Chapter Text
One Year Ago:
Stretching up onto his tiptoes and craning his neck up, Jason finally caught sight of the top of his head in the mirror. Yeah, he could have dragged a step stool over here to help out with it, but that had gotten old in the first week of this new reality, and now that he was well over a month in, he was looking for other ways to compensate.
Besides, this was going to be a quick thing. He just needed to run his comb through his hair and get it looking like a little less of a disaster. These days, it was constantly messy, and Jason didn’t know what the hell he was doing wrong. Maybe it was just because he was stuck with stupid little hands that couldn’t do anything properly anymore?
Biting his lip and working to keep himself steady, he dug his comb into his hair and started to tug at the messy curls. They snagged instantly and pulled at his scalp, but he took a breath, clenched his teeth, and kept picking away at it.
Maybe his hair was actually harder to handle when he was this young? Back when he’d been six years old the first time, his mom had done stuff to help him take care of his hair. She’d always spritz him with this leave-in conditioner stuff after every bath and then gently comb through his hair as they watched a cartoon together…
Blinking, Jason gave his head a shake and went back to the mirror. That was a long time ago; he didn’t need to be getting all emotional about it now. Maybe he’d just buzz his hair super short so he didn’t have to deal with it anymore. That’d be the easiest.
After another glance in the mirror, Jason huffed out a sigh and dropped down to his heels. The hair wasn’t looking any better; if anything, it was just getting poofier. Did he need some water or something?
“Hey.” The voice came at the same time as a knock on Jason’s bedroom door. He snapped his head around as soon as he heard it.
It was Tim.
“What?” Jason gripped his comb so tightly that it bit into the palm of his hand. He did not need Tim of all people commenting on his hair. Unlike nearly everything else in his life right now, he was going to figure this issue out all on his own.
“Sorry.” Tim rocked backwards on his heel. “If this is a bad time—”
“It’s not. I— I’ve got fucking nothing else going on right now, so…” Jason tossed his comb onto his dresser and then tilted his head in an invitation for Tim. He climbed up onto his bed and sat there; Tim followed just a half second behind. “What is it?”
“Well…” Tim picked at this cuticle. “Okay, you’re allowed to say no to this, but… I was kind of— thinking.” He didn’t say anything else. It looked like he was still figuring out how he even wanted to say it.
Maybe Jason should have waited longer, but his impulse control with this kind of thing had really tanked since becoming younger again, and so before he could stop it, he found himself blurting out, “Thinking about what?”
Tim took a deep breath. “Well. Your adoption’s public and you’ve shown up at a few charity events and stuff, but people haven’t really seen you, like, out and about all that much.”
Jason scowled. “You mean ‘people’ like random dickwads in Gotham? I’m not here to put on a poor little orphan boy show for them. Bruce said I don’t have to—”
“I know! And you don’t. You don’t have to do any of this, that’s what I was trying to say.” Blowing out a sigh, Tim pushed his hair back with his hand. “But public perception does matter. If people start thinking of you as some kind of reclusive child who’s only trotted out at a few super structured media appearances… Everyone seems to buy the home school and private tutor story, but it’s safer not to give people a reason to doubt it, you know?”
Fuck, yeah, that was a good point. As far as everyone else in the world knew, Jason was a normal six-year-old child. He would have been concerned if some billionaire adopted a kid and then hid him away except for a few thirty-minute appearances at a handful of charity galas.
“I’m not gonna do some kind of photoshoot or something.”
“No, you don’t need to do anything like that,” Tim agreed. “But… Well, there’s this thing coming up. At W.E. It’d be easy for you to make a quick appearance that would have a good impact. It’s semi-private, just the other employees and their families, so there wouldn’t be any reporters, but people would still know that you came.”
“...what kind of event?”
“It’s a, uh…” Tim picked at his fingers again. “A Halloween thing. Just kinda… showing up and going around to the different departments and…”
That was all it took for Jason to figure it out. “You want me to go fucking trick or treating, don’t you?”
“It wouldn’t be that bad! We could keep it short, you’d barely have to talk to anyone, and you’d get candy out of it. That’s not terrible, right?”
“I’m not an actual kid, Tim. I can buy my own fucking candy.”
“I know. I— I said you don’t have to do it, remember? I just thought… It’d be an easy option.”
And, fuck, Tim had a good point. The last thing Jason needed was someone getting concerned about his living situation, and no matter what Bruce promised, it’d be weird for him to have a child who lived as a hermit. Weird enough that people might start paying attention, and that could lead to all kinds of other unwelcome shit.
