Chapter Text
Dick Grayson is a good person. He always tries to do the right thing no matter how difficult it may be. His lectures about human morality always spark a debate or rant that students would attend his class whether they were registered or not just to hear how passionate he is. His moral compass is infallible that always kept him on a steady straight path.
So why does this have to happen to him.
“I love you.”
See once in a while he'll be tempted to stray from his morals. Did he do anything really bad to have something like this done to him? Or was it something from his past life that finally came to haunt him for his past wrong.
“It's destiny.”
Maybe it was that time he went over board on a mugger for trying to steal an old lady's purse. Or maybe it was that other time where he lied to the old lady next door saying he couldn't make it for bingo night because he has to work late. Really, there were just so many times he could take going there and being setup with their granddaughters. That's karma for you.
But why does everything have to do with old ladies.
“Grayson are you listening to me?!”
Dick snaps out of his self-depreciation to look at the boy in front of him. The boy, or should he say, 'man', is glaring back at him with an angry frown on his otherwise neutral face.
“S-sorry Damian..,” Dick stammered. He scratches the side of his face uncomfortably, trying to figure out whats going on. He must have been distracted in his thoughts. “I know you repeated a couple of times and I may have heard it wrong...”
“I was being very specific when I told you that I love you,” Damian clarified. “Not in a friend way. Not in a little brother way. But as your equal and will be pursuing you in a romantic way.”
Dick really doesn't like how they have come to this conversation. This morning he got a text from Damian to meet him for brunch. Damian has recently came back from studying abroad and he thought they were just going to catch up on things. After his morning lecture, he met up with Damian at a little hole-in-the-wall diner not far from campus. It was probably the first time in a while that he's actually seen Damian. He grew so tall that he is almost the same height as him, only promising to get even taller. He gained some muscle, filling in his broad shoulders and biceps in his form fitting shirt, receiving the best traits from both of his parents.
"Damian! You've grown so tall!"
Just seeing him all grown up almost brought tears to his eyes of how proud he is of his littlest brother. Since entering the diner Dick gushed over how big Damian has grown and how handsome he's become. He messed his little brother's hair, feeling the familiar prickle feeling, and comparing to what he looks like when he was younger. He still has that little baby fat in his cheeks but it will go away soon and he wants to enjoy messing with him as long as possible. It was a nice brotherly hang out that they would both enjoy.
Until that moment was ruined when he received a love confession from said brother.
“W-well, anyway, I heard you just got back from...um...Australia?” Dick said, taking a long sip from his coffee mug, clenching the handle tight. He should count his blessing that there isn't anyone he recognized from school at the diner. “H-How was it?”
“It was fine,” Damian snapped. His gaze didn't waver as he stares at Dick intensely as ever. To be honest, Damian always has an effect on people to make them feel uncomfortable including himself. He probably inherit that talent from both of his parents, they were intimidating people. Or was it he asked that question so many times to the point of reaching the end of Damian's patience.
“Oh, okay! I get it now, right, of course,” Dick nodded in epiphany, placing his mug down carefully. “You were in a foreign place for a long time that you have trouble readjusting back to Gotham. I've heard some weird stuff about that place where the animals are the dominant species of that continent. Like there was this Youtube video of a couple being held hostage in their own home by a giant spider. 'Course maybe it won't happen as often if you're studying in the city...”
That is possibly the best explanation for his behavior, Dick thought. Puberty and hormones must have been going overdrive at best. With no friends and family around, Damian has to go through these changes alone. He still remembered Damian's squeaky voice and have laughed when his voice started to crack.
“You haven't come home for two years or something and it must have evoke so much emotions that you probably didn't process them correctly–”
“I'm in love with you...”
“We had one hell of a heat wave this summer too! Gotham's hot weather was so muggy that it must be wearing you down! Probably not as bad as Australia but still-you should drink more water, that'll do it!”
“Do. Not. Mock. Me.”
