboy, I think multiple… species and donors were used to create him.” Dick nodded.
Okay.
So he couldn’t rule out Damian or Tim then as the father of the boy. As strange as these circumstances were, Dick couldn’t help but be excited. He was going to be an uncle! If the kid had Damian’s pout? They would be so adorable! Or Timmy’s big, sharp blue eyes and his intellect? The kid was going to be an adorable menace! And if he was Jay’s kid? He was gonna spoil the crap out of them, to make up for lost time. Yeah! Dick was going to be the best uncle ever!
***
He really should have considered himself a possibility more. The DNA, even though it degraded like crazy, even though they’d only taken it like an hour ago, proved that he, Richard Grayson, was the father. Or at least, the human father. The other DNA was practically gone. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for some key alleles, then this test would have been inconclusive.
He’d been wrong though.
He wasn’t becoming an uncle.
He was a dad.
Dick… didn’t know what to make of it. The boy had been removed from the tube, bathed, and his hair cut. Yet he didn’t wake up. It had been four days. Barbara and Tim had managed to recover some of the files. They had pissed everyone off. He may have punched a punching bag until his hands were bruised and his knuckles were raw and bleeding. Dick has tuned out the lecture Bruce and Alfred had given him. That was his baby! His kid! And they’d done… they’d done all those things!
No wonder the kid wasn’t waking up.
No one would after torture and experimentation like that.
Speaking of Babs.
They’d been together for what, five months this time? They’d decided to try dating again, now that they were both older and more mature. It had been going well! Really well. And now… now he’d had to propose a break, while he figured everything out with his brand new kid. Surprise! Babs, the sweetheart that she was, had understood. His life had completely changed now. He didn’t blame the boy, of course not. Dick was excited and terrified. If he could just be half the parents his were… he would be happy. He could take everything he’d learned, from his parents, Bruce, and Alfred, Dick was certain his kid would be okay. He wouldn’t fail his boy.
He was sitting in the cafeteria, stirring at his soup when he got an alert on his phone. The heart monitors and everything else began to show that the boy was crashing. Fear and panic raced through him as he got up and raced towards the room. He knew all of the others would be by shortly. But… his son… his child that had been hurt was dying. He’d never even gotten a chance to meet him. To name him. To love him. All his boy had known was pain. That hurt more than anything else.
Dick rounded the corner, terrified for what he was about to see.
He halted, surprised when he saw the bed empty, the machines blaring as the person they were connected to was gone. As he stepped forward to turn them off, he noticed on the far side of the room was the boy. He was sitting in front of the floor to ceiling window, staring out into space with a look of awe and wonder on his face. His little hands were pressed against the glass as he gazed upon the cosmos.
Dick felt his heart melt.
What an utter cutie.
He took a deep breath before slowly and gently walking over to the child. His son hadn’t noticed him yet. He reached out and touched the child’s arm. Blue, curious eyes looked back at him. They looked nearly identical to his own.
“Hey buddy. Can you understand me?” he asked gently. The boy nodded. He had pretty, long eyelashes and straight black hair. All just like Dick. Really, how could he not have seen it before?
“Do you - do you know who you are?” Dick asked. Had they called him clone? Had they told him he was just and experiment? Dick was going to push for no leniancy for any of those CADMUS fuckers. His kid shook his head ‘no’ once more.
“Okay. Do you wanna go back to bed? You have to be tired, right? You can barely move.” He may have an ulterior motive of getting his kid back in bed and checked over. It would make him feel better.
“No,” the boy rasped out, before looking confused. Those small hands left the window before reaching up to touch his throat. Hearing something, Dick looked out the corner of his eye to see Tim in his Red Robin attire hovering by the bed. Damian, dressed as Robin, came through the door as he looked over there. He wouldn’t be surprised if the others would be here soon. The exceptions would probably be Duke, Steph, and Cass as they all had stuff going on. College, being a nurse, and being halfway across the planet were all good excuses.
“Well, you’re cold aren’t you? Let’s get you a blanket.” Dick made sure to say it loud enough for the others to hear. Tim hurried off, then came back with a thick and fuzzy blanket. Sending a smile of gratitude Tim’s way, he opened up the blanket and wrapped it around the boy who was still sitting splayed legged on the floor.
“Here.” The blanket was soon wrapped around his son, resting on his little shoulders. He was just so tiny and cute. Shock and surprise briefly flashed across the boy’s face as he pulled the blanket around him like a little cloak.
“Thank you,” the boy whispered, his voice stronger and more sure than before. His little boy could talk. Well, he’d kinda known that when his kid had said no earlier. He was trying to be kind! And to make a good first impression here! Speaking of which.
“You’re welcome. I’m Nightwing.” He said, introducing himself. His boy nodded, accepting Dick’s introduction? “You’re in space. We’re on the Watchtower, the Justice League’s secret base! Aren’t you a lucky bird?” He continued, making sure to keep his tone light and happy. Dick wanted his son to feel safe, to feel that it was okay.
“Not a bird,” his boy protested.
“No? What are you then?” he asked with a grin.
“A human.” Didn’t that hit him right in the feels. No matter everything that happened to him, a lot of which Dick and the rest didn’t know about, he knew he was a human. His son knew he wasn’t an experiment. That - that took a massive load off of Dick’s chest.
“Yeah. Yeah you are,” Dick responded softly. He really didn’t need to freak the kid out by crying.
Jason had clearly shown up behind them, Bruce not too long after. He could hear their whispers, but he appreciated that they were leaving Dick some space with his kid. His baby. Okay, so the parenting instincts were kicking in quick. Not that it ever took long for him to get attached, but still! This was probably a record.
“Am I someone?” That startled Dick out of his thoughts, as he turned to look at his son. They’d been sitting for quite a while.
“What do you mean?” Dick asked, slightly confused.
“I don’t remember anything. But I know things I shouldn’t. I’m not a baby. I’m older than that.” his son paused, keeping his eyes on the Dick’s face. “I was someone, right? I just lost my memories?”
Okay.
Okay okay okay.
This was very good.
But also bad.
Good that his son didn’t remember all of the torture, experimentation, and everything else. Bad cause now Dick had to somehow explain all of this…
“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” he whispered sadly.
“Will you tell me?” Was this how B felt when he asked for stuff as a kid? Struggling not to give in and give the cute little angel child in front of him everything they ever wanted?
“Sure. But not right now, okay? You need to eat and now that you’re awake, we need to do a wellness check. Can you stand?” Deflecting. Distraction. That Dick could do for now.
There was no way it was going to last forever.
If his kid was as curious as he was, it would only last a few days, at most.
“Can you help me? They don’t move right.” Dick frowned. That wasn’t good. He stood up, then offered his hand to the boy.
“Sure. We’ll need to scan them, see what’s wrong with them,” he remarked. That tiny hand reached out, grabbing his offered hand. The boy wobbled, but managed to stand on his shaky legs. He leaned heavily on Dick, but that was totally fine. It let him have his boy close. Even with the blanket he was slightly chilled. Dick was going to have to get more blankets and maybe see if he could get some hot coco from the cafeteria. It would be instant, but it would help warm his kid.
They slowly made their way back to the bed. He could see how much effort and concentration it was taking just to walk. He could just pick up the frail boy and carry him to the bed. His little bird wouldn’t learn though. Walking was necessary. Were these his first steps? Had he always been strapped down on a table every time he’d been woken up before?
Dick couldn’t take this away from him.
He’d be here, no matter how many times his little bird fell, he’d pick him back up and help him back on to his feet.
He did have to lift his boy back onto the bed. He’d carried his son before, or at least held him, but never when he was awake. Dick had missed the baby stage. He’d missed the stage of constantly holding and carrying his baby. Obviously it wasn’t his fault or anything for having missed that. Dick was solely blaming CADMUS for everything.
“What’s my name?” Dick couldn’t help his wince.
“You don’t have one. Yet,” he told the child.
“But. Doesn’t everyone have a name?”
Oh boy. His kid was already so smart. Yes, generally everyone had a name. But Dick hadn’t exactly picked one yet? Plus he didn’t know if the kid was used to being called something, or maybe like Conner, he wanted to pick his own name… There were a lot of different possibilities and he didn’t know which route he wanted to go yet. Thankfully B cleared his throat loudly, drawing his son’s attention to the collection of heroes at the base of his bed.
“How are you feeling?” Batman asked.
“Okay, I think. I don’t know any different.” The child said, his fingers idly messing with the sheets.
“Let’s get those health scans started.” Batman said. Dammit Bruce!
“B!” he scolded. “At least introduce yourself first!”
“I’m Batman.”
“Red Hood.”
“Red Robin.”
“Robin.”
“Hi” the boy stated, giving a shy little wave. “I’m… someone.” Batman’s lips twitched, but Red Hood and Red Robin laughed. Robin remained stoic, wary even. Dick had to suppress his own smile.
“Well, someone, why don’t we start?” Dick asked in a light, teasing tone.
His kid was just so cute.
They had to start the test now though. Hopefully that wouldn’t trigger anything or cause him to freak out. Thankfully his son let him carry him to the room with all the testing equipment in the medical wing of the Watchtower. His boy was able to lay down for a lot of the tests. The results were… upsetting. It was clear his child had rarely, if ever, had the chance to stand, based on how there was practically no muscular growth in the legs, and how the bones showed that they were less dense than a typical seven year old’s legs. Seven years old. That was the estimate for how old his little bird was physically.
Thankfully practicing walking, along with ensuring he ate calcium rich foods should cause that to be cleared up. It was a relief there was no lasting damage. While laying down to get some X-Rays, his little bird fell asleep.
It wasn’t totally surprising.
Coma patients or patients who had been through a lot medically tended to sleep a lot. Was his son still trying to heal? Or was it mental trauma that the boy was trying to heal from? Dick had to gently shake his son awake when M’gann came to check his mind. She frowned during the scan, before eventually informing them that there didn’t seem to be any sort of magic or any sort of implanted memories in his mind. However, she couldn’t access a majority of it due to blocks. The blocks were clearly put in place by his little bird.
They were likely traumatic blocks, put in place by his son to protect himself from whatever he’d gone through.
How that made Dick’s heart break.
He’d have to make up for it. He’d try his best to make up for all of that pain and suffering his little bird had gone through. Dick was going to have to make some massive changes to his life, but it would be worth it.
After all the tests, it was time for his cutie to get some food in him. As tempting as it was to give him ice cream, and chocolate, and some of Dick’s favorite foods, he’d been reminded by M’gann and others that it was best to start with blander foods. So Spaghetti it was!
He felt a little bad, but it was so cute how his kid was struggling to eat the spaghetti, making a mess. It - it reminded Dick of a toddler. He shouldn’t be enjoying this, helping feed his son, wiping his mouth. It was just… this is exactly what he would be doing if his son was a toddler. Feeding him, caring for him. Dick needed to get toys and books. He wouldn’t have to teach his little bird to speak, but maybe he could teach him how to read? It would be a good way to bond with his son, have him in Dick’s lap, reading along with Dick.
What if his kid ended up hating him? What if he ended up liking someone else other than Dick? What if he wanted to live with someone else?
God, that would hurt so bad.
Dick would have to let him go though, wouldn’t he?
Right now he was no one to his son. Just another random person who’d been there when he’d woken up.
After the child drifted off to sleep, Dick hurried to Batman. To Bruce. His dad. He needed - he needed help. Advice. Just… anything. Batman was in the medical lab room, reviewing the results with Red Robin and Miss Martian.
“Hey, can I have a minute alone with B?” he asked the other two. They paused, looking at each other before leaving. He’d probably get asked about it later. Probably. Batman set the tablet down, his eyes trained on Dick.
“When you - when you took us in, were you ever afraid that we would hate you? That we wouldn’t like you?” Bruce paused, his mouth opening and closing once or twice. Well, at least he was thinking carefully about what he was going to tell Dick.
“I was,” Bruce said slowly. “I knew that all of you had recently lost a parent or two. I knew you might resent me for being there, for taking their place, even if that was never my intention.”
“But you did it anyway.”
“I did. I have never regretted it,” Bruce told him firmly. Shakily, Dick stepped forward and hugged his dad.
“I’m scared he’s not going to like me. I’ve also missed so much already. He’s seven physically, but how long has he actually been alive? Based on Conner, CADMUS is able to accelerate growth,” Dick whispered. Bruce squeezed him briefly, before pulling back slightly, not releasing the hug.
“I promise you that we will do everything we can to help you bond with him, chum. It also might be a good idea to talk to Conner. He might have the best insight in how to proceed.”
“Yeah,” Dick agreed, his voice wobbling with held back tears. “It’s just a lot, you know? Like everything’s changed.” He took a deep breath.
“I’m thinking about quitting the police force, if it’s decided that I’m the best person for him to go to. He’ll need my full attention. Do you - do you think he’ll end up coming home with me?” There was a hopeful note in Dick’s voice.
“I think there is a high chance he will. So far, you are the only one we’ve determined he shares DNA with. Who he ends up attaching to and liking will also sway the decision. Who has the means to do so as well, and will be able to protect him from potential threats. You have most of those, chum. The only one you’re missing is if he’s going to end up attached to you. However… he’s currently not attached to anyone.”
His dad had a lot of good points. Dick felt a little better. He leaned into his dad, enjoying his dad’s gentle patting of his back. They stayed there for a bit, before returning to their duties.
***
Dick spent a few hours in the store grabbing all sorts of things. He’d nearly cried upon seeing the soft, gray elephant in the nursery and baby section. It reminded him of Zitka, of home. He’d bought it. He wasn’t sure when he was going to give it to his baby. Probably when he met ‘Dick’. He didn’t want to give his boy the elephant as Nightwing. He’d gotten some books, ranging from toddler age to young adult. He’d picked up the Percy Jackson series. Dick was going to have to ask Jay for some book recommendations.
Dick had bought a generic night light as well, since his little bird had woken up from a nightmare the other day, although he’d refused to tell anyone what happened in it. Card games and other two player games went into the cart as well.
Now it was time to bond with his son.