Work Text:
“No.”
Jason isn’t sure why the fuck he bothers locking his door anymore. He might as well just leave it wide open, with a welcome mat on the floor, because lately it seems no one bothers to knock anyway.
They all just wait for him to leave and climb through the window, probably.
But this time it’s not Roy Harper standing in his living room. Oh no, this time it’s three annoying little birds lounging on his couch and raiding his fridge.
“No. Nope. All of you, out.”
Tim doesn’t even blink from where he’s curled up with a cup of what Jason hopes is coffee, Cass waves in greeting, and Stephanie grins like a shark . In fact, the three of them are all wearing matching maniac grins.
“What the fuck. Get out, now. Climb down the window, use the door, phase through the wall , I don’t care, just get lost. ” Jason huffs. Their smiles widen creepily. “And what the fuck is wrong with your faces?”
“Now, now, Jason,” Steph begins, “that’s rude. Here we are, like good siblings, to ask how was your weekend and this is how you treat us?”
“Rude.” Cass agrees, solemnly. “Not even offer drinks.”
“Yes, Jason,” Tim says, and his tone leaves Jason on edge. Nothing good ever started with his using that voice. “you’re a terrible host. But anyway, we forgive you. Now, how was New York?”
Sometimes, in this huge family that Jason is in no way a part of, some of them gravitate together in groups. And everytime that’s a fucking fire hazard. But Tim, Steph and Cass? It reaches new levels. Even Bruce shudders at the thought.
And yet here they are, a nuclear warhead about to go off on his living room.
More importantly, what the fuck does that even mean ?
“Great.” He grunts, striding toward his kitchen, “Black Mask will think twice before even vacationing in New York.”
“Is that so?” Steph asks, “because from what a little red and black bird told us, well, actually a red bird told a yellow bird who told the black and red bird who told our red bird, that there’s a hell of lot more to that.”
“Yeah,” Tim sets his mug on the coffee table, turning to smirk at Jason, “how come you go visit your boyfriend and don’t even tell us, Jay?”
Cass nods, stealing Tim’s coffee.
Fucking hell. He sits down in one of his chairs, and Jason’s not blushing. He’s not. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Replacement. And frankly, I don’t give a fuck, you all are out of your goddamn minds.”
“But Jason, love is a beautiful thing,” Cass smiles, like she knows she’s the only one out of the three he might forgive. Might . “Also, Alfred will be upset you didn’t bring him to dinner first.”
“Woah there, no one is telling anyone shit,” Jason pinches the bridge of his nose; really, this is progress, like, real progress. Look at him, not a single threat of murder all evening. Bats should be fucking proud. “Okay, I’ll bite. What the fuck is going on?”
“It’s best if we show you, to be honest,” Steph shrugs, “Tim?”
The kid crosses the room looking like he just made the deal of the century and is just waiting for the other party to realize they lost. Jason doesn’t want to think too much on what that says about him in that scenario, so instead he takes the offered cell phone.
And then promptly loses his shit.
Because displayed on the screen is a photo of him and Roy sleeping on the same bed that night on the penthouse.
Then , two things cross his mind.
First, that’s a damn good picture. The pale morning light is reflecting off Roy’s hair and highlighting how bright it is, and they seem so peaceful in their sleep it hurts to look at. They look like they fit , like in another life, in some wonderland Jason might dream up, this is what his heaven might look like.
His second thought is, he’s going to kill Wally. He’s gonna make him wish he was still lost in the time stream. He’ll murder Wally and not even the entirety of the Justice League could stop him.
“So, dinner?”
“I know that looks bad,” Jason needs to run damage control, and he needs to do it fast, before this leaks to the Titans, before - deep breaths. Focus. Damage control. “But there’s nothing going on. Roy was sick. He didn’t want to sleep it off alone. Ask Dr.Thompkins, we called her first thing in the morning. That’s all. ”
“Man, aren’t you a good friend, Jason,” Stephanie drawls, and he regrets every waffle he ever bought her at 3am. She lost all her waffle privileges. “Just looking out for your old pal. Just two bros, sleeping on the same bed, five millimeters apart ‘cause they’re not gay.”
