Fic: (Un)Expected | DCU | Jason(/Bruce), Steph(/Cass), Lira | PG-13 | 1/1
Title: (Un)Expected
Fandom: DCU
Characters/Pairings: Jason(/Bruce), Steph(/Cass), Lira
Rating: PG-13 (R for language)
Word Count: 2,152
Prompt: For hc_bingo: Child Abuse: Emotional; For au_bingo: Other: Kidfic; For 50_darkfics: Destiny
Summary: Jason is pretty sure he's a dangerous animal. Steph and the baby don't seem to agree.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own everything, the schmucks.
Author's Notes: Twenty-second in the (Un)Familiar-verse; Follows (Un)Infected. This one must've been inspired by some serious happy-juice, I swear. My poor Jason! But this finally gave me a chance to add some more background and varying points of view, so, here it is. *hands*
(Un)Expected
“Hey, what happened?”
Jason only barely resists jumping at the voice behind him, a growl starting in his throat and his jaw tensing to shift as he turns from his spot on the couch watching mindless afternoon TV to find Steph gaping at him, her daughter snuggled asleep in her arms.
It takes a second to check himself, taking a deep breath to relax from the sudden adrenaline spike, but Jay shrugs and answers honestly, “Lost a fight with a wall.” He lifts his wrapped and splinted hand to illustrate. “Broke two fingers.”
Steph winces dramatically as she comes around the couch to sit on the opposite end, one knee propped up on the cushion to settle the baby on her lap. “Ouch. Things that bad, huh?”
“It ain't exactly sunshine and roses,” Jason scowls. “Dick is... well, he's a dick, and Bruce is avoiding me.”
“That isn't really fair, though. We all know Dick's only trying to help, and Bruce is just scared of everybody right now. Alfred said he doesn't know how to handle so many people in one place that aren't fleeing in terror from some costumed villain. Not that he'd ever admit it; he's too proud. And he's gotta be embarrassed to have put you guys in an awkward position. I know I would.”
Jay raises an eyebrow, giving her a sideways glance. “I guess that's true. And you spend way too much time hanging out with Alfred.”
“Probably,” Steph laughs, and it's kinda refreshing, in a way. Not so serious as things have been around here lately. “He's easy to talk to, I guess. Sort of like a grandparent I never had. And he's great with Lira.”
“Sounds about right. He took good care of me when I was still chained up.”
“So you really were chained up downstairs?” Steph asks. “I want to believe Alfred, but that....”
Jason thinks she seems a little pale at the notion, her eyes just barely widened, and he can't resist a weak laugh, picking absently at the bandages on his broken hand. “Yeah. It wasn't exactly a pleasant six-year stay.” He isn't about to expand on that, but looking back at Steph, her expression open and sad, he sighs and goes on, “Alfred made it better, at least after the first year or so when I was totally out of it. When Bruce wasn't around, he'd come keep me company. It helped, you know? When I'd shift up, and couldn't figure out where the hell I was or how long I'd been there, he'd fill in the blanks. Kept me from going totally nuts for a while. Even kept me up to date on school stuff so I wouldn't come out a complete idiot.” At Steph's sympathetic half-smile, Jay shrugs. “It wasn't like Bruce was neglecting me or anything. He just didn't want to be like a parental figure or a pedo or something. And he couldn't be there all the time. Had two other jobs, you know?”
“Yeah. Been there, I guess,” she replies, shifting Lira as the baby starts to wake and fidget a little. “Feeling helpless like that, it really sucks.”
For the first time since Steph sat down, Jason really looks at the baby. “You must've been in a bad place, for Bruce to bring you all back here.”
