It was two months after Jack Drake's death that Christmas came to Gotham. A gentle sheet of snow had blanketed the entire city, creating a beautiful scene straight out of the holiday Lifetime movies that dominated the airwaves at this time of year. The Wayne children exchanged their autumn attire for thick jackets and woolen scarves and socks and hats and gloves, and tried not to shiver as the winds of winter dusted against their faces.

As the first semester of the school year gradually came to a close, Jason had deemed it necessary to suggest gift shopping trips in place of the usual restaurant outings. The first day of December saw him help everyone currently living at the Manor in listing the people they wished to buy gifts for. The only commonality everyone had were each other, Dick, Alfred, Barbara and Stephanie. After that, the lists started varying. Damian wished to get gifts for Jon and, surprisingly, Lian Harper, while Tim had the various members of Young Justice. Cass desired to send a gift to Richard Dragon, and Bruce had promised to help her in that endeavor. Bruce himself was getting gifts for the Kents and for Diana as well, along with God knows who else. And as for Jason…

Well, for Jason, making the list was far more difficult than the actual shopping. It was refreshing to see so many of his siblings' names on it again, but it also made the omissions all the more starker. He was planning to send gifts to the Kents, to Diana, and to Lian, but those were the only ones he could possibly get away with. Everyone else he wanted to send gifts to would only cause questions. He couldn't just send gifts to Kon, Kori, Roy or Donna without someone asking why he didn't buy gifts for all of their respective teams, seeing as he didn't know them as well in this timeline. He had yet to meet Connor or Kyle, and he was fairly certain Kaldur and M'gann hadn't even met their current mentors yet, let alone become superheroes. To say nothing of poor Wallace, who Jason wasn't even sure existed in this timeline. He was afraid to check for fear that the fifth Flash really was no more.

And then there were his children. Just thinking about them, about all the holiday mischief they got into over the years, made him feel melancholic. Yes, he had his first family back, but was it wrong to wish that he had his second family with him too? Jason supposed it was only natural to feel that way, and mourned the loss as much as he could before moving on. There was nothing he could do about it now.

Instead, he focused on making this Christmas the best one yet. After Thanksgiving was over and Black Friday had come and gone (which saw a shell-shocked Damian and Cass cowering before the sheer viciousness of determined sale shoppers), Jason had recruited everyone's help in decorating the Manor for the holiday season. Dick had managed to finagle an extra weekend off from the precinct, which made things infinitely easier when hanging things from the higher ceilings in the Manor, including the Christmas lights on the exterior of the building.

Then there was the tree. There was debate over they should get a genuine pine tree or plastic fake one, but in the end the desire to make sure Damian and Cassandra's first Christmas was as traditional as it was memorable won out. Sunday saw them travel to the nearest tree farm and choosing the nicest one they could find. Bruce and Dick had it cut down within the hour and with Jason's help, bound it to the top of the car to be taken to the Manor. Afterward, they had broken out many of the decorations that Alfred had stored upstairs in the attic, parsing out the ones that were no longer usable before having the family decorate the tree. Damian, of course, was the one who got to put the star on top (even if he didn't really understand the gravity of it) and light the whole thing up.

It was an enjoyable way to relax during the break before the kids had to go back to school to finish off the year. Even Tim had broken out of his periodic depressive episodes to take part in things with something of a smile on his face. The fact that the frequency of those episodes had begun to decrease afterward owed to their effectiveness. While the wound that Jack Drake's loss had left behind would be unlikely to ever fully heal, Jason had hope that his brother would be able to move on one day. Perhaps this year's Christmas could help with that.

"How about this?"

Jason hummed as he eyed the toy Damian lifted up: a super-soaker water gun. "Are you sure Jon will like it?" Jon didn't have many friends outside of Damian, after all.

Damian frowned. "I don't know. Jon hasn't really expressed anything he would want for a gift."

"Damian, here's a secret about gift-giving: you shouldn't look for something they want, but rather something they would like. What does Jon like?"

His youngest brother lightly bit his lip. "Well, he likes Star Wars. And ninjas."

Jason smiled. "What a coincidence. There's an entire aisle dedicated to Star Wars in this toy store. Why don't you go find it?"

