Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The other shoe finally dropped. They had been at a playground, Jason on a bench reading and Danny trying to see how high he could climb on the jungle gym, when the area was swarmed by agents in pure white suits.

Jason had never run so fast in his life. He crossed damn near the entire park in seconds as he scooped up his son and tried to disappear into the alleys around it.

That had been three days ago. He and Danny had been on the move since. They’d burned through all of the Red Hood’s safe houses and a good number of the League’s trying to get away from these goddamned Guys in White. Jason was running on about four hours of sleep, most of which he’d only gotten when Danny had all but sat on his chest until he napped for a bit.

They were currently crouched behind a dumpster in an alley near the center of Red Hood’s territory. Danny was curled up in Jason’s lap, wrapped in his armored leather jacket and hopefully asleep. Jason took the moment of peace to take stock of his gear. He was down to his last clip of ammo (live, the rubber stuff had run out a day and a half ago), a single throwing knife, three smoke bombs, and two flashbangs, and his grapple had crapped out last night. They also had a single rucksack with one clean shirt for Jason, Danny’s Martian Manhunter pajamas (Jason just hadn’t been able to leave them behind, they were the kid’s favorite and they’d been hard to find), a burner phone, some basic hygiene products, Jason’s laptop with everything he’d been able to figure out about ghosts encrypted behind several layers of security, and about $20 in miscellaneous bills.

Shit.

The GIW were clearly able to track them somehow. Jason had searched both of them and all his gear for trackers several times but the agents had found them too quickly for there to be any other explanation.

“Danny, sunshine, you need to wake up for a minute.” Up to this point, Jason hadn’t asked Danny anything about the GIW. The kid had been held captive, tortured, vivisected by them and Jason had been letting him take the lead on unpacking all of that. But the kid knew a little bit about how they worked. Maybe he knew how they were being tracked.

“Dad?” (It’d been several months but that still made Jason’s heart swell every time) Danny sat up and snuggled in against Jason’s torso. “Did the Guys in White find us again?”

“Not yet, bud. I gotta ask you a couple questions about them, okay?” Danny’s face fell. “I know, I know, I’m sorry.” Jason ruffled his hair. “But I need some information.”

Danny hid his face in Jason’s chest and pulled the leather jacket tighter around himself. “Okay.”

“Okay.” Jason wrapped his arms around Danny, applying a slight pressure. “Do you know how they’re tracking us?”

“Ecto-signature. From the ectoplasm in our blood.” Right, Pit Waters ectoplasm gave off a specific energy signature. “My pare—The Fentons must have given them a Fenton Finder.”

Jason’s blood boiled at the reminder of the Fentons. They were the mad scientists whose lax lab safety had given Danny his powers. Then, when they’d found out, they’d (his parents ) turned him over to the GIW. Because they hadn’t been able to stomach cutting the kid open themselves, not to say they hadn’t tired (learning that had actually brought the now-unfamiliar green haze over his vision, despite the pacifying effect Danny had on it: Red Hood had left several people in the hospital with evidence stapled to their chests before the green went away). When the Fenton’s daughter, Jazz, had died alongside two other children, Sam and Tucker, trying to break Danny out of the torture chamber they’d put their son in , they’d been more upset that Jazz had been ‘corrupted by ghosts’ than that she’d died (according to the obituary Jason had been able to find with much difficulty. It was like the entire town of Amity Park was under a digital lockdown).

The Red Hood hadn’t needed to kill many people over the last eight months. But the Fentons were on his list of people who would get a bullet through the skull on first sight, right beneath the Joker.

Jason took a deep breath. Now was not the time to plot the demise of the Fentons. “Do you know the range of the Fenton Finders?”

Danny shrugged. “Probably like a few miles by now? It used to only be a few hundred feet but the Guys in White were able to make it a lot better when they…when I was there.”

Fuck. So the rest of the League safehouses were out. There was no way Jason could stay far enough ahead of the agents to get to one of them. Plus, the agents would probably just go to a grid pattern search of the city until they picked them back up.

As much as Jason was loath to admit considering it as an option (albeit a last resort one), the Batcave/Wayne Manor was out for the same reason. They had to get out of town. Far out of town. And fast enough the GIW wouldn’t see them leaving.

Jason chewed on his lip. He didn’t have many options. He could call Talia for an extraction but it might take a few days for her to arrange it. That would also introduce Talia (and Ra’s) to Danny and he shuddered to think about what either of them would do with this small child who had been given literal superpowers by a Pit (uncorrupted ectoplasm, Danny kept saying). He could call Batman (except for how everything about that idea made his skin crawl) but the Bat would want to run a million and a half tests to confirm his and Danny’s stories before doing anything and Jason needed to get out of town faster than that. Where else could they go?

Danny had dozed off again, head on Jason’s shoulder, when the idea finally occurred to him. There was an emergency Zeta-Tube nearby. There was no reason to believe his access codes had been removed from the system (something he’d planned on checking at some point, back when revenge had been on his mind). He only had clearance to beam to two places but he only needed one. Dick had insisted that Jason have access to a safe base that wasn’t the Cave. And what better place than Dick’s own safe haven from the Bat?

Titans Tower. It was perfect. It was secure, with internal and external defense systems. It was clear across the continent in San Francisco. And best of all, it should be empty. The team only stayed there right before and right after missions, and Jason’s most recent info indicated there hadn’t been a Titans mission in months. Assuming Batman didn’t get notifications of every Zeta usage, Jason and Danny might even be able to stay there for a day or two undetected.

