A/N Well, it's been about a month, I think, since I published anything, so I'm hoping to get started up again. This has been on my computer for months actually (it was my first attempt at writing the characters- a sort of practice run I suppose) and I finally decided to publish.

This is basically a dumping ground for all the crazy one-shots that come into my head. I've seen other people do it and I've wanted to do a series of roughly connected one-shots for a while now, so here it is. Or at least the first chapter. I've written up to chapter five (chapter five is still in the process of being written) so far, but I won't be posting them all right away. If my schedule (and my access to the computer) allows, I'll have the next one up sometime next week.

There's going to be a lot of focus on Jason in this collection-mostly because he's my favorite character and, well, yeah, he's my favorite character, but also because I've decided that younger Jason needs a lot more attention then he's been getting. That doesn't mean I'll be neglecting the other characters though. Or... at least I hope I won't be, but I do mean it when I say that most of the focus will be on Jason. And, because I love the idea of the Bat family having a dog, Ace will be making appearances as well.

As for how old the characters are... I'm just going to say that Dick is around fifteen and Jason is somewhere around eleven/twelve. Something like that.

This is also the story where I essentially write my own version of canon, as there are certain things that I've changed exclusively for this collection. Most everything else I write will follow canon much more closely.

And, before I forget, a special shout-out to Purplehood and Merritt who've read everything I've got so far and who have given tremendously helpful advice.

Disclaimer Nope, I don't own DC or any of its characters.

Chapter One: Ghost Stories

XxX

Jason had to admit-the blanket fort did look pretty good. Sure, it sagged a little on one side, but at least it stayed up. That was the important thing.

That didn't have to mean that he had to be happy with Dick for dragging him into this whole thing to begin with.

Jason tried to burrow deeper into the mound of pillows and blankets he had brought in from his own room. He could hear Dick moving around across from him and, then, there was a click and the fort was suddenly flooded with light.

"Dick!" He sat up and glared balefully at his older brother who had switched on the powerful flashlight and was shining it experimentally around the fort. There was no way he would be able to go to sleep with that thing turned on. Plus, the beam was casting weird shadows around them and Jason didn't want to admit that that might be just a little bit creepy. "Turn it off!" he hissed.

Instead of complying, Dick grinned so wide it nearly split his face in two and held the light underneath his chin. Now the lower half of his face was completely illuminated, while the upper half was completely encased in darkness.

Okay, now that was creepy. "Turn. It. Off," Jason growled between clenched teeth as he made a move for the flashlight. He managed to get his hands around it, ignoring Dick's surprised "Hey!" as he fought to get Jason's hands off, and struggled to hit the switch that would turn the light out. Before he could, Dick had pried his hands off of it and moved out of his reach so quickly that Jason was left blinking in surprise.

Dick and his stupid acrobat skills. He would never get the stupid flashlight from him now. He was surprised, too, to see Dick hadn't knocked the fort down with his little leap. Come to think of it, it was a miracle it was still standing, considering that the two of them had just been wrestling for the light.

Jason settled for sitting back down on his makeshift bed and continuing to glare at Dick. Oh, if looks could only kill…

"What are you doing?" Jason finally asked, reluctantly. Dick looked way too happy about… something. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't suspicious.

"Come on, Jay. Haven't you ever told ghost stories?"

"Ghost stories?" Jason was incredulous. Of course Dick would have some harebrained scheme like this up his sleeve. "You want to tell ghost stories?"

"Yeah!" If possible, Dick's smile got wider, before he shrugged and continued. "Well, not exactly ghost stories, but scary stories. My cousin used to tell me them all the time when I was with the circus. Didn't you ever tell ghost stories?" he asked again.

"No," Jason answered, a little shortly and Dick immediately looked crestfallen.

"Oh. Oh yeah. Um," he brightened. "Well, now's as good a time as any to start. I'll go first."

Jason drew his knees up a little closer to his chest and reached forward so he was grasping his toes. "Do we have to?" he whined.

Dick looked surprised and maybe a little… hurt? But no, that was impossible. Who would feel hurt because he didn't want to hear scary stories, ghost or not? "You're always supposed to tell a scary story when you camp out! It's the rule!"

"But we're not camping out!" Jason protested.

"We're not sleeping in our beds, though," Dick pointed out.

"So?"

"So… that's close enough," Dick said with finality. "Now do you want me to go first or do you want to?"

"You go first," Jason grumbled. He sure wasn't going to be telling a stupid ghost story. "I still say it's a stupid rule," he muttered under his breath. If Dick had heard him, he didn't show it.

"It all started," he began, turning the flashlight back on his face to heighten the creepy effect, "in a little town somewhere in the middle of the United States. It was a normal town… except for one little detail. The townsfolk kept seeing a strange, hairy man wandering the woods."

Jason resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This was all so cliché… he didn't see how anyone could find it scary. A strange hairy man? Really, Dick? Couldn't do better than that? At least it wasn't a clown.

"Those who saw it described it as being about eight feet tall and covered in shaggy, dark brown hair. Even its face was completely covered by hair. They weren't even sure it had a face. No one knew what it was, but they had a special name for it: Momo."

