The Boys in Blue

Story 1: The Parking Ticket Detail

Jason leaned against the door of the patrol car. Dick hadn't been kidding when he'd said that police work could be unbearably boring. Being the newest and youngest members of the force, they got stuck with the worst jobs. Jason dropped his cigarette and smothered it under his foot. A little evil grin graced the corners of his mouth. At least Dick was stuck giving out parking tickets with him.

Even though his brother had been on the Bludhaven police force a year longer than he had, Dick's partner and superior, Amy Rorscharch, still called him Rookie. Dick had tried and failed on multiple occasions to get her to drop the name, but apparently it just stuck. And Jason liked that. It made him laugh.

A moment later, Jason was stirred out of his brooding by Officer Grayson who walked around the patrol car with a lollypop. Typical Dick Grayson, thought Jason with a scowl. Most cops drank coffee, smoked, or ate doughnuts when they were bored. And while Dick did that sometimes, more often than not he wandered off and did something childish.

"Want one?" asked Dick offering Jason a lollypop.

Jason shrugged and took it. He wasn't sure if it would taste very good after the cigarette. "do you keep these in your pocket?" he asked.

"Yep. I keep them in case I run into kids. Or in case I just want a snack."

Jason rolled his eyes and unwrapped the candy. "Did you get stuck on a parking ticket detail on your first day?"

"Ah nope. On my first day, I had to talk a jumper off the bridge," said Dick.

Jason snorted.

"I mean I had to talk him off the edge of the bridge. You know, into staying on the bridge. The other way it put that…I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Lucky," Jason grumbled. He was seriously rethinking joining Dick in Bludaven.

They leaded against the patrol car without talking for a long moment. They were just bored out of their minds watching the traffic go by. Jason was fuming. He could out shoot anyone on the force, run faster than any one of the other officers (except maybe Dick, but he left that open for debate), and he could find any criminal faster than they could. So, what was he doing here handing out parking tickets? Life was so unfair.

He snuck a glace at his brother who was watching some children with darting blue eyes. The kids were playing a little too close to the busy street for comfort. Jason scowled at that. The only thing that made this tedious assignment bearable was the fact that Dick was being tortured with him; but Dick didn't look tortured. Bored yes. Tortured no. And that was, in Jason's words, fucking cruel.

Suddenly, a sleek black Mustang zipped along and parked abruptly in front of the restaurant across the street. The sudden fast motion startled both Dick and Jason and they straightened from their reclined posture of leaning against the car. They were effectively mesmerized by the vehicle. But as transfixed as their eyes were on the car, the driver who stepped out from behind the wheel made their jaws drop wide open.

"What the hell is Bruce doing in Bludahven?" Jason demanded angrily. He had just made a new life for himself in Bludhaven and he wasn't going to let Bruce screw it up for him.

"That restaurant he's at is part of a chain that runs out of Gotham. Batman suspects the chain of being a counterfeit operation front," Dick explained, "I suspect Batman is here and not Bruce Wayne."

"Well, he's in our city now," Jason grumbled. Yes, he was starting to get possessive over Bludhaven like Dick was. But he was living here now, so he should be forgiven.

"The BCPD have been watching this chain for a while, but can't stick anything to them," Dick informed him.

"I could make something stick," Jason muttered. Dick could too. But where were they? Oh right, giving out freaking parking tickets! The police department really sucked at handing out assignments. Maybe Nightwing and Red Hood could do some work on it later tonight. Deciding to change the subject, he turned to face Dick full on. "So, Batman hasn't asked for your help while he's here?"

"No," answered Dick. He looked sad. "We're not really working together any more. Or talking at all for that matter. He's still mad at me for deciding to bring you into BCPD with me instead of sending you back to prison or Arkham Asylum. He's been kind of a jerk to me recently."

Jason felt his blood boil. Bats was being an ass to Dick because he had dared to protect Jason instead of sending him back to Arkham with the Joker and that crowd? For the first time since Dick had taken him eight months ago, Jason thought about how the whole situation effected his older brother. Dick had fought tirelessly and pulled strings almost till they broke to get Jason into the police force and out of jail. He'd offered Jason protection in his city and the little alcove room in his apartment. And never asked for anything in return.

Even though he hadn't said it yet, Jason promised himself he'd thank Dick one day. So far, all he had really done was complain or threaten to leave when things didn't go his way. Thinking about it right now, Jason realized that he could be an insufferable house guest. No wonder Dick had left for a few days without speaking to him. Ah well. Brothers, what are they for but to help you when you need it and annoy you when you don't?

But that was enough reflection for one day. Even if he did plan to tell Dick thank you for everything you did and standing up to The Bat for me, today wasn't the day. He looked back at Bruce's car and then down at the pad of parking tickets in his hands. A slow evil grin again edged up the corners of his lips for the second time that day.

"Hey Officer Grayson, did you check out Bruce's parking job? It's real shitty if you ask me," said Jason.

Dick grinned at him mischievously as he caught on. "I do believe you're right Officer Todd."

Without another word, they crossed the street towards Bruce's car. It was parked along the curb at a slight angle and a little too close to the fire hydrant (Dick got out a measuring tape just to be technical). Bruce should have used the parking lot behind the restaurant. The boys looked at each other and back down at the Police Department's Bludhaven Parking Manual.

"Looks like we can zing him if we want to," Dick observed, "which shall we do? Write him a ticket and have the car towed or write him a ticket and put a boot on it?"

Jason rubbed his chin in thought. The opportunity was just too good. "He'll be back before we can have it towed, so I say boot it."

"Sounds good to me." Dick wrote out the ticket, disguising his handwriting, and stuck the ticket under the windshield wiper. Jason went back to the patrol car and retrieved the boot. He and Dick stuck it on the tire by the driver's seat so Bruce couldn't miss it. Then they raced back to the patrol car and fled the scene. The whole thing just said welcome to Bludhaven from Red Hood and Nightwing. Well, if it had just been Jason, he would have stolen the tires and not just simply put a boot on them.

Bruce came out of the restaurant a few minutes later to find a parking ticket for $140 and a boot on his tire. "What the heck?" he demanded of no one in particular. His voice was full of aggravation and befuddlement. He crumpled the ticket in his fist and stomped off to find the nearest police officer and make them see reason. Whoever he found would learn the hard way that giving Bruce Wayne, and by extension Batman, a parking ticket was stupid and bad for one's health. Little did he know which two officers were parked around the corner.

Part 2 Coming Soon

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed. Don't know if putting Jason in a police department was the best idea, but I guess we'll find out.