A Birthday For Every Robin

[dreaminpng]

Rating: General audiences
Category: Gen
Fandom: Batman
Characters: Jim Gordon, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Susan (OC waitress)
Also availbale on: AO3
Language: English
Words: 2288

Summary: Jim Gordon has a special place in his heart for the Robins. He's assigned each one of them a special "birthday" that he celebrates every year, even when the Robin in question isn't there to celebrate with him.


Dick:
He figured out relatively quickly that Robin wasn’t Batman’s son. Their dynamic just wasn’t right. Over time, he came to deduce that Robin was probably an orphan. He didn’t know if Robin was living with Batman, but he figured the kid was too well fed and healthy looking to be on the streets, so he didn't worry too much about the kid's home life. Even so, he made a point of being an unofficial uncle to the kid. He’d ask Robin how school was, and leave snacks on the roof of the police station when he turned on the signal, knowing that Robin hid them in his utility belt while Batman was busy talking to Jim about the case at hand. One day a note was left on his desk that simply stated, "Robin likes the chocolate-chip-oatmeal cookies best" and he knew he was busted. He smiled, and began keeping a package of that kind of cookie in his desk, just in case Robin stopped by.

Jim also picked a day to be Robin’s “birthday." It started the first time Robin worked a case on his own, and Jim took him out for hot cocoa afterwards as a “good job" treat. It soon became an annual thing - every year on that day, he’d ask Robin out to have cocoa. It came to be that the woman who worked the graveyard shift at the diner, Susan, figured it out and started giving Robin a free slice of pie on that day as well. The first time he brought a present for Robin, the kid had looked confused. “I don’t know when your real birthday is, so I decided this is it." Robin’s face had lit up and he’d grinned like a lunatic at the green hat and detective's exam study primer. He gave Jim a bone crushing hug, and Jim made a promise to himself to never forget Robin’s ‘birthday’ it made the kid so happy. Once Robin moved on to be Nightwing, he started sending gifts to Titans tower, or handing them off to the current Robin to pass along if Nightwing wasn’t in Gotham on his ‘birthday.’ Then, one day, Jim presented a gift to Batman. Batman had tried to hold in a grin as he said “I’ll pass this along to him" and Jim had just nodded with a smile, a look passing between the two that they both knew exactly who was wearing the cowl right now, while the current Robin just huffed impatiently.

Jason:
Jim figured that there had been a change in the roster the second he got a good look at this new Robin. Kid was clearly younger, and he was smoking. There’s no way the old Robin would have ever done something like that. Still, for Batman’s benefit, he didn’t let on that he knew a new kid had taken over the role - at least not until he met Nightwing in person and was able to use that as an excuse for figuring it out. He picked a new day to be this Robin’s birthday. The first time he asked this Robin out for cocoa, Robin looked at him suspiciously - this Robin had never been as trusting of the police as his predecessor. Soon, they’d built a comfortable rapport, and Jim took pride in the fact that he was the only officer Robin gave a genuine smile to, rather than a smirk. Initially Susan was confused with the change in date, but she soon caught on that this was a different boy, though she never said anything, and always had his favorite pie (different from the other Robin's) ready on his birthday.

But, just as soon as they’d started to get to know one another, Robin disappeared. It didn’t take Jim long to realize the truth - Robin had been killed. Batman’s behavior was clue enough. Jim started leaving flowers on the roof of the police station on this Robin’s birthday in memory. The fifth year he left flowers, he noticed that they had been set on fire sometime in the night. The next year, the same thing happened, only a note was left behind as well. It was a curt, rough message, but despite the instruction to stop leaving flowers, Jim smiled - somehow, that Robin was back. Clearly something terrible had happened, and the kid was in a bad place, but he was alive. Jim started leaving gifts on the roof instead, (which, surprisingly, seemed to be accepted). Once Red Hood was captured (it was clear from the second he saw Hood and Batman interact who the criminal had once been) he began taking the gifts to Jason in prison. Hood’s ‘birthday’ was the one day he’d forget the man’s current crimes, and honor the hero he had been.

Tim:
Jim had never been as thankful for a Robin as he was for this one. This Robin pulled Batman out of a downward spiral that had Jim fearing he’d soon have to put out a warrant for his old friend. This Robin was more independent than his predecessors - working more cases solo than both prior Robins combined. He was clearly smarter as well, finally incorporating pants into the costume. Like the first Robin, Jim picked this Robin’s birthday as the anniversary of his first solo case as well. This Robin seemed to prefer going for cocoa with Jim than receiving gifts, and this was the first Robin to make sure he was in Gotham every year on that date to go out with Jim - and always sent an apology note to the precinct ahead of time if he wouldn’t be able to make it. Even when Robin clearly grew into coffee drinking years, he still got cocoa with Jim on his ‘birthday.’ He was also the first Robin to refuse Susan's gift of free pie, saying he wasn't really a pie person. After trying a different dessert on Robin every year, she struck gold with a peanut-butter cookie ice cream sundae, and that became this Robin's birthday dessert of choice. Jim suspected she baked the cookies at home, since peanut butter ones weren't sold any other day, but never said a word, merely sharing a secret smile with Susan whenever he saw her and finding some way to tell her if Robin had re-scheduled their birthday get together.

