Authors' Note: Thank you all for reading and reviewing! Just wanted to let you know, we're going to try to finish an original story for NaNoWriMo. Luckily, we have enough of a lead on this story that we can continue to post. Expect us to slow down and post only once per week in November.
Also, one coauthor stepped on a freaking nail today at work and managed to puncture the sole of her foot to about a half-inch depth. She is still surprised and dismayed that it happened, and that such a tiny thing can hurt so dang much. But hey, at least her tetanus shot is up to date now…
…
Kala had come here to settle this once and for all on all scores. From where she stood, it looked like maybe she had, even if it hadn't been the way she'd intended.
Things started to go sideways once Jay pinned her. His confession about the outcome of his relationship with Troy had brought her down from nuclear to steaming, little as she liked to admit it. From there, it was all about the fight, one-upping each other, and with their blood up, the bantering was going places they knew better than to go. Hadn't stopped either of them, trading quips and blows in equal measure. Both knew she was more than capable of putting an end to this rematch if she wanted to.
But Kala found that somehow she just—didn't want to.
Not really. Not yet.
It had been years since she'd actually wrestled around with someone who couldn't use super-strength to hold her down with one finger. Her twin couldn't help it if, these days, he cheated just by playing. Her perception of Jay, and Dick's, had been wrong, and the knot she had felt in her chest had dissolved. It was only when Jay had turned the tables once she pinned him the second time that things got far too real.
The expected attack had been for him to push her away, Kala already primed for her counter-attack, when he reached out and caught her by the hips. No chance to process what he was doing before her body was pressed against his with sudden force, the surprise and reaction wrenching a gasp from her. Heat that had been on simmer suddenly flared supernova in her. Oh shit. What—
Her eyes flew up to his, scrambling to process. Any minute an attack would come and her brain was functioning on an entirely different level. Knowing him, knowing his style, she had only seconds to get her brain back in gear before the head-butt came … but it never did.
From the way he just stared at her, Kala knew that he'd noticed her reaction. He knew. Just that quickly, the tables had turned, her cards on full-view. Only then did she notice something else. The proximity of their bodies was making it pretty obvious that Jay wasn't entirely unfazed by this either. Kala couldn't resist a chuckle, her lips twitching in a small acknowledging smile.
So maybe he had caught her out, but she wasn't the only one. If she wasn't just an arrogant super-powered kid, apparently things were a little complex for him, too.
Without another word, Jay pulled her tighter against him, her hands going to his chest to keep some sense of balance, and Kala had to close her eyes against the sensation. In the space of seconds, her world had narrowed to this. Anything outside of this room, outside of them, forgotten in the haze. God, what they were doing was crazy, but she couldn't deny the yearning roaring through her. Kala didn't even recognize her own voice when she could finally speak, their faces so close his lips were literally a breath away. The ache to kiss him tore at her; they had gone this far with it, why hold back? Jay's response hadn't done anything to quell the urge, their noses brushing. She could feel herself shivering, too far gone to stop herself.
And then Barbara's digitized voice blared from the wall.
Startling at the sound of Oracle's intrusion, they both jumped, Kala's body arching against Jay's involuntarily. A rush of adrenaline, mostly from the cold blast of sudden call to action in the heat of the moment, sent lightning through her veins. Embers banked but still breathing hard, Kala found all she could do was blink up at him as he froze in place, their gazes meeting in sudden clarity. Despite herself, she couldn't remember being more disappointed in her life. Her blood was still singing in her veins; every inch of skin felt like it was on fire.
"Hood, Blur, respond!" Oracle repeated over the comm.
The hypnosis of the moment seemed to shatter. Reality washed back in, reminders of who they were and why they were here, fighting in the training area.
A low growl from Jay's throat, and he tore his gaze away from hers, turning to shout at the comm, "Not a good time, O. What do you need?"
O's voice responded immediately, "Could use an extra hand or two with a robbery turned hostage situation at the Gotham Grand. Six armed gunmen, twenty-three hostages. B and R are en route."
"You seriously need us for this?" Jay spat, probably more harshly than he intended, the sudden bark of it nearly making Kala jump. Yep, she wasn't the only one shaken up by this. "We're all the way across town. And shouldn't Gotham PD be on it, anyway?"