“Understatement,” Steph huffs. “My mom kicked me out when I got knocked up-and thank you for taking down that crazy plant woman, by the way. It's all her fault, with her goddamn sex spores, or whatever she was calling it.” A shrug of her own, and she gazes down at her daughter. “No regrets, though. I wouldn't give up Lira for anything. It might've been hard out there with just us and Cass, and the shittiest apartment ever, but it was a hell of a lot better than being home with my mom. She gave me eighty-nine stitches over the course of my life, and that was more than plenty. Not to mention all the screaming. I was always her one regret, and she made sure I knew it. Place wasn't fit to raise a kid in, much less be one in.”
At that, Jason can't help but shudder; he'd been through some serious shit, but nothing like that. “You got me beat, then,” he says after a moment. “My mother died from goddamn cancer when I was ten. I stole shit for a living until I was twelve. Got fucking attacked in an alley one night, woke up over a dead body the next day, and after that, it was all Cave until a few months ago. Nobody ever fucking abused me like that though. I'd have torn off an arm or... something,” he finishes sheepishly, realizing too late that he's just cursed a blue streak in front of an infant. “Um, sorry,” he apologizes with another glance at the baby, who's starting to stir again, her startlingly green eyes blinking open at him to catch his gaze.
“It's okay,” Steph laughs. “Just, tone it down a little? I don't think she quite gets what we're saying yet, but soon enough, she'll be running around shouting curses and pretending to be the Big Bad Wolf.”
Jason catches the glint of mischief in Steph's expression, and blows out a breath of relief. “I don't want to screw up your kid, or anything,” he admits. Really, since the girls all moved into the Manor, it's been the first time he's ever hung around a kid this tiny, and he has no fucking clue how to even act. It's kind of embarrassing, now that he thinks about it. The weird sense of kinship he feels toward the baby is even more awkward; why the hell should he feel like he needs to protect her? Unless they're all meant to be here, part of a weird sort of family. Like some freakish destiny.
Or maybe he's just feeling the draw of the pack, the call of family that only werewolves are supposed to be able to tune into. Alfred had warned him about that, and on top of all the shit he's been through with Bruce, Tim, and now Dick, it's just one more reminder that he's a dangerous animal.
“You definitely don't want her taking after the Big Bad Wolf,” he says then, feeling the ache in his hand where the bones are already slowly trying to knit themselves back together, readying the hand to shift and hunt and strike and kill.
“No worries, Jason,” Steph replies. “Unless you're planning to turn her, I'm pretty sure she's got nothing to worry about. And I know you're not gonna hurt her,” she finishes with a pointed look. Sniffing the air with a wrinkled up nose, Steph winces again. “Hey, will you take her for a second. I need to go grab her diaper bag. This place is so huge, I need to start carrying the thing around with me.”
Jason gapes at them both not exactly sure how they got from him being dangerous to Steph passing him her daughter. “Uh... okay....”
“Great,” she grins. “Here.” Handing over the baby, she guides his arm into place to hold Lira's head. “Just like that. I'll be right back.”
“Um, yeah,” he replies to the space Steph has vacated, frozen in place as the baby gurgles, Lira sticking her tiny fist into her mouth and kicking the air with her little socks on chubby feet.
Then the smell hits him.
“Holy crap, kid,” he scowls, trying not to breathe in. “How the he-heck did I not smell that before, huh? That is the most toxic thing ever. And I've been to the Narrows; I know what filth smells like.”
Lira only gurgles some more, grinning and laughing around her fist as bubbles of baby slobber drip down her chin.
“You've got a serious talent, there,” he tells her, still trying not to move. “You want to be our resident little stinker? You can gas the villains out, drop 'em in their places.”
A squeal of laughter as those brilliant green eyes stare up at him, and Jason can't resist a grin and a laugh of his own. “Like that idea, huh?”
“I'd say she's on-board with the concept,” Steph says, startling him again, though not enough to make him unfreeze. Gingerly, she takes the baby out of his arms and sets her on the adjacent couch to change her, and Jay looks away automatically as his stomach turns from the newly unleashed stench. “She could take out a whole warehouse of Jokers, I bet.”
