Work Text:
Photo 1
There's no shortage of pictures of Richard Grayson around. Being the first child of Bruce Wayne meant Dick had camera's in his face from a young age. Not that he'd been new to the feeling. Just new to the cameras being so close and in his face. When he'd been in the circus, the weight of those devices had been from afar. Being carted around with Bruce had only changed the distance of those camera's. It took some time to get used to, but eventually, he'd become a natural at understanding the best way to make sure paparazzi got good photos and how to properly angle himself.
The problem is, as many picture of Dick as there are online, Bruce rarely has any for himself. There are the professional ones Bruce paid for, but those are all hanging in the manor. In the few years Bruce has had Dick, he can count on one hand the amount of pictures he has of Dick on his phone. It's because every time Bruce tries to get a picture, Dick starts complaining and Bruce can't handle the way his eyes go all watery and his voice wobbly. So, he puts the phone away and only manages to snag pictures when Dick is in a good mood.
Bruce cherishes those pictures.
It's why, when the opportunity to catch a picture of Dick when he's unaware presents itself, Bruce doesn't hesitate to take it.
It had been a long week with longer nights, even with Bruce managing to get Dick home in time for bed. Despite it being the summer and Dick complaining about still having the same bedtime, Bruce wanted to enforce healthy habits as much as he could (yes, he saw the hypocrisy, Alfred). Still, Bruce didn't miss the way there were days where Dick tried not to nod off. The patrols were taking a toll on him, and Bruce had been considering taking a break. Well, making Dick take a break.
He'd been working on quarterly reports when Dick managed to wander into the study. He had bleary eyes and still wore his pajamas despite it being past noon. Bruce held back on mentioning it. They didn't have any events planned for the day, and if something did come up, Bruce would help him change. In any case, Dick looked tired. Bruce set down the shuffling papers and waited. Dick didn't say anything. Instead, he wandered over to the desk and around it. Bruce gave him a puzzled look, but Dick managed to wriggle into Bruce's lap. Bruce let him, not really knowing how he should react in such a situation. He pulled Dick up the rest of the way when he got stuck.
"Are you almost done?" Dick asked when he'd gotten comfortable. He had his head leaning against Bruce's chest and his arms wrapped around his neck.
"It's a lot of work, lad," Bruce said, not really answering. "Why?"
"I'm tired. And Alfred says you're busy and not to bother you. But I wanna nap"
"You can take a nap, Dick,. Want me to tuck you in?" Dick shook his head and clung tighter to Bruce. Bruce smiled and wrapped an arm around Dick in reassurance. Dick yawned as he tried to press himself closer to Bruce.
"I wanna be with you," Dick said. Bruce couldn't help the warmth that spread in his chest. He nodded and hugged Dick tighter.
"Alright, lad," Bruce said, "You can stay here, but I do have to get these reports done. When I'm finished, we'll take a nap together." Dick nodded and relaxed in Bruce's hold. Bruce continued shuffling through the papers and typing on his computer. He did his best to keep movements minimal as to not stir Dick. The boy didn't seem to mind. Dick never once complained and after a while, Bruce looked down.
He smiled fondly at the sight. Dick had managed to fall asleep against Bruce's chest, breathing evenly. Bruce shook his head at the sight, and knowing it wouldn't last long, reached for his phone. It took a while to get the angle right, but when he did, he could count on two hands the amount of pictures of Dick he had saved.
Photo Two
When Jason had joined the family, he hated getting his picture taken. He'd learned when you had a picture of yourself out there, it meant someone had targeted you, or you'd gotten caught. Warming him up to the constant paparazzi had been a struggle. The idea of strangers sneakily snapping pictures of the young boy, more so. It had taken Bruce and Alfred a long time to help the boy feel safe when a camera snapped. A lot of disposable cameras Jason made sure were destroyed properly and made sure no pictures from them existed. It meant that while there were a few professional pictures of Jason in the manor, Bruce respected the young boys choice to not have pictures of his saved.
It ached Bruce to not be able to have a photo he could place in his office next to the one of Dick asleep on his lap, but he knew how important those boundaries were. Especially with a boy who had never been able to feel safe before. He made sure Jason knew he wouldn't cross that line and even let the boy check his phone the few times Jason had thought he'd caught Bruce taking a picture.
"I like that one photo," Jason said, one day, "Hanging next to the one of Dick, when he was 12." Bruce looked up from his breakfast with a quirked brow. They'd been eating in silence before Jason spoke up.
"The family photo?" he asked. Jason shook his head, face red and not looking at Bruce.
"The one of me where I'm not looking at the camera," he said. Bruce made an "ah" sound as it clicked. An invitation. Jason wouldn't mind a photo if he wasn't looking. Bruce smiled and nodded.
"Thank you," he said. Jason didn't say anything more as he shoved a too big bite into his mouth.
