Bruce’s POV

Dick. Damian’s brother is actually Dick Grayson. My biological son has been right in front of me this whole time, and I didn’t know it. I suppose now, that his surname when he met me wasn’t Grayson but Al Guhl and, as far as I knew, that was the only lie he had ever told me.

I stood staring at the DNA test results on my computer screen, comparing my, Dick’s and Damian’s DNA. Across all three, was the word “MATCH”

“Hey, Bruce,” Tim said, coming to stand besides me, “what are you working on?” he looked at the screen in front of us.
“Hang on a second!” he exclaimed, “I understand about the kid, but Dick? Why are you comparing his DNA to yours in the first place? And why does it match?”
“Damian told me,”  I replied, dry-mouthed, “that he has an older brother whom he hasn’t seen for seven years. His brother ran away from the League when he was 13, not wanting to be an assassin.Damian described him as having black hair, blue eyes, and said that his name was Richard, but that he prefered to be called Dick.”
Tim stared at me speechlessly.
“With that,” I continued, “ and the fact that Dick drove out of this cave this afternoon while Damian was telling him about his brother, I came to the conclusion that Richard Grayson and Richard Al Guhl are, in fact, one in the same.”
“Wow,” Tim breathed.
We both stood there silently for a bit, staring at the screen.
“The real question is,” Tim said eventually, “Where is Dick now?”

Dick’s POV

I ran away to the only place I could think of where Bruce wouldn’t immediately come looking for me. I knew Damian would have told him what had happened and what we had been talking about, and that Bruce would work it out from there, so I had to keep my distance. I had only just found out that Bruce was my father, and I wasn’t ready to face him just yet.

So I ran away from yet another parent, this time taking refuge at my best friend, Wally West’s house. Wally, also known as Kid Flash, had been my best friend since I had first become Robin seven years ago. He knew only  the things about my past that I had told him, the same things I had told Bruce when I first met him.

I was still dressed in my Nightwing suit and mask, although I had cleaned out the cuts Damian gave me.

I gained access to his house through the upstairs guest-bedroom window and went downstairs to find Wally. I found him in the kitchen, as expected, eating food as usual. He had his back towards me , searching in the cupboards for something.
“Wally?”
He jumped in surprise, causing him to drop the packet of chips he was holding.
“Dick!” he cried, turning around to face me, “Don't startle me like that!”
His eyes widened when he saw the state both me and my suit were in. He then looked up at my expression.
“What happened?”
“If you don’t mind,” I said, “I need a place to crash for the night.”
“Of course,” Wally replied, “You know you’re always welcome. But only if you tell me what’s happened.”
I nodded, “For this, you might want to sit down.”
“That bad, huh?”

He went and sat down on the sofa in the sitting room. I seated myself in the one opposite him.
“Alright,” he said, now munching on a bowl of popcorn, “spill.”
I sighed and took off my mask.
“Well,” I began, “do you remember when I told you about my past?”
“Yeah,” Wally replied, “Your mom was an assassin and she tried to make you into one too, but you didn’t want to be one so you ran away and that’s how you met Bruce and became Robin etc, etc.”
“That’s mostly right,” I continued, “but there are some things I didn’t tell you.”
“Does Bruce know what you are going to tell me?”
“I didn’t  actually tell him,” I replied, “but I’m sure he’s worked it out by now.”
“And that’s why you need a place to stay for the night?”
I nodded.
“Well, continue then.”

“Alright,” I said, “The first thing is that I have a brother.”
Wally nearly choked on his popcorn.
“He’s ten years younger than me,” I continued, “and we both have the same parents.”
“But I thought you didn’t know who your father is?”
“I’ll get to that later,” I replied, “Anyway, you know how I never told you my mother’s name?”
“Yeah?”
“The reason for that is that I didn’t want you to know,” I looked away from him, not meeting his eyes, “I didn't want everyone to think differently of me just because of my mother's identity."
"Dick!" Wally cried, "who could possibly be so bad that you wouldn't want anyone to know?"
"Talia Al Guhl," I told him.

This time, Wally did actually choke on his popcorn.
"You mean to tell me," he said, " that your mother is the Talia Al Guhl, daughter of, oh my, your grandfather is…"
"Ra's Al Guhl, yes," I replied, still not meeting his eyes.
"This is… insane!" Wally exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air and knocking over his bowl of popcorn as he did so, "that makes you…"
"The heir to the League of Shadows," I finished for him, "See, this is why I didn't want to tell anyone. You would form an opinion of me just because of that!"
"Dick," Wally said, coming up to me and putting a hand on my shoulder, "you're still my best friend, no matter who your parents are. Nothing is going to change that."
"Thanks Wally," I replied, giving him a small smile, "that means a lot to me. But there's still more I need to tell you."
"Alright," he said, "I'm all ears."

I explained about my encounter with Damian.
"So the kid's Bruce's son?" Wally clarified
I nodded, "But that's not all. After I told him my name, he suddenly told me that he had an older brother that he hadn't seen for seven years. When I asked him his name, he told me that it was Damian Al Guhl Wayne and that he was the son of Talia AL Guhl and Bruce Wayne. But the thing is, Wally, is that he told me that his brother's name was Richard and that he preferred to be called Dick. "
Wally stared at me, speechlessly.
" The kid's my brother, Wally, " I choked," I'm Bruce's son."

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