Chapter 21: Last to know

Jason Todd. Jason Todd was my father. My given name was Jamie Todd. This explained so many things, but left me with even more questions. I now understood why Dad wouldn't tell me about my mother. He didn't know her. But why not just tell me I was adopted? That didn't bother me nearly as much as the fact he lied to me. Again. Bruce too. And what about Victoria? Did she even realize I was her daughter? It couldn't be a coincidence she was so insistent I take a tour of her company. Was she responsible for the microchip? What about Jason? How come no one told me about him before I came to Gotham, let alone mention he was my actual father? Where the hell was he in all of this? And I thought keeping Batman from me was bad. This was so much worse. I needed to get out, before I broke something.

I wandered around Gotham well after dark, knowing Dad would hate that if he knew, but I was too angry to care. I ignored Dad's nightly call, then Bruce's and eventually even Terry's. I turned my phone off, knowing Bruce would try to track me through it. I needed to hide somewhere before Batman hunted me down.

I really didn't want to go back to the manor, and the gym wasn't ideal for living yet. I didn't realize were I was going until I stood in front of their door. I debated for a few minutes whether or not to knock, when I decided it would look weird if I didn't. I took a deep breath and knocked.

"Jamie? What are you doing here? Are you okay?" Uncle Tim answered the door.

"Not really." I felt exhausted all of a sudden and all I wanted to do was sleep.

"Do you want to talk?" He asked. I nodded. He lead me to their living room.

"You want anything to drink? Soda or juice?"

"Just water please." I told him as I took a seat on the couch. I didn't think I could stomach much more right then. He left to get me a glass. I looked around the room. Everything seemed so normal. Pictures of Jack and Conner doing various things were throughout the room, a couple from Uncle Tim and Aunt Steph's wedding, and various family photos. Their lives were so drastically different than mine, I couldn't help but be a little jealous of my cousins. Did they know about Batman? Or Jason? Or was it kept from them too?

"Here you go." He handed me a glass and sat next to me.

"Thanks. Where is everybody?" I asked.

"Steph is out with some friends, Jack is at swim team thing and Conner is upstairs doing homework. Or at least he should be." He looked upward when we heard a shout of anger from above. "Is everything okay at the manor? I know how Bruce can be." That's what I liked about Uncle Tim. He was direct but caring. Like Bruce, but better.

"Living with Bruce has been busy. And Batman hasn't helped much."

"You found out." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah. I wasn't too happy no one told me." I frowned. "Do the twins know?"

"Your aunt and I told them we used to work with Batman. They don't know who Bruce was. And I don't want them to."

"Seems to be a family trend." I muttered.

"Is that why you're here? To talk about Batman? Or my past?" He asked. I took a deep breath.

"Not really. I'm kind of over that part. I found out about Jason Todd."

"Make sense, if you know about all of us, you would know about him too." He nodded

"No, I mean I know who he is relative to me."

"Oh. When did this happen?"

"About two hours ago. I found my birth certificate in a box while moving. You know, I thought keeping Batman from me was the biggest secret Dad had, but I was so wrong, and I'm really pissed he couldn't trust me. I thought we were closer than that."

"He has his reasons for not telling you." He told me.

"That excuse is getting old." I mumbled.

"I know how annoying the secret keeping is, trust me. But in my experience with Dick, he usually keeps a secret either to protect someone or at someone else's request. He always planned on telling you about being Robin and Nightwing, but it's more than just his secret to share. Same with your parentage. So maybe you shouldn't hold him solely accountable for this." Uncle Tim reasoned.

"Oh I'm not just mad at him. I'm pissed at Bruce and my mother too."

"Your mother?" He seemed surprised. I guess Victoria was Jason's little secret.

"Apparently, Victoria Rogers, CEO of MedCorp. is my mother. Who I met last month, and she said nothing to me."

"Jason told me your mother was named Valentina."

"From what I understand, that's how she introduced herself. She's still the biggest mystery in all of this." I decided not to bother telling him about the microchip.

"I'm sorry I can't do much for you Jamie, but it isn't really my place."

"I know." I sighed. "I didn't expect you to. Honestly, I just didn't want to go home. So I came here." I admitted.

"You're always welcomed here. Stephanie will be thrilled to see you." He patted my shoulder and stood up. "I need to go to pick up Jack. Stay as long as you need to."

"Thanks Uncle Tim." I smiled at him. He left and I was suddenly aware I was alone with my thoughts. Thoughts I didn't really want to face. To distract myself I turned my phone back on. I was greeted with an onslaught of missed calls and texts from Dad and Terry. Only one call from Bruce.

I decided to call Bruce back. He could relay the message.

"Hello." He answered.

"I'm at Uncle Tim's and I'm fine. So tell Dad and McGinnis to leave me alone."

"I know." Of course he knew.

"Uncle Tim told you."

"He said you needed space. Just be home by curfew."

"Whatever. Bye." I hung up on him. I sighed into the empty room. How could I face Bruce or Dad without wanting to punch them for lying to me my entire life. What right did they have to keep this from me? I sat on the couch, glaring into space.

"Tim told me you were here, but he didn't warn me you looked ready to hit someone." Aunt Steph commented on my glaring as she walked in. I looked up from glaring. How long had I been doing that?

"Hi Aunt Steph. Sorry for coming unannounced." I apologized.

"I think it's justified, given the situation." She hung up her coat and sat down next to me. "I picked this up on my way home. I think it'll help you understand better." She handed me a faded file folder.

"What's this?"

"Take a look." She smiled.

I opened it to find a Red Robin case file on the Red Hood. There was summary after summary of each mission where Jason and Bruce had faced off and eventually missions where Jason helped out. I skimmed through them, not really interested. I had read half of these in the cave. The last entry though, wasn't about some mission. It was about me. I read what Uncle Tim had written about me.

