Hello, everyone! I hope you all are having a Merry Christmas! Here is the Christmas Special for my other story, In Need Of A Miracle! You don't really have to read the story to understand this one, but the few central points you have to keep in mind from the main story are:
1. Jason was diagnosed with leukemia and is hiding this facts from the Bats.
2. Tim eventually found out about it and is helping Jason out.
3. The two of them are now living on the same apartment.
4. There's a copycat criminal framing Jason for the murders of criminals around Gotham.
For those of you who come from the main story, please keep in mind that this Christmas Special happens roughly two months after the latest chapter by the time I'm posting this (Chapter 11) and so, in order to keep the flow on the main story, there are a few differences from the main story up until the Chapter 11 that will be better explained in future chapters.
I hope you enjoy this story!
Love,
-brfanficwriter
Tim adjusted his tie and fixed his hair for what must have been the millionth time that evening. He looked over his shoulder to check on Jason, who was curled on the couch watching some dumb reality TV show
"I'm still alive, Timbo." Jason grumbled, annoyed at his hovering. Honestly, if people think that Dick's the mother hen in the family, it's just because they haven't seen how Tim acts around Jason
"Are you sure you'll be fine-"
"OH MY FUCKING GOD! YES! I won't die just because you spent the night away!" Jason finally bursted. Tim had asked the same question over and over and over again ever since Alfred guilty tripped him into accepting going to the Christmas party he was organizing at the Wayne Manor.
Tim pouted "You don't have to be so touchy." Jason turned to look at him and Tim could see in his eyes that Jason would throw him out the door if he didn't leave soon. He huffed "Fine, I'll go." He went around the apartment checking to see if the windows were locked properly. He didn't want the Red Hood copycat to attack them on the very day he wasn't here.
Once he did that he went around the apartment once more. Jason couldn't stand it anymore and hefted himself up. He grabbed the gift Tim had bought for the present exchange and walked to the younger man, who had been analysing the same lock for the past minute. He knocked on his head and Tim turned his face only for Jason to shove said present on his nose
"You. Out. NOW." He ordered as he pointed to the front door
"Hold on, just let me check the locks on the windows." Jason smacked his hand with a rolled magazine -when did he get one of these?- and Tim yelped and rubbed his not really sore hand
"You already did. There's nothing wrong with the windows." Jason said and shoved the gift on Tim's face once more "Now go out there and have a life, for fucks sake!" Between his W.E. job, the Teen Titans, patrolling, investigating the copycat case and taking care of Jason, Tim hadn't had a single second for himself. Even though most of these things weren't his fault, Jason really blamed himself for running his brother thin. He just wanted the guy to kick back and relax for a while, even though there was a very small chance of relaxing on the presence of the Manor's resident demon, as they called Damian. "Go and have Alfred's special Christmas dinner course, talk about some stupid things with Babs and Stephanie, get drunk on Bruce's stupidly expensive wine-"
"I'm not old enough to drink." Tim interjected
"That never stopped me before." Jason answered. He could see Tim still wasn't convinced. "Just... Relax, okay? For one night." Tim bit his lip. He actually really wanted to relax for a bit, what with the past couple months he's had, but he felt extremely anxious at leaving Jason alone. The day before was chemo day, and even though Jason's had a day to recover, he was still weak. If something happened he wouldn't be able to protect himself.
"Fine..." He answered and Jason perked up. He was happy he wouldn't have to physically throw Tim out of the apartment
"Great!" He said "Now go go go!" he said repeatedly hitting Tim on the back of the head with the magazine he held
"I'm going! Ow! Stop hitting me!" Tim grabbed his car keys and Jason followed him to the front door, still hitting him with the magazine. Tim stopped at the door "Do you have your guns with you?" He asked Jason, and his response was to hit him with the magazine and point with it to the pair of pistols that was on the couch. Tim nodded. "Are you using rubber bullets?" Another hit with the magazine and a roll of eyes "Good. Keep them with you at all times, okay?" Tim grabbed the magazine mid-strike and yanked it out of Jason's hand. "Okay. See you tomorrow." He turned around and headed to the elevator.
"Tell Alfred I said hi!" Jason called out after him and slammed the door and Tim was satisfied as he heard Jason locking it with the absurd amount of locks Tim installed on the thing.
