GSOG Chapter 39
After all the paperwork, a quick investigation, and time, Bruce Wayne takes his new family member home to Wayne Manor. The moment they pull in, Jason stares out the window at it, eyes wide, mouth gapped. He parks the car. Melinda and Alfred come outside to greet him.
"Hello, Master Jason." Alfred states. "We have a room all set for you."
"A room? For me…? Really?" Jason asks.
"Indeed." Alfred answers. "Up the stairs, to the left, will be the third door on the right. Perhaps a tour is in order. Master Dick, Master Wallace?"
"Yep! Come on, Jay." Dick says happily, patting his shoulder. Jason looks at him, he starts walking up to the manor. Jason just stares for a moment, then follows after him and Wally who's joined them.
"A third stray, sir? Certainly, will get a lot of attention." Alfred states.
"Already has. A number of those at the buffet had taken video and pictures of the altercation."
"Altercation?" Alfred questions.
"Bruce might have acted a little quickly, but if he hadn't, I would have. The bastard slapped Dick…" Selina explains. "Bruce punched him in the face and knocked him down, then pressed a foot into his chest to keep him down."
"Sounds like he got off easy." Melinda comments. "Dick's ok though, right? He seemed ok."
"He'll be fine." Bruce answers. "He's a tough kid."
"Completed turbed." Selina says, smiling widely, loving her boy's slang he's made up.
Inside, Dick first shows Jason to his new room, opening the door for him. He steps inside, looking around. His eyes widen at it all. The bedspread, the curtains, the lampshades even, they're all green! He sees there's a closet, stepping up to it and opening the door, it's fricken huge! He can walk inside it!
"It's like a little cave!" Jason remarks. He steps out of it, looking at Dick and Wally. He looks at the bed, running to it and jumping, turning and plopping onto it. "It's so soft! This is what a bed feels like?!"
"You don't know what a bed feels like?" Wally asks. Dick lightly elbows his stomach to get him to shut up. Jason sits up, looking at him, then looks down.
"I… Um…" He trails off.
"You don't have to answer that." Dick says softly. "Come on, I'll show you to the library." Jason perks up again and gets off the bed, following the two as they turn, walking out. They get to said library and Jason's eyes widen, mouth gaping.
"No way…" He mumbles. He starts going down the several rows, looking at all the shelves.
"Rule of the library, wherever you got the book, you put it back where you got it." Dick says. "Gotta keep it alphabetical by author." Jason's already found a book he wants to read and is already reading it. "If you need help in remembering, Alfred has these sticks that you can put in place to help. And you're not even paying attention anymore, are you?" Wally laughs.
"He's more a bookworm than you are!" Wally comments. Dick looks up at him, unamused. Jason looks up.
"Am I allowed to take books out?" He asks.
"Yep! Just make sure they don't get damaged. Not that they can't easily be replaced, we just don't wanna have to do that. Some of these books have been in the family for generations." Dick explains. He looks at the shelves. "I've lived here for five years and I haven't managed to read every book yet. Hell, Bruce has lived here all his life and he hasn't read every book yet."
"How old is he?" Jason asks.
"He just turned 33 yesterday." Dick answers. Jason nods a bit in understanding. He then looks at the book he's reading. He closes it and then looks for other books to take, grabbing a stack of them and carries them happily to his room, practically bouncing with each step. Dick and Wally follow after him. He sets the books on his bed and turns.
"I'll come back to these. What else we got?" He asks. Dick leads him to his room which is just down the hall from his. Jason steps in, looking around it. This room is a bit bigger than his own, which makes sense, Dick was here first. "You really like blue."
"Yep, it's my favorite color." Dick says. Jason sees the Flying Graysons poster above Dick's bed and it clicks.
"You're the Dick Grayson! The Flying Grayson!" Jason states, eyes wide. He looks at Dick. "My dad took me to a show one year. I saw you and your family perform, it was one of the greatest nights of my life!" Dick smiles softly at him, happy that he enjoyed it. He looks back at the poster. "I was surprised a little kid like me could pull off such crazy moves… I was sad when I heard what happened to your family, I actually worried about you." He looks at Dick again. "Because being a kid alone in this awful city? It's shit."
"I'm definitely very grateful to Bruce taking me in. If he didn't, honestly I don't know where I'd end up. I was actually in Juvey for a month because all the orphanages were full." Dick explains. "Bruce wanted me right away, but there was a process he had to follow in order to get me. Just a month in there almost turned me feral…" Wally wraps an arm around his shoulders. Jason's fists clench, but then he feels something soft brush against his hand. He looks down and sees a fluffy little kitty. He immediately relaxes and turns to her, petting her, she starts purring. "That's Isis."
"She's so pretty… Named after the Goddess Isis?" Jason asks.
