Author's note: HOLY CRAP I FINALLY UPDATED! Good lord this took forever. So sorry to those who read this and were expecting more, and NOTHING happened. I seriously go through phases where I want to write all the time, or NOT AT ALL. so FINALLY here you are 2 1/2 years later, part 2 of my It's always worth it series! as usual I don't own anything, it all belongs to DC and their creators and all that, this is just my story! ENJOY!

P.S. I'm hopefully going to start updating this story a bit more, as I would like for this to be a nice collection of one shots, so if there is any sort of story or scenario you would like to see with these characters, let me know in a review or a message!

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It was relatively quiet in the manor that morning. It was 9:15am, and everyone was just lounging about. Almost everyone at least.

While everyone else was just meandering about, one figure in particular was being quick and silent, zipping through the halls and down the steps of the house, desperately trying not to catch anyone's attention.

The figure got to the bottom of the steps, looking around. Deeming it safe, they took a cautious step forward, gaining confidence in not being discovered. They made it around the corner when they ran into a large, bulking mass. The force of the impact forced the figure to fall backwards, hitting the floor with a thud.

They looked up to see what they had hit, then gulped. This wasn't good.

"Tim, what do you think you're doing?"

"Well Jason, um, the thing is…" Tim's voice died in his throat, not able to fabricate a decent lie on the spot, especially not with his older brother towering over him glaring holes through his head

Jason just sighed heavily before reaching down and grabbing Tim from the floor. He yanked him up and somewhat tossed him over his shoulder, beginning the trek back up to Tim's bedroom.

"Jason! Put me down! I have legs!" Tim protested, kicking said legs around in an attempt to slow his brother down. A very useless attempt in Jason's mind

"I'm aware of that babybird, which is exactly why I'm carrying you. You wouldn't make it far, but I don't trust you not to run off the second I put you down on the floor." Jason deadpanned. Tim just sighed in frustration

"But Jason, I need my laptop! I haven't been able to work on this last case at all the past couple days and it's driving me insane!" Tim countered, going for the pleading little sibling bit. He doubted that Jason would actually buy it, but he was running out of options here.

"And you will continue to not work until you're completely better. I mean, would it kill you to just lie in bed for a day or two? You won't get better if you keep running around and overworking that big brain of yours." Jason responded dryly, making it to the top of the stairs.

Tim just glared at the floor. It's all because of this stupid illness he came down with a few days ago. It wasn't even anything big! Just a stupid cold. His family was convinced otherwise though, Alfred coming to consensus that it was a full blown flu. Alfred's word was basically law in this household.

He had been confined to bed rest until he was "fully recovered and functional." He was functional damn it! But just to make sure he didn't stay awake, his family had taken the liberty of taking and hiding his laptop so he couldn't work. This just obviously made Tim go out and search for it, but he was always caught, usually by Dick or Jason, and then hauled back to his room and tossed back into bed.

Tim was positive that if Jason had his way he would just tie him to the bed.

They finally got to Tim's room, Jason kicking the door open. He lowered Tim onto the bed, letting go when Tim was seated on the edge.

"Stay here, I'm gonna go get some water and cold medicine from the bathroom, and if I come back here and you're not…." Jason didn't finish his sentence, he didn't need to. Tim just nodded, knowing that it would be just plain stupid to try and run now.

Jason disappeared into the bathroom. Tim could hear the water running from the sink into a glass. Jason came out into the room again with a glass of water in one hand, and pack of medicine in the other. He also had a thermometer with him.

Jason set the glass down on the bedside table along with the medicine. He then took the thermometer out and handed it to Tim.

"Stick this in your mouth and give it to me when it starts beeping." Jason instructed. Tim only nodded slightly, now starting to feel a bit of fatigue from his quick little (failed) endeavor.

When the thermometer began to beep, Tim took it out and handed it to Jason. Jason looked at it and frowned.

"Tim, it's still 102.5 F. You gotta stop getting up and running around while you're this sick." Jason said, Tim could catch the exasperation in his tone, mixed with a bit of worry.

