"WHAT TOMFOOLERY IS THIS!?"
"Good morning, Damian," Jason greeted his youngest sibling genially, "I see you've found today's edition of the Gotham Gazette."
"Who is this Vale woman? I shall have her head!" Damian brandished a fork threateningly for good measure.
"One of Dad's exes. An embittered gossip columnist that loses a bit of her soul every time she has to report about one of his latest flings," Jason took a sip of his orange juice and gave Damian the stink eye, "So drop the fork, Damian. She isn't worth the jail time."
"But—The things she said—My mother—!"
"Damian."
The family's demon child had become increasingly more irritable the past week. It was to be expected, really; he had completely failed to convince his father to not enroll him in grade school (mostly because one look at Jason told Bruce that if he tried he'd pay for it dearly), and the start date for Gotham Academy's school year was approaching. Bruce and Tim had finished up creating legal trails for Damian and Cass just in time for enrollment, and now the former was about to join Gotham's elite for education that he probably didn't need.
He wouldn't be going alone. While Cass had managed to get out of it due to her literacy deficiencies and was instead waiting for a speech therapist that passed Bruce's vetting, Tim had been enrolled in her place. Mostly because of Jason dropping hints and Tim talking it over with his dad. Since the Drake fortune was still, well, a fortune, it had been easy for him to acquire admission as well. This was wonderful, because a girl named Stephanie Brown (who just so happened to win a random contest for a Gotham Academy scholarship that she had no idea she partook in) was in the same grade as him. And the same class.
And a few years behind them was a boy named Duke Thomas, who happened to share the same lunch and recess block as Damian. Duke also happened to have won a random contest for a Gotham Academy scholarship that he had no idea he partook in. How fortuitous for him.
(Jason always did like pulling the strings more than he cared to admit.)
Later that night, Jason entered the Cave and turned on the Computer. Using his new clearance level, he accessed a certain file. Reading its contents, he let out a low whistle.
"Jason," the aforementioned second Robin turned around to see Bruce entering the cave, no doubt to prepare for patrol, "What are you—Oh."
Jason raised an eyebrow.
"I take it these backfire too?"
"Ra's used Talia to access them. He then used them to subdue the League while he continued with his then plot: a recreation of the Tower of Babel. It worked out in the end, but the League's trust in you was broken, so they held a vote to see if they would keep you in."
Bruce sighed. "Let me guess: I left instead because I knew Clark would never let me stay on the team after that."
"Got it in one. You then made this computer program that screwed everyone over even more, so…" Jason hit the delete button, watching gleefully as the file was erased from existence. "Gotta admit, though, these aren't nearly as cruel as the ones Ra's used. I wonder why…"
"These were probably preliminary designs," Bruce replied, "Something must have happened to cause me to increase their intensity and complexity. Ever since Jordan went missing—"
Jason froze. "Hal Jordan is missing?" That wasn't in the files Talia gave him. If his memory of the timeline was correct, Hal Jordan should be dead and the Spectre already.
"Well, yes. Ever since Coast City was destroyed months ago, he's nowhere to be seen. Kyle Rayner, who I assume you've heard of if not met, is the Earth's newest Green Lantern, but for whatever reason the Corps hasn't made the effort to properly train him," Bruce paused when he noticed Jason didn't seem to be listening, instead burying his head in his hands, "Jason?"
"Fuck fuck fuck! Why is this timeline so blown to fucking hell?"
"Jason!?" Bruce was aghast at the language. And the probable disaster his son was alluding to. Mostly that, but the language was pretty bad too.
"The Corps hasn't properly trained Rayner because the Corps no longer exists, Bruce," Jason answered instead, looking very stressed, "They're currently in stasis after Hal Jordan attacked them in his grief to try and take energy from the Central Power Battery on Oa in order to reverse Coast City's destruction. Hal himself is currently possessed by the fear entity that was imprisoned inside the battery, and calling himself by its name: Parallax."
Silence.
"…What."
