Misfit Family: Brotherly Pains

AN: Okay, so from now on in this story, I'll probably leave a little note up here to set the stage, like ages, whether it is AU or canon, and which universe it is kinda set in. So, here goes!

Young Justice Universe. Dick: 13  Jason: 10  Tim: 7  Damian: 4

…

Walking up the last few steps to the mansion was a relief for Dick. The school day had been far too long in Dick's perspective, and with his mathlete's meeting extending past an hour, he was more than enthusiastic to be home. The young teenager finally reached the last step and opened the front door. Dick plopped his backpack down and sighed in relief.

"Dick!" The eager voice penetrated Dick's ears, turning his sigh of relief into a sigh of irritation. Nonetheless, Dick smiled as Jason and Tim came running down the stairs to greet Dick.

"You're home!" Jason stated as he ran into Dick for a hug.

"Yup. I'm home and I'm off to my room to relax, so you two can go back to playing or whatever you guys were doing." Dick usually would've been a lot nicer to his little brothers, but his patience had already been tried today at school.

"We were doing homework, but I finished so we could play or hang out!" Jason eagerly explained.

"Sorry Jay, but, uh, I have homework I need to do! Maybe next time." Dick quickly grabbed his bag and ran upstairs. Jason huffed, but accepted Dick's excuse and went back to playing with Tim.

…

Saturday afternoon soon rolled around. Dick slid down the banister and over to the door. Dick opened the door to reveal the speedster standing around.

"Hey Wally." Dick greeted before leading Wally up to his room. Dick shut the door before plopping on his bed while Wally sat in Dick's cushy chair.

"So what's new?" Dick asked.

"Dude, Artemis and I were out on a date this week, and," Wally stopped when he saw the door opening. Jason slipped through the door and sat down on Dick's bed as if he hadn't just intruded Dick's room.

"Jason, what are you doing?" Dick question the ten year old.

"Nothing, I just wanted to hang out with you and your friend." Jason smiled and then looked back at Wally, as if telling him to continue with the story.

"No Jason. What have I told you about coming in my room while I have friends over?" Dick picked Jason up and set him down outside of his room. Dick slipped back in his room and locked the door. Jason started pounding on the door, saying it wasn't fair to lock him out.

"Do you want me to call dad?" Dick yelled back. There was a huff and then heavy footsteps leading away.

"No need to be so harsh on him." Wally mentioned to Dick.

"Well if I don't act harsh, he'll just keep on coming back in, and I don't want him to walk in here one day and hear something he shouldn't."

Wally just shrugged it off. "Okay, now back to about the date,"

…

Later at night, Dick was out with Zatanna at the movies. The couple had just entwined each other's fingers with one another's. Dick leaned in to kiss her when his phone started vibrating; he quickly checked his phone to see Jason's number. He rejected the call before going back to kiss his girlfriend. Once again, the moment was interrupted by Dick's phone. Dick held in an irritated sigh as he excused himself from the theater. Dick angrily answered his phone as soon as the door to the theater shut.

"What?" Dick quickly said into the phone.

"Dick, when are you coming home? Come home now!" Jason whined.

"I'm out right now! Why do I need to be home? Is dad mad at me or something?"

"No, I wanna do stuff!" Jason whined once again. Dick let out a quick frustrated breath before returning to the phone.

"I'm not coming home right now! I'm out with my girlfriend and I'd like to have a good time!" Dick returned.

"But I wanna play!" Jason retorted.

"Jay, stop doing this! Stop calling me while I'm out, stop coming into my room when I have friends over, and stop annoying me!" Dick ended the call before Jason could even respond. He turned around to enter the theater again, but people were already starting to clear out.

Dick saw Zatanna coming out with a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"What happened?" Dick asked her.

"It's over, you missed the last ten minutes of it." She explained. Dick ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. His phone vibrated once again and Dick slapped his head into the palm of his hand. He looked down to see Bruce's number flashing across the screen of the phone.

"Hello?"