Tim dumped the magazine on a trash can outside and got in his car. He hummed to the tune of the Christmas song playing on the radio. Christmas had always been Tim's favorite holiday. When he was a child it would be the time he knew his father would always take some time out of his busy schedule to spend time with him. Once Jack Drake died and he was taken in by Bruce, Christmas lost some of its magic for him. With Bruce still grieving Jason's death and the fact he would be in a fight with Dick most of the time, Christmas became a silent dinner between Tim and Alfred. On the second year of his staying with Bruce, Tim decided to patrol with the Batman, so there wasn't anyone at the house to celebrate the holiday. By the time Damian joined the family, Dick and Bruce were on good terms again, so Dick insisted they celebrate the night, so Damian would know what spending a holiday with his family was like. That was three years ago. It took them a while to figure out how to celebrate a holiday, but in the Christmas of the year before, there was a huge celebration, with Alfred and Dick either blackmailing or guilty tripping every member of the Bat Family into participating. Heck, they even got Jason to join them, although he claimed to be there only for the booze and the food.
Tim felt a warm feeling in his chest. It had been such a long time since he had somehow looked forward to Christmas
He parked on the driveway of the manor and looked at the cars already parked there, so he could know who had arrived before him. He could see Dick's, Barbara's and Stephanie's cars. So that meant he was the last one to get there.
As he walked through the thin layer of snow on the ground, heading to the front door, it opened revealing Stephanie. She was wearing a tight black dress and greeted him with a blinding smile. Tim blushed, even though almost two years had passed since they broke up, seeing Stephanie still got him feeling like an old man who was seeing the woman he had been in love with for the past fifty years.
"Great, you came! Alfred was beginning to think that you would bail on us!" She greeted him with a kiss on the cheek, and Tim was glad he had just trekked through snow so if anyone asked him why he was so flushed, that would be the reason why.
"I don't remember ever saying such a crude word as 'bail', Miss Brown." Came the crisp British accent from the kitchen.
Stephanie chuckled "Call it creative freedom, my dear Alfred." Her smile widened at the muffled chuckle she heard coming from the kitchen.
"Do you want some help with something, Alfred?" Tim asked, coming to greet the old man
"There's no need, Master Tim." The butler answered as he worked on the food. Tim pretended he didn't hear him and set to washing the dishes
"Whoa, since when do you know how to do the dishes?" He heard Dick ask from the doorway. It was no secret to the family that Tim Drake was the biggest slob ever. The guy couldn't keep his apartment tidy even if his life depended on it. However, ever since he's been sharing an apartment with the biggest neat freak on history (second only to Alfred) named Jason, he had to learn how to clean up after himself. If he didn't, Jason took it upon himself to do it. On the days Jason was too exhausted to clean up the apartment, he would resort to shooting Tim with BB pellets. So now Tim could say with a degree of pride he was a damn good housekeeper (Jason would desagree on the 'damn good' part, but Jason wasn't there, so Tim felt he could give himself this little title)
"Since none of your business." Tim answered annoyed
Dick laughed "Nice to see you too." He rummaged through his pockets and showed Tim a piece of paper. On it was written 'I will _' on a childish handwriting that Tim recognized as being his. Tim remembered giving Dick a bunch of these request slips ages ago for his birthday.
"Wow, you still have these?" He then read it more carefully: 'I will not fight with Damian the entire holidays' was written on it. "Ha! Nice try, Dick! These are waaay expired!" Dick grinned mischievously and mock examined the piece of paper
"Weird. I don't see any due date here. Do you, Alfred?"
"Certainly not, sir." Alfred answered without even looking at the paper. 'They're plotting this together.', Tim realized
"You both know I can't do that. If demon finds out I'm unprotected he will kill me." He said. Dick wrapped an arm around Tim's shoulder. Tim shoved him off with his hip since he was still doing the dishes
"Well, luckily for you we thought ahead and used the same trick on Damian. Worry not, little Tim, I assure you he will behave." Tim sighed
"If he kills me on my sleep, it's on you, do you hear me?" Dick grinned
"Leave it to me! If you die I will avenge you!" Tim knew Dick was just joking, but the possibility of Damian actually killing him on his sleep that night was too real for him to laugh about it. He finished washing the dishes and left them to dry. He then headed for the living room, since that was where the others were most likely to be. Dick accompanied him, chatting his ear off
"Hi there!" He was greeted by Barbara as soon as he walked in
"Hey Babs. How's it going?"
"I'm good. Might ask your advice on a case later."
"Sure. Tomorrow we look into it." Alfred had made it in no uncertain terms that there would be no vigilanting for that night, unless there was an emergency. Bruce had used the classic line that 'Crime doesn't take a break', but Alfred was having none of it. Bruce was a wise man, he knew who and when to pick a fight with, so he just relented to accepting he would go out only in the case of an emergency. Tim looked around and noticed Bruce wasn't there "Where's Bruce?"
