Fic: Through a Mirror... | DCU | Bat Family (Jason/Tim[/Dick]) | R | 5/5
Title: Through a Mirror... (Part 5/5)
Fandom: DCU
Characters/Pairing: Overall: Bat Family (w/Jason Todd/Tim Drake[/Dick Grayson]); This part: Dick/Jason/Tim, Alfred Pennyworth, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, others mentioned
Rating: R (for Jay's mouth)
Word Count: 1,453
Prompt: For dcu_freeforall: Family/Group Support; For The 2012 DCU Free For All Autumn Challenge: Apples
Summary: Overall: On the night of October 31st, the Wayne Household puts on a Halloween party, for the first time ever. Little do they know what the night will bring when Zatanna gathers them for a séance in the old parlor. This part: On the morning of November 1st, everything is different.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own everything, the schmucks.
Author's Notes: Follows Through a Mirror... (Part 4). Part of the Together-Verse, in which Jay is Batman, Tim is his Robin (though Damian is a little Robin in training), Damian is Jay's kid, and Bruce is still missing finally home.
Through a Mirror... (Part 5)
By the time the sun came up on November first, Jason hadn’t managed to so much as snag a single wink of sleep. After getting Bruce cleaned up and tucked in, and making sure those that had still been at the party would keep what they’d heard or seen to themselves for the time being, the family’s efforts had gone into the party cleanup. Alfred had tried to insist on them leaving the remnants of the blowout to him, but with the rest of them on the job, he hadn’t stood a chance, and in the end, the actual tear-down took a hell of a lot less time that the decorating had.
Which left Jay utterly exhausted, and not quite sure how he’d gotten upstairs and plopped down on the bed in his and Tim’s room, making a vain attempt to rub the knots out of his neck.
“Here, let me do that,” Tim said behind him, and Jay turned his head to find his boy climbing across the bed to kneel at his back, hands landing on his shoulders. At some point earlier Tim had changed into sweats and a tee, his wig discarded on the dresser, but his makeup was still on, looking only slightly marred from all the activity that’d gone on since the party broke up.
“Fuck, Tim,” Jay groaned as those long fingers worked his tight muscles. His eyes slid shut and he dropped his head forward, letting his boy work. Jesus fuck, how had the night gone so sideways, that something so simple as a party had turned into the craziest homecoming ever? He felt like he hadn’t even gotten to enjoy the rest of the festivities. “Didn’t get a chance to dirty dance with you at the party, Baby Bird,” he groused. “Fuck.”
Tim laughed low. “Maybe later, after we’ve had some sleep.”
“Mmm, I wish,” Jason sighed. As much as he wanted to just spend today lazing about in bed and playing Damon and Elena some more, they had about a million things they had to get done, up to and including getting the paperwork done to bring Bruce back from the dead officially. And fuck, they were gonna need one hell of a cover story.
“Where the hell d’you think B’s been all this time, anyway?” he mused aloud to Tim, who’d moved on to massaging the kinks out of Jay’s middle and lower back.
Tim hummed, and after a moment said, “Zatanna said something about the ancient past and a parallel dimension. I don’t know exactly what that would’ve entailed, but she also said Bruce has been trying to get home this whole time, he just couldn’t get past the barriers between worlds.”
Jason frowned, things slowly coming together in his head. “So … is that what the whole séance thing was about? Some kinda focusing thing so Zee could reach through and pull Bruce back to us?” It made sense, even if it sounded fucking nuts.
“I guess,” Tim agreed. “Just wish she’d warned us about what might happen.”
“Maybe she figured it wouldn’t work.”
Behind Jay, Tim finished working on those tight muscles and leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Jay’s shoulders and dropping his head into the crook of his neck to kiss him lightly. “At least she would’ve tried.”
Jason snuggled back into the embrace and hummed his agreement, turning to kiss his boy’s forehead. “Yeah. But anyway, it did work, and now we’ve got one hell of a clusterfuck to figure out.”
Tim nodded against his shoulder. “Zee’s calling all the magic users, and Alfred’s getting Doc Leslie and Doc Mid-Nite to come this afternoon. We’ll get it all straight soon enough.”