Decision made, Jason carefully stood up. He brought a hand up to the back of Danny’s head to hold the kid steady while he hurried out of the alley and onto the street. If he remembered correctly, it was on the border between Crime Alley and the Bowery, so it shouldn’t be more than a half-mile away.

He moved as quickly as he could (while also trying not to wake Danny up). It was in an out of order phone booth hidden behind a dumpster. Unfortunately for Jason, it had only been installed a few months before he had died and he had only used it once. But it should be around here somewh—aha!

Jason saw the booth out of the corner of his eye as he almost ran past a completely nondescript alley. Honestly, it could barely be called an alley. It was more of a slip, barely two people wide. Jason double-checked that no one was around (it was 4:30 in the morning in Crime Alley but it never hurt to be careful) before ducking inside. He wrenched open the doors (almost rusted shut, Batman was getting sloppy on maintenance) and forced them shut again behind him.

“Zeta, transport to Titans Tower, designation B-R-02 and emergency guest, override code B-R-02-EMER-9437.”

“Recognized B-R-02: Robin. Emergency Guest Override accepted. Transporting to Titans Tower.”

Jason held his kid tight as the Zeta lit up.

— — —

Tim was just hanging out in the command center of the Tower, doing some homework and enjoying the quiet, when he heard the Zeta announcement.

“Recognized B-R-02: Robin and Emergency Guest.”

He put his coffee down. Either he’d lost track of how long he’d been awake (auditory hallucinations shouldn’t be kicking in for another 12-16 hours) or something was very wrong. Because that Zeta designation should have been inactive. The boy that designation belonged to was dead.

Tim pushed himself away from the desk (after double checking he had a domino on) and stumbled out of the office (he had sat for too long, apparently, and his legs were a little numb). The Zeta-Tubes were behind the entrance hall, several floors down so he headed for the elevator. Which dinged and opened to reveal a man wearing a red helmet and grey body armor.

The man froze when he saw Tim. Which, fair. Tim also froze when he saw the man. They both stood there for several seconds just staring at each other.

It was pretty obvious that this was Red Hood, a new (ish, is a year new?) gang leader rising in Crime Alley. But why was a Gotham villain (anti-hero? Tim was pretty sure his informants had told him the Red Hood was cleaning up the Alley) at Titans Tower, holding his rolled up leather jacket like it was the most precious thing he owned?

A small head of black hair popped out of the jacket and turned to fix Tim with an icy blue gaze. That at least explained the way Red Hood was cradling it. Him.

The small child turned back to Red Hood and said, in a sleepy voice, “Daddy, who’s that? Where are we?”

The Red Hood’s stare fell from Tim to the child. At least, Tim was pretty sure it did. The helmet tilted down, anyways.

“Somewhere safe, squirt. Go back to sleep.” There was a voice modulator in the helmet but the tone of Red Hood’s voice was still soft.

“‘Kay.” The child laid his head back down on Red Hood’s shoulder. Red Hood lifted up a hand and pulled the jacket over his eyes.

The helmeted gaze turned back to Tim. “Replacement.” Red Hood’s voice was harder now. “No one’s supposed to be here right now.”

“It was too loud at home so I’m just here doing some homework.” Batman and Nightwing were both in town right now trying to deal with a rogue government agency with unknown energy weapons that had appeared a few days ago. And Bruce and Dick still hadn’t talked about things (like how Bruce didn’t tell Dick Jason had died until he got back months later. Or how Bruce’s control issues had only gotten worse since Jason died. Or how Bruce had shut down after Jason died. Mostly about things related to Jason’s death.) so most conversations ended in a screaming match.

“It’s almost 1:00 in the morning, shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“I’m fine.” The dismissal was instinctive. Red Hood looked like he didn’t believe it (somehow). “How did you get in here?”

A staticky sound came from Red Hood’s speakers (maybe a sigh?). “My access codes were never deleted from the system.” His free hand reached up and pulled off his helmet.

Now Tim was positive he had lost track of the last time he’d slept because visual hallucinations shouldn’t be appearing for another 24-26 hours. But Tim was pretty sure the man standing in front of him was Jason Todd. Who was dead. Had been dead for 7 years.

Tim opened his mouth to ask about that but what came out instead was a small and plaintive, “Robin?”

Not-Jason (couldn’t be Jason) looked genuinely shocked by that. He opened his mouth to say something but the kid in his arms wiggled and chirped (seriously, like a bird) before he could.

“Okay, squirt, let’s get you to bed.” He started walking towards the living quarters like he’d been here before (could he have?). Tim followed, feeling a little like a lost puppy.

Jason Todd’s room was unused. No one had wanted to move into it even though Jason had only been a Titan for a few months. Tim stopped there.

“You don’t have to give up your room, Replacement.” He said as he realized where they were. “There’s guest rooms around the corner.” There were. Tim knew that. This Maybe-Jason shouldn’t know that.

“My room is down the hall.” Is all Tim said. He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “This room was never reassigned.”

Possibly-Jason knew the code to open the door (adding to the evidence that this was indeed Jason). Tim should probably do a check. DNA, memory, something but his brain was still a little scrambled. Bruce would know what to do, he had plans for everything. Tim reached for the com on his belt.

“Don’t.” Supposedly-Jason said, hand on the now-unlocked doorknob. “Don’t tell B.”

