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“Can you stop being such an ass, Dickhead?” Jason says scowling before trying to once again lunge for Dick who dances out of the way.
Dick laughs and holds the letter up higher, “Language!”
“I’m going to show you language, alright.” Jason mutters darkly not caring that that doesn’t really make any sense at all and jumps up to try and swipe the paper from Dick’s grasp. He fails again and bites out, “You’re my least favorite brother now, congrats.”
Dick snorts and ducks away again, “I’m your only brother, it’s not like that's a threat.”
Jason has a retort on his tongue that gets interrupted from Bruce calling out from…somewhere.
“Boys! No fighting!” Comes faintly from beyond the room. Jason lost track of Bruce some time ago between the flurry of setting up the tree and getting all the decorations from the attic, as well as doubling over and laughing so hard his stomach started to hurt after seeing him in an ugly Christmas sweater that Dick seems to have sweetly gifted him.
“He started it!” Jason calls back before turning back to Dick and narrowing his eyes and jumps him - Dick can’t quite dodge in time and they both go tumbling to the ground and falling one on luckily already empty box while upturning another. With a quick glance to see that whatever rolled out isn’t actually damaged in some way they get back to fighting over Jason’s letter.
Jason thinks he’s making a valiant effort but Dick is sadly still taller than him and just laughs, using his height and training to his advantage.
“I swear,” Jason grits out, “I will ask Bruce for another brother just so you can be my least favorite one!”
“Do you think he can just make another kid?” Dick laughs and winces when he gets an elbow into his gut.
“Don’t be stupid,” Jason says, trying to cling to Dick who’s wiggling around like a fish on dry land. “He can kidnap one obviously, worked for me didn’t it?”
“Oh?” Dick says, smelling blood in the water and waving around his letter, “Does that mean this list is void? I don’t think you can wish for many things if you’re already wishing for a sibling you know…”
“Even if it’s out of the running doesn’t mean you can read it!” Jason says heatedly and then rolls his eyes, “Also I can wish for whatever and maybe I just want to see Bruce's face when I say, ‘Hey Bruce! Do you know what I really want? I wish to get a new brother for christmas!’”
“To be fair, seeing that would be hilarious,” Dick agrees, probably musing over it before setting on to say something else that he doesn’t manage to get to because they’re both startled by the sudden light coming from somewhere in the room.
They look around to see that the ornament - which really just looks like a big strange ball of some kind - is the cause of the light.
“Uh. That’s not supposed to happen, is it?” Jason asks in a furious whisper as if that would help with anything.
Dick just shrugs, staring and then yelps simultaneously with Jason and both of them slam their eyes shut again the strange glow that has now intensified tenfold.
Jason wonders what the hell is going on and if they should call out for help or what the protocol here is because the light doesn’t stop just getting brighter and brighter even through their closed eyes and now there is some kind of high pitched noise -
And then nothing.
He blinks his eyes open warily and sees Dick doing the same. They both stare at the ornament which has stopped glowing, as well as making any noise though he could have imagined that. Well, it did stop glowing but now there is some kind of movement going on inside, like ink in water.
Jason and Dick look at each other, mirroring the confusion they’re feeling on their faces.
Dick is about to get up and inspect the strange sphere when there is suddenly a whole another body inside the room than it was previously. No strange lights, no reality distortions, just one moment of empty air and then a blink, and a body is crashing to the ground.
Said body is very large, maybe even bigger than Bruce and makes pained noise when his ass hits the floor.
Jason would laugh if he wasn’t suddenly tense and ready for a fight, and when he looks to the side that Dick has also instantly flipped into his vigilante mode.
The body groans out a very pissed off sounding, “What the fuck?!”
Dick stiffens and Jason does as well, the voice is deep and dangerous despite being familiar somehow. Before they can do anything though or say anything Bruce comes in, basically kicking in the door and barks out, “Who are you?”
The person looks up and just stares for a bit at Bruce who seems to get more agitated by the second but then they start to…laugh? “B? Is that you? What the hell are you wearing? Did you dye your hair?”
