Work Text:
Jason dropped into the chair facing Clark's, leaning back with an ease that didn't quite reach his expression. "So, this is the part where you let me go?"
"It's been... a few tough weeks," Clark said. "The League's... been talking. Not about letting you go." Jason raised an eyebrow. "We were thinking more... restructuring."
It had been strange for Bruce to walk through the Watchtower after three and a half months away - three and a half months since the mission that had almost ended him, three and a half months since he had resigned from the League after breaking their trust. On the surface, it seemed that nothing had changed, but Bruce had trained himself to read body language, to sense the emotions and intentions of those around him. He wasn't Cass, of course, but he was competent enough to feel the changes.
Everyone, from junior League members to technicians, moved differently. Their stances were tighter even when at rest, and when they caught sight of Bruce they straightened as though he'd caught them out. It wasn't fear, not precisely - he would have known fear if it was directed at him. It was closer to... military, maybe, though naturally less formal.
It wasn't a negative change, necessarily, but it was slightly disquieting.
The moment Bruce stepped into the meeting room, he immediately noticed two people. The first was Clark, who crossed the room in a blur with a massive grin on his face. Bruce accepted the way Clark clasped his shoulder, firm and exuberant and careful, so careful, too careful as though he was worried Bruce would fall apart. Bruce was too distracted by the other, far more unexpected person currently occupying his habitual chair.
"Red Hood," he said. Jason's helmeted head snapped up from the tablet he'd been scrolling through, shoulders snapping back the moment he locked eyes with Bruce.
"Batman," Jason said. He stood up quickly, so quickly that the chair almost toppled over. Bruce raised an eyebrow beneath his cowl, knowing that the unspoken request for information would be understood. Jason quirked his head to the side towards Clark, and Bruce let out a slight sigh, barely more than an exhale of air.
"Really, Kal?" he said. Clark drew back with a frown, hands coming together to fidget slightly.
"I thought Hood would tell you," he said. "I- The League needed a strategist after- after. Nightwing suggested Red Hood as a favor to us."
"Shouldn't telling him have been your job?" Jason muttered.
"I thought-" Clark began.
"You were the one to suggest restructuring," Jason snapped. Bruce felt the corner of his mouth quirk. He didn't know the details, not yet, but he could see the shape of it now. He could see the shape of it, and he knew his son well enough to understand that Jason had managed to make Clark cautious. Good for him.
"We'll discuss this further during the briefing," he said firmly. The rest of the core leadership of the League - minus Ollie, who was still absent after the mess of revelations surrounding Roy - was filtering in. Diana approached to give him a side hug and a soft "Welcome back, Bruce", Hal did a triple take between him, Jason, and the chair Jason had vacated, and J'onn brushed against his mental walls in unspoken greeting.
It felt almost like coming home, but the strange shift in energy he had observed in the rest of the Watchtower remained. The team - this team, the core team he could read like a well-structured report - seemed sharper now, more restrained, focused but ill at ease in a way that Bruce couldn't quite get a handle on. He couldn't tell if they were about to break, to explode, or if this was a stable version of a new normal.
"Just take the damn chair, old man," Jason hissed at him. Bruce abruptly realized that he and Jason were the only two still standing. He sat gingerly, the new scar tissue at the small of his back still tight enough to protest. Jason, to his surprise, didn't retrieve one of the chairs they kept at the sides of the room for larger operations. Instead he stood at Bruce's left shoulder like a sentinel, gripping the back of the chair with drumming fingers.
The weekly update, with reports from each member, proceeded with little fanfare and a great deal of structure. That in and of itself was different. The League had always been relatively casual in their briefings - far more casual than the reports he had always demanded from all Gotham-affiliated vigilantes once Dick and later Barbara, Tim, Cass, and Jason had begun operating more or less independently. Even on the rare occasions he'd worked with other teams - the various Titans, Young Justice, and the Birds of Prey chief among them - there had been a distinct stamp of business-like formality during briefings.
That had never been how the League operated, and it was strange to see well-worn patterns repeating in the one place they had never firmly taken root.
He allowed Jason to take point on the Gotham and, more importantly, Oracle-related updates. Loath though he was to admit it, he had been too inactive to be able to report to his usual standards. He would catch up - he had managed to mostly make his way through the backlog of Gotham intel that had built up during his long recovery, and he had even started patrolling again over the past two weeks - but Jason had clearly been handling reports to the League for some time. He could wait.
"Before we conclude this meeting," Clark said once Jason had finished, "there's one more thing we need to discuss." Jason's fingers abruptly stopped drumming.