Tim felt a twinge of guilt for making his brother worry like that, but he still wished that they would all stop babying him. Dick and Jason he could somewhat tolerate, but if he has to look at that smug little grin on Damian's face every time he sees him while he rubs it in Tim's face that he can't go on patrol, he's gonna scream. And possibly dispose of Damian's body where no one will ever find it.

Tim was awoken from his daydream (homicidal planning) by said demon kicking open the door and shoving Dick inside the room. Dick fell flat on his face with a pathetic wine, rolling over onto his side and rubbing his nose where it collided with the floor.

"He's your problem now." Stated Damian. With that he turned on his heel and slammed the door behind him, his footsteps fading as he walked further down the hall.

Tim and Jason shared a confused look before looking back at Dick, who had sat up and was now leaning against the door. He looked a bit pale. To add to that he was sweating profusely and small shivers passed through his body.

Jason got up from the bed and approached Dick, leaning down slowly so as not to surprise him. "Hey Dickie, you okay?" Jason asked, waving a hand in front of Dick's face.

Dick didn't seem to notice, he just kept his chin on top of his knees with his arms wrapped around the front. Jason slowly crept closer to Dick, still wary of his strange behavior.

It was then that Jason felt it. The heat that was radiating from Dick in waves. Jason didn't even need to touch him to tell that he was burning up with a fever. Jason just stared at Dick for a few seconds before a smirk spread across his face.

"Dick, is it possible that you're not feeling too good?" Jason asked, mockery clearly heard in his tone. Dick looked up at Jason with a glare, though it wasn't the least bit threatening with the sweat pouring from his face and the misery in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a fit of coughing.

Tim, a bit confused before but now understanding the situation, slowly climbed off the bed and made his way towards Dick. Once he was close enough, he knelt down in front of his oldest brother, lifting his hand to feel Dick's forehead. Just as Jason had thought, Dick was burning up.

"Dick, you're burning up, how long have you felt like this?" Tim asked, tilting his head to the side so he could look Dick in the eyes. Dick had his head bowed so he wouldn't look at anyone directly. Tim tried again.

"Dick? Has it been awhile? Were you faking it so you wouldn't be stuck in bed like me?" Tim asked, this time with a little bit of annoyance in his voice. If he had to be stuck in bed and do nothing because of this stupid cold (flu), then so would Dick.

Dick flinched at Tim's words. After a few seconds he lifted his head a bit so he could tentatively look Tim in the eyes, tears pricking the corners.

"Timmy I…. I'm sorry for not saying anything, but I was afraid!" Dick wailed, grabbing Tim by the arms and looking him right in the eye. "I didn't want Bruce to ban me from patrol, because if I can't patrol I—" Dick in mid sentence, looking incredibly sincere and ready to pour his heart out, just completely shut down. He shut his mouth and looked away again, not even looking guilty about not talking, minus the blush forming on his cheeks.

Tim stared at Dick. He didn't know if he wanted to laugh and ruffle Dick's hair, or just simply punch him hard in his too-perfect-for-being-sick face. He settled for reaching forward and grabbing Dick's nose and yanking his face forward so he was forced to look at him again.

"OW! Timmy, that hurts! Let go! What are you doing!?" Dick all but screeched, grabbing onto Tim's arm, trying to wrench it off his face. Tim didn't move, his new found strength coming from his desire to hear Dick spill his guts.

Jason just looked between his two brothers, not exactly sure on what to do. It was pretty entertaining though to watch Dick thrash around like a child, somewhat crying, while Tim just looked at him with a blank expression. Them both being extremely sick also added to the humor. Realization hit Jason though, and he quickly tried to make his way to the door, shoving Dick to the side and reaching for the handle.

"Ow! Jason what was that for?" Dick yelled, his nose still being held by Tim. Jason continued to shove Dick out of the way and yanked the door open.

"You two are super sick with fevers, I'm not gonna get banned from patrol and join you two losers." Jason said quickly, slipping out of the room, his footsteps getting fainter as he made his way down the hall.