As Damian went do exactly that, Jason sighed and continued his search for a gift for Lian. The Kents were not difficult to find a gift for once he decided on a family-wide gift instead individual ones, quickly settling on a humorous silly mug and sweater set. Neither was Diana; while Diana had loved discovering more and more of man's world over the years, she had always been something of an aficionado for French culture, even living in Paris for a couple of years. A series of biographies about prominent men and women in French history was the obvious route to go.

Lian was a different matter. While he knew the adult Lian's preferences, having gotten her plenty of gifts over the years, baby Lian was an entirely different beast. He was still torn between getting her a doll set and getting her one of the bake-easy ovens and then gifting some of his simpler recipes along with it. While the former was more conventional, not to mention easier to find, the latter was far more heartfelt and would be a great way to assuage his guilt over not getting Roy a gift. But would she enjoy it?

Shopping for his family was far easier. For Bruce he had gotten him a nice series of true crime detective novels, and for Dick a new cooking set with a cook book that, hopefully, would suffice his brother's sweet tooth while also forcing him to eat healthily. Stephanie's gift was five tickets to a Taylor Swift concert (her not-so-secret love for the country pop star being a long-time source of amusement for the Family, and one that had crossed over to this timeline despite her desperate attempts to hide it), while Tim would be getting a new state-of-the-art digital camera and a book of photography techniques Jason had picked up at the book store. He did conflict over Barbara's gift, before opting to buy her a series of satirical books that had feminist themes and a similar writing style to the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy that would be released three years from now. Then he marked the latter down as a possible gift for her in the future. He was sure she would get a kick out of those.

Jason went the extra mile for Alfred, picking up a large, embossed book with blank parchment for pages, and handwriting his favorite recipes from memory in ink pen. He had even gotten Damian's help with the endeavor in exchange for sharing credit for the gift, secreting him away and showing him what the dishes looked like so he could sketch them out in the book. The real trial had been trying to hide it from the old man, considering that he was the master of the house and very little could remain hidden from him. Thankfully Jason had found his own little hiding places that not even Alfred knew about over the years due to raising four children in this home, and he was not afraid to use them extensively for this one task.

As for Damian, Jason debated over getting him a pet but quickly discarded the idea. While he had no doubt Damian would love whatever puppy or kitten Jason got him, the simple matter of the fact was that Damian was currently seven years old and perhaps too young to be caring for another living being just yet. Not to mention he was still trying to settle in with the family and with Gotham; he tried to hide it, but Jason saw him occasionally staring at some of the things he brought from home, pining after his mother. Perhaps next year, when he was a little older and more accepting of the Manor as his home.

Instead, he had gotten Damian his own handheld video game console: a Nintendo DS. Despite knowing the console would technically be obsolete by next year, Jason deemed it preferable to its successor as it would be able to better handle the games Jason was going to buy to accompany it: all the fourth generation and fifth generation Pokemon games. He had discussed the decision with the rest of the family when Damian was sleeping, fearing that it would be too expensive a gift, so they had decided to split it between them. Bruce would buy the actual console while everyone got one or two of the games.

The reasoning behind such an extravagant gift was multi-layered. The most obvious was that Jon had all the games (per Clark's own words), and he would relish a chance in teaching Damian of how to play along with having a consistent trading partner. If Jon was also interested in the meta-game mechanics, that would be great for strategy as well — contrary to popular belief, Pokemon games were a lot more complex than simply 'Attack! Attack!'. Caring for other creatures, even if they weren't real, would also make a good introduction for when he decided he did want a real pet for himself.

Most of all, Jason hoped this would open Damian to be sociable with his classmates. Pokemon had gotten more niche over the years but it was still somewhat of a corner stone in pop culture and there were plenty of references to be found even among the younger generation. Per Stephanie, Damian's social life had gotten a little better since the gala, at least with the children who had been able to attend like Bunny Vreeland, but he was still held at bay by most of them. The games could serve as a bridging point for him to truly befriend at least one of them. Jon might always be Damian's best friend, but he couldn't be Damian's only friend.

