Alt prompt First Aid Kit

I saw this prompt and immediately thought of how often i used this idea in the Gotham by Steetlight AU (you may have noticed me updating it in august) so why not bring back the old gang?

For those who haven't read it, basically Jason, Tim and Dick were working for a debt collector who was abusive towards them. They escaped and tried to find a new normal. Tim was mostly fine since he'd only been with Joey for two months, Jason was vibing with being rich and Dick was pretty closed off still. I recommend reading it before you read this but honestly, you can just treat this like its own thing. 

I'm thinking of redoing the book and putting it over on AO3 since I kinda wanna keep the original but try writing it again since it reads kinda overly edgy and angsty. 

Anyway, this is set in the months before chapter thirteen where they're still settling in. 

Dick: 13Jason: 11Tim: 9

On a rare sunny day in Gotham, Bruce made it his mission to have the kids play outside for as long as possible. He still didn't know everything that happened when they were with Joey and part of him was happy to be spared of the details. The other part concocted awful conditions that were likely worse than what really happened. From the little he did know, they didn't go outside very often and only left when it was night time. He suspected their vitamin D was rather low so he made use of the good weather to help them out. 

Tim was sat underneath the shade of the oak trees with a book from the library. He planned to read through all the books that were there which Bruce had initially laughed off as impossible. He hadn't considered just how fast the kid could finish a book and he was already down one book case. In his hands now was an encyclopedia of American flora and fawna. Bruce didn't find it too interesting, only picking it up a couple of times in his youth and once in his adult life to track down Poison Ivy. Tim didn't look too invested and picked it up purely to reach his goal. 

Jason made use of the newly renovated tyre swing a few trees over. It was practically falling apart since it hadn't been used since before Bruce's parents died and to avoid someone hurting themselves, the billionaire had it repaired using one of the old tyres from the Batmobile to insure it would last. Jason made him thankful he also reinforced the rope as he twirled the tyre around so when he let it go, it spun around quickly. He giggled as he climbed on it whilst it span and fell off a few times. 

Dick chose the activity that made Bruce keep an extra special eye on him. The former acrobat was obsessed with climbing the trees and making it all the way to the top. His brothers would occasionally stop what they were doing to see how far he'd gone only to barely spot him through the thick leaves and branches. A climbing frame was yet to be installed, Bruce was waiting on the free time to start the project, so the trees would have to do. It was better than seeing him trying to scale the manor. Bruce still had nightmares about seeing him do cartwheels on the roof. 

It was when he took his eyes off Dick to check on Jason who had dazedly tripped over his own feet and fell onto the grass that he heard a snap followed by a shocked yelp. He shot to his feet, noticing Tim and Jason had done the same, and regained focus on the tree. 

"Dick?" he shouted. There was silence but since there wasn't a falling body, he guessed he wouldn't be calling a hospital anytime soon. Still, he couldn't relax until he was sure the boy was alright. "Can you come down for me?"

"Uh, sure," Dick replied. He didn't sound hurt but Bruce had very quickly learned he knew how to disguise it well. He waited anxiously as the younger made his way back to the ground and seemed confused at the small crowd that had gathered. "Everything okay?"

"We heard a snap and then you yelped," Tim explained, running over and circling him to check for any damage.

"Oh, yeah. One of the branches broke under me. Must've been old," he answered. "Caught myself on another one though."

"You gotta stop scaring us like that. I'm too young for a heart attack," Jason teased lightly. He smirked to himself and shoved his hands into his pockets. This caught Tim's attention and he pulled at his wrist to get them out. It didn't take a medical degree to see that he'd scraped the palms of his hands on the rough bark.

"You are hurt!" Tim scolded.

"Never said I wasn't," he argued. "It's nothing anyway."

"You've got splinters too!"

"I'll just pick them out."

"It's better if we get these out and wrapped up, chum," Bruce told him. "Can one of you fetch the first aid kit? It's under the sink in the kitchen." The younger pair nodded and dashed back into the manor. "Is there anything else I should know about?"

"I'm fine," Dick insisted irritably. "I didn't fall."

"You certainly came close to it."

"I wouldn't fall. I wouldn't." Bruce raised an eyebrow, a little unsure on why he was so urgent to make that known but he didn't question it any further. He learned that he had to let Dick come to him first before he could go prodding for answers. 

