Archive of Our Own

Sunrises were really the only thing that Jason Todd enjoyed about Gotham. The sky exploded in colors of red, pink, orange, and an unlikely but possible blue if the skies had actually cleared up for the day. Which rarely happened due to the amount of pollution that filled the skies. Pollution was only good when it made the sky feel like it was actually smiling back at him. The otherwise gloomy and violence ridden city sat in silent contemplation. As if watching the vigilantes disappear from the streets, slipping into the shadows that were slowly fading as the sun rose above the buildings. Jason sat, watching the streets slowly fill with weary office workers. People who just wanted to live their life, but were still living in a constant state of paranoia. Who knew when the Joker was going to make his next move? No one knew, but the semi-safe security that Arkham brought helped. If only slightly. Even with the amount of times the villains escaped, it still brought a sense of security. Jason huffed, turning away from the slowly awakening city and made his usual route back to the safe house he had slowly started to call home.

Jason barely unclipped his helmet these days, choosing to keep it on for some sick form of comfort. But when he was left to his own devices and barely feeling the prickle of eyes along his neck he removed it. Ripping off the sticky domino that laid beneath the Hood, a result of his paranoia. He sighed, letting the soft waves of a recently fixed fan flit over his sweaty hair and face. The only downside of a helmet that covered your whole face. Sweat was not something he had taken account for when originally designing his suit. He’d have to figure out some way to put more filters into the helmet without his voice being recognized.

The night had been slow, but that always meant something bad was about to happen. Jason considered looking around for anything suspicious, but he had gotten two hours of sleep last night and just needed a bed. Sometimes his brain wafted back to the wonderfully soft beds at the Manor, but he shook off the thought before thinking too hard about it. There was no way in hell he was going back there. To where he had been practically abandoned. Buried is probably the best description but he shrugged it off and began stripping off the layers of armor that he wore. Instead of his normal routine of carefully placing his suit, helmet, and guns back where they belonged. He opted for leaving everything scattered around what could possibly be called an apartment, despite the ragged condition the building had been left in.

Gotham summers were always hot, probably due to the pollution and left him feeling like he was melting and constantly sweaty. God did Jason hate the feeling of sweaty skin and the horrible way that his clothing would stick. It felt like he was peeling off another layer of skin. But not in the way that normally felt good when removing his suit after a night out kicking people's asses or running across the rooftops. No, he felt like he was physically stepping out of his skin and it left him feeling disgusted and weirdly defeated.
There was no longer the rage that normally filled him to the brim, that constantly left him in a state of restlessness. There was no longer the paranoia that led him to constantly checking over his shoulder and waiting for someone to leap out of the shadows. He just felt bone dead tired. He just wanted to sleep for days on end. But the city never really sleeps, and Jason’s the only one who actually worked on Crime Alley and all of the horrible people who crawled inside its belly. He wished he could care less about what happened around him. But he’d rather be dunked back into the Pit before taking a step back from the city of thieves.

But Jason could really care less at this moment. He could care less about anything happening in this god forsaken city when all he wanted was a warm bed and maybe some of Alfie’s cookies and hot cup of milk to go along with them. But he was never going to get that back, so as he stumbled wearily through the house and pulled on a loose fitting pair of sweatpants he had stashed in the dresser and dropped unceremoniously onto the lumpy mattress. It was probably filled with fiberglass, his mind whispered. He’d found it on the street but at this point he just wanted to sleep. He could worry about breathing in fiberglass in the morning, right now he just needed sleep.

Sleep is only a comfort until the nightmares start. Green seems to fill his senses, anger pulsing through his veins, constant laughter echoing through his mind. Jason awoke with a start, sweating more than he had during the day. He really should’ve showered before getting into bed, but he hadn’t had the energy to do so. Jason groaned, flopping back onto the mattress, dragging his hands over his face. Green flitted around the edges of his vision, creeping up and then slowly seeping away. Jason rolled over, choosing more sleep that was possibly filled with nightmares than having to deal with the day to come. Jason cringed when he rolled over, the sunlight invading his eyes. Guess that was the start of his day, considering that now the sun had decided to show herself that he wasn’t going to be getting anymore sleep. He should really try to make or get some sort of curtain, he didn’t particularly enjoy being awoken by the sun.

Instead of getting out of bed, like he probably should’ve, Jason pulled a pillow to cover his face. Defeating the sunlight that had decided to wake him. His brain was still foggy from sleep and he’d rather keep that sleepy comfort than having to deal with the shit hole that was Gotham City or really any of the Bats. Jason would rather have to deal with the Joker again than have to deal with the Bats. Anyone in the cape business really. Burying as far as he could into the flimsy blankets and pillows, Jason sighed drifting back away from the land of the living. But of course the universe always had something to fuck up his perfectly good day off.

_____

A crash resonated through the building, creating more of a ruckus than it really should have. A chorus of swears echoed through the apartment startling Jason into a state of panic. Jason kept as quiet as possible, as he frantically dug through his bedside table for anything, knife, gun, whatever he just needed something to protect himself with. Jason found a small handgun and some bullets that went along with it before hurriedly loading them, his anxiety slowly peaking as the voices didn’t seem to go away, but seemed to get closer to his bedroom. Jason wasn’t nearly awake enough to deal with someone breaking into his safehouse, or a hallucination, but when in doubt he can always just shoot some fuckers. Jason pushed open his bedroom door, and peaked through the opening to see if he could find the assailants. The gun weighed heavily in his hands but he kept it by his side as he nudged the door open further, listening for any noise. It had gone suspiciously silent as he lightly pushed the door open, he clicked the safety of the gun off and it clicked a little too loud for his liking. He held the gun out in front of his face, finger on the trigger, pointing right at the man standing in the middle of the apartment. Arms filled with Jason’s gear that he had left all over the floor the previous night. The man didn’t look startled at all, he swept a hand through his ginger hair that was falling out of the ponytail at the base of his neck. The baseball hat he normally wore clipped onto the side of his hip and glasses pushed up into the knotted mess that was Roy Harper’s hair.