Now Jason really did roll his eyes. "Momo, Dick. Really?"

"Shhhh!" Dick hushed him, looking annoyed that his story was being disrupted. "Don't interrupt."

"But, Dick, Momo! Even Bigfoot sounds better than that!"

"It's just what they called it. I wasn't the one naming it. Now hush up."

Jason fell silent, still scowling, and Dick resumed speaking. "The first real incident happened when a woman and her daughter decided to have a picnic at the side of the road together, so they pulled over at what seemed like a nice spot."

Jason snorted, certain he knew how this was going to end. "Their mistake."

Dick ignored him. "Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was a nice little grassy area with the woods not too far away. They had just settled down when they both heard a horrible gurgling noise." He paused dramatically. "There, standing right at the edge of the woods, was the Momo! Terrified, the two women dropped everything and ran to their car, locking themselves inside. They had forgotten the keys when they ran, so they were stuck there until they finally scared it off by honking the horn."

Jason felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to stand on end and he unconsciously hugged his knees closer to his body.

"That wasn't the only time though. Next, it was a teenaged girl who was brushing her teeth when she heard her two younger brothers scream out by the old rabbit hutches."

Jason leaned forward, eyes wide. "What happened?" he whispered. Dick looked a little too pleased that his audience was finally listening, but Jason couldn't care less.

"Her two brothers were standing out by the old rabbit cages," Dick answered, lowering the flashlight for a moment, "but they weren't alone. The Momo was standing no more than four feet away."

There was a rustling noise from outside as a breeze moved through one of the large trees directly outside the manor. Jason shivered and tried to convince himself that it was because of the cold. After all, Dick did always sleep with his window open and it was a little chilly.

"The next time…"

"Shhhh!" Jason hissed quickly, holding a finger to his lips.

"Stop interrupting!" Dick looked peeved with him again.

"Did you hear that?" Jason asked, looking quickly at Dick before taking a nervous glance at the opening they had left in the blanket fort.

Dick moved the flashlight away from his face, shining the beam at the makeshift "door." "Don't tell me your scared already, Jay," he said, forcing a teasing smile. "I haven't even finished."

"Shut up!" Jason hissed, trying his best to sound irritated and not at all nervous, while shoving Dick away when he leaned against him. "I heard something!"

"You… sure you didn't just imagine it?" Dick asked slowly, crawling forward so he could peer through the opening. Then he froze. "Crap! I hear it too!"

"I told you!" Jason whispered, inadvertently inching a tiny bit closer to Dick. "Something's coming up the stairs."

The door may have been partway shut, but they could still hear the soft footfalls as they landed on each stair. Dick switched off the light and crawled closer to the gap in the blankets, listening. "Did you have to turn that off? Now we can't see!" Jason whispered, gesturing towards the flashlight Dick still held in his hand.

Dick quickly shushed him. "I'm trying to listen."

"It can't be Bruce, right? Bruce wouldn't be back from patrol yet." It was only eleven o'clock. Patrol didn't usually end for another few hours. And Alfred's still in the Batcave at this time." Jason didn't realize he was babbling until Dick shot him another look. He shut up and instead glared at him.

Click-clack. Click-clack.

The footsteps were no longer on the staircase, but now seemed to be slowly making their way down to the hall. Not only that, but they weren't alone. The clacking of nails on hardwood said as much.

Dick tensed, feeling Jason pressed up next to him. The noise stopped directly outside their door. Beside him, the sound of Jason's breathing suddenly got more rapid. The door didn't creak on its hinges as it was pushed open (because there were never creaky door hinges with Alfred and his OCD-like maintenance around. Something told Jason Alfred would be indignant at the mere idea.), but the door had been pushed open, no doubt about it.

Dick had learned enough about paying attention to his surroundings when he couldn't see to know when his door was being pushed open. That's what happened when you had the Batman for a father.

There was silence for a moment, before something slowly padded its way onto the carpeted floor of his bedroom. Jason gave Dick a wide-eyed stare before whispering, "We can take 'em. Two against one!"

Dick almost had to laugh at Jason's attempt at sounding brave, but when he did, it sounded like more of a wheezing gasp. He did manage a half-grin at Jason's questioning and somewhat panicked look. Then, Jason stiffened as that something shuffled its way across the floor, making a few detours around the room and stopping here and there, before coming to a full stop outside their blanket fort.

Jason's back was up against the wall of the fort and he sat shoulder to shoulder with Dick, who still not turned the flashlight back on. Jason was tentatively reaching for it-things were always so much better with a light- when he felt something pressing into the small of his back, something that was snuffling and very much alive.

Jason couldn't help the yell that exploded from his throat as he leaped clumsily away from it. As he did so, he felt his foot catch on the part of the blankets, which had piled together on the floor, and he went sprawling, yanking the wall of the fort down on top of him and Dick.

Dick gave a surprised yelp and there was an excited howl from the animal in the room. "Ace!" Jason gasped, recognizing the bark as belonging to the dog.

"It's Ace!" Dick actually laughed, sounding more relieved then Jason had ever remembered hearing him before. Seriously, what had he thought was out there?

Jason clawed at the blankets covering his head, finally succeeding in yanking them down off his head at around the same time Dick did.

