"You know we could lose an eye at this." Jason comments even as he throws another dart "Not that I'm complaining or anything, I just wanted to point it out so when it happens, I can say 'I told you so'."
"Do you have a better idea of something to do?" Damian asked shooting him a dark look, twirling his own dart, waiting for his turn.
"No, dude, you're not getting it." Jason turned to lie on his side, leaning on his elbow to get a better look at Damian "I don't want to stop, I just want to rub it in when it goes wrong."
"It won't go wrong unless you miss." Damian says as he hits bull's-eye.
Jason snorted obnoxiously "Oh yeah, 'cause you can do no wrong."
Damian looked at Jason and nodded "Yes." and made his shot without turning his head back.
Jason glanced up and groaned, hiding his face on the crook of his arm "You're so fucking annoying."
"No, I'm just that good."
"Why the hell did you hang the dart board on the ceiling anyway?"
"It is good self-training. You need no one to say when you've done wrong, the dart stuck to your shoulder says that just fine."
Jason mulls that over, stretching on his back and pillowing his head on one hand "So when you miss-"
"Which I don't."
"Fine." Jason rolled his eyes "IF you were fucked up and somehow missed, you wouldn't move at all? Like trying to dodge the dart?"
Damian already regretted his answer before even saying it "I wouldn't."
So Jason picked up a dart, examined it with way more concentration than necessary, even puckering his lips and frowning, making a show of pretending to think through his horrible idea.
"Just do it already." Damian told him irritably, rubbing his eyes.
Jason smiles devilishly "The first to move is chicken."
"Chicken?"
"Right. I forgot you're socially retarded." Damian kicked Jason's shin for that, which Jason retaliated without a thought and kept talking even though Damian kicked him again "I dare you not to move."
He did a half-assed throw, not strong enough to even touch the dart board and both boys watched the fall in silence.
Jason grabbed Damian's wrist and started laughing with a hysterical edge. Suddenly, someone was at the door and as both boys turned their heads to look, the dart fell between them getting stuck to the floorboard.
Dick startled a bit at that, and blinked before taking a step back like he was going to close the door and leave, but stopped, apparently deciding to stay and taking a moment to look at the ceiling then back at the dart "I think you missed that."
"Thank you, Grayson" Damian said kindly which got Dick to narrow his eyes in suspicion and Jason to snicker into his arm "Did you come all the way up to my quarters only to assist in keeping the score?" he doesn't wait for an answer smiling demurely and batting his lashes "Oh, you shouldn't have…"
"Just for that, I should totally go tell Alfred what you're up to. He's gonna have your ass for poking holes in his floor."
"Sure, let's go tell him." Damian nodded still agreeable and beginning to stand and Dick sighed.
"You know something don't you?" Damian looked almost angelic with his false doe-eyed innocence and Dick runs both hands over his face "You little blackmailing son of a… Wayne. Come on, stop destroying your bedroom and let's watch a movie or something."
It was Damian's turn to narrow his eyes in suspicion "Why?"
"Why you should stop destroying your bedroom?"
"Why do you want to watch a movie with me."
Dick's expression and voice soften "I told you, I miss spending time with you."
Damian looks massively confused, but shakes off it quickly when he catches Jason's eyes on him "You're such a freak, Grayson." he mumbles awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck "Would it be okay if Jason came too?"
Dick's eyebrows shot up "I thought embarrassed you."
"You do."
"Oh well, sure, then!" Dick smiled sunnily and turned to leave "I'm waiting downstairs."
"He embarrasses you?" Jason asked as soon as Dick was out of sight.
"So do you, in case you were wondering."
Jason sits up slowly "I'm gonna meet your family."
"So it seems."
"Hey." Jason calls suddenly serious, making Damian frown at him "Does that mean we're going steady?"
Damian leaves his room followed by Jason's cackles.
Dick is sprawled on the couch, flipping idly through channels not really paying attention to anything when he spots Damian "Hey, D. Where's Jason?"