For a second Oracle seemed to hesitate, then the comm crackled, and she replied, "Give me a heads-up next time you plan on being off the roster for the night. O out."
To Kala, she sounded pissed, but after a moment of tense silence Jay started snickering. It was only then that she realized she'd been holding her breath from the moment Babs' voice had cued up. Kala couldn't help herself then, breaking into laughter at the sheer absurdity of it. What did they think they were doing, anyway?
As Jay started laughing, too, he let go of her, and Kala spun away to lean up against the wall beside him, one hand to her face. She knew that if Babs hadn't spoken, they probably would've kissed, and that was just … this whole thing was ridiculous. She was leaving too soon. And being attracted to each other did not mean they had any real feelings for each other besides respect. What kind of stupidity was this? The ludicrousness of the situation kept hitting her every time she almost got her chortling under control.
Kala managed to catch her breath, then glanced over at Jay, and when their eyes met both of them started laughing again. But even as she did it, she knew what she was doing. Whistling in the dark, was all it was. Spooked bone-deep and utterly thrown. She found herself wondering if they both knew it. "I don't even want to know what Babs thinks we were doing," Kala finally snickered, holding her sore sides.
"Who knows, with O. Good thing is, she won't say anything to anyone else, no matter what she suspects," Jay wheezed back. He straightened up then, and the ripped shirt did nothing to hide the movement of his abs. Kala's breath caught in her chest again. Her traitor mind gave her the searing image, Kala unable to stop wondering what he'd look like moving above her…
A ruthless mental iron door slammed down on that traitorous thought, locked tight. No. This was not what she had come to Gotham for, to find herself trapped in the same hopeless cycle she'd been in when she got here. She'd given herself permission to play, but hadn't expected what she might have opened the door to when she did. Her own fault for not knowing her own limits. With a crush of regret, she remembered how she'd made the same mistake with Sebast with her blood up. Not again, not just for simple attraction. They had a good working relationship; she wouldn't ruin that, as easy as it could be to just give in. Now that she knew it was there, though, it was an effort to push it aside. It didn't feel as if it was that simple.
Kala strove to keep the regret out of her expression, making herself face him. And ignore that tinge of reaction when she looked him in the eye. What she wouldn't have given for take-backs. Now that she knew… "Yeah, well, we probably ought to wrap up. It's getting pretty late and we've given the suit as thorough a test as we can, short of a rooftop run, and I don't think that's gonna happen tonight," she remarked, striving for a casual tone.
"You're right, probably not," Jay muttered. From the sound of it, he was thinking exactly what she was thinking: that a rooftop run would get their blood pumping hard enough that they'd end up rolling around on the mats later.
Yeah, at least we're not totally trying to deny it. No way around the fact that we were about to climb each other when Babs called. Saved by the bell, indeed. For a beat, they both were quiet, dropping their eyes and nearly shuffling their feet in the silence. Something had changed, they both knew it. Question was, where to go from here? I really ought to stick around and help him clean this up. I helped make it just as much as he did. Maybe more. Then again, the way I'm feeling, it might just be tempting fate a little too much. "Soooo, maybe I ought to cut out a little early? I'll head back and meet you here tomorrow night at the usual with this baby. I guess we'll try a run then?"
"Might as well," he replied noncommittally.
Of course, she still had to change. Which put them both in another awkward position. Might as well give him the easy out. "Hey, you know what? I know how to lock up the bunker. Why don't you head on up?"
His smirk told her he knew exactly what she was thinking. "Nah, I'm too paranoid to let anyone else lock up. I've got to clean this up—think there's a knife in the wall still. You can let yourself out."
Hard to believe how hard it was to break away, standing up to roll her eyes as if it were business as usual. "All right, be that way then. See you tomorrow afternoon, Red." Kala told herself she would be fine once she took the first step away. She was about half-right.
Without a further word, Kala was back behind the curtain and blurring into street clothes in record time, tucking the new suit and all of its accessories into her bag. Thank goodness she could do that now, and not look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame carrying the thing. Jay was still in the training room when she left; as much as she felt wrong for not calling out a goodbye, it felt even more wrong to draw attention to her departure. She also couldn't face the fact that she was, to some extent, running away.