Tim and Dick just sat in silence for a few seconds before Tim remembered his original objective and yanked on Dick's nose again, Dick crying out and slapping at Tim's arm again.

"Dick, I'm serious, why didn't you say anything?" Tim said through gritted teeth, he could also feel himself swaying a bit, his head was beginning to spin. Apparently Dick noticed because he stopped squirming and gently grabbed Tim's hand and pulled it away from his face, scooting closer to Tim in the process.

"Timmy, I'm sorry, I'll tell you but first let's get you back in bed." Dick said softly, gripping Tim by his elbow and tugging him upwards. Tim began to rise, but wobbled on his way up, leaning against Dick. Though Dick being sick as well didn't really help because as he stood up, Dick started swaying, wrapping his arms around Tim's shoulders to balance himself, the two of them just toppling over onto the floor again.

Dick groaned a bit and rubbed his shoulder where it hit the floor. Tim sat up and looked at Dick, then burst into laughter. Dick, startled at the noise, whipped his head up to look at Tim, and when he saw him laughing, joined in himself.

The two of them just sat on the floor of Tim's room, giggling like schoolgirls. When their laughing fit subsided, Dick smiled at Tim and reached forward to pull him into a hug. Tim, not having the strength to resist, nor really wanting to, allowed himself to pulled into the older man's embrace.

Dick rested his cheek on the top of Tim's head, nuzzling into his soft hair. Tim let out a small chuckle at this. Dick always had to nuzzle his hair, or any of his brothers when he hugged them. Most of the time, they insisted that it was annoying, but secretly they all found it endearing.

Dick pulled away and smiled down at Tim, then started to stand up again, pulling Tim up with him. This time they both managed to keep their balance, and made their way over to Tim's bed. Tim crawled onto the bed first and leaned back into the pillows, letting out a sigh. Dick smiled and cheerfully jumped into bed right after him, snuggling up to him and kissing his cheek. Tim didn't bother to try and hide his disdain for that and shoved Dick's face away. Dick let out a muffled protest and smacked Tim's hand away, Tim just chuckled and pulled the covers down and slipped under and pulled them back over his lap. Dick smiled and did the same, again snuggling up to Tim's side.

Finally Tim looked down at Dick, who had wrapped his arms around Tim's waist and pressed his face into Tim's side. He sighed because one, he knew Dick was trying to avoid the conversation that Tim was about to start, and two because it was kinda working. Dick looked so comfortable, and Tim was tired. But he shook his head, hardening his resolve and finally put his hand on Dick's head.

"Dick, you said that you'd tell me why you hid your sickness from me if I got in bed. I'm in bed, now spill." Tim said in as stern a voice as he could muster. Dick looked up at Tim slightly, then heaved his own sigh and sat up, leaning his head on Tim's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Tim, I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to get banned from patrol, but the reason for that is because I've been secretly meeting up with Cass. Not a lot. We've only met up twice, but we're trying to plan your birthday party for next week, we knew you'd forget it so we had to do it ourselves. And she can't come home right now because she's still undercover as you know, so we've been secretly meeting up during patrol because it's the only time we can actually see each other, and there's not much time left for planning, and Jason and Damian are awful planners. So again, sorry baby brother." Dick finishes, lifting his head to look Tim right in the eyes.

Even though the answer Dick gave wasn't unlike something he would try to pull, it still caught Tim off guard. His birthday was next week? It was already that time of year? Cass was back in Gotham? Tim just shook his head as all the questions swirled around in his head.

"Why?" Was the only thing Tim was able to get out of his mouth at that time

Dick looked a little confused, tilting his head to the side and raising an eyebrow. "I just told you buddy, it's your birth-"

"No, I mean... Why are you... putting in so much effort? Why do you care so much?" Tim asks, looking back at his brother. It was just another day on the calendar, and it's not like it was going to change anything in their routine. Gotham was still a cesspool that needed cleaning constantly. It's not like his birthday was going to stop that. Right?

For a split second Dick actually looked hurt, which confused Tim. It wasn't Dick's birthday, so why was he upset? Dick's expression morphed from hurt to a sad smile.

