*Forgets to update*

*remembers*

SON OF A-

Sorry for delayed update, enjoy :)

Recap:
Kenny wasn't looking too hot either. His face was paler then when Dick had first met him, his eyes were blood shot and his legs shook with every step he took. Ant didn't look much better. Dick was also very pale, an unnatural tone for his usual bronze, gold tinted skin. Sweat lines his brow. The pain of his ankle was starting to overwhelm him. All in all the small group of three were a complete mess. They needed help.

Before Dick could even figure out how to ask his new found companions where they were going, he found himself hobbling down a sewer tunnel that reeks of human excrement and gases Dick swore were probably toxic with long-term exposure. He wasn't worried though. He trusted Kenny and Ant, after all they not only saved his life back at that night club but continued to save his life in the streets too. If they wanted to harm him or see him dead they would have left him to die.

The walls were chiseled stone bricks that probably had a nice grey color at one point but over the years had been covered by mold, moss and graffiti. Some of the graffiti being very vulgar words that when Dick read them made a pink hue tint his cheeks.

"It's just ahead." Kenny pointed out, an undertone of relief in his words. They were exhausted and seeing the look on both Kenny's and Ant's faces it was clear wherever they were going was probably their salvation. The tunnel was growing narrower as the walked, they had taken some turns along the way but it was relatively straight forward. Without his two guides however Dick would have been lost in the maze of underground tunnels. Gotham sewage sure was complex.

Dick's eyes widened in amazement when the tunnel open up into a wide underground space. It was huge. He didn't even know a place this big could be tucked under a city without anyone knowing, then again there's the Batcave so...

"Kenny! Oh man Is it good to see you!" A red haired, bucked toothed boy came barreling up to the trio. Dick subconsciously retreated further into Ant's side as a group of kids and teens started to form. "Easy Crash, give 'em some room." A older teenager scolded the red haired boy named "Crash.". The older boy smiled at them, but frowned as soon as he really studied them. "Y'all look like shit." He concluded. "No shit Sherlock." Kenny rolled his eyes. "Have you seen father Colin?" Kenny gave him a pointed glance.

"Yeah, he's making his 'runs'. He should be near the med center." He paused and looked at the trio again. "She didn't make it?" The teen asked with a sad expression. "I don't know. She wasn't there when I arrived." Kenny said his gazing dropping to the floor in frustration. The teen placed a hand on Kenny's shoulder with a sympathetic look, "It's not your fault man." The teen tried. Kenny didn't respond, perhaps it was because he seemed to tired to speak his mind.

The trek turned to Ant and the small boy hiding in his side. "Yo Ant, you're awfully quiet. How very uncharacteristic of you." The teen said trying to lighten the mood. Kenny glanced back. "Ant's throat's hurt, and we're not sure exactly where the little guy came from. He was brought in last. He's not from a group, but I don't think he has a family either." Kenny explained to the older boy. Another kid for my he surrounding group approached Dick and reached out to touch him, only for Dick to flinch and move away. "He's either traumatized with a recent death or extremely shy, maybe both." Kenny concluded, then he began to walk, pushing past the crowd. The teen walked beside him after watching Dick for a moment.

Ant quickly caught up, helping Dick along. Leaving the crowd of kids in their dust. Once on their way again, Dick scanned the area with wide blue eyes. These kids had created shelters. Tiny buildings just bigger then large dog houses. Most where made out of scraps, old wood and sheet metal they had probably found in construction sites, abandoned buildings or dumpsters. Nonetheless it was extremely impressive for a bunch of kids. Dick couldn't help but wonder if this is what it meant to be in a "group", they had basically created their own town underneath Gotham.

The teen couldn't help but notice Dick's amazement. He popped a grin, "Pretty cool huh? Your looking at four plus generations of street kids to build. Trial and error. Errors such as when the rainy season came and flooded the place. So we built higher. It's difficult to come across the right supplies though." He said, his own eyes twinkling with pride. Kenny scoffed, but didn't look back. "You talk like you built the place." And the teen frowned in a fake pout. "I mean I did help. Been hear longer then most of us." The teen said. Then he looked back to Dick, "Name's Pidge." He said grinning and stuck his hand out for Dick to shake.

Dick looked at the hand, then slowly put his own much tinier one out to shake. "Richard." Dick said quietly back. It was kind of an awkward shake, seeing as they didn't slow their pace and Dick was limping along. Pidge turned his attention away from interacting with Dick for a favorable forward facing. Which Dick was glad Pudge didn't seem the type of kid to ask a whole bunch of questions.