To give Tim credit, the trick or treating was a better option than a lot of others. Jason could keep moving around, it wasn’t another fucking press conference, and he could be… well, sort of in disguise.
“Bruce didn’t say anything about this,” he said.
“Well, no, he probably wouldn’t. He knows you wouldn’t like it.”
“Right…”
It was still weird as shit seeing Bruce bend over backwards to make Jason happy, especially something like this where it made logical and strategic sense for Jason to go. And even if Bruce was actually keeping his promise in not making Jason playact as some little kid in front of others, Jason knew this was the right call. He was Bruce Wayne’s kid again; every once in a while, he had to show up and actually look like that.
“It’s not a bad idea,” he finally admitted.
Tim perked up. “Yeah? And, uh, I can take you around, alright? I’ll run interference with people and keep things moving. I’d say half an hour max is all we need.”
Jason nodded. It stung to admit, but that actually helped him feel a lot better about the whole thing. He was so goddamn short; it was way too easy for him to get pushed around or lost in a big crowd. And he had this weird hang-up now where it was hard sometimes to talk to people he didn’t know. Because it wasn’t enough that he had to be a kid again; he also had to be a kid that got shy.
But Tim would be able to handle all of that. He was good at that kind of corporate mingling, PR scene-setting shit. This way, all Jason would have to do was show up, get candy, and leave. Easy.
“So… any idea what you want your costume to be?” Tim asked.
Jason drew in a breath, an answer ready on his tongue. But then he stopped.
His instinct was to say something like Robin or maybe even Batman, just because he knew it’d mess with Bruce, who had always and forever freaked out with anything vigilante-related coming out into the daylight. But that kind of thing didn’t work the same way anymore. Maybe Bruce would get a little perturbed, but everyone else would just think it was cute because that’s the vibe that Jason gave off now, no matter what he was actually going for.
There was no way in hell Jason was signing up for even half an hour of everyone saying how ‘adorable’ he was while dressed up as the person he used to fucking be. He couldn’t do it.
So, Robin was out. Same with anything else related to that. And this whole thing was just for random people, anyway, not for Jason to have fun. It wasn’t like it even mattered.
Finally, he just shrugged. “I don’t care.”
Tim frowned. “Are you—”
“I really don’t. You can get something cheap and easy, right?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
So, that was settled. In a couple days, Jason was going fucking trick or treating.
Present Day:
Tim knew that Jason was watching him. That familiar sixth sense prickled on the back of his neck, and (even more of a giveaway) he could hear Jason’s shoes squeaking softly on the polished wood floor whenever he changed positions, which was frequently seeing as how the kid could never be still for longer than ten seconds.
Normally, Tim would let it happen. Jason got like this sometimes, suddenly too shy to come right out and ask for what he wanted, even if it was just to hang out with someone else because he was feeling lonely or restless. A bit of patience usually gave Jason enough courage to finally come out with it, but Tim was ready for a distraction, so he turned towards the open doorway of the family den and craned his neck so he could see Jason.
“Hey. What’s up?”
“Oh. Um…” Jason angled his toes inward and bit his lip. “I wanted to ask you something.”
Nodding, Tim shut his laptop and shifted over so there was room for Jason on the sofa.
Jason came over, his eyes watching Tim as he climbed up onto that empty spot. He was looking for clues for how Tim was going to react. It must really be something serious.
Was it a school thing? Help with homework? Or something with his friends? It was still a little weird to think of Jason coming to Tim about this kind of thing, but they had come a long way in the last year. Mostly, Tim was comfortable in role as the older brother.
“So, um…” Jason tugged on the hem of his hoodie. “Halloween’s coming up.”
Oh. That’s what this was about? Well, this was easy. Way better than anything Tim had been thinking, although it was funny that Jason was so nervous about it.
“Yeah, just a couple weeks from now,” he said, setting his laptop off to the side for good.
Jason nodded, big eyes still watching Tim carefully. “Right. Are you, um… Well… what are you doing that day?”
He was so obvious at this age; it was pretty cute, actually, and Tim fought to keep a straight expression on his face as he pretended to think about it. “Well… I don’t totally know yet. I might be really busy doing quarterly reports and, like… budgets and stuff.”
Jason deflated. “Oh. Right. Yeah, that makes sense.”
Okay, now Tim felt bad. Jason was kinda… gullible, sometimes. Probably exactly like how a typical kid would be. All those years of life experience and memories of being an adult didn’t make much of a difference in a brain that was wired to take things literally and accept information at face value. But, unlike their height difference, it was something that Tim didn’t like to take advantage of. At least, not if he could help it.
“Wait, Jay, no. I’m not actually busy. I can totally do the W.E. Halloween party with you again this year.”