“Nice,” Tim beams while Cass high-fives her. No really, who the fuck left these three alone? Shouldn’t someone be babysitting? He blames Dick. All that bonding time crap created a monster, a three headed one.
“Well, technically, we aren’t, so-”
“I feel like this conversation is going off topic.” The little shit that drank all his coffee says, leaning on the kitchen counter, “so here’s the thing, I believe you. Well . Sort of.”
“What he’s trying to say is that we know you didn’t bone everyone’s new favorite archer.” Steph sits down at the table, Cass on the seat beside her, opposite his. This kitchen is far too small for this. “ But , we also know you’re dying to. Pun intended.”
“What? That’s-- what? How can you even suggest-- honestly that’s the stupidest thing I heard all week-- me ? Having feelings? For Roy? That’s just--”
“ Jason.”
Maybe it’s the way Cass says it, soft and gentle and patient, or maybe Jason is just tired of lying about this. Or it’s just that he hasn’t had the time to stop, to sleep, to rest yet; he’s been traveling since New York, and the jet lag is finally getting to him. Either way, he gives up.
“Fine. I may or may not want, you know, more .”
And saying it aloud makes it real, takes the weight off his chest, sure, but it makes him vulnerable and Jason hates it, and it takes all his self control not to lash out.
“Good, the first step is admitting,” Steph smiles, “now you just gotta tell him.”
“How about fuck no. ”
“Listen, Jason, take it from the guy actually dating his best friend,” and okay, he did not know that. Replacement and the Clone? “it seems scary, to put yourself out there like that, and I know, it goes against your very nature to take leaps of faith, but it’s worth it. ”
“And if it helps, I think he loves you too.”
It should help, knowing that Cass thinks so, but Jason’s feeling cornered and ambushed, and you don’t corner a wild animal and expects it to stay down.
“You all said your piece, thanks for the concern, but not thanks. Now, fuck off, until never.”
“But-”
“We should go,” Cass cuts in, beginning to herd the others to the exit. But before she leaves she hugs him quickly, says quietly, “you deserve to be happy too, Jay.”
“Bye, Cass,” he waves from the kitchen, “and Timbers? Could you-”
“Already sent it to your email. You can frame it on your wall now!”
They leave before the knife embeds itself on the door.
*
This is the last time Jason takes advice from anyone bat related. The last fucking time.
“I gotta tell ya, Jaybird,” Roy says, because Roy isn’t on the verge of an aneurysm, “if you glare any harder at this chicken, it’s gonna go from cooked to combusted in a sec.”
Jason sighs, runs a hand through his hair, looks up warily, “does that mean they can bring the dessert?”
“Oh man, I totally forgot about dessert, the food here is so good! Is it chocolate tart? I love the choc-”
It’s not that Jason isn’t paying attention at what he’s saying, he is, it’s just that the old man in the table next to them is carrying a briefcase full of money and a glock under the table and the guy who just walked in has two guns hidden under his coat, and Jason knows a shady deal when he sees one and he knows a possible shoot out when he sees one.
“Okay. Honestly, Jason, what’s going on? First, you call grunting about dinner-”
On the one hand, a shoot out could be annoying , and definitely fuck up his plan, but hey, it might not come to this, right?
“ -then drag me to one of the most expensive restaurants in Manhattan-”
On the other hand, it’s really not their problem, is it? It’s Manhattan, after all, it’s the Titans territory, so really, those two morons bringing guns to a public space are out of his paycheck.
“ -then you act all weird, so come on, spit it out, what’s on your mind?”
Okay. Yeah. Cool. Fuck those guys. Jason can do this. It’s now or never. Carpe Diem. You only live twice. Cool. Cool. Cool.
“Listen, Roy, it’s complicated. I mean, not really. Well, the thing is, you’re my best friend. I’ve known you all my life, or at least for as long as it mattered. And you helped me through the worst times of it, and I know I can be an asshole, but you stayed. And that- I don’t think I ever thanked you for that. You cared, even after everything. So, I know you have a good thing going here in Manhattan, and I don’t even know where I’ll wake up tomorrow, but- ” it’s not their problem it’s not their problem it’s not their problem- “ fucking hell, the idiot pulled out the gun, didn’t he?”
“Yep,” Roy says, already reaching for his bow, “just like old times, right?”
