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Dick left him home alone with the brat.
And it wasn’t an accident.
Everyone thought Dick was perfect, with his bright smiles and his perfect hair flips, and his brazenly obnoxious personality.
Oh Dick, you’re such a golden boy , they said.
Oh Bruce, how did you raise such an amazing and perfect son when the other came out so fucked up? , they said.
Oh Dick, you’re the greatest and so perfect and so so blah, blah, blah, they said.
But what they didn’t know was that Dick was evil.
Bad to the bone. Fit to be a Rogue. Evil.
Jason glared at the impling in the fireplace and the impling glared right back with the same heat. It would have been intimidating if he wasn’t cowering behind the searing protection of the flames.
Hell’s bells, why would Dick leave him of all people to be the babysitter?
In the back of his head, Jason knew why and the strained bond in his chest was a constant reminder of it.
His plan had been elegant and so unbelievably Dick-ish. He timed it perfectly. Bruce was at work. Alfred was doing his weekly ‘grocery/get-away-from-them-for-a-few-hours’ run. Dick had bought him and Tim tickets to some nerd thing that Tim was overly excited about.
Dick had also pretended that Jason’s ticket got lost in the mail and ‘oh, that’s perfect because I completely forgot about Alfred’s scheduled, same-time-each-week grocery run and I need someone to watch Damian’.
So that’s how Jason got left alone with the Luciferean.
The same Luciferean that probably hated him and definitely was afraid of him.
Jason shifted his weight and the impling hissed, baring his tiny milk fangs at him.
“Come on, brat,” Jason said gruffly. “Don’t make me get the fire poker.”
The impling hissed again, but he also glanced nervously at the pointed iron stick. He hated that thing, even though it was about the only way he could force Damian out of a fireplace. Everyone else didn’t like the idea of using it, but how else was Jason supposed to get the kid out of the flames.
“Where is Grayson?” the impling snapped, nervously looking behind Jason and towards the open door. Jason heard just the edges of a whine in his voice and it struck a chord in his heart.
Actually, this entire situation—pack bonds unsettled, an impling terrified of him, failure at being a true Heart of his pack—disturbed him more than he would like to admit.
“I want Grayson.”
Jason’s face twitched. Everyone always wanted Dick over him. He didn’t know why he still let it bother him.
“Well tough shit, impling, Dickface ain’t here. It’s just you and me.”
Damian frowned and though his face didn’t change, his emotions shifted from unease to full-out fear.
Internally, Jason groaned. He hadn’t meant to scare the kid.
The impling stayed firmly in the fireplace with flames licking around him and his eerie eyes staring out at Jason.
“Look I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Damian’s face twitched and his fear became a shade close to terror.
“You’re reading my emotions,” he said simply, his tone flat even though the pace of his breath was getting quicker.
The kid’s panic was beginning to fill his mind.
“You’re reading them right now. You are… stop it!”
The kid’s breath was coming out quick. Too quick for Jason’s liking. The panic was beginning to swallow up all of Damian’s other emotions, eating them like a ravenous beast.
He was going to work himself into a panic attack if he kept this up.
Gently, he tried to poke at the kid’s emotions, mentally taking them into his hands. He was just thinking about taking off their edge when suddenly, the kid screeched and clawed at his own head.
“Stop! Get out of my head!” he yelled, the fire flaring around him. “Get out, sex toy!”
The name dug under his skin, but he ignored it in favour of trying to calm the kid down.
“Damian, you’re going to have a panic attack. I’m just trying to take some of your fear away. I will not hurt you.”
“You’re going to torture me!” Damian snapped. His claws were flexing into the embers and Jason could imagine his tail whipping around him angrily. “I’ve seen you do it! You were Mother’s favourite for torture.”
Jason stopped, staring at the impling cowering away from him.
Damian had seen… Damian knew…
Jason ran through his own memories. Memories of screaming and feeding on human fear. Memories of torture becoming pleasure for him to feed on. Damp cells that became damper with his victim’s blood.
