"I like trouble. I can't help it."

The younger sucked in a breath and moved faster, the heavy fabric rippling out behind him once the sirens picked up. He was busy glancing behind them for signs of pursuit when Jason stopped and shoved him toward a nondescript doorway.

“Think your stone self would fit in the Robin su–agh,” he choked, shoulders hunched and arms curling protectively around his torso. Leave it to Jason to find and shove the one place he was hurting. “Hood what’re you– my place is that way–” 

Jason pushed the door open and nudged Tim forward again, past the threshold. “C’mon, I’ll patch you up and then you can go be stubborn to your heart’s content.” 

A bullet graze was a far cry from the knife wound Jason had rescued him from a month ago, but it still hurt like hell.

The sirens gave their telltale wail as they approached the building, prompting Jason to motion for Tim to pick up the pace. As he walked, he rummaged around his numerous pockets for a particular set of keys. 

It didn’t take long for Jason to reach his nearest safehouse--thank you, Talia’s endless riches. When he finally arrived, Jason pivoted and waited for Tim to step within reaching distance. As soon as that happened, he shoved Tim toward the door, reaching over with his other hand to twist the key in. 

Despite his fantastic sense of humor, Jason rarely made people laugh. Steph was an exception, and she was always nice to hear. He made no effort to disguise his triumphant grin as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Penguin’s men could only be charged with “disturbing the peace” at the moment, but that was enough for Jason to enter the simple feud, swooping down right in front of them.

“Hey guys, riddle me this—” He pointed at the Iceberg Lounge with his thumb. “–what’s blue and green all over?” he asked, head tilted as he watched them whip toward him. 

None of Penguin’s big guns were out tonight, so Jason had no difficulty maneuvering around them. One might have even compared them to bowling pins.  

Jason glanced over his shoulder at Steph, face frozen in a half-formed grin as he noticed one of Penguin’s men off in the corner. He recognized that face.

        There is probably a very special part of Hell reserved for Stephanie for laughing as she did when Jason whipped that riddle at those men—if there is a Hell, Steph wasn’t sure just yet. And then when he brought them down, though that was more of snicker. Surely that’d be more easily forgiven.

        She let him do his thing, enjoy the show from her viewpoint and hissing semi-sympathetically when the blows landed on the crooks. 

Ever since he’d returned to Gotham, Jason had taken ample steps to cover his tracks. Though he’d worried that Oracle would track him down eventually, he could only assume she hadn’t. Otherwise, he imagined his schemes would have been thwarted more often.

If one of the Bats ever found his main safehouse… Jason had established a rapport with the neighborhood kids. In exchange for his tutoring and coaching, they watched after Charlie while he was gone. That arrangement wasn’t something he was eager to give up.

Jason snorted at her insistence, moving to turn on the engine. Its thrumming was almost loud enough to block out Steph’s next words, but not quite. Her tone alone would have given him pause, let alone the way she tightened her arms around him. As if it was more for his security than hers.

“Well,” he replied, a beat too late and a key too high, “I’ll add you to the list.” It was a short one, but he didn’t dare delve into the topic now, lest he scare off the warmth that had settled in his chest.

Jason kept his gaze straight ahead, trying not to focus on the familiar weight pressing against him. After a quick stop at a sporting goods store, he acquired another helmet, in the closest shade to eggplant that they had.

“Like I said, this bike doesn’t see a lot of passengers,” he explained, handing it over to her on the curb. “Might as well show off how cool we are and go color-coded, yeah?” The only thing that betrayed his nerves was a flickering glance that disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Beyond that, he just looked too pleased with himself.

      Stephanie couldn’t help grinning a little too gladly at the implication of being added to some sort of list of people who cared for Jason; she knew the boy needed to be reminded that people gave as much of a damn for him as he did for others, and Steph gave a lot of damns for him already.

      “Thank you! It’s an honor to be in such list.” Her chin dug on his shoulder the further she grinned into the mirror just so he could see it, because was never above teasing anyone. She would have kissed his cheek too, but she knew that’d make him flustered and the hug was enough for one bike ride.

       The blonde awaited leaning on the bike with her phone between her hands as she played the newest version of Candy Crush in a rather loud volume. She was expecting him to come out of the store with a new pair of knee pads, or some other vigilante gear, the deep purple helmet was a surprise she definitely didn’t see coming. 

--

Catgirl’s maniacal smile didn’t even faze Jason at this point in his life. As soon as she mentioned the Batmobile, Jason let his eyes wander over to the tires, the ones he’d nearly gotten away with—well, metaphorically. These were obviously new tires. Fancier.

“You’re brilliant,” Jason informed her, already approaching the vehicle. “Kinda doubting they’ve got glitter lying around here, so what’s say we take that ride now to pick some up? That is, if we can get in without being electrocuted.” 