"Goddamn it all to fucking hell," Jason swore, "Even if we do manage to find Jordan wherever he is in the time stream, Rayner is too much of a fucking rookie right now to get Parallax out of him. And without the Central Power Battery, there's no way we can imprison it anyway."
"Jason!" Bruce was up to his wits' end, "Focus!"
"Right, right, sorry," Jason sighed.
Bruce rubbed his forehead, "It's okay. Now what's this about Jordan being possessed?"
A week after that disastrous talk, where Jason found his workload doubled thanks to how utterly screwed the timeline was, he was finally legally revived. He was surprised it was finished so quickly after Cass' adoption and Damian's transfer of custody, and suspected that Bruce took advantage of Gotham's corruption for once to push it through. Of course, considering how Jason had done very much the same to get work done when he was Batman, he was in no position to judge.
Therefore, poor Damian was accosted during his first day at school by the press, who had camped themselves outside the premises of Gotham Academy just to hassle him. Not helping the matter was Jason, who had taken the initiative to be there for Damian's first day at school alongside Bruce and Alfred. Jason had to rush him through the gates while Bruce distracted the reporters. The last thing they needed was the youngest member of the family actually talking to one of the vultures and leaving an unfortunate soundbite that would inconvenience Wayne Enterprises' PR team. They already had enough work wrangling Brucie's antics, no need to pile more on them.
Thankfully, it seemed Damian himself had realized that judging by the conspicuous lack of behavior complaints (a marked difference from when Damian first started attending school in Jason's timeline). No doubt, part of that success was due to the cultural primer Jason had given him once his enrollment at Gotham Academy was confirmed. Combined with the acting lessons that Jason had given him during their month and a half stay with the All-Caste, it would be literal child's play for a someone of Damian's abilities to blend in with his classmates. If slightly infuriating, but he'd get over it. Eventually.
Once he confirmed that Damian would fit right in with the school, and rearranged Tim's training schedule to fit with his new lack of free time, Jason turned his attention to getting a driver's license. He was fairly certain there was some kind of moratorium on a recently legally revived person getting a license (especially for someone who was still a minor), but since this was Gotham and Jason was rich, that moratorium didn't apply. Which was great, because that meant he could use that newly-minted license to visit Dick in Bludhaven.
Not to say that Dick hadn't been visiting more lately. It seemed he spent every off day he had at the Mansion, which admittedly wasn't a lot but was still much more frequently than he did recent years, judging by what Alfred told him. But that didn't stop Jason from missing him or wanting to see him, especially with Blockbuster still on his case. Hopefully the evidence he was gathering for Dick would be able to put an end to him before he could go any farther.
Just the thought of what Blockbuster and that bitch Flores did to his older brother made his teeth grind. God, just knowing they were both breathing again made him want to break the Rule just so he could put them both back into the ground. And that Dick didn't bother to tell anyone, that he didn't trust his own family to help, to understand…another reminder that while Dick might've glittered, he'd hardly been golden, no matter what Jason called him.
Jason had only known any of it because of a bender he'd gone on with Dick after Wally died. With Roy having died only three years prior, it had brought up some bad memories, and losing another best friend, his closest friend in fact, was close to pushing Dick over the edge. Losing Bruce, becoming Batman, Babs and him ending things for good, all of it was taking its toll, and Jason couldn't just stand by and watch. So he stayed and he drank and he listened.
It had been an enlightening talk. The things Dick told him that night, Jason was certain he hadn't told anyone else. While their relationship had already been mended for several years by that point, the words they spoke in that one conversation had brought them closer together than ever before. After that, Dick made his trust in Jason more evident, often leaving Gotham in his care while he was busy with the Justice League.
They may not have always had the best relationship, but Dick was Jason's older brother and they loved each other. There was not a moment where he didn't miss Dick as much as he did Tim or Damian or even Bruce. And if he could just spare Dick this tragedy and all the pain with it, then this, all of this, would be worth it.
Jason wanted his family to be happy. To live.
Nothing else mattered in the face of that.
"Boo," Jason held up a hand in greeting as the door opened.
"Jay!" Dick exclaimed exuberantly as he pulled his younger brother into a hug. "You didn't call!"