"Oh Timmy, why wouldn't we?" He said softly, reaching his arm around Tim's shoulders and leaning in.

Tim, still somewhat confused, looked down at Dick and opened his mouth to say something else, but Dick beat him to it.

"Timmy, we're doing this because we love you, and want to make sure you know that. All of us. Bruce, Alfred, Jason, Cass, Damian-" Dick stopped when he noticed the disbelieving look on Tim's face when he mentioned Damian. Dick just chuckled and ruffled Tim's hair.

"Yes, even Damian. We all love you very much and want to celebrate the day that your adorable existence came to be!" Dick said with a huge grin and wrapped Tim up in a bear hug, shoving him down onto the bed. Tim just groaned and tried to shove Dick off, with not much success considering how weak he was from being so sick.

"Okay, thanks a bunch, you're the best brother ever, now get off!" Tim said with one final push, shoving Dick on the other side of the bed. Dick rolled over, laughing as he sat up.

"Okay little brother, I think we both should get some rest. Before Alfred comes up and makes us drink that special nasty medicine tea of his." Dick says with a wink.

"Oh God anything but that! Medicine tea? More like dirt mixed with gasoline!" Tim said, making a face and giggling. Dick joined in until they both heard a cough at the door. A very gentlemanly, British cough. Oh no.

"I assure you young masters, that dirt and gasoline are not the ingredients that I put in this herbal remedy." Alfred says at the door, holding a tray with two mugs, steaming with said concoction.

Dick and Tim look at each other and groan, flopping in different directions onto the bed. There's no getting out of this now.

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Light streamed through the cracks in the curtains onto the sleeping figure in the some would say (many would say) overly lavish bed. Though the person occupying said bed, some would say (EVERYONE would say) is also overly lavish.

Dick blinked repeatedly when the sunlight hit his face, trying to wake up. Groaning, he sits and rubs his face, trying to force consciousness into his mind. Flinging his blankets to the side, he swings his legs onto the floor, shuddering at the cool hardwood on his bare feet. He stands up and starts to make his way towards the bathroom when he pauses, and suddenly he can't contain his excitement.

It's Timmy's birthday!

That being only thought running through Dick's mind on repeat as he rushed through his morning routine. He grinned at himself in the mirror and rushed back into his bedroom to get changed.

He grabbed some blue jeans and a Superman T-shirt (one of Bruce's "favorites") and raced out of the bedroom.

Dick ran straight to Jason's room, flinging open the door and stampeding over to Jason's bed. When Dick got close enough he launched himself into the air, landing square on Jason's midsection. The impact made Jason fold in on himself involuntarily, groaning loudly then trying to draw air into his lungs. Dick rolled off Jason with a smug grin, sitting up right next to Jason.

"Jason, bro it's time to get up!" Dick all but yelled into Jason's ear. When Jason had regained his breath, he sat up and turned to glare at his older brother, who just looked too damn happy with himself.

Dick noticed a little too late the small smirk on Jason's face, when suddenly Jason tackled Dick to the floor. The two brothers wrestled on the floor, smacking each other in the face and pulling each other's hair when it was within reach.

"Ow, owowowowow! Jason! Dude, it was a joke! You're too uptight!"

"Shut up Dickface! You've had this coming all frickin' week!"

This would have kept going for a while longer if another person hadn't burst through the door, rage rolling off him in waves. The two older brothers stopped to look at the newest occupant to the room.

"I don't particularly care what you imbeciles do in the mornings, but don't think for a second that I'm just going to sit through your insufferable cacophony!" Damian spoke sharply. He looked absolutely livid, only a small difference than normal.

Only Dick looked slightly sheepish. Jason clearly just wanted to go back to kicking the crap out of Dick.

"Sorry Dami, Jason's just a bit peeved at being woken up from his eternal slumber- OW! Jason, you psycho, let go!" Dick shrieked, trying to untangle Jason's vice-like grip from his hair.

"Shut the hell up you freakish early morning fuckstick! Sorry I actually enjoy getting sleep when the opportunity presents itself!" Jason retorted, unfazed by Dick's attempts to remove Jason's hand.

