A Special Gift, For a Special Person
Red Hood slammed the man against the wall, and kicked him in his side viciously. The man cried out in pain as his blood spilled onto the floor from his mouth, but he was alive. He spun on the spot, and pointed his gun at the men standing around him.
"It's true that I've stopped killing," he said, moving slowly toward the center of the room, waving his gun around to point at each of them "well, mostly. But think for one second that I've gone soft, that you think you can challenge me?" He turned and fired a round into the man's shoulder "and you'll end up like that mother fucker there."
Red Hood strode toward one of them men, the rest of whom who backed off.
"Now, if I catch another one of you scum bags dealing to children, I'll do far worse to you than I did to him!" Red Hood snarled, gesturing back to the wounded man on the floor.
"Blackjack," Red Hood called. The man strode over toward him, tall, brown hair, with, dressed in jeans, a black shirt and a brown jacket, with a rather prideful grin on his face. He slapped the Red Hood on the back and chuckled at the injured man.
"Whaddaya need boss?" The Red Hood turned to him and pointed to the trash bleeding out on the floor.
"Send this piece of garbage to the GCPD. A Christmas gift to our lovely cops," The Red Hood in a mock sweet tone. The men chuckled in amusement, quickly silenced with a well placed glare from Hood. Blackjack grinned at the idea.
"And if he squeals?" Hood glared first at Blackjack, then strode toward the injured trash on the floor. The man whimpered as Red Hood slowly approached and crouched down in front of him, jamming the barrel of the gun underneath his chin.
"He won't say a word. Not if he wants to live through the night," The Red Hood said menacingly. The man whimpered again and Hood chuckled darkly.
"I don't have to kill him myself. I happen to know a few people in prison who'd want to know his dirty little secrets, and they'll do it for me. Understand?" The man whimpered again and nodded.
"I can't hear you," Hood snapped, cupping his hand to his ear.
"Y-yes sir," the man whimpered. Hood patted him on the cheek.
"Good boy," he said and then rose to his feet and turned to the rest of his men. He waved the gun around the room, then pointed it to the man on the floor.
"Get him out of here, then deal with his little gang. Beat them, but don't kill them; if they do it again, then you have my permission to kill them. Dead men can't learn lessons, no?" The Red Hood said smugly, retreating from the warehouse. He looked up to the sky as a new round of snow started to fall, thankful that the kevlar top beneath his hoodie was insulated, then punched a few buttons on his gauntlet and summoned his motorcycle. He hopped on and raced off into the distance with one, singular thought on his mind: Dick is going to be so pissed.
Jason dropped by one of his old safe houses to change into civilian attire before heading back to the apartment. He started using his safe houses again in case he needed to go out as the Red Hood during the day, and some of them also doubled as equipment caches.
When he returned to the apartment, Dick was sitting on the floor playing with cars with Kaden. Kaden was playing with the batmobile he got for his birthday last February, and Dick was pushing a few of the other cars around, making car noises. Kaden occasionally glanced up at him and giggled, right before running Dick's cars over with his batmobile, to which Dick would make mock crying noises, making Kaden giggle even more.
"Got you!" Kaden called with a little laugh. At almost two years old, he'd already begun stringing together words for short phrases and sentences now. The kid was developing fast; Dick joked that they'd be sending him off to Harvard by the time he was five.
"Wow, our little boy is a sadist," Jason mused from the doorway, shucking off his jacket. Dick looked back at him with a smile on his face, which then turned into a frown. Shit. I'm screwed Jason thought then, hanging his jacket up in the closet, and moving to sit on the couch.
"Really, Jason? On Christmas?!"Dick asked in an annoyed tone. Jason rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Technically, it's Christmas Eve, and yes, it was important. An entire gang-"
"So not the point!" Dick snapped, interrupting the younger man and pushing himself up of the floor. He stood before Jason, looking quite annoyed; arms crossed, glaring down at him, Jason was tempted to make a flirty comment, but he opted for silence. Somehow, he figured that'd make it worse.
"God, Jay, can't you lay off of playing Crime Lord for one day? Especially Christmas, for god's sake!" Dick scolded, now looking slightly upset. A twinge of guilt sparked in Jason's chest and he sighed as he got to his feet, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend/.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I really am. But it's not like I wanted to! I promise, tomorrow on Christmas day, I'm all yours. Yours and Kaden's. Deal?" Jason asked, giving Dick his best 'puppy eyes' expression. Dick sighed, unable to resist those damn eyes and smiled, pecking Jason's lips.