That same line of thought had driven him when he chose Cass' gift: a year's worth of ice skating lessons at the city's ice rink. He had tested the waters first, taking her along with others to an ice show on a Friday night, and had his heart set the moment he saw the sparkle in her eye as she watched the ice dancers glide across the shining surface. He was still undecided over whether or not he should get her skates as well, but decided not to — he would default to her teacher's expertise on that front.

The ice skating lessons would also make a good complement to the ballet lessons Jason knew Bruce was getting for Cass. They had checked for that as well by having a family outing at the local ballet, and Cass had been similarly entranced with the performance as she was with the ice show. That had cinched it for Bruce, who immediately scheduled a year's worth of lessons at a prestigious studio. Unlike Jason, he had gone ahead and bought her ballet slippers and even a few outfits to accompany the gift. The perks of being the head of the family.

Hopefully, during these lessons Cass would meet new people she'd like to befriend herself. Stephanie would always be her best friend much like with Jon and Damian, and there was Tim as well, but Cass was ultimately the most isolated member of the family. She didn't attend school and most likely never would — by the time she would be able to catch up to any of her age-mates in formal education they'd be done with college. She didn't have a driver's license and wouldn't really know where to go even if she did, and she tended to be skittish and paranoid about meeting new people in general, even those that her loved ones vouched for.

During these lessons however, she'd be on her own and be forced to make her own judgments about people. No one would be there to hold her hand. With luck, her love of dance would allow her to meaningfully bond with someone there. Of course, they would have to be vetted first — Jason had already pestered Bruce for the name of the dance studio and was running down his own background checks, independent of his father's. They were both paranoid assholes who had lived in Gotham long enough to expect the worst, after all. But regardless, Jason's goal was to ensure that Cass made at least one friend of her own without his extensive meddling. It would go a long way to finally getting her out of her shell for good.

Look at me, Jason couldn't help but think in some amused self-deprecation, even when I'm helping out my family I still manipulate them. Being Batman has ruined me.

"Jason?"

"Yes, Damian?" Jason asked, careful to mask away any of his thoughts.

Damian held up a new toy. It was an action figure of Darth Maul.

"I'll have to check with Clark to make sure Jon doesn't have that one, but I think it's a good gift."

His brother smiled, allowing Jason to take the gift and place it in the cart they were using. "Who is next on my list?"

Jason took out the notepad where he had copied Damian's list on. "Lian."

He saw his brother's face scrunch up into something indescribable. Ah yes, the joys of being a young boy buying a gift for a little girl. He would have to make sure the gift couldn't be construed as something romantic. No need to have Roy Harper wringing Dick's neck for the perceived threat.

"I don't understand — why don't we pay to have our gifts wrapped? Why are we doing it ourselves?" Damian crossed his arms, trying not to pout. It looked undignified.

"Because Christmas isn't about the gifts themselves, Damian," Jason explained patiently as they were waiting for Alfred to arrive with the wrapping paper and the other tools they would need, "It's about the spirit of giving them. Anyone can pay some poor, overworked retail employee to wrap their gifts, but few are willing to take the time of effort to do the deed themselves. Remember, little brother, the gesture counts just as much if not more than the actual gift itself."

Damian still looked a mite unconvinced and put out. Jason sighed.

"It also develops great dexterity in the fingers, which is helpful with throwing weapons."

That got his brother's attention, and he perked up considerably. Jason did not shake his head, but by God did he want to.

Progress, Jason, he reminded himself as Alfred arrived, Progress.

Eventually, the semester finished out. The Waynes had to bid farewell to Stephanie for the time being, who was traveling with her mother to visit relatives out of town. The Gordons were doing the same, so Jason had ensured that both Stephanie and Barbara received their gifts from everyone before their departure. It would be a shame, not having them there — both the Browns and the Fox-Gordons had often spent their Christmases as the Manor at Jason's own insistence. Even with his own children and Cass, he had more than enough space for the extended family. It made the place feel less empty.

But, if there was one benefit to their lack of presence, it's that his own family had more time to focus on themselves. Dick had gotten off work a few days early and had decided that he deserved to have a one-on-one outing with all his siblings, scheduling separate activities with each of them, much to Jason's approval. While they had visited Dick in Bludhaven before, not to mention Dick's frequent visits to Gotham, this allowed Dick a better chance to get to know and bond with his new siblings; or, in the case, of Jason and Tim, spend more time with them outside the suits. It warmed Jason's heart. Unlike Bruce, Jason never had poke at Dick to make him spend more time with the others.

