Something happened on that year's Christmas Eve. Something neither Bruce nor Dick or any of the Bats had expected. They'd all secretly hoped he would show up, even for just a moment. Say 'hi' and disappear.
No one could have seen that one coming.
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It was dark outside, little silver dots on the firmament were shining brightly, reflecting colorful lights on the Waynes' Christmas tree. In the exact same room it was standing, two silhouettes were sitting on a luxurious black couch. In front of them, fire was blazing in a fireplace, sweltering tongues licking the stone walls of their cage. It was lighting up a part of of the living room but leaving the rest in a dim orange glimmer.
Thanks to this, you could have seen a few blue, yellow, red and green spots occasionally dancing on the walls, the tree being their homeworld.
On the mentioned couch was sitting Bruce, drinking hot cocoa, with his back not straight like a broomstick for once. Dick was supporting his own back on Bruce's shoulder, legs bent on the sofa and head leaning on his guardian, a mug of chocolate also in his hands. A little Flash logo was poking out from behind his fingers. He took a long sip and spoke, breaking the silence.
"I like it. The peace and quiet. Long time since it's been only the two of us. Nothing lasts forever, eh?"
"It's just a calm before the storm"
Bruce said. Dick answered him after a moment of relative silence with only the fire cracking not far from them.
"I don't think I'll mind some chitter-chatter. Or Tim bantering with Damian."
"It's more like Damian trying to kill him."
Dick snuggled more into his red, fluffy blanket.
"Nah, he shows love that way. If he hasn't tried to harm you in any possible way at least once, that means he doesn't care."
Bruce raised one eyebrow and his lips twitched in a small smile.
"He doesn't say anything offensive to you."
Dick moved so now he was facing Bruce and had one forearm rested on the older man's shoulder.
"Oh, but he does! That's how I know I'm his favorite. But if it's anyone but him saying anything, he's all protective. He's really cute trying to kill someone with a gummy-bear ice cream cone."
Dick cooed and Bruce thought that his son had a weird outlook on what's 'cute'. A worrying one, at that.
"And you know" Grayson continued "'we are the best', quoting 'lil D." A wide grin stretched across his face and Bruce couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle.
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Like they'd suspected, when Tim and Damian found themselves in the same room, all the tranquility was gone.
When it had been just Damian, Tim hadn't come yet, he just wormed his way in Dick's blanket and cuddled, snuggling into his older brother's side. The latter put his free arm around him and placed a kiss on his head. The youngest Wayne tutted and scoffed but other than that didn't move an inch. One of the elders asked how it'd been going with the Teen Titans. Robin said that they were a bunch of incompetent idiots but maybe if he'd shown them how it's done, they would become more useful. That was a tiny bit exaggerated, of course. But Robin knew that, too, so there was no point in reprimanding the kid. Especially when he stared talking about his newest adventure with Jon and Colin. Both older ebonys listened to and drew in every word, the kid was so excited and you could've seen he really liked spending time with his best friends.
Then Tim came. And insisted they watched something other than 'an effect of some naturally occurring chemical reactions', that was his way of saying that burning wood was boring. He said something about 'Home Alone' and Damian instantly opposed, saying that he wouldn't watch whatever it was Drake suggested.
"And why won't you watch it, Demon Spawn? It's classic!" Tim threw his hands in the air with frustration clearly showing on his face, Damian just had to disagree with anything he did, said... with him!
On his position between Dick and Bruce that he somehow found himself in without even knowing, Tim was boiling inside. Couldn't they do something he wanted too, from time to time? He'd been gone for a while and when he finally came home? Damian's still a vicious runt. At least to him. Mercifully for Tim, Dick intervened before it came to bloodshed.
"Dami" the eldest from the newest generation of Waynes hugged the youngest more and laid his cheek on the top of his head "you can't be so mean to Tim. And 'Home Alone' is one of my favorites movies too!" The thought that this was the main arguments passed through both Tim's and Bruce's minds. "And it'd be just heartbreaking to see you argue over something so... trivial."
Damian gently swatted Dick's head away.
"Okay. We shall watch this... movie of yours and Drake's. Just because if you're not in your best mental form you'll get yourself killed and that would make the Titans way less effective and that would increase criminality levels in San Francisco. Which would cause an overall need for heroes to spread too thin and make them easier to kill. I'm not willing to take that risk."
The three of them and Alfred, who'd just finished his last batch of gingerbread cookies and came to also watch the movie (cookies have to cool down), all gaped at him dumbstruck.
Tim shook his head.
"I can't believe you actually said all that just so you wouldn't have to admit I'm right. And that actually made sense. From a certain point of view. What the heck."
