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October
“I’m not a child, I don’t need adult supervision!” Dick pouted audibly.
“Of course you don’t.” Steph replied, her tone teasing. “Do you need another Tylenol for that headache or shall I go?”
“… Yeah, I do. Please stay.”
“That’s what I thought!”
Danny hadn’t been living at Wayne Manor for very long but he could already say with certainty that this family was weird.
There were so many of them; they came and went like outdoor cats though very few actually lived full time at the manor and a third of them weren’t even official members of the family. According to Alfred, this was normal for the Wayne brood.
Apparently they’d all been making the effort to spend more time at the manor to help Danny adjust to his new life. They wanted to bond with him and make him feel like one of the family. While he appreciated the thought, in practice it was often overwhelming, especially coming from a household of only four people, two of which hardly ever surfaced from their lab.
The Waynes were caring, but intense. They clearly all had strong bonds with each other that spoke of years of shared experiences. Danny didn’t know if he’d ever fit in with them.
This insecurity increased every day after dinner; it seemed like half the family disappeared once night fell. The manor was a labyrinth that Danny was still trying to figure out, so finding someone after they’d dispersed for their evening activities was always a challenge. At the beginning of his stay, there was often a small group of people in one of the family rooms, but the more time that passed and he got comfortable with living there, the less people there seemed to be. This only got worse after those that didn’t live at the manor started going back to their own apartments after dinner. He’d never admit it to them but he was starting to feel a little lonely and isolated.
Which was why it was such a nice change of pace to find Dick and Steph in the library.
Well, that felt a bit mean. The main reason why Dick was staying at the manor at the moment instead of his apartment was because he had a concussion and had been forced to take time off work. And none of his family trusted him to actually rest if he was left on his own. Danny was sure that there was a story behind that which he wouldn’t be able to understand.
So there he was, tucked up on the plush couch perpendicular to the one Dick and Steph were lounging on. He scrolled mindlessly on his phone, occasionally responding to Sam and Tucker in their encrypted group chat as he quietly enjoyed the company and shenanigans of the pseudo siblings.
“Do you guys want to play a board game or something? We could get a good game of Monopoly going between the three of us?” Steph asked as she idly poked Dick in the side with her foot.
“No thanks, I’m meant to be avoiding stress, not looking for it. Besides, Tim and Jason would never let me live it down if I made my concussion worse playing Monopoly.” Dick grumbled, batting away the offending appendage.
“Oh yeah, that’s totally fair. You guys are already rich anyway, you don’t need to play pretend.” She snickered as she continued to pester Dick.
He caught her ankle before she could nudge him in the head. “Steph, concussion!”
“You’re boring!”
Danny hid his smile behind his phone. He missed his sister. He should probably call her.
As he went to push himself up to stand, his hand slipped between the couch cushions and found something cold and sharp. He carefully gripped it between his fingers and pulled out… a weird metal knife?
“What’s this?” He asked the still bickering pair. He lifted the blue knife up so they could see.
Steph’s eyes widened slightly when she saw it, while Dick barely glanced at it before returning his attention back to the book he’d been trying to read, rubbing his temples.
“Oh, that’s mine.” He said distractedly, before having the breath knocked out of him when Steph kicked him in the side much harder than she had previously.
Which, while a bit extreme, Danny guessed was fair; it wasn’t safe to lose weird knife-looking things in the couch. He told Dick as much.
Dick set the book aside and turned to face him properly. “It’s a prop! For my, uh, Halloween costume!”
“You need an actual knife for your Halloween costume?” Danny asked incredulously.
“It’s a Wingding, not a knife. A recreation Wingding. I’m going as Nightwing.”
Steph tried and failed to hide a snort behind her hand. Dick shot her a glare and held his hand out for the Wingding.
“Isn’t he a vigilante? Aren’t you a cop?” asked Danny.
“Yeah, that’s what makes it funny.” Steph giggled, smiling widely as she typed rapidly on her phone.
Danny had to give it to her, it was ironic. With that thought in mind, he dropped the Wingding into Dick’s outstretched hand and left the room to call his sister.
November
It was Danny’s second month at the manor and he still wasn’t used to the Wayne siblings' antics.