The year he became ‘Red Robin’ was the first year he missed cocoa with Jim and didn’t send a letter. Susan had asked him about it, fear in her voice, and Jim didn't know what to tell her. When Jim saw a new kid in the Robin suit, he feared the worst, and, knowing this Batman might actually tell him, asked what had happened. Batman assured him that the former Robin was fine and told him the kid was going by “Red Robin" now. The next day Jim got a phone call from a blocked number - it was Red Robin apologizing for missing their meeting. The kid sounded terrible - and Jim had been a parent and friend of Bat-clan, long enough to know how to keep the kid on the line long enough to make sure the kid knew he was cared about. Even though Jim couldn’t convince him to come back to Gotham, he exacted a promise for cocoa next time Red Robin was in town. When Jim saw Red Robin next, there was a relaxed smile on his face. The first thing Red Robin said before they set out for cocoa was “thank you." Jim just nodded, “any time kid" and put his hand on Red Robin’s shoulder, squeezing gently, before opening the door to the diner. Robin was immediately pulled into a hug by Susan, much to the boy's obvious discomfort, and told through tears to "never scare me like that again!"

Stephanie:
Jim felt like he barely got to know this Robin. She was like a flash in the pan in the many years of the dynamic duo, but boy what a flash. She smiled brightly and freely, and had an enthusiasm that lit up the room. She had an infectious laugh, and Jim liked her immediately. He’d consulted his daughter Barbara, on what to get this Robin for her ‘birthday,’ still unsure of shopping for girls despite having a grown daughter of his own. Barbara had just smirked and said “how about a purple hat and scarf?" Jim had followed her advice, but was unprepared for the shriek of joy and big bear hug the gift had earned him. “It’s just what I wanted! It’s so freaking cold out here at night! And I love purple!" Jim smiled, bewildered, and wondering not for the first time if his daughter was secretly psychic. He made sure to buy her something purple every year after that, and, once he saw her new Batgirl getup, tried his hardest to make sure it matched.

This was also the first Robin to truly befriend Susan, and he could tell the woman was crushed when the first girl Robin disappeared. Every year, even after Robin was gone, Susan made blueberry waffles ala-mode the special of the day on Robin's 'birthday' in memory, while Jim left purple flowers on the roof. Susan cried tears of joy when this new Batgirl appeared and gave the woman a big bear hug, whispering 'I'm sorry. I couldn't tell you I had to leave' into the woman's ear. Jim had never seen Susan scold someone for worrying her the way she scolded Batgirl, but she got an extra scoop of ice cream on her waffle that night.

Damian:
This most recent Robin had been Gordon’s hardest to deal with. The kid refused to have anything to do with him, refusing offers to cocoa. Then, one day, he showed up outside Gordon’s office window looking sullen. “Batman insisted I join you for cocoa. He said it was ‘tradition.’" Jim had tried hard not to laugh, but he’d never seen a kid look so unhappy at being told to have hot chocolate before in his life. He ended up getting the cocoa from the diner to go and drinking it with this Robin in his office instead, sensing it would suit his prickly demeanor better and worried the kid would horribly offend Susan somehow. He eventually learned that this Robin was the first Batman’s son, and clearly had a chip on his shoulder where his predecessors were concerned. Jim could see Batman (who he knew was Nightwing) was having a hard time with the kid, but, over time, began to see the effect the former Robin was having on his successor. The kid was becoming more personable, less violent, and a better detective. The second time he had cocoa in his office for Robin’s birthday, he sent Robin home with a note for Batman. It read “you’re doing a good job." Jim would have thought Susan had never met this Robin, when he learned that Batman had started taking Robin to the diner for ice cream every now and then. She reassured Jim that she wasn't offended they'd taken to having birthday cocoa in his office instead, but did give Jim a pint of vanilla ice cream to take with the cocoa to the office on Robin's 'birthday' the next year. When this Robin died, he resumed his tradition of leaving flowers on the roof on his birthday. In addition to giving his condolences to Batman, he made sure a message got to Nightwing as well - knowing exactly who was responsible for turning this Robin into a hero.

Susan:
Susan had started working at the diner as a waitress when her husband had left her and she found herself needing to support a young child at twenty years of age with no real work experience. Getting stuck with the graveyard shift had seemed a curse at the time, but as the diner became the go-to spot for Gotham's resident child vigilante to get a midnight snack, she began to see it as a blessing. Sometimes she had to bring her son to work with her, and Robin was always kind to Grant, telling him adventure stories that made the boy's eyes wide with wonder. Once she figured out the Commissioner would bring Robin to the diner for his birthday, she began providing him with free pie- her own little 'thank you' and 'happy birthday'. As the mantle passed from Robin to Robin, she kept careful track of each new Robin's birthday and dessert of choice.

She watched the Robins grow up and move on to new identities - the first time Nightwing came into the diner, she'd teased him gently for finally wearing pants (and almost had a heart attack years later when he showed up as Batman with a prickly boy she assumed was his son in tow). She mourned the losses of each Robin that mysteriously disappeared deeply as well, saying a prayer for them every 'birthday' that passed without a trace that they were alive. Once she was promoted to general manager, she began making the Robin desserts the 'special of the day' on their birthdays. If any of her customers or co-workers puzzled over the odd choices in what the special were, and what days the occurred on (why were there so few? And why didn't they seem to align with any holiday in particular?) she paid it no mind, happy and content to share in this secret with the Commissioner. She never expected anything in return for these small kindnesses she gave to the Gotham's child heroes, and when her son received a full scholarship to one of the city's best schools she never once suspected it was a grateful father's way of saying 'thank you.'