Another sigh, and Jay let his eyes slide closed again, dropping sideways toward the pillows and taking Tim with him. At the very least, they could get a little shut-eye before the household exploded with activity again. He hoped.
~*~*~
Four hours was definitely not enough sleep, Jay grumbled to himself as he headed downstairs, freshly showered and redressed in jeans and a few layers of shirts to keep out the autumn chill. Rubbing his eyes absently, he wandered into the kitchen, finding most of the family already there, in full conversational mode and seated around what looked like brunch, complete with pumpkin muffins, cider and coffee, a variety of apples and peanut-butter, and cinnamon-spiced oatmeal for those that wanted something more hearty.
“Alfred, you are a god,” Jay moaned as he took his seat and started to load up his plate.
“Thank you, Master Jason,” Alfred nodded in return, pouring him a steaming mug of coffee, doctored just the way Jay liked, with creamer and a few packets of sweetener. “It’s kind of you to finally join us.”
Jay winced a little. “Sorry. Kinda been wiped out. I didn’t realize parties could be that draining.”
Across the table, Dick grinned and laughed. “That’s what you get, Little Wing.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jay grumbled, digging into his food. Fuck, it was all so good. He hadn’t realized how hungry he’d been until just now. When was the last time he’d eaten, anyway? Candy and cookies and cider didn’t really count, so … lunchtime yesterday? Fuck.
Shaking his head, he mumbled another ‘thank you’ to Alfred around a mouthful of pumpkin muffin, and took a long look at those that’d come down to eat. Dick looked chipper as always, Tim was finally cleaned up and changed again, Cass and Steph had showered and changed, both of them looking tired but mostly there, and the squirt-
Little Dee had managed to face-plant onto the table beside his plate, a tiny puddle of drool collecting beneath his cheek. Damn, the kid must’ve been downright exhausted. All the crap that’d gone on overnight, and Jay hadn’t done a damn thing to take care of his own kid.
Fuck.
Standing to excuse himself, Jay went right over to Damian and scooped him up smoothly, hoping to not wake him. The very least he could do was tuck him back into bed and make sure the kid got some real rest. Too much fucking excitement, probably too much crap going on in his head, what with Bruce back, the man he’d thought was his father for almost his entire life.
“Gonna take the squirt back upstairs,” he explained to the assembled family. “Be right back.”
Jay took the stairs quickly and quietly then, and made fast work of getting Damian back in bed. Pulling the covers up over him, he took a long look at the kid. Even in sleep, he wore the same scowl that Jay saw every day in the mirror. As much as he was awed at seeing himself there, he wished it didn’t have to be the angry side of him. Maybe the kid would’ve been better off if he’d actually been Bruce’s. It sure would’ve saved him a lot of heartbreak and potential psychopathic BS.
But then Damian curled in on himself in the bed, snuffling softly, his face smoothing out at last, and Jason sighed. Yeah, his kid was screwed, but maybe it wasn’t all bad.
Either way, they had Bruce back. And Bruce had been a father to all of them at one time or another. Now the squirt had what amounted to two fathers to look after him, not to mention the older brothers, uncles, sisters, aunts, and Alfred-the family’s default grandfather-at his beck and call.
Jay couldn’t help but breathe out a small laugh. He couldn’t have predicted the way this Halloween would go if he’d tried.
Stepping out of Damian’s room, he pulled the door shut behind him, and padded down the hallway to the stairs, pausing by the master suite as he went. A quick peek in found Bruce sleeping soundly, the occasional snore escaping him. Even cleaned up, he still looked like hell, his face entirely too lean and heavy bags lying beneath his eyes. They’d trimmed his beard and hair, combed out the worst of the tangles, but it’d still be a while before he was the Bruce they all knew.
It would take a long while before any of them were the same family they’d been-
No, what they had now was better than anything they’d had before. They were all together, the grudges were gone-well, except for the angst Damian clung to so tightly, but that’d just take time-and Jay was fucking proud to have helped all that happen. The party last night had just been the tip of the iceberg, a mere glimpse of what they’d become.