As for Jason himself, however, he had his own plans…

"A…cake?" Alfred raised an eyebrow. "You wish to make a cake with the others, Master Jason?"

"Yes," Jason nodded. "I know you're not going to let us help out with the Christmas Eve Dinner, so I figured this would be a good compromise."

Alfred raised his other eyebrow. "And why are you certain of that?"

Jason gave him a deadpan look. He knew, because he tried for years to take part in the preparation of the annual Christmas Eve Dinner only for Alfred to refute his help every. single. time. Even when the old man was on his deathbed, Alfred still refused to let Jason help him cook the dinner, so Jason had made a compromise with making a celebratory Christmas-themed cake instead. That became its own tradition, so even after Alfred Jason continued on with it, securing the Dinner for himself much like Alfred had while making the baking of the cake a family affair.

It honestly felt wrong not to have some sort of decorative cake to serve as dessert, and it would make a good baking lesson for the others. While Damian was still too young to do much besides lick the icing off the ladle and maybe knead the dough, Tim and Cass were a different matter. Cass had gotten far enough in her speech therapy that Jason felt comfortable to start teaching her how to cook as well, and it was about time that Tim move on from the stove and get familiar with the oven. This would be as good a starting point as any.

"Very well then, but why not Master Dick?" He didn't have to ask about Bruce. Bruce was never going anywhere close to a kitchen for the rest of his life if his family had anything to say about it.

"Sugar," was all Jason said, and Alfred supposed that was the best reason anyone could give.

"Okay, I can sort of conjecture what each of these ingredients are for, but why do we need a tub of marshmallows?" Tim asked, peering at said large marshmallows speculatively. Next to him, Cass was tossing a jar of flour between her hands, careful not to drop it.

"Fondant," Jason grunted as he continued scrubbing his hands with water and soap.

Tim blinked. "What's fondant?"

"Fondant icing," Jason stressed the last word pointedly, rinsing off the last of the soap. "That's its official term. It's basically a solid form of icing used for decorating and sculpting cakes. Usually people just buy it at the store, but you can also make it yourself. For me, I prefer to use marshmallows — not only is it sweeter, but it's also easier to make. Just need a bit of water and some icing sugar. Melt the marshmallows in the microwave, knead it with the icing sugar and then flatten it out and you're good to go."

"And how exactly did you learn about this 'marshmallow fondant'?" Tim asked skeptically.

"Great British Bake-Off."

"…What?" Tim wasn't the only one who said that. Even Cass didn't know what that was.

Jason paused, his hands mid-dry with a cloth towel. "Oh, right. That's not a thing yet. Talk to me again in about six or seven years and you'll see."

"Ri~ight…" Tim deliberately stretched out the word, not sure what to make of this prediction of the future. "So, where do we start?"

"Well, first we need to look at what flavors we voted for. No ginger, Alfred already has a monopoly on the gingerbread cookies we're supposed to leave for Santa."

"We're leaving cookies for Santa?" Tim sounded understandably incredulous.

Jason looked at him flatly. "Dick."

Tim groaned. "He still believes in Santa?"

"More like he wants to still believe in Santa," Jason corrected, holding a finger up as his eyes trailed down the list. Next to him, Cass peaked over his shoulder to look at the list herself, scrunching her nose at the unfamiliar words. "Bruce ruined Santa for him during his first Christmas at the Manor when he was nine. Dick never got over it and every time someone new starts living at the Manor he tries to relive his lost holiday fantasies through them."

"But I don't believe in Santa," Tim pointed out, "And I'm pretty sure Damian and Cass don't even know who Santa is."

"Oh, Damian knows who Santa is. I explained it to him after his teacher assigned his class to write a letter to Santa. Granted, after he started getting…ideas, I had to also explain that Santa wasn't real. Dick was put out by it but I wasn't going to let our little brother's first Christmas go off the rails because of some wild misunderstandings."

