It started that summer

The Present

I quickly threw on a T-shirt and jeans, then rushed out the door. I looked down at my communicator, "This better be important Dicky" I grumbled. I dashed down my apartment stairs and to the front entrance, I sighed and stepped outside. Dick was looking bright as usual. "You know I was in the middle of something."

He tips his blue hat up with a cheeky smile, "This is important I swear."

"Yeah? So was I getting popcorn for the movie night when I was in the middle of a fight." I rolled my eyes.

He grabs my arm and pulls me to his car, "Jay this is serious! I know you haven't gotten Damian anything yet." He gives his famous mom glare, I sink back and rub my neck.

"Well . . . yeah but I'm working on it," I argue.

"Perfect! Because I'm going to help you get something!" I irritatedly sat in the passenger seat. As he rambled about the big plan. "Babs is going to help decorate tomorrow morning. OH! And we're going to have a BBQ and Alfred is making his famous chicken kabobs~" I smiled thinking about his cooking. This summer Dick put on his 'dad' hat and tried to get all the bat kids together. I have to admit, it's been nice spending time with them and feeling like I'm part of the family. But Damian, nothing gets past him, and I can't connect with him at all, we're polar opposites. "A lot of people are gonna be coming which is why I could use your help,"

"Look, the kid doesn't even like me, I'll help but I probably won't stay."

"Hey Jay?" he turned to me concerned, "When's the last time you got a little sleep? You're starting to look like Tim," he joked.

"Dick I'm good, I've just been busy since someone let a villain get past them." I reminded him of a few nights ago. But the reality is I was starting to get Tim's iconic eye bags. I've had the drug mafia right where I want them and finally got the cover I needed. Not to mention crime seemed to triple in the last few weeks. I don't have a second to waste.

He whines, "Jayyy don't do that to me, and don't change the subject! After I help you, you need to sleep so you can come early to set up. Besides, Damain does like you, he's just uh, a tough cookie, you know?"

"Oh yeah I know, it's not like he tried to kill me on multiple occasions."

He pulled off his hat and ran his hand through his hair with a frown, "Can you blame him? The kid was raised to kill, it's all he knew most of his life. Damian has been trying to adjust and he's getting there. He even made friends with Clarkes boy-"

"Supes kid?" I was surprised.

"Yeah, he never misses a single one of Jon's baseball games.

"I didn't know that demon was capable of making friends."

"That demon is your brother," He protests, his hands slide across the wheel and he meets my eyes. "I think you two have the most in common out of all of us. You both grew up in .. similar situations and you both have gone down the same path. He's got his guard up but he's warming up to you, I know it. Now come on, let's pick something out," He smiles. "Oh and Jay, don't worry about him."

I sneer, "Psh I don't care about that-"

"Jay," He looks at me, "He'll come around." He steps out of the car and I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding. I hate how he knows how I'm feeling. That's Dick for you.

~3 hours later~

Nothing. We found absolutely nothing and we went to six different stores. I threw my bag on the floor, I turned to my left, "Hello bed," I fell onto my red fuzzy blankets with a whoosh. The warm summer breeze swept from my windows into my room. I looked to my side over my wall of weapons. "I'm not giving him my stuff." I convinced myself. I closed my eyes for a second, there was a bang and I jolted up. The sky was gray and my room was dark. "I guess I was tired." I rubbed my eyes and stared at the clock, "Midnight, great." I flipped on my lights and started to investigate what made the sound. I pulled the gun out of my pocket and carefully opened my door. A little white box with a perfect ribbon was there. I scanned it to make sure it wasn't a bomb or something that'd kill me (again). "Kate's Bakery?" I read the side label. My mind instantly went to Stella, the old lady who lives next door was just talking to me about this place. She said she always gets a pastry from there for her granddaughter's birthday. She wouldn't mind me taking a peek, maybe there was a mix-up, "But who delivers cake at midnight?" I opened the box and fell back, "W-What the hell" I gasped.