Chapter Text
“This can’t seriously be a real job” Bruce looked at the paper, then at Jason, and he could feel a headache already settling behind his eyes. “It sounds like kidnapping”
“Nope, checked the number, I think it’s that kid two blocks away. The Drake folks” Jason replied with a sheepish smile. You see, Bruce’s been a total annoyance lately, trying to teach him financial responsibility, suggesting he’d get some job to cover for his civilian expenses.
Sure, he was still buying him all kinds of things, books and video games. But Jason had started taking the credit card more often. And that couldn’t go without a consequence. So while Jason tried figuring out the new code, he took the job offer. Just taking care of an annoying rich kid, and making Bruce shut up for a while.
“Yes, of course, an add targeted for minors offering an absurd amount of money. Jason, it’s stupid.” Bruce pressed his eyes, he wasn’t dealing with this now, didn’t have the strength.
“I’ll still go, check it out. I’m Robin! If it turns out to be some thug, I can punch them in the face” He acted some fighting with the air, to demonstrate his abilities. “And we can take a couple criminals off the streets. Two birds in one stone!”
“That’s even more risky” Bruce sighed, not wanting to deal with this. He wished Alfred was around to shake some sense into the kid, but Alfred was still at the market. “I want a tracker on you at all times.”
And that, my dear readers, is how you get the big bad scary Batman to give into anything. Talk to him when he’s sleep and coffee deprived and Alfred is not around to be the sensible parent. He knows Jason is going to do it anyway, it happened with Dick, it happened with him! At least he would take precautions. So Jason took the paper cutout back, got ready, and with a book in his back, he walked the couple blocks to the kid’s house. It was another manor, a bit smaller than Wayne Manor, but still luxurious enough for Jason to feel nervous. He was still getting used to it. You could leave Crime Alley, but Crime Alley never left you.
The door opened, a small figure appeared behind it, timid, small, rubbing his hands on his pants, probably nervous. Did I mention small? Sweet ten-year-old Timothy Drake, dressed with a shirt and dress shorts, suspenders. He was only missing the bowtie and slick back. But he looked as petulant as any other rich kid in the area. Compared to Jason in jeans and a cotton sweater, so much more comfortable looking.
Little Tim looked up, and went pale. His eyes wide, his jaw dropping, he could faint nay moment. Jason just raised an eyebrow.
“Uhm… hi there kid. I’m here for the job” He said, holding out the paper cutout of the ad.
Tim took it in his hands, he didn’t think anyone would actually show up, let alone… Robin. Oh, wait, he wasn't supposed to know that. He blinked a couple of times and swallowed, nodding*
“Yes… i… sure…” He said, glancing between the paper and Jason, then back to the paper. How did someone go about this? Did he have to interview Jason? Did he hire him on the spot? He didn’t think he’d get this far. He stayed there, petrified for a moment.
“So…” Jason tried looking past the door, hands in his pockets. “Are your parents home? Who do I need to talk to?”
“Oh- me! I mean” Well, good job Tim, Jason probably thinks you’re an absolute idiot now. “I mean, no, my parents aren’t home right now. And I put the ad up, you have to talk to… me”
There was a moment of silence, Jason blinked down at Tim. Tim blinked up at Jason… and finally he stepped back, letting the older guy inside the house and leading him to a sitting room. It was all… beige, sad, too clean and empty. Jason hesitated, he didn't want to make the couches dirty… even if he wasn’t dirty at all. Tim was too nervous to notice, he rummaged through a backpack on the corner, and took out a scrunched piece of paper, then sat down on one of the couches. Jason followed.
“Uhm… right, i’m going to ask you a couple of questions… So I know I can hire you for the job” Tim looked up, Jason nodded, then Tim began reading. “So… how old are you?”
“Fifteen, turning sixteen in August” Jason answered. If only he knew…
“Right, I’m ten. Okay, next question… do you have any siblings?” Tim looked up at Jason again, crumbling the paper slightly with his fingers. Oh, he was nervous, and both knew it.
“Not biologically, but I do have Dick, he counts like an older brother, I guess.” Jason shrugged. It wasn’t a lie, technically they were siblings by law. Tim nodded.
“Next question is… Do you know how to play video games?” Jason smirked at that one.
“Yes, and I’m pretty good. What do you like to play? I bet I can beat you”
Tim raised an eyebrow at that. “I like Zelda” he answered shyly Jason nodded. He didn’t p’lay that game, he was more into fight ones like The walking dead, but he could do, “Uhm… next is if you know how to play catch” Jason nodded again, Tim took it in. “Okay… given your profile, I think I can give you the job. I’ll pay you before you leave. Do you have any questions?”
“No, not really” Jason smiled at the kid, glad he got the job. Glad it wasn’t hard at all. “What do you want to do first, kid?”
Tim shoved the paper into one of his pocket and looked at Jason, tilting his head. What did he want to do? He didn’t know! How could he know? He was just as surprised as Jason was.
“I… I didn’t plan so far” he admitted, which got a chuckle from Jason.
“Okay, how about… you just show me around? If I’m going to be here three days a week all afternoon, might as well know where everything is”
Tim hesitates for a second, but that does make sense, so he nods and gets up, leading Jason around and showing him every bit of the house. The dining room, the living room, the other sitting room, his father’s office, his mother’s closet, the kitchen, the garden, the servants (the have more than one, surprisingly…
“This is my room, it’s a bit messy” Tim says, opening the door. It’s not messy at all, really, just a couple toys on the floor. The expensive kind of toys. A couple posters on the wall, sports, Batman, some cartoons. Some framed pictures too, Jason stopped at one, taking it with one hand.
