Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dick was the oldest, so he was the responsible one; the Big Brother.

And as the oldest and responsible one, that meant he had to watch out for all of his younger brothers, even when they said they were big now and could take care of themselves; they were still his little brothers at the end of the day.

And he had promised a long time ago, after Jason first joined the home followed by Tim, Duke, and the twins, that he would do everything he could for his brothers.

They were all he had, and he refused to lose them like he had before with… before.

And he remembered that promise every time he and Jason and Tim and Duke had helped potty train the twins.

He remembered every time he and Jason had to make breakfast and dinner when their caretakers 'forgot'… again.

He remembered it when he comforted his younger siblings after they got yelled at for something stupid and helped silence their crying so they weren't punished more.

And he remembered that promise as he hefted the backpacks, his own and Damian's, shifting his grip on a silently shaking Damian who even now refused to cry but was still shaken from everything that just happened, glancing back as Jason helped a frowning Duke along so he didn't lost concentration and Tim who cuddled a silently trembling bundle of blankets that was Danyal, or what they all knew was Danny.

He was still their baby brother, even while small, glowing, and not-quite-human anymore, and they all would do anything for him, as they would for each other.

But the twins were the babies of the family, so they took priority; especially when the babiest was hurt so badly, and had stopped breathing, and didn't seem to have a heartbeat anymore which was bad-

And since it was their so-called 'caretakers'' fault he was like that now - after the bright light and loud sounds and the screaming - it was time to go.

Thankfully he and his older little brothers all knew the escape plan - they've all talked about it for months now - and Duke had already manipulated the lights, they've grabbed the backpacks already filled with most of the important things they needed and made sure to grab anything from their rooms that they couldn't leave - Jason and Tim had grabbed their important papers and stuffed them into the bag while Dick had bundled up Duke and Damian and wrapped Danny in his favorite starry blanket - and were now about to climb out onto the fire escape.

The metal ladders were connected to a metal landing, so as long as Duke distracted their 'caretakers' enough they should be fine.

Opening the window, he glanced around even as he easily maneuvered out, careful not to bump Damian, but the coast was clear this late and all the lights were mostly out from… whatever happened to Danyal that turned off all the lights.

He tried desperately not to think about it right now; he could panic later once his brothers were safe.

Jason followed, helping Tim who still held Danny, and then they both turned to help Duke carefully climb out; Dick turned to the ladder, and as soon as they closed the window, Duke letting out a loud gasp from releasing his power, he knocked down the ladder, gritting his teeth at the loud squeal of rusted metal.

Hopefully the many sirens from the cop cars and fire engines constantly going by hid it well enough; at least all the power and lights were still out so they were hidden.

But they had to get going faster now; they could not be caught, not now, not when they were so close to being free.

In the back of his mind a dark voice whispered how it was his fault, how they should have left a long time ago, after that first yelling match, after the first time things were thrown, after the first time Tim was hurt and Duke had to keep Dick and Jason from murdering their 'caretakers' for hurting their little brother-

He took a deep breath, loosening his grip on Damian before it could become too tight, and focused; they were leaving now, so there was no point in worrying about 'what if's.

He nodded to Jason who simply slid down the ladder, not bothering with the rungs before waiting down below.

"Tim, you go next, then Duke and Damian," Dick quietly but hurriedly instructed, casting a glance back to the window, but thankfully he couldn't see anything yet; they still had some time.

As Tim carefully but quickly started to climb down with one hand, both Duke and Jason watching in worry, Dick gently but firmly patted Damian's back, rousing the kid who's grip tightened just a little in acknowledgement.

"Dami, I know it's been rough but can you climb down the ladder?" Dick asked, glancing to the window; still nothing, but he grew anxious every second they were stuck on the metal landing.

Dick felt Damian take a deep breath, before letting Dick put him down. "I'm fine, Richard; let's go." The words were almost forced through his clenched teeth, and Dick ached to pull him back into a hug at how Damian had returned to formal names - ached to grab Danny from Tim and never let him out of his sight again - but they had to go; breaking down can happen later when they were safe. He just had to remember that.

Dick bit his lip as he waited his turn; Damian was going to need a lot of hugs after this - they all were - but as he followed down and watched him stiffly but firmly take the still small and dimly glowing Danny into his arms he decided to handle it later; they needed to get out.

"Do you have the map?" Dick asked as he joined his brothers, hiding behind the corner as they watched cars blaze down the dark roads, the only lights out with how cloudy it was and the lights all still out; it was almost scary, but perfect for getting away.

"Yeah, we're just a few blocks away, just have to check," Tim said, bringing out-

"Did you take their phones?" Duke asked, sounding like he wanted to laugh while still cradling his head with a wince, and Dick absently reached out to gently pull him under his arm, feeling him lean against him in comfort. His little brothers were so strong.

Tim just nodded, not looking up, because of course he did, "yup, and I'll be sure to reset the data soon; but for now we got to go this way," he quietly said, pointing up the street.

Dick nodded, taking a deep breath. "Right, good; remember to stick with your buddy, and good job, Tim, Duke; you guys did awesome," Dick managed to cheerily praise, smiling as Tim ducked his head to focus on the phones. Duke leaned in closer to his side, and Dick gave him a gentle squeeze.

"We're really doing this, huh?" Jason muttered, helping watch for the next opening as cars sped by but keeping his hand in Tim's; buddy rules were always important to follow when out, especially in Gotham. Street kids were common but with so many of them they didn't want to risk getting stopped by cops on a night like this.

Dami and Danny were usually buddies, but… Dick glanced to the side, Damian's mouth pressed into that firm line that clearly said how stressed he was as he cradled the Danyal-bundle close, who seemed to bury himself close against Damian, and seemed to have moved Danny so that his glow wasn't obvious which was good with how dark out it was. Dick was going to have to have to doubly make sure that he stayed between them all, though he wasn't very worried about him being rebellious right then, not with Danyal being as he was.