"It was an impromptu thing. A celebration for getting my license," Jason paused, then added, "And to get away from Gotham. I envy how easily you've managed to avoid the press here."
Dick shrugged, "It's not my fault they're looking for Richie Wayne and not Dick Grayson."
"Ah, yes, the old last name switcheroo," Jason shook his head, "Daily Planet, the Gotham Gazette is not."
"Indeed," Dick chuckled, "Come on in. I was just about to eat."
"I'm telling Alfred," Jason stated bluntly even as he took another slice of pizza and chomped on it eagerly.
"Dammit little wing, must you be a tattletale?" Dick grumbled.
Jason thought that over for a moment. "…Yes," he decided, ignoring the glare Dick shot him. "Don't look at me like that, I want you eating healthy, he wants you eating healthy, you'll listen to him more than me — it's not rocket science, Dickie."
"You're so mean, little brother."
"Really? That's the best you could come up with?"
Dick pouted.
Jason shook his head, "How anyone believes you're this suave ladies man, I'll never know. You're such a man-child."
His older brother let out a small smirk, "Hey, it's not my fault the ladies can't resist the old Grayson Charm."
The former Batman gave his predecessor an unimpressed look. "Right. The 'Grayson Charm'," Jason snorted.
Dick huffed, then adopted a sly smile. "Speaking of ladies, you had to have dated quite a few in your timeline, Jay."
"Dick," Jason groaned. Clearly this was not a topic he wanted to cover.
"C'mon! I won't judge."
Jason stared at him, let out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. Yes, I there were some women that caught my eye. However, I've only ever been in two serious relationships."
"Oh? Who were they with?" Dick looked like a gossipy hen, which was taking Jason everything he had to ignore. For all his faults, Jason knew that his older brother wouldn't say anything to anyone else without his consent. At least, not for something like this.
"Well, the first was with Artemis of Bana-Mighdall—"
"That crazy Amazon the temporarily replaced Diana?" Dick interrupted, eyes wide.
Jason cleared his throat. "…Yeah?" He said awkwardly.
"Wow, little wing, you aim high."
"This coming from the guy who almost married an alien princess who also doubled as a supermodel?"
Dick paused, before nodding nonchalantly. "Valid point. Continue."
"Right, well, my first relationship was with Artemis. She and I met by chance — she was chasing down this magical bow that was stolen from her homeland and tracked it down to Gotham, where it had supposedly fallen into the hands of Black Mask. I was working a case on Black Mask at the time, she and I clashed, and after it was all over I offered to help her find the bow. Things just grew from there."
"How so?" Dick asked curiously, leaning forward slightly, eagerly.
Jason's expression turned wistful and nostalgic. "I loved her Dick. To be honest, I think I loved her from the moment I first saw her. She never took shit from me, and there was a strength to her that was different from any other woman I've ever known. For a time, I even thought I was going to marry her one day."
Dick tilted his head, face somber. "I take it that didn't happen?"
"No," Jason's own face saddened, though there was a certain acceptance to it, "Artemis was never meant to stay in Man's World, Dick. She belonged with her sisters, and I belonged with my family, in Gotham. What we had, it was never going to last. We remained on-and-off for several years, before finally calling it off for good when I was forty. By that point, we were more friends than lovers, so the split was a formality," He shrugged, "Maybe that's why she felt it was okay to keep Penelope away from me."
"Penelope?"
"Our daughter," Jason revealed, shocking Dick. "She was conceived during the last nights Artemis and I spent together. Her mother gave birth to her on Themyscira and raised her there. I didn't even know about Penelope until Artemis brought her to meet me after my diagnosis."
"That must have been surprising," Dick paused, "Were you angry?" He asked, tone gentle.
Jason shrugged tiredly, "I suppose under different circumstances I would've been. But I was dying and my body was weakening by the day, Dick. I didn't have the energy to be angry at her; I was just happy to meet Penelope. Had my will rewritten on the spot so she could inherit her portion of the Wayne fortune. It helped that Artemis and her stayed with me at the Manor until I finally kicked it, so I got to spend at least some time with her."
