Jason's sleep was peaceful. By the time he woke up for morning training, he felt completely refreshed. He went into his bathroom for a quick face wash, then changed into a fresh pair of sweats and a black muscle shirt. Throwing a sports towel he had bought the previous day over his shoulder and grabbing an empty water bottle, he left his room, one destination in mind.
The Cave was empty when he got there. Perfect. He set up the mats with a quick efficiency that belied his familiarity with the routine. After that, he filled his water bottle using the cooler they kept near the designated training area, taking a small sip for taste, before setting down everything on a nearby table. With that, it was time to begin.
Jason was careful to make sure he was properly stretched. Other than that brief stint with the thug back on the night he met up with Dick, he hadn't actually had any serious exercise in a while. A regrettably necessary concession he was forced to make to ensure that Cass and Damian made it to Bruce safely.
But they were safe now. They were safe, and they'd only be safer if Jason resumed his training regimen and got himself back into peak shape. Or at least as much peak shape as this body could handle. He didn't need break it before it could reach its full potential, after all.
After he was stretched and sufficiently warmed up, Jason began to practice his katas. He started slowly, allowing his body to re-acclimate to the movements, before gradually increasing in speed with every repetition of the set. Once he felt satisfied with the set, he started practicing another, and then another. By the time anyone arrived to join him, he was just about done practicing and ready for a break.
"Boo."
"Hi, Dickiebird."
Of course, that was lost in the face of Dick Grayson. Jason took a moment to observe his older brother. He looked much better than he had the past few days. It seemed that their talk last night had done what it needed to done and smoothed over the biggest worry Dick had. There were others, Jason was certain of that, but that one in particular seemed to bog Dick down more than others.
"Nice moves there, little wing!" Dick complimented him, handing over Jason's water bottle. Jason smirked as he took a sip, noting the critical way Dick was looking at him.
"Spar?"
Dick blinked, "Are you sure? I mean, I'm fresh and you're…" He gestured to Jason's sweaty and slightly disheveled state.
Jason shrugged, "Hey, if you're not up to it—"
"No, no! I'm up to it, just let me stretch and warm up bit."
Jason did just that, watching on the sidelines as Dick took his own spot on the mats. He kept a careful eye on his brother's movements, watching that flexible body contort itself in a way that no one else in the family, not even Cass, could manage. In another life, he would've been jealous; now, he just felt nostalgic.
After Dick was done, Jason set down his water bottle and turned to join him. "Contact only?" Jason asked.
Dick nodded. "Need to go back to Bludhaven today. Nightwing hasn't been seen in a bit so the criminals might be a bit emboldened tonight."
"Right."
The two brothers began to circle each other slowly, occasionally probing each other's guards with a jab. Gradually, however, both of them began to take initiative, and soon they were exchanging blow after blow, the sound of skin slapping again skin echoed throughout the Cave. More often than not, Jason managed to surprise Dick with a move the latter didn't know he knew, forcing him to awkwardly block and concede more ground to his younger brother. On the other hand, Dick was able to play Jason's prior exhaustion against him, taking advantage of the half-seconds Jason took to breathe to land his own shots.
In the end, it was a stalemate. Jason managed to drop down and swipe Dick off his feet, but Dick managed to retaliate by catching their ankles together, forcing Jason down as well. They both landed on the mats with small splats, laughing all the while.
"Uh…" Tim, who had entered the Cave midway through the spar, stood over them. "Did I come at a bad time?"
"Nah. It's just — that's the best spar I've had in a while," Jason said, sitting up.
"Same. Some of the guys Blockbuster hires to off me are decent enough, but not like this," Dick responded as he too got up. He held out a hand to Jason. "You've gotten really badass, Jay."
"All part of the job, Dickie," Jason said as he took the hand, allowing his big brother to pull him up. "All part of the job."
He looked at Tim, who was staring at them with contemplating eyes. "Don't worry Timmy. After you've finished my training, you'll be every bit as dangerous as us," he paused as he thought that over for a minute, "Or at least close to it."
Dick smiled, "You're gonna train him, Jay?"
"I offered and he accepted," Jason smirked lazily, "He's gonna hate me by the end of it."
"Oh?"
He flickered his eyes toward their younger brother, who was suddenly looking very worried. "Let's just say that I have very high standards for my students, and leave it at that."
Damian scowled as his older brothers entered the breakfast nook. Just by looking at them, he could tell what they'd been up to. Having been denied training himself for the past couple of days, he was obviously jealous.
"Don't look at us like that, Damian," Jason said conversationally as he took his spot next to him, "You'll start your training with your father tomorrow morning."
