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Bruce rubbed his forehead. Tension headache.
“This is great!” Dick cheered riding on the T-Rex. He leapt around the Batcave at full speed grabbing and swinging from one trophy to the next. Bruce forgot his energy. Jason watched from the shadows a scowl on his face. This wouldn’t go well for anyone…
“Dick, come down here,” Bruce said in his no nonsense voice. In midflight Dick twisted into a summersault and landed with ease in front of his mentor. He looked up with a confident little smile.
“Tada!” He did a small bow and Bruce forced himself to hide any amusement he felt. He missed this, he missed Dick’s wild antics and his big smile and his lack of resentment. Just an eleven-year-old boy that was all charm and bad puns.
“This is serious, Dick,” Bruce grunted. The child seemed confused by Batman’s reaction. “We need to find a way to get you home.”
Dick nodded like what Bruce had said was obvious and he had no intention of getting in the way of that.
He spoiled this by suddenly breaking away and tackling Jason who had been trying to sneak up on him.
“Holy doppelganger Batman!” Dick giggled. Jason and he tumbled on the floor. Jason was trying to fight him off, but Dick had him pinned.
“Hi, I’m Dick! What’s your name?” The eleven-year-old was bright and curious. The twelve-year-old underneath him was not amused in the slightest.
Jason pushed him off angrily, “The name’s Robin.” He stood dusting himself off. Bruce mentally sighed, this definitely wasn’t going to go well.
“What a coincidence,” Dick snickered. “Isn’t that bad for the whole secret identity thing?”
“What? No!” Jason said defensively. Dick was practically twirling around him, inspecting him. Jason would try to punch him, but Dick would gracefully dodge apparently not bothered at all by the violence of his replacement.
“Oh, I see, they’ll never suspect it. I gotcha,” Dick whistled. “Who would guess two black haired boys called Robin would be the same kid—red haired boys, sorry, your roots are showing.”
Jason’s anger boiled. He stood perfectly still. He was probably trying to find his centre and predict where Dick would go next.
“I go by Robin too, but like I said, my name is Dick.” Dick leapt up and grabbed one of the hanging cables escaping Jason’s grasp. He looked down innocently. “What was your name again?”
“Robin,” Bruce chided. Both boys looked at him.
“Dick,” he reluctantly corrected. Jason scowled to hide his hurt.
“Stop fooling around,” Bruce said in his Batman voice. Dick looked hurt by the implication which was extremely off-putting, especially considering the argument Nightwing and he had the previous night… he liked having cheerful Dick again, but he was upsetting Jason and Bruce couldn’t abide by that.
“I’m not fooling around,” Dick pouted, “I’m ascertaining my surroundings. Code OMEGA 6. If you ever find yourself lost in time with people you know you make sure they’re not super-villains or something.”
Bruce realized that was exactly what Dick was doing. The boy wasn’t as chipper as he appeared. He was nervous and maybe a bit scared. He was surrounded by things so familiar, but with different context, more history. He was testing them.
“We’re not super-villains,” He said reassuringly. “I’m the same Bruce Wayne you know and this is Jason. You’re six years in the future, Dick.”
“Oh,” Dick said quietly. He slid down off the cable and looked up at Batman, “It’s just that… you seem a lot colder, Bruce.”
He didn’t want to hear this. He didn’t want to know how much he had changed.
Jason watched, he was curious now. He seemed to sense this boy wasn’t really the big personality that came with Nightwing, not yet and that he might be lashing out to find equilibrium.
“Bruce, I’ll take Dickie-bird and we’ll get out of your hair or something. You figure out how to get him home.”
Bruce nodded a bit thankful. It was too nostalgic. When this was over he would call Dick, maybe apologise, ask how he was faring with the Teen Titans… or maybe he’d get Alfred to call. He would probably be more receptive of that.
“So what happens to me?” Dick asked as soon as they were out of earshot. Jason frowned.
“Huh?”
“What happens to me? I don’t die, do I?”