"You're too forgiving, Jay."
A bark of laughter followed that statement, "I could say the same about you," Jason pointed out, rubbing his hands, "The shit you forgave me for, Dick…" He shook his head.
Dick smiled at him. "Hey, you're my little brother. No matter what happened between us, I could never imagine ever really giving up on you."
"Yeah," Jason smiled back, "Same here."
The room quieted a bit as they held onto the moment a bit longer.
Then Dick, in a much cheerier tone, continued with the previous line of questioning. "So, after you ended things with Artemis, who else did you date?"
Jason grimaced. Unlike with Artemis, where there was some sort of resignation to him, here he looked legitimately pained. Dick noticed it immediately, and his demeanor turned to concern. "Jay?"
"I'm not going to tell you her name, Dick."
"Why? Did it end badly?" There was now a hint of steel to Dick's voice. Overprotective big brother mode — it had been a while since Jason had been subjected to that.
He had to defuse the situation immediately. "Not in the way you think," Jason said hurriedly.
Dick raised an eyebrow, "How so?"
Jason opened his mouth but stopped, his bottom lip trembling slightly before he exhaled deeply. He rested his chin in his hand, eyes lost in thought. "It wasn't because of anything she did to me. On the contrary, what we had — we were happy, Dick. No one except family could make me as happy as she did. But after the diagnosis…" He was struggling to get the words out now, "I ended it. I didn't really give her a reason why, I didn't want to tell her, I didn't want to hurt her — in short, I was an idiot. We got into this huge fight and didn't talk for months. And then when she found out…" He shrugged again, face mirthless and hollow.
His older brother gaped at him before his expression turned sympathetic, "Oh, little wing…"
"I loved her, Dick. I loved her so goddamn much and I just let her go and we lost so much time," And now there was a bit of a sob to Jason's voice, "She was the one, Dick. She was it. And the moment I found out I should have gone to her and gone down on one knee, instead of pushing her away. But that's what I did, and now…"
Dick had enough. He got up and pulled his little brother into one of his signature hugs. Jason melted into it instantly, trying to rub away his tears with his brother's shirt.
"Hey, it's okay Jay," Dick soothed him, "It's not the end of the world. There are other fish in the sea. And who knows? You might have a chance with her again in this timeline."
Jason chuckled bitterly. "As if, Dickie. Right now, the only thing she'll see me as is a little brother. And even if that weren't the case…" His face dimmed. "Her first love is alive again. And I care too much about both of them to stand in the way of their happiness."
Dick had nothing to say to that.
Eventually, the mood changed. There was still a certain gloom to it, but for the most part it was tempered but Dick's unvoiced but gradually emanating curiosity. Obviously, the talk about Jason's love life had been an attempt to segue into a talk about his own.
"So, I got the list of approved love interests you sent me," Dick started.
Jason grabbed the now considerably colder piece of pizza. "And?"
"Well, the only name on the 'NO' list is Catalina Flores—"
"Who you won't have to deal with," Jason stated firmly, "Ever. Bruce and I already took care of it."
And boy, did we enjoy it.
"Then why bother having her on the list at all?"
"Bat-Paranoia, Dickie. You never know."
"Right…" Dick drawled slowly.
Right. He was close but not quite to Jason and Bruce's and even Tim's level of paranoia yet. Oh well, one day he'd understand.
"Then let's move on to the 'Maybe' list, which is really long and is mostly made up of names I don't recognize. I know I have a reputation, but as you pointed out, it's mostly undeserved."
"That's because you never slept with most of those women. However, many of them were attracted to you and all of them are perfectly acceptable partners if you choose to pursue them, so I figured it was okay to have them included. You know, to widen your options a bit."
"One of them is Helena Bertinelli," Dick deadpanned.
Jason shrugged, "She gets better."
Dick looked at him disbelievingly.
"She does," Jason insisted, "Sure, she's a little…unstable now. And lethal. But she mellows out, especially after she and Babs start working together and become best friends. She and I were pretty good friends too. She helped me out a lot when I was Batman before she retired, even trained one of my Robins."