They were truly a family. Weird and crazy and awesome, and whole at last.
~*~*~*~
Fandom: DCU
Characters/Pairing: Overall: Bat Family (w/Jason Todd/Tim Drake[/Dick Grayson]); This part: Dick/Jason/Tim, Alfred Pennyworth, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, others mentioned
Rating: R (for Jay's mouth)
Word Count: 1,453
Prompt: For dcu_freeforall: Family/Group Support; For The 2012 DCU Free For All Autumn Challenge: Apples
Summary: Overall: On the night of October 31st, the Wayne Household puts on a Halloween party, for the first time ever. Little do they know what the night will bring when Zatanna gathers them for a séance in the old parlor. This part: On the morning of November 1st, everything is different.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own everything, the schmucks.
Author's Notes: Follows Through a Mirror... (Part 4). Part of the Together-Verse, in which Jay is Batman, Tim is his Robin (though Damian is a little Robin in training), Damian is Jay's kid, and Bruce is still missing finally home.
Through a Mirror... (Part 5)
By the time the sun came up on November first, Jason hadn’t managed to so much as snag a single wink of sleep. After getting Bruce cleaned up and tucked in, and making sure those that had still been at the party would keep what they’d heard or seen to themselves for the time being, the family’s efforts had gone into the party cleanup. Alfred had tried to insist on them leaving the remnants of the blowout to him, but with the rest of them on the job, he hadn’t stood a chance, and in the end, the actual tear-down took a hell of a lot less time that the decorating had.
Which left Jay utterly exhausted, and not quite sure how he’d gotten upstairs and plopped down on the bed in his and Tim’s room, making a vain attempt to rub the knots out of his neck.
“Here, let me do that,” Tim said behind him, and Jay turned his head to find his boy climbing across the bed to kneel at his back, hands landing on his shoulders. At some point earlier Tim had changed into sweats and a tee, his wig discarded on the dresser, but his makeup was still on, looking only slightly marred from all the activity that’d gone on since the party broke up.
“Fuck, Tim,” Jay groaned as those long fingers worked his tight muscles. His eyes slid shut and he dropped his head forward, letting his boy work. Jesus fuck, how had the night gone so sideways, that something so simple as a party had turned into the craziest homecoming ever? He felt like he hadn’t even gotten to enjoy the rest of the festivities. “Didn’t get a chance to dirty dance with you at the party, Baby Bird,” he groused. “Fuck.”
Tim laughed low. “Maybe later, after we’ve had some sleep.”
“Mmm, I wish,” Jason sighed. As much as he wanted to just spend today lazing about in bed and playing Damon and Elena some more, they had about a million things they had to get done, up to and including getting the paperwork done to bring Bruce back from the dead officially. And fuck, they were gonna need one hell of a cover story.
“Where the hell d’you think B’s been all this time, anyway?” he mused aloud to Tim, who’d moved on to massaging the kinks out of Jay’s middle and lower back.
Tim hummed, and after a moment said, “Zatanna said something about the ancient past and a parallel dimension. I don’t know exactly what that would’ve entailed, but she also said Bruce has been trying to get home this whole time, he just couldn’t get past the barriers between worlds.”
Jason frowned, things slowly coming together in his head. “So … is that what the whole séance thing was about? Some kinda focusing thing so Zee could reach through and pull Bruce back to us?” It made sense, even if it sounded fucking nuts.
“I guess,” Tim agreed. “Just wish she’d warned us about what might happen.”
“Maybe she figured it wouldn’t work.”
Behind Jay, Tim finished working on those tight muscles and leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Jay’s shoulders and dropping his head into the crook of his neck to kiss him lightly. “At least she would’ve tried.”
Jason snuggled back into the embrace and hummed his agreement, turning to kiss his boy’s forehead. “Yeah. But anyway, it did work, and now we’ve got one hell of a clusterfuck to figure out.”
Tim nodded against his shoulder. “Zee’s calling all the magic users, and Alfred’s getting Doc Leslie and Doc Mid-Nite to come this afternoon. We’ll get it all straight soon enough.”
