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“What exactly are you hoping to get out of this whole thing, Jason?” Tim asked, gesturing vaguely to the flashing red lights and lock down alarms going off.
Jason held up the bag of white powder, grinning menacingly. "This."
His successor wrinkled his nose. "I don't do drugs." He said.
"Neither do I– fuck it." Jason threw a handful of powder in the new Robin's face, rolling his eyes when the brat sneezed.
"Rude." Tim smacked the bag with his staff and the rest fell onto Jason. He didn’t mind, he'd planned to do that anyway, so they could fight feline to feline.
Still, he'd give the brat a good mauling for ruining his moment.
Surprisingly, Jason was the first to shift despite Tim getting dusted first.
That was fine, it would give him a chance to show the kid exactly what he was dealing with.
Jason was pretty proud of his form. He was a tomcat, a large one. Like the mutated kind he used to see in the alleyways when he was living on the streets. The Pit had given him a boost which made him monster sized, by cat standards at least.
He was bigger than a maine coon.
Jason snarled at his successor, low and dangerous, while he waited for the powder to do its work.
The brat seemed unperturbed in the face of Jason’s glare. In fact, his lips twitched upwards and he cooed softly at him.
Jason flexed his claws but did nothing as the kid was forced to shift.
Except, instead of getting smaller, he grew bigger.
Like, ten feet and four hundred and fifty pounds kind of big.
The kid was a fucking lion. A full grown, big ass, lion. With a majestic mane that would put Mufasa to shame, paws bigger than Jason’s head and jaws strong enough to rip limbs off even Bane's body.
And Jason was stuck as a supersized house cat.
Tim looked down at Jason with an amused rumble. Jason hissed, glaring at him, his neck straining as he had to look pretty far up to make eye contact with the brat.
Tim's paw twitched.
Jason was a survivor first and foremost– his death notwithstanding. He had survived three years alone on Gotham's streets, another three as Batman’s sidekick and an undetermined amount of time with the League of Assassins.
He knew when to fight, when to stall and when to cut his losses and bolt.
Jason darted away, running towards the doorway. He cursed his stupid little legs along with Talia for condemning him to this fate.
A shadow passed over Jason and Tim gracefully landed in front of him, conveniently blocking his exit.
He darted forward, dodging Jason's sad attempt at clawing his face and sunk his teeth into the back of Jason's neck, turning him into a useless pile of fur.
Tim rumbled happily, lifting Jason up and trotting down the hall towards the zeta tube. It flashed just as they reached it and Nightwing stepped out. Fucking fantastic.
"Tim!" Dick rushed towards them. Tim hummed and puffed in reply, happy to see Dick for some godforsaken reason. "Thank God, you're okay– wait, why do you have a cat?"
Tim woofed and shook his head, as if proudly presenting Jason like a normal cat would a dead bird.
Dick sighed. "Precious pie, please don't tell me you scruffed a crime lord."
Tim purred. A deep, smug sound that made Jason want to snarl.
"Nevermind, of course you did." Dick muttered, reaching up towards his com, presumably to update Bruce on the clusterfuck they had found themselves in.
Tim placed Jason on the floor, quickly pinning him down with a paw. Jason yowled at the indignity, fruitlessly batting at the brat's paw to no avail. His freedom was lost before it was ever truly gained.
Tim seemed to get bored of listening to Dick talk to Bruce and started rolling Jason around, batting him with his paws and woofing in amusement whenever Jason tried to escape.
Jason hissed and meowed angrily. He fucking hated this kid.
"Stop bullying the murderer, Tim." Dick's tone indicated that this was not the first time he'd had to say that to the lunatic.
Tim growled at Dick, low and dangerous, baring his teeth in a snarl.
Dick reached over and smushed Tim's cheeks together, tangling his fingers in his mane. "Yes, you are so tough. My big, scary lion.”
Tim huffed and nuzzled Dick's hand briefly. He then pulled away and rolled Jason over to Dick.
He was starting to feel like those little hedgehogs the Queen of Hearts played croquet with in Alice and Wonderland.
Dick scooped him up, ignoring Jason’s attempts at clawing through his armour. "I'd feel bad for you if you weren't, well, you." He said. Jason hissed in reply. Fuck you too, Dickwad.
Tim trotted after them, looking all too impressed with himself.
“You are kinda cute. For a rogue.” Dick remarked.
Jason flexed his claws at him.
“Hood,” Dick gave him a flat stare and gestured to Tim. “You've seen what I put up with. You don't scare me.”
Jason’s ears folded and he looked away.
Tim hopped up and headbutted him, rumbling soothingly.
“You're being weirdly nice to this rogue.” Dick remarked.
This was Tim being nice? Jason had been subjected to humiliation, bullying and psychological torture.
Tim let out a little puff and lightly nuzzled Jason. He hissed in reply. Unsurprisingly, it did nothing.
