Chapter Text
Bruce, for once, was having a perfectly uneventful day.
That should have been his first sign.
He'd woken up peacefully, had a nice breakfast with his boys, had a productive two hours in his office-
Then the doorbell rang.
Really, he should have known.
"I'll get it, Alfred!" He said as he walked down the hall towards it. He undid the lock and opened the door with a pleasant smile to see-
No one.
Huh. Bruce's eyes narrowed, it could be the league or a rogue, or God forbid, a Justice League member-
A polite cough interrupted his thoughts.
Bruce looked around again, but still no one.
The cough sounded again and Bruce's eyes automatically went lower.
And lower.
Then he spotted a small child, likely no older than seven at most.
The boy had feathery black hair and bright blue eyes. His face was too serious looking considering the baby fat clinging to his cheeks and the Star Wars backpack swinging off his back.
"Hello." Bruce greeted with a smile, steadfastly ignoring the fact that a child watched him glare at his surroundings for at least a minute.
The boy straightened up, puffing out his chest and looking Bruce in the eye.
It took all of his willpower not to chuckle.
"Hi, Mr. Wayne, I'm Timothy Drake. Drake is a word for dragon in Middle English. Which is good because I am a dragon. And I'm going to hoard you. Welcome to my hoard." Tim's voice was formal, his lips pursed into what the kid must have believed was a serious frown.
Bruce felt his lips twitch up in a small smile. "You can't hoard people, dragonlet." He said, barely keeping the smile out of his voice.
Tim tilted his chin up, all stubborn defiance. "Mother says I can hoard anything as long as it's worthy."
Oh, he has parents.
Bruce ruthlessly squashed down his extremely inappropriate disappointment and focused on the situation at hand. A small child is out wandering alone, he's a dragonlet looking for things to collect, and his parents are not with him despite the fact that he is a small child.
"You're Jack and Janet's son?" Bruce questioned. They were the only Drake's he knew.
Tim straightened up, nodding eagerly.
Jack and Janet travel a lot, they're known for it. Surely they'd be taking their son with them or at least have a nanny attending to him.
"So you'll join?" Tim asked hopefully, he went up on his tiptoes as if trying to get a closer look at Bruce's face.
Bruce froze. "Uh, I-"
"What's going on, B?" Dick asked, he peeked around into the foyer. Jason didn't bother peeking, he strolled right in his eyes flitting between the kid and Bruce.
"I'm Timothy Drake, I'm a dragon and I'm starting a hoard. I'm hoarding you." He said to Dick. His eyes went to Jason. "And you. Welcome to my hoard."
Dick cooed at Tim, the sound carrying over Jason's soft 'what the fuck' he walked over and crouched beside the boy so that they were eye to eye. "What do you have in your hoard so far?"
Tim ducked his head, his cheeks tinged with red. "I have flowers, ones pressed in books. And pictures." He said quietly.
Dick's eyes went gooey. There was no other word for it. "That's a great start." He cooed.
Tim beamed. "Thank you."
"What books have you got, kiddo?" Jason asked, looking mildly interested.
"Mostly sci-fi and mystery novels and 1984, do you like 1984?"
"It's on my list." Jason nodded in approval. "You got anything else in your hoard?"
"I've got blankets, really soft ones. And now I've got you." Tim said happily.
"Timothy-" Bruce started.
"Tim." The boy corrected.
"Tim, you can't collect people." Bruce said gently, but firmly.
Tim's eyes went wide and glassy. "You don't want to be in my hoard?" His voice was small. His little shoulders hunched and he wrapped his arms around himself.
Dick stared at Bruce as if he was some kind of monster. Their relationship had just started to get better after Dick moved out and Jason became Robin, now Bruce could see all that progress rapidly unraveling before his eyes.
Dick was cuddling the solemn little dragon to his chest within seconds, whispering soothing words into Tim's hair.
Jason glared at him. And that's Bruce lost two sons, it seems.
He silently blamed Alfred. If he'd answered the door none of this would be happening.
"I can get more things if that's what's wrong." Tim mumbled into Dick's shoulder.
Dick squeezed Tim tighter, crushing the dragonlet to his chest. "No, your hoard is perfect, I'll join."
"Dick." Bruce sighed. Why did he decide to have kids again?
Tim trilled happily, his eyes glowing momentarily before fading back to normal. He burrowed deeper into Dick's arms, contented yips and purrs leaving him.
Bruce's heart clenched. How could the Drake's leave this kid for a moment, never mind a week?
Dick grinned, holding the small- too small- dragon to him. He was staring at Tim as if he was every cute puppy, kitten and koala bear rolled into one.
Jason's eyes had gone soft.
"I can only breathe little flames right now but when I'm older I'll have lots of fire to protect you with." Tim babbled, he managed to sound like a professional little businessman. Which was quite impressive, considering Dick was wrapped around him like a kraken that had decided to cuddle its ship to death rather than crush it. "I'll be able to fly too. But until then I can light candles and cigarettes. And campfires."
Jason groaned into his hands. "Holy shit you're adorable."
"Language, Jason." Bruce sighed.
Tim's eyes darted up. "You can swear in my hoard."
That little shit.
"I'm joining." Jason said.
Tim was practically glowing with happiness. Part of Bruce wanted to sweep him up in a hug. The other was worried that his sons didn't understand what they'd just committed to. Dragons were notoriously protective of their hoards. Nightwing and Robin can't exactly patrol the streets with an anxious dragonlet hovering around them.
"I'll be a really good hoarder, I'll set the mean criminals on fire when you need me to." Tim went on.
Bruce froze.
"What do you mean, sweetheart?" Dick asked gently.
"When you're on patrol." Tim said, matter of fact.
Bruce stared up at the ceiling praying to every god, entity and deity he'd ever crossed paths with for a shred of the patience it was going to take to navigate this.
Where the hell was Alfred when he needed him?
"It's okay, I've known for almost two years now." He added as if that made it any better.
"Tim, sweetheart," Bruce started. Tim looked at him with wide eyes while Dick and Jason stood on either side of him glaring at Bruce as if to say try it, I dare you.
It was the least intimidating thing Bruce had ever seen.
And yet,
Bruce sighed. "I'll get Alfred to set up a room for you."
Tim beamed.
Bruce was pretty sure that he was the one who had been adopted this time.
Also, he should probably pry Dick off the kid. Dragon or not, Tim would suffocate if Dick kept squeezing him like that.
Though Tim didn't seem all that concerned about it.