A point in favor of this not being Jason. Why wouldn’t Jason want to see his dad/boss after nearly eight years? (‘Why would he?’ A voice whispered at the back of his mind. ‘Bruce didn’t save him.’) (Tim retracted the point.)

“I have to tell him at some point.” Tim said.

“I know. Trust me, I know.” Jason (not-Jason, Tim reminded himself) took a deep breath. “Just…not yet. At least let us get some sleep.”

He did look pretty tired. The kid was literally snoring on his shoulder.

“Promise you’ll still be here in the morning.” Tim would be locking down the Tower anyways but if this really was Jason he would have the override codes. “That you’ll tell me what’s going on, let me help if I can. And I won’t tell B.”

Jason looked at him for a long moment. Tim stared back.

Finally, Jason nodded. “I promise.”

Tim nodded. He turned to leave then stopped. “Just one question. Then you can sleep.” Jason froze, one foot through the door. “Are you really…him?  Robin?”

Jason sighed, turning his face away to press his nose into the kid’s hair. “I was.” He closed the door behind himself.

Tim’s breath caught in his throat. He slowly turned and headed back to the command center. He sat down to stare at his homework. Sighing, he shoved the papers back in his bag. He was never going to be able to focus on biology now.

Tim glanced at the security cameras showing the empty tower. He was pretty sure Jason wouldn’t have brought his own kid if he’d been intending to hurt Tim. But a little bit of Batman’s paranoia was starting to rub off on him.

He’d promised not to call Batman. But there was someone else he could ask to come over, just in case. Someone who’d promised to always (always) come if Tim needed him.

Tim sighed and grabbed his phone. It was answered on the third ring.

“Tim?” Dick asked with a yawn.

“Hey, Dick.” Tim fiddled with the hem of his sweatshirt. “Is B in the room with you?”

“No, why? Do you need him?” Faint footsteps echoed down the line.

“No!” The footsteps stopped. “No, I…Can you come out to the Tower?”

“Titans Tower?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I…I just need my big brother right now.” Obvious? Yes. A blatant manipulation. Effective?

“I’ll be right there.” Very.

— — —

Jason slumped back against the door as it locked itself behind him. He could feel himself trembling, eyes wide behind his domino. They hadn’t changed his room at all.

The Wonder Woman sheets he and Dick had spent hours searching for, the stupid metal posters, the custom Robin bookshelf…no one had so much as moved his books. It was like this room was frozen in time, still waiting for that naive 15 year old to come back for one more mission with his brother’s team.

Danny stirred, sitting up from his shoulder. He chirped ( question-confusion-safe? ) as he blearily looked around.

Jason felt the answering rumble ( safe-comfort-love ) rise up from his Core. Danny’s eyes brightened and he floated away from Jason’s chest.

“Where are we?” He drifted towards the bookshelf. “Look, they have your favorite!” He picked up the copy of Pride and Prejudice Jason had insisted on buying. Said he would need a copy here if he ever had to leave Gotham in a hurry. Dick had said he could keep as many copies as he wanted in this room so long as he promised to use it if he needed to.

Guess he’d ended up keeping that promise after all.

“This is my old room at Titans Tower.” Jason pushed away from the door. He set his helmet on the desk and shrugged out of his jacket.

“Oh, when you were Robin?”

Jason nodded as he fumbled with the buckles of his armor. His fingers were a little clumsy with fatigue.

“Is Wonder Woman your favorite hero?”

“She was, yeah. For fucks sake!” He swore as he somehow managed to tighten one of the straps.

“Oh.” The armor fell off as the straps turned intangible. Jason turned to see Danny on the ground for once by his leg.

“Thanks, squirt.” He leaned over and picked Danny up. “Let’s get you ready for bed.” He efficiently stripped Danny of the filthy clothes he’d been wearing for two days, redressing the kid in his Martian Manhunter pajamas as Danny struggled to stay awake.

It was a tight fit with both of them on the single bed. Or, it would have been except that Danny seemed perfectly content to curl into the tiniest ball Jason had ever seen and tuck himself against Jason’s chest. Jason wrapped an arm around the kid’s back.

Danny purred ( love-Protect-comfy-warm-safe-Protected ). Jason’s own purr ( love-safe-Protect-comfort ) (the first time he’d made that sound) took him a little by surprise but Danny seemed to like it as he snuggled impossibly closer to the center of Jason’s chest, where the sound seemed to come from.

The two purrs filled the room as the pair drifted off.

Chapter Text

Jason woke at dawn (which was definitely not enough sleep) with the sun in his eyes. Danny had his face buried in Jason’s shirt, with his fist pulling it over his face. Jason smiled as his heart swelled with warmth. To think, his life would have been consumed by hatred and rage and revenge if he hadn’t met this kid.

Jason brushed a hand through Danny’s hair. Danny squirmed but didn’t wake. Jason sighed. He ran his fingers through the kid’s hair again, this time with a sharp chirp ( wake up-safe-love ).

Danny whined ( sleepy-warm-comfy ). He wiggled further into Jason’s shirt.

“We gotta get up, sunshine.” Danny huffed ( don’t wanna- comfy-sleepy ). “I’ll make pancakes.” A single blue eye poked out. “Yeah, I figured that’d get you.” He slid an arm under Danny and moved to pick him up.

“Noooooooo.” Danny groaned. “Five more minutes.”