The intensity from Damian's voice made Dick paused, stopping in mid-sentence. He wasn't expecting how serious Damian is acting right now and was taken aback by his demeanor. And his plan was working so well.
Dick gave a defeated sigh, crossing his arms as he tries to avoid Damian's eyes. But his stare is inescapable, effectively trapping him just by his mere presence alone. Looks like he'll have to confront the issue head on.
Dick slumped against his seat. “Do you have any idea what you're saying? I'm a man in his mid-twenties, close to thirties,” he said, feeling his eye twitched trying to explain. “You are close to sixteen. To top it all off, I'm your eldest brother. Quit playing pranks with this old man...”
Damian frowned even harder. “Did you think this is a hobby of mine to fly all the way from Australia to simply to meet an old man and play a prank on him?”
“...So what exactly do you want me to do about it?
“Take responsibility. Its destiny.”
Now a days he doesn't have a damn clue what kids these days are thinking about. This 'destiny' that his younger brother, Damian Al-Ghul Wayne, is blathering about apparently stems from something that happened more than five years ago when Damian was still in private school while he just started college.
Their first meeting was unusual and the age gap back then was too abominable as well.
Dick was walking down the street when he heard a scuffle in a nearby alley. Too curious for his own good he decided to take a look and investigate. It is his duty as a law-abiding citizen to help those in need.
Right now he isn't sure who needed help the most.
He came across a bunch of teenagers writhing and moaning in pain while Damian is standing in the middle. He is much shorter and skinnier than present day Damian, wearing a private school uniform. He appeared to be unharmed, breathing heavily.
“Do yourself a favor, plebians, and contribute to society rather than preying on little boys like me!”
Very interesting words coming from someone half his age, Dick thought staring at what seems to be an aftermath of a beat down. He doesn't really know what's going on as he walks over the downed teenagers to reach the boy in the middle.
“Are you okay?” Dick asked.
Damian turned and Dick could clearly see his face. A boy fresh out of youth with scruff of dirt marring his face and school uniform. Apparently he is not as fine as he thought he would be.
“What the hell are you looking at?!” Damian snapped at him. He glares at Dick while patting dirt off his uniform.
“Well to be honest, I don't really know what I'm looking at,” Dick shrugged, picking up the boy's school bag near his feet. He timidly handed the boy's backpack who snatched it quickly from his hand and puts it on.
“Aren't you gonna do something?” groaned one of the injured teenagers from the ground.
Dick blinks owlishly before comically nodding.“Oh yeah sure.” He reached for his phone in his pocket and flips it open.“I gonna call the cops. Telling them you're disturbing the peace. I saw some of them at the diner on my way over here but hey, it's your call.”
The teenagers just grumbled and picked themselves up. They stumbled their way out of the alley, avoided Damian like a plague but glared at Dick with contempt. One of them shoulder bumped Dick hard on his way out.
When they were sure the teenagers are at a good distance, Dick snickered and puts his phone away.“Hmmmm... maybe I should have called the cops instead of letting them go,” Dick wondered out loud, wincing at his shoulder. “That'll set them straight but it'll just waste taxpayer's money to just send delinquents to prison."
Dick gave Damian an easy smile who stares at Dick with disbelief. Guess he saved the day after all, course the boy didn't look like he needed any help. His smile wavered when he realized how unkempt the boy look. Must have been from the scuffle with those kids earlier.
“Are you sure you're okay? Do you have any bruises on you?”
The boy folded his arms over his rumpled clothes and clicked his tongue at Dick. “I'm fine.”
“Well good,” Dick smiles again before realizing what he needed to do. “Sorry but do you know how to get to the Royal Hotel?”
Damian raised an eyebrow and moves to leave the alleyway. “I have to go there too.”
The two left the alley and rushed to the hotel as quickly as they can. Initially they were suppose to part ways at the lobby but Dick stops by the directory to check for his room before moving up the stairs. Damian follows behind him, calling for him.