The disbelief remained.
"I'm not saying you should try for anything now, Dick. I'm just saying that, later down the line, when she's in a better place and if you're not with anyone else, it'd be okay to consider her as an option."
"Which I need to do, considering the 'Yes' list contains only two names," Dick noted calmly, though with a hard edge to it.
"Babs and Kori."
Dick nodded. "Babs and Kori," He looked Jason dead in the eye, "Why?"
"You were planning on asking out Babs anyway," Jason said, obviously trying to deflect.
"And normally seeing her name on this list would only invigorate me even more," Dick asserted, "Except Kori is also on this list, even after we dated, got engaged, failed to get married, and then broke up, seemingly for good. So for her to still be considered an acceptable partner by you after all that is rather surprising."
Jason shifted in his seat a little awkwardly. He looked down at the box, and silently cursed. Drat. No more pizza.
"Jason. Explain."
"Explain what, Dickie? How things started out great with you and Babs only for something else to keep getting in the way until you finally called it a quits? How you and Kori found each other again after years apart only for you to die?" Jason through his hands into the air and sighed, "This is why I gave you a list, Dickie. It's a guideline, not a manual."
Dick stared at him. Some mixture of horror and confusion and everything in-between was in every line of his face, and Jason felt slightly guilty for leaving him like that.
"Look," Jason finally said, "Things…happened. Things that changed your relationships with both of them. Things that might not happen now, with me here and all. But regardless of those things, the one thing I know for sure is that right now, as you are now and for who you could be in the future, if you're going to work out with anyone, it's going to be with one of them."
Another moment of silence entered the room as Dick thought over Jason's words. Jason waited for him to speak once more, preparing himself and everything he was going to say.
"…Tell me what happened, Jason," Dick said finally, determined, "Between me and Babs and me and Kori. I know you talked to Bruce already about Selina, and I deserve the same courtesy as him."
"Are you sure, Dickie? You might not like what you hear."
"Jason, everyone in the family who knows about your situation has already accepted that. If we want to know, we want to know."
Jason inhaled deeply. Fine then. If he wanted to know… "Like I said, it started out great between you and Babs. Idyllic, really. You loved each other. You even got engaged. Even after you mutually decided to call it off, you stayed together. But then — well, this life is hardly stable, Dick. Your war with Blockbuster was ramping up, it was causing problems with you and her, and in turn brought out the real issue in your relationship."
"The real issue?" Dick couldn't help but asked, perplexed.
"Tell me, Dick," Jason asked in turn, "Why do you love Babs?"
Dick blinked. Was Jason seriously asking that question?
"Jay, are you kidding me? She's amazing. She makes me feel all warm inside, causes me to lose my breath. She's brilliant and wonderful and so, so strong. One of the strongest people I know. I remember when—"
"There," Jason interrupted immediately, cutting into Dick's statement, "There it is."
"What?"
"You were about reminisce about something she did as Batgirl, weren't you?"
"Yeah, what of it?" At Jason's look, realization dawned on Dick and he collapsed into his chair. "That's it, isn't it? That's why we broke up."
Jason gave a resigned huff. "When it came to the two of you, at least at first, you always found yourselves going back to the past. Always thinking about better times. You didn't seem to realize it, but Babs — she saw it. Maybe because things changed more for her than they did for you." He didn't have to say how; Dick slumped even further into his chair as he processed the words coming out of his little brother's mouth.
"She wasn't Batgirl anymore. She would never be Batgirl again; things had changed too much for her to go back to that, even if she regained the use of her legs today. And as for you?" Jason shook his head, "You weren't Robin. Robin was bright and colorful and lively, and never had problems asking for help. But Nightwing? Nightwing might be a little flippy and make more quips and get along with others better, but he was more like Batman than he ever cared to admit. A paranoid workaholic that seemed allergic to asking for help even when he needed it."
The accusation was clear. Dick remembered the words Jason told him all those weeks ago, and they seemed more real than ever before.