Jason returned with the first aid kit, Tim following close behind and glaring at his older brother. 

"I had that!"

"Snooze you lose," the ginger taunted, sticking his tongue out before passing the kit along to Bruce. 

"Wait, you don't do it," Dick stated as the billionaire began rifling for an antiseptic wipe. "They do it."

"Yeah but Bruce is our guardian now. He's supposed to be doing the parenty things," Jason pointed out. He made a face at the comment and scuffed his shoe against the grass. 

Although he did try to get used to having a carer who actually cared, it often showed that he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He was reistant to get used to the change no matter how often they assured him it would be permanent. They guessed his extended time with Joey made it harder for him to accept he was safe considering how he'd once thought the same thing about him. 

"It's alright if you want one of them to do it," Bruce offered. He feared he'd overstepped as he so often did with Dick. 

"No, it's fine. Really. Sorry, just uhm- not used to it," he apologised quickly. He offered up his hands as some sort of truce but his eyes told a different story. Dick watched him carefully like an animal that had been trapped in a corner, once domesticated but taught to fear the hand that fed him and now unable to see a different hand. 

"Why don't you sit down?"

"I'm not light headed. Didn't hit my head."

"It might take some time to get the splinters out," Bruce warned. Really, he just wanted to get them on an even eye level. He'd read that when you spoke to a kid, you needed to get on their eye level whether that be kneeling down or sitting with them. It was a small sign of respect. Meeting someone half way. Dick hummed and sat down. His brothers hung around seeing that they weren't needed but not wanting to upset him by leaving him alone. 

"Go play," Dick told them. "Bruce has me." They nodded and rushed off to return to their activities. He watched them with a soft smile. 

"Protective aren't they?"

"You could say that," he mumbled.

After gently wiping the grazes with the anti septic wipe, Bruce grabbed the tweezers and began the slow processing of removing the splinters. 

"You must have fast reflexes then," he began after the brief quiet they shared. 

"Old habits. Gotta know how to save yourself when the safety net isn't there," Dick said. He didn't speak about his time in the circus. Maybe it was too painful to remember a time when everything felt so normal or after how long he'd spent away, he didn't have many memories to recall. He chewed his bottom lip anxiously as each splinter was removed. "Can I ask you something?"

"I'm all ears."

"You remember when you went to the zoo with Tim and Jay? You asked me that morning if there was anything I wanted to do but I felt sick so I didn't say anything," he said, giving the man nervous glances. 

"I do remember."

"Could- Would it be okay if I asked for something now?"

"Yes," he answered immediately. He knew he was being a little too eager but he couldn't help it. This was like winning the lottery. 

"Do you think you could get me a poster?" Okay, this was an underwhelming lottery prize but it was something.

"Anything specific?"

"A flying Grayson's one. I-I know they're probably super rare and you'd probably never find one but if you could try at least to get a real one that'd be- I just didn't," he stumbled over his words, unsure if he wanted to be honest or keep things vague. 

"Take a breath. No pressure." He nodded. He took a breath.

"I don't have anything from the circus. Didn't have time to grab anything before I got taken into custody. I wanna have something to remind me of home."

"I'll do everything I can to get you one," Bruce promised knowing full well he was going to raid the evidence locker at the police station for anything remotely related to the boy's family. 

"Thanks."

"Could I ask you something too?"

"Uh yeah. Sure. Shoot."

"What's your native language?" Dick contemplated the question for a moment.

"It's kinda hard to explain. It's Romani but not Romani. There's a bunch of different ones depending where you're from." 

"You're Roma?" He nodded. "Interesting. You know, if you ever wanted to teach me some, I'd be more than happy to learn."

"Why?"

"It's your native language. You learned mine so it only seems fair to learn some of yours. It might help in those times you struggle," Bruce explained. "You don't have to. I understand some languages are closed or have a history-"

"It's a nice offer, Bruce. Maybe one day."

"Yeah, maybe one day."

With all the splinters pulled out and his hands then wrapped up to protect the grazes from infection, Bruce gave him the all clear. 

"Thanks, B," Dick said. He moved from foot to foot awkwardly before giving the man the quickest hug in history. "I'm gonna try a different tree. For peace of mind."

"I'll keep an eye on you either way." The younger smiled and nodded and then went about scaling another tree. Bruce watched him, a little unsure on what he'd done to earn the hug but happy nonetheless. They were getting there.