Falling Out (Part 1)
Nobody knew what exactly happened. Or at least that's what Jason assumed. If they had, they wouldn't look nearly as lost. Even Alfred looked puzzled which either meant they were in the Twilight Zone or the mother of all fucking secrets just came out. Jason was banking on the later.
It had started when Dick and Bruce came home from work. Normally, the duo would walk in together, Dick talking animatedly about some random topic with Bruce patiently yet attentively listening.
Today however, Dick stormed into the house and up the stairs without saying hello to anyone. Bruce had come in shortly after, equally angry and had stalked to the kitchen. Jason had exchanged glances with Tim and Damian, but otherwise shrugged it off. Every once in awhile, Bruce and Dick faught. It would resolve itself within the hour when one of them realized how stupid the fight was.
Jason hadn't realized how wrong he was until dinner came around and Dick and Bruce sat on opposite sides of the table glaring at each other. Jason wasn't sure whether to revel in the tension or not. On one hand, Mommy and Daddy were finally fighting. On the other hand, dinner was really awkward.
The Replacement seemed to be uncomfortable too, because he cleared his throat and asked tentatively, "So. What did you guys do today?"
Jason watched as the storm clouds grew darker in Dick's eyes. Apparently that wasn't a good question to ask. "Why don't you ask what Bruce did. I mean not today, but in the past."
Jason wasn't sure what the fuck that was supposed to mean, but Bruce obviously did. The man stood up angrily and Dick immediately mirrored him. Nobody said anything as both men made a move to storm out of the dining room, only to realize they were both going up the stairs. Jason thought they were going to start punching each other, but instead, Bruce turned around quickly and headed to his office.
Turning to face his two younger brothers, he asked the question on all their minds. "What the fucking hell just happened?"
Looking slightly lost, Tim said, "I've never seen them fight this bad. Even after you died. They always fought in the other room or separated until one or both of them cooled down."
Jason turned to study Damian. The boy had been unusually quiet. To his shock, he found his youngest brother hugging his stomach and confused. Finally Damian said, "If he was fighting with you or Drake, I would say that Father was obviously the one in the right. But it's Grayson. Grayson doesn't fight for no reason. He barely even fights when his opinion is correct! At least not with us. And especially not with Father."
Jason ran a hand through his hair. "I really don't know what to say kid. I've never seen them go at it like this either. But if anyone has, it'd be Alfred. Maybe he can shed some light on this situation."
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Unfortunately, Alfred was not much help. The man seemed just as puzzled as they were and could not name a time when the two men had aimed such murderous looks at each other and not a villain. They did however learn that it was highly unlikely that the two men would go to bed angry at each other as Dick's mother had instilled in him that that was unacceptable.
While Jason was happy that it would be over by the next morning, it made for a pretty awkward patrol. In the end, they split up so that he was with Dickhead and the Demon Brat and the Replacement was with the Old Man.
For the rest of the patrol, Jason had tried to subtly and not so subtly ask what the fight was about. Even the Demon Brat asked. Nicely, which in itself was a miracle. Dick ignored them both before telling them, "Shut the hell up. I don't want to think about it let alone talk about it. Besides. It's none of your fucking business."
Jason raised a surprised eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Dick never talked like that to his brothers. Dick never talked like that in general. In fact, Jason was usually the one cursing at everyone and everything. He wasn't sure how he felt about Dick doing it. It was weird. Like they were suddenly in an alternate universe where Dick and Bruce hated each other.
Signaling the Demon Brat to leave Nightwing alone, Jason braced himself for the long patrol ahead. And it was long. And arduous. And just plain stupid. Dickhead was supposed to be the one that told him not hate Bruce, not the one promoting it. The alternate universe theory was starting to look more and more pleasant.
When they finally arrived at home Jason watched curiously as Bruce and Dick shoved each other as they rushed towards the stairs. Two minutes later, two doors slammed. Jason could only presume that they both went to their own rooms.
Turning to his shell-shocked brothers. Jason scowled. "Now would be the time to come up with some sort of plan. We need to get one of them to talk."
Alfred appeared out of the shadows. "If I may, Master Jason. Master Dick has never been one to hold his liqueur. Perhaps you could get him talking."
Jason turned to the faithful butler in shock. "Alfred, are you suggesting that I get Dickhead drunk and then question him?"
"It appears as if I am. Perhaps you should go do so instead asking clarifying questions that reveal that I am in no way or shape suggesting that you go get your brother drunk so that we can learn what trouble ails him and Master Bruce."
Jason smirked before running up the stairs and out of the Batcave. Making a pit stop in the kitchen, Jason grabbed Bruce's finest scotch and two glasses. Dickhead would probably be suspicious otherwise. Or so he told himself.
Knocking on the door with his foot, Jason ignored Dick's yell of 'go away!' and entered the room. Waving the bottle, he waited for Dick's approval. The man said nothing, which Jason took to mean as 'please pour me a glass.'
###
Five glasses later, and Dick was finally ready to talk. About everything other than what Jason wanted to talk about apparently.
Standing up sharply, Jason said, "For crying out loud! Enough already! I'm getting Bruce, tell him about the chakras and elephants being harmonious with nature and whatever the hell else you were talking about!"
Dick frowned. "No! I don't want to see him! He's a no good dirty traitor. That's what he is. You get him, and I'll...I'll...I'll...well I don't know what I'll do but you won't like it!"
