I thought this would be a fun/interesting story to try. Now, I can't recall how I came up with idea at the moment, but it came up around the time I was writing Breaking You (around the second half or second third of the story). The basic premise is that each person has a predestined animal based tattoo that comes to life at some point in their lives (there will be a bit of an exception for one character). Dick and Damian's have yet to receive theirs.

This story will focus mostly on the Bat Family (I would include Selina, and as obvious as her tattoo being a cat, I'm not sure which quality I would attribute it to). The only exceptions are Talia and Ra's. Mostly because of the fact that they're Damian's maternal family and Damian will bring them up when inquiring about his own. Also, I won't be focusing a chapter solely on Alfred, Steph, or Cass, but they will get a mention. Each Bat Family member's tattoo will basically be recalled via dialogue or flashback until I finally get to Damian and Dick's chapters. That's just so that there isn't just a story of just one.

Here's what I plan to do as far as the explanation of the tattoos and their significance. Each chapter will be titled based on the trait the person's tattoo signifies. For example, this one is Fear (which you won't be able to see until I post the next chapter) and I'll explain why I chose what I did and its location at the end of the chapter.

After a particularly chaotic night of patrol, Bruce could be found getting patched by Alfred. While helping apprehend Two Face and his men, Bruce had received a small gash from the gun of one of Two Face's henchmen. Thankfully it required only a few stitches. Dick was even luckier, having received little to no injury. A few scraps and bruises, but nothing too serious.

Patiently waiting on the other side of Bruce, eleven year old Dick kept a keen eye on his mentor and father figure. Rather than keeping his attention set on the injury, his sights were set on the image hovering above Bruce's heart.

"When did yours show up?" Dick blankly inquired.

"You're asking me this now?" Bruce responded, a little surprised by the question.

Dick had seen the bat tattoo on numerous occasions since his adoption, but never about when it came into existence. Quite frankly, he had never asked much about it before, outside of its symbolic significance. Fear, to which Dick wasn't too surprised about. He never investigated it much after that, not showing much interest in it after getting that question answered.

Bruce never approached it much after that either, wanting to give Dick the chance to do that on his own. He might not have seen it as that big of a deal, especially with people he was close with, but he knew that not everyone was like that. In his experience, not everyone is comfortable with talking about their tattoo's symbolism or their story. Asking about someone else's isn't always a comfortable thing either.

"Yeah." Dick sighed.

"Any particular reason why you're asking today?"

Dick would shrug his shoulders.

"Not really. Just curious."

Alfred and Bruce exchanged a quick glance before Alfred finished stitching Bruce's arm. Knowing that they both would feel more comfortable keeping this inquiry between them, Alfred excused himself. He didn't need to hear it again, and he knew it gave the situation the proper amount of privacy the topic needed.

Bruce sat up and scooted over a little, allowing Dick to take a seat beside him. Curling up a little, Dick was ready to listen to his story.

"I honestly expected you to ask this when you originally brought it up." Bruce admitted. "But since you didn't, I figured you'd ask when you were a little older and possible had your own."

"Well I'm curious now." Dick responded.

"I can accept that. Give me a moment to think about how I want to approach it."

"Did it show up when you became Batman?" Dick asked, not giving Bruce much time to think, in the hopes that he'd guide him in the right direction.

"No."

"When your parents died?"

"No."

"Then when?"

"When I was a child actually. Before my parents died."

Dick gave him a curious stare. Bruce would lightly cross his arms while he mentally recalled the incident.

"I used to be afraid of them as a child, and one night, about a month before my parents' demise, I had ended up in a cave full of them. For years I wonder why bats, and what it meant. At that age, the thought of it being fear was something I rejected. Mostly because, at that age, I associated it with my fear of them rather than their dark stereotype. Plus, it hadn't appeared the few other times I was exposed to the creature. So I buried that theory. That's not to say that I wasn't curious to know what its significance was. My father wasn't sure at that point either, believing it could have symbolized superstition or, with this being Gotham, darkness. While my mother wanted to avoid the conversation until I was older, though I doubt she knew what to say. It wasn't until I was coming up with the idea of Batman that I fully associated it with fear. It didn't hurt that a bat flew into the study that night either."

Dick processed the explanation. His attention bounced between Bruce's mark and himself for a few moments. With no sign of his own mark, Dick had one other thing that he wanted to address.

"Why hasn't mine appeared yet?" Dick asked.

"Everyone gets theirs at different times." Bruce stated, shuffling slightly. "Alfred's didn't appear until his time working as an intelligence agent. Mine just happened to come when I was younger."

"Alright."

"Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

Dick shook his head. That was all Bruce needed. Pleased with his answer, Dick hopped off of the medical bench. A yawn would emerge from Dick as he made his way towards the stairwell.

"Are you okay?" Bruce inquired, getting off of the medical equipment.

"Yeah," Dick yawned, "just tired. Fighting Tow Face and his men wore me out, and I've got school tomorrow."

Bruce walked up beside him. The boy's exhaustion becoming more noticeable. Be it by the lighting in the cave or the story, Bruce could see the boy's eye beginning to sag. Whether Dick had been hiding his tiredness during the story or not, he wasn't sure. It didn't matter either way to Bruce, since he wanted to address Dick inquiry. However, he would have liked to have known sooner so that he could have gotten Dick comfortably in bed while telling him about it.

"Let me help you. You look like you won't make it out of the cave."

A hand would gently grace Dick's back as Bruce helped guide Dick towards the stairs. Getting the boy to his room was a slow journey, but they made it to the room without any drowsy conflicts.

Mustering up enough consciousness, Dick dragged himself into the bathroom to do brush his teeth. Dick would then get into his pajamas and forced himself to get into bed. Getting comfortable, he would pull the blanket up to his shoulder.

Bruce would peak into the room, figuring he was in bed. The steady rhythm of breathing could be seen rising and falling beneath the blankets.

"Good night." Bruce whispered, closing the door.

This one is pretty obvious. Bruce's whole Batman shtick is heavily based on fear, and what better tattoo than a bat. The reason it's on the heart is because of the idea of what fear can affect the heart. This chapter also took a little inspiration from Batman Year One and Batman Begins. The bat flying through the window for the former and Bruce being in a cave full of them for the latter.