Jason sighed. He brushed hair off Danny’s forehead and pressed a gentle kiss there. They’d had a long few days. He should just let the kid rest.

“Okay. I’ll come get you when the pancakes are ready.” Jason tucked the comforter in tighter around Danny. He slipped out of the room and padded down the hallway on silent feet. He turned the corner to enter the kitchen. And froze.

Dick Grayson was sitting at the table with his chin in his hand. He was practically oozing nervous energy, with his leg bouncing hard enough to shake the table. He hadn’t noticed Jason yet. Jason moved to edge back into the hallway but his shoulder smacked the doorframe. He cursed.

Dick’s eyes shot to the door. Jason froze, pinned by Dick’s gaze. Dick slowly stood up and circled around the table. He stopped a few feet in front of Jason, looking up (since when is Jason taller than Dick?). Jason sighed.

“Ask whatever you need to.” Standard Bat-procedure for clones or duplicates: his DNA had been verified by the Zeta-Beam so now it was time for a memory check.

“The night I took you train surfing.” Dick dropped his gaze to the floor, crossing his arms. “Just for fun, not…not that first night. You said something to me then swore me to secrecy. I’ve never told anyone.” His gaze snapped back up to Jason.

Jason realized, abruptly, that he while knew the answer to that question now, six months ago, before the Pit had receded for the last time, he hadn’t. He had never noticed before because the Pit had hidden the holes in his memory with green rage. But now, as he thought about it, he could almost feel the edges of (some of) the holes filling in.

He swallowed against the feeling. “I said that I’d always wanted a big brother. And that I knew you’d never wanted to replace your family from the circus, and that you’d never wanted the Robin name to go to anyone else but that I hoped with time you’d…that you’d love me like a brother even if you never really saw me as one.”

Dick sobbed, launching himself at Jason. His arms latched around Jason’s neck. But Jason had questions he needed answered too.

“Okay, okay, Jesus, Dickhead, calm down!” Jason pushed on Dick’s chest with his free arm. Dick allowed himself to be shoved back a few feet.

For a long moment, they both stood there, just staring at each other.

“What are you doing here?” Jason finally asked. “Is B here too?”

“I called him.” The Repla-Tim said from the hallway. Jason jumped. He hadn’t heard the kid coming. “Last night. Batman doesn’t know.”

Jason stepped out of Tim’s way. “And you picked up?”

“He always does.” Tim answered from the coffee machine.

“Was I talking to you?” Jason snapped.

“I always pick up.” Dick repeated, hugging himself tightly, eyes swimming.

“So why didn’t you when I called?” The question was out before Jason could stop it, ending on a soft whimper ( sorrow-anger-why not me? ).

Dick pressed a hand to his mouth as tears spilled onto his cheeks. “I was on Tamaran.” He choked out a moment later. “I didn’t get your messages until I got back.”

Jason was…stunned wasn’t the right word. “You were off-world?” Dumbfounded? Dazed?

“I thought B had told you.” Dick scrubbed a hand through his hair. “That you’d know to use the sat-phone to get ahold of me.”

“He never told me.” All this time, Jason had thought Dick hadn’t picked up. That Dick had let the calls go to voicemail. Had been ignoring him, had finally had enough of that annoyance who’d butted into his life and stolen his name and his father. But Dick hadn’t even been on the same planet.

“Considering he didn’t tell Dick you were dead, that doesn’t surprise me at all.” Tim stepped closer to Dick, staying carefully out of range of his octopus hug, his mug once again full. “He missed the funeral and didn’t even know.”

“What?” Jason gawked as Dick let out a keening whine. “Christ, Dickie…”

Dick choked off a cry as he took an aborted half-step towards Jason. “Little Wing…” He stretched a hand out.

It was too much. It wasn’t enough. Jason extended his own hand. Instantly, he had an armful of sobbing Dick.

The octopus was just as good as Jason remembered. All-encompassing and warm and safe. Dick’s hugs left no room for the outside world. Even now that Jason was bigger than Dick (in more than just height), he just felt subsumed. He buried his face in the crook of Dick’s neck and let his tears fall.

Tim tried to edge past them back into the hallway. Jason shot out a hand and snagged the kid’s shirt.

“You’re that little stalker kid I had to keep from falling off a few roofs, aren’t you?” He asked as Dick lifted an arm to pull Tim into the fold. “From next door.”

Tim looked up at Jason with wide eyes, swimming with tears. “You remember me?”

Jason laughed. “You were my favorite Bat-stalker.” He tucked his little brother under his chin (how he had ever thought to hurt this kid was beyond him, though from what Danny had said he really wasn’t in his right mind at the time). “You never tried to make conversation, just let me go on my way.” Dick tightened his arms around both of them as Tim let out a quiet sob.

The three of them stood crying in the middle of the kitchen for a few more minutes, the Wayne brothers united at last. Tim was the first to pull away.

“I need more coffee.” He stepped back over to the coffee maker. “Especially because I’m pretty sure Dick’s going to mandate ‘brotherly bonding’ later, once we’ve talked about the elephant in the room.”

“I’ll make some breakfast.” Jason wiped his eyes. “We can talk about…everything after.” He set to work gathering the ingredients for pancakes from the pantry (always kept well stocked even though it was rarely used).

Dick sat back down at the table. Tim handed him a cup of coffee as he joined him.