"He was getting on Alfred's nerves so he made him go outside to shovel snow with Damian. They finished a while before you got here and are getting ready upstairs."
'So that's why there was so little snow on the driveway.' Tim thought
"Pennyworth! I can't find my-" They heard Damian calling Alfred. The child stopped talking when he saw Tim. All in the room held their breaths, thinking Damian would start attacking Tim while in a bath robe "Drake." Damian greeted, the most polite he has ever been with Tim in their entire relationship. He walked past the living room "Pennyworth, I can't find the suit you designated I wear today." They heard him say to Alfred in the kitchen
"Told you he would behave." Dick told Tim, who just nodded, not quite grasping the fact that Damian just walked near him and didn't attack him physically, emotionally or verbally
"Am I dreaming?" Tim pinched himself to confirm he was not dreaming
Stephanie chuckled "I think Damian just unknowingly broke Tim."
Tim nodded "I think he did."
"Who did what?" They heard Bruce asking
"Damian broke me." Tim answered and Bruce sighed. He knew that Dick and Alfred's plan for the two youngest to not fight wouldn't work, it was too childish. He was heading to where Damian was so he could scold him when Dick's voice stopped him
"Not in a bad way! Dami just passed by Tim and didn't insult him."
"He didn't." Tim was already out of his shock state, but he decided to entertain the others a little. He sat down on the couch like he was dizzy, and Dick, a natural performer himself, joined his little act. He would give Tim simple things to do, like drink from a glass and Tim would try to do it with the glass upside down, as if he didn't know how to do simple things such as these. Barbara and Stephanie laughed at their silly antics, and Bruce just shook his head in an amused way and called them idiots.
Tim stopped his act when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and saw it was a reminder for Jason to take his medicine. He shielded his phone when Dick tried to catch a glimpse of it (not that there was any need, since the reminder was only J.M.5). He stood up and excused himself
'Hey. Did you take your medicine?' He sent a text for Jason. Not too long after, there was a speech bubble symbol, that Jason was typing an answer
'I did. The big one, right?'
'Yeah, also the pinkish one and the one I marked the cap with a blue 5.'
'Damn it.' Was his answer. Jason's treatment had changed not too long ago, and he was having trouble keeping up with the copious amount of drugs he has to take 'Hold on.' After a couple moments, Tim's cell phone buzzed again and he unlocked the screen 'Done.' Tim was already going back to the living room when his phone buzzed once again. There was a voice message from Jason. He was probably too tired to type on his phone. Tim put the phone on his ear and listened to the message "I got the other round. It's just the ones with the six on the cap, right? You should enjoy yourself, don't think about me." Said the raspy, sleep laced voice
'The pink pill you just took makes you tired. I'll call you just in case.' Tim types back
'Fine.' Even though he couldn't see Jason, Tim was sure he was rolling his eyes
'You should probably lay down on your bed instead of the couch, you'll be asleep soon anyway.'
'Ok, mom.'
Tim sent Jason a middle finger emoji
'Leave the pill bottles for the next round on your bedside table so you don't have to walk to the kitchen.'
'K.'
'Bye.'
'Bye.'
Tim walked back to the living room and saw the others giving him a weird stare
"Is there an emergency?" Bruce asked hopeful
Tim chuckled "Sorry, no. It's personal." He chuckled even more when Bruce visibly deflated
Jason sighed contently as he got comfortable on his bed. Tim was not kidding, the pink pill was knocking him out for good. He thought he should've probably eaten something before going to bed, but just thinking about food made his throat tighten with nausea. He was almost drifting off to Dreamland when his phone rang. He saw it was Cassidy and picked it up
" 'ello?" He answered groggily
"Jason! Hi, did I wake you?" She asked guiltily
"Noo.." he slurred, his mind foggy from the drug "Th' pin'k... made me ti'ed" the words were tangling on his tongue. Thankfully Cassidy understood what he was trying to say
"Right. Sorry, I'll let you sleep in a while. I'm going to supervise a surgery in a while, so I wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas before I go in. It'll be a long surgery."
"Mer'y Kristinmassussus" Jason failed epically in saying the word 'Christmas' and Cassidy laughed out loud
"Sorry, I'll let you go to sleep now." She didn't get any answer because Jason was already sleeping "Bye." She said mostly to herself and cut the call
"Everyone, the Christmas dinner is ready." Alfred announced after a couple hours had passed.
