Chapter Text
Jason stepped out of the elevator and grimaced. The training room was mostly hologram based with a few weights lying around and a couple treadmills. For such a ridiculously gaudy tower, he found it a little hard to believe that the “undisclosed source of finances” (usually Justice League speak for “Bruce did it”) couldn’t provide better recreational gear.
His grimace changed to an outright scowl when he noticed who was sparring.
“Todd?” Damian, distracted only for a moment, took a solid punch to the chin, knocking him clean off his feet.
Jason whistled and clapped mockingly as he approached. “Hit him again, please! Don’t stop on my account.”
The person Damian was sparring with had an unusual blue super suit that made his hand morph into a cannon as Jason got closer. “Stupid bug! Don’t you see the bat symbol?”
Jason shrugged, completely unfazed by the weapon in his face. “To be fair, most people have this kind of reaction to me.”
Damian got to his feet and tried to make himself look as big as possible. “Todd! Explain yourself! What are you doing here?”
“Don’t get huffy with me, twerp. You have Dick to thank for this. I would have been just fine playing as Bat’s partner, but Dick-wad thinks I need a ‘probationary period’,” he said, emphasizing his own dislike for the term with air quotes. “So, is this the new daycare program Batman’s got you in?”
Damian fumed, but it was the other boy who spoke up. “This isn’t some camp. We’re the Teen Titans.”
“Ouch. I guess Little League’s already a thing, huh?” Jason remarked.
“Dude, who is this jerk?” the boy in blue asked Damian, still keeping his cannon hand trained on Jason.
Damian sighed. “Reyes, this is Jason Todd. Todd, Jaime Reyes.”
“So much for secret identities,” Jaime whined, his super suit retracting into a small pack on his back. “I’m Blue Beetle.”
Fascinated with the retractable suit, Jason gave up his own title. “Red Hood. Give us a few more colors and we’ll make a rainbow out of this team yet.”
As if on cue, a door across the room opened and a girl in a blue cape stepped in with a green parrot on her shoulder.
“Holy crap!” the bird exclaimed, flying over to the others. It rapidly morphed into a green boy next to Damian. “This is the Red Hood? For real? Oh man! Dick used to talk about you all the time! Little baby Robin, trying to be all tough and cool like Batman!”
Jason’s scowl returned. “And what’re you supposed to be? Animal Man’s forgotten sidekick?”
“Huh? Who the hell’s Animal Man? Lame name, bro. I am the bonafide Beast Boy! And that lovely chica is Raven,” he added, motioning towards the caped girl who showed infinitely less enthusiasm than he did. “Okay! Introductions aside, you’ve got to spill the beans, man! What was it like to…you know?”
Jason’s eyes narrowed and Beast Boy shuddered, taking a nervous step back.
“Whoa. Uhh, I mean, never mind,” Beast Boy said meekly.
Jason rolled his eyes and went back toward the elevator, already done with Dick’s stupid plan.
“Hey,” Jaime whispered to Beast Boy while Jason’s back was turned. “What was that about? You cowered like a scolded puppy!”
“Animal instinct,” Damian answered for Beast Boy. “Todd has been known to give off a sort of feral aura. And this idiot just went and stabbed at an old wound.”
Beast Boy turned into a green version of a golden retriever and whined. “Me and my big mouth. I can’t help it. That’s the second Robin. Can you blame me for feeling a little star-struck?”
“Second Robin?” Raven wondered, finally saying something.
“Sure. Grayson was the first Robin. All others are forgettable except for me,” Damian proclaimed.
“Dick, Jason, Tim, and then Damian,” Beast Boy blurted out.
“Why do you know that?” Raven asked, a dubious eyebrow raised.
“Cuz I’m an original Titan, girl! I was part of this team when Dick was leading it!”
The three of them all stared at Beast Boy in silence for a moment before asking in unison, “How old are you?”
Just then, the elevator door opened to reveal Starfire wearing nothing but a towel. She and Jason stared at each other, momentarily stunned by the other’s unexpected presence.
“Jason!” she all but tackled him and he spun her around in a very excited hug. “What are you doing here? I have not heard from you in such a long time! Please, you must tell me everything!”
Jason laughed and pressed his forehead to hers. “Dick didn’t say anything about you being a perk to this probation thing! Damn, this gig just got a whole lot better!”
“Gig? Probation? Jason, are you in some sort of trouble again? I was made to believe you were making the amends with Batman.”
“Still am, Kor, I swear. I’ve been following his rules…for the most part. I got a little mixed up in merc work with Roy, but that’s behind me now. I’m on the straight and narrow, whatever that means.”
Starfire smiled so brightly that the rest of the Titans all felt a little humbled.
“It is so good to see you again!”
And then the elevator door opened again with Dick and Victor both standing in it. Victor’s jaw may as well have hit the floor, while Dick had a much more verbal reaction.
“What the hell, Jason?”
Starfire let Jason go and adjusted her towel. “Dick! You did not tell me that Jason would be coming! I am very much underprepared!”
“Maybe a little underdressed?” Victor mumbled, making sure not to look directly at her.
“Jay!”
Jason put an arm up on Starfire’s shoulder and smiled coyly. “Oh, this is just too good to pass up.” He cocked his head to the side and Dicks hands balled tightly into fists. “Does Kori not talk about me? Big surprise.”
