Chapter Text
Jason wakes up curled into someone, and it doesn’t take long for him to figure out he fell asleep at the Clocktower. He notices he’s curled up with Cass and Steph on the sofa, no wonder his back hurts. He can’t help but wonder if all three of them dozed off like this, or if he fell asleep and Barbie informed them he was a very light sleeper and Cass preferred the cuddles to sleeping on a bed. Who is he kidding? He knows the answer.
He very slowly pries Cassandra’s arm from his body. She is very strong and it shows in her tight yet very comfortable grip. But this isn’t the first time he woke up in Cass’ grip, since she just picked him up and carried him into bed that one time. He isn’t annoyed about that, he’s a feminist after all, but he definitely found it a little attractive. Not that he’d say that out loud, Cass clearly liked a challenge and she would pick him up constantly.
Finally he pries Cass’ arm off of him, getting up and immediately stretching. He decides to cook breakfast, and heads off to the kitchen. He loves cooking since it’s a way of channeling his anger and releasing it, even if it’s less effective than beating up and permanently paralysing a rapist in a back alley. Alfred taught him that he can make a lot of friends cooking, and given Jason’s two new clingy vigilantes, he had a point.
Clingy vigilantes that are a lot more valuable as allies than enemies. Cassandra is the only one of the bats that he’s certain can beat him one on one, and easily at that. Grayson is talented but guilt ridden, and Jason has a much larger arsenal of weapons, and they both have been trained by Batman and assassins, although Jason knows his assassin training was far superior than whatever Deathstroke taught Grayson. So he thinks he could win that fight. Batman is kind enough to have contingency plans for the entire Justice League including himself and made Jason learn it. It would be far too easy to bring out all those psychological issues and trauma he listed and then just overpower a Batman off his game.
But Cassandra only has one notable weakness, Steph. Steph was a significantly worse fighter than Cass, and Cass can barely teach her since fighting is so natural to her. Not that he thinks Steph is a bad fighter, quite the opposite, Cass has taught her some dangerous moves and Steph adapted those moves into her combat style quickly and effectively. If Jason only had his bat related training, she would lay him out in a fight. Not to mention he likes Steph, she cares about the people of Gotham and protects them no matter who they are. He knows he couldn’t bring himself to hurt her. So Steph was Cass’ only weakness, and barely at that.
Looking through the cupboards he’s not impressed by the ingredients, almost everything is preserved garbage. There are a few fresh ingredients but they seem to have been bought two days ago at most. Barbie knew he was coming here and bought ingredients for him to cook with. Well if Barbie wasn’t going to take care of herself, Jason guesses he’s going to have to. Looking through the ingredients, he decides to make waffles, bacon, eggs and fresh fruit.
Putting on some music he settles into a routine. He’s not sure how long passes before Steph enters the kitchen. “Mhm, smells delicious.”
“Of course it smells delicious, from what’s in the cupboard you don’t eat actual food.”
Steph looks up at him “Why do I think I’m about to be lectured?”
Jason smirks “Because you are. We’re vigilantes, not only do we need to consume more calories to make up for the ones we burn, we need to maintain a balanced diet. If we don’t, the loss in energy, body weight, decreased mental state and increased susceptibility to illness makes it a lot more likely for us to be killed or injured on the field. If we’re putting our lives on the line, we need to take care of ourselves.”
Steph rolls her eyes “You sound like such a dad.”
“If you don’t want to deal with that, you don’t have to eat my food. I’m sure there are other people who would appreciate my brownies.”
Steph’s eyes widen “No no I take it back. You are right, we should take better care of ourselves. In my defense I’m not that bad by comparison, Tim has a habit of working cases until he passes out from exhaustion. One time he stood me up on going to the movies because he worked on a case for twelve hours straight without telling me, before passing out.”
Drake always seemed like the workaholic type. It was part of his plan when he wanted, no Cass insisted that it was Talia manipulating him into wanting to kill the kid. Tire him out and then just overpower the kid. From his research Drake and Steph were very close, but their friendship seems to have deteriorated since then. Batman has finally done it then, made a kid exactly like him. Willing to let friendships and his own health deteriorate for the sake of the mission. Even got the fucking kid to run his company for him. And if his new bird dies from overworking, well he made one kid exactly like him, he could do it to another. For the sake of the mission of course.
Batman must be so proud of himself. Fucking bastard.
“Jason?”
Everything was always for the mission with that bastard. And when he thought Jason killed someone, he discarded him. Jason knew Batman didn’t give a shit about him the moment he became a liability to his oh so precious crusade.
“Jason, can you hear me?”
Then again he got lucky. Grayson kept going back to Batman’s crusade no matter how many times he tried to run, for the other kids of course, never for Jason. Drake is nothing but Batman’s puppet. Cass went from the weapon of one abusive piece of shit to another. Duke lost his parents because Batman insisted Joker was his responsibility, and is now a weapon for the very same crusade.
“JASON!”
He got the mercy of death. Who knows what Batman would have done to him if he survived Ethiopia. Thrown him in Arkham for the murder of Felipe until he went back to being his perfect little soldier. Throw him back out onto the streets. He doesn’t know.
“I don’t know, I was talking about Tim overworking himself and he stopped responding.”