He was just about to leave his room to go get a snack when he heard the rapid sound of footsteps coming down the hallway, soon followed by screeching. It sounded like the impending consequences of one’s actions.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Tim screeched as he near tripped around the corner, the expensive looking carpet runner bunched up as he slid along the hardwood surface. “It was meant to get Damian, not you!”
Danny took a step back into his room as Tim tore past him with fear in his eyes. More heavy footsteps followed behind him. Danny turned to see Dick round the corner, covered in wet red paint with his face like thunder.
And boy was it a lot of paint! It ran in thick rivers down his face and neck, his hair plastered to his head in clumps like wax melting down the side of a candlestick. His baby blue sweater (which Danny could safely guess cost more than his entire wardrobe back in Amity) looked like a Jackson Pollock painting, but if he could only afford one colour and tripped over the paint can early on in the process.
Danny felt sorry for Alfred, he had a big challenge ahead of him if he was expected to get rid of that stain. Not to mention the smaller droplets that had been dripping onto the carpet for who knows how far.
In contrast to Tim’s screeched apologies, the oldest Wanyne child was deathly quiet as he watched Tim disappear around the opposite corner of the hallway.
It was only as he was winding up to throw something that Danny noticed one of Titus’ KONG rubber balls in Dick’s hand.
At first, he thought that Dick was a terrible shot; the ball didn’t even make it far down the hall before it hit the wall. It didn’t take long for him to realise how skilled he actually was.
With expert precision that had Danny’s jaw dropping, the ball ricocheted from wall to wall down the hallway, missing every antique vase, painting and other pieces of priceless decor. He watched as the ball bounded past him, bounced around the corner and out of sight. The thudding sound of rubber hitting the walls soon concluded with a pained noise and a larger, heavier thud.
Dick let out a victorious “Ha!” and smiled smugly as he sauntered down the hallway at a much more relaxed pace than before. Danny gaped at him as he walked by.
Blinking out of his stupor, he darted his hand out and grabbed the older boy's sleeve, heedless of the paint that now coated his palm.
“Dude, how did you do that!” It was less of a question and more of an exclamation of awe, but Dick stopped to answer him anyway.
“Circus,” he said easily. “My parents were acrobats and I learned a lot of neat tricks from the other performers.”
“You were in the circus? By choice?” Danny’s nose scrunched as he remembered his own experiences.
Dick shot him a dry look that wouldn’t have been out of place on Jazz’s face. That was probably insensitive of him to say. Hello foot, meet mouth.
“That's cool!” Danny overcorrected himself, forcing far too much enthusiasm into his voice. He let go of his sleeve to cough into his fist, aiming for aloofness but not quite making it. “I mean, that’s pretty cool, I guess.”
Dick laughed at him, boisterous and charismatic. Danny felt his cheeks heat up with humiliation; he knew the older boy wasn’t being mean about it but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel very awkward right now.
When he was done, he smiled kindly at him.
“I can teach you if you’d like?” He said. His voice held an undertone of hope that made Danny pause.
“Like, right now?”
“Sure, just let me shower first, I can already feel my hair solidifying as we speak.”
Well, it wasn’t like Danny had any plans for the afternoon and it would be kinda cool to learn some trickshots. They might come in useful later down the line.
“Yeah, okay then.” He replied, still feeling a little awkward in himself and trying to play off his interest.
The smile he got in return was downright radiant.
“Great! Meet me in the gym in fifteen!” Dick waved at him as he jogged towards his room, disappearing around the corner he’d originally come from.
Danny watched his retreating form and smiled to himself, his body untensing as he let excitement fill him once more. It had been a while since someone had taught him a new skill. And he liked spending time with Dick; he was a pretty cool guy though he’d never tell him that.
As he made his way towards the stairs, he carefully stepped around a dazed Tim who was still sprawled out on the carpet, groaning and rubbing the back of his head.
December
This definitely wasn’t how Danny had imagined his first Wayne Gala would go, but considering this was Gotham he should have expected for the event to be crashed.
And he meant that literally. The ballroom floor was covered in glittering glass shards.