"Di… yuck!" he gasped as he felt a great, big slobbering tongue on his face. "Ace!" Shoving the dog away in an attempt to protect his face, he turned his attention towards Dick. Or at least part of his attention. Ace's presence in a room nearly always required that some attention be on him, lest you regret it.

Not that he was likely to forget it, with the dog still going for his face.

There was a flick of a switch outside the door and the light in the hall turned on, illuminating a human figure in the doorway.

"Might I inquire what the two of you are doing up this late? Master, Dick, I was under the impression that the reason you are not on patrol tonight is because you needed to get some rest before your test tomorrow."

The two of them turned their attention to the Wayne family butler, currently standing in the doorway and staring at them somewhat severely. It was hard to tell, though, since the light behind him made it difficult to read his expression.

Dick, at least, managed to look somewhat sheepish. "Sorry, Alfred, we were just… telling some, uh, stories."

Alfred gave an almost unperceived little sniff. "And giving each other nightmares I presume."

"Ace!" Jason hissed again, trying desperately to keep the dog at arms length. Ace whined happily, straining to reach his face. Dick glanced at Jason out of the corner of his eyes and gave a small smile.

"Something like that," Dick said, shrugging.

"Well, then, I'm certain Master Bruce will enjoy hearing the excuse for why you're both climbing into bed with him in the middle of the night." Despite his stern demeanor, the butler's amusement was evident on what they could see of his face.

"Alfred!" Dick protested, cheeks reddening slightly. "I'm not ten anymore!"

"Well, then, I believe the two of you can be trusted to get some rest without anymore disturbance?" Alfred queried, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, um…" Dick glanced at Jason. "Yeah, we'll be good."

"Then, Master Jason, if you would…" Alfred stepped to the side, as if waiting for Jason to get up and follow him to his room.
"Wait!" Jason said quickly, interrupting him. Alfred, good old Alfred, didn't appear startled at all by the interruption and, instead, waited patiently at the door, looking at him expectantly. Jason looked down, suddenly mumbling. "You think maybe I could spend the night in here with Dick? Just for tonight?" He shrugged, a little too nonchalantly. "My stuff's already all in here anyway so I might as well stay." Dick looked at him, surprised. Jason, with his arms now wrapped around Ace, who was panting contentedly, sounded… hopeful.

Alfred picked up on it too if the soft look he gave the both of them was anything to go by, but there was also a little bit of… suspicion. It was one thing to see that with Bruce, but with Alfred it was something unusual. "I don't see the harm in it… as long as you both get your rest and so long as there is no more of this story telling' nonsense." Alfred didn't say anything more about the storytelling, but of course he knew they had both scared themselves silly. It was, in fact, kind of obvious given their reactions to Ace's arrival… and Dick doubted Alfred approved.

The butler looked to both of them for their answers and Jason nodded his head quickly. Dick did so more slowly, scrutinizing Jason carefully, but he seemed innocent enough. No ulterior motives there… that he could tell. Although, come to think of it, what ulterior motives would he really have?

When Alfred had left, bringing a reluctant Ace with him, and they had reasonably settled down on the floor, Dick wondered if he should question Jason's sudden eagerness to follow through with the camp-out. He pulled the blankets tighter around himself and considered the idea.

"You know, you suck at telling scary stories," Jason finally whispered before Dick could speak up.

Dick laughed quietly. "Gee… thanks." A thought occurred to him. "Hey, is that why you decided you wanted to spend the night in here?"

Jason reached over and gave Dick a light shove. "Shut up!" he muttered, but at least he smiled. It was a small smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Can't I spend time with my favorite big brother?"

He wasn't sure why, but something in Dick positively glowed at the words "big brother."

There was silence for a moment, before Jason spoke again. "Hey Dick?"

Dick shifted so that he was once more looking at his adoptive brother. "Yeah?"

Even in the almost complete darkness, Dick could see Jason furrow his brows. "That story? Was it, um, true?"

Dick thought about that for a moment. "Probably not. I heard it from my cousin when I was still in the circus. We happened to be passing through that particular town and I guess he heard it from one of the locals. He got a kick out of telling me the story. I'm pretty sure everyone there thought it was true, or they seemed to. I guess they were proud of it. Kinda like their own urban legend or something. "

"Oh." Jason was silent again as he most likely mulled over that new piece of information. "Urban legends aren't true, right?"

Dick paused. "Uh, no, I don't think so. Most of them aren't anyway."

Jason rolled over. "It was still a stupid story," he muttered, snuggling deeper into his bedding.

"But it didn't scare you?" Dick couldn't resist needling him a little. Just a little.

Jason turned his head so that he was giving Dick a death glare over his shoulder. "No!"

Dick shrugged and couldn't help but smile. "Sure, if you say so."

/

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Updated Author's Note: The story that Dick tells Jason is actually one that I read in a book my mom had. It was called "Mysterious America," I believe, and Momo scared me more than anything else had at that age. (I was probably six or seven when I read the book, lol.) It still kind of creeps me out, but I'm betting that book is what sparked my current interest in cryptids! ;D

Please review and let me know what you think!