Hours later the maids of Wayne Manor were given the week off by a very distraught looking Bruce Wayne. The tabloids would be abuzz soon with wild rumors about why, if Bruce didn't get in front of this. He set up a press release for in a few hours time.

Now, he was restlessly waiting in the small sitting room off of Dick's childhood bedroom, trying to ignore the nervous chatter and the concerned glances flitting around the room. Barbara sat on a small love seat with Starfire, saying soothing things in a strangled voice as Starfire crushed her hand in worry. Jason, Tim and Wally sat on the floor in front of the fireplace, trying to make stilted conversation and swapping stories about their version of what had happened hours before. Damian stood by the window, clutching the batarang that Barbara had retrieved for him, when she had gone to apprehend Talia and her five League members. While the five assassins had been there, still knocked out from the gas pellets, Talia had disappeared without a trace.

Bruce stood, glancing at Dick's bedroom door, willing Alfred to come out and inform them that Dick was awake. Nothing happened. Instead, Bruce walked to the window where his youngest son stood.

Bruce placed a gentle hand on Damian's shoulder and the young boy flinched. "Damian. Come sit down with us." Bruce offered gently. He knew Damian expected him to be mad- and at first, he had been. Now, though, he was just glad to two young men were alive.

Damian shook his head, fingers digging further into the bat shaped throwing blade. "Starfire already asked me to come sit by her but…" Damian shook his head again, lost in his thoughts. "Why would she do that? I am responsible for- for Grayson's current situation."

Bruce's frown deepend. Apparently he had passed down his own pathological urge to take on faults that were not his. "Damian, I won't say that I'm pleased with what occurred or how you two chose to deal with it, but it's not your fault. And Dick will tell you the same thing."

Damian looked up at him, eyes slightly wide. He nodded mutely and allowed Bruce to steer him toward the group of others. He took a deep breath and shuffled toward Starfire who looked up with watery, jewel bright eyes. "I'm sorry about Grayson." He murmured around the lump in his throat.

Starfire gave him small but very sweet smile. She released Barbara's hand (who was relieved that her circulation seemed intact) and placed a gentle hand on Damian's cheek. "Do not be sorry, Damian. You were very brave and I am glad that you are safe."

The grand wooden door leading to Dick's bedroom opened and all eyes swiveled to Alfred who was very quietly shutting the door. "Master Dick awoke very briefly. He is stable but in no condition to visit at this time. I expect by morning I can allow you all to go in and see him."

The group let out a unanimous groan of frustration and Bruce murmured something about everyone being welcome to spend the night in the large manor. Bruce then led Tim, Damian, and Barbara to the press conference he was holding on the front steps of the manor, playing the dutiful family and family friend respectively.

The story was this: Dick, first adoptive son of Bruce Wayne and current resident/police officer of Bludhaven, had been on his way to Gotham for a well earned weekend off. When he had reached the outer edge of Gotham, a truck driver had accidentally run a red light, colliding into Dick's motorcycle. Dick had been rushed to an undisclosed hospital and was currently stable and expected to make a full recovery. His place of business had been notified of the accident and the family would appreciate privacy as they helped Dick through his recovery process.

Camera flashes clicked and blinked as reporters scrambled to ask their questions. Bruce excused himself and the others and they re-entered the house, leaving security to herd out the bloodthirsty 'journalists' hunting for a juicy sound bite. Though Bruce had opened up rooms enough for each of the young heroes, no one made any move to go to bed. They sat in the formal sitting room downstairs, Alfred among them aside from his occasional trips to Dick's room to check on him. The family stayed like that all night, dozing fitfully when they could and muttering prayers of healing when they couldn't.

Morning came and went. Then, sometime after Alfred had brought in a platter of sandwiches for lunch, the butler marched back in smilingly. "Master Dick is awake and insists that he see everyone." A general current of good cheer and "Thank God"s flowed amongst the group but Alfred held up a hand, indicating that there was more. "However, I think it best to visit in ones and twos. I really would rather not have him over excited. The young Master has a tendency of overestimating his ability to recover." Alfred and Bruce smirked fondly, no doubt remembering the many times of Dick's childhood when the bouncy young boy had busted stitches or re-sprained ankles.

Bruce grudgingly let Damian and Starfire go first, under the condition that he was allowed to go second and by himself.

When Damian and Starfire stepped through the door, they saw Dick propped up against a mountain of pillows, and piled under comforters. Starfire hurtled through the air toward him, stopping jerkily by his side and bending down to give him a very gentle hug.

"Hi, beautiful," Dick managed in between her frenzied pecks on his cheeks, forehead and lips. When she finally pulled back Dick grinned sheepishly. "Sorry I forgot to call. Busy day at the office."

Starfire rolled her eyes, smacking his hand lightly before bringing it to her lips. "Honestly, Richard, I was worried sick. When they called me and told me what happened…" Her eyes welled up with tears and a stab of guilt pierced his heart. It was definitely worse than being stabbed through with a sword, and he could now testify to as much with personal experience.

"Hey, don't cry." Dick stretched his hand, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Look at me. A few weeks of house arrest and physical therapy and I'll be good as new." Starfire nodded silently, leaning into the hand which pressed against her cheek. "Besides," Dick smiled goofily, "Now I'll have another 'sexy scar'."

Starfire's eyes widened in embarrassment, her cheeks flushing. "I-I never said… I do not think your scars are sexy." Starfire whispered louder than she thought.

Dick laughed and then groaned slightly, clutching at his side. Still, he smiled again and said, "You're such a liar."