All in the room quickly got up and headed to the dining room. They were famished, the hors d'oeuvre Alfred had set up for them wasn't nearly enough to keep the hunger of six vigilantes at bay.
After filling their stomachs with Alfred's amazing cooking, everyone was resting from that battle when Dick announced they should do the present exchange, since it was almost midnight. This present exchange was a sappy little game Dick had introduced them: they had made a lottery to see who they would be gifting and then on the Christmas night they would try to guess who they had picked from the hints the gift bearer would give. It was so sappy the only reason they accepted doing it was so Dick would stop sulking.
"Okay, me first!" Dick was bouncing on his feet like a sugar hyped child "The person I picked is very smart." Everyone in the room gave Dick a weird look. Literally all present have an IQ of the genius level "Right. Not a good hint." Dick said rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly "Well, they are one of the most cheerful people I know and-"
"Stephanie." Was the chorus that cut Dick off. He pouted at his sappy moment being cut off short. Why he had thought that playing this game in a room full of detectives would be a good idea was beyond him. Stephanie patted him on the back sympathetically and stretched her hand, waiting for her gift. Dick handed it to her and she tore the wrapping paper the second the box was in her hands. Inside was a famous jeweler's box, and inside it was a custom made bracelet, with little pendants of Stephanie's favorite things, a question mark and a exclamation mark from her time as 'Spoiler', and even a little diamond encrusted bat.
"Oh my God, Dick! It's beautiful!" She hugged him tightly "This thing must have cost a fortune!" Dick put his hands on his hips and laughed, proud of himself
"You don't wanna know." Just as Bruce was about to ask Dick how he had managed to afford this bracelet with his cop salary, Dick pointed to him "You don't wanna know either." Honestly, you'd have thought that after almost twenty years Bruce would reinforce the security on his credit cards. Dick's been able to crack them ever since he was ten, not that Bruce's been aware of that
"Okay, my turn!" Stephanie said excitedly
"I hope you give us more of a challenge than Grayson did, Brown." Damian said to her
"You bet I will!" Stephanie put her hands on her hips and laughed, just like Dick did not too long before "Alright! The person I picked shares the same interest as I-"
"Alfred." Both Bruce and Tim called out. When Stephanie glared at them in a silent question of 'Why is that?' , they felt compelled to elaborate
"Well, judging by the size of the gift you are holding, I can safely assume it's a book." Bruce began
"And, when you say that this person shares an interest with you, you could only deduce it's reading." Tim continued
"So, out of anyone in the family, the ones who go to your book club meetings are only Jason, Alfred, Cassandra and you. Since Cass is all the way over in China, and Jason is somewhere in space with Starfire and Arsenal-" that was the lie Jason was feeding the bats, that he was in outer space with his team so the copycat wouldn't be able to get to him "- that leaves only Alfred. Also, going by the last themes of your meetings, it's safe to say this is a classic theater piece, say, by Tennessee Williams?" Bruce risked
Stephanie lowered her head. "It's 'A street car named Desire', first edition." She mumbled as she handed the gift to Alfred. The old man kindly took it from her and carefully unwrapped the book. He felt a genuine smile coming to his face
"Thank you, Miss Brown, I will treasure it with all my heart." Stephanie gave him a blinding smile in return. Alfred stood up and cleared his throat "Well, everyone, I will add a new rule, that we must wait until the person is finished speaking so that then we may start guessing who it is." He glared at Dick after the young man pointed out how unfair it is that Alfred had waited until it was his turn to speak so he could add this new 'Rule' "It is really rude to interrupt someone when they're speaking." He cleared his throat "Well, the person I picked is a truly remarkable young hero, one who undoubtedly will be the beacon of Justice and hope for the future generations." He could see Bruce and Dick had perked up, as they already knew who it was. He knew Tim knew too, but was embarrassed to admit it. Damian had a confused expression as he hadn't yet figured it out, and Barbara and Stephanie had knowing smirks on "Even though we had a rough start, they've showed incredible development over the years, which I am incredibly proud of." He looked at Damian and the child had not yet figured it out "Although, I have to admit that some parts still need big adjustments, such as realizing that violence isn't a solution to problems-" Damian was confused. That sounds like Todd. But Todd wasn't here, so who was Pennyworth talking about? "-, as well as their tendency to sneak in strays without consent-" Ohh! Now he got it! Pennyworth was talking about Father! The man did have a violent streak and the hedious tendency of sneaking in strays without Damian's consent, such as Drake and Todd (Grayson, Damian had to admit he was tolerable) "- and sneaking out 'unnoticed' in the middle of the night and refusing to do their homework-" Father sneaks out every night as Batman and refuses to do his homework... Wait... Homework?
