#jaystephweekend2022

Steph looked him dead in the eyes and proceeded to smash her forehead into the computer eight times before Jason finally stopped her on the ninth.

"Not like that!" he scolded. "You're going to end up killing something, and whether it's you or the computer, both are detrimental to me."

"Really feeling the love there."

Jason sighed, hesitantly letting her go. "How long have you been working on this?"

"When did the semester start?"

"Yikes." Jason hissed in sympathy.

"My prof is a total psycho! Like, literally, I can diagnose him with five of the disorders we studied!"

Jason pulled the computer closer to read her header. Dr. Jonathan Crane. "Shit."

"Mm. Let me guess, he's a villain in your story?"

"Well, he drugs people into hallucinating their worst fears, so."

Steph made a face, squinting her eyes and sticking her tongue out. Her nose wrinkled, and never in a million years would Jason call it cute.

"Accurate, actually. He tried to make psychoanalysis a class activity."

"That feels illegal."

"Homework should be illegal," she griped, finally sitting up properly and reaching for her laptop. 

Jason slid it out of reach. She gave him an incredibly unimpressed stare.

"Give," she hissed

"You need a break."

"I'm going to have a mental break if you don't give me my laptop back."

"I'm serious." Jason saved the document and shut down the program. "Take half an hour, it'll help."

"I don't have half an hour, Jason!" Steph cried. "This thing is due in two days!"

"Plenty of time."

Jason clicked shut down and closed the lid right as Steph lunged. He swept it away and stood up, holding it above his head.

"Hey!"

She scrambled up and tried to jump to reach it, but, well... Steph was small. Kick-your-ass and angry small, but still. She wasn't going to get the computer when he had two feet on her.

He saw her eyes dart to the couch, the coffee table, and the chair he'd been sitting in in quick succession.

"Don't try--"

Too late.

She jumped onto the table and launched herself off it with a war cry. Jason dropped the computer on the chair and barely grabbed her before she could tackle him to the floor.

He pressed her close to him, half to comfort her, and half to prevent the five feet of fury from doing any actual damage.

She pouted at him. "I will kick you and you will not like where."

He let go immediately.

"You're still taking a break."

"I'll break you," she muttered, and he took another step back. As a precaution.

Finally she sighed, shoulders sagging. He didn't like the defeat on her face. Stephanie Brown was undefeatable.

"Come on," he said, tilting his head towards the door. "Let's get out of here for a while."

"And go where, exactly? In Gotham city in the middle of the night?" She raised both eyebrows at him.

He shrugged. "You act like if something were to happen we wouldn't be able to handle ourselves."

"Haven't you died before?"

"It was for two minutes, and it was very traumatic, thank you for reminding me."

She didn't back down. He'd always liked that about her. That he could just say things and not have her instantly pity him, or treat him like he was fragile.

"We could go to Blackjack's Tavern."

"I thought you were a nerd."

"I'm also a richboy with a reputation to uphold, I was mostly seeing if you wanted to buy yourself a drink and have me drive you back."

"Oh yes, and you'd hold my hair back as I puke my guts out from how drunk I get."

Jason turned away so he could blush a little. "Then how about Mafioso Does Pizza?"

"That's Maroni territory so, no."

Jason raised his hands in surrender. "Well, we could go to the Martha Wayne Arts Center, I guess."

"Where the hell did that come from?"

"It's a big open space. I could teach you how to swing dance."

"I didn't know you knew how to dance."

"I went to rich-people parties for seven years. Yes, I know how to dance."

Steph looked sheepishly towards the floor, "I've never danced with anyone before."

Almost in an instant Jason grabbed her hand and made towards the door. "Well, I guess it's high time you learned."

"It's high time alright," she muttered, but followed him anyway.

"Are we technically supposed to be here?" Steph wondered, glancing around at all the shadows.

"Probably not, but this building is named after someone who is technically my grandma, so they can suck it."

She giggled a little, comforted once he flicked the lights on. The choir room was indeed big and open, with a piano against one wall. Jason hurried towards a door in the corner, picked the lock, and started messing with what looked to be a sound system.

"Another rich people skill?" she teased.

"Mmhm," he called distractedly. A minute later the first few bars of Shut Up and Dance blared around the room. 

Was she imagining that he was blushing as he came back?

"This goes at about half time," he said, holding out his hands, "so it'll be easier to learn with."

"You're the boss, I guess."

He waited for a minute, then reached out and took both her hands. Her face flushed. "Oh, right."

He gave her one of those crooked half-grins that always filled her with butterflies.

"So, starting with 'home base,'" he began, and Steph wanted to make a joke, but also didn't want to put such jokes in his head, "we go forward right, kind of passing each other..."

