Work Text:
Fitz didn't register the flyer under the door until Batgirl had launched herself at it. By this point, he was well used to information being passed this way, and Batgirl was always excited about a new sticky-note for the side of his laptop.
Batgirl chirped up at him from atop her vanquished prize,
Fitz stooped carefully. He was off his crutches, but his leg was still weak and tender. Physical therapy was kicking his ass, but Alyson said it was going really well, so he would take it.
It was the flyer for the neighborhood Pride Party. Gotham had a city-wide Pride Parade the last weekend in June, but Fitz hadn't paid much more attention than to know it was happening.
Crime Alley was having their own, though. They'd decided if the city's Pride was going to happen entirely Downtown, they would just deck out the Alley themselves.
He'd seen the flyers at the community center and the park bulletin board, but he hadn't paid much attention. Fitz wasn't much up on the goings on of the queer community, but even he knew cops didn't go to Pride.
He had the day off, but he figured he and Batgirl would have a quiet day in. Ellie was going to Bludhaven's parade, and she'd promised to FaceTime him from the celebrations so he could take part.
Honestly, a street party via FaceTime sounded much nicer than one from the actual street, where it was loud, and hot, and full of people.
The sticky note on this particular flyer, however, indicated (in Abuela's neat penmanship) that he and Batgirl were cordially invited to an artsy pre-party at the community center tomorrow afternoon, and that he should bring a comfortable t-shirt, preferably in grey, and Batgirl's wing-harness.
Batgirl, since the wing incident, had acquired a second harness without snaps, but with the actual Batgirl symbol on the chest, and two more pairs of wings to snap onto her original harness (one clearly modeled after the original Batgirl's cape, and one set of "nightwings" which looked more like a Superb Bird of Paradise than the vigilante, in Fitz's opinion). It was worth stating for the record that Fitz had purchased none of these objects. The Batgirl harness had been Robin, and Fitz had been tickled by the gesture. The others had simply appeared on his computer desk, as if by bat-magic.
Batgirl said, "Mew," quite definitively when Fitz looked at her for her opinion.
"All right," Fitz agreed, and limped slowly to the bedroom to make sure he had a grey t-shirt he didn't mind becoming an art project.
Fitz did have a grey t-shirt, so he and Batgirl made their slow way—and how was he slower off the crutches than he'd been on them?—to the community center the next afternoon, prepared for basically anything.
"Hi Mr. Fitz!" Ericka shouted as he came in.
"Batgirl!" Steph cried gleefully.
Fitz grinned. He took off Batgirl's backpack and released her from her prison, and didn't even try to catch the end of her leash as she launched herself across the room to see the kids.
Ericka was thirteen-nearly-fourteen, but unquestionably in charge of the gang of children who flocked around the community center. They ranged, to Fitz's best estimation, from about six all the way up to Steph and Danny, who were nineteen, and Fitz would claim he had no idea how they picked Ericka, except he'd heard Julianna, Ericka's mom, say that Will had left her in charge. Fitz had no idea what that was, though.
"Perfect," Ericka announced, taking the grey t-shirt from him and shooing him towards the knot of people around the workbench in the back. "Al-Tim-Alvin needs the harness," she added.
Fitz nodded and made his way towards the knot of activity.
The two Cricuts were whirring away busily, there was a rainbow (pun perfectly intended) of paint in trays, glitter everywhere, and several of the skilled adults working various more complicated machines.
Tim-or-Alvin and Julianna were bent together over a pair of glittering iridescent fairy wings for Batgirl. Fitz silently put the harness beside them, and Tim immediately scooped it up to measure the snap placement on the nearly-completed wings. "Thanks," Julianna said, because Tim didn't appear to have noticed there was a human attached to the action.
Fitz chuckled. "I mean, I think I should be saying thank you on behalf of Batgirl, who has never been such a sparkly princess before."
Julianna laughed. "Fair enough," she agreed. "She's going to be the cutest fairy."
Fitz agreed with a hum.
Steph arrived with Batgirl on her shoulders. "Mew," Batgirl announced to the table.
"Hey Baby," Fitz agreed. "Steph," he added.
"Fitz," Steph said. "Where'd your shirt go?"
"Ericka absconded with it," Fitz answered. "What's going on?"
Steph mouthed the word 'absconded' in amusement.