"I'm not going back; we should have left a long time ago," Damian whispered harshly, voice scratchy, and Dick was thankful he didn't try to avoid his arm as he pulled him into his other side, though he didn't relinquish his hold on his twin; understandable, really.

"Duh, I'm not saying I regret it, little bat," Jason scoffed, but Dick knew better from how tightly he held himself and the way he positioned himself in front of their younger brothers, "but it's still gonna be hard on the streets on our own," he pointed out.

"As long as we're together and we don't go back I don't care," Duke mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he tried to stay awake.

"Well said," Dick said in the cheeriest voice he could muster which wasn't much, but the way Damian leaned against him more, Duke and Tim flashed him smiles, and Jason relaxed just a bit, he felt resolve harden even more in him.

"Let's go," Tim whispered, him and Jason leading the way with Dick following at the back, keeping a hand to his pocket where he kept a pocket knife, just in case.

Because Duke was right; as long as they stayed together, as long as they never went back there with the one who hurt his brother, as long as he kept them safe… they could do this.

They had no other option.

0o0o0

For all that all of them were homeless or without parents at some point or another, even if not for long like in the case of the Duke and Tim, being all on their own was hard, at least for the first month or so.

Duke wasn't as smart as his older brothers - or his younger, even, in the case of how much Danyal loved space - he felt pride for having a hand in their plan to hole up in Tim's old house.

Even though the mansion - a whole mansion! - was his, he told them how the adults said he was too young to be on his own apparently, which was dumb since his parents had been gone for so long even before they died, he had been placed in the shared home and he would 'officially' be given the mansion when he turned eighteen because of some dumb 'in case I die' papers as Jason described them.

It all sounded kind of stupid if you asked Duke, but nobody did; at least he knew his brothers agreed with him from the frown Dick had and the scoffs both Jason and Damian made.

Danny just made a cute little 'merp' sound, like an indignant kitten, which he was pretty sure was agreement, so he counted, too.

Actually sneaking into Drake Mansion took time to plan, even if they felt relatively safe in the hideout Jason and Duke had found for them in an abandoned house with a crawl space that grownups couldn't get to but they all could, because they couldn't stay there forever; as Jason pointed out it was just the beginning of summer but fall would come soon enough and it was going to get colder, so they needed to get better shelter.

(Even if they had quite a bit of stuff from Tim and Jason grabbing everything they could from their room and the apartment back at the shared home; it was impressive how much they could fit into their backpacks, though they did dump out all of their homework which Duke felt sad about; they couldn't go back to school and though he really wanted to, wanted to go to college, he understood why not, at least not yet.)

But apparently there were still people taking care of Drake Mansion until Tim came of age, but only the outside like the really big yard and the security; Tim had already told them places where and how to sneak in pretty easily.

But then they ran into the problem of actually all of them even getting to the property before getting picked up or caught, since it was pretty far from the main city.

If it was just a few of them it'd be fine, but all of them could have the cops or a bad person grabbing them.

For a few days Duke's older brothers argued whether to split up and sneak there in little groups or try going all together, until they learned something new about Danny.

Thankfully after the first day and sleeping long enough to worry all of them - mostly in the fact none of them wanted to have their youngest out of sight lest he woke up for more than a few minutes at a time… and the fact he got electrocuted and was changed and didn't breath or have a heartbeat which was scary except for the fact he moved in his sleep a lot - Danny woke up with a startled 'merp!', a flash of light that blinded Duke, ow, and then there was a human Danny curled up in his twin's lap and looking confused while everyone promptly crowded around and hugged him tightly; Duke knew he wasn't the only one who cried a little, especially when they realized he was breathing and had a heartbeat - slower than normal but still - but he knew better than to say anything.

Well, mostly human; the others couldn't see it now but he still had a green glow to him that was kind of cool.

And then halfway through them eating some food Jason and Dick had gotten for them Danny had sneezed, a flash of light which blinded Duke again which, ouch, and he was back to the small snake-kitten-glowy big eyed little guy he was before.

It was kind of weird, especially as Damian held him like a kitten, but as he purred, ears twitching, snakey tail gently wrapped around his wrist, little paw-like hands clutching his twin's hand close as he gently ran his fingers through his no-quite tummy and chest fur, Damian's face set in a gentle smile… Well, the twins were so sweet and cute he couldn't blame Dick whenever he hugged them tight despite Dami's protests.

Duke could admit he would always feel awful for how it happened, that his baby brother could have died, might have actually died but none of them spoke the thought even if everytime Danny changed and his heart stopped he could tell they all thought the same, but…

He was happy he wasn't the only Meta anymore.

He loved his brothers, how couldn't he?

Loved how Dick accepted him immediately, always open with praise and hugs and trying to take care of them when their caretaker didn't.

Loved how Jason may all act like the definition of 'tough love' but had his back when he needed it, helping him with his writing when he had trouble with homework and reading stories to him and the others.

Loved how Tim was always there for him and the others even when he was at his most hyperfixated on whatever caught his attention for the week, easily explaining concepts to him and never treating him lesser if he took time to understand something.

Loved how Damian was formal and abrasive but acted more like a prickly kitten, leaning against him and being interested in what he was doing even he pretended not to be, coming to him with problems sometimes even if he could have asked one of their older brothers.

Loved how Danyal looked at him like his silly light Meta ability was the coolest thing ever, especially at night when he used it to copy constellations as best as he could on the ceiling, doing light shows to act out the star stories Danny rambled about when the others were too tired to help out.

(They all now stayed up late, fear and worry and paranoia and all, and it's become almost habit now for Jason to tell a story with Duke practicing his abilities by doing a light and shadow puppet show to act them out, all of the others gathered around like it was the most interesting thing; he loved it everytime, too. And it really had helped him with his abilities, too; he was doing a lot better now than before.)