"Home. Now." Bruce demanded before hanging up. Dick lowered his phone and rolled his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Zatanna grabbed dick's hand as they walked out of the building.

"I gotta go home. Bruce is pretty mad."

"About what?"

"I snapped at Jason on the phone. I'm pretty sure he went whining to Bruce about it."

"Well good luck dealing with that." Zatanna mused before giving Dick a peck on the cheek and heading for the cave.

…


Dick entered the front door to see Bruce with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

"Look before you yell, Jason has been getting on my nerves all week!" Dick defended. Bruce kept his scowl without any sign of giving up.

"I overheard what you told Jason on the phone." Bruce lowered his arms as he moved closer to Dick.

"Dick, he's only ten! And you are not allowed to yell at him like that."

"But he has been bothering me like that for like a month! First he started coming in my room while I was doing homework, then he started sitting at my table during lunch, and he's even gone as far as listening to my conversations on the phone!" Dick argued.

"It's not fair that he keeps invading my personal space and I'm not allowed to do anything about it!"

"He's not trying to invade your space on purpose, he just wants to hang out with you. A year ago, you always took him and your other brothers to the park, you'd help Jason with his homework, and you'd watch movies together on Saturday nights! Now you only see him after school and pretty much every other weekend."

"I'm busy now. I have the team, my girlfriend, my other friends, my schoolwork and clubs. I don't have time to do all that stuff anymore."

"That's fine, but you completely dropped all of your commitments with Jason. He looks up to you and you have been pushing him away more and more."

Dick tried to think of a comeback, but was coming up short. It was all true. The teen sighed before agreeing and heading towards Jason's room.

He knocked on the door before he heard a sniffle, some shuffling footsteps, and then the click of the door opening. Dick looked down to see Jason pouting slightly as he tried to hide the fact that he had been slightly crying.

"Hey Jay. Can I come in?" Dick greeted awkwardly. Jason nodded slowly as he moved out of the doorway and onto his bed. Dick sat next to Jason, who in turn scooted a little farther away. Dick sighed silently before continuing on to talk.

"Jason, I know that me being gone more often has taken its toll on you. We don't hang out as much as we used to, and I'm sorry about that. But you also have to realize that I'm getting older. Things that we used to do aren't as fun for me anymore.  Hanging with my friends is getting more important for me, and I have commitments to help the team and to see Zatanna. Combine that with my schoolwork, mathletes, and band practice, and you can see how much of my life that takes over."

Dick looked over to see Jason nodding solemnly. Dick reached over and wrapped his arm around Jason's shoulder, bringing him closer in.

"But I miss you." Jason mumbled quietly as he dug his head closer into Dick.

"I see you after school, we ride home together when I don't have to stay at school late, and we all eat dinner together." Dick tried to reason nicely with Jason.

"But we never hang out anymore. I miss you helping me with my homework, and making cookies with you and Alfred, and watching movies together." Jason wiped his eye, trying to hide his tear from Dick.

Dick wrapped his arms around Jason as the younger did the same.

"I'm sorry Jay. I should have saved time for you, Tim, and Damian." Dick consoled Jason as he continued to cling to Dick. Once Jason loosened his grip and sat back up, Dick got up off Jay's bed and offered a hand to Jason.

"How about we do something right now? I'm pretty sure Alfred would love some help making dessert." Jason smiled as the duo made their way down to the kitchen.

…

After cooking a batch of cookies and settling down in the living room, Dick was currently sitting on the couch watching a comedy with Jason falling a sleep next to him. Dick stretched out, leaving his legs lying across the couch as Jason moved to lie down on Dick. The teen ran his fingers through Jason's short black hair as both of them paid less attention to the movie.

"Thanks Dick." Jason muttered as he began to snuggle even farther towards Dick. Dick smiled, letting out a small chuckle.

"No problem Jay." Dick replied.

"You're the greatest big brother ever." Jason mumbled before falling asleep in Dick's lap. Dick blushed before smiling and leaning down to kiss the top of Jason's head.

"And you're the greatest little brother." Dick whispered back before leaning back on the couch and falling asleep himself.