Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Category:
Fandom:
Relationship:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Collections:
Red Hood vs Red Robin, Lady Owl's Extras Library, Qqqqqq115, my heart is here
Stats:
Published:
2021-10-31
Words:
1,716
Chapters:
1/1
Comments:
54
Kudos:
5,705
Bookmarks:
548
Hits:
46,235

a thousand little pieces

Summary:

Jason’s stomach turned. If… If Replacement wasn’t in the pack, if Replacement was vacant of anyone’s scent, if Replacement wasn’t his replacement…

Then that meant Jason had just attacked a packless, neglected pup for no reason.

Notes:

Mmm Titans Tower au

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Jason had only spent a few months packless between Catherine’s death and being adopted by Bruce. They were the worst months of his life. It was painful for a pup to be packless. Adults could normally handle it better but as a pup, pack was the most important thing. Without a pack, a pup’s growth and health were stunted. Jason himself had felt the agonizing emptiness that came from being packless. It sapped his strength, amplified his instincts and left him broken. It was what he’d always imagined his mother’s depression felt like. It was only a few months for him, but by the end, he’d felt the cracks appearing in his mind.

Being packless was hard for an adult, but for a pup it was lethal.

That’s why Jason did what he did. He did it for packless pups, for abused mothers, for fearful fathers. He did it for those who had nothing and no one left. He did it because Gotham didn’t understand soft words and prison bars. He did it because he grew up in streets that ran red with blood. He did it because Arkham was a revolving door and sometimes you just need to do what needs to be done. Jason was the sin of wrath and hell demanded blood.

He crouched down beside the broken bird sobbing on the ground. He ran a soft hand through Replacement’s hair, relishing how even broken and bleeding the kid leaned into the affection. This was what Gotham—what Batman —needed: an example to be made. Pups sent out would get hurt. They should stay home where they’d be safe.

“Where’s your Alpha now, little bird?” Jason cooed. Replacement jolted, big blue eyes turning to look at Jason in confusion. He seemed to deflate even more, like the last of his fight had drained out.

“D’n h’ve ‘n’.” Replacement mumbled, more tears escaping at the sentence. Jason paused, before a harsh scowl curled his lips.

“I must’ve misheard,” Jason remarked coldly, “because I swear you just said you don’t have an Alpha.”

Replacement shook his head minutely. “D’n’t.”

The hand in Replacement’s hair tightened, drawing a high whine before Jason let go. Jason reached up and unlatched his helmet, setting it on the ground beside him. His theory was proven true when only the stench of blood reached his nose. Like a switch had been flipped, Jason’s mind went from criminal to detective. His narrowed eyes traced over the mess of a wingless bird, seeing all the things he’d missed the first time. Replacement was small for his age, too small to be natural. Completely scentless too, something Jason had never managed because even with Jason’s scent concealed, Dick liked to make sure everyone knew Jason was pack. The keens that Tim had shrieked at the beginning weren’t for pack, they were for help in general. It painted a grim picture even before Jason reached for Replacement’s scent blocker and tore it off.

Some part of Jason still expected to smell Dick and Bruce all over Tim, Alfred snuck in there and Barbara a lingering scent. The majority, however, wasn’t surprised to be greeted with the stinging bitter smell of a packless pup. There was a hint of Dick, obviously a few days old, but no Bruce, no Alfred, no Barbara, no parents. Why didn’t he have the scent of his parents on him? It was just the pungent smell of loneliness.

Jason’s stomach turned. If… If Replacement wasn’t in the pack, if Replacement was vacant of anyone’s scent, if Replacement wasn’t his replacement…

Then that meant Jason had just attacked a packless, neglected pup for no reason.

The Joker’s still out there! Batman needs to learn, the green hissed and that was right but… it had nothing to do with Replacement—with Tim.

Jason stood up. He looked at Tim, at the bruises and cuts and broken bones he’d gifted a child…

Jason stood and looked and couldn’t face the truth. He ran.

Two and a half months later, Jason shucked off his jacket and placed his helmet on the counter. He was in one of his new safehouses, one he’d really put time into keeping under the radar. The Bats had been up his ass since his appearance in the Titan’s Tower and were getting closer to the truth every day. Jason’s plans had to be put on hold with the Bats snooping and his own mental instability.

See, Jason had known from the beginning that his head was missing a few screws. The green liked to touch his memories, liked to warp his thoughts and Jason had always known that would be a problem. The issue was, he thought he’d gotten it under control. He thought he could trust what ideas were his and what were the whispers of the pit. He thought he knew himself.

This was obviously not true.

