Chapter Text
Jason,
I know you left Nanda Parbat with the intention of killing the Joker and cementing the scope of danger Robins face in your father's mind. I also know that you did not go through with your plans, at least not in a way that you had imagined you would. The Joker is dead, no? I have heard the good news from where I am.
I also know that you and Damian are together again, and under the roof of your father. I wish nothing more than for all of us to be together - I believe I would enjoy the Gotham city atmosphere if I were surrounded by the strong men I have been lucky enough to know. You and I may be the only ones who understand why that can never be. I have work to be done here when this coup is forgotten, and you won't be returning to my line of work. That being said, I do wish you and Damian all the best. I would rather you both be raised with my beloved and one day know true happiness, than have you returned to my side, only for my father to control your every move under the threat of violence.
I had these delivered to me, and the mere sight of them made me smile. I still remember the way we would dance together when my father was away. Please don't let Damian forget how to dance.
Kulu Hubiy,
Mom
Jason reread the note three times before he set it aside. He'd moved back into his old room in the Manor, now with Dick on one side, Tim across the hall, and Damian on the other side. While he was cleaning out the closet, found a strange box in the corner. It wasn't anything he recognized, and when he opened it, the singular blood lily and note written in familiar script was a dead give away.
Whatever it was, Talia had gone to great lengths to get it from Jason's room back in the compound, and under the threat of an active coup, too.
He put the note to the side, already planning to squirrel it away somewhere safe, and then then flower, and then removed a thin sheet over the top of whatever was inside.
It was records.
Jason had always loved music - when he was on the streets, one of the girls down the street from him had a busted record player that Jason helped fix, and everyone on the block would come down and listen to whatever thrifted records they could find. When he got to the Manor, he'd asked Bruce to use the record player in the library, and Alfred had bought him a whole stack of records when he went out the next day. When he was in Nanda Parbat, he had a record player confiscated from one of Talia's targets on a mission, and slowly built his own collection from around the world. He had always preferred the way records sounded to anything else, even if it was a pain in the ass to get them anymore.
Jason spotted a familiar favorite. He still remembered when he first heard it on the streets, and the excitement that shocked through his body when he saw it at a market in France.
~~~
Bruce unlocked the door with a sigh, Tim at his heels. The court case hadn't been long, but it had been draining. In the end, the Drakes didn't stand much of a chance - Bruce had collected evidence for the last week before bringing the suit, and the Drakes were far to disinterested to put up a fight. They had voluntarily given up custody of Tim to avoid a child neglect charge. Tim had only asked a single question during the entire process: "Would I be able to take the Wayne name?"
The sound of something made Bruce look around the foyer in confusion. It was music - loud music. The kind of loud that could only be Jason, because he'd always thought the whole point of such a big house was to fill it with big love and big fun and big noise.
Bruce looked down the hall, then down at Tim, who was wearing a matching expression of confusion. The two of them crept down the hall, to the library, and peeked in. Lovefool was playing on a record at an ear-splitting volume. Dick was spinning, this arms out, and singing along.
"Love me, love me! Say that you love me!"
Jason was across the room, serenading Damian with overly dramatic gestures and pitiful expressions. "Come on, Damian, sing!"
"Pretend that you love me- Leave me, leave me! Just say that you need me!" Damian was more shouting than singing, but it was so free and happy, it took Bruce's breath away.
"Now do the dance!" Jason straightened up and Damian ran to stand next to him. Together, they did the disco finger, moving their hips together in what could only be a coordinated dance they had done together so long, they could do it in sync without looking. Damian was giggling, and Jason was wearing an overly serious face, and Dick was almost tripping over himself to join them.
Then they all caught sight of Bruce and Tim at the door.
"Timmy, come dance!" Jason called, and Tim raced over to join them. Dick helped him with the dance move, because Tim had never even seen someone dance like this before, and they were all laughing. Bruce cracked a smile watching them.
He waited until the song died out, then walked over to the record player. "Jayce, really. If we are listening to Swedish pop bands, you could have at least put on Abba."
Jason collapsed back on the couch, a hand over his eyes. "No, not Abba! You haven't seen anything until you've seen Bruce dance to Dancing Queen."
Dick, Tim, and Damian all looked at one another. In their time with Bruce, none of them had seen him dance. Dick had seen the man do a lot of silly things, but Bruce was still shy and finding his footing as both a father and as Batman when Dick was young, and dancing was a step too far. And Tim - Tim had only know Bruce in his throws of grief, the very model of a serious detective. Damian hadn't been here long enough to see anything.
Jason, though... Jason had been lucky enough to know Bruce in that sweet spot, where he was settled in his identity enough to dance in the halls with Jason, but before his grief ate that carefree fun away.
Bruce fiddled with the record player, and then there was the loud noise of a pop piano synth and harmony singing. Bruce began to bounce one hip and Jason groaned, but he still got up to join Bruce. The others watched in silent awe as Bruce and Jason danced, Jason slowly relaxing and Bruce getting more and more wild. They were almost competing, trying to out do one another with more exaggerated moves. After a stunned moment, Dick let out a peal of laughter and joined in, dragging Tim and Damian along.
Everyone went stock-still when Alfred joined them an hour later except Jason, who pulled the man into the electric slide with a peal of laughter that made the manor feel like home again.