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He was out of town when it all went down, but he’d have to be dead again in order to have not heard about ‘Bruce Wayne’s Biologicals Son Coming Out of the Woodwork’ and the whole snafu in Gotham that’d followed. A smile crept its way onto Jason’s face as he entered city limits. If Damian was here, it was likely you weren’t far behind. His little hellion family would be reunited soon enough
First though, he had to reestablish his hold on Crime Ally now that he was back …
As fate would have it (or rather, as Oracle’s stalker-like knack for tracking the batfam would have it), Jason found Bruce waiting for him next to his favorite gargoyle right as he was about to call it a night.
“Old man,” he greeted, hand falling to the gun at his hip just in case this turned ugly.
“Jason.”
Wow, my real name. He’s gotta be freaking out more than I thought.
“Come by the manor tomorrow. You need to meet your brother.”
“Why? Tim not up to it?” Jason’s mouth was running despite the fact that he was definitely going to be there. “Or did the brat already get Dickhead to back off? I heard he’s feral even compared to me.”
Bruce’s jaw clenched, bringing a smile to Jason’s covered face. “He wants to meet you.”
“He looked you up after he hacked into the Batcomputer,” Barbara’s voice came through the helmet’s speakers before Jason could voice his confusion.
“First a kid steals your tires, now one breaks into your super-secret files. What kind of riff-raff are you letting into the manor these days, Brucie?”
“Dinner. Tomorrow. Be there.”
Jason snickered at the tightness of Batman’s voice as the caped vigilante dove into the night. “Fucking tool,” he muttered to the empty air.
“You really shouldn’t antagonize him, Hood.”
“And you really need to get off my comms before I have Roy download all sorts of horse porn onto your rig.”
There was a quiet chuckle. “Missed you too, Jason.”
Right. Now to bed.
He’s taller, was all Jason could think as he stepped into the cave and laid on the boy he’d helped raise for years that was now standing right in front of him. The change in height hadn’t changed the kid, though, based on the tense excitement that had Damian practically vibrating.
A flicker of movement to the side–Bruce skulking about–gave Jason pause. As subtle as he could, he shook his head and zipped through the League Sign Language for, “Safehouse. Tonight.”
Outwardly, Damian didn’t acknowledge him, but a veil of false calm dropped over the boy, stilling his movements. Talia would be proud. “You must be the dead one,” his lightly-accented voice greeted coldly.
They must be trying to hide his real heritage, thought Jason in response to that smothered accent. Shame. “Bold talk from a kid that had to be moved to fucking Gotham of all places for protection.”
“Boys!” Bruce’s bark announced his arrival into earshot.
“Oh relax, Brucie,” Jason soothed sarcastically with an easy smile as he ruffled his adopted son’s hair, much to the kid’s mock-disdain. “We’re just messin’ around.”
“Still. Enough. Both of you get upstairs; your brothers are waiting for you.”
“Oh joy. The mean Robins get to meet with the happy one and the depressed one.”
“Damian isn’t Robin.”
“Not yet,” Damian snapped. “It’s my right as–”
“You’re not doing anything until you learn to follow the Rule.”
Damian’s silence spoke volumes about his thoughts on that Rule.
Jason was on the roof of his apartment building waiting for Damian come midnight that same night. He had no doubt the kid could slip through any defenses Bruce had constructed with the intent to cage him, and Jason had slid a note with the address into his pocket earlier. Now it was just a matter of–Nevermind. Speak of the Devil.
The kid stumbled during his landing because of the obvious excitement that coursed through him. “Baba!” he shouted as he tackled Jason in a tight hug.
“Hey, Dami,” Jason greeted, the first genuine smile he’d had in months blooming on his face. “It’s been a while.”
“Whose fault is that, asshole?” the kid snapped even though he didn’t loosen his grip in the slightest.
A chuckle bubbled up from Jason’s chest. “Your mama would be pissed if she heard you talkin’ like that.”
“Yeah, pissed at you.” His face was still buried in Jason’s stomach due to the hug. Not that Jason wanted to let him go any time soon.
“Good point,” he admitted.
Those big, green eyes–so similar to the Pit without him having to take a dip in it–turned to look up at him. “Why didn’t you want Father to know we’ve met before?”
At that, Jason sighed. “I don’t know if you’ve been around long enough to have figured it out, but dear old Dad doesn’t exactly like me. I don’t want him judging you for me having ‘tainted’ you or something.”
“I am not ashamed–”
“Neither am I, and as far as I’m concerned, you’re still my kid. God knows it’d kill Bruce to show anyone any affection, so someone’s gotta treat you right.”
If possible, the hug got tighter. “I’ve read his files on you, and I won’t ask why Father doesn’t like you.”
Damn if the kid wasn’t freakishly perceptive, because Jason had been dreading answering that question. Because I’m not Dick, because I’m a street rat to the core, because I think for myself instead of blindly following his orders, because I’m too angry, because I got myself blown the fuck up–
“But know that I also don’t care. You and mama were there for me.” Damian didn’t bother to add ‘when no one else was.’
“Love you too, Dami. This place will always be here if you want to get away from the manor … or just want to see me.”
“Thank you, Baba.”
Now, Jason crouched so he could meet Damian eye-to-eye. “And don’t worry about your Mama.” The kid looked away abruptly as if he’d been caught. Jason gently directed Damian’s attention back to his face so he could see just how serious Jason was. “My friends are already looking for her. We’re going to find her.”
The kid scoffed despite the relief scrawled all over his face. “As if you could if she didn’t want you to.”
Jason barked a laugh. “True, but both of us are here now. Do you really think she’d want to stay away?”
“ … No.”
Good, ‘cause she showed up earlier tonight, and now I just need to convince her that you won’t reject her.