Rubbing his temples, Jason sighed. Bruce must have really messed up if drunk Dick not only remembered what he done, but still cared and was obviously still mad. "Okay. Here's the deal Drunkie, you tell me what Bruce did to you, and I won't get him."
Dick scrunched up his eyebrows. "But I don't want to talk about it. Can't we talk about something else?"
Jason almost felt bad. Almost. "No. That's the deal."
Dick sighed and rubbed his face. "I don't know Jace. You know me. I've always been in love with Barbara. I mean we broke up for good a while back and went to Disney after. Hey I haven't seen her since then. Was I supposed to apologize?"
Jason closed his eyes for a moment and took a steadying breath. "The point, Dickhead."
Dick spaced out for a moment before continuing. "I don't know, it's just been her for me since I was thirteen. I mean there were other girls, but I knew that she knew that I was just waiting for her to be ready."
Dick paused and Jason was just about to nudge him and tell him to keep going when he said, "I guess that's why it hurt so much. I don't know why she felt the need to tell me now. Maybe that email wasn't meant for me. Maybe she wasn't the one who sent it."
Jason stilled. "What email?" But it was too late. Dick had passed out next to him in his desk chair.
Standing up Jason ran a hand down his face. At least now they had a place to start digging for clues. Leaving Dick's room, Jason watched as Bruce's door closed softly in his peripheral vision. No doubt the man had been spying and hoping that Jason would clear up whatever the issue between him and Dick was, for him. Deciding it probably best that he didn't start a fight with Bruce too, Jason rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen where the Replacement and Demon Brat were waiting for him.
Sitting down at one of the barstools, Jason nodded appreciatively as Tim poured him a mug of coffee and slid it over to him. "Thanks. Dickhead didn't say much of use to us, but he did manage to tell me about an email from Barbara before he passed out. Seemed pretty torn up about it."
Tim nodded, before typing in Dick's username. "Wanna bet that I won't have to hack it because his password hint practically spells his password out?"
Jason and Damian shared a look before rolling their eyes. "That's a loser's bet Tim."
Tim scoffed before resuming. "Childhood pet."
All three boys blurted out "Zitka" at the same time before letting a chuckle escape.
"Man that's a bad password. Anyone who knows Dick would know it. He doesn't shut up about that elephant." Jason smiled into his coffee. He was glad that at least one of them turned out okay. And by okay, he meant not completely screwed up, insane, and moderately happy.
Tim took another sip of his coffee. "Okay, I'm in. Looks like it's just the usual stuff. Wait. Oh man. This is bad. So bad. So so so bad."
Shoving Tim out of the way, Jason and Damian took a seat in front of his laptop. "What could possibly be so bad?"
Then Jason saw it. It was definitely bad. So so so bad. Earth shatteringly bad. Bruce had slept with Barbara before her and Dick got together.
In the back of his mind, Jason wondered if it said more about Barbara then the two men. After all she was the one who slept with Bruce before getting herself engaged to his son.
But the bigger question was, how could they fix this mess. The simple answer was that they couldn't. Then again, they weren't the kind of people that settled on simple answers. Turning to his brothers, Jason took a deep breath. "Guys, looks like it's gonna be up to us to fix this mess. We can come up with a cool operation name as soon as we figure out a plan."
Tim sighed. "I don't know if we can fix this one Jay. I think reconciliation has to be their idea."
Damian scoffed. "If that's all you can say Drake, then you really are undeserving to be one of Father's proteges. I thought we were adept at manipulating people without their detection? We must make Father and Grayson think it was their own idea."
Tim rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Jason thought that the motion looked kind of stupid because Tim didn't have any facial hair. "I guess the real question is how we manipulate them without them noticing."
Swinging an arm around Tim's tiny shoulder, Jason smirked. "No. The real question is what we're going to call this mission, because I refuse to participate if it doesn't have a cool name."
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Watching the boys debate mission names, Alfred silently left the shadowed corner from which he was spying, ahem dusting in. The boys were correct, the best way to get his two eldest charges to reconcile was to manipulate them into doing so. The sad part was, that the boys did not recognize that they were being manipulated too. After all, Bruce had to have learned it from somewhere, and Alfred considered himself far too old to do all the heavy lifting. He'd leave his young charges to do it for him.
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A/N: Your mission: Come up with a cool mission name for Jason! I honestly have no clue what I'd call it.
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Okay...so when I originally came up with the idea of Bruce in Dick fighting, I had zero clue what to make them fight about. Then I read that comic online where Barbara is pretty much (or is?) engaged to Dick, but then she tells Bruce she's pregnant with his baby! So...I decided that Bruce would sleep with her long BEFORE she got together with Dick and that there would be no pregnancy. I mean...otherwise they'd never reconcile right?
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So anyways...ideas for the next chapter? I think I want Jason, Tim, or Damian to visit Barbara, but I'm not sure yet. Honestly, I wrote most of this at like 4:00 am before falling asleep, so I'm not really sure where I'm going with it. I'm literally coming up with the plot as I type. So any ideas would be very much so appreciated.
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Please please please review and let me know what you think, what the mission name should be, and whether or not one of the bros should pay a visit to Barbara! Oh. And any plot ideas you may have! Thanks so much in advance!