A/N:

You know out of the whole story, this is probably my favorite chapter and it also a really vivid sneak peak into another AU i've got on the drawing board. Tell me what ya'll think :) and I hope you enjoyed reading this! - oh, there should have another Batman fic coming out soon, Jason's POV and really wasn't suppoused to be as long as it's turning out to be. Anyway, enjoy! :)

At first, in all honesty, Dick didn't know what to think. It's not like there was a handbook when it came to siblings crashing in from the multiverse. He might write one, when he had time, which he didn't so eh, whatever.

After the whole ordeal, it was a little dodgy, Batman was occupied in League Meetings and Dick had a lot of free time while the oldies updated their databases and discussed all the new protocols that would have to be set in play.

It would be weeks until the touch of his siblings was even mentioned in a thorough setting. Not that Dick allowed that to stop him, he already knew Bruce was searching for other Robin – Son of Talia Al Ghul. Dick wasn't an idiot.

So Dick set his sights on the others, hoping and wondering if they could bring them into the fold at little sooner. He'd told Mum and Dad for years he would be an amazing older brother and knowing that he'd get the chance to be was kinda life changing and fantastic.

He would be the best older brother.

From the Other Robin's presumed alternative universe age – that was a mouthful – and the fact that he was before his fourth birthday in this universe; Dick managed to get approximate ages. He racked his brain for other defining qualities, accents and stances, hair color and lit.

Overall, he didn't have that much to go on, which was a gosh-darned shame because this would be harder for him. Even though it was completely expected, any siblings of his would be amazing, hey they probably trained together, and if Dick was the eldest that meant that maybe he helped train them too.

Definitely an intriguing avenue to look down, Dick couldn't wait.

He started compiling lists, fixing in the time to cross-references databases and research in between patrol, cases, school work, sleep and team meetings, which was basically just them hanging out. It had become a clubhouse, Batman better not think that'd play over once this was all cleared.

It wasn't difficult to understand how he found the second to youngest sibling first, the kid practically walked up to his doorstep behind his Nanny's knee with a request from Mr. Wayne to care for the kid just for the evening while the nanny was at a family emergency.

Dick had skipped in from behind Alfred, "We'd love to," he beamed.

Tim Drake spared him a shy grin, until he found Dick and his baby blues widened. From then on, it was like Timmy had to hold back an ecstatic squeal – the kid was (and he was cool enough to say it) freaking adorable.

Dick wanted to adopt him straight out. Well, no Bruce wanted to adopt him straight out, if only he'd get back from that meeting.

Alfred sent out a call to Bruce while Dick sequestered with Timmy into one of the lounges to watch cartoons and show off acrobatics. The kid was amazingly well-spoken, a genius amongst seven year olds (and most of the people in Dick's class) and talked with him about really anything that came to mind in excited poise.

A couple hours before Timmy was set to leave, the kid legit burst the lid on what had kept him all sparkly eyed when Dick did acrobatics. He knew. As in, nearly seven year old Timmy knew the secret the big bad world would kill and had killed to hear.

If he had any doubts, they vanished and Dick beamed, hugging Timmy to him while they watched cartoons and didn't let go. Bruce found them about an hour after that and Dick waved him over, mouthing "he knows" over Timmy's shoulder which everyone heard.

"I hope you've had fun here Timothy," Bruce mentioned, settling in beside Dick to ruffle his hair. Even further wide eyed, Tim nodded.

Dick gestured, "It's him," he signaled. Bruce arched an eyebrow, sliding his gaze over to Timmy and as the seconds trickled on Dick watched the observation became intrigue become endearment. Jackpot, "Can we keep him?" Bruce was clearly exasperated and Timmy squeaked. "Fine, can I babysit again? I'm really good at it, right? Timmy, back me up," he nudged.

Timmy dutifully nodded, "He is, sir. I wouldn't mind coming again," he imparted shyly.

Bruce smiled, "Then we'll set something up," he rose, stretching his head over his arms. "Did you do your homework?" he asked Dick, who winced. "Do your homework before we go out tonight. It was great meeting you Timothy," Bruce called over his shoulder as he left, "Try not to watch TV all day."