He had been a monster back then, a demon without a pack and running on pure, vicious instincts that only saw humans as prey. He wasn’t that anymore, but it was still a stark reminder that the instincts that made him curl into his human family, purring and pliant to feed on them, were the very same instincts that made him sharpen his fangs at the temptation of blood and still occasionally wanted him to stalk Dick like he was an overly trusting deer.
But how did Damian know that? Had they ever met in the League?
He would have to ask the boy about exactly how much he knew, but first, he had to divert the kid from spiralling even further.
He took his control from Damian’s emotions, leaving them untouched. Damian’s panic was still caustic on Jason’s tongue, but he ignored his urge to mentally smooth it away.
“I’m not touching your emotions, Damian, but you have to calm down.”
Instead of his emotions, Jason gently touched the boy’s bond with him. He opened up a piece of his own emotions to it, trying to show Damian that he was safe and Jason didn’t mean him any harm.
The impling stared at Jason. His wide, huge eyes boring into him from between the tongues of flames.
Jason had been afraid that the boy would react negatively to touching their bond too, but thankfully the small impling didn’t shy from the gentle tugs.
“Come, Damian,” Jason said, putting a chuff at the end of the sentence.
Instinctively, the impling perked and Jason could see him hesitantly considering whether to come. Chuffs were strong, but more importantly, they were safe. They meant pack, and that there was an older demon who cared. They could be resisted, but it was hard, especially for implings. Especially for an impling who was being chuffed at by his Heart.
Slowly and very, very hesitantly, Damian uncurled from the fire and hesitantly began crawling towards Jason.
“Good, impling,” he praised, gently. He picked up the thick blanket he had next to him and wrapped the impling in it as he got out of the fire. Luciferean skin was conducive to fire and heated up like a kitchen pan. The impling would be too hot to touch until he properly cooled down, so for the meantime, the impling would have to be content as a blanket burrito.
“Good job, Damian, you’re doing great.”
“Do not coddle me, wretch,” Damian hissed even as he snuggled into the fluffy blanket surrounding him. “Just get on with doing whatever you were going to do with me.”
There was still too much fear in that sound and the part of Jason that only saw Damian as an impling hated it. No impling should be afraid of their Heart.
A purr rumbled out of his chest and he couldn’t stop the deep, protective sound.
Stupid instincts.
Stupid demon behaviours that didn’t let him leave this impling alone.
Jason could already feel him rapidly cooling off, and risked a nuzzle to the boy’s head. His skin was still hot, but bearable enough with a quick movement.
Damian startled at the affectionate gesture, and shock ripple through the bonds. He blinked up at Jason like he couldn’t believe what was happening.
“I said I would not hurt you, Damian. I intend to keep that promise. I don’t hurt implings.”
The poor impling still didn’t look like he believed Jason.
“But you… you were a torturer…”
“I was forced too,” Jason explained patiently. “The Lazarus Pit and my more base instincts ruled my mind. I had no choice in the matter, and now that I do, I will not allow myself to return to that place.”
Damian was quiet but Jason began feeling his fear slough off. A tiny burst of hope warmed in the bond between them.
Jason stood, leaving Damian as a little pile of impling and blankets.
“Come, impling,” he called as he began to walk out of the room. He heard the scramble of the impling picking himself off the floor and the drag of the blanket against the ground.
He only had a wait a couple of moments before the impling rushed up to his side, brushing against him lightly. The impling was dragging the large, overly fluffy blanket behind him like a bat-patterned peacock tail. He didn’t let Damian see his smile but did ruffle the boy’s hair.
He ignored the impling’s rumble of discontent in favour of the little burst of happiness that flared in Damian.
He led them to his room and padded inside. He didn’t bother turning on the lights; they wouldn’t need them anyway. He expected Damian to follow immediately, but the impling hesitated on the doorframe, looking tiny with the hallway light streaming in from behind him. The blanket was pooling around his feet.
“Heart,” he said, forcing his back into pin-straight posture. “Am I allowed into your den?”
Jason flopped himself onto the bed and twisted to look back at Damian.
He seemed smaller and younger than he ever had. Talia’s teachings were in him, Jason could see them in his stance, and the formality he addressed Jason with (when he wasn’t scared and reverted back to Jason a sex toy). The League was like a shadow that followed him, and Jason suspected it would follow him his whole life.