Bruce blinks, his only show of surprise before flicking his eyes to them both and then back. Jason shoots Dick a look that Dick just answers with a shrug of his shoulders. He doesn’t let it show in his voice though when he asks halfway to his Batman growl, “I’m asking again - who are you? What are you doing here?”
Evidently the guy - and Jason thinks it’s a guy by the voice and stature and so on but he also knows better to assume - has noticed Bruce’s look and cranes his neck around to look at both Jason and Dick.
The guy looks really familiar somehow.
"Well, shit." He says before turning back to Bruce and rattling off some numbers and letters so fast Jason barely gets any of it while Dick squints his eyes as if that would help him hear better. Jason can’t tell if he’s trying to figure out what the hell that means or if he already knows and has a careful non-reaction.
Bruce stills and seems to really look at the guy for the first time, his voice weirdly strangled when he says, “You know we have to verify that.”
Jason can’t see it but he’s pretty sure the guy rolls his eyes - it’s what he’d do in his shoes as well - and then snarks back, “Of course I know that, geez. Can we do it now so that’s over with?”
“Uhm.” Bruce says and wow Jason doesn’t think he’s ever seen Bruce quite that speechless ever. “Yes of course.”
“Can,” Dick says annoyed, “Anyone clue us in on what’s going on?”
The guy laughs and finally stands up from the ground, and he really is both a bit broader and taller than Bruce but really only by a slight margin. He turns around and grins at them, he’s got a weird white streak in his hair, and seems to be a couple of years younger than Bruce.
He also looks really, really familiar that Jason is trying not to think about or believe.
“What do you think is going on, Dickface?” The guy with Jason’s face says and Dick makes a startled noise that Jason doesn’t echo but only because he’s still stuck in disbelief.
“Jason?!” Dick questions the guy and older Jason grins even wider.
“‘Sup.” He says as if any of that is a regular occurrence for him. Who knows, maybe it is.
“What the fuck.” Jason says because his brain is still short circuiting. “What the - you. Me? What?”
Older Jason rumbles out a laugh and holy fuck his voice is nearly as deep as B’s. “Sure am, shortstack. Man can’t believe I ever was a small bit like you.”
“Puberty hit you, huh?” Dick says strangled and disbelieving, looking older Jason up and down. “Wait - no ! You’re taller than me, what the hell?! That’s illegal. How?”
“Well yeah the growth spurt was a truck alright but there were some other…circumstances. And anyway, sucks to be you. Should’ve eaten your veggies as a kid.” Older Jason says, grinning.
Dick splutters. Jason watches mutely. He’s gonna get bigger than B?
“Okay.” Bruce says, “Okay let’s just…why did you come here? Do we need to be worried about something?”
Older Jason snorts and mutters something that sounds like yeah you can be worried about something alright but then shrugs and says, “No clue. Wasn’t my fault, I was chilling and reading when I got suddenly transported here.”
“I think the travel was induced from our side, B.” Dick says already back in business mode - Jason is pretty sure he just doesn’t want to think about him getting taller, ha take that, Dick - and then gingerly picks up the stranger ornament-orb-sphere-thing. “It was in one of the boxes we brought down from the attic.
“We were uhm. Joking around -”
“Wrestling,” Jason interjects.
“Joking around,” Dick says again, louder. “And the box got upturned, this thing rolled out and then it suddenly started glowing like mad. Like -”
“Like trying to directly stare into the batsignal?” Jason helpfully provides and receives a glare for his efforts.
“Exactly like that,” Dick agrees nevertheless and continues, “It also made some kind of high pitched noise? Don’t ask me to describe it because I literally cannot. Then it stopped from one second to the next, when we looked over the insides were…moving, weirdly?”
“Like ink in water,” Jason says, interrupting again and smiling at Dick’s annoyed glare.
