So today I started thinking of a new Batfam au, just because. And then I got a hilarious story idea for this au and I want to talk about it.
So this au is very similar to cannon, the main difference is that Tim and Dick swap ages, so Tim is the oldest and Dick is child number three, technically.
Another big difference is that Jason tried to steal the bat-mobile tires earlier, but actually got away with it. (Tim, [who goes by the superhero name Batkid because while Tim and Bruce are very intelligent in many, many areas, creativity is not one of those areas. Everything is named ‘bat’ something not because it was a nine-year-old who named everything that because it was funny, but because these two idiots are terrible at naming things but both felt it was weird to not have special names for everything.] thought it was absolutely hilarious to come back to the bat-mobile and find it sitting on cillander blocks and his amusement only increased when they looked at the camera feeds and saw that it was a ten-year-old who took them and not some two-bit crook trying to get back at the Bat.) Jason later gets caught stealing something else by a cop who sent him straight to juvie, whether because they were a somewhat decent cop who knew the foster system in Gotham was a roulette of bad luck or because they didn’t want to deal with the paper work associated with putting a child back into the system Jason will never know. Jason is grateful for this however, because while juvie is juvie, its still better then the streets or trying his luck at the foster system. He’s got food, clothes, a place to sleep, subpar schooling, and he will eventually be let back out into the real world where he can get a job and save up money to get proper schooling. Sure he’ll have a record, but it’s Gotham, having a small criminal record is just extra qualifications to most employers.
For the story idea I had, Tim is 16 and a senior in high school, Jason is 11, Dick is 8, and Barbra is around 20 and in collage.
So Dick’s backstory is pretty much the same, raised in the circus, parents killed when he’s 8, sent to the Gotham foster system, they send him to juvie because they can’t find room for him elsewhere or something. Bruce is working to be able to foster Dick, and he doesn’t have to do to much work because he kind of went through this process with Tim, but it was easier for him to get custody of Tim because he was a family friend and Dick’s currant social worker doesn’t want to do to much work.
Jason has been in juvie for a few months now and he has adjusted fairly well. It’s not too different from the streets, and while he is one of the youngest there, one of the older kids recognizes him as the kid who stole the tires off the Batmobile because Jason had sold then to the kids dad. That definitely boosted his rep, and the kids who needed extra persuasion to leave the 11-year-old runt alone soon found out that the kid was an excellent fighter, and when a kid half your size can fight you to a stand still, you leave him alone. So Jason is generally left alone. Then one day news comes to the center that a world famous circus came to town and that two of the star performers died on stage, leaving behind a child who was being put into that juvie center. And then the kid shows up and he is perhaps the youngest kid to ever be admitted to that center in the history of it’s existence. The kid is tiny, barely speaks B- level English, and he is absolutely terrified, alone, and has no clue why he is there. Jason, the big bleeding heart that he is deep down inside, takes one look at the kid, gives many middle fingers to the government, and decides that this tiny baby is his new little brother. He was the same age as the kid when he lost is mom, he knows how lost you feel after that, and he is going to give the kid the guidance and love that he needed but never got after he lost his mom.
Dick’s first few days at the center are rough, he is surrounded by kids who are much bigger and meaner then him, and they don’t hesitate to remind him of that every day. Then Jason comes along, pulls some favours to become Dick’s roommate, and let’s everyone know on no uncertain terms that the new kid is under his protection. After that life in juvie for Dick improves. While it’s not perfect, because it’s juvie, it’s manageable, and to Dick Jason is the coolest person in the world. He gives Dick his deserts, helps him with his school work, listens to him talk for however long he wants, and even helps him with his English.
