Jason's safe-house, May 30th
"Can please hold her?" Dick pouted so hard his lower lip might've ripped, "I've missed her so much."
"Strong pout," Cassandra told Jason.
"Want to go to Dickie?" Jason asked Harper as he handed her to Dick.
"I wuv you wittle pwincess!" Dick started kissing Harper's cheek over and over.
"Haa"
"Baby voice," Cassandra shook her head, she had a lot to say after the revelation and a lot to think about.
"Haa"
"See she likes it, yes wittle pwincess you do!"
"Sit down," Jason sat and Dick sat next to him, "remember what I was telling you the other day about Dickie, he loves short shorts, he thinks his butt looks good."
"I do not!" Dick was almost offended, "I don't pwincess, it's not true!"
"Anyway, I wore the same shorts for some reason, your grandpa is either blind or stupid," Jason told Harper whose eyes were darting between Dick and Jason, "still not clear on that front."
Tim noticed Jason saying grandpa, so did Talia and Cassandra, Dick was too busy defending his butt's honor.
"My butt does look good though," Dick laughed trying to ignore Talia, he then kissed Harper noisily, "I love you."
"Ahh"
"Timothy, a word," Talia went into the nursery.
"What is it?"
"I am not defending the detective," Talia started, "but you need the facts."
"What are you saying Talia?" Tim asked exasperated.
"I am an assassin, I've killed many and I will probably kill some more before my time ends," Talia sat on Jason's chair, "but when I sent Jason with a revenge plan all those years ago, I kept an eye out, watched it unravel, which is why I was able to pull him out of the rubbles. From then on, I've tried to be better to him, seeing all the damage I've caused."
"Get to the point, please."
"He went back for him," Talia sighed, "Bruce was distraught while looking for Jason under the ruins of the building, but I had gotten to Jason first. I'm not saying this excuses the fact that he threw the shuriken, or what happened 4 months ago, or what I did to turn Jason into the man who came after you, but know that Bruce went back for Jason but only found the clown."
"Why haven't you told Jason?"
"You heard him, he wants it to stay in the past, and I doubt Bruce was aiming for Jason's throat, but you can find out, can't you?"
"I can't exactly ask him for cowl footage from 6 years ago, especially since we're all pretending that we don't know where Jason is," Tim tried to control his breathing, his mind was going into override, "I don't trust you."
"I don't expect you to, not now, not ever," Talia gave him a smile, "I would advise against trusting me in all and any matters, except Jason and Harper's safety. Do you think you could give me a chance there?"
"I will try, I can't promise Dick and Damian will though," Tim warned her.
"I wouldn't even dare to dream of it, and I take full responsibility for that. I'm surprised Richard hasn't kicked me out yet," Talia forced a laugh.
"Don't provoke him," Tim glared at her and went back to the living room.
"Yeah, and then he tried to throw me out of the room," Jason told Harper who was still with Dick.
"It was my bed! You have to believe me Harper, it was my room," Dick defended himself.
"So what if it was? I didn't know!" Jason told Harper.
"It was Alfred's fault," Dick concluded.
"Blasphemy!" Jason exclaimed.
"Dude, did you say something was Alfred's fault?" Tim looked at Dick in utter shock.
"Tsk," Cassandra shook her head smiling.
"Well, what I meant was," Dick tried to climb out of the hole he dug himself, "you see, it was my room so there-"
"Nah, you blew it Dickie," Jason laughed and stood up he turned to them, "listen, Damian and Alfred can never find out about this."
"You're not serious-"
"Dead serious, for all his faults, B is Damian's dad and he's been a good influence on the kid, you can't deny that," Jason sighed, "I've had a lot of time to think about everything and nothing this past month. I know he must've missed, I know he didn't want to hurt me, I know he didn't want to hurt me 4 months ago either, but we both get under each other's skins and it gets physical and ugly really fast."
"It's not your fault-"
"I shouldn't have made him choose, I was angry and unstable, and I wanted to know I meant something to him but it wasn't the right way even if B hates me, I'm okay with that now. I pushed him to it-"
"You didn't-"
"You're saying I was right to shoot Penguin?"
"Well not exactly, you could've at least given us the heads up that it was a blank," Tim agreed, "but he could've asked. Hell he should've."
"How do you know he didn't?" Jason cocked his eyebrow feeling his muscles tensing.
"I worked the case, that's how," Tim held Jason's glare, "you shouldn't have shot Penguin, that's all on you, but he should've tried talking before kicking you in the face."
"What else did you find?" Jason asked Tim through gritted teeth.
