Nightwing forever 25
i have this fanfic prompt , basically jason as older soft big brother? To Dick , awwww i
Dick Grayson had always understood Bruce’s deep-rooted hatred for witches. It wasn’t something Batman ever openly explained, but Dick had pieced it together over the years.
And, like most catastrophic days, this one began without warning. No dark clouds hanging over Gotham’s perpetually grey skyline, no shift in the air to suggest magic was brewing
just a routine stakeout. Tim Drake had been tailing a witch for weeks, a quiet hunt that suddenly escalated, pulling the rest of the family in.
The fight was quick but tense. Spells flared in the dark, boots hit concrete, and then
The trap was sprung.
A portal. Jagged light rippling like broken glass in the air. Tim was too close, already being dragged toward it. But before he could fall through, Dick was there, shoving him clear.
And in the next instant, Dick was gone.
The cold damp of Gotham vanished. Heat slammed into him oppressive, relentless. He hit hard, sand tearing at his skin, pain burning up his leg. It might have been broken. The desert stretched endlessly in every direction, a hellscape under a blistering sun.
Ten hours. That was how long he stumbled through that wasteland, dragging his injured leg, lips cracked from thirst. Then, in the wavering distance another portal, the same jagged light. He didn’t hesitate.
Gotham’s gloom returned in a blink.
But when he staggered back onto wet pavement, the rain heavy and cold, he realized something was wrong. Everything was… older. Different.
For Dick, only ten hours had passed. For his family, he’d been gone for 10 years.
Jason had grown matured in ways he never expected. For years, he had been angry at Dick, angry at himself for holding onto that anger too long, until Dick simply disappeared from his life. Now Dick was back—the same Dick in age and spirit, yet the world around him had changed. Jason was older, stronger, hardened by time and experience. He carried the weight of those lost years, and he would never let his brother slip away again.
Tim had taken up the mantle of Batman in Bruce’s absence, while Bruce was busy with his life as Bruce Wayne and other pressing matters. The hard, unyielding Bruce who refused to rely on anyone had finally softened, placing his trust in Tim. But Tim was drowning in guilt—he was the only one who had truly lost his mind, whispering to himself over and over, “Dick Grayson is still alive.” He was the first to find him, never having stopped tracking him even when hope seemed lost.
And Damian his older brother, his greatest role model—had grown into the eldest and most mature of them all. His presence was formidable, yet his spirit had found a peaceful balance. When Grayson disappeared, Damian had momentarily lost control, but quickly regained his composure. His heart repeated a constant refrain: “For Grayson… this is what Grayson would want me to do.
Ah… everyone is now mature, reconciled, and they have grown so much since the last time they saw their brother—the one who always tries to bring them together… For years, whenever Dick’s name was mentioned, a lump would rise in their throats.
The guilt, the sorrow, the longing… nostalgia of a special kind!
And now everyone is grown, adults… and Dick is still Dick, but without the burden of being the eldest…
Damian deprive him of his independence in an extreme way, until Dick embraces him and tells him that he is still his older brother, no matter how much Damian has grown. Then Damian would break down in tears…
And we must not forget Tim’s obsession and his overwhelming guilt about what happened to Dick…
Dick had started to notice it from the very first night Tim hadn’t slept a full hour since his return. He lived in that obsession, in the endless hunt for something only he could see.
And then, one night, Dick found him.
A whole room, walls covered in sketches, photos, strings of paper taped in chaotic patterns—every shape resembling the jagged light of that portal Dick had fallen through. Tim sat in the middle of it all, pale and exhausted, eyes burning with a feverish focus.
“I’m tracking them,” Tim muttered without looking up. “Any portal, any hint of magic, any ripple in the air. If it takes wiping out every witch in Gotham, then I’ll do it.”
Dick moved closer, trying to keep his voice calm.
“Tim, stop. It’s over. I’m here now. You don’t need to keep chasing ghosts.”
That was when Tim snapped, his voice breaking into a raw shout.
“You don’t understand!”
The silence that followed was heavy until his tone shifted, softening, almost breaking as he remembered who he was speaking to.
“Over? No, nothing is over! You vanished right in front of me. If I hadn’t been a second too slow, it would’ve been me instead. Ten years, Dick. Ten years I spent searching, screaming at them that you were alive while they all looked at me like I’d lost my mind. And if you disappear again if it happens twice that means I didn’t do enough the first time. And I’ll never forgive myself.”
Dick stood there, realizing that this wasn’t a wound that could be patched with a hug or a promise. Tim’s scars were carved deep, and it would take time so much time for him to believe that things would ever truly be all right again.
Then there is Jason
One day while he lay on the couch, his leg stretched out in a heavy cast, every shift a reminder of pain and limitation. The broken foot felt like an extra weight chaining his freedom, and the rain outside made the room feel even gloomier.
Jason entered, hoodie pulled over his head, stepping lightly. Since when had Jason become so quiet, so composed? Thirty now, more mature, less scowling but still with that unmistakable edge that was entirely him. He carried two cups of hot chocolate. “For you,” he said, setting one in front of Dick.
Dick took a sip and wrinkled his nose. “Tastes weird.”
Jason smirked, leaning back slightly. “Yeah, vitamins can ruin everything,” he said, but his eyes softened.
Dick smiled faintly. “Aww , that nice.you care?”
Jason’s smile deepened, warm and nostalgic. For a moment, Dick froze, caught off guard by the tenderness coming from someone who was usually so sharp, so self-possessed. Then Jason, almost unconsciously, ruffled his hair.
“Of course,” Jason said quietly. “Ten years… and all I could think about was the next time we’d be together. I wanted to be better, kinder… Ten years, and I thought there’d never be a next time.”
A lump rose in Dick’s throat as a wave of strange emotions washed over him confusion, loss, and the heavy weight of realizing he had truly missed ten years of his siblings’ lives.
Jason leaned closer, brushing Dick’s hair again, a gentle but firm gesture. “You don’t get to scare us like that again. Doesn’t matter what portal, what magic, or what hell opens up… you’re not going anywhere. Not again.”
______
Many will have a role in finding Dick after ten years Cass, Bruce, and many others but I can’t help but think first about the reactions of just these three.
