Archive of Our Own ^beta

“And just where do you think you are going young man?”

Jack watches with suspicious eyes as his son freezes in the doorway, body tensing up and looking like a deer on headlights. He was dressed, not in his pyjamas like he was supposed to be, but also not in the Robin suit like he promised he wouldn’t be - at least not tonight. Then again, Tim leaving the house in normal clothes doesn’t mean he won’t just change them when he’s out of the house - Jack has learned.

“O-Oh, uhm me and my…my friends have a thing.” he says with a shaky smile and Jack narrows his eyes at him. Tim was on break and home for the holidays, all his school friends were also home, doing their own traditions. He knows that kids can get pretty crazy at his age, but he also knows that his son’s form of rebellion had turned out to be moonlighting as a vigilante in traffic light colours.

Ever since the whole finding out his son is Robin ordeal, threatening Bruce Wayne, who was also Batman, at gunpoint, making him quit and then even after sending him to boarding school and yelling at him didn’t stop his son from getting involved in a city wide gang war , Jack had come to accept that he would never be able to stop his son from being a hero. 

So he had to switch up tactics, set some boundaries and ground rules. Also actually pay attention to his son who had to lead a very secretive, dangerous lifestyle. They got into fights, and he would never trust his son ever again - Jack has been quite suspicious of whenever his son is vague . Just because he accepted his son is Robin, doesn’t mean he likes it. And doesn’t mean he gets to go out and prance around like a fool about to get shot on Christmas Eve - they had already lost Janet during this season, he didn’t need to lose his son too.

“You made plans on Christmas eve?” Dana asks, breaking the tension as she walks into the room, putting down the plate of cookies she had just pulled from the oven, her brow furrowed towards Tim. The boy’s defiance morphs into a withering look as he turns to her, eyes apologetic and determined - a look he most always looks at her with these days; a look that means somethings don’t mean the same to him as they do to her and he regrets that.

Tim probably didn’t celebrate Christmas. Janet was an atheist and even if she wasn’t, they never came home for holidays in the past - only for the winter galas and usually the new years ones too. Jack also wasn’t big on religion, despite growing up Christian. They never had any traditions that they had set, or even tried to set; they never treated it like something special even when they were home. He doesn’t know if Tim has any traditions that he might’ve picked up while he was by himself, honestly he’s never cared to ask or even consider it; that his son had an entire life that he had make for himself, even though Jack never gave it two thoughts, because after all, out of sight, out of mind - which rang disturbingly true for their situation. 

He had been content with that for too long though, until Dana. Dana made him care about a lot of things he didn’t think to care about. Janet was great, but she was a determined, one track minded stone cold woman - nothing got in her way or slowed her down and Jack followed her as she ploughed her path of blazing glory. Dana was softer though, she cared about things that didn’t lead to any sort of success, that were previously deemed trivial. Like holidays, and his son . 

He never really cared much about Christmas, until Dana got excited around the beginning of December and was gathering Christmas decorations. Tim also didn’t seem to care either, going along with it. Jack was determined to make all of Dana’s traditions come true, and Tim seemed to agree - even taking the days around Christmas off from being Robin, or so Jack was told.

“Uhm, yeah it’s kinda an…obligation?” he says to her, looking a little sheepish and exhausted. Jack clenched his fists. 

“Why didn’t you do it yesterday or something?” Jack narrowed his eyes, trying his best not to grind his teeth. Tim looks at him with an unreadable look, his apologetic gaze gone. When he looked at Jack it was like he was saying ‘You don’t get, but don’t worry I don’t expect you to.’ It felt patronising, and it wounded his ego. Of course he knows his son, what sort of respectable father doesn’t .

“It has to be tonight.” he tells him and sighed as if he was talking to a child “Trust me, if I could get outta it I would.” he grumbled and turns to leave again.

“You can’t go.” Jack says with finality and Tim pauses and bristles, turning a bit so Jack can see defiance shining in his eyes. Dana looks between them worriedly, the tension making her uncomfortable, which only pissed Jack off more. “Tonight is about family.” he grits out, daring Tim to challenge him.

And the boy doesn’t disappoint.

“Well good thing, my friends are my family.” Tim says back to him, daring Jack to say otherwise and the fire of anger in Jack’s belly flares up high. 

“No. They are not .” he nearly yells, the only thing holding him back is that voice in the back of his head that tells him not to over react, not to lose control. It sounds too much like Janet.

Tim turns fully to him and standup straighter looking him directly in the eye, unwavering “ They helped me through the hardest time in my life. They helped me get through when you were in a Coma. And they were there for me long before you ever cared to be.” he seethes to him and Jack stands up, furious - control be damned.

“You do not talk to me like that, boy!” he yells at him, honestly the audacity of this kid, he had no respect for him and muttered something under his breath. He stalks over to the boy, taking long intimidating strides “And you will not go gallivanting across Gotham to-” he was reaching for Tim’s collar when he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“I’ll-” Dana started for the door but Tim turned around quickly to pull it open before her, moving out of Jack’s reach. There was a tall muscular boy in a leather jacket that was zipped up, ripped jeans and a primary coloured striped scarf with gaudy out of date glasses resting atop his head and a single ear pierced, standing at the door looking a bit awkward but trying to cover up with well practised nonchalance. Jack doesn’t recognize him, so naturally he doesn’t like him. 

“Hey Kon.” Tim spits, but the vitoral wasn’t for the boy. It was for Jack, which only makes his fists clench even more. The boy snatches his jacket from the coat rack, tipping it a bit but it doesn’t fall.

“Ready to go?” the boy, Kon, asks. He cuts a look toward Jack real quick that rubs him the wrong way. Tim nods once in affirmative and goes a step forward, next to the boy.

“Wait, he’s not allowed to go!” Jack bellows at him, fed up with the disrespect that was being given to him in his own house. He would not be ignored and cast off like this, not here, not now and not by his own son with his degenerate friend. Both boys look back at him and Dana looks nervously between them.

“Jack…maybe-” she starts nervously.

“Oh don’t worry sir.” the ‘Kon’ kid says in a thick southern accent, and breaks out in what was probably the largest grin Jack had ever seen in his entire life “it’s just a holiday tradition thing that a group of us do. It shouldn’t take more than a night.” he says amicably, mood suddenly shifting and throwing Jack off. The tone felt fake, but only because no one who lived in Gotham was that goddamn cheery without an ulterior motive. Dana smiles tightly at him in return, clearly not wanting Tim to go but also not wanting to embarrass him in front of his charismatic friend.

“Well as long as he’s back by morning.” she says and then looks sternly at Tim “But next time, tell us ahead of time please. Got that, young man.” she says to him and Tim looks sheepish at the telling off.

“Yeah, I will. Sorry ‘bout that. Thanks Dana.” he tells her gratefully and she gives him a gentle, genuine smile, and he looks at Jack warily who just huffs and looks away. The mix of moods extinguishing the more impulsive anger.

“Whatever, just be back before morning.” he mutters, thinking that when he was, the boy was going to be so grounded, and he would be taking his phone and computer away for the rest of the break.

“Promise, he’ll be back before Santa gets anything under the tree.” Kon smirks, and Tim rolls his eyes and snorts, shoving Kon a bit in a display of affection Jack has never seen Tim do with any of his other friends, even Bernard. Jack feels like he’s missing the joke, and also missing something else when Tim shivers as soon as he steps out and Kon takes off and drops the scarf over his head and Tim huffs. Dana looks like she’s trying to figure it out too.

“You’re such a dork.” he mumbles with a little smile he hid by wrapping the scarf more securely around his neck - it was far too long for him though, but neither of them seemed to mind. Kon just grins down at him unapologetically as he herds Tim off the porch, the door swinging closed behind them, despite no one shutting it- whatever he blames the wind. Dana leads him back to the living room and flicks through the Hallmark channel, settling them down on the couch. 

“I swear, that boy just-” God, Jack needs a fucking drink trying to deal with that boy. “I’m gonna ground him all the way to next year for that stunt.” he grinds out.

“I know, teenagers are hard.” Dana says empathetically, leaning into him “But hey, look at the bright side, we get tonight all to ourselves.” she said suggestively. That perks Jack up a bit.

“Oh?” he asks with a raised brow, and Dana giggles “I suppose we do.” he smirks.

He’ll talk to Tim about the disrespect later.

Parenting is exhausting.

OoOoO

There is not a lot that Diana would not do for any of her disciples. 

She supports them, trains them and is endlessly proud of them. They have each grown into fine, strong formidable warriors with tremendous resolve and will. Each of her students are so similar in that manner, but they are so vastly different.

When she had first taken in Donna, she had been a force of nature, with such a strong sense of right . She was an obedient soldier, and had very deft tactics. She excelled in all Diana’s teachings, and her technical ability was second to none. Even while she was with her team, she still looked up and listened to Diana, even if her peers did not listen to theirs.

Cassandra is… still young, eccentric, however she has grown into herself, or starting to at least. She was different from Donna, in many many ways, mainly being that she came into Diana’s life while she was in her teens rather than as a child. She is proud of the fighter and leader that young Sandsmark has become, but she was…odder than her other pupils. More defiant. Not just in spirit but in heart.

When Donna had been in the Titans, she did acquire a certain rebellious streak, which was no doubt rubbed off through Nightwing, Arsenal and Kid Flash. It was bittersweet letting her go, but she had finally grown beyond a sidekick. The girl she had helped raise, had become a woman. Still, even if she didn’t ask for much during that time, Diana never denied her assistance or support, despite what her other comrades did with their students - which Diana had quietly disapproved sometimes. Donna was never unreasonable, she was strong minded and devoted, but most of all practical.

Cassandra, was a bit stranger. She was determined and had something to prove. She broke the rules, not just of society, but regularly. Got into trouble often and was unapologetic in who she was. Proud about the things everyone told her were flaws. She didn’t ask for much, if anything at all - she was scrappy and resourceful. Still she managed to accomplish so much in her short time as Wondergirl and team leader. 

Her team was…eccentric. Not like the Titans, they weren’t as rebellious. Nonetheless they often found themselves in the oddest, most bizarre situations. But they weren’t defiant, it was more that they had a very… unorthodox method of carrying out missions. Then again, they also had rather unorthodox missions as well, so she supposed the methods were adapted to fit the situation. She was used to the occasional odd request from them. 

Like now.

“Pardon?” she asked, blinking at the blonde girl’s request. 

“A motherbox.” Cassandra repeated, keeping her face as neutral as she could. There didn’t seem to be any inkling that she thought this request was strange, like she wasn’t asking for an ultra-powerful multidimensional sentient portal.

“Why would you ever need one of those?” she asks, trying to think of any reason herself. She doesn’t believe they have any missions that were assigned by the League that required one, in fact, they had specifically requested for this time off a year in advanced if she is not mistaken.

“So Tim and Bart don’t go mad scientist trying to build one.” Cassandra sighs like it’s obvious, but there is a fond lit in her tone “I swear they are looking for an excuse to do so.” she grumbles, crossing her arms - the only indication that she knew this request was absolutely absurd. And also that was…concerning…

The third Robin was meek appearing but was actually quite tenacious, he never failed not because he was that skilled, but because he never quit. Impulse was…well he tended to jump head first into things and with his intellect, that could and has gotten him into quite a bit of trouble. If they were tampering around with technology such as this…that could easily spell disaster.

“What, in the name of Hera, would possess them to do this?” she asked astonished.

“We need to deliver a package.” her pupil says resolutely, it only served to confuse Diana even more.

“A package?” she repeated and Cassandra nodded.

“Yes.”

“And you cannot use the postal service?” Diana inquired. She does believe the world of man has that system in place, for whatever they needed. But Cassandra only snorts in response.

“I wish, but Bart says it ‘ruins the magic’.” she grumbles, air quoting her teammate. Diana serves only to be more confused, she does not believe any of the Young Justice’s abilities include magic, besides that of the old gods, science or metagenes “besides… FedEx doesn’t delivertoApokolips.” she says so quickly that Diana almost doesn’t catch it.

“ Apokolips ?!” she exclaims urgently. Cassandra averts her eyes and winces “What in this universe, must you deliver to Apokolips ?” Diana demands. Apokolips is where Darkseid resides, a cruel dictator that the Justice League struggles to defeat, and when they have their battles, they barely come out with an unassured victory. He always has another plan, always reeking havoc on one part of the universe or another. Even if they don’t see Darkseid, Apokolips was swarming with parademons, vicious, mindless creatures whos only purpose of existence was to tear apart anything that was moving in gruesome and awful ways. 

Apokolips was far too dangerous for a simple errand . There must be more to this.

“I dunno. I was checking the list, and it just said that we had to.” the girl shrugs, still not looking Diana in the eye.

“List?” she quirks a brow and Cassandra stiffens and leans away from her, it was the only indication that Diana was maybe getting a bit too intense. But that didn’t matter right now, her pupil and her team could be in danger and if they were determined to go to Apokolips for any reason and succeeded in getting there, they would surely be killed. Furthermore, the Justice League would not know where they had gone to.

“Uhm…yeah.”she averts her eyes. Diana narrows her eyes at her.”That’s part of the whole thing.” she gestures vaguely.

“What is this mission?” she asks seriously. Lists sound like something Batman would come up with, and while his behaviour had been erratic since the second Robin’s, his son’s , death, he would never intentionally put a child in that much explicit danger…at least Diana hopes that he is not that far gone.

“It’s more of an obligation.” Cassandra says and bites her lip. “A…holiday obligation if you will.” she amends quickly, still looking nervous. Like she said too much. This only furthers Diana’s suspicions. Have they gotten themselves into something that they felt they couldn’t tell their mentors? She knows that the others have sort of dropped the ball, so to speak, with this generation, but Diana felt like she was doing pretty well. Sure, she had given some of her mentor responsibilities to Donna, but she was very much still involved in Cassandra’s training. Was it not enough?

“Holiday obligation?” and Cassandra nods, Solstice had already passed though, the winter holiday that they celebrate on Themescryia. Cassandra had partaken in those already, but it was very possible that she also celebrated another holiday with her biological mother that Diana didn’t know about. But the girl had never mentioned it before, and she doesn’t believe that she celebrated anything in all the other years she had known the Sandsmark family. Still, obligation or no “Apokolips is very dangerous. Darkseid resides there and it is swarmed with Parademons. I’m afraid I cannot approve of this without more information.” she tells her and the young warrior sighed and deflates a little.

“Yeah, I figured.” she grumbled, shoulders sagging in acceptance. Diana feels a bit bad. 

“I am sorry.” she says apologetically “It is far too dangerous for you and your team to go there, even with the Justice League.” Diana says gently and puts her hands firmly on the girl’s shoulders to get her to look up at her “Do you understand?” she asks seriously, because again, this team was resourceful, for better or for worse and it would be for worse in this case if they managed to find a way to get to Apokolips. Cassandra just gives her a wary smile. 

“I understand.” she says, Diana feels relief flood her “I’ll just submit to the mad scientists. At least they’ll be happy.” she grumbles to herself. Diana raises a brow at her and Cassandra quickly says “Anyway, thanks bye Diana. See ya later, gotta go.” and she speeds off before Diana can question her more about these mad scientists.

Now she must ask Helena what holidays she celebrated to render such a request. Diana was all for respecting and celebrating all cultures, but this one could be very dangerous if left unchecked someone might actually get to Apokolips and that would spell trouble for them all.

She will do some investigation into the matter.

OoOoO

Bart had always been more than a bit eccentric.

It made sense, him only ever living in a simulation. It was apparent pretty early on that concepts like mortality and social norms flew over his head - being from a Virtual Reality set in the future on a completely different timespace does that to a person he supposes. Not to mention the apparent ADHD, the actual diagnosis kept getting pushed back, but Bart had a lot of the symptoms even with regular speedster hyperactivity. Metahumans usually were neurodivergent, their powersets usually came with more brain wiring, because the instincts were different, but that came with a lot of mental health quirks as well. As such, they had to be diagnosed differently, on a level that no one had quite figured out yet, because each meta ability was unique, so getting a proper real diagnosis was an actual bitch. Speedsters, in particular, showed similar signs to having ADHD, but Max feels that even without the speed, Bart would still have it. Since they didn’t have a proper diagnosis, they couldn’t get Bart proper treatment for it.

The kid has had this half grip on reality ever since Max was introduced to him, and there was this disconnect that separated him from his peers. He knows everyone in the League is wary of him and his recklessness, hell he was too. Bart was this innocent, highly intelligent naive hyperactive speedster with warped concepts of reality, and while he meant well, he still was incredibly volatile from his impulsiveness and recklessness. It put the adults off and made them cautious of him, even some of his peers from school could sense something was just a bit off about him. Bart has always shrugged it off with a grin that could outshine the sun and a bubbly optimistic attitude. For the most part at least. There were still moments where it was clear that the gap between him and the rest of society seemed more like a chasm and Bart was too distant to reach out to.

Max could barely keep up with him sometimes. The kid was whip smart - mind working faster than any other being Max had encountered before - he picked up on concepts relatively quickly, or at least understood them to an extent. He was quick to catch on, and even quicker to spin an idea into something more . It had gotten him into trouble more than once. Max doesn’t know what he says half the time, taking things he’s learned and runs with it without second thought; turning them into something impossible. It was amazing, filled him with pride as a mentor, with terror as a guardian, and with wariness as a superhero.

Sometimes Max just straight up doesn’t understand anything he’s saying, Bart spewing and solving ideas, inventions, equations too fast for Max to really keep up. Especially since he joined Young Justice. It seemed that the team, namely Robin, encouraged the new impossible concepts that Bart came up with and helped . Add in regalements of their crazy adventures and odd, sometimes disturbing inside jokes, mixed with some teen slang that he didn’t understand. If Max had no clue what he was saying before, he didn’t have a hope of understanding now. 

Still, even if he couldn’t understand and is more than a little terrified at what those kids are capable of, he’s glad that Bart has them - even if they were a bit of a… hazard to society. He knows it’s hard on Bart, to feel kind of put aside by Barry and Wally after Iris took him out of the simulation; it didn’t make it better that Wally had tried to mentor Bart but it was too much for him so he was pawned to Max like a defective gadget to fix. Especially since they were technically his family and Max wasn’t . But they didn’t quite treat him that way, just took him out of a world he knew and abandoned him in a world he didn’t with no instruction. Max does his best, but he knows that that entire situation and Max’s shelter was just more of a reminder of how he was ‘ too much ’. 

He’s glad that he had his team in that regard. Ever since he joined Young Justice it was noticeable; Bart’s smiles were less fake, he was more comfortable fidgeting and rambling, didn’t stop himself and try to shut himself up and be normal . It was like he bloomed. Young Justice had become his second home, a place where he was encouraged to be himself and more. A place of unconditional acceptance that Max couldn’t quite provide, no matter how much he tried. And even if they got into trouble or in weird situations, even if they acted like stupid teens, there was a sense of comradery and solace they found in each other that made them nearly inseparable. They became his family, his chosen family.

A prime example was, Bart had spent the previous holiday season- and his first holiday season outside the simulation - with his team rather than with the Allen-West-Garrick household. He’s not sure whether that was purposefully, or if that’s just how the cookie crumbled; it seemed that the entire Young Justice team had been there that holiday season, which Max doesn’t know how he feels about that. Max hadn’t found out until later on though, because he’d been on a mission - because taking in Bart had put him into semi-retirement, so he was just on call, it was just shitty timing - and Bart was pretty tightlipped about the whole matter for some reason when Max had asked how his holidays went. He didn’t seem upset though, just nervous, which made Max a bit suspicious because he’s learned with Bart occasional nervousness spelt something had been done that shouldn’t have been - but he felt too guilty for leaving Bart on the holidays that year to actually push the issue.

But Max was here this holiday season, and still the Allen-West household had not invited Bart over other than a customary Christmas eve dinner that Max and the Garricks were also invited to. He does have a bit of long standing tension between him and Wally, and even some with Barry on Bart’s behalf - that kid doesn’t have a malicious bone in his body and was way too forgiving. Still if Bart didn’t have a problem with them, he’d accept that, but if Bart also didn’t want to go, then Max would politely decline the invitation. 

As it turned out, it seemed like neither would be the case.