"Wait, what?" Bruce, who had been engrossed in the morning paper, yelped in surprise. He dropped the paper to look at his second eldest in confusion.
"I've got Tim covered and you need to spend time with your new son and daughter. Training should do — Cass already has a routine and you can carry on where I left off with Damian," Jason replied as he picked up the pitcher of orange juice to pour himself a cup.
Bruce groaned. It seemed he was beginning to realize that, in acknowledging that Jason was older and more experienced, he had in turn relinquished what little authority he had left in the Manor. That should've been obvious when Jason point blank told him was going to adopt Cass, but hindsight was twenty-twenty.
"What, Bruce? Are you telling me you don't want to spend time with Damian and Cass?"
At the sight of Damian's hurt look, Bruce immediately backtracked. "No! I'd love to spend time with my newest children!"
Cass, who had been a non-participant in the entire exchange, merely blinked confusedly. Damian's hurt look faded instantly, replaced with something that resembled cat-like satisfaction.
"Thank you, Father. I assure you that your time will not be wasted," the child purred.
Bruce resisted the urge to brain himself with his plate. What had Jason taught that boy?
Dick was watching everything with glee on his face. If breakfast is going to be like this everyday, I've got to come around more often!
"Is this decaf?" Tim hissed, glaring at his cup of coffee.
"Yes," Was Jason's blunt, unforgiving response.
"Why."
"Because you're thirteen and too young to be drinking actual coffee, no matter your night job," Jason retorted with no remorse, spreading some jam on his toast, "Consider it the beginning of your training: not getting addicted to harmful substances before you're old enough to vote."
"But—"
"But nothing! Back me up here, B!"
"B has no leg to stand on—"
"Doesn't matter if he has one, he'll say it anyway—"
Seriously. This is amazing.
"Seriously, Dickie? You want to spend your last hours with us getting your ass kicked in board games?" Jason snarked as Dick took out the Monopoly set from the game closet. Dick stuck his tongue out at him.
Damian rolled his eyes. Tim, staying at the Manor due to his father being 'busy' with physical therapy, ignored all of them in favor of setting up the board. He had that manic look in his eye that reminded Jason far too much of similar nights where Tim's future self ruthlessly crushed the family in a manner eerily similar to his business rivals. And since this was Monopoly…
Hopefully, not too much blood will be spilled.
Since Cass's literacy was still basic, she and Damian were on the same team. Everyone else was on their own. This, of course, sucked for Dick, and within the first fifteen minutes of the game he was ejected out. The eldest of the Wayne children always was too kind for a game like Monopoly.
It was another fifteen minutes before Damian and Cass were eliminated. The two put up an admirable fight, but they were going against the smartest member of the family, and the man who succeeded him as CEO to Wayne Enterprises, after running a criminal empire through his shitty safehouses. Neither of them stood a chance.
The rest of the game was spent with Jason and Tim trying to bankrupt each other. It seemed Tim had not taken the idea of going on decaf well and was viciously trying to express that through the game. Jason, undeterred and unmerciful, met him combo for combo, until a particularly brilliant one from Tim finally ended the game for good.
Tim allowed himself a self-satisfied smirk before he was suddenly and unexpectedly tackled by Jason. Before he could even yelp, the older boy had his fingers ready, poking and prodding his most ticklish spots. The current Robin promptly dissolved into laughter, writhing as he tried to buck Jason off him.
He was saved by Dick, who hauled Jason away. Before Jason could even protest, he too was suddenly struck with a laughing fit of his own thanks to Dick's deft hands. Dick's mischievousness was rewarded when little Damian launched himself at his legs, no doubt seeking to take revenge for Dick's impromptu nickname for him. Soon, all of the siblings were embroiled in a playful tickle fight, courtesy of Cass taking advantage to try and do the same to Tim once again at the same time.
Alfred, carrying a tray of snacks, watched the scene from a doorway with a smile.
"Now, I expect you to call at least once every two days," Jason said seriously as Alfred prepared the car for Dick's departure. The rest of the siblings had already said their goodbyes, as had Bruce (via phone).
"What, not everyday?" Dick said jokingly as he handed the last of his bags to Alfred.
"Only because I want to give you the benefit of the doubt. However, if something big happens and you forget to call…" Jason let the threat hang in the air.
"You're such a dad," Dick huffed. Noticing how Jason twitched at the phrase, he grinned. "Anything else, dad?"
"Yeah," Jason smiled back, just as sweetly. "Hey, Alfred! Dick's been living off of cereal and takeout ever since he moved to Bludhaven!"
