Chapter Text
As time went on, the lot of them settled into a nice routine at Wayne Manor.
Mara healed, and was released from bedrest about a week later, to the relief of everyone.
For about five minutes. Because ten minutes after Leslie left, Tim started teaching Mara how to do a kickflip on the back patio.
She’d never seen a skateboard before that day? And now Tim thought it was appropriate to teach her tricks? When she’d just barely been let off strict bedrest.
Bruce put an end to that pretty quickly.
Mara and Tim just moved to the driveway the next day…
Tim was actually a terrible influence on the kids. Just awful.
Jason got home from work one day his first week back to find him and the older two kids watching Alien.
Fucking Alien.
They were eight-years-old.
Jason walked into the theater and plopped down into the empty recliner next to Tim and snatched the remote off his armrest. Before anyone could react, Jason hit the back button, exiting out of the movie.
“Hey,” Damian snapped, turning to glower at Jason, “We were watching that.”
“Alien is not appropriate for tiny tikes,” Jason said dryly, as he backed out of the movie’s info screen. Apparently they’d searched for Aliens and found the movie that way. Monsters vs Aliens was the top movie result, so Jason selected that and hit play.
“Bruce said it was fine,” Tim mumbled.
“Huh, what was that?” Jason said, obnoxiously putting a hand on his ear, “Didn’t catch that.”
“Nothing,” Tim said, as he rolled his eyes and pulled his phone out.
“Yeah, thought so,” Jason huffed, “Bruce is an idiot. You’re twelve and they’re eight, Alien will just give you all nightmares.”
“I’m fifteen,” Tim grumbled, like he’d said that to Jason a million times already.
Which he sort of had.
Jason smirked.
“Damian wanted to watch a movie about aliens,” Mara said, from where she was sitting on the other side of Tim.
“Uh huh,” Jason said, “And there’s a dozen of movies about aliens appropriate for kids. Like E.T. Why didn’t you pick E.T., Tim?”
Tim sank down a little further in his chair as he said, “Damian wanted that one.”
“First mistake, listening to Damian,” Jason said.
“Hey,” Damian protested, but Jason ignored him.
Jason reached over and grabbed a handful of chips from the bowl on Tim’s lap, and completely ignored how Tim just blinked at him, completely thrown.
Slowly, Tim turned his attention back to the screen and started watching the new movie, and the other two brats seemed pretty well engrossed it in, too.
Attie found them not long later. She came straight into the room and climbed up onto Jason, complaining, “The last movie was scary.”
“I know,” Jason said, as he helped her settled down comfortably, “None of you are allowed to watch movies that have an R on it, okay? You can watch the ones that have G or PG on it. It’s next to the title in a little box. The government says you have to be 17 to see the R movies.”
“Technically the rule is under 17 with a guardian is fine,” Tim said. As if that even friggen mattered. “Plus, that only applies to theaters or when purchasing the film at a store.”
“If you cant purchase the film you can’t watch it,” Jason shot back, “Plus, where was the guardian, Tim?”
Technically, Jason didn’t even count as a guardian, in those sorts of situations. He was pretty sure guardians had to be 21 to count.
Tim shrugged, but didn’t look over and meet Jason’s eyes as he said, “He said it was fine.”
“Right,” Jason said slowly, as he narrowed his eyes. “I don’t believe you actually.” He slipped his phone out of his pocket, and shot a text off to Bruce.
‘Did you tell the batbrat he and the kids could watch Alien?’
Bruce never let Jason watch R rated movies. He’d been starting to relent, just before Jason… Yeah. But it had still been rare.
Every R rated movie he’d seen had either been before he lived with Bruce, or Dick showing them to him, when Bruce and Alfred weren’t around.
The text popped up almost immediately, and it was exactly the answer Jason was expecting.
‘No I did not.’
Jason held his phone toward Tim and shook it at him. “Yeah, you’re a liar.”
He turned it back around and replied to Bruce, ‘good cuz they cant.’
Obviously he didn’t care if Tim watched it, but the kids were too young. If they were still young enough to love Barbie stuff, they were way too young to watch Alien.
Tim sank down into the recliner as he mumbled, “People don’t usually fact check me.”
Jason grinned. “You live with a journalist now, bub. Get used to it.”
Tim returned the smile, small and faint. Just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished, as Tim snapped his attention back to the screen.
Jason ignored it. Ignored Tim. And ignored the way his face felt just a little bit hotter, and instead pulled Attie closer, so he could lean back and get more comfortable.
The movie had another hour to go, after all.
Spending time with all the brats was a great way to relax after work, anyway.
- - -
Jason settled in at work well. He was given his own desk on the floor of the bullpen, near Clark Kent himself.