Of course Jason knows he won’t be the only one to die. Batman refuses help from people who could solve Gotham’s issues, but he has no problem throwing children those very same problems. Batman refuses to win this war. Drake’s lucky to have survived as long as he has. At least the Joker doesn’t get to repeat his favourite joke. He should have written a message in the Joker’s blood. NO MORE DEAD ROBINS. Then maybe Batman’s soldiers would be a little more safe.
He feels strong arms on his shoulders, and sees Cass, Steph and Barbara looking at him with concern. “What’s going on?”
Barbara replied “Jason, you stopped responding and your eyes are glowing green.”
Ah that’d explain it “The eyes are a side effect of the Lazarus Pit. I learned to control them, but they still appear when I focus too much. I was just thinking about some things.”
Cass brings him into a hug. He notices he let his guard down around Cass. He doesn’t let his guard around anyone anymore. But then again it’s Cass, he doesn’t need his guard up against Cass. He’d lose guard up or down. But a timer goes off, and he breaks the hug “I need to dish up.”
The prospect of food got the rest to back off, but not for long. So after giving everyone their food, he decides to speak first “Barbie, the state of your kitchen is.” But Barbara interrupts him with a sigh.
“I know Jason. The human body needs a balanced diet to be healthy, and we need to consume more food. Not doing so in our line of work is dangerous and can lead to avoidable injuries and possibly dying.” Barbara sounds exasperated.
“If you know this you should have taught it to the vigilantes in your care. That’s irresponsible. Cass.” She looks at him “Try to eat a balanced diet, it’s important for your health.” Cass nods thoughtfully.
Steph looks shocked “I’m sorry, Babs and I get a full on rant and Cass doesn’t. What is this?”
He looks her dead in the eyes “Favouritism.” he replies in a deadpan tone.
Steph looks like she wants to argue back “You know what, valid. Cass is undoubtedly the best.” Cass smiles at both of them. Well he misread that one.
But Barbara looks serious, and he’s well aware good things don’t last. “After what happened, I need to ask. How do you feel now that the Joker is dead?”
That’s an easy question “I feel good. That maniac can never hurt another person again. Those who he has hurt no longer have to live in fear and it will be an easier road for them to move past what he did for them. You have to admit it feels good knowing he can’t hurt anyone again Barbie.”
“I wish it didn’t, but it does.” Cass adds “Both true.” before Barbara continues. “Then what is bothering you?”
Batman, it always comes back to Batman “I’ve been thinking about Batman. He has done good for this city but” He’s not sure how to phrase it “He mourned my death by what, beating the shit out of henchpeople, poor people, people like I once was. If he loved me he would have targeted the rich crime lords I despise, or maybe the deranged lunatic who killed me.”
The other three were taken aback, what did they not notice he hated Batman. Steph speaks up “Yeah you should not talk to Tim, like ever.”
Barbara follows up “I am aware that Bruce has grown more and more unstable over time. There have been conversations about forcing Bruce to retire. But Gotham has grown used to Batman, grown to needing him. Not to mention that Bruce is backed by the Justice League and they’ll most likely protect him.”
He feels like there’s more, but they’re walking on eggshells around him. But before he can respond Steph gets a call. She answers and puts the phone on speaker.
“Hey Dick, what’s up.”
“Bruce wants everyone in the cave as soon as possible. Are you with Cass at the moment?”
“Here.” Cass responds as Steph adds “We’re at the Clocktower with Barbara as well, what’s going on?
“The Joker was found dead in his cell. Waste of time if you ask me, people die everyday. What makes the Joker special enough to get an all hands on deck meeting after his death?"
“Dick.” Barbara says exasperated.
“You know I’m right. If we're going all hands on deck it should be for someone who deserves it, you know, someone innocent. But you should get to the cave soon, I doubt Bruce is going to be happy. I still need to talk to Duke.” Dick hangs up.
Well despite the fact that Grayson never liked him and was happy to be a brother to everyone but the street trash, it’s nice to know he doesn’t mourn the Joker’s death. He feels Cass pull him into a deep hug. “Stay safe.” Is all she says. He isn’t really paying attention as they say their goodbyes.
“I’m going to be joining the meeting from here if you want to listen in.”
He’s not ready to learn how they’ll all hate him once they learn he’s a murderer. Thankfully he has an excuse. “I’m hosting a basketball game for the kids in the Alley in about an hour.” Honestly he’s excited to see if Tom will pull off his new technique he’s been practising, and it’ll be Stacy’s first game since she fell sick.
“Okay Jason. You know I’m always here for you if you need me right?”
“Yeah, of course.” he lies as he leaves. He doesn’t believe in unconditional love anymore. Though if anyone did love unconditionally , it would be Barbara’s lot. Gotham doesn’t deserve them.
As he leaves he shoots off a text to Duke “Hey man. I translated some poems from Arabic if you're interested. It’s been a pleasure being your friend but you’ll hate me soon. I hope you continue to kick ass and look out for the little guy Signal.” and then sends a link for the translations.
It doesn’t take Duke long to respond.
“What are you talking about man?”
“??????”
“Jason are you there?”
“Jason?”
“Do you need help Jason?”
“JASON? Are you there? I can see you are reading my messages.”
He turns off his phone. Duke will know the truth soon enough. He'll hate him soon enough.
At least the Alley will always be there for him, if no one else will be. They are all cut from the same cloth. They won’t judge him for killing that monster.