“I can’t.” Bart had said, not looking up from his game device when Max had told him about the dinner at the last possible minute, because Max never knows how to word things. Max blinked once, then twice, absolutely baffled. The first thing that caught him as odd was that Bart was denying free food (which, Bart did eat like a normal speedster, but Bart also got very sidetracked sometimes and he’d forget to eat occasionally when he was excited about something. Max was pretty baffled that he had to remind Bart to eat at first, and absolutely freaked out the first time Bart fainted because of his hyperfixations. There was some other stuff in there too that was much more concerning than that, like how Bart sometimes couldn’t eat unless he was relaxed or entertained, but Max doesn’t quite know how to broach the subject, but he makes sure to keep an eye on it.) The second was the denial of the invitation. Usually Bart jumped at the chance to spend time with his technically biological family, always holding a thin string of hope with both hands that made Max’s heart ache sometimes. The kid really does want to get to know them, and why wouldn’t he, they are his family . Or at least they are supposed to be. Of course Bart would take any opportunity to get to know them and be apart of their family traditions, or in this case, family-adjacent.  

“What do you mean?” he asked after he fully processed the statement, Bart still hadn’t looked up from his game.

“Gotta thing.” Bart says and blindly reaches into a bag of chips and shoves a handful into his mouth and crunches loudly, seasoning sticking to his hand that he puts directly on the game device again. “Honestly, I feel like we’re hijacking the postal service by doing this.” he mutters and Max bristles a bit.

“Hijacking the postal service?” Max repeated, alert “What are you-”

“It’s nothing, it’s not actually hijacking if they don’t know or have the things, ya know?” No, he doesn’t. What things? “But Rob says it’s our responsiblity now…or Cassie did. I think Rob just wants to do mad scientist shi- Oh wait that’s what I had todo!” Bart jumps up, discarding his game on the counter and looking at Max eagerly “Do we got any energy couplers with super high voltage?” he asks, eyes bright and a tad manic in the way it gets whenever Bart’s got an impossible idea. That only concerns Max even more.

“What do you need those for?” Max nearly chokes.

“Eh? I just told you.” Bart whines, he really didn’t though. Max shifts, Bart seems to notice the discomfort because his head cocks “Don’t worry, my team will be there.” That actually only worries him more.

“But it’s Christmas Eve.” Max says dumbly, still not understanding the denial and just now processing the lack of reaction. He was missing something…something big .

“Yeah and?” Bart says like it’s obvious.

“Wel…won’t they also be spending it with their families?” Max asked, a bit cautious. He can’t say for certain, because it’s none of his business and Max has already got his hands full, but the relationships for some of Bart’s teammates and their mentors/families were…rocky to say the least. He doesn’t know the details, but when he says Bart found solidarity in his team, he doesn’t just mean in personality or age. He thinks it’s gotten better for some of them, but he’s not too sure; Bart doesn’t really talk about the bad parts of his teammates lives unless he’s really, really worried about them. Bart’s mood suddenly shifts and his golden eyes boring into him with a sort of intensity that made it hard to look away, and conveyed the absolute weight of belief Bart had in his next statement.

“We are family.” he said, golden eyes unwavering and unbreaking of his stare. Said with such certainty, and in a way he doesn’t think he can even say about Max. The older speedster was taken aback a bit.

“O-Okay…” Max found himself saying, unable to say anything else “I’ll just tell em you were busy.” he said turning to leave. Bart nodded and happily sped out of the kitchen with a “Kay, havefuntellmehowitgoesbye!” and Max blinked, spent about five minutes freaking out before deciding that he would never understand or get a clear explanation and let out a resigned sigh. His phone pinged again with a message from Iris asking about attendance and he sighed again.

Guess he had to go to this thing solo... that’s gonna be awkward.

OoOoO

Lex doesn’t really care what Superboy does.

He personally hasn’t seen the boy in months, outside of the field that is…when he’s blasting him and his team with some sort of high tech weapon. He typically doesn’t waste his time on dealing with him and his band of teenagers, having much bigger, eviler plans that did not concern nosy brats. And outside of that, he does not care for where he ends up. 

The boy has decided to make himself Superman’s problem, which, good riddance, the whole new Superman for Lexcorp thing was kind of a bust as soon as Lex figured out Superboy had his own consciousness and morals. Besides it was tacky. Either way the issue resolved itself, with only a minor blow to Lexcorp but nothing detrimental. It was firmly not his problem anymore.

Still, occasionally Superboy would have the audacity to demand things of him out of the blue. Technically, as his ‘parent’, Lex had to provide, even if he didn’t believe in those concepts (he actually is not sure why he is entertaining it, but it was easier to just give into the trivial wants of the child rather than push back and have him become a nuisance - and he was very good at being a nuisance.) Chucking him off to a island far away from Metropolis hadn’t worked out, as far as he knows, Superboy lives in Titans Tower nowadays, since starting to take his duties as a superhero more seriously. Then again, it isn’t his problem.

Superboy, to his credit, had enough pride to not ask for much, not wanting to rely on him - which only enlightened Lex to the fact that he wasn’t going to Superman for his wants, meaning that their relationship wasn’t as smooth sailing as Superboy made it out to be. But still, he did ask for things, mainly money from Lex from time to time and Lex couldn’t care less, if he took the money or not. Lex had an abundance, and again, it was easier to give in to the demands than push back on trivial unimportant matters. Sometimes though, it would be something a little…strange.

This was a strange request.

“And why on earth would I give you a Motherbox?” Lex raised an unimpressed brow, staring at Superboy as he floated in front of his desk. Superboy, for his part, looked disinterested as he rolled his eyes as if this wasn’t at all an absurd demand. He looked every bit like the punky teenager persona he played.

“Because Ca- Wondergirl couldn’t get one from Wonderwoman without explaining.” that peaked his interest. Just what were these kids up to that wasn’t League regulated. He doesn’t know the ins and outs of the mentor-student relationship for most of the League, and honestly Lex couldn’t give less of a fuck about it. But if they were keeping secrets, secrets that required a Motherbox , from their mentors…well that just might be something to look into. A weakness.

“And I would?” Lex asked, keeping his face neutral and Superboy huffed, clearly irritated.

“Yeah, I figured since you don’t really care about ethics it wouldn’t be an issue” Superboy shrugged, Lex almost grinned.

“Ahh, is Superboy turning a leaf?” Lex drawled mockingly, smirking a bit as the boy snorted. “Honestly, didn’t think you had it in you to go dark.” he said a bit sinisterly.

“You wish.” he huffed and crossed his arms. “It’s the whole reason you dropped me.” he glared at Lex and he almost sighed in disappointment. Too emotional, like always.

“Don’t throw a tantrum about the fact that you failed as an asset. Afterall, it worked out so well for you, hmm?” he raised a mocking eyebrow as Superboy bristled, his body language all defensive.

“It’s going great .” he grit out glaring and Lex sighed. 

“Besides, even if I did have one, why should I give it to you?” he asked narrowing his eyes, leaning forward in his desk and propping his elbows to fold his hands. 

“Out of the goodness of your heart.” Superboy asked hopefully, Lex doesn’t think he could be anymore unimpressed. This boy knew nothing about business proposals, honestly, even if he did go rouge, it would be a lost cause. The boy had too much Superman in him. Superboy wilted a bit at his gaze.

“Doesn’t sound so ‘good’ if Wonder Woman disapproved of it.” Lex drawled and the boy sighed and then propped up his body language.

“All the more reason to give me one.” Superboy said mischievously and gave a charismatic smirk; playing up his persona. Lex almost scoffed “Come on where’s your holiday spirit, Pops?” he said snidely. Lex felt his eye twitch.

“Never call me that again.” Lex’s tone dropped into a monotone, and it seemed to be enough for the boy to pry. Shit.

“So you’ll give me one?” he says a bit too hopeful, and Lex almost scoffs. ‘ One’ like Lex had more than one. He didn’t, but he’ll keep his cards close to his chest; Superboy and his infernal team don’t need to know that.

“What makes you think I even have one?” Lex says, just playing hard. Superboy just looked unimpressed. Lex rolled his eyes “You aren’t supposed to know about it.” he mutters.

“Come on.” Superboy whined, it was grating “Rob and Imp don’t have time to build one, we really need it tonight.” the boy nearly begs, pulling out faux puppy dog eyes. Lex is too irritated to be impressed by the implication that his team not has one, but two people that Superboy believe could replicate the Motherbox’s capabilities if given enough time.

“What for?” Lex narrowed his eyes.

“To fuck with Darkseid.” Superboy replied and Lex isn’t sure if he’s joking or not. “Don’t look at me, that’s what Arrowette said Wondergirl said.” he held up his hands in surrender and Lex groaned.

Well, Darkseid was a pain in his ass. These kids have proven their capabilities of being pests. And if they got killed on Apokolips, well that was one less problem for Lex.

“Fine, but only to shut up you incessant whining.” he says and Superboy whooped in victory. Lex didn’t hold back an eye roll this time, that seemed to go unnoticed by Superboy.

“Thanks Pops.” he said happily, going straight for the secret entrance to lab that he’s not supposed to know about - which only made Lex more irritated. Seriously, how does he know this stuff, he doesn’t even think the Justice League knows this stuff. 

“Do not call me that!”

OoOoO

Dinah knows that she’s messed up a lot.

And by that, she means specifically her kids - or at least the kids that Oliver decided to take in and train. She has messed up a lot of other things in her life too, mainly relationships, some opportunities, but right now she’s focusing on the kids, cause she’s been trying to figure out those problems for too long and because of that, it made this problem with the kids, which she kind of thinks is worse because she fucked up someone else’s life rather than her own - or more accurately, her life didn’t get fucked up along with theirs. 

It shouldn’t be her problem, honestly. But only truly shitty people believe that a kid isn’t their problem when they come into their life through another party. When that happens, a person becomes apart of that kid’s support system, it doesn’t matter the circumstance, or the relationship that the adults had, it shouldn’t effect the kid. And with the type of life they lead, support systems ran small. 

And Dinah, like the shitty person she was, ran away from that responsibility. Always made excuses. She was a goddamn hypocrite, and she knew that. All talk and no bite.

First it was with Roy, where she had tried her best to be a supportive pseudo-mother figure for him, but her and Oliver’s relationship had just started to be official and she didn’t really feel it was her place at the time. 

She thought it would be okay. Roy looked up to Oliver though, didn’t pay much attention to her, and she had seen how Oliver pushed Roy too hard too fast. How he was kind and optimistic but would switch moods so fast whenever Roy did something, completely imploding any confidence and resilience the boy had; the devastating disappointment and unforgiving pressure he put on the boy’s shoulders. She should have kept a better eye on it; she should have said something.

For her part, she tried to. Dinah had tried to talk to Oliver about it, but he had said it wasn’t her place, affirming her belief and making her drop it. She shouldn’t have dropped it . She didn’t push…she wished she had pushed more. She wished she had imposed, put a stop to it, gotten Roy out of there. If she had then maybe…

It wasn’t her failing, what happened to Roy after that. That could solely be placed on Oliver’s shoulders, and it did weigh him down, beyond the scrutiny of high society and the League. Except it was . She saw first hand the beginning of the end, watched Roy deteriorate until it got out of hand and did nothing .

 No one treated it right, including her. Not the Titans, not the League, and Roy fell. Hard. And had lost his entire support system, his entire purpose. And no one was willing to help him up, treating him as if he was already dead , a cautionary tale at best and a stain on hero society at worst .

And she didn’t do anything about it. Just stayed silent, like a coward.

And it’s ironic that Roy found solace in Jason, the dead Robin; in the Outlaws. Lost causes.

She’s not going to say that was the main reason she pulled away, but it was a big one. She pulled away from her relationship with Oliver, from the League. She had to reevaluate herself, think outside of herself and the bigger picture. Deal with the gnawing guilt she had felt. Make sure it never happens again. 

She found solace in Babs and the Birds of Prey, a group that also needed to figure themselves out and recalibrate their place in hero society and society in general. They understood, in a way no one else - the men ridden hero industry - understood. They all had their skeletons, their guilts, their regrets - they never judged one another for them. They never minced words, but they were never cruel. It was exactly what Dinah needed. It quickly became a comfort; a haven.

Babs was great, understanding and she made integrating into the team easy; effortless, like how she made everything looked - Dinah knows better, knows that it took a lot of rebuilding herself, her life , both hero and civilian, for her to get to this point. They were both at a transitional period where they had to reconfigure their place in the hero community, and it was nice to have someone who understood that on some level; someone to talk to that she could trust with this stuff. Even if Babs knew too much for her own good. They were both in this weird place where they weren’t exactly in anyone’s shadow, but they definitely were a part of someone else’s story and not their own. Dinah, Green Arrow and Babs, Nightwing. Black Canary and Oracle. 

She didn’t think that Oliver would take in another protege after Roy, the man was too broken for that. Too bent out of shape from his own disappointment. He didn’t want to take in a new child, and from some candles, it could be argued that he didn’t.

Cissie had come into the hero world half on her own. Her own mother being controlling and toxic toward her in the experience that was her training in archery, the high expectation of an olympic archer. She cared too much about status and not enough about her own daughters wants or desires; only legacy. Green Arrow and Speedy had been an inspiration, something that made all that work, effort and tears worth something other than a legacy forced upon her; a shadow to just extend. But ultimately, it was Impulse who brought her into the light, and Wondergirl that made it shine.

She joined Young Justice and that’s how Oliver found her apparently. And she doesn’t know the details, too afraid to ask - even if she could just ask Babs, but that feels like something she shouldn’t get second hand - but Oliver had gotten her away from her mother for a time, and taken her in as a ward. Enrolled her in school and everything.

Dinah had barely been there for her. It was so sudden, Oliver didn’t mention her at all - and maybe that was because she wasn’t with him as much as her team, and when she was, it was no surprise that Oliver was overbearing for exactly all the wrong reasons. Roy had made him more paranoid in his mentees and that clearly put a strain on the relationship between the two. And again, Dinah had missed it all; she wasn’t even there.

Repeating the same mistakes .

But it seemed the pressure Oliver had put on Roy didn’t affect Cissie as much it had her predecessor; she was already so used to high expectations and result no less than perfection. It showed, and manifested in unhealthy ways. But ultimately, Cissie was not Roy and she made it a point to make that fact clear.

Her team was different too, than the Titans. She remembers that the Titans were close, were there for each other. But she also remembers the secrets they kept, the anger they felt towards their mentors and lives, how it bred conflict and tension. The were friends and comrades but they had rocky points in their relationships. 

Young Justice was starkly different. It seemed like they were one , less tension more trust. They seemed to find solace in each other; understand and acceptance with no expectations. It did wonders for Cissie’s perfectionism, her fear of failure. They were her safety net, backing her up at any and every chance, defending her against Oliver in a way that the Titans hadn’t stood up to the League and she reciprocated - she almost laughed when Arrowette tore down Superman and the League for how they treated her team, she also felt a sense of guilt as well for contributing to it as well. Silence was compliance; it always benefited the oppressor and she knew that, yet here she was failing again due to ignorance.

She tried to be there more, after that incident, but it was hard . Cissie was so resilient, so determined to do everything on her own, to prove herself as something more than someone else’s shadow and Dinah was a bit intimidated. But still, she had to try . It’s the least she could do, but she doesn’t know how .

Cissie already built herself an amazing support system, with her team. They were so fiercely protective of one another, and understood her in what Dinah knows is a way she could never hope to achieve. Just like she had the Birds of Prey, Cissie had her team and she didn’t seem to be letting anybody else in, finding all she needed there. 

But still, these were kids , holding each other up when no one else would; becoming each other haven. Still they were young and they couldn’t do it all on their own, they would implode, they needed an adult. Dinah can’t speak for any of the other kids, knowing that they probably had more than their mentors, but she could speak for Cissie and she knows that her support system outside of Young Justice was dismal and the amount of adults that actually would be there for her was shameful.

Dinah had to figure something out, even if Cissie would be mistrustful, and what better time to try than the holidays? This was a time for family and tradition, and getting to know someone’s traditions was a good step into getting to know a person. It showed that she cared about the girl’s beliefs, even if she didn’t know what those were.

She was shot down initially, with Cissie’s off handed comment on not being big on celebrating Christmas, that she didn’t do anything special, just trained with her mom like normal. 

“It’s why I was assigned to the tower last Christmas.” and she said it with such casualness, no malice. It shot Dinah straight through the heart. Another failure .

So she took a more general approach. The winter season had many more generalised activities that didn’t belong to any sort of culture or religion, and hey, maybe they could even make their own tradition. 

She had come in to ask Cissie if she wanted to go ice skating, only to be brushed off saying that Anita was taking her and Greta to Rockefeller the next day, before a team thing. Dinah didn’t really know what to do with her second attempt being brushed off. She wanted to insist on it, but forcing the girl to do anything would just cause misery on both ends and Dinah would probably be further from her goal by the end. She really hit a rock, and was kind of spiralling because it was already December 23rd and she had made no progress.

“It’s just a teen girl thing. Isn’t it?” Oliver said when she had asked him for advice and Dinah almost stomped on his foot for how useless he was. “What?” he asked as she stalked out of the room in a huff, oblivious as always. Honestly, men .

She decided to go to Babs. Gotham was only a 2 hour train ride and it would be worth it to talk to someone who might actually have a solution, or at least some grasp on the situation, or some brain cells .

“That sounds…tricky.” Babs said carefully after she explained everything. She knows Babs agrees with her on that the new kids should be treated better, and she was also in the same boat as her with not being able to actually help in any sort of way due to where they were in their careers. Babs doesn’t show her frustration for it as often, but with Robin, Black Bat and Spoiler she had made her concerns about them know on occasion. Then again, Babs was a Bat, so she tended to keep Gotham matter in Gotham. The red head woman sighed “Honestly, I can kinda see why she brushed you off.” Really? Cause Dinah can’t.

“I am trying .” Dinah insisted, Babs looked at her critically with a raised brow,  Dinah slumped a bit. Babs sighed again.

“Okay, I love you and I respect you and you are probably one of the most emotionally stable people in my life right now,” damn, was it that bad for her? Dinah didn’t feel particularly emotionally stable, like ever “so I’m gonna give you some tough love.” Babs said straightforwardly, no beating around the bush. It’s what Dinah loves most about her, and is also a little afraid of.  “Yeah you are trying, but on your terms. Not hers.” she said bluntly and Dinah felt 2 inches tall. She knows Babs isn’t trying to chastise her, but that and the fact that she’s right doesn’t sit well with her. “I mean, you left her with Oliver and before that she was basically on her own. Also she didn’t have a good experience with mother figures, or adults in general - the League hasn’t done any favours.” Babs says bitterly, and while Oracle had never been official member of the League, she was very much League adjacent “It’s gonna take a lot more than ice skating to build her trust. Something more .” Babs told her, and now she looked sympathetic. And Dinah knows okay? She knows that ice skating and decorating cookies and pretending to be a happy family wouldn’t cut it. Cissie saw through that bullshit and firmly would not put up with it. But the thing is, Dinah doesn’t know how to prove that she’ll be there without having the kid traumatised further, which would be convenient but counterproductive ultimately. She had already missed her benchmarks that have been filled by her team. She doesn’t know how to get close.

“I’m repeating my mistakes.” she mumbled. Babs softened and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Kinda, but you have time to fix it.” she said softer than her earlier tone, more hopeful. Dinah didn’t buy it; Babs wasn’t good at bullshitting either, or at least, not like she used to be. 

She used to be a lot of things. So did you. They’ve changed, and for the first time Dinah doesn’t think it was for the better.

“How?” she nearly whispered, defeated. Giving up before she even began, how pathetic. But what was the use of starting the race when she was already so far behind.

“Support her. You know Ollie isn’t.” Babs said firmly and it forces Dinah to look at her.

“But what can I do that her team doesn’t .” Dinah asked back, because Young Justice…she loves that they were there for Cissie, that they won’t let her suffer, but she also resents that it’s because of them that she was being iced out. It felt pathetic, being spiteful towards a group of kids; shameful even. She should be grateful to them, but she just can’t be right now. Babs sighed.