Actually, he took Lois’s old desk. Apparently she had her own office. So she didn’t need a desk in the bullpen. And she was willing to relinquish hers to Jason.
It was weird learning to respond to the name Wayne, but. It wasn’t a bad weird. Most people did just call him Jason, and absolutely no one seemed to give a damn he was Bruce’s son.
He’d proven himself, as Clark kept reminding him.
The fallout from his front page Sunday article was the weirdest thing, though. News stations kept contacting him for interviews.
He turned them all down, and no one, not even Perry White, made him take them up on it. Perry liked that the Daily Planet kept the exclusive.
True crime YouTube channels kept making deep dive videos about him. And. He’d watched a few of them.
It was kind of funny how much they all made up, trying to fill in gaps.
HR was giving him the most trouble at work. They were making him get a GED. Something about child labor laws. And… the Daily Planet got into a little hot water for employing Jason without a judge’s permission…
Which was stupid?? It was incredibly, super, double stupid. Why would Jason need a judge’s permission to be a journalist?
But whatever. Perry told the lawyers to figure it out, and told Jason to ignore the lawyers. 'Don’t talk to them.'
Jason had simply smiled at those instructions. Bruce often told him the same thing.
Lawyers were for getting him out of trouble, and nothing else as far as any of them were concerned.
But about a week after his return to work, he was presented with a GED prep book, and was told he was signed up for the next exam in September, so he better get studying.
When he went home and told Bruce, Bruce got him access to an online program, too, and told him he wasn’t worried. Jason could probably pass the test dry, but he might as well give it his all.
So that’s what Jason was going to do. He spent as much of his free time studying as possible, in the meantime.
“You know,” Bruce said one evening when he found Jason studying, “You could attend actual school, if you wanted. I have some connections at the local universities. I could have you admitted to this semester.”
Jason paused in his reading and looked up at Bruce. He thought for a long minute, but shook his head. “I… can’t, Bruce,” he said slowly, “Sitting in a classroom… I don’t know. I can’t explain it.” It sort of made his skin itch…
Just the mere thought of being stuck in a classroom with other people his age… or technically a couple years older than him…
No.
There was no way.
Besides. He already had a real job. Why did he need school?
“Yeah,” Bruce said, “I feel the same way about meetings.”
“Oh shut up, Bruce,” Jason said, with a roll of his eyes. Though he was smiling slightly.
Bruce smiled in return, and asked, “What about a one-on-one style degree? No sitting in classrooms, just independent study classes.”
Jason sat there for a long moment. “I don’t need… special treatment,” he said. Because. That’s what something like that would be, right?
Though the idea of independent study sounded…. nice. Fun, even.
“No, but you can have it, if you want,” Bruce said.
Which.
Was true…
“Can I take just one class?” he asked, “Start off slow?” See if he even liked it?
Even if he didn’t need school….
Going to college had always been his dream. For his whole life.
Bruce smiled wider. “Of course. You can do college at any speed you want.”
Jason nodded absently for a moment, then looked back down at his GED prep book. “Maybe next semester. I should probably pass the GED first.”
Bruce shrugged. “You don’t actually need a GED or high school diploma to attend college.”
Jason looked back over, but then shook his head.
He probably needed to get settled into work first. And see if he even wanted a degree still.
It was possible to just learn things on his own. Without a structured environment.
He’d bought a few books on learning Dari already, and was working on that. Just to ruin Damian and Mara’s life. He hadn’t even showed them the books, keeping them hidden in his room among his hundreds of other books. He was looking forward to springing it on them one day, when they did their little secret twin language act at the dinner table, and he understood.
Really, Jason was pretty happy with how things were, in the moment.
Which was such a weird thing for him…
- - -
Speaking of schooling, Bruce got the kids enrolled in school, too, which started after Labor Day. He got them enrolled at West-Reeve School, which was an elite private school in Metropolis.
As a Gotham Academy almost-alum, Jason recoiled at first, since West-Reeve was their main ‘rival,’ but Bruce’s logic made perfect sense.
It just so happened that a certain Jonathan Kent attended West-Reeve School…
Connor Kent hadn’t been attending school, but after long discussions with Clark and Bruce, they decided to enroll him there, too, so he’d be on the same campus as the brats. Just to keep an eye on them.
It benefited him, too, by making him have a more normal teenage experience. He moved in with the Kents more permanently. At least for the school year. Apparently he’d been living on his own? At the age of fifteen?
Though. He was a clone. And actually less than two-years-old. Which made it worse. Plus he was best friends with Tim Drake, which was more proof that he was a literal toddler.