Running a hand through his hair, Jason sighed. He was hungry, tired too. He tried to convince himself that it would be best to go to sleep but the truth was that he was plagued with nightmares every time he closed his eyes. A good night’s rest was no friend of his. Guns came out and were set on the counter, alongside his armour and other weapons. He shuffled towards his room, grabbing a set of handcuffs from the kitchen. He’d learned his lesson after the first time waking up covered in blood and surrounded by bodies. Talia had been surprisingly forgiving with the condition that he be tied to the bed every night in case of a pit flare up.

“I spent a long time thinking about it,” A voice said behind him, and Jason whipped around. He barely registered the weight of a gun in his hands until he saw the way Tim’s eyes focused on it. He didn’t put it down.

“What the hell? What are you doing here? How did you even know where I was?” Jason hissed. Tim shrugged, a nonchalant tilt to his head to cover the flinch he made at Jason’s angry voice.

“I spent a long time thinking about it,” Tim repeated, “before I finally came to a conclusion that fit most of the pieces together. Only, it wasn’t perfect. Your eyes though… well, they fill in all the empty spots.”

Jason suddenly became very aware of the fact that there was nothing concealing his face, leaving his Lazarus green eyes in clear view.

“So what now?” Jason asked blandly, not bothering to deny it. “Are Daddybats and Dickwing hiding around the corner to send me to Arkham or are they still on-route?”

Tim’s brows furrowed. “Arkham? Why would they send you to Arkham? They just want you to come home.”

Jason laughed cruelly, baring his teeth in the mockery of a smile. “Home? Come on now, Baby Bird. You pointed it out yourself, I took a dip in the pit. I’m insane now, remember?”

“Not insane,” Tim corrected, “just suffering from Lazarus Pit side effects. There’s a difference. Insanity can’t be cured.”

“And Pit Madness can?”

“Not yet,” Tim admitted. “But I’m sure we’ll be able to figure something out now that we have the incentive to.”

“And who is ‘we’ exactly?”

“Oh well… I guess it’s not a ‘we,’ but like Bruce and Dick and all the Bats. I’m sure Barbara would lend a hand and Alfred’s always good moral support. Just, your family, in general.”

And just like that, Jason was enveloped in the memory of Tim’s packless scent. The sad, lonely, desperate scent of a dying pup.

“Why aren’t you part of Bruce’s pack?” Jason asked without thinking and Tim startled, thrown off guard.

“What?”

“Bruce’s pack,” Jason repeated. “You’re not part of it. You’re not part of any. Why not? You’re Robin, aren’t you?”

Tim flinched back, wringing his hands together and it occurred to Jason that he may have made an error. Tim sighed.

“I’m… I’m Robin, but I’m not Robin. I’m his partner but I’m not his son. Not like you and Dick are.”

Jason didn’t know what to say to that. It wasn’t true, he couldn’t believe that it could be when he’d seen how aggressive Bruce and Dick had gotten with him lately. Tim obviously didn’t see that though.

“I’m so not equipped to deal with this,” Jason muttered to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tim made a confused noise.

“Okay.” Jason took a deep breath. “Okay, here’s how this is going to go. You are going to go home to the manor. I am going to pretend this never happened. In a few weeks time, you might find yourself getting adopted by Bruce because he’ll realize that he’s being wearing his ass as a hat and he loves you. You live happily ever after, the Bats leave me alone, the world is at peace. Bada-bing, bada-bang. Get out.”

Tim pursed his lips. “No.”

“No?”

“No.” Tim crossed his arms. “Here’s what’s really going to happen. You and I are going to go to the manor. You’ll be happy and covered in tears because everyone misses you and they’ll cry all over you. And then, maybe, you’ll be able to convince Bruce to legally adopt me.”

The last sentence was just dripping with skepticism, Tim making it very clear that he didn’t believe he’d be getting adopted. Jason scowled.

“And why would I do that instead of my plan?”

“Because if you don’t come back with me, I’ll quit being Robin!”

Jason raised his eyebrows. “No, you won’t.”

“No, I won’t.” Tim deflated. “But I will make sure that Bruce doesn’t adopt me. Even if he gets my parents arrested, I’ll insist on going into foster care.”

Jason narrowed his eyes. “Foster care’s a front for trafficking and we both know it.”

Tim met his eyes, fearless, and Jason was hit with the realization that it wasn’t a bluff. He would really go through with it.

Jason caved first, putting down the gun and sighing. He ignored Tim in favour of heading towards his bedroom.

“I’m exhausted. We’ll talk about this in the morning. I don’t care where you sleep.”

Jason said he didn’t care but he also didn’t expect to wake up to Tim cuddled against him like a leech.

Notes:

Tim wins this argument, obviously. Jason goes to the manor with him. There are tons of tears and arguments and yelling. It works out. Eventually.

 

Please note: any comments with swearing or inappropriate content will automatically be deleted.