“Honestly, I don’t know.” she said, which was unhelpful and Dinah slumped a bit further “The team has been good for Robin, I know that they helped him come out of his shell, act more like a kid. Batman…wasn’t in the right headspace to actually be there for him like that, and me and Nightwing were dealing with…” there was a stifling short pause “our own hangups.” Jason’s death. She didn’t say The Joker . Dinah heard anyway and put a comforting hand in her knee as she took a breathe and continued “They were the first people to actually get him and help him on some level. Accept him.” Babs said and sounded a bit sad, regretful “And Robin…we didn’t notice a lot with him, didn’t want to. Couldn’t cause we were dealing and grieving and didn’t have time. Or at least Batman didn’t.” she sounded bitter now “Being the first people to actually…see you as a human being, as yourself …accept you and back you up unconditionally, yeah that’s not something we can go back fix. They’ll always have a place that we can’t touch, we have to learn to accept that.” she says resolutely and then looks at her. “But they are still kids. They still need us. Even if they can’t trust it at first, we just have to keep trying and…and never give up.” Dinah lets those words settle as she blows out a breath and looks at the ceiling.

Never give up.  

Yeah, she could do that. As always Babs was right, this was a waiting game and they can’t undo the damage they’ve already done. The damage that they made worse, because these kids needed help long before they came into the hero world, and they failed by not helping them, by reaffirming negative beliefs, by being careless. They made it worse, intentionally or no, they did this and to fix it they’d have to let them set the pace. They’ve already pushed too much, demanded too much, expected too much. And unlike their predecessors, these kids don’t know that they shouldn’t take that. They had to be careful, now more than ever.

There was a long stretch of contemplative silence before Dinah asked “So what do you think that team thing was?”

“I dunno, honestly I don’t think I want to.” Babs said, a lighter smile gracing her face and Dinah chuckled, agreeing. Dinah doesn’t think she can decipher half their reports, they get into some weird shit.

Yeah, those kids could sure be trouble magnets. 

All the more reason to try.

OoOoO

Dick was worried about his brother.

Well, that wasn’t new, Dick was always worried about his siblings - no matter how difficult some (read: all ) of them are. They all were just so tenacious and so ready to prove themselves. And yes, Dick got it, he understood the need to want Batman’s approval, but his siblings are willing to do nearly anything to make that happen (and maybe he’s hypocritical for worrying, because he too, at one point was willing to do just about anything short of selling his soul to get that. Man, was this how Alfred felt? Probably still feels with Bruce’s child acquisition problem. He swears Tim and Steph alone raise hell, and that’s not even mentioning Jason - who is alive and Dick still can’t reach him. And then there is Cass, who is the more quiet kind of chaotic…) Also, it wasn’t like the Bat were really known for their emotional competency, usually ‘grieving’ translated into overworking or just punching the nearest enemy. It wasn’t exactly healthy, and yes, Dick acknowledges that he’s a hypocrite for saying so, but it was just different when it was his siblings and not him or Bruce.

The manor had always weird around the holiday season - a mix of tentative cheer and nostalgic sorrow. It was a toss up weather they would be feeling in the mood to be festive or just not want to get out of bed from long standing grief and ignore the whole thing all together (No one said anything on those days, and they all had them. One person could be festive and another diligently dismissing any mention of it and focusing on a task. They knew not to push each other, but they also didn’t know how to exactly comfort each other either.) Alfred would decorate the manor regardless, with lights and garlands and all things festive, and usually the other residents in the manor felt bad about not helping out, so they did even if Alfred didn’t ask (Alfred had that effect on people, getting them to do tasks without explicitly telling anyone to. They’d do anything for the old butler though, and he knew that very well. He never abused that power, but sometimes that meant pushing down their grief to hang a light or two, or decorate a cookie which in the grand scheme of things, isn’t that bad.)

The predominant celebration in the house was Channukah. Bruce had only ever celebrated only Hanukkah before his kids (and if Alfred’s seldom stories on the matter were to be believed, he only really lit the menorah on the eight nights. It was more of a quiet homage to his parents rather than a celebration. On the eighth night, Alfred would cook all of Martha’s recipes, and take leftovers to a food shelter the next day. It was a quiet, private affair.)  When Dick moved into the manor, they started to celebrate Channukah, because Dick celebrated Christmas with his parents before and Bruce and Alfred had wanted to preserve as much of their memory as they could (also they’d never ask him to switch religions, even if no one in the manor was big on the subject and mostly indifferent - only acknowledging they main holidays of it.) 

It was a good compromise and easy adjustment, though Alfred refused for it to be a quiet affair anymore and more of a celebration, which he thinks Bruce agreed with in his own caveman way. That’s when the manor started to be decked out more festivally, and frivolously - and maybe that was a desperate grab to make Dick forget about the grief of his parents death at first, all the lights and garlands and tensile and the big ass, overgrown Christmas Tree that Bruce had bought which was ridiculously huge that they could barley fit it into the front door and barley fit in the foyer. He bought a slightly smaller one for the main living room, to put gifts under and was decorated more modestly near the menorah, still in true Brucie Wayne fashion, he had gone way overboard. But after that, it kind of became tradition.

And each of them brought their own traditions too, with every new kid that took residence in the manor. Dick had insisted that first year that they made handmade ornaments just like he used to do with his parents every year. Because they didn’t have the storage in the circus to carry any, so his parents and him would make paper ones every year to put on the little tree they had in their cabin. Dick had bawled his eyes out halfway through making them, but when Bruce suggested they take a break Dick refused and spent the rest of the time crying as he, Alfred and Bruce cut up paper and string quietly at the table. He still tears up when they do it, but it got less noticeable as he got older even if the ache is still there, it’s more of a happy one than a grieving one. He’s still making orniments with a family that loves him and he loves in return. 

When Jason was adopted, because his mom was Catholic and even if he didn’t seem big on the religion he still asked to go to Christmas Mass to the old church in Crime Alley (Bruce got a little emotionally constipated at that one, but went regardless without a word of complaint or denial.) Jason had also insisted that they make a mass batch of cookies, because in the alley he remembered that any neighbours who could bake enough for everyone else would pass out treats and leftovers for each other; it wasn’t much, but it was a show of solidarity (and Bruce was so happy when Jason made suggestions on which food drives and shelters they should give their leftovers to. Jason got bashful when Bruce hugged him tight: ‘It’s not a big deal old man.’ he had said and even if his and Bruce’s relationship wasn’t at it’s best at that time, it made Dick’s heart warm.) So they’d bake cookies to pass out there, and even bring some to the watch tower for whoever was on monitor duty during the holidays (the League tried to make it so that people who celebrated holidays were off, but when in crisis, it couldn’t be helped.) The Leaguers and Titans thought it was adorable, especially with little bashful Jay.

For a while after that, things didn’t change with traditions. When Jason died, Bruce didn’t give cookies to the League or Titans, but he still went to that run down church in Crime Alley, and he still delivered to the shelters that Jason said to. 

When Tim came, he didn’t celebrate his first few holidays at the manor. He partook in some of their placed traditions - Dick insisted he be there for the ornament making and Alfred, the cookie decorating. Bruce offered him off that first year and he ended up just going to the tower and was with his team. Steph had come the next year, along with Cass, and Cass didn’t even know what holidays were but Tim and Steph had been helping her research more about stuff like religion and culture, so she was still figuring that out while also enjoying the traditions that were already in place. Steph, with her precarious relationship with Bruce was hesitant to celebrate at the manor, but Cass had insisted that she come and Alfred gave Bruce ‘the look’™ when Steph mentioned her mom was working on the holiday. Steph wasn’t really religious, but she celebrated Christmas regardless. Her little tradition was a bit of a shocker though, because she just baked brownies that she called ‘special christmas brownies’ which should’ve clued him in, but Dick didn’t even think before diving in. It wasn’t until after Dick ate five and Steph told him to slow down that they she explicitly said that were weed brownies. Bruce had been a fronted - also on his second brownie - and Steph had just laughed as he scolded her about patrol.

“We weren’t going to patrol tonight anyway.” Steph had said and looks a little forlorn and sombre as she thought back to an old memory “Sorry for not being more clear to you though, I didn’t put enough in for anyone to really feel much, unless you have like a lot, but still.” she mumbled and bit her lip looking nervous. The air was suddenly stilted and awkward, and Alfred, bless his soul, decided to break it.

“Is this a significant tradition for you, Miss Stephanie.” Alfred asked carefully and Steph shot him a half grateful smile. 

“Something like that.” She said with a sad smile “My mom…probably shouldn’t have done it. But when I turned seven she…gave me a bite of her ‘special brownie’ let me bake them with her too. Every year after that I asked for one, not really knowing what it was until I was 12. But…I never stopped it I guess.” she shrugged “I guess, I just wanted something, cuz she worked a lot more as I grew up and kept relapsing on the harder stuff and disappearing but that…that was a moment for us .” Steph bit her lip and Cass went into hug her “I didn’t put a lot in this batch, but still I should’ve made it clear what was in it. I’m sorry.” it was quiet for a long time after that and Steph started to fidget so Dick decided to break the tension.

“We’ve all got our weird traditions, I mean, you saw me almost cry over cutting paper. I think we are good getting a little stoned, I mean what else are the holidays for?” Dick waves off and Steph laughs a little wetly, still in Cass’ embrace.

“Yeah, Tim said everyone had fucked up traditions when I saw him yesterday.” Steph said. 

“Gave him brownie?” Cass asked her and at that Steph’s smile turned a little more mischievous - like it usually was.

“He gave me the recipe .” she smirked and Dick almost spat out his drink, Bruce nearly choked and even Alfred raised a brow “I didn’t use my mom’s because she put in a lot more, but still. Who knew he had it in him.” she crowed a bit and Cass smiled.

“Little brother, many surprises.” she said gently, fondly.

“That’s for sure.” Dick mumbled and then looked to Bruce who still hadn’t said anything. Steph and Cass also looked to him, a little wary and nervous on Steph’s end and indifferent and a bit daring on Cass’. Dick nudged him to get him to get out of sleep mode, as Tim called it. Bruce just looked away and sipped on his hot chocolate.

“We will talk about managing to get recreational drugs when you are underaged when Tim returns.” is all he said and somehow that let all the tension in the air go, Steph smiled relieved. 

Tim hadn’t celebrated with them that year.

But this year he was, and not under happy circumstances either. After the whole fake uncle thing when his dad was in a coma, Dick had thought Tim would have put up more of a fight to be taken in by Bruce, but their relationship had also gotten better since that time. Tim was finally home, but at the cost of his dad. It was a bittersweet moment. Tim was joining them, as an official member of their family. 

Tim who had just lost his father a few months prior and this would be his first holiday since Dana was institutionalised. He had dropped out of Brentwood to go to Gotham Academy, leaving the friends he had there behind and took up Robin full time in Gotham, because Steph was dead, due to Black Mask. He’d lost a lot…

Tim didn’t bring any traditions with him though, no sense of familiarity. The closest thing that he did was make that brownie recipe a few days before Christmas as an homage to Steph’s tradition. Dick had found him and Cass quietly crying at 3am in the kitchen as they baked. 

Other than that, he never requested any sort of special tradition or accommodation to be made, just did the traditions that were already in place or the ones Cass wanted to try. Dick had been anxious about the entire thing though, Tim just seemed aloof to everything with recent events, and even if that wasn’t the case, Tim always had trouble asking for things that he wants. His little brother hates being a burden, and with everything that had been happening, he already feels helpless and at times like his grief is too much; not wanting to put it onto others(and maybe this is them reaping what they sew. Maybe this is the backlash of letting a child take on Batman’s grief with no support or thought all those years ago and thinking nothing of it. Maybe Tim was remembering how he had felt back then and didn’t want to make anyone else feel that way. Dick hates that he could only imagine what that felt like, hates that he was too up his own ass to get there and prevent that responsibility being put on Tim’s shoulders - and his brother wears his responsibilities like a well worn jacket. Dick got there, but some damage had already been done, damage that was hard to undo. And Dick will regret that every day of his life, even if Tim has forgiven him.) 

Tim kept saying he was fine. Kept patrolling, going to school. HIs grades dipped a bit and he was kind of distant with his friends, but with the constant support of Dick and Cass, and the steady warmth of Alfred and the stilted but still genuine, if not awkward, understanding of Bruce, Tim was getting better. Slowly. He even started to reintegrate with his team more, which had been a huge step that Dick had been enormously proud of - Young Justice had done wonders for Tim’s confidence in his early years as Robin and he was glad his little brother was allowing that support back into his life again. Dick thought things were going relatively well, even if he was still anxious, waiting for a shoe to drop. 

And then he disappeared on Christmas Eve.

“I can’t find him Donna.” Dick exclaimed, running a nervous hand through his hair and pacing around the living room. He doesn’t know why he called Donna first, after turning the entire manor upside down, Bruce was being as emotionally constipated as ever and was still at the watchtower for another two hours. Tim opted to stay behind, so he had taken Batgirl with him. Dick had thought they could start on a little holiday movie marathon, but he couldn’t find his brother. “Do you think he snuck out on patrol? I told him Kate’s got it covered tonight.” he bit his lip nervously. If Tim needed space, Dick would give him space, he gets it but he didn’t want his little brother to patrol out in the cold on Christmas Eve alone . Tim shouldn’t be alone anymore.

“Chill Dick, he’s probably with Cassie.” Donna says and she sounds exasperated, Dick was already half way to the cave to get suited up to look for his brother but that makes him pause. 

“Cassie?” Dick repeats. That’s Wondergirl, or the current one. The leader of Tim’s team. Was Tim with his team?

“Yeah, their team does this thing every year?” Donna answered like she was reading his mind. 

“Why didn’t he tell me he was going then?” Dick exclaimed, more than a little miffed. Tim told him everything . Besides Cass, Dick was the person that Tim went to for anything and everything, and Dick has never once denied him a shoulder or ear. Weather it be happy or sad or angry, illogical or logical. They were brothers and Dick would always be there for him. Tim knows that.

“I don’t know Dick.” Donna sounded irritated and exasperated now “I literally only found out because of Diana asking if Cassie had mentioned she celebrates any winter holidays besides solstice. She doesn’t, but when I asked Cassie she said it was just something she does with her team. I don’t know what it is though, it wasn’t exactly a big deal.” Donna told him and Dick huffed “ Plus, I’ve literally met him like two times. Why would you call me for this?” she asked frustrated. Dick doesn’t want to acknowledge that she had a point, but Donna was the most objective thinker that was available on his speed dial contacts, so Dick had called her first - him and Babs were in a rough patch right now.

“Well, did you ask Cassie what they're doing?” he said petulantly, refusing to give Donna an answer to her question. She huffed in a way that made Dick think she already knew the reason, and resented that it sounded a bit amused. Dick was in crisis mode here, she could at least show some urgency.

“I dunno, she doesn’t tell me things like that.” Donna grumbled and sounded a bit miffed. 

“But she idolises you.” Dick blinked.

“And Tim idolises you .” Donna shot back and sighed “I actually think that might be the problem.” she mumbled and Dick blinked again.

“What do you mean?” Dick asked and Donna sighed.

“Well, it’s just. I think sometimes Cassie is afraid to like mess up in front of me. I know my opinion means a lot to her, and she wants to see me in a certain light. So maybe that’s why she doesn’t tell me things sometimes. I dunno.” she lets out a tired breath “Do you think it might be the same for Tim?”

Dick bristled “What?!” he exclaimed. He was supportive of Tim, and yes Donna was supportive of Cassie, but she could come off a bit too professional sometimes. Dick had made sure that Tim knows that things were unconditional between them. Or at least, he thinks he does. “I’m so supportive of him!” Donna sighed again. 

“Look, Dick, I’m not saying that you aren’t supportive of Tim, but sometimes kids just want to impress you and you can’t control that. He looks up to you, and wants you to see him in the best light.” Donna says and that settles Dick from being defensive to disgruntled  “Besides, I think this is just one of their team things. You can’t tell me that you would want Bruce to know all the things we got up to as Titans.” she said mischievously and Dick was glad she couldn’t see the pout that he had.

“That’s different.”  he huffed. Dick and Bruce’s relationship was nothing like Dick and Tims, and Dick would be damned before admitting that Bruce’s approval meant anything to him back then, even if it meant everything.

“Oh come on don’t tell me you’re jealous.” Donna teased “We had team things that we told nobody about too.” she said suggestively and Dick stifled a laugh at the memories. They did some pretty whack stuff back then.

“Yeah, because we didn’t really talk to our mentors then.” Cuz they were in a rebellious phase, and also the first pupils their mentors had. They were angsty kids. Young Justice wasn’t like that, they didn’t form through rebellion or independence and they also had more than their mentors to talk to, like their predecessors. They don’t keep secrets… right?

“Well, even if we did , do you think we could explain some of the things that we did? Or why we did them?” Donna asked “We had our own inside jokes and traditions, rituals. It was just for us, only things we understood. It makes sense that these kids would have them too.” And she was right, like always. Of course she was right, but still…

“I just…don’t want to mess this up again.” Dick mumbled and he could tell Donna softened over the phone.

“Tim isn’t Jason, Dick.” Donna told him, a gentle reminder.

“I know that god I-” Dick dragged a hand down his face. “I treated him so badly last time.” He was too late . Even with Jason back, he’s still so far out of reach, not just from Dick, from Bruce, from Alfred. It made it more painful, that he was here but not with them . 

He can’t want to lose another brother.

“But you and Tim have a great relationship. He’s just growing up, and grieving. You’ve been there for him, but you’ve gotta let others be there for him too.” Donna says “You’re not messing up.” she reassures, and he has to admit that does make him feel better. He’s really glad he called her, even if he still doesn’t know where his brother is, at least now he knows he’s not alone.

“Thanks D.”

OoOoO

None of them were with their families this year.

Even if some of them were still alive.

Their silence was deafening regardless.

OoOoO

It had been a tough year.

For everyone, but not as much as it was for the kids. Although, she can’t really call them kids anymore, if she ever could in the first place. Martha both mourned and was angered by their childhood that was cut too short, too much pressure, too much expectation. She hadn’t seen much of the generation before Conner’s, but she knew Young Justice certainly never had it easy, and that for a good portion of the beginning of their hero careers, the Justice League did not make that easy.

She understood, to a degree. The generation before had ended badly, with heated arguments and fatal mistakes. She heard all of it second hand, but could only imagine how these failures would weigh on a person, especially people who took the weight of the literal world on their shoulders and then some. They were doing the best they could, but it simply was not enough. 

Everything was just starting to go well, for a short period of time, Conner had moved to Smallville to live with Martha and Johnathan. Clark was also starting to get  his head out of his ass as well with him, all of the Leaguers were with their kids it seemed. The interactions were awkward and painful, but she could see that they were trying, and with time and effort they’d find their rhythm.

They did not get that time.

When Martha was first asked to take in Conner by Lois - not Clark - her heart ached a bit, even more when Conner was dropped off and Clark had immediately left, only really acknowledging her and Johnathan. She loves her son but sometimes she wants to smack him over the head for how he treated his own son, honestly . She doesn’t care if he’s a clone, or that he was created by Lex Luthor. Conner was nothing like Luthor, he was sweet and stubborn as a mule, and gentle and oh so fiercely protective (the way he talked and defended his team was a testament to that. The first time he brought home a member from it so they could seek solace, Martha was eccentric because of the amount of trust that implied was amazing and she would rather die than lose that. Even so, she would never turn down a child in need of safety and comfort, and in the earlier years, Young Justice sorely needed that.) Clark would’ve known that, if he talked to the boy for more than a minute. She doesn’t know when her son became so close minded, or maybe it was just Conner and the way he came into the world, which was hypocritical because Clark came into this world by unconventional means as well and Ma and Pa raised him regardless. And Conner was Clark’s blood , but it seemed like the image in his mind only saw Luthors blood mixed with his own and the nightmare that he had was one step closer to becoming true. Even if that was the furthest thing from the truth, but she’d love Conner as much as she could until Clark could get his head on straight. He is her first grandson after all. 

She hadn’t expected, when she took in Conner, that she’d be taking in his friends as well. But how couldn’t she? Tim was too skinny and Bart was too innocent. Cissie was too resilient and Anita was far too closed off. Cassie had too much on her shoulders and Greta seemed like she’d float off any minute. There was an air of sorrow and rejection around them, loneliness that they seemed to beat off each other with vigilance. They were lost and confused, but they had each other and they made it enough, even though it wasn’t. 

She’s glad they had each other, because they needed someone long before their mentors actually decided to pay attention to their kids - and Martha had never been more disappointed in them in her life. She’d be worried about the codependency, if she didn’t know that was all they had; all they could trust .