And on the topic of Tim, the second he found out Kon would be attending West-Reeve, he got on the phone and convinced his parents to let him transfer, too.
Apparently he’d just been attending public school?
And Bruce had been allowing it???
Tim told his folks he’d entered an essay contest and the prize was free tuition to West-Reeve in Metropolis, so they simply bought him a metro card for Metropolis. Jason had been sitting in the room when Tim made the call, and it lasted less than five minutes.
Bruce looked pissed as hell over that whole thing, which he had to smooth over with Tim, because Tim had assumed Bruce was mad Tim just expected Bruce to pay his tuition.
“No,” Bruce had said patiently, “I’m mad your parents don’t seem to care at all.”
Finally Bruce was telling it like it was, Jason thought. He’d already told Bruce to stop beating around the bush and acting like he didn’t think Tim was being outright abused.
“My parents care,” Tim shot back, scowling, “They’re just busy.”
“They’re neglectful,” Bruce said, but he completely dropped it, “I’ll enroll you, too, of course, but you aren’t taking the train.”
“Stop saying that,” Tim muttered, but he shook his head, then added, “And yeah I know. Kon can run me I’m sure.”
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. “No. You can have a ride with the three kids.”
“You mean he can have a ride with me,” Jason said, as he kept flipping through his study book.
No one had asked him, but Jason had already decided he was driving the kids to school every day.
Bruce didn’t even flinch, so he must have already assumed Jason would want that task.
It wasn’t like Jason wasn’t driving to Metropolis every day, anyway…
“You don’t have to drive me,” Tim said quickly, “Really, I don’t need—”
“Shut up, Tim,” Jason said, rolling his eyes, “Why on earth would I drive the kids to school but not you?”
Tim, at least, had learned to stop fighting them trying to take care of him so much. He kept his mouth shut. Whether that was because he liked them treating him like family, or he was just resigned to being forced into it anyway, Jason didn’t know. Nor did he care.
Much.
As long as Tim stopped with the fighting.
He only cared because the kids liked him.
- - -
The first day of school came up fast.
That morning, Bruce ate breakfast with all of them, just like he’d always done with Jason, way back in the day. It was a lot more chaotic with six of them around the table, though.
Not a bad chaotic. Jason couldn’t help but smile.
Once they were done eating, Jason ushered everyone to get dressed while he pulled together his work bag.
“It’s an hour drive to school you brats,” he said, when Attie was looking for her second shoe, and Damian didn’t even have his tie.
“Damian, tie,” Jason snapped, “Attie how in the hell did you lose one shoe?”
Mara, at least, was fully in her uniform and had her backpack on her back.
“I don’t know,” Attie whined.
“Miss Athanasia,” Alfred called, from one of the parlors down the hall.
Attie ran off, the sound of one leather shoe clacking against the hardwood floors as she did.
Damian pulled a tie out of his backpack and shoved it in Jason’s face. “I have it, but I don’t have to wear it right now.”
“Fine,” Jason huffed, “Don’t forget it. I’m not making excuses for you if it doesn’t make it to school.”
Bruce walked in and smiled at all of them, but paused in front of Mara. He reached out and pulled the hat off her head.
Which Jason hadn’t even noticed. He was so damn used to seeing her in her favorite red beanie.
Mara scowled fiercely.
“We went over the dress code,” Bruce said, “They won’t let you have the hat. Leave it here so it doesn’t get confiscated.”
“I dislike school already,” Mara muttered.
“You can wear it when it’s colder,” Jason said. If West-Reeve was like Gotham Academy, they were allowed to wear their own cold weather items over their uniforms.
“Where’s the headband I got you,” Bruce asked, “I thought you were going to wear that.”
“It hurts my head,” Mara said, with a pout on her face.
Bruce sighed, but said, “Fair enough.”
Attie came back, now with two shoes clacking against the floor, but Jason could hear the laces also clicking around.
Bruce sighed again when he saw her and immediately knelt down to tie both her shoes.
“Where the heck is Tim,” Jason asked, as he looked over all three brats again. He saw three backpacks and six shoes.
But he needed four and eight.
Honestly, the kids were freaking adorable. Even if they were being exasperating. Because both the girls were wearing jumpers.
They were so little, they still had to wear jumpers to school. And Damian had a short sleeve collared shirt, and would look adorable once he put his tie on. All three of them had matching blazers, in the school’s bright blue.
Bruce stuck his head into the foyer and shouted, “Timothy.” The sound travelled well up into the family wing from there, Jason knew from experience.
“I’m coming, stop yelling at me,” Tim shouted back.
“I’m not yelling at you, I’m yelling for you,” Bruce replied.