Dick took the walking distance of wherever they were going to think of what to do next. He had to get home, Bruce, Barbara and his brothers were probably worried sick by now. His stomach sank when he thought about Tim. Was he alright? Oh no what if he wasn't? What if he's... No! He couldn't be! Right? Before he realized it Dick had begun to hyperventilate. His shoulders trembled and his eyes grew wide.

Dick was knocked out of his panicked state. Literally. He had run into something and fell on to his bum with a yelp. He rubbing his now red nose and looked up to whatever it was he had hit. It was Kenny. Apparently he had stopped. Kenny looked back at him with a raised eyebrow and amused eyes, "What's 'a matter?" He asked. Dick shook his head. Kenny shrugged then entered a building. A building larger then any of the others he had seen this far, and judging by the amount of kids hanging around it it was a place of communion for their little community.

There was no door to the building, just a ragged stained blanket that was held up by nails in the door trim. When they entered, Dick was surprised to find cots and sleeping bags laid out side by side on the floor. Some held sickly looking kids, others had injured kids. Some of the kids unsettlingly still.

The air in the one room building was revolting. Like waist and medical supplies. Then again the entire "town" smelled like waist. Their little group, now much smaller since most of the curious kids stayed in the door way, cautiously navigated their way across the room, careful not to step on or really touch any of the beds. The occasional cough from one of the kids would startle Dick. He didn't like this place.

"Father Colin." Kenny called with a relived smile. The red haired man, dressed in the usual catholic preacher attire stood and turned towards them. He was younger then what Dick was expecting. Much younger. He seemed to still be a teenager, that or fresh at the whole "adult" thing. If Dick had to guess his age he'd probably guess that he's the same age as Damian. A smile crossed his lips, "Kenny! Ant! You're both safe, I'm relived." The red head smiled, then looked between them, his frown dropping and disappointment apprehending his features. "Mandy?" He asked, noting the small boy clutched onto Ant's side. Kenny's lips grew into a thin line, "She wasn't there, at least not when I was taken. This lil' guy was taken a short while after Ant. Name's Richard." Kenny jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, then waved Dick over. Dick looked at Ant hesitantly, who nodded at him. So Dick took a step towards the priest, then another, and another, until he limped all the way over to Kenny and the priest.

Colin frowned noticing the tiny boy's swollen purple ankle. "How'd you do this?" Colin bent down to examine the boy's obviously broken ankle. When he didn't reply Colin looked up with a raised eyebrow. "He doesn't speak English well. He's Romani from what I could gather." Kenny said. Colin nodded in understanding, then proceeded to left Dick up into a table to further examine his leg.

"It's pretty bad, but I've fixed worse. I can bandage it and put it in a make-shift cast but I recommend we call your family, tell them you're alright and return you to them." The priest said and Dick perked, a genuine and relieved smile finally coming to his lips. "We don't think he got one." Ant piped up, having found his place next to Kenny and Pidge. Kenny shot him a glare but didn't bother to scold him, he was glad Ant managed to control his outbursts thus far. "No, he's got a family. I can tell, been doing this for a long time." Colin shook his head. "That's great Richie! You'll get to go home-!" Ant started but then began to cough and rub at his throat.  "Hey Father Colin, could you take a look at Ant's throat too? He hurt it." Kenny said pushing Ant forward.

"Of course, let me get Richard here patched up. For now though it's best you don't talk Ant." He informed patting to the place next to Dick for Ant to sit. Which he did. "So Richard, to start the search for your family, I need to know your last name." Colin said as he prepared the supplies that he'd need for making a temporary cast. Dick cringed as Colin began to clean his foot. "Grayson, Richard Grayson." Dick said. Colin froze. Then looked at Dick, taking in his facial features again. "You're... You're Damian's new little brother?" Colin said with disbelief with wide eyes. "Dami? Tu stii Dami?" (Dami? You know Dami?) Dick asked.

Colin nodded, "I do. Damian is-, a close friend." Colin chose his words carefully. "I'd seen pictures of you, but never in a million years did I think you would have ended up down here." Colin broke from his momentarily stunned state and continued his task of wrapping Dick's ankle. How had Damian's youngest brother end up with a couple of street kids? For what Damian had told him Dick rarely left the manor, except for school.

"Looks like I have a call to make."

/////\\\\\

"Anything?" RedRobin asked through the comm link.

"Nothing."

"No."

"Section has been cleared."

"I didn't find Jack shit."

RedRobin sighed heavily and angrily, "What the hel-", "Master Timothy." Alfred cut the vigilante off with a stern glance from by his side at the Batcomputer. Tim took a deep breath and calmed himself. "How did they just disappear? They're children for f- pete's sake." Tim corrected himself.