"We're prepping for Pride," Tim said, finally looking up from Batgirl's wings. "We realized not everyone has pride-gear, so we're making it."
"Oh," Fitz said.
Steph immediately honed in on his hesitation. "You're coming, right?" she demanded.
"I wasn't," Fitz said honestly.
There was an immediate chorus of outcries.
Fitz looked around, startled by the genuine distress his absence was apparently causing. "Batgirl can come," he said quickly. "She'd probably love it." He quirked a grin. "Just have her home by nine, and no underaged drinking."
Steph snorted. "I mean, if you think you'll hate it," she said slowly.
"But you're invited," Tim said intensely.
Julianna nodded solemnly. "We want you there if you want to be there," she added.
Fitz shook his head, more confusion than denial. "I thought 'no cops at Pride' was a pretty standard rule," he said finally.
"You're not a cop, you're a Fed," Julianna said.
Fitz wrinkled his face up. "I'm pretty sure that's not as big of a distinction as you people keep insisting."
"But you're off the clock that day," Steph said. "And you're one of us."
Fitz decided not to consider which 'us' he was being included in today. Some of them felt more true than others, but he understood, now, that whatever he thought, everyone who said some version of this phrase to him considered it the truth. "A fact I appreciate," he said gently.
"But you won't come," Tim said, and he sounded disappointed.
Fitz sighed. "If it's that important," he said quietly. "I could come for a little while."
"Come for the barbecue!" Julianna said immediately, pouncing on his acquiescence. "Hood's cooking. It's at five."
Fitz nodded. "I could do that. I mean, I want to check with Hood first," he added, holding a hand up to stall objections. "In the end it's his party," he said sternly. "And if he says no cops, I'm abiding by that."
"You're not a cop," a mechanized voice said from behind him.
Fitz sighed deeply and turned to face the Red Hood. "Okay, you should know better than to think there's some arbitrary distinction between a cop and fed."
Hood shucked his helmet, displaying his domino mask and his smirk. "Marcus, you should know by now Cop's not a job title, it's a state of mind. And you're not a cop."
Fitz sighed. "Yes," he told the table, ignoring this bit of obvious nonsense from the crime lord. "I will come to the barbecue."
"Yes!" Steph cheered.
"Mew," Batgirl complained, when this bit of exuberance jarred her perch beyond acceptability. She hopped down onto the table, and picked her way daintily among the crafting detritus—seriously, so much glitter—and butted up against Fitz' hands.
"Hey Baby," Fitz said, stroking her ears.
"You're not making a shirt?" Hood asked Fitz, leaning on the table between Steph and Tim. He ruffled Tim's hair and ignored the young man slapping at him in defense.
"I was," Fitz said. "But my shirt has been absconded with and I don't know where it went."
"Ericka?" Hood asked.
"Ericka," Julianna confirmed.
"She was that excited about her idea," Hood agreed. "I'm sure it'll be fine," he told Fitz bracingly, in the tones of a man who was sure of no such thing.
"Here," one of the younger kids said, leaning into Fitz's hip. "You can help me, then," he said seriously.
Fitz nodded. "Sure. What are we working on?"
"Hood said grownups have to handle the bleach," the little boy said, nose crinkled in irritation.
"That sounds fair," Fitz said. "It's pretty caustic."
"What's caustic mean?" the boy asked, tugging Fitz by the hand to the next table over, where a black shirt was spread on some cardboard. It already had a rainbow painted in fabric paint across the chest, and now there was an aluminum stencil—which appeared to have been cut by one of the CNCs—laid across the stomach. 'Two Moms are better than one" it read. There was a bottle of bleach, a bowl, and a sponge.
"Caustic means something that burns, but with chemicals instead of heat," Fitz said.
The boy—Fitz thought his name was Jamie—nodded solemnly. "I'll be careful," he promised, gesturing at the bleach bottle.
Fitz obligingly poured a small amount of bleach into the bowl and dipped the sponge in. "You want it really bleached or just a little?" he asked.
Jamie pursed his lips in thought. "Splotchy," he decided.
"Splotchy it is," Fitz agreed, and started dabbing bleach around the stencil.
Having found a grownup to operate the bleach bottle, the kids swarmed around him after that, and Fitz spent roughly half an hour bleaching different stencils onto different dark-colored shirts for various children, some of whom he'd never seen before in his life.
