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The Nightwing suit was a necessary evil. Normally, it was just fine, better than find if Dick did say so himself. Bot that particular night, it was a bit too heavy in the Parisian heat, even after the day had cooled into night. And considering the nature of his meeting, he really could have gotten away with a lighter suit. There was almost no chance of a fight, so really it was just about hiding identities and keeping up the brand.
He looked around anxiously, the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly standing on edge for no apparent reason. It should be fine. Completely safe. He’d met with Ladybug many times. He’d been to Paris many times. Hell, he’d met Ladybug in Paris many times. But this time felt off. Maybe it was the extended period since the last time he’d seen her. Months without more than a few calls to consult from a distance, but even those hadn’t been video calls. He hadn’t seen her in such a long time. It was like something significant had changed with her, and from experience, such major changes in behavior, often preceded discovering a shift in alliance, which considering she was his ally, was a bad thing.
He brushed off that thought. That wasn’t it. It was this place. It was too quiet, which was exactly what they had been going for when they chose this spot to meet. Quiet. Secluded. Abandoned. But this was wrong. It felt ominous, like he was being watched. He looked around him again, letting his eyes linger in the darker areas, the places he would have chosen to conceal himself. The spot across the street was exactly where he would have chosen to observe the meeting spot from. It was protected, dark, hard to see…
“She’s not coming,” the voice sounded from behind him, closer than should have been possible for someone to reach without him noticing.
Dick whirled around searching the rooftop for the source of the voice. He switched his mask to a more intense night vision. “Excuse me?” he asked cautiously, more to get the voice to speak again than for clarification. If he could just locate the voice, he could start making a plan.
A dark chuckle echoed between the buildings. “Think knowing where I am will help you?” The voice had moved, of that much Nightwing was certain. “Ladybug,” it clarified. “I arranged a bit of an interruption in her night.”
Dick looked around again, assessing his environment more critically this time, creating more detailed escape plans, putting more focus into analyzing weight bearings of the structures around him. “What do you want?”
“To introduce you to someone,” the voice granted, dark, deep, a hint of familiarity.
Dick narrowed in on the source of the voice. A silhouette of a man in a blown-out window of an adjoining building, the faint light behind him highlighting his shape but giving no indication of his face. He was large, not quite Bane large, but well built, strong, which could be an advantage for Dick, many of the strongest opponents relied too much on their strength. A bit of flexibility, elegance, and strategy could take them down easily. “Who?” he asked, this time as curious about the answer as interested in drawing him out.
He jumped back from the object the man threw toward him. The book landed with a loud thump. “Jesus. You could have at least caught it,” the voice chastised.
Dick gawked at the figure that jumped down after the book. It took minutes, maybe hours before his brain was able to run through all the stages; shock, surprise, questioning of reality, shock, a realignment with reality, reconfirming his sanity as much as any of them were, and of course, shock. “Jason?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper as though speaking too loudly would burst the illusion.
“You never did have enough respect for books,” he sighed with exaggerated weight as though that were the most significant part of their exchange.
“Jason, what are you doing here? Why are you… God, Jason, it’s good to see you! Is this where you’ve been? We’ve been searching for you for years.” Dick’s words rushed together, barely comprehensible, like he was trying to get all the words out before Jason could disappear again.
“For a while,” he nodded. “Needed to get away from Gotham… from Bruce, from… everything. Needed to stop hurting myself just to see if I could still feel the pain.” He picked up the book and thumped it against his other hand a few times, the gold band on his left hand catching Dick’s attention. Married. Jason was married. His little brother had gone and gotten married.
Jason stared at the book like he was reevaluating his decision to share it. Finally, he looked up and met Dick’s gaze before holding out the book to him. Dick took it slowly, his eyes not leaving Jason’s as he took it, and keeping the contact for a few beats before looking down at it, just in case he decided to disappear again, Dick wanted the moment to last as long as possible. His forehead scrunched in confusion as he finally looked at the book. It was a photo album. His eyes darted up to Jason studying him for a few seconds, looking for assurance it was safe to open, bracing himself for whatever might be in the book.
But when he opened the cover, he froze. No amount of bracing could have prepared him for the picture on the first page. “She has her mother’s eyes,” Jason stated with more softness in his voice than Dick had ever heard.
“Her mother’s…” he started to repeat, as though repeating the words would make them make more sense. But before the words could settle, Ladybug landed in front of him.
“I’m so sorry! I had to…” she stopped as she looked up and finally noticed a third person on the roof with them. She stared at Jason for just a second and back to Dick, repeating the pattern a few times before settling her gaze on Jason and cocking her hip out, fist resting on it. “Really? You said you didn’t want to come. You ‘weren’t ready’. Is this why…” She gasped and stood up rigidly and pointed accusatorily at him. “You messed with Alya’s car!”