"I don't know, but If these are street kids, then they could be anywhere by now." RedHood paused jumping from roof to roof to catch his breath.

"What now?" Batgirl asked after a long pause. Batman paused his own rooftop parkour to think for a moment. "Return to the cave, we'll discuss our next move there." Batman said, to the ordinary ears would have sounded like a monotone and perhaps even cold tone, but to the Bat family's trained ears they could ear the reluctance and heavy heart carried in the words. They could tell he was worried. They all were.

////\\\\

RedHood found himself being the last person to arrive in the cave, the other members of his dysfunctional family gathered around in a circle.

"-TT- Took you long enough Todd." Damian noticed his approach. Jason opened his mouth ready to reply with a snarky come back but Tim cut him off, "Jason do you remember anything about when you were a street kid?". Jason looked at him with a mild glare. "Of course, it's not just something you forget." He said in a 'duh' tone.
"Good. So these street kids were would they go?" He asked. Jason looked at the table the other occupants of the room surrounded, a map of Gotham laid out with little red marks in some places. He sighed and took his helmet off leaving him in just the red mask.

"Street kids tend to gather in groups. I wasn't ever in one, I wasn't on the street long enough, just long enough to know about them. They aren't something you just stride into either." He started then looked at the confused faces. He placed his hand against his chin in thought. "Mmm, think of it as tiny gangs. They even clash from time to time and have territories. Except it's all kids and teens. Made up of orphans and run aways." He prattled then leaned over the table, taking a red marker and dividing the map into four sections.

"There were four when I was a street kid broken up into the districts of Gotham. North, East, South, and West." Jason marked. Damian's face twisted in disgust. "A mob life is no place for children." He pointed. "Yeah well welcome to Gotham. Get used to it." Jason said and ignored Damian's mumbled retort.

"So where do we find them?" Barbara asked. "Easier said then done. They're 'bases' are usually well hidden, how do you think they survive? They couldn't do it out in the open. Not in a city like Gotham." Jason said, recapping his marker. "First we need to figure out which group they came from, then figure out that group's location." He added. "How do you know they'll be there?" Tim raised an eyebrow. "Cause they have nowhere else to go." Jason said and the others nodded in agreement finding it a solid plan.

"I suppose we'll start with-", Bzzz Bzzz. Everyone turned their attention from Tim to Damian. Damian furrowed his eyebrows then pulled his phone from his belt. "-tt- Ignore that. It is something trivial. Continue." Damian placed his phone back in his belt. Tim cleared his throat then started again. "As I was saying we can start from where the kids were abduc-" ring ring ring ring- "Oh for the love of-! Just answer the god damn phone Demon!" Jason yelled. "-tt- Be back." Damian turned stepping away from the group and stepped away towards the locker area.

"Wilkes this better be important or so help me-!", "I promise it is." Colin sighed. "He's here." Colin reported. Damian frowned, "Who?", "Dick, He's at the church. I was down in one of the street kids gathering places and he arrived with two other boys that had been missing. I fixed him up, but he could still use Alfred's medical touch- Ant put that down! Jesus is not something to play with!" Colin yelled to someone on the other end.

Damian felt relief wash over him. Dick was safe! He was also injured. Damn he really regret not inflicting more damage to that bastard that kidnapped him now. "Anyway, do you want me to drop him off or do you want to come get him?" Colin returned to the phone. "No you have done enough, Thank you."

"..."
"Wilkes?" Damian questioned.

"Did you just, thank me?" Colin asked and Damian could hear the disbelief in his voice. "-TT- We'll be there in 15." Then he hung up the phone, eagerly returning to his family.

"-so there's our plan." He had heard Timothy announce just as he walked up. "There is no need." Damian said, the others turned to him. "Grayson is at the church Wilkes manages." Damian announced. "What?! Colin found him?!", "is he safe?!", "How'd he get there?!" Rapid fire questions were shot at him from pretty much all of them all at once. "-Tt! Calm down! I told Wilkes we would arrive in fifteen minutes."

"Then lets go get him back."

/////\\\\\

Dick swung his non-broken leg as he sat on a what he deemed a "fancy table". Colin was too busy chasing Ant around trying to recollect a crucifix that Ant had deemed his new "action figure.".

"The power of Christ compels you!"

"For the last time Ant-! Christ doesn't command me to give you the crucifix!" Colin and Ant ran by much to Dick's amusement. Dick was sipping on some grape juice Colin had given him, unfortunately it was the only thing the church had at the moment. Who knew Jesus's blood was so tasty?

