Chapter Text
Dick had initially hesitated over going to Gotham for Christmas. It wasn’t that he was unsure if he was wanted, he just… Well, maybe Bruce wanted his first Christmas with Jason to just be Jason. But then Bruce had called and asked him if he was coming to Gotham for Christmas Break, and that if he was, Bruce had a mission he could join. And Dick wasn't going to fail as a big brother so much as to let Jason’s first Christmas at the Manor consist of Batman stuff.
So, just over a week before Christmas, he was in his dorm packing up his duffle bag, before loading up his car with road snacks and blasting Christmas music as he made his way to Gotham City.
Dick had a good feeling about this Christmas. Maybe it was the fact that Bruce had explicitly called him (and basically asked for help), maybe it was the fact that it was his first Christmas with a sibling (even if Bruce hadn’t technically adopted either of them), or maybe it was just because the warm front had finally dissipated, bringing the first snow of the year mid-way through December. But as he pulled up the driveway to the place which, despite his recent troubles with Bruce, he still considered home, and saw the fluffy flakes landing on the Manor’s outdoor garlands, Dick couldn’t help but let the Christmas Spirit fill him.
He parked his car close to the door, grabbing his duffle bag and quickly stepping out into the cold when he saw Bruce come down to meet him.
“Hey, B,” he said, leaning against the door of the car as his foster father moved closer.
Bruce smiled a bit. “It’s good to see you, Dick.”
“It’s good to be back,” he replied, breathing in the… not clean air of Gotham, but. Familiar. Home. “Also desperately curious about what mission could be so important as to interrupt your first Christmas with Jason.” Dick gave him a look at that, and Bruce looked slightly abashed.
“It’s not… exactly what you’re thinking.”
“So…” he prompted.
Bruce shifted slightly. “An… informant told me about a smuggling ring being run through a ‘Snowflake Lodge’ in upstate New York. I thought it might be nice to… multitask.”
Dick chuckled. “A fun Christmas for Jason and work for you? Never thought you’d have figured it out, B.”
Bruce didn’t move, though, still looking nervous.
“Okay,” Dick said, raising an eyebrow. “What else is it?”
“My informant. It’s–”
“–Talia?” Dick kept his voice a low whisper as the two of them watched the woman in question listen intently to whatever Jason was talking about. “Talia told you about this? And you just. Trust her?”
Bruce gave him a look. “Talia’s never given me reason to doubt her.”
“Her father–”
“–would never work in a place called Snowflake Lodge. And even if it is him, that only makes the mission more pressing. Besides,” he said, shrugging. “Ra’s doesn’t want us dead. It might be safer if it is his work.”
Dick scowled, mind whirling as he tried to find something, anything, that would stop him from spending Christmas with Talia. But Bruce was right. This wasn’t Ra’s’ style, and it wouldn’t matter if it was.
And so, Dick found himself begrudgingly entering the family parlor with a fake smile plastered on his face.
“Hey guys.”
They both turned to face him. Jason was surprised, but Talia wasn’t, like the shady assassin/spy she was.
Talia's smile was polite. “Hello, Richard. I’m glad you made it home for the holidays.”
Dick shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, well. Couldn’t miss it.”
Pleasantries over, he turned to Jason, who was much happier to see him, and who Dick was much happier to see.
“Hey, Robin.” Dick moved to sit in the chair next to him. “How’s Gotham been?”
Despite Jason’s obvious effort to keep it cool, the boy’s smile was so bright Dick wouldn’t be surprised if it melted the snow outside. “Pretty good. I’ve met most of the Rogues now, and kicked all their asses!”
“Let’s go!” They high fived, and as Jason launched into a recent story about the Mad Hatter controlling Gotham’s mall Santas, Dick hardly noticed as Talia got up to talk to Bruce.
“–So we deactivated the mind control, and now people are editing Santa’s hat out of ads and stuff.” Jason finished the story with a smile, before glancing over and seeing Talia talking with Bruce. Standing very close. Dick was sick of her already
Jason’s voice lowered to a whisper. “I haven’t met Talia’s dad yet, but Bruce says he likes to keep Robin out of it, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Yeah, Ra’s tried to keep Robin out of it now. And maybe Dick shouldn’t be quite so bitter at being the chest of gold in the treasure hunt Ra’s had set up to test Bruce, but most Rogues who captured him weren’t trying to make Bruce their son-in-law, much less nearly succeed in it.
“I like Talia, though,” Jason said, and Dick was sure he’d snapped his neck as he whipped around to face his little brother.
“You do?”
Jason shrugged. “Yeah? She’s pretty nice. Even if Bruce acts kinda weird around her.”
“Even though her dad’s a criminal?” Dick asked, utterly bamboozled.
This was evidently the wrong thing to say, because Jason suddenly flared with anger. “My dad was a criminal.”
“I didn’t mean–” Swears blasted on repeat in Dick’s mind as he suddenly remembered the file on Willis Todd. “Your dad wasn’t–”
Jason scoffed. “Whatever.”
Great going, Grayson, he thought as he watched Jason stomp out of the room.
Bruce sent Dick a look, which he promptly ignored by walking over to the window.
The snow was still falling, and it felt like another lifetime when he’d thought it was an omen. Maybe it was, but not the happy sappy Christmas one he’d thought it was. Ugh. Why’d it have to be Talia?