“Yes, exactly like that oh my god shut up,” Dick grouches. “Anyway, weird swirling inside of it, then boom. Older Jason. There wasn’t even a portal or a- A reality distortion. Just one moment nothing, the next moment a guy lands on his ass in front of us.”
Older Jason rolls his eyes, “I’d like you to try to land on your feet when you suddenly get transported to who knows where.”
Dick rolls his eyes right back at him.
When Jason looks over at Bruce he only has eyes for the strange thing instead, “That was in the attic?”
“Ya,” Jason confirms. “I think I even remember carrying it down so it's not like it suddenly appeared in the room either -”
“So if it did magically appear somewhere it had to have been in the attic,” Dick interrupts him and Jason makes a face at him.
“Or it’s always been there,” Older Jason suggests with a raised eyebrow. “This is Gotham aka weirdest city supreme and also Wayne’s are old money, wouldn’t surprise me if any of the previous old farts squirreled some magic shit away.”
That’s fair.
Bruce sighs, “Let’s just get down into the cave, both so I can verify your identity and so we can analyze the sphere.”
There is the general air of grumbling and groaning but nonetheless do they all stream out of the room and head towards the cave.
One positive blood test later and they’re all crowded around the orb and looking at it with general suspicion.
“Alright,” Bruce says. “Can you tell me what exactly happened when this started to…glow. Anything that could have activated it?”
Jason and Dick both think back, they were bickering like they usually do and all the excitement really kind of overshadowed everything else that had been going on or what might have been said.
Then, Jason suddenly freezes.
“Jay?” Bruce asks, brows furrowed in concern while older Jason is oddly quiet leaning against the table.
“Uh,” Jason starts very intelligently, “This is kind of a shot in the dark but like…me ‘n Dickface were joking around and I remember saying something about Dick being my least favorite brother, he said he’s my only brother and I was like we can always get another one, I remember i distinctly said something about how i would ask you at christmas that I’m wishing to get another brother just to see your face, that’s when it’s started.”
Dick nods in agreement, “I also can honestly not think of something else, wishes start a lot of magic doesn’t it?”
Older Jason snorts, “It sure does, mostly never anything good but you’re not wrong about that.”
Bruce, who was just about to open his mouth, closes it again and then looks at older Jason with a bit of surprise. “That is…correct.” He says instead and then rubs the bridge of his nose in obvious tiredness.
It’s a very common picture, a tired and overworked Bruce in the cave trying to solve an unsolvable puzzle. Granted, he usually doesn’t wear a christmas sweater that’s so ugly that Jason thinks one of Santa’s reindeer puked on it, but there were stranger things that happened than that.
“So.” Older Jason murmurs, “Let me guess, I’ll probably be stuck here until the wish is fulfilled?”
Jason cringes and sees Bruce do the same if less obvious.
“That…might could be the case. Yes.” Bruce says finally. “But there may be ways to circumvent that, of course.”
“We can call Zatanna?” Dick suggests. “I know she’s a good magician and currently the only one I know off who would help and might be somewhere we can reach easily.”
Jason just rubs his hands over his face, “I’m sorry it was just supposed to be a joke.”
Older Jason twitches at that but schools his expression - much too neutrally - and then shakes his head, “Nah, don’t be. Also y’all don’t need to bother any magician.”
Jason stares at older Jason and feels the other two do the same.
“Pardon me?” Bruce asks.
Older Jason rolls his eyes, “I said y’all don’t have to bother.”
“Uhm.” Dick says. “I don’t like that look in your eyes Jace.”
Bruce looks like he’s seriously contemplating every choice in life that led him to this path and Jason?
Jason has a very bad feeling about this because he knows where his mind went and - “You can’t actually just kidnap someone!”
Older Jason chuckles roughly, “I mean, it worked for us didn’t it? But don’t worry I’m not going to kidnap anyone but I do want to check something out.”
Bruce narrows his eyes, “Check out what?”
“Nothing you need to concern yourself about for now,” older Jason grins, “I’m not even going to leave Bristol, I’ll need…let’s say twenty minutes?”