Hood, he was aware, was laughing at him in the background. Steph had stolen his cat again. Ericka, and his shirt, were still nowhere to be seen.
Finally, Fitz was freed. Ross appeared from somewhere and gently took custody of the bleach. "Go on," he said, grinning at Fitz. "Ericka demands your presence. I've got this," he added.
Fitz gladly passed off the sponge, and accepted a wet wipe from Irena Dalhart, Danny's foster mom, who seemed to be in charge of the iron. She also tipped her chin at the homework table, where Ericka was staring at him with her arms crossed.
Fitz obligingly crossed to the girl. "I hear you've made my shirt for me," he said.
Ericka frowned up at him. "Did you have any idea what to put on it?" she asked.
Fitz shook his head. "No, but I'm excited to see what you did," he answered.
Ericka's face brightened into a grin. "Mr. Hood helped," she said.
"That surprises me exactly none," Fitz agreed. "What've you got for me?"
Ericka proudly unfurled Fitz's shirt.
Fitz barked a bright laugh, delighted.
Ericka—somehow, might as well have been magic to Fitz—had put on a three-color bust of Jane Austen in white, grey, and black, and the words "More pride, less prejudice" in all the colors of the rainbow.
"You like it?" Ericka checked.
"It's perfect," Fitz agreed. "Did Hood tell you why?"
Ericka shook her head.
"Pride and Prejudice is a book," Fitz explained, "And I'm named after one of the characters."
'Oh,' Ericka mouthed. Then she turned the shirt over.
The back was styled like a jersey, but instead of a number it had a a spade, from the card suits, in a color fade from black to purple, through grey and white. Where his name ought to have been, it read "Marcus."
Fitz nodded. "Perfect," he assured Ericka, who was watching his face eagerly, and returned her broad grin.
"And you're coming, right?" she pushed.
Fitz nodded. "The parade sounds a little rowdy for me," he told her, "But your mom's already talked me into coming to the barbecue."
Ericka nodded. "You can't miss Mr. Hood's brisket."
"I won't," he promised. "Thank you for making my shirt," he added.
"You're welcome!" Ericka beamed at him, braces and bright eyes and still-childish joy, and then she was bouncing off to sweetly terrorize some other poor soul.
Fitz sighed deeply, no other way the vent the strange feeling of belonging in his chest, and went to find his cat, who was also probably sweetly terrorizing someone.
The morning of the parade dawned orange and smoggy, as summer days in Gotham tended to do, and Fitz put on his new pride shirt, fitted Batgirl with her fairy wings and the rainbow leash somehow no one in the center had even noticed let alone claimed the origin of, and greeted Steph, Danny, and Adriel in the lobby of the Blocks.
Batgirl greeted her friends with happy chirps and sweet purring, but butted Fitz's shins demandingly when he handed Steph the backpack.
"Mew," Batgirl argued.
"Have fun with the kids," Fitz said, kissing her forehead when Adriel scooped her up. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, be a good example, and have them home by nine," he told the cat solemnly.
"Mew," Batgirl insisted.
"Keep an eye on Alvin," he teased. "He's sneaky."
"Mew," Batgirl said.
Fitz kissed her forehead again, and waved the kids off.
"She'll take good care of us," Danny promised, meaning the other way around.
Fitz waved them off, trusting them.
"Mew," Batgirl was still complaining as they headed out.
Laughing, Fitz headed back upstairs.
Batwatch was full of pictures from the downtown Pride, kicking off earlier in the morning to try to miss some of the oppressive humidity of summer in Gotham. Batwoman, Robin, and the Birds of Prey had all been photographed on various rooftops overlooking the parade route, all smiles when they knew they were being photographed, and Nightwing had even dropped down to street level to say hello.
There was a great photo of him with a rainbow lip print on his cheek, doing a one-handed handstand with a trans-colored feather boa tied around one ankle like a flag. He was making a peace sign with the hand not holding his weight. It was captioned, "Vigilante Rep FTW!" and then was followed by a rigorous debate about whether Nightwing was just an Ally or actually identified as some form of queer.
