Chapter Text
“I just want to check up on him.”
“You should be in
bed. Recovering.
He’s fine.”
“I just want to see-”
Fingers brush through his hair. Damian rouses drowsily. His cheek was pressed against a firm chest, one that was distantly familiar, but he couldn’t quite comprehend what was going on. He couldn’t remember how he had ended up in such a position, but there was something soothing about it. Damian was at peace. He didn’t want to move. He didn’t want to leave. He wraps his arms around the stomach of the person he was laying on top of, and his actions reward him with a warm chuckle.
“Go back to sleep, sweetheart.”
Damian groggily registers his father’s voice in the deep corner of his mind. He releases a heavy sigh as his father shifts beneath him.
“Go back to sleep,” he repeats.
Damian feels the suggestion strongly in his mind. It was too tempting not to take his father up on his advice. He succumbs to sleep once more, but it feels entirely too short. He moans in exhaustion when hands pry him away from his father.
“You’re just a bundle of trouble,” the intruder teases. Damian whines in frustration. He tried to cling to his father, but his father wasn’t letting him. He was helping the stranger tear him away. Damian whimpers.
“Shh,” the intruder hushes. “It’s okay, pup. We’re just moving you.”
Damian feels himself get lifted into another set of his arms. He was familiar with who they belonged to. Dick carries him away from his father. Damian feels the temperature change as they leave
whatever
room they’d been in, and Damian sleepily presses his cheek against Dick’s shoulder.
Damian cracks open an eye when the combination of scents invades his senses. Dick had transported him to the pack den.
Damian closes his eyes again. He tries to fall back asleep even as his brother lowers him into new arms.
“There you go,” Dick whispers gently as Damian is lowered into the nest. “Be careful, Tim. I don’t want you to aggravate your injuries.”
“I know,” Tim says as he adjusts Damian’s limbs. He lays back against the headboard of their nest, and rubs Damian’s back in a hypnotic motion. Damian sighs in appreciation. “I’m glad we’re all together like this.”
“Me too,” Dick says. Damian can sense him lowering himself next to Tim. Damian could also hear the light snore of one of his pack members. Jason. Knocked out cold from a night of travel. “This is how it’s supposed to be.”
“Right,” Tim laughs. His chest jostles with it. Damian grumbles. “I don’t think we have to worry anymore.”
“Yeah,” Dick hums. Damian doesn’t know how he manages to do it, but he feels Dick’s lips press against the side of his head. He can imagine his brother leaning on his hands, palms sinking into cushions, eyes resting on Damian’s tangled figure.
“Cass?” Dick asks as he removes himself. “Are you comfortable? Need some extra blankets?”
Cass doesn’t make a sound, not with her throat, but Damian can hear her shuffle. She must have given Dick a nonverbal gesture because Dick ends up saying, “Okay, well, just tell us if you’re feeling cold.”
Dick then asks, “What about you, Tim? Need a blanket?”
“For Damian, yeah. I’m fine, though. He’s warm enough as is.”
Dick makes a rustle in the nest. He then feels Tim pull up a thin blanket over his shoulders. He snuggles into Tim’s chest in silent thanks.
“You’re where you belong, pup,” Tim says. He frees a hand to smooth down Damian’s hair. “You have no idea how worried we were.”
Damian exhales heavily.
“Dad was tearing his hair out,” Tim continues. “Dick was burning a hole in the floor with his pacing. You should’ve seen him ransacking your room looking for clues.”
“I put everything back where it belongs,” Dick defends.
“And I couldn’t sleep. It was terrible. Guess you’ll just have to stick around with me so I can get a good night’s rest. That way I don’t have to worry about you. It’s important for my recovery.”
Damian grumps, wearily, “You’re just taking advantage of this.”
Tim laughs. “Maybe.”
Damian considered his laugh the real admission. The ‘maybe’ might as well be void.
“Guess you’ll just have to warm me up like a good pup,” Tim sighs dramatically. “This is your punishment.”
Damian doesn’t reply. He snuggles further into his brother’s chest.
Tim teases. “Maybe you should’ve pretended to have amnesia earlier, that way we could’ve cuddled up much sooner.”
Damian groans. “Shut up."