Heading out into the night, she took a thorough scan of her surroundings, ears trained for observers before ducking through an alley and hitting the skies. Uncle Bruce would be disappointed to know she'd flown home, but she was buzzing with too much tension to sit in a cab for half an hour. First order of business would be a shower, and maybe a quick chat with her parents. She was due and that would be guaranteed to put a damper on this line of thought. Anything, anything, to take her mind off about the ache in her chest as she made her way back to Bristol.
…
After Kala tore out of training room like a bat out of hell—ironic, that—Jay took his time cleaning up. They'd left weaponry all over the place; a knife in the wall, three blades strewn across the floor, his favorite gun tossed into a corner, thirteen shell casings and the bullets that went with them scattered everywhere, his manriki and the other chain he favored both tangled and thrown aside.
Not to mention the gratuitous amount of sweat they'd left on the mats. Well, it was mostly Jay's; Kala just didn't sweat like a full-blooded human, and since she really hadn't quite been going all-out—again, it'd take a roof run to get her to that level—she'd hardly perspired at all. And Jay had definitely noticed.
Then there was the blood. All Jay's, too, what little there was. Not that she'd intentionally beaten him bloody or anything, but a few good strikes was all it took to split his lip and cut his knuckles. He'd probably have a good shiner tomorrow, but thankfully, that and a little suture glue would be the only evidence of their fight. At least she hadn't broken his nose again.
Jay laughed to himself to think of it. He really had trained her up right, he supposed, if she was able to hold her own without either of them suffering too badly for it, and take him down a few pegs while she was at it. She'd come a lot further in a short time than he'd ever expected.
As a matter of fact … hell, Kala was ready to hit the streets properly again. Jay blinked as the realization hit him. Everything Jay wanted to teach her, she'd learned. Everything he'd wanted her to accomplish, she'd just proven she could do. And that meant, well, that meant her training with him was essentially done.
He really ought to let B know that. With her time in Gotham running out, the rest of the family would want to see her let loose to fly. Especially with her finally in a suit she could fight in, and more than ready to roll. Part of him wanted to keep her to himself—it was only a week or so she had left—but that would be unfair to the rest.
Besides, honestly, if he didn't send her back, it wouldn't even take another speedy attack for them to wind up on the mats.
He scowled, remembering the pass that had landed him flat on his back. Seriously, he hadn't expected her to get the drop on him so damn easily.
Maybe he'd taught her better how to play dirty than he'd thought.
Of course, the thought of playing dirty just sent his mind right back to the two of them bantering and smacking each other like a couple of teenagers play-fighting. That was another thing he hadn't expected from her. He'd known she was a flirt to the core, but for her to use it in a fight like that? And to get him so far off his game that she'd been able to not only pin him, but to get him to think he'd had her pinned only to turn it around? Well, that was more than he'd bargained for.
As was the moment right before Oracle had so rudely interrupted them. For fuck's sake, they'd been about to kiss like some pair of star-crossed idiots! Just thinking about it, the way her eyes had looked when he'd pulled her close, sent all the blood away from his brain again, and he had to adjust himself several times before he finished wiping all the sweat and blood droplets off the mats.
Finally, the training room was clean, and with no other hesitation, Jay locked up the garage and bunker and headed upstairs to his apartment, stripping off his ruined uniform shirt the second he got into the bathroom. Shit, but he'd have to stock up on shirts again, Kala had taken or ruined so many of these already.
The image of her curled up in his shirt the night he'd taken her back to the Manor came to his mind unbidden then, and he couldn't help a shiver as he finished stripping and got straight in the shower, turning the water on cold to both soothe his muscles from the beating they'd taken and to cool certain things off. She'd looked so small and innocent then, such a far cry from the warrior he'd seen tonight. Daddy's girl, heh. Yeah, right. Not anymore.
He wasn't sure he'd ever quite be able to see her like that again, after the view he'd gotten of her chest. There was no 'small' about her, even if she was modestly built. And certainly no 'innocent', not after she'd cut his shirt in half. Sure as hell not after she'd damn near kissed him up against the wall. Pretty damn obvious now that she was thinking of him in the same—or at least similar—terms that he was thinking of her. They were on the same page, at least; this wasn't just flirting anymore, wasn't just messing around.