Martha filled in as much as she could, but there was only the amount she could do and she didn’t know everything - trust, it seemed, was hard earned with them, even if their loyalty wasn’t.  Some of them didn’t even have mentors or a direction to go, and no one seemed to be willing to step up.

But just as they were finally starting to reach out and the kids were tentatively reaching back...

Greta lost her powers and Slobo died and Anita had to take care of her reincarnated parents. Cissie had already retired due to mental health issues, of her hero life becoming like her normal one. But still they were there for each other, supporting one another, even if life took them on different paths. When you go through what they had together, it formed a lifelong bond that not even death could break; they would never leave each other, no matter how far apart they were.  

Then Kon died. Then Bart died. 

And they were scattered to the winds. Broken beyond repair.

Cassie suddenly had much more than the world on her shoulders and Tim had disappeared in his grief. They became desperate shells of themselves, barely alive.

Everything fell apart and Martha mourned her kids that weren’t hers. Mourned for the kids they could’ve been.

She shouldn’t have to mourn children that were dead either, because they shouldn’t have died . She shouldn’t have to mourn children that were still alive , the ones left behind. 

Martha had never felt so helpless or hopeless in her life.

Then Kon came back and then Bart. It should’ve been better, been okay . They eased some weight off Cassie’s shoulders and then all three of them dragged Tim out of the hole he was hiding himself away in. 

They started to get better.

It wasn’t the same though, it would never be the same, but it was starting to settle into something new. Something more heavy.

Tim came around the farm more often these days, glued to Kon in a way that resembled like before but this time different . Less shy, more desperate . Tim had come to the farm once after Kon’s death, and that was to pick up some things that he had left behind during his visits. Martha insisted he take more of Kon’s things, he hadn’t. He ran off after that, in the throes of grief, she heard Clark say when he explained that Bruce died as well. Martha had cried all night for the boy.

She was glad Kon dragged him back, so she could see first hand how the boy was doing. It seemed no one could give her an accurate description on how Tim’s state was, the boy had become too elusive - which only had worried her more. But Conner always had a way of getting Tim out of his shell, getting him to feel alive .

Martha had suspected something between them back then, but it was always unspoken, always just out of reach(they never figured it out back then, never had time. They had enough going on in their normal lives, other relationships that they were in. They always just missed each other, got scared. She thinks they knew what they had went beyond friendship, deeper than best friends, more intimate than brothers. It was never just Tim. It was never just Kon. They were Tim and Kon, and for as long as she’s known either of them, it was always them . Usually against the world, even if they never wanted to be. They didn’t have anyone else, but they always would have each other.) She thinks they finally, after Conner’s death, are beginning to understand what they are, or maybe they always knew, but circumstance didn’t afford them the luxury to do anything about it. She is giddy about it but Martha will never push them - they’ve already rushed through enough, and for this she can wait. Still, she secretly coos at it and feels a pang of sadness that this couldn’t be as innocent as it was supposed to. She is both happy and mourning that their relationship has been tainted by deep seeded trauma. She could see the unconditional devotion they had for each other, but more so the unyielding desperation between them, afraid of losing each other again. Not afraid of being more but terrified of being nothing .

Tim became a common fixture with Kon these days, even more so than they used to be Robin had been Batman’s before anything, but now he was grown up, left that role behind, but not completely. In a transitional phase that she supposes all kids go through, and she’s glad that he got to instead of being thrown into the fire. Kon also is in his too, maybe always was. Superboy was shared between him and Jon, but both were vastly different. All of the Young Justice kids were now, either having successors so their responsibilities shifted and are actually starting to figure themselves out beyond their mentors and families; it was bittersweet in a way, they were never dependent or independent in the right ways to begin with, but now they didn’t need to be either. They had more given freedom, more independence; more choices, and they chose to be with each other most of the time.

 So having Tim come around Christmas Eve didn’t surprise her. She didn’t ask questions beyond curtesy, which is more than she would’ve asked before. She enjoyed having Tim around, he was polite and helpful, and made Conner come alive in a way that Martha loved to see. She actually took advantage to stuff Tim as much as she could because that boy was far too skinny, despite her and Alfred’s efforts to fatten him up; he was never around the farm or the manor enough these days to actually make a difference, but they were trying. 

Having Tim around was peaceful though, he had a quiet but comforting presence. It was easy to exist with him, maybe that’s what drew Conner towards him; because Tim likes when Conner exists with him too, or maybe he made Conner feel like someone wanted him to exist in the first place. 

“We should get going.” Tim hummed quietly as he lazily traced patterns into Kon’s arm as he lounged half in his lap on the couch, both of them lethargic from the small feast Martha had whipped up. Clark, Lois and Jon would come tomorrow for Christmas, Kon was staying at the farm like he always was and Martha had needed taste testers for some of her newer recipes; and yes this was an excuse to get Tim to eat more, and it worked. Kon only hummed in response, not opening his eyes, looking almost serine.

“Five more minutes.” he mumbled, wrapping his arms around Tim and burrowing his head into the smaller teen’s messy head of hair. He would need to get it cut soon, Conner also needs to shave too. Tim let out a huff of amusement. 

“We are gonna be late.” Tim said with a smile, not making any move to dislodge Kon, bringing his hand up at an odd angle to bury into Conner’s hair, who let out a sigh of contentment and melted a bit more into the other boy’s touch. It was so quietly domestic, so right ; they fit into each other like puzzle pieces.

“Where are you two headed off to?” Johnathan asked, looking up from his paper like he wasn’t paying attention to them before. Tim looked at him and Kon opened his eyes, as if realising they were there with them - Conner’s cheeks dusted with a little pink, Tim just gave them a sheepish smile, Martha held back a chuckle of amusement and Johnathan just smiled at them. Oh, youth.

“Oh just general holiday mayhem.” Tim teased a bit, averting his eyes to Conner who shoved him a little with a huff.

“It is not mayhem.” he insisted to the boy who made a ‘so-so’ noise which earned him another light shove “We do this team thing every year on Christmas eve.” Kon said to them.

“Bless your heart. Mayhem is kinda a guarantee with you goobers.” Jonathan teased, winking at Tim who shot a grin at him. Martha chuckled at Kon’s slightly affronted face.

“It is not .”  Kon insisted and then sat back a little and sighed “Honestly it’s kinda a pain really.” he grumbled

“What’s the ‘thing’?” Martha asked, quirking a brow and putting air quotes around the vague term. It was never good when they were vague - that guaranteed chaos and everyone who knew them knew that; they were vague a lot, she’s not sure if more so now than when they were kids.

“It’s more of an obligation.” Tim muttered, his mood dimming slightly as well. 

“Yeah, we uhm…messed something up? Back when we were rookies. Now we gotta do this thing every year.” Conner said and looked a bit sheepish. Martha narrowed her eyes, that didn’t tell her much.

“Oh?” Martha asked, obviously prompting for more. Conner just nodded and didn’t continue.

“It…it’ll be the first year.” Tim spoke up softly, his mood going into something quiet “that we get to do it together again.” he says and Kon looks down at him, grief, sorrow and resolve passing through his face quickly and he pulls Tim in tighter, hand coming up to bury itself in his hair - a gesture saying that I’m here, I’m alive, I’m not leaving . It was familiar and made Martha’s heart squeeze- honestly she was going to develop heart problems from just these two alone. 

“Yeah, if Cissie thinks she can get out of it just because she’s retired now, she has another thing comin’.” Kon says, making his voice light but the way he

S holding Tim tells a completely different story. It does the trick because Tim manages to laugh, a bit choked and rusty - like he’s not used to making that noise again - but genuine, maybe a little wet.

“Well, be safe. I swear the things you bunch get up ta.” Jonathan chuckled as he looked at them fondly and they looked back to him and smiled sheepishly. He shook out his paper chuckling.

“We’ll try.” Kon said. Martha watched as they moved with each other, getting up and getting ready to head out. How they never strayed too far away from one another, guiding them to their respective objects like a dance; and existed together, not just with each other.

It wasn’t the same as before, it evolved in some ways and devolved in others; starting from scratch but going on instinct. It was more desperate than codependent this time, more reassuring than playful. They had lost too much of their innocence, too much of their time together. In their time apart, the parts that they held onto for each other had slipped away and they probably would never be able to get all the pieces back. They were mature in a way they were still way too young for but were more grown into.

They’d never be okay, but they were getting better.

OoOoO  

Wally will be the first to admit, he’d done wrong by Bart from the start.

Like so wrong.

He wasn’t overtly awful or anything towards the kid, but the way they started out wasn’t out of integrity. Like, he had put the kid’s life at risk by taking him out of his VR simulation - well technically Iris did that, but Wally didn’t really question it, when he probably should’ve - and then tricked him into a race around the world with the flimsy, halfbaked idea that it would somehow fix Bart’s aging problem. He didn’t actually think it through as much as everyone gave him credit for, including - especially - Bart had. It was mainly luck and a miracle that it managed to work.

And it did, but he was like 30% sure it wouldn’t, maybe more than that; the error value was too great, but Wally hadn’t cared enough to actually refine it before letting Iris take Bart out…he should’ve asked for more time, even if it did work, it was more likely that it wouldn’t’ve . He felt like there hadn’t been time though, and Wally remembers feeling both worried and also not really treating the entire situation like Bart was an actual human- and maybe that had to do with the fact that Bart was not only an Allen, but a Thawn as well, maybe Wally held a little bit of resentment for his heritage, maybe Wally wanted it to fail-

He would never say that out loud, ever , even if the thought haunts him in the dead of night occasionally. 

The kid should’ve been furious with him though, anyone else would be when they had discovered the truth about the situation. But Bart, for as sharp as he is, did not have a sense of mortality at all back then, and had instantly been eager to get to know his family in real life. Not understanding his complicated relationship with people he viewed were from the past, not understanding the precarious position of who and what he was. He was an in between, and Bart didn’t act like he was either. He was eager, but even Wally could see desperation; to have a place he belonged, to be good . 

There were things he should’ve done, and things he shouldn’t’ve. He thinks about them all the time, even before Bart; how a mission could’ve gone better, how it could’ve gone worse - it was something every hero struggled with. But it was always debunked by the next crisis, and he never thought about it as much as he did with Bart. Like he should’ve run more preliminary tests before taking Bart out of the simulation, and he shouldn’t’ve treated him so coldly because of who his mom was - or more accurately who his ancestors were(seriously the family tree was very fucked up. Fuck timelines honestly.) He should’ve kept his promise to mentor him, and he shouldn’t’ve made him feel like an outsider in his own family. And yes 

Max was great, he was retired, but he had a lot of experience, more than Wally and even Barry in most regards - kinda like Jay. He wasn’t as well known of a speedster, but he certainly was able to keep up. He was perfect to mentor Bart in a way that Wally just couldn’t handle, not with his guilt and mixed feelings and everything in between. But he was perfect for Bart, he was patient in a way that Wally could never be, and he didn’t mind that he couldn’t keep up with the kid. Wally resented that he couldn’t push down his pride to do that. 

Bart didn’t ask to be here, and he was a kid. Wally abandoned him, pushed him away, and made the excuse that he was ‘too much’ and that was on him , not Bart. He knows that, but he can’t help how he feels.

It ended up that Wally avoided Bart more out of guilt than anything else, another thing he shouldn't have done, but it felt like he was taking advantage of Bart naivety back then. In the process he had pushed the kid away, not just from himself but from his other family too - and that was unintentional. And Barry and Iris were too busy for the kid, and it didn’t take a genius to see that Barry clearly didn’t know what to do with the hyperactive jumping bean and it was clear that he also felt some apprehension due to Bart’s ancestry - even if he showed it way less. They had been following his lead, considering he did promise to mentor him and pawned him off. But even by speedster standards, he was way too impulsive; Wally had been excitable, but Bart was a whole other beast, it was honestly a bit overwhelming especially with everything else. Wally couldn’t handle it.

And he didn’t, and Bart paid the price for that.

Thank god for Max though, who took him in, even with a bit reluctance, but that was reluctance that Bart didn’t have to see. And he kinda has to thank his team too, that accepted him as he was when he and Barry couldn’t. Wally remembers being on the Titans, remembers that solidarity; even when he was independent he wasn’t alone. They were there for Wally when no one else understood, and Wally was relieved to know that they’d be there for Bart when he and Barry couldn’t get their head out of their ass. They had dropped the ball by pushing him away and telling themselves they’d deal with it later. Later never came, not until it was too late.

Bart’s death changed things. Losing him hurt . It hurt in a way that Wally had never felt before. More than they thought it would. Wally had died before, and he knows what it does to others when that happens. After he came back, it wasn’t just the Flash Family that had been in shambles, but the Titans - mainly Dick - too, even some if not most of the hero community. When Bart died, there were not a lot of people mourning - yes, the hero community gave condolences to a life taken too soon, and so close to Superboy’s death as well. 

But only a few people truly mourned, because only a few people deigned to know him - another thing that Wally considers his fault (it was not until after Dick had told the community about his brother’s grieving, and how he borderline called him crazy or in need of help. Wally had agreed with him unthinkingly - afterall Dick knew his brother best. When it turned out that Tim had been right about Bruce, and how the hero community iced him out even still being wary after that. It was then that Wally truly understood the impact the former Titans’ opinion had on the Justice League. They weren’t kids or rebellious teenagers anymore, they were regarded as senior members, and their opinion held weight . A weight that they realised all too late.)His already crumbling team had completely fell apart after that, scattering to the winds, and that was another thing that was to be silently mourned. 

They had been too young to go through what they did, and the worst part is that they had tried to ask for help and they didn’t get it.

Sure, they were getting better now, but they should’ve tried harder sooner; should’ve helped instead of turn a blind eye or push it off to an undetermined later. As a result, they had almost been too late to actually get to know him, had actually most him for a time and now they were lucky to have him back. It was too late to undo some of the damage, but it was never too late to try and Wally owed Bart that much at least - and he’d leave it up to Bart on how this relationship would operate. 

He doesn’t know if it was the amount of time they had waited or maybe the fact that Bart figured out what mortality was - through a completely separate incident that Wally also wasn’t there for - or maybe it was just the fact that the kid was growing up and ready to leave the nest, but he grew less interested in them. Don’t get him wrong, when they started to offer olive branches to Bart, he took them happily, but the eagerness was dimmed and there was always some sort of hesitance; a quiet wariness that both didn’t quite suit the kid. Or maybe it did, maybe it fit him like a well worn glove and Wally just didn’t want to think about all the reasons that it was there. It didn’t affect much, Bart was still stoked to hang out with him and was no less excitable. 

It still felt like they were losing him.

Because no matter how many dinners and outings that they planned, Bart would come to about 70% of them, and that number was dwindling with how busy he was getting lately - sometimes with something personal, but mostly his team. And each time they’d see him, it was like he was doing something completely different than the last time; old news became ancient and new news hadn’t happened yet. It made sense, Bart was in a transitional period in his life, figuring out who he was. But between jumping around between Allen, West, Garrick and Mercury houses, not to mention being with his team, they only really got to know bits and pieces of him. 

And jumping houses had been Bart’s idea. After Max went missing for a time, Bart stayed with the Garricks. Then he had died and came back and both Barry and Wally had extended their hands for accommodations. Bart already had a difficult time choosing, but then Max had come back and then he had a whole other separate house that he was able to stay in - the one that felt most familiar. He ended up couch surfing with his teammates - both current and retired - for about a month (and it’s Wally’s understanding that that was common for Young Justice. They don’t really have an HQ that they go back to even if they technically still are supposed to operate out of Titans Tower alongside the new Teen Titans.) In the end, Bart had decided to just sleep where he felt like it - which he never actually said anything to them about, but it worked for everyone. 

So yes, Bart usually didn’t come by as often as Wally would’ve liked, but Wally wasn’t going to push it; Bart had a life outside of him, a life that he started to build without Wally because Wally didn’t want to be there. That was on him , and it was up to Bart how much room Wally occupied in that life. 

But the holidays had been pretty consistent. For once there wasn’t a giant enemy lurking on the horizon, and most of his friends and family were actually alive this year. Bart had been spending time with the Garricks and Allens mostly, since this time of year Max was always unfortunately busy during this time of year - retired his ass . Bart had been pretty consistent in staying with them, bouncing between them and Wally’s two bedroom apartment - only actually leaving when his team called him away, and even those missions were short and sparse.

It was the first holiday season after Bart’s death, and also the first holiday season that he’d spend with them - seriously Elastic Man managed to spend one with him before Wally had, that was seriously embarrassing. Bart was eager to do everything, he helped with decorations and baking/decorating cookies and all the little holiday traditions that they’ve accumulated over the years. He’d talk about anything and everything, and generally it was a very good time; everything was going smoothly… 

Until Christmas Eve. 

“Hey so what’re you gonna make for dinner tonight?” Wally asked offhandedly, as Bart walked into the kitchen to get a snack, distracted by something on his phone. Wally was prepping the spices that he’d put on the ham for Christmas Eve dinner. That particular dish had fallen onto him for some reason when he managed to get his own place - before that it was store bought ice tea. They split up the big sections of the feast, and in a family of speedsters, there was no such thing as too much food. 

Bart looked up from his device and took in the state of the kitchen, then blinked at him confused. “Wouldn’t Iris or Joan make stuff, you’re not too reliable in the kitchen. “ Bart chuckles a bit nervously, warily glancing at the uncooked ham that rested in the pan. And it was true, Iris and Joan did most of the bulk work, but everyone else pitches in too. This was the first time Bart would get to join in on the tradition, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t know, another pang of guilt rushed through him and Wally fiercely squashed it down. 

“Hey, I’m great in the kitchen, thankyouverymuch.” he huffed, the only reason he wasn’t considered ‘reliable in the kitchen’ as Bart had put was because he viewed cooking as chemistry. If he actually follows the recipe instead of trying to improve it with science - which he was banned from doing now - he’s actually pretty good at it. You blow up the oven one time… “and besides can’t make Iris and Joan do all the work.” he said with a teasing brow.

“Ah.” Bart nodded and didn’t say anything more, grabbing a bag of Chicken Whizzies from the cabinet and going back to his phone as he hopped up on the counter just in Wally’s periphery. It seemed a bit awkward after that and Wally didn’t like the silence. Bart was just sitting there scrolling through his phone without a care in the world and munching on his snack, and Wally tried to go back to his task.

 “Your molasses cookies are really good.” he finally blurted when the silence got too much, Bart snapped his head up to look at him with a cocked head  “You can mass bake them and help me prep the ham.” he elaborated awkwardly, shooting a glance at the boy. It seemed to click for Bart and then he looked a bit sheepish. 

“Actually, I uhm I think I’m gonna have to skip out on dinner tonight.” Bart said apologetically and Wally blinked processing that.

“Huh?” he asked, very confused. 

“Yeah, sorry man.” Bart said in lue of an explanation, for his part he did sound a bit apologetic “But save left overs for me, yeah?” he gave him a megawatt grin and Wally still was looking at him, still processing and Bart became a bit nervous again “Hey, dude, uhm you good?” he asked and his voice wavered a bit, Wally narrowed his eyes.

“You declined our invitation before.” Wally said “When you were living with Max.” Wally had just thought that that was because Bart hadn’t wanted to subject himself to an awkward dinner that he was only offered out of courtesy - Wally wouldn’t be lying if he said he hadn’t been a bit relieved when Max had said he couldn’t make it back then. He had just assumed it was because of their relationship, but that was better and Bart still refused to come.

“Yeah…” Bart chuckled a bit and shook his head “I just, I have this team thing to do.” and then looked contemplative and then turned back to his phone, tapping at the screen “If we still do it that is, I dunno. No one said we don’t do it anymore but I was kinda gone for the last one and-” Bart rambled to himself, stopping himself from typing, looking a bit unsure, before he resumed again after a few seconds his phone buzzed and he got this relieved smile across his face.

“Team thing?” Wally asked slowly.

“Yeah.” Bart nodded distractedly “Cassie calls it a pain, Kon calls it reverse breaking and entering, Tim just wants to use FedEx but that’ll ruin the magic.” and made Wally do a double take.

“I’m sorry, Reverse Breaking and Entering ?” he repeated, he wasn’t even sure what to do with that. Like what did that even mean? He knows Young Justice has been known to do some pretty obscure things, their entire team had eccentric methods and most of the time questionable; effective, sure, but still very questionable. This sounds like the type of thing that they would do, but Wally is concerned nonetheless.