Jason walked over and shouted up the stairwell, “You’re gonna make us late, twerp.”
Tim came running down the steps a minute later, loudly. He, at least, had two shoes, a backpack, and a tie around his neck.
Bruce gave hugs all around, telling each of the kids to have fun and behave themselves. He also threatened to take phones away, if they got caught pulling theirs out during school.
All four kids had whined extensively when they learned about the strict no-phones policy of the school.
Then Bruce clapped his hands once and said, “All right, out the door, all of you. You’ll be late if you don’t leave now.”
“Yeah. Everyone say ‘Bye, Dad,’” Jason said, as he put a hand on Mara and Damian’s backs, the two kids closest to him, and pushed them lightly toward the door.
“Bye, Dad,” Attie said happily, as she skipped down the steps into the garage.
Damian pointedly said, “Good-bye, Father,” while Mara simply waved as she smiled slightly.
Tim didn’t say anything, mostly because he was engrossed in his phone. Jason grabbed him by the collar of his blazer and dragged him to the door.
“Ow, quit it,” he complained, as he pocketed the phone and started actually walking.
“Text me when you get there, Jay,” Bruce said, as he stepped into the doorway to the garage.
Jason opened the driver door to his car and asked, “Why, you’re gonna stalk us all day anyway?” They had a family tracking app installed on all their phones, including on Jason’s new Wayne Tech phone. Bruce kept tabs on them the entire time any of them left the house.
“Text me, Jay,” Bruce said, with a wave, “Drive safe.”
Jason rolled his eyes, but smiled and said, “Bye, Dad,” a little sarcastically.
Bruce didn’t even try to hide the stupid smile he had in response.
The drive over was loud and chaotic… and Jason loved every minute of it.
Well. Until Tim started playing some truly awful music on the radio. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard mixed with the sound of planes crashing over and over.
“Turn that trash off,” Jason complained, “put real music on.”
“This is real music,” Tim shot back, as he reached over and pressed up on the volume button.
Jason hit mute on his steering wheel. “Put real music on or I’m kicking you out of this car.” They were currently on the bridge across the Delaware Bay, and while it was illegal to stop, Jason totally would.
“I don’t think Bruce would appreciate that,” Tim said smugly.
“Good thing Bruce isn’t here,” Jason replied, mimicking Tim’s tone.
“Can we listen to Disney Princess music,” Attie asked, from the middle of the back seat. Jason could see her in his rearview mirror, and saw her giving him the biggest puppy dog eyes ever.
Mara answered first. “No,” she whined, “I’m tired of Disney Princess music.”
Jason swapped off the bluetooth input back to FM radio, and flipped it to a local news station.
All four kids in the car immediately started complaining.
“Shut the heck up,” Jason shouted over all of them, “I gotta catch up for work.” He looked at Tim briefly and added, “Maybe on the way home you won’t pick something that induces brain bleeds.”
Tim grinned, but sat back and started tapping away at his phone again. Texting whoever he was always texting.
Not long after, Jason parked the car in the garage he’d rented a spot at. It was right in the middle between the school and the Daily Planet, making it absolutely perfect. Though the $400 a month fee was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard.
When he voiced that complaint to Bruce, Bruce had given him an impressed look and said, “I was expecting it to cost at least $700.”
It was fine though. He could afford it.
Well. Bruce could afford it. He insisted on paying ‘in exchange’ for Jason driving the kids to school.
He wasn’t gonna complain.
The school was about a three block walk, and then it would be seven blocks from the school back to the Daily Planet. Which was fine.
School started at 8, and Jason didn’t have to be to work until 9. So he’d actually make it to work early.
The cool thing about being an actual journalist was he didn’t have set hours. The planet did a morning meeting most days he had to attend, unless he was on an actual story sanctioned by Perry. Otherwise he could come and go as he pleased.
So he was going to drop the kids off and pick them up from school each day. Then go home.
He could work on his articles in the evenings, if needed.
“Why didn’t you just drop us off at the door,” Damian grumbled, as they descended the dark, damp stairwell in the garage.
“Did you see that line, brat,” Jason said, “I’m not waiting in that line. Walking is good for you. And put your damn tie on.”
Damian grumbled further, but pulled his tie out and put it on as they walked. The five of them walked the three blocks without breaking a sweat. So clearly it was fine.
Since the brats were in 2nd and 3rd grade, Jason was able to walk them all the way to their classrooms for the first day, though security wouldn’t allow it past the first week of school. Tim came with them, just so he would ‘know where the rooms were.’
He decided to drop ‘the twins’ off first, so Attie could see the process. They were in the same classroom, which was adorable. The school had offered same or different classrooms for them, and Bruce had nearly chosen separate, just to make them make friends, but decided to let them try to be in the same room this year.
