"It's good to meet you, Todd."
Jason felt his heart pounding in his chest.
There he was, his first brother.
Sure, Dick had managed to get the stick unjammed from his asshole and Tamantha had grown on him, but Percy was his brother from a different time, a happier time.
It was like looking in some kind of demented mirror.
Before his stint as a glorified pinata, there had been a light in him, a joy that no kid from the Alley should have. Life had turned up for him, he got to go to school, he had his precious books, a soft bed safe and warm, a dad and a grandpa, and a brother just like him.
But death had changed him.
It wasn't just the trauma that came with getting blown sky high, but the unchanging anger that flowed through his veins. Every time he glanced in a mirror and saw green instead of light blue, he was reminded of what he was now, what he had done, who he was and what he had lost.
Months ago—before the old man had kicked it—Bruce had made sure to take Jason aside, explaining to him that he was still the same boy that he had lost, the same son. He was different, yes, but Jason was still the same boy under layers of anger and grief.
He couldn't help but wonder if Percy would think the same.
Here he was, lying to one of the only people he hadn't messed up with.
Granted, after the words that had poured from his lips, he might have messed that up as well.
After politely greeting 'Todd Peters', Percy had turned back to Dick with a soft smile, "I was told he left something for me?"
How quickly the atmosphere changed nearly gave them all whiplash.
____
Percy hadn't needed to say who 'he' was, and what warmth the return of his brother brought to Dick was quickly smothered as the very large elephant in the room was brought up.
"Ah yes," Dick cleared his suddenly raw throat, "I..I'll go get it."
He strode from the room quickly, not daring to take a glance at the rest of his brothers.
After Jason's..death, Dick had been knocked on his ass by the realization of just what a horrendous big brother he had been.
Jason and Percy needed him, hell, he knew what living with Bruce could be like, it was the whole reason for him moving across the country with such dramatics. Yet he had brushed them off, too stuck up in his own world as he traded cutting words with Bruce.
The kicker was that Dick knew the boys had heard a handful of their screaming matches, he just chose to ignore them (he hadn't been able to squash the sick satisfaction of his replacements hearing just what he thought of them).
Deep down Dick would always blame himself for Jason's death.
Just as he does for Percy's isolation from the family.
All too soon he reached the study, the familiar old hardwood door opening with a soft push. Avoiding the many pictures framed around the room—and the memories they carried—Dick hurriedly snatched up the last remaining letter from the large oak desk before retreating from the room.
____
It was bone silent upon his return, not that Dick expected anything less.
"Here," he said, holding out the envelope to his brother.
The younger man delicately grabbed the folded paper, a slight tremor to his hand, one Dick pretended not to see.
Percy stepped back from them, carefully unfolding the letter with both hands, facing towards the fireplace as he read the last words their father had left for him.
If possible the room seemed to grow even more silent, the occupants of the room all too focused on Percy Jackson's trembling figure. A hand left the carefully folded paper and came to pull at his hair sharply. Then the paper was lowered, appearly already read, and Percy seemed to slouch forward, taking a deep breath.
When he turned back around there were no tears in his eyes, yet his face carried a chilling blank expression.
Dick only just stopped himself from asking what was written, remembering the words Bruce had written for him. Both incredibly vulnerable and personal.
None of them had yet to share what their father had written to them, and Dick wasn't going to expect anything less from Percy.
Tim took a step forward gingerly, "Perce?" He asked.
The green-eyed man glanced down at his younger brother with a scowl, seemingly pulled from his thoughts.
Then, with a scoff Percy turned and hurled the paper into the fireplace.