"I couldn't even if I wanted to," Dick muttered, and they got down to it. Timmy had brought worksheets and papers to do so he wouldn't be in the way and Dick dutifully helped while he could, their workload gushing over into school stories and into some team times Dick could indulge.

Before Dick knew it, Timmy was coming every Thursday after school and whenever Dick just walked next door for some company. He had his own room, right next to Dick's and he filled it with pictures, books and the comforter he preferred from the library that Alfred had let him keep.

It got to the point that Dick expected to see him at breakfast, his hair ruffled by Bruce while the other yawned into his hand before his morning coffee. It felt really good, like the rooms in the house were filling up with energy and it was amazing.

Dick didn't stop there; he still spread out what he knew and delved into this research. He was narrowing on down to his sister dressed in black – having noted the other was a family friend (and Timmy's Ex) – figuring she had to have been trained intensely from an extremely young age and knew the only people with that kind of one-eyed compassionless determination to produce fighting extremists were the League of Assassins.

Batman went on a mission to find the Other Robin. Only to come home empty handed and poisoned. Dick was really glad that relationship with Talia was over.

Batman didn't stop there though, he went out – alone again; Robin was here for a reason – and as Dick sat researching another case Batman returned with a toddler cradled in to his Kevlar. "Is that…" he whispered, launching out to look at the tiny little toddler in Batman's hands.

"Damian," Bruce finished. His smile soft and warm, Dick didn't ever think he'd seen Bruce like that – like he was afraid to break someone and still whole-heartedly willing to be the softness that protected them from breaking. He'd never seen it like that. This was a softer version of the look Bruce bestowed Dick.

And it was really amazing to see, like another side of Bruce he'd only heard about but never fully gathered intelligence on.

Bruce crouched so Dick could peer at his baby brother, his nose scrunched at the jostle and his inky dark lashes fluttering open to find them. "Hey, little D'," Dick greeted in awe, "He's so small," he muttered.

Damian snuffled at him, bright orbs finding and thick eyebrows twisting as if he didn't understand what was going on but he wasn't all against it. "I'll set up a room for the young Master," Alfred alerted from the stairs, heading back up them and Dick skimmed his knuckles over Damian's bundled form.

"Welcome home, little D'," Dick grinned at the toddler.

Damian blinked hugely and smiled back.

Getting used to Damian was harder than being with Timmy; Damian got a lot of attention and demanded even more of it. Usually though, all you really needed was to bring him into a cuddle and he stopped whatever he was wailing at to sniffle and find your face.

Bruce stayed out of League missions, cancelled patrols and regular Wayne business meetings when he could. He was so overwhelmed by Damian it was actually pretty funny but he wasn't looking for an escape, in fact, he kept wanting to help more, feed Damian breakfast and be there when he waddled about and babbled inconsistent words.

It was pretty great.

Dick had been in the bat Cave, Damian chewing on a teething toy with sloppy grunts in Dick's lap when he'd found his next lead. Bruce had whole-heartedly been up for pooling their jotted down data together to find the rest of his siblings but he'd been out on patrol and Dick had been left to babysit.

He got word of David Cain's sudden reappearance into Assassin Game and found word of his involvement in a character known as 'the-one-who-is-all' which sounded ominous and god-like. Very Bat of them and Dick tried to get on this 'one-who-is-all' tail but found zilch.

Safe to mention when Bruce got back, he and Dick came up with a plan and Bruce and Dick set out on a holiday trip to East Europe while Alfred babysat. He wasn't expecting how much he missed the little munchkin when he wasn't around and he could tell it affected Bruce as well, he kept shuffling as if anticipating the sound of Damian in the background and was worried when he couldn't find it.

After that, Batman paid Cain a visit, collected clues along the way and basically beat the man up to pulp when Cain admitted to the abuse that perpetrated his sister's life. Dick hoped he wouldn't get up for a long, long time.

Batman returned, Kevlar bloodied and with several leads, their resources going out to locate any trace of a small Asian girl with a bloodied pink dress escaping the crime scene.

In the end, they did find her.

Explaining that they were there to help was a bit more difficult and she was vicious when she spotted their intent and training in their moves. But she never got close to lethal plots; chest heaving and backed into corner, Dick knew they were doing this all wrong.

Dick yanked off his domino mask and raised his palms in surrender.