Wait…what the fuck was Roy Harper doing standing in the middle of his apartment? Jason didn’t know. Jason sighed, dropping his arms to his sides, sliding the safety on the gun back on. His body released all its tension once he realized who was standing in the middle of his safehouse.

“Ay dios mío Roy. You definitely know how to make an entrance.” Jason said, dragging a hand through his own disheveled curls.

“Hey, I texted you man. You’ve been out for like three days dude. I’m just cleaning up after you, who knew you could be such a slob I would’ve thought Agent A would’ve drilled some sort of cleanliness into ya.” Roy grumbled.

“Three days?” Jason repeated, bewildered.

“Yeah dude, who knew you could sleep that much.” Roy chuckled, looking around the apartment for the places where Jason’s suit normally was homed.

“I didn’t,” Jason grumbled.

“Well at least you aren’t dead man, Kori and I were worried when you didn’t respond,” Roy said with a slight smile.

“Yeah, I do not want to go through that shit again. Once was plenty, thanks.” Jason huffed, turning away from Roy and heading back towards the bedroom. Three fucking days. Jason had slept through plenty of important meetings that he had lined up without any communication. He’s completely and totally fucked. Even with the three days worth of sleep he still felt completely exhausted. Jason was never going to live this up if anyone else besides Roy found out. Jason shoved the handgun into the degrading bedside table, another piece of furniture that he had found on the side of the road. It’s not like you can make money when you’re legally dead anyways so nabbing broken things off the street that he can easily fix makes it so he can actually have furniture. Jason opened one of the drawers in his dresser, pulling out a shirt that he slid over his head before walking back into the living room. Roy had finished placing Jason’s suit in the places where it belonged and was now sitting on the couch, the most worn piece of furniture Jason had in his house.

“So whatcha gonna do?” Roy asked, eyes tracking Jason’s movements around the apartment.

“Whadda mean?” Jason grumbled, shuffling over to the kitchen where he could make himself a cup of tea.

“Ya know, all the meetings you had lined up? Kori and I went to the one the three of us were supposed to be at, but what about the others?”

“Ay dios mío Roy, I don’t even want to think about it. I think I’d rather be dead again than think about it,”

“Well, you're gonna have to say something, because Crime Alley ain’t gonna make itself better all by herself.”

“I’m aware of that, Roy. I’ll deal with it later, I could give less of a fuck right now. Unless the Bat is going to come and yell at me. I’ll message some people today, say I was injured or something I dunno man.” Jason dragged his hands over his face, he really didn’t want to be dealing with this right now. Even worse he didn’t know where the fuck he had hidden his extra cigarettes. He had finished his last pack back on patrol and was really itching for a smoke. Jason’s also pretty sure he might’ve had a meeting with the Bat over the past few days he’d been dead to the world sleeping. “Hey Roy? Do you remember if I complained about having a meeting with the Bat?” Jason asked.

“Not sure man. My memory’s not the best, why don’t you just check your phone? All ya meetings and shit are in there right?”

“I don’t even know where I put my phone Roy, and it's probably dead considering I’ve been out for a few days”

“Yeah you're probably right,” Roy said, pushing himself off the couch and stretching his arms above his head, unknowingly showing off. Jason swallowed a particularly hot sip of tea, burning his tongue in the process and looked away as quickly as possible. Probably a bit too quickly. He really didn’t need his elementary school level crush on Roy to be exposed though. Actually he’d rather deal with the Joker again than have to expose that to Roy. Jason watched as Roy rummaged through his kitchen, looking for something. Roy turned around, grinning at him as he was holding up the box of lucky charms Jason had stashed in this safehouse a long while ago.

“I thought Dick was the one with the sweet tooth?” Roy asked, grinning as if he had won an award show.

“It’s for the days I don’t work, or when I don’t have energy to make myself a normal meal in the mornings.” Jason grumbled, somewhat embarrassed. Roy always managed to make him embarrassed.

“Well, it's definitely my lucky day! I can’t buy lucky charms anymore, Lian crashes halfway through the day if she has ‘em for breakfast and she probably shouldn’t be eating pure sugar for breakfast anyways,” Roy said, sighing, a lopsided smile plastered to his face. Even with the slight disappointment that seeps in from not being able to have lucky charms in his house. Jason huffed, watching Roy make his way around the kitchen, looking for a bowl.

“Do ya have milk?” Roy asks, rifling through the fridge.

“If there's no milk, then I don’t have milk Roy.” Jason drawled, walking back towards his living room.

“Dude, you really eat cereal dry?”

“No, I just haven’t had time to restock the fridge recently. Especially since I was asleep for three fucking days,”

“Riiight…” Roy said with a smirk.

“It’s the truth man, Tim is the most likely person in the family to eat cereal raw.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Roy said through a mouthful of dry cereal.

“Don’t speak with your mouth open. You’re gonna get food everywhere.” Jason cringed. Roy just responded by defiantly shoving more cereal in his mouth. Jason sighed, getting up from the couch that had been slowly attempting to lull him back to sleep. Jason placed his cup in the rather oddly empty sink. Jason doesn’t remember ever cleaning the dishes that had been left in the sink. But there definitely were dishes when he went to bed. Jason doesn’t remember a lot from the last time he was awake anyways other than a vague memory of patrolling. Now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure his bedroom door had been locked. Jason shook his head thinking that he was just exhausted and forgot to lock it. Jason turns heading back to his room to search for his phone before the Bat ultimately decides to make his presence known. Jason searches through his blankets before eventually finding his phone, which was indeed dead, and plugging it into the cord. He doesn’t bother waiting for the charge to strip his bed and head into the bathroom for a well needed shower. There was something in the back of his mind that was important but Jason couldn’t remember it for the life of him, or lack thereof.