There was something really there. The growing tension—among other things—between them was proof enough of it.
A spark of desire shot down his spine with the realization, and heat pooled low in his belly. He wanted her. Same as she wanted him.
Not that he got everything he wanted. Jay was smarter than that – want wasn't the same as need, or even good idea. He'd learned that a long time ago, wanting someone who was sixty flavors of absolute wrongness, and Donna had just been the final exam. Wanting Kala was a very, very bad idea. She didn't need to get mixed up with anyone as fucked up as he still was – and he didn't need to fool around with a Super.
Fuck, when had he started thinking of her like this, anyway? Was it really when he'd seen that GQ? Before that? Hell, he'd probably been doomed from the get-go. He'd always had a weakness for women that could break him in half if they wanted to, even if Kala's discovery of his 'type' had led to more jealousy from her than he'd have liked. It wasn't as if he was into the whole prissy princess thing, after all. Donna had been what he'd needed at the time, but her attitude toward him as time had gone on had showed him just what a mistake she'd been.
Kala had no such attitude. And he liked that. Definitely.
Dammit, he'd gone so far beyond screwed with Kala that there was probably no getting out now. How the hell had she wormed her way into his thoughts so fucking completely?
And how the hell was he supposed to function when his dick would just not quit with the intense interest tonight?
Giving up on spending the rest of his night watching Springer reruns and drinking himself into a stupor, Jay turned the water up to hot—to hell with cold—and let the memory of Kala's body pressed against him return, still fresh and vivid in his mind's eye.
At least this way he might be able to get some damn sleep later.
…
Even the coldness of the water, using the needle-spray setting on the showerhead, wouldn't take all of the heat out of her skin. Kala leaned her face back into it, trying to wash away whatever madness had gotten into her.
It wasn't working.
If anything, the sharp and frigid spray on sensitive body parts was just making it worse. And her always-active imagination wasn't helping her current discomfort in the slightest. With a groan of unhappiness, she turned and let the water soak her hair one last time before turning it off and reaching out for a towel.
Calling her parents' house hadn't worked. Neither of them were picking up the house line and no one was texting back. They'd gone to bed or they were out, one or the other. It was too late to call Jason and Elise, and she felt a twinge of guilt for not following up on that message. Calling Sebast wasn't even an option, his voice certainly wouldn't help with her mind's current state of misdirection.
Everything tangled up in knots, Kala growled with frustration. What exactly did she think she was doing? It was absolutely crazy to have let her idle thoughts go this far. Her stay was almost over, her training only scheduled for little over a week longer. So why was it she couldn't get Jay out of her head?
Wrapped in a robe, hair turbaned up, Kala made her way back into her bedroom and flopped down on the bed with a sigh. Well, it was only going to be her bedroom for another week. All too soon, she was going to be on a plane back to Metropolis, where her real life was waiting for her. The boys were flying back from the final press junket mid-week and were going to meet her at the airport along with Mom and Daddy. Mom had told her tonight that Jason and Elise were going to be spending the week with her and Daddy so they could see Kala before the band pulled out. Dad, Lana, and Kristin would be there to see them off. One big family reunion before KLK headed out on their first truly huge tour.
She could be back in her own house, where she could lay her hand down on anything she wanted without even looking. She could have her real life back. Get back to being Kala Lane-Kent, rockstar. No more odd hours unless the tour required them, her best friend back, a sunbath every morning for as long as Sebast slept, no more getting her ass handed to her on and off, no more being stuck in the middle of the Wayne Brothers' sibling rivalry, no more running on rooftops unless she was called in as reserves, no more grime and killers and darkness and super-villains. This was the year she was going to stand up in front of the world and be noticed for the dream she'd been chasing ever since she was a child.
The thought should have cheered her. So why didn't it?
Because Kala was becoming uncomfortably aware that a part of her didn't want to leave, had gotten more than a little used to the euphoria that came with not having to hide an essential part of herself. There was something so freeing about just being who you were with people who understood that abilities like this didn't make you some kind of freak. That you were just as normal as everyone else underneath it all. Sure, she'd had to starve off the powers to truly train, to be on even ground, but they'd all known what she was capable of. She'd never had to keep secrets from Uncle Bruce, the Birds, or the Bats. Not even Jay, who'd known who she was from the word go.
