My Boys

Chapter 6

*Recap

They sat like that for a couple of hours just silently enjoying each other's company. When a new show was about to start Bruce noticed that he was the only one still awake. They were all leaning against him. He carefully turned off the tv, so he wouldn't wake any of them.

Bruce wasn't really comfortable, but he knew if he moved he would wake them all up. It had probably been a while since they've actually slept. From the way that they were all huddled against each other and they had actually fallen asleep he could tell that they were exhausted. After a while, he became more comfortable. And finally closed his eyes for some much-needed rest.

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It was the best sleep that Bruce had in a while. For the last week, he had been nonstop worrying about the boys. Even before that he had been going out every night so he didn't really have time to sleep. The boys were all still asleep. They were all huddled around him. He could tell they all needed the sleep too. He stayed still for a while he didn't want to wake them up before they were ready.

It took a while for him to notice that Dick was gone. He knew he had to go check on him to make sure that no one was getting into any more trouble. He carefully got up from the couch making sure not to wake the boys. He left the room and headed toward the kitchen but then heard a loud noise coming from the sitting room. (I have no idea what rich people have in their houses lol) He walked in but didn't see Dick. He walked to the back of the room and found Dick sitting on the large window sill.

He stood and waited for Dick to notice he was there but his focus remained on the window. He was surprised by this. "Good morning." Dick hesitantly responded.

"Good Morning." Dick still didn't look up at him. He didn't even move when Bruce sat next to him on the window. His eyes still focused on the window.

"How are you doing?" Bruce was hoping that he would give him some kind of an honest answer.

"I'm okay I guess." Bruce couldn't tell if he was lying. Maybe Dick didn't know if he was okay. They sat in silence for a while Bruce didn't really know what to say. He knew something was wrong he just didn't know how to get it out of him.

" Are you hungry?"

"No." Dick still refused to make any kind of eye contact with him. Dick knew he would tell him everything if he did.

" Dick, can you please look at me." He finally did lookup. Bruce was surprised to see the anger in his eyes. He knew that it was about him. He thought that maybe he was upset about the kidnapping but he could tell there was something else bothering him.

"WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE YOU CARE ALL OF A SUDDEN! Did it really take us being kidnapped for you to give a fuck about us?"
"Dick I've always cared."

"NO, YOU HAVEN'T! You are always out working or patrolling, YOU ARE NEVER HERE! And it's all your fault that we turned out this way. Damian is terrified about becoming like Ra's , he can barely sleep at night because of what they did to him. Tim feels like he can't trust anyone because of his parents. He feels completely worthless, I mean it's a miracle the kids still alive. Jason feels like he's still dead, and I can barely get through the day without wanting to kill myself. AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Bruce wanted to yell back at him but he couldn't find the words. It broke his heart to hear that Dick felt that way. Bruce expected them all to have some problems with their past. But he didn't know how bad it really was. They have never brought it up before. Where was all this coming from? Maybe Dick was right maybe it all really was his fault. He was the reason they were kidnapped in the first place.

"I mean, did you really only take us in, to big your image. Or did you just do it to turn us into your personal soldiers?"

"No, I took you in because I knew how you felt and I knew that I could help you."

"I don't think did and I don't think you do now either. If you did we wouldn't have turned out like this we are complete fuck ups and it is completely your fault."

"Alright, maybe it's all my fault, but I tried my best I really did ."

"WELL IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH! You told me that if I trusted you that everything would be okay, but it's not." Dick had completely lost it at this point. He wasn't hiding the fact that he was upset anymore he was full on sobbing. Bruce hadn't seen him like this since his parents died.

"Dick why have you never told me that you felt this way?" Bruce knew that making the boys feel like their emotions were bad was not a good thing. And that punishing them for their emotions was how they got into this mess in the first place.

"I don't know I just was worried how you'd react , and what you would do." Bruce knew that if Dick had come to him with this before he would have definitely yelled at him. He would have told him that he was ungrateful. He would remind him that he had taken him into his home, clothed, and fed him. That he didn't have to do any of that. That his life would have been horrible if he hadn't stepped in. That not everyone had the chance to live with a billionaire and that he should be grateful for the privileges he has. Bruce knew now that it would not be helpful to say those things now.

"I know that in the past I wouldn't have reacted well to this sort of thing. I know that I haven't really been there emotionally for you boys, but I will now. I'm glad that you told me how you feel and I'm not mad." Dick looked up at him in confusion, the tears falling more slowly.

"Really you're not mad?"

"It's okay to be upset Dick, I'd be upset too."

"Are you really gonna stay home with us for 2 weeks?"

"Yeah, maybe even longer."

"So, you're telling me that you're taking a break from the office for 2 weeks and batman too.?"

"Yeah I'm going to stay with you and your brothers for as long as it takes." Dick wasn't crying anymore he was just sniffling. Bruce let a couple moments of silence go by to give Dick some time to calm down. He was very upset which had gotten him pretty worked up. Bruce needed to know what the Joker had done to them, but he didn't know how to ask. He didn't want to make them more upset especially if they weren't ready to talk about it.

"Dick is it okay if I ask you what happened?"

"Yeah I guess.........I don't know what happened to the others I was by myself the whole time."

"That's okay." Dick was already looking back down at his hands. Bruce knew it might be to soon for them to talk about it. Dick completely froze.

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I'm very sorry for not updating in a while. I've had a lot going on these past few weeks. The next few chapters are going to be getting into the flashbacks and stuff so that will be more interesting. There also may possibly be a love interest for Bruce but I'm not really sure that might be too much. Thanks for all the favorites. Comment and let me know what you think.