"Yep." Dick says. "She likes to hang out in my room. I think she likes the blue." He walks over to the bed, sitting down. She's loving the attention Jason is giving her. "I'm glad she already likes you."
"If she doesn't like somebody, she definitely makes it known." Wally says. "Now that I think about it, she kept giving Jacob the stink-eye." Dick looks at Wally, brows knitting.
"Jacob?" Jason asks.
"Jacob Kane, Bruce's uncle." Dick answers. "Bruce got a puppy for his birthday and the dog growled at him, but only him."
"Huh… Sounds like he's not a great guy at all. I hope the puppy likes me." Jason states.
"He probably will. Isis likes you, now that is hard to come by." Dick mentions, smirking. "Let's introduce you!" He starts for the door. Isis jumps off the bed and follows them as they leave. They head downstairs and to the dining room where they've sectioned Ace off for the time being. They don't want him to have full run of the house yet. Immediately when Ace sees Jason, he's got his front paws on the gate and his tail wags like a turbine. Jason smiles and gently reaches in, letting Ace smell him before petting him.
"Oh, you're such a good boy!" Jason states happily. "Who's a good boy!?" He giggles, petting the dog playfully. "Can I go over the gate?"
"Yes." Dick answers. Without a second breath, Jason is over the gate and sitting on the floor, the dog immediately pounces onto his lap, tail wagging happily and licking his face.
"Ah!" Jason shouts and then falls down as he's ferociously attacked by the cuteness.
"Aaaand he's dead. Jason's been murdered by adorableness. Took all of about an hour." Dick teases.
"He had so much potential!" Wally cries, feigning tears.
Later on that night, Wally's gone home as it's a school night, even though Dick isn't returning to school quite yet, Wally still has to go. Melinda and Alfred are working on dinner together. Curious, Jason goes into the kitchen to watch.
"Hello, Master Jason. Did you need something?" Alfred asks.
"No, I just wanted to see you cook." Jason states. "I'm not great at cooking, but I like it."
"You like cooking?" Melinda asks, brows knitting.
"Yea, I cook for my mom sometimes. My dad wouldn't eat it, he'd get something from somewhere else or something, but my mom liked my cooking." Jason explains, smiling a little.
"What all can you make?" Alfred asks, more out of curiosity.
"I can make pasta, eggs, burgers, rice." He lists, counting on his fingers. "Nothing crazy, but it's gotten food in our bellies. That's what's important."
"Indeed." Alfred agrees. "Well, perhaps you can assist. How proficient are you at slicing vegetables?"
"Decent." Jason states, shrugging. "I can cut tomatoes."
"My knives are to the left, can you cut bell peppers into thin strips?" Alfred asks. Jason nods and grabs a good knife for slicing and grabs one of the bell peppers, he cuts around the top in such a way that he can take the seeds and innards out, he then cuts the pepper into quarters then cuts the inner ribs, then starts cutting them into the requested slices, doing all this so well and tidy. "Impressive. I may allow you to cook in my kitchen one day."
"That's not allowed?" Jason asks, raising a brow.
"Only if the cook shows they can. Master Bruce and Master Dick have not…"
"Bruce is banned from cooking entirely." Melinda mentions.
"Oh shit!" Jason curses, smiling widely.
"Mind your language, please, sir." Alfred lightly reprimands.
"Oh… Sorry." Jason says.
"No harm done, you had no way of knowing." Alfred states. Jason nods a bit in understanding, then gets back to cutting up the peppers, switching up hands as his right wrist kind of hurts from the bruises. And he cuts the peppers just as well.
"Wow, are you ambidextrous?" Melinda asks.
"Yep. My mom was too." Jason explains. "Apparently I inherited a lot of traits from my mother, funny how I have so much in common with a woman I never knew." He finishes up the second pepper and gets to work on the third.
"I can kind of understand. Dick is my brother." Melinda says. "We're half siblings, different moms, same dad. I never met him, but I apparently have a few quirks like him. Similar laugh, same smile. Uncle Rick told me that I twitch my nose like he did, like Dick does. He calls us kits, like a baby bunny."
"That sounds sweet." Jason states. "Why wasn't your dad around?"
"He didn't know I existed. Have you ever heard of Tony Zucco?"
"I knew him… Nan always called him Fats." Jason mentions. "I asked him once why he chewed on toothpicks because I was told not to chew on things that wasn't food. I used to nibble on pencils in school, still kinda do…"
"He was trying to keep from smoking if I remember correctly. I was eight when my mom left him."
"Your mom was with him?" Jason asks.