Another sigh, and Jay let his eyes slide closed again, dropping sideways toward the pillows and taking Tim with him. At the very least, they could get a little shut-eye before the household exploded with activity again. He hoped.
~*~*~
Four hours was definitely not enough sleep, Jay grumbled to himself as he headed downstairs, freshly showered and redressed in jeans and a few layers of shirts to keep out the autumn chill. Rubbing his eyes absently, he wandered into the kitchen, finding most of the family already there, in full conversational mode and seated around what looked like brunch, complete with pumpkin muffins, cider and coffee, a variety of apples and peanut-butter, and cinnamon-spiced oatmeal for those that wanted something more hearty.
“Alfred, you are a god,” Jay moaned as he took his seat and started to load up his plate.
“Thank you, Master Jason,” Alfred nodded in return, pouring him a steaming mug of coffee, doctored just the way Jay liked, with creamer and a few packets of sweetener. “It’s kind of you to finally join us.”
Jay winced a little. “Sorry. Kinda been wiped out. I didn’t realize parties could be that draining.”
Across the table, Dick grinned and laughed. “That’s what you get, Little Wing.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jay grumbled, digging into his food. Fuck, it was all so good. He hadn’t realized how hungry he’d been until just now. When was the last time he’d eaten, anyway? Candy and cookies and cider didn’t really count, so … lunchtime yesterday? Fuck.
Shaking his head, he mumbled another ‘thank you’ to Alfred around a mouthful of pumpkin muffin, and took a long look at those that’d come down to eat. Dick looked chipper as always, Tim was finally cleaned up and changed again, Cass and Steph had showered and changed, both of them looking tired but mostly there, and the squirt-
Little Dee had managed to face-plant onto the table beside his plate, a tiny puddle of drool collecting beneath his cheek. Damn, the kid must’ve been downright exhausted. All the crap that’d gone on overnight, and Jay hadn’t done a damn thing to take care of his own kid.
Fuck.
Standing to excuse himself, Jay went right over to Damian and scooped him up smoothly, hoping to not wake him. The very least he could do was tuck him back into bed and make sure the kid got some real rest. Too much fucking excitement, probably too much crap going on in his head, what with Bruce back, the man he’d thought was his father for almost his entire life.
“Gonna take the squirt back upstairs,” he explained to the assembled family. “Be right back.”
Jay took the stairs quickly and quietly then, and made fast work of getting Damian back in bed. Pulling the covers up over him, he took a long look at the kid. Even in sleep, he wore the same scowl that Jay saw every day in the mirror. As much as he was awed at seeing himself there, he wished it didn’t have to be the angry side of him. Maybe the kid would’ve been better off if he’d actually been Bruce’s. It sure would’ve saved him a lot of heartbreak and potential psychopathic BS.
But then Damian curled in on himself in the bed, snuffling softly, his face smoothing out at last, and Jason sighed. Yeah, his kid was screwed, but maybe it wasn’t all bad.
Either way, they had Bruce back. And Bruce had been a father to all of them at one time or another. Now the squirt had what amounted to two fathers to look after him, not to mention the older brothers, uncles, sisters, aunts, and Alfred-the family’s default grandfather-at his beck and call.
Jay couldn’t help but breathe out a small laugh. He couldn’t have predicted the way this Halloween would go if he’d tried.
Stepping out of Damian’s room, he pulled the door shut behind him, and padded down the hallway to the stairs, pausing by the master suite as he went. A quick peek in found Bruce sleeping soundly, the occasional snore escaping him. Even cleaned up, he still looked like hell, his face entirely too lean and heavy bags lying beneath his eyes. They’d trimmed his beard and hair, combed out the worst of the tangles, but it’d still be a while before he was the Bruce they all knew.
It would take a long while before any of them were the same family they’d been-
No, what they had now was better than anything they’d had before. They were all together, the grudges were gone-well, except for the angst Damian clung to so tightly, but that’d just take time-and Jay was fucking proud to have helped all that happen. The party last night had just been the tip of the iceberg, a mere glimpse of what they’d become.
They were truly a family. Weird and crazy and awesome, and whole at last.
~*~*~*~