"AHHHHH!" Damian jumped from where he was sat and pointed at Alfred, his hand trembling from embarrassment and his face beet red "Pennyworth! You!" Everyone in the room laughed out loud at the expression on Damian's face
"Well, Master Damian, I think you are aware this game is made in a way that one cannot gift themselves." Alfred decided to tease the child a little more. When Damian stuttered to get out an answer, he chuckled and walked to him so he could hand him the present "Here you go, lad. Merry Christmas." Damian also carefully unwrapped the gift Alfred had given him (he was the kind of person to keep even the wrapping paper of the gifts he receives. He thought no one knew about that, but everyone did.) Inside it was a set of really rare and expensive paints, as well as extremely high quality drawing paper. He has been looking for these for almost three months, but they're always either sold out of a fake. He carefully ran his hand on the paper, and smiled when he felt on his fingertips it was the real deal. He was so lost on his bubble he only came back when he heard the sound of Dick's camera going off. Looking at his assailant, Damian roundhouse kicked the device out of Dick's hands and stomped on it
"Nooo! My cellphone! It was brand new!" Dick moaned as he cradled the remains of the device on his chest as Damian huffed and stomped away from him. Unknowingly for him, Dick had sneaked the memory card from the destroyed cellphone. 'Still naïve, Dami.' he thought with a smirk.
'I want a copy.' Bruce whispered on his ear when he say back on the couch
'Buy me a new phone and we have a deal.' he whispered back. Bruce nodded and they secretly shook hands
Damian cleared his throat
"It is my turn now to show you imbeciles how this game is played." Damian announced, completely ignoring the fact that Alfred had just wiped he metaphorical floor with him not even five minutes before. Everyone decided to let the 'imbeciles' comment slide since Damian has been so cute before "The person I picked is..." Damian paused. The person he had picked was Drake, but the only words that can describe Drake are insults, but Pennyworth had slipped him the stupid mini-contracts Grayson had made him give Pennyworth for his birthday. Damian couldn't assault Drake physically, emotionally or verbally for the duration of the holidays. He was truly stuck on a dilemma. Damian then clapped his fingers. There is a word that can be used to describe Drake and isn't an insult (well, depending on how you look at it, it could be used as an insult, but generally speaking, it is not an insult). "The person I picked is Drake." Everyone almost fell out of their seats
Tim pinched the bridge of his nose "Let me guess. The only word you could think of that describes me and isn't an insult is my name?"
"Maybe." Damian answered and held out the gift he had for Tim
Tim sighed and took the present "When it's you, I just take what I can get." He pressed his ear to the box, listening for any givings of an explosive
"I didn't put explosives on it." Damian said. Tim looked at him suspiciously and then shook the box to see if there was any sound of metal clinking, like a gun, or knives "It won't hurt you!" Damian said exasperated. Tim then peeled the box as far away from himself as he could, so if it sprayed acid it wouldn't hit his face "GRAYSON!" Damian called for help to make Tim understand the gift was harmless "TELL HIM IT'S NOTHING HARMFUL!"
"It's okay, Timmy. I helped Damian with it. Didn't know it was for you, though." He said it with a teasing smile directed at Damian, whose face got red and he bristled at him. Tim knew he could trust Dick, so he tore through the wrapping paper. What greeted him was a set of custom made Star Wars themed Cristal chess pieces and an equally themed chess board. Tim was stunned. Who knew the demon child could give such a gift, to him of all people.
"Thanks, Damian." He risked ruffling the child's hair. Luckily for him, instead of cutting his hand off, Damian just batted it away. The child sat back on the couch beside Stephanie
"Well well well, I think someone said they would show us how this game is played." She teased Damian "Is that how this game is played, Dick?" Dick just let out an uncomfortable laugh, not really wanting to cause a fight
"Shut it, Brown!"
Stephanie ruffled Damian's hair "Just face it, baby boo. You lost."
"Guys, there's no winners or losers on this game." Dick hoped to defuse the fight before it even started
"Nope, Dami just made it possible." Stephanie teased Damian again. Dick saw the murderous glint in Damian's eyes, and decided to swap places with him, so Damian was sat in between Dick and Bruce. If he decided to attack Stephanie, Dick would use his own body as a shield for her.
Alfred shushed everyone so they could hear Tim.