At the sound of that, Tim perked up. "Speaking of which, how did Damian's first Christmas go last time?"

Jason froze.

Tim and Cass immediately noticed, and both looked at him worriedly. "Jason?" Cass prodded hesitantly.

Jason groaned as he pulled his apartment door open, only to blink when he saw who it was. "Dickface? What the hell do you want?"

For once, Dick's expression didn't tighten at the rude greeting. Instead, his predecessor (because Jason refused to call him brother, because they were never brothers and fuck Dick for saying otherwise) looked jittery, stressed, and more than a little desperate. "Little wing. Help us," the first Robin begged.

The second Robin wrinkled his nose. "Help with what?" he asked cautiously instead of outright refuting the request. His instincts were screaming at him that something was wrong.

Before Dick could explain, the sound of collective stomping cut him off. Jason stepped outside and dared to look towards the source of the disturbance, and saw a massive herd of animals, including what looked suspiciously like a mini-Robin riding a massive reindeer, charging down the streets.

"What did you do?" Jason asked flatly, not even bothering to suggest this was anyone else's fault but Dick's.

"I told Damian about Santa," Dick answered glumly.

The younger vigilante paused he thought that over.

"Right," Jason finally said, tone deliberately neutral. "Let me suit up first."

"You don't want to know the answer that question," Jason said seriously. "Trust me — you don't. And for the record, neither are you are to ever take Damian to the zoo. Ever."

His two younger siblings exchanged perplexed looks. "Okay then," Tim said slowly, "Cake flavors?"

Jason immediately brightened. "So, the suggestions everyone made are chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, bubblegum ice cream, fruit cake…"

"Here are the gifts for Lian." Jason handed a cloth bag to Dick. "And here are the gifts for the Kents and Diana." He handed another bag to Bruce. "Don't forget to separate them when you get to the Watchtower. And make sure Kyle Rayner doesn't get too drunk! You and everyone else will regret it, and so will he for that matter."

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Dick asked, settling the bag of Lian's gifts over his shoulder. He was referring to the Justice League/Titans party that every former Leaguer and Titan member had been invited to for the holidays. Dick and Bruce, of course, were going as Nightwing and Batman, and Jason was technically eligible for entry too.

"Nah. Can't partake in any of the fun stuff with this body of mine. I'm going to the Young Justice party instead with Tim. I finally got him to agree to let Damian and Cass come along with."

"And how did you do that?"

"Disguises," Jason bluntly responded. "I'm going as Gotham Knight, while Damian is going as Little Bird. He'll be wearing a domino mask while we're there."

Bruce frowned. "And Cass?"

"Batgirl."

Dead silence followed that statement.

"Don't worry; I got Babs' permission before she left."

And just like that, the tension immediately lifted. "Is she going under domino too?"

"For now — Lucius is still in the process of making her suit, right?" Jason directed his question directly at Bruce, who nodded.

"What about rides?" Dick asked, "How are you going to get to Mount Justice?"

"Tim told us that Kon is going to pick us up using the Super-Cycle, though obviously we're not going to meet him at the Manor. Instead, we're heading over to Amusement Mile with the Batmobile so no one will ask any questions and Alfred can just use the autopilot to bring it back to the Cave."

"Well, you've seem to have thought of everything…" Bruce trailed off, "You're sure Damian knows to call you by your vigilante identities, right?"

"Positive," Jason said, though he wasn't smiling.

"Jason?" Dick prompted, a little suspicious.

"…do you think Red Tornado will mind if I bring some of Alfred's gingerbread cookies?"

"Robin! Kon!" Secret floated down to the arriving Super-Cycle in excitement, only to blink when she saw that her teammates hadn't arrived alone. They were followed by Gotham Knight (sans the face mask that usually covered the bottom half of his face), Robin's older brother, and two unknowns: a girl around Knight's age with short dark hair and a little boy with similar dark hair who couldn't be older than seven. Both were wearing dominos.

The rest of Young Justice congregated outside of Mount Justice to similarly greet Robin and Superboy, and found them just as perplexed when they saw the extras. Not too perplexed, however, as they were hardly the only guests not on the team that were here.