The next photo in Fitz's feed was from @HenchLife, and had not yet broken (or been broken): Red Hood, standing with his arms crossed over his chest. The helmet made reading his expression impossible, but his body language was all exasperation. The bat just visible behind his crossed arms was rainbow ombre instead of the usual red, and he'd let someone put a flower crown on top of the Hood. The caption said, "Boss really will let Teej talk him into anything."
When his FaceTime went off, Fitz propped his phone on the laptop to answer his sister. "Hey!" she shouted.
The background of the call was raucous and noisy, and Ellie was beaming and joyous. "Hi," he said, laughing at the chaos.
"Look!" Ellie cried, panning her cell phone down.
She was wearing a match to his shirt, "More pride, less prejudice!" Her picture of Jane Austen was full color, though. She must've gotten it off the internet.
"We match!" he laughed.
"Here," Ellie said to someone off-screen, and passed her phone over so she could spin around. The back of her shirt said "Mrs. Darcy" and had a green-white-black ombre heart.
"Perfect," Fitz called as she accepted her phone back. "It's good?" he asked.
"Great," Ellie enthused. "Street dancing, kebabs, live music, you'd hate it!"
"I would," Fitz agreed. "Batgirl's off with the kids at the Alley street party. I'll send pictures, I'm sure they're going to send me a zillion."
"You better," Ellie said. "My shift at the aid pavilion starts in a half an hour, so you can start sending me pictures then, and I'll use them to cheer up the patients."
"Well if it's for a good cause," Fitz said wryly, scooping up his phone to text Steph to send him pictures.
"No better cause than seeing my niece be adorable," Ellie said easily.
"Fair," Fitz agreed.
The first picture from Steph lit up his screen. Batgirl, standing perched on Danny's shoulders with her fairy wings flared, was clearly screaming at Adriel. Adriel appeared to be eating a meatball of sorts, and wasn't sharing.
Fitz had never given Batgirl people-food, so he had no idea why she felt privy to Adriel's snack. He forwarded the picture to Ellie.
"Oh my god her wings!" Ellie shouted. "Look!" she added to whoever was with her. "Look at my cat-niece!"
"Oh my god!" the person said. "That's not your brother, though," she said, sounding slightly uncertain.
"Nah, that's one of the neighborhood kids. Fitz is a hermit, so he let the kids take the cat to Pride, because the cat's more social than he is."
"Excuse," Fitz said, for the principle of the thing. It wasn't like she was wrong.
"Hi Fitz!" the person said.
Ellie flipped the camera so Fitz could see her friend. She was in rainbow-patterned scrubs, and massive ridiculous heart-shaped plastic sunglasses in rainbow colors, wearing a crown that said, "Proud Pride Nurse."
"Hi Penny," Fitz agreed, finally recognizing Ellie newest friend from the hospital. She'd just moved from Star City, and Ellie had taken her under her wing. This was his second FaceTime with Ellie when Penny was around, but he'd seen some pictures of the girls together as well.
"Fitzy, you will never guess who's here!" Ellie shouted.
Fitz shook his head. "Probably I would not," he agreed. The Waynes were the only celebrities he followed, and while he definitely followed the Justice League, Nightwing was the only one likely to have been in Blud, and he was obviously in Gotham this week.
"The Titans," Ellie said, voice nearly a squeak. "I mean, like half of them, anyway."
"Which half?" Fitz asked, curious in spite of himself.
"Starfire, Troia, Jericho, and Tempest," she answered. "And then two guys in black I don't recognize but are clearly with them."
"Cool," Fitz said. "Get pictures," he added.
"Oh I have," Ellie said, playing up her dreamy sigh. "Starfire's so pretty. It's like, a thousand times more unreal in person."
"I believe you," Fitz said dryly.
Ellie blew a raspberry at him. "Are the Bats doing pride uniforms? The Titans did pride uniforms." The camera panned to show that Troia—perched cheerfully on a roof-corner—was spangled in rainbow-colors across her black uniform, instead of her usual silver.
"Hood's bat is rainbow instead of red," Fitz reported, "And Nightwing's been letting people strew him with Pride gear." There was another photo on Batwatch, where Nightwing was now wearing a pride flag as a cape, and a matching trans-themed lip print on his other cheek. "Nobody else is playing."