Dick paled as a dark, foreboding presence made itself known behind him. Jason took advantage with a quick hug and a laugh, leaving his older brother to the tender mercies of their enraged butler.
"Jason, we need to talk," Bruce said seriously. Jason raised an eyebrow.
It was just after dinner. Dick had left hours ago, as had Tim, needing to check in with his father. That just left Jason, Cass, and Damian to dine with Bruce, along with the ever-present Alfred occasionally appearing to help them refill their glasses and clean up after them. The meal had started out silently until Damian made another complaint about having to go to grade school, which Jason quickly rebuked. It had dissolved into an argument that saw both boys demanding Bruce take their side. Bruce, thankfully for him, had been saved by Alfred's announcement of dessert, which everyone was distracted by because of Alfred's godly baking skills.
"Sure. The study?"
Rather than answer, Bruce simply turned around. Jason followed him without complaint, and like he intuited, they were seated in Bruce's study. Instead of the couches, Bruce opted to sit at his desk, gesturing for his son to sit in one of the chairs located in the front. Jason sighed and acquiesced, already having an inkling about what this was.
"Jason," Bruce rumbled tiredly, "You can't keep making decisions for me like that."
Jason rested his elbows on the armrests, lifting a hand to carry his chin, "I know. But you don't know where to start, so I figured I'd give you a leg up."
Bruce exhaled. Of course. "Even so, we need to talk about these decisions first. I haven't protested anything you've said before, because I agree with all of your initiatives. But that won't always be the case. So please, discuss with me first before you tell anyone else?"
"Fine, fine," Jason waved him off, sighing. "I guess that's for the best. It's just…I'm used to being the one having the final say. It's hard to remember that I'm no longer the master of the house anymore."
"Right. The house was officially yours after…" Bruce refused to speak another word.
"Mmm," Jason hummed, "I'm having difficulty remembering that I don't sleep in your chambers anymore. And I keep on thinking of my room as Terry's."
"Terry?"
"Terry McGinnis. My third Robin." Jason paused. "My son. Not biologically, but…that's what he was. Both in the eyes of the law, and to me."
Bruce trembled, pursing his mouth into a thin line. Jason's son. Another of Bruce's grandchildren.
Grandchildren. At least three, judging by Jason's comment about Terry being his third Robin. Bruce knew, intellectually, that he might someday have some with the many children that he kept adopting into his family. Jason's situation, however, made that thought into a reality, and Bruce simply had no idea how to deal with that.
It was a reminder. Bruce had been so focused on the tragedies of Jason's future that he forgot that they're might be good in it as well. The first of hint of it was when Jason mentioned Carrie, and Bruce hadn't been in a state to really comprehend what her existence meant at the time. But now, he was struck with an overwhelming sense of curiosity. The bad might be important, but so was the good.
"Tell me about them."
"Who?"
"Your Robins." Your children.
"Oh," and now there was hesitation in Jason's eyes. Something unreadable that made Bruce feel queasy inside.
"Well, you know about Carrie. How she found myself into my care. I eventually ended up officially adopting her after her parents died in a car accident when she was sixteen. She ended up inheriting my diner and expanding it into a famous and successful franchise," Jason smiled wistfully, "My sweet Carrie."
"And as a vigilante?"
"First she became the fourth Batgirl, and then after the second Batwoman retired she took up that mantle."
Bruce blinked. "Batwoman?"
Jason grinned. "I suggest you keep an eye on your cousin Kate. She'll be mighty interesting in a year or two."
"Huh," Kate, a vigilante? She certainly had the skills, but what would motivate her to follow his footsteps? Bruce shook his head; he could worry about that later. "Alright, so Carrie became Batwoman. What about your second Robin? I know you had at least three."
"Four, technically, though the fourth only spent one night as my partner before I officially passed the Batman mantle on. As for the second Robin…" Jason inhaled deeply, "Her name was Helena. Helena Magdalene Wayne."
The name didn't seem to ring with Bruce. He simply blinked a bit. Jason frowned before nearly palming himself in the face. Of course! Bruce was operating under the assumption that Helena had simply taken the Wayne name upon adoption. Jason was tempted to let himself labor under that notion, before dismissing it; he was already hiding enough as it was.
"Helena Kyle-Wayne."
And there it was. The widening of the eyes, the slacking of the jaw.