But now there was Danny who had powers, too.

Danny who glowed but the others only saw it when he was in that other form. Danny who seemed to get new powers every week and while awesome he could tell how much it stressed everyone out in case someone on the street accidentally saw him since he couldn't control it much yet.

Danny who apparently could turn both invisible and intangible, as Dick and Tim had said the ability was called.

(Dick was the one who called Danny their 'little ghost' and now Danny said he was 'going ghost' everytime he changed forms, with a little spin and all like Sailor Moon and it was beyond cute. The nickname definitely stuck, anyways.)

But most importantly, they discovered that Danny could turn others invisible and intangible, too, though he wasn't good at it yet; had to practice a lot to control it even for a little while.

(Looking back on the first time Danny turned intangible and fell through the floor was both funny and scary; funny because Danny was fine and everyone had panicked, but scary because… well his little brother just fell through the floor.)

As much as it worried Duke and the others, they all allowed Damian and Danny to help with getting things after that, but only when Danny could control his powers a bit more with help from Duke; it was kind of hard teaching someone else how to use abilities that were so different, especially since he wasn't very good at using his own yet and Danny couldn't talk out of making cute kitty-like sounds in his other form, but it was fun.

(He was so going to get copies of the pictures and videos he knew Tim took of Danny as 'Little Baby Ghost' as his other form was dubbed via Dick; he was just too cute in that form, and he was so happy how much Danny loved to be cuddled in it.

Though he thinks Tim said something about it being 'basically impossible!' to take pictures or videos of Danny when he was small and cute, but whatever; he'd leave that to his brother to figure out.)

But thankfully they got a pretty good system going on for little things, like right now.

Duke waited for Tim's signal as he did whatever it was that messed with the cameras from the tablet Jason had 'acquired' for him weeks ago, Damian and Danyal waiting with him, Danny curled around Dami's shoulder. He knew that Dick and Jason were elsewhere, also waiting for Tim but out of Duke's sight.

After a moment, Tim gave a hand signal - one of the ones he learned from watching a lot of videos of the Justice League and Batman, and subsequently taught them all, which was pretty useful even if Duke was sure they were using them wrong in some way but whatever - and Duke concentrated.

One thing about trying to help his older brothers on the streets and trying to help out his little brother with his abilities was that his own has improved leaps and bounds as one of his teacher's would have said; it barely gave him a headache now to manipulate the lights in the small shop to draw away the attention of the man at the register, and give his brothers time to act.

Beside him Dami and Danny flickered into invisibility, and he felt the cool air that Danyal emitted when using his abilities move away along with the glowing outline of them only he could see; he didn't feel right about his little brothers going on their own, but Dami was determined to prove himself with Danny going along with his older twin despite being a little hesitant himself. At the same time he knew that Jason and Dick went in, grabbing things too.

Even after weeks of this, as he worked and found it funny how the man grew more and more confused and frustrated as Duke messed with the lights, some small part of him felt a bit bad of stealing, specifically from small stores like this; he had no trouble stealing from big stores, but those had too big risks with too many people and higher security.

But his brothers always came first.

And that meant helping them get food and other things they needed no matter what; even if the danger of getting caught made it harder to concentrate on the lights the longer it took, causing them to flicker.

But after what felt like way too long, finally that cool breeze came back, and he could see the glowing silhouette of his baby brothers before they fully appeared.

Damian gave him a firm nod while Danyal let out a quiet, happy trill from where he now stuck out of Damian's backpack, holding the bags he had brought but now both full.

A glance up at Tim showed him getting up, giving him a wave before moving away.

Right, time to go.

With a last burst of energy, making the lights in the back flicker one more time that had the employee guy stammer in panic which was kind of funny, he led his brothers back to the meeting spot with the others, grinning at the rush from a successful getaway.

When Dick spotted them, he gave them all a once over, smiling and relaxing when Duke gave him a thumbs up with a grin before they all made their way down the alley towards their base, ignoring the cops that were coming closer; they'd be long gone before they got there, and Tim had scrubbed the security footage; they'd be fine.

After a block, they turned into an alley, waiting as the cops sped right buy. They all quietly cheered at their success before heading back to their secret base, and Duke couldn't stop grinning and laughing when Jason tousled his hair.

The next day Jason read out loud in the funniest voice yet another news article about how there were 'phantom thieves' going around Gotham who were 'sneakier than Catwoman', and Duke joined in his siblings laughing over the whole thing.

(Afterwards Danny declared he wanted to be called 'Phantom' rather than 'Ghost' because it sounded cooler; Duke agreed with that so he now had his special name Phantom; they all decided they were going to need special names, too. Though they all still called him their 'Little Baby Ghost'; he was never not going to be.)

0o0o0

Jason had to give it to Timbit, but his Super Rich Person Mansion was pretty awesome.

Honestly learning that Tim came from rich people made sense in hindsight, but Tim acted so not like what he thought a snobby rich kid would act like it was still a surprise.

Hell, he was pretty sure Dami was what a stuck up rich kid acted like, even if the kid had left his old home with Danny when they were only a few years old to join their group one… honestly he was going to blame that one on their 'caretakers'; yet another reason why if he ever saw them again he was going to punch them.

Jason still wondered about that sometimes, how the twins got caught up in the system since their papers that Tim snagged when they left were… weird, but in the end he supposed it didn't matter; they were his little brothers, the babies of their ragtag family, and that's all that mattered.

Remembering that day they left, how if Dick hadn't had him focus on getting their stuff and leaving, how he still remembered the screaming and how Danny died, how close he was to killing the asshole that was their supposed 'caretaker' if Duke hadn't had used his powers to distract them…

He took a deep breath, shaking out his hands; he didn't want one of the others notice again, wasn't worth the worrying.