Cassandra Cain blinked underneath her matted locks, her stance relaxing in confusion as Dick spoke with a smile, "We've been looking for you a long time. And we get that you don't understand us right now but we don't want to hurt you," he lowered his hands. "I promise," he stepped forward and Cassandra stepped to meet him.

She made a hand sign which Dick didn't understand, Batman did though and he returned it, extending a hand on the way out. Her inquisitive orbs found Bruce's and the fight fled her form, an anxious and excited smile taking its place.

Cass was great and he wasn't just saying that.

He got real good at sensing her because Cass' walk was naturally silent. Every so often, Al could be heard startling when he turned to find Cass there. She didn't do it on purpose but Dick was really glad Cass was in on the secret because his paranoia might have hit Batman levels.

Most of the time, Cass trailed Bruce around the house and watched over Damian, and while she never said a single word Dick understood her actions well enough. And yeah, it's not like they could hold a conversation just yet but they were getting there, Dick chattered and Cass answered with little twitches of facial features.

He was really good at reading her, not like Bruce who seemed to just understand instinctively but in the 'I'm going to keep trying until we understand each other' sense.

She and Timmy got along amazingly good as well, sliding together like two pairs of a machine that waited to be complete. Tim seemed to have the words Cassandra lacked, and Cassandra the actions to fix anything Tim's words couldn't.

Not once or twice, Cass would find him after a particularly brutal mission or training session and just huddle into his side; dragging a blanket to cover them both while he finished homework. "Love you too, Cass," he murmured back and Cassie smiled.

The Manor was kind of hectic from that point on.

Not in the bad sense, it was actually amazing. There was always someone to go to if Bruce was out and Al was occupied, and the place still wasn't full, only lived in.

Even Alfred couldn't clean up after a toddler 24/7 and nearly the entire Manor got baby proofed, which thankfully allowed Bruce to stop hosting those gala's none of them liked. It made it a lot homier, the bright plastic and strewn toys and toddler babble that was forming into words.

Cass drew a lot, her attempts to form words shifting again into movements and actions that she attempted to name. She was amazingly good, dynamic and colorful and when Dick mentioned they reminded him of dancers, Cassie stayed awake until midnight to watch dancing videos online.

Cassie picked up the tablet and pointed at the videos to Bruce, "You want to dance?" he asked and Cassie brightened with a nod. Bruce set down his pen, Damian snuffling from where he slept in his lap, "What type?"

She picked Ballet and didn't turn back.

Damian babbled to the stuffed hippo, crayons scribbling over cardboard on the carpet while Cassie practiced her forms beside him, deftly twirling and laying grace into her soft movements.

He understood why Cassie had picked Ballet to fall into full throttle, it was as intense and graceful as the martial arts she'd been raised on with an added softness and a purpose of entertainment instead of murder. Perfect for Cassie, but it wasn't as though she didn't broaden her dance horizons.

The night Dick insisted hip hop was the way to go was burned into his brain, and Timmy's camera, which only one of those made it out alive. Dick had salvaged two pictures though and they hung proudly in Timmy's room on the corkboard he'd set.

Sometimes he caught Cassie staring at Timmy's picture with a funny little smile on her face that Dick couldn't read yet.

It was again, pretty awesome.

It's hard to explain why though exactly, they didn't always get along, understandably but after a while, Dick knew they'd still be there in the morning and all would be smothered over. Their presence was integrated into the Manor and Dick could barely recall a time when it was quiet.

He didn't want it to be quiet. It just felt weird.

And as time kept flying, Dick started to forget the pieces he'd learned from his multiverse siblings and his memories with his actual siblings overriding and enhanced in their place.

He didn't forget the others. Just the memories weren't as bright and he really loved the siblings he had. He didn't want to ruin anything, or focus on someone else when they were already here.

Dick didn't stop searching though.

He knew for fact that the oldest was from around Crime Alley; there was a certain accent that just couldn't be faked. Records in Crime Alley though were sparse, incomplete and generally littered with misdemeanors. So instead, Dick kept an extra eye out for rambunctious kid's younger than him.

Not many kids spoke up round Crime Alley but Dick didn't get the impression Hood was a quiet one.

"Get your fucking hands off me, perverted shit-stain! You fucking swore you'd tell me what happened to my dad," Someone yelled. Robin landed on a fire escape, finding a duo of Two-Face's thugs hauling some kid back from a ominously locked door.

