To Love

The Best

Jason was excited. Not only was it his 15th birthday, but Bruce was coming back from his mission that morning. They'd have a wonderful party, a glamorous dinner, and Bruce would spend all day with him. Just like he did with Dick back in March. 

 Or at least, that was the plan. 

 Jason was waiting in the batcave at eight in the morning, far earlier than he'd been up since school let out for the summer. 

 "Good morning, Master Jason," Alfred greeted, stepping off the staircase leading into the cave. "Happy Birthday. Would you like breakfast?" 

"Can I wait to eat with Bruce?" Jason asked, looking over his shoulder at the old butler, "He should be home any minute now." 

 "Very well," the butler inclined his head and left. Eight came and went. So did nine. By ten, Jason was finding it difficult to believe that Bruce just got held up at the Watchtower. 

 "Hey, Jay," Dick called, coming down the stairs two steps at a time like Alfred told them not to, "Brought you something." Jason glanced away from the Zeta Tube and grinned when he saw the large bowl of fruit in Dick's hands. Dick folded himself into the strangest crisscross that Jason had ever seen and sat the bowl between them. 

 "I figured I'd wait with you," Dick grinned, his smile as bright as it always was. But Jason knew his friend well enough to know there was worry behind it. 

 "He'll be here," Jason nodded firmly, even though he wasn't entirely sure himself, before adding in a slightly quieter tone, "He promised." 

"I know," Dick nodded, popping a grape into his mouth. Ten flew by after that, as did eleven. At twelve, Alfred came downstairs and made him come up and eat lunch. 

 "I was willing to let you wait for Master Bruce, but you need more than a partial bowl of fruit, young man," Alfred sniffed and, despite Jason's pouting, he ate the meal Alfred fixed for him. 

 "I'll be back later, little wing," Dick told him as he finished eating, "Three hours, maybe four. Happy birthday!" Jason watched morosely as Dick left the room, phone and car keys in hand. He vaguely noted that they were the keys to Bruce's favorite car, the one Dick only drove when he was pissed at Bruce. Dick practically always drove that car these days. 

 Another hour flew by. And another. And another. At half past three, Julia breezed into the cave, her combat boots thudding in time with Daphne's heels' clicking. 

 "C'mon," Julia commanded, making a demanding motion with her hand, "Up you get." Jason blinked dumbly at her but let her pull him up. Her sunglasses- technically Dick's but he only wore them when he was hanging out with the Team, so they were practically hers- were pushed up on top of her head. Her lips were pulled up into a slight smirk, but he could see some sort of emotion behind her blue eyes. The annoyance-rage-exasperation that she always looked at Bruce with. 

 "Where're we going?" he asked quietly, accepting a hand from each of the girls. 

 "Out to enjoy what's left of your birthday," Daphne grinned before tossing a "duh" over her shoulder. Her shoulders were set in that way they were when she spoke about her parents, but her grip was firm but soft, so he knew there was no way she was irritated at him. He wondered what was up with his friends today. They all seemed to be irritated but not at him? They were confusing. Daphne and Julia led him out of the cave, into the manor proper, and out the door. 

The Mystery Machine was idling in the drive, Shaggy behind the wheel. Rock music was blasting from the speakers, and Jason smiled as he realized Daphne and Julia must have bullied their way into the front seats. Fred and Velma weren't big fans of rock- Fred liked classical music, and Velma was a bigger fan of pop. 

 "You're sitting up front with Shaggy and me," Daphne declared before pausing, "Unless you want to cuddle with Julia in the back." Jason's eyes lit up, and Daphne laughed, "Guess Dick's sitting with me." 

 "Are you kidding?" Dick laughed, coming down the stairs, shoving something in his pocket as he did so. "And miss cuddling with my little wing and the cuddle monster?" 

"'Cause being an octopus is sooo much better," Julia snarked, pulling open the back of the mystery machine. The back was filled with pillows and blankets, all of the softest material Julia could find. Dick had nicknamed it the Nest a few months ago. Jason felt the name fitted. Julia immediately climbed in, and Jason followed her, curling into her side easily as Dick positioned himself to be cradling both of them. Just like he expected, the warmth of his friends and the softness of the bedding had him immediately relaxing. The car rumbled down the road, and Jason let out a sigh as Julia's fingers began carding through his hair. 

 "Thanks, Jules," Jason mumbled, "And Dickie. And Daph. And Freddie. And Shag." 

 "We don't mind," Julia pressed a kiss to Jason's forehead, "In fact, I'd say it's our pleasure." Jason turned his head, burying his face into her stomach as his cheeks heated red. He could feel Dick's laughter through the vibrations, and Jason reached over and nipped his side, earning a startled yelp from the other boy. 

**********

The rest of the night passed in a blur of pleasure. His friends took him out shopping- clothes, shoes, books, whatever he desired. He realized that the thing that Dick had pocketed had been Bruce's credit card. 

 "If he can't be on time, then he can at least pay," Dick laughed with a wink while Julia smirked in that smug way that Jason just knew meant that it had been her idea. He couldn't find it in himself to be upset in the least. They took him to an arcade next, only for him to learn that he wasn't very good at it. Better than Jules, who lost almost every game she played, but still worse than Shaggy and Velma. He did find that he had an excellent aim, though. His friends dragged him to the carnival next. 

 "It just got in town," Fred told him excitedly, "We were gonna take you tomorrow, but today's much better!" Jason agreed. For all Julia sucked at video games, she was good at carnival games and won him at least ten prizes herself- one of which was a large bear that was about half his size. Dick won Jason a small elephant, a slightly larger bird, and an octopus only a bit smaller than the bear. Jason, of course, turned around and won him an elephant. 

 "Can't let him be lonely, can we?" Jason grinned. Shaggy kept him supplied with all manner of carnival snacks while Fred won him a lion from a strength game. Daphne picked a fight with one of the stalls when she realized it was rigged, disappeared for five minutes after they pulled her away, and came back with a medium-sized Zebra. Jason didn't ask questions. 

 At around ten, the gang found themselves sitting at the Malt Shop, squeezed into their usual booth. It was probably too small for the seven of them, but they'd been sitting there for two years and leaving it would feel weird. 

 "How was your birthday?" Velma asked, popping a fry into her mouth. 

 Jason grinned broadly, "The best."​

***Fun Facts***

Shaggy, Dick, and Daphne are the only ones with licenses. Shaggy's already 17, as is Dick, so they've had theirs for about a year. Daphne got hers right after turning 16. Fred's taken the test twice and failed both times. Julia has no intention of getting her license any time soon. Velma is 14, about to turn 15. 

Jason and Dick's elephants are named Haly and Zitka II. 

Don't ask where Scooby is. I don't know. There were already a lot of characters, and I wanted to get this out before midnight, so I didn't have time to rework it to add Scooby in. 

This will be part of a bigger work that I'm hoping to start writing pretty soon. It'll probably go into more detail about the day; I'll probably add Scooby in. So please treat this as a preview of a fic I'm going to write. I guess. 

I'm debating whether to make this an Omegaverse, hence the bit about the Nest. But let me know what you think. I think this group could actually delve into any dynamic relationship you can think of. Alpha/Alpha, Beta/Beta, Omega/Omega, Alpha/Beta, Alpha/Omega, Beta/Omega... With how big the group is, it would be so easy.