Lois glanced up from where she was typing away at her laptop on the couch. Clark sat next to her, chewing on the end of a pencil as he squinted down at some notes.
“Well, that’s sadly not unusual in this city,” Lois said. “You said they were scientists, right?”
“Yeah, but you don’t get it!” Kon threw himself onto the small sofa that was crammed into the living room. “They work for him. Like, Lex recruited them level of working for him. Moved the whole family out here and gave them a fancy lab level. Like Danny has met Lex and is creeped out by him level!”
“That is a bit more concerning,” Clark said with a gesture of his abused pencil. He shrugged bashfully at the look that Lois shot him. “Well, it is.”
Lois ignored him. “Kon, honey, Lex is Lex, but he’s not going to do anything to Danny. Sure, it’s yet another concerning fact about Danny’s parents, but Danny’s parents don’t define him.”
Kon scowled at the wall.
“Just like Lex doesn’t define you, Kon,” Lois continued gently. “The fact that Lex creeps Danny out doesn’t mean anything about you, it just means that Danny has good sense.”
“I’m not worried about that,” Kon lied.
“Well, it would be understandable if you were,” Lois said as she waved the matter aside. “Would you like me to do some looking into what his parents were hired for? There’s might be much out there but I can look.”
“Or the League can look,” Clark offered quickly. “Since it’s Lex, it’s always useful to know what he’s up to. New scientists might mean a new plot.”
Kon sighed and slumped further into the couch. “Or just that I’m being a creepy boyfriend.”
“Well, maybe a little,” Lois said.
Kon turned over to try and smother himself with a pillow. “Thanks, m—” He bit off the word.
“But also,” Lois continued, “you are who you are, as a person and a hero. Knowing the facts is important. I think that a little bit of looking is alright. Just stay away from Bat level of looking, you know?”
“You mean don’t tell Tim,” Kon said when he was done with his futile attempts to do himself in. He rolled over enough to glance at his amused parents.
“At least not to start,” Lois said.
“But I’m sure that Tim and the others would love to meet Danny, Lex drama aside,” Clark said.
Lois got that cat with the canary look again. “What about spring break? It’s coming up soon, isn’t it? Bruce has that cabin. I bet you all could use it.”
Clark, on the other hand, looked mildly panicked. “I don’t know about that. I mean, a bunch of teenagers staying alone…”
“They save the world alone,” Lois said with a roll of her eyes. “I’m sure that we can get most of them to agree to some ground rules, and then they can talk Tim into mostly behaving.”
Kon couldn’t help a soft laugh at that. “Yeah, we can find something to blackmail or bribe him with. If he brings Bernard and Danny’s there too, Tim will have to behave some just because of that.”
“See? Perfect,” Lois said. “I’ll give Bruce a call tomorrow to ask him about the idea and the cabin.”
Clark sighed. “Which means he’ll say yes.”
“Of course,” Lois said.
Kon continued to pretend he was oblivious about whatever it was that his parents had going on with Bruce. Besides, apparently he had a spring break to plan.
Kon decides to dress up a lil sexy for Bart as gift ,but goes for a sexy bunny which gets Bart confused,because it’s Christmas and not Halloween what are you doing kon???
‘Robin, anything on your end?’ Batman asked over the comm. There’d been rumors of a gang meeting tonight with multiple possible locations. Bats took the most likely one while Robin, Batgirl and Spoiler were checking out the others. Cass and Steph’s leads were busts so Kon was prepared to take a peek before grappling to B’s location. And if his grapple was a little loose and he was going a little too fast, well who could tell otherwise?
“Not yet,” Kon grunted quietly as he shimmied quickly in through the broken window and down into the warehouse. “It’s dark in here so I’m not expecting much but I’ll check just to be sure.” It would be quicker to fly or just bust down the whole wall but Batman taught him better than that over the last three years. Besides, it wasn’t just his legacy he was messing with. Unlike when he was Superboy, he was part of something bigger and had people in his corner.
“Ok, I’m in,” he gracefully landed on the dusty floor and crept forward. He flipped up the lenses of his domino to do a quick Xray sweep and Bingo! Conner grinned when he took in the scene happening below him. “Jackpot B, I got the high beams up and there’s a hidden basement. I see Black Mask and, oh man, Red Hood is out in the open. We finally got him.”
‘Do not engage without me, I’m coming on your location now. 15 minutes,’ Batman said before signing off. Kon wanted to roll his eyes, his dad was so overprotective sometimes.
‘You better bring him in. As much as I love helping Oracle, I am So tired of house arrest,’ Tim grumbled over the line.
‘He’s made vocal threats against Robin, it was necessary,’ Batman grunted. Even if he wasn’t bulletproof, he wouldn’t let Tim go out with some maniac with Robin vendetta on the loose. Tim always groaned that Kon took Robin whenever there were dangerous missions as if he was secretly hoping to get maimed and killed. Sometimes it was a full time job keeping his big brother from self destructing.