“Twenty minutes for what?” Dick asks suspiciously and glowers when the older Jason just grins and doesn’t say a word.
“Shouldn't you maybe not go out of range and maybe affect the magic?” Jason demands, arms crossed. “What if we’re bound together and you destroy the universe?”
Older Jason rolls his eyes, “I forgot how much sci-fi we watched when we didn’t read old dusty novels, relax nerd, I have way too much experience with these types of things. The universe is not going to get destroyed.”
Jason narrows his eyes, “You promise?”
“Yes,” older Jason says, sounding both amused and annoyed.
“It’s too much of a risk,” Bruce argues, only to get a flat stare from the older Jason.
“If I remember this correctly someone currently has bruised ribs and a healing ankle so I want to see you try and stop me,” older Jason retorts, emphasizing this with poking Bruce lightly into the middle of his chest, getting a slight hiss and step back from him for that.
“Excuse you, I’m also here? Why aren’t you saying anything about me?” Dick asks offended and crosses his arms as well. “Are you saying you could take me?”
Older Jason just grins, “Nah, I was just thinking that you’d just like agreeing to the opposite to what Bruce would want.”
Jason has to keep himself from snickering at that, he sees Dick open his mouth as if to protest before closing it again and then, after contemplating that for a few seconds, says, “You know what. You’re right. At least take a comm with you?
“Dick,” Bruce hisses and now gets a flat stare from him as well.
Jason honestly kind of agrees with Bruce about it being a risk but it's not like he can do anything about his older self leaving either. He’s built like a brick shithouse and no amount of Robin training can help him take himself down. He would probably just break his hand or something.
“Yes Bruce?” Dick asks sweetly and holds eye contact with Bruce while reaching over and giving the older Jason a comm unit. Jason is weirdly reminded of that cricket and grumpy cat his old neighbors had, who did the same thing to him but while tossing a vase off of the windowsill when he agreed to watch him for a day.
Bruce sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose, “Just…be careful please. We don’t know what the sphere can do and if anything happens you call us immediately, alright?”
Older Jason cocks his head to the side and narrows his eyes, “You’re being weirdly agreeable.”
“I am… trying. To pick my battles,” Bruce replies wryly.
“...Guess you are,” the older Jason says, his voice gone somewhat quiet and thick with an emotion Jason can’t place. He then looks at the comm in his hand and puts it on. “I’ll be back in about twenty minutes.”
He then goes in the direction of the garage and Jason blinks.
“How do you want to get out of the cave?” Dick calls out confused and Jason would like to know that as well.
But then older Jason turns on his heel, still continuing on but backwards, and grins widely. He holds out his hand and there is a key dangling from his finger - a car key.
More importantly, it’s the key of the car that Bruce has driven today.
Jason’s jaw drops and Bruce frantically pats himself down only to come up empty.
“Holy shit,” Jason whispers. “Did the older me really manage to swipe Bruce?”
“I think he did,” Dick whispers, sounding just as in awes as Jason does. “He’s got to teach us before he goes back.”
“ Yes ,” Jason agrees and doesn’t even feel bad about how tired Bruce looks all of a sudden. Sorry old man if you let yourself be swiped it’s your own damn fault.
The last thing they hear from the older Jason before the garage door closes, is a loud and slightly chaotic cackling.
Jason kind of wonders if this bodes well for anyone before he realizes he really doesn’t care.
The guy is him even if older, what’s the worst he could do?
About seventeen minutes later - no, Jason didn’t count, thank you very much - they hear the distant roar of an engine on the way to the parking bay.
After Bruce made sure it was actually the older Jason, as well his own car, they wander down to greet him and make sure he didn’t actually do anything unadvisable. It doesn’t seem like he did though, the car is as it was this morning, and when he gets out of the car the older Jason doesn’t seem to be injured and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary.
That is, of course, until the backdoor opens and a tiny and high voice lets out a very loud “Woah… .”
Oh god, his older self actually did kidnap someone.
