Soaring Free

A Young Justice Fanfiction

Hey yall! Back again. This a short chapter, but I hope you enjoy regardless.

On a side note: I'm kind of surprised no one has chewed me out for skipping over the Deathstroke encounter? I mean, I know it was a long time ago, but I thought it was a rather glaring omission.

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.

Well, this is honestly among the most awkward I have been in my life, including all of the times that I have had to dance with rich old cougars at Bruce's parties. I suck on my cheek and purse my lips, placing my hands on my hips. "Well?"

The silence stretches on, each of the Team, including Wally, only giving me their best poker face. Or, well, in Wally's case, a poker face around his mouthful of food. The sharp ding of metal rings as Damian begins to examine some of the birdarangs that he pulled from somewhere (honestly, not even I know where the kid keeps all his crap).

Artemis and Kaldur make eye contact, seemingly deciding on something. I try not to shift my weight too much, not wanting to give away how much I actually still want to be involved with the Team. Kaldur sighs. "You are still a member of the League, correct?"

I pop my lips, ignoring Artemis as she rolls her eyes at the sound. "Yeah. At least, I think so. Haven't exactly checked in lately. Been kind of busy."

Rocket pinches the bridge of her nose, like an exasperated parent. "For goodness sakes, just spit it out, man."

A faint smile appears on Aqualad's face, and I try not to let myself get too hopeful at the sight. "We have found ourselves in need of a… den mother of sorts, while the League sorts themselves out after the New Year's Disaster."

A grin rises from my lips, paralleled on the bright face of a certain speedster. "Oh, really?"

The smile reaches Kaldur's eyes. "We figured you wouldn't mind filling in. After all, it is the least you could do."

I bow theatrically, one arm sweeping wide, the other crossing my chest. "Of course, my good sir." I wink at the gathered team members ('-tt-' from Damian). "Mama Wing is on the case."

Damian snorts and looks incredulous. "You all have no idea what you have just done."

Zatanna's eyebrows crinkle. "What do you mean?"

Casually twirling a birdarang, Robin sends it rocketing right past KF's head, making the speedster squawk. "Nightwing is the ultimate mom friend."

~oOo~

Following their declaration, everyone went home, eager for some down time (or at least, time spent fighting their local villains. After all, most of them, the Flashes, have built a kind of rapport with their villains.) As such, I am free to head home and spend some quality time with my family.

Damian had left Mount Justice pretty quickly after they had delivered the news, so I had the Batcave locker room to myself. Dumping my torn costume into Alfred's 'put your costumes here you melodramatic idiots' hamper (I might be paraphrasing) I let the hot water beat into my back, easing out the tension and letting a small smile come to my face. Only half the weight of the world rests on my shoulders now, I joke to myself.

Pulling on a pair of sweatpants and leaving the shift off, displaying my bandages, I work my way into the manor proper, the smile turning malicious as I hear yells echoing throughout its halls.

"Drake, you f****** idiot, you just bombed me!"

"Dude, if Dick hears you talking like that in the presence of his precious baby he's going to murder you!"

"Oh, come one! It's not like I was born yesterday, Uncle!"

"See, the kid's on my side!"

"He's nine!"

"Almost ten!"

"And you still BOMBED me!"

Trying to restrain a mad giggle, I race up to the media room to find my brothers and son engaged in a rather intense game of MarioKart. Twin groans rise from Jason and Damian as Tim, smirking, crosses the finish line first. Leaning against the door frame, I clap slowly. "Well done, Red Bird."

He gives me a cheeky two fingered salute. "Thanks, Dickie bird."

Damian points at me accusingly. "Father! Don't fraternize with the enemy!"

Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, Jason tosses me a spare controller. "Ready to get your ass kicked, dude?"

Starting the next course, I give him a blank faced look. "Language." The moment seems to pause, before my grin matches his own. "And you're about to get yours handed to you on a silver platter."

27 games of MarioKart later…

I groan as Jason's hands go up in victory. "Take that, Princess Peach!"

Running a hand down his face, Tim sighs wearily. "And that puts Jason ahead fourteen to my seven, Damian's five, and Dick's singular victory."

I cross my arms, pouting. "I'm winning at golf."

Damian mockingly pats my arm. "Whatever you need to tell yourself, Dad."

My mouth drops in falsified shock, doing nothing at all to hide the amusement in my eyes. "Son! Wherever did you learn such biting sarcasm? I raised you better than that!"

Tim and Jason snort, but Damian doesn't react. He simply looks me straight in the eyes and says, "It's a Wayne thing."

I bite my lip, trying to restrain my laughter, but then I make eye contact with Tim, and we both burst out laughing. Apparently contagious, Jason soon catches our humor, while Damian smirks proudly at us.

Making a split second decision, I reach out and drag him onto the ground. Laughing now, he looks at me, daring me, and I comply. In seconds, I have him roaring with laughter as I hit every spot that I know he is even vaguely ticklish in. The joy I hear in my baby boy's laugh makes a genuine grin split my face, and I'm so caught up in it that I'm completely blindsided when Tim tackles me and starts to tickle me as well, Jason taking over from where I left off with Dami.

Our fun soon devolves into an all out tickle war, no holds barred, until we are forced to stop lest we aggravate out injustries. We all lay on the ground, panting and giggling, at times setting everyone roaring again.

This.

This is why I love my family.

It's not a normal family, sure. It's broken, and small, and distinctly lacking in all things feminine, but the times like this, when Tim relaxes, when Jay drops his barriers, when Dami isn't afraid to let his uncles know that he cares for them, these are the times I live for.

I'm lying on the ground, grinning like an idiot, when my phone goes off. Glancing at the caller ID, I answer, doing a ridiculous British accent. "Ello, Grayson 'ere."

"Hey Dick, it's the Wall-man."

Scowling, Little D crawls onto my chest and curls up like a cat as I continue the conversation. "What's up, dude?" I absently run my fingers through Damian's soft hair.

"Well, I have today off, 'cause Barry doesn't want me to stress to much, andIwaskindofwonderingifyoumaybewantedtohangoutforalittlebit." Apparently nervous, he subconsciously slips into super speed at the end, and I can't quite catch what he says.

"Come again? One more time, dude, a little bit slower. Not all of us have super powers, you know."

My poor attempt at a joke does what I intended, easing his nerves. He gives a breathless laugh. "Got it. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out today."

I chuckle, and it intensifies when Damian hums contentedly on feeling the vibrations in my chest. Catching myself, I answer Wally, "Of course, dude! Just say the word! What do you wanna do?"

Complete silence on the other end of the line. It surprises me. Wally is always moving and always making noise. Before I can get too worried, however, he laughs. "Hadn't actually thought that far ahead."

"Hmm." I look over at Tim and Jason, who were starting a pillow fight over their ongoing argument about the ethical use of blue shells. I grin as an idea forms in my mind. "How about you come over to my, well, my…dad's place. My brothers, Damian and I are having an epic MarioKart tournament. We could use your lightning reflexes to destroy Red Hood's lead."

I can practically hear the happiness in Wally's voice as he responds. "You got it, dude. Send me the address and I'll be there in a flash." I groan at the pun and he laughs as he hangs up. Setting my phone down, I glare at my brothers.

"We're about to have company. Don't you dare do anything too embarrassing."

By their matching grins, I know I have sealed my fate.