After remaking his bed and going through the routine that goes along with this specific safehouse, Jason checks his phone. There was an abundance of angry or at least passive aggressive notifications smiling up at him. Several missed calls from family members, but the most surprising was a recent call from Alfred. He barely calls. Jason chewed on his lip as the line rang, and then there was the tell tale click of the receiver being picked up.

“Hello, this is Wayne Residence. Alfred speaking.”

“Hey Alfie, saw that you called me earlier, was there a certain reason for that?” Jason asked, worrying away at his lower lip.

“Oh! Master Jason, why it is wonderful to hear from you. Yes there is a certain reason, we were going to get your suit fitted again. I have a feeling that the suits at the Manor will no longer suit you. Remember you have your ‘resurrection’ gala that Bruce put together. Don’t you remember?” Alfred said, in a voice far too calming for the raging emotions that swirled under his skin without any warning.

“Okay. Yeah, I had forgotten about that. Uhh…I’ve been asleep for the past three days, Roy just woke me up like thirty minutes ago. The normal place?” Jason asked, hoping that his anxiety didn’t show through his voice.

“Well it's great to know you haven’t fallen off the face of the earth once again Master Jason. I will see you soon at the normal suit shop. I expect you to be no later than thirty minutes. Please wear something appropriate. And bring Roy along, I assume he would want to come along.”

“Right, okay. See you later Alfie.” Jason said.

“See you soon Master Jason,” there was a beat of silence before the click of the phone call ended.

“Shit.” Jason whispered to no one in particular.

_____

Jason felt like the world was slowly collapsing around him, anxiety seemed to devour him. The one important thing he had forgotten, and it was his own resurrection gala. It wasn’t a meeting with the Bat but instead a stuffy room filled with people who thought they were better than everyone else in existence, just because they had money. Honestly that was even worse. He really hated the Gotham Elite. Jason sighed, pulling a hoodie over his head and switching out his sweatpants for a pair of jeans. He had to meet up with Alfred and also convince Roy to come. Which shouldn’t be that hard but then again, he doubted that Roy really wanted to come to a gala surrounded by rich snobby people. Then again, Roy tended to like the attention that came with parties, so maybe he’d want to come.

Once Jason had felt somewhat more human he walked back out into the living room where Roy had made himself completely at home. He was laid across the couch, a video playing on his phone, propped up with one hand and completely out to the world. Probably making up for missed sleep while he looked after his kid, Lian. Jason huffed, walking over to where Roy was napping and shoved his shoulder. Roy awoke with a start, his eyes wide before realizing who was standing over him and relaxing back into the couch.

“Roy, we gotta go.” Jason said, turning to go put his boots on which he always left in the entryway of his apartment, along with the rest of his shoes. Another habit he had reluctantly picked up from Alfred.

“Man Jace, where are we going?”

“To get suit fitted, my resurrection gala is tonight,”

“Oh shit, is that what you forgot about?”

“Yeah, and Alfred wanted you to come along, so now we gotta go get fitted for suits, because I don’t have one and I highly doubt you do too.”

“Yeah, you're right.” Roy said, swinging his legs off the couch and standing up to stretch. Jason had to force himself to look away from him. God this stupid crush was getting really fucking annoying. There was no way in hell that Roy liked him back, he had a kid for fucks sake. Roy walked over to sit beside Jason in the very small entry room, their shoulders squished together and he pulled his own boots on, not bothering to tie the laces.

“You’re gonna trip,” Jason said glaring at the loose laces.

“Not if I do this,” Roy said, unceremoniously shoving the laces into his boots and turning to smile at Jason.

“I guess so, but I’m not catching you if your laces get stuck in my bike and you go flying into the road.” Jason grumbled.

“Alright that's fair,” Roy said with an attempted shrug before standing up and pulling Jason up with him and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Roy grabbed Jason’s keys off of the peg that sat next to his door and pulled the both of them out into the surprisingly cool summer day. Definitely not the weather he was expecting but it came with a nice gust of wind so Jason didn’t mind. Roy followed Jason down the stairs that could bend and break at any moment, especially with the weight of two fully grown men. Jason turned towards where his motorcycle was sitting, grabbing his civilian helmet and slipping it over his head before he turned back to look at Roy. Roy was staring at him, eyes glued to Jason’s helmet.

“What do you want, Roy? Get on the bike,” Jason huffed.

“Alrighty,” Roy said with his signature smile, pulling on his own helmet that Jason always kept for him and getting onto the bike before wrapping his arms around Jason’s waist. Jason steeled himself as he started the bike after sending a quick message to Alfred that they were on the way.

Jason always enjoyed being on his bike, with the way that everything seemed to speed by and the wind battering against him as he sped up, swerving between cars. Lane cutting was probably illegal but you could probably get away with anything in Gotham, as long as you didn’t get caught, so Jason didn’t really bother with following traffic rules. Jason tried his hardest to not focus on the fact that Roy was leaning against him, and focused on getting them to their destination. Once they reached the too fancy suit store for Jason’s comfort in downtown Gotham, both of them stepped off the bike. Roy somehow managed to not trip and fall, even with the way his laces had come out of his boots during the drive, and thankfully didn’t get stuck in his motorcycle.

_____

Jason breathed in, then out, trying to quench his anxiety before walking through the doors. It was almost as if Jason was walking straight into a memory, if it hadn’t been for Roy standing at his side. The place hadn’t even changed in the past years he’d been gone. Alfred sat in a chair facing the dressing rooms, flipping through what looked like a cooking book. Jason gulped, looking at the man who had practically raised him.

“Hey Alfred,” Jason said with a slight smile, trying to keep his anxiety out of his voice.