With that last thought, Kala groaned. And here we were back at Jay again. It seemed like lately, it all went back to Jay, and with an increasingly changing focus. How the hell had her opinion of him changed so much without her really being aware of it?
At first she'd thought he was an arrogant jackass. Well, he was still arrogant, and he was still a jackass, but now she knew there was more to him. He shot his mouth off to keep people from asking questions he didn't want to answer. Thing was, with Jay, she was starting realize that his actions spoke louder than words. Thinking back over the confrontation they had had earlier over Donna, she felt like an idiot. Yeah, Jay had known about all of that mess, but she should have known that the answer was a little more complicated than pity. What it boiled down to was this: he'd trained her because he didn't trust the others to make her work hard enough to keep her safe. And he'd made her the suit not because he wanted to see her in something sinfully skin-tight, but because the costume she'd been wearing wasn't up to par.
She was pretty sure Jay gave a damn about her beyond what happened today. How he really felt, she wasn't sure, but he did care somehow. Maybe it was something like duty, loyalty to a fellow fighter; it was still caring. And that against the wall? Kala had no idea what had made him do it, but it had been akin standing next to a blast-furnace when he had pulled her close. And he hadn't been the only one overwhelmed by it.
Kala shivered in remembrance, wrapping her arms around herself tightly. God, for a moment tonight…. Again, unbidden images floated through her mind, realizing just how easily it could have gone down. Just another tug of that zipper, his mouth on hers, only the barrier of the suit and a pair of thin silk panties between them. It was impossible to describe how bad she'd craved that kiss when he'd been so close. Staring at the ceiling, she bit her lip and squeezed her eyes closed. It had been too damned close, if Babs hadn't called … and Kala didn't do casual. She didn't do short-term flings. Whatever was between them was attraction and respect all mixed up together, and she had to work with him without getting all fluttery over his sculpted abs.
They were really nice abs, though. And damn was he handsome.
Kala groaned, laughing at herself. I'm a mess and he's a disaster. It'd be the worst idea ever to start something up with him now. I'm mixed up and lonely and no matter how much I might like him, Jay doesn't need my issues on top of his. There was just enough truth in what Dick was saying, that I don't want to dump my drama on him. No, it's a bad idea.
Trying to ignore her own interest, Kala rolled onto her stomach, the pillow under her cheek and her arms laced together under that. She could easily remember the first time she'd realized that he was a pretty bastard, the night at Seventh Circle, the first time she'd actually seen his face without that damned domino. Without a doubt, he was one of the most attractive men she knew, even with a broken nose. She had to smile a little at that thought. But when the hell had she started wanting him? When had Jay started looking like a good alternative to her current problems? It wasn't just loneliness; sure, it had been months since Marlene, but she'd gone months between lovers before and hadn't ached for anyone this much. She wished she could tell herself she was somehow stupidly transferring her crush on Sebast onto a safer and more distant target, but Jay was by no means 'safe'. That much she knew. And she refused to use him as a substitute.
Come to think of it, she did know the exact moment when Jay started to be more than an undeniably attractive aggravation. That morning after they'd both gotten injured, when he came to her and apologized for acting like a douche over GQ. And then a few minutes later, when she'd learned from Alfred that Jay had been the one to carry her upstairs and tuck her in. That was the moment when she'd known that the night before he had not only trusted her as a fighter to cover his back, and trusted her to treat and stitch his wounds, he'd also shown that he cared enough to make her comfortable once she'd wimped out and fallen asleep on him, cared enough to apologize when saying sorry wasn't his thing. Jay had gone above and beyond for her in the last month, further than Bruce had even attempted, up to and including kicking her ass to wake her up and making her a brand new suit when she hadn't really asked.
Clearing her mind for just a moment, she realized to her shame that she'd never thanked him for any of it.
There was only a week left, nowhere near the time she needed to figure this out. And how lame was it that a little zipper-pull was what finally brought it to her attention? Kala had slept beside Sebast too long not to be very good at denial … but Jay was just as good at kicking down all her mental barriers.
She had no business getting involved with a Bat in any way beyond friendship and loyalty. No matter what her disobedient hormones were telling her.
