Bruce waited at the breakfast table nervously. This was supposed to be the day he spent with all the boys. A bonding day if you will. However, by what happened last night, it wasn't going to go quite as well as he hoped. He frowned to himself as he thought through the events of last night. He swore he heard something coming from Tim's room. Not really crying but not exactly happy noises either. He wanted to go in but they didn't really know one another. They hardly spent any time together. That was the point of today but would the fight last night give them a negative connotation? He read through the newspaper to ease his mind as Alfred served him his morning coffee. He'd need it today. He had a feeling that getting Tim and Dick to spend time together would be like pulling teeth. 

"Would you like me to fetch the boys sir?" Alfred asked, rousing him from his thoughts.

"Yes, but be gentle with them. There was a fight last night between Tim and Dick so they may be testy," he responded. The butler chuckled lightly.

"I've dealt with my fair share of moody mornings." He did his best to smile at the light-hearted comment but he couldn't help but think back to how different himself and the boys were. It was a miracle they grew up into decent human beings. They had every right to be absolute brats.

One by one, they came downstairs. Jason was the first which didn't surprise Bruce. He was food-driven in a way, more so than the other two, so he was always the first to breakfast and first to finish. 

"Good morning," Bruce greeted.

"Morning. Hey, thanks for the advice again. I don't think I've ever slept that well," Jason replied. He sat down in his regular seat and waited patiently. Patiently for him. 

"Oh that's good," the older responded, his eyes focused on the grand staircase. Jason cocked his head to the side to try and see what he was looking at but he didn't find anything of interest. 

"Uh, I don't know much about rich people but I'm pretty sure one of their hobbies isn't stair watchin'," he commented. Bruce hummed to himself. "Something up?"

"Didn't you hear the fight last night?" he asked. The other shook his head.

"Nah, can't hear a thing through those doors." He was about to continue until Tim came down the stairs and suddenly caught the billionaire's attention. He rubbed tiredly at his eyes but other than that, he didn't look too out of the ordinary. Bruce was sure he heard that noise nearly all night. How could he look fine? Like he slept pretty okay? If the noise didn't come from his room, then who's did it come from? 

"Good morning, how are you feeling?" Bruce asked. He could just be good at hiding a night's ill sleep. He was still pretty young so maybe he still had bundles of energy somehow. Kids always had that random amount of energy they got from God knows where. Mostly it came on at the wrong time like when they were at the cinema. This could be a rare time when it came in handy.

"Oh, I'm fine. A bed is surprisingly comfortable when you're on your own," he answered in a bright tone.

"Wait, you slept in your own bed?" Jason asked. The boy nodded not understanding why this deserved a surprised tone. "Since when did you want to do that?"

"Last night. Dick was being...I can't use that word but you get the picture. You were on the right track with splitting up," he said. Jason pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. This brought on a series of questioning looks. 

"I thought you'd stay with him."

"Why does that mat- woah are you okay chum?" Bruce had no choice but to change his question halfway through when he set his eyes on Dick. He looked like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards since his hair was stuck up at all ends. He looked so fatigued too that it was almost cartoonish. 

"I'm fine," he answered, his voice croaky.

"You don't look it," Jason commented.

"Then don't look at me. Simple as," he snapped. He took his seat beside Jason and stared at the table without uttering another word.

As Alfred put down their breakfast, Bruce decided to shake off his concerns and carry on with what he planned that day. Tim seemed well-rested so he probably wouldn't start anything and Dick looked too tired to carry on a fight even if it were instigated. Technically this made for no problems. He decided to take this as a positive. 

"I know we've not had much time to get to one another so I cleared out my calendar for today to make up for that. Whatever you boys want, within reason, we'll do. So any suggestions?" he asked. There was some silence that could easily be mistaken as awkward until he noticed that two out of the three had excited smirks on their faces. 

"I'd love to go to the zoo! I've not been in so long," Tim suggested first. 

"Yeah let's do that! I got kicked out a few years back for pickpocketing but they'll have to let me back in now," Jason added. Bruce internally sighed in relief that his idea wasn't snuffed. He was actually really nervous that they didn't want to have any bonding time with them. It was one thing to set them up with a place to live but he wanted to be more than just a really nice landlord. He wanted to be their guardian. Maybe even a father figure if he played his cards right. "Alright, the zoo is our first option. Anything else?"

"What about a movie? We only got to watch them through store windows," Jason said.

"I have a home cinema. We can watch anything you want when we get home from the zoo." He smiled as the boy's eyes widened with excitement. They were so precious. "Anything you want to add Dick?" It was now that he realized the boy hadn't touched most of his food. At best he'd nibbled at a piece of toast. 

"Can I stay here? I feel sick," he replied.

"What type of sick? Tummy bug? Cold?" Bruce asked worriedly.

"Just feel sick. Probably only lasts a day. You guys still go though." There was a small bitter undertone to the last sentence but no one decided to pick him up on it. 