“Master Jason, it is good to see you,” Alfred said, proper as ever. Jason doesn’t think he’s ever seen Alfred out of his butler get up. He wondered what Alfred would look like without it. Jason nodded stiffly before waving at Roy without any ceremony.

“I brought Roy along as well, like ya asked.”

“Heya Alfred,” Roy said, his signature lopsided grin flashing across his face.

“Wonderful to see you again Roy,” Alfred said with a slight smile, “Now shall we get to it?”

“I guess so,” Jason grumbled before turning to look at the suits that lined the walls. The anxiety came back with full force as he walked up to them. “Any kind of specific suit we need Alfred?”

“I was thinking of just a simple black suit, for the both of you. You can always get another more colorful one if you wish at another point. But for this evening I feel as if simple is the best answer,” Alfred said with a curt nod of his head.

“Alright, let's get this over with,” Jason huffed, already regretting showing up. The time seemed to pass as slowly as possible, as if they were wading their way through molasses, while Roy and Jason were shoved into various types of stuffy, well and ill fitting suits. In the end, both of them would need to get their suits tailored. There were no suits that fit them in the way that Alfred deemed acceptable, which meant they’d both have to go to the Manor and wait as Alfred tailored them as quickly as possible in the time frame they had. Which also meant continuing to try the suits on as Alfred worked throughout the day to make sure they’d be done by the gala. Alfred expressed his need for them to both be at the Manor in less than an hour, and to bring an overnight bag as they would be staying the night, leaving zero room for argument. Jason agreed with the least amount of excitement he possibly could, he could never really say no to Alfred. There was no way he was going to get out of breakfast at the Manor it seemed, not when Alfred specifically asked him to be there.

Jason hated the Manor, it was filled with far too many good memories and people he’d rather not see. But the gala, if not just to make him suffer, was at the Manor for some horrible way of forcing Jason back into the Bat’s grasp. Jason really hated this but he guessed there was no way of getting out of it, especially because this was a gala in his honor. Jason scoffed as he and Roy left the suit shop. They got back on the motorcycle, and headed towards Jason’s safehouse. Jason was too anxious about having to stay at the Manor to have the heart to worry about how Roy hadn’t put his helmet on and his chin was resting on Jason’s shoulder. Jason should feel ecstatic about the idea of Roy touching him in any domestic way but instead he just felt tired. The gala wouldn’t be for a long while and he already felt exhausted from just being inside the suit store.
Once Roy and Jason had made it back to Jason’s safehouse they both packed a bag. Roy was already grabbing the bag he had brought over earlier that day while watching Jason stuff his bag with sleep clothes, grumbling swears as he haphazardly packed. Probably in a way that revealed how annoyed Jason was with the predicament they were in, but he couldn’t care to actually worry about the way he presented himself around Roy.

_____

After the bags were packed, they both headed back to Jason’s motorcycle. He didn’t want to disappoint Alfred but boy did he not want to go to this gala.
Roy and Jason were on the road again before Jason could even think of any possible way to get out of the gala. There was no way he was going to get out of it, especially because it’s literally a gala celebrating him, but the man could hope.

The city skyline slowly started to fade as they made their way away from Gotham, and closer to Bristol. The tall gray buildings slowly made their way into a dense forest that surrounded the only road that led to the mansions that were hidden by the abundance of trees that seemed to come out of nowhere. At least that's how it would feel if you’ve never been there before. It was almost as if they were driving towards a fantasy land hidden behind the brush. But gradually the trees made their way, revealing driveways and houses that seemed to be as large, or larger than the white house. Jason turned on the road that headed towards the Wayne Manor, anxiety swirling inside of him. Roy was still hanging loosely onto Jason’s waist as they made their way up to the way too long driveway getting closer and closer to their doom. When Jason had fully pulled up the driveway and left his bike as close to the door as possible, just in case he needed to escape.

Jason and Roy got off the bike, and walked up to the giant door that seemed to engulf Jason like it had the first day he’d been brought to this manor. He could already feel like this was going to end badly.

Once they reached the door, it was almost as if Jason had been hit in the face with a brick when he grabbed the golden door knocker and let it fall back against the door. There was a doorbell, but honestly he felt like being petty today. Mostly because he hadn’t managed to tell any of his informants or practically anyone that he works with why he’s been out for the past three days and it was starting to make him feel sick with anxiety. But staring at the massive door that led to his childhood bedroom, which he no longer laid claim to, untouched and preserved in some kind of sick testimony to the child he once was. He really hated the Manor.

Jason turned his head looking at Roy who was rocking back and forth on his feet, unable to contain his excitement of being at the Wayne Manor, or maybe it was nerves. Jason couldn’t fully tell, Roy tended to make the same motion when he was both excited or nervous. You’d think that also growing up in a Manor would make the man less excitable, but he guessed it was the first time Roy had been to this particular one. Mainly because he lived in Star City for the most of his adolescence.

“Alright Roy, let’s get this shit show on the road shall we?” Jason said before the door swung open, revealing Alfred.

“Funny seeing you here, Master Jason,” Alfred said, his normally stoic face broken into a slight smile at seeing him in the doorway.

“Yeah, yeah, great joke Alfred,” Jason said, rolling his eyes and following the butler inside. The two of them followed Alfred through the grand entryway to the kitchen where their suits were laid out on the counter. The old sewing machine that Jason had barely seen when he was living in the Manor, except for when he was forced to clean out the attic after getting in a fight after school, was set up on the counter and various pins had already been stabbed through the fabric of the suits. There was a lovely smell of bread baking in the oven wafting through the air as Alfred motioned for them to sit at the countertop. Both Roy and Jason took a seat, watching Alfred expertly move around the kitchen.
“Roy, would you like tea or coffee?” Alfred asked.

