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Dick moved back to Bludhaven. Money was tight, but they were getting by. Dick wasn’t the only omega single parent in the Bludhaven PD, just the only active duty detective. He’d got a promotion, due, Dick was pretty sure, to Tim. Admittedly, Dick cheated by dressing Tim up as a mini cop when he enrolled Tim in the police creche and introduced him all around.
Those big blue eyes could melt the hardest of hearts- well, if you didn’t count Batman and the Drakes. Dick kept expecting them to come after his baby again. He’d got the DNA tests to prove Tim was his, and he’d made out a child trafficking report, just in case. If Batman tried to take Tim again, Dick would drag his name, his real name, through the mud.
Jason was enrolled in school, despite offering to get a job. Dick had told him his job was to prepare for his future. It wasn’t a hard sell, Jason loved learning. There’d been a few rough days, but they were good now.
Jason hadn’t told Batman he was leaving, until days later, so Bruce had hunted down his old neighbors thinking he’d gone back to the tenements. He played the concerned adoptive dad well enough to get a parcel of old papers and photos Jason’s neighbor had saved. Alfred had the decency to forward that to Dick after Jason called to tell them he was with Dick.
Jason wanted to go to Ethiopia to meet his bio mother once the papers revealed her identity, but Dick and Tim needed him, and they really couldn’t afford it. He wasn’t going to take a dime from Bruce.
Jason was at the kitchen table doing his homework, while Dick gave Tim a bath, when a loud knocking came at the door. Jason got up. “Is the rent overdue?”
Dick came out of the bathroom, shirtless, with Tim wrapped in a towel, still wearing a bubble Mohawk hairdo. He passed Tim to Jason. “No.”
The knocking continued. Dick looked towards his gun safe. Then he heard a familiar voice. “It’s me, Dickie Bird.”
Dick looked at Jason. “Slade.” He’d told Jason everything.
Jason clutched Tim tighter. “No,” he said fiercely. “He’s not taking my little brother.”
“I can hear you, you know,” Slade said through the door. “I’m not here to take anyone. I bring gifts! Plleeeease, let me in before your neighbors call the cops.”
Dick sighed. “Fine.” He opened the door. Slade Wilson, in all his one-eyed, dramatically red and black dressed, glory stood there. With a stuffed plush camel in one hand and a bulging satchel at his feet.
“Oh, God, did we make that? He’s adorable.” Slade stomped in and held out the camel to Tim, tossing the satchel on the table on top of Jason’s homework. “Good work, Dickie.”
Tim looked puzzled, but took the camel. “Tank oo,” he said politely.
Jason backed up. He looked at Dick. “This guy? Really?”
Dick shut the door behind Slade. “I was young and had poor judgement.”
Slade nodded. He said, “Discowing,” as if that explained everything. “I heard rumors, and when I got to Gotham, I had a little talk with the Bat.” Slade flexed his hands. “After he fell down some stairs, and off a dinosaur, he got chatty.” Slade held out his arms. “I didn’t know. I’d have come, Baby.”
“You were busy,” Dick said. He stepped forward and let Slade hold him. “I thought I would wait to… you know, in case… because you’ve had those treatments. If… I didn’t want you to feel bad if the baby…”
“Hey, no, I would have been there for you, Baby, if I’d known.”
Jason looked at Tim. “This is getting mushy, isn’t it?”
Tim nodded. “Who?” He waved at Slade.
“I’m your Daddy, bean sprout,” Slade said. He took off his helmet.
Tim blinked. “You’ve got a boo-boo.” He pointed at Slade’s missing eye. “Mamma kiss it and make it better?”
Slade grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”
Dick pushed away from Slade. “No. Look, I don’t want any trouble, we’ve got enough already and you’re the definition of trouble, Slade.”
Slade pouted. Actually pouted. “I am not trouble, I am Anti-trouble. I am the Solution!” He went over to the table, opened his satchel and turned it upside down. Stacks of money fell out, along with very legal looking documents. “I had a very productive trip!”
Jason blinked. “Maybe Slade isn’t such a bad guy, Dick. Couldn’t hurt to hear him out.”
Dick blinked, too. “Fine. Let me finish Tim’s bath and put him down for a nap, and we can talk.” He took Tim from Jason and went back to the bathroom.
Jason looked at the money and then at Slade. “Did you kill someone to get this money?”
“I didn’t get it playing Parcheesi.” Wade sat down at the table and went silent, just looking around.
Jason shrugged and fished out his homework and resumed working.
Dick came back in a few minutes later. “All right. Let’s have the story. But no shouting and, nothing admissible in court- I am still a duly appointed officer of the law.”
Jason and Slade exchanged glances and they both snickered.
“Ok,” Slade said. “So, I hear gossip. I visit Mr. Broody and he confirms the rumors. I think about coming to see you, but I don’t want to come empty handed. I missed three of Tim’s birthdays! Plus our wedding anniversary.”
“We were never married,” Dick said.
Slade put a hand on his chest. “Are you calling our little pumpkin a bastard? For shame.”
Jason sat back and watched from Slade to Dick, like a tennis match.
Dick sighed. “Like father, like son.”
Jason kept a straight face, but it was difficult.
Slade smirked. “Yeah, Timmy’s a charmer. So, anyway.” Slade’s face turned grim. “Not only did the Bat steal Timmy, he paid to have the neighbors take him away. Like TRASH. And didn’t even bother to check they were treating him right. I talked to the housekeeper. Nice lady, but you know, she couldn’t afford to lose her job so she hadn’t said anything before. She took photos though, gave them to me, dates and notes and all.”
Slade paused and took a deep breath. “Timmy could have died.”
Dick said, softly, “I know.”
Slade shook his head. “Batman PAID them ten thousand dollars. God damn, reverse fucking child trafficking. And they took the money and went on happy little adventures.” Slade smiled a very not nice smile. “Their last one was in Egypt. Their very last one.” Slade rummaged out a sheaf of papers. “Luckily, they made out their wills, leaving everything to their beloved adopted son. It’s all notarized and everything.”
“Oh, God,” Dick said and laid his head down on the table and whimpered.
Slade patted him on the head. “I think they would be pleased to know they died doing what they loved, messing about in other people’s graves.”
“Cool,” Jason said after a moment. He looked at the papers. “Timmy’s smart, he should be able to go to college.” To his credit, he said it without an ounce of jealousy.
“Oh, yeah, you get to go to college too, the money’s yours, Jason,” Slade said. “The Bat also had copies of stuff about your mom. Ethiopia’s not that far from Egypt, so I took a detour to check her out, figuring you’re my brother in law, I wanted to be sure she was on the up and up.”
“And?” Jason asked.
Dick lifted his head and looked at Slade. “No. You didn’t.”
“I didn’t touch a hair on her head,” Slade said. “I figured it would upset you enough to know she’d been planning to sell you to the Joker.”
Jason swallowed. “No.”
“Yeah.” Slade looked sympathetic. “Sorry, kid. She was a real bitch. On the bright side, do you have ANY idea how many separate commissions I had to off the clown? So many. I had your mother help me cut him up into parcels, so I could collect from everyone.”
Dick sat up. “I’m so sorry Jason.”
Jason got up. “I… um… thank you, Slade. I think.” He looked pale. “I’m just … going to go.” He ran for the bathroom and slammed the door shut.
Slade looked at Dick. “So, what’s for dinner?”