“Mm-hmm,” Jay nods, clamping a hand over his mouth as Steph disposes of the offending diaper and cleans up the baby.
After an excruciatingly long moment, Steph declares the room clean with a wave of a tiny can of air freshener. “There we go, all clean.”
A cautious sniff as Steph unexpectedly hands the baby back to Jason, and he's surprised to find the stench gone. At least, as far as he can tell; he can't be sure, what with all his scent receptors blocked or fatigued or whatever Alfred said it was that makes smells seem to disappear. “You sure you want me holding her?” he asks then, giving Steph another raised eyebrow.
“Why not? You didn't drop her when she stank, why would you now?”
Jay raises his broken hand just enough to make his point. “I'm kinda gimped out, here.”
A lifted eyebrow in return, all sarcastic, and Steph shoots back, “So you're out of the Cave for the next few nights. Doesn't mean you can't hold a baby for a while.”
“Um....” But Jay's too busy blushing to say any more-blushing, really? What he fuck is wrong with him? Must be the baby, he decides, huffing to himself as Steph absolutely cracks up, doubling over with laughter.
“Oh my God, you're too freakin' adorable, you know that?” she says between snorts, wiping a tear from her eye. “Relax, you'll be fine. Just don't let her stick anything in her mouth that could hurt her, and you're golden, I promise.”
A sense of dread settles in his gut. “I don't think I like where this is going.”
Steph rolls her eyes. “You're not as bad-ass as you think, you know. Anyone could see that Lira likes you. And besides, you're not so bad with her. Maybe you could watch her while me and Cass are downstairs training. Since you're off the roster for a while, I mean.”
“Uh, what about Alfred?” Jason asks quickly, feeling like he's flailing all over the place in desperation.
“Oh, he's upstairs fixing a certain hole in the wall,” Steph retorts slyly. “I don't really want to bother him right now. There was a lot of mumbling under his breath about hot-headed kids that wouldn't know restraint if it bit them on the ass.”
Jason gulps involuntarily, then starts defensively, “Hey, that was restraint. Dick's lucky I didn't smash his jaw into a thousand pieces.”
Another raised eyebrow, and Steph just stares at him.
“Okay, maybe... maybe I could learn a little restraint,” he admits, feeling like it's been dragged out of him by the magical powers of the infant in his arms, Lira gurgling up at him again, all happy smiles and bright eyes. It's disturbing.
“Alfred told me what you did to Tim when he first came in the house, too. I think we're all glad that no one's peed their pants in terror lately, so maybe you have learned some restraint.”
Jason just chews on a few choice retorts for a long moment, realizing he's been soundly defeated. Figures, it'd be the only one of them that wasn't a total freak, that got him to see it. Well, her and the baby, both.
“That's what I thought,” Steph nods. “So, the diaper bag is here. Bottle's in the fridge. Playpen and crib are upstairs if she starts to fall asleep or get cranky on you. Toys are upstairs, too, if she gets too fidgety. We'll be back up in two hours.” Standing and heading for the door, Steph glances back. “Any questions?”
Jason can only shake his head dumbly. Then something rises from the pit of his guts, and he can't even stop himself from calling out, “Hey, do me a favor?”
Steph nods. “Name it.”
“Tell... tell Dick I said I'm sorry for being such an ass.”
“You got it,” Steph grins. “Oh, do that thing with your eyes; I think Lira really likes it.”
Jay just gapes after her, long after she's waved to the baby and disappeared. That thing with his-?
Oh.
Propping Lira up to sit on his lap, Jason lets his eyes shift to their lupine yellow, his vision shifting into its infrared range just slightly behind slitted pupils. “What do you think, kid? This what Mommy meant?”
Lira squeals so loud with laughter, her hands reaching for his face and grabbing his nose and an eyebrow, that Jay's ears hurt with the intensity of her cry, the drone of the TV buried in the background. And oddly, it's totally okay.
