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Jason was walking towards class, he had decided to take the long way to the classroom, walking over campus to get away from all the other students. His left arm was in a cast as a result from his duty as Bluejay a few weeks ago, and he really didn’t feel like coming up with a story to explain it away to his classmates right now. Honestly, he was pretty mad at himself for getting the injury to begin with. He had been sloppy and completely missed one of the goons aiming a bat, oh the irony of that one, at him. The goon had gotten lucky and almost completely shattered Jason's elbow. He was now benched from his nightly activities and it was pissing him off.
As Jason was walking minding his own business, i.e., not being late for English class, he heard someone yelling. Not being able to help himself Jason walked towards the yelling only to find his English teacher yelling at a student. Jason didn’t recognize the student immediately and assumed they had to be either new or an exchange student. He quickly scanned the student and concluded that they were being yelled at because of how they were dressed. It probably broke the entire dress code list that Gotham Academy had.
Long dark hair tied back in a messy bun, ripped jeans, the school’s blazer thrown over their shoulder bag, the list went on. Jason guessed they might be part of a garage band or just had an alternative style in general. However interesting that may be, they still broke the rules and even though Jason sort of admired them for doing so, he wanted nothing to do with the situation. So he continued to walk past them but didn’t get very far because the teacher had now noticed him.
“Wayne, how convenient of you to walk by. You would not happen to have a spare set of school uniform pants here at school? You seem to be about the same size as Mr. Wilson here.”
The student finally turned towards him and Jason recognized him. It was incredibly weird to see the other boy looking so, well not normal but still. He was still just as beautiful now as ever and it took him a short moment to get his brain to start working again out of perhaps pour chock. He blinked a few times.
“Uhm yeah, I do.” Jason said, still looking at Wilson, the teacher hadn’t given him a first name yet and honestly, Jason still tetchily didn’t know the other boys name, just his… work name so to speak.
“Excellent, Mr. Willson will follow you and you will let him borrow them until he has received his own.” The teacher said. “You will be excused to arrive late to my class, now move along.”
Jason nodded and quickly looked away from Wilson as the teacher left them.
“Right, uhm this way.” Jason said and started to walk in the direction of his looker. Why was he so awkward? Did Wilson even recognize him? Willson walk silently beside him, and Jason noticed how the other would look at him when he thought Jason wouldn’t notice, maybe he did after all? It was like they were playing a silent game of “who would say something first”. Though Jason had teacherly already won or lost depending how you looked at it when he told Willson to follow him. Had that counted? Had that started this silent game by that time? Jason wasn’t sure, so he decided to break the silence.
“So Willson, is there a first name to go with that?” Jason asked looking over at the other.
“I don’t know Wayne, didn’t know Bruce Wayed had a son or do you just have the unfortunate luck of sharing his name?” Wilson asked back.
Jason huffed. “My name is Jason Todd-Wayne, but no one here cares about the Todd part of my last name. And I guess I share his name in a way, he is my dad, but not by blood.”
“Adopted than. No shame in that, I’m adopted too.” Wilson said and a small smile played on their lips. “My name is Dick, though my father insists that I present myself as Richard.”
This was all information they both already knew about the other, but it was still a weird interaction. Were they both playing a game incase they walked past someone? Pretending not to know one another?
Jason smiled back at them. “So what brings you to Gotham Academy?”
“What’s with all the questions Mr. Jason Todd? We just met.” Dick answered with yet another question. But it was in a playful tone, like Dick was teasing him and that he had the audacity to enjoy it.
“Well Mr. Dick Wilson, isn’t that the best time to ask questions? Maybe I want to get to know you better?”
Dick lost his smile and looked away from Jason. “Don’t you already know me? But it matters little, I won’t be here for long. My father is a businessman, and we travel a lot. We probably will only be staying for a few weeks, two months top.”
“So? I still wanna get to know you. It would be very lonely for you to not have any friends while you stay in this shitty, shitty city.” Jason said. He was not going to give up that easily, this was a challenge now.
“Who said I don’t have any friends?” Dick wondered. “I never said that, you assumed it.”
Jason guessed that was true. “Sorry, not sorry.” He said as they reached Jason's looker. He opened it and shoved around some papers and books, fishing out a pair of pants that matched his own. Jason handed them over to Dick. “Here you go. Can’t guarantee that they fit but it’s better than the once you have, damn shame though.”
“You like my pants?” Dick took the pants, looking them over.
Jason nodded. “I do, but they would look better on my bedroom floor.”
That got Dick to laugh a little. “Such a tease you are, Mr. Todd.” Dick opened his bag and pulled out a pen. Jason watched as Dick lend in closer to him, clicking the pen and started to write something on his cast. Jason looked down and realized that Dick was writing down a phone number.
“Uhm…” Jason was unsure of what he wanted to say. Dick just smiled as he put the pen back into his bag.
“Friends have each other’s phone number, yes?” Dick said as he started to walk away. “See you in English.”
Jason could only nod as he watched Dick leave. Had Dick really given him his personal phone number?
////
Jason didn’t get much done that day. Honestly the entire day went past his eyes without him noticing and suddenly Jason was sitting in the backseat with Alfred driving him home.