They could always be separated next year.
“Hugs,” Jason said, once they found the classroom. They’d checked it out the week before, during open house, so they already knew where it was, and had already met the teacher.
“No,” Damian said flatly, as he spun on his heels and went straight into the classroom.
“I love you Damian,” Jason shouted after him, which earned him a glare from inside the classroom.
Mara wrapped her arms around Jason, though, and let Jason hug her tightly.
“Have fun,” he said, “I’m just up the road and I’ll be here to pick you up at 3.”
Mara nodded. “Have a good day at work,” she said.
“Me too,” Attie said, before Mara left. She gave Mara a tight hug, and Mara whispered something into her ear, which Attie nodded at.
“Okay, bye Mara. I love you,” Jason said, gently pushing her toward the door.
“I’ll come find you guys at 3 and we can go outside to meet Jason together,” Tim said, “We get out a little earlier than you guys.”
Mara gave a little wave, then went into the classroom with Damian. Jason could see she was sat on the opposite side of the room from him.
“And now it’s Attie’s turn,” Jason said, turning toward her.
“I don’t want to,” Attie said, “Can I just come to work with you?”
“No,” Jason said, as he took her hand and gently pulled her down the hall. Her classroom was just on the opposite side of the hall, about four rooms down. This floor of the elementary wing was 2nd and 3rd grade, which was very convenient.
“You’re going to have so much fun,” Jason said, as they got to her room. He could see inside that most of the other students had already arrived.
They weren’t late, but they were cutting it close.
Attie’s lip was wobbling as she launched herself at Jason, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.
“I know,” he said, as he knelt down and hugged her properly. “You’re going to make so many friends here,” he whispered into her ear, “And your teacher is so nice, remember?”
“I don’t want you to leave me,” she cried, quietly.
Jason tightened his hug and said, “I’m not leaving you. I’ll be just up the road. You can see my building from the window, right?” That had been a cool detail Bruce had pointed out, during open house. The globe of the Daily Planet was visible over the other buildings between the school and the Planet.
“And I’ll be here at 3 o’clock sharp to get you,” he said.
Tim stepped closer and said, “And I’m on the same campus as you, Damian and Mara are up the hall, and Jon is downstairs.”
The teacher came out of the room at that point and gently set a hand on Attie’s back. “Athanasia,” she said brightly, “It’s so good to see you!”
Attie pulled back from her hug and looked up at her, eyes shining.
“There’s no reason to be scared,” the teacher said gently, “We are going to have so much fun today. I have a fun art project planned to help get our classroom decorated for the year.”
“I like art projects,” Attie nearly whispered, as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
Jason pulled a tissue out of his pocket that he’d carried just in case there were tears… and wiped Attie’s face for her. He gave her one more tight hug and said, “I love you, have a great day.”
“I love you, too,” she said in a tiny voice.
The teacher put a hand on her shoulder and led her inside. She didn’t look away from Jason until she was out of sight, and Jason didn’t step forward to look longer.
She was going to be fine, he knew.
Turning to Tim, Jason asked, “Do you need me to hold your hand?”
Tim snorted. “Kon’s meeting me in the courtyard. We have the same homeroom.”
“Cool, then scram,” Jason said.
“Try not to ruin too many politicians’ careers today,” Tim said, “I bet there’s a few of their kids here.”
Jason grinned. He’d gotten quite the reputation for sniffing out corruption in the local governments of Gotham and Metropolis.
“Hey, if they don’t take bribes or run a mob, they don’t gotta worry,” he said.
Tim returned the smile, but turned around to pass through the building, out to the courtyard behind the primary school.
“Don’t fall asleep during class,” Jason said, as he turned in the opposite direction of Tim, back the way they’d come in.
Tim replied, “If class wasn’t meant for sleeping, the desks wouldn’t be so soft.”
“You’re so weird,” Jason called back, “Later loser.” He didn’t want to get too loud, and get fussed at by the teachers in the hall.
Jason pulled his phone from his pocket and shot a text off the Bruce, letting him know everyone was safely dropped off. The response came quickly.
Great. Have a good day at work. I love you.
Jason adjusted his leather bag on his shoulder and smiled to himself as he got back out onto the street.
The kids were a lot but. It felt so… easy. Now.
With Bruce and Alfred and Tim and Dick when he was around, there to help.
Jason hadn’t been sure how he’d survive until Attie was eighteen, but. He could definitely handle eleven more years of this.
This was the happiest he’d ever been.
His life was fucking great.
Who would have guessed, Talia waking him up at 2 in the morning would result in this?