“Oh, naw. You’re still around. You don’t change at all, still annoying as hell.”
“But I’m not Robin anymore,” Dick pointed out. They wandered through the halls of Wayne Manor still in their Robin costumes. Bruce didn’t usually allow that, but he was a bit out of it with this little Nightwing around. Dick every so often would do a kart-wheel or flip just because he could. Such a little show off…
“Yeah, you leveled up or whatever. Batman said not to tell you much since it might fuck with the space time continuum or whatever—what?”
Dick was looking at him in shock.
“What?”
“You said a bad word.”
“Oh my God are you kidding me?”
“Batman says it drops the IQ of the room.”
“He does not.”
“Does too.”
“Well he doesn’t anymore. He just says ‘Robin! Don’t swear!’ then grunts something about Justice.”
Dick giggled, “That’s a good impression of him.”
Jason blushed at the younger boy’s complement. He tried to hide it. “I thought your Bruce was all lighthearted and ‘Hey chum, let’s catch these bad guys before they turn the river to Jello!’”
“What? No, that’s ridiculous, you can’t turn a river to Jello you’d need a gigantic fridge to—wait… no… You’re right. Mr. Freeze almost did that, never mind…”
Jason snickered. He wasn’t sure if Dick was joking or not.
“But he’s not you know. He’s never been lighthearted,” Dick sighed. “It looks like that doesn’t change, huh?”
“Nope,” Jason shrugged. “He’s kinda a jackass.”
“Don’t say that,” Dick looked more saddened than angered by the comment, “You’re his partner, aren’t you? My replacement. You have to watch his back, defend him.”
Jason rolled his eyes at the pint-sized Dick Grayson. They were around the same height and weight even though Dick was younger. It was like looking in a mirror with both of them in costume.
“He can take what I can dish. You’ve said w—Don’t be so sensitive.”
“I’m not sensitive!”
“You totally are.”
“It’s just that… he wasn’t smiling at all… I know that he must be stressed because I’m here, but usually—I was just trying to cheer him up, you know? I mean Code Omega 6 too, but…”
Jason felt caught. The kid looked completely vulnerable now and Jason was feeling jealous. It wasn’t like Bruce never smiled, but they were few and far between. Jason had the feeling that little Dickie-bird got the big-guy to smile all the time. It made him feel…
“And you know, I got jealous,” Dick suddenly admitted.
“Huh?”
“Because he obviously likes you so much and he looks at me like I’m an old memory.”
“Likes me?”
“Yeah, of course,” Dick said looking a bit put out. “He was mad that I was teasing you. I didn’t mean to upset you, I was just… this is all a lot to take in.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sorry for being a jerk too,” Jason grumbled. It was impossible to hold a grudge against this kid.
“Thanks Jaybird,” Dick’s arms were suddenly wrapped around him in a hug. Jason turned it into a wrestle. They were both soon on the floor giggling. They pulled themselves into a sitting position. Dick beamed at him. Christ, you could blind someone with that smile. Dick nuzzled against him.
“Really, thanks.”
“Jesus, don’t get mushy on me.” Jason protested.
“Master Jason, Master Richard.” Jason looked up from his tangle with Dick. Alfred stared down at them with a stern look that was ruined by his quirking lips. “What have we told you about running around the house in your uniform?”
“Not to?” The two asked simultaneously. Jason snorted.
“Go change, it’s nearly time for dinner.”
“Will Bruce be there?” Dick asked.
“I’m afraid he’s gone to try and find a solution to your problem, Master Richard.”
Dick looked down silently. Jason grabbed his hand.
“Come on, I’ll show you my room.” He tugged the other boy down the hall. Dick followed obediently, but was strangely quiet. He seemed to have lost some of his enthusiasm. Jason started digging through his drawers for clothes.
“Here, you like Superman right? You can keep it if you want.” He threw a pair of jeans and a Superman tee at Dick’s head. He never liked Superman that much anyway (that guy is terrifying!).