The masked men that had crashed through the windows held the gala guests at gunpoint while even more armed men emerged from the main doors. A few of the hired waitstaff pulled hidden bags from their uniforms and made their way to the guests, taking their jewellery and other expensive accessories.
Danny shrunk back against the wall, doing his best to disappear without actually turning invisible. If he could get away, maybe he could transform and come back to help? He wasn’t ready to introduce Phantom to Gotham, but it didn’t look like he had the luxury of choice.
Before he could do anything, a strong hand clamped down on his wrist. Danny had to fight the instinct to turn intangible or to shout. He whipped his head around, ready to fight back, but it was only Dick.
The eldest Wayne child held a finger to his lips, a deadly serious expression on his face, and pulled Danny behind him.
Hurriedly, on silent feet, he led them out though a side door; hopefully the chaos of the main room would keep them from being spotted. Dick quietly opened the door and peered through it before pushing Danny into the narrow hallway. After carefully closing the door behind them, he tugged on Danny’s wrist again, pulling them into a run.
“Don’t worry, Danny. I’m gonna get you to a safe room.” Dick whispered with firm determination.
“What about the others? We need to go back and help them!”
“No, I need to make sure you’re safe. The Bats will be here soon, they’ll take care of everyone, I promise!”
Danny wasn’t usually the one being reassured in these situations, usually he was the one doing the reassuring. He had to admit, he didn’t mind it. Dick was calm in the face of the chaos and was a solid, steady presence in front of him. Danny hated thinking about how many times he must have been in situations like this to be this calm about it. It didn’t paint a pretty mental image. But if he was so sure that the Gotham vigilantes would be here soon to help everyone, he would have to trust in his experience.
Dick led them around a few corners, checking each one for masked intruders before leading on. When they were halfway down their third hallway, he stopped suddenly, causing Danny to run into his back.
Three masked men had turned into the hallway in front of them, their weapons aimed directly at the pair.
Dick held out a hand to keep Danny firmly pushed behind his back. Not that Danny would let Dick take a bullet for him; he was ready to make them both intangible as soon as the intruders made a move to shoot.
“What are they doing here? Everyone was meant to be in the ballroom.” Goon 1 hissed at his colleagues, not taking his eyes from the dark haired duo. Compared to the other two, this guy definitely looked the least sure of himself.
“Isn’t that Dick Grayson?” Asked Goon 2.
“And Bruce Wayne’s newest charge. We could get a tidy sum out of dear ol’ dad if we took ‘em.” Goon 3 laughed mockingly.
Dick’s hand tightened around his arm as the goons walked forwards. Danny could see the calculating look in his eye.
“Damn it,” Dick muttered under his breath, “I think we’re on our own with this one.”
He glanced back at Danny, brows furrowed.
“When I say the word, get down on the ground.” He whispered. His tone of voice left no room for argument but Danny was stubborn.
“What? I’m not just gonna let you-“
“Danny!”
Danny’s mouth clicked shut at the harsh whisper. He was stubborn but apparently he was no match for a protective Dick Grayson.
When the goons got close enough, Dick’s stance shifted subtly to become more offensive than defensive. If Danny hadn’t been fighting for so long he might have missed it.
As soon as they were within Dick’s reach, he moved to strike.
“Now!” He barked, and Danny did as he was told, dropping low to the ground and shielded his head with his arms.
Meanwhile, Dick made swift work of disarming the men. It was over in only a matter of seconds.
With the speed of a cobra, he darted his hand up and grabbed the barrel of Goon 3’s gun, raised it towards the ceiling to redirect the bullet and twisted it out of the man’s hands. With his other hand, he grabbed Goon 3’s right arm and kicked off the wall. In an insane display of acrobatic talent (as far as Danny was concerned) he flipped and used his momentum to simultaneously dislocate the man’s shoulder and kick Goon 2 unconscious. Goon 3 clutched his shoulder and screamed, the noise cutting off as Dick knocked him out with the butt of his gun.
Now in too confined a space to safely use his gun, Goon 1 attempted to punch Dick, only to have Dick deflect the attack, grab his shoulders and flip the guy over his back. With Goon 1 disoriented, it didn’t take long for Dick to knock him unconscious too.