Who knows? Maybe pounding that wall wasn't such a bad thing after all.
~*~*~*~
Fandom: DCU
Characters/Pairings: Jason(/Bruce), Steph(/Cass), Lira
Rating: PG-13 (R for language)
Word Count: 2,152
Prompt: For hc_bingo: Child Abuse: Emotional; For au_bingo: Other: Kidfic; For 50_darkfics: Destiny
Summary: Jason is pretty sure he's a dangerous animal. Steph and the baby don't seem to agree.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own everything, the schmucks.
Author's Notes: Twenty-second in the (Un)Familiar-verse; Follows (Un)Infected. This one must've been inspired by some serious happy-juice, I swear. My poor Jason! But this finally gave me a chance to add some more background and varying points of view, so, here it is. *hands*
(Un)Expected
“Hey, what happened?”
Jason only barely resists jumping at the voice behind him, a growl starting in his throat and his jaw tensing to shift as he turns from his spot on the couch watching mindless afternoon TV to find Steph gaping at him, her daughter snuggled asleep in her arms.
It takes a second to check himself, taking a deep breath to relax from the sudden adrenaline spike, but Jay shrugs and answers honestly, “Lost a fight with a wall.” He lifts his wrapped and splinted hand to illustrate. “Broke two fingers.”
Steph winces dramatically as she comes around the couch to sit on the opposite end, one knee propped up on the cushion to settle the baby on her lap. “Ouch. Things that bad, huh?”
“It ain't exactly sunshine and roses,” Jason scowls. “Dick is... well, he's a dick, and Bruce is avoiding me.”
“That isn't really fair, though. We all know Dick's only trying to help, and Bruce is just scared of everybody right now. Alfred said he doesn't know how to handle so many people in one place that aren't fleeing in terror from some costumed villain. Not that he'd ever admit it; he's too proud. And he's gotta be embarrassed to have put you guys in an awkward position. I know I would.”
Jay raises an eyebrow, giving her a sideways glance. “I guess that's true. And you spend way too much time hanging out with Alfred.”
“Probably,” Steph laughs, and it's kinda refreshing, in a way. Not so serious as things have been around here lately. “He's easy to talk to, I guess. Sort of like a grandparent I never had. And he's great with Lira.”
“Sounds about right. He took good care of me when I was still chained up.”
“So you really were chained up downstairs?” Steph asks. “I want to believe Alfred, but that....”
Jason thinks she seems a little pale at the notion, her eyes just barely widened, and he can't resist a weak laugh, picking absently at the bandages on his broken hand. “Yeah. It wasn't exactly a pleasant six-year stay.” He isn't about to expand on that, but looking back at Steph, her expression open and sad, he sighs and goes on, “Alfred made it better, at least after the first year or so when I was totally out of it. When Bruce wasn't around, he'd come keep me company. It helped, you know? When I'd shift up, and couldn't figure out where the hell I was or how long I'd been there, he'd fill in the blanks. Kept me from going totally nuts for a while. Even kept me up to date on school stuff so I wouldn't come out a complete idiot.” At Steph's sympathetic half-smile, Jay shrugs. “It wasn't like Bruce was neglecting me or anything. He just didn't want to be like a parental figure or a pedo or something. And he couldn't be there all the time. Had two other jobs, you know?”
“Yeah. Been there, I guess,” she replies, shifting Lira as the baby starts to wake and fidget a little. “Feeling helpless like that, it really sucks.”
For the first time since Steph sat down, Jason really looks at the baby. “You must've been in a bad place, for Bruce to bring you all back here.”
“Understatement,” Steph huffs. “My mom kicked me out when I got knocked up-and thank you for taking down that crazy plant woman, by the way. It's all her fault, with her goddamn sex spores, or whatever she was calling it.” A shrug of her own, and she gazes down at her daughter. “No regrets, though. I wouldn't give up Lira for anything. It might've been hard out there with just us and Cass, and the shittiest apartment ever, but it was a hell of a lot better than being home with my mom. She gave me eighty-nine stitches over the course of my life, and that was more than plenty. Not to mention all the screaming. I was always her one regret, and she made sure I knew it. Place wasn't fit to raise a kid in, much less be one in.”