Dick side-hugged Damian and rested his forehead in his Robin's messy raven-black hair.
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No sooner had the doorbell rung than Dick caught the knife aimed at Tim's face. It was Damian who threw it, as expected.
"Damian Wayne! What did I tell you? Don't. Throw. Weapons. At. Tim!" The acrobat put his hands on his hips, pulling out his lower lip, and glared the youngest down. Aforementioned looked a little ashamed, at least to Dick, but then crossed his arms, a scowl yet again forming on his face.
Tim was trying to swallow his snicker but failed at this task miserably. In this moment, Alfred cleared his throat, Bruce grunted at Tim's "Dick is a Bat-mum!" comment - it was putting him in a really uncomfortable position as the Batdad - and the Manor's front doors let go, jolting out of their hinges and snapped wide open.
"Doesn NO ONE answer the fucking door anymore?! Exempt Alfred. Sorry I yelled, you're still a god. But the rest of you?! And it's me who's the irresponsible one?!"
"Is this-?"
"I believe it is, Timothy."
"I hadn't thought it would happen."
A loud, high-pitched fangirl-like screech followed Bruce's words of incredulousness.
"JASON!"
Dick drapped his arms around the chest clothed in the so-well-known, smelling like cigarette smoke, brown leather jacket. With his cheek flattened on the infamous Red Hood's black 'Nirvana' t-shirt, Dick's sight wandered all the way up to Jason's face and bright, turquoise irises.
But something was wrong.
For one, there was a scar on the lower right side of his little brother's face that definitely hadn't been there a week before, and second...
he wasn't that little anymore.
"You're so biiig" he said with awe like a kid, dragging the middle vowel to its limits. "When did that second growing sprout happen?! And what's with the cool scar?" The big Jason patted Dick's shoulder shamelessly, his second hand drifting to the mark.
"Well, well, well" Damian started with a smirk "look who decided to come. If it isn't the fabled Jason Todd."
"Hi, kid." Damian budged, startled at his words. He always called him 'Demon Spawn' or 'baby Bruce'. A 'kid'? That was new.
Then something writhed in a big red bag slung over Jason's shoulder - how had they not seen it before?! It's huge! - and a muffled sound came from it.
Tim was standing sheepishly in the doors leading to the living room and curiously pointed a finger at the ginormous sack.
"What the hell do you have in it? Santa?" The young detective said, leaving his mouth halfway open. His eyes fixed on his second oldest brother.
"Something better."
He slung the sac down his arm and turned it upside down. Something huddled fell out onto the carpeted floor. That something could speak.
And yell, by extension.
"WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING HERE?!"
"I have a better question. Why's there two of you?!" Dick was looking beyond shocked but also alarmingly big grin emitting sheer delight adorned his face. Tim looked equally surprised and also disconcerted. He frowned and a musing expression crossed his face before he was, seemingly, enlightened by his own mind.
Younger Jason dusted off his 'My Chemical Romance' shirt under his iconic jacket and pointed a thumb at the other Todd in the room. "Who's this guy."
Tim looked at the 'guy', deducing.
"You're Jason from the future who wanted to right his wrong of not coming home for Christmas and for yet unknown reasons chose exactly this year to do so, probably because it'd already happened in your timeline. Paradoxes, and all this 'causation and effect' stuff is quite complicated but that's the general idea, isn't it? Either that, or something really bad had happened and you didn't want this to occur."
The crickets might have not been there but the ringing silence flooded the room.
The Jason from the future looked at him.
"Wit and smart as always."
"That was one heavy assumption, Tim." For a guy who had to assume a lot of things to solve crimes, Bruce sounded quite solemn.
Damian crossed his arms. "Just like thinking Drake has at least one gray cell."
Tim prodded his elbow into the younger boy's side, but not really hard.
"I'm a certified genius, Damian."
There was a pout on his face. "Uh, Father? When are Brown and Cain coming? I'd rather take Fatgirl than this incompetent fool."
"Okay, now you offend my girlfriend, little Demon. Enough is enough."
"Yeah, that's enough, little bros. Let's focus back on Jason...s" Dick put in, eyeing his little and, apparently, big brother.
"Let's focus back on me." Two Jasons puffed out their chests.
Red Robin outrightly ignored both Dick and the copy of Todd.
"I don't care if we're brothers or not, I'll fight you."
"Cain and Grayson are the only ones worthy of being called my siblings."
"Aww" Dick connected his fingers in a shape of a heart.
Tim prodded Damian's chest.
"I'm a Wayne, too! Whether you like it or not!"
His a little exacerbated tone didn't catch anyone by surprise, considering how many times had the argument been brought up.