"Fine. No Red Hood tomorrow then. If you do, I swear to GOD,-"
"I got it, I got it," Jason said with a laugh, raising his hands defensively.
"Dada! Come play!" Kaden called, holding out a little toy car to his father. Jason smiled and sat down beside his son, accepting the toy car. Dick smiled as he watched them, Jason making little car sounds and Kaden giggling happily.
Christmas day came and it was early in the morning when Dick and Jason got out of bed. They had breakfast, coffee, got themselves and Kaden dressed and headed to the manor. Bruce was hosting a sort of reunion Christmas, inviting the founders of the League (along with a few other friends, of course) to the manor to celebrate Christmas, them and all their families.
When the trio arrived at the manor, they found a few cars parked there already, some of the guests having already shown up. Dick and Jason hopped out of the car and gathered Kaden and the gifts for their friends and headed inside.
"Master Dick, Master Jason, welcome. And you too, Kaden," Alfred said with a small smile as the little boy giggled, walking between both Dick and Jason, his hands held in theirs.
The Kents were all there, including Clark and Connor, Zatanna, J'onn and M'gaan, Hal, Ollie, Dinah, Roy and Lian, Wally, Tim, and even Diana.
"Hey guys, start without us?" Jason called with a grin, waving to their friends. The whole lot of them turned and greeted them warmly. Wally raced up to them and hugged the both of them.
"Hey guys, long time no see!" Wally said cheerily. Dick chuckled in amusement; classic Wally, the hugger, the cuddler, always and forever.
"Likewise. How're things in Central?" Dick asked casually. The red head laughed, rubbing the back of his head.
"Oh you know, the usual; clowns stirring up trouble, and my awesome self putting them away." Jason snorted.
"I see you're still as conceited as ever," Jason commented. Wally grinned and wrapped an arm around Jason's shoulders.
"I see you're still the biggest ass in the room, too!" Wally replied. Jason chuckled at him and shoved his friend away playfully.
"Yup," Jason replied, almost pridefully. Wally knelt down in front of Kaden and poked the boy's tummy, earning a shrill laughter.
"And whose this little guy?" Wally asked.
"Kaden. Kaden Todd," Dick supplied. Wally looked up at the both of them, dumb-struck; everyone else seemed equally surprised.
"It's a long story, don't ask," Jason added. Wally simply grinned at the two of them and together they joined the others. They were in one of the larger living rooms of the manor, a large Christmas tree set in one of the corners, Christmas gifts taking up the entire corner of the room with. On the opposite side of the room, a refreshment table had been set up and most of the group was simply making small talk.
"Clark, Connor, glad you guys could make it!" Dick called cheerily, hugging the man who was like an uncle to him. Clark smiled at the three of them hugging each of them like his own nephews.
"Dick, Jason, it's good to see you both," Clark replied, grinning from ear to ear. Connor managed a smile himself, glad to see his old friends. He hadn't really aged a day in, god, what was it now? Ten years? M'gann floated over to them with one of her trademark, cheery smiles.
"Dick, Jason, it's so nice to see you guys again!" she hugged the both of them and Kaden too; the boy didn't seem even the least bit perturbed by her green skin as she knelt down in front of him. If anything, he seemed fascinated.
A glass rang out through the room and everyone turned their attention to it to find Bruce lightly rapping a glass with a fork.
"Alright now that everyone is here, what say we get to opening Christmas gifts, hm?" Bruce said with a smile on his face. So everyone gathered around the tree (or as best as they could with so many guests) and the gift opening began.
Clark and Connor's gifts were naturally all wrapped in led boxes so he couldn't peek, and Wally was excited every time someone opened one of his gifts. The babies, Lian and little Kaden were showered with gifts, so much so that neither of their fathers had any clue how they were going to get it all home.
Of course, that wasn't too much of a problem, because both Lian and Kaden seemed content to play with the boxes and shredded wrapping paper, much to everyone's amusement.
The gift giving lasted for a good couple of hours, on account of how many people had come to the party. They thought they were all done, but Dick had one last gift.
"Wait, I've got one more here, for Jaybird," Dick announced, a rather mischievous grin on his face. Jason groaned and clapped a hand over his face.
"Every time you wear that look, something bad usually happens," Jason said flatly, earning a laugh from everyone in the room. Dick snorted and waved his hand dismissively.
"Not every time," Dick said defensively. Jason just shot him a look and held up his hand, as if to recount every time something bad had happened when he worse that look and Dick just swatted his hand back down.
