As some of the only heroes in the Justice League without superpowers, Bruce often stressed to his boys the importance of using their brains. After all, superpowers could be neutralized, but if they could out-think their opponents, they would be unstoppable.
Good grades were nonnegotiable in the Wayne household. Anyone who came home with anything less than a B was grounded and benched from patrol. To be fair though, this wasn't too high a demand. The boys were all easily smarter than their classmates.
Damian could run circles around kids several grades above him. Dick had always been at the head of his class. Tim still held the record for the best GPA the Gotham school system had ever seen. Jason was really the only one who ever fell victim to this punishment.
The boy was not stupid or slow, despite what Damian often told him. Alfred and Bruce had just conceded that Jason just didn't pay attention or study enough. It was fine. Jason brought home acceptable grades and wasn't failing any classes. Still, Bruce knew his son could do so much better.
Bruce was hardly paying attention as the boys crashed into the dining room for dinner. He didn't even look up as Alfred scolded them for the umpteenth time about running in the house.
He was too consumed in the report that had come from Gotham Academy this afternoon. His boys were full of surprises, but this was a new one for sure. "Bruce? Earth to Bruce." Dick called, nudging his father. Bruce finally put the papers down and looked at the boys one at a time.
"I got an interesting letter from your school today." He started. "I didn't do it!" The boys all shouted in unison. A call or letter from the school was never a good thing, and while none of them could think of any particular trouble they'd been involved in lately, they thought it best to claim their innocence now.
"For once," Bruce sighed. "None of you are in trouble. They sent over the results from the IQ tests you all took a week ago."
"So they're wasting paper reporting the obvious now?" Tim smirked. He was by no means a cocky child, but his 142 IQ score was one of his highest points of pride. "You did exceptionally as usual." Bruce assured. "It's Jason's score that stands out."
Jason looked up from shoveling his dinner into his mouth. This couldn't be good. The teachers at Gotham Academy never sent home good news about him. The closest they had ever come was saying that he had gotten less detention than usual. He had no idea how to respond to this. Damian, however had a few ideas.
"Have they finally deduced that he's a complete moron?" The youngest boy taunted. Bruce gave him a warning glare before picking the paper he'd been studying so closely. "Jason actually scored phenomenally high. Higher than anyone else in his grade. In fact, according to this, he is a certifiable genius."
The boys all scrambled to grab the paper as Bruce handed it to his second oldest. It was mostly a lot of mumbo jumbo, but the message was clear. Jason's IQ was off the charts.
"Hey way to go Jase!" Dick grinned, slapping his little brother on the back. "This can't be right." Damian muttered, scanning over the letter again. "That's enough Damian." Bruce scolded then turned to Jason. "The school board is sending someone over in a few days to certify the results, but I'm sure you'll do just fine."
Dinner continued, but Jason couldn't eat. All he could do was think about his new genius status.
Genius IQ or not, Jason hated his chemistry class. Despite being in the lab, the teacher never did anything but theory which meant nothing ever blew up, which meant no one ever had any fun.
"Hey," Jason whispered to his lab partner. "You got the fake IDs for this weekend?"
Jason had found an underground club near crime ally during one of his patrols and had been waiting for weeks to hit the town with some guys from school. All they needed were some fake IDs for the bouncer. "Yeah, about that…" His station mate muttered. "They guys and I were talking, and we were gonna go tonight."
"I can't do tonight." Jason hissed. "We know." His so called friend whispered. "We were trying to let you down easy, what with your new nerd status and all."
Jason clenched his fist. Gotham Academy was full of nothing but gossips and motormouths. He should of known his test score would be leaked. Still, he didn't see why that should keep him from having a good time trying to pick up girls with some friends.
"Mr. Todd-Wayne," The teacher called, snapping Jason back to the present. "Since you have the time to conduct a private conversation, perhaps you can come up to the board and neutralize the chemical formula."
Jason internalized a groan as he dragged his feet to the front of the class. This teacher was notorious for giving the most obscure chemical equations. Jason was personally of the belief that the old man simply enjoyed making his students feel dumb.
He chewed his lip for a minute as he analyzed the chemical symbols on the whiteboard. It seemed so familiar. Then, the answer came to him, so suddenly, Jason had to take a step back.
He knew this! This was a mixture of hydrogen cyanide and Strychnodide, more commonly know as Joker Venom. He'd been whipping up batches of the neutralizing chemicals since he was ten! He began scribbling out the antidote formula like a man possessed.
In his peripheral vision, he could see his teacher's eyes growing wide with amazement and had a feeling the rest of the class had similar expressions on their faces. Finally, he finished and stepped back to admire his handiwork.
"Ladies and gentlemen," The teacher announced with more life than Jason thought he possessed. "Behold genius at its finest. Well done Mr. Todd-Wayne. Well done."
Jason sat through the rest of the lesson with pride. His teachers rarely praised him. Was this what the good kids felt like? It was no wonder Dick and Tim were such goodie two shoes. This was an amazing feeling!