“I won’t engage B but it’s sealed up good so I can’t see or hear much. I’m gonna get into the vents and get more intel for when you arrive,” Kon said as he quickly cased the empty warehouse before finding a space just big enough for him to wedge into. He really hoped he didn’t inherit Clark’s big shoulders because this would be impossible if he were any bigger. It was already getting harder for him and Tim to share the Robin name and pretend they were the same person.
He lightened his weight a bit as he made his way through until he had a good view of the proceedings. Looks like they were arguing over the ‘green stuff’, ugh lame, couldn’t they just say money but something caught his attention.
“Hood looked up at me,” Kon whispered thoughtfully. As soon as Kon had come into the vent, Hood’s helmet had twitched ever so slightly in his direction. Kon didn’t like to brag but he was pretty good at what he did, it would be next to impossible for some hood to clock him that far away. “Could be a coincidence or he might had infrared or motion detectors in his helmet. If he’s been this hard to track down then we should treat him with caution, we don’t what kind of gear and intel he has.”
‘Oh nice to see we were able to train that muscle in your skull,’ Tim quipped as he snacked on something over the line.
“You’re just mad you can’t lift a cruise liner over your head, Boy Wimpy,” Kon bantered back even as he started slowly backing up.
‘Robin get out of there, now,’ Batman hushed as Red Hood leisurely stood up from the table and stretched suddenly, interrupting Black Mask mid sentence. Kon froze, worried about making any noise.
“This has been fun, Maskie but I’m afraid we’ll need to negotiate the terms of your unconditional surrender to me later,” Hood said lazily. His posture was casual but he was tense underneath. “We’ve got some visitors I’ve been meaning to talk to. So why don’t you put an egg in your shoe and fuck off,” he said before pulling a machine gun from underneath the table and began firing up at the vents.
‘Conner!’ He heard Tim and Bruce yell over the comms but Kon was too busy trying to get out as fast as he could. But the space was tight and currently being slammed full of bullets. Dozens of them bounced against his armor and skin and he thanked whoever would listen that he was out here instead of one of the others. He had almost retreated into the safer part of the vents when the whole thing collapsed on him.
He yelped and fell gracelessly onto the floor of the basement. Kon groaned for effect and pretended to curl up and nurse some injuries. He was really reaching inside his belt for smoke capsules and batarangs. Probably should leave some of the fake blood before he split, just to add to the illusion.
“Aw, the little birdie fell out of its nest,” Hood cooed, hefting the machine over one shoulder. “I thought I told you to scram, Sionis. If you’re not out of here in the next 30 seconds I’m putting holes in you, this one and I need to have a conversation.”
Kon heard the harried footsteps of Mask heading for the hills as Hood stomped forward, kicking away bits of the vent as he approached.
“I was hoping one of you brats would show tonight, especially you. I’ve almost got everything put in place so I’m finally ready to have some fun,” he said with a laugh in his voice as he slammed his boot into Kon’s gut. The boot was heavy, steel tipped and would probably have broken ribs but he didn’t really feel anything. Couldn’t say the same for Hood.
“Goddamn!” The crime lord shouted, jumping away and grabbing at his foot. “The hell is in your armor kid? How can you lug that heavy thing around?” Well Kon couldn’t always avoid getting shot so they had to make armor that was thicker, wouldn’t take damage so he could just pretend the bad guys missed. Plus he barely felt the extra weight even though it was heavier than B’s suit. “Guess I should be glad ole Brucie is taking better care of birds this time around.”
Thomas Conner Wayne tensed on the ground, his plans of escaping lost for a second. How could Hood possibly know that name? What was Kon gonna do about it?
“I’m gonna give you a present, Replacement,” Hood spat out. “A lot better than I got. I’m gonna beat the hell out of you, within an inch of your miserable, little life and then I’m gonna set the timer to blow this warehouse. I’ll give you a chance, won’t tie you up or stop you,” he leaned down close to Kon’s face, “I just wanna see if Bats really upgraded, if you’re better than the last one.” He straightened out.
“And don’t think Daddy Bat Wings is gonna come save your sorry ass, I know he was down by the docks. I made him think the meeting would be there so my crew is gonna divert him juuuust long enough for me to do what I need to. So,” there was a scraping sound, something dragging across the floor. “Shall we begin?”
Kon dove out of the way of what looked like a crowbar and crouched to his feet. He was still pretending to be injured but he needed to get out of here. Of course Hood couldn’t actually hurt him but it wouldn’t do for him to know that. They danced and dodged for a minute or two, but Hood was Good with a capital G. Kon was throwing all his skills and tools into trying to take the gangster down but it really was hard to avoid the vicious onslaught. The man got in a few hits every once in a while and Kon tried to react but he knew it wasn’t good enough and the man was suspicious.