 “It’s kind tradition.” Bart shrugged, clicking off his phone and giving him a big smile. He was vibrating in place in a way that Wally knew that he was excited.

“R-Right.” he managed, still unsure what to do with that. Bart’s response only made him more wary, he doesn’t think he wants to know.

“Don’t worry.” Bart said, his usual perky tone jumping back in his voice as he hopped off the counter “I’ll be back by the morning to do all the other stuff you guys do.” Right, because he didn’t know about the stuff they did cuz he’d never spent any holidays with them before. Bart just smiled his megawatt grin that could outshine the sun.

“Y-yeah,” Wally barley managed to respond, nodding dazedly “I’ll…I’ll uhm tell Iris that you wo-”

“You’rethebestWally!Thanks!Don’tforgetmyleftovers.” Bart said and zoomed away

 “n’t be able to make it.” Wally finished to an empty room and sighed and sagged his shoulders 

“Again.” he mumbled bitterly to an empty room.

OoOoO

He never thought he’d get to know Cissie.

To be honest, back then he didn’t really care weather or not that he would. There was so much else going on with getting clean - most of it was finding a reason he’d even want to since he fucked up his hero career and didn’t have much else besides that - then the Outlaws and then Lian, he didn’t really have time or energy to rehash that can of worms. 

He knew he was pissed at Oliver, and he wanted the very existence of that man eradicated from his life because he just made things so much more complicated. He wasn’t there when Oliver took Cissie in and by the time he had kinda rejoined the superhero community she had retired for some reason or another. He didn’t really think too much about her, considering he had the Outlaws and Lian to think about. By the time Dinah had extended an olive branch and Oliver had reluctantly allowed it, Roy was tentatively getting back into the family. But Roy and Cissie had never interacted, and neither Oliver or Dianah ever mentioned her.

He doesn’t forgive Oliver, after everything, he doesn’t think he’ll ever fully be able to forgive the man after everything (Roy acknowledged his mistakes, but Oliver seems hellbent on not acknowledging his own and Roy can’t get behind that. If has learned anything in rehab, it was to take accountability and Roy will never trust or respect someone who can’t do that.) but he can try to forgive Dinah and maybe reconcile a bit - she actually takes accountability and tried to reconcile to some extent; he thinks that she is the reason that Oliver even got his head slightly out of his ass to offer an olive branch. 

They can’t start over, but not really. Cissie seemed to be in the same boat as him (he had gotten the impression that she was another of Ollie’s lost causes at first and was furious that it happened again. It wasn’t until after Dinah nullified the conversation by saying Cissie quit because of her own violation and that she was doing very well for herself that he calmed down. Still he didn’t talk to Oliver or Dinah for a few months after that.)

 Jason’s kinda had to hold his hand through all the weirdness because if anyone knew about complicated family relationships it was him (and Roy does the same with him. They hype each other up and then bring the other down to earth. It used to just be the former, but that had made them both unbelievably angry at the world and didn’t fix anything. They’ve learned that it was okay to be angry, but also to make peace with that anger or else they’d be miserable. Sometimes that meant forgiveness, sometimes that meant reconciliation, sometimes that meant neither, it was up to them and not anyone else.) The first time he had actually met Cissie was at a stupid gala Ollie threw after she won her first gold medal and Dinah had extended an invitation. Turns out, when she said that the kid was doing well for herself that meant that she was not only on the US archery team winning gold at the Olympics but a starred actor in a lot of popular Hollywood productions; Roy would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit jealous. 

Cissie was cool though and way more down to earth than he thought she would be. She got along with Lian when Roy finally introduced her - before Oliver he might add - and she was probably the only member of the family that didn’t have this weird tension when they had a conversation - the only reason it was stilted was because they didn’t have many common interests besides shit talking Green Arrow, which both of them put a limit on for their own mental health sakes. 

Technically, they were kinda siblings he supposes, even if he’s mostly disowned and she is off doing her actress-olympiad thing. They don’t really talk, but there is a weird solidarity whenever they see each other at family gatherings. Cissie understood him in a way that not even Jason could; sure Jason could sympathise with shitty mentors/father-figures, but he hadn’t actually grown up with Oliver. Cissie had, she understood on a deeper level that words alone couldn’t describe; and Roy thinks that she finds the same understanding in him too. It was different for both of them, Roy’s situation had changed Oliver, Cissie had told him as much but on the same level he understood the controlling, suffocating feeling of spiralling out of a sense of success; the fear of disappointing a man that didn’t deserve them. It was a comfort that he didn’t know he needed, and that had brought them closer together.

Lian really liked her new cool actress/olympic gold medalist kinda-sorta-pseudo aunt though. Why wouldn’t she? Cissie was cool and pretty and helped her braid her hair and taught her how to do gymnastics and a few archery tricks behind Roy’s back. She was charismatic in general and awesome with kids. And Roy thinks that eventually, when Lian gets older, she’d help her with things that Roy couldn’t as a single dad with no maternal figure to speak of( and yes, he knows he has Kor’i and Dinah, but he doesn’t quite trust Dinah all the way yet and Kor’i has different coming of age things that were more traditionally Tameranian. Don’t even get him started on Artemis. He trusts Cissie though, for the more mundane human things and he hopes he doesn’t fuck up their relationship enough for her to not be there. For both Lian and his sakes, maybe even Cissie’s too since she absolutely adores Lian.) She was reliable, and Roy would hire as a babysitter more often if she wasn’t so busy. 

But around the holidays, she always made time, and through the years she was stopping by more and more at his flat rather than Oliver’s penthouse. In fact, this year Roy even let Cissie stay at his apartment until Christmas day. Sure they did go on the occasional outing with Dinah and Oliver, but ultimately they spent more time together than anything. He knew how suffocating it could be to stay with Ollie and Dinah, so he’d gently floated the offer out and Cissie took it every time to the point that it was just natural that she go with Roy after an event they were all attending. She was staying with them all week and they’d go to Oliver’s for Christmas Lunch right around noon. 

It had been pretty good, Cissie and Lian had made a gingerbread house that looked like it had way too much icing and gumdrops, and kept her entertained when holiday movies, Christmas Card making, and decorating the tree. She was an absolute godsend with holiday shopping, somehow also managed to give advice on gifts and find the most affordable way to acquire them - Roy wishes that he had met her sooner. She was a multitasking queen, and hypercompetent and Roy isn’t sure how she keeps it together so well. 

“A midlife crisis at 15 will do that to you.” Cissie had said with a bitter smile one night after he had put Lian to sleep, staring into the void of her tea. “I had a lot to work on, a lot to make peace with. I wanted to be a hero, but that was draining me, killing me. The hardest thing I ever did was quit, especially after I saw what I had seen. We helped people and that was hard to walk away from, but I didn’t walk away from it. I took time for myself, and found a different way to help people that didn’t damage me.” she told him and that was the first time that they hugged, because Roy didn’t know how else to respond.

He ignored his shirt getting slightly damp where her head was pressed and pretended that there weren’t tears leaking out of his own eyes.

Jason had come mid week to stay until Christmas day, because he was spending that with his family due to their also rekindled relationships - albeit that was still a little shaky, but then again, with this life, who didn’t have a fucked up relationship with their family. Roy had a three bedroom and Cissie was in the extra room and Jason was supposed to take the couch, he ended up in Roy’s bed most nights though…he did that even when the spare bedroom was open too. 

Jason and Cissie were wary around each other at first, as in Cissie was wary of Jason - she mumbled something about the Titans Tower incident the first time and Jason had become more sober as Roy winced.

“I wasn’t in my right head back then.” Jason said with a steady tone and Cissie breathed in and out to steady herself “Besides Re- Tim forgave me for that. We’ve been working on it.” and Cissie had whipped her head to him, angry in a way that Roy had never seen her before and was absolutely shocked by. 

“I know Tim forgave you and everything. Doesn’t mean I agree with it.” she bit out and then looked him dead in the eye with a cold stare “Doesn’t mean you deserve it.” and Roy winced openly, as he saw Jason back down and close in on himself. That hit a nerve, Jason was always on the fence about deserving a second chance, even if it was family. It was still a sore point and Roy doesn’t know if Cissie knows that or not. It hit just the same.

“H-Hey now-” Roy tried to placate, forcing a nervous smile and raising his hands between the two. 

 “ I’m the one who had to send the footage to Oracle asshole.” she seethed, tears pricking her eyes as she stood up abruptly. He was glad Lian was down for her nap, not that either Jason or Cissie would start something around her. Jason only looked at her with an unreadable expression as she left the room quickly.

Later, he made philly mac and cheese for dinner- he had never made that before, and Roy was pretty sure it was on purpose because he was pretty sure he had pesto planned for dinner and had said he forgot to pick something up at the store, despite Jason being one of the most meticulous person that Roy knows. Weather or not he knew that was Cissie’s favourite food, Roy tends not to ask those questions, Jay was a Bat afterall, they knew a lot of things… he probably talked to Tim. 

When Cissie walked into the kitchen and Jason had put a plate of it at her place at the table, he looked her dead in the eye and said “I can’t change the past. You don’t haveta trust me but just trust little Red, at least. He’s got a good head on his shoulders.” he says and Cissie looks at him sceptically and makes her way to the table.

“Clinically insane head.” she mutters and inspects the food. Jason barked out a laugh which slightly startled her.

“You got that right.” he said and pulled out his own chair, shaking his head fondly “But you know they say about madness and genius.” he says and Cissie slowly untenses and sit in her chair.

“They go hand in hand.” she mumbles and picks up her fork and takes a cautious bite of her food. Roy can’t help the swell of pride the moment she realized how good it was. Jason was an astonishing cook, only second to Alfred. Of course it was good, and Jason had always said food cured everything.

“What are you lookin’ so proud about?” Jason asked and Lian giggled. 

“What can’t be proud of my boy- best friends food?” he caught himself, but he knew he was a bit red, so was Jason. They hadn’t actually put a label on what they were, Roy is too afraid to ask. Jason was a good thing in his life and he didn’t want to ruin that, and same went for them. “You make the best food Jay.” he clears his throat. Cissie rolls her eyes.

“I swear it’s like Tim and Kon all over again.” she mutters, and sticks another bite in her mouth “and good food or not, hurt him again and I’ll come out of retirement to join Young Justice in…” she trails off looking at Lian.

“In what?” Lian asks and Roy thinks that not knowing was more dangerous than if she finished. Young Justice has a tendency to get… creative . 

“Nothing sweetie.” she grins mouth full of Mac and Cheese. It was dangerous, a promise and threat, both he and Jason knew it.

“Yeah…” Jason trails off and then snaps his head up “Wait, what about the clone?” and Cissie raised an amused brow.

“Wouldn’t you like to know weatherboy.” she smirks.

“What does that even mean? ” Jason asked and then went on a tirade about Tim and Duke speaking in some weird generational code and just like that, Roy let out a breathe he didn’t know he was holding.

It was smooth sailing from there. Jason made good food, using them as taste testers, which they were all totally willing. Lian got her holiday preparations ready, in a way that only made sense to kids. When she told Cissie about her Santa trap that Jason helped her plan, Cissie looked a bit nervous, which was weird and then said she had to take a call. Very weird.

Cissie didn’t leave much other than to do her own thing or do a little work. But then, while he, Jay and Lian were snuggled up on the couch on Christmas eve, watching a movie, they heard the door knock. Roy went to get it, and found a dark skinned girl with a high curly ponytail holding two toddlers on those baby leashes. She looked at him judgmentally and for the first time, Roy regretted answering the door in an ugly over sized scratchy christmas sweater on a holiday.

“Cissie here mate?” she asked before Roy could greet her and let herself in. the two kids toddling behind her, sticky fingers in their mouthes. Just then Cissie came padding out, dressed and a long coat on, covering most of her outfit, but he noticed that she was in tactical gear - not one he recognized, and one that he’d never think to see her in. Her Arrowette costume…with modifications probably. Roy had assumed she was freshening up for the movie. He shot a look to Jason, who looked equally confused at her attire.

“Yeah.” she said casually “Lemme just get my bag.” the other girl snorted as Cissie went to the other room

“Where are you goin’?” Lian whined and Jason raised a brow.

“Girls night.” they said in unison. Roy didn’t trust that. If this ‘girls night’ was anything like Artemis and Kor’i’s, then it probably would end in a rapist head on a stick. He had a strong suspicion that their’s would be much the same.

“On Christmas Eve?” Roy raised a brow.

“I do Kwanza.” the girl deadpanned and Cissie snorted.

“Besides, tomorrow is the time for annoying relatives. Tonight is to get wasted, so don’t waste the opportunity.” Cissie elbowed him jokingly as she passed with her bag, probably full of weapons and a bow in her other.

“I thought you were retired.” Roy said dumbly and the other girl rolled her eyes as Cissie gave him a wolfish grin.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t have shit to clear up.” she says and the other girl huffed “Oh hush.” she says to her then turns back to him with a sickly sweet smile “You don’t mind watching the kids?” she gestured to the two kids the girl had brought, and it wasn’t really a question.

“Wait wha-” 

“Thanks mate, teenage parenthood is a bitch .” the girl groaned and shoved the child leashes into his hands, then turned to follow Cissie to the front door as she giggled.

“Wait These are-” 

“Does it count if they are your parents?” Cissie pondered the girl shrugged.

“Hell if I know mate. Reincarnation is a bitch.” she said. Roy was very, very confused now.

“What the actual-” he didn’t get to finish, because the door closed and now he was left with two unknown kids and a whole lot of questions he wasn’t really sure he wanted the answers to.

He looked to the kids and then to Jason, who looked right back to him.

“Yeah, no question they’re Timmy’s friends.” and then turned back to the screen, arm settling around Lian as she giggled and beckoned the kids over to watch Nightmare before Christmas.

That was entirely unhelpful. Roy sighs and resigns himself to his fate.

Deniability , Roy thinks, is a gift.

OoOoO

Things were shaky at first.

Considering the history of back and forth that Clark and Conner had, and the denial and neglect and pushing him off and away for most of his formative years, it was expected that their relationship had its bumps. Shaky, was perhaps a major understatement.

Their relationship was just starting to get better, Clark reaching out because he wanted to rather than someone telling him to and Conner reacting like an abused but desperate puppy in response - wanting to trust but not knowing if he could. 

Then Conner died, and after he came back, Clark was determined not to make the same mistakes again; doubling down his efforts in a way that freaked Conner out at first. Which also made sense, going from zero to a hundred fresh out of being considered dead was jarring and certainly lead to many fights before some boundaries were set. Conner was still reluctant, but nonetheless gave it a go after settling into his life again. Clark and Conner’s relationship was still strained (he doesn’t let Clark call him Kon, and Lois doesn’t interchanges depending on the mood, people and situation. Jon is the only one in the house that does call him by his shortened Kryptonian name regularly. No one calls him by his full Kryptonian name.) Lois and him got on well; he holds a healthy respect for her that he doesn’t even afford Superman, even if it’s a bit distant. They are working on it. And Jon? He was ecstatic to have an older brother and Conner absolutely adored his younger brother. He even got closer to Kara too.

When they had offered Conner a place to stay while he was finishing his high school degree, the tension was much more noticeable than when they hung out occasionally at the farm; Ma and Pa weren’t there to be a buffer. Him and Jon got on like real brothers, and Lois knew Kon would do absolutely anything for his younger brother and Jon looked up to his older brother in a way that made Kon bashful. He was also helpful, even though Lois said he didn’t have to earn his keep here but it seemed Ma Kent’s teachings reigned superior to lazy teenage melodrama when it came to chores - not that Lois particularly minded, as long as he didn’t think he was forced to do it. 

But still there was this heavy atmosphere whenever Clark and Conner tried to interact with one another, even sometimes when they were in the same room. Whether it be awkward conversations that physically pained Lois to witness, or heated disagreements that ended with the boy storming off - those were mainly between him and Clark, sometimes Lois, but it never extended to Jon.  

Those nights would always end in Conner flying off, always frustrated and words being like “you never cared before, why do you now?” Which was said mostly out of anger, somewhat out of desperation and confusion, and fear glazing the entire emotion in a thick coat. They had freaked out the first few times Conner didn’t come back in the morning, but Ma had called them to let them know Conner was staying for a few days the first time which eased them very much, and let them have time to cool off and stew - they didn’t brood , they left that to the Bats. 

The second time he didn’t show up they called Ma immediately and she didn’t know where he was, suggesting that they ask Tim, Cassie or Bart. But they didn’t answer their phones so they didn’t know for sure. It took Clark a few days and a damn near Justice League SOS call before Batman had informed Superman that Superboy was on an emergency mission with Red Robin that was Gotham based. When Conner had gotten back, it had brought on another screaming match that was born out of worry more than anything, but Conner didn’t strom off again - claiming that he promised Jon he’d watch his game and locking himself in his room.

The first time he stayed with Lex had also lead to another argument, this one more angry, more petty. It wasn’t exactly pretty and even had Lois squirming when Conner said that “Lex is my dad too!” , a chilling reminder that had closed Clark off for the rest of the day and that night she had found Conner having a panic attack so bad that she had to call Tim…Conner spent a few days in Gotham after that, she doesn’t like to think about that.

Still, no matter the argument, Conner always came back to try again. No one apologised, they just pretended it didn’t happen - and Lois thinks that’s part of the problem, even if it was easier than addressing the matter and risk getting into another argument. She honestly thinks half the time he comes back is because Jon asks him to, and then 40% of the time is because he promised to do something with Jon and then the remaining 10% if because he actually wanted to come back and make things right with Clark. It just seemed like he didn’t know how to go about that, which wasn’t really his job because he wasn’t the adult here. It frustrates Lois to no end and she loves Clark but jeez does that man need to get his head out of his ass.

With the holidays nearing, Lois figured it was the perfect time to get those two to do more together. So she had made family outings mandatory, despite their busy schedules, superhero or reporter, she’d be damned if she didn’t get this done. It was, afterall, the first Christmas that Conner was officially spending with them in Metropolis instead of just at the farm, despite that always being the place they go back to during Christmas.

For the most part it seemed to work, having Jon as a buffer helped too - Clark and Conner seemed to have a mutual understanding when it came to Jon and that was not to involve him in their arguments; Jon needed a good relationship with his dad and his brother without feeling like he had to choose sides and for that Lois is grateful. Sometimes Conner would get a bit overwhelmed but he hadn’t run away, he’d just take time in his room and call his friends. Lois was close to calling this a success.

That is, until Christmas. 

She was up late, working on a story so she didn’t go to Smallville with a story running through her mind and before Jon woke up to enjoy Christmas morning. When she heard the slide of a window opening and a gentle woosh of chilly wind coming through from the living room, she was obviously a little startled. It was around 6am, the sun was just peaking through the clouds. She went over to investigate only to find Kon sneaking in and sighing, letting out tension in his shoulders. He was dressed in his Superboy suit, and looked absolutely exhausted, but not hurt in any visible way.

“Didn’t know you had patrol.” she said and flicked on a light, Conner freezing, looking like he got caught doing something he shouldn’t be - which he was , for the record. She leaned against the entryway, looking at him with an expectant look.

“Oh hey…” he said sheepishly, dragging out the last word and gave a nervous smile.

“I thought I said no Supering during the holidays unless it was world ending, and considering Clark is still in bed, I am not sure why you are wearing your suit.” Lois said, bemused. Conner opened his mouth to defend himself, closed it and sagged his shoulders.

“I’m totally grounded, aren’t I?” Conner said defeated, giving him a slightly hopeful look like it would save him. Lois held back a smirk.

“Totally.” she agreed.

He sagged fully and sighed “Great.” the teen grumbled and started trudging his way over to the stairs, exhaustion leaking back into him fast now that the adrenaline of getting caught subsided. 

“Hold up.” she called and Conner turned toward her warily from the first step “What were you up to?” she asked and at that Conner bristled and averted his eyes.

“Uhm, Superboy?” Conner tried and Lois raised a brow at him. This boy was incredibly bad at lying. Just like Clark…Unlike Luthor.

“You never had trouble abiding by the no superheroing on holidays rule before now.” Lois said, crossing her arms and standing taller “Spill.”

“I got a lil cabin fever.” Conner shrugged, still not looking her in the eye. Lois narrowed her eyes at him and he sighed.