"Try to eat a bit more of that then you can go back to bed. I'll send Alfred up with some medicine." Dick nodded and returned to picking at his food. "Here's the plan then, we'll finish up breakfast, go to the zoo then come back for some movies. If you're good then we can have pizza for dinner." Tim and Jason went to high five but realized they couldn't reach each other over the table so they just did an air five.

They set off shortly after Bruce said goodbye to Dick. It wasn't so much of a goodbye considering he didn't get to the end of the word before the bedroom door was shut in his face but it was enough to stave off the guilt he felt for not bringing the kid along. He was kind of hoping that today would be the day he'd get more than a few sentences out of him but there was plenty of time to get to know him. 

"I can't believe Dick is faking being sick," Tim muttered as they waited for Bruce to come back downstairs. 

"Maybe he's not. He looked pretty wrecked this morning," Jason defended. The younger shrugged off his dismay.

"Either way who cares? I'm not giving him the satisfaction of making today all about him." Jason raised an eyebrow. What made him turn so suddenly? "What? That's what he does. Him taking us out of there and taking our beatings was-was just feeding into this hero complex he has. Well, I'm not giving it any more fuel. We don't need to depend on him anymore," he explained as though it were perfectly simple a baby could understand it. 

"Does this have anything to do with the tiff you two had?" Tim shook his head but the moment of hesitance before showed he was lying. The older sighed and glanced over to the stairs. Bruce was about to come down. 

"I know I said that he was selfish and self-serving before but he's not that bad a guy. I meant that it was easier to think that than figure him out. He's still got feelings, yknow?" Tim didn't ask him to elaborate. He didn't care what he had to say. He stood by what he said and nothing was to change his mind. Bruce gave them a smile from the stairway then got his coat on. 

"Okay, everyone ready?" he asked. They nodded, putting their previous conversation behind him. "Let's go."

The zoo was busy but of course, they were given priority as wards of the most influential man in Gotham. They got through crowds and were moved to the front purely because the public wanted to stay on Bruce's good side. Upon entering, they were given a map of the zoo and began to pick out where they wanted to go. 

"I wanna see the lions!" Tim said excitedly. They were the closest to the entrance too so he knew he'd get to see them first. "And the monkeys too!" They were also close to the entrance.

"I wanna see all of them," Jason stated, content with no particular order. He was just happy to spend the day outside. Even if it was Gotham's iconic brand of overcast. Bruce smiled to himself then pocketed the map. 

"We better start now then if you want to see all of them," he said. Tim ran ahead to get a good place near the lions closely followed by the older pair. He missed things like this. Just a domestic day when he felt like any other kid. You wouldn't be able to tell where he'd come from when you looked over the crowd of other eager children watching their favourite wild animals up close.

 "I've never seen a cat that big. I wonder what they're feeding those things," Jason commented.

"Mostly raw meat. These cats come all the way from Africa," Tim explained. They were truly awesome creatures to see in real life. It was so different than seeing them on TV. 

"Are lions your favourite animal?" Bruce asked. The boy shook his head.

"My favourite are bats. They're like cool birds," he answered. 

Bruce withheld the temptation to mention he was Batman. The last thing he needed was for them to know his secret. God knows what they'd respond with. He helped them as his alter ego but he wasn't exactly comforting either. The thought of what he got up to at night, fighting villains and putting his life on the line, who knows if that'd sit well with them. They needed to think his presence was stable since stability wasn't something they were accustomed to. Maybe when they were older he would tell them. 

"They're my favorite too," he responded.

They walked on through the zoo and then took a pit stop at the park in the middle. Bruce took a seat at one of the benches and glanced over the menu for the nearby fast food stall. It wasn't great for their health but it was a one-off treat. After a quick look over, he assumed there'd be at least one thing each of them would want and the coffee would be decent enough to last until they go back home. 

"Boys, what would you like? Pick anything you want. Price isn't an issue." They glanced at one another with small smirks and picked out semi-expensive meals. Nothing too crazy but they still weren't the cheapest choices. "Should we get something for Dick? He might be feeling better by the time we get back," Bruce suggested. Tim made a face neither of them could ignore. 

"Hey Jay, think you can be a big boy and order for us?" Jason nodded although a little put off by the phrasing, got what both of them wanted then walked off to the stall window with money in hand. The billionaire waited for a moment then got to work on finding out what happened last night. "You wanna tell me what's going on between you and Dick? I know you two had a fight," he began. The younger folded his arms in a huff, his eyes focusing on the park to the side of him. "I'm all ears," he added to sweeten him up.

"He got all huffy because I agreed with Jay about sleeping in our own bedrooms and he said that we were colluding behind his back then basically kicked me out of his room," Tim explained.

"Well that wasn't very nice of him," the older commented. "He was rude to you and it's fair that you feel mad. Do you know why he might've gotten so upset?" He shrugged as he barely made the effort to find reasons behind his reaction. 

