Richard Grayson, CEO and founder of Knight, Inc, sat across the table from his newest acquisition, frowning.
"You're not doing it right."
The young man frowned. "Doing what right?"
"The scowl. Give me a good…"
The young man stood up, throwing a glass across the room and yelling, "Screw you! I'm not this stupid Terry McGinnis guy and I never will be! I…godamnitt…"
He ran his hand threw his hair and sighed, "Dick, I'm gonna go. I'd rather be living on the street than be caught up in your stupid game."
The young man pushed his chair back and walked towards the stairwell to his bedroom.
Dick stared at him. "You can't leave, Jason."
Jason stopped and glared over his shoulder at him. "Who says?"
Dick closed the gap between them, putting his hand on Jason's face.
"I do. You signed yourself away when I met you. You'd still be turning tricks in Crime Alley if I hadn't found you. Do you want to go back to that?"
Dick ran his hand across the young man's cheek, causing Jason to close his eyes. He looked so much like Terry if he kept his eyes closed; Dick could almost pretend he was. Which was sick, stupid, and horrible, but that was life wasn't it? Jason opened his eyes halfway, the brilliant green striking Dick as ironic.
Babs had green eyes. Bruce and Terry had blue. She still loved him, and he was damn sure this kid was just starting to fall.
Jason sighed. "Fine. Just…no more McGinnis shit, okay?"
Dick smiled and kissed him soundly; pulling him close and making them both catch their breath at their parting. "Okay. Go to bed."
Jason smiled. "Goodnight."
Kids were so easy to please. He hoped Bruce learned that sooner rather than later. A kiss here and there, a smile and a tease, a little afternoon play every few days and he could get away with no actual sex so far.
Which Jason preferred, given his past. He enjoyed being loved and pampered, which Dick enjoyed doing so it was a good situation.
Since moving into his new home not too far from Bruce Wayne's, once belonging to, ironically, Lex Luthor; he'd set about making his own protégé. It wasn't hard.
He deliberately skipped the whole adopting situation and moved right into runways.
For two weeks he roamed the streets, looking at unwanted teenagers and found no one to his liking or age range.
Then Jason picked his pocket and the rest was history.
Smiling, Dick was about to ring for the maid when his cell phone rang.
WAYNE, BRUCE 219-455-3432-5533 ACCEPT?
He hit accept and smiled at Bruce Wayne's image. "Bruce, nice to see you again. It was nice running into…"
"Enough, Dick. You know why I'm calling."
"Yes?"
Dick sat at the dining room table, leaning back and waiting.
"Robin is yours."
He paused.
"And?"
Bruce pursed his lips and said, "What are you trying to do?"
Dick smiled. "Afraid of some help for your boy out there, Bruce? He can always use it."
"Whoever you have is skilled, but not enough to truly understand what goes on out there. You could get him killed, Dick. Think about this."
Dick glared at him. "He's brought down those drug dealers, sent five Jokers to jail and saved three kids this week, Bruce. He seems to be doing fine, I think. And what did Batman do? Bring down one crime boss who no one even knew was a crime boss? Did he get his sugar daddy to help him or did he do that all on his own?"
"DON'T YOU DARE…"
"CUT THE SHIT, BRUCE! YOU'RE AFRAID MY BOY IS BETTER THAN YOURS AND YOU'RE SCARED THAT GOTHAM IS GOING TO HAVE A NEW CRUSADER SOON AND FORGET ABOUT BATMAN! I HOPE THE DAY COMES SOON, OLD MAN! I REALLY DO!"
He hung up the video phone and threw it across the room, enjoying watching it smash against the wall.
"Dick?"
Jason stood on the stairs, shirtless and wearing black pajama pants and no socks. He looked worried.
"It's fine."
He walked across the dining room and stood in front of Dick, reaching out to touch his face. Dick grabbed his hand and held on, hard. "Don't."
Jason smiled. "My hero."
Dick laughed, leaning into him. "I wish."
Jason moved the hair from his face and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "So do I."