"Nightwing was in love with Batgirl. And Oracle was in love with Robin. And once one of you realized that, it was over," Jason's gaze was a thousand yards ahead, "You tried to work through that, of course. You loved each other, it was only natural. And eventually, you succeeded. But every time you tried to get back together, something kept on getting in the way. It was never the right time, and eventually, after so many misses, both of you began wondering if you were ever going to have your moment."
"…Who called it off?"
"Babs," Jason replied instantly, "You always had the tendency to hold on longer than you should. Her, however? She was always the pragmatic one. The pain…it wasn't worth it anymore, Dick. And before all this, the two of you were friends. Best friends. She wanted that back, more than anything else you two could have had. And deep down, that's what you wanted too."
Jason watched Dick ruminate over that. He hoped he wasn't doing something wrong here. As much as he adored Kori, he adored Babs equally as much. He knew they both had feelings for his brother, and didn't want either of them hurt. But Dick had demanded the truth, and Jason would lie about a lot of things to him, but never about this.
"She moved on. Got married to Luke Fox, the son of Lucius Fox. He was another member of the family, a friend to you and to I. Made her really happy. If she had to marry anyone other than you, I'm glad it was him."
Dick studied him for a moment, then smiled sadly. "Well, if he had your seal of approval, then who am I to complain?"
Jason smirked a bit, one of his cheeks stretching upwards, "Does my approval really rate that highly to you, Dickie?"
"Of course it does," Dick said firmly, as if the idea of otherwise was foreign to him, "You care, Jason. You made that all too obvious since you came home. You wouldn't lie to me about this."
Jason's smirk softened. "No, I wouldn't." His gaze shifted to somewhere far away again. "I guess you want to hear about Kori?"
"…Yeah," Dick spoke quietly, "Kori and I…I don't understand…" The pain still felt raw, fresh. Even though they both knew it had been for the best, in the end, he couldn't help but wonder. Especially since Jason claimed that they had got back together. Had they given up too soon?
"Your relationship with Kori is interesting," Jason noted calmly. He stood up and started cleaning the table. Dick, lost of any other directive, followed his lead.
"In many ways, the relationship you two have is the complete opposite of what you had with Babs. You and Babs had years of history before you became a couple. But you and Kori? It was whirlwind," Jason set the empty pizza box down on the counter, near the trashcan. "It was love at first sight. That's what made it so difficult for your relationship after you broke up. Friendship was easy for you and Babs. It wasn't easy for you and Kori."
Dick's breath hitched. Yeah. That summed it pretty well.
"As much as you two tried to stay friends, you tended to fall in bed with each other. And while casual sex might be easy with a friend or an acquaintance, the two of you were never just friends and acquaintances, Dick. It caused a lot of strain between the two of you, and while there was never hate, there was always sadness," Jason picked up the plates and set them down on the counter, "Eventually, however, you got there. You became 'just friends'. And you both thought that would be the end of it."
"And then Babs and I broke up."
"And then Babs and you broke up," Jason agreed. "She comforted you, of course, but nothing happened. She wasn't interested, and at the time, neither were you. It was the past for the two of you, and unlike with Babs, your relationship never relied on dwelling on yesterdays. You always saw each other as you were in the present. Everything you endured, all the changes it wrought — she'd see them, and she'd accept them with no judgment. And you did the same with her. She once told me that it was a silent promise you two made when you decided to move forward as friends."
"She told you that?" Dick asked, surprised. Jason of course had already met Kori plenty of times, they had already been dating by the time Jason became Robin, but he never expected them to be close enough to have talks like that.
"We were close. I was on a team with her and Roy for a time, and then after I became Batman we worked together as members of the Justice League," Jason rubbed the back of his neck, "I loved her like a sister, Dick. As much as I love Babs."
"Oh." That was…did he just get the shovel talk? From his own brother?
"Right," Jason cleared his throat, "Back to you and Kori. Well, that promise you made — it's what brought you two back together. Kori had an easier time accepting the changes to your character. She didn't agree with all of them, obviously, but it was never because of who you were in the past, but because of who she was in the present. She made that clear every time you two had a disagreement."