Anyways, now, thanks to Tim's rich, dumb parents, they all finally were relatively safe and sound in a far too big and dusty home.

As he opened a door that lead to one of the many bedrooms in the hall Tim had his own in, he wrinkled his nose as the dust tickled his nose.

Ugh, this place was gonna suck to clean up, huh?

A quick glance showed it looked just like any of the other unused rooms in the long hallway, with a massive bed, a couple of doors, and an empty bookshelf he was already planning on filling up… though part of him did balk at the idea of sleeping away from his brothers, of not hearing their breathing and snores - yes, Dick, you do snore, don't lie - and not feeling them curled up against him and even when it was too hot for it, well, wasn't great.

He glanced across the hall, seeing Dick with his back to him in a doorway, relaxed and shoulders shaking as he tried to keep from laughing at whatever was going on in there.

Judging by the laughter and yelps and weird banging noises, he took a guess that some of the younger kids were playing on the way too big bed in the room.

"Did ya' choose a room yet?" Jason glanced up, seeing Duke come walking down the hallway, Tim nowhere to be seen so probably still in his own room.

"Yeah, 'think I'll take this one, I guess; pretty dusty in here though," he grumbled; not like it mattered.

Duke nodded. "All of them are like that, I think; Tim said we could camp out in the living room and then clean tomorrow; maybe check the kitchen to see if anything is still good to eat."

Jason nodded in agreement, leaving the door open as he walked across the way and glanced inside.

And yup, there Danyal was, in his adorable Little Baby Ghost form, jumping around the bed like it was all a big trampoline with Damian trying to catch him; made him wish he had one of the phones Tim had stolen to take a picture or video. A glance at Dick though showed him trying to sneakily record on said phone, so he'd steal it from him later.

"Hey, Dickie-bird; we're goin' to raid the kitchen for food if you want to get Tim and the twins to the living room to sleep there; it's too dusty up here and we'll clean tomorrow," Jason said, waving a lazy hand through the air where they could literally see all the dust float by.

Usually he couldn't care less and would pass out on the bed either way, but if there was an option to sleep in a less dusty place with his brothers close by, well. No contest.

Dick seemed to understand, as he just nodded with a warm smile to him and Duke before turning to the twins. "Come on, Phantom and Little Bat, let's go ask Tim where all the blankets are; we can build a blanket fort!"

"It's Robin, not Little Bat," Damian grumbled as Danyal was finally distracted enough to get caught, happily just snuggling into his twin's arms as always with a chirp.

Jason turned to walk back to the big staircase, smiling slightly as Duke grinned beside him, relaxed in a way he hadn't seen in a long while; smile growing bigger when he wrapped an arm around his shoulders and drew him into his side.

All of them were, now that he thought about it.

He should really know better than to let his guard down, know better than to get comfortable…

But as he raided kitchen for canned food that was still good to heat in the microwave in bowls; as he joined his brothers in making the blanket fort bigger and sturdier; as his brothers gathered in there, Duke lighting the space up just enough for Jason to read aloud a book he snagged from the massive library he was excited to read in later to his brothers, the most important things in his life…

God, but it was hard not have hope that this time, things would turn out alright.

Chapter Text

Tim should know better; he did know better.

But he couldn't help it.

It's been a few weeks since they successfully snuck into the Mansion, that he came back home - no, it was only home now that his brothers were there with him, now that he wasn't alone - and they got a routine now.

Thankfully his parents - which he wasn't going to think about, nope, not at all - had left all of the money to him even if he wasn't supposed to have access to it yet, which was easy to get around, and it wasn't hard to set up new fake online accounts to order everything they needed; clothes, regular food deliveries, any supplies they needed.

Also he felt bad about it, but he cut down the employees that took care of the grounds; now they only worked once or twice a week, and on a strict schedule to make sure they never saw him or his brothers; he did make sure to vastly increase their wages, though.

After a 'family meeting', as Dick called them, they all decided - more or less - that they should go back to school, but would take online classes at least for now; they wanted to at least put Danyal, Damian and Duke back in physical school eventually, but it would risk someone noticing that they didn't live with their former 'caretakers' or that Danny was no longer 'normal', so online school.

Danny was sad he couldn't see his friends and Dami missed art class, but they were molified with a shipment of special art supplies on top of enrolling Damian into online art programs, and helped set up Danny as pen-pals with his friends under the strict rule they couldn't know where he was so no one could find them as well as a way to practice his admittedly terrible handwriting; he was upset about lying to his friends but had pinky-promised and Tim had set up a pretty good fake address chain - if he said so himself - to redirect mail through even though it made mail longer to go through, so he wasn't too worried.

Duke also missed his friends a bit but he understood better, so he was satisfied with just being allowed to send them emails every once in a while - they all agreed to eventually have everyone their own phones for emergencies if nothing else but have yet to set that up - and was mostly just happy to start school again.

Jason grumbled and Dick whined when they were enrolled, but promised to be 'good role models' and let Tim get them set up.

Tim himself wasn't happy to start school again but was more than happy with going fully online; he preferred to work on the laptop, anyways, and had been homeschooled before CPS moved him to the home with his brothers.

Which was another thing; them all being brothers.

Tim made sure to grab all of their folders with their documents when they left; he'd long since remembered the drawer they had been thrown in, just in case. And he was thankful for that, since it included their birth certificates and other apparently important paper things.

But as they all were talking about what classes to enroll for, they ran into a dilemma; if they should use fake IDs or their real ones.

Eventually they came to a compromise; they would use their real information, but make some changes first.

Specifically they would change their last names.

Or, at least they were going to, but Dick, Duke, and himself were attached to their last names, with Jason being on the edge and the twins…

Well, the twins were completely split on it.