“Tea is just fine,” Roy said, fingers drumming on the table which was the only thing that actually revealed his nervousness, unlike his rocking. The Bat didn’t really like Roy, or anyone who had to do with Oliver Queen. They had some sort of history, and it wasn’t super happy at least depending on the way they bickered like an old married couple. Or at least that’s what he assumed. Before they knew it there was a platter of cucumber sandwiches and two cups of tea with the tea pot placed off to the side so they could help themselves.

Then Alfred was down to business, shuffling them both away to separate bathrooms suits in hand. They had less than six hours to get all the tailoring, measuring, and sewing done so it was going to really be a rush against time. When they were both out of the bathrooms, awkwardly standing next to each other in slightly ill-fitting suits Alfred began pinning the fabric on each of them to fit properly. Seeing Roy in a suit that was going to fit him perfectly was not something Jason was ready for, so he focused more on eating the small sandwiches that were laid out while Alfred kept up the conversation with Roy.

Roy who was always so interested in everything and anything. It didn’t just have to be some kind of complicated machine or trinket to keep him entertained. Anything that he could possibly learn captivated Roy, he had much more patience than Jason in that regard at least. Roy watched Alfred fit and pin back Jason’s suit jacket like it was some sort of magic being performed. Like he was lucky to be able to watch someone who knew how to sew work. The questions kept coming, a constant and steady flow of conversation that Jason could somewhat hang onto as he just watched. Roy was mesmerized by the way the sewing machine worked like he had never seen one. It was starting to get on Jason’s nerves. The way that Roy’s brows scrunched with confusion and then when Alfred explained jumped apart and he nodded along with whatever Alfred had said. Roy was going to drive Jason crazy.

Before either of them knew it, an hour had passed and their suits were fitted to each of their bodies. Alfred once again ushered them to bathrooms so they could take far too long carefully getting out of the suits so Alfred could actually tailor them to the proper sizes.

Jason hated this part of the process of tailoring. He took far too long to get out the suit, worried about messing up the placement of the needles that were pressed through the fabric. So he carefully peeled the suit away from his skin and pulled on the jeans and t-shirt he had been wearing from earlier in the day. Jason left the bathroom, heading back towards the kitchen where Roy was sitting at the kitchen counter once again focused on Alfred working away at Roy’s pants. Jason paused in the doorway, soaking in the scene before he heard the front door open accompanied by voices. People who Jason had hoped he would have stayed away from before the gala. But Jason guessed staying in your “childhood” home would cause you to interact with your siblings. Jason had somewhat frozen in the doorway to the kitchen still clutching his suit as the voices flitted closer. He didn’t know why he froze, but sometimes seeing your siblings after ignoring them for over three months because of your own goddamned resurrection gala wasn’t something he really wanted. But alas, he wasn’t going to be able to get away from his siblings.

Jason pulled himself away from where he was standing, walking over to where Roy and Alfred were talking animatedly, at least as animatedly as Alfred could talk, and taking a seat next to Roy to watch them work. The voices slowly became louder and the people who they belonged to were revealed as they walked through the door to the kitchen.
Tim was trying to wrangle an angry Damian who was trying to run off and probably hide away from going to the gala or to get to the cave to train. Both of them paused in the entrance to the kitchen, as if they were frozen by Mr.Freeze. Tims eyes blew wide as if he had just seen someone with two heads sticking out of their neck.

“What's up Timmers?” Jason asked with a lazy grin spreading over his face, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“You’re early,” Tim said, mouth hanging open.

“And you’re gonna catch flies with the way your mouth is hanging open,” Jason sneered. That caused Tim to close his mouth almost immediately, his face contorting into a scowl that almost matched the same one Damian was wearing. Except Damian’s scowl was more surprise than confusion like Tim’s was.

“I thought you weren’t coming until later, like when the gala was starting like we planned. Grand entrance and all that bullshit.”

“Change of plans, I didn’t have a suit and Alfie made me drag Roy along cuz he was over and now he’s tailoring our suits.” Jason said, shrugging nonchalantly. Tim nodded, the answer enough for him as Damian’s scowl stayed plastered to his face as if it was carved in marble. Tim was still holding onto Damian’s sweater as if he was still attempting to escape.

“Who are you?” Damian scowled, staring at Roy as if he had done something to harm Jason.

“Roy Harper at your service,” Roy smiled, tipping an invisible hat to Damian.

“What do you mean to do with my brother?” Damian demanded, glaring at Roy.

“Woah little guy, I’m just here for this big guys gala. I got invited along,” Roy said, wrapping his arm around Jason’s shoulders as if he was going to run away.

“Oh.”

“Yeah buddy, nothing bad don’t fret or whatever you bats do,” Roy said rubbing the back of his neck.

“Timothy I request that you let go of me so I can go look for Alfred,” Damian said, completely ignoring Roy to glare up at Tim. Tim sighed looking at Jason for some sort of help. Jason shrugged in return while Roy’s face contorted into confusion.

“But Alfred is right here?”

“Demon spawn talking about Alfred the Cat,” Jason said, hiding a smile behind his suit that he was still holding.

“Why would someone name their pet after someone else living in their household?”

“Because Alfred is the most worthy person in this household to be named after,” Damian scowled, wiggling himself free from Tims slackened grip and dropping his backpack, narrowly missing Tim’s feet, to race up the stairs without a second glance.

“Well, Master Tim, why don’t you go get your suit as well so I can make sure that it fits correctly?” Alfred asked, not once looking up from working on Roy’s suit jacket for the whole exchange.

“Sure Alfred,” Tim said, following where Damian scampered off in a more exhausted way than any 17 year old should. Jason watched Tim leave and turned back to where Roy was pulling him in so they could both watch Alfred work while he continued to ask an ungodly amount of questions. How did Roy even have so many questions relating to sowing? Jason didn’t even know that many questions were possible.