Jason was still riding his cloud of joy when the bell rang. As he slung his backpack over his shoulder, Ava-Pearl Gallagher came over to him in all her blonde, curvy glory. "That was pretty impressive." She complimented. "Maybe you and I could get together for a study date sometime."
Jason just nodded as Ava-Pearl wrote her number on a scrap of paper and slipped it into his blazer pocket. He had never been so happy to be smart.
III
Bruce summoned Jason to his office as soon as he got home. "Care to explain this?" He asked, sliding over a crumpled sheet of paper with a big red C- in the top right-hand corner. Jason scratched the back of his head. He thought he'd hidden that test.
"Jason, you've proven that you can do better than this." Bruce told him firmly. "I want this up to no lower than a B+ by your next test, do you understand?" Jason nodded just as a knock sounded on the door.
"Master Bruce a Ms. Veronica Terrence from the department of education is here to see you and Master Jason." Alfred announced. Ms. Terrence swept in without waiting to be invited.
"I hope you don't mind the short notice." She said, taking the other seat across from Bruce's desk. "But with Jason's scores, I just couldn't put this off." Ms. Terrence started firing off questions ranging in subject from mathematics to literature to current world affairs.
Jason did his best to answer but still found himself drawing a blank with half the words she shot at him. Fifteen minutes in, Jason was trying to wrap his head around what exactly they'd been talking about and was more than grateful when Ms. Terrence asked him to step outside while she talked to Bruce.
But even with his exhaustion from their interview Jason still couldn't help but wonder how he'd stacked up. He leaned against the office door and strained to hear their conversation. "I just don't understand it." Ms. Terrence was muttering, and Jason could hear her stopping to scribble notes and flip through papers.
"Is there a problem?" Bruce asked her. "Mr. Wayne, according to the test, your son is incredibly intelligent but based on what I've seen today, he barely seems average."
"Ms. Terrence, I can assure you that Jason is in no way average." Bruce told her with certainty. "I am simply stating the results of our interview." Ms. Terrence countered.
Jason was so wrapped up in the conversation that he didn't realized that he was turning the door knob until he he fell forward. "Jason you know better than to eavesdrop." Bruce scolded, taking the invasion in stride.
"I'm not sure we can make assumptions about what this boy does and does not know." Ms. Terrence huffed. Bruce glared fiercely at her. "I'll ask you to watch what you say about my son." He growled dangerously.
"Just face it Bruce!" Jason snapped, not caring that his father was trying to defend him. "I'm not a genius! I not smart like Replacement or Dickhead or Demond Brat! I'm an idiot just like they always said!" He stormed out of the office, and Bruce could hear him stomping up the stairs to his room.
"What's up with Jay?" Tim asked as he and the other boys passed by the office door. "Don't you boys worry." Ms. Terrence told them in a condescendingly perky voice. "He's having the expected reaction for someone of his intellectual level."
Bruce locked his jaw as he stood up from his desk. "Dick, escort Ms. Terrence to the door." He said through his teeth before excusing himself to check on Jason.
When his knock-on Jason's bedroom door went unanswered, Bruce slipped in as quietly as he could. Jason was curled up on his bed, his back to the door. The boy was sniffling softly and clutching at his old teddy bear. That outburst must've hurt him good.
"Bluejay? Can we talk?" Bruce asked gently. "Fine," Jay sulked. "But use small words, so I get it." Bruce sat down on the bed and pulled Jason into his lap. "My big boy." He mumbled as he tried to let his son get comfy. At sixteen, Jason may have been getting too old to sit on his Daddy's lap anymore.
"My sweet Jason," Bruce said softly. "Don't you believe a word that woman said."
"But the test…" Jason tried to insist. "She can her take her test and shove it." His father said with resolve.
"But she's not wrong." Jason persisted. "I'm not like the others. They bring home perfect grades. Between the three of them, they're fluent in like, fifteen different languages. Tim is in advanced everything. Dick could teach his classes. Damian's only in school cause he has to be. I bring home Cs and Bs. I have to look up half the words people say to me in English. Tim has to help me with my homework. I may not be genius, but I know enough to know I'm a moron."
Bruce wished he could make Ms. High-and Mighty Veronica Terrence eat her words for hurting his boy this way. Instead, he just held Jason tighter.
"You listen to me, and you listen good." He told him. "You, Jason Peter Todd-Wayne, are brilliant. Maybe not in the same way as your brothers, but that is just fine.
You know things at sixteen that I didn't know till I was thirty and that most people will never understand at all. And do you think I'd let you run around Gotham on patrol if you weren't more than smart enough to handle what's out there?
You are a genius Jayjay, and if anyone tries to tell you different, you have my permission to show them your right hook."
"Even Damian?" Jay grinned a bit. "I'll have a talk with your brother about that." Bruce promised as he lay back on the mattress and let Jason slide next to him. They lay there in silence for a while, Jason's head on his father's chest.
"Out of curiosity, how did you manage that score?" Bruce asked. "Full discloser," Jason shrugged sheepishly. "I didn't even read the questions. I was trying to write 'I'm being held against my will' in Morse Code."
Bruce just laughed. "Now that is genius."