It was nice, cooking with his brothers there. Nicer than he would have thought. There was idle chatter behind him, something about a case Nightwing was working on. Jason let the conversation flow over and around him as he mixed the batter and preheated the pan.

“Hey, Jason.” Tim said as Jason poured the first pancake. “Was I hallucinating last night or did that kid of yours chirp?”

“Kid?” Jason heard Dick’s chair scrape as he (presumably) turned around. “That would be Phantom, right?”

“The vigilante that helped Hood save your ass? Couldn’t be.” Tim sipped his coffee noisily. “This kid was like, four.”

“No, I’ve talked to him. He’s small but he’s got to be closer to 10.”

“He’s six. Ish.” Jason stared at the pancake. “Maybe seven by now. I’m…not sure when his birthday is.” Jason furrowed his brow. How had he not asked that yet?

“You’re letting a six year old out on Gotham’s streets?” Dick’s voice was rising in volume.

“I’m not letting him do anything.” Jason protested. Which was true. Danny was only allowed to stop muggings (and other, similar crimes of opportunity), and only by making enough noise to scare the attackers off. If he found anything more serious than that he had to call Jason.

“Wait, so that was Phantom? Dick, I thought you said he had white hair. This kid looked like the Wayne Adoptee Special.”

“A six year old?!”

“You still haven’t answered my question about the chirping.”

Did Jason say it was nice having brothers around? It wasn’t. He was going to shoot one of them.

The two of them continued to try and get his attention. Dick was shouting about how irresponsible it was to let a child out to fight crime (kinda hypocritical, considering Dick had only been eight) while Tim was still trying to get an answer about the sounds Danny made. Jason flipped the pancake.

“Daddy?” There was a chirp ( curious-sleepy-safe? ) from by the door. Tim and Dick fell silent. Jason glanced over his shoulder. Danny was still in his Martian Manhunter pajamas (looking absolutely adorable in the green onesie emblazoned with J’ohn’s symbol, red ‘x’, and blue padding) as he stood in the doorway, rubbing his eye.

Jason chuffed ( family-safe-can be trusted-hungry? ) and jerked his head towards the pancakes. A huge grin (with more than a hint of fang) split Danny’s face and he floated over to the counter. He settled on his usual spot right next to the stove, taking the bowl of batter and placing it in his lap like they were still at home. Jason smiled and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

“Morning, sunshine.”

The silence was louder than the shouting. Dick and Tim were staring open-mouthed. Jason cleared his throat.

“So, uh…this is Danny, my son.” Danny chirped ( pride-joy-love ). “Danny, these two chucklefucks are Dick and Tim. My brothers.” Jason pointed at each of them in turn with his spatula.

“Hi!” Danny waved enthusiastically. Dick and Tim both waved back, still stupefied.

Dick snapped out of it first. “Ohmigod, I’m an uncle!” He jumped from his chair and scooped a giggling Danny up (batter skillfully caught and set back on the counter). Danny screeched (fun-joy-delight) with laughter as Dick spun them around.

Jason couldn’t stop a purr ( happy-love- home ) as he watched Dick throw Danny up and catch him. Tim sidled up to him.

“The pancake is burning.”

“Shit!”

— — —

Dick’s cheeks ached. He hadn’t smiled this much in years (almost eight years). But he just couldn’t help it! He had both of his little brothers and a surprise nephew cuddled up with him on the couch in the Tower lounge (Tim under one arm, Jason leaning on the other shoulder, and Danny stretched across all three of their laps, feet in Tim’s and head in Jason’s) and every time he glanced down his heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest.

The Lion King (Jason’s pick) was playing on the (unnecessarily massive, if you asked Dick) screen across from them but no one was watching. Tim and Danny were both asleep, Jason seemed lost in thought, and Dick was too overjoyed to pay any attention to cartoon lions singing. He slid an arm free and ruffled Jason’s hair. Jason startled, fingers stuttering in Danny’s hair.

“Hey, Little Wing.” Dick’s voice was wetter than he thought it would be.

“Christ, Dickie, I’m not about to up and disappear.”

Dick wordlessly slung his arm around Jason’s shoulders. Jason curled in closer.

There were a million and a half questions running through Dick’s head. He ignored them all and instead pressed a kiss to the crown of Jason’s head. Jason grumbled a protest but he didn’t move away. Dick’s gaze slid down to the boy snoring on Jason’s lap (his nephew, he had a nephew and both of his brothers ) as Danny shifted in his sleep.

Dick had never considered Jason to be the fatherly type (though he had only been 15 when he’d—Dick cut off the thought, too caught in the miracle to think about such depressing things) but looking at his little brother now, he couldn’t imagine why. Jason had taken to fatherhood like a fish to water (or a Grayson to air, as his father used to say). And it looked good on him. He looked lighter, somehow, despite having bulked up at least 100 pounds (and grown a foot, who gave him permission to be taller than Dick ?). There was a sparkle in his eyes Dick had never seen before.

A few specific questions drifted to the front of Dick’s mind as he watched Jason finger comb Danny’s unruly hair. Dick tried to shut them out, to keep basking in the miracle, but he was a Bat. His mind latched onto the need for answers.

Jason sighed. “I can hear you trying to think, Dick.” He murmured softly, obviously trying to not wake up their two snoring family members. “Go ahead and ask.”

