Batbros Forever

Being Replaced

Bruce had once joked that Dick had been more excited about Jason's adoption than Jason was. The funny thing was that he hadn't exactly been wrong.

Dick was ecstatic to become a big brother. As much as he loved Bruce and Alfred, Dick was so glad to have another kid around the manor. He couldn't wait for Jason to start school with him or for Jason to start training with him and Bruce and maybe even join them on patrol one day.

But with all his excited planning, Dick had never considered that there might be things he wasn't ready to share.

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Dick ran through the front door with all his usual energy. It was Friday which meant he'd be going on patrol as Robin that night which always put him in a good mood. "Is Bruce home yet?" He asked Alfred as the older man came in behind him.

"I believe Master Bruce is in his study wi-" Dick didn't wait for him to finish, dropping his backpack and running to his father's home office. "Daddy I-" Dick stopped short in the doorway.

Bruce was sitting behind his desk, working on something on his computer. Jason was sitting on the floor in front of the desk playing with Dick's favorite remote control car. "Hey, that's mine." Dick said, trying not to pout. "I told him he could play with it." Bruce assured his older son, looking up from his work.

"Look how fast Dickie!" Jason cheered as he drove the car in circles around the room. Dick forced a smile. Jason had only been officially adopted for a few days and didn't have any toys of his own yet. Still, Dick wished he'd gotten a say in which toys he'd have to share.

"How was school?" Bruce asked. Dick's smile became real as he ran over to sit in his father's lap and give him all the details of his day.

III

After giving a full update, Dick was sent to go finish his homework before patrol. When he finished a few hours later (It wasn't hard. There was just a lot), Alfred came to tell Dick that dinner was ready and if he could get Bruce and Jason.

It took Dick a few minutes to find them in the massive house, but he eventually heard voices coming from the library. He peeked through the doorway, trying to see what was happening. Bruce was sitting in his armchair by the fire, reading 'Treasure Island' to Jason, who was listening in wrapped reverence in Bruce's lap.

Dick frowned. He and Bruce had spent many evenings in that vary chair reading together. 'Treasure Island' was their decided favorite.

Dick cleared his throat, and Bruce and Jason looked over at him. "Alfred says dinner ready." He reported. "Aw, but it was just getting good." Jason whined as Bruce propped him on his hip. "We can read more later." He promised, ruffling the boy's hair and leading the way to the dining room.

III

Dick shot up in his bed, breathing heavily. It was just a nightmare. Not one of his worse ones, but scary enough that he decided it may be best to sleep with his Daddy that night. He opened the master bedroom door just a crack to see if Bruce had even come up from The Cave yet.

Dick could just make out his father's figure under the blankets, but he wasn't alone. He could hear Jason sniffling. Poor kid must've had a nightmare too.

"Shhh Shh." Bruce was whispering, trying to calm his younger son. "It's ok. Daddy's here Jaybird." Dick all but growled as he ran back to his room and dove under his sheets, trying not to sniffle.

He had a few nicknames, but Bruce was the only one who had ever called him 'Dickiebird'. It was his special nickname. Or so he'd thought.

He fell into a fitful sleep full of thoughts of how he was being replaced.

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"Rise and shine Dickie." Bruce called brightly as he came to wake his son. He usually let the boy sleep in on the weekends, but he could hardly let him spend the whole day in bed. Dick was already awake but didn't respond. "Come on Dickiebird. The sooner you're up, the sooner we can get to maintenance in The Cave." Bruce incentivized.

"You sure you don't want Jason to do that with you?" Dick muttered passively from under his covers. "Why? Cave maintenance has always been our thing." Bruce reminded him as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Jason seems to be replacing me in a lot of our things lately." Dick mumbled. "You mean your car?" Bruce asked, raising an eyebrow in genuine confusion. It wasn't like Dick to be so moody over something as small as that.

"Yeah, my car!" Dick snapped, whipping around to face his father. "And my story. And my nightmare spot. And my special nickname! He's taking over all our special things, and you're just letting him replace me! It's not fair!" Dick pulled the covers back over his head. He was crying now. He knew he sounded selfish and mean and jealous, but he didn't care. Jason had no right to try and take his place.

He tried to squirm away as he felt Bruce pulling him into his lap and holding him close to his chest. For the first time in his life, Bruce wished he had a sibling so he could tell his little boy that he wouldn't always feel this way about his new little brother.

"Oh Dickie, I'm sorry." He whispered, rubbing circles in the boy's back. "I know it must be hard having to share things now, but Jason will never replace you. He couldn't even if he wanted to."

"Promise?" Dick asked, wiping away a few tears. "Even if I had a hundred more boys, no one could ever take your place. You are my first, and you will always be my little Dickiebird." He promised, squeezing his son. Dick squeezed back as tight as he could.

The two of them spent the whole day working in the Batcave together—just the two of them.

III

The next day Bruce decided it was time for Jason to have some toys of his own so Dick wouldn't have to share everything. He took both boys to the mall and let them loose in the toy store, telling them to meet him when they were ready.

Dick was in a decidedly better mood and followed Jason through the isles helping him pick out all the best toys. When they got to the electronics section, Dick turned away to admire the latest game console. When he turned to ask Jason what he thought, the little boy was gone.

He looked around frantically before spotting his little brother climbing up a high shelf to reach a toy at the very top. Before he could call for him to get down or at least be careful, Jason's grip slipped, and he went plummeting to the ground below. Dick's Robin training kicked in, and he dove, wrapping his arms around his brother just before he hit the floor.

"You ok Jase?" He asked, looking down at the trembling boy in his lap. Jason nodded as Dick helped him to his feet. "What were you thinking?" Dick demanded as he spun his brother around, looking for any injuries. "You could have been hurt or killed."

"I wanted to get this for you." Jason said softly, holding out the box he'd been clutching. Dick looked at the box. It was a remote control helicopter. A really cool remote control helicopter. "For me? What for?" He asked.

"So you wouldn't be mad at me anymore." Jason murmured. "Why would I be mad at you?" Dick asked, hoping Jay hadn't heard him complaining to Bruce the day before. "You and Daddy spent all day in The Cave yesterday, and I heard Daddy tell Alfred to keep me busy and not to interrupted you guys, and..."

Dick cut him off with a big hug. He'd never thought Jason might have felt just as left out as he had. "Jay, we're not mad." He promised. "Bruce and I just needed to talk." Jason smiled up at him.

While they did get other toys, Jason's favorite was easily the black stuffed teddy bear his big brother picked out for him. Neither of them needed to feel left out anymore.

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A/N Why does it never seem to occur to us that Dick was jealous or felt replaced by Jason? Just cause he's the noted "nice one" does not mean he can't be jealous. ;)

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Peace