"Everything," Tim crossed his arms over his chest, "I don't know how I'm still here and not in Arkham beating Joker to death myself-"
"Because that's not who you are, you are a force of good, unlike me. You don't believe killing is the answer, and that's a great thing, I wish I could go back to that. I'm the killer in the family not you," Jason snapped at him then turned to Cassandra before she could speak, "you don't want to kill him either, no matter how much you want to want to kill him and that's fine."
"I know," Cassandra admitted in defeat, "but I'm really angry."
"I would've loved it if B had killed him, but he never will and I've moved on, I'm not the son he lost, I came back wrong-"
"You're not being fair to yourself, you needed him, us and-"
Dick sat silently watching them arguing, he killed Joker once, but Bruce brought him back, if only he'd kept him dead. Dick stared at Harper in his arms, so small and pure, she deserved the world, and she deserved her family, all of it. The argument faded into background noise. He really wanted Bruce to be going to therapy, he really wanted Bruce to be improving, he really wanted Bruce to go back to who he was, the good dad who raised him and Jason before Jason died, because he was good to Jason then, right? He really wanted Jason to stop blaming himself for all the wrongs in the world. Jason wasn't a saint, but he's taken the blame for much more than what he's actually responsible.
So many tragedies have fallen on his family, so many mistakes were made but could they come back from this? Can Bruce go back to being the man who laughed when a 12 yo stole his wheels? Jason still cared about Bruce, or else he wouldn't be defending him now, indirectly calling him his dad. That was it, all that Jason's ever wanted was a family but instead he was strapped in green and yellow and thrown into the line of fire.
How do all these heroes, me included, think that putting a child in harm's way is a good thing for them? Was it good for me? How can we still keep going after all that we've lost? Can I ever have a family of my own?
"What do you think?" Dick whispered to Harper.
"Ahh," she waved her arms.
"I love you Harper, and so does your dad, that's the most important thing right now, we'll see about grandpa later, okay?"
"Ahh" she smiled when Dick stroked her cheeks.
"Richard," Talia sat in front of him.
"Talia," Dick kept his attention on his niece.
"Your arms must be aching. Why don't you hand her to me-"
"That's not going to happen," Dick held Harper tighter, "Jason might trust you, but I don't."
"I see, Timothy has agreed to give me a chance, when it comes to Harper and Jason-"
"Have you talked to Damian lately? Or have you been too busy decapitating government officials?"
"I did no-"
"No fighting," Jason stood between them, "you want to fight, take it outside."
Everyone's phones buzzed, except for Talia's.
Where is everyone? – Damian
I'm home, making waffle batter then going to Jason's – Stephanie
Can I come too? Or am I patrolling tonight too?'cz B's not back yet and I need some sleep – Duke
"Oh crap! I forgot to check in with everyone!" Tim let out frustrated breaths.
"Can I stay alone tonight please?" Jason asked, "I seriously need some space."
"Of course," Cassandra nodded then brought the puppy eyes, "after waffles though."
"Of course after the waffles," Jason forced a smile, "Dick let's put her to bed."
Dick immediately went to Jason's room with Harper who was wide awake. Jason shut the door behind them.
"I don't think she's sleepy," Dick sat on the bed.
"Yeah she's not," Jason sat down next to him, "I need you on board with this."
"What do you mean?"
"Talia being around, not telling Alfred and Damian," Jason listed, "or non-adopted by Bruce Wayne kids."
"But Jay, they have to know," Dick kept his eyes on Harper.
"No, they don't, I wouldn't have told Tim and Cass if they hadn't seen it and been weird about it, and you have that talent of showing up at the wrong moment," Jason sighed, "I'm over it, it's fine, shit happens-"
"Well a lot of shit has been happening to you, from him-"
"I forgave him for it, whether he meant it or not, I forgave him for not choosing me, for never choosing me, it's fine," Jason ran his fingers in his hair.
"How were you able to forgive him?" Dick asked honestly curious.
"I hated him for it, for a long time, but he is who he is, and honestly?" Jason saw the pain on his brother's face.
"Yeah?"
"He's not that good of a shot, so he definitely missed," Jason joked, "seriously, he should retire with some dignity."
"That's a way to look at it," Dick started laughing; leave it to Jason to make a joke around his death threatening situations.
The rumbling of Dick's chest as he laughed startled Harper.
"Sorry, Harper, I'm sorry," Dick brought her up and kissed her, "gosh! I love you so much! And I miss you, damn do I miss you. Is that normal?"
"You're holding her, I'm right next to you, and I miss her," Jason admitted, "and we don't use words like normal in this household."
"I just want you to be okay," Dick nudged Jason's shoulder, "I will do whatever I can to keep you both safe, and I will help you heal whichever way I can."
"How much do you know about the past few months?"