Jason smirked at her, his body easing into a relaxed stance. “A very cheap piece to replace. Honestly, thought it would take longer to figure out and replace,” he added, unaffected.
“Lucky charm,” she responded dryly, eyes narrowed at him. She pulled out her yoyo and tossed it up and down a few times as if to reinforce her point.
Jason raised an eyebrow, his smirk widening. “Only supposed to use those for missions,” he scolded without heat.
Her eyes somehow harrowed even further as she leaned toward him. “This is a mission,” she stated.
Jason huffed out a scoff. “Eh.”
It was too much for Dick. The banter, the comfort, the chemistry. It took a few tries before he was able to lift his hand to point at Marinette. “M… Mother?”
Ladybug snapped her head toward him like she’d forgotten he was there then sighed heavily. “Hey, Dick. Surprise.” She tried to ease the atmosphere with a wide, strained smile, which faltered when she saw the book in his hands. “Oh, he gave you Emma’s book.” She looked back to Jason with wide eyes for confirmation.
He shrugged but there was a sudden tension in his shoulders and he refused to meet her eyes. “Thought it was time.”
Ladybug hummed. She watched him for a moment then wrapped him in a long, firm hug. She cupped his face, her thumb gently caressed his cheek. Dick watched in awe at the way she was looking at him, the way he was looking at her. He almost said something, a comment about how happy it made him to see Jason so loved and in love. But before he could make his comment Ladybug turned to him. “Well, you might as well come over. We can talk more comfortably there.”
Jason nodded and started to leave but turned back to Dick and gave him a look up and down. “No suits in the house though. You’ll have to change first. Do you have clothes here or did you come through the Zeta Tube?”
“No, I have a room for the night and clothes,” Dick answered slowly, still dazed from all the revelations of the night. They had house rules. They had a home. Jason had created a home… with Ladybug. Jason was with Marinette.
“Right,” Jason nodded. “Why don’t you go home,” he placed a gentle kiss on Ladybug’s forehead, “I’ll go with him to get changed and bring him over.”
Ladybug nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll have some cookies and tea ready when you get there.” She nodded toward Dick and swung away.
Jason chuckled and shook his head. “She does too much.” He looked back at Dick and smiled again at the stunned look on Dick’s face. “Come on, let’s get started. We can catch up while we go.”
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Marinette was just taking the last batch of cookies out of the oven when Jason returned with Dick in tow. “Smells great in here, Pix,” he announced loudly and again Dick watched in awe at the change in Jason’s tone, at the softness in his eyes, the unguarded way he interacted with her. It wasn’t the Jason he remembered. At least not the one who’d left, the angry, bitter, self-destructive man. This was closer to the optimistic, curious, enthusiastic boy before the Joker destroyed everything.
“Well good,” she chuckled as she motioned toward the plate on the counter. “They’re Dick’s favorite.”
Dick stared at the cookies, chocolate chunk with walnuts. “These are,” he acknowledged, voice light with surprise. “How did you know?”
Jason grabbed a cookie and stared at it with a sudden and intense interest. “I may have heard a few things about you over the years,” she admitted with a smile.
Dick nodded and took a cookie, but didn’t take a bite yet. Instead, he set the baby book in front of him. He slowly opened the book to the second page. His eyes roved over the picture slowly, reverently, like he was trying to remember each detail. He turned the next page to a picture of Jason holding Emma watching her like she was the embodiment of love and light. His fingers gently traced the lines in the picture. His brother. His little brother was a father. He had a niece. “Who else knows?”
“Oh… not too many,” Marinette grimaced. She, like her husband had earlier, found a sudden interest in the cookies in front of her.
Jason shoved an entire cookie in his mouth quickly. “Uh…”
Whatever answer Jason was going to cobble together from imagination and indignation, never had to be uttered. The front door burst open dramatically granting him an out from creating an excuse or admission. Adrien stepped over the threshold, baby in a carrier strapped to his chest and hands over his and Emma’s eyes. “I’m back with the princess. Whatever you’re doing, make sure it’s appropriate for little eyes.” He split his fingers and peered between them, spotting Marinette immediately. “Hey buga….” He stopped when he spotted the third figure in the room. “Oh… hey Dick.”
Dick blinked at him but his eyes instantly dropped to the bundle in front of him, which was unfortunately completely hidden by the carrier. “Adrien,” he nodded as he craned his neck to get a better view.
Adrien rocked back and forth on his heels. His arms wrapped gently around Emma, subconsciously creating a protective barrier around her. “So… you told him?”
“Jason decided to tell him,” Marinette said pointedly, accompanying it with a slight glare as she held out the tray for Adrien, “by attacking him when we were supposed to meet for Justice League stuff.”