_____

As the day continued, Jason and Roy were shoved into several variations of their suits as they were tailored to the standard that Alfred expected. The house also began to slowly fill up with caterers coming in and out to set up the ballroom that was going to be used for the gala. People seemed to flit around Jason as if he was still a ghost. They acted as if they were walking a thin line between him being alive and suddenly falling apart as if he was a plastic skeleton hung up in some teacher’s science classroom. It was starting to get on his nerves, the way that the people seemed to either perceive him for too long or not at all. Alfred was busy directing caterers and helping set up for the gala as the family slowly came home from the events that held them up during the day. Stephanie was home for the weekend from college, Cass was pulled along after Steph carrying her overnight bag and watched her as if she had hung the moon. Duke was home next, complaining about his work load before stuffing himself with his usual afternoon snack and heading up to his room to get started on homework before the gala. This weekend was definitely going to suck, Jason could feel it in his bones. That was possibly the anxiety speaking but honestly he just felt like something was going to go wrong. God he really needed a smoke.

Jason was already so agitated with every living thing in the manor that he grabbed Roy by the arm along with their suits and overnight bags, pulling them up the stairs. Jason swore he was losing brain cells being surrounded by so many people. Jason led the two of them through the winding hallways before pulling them into the guest room he used every time he was forced to visit the manor. It took far longer than Jason wanted it to because Roy kept forcing him to stop so he could look at the decorations that had been here for centuries. Possibly longer honestly, Jason didn’t know how long the Wayne Manor had been in the family's clutches.

After Roy was finished looking at everything he possibly could, and soaking up all the history he needed, Jason pulled them into the room he would be staying in. Jason wasn’t sure where Roy would be staying, but he didn’t mind sharing his own room. He carefully hung their suits up on the back of the door before dropping their overnight bags onto the ground and flopping face down onto the bed with a groan. Jason felt the bed dip, with Roy’s weight and moved his head so he could look up at Roy’s face. Roy looked slightly concerned, his brow furrowed in the way it would when he was worried when Lian had been home sick from school and hadn’t been able to help Jason on a case. Roy’s hand hovered slowly over Jason’s head before connecting with his curls and dragging his fingers through them. Roy quickly pulled his hand away from Jason’s curls as if he had been sparked by some unruly electricity.

“You should dye your hair. Ya know, to fit the part?” Roy suggested, clearly upset about the idea of Jason dying his hair and somewhat embarrassed about running his hand through Jason’s curls. Jason grunted in response, turning to smash his face back into the pillow. “Come on Jace, we gotta do something about that white streak, or else people are gonna think you’re a grandpa,” Roy snickered, standing up from the bed. Jason groaned, but sat up and watched as Roy rummaged through his overnight bag.

“Do you really just keep box black hair dye in your travel bag,” Jason drawled, watching as Roy moved around the bedroom.

“Listen man, you gotta be prepared to make an escape at any point. I don’t think I’d rock black hair but hey, when you’re on the run it's the easiest way to change your appearance. Though black box dye is a total bitch to get out of your hair afterwards,” Roy said, shrugging and pulling Jason into the ensuite. Jason sat on the edge of the bathtub watching Roy mix the chemicals together. Jason let Roy push back his already black hair with a headband he always seemed to have on hand, pulling out the white streak of hair to the front so that the hair could be somewhat separated.

Jason closed his eyes as he let Roy work the hair dye into his hair, making sure that the dye didn’t get on Jason’s skin. It would really suck if Jason had hair dye on his forehead during his resurrection gala. Roy even took the precaution of putting vaseline on his hairline and forehead so it would rub off easily. Jason closed his eyes, letting Roy work and trying not to move as much as his fingers rubbed the dye into the roots of his hair.

“Alright Jace, now ya gotta sit for thirty minutes. Gotta make sure that the hair soaks up the color,” Roy said, carefully placing what seemed to be some sort of plastic hairnet over Jason’s head. Jason could almost hear him grinning down at him as he heard the sink run. Jason opened his eyes, watching as Roy cleaned up the hair dye, making sure it wasn’t staining anything. Alfred would definitely kill them if the dye had stained anything in the bathroom. Jason watched Roy move around the bathroom, eyes tracking everything he was doing before leaving the ensuite. Roy was probably putting the brush and bowl away.

Jason’s hands itched, he really wished he had some cigarettes. There were probably some in his old bedroom, but they were years old and would taste like dust. To think Jason had been trying to quit smoking…but it really just wasn’t working in any way shape or form. Jason racked his brain to think through all of his hiding spots in the manor where he had once hidden cigarettes for emergencies. Emergencies meaning hiding them from the Bat. There were probably some hidden in the library Jason mused, tapping his fingers on the edge of the bathtub. But, before Jason could get up and scour the manor for any form of nicotine he could get his hands on, Roy walked back in.

“You’ve got that face where you're itching for a cig,” Roy said flatly, moving to stand right in front of Jason and then checking on how his hair was developing.

“Sorry,” Jason mumbled, trying to look away from Roy. But Roy just righted his head to look forward so he could continue checking the progress of his hair.

“No need to be sorry, you’re stressed. It’s kinda a reasonable response for you to be wanting some nicotine,” Roy said, with a shrug. He was clearly trying to not show how much even the topic of drugs bothered him. But, it was always surprising how laid back Roy could pretend to be about drugs, especially with his past. Jason knew that Roy wasn’t really comfortable with him smoking and tried his best to not smoke around him, but sometimes the urge got too much.

“I don’t have any cigs anyways so it shouldn’t be a problem,” Jason mumbled, looking down to pick at the skin on his fingers. Roy shrugged, like it didn’t affect him. Which Jason guessed was reasonable, he was probably trying not to worry Jason. But as he watched as Roy moved around the bathroom, unable to stay still. Jason knew the actual answer, no matter how hard Roy tried to seem cool about his stance on drugs. The timer blared, causing the both of them to slightly jump at the nosie.