Jason perked up, mood turning on a dime. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. It was fun last time; it’ll be fun to go again.”
“Okay, good. I know Dad could always be the one to take me this year, but… I, uh, liked it when we went together.”
“Yeah, I liked it, too. But you know this means I expect you to split the candy haul just like last year.”
Jason rolled his eyes. “You’re a grown up. You can buy your own candy literally whenever you want.”
“It’s not about that. So, should I dig out our costumes from last year? I think yours would still fit.”
“Well, I was actually kinda thinking we could do something else this time.”
“Yeah?” It was nice to see Jason like this: excited about Halloween with an actual idea of his own for a costume. There really had been a lot of change in the last year.
“Yeah, well… mostly it’s just because I think it’d kinda drive Dad crazy.” A spark of mischief appeared on that little face, and this was why Tim tried to be a nice big brother.
He grinned. “I can get behind that kind of plan. What’s your idea?”
Jason grinned right back at him. “We should go as Batman and Robin.”
One Year Ago:
“What the fuck is that supposed to be.”
“Oh, c’mon, you know what it is.”
“How am I supposed to tell?”
“It’s a— you know. Fancy white shirt, tricorn hat. You can pick between the eyepatch or the hook for a hand; I’ll take the other one.”
Jason stared incredulously up at Tim. When he’d said he didn’t care what his costume was for the stupid Halloween thing, he’d thought Tim would get something along the lines of a bedsheet as a ghost or whatever. Not two coordinating overpriced costumes that were going to be on sale for half off the very next day.
Tim took a breath, and then, watching Jason closely, spoke. “Look, obviously, if you hate it, you don’t have to wear it. I can get something else. Or we can cancel the whole thing. Whatever you—”
“Oh, fuck off, Tim, I’m not gonna lose my shit about what costume I wear. I’m not that much of a child.”
A slow, cautious smile snuck out onto Tim’s face. “Well… I guess it’s good you know where you land along that spectrum, huh?”
Jason rolled his eyes and grabbed the plastic package full of plastic clothes, but, honestly, that comment landed closer to home than he’d like to admit.
The line between child and adult was getting blurrier by the day, and Jason was pretty sure he landed a lot closer to ‘child’ now than he would have when all this first happened. He was just… getting used to it all. What his life was like now.
Obviously, he was still pissed that his printing was a disaster and that he couldn’t even go to the grocery store by himself without drawing a bunch of attention, but there was other stuff that was getting better.
He was still way smaller and weaker than he would like, but it didn’t feel as unsettlingly weird as it used to. He didn’t miss having a disastrous sleep schedule or needing to stay alert at all times, even when he was in one of his most hidden safehouses. And, yeah, it was nice not to have to stay on top of things like laundry and dusting and even meal planning, if he didn’t feel like it.
He had all these emotions now that landed way heavier than they used to: happiness, sadness, fear, even something like boredom. But being around someone else helped to settle those much faster than when he’d been older, and there was, well… something nice about it. It was easier.
Even this whole thing with the stupid Halloween costume was a sign. He couldn’t have gone shopping for this thing on his own. Getting to the store was impossible, and even though he still had his own credit cards and everything, no one would accept them from a kid.
But honestly, Jason hadn’t even thought about all of those obstacles when they’d first talked about this plan. He’d just automatically offloaded the whole thing onto Tim, probably because he was getting used to asking other people to do that kind of shit for him.
He was… settling in. In a weird sort of way.
Even if it was the total opposite of the person he used to be.
He opened the bag and pulled out the stupid pirate costume. The shirt and bottoms were made out of a slick polyester material that smelled like a factory and used small strips of velcro for the fastenings. It was big enough that it fit over his regular shirt and shorts.
A bandana came with it, too, but those clumsy fingers of his fumbled the knot and he quickly gave up on using it at all. Maybe he was okay with getting Tim to buy the stupid outfit, but he wasn’t gonna get help fucking dressing himself.
When he finally got the rest of it on, he took the effort and dragged his little step stool over to his mirror so he could see the entire outfit: cheap white shirt, scratchy shorts with a fake ragged edge, and a flimsy pleather hat. He had his usual black slip-on shoes, which were totally out of place with everything else, but he wasn’t going to go telling Tim he needed more to wear.
His eternally messy hair was squashed underneath the hat, and the dark colour made his freckles pop even more. There was a big gap in the front of his teeth while he was waiting for another adult one to grow in, and that sold the whole picture.
He looked exactly like any other six-year-old kid on Halloween. And he was about to go do exactly what any other six-year-old kid did.
Now he just needed to get over it.