Chapter Text
The feeling of wrongness washes over him just seconds before a leather covered hand roughly grips his shirt and throws him onto the floor.
"Hood." A warbled voice sounds as he tries to reorientate himself. "I knew that you were a delinquent, but to steal a child?"
"I didn't steal her! She's mine! She's my daughter!"
"All the more reason to take her with us.” The voice of Nightwing hisses as a kick is aimed to his ribs. “No child deserves a monster like you for a parent."
"No. No!" Feet stomp into his chest and stomach before hands drag him towards a looming window. The sound of the Batmobile’s engine could be heard underneath as darkness begins to take over. "Sylvie!"
"Sylvie!" Is the call that escapes his mouth as he startles awake to the sound of wailing. "Sylvie!"
It takes less than a few seconds for him to tumble out of the bed, scramble to his feet, and careen towards his daughter’s room. The cries of ‘Daddy’ are ear-piercingly loud when he finally reaches her.
"Oh, sweetheart, it's okay. It's alright." He coos as he gingerly picks her up with shaking hands. "Daddy's here. Daddy's got you. I'm never gonna let you go."
The scent of her hair and skin calms his racing mind as he cradles her close to his thundering chest.
"I'm right here."
It takes a while for her to calm down enough for him to at least wipe her tears before taking a seat on the couch. Despite the fact that they have a full day to look forward to, he still finds himself unable to go back to sleep or to put her down, and it seems that she feels the same; as when he goes to readjust his hold, she lets out a small cry before settling down once more.
The duo awake to a patient type of knocking on the door.
On the other side stands Mrs. Anderson, a comely woman who had moved in from Georgia to be near her aging parents, with a gentle smile and a plate of freshly made apple pancakes.
“I know that you are moving today,” she says without preamble, “and you won’t have time for a good, old fashioned, home-cooked breakfast.”
“Mrs. Anderson-”
“Please.” She gently interrupts with an insistent look, “I must admit that I have grown fond of you and that precious child of yours. And no young father and child should go without breakfast. Let me do this for you, from one neighbor to another, one last time.”
“Thank you.” Jason replies as he carefully takes the platter. “You were always one of my favorite neighbors. I’ll miss you.”
Satisfied, the homely woman wipes at her misty eyes and eases him into a hug before scurrying away to her apartment.
The Williams enjoy their breakfast in companionable silence before getting ready for the day, finishing just minutes before the rest of their hodgepodge family arrives.
The moving process is tedious and taxing in a way that Batman and his brood could only hope to be.
It had taken a couple weeks for the paperwork to be finalized and for him to find a trustworthy moving service and now was the time to pack the rest of their lives into assorted boxes and say goodbye to the damned city.
There was no way that he was going to let this move last longer than necessary. They could get everything done in one day, so that’s what they’re going to do.
Thankfully, he’s not going to be doing everything alone, especially with his friends, his family, waiting in the wings.
“Nope,” He tells a box laden Liam as he walks towards the ‘keep’ pile. They had already packed up the majority of the rooms and cleaned the apartment spotless as they worked, so now all they had to do was load the truck and finish the rest of his outstanding errands, “those are going to the donation section.”
“Got a lot of donations there, Jay.”
“Um, yeah. I just figured that since I’m not really attached to most of this stuff, I might as well give someone else the chance to.”
“Huh.”
“But I can keep this pasta maker, right?” Margo questions from her spot in the kitchen. The appliance was a high end pasta maker that had set him back a good $389. A small price to pay for good food, and an even smaller price to pay to make one of his people happy, since he knows that she had been eyeing it ever since she first saw it on his countertop.
“Sure.”
" Hell yeah. " The woman murmurs excitedly, earning a chuckle from a nearby Liam.
“You sure you don’t want to keep this place for when you find yourself in town? It’s not that bad and I know that you can afford it…” Maria asks as she looks around the now vacant apartment.
“Yeah, no, it’s actually pretty nice.”
An uneasy feeling settles in his bones and creeps up his neck at the thought of even considering spending any more time in this place than necessary.
“No.” He says, a little too quickly. “I’m sure. We’ll just book a hotel room or something when we come to visit.”
“Which will be often, right?”
“Of course!” He breathes out. “You guys are our family. You’re stuck with us.”
“Until we find the receipt.” Tommy jokes as he walks by with a couple more boxes.
“Jokes on you, I burned it.” Jason snarks at the man’s back.
“Seriously though, Jay. If I don’t hear from you for months after this, I’m going to assume that you’ve been abducted and call in the cavalry. And I’m starting a group chat so that way we can annoy you into staying in contact after this.”
“Got it.” Jason replies as he piles the last boxes in his section on top of each other. “And don’t worry, I’ll be calling a lot more often than you think. Heaven knows I’d be completely lost and useless without you guys.”
“You’re doing just fine, Jay.” Maria softly assures with a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, one more photo, yeah?” Chris interjects, coming up from behind them.
He corales them into place and angles his phone to snap a picture before they all gather the rest of the boxes and head out.