Danny stared at him with wide, amazed eyes as Dick removed the magazines from each gun, emptied the chambers and tossed them down opposite ends of the hall. He didn’t even look winded!
Once he was done, he turned back to Danny and looked him over, twisting his body this way and that to inspect for injuries.
“Are you okay? You didn’t get hit, did you?” He asked as he worried over him.
Danny had far more important questions to ask. “How the heck did you do that?! That was so cool!” He enthused.
Dick pulled a face that could totally be called “The Done Older Brother Face” and pulled Danny back onto his feet.
“Yeah, you’re fine.” He dragged Danny further down the hallway. “Come on, someone definitely heard that. We need to get out of here before more come.”
“Seriously, how did you do that? Is that something else you learned at the circus? Can you teach me?” Danny asked, getting more and more excited with each question.
“Uh, yeah. Sure thing, bud.” Dick said distractedly as he led them into an empty room.
He strode over to a painting and slid it to the side. Behind it was a keypad which he quickly typed a series of numbers into.
A hissing noise sounded from the wall as one of the panels opened out from the moulding. Dick replaced the painting and put his fingers in the opening, carefully widening the hidden door just enough for the two of them to slip through, then sealed the door behind them.
While they waited for the Gotham vigilantes to save the day, as Dick repeatedly assured him they would, Danny gradually learned the basics of how to wall flip.
January
Danny barely had any time to process the rogue attack happening on the street he’d turned into before he was yanked into the air. A muscular black and blue arm clutched him tightly to the chest of the vigilante he recognised to be Nightwing, if the blue bird logo was any indicator.
After what felt like far too long being swung around like a limp noodle, he was set down on a rooftop far away from the chaos of the battle. He’d take flying over swinging any day; the forces of gravity were something he’d much rather ignore. He never felt nausea like this when he flew.
As soon as he was released from the protective hold, Danny rested a hand against his head and crouched in an effort to feel less like his stomach was trying to come out of his mouth.
“Hey, kid, are you okay? You didn’t get hit, did you? B is gonna kill me if you got hurt on my watch.”
The vigilante crouched down in front of him, hands hovering at his sides like he wanted to reach out and inspect him for damage. He was glad he didn’t, it was annoying enough when Dick did it when he messed up during gymnastics practice, he didn’t need some random stranger doing it to him too.
“Nah, I’m good. Just travel sick.” Danny said as he willed the nausea to pass.
Nightwing visibly relaxed as the anxiety left his body.
“Oh thank god!” He sighed before pulling an emotional 180. “Then what the heck were you doing there?! Do you know how close you got to getting hurt?!”
As Danny breathed in through his nose and out from his mouth, he thought to himself that if Nightwing got this panicked and stressed over every civilian he saved, the guy probably shouldn’t be in this profession.
“You’re the new Wayne kid, right? You’ve gotta be more careful walking around Gotham; you can’t just go wandering around active crime scenes! Didn’t you hear the fight? Or heck, didn’t you hear the people screaming and running away?” The vigilante continued.
Truthfully, Danny had heard the fight and the people screaming. Before he knew what he was doing, his protective instincts had moved his feet until he’d arrived at the scene. Not that he could have done anything helpful without revealing his secret to the Gotham vigilantes. That wasn’t something he was in a rush to do.
But he couldn’t explain that. Not while keeping his secret identity. Or keeping his lunch from showing up again.
Not that he even go the chance to try before the vigilante started ranting again
“And what are you doing walking around out here without a jacket on? It’s January, in Gotham! Damnit, kid, you’ve gotta be freezing!”
“Ugh. You sound just like my older brother.” Danny rolled his eyes, done with the hero's antics.
For some reason, that shut him up; his mouth parted in surprise before he closed it quickly. The line of his mouth was mostly straight but quirked up slightly at the edges as if he was trying to hide a smile.
“Oh, your brother, huh? Which one? The grumpy one or the handsome one?” He smiled properly then, cradling his chin between his thumb and forefinger like he was posing for a photograph.
“The handsome one? Dude, do you like my brother?”
Nightwing seemed to find that hilarious.
It was only after Danny was sitting in the back of Alfred’s car, which Nightwing had made him call for, that he realised he’d called Dick his brother for the first time. His cheeks lit bright red with embarrassment, but the warm feeling in his chest kept him from minding too much.