"Roy says you don't know much, so I'm not sure-"
"What Roy and all of you seem to forget, is that I'm the one who died, I know my heart stopped a few times," Jason whispered, "I felt it."
"I'm so sorry Jason," Dick laid his head on Jason's shoulder; "we don't have to talk about it."
"I'm fine, alive and well," Jason didn't push Dick away, "you need to promise me one thing."
"What's that?"
"Watch over baby bird, he's going to go dig up every megabyte of data and tear his mind to shreds to piece it together, I don't want to be the reason his relationship with Bruce gets broken or whatever, B needs Tim and Tim needs B."
"For someone who considers themselves bad news and a bad person, you sure care a lot," Dick couldn't help but say.
"Being a dad changes you," Jason kissed Harper's head as she stared at him.
"You've always cared Jay, you used to hide it, but I have a caring detector in me," Dick smirked, "but don't worry, I'll watch him. I don't want to tell you what to do but-"
"You don't trust Talia, I get it, but trust me, she's helped me a lot over the years, she screwed me up when I came back, but ever since that incident she's been helping me and making up for it," Jason lay back on the bed, "give her to me."
"What to sleep on dada? Yeah you do, your dada loves you sweet Harper," Dick put Harper on Jason.
"God I love you Harper," Jason watched her lift her head, "you're so strong."
"We haven't found Willis yet," Dick dared to say.
"You know everything then," Jason sighed, "your uncles have no regards for privacy, but I'll make sure to kick their asses for it soon."
"Ahh"
"Come on Harper, you know we want what's best for dada," Dick lay next to Jason.
"Ahh" Harper smiled then laid her head on Jason's chest.
"I can't get over how small she is," Jason told Dick, "we were the same size once, it's just so weird. I mean, we all know in theory that we were really babies, but she's a small bean, we were that size! I'm 6 foot tall, I used to be 225lb and there was a day I was her size."
"I haven't thought about that, now I can't think of anything else," Dick stared at Jason moving his head up and down and Harper mimicking him, "how much does she weigh?"
"9lb, she's growing, yesh baby you are, you're a big girl," Jason nodded.
"The 9lb that reduced us all into gooey puddles, you hold so much power Harper, you don't even know," Dick saw her glancing at him every so often.
"Oh, she knows," Jason laughed, "don't you Harper? You're the queen."
"Roy has a way of making things stick," Dick laughed, "maybe Tim can stay over tonight? I can keep an eye on Damian and you keep an eye on him."
"Like you can convince him to skip patrol," Jason shot Dick a mocking look.
Dick closed Harper's ears with his hands and almost yelled for Tim.
"Never do that again," Jason shoved Dick to the floor, he kissed the top of Harper's head, "sorry baby, you're uncle's a dick."
"What?" Tim asked from the door.
"Can you stay over tonight?" Dick asked as he lay back next to Jason.
"Sure," Tim answered almost too fast.
"It means no patrol," Jason warned him.
"Yeah, I know," Tim nodded and left.
"God he's weird," Jason sighed focusing on Harper, he could feel Dick wanting to ask something, "spit it out."
"Are you and Roy together?"
"No," Jason answered casually, "I wouldn't name my daughter after my boyfriend now would I?"
KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Jason," Talia came in, "I need to leave, would you walk me out?"
"Okay, baby, sleep on Dickie?" Jason kissed Harper as he moved her from his chest to Dick's.
"You're too small to fight me for cuddles, if anything you still like them," Dick told Harper, "but if you just want to lie here, we can do that."
"Ahh," Harper yawned.
"I know, it's tiring being a human, but hey you get all the perks, all you have to do is eat, poop and be happy, hopefully we can keep you happy," Dick whispered to her, "I promise Harper, you will be safe and happy. You're already so loved. Jason, your dada, that's his real name."
"Mm," Harper almost perked up at Jason's name, Dick will swear she perked up whether she really did or not!
"Yeah, Jason, he loves you so much, he's my brother which is why I'm your uncle," Dick sighed, "I want to be his brother for real this time, you think you can put in a good word for me?"
"Ahh," Harper smiled when Dick stroked her cheeks.
"You really are small."
Star City, May 30th patrol time
"Do you have any theories?" Oliver asked Bruce.
"Just the one," Bruce examined the crime scene photos again.
"Care to share with the class?"
"Not really, no," Bruce tried to keep it short, he wanted to be as far away as possible from Oliver.
The last time they spoke it was Bruce asking Oliver if he heard from Roy after Jason shot Penguin. The world didn't see the real fight, they just watched the news, so Oliver couldn't possibly know what really happened unless Roy told him. Everyone knew that Oliver and Roy's relationship was really stranded, but could Bruce really judge them after what he's done?