After a drunken one night stand in Mexico 2 years ago, Jason found out he has a daughter. Her name is Jamie Todd and she's just over a year old. Her mother's name is Valentina Ramirez and has made it clear she wants nothing to do with the child. Jason is set on giving her up to "a better family." I suggested he talk to Bruce, but he refuses to tell Bruce. Jason said he was going to talk to Dick in New York, to see if Dick had any connections that could land Jamie into a good home. I suggested he leave her at an orphanage, but he said he wouldn't want anyone to go what he went through while in the system. Despite how he acts, I believe he does care for Jamie, but is scared of what the responsibility taking care of a child would mean.

Jamie herself is an outgoing and bubbly toddler, seemingly already very attached to Jason. She's very curious and restless, getting into constant trouble. She's been with Jason for 2 weeks and already refers to him as "Da." Besides her black hair and blue eyes, Jamie looks nothing like Jason. She has toffee colored skin and a round face I would guess is from her mother. I can only hope Jason changes his mind about giving her up, because that little girl would be very good for him.

Update 06-02-2024

Dick has formally adopted Jamie as his own. Jason's only stipulation for the adoption is that Jamie is never told about Batman or himself. Dick complied begrudgingly not to tell Jamie about Jason, but agreed it was for the best to keep her away from Batman. But once she turns 18 there's nothing either can do to stop her from knowing. If she doesn't know by then, I have decided I'll tell her myself.

"So it's Jason's fault I didn't know anything?" I said once I finished reading.

"Partially. Dick was complainant in not telling you anything, same for Tim and me. We're all at fault, Jamie. If you want to be mad, you should be mad at all of us. I didn't want to keep it from you. I only went along because I have a great respect for Dick."

"But you're okay with not telling your own kids?" I questioned.

"Jack and Conner know exactly who Tim and I were. We never told them outright who Batman was, but it wouldn't shock me if either of them figured it out."

"So you didn't keep it from them."

"You could say that." She smiled. Great. Even my cousins knew about Batman before me. "So now that the cat's out of the bag, you have any questions? And I mean fun questions that that old grump Bruce won't answer." She winked at me. That's what I loved about Aunt Steph. She could make a miserable situation into something fun and interesting.

"How did he get that stupid dinosaur into the cave?" I asked. She laughed.

"Out of anything you could ask, that's what you want to know?" She chuckled.

"It's been bothering me since I saw it in the cave! Did he tow it in with the Bat-mobile or something?" I was laughing now too.

"Can you imagine the Bat-mobile driving around Gotham with a giant dinosaur behind it? I don't think anyone would've taken Batman seriously after that." She laughed. We both collapsed into a fit of giggles at the mental image. "But to answer the question, I have no idea. The Bat-dino was there before my time." She said once we calmed down a little. Uncle Tim and Jack came home, interrupting us.

"Maybe Tim knows."

"Maybe Dad knows what?" Jack asked, jumping over the back of the couch and landed next to me, grinning wildly. Jack was the spitting image of a younger Uncle Tim, but the big grin he was giving me screamed that he was more like Aunt Steph.

"Jackson Drake, what have I told you about jumping on my couch?" Aunt Steph scolded.

"Sorry Ma, but I can't help it." He smiled at her. She rolled her eyes and gave Uncle Tim an exasperated look.

"Don't look at me, he gets it from you." he responded to her look.

"Well it doesn't matter, because you," She pointed to Jack, "still need to do your homework." She chased him up the stairs.

"But Mom! I want to talk to Jamie!" I could hear him argue while walking upstairs.

"She lives in Gotham for Christ's sake. You can talk to her later."

"I see Steph dug out the old RR files." Uncle Tim sat next to me. He picked up the file. "Ah. Jason's file." He nodded like that explained everything.

"I read what you wrote about me. Were you really going to tell me everything when I turned 18?"

"I was, but once Dick told me you were going to live with Bruce, I knew I wouldn't have to. Bruce never liked the idea of keeping you in the dark. I wouldn't be surprised if he purposely let you find out about Batman. How did that happen by the way?" He asked. I was so wrapped up in the shock of being adopted that I completely forgot he didn't know how I even knew about Batman. I told him how I found McGinnis looking for a snack in the Batsuit.

"That's definitely the most unique way to find out," Uncle Tim chuckled. I nodded and yawned. I looked at the time and nearly panicked.

"Slag it! It's almost curfew and the car is still at the gym." I groaned.

"You walked here?" Aunt Steph asked from the kitchen. I hadn't even heard her come downstairs.

"I needed to clear my head. Walking and the cold helped." I shrugged.

"You can stay the night here. I don't think you seeing Bruce tonight is going to end well." Aunt Steph suggested.

"That's probably a better idea." I agreed.

"You can sleep on the futon in my office. Let's find you some pj's so I can wash your clothes." she said, heading back upstairs.

"I'll be there in a sec." I turned to Uncle Tim. "Thanks." I hugged him.

"For what?" He returned the hug.

"For giving me a safe place to think. And not lying to me about any of this." I said into his shoulder.

"We're always here for you, Jamie. No matter what." He patted my back.

"Goodnight Uncle Tim." I stood up.

"Night Jamie."

So Jason is the reason Jamie didn't know anything. I love Jason, but he can be an ass sometimes. And Uncle Tim and Aunt Steph have finally made an appearance!

On a comics note, DC Rebirth is great so far (minus reverting Tim's character development. Just give the kid his own book again DC.) Red Hood Rebirth was great, and completely added to Jason being a book worm which leads me to...

Fun Fact: Jamie is a book worm just like Jason. Reading is one of her favorite hobbies. Her favorite author is Oscar Wilde.