Damian, realizing that absolutely nothing was actually going to stop these two idiots, turned around and exited Jason's room. But not before slamming the door as hard as he could for good measure on his way out. As he made his way farther away from the room, he could still hear the two bickering.

"Jason, you seriously have a problem! Let go and lighten up for once!"

"You're the one with a problem! What kind of jackass awakes a man this goddamn early on his day off?"

"It's not even that early! Its already 9:30 in the morning!"

"It's early for those of us who actually enjoy rest!"

"Prima Donna first lady of the stage~"

"DICK!"

Damian just sighed while rubbing his temples, increasing his pace to get downstairs and away from his moronic older brothers.

Upon entering the kitchen, Damian nearly runs into Tim holding a cup of scalding black coffee. What else was new?

"Woah! Careful Damian, I could've burned you!" Tim says in surprise, holding the mug away from his body so as not to spill any of it on Damian by accident. Damian just huffs and walks around his other brother, who for once isn't the one who's causing him the most annoyance.

Tim watches his little brother go, surprised at the lack of malice emanating from the usually hostile child. He just shrugs, thankful for one less headache and makes his way into the living room.

It being a day off, Tim is dressed in a Flash T-shirt (another one of Bruce's "favorites") and old, faded jeans. Ain't nobody he had to impress so comfy clothes for the win! Tim sits himself down on the couch and reaches for the TV remote, turning it onto a local news channel. After depressing himself long enough on the horrors of everyday Gotham, he switches it to a history channel. This plays for the next hour and a half, pleasantly distracting Tim.

Though after a while Tim notices how oddly quiet it is in the normally (when everyone is around) rambunctious house. He turns the TV off and looks around. Nobody in sight. It was a Sunday, so everyone did have the day to laze about, but still. Even Jason should've shown himself by now, and Tim's pretty sure he heard him and Dick arguing (shrieking) earlier. So where were they?

Tim, thinking that they'd either be in the kitchen (coffee of course) or the Batcave, made his way to kitchen first.

Just before Tim enters, Dick runs out of the kitchen, enveloping Tim in a tight embrace.

"Timmy! Good morning baby bro!" He says in a bit too loud voice, swinging Tim around.

Tim just groans in response, not even bothering to try and get away. It would be pointless. "Good morning Dick, can you put me down? What have you guys even been doing the last hour? It's been unusually quiet" Tim asks, his words a bit muffled due to being squished against Dick's chest.

Dick looks absolutely ecstatic, barely being able to control his excitement. He sets Tim down on the floor and spins him around by his shoulders. "Just wait here a few more minutes ok? I'll call you when you can come in!" Dick says excitedly, giving Tim's shoulders a squeeze.

Tim complies, albeit confusedly. He just stands there and waits for Dick's signal to let him into the kitchen. He also tries to listen to what is going on inside, stretching his neck back a bit to try to pick up on the hushed tones.

He honestly couldn't hear much though. Just some shuffling about, some shifting noises, and Jason's whisper-yell telling Dick to "stop grinning like a fucking psycho". Tim smiled to himself at that one.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Dick called out to Tim. "Timmy, you can come in now!" He said in a too-sweet voice, like a mother beckoning her child. Tim grimaced and made his way in. As soon as he stepped in though, all negative and skeptical thoughts vanished.

The kitchen was completely decked out in birthday decorations. Streamers were hung about the whole room in varying colors. There were balloons everywhere. Some just had air in them and littered the floor, while others actually had helium in them and where floating up at the ceiling. On one of the walls was a huge banner that said "Happy Birthday Timothy!" At least it was supposed to say that. It appeared that someone (Dick) scratched out 'Timothy' and wrote TIMMY in glitter instead. Whatever. Also, around the room were pictures. Some just taped to the walls, while others were actually hanging from light fixtures by brightly colored ribbons. Most of them were of Tim, while others featured other members of the family alongside Tim. All in all, it was really nice. Tim couldn't help the genuine smile that crept onto his face.