"She was conceived a month before your death, during the last night you and Selina spent together. After you died," Jason rubbed his forehead, "Selina quit the game for good. Fenced all her remaining goods, then fled Gotham under an assumed name. Didn't tell anyone about Helena, though I think someone in the family figured it out and helped her leave, then covered her tracks so the rest of us wouldn't find out about them. From what I understand she intended for Helena to live a completely normal life, away from all this. And she managed that for about ten years."
"What changed?" Bruce asked quietly, a little hoarse. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Selina didn't abandon their daughter by choice.
Their daughter. Their daughter. Bruce thought he might be sick, and pushed it down. Another child he had left behind.
"Black Mask," Jason said grimly, "Or, to be more specific, a son of his that took on the name, since the original died in a gang war that sprung up during Dick's tenure as Batman. He tried to get Selina to work for him, she refused because she was retired, he didn't like that, you know the drill. Selina had to flee with Helena; they ended up going back to Gotham because I was their best shot at help. Unfortunately, Black Mask found them and they were forced to separate. Before they did, Selina told Helena to find me — as Jason Todd-Wayne, not Batman — and to tell me that 'Cat' was her mother. She said I would know what to do after that."
"Did she make it?" Bruce asked eagerly, hands clenching at the thought of another child of his being in danger. It seemed the stress of finding out he had another child had made him forget that Helena had to have made it, considering she had become the second Robin.
"Of course she did," Jason snorted, as if the very thought of otherwise was a massive joke to him, "She's your daughter, Bruce. Yours and Selina's. She was by far the most clever of my Robins, reminded me of Tim more often than not."
Tim. She reminded Jason of Tim. Good. Until Jason's return, Bruce could safely say that Tim was the most responsible and sensible of his sons. He still arguably had the title, regardless of Jason's experience and wisdom pushing him pretty far in the running.
"After Alfred died, I never bothered to hire anyone to replace him. I just did my own cooking and had a cleaning staff visit once a week to handle the Manor. After all, until Carrie moved in I was the only person living there. Helena managed to figure out the agency I used and secretly hitched a ride on one of their vans. Then she hid herself in the bushes until they left — couldn't risk the possibility of one Black Mask's men seeing her, and one of the staff could've very well have been in his pocket. Once they were gone, she rung the doorbell," a tender look flashed onto his face, "One look at her on my doorstep, and I knew."
Jason saw the faces of his family in his dreams every night, and their reflections in his three middle children everyday. Helena had Selina's green eyes, but her complexion, the shape of her face — she was all Bruce. She looked a hell of a lot like Damian too, just with lighter skin. Detective skills or no, Jason would have to been a fool not to figure out whose daughter she was. It was a feeling that would be echoed when he found Terry and Matty ten years later. The blood tests only confirmed what he already knew.
"And Selina?"
Jason shook his head. Bruce grit his teeth. Another casualty. Another person he cared for that suffered because of him. And because of it, his daughter was an orphan who only had her siblings to care for her.
"I buried her next to you. And then I burned Black Mask's organization to the ground. Before I died, he was still in Blackgate under maximum security, with no chance of parole."
"Good." He deserved worse, but Bruce believed in justice, not vengeance. Anything more than what the law allowed would be exactly that. "After that, you took in Helena."
Jason nodded. "It was either me or Cass, but it was quickly decided I would be the better option. Cass was living on her own in Bludhaven, while I had Carrie with me to help out, along with the rest of the family," He smiled softly, "You would've loved her Bruce. She was brilliant. Could be a little cold, but her heart was always in the right place. I handed off control of Wayne Enterprises to her after I was diagnosed, and the company was absolutely thriving under her."
Bruce peered at him thoughtfully. "You loved her a lot."
"She might have been yours, Bruce, but she was my daughter too," Jason simply answered in return.
His father went silent for a moment. "And as a vigilante?" It seemed he didn't want pursue that line of thought, the idea of his son having to treat his daughter as his granddaughter. While he was glad his children had each other, that they shared such a close bond, it should have never been Jason's responsibility. It should have been his, and Bruce tried to squash the brief flare of envy he felt. Jason was the last person he needed to be jealous of.
"After she finished up her tenure as Robin, she took a break for college. While she was at college she went under some training with Helena Bertinelli, and adopted the Huntress identity in honor of her," upon the alarm on Bruce's face, Jason continued, "And no, she didn't start killing. She was tempted, like all of us are, but I impressed upon her how dangerous that mindset could be and she came to accept the Rule for her own reasons."
Bruce let out a sigh of relief. "Great. That's…great." Clearly, the idea of any of his children becoming murderers was haunting to him, as much as it was to Jason. Jason felt a pang of guilt when he thought of his days as the Red Hood. They still hadn't talked about that.