Tim rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as everyone was silent, waiting for him to start giving out clues to who he picked. He was really not good at all with this feelings stuff
"So... The person I picked is the smartest one in the room." He saw Bruce perk up as he deduced it was himself. Tim wanted to laugh in a sadistic way "They are very committed to the cause, and they are also the pillar of crime fighting in this city." He saw as Bruce nodded, clearly thinking Tim was talking about him "I'm really grateful we have this person on our side, we would be doomed I don't know how many times had it not been for their information network. Also, they are one of the few people who can put up a good challenge when it comes to hacking. They give really good fashion advice, and skin care advice, and love advice... Well, they give good advice in general." Tim saw as Bruce deflated. He was definitely not one to give good advice. He chuckled "Any idea as to who it is?"
"Barbara." Everyone laughed at the grudging tone Bruce used
Barbara stood up and took the box Tim gave her. She tore the paper and saw Tim had gotten her two tickets for a full week spa trip on Switzerland, along with all the shopping expenses in the trip fully paid. Under it was a box of stupidly expensive European chocolate and.
"Wow, Tim." She was lost for words
"I thought you could use some rest." He said smiling at her
"Than' 'oo." She said around a piece of chocolate from the box. Stephanie and Dick begged her for some of the chocolate "Not you, rich boy." She said to Dick as she only let Steph take a piece. Dick's dejected face was so pathetic she laughed and relented to him a piece of chocolate. Dick opened his mouth so she could feed him. Barbara rolled her eyes and pushed the chocolate on his mouth
"Thanks babe." Dick would have given her one of his blinding smiles, but he didn't think that even him could look nice with a chocolate stained smile
"Alright! It's my turn!" Barbara said excited "Well, the person I picked is a really long time friend of mine. To this day I have never really regretted the choice I made years ago of joining this man's fight, it is one of the things that gives my life some meaning. Even though he puts on a hardass face on most of the time, I think that no one here doubts the fact this man is the most generous person we all know." She could see everyone sharing knowing smirks and Bruce trying to hide his embarrassed blush "I guess everyone here knows who I'm talking about, right?" She chuckled and gave Bruce his gift. Bruce carefully unwrapped it and saw that inside it was a copy of his favorite book as a child, Lord of The Rings. He had burned all his children books a while after his parents' murder, claiming he was no longer a child. It had been so long since he last saw a copy of this book he couldn't keep the smile out of his face
"Thank you, Barbara." He told her. He could tell by her expression she knew how much this book meant for him
"Merry Christmas, Bruce." She said
Bruce picked up the gift he has bought and handed it to Dick. "There's no meaning for charades, since you were the only one left."
"No! Come on! I wanna know what you were going to say about me!" Dick protested
"No." Bruce deadpanned
"You're no fun, you know that?"
"I do." Bruce said and waited to see Dick's reaction to his gift.
"I hope you got me a really nice gift." Dick tsked and tore through the wrapping paper. Inside the box was piece of fabric. Dick took it out of the box and saw it was the banner for the Flying Graysons from the day his parents were murdered. On the orange fabric, in big bold navy blue lettering was written 'World's best acrobats: The Flying Graysons!' and beside it, Dick saw his mother's beautiful cursive handwriting: 'Dick Grayson's first solo! Come and be a part of this magical moment!' . Dick's eyes felt moist and he looked down so no one could see it. When he looked on the box again, he saw the posters he had helped hand out that same day, and pictures of previous performances they had done. Dick choked on his breath. He had been searching for these things for almost twenty years, how in the hell had Bruce been able to find them?
Bruce was caught unaware when Dick launched himself at him and hugged him. He hugged him back with just as much strength and placed a quick kiss on top of his head
"Thank you." Dick said, his voice thick with emotion
They stood like that for a couple minutes, until Dick pulled himself apart from Bruce and smiled at him. Bruce could see his eyelashes were slightly damp.
Dick spun on his heels and gave everyone in the room a big smile
"Well, it's past midnight, we should see what gifts Santa brought us!" He announced
"TT, Grayson, Santa is only an invention of the capitalism made to inflate the sales on this time of the year." Damian said and marched to the main foyer, where they kept the Christmas tree "See, there's nothing here-" Damian interrupted his speech when he saw the mountain of gifts under the tree. He looked around the room, trying to find the intruder who left all the gifts "There's an intruder here!" He announced to the rest of them, who were just looking at him with a smile and doing nothing to find the intruder "Brown! You and Gordon watch the main entrance! Drake and Grayson search on the bottom floor, while father and I will look in the second floor and the basement! No one enters or leaves!"