“Jay, no one’s laughing. What the hell is going on here?”
Jason took his arm off Starfire as if letting an angry dog off the leash. “What exactly do you mean, Dick?” she said icily. “Jason is here. Am I not supposed to be happy to see my old friend?”
Jason smirked.
“N-no! That’s not what…you know him? What the hell?”
“Jason and I have what you call history. We were very close.”
Damian cleared his throat. “Star, I don’t think you know what you’re saying. It sounds like you and Todd had a sexual relationship. That’s what’s worrying Grayson.”
Starfire whipped her hair to the side and pursed her lips. “I am not misunderstanding. I do not understand why Dick is being so hostile.”
Jason stopped laughing in order to help clear the air. “Kori, much fun as this is for me, I think he’d be a little more comfortable if you were having this argument with something more than a towel on.”
Starfire huffed. “Fine then.” She held an open hand out to Jason. “Your jacket.”
She didn’t have to tell him twice. He removed his Kevlar-line leather jacket and held it up for her to put on. She slid it on before taking the towel off. Damian and Jaime turned away out of habit while Raven covered Beast Boy’s eyes. She repurposed the towel as a skirt and left Jason’s jacket open, only barely covering her. “Satisfied, Dick?”
Dick’s eyes flicked between her and Jason. “I…I can’t even…I mean…”
“Mmm. Her looks have always had that wonderful effect on people. Wouldn’t you agree, Dick?” Jason really couldn’t help himself.
Dick groaned loudly. “Enough of this, already. Geez! Guys, meet Jason. He’s here as a mentor for you. You know what? No. Don’t take any lessons from this guy. He’s a bad influence. He’s here to help you guys out and prove that he can be cooperative. He’s on probation.”
“You’ve got to be joking,” Damian said.
“I can tell you now that he doesn’t seem very cooperative,” Jaime threw in for good measure.
“Since when have we been in the habit of turning people away?” Beast Boy interjected. “Come on, guys.”
They all looked suddenly ashamed.
“Maybe someone with more experience wouldn’t be such a bad thing,” Raven suggested.
“He’s been warned enough times. If you guys find that he’s crossing the line, I want you to let me know. He’s here to learn from you.”
Jason threw his hands in the air mockingly. “Ooh, so scared. Like I couldn’t handle getting tattled on by a bunch of kids.” He went to the control panel and scrolled through their training simulations. “Man, do these ever get updated? Some of these fights happened before I was born.”
“How about you spar with me then?” Jaime offered. “I’ve already beaten one Robin today.”
“Sure. I’d be down to—”
“No. Jay, you know the rule.” Dick cut Jason off.
“No toys. I know. Load of bull that it may be. It’s not like Batman doesn’t have an entire arsenal in that stupid belt of his, but you shoot a few people in the head and suddenly it’s no more toys for you.”
Jaime leaned towards Damian a bit nervously. “Did he say shoot people in the head?”
“You blasted me in the face once,” Damian pointed out.
“By accident! And Raven fixed you up! Oh! So you mean like—”
“He means he’s killed people,” Raven said flatly. “Even Beast Boy can sense that much.”
“If anyone’s uncomfortable with Jason being here, I can put an end to this. I don’t know what I was hoping to accomplish at this point anyways.” Dick scratched his head and took account of all the distressed faces around the room.
“Nonsense! It is as Garfield said! Everyone is welcome here!”
Victor coughed. “We really should narrow our scope a little more after—”
“Is this place always so noisy?” A young woman with long blonde hair stepped out of the elevator looking disgruntled. “I sleep two floors up. How is it I can still hear you guys?” Her eyes landed on Starfire and her makeshift outfit. “Uhh, the hell kinda orgy am I interrupting?”
“Ah! You have not yet met our most recent member!” Starfire exclaimed, floating over to the girl and forcing her forward. “Dick, this is Speedy!”
Jason sputtered, choking on nothing.
“Oh yeah. Arrow’s new sidekick. How are you liking it here?” Dick said, trying to be friendly.
The girl glared at him through groggy eyes. “It’s noisy and it needs a shooting range. I don’t even get why Ollie signed me up for this stupid daycare thing.” She took notice of the doubled over Jason. “What’s his deal?”
Jason held a hand up and finished choking. “Nothing. Nothing. I just…I know the original Speedy.” He straightened up, still a hint of a smirk on his face. “Just made me do a double take.”
The girl didn’t seem amused. “You mean the loser even Ollie couldn’t help? Yeah, I didn’t get to pick the name.”
“Mia Dearden,” Jason suddenly said, giving the girl pause. “What, you think Roy didn’t have you looked up? He may not have been the best sidekick, but he’s still one helluva friend. Even to Oliver Queen.”
“You looked me up?”
“What’s wrong? Got something you don’t want them to know?”
“Okay! Wow, this was not my best idea!” Dick piped up, getting everyone’s attention. “Let’s all agree I’m the chump here, but I thought there was supposed to be a new recruit coming today?”
Starfire gasped. “Oh! We are late! We were to meet them on the roof!” She started to float only for Dick to catch her hand.
“Please, Kori. Do you really want to meet someone without any clothes on?”
Starfire scoffed, but went back toward the elevator. “I will change into something that is more comfortable. The rest of you are to report to the roof immediately.”
The moment she was gone Dick was glaring at Jason again.
“Oh, you still mad?”