Chapter Text
They’re digging through a storage unit in Bludhaven. There’s been more dignified things they’ve done, and the sun is hot and they’ve been here for two hours, but the bright side is, Jason is getting pissed. It’s the second storage unit they’ve dug through, and they’re about to have to move to a third.
“I don’t understand,” Jason is half growling, slamming the door of the second one shut, “how you LOST a MISSILE.”
“You know how it is, Jay—Bruce tells you to handle something, you handle it, and then four years later he says ‘hey where’d you put that thing you handled’ and you realize that, hey, WHERE DID you put that thing?”
“And WHY,” Jason says, angrily trudging to the next storage unit, “do you have FOUR storage units?”
“God forbid a man store things.”
“I hate you,” Jason hisses. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate- what’s the code?”
“0719. Tim’s birthday.”
“I HATE you. I hate you, I-“ Jason throws up the rolling door and freezes. “Dick,” he says slowly, “what the fuck is that?”
Dick’s been looking at Jason, and, to be honest, he’s forgotten what he stored in this one. When he sees what Jason is staring at, though, he smirks.
Jason tilts his head, working his jaw for a second. “…that the Supra?”
“Yeah,” Dick drawls, “that’s the Supra.”
For just a second, Jason smiles, and then he drops it immediately. “How’d you get the Supra?”
“Oh, you know,” Dick says, scratching the back of his head. “You died. Bruce and I fought. I stole the car.”
At that, Jason actually smiles. “Nice.” The smile drops again. “And you kept it in a storage unit?”
“Well,” Dick scuffs his shoes, “for a really long time I was maintaining that I didn’t steal it, someone else did.”
“You were saying that-“
“Yeah, I was saying that someone broke into the Manor, got into the barn, and only stole the Supra.” He gives Jason a shit eating grin. “I was grieving, though, so he had to be okay with it.”
“That doesn’t sound like him.”
“Yeah, no, he was pissed. By, ya know. And then, well,” he frowns, “not like I enjoyed driving it anymore. So I stashed it.”
Jason looks nauseous. “You STASHED it? You staged the Supra? Dick, it’s a SUPRA-“
“You were dead, Jay.” It’s the only thing Dick can bring himself to say. It was supposed to be them in the car together; it was supposed to be Jason’s Supra; Dick only cared about the Supra in relation to Jay.
That shuts him up, if only for a second. “You should have told me you had it,” Jason mumbles after a minute, and Dick laughs humorlessly.
“When? When you hated us? How would that have come up? ‘Hey, sorry we betrayed you and ruined your life, here’s a car?’”
“Honestly that may have worked better than you’d guess,” Jason says with a smidge of a smile, and it’s enough to make Dick lighten his tone, too.
“Dude, the second we knew it was you, we should have started leaving Bruce’s cars out like offerings.”
Jason nods. “That’s what I was waiting for,” he says dryly, “but you guys kept coming for me with pathos appeals.”
Dick grins at him, and then all of the sudden he’s looking at Jason, really seeing him, and it’s all overcoming him at once. Holy shit. Jason. This scrawny little feral kid who used to be terrified they were going to kick him out, who BEGGED Dick not to give him false hope, who used to hesitate before he ate the food they gave him and shake when Bruce got mad—it’s him. He’s here. And he’s still mean and he’s huge and he’s always pissing them off and he’s still here. Dick has to look away for a second.
“Dick,” Jason drawls. “I don’t know what’s happening to you right now, but I’m not loving it.”
“I bet I left the keys inside,” Dick mutters, and that’s all it takes for Jason to climb in immediately, Dick scrambling after him.
Jason was so small the last time they were in this car together.
“Aw, Dick,” Jason whines. “It’s dusty. You let it get dusty.”
“I was grieving.”
“I’ve been back for THREE YEARS.” he starts the engine. It turns for a second and then roars, the Supra rattling for a second with the shock of it. Jason turns it back off. He sighs. “You shoulda told me,” he says, with genuine emotion, which is crazy, because he’s been less tender about becoming a part of the family again than this.
“Yeah,” Dick agrees, “I should have.” The truth is, though, he forgot about the Supra, and he’s realizing in real time that he’d buried it deep, that he’d WANTED to forget about the Supra, that remembering it all had been so painful that he’d hid it all away in this storage unit. Now, facing it, he wishes he’d remembered it sooner. Jason, fourteen and squealing with laughter when they won a race. “Look, how much do you remember? About that night I taught you to drive?”
Jason laughs, running a hand fondly over the steering wheel. “I remember how mad Bruce was,” he says. “I remember that lecture we got from Alfred on not acting like spoiled rich kids. I remember…remember that car we cut up with? The Charger? I remember being terrified I’d mess up and scratch the car. I remember…” he trails off, rubbing at his jaw and covering his mouth. Dick thinks he’s done, and opens his mouth to say something, when Jason mumbles: “it was the best night of my entire life, at that point. I remember that.”
“Yeah,” Dick says softly. “I remember that, too.” Because he remembers hugging Jason and knowing he was gonna make this kid his brother. He grins at Jason. “Let’s go get a burger. The missile can wait.”
Jason starts the car without protest.