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Jason cuts him off with a chest-deep laugh--almost a guffaw. He yells, “Shit, well would you look at that! They got you too, gremlin?”
Dick looks in the direction Jason’s turned. He sees a flourish of red and yellow before the figure settles into a thirteen-year-old hellion with a heart of gold and more hair gel than the Kents have barrels of cow milk.
“Damian Wayne, as I live and breathe!” Dick says.
“Not for much longer if you buffoons don’t get your heads out of your asses,” Damian tuts but the grin on his face belies the words.
Dick opens his arms and Damian hops in for a quick hug. Then he’s dragged back by Jason’s noogie-disguised-as-a-hair-ruffle. Damian squawks in what should be indignance but his lips curl upwards. Dick almost misses the gobsmacked look under Bruce’s cowl, caught up in the moment, but he’s far too aware of his periphery in general.
Damian whacks his arm in admonishment. “Nightwing! Have you never heard of the butterfly effect?!”
“Yeah, D, but Jay and I kinda already ruined that a while ago.”
“Buffoons,” Damian huffs.
Bruce clears his throat for attention, probably antsy for information he’s clearly missing.
“Damian…”
“Father.”
“Are you…Did you…Did-Did Talia…”
“Yes, yes, and yes. At least in our world. It’s hard to say what became of things here, as I have remained on this continent since my arrival.”
“Hn.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jason says, waving his hand around, “You can make your emergency call to Talia if we can all just get back to the Cave- You will let us into the Cave right?”
“Hn.”
“Awesome!” Dick yells. “Let’s get going then, I don’t wanna wait until all of Jay’s hair turns white.”
“Hardy har.”
—
At the Cave, they’re greeted with the repetitive tapping of a bo staff. Said bo staff–and its owner–are hidden from the main entrance.
Bruce scans the first level before ushering them into the main congregating area around the BatComputer. As they become visible by the broader cave, the tapping stops. A cape softly flutters as the wearer lands from their post in a hidden crevice. The dramatics can really only mean one thing but they need to wait for a confirmation before jumping the gun.
“Gremlin,” Tim says. And well. Consider the gun jumped.
“Timothy,” Damian responds, struggling to keep his lips from tugging into a smile. “Are we all trapped here?”
“Yes,” a new voice says. A stitched-up bat mask peaks from behind Tim. Dick elects to ignore Jason’s muttered Ah fuck as he shimmies behind Damian to instead greet their sister.
“Cassie,” he greets. Dick gets in a quick one-armed hug and turns to his other brothers.
“Cassandra,” Damian says.
“Damian.”
“This universe has treated you well?”
“Of course. Met Tim early.”
“Tt. He is moderately adequate company, I suppose.”
“Thanks, D,” Tim sighs.