“Tim,” Dick said carefully. “You know we can't keep him, right?”
Tim's eyes narrowed into slits and he growled menacingly. Suddenly, Jason was glad to be in Dick’s arms.
“Don't speak to me like that, I'm just stating a fact.” Dick chided. Jason turned and looked up at him with an incredulous stare. Did Dick's limited survival instincts die after Jason did?
Tim flexed his claws and raised his paw, reaching towards them. Jason skittered further up until he was practically hiding under Dick's chin. Fuck looking tough, he wasn't dying again.
“You're scaring the crime lord.” Dick scolded.
Tim hummed in reply, not sounding all that sorry about it.
The zeta flashed and Batman stepped out. Because Jason’s day wasn't going terribly enough already.
Bruce rushed over to Tim, cradling his face and tilting his head to check for injuries. Taking no notice of the fact his hands were a small head’s turn away from being clamped up in steel trap jaws.
Jason was sure that Bruce used to have better self-preservation instincts than this. He couldn’t even be angry that Bruce hadn’t noticed him yet, too busy judging his skewed priorities.
“He's not hurt.” Dick said.
Tim nuzzled Bruce's hand, woofing in agreement.
“Where's Hood?” Bruce asked.
Tim immediately perked up, nodding at Dick and rumbling proudly.
Jason hissed as Bruce looked over at him. Fuck you and your dumbass lion.
“He decided to fight Robin in that form?” Bruce's bafflement filtered through his voice modulator. Jason snarled at him.
“I don't think he knew about Robin's shift.” Dick scratched the top of Jason’s head, it was annoyingly soothing.
“I see.” Bruce's tone was unfairly judgemental on Jason's opinion.
Tim huffed and hopped up, headbutting Jason again. He hummed pointedly at Bruce who just stared back in confusion. Tim growled and hummed again.
“Sweetheart?” Bruce stared at Tim in confusion.
Jason yowled angrily. He was supposed to be sweetheart. Did Bruce just give everything of Jason's to Tim? Traitorous bastard. Unjust father. Callous mentor.
Sure, Bruce also called Dick sweetheart, but that nickname should have died with Jason. He yowled again, long enough that it petered off into a strangled snarl.
“Uh,” Dick awkwardly patted Jason’s head. “There, there?”
Jason hissed, feeling his fur rise. He angrily scraped his claws across Dick's armour with a series of hisses and growls, unable to contain his righteous rage.
“Nightwing, give him to me.” Bruce eyed Jason’s claws cautiously.
Good. It was about time Jason got some goddamn respect around here.
Tim snorted and hopped up, headbutting Dick's hand out the way, dodging Jason's claws and getting him by the scruff again.
Tim trotted off past Bruce before he could try to get in the way and began marching upstairs.
“Robin.” Bruce growled.
Tim ignored him, humming happily as he bounded into the rec centre and dumped Jason on the armchair.
Jason was pleasantly surprised to see it was the chair he used to claim whenever he visited the Tower. Still, he hissed at Tim and went to move off.
Only to get smacked back onto the seat with a chiding growl from Tim who then prowled off towards the bookshelf.
“Robin,” Bruce walked into the room beelining towards Jason, followed closely by Dick. “What are you doing now?” He sounded more resigned than anything else.
Dick glanced at the armchair, his eyes lingering on it. “He wants to keep Hood for some reason.”
Bruce sighed. “Robin, I understand that his shift is endearing, but that doesn't mean you can adopt him.”
Jason meowed angrily. What a fucking hypocrite. Bruce literally got all his kids by snatching them up in legally dubious ways while saying mine now.
“I did not ask for your input.” Bruce pointed at Jason, who batted his finger away with a huff. Out of habit, he gave Bruce's hand an extra slap and a remorseless headbutt. Bruce froze, his lips parting in surprise. “Jay–”
Tim with a jaw full of books was all Jason saw before said books fell upon him like a bundle of rocks.
“Tim!” Dick exclaimed.
Bruce dug Jason, who was a little dazed, out from under the books, he tried to pick him up, but no way was Jason letting that happen. He hissed and slapped him away then began inspecting the books.
Toni Morridon, Emily Brontè, Jane Austen and Alice Walker. Jason purred approvingly at the pile, if Tim was trying to make up for the atrocities he committed against Jason then he could consider himself forgiven.
“Holy shit, Little Wing?” Dick crouched down, staring at Jason in awe. Jason ignored him, purring louder as he spotted Maya Angelou among the pile.
“That's definitely him.” Bruce's voice was fond. Tim rumbled, proud and smug. “Yes, Tim, you are very smart.”
“If Bruce reads, will you let us give you a hug?” Dick asked. Jason glanced at them consideringly, then put his paw on Sense and Sensibility, nodding.
He was snatched up in seconds and wasn't put back down until he shifted back into his human form.