"I don't." Bruce sighed to himself. This would be much easier if he had Dick here but he'd have to work with half of the problem now then half later. 

"Do you mind me asking how long Dick was with Joey before you two joined him?" Despite the slight wince at the man's name, Tim didn't mind answering his question. 

"About five years maybe? He's never been clear on dates. Jason joined two years back then I joined two months ago."

"Do you think during those five years he felt lonely?" Tim nodded, not quite understanding where this was going. "Maybe when you agreed with Jason about sleeping in your own rooms, he felt like he was going to be lonely again and got upset then told you to leave because that would give him some control of the matter." 

A beat of silence went by. Now that Tim thought about it, a hero complex didn't really fit Dick. He didn't like the attention and thanks he got after he did the deed. That didn't rule out any underlying motivation for his actions but it certainly made his previous theory shakey. Then there was the matter of being on his own. Dick didn't say it but it showed that he liked having people around. He just didn't like them asking questions.

"I guess you do have a point."

"That doesn't mean how you feel is invalid. I just think you two should talk to each other when we get back home," Bruce concluded. He really had this advice thing in the bag. This might be easier than he first thought. 

"Yeah, I think I should. Thanks, Bruce."

"Anytime. How about you play on the jungle gym whilst we wait for our food? I'll send Jason over when he comes back." Tim nodded and ran over to play.

As the two played, Bruce took a minute to call Alfred. He hoped Dick didn't have anything serious. He didn't know the line between treatable at home and oh my God rush this kid to the hospital very well so he didn't want to get it wrong. 

"Hi Alfred, how're things going?" he greeted.

"Very well sir. Master Dick wanted to sweat out the sickness so he helped me with some chores. I'm going to send him to bed in a moment though so he can rest," the butler explained cheerfully. 

"That's great. He had me worried for a second there."

"How are the boys?" Alfred asked.

"Great. They're just playing whilst we wait for our food. You know, I think I'm doing a good job with them." There was a chuckle from the older. "What's so funny?"

"Sir, though I do enjoy your confidence in your ability, you have yet to reach a serious rough patch. They've been fairly forthcoming with you. I'll remind you of your ego once you hit a bump in the road," he laughed. Bruce tutted at him, enjoying the friendly banter.

"Alright alright, I'm doing a good job for now." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a teenager with a tray of food heading towards him and assumed it was his order. "I better head off. I'll call you when we're ready to be picked up. Have a good day Alfred."

"You too sir."

They continued around the zoo, visiting every animal there was. The pair were clearly exhausted as they walked through the gift shop which brought a smile to Bruce's face. It was quite a feat to have them burn through their endless energy. Perhaps his previous confidence in his parenting wasn't naive. 

"Alright boys, to keep things fair you can pick one thing each then you can help me pick something for Dick since he couldn't come," he announced. They nodded and scurried off in search. As they did, Bruce went to call Alfred only to see that he was already having one from the butler. He didn't think much of it, presuming it was just a check-up call and answered. "Hey Alfred," he greeted.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to make your own way home with the children," came the ominous reply. The sentence would've been fine if it weren't for the tone. 

"Is someone with you?"

"Oh, it's nothing like that. I wasn't aware that Dick sleepwalked and he's not going down very well so it's best I stay with him," he answered. "I only just caught him when he was doing a balancing act on the bannisters." Bruce frowned to himself. None of them had mentioned this occurring. Then again, they weren't that close yet. That and maybe they didn't see the point in telling him. He shrugged off his discomfort of being left in the dark on the matter. The most important thing was Alfred was there to help. 

"We'll take a taxi back. We're nearly done here anyway," he said.

"Apologies sir."

"Don't worry about it. Keep him safe for me." He hung up and put his phone back in his pocket as Jason and Tim returned. He debated telling them about the sleepwalking episode but if they didn't care to mention it in the beginning, they probably didn't worry about it. Tim was holding a big book that had different wild animals on the cover as well as a small cuddly elephant and Jason held a toy lion that had its mouth open in a roar. 

"We thought Dick might like a friend for his elephant. It could be called Hazelnut if he wants to keep with the nuts theme."

"That's great. Alfred can't pick us up right now so I'm just going to call us a taxi then we'll go pay for these."

When they got home, they were all in high spirits. There was no reason not to be. They had a great day at the zoo and it was Jason's first time in a taxi, why would they be low? Alfred looked down from the balcony on the first floor to wave them in. 

"How were they, Master Bruce? Did they behave in a pizza-worthy manner?" he inquired. They looked back at Bruce with wide puppy dog eyes and their hands clasped together in a pleading motion. The older tapped his chin thoughtfully. 

"Hmm, I think they just about managed to."

"Yes!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Oh keep your voice down I just got Dick back to bed," Alfred called. He made sure to keep his voice light yet firm so as to not intimidate them too much. Before they could even ask what he meant by that there was a scream