“Did you have a good day at school today, Master Jason?” Alfred asked as he drove.
Jason's only answer was just an offhanded “Mm”, his mind somewhere else completely. He just couldn’t get Dick out of his mind. Jason blamed it on him being sixteen and like most sixteen-year-old’s he was just a pile of hormones, and fuck Dick had been even more attractive dressed as a normal teenager. He glanced down at his cast, Dick had a very nice handwriting as well. The numbers had a slight cursive tint to them, Jason wondered if Dick wrote letters the same way.
Jason was so lost in thoughts about Dick that he didn’t notice that the car had stopped.
“Master Jason?” Alfred asked as he opened the passenger door. “Are you all right?”
Jason looked up at Alfred. “Yeah, sorry Alfe. I just... I have a lot on my mind.” He got out of the car.
“You currently do.” Alfred said as he shut the door behind him. “Dinner will be ready at 6 o clock, I expect you to have finished your homework until then.”
Jason laughed. “Sure grandpa. Where is the old man anyway?”
“Master Bruce got hold back at the office.” Alfred said as he opened the front door to the manor for Jason.
“He actually went to work?” Jason said as he headed towards his room to change out of the school uniform and get into some more comfortable clothes. The cast made the process a whole lot harder but after some fumbling around Jason was satisfied and made his way to the library, his favorite place in the whole manor.
He was just about to start with his homework when he remembered that he hadn’t yet put Dicks number in his phone. He quickly pulled out his phone, added the number and sent a quick text.
‘Hi, this is Jason.’ Short and simple. Jason felt a little nervous all of a sudden. What if Dick wouldn’t answer? He almost dropped the phone when it vibrated in his hand. He looked down and saw that Dick had sent him a text back.
‘Hi Jason. I’m glad you texted me. Can’t talk for too long though. Dad wants me to help him with some stuff tonight.’
Jason knew what that meant, but he was also 100% sure both their phones were bugged so he played along.
‘That’s cool. I have homework to do anyway. XD’
It took a few minutes before Dick answered this time.
‘Same, but I will have to do mine later tonight.’
Jason smiled and sent a quick ‘See you tomorrow’ text, even though he was pretty sure that they would see each other tonight. back and started to concentrate on his homework. When he was done with that, he picked up the Charls Dickens collection book that he had been reading the past few days and barely noticed the time flying by him. He honestly didn’t really like the book, but he also didn’t want to leave it unfinished. So, he had continued to read it, maybe he could discuss it with Bruce when he finally got home.
He was kind of glad though. Tonight he would get to take of the cast and be Bluejay again. His skin had been crawling and he was desperate to jump over rooftops again, punching some criminals.
Bruce wasn’t home for dinner, that or Jason had missed him coming back. So Jason ate alone and then made his way down to the cave to maybe find Bruce down there. If nothing else, he would wait for Alfred to come down and take off the cast. He was a little sad to lose Dicks handwriting, but it would be fine.
Bruce was indeed sitting in front of the computer, tapping away at the keyboard. Jason walked up to him.
“Nice seeing you at the dinner table old man. We had a really interesting conversation, don’t you think.” Jason said with a dry voice.
“I’m sorry Jason, but Deathstroke has been seen in Gotham and that took priority.” Bruce said, not looking at Jason.
“Of course it did.” Jason muttered and walked over to the medbay.
///
The happiest day in his life had been the day he put on the Bluejay costume for the first time. Being out in the city feeling like he made a difference had filled him with a new sort of hope that he had never felt before. He had been 13 at the time and it had been about two years before Jason had met him.
The boy had been sitting that he edge of the rooftop that Jason had landed on, humming on an old tune, swinging his legs. He had looked about his own age, perhaps a little shorter but that was something Jason hadn’t really been paying attention to. The boys uniform however was more interesting. It was black and orange, a colour combination reminded him of Deathstroke.
“Don’t think too hard now Little wing, or you will hurt yourself.” The boy had said as he stood up and looked over at Jason.
“Rude! My name is Bluejay, and who are you even supposed to be? Deathstroke's little helper?” Bluejay said, preparing for a fight.
“Funny how you call me ‘Dsathstroks little helper’ when you are nothing but a kid running after Batman.” The boy said walking closer towards Bluejay, he unhooked two baton looking weapons from the holster on his right leg. “People call me Renegade, but you can call me Darling.”
Bluejay might have laughed at the terrible timing for a pickup line if not for the baton just missed his face by a few millimeters.
“Hey! What the hell man?” Bluejay shouted as he flipped away from Renegade, throwing a batarang towards the other boy.
“You even have the same toys, adorable.” Renegade laughed as he attacked again.
Their little dance continued for about five minutes before it changed into them chasing each other over the rooftops. Renegade was always just a bit too fast for Bluejay to really catch up to him. This went on for far longer than the fighting had been and Bluejay chased Renegade for what felt like hours. That was until Renegade suddenly stopped at the edge of a building. Bluejay didn’t realise that Renegade had stopped and crashed right into the other boy, toppling them both of the building. The free fell for a brief moment before Renegade grabbed onto Bluejay, fired his grappling gun and swung them to a fire escape. It's more like they crashed into the fire escape then landed.