"Yea. She actually ran away from him once, the Troupe of Haly's Circus protected her, chased him off. Not long after, she started dating John Grayson. Then Zucco came back for her and kidnapped her, took her to Blüdhaven. Then she learned she was pregnant, had me. He raised me, even signed my birth certificate and gave me his last name, my mom once ran away with me and went back to the Circus to introduce me to my real father, but she saw that John was with Mary, and they already had Dick. She didn't want to ruin their family, so she left. She divorced Zucco and we stayed with the Maroni family."
"Ugh, Maroni…" Jason mutters, rolling his eyes. "Lou was an a- uh butthole." He catches himself before he cusses again. "Sal wasn't much better really. Heard he was the reason one of Gotham's most notable criminals got his start."
"I remember hearing of that." She mentions, she shakes her head. "Idiot… He treated me like a granddaughter though, but I have no love for him, obviously. They cut ties with Zucco after he was arrested."
"Sounds like they did something smart at least."
"Yea… I think Pino and Umberto are still loyal to him. They grew up together though, so…" She sighs. "Anyway… Can you tell me what happened to your mom?"
"Well… I've been told many conflicting things growing up." He starts. There's also an onion that needs chopped which he starts when he's done with the peppers. "Nan told me she paid her off to leave me with my dad. Dad said that she left me with him because she didn't want a kid. My step-mom, who was my mom's best friend, said it was because she was afraid her life would kill me." He cuts the onion in such a way that the bulb that causes the tears stays intact. "I like to think the truth is what my step-mom told me, that she actually loved me. I wish I could find her, just to ask her why? What was the real reason?"
"I think any kid would want to know." Melinda mentions. Jason nods in agreement. He finishes up the onion and sets it aside.
"I like to think that the woman who raised me also loves me, but drugs can do a lot to your head. I hope she takes rehab seriously." Jason says softly. "But… Do you think I could still visit here? You guys have been so nice… I know it's been the first day, but…"
"I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem at all." Melinda answers. "Could always ask Bruce about it, but, I'm sure there's still time to decide that."
"What about you, Alfred? Any traumatic backstory?" Jason asks. There's a moment of silence as Alfred thinks.
"Well, I had been in the British military when I was a lad." Alfred says. "It was a means to provide for my mother, it had been her and I for most of my childhood as my father died mysteriously when I was a tot, I was the one who discovered his body." He adds a few seasonings as he adds the sliced peppers to the skillet. "Mum took the true cause of his death to her grave, she died while I was in service to Her Majesty, motor-accident. I hadn't been discharged in time to see her funeral. Though, Master Thomas offered I stay with him, we had been brothers in arms, saved each other's rears quite often. He learned of what happened to my mother, learned I had nothing else, so he took me in, provided me with a job as their butler. Been here ever since."
"Wow… Sounds like a lot… Do you ever miss Britain?" Jason asks.
"Often, yes. Though, I visit as often as possible. Master Bruce is rather permissive in that. I do have extended family, though I hadn't known them that well, I still make time to visit." Alfred explains.
"I'd love to go to England one day, some of my favorite stories are set there." Jason mentions.
"England truly is a sight to behold." Alfred states. "What do you read?"
"Tons of different things, but I mostly like a lot of the classics, like Shakespeare, but I also just love specific books, like To Kill a Mocking Bird, or 1984, I want to read Sherlock Holmes at some point!" Jason answers. He smiles softly.
"Intriguing, I've never known one so young in this age who appreciates such literature." Alfred says. "Have you heard of Pride and Prejudice?"
"No. What's it about?" Jason asks.
"It's a marvelous book about a woman named Elizabeth, learning certain life lessons. It has much in the way of character development, you almost grow with the character. I highly recommend it." Alfred explains.
"It's in the library, right?"
"Yes it is." Alfred answers. Jason nods to indicate he heard him.
"I'll have to take a look, who's it by?"
"Jane Austen." Alfred answers.
"Alright!" He seems rather happy, smiling widely, he almost bounces from excitement.
That night, after dinner, Dick suggests a good old game of Clue, so Jason can experience it. Melinda almost laughs because she remembers playing it her first day staying at the manor. Bruce has gone to his Study and has requested not to be disturbed, which Dick explains it's because of a lot of hard core job stuff that he needs absolute focus on, not telling them the real reason. Selina had gone off somewhere, and Alfred is resting in his room due to all the standing he'd done in making supper, his foot is currently in a boot now, but he still has to take it easy. So, it's just Dick, Melinda, and Jason playing. Dick is of course Mrs. Peacock, Melinda takes Mrs. White, and Jason takes Professor Plum. Dick gives Jason the rundown of the rules and they begin to play, Dick passing out the cards, notepads and having set up the envelope.
"Alright, so, roll the dice, whoever gets the highest number goes first, then we'll go in a circle to the left." Dick says. Jason rolls first, gets five. Melinda rolls and gets seven, then Dick rolls and gets five, so Melinda goes first, then Jason, then Dick, which he's fine with, he can figure things out better.