At that, Jason can't help but shudder; he'd been through some serious shit, but nothing like that. “You got me beat, then,” he says after a moment. “My mother died from goddamn cancer when I was ten. I stole shit for a living until I was twelve. Got fucking attacked in an alley one night, woke up over a dead body the next day, and after that, it was all Cave until a few months ago. Nobody ever fucking abused me like that though. I'd have torn off an arm or... something,” he finishes sheepishly, realizing too late that he's just cursed a blue streak in front of an infant. “Um, sorry,” he apologizes with another glance at the baby, who's starting to stir again, her startlingly green eyes blinking open at him to catch his gaze.
“It's okay,” Steph laughs. “Just, tone it down a little? I don't think she quite gets what we're saying yet, but soon enough, she'll be running around shouting curses and pretending to be the Big Bad Wolf.”
Jason catches the glint of mischief in Steph's expression, and blows out a breath of relief. “I don't want to screw up your kid, or anything,” he admits. Really, since the girls all moved into the Manor, it's been the first time he's ever hung around a kid this tiny, and he has no fucking clue how to even act. It's kind of embarrassing, now that he thinks about it. The weird sense of kinship he feels toward the baby is even more awkward; why the hell should he feel like he needs to protect her? Unless they're all meant to be here, part of a weird sort of family. Like some freakish destiny.
Or maybe he's just feeling the draw of the pack, the call of family that only werewolves are supposed to be able to tune into. Alfred had warned him about that, and on top of all the shit he's been through with Bruce, Tim, and now Dick, it's just one more reminder that he's a dangerous animal.
“You definitely don't want her taking after the Big Bad Wolf,” he says then, feeling the ache in his hand where the bones are already slowly trying to knit themselves back together, readying the hand to shift and hunt and strike and kill.
“No worries, Jason,” Steph replies. “Unless you're planning to turn her, I'm pretty sure she's got nothing to worry about. And I know you're not gonna hurt her,” she finishes with a pointed look. Sniffing the air with a wrinkled up nose, Steph winces again. “Hey, will you take her for a second. I need to go grab her diaper bag. This place is so huge, I need to start carrying the thing around with me.”
Jason gapes at them both not exactly sure how they got from him being dangerous to Steph passing him her daughter. “Uh... okay....”
“Great,” she grins. “Here.” Handing over the baby, she guides his arm into place to hold Lira's head. “Just like that. I'll be right back.”
“Um, yeah,” he replies to the space Steph has vacated, frozen in place as the baby gurgles, Lira sticking her tiny fist into her mouth and kicking the air with her little socks on chubby feet.
Then the smell hits him.
“Holy crap, kid,” he scowls, trying not to breathe in. “How the he-heck did I not smell that before, huh? That is the most toxic thing ever. And I've been to the Narrows; I know what filth smells like.”
Lira only gurgles some more, grinning and laughing around her fist as bubbles of baby slobber drip down her chin.
“You've got a serious talent, there,” he tells her, still trying not to move. “You want to be our resident little stinker? You can gas the villains out, drop 'em in their places.”
A squeal of laughter as those brilliant green eyes stare up at him, and Jason can't resist a grin and a laugh of his own. “Like that idea, huh?”
“I'd say she's on-board with the concept,” Steph says, startling him again, though not enough to make him unfreeze. Gingerly, she takes the baby out of his arms and sets her on the adjacent couch to change her, and Jay looks away automatically as his stomach turns from the newly unleashed stench. “She could take out a whole warehouse of Jokers, I bet.”
“Mm-hmm,” Jay nods, clamping a hand over his mouth as Steph disposes of the offending diaper and cleans up the baby.