He stepped quite close, gently pulling her hands so they stood side-to-side.

"And back."

He pulled away again, and Steph switched the feet she was supposed to use, stumbling a little. Jason's grip tightened until she got her feet underneath her again. Her face was hot.

"Then left and back."

This time she watched their feet, noting how he only moved one foot, and then didn't set it all the way down. Once she copied him, they got into a smoother rhythm. She looked up, beaming, to see a much-too-soft smile on Jason's face.

"Now you're getting it."

"Shut up and dance with me," she teased, and he laughed.

"Wanna try a turn?"

"I guess..." Hopefully she didn't sound too excited.

"Ok." Jason kept stepping forward and back, leading her with him, as he gave a play-by-play of the turn. "So I'm gonna let go of your right hand, and lift your left, then you're gonna twirl. Just... go with the flow."

"Brilliant advice."

They stepped right and left, then as they returned to home base, Jason dropped her right hand and raised her left, like he'd said. Steph spun underneath their arms, wishing she had on a dress or skirt so she could see it flare. A giggle escaped as she came back around and Jason caught her hand. She failed to get back in the rhythm of their steps, though, stumbling for a moment before Jason stopped them to reset. Her face flushed.

"Like I said, never danced before," she mumbled sheepishly.

"Well, I think you're doing pretty good," Jason smiled.

She smiled back. 

He led her in swing stepping for a moment before attempting the turn again. This time she only fell behind by a beat, catching up on the next side-step, and daring a glance up from their feet to see Jason grinning.

The last bars faded, but almost immediately were replaced by soft piano notes. Jason paused for a second, tilting his head consideringly. Steph had hardly thought, His eyes are really green, before he nodded and said, "This can work."

He began moving them again, falling into the same rhythm as before. A second later the lyrics started, sung by a remarkably young voice, and...

"Is that... Greatest Showman?" she laughed.

Jason shrugged, definitely blushing this time. "Dick's obsessed with it."

"Mmhm. That's why it's on your playlist."

"Shut up."

"That was the other song."

He stuck his tongue out at her. She stuck hers out right back, missing her cue to twirl and stumbling.

"Whoops," Jason smirked.

She shook her head, laughing again, and was ready for the next twirl when it came. What she was not ready for was when Jason dropped her left hand and whirled around himself, ending up beside her with a mischievous grin.

"What was that?" she half-yelped, half-laughed.

"Well, I can't let you have all the fun with spinning."

"I guess you are a little too ginormous to spin under my arm," she teased.

"Just a bit."

They went on, taking turns twirling, until the violins went crazy, and Jason kept spinning her and spinning her, slowly orbiting her twirls, until she was dizzy from spinning and laughing so hard. And then right as everything dropped out, he pulled her against him, arm around her waist to hold her steady and close.

She stared up at him, noticing there were faint freckles on the bridge of his nose.

His smile faded to something both softer and more intense. His gaze dropped to her lips.

"Jason..."

His whole face flushed, eyes coming back to meet hers as he stammered, "I..."

"Kiss me."

He blinked. Then a soft grin spread over his face as he bent down, and pressed his mouth to hers.

It only lasted a second. But it was sweet and gentle, and Steph didn't even know how long she'd wanted it, or that she'd wanted it so bad until that one second came. 

The music picked up once more, and Jason let her go, stepping back into their pattern of trading twirls. But they both had an energy and a smile that had changed so much because of that second. 

As the music cut away, he pulled her close again. Steph rose up onto her tiptoes to claim another kiss.

"I could get used to that," she whispered as she slowly dropped back down to her heels.

"Yeah?" he murmured breathlessly.

"I guess I need more dancing lessons," she suggested with a wink.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

“Okay, J. Are you trying to be a vigilante? I gotta warn you, it's brutal. It's actually why I'm here. My dad's a D-list rogue, Cluemaster, and I hated how he ruined my mom's and my life, so I became Spoiler,  spoiling his plans. Batman didn't like me running around as a tween without his approval, even though I was older than, like, all the Robins.

“Anyways, I ignored him, he kinda accepted I was there to stay, I had a couple months internship with as Robin before he fired me, and I went back to being Spoiler, started a gang war by accident, got caught by an A-list rogue and tortured...I flatlined in Leslie's OR and she faked my permanent death and moved us here to teach Bats a lesson about his kids or something.

“So, now you know Steph Brown,” Steph laughed easily.

“Wow, that's, um, a lot to process. Are you okay? Seeing a therapist or something? That sounds like a trip.”

“Oh yeah, it was. I'm okay-ish now...I mean, your black helmet isn't really helping my PTSD, but they're pretty common and it's not blatantly skull-like so...I'm okay.”

