Chapter Text
Dick slowly lowered himself into the armchair beneath him. He tilted his head towards the sofa in front of him, signalling Damian to take a seat as well. Tim took a seat on the other armchair leaving Jason to sit next to Damian on the larger couch.
Shortly after Dick, Jason and Tim had found Damian in the guest room Bruce had appeared. The brothers had ushered out an uncharacteristically quiet Damian while Bruce stayed back to ‘smooth things over’ with Percy (interrogate him about how he managed to pin Damian).
Due to Bruce’s current occupation Dick was left with the task of questioning his youngest brother. Dick turned to the child in question – because Damian was still a child, even if he acted like an old man sometimes – and noted the look of faint embarrassment on his face. Probably from being beaten by a homeless kid.
Though, he would admit that he was curious how Percy had managed to overpower his younger brother. Sure, the kid was taller and older, but Damian had years of training. It was highly unlikely that some kid, even a kidnapping escapee, would be able to beat him. Especially if Damian had used his normal tactic of ambushing the kid when he was most comfortable. Well, as comfortable as someone who had been freshly taken into a new place could be.
From the still stunned looks on his elder brothers faces Dick knew that Jason and Tim were wondering the same thing. However, due to privacy, the guest rooms were some of the few without surveillance so the only way they would find out was asking Damian and Percy and hope that they told the truth.
“What happened Damian? Tell me everything.” Dick tried his best to sound non-judgemental, hoping Damian would tell him if he wasn’t fearing punishment.
“I was going to the trespassers room-”
“His name is Percy, Dami.” Dick corrected before allowing his brother to continue.
“Fine, I was going to Jackson’s room to test his combat skills and ensure he was not too comfortable in our home.”
“So, you attacked him.” Jason interrupted. Damian scowled at his older brother before continuing his story.
“I was able to get into the room without him noticing me. After observing him for a few minutes I had decided to test his reflexes. However, when I went to attack from behind, he dodged me. We had been fighting for less than a minute when he managed to pin me. He must be trained. Even before I had struck, I saw him tense, I do not know how he sensed my presence. His fighting was a mix of different styles that I couldn’t completely recognise, not just simple street fighting as one might expect from an alley stray.”
Damian’s last sentence was punctuated with a sharp glare in Jason's direction. To which the older boy retaliated with a sharp elbow jab to his younger brother’s side.
“Damian.” Dick addresses his youngest brother before a full fight could break out, “Are you sure that Percy has had training? I mean, you could have been a bit of your game. Having someone new in the manor is a big change.”
Dick new that Damian probably felt threatened by having another boy under the Wayne roof. Considering how he had acted around Tim for the first few weeks of his stay, it wouldn’t be surprising if his fighting had been affected by his emotions.
“I know what I saw Richard.” Damian’s voice was bitter with indignation, “I would not have been overpowered so easily otherwise. Even if I was motivated by emotion as you are implying. You all know I would not allow something as small as emotion to impact my capability.”
“It’s ok to be influenced by your emotions Dami.” Dick stated, making sure to look the youngest in the eyes to show him he was being sincere.
A few seconds of tense stillness passed until Jason broke the silence.
“So,” he drew out the sound, “there is a trained fighter in the house, using techniques even the brat doesn’t know. What are we going to do?”
“Nothing.” All three of his younger brothers turned to him incredulously as Dick spoke. “We don’t know yet where or why Percy was trained. He needs a place to stay and Bruce can provide that. Plus, all of us were hiding something when we first came here. Whatever Percy’s past is, if Bruce doesn’t think he is dangerous to us, it’s our job to give him that safe place until he feels he can tell us what he is hiding.”
Another silence filled the room. Each of the brothers thinking about Dicks words.
Jason thought back to when Bruce had found him in the alley. He still sometimes questioned what made the man take in the street rat who tried to steal his tyres and attack him when he was discovered. In the weeks that followed he had constantly tried to test Bruce’s limits. Destroying every expensive item he could find, breaking into his study and burning important documents, yelling and swearing at both Bruce an Alfred. Despite everything he did and the constant lying about his past Bruce had always been patient. By no means did he trust Perseus Jackson, but he guessed he could consider giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Tim thought about when he had first started spending time with Bruce. He had lied about knowing his identity for years. Keeping his knowledge a secret to continue his childish nightly photography expeditions. When Bruce had found out about his ‘extra curriculars’ he hadn’t reacted in any way that younger Tim had expected. He didn’t put him in prison or ship him off to the watchtower for containment, instead he had given him a chance, given him Robin. Tim had never expected his lies to be rewarded but that’s just what Bruce was like. So, if Bruce said they could trust Percy Tim would trust him, give him a chance to share his story the way Bruce had for him.
Damian thought of his initial introduction to his family. The disrespect he had shown towards Alfred, treating his grandfather as a mere servant. The way he had attacked Drake both physically and mentally trying to punish the elder boy for his own childish insecurity. How he had adamantly refused any of Richard’s attempts at connecting with him out of a fear of change. With his history there was no way he could judge Percy for defending himself. Despite the original animosity between him and his sibling they had since learnt how to treat each other as close to normal brothers as they could. Why could Damian decide to treat Percy with hostility when each of the people in this room had been excusing his behaviour from the start. Damian decided he would trust his father, if he decided to allow Percy to stay, he would too.
Each of the brothers were pulled from their thoughts as Bruce walked through the doorway. He walked across the room settling on the large couch next to Damian.
The siblings turned to their father waiting for him to speak.
“I have talked with Percy about what happened. He did not seem very upset about Damian’s attack and said that he would be happy to stay here as long as we would still have him. If anything, he seemed more worried about how I would react to him defending himself.”
“Did you ask him about how he can fight?” Tim cut into Bruce’s explanation.
“He said that it was a combination of naturally good reflexes, self-defence training from New York and street instincts from the alley.”
It was clear from each of their expressions that none of the brothers or Bruce believed Percy’s obvious lie. But they all silently agreed to let it pass.
“Alfred helped him to move into a permanent room.” Bruce continued, “Percy picked the third one down with the blue trim on the door, facing the harbour. He’s settling in now.”
So far, Percy hadn’t done anything obviously hostile towards them, Alfred had made his approval of the boy obvious by letting him pick a room and he did have black hair and blue-green eyes. By Bruce’s standards he was a perfect fit for the family.
They could worry about his patchy history and the suspicious way Dick had found him when they knew more. For now, the Wayne’s unanimously agreed to provide Percy with the same place each of them had needed in the past.
Dick smiled softly from his chair. He had a new brother.