They went to the zoo that week. Bruce made sure to dress them in inexpensive clothes and wore a baseball cap and sunglasses. It did little to truly help, but most people knew to keep away from him when he tried to hide his identity. Especially when he had his kid with him. Jason bounced from one exhibit to the other as they wandered around. He grinned and read the plaques out loud to Bruce. They took a rather long break at the tiger exhibit. Jason stared down into the enclosure, back turned to Bruce and talking about the different species. He'd already known those facts, it seemed.
Bruce could be fast when he needed to. Before Jason had turned to face him, Bruce's phone was already back in his pocket. Jason grinned at him and Bruce nodded at the fact he'd given him.
"I didn't know that," Bruce lied, "Tell me more."
The picture of Jason joins the one of Dick at his office next week.
Photo Three
There's no shortage of photos of Tim. Some are taken by himself, some by paparazzi, but most by Bruce himself. In Bruce's phone tucked away from the rest of the world. The picture of Jason is still in his office. It's the one picture he can stand to look at properly. The ones in the manor, he never planned to take down, and they still stood when Tim moved in. He didn't ask questions. He knew better than to do so. Still, Tim would find himself staring at the pictures, talking to them as if Jason were someone he'd meet. Several of Bruce's photos of Tim include those moments.
The framed photo of Tim in Bruce's office isn't one that's truly privy to him. At least, never believed it to be. There were paparazzi at the game, and other parents, fans, and teachers.
Still, Bruce had managed to snap a photo when there were no other cameras or flashes in sight. Just before Tim scored a goal and turned to Bruce with a grin and double thumbs up. That photo, goes between the one of Dick and Jason: the one taken just before Tim's odd camera sense went off.
Photo Four
The Red Hood had turned out to be Jason. Bruce hadn't known how to process it. He didn't have a plan for it. And his other two sons had kept it from him. He had no idea that the son he'd lost had come back from the dead because he'd been in central city tracking down wherever the Flash had disappeared to. God, it ached in Bruce's chest that his sons had thought they needed to keep this from him.
He'd locked himself in the Cave when he found out and hadn't come out for hours. He knew Dick and Tim would worry and hadn't cared. Alfred's worry had been the only thing he'd cared about, but he knew the man would understand. And he had understood and took care of Dick and Tim while Bruce processed everything.
While he'd been locked up down there, he'd received a comm from Barbara. He hadn't wanted to answer, God knows he's still broken up about Jason's death and then to learn what he'd done, who he'd become, when he came back…
Bruce answered the comm. It's Oracle who's looking back at him: square glasses, red hair pulled back. Bruce sighed and gave a nod.
"Oracle," he said, his voice tight. He knew if he looked in a mirror right now, he'd see the face of a wrecked man. His eyes sting and his jaw itches from the stubble he hadn't been able to shave yet. His teeth hurt from how much he'd been grinding them.
"Batman." Her voice curt. She hesitated before pushing on. "I understand you've discovered the identity of Red hood?" Bruce swallowed and nodded. He couldn't bring himself to speak the answer. Oracle seemed to understand. "I'm sending you a secure message. I know you're going to be all paranoid, but I double checked my triple checks." Before he could argue, there'd been a blip on the computer. Bruce stared at the photo there, unable to pull his gaze away.
"Thank you." he said. He wasn't sure his voice had been loud enough. Still, he could see Oracle nod her head in the corner of his eye. Before he could say anymore, she'd hun up the phone. Bruce needed to print something anyway.
The photo of his undead son, white tuft of hair, working on a motorcycle, is hidden in a secret compartment in his office. Jason is the only one with two photos on his desk. Oracle never did tell Bruce how she'd gotten that photo.
Photo Five
Damian didn't have baby photos. He'd been taught to cling to the shadows, to keep himself hidden from sight. Photo's weren't taboo, but they were a close thing. He'd gotten more used to the limelight than Jason, but there was still an obvious discomfort anytime he heard the click of a camera or saw the flash go off. Jason helped him learn how to get used to it, and over time, that tick became something nigh unnoticeable.
Bruce still noticed. He turned off the automatic flash and kept his phone on silent whenever he knew a chance to snag a photo of Damian would crop up. Because the boy could handle the paparazzi. He couldn't handle his father taking a photo of him. There's still more in Bruce's phone than there had been of Dick when Bruce first started sneaking pictures of everyone. Still, the first photo of Damian had been mostly on accident.
Bruce had needed some time with Damian alone. The rest of the Wayne family had been lurking around the manor more than usual and as much as Bruce enjoyed their presence, he could tell Damian didn't like sharing him with them unannounced. So, Bruce had found somewhere he hoped Damian would enjoy and made sure Alfred kept the rest of the boy occupied. (When he'd returned to them covered in splotches of red, gold, and orange, Bruce found out that "occupied" meant sending them to a paintball range.)