“Cabin Fever.” she said in a flat tone, clearly not believing him. She would’ve, if he hadn’t been so invasive before.

“Look, I had this team thing. I shoulda told you. Sorry, okay?” he huffed, attitude slipping into his voice and turned again. Lois could smell the bullshit from a mile away, and Conner reeked of it.

“What team thing?” a new voice entered the room before she could ask any further. Clark was standing at the top steps, clearly having woken up hearing the two of them talk. Now he was looking down at Conner with a furrowed brow “Why are you in your super suit?” he asked noticing the boy’s attire. Conner huffed, more irritated now, his exhaustion clearly wasn’t helping with that and he always got irritated when Clark questioned him about anything, especially his team…or when anyone questioned his team really. Lois could see the argument fast approaching.

Oh boy.  

She just hopes Jon doesn’t wake up too.

“Look, it’s not a big deal. We do it every year.” Conner says walking up the stairs and tried to push past Clark, but the man put a firm hand on his shoulder to stop him. Which might not have been a good move because the boy bristled. 

“What do you do?” Clark asked and Lois winced because while under different circumstances might have been curiosity but right now probably sounded accusing to Conner, who nearly snarled at the man. Dammit Clark, she was handling it.

“What do you care?” Conner bit out, angry, a bit too loud, Lois winced again. Clark startled a bit at the aggressive volume  and the defensive demeanour. He felt cornered, which wasn’t good, and would surely end in an argument if this didn’t end soon.

“Well Lois said no-” Clark tried placating.

“I know what Lois said.” Conner spat out at him “Doesn’t change that I still gotta do this bullshit every year.” Conner ground out.

“What do you have to do, son?” Clark tried to ask gently, but it was apparent that a bit of frustration was leaking through at not getting any real answers “We can hel-” and Conner cut him off with a snort and shoved past him, knocking Clark to the side so he could walk up a a few stairs.

“We wouldn’t need help if the Justice League assigned us monitor duty on Christmas fucking Eve .” Conner seethed and paused on and looked back at Clark over his shoulder “Then again, I guess it was convenient. Not like any of us had anyone who wanted to celebrate with us anyway.” he said bitterly and Clark stiffened. Lois held her breathe. Conner used that moment to go the rest of the way up before Clark could stop him

“Kon, wait!” he said when Conner got half way through the hall, it was at that moment that Jon flew out of his room, flying past Conner who paused and standing in the staircase between him and Clark, with a big grin on his face and Lois winced.

Perfect timing , she thought bitterly.

“Merry Christmas!” Jon called not yet sensing the mood, but when he got no response other than Conner’s door closing. He jumped a bit, turning back shocked and looked at his dad and then back to the closed door and he wilted a bit, his parents both gave a wince. “Wait, isn’t he comin’?” he asked, sad and hopeful, it was a heart-cracking sound .

“Yeah sweetie, he just had a late night.” Lois tries for a smile “Let him take a nap.” hoping that it would buy them sometime to figure out how this was going to go. Jon looked affronted at the suggestion.

“He’s gonna miss presents though!” Jon said turning around to the closed door “We can’t do it without him.” he insisted as he starts to stalk to Conner’s door - probably to slam it open and jump on top of him, which was his favourite way to wake up his brother - but Clark puts a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“We won’t, but let’s let him just sleep for a bit. Yeah?” he says benignly and Jon pouts, crossing his arms in a childish huff that almost made Lois smile “Hey, why don’t we watch a Christmas special? Anyone you want.” that seems to get Jon perking up again, eyes bright.

“Before breakfast?!” he asked excitedly. Lois rolled her eyes, the minor rule breaking of  no TV before breakfast was a small price to pay for Jon’s complacency. But she figured it was fine since it was the holiday and Kon already has broken a rule, what’s one more . Besides, she has more pressing matters to worry about.

“You got it bud.” Clark gives him a strained smile and the kid lets out a whoop and flies downstairs to pick out a channel. Lois gives Clark a look and he sighs as he tries to walk past her, she sticks out her hand to put on his chest to stop him. He does. He’s not getting out of this.

“The League had Young Justice working on Christmas Eve?” she mumbled lowly, enough so Jon couldn’t hear. It wasn’t a question, but a confirmation, especially with how Clark stiffened. She kept her seething at bay until she got the whole story, but she is not sure what Clark could say to justify working kids on a holiday without supervision, even if most of them didn’t technically have guardians at that moment, it didn’t make it okay to assume they didn’t have their own holiday plans.

“It wasn’t a good year Lois.” Clark says back to her, sounding pleading and desperate and so so guilty - he knows what they did was inexcusable, they had essentially abandoned the children and got away with it on technicalities - and Lois’ hands bunch into a fists. She remembers that Christmas vaguely, it was just like any other Christmas with no extra fanfare, her and Clark and Jon had been warm and watching a movie and woke up and Jon had gotten a bike. They had pie at Ma’s house along with a feast that night and all  sat around the dinner table as a family trading stories and musings. It was a good night, and now the memory suddenly it feels soiled; like it was incomplete.

“They were kids.”

“We didn’t treat that generation right, we know that Lois. We are trying to make up for it.” Clark says desperately. And she knows they are, she’s seen that they are. Back then she didn’t say much because it was understandable, or at least that’s what she told herself. The situations in how the kids came to be with them were tricky, Conner’s existence especially; it was valid for Clark to feel upset, it was violating in a way. Still, Conner was a person, Lois had said as much, and Clark said he’d try back then too. He didn’t back then, not well at least, and now they were reaping the consequences of that. 

“No Clark.” Lois says and looks him in the eye. “They were kids. They aren’t anymore. There is no getting that back.” she tells him and Clark’s eyes water, she feels a pang in her heart, this time for both the boy and the man put in this impossible situation.

“I know .” he whispers hoarsely, and Lois’ face and posture softened a bit and brought the man into a hug. He seemed so lost and overwhelmed, regret sitting heavy on his shoulders. She ducks her head to catch his eyes, locking him into a fierce and serious stare. 

“Make it right.” she says firmly, hands gripping both his shoulders as he looks at her defeatedly; not a look Superman ever has, because Superman does not have the room to regret, but one Clark Kent wears very often - not being able to save everyone, causing destruction during battle, but most of all it was personal failings, missing a game or a date night even if it couldn’t be helped - they made sure to tell him they understood. The difference is this could’ve been helped and he didn’t , Lois can’t soothe that and she won’t. He was wrong and he had to deal with the consequences, but that doesn’t mean she won’t help - for both Clark and Conner’s sake.

“But how . It seems so hopeless.” Clark chokes out. How do you give back someone’s childhood? Lois brings him in close for a hug as he stands there pathetically. “Every step I take forward with him, it seems like he takes two steps back, and I always take the wrong step. How do I fix this ?” Lois pulled away and held Clark’s shoulders, looking him fiercely in the eye, unyielding.

“You try .” 

OoOoO

Bart was, to say the least, an annoyance.

Thad is not shy about saying that to the other speedster’s face, along with a long list of complaints pertaining to the other matters pertaining to him. Saying they hadn’t always had the best relationship was an understatement and if Thad was honest, he couldn’t understand Bart in the least. Every action that he did seemed to contradict everything Thad thought made sense, or even things that just made sense in general.

Like, who tries to befriend someone that imprisoned them, assumed their identity and was about to kill their guardian? It just didn’t make sense. Bart should’ve imprisoned him, not befriended him. It was mind boggling and also fit Bart’s personality all too well.

What Thad had done was supposed to be unforgivable, that was the whole point. His entire life was pumped full of blind hatred, it oozed out of his very being. It’s all he knew, and all he wanted to know for the lost time; and even when that was put into question - even after seeing what unconditional love looked like - he still couldn’t let it go completely. Just redirect it. He never had a reason to hate, but his reason to not love was due to that hatred. He hated his hatred and he hated his family and he hated himself; hatred was all he had, and all he believed he was made for.

Bart was different, his complete opposite - that’s how Thad was designed , not born. Bart didn’t have a reason to love, but he couldn’t hate due to that love. He cared so deeply and truly, and once he found Thad after he had run off after he had failed to eliminate Max Mercury, Bart had run after him even if he had no reason to do so. 

When he was caught, Thad thought that would be it for his existence; he failed and was at the mercy of the enemy. But Bart had caught him. Had talked to him. Had cared about him; offered him a home. And for the first time the hatred was gone.

And he was just empty.

He hated that too.

Hatred had consumed his very being for almost all of his life, and once that was gone he had nothing left. Bart seemed to take his hand and guide him through everything else, no matter how difficult Thad became. He learned about friends, about games, about school and he didn’t like a lot of that, but he didn’t hate it. Bart showed and shared his life and every aspect of ‘fun’ that he knew of, and Max told him that one day he’d figure out what ‘fun’ meant for him too. 

Thad’s life suddenly became new .

One of these new aspects was the concept of ‘holidays’. Which Thad had found enormously tedious and needlessly stressful. It was also infinitely annoying - no wonder Bart liked them so much - from the songs that would not leave his head pounding, to the bright lights, to the over sugary sweets. He liked Halloween much better. Everyone seemed over cheery and strangely stressed and it freaked Thad out. It was also very cold, which was just ugh .

Bart had been instastant to partake in every single tradition of the winter season, which Thad wouldn’t have minded so much if he hadn’t dragged Thad along to every single event. From ice skating to cookie decorating to showing up at random people’s houses and singing . The only time that he didn’t spend with Thad was when he was with the Wests, Allens, or Garricks. 

Not that he probably wouldn’t’ve been invited there, but unlike Bart, Thad was a Thawne and had acted like one too. He had heard vaguely that Bart’s Thawne lineage may have made some bumps in the road to their relationship previously, but honestly Thad didn’t care much for them anyway. Thad lived with Max, and Bart had taken to switching between those places and the team he was on, never being tied down to one thing. How appropriate.

That sounded nice.

Even so, Thad would sometimes be dragged along to events and be forced to socialise , which was a frankly disgusting endeavour that always left his skin itching and his body feeling out of place. He never knew how to engage with other people, never needed to before, but this new life required skills that he could give no less of a shit about, nevermind that he wasn’t particularly good at interacting with other people - not that he’d admit that. He honestly could not wait til’ this entire ordeal was over.

Which would be soon, because all the mundane holiday friveloties seemed to be leading up to the big day of December 25th. Thad thought that for sure, the night before was going to be just as overbearing as all the other days these past two weeks if not more so but…

He hadn’t seen Bart anywhere all day.

Of course he didn’t say anything, this was a blessed reprieve from all the cheer and merry and the holly and jolly and many other ridiculous adjectives, but Max must’ve noticed that Thad kept checking his phone - more than he meant to might he add - because he chuckled.

“Don’t worry about him.” he said, placing a mug of cocoa in front of Thad. Bart had been shoving this stuff into his hand decked out with candy canes and marshmallows, chocolate chips and sprinkles, but the one Max had given him just had a lone candy cane, and Thad appreciated that because he did like the minty zing it gave. He didn’t care for all that extra frivolous stuff.  Thad just scowled at him as he accepted the drink.

“He could be dead in a ditch somewhere.” Thad was 90% sure that’s what had happened. It’s not like he cared what happened to him, or even that he wanted to go wherever Bart had gallivanted off to. It was just he had prepared himself already for social interaction and it seemed that effort was in vain since Bart wasn’t even here . And the boy had the audacity to just simply just disappeared, not even a leave a note? Honestly, an annoyance. Max chuckled again.

“He’s with his team.” Max reassured and Thad furrowed his brow. “They do this thing every year.” that didn’t spark any curiosity at all; in fact Thad should have figured. It was no secret that Bart was close with his team, what with all the incessant gushing over them at any given- and ungiven - opportunity. They were practically family, and had a bond much closer than Thad could comprehend. He was with them often these days.

The only reason he asked “What thing?” was for conversation sake, and nothing else. Max gave him a knowing smile regardless and Thad huffed and crossed his arms and did not feel heat rise to his cheeks. 

Max only shook his head and sighed “I don’t know. He doesn’t talk about it.” sitting down on an armchair. That did peak some infinitesimal amount of curiosity.  Bart was always so open and honest, to the point of being too much so; talking about anything and everything that happened at a million miles an hour. He had no filter for anything and one would think that would make him an awful secret keeper, a person who knew better would know that it just made him a better one. 

Bart was very good at keeping secrets, and Thad had unintentionally shared one with him, but Bart hasn’t breathed a word of it. Thad knows he remembers though, Bart’s mind is like a steel trap, he just gets distracted not only in real life but in his thoughts as well - but when he really focuses, he remembered everything . 

“Is it a tradition?” Thad probed, because Max had said they do it every year. Thad had been dragged to most, if not all of Bart’s weird holiday traditions, regardless of the company or weather they wanted Thad there or not - it made for some awkward introductions and interactions, and everyone was the polite in the way that tension was strung across the air, not that Bart paid it any mind - Thad knew he felt it too though. The events with Young Justice he was dragged to were the only semi-tolerable events, because it seemed that even if they distrusted Thad they trusted Bart enough to override that. 

“Probably, at this point, yeah.” Max said and blew out a breath. It sounded fond, resigned and sorrowful at the same time, a nostalgic look like a sad-happy memory was playing in his head. Thad couldn’t help but be a little frustrated, he had no idea why though, he had no idea why he cared so much right now. Bart does this all the time…but…

“Bart said this was a time for family.” Thad mumbled looking into his drink and Max studied him and chuckled. Bart said that he was family too, had told him that it didn’t matter. And maybe somewhere deep inside Thad, he was actually relieved that Bart dragged him to events of the season, even if he was kicking and screaming. He was glad Bart tried to include him in everything so far, and yes, Thad understands that even Bart has a life outside of him - which was hard to remember because when Bart was focused on a person, it made them feel like his whole world centred around them. But still, he didn’t even mention this event to Thad, and today was supposedly the most important one and he wasn’t here.

“Yeah, it is.” Max said giving him an odd look that unnerved Thad “But they are his family too.” and then he looked to his cup and his face scrunched slightly “First.” he said almost bitterly.

Thad blinked at him “First?” He thought that the Allens were his family, and if not them then Max. And yes, the Allens were his biological family, and regardless of that it was Max who was the one to take him in, so he supposes that supports someone who isn’t you biological family is still your first family, but still that would make Max the obvious selection. Young Justice were close though, and maybe they were closer than Thad’s previous assumptions, which was still a significant amount.

“Yeah, when he first came, Wally and him had a… rocky relationship,” Thad snorted because the tone Max used told him that was an understatement “and Barry was pretty busy at the time.” Max sighed again, like he was too old for this - and he was, he was supposed to be retired years ago “It was hard for his family to accept him.” that was news to Thad, everyone seemed to like Bart so much. To think that he was treated like…like how Thad was - like an outsider - that was…unthinkable. It made something simmer in his stomach too. They actually had a reason to hate him, he doubts Bart ever tried anything near the concept of malicious. It was unjust.

“But he had you.” Thad clarified, because he doesn’t know what would happen if Max said no. Max had accepted him, even after everything that had happened, and Thad was just warming up to the man, trusting him a little more and he was doing the same. If he said no, then was that all just for nothing?

“Not always.”  Thad’s stomach sank “I was pretty busy, what with trying to be retired but still semi-active; there was a lot of technicalities I had to go through to get custody of Bart with the current situation.” he looked at Thad “Made taking you in easier though.” he said, and some sort of tension left his shoulders as relief flooded in. So he was wanted here. Max blew out a breath “His team was always there though.”

“His team are a pack of imbeciles.” he huffed, crossing his arms and Max chuckled.

“Yeah, they do get into weird messes don’t they.” Max said shaking his head and then looked fondly into his own cup “But they will always have his back. That I know for certain.” Thad looked at him for a moment, and huffed and looked away.

“Regardless, at least I get a break from his annoying antics for a night.” Thad grumbled, slumping back in his chair and Max shot him a knowing smile - which Thad resented - and got up and stretched his arms over his head, making his old bones pop - if Thad was squeamish he would cringe.

“Yeah, I wish he was around more too.” he said, which is not what Thad implied. Max walked past him as he made a noise of denial and a ruffled his hair when he was off guard “He’ll be back kid don’t worry.” Thad let out a squawk and the hand was taken before he could swat it, so he settled for calling out a furious denial.

The words should not be as reassuring as they were. Thad scowled to himself and slumped back in the seat, sagging further down.

“That idiot.”

OoOoO

Damian will deny making friends to the day he dies.

If he admits to partaking in such childish activities, worse if his siblings found out, he would never hear the end of it - if they even heard him refer to them as his siblings, there would be unimaginable teasing. And honestly, it was a more than a bit hypocritical since they - Richard and Brown - insisted that he try and interact and create connections with his peers. Maybe if he hadn’t been so insistent that he didn’t need them in the past, the rest of his family wouldn’t make a big deal of it now. 

He still maintains that friendships are trivial and needless, but Jonathan was a powerful ally, or would be powerful once he grew into his abilities - just as Damian would. A kryptonian was a good asset to have on any team, and Damian wanted Jon on his in the future. It made sense, they had a lot in common such as being the blood child in each respective family that was not cloned. They also were compatible with each other, and Damian is very good at fighting alongside him. It was only natural afterall; of course they would be on a team together and they would be more elite than any of their predecessors. 

But then there were their differences. Such as, everything else. Jonathan was far too sunny and happy and excitable; naive . He saw the good in everything and was so optimistic and extroverted. It was annoying at first, and Damian hated that he was so carefree, but he grew to tolerate them…even if they were still annoying. Jonathan was childish and partook and as such enjoyed and partook in childish activities, which he would oftentimes drag Damian into. 

Such as this infernal season.

“So what are you doing for the holidays?” the other boy had asked, they were playing Minecraft, another childish game that Jonathan insisted they play together, even though it was a perfectly solitary game; however Damian refused to be defeated here. His base was impenetrable, and he would slay the ender beasts. Jonathan was not taking this seriously in the slightest, picking flowers and making dyes for fireworks - Damian refuses to admit it was cool.

“Please cease these infernal questions.” Damian said, trying to concentrate on killing this zombie.

“Oh come on , you’ve got to have some sort of tradition, even if you don’t celebrate Christmas.” Jon whined “You have like a million siblings, they have got to make you do something .” Damian huffed, at the mention of his father’s child hoarding problem (one that Damian hopes is rectified by his presence, but Thomas’ presence would debunk that theory. Not that Damian minded, Thomas was one of his more tolerable siblings along with Cain, Gordon and occasionally Drake - yes, even Damian can admit he has his usefulness and he mostly kept to himself and his team these days anyway.) and yes they had traditions; a mismatch of them with every child his father brings into the brood brings a new tradition, making this already tedious time of year even more so (except for Brown, Damian knows that there is a tradition she brought, knowing her there couldn’t not be. However Richard and Father said he could not partake until he was 16, which he was only resentful because he was not told what it was, but he supposes that whatever Brown has planned is no doubt excessive and annoying, so he may have dodged a bullet.)

“None worth mentioning.” he replied blandly, finally eliminating his target and collecting his bounty of rotten flesh. He loathes that the potions have labels attached, it makes quiet assassination tactics like poisoning null. 

“Seriously, nothing interesting happens?” Jon asked disbelievingly astonished “You guys are Bats ; you’ve gotta have some sort of super creepy mysterious tradition every year!” Damian winced and lowered his volume on his headphones even more. He forgets Jonathan gets excitable sometimes.

“Like what?” he asked exasperatedly, already knowing he was probably going to regret entertaining this drivel - he always does, so he doesn’t know why he continues to do so.

“I dunno, fight cryptids?” Jonathan suggests and Damian nearly snorts at that.

“That’s everyday in Gotham.” Damian says dryly. Honestly, he does not know why his family is so attached to this hopeless godforsaken city. Everyone here was absolutely mad, and the only reason that the Batfamily and the Rouges fought was to crown who had lost their mind more thoroughly. Gothamites didn’t blink an eye to any of it, nor the gore that painted their streets and allies - “ Just Gotham life.” as Brown would say. If given the circumstance he’s fairly sure every Gothamite would be okay if the Bats simply disappeared (he’s seen an old woman swing a nailed bat to the back Penguin’s head because the shoot out had put a bullet hole through her shop sign - every store in Gotham had bullet proof glass and if they didn’t they went under in a week. She had knocked Penguin out, stopping the shoot out and threaten Robin to get the fuck out of here and that he better not bring the cops to her corner and to get the body out of the way because it was bad for business and just left. Damian will admit he has a healthy amount of fear for her and had quietly switched patrol routes so that Brown would have to run through her street rather than Batman and Robin.) Gothamites were admirable, probably more tough than the US military 

( “We’re bred different.” Todd said proudly.