Dick cleared his throat. “So the, uh…the kid’s mom…” As far as Dick was aware, Jason hadn’t had a girlfriend when he’d—then. But Danny was too old to have been…made (Dick didn’t really want to think about his little brother and that ) after (Jason had said he thinks he was dead for a year and a half if the dates he’d been told were accurate). So Jason must have had someone. And it’s not like he and Dick had been super close, with Dick being in Bludhaven trying to get through the police academy (what a waste of time that’d been).

“That bitch? She’s somewhere in Illinois with her husband.” Jason’s fingers snagged on a tangle in Danny’s hair. He started to gently work it out. “Why?”

“Wait.” Dick’s thoughts froze on the new information. “Did she leave him in Gotham? How did you find him?”

“He found me.” Jason managed to get the knot worked through and resumed his gentle strokes.

“He ran away to find you? Where does she think he is?”

Jason glanced up at Dick. “I hope she has no idea where he is.”

“What?” None of this was adding up. “She just let him run off to Gotham with no clue how to find you?”

“Why would he have known—oh my God.“ Jason straightened up slowly and looked Dick dead in the eye. “Dick, do you think I got a girl pregnant at 15?”

Dick spluttered. “What am I supposed to think?”

“Oh my God.” Jason pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand (the other still gently combing Danny’s hair). “Oh my God, you think I—what, I was fucking some random chick then decided to go get myself killed to get out of child support?”

“No! Wh—I—Y—No!” Dick floundered. “I know you’d never—”

“Jesus, Dickie, what kind of fuckhead do you take me—”

“If anything, I assumed you didn’t know she was pregnant—”

“I’m not a goddamn deadbeat—”

Tim stirred under Dick’s arm. Dick froze. “Jay.” He whispered.

Jason cut himself off. His gaze dropped to Tim, whose eyes were starting to flutter. “Fucking—” He stretched an arm across Dick’s chest and wound his fingers through Tim’s hair, scratching at his scalp slowly. “Go back to sleep, Timber.” He murmured.

Tim settled back down against Dick with a sigh. He turned his face into Dick’s chest.

Dick smiled. “Wow. That was…really impressive.” He relaxed back against the couch as Jason withdrew his arm.

Jason shrugged. “Kid doesn’t look like he sleeps enough. ‘S not that different from putting Danny down at night.”

On screen, Simba was singing about everything he’d do once he’s king. “You’ve really turned into a proper Dad, huh?” Dick murmured. He twisted his free arm to grab at the blanket at the edge of the couch, pulling it over as much of Tim and Danny as he could.

“I guess. Tends to happen when you find a kid.” Jason glanced at him sidelong. “Which is what happened. I took Danny in about 8 months ago.”

“Hey, I believe you, Little Wing.” Dick tucked the blanket in around Danny (the kid was freezing). “I just wanted to know if we had to be on the lookout for a vengeful mother, come to steal the child back from his crib.”

“Christ.” Jason chuckled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Why are you so dramatic?”

“More dramatic than you, Mr. Theater Kid himself, you mean?” Dick grinned. “Don’t forget I’m a circus kid.”

“How could I? You just dislocated your arm to grab that blanket.” Jason laughed.

“Shh! You’re gonna wake the baby.” Dick smacked his chest. Jason laughed harder, though more quietly.

“Who, this kid?” Jason pointed at Danny, still biting back laughter. “I’m pretty sure a bucket of ice water to the face wouldn’t wake him up once he’s out.” Dick joined him in carefully quiet laughter. They fell into a comfortable silence.

“Jay, a thought occurs.” Dick said after a few minutes.

“Wow, two thoughts in one day? Don’t strain yourself, Dickie.”

“Shut up.” Dick shoved Jason with his shoulder. “But just to clarify. You adopted Danny.”

“I mean, not legally.” Jason rolled his eyes. “Pretty sure you have to be alive to adopt someone.”

“Semantics.” Dick waved a hand dismissively. “He’s your kid now.”

“Yeah.”

“You found him on the street. Presumably after some traumatic backstory stuff.”

Jason gave him a look. “Where are you going with this, Dickhead?”

“Jay.” Dick grinned.

“Yeah?”

“You adopted a traumatized, black-haired, blue-eyed orphan.”

“Are you just stating the obvious? Is that what…” Jason trailed off as his eyes widened. “No.”

“Yes.” Dick’s grin grew into something feral. “Jayce, you pulled a Bruce.”

“I did not pull a Bruce.”

“You totally pulled a Bruce.”

“I did not pull a Bruce!”

“Oh, my God, Jason, you pulled a Bruce, get over it.” Dick startled as Tim chimed in from under his arm. “Now shut up, I’m napping.” Tim snuggled in closer to Dick and pulled the blanket tighter around himself.

Dick and Jason laughed. Dick tightened his arm around Tim. Jason threw his arm across the back of the couch and resumed scratching at Tim’s scalp. They all quieted, settling comfortably. The Lion King continued to play.

Jason dozed off sometime around Simba being found by Timon and Pumbaa, head falling on Dick’s shoulder. Dick smiled, soft and relaxed. He turned his head to press a gentle kiss into first Jason’s hair, then Tim’s, and mourned quietly that Danny was too far down to do the same without waking everyone. He had both of his little brothers snuggled against him, something he’d never even vaguely considered as possible, and a new family member he already loved with his whole heart stretched across his lap. He couldn’t be happier.

— — —

The feeling of tense-nervous-scared woke Jason. He sat up quickly, looking around for Danny. Dick was snoring, head leaned back against the couch and face to the ceiling. Tim was still asleep under Dick’s arm.