“The hell is Bruce feeding you? Why won’t you stay down you little punk?” Hood yelled, whipping Kon hard across the face with the crowbar. He stumbled back against the table where a small box had been sitting. It knocked onto the floor and exposed something inside. Something green. Immediately, Kon’s knees buckled.
“Shit,” he groaned quietly to himself as he tried to inch away from the deadly rock but it was sapping all his energy. He’d only been exposed to Kryptonite once, at the Fortress because Bruce had insisted he knew what it felt like. But he was such a dad he only made Conner suffer a minute before he closed the box and took him home to Alfred for cookies. He didn’t think that’s how this story would end. He gagged as his stomach rolled and his lungs seized and if he could just move a little further away... Hood just stood there watching in stunned disbelief.
“Are you shitting me?” He asked quietly, stalking forward with surprising softness. Hood moved so much like a Bat, it was unnerving. “I brought that to prove to Mask that I really had stolen his shipment but it led me to an even bigger score.” He scooted the box closer to Kon who finally collapsed from the strain. “Now how did he get his hands on you, I wonder?”
“I’m sorry,” Kon whispered but he wasn’t talking to Hood, he was talking into the comm still plugged into his ear. “I’m sorry, I love you guys.”
“Get away from my brother!” Like some kind of angel, Kon’s blurry vision saw someone drop down from the hole in the vents and slam into Hood. He grabbed the box containing the Kryptonite and slammed it shut. Kon felt like he could breathe again. “Robin, get up. B’s delayed but I got a car outside.” It was Tim, hastily dressed in his Robin uniform and looking more mad than Kon had ever seen him.
“There’s two of you?” Hood cackled, swinging his crowbar. “Oh that’s rich, are you twins? Tell me, did he steal you from the Flashes or the Atom perhaps? you’re certainly small enough. Bad enough he replaced me once but twice over? That’s just cruel, Dad.”
“Robin, I said, get up!” Tim yelled, swinging his staff which Hood dodged. They didn’t work together often since they were playing the same role but Tim’s fighting prowess always left him in awe. And furious like he was now, he was doing a number to Hood. With the box shut, more of Kon’s strength returned until he was able to stagger to his feet. Tim was holding his own but, as Kon had discovered, the Red Hood was beast. He couldn’t do much as Tim was tossed around and slammed into the wall. His skin bruised, he bled as Hood got a knife against his throat with one hand while he unclipped his helmet with the other.
Conner had never given much thought to Jason Todd. No one really talked about him, only Tim when they snuck into each other’s rooms for sleepovers. From the way Tim described him with starry eyes, Jason had been bold but kind, sensitive and intelligent. The man before them was nothing like that, his pale face flushed with anger and his green eyes positively glowing with hate.
“Look at this,” He said gesturing to his knife covered in Tim’s blood. “You’re just as human as I am but we don’t matter, do we? We’re just pawns in his game, pawns he’ll sacrifice if he thinks it’ll give an advantage to his precious mission. That lug over there? He’s not just a pawn, he’s a knight. When B’s chewed up and spit out the rest of us, at least he’ll have his Kryptonian lapdog to keep the legacy going. I suggest you ditch the tights before you end up in the grave next to mine.”
“That’s not gonna happen,” Kon hissed, bodyslamming into Hood to get him away from Tim. He ripped the knife out of his hands and threw him roughly onto the table in the middle of the room. He laid there, not moving and Kon didn’t care right now if he was dead or not. He needed to get Tim help. Tim grabbed onto the box, holding it shut while Kon grabbed his brother and flew them out of the basement and into the smoggy Gotham sky.
XxX
“Hey, you awake?” Tim groaned and turned to look at Kon. It wasn’t unusual to have his brother at his bedside in the medical portion of the Cave. It was weird to see him on the cot next to him with the sunlamp on him. His face was still pale with a sickly green tinge to it but he seemed okay.
“Ugh why does my mouth taste like plastic?” Tim gripped, wiping clumsily at his face.
“Alf had to sedate you, your throat needed stitches and you were pretty banged up everywhere else,” Kon frowned and turned to look up at the ceiling. “You shouldn’t have gotten hurt at all.”
“No one knew Hood would be there or that there was Kryptonite in Gotham. There was literally nothing you could have done,” Jason’s crazed face sprang to mind. “No one saw that one coming.”
“I’m not gonna go easy next time,” Kon growled. “He hurt you, he wanted to do some messed up torture thing and that could’ve been you and I don’t care that he used to be a Bat. As far as I’m concerned, he ain’t anymore.”
“It’s not as easy as that,” Clark said, coming out of nowhere looking tired himself. He was still dressed in pajamas, Bruce must’ve called him in a panic. “How’re you boys holding up?”