A thought occurred to her then. Ten to one that he was still awake, still fairly early for him to be down for the count. If he hadn't hit the bottle. Maybe she'd get lucky and she could taunt him as much as her memories taunted her right now. Pausing for a moment, she fished her cell phone out of the bag she'd tossed at her bedside on coming in and texted him quickly before officially turning in. Smiling to herself, she settled in to sleep. Never let it be said that Supers don't have excellent manners. Let him make of it what he will.
…
Staring at the ceiling from his bed, Jay watched the lights of traffic in Gotham move the shadows across the room in an endless cycle. Instead of wiping himself out during his shower, all he'd managed to do was wind himself up further, his brain turning circles and not letting him pass out at all. He wasn't even remotely sleepy, just physically exhausted.
Maybe if he got up to grab his emergency stash of scotch, he could proceed with his original plan, and drink himself stupid.
It'd be a hell of a lot better than wondering just how he was gonna deal with the whole Kala thing, when there was no fucking way in the universe that anything could really happen between them. Not when she'd be gone in a week, back to her whirlwind life as a rockstar.
Jesus fucking Christ, what had he gotten himself into?
Rolling over, he threw back the covers to sit up and go for the scotch, when his phone buzzed from its place on his night table.
Dammit, couldn't O leave well enough alone?
Jay grabbed the phone, ready to tell Babs off, and he saw that he had a new text message.
From Kala.
Well, he supposed he should've seen this coming.
A few swipes of his thumb over the screen, and he read the message: Thanks for everything tonight. Don't drink too much. Sweet dreams.
For a second, Jay froze. 'Sweet dreams'? It hadn't occurred to him that she might've heard what he'd said the night he took her back to the Manor and tucked her in. Then again…
She might have just been messing with him. Or maybe she was being sincere, grateful and all that shit. Or maybe … maybe she was just as bent out of shape as he was about tonight. Thinking about the kiss that had almost been was probably worse than if he'd actually gone ahead and kissed her.
Either way, he wouldn't be having any dreams, sweet or otherwise, if he didn't get some fucking sleep. As per the plan, a couple of fingers of scotch wouldn't hurt, and certainly wouldn't be 'too much'. Hauling himself up at last, Jay went to retrieve the liquor from the cabinet, his chest aching with an unfamiliar tightness. Most likely an adrenaline overload side-effect from the fight.
Yeah, that. He could always find something to blame emotions on.
Probably.
…
"You're back."
Pouring himself a cup of coffee as Bruce moved to the table behind him, Jay yawned and resisted the urge to put down his cup and scrub a hand over his face; it was way too fucking early to be out and about. No one else was even up yet, besides Alfred and Daddy Bats. "Yeah, well," he started to reply, turning away from the kitchen island to lean back against it, facing Bruce, "had a few things to go over with you. Figured I'd get here before you head up to the Watchtower for the weekly League meeting."
Bruce arched an eyebrow at him as he sat down, sipping his own coffee that Alfred had so helpfully supplied before leaving them alone in the kitchen. "Hmm. Must be important, then. As important as what kept you from lending a hand last night?"
Jay couldn't help a slight wince at that. Caught. Damn! Shrugging, he stepped over to the table and sat across from Bruce, took a long sip of his coffee. "I guess you could say that. K and I were testing out her new uniform. Pretty rugged workout. Weren't in any shape to head out at the moment."
"I'll bet," Bruce said tersely, giving Jay a long look. "You're aware that her father entrusted her to our care. It would be a bad idea to get involved with her, Jason."
It took Jay a minute of shock to fully realize that Bruce was calling him out. No way had O tattled on them. No way. So … fuck, were they that obvious? Fuck!
"One, even if we were, it's none of your business, B," Jay spat back, sitting his mug on the table and starting to tick off his fingers, one by one. "Two, Kala's a grown-ass woman. Three, I ain't afraid of Big Blue. And four, we were sparring, for fuck's sake. And she was kicking my ass, for your information." Christ, she had practically wiped the floor with him. Well, until things had turned … intimate, not that Daddy Bats had any need to know.
Another long look, and Bruce finally nodded, sitting back in his chair. "All right, I'll take your word for it. Next time get your names off the roster beforehand. We can't function as a team if people are unexpectedly unavailable. You know that."