Bruce looks like someone sucker punched him in the face and doesn’t know what to do.
“Pretty cool, right?” Older Jason says chuckling and then leads the child, and it is a child holy shit, out from behind the car.
The kid is tiny and looks around with huge eyes that only get wider somehow when he sees all three of them standing there and then tries to slightly hide behind the older Jason’s legs.
“I thought you said you wouldn’t kidnap anyone?” Dick asks, strangled.
“I didn’t,” older Jason says smugly. “It’s not kidnapping if he agrees to come with me.”
Bruce makes a noise so quiet that Jason doubts the kid heard him but it sounds like he’s dying. Jason really hopes he isn’t, that would suck.
“It’s true Mr. Nightwing, sir.” The little kid pipes up, defending his older self adorably. Or it would be adorable if Jason wasn’t sure that it still counts as kidnapping anyhow.
But then he replays what the kid said in his head. Jason gapes, “You told him?”
Older Jason rolls his eyes while the kids shrink a little and now Jason feels bad for being so loud. “I didn’t tell him, Tim here already knew. Isn’t that right, Timbit?”
“Uhm. Yeah. Sorry.” Tim mumbles.
What? “How?” Jason blurts out completely thrown, how the hell did a baby find out their identities?
Tim looks at him with these huge eyes and fiddles with the straps of his hoodie, “I saw Robin - when that was still Nightwing - do a quadruple somersault once. There was only one person who it could have been that could do that and was the correct age and in Gotham. And from there it was…easy?”
Jason bursts out laughing and Dick makes a sound that’s caught between offense and a groan and makes Jason just laugh harder. Bruce sighs and massages his temples.
“Did you ever tell anyone?” Bruce asks, gaze piercing.
“No!” Tim replies, sounding offended. “It’s a secret!”
Dick snorts, “Well at least the tiny genius can keep things to himself. I can’t believe this is what made me, I owe Babs twenty dollars.”
“I told you -” Bruce starts before getting interrupted by the older Jason.
“Yes, yes you told him before yadda yadda, do the annoyed and that catastrophical emotional communication later.” He says while rolling his eyes, “Let’s first get Timmy here settled in before I disappear or something and - oh, Bruce I made a list for you when I was at Tim’s house with some of the more important things if we don’t get time to talk through them.”
“I don’t want to be a bother,” Tim says somewhat shyly. “I promise I won’t tell anyone and I’m really glad the older Jason showed me the cave but I should probably go back home.”
Older Jason makes an odd humming noise, “Never a bother or I wouldn’t have brought you, squirt. Secondly, wouldn’t you rather spend some time with other people rather than alone at home?”
Jason feels himself stiffen slightly and even though he can’t see it he knows the way both Dick’s and Bruce’s sharpen at that type of information.
“Alone?” Bruce asks, voice fake light and Jason wonders if that’s why his older self brough the kid. Does he know them in the future? Is he actually their brother in the future?
Tim shrugs, “I mean when I’m home our housekeeper comes every second day and always brings me meals for the day and the next, and normally I’m also in boarding school but it let out early for the holidays because of that rogue attack. My parents are on a dig.”
Before any of them can say something to that it’s the older Jason who ruffles the kids hair gently, “You’re very responsible, kiddo.” His voice is fake light but Jason doesn’t think that the kid got that with how he seems to light up at the compliment.
Jason is seeing a picture and he doesn’t like said picture.
“But just because you’re responsible like that doesn’t mean you can or even should be alone at home.” Older Jason says gently, “And you know I know about that so I kind of don’t trust you not to go gallivanting out when my back’s turned. Don’t you want to stay with them for a bit?”
“We could watch all the stupid christmas movies that are currently running and make fun of them,” Jason blurts out because like hell will he let that kiddo go back to a house where he’s alone and he kind of gets that the older Jason is trying to keep the kiddo from being offended or defensive about…everything really.
Jason has seen many kids who are in denial about even worse living conditions and trying to forcibly open their eyes to it never ends well.
