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Jason didn't understand what was happening.
There was a green mist, then everything started distorting, flowing, becoming horrific.
He panicked, sprinted full speed, not caring where he was running.
There was a horrible sound, someone screaming like they were being murdered.
Jason ran into something black, more giving then a wall but not by much. He fell back, landing hard on the concrete, the cold and damp immediately starting to sink into his bones.
A horrible black demon was standing above him, the thing seeming to fill his whole vision, edges stretching and distorting into infinity.
It made a horrible distorted noise and reached toward him, as he scrambled back frantically on his hands and knees.
His back hit a wall and the creatures hands descended on him and everything went black.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brief flashes
Of light
Of darkness
Bits of dreams in between
Wind
The sound of traffic
The
Chittering
Of
Bats
He was bundled somewhere small, warm,
Safe
He slept
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason came back to awareness slowly, feeling like he had just taken an accidental 4-hour nap.
He sleepily nuzzled into to warm body holding him, then the events of what had happened hit him like a sledgehammer and his eyes shot open.
He was being held by the horrifying creature he had seen before he blacked out.
He panicked trying to shove himself away from the creature, but it's grip was like steel, completely unyielding.
His attempt to escape only succeeded in waking the beast.
Its glowing white eyes snapped open, almost blindingly bright in the dim space.
It started cooing at him, gently shushing him, then letting out a deep rumbling purr, like being curled up against a tiger.
Jason should have been terrified, but instead he felt... safe. Safer than he had ever felt. Something deep in his bones whispered in his mind that this was where he was supposed to be, that this was the best possible place for him.
Jason couldn't help but relax into the hold, going limp against the creature’s chest.
It made a satisfied noise, then loosed its hold slightly.
The creature sniffed at his hair, then sneezed, shaking its head like a cat.
The creature shifted slightly, then something warm and damp was rubbing over his head. "Oh, ew! Is that the creatures tongue?"
He managed to turn his head, as the warm damp thing was pulled away.
"Where the hell did a creature like this get wet-wipes?'" Jason wondered them shook his head "that's not important right now Jason, you need to figure out where you are"
Since the creatures hold had loosened slightly he was able to wriggle around until he was able to see out of the small den-like space they were in.
His view was restricted by the edge of the some-what igloo like nest/den thing they were in.
The den?nest? Whatever the proper word for the thing they were, in was inside of a cave.
There was dripping stone walls contrasting with the glass platform they were on and he could hear and just barely see a massive computer.
There was what was probably? A car? A training area was set off to the side.
He was startled out of his observations by the sound of expensive shoes clicking on the glass floor.
An older man, in a suit that even Jason could tell was expensive, came into view. His hands were clasped behind his back, in not quite a parade rest.
"I see that the young sir is now awake."
"Who the hell are you?" Jason asked suspiciously, getting himself as close as possible to the strange creature his instincts were murmuring was "safe protector home"
"I am Alfred. I am the Master's caregiver."
He put one arm in front of himself and bowed slightly before straightening and moving to a less formal stance.
"Does the young sir have a guardian whom should be informed that you will be delayed?"
Jason blinked as he tried to sort out the meaning of the formal speech in his mind.
"Don't got no-one waiting for me" he shot back.
The older man's expression and posture didn't change in the slightest at this news
"I see. Would the young sir prefer a specific food to be prepared for him?"
Jason stared suspiciously at the old man "...vegetables. And fresh fruit."
"Would the young sir prefer his vegetables raw or cooked?"
"Uhh.. .cooked?"
"How would you like them prepared?"
Jason just stared at him in confusion.
"Chef's choice then."
~~~~~~~~```~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, in downtown Gotham.
"Ddaaaaadddd?"
"Dad, where are you?"
"Dad?"
Robin called as he wandered down the streets of downtown Gotham.
Most people wouldn't dare wander the streets of downtown Gotham at night.
Most people weren't Robin.
During a Scarecrow attack he had gotten separated from Batman. He had managed to take down Scarecrow on his own and drop him off with the police but now he needed to find his dad.
He idly did a cartwheel, then skipped down the street, occasionally calling out for his dad.
He found a woman in very revealing clothes, standing on the street corner.
Maybe she had seen his dad?
"Hey lady!"