Jason shrugged as he popped another cookie in his mouth. “Thought it would be funny,” he managed to utter around the cookie.
“Was it?” Adrien asked curiously.
“Yes,” Jason declared at the same time Marinette firmly stated, “No.”
Adrien chuckled and finally made his way to the cookies; a bounce added to his steps as Emma started fussing. “Does this mean we don’t need to be discrete anymore?”
“No, it doesn’t,” Jason grumbled but his face eased into a tender smile when he gently removed Emma from Adrien’s carrier.
Dick watched the spectacle like it was the most shocking view he’d ever witnessed. Jason, Red Hood, Gotham’s Prince, an underworld boss, was now making ridiculously comic faces for a tiny bundle of baby. She was smaller than his biceps and Jason cradled her like she was the most precious, delicate package he’d ever handled.
It was a scene he’d never thought he’d get to witness, not because he never thought Jason would become a father, Jason had always liked kids, but because he didn’t think he’d get to witness it. And for a long time, Jason seemed to have lost his way. Dick hadn’t been sure he would ever find his way back to that softness. Everyone would love to see it. Which led him back to his original question. “Discrete from whom? Who knows about her? About you both?”
“So… all the miraculous crew knows, and clearly that includes Adrien,” Marinette started cautiously, delicately, still avoiding his gaze.
“Clearly,” Dick nodded.
“Which means Tim knows, as Adrien’s boyfriend,” she continued.
“Naturally,” Dick agreed. It hurt a bit that Tim had known and not told him, but it made sense. He spent a LOT of time in Paris especially lately and… Dick huffed out a breath, that sudden change in behavior suddenly making a lot more sense.
“And of course, Kon overheard them talking several towns away, so he knows,” Marinette continued, her voice getting increasingly guilt-ridden as she listed off names.
“Obviously,” Dick agreed again.
“We should really talk to him about that,” Jason sighed.
“We have,” Adrien grumbled. “HE STILL DOES IT,” he shouted at the window. His annoyed expression instantly smoothed into contrition at seeing Jason’s scowl and watching him bounce Emma gently after she started fussing louder. “Sorry,” he tacked on quietly.
Marinette rolled her eyes and looked back to Dick. “And because Tim and Kon knew, Bart found out.”
“Yeah, that follows,” Dick sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose, more than familiar with the system of information distribution in the different teams.
“And because Tim, Kon, and Bart knew, Cassie found out. Bart felt bad she was the only one who didn’t know,” she explained.
Dick let out a heavier sigh. Bart had felt bad but not his brothers. That stung. “Sure.”
Marinette winced before her next statement. “And she may have mentioned something to Diana.”
“May have?” Dick asked with a quirked eyebrow.
“We got a Red Hood themed baby present from her,” Jason chuckled. He rubbed Emma’s back as he bounced her when the noise from Adrien’s phone dinging upset her.
“And Diana…” She stopped when Adrien scoffed at his phone. Marinette raised an eyebrow. “Kon says sorry and said Clark found out the same way he did and told Lois. Jon same, but he doesn’t think Jon’s known long enough to spill to Damien yet.”
“So, everyone,” Dick sighed and slumped in his chair. He watched Emma longingly. His niece. Who he hadn’t even had the chance to meet yet let alone hold and coo over. “Everyone knew but me.”
“Not everyone,” Marinette tried. Dick gave her a flat look. “But,” she added with an overly bright smile, “you’re the first one Jason told.”
Jason rolled his eyes and moved to stand in front of Dick. “And the first one that’s gotten to hold her,” he stated as he lowered Emma into Dick’s arms, which popped into proper position the instant Jason started lowering Emma.
“Other than the miraculous group,” Marinette added quietly.
“I’ll take it,” Dick stated with a wide but soft smile. His eyes stayed entirely focused on Emma for several long minutes, taking notice of nothing else in the room, not even when Marinette and Adrien both snapped a few pictures of Dick with Emma and of Jason hovering protectively over the two of them. Dick’s smile widened into a dazzling beam when Emma opened her eyes and gave him a large gummy grin.
“She does have her mother’s eyes,” Dick finally said only glancing up momentarily to acknowledge Marinette and Jason, before returning his focus to Emma.
Marinette hummed and studied her baby’s eyes, yet again, as she did every day. “I keep saying she has his,” she said softly. She grazed her fingers over Emma’s soft downy head.
“No,” Dick shook his head and ran a hooked finger gently along her baby soft cheek, “his are a bit darker. Her’s might darken over time though, they usually do.”
“Maybe,” Jason acknowledged. He wrapped his arms around Marinette from behind, pulling her into his protective, loving embrace. He grinned at the group around him, his family. “But for now, every time I look at her, I get to see her mother’s eyes.” He leaned down to press a quick, chaste kiss to his wife’s lips. “Most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen.”