After about a month and a half, Bruce finally, finally, is aloud to foster Dick, and Dick is moved out of juvie. He knows that he will miss Jason, probably as much as he misses his circus family, but he will always cherish the short time he had with Jason and be greatful for him. Jason, on the other hand, is not going to take this lying down. He swore he would protect this child and he is going to do it. He doesn’t care that Bruce Wayne is fully capable of taking care of all of Dick’s needs and wants, Bruce Wayne is a stupid rich dude who gets sloppy drunk at parties, and what would he ever want with some poor circus immigrant? Nothing good in Jason’s opinion, at best it’s a publicity stunt and Dick will not receive the attention that he deserves. Jason will only trust Bruce Wayne to look out for the kid if he can see for himself that he is capable of doing so properly. So Jason breaks out of juvie and heads straight to Wayne Manor.
Jason is able to make it past most of the security features around the house and actually gets inside before Tim finds the intruder, subdues him, and is confused and concerned about the age and size of said intruder. If Tim finds out that bad guys are using kids for their evil plots again he is going to be breaking many bones. He is also confused by the fact that the kid looks familiar.
Bruce comes in to see what all the commotion was about, and little Dick comes in after him. The moment Dick see’s Jason he gives out an excited yell and tackles Jason in a hug.
After Dick and Jason explain everything to Bruce and Tim, Tim realizes why the new kid looks familiar, it’s because he’s the tire kid. Tim immediately turns to Bruce and tells him that they are keeping Jason. After a bit of back and forth between them in a different language because it is a private conversation, Bruce relents saying he will see what he can do, and Tim excitedly begins to give his new little brother the house tour and informs Alfred that they will be having another person for dinner that night. Tim is over the moon because he had always wanted a little brother, and now he has two for the price of one!
Bruce and Barbra are able to get all the legal business worked out, (in this au Barbra starts to get more tech savy earlier on because Tim would accidentally brag about being the better computer partner and Barbra took that as a direct challenge) and Jason finds himself as the third child to be placed in Bruce Wayne’s care. He is not super stocked about that. While he finds Bruce to be ok and absolutely adores Alfred, he finds Tim annoying. Tim isn’t trying to be annoying, and doesn’t even realize that Jason thinks he is, Jason has just decided that Tim is a snobby rich kid who brags about his intelligence all the time and thinks he is better then everyone.
Jason and Dick are both behind in their schooling, and are being given the first semester to try and catch up to their piers before hopefully joining regular school after winter break. Tim, wanting to be a good older brother, offers to help them with their work if they need it. This annoys Jason very much. But then one day Dick asks Tim for help with a reading assignment, one of the questions is asking about the characters motivations and other stuff like that, and Jason watches as Tim can’t figure it out. Tim looks like he is about to try and burn something down he is so frustrated, and Jason decides to use this to his advantage and show the stuck up boy that Jason is not stupid. Jason walks over and works out the problem like it is one of the easiest things in the world, because to him it is, and smiles smugly at Tim for being better then him at something.
The next day while doing school work Tim comes over to Jason with another reading assignment like the one he did yesterday, just for a high school level book. Jason thinks that Tim is just testing him, trying to stump him on something, well jokes on him because Jason read this book last year! So he answers the questions with ease and moves on with his day.
And Tim keeps coming to Jason with the English questions, and Jason keeps answering them. After a month are two, Jason is, begrudgingly, having fun. He and Tim will read the works together and then answer the questions, although it’s mainly Jason answering the questions. Tim even starts to bring what look like tests to their little meetings.
Then one day while they are working together, Bruce walks in startling them and demands “Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne! Are you having your younger brother do your homework for you?!”
For three seconds Tim has the most dear in the headlights look Jason has ever seen before he regains control of his face and responds by informing Bruce that he is just utilizing an out of school tutor to assist him and really, “would you rather I hack the schools computer systems and just give myself an A without doing any work for this class?”
Jason then watches as Tim and Bruce have and epic back and forth about about the fact that, apparently, Tim wasn’t testing Jason’s intelligence and trying to get him to mess up so that he could gloat like Jason had thought, but was instead using Jason as a sort of cheat sheet because Tim stinks at English, and “I will be graduating with a 4.0 GPA and full honors no matter what it takes!”
So that kinda got away from me for a bit. I hope you guys like it!