“You got caught by Black Mask?”J's jaw dropped, though Steph couldn't see it. “And survi-I mean...”

Steph grinned at J's faux pas. “It's fine, I have dark humour—being a Gothamite, and from the Narrows at that, it's kinda a prerequisite.”

“You're a Narrows kid? You hide the accent well,” J commented in surprise.

“Thanks? You know another Narrows kid or somethin'?”

“Wasn't it speculated that Robin 2 was from the Narrows?” Jason deflected, hoping Steph would bite.

“Yeah, he was my favourite. Street kid, Narrows like me—we might even have been neighbours!--fought smart but dirty, and he understood us in a way Bats and the first Robin didn't...he cared about us, y'know? The others cared more about stopping crime than the victims—I mean, obviously the crime needed to stop so there wouldn't be more victims, but Robin 2 was one of us and could connect with us. Batman and Nightwing are strangers, practically. Once I was on my way home from stalking my dad and some creep was trailing me. I could tell, but Robin swung down and took 'im out before I was in danger, and then he followed me home...it was so sweet. I always had the biggest crush on him...I was so sad when I heard he died. He was one of ours, one of us...sometimes I wonder what he'd be like if he was alive.”

With a sigh Steph shook off the melancholy and turned to J. “Sorry for the infodump. So, J, thanks you for the assist. And don't become a vigilante for fun.”

“I won't. Thanks for livening my evening. I liked your right hook...but saw your form was off on a couple moves. Did Batman not train you? I thought all his little birdies had a Ph.D in karate or somethin'...”

“Well, I was never a true Robin. Barely got any training from the big guy. He didn't even let me know anyone's  ID or anythin' cool—basically all I got was the suit and a ton of lectures, more than Spoiler ever got. What a prick,” she muttered.

“He sounds like a huge prick,” agreed J. “If you'd like...I could improve your skills a bit? I've had a few professional trainers myself...”

“Sure, I'd love to get some formal training for once! When and where?”

“I have a building in town. Are you free tomorrow?”

“Yeah, all day.”

“Be ready at 9 a.m., then. Night, Doll!” J left her on Leslie's doorstep and Steph went in to Leslie's worried questioning.

At 9:00 sharp J pulled up on a black motorcycle. Steph was waiting with a duffel and hopped on, driving to a nondescript warehouse-style building 15 minutes away from Leslie's. J walked to the door and went through fingerprint, retinal, and password locks. Finally J and Steph walked in to see an enormous gym, with mats, weights, ropes, a shooting range, archery range, pool, and various intense workout equipment.

J showed Steph to the bathroom and she changed into a tanktop and shorts before joining him in warmup stretches on the mats. “You're flexible,” J noted.

“Thanks— I took gymnastics lessons for 3 years before my dad got worse. I liked it and kept doing what I could...and that was one thing Batman helped with.”

For the next month J drastically improved Steph's form, skills, and stamina.

“How do you know all these skills? Do I want to know?” asked Steph one day during a water break.

“Can you keep a secret?” J asked, leaning in. Steph nodded. “I'm the second Robin.”

Steph stared at him, then started laughing. “Fine, then, keep your secrets.”

J stared back. “Fine. My mom has been training me for the past 3 years with various martial arts forms and weapons and some other fun stuff, like poisons and bombs and strategy. Happy?”

“You're serious,” Steph said flatly.

“Yes!”

“Huh. So...you're a ninja-in-training?”

“I am a ninja, but sure. I was just here to take care of a couple things for my mom when I met you.”

“You...stayed...here? For me?”

J nodded. “I really like you, Steph. A lot.”

“You like me too?”

J blinked. “You like me?”

Steph nodded emphatically. “Even if i still don't know if you're a 10 or not with that dramatic mask you always wear,” she joked.

“Will you go on a proper date with me, Stephanie Brown?”

“No.” J's face fell, but Steph continued, “I will join you in a spar and I will kick your butt one day.” She sat up and moved to the mats again. J laughed, “You're perfect.”

After their training session J walked Steph home as he always did. In sight of Leslie's, J paused and Steph turned to see why. He took her hand and took a breath. “My name is Jason. Jason al Ghul.”

Stephanie smiled at him. “Thank you for telling me, Jason. Jason...I like it. It suits you.”

~♡~

The next morning before their warm up began, Jason opened up to Steph. “Do you have time to hear my life story? It's depressing, at least for a non-Gothamite.”

“I'll always listen,” Steph said softly, taking his hands in hers. It always seemed to ground him and lately he'd started to do it unconsciously. Jason smiled at her and began.