Something makes Jason linger to drag his eyes across the now barren apartment one last time. As if sensing his shifting emotions, Sylvie, who had, up until now, been content to waddle around while dragging her own little box filled with knicknacks behind her, looks back and forth between her father and the empty space, before joining his side and reaching up to try and slip her tiny hand in his.
The action grounding him, he takes in a shaky breath and aims a soft, thankful smile at her while tightening his hold.
“Come on, Angel. Say ‘bye bye’ to the apartment.”
“Bye-bye, Apartment. Thank you.”
Suppressing a rueful smile, Jason leads the child out of the apartment and gingerly closes the pre-locked door.
Their first two stops are to the local shelter and the local thrift store where they unload all of the donations that Jason had set aside. The moving truck with the duo’s belongings and Tommy had gone ahead of them to the new place. Then they head to the clinic and library to say their goodbyes before finally heading to the center one last time.
"Surprise!" A booming cheer sounds as the group walks in.
Almost everyone that they know, that they care about, is there and the space is lovingly decorated with streamers and balloons, as well as tables filled with foods and a comically big punch bowl in the center of the desserts table.
A squirming Sylvie brings him back to himself and he carefully lowers her to the floor where she shoots off, toddling towards the other kids as quickly as her little legs could carry her while the adults watching laugh.
A warm and solid hand belonging to a gray-haired, wise-eyed man settles on his shoulder.
"You didn't think we'd actually let you two go without a proper goodbye, did you?"
"Thanks, Gus, really. This is- Just- thank you ."
“Hey, it’s what we do for family, right?”
“Right.” Jason chokes out, his throat thick with emotion.
With that, the party goes into full swing with upbeat music blasting through the speakers, people hitting the dancefloor, food being eaten, and conversations being had while the kids do their own thing.
"I still can't believe you're leaving.” Gianna, one of the moms, comments as she and some other parents gather around the snack table like a herd of gazelles. “You're getting out."
"I can barely believe it myself." He gently responds as Sylvie darts past his legs, giggling like a madwoman while chasing after Graham. "I never thought that I would, that I could."
"Well, they always said that children are life changers." The woman says as they watch the little ones run around like gremlins with soft smiles on their faces.
It's at times like this that Jason finds himself thinking about a future, an alternate timeline, where he never met Clo, where they never brought Sylvie into the world... The thought always makes his chest clench in discomfort, but he pushes on and really thinks about what that world would look like. He would still be Red Hood, for one, instead of just Jason. He would have tentative truces and his nights, when not filled with accusations and orders and biting remarks, would be heart achingly silent. They would end in a sparsely furnished safehouse with bare, crumbling walls, watermarked ceilings, and the bare necessities. The only times he would step out would be to restock, eat, and acquire the occasional book while keeping his head down and unwittingly warding himself off from the world.
His rumination is cut short by his little life-saver colliding with his leg before trying to climb him like a tree while giggling breathlessly.
"Hey there, Angel." He softly greets with a wide smile as he gets a hold of her and tucks her close to his chest. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing." She replies, drawing out the ‘o’ while snuggling into his side. Her innocence is proven to be false, however, when she turns to a lingering kid named Jonathan and sticks her tongue out at him.
“Hey, guys, let’s get one more group shot for the road.” Someone suggests as the festivities wind down, causing the party goers to rush to gather their children and pick a place for a perfect shot.
Once again, Gus appears at Jason’s side, shepherds him towards the front and gives him a solid pat on the back. The group smushes against each other in a valiant effort to include everybody in the shot and the resulting picture is a mess of blurred faces and random limbs, but it’s perfect to them and is quickly distributed via text to be saved in their phones.
After that, the time to go comes quicker than anyone thought it would and Jason finds that he feels both light and remarkably heavy when he finally climbs into his vehicle after securing a sleepy Sylvie in her carseat as the remaining members of the party’s attendees see them out with well wishes and teary goodbyes. He doesn’t realize that he himself had started crying until Margo gives him an encouraging smile while squeezing his shoulder in comfort as he starts the car.
As the car cruises down the road towards the highway, a vaguely haunting song floats through the cabin and the city lights flash overhead, creating a melancholic feeling.
They slip past the city limits and Jason is admittedly a little stunned at the lack of retribution at the action. No car exploding or mysterious barrier or dark knights descending on the vehicle like vengeful wraiths. Just him and the other sleeping occupants in the car.His eyes reflexively flicker up to the rear view mirror and catches a glimpse of his daughter’s adorable face as she peacefully sleeps.
The feeling that fills his ribcage isn't sad, or heartbroken, but it's something that he'd prefer to drown out, so he does, by turning up the radio a little and softly singing along to the dulcet tones of the lead singer.
Take me out tonight
Oh, take me anywhere, I don't care
I don't care, I don't care
Driving in your car
I never, never want to go home
Because I haven't got one, and I’m all alone
Oh, I haven't got one
Oh, oh
And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine