Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dick was not a fan of space missions anymore. He used to love them, used to find it fascinating to go to other planets, find out about alien cultures. In a weird way, it almost reminded him of his traveling days with the circus. Waking up somewhere new all the time. The cramped quarters. The community of people he cared about and cared about him. 

Then he got back from space to find his little brother dead and his dad an emotional wreck. That sort of thing… it does tend to put a damper on things. A lot of things. Everything really. 

So yeah, he started to avoid space missions, sending the Titan’s on ahead without him whenever possible. 

This last mission, it wasn’t possible. The Titan’s were being called to help a planet Earth had a mutual defense treaty with, and as one of the people who officiated said treaty and made direct promises to come personally help, he really didn’t have a choice in the matter. 

“It is not that bad, Nightwing!” Starfire encouraged. “I am sure it will not take long at all to defeat the enemy and return!” 

“Maybe, but it’s still going to take us a week to get there.” Dick sighed, rubbing a thumb over his eye mask. “And then another week to get back. We’ll be lucky to get back within a month.” 

Tim rolled his eyes and bumped Dick’s arm. “I think me and B can take care of Gotham without you. And you KNOW I’ll take care of the remaining Titans.”

Dick’s lips twitched into a smile and he threw an arm around Tim’s shoulders. “Awww, Baby Bird, I know I can trust you. I just don’t like leaving you behind! Where will I be without my Timmy Cuddles?” He chuckled, switching his hold to a headlock and ruffling Tim’s hair. He wished they weren’t wearing scent blockers, but it was probably for the best. Tim always acted weird when Dick tried to scent mark him for some reason.

Tim squawked and struggled to pull himself away. “Diiiiick! Let go!” 

“No! Never!” Dick scooped his little brother into his arms with a laugh. “That’s it, I’m bringing you to space with me!” 

“No you won’t!” Tim wriggled and jabbed a nerve in Dick’s shoulder that immediately sent a wave of numbness down his arm, making it all too easy for him to escape. 

Dick moaned dramatically and fell backwards into a backward somersault, letting him end spread-eagled on the floor.

Starfire was giggling at their antics and Tim was all puffed-up bird, acting all indignant even though Dick could see how Tim’s eyes were creased with a smile he was trying to hide. 

“I’m going to go into withdrawal.” Dick announced forlornly. “I am rejected. Disgraced. Thrown out. I am unloved and unworthy.” 

Tim rolled his eyes and jabbed Dick’s side with his Bo staff. “Drama queen.” He muttered. 

Dick’s face twitched into another smile. He didn’t deny it. 

Now, six and a half weeks later, Dick was more than ready to be home. They were only an hour away from Earth, finally in range of Earth’s communication array, and he was about to pace a hole in the ship from how impatient he was feeling. 

Everyone was acting as if this was normal and to be expected, and somehow that almost irritated him. Dick had never been this impatient to be home on previous trips, they absolutely should not expect this from him. On the other hand, it wasn’t like Dick had made his apprehension a secret. Everyone knew how much he wanted to be home, how reluctant he was to come at all. 

If he hadn’t gone around making promises-!

Dick’s phone rang, the caller I.D. reading Bee Buzzybody. 

He answered. “What’s up Bruce?” There was silence on the other end. Dick didn’t know the reason for it, but he was willing to bet money that Bruce was glaring straight ahead and desperately wishing all he had to do was grunt and Dick would understand. 

Dick gave him a minute and when he still didn’t say anything, he sighed. “C’mon B, I’m literally almost home. Just tell me what’s up.”

“...I’ve made a mistake.” Bruce finally admitted, his voice sounding semi-strangled.

Dick whistled, faking a cavalier attitude he absolutely did not feel right now. “Must be pretty bad if you’re admitting it. What happened? Is Tim okay?” 

B choked. Audibly. A rush of cold fear filled Dick’s veins.

“Is Tim okay? What happened?” He demanded, hand flying out to the wall as he felt his knees go weak. The worst case scenario ran through his mind and it was all he could do to keep himself from falling. Every time-!

“Tim is healthy.” Bruce said. “He does not appear to be under duress.”

There was a WORLD of gray there in what he didn’t say. The phone creaked in Dick’s glove as he tightened his grip. “What does that even mean?” He demanded. “B, you tell me what’s going on or I swear, I’m going to hang up and call Alfred.”

“I… I acted harshly and made certain assumptions that led me to behave in unacceptable ways.” 

Dick groaned. “Gotham, could you BE any vaguer? What did you do?” 

“...Tim was packless.” Bruce finally said. “And I didn’t offer a bond.”

Packless? The word hit the Beta like a shot to the chest. His little brother? Packless? What? “But what about his uncle? Are you saying he didn’t bond with Tim?” Dick started pacing again, nervous energy running through his veins, his scent rising around him with agitation. 

“Tim falsified the records of his uncle’s existence to avoid entering the system.” Bruce said, and there was something so matter-of-fact about it, something so emotionless about the statement. It held none of the despair or guilt, none of the hesitation that was scattered throughout this conversation. 

It didn’t take long for Dick to figure out why. “How long did you know?” He snarled. Dick was only a Beta, he didn’t have a prayer of reaching the deep timbre an Alpha could get, but he came pretty damn close as he glared at the phone in his hand.

“...I confronted Tim about it a month prior to you leaving.” Bruce confessed. 

Dick’s shoulders shook as he slumped against the nearest wall. “A month. You knew he was without supervision, without any adults to bond with, for a MONTH?” Agitation gave way to fury. “What the fuck, Bruce?! Tim’s parents have been dead for over a year!” His voice turned into a shriek, going so high it almost disappeared.

“I know.” Bruce’s voice was too calm in the face of his fury. That just made it worse because how could he do this? How could he have left Tim alone like that? Packless. 

Gotham, Tim was just a pup. No one should be packless, but that went double for pups. All sorts of troubles could pop up, health-wise, if a pup was left packless. 

A year. A whole Gotham-damned year. Dick was going to kill Bruce. “We’re landing in half an hour.” Dick said, voice cold as ice. “You’ll explain the whole situation to me then.” He hung up before Bruce could say anything else, and before he could do something he’d regret like break his phone. 

He knew there would be more. If Bruce had kept this a secret for a month- two months now with the mission, then that meant something had changed. He clung to Bruce’s earlier words, the ones saying Tim was in good health and not under duress. That had to have meant something had changed, that Tim was okay now even if he wasn’t before. 

Dick strode to the cockpit and told them to speed up the ship.

Thirty-five minutes later, Dick stepped out of Gotham’s Zeta, got on his motorcycle, and drove straight to the Bat-Cave. 

It was weird to see Bruce standing in the cave, not even wearing the cape and cowl. Dick could probably count on one hand the number of times he’d seen that happen, usually because something disastrous had happened. A serious injury in the field maybe, or a world-ending event he hadn’t had time to suit up for before having to respond to the call about it. 

As he stormed over, he caught a whiff of Bruce’s scent, that smoky mix of Alpha musk, wet rock, and pine. It reeked of guilt-sorrow-grief. 

Another oddity. B always had scent blockers on when he was in the cave. Dick pulled up in front of him, glaring up at the man as he removed his own blockers, revealing his own angry-barely tamped down scent. “Tell me everything.” He growled.

“A week after you left, Tim was kidnapped from Titan’s Tower by the Red Hood.” B started and it took everything in Dick to not immediately start shouting. 

Healthy and in no duress. Healthy and in no duress. He chanted repeatedly in his mind. 

“I did not initially know it was the Red Hood. It took me three weeks to track him down and-” Bruce inhaled deeply. “At first, he tried to deny having Robin. However I… discovered he was susceptible to an Alpha’s growl. The truth was revealed during the interrogation and I had him take me to Tim.”

Dick’s eyes flicked around the cave as he searched for some sign of his little brother’s presence, but he didn’t see anything. Not even the wrappers for the protein bars Tim was so fond of. 

“When I- when I arrived, it was immediately clear that Hood had pack-bonded with Tim. I presumed he’d done so to control and dominate Tim, to create a bond Tim couldn’t deny, and reacted accordingly. I brought Tim home.” The guilt was overpowering now, making the pine smell rotten.

 “Was he hurt?” Dick asked, eyes flickering to the Med-Bay, searching for signs of recent use. He was picturing bruises, broken bones, picturing a malnourished child-Tim was already so small…

“...He was in perfect health. He’d even gained several pounds.” Bruce admitted.

“You-wait, you removed Tim from his only packmate? When Tim wasn’t even being hurt?” Dick twitched, forcing himself to take deep breaths even as the anger in his scent returned to fury . Yes, it was easy for the pack bond to lead to abusive situations, but there were steps to take before separating pups from abusive pack members, things that had to be done to make the transition as painless as possible for the pup. Quitting contact cold-turkey, ESPECIALLY if the pup had no other bonds to rely on, was a recipe for pain and suffering. The only possible exception to this was in cases where the abusive member was actively injuring the pup, when it was too dangerous to allow those steps to be taken safely.

Tim must have been in so much pain at the sudden separation.

“Where is Tim NOW?!” Dick demanded, stepping forward and glaring straight into Bruce’s eyes. 

Bruce closed his eyes in response, a submissive reaction Dick had never thought he’d see in the man before. It was enough of a shock that he allowed himself to take a step back and look, REALLY look at him. 

He was thinner. Not by much, he was still a strong Alpha man after all, but it was enough to be noticeable. He hadn’t shaved, and his clothes were wrinkled. As if he’d been sleeping in them. It wasn’t nearly the sort of image he’d come to expect from Bruce over the years, and while he was still pissed at how the situation had been handled… well, maybe he could cut B a LITTLE slack here. If Tim had been missing for three weeks, Dick might have made the same mistakes after all.

“Less than two days later, Red Hood broke into the Cave with what appears to be Arsenal’s help.” Bruce finally said. 

“Roy?” Dick blinked, shock temporarily smoothing his scent out. Roy hadn’t been an active hero in over a year now, ever since he found out about Lian’s existence, he’d been putting his everything into being the father she deserved. Why would he come out of retirement for Red Hood?

“They broke Tim out of his cell and-”

“YOU PUT TIM IN THE CELLS?!” Forget whatever he was thinking about cutting B some slack because, “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK BRUCE?!” 

“I thought Tim was too compromised to make the best decision for his health.” Bruce protested defensively. “He kept attempting to escape back to Red Hood, there wasn’t anywhere else to keep him safe-”

“BULLSHIT!” Dick screamed, getting right back in Bruce’s face. “How could you do that to your own Robin?! How could you LEAVE him in there, alone, while he was in the middle of pack-separation sickness?!”

This just proved it. Dick should never have gone to space. He should have stayed here and been ready, able to help when Tim disappeared and able to keep things calm when they found out the situation. Now everything was a mess and he STILL didn’t know where Tim was! 

“I-” Bruce’s shoulders slumped as he stepped back. “You’re right. That was another mistake.” He admitted. 

“Another he says. How many fucking mistakes did you make?!” Dick ran his hands through his hair as he started pacing, struggling to contain himself from punching Bruce in the face. It was soooo tempting right now…

“Several.” Bruce drew himself back up, and with a sinking heart Dick realized that the report wasn’t even finished. “The next day the entire world was talking about Jason being found- alive.”

Dick’s ears started ringing as grief shot straight through his heart and he stumbled. Bruce mercifully paused in his report, giving Dick the space to bring himself back under control. Taking several deep, shuddering breaths, Dick wiped away the tears that sprang up and straightened. “Jason?”

Bruce stared down at his hands. “I thought it was a trick. Some ploy by the Red Hood to keep me off-balance. I thought he was trying to abuse the memory of Jason as a revenge tactic against me for taking Tim away. I… wasn’t necessarily wrong, but it’s more complicated than that.”

Dick laughed bitterly. “How complicated could it be?” He snarled.

“The Red Hood is Jason.” The words were said barely above a whisper. 

Dick’s mind whited out. No thoughts. It was all he could do to stand there and stare at Bruce. Shock and grief froze him where he stood.

When he finally thawed, it took everything in him to ask, “How sure are you?” 

“He bled so he wasn’t Clayface. His scent was the same so not a clone. His blood was a match.” Bruce laid out the evidence one by one.

Dick laughed and he wasn’t sure why. Shock maybe, relief at having his brother back perhaps, anger at Bruce for fucking up so catastrophically badly maybe. There were too many possibilities and it could well have been a mixture of them. 

Jason was alive. Jason was alive. Jason. Was. ALIVE. 

“Where is he?” Dick asked. 

“He has a public address in Crime Alley.” Bruce rattled off the rest of the address and Dick turned around. “Where are you going?” 

“I’m going to go beg Jason for visitation rights, obviously.” Dick rolled his eyes and glanced behind him. Bruce was staring after him with the saddest eyes he’d ever seen on the man, eyes that were practically begging him to help him fix things. Tough. “Don’t look at me like that, not even I can fix the mess you made here.” Even if I wanted to, he added silently.

Alfred, who had silently appeared at some point in the conversation, politely coughed to announce his presence. “If Master Dick could pass along my well-wishes to Master Jason and Master Tim, it would be much appreciated.”

“Sure thing, Alf.” Dick said as he got back on his motorcycle.

As he drove out of the cave, Dick could only hope his Little Wing and Baby Bird were where Bruce said they were… and that they’d both be willing to forgive him for how he failed them.

Chapter Text

When Dick arrived at the address, it took him a few minutes to gather up his nerve and start climbing the stairs. He wanted to see Tim, he really did, and he wanted to know that Jason really was alive again. 

But these were his brothers and he’d failed both of them now. There was every chance neither would want him to step inside their home, let alone into their nests ever again. So as much as he wanted to run up these steps and pull them both into his arms… he didn’t. He didn’t know what kind of rejection he might face from them, if they would reject him at all, but if he took his time getting up there then maybe, for a few extra minutes, he could live in a world where they didn’t resent him for his failures. 

Just for a few minutes. 

Still, no matter how short he made his steps, it wasn’t enough. Eventually, Dick made it to their front door and had to knock. 

For a single second, he heard nothing at all, but then he heard the pounding of feet on floor, heard muffled noises, and then the door swung open and he was looking into Lian Harper’s face. 

“Uncle Dick!” She beamed up at him. 

“Hey sunshine.” Dick smiled in response, the expression automatic as he saw his semi-adopted niece. “Is your dad here?” 

“No, daddy’s at work. Papa’s here though, if you want to talk to him!” Lian said. 

Dick’s face faltered, a confused expression crossing it. “Papa?” 

And then Jason stepped out of the hall and Dick caught his first whiff of his brother’s scent since before his death. 

Gunpowder, tea, that honey-sweet edge of an Omega, but there was something else to it, an edge that circled the scent… Dick’s mouth dropped open, just slightly, as he tried to gain a better tasting of it.

…Apple and motor oil? That was Roy’s scent. What was Roy’s scent doing on- Hold on.

…Lian called Jason ‘Papa’. Jason held wisps of Roy’s scent in his own, something that could only happen after a claiming. Jason was an Omega and Roy was an Alpha. 

I am going to murder Roy when he gets home. 

“Hey. Dickwing. If you’re done smelling everywhere I been, you gonna tell me why yer here or what?” Jason called out, his scent taking on the smell of annoyed.

A grin came back to Dick’s face as he snapped out of it and stumbled forward. “Little Wing, you’re al-”

Jason backed away with a snarl. “Don’t even think ‘bout touchin’ me!” 

Dick stopped, stumbled, and then remembered why he’d taken his sweet time coming up here. “Okay.” He said softly, tamping down on his fear-hurt scent, smoothing it out to something more neutral. He didn’t want to run the risk of making Jason feel guilty even the slightest bit. Not when Jason had every right to resent him. 

“Jus’-” Jason cast a quick look down at Lian and sighed, lowering his shoulders with what looked to be a great effort. “You can come in if you can keep yer hands to yerself.” 

“Okay, I can do that.” Dick agreed quickly, thankful he was getting even this much. It wasn’t the greatest situation, he yearned to hug his little brother to feel how alive he really was, but if Jason didn’t want to be touched, he knew he had to restrain himself. 

“Hmph.” Jason picked up Lian, who squealed at her sudden departure from the floor, and stomped off into the apartment. “Timbo! We got comp’ny!” He called.

“Who is it?” Tim called back, voice getting slightly louder towards the end as footsteps approached. 

“Take a wild guess.” Jason said as he left the hall. 

Not two seconds later, Tim poked his head through the doorway, a pleased smile taking over his face. “Dick! You’re home!” Dick could smell Tim’s milk-coffee pup scent as it swelled with happiness and satisfaction , the scent so fresh and clean that it made Dick smile with his own happiness. 

When was the last time Tim smelled this happy?

A bucket of ice water ran down his back, it was all Dick could do to maintain his smile at the realization that he hadn’t actually smelled Tim in months, let alone able to determine his feelings from his scent. “Hey Timmy. Sorry I’m late, the mission finally wrapped up.”

“What mission?” Jason asked as he plopped Lian upside-down on the couch.

“Had to go save a planet from interplanetary war.” Dick answered. 

“Oh so THAT’S where you were while Bruce was on his bullshit. Always in space when someone needs you, huh?” Jason shot at him. Tim was looking back and forth between them, scent souring with alarm.

Dick winced and had no answer. I deserve that. 

Lian seemed to disagree however. She quickly righted herself and pouted at Jason. “That was mean! Uncle Dick is nice! And-and you’re not supposed to swear!” 

Jason shifted his feet and scratched the back of his head. “Yer right.” He said lowly. “I’m sorry for swearin’.” Dick noticed he said nothing about what he’d said to Dick just now.

Lian nodded firmly. “You need to put money in the swear jar now.” She reminded him.

Jason barked out a laugh, the sharp edge to his scent fading out. “I’ll do it in a bit shortstack. I gotta get dinner goin’ first.” 

“Can I help?!” Lian beamed at Jason like he hung the moon, and the stars too once he agreed and the two left the space. 

A part of Dick wanted to chase after them, to scoop Lian up into another hug, to throw his arms around his Little Wing, and find out everything that’s happened to him, to celebrate this miracle he was given. 

The other part had him turning back to Tim. “Hey.” He kept his voice soft. “Are you… okay?” His Baby Bird had been struggling for so long without Dick even realizing it. What kind of big brother was so blind to his younger siblings needs? It was like Jason all over again, finding out that Tim had been suffering right in front of him this whole time. 

Tim hesitated, eyes still flicking back and forth between where Jason had disappeared and Dick. Eventually though, his shoulders relaxed and he gave Dick a more tentative, softer smile. “I’m better now.” He said, and it sounded honest. “It…really helps to have Jason nearby. Roy and Lian too, even though we’re not bonded or anything.” 

“You’re not?” Dick asked, somewhat surprised. With how Lian was already calling Jason ‘Papa’, he’d honestly thought they were all already pack. 

Tim shook his head. “Roy offered, when he brought Lian over. I just…wasn’t sure if I wanted to say yes. I know-I know Jason and he are mates now, but I barely know Roy, you know? Plus-” And here, his words started to stream faster, as if Tim was trying to spit it all out as quickly as possible in the hopes of finishing the entire sentence. “It’d be weird if I just started calling him dad, right? Like, I know what Jason and I have with each other is a parent-pup bond, but that’s-it’s JASON. And I know since he and Roy are mates, that kinda makes him my parent too, but- I just- I don’t-” Tim swallowed dryly, eyes a little wide as his scent soured with distress. 

“Hey, it’s okay.” Dick tried to soothe as he approached Tim, quickly drawing his younger brother into a hug. “You don’t have to call Roy anything you don’t want to.” He added. 

“I-I know. He says that too, but-” Tim stopped, biting his lip. Dick waited patiently for him to continue on, but he just shook his head and buried it in Dick’s chest. “I’m glad you’re home.” He mumbled. “I missed you.” 

Dick tightened his grip. “I missed you too, Baby Bird.” He said quietly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you.” 

Tim shook his head again. “It’s fine, it’s not your fault. I’m the one who hid, I can’t be mad at you for not knowing when I was the one lying.” He mumbled.

“Maybe.” Dick said neutrally, even though he very much disagreed and thought Tim should be pissed at him. “But I’m supposed to be a detective. I should’ve noticed something was off from the moment you started hiding your scent.”

Tim drew away, a slight furrow resting between his eyebrows. “I didn’t WANT you to notice. That was the point.” He complained. 

Dick could have kept arguing. He thought about it too. He knew, he just knew, that Tim ought to be mad at him. 