“Thanks,” Dick said still sounding lack luster.
“What’s the matter now?” Jason yanked on his Wonder Woman t-shirt (Best fifteen bucks Bruce ever spent).*
“What if he can’t get me home?” Dick asked reluctantly. Jason frowned.
“Technically you are home,” he pointed out. Dick shook his head.
“It’s not… the same. What’ll I do?”
“Well… you could stay here anyway. Bruce would probably be thrilled.” Jason plunked down on his bed.
“But you’re Robin, what’ll I be?”
“Oh, he’d probably make you Robin again in a heartbeat. He’s always talking about you. How you would do this and that and the other perfectly. Hell, he may just keep you around even if he does find a way to send you back.” Jason was trying really hard not to be bitter, but he couldn’t help it. Dick looked shocked.
“You’re an idiot.” Dick said as if it was an important realization.
“Well you’re—Wait what?”
Dick hopped up on the bed beside him. “Id-i-ot,” He slowly pronounced. “He wouldn’t replace you.”
“He’d replace me in a second.”
Dick shook his head again, “Listen Jay, we just met, but I’m gonna be straight with you. Number one: You’re Robin. Number Two: he loves you he would never just toss you aside and replace you… he’s… he’s both of ours now. It’s hard to get used to, but I’m glad he’s … I’m glad he’s finding other people to love, he doesn’t have many people Jay. And Three: I’ve never been good enough either.”
“What?” Jason’s eyes went wide, “Don’t lie.”
“Do it better,” Dick said quietly.
Jason felt frozen.
“I don’t think he’s ever said what I do is good enough. At first it really hurt… but Jay, I figured out why he does it. It was after a heist and I was chasing these two guys. One of them turned around, I thought I had counted all the bullets, but I had counted one of the other guy’s bullets. He would have got me if Batman hadn’t been counting too. He yanked me out of the way and held me for a long time. He was shaking a little, it was the first time that had happened. He didn’t say anything for a while, then he said ‘you should have paid more attention.’ That’s why he does it Jay.”
“Why?”
“So we don’t die.”
He took Jason’s hand.
“He loves us and he wants us to be better than what we are now so that we’re better than them. He’s afraid he won’t be good enough.”
“He’s always talking about how you did things, so I guess you got good enough.”
Dick shook his head.
“I bet it’s more that I grew up. I bet he still gives older me grief about things.”
Jason remembered the shouting match Bruce and Nightwing had last night.
“Why can’t you take me seriously? I know how it works now Bruce, I know how to take care of myself. I don’t want your shadow over me anymore!!!”
“I think if you stayed you’d have to be Robin,” Jason said suddenly.
“I wouldn’t—”
“It’s cool, I always thought it was a lame name anyway,” Jason lied, he loved being Robin and he secretly loved that he was the one that got to represent being Robin. He looked at the kid beside him. This is the guy who he was emulating, living up to. It… sort of put things into perspective. “I can come up with a cooler name for myself, like, I dunno, Redwing or—”
“Batlad?” Dick suggested.
“Dude.”
“Batboy?”
Jason tackled him. Dick was laughing again and Jason was glad.
“Kid Bat?”
“I will end you, Grayson!”
“You sure this is going to work?” Jason asked for the fifth time. They were in the Watchtower. Batman was at the computer banks. He grunted.
“Be quiet so I can concentrate.”
“But he’ll be okay, right?”
“How come you’re never this nice to me now?” Nightwing asked looking smug.
“Because you grew up to become a douchebag. You were cuter when you were a kid,” Jason grumbled.
“Cuter?”
“Shut up!” Jason turned to hide his blush and spotted the little Dick Grayson. He was in a spacesuit holding a helmet.
“So, you ready?” Jason asked.
“Yep!” Dick chirped. “I’m not too worried. It’s Superman. I’ll be fine—” Dick was cut off by an annoyed grunt from Bruce. He and Nightwing were bickering again.
“Ah…” Dick rubbed the back of his head, “Who’s that guy again?”