Jason stumbles into Damian's back but his loony smile dials down a bit when he sees Dick. Damian elbows him "He's here." Jason shifts under Dick's stare and Damian whispers to him over his shoulder "I dare you not to move."
"Sit down, then" Dick tells them after clearing his throat.
Jason was oddly quiet, doing his best not to draw Dick's attention to him. Damian kept throwing questioning looks but Jason merely nodded jerkily and stretched his lips in a smile that could just as easily be a grimace.
Damian finds himself sandwiched between his brother and his friend and begins to consider the possibility of ditching both of them and escaping back to his room. "What are we watching, Richard?" he asks instead.
The remote jumps in Dick's hand and he clears his throat again "Jason should choose, he's the guest."
The only thing Jason seems up to choosing is the nearest way out, but he manages a weak "Could we watch cartoons?"
Damian made a face at that "Are you seven?"
"Hey, cartoons are cool." Jason grumbles, crossing his arms.
"What? What did he say?" Dick stretched his neck, trying to gauge Damian's expression.
"He said he wants to watch cartoons. I blame this on you for letting the guest choose."
Dick wouldn't stop looking at them, as if he forgot completely about the TV "I like cartoons."
"Yes, you would be one to like that." Damian said it like that was the most stupid thing imaginable.
"You don't have to stay, you know?" Dick tells him a little snappy "I'd be fine watching Tom & Jerry all by myself."
Damian was beginning to feel conflicted, because as much as he did not care for cartoons, he didn't mean to offend Dick. Not noticing his friend's dilemma, Jason added "I'm a Woody Woodpecker man myself."
Damian glares at Jason, betrayal churning in his gut. How could they gang up on him? "What the hell is a Woody Woodpecker?"
"What?" Dick asks and also gets a look from Damian.
"Will you turn on your hearing aid, Grayson? Jason said he likes a woodpecker."
Dick's snort quickly turned into snickering "Woody Woodpecker, maybe?"
"Is that a real thing?" the confused outburst shouldn't be so cute, but it so was.
Dick threw a lazy arm around Damian's shoulder and pulled the kid's head to his chest in an arm-lock "Oh, Little D… I have so much useless stuff to teach you."
Damian freed himself and shoved his elbow forcefully against Dick's shoulder "You two are intolerable! Thank God Jason's so scared of you."
"Jason's scared of me?"
"I'm so not scared!"
"Master Richard?" Alfred called interrupting what would be Damian's annoyed answer "Someone on the phone for you, it's about the circus."
Dick jumped over the back of the couch, then came back, leaning his chin on Damian's head, draping his arms over the kid's shoulders "Don't you dare take your skinny ass of this couch, I'll be right back."
The boys watched Dick leave the room, and once he was out of sight, Jason asked "He's not coming back, is he?"
Damian smirked, Jason was finally getting the hang of things "There's absolutely no chance."
Dick was still thinking of a way to make up to Damian for leaving so abruptly in the afternoon when he got back to the manor.
He found Alfred in the kitchen, brewing some tea.
"Hey Alfie, did I have an imaginary friend as a kid?"
"I believe not, Master Richard, but it was quite hard to tell, since you were constantly talking."
"Oh, haha." Dick picked up a bowl and filled it with cereal "No, seriously, did you see it this afternoon? Better yet, did you not see Jason?"
"What do you mean?"
"Jason, Damian's friend? Is imaginary."
Alfred's expression froze in moderate shock. He was British after all. "Are you certain?"
"Yeah!" Dick keeps talking as he gets milk "Damian kept talking to an empty seat, and he has no idea that we can't see this Jason. Whenever I asked what they were talking about Damian got mad, like he couldn't believe I didn't hear everything."
Alfred looks so shaken, Dick almost regrets telling him. "I simply cannot believe this."
Dick nodded in agreement, pouring the milk over the cereal and grabbing a spoon "Should we say something? Maybe he'll just… grow out of it on his own, right?"
"I could swear I heard them." Alfred says almost to himself.
"You probably just heard Damian being really loud."
"Not just him, I heard two voices. I never paid them any attention, but I was so certain. I even thought I saw his head beside Master Damian today on the couch."