"Dami, it was Santa who brought these gifts." Dick said
"Don't be ridiculous, Grayson! Santa isn't real-" Damian ran outside when he saw something moving on the window. When he got outside, he was shell-shocked by what he saw: a bunch of reindeers pulling a sleigh on the sky "Wh-wh-WHAT IS THAT?!" He exclaimed, his knees buckled and he fell on his butt
"What are you talking about, Damian?" Bruce asked. How could he not notice the flying sleigh?
"That!" Damian pointed again
"I can't see anything wrong." Bruce said, Barbara, Tim and Alfred agreeing with him and going back inside
"Are you alright, Dami?" Dick asked, offering him a hand so he could stand up. Damian batted his hand and stood up "I know what you saw. It was Santa. I saw it too. Only children can see him, when people become adults they get out of Santa's magic range and start to believe he is only a fiction. I can see him because I always keep a young heart."
Damian gave him a weird face "That's ridiculous, Grayson."
"No, Dick's right. We saved Santa a couple of years ago on a mission." Stephanie said with a serious face "Santa told us to not tell other adults of this secret, or else his workshop would be in great danger. Dick and I are the only adults in the world who can see Santa."
"Yeah right."
"Think about it, Dami. After everything you've seen in this world as Robin, is this story that unbelievable?" Dick asked rethorically. Damian opened his mouth to retort, but he couldn't. This Santa story was actually more believable than the background story of most heroes he knew
"I need time to myself so I can gather my thoughts." He said and walked in the direction of the woods behind the manor. His whole concept of the world had just crumbled to the ground. What would be coming next? The Easter Bunny was real?
Dick and Stephanie snickered as they watched Damian go.
"Oh my gosh, that was so cute!" Stephanie giggled
"I know, right?!" Dick was holding his stomach, that was hurting from laughing "Oh, man, I have to thank Wally for delivering the gifts later"
"Where did you hide the hologram projector?" Stephanie asked
"Back there, in the woods..." He pointed to where Damian was coming back, dragging the crushed projector. They both blanched and stood up
"Grayson... Brown..." Damian said with barely contained fury "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" He yelled as he fling the projector at them, missing them by inches
"RUN!" They screamed and Damian ran after them
Jason woke up with his phone beeping. He groaned and saw he had about a dozen voicemails and as many texts
He decided to listen to Cassidy's first
"Hey, Jason. It's Cassidy. I finished my surgery just now and decided to call you and wish you a Merry Christmas again. I called you earlier, but you were so out of it you probably don't even know what I'm talking about, right?" She was right, he has no idea what she was talking about "Well, that's it. See you on the 26th for chemo."
'Merry Christmas. See you.' was his short answer
He then listened Dick's voicemail
"Hey, Jayce! How's space? I don't know if you know, but today's Christmas here on Earth. We had a huge party, too bad you couldn't join us. Well, next year you definitely come, you hear me? Timmy's not nearly as good of a drinking buddy as you, he's already passed out." Jason snorted "Say hi to Jay, Timmy!" Jason laughed out loud at Tim's slurred 'Aaaaye' "Poor thing, he's out cold. I should probably take him to his room. Bye Jay! Merry Christmas!" Jason could hear Tim drunkenly repeating Bye Bye and chuckled again
'Merry Christmas.'
He listened to Alfred's voicemail
"Merry Christmas, Master Jason. I hope you are doing well with your teammates. I will redo my special Christmas dinner course for you once this Red Hood copycat mess is over, do not worry. Your gifts are also safely guarded by me. Send Miss Koriander and Mister Harper my regards. Stay healthy, my child." Jason snorted at the irony. Alfred would probably faint of he knew of Jason's health condition
'Thank you, Alf. Merry Christmas.'
He then listened to the rest of the voicemails he had. Two were from doctors from Gotham General Hospital, other two were from nurses he had tried to flirt his way out of a chemo session, and the last one was from a kid he has befriended on the oncology wing
He then read the texts he had
From Cassandra Cain: 'Merry Christmas. I want a book as a gift.' Jason chuckled at the text
'Sure. Merry Christmas.'
From Barbara Gordon: 'Merry Christmas. We'll definitely catch this copycat guy. Take care of yourself, Jay.'
'I know. Merry Christmas, Barbie.'
From Stephanie Brown: A selfie of her and Damian, who looked like he had been literally dragged to the photo. 'Merry Christmas from your hottest friend and shortest brother.' was the caption
Jason sent her a bunch of the crying from laughter emojis 'Why do you look like you rolled around in mud?' she was all dirty and her dress was ripped 'Merry Christmas.'