"What is an insectarium?" Damian asked when they pulled up to the building. Bruce had rented out the whole place, not wanting the risk of paparazzi showing up.
"It's a place for insects," Bruce answered as he unbuckled his seatbelt, "C'mon. We've got a whole day."
Damian had tried not to show his excitement. Bruce still saw it in the way Damian studied every exhibit they went past. He didn't miss the way he lingered at the arachnids. Damian rattled off the facts from the plaques as they went along. Bruce steered clear of the beetles, even as Damian tried to tug him in for a closer look. At the end, an attendant asked Damian if there were any insects he liked the most.
"The tarantula's were acceptable." Damian said. The attendant nodded, though they gave Bruce an amused look when Damian had turned his attention to the aquariums he could see. The attendant turned towards the aquariums and lifted the lid to one. Bruce grimaced at the sight of the spider in there, but held back. He could see Damian nearly vibrating with the effort to not show his excitement.
"This here is Tracula," the attendant said, "She's named that because she's a king baboon tarantula. She has some of the biggest fangs proportional to her body size." Damian stared at the spider with wide eyes. Bruce swallowed down the urge to grab his youngest and run. Instead, he noted the way Damian's hands twitched.
"Wanna hold'er?" the attendant asked. They'd noticed the movement too. Bruce's whole body shivered as Damian nodded and held out his hand. The attendant told Damian how to be careful and that her "temperament is easy going", although Bruce assumed that last part was for him. It didn't take long for Tracula to step onto Damian's hand. Bruce watched his son pull the spider closer to get a good look. As much as everything screamed "DANGER!" in Bruce's head, he still managed to pull out his phone and get a blurry picture, featuring Tracula.
"Father," Damian said as he slowly turned, still not looking away from the arachnid, "I believe we need a tarantula in the manor."
Bruce is able to stomach looking at the tarantula in the photo as he placed the framed picture of Damian next to Dick's.
Photo Six
"Do not touch the aperture!" Tim shouted. Jason pulled his hand away from the dial like it had been made of fire. Damian tutted at the two of them while Dick stayed perched on the edge of the roof with binoculars. Tim had been snooping around in Wayne Enterprises and managed to get into Bruce's office. While he'd been in there many times before, he'd never seen the small collection of photographs he had framed on his desk. He'd recognized himself in the one of him playing soccer. He'd also recognized it as the photo Jason had found and slapped on his murder wall. The other three, Tim had never seen before, but they were all of his brothers. When he'd gotten back to the manor and told them, they'd all come to the same conclusion: Bruce had taken secret father photos of them.
They needed revenge. It hadn't taken long for them to plot and find a rooftop with a good vantage point. They had Bruce's schedule and maybe ten minutes before Bruce showed up.
"It looks wrong," Jason said. Tim glared at him.
"I know how the fuck aperture works," he said.
"Language," Dick said. He pointed at Damian who rolled his eyes.
"I have heard worse from the League, Grayson," he said, "Much worse."
"I don't doubt it. But Bruce is still upset that Tim's last creative insult ended up in the tabloids." Tim sighed. He had to take responsibility for that one. In his defense: Damian had deserved it. He'd been poking Tim just out of sight of everyone through the gala. One of them, not just hard enough to bruise, but break skin.
"Boys," a voice said in Tim's ear, "Can you stop arguing for one minute? Bruce just exited the meeting." Tim had nearly forgotten they had Barbara on comms.
"Thanks, O," Tim said. He shoved Jason away from the tripod. He double checked everything, even though he knew the settings were right. Jason huffed but moved out of the way. Dick shushed them again, despite the silence.
"He's coming your way," Barbara said. Dick nodded and pointed. Tim pulled away from the camera and followed Dick's finger. He grinned and went back to his position.
"Alright," Dick said, "In three…two…one…NOW!" Tim saw Bruce appear in the camera and started clicking. Then, he paused. Because Bruce had turned and smiled directly at the camera. Tim clicked one more.
"What the fuck?" Jason said. Damian didn't laugh, but when Tim looked at him, there was a small smile on his face.
"Oracle, did you tip him off?" Dick demanded. Barbara laughed in their ears.
"Not even a little." she said. "That's all bats." Tim groaned and leaned his head back He had hoped if they did it the same day he found the pictures, Bruce wouldn't have caught on to their plan. Somehow, though, he'd found out.
"You!" Jason said, pointing to Damian. "You told him!"
"I want revenge on father just as much as you," Damian said, "I would gain nothing from tattling." It devolved from there. Dick tried to step in a few times and help slow the boiling, but all it did was add fuel to the fire.
The photo Tim managed to snap of Bruce smiling up at the camera joined the rest of the family by the end of the day.