After an excruciatingly long moment, Steph declares the room clean with a wave of a tiny can of air freshener. “There we go, all clean.”
A cautious sniff as Steph unexpectedly hands the baby back to Jason, and he's surprised to find the stench gone. At least, as far as he can tell; he can't be sure, what with all his scent receptors blocked or fatigued or whatever Alfred said it was that makes smells seem to disappear. “You sure you want me holding her?” he asks then, giving Steph another raised eyebrow.
“Why not? You didn't drop her when she stank, why would you now?”
Jay raises his broken hand just enough to make his point. “I'm kinda gimped out, here.”
A lifted eyebrow in return, all sarcastic, and Steph shoots back, “So you're out of the Cave for the next few nights. Doesn't mean you can't hold a baby for a while.”
“Um....” But Jay's too busy blushing to say any more-blushing, really? What he fuck is wrong with him? Must be the baby, he decides, huffing to himself as Steph absolutely cracks up, doubling over with laughter.
“Oh my God, you're too freakin' adorable, you know that?” she says between snorts, wiping a tear from her eye. “Relax, you'll be fine. Just don't let her stick anything in her mouth that could hurt her, and you're golden, I promise.”
A sense of dread settles in his gut. “I don't think I like where this is going.”
Steph rolls her eyes. “You're not as bad-ass as you think, you know. Anyone could see that Lira likes you. And besides, you're not so bad with her. Maybe you could watch her while me and Cass are downstairs training. Since you're off the roster for a while, I mean.”
“Uh, what about Alfred?” Jason asks quickly, feeling like he's flailing all over the place in desperation.
“Oh, he's upstairs fixing a certain hole in the wall,” Steph retorts slyly. “I don't really want to bother him right now. There was a lot of mumbling under his breath about hot-headed kids that wouldn't know restraint if it bit them on the ass.”
Jason gulps involuntarily, then starts defensively, “Hey, that was restraint. Dick's lucky I didn't smash his jaw into a thousand pieces.”
Another raised eyebrow, and Steph just stares at him.
“Okay, maybe... maybe I could learn a little restraint,” he admits, feeling like it's been dragged out of him by the magical powers of the infant in his arms, Lira gurgling up at him again, all happy smiles and bright eyes. It's disturbing.
“Alfred told me what you did to Tim when he first came in the house, too. I think we're all glad that no one's peed their pants in terror lately, so maybe you have learned some restraint.”
Jason just chews on a few choice retorts for a long moment, realizing he's been soundly defeated. Figures, it'd be the only one of them that wasn't a total freak, that got him to see it. Well, her and the baby, both.
“That's what I thought,” Steph nods. “So, the diaper bag is here. Bottle's in the fridge. Playpen and crib are upstairs if she starts to fall asleep or get cranky on you. Toys are upstairs, too, if she gets too fidgety. We'll be back up in two hours.” Standing and heading for the door, Steph glances back. “Any questions?”
Jason can only shake his head dumbly. Then something rises from the pit of his guts, and he can't even stop himself from calling out, “Hey, do me a favor?”
Steph nods. “Name it.”
“Tell... tell Dick I said I'm sorry for being such an ass.”
“You got it,” Steph grins. “Oh, do that thing with your eyes; I think Lira really likes it.”
Jay just gapes after her, long after she's waved to the baby and disappeared. That thing with his-?
Oh.
Propping Lira up to sit on his lap, Jason lets his eyes shift to their lupine yellow, his vision shifting into its infrared range just slightly behind slitted pupils. “What do you think, kid? This what Mommy meant?”
Lira squeals so loud with laughter, her hands reaching for his face and grabbing his nose and an eyebrow, that Jay's ears hurt with the intensity of her cry, the drone of the TV buried in the background. And oddly, it's totally okay.
Who knows? Maybe pounding that wall wasn't such a bad thing after all.
~*~*~*~