Danny was drifting about three feet above Jason’s head. He was staring intently at the doorway behind them. Jason twisted his head.

There was a dark, hulking, bat-shaped figure in the door. Jason swallowed. The figure stepped forward into the light, reaching up with one hand to pull off his cowl. There was more gray in his hair, more lines around and under his eyes.

“J…Jason?” And shit, if that voice didn’t make him feel 12 years old again. “Jaylad?”

“Hey, B.” Jason instinctively opened his arms as Danny sank down to his chest. He held Danny deliberately loosely and tried to keep his Core from shaking (with anger? Exhaustion? Sorrow? Fear? Jason didn’t know).

“Wh-Who’s this?” Bruce’s voice was trembling.

Jason cleared his throat. “This is Danny.” He pressed his nose into Danny’s hair and breathed in the overly sweet fake watermelon, feeling the swirl of a dozen emotions settle with the familiarity.

“Hi.” Danny waves. “You’re Batman.”

“I am.” Bruce took a step closer to the couch.

“Wait!” Bruce froze. “Are you gonna tell the Guys in White we’re here?” Danny wound his fingers into the shoulder of Jason’s shirt. “Cause you can’t tell them. They’ll hurt him, they’ll cut him open and tear him apart and—” Jason cut him off with a soft croon ( calm-safe-it’s ok ). Danny kept his eyes fixed on Bruce and tightened his grip on Jason’s shirt but didn’t say anything else.

Bruce’s face tightened like he was in physical pain. “I don’t know who the Guys in White are but I promise they won’t hurt either of you.” He scrubbed a hand over his eyes.

“Okay.” Danny settled into Jason’s arms. “You can come closer.” His head drooped down towards Jason’s shoulder.

“Thank you.” Bruce knelt beside the back of the couch. He was trembling with…some emotion (Dick was always better at reading the old man). He swallowed heavily and took another breath. Danny relaxed against Jason’s chest, breath evening into sleep once more.

“Spit it out, B.” Jason said. “I’m not getting any younger here.” It would be another identity check. Standard Bat-procedure and all that. There would probably be several more throughout the next several days, just more subtle (‘This reminds me of that time we blah blah blah, remember? What was it you said…’).

“Jaylad.” Bruce’s mouth quirked up into a soft smile. “I’ve missed you.”

“What?” Jason’s brain stuttered to a halt. “Yo—I—I died and came back, and all you can say is ‘I’ve missed you’?” Danny tensed in his arms, whining ( concern-sleepy-safe? ) softly. Jason took a deep breath and consciously relaxed his grip. He let his Core start up a gentle rumble ( safe-love-warmth ) as Danny settled into sleep.

“W…What do you want me to say?” Bruce set a gloved hand on the back of the couch next to Dick’s head.

“I don’t know, I guess I was expecting something more…Batman?” Jason ran a hand through Danny’s hair. “You didn’t even verify my identity, old man. You’re losing your touch.”

“Oh.” Bruce’s hand clenched. “I assumed Dick and Tim had done that.”

“And you trust them?”

Bruce dropped his gaze.

“Oh. You already knew.” Jason felt strangely…disappointed. “Guess things never change. And Bats never learn to not keep secrets.”

“I suspected.” Bruce snapped his eyes back up to Jason’s face. “I didn’t know anything for sure. If I had been sure, I would have…”

“Would have what, old man?”

Silence.

Jason sighed. This conversation really wasn’t going well. And he was really craving hot chocolate all of a sudden. Fuck it.

“Fuck it.” Jason stood up. Bruce jumped to his feet. “Here.” Jason stalked around the couch and shoved Danny at Bruce’s chest. “Hold your grandchild while I make hot chocolate.”

Bruce flailed for a second before wrapping his arms around Danny. “What?”

“Hold.” Jason mimed cradling the air. “Your grandchild.” He pointed at Danny, who was currently wiggling against the Kevlar of the Batsuit trying to find a comfortable spot. “While I.” He pointed at himself with exaggerated slowness. “Make hot chocolate.” He pointed at the kitchen. “Comprende?” He turned away before Bruce had a chance to respond.

“Whazzat?” Dick’s sleep-muddled voice was still clear in the awkward silence.

“Nothing, chum. Go back to sleep.”

“Mkay, B.”

Footsteps followed Jason into the kitchen. He ignored Bruce in favor of finding a sauce pan and hot chocolate ingredients. It took a few minutes but he managed to unearth a tin of cocoa powder and some sugar. Better than nothing, right?

Jason sat down at the table once the drink was done. He set a mug at the spot across from him and looked up at Bruce.

“You gonna join me?”

Bruce hurried to sit down. He had to adjust Danny from where he had ended up cradled to lay more upright against his shoulder.

“So.” Jason took a sip of the hot chocolate. It was…passable. (Barely.) “You suspected me.”

“I did.” Bruce similarly took a sip of his hot chocolate.

“What gave me away?”

Bruce cocked his head to the side.

Jason rolled his eyes. “Was it my flair for the dramatics? Did one of my taunts strike too close to the heart?”

“Oh.” Bruce looked down at Danny. “I…followed Phantom home after his patrol.”

Jason furrowed his brow. “Danny’s invisible on patrol. Or, well, he’s supposed to be.”

“He was. He creates pockets of camera interference that can be tracked, and a cold spot visible on infrared. Oracle and I were able to use both of those things to track him across the city.”