"Restructuring?" Bruce said wryly. Clark nodded sheepishly.
"On the logistical and strategic side, yeah," he said. "Red Hood was originally brought in to take over your, uh, duties." Duties that had mostly been self-appointed, Bruce knew that, but the hesitation stung nonetheless. "I've been taking over most of the field coordination over the past month, but we should still clarify what specific areas each of us has jurisdiction over."
"I am perfectly capable of resuming my previous role," Bruce said. Jason let out a snort. Bruce glanced up at him, and he could tell just from his son's posture that he was ready to dig his heels into a position that he knew Bruce would argue against.
"I was swamped by the League shit even with backup, B," Jason said. "and N taking point in Gotham. There's about four jobs worth of work up here after Superman took on field coordination, and that's not even getting into the rest of it."
"I don't need you to manage me, Hood," Bruce grumbled. Jason shrugged. He was trying for casual, but Bruce could tell that he was ready for a fight.
"Civilian responsibilities," Jason said.
"I have it handled."
"Not to our standards," Jason said. Bruce grunted. He should have known that Jason would notice the more... casual attitude of the League and disapprove. His son had come back to Gotham and immediately went about organizing what crime he couldn't eradicate. Jason had never been the type to allow a damn thing to slide.
"Our?" Hal muttered to Barry. Jason glared at the Green Lantern, and Hal flicked his hands up in mock surrender.
"Face it, old man," Jason said, "you can't manage the League solo." Bruce let his eyes sweep the table before cocking his head towards Jason, his unspoken argument clear. "You know what I mean."
"I allow O and Double-R to handle much of Gotham."
"Yeah, and that's recent enough that I have to wonder how the hell you managed before."
"What are you thinking?" Bruce had lost the argument before it had even begun. He should have known that from the start. Jason gave a self-satisfied grunt.
"Usual division," he said. "I take short-term ops and training." Barry groaned, but Jason elected to ignore him. "You take long-term strategy and inter-team coordination."
"Inter-team?"
"The Titans are basically a funnel for League membership already. Formalize that and half the shit you dealt with concerning preliminary membership will handle itself. Get stronger ties to other teams, put Double-R or N on their Bat-training, and we'll be in business."
"You seem to already have it figured out, so why not-"
"I can handle the battle, you concentrate on the war," Jason said. "Supes, you, and me can split the field shit."
"You could handle the inter-team coordination."
"If I had to, yeah," Jason said, "but you're the one they know. Plus you work better with teams you're not on."
"Y'know, I never would have believed it before," Hal said, "but Hood's terrifying enough that I can kind of see it." Bruce had to force himself not to properly smile at that.
"Hal, I'm pulling you in on my end," Bruce said instead.
"What?" Hal said.
"If we're dedicating more resources toward long-term strategy, we need more access to intel from Oa. Or I need to steal your ring."
"No need for that, Spooky. I'm in."
"Good."
"So we're all agreed on the restructuring?" Clark said. Bruce glanced up in time to see Jason give Clark a curt nod.
"Fine," Bruce said.
"That reminds me," Jason said, "I'm putting Batman on injured reserve."
"Excuse me," Bruce said.
"Injury lists are under training and personnel management," Jason said. Bruce huffed. Son of a bitch, he should have seen this coming. Of course Jason had ensured that his admittedly reasonable restructuring proposal would include control over Bruce's participation in League field operations after how poorly the last one had gone. Of course Jason would treat his lingering injuries with undue caution.
"I can perform on-field," he said.
"You're still on limited in Gotham," Jason said. "Get through the rig and I'll reconsider."
"You should try the rig anyways, even if Red Hood is putting you on the injured or limited list," Clark said. "After all, we haven't had the opportunity to calibrate your strengths and weaknesses with the rest of the team."
"Fine," Bruce said, pushing himself up from the table, "let's go." The other members of the League glanced at each other, some showing more trepidation than others, but eventually Diana gave him a nod and led them out towards the training wing of the Watchtower.
Jason was still sticking close by him, clear amusement in his stance.
"Rig?" Bruce muttered. Jason snorted.
"Double-R and Double-B did the reprogramming for the core League's meta-abilities," he said. "It's fairly objective."
"You're making more work for yourself once you expand training on it to newer members."
"Is that why you never built one up here?" Jason said. Bruce grunted. "Eh, fair enough. We can handle it though."
"You've been reading people in."
"O's always read in. I'm just better at using my resources."
"Do not read them in on my time on this run. It won't be pretty."
"Well, there's a reason you're benched, old man."
"Not for long," Bruce said.