Synopsis: It had started as a one time thing, but before Dick knew it, it had become a habit.

Dick awoke to a slight kick in his ribs. Well, actually it was a powerhoused punch aimed towards his gut, and had Dick not already been used to such painful attacks from Gotham's worst, he would have ended up with something far worse than a bruise.

Dick groaned awake, curling slightly inward from the pain before cracking his eyes open to see Jason Todd staring back with a smirk of victory. No doubt him being the creator of Dick's current pain. "Definitely not the first thing I want to wake up to at ... " Dick turned to glance at the clock on the nightstand. "Six in the morning." Jason only frowned in response before snarking back, "Sorry I'm not one of your nightly girlfriends though I will say last night was brutal."

Dick sighed before lightly shoving his brother aside. "I'm pretty sure you were the one who said 'I can handle them on my own.' and you were definitely the one who said 'I don't need you fighting my battles for me.', so whatever happened last night was definitely NOT my fault, and one last thing. You do realize I went to bed just forty-five minutes ago," Dick said with a slight groan before falling back onto the cushions and turning away from Jason's belligerent eye roll.

The two had taken a long shift between clearing Gotham's illegal doings and saving residents (well, Dick did the saving, Jason did the clearing). The two, after having prohibited Tim and Damian from joining them that night due to rumors of some gang, had come across a group of lackeys that Jason had proudly proclaimed he could destroy faster than Dick could find their ringleader, and after Dick had reminded the other "NO KILLING UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES", Dick had let him be.

Needless to say, Jason had lost, yet Dick was still paying the price. Though that did beg the question …

"What are you doing in my bed?" Dick asked. Today was one of those rare shifts that Dick didn't have a day job the next day and was too tired to drive back to his apartment where his nosy neighbor, a senile old women, would most likely question his tardiness, or at least cause some annoyances. Thus Dick had decided to crash in one of the guest rooms of the Wayne manor though it seemed Jason had the same exact idea. "You know there are at least five other guest rooms you could have taken including the living room couch and a storage room you would fit nicely in," Dick muttered, already falling halfway asleep again.

"This is the only room where I can store a grenade," Jason shrugged nonchalantly. Dick blinked once, then twice. Oh right. So that was why Alfred never fixed that squeaky floorboard. "Alright. Fine," Dick sighed in exasperation. "Just go to sleep." But sleep only came for two minutes when Dick heard the tell tale sign of a third person in the room. It only took Jason half a second to notice it as well before he had pulled out his gun and pointed it towards the door.

"Jason, stop!" Dick shouted as he grabbed the other's forearm and forced Jason to recede. Jason looked ready to fight back when the lights, blinding and bright, turned on and the two squinted to see Tim standing in the doorway. Jason hesitated for a second as if contemplating whether this was truly Tim or Clayface before finally setting his gun down. "Why are you here?" Jason asked. Tim gave the other a pointed glare for as rare as it was for Tim to not be with the Teen Titans, it was even more rare for Jason's independent ego to crash in the manor. But Tim didn't rebuttal. Instead he sat on the corner of the mattress while speaking. "I had a nightmare."

They all had nightmares. Jason especially could attest to the vivid terror they all faced as they slept, more of unwanted memories than real dreams. But that was what made them worse. Still, Jason smirked in response. "What? Did you get a bad grade?" he asked. Tim immediately gave him the evil eye though Dick laughing in the background lightened the mood. "Not everyone relies on becoming a murder as their main income," Tim shot back as Jason bristled in anger. But before the two could fall back into their habitual cat fights, a voice spoke out. "You two are loud."

Tim and Jason stopped in surprise as Damian stood at the doorway with angrily crossed arms. They had not heard his entrance, yet Dick didn't seem at all fazed, most likely used to his former partner's assassin like traits. But Damian didn't say more. Instead the newest Robin, and by his accounts the only Robin, walked towards Dick's side of the bed before curling contently into the crook of Dick's arm with his back to the other's side like a cat. "Shut up and sleep," he said as he himself was quickly pulled into the depths of exhaustion from the comfort of Dick's presence.

Dick only smiled as Jason rolled his eyes.

They didn't often come together like this, but the moments were as sweet and tender as they were rare. Even Jason seemed to acknowledge this as he collapsed back into the pillows in defeat and spread his arms out along the cool mattress as if to release what pent up energy remained. Tim frowned in annoyance, but Dick was quick to shush the other into silence as the arms of sleep beckoned them into its presence.

Yet, even then, Dick could hear the calming voices of the mansion's resident songbirds clashing beyond the window. The steady thrum of the coffee machine below with the rhythmic grinding of the beans and the almost inaudible whistle of the kettle through inches of thick walls and plaster. And even among the silence of Alfred's footsteps, Dick could still barely imagine the butler's steady pace over the kitchen floors. It was somehow comforting to hear the day begin anew and feel the light that breached their singular room. Even if he had work in a few hours.

But for now, it seemed even Gotham's sins could be washed away as Dick was finally allowed to close his eyes in slumber lead only by the distant sounds of his brothers' heartbeats.

If Bruce opened the door to see his sons tangled in an overgrown sleepover, then he didn't comment about it when they came down for breakfast in a listless, almost stagnant, pace . Nor did he mention the sudden awakening of Dick's cellphone followed by unintelligible shouting from his manager, the sudden apologetic spew as Dick startled awake, the heavy, resounding thump as he crashed to the floor, and the muffled knock afterwards as the others dished out their extra pillows on the eldest in vexation.

AN- This will be the last chapter as both my friend and I have become very busy and run out of ideas for stories. So here you are left with one last, albeit short, installment. Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and followed. We appreciate the support and hope you enjoyed reading as much as we enjoyed writing.