She jumped in surprise, then looked down at him concernedly
"Hello little man, where are your parents?" She asked, crouching to look him in the eye.
Robin shrugged "I’m trying to find my dad."
"He's reallllyyyy tall" he went on tip-toes and stretched an arm as far up as he could, before dropping back down "looks like a giant bat, not human. Have you seen him?"
"Let me text my girls" she said, pulling a phone in a hot-pink case from... somewhere.
Her long nails clicked against the screen as she quickly typed out a message.
Almost as soon as she was done, her phone blew up with notification chimes.
"It looks like your dad was seen at the corner of View and Winchester, heading toward Stepford."
"Oh pooh." Robin huffed and crossed his arms over his chest "he went home without me!"
She crouched back down to his level. "Do you need a place to stay for the night, or help getting home? It's not safe on the streets of Gotham at night "
"I know!" He chirped cheerily, then pointed at his chest with a thumb "But I'm Robin! The boy wonder! I can handle anything that Gotham can throw at me! I took the Scarecrow down all by myself!"
She opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was a strangled sounding noise. She closed her mouth, shook her head and tried again.
"Robin, are you certain you can make it home safely?"
"Yup! Thanks miss!"
Before she had a chance to do anything, he was off, having leaped higher than any human should be able to, to reach a rickety fire escape that didn’t even creak under his weight. He climbed up it, as effortlessly as if he had learned to climb before he had learned to walk.
Once Robin got to the roof, he kicked the gravel and huffed. "Dad better have a good reason for leaving me behind..." he pulled a small device out of his pocket and pressed a button on it. A screen lit up, showing "Bat-mobile eta 15 minutes"
~`~~~~~~~~~~~~```~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\
Back at the Batcave
"Your food is ready, young sir"
Alfred set down a plate several feet away from the nest. Jason could smell it from where he was. The plate had more fresh vegetables and fruit than Jason had ever seen in his life. It was artfully arranged, he could even see the steam drifting off of it like in a food commercial.
"How the hell am I supposed to reach that?!" He gestured that the creature that was holding tight onto him, still trying to clean him with wet wipes.
"I am unfortunately, not able to get any closer. The masters current... addled state has made him believe i am a threat to you."
As if to prove a point, the creature holding him let out a rumbling growl and the old man took a step back.
"As you wish, master."
The creature sniffed at the air, seeming to notice the food. It made a whining noise looking between Jason and the food. It steeled itself, then let go of him and darted toward the plate, never breaking eye contact with the old man as it retrieved its prize.
It took a bite of it, to test that it tasted right, then held out a piece to Jason. Jason crossed his arms and pouted "I can feed myself."
The creature... seemed to understand him? It let him take the fork from the plate and start stuffing his face. He didn't know what half the fruit or veggies on the plate were and he didn't care because they were delicious.
He was able to finish half the plate and he wanted to eat the rest, but his stomach was warning him that would be a very bad idea.
Just as he pushed the plate away, sighing, he heard the sound of the probably-a-car engines.
It had suddenly beeped, then drove off on its on a while ago and seemed to be returning now.
He heard the hydraulic sound of a door opening followed by the engine getting closer and slowing to stop. It stopped on the turntable he had seen it launch from earlier. The engine stopped and a boy who looked like he couldn't have been more than a couple years older than Jason hopped out.
It must be Robin. Jason had seen pictures of the bat before today but he had never seen a picture of robin. Various people had claimed to get a picture of robin in the past, but the pictures had gotten lost at the developers, been destroyed by accident, or were just super blurry, vague streaks of red green and yellow.
The robin literally chirped what sounded like some kind of Disney tune as he meandered towards the older man, who had appeared out of nowhere this time, the sound of shoes now noticeably absent.
"Young master." The old man acknowledged, bowing slightly.
"Where's dad? He better have a good reason for leaving me behind."
"It appears that, under the exposure of fear toxin, he mistook another young man for you. I have been unable to administer the antidote, as master currently perceives me as a threat to his child"
Robin facepalmed and sighed. "Let me guess, he used the last of his fear toxin antidote on the kid, right?"
"The young master is correct."
Robin heaved a world-weary sigh, that should have belonged to a grizzled old cop, just a few days away from retirement.
"Do we have any left in storage?"
