Facing The Eclipse

13) Trigger Warning

Nico nodded along, "I heard a rumor he never even ran the company. Most people think he's too... distracted, to run it."

Jason snorted, "You mean incompetent? Yeah, most celebrities put on a personality when they go out into the public. Personally, I think the Brucie Wayne one is a load of bullshit that he never needed to do. He's a father of five, CEO of a company, and lives in Gotham. He could have gone for a burnt-out CEO, and people would have believed him, and it would have been a lot less embarrassing."

Nico snorted, "I saw a video of him drunk, flirting with some model while they were walking, then tripping and falling into a fountain during a gala. How is that man your father?"

Jason grinned, shrugging, "Adoptive."

"Believe me," Dick spoke up. He'd just stepped into the hallway, but Nico hadn't been paying attention and almost jumped when he spoke, "It gets so much worse. After almost twenty years of having to deal with him, it gets so much worse. Jason, who's this? Did B adopt another one?"

He knew who Nico was. He knew that Bruce hadn't adopted him. He probably already knew that he was Jason's technical ward. He just wanted to be petty.

Speaking of. Jason would have to talk to Nico about the ward situation. He'd literally just hacked the paperwork through into the system this morning, then bribed someone to make it official. But from the look on Nico's face when he'd revealed it, he definitely should have talked to him about it before.

Taking care of a child was fucking hard.

He had to talk to them. He had to make sure they were eating. He had to keep them away from guns. He had to return to one safehouse at least once a day and set up motion sensors without cameras, and an audio device that would only alert him to gunshots, to make sure he still had privacy. He'd had to lock away and move his more dangerous drugs. It was a hassle.

It was worth it, though, seeing Nico eat a full breakfast that morning without much complaint or reluctance. It wasn't a 'full meal,' corn bread muffins and juice, but still. Worth it.

Oh, Dick.

"No, Dick," Jason rolled his eyes, "This is Nico. He's my ward. If you try and teach him how to do backflips, I'll snap your spine."

Dick just snorted at the threat, smiling at Nico. Nico smiled back hesitantly.

"Just to be clear," Nico said slowly, "I'm not on his page when it comes to snapping spines. Or killing Tim. Or whatever violence he yaps about."

Dick laughed, "Yeah, usually only Damian is on his side. But he's gotten better. You guys have met, right? You and Damian? He's right in here."

Nico nodded slowly, and they all walked into the drawing room.

True to Dick's word, Damian was in the drawing room. And Cass, and Duke. It was a real party.

"Niccolo," Damian nodded at Nico, then gave Jason a nasty look, "Todd, what are you doing here?"

Jason rolled his eyes, "I'm here to celebrate Alfred, obviously."

Damian scoffed at that, muttering something about fathers. Jason chucked the nearest pillow at him. Dick caught it, then smacked Jason with it.

"No throwing pillows."

Jason punched him, and Damian threw a pillow at Jason. Jason caught that one, hitting Dick in the face with it, then took a large step back, holding up his hands in defense.

"You can't attack me, I have a kid now."

Duke, who was leaning back in a chair, fell.

"What?!"

Jason just snorted, dramatically showing off Nico, who seemed extremely annoyed at Jason now.

"Meet your new nephew, Nico!"

Cass smacked herself in the forehead, and Damian sighed, standing up and walking out of the room.

"I'm not anyone's nephew," Nico sighed, glaring at Jason, "He apparently got my guardianship from my father without asking or telling me, and just told me a few minutes ago while talking to Mr. Wayne."

That made Dick snort, "Mr. Wayne?"

Nico shrugged. Dick was about to say something else, but then he got a loud notification. Jason tensed slightly. Most of their phones, excluding his own, had a specific alert sound in case of an emergency. That was Dick's. He glanced at it, then obviously forced a smile and glanced back up at Nico.

"It was nice to meet you, Nico. I might be back in a few hours for dinner. Something came up."

Before Dick could run out of the house, Jason gave Nico a clear sign to stay and followed him out, catching his arm.

"What happened?"

Dick hesitated, then his face fell, and he looked slightly sick.

"Steph checked in on Tim. He was cutting again. I'm going to go by, check in on him, and probably stay the night. Tell Alfred I said sorry?"

Jason hesitated, then shook his head, "Can I go? Instead of you or with you. I... I haven't seen him out of a suit in a while. And I've helped him before."

Dick seemed reluctant, then sighed, "I guess you wouldn't be the best at keeping Bruce here. I'll team up with Cass, keep him here. Bring your kid back wherever and get there fast, please. Steph is holding the fort right now."

Jason rolled his eyes, "He's not my kid, he's my ward, technically, but whatever. Keep B far, far away."

And he went back into the drawing room to get Nico.

He just loved taking care of teenagers' mental health issues.