When he first came to Gotham, he didn’t think he’d become part of a family again. He was glad that he was wrong.
February
Wayne birthdays were a lot different than Fenton birthdays.
For starters, there was a whole table of gifts just for him. They were carefully wrapped in black paper decorated with glittery silver constellations and elegantly tied with equally shiny silver ribbon. Danny almost felt bad about having to open them and ruin the hard work of whoever had wrapped them. He’d have to be careful about getting the tape off; he wanted to keep the paper.
Another big difference to Fenton birthdays was the fact that the whole family was there, even family friends like Barbara and Stephanie. They’d all wanted to celebrate his first birthday as part of the Wayne household; they’d even taken the day off from work to be there with him. His parents hadn’t done that for a long time.
And while it was a shame that Jazz, Sam and Tucker couldn’t be there to celebrate with him, Bruce had already arranged to have them flown to Gotham over the next school break.
In all honesty, Danny was overwhelmed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d spent his birthday with more than three people and he’d definitely never been showered with as much fanfare as this before. All he could do was hold on tight and ride the wave as his new father, siblings, pseudo siblings and grandfather presented him with cakes, candles, party hats and other birthday related paraphernalia.
After a delicious lunch of his favourite foods, lovingly prepared by Alfred, he was handed his first gift.
One by one, with surgical precision, he removed the starry paper from each gift that was given to him. So far he’d gotten an incredibly expensive looking telescope from Bruce; The Hubble Legacy by Jim Bell from Barbara; the latest Doomed spinoff game from Duke and a vintage NASA Mars Exploration Rover shirt from Stephanie.
A very smiley Dick bounced up to him next, present in hand.
“This one’s from me! It’s a gag gift. Don’t worry, there’s a proper gift from me in the pile as well.” He beamed as he handed Danny the present.
There was a chorus of groans around them; Stephanie had slumped in her chair, her head tilted back towards the ceiling while Tim had his head in his hands. Jason, from where he was leant against the wall, crossed his arms and levelled his older brother with a deadpan look. The rest of the family looked on in fond exasperation.
Brow arched in curiosity (and a little worry), Danny unwrapped the paper as carefully as the last to reveal what Dick had gotten him.
Inside the paper was the softest hoodie Danny had ever felt. The blue and black fabric was thick and heavy with an almost fleece lining. Pulling the hoodie further out of the paper revealed a familiar blue logo.
“A Nightwing hoodie?” Danny asked, thrown for a loop by the randomness of the gift.
“He does this to us every year!” Tim bemoaned as he threw his hands into the air. “He always gets us Nightwing merch for our birthdays!”
“He thinks he’s funny.” Jason added dryly.
Cass smiled at him and nudged him gently with her elbow. “Welcome to the family!”
Dick laughed boisterously and wrapped Danny up in one of his patented Grayson Octopus Hugs.
“I had to include my newest baby brother in my traditions!” He cooed playfully as he clutched Danny to his chest and ruffled his hair. Danny let out a disgruntled squawk as he attempted to wriggle away from him, only to still as a thought struck him.
Something about this was familiar, and not just in the normal Dick Grayson way. He looked down at the hoodie, blue logo staring back at him and felt something align in his brain.
He’d seen this logo before while being held in these arms.
“Oh my god. You’re Nightwing!”
Dick stilled; Danny felt the muscles in his arms tense from where they were wrapped around him.
“…What?” Dick chuckled, unconsciously hugging Danny a little tighter.
To someone who hadn’t been living with the Waynes for months, it would have sounded perfectly normal. But Danny knew better. He could hear how awkward and forced it was. He knew he was right.
Judging by how suspiciously quiet everyone else had gotten, they knew too.
“You’re Nightwing!” Danny repeated with more conviction.
“No I’m not!”
Danny restarted his wiggling, this time he managed to free himself successfully. He looked at Dick’s face; his eyes were wide and slightly pleading but he kept up his grin as if it would ease his suspicion.
“You totally are! I can’t believe I didn’t notice before.”
“But I’m not!” Dick tried to catch the eyes of the others as if trying to subtly ask for help, but the urgency of the movement gave him away.
