Apprenticed (A young Justice/Reverse bat family fanfiction)

Secrets Revealed part 1

Damian opened his eyes slowly, unsure of what had awoken him. He cautiously untangled himself from the jumbled forms of his sleeping brothers, shielding his eyes from the sunlight that was cascading through the windows. Slowly sitting up, he looked to the end of the bed, only to see a small shaking form bundled up in a...batman blanket?

Inwardly chuckling, although curious to why the boy was crying, Damian crawled over to Dick, placing a hand on the child's shoulder. Immediately, Richard jumped and poked his head out from underneath the blanket.

         "What's wrong?" Damian, one who was not so sure how to deal with emotions, didn't know what else to say. Dick shook his head, "N - nimic..." (N-nothing) When Damian raised his eyebrow in suspicion, Dick, assuming Damian raised his eyebrow because he didn't understand Romanian, took a shaky breath to restate his answer, only this time, in English. But, Damian beat him to it and surprised the child, "Poți să-mi spui nimic . Știu că nu sunt în regulă , și asta este bine . Dar nu te pot ajuta dacă nu știu ce este greșit ." (You can tell me anything. I know you are not ok, and that is fine. But I can not help you if I do not know what is wrong. )

       Dick let the batman blanket fall to the bed around him, and wiped his tear-stained face, "I...I miss them..." His voice cracked on 'them' and the heart-broken boy began sobbing once more. Damian simply embraced him, understanding that words couldn't always be used for comfort. Sometimes just having someone hold you was enough.

         Dick latched himself to Damian, snot and tears now covering Damian's blue T-shirt. But Damian didn't mind. He tightened his hold on the younger boy and rested his chin on the child's head. He winced when his other two brothers began to stir, almost certain they would wake up and comment on how he "had a heart". They did wake up. But surprisingly, said nothing, asked nothing, and crawled over to where Damian and Dick were and joined in on the hug.

        Slowly, Dick's sobs subsided. When he shifted, the older boys let go and moved back a little to give him some breathing room. Dick wiped his tears away, struggling to regain composure and whispered, "Thank you..." The three brothers nodded in acknowledgement before sliding off the king-sized bed and turning to help the smaller boy down.

         "How about we get you something to eat? You must be pretty hungry." Tim smiled and held out a hand, waiting for Dick's response. Dick simply shrugged and took Tim's hand, following him down the massive stair case leading to the kitchen.

          Dick was in awe of the manor. Gigantic chandeliers hung from the ceiling, expensive white tile decked the floor, and strange, yet beautiful, statues decorated every hallway and corridor there was. He was convinced he's get lost in the place, but wouldn't admit that.

Once the four boys reached to kitchen, Tim led Dick to a dining room, while Jason and Damian talked to some man in the kitchen. Judging by how rich this family was, Dick assumed the man was a butler. When Jason and Damian returned to sit down with Dick and Tim, and the man came carrying several different plates of varieties of foods, Dick assumed he guessed right.

              Once the food was laid out (more like the feast), and the boys were all seated at the long dining hall table, they began to dig in. Dick, of course, felt a little out of place and decided he wasn't very hungry. Instead, he opted to watch the older kids eat, and laugh when things became messy (*cough* Tim *cough*).

               "Master Richard, I should insist that you eat something. Surely there must be something here to your liking?" Alfred, standing next to Dick, gestured at the arrangement of goods spread out on the table. But Dick shook his head, "I...I'm not hungry." At that point, all noises of messy wasting had ceased, and now everyone was staring at the young boy, making him squirm under their gaze.

              "W-what?" Richard looked up innocently.

               "Dude...eat. You gotta eat somethin. You wanna stay big and strong, don't ya?" Jason raised an eyebrow. Jason's words caught Dick's attention and he was soon scrambling to get ahold of an assortment of fruits, stuffing his face until juice dribbled down his chin. Alfred rolled his eyes, but gave a small small. Damian smirked at Jason, bat-talk for Good thinking! Jason nodded and returned to his pancakes.

             "Good morning, boys. How's everything going?" Bruce walked into the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing, the older boys sharing one single thought: Why was Bruce still wearing his utility belt??

Wow! I'm so utterly shocked at how much attention this story and my other story (Illegal) has gotten!! A million thanks to those who read, commented, and voted!! It means so much!! I'm sorry this is kinda late, but school has gotten in the way! This was supposed to be longer, but I had to divide it into 2 parts! Sorry! Until next time!!

Insane Robin223445 out.
Word count: 873