“Damn.” Jason pushed the hot chocolate away from himself. It wasn’t helping enough to be worth stomaching.

Bruce set his own in the center of the table.

They lapsed back into silence. Jason could have sworn this used to be easier. But now…it was like they didn’t know how to talk to each other.

“I have missed you.” Bruce was surprisingly the one to break the silence. “So much, Jason. I—“

“Can’t have missed me that much.” Jason’s hands itched to hold something. His eyes slid to Danny. “You seem to have upgraded to the newer model.”

“What?”

“Tim? The new kid? About 5’6”, buck 20 soaking wet, former Bat-Stalker?” Jason jerked a thumb in the direction of the lounge. “Currently drooling on you’re first Robin? You know, my replacement.”

“Tim’s not a replacement for you.”

Jason snorted. “Could have fooled me.”

“He’s not.” Bruce placed an elbow onto the table and leaned forward. “Jason, no one could replace you. You’re my son.”

“That’s what you told me, yeah. And yet, when I come back from the dead, what do I find?” Jason slammed a fist down on the table.

Danny jerked upright. He trilled ( confusion-startle-fear? ) and looked up. He squeaked ( worry-confusion-Daddy? ) on seeing Bruce, phasing through Bruce’s arm and falling to the floor.

Jason jumped from his chair. He gathered the trembling kid against his chest and let out a soothing rumble ( right here-calm-love ).

Danny slumped against Jason and cheeped ( calm-love-sleepy ). He quickly settled back down.

“I’m gonna go put him down for a nap.” Jason looked at Bruce. “We can talk more then.”

Bruce nodded.

Jason carried the snoring Danny back into the lounge. Dick and Tim were both still slumped on the couch, though Dick had curled sideways around Tim, cheek on the kid’s hair.

Dick let out an ‘Oomph’ when Jason dropped Danny on his lap. He blinked blearily up at Jason.

“He’ll freak out if he wakes up alone right now, and the old man and I have to have an Adult Talk.”

Dick pushed himself up a bit. “Do you want me to…?” He trailed off when Tim let out a protesting whine and gripped at his hoodie.

“Nah, I got it.”

“You sure?”

Jason looked back at the kitchen and took a deep breath. “No. But you’re a pillow right now and it’s not fair to the kids to wake them up.”

“Okay.” Dick relaxed back against the couch again. “Just shout if you need me.”

“Like you’ve ever been good at actually talking to the old man.”

Dick grinned. “I’m not saying I am. I’m saying I’m louder.”

Jason snorted before heading back into the kitchen. He felt a little like he was knowingly walking into an ambush: jumpy, scattered, uncentered.

His foot had barely crossed the threshold when he was pressed against a firm Kevlar weave. Bruce’s powerful arms were wrapped tight around his shoulders and the man let out a shuddering breath next to Jason’s ear.

“B?” He’d thought he’d felt off balance before but now? He could feel Bruce’s trembling even through the armor of the suit and the tears wetting his hair where Bruce had his nose pressed against his head.

“I’m sorry.” Bruce tightened his arms. “For everything. For not…being there, for making you feel like you couldn’t talk to me about things, for…” a stifled sob, “for ever letting you doubt that you’re my son .”

Jason’s head swirled. “But…”

Bruce pulled away, wiping at his face. “But what?” He left his hands on Jason’s shoulders, gripping like if he let go Jason would disappear.

“You didn’t…” Bruce was staring at him with tears flowing freely down his face. Jason took a shaking breath. “The clown is still alive.”

Bruce’s fingers spasmed on Jason’s shoulders. “I—“

“Nothing changed.” And damn it, now Jason’s eyes were wet. “I came back and nothing changed, B. You and Dick still aren’t getting along, you still have a Robin, and the Joker is still alive. Was I—Wasn’t I important?”

“Of course you were—are.” Bruce pulled Jason back to his chest. He cupped the back of Jason’s head and let Jason bury his nose in the bend of his neck. “You’re so important, Jay. I…” Bruce swallowed heavily. “I nearly died with you.”

“What?” Jason tried to pull back but Bruce’s grip just tightened.

“After I found you in that warehouse. I just…I couldn’t imagine going on. If it hadn’t been for Dick, I would have pulled off the cowl right then and there, left Batman to die beside Robin.”

“B—“

“That first patrol back in Gotham was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to make myself do. And I didn’t care if I came back to the Cave at the end of the night.” Bruce buried his nose in Jason’s hair.

Jason’s arms came up almost of their own volition, gripping at the inside of the cape like he could disappear into it if he pulled hard enough.

“If Tim hadn’t convinced Alfred Robin was needed, I think I wouldn’t have.”

Jason sobbed, pressing his face into the crook of Bruce’s neck. He could feel Bruce’s tears wetting his hair. They both stood there for a long moment.

“Oh, family hug time!” Dick cried from the doorway. A moment later, his arms joined Bruce’s around Jason.

“Hey!” Jason said, pulling away as far as he was allowed. “Where—?”

Danny chirped ( here!-joy-excitement ) as he wiggled his way between Jason and Bruce. Bruce laughed wetly.

“I smell hot chocolate.” Tim had managed to sneak around the small group to the stove.

Jason smiled, pressing a quick kiss to Danny’s hairline before stepping away, letting Bruce (currently looking down at the kid with an expression of pure wonder) hold him.

“I’ll make more.”