Dick had just stuffed his mouth with cereal, so he has time to think while he chews "Maybe you just think you saw that because it was what you expected, you know? You knew Jason would be there with us, so there should be three heads sitting there, watching TV."
"Perhaps…" Alfred agrees dubiously "Oh, that poor child. He will be devastated."
Alfred's words make Dick shift uncomfortably "But he'll get over it. Damian's the strongest kid I know."
"Master Damian is indeed very strong, but there's only so much a person can withstand, and this boy means a great deal to him. Jason, imaginary or not, is his only friend."
"Oh come on… Damian has us."
"I suppose you are right, master Richard." that's Alfred Speak for 'You're full of shit and you know it' and Dick feels like a douche for saying anything.
He should be there more, he'll find the time to make sure that Damian doesn't need an imaginary friend.
Dick wanted to put his Super-Awesome-Big-Brother plan into action during patrol, but Bruce paired up with Damian for the night.
It was a rare calm night in Gotham, only minor misdemeanors, and Dick was pretty optimistic about his plan of action, deciding to start when all of them met in the Batcave.
What he didn't count on was the humongous shouting match Damian and Bruce were having when he found them.
"HEY!" he shouted louder than both "What is going on here?"
"Apparently father has issues with the fact that I have acquaintances outside the 'family'." Damian spat the last word, making a show of air quoting it.
"You know that is not true" Bruce countered "You may have as many acquaintances as you like, but you should know not to tell them about Batman and Robin."
"I didn't! He didn't call me, he called Robin! Why aren't you listening to me?"
"Who? Who called Robin?" Dick asked, tugging the end of Damian's cape to stop his angry pacing.
"Jason!" Damian realized he just yelled in Dick's face and took a deep, calming breath "We ran across Jason during patrol, he alerted me to an armed criminal that neither father nor I had spotted, and thanks to him we're both okay now."
"Bu that's good!" Dick exclaimed looking for agreement from either of the other two "Isn't it?"
"As far as I know, yes it is!" Damian snapped, glaring at Bruce, who was impassive.
"It's not a good idea involving your civilian friends into our lives, Damian."
"How many times do I have to repeat myself? He doesn't know! It was a coincidence, we were probably close to where he lives."
"And where is that, Damian?"
Damian balked, his mouth still open "I don't know. We have never really talked about it."
Dick watched the whole exchange before picking up a very, very important detail "Wait, wait. Bruce, did you meet Jason? Did you see him?"
Bruce gave him a quizzical look and Damian rolled his eyes, throwing his whole body in the motion "Ah, yes. There's also the matter of Jason's power of invisibility." he shakes his head "This is unbelievable, Richard. You would be one to jest at a time like this."
"What are you two talking about?"
"Well, father, Richard believes Jason can turn invisible. I know you do not approve of metas, father, but I assure you Jason's harmless." the sarcasm dripping from Damian's words would be funny to Dick in any other situation, as it were, Bruce was beginning to look really pissed "In fact, Richard should hire him! It would be a marketing success for the circus, wouldn't it? Jason Todd, the invisible boy!"
"What?" Bruce's raging tone made even Damian cut himself short "What did you say?"
"Richard said-"
"No!" Bruce growled and Damian glanced in confusion at Dick, not sure what he said to elicit such reaction "The name. What was the name?"
"Jason Todd-" the name was barely out of Damian's mouth and Bruce hit him backhand across the face.
It is impossible to tell which of the three is more shocked. Bruce holds the offensive hand so hard that his knuckles turn white.
Damian scoffs contemptuously, as if he knew something like that would happen sooner or later. His cheek is colored an angry red and his eyes are blazing with fury, yet he says nothing, choosing to leave instead.
"Damian…" Bruce tries weakly, but Dick holds him back.
"What the fuck was that?!"
"I didn't think, I…" Bruce sighs and masks whatever he's feeling with a cold expression "He shouldn't joke about Jason, there are things that are simply off limits, he needs to understand that."