Robin alerted Batman to his location as the kid got thrown down, "Get the fuck outta here, kid, you got what we wanted." The goon that tossed him returned to his post, leaning against the door with a cigarette beside his partner.

The kid growled, a tire-iron suddenly in his fist, "You said the last time you saw my Dad was nine fucking months ago. Tell me, what you fucking saw," the kid demanded but he was desperate, and don't mess with wild strays in an alley they know the turf and will do anything to survive.

Course, that didn't do much good.

Robin caught the kid when he was tossed back again, tire-iron cluttering to the side while he set the kid on his feet. "You might want to run," Robin shrugged at the duo of goons just as a dark, foreboding figure plopped in front of them.

While Batman took care of that, Dick eyed the kid, already half poised to bolt into shadows, chest heaving and orbs wide. Dick relaxed his shoulders, "You alright?" he checked, and the kid glared at him.

Next second, the kid's heading into the shadows and vanished inside there.

To give chase or not to give chase, that truly is the question. Batman's gotten the thugs to talk though and one shouts, "Kid's Pa – Willis! Willis Todd backstabbed Two-Face – Two-Face took care of that traitor-!" Batman took care of that.

They should probably tell the kid.

Dick tailed the kid's escape; he backtracked twice until he found a rundown apartment, lit with a flickeringly dim light bulb that illuminated the strewn, worn out paperbacks and a mattress that had seen better days.

He entered through the window, spotting the kid on the edge of the mattress, a book in his lap and a cigarette between his fingers. "You know those things will kill you," Robin gestured, and the kid yelped.

"Fuck," the cigarette unlit inside his fist, "I haven't got the dosh! I gave it to those assholes in trade for info about my dad."

Robin raised his hands in surrender, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Just wanted to tell you what Batman figured," Robin plopped onto the lumpy mattress beside him. The kid was tense, frozen and wasn't backing down, he sat, suspicious and desperate at the same time.

"What'd they say?" he questioned.

There wasn't a really easy way to say it so Robin just came out with it, keeping his voice soft. He didn't expect the kid to snicker, "At least the bastard didn't end all shitty," arms wrapped around his knees. His teal eyes were sincere, "Thanks for telling me."

Robin shrugged, twisting his fingers in his lap, "It's what I do. Well, the helping people bit…what's your name?" he asked. Batman should arrive soon; maybe he'd finally be able to sense him.

"Jason Todd," he muttered, grinning absently into his knee caps, "Nice to fucking meetcha." His speech patterns were familiar and Dick got the inkling this was his missing brother.

"I'm Robin," he grinned. Robin pointed behind Jason, "That's Batman."

Jason jumped, fingers flexing, "Where's your Mum, Jason?" Batman asked, all tactful and the like. Robin rocked a bit while Jason ducked his head.

"She got sick," Jason grunted, "I'm not going into the system, no one's going to take someone like me in and I work fucking better here. I don't need to be saved," Dick believed him.

"You don't have to go into the system," Robin tried with a hesitant grin.

Batman scowled, "Robin, no."

"Oh, come on, B – he's perfect," he tilted his head, knowing he couldn't mime that he'd found the lost brother here. Batman understood as per usual and his negatives lessened to scrutinize Jason, who like he was getting picked for slaughter. "We got some room and I think you'd be a really great fit," Robin nodded.

Jason wasn't assured, "What the fuck you want from me?" he tried distancing from them, only to notice they had him from both sides.

Batman exhaled, "You want a good meal?" he asked. Jason clutched his stomach suspiciously, "You don't have to stay past that if you don't want." And Jason didn't need another second to question it.

He clambered into the Bat Mobile with them after appreciating the framework, warning them over and over again that he'd eat them out of a their house. Dick just snickered at him, roping him into a conversation about various books he'd read.

When he got the Bat Cave Alfred was already there and Jason gave a hefty whistle at him too, unbelieving that it was in fact all real. Dick totally got that. Course, when Alfred went up to retrieve food Cassie brought Damian down the stairs.

Batman had his back to them, typing information into the Bat Computer while Dick showed Jason around and reminisced over giant T-Rex's. He'd turned his head to explain about the giant card to find Jason juggling Damian in his hands and Cassie silently padding to Batman's side.