"And what of your third Robin? Terry McGinnis?"
Jason's breath hitched. Here was the hard one. "Terry…I adopted Terry and his brother Matthew together. Matty was the fourth Robin I was talking about. Their parents were murdered a few weeks before I met them, and instead of risking social services separating them, they ran off to the streets instead. I found Terry trying to jack the hydrogen fuel rods of the Batmobile. When I tried to talk to him, Matty attacked me with a wrench," Jason shook his head, "It was all very nostalgic."
Bruce rubbed his arms. The parallels weren't lost on him either.
"That's not why I took them in though. At least, not entirely," not for the first time, Jason hesitated, though in the instance he looked genuinely distressed. Afraid, almost. Bruce didn't like the sight of it.
"What is it, Jay-lad? Anything you say, I can take."
Jason chuckled hollowly. "I wouldn't say that Bruce. This…this is big."
"Jason." Bruce was firm. He needed to be, for Jason's sake.
"…They're your sons too. Genetically, I mean."
Silence.
"What," Bruce whispered, angry and disbelieving. He could do the math — those boys had to be born years after his death. It should be literally impossible for him to have sired any more children after Helena. Except, "Genetically, you said?"
"Talia, again," Jason paused, "Except not really. Talia…Talia took your death hard. After Damian's, though, she cut herself off from Gotham entirely. Only made contact with me when she had intel she felt I needed to know. But this? This was beyond even her."
"How so?" Very few things were beyond Talia al Ghul, after all.
"…After Amanda Waller died, she was succeeded by a woman named Lyla Michaels. Michaels was every bit as cutthroat as Waller, but twice as power hungry. So she devised something called 'Project Batman Beyond'. She wanted a piece of the superhero pie, you see, and thought that the Bats were her best bet."
Bruce could see why. While he was far from the strongest superhero, he was among the smartest and most well-connected. Every hero in the world looked to him or to members of his family to lead them, advise them, inform them, aid them. If the superhero community could be equated to the human body, then his family would be the backbone, or the brains — without them, the community could quite easily fall into disarray.
"Talia still had samples of your DNA, though I'm not sure if she realized it at the time. Michaels sent in her iteration of Task Force X to steal them, and then assimilated it into a mutagen that would overwrite the reproductive DNA of the subject with yours, essentially making any children the subject had genetically yours."
"She planned to replace you with her own Batman. One with the my DNA," Bruce surmised immediately. Jason nodded.
"At the time, the only possible successor I had was a female Robin. With my next Robin posed to be female, she'd figure that having her own Batman to take the job when the time was right would be cinch," Jason said tiredly.
It was natural, after all, to assume that Batman had to be a man. It was possible to have a woman take up the mantle and fake being male, but why bother with the difficulty when you could easily have a male successor instead? Especially when the Batwoman mantle existed? Jason could see the reasoning, even though he didn't agree with it. After all, one of the reasons why Terry ended up being Batman was because neither of his older sisters wanted it for themselves.
Hell, one of the reasons Jason ended up Batman was because Cass hadn't wanted it either. At one time in her life, she had, but then she made her own identity and found herself more comfortable with that. Jason might've been bitter about it, had Dick not shown him what putting an unwilling person under the Cowl could do to them. Then he was just grateful his sister managed to escape it.
"The plan was simple — she'd inject the mutagen into the male partner of a normal, suburban middle class-couple. Then, when the child was the appropriate age, she'd have that couple murdered in front of the child, mimicking the death of your parents and putting that child on the same path as you that led to you becoming Batman. At which point she would reveal herself, take the child in, and raise them to be her own personal Batman. Warren and Mary McGinnis were the 'lucky' couple, and they were murdered when Terry was ten and Matty was four."
"Unfortunately for Michaels, Talia found out, and she did not take it well. The years without you and Damian caused her to develop a bit of a conscious, and the thought of Michaels having control over our legacy abhorred her. So, she murdered Michaels and the assassin she sent to kill Terry and Matty's parents, then arranged it so they would meet me," Jason's eyes lid over, lost in memories, "When I saw Terry that first time, I froze. He looked like Damian, just with blue eyes and a lighter skin tone. I knew in my gut that something was up, so I took him and Matty home. Fed them food, and while they were sleeping, did a paternity test. Boom. Had two new siblings that I would have to raise as my kids, just like Helena."
Bruce winced. Three. Three children that he wasn't there for, that his own son had to raise. It didn't matter that Jason was a fully-grown adult by the time they came into his care — they should've never been his responsibility. They should've been Bruce's.