“No spoilers,” Jason chided. “Just promise me you won’t grow up to be a smug douchebag.”
“I have the feeling you and I don’t get along…”
“Well…” He thought back to the night of the Gauntlet, “We have our moments.”
“You should cut me some slack,” Dick said fondly. “I’d love to have a little brother.”
“You get jealous.”
Dick looked at Nightwing and Batman again. Kid was the sidekick of the world’s greatest detective for a reason after all.
“Hey, if I get bitter, don’t think it’s directed at you. It’s not. I love Bruce a lot, but he drives me crazy sometimes. I can see us… well, that doesn’t matter. No matter how it turns out for me I probably remember this and I’m probably still really thankful for all you did for me while I was here.” He gave Jason another hug. Jason was used to it by now… and he’d miss it when Dick was gone. The worst thing was Dick wouldn’t remember, Batman told him as much. Jason slipped the letter in his pocket. He didn’t want Dick to forget him. He didn’t want—
“I was really scared.” Dick whispered, “You helped me more than you could ever know. That’s why you’re Robin, that’s why you deserve to be Robin.”
“Time to go, son,” Jason jumped like a startled cat. Shit, Superman, nope, nope, nope. Dick had a big grin. How does he not worry about Superman accidently crushing him or lazering him? Seriously. Why couldn’t Wonder Woman have time traveling sun powers?
“Okay, one sec,” Dick ran over to the computers and hugged Batman’s waist before the Dark Knight noticed him coming.
“Bye Bruce, I love you,” Then he untangled himself and sprinted to Superman’s side. Nightwing and Batman were stunned. Dick waved at them all. Superman led him to the decompression chamber and then he was gone.
Jason crossed his arms refusing to cry. It’s not like he died or anything. He grows up. He becomes Nightwing.
But Jason would never see him again.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun around. Nightwing. Batman was gone, probably went to the observation deck.
“Do you remember me?” Jason blurted. Nightwing—Dick smiled and ruffled his hair. “Sorry Little Wing, that’s not how this time traveling thing worked apparently.”
Jason slumped. He really was gone then.
“But, I do have this for you. I realized when I saw him wearing it last night. I always wondered who JT was.”
Dick handed him the Superman t-shirt. It was older now. Wrinked, faded, there were a few holes that had been stitched up over time.
“…You held on to it?” Jason asked in disbelief, “But you didn’t remember.”
“Hey, it was my favorite shirt and it came attached with a mystery. I got the letter too.”
Dick handed him the very old letter that he had written just yesterday.
Dear Dickie-bird,
You won’t remember me. You’re probably confused as hell right now. Don’t worry, we got you back home safe and sound. You had a little adventure with us and when you got sent back your memories didn’t come with you, what can you do? Life’s a bitch. I just wanted to thank you. You helped me figure some stuff out, you’re an okay guy.
JT
PS: Never grow a ponytail, trust me, you’ll thank me later.
Jason held the letter shakily, he looked up at Dick, “You didn’t take my advice.”
Dick tugged at his pony tail and shrugged, “Girls like it.”
They stood in silence. Jason knew that maybe something was changing but…
“Listen, Grayson I… I liked who you were, but I’m not ready to let go of him yet. So if we could just—”
“Go skylarking on the subway and not mention our feelings because we’re Bruce Wayne’s kids? I’m game.”
“Cool,” Jason said with some relief.
“I’ll just tell Bruce we’re going, wait here.”
Jason sighed, he crammed his hands into his pockets. He slowly smiled and brought out another letter. Sneaky kid must have done it when he planted his letter.
Dear Jay,
I just wanted to thank you for looking out for me this week. To tell you the truth it was hard seeing Bruce with another kid, but it’s not hard anymore. You’re the person he needs, don’t let anyone tell you different, especially him. If someone other than me has to be Robin I’m really glad it’s you. No matter what happens you’re my friend and you’re good enough.
Sincerely
Richard J. Grayson