After a fun game of Clue where Jason actually wins, they celebrate with bowls of popcorn and a movie. What better movie to end the day than Clue? They take to the movie room, which has one of the biggest screens Jason has ever seen. His eyes bug out at it, mouth gapping.
"This is a tv?" Jason asks.
"Yep!" Dick answers. "With plenty of comfortable seating." He walks over to the display of all their DVDs and VHS tapes. He finds Clue and sticks it into the player, grabbing the remote and starting it up. The screen comes to life, showing the DVD player's logo and then it goes through the little previews and things. Melinda and Jason take a seat and Dick soon joins them, propping his feet up on an ottoman in front of them. The movie starts to play…
Jason surprisingly catches a lot of the references and jokes that Dick definitely didn't at his age, he just loved the movie. He watches intently as well, trying to figure out the killer, brows knitting in focus.
"Any ideas who you think it is?" Dick whispers.
"Well, Mrs. Peacock wasn't with them when they were checking on Yvette. Christopher Lloyd's character has me suspicious though too…"
"Why?" Dick asks.
"Because he also plays Rasputin in Anastasia. And Rasputin isn't a good person. Killer song though." Jason answers, still focused. They're at the scene where the lights go out, Yvette going down the steps. "She's gonna die, isn't she?" He then watches the rope go around her neck. "Yep, she's dead." The commentary makes the other two laugh. "It was probably a female, that voice sounded too light to be any of the guys."
"You'll see." Dick says, smiling. They've since run out of popcorn, but they agree they don't need anymore. Jason giggles at the singing telegram lady just falling dead after a gunshot.
"Me too, murderer, me too." Jason comments.
"Dada-dada-da-da, I am your singing telegram!" Dick sings, Jason mimes a gun and 'shoots' which Dick falls over into Melinda, sticking his tongue out and making bleh noises. Both then giggle.
"Dorks." Melinda teases, shaking her head.
"Yep!" Dick agrees.
"Nothin' better!" Jason states, smiling wide. They turn back to the screen as they're working to solve the mystery, watching Tim Curry run through the manor with a knife. "Pfff." Jason laughs. Then the first ending shows who the killer is, Jason looks confused. "Wait, but then, how'd she kill the cook if she was consoling Yvette?"
"Just watch, buddy." Dick says. It plays the end of the first ending, then says how else it could have ended.
"See! It was Mrs. Peacock!" Jason states.
"Oh you're in for a shock." Dick mentions, smirking. Then that scene ends, and the last ending plays. All of them are murderers, but it was Mr. Green, in the Hall, with the revolver.
"Wait, what? Oh wait, duh… You and the thing, on the board, you weirdo!" Jason pieces together.
"Don't need to be a detective to figure that out, Jay." Dick teases, smiling widely.
"I still think the 1+2+1+1 bit was hilarious." Melinda comments.
"1+2+2+1." Dick continues it.
"Flames, heaving breaths, on the side of my face." Jason half-quotes, doing the hand motions.
"So, shall we watch another movie?" Dick asks.
"I'm down." Jason agrees. Dick nods and gets up, going over to the case and looking at the different movies. "Just don't pick something stupid."
"Hmm, we could watch the Princess Bride. It's a really good movie." Dick says. He grabs it out. "Or if you wanna stick with Tim Curry, we can watch It, or Oscar, hmmm… There's Ferngully, that has Tim Curry. Or, ooh! Rocky Horror Picture Show! There's Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost, that's one of my favorite kids movies."
"You have a lot of movies with Tim Curry, don't you?"
"Dad really likes Tim Curry. He says you can tell a person by where they recognize Tim Curry. Though I've seen that same meme on the internet, so I think that's where he got the idea." Dick explains. He chooses a movie, popping it into the player. He walks back to his seat and it's the Scooby Doo movie he suggested.
The three start to watch it, Melinda and Jason watch intently for a while, then Melinda finds herself getting tired. She checks her watch and finds it's nearly two in the morning. She curses under her breath and gets up to go to bed, she has to be at work in the morning. As she's leaving though, she sees both Jason and Dick have fallen asleep, against each other actually, with Jason's head leaning on Dick's shoulder, and Dick's head leaning on Jason's. She smiles softly and steps over to a cupboard where there's some blankets stored, bringing them over and covering the two up. She pauses for a moment to look at them. Her two little brothers… She then leaves the mini-theatre and walks to her room.
AN: Sorry this is late, I've been on a medication that gives me brain fog and stuff, but the side-effects are wearing off. I hope you like this chapter! I'm going to post a bonus chapter here in the next day or so, so stay tuned! It's of the three playing Clue!