(Another thing that was discussed but only when the twins were not there was whether they should take Danny to a doctor. The answer was 'yes', but then they would argue if it was worth the risk of Danny being taken to be put in the system again. They could never come to agreement so all decided to only bring him to Leslie - who Jason swore was one of the good ones - if he seemed to get worse or something, but thankfully he never did from what they could tell.

Tim had the thought about what if one of them ever got truly sick or something, but quickly forgot about it; they'd figure it out.)

On the birth certificates, it said their names were 'Damian Wayne' and 'Dahlia Wayne'; but when they first came to the home they insisted in the way only toddlers could that their last name was 'Ah-goo', which Duke insisted must've been 'Agate' like some type of special stone, so they just called them that.

They didn't think much of it; after all Danny claimed he was a boy and wanted to be called Danyal, so if they didn't want to be called Wayne then that was that.

(Tim had heard their 'caretakers' talk when they were drunk or took too many drugs how if only Dahlia - they never used Danny's name, which honestly was just another sign in hindsight they should've left a long time ago - and Damian were 'real Waynes'' then they'd make a lot of money, but never thought too much of it; after all there had to be more than just a rich guy with the same last name, right? Right.)

Why they would want to change from something as kind of awesome sounding as 'Agate' he wasn't sure, but then again it was pretty unique so probably easy to figure out and find, so he guess he understood from that standpoint.

In the end it was Dick who pointed out that sometimes people had multiple last names stuck together, they could do that with a same second last name.

Usually it only worked for married people, but also the kids of those married, so it was probably fine. But then they took a pretty long while to brainstorm a good last name for all of them.

Eventually, it was finally Duke who suggested Nightingale after they all disagreed with Dick's suggestion of Nightwing, since it sounded too much like a hero name. Which while cool might be too suspicious for a bunch of kids; they did agree it would be his secret name, like Danyal was Phantom and Damian wanted to be Robin… even if Tim wanted to be Red Robin, but he'd think about it later.

Nightingale? Still almost hero-like, but also more rich-person normal for an old place like Gotham.

And it was perfect.

So with a bit of easy hacking with the information from their birth certificates on hand, Tim went and changed all of their names; well, less change and more added on to, except in the case of Danyal who he was more than happy to change the whole thing for.

So they all gained 'Nightingale' to their last names, and Tim couldn't stop smiling all day when the new papers were mailed to them; he helped Jason frame them and proudly put them on the wall in the hallway with their bedrooms.

From there, filling out their school info was easy once Tim got access to their original elementary school papers, along with ordering the books and anything else they would need.

But as he did he noticed the date.

He knew 4th of July was about a week ago, as they all had gathered on the roof to watch the fireworks, but now actually seeing the date he realized he was about to turn 10.

And for his birthday he wanted to watch Batman.

Ever since he was taken to the shared home, he's only gone out a few times at the beginning before giving up on his hobby to focus on helping his brothers and not stress them - mainly Dick - out for disappearing in the night.

While they were hiding in their secret hideout, which Tim had since learned was an abandoned building and was discussing with his brothers whether he should buy it and use the whole thing as a secret base for in case they needed to run which will probably end up happening knowing their luck, they had caught glimpses of Batman, just a dark shadow silently swinging through the night, and Spoiler who followed behind; he'd been sad every time as he didn't have his cameras.

But now back at Drake Mansion he couid order new film and head out as a birthday gift to himself.

He thought about telling his brothers for a few seconds before letting it slide; they've all been so stressed lately, they probably forgotten his birthday was coming up at all in a few days, and he wasn't bothered by it, or at least he tried to tell himself that.

It would be fine.

…Or it would've been, as he crouched on the roof, waiting for Batman and his sidekicks, except then a curious 'merp?' came from beside him.

Tim startled so hard he fumbled with his camera, barely catching it before spinning with a gasp to see Danny, in Little Baby Ghost form and all, floating there, head tilted like a curious puppy.

At least he had his glow at a dim minimum so he wasn't sticking out so much.

Except his heart started pounding at the thought of his baby brother had followed him all the way here; what if he got caught or was hurt? It was dangerous!

"Da-Phantom!" Tim hissed, mind racing as he clutched his camera.

Before he could say more Danny suddenly disappeared, a startled expression the last thing he saw.

"What was that?" Tim startled again, spinning to stare wide eyed at Spoiler. He felt small paws clutch at his shoulder, soft fur tickling his neck; at least Danny knew to stick close while invisible.

Spoiler frowned at him, then scanned the roof. "Where did it go?"

Oh, she saw Danny. He shuffled a little, fidgeting with his camera like he was adjusting the camera's settings. That wasn't good, not at all.

"Where was what?" Some part of him balked at lying to a hero like this, one of his favorites too, but a larger part screamed that Batman hated Metas, and what would happen if he found out about his little brothers? He had to protect them, no matter what.

She stared at him for a long moment, long enough for him to feel like she was trying to bore holes into him through her domino mask, and silently praying that Danny's invisibility would hold since sometimes it still acted wonky.

Thankfully she finally let it go as something seemed to grab her attention, turning to stare into the distance before she huffed and turned back to him.

"Stay safe out there, kid." And then she was leaping off of the building roof, grapple hook in hand. As she swung away he absently took a picture; he'd get at least one after everything, darn it.

Tim let out a long breath, heart pounding; that was way too close.

"Merp?" Tim turned his head, meeting those large, bright green orbs. He frowned, staring them down. They stared back. Then they gave a slow blink, before closing as Danny snuggled against his neck, purring slightly and seeming to kneed at his shoulder like he was a real kitten.

Letting out an annoyed huff, or at least he tried really hard to stayed annoyed though it wasn't working too well, Tim let Danny cuddle against him as he made his way over the rooftops with ease; he wasn't going to get any more pictures tonight, not with his littlest brother in tow, and he wasn't risking him getting caught for real. He wanted to be angry at Danny, but he was very hard to stay mad at, especially when in this form.