Ant went running by again, but this time leaving an exhausted Colin in his wake. Colin stopped to catch his breath. "How do you kids have so much stamina?" He asked. Dick giggled. "Vorbești ca un bătrân." (You talk like an old man.) Dick did while giggling and licking at his grape juice stained lip. Of course, Colin had no idea what Dick was saying, but he had a feeling he was probably mocking him. 

"Ooh this is a big book!" Ant called somewhere to the left, holding up a bible nearly as big as him. He also held his own glass of grape juicy dangerously close to the Bible copy. "Gah! Ant! Put that down if you're going to drink you're juice!" Colin ran after Ant, both disappearing from the room.

(I recommend you play the music here to pile on the feels)

Dick hummed a tune, and finished off his juice.  The church hall was quiet and brightly lit with a surprisingly amount of warm light that spelled through stained glass windows of Mary and other biblical figures. The air smelled of pine cleaner that had used to clean the pews and freshly cleaned carpet. That very same rich red carpet led down the main aisle that separated the pews, and despite the giant statue of the crucifix staring at his back, It was calming. Dick liked the uplifted aesthetic the room gave off.

The doors creaked up as someone pushed their way in. Dick looked up, locking eyes with Bruce, in his civilian clothes. Tears of relief and pure happiness puddled in his eyes, then fell in fat droplets. He hoped down awkwardly as much as his make-shift cast would allow and began to hobble towards his adoptive father with his arms out. "Tati!" He called. Bruce met him lifting him up into his arms and tightly hugging him as Dick sobbed into his shoulder. "Shh, it's ok Dickie you're safe." Bruce cooed calming him.

When Dick finally calmed down from his emotional high he found the other members of his family grinning at him, Barbara had tears in her own eyes. Jason walked over and pat Dick's greasy hair. "Good to see you, Dickie." He said and Dick gave Jason a hug. Dick released Jason and gave Barbara and Damian hugs too.

Then he finally saw Tim. Tim smiled, arms opened wide for a hug. Then Dick choked on a sob. Tim's eyebrows furrowed, "Dickie what's wro- Oof!" Tim barely had time to react as Dick slammed into his torso, earning and groan from said boy.

"T-Tim O-Ok!" He sobbed rubbing his face into Tim's chest. Tim relaxed, and pat Dick's head. "Yeah I am." He assured and hugged his brother.

"Ant! Come on!" Heads toward the sound of Colin and Ant reentering the room. "If you want it you gotta catch me alive- Ow!" He rammed right into Bruce, face first. Despite being thrown to the floor because of the pressure of the impact Bruce remained unfazed, but rather helped the boy up.

Colin to the opportunity to take back both the Bible and the crucifix. Ant rubbed at his now aching bum as Colin scolded him about how he should act in a church while the rest of the bats kinda stood there awkwardly. Except Dick. He was still rubbing snot and tears against Tim. Not that Tim seemed to mind.

When Bruce cleared his throat both of them turned towards him. "Oh I didn't notice your arrival. I was," he glanced at Ant. "Occupied."
Damian approached his friend. (What Damian?! Friend?!) "Do you know the extent of Grayson's injuries?" Damian asked. Colin began to explain the extent of Dick's injuries. None were life threatening but probably still pretty painful. As he continues to talk, ant tried to make another attempt at escape but found himself in Colin's grasp, being held but the back of the collar of his shirt.

"Besides a couple Ibuprofen I didn't have much for the pain, sorry." Colin finished but Bruce shook his head, "Not at all, Thank you for everything you've done." He smiled then turned to Ant. "You protected Dick, right? Thank you." He smiled at Ant and pat the boy's head. Ant grinned the walked over to Dick. "I'm glad yous' found your family Richie, take care, won't yous'? Ant grinned and Dick matched it. They gave a goodbye hug then Ant headed for the doors. "Goodbye Richie. I'll tells Kenny yous' said goodbye. See you around Father Colin's." Then Ant said and left through the giant double doors. Dick stared at the way he left for a few moments, then Bruce re-scooped  him back into his protective arms.

Dick relished in the safety his family provided. Exhausted both mentally and physically he found himself yawning, and his eye half-lidded. Bruce smiled at his son.

"Let's go home."

----------------------------------------------------

Welp there it is. Dick's been reunited with the batfam. Now that that whole adventure is over we can get into the flufffff.

Btw sorry I'm not sorry about how cheesy that ending was. It was adorable playing out in my head so.

I made this chapter like 1000 words longer then I usually do so hope y'all are happy 😤

I do apologize again for not updating in awhile as well. Fourth of July got me busy 😩

Anywho

As per usual this book is not edited so please excuse the lack of correct grammar and spelling.

With that said, Hope you enjoyed :)

Word count: 3765

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Until Next Time~