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Dick leans against his car outside of the Gotham City public middle school. He hasn’t been here since he graduated middle school himself, and it’s somewhat comforting to see the place hasn’t changed at all. The same tall concrete walls, the same dreary courtyard for recess, the same black fences all around the school.
He hears the final bell ring and dozens of students rush out of the buildings. Some walk to the nearby bus station, some start walking home and some are getting picked up. Dick spots Jason within the crowd and waves her over.
“Hey, how was school?”
“It was fine.” She puts her bag in the backseat and gets in the front. “We got back our book reports. A plus.”
“Of course you did.” Dick laughs and starts the car. “Ready to go?”
Jason hesitates. “I think so. Can we go somewhere that isn’t Gotham? I don’t wanna see anyone I know.”
“It’ll take a little while but we can go to New York, if you want?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
“Bruce knows we’re hanging out this afternoon so don’t worry about him. We’ll buy the stuff we talked about and get something to eat, okay?”
Jason nods.
“Great.” Dick backs out of his parking spot and starts driving out of the city. He turns on the radio to some vague rock song from the seventies, and they sit in silence. The interstate is almost empty, not something Dick expected at this hour of the day. He’s not complaining though.
They get to the city soon enough, and Dick finds one of the many malls scattered around it. He parks the car and they both go outside.
“Leave your bag, you shouldn’t carry it around all afternoon. Where do you wanna go first?”
“I guess…” Jason fidgets with her hands. “We can go get the makeup.”
“Alright, there’s a good store here.” They start walking around the mall. Around them there are a few families with small children, and one or two groups of teenagers. Jason looks around them frantically. “Are you okay?”
“Just nervous, I guess,” she mutters.
“It’ll be fine. If anyone says anything I’ll kick their ass.”
Jason laughs. “You don’t have to do that.”
“If you say so, let’s go inside.” He leads Jason into the store. “Let’s start with a good primer?”
“Okay. I don’t really know much about this.”
“I do, so it works.” They walk through the quiet aisles. There are barely any people in the store, thankfully. If it was as packed as it often is, Jason’s nerves would probably skyrocket.
“Do you two need any help?” A salesperson comes over and asks, Jason flinches in surprise.
“No, we’re good. Just shopping for my little sister.”
The salesperson looks between the two of them, clearly confused. “Alright, let us know if you need anything.”
“We will, thanks.” Dick watches them walk away. “You okay?”
“Mhm. Thanks.”
“No problem. How about we take this one? It looks good.”
“Okay. Now, uh, foundation?”
“Yeah, we gotta find a shade match.”
They go between the different products and find the ones that match Jason best, Dick takes time with it, making sure she’s doing okay.
“These are really expensive,” she says, looking at the back of the contour palette package. “Are you sure it’s okay?”
“I’m sure, I wanna do this for you.”
“But we’re getting the clothes later, too.”
“It’s fine, trust me.” Dick laughs. “I’m an adult, I may not be rich but I have enough money to buy you these things.”
“Okay…”
“Let’s go check out, okay? I think we got everything.”
“Alright.” They walk to the register and Dick quickly pays for everything, putting the makeup in a bag.
“Clothes next?”
“Just a few.”
“As many as you want.” They walk into another store, straight to the young girls’ section. “So what are we thinking, skirts? Dresses? Shirts?”
“Um, a few skirts and a dress, I think. Maybe something else, too.”
“Sounds good. Take a look around, see what you like.”
Once again someone approaches to ask if they need anything, Dick is more firm in turning them away this time. This is a sensitive experience, he knows better than anyone in this store. Jason picks out a few things and walks into a changing room.
“Okay, this one fits,” she says through the door.
“Wanna show me?”
She moves the curtain aside and steps out, in an above-the-knee black skirt and the t-shirt she had been wearing. “I think I like it.”
“It suits you. If you want it, we’ll buy it. Do you want it?”
“Yeah.” Jason looks down. “Should I shave my legs?”
“If it feels good. I know plenty of girls who don’t. Anything else you need to try on?”
“There’s the dress.”
“Okay, tell me if you wanna get it, too.”
“Okay.” Jason goes back into the changing room quickly. They end up leaving the store with three skirts and one dress for Jason, and she’s absolutely beaming.
“Having fun?”
“Yeah. Can we go eat now?”
“Anything you want.”
They find a nice looking sushi restaurant and order. While waiting for the food Dick sees Jason tapping on the table, and looking around distractedly.
“You wanna talk about it?”
“I don’t even know what to say.”
“Do you still think you might be a girl?”
“Yeah. I think I am, honestly. I liked it when you called me your sister.”
“Okay, that’s great.” Dick smiles. “I’m super proud of you, you know?”
“Really?”
“Of course. This takes a lot of bravery to admit. Do you think you might wanna change your name?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?”
“Take your time with these decisions. You have so much time. Do you want me to call you Jay for now?”
“Yeah, that sounds nice.” Jay looks away for a moment. “You said you had medical procedures, right?”
“You wanna hear about them?”
“Mhm.”
“Well, the first thing we did was put me on puberty blockers. They basically just stop a lot of processes our body goes through when growing up. It stopped my period, mostly.” Their food gets there, and they both started eating their sushi. “Then when I got a little older I started taking testosterone shots, to make me look more masculine. They gave me broader shoulders, and a lower voice, and I was able to grow a bit of facial hair. Then I got top surgery when I was nineteen, to remove my breasts.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking of maybe getting a phalloplasty, but I haven’t decided, they're still pretty new. These treatments can be hard to get, but thanks to Bruce’s influence I got what I needed to make me feel more comfortable in myself. He wasn’t exactly a perfect parent to me, but he did that very well.”
“And he’ll help me, too?”
“Of course he will. If he doesn’t, I’ll make him anyway. But he’ll do it.”
“And there are similar things I can do if I’m trans the other way?”
“A trans woman, yeah. You can take estrogen or progesterone, and have sex change surgeries. You won’t be able to get a period or have kids or anything like that though.”
“I don’t know if I want kids anyway.”
“Alright. You don’t have to think about surgeries at all yet, the best goals right now are puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy, and the second part is at least five years away. This is a good age to start blockers because you haven’t started puberty.”
“So you’re saying I should tell Bruce?”
“Only when you feel like you’re ready, don’t rush it. I’ll help you when it’s time.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“Wanna go somewhere after the food before we drive home or no?” Dick finishes his sushi.
“I think we can go home, I have a lot to think about.”
“Smart. I’m going back home tomorrow but call me for whatever question you get, okay? I’ll help.”
“Thanks, Dick.” Jason hesitates. “You’re a good brother.”
“Thank you. You’re a good sister.”