“Well, time to wash the dye out,” Roy said, smiling. Jason grumbled in response, taking off the plastic hair net and leaning over the side of the bathtub so that Roy could wash the dye out. As Roy was washing the dye out of his hair, Jason watched as the water ran a dark purple color, hoping that it wouldn’t stain the tub. He really didn’t want Alfred on his ass after the event was over. The water got clearer after each rinse, and drag of Roy’s hand through Jason’s curls. Roy hummed as he turned off the water, and grabbed the dark colored towel that was sitting on the edge of the bathtub to wring the water out of Jason’s hair. Jason let Roy dry his curls, even going the extra step to get out his diffuser so the curls would be dried properly.

Jason really enjoyed the pampering that Roy was doing, running his fingers through Jason's curls as he dried them. Then running gel through his curls and shaping them the way that Jason liked. Eventually when Jason’s curls were fully dried and styled enough in the way that Roy deemed acceptable, Roy took a step back allowing for Jason to look at himself in the mirror. And also to probably look over his work, Roy was more perfectionist than he actually let on. Without the white streak in his hair, Jason looked like he was actually his age, it made him look a lot younger that's for sure. Jason’s lips pulled back in a subtle smile as he ran his hands through his curls, trying not to mess up anything that Roy had done in the past hour. He could feel Roy staring at him, more than he could actually see him in the mirror.

“So…whaddya think Roy?” Jason said, turning to smile wide at him.

“It looks great Jason, you definitely look a lot younger,” said Roy, his ears a light pink.

“I definitely do look a lot younger, it’s really weird seeing myself with all black hair again,” Jason smiled, turning back to look at himself in the mirror as if he was going to disappear if he didn’t stop looking.

As the time began to tick down towards the beginning of the gala, Jason watched as the house was slowly being altered to make sure that any guests attending wouldn’t break anything that was priceless. The family wing was cut off from the rest of the house with a simple red rope barrier and the ballroom that the Bat had decided to use. They had even made a path out of cloth like a red carpet so that people wouldn’t get lost coming into the manor and also while leaving. Even to the bathrooms, which Jason thought was ridiculous. Though then again, these precautions probably happened while he was living at the Manor but then again Jason doesn’t really remember any galas, other than them boring him to death, being hosted at the Manor when he was still living. Jason doubted that it happened very often considering there was only one gala he can think of that happened at the Manor and that was always in December or January. Trying to raise money to donate gifts to children or something, he doesn’t remember really.

_____

Jason will admit, he was somewhat hiding from the rest of the family, but Roy is still here with him so it didn’t really matter. Not like he was going to leave, he was attending the gala. Roy would only leave the room to go explore more but Jason figured he wasn’t leaving out of the fear of getting lost. The Manor was big, Jason couldn’t blame him. He’d gotten lost multiple times when he first started living here. But Roy was like a buoy in a raging ocean storm, and Jason was furiously holding on as people swept through the halls moving things in and out of the manor. Jason was straight up refusing to interact with anyone he didn’t really know. Which meant every single one of the people setting up the gala, and a large number of people who would also be attending the gala. Though mainly he was ignoring having to see the Bat, who had set up this god forsaken gala. It was for a good reason, but Jason’s always been stubborn so it shouldn’t have surprised anyone who knew him.

Jason was laying in bed, skimming through random news articles on his phone as he pretended to not watch Roy out of the corner of his eye getting ready for the gala. Like a reasonable person should be doing when there was less than an hour till the horribleness that was a gala. Steph said she was going to help them get ready, excited by the prospect of having a new person to dress up, but Jason bet ten bucks she was making out with Cass right now. Jason didn’t understand the need to get ready, especially because his hair had already been styled by Roy and all he had to do was put on a suit. Not like he had to pull anything over his head that could possibly mess up the gelled down hair. Though Roy did keep walking over to rearrange his hair in between putting on different parts of the suit and making sure it was absolutely perfect, not a curl out of its proper placement. Or at least up to Roy’s standards. Jason didn’t mind, he really enjoyed having Roy freely run his hands through his hair, the excuse being fixing the placement of a curl. The moment of quiet that Jason and Roy were happily existing in was quickly ruined when Tim slammed open the door to the guest room that Jason would be spending the night in.

“Jason,” Tim gasped, he was wearing his suit looking ready to go other than the slightly panicked expression on his face.

“What,” Jason growled, watching as Tim stood in the doorway unmoving.

“You have to get ready, the press is already here and we planned for you to enter through the front of the Manor so we have to leave,” Tim pressed, his face still scrunched in panic.
“Shit, I completely forgot about that. Give me five minutes, tops. I’ll do my tie in the car.” Jason said, quickly getting up from the bed already shucking off his t-shirt so that he could start pulling on the newly ironed button up shirt. Tims face turned beet red, slamming the door closed as fast as possible, in barely hidden embarrassment like watching his older brother change was going to be the end of the world. Jason looked apologetically at Roy as Tim loudly yelled through the door “JASON! I do not need to see that!” Jason shrugged, shucking his pants and pulling on the bottoms of his suit, sipping up his shoes and grabbing the jacket and swinging it on in one fluid moment. He pulled the previously closed door to his room open, tie and phone in hand and watched as Tim quite literally turned and fled. Jason followed as close as possible while also dodging caterers and every other person imaginable down to the garage where Tim threw him a pair of keys. Jason clicked the unlock button twice, the car beeping in the distance as they ran towards it.
They both clamored into the car, Tim behind the wheel and they were off. They went through the backroads, making sure that no one would see they would be driving away from the Manor.

The press were like a wad of sticky things smashed together and having any possible way of knowing the Wayne family was running behind would be perfect dirt on them. To the Gotham public the Waynes were almost like what the Kardashians are to the world except just for Gotham. Of course the Waynes were pretty world-wide because of the crazy things that happened to them, the coverup stories were fabulous, but everyone wanted a piece out of them. Especially now with Jason being back from the dead. Not something he really wanted but it was happening anyways.

