I feel so bad for not updating in ages, I've just been stumped on how I want to write this thing

Alfred was about to knock on Dick's door lightly but was rather surprised when he heard giggling coming from the other side of the door. It wasn't just one giggle either, it was multiple in different pitches. Last time he checked, that was quite impossible for one person to do. He knocked anyway and the giggling immediately stopped, replaced with harsh whispering. Then feet trotted up to the door and opened it slightly. Dick's small face peeked out through the crack with a slightly afraid look. 

"Hello Mr Pennyworth, is there a problem?" he asked politely, though his voice shook. 

"Not at all, Master Richard. I was simply knocking to see if you're awake. Is there anyone else in the room with you?" he asked, already knowing the answer. 

"No, I was watching TV," Dick lied. It shouldn't shock him that the boy could lie with the same ease as telling the truth. Had he not heard the laughter, he would've believed him. 

"Are you sure?" Alfred said with a smile.

"If there were, would that be bad?"

"Not at all." Dick relaxed a little and let go of his tight grip on the door. "Breakfast will be ready in half an hour. I'd prefer it if you were out of your pyjamas by then." He made his voice louder so the pair hiding in the covers could hear him. 

"Will do, thank you Mr Pennyworth," the eldest of the trio said before closing the door. The butler smiled to himself and continued to Bruce's room. 

"Can you believe that? I haven't had breakfast in ages," Tim said with excitement.

"Talk about luxury huh?" Jason muttered.

They got dressed and went down to the dining room. There they found Bruce reading that morning's paper, dressed in a rather fancy business suit. He greeted them, putting down his paper, and watched them sit down. He tried not to laugh when Tim needed help getting onto the chair because he was so short. 

"Now, I know you've only been here one day but I want to talk about getting you into education," Bruce announced as Alfred began setting down the food. Jason and Dick instantly grimaced whilst Tim grinned. He missed school so much. Learning was his passion and he craved the normalcy that came with it. "So I'll need to know the last grade you were in," he continued.

"I was in Grade 3," Tim told him. He turned to the other boys for their answers.

"I think I went to Grade 1 maybe?" Jason answered. Honestly, he couldn't quite remember much of his education before he stopped going because his mum stopped getting him ready. It wasn't like he was learning much anyway. He spent most of his lessons sat outside in the hallway for bad behaviour.

"I wasn't in school but Tim taught me a few things," Dick added. Bruce hummed and tapped the information into his phone. 

"Which school are we going to?" Tim inquired.

"Gotham Academy. They have a great programme to help you catch up on the things you missed," he explained.

"What makes you so sure they'll even take us in?" Jason argued.

"They'll take you in, I'll make sure of it. Although, you may be put in the same grade as Tim since you have around about the same level of education."

The older pair grimaced again. That was just asking to get bullied. They'd just have to make themselves look as unapproachable as possible which wasn't that hard. 

"Can't wait," Dick muttered sarcastically. 

"Oh c' mon you two, you guys are smart. You'll be put in your actual grade within months."

"We only just found out that bagel isn't spelt with a y, we're not exactly Einsteins," Jason snapped. He angrily stabbed at it his food to punctuate his sentence. 

"He's got a point, Tim. We'll be lucky if we even pass your grade," Dick added. They didn't come from the same background as Tim so it made sense that they didn't share the same idea on school. He couldn't blame the kid for being excited about something that reminded him of a time before he was with them. Before Dick got to him. 

"I can get you guys a tutor."

"Because that'll help. We're idiots, just accept it," Jason snapped.

"You're smart in other ways," Tim reasoned, desperate to prove him wrong.

"I got tricked by yours truly," the ginger gestured to Dick who sank into his seat, "and he couldn't think of a way out for five years."

"I could've thought of a way out I just had nowhere to go," Dick defended under his breath. He'd rather not have this conversation so early in the morning. By the looks of Tim, he didn't want to either. 

"My point still stands."