"Then, about a year after you and Babs broke up, a deep space assignment had you and Kori working closely together. I don't know the full details about what happened on that mission but, over the course of it, you two fell in love all over again. You tried to take it slow, you wanted to make sure that this time it would work out."
"And?"
"…About week before you died, you showed me the ring you were going to propose to her with. Then you left it with me for safe-keeping," Jason clenched his hands, "When I showed it to her the week of the funeral, she broke down in tears all over again."
Sometimes Jason wondered if it would've been better if he had never told Kori. Kinder. But the ring was supposed to be hers, not Jason's, and he would've never been comfortable keeping it.
"It was never supposed to be mine," Jason explained, when Dick failed to respond to that revelation, "It was always hers. And she took it. And she kept it. But I never saw her wearing it."
"Why?"
Jason smiled softly. "Because it would've kept her rooted in the past. It would've stopped her from moving forward. That's the thing about you and her, Dick. You don't love each other because you need each other. You love each other because you make each other better. And she knew as well as I that you would have never forgiven her for letting you be the one thing that stopped her from living her life."
"…I see," Dick sighed, "So…I guess I should make it work with Kori?"
"No," Jason stated bluntly. "According to what Kori told me about herself during this time period, she's not in a good place for a relationship right now. And the way things are with you and Babs, especially now that Flores won't be interfering, you and her might actually have a chance to work things out this time around, now that you're aware of the issue that plagued your relationship the first time around. Or maybe you'll find someone new and end up with neither of them."
The way Jason hissed out that name made Dick wonder what, exactly, Catalina Flores did to earn that level of hatred from him. In the end, however, that thought was lost to him in the wake of the rest of his little brother's words.
"I didn't give you that list to be a bible of who you should get together with. Just something to tell you who you should avoid and who you have the best chances with," Jason placed his hand on his brother's chest, right over the center, "Your heart is your heart, Dick. In the end, only you can decide where it goes."
Dick stared down at his arm, and sighed. He gently pulled it away and pulled Jason to another hug. "Thanks, Jay."
"Anytime, Dickie."
That went well, Jason thought to himself as he made his way to his car.
Hopefully, Dick would take all his words to heart and really think through with his relationships this time around. As much as he loved Luke, loved Kori, it would also be nice if Dick and Barbara worked things out in this timeline. But in the end, that wasn't up to him, but to them.
Lo que sera, sera, he had told Bruce. Whatever will be, will be. It was something he would have to live by, from now on. That future that he lived was long gone now, and there was nothing he could do to get it back.
Bludhaven was dark out. The streets were empty. Jason finally reached his car, pressing the beacon to unlock it remotely. It was time to go home.
Shink!
It was a low noise. Almost silent, really. But Jason still heard it.
He shifted his head automatically, turning just as the shuriken passed in front of his nose and buried itself into the frame of his car. Great. That was going to be hard to explain.
Jason looked to see his assailant and froze.
Heavy duty armor. Gun. Katana.
Black and orange mask.
"You know, the kid mentioned you a few times to me," Deathstroke the Terminator commented, taking a menacing step forward, "But I never thought you'd be important enough for someone to ping me for a private contract on you."
It was official. Jason hated Bludhaven.
And the plot begins.
I hope that explanation about the Babs/Dick/Kori love triangle suffices for everyone here. As I said before, however, what happened in Jason's timeline is likely not to happen in this timeline because of his meddling. It's entirely possible Dick could end up with Babs or with someone new. He could even end up with both of them in a polyamorous relationship. Who knows? I haven't decided yet.
Deathstroke is here, and so the myth arc begins. Things are beginning to ramp up, and eventually the exposition will gradually decrease as the plot begins to deepen. Why is Deathstroke here, you ask? Why don't you guess?
And of course, Parallax Hal Jordan. I will say I'm not doing Zero Hour! - however, he (or at least what he represents) will be very important later on in the story. I won't say anything more on that.
Next chapter: Jason vs. Deathstroke!