“You wouldn’t be a bother,” Bruce says softly. “I trust Jason’s judgment even when this one is so much older than the one I know and I would like to get to know you more.”
“Agreed,” Dick chimes in, already his cheerful mask back in place. “And I agree with Jason’s suggestions, and we finally would have enough players for some of the boardgames laying around!”
Tim seems to grin in shy delight and Jason honestly just kind of wants to hug the kid. He really is tiny.
“How old are you?” Jason asks curiously.
“I’m eleven!” Tim replies and Jason looks him up and down, he can admit that he’s not the best with guessing ages especially not in kids but he would have thought Tim to be maybe around nine and not eleven.
“I’m fourteen,” Jason grins. “And since my older self just lugged you here and didn’t even do proper introduction -”
He walks forward and holds out his hand for the shrimp, “Hi, I’m Jason Todd-Wayne and it’s nice to meet you.”
Tim looks at him with enormous eyes before taking his hand and grinning, “Hi. I’m Timothy Drake but everyone calls me Tim.”
Jason already hears Dick cooing behind him but he elects to ignore it, Tim needs to be distracted before he gets it in his head he actually wants to get back. Or he realizes that everyone doesn’t approve of his current living situation and then gets so offended by that and defensive that he also wants to leave again.
But nope, his older self brough Tim for a specific reason and likely on the parameters of this stupid wish sphere thing which means Tim is his new brother now and like hell will he let him get back to an empty house.
“Hi Tim,” Dick says grinning and comes bounding over. “I think I remember you, we met at a few galas a few years ago, right? You grew a lot!”
Tim seems to try and not to preen at that but grins adorably up at Dick and nods, “Yeah. I didn’t think you’d remember.”
“Of course I do, you’re a little riot.” Dick laughs. “I just didn’t recognize you at first and you know, without wearing a penguin suit.”
Jason rolls his eyes but he can’t even be mad about Dick trying to claim all the attention and goodwill from the kid because it actually makes Tim giggle kind of adorably.
“I…agree with Dick,” Bruce says and wow, can you be any more awkward B? “You grew a lot and I hadn’t seen you in a while. The last time we talked was at that fundraiser two years ago, right?”
Tim nods and gives Bruce a smile so bright, Jason can feel his heart melting. He doesn’t care if the shrimp has parents, they’re not gonna give him back now. Theirs now.
Oh god is he turning into Bruce?
“Alright, are you hungry?” Bruce asks Tim who looks like he doesn’t know how to answer that question.
He looks at the older Jason first before quietly replying, “A little.”
“How about we go upstairs then? Alfred prepared some snacks for us to tide us over while he’s out on errands, there is enough for everyone here.” Bruce says and holds out his hand.
“Okay,” Tim says before looking at the hand with some confusion. Once again he looks at the older Jason before hesitantly stepping forward and sliding his little hand into Bruce’s bigger one.
Bruce leads Tim towards exit, all of them following along quietly.
Jason throws his older self a quick glance because he’s been pretty quiet for the past few minutes while they all got acquainted or re-acquainted with Tim. His older self is looking at Bruce and Tim with a kind of…wistfully glance that Jason doesn’t know what to do with.
He doesn’t have time to think about it either because when he turns back he spots a familiar glow coming from the batcomputer - or rather the desk where they had put the weird ornament.
“Uhm. Guys?” He says and stops completely looking at it, which is maybe not his best idea if it decides to once again become the floodgate light of doom. But last time everything went pretty quickly, this time it’s just there and glowing. No change in the intensity of it.
The older Jason seems unconcerned and hums, “I think that’s my cue actually, can’t think of another thing for it to activate again.”
“And what if it isn’t and just tosses you randomly through time?” Dick asks with narrowed eyes.
“It would be a risk to base your return on a feeling,” Bruce agrees but again, the older Jason doesn’t seem like he’s worried about that at all.