"I feel like I'm missing something here, what did Dick trick you into doing?" Bruce inquired. Jason opened his mouth to answer but Dick silenced him by pushing his head into his bowl of cereal. "Dick!" their new guardian exclaimed, making them all flinch. He noted shouting as something he probably shouldn't do unless it was necessary.

After that mess of a breakfast, Bruce took Tim aside whilst Jason chased Dick back to his room. He wanted payback for his head being dunked in a bowl of Cheerios but Dick didn't have any intention of receiving it. 

"It seems those two don't fancy going to school," Bruce commented. 

"They're just apprehensive. I'm sure they won't mind after a week of going," Tim replied optimistically. He knew them better than Bruce did so he took his word for it, although he doubted getting them to school would be an easy task. 

"At least you're excited. How long has it been since you've been to school?"

"Long enough. I've always been a bit of a nerd so I missed it," he answered, a little embarrassed. It took a lot of willpower for Bruce not to freak out about how adorable he was. 

Out of all of the boys, Tim seemed to be the most sociable with him. Whether that was because he was younger or if that was just his personality, he didn't know but he wasn't complaining. The other two were going to be hard nuts to crack. He'd have to give a lot to get a little in return but at least Tim was willing to play ball. Maybe he could be his insight on how the other two really were. 

"Do you know what Jason meant by Dick tricking him?" Bruce inquired on a whim. Tim tensed up and took a moment before answering, thinking through his answer. 

"You have to promise you won't hold it against him. He already feels really bad about it," he said.

"I promise I won't. I just want to get on the same page."

"Dick recruited us to work for Joey. He didn't really say what we'd be doing, just sort of sold us something that wasn't a lie but not entirely true either," he explained. Bruce hummed. He didn't take Dick for that sort of kid but he also didn't know him that well. "But Joey forced him to so it's not like he had any choice! And he protected us as soon as we joined!" Tim defended once he saw his new guardian's face turn.

"Protected you from what?"

"I've said too much already. You can't let them know I snitched."

"I won't tell a soul." Tim gave him a smile of gratitude.

"Thank you."

"Richard come back here you douchebag!" The pair glanced at one another before they dashed upstairs to separate the two. They found Dick on top of the cabinet, smirking tauntingly at the younger who was trying to work out how he got up there. 

"Dick apologise to Jason so you can get down from there. I'm not even going to touch on how you got up there in the first place," Bruce announced. The boy mumbled a curse under his breath and then apologised, not wanting to get kicked out for disobeying Bruce due to his pride.

"You're still gonna get it at some point," Jason muttered. "When we go to school, I'm so going to embarrass you in front of the whole class- no the whole school- no the whole school and it'll be so bad that other schools know about it too."

"I think you can do that without trying," Tim teased.

"Can you get down from there?" Bruce asked. He had no idea how he got up there since the cabinet didn't have furniture near it that could act as stairs. Dick jumped down with ease, dusting himself off. "You're a little spider monkey huh?" Bruce muttered. "I've got work today so you boys will be in the care of Alfred. I trust you won't make a nuisance of yourselves." They nodded and watched him leave.

"We should explore this place whilst he's out. If we get in trouble, that old butler won't be able to do anything," Jason suggested with a mischievous grin. 

"But if we get in trouble, Bruce might not keep us here," Tim argued. 

"Not necessarily. I'll just say it was my idea," Dick stated. The boys frowned at him, hating his quickness to sacrifice himself. 

"Dude no, we go down together if that happens. We're not standing by whilst you take the fall again," Jason retaliated. The older shrugged. He didn't really believe that they'd stand with him if something happened but the sentiment was there. "Anyway, Bruce can't kick us out for just exploring. If we're supposed to be living here then we may as well check out the place," Jason rationalised. "Plus he's making us go to school which is going to completely kill our street cred. This is a fair trade."

"Last time I checked, our street cred was nothing. We're just Joey's goons that beat you up and you don't report because you got beat up by a bunch of kids," Dick said, almost smiling to himself that Jason thought they had some respect. 

"Let's just explore this place smartass."