Preview for Chapter 5 of “Tale Spin.”
“Jason didn’t go to that warehouse to fight the Joker. He went there to save his mother.”
“No the fuck I didn’t, Dickhead.”
Both sets of eyes snapped to Jason then.
“For fuck’s sake, if you’re gonna correct the story, how about you actually get it right?”
Dick gave him a searching look then.
Shit. I guess we’re doing this. He repeated the line aloud. “Fucking story time, eh? Fine. Gather the fuck around, I guess.”
Dick nodded and shifted back, turning to face Jason fully.
After staring at his outstretched hand for a moment, glowering, Damian scooted closer to Dick, allowing himself to be tucked under his arm and pressed against his side. Despite the glower, the kid visibly relaxed in his brother’s grasp.
Dick took a moment to kiss the crown of Damian’s head and whisper something into his hair before looking back up at Jay expectantly, giving a little nod.
Jason scrubbed a hand over his face, letting his gaze drift across the room as he contemplated what to say, how much to say.
He’d meant to just stick to the story, but then that wasn’t why he’d interrupted Big Bird in the first place, was it?
He chewed the inside of his cheek in annoyance before turning his gaze back onto the two in front of him. “All right.” He leaned forward a little. “First of all”—he lifted his eyebrows for emphasis, stare trained firmly on Dick—”Sheila Haywood was not my mother. She was my biological mother. I wouldn’t be here without her, but I also wouldn’t have died without her. Not like that, at least,” he added a little less forcefully, though he scowled a little at the many guesses he could come up with for how he might’ve still died instead. Shaking off the thoughts, he turned his gaze on Damian, leaning forward for emphasis, his voice low and heavy and just a little soft as he spoke. “Catherine Todd was my mother in almost every way that mattered. She raised me. Fed me. Taught me right from wrong as best she could. Also taught me manners.”
He could tell Damian was making a mighty effort not to look chastened.
“She had problems, but she was also the first person who ever actually loved me. I don’t give a fuck that Sheila was a doctor or that people considered her ‘successful.’ Mom was one hundred times the woman and a thousand times the mother Sheila Haywood ever was.” His voice had gone raspy and coated without his permission, and he hissed in a breath before forcing it back out harshly.
He looked at Dick then and saw quiet recognition in his eyes, which also looked suspiciously glimmery.
For those of you coming directly from the website, here are the links to the Discord server, my coauthor’s Ao3 profile, my own Ao3 profile, and our first released joint project:
- Sapphire’s Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Fandom_Related_Name/pseuds/A_Fandom_Related_Name
- AJ’s Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AhsokaJackson/pseuds/AhsokaJackson
- SAU Batfam Server: https://discord.gg/W3K28yPVU8
- Our Short Story, “When It Pours”: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39332946
Cheers