“It’s the water.” Brown agreed solemnly.

“Who’s stupid enough to drink the water?” Thomas raised a judgmental brow.

“Tourists.” Drake grumbled into his mug, still not fully awake.

They all scrunched their faces in distaste.)

“Maybe it’s a holiday cryptid! Like Krampus.” at that Damian rolled his eyes, he could practically hear the stars in the other boy’s eyes. 

“There is not a mystery nor case, it is a boring tedious holiday.” Damian replies exasperatedly and he was right he did regret entertaining Jonathan’s childish drivel, like he expected - honestly why does he keep doing so? “My siblings just bring in different traditions in an infernal attempt at family bonding.” he grumbles remembering the tedious, frivolous traditions he was dragged to. Richard says it makes him grumpy, but Damian refuses to be called such a cutesy word.

“Seriously? What a let down that sounds like my Christmases.” Jonathan saounded like he deflated.Damian raises a brow.

“Are your holidays not enjoyable?” not that he actually cares. Jonathan on makes a so-so noise.

“No, it’s great, especially since Kon spends it with us.” Damian refuses to scoff at the mention of Drake’s clone “But Kent family Christmas is the same pretty much every year. Gramma bakes and cooks and we open presents and it’s super fun.” he can practically hear Jon’s beaming grin now. “What do you do?” he asks and this entire conversation was lothesome. He already has to deal with actually partaking in holiday activities, he would rather not waste more precious time in recounting them as well. But he knows Jonathan will keep pestering until he gives a satisfactory answer, and that would be more annoying to deal with than just simply giving him what he wants - it is not a defeat, merely a tactical strategy for efficiency's sake.

“We celebrate both Christmas and Hannakah, Richard calls it ‘ Chaunakkah ’.” Which contrary to his previous belief, thought the childish name mash was a result of his eldest brother’s atrocious butchery of the English language, but apparently is actually a real term used in households that celebrate duel holidays. Damian still refuses to use it, referring to all events as seasonal ones. 

“So you put up a tree and have a menorah?” asks and the stars are back in his voice, Damian rolls his eyes.

“I just informed you of both aforementioned holidays which require them that we practice in this house.” Damian said terse, Jonathan ignores his tone and squeals much to his distaste and it is distaste that his making his heart a little at ease.

“Oh you’re so lucky, you get to celebrate two holidays.” the other boy says giddily. Damian only scoffs.

“Please, it just makes it more tedious.” he crosses his arms. He’s barely had anytime to patrol even with winter break, just because the amount of traditions - or more specifically siblings he had, seriously they needed to stage an intervention before his father creates a new demographic, he will mention this to Drake later, because loathe as he to admit it, he is fairly good with gathering, organising and presenting evidence, as well as managing team roles - this would have to be a group effort (heh, maybe he could make it his holiday tradition.)

“So what else do you do?” Jonathan questions further, even though Damian had provided a sufficient answer.

“What else is there to do?” Damian was getting irritated by this conversation. He should’ve ended this call as soon as Jonathan mentioned holiday cryptids - he’s not sure why he hasn’t yet.

“Well you said your siblings have different traditions, what are they? Like the special ones.” Jon asks giddily “Like mom and I go cranberry picking while dad and Kon get the tree.” Damian huffed but contemplated, he didn’t care to know which traditions was brought on by each sibling but it was easily apparent who belonged to who when he thought about it.

“Richard has us make paper ornaments, and Todd comes to help cook dinner - there is much fighting.” Damian huffed “We make an abundance of food that we take to shelters of Todd’s choosing, so I do believe it is on purpose.”

“That’s so nice!” Jonathan squealed and Damian shot a glare at his screen, even though Jonathan couldn’t see it, but he’s sure if Jonathan can make the stars in his eyes vocal, then Damian could make his distasteful stare do so as well.

“I thought you wanted me to tell you.” he said dryly.

“Sorry, sorry. Keep going.” Jonathan placated and Damian huffed but continued.

“I do not know hat Brown does, but there is a tradition in place. “ She would never miss an opportunity to participate in something like this, and despite her saying that she is not family - and Damian saying it too - everyone knows that she practically is - she had a place in Father’s will for heaven’s sakes “Thomas makes us go out and collect comic strips from old newspapers to wrap presents in.” Which was the newest tradition and Damian will start collecting news paper strips if only so he doesn’t have to go to Gotham’s junkyard to dig them up (Drake however had a field day, enjoying all the scraps of metal and bits and pieces he collected to make some sort of infernal invention that would probably get him on Batman’s Potential Rouge Watchlist ™ if he wasn’t already a bat - he’s pretty sure he’s on it regardless, and it keeps getting crossed out and rewritten.) They had passed through Thomas’ old neighbourhood though and joined in on a game of pick up basketball with some of his old neighbours, which was a much more acceptable and hygienic tradition in Damian’s opinion. 

Regardless, it was all tedious and annoying and they all had to do it together, because his siblings insisted . “Cassandra’s traditions lie in the new year, so we prepare for hers then.” Damian blows out a breath, that was the most tolerable one too and Drake usually keeps track because Cassandra forgets to mention it sometimes. For his sister, he doesn’t mind doing meaningless tasks if she asks - she doesn’t think anyone in this family can deny her, weather out of adoration or the fact that she could kick all their asses, probably both. “Does that satisfy your curiosity?” he asks, despite not intending to answer anymore bothersome questions. Jonathan makes a contemplating sound regardless, which makes Damian’s eye twitch

“What about Tim?” he asks innocently.

“What about Drake?” Damian asks irritated. He and Drake were no longer on hostile terms, maturity on both parties granted them that. Still, they weren’t particularly close either; they tolerated each other and had a modicum of respect for each other, but never had there been a need for more than that. 

“Well, does he do anything?” Jonathan asked like he didn’t understand the question.

“How am I supposed to know?” Damian’s forehead ticked “Drake goes off every year on Christmas eve, he partakes in everything else.” he just figured Drake was like him. Barbra didn’t have any traditions with the Bats, but rather her own dad, but she still made time to come to a few things. Damian didn’t celebrate holidays before, so therefore didn’t have any traditions for the family to inherit upon his arrival. And given Drake’s childhood, he assumed much the same - the fact he lacked a tradition sealed that conclusion - or maybe it was like Brown’s and Damian was ‘too young’ for it whatever that meant. The only consistent thing Drake that would likely pertain to the holiday season is his annual disappearance, and Damian already has partook too many of his sibling’s antics to care to ask.

“Where does he go?” Jon asked, again innocently. And Damian opened his mouth to answer but realised he had none. He shut his mouth and blinked.

“I am not sure.” he says and feels a bit off kilter, trying to rack his brain for a snippet of an idea.

Jonathan suddenly gasps, focusing Damian’s attention back to him “Do you think he fights Krampus?” he conspiratorially whispers, in a way that wasn’t actually a whisper, but just an obnoxious hushed tone that everyone could hear. Which no one would, because they were on a call, so there was no need for that tone anyway. He has long given up trying to decipher why Jonathan Kent is the way he is, so he doesn’t mention it.

“Who is this Krampus you keep insisting we are engaging with?” Damian asked exasperated, rubbing his temples to stave off the oncoming headache. He’s sure this conversation has made him lose brain cells.

“Like evil santa.” Jonathan says like he should know. That makes his forehead tick again.

“Santa does not exist.” he tells the other boy dryly, who gasps affronted.

“You take that back!” he demands, his voice cracking from going up an octave. Damian smirks to himself at that.

“Please that man was made up for corporate consumerism. It is childish to believe in him.” Damian scoffs. Honestly, the concept made no sense, and if it were at all possible for Santa Claus to do what he did, then shouldn’t his skills be utilised elsewhere - besides being a shut in that breaks into children’s homes and leaves them gifts. A person like that would be a great asset to the Justice League, and Father would surely have them in his database.

“Maybe you get coal every year because you’re so grumpy.” Jon grumbled, clearly pouting. “Still you don’t know if Tim’s not battling Krampus.” Damian sighed, it was clear that the gaming session was not going to be productive anymore and these questions about this already tiring time of year were getting to him - have been, seriously he should’ve ended this call long ago. 

“I am logging off before I lose anymore brain cells with this conversation.” Damian said and ended the call listening to Jon’s cut off whining. He blew out a breath and sat back in his chair. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, just mulling it all over for some reason. It was all mindless and pointless, but still…

Where did Drake disappear to?

Damian shook the question out of his head, it was a stupid one. Drake could do what he wished, so long as it didn’t effect him, the family or his performance on the field Damian didn’t care. And besides, Drake had a tendency for odd, unexplained behaviour, and disappearing for a short while was a very common side effect of that, as well as absurd sleep schedules, odd places to work(read: hibernate) and stealing clothes; it was just something Drake did… 

But still…every other tradition was a family affair… except Drake’s supposed disappearing act; none of them even went out to look for him, they just accepted that he left and if he wasn’t there come dawn then they’d start to freak out. It almost seemed like it was purposefully not a family affair. No one insisted on it being so either.

Damian soon decided it was not worth his brain power and went downstairs for a snack. He got up and stretched, limbs aching from being in one position for hours and started his trek downstairs. Low and behold, as soon as he entered the kitchen the person of his unwanted musings was in there, seemingly also coming down to steal some cookies.

Drake didn’t regard Damian as he walked in and usually Damian wouldn’t regard Drake in anyway as well, they have come to a tentative truce and learned how to coexist together, and usually that meant just barely acknowledging each other’s presence outside of capes - not that Drake was around much anyway, always off doing whatever he deemed more important, usually with his team. 

But tonight, Jonathan’s question was swimming in his mind, and Drake’s vexing existence was a reminder of that so he decided to break the silence.

“What do you do on December 24th?” he demanded and Drake seemed surprised as he looked up.

“Huh?” he asked, bite of the cookie he just chomped on still in his mouth, giving a wide eyed confused look that Todd says makes him look like a ‘confused birb’. Damian scrunched his nose in disgust at the lack of manners, but persisted regardless.

“December 24th, also known as Christmas eve.” Damian clarified as if Drake was daft, and who knows maybe all those nights of no sleep and being in close proximity to radiation and other dangerous energies and substances without any form of protection as he tinkered - seriously, he’s seen Drake deal with an ungodly amount of Resin with not so much as a paper mask - finally have made him loose the only working brain cells he had left. It’s a shame, he was good source of blackmail material.  “You disappear every year, where do you go?” he demanded and Drake cocked his head, swallowing his food. He did not seem intimidated by the impromptu interrogation - which Damian resented.

“Why do you wanna know?” he asked right back and Damian huffed and averted his eyes, not wanting to admit that Jonathan’s accursed musings had an impact on his thoughts. A mischievous smile started to grow on Drake’s face, making Damian fear briefly that he could read thoughts - he knows Drake is a proficient liar, but hiding an ability like that for years from this family would be a true stroke of- “Don’t tell me you’re starting to care about lil old me?” …and nevermind, he was still an idiot. Damian let out an affronted noise at the accusation as the older boy took another bite of his cookie, looking smug.

“Of course not.” Damian huffed and crossed his arms “Jonathan just kept insisting that you disappeared to fight some seasonal cryptid called Krampus. It is honestly nonsense.” he thought Drake would agree and the older boy just choked on his bite, in what Damian assumed was laughter.

“He’s not far off.” Drake mumbled when he caught his breathe, averting his eyes away and looking distinct not amused, which caught his attention. He caught Damian looking at him and gave a sheepish smile. “Nah it’s not that. Don’t worry, no evil Santas.” he reassured in a way that wasn’t really reassuring. Damian gave him a deadpanned look.

“Santa doesn’t exist.” he scoffed. Drake pointed to him leaning against the counter finishing off his cookie.

“Yeah, keep believing that, lil man.” he said distractedly and that made Damian’s brow twitch in irritation. It was Thomas who had come up with that nickname, to already add to his  long list of nicknames that his siblings used in lue of his name. They traded them some times, Damian hated all of them. He did .

“You have not answered my question.” he knew better than to let Drake change the subject too much, his brother was very skilled in diverting the conversation suddenly. He’s seen his family fall victim many times, Drake would divert the topic slightly and then by the time the conversation was over and he left the room, they would only remember what they were initially questioning about. By that point though, Drake was long gone. Damian would not fall pray to that tactic.

Drake looked at him and shrugged “ Eh, it’s kinda…a team thing..?obligation..? Don’t worry about it.” he said and grabbed another cookie as he started to leave the kitchen.

“What team thing? Drake?” he tried not to sound like a petulant child, whipping his head around as the older boy passed him.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your problem.” Drake said, waving shoving the whole cookie into his mouth “Yet.” was mumbled around it just as he dashed off, leaving Damian barely time to hear it. 

He blinked at the vacant entryway for a moment, mind still processing.

“ Yet ?” Damian asked loudly but it was fruitless. Drake was long gone.

And now he had even more questions than before.

How tedious.

OoOoO

“You’re delusional.”

In the time that she has known them, Lizzie has heard a lot of weird theories from Damian, especially about his family - she suspects it’s a product of living in Gotham. Damian has quite a vivid and often gory imagination, which is a direct contrast to Jon who has a vivid and optimistic ones; both of them are fairly silly though, but Lizzie enjoys that about them. 

But this had to be the most absurd one. Or at least one of the top ones.

“Drake is acting suspicious, and yes, I will admit this sounds childish, however if this is an obligation that our predecessors have then surely it will fall to us eventually.” Damian says to her in a serious tone and Lizzie sighed. 

She knows the pressure of being their parent’s biological kids, her Dami and Jon all shared it; understood that it was different from their other siblings/predecessors. They were the kids of Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman; the big three, holy trinity; had their blood flowing through them. They were expected to be extraordinary from the moment of their birth. Greatness was in their very essence. It was a tremendous undertaking that they had no choice in, with expectations larger than the tallest mountain. It felt daunting more often than not if she was being honest.

There was even more pressure because they also each had amazing predecessors to follow behind, and them being the bio kids, well…that was a whole other pressure. It was a lot to live up to, unnerving even. She knows the other two feel it as well and are anxious about it too. The drive to get better faster was instilled into them pretty much since they could understand what it meant to be born to who they were born to. It was like their future was already written and now they had to achieve it.

She knows Damian deals with it by trying to be ahead of his future responsibilities but…

“Cassie does not fight Krampus every year. Why would she even do that?” she huffed because that sentence just sounded ridiculous; who even was Krampus? “And you said it yourself: it’s not in the league files or reports anywhere. It doesn’t make sense.”  

The previous Wonder Girls - aka her mother’s proteges - consisted of a few warriors, but only two were on teams that involved other pupils of the Justice League. Donna Troy being the first, who was on the Titans. She was strong, and tactful - always thought things through in grand strategies. She supposes there is Artimes Bana-Migdhal as well, who wasn’t her mother’s protege but did join a team of self described “Outlaws”. She was one of Themscriya’s best fighters, even giving her mom a run for her money and a vicious ferocious warrior that would persist in battle no matter what. 

But Cassie Sandsmark was a whole other beast. She was distinctly different than any other warrior, amazonian or even girl that Lizzie had ever met. She was leader of her team - unlike the other teams where their predecessors were, where typically the Bats lead the team - which they haven’t decided who lead the team for this reason. Tim had let Cassie be the leader because she was better at it, or at least that’s what she had said, Lizzie doesn’t get to talk to her much because she is so busy. 

Cassie  was confident and self assured and headstrong along with being a good warrior she was a good person . An inspiration . There was a certain controversy to her though, like how she relied on her team more than her skills at times, and how she wasn’t ‘feminain’ enough to be a role model that Wondergirl should. She was an in between, and Lizzie honestly admired her more than her mother at times.

“I think they are just trying to get out of holiday stuff.” she says with a shrug. It would make sense, Cassie didn’t like going to events where she in unnecessarily judged and if her team made her feel anything like Lizzie felt with Damian and Jon, being with them would make the most sense.

“But Drake distinctly said it is an obligation . That means it will fall to us in time.” Damian insists and Lizzie rolls her eyes.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that. It could be one of those things that they don’t pass on to us.” Lizzie pointed out, it was more hopeful than she would’ve liked. She already had enough future responsibility, she doesn’t want another thing ontop of that, especially so close to after solstice.

“But what if it does.” Damian emphasises and Lizzie lets out an exasperated sigh. 

“Okay, okay. I’ll ask Cassie about it and report back.” She finally gives in, just to get him off her back about it “but I’m telling you they probably just want a break.” Lizzie says to him. Young Justice was always running on all cylinders, they were one of the most successful teams on paper, and if that wasn’t a lot of pressure, oh Zeus , she doesn’t know what is. She never understood though, why the Justice League is always so hush hush about them, or why they get those weird looks whenever they were brought up. Their success rate exceeded even the Titans , which should make them the pride and joy theoretically. The League's behaviour only made Lizzie more nervous.

“See that you do.” Damian sounded his approval and Lizzie rolled her eyes.

“Bye Damian, happy holidays.” she did not get a response, him having hung up half way through her sentence. She huffs “Rude.” she grumbles and goes off to find Cassie.

Which is usually a bit of a feat, but considering she’s actually in Themescryia right now, due to Solstice just ending the day before, Damian seemed to be in luck. She was at the training grounds right now with Artemis. Unlike other Amazonians, Cassie didn’t live in Themscryia and she didn’t operate out of it either. Cassie only came for major events and gatherings. During her down time when she was on the island, she tended for the training grounds so that was the best bet to find her, and Lizzie was not disappointed.

The young amazonian watched them spar and she will never not be in awe by how powerful her sisters are. It makes her excited and nervous all at the same time. Cassie was one of the only warriors that was able to keep up with Artemis, which considering her age and standing, was an enormous feat. She was so cool .

“Cassie!” she calls when the spar is complete, Cassie had lost it and went over to get a drink of water, but Lizzie knows that she’s won a lot against Artemis too, and she did not complain about defeat; it  only seemed to make her more determined to succeed. Cassie looks over as she takes the bottle from her lips and smiles to her.

“Liz!” she beams at her “Want in on the next round?” her eyes sparkle and Lizzie chuckles nervously, she thinks she’d rather perish. Cassie, despite her usual laid back demeanour, was brutal when sparring. Yes, out of all her sisters she was the easiest to talk to, creating a non-judgmental and casual atmosphere around her at all times. She was the easiest to talk to about trivial matters, especially those that originate from the world of man - her being born there, like Donna. 

One would think that would translate to training, but she wasn’t. Training always fired her up and her determination and ferocity shone through with no filter. Telling her to never hold back and be tenacious; Lizzie can see why people are so afraid of her. Donna and Diana were tough, but not as tough as Cassie. The only person more scary than her during training was Artemis, Lizzie had sparred with her once and she thinks it should be considered a new form of torture. Still, she’s learned the most from Cassie, and her stamina and endurance always improved after even just one training session with her - plus Cassie sneaks her a treat after, usually from the world of man. 

“Uh, no maybe later.” she declined politely and ignored Artemis’ snort “I actually had a question. Well, Damian had a question, to be specific; it’s actually kinda silly, but you know how Damian can be- I mean wait, you probably don’t…have you ever met Damian? He’s the current Robin and I know you know his brother, who was also Robin, which is kinda wh-” Cassie cut her off with a light hearted chuckle and warm, fond smile. Lizzie blushed at her own rambling.

“Trust me, Tim talks about him enough. I know how Damian can be.” she gives her an encouraging smile, not at all deterred by her rambling - she says that she has nothing to worry about, that she was used to speedster rambling. “Shoot.” Lizzie can’t help the grateful, albeit bashful smile at her misstep - mother and the other warriors say that she can talk too much sometimes - not Cassie though, she always makes sure to tell her that she’s not talking too much. 