Jason pulls out his own revolvers, and grins. They spring into action.
Is it bad that Jason is kind of enjoying this? Because come on, working with Roy again and getting to postpone embarrassing himself? Jackpot.
Of course, he’s pissed too, impending doom aside, they were having a perfectly good dinner before those morons decided to blow everything up. It was hard to get a last minute reservation here, he had to drop the Wayne name more than once and he’s sure Tim still had to make some calls.
“You know, this is why we can’t have nice things,” Jason has his gun trained on Old Asshole #1, and around them people are running off the doors. Damn it, they’re never setting foot here again. “It’s exactly because of people like you and your friend here, who think it’s smart to do this in the middle of a restaurant.”
“Yeah, man,” Roy has one of his exploding arrows stuck in the table in front of Old Asshole #2, trigger dangling in his fingers. “Not cool. We were in the middle of something here, dude.”
Police sirens sound in the distance, approaching fast. “And that’s out cue. Here’s what’s gonna happen. Any other night and I’d be more than happy to put a few bullets in you, but, you’re in luck today because I am not letting this job ruin this date.” Jason deliberately turns the safety off for emphasis, “so you’re gonna be real quiet while I tie you up. Or, I will shoot you and then he ’s gonna blow you up. Got it?”
Assholes #1 and #2 nod fervently as he takes the zip ties Roy offers him. They secure them and the briefcase full of what they assume is dirty money, and by the time the police burst through the doors, they’re already out of the backdoor and running past the streets of New York.
They stop somewhere inside Central Park, breathless, with lungs burning and legs giving out, collapse in the grass laughing. They laugh and laugh until there’s no more air to breathe and their chest feel like bursting.
“Okay, that was fun,” Roy is the first to recover, pushing himself off the floor as his giggles die down and something changes in his face, becomes soft, hesitant, “a bit bummed no space ships crashed yet but you sure do have a track record with. Uh, dates?”
Jason stills, gaze trained at the sky. He takes a moment to stare at the multitude of stars he can see, a nightsky so different from the dull grey pollution of Gotham. For some reason it’s easier here, in the open air, than in that crowded restaurant. His tie was lost somewhere in the streets, and his shirt’s collar isn’t choking anymore.
“I mean, I know you called it a date before, but it doesn’t have to be,” Roy backtracks, voice raising in the way Jason remembers, knows because Jason knows Roy like he knows the stars of the summer sky in Gotham, he only does when he’s nervous, “if you don’t want it to be?”
“I do,” he says, “want it, that is. Do you?”
“Yeah, duh. I mean, I even wore a suit.”
“That’s just a shirt with drawings to mimic a tux.”
“It’s the fancy one, though.” Roy chuckles, but when Jason doesn’t say anything else, he prompts, “so, at the restaurant, you looked like you were trying to say something?”
He laughs quietly, knows Roy is still looking at him, but stays staring up at the constellations. “And doing a bad job at that. But what I meant is that, all things considered, I’m not the best at dealing with feelings.”
“Meaning you refuse to acknowledge ‘em and pull a Batman?”
“Fuck you. But yes, something like that.” Jason takes a deep breath, “so this is me, acknowledging them.”
A pause. Then, “are you saying-”
“I’m saying I’m in love with you.” There. He said it. “Have been for a while, actually. But it’s cool if you don’t, you know. Feel the same.”
When Roy doesn’t answer, worry and hurt and regret start growing inside his chest, and suddenly the open field doesn’t seem so peaceful, just miles of nowhere to hide, but then a hand appears in his vision, and- oh.
He takes it.
And they kiss until it feels like there’s a universe being born in the space between his ribs, and stars are lighting up his bones.
“Hey,” Roy whispers, smiling against his lips, “took you long enough.”
“Wait, what?” Jason frowns, “you knew? But I wasn’t sure until-”
“Yeah, I was waiting for you to catch up,” he grins, “but I did ask you out on Valentine’s day.”
Jason thinks he should be a little offended but, well, Roy is kissing along his jaw now and his mind is having a hard time staying coherent.
“So, Jaybird, are you going to walk me home or what?”
He laughs, and Roy grins, and Jason kisses again, just because he can, and when he looks in his eyes, he sees home.