“I'm a street kid from Crime Alley. My dad was a two-bit goon and my mom had a heroin addiction since she had cancer. She died when I was 8 and my dad was...gone, so I hit the streets. When I was 12, I was adopted by a wealthy man and I was actually safe—he was one of the few good ones. Sometimes we'd go back to Crime Alley to help my friends or the street kids. I had an older brother, but he was gone in Blüd most of the time. He didn't like me too much at first because our dad “replaced” him with me, but we'd started to get closer when he realized he was being a Dick.” Jason smiled at some joke Steph didn't get yet, then continued. “When I was 15, my dad and I got in a fight and I was grounded...I found my bio mom in Ethiopia and flew there to meet her. I thought she was blackmailed by Joker and tried to get her out, but she...she sold me out to him and smoked a cigarette as she watched him beat me half to death. Then he tied her up and left us in the warehouse with a bomb...I managed to get my mom free but I was caught in the explosion. I'm strong considering I'm from Crime Alley and the beating and bomb didn't finish me off," Jason smirked at that absolutely devastating tidbit. “The smoke and dust inhalation got me. I woke up in my coffin 6 feet underground and dug myself out with my belt buckle and left my fingernails in the dirt there. I wandered around, catatonic and relying on muscle memory for a few months until I started beating up some of my third mom's men and she came to see what the fuss was about.  When my catatonia didn't lift, she put me in a pool of magic life juice, which healed me and upgraded my trauma to insanity and bloodlust. Once the Pit Madness settled, Mom sent me around the world, training with masters to become the best.

“I know it was partly to stall me, because my dad is her baby daddy and she doesn't want him dead, while I did. He never killed the Joker for me, for everyone else's safety, and I almost killed him and my brothers. Thankfully the Madness subsided, and while I'm still mad he didn't kill Joker, I'm not going to kill him over it. He won't kill, so I'll leave him alone and do it myself. I need a moniker for when  I make the statement that I'm a better man than him, and since you don't like my black helmet, I'm thinking of stealing the clown's old name as a last laugh. So, could you stand a red helmet?”

Steph blinked. “Wow, your life is sadder than mine. Yeah, a red helmet wouldn't bother me at all. You look good in red, anyways.” She understood deflection very well, and let Jason steer the conversation away from what he'd just unloaded.

“Then meet the Red Hood,” Jason bowed to Steph and she giggled.

“Your story sounds kinda familiar, though.”

Jason removed the domino mask he normally wore around Steph (since he didn't wear the helmet around her).  “You weren't kidding?” she gaped. “ You are Robin 2...wait, you look familiar...”

“My headstone says Jason Peter Todd, if that helps,” offered Jason.

“If Jason Todd was Robin 2, then Robin 1 has to be Dick Grayson, which means...” Steph's eyes grew larger. “Brucie Wayne, Ph. D in idiocy, is Batman?!”

“Got it in one, Doll,” Jason winked.

“That makes so much sense,” moaned Steph. “No wonder he never told me his name!”

“Your friend Robin 3 is Tim Drake, Bruce's newest adoptee. Looks like Drake finally died and B got custody again.”

“Wait,” interrupted Steph. “Why did Bruce adopt you? You met him as Batman, right? Well he caught me and never adopted me...how unfair!”

“You don't have black hair, Blondie,” Jason teased. “Step 1: dye your hair black. Step 2: Be a smart aleck and make Batman laugh because you stole the Batmobile's tires. Step 3: Reverse psychology: Hit 'im with your tire iron and run. Be reluctantly caught and thus adopted when he finds out you're a homeless orphan.”

Steph wheezed with laughter. “Of course you stole the Batmobile's tires! Oh man, the look on B-man's face must've been legendary!”

Jason grinned proudly. “At the time I was scared to death, but looking back, it was pretty funny....So, what'm I like, since I am alive?”

She buried her face in her hands. “Ughh, why? I can't believe I rhapsodized about you to you! Oh, kill me now. And I told you I had a crush on you...whyyyy?!” she wailed dramatically and Jason chuckled at her expense, the brat. Steph glared at him through her fingers.

“Sorry, I kinda like you, so Imma have to pass on the offer to murder you.”

“Stoppp,” she blushed, glad she was already hiding her face from him.

~♡~

This is a shorter chapter because my two sentences referencing tomorrow's prompt come directly after this 😆

Hope you enjoyed and feel free to Nicely leave constructive criticism!!

Author’s highlight (author’s favorite part/ part they liked writing the most or found most entertaining):

They say you only live once… well Jason would like to beat up whoever started (and spread) that statement because they’re a liar.

People hype second chances in the context of living. Of being alive, surviving. The truth about that is you’ll have come to terms with yourself about the chances you missed and opportunities you turned down and things you’ve taken advantage of in your first life. You’ll question whether or not they’re worth pursuing now in your second life or if you were never meant for them in the first place.