For Shiny Glor chan
We were discussing Jason's hugs, and realised that he didn't get a lot of them. So in thanks for Red Hood Lost days, I present 5 people who hugged Jason before he died and five people who hugged him after he came back.
SPOILERS FOR RED HOOD LOST DAYS (but nothing massive)
Five people who hugged Jason
1. His Mum
Crime Alley isn’t a place where hugs are common.
Love is expressed physically, but it’s more likely to be shown with a fist than a hug.
In spite of that, if Jason presses his mind back really far, he can remember someone hugging him.
He thinks it’s Catherine Todd.
2. A nurse.
While he’s at the free clinic, sitting on one of their purple chairs, fiddling with something (he thinks it’s a switch blade, but he doesn’t want to swear to that), waiting for someone to come and tell him what’s happening to his mum, a nurse comes over.
She must think he’s younger than he really is, as she hugs him close to her chest and tells him “Everything is going to be alright.”
She had to have been new. By that point everyone else had given up on the Todd family.
3. Teen Titans
The former boy wonder has no concept of personal space and as a result everyone else seems to expect Jason to be the same.
What that translates to is spending every minute, he hangs around with them dodging hugs.
He doesn’t mind Kory’s or Wonderchick’s, and he’ll even allow Harper’s, but he draws the line at Garth!
4. Dick
Batman doesn’t do hugs.
Jason realises this as a rule after only a few days in the manor. On one level It’s a relief, love is expressed in the ways he remembers, by correction, not praise. On another, it makes things between him and Dickie boy more difficult.
He does notice that Batman becomes a lot more...hands on in his correction when Dick’s around and O.k. he admits it, he plays into it. Doesn’t mean Dick has to immediately become more affectionate towards him.
5. Batman
Like he says, Batman doesn’t do hugs.
So that picture on Oracle’s desk, showing him cradling Jason’s body’s got to be a fake. Right?
Five people who hugged Jason got after he came back.
1) Talia
The stuff after he dug himself out of the grave is a bit...blurry.
He thinks he remembers the streets, but that could have just been memories from his childhood.
He thinks he remembers Ra's al Ghul's hideout (not enough to take anyone there, but still enough), but it’s all vague.
He does have memory that’s clearer, of a sunset and a woman (Talia). They’re on a cliff...somewhere that’s not Gotham. She’s talking, but...it’s like does not compute. Until she says his name.
He doesn’t Cry!! The sunlight was just hurting his eyes. It doesn’t matter anyway, cause she pulls him against her in a hug. She must have been expecting Damian at that point, as he can’t see Talia ever been that ...maternal.
2) Alfred.
He crawls to Alfred, after Bruce silts his throat, because he doesn’t know what else to do.
He’s purely acting on instinct (get hurt in a fight, go to Alfred).
Thankfully, his instincts lead him true. Alfred stares for a moment at the wet, broken heap leaning against his doorframe, then pulls him into a hug. It’s the last thing he’s aware of before he blacks out.
3) Speedy
Mia hugs him, after he lets her go. Her reasons he still hasn’t entirely figured out, but he guesses that a hug’s a hug and Mia didn’t try and stab him while she did it, so she’s doing better than most of his so called family.
4) Babs
When he shows up on Barbra’s doorstep, the day after he’s heard Bruce’s final message, he’s not quite sure what he’s expecting.
Definitely not been yanked into a bone crushing hug. He tries to fight it, but Babs reminds him she knows over 30 ways to break his arms, he decides just to accept it.
Plus they bond over what a self righteous jerk Bruce could be. And how much they miss him.
5) Tim
O.K. O.K. they probably couldn’t have got Bruce back without Jason’s knowledge of dimension hopping, and O.K. Jason was the only one who told Bruce that Tim had been the only one to never believe he was dead, but he didn’t get why that meant Baby bird (or not baby now, he supposed that honour belonged to Damian) decided to throw his arms around his waist.
And kiss him.
Not that he was complaining.