"Why, bro?" Rogue sat on the ledge of a random building with Phantom who was currently balancing himself.
The girl rolled her eyes at his complaints and chuckled as she bit into her sandwich, "Don't be such a little bitch, man."
Phantom huffed and plopped himself down, "I just don't understand why you don't let me join your little superhero squad."
"Okay, first, it's not a squad. Never say that word again." The moon illuminated his freckles, "Second, you're definitely not trained enough."
"Yes, I am!"
"You sound like a child," Rowan singsonged, taking another bite of her turkey sandwich.
Every night when she went on her patrol, Phantom would meet her and they'd do it together. Black Canary met him, but she acted strange toward him. Usually, she would interrogate him and probably have Batman put the Holy Spirit into him, but all she did was talk to him privately and she was okay with it.
It was weird, to say the least.
Phantom huffed once more and pouted like a literal child, "I just want you to know that I'm better than you think."
Rogue chuckled, "What, you're going to do a dance number now?"
"See? You did it again!"
"What did I do again?"
Phantom beamed as he talked about his discovery, "Every time I try to talk to you about emotional stuff, you always just say a stupid comment to make me feel stupid!"
"That's stupid-" Rogue stopped herself and looked up to the stars, "By The Gods-"
"Don't curse them out."
Rogue's eyes fell to meet his, "You believe in The Gods?" She never thought to ask him about his beliefs, but was a little confused to find out his.
"Of course. Hermes is awesome!"
Her eyebrows furrowed even more. Out of all The Gods, he chose the speedster and messenger.
Rowan decided to get a laugh out of an argument, "I honestly hate Zeus."
His head swiveled to her, his eyes bulging, "What did you just say?"
"I. Hate. Zeus."
Phantom immediately stood up, his nostrils flaring as his face grew red. She never saw him get this angry about anything, "How dare you speak about The Mighty Zeus like that. You are just a mere mor-"
Rowan froze at his unfinished word, "What were you about to call me?"
"Nothing."
"No. No, don't say that. Why are you acting strange?"
"I am not."
Rowan pointed a finger at him, "Right there, you spoke formally. More formal than teenagers anyway."
Phantom rubbed his forehead, "You're acting crazy, Rogue. Maybe, you should get some sleep. I'll finish patrol."
Rogue shook her head with a scowl. Do you know how many times she's been called crazy by boys all her life? Too many to count.
"I'm not crazy. You know I'm not."
The boy sighed, "Go home, Rogue."
The brunette stood her spot, defying him. But, then she realized she wouldn't find any information right now; not while he was watching her.
"Fine."
Rowan stood outside The Wayne Manor. She was formally invited by The Dick Grayson. The girl knocked on the large, wooden door.
The door opened not even a second later and she met eyes with an older man, probably in his late fifties. He wore a butler outfit and had greying hair.
"You must be Rowan Blake. Master Dick had informed me you'd be here." He was British. Wow. They really were rich.
Rowan smiled gently at the older gentleman, "Yes, and you must be Alfred. Dick spoke very highly about you."
He beamed at the younger girl, "Well, Miss Blake, please let me escort you to his living quarters." She followed him up around twenty staircases and fifty different hallways until they reached his bedroom.
Alfred smiled at her and left, probably about to do some more butler duties. She knocked on the wooden door and heard shuffling on the other side. It was opened to reveal a messy Grayson that wore a blue t-shirt and grey sweatpants. His blue eyes poured into hers.
"Hey, Row." He walked back into his room, implying for her to follow. As she entered, the girl looked around. A bed with red sheets and a red comforter. A wooden dresser with a TV on it across from his bed and a desk by the window that held a computer. Posters were around his room and two bean bag chairs sat on the ground at the foot of his bed.
Rowan plopped on the green bean bag with a huff, "What's up, Boy Wonder."
He did the same with a smile, "Nothin' much, you?"
"Well, I was wondering if you could help me with something."
"Anything."
Rowan grinned with excitement, "Okay, so there's this person, right?"
"Mhmm."
"Well, I don't think he's who he says he is."
Dick was quiet for a second, "He?"
The girl quirked an eyebrow, "Uh, yea. Anyways, I think we should investigate-"
"Who is he?" His voice was stern and his face wasn't playful anymore.
Rogue felt slightly uncomfortable under the new gaze he had, "Uh, August Lee."
Robin rolled his eyes, "I always hated him."
Rowan was silent for a little, wondering what to say after that. But, after a while, she snorted, causing him to do the same. This lasted for at least for five minutes where nothing came out of their mouths, except silent wheezing.
When it finally came to a stop, Rowan smiled at him, "You don't have to like him, Dick. As long as I like him, you have to tolerate him."
"Yea, yea, whatever."
Before Rowan could get another word out, the wooden door to his bedroom opened. A small boy with black hair and blue eyes was on the other side of the door.
"Dick, you gotta see-" He paused then looked at Rowan then back at the boy, "Well, hello."
Rowan chuckled softly, "I'm Rowan."
Dick tried to get him to leave rather quickly, "Just go-"
The boy strutted closer to the girl, "I'm Jason, but you can call me anytime." Rowan full blown laughed out loud, her mouth hurting from how much she was giggling. Jason frowned, "You're not supposed to laugh."
"I'm-I'm sorry." She finally got it under control and looked back up at him, "How-How old are you, Jason?"
The boy smiled a toothy grin and Rowan could tell he lost a tooth, "Eleven."
Dick stood up and started pushing Jason out, "Go, Jay. I'll play with you later."
"But, I wanna play now, Dick."
Rowan smiled at the young boy. She never really liked children, but this one she could tolerate, "Yea, Dick. We want to play."
The black-haired boy shook his head, "No. We-we were talking, until this dumbo interrupted us."
Jason rolled his eyes and grabbed Rowan's hand, dragging her out of the room, "She's not just your friend anymore, Grayson. She's mine, too." But, then he paused and looked behind to meet her eyes, "You're not property, Rowan. I just had to beat Dick."
"I totally understand, Jay." She leaned down to 'whisper' in his ear, making sure Dick could hear too, "Dick's a loser at work too, don't worry."
"Hey!"
NOTE:
Hey, so I know Jason doesn't meet Bruce till like ten years later, but I decided to make him a bit older as I have more stories coming out for all the Batboys. So, you might also meet Tim in this story, but I'm not quite sure yet. But, he's a year and a half younger than Jason in my books, so yea.
Alright, I'm done. Have a great 2023!