"You're going to be in so much trouble, you know that?" Tim told him as they made their way back to the mansion, smiling a little at the incomprehensible grumbling little Phantom made.

It was pretty early by the time they got back, nearly eight - he had left early at four to try and find a good spot to watch from - but Danny easily helped him slip back inside; intangibility and invisibility were super useful things once you got over the weird coldness wiggly feeling it brought over you.

Tim had expected him to go upstairs to meet up with Damian for bed, but instead Danny grabbed his finger with both of his little paws and started tugging towards the living room, the red one that they all liked to hang out in.

"What, did you forget something?" He asked, easily following along and letting Danny hold his hand captive; if only cameras worked on Danny as Phantom, but no matter how many times he's tried it never worked; good for making sure others didn't catch him, but sucked because he was just so adorable Tim knew they all wanted a million photos of him.

As he contemplated that maybe he should try with his film camera next they walked into the room and-

"Happy Birthday!"

Tim stumbled, Danny having let go only to flip in the air, chirping happily as he flew around him.

He stared, wide eyed, at the grins they were all giving him, even while looking annoyed. Damian scoffed, crossing his arms from where they had set up some board games on the big coffee table. "You finally brought Drake home, Danyal; at least you brought him before the day was completely over," he lightly admonished as Danny settled snuggly into Tim's arms, cuddling close.

"Damn Timmers, really made us wait, huh? And the food's gotten cold; at least the cake should still be fine…" Jason grumbled, heading towards the kitchen and stopping long enough to clasp a warm hand on his shoulder with a gentle squeeze before walking by.

The others came closer, Dick lightly scolding him while Duke yawned with a stretch, and Damian still being huffy; in his arms Danyal also yawned, wiggling a little like he was trying to get comfortable enough for a nap.

Tim blinked, still stuck on the glittery, kind if sloppily handmade 'Happy Birthday!' sign on the wall, the games scattered around, and then-

"Is that a present? For me?" He said, staring at what was clearly a large gift leaning against a little table, wrapped messily in what looked like Justice League-themed gift wrap.

Dick gave him a sad smile before wrapping him in a hug, clearly stopping from squeezing tightly only because Danny was still in Tim's arms. "Of course, Timmy; we love you, you're our brother, and it's your birthday."

Like it was that simple, like that was all; even though for Dick's birthday all they managed to do was get him a book on the history of circuses and a little stuffed elephant, and Jason managing to swipe him a single cupcake that they had reused the single candle they've used for every birthday before. Not… this, all of this.

(Like Tim's own last birthday was one of the last times he had seen his parents before that last trip they never came back from.)

Tim blinked away the tears trying to form, leaning into the hug even as he wrapped his arms more securely around Danny who only purred louder; when he felt two other pairs of arms wrap around him, he tried to convince himself his breath definitely wasn't hitching, nope, not at all.

"What, gonna have a brother group hug without me? Real harsh there, Dickwad," Jason's voice cut through, but clearly teasing and soft in that way he was with only them.

Tim laughed even as the others let go, Dick huffing haughtily with his hands on his hips. "Well you weren't here, Little Wing; that's not my fault."

Jason just rolled his eyes, making his way closer and then surprised Tim by wrapping him close in a one-armed hug. "Happy birthday, Tim," his grumpy older brother said in a soft way that was going to make him cry again. He then let go, letting Tim rub furiously at his eyes even as he gave Tim's hair a good tussle, causing him to choke on a laugh.

"Now, here, eat this, and then we can move onto the good stuff." He blinked his eyes open, staring down at the Batburger meal that had probably been stuck in a microwave and would taste gross in that way reheated fast food was.

He smiled, and knew it would be one of the best things he's ever eaten, anyways.

Somehow the messily homemade cake was what actually made him cry, icing everywhere and 'Happy Birthday Tim' being so crooked as Danny, having turned human again, proudly said how they all helped Jason make it and that he was the one who got to write the letters.

It was a mess, and the greatest cake he'd ever eaten.

When he noticed Duke had snagged his camera and was trying to take a picture of him in front of the camera, he declared he wanted a picture with all of them and easily set it up with a timer, all of them crowded around him and smiling into the lens in front of the ugliest and most beautiful cake he's ever seen, feeling like a mess with tears still staining his face.

And in that moment as they all hugged him close, almost causing him to face plant into the cake through laughter and arguing, he'd never felt more loved.

"What'd you wish for?" Duke asked, leaning against his chair still as Dick tried to carefully cut the cake before Damian stole the knife and easily cut it into equal slices; Tim was admittedly curious how Damian was so good with knives, but considering Jason was the same it was probably best to leave it be.

"Can't say it aloud or it won't come true," Dick said with mock seriousness. Duke laughed even as he also whined, apparently he was 'dying of curiosity'; all of his brothers were so dramatic.

Tim just smiled.

The present came next; it was just the one but it was big, almost as big as himself, and so wrapped in paper he couldn't quite guess what it could be.

Feeling everyone's eyes on him, he ripped off the paper-

-and froze.

It was a skateboard. The top was matte black, with a yellow Bat symbol sitting on it. Turning it over, he stared at the simple but beautiful art of Batman crouched on top of a tall building looking over Gotham, the Bat symbol in the sky. It mostly looked like a simple drawing but the lights and the symbol were colored in, and…

And it was perfect.

"We, uh," Tim tore his eyes away to look up, blinking owlishly at his eldest brother who smiled that dorky smile of his, "well, we knew you always wanted to learn to skateboard, so me, Jason, and Duke got one."

"Danyal and I, along with Duke's and Jason's help, had a hand in painting it." Damian informs him, Dick pouting at being left out of the lineup of the apparent artists.