"You guys... I don't... really know what to say... Thank you so much." Was all Tim could manage to get out. He knew it was feeble and not at all what his family deserved, but he honestly couldn't think of anything else to say. For the smart and witty one of the family he sure was coming up short right now.

The rest didn't really seem to mind though, all just smiling fondly at Tim.

"You don't have to say anything Tim, we did this for you because we love you!" Dick said. Of course Dick would say that. But it didn't stop the happy feelings from bubbling up in Tim's chest.

"Speak for yourself Grayson!" Damian snarled from his place next to Dick. Though the light blush across his cheeks betrayed his bravado.

"Happy birthday ya colossal nerd!" Jason cheered, a face-splitting grin on his face. Tim hadn't seen Jason smile like that in such a long time. The knowledge that it was because of his birthday made a lump form in his throat.

Bruce and Alfred just stood behind the kids, smiling warmly at Tim.

"And now Tim, guess who's here?" Dick said, bouncing up and down and nodding behind Tim. Tim gave him a quizzical look before remembering their conversation a week ago in their fever state. He immediately grinned and turned around to see Cassandra standing in the doorway. She smiled brightly at Tim, holding out her arms for an embrace, which Tim gladly gave.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up to twirl her around. Cassandra laughed, wrapping her arms around Tim's neck. He placed her back onto the floor and put his forehead on her shoulder, squeezing her tighter. "I missed you." He whispered, trying not too successfully to keep his emotions in check.

Cassandra just kissed the top of his head and ran her fingers through his hair. "Me too." She whispered back. They stood there for a short while until a high-pitched whine could be heard coming from their older brother.

Tim and Cassandra lifted their heads and turned to look over at said older brother. Dick looked extremely happy, but also on the verge of tears and so desperately looked like he wanted in on the hug. Tim sighed and then smiled, extending his arm out in Dick's direction. Dick needed no further provocation than that, running full speed over to his younger siblings and wrapping his arms around both of them, giving them a bone-crushing hug. Tim and Cass gasped for breath, but then began to laugh.

"I do believe cake is in order." Alfred finally spoke up, stepping forward and gesturing towards the table where a lavish Justice League themed birthday cake was sitting in the center. It was at that moment that Tim realized that the entire theme of the party was Justice league themed.

The streamers and balloon colors all corresponded with the colors of one of the JLA members uniforms, as well as the candles on the cake and the ribbons on the photos. Everyone in the family was even wearing a league shirt. Dick was wearing a Superman T-shirt, Damian was wearing a Martian – Manhunter long sleeved shirt, Bruce was wearing an Aquaman mid-armlength shirt, Jason was wearing a Wonderwoman Tank-top (of course), Cassandra was wearing Shazaam v-neck, and even Alfred was wearing a white button down with a dark Green Lantern sweater vest.

Tim couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up. He was even wearing his Flash T-shirt. They made quite a set. Everyone turned to look at Tim, startled at first, but then everyone was either smiling or laughing a long with him.

Eventually everyone was seated at the table. Tim blew out the candles on his cake, and then it was sliced and served. Soon everyone was chatting, shoving cake into their mouths, and sharing stories. Tim couldn't remember the last time that he felt so relaxed and content. He looked around at his family and sighed quietly.

Why couldn't they be this way all the time? Just happy, spending time together, and talking about fun memories. It was times like these that Tim sometimes resented their night jobs. Why them? Why did they have to be the ones who gave up so much and go so little in return? But then Tim remembers all the good they've done, all the people they've saved. They go out at night and patrol the city to protect those who can't protect themselves, because no one else can. Because no one else will. Just because something seems hard, or even impossible, doesn't mean it's not worth doing.

Tim looks around at his family again, studying their faces, locking away this memory forever. These people, his precious family, they'll always be worth the fight, the hardship, the struggle. Tim would fight tooth and nail to his last breath for these people. How could he not? They, more than anything else in the entire city, the entire world, were worth it.

With that thought, Tim let himself be dragged back into the conversation, adding in his own jokes and stories, laughing along with his family. Because right now it was just them, and that's all Tim ever wanted.