“Stupid lite bird.” Renegade muttered. ”You could have gotten yourself killed”
Bluejay just looked at Renegade in shock.
“You saved me?” he asked.
“I wasn’t gonna let you die. I’m not that cruel.” Renegade didn’t look at Bluejay, he quickly fired his grappling gun again and left Bluejay alone on the fire escape.
After that encounter, they had run into each other every so often. Renegade would serve the purpose of keeping Bluejay distracted while Deathstroke and Batman was fighting somewhere else. They didn’t fight all the time though, sometimes they would end up on a rooftop just talking, it had been a little (a lot) weird the first time it happened. They had been knowing each other for a year or so when Jason had found Renegade sitting on a rooftop, not unlike the first time that they had met, snacking on some fast food. Renegade hadn’t said much and just offered him some fries. Jason had looked at them suspiciously. Renegade had just laughed and said,
“Do you really think I would poison you Little wing?”
No. Jason didn’t think so. Not nowadays anyway. So he sat down beside Renegade and took a fry.
///
Their relationship had changed somewhat over the years as they both got older. The banter had gotten dirtier and the touching more daring. They had yet to acutely act on any feelings or suggestions, but Jason could not lie to himself that the thought of Renegade, Dick, underneath him in a very different situation from fighting wasn’t appealing to him.
“Jason.”
Jason was brought back to the presence by Bruce voice. He looked over at Bruce who was still sitting at the computer.
“What?”
“Are you ready to head out?” Bruce asked, standing up and walking over to the stand where the rest of the bat suit was displayed.
Jason nodded. He flexed his hand a few times. He would have to be a little bit mindful tonight so he wouldn’t end up breaking it again. He jumped into the Bluejay suit and ran over to his bike. He looked back at Bruce.
“ ‘Am ready Boss. What are we doing tonight?”
“Renegade has been spotted in the city, which means Deathstroke can’t be far behind.” Bruce said. “We need to know why they are here, and if there is a contract on someone. I expect you to be able to handle Renegade.” Bruce got into the car and they both made their way into the streets of Gotham.
Bluejay wasn’t too upset about seeing Renegade again. It had been a while due to his injury had he honestly had missed hanging out with Renegade.
As expected Bluejay found Renegade sitting on a rooftop looking out over Gotham, snacking on a cheeseburger.
“I will never understand how you can eat like you do and still be slim.” Bluejay said as he landed beside Renegade.
“Now now, don’t be rude Little Wing.” Renegade said as he offered Bluejay a bag of french fries. Bluejay accepted them and sat down beside Renaged.
“So, what are you doing in town?” Bluejay asked, eating a few fries.
Renegade sighted. “Dad has some things to do here, he didn’t tell me what so don’t ask, and said we had to stay for like a month. He even enrolled me in school, so annoying.” HE really sounded annoyed about the matter.
“That sucks man.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments. “So.. Dick?” Bleujay finally asked.
“Yes Jason?” Renegade.. Dick asked back.
The illusion sort of broke with that.
“What the hell?!” Jason exclaimed. “Why the fuck were you at my school?”
“I told you.” Dick shrugged. “Dad has some stuff to do in town, I didn’t lie about that.”
Jason looked over at Dick. “I’m sure it was a complete coincidence that you ended up at Gotham high as well.” He said sarcastically.
“There are no such things as coincidence. It was perfectly calculated.” Dick smiled. “But I also wanted to see you outside of… this.” He gestured to their costumes.
“What do you mean?” Jason asked even though, maybe he already knew the answer.
“Jason… I am not going to change. I am still and will continue to be Renegade and work with my father. But maybe I wanna be a teenager for a little while. Just you know be normal. Have normal teenage drama.” Dick said looking at Jason, moving a little closer.
Jason did not blush, thank you very much.
“Fuck..” Jason said, barely above a whisper.
“I mean, if you want to.” Dick teased. “But maybe not here. I can feel dad not being too far away and though I like it a little freaky, my dad watching me get down and dirty is not on the list.”
Jason burst out laughing at that. “For fuck’s sake! Stop it! That’s probably the grossest thing you’ve ever said.”
Dick laughed as well. “Can I kiss you, Little Wing?”
“Not so little anymore.” Jason muttered as he lends in towards Dick.
“Show me later?” Dick asked just before they kissed.
///
Slade was standing on a rooftop not too far from where Renegade and Bluejay was sitting. He didn’t particularly like that his son was in love with the young hero, but he was also not stupid enough to tell Dick what and what not to do. He didn’t turn around when he heard someone land behind him.
“Aren’t they adorable?” he said sarcastically.
“Hum.” Was the answer that he got from Batman.
“Didn’t you date Catwoman?”
“She isn’t a killer.” Batman muttered.
“Oh and Miss Al Ghul is just such a nice and innocent young lady.” Slade mocked. “Have some dignity Batman and be happy for your kid.”
“I’m sure you are thrilled about this.” Batman said monotone.
“No. But Renegade is old enough to make his own decisions and or mistakes. Is your little hero?”