“You met the Graysons? Lucky you, I used to love them”
Tim turned, seeing the picture, he froze for a moment. “Oh, yeah, my parents took me to the circus. It was the day… yeah” he felt silent again. Jason put the picture down, cursing himself internally.
“Right, sorry” he walked away, trying to change the topic. “You like batman?”
Tim followed him to the poster, nodding, a bit of a smile forming on his lips. “Yes! He’s so cool! And Robin too!” he said, without thinking, then remembered. He was in front of Robin, Jason was Robin. Jason didn’t notice the shift, just ruffled the kid's hair, slightly proud to have an admirer like that. A fan.
“That’s great, bud” he said, walking to the TV. A big TV too, damn, not even Bruce let him have one of these. “Lets see, Wii, PlayStation, Xbox, Game cube… Damn, you’ve got them all.” he scanned the shelf with all the CDs, his attention caught with one in specific. “Little Big planet 2? This came out… Three days ago.” He turned to Tim, raising an eyebrow, clearly impressed.
“Yeah, my father got it for me” Tim said, stepping closer to look at the box. “Haven’t tried it yet. i don’t have the first part”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Jason said, turning non the TV and the PS3, inserting the CD and getting the two controls. “Let's try it out”
And so, the two boys sat on Tim’s car bed, and started going through the tutorial. It was a cute game, Tim thought as he watched Jason learn the controls for him. Most seem pretty useless. Why would you want to change the face on your character? Jason, on the other hand, was having fun, shaking the controller around, making the small character on the screen move weirdly. Tim chuckled, which only fuelled Jason’s antics.
Then Tim got the controller and got to beat the first levels quite easily. Then the last test level came in and he tried and failed quite miserably. They needed no words, not a single look. Tim handed the control, Jason took it and beat the boss for him. His back hurt from leaning forward like that? Definitely. But the pride in beating some random boss? Unmatched.
“Oh- YES! Let's go” Jason said, laying down on the bed and dropping the controller, faking panting like he just ran a marathon. “See how I beat that guy’s ass?”
“Wh-what?” he said, blinking in surprise... “That’s a potty word, Jason, you can’t say it!” He pointed an accusatory finger, to which Jason just cackled.
“Potty word?” Jason rolled his eyes “Come on, your parents aren’t here, no one can stop us from saying curse words” Which, true, but actually thinking for once, it wasn’t right to swear in front of a ten-year-old. Oopsie daisy.
“No! Jason, you can’t say that! Or Batman will come and scold you.” He said, clearly believing it. Jason raised an eyebrow.
“Batman? Oh, trust me, he has better things to do than scold kids who say bad words” he rolled his eyes. Technically true, kind of… Bruce didn’t scold him for swearing, it was Dick or Alfred, usually. “Actually, yeah, let’s not say bad words, Batman might be watching” or worse, his butler.
And for precaution, he sat up and glanced out the window, just to make sure there wasn’t some dude in a bat costume staring at them from a tree.
“Yeah, because batman will reprimend you” Tim said, pedantly, looking out the window as well, just for good measure. “It’s already dark? Dinner must be soon.”
“Dinner? Yeah, probably.” Jason took the controller before it fell out of, getting up from the bed and crossing his arms. If it was dinner time, it meant patrol was only in a couple of hours, and he would have to leave soon. Just when he was starting to enjoy himself…
Tim followed, smoothing his clothes before guiding Jason downstairs to the dining hall. There were already two plates set on the table: One for Tim, one for Jason. This, Jason was a bit more used to, fancy meals and stuff like that. Going to bed on a full stomach, being served more than one dish and having the other people seated at the table actually eat the same as you, and not starve or eat some small thing like an apple just so he didn’t feel guilty. One of the bad habits that had gone away.
The maids brought the main course, at least it wasn’t extremely fancy, just some soup. Still, he was sure the broth alone had been cooking for a couple of hours and was made from some expensive, good quality meat and fresh vegetables. He thanked the maids, and they began eating.
“You’re awfully quiet” Jason commented while he waited for the soup on his spoon to cool down. Tim raised his head, his eyebrows shooting up.
“Sorry, I’m not used to eating with people” He admitted, getting another spoonful of soup into his mouth, like he was immune to burning. Jason frowned at that.
“Really? What about your parents? I get they’re not here tonight, but what about the rest of the week?”
“Tim shrugged. “We don’t eat together. My mother likes a restaurant in the center, so she has dinner there most days. And my father likes to eat in his office. And I have lunch at school, so I sit alone there too.” He said, and shoved another spoonful of soup into his mouth, and then another.
“Oh-” Jason clenched his spoon tightly. So that was it, he thought. It made sense, the ad, the games, the whole reason he was there to begin with. He didn’t want to feel pity, but he couldn’t help it. He took the spoon, now with soup too cold, and ate it. It wasn’t as good anymore, he thought. “Finish up, we’re going to the garden after this.”
“Why? It’s dark” Tim said, but still obliged, eating a bit faster.
“You wanted to play catch, right?” Tim nodded “We’re doing that”