Jason Todd was having a bad day. No correction, he was having a very bad day!
The previous night had been incredibly fun, Roy and Kori had dragged him out drinking with them and they had hit at least four of the most "happening" joints in Gotham and even went to a couple of bars in Bludhaven and the two men had been incredibly interested on seeing a Drunk Tamaranian.
That morning had been the first sign of impending doom However. Jason's hangover would have had superman blowing chunks, let alone a nornormal mortal but he powered through it and even managed to drag himself the full thirty meters from his flat to the convenience store for some hangover cure.
he slept most of that morning after that and a large chunk of the afternoon too and by the time he woke back up again it was already getting dark "crap, I missed the game" he groaned as he lifted himself off the mattress... hang on Mattress? he took a look around and gasped, apart from said item he had been sleeping on and the clothes on his back, Jason's apartment had been stripped clean. He, Jason Todd the Red Hood had been robbed! "are you fucking kidding me?" he bellowed, causing the person below him to bang a broom stick on the ceiling. just to be spiteful Jason stamped his feet a few times and the broom stopped.
Thankfully Jason's phone was still in his pocket so he dialled the police station and waited with ever growing frustration as it tried to connect the call "GCPD what's your emergency?" an extremely familiar voice asked.
"Gordon? why are you answering calls? your the Commissioner for fucks sake" the man in question coughed lightly as if trying to remind the younger man to watch his manners "my assistant is I'll today so I've had no other choice" Jason nodded and hmmed in understanding and then got to the matter at hand "listen I'm calling to report a crime" he paused and scowled as he heard Jim's snort of laughter "hey I'm serious, someone's come and stolen all my stuff, including my suit" the deathly silence was enough to tell Jason that Gordon understood perfectly what that meant "I'll uh, I'll get someone on that right away" he stammered and Jason couldn't help snapping his reply "well you better" he hung up before a reply could come.
It was just under half an hour before a knocking at his door broke him out of his furious pacing. He stomped over and ripped the door open "its about Damn ti... Dick!" Nightwing gave him a crooked grin and responded happily "you called?" groaning Jason stepped aside to let his "brother" in
"woah, someone's sure as hell did a number on you Jay"
"I know, hence the call to Gordon"
"speaking of, he told Bruce... who obviously didn't know I was listening that you we're pretty rude to him" Dick's expression was stern yet the smirk was still in place, Damn that pissed Jason off.
"You would forget your manners too in this situation" he retorted hotly
"Well in any case, Bruce said to bring you in"
"What? oh hell no" Jason would regret this later but he threw the first punch.
If Jason was ever going to tell someone about the fight that ensued, it would have been filled with epic martial arts moves and daring flips through the air. The reality? Dick dodged the punch like it had been thrown by a four year old. Jason soon ended up lying face down on the carpet and his hands cuffed behind his back "Damn hangover" he grumbled as Dick laughed
"maybe I'm just that much better than you" Jason refused to answer that but made sure to be as difficult as possible as Dick attempted to get him stuffed into the batmobile.
If none of that had been enough to count this as the worst first of January ever, then Jason sure as hell thought it was as they pulled into the batcave. Damien stostood by the stairs, his permanent scowl seeming to get deeper as he saw Jason in cuffs "we told you Grayson, Todd never comes quietly"
"Thats what I tell all the ladies" Jason said, smirking as the twelve year old Robin went red
"shut up Todd" he stormed his way up the stairs then stopped to look back at Dick "don't forget, you promised to take me and Cain for ice cream if you lost"
"I know baby brother" Dick replied softly causing Damien to go red again
"I'm not a baby, now hurry up, Fathers waiting"
Dick laughed in response and guided Jason to and up the stairs whilst Damien briskly walked away.
Jason pondered on how this had been the first time in a long while since he had actually been in Wayne manor. It had been five years since he had been revived in Talia's pit and even after that barely six months since he had begun to fix the broken ties between him and Bruce or any of the others for that matter.
They marched through several corridors that brought back many memories for Jason. The time he broke a antique jar from Africa and tried to glue it back together until Alfred had come and covered for him, Alfred's baked treats or the snow day when he and Bruce had spent the best part of four hours on a snowball fight that ended in hilarity when one almost knocked Dick off his motorcycle.
"Hey, Jason. you even listening?" Jason turned to look at Dick
"What? sorry I must have zoned out" Dick sighed
"I said it must be strange coming back here after all these years" Jason merely nodded "Alright, were here" Dick said almost solemnly.
The door opened and Jason had to blink and mentally pinch himself to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. They were all there and all in civilian clothes, apart from Dick but that wasn't what had Jason confused. Everyone smiled as they turned to look at him, even Damien had a none scowl on his face so as far as the kid was concerned it was practically beaming.
"what's going on?" he asked as Dick uncuffed him and then with a light slap on the back, pushed him further into the room.
"Deepest Apologies friend Jason, Dick gave us a mission of "destract Jason with Alcohol" and Roy could not refuse" Kori said with a sheepish smile. The poor girl looked like she felt as bad as he did so Jason decided not to shout
"do you mean that you know what happened to my stuff?" his tone was quiet and dangerous, causing Roy's grin to falter.
"we took your stuff" Tim replied from his place on the sofa. he was sandwiched between Cassandra and Kori whilst Roy was perched on the arm, Damien and Bruce both sat in armchairs whilst Dick stood behind him. Alfred was nowhere to be seen and somewhere in the back of his mind Jason realised how odd that was, the stoic British butler was normally always around when the family gathered in force.
"you did?" Jason asked pointing his finger and glaring at Tim "what reason would you possibly have for stealing my stuff" Jason could feel the anger building but he clamped down on it. Bruce was the one who answered
"Jason, follow me" the man stood up and Jason had to fight not to roll his eyes, partly because Bruce sounded just as demanding as ever and second because the others all watched expectantly.
With great reluctance Jason followed, painfully aware of the others following a few meters behind them and chatting amongst themselves, Damian and Cass both seemed to be trying to convince Dick to try their personal favourites when he took them to the ice cream parlour the next weekend. Tim on the other hand seemed to be in deep conversation with Roy about upgrading his bow and adding new types of Arrows to his Arsenal.
"through here" Bruce said, snapping Jason out of his moment of eavesdropping.
Jason frowned but stepped through the door. this was the corridor with all the bedrooms, why would Bruce bring him here?
On the left side and six doors down a door opened and Alfred stepped out with a tired but satisfied smile on his face "Everything is ready Master Bruce, Master Jason" he said in a calm manor. Jason strode over briskly, left hand and six doors down had been his room.
What Jason saw made him stop dead, Alfred had as he always did, worked wonders. His belongings had been carefully and tastefully arranged to look like a modern loft apartment.
"What?" Jason said, his voice sounded raw and he felt Bruce place a hand on his shoulder.
"I thought that with this being a new year, we could have a fresh start" the others gathered around them with the exception of Roy and Kori "Welcome home Son" Bruce pulled him into a tight hug then and it was all Jason could do to not cry.
"yes group hug" Dick called as his arms found their way around both Jason and Bruce and then soon after three more pairs of arms followed suit.
"Cain, why are you making me do this?"
"No talking, just hug" Cass replied to Damian as Tim chuckled
"alright, alright let me breathe" he finally said and they all gave him room.
"welcome home Master Jason Alfred said warmly, the man placed a small set of keys for around the manor into Jason's hand, his eyes were glistening.
"I'm back Alfred, happy New year"