Meanwhile, Danny was going over all of his past interactions with Dick and comparing them to what he knew about Nightwing.
Nightwing and Dick both had the same build, hair and skin tone; they were both incredible at acrobatics and athletics and they both shared an affinity for puns. Dick knew how to take bad guys down on his own and he knew how to ricochet objects just like Nightwing does with his weapons. The more he thought about it, the more comparisons he found.
“I’ve connected the two dots!”
“You didn’t connect shit!”
“I’ve connected them!”
Then there was that time in November that Nightwing totally went older brother on him and-
“You called yourself handsome! How did I not realise it was you? You do that all the time.” Danny smacked the heel of his hand against his forehead; he felt stupid for only just noticing.
“Really, Dick?” Barbara chimed in; she sounded disappointed in him.
“What? I can’t help that Gotham Teen Magazine voted me ‘Choice Male Hottie’ multiple years in a row!”
“Enough.” Bruce’s calm yet firm tone cut through the chaos. He walked over to the pair and placed a steadying hand on their shoulders. “We owe Danny the truth.”
We?
Danny cast a glance at the people in the room and did some quick math. The number of people in the room, the number of Gotham vigilantes, the shared physical characteristics between the two groups…
Oh. He’s been living with Batman.
March (+1)
All in all, Dick would say that he’s had a good birthday.
Feeling pleasantly full from dinner and relishing in the rare night off, he made the climb up the grand staircase towards his childhood room and flopped backwards onto his bed with a satisfied huff.
The family were continuing their practice of having all major family celebrations together at the manor to help Danny feel more included. This was much easier than it had been a month ago now that Danny was clued into the family secret. Dick still couldn’t believe that it was him that caused Danny to find out before Bruce thought that he was ready. While he still felt a bit of embarrassment whenever he remembered the fact, overall he was happy at the turn of events; he didn’t like keeping a secret like that from his newest brother.
A soft knocking drew his attention to the door. Only one person in the manor was both polite enough and hesitant enough to knock like that.
“Come in, Danny.” He called out.
The younger boy poked his head around the door but didn’t meet Dick’s eyes. It didn’t take a detective to see that something was up. His floor wasn’t that interesting.
“What’s up? Is everything okay?” He asked as he sat upright, causing Danny to finally meet his gaze.
“Uh, yeah,” Danny said as he stepped unsurely into the room and kicked the door closed behind him with his heel, “I just wanted to give you this.”
A lumpy present wrapped clumsily in familiar starry paper was pressed into Dick’s hands. He looked up at the teenager in surprise but Danny once again found the floor to be more interesting.
“Thank you, Danny! You didn’t have to get me another gift.” He already loved the little crystal elephant that he’d given him; it sparkled almost ethereally and was comfortingly cool when he’d held it in the palm of his hand. He already knew where he was going to put it in his apartment.
“I know, but I really wanted to give this to you too. I just didn’t want the others to see it. Not yet, anyway.” Danny rubbed the back of his neck self consciously, braving a glance at Dick from the corner of his eye.
Curiosity piqued, Dick wasted no time opening the extra gift. He smiled when he saw what it was, though he was admittedly confused.
Inside the paper was a hoodie, very similar to the one Dick had given Danny a month ago. It was lighter than the Nightwing one; its design was predominantly black with a white hood and a white stylised D embroidered on the chest. Maybe it was meant to stand for “Dick”?
That couldn’t be right. He was sure he’d seen that logo somewhere before. He cast his mind back, trying to remember where he’d seen it before he suddenly remembered.
The Bat’s newest person of interest wore the same logo on the chest of his jumpsuit. If he remembered correctly, the kid went by the name of Phantom and had so far been rather harmless, just flying around using his meta abilities. That was enough for Batman to want to pay him a visit.
It was a bit of a weird choice for Danny to give to him; he didn’t even know that the meta had merch. But he appreciated the callback to Dick’s Nightwing gift tradition. Still, he could have picked any of the more commonly available hero merch; why did he pick the random meta over-
Eyes wide, Dick snapped his head up towards an anxious Danny who grinned sheepishly and waved awkward jazz hands at him.
“Surprise!”