Damian continued to stand by the door, shifting nervously and wondering if he should leave the room to give them more space. The movement caught Dick's eyes which lit up as they fell upon the youngest Wayne. "Damian. Thank God you're okay. C'mere." Dick motioned, patting the bed opposite the side where Starfire still stood, holding one of his hands.

Damian did as Grayson said, standing on the other side of the bed. "You are okay, right?" Dick asked him, stretching out his hand. He couldn't quite reach Damian so he requested, "Come on. Sit on the bed for a minute." Damian climbed up, sitting with his legs crossed. He wasn't sure why but he was nervous and antsy.

"I am sorry you got hurt. I should have been paying more attention," Damian averted his eyes, fiddling with the fringe on a pillow.

"Damian." Dick breathed, sounding tired and distressed. Damian looked up to see concern in Dick's bright blue eyes. "Geez, kiddo. It's not your fault. No, seriously, listen to me. It was not your fault." Blue eyes bored into green ones.

Damian decided to believe him and a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. "Still. I am sorry you were hurt."

"Better me than you, bud." Dick said seriously. Starfire nodded in agreement. "Oh, hey. You never opened your birthday present from me."

Damian studied Dick in confusion, wondering if this was some type of joke. His brother had just been impaled with a sword and he was talking about birthday presents. "Star, could you reach around the bedside table? There should be a red package...Yep, that's the one. Thanks, dear." Dick smiled at Starfire, passing the box to Damian who looked startled.

"I-" Damian was at a loss for words.

"I asked Alfred to see if Wally would go pick it up last night." Damian vaguely recalled Wally announcing he was going out on a food run after having a brief conversation with Alfred. "Go on. Open it."

The package was about a foot high and probably just as wide, wrapped in bright red paper with a tasteful black bow on the top. The red was the exact shade of red of his Flamebird emblem. Damian ripped away the paper slowly, sliding the lid off and peering over the rim. Tissue paper was wound around what looked like a couple of books. Tearing the paper off, Damian was astounded to see a pad of high quality paper and a rather nice set of drawing pencils.

Damian sat, opened mouth and staring at Dick who merely grinned and said, "What? I have eyes. I saw those paintings in your room, the sketches on your pin board. They're really good." Damian had always loved drawing but his mother had found it a skill unworthy of his time and talents. If you couldn't kill anybody with it, it wasn't worth her time. "There's more. Go on."

Damian peered back into the box, sifting through even more tissue paper. Inside was a small pet basket, lined with soft fabric. The name "Pennyworth" was stitched across the front. "There's a scratching post at home, too, but it was much harder to wrap." Dick smiled. "Maybe that will keep your cat from scratching up my couch."

Damian scoffed. "I doubt it. Alfred has very refined tastes." Dick rolled his eyes good naturedly and Damian set down his presents. "Thank you, Grayson. These are...very well thought out. I will put them to good use."

"I know you will."

"We should let the others come and visit." Damian sighed. He didn't really want to leave.

"Okay. You come back when they're done, if you want. We can… watch TV or something." Dick ruffled Damian's hair and squeezed Star's hand. When they were almost out the door Dick called, "Love you Star. Love you, Dami."

Starfire smiled and easily replied in kind. Then she looked to Damian and winked at him, nodding toward Dick. "I love you too, Grayson."

Bruce came in next by himself and Dick tried to mentally prepare himself for the verbal knock down he was about to receive. His father pulled up a chair, dragging it to the side of the bed. He studied his eldest but said nothing.

Not a fan of silence, Dick said, "Thanks for coming to get us. It wasn't fair, me keeping you out of the loop and then calling the way I did."

"I'm not here to chew you out, Dick." Bruce assured.

"Oh, uh… You're not?"

"No, that can wait a couple weeks," Bruce smirked.

"Sweet. Can't wait." Dick stared at his hands.

"Look-" Bruce said, at the same time Dick said, "Hey, listen-"

Dick grimaced awkwardly. "You first."

Bruce nodded his thanks. "Look. I'm upset that you didn't come to me about Talia, but I'm more upset that you felt like you needed to hide it from me. That said," Bruce sighed as if he'd rather not say what he was going to say, "I don't entirely blame the two of you. And… all things considered… You did alright."

"Uh, thanks?"

"I'm being serious, Dick. Not many people could have done what you did, fought Talia and beaten her. Plus, everything before that- working all day and defending the city by night, bringing in Wally to help you out. You did well."

Dick nodded awkwardly, unused to praise. "Thanks."

"Most importantly, Dick, you kept Damian safe. Thank you for that."

"I'm just doing what you would have done." Dick muttered sheepishly.

"All that aside- you scared the shit out of me." Bruce leaned forward eyes knit together in worry. "God, I will never forget seeing you like that. If Alfred hadn't been able to…" Bruce shook his head, twining his fingers together.

"Sorry, dad." Dick said, genuinely apologetic. His father had seen enough death to drive a person crazy. He hated to be the cause of anymore grief.

"You just rest up, okay?" He stood and patted Dick's knee. "You and Damian will be staying here for the week, so Alfred can look after you and I can assess where Damian is in his training."

"Sounds fair." Dick nodded.

"Glad you're okay, son." Bruce said finally, exiting the room.

A/N: That's it guys! That's the story! Since school has started up again I really don't have time to do full length stories. However, I have written a few one shots connected to this story, and I am open to writing more. If you have anything you'd like to see in a one shot or for a story later down the road, PM me or leave me a comment. And look out for those one shots!

Much love to all the follows and favs, you guys have been truely exceptional. Hope you liked the story.