But at the same time… he was just a baby. An impling searching for his place in the pack. A child who needed reassurance and security.
Internally, he sighed. He suspected that this had been Dick’s plan all along.
“Yes, Damian,” he said. “You can enter whenever you want.”
Slowly, the impling padded into the room, the blanket an elaborate shadow behind him.
He came closer, eyes watching Jason warily for any indication that Jason didn’t want him there. He was sure if he made one too-quick move then the boy would go bolting.
“Come here, I want you on the bed.”
Damian stayed still, but his terror was like a lightning strike in the emotions of the room.
Jason had felt that particular flavour of fear before and he instantly hated it. That type of fear was never welcomed in his pack’s home.
“Nothing bad will happen to you, Damian. If you really do not want to come, you don’t have to. I’m not going to force you.”
The kid kept edging forward, looking like a beaten animal. He came to the foot of Jason’s bed and warily climbed in.
The Incubus watched silently, eventually reaching forward to take the kid’s blanket and wrap it around his shoulders. He braced when Jason touched him and Jason knew that he was going to have to play this very carefully.
“You are safe, impling,” he said, switching to League dialect. He put a hint of a chuff in the noise and slow-blinked at the impling. The boy’s muscles relaxed but he could tell the demon was paying very close attention. “And yet you still have so much fear.”
The impling’s head ducked down. “I know I am not the favourite,” he responded in League dialect. “It is only prudent for me to be careful when I know your affection lies in a different impling.”
Jason frowned. He knew that he didn’t hide his favoritism towards Tim well, but he had never meant it hurt Damian. He knew Tim more, though, and the impling needed him. They were the same species and Jason was spending lots of time with Tim to teach him how to be an Incubus.
But perhaps, this impling needed him too. In different ways, but needing him nonetheless.
Shit, this is exactly what Dick probably wanted him to see.
Internally, he sighed and silently made his decision.
“I am your Heart,” Jason said evenly, putting his honest emotions into their bond. This was an ancient ritual, mostly lost to time and not done anymore. It was formal, and most packs simply didn’t require that formality. Plus, demon culture had eroded; it had been torn apart by exposure to humans and time spent in captivity.
But the League, in their relatively untouched pocket of time, still raised their implings according to the ancient rituals.
“I am your Heart,” Jason said, repeating words he had heard Talia say before. “I take your Heart into mine to protect as my own.”
He reached a hand up and used a fang to nick the pad of his thumb.
“And, duly, I give you a piece of myself through bond. You may call on me and I will come. You may rest by me and I will ensure that no harm comes to you. For as long as this bond ties my heart, I shall act as yours.”
He placed his thumb on the impling’s head and Damian bowed to receive it. Gently, he stroked it into a thick stripe down Damian’s forehead.
“I mark you as mine, and as mine you shall remain. An impling of my own.”
Jason’s blood was a bright red swipe on Damian’s tanned skin.
His instincts purred at the sight of his impling bearing the mark.
He let that become a vocal purr and curled the impling into him.
Damian came easier now, still a little bit hesitant, but the fear was gone. And even that small bit of hesitation began melting away as Jason rubbed his cheek into the boy’s hair.
“You have fought much,” he said as Damian relaxed and went pliant against him. “But you do not need to fight anymore. I will fight for you now.”
The impling gave him a quiet chirp and Jason chuffed back. He would answer all those calls from now on.
Finally, Damian gave away the last of his fear and fully let the older demon mother over him. The impling was so small. Smaller than Tim, even though the other Incubus seemed barely there at times, smaller than Jason had been when Bruce first brought him home.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had curled around an impling this young and it brought up the soft memories from the streets when he had huddled with over a dozen other implings for warmth.
The impling basic him purred, humming and heating happily like an engine. He arched his back into Jason’s hand like a kitten when the Incubus scratched his claws lightly down the impling’s skin.
He fell asleep with those tiny purrs in his ears.
There was someone in the room. There was someone in the room and threatening his impling.
Inside his mouth, he felt his second set of fangs slip over his regular teeth, and their sharp edges prickled on his gums. His class flexed into the mattress and he subtly pressed the sleeping impling into his chest.