"Everyone," Robin started once he saw all his teammates, "You remember my brother, Gotham Knight." Knight held up his hand for good measure, waving at them all cheekily. Confirmations and greetings followed in response, all of them having some fond memories of the night where Knight visited and hung out with them.

"These are the two other siblings he mentioned. My older sister, the new Batgirl," Batgirl also waved, though far more meekly, "and my younger brother, who you can call Little Bird or Bird for short." Bird did not wave. Instead, he stuck up his chin imperiously and glared at them all.

"Bird…" Knight said warningly.

Bird got the message. "Tt. It's nice to meet all of you," he ground out, a little insincerely. Knight sighed, while Batgirl patted him on the shoulder comfortingly.

The members of Young Justice blinked, though some like Cissie King-Jones were more than a bit amused. Robin went on to introduce his teammates to his siblings, and then everyone ventured inside the inner sanctum of Mount Justice, where they were met by a most unexpected sight.

Teen heroes.

A lot of teen heroes.

"Is this because of the Titans/League party at the Watchtower?" Knight asked, pinching his nose as he watched CM3 throw a water balloon at Lagoon Boy.

"Maybe…?"

"Robin."

"I didn't think you would let Bird come if I told you," Robin admitted hastily. Bird casted him a suspicious look.

Knight leveled a similar look at his second youngest brother. "And why exactly does Bird need to be here?"

"You're here!"

The present members of the Bat-Family snapped their heads towards the direction of that voice, blinking in shock as Jonathan Samuel Kent rushed towards them with a big ol' smile on his tiny face.

"Dam—"

With lightning quick reflexes, Knight picked up Jon by the scruff of his neck and gently slapped his hand over the boy's mouth. "Jon. Names."

Jon blinked up at him. "You mean Young Justice doesn't know your secret identities?"

"Robin is every bit as paranoid as Batman and has trust issues," Knight explained, "We're respecting his wishes. You can call me Knight, our sister is Batgirl, and our youngest brother, your friend, is Little Bird. You can call him Bird for short."

"Oh…can you set me down now?"

"Sure," Knight did exactly that, and ruffled his hair for good measure. "Now why don't you two run along? I'm sure you can introduce Bird to some of the people here."

"Okay!" Excitedly, Jon turned to his best friend, who gave another scoff before following him into the crowd of under-aged heroes. Knight watched him go, while behind him, Kon gave Robin a skeptical look.

"So Jon knows your secret identity, but I don't?"

"Shut up, Kon."

After Damian and Jon had run off, Cass found herself guided by the girls of the team to be introduced to other female company. The boys had offered to do the same for Jason, but he waved them off, telling them to have their own fun. He was content hanging off the fringes for now, watching the proceedings with a keen eye.

It wasn't that he disliked the people here, far from it. They were heroes, and most of them, regardless of any secondary motives, were ultimately devoted to saving people. Many of them had grown up to be heroes in their adult lives and became Jason's colleagues in the Justice League. Others had retired, realizing that they wished to live normal lives more than devoting their beings to heroism — no shame in that. God knows Jason would've loved nothing more than to live a normal life himself.

And then, there were those that died.

Death, alas, had become an increasingly common feature of the superhero life as the years went on. It was particularly bad during his twenties — on top of losing every other male member of his family plus Kate and Renee, the old guard took a massive hit during that decade. Along with big-name superheroes such as Barry Allen, Wally West, and Arthur Curry, several minor, lesser-known heroes had been killed in the line of duty as well. Heroism was no longer taken so lightly (not that it really ever had been), especially for younger heroes, who took their training very seriously to the point that for many it was interwoven into their everyday lives. Jason in particular had been guilty of that, but considering that the number of hero deaths dropped in response to those added measures, he considered it worth the price.

It was a sobering thought, but Jason was intent on making it sure it didn't sour his mood. This was supposed to be a happy occasion, and he was going to enjoy it as much as he could. Unlike the gala, there was no need for constant plotting and planning and manipulating. Here he could just relax, lay back, sip some eggnog and watch as the most powerful teenagers and pre-teens in the world made fools of themselves.

Or at least that was the plan, until he spotted Damian eying one of CM3's water balloons.