_____

Jason fussed with his tie in the mirror above him, trying his best to make the tie straight. He was no Tim or Bruce who could definitely tie a tie in their sleep. Maybe even Damian could do that, he did have a tie that went along with the uniform at Gotham Academy. Who really knew, at least he had it somewhat. Tim slowed the car down, pulling up next to another car that was parked somewhat hidden in the trees. Jason got out, slamming the door behind him as Tim drove off. Probably speeding to get back to the Manor before people started actually entering the Manor.

Alfred was already out of the car and opening the passenger door so that Jason could get in. Before he could though, Alfred turned Jason towards him and silently un-tied and re-tied his tie adjusting it to his liking before gently pushing him into the car. Alfred rounded the car, getting back into the driver's seat and they were off again. Jason fidgeted with the cufflinks, spinning them around as they began their way back towards the Manor. They turned the corner back towards the main streets where the mansions sat, and accepted his ultimate doom of being plastered on every billboard, newspaper, and social media that existed. As they slowed to a stop in front of the Manor, following the line of cars that slowly turned to leave and find somewhere to park. Alfred turned to him, once again adjusting his suit before he gave a slight nod and Jason breathed in, his anxiety swelling. He really wanted a cigarette.

Jason opened the car door, and was welcomed with a multitude of flashing lights and screaming questions. Jason smiled at the crowd, he waved slightly at the press as he walked up the steps of the Manor. Jason followed the carpet through the halls that he knew practically by heart, fidgeting constantly with his cufflinks and the bottom of his suit jacket trying to get rid of the anxiety. The anxiety probably wasn’t going to leave until everyone who was invited to this god forsaken gala left. Unless he could get his hands on a cigarette, then it would probably be okay. Not the best of course, but okay. At least his anxiety will be slightly lessened with nicotine. When Jason reached the entrance to the ballroom, he was quickly swept up by the family. Pulling him away from the crowd that had already started to form around him.

“Hey,” Dick said, wrapping his arm around Jason’s shoulders.

“Hi,” Jason said, warily looking around the room at the sheer amount of people who had shown up.

“Are you doing alright?” Dick asked, turning to look at Jason, his face scrunched with worry.

“I’ll be fine,” Jason huffed, eyes scanning the crowd for the one person he wanted to see, despite how much he said he didn’t. Jason himself could lie to anyone and everyone, but his heart would always ring right through those lies with the increasingly desperate desire to see his Dad and to have him wrap him up in a hug. Sure Jason could’ve seen him earlier in the day but he hadn’t wanted to really deal with those emotions before the gala. Jason’s eyes caught on Roy as he danced with Steph, probably to live up to his own life expectations as a Queen even if his last name was Harper. Roy would always be a son of Oliver Queen, making him a Queen despite his complaints and grumbling. Jason smiled slightly as he watched Roy laugh with Steph. He really could spend the rest of his life watching Roy and be completely content, even without wanting to date him.
The rest of the night went by smoothly, Jason answered questions to a select few people. Mainly Lois Lane and Clark Kent, from the Daily Planet, and no he didn’t only answer their questions simply because Bruce owned the Daily Planet. Jason also managed to talk to his dad and get that hug he had desperately wanted, probably making a good picture for people to use for newspaper articles and social media posts. He also somehow managed to completely ignore Vicki Vale and her horrible attempts at an interview. That was probably his brothers doing, but Jason didn’t really mind either way.

Jason was sitting down at one of the tables, making his way through a small stack of sweets and a glass of champagne as Roy leaned against him chatting happily away with Duke. Jason leaned his head slightly against Roy’s shoulder as he listened to them talk and watched as the last of the people attending the event left with side-hugs and handshakes from the one and only Brucie Wayne. After finishing off his glass and wiping chocolate frosting off his fingers, Jason turned to fully lean his body against Roy and pretended to listen to the conversation he was having with Duke. In reality he was really just listening to the vibrations of Roy talking. Eventually Duke finally managed to get out of Roy’s curious grasp and said goodnight, most likely heading up to his bedroom to finish the homework he complained about not being able to finish before the gala. They said goodnight to him and waited a bit before following him and heading back upstairs to where Jason was staying.

As the door closed to the bedroom, Jason sat down on the bed taking off the suit jacket and letting it fall to the ground. Something that if Alfred found out, he would be promptly scolded about. Galas always sucked all of his possible extrovertedness from his body in one foul swoop. Roy sat beside him, their shoulders brushing before Roy took the first step and rested his head on Jason’s shoulder.

“So, you’re legally alive again,” Roy said, his voice revealing his tiredness.

“Yeah, I don’t feel any different yet but then again tomorrow there will be so many articles about me I’ll wish to be legally dead again,” Jason huffed a laugh.

“Yeah,” Roy said, shaking his head which just kind of felt like he was nuzzling into his neck. Jason wasn’t going to complain that’s for sure. Jason smiled, running a hand through Roy’s hair. He was honestly just glad that Roy had been here with him; he wasn't sure if he was really going to make it through the night without him.

“Tonight went well,” Jason said, leaning back on the bed and pulling Roy with him.

“Yeah, it really did.” Roy said, turning to look at Jason and pulling him into a quick hug.

“Thanks for being here with me Roy, I really appreciate it,” Jason said, smiling at him.

“You're welcome Jaybird,” Roy mumbled sleepily.

“Alright big guy, let's get changed and then we can sleep,” Jason grumbled, begrudgingly sitting up to peel off the stuffy suit. After quick showers and makeup was washed off, they got into bed. Jason was scrolling through his phone and sending out messages to his informants and workers about where he’d been the past four days and told them when he would be back. Roy was tucked under Jason’s chin, strong arms wrapped around his middle as he snored slightly. Jason smiled, pressing a kiss to Roy’s head as he turned his phone off, and remembering to actually plug it in before pulling the covers up around them and settling into sleep.