"Too bad," Ellie sighed. The camera panned to Starfire, her unwordly hair cascading with rainbow leis. "The Titans went all out." Jericho's white shirt was fully rainbow tie-dyed, and Tempest, another crowd-pan showed, had replaced the red accents to his uniform with the pink-yellow-blue of the pan-pride flag.
Only the two black-clad strangers weren't in pride-gear.
"Wait," Fitz said.
The camera flipped back to Ellie. "What?" she asked.
"Go back to him?" Fitz asked.
Ellie groaned. "Fitz you are not about to profile our event security."
"Please?" Fitz said.
Ellie sighed long-sufferingly, and panned back around to the two vigilantes in black. They were both in black undersuits with grey armor, and wearing full-face cowls. The smaller of the pair did, actually, have a pride flag patch stitched on his shoulder. The bigger of the pair only had one eye-hole in his mask.
Fitz considered the body-shape and the single eye-hole. He considered the deeply disconcerting meeting on a park bench five months ago. He considered what the mercenary would be doing working with the Titans as event security at Bludhaven's Pride Parade. "Never mind," he told Ellie, mouth suddenly dry. "Thought he was someone else."
Ellie scoffed at him, flipping the camera so he could get the full effect of her dramatically rolled eyes. "No profiling!" she commanded.
He saluted. "Yes Ma'am," he agreed. Then he texted Steph, 'please ask Hood why Terminator is working Blud pride. Also, send more pics.'
'Favor to Nightwing,' Steph answered promptly, followed by a photo of Batgirl standing on Tim's outstretched, flat palms so she could scream directly into Hood's face. Hood, still sporting his flower crown, had acquired a rainbow lip print on the cheek of the helmet, matching Nightwing's.
'Is she screaming at everyone?' he asked Steph.
'Only the ones who deserve it,' Steph replied. 'He's refusing to pick her up, and she wants Hood-cuddles.'
Fitz forwarded the picture to his sister, to explain his brief lull.
"God please put that on Batwatch," Ellie pleaded. "He's so cowed."
It was true that Hood was visibly shrinking back from the screaming kitten. Fitz shrugged at Ellie. "I'm waiting to see what they send me, and I'll pick the best one. I don't want to spam the tags."
"I guess," Ellie sighed. "Okay, I gotta go, little brother."
Fitz nodded. "Go take care of people," he agreed. "Glad you're having fun."
"I hope you are too," she said.
Fitz nodded. "Promise," he said. "Love you," he added.
"You too, Fitzy. Later," and then she disconnected.
Another photo came from Steph, Hood cradling Batgirl to his armored chest, the cat rubbing the top of her head vigorously against the bottom of the helmet. He passed that one on to Ellie too, and refreshed his BatWatch page.
Robin had apparently been coaxed down from the rooftops, and he had been photographed giving treats to a series of very excited dogs. There was also a really cute picture of Nightwing helping him fasten a pride-flag to the yellow cape, so they matched. Nightwing was kneeling next to the younger vigilante, smiling up at him, and Robin's face, tipped down towards his compatriot was softer than Fitz had ever seen it, even with Batgirl.
Steph sent a short video of Batgirl, now on the grass on her rainbow lead, fairy wings fluttering as she pranced through the flowers. 'Sparkly princess fairy,' Steph wrote, having put some kind of sparkle filter over the video.
Fitz passed it on to Ellie, and got a string of exclamation marks in reply.
By three, Gotham's downtown parade had ended, and some of the photos of Batgirl started to include TJ and Haley, and at four thirty, Ellie texted that Blud had finally shut down, and she was safely home. Fitz replied with Steph's latest photo, fairy-Batgirl aggressively cleaning Haley's ear from atop the dog's rainbow-harness.
'Dog?!' Ellie texted back.
'That's Haley,' Fitz replied. 'She's TJ and Hood's, but Batgirl thinks she's hers.'
'I see that,' Ellie replied. 'Going out soon?'
Fitz texted a thumbs up in agreement. Then he applied sunscreen and fetched the cane he was using when he needed it, and headed out the door. It would be after five by the time he got to the park, but he figured no one would mind if he was a little past his planned time.
The park was alight with color and life, not that it was usually particularly quiet. But little popup tents and tables circled the walking path, with vendors and food and joy. The playscape housed the local teenage band which was keeping the event lively with familiar covers. The grass was scattered with blankets as little knots of community settled in to talk and be together.
