Jason sighs as he strolls into the lab, grimacing at the smell and the dozen beakers littering the counter tops, filled with various things that look far from safe to be disposed of. He glares at the shattered glass in the far corner, kicked there no doubt by one of the others too lazy to get a dustpan, and grumbles to himself as he does that job for them. He turns back to the intact beakers, sifts through those he can determine the contents of and files them away accordingly, leaving out those he is not sure of for Bruce to identify later. Or at least, so he hopes…
He's frustrated, though not at all surprised when he discovers that Dick stripped himself of Nightwing halfway between the computers and the shower, and makes a mental note to bitch him out- again, as he picks up the pieces of suit and deposits them into the proper hamper. Unfortunately, doing so alerts him to the fact that Bruce has split one leg seam on his kevlar leggings, and he sighs as he tosses them over a shoulder and lugs them to the machine. He intends to repair them later if he gets a chance but nothing is for certain.
Alfred is upstairs dusting this morning while Jason does the heavy work cleaning up after the 'boys'. He doesn't mind, prefers it actually, as cleaning the upstairs that is really hardly touched is pretty repetitive and boring. At least down in the cave it's not the same task endlessly and he's able to socialize as he gets things done.
He never intended to take on this line of duty when Bruce took him in. Heck, he had offered him Robin even, and he had been happy to leap across rooftops at the man's side. But he had learned quickly that he didn't have the same level of self-control that Bruce or Dick had possessed. That much was for certain after Garzonas, and after some soul searching, and deciding that he didn't want to lose as good of a thing he had going with Bruce, he had stepped down.
Bruce had been oddly proud, even though he had lost another partner, and ended up patrolling alone for quite some time.
Because he had stopped tagging along with Bruce on patrol he had found himself spending more and more time with Alfred. He was a sweet man, very knowledgeable, and could be quite the great conversationalist. What had started out as helping the man with his duties just to pass the time as they chatted had quickly become routine. Before he had realized it, he had become as much as a neat freak as the old man, and his skills in the kitchen had rubbed off on him.
Alfred wouldn't be around forever. Bruce would more than outlive him if he learned to take better care of himself. Then there was Dick of course, and anyone else they might pick up along the way over the years, even if not intentionally.
When he had asked Alfred to teach him the 'official' ropes he had been flattered. Jason had starting immediately and had never looked back.
It had been a bit over a year later that Tim had joined them becoming the new Robin. Just showed up on their doorstep one day after his parents had been kidnapped and killed, sporting knowledge of their secrets, and begging for a place to stay instead of child services deciding what to do with him.
Needless to say, Bruce had latched onto that one, for various reasons.
He had to admit though, the kid was good, even if a bit young and rather unexperienced.
Jason wouldn't admit it out loud but he had been highly jealous of Tim at first. Even though he had given up Robin willingly it had irked him for a time that Tim had taken the position. Tim got to spend the most time with Bruce because of 'Batman and Robin' and he missed that. Tim got his own car- and granted, he was way less likely to be prone to road rage and bad decisions than Jason, but he liked things on wheels, and he was older.
Bruce had kept him hanging on the car until his eighteenth birthday, but boy did he make it up to him then, and man did he love that shiny black beast of a machine.
No one was allowed to touch it. He made sure of that.
He had definitely grown fond of Tim over time though, and really, who couldn't? He was smart, a total nerd, beyond friendly even if he was a bit shy at times, and dammit if he hadn't gotten more and more attractive over time.
Bruce clearly knew how to pick them, or at least, that's what Vicki Vale and three fourths of Gotham's population frequently went on about.
Cass and Steph had been a joy. Great girls, both with their odd quirks, but they had been no trouble and had been pleasant company.
After Steph's bout with Robin- and her unfortunate death, where he had grieved only to find out she was alive later and he'd scolded her as he smothered her with affection, his jealously over the Robin mantle had faded, as had any issue he had with Tim.
Besides… he had had worse things to worry about once Damian had arrived. Kid was a mess, a violent little punk, and his upbringing had him being beyond rude to both he and Alfred for quite some time.
And when Bruce had died- they had all lost it. It had taken a fist fight between him and Dick before Dick finally disobeyed Bruce's request and became Batman. Unfortunately that had also cost Tim his position as Robin, and when he had run off on his own claiming that Bruce was alive, and Dick and Damian left with Alfred to the penthouse suite, he had chased after Tim, ensuring that he at the very least wasn't alone, would be eating properly, and got the bare minimum amount of sleep.
He hadn't set out to make that arrangement awkward, but with Tim questioning his self-worth and teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown, he had tried to make him feel better. Then of course he had almost gotten himself killed, permanently trashed his immune system, and Jason had admittedly over reacted.
One loud conversation later about how stupidly foolish Tim had been, and how he was going to make sure the teen kept up with his shit and was taken care of, he had ended up with one Red Robin asleep in his arms.
That became a routine occurrence, long after they had gone home, and when Bruce had returned from his trip across time he had needed to cope with the fact that two of his sons were sharing a bed… and their lives.
Vale had had a field day with that one, but it was at least better than people still suspecting that Bruce was collecting children for 'himself', and Bruce was at least content that neither he nor Tim would be jumping ship anytime in the future due to his duties as Alfred's second in command.
Still…
Back at the present, as much as he loved Tim, the clutter he left behind on the cave counters was agitating, and as he collected all of the writing utensils from various surfaces and threw all of his coffee cups in the dish washer, he muttered to himself about what he put up with for family and for love.
Though again, he supposed no one was nearly as bad as Damian, who left everything where he last used it, violently protested when it was disturbed from its resting place even if it didn't belong, and left things in the most random obscure places that it was ridiculous.
One day it was dinner plates on top of the T-Rex. The next it was post-it notes on the giant penny. Batarangs lodged in the cave walls seventy-five feet up. The possibilities were endless, and he didn't much like having to spelunk to remove foreign objects from rock wall.
Jason sighed as he lingered in the kitchen, prepping a fresh pot of coffee, and watched as Bruce read the newspaper as he ate the breakfast Alfred had prepared him.
When all was said and done he walked up the long flight of stairs, rounded the corner, and gently turned the knob on the bedroom door, careful to not wake the room's occupant as he did so.
Tim lay curled in a ball, arm outstretched over the vacant side of the bed where Jason had slept until two hours ago, snoring softly.
Jason smiled and sat on the edge of the bed, pulling the blankets away from Tim's face, before he gently shook his shoulder.
Tim flickered to life before him, blinking away the sleep as he reached out for the man, and Jason chuckled as the teen smiled and let out a yawn thereafter.
"Morning sunshine," he grinned as Tim let out a snort and shucked the blankets from his legs. "It's seventy-eight degrees out, a bit muggy, and you unfortunately have a tech meeting in three hours."
As Tim groaned and rolled out of bed he followed behind, wrapping an arm around his waist, steering him towards the door.
"Do I have to? Can't Tam cover for me?" he groaned, shuffling his feet as he rubbed at his eyes.
"She covered for you last week. As much as I hate it when you have to leave, because Bruce can be a total bore, you've got non-bat responsibilities like the rest of us. Deal with it." He laughed, gripping onto Tim's arm, ensuring he didn't just roll down the stairs… "You've already got coffee brewing. I know you need enough time to consume the whole pot before you have to go off and function in the real world."
And when they reached the bottom of the stairs, Tim turned and pressed himself against Jason's chest, reaching up on his toes to plant a lazy kiss on the man's lips with a sigh.
You are impossibly good to me." He smile softly, stepping away toward the kitchen door. "I wouldn't know what to do without you."
Jason smirked and followed after him.
"Ain't that the truth!"