       Steph beamed out of her seat when Jason agreed in a few long strides—or more like skips—she was next to him, a hand clasped his shoulder and the other went to her hip. There was still a grin across her face as she skimmed her eyes over the car.

"We've already gotten through the worst of it," he agreed, ignoring the car itself in favor of scanning his surroundings. Nothing stuck out, so he walked over to the computer console where Catgirl had been sitting and searched there. A few seconds later, he grabbed the clicker that was next to the keyboard, making a b-line back to the Batmobile.

“Oh, uh—” Jason reached over and rubbed at the back of his neck. His own nervous smile had an optimistic edge, but it was nervous all the same. He’d been alone a lot, even when his mom was still alive, and he’d told himself that he was fine that way. Now, he missed Bruce and Alfred and Babs and maybe even Dick, as weird as that guy was. Company, especially from someone like Steph, would be nice. 

“Sure! It could be like a slumber party—if you want.” His face flushed. “Or it could be not like a slumber party. Whatever you want.” Letting his hand fall back to his side, he gestured for her to follow him as he headed toward his “home.”

      “Great!” She didn’t even try hide her excitement, the idea of spending the night alone being to overbearing. Bouncing from the sidewalk with arms swinging at her sides, she trailed behind the boy for a few steps before finally catching up in a few long strides.

       Stealing a quick glance at him, she caught the colors of his uniform once more, and memories replayed in her mind. Memories of her in a red skirt and matching vest; memories of Tim; memories of Batman. And her brow creased, but she never let her smile die down.

Even though he'd been fooling around with Babs when he'd suggested something similar to her, so long ago, he found himself wishing they'd spent more time together--maybe staying up until dawn eating junk food and telling stories.

Despite how excited he was, Jason had been trained by Batman and spent years on the streets, so he noticed the weight of Steph's gaze, accompanied by a bittersweet expression. There was something that she wasn't telling him.

Jason stopped short and turned around to face her, keeping his expression blank. Batman. His partner. The one he'd failed the most.

At least the Joker was dead now, right?

Jason could have directed Roy to that safehouse in Burnley rather than returning to the park, but he hadn’t felt like compromising a perfectly good apartment, and—well, the more public this encounter was, the better.

Brows furrowed, Jason eyed Roy warily and lowered his hands. He’d expected creatively-phrased threats that would go right over Lian’s head, not questions. Despite his surprise, he could come up with a few good ones on his own: why Jason had decided to keep stringing them along until he got free food, for example.

Free food that he hadn’t even finished, actually.

His gaze flickered over to Lian as he chuckled. “I can see that,” he said, steeling his voice against any fits of nostalgia. Most of his fonder memories had been warped over the years, including the ones he’d missed, but he hadn’t forgotten how he’d followed Roy around like a lost duckling for a while. He shrugged. “I’d ask how you’ve been, but, well, she seems pretty happy, so… That’s the only question I want to ask.” His gaze turned expectant as it set upon Roy. If need be, he could pull an “ollie out”, but he couldn’t deny his own curiosity just yet.

The comment about Lian being happy was surprisingly sweet. He hadn’t expected that from Jason. That was when Roy asked himself a question: did he really need to be suspicious of Jason at all? He just had a golden opportunity to get what he wanted by taking Lian hostage—if there was something he wanted from Roy.

He didn’t though. Lian was safe, sound, and completely oblivious. Paternal instincts were starting to simmer down and reason was taking over, calming his body language and stilling irrational what-ifs.

Among other things.

Tomorrow morning, Jason would marvel at the fact that he’d been lulled enough by Steph’s presence thus far to let her sprawl out on him like that. For now, he just accepted the weight of Steph’s feet on his lap as he continued to take curious sips of his drink.

Steph’s first comment warranted no response; he had a feeling that nothing he said would come out right if he tried. Still, he glowered at her as she flipped her hair, too caught up in his irritation to even notice that her finger had gotten caught.

“I’d gotten kinda attached to the taste of rubbing alcohol,” he admitted, mouth twisted into a sour expression. “Strawberry’s good too though. My throat thanks you.” 

      To think Stephanie had come into his place out of pure boredom. Maybe to check if he was still alive too. She wasn’t expecting any drunk adventures for the day, like, at all. Or to convinced a heavily intoxicated Jason Todd to cook her mashed potatoes. Her mother wasn’t going to be happy though.

     Perhaps if she made good use of her puppy eyes she could persuade Jason into a sleepover…

He’d never seen her up this close until now. Her smile was kind of nice, if a bit blinding.

The heat of her hands on his already-flushed face eventually prompted him to blink out of his stupor. Leaning his head back just out of her grasp, he offered her a lopsided smile, but he still felt a bit too warm.