A small multicolored cat wearing fairy wings came streaming through the grass long before Fitz actually managed to find the kids. "Mew!" Batgirl shouted, running straight into his shin.
Fitz scooped her up, let her scream in his face for a bit, and then helped her settle across his shoulders, purring smugly. "Well," he said when she seemed finished. "Your complaint has been filed, and I hope you had a good day."
"Mew," Batgirl agreed, rubbing her head against his jaw.
"Fitz!" Steph called, and he finally found the blanket the kids were piled on.
"Hey guys," Fitz said, limping over. "She keep you outta trouble?"
"She did," Danny agreed, grinning. "Come, sit," he added, patting the blanket. "Get off your knee, man."
Fitz obligingly slithered to the ground, trying to keep for overtaxing his weak thigh or spill Batgirl. He settled on the corner of the kids' blanket. "Did I miss anything unconscionable?"
"Did you!" Adriel said gleefully. She fiddled with her phone for a moment, and then thrust it at Fitz. For a moment, the video was wobbly and unclear, and then it resolved into Tim, carrying Haley, who was barking furiously—not trying to get away, just yelling at the world in all appearances of happiness. Beyond them, in the background of the video, Red Hood, helmet almost unrecognizable under all the glitter, was carrying TJ slung over his shoulder. TJ was squirming and protesting vociferously, if unintelligibly under the barking of their dog. Batgirl was overseeing the proceedings from Steph's shoulders. Hood's big lieutenant, who Fitz had not met but had seen several times, appeared out of the crowd and talked to Hood in an undertone—or probably a totally normal conversational volume, impossible to overhear over the noise of the parade and the dog. Hood then handed TJ to Turk, still inverted, and vanished into the crowd. Turk stood there, looking slightly bewildered, TJ draped awkwardly over one shoulder. TJ's face appeared in the gap under Turk's arm, and though he wasn't audible on the video, his mouth clearly shaped, "Can I get down now?" The video looped as Turk righted TJ.
"What on earth," Fitz said.
"TJ was threatening hire a hacker to erase all video evidence, so we're showing everyone we can," Tim explained.
"What. Why?" Fitz asked.
"TJ is responsible for the glitter," Adriel said. The kids were also covered in glitter, Fitz noted. Batgirl had not escaped unscathed, though she was considerably less covered than any of the humans.
"Biodegradable, pet safe," Tim added. "Haley is also covered in it."
Fitz nodded. "Where is our benign overlord?" he asked.
Tim snorted. "I'm telling him you called him that."
"I meant Haley," Fitz said, straight-faced.
Steph dissolved into giggles.
"Well the answer's the same," Danny said, and pointed.
The street on the side of the park nearest the Community Center had been blocked off to traffic for the day, and in the shade of the nearby apartment block, a barbecue pit of sorts had assembled. The pieces were mishmash, store-bought and clearly handmade grills side by side, with prep tables and a chest freezer on an extension cord from the building.
Hood was in the middle of the chaos of food prep, down to his domino, and displaying the pink-purple-blue dye-job in his usually-white streak. He'd shed his jacket somewhere too, but the rainbow bat was still emblazoned across his chest. TJ was just outside the prep area, sitting on a stack of crates, Haley in his lap. He and Hood were clearly arguing about something, based on TJ's indignant face and Hood's rapidly moving hands.
"They've banned TJ from helping based on what he calls 'scurrilous slander' from Hood," Tim said to Fitz. "Hood says he's hopeless in the kitchen."
"Is he?" Adriel asked before Fitz could.
"He's really good at following directions?" Steph said after a moment where she and Tim just stared at each other.
"You absolutely cannot leave him in charge of his own nutrition," Tim agreed. "But he and Hood cook together all the time."
As they watched, Hood loaded up a basket, which he put down on the edge of the table. He walked over to TJ and very deliberately took Haley out of his arms and put her gently on the ground, taking the end of her leash from TJ. TJ watched all this with some bemusement, allowing it with his head tilted.
Hood then casually slung TJ over his shoulder again, scooped up the basket with the hand holding Haley's leash (and not wrapped around TJ's thighs to hold him in place), and headed towards them.
As they approached, TJ's protests became audible. "J, damnit, why are- put me down- J are you even- why are you like this?"