But he wasn't there. He was dead, and Jason and Cass, they had to pick up the pieces of what was left.
"I didn't tell them, of course. There was no easy way to tell them, especially since it was the cause of their parents' deaths. Instead, I adopted them both into the family as my sons, and had Babs fudge their records so no one would learn they were biologically yours. Helena had already moved on from the Robin mantle at that point, and once Terry learned who I was, he demanded to be the next one. Six months later, he started his training. About a year or so after that, I had a new Robin."
"I'm surprised you let that happen, considering his origins."
Jason snorted. "'Let?' Bruce, I didn't 'let' them be Robin. They twisted my arm into it. Carrie wouldn't take no for an answer and then she saved my life, so I had no choice but to teach her. With Helena I liked the idea even less, and said no until she somehow hacked into the Bat-Computer and forced it to play that stupid Lego Batman song ad nauseum until I said yes."
Beneath his breath, he muttered something that suspiciously sounded like 'knew letting Tim mix that together was gonna come back to haunt me'. Bruce thought Jason's statement over, but his mind refused to connect the words 'Lego' and 'Batman' together. Instead, he tried to get the conversation back on track.
"Jason. What about Terry?" He didn't capitulate too easily with that one, did he?
"Terry? Terry I resisted most of all. He ended up dismantling all the models of the Batmobile in the Cave right before I was about to go on patrol to make me finally give in," He shook his head, "I didn't even bother with Matty after that one, especially after he managed to outsmart a bunch of thugs who broke into the Manor during one of Gotham's crises back when he was only seven. One look at him and I knew it wouldn't be worth the effort."
His children were the most infuriating people in the world, Jason was certain.
…I miss them. So much. Jason didn't allow himself to linger any longer than that. This was not the time for another breakdown.
"I didn't want there to be another Robin after Damian," Jason continued on, "Honestly, I think it should've stopped after what happened to me," Bruce cringed, "But I can't argue with what Tim did once I got my head out of my ass and looked at things objectively. He was keeping you sane, and I couldn't begrudge anyone that. And Damian? Damian needed Robin like the rest of us. It was the only way we were able to skew his morality back to something conventional. But after Damian, that should've been it. I wanted this legacy to die with me and Cass, Bruce. It had already cost our family enough."
"But they thought otherwise, and in the end it was either give on or let them go out on their own, without proper training, and get killed. When it was like that, there was no choice at all. Then my worries became about keeping them on the right path. With Carrie, there wasn't much to be concerned, and Helena could be vengeful but she was able to contain herself easily enough once she stopped herself and thought things through. But with Terry…Terry scared me Bruce. Like I scared you. Like we all scared you."
The current Batman inhaled deeply. "Jason—"
"Don't deny it, B. That other you and I, we already talked about it. I came to terms with it a long time ago, though I didn't really understand it until I met Terry," Jason grimaced at the memory, "He was a good kid. Kind, compassionate, always trying to do the right thing. But there was so much anger in him. Not the explosive kind, but the frustrating kind. The kind of anger that builds up when things don't go your way, when you see injustices go unpunished. The kind of anger that I had when I was his age, that I still have, to be honest," Jason met Bruce's eyes, "The kind of anger you deal with everyday."
Bruce looked down. One of the downsides of having someone understand you so completely is that they tended to dredge up things you'd rather ignore.
"It should have been obvious that it would be there. Michaels succeeded in recreating your tragedy with him, and I never told him the full truth of the matter. I just said that the murderer of his parents had been brought to justice, and that was never quite as satisfying to him, since it wasn't him or Matty who threw the book at them."
That sounded familiar too. That sounded way, way too familiar. Bruce could see why Jason was so scared, so afraid, for this brother that he considered a son. If he had been in Jason's position, he would have felt the same.
"As he got older, he got rougher. More vicious. Gotham was safer, sure, but crooks still got off the hook, or at least lighter than they should have. He never liked that, and he was a lot more expressive about it," Jason's hands shook, "He rarely showed any regret or empathy when a criminal did themselves in. Just wrote it off, like I used to. And as that went on, I…I wondered what it would take, to push him over the edge. To finally break the Rule."
"I crossed that line a long time ago," he second son confessed, "And it was only because of our family, of their determination, of their love for me and my love for them, that I was able to pull back. That I was able to stop. But I was still tempted, every single day, and it only got worse when I became Batman. I managed, but every time I looked at Terry, I wonder if he could too. And as he got older, my nightmares began to change. Memories of my time as the Red Hood, except with Terry as me…and me as you."