Before Jason could intervene, the balloon was already in Damian's hands and flung — directly at Tim's face. Even as a seven year old Damian had uncanny aim, and the balloon popped as it impacted with Tim's head, spilling water all over the current Robin. A silent hush fell over the entirety of Mount Justice as everyone waited for him to react to this unvoiced declaration of war.

Fuck. Jason thought as he quickly searched for cover, soon spotting a nice, empty table he could kick over. He rushed for it, and not a moment too soon because Tim had chosen to retaliate with the Christmas pudding. And just like that, a massive food fight erupted, made all the more wild by the fact that the vast majority of the party attendees had super powers. Jason slumped against the back of the table that was serving as his temporary fort, and sighed.

"Why did I want to come here again?"

Oh, Jason thought as he gazed at his father and older brother, that's why.

After the chaos at Mount Justice settled down and everyone except Secret and him were throughly drenched in water and assorted holiday foods, Red Tornado had directed the party-goers to clean up the base. When it seemed like many of them were going to bolt to avoid the responsibility, Jason got involved and threatened to call in Batman to force the issue. Upon that ultimatum, everyone capitulated to Tornado's wishes and within half an hour the place was clean, largely because Bart Allen was feeling a bit lazy with his share of the work.

Once cleanup was over, it was quickly determined that the party was over. Everyone said their goodbyes — with Damian and Jon in particular reluctant to separate, not that the former would ever admit it — and departed for home. Kon dropped them off at Amusement Mile, the same place he picked them up from, and Alfred was already there as Agent A to drive them home in the Batmobile. Damian, exhausted and yawning and deep in denial of both, was fast asleep by the time they got back to the Manor.

Which, as it turned out, was a good thing.

Upon their entry to the Bat-Cave, the three middle siblings stopped and stared at their two leaders disbelievingly. Batman and Nightwing, the original Dynamic Duo, were covered head-to-toe in bits of mistletoe and Christmas-themed paint, looking more than a little put out.

"Well, it's looks like you two had a wild night too," Jason finally said after everyone else failed to give a response, simply content to continue staring. "Let me guess: Kyle?"

Dick gave an uncharacteristic grumble. Bruce merely sighed. "I never thought there'd be a day where I'd miss having Guy Gardner as the team Lantern…" he muttered.

Guy Gardner? Why would he—oh, right, Hal Jordan hasn't killed anyone in front of him yet. "Now that's harsh. Kyle isn't that bad."

"He's young," Bruce bluntly stated, "And immature. If he didn't have so much promise I'd advocate kicking him off the team."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Give him time. I'm sure he'll shape up eventually," he said evenly, while his mind started running. Kyle in his younger years was reportedly a bit lighter than his older counterparts in the JLA, but not to this extent. He already started taking the superhero life seriously by the time he joined the team.

"Hope so," Dick snorted, "I swear, if I have to break up another fight between Roy and him over Donna — and while he's still pining over his ex-girlfriend too!"

Jason's mind screeched to a halt, and immediately handed off the sleeping Damian to Alfred, to the butler's surprise. "Ex-girlfriend?" He demanded more than asked.

"Yeah," Dick's irritation dropped in favor of confusion, "What about her?"

"What's her name?"

"Alex," Bruce said slowly, eying his son, "Alex DeWitt."

"She's alive?"

"Yes. Jason, what's going on?"

But Jason wasn't listening. Alex DeWitt was alive? How was that possible? She died literally within the first month of the beginning of Kyle's superhero career. If she was alive…

"Jason?"

"Nothing, it's nothing," Jason half-lied, "I was just…surprised."

Nobody looked like they believed him, but they still dropped the subject, which was well enough. He wasn't exactly lying after all. It could be nothing. Just another quirk of the timeline, like the changed ages and the fact that Hal Jordan was still somewhere out there as Parallax.

But something in Jason's gut told him it wasn't that simple. It rarely ever was. He couldn't do anything about it now, though.

He just hoped that when it finally came back, it wouldn't bite them too hard in the ass.

This was supposed to be a happy, fluffy chapter until the plot somehow sneaked in towards the end. That will be explained eventually, but we still have at least one major arc to go through before we get into that myth arc we've got going on.

Next chapter: More Christmas!