“Are you going the same way?!”
“I'm gonna be late!”
When Dick reached the designated room, he flunged the doors wide open. “I'm so sorry!” Dick apologized.
Damian's head almost smacks into his outstretched arm running in the same direction.
“Dick, what took you so long?” Tim asked, sitting on the couch. “Everybody is here.”
“Damian, you're late. And your school uniform is dirty,” a woman scolded, sitting across from Tim.
Dick takes in the room and sees Bruce sitting on one side of the room with Tim, Jason, and Alfred by his side. On the other side he sees a posh woman and an old man sitting stiffly facing them. Behind the lemon-faced duo are some servants standing behind them, expressionless with their hands behind their back.
“Well since you both are the last to come and quite convenient that you came together, we shall begin,” said Alfred as he stands up.
“Dick, this is Damian al Ghul,” Alfred gestures to Damian standing behind Dick. “He is Bruce and Talia al Ghul's illegitimate child. But not for long as Bruce and Talia, the young woman sitting there, are betroth and soon to be married.”
Dick stares at the group in shock, not knowing how to react to such news. Nobody seem to be excited of the news – except for Talia's side of the room as both her and the old man are sporting an evil smile. Meanwhile Bruce's expression is closed off while Jason stares at Bruce as though he is completely out of his mind. Tim looks like he's about to be sick and Alfred looks impassive as ever.
Dick took a deep breath, inhale and exhale. It seemed like his worst nightmares are coming true and with an evil-looking woman no less. He wanted to confront Bruce asking him what is going through his mind on getting a shot-gun wedding with a woman none of them have even known. Making a spectacle of himself in front of his family and strangers was the farthest thing he wanted to do. Congratulation doesn't seem to be in order so he turns to Damian who was just as shell-shocked by this announcement as half of his future family.
“I guess I'm your big brother now.”
The engagement came out of nowhere and none of them saw it coming. Dick made up an excuse of studying a midterm so that he doesn't have to attend the wedding. Being there to witness such an event would hurt even though it wasn't supposed to. He didn't miss much besides the wedding cake and being part of the wedding photos (Jason commented the cake is vegan so he probably dodged a bullet). Their union seems such a waste of time because Bruce and Talia were only married for five years before they divorce. Turns out that Talia's family has been using Bruce as leverage and planned to hostile takeover Wayne Enterprise. Although Bruce lost one of his company's division in the divorce, he had also gained sole custody of Damian Wayne.
From what he learned later on was that they are more alike than they realized but their different ideology always causes them to clash. Dick suspected that in some ways Bruce and Talia did actually loved each other a long time ago. But they never act like it, hiding behind seduction or stoicism. And when they got married, whatever feelings they may have had before has become false pretenses to be used against one another. Divorce was messy; fighting, shouting, and even an assassination attempt. And after all this time he still doesn't know the real reason why they got married.
“Sir? Sir! Are you alright?!”
Dick was startled and tries to recompose himself. He looks around his surroundings and sees that he's still sitting in the diner with half-eaten pancakes in front of him. A waitress is standing beside him, looking at him with concerned eyes and her hand on his shoulder for shaking him.
“Sir? You've been blankly staring into space for five whole minutes and we were worried about you,” the waitress explained. “Are you alright? Do we need to call someone for you?”
“I'm sorry, I'm okay,” Dick apologized, shaking his head. “Can I get the check please?”
“Oh don't worry about it,” the waitress waved him off. “The boy who was sitting across from you earlier paid the tab. Such a nice young man. He left a generous tip to let you sit here as long as you need until you're ready to leave. But you haven't moved or touched your plate so we were worried about you. Would you like me to pack your food for you?”
Dick stares down at his cold pancakes in front of him. So it wasn't a dream. That whole love confession must have put him in shock. How long was he out? He didn't remember when he blanked out.
“No thank you, ma'am...”