"It was a stupid fear, in the end. All three of us, we shared that anger, but I wasn't you, and Terry wasn't me. We were different people that lived fundamentally different lives. No matter the similarities, there were more than enough differences to divorce us from that possibility. But I was still scared," Jason crossed his arms, rubbing them consciously, "So I trained him as twice as hard as I did Carrie and Helena. Kept him on a shorter leash, not so short that he would notice and complain, but short enough that I could keep an eye on him. Because as much as I was scared, I loved him. Losing him would've killed me, Bruce." Like losing me killed you.
"Eventually, however, he rebelled. He went off on his own. He got hurt. And I almost benched him for good. Cass had to talk sense into me after that, so I was about to give him back Robin with another crisis struck. And he…" Jason trailed off.
"He what?" Bruce asked, worried.
To his surprise, a wide, genuine smile crossed Jason's face. "…I was in a bind. About to die, really. So he stole back the Robin suit and saved my life. The things he did that day — you would've been so proud of him Bruce. Like I was. On that day, it wasn't just me I saw when I looked at him. I saw Damian, Tim, Dick." Jason's voice hitched. "You. And when I saw you…I knew."
I knew. Bruce felt it in his bones what Jason meant by that phrase. "He was your successor, wasn't he?"
Jason paused. "I had talked to Carrie and Helena about it years ago. Neither of them wanted it, and I wasn't going to force them. You and I both know what Batman does to you, and forcing it on someone who can't handle it, who truly doesn't want it, never ends well. I only managed because I was too stubborn to let it break me."
"But Terry…Terry could handle it. He wasn't as smart as Helena, and he didn't have Carrie's idealism. But he had that strong sense of justice, that sheer, unyielding determination. He wouldn't bend for anyone or anything. Any doubts I had were gone after the incident, when he started calming down. If any one of my children could handle being Batman, it was him."
"I was gonna wait until he was older. Until he was at least twenty-one and had a few years as a solo crimefighter under his belt before I made the offer. I wasn't going to force him. But then the diagnosis came in, and as much as I was a father, I was also Batman. And for Batman," and this, Jason spoke bitterly, "Gotham always comes first."
"So, after he fully completed his training, I showed him the suit, and told him it was his if he wanted it. And he accepted."
"How old was he?"
"…Seventeen."
Seventeen. That was far, far too young, no matter how well Jason trained the boy. He should've asked Carrie or Helena again, convinced one of them to do it—
You and I both know what Batman does to you, and forcing it on someone who can't handle it never ends well.
Jason was speaking from experience. Everything he spoke of nowadays, when it came to matters like this, always came from experience. He could've been talking about Jean-Paul Valley, but while Jason might be aware of that situation, Bruce had a sinking feeling that it wasn't that particular mess his second son was talking about. Nor could it be Jason himself; against all odds, Jason had lasted over twenty years as Batman and by his general accounts, had done an admirable job. Training four Robins, keeping them alive (something that Bruce failed to do), was proof enough of that. So who was it?
And suddenly, Bruce remembered that Jason was the third Batman. That there had been another Batman before him. The second Batman. Dick.
Dick, who loved life, loved people, and thrived in the light.
Dick, who was eldest, who was his self-admitted favorite, who had been the most talented of his sons. At least, as far as crime-fighting went.
Dick, who, at one point, Bruce thought was the only one capable of succeeding him.
Dick, who had died.
Bruce was struck with the feeling that there was more to Dick's time as Batman than merely dying in a suicide run against Brainiac. It could never be that simple. Not with his children.
He didn't want to know. Not yet. They could table that discussion later. Dick was still breathing, after all. And if Bruce had it his way, he, and the rest of his children, would remain breathing for a very long time.
"B?"
He needed to get his head screwed back on. He was still in the midst of a conversation. "I see."
Jason peered at him, no confusion, just understanding. It was almost clairvoyant, really, how easily Jason could read his thoughts.
"You have another grandchild too. On that isn't technically one of my siblings."
Bruce perked up, all dark thoughts lost in the wake of that announcement. "Besides Carrie?"
Jason nodded, smiling. "Her name was Penelope. I didn't know about her until she was ten, there were some…circumstances about her birth that prevented her mother from letting her meet me earlier. I suppose I should've been angry about that, but honestly, I was just happy I got to spend time with her at all."
"Who was her mother?"
"…Artemis of Bana-Mighdall."
Blinking, Bruce leveled a deadpan look at his son. "You sired a child with an Amazon?"
Jason winced.
Bruce sighed, rubbing his temples. "Did you love her?" He asked softly.