"Okay, okay, so maybe I'm a little bit of a prankster," Dick confessed. Wally laughed out loud and Dick glared at him, though it lacked actual anger.
"Dude, have you already forgotten all the shit we used to get up to when we were teenagers?" Wally pointed out. Dick just stuck his tonuge out at him, a gesture which Wally returned.
"Okay children, settle down," Clark cut in, earning another round of laughs. Dick left the room, just around the corner and brought in a rather large, colorfully wrapped box and set it down in front of Jason.
"Thought I'd save the best for last," Dick said smoothly, settling down on the floor in front of him. That earned a few 'aw's' from the guests. Jason quirked an eyebrow at him, but began opening it nonetheless. Inside was another, smaller box, also wrapped.
"Really, Dickie?" Jason asked, quirking an eyebrow and holding up the box. Dick just winked at him, cue the laughter. He opened the second box and inside was a third, smaller box. Jason huffed in annoyance.
"You're a pain in the-"
"Just open it!" Dick demanded with a laugh. Jason opened the box and inside was another small box, this time small enough to fit into the palm of his hand.
"Jesus, another one," Jason mumbled, shooting Dick a glare. Dick just winked at him and Jason rolled his eyes. Heaving a sigh, Jason began unwrapping what he hoped was the final box. It turned out to be a little black ring box, which he thought nothing of at first, and then he popped it open to find a simple gold ring inside. It wasn't until he saw Dick kneeling on the floor in front of him that his jaw dropped and his eyes grew to the size of salad bowls.
"Jason, will you marry me?" Dick asked with the sweetest smile on his face. Jason's mouth opened and closed several times, glancing back between the ring, Dick, and the guests. The whole room had grown eerily silent, waiting for Jason's answer. He was completely stunned; he knew Dick loved him, but this? Shit.
He was violent, abrasive, foul-mouthed, with a short fuse and a bad temper and seriously fucked in the head (tends to happen when you're tortured by a sociopathic clown for four months straight), and sometimes it seemed like Dick could barely stand him, so in his mind it was completely inconceivable that anyone would want to marry him, of all people.
And fuck, Dick was attractive as hell and back in the day, when he and Wally were dating, he could have sworn those two would have ended up together instead of he and Dick. Dick had options, plenty of options. In fact it was his secret fear that he would find someone better. But he swore to himself if that day ever came, he'd let him go.
But marriage? He was pretty sure his brain was broken right now.
"Jaybird?" Dick asked nervously, gently rubbing his knee. Jason looked down at him, a hug smile spreading across his face. Everyone seemed excited now, but Jason couldn't form any words and-oh fuck, was he about to cry? Don't cry, don't cry, for the love of god, don't-oh shit, I'm gonna cry, aren't I? God dammit...
And Jason began to cry, the tears just rolling down his face, because this was the the one thing he only ever dreamt of. Deep in his heart, buried beneath all the pain and rage he'd built up around himself over the years, in the most vulnerable places in his mind and soul, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with someone he loved, who loved him in return. He always thought he was unworthy of it, given who he was.
And Dick, that lovable asshole, found his weak spot, his soft spot, his one, glaringly huge vulnerability, beneath all the rage-filled armor he'd built around himself over countless years. And that smug jackass made him cry in front of everyone.
He slid off the couch and clung to Dick, face buried in his chest, crying, hands wringing into his shirt as he just cried. Dick, who looked somewhat shocked by the sudden breakdown, wrapped his arms around him and held him close, rubbing his back soothingly. He heard Jason mumble something but couldn't make out what he'd said.
"What'd you say?" he asked softly. Jason heaved a shaky sigh and dried his eyes, looking up into Dick's eyes.
"I said yes," he murmured. Dick smiled the sweetest, largest smile Jason had ever seen and the two of them shared the most passionate kiss either of them had felt since they'd been together, and everyone cheered for the two of them. Jason dried his eyes again and playfully shoved Dick away from him.
"God dammit Dick, you made me cry in front of everyone. Way to blow my rep. I'm gonna have to kick your ass for this later, you prick," he joked, drying his eyes once more. Everyone laughed as Dick moved back in to wrap his arms around his now fiancé and slid the gold band onto his ring finger.
"I love you too, Jaybird."
Author's Note: Ho hum, finally all caught up with the series now! Woot! So yes, this is a prompt story, because I've decided I very much like writing in this little universe of mine I've created, so I'm open to prompts, to add to the series. 3 Full prompt description can be found Ao3 in the comments in "Staying With You" Chapter 9! Enjoy! More to come soon! Hopefully! :D