How did someone get here? How did they not see the full-grown Incubus curled protectively over the baby?
The figure moved, coming closer to the side of the bed.
Jason tensed, preparing to lunge, and just managed to catch himself from flying into an attack.
Because he recognised that too-large, obnoxious smile.
“Are you insane?” Jason hissed, relaxing into the bed and trying to calm down his racing heart. “You never sneak up on a sleeping demon. I almost ripped your throat out.”
Dick smiled like the idiot he was, apparently completely unconcerned about the Incubus who nearly killed him. Jason hated that smile and the smug, affectionate, and way-too-happy emotions brimming underneath it.
Jason snarled and physically turned his back on his brother. He turned towards his impling and nestled his face into Damian’s downy hair.
“Go away,” he snapped. “You’re annoying and loud.”
“Aww, but Jason you love me.”
“I don’t.”
The human was moving and Jason hoped that he was finally leaving to give him some peace.
But instead, he felt the bed dipping under the weight of Dick’s fat ass.
“No,” Jason snarled, trying to shove his brother with one of his feet while not waking the baby. “No. Get out. I don’t want you here.”
But the stupid man was like a heat-seeking missile when it came to potential cuddles and soon he felt his arms wrap around Jason’s middle.
He was the little spoon, he realised with a start. He was 200+ pounds of predator, a creature that haunted humans’ nightmares and fed on their pain, and literally evolved to rip human flesh from their bones… and Dick had made him the little spoon.
“You,” he said, twisting his head to get a glimpse of his brother. “Are the stupidest human that’s ever walked the face of the Earth.”
“Thank you,” Dick said, and Jason felt his grin and the burst of affection .
“I don’t even think you realise how stupid you are,” Jason continued and ignored the playful way Dick tugged on their bonds. “You are so dumb. Basically asking to get eaten. You are so lucky that you haven’t become someone’s steak.”
“Awww, are you saying that I look good enough to eat? You flatter me.”
Jason’s face crinkled. “I’m saying that one of these days you’re going to end up in someone’s stomach because you have the self-preservation skills of a friggin’ lemming.”
Dick hummed and made that stupid not-purr that Jason’s instincts still perked up in response to. He shouldn’t want to respond to it. The purr was fake, it didn’t hit the right notes, and it was just wrong. But Dick was persistent and had somehow trained him to register the sound as a real purr by a packmate and his instincts responded just as they would for any demon.
“You’re talking about a lot of eating,” Dick mused and tightened his grip on Jason’s stomach. “Are you starving, Jason? I will not allow any of my demons to starve. ”
“I am not. I’m the freaking opposite of starving. You’re going to make me fat.”
“I could live with that. It’s better than starving.“
Dick’s happy and content emotions rose to the surface, basically begging Jason to take them. It was blatant manipulation. Coercion. Bribery.
But Jason still fell for it anyway and began to feed.
Dick sighed as Jason amplified his emotions back to him and dipped the room in soft, honey-sweet comfort.
“You wanted this to happen,” Jason growled. But it was hard to growl while feeding on happy emotions and the sound came out as more of a purr.
“Yes, I did,” Dick murmured, his words slow and lazily through the emotions. “It’s what I hoped for.”
“You’re a villain.”
Dick yawned and nestled his cheek against Jason’s shoulder.
“I’m a big brother. I didn’t like seeing my little brothers not getting along. Anyways… Damian needs you. He won’t say it, but sometimes he needs something different than what I can give him.”
A tiny sliver of frustration slipped into Dick’s emotions. It was bitter on Jason’s tongue and felt like a splinter in the otherwise happy emotions.
Jason frowned, took the emotion, and smoothed it away. He banished it from the room, unwilling to humour it here.
“Jason,” Dick poked him in the back. “I felt that.”
Now, it was Jason’s turn to be dumb. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
Dick jabbed him in the ribs this time and Jason continued to ignore him in favour of the warm, purring impling he was curled up around.
Dick didn’t bring it up and Jason didn’t want to break the peace. Everything was quiet until Tim crashed into the room, grinning like a maniac and excited to show Jason all of the little nerd figurines that Dick had bought him.