But Dick was a selfish, selfish man. He didn’t want his little brother to hate him, didn’t want to be cut out of Tim’s life, so he didn’t press the point. Instead, he smiled. He laughed. He started a game up on the TV and for an hour, he let himself himself hang out with his little brother, basking in the clean, healthy scent of a well-cared for pup. 

It wasn’t a smell he’d ever found on Tim before, something he set aside to wonder about later, when he wasn’t treading on thin ice with Jason. 

(And it was definitely thin ice. Jason came out to check on them every five minutes, glaring suspiciously at Dick’s head from behind Tim’s back, practically screaming, ‘if you fuck this up, I’ll kill you’. Dick strongly suspected the only reason Jason didn’t say exactly that was because of Lian’s presence in the apartment.)

Dick told Tim about the space mission and what took so long. Tim told him about his surprise adoption from his perspective, and for a moment there was almost peace between Jason and Dick as both of them took the chance to complain about Bruce’s mistakes with that. It didn’t last long before Jason sulked back into the kitchen, but that was okay.

So long as Jason wasn’t kicking Dick out, then that meant he still had a chance. A small one perhaps, the odds were low of Jason ever forgiving him, but it was a chance. Dick was far too greedy to pass it up. 

Eventually, it all had to end however. Jason came out of the kitchen with Lian triumphantly trailing after him. “Food’s done. Tim, you ‘n’ Lee go set the table while I escort Dick outta here.” 

Tim’s head snapped around to look at Dick. “You’re leaving?” He asked, disappointment making the bitter scent of coffee smell stronger. 

Dick opened his mouth to refute this, but Jason cut him off. “Dick’s got other places to be.” Jason said as he crossed the room, casually scenting Tim’s hair while he glared straight at Dick.

He really didn’t, but Dick could take a hint. Jason didn’t want him inside his house any longer. “I do have to get going.” He agreed, sad eyes zeroing in on Jason. “But I could come back. Same time next week?” He asked hopefully. 

Jason scowled, but before he could say anything to the contrary, Tim yipped. “Yes please!” Tim threw his arms around Dick’s side. “I’m so glad you’re back.” He muttered, arms briefly tightening before he backed away, ears turning pink. 

Dick smiled fondly. He really did have a seriously cute little brother, didn’t he? “Me too Tim.” He cast a pleading look at Jason, silently begging his other little brother to agree to this arrangement. 

Jason held out for a few seconds, until Tim turned his eyes on Jason too. But at last, Jason sighed. “Yeah, fine. You can have visits ‘n’ shit so long’s you don’t try to bring the Bat here.” 

Dick was already shaking his head. “I know, Bruce... he doesn't have a place here. Not after what he did to you both." Then he flashed a smirk at Tim. " 'Sides, Timmy here seems to be doing really well with you, I wouldn't want to mess that up."

Jason scowled, but seemed to accept Dick’s reasoning. “Fine. You can come back by YOURSELF.”

Dick was nodding faster than a bobble-head toy. “Absolutely. No bats.” He promised. 

“I think bats are cute.” Lian piped up, tugging on Jason’s arm. “Can we have a pet bat?” 

Tim snickered. “Yeah Jay, can we?” 

Jason groaned, exaggeratedly lifting his eyes to the ceiling. “No bats in the house Lee. ‘Sides, we wouldn’t be able to give a bat a good home here.” 

“Why noooot?” Lian flopped against Jason’s leg with a pout. 

“Bats live in colonies. We don’t got the space to have a hundred bats hangin’ around, so if we only had one bat, it’d get lonely.” Jason explained patiently. “You wouldn’t want our bat to be lonely, would ya?”

Lian sighed. “Nooo, I guess not.” 

Tim patted Lian on the back in a consolatory manner. “C’mon Chickadee, let’s take care of that table.” 

The two pups left, leaving Dick and Jason alone with each other. 

“You’re good with them.” Dick said softly. 

“It’s not hard. Jus’ have to be here for ‘em.” Jason grumbled as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

Dick flinched and stood up. “I will be.” He swore.

Jason grunted and gestured Dick back to the hallway. No more words were exchanged between them until Dick stepped back out into the cold, Gotham night. “Don’t screw this up Dickhead.” Jason said before he closed the door. 

Dick heard the click of the lock engaging behind him.