"He's not joking. Goddamn it, Bruce, what do you even know about him?" Dick runs a hand through his hair, trying to gather his thoughts "He doesn't know about Jason, our Jason. The one he's talking about is his imaginary friend. I don't know how he chose that name in particular, maybe he read it in Talia's files and doesn't remember anymore, but the point is… Damian's so lonely he made someone up. We gotta do something."
"Damian's hallucinating?"
"No…"
"Damian's hallucinating and you decided to keep that to yourself?"
"He has an imaginary friend, don't blow this out of proportion just 'cause you're pissed at him!"
"Do you have any idea how much danger you just put us in? We were patrolling and he was seeing someone that wasn't there! We could've been killed."
"From what I heard, it saved your ass tonight."
"This is inacceptable."
"I am so done with you right now." Dick waves a hand in front of Bruce's face as he walked away "When you realize how much of an asshole you've just been to your son, maybe I'll talk to you."
"Where are you going?"
Dick didn't answer and kept walking, only stopping in front of Damian's locked door.
"Can I come in?"
"Why? Are you here to finish my spanking?"
"I'd never hit you."
"No, you would just accuse my friends of being invisible."
"Can we talk? Please?" when Damian doesn't answer, Dick decides to take another route.
Damian barely bats an eye at Dick's entrance through his window. "You know there's a reason why I locked the door."
"Yeah, you wanna be alone. That's exactly why I came, so we can be alone together."
Damian is trying very hard to keep his whole expression dark, but there's hurt shining through his eyes, and Dick wonders if anyone else would be able to notice.
"Must we talk?" Damian asks with a frown, staring intently at his bedspread "I don't think I can handle any more talking."
"We don't have to talk if you don't want to." Dick leaned against the wall, crossing his arms "Do you want me to leave?"
"I thought you came so we could stay alone together."
Damian pulled his knees to his chest as Dick sat down close to the tips of his toes. Dick touches Damian's chin lightly, turning his face to see the damage from Bruce's blow, there's already a bruise forming and Dick clenches his teeth angrily, because it wasn't enough for Bruce to hit the kid, he actually put force into it. Damian doesn't bruise easily.
Dick let his hand fall when Damian's shoulder began to twitch in discomfort.
"Was the second Robin also named Jason Todd?" Damian asked, mouth pressed into his knees.
"Why do you think that?"
"You reacted to the name, not as strongly as father, of course, but you did. And then you asked me what I knew about the Robin, it wasn't hard to connect the dots."
Dick nodded and they fell silent once again. Damian curled his toes a couple of times and Dick thought that was odd. It was such a fidgety gesture, so unlike Damian, but then again, he rarely saw Damian's feet so maybe that's where the kid concentrated all his nervous energy.
"Grayson?"
"Yeah, D?"
"Could you tell me about him? The dead Robin?"
"You can call him by his name, you know?"
"I rather not, names have been getting me into trouble lately."
Damian is joking, Dick knows that, but as it seems to happen with his every attempt at humor, it's just too soon.
"Well, this isn't a sitting up story" Dick explains standing and pulling at Damian's ankles until he's flat on his back, it's such a sudden move the kid doesn't eve react "This is a lying down story."
"You really are a freak, aren't you?"
"Shush, you're ruining it." Dick laid across the bed, pulling Damian's legs to his lap and leaving his own feet on the ground "Once upon a time, Batman had a very dashing Robin. It was the first of his kind and everyone admired him."
"Don't confuse admiration with horror, you did wear hot pants."
"They were awesome and you're an ass."
"Weren't you cold?"
"What?"
"That thing was practically underwear, weren't you ever cold?"
"I thought you wanted to know about Jason, not discuss my fashion sense."
"Or lack thereof."
"That's it! You're going down!"
N/A.: I know Bruce's coming out like an asshole, but it's totally justifiable! If you guys want some insight on him to make it more believable, tell me in the reviews and I'll include it the next chapter, 'kay?
So remember when I said this was supposed to be a one-shot? Yeah... Now I can't stop coming up with ideas, so I blame all of you. I kinda have the end already, but there's some stuff to happen before. Shit's about to get real. Hope everyone enjoys it!