Cassie was just so cool , she can’t help but be a little nervous talking to her too. She wasn’t like other Amazonians, she had a strange relationship with her femininity, not in the way Amazonians view it either. It isn’t just about being strong, or tenacious. She says that femininity is what a person makes of it; that its’ a state of mind and that it can look different for everyone; that girls didn’t need to ‘act’ like girls. She says it with her whole chest, even when people look down on her for it, or call her a bad role model for it, and it’s super inspiring. She was tough and compassionate, and she didn't give up until people listened to her. Lizzie wants to be that inspiring one day, wants to show girls that it’s okay not to fit a mould - weather it be of the world of man or amazonian or anything else.

“So uhm, this is really dumb… oh Zeus .” Lizzie takes a deep breath in to still her nerves “So Damian was wondering what you guys do on Christmas eve.” she says in one go and Cassie blinks, taken slightly off by the question. Lizzie took that second to rethink everything in her life leading to this point. She is never listening to Damian again .

“Christmas Eve?” she repeats, cocking her head to the side.

“What is this day?” Artemis pipes up.

“December 24th, it’s like the day before Christmas. It’s a typically Christian holiday, but many other religions and cultures celebrate it too.” Cassie answers her, but never taking her eyes off Lizzie.

“Yeah.” the younger warrior nods “Damian said that Tim leaves on Christmas eve, and I dunno if you do too. Cause we don’t really celebrate Christmas, and I always just thought you were busy on those days like you usually are, but Damian said that Tim said that it was a team obligation, so he was curious I guess…” Lizzie shrugs and averts her eyes, Cassie’s gaze boring into her “It’s dumb.” she mumbles and she hears Cassie blow out a breath.

“That idiot.” she mutters to herself and sighed exasperatedly before looking back at her trying to be reassuring “Look Liz, don’t worry about it. It’s our mess to clean up, not yours .” she said in a way that usually would make Lizzie bristle, but now it was only making her less pressured and a lot curious.

“Mess?” she asked.

“Yeah, mess.” Cassie said bitterly “But don’t worry, it’s nothing dangerous, at this point it’s just annoying.” Cassie sighs like she was just reminded to do a tedious chore and Lizzie is kinda grateful that she won’t have to do it. 

“So you do have an obligation?” Lizzie asks, kind of surprised but also a little not. Damian had the tendency to exaggerate things sometimes, especially when it came to his siblings or birthright.

“Yeah, but don’t worry about it.” Cassie says again. Lizzie’s eyes widened.

“Do you fight Krampus?!” Lizzie asks a little shocked and awed, she doesn’t know who Krampus is, but Damian said that might be who they had to fight. Maybe he was a D class villain that only came out during holidays with a vendetta against Young Justice? What id they failed in battling him? Would that mean that they would have to take on the mission? She hasn’t seen a Krampus in any database though and- 

…and Cassie let out a bark of laughter.

“I wish . Sounds more like a Bat thing though.” Cassie chuckles and Lizzie huffs and is inclined to agree. Seasonal cryptids would be on brand for Gotham.

“Then what do you do?” she asks, now entirely captivated. Cassie just smiles and ruffles her hair. 

“Didn’t I say not to worry about it ya stinker?” she teases cheekily, Lizzie huffs, crossing her arms as Cassie turns to Artemis “Okay, I think break is over.” Then turns back to Lizzie “You sure you don’t wanna join, I could teach you some sword manoeuvres.” that  jolts her out of her pouting.

“Nope, I gotta thing to do bye.” she says quickly and hightails it out of there before she can be pulled into the form of torture that was a joint training session between Themescryia’s most merciless and unpredictable warriors; Lizzie would actually like to breathe today thank you very much.

Still, maybe Damian did have a reason to be a bit suspicious. Cassie was awfully vague and she left with more questions than answers.

She’d have to look into it.

OoOoO

“Kon?” 

Jon blinked up sleepily at his older brother as he froze near the window in the living room, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Jon sat up a bit on the couch where he had accidentally dozed off, trying to rub the sleepies out of his eyes and making sure the plate of treats in his lap didn’t tip over.

Sleeping on the job, honestly. He had a very important objective tonight …and why did the voice in his head sound like Damian?

“Jon! What are you doin’ up shouldn’t you be asleep?” Kon says nervously, trying to keep a hushed tone for some reason and Jon blinks at his older brother, looks him over, and furrows his brow. Kon was dressed to go outside, in his superhero clothes, but it was the middle of the night and on Christmas Eve.

“Are you sneaking out?” Jon asks more than a bit disappointed, his brother does this sometimes, when his parents are a bit too much. He goes to stay with their grandparents or one or more of his teammates, sometimes even Lex Luthor, but Jon didn’t think he’d go on Christmas Eve. Mom had made a rule that they weren’t allowed to go out during Christmas, and Kon had gotten in trouble for the same thing last year.

“uhm…”Kon says and sighs “Yeah you caught me.” he says with a sheepish grin and hands lazily raised in surrender. Jon furrows his brow even deeper.

“Where are you going?” he asks instead of complaining for Kon not to go. If Kon leaves now though, that means he’ll come back late and then he’ll be too tired for presents and Mom would find out because she always finds out. Dad would get frustrated too and when Dad gets frustrated with Kon they argue and then Kon leaves. Jon doesn’t like it when his big brother leaves.

He knows that his Dad and brother try to keep him out of their fights as much as possible. He knows that they didn’t always have the best relationship and he knows that sometimes the only thing keeping his family whole was the fact that they were doing it for him. Which he’s glad and scared of at the same time. They never told him this for that reason, but Jon is smart and he figured it out - plus he thinks they forget that he has superhearing too.

He knows they’ve gotten better but they use him as an anchor for Kon and a reminder for Dad, even if it was unintentional. They didn’t want him to see the other in any negative light, even if they had a weirdly tense relationship. Sometimes there was a tremendous amount of pressure, being the person that made his family get along. It was easy most of the time, he just had to act like a kid, but sometimes he wonders what will happen when he grows up and isn’t a kid anymore. Would Kon and his Dad push each other away? He loved his family, but he was afraid as he grew up they’d all leave him and drift away. It might be childish but he didn’t want  them to.

“Just a team thing, don’t worry about it.” Kon waves off. And it was always a team thing. Kon was always off with his team before and always off with his team now. And now he knows that Kon made time for him, that Kon loves him too. But being reminded he had a team to go to, that he’d always see as family before them, stung a bit. It made sense, his team was there when his dad wasn’t, but it still felt unfair. Kon could leave anytime and he’d be fine, but Jon would lose his cool older brother. Him going to them now just felt like more of a confirmation of that.

Jon looks to the plate of cookies in his lap dejectedly “I thought you were gonna stay for Christmas.” he murmurs, letting his sorrow show through a bit, and Kon is at his side in an instant. Just like he always is.

“Hey, I am . I just gotta do this thing first. I’ll be back before you wake up.” Kon soothes, lower his voice. He took a different tone when he was being reassuring, strong but gentle. A steady presence. It was something that Superboy and Superman differed from. Superman was reliable in a way that was untouchable but Superboy was reliable in a way that was down to earth; he wasn’t just reassuring, but he also showed he cared . He knew his dad cared, but his dad was also so busy. Superboy wasn’t though, never too busy to make sure everyone was not only safe but felt that way too. Jon looks up at him with hopeful eyes.

“Promise?” because Kon never breaks his promises - and he never makes promises he doesn’t know he can keep.

“Pink swear.” Kon offers his pinky and Jon links his eagerly, finger looking tiny wrapped around his older brother’s. “Speaking of waking up, what are you doing up so late?” he asks, letting their pinkies go and straightening in front of him to look at him in a half teasing, half- serious way, Jon beams up at him and kicks his feet excitedly.

“I’m waiting for Santa Claus.” he says holding up the plate of cookies with both hands to show the older boy. Kon blinks at him in surprise “I’m gonna see him this year.” he says with determination and an affirmative nod. At that, Kon gets a weird look on his face and chuckles nervously, averting his eyes.

“Santa? You don’t say.” he laughs as he doesn’t look at him and Jon narrows his eyes suspiciously.

“Yeah, Dami says he doesn’t exist, but I gotta talk to him. He hasn’t been doing a great job recently.” Jon mutters and for some reason Kon looks affronted.

“Hey, being Santa isn- can’t be easy! Getting presents to like a billion children in one night is hard!” he says and then clears his throat “I imagine.” he says bashfully, not looking at him again.

“He left last year’s gift in Streaky’s litterbox.” Jon deadpans and at that Kon splutters. Jon narrowed his eyes. Kon was acting…weird. Weirder than normal.

“Okay, so he’s not perfect. Whatever, he’s in a rush. He’s a busy guy.” Kon mutters more to himself than to Jon and then huffs. “Whatever, I gotta go.” and he turns to leave, but Jon stops him.

“Wait!” he calls and Kon turns a bit, raising a brow “You’re gonna be with Tim, right?” Jon asks and Kon looks at him questioningly “You…you said it was a team thing, so you’re gonna be with Tim right?” Jon says and hikes his shoulders higher, nervous all of a sudden.

“Uh, well Tim is part of the team, so yes, Tim will be there.” Kon said and then mumbles “he better be there.” and then something about faulty phasers that were just glorified laser tag weapons “Why?” he asks Jon after grumbling to himself again, but then again Kon always grumbles to himself about Tim so that wasn’t so weird - Jon doesn’t really understand it or Damian’s older brother that much, actually he’s kind of afraid of the guy if he’s being 100% honest, but like just a little.

“Nothin, just be safe.” Jon says and gives him a big grin.

“Yeah, whatever, don’t give Santa too much shit you brat.” Kon he teases, but for some reason it sounds serious too - he thought Kon was too old to believe in Santa to actually be serious though, so that must be Jon’s imagination - and  mock salutes him and then is off out the window, not making a sound as he flies away in a gust of chilly air.

Jon makes sure he’s completely out of ear shot before dialling Damian’s number.

OoOoO

They were almost done.

The last thing on their gift delivery route every year was probably all of their favourites. Not that they’d think they’d have favourites when starting this whole ordeal that first year but on the second year’s roster they had a full route instead of a half one and this certain delivery surprised them as much as the implications made them giggle.

 It was to Apocalypse. To deliver Darkseid coal. And wasn’t it hilarious that the implications of this silly, infernal list that stressed them out and gave them copious amounts of costumer service complaints - and seriously, who the fuck gave the Workshop’s HR department’s number out? But apparently one of the biggest big bads out there, one that the Justice League was afraid of fucking with, the creator and holder of the anti-life equation and fearsome ruler of Apocalypse and an army of bloodthirsty parademons, was humbled by Santa Claus Every. Single. (Earth) Year.

And never let Young Justice be one to turn down intergalactic trolling and hijinks.

Every year they had to either steal Lex’s boom tube or Tim and Bart found an alternate way to get there. This year was the latter. In a janky warehouse they operated out of this year somewhere on the west coast.

“I swear, the look on Darkseid’s face every year is so worth all of this.” Cissie stretches out her back, popping the joints after a long night of chucking gifts through chimneys,  windows and dog doors. She was right, fucking with Darkseid was worth all this, too bad they couldn’t tell anyone - it’s not like they reported half their missions anyway though.

“Right? I still can’t get over the fact that Santa solos the dude every year.” Greta giggled “Or used to at least.” they all took a moment to mourn the jolly fat man that no one except them and a few elves knew was dead. 

Honestly, they don’t know how he did it. It had been years and they still didn’t have a set system of operation, it was always so random and rushed at the end and they always had to get back to real life afterwards. They never had anytime to set anything solid up. Maybe if they did, they’d have less complaints.

“Really? I can’t get over the fact that we managed to kill the guy that solos Darkseid every year.” Tim mumbled as he tinkered with a part that was starting to spark. It was fine…probably.

“And who’s fault is that?” Kon teases and Tim shoot him a glare. How was he supposed to know phasers wouldn’t work on a doomsday meteor? Phasers worked every other time. Honestly, Tim thinks that he should’ve just switched to lethal emission, rules be damned. This is what he gets for following them, a dead holiday figure and a life time worth of sneaking around. Their only options were to be Santa or figure out a way to eradicate Christmas entirely - which Tim was still - secretly - working on.

“Look, Santa’s route wasn’t really in my calculations when I made the plan.” he mumbles , hunching his shoulders as he just gave up and decided to put duct tape over it. 

“If your ‘phasers’ had actually worked then maybe he wouldn’t be in the path of a meteor at all.” Kon smirks, he doesn’t actually mean it, he just likes giving Tim shit for it because his huffy face was adorable.

“If we just had more time-”

“They were fancy laser tag canons at best-”

“Anita says to take a selfie with Darkseid. Do you think a polaroid will work or would the lighting be to shitty.” Greta pipes up, swinging her feet from her platform that she was sitting on as she scrolled through the group chat casually.

“I can’t believe she couldn’t find a babysitter for her parents this year.” Cissie rolled her eyes and huffed a bit.

“Okay, A.) don’t call them her parents, it’s weird. And B.) it’s christmas eve, we were lucky she could find one all the other years.” Cassie says, looking up from the logs to make sure they hadn’t missed anyone - they always do, and they're always scrambling the 26th. Again, lack of organised operations, they really needed to hammer that out one of these days.

“Still, she loves this part.” Greta wilts and puts in a roll of film to a polaroid she produced.

“Please, you only come out of your MIA status every year to do this.” Bart huffs, soldering two wires together.

“Well, yeah, I’m not really a hero anymore.” Greta says with an eye roll “I’m a real girl, and the only reason I’m here is because Cissie dragged me by the ear.” she grumbles and pouts in Cissie’s direction.

“Damn straight. If I have to do this shit, you do too.” Cissie huffs and looks to Cassie. “Why do we have to do this shit? We are retired .” she emphasises.

“Solidarity.” Kon and Tim say together in a flat tone and Cissie rolls her eyes. 

“If you really thought retirement would get you out of this, you are so wrong sweetheart.” Cassie says sweetly in her direction, with a smile way too big to be real - this shit always got her stressed despite her not even celebrating Christmas, then again none of them really do seriously - well besides Bart but it was more the vibes of being with their families that they were really there for, holiday be damned. This whole Santa Claus schtick was always a speed bump in their Christmas Eve traditions that they could be doing. 

Oh well, at least they had each other; things were always fun when they were together, even the stressful stuff. 

“You’g Jus’ Us fo’evah, b’by!” Bart cheers with a wrench in his mouth. He takes it out and tightened a bolt “Okay it’s almost done, get ready.” he says and Cissie and Greta grumble but go to gather the coal anyway.

“Ready for what?” they hear a new voice, startling the four remaining members to look up from what they are doing to see the three gremlins standing there looking varying levels of confusion and stern. 

“This doesn’t look like a holiday party…” Jon says nervously looking around the rustic warehouse and rickety sleigh and half assed interspatial portal. Lizzie looking at them - Cassie - confused and Damian was standing between them with his arms crossed trying to look intimidating. It was hard, because they all were in puffy coats and over sized scarves, hats and gloves. They looked adorable. 

“Holiday party? We’re having a holiday party!” Bart’s eyes sparkled as he whipped his head to Cassie, vibrating in excitement. The girl just sighed in exasperation messaging her temples.

“No, Bart.” Bart pouted and Cassie rolled her eyes, turning her attention to the kids again.

“Whoever said anything about a holiday party?” Kon asked them, now confused rather than shocked, he looked to Tim who just shrugged helplessly and went back to jamming gears into the motor - he’d let them handle this, Cassie was better at that sort of stuff.

“You said team thing…” and Jon looked warily around the junkyard wearhouse where all the parts and pieces were laid about and the frankly hazardous machine that Tim and Bart were working on, with exposed wires and occasional sparks. Yeah, this was not a cheerful scene, the only thing ‘ holiday ’ about it was probably the red, scratched up sleigh in the corner, the reindeer were roaming somewhere around the junkyard that surrounded the warehouse.

“Right, well…I never said party.” Kon grumbled and Jon shot him a look and he shrugged helplessly and offered a half charming smile.

“How did you find us?” Cassie asked, they only used this warehouse once a year to do this task. It was impossible to trace them, Tim made sure of that; not even Oracle would think to look here, maybe she could find it if it was online for more than a day, and one where she usually took off at that. Tim was actually pretty proud he secured it, the key was to pretend like it didn’t exist every other day of the year. It was a pretty basic system too, but no one really asked questions or followed them so...

“What are you doing?” Lizzie asked and three of the four older heroes looked at each other. Silent conversation passing between them. Bart shrugged and went back to working on the electrical hazard that was in violation of every single intergalactic code out there.

“Answer her question.” Damian said. Cassie raised a brow. Legacy kids or not, she doesn’t take shit from anyone, especially a pipsqueak she could break like a toothpick. Tim almost felt bad for Damian, but he couldn’t help but snort.

“You first.” she said icily, putting on her team leader face that she used for JL debriefs and crossing her arms sternly.

“Sandsmark I swear to-” Damian stepped forward and Jon held out a hand to stop him. Cassie didn’t seem the slightest bit threatened, only looking bemused and expectant.

 “Please, what’s going on?” Jon asked and they all paused for a second before letting out a collective sigh that spoke volumes of their exasperation with this whole situation.

“Well, guess cat’s outta the bag.” Kon said with a shrug, Tim shot him a glare - still miffed that the kids managed to find them, but not entirely surprised. Honestly, if any Bat were to look for more than an hour and not find them Tim would kind of be worried; but so far the entire system banked on them not asking questions and Tim didn’t care enough about this whole ordeal to put much effort into it besides the bare minimum. “Well…” Kon smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “We kinda…uhm…” he pandered, the kids expecting gazes looking boring into him.

“We killed Santa.” Tim said bluntly, not looking up. Kon and Cassie immediately facepalmed, Bart hitting his arm. “Ow! What the hell!” he looked to his friend betrayed.

“Dude you can’t just tell kids that we killed Santa.” he huffed.

“Why not?” Tim asked. They were literally superheroes, they’ve heard worse. They’ve seen worse, hell Tim knows for a fact him and Damian have done worse.

“Santa is real?” Damian asked disbelieving, raising a brow.

“You killed Santa.” Jon says with watery tears shining in his eyes which seems to make Tim pause.

“Ah shit.” Tim murmured, feeling slightly guilty. Kon shot him a fierce glare before going over to comfort his brother and broken childhood innocence. Good going Tim.

“See!” Bart  gestured. “Look what you did. You made the baby sad.” 

“What else was I supposed to say?” Tim defended. He didn’t know Santa meant that much to Jon.

“I dunno, anything besides the fact that Santa is dead.” Cassie said sarcastically, rubbing her temples again.

“Who is Santa?” Lizzie piped up and they all looked to her. It clicked for Cassie first.

“Right, you don’t celebrate Christmas.” she says in lue of an answer. Jon seems to look shocked and disbelieving, snapping out of his crocodile tears.

“He’s the coolest. He brings toys to every kid in the world in one night and he has these elves that make the toys and he knows anything you want and-” Jon pauses then snaps his head to his brother “Is that why Santa’s present was in the litter box.” Kon doesn’t seem to know how to respond, but before he could, Lizzie manages to look horrified.

“He stalks children and keeps slaves ?!” she says appalled and then turns to Tim with a solemn look “Thank you for your service.” Tim doesn’t know how to respond other than a nod of solidarity.

“No!” Jon says back, looking upset and Damian hides a snicker behind his hand - a display he wouldn’t have shown a year ago, Tim is kind of proud.

“Okay, come on we’re gonna be late.” Kon says standing up and walking over to Tim as Tim takes out an operating switch grumbling that he ‘didn’t say they were done’ , even though they totally were.

“Where are you going?” Damian demanded now, mirth vanishing. Tim holds back from rolling his eyes.

“To Apokolips.” Cassie deadpanned and Bart grinned.

“We gotta give Darkseid coal.” he says and Tim nods with a slight smirk.

“Tradition.” Bart said happily as he started the machine up on the control panel. He grinned and Cissie and Greta entered with the wheelbarrow of coal as if on que, paying no mind to the gaping kids as they entered the portal - they were probably waiting so they wouldn’t get caught in the discussion, fuckin cowards. Bart jumped in after them, and Tim snorted following, Kon not too far behind. Cassie walked up to the portal and grinned wickedly.

“Say anything...” she told them and it sounded like a threat, before she too entered the portal, leaving the kids with their minds reeling, and a million questions mostly centering around ‘ what the fuck?!’

They’re not sure they actually wanted to know.