"Have you found Redhood?" Oliver asked casually.
"No," Bruce finished scanning the photos and turned to leave.
"I thought you were Batman," Oliver mocked him.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're supposed to know everything, right?" Oliver shook his head and went back to the files, "should I expect more decapitations or are you dealing with this?"
"You're not going to fight me for the case, since it happened in your city?"
"What's the point of fighting a bull? Besides I have a feeling it's about you," Oliver kept looking at the pictures, he wanted Bruce as far away as possible from Star City so let him take the case who cares?
"Care to share with the class?"
"No," Oliver smirked and then turned to see Bruce gone, "ass."
Flashback to the confrontation, the batcave
Tim's heart was hammering in his head. When he worked the case of Jason shooting Penguin, he hadn't expected any of the things he found. Tim was now standing in the cave in front of the man he idolized, the man he saved from near suicide years ago after Jason's death, the man who took him in when he lost his parents, the man who was supposed to be a force of good and justice; Batman.
"Make this quick," said man ordered in short and sharp words.
"I don't think I can, I need everyone to be here," Tim held Bruce's glare, stay calm.
Dick, Damian and Cassandra came down the elevator from the manor.
"Duke and Stephanie are 3 minutes out," Dick said as he walked to the computer.
"What is the meaning of this?" Damian asked clearly annoyed.
"It's important to wait for everyone, is Barbara coming?" Tim asked Dick.
"She's on com when Duke and Steph get here," Dick saw Alfred coming too.
"I'm extremely busy-" Bruce stated with irritation.
"I don't care," Dick shot at him before turning to the entrance of the cave when they heard the roaring of a bike's engine.
"Sorry we're late," Stephanie and Duke walked to the computers.
"What's going on?" Duke asked.
"That's what we're trying to find out, but Drake insists on being cryptic."
"Babs are you on?" Cassandra asked.
"I'm here."
"Since everyone's here," Dick encouraged Tim to start.
"This is about Jason-" Tim started only to be interrupted by Bruce's glacial tone.
"Have you found him or Harper?"
"No, it's not about whether or not I've found him, not that I'll ever tell you if I do, it's about how you've been treating him -"
"If he wants to act like a criminal he will be treated like one," Bruce used his stern and emotionless voice, "and I expect any of you to alert me when you do find them-"
"I won't, we won't actually," Tim crossed his arms around his chest, "you've been treating him horribly for years and you went too far that night-"
"He killed Penguin on live TV," Bruce gritted out.
"He didn't, Penguin lives to be an evil piece of shit another day," Tim swiped a command on his tablet and shared the live footage from Penguin's room to the batcomputer, "he shot him with a blank."
"What?" Duke and Damian asked really confused.
"This is fabricated footage, he shot Penguin in the face," Bruce ran the footage through his video proofing software, "Jason broke the rule-"
"It's not, I planted the camera there a week or so ago," Tim sighed, "he didn't kill him, he didn't even inten-"
"Then it's a technicality-" Bruce stared at the footage not really understanding what was going on.
Why did Jason not tell him it was a blank?
"I have a question," Stephanie said earning confused looks from Tim, Dick and Cassandra, the four of them had talked about this, Tim was going to show the evidence and then they would all leave, "for you, B."
"Ask it."
"What's the golden rule?"
"You know what the golden rule is," Bruce frowned, not sure what she meant.
"Humor me," she didn't break eye contact.
"We don't kill," Bruce said.
"Okay, one more question," she scratched the back of her head.
"Go on," Bruce sighed exasperated.
"When is someone dead? Like how do we decide that someone died?"
"Steph-" Cassandra tried to stop her friend.
"Is there a point behind this futile questioning?" Damian asked as he rolled his eyes for the billionth time.
"Answer me, please," Stephanie kept looking at Bruce, "when does death start or whatever."
"When someone stops breathing, when someone's heart stops beating, is that a good answer?" Bruce asked her, "are you happy now? Can we please get to the point? We all have a lot to do-"
"No, I'm not happy," Stephanie shook her head and took a few steps back, "I'm not happy at all."
Tim took the opportunity to continue but he changed tactics after Stephanie's questions.
"Well, you killed Jason," Tim chose to say looking straight into Bruce's eyes.
"What?" Duke yelled.
"What are you talking about Drake? Have you lost your mind?"
"Master Tim, please-"
"I didn't kill Jason-" at least Bruce had the decency to look horrified by the thought.
"Drake, you will apologize-"
"I have proof," Tim kept staring at Bruce.
AN: The confrontation will continue in the next chapter, Al-Yaqut is The Sapphire in Arabic, I forgot to mention that last chapter
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