From Tim Drake: 'Merry Christmas. Everything is fine here at the manor. How are you? Any troubles? Call me if anything happens.'
'I'm fine. Merry Christmas. Glad you're enjoying yourself.'
From Bruce Wayne: 'Merry Christmas.'
'Merry Christmas.'
He jumped out of his skin when his phone started beeping loudly from the incoming video call.
Roy and Kori were on the screen when he accepted the call
"Jaybird!" The red headed Archer greeted
"Stop calling me that, jackass."Jason grumbled
"I know you secretly enjoy it."
"Jason, how are you feeling, my friend?" Kori asked. The alien woman was very reluctant to leave Jason's side when she found out he was sick. In the end, Jason was able to convince her to travel through space with Roy so they could fool the Bats and the copycat. Kori was openly hoping the copycat would be as stupid as to try and attack her spaceship so she could burn him to cinders, but so far she's had no such luck.
"Hey, Kor. I'm fine. Today's one of the good days." The woman looked like she wanted to stay on the topic of Jason's disease, so he quickly changed subjects "How's Tamaran?"
"It is always the same."
"Right. Is your sister fine?"
"Yes. Roy tried to explain to her the human tradition of 'Christmas', but she didn't understand it. To be honest, I don't quite understand it that well myself either." She said and Jason and Roy spent the next two hours trying to explain her everything there is to know about the magic of Christmas, until they finally gave up
"Kori, Santa isn't a child predator." Jason tried to explain for the tenth time
"How come not? He watches the children and see what toys they wish for, then he sneaks into their property and leaves 'gifts' for them. He is clearly a child predator."
"No, look, Santa's a -" Jason paused to yawn "Santa's a magic creature. He doesn't need to watch the children to know what they want." He yawned again "He just knows."
"You alright, Jay? What time's it there?"
"Four a.m."
"Oh, we should let you sleep then." Kori said and Roy nodded. Jason was too tired to pretend he wasn't tired
"Okay."
"Bye Jay. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas."
"Goodbye, Jason."
"Bye, Kori." He said and cut off the call. He was asleep in less than 30 seconds
-The next day
"Jason, I'm home! Are you up?" Tim asked as he squinted his eyes to look at the apartment. He wasn't really a good drinker, so he woke up with the mother of all hangovers
"I'm here." He heard the moaning coming from the bathroom and found Jason hugging the toilet bowl as he puked his guts "Hey, Timbo." He gave him a weak smile as he leaned against the bathtub and rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth
"Are you alright?" Tim asked as he handed him a cup of water for Jason to rinse his mouth
"Oh, same old, same old. You don't look too peachy yourself."
"Dick dragged me to drink with him"
Jason smirked "So I've heard." He was getting light headed and Tim noticed it
"Come on, let me get you up." He said as he pulled Jason to his feet and supported most of his weight as they stumbled to the couch. Tim helped Jason to the couch and handed him a bucket. "There's some chicken noodle soup on the fridge, I'll warm it up for you."
" 'Kay." Jason said from the couch "How was the party?"
"It was great, actually. Dick and Alfred got a way for the Demon not to torment me." Jason knew how much Tim enjoyed Christmas, so he was genuinely happy for him "He even got me that for the present exchange." Tim pointed to the chess set on the table and Jason picked up a few pieces and examined them
"Cool." He said awed, being a Star Wars fan himself "I got you a gift too. It's on your bed." Tim went to fetch it. He sat on the arm of the couch beside Jason and tore thought the wrapping paper. Inside it was a block of request slips, ranging from 'I won't make a scene to take my medicine' to 'I'll rest the whole day' and a few blank ones for Tim to fill in with the request. Tim chuckled, these seemed to be getting popular around the family lately. Jason thought Tim was laughing at him and his face got even redder "Sorry. These are too childish, I know. That kid Rian from the hospital said he would make these and I wasn't feeling so good to go buy you something. You don't have to keep them if you don't want to." Tim held the papers protectively against his chest
"No, these are fine. I like them. Thank you." He tore one of the 'I'll rest the whole day' papers and handed it to Jason "I didn't get you anything, though." Tim felt bad for that
Jason took the piece of paper and shook his head "You didn't have to."
'You're already giving me more than I could hope for by standing by my side through this shit storm.' Jason thought, but would never say it out loud
"I think the soup's burning." He said and Tim jumped from the couch
"Oh, shit!" He yelled, running to the stove