That still made Dick despondent, that his brothers made it so rambunctious.
"Only in the papers, Drake."
Suddenly there was a big, callused and scarred hand on his shoulder. Bruce's blue eyes met his son's, the impression of his owns.
"Damian, that's enough."
The scolding tint made the kid look aside "Tt-".
"Tim's not less of my son than you are. Or Dick. Or Jason." Mentioned young man looked at his surrogate father with a sly smirk, seemingly knowing something that no other occupant of the room did. Younger Jason just crossed his arms and huffed, while Dick wore a lopsided smile.
"Not that something, but you guys are leaving the fact that 'what am I doing here?!'"
After they had all looked at him, he yelled again, in much higher tone "and why's there a me from the future and wHat tHE HeLl!" Jason caught his head between his forearms and gripped his hair. "Oh dude, I get the multiverse but seeing myself with a is that a growing beard?! is just NUTS!" He came closer to his doppelganger and picked a hair out of his chin, inspecting it intensively. His eyes were wide as plates. Just like the rest of Waynes', at their black sheep's weird and unusual behavior. "Shave it!"
The older Jason seemed amused at his younger self's antics. He looked at his shirt. "You have a good taste."
Jason-Jason bowed theatrically.
"But thank you, yours is also rather exquisite."
"You like 'Citizen Soldier'?
Tim put in.
Both Jason's looked at him.
"Sure!"
"Okay, I officially declare that you're my favorite brother."
Dick made a mock-wounded face.
"Hey!"
"You're my favorite older brother, D."
"Okay. Doesn't make sense but go on." Grayson said and Damian scrutinized him.
"I do believe you are right, brother." Heavy on the last word, Damian almost glued himself to Dick arm, shooting Tim an exalting look.
"I do believe that you didn't mean to offend me, Dami." His eyes told a completely different story.
"I do believe you're not fighting over mere trifles again, right?" Dick did a once-over at his youngest brothers.
"I do believe this is getting a little out of hand." Alfred's eyes sparkled for a moment. That seemed like a fun. They continued like that for a minute. Then future Jason happened.
"I do belive in fairies! I- wait stop, that's not this universe."
Dick looked at the younger Jason incredulously. 'Is he going to be like this, too? Wait, what am I saying, he's already a literature nerd.'
"What pushed you to bring your younger self here? Not like I'm not grateful, I love' Lil Wing" younger Jason made a gesture of throwing up "but I'm curious." The argument-contest forgotten in a flash, like a blink of an eye.
Tim suddenly found himself interested in the discussion.
"A change of heart?"
Older Jason snorted.
"Nope, there was this weird, glowing silhouette in my home that said 'go to the Manor in the year of 2019, it's mandatory for the universe to endure' in this weird echoing voice."
"You mean the God told you to come here?" Tim asked, clearly not believing, mouth agape.
"More like Dr. Manhattan but yeah, sure. I guess you can call him that anyway."
"Even better!" Tim started fanboying at the moment. "Oh my God, Jason met a god, doesn't this sound weird? It does sound weird, it is totally weird and cool and oh my GOD-" Barely had a hand clasped over Tim's mouth did he stop rambling.
"Calm down, little bird." Dick's composed voice made him cease in his pacing, probably as well as the older's arms wrapped around the younger's frail and svelte form.
"Yeah, so, you're all here there so I guess I can go. Ciao!" He waved his fingers, clicked something on his watch and holographic computer and disappeared. They could have sworn he murmured something that sounded like 'Artemis is so gonna kill me for leaving her with Roy and Cloud 9 like this' before departing.
After a few moments of silence, Tim cleared his throat. "So, we're watching this 'Home Alone' or not?"
Present-time Jason's head jolted up, eyes gleaming with excitement. "You said 'Home Alone'?! Now, that's the reason I'm here! C'mon!" He started dragging both Tim and Dick by the hands "One of my favorite movies! I just might stay here for a little bit! And say whatever you want, this stuff works. I've tried it when some idiots decided to rob Wayne Manor..." Bruce and Alfred both looked at the receding boys, the eldest three almost running with smiles and Damian strutting behind them with a small smirk dancing on his face.
Alfred put a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "Come, Master Bruce, we better join them before all the gingerbread cookies are gone."
"We have gingerbread cookies?! Old man, I'm staying!" a loud, jovial yell reached them from the living room.
"Did he got replaced at some point of being carried in this bag or did his older self dropped him on the way?"
"I find it I don't mind, sir."
A relieved sigh.
"Neither do I, Alfred. Neither do I."
Merry Christmas everyone!
Words: around 2700