"I took the liberty of preparing the next batch, considering who you were fighting today."
"Thanks Alfred. Hand me an ampule, I’m going in."
Alfred, knowing this would happen and being an extra bitch, lifted the cover of the tray he was holding, revealing an Administration device containing the antidote "Very good, young master. They are currently in the nest. And do be careful."
Robin gave an exhaergated eye-roll at Alfred’s concern but he was smiling as he did so. He took the device, tucked it into his belt and cautiously approached the nest, making sure his footsteps were audible. He didn't want to startle his dad, that could end badly for all three of them.
As soon as he stepped into view, Batman's eyes locked onto him laser- focused. This hyper-attentive state quickly changed to confusion as he looked from the child he was holding, to the child in front of him.
Robin could practically hear the wheels in Batman's head turning, "two babies?!", it would have been adorable, if it weren't the for the fact it was caused by fear toxin
Robin held out his hands showing that they were empty and saying quietly, gently "Dad? May I come in?"
Batman was frozen, processing for a seconds, before shifting himself and Jason over.
Robin approached the nest carefully and slowly, before ducking though the entrance and slipping in next to Batman.
As three of them adjusted themselves to be comfortable, Robin was able to stick Batman in the leg with the fear toxin antidote. He blinked at robin, looking betrayed, then immediately crashed and fell asleep.
"Now that that’s taken care of," robin said causally, back to his normal volume "What’s your name? I can't call you "the random kid who was wandering through downtown Gotham in the middle of the night who dad mistook for me" in my head forever" He asked Jason.
Jason considered lying, but decided that the two cryptids would probably know he was lying somehow. "Jason."
Robin beamed at him and wriggled around in Batman's grip until he could shake hands with Jason. Programed social niceties overpowered the strange situation and he grasped Robin's hand and shook it firmly.
"Shouldn't we be quiet? Won't we wake him?" Jason whispered.
Robin casually waved away his concern "Nah, considering how long the fear toxin was in his system, he'll be out for at least an hour"
Robin cuddled in Batman's chest and was out like a light himself in a few seconds. Jason, not having anything better to do and being trapped in the unbreakable Bat-Grip™, also decided that he should try and nap.
Jason was first to wake up, given that he'd been napping on and off for most of the night. He was followed closely by Robin then Batman started to wake up.
Batman made a sleepy noise and yawned, moving to pull Robin closer, then freezing when he realized that something wasn't right.
His eyes opened cautiously, one at a time. He blinked in confusion at the sight of two children in his arms rather than one.
"Why are there two Dicks?" He asked the universe in general.
"Dick yourself, asshole." Jason said, crossing his arms.
Robin shoved him "its my name, ya idiot."
Jason pushed himself up on his arms to look at robin, "what? Your parents hate ya or somethin’?"
Robin crossed his arms and huffed, but before he could reply, Batman was hauling Jason out of the nest.
He held Jason at arms length, hands under his arm pits, examining him. Alfred was stuck with strong resemblance of Bruce examining a stray cat. Now that they were in the light, it was easy to see why Bruce has mistaken Jason for Dick. They both had vivid blue eyes and black hair. Jason was also wearing a pair of green jeans and a red t-shirt, with a yellow hoodie unzipped over top. In the dark, under the effects of fear toxin, it would be easy to mistake the two.
"Why were your parents allowing you to wander around Gotham in the middle of the night alone?"
Jason huffed and crossed his arms "You let Robin do it."
Batman set Jason down on his feet. "Robin has years of training and enough weapons to outfit a small army."
Jason huffed and kicked the ground "The shelters were either full, or " he huffed and made air quotes "weren't taking unaccompanied minors""
He couldn’t keep eye contact with the Bat any longer and glared off at a random point in the cave
Batman looked at Alfred, the brief eye contact communicating a million and one things. He looked back down at Jason, and knelt so he could look him in the eye "You could stay with us for a while?" He offered.
Jason's eyes lit up ,but he tried to hide his excitement "Well, I'm less likely to get knifed here at least." He met Batman's gaze again "I don’t have to die, or go through some sort of cult ritual or something, right?"
Batman smiled at him "Of course not, lad, only this." With that, Batman ruffled Jason's hair, pulling an offended squawk out of the boy, making Batman, truly, openly, laugh.