"It was mostly Damian's work; we had seen your awesome pictures of Batman and decided to use them, and he drew the picture based on that, and then we just painted over it," Duke admitted, grinning sheepishly.

"Wait, you guys painted this yourselves?" Tim asked, blinking at them before looking at the picture again.

And yeah, on second look there were a lot of wobbly lines and it was kind of messy, but more than anything that just made it feel more real; that they went through all that effort…

"It glows in the dark, too," Danny said, smiling. "The yellow paint glows."

He stared at his skateboard for a moment longer, feeling something warm bubbling in his chest, before he couldn't take it anymore. He set the skateboard down carefully - he was gonna practice so much but he didn't want to scratch the paint, not when he just got it - before standing and tackling his brothers in a hug.

Laying there, sprawling over his protesting brothers as much as possible, he felt the happiest he's ever been.

Definitely the best birthday ever.

0o0o0

Damian will be the first to admit, even if only reluctantly, that growing up in the shared home wasn't totally bad; well, besides their 'caretakers' that is.

They were the worst part, but he knew his brothers agreed, so he didn't even try to hide that part.

He and Danny talked about it, how they were probably supposed to go to Bruce Wayne as their father, as they apparently had been taken by CPS when they were too young to remember and got put into the shared home, but they knew little about him, so it was better to stay with their big brothers.

They only knew what they could see on TV and what they could get from the computer through the Child Lock that Dick forced to have on there, which is pretty stupid, considering he was a kid himself and he didn't use it; an older kid, but still a kid.

Anyways, what they could see of him was that he was a clutz, seeming to act dumb even though he spoke about a lot of smart things - he recognized that, had seen his older brothers do the same around adults they were trying to lie or steal from - and was super rich like Timothy.

…Which didn't tell them much, though Danny did find his actions funny.

Not to mention they had no idea how he felt about kids, except the one time he joked on TV about 'never settling down', which Jason had explained meant he never wanted to marry and have kids.

Which wasn't good for them.

So they decided it was best to just watch some more and stay with their siblings, which was another thing; Damian… really didn't want to be separate from them, which would probably happen if their probably-father took them in.

Being so young, Damian - and he knew Danyal as well, as they spoke about it in their shared room at night - barely remembered anything before ending up in the shared home with the others; only the blurry glimpse of figures and rough stone and a lot of green.

…Green that he saw in the eyes of his younger twin whenever he was in that small form, but he might be remembering wrong…

Either way, he knew that wherever they were before, where they ended up felt different.

It felt different when Dick would praise him when he offered a different solution to a problem they had; it felt different when Jason would tease with a grin and ruffle his hair; different whenever Tim would put down whatever he was focused on to pay full attention to him; different still when Duke would rope him and Danny into playing games and doing different activities around Tim's Mansion.

Part of him strongly felt that this couldn't last, that one day CPS or someone else will appear and separate all of them, that they'd be taken away. And he knew, by the way Dick, Jason, and Timothy obsessively checked the grounds' cameras for anyone suspicious, the way Duke 'practiced' his powers on the Mansion's grounds and whenever they were returning from an outing, and the way Danyal was always wanting hugs and cuddles when their older brothers returned, that he wasn't the only one.

But even so, he couldn't help but lean into every hug so easily offered, relax at every true laugh that rang from Danny that now held an extra echo from whatever had changed in him, as his elder siblings planned the future and how Dick planned to get guardianship over the rest of them as soon as he was able.

And he now shared a last name with all of them; he was a Wayne and an 'Agate' - he and Danny still weren't quite sure what it was supposed to be but it was as close as they've gotten - but also now a Nightingale.

Some part of him balked at the name change; but with Danny beside him, smiling with extra sharp teeth and bright eyes that glowed in the light, glowed a little too green sometimes, he couldn't help but feel this was right, and he didn't want to lose this.

Perhaps if they avoided any and all interaction with Batman or his fellow vigilante/heroes as they did avoid the cops and other officials…

It would have been fine as well if Timothy hadn't decided to go out and follow trained heroes to photograph them on his birthday while they all waited for hours; if he hadn't caught the attention of one of Batman's partners, Spoiler.

Damian sighed, staring at the canvas - one of many Tim had ordered for him - he had finished sketching the outline he desired. If things continued like this, if Timothy kept 'sneaking out' with one of their elder siblings following to keep him safe, it was only a matter of time before they're caught by Batman himself.

And after that it wouldn't be long before all of this was gone.

"Merp?" The soft sound caught his attention, and he glanced over at Danyal, currently in his small kitten form, curled up on the soft pillow that Damian had set there specifically for his twin.

He had been napping, curled around one of the many rubber ducks that Jason had accidentally ordered - Dick had painted messy little stars on it much to Danny's delight - rhythmic purring soft and perfect background noise to paint to, clear indication that even if he'd been changed his twin was still there with him.

And it was adorable, not that he would ever admit as much.

Hm, perhaps his next painting should be of Danyal in his kitten form; a full canvas painting, not what the current sketches he's made, though he would like to practice his painting some more beforehand…

A soft touch on his calf had him blinking out of his thoughts, turning to stare down at those big, luminous, green orbs staring up at him in concern, one little paw resting on his leg.

Unable to help from smiling, he reached down and gently picked up his little brother, his younger twin, one of the most important pieces of his life.

And as usual, Danny just curled in close, snake-like tail gently wrapping around his arm in a hint of pressure as he nuzzled closer, purrs starting up again.

Knowing what he wanted, Damian sighed, turning to look at his canvas once again. It was going to be a birthday gift for Duke, a painting based on Batman who he said was his favorite hero; a common trend for them, it seemed.

The thought that they might be separated before he had a chance to gift it to him, that all of them would be gone…

It made something in his chest clench in a painful way; a reminder that he shouldn't have gotten attached, that one day soon this would be gone, but it was far too late.