“If it were…evil or malicious I would know let’s just leave it at that,” older Jason says grinning before sobering up again. “I know it's a risk but…I also don’t want to stay here. Over the years I’ve gotten really familiar with magic and I really do think that this is just going to send me back home.”
Dick pulls a grimace but doesn’t say anything more to that and just nods. When he looks at Bruce he has once again a frown between his eyes.
He sighs but then says, “I do trust you but this whole situation is…unprecedented. You can’t blame me for being concerned, right?”
Older Jason laughs, “There was a time where I would have but no I get it but I don’t think anything will happen, I swear.”
Bruce nods but his face shows that he’s unhappy about it, Jason thinks that it’s especially because he thinks the older Jason is right.
Jason himself would really rather like to know when and why he gets to learn about magic of all things.
“Alright, first things first,” older Jasons and then pulls a little notebook from his back pocket. “Get timbit here a new notebook but he let me use his so I could write down some things that I think were the most important though I had to keep to the most important information and there might be things missing. I was…traveling for a while and not in Gotham and minimal contact so I didn’t get everything that happened.”
With that he gives Bruce the notebook and then wanders over the ornament.
“Are you sure?” Dick asks as well and older Jason gives him a quick grin.
“I am. Don’t worry about it, the worst that can happen is that I land on my ass again.”
“Language,” Jason says without thinking and earns himself a bark of laughter.
Older Jason grins so wide that his whole face crinkles with it, “You’re such a hypocrite, little me but that’s just how we are.”
Then his face turns serious and he looks at Jason with something that feels like…pain. Almost. “There’s a lot of things I could tell you. A lot of what would maybe save you grief and pain but…mistakes are a part of life and I don’t think it would help you if you didn’t make them but…
“Hopefully those will be different from mine, now though I will still tell you the most important things you need to know. One, Stay the hell away from Ethiopia. Two, blood often doesn’t mean jack shit, family or now. Three, Bruce will always love you no matter what you do or don’t do.”
Jason digests all of this and wonders what his older self - this older Jason - has gone through to put this expression on his face and a quick glance and both Dick and Bruce reveals that they are likely thinking the same thing. Tim doesn’t really seem to know what's happening except that it’s an emotional problem, he’s gripping Bruce’s hand tightly and seems to subconsciously shift closer to him as well.
“I’ll remember that,” Jason promises.
“That’s all I can ask of you,” Older Jason huffs before turning back to Dick and Bruce. “The same thing I said to mini me also applies to you two but I do also have a piece of advice that’s not in the notebook - for the both of you. Asking for help is not a weakness and please, for the love of everything, just reach out to the people you love and that love you, alright?”
Older Jason barely waits for Dick and Bruce to nod before he already touches the ornament without much fanfare and so fast that no one could have stopped him even if they wanted to.
Just like before, one moment someone is there and in the next he’s gone.
Without a sound or a distortion or any type of visual or noise, the older Jason’s gone - hopefully back in his own home and his own time without anything having been broken by the weird and impromptu time travel.
The ornament stops glowing and the cracks, fine spiderwebs appearing on all sides before they spread out and the space between become smaller and smaller until it literally disintegrates into dust.
Jason really couldn’t even have imagined how this day was going to go but he’s not really mad about it. He got a little brother out of it and saw how tall he’d become in the future and Bruce got information that he’ll probably sit days over to analyze and put together depending on how neat and comprehensive older Jason’s notes were.
Though for now it was probably enough excitement for a day.
“Shall we go upstairs?” Jason asks into the round because no one has moved still.
Dick huffs out a laugh and comes over to him, giving his shoulder a light squeeze. “Yeah. Let’s.”
All of them continue on their way upstairs after a quick last glance at the now dusted ornament and the place where older Jason had stood.
Jason longer than the others before following them up as well.
He can’t believe he did actually get another brother out of this whole debacle - he’s never believed in christmas miracles before but really, if this doesn’t count as one he’ll eat his own christmas stocking.
Jason can’t believe that they actually had a visitation of the ghost of Christmas yet to come.
What a day.