"I did." Jason admitted. "She was my first love. But Artemis, she never quite belonged in Man's World. And as much as I loved her, my heart will always be here in Gotham. It's a little like what you have with Selina, just without the criminal element. Eventually though, we decided we were better off as friends."
And there was that name again.
"…Jason, about Selina—"
"That's for you to decide Bruce, not me," Jason said wearily, cutting him off. "I'm going to tell you what I'm going to tell Dick when he inevitably asks the same thing: I'll tell you who you should avoid, but that's it. I'm not going to tell you who you should be with. Your heart is your heart, and only you know it, not me."
"But what about Helena?" Bruce, certainly, could not forget about that. A daughter, his daughter…
Jason diverted his eyes. "Helena…Helena would understand. The timeline is always changing, Bruce. The future I came from no longer exists, at least not in this universe. It stopped existing the moment I burst out of the Pit with decades of memories that had yet to come. So — Que sera, sera."
"'Whatever will be, will be,'" Bruce translated faintly, exhaling. "…Can you at least tell me how it went for us? In that future of yours?"
Jason opened his mouth, licked his lips. "You continued the game for a while, until — well, until she helped you out with something. Something big. And it was finally enough for you to take the plunge. You asked her to marry you. And she said yes."
Bruce's breath hitched, and he jerked forward. He needed to hear more.
"You made it to the altar. You made it there…" And here, Jason shook his head, "And she left you at it."
"…Oh." Why.
"You two loved each other Bruce. You were the loves of each other's lives. But your relationship," Jason's voice was somewhere between sadness and exasperation now, "Revolved around that game you two played. The Bat and the Cat, chasing each other around Gotham's rooftops. In the end, you two didn't know where you'd stand without being Batman and Catwoman, and both of you were too scared to try and find out."
There was resignation, now. "That's always been a consistent theme with superheroes, and with Bats especially. Always too scared to let yourselves be happy, because you think it won't last," Jason snorted, "Of course it won't last. Nothing lasts. It just comes and goes, and all you can do is hold onto it as tightly as possible when it's there."
Bruce's hand trembled, and he eyed his son with something akin to sorrow. For Jason or for something else, Jason couldn't tell.
"Look," Jason cut him off before he could say anything, "If you want a relationship with Selina, if you want it to work, then you two need to work on being Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle first, not Batman and Catwoman. Or else any relationship you might have had isn't going anywhere."
The room quietened.
"Thank you, Jason. Your words were…enlightening." And terrifying.
"Just try not to brood over it too much. At least not on patrol," With that, Jason stood up, "I'm done for tonight. We'll talk again tomorrow, if you want."
"That's fine."
"Great. 'Night, B."
"Goodnight, Jason."
Bruce watched his son leave his study, and then slumped into his chair. Every time Jason talked about the future, he was torn between wanting to know more and wishing for his son to stop. And it seemed that wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
The joys of superhero parenthood, Bruce thought derisively, said no one ever.
The first part of the chapter is filler, but the second part seems interesting enough. Bruce finally gets to learn about his other children and brood about that. Jason finally gets to talk about his children and gets some more things off his chest. It's a win-lose-win situation!
And thus, we get to see what Jason has become at his core: a family man. Jason completely adores his children, and they were the great joy of his life. That being said, he really didn't want them to be vigilantes but they forced his hand anyway. When Helena took that break for college, you should've seen him — he looked ready to throw a party. He was hoping that college would convince her to give up vigilantism entirely but alas, Selina's murder made her devoted to taking down the mob in its entirety, and while Gotham became a much better city under Jason, he wasn't able to stamp out all crime before he died.
I had Carrie Kelley's parents die via car crash because I wanted to show that not all the tragedy the Bats had to go through was related to vigilantism. Jason's lung cancer, Alfred's death, and the death of Carrie's parents all showcase that. Their car crash wasn't caused by some villain attack or anything like that — it was just an accident, like any other car accident that happens everyday. It's one of the reasons for Jason's speech in the last chapter; he's come to accept that tragedy sometimes happens and we have to accept it.
Then there's the Terry/Matty situation. Bruce is obviously having a freak out over being sorta violated like that, but obviously it's not anyone else's fault except Lyla Michaels. Jason himself, while he loved Terry and Matty as much as his daughters, had a bit of a more rockier relationship with Terry than any of his children. While his concerns were valid, he was projecting a bit of himself on Terry when he started imagining Terry as the Red Hood. And as for what exactly Terry did to earn Jason's ardent belief that he should be Batman — well, we'll cover that eventually.
Next chapter is more plotty. It'll introduce Babs, and then we'll have a look at Tim's training!