"I'm worried for when Batman or someone else notices our brothers' antics," he finally admitted quietly, after thinking through his words; he'd long learned the importance of how you said things that changed their meanings.

That was one lesson he learned from their 'caretakers'; that words were important.

Danyal looked up, eyes shining with serious light; his twin might not care much for the practice, for being careful of what you said, but he understood; he always did with Damian.

Damian reached up, gently petting the soft tuft of fluffy white hair that adorned his little head, lips twitching at the purring growing louder as he pushed against his hand for firmer pets.

"I know you hope our father might not separate us from our brothers, but… I'm not so sure, Danny," Damian admitted.

Danyal blinked his big green eyes at him before slithering back down to his lap. Damian cringed away at the bright flash of light before suddenly the weight on his lap was a lot heavier, but soft fluffy hair was again tickling his neck as Danyal cuddled close, arms wrapping around him in a hug.

Damian hugged him back; of course he did. He might not enjoy them as much as his twin, but he enjoyed them nonetheless.

"It's gonna be okay, Dami," Danny mumbled,

Damian hummed, but didn't answer; he just hugged his twin closer.

And hoped beyond hope that his twin was right.

0o0o0

Danny was pretty sure Batman was Bruce Wayne, who he was also pretty sure was his and Damian's father, or 'donor' as Jason termed them.

Donor of what? He wasn't sure, as Dick always stopped him from explaining. Blood donor? Sperm donor? Possible organ donor? Who knew.

Anyways, Danny wasn't as smart as his big brothers, but he did know that if Bruce Wayne was their father, and Bruce Wayne was Batman, then Batman was their father, too.

And the only reason why he was pretty sure was because of the glow.

After… after, Danny noticed that whenever he was in his other form - when things were bigger and brighter and some things made more sense than others while others lost a lot of meaning - everyone had a different glow around them.

Maybe it was like what Duke said about lights and shadows? Except this one was like looking at a rainbow, or like a nebula! Just like an nebula, yeah, except it was all around and in someone and everyone's was special.

And he's seen Batman swing by a few times, and once he saw Bruce Wayne in a car - it didn't work through TVs or the computers which was weird but also made sense he guessed - and he saw they were the same.

…Danny wasn't sure what to do about that, though.

He knew Tim and sometimes his other older brothers would 'bat watch' at night, and he wondered how long it would take for them to be caught, again. At least Spoiler, Bluebird and Batwoman seemed to find it funny, from what he heard when his older brothers didn't know he was listening.

But he knew it was only a matter of time before Batman himself caught them… if he hadn't noticed already.

Hm, should he tell them about the Bruce Wayne thing? But it would be bad because secrets were important, weren't they? But he trusted his brothers more than anything… though it might just make them want to watch Batman even more and probably Bruce Wayne, too, which… would be extra bad.

He's pretty sure even if Bruce Wayne really was as silly and dumb as he looked on TV, even he would probably realize when he had the same kids following him around.

Maybe he can get them all to promise not to watch Bruce Wayne…

Because what if Damian was right? Right that, if he was their father which he still was pretty sure about, he would force them all to separate?

The thing was, more than anything he didn't want to be separated from his brothers.

Yeah, he was sad he couldn't see Tuck or Sam anymore even though they sent letters and gifts to each other sometimes, but he understood; if they got caught then it would be bad, and he and Dami wouldn't stay with their big brothers anymore.

Some part of him shriveled at the thought that they might separate him from Damian, but no, that was never, ever happening, even more than being away from their big brothers.

Though, he guessed, the hardest thing was when his brothers got hurt, like the time Duke came home with Dick and Tim, and apparently had gotten hurt protecting Tim from a bad guy they ran into.

Staring at the cut as Dick and Jason cleaned it up, at the blood that dripped down, blood that should be inside of his big brother, that should never be coming out like that, that his brother was hurt and he hadn't been there to protect him-

Well, he knew everyone didn't like it, but sometimes that new part inside of him, the one that pulled and pushed and felt… felt, it got super tight when his brothers went out, when Tim left even if one of his other big brothers went along, when they went to get stuff they needed; though at least those times Danny could follow along.

Even if they didn't like it. Too bad, though; Danny could protect his brothers, so he did, even if it was hard to make his powers work right sometimes, especially in his other form.

He knew his other form sometimes scared his brothers; he could feel it, the same way he could feel their love for him and Damian and each other, and he hoped they knew how much he loved them, too.

But he knew it sometimes scared them when he disappeared suddenly, or that one time a mean guy tried to hurt Jason but Danny was there and he was not going to let him hurt Jason, no way, he would have to go through Danny first, and felt himself go darker like the shadows Duke played with, get bigger, fiercer, scarier, he had to protect his brother-

-but then the man ran away scared, good, and Danny felt tired but happy that he protected his brother, but he knew his brother felt scared then; not of him, but for him, which was silly.

After that they really didn't like it when he went with them, but after weeks and he slipped away to follow them everytime, they finally allowed it, even if Damian got grumpy about it sometimes - which was fine, Danny just made sure to cuddle with him a lot when they got back - but only if Danny stayed invisible and was with one of them at all times.

Fine by Danny; he could protect them easier that way, and it made that inner part of him thrum with happiness and content whenever he was invisibly curled around his brother's necks like a scarf.

Danny felt the same happy thrum inside when he learned about space, but it was still different from when he was protecting his brothers; he often wondered why other than it made him super happy, but hasn't figured it out yet.

Sometimes Danny stayed home, though; it wasn't often, usually only when three or more of his brothers were going out together, but sometimes his inner part felt fine enough that he knew his brothers were strong, and that he could stay behind to protect their home in their stead.

It was fine, and for months everything was okay.

But then one day only Dick came home, and Jason and Tim were gone.