Neither Jason nor Damian looked happy about it, "Uh, B?" Dick alerted while he took Damian from Jason, the toddler's nose tucked under his chin.

Batman exhaled, blinking down at Cassie by his side. She smiled, holding onto the edge of his cape – she already knew Jason would be staying with them.

And it kind of went down like that. Jason took the room opposite his, livened the Manor up with rambunctious laughter and goading voices. He almost had as much energy as Dick and the amount of competitions the two of them did drove Bruce up the wall.

Literally at one point when he and Jason tried to hang from the highest point in the Manor and couldn't get down; it was pretty awesome. Jason was really good with Cass, had endless patience when it came to teaching her to read and never let her get down on it.

It was like the Manor was alive, bursting and rolling in the warmness that soon painted Dick's memories. From when he and Cass clambered into Bruce's bed after a bad nightmare had gotten both of them, only to find Jason and Damian already snoring in the middle and Bruce just made room, asking them about it until they both nodded off.

From when Jason attempted his first batch of pancakes and Alfred had to find the scraper to get it off the ceiling to the chorus of Cassie's laughter. She'd gotten tackled by a red-faced Jason and Timmy delicately lifted his camera from behind his newspaper to snap a couple of shots.

Dick asked for at least two copies, he kept one, gave another to Bruce – he knew, Bruce kept a personal photo album – and the last to Alfred who claimed it would receive a position of honor on his bedside table in a dry drawl; didn't mean it wasn't true though.

From when Damian really started piecing sentences together, chattering mindlessly at all hours and didn't shut off even in slumber. Jason had to be stopped three times from shoving a pacifier in the toddler's mouth at some early hour of the morning.

Cass had to manhandle Jason back into his room, piling the blankets on top of him to block out the sound and laying on top to weigh it down. It got so familiar that Dick had trouble sleeping if he didn't hear their faint murmur from Jason's room.

From when Bruce took them on an actual vacation to Barcelona, owning a beach stretch and taught Damian to swim, only to realize the kid was practically a fish, only coming up when he required air. He and Jason got into an epic volley ball tournament and Cass joined when he and Jason faced off Bruce, using all the dirty tricks they could to win.

Including tackling the other side while Dick dunked the ball on sand until Bruce got Cass and Jason to release him, "How much is that Al?" Dick beamed, finding Alfred with Damian on the blanket under a sunny umbrella.

"Master Bruce has no hope of winning, I'm afraid," Alfred informed.

Jason pumped his fists; "Victory!" he and Cass high-fived while Bruce shook off the majority of sand Jason had dumped on him. Cass laughed, swiftly clambering up Bruce's side to perch on his shoulders. "What'd we win?" Jason set his fists on his hips, cocky grin elongating when he spotted Dick at his side.

"How do we feel about ice cream?"

Brilliantly, ice cream was brilliant. And overall, Dick felt the same way about his family, brilliant but better, with an added fantastic awesomeness that satisfied any lonely end he'd ever had.

Dick kind of couldn't believe it'd all started with some psycho squad that had beaten his Team. Course they ended being his family from the multiverse, and Dick would do a lot more than thank them if they ever showed up again.

Dick got a double scoop of chunky monkey, unable to stop beaming. Jason elbowing him as he dug into bubblegum flavor, chatting at Alfred around his spoon while Cass dug into her mint chocolate, allowing Damian a lick after he finished his sorbet.

Bruce ruffled Dick's hair over Jason's shoulder, "What are you thinking about?"

That Bruce smiled a lot nowadays, like his face had relaxed from Batman's permanent scowl which figured because Batman didn't go out as much. Dick thought he'd hate it but he really didn't, Batman and Robin went out every so often but it wasn't intense, wasn't the end game.

End game was getting home before Jason played video games all night; was only leaving for patrol after Damian was tucked in for bed and Cassie (with Timmy usually) drank their hot chocolate and told Bruce about anything that came to mind.

And when Jason called Bruce 'Dad', Dick caught himself almost following suit. "Just really happy, I guess," he'd even admit to being a little teary-eyed.

"Yeah," Bruce exhaled and cast his gaze over all his children, "That's understandable." Dick licked his chunky monkey ice cream with a grin.

Feedback is wholly wanted!