The defensive fire that had risen in Jay's chest subsided a little, then—shit, figures he was just yanking my chain, the bastard—and one corner of his mouth tugged upward just barely, despite his best intentions. "Team, huh? Here I thought I was a nuisance you were tolerating." If there was a hint of a pout in his voice at that, he'd be loath to admit it. He hadn't really been a part of the team since he was Robin; the night they'd taken down part of Black Mask's organ harvesting operation had been proof enough of that. Just because they were all working the same case, coordinated through Babs, didn't make them a team.
"I never said that or thought it, Jason," Bruce shot back, his voice low. "You're family."
Somehow, that managed to strike a chord in Jay; he couldn't actually deny that even though he was the black sheep, he was still part of the clan. Family just sometimes treated each other like crap, right? Still, it was … kinda nice to hear it, for once.
Another lift of one shoulder, and he frowned, not quite able to meet Bruce's gaze. "Yeah. I know."
"Good." Clearing his throat, Bruce sat up in his seat again. "Alfred's making French toast. Are you staying for breakfast?"
Jay let out a small laugh, the thought of French toast suddenly making his mouth water. "Maybe."
"You know you're welcome to stay as long as you like, Jason," Bruce went on. The light in his eyes at the suggestion gave Jay the impression that maybe he even meant it.
"Yeah? Thought it was just Alfred that wanted me to come back."
Bruce shook his head minutely, a hint of a smile actually moving across his face. "Suffice it to say, I've been shown the error of my ways."
"Alfie's always been persuasive like that," Jay replied, starting to feel awkward as they got into the heart of the matter; it wasn't just that Bruce had always been an uncommunicative ass, Jay was just as bad, and he knew it too damn well. Getting them to sit down and talk like this had to have somehow been orchestrated by the unofficial patriarch of the household.
"He certainly knows how to hit you where it hurts," Bruce said, quiet again.
Jay couldn't argue with that one at all. "It's how he keeps us all in line."
Nodding, Bruce let himself smile a little wider, and he took another long swallow of coffee to try to cover his amusement.
Jeez, they hadn't shared a joke in years. Talk about progress.
"Anyway," Jay went on, changing the subject so they didn't have to sit in strained conversation any longer than was necessary. "So, I think Kala's ready to return to regular patrol. You know, for the whopping ten days until she has to leave. She's good, B. Better than I'd figured she'd be, with her powers at full strength. Managed to not break my nose this time. Even got the drop on me a couple times."
Bruce lifted an eyebrow at him again, setting his coffee down. "So you said. You getting sloppy?"
Jay could only laugh at that. "Not a chance. She's fucking fast. Good at distraction. Really good. Guess I taught her well," he finished with a smirk.
"Okay, then," Bruce nodded. "We'll get her back out with the rest of us tonight. Don't have anything pressing, so we'll take it slow, see what she's got. Can I count on you to tag along?"
Jay couldn't help a dark grin. "You kidding? I wouldn't miss graduation day for the world. Got some potential intel on Black Mask for you, too, if you're at all interested in taking that fucker down and putting the final nail in his coffin. And if I can get my personal contact to agree to a meet," he finished with a shrug. He'd been sitting on his contact for the better part of a month, trying to get him back under his thumb since things had gone sideways after their initial bust. Nothing quite like Mask discovering a potential mole to bring the heat down and spook the little weasel.
Bruce's eyes widened, and he sat a little straighter. "Are you serious?"
"As a heart attack. My guy's finally agreed to get me access to Mask's private network. With all the goodies that I wasn't able to get before. Like building blueprints, detailed notes on the organ harvesting procedures, info on all their victims. The good stuff, real proof that we can finally use to go in and shut him down."
A nod, and Bruce hummed thoughtfully. "Set it up. If things go right, we might be able to do this before we have to lose the extra manpower."
"Will do," Jay nodded back, glad that at least he and Bruce were on the same page. If they could get this done, then Mask would be history. "And on that note, I'm gonna skip breakfast. Be back later … with an overnight bag."
"Better pack for the week," Bruce suggested. "We should handle this with kid gloves."
"Agreed."
Bruce's small smile then was all the approval Jay needed. For the first time in years, he was actually starting to feel welcome in the house again.