"Marcus," Hood said cheerfully, setting the basket down next to Adriel, tossing the end of Haley's leash to Steph, and then flipping TJ upright again.
TJ, flushed and spluttering, shouted, "J!"
Hood settled between Tim and Adriel and started handing around brisket sandwiches, casually ignoring his boyfriend's squawking.
"Thanks," Fitz said dryly, accepting his food and a napkin.
TJ, still grumbling direly, settled between Steph and Fitz. "Hey Fitz," he said, taking his own sandwich and pointedly ignoring his boyfriend back. "Quiet afternoon?"
"Lovely and peaceful," Fitz agreed. "Ellie FaceTimed from Blud's Pride, and I got to stalk BatWatch for all the pictures, and did not have to be in a single street-mosh."
"Sounds boring," Steph said, but she was grinning, so Fitz figured she was teasing him rather than making fun.
"That's good," Hood said, "That you found a way to celebrate that works for you, and we're glad you're here now."
Fitz smiled briefly at the crime lord, and then took another bite of his—frankly delicious—brisket sandwich to keep from having to answer.
"How was Blud?" TJ asked. Fitz didn't remember when TJ had mentioned he'd moved to the Alley from Blud, but Fitz knew he had. "Looked hopping," Fitz said dryly. "Ellie worked the aid tent for the afternoon, and she was bribing people with pictures of Batgirl to get them to behave."
"Oh so all that photography was public service," Steph said cheerfully. "Can I log it as service hours for GCC?"
"Stop," TJ said fondly, shoving her head sideways.
"Looked like it went well," Fitz added to TJ.
TJ nodded his thanks.
"And BatWatch?" Tim asked.
"Great pictures," Fitz said.
"Mew," Batgirl asked, leaning into his jaw again.
"If that's a request for brisket, absolutely not," Fitz said. "If that's a request to see your favorite vigilante, I can accommodate." He scrolled for a bit on the app, looking for the picture of Robin and Nightwing, pinning on the flag, and held it up to the cat.
"Who's her favorite?" Steph asked immediately.
"Robin," Fitz said.
"Mew," Batgirl agreed, still rubbing her head on his jaw.
TJ leaned, so Fitz obligingly flipped his phone so he could see the picture too.
"Aww," Steph said, also given a clear view. "That might be the least stabby I've ever seen him on camera!"
TJ seemed to be having a moment, so Fitz screenshotted the picture and texted it to the other man.
"Mew," Batgirl pressed, leaning deeper into his jaw and neck. Towards his sandwich.
"Nope," Fitz said, holding the sandwich further away. He scrolled to another picture, and offered it to the cat: Robin, posing with three drag queens, all twice his height in their heels. One of them had his sword.
Batgirl sneezed dismissively, switching shoulders to get closer to the food.
"No ma'am," Fitz said.
"Oh my god are those drag queens?" Steph said, leaning closer to his phone, around TJ. TJ also leaned in.
Fitz slid his phone closer to the middle of the blanket. "It's filtered on Robin," he said, shrugging. "Have at."
Steph gleefully dove in, scrolling and shoving pictures at the others.
Fitz, meanwhile, dug around in the bubble backpack, sitting on the blanket behind Steph, looking for treats. There was a very confusing towel in the bottom of the main compartment, and Fitz flipped it open. It had a cold pack, likely from the aid station.
"Didn't want the bubble to, like, greenhouse effect," Tim said quietly. "She didn't spend much time in there, but we didn't want her to overheat if she did get in."
Fitz hadn't even thought of that, as he prepared to send them out for the day. "Thanks," he said quietly.
Tim shrugged, like it was nothing. It wasn't, Fitz assumed, and yet it entirely was. Instead of trying to find the words, Fitz just found Batgirl a treat, and offered it to her. "You do not get people food, little miss," he said sternly. "Not ever."
Adriel and Steph both winced, looking guilty.
"There may have been a small amount of meatball," Tim said bracingly.
Fitz groaned. "You are why she thinks she gets food!"
"Guilty," Steph said sheepishly.
"Sorry," Adriel agreed.
Fitz shook his head. "Can no one say no to you?" he asked his cat.
"Mew," Batgirl replied smugly, and ate her treat.
Fitz could only sigh, and shake his head, and smile at his friends.