“Been better,” Tim said at the same time as Kon. Tim snickered at Clark’s eyeroll. He should know better by now that they were a packaged deal. “How’s Bruce taking the revelation?”
“He sat here through your treatments but as soon as he heard you both were okay he buried himself in his work. I,” Clark paused. “I think he’ll need you again to get him through this, Tim. You saw how he was when Jason died. This won’t be pretty. Conner, we’d heard a large shipment of Kryptonite had been stolen but we didn’t think it had come through Gotham. We’ll be keeping tabs trying to track it down and out of enemy hands.”
“Appreciate that,” Kon groaned, “that sucked ass.”
“It might help to get out of the city for a bit,” Clark suggested cautiously and got Tim’s hackles up. “Bruce has the best sunlamps money can buy but it’s nothing like the real thing. Ma would love to take you for a week or two, to get your strength up. Or you could stay with Lois and I in Metropolis.”
“Thanks but my family is here and they need me,” Kon said shortly, rolling over to face away from Clark. Tim glared hard at the Super until he had the sense to back off.
“Right, of course, I’ll let you two rest and if you need me I’ll um...” He shuffled off, presumably to try and get B out of his own head. Tim huffed away his aggression.
Years ago, Clark hadn’t wanted the responsibility of taking Conner full time but now suddenly he was around all the time. He’d heard from B that Clark wasn’t happy with the current arrangement. He was upset that Kon was adopted while Tim was still living with his dad, that Kon took up Robin alongside Tim, upset that he hasn’t been Superboy in years and doesn’t use his powers while in costume. He’d had his chance to make a family, a legacy with Conner but now he was Tim’s brother and he’d open that Kryptonite box on the man if he tried to take Kon away.
“Kon-”
“I’m fine, Tim,” Conner said sharply. “Look, I’m not going anywhere especially not when all this is going down. I may be a Super in blood but I’m a Bat in every way that counts.” He turned and scooted over so they were face to face and whispered quietly so Clark couldn’t hear. “So how’re we gonna stop Jay before it tears Bruce apart?”
“I have some ideas,” Tim grinned. It ached that it had come to this, his idol rising from the grave to become a criminal. But Conner had become his brother over the days, months and years of training and school and stupid shenanigans. No one, not even Robin could come between them because they were Robin. Stronger together than they were alone. That’s what it meant to be a Bat.
Tim: Caffeine no longer gives me the rush I need to finish work, so instead, I have Marinette periodically text me "we need to talk" to give me the right amount of anxiety and adrenaline to keep me going.
JayTim: What was their first time like? Who ignited it? Was it awkward seeing each other in the morning afterwards?
Tim did. Jason nearly got himself killed in a warehouse (wtf Jay, another warehouse) and even though Jason was bruised and sore and smelled like smoke when Tim got him home to their apartment (well a ton of his stuff is there and he spends like 24/7 with him so it’s like it’s his apartment too) he couldn’t take it anymore.
He’d been wanting to forever. Neither of them were virgins and they had fooled around considerably but they hadn’t had sex yet. Jason was… Skittish at times. Tim didn’t want to pressure him or anything. He knew that most of Jason’s relationships had ended… Poorly. He and Roy had had a pretty big falling out and if Jason wasn’t ready that was fine.
Tim guided him to the bedroom and slowly stripped him of his armor, clicking his tongue when he saw new bruises and contusions. Jason kept trying to pat his hands away and tell him he was FINE now and he could do it but promptly shut up when Tim gave him the deathiest of death glares. After he was undressed Tim ran his hands over Jason’s chest. He couldn’t help it. He started to shake. Jason could have died. Jason lifted his chin up and wiped away an errant tear.
“I’m really okay, Babybird.”
In a move that surprised them both,Tim not as gently as he should have probably, pushed Jason back on the bed. Jason stared up at him ruefully. “admit it, you think I look hot all banged up.”
“shut up.” Tim whispered before coming toward him. Jason’s eyes widened and he scooted up further on the bed.
“Not really fair that your dressed still and I’m butt naked.” Jason said.
Tim smiled softly. “I love you so much. Don’t ever do that again.”
Jason nodded and swallowed heavily as Tim slowly undressed and climbed on top of him. “I promise. I love you, babybird.”
Tim took complete control which Jason was glad for. Tim made him so nervous he was afraid he’d somehow mess it up by falling off the bed or something. That was made less likely with Tim riding him.
The next morning when Jason opened his eyes he was greeted to the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Tim laying eyes closed, snoring softly with the cutest sex hair he’d ever seen. He knew he was lucky he made it out okay, but luckier still that this was the man who loved him. Tim was a little shy once he woke up but got over it pretty fast when a much more confident Jason gave him the best morning sex of his life.
