Chapter Text
After the party, most of everyone headed home. Imogen stayed another hour and spent it with Delaney in one of the living rooms. To pass the time, Jason challenged Damian and Duke to a dart throwing match. There was an old school wooden and cork target set up in one of the fancy parlors. Jason had thought he’d have the upper hand since he had actually competed at bars and everything, but Damian and Duke were almost as good as he was. All that batarang throwing came in handy.
Since they all had excellent accuracy, they kept getting into ties and having to come up with increasingly difficult rules or challenges. Eventually they were calling shots or trying to hit the spaces between the scoring sections or aiming to knock each other’s darts off course. Which ended up having unintended consequences.
“It’s pretty small,” Duke said, running his thumb over the small but still noticeable and deep hole in the wall. Damian’s dart had smacked his off course, but then Damian’s dart had embedded itself in the wall instead of the target. Jason had yanked it out, but he had to wriggle it to get it to budge. Little bits of paints flecked off. Duke pulled his hand back. “Maybe nobody will notice.”
“Alfred will definitely notice,” Jason said. “Do either of you squirts have any gum?”
“We’re not patching it with gum,” Duke said, making a face. “And I’m not that much shorter than you anymore.”
True, in a couple years, Duke would most likely catch up to Bruce. Jason would still have a few inches on him, but Duke wasn’t a kid anymore. Jason half-smiled. “All right, then who has a plan?”
Instead of answering him, Damian left the room. Jason frowned, wondering what he was up to, then went back to poking at the hole. Maybe there was spackle somewhere, a tiny bit of it. Honestly, this wasn’t so bad. They had destroyed much bigger parts of the manor before.
Damian walked back in, his hand wrapped around something small. Shouldering past Jason and Duke, he looked at the hole. He pinched off a piece of what looked like off-white clay from a tiny block in his hand. Rolling it between his thumb and forefinger, he eyed the hole then brushed the bit of clay or whatever it was across the hole. It practically disappeared, the off-white blending almost perfectly with the cream color of the parlor wall.
“What is that stuff?” Duke asked.
“A kneadable eraser,” Damian said, showing it to Duke. “Now Pennyworth won’t fret over it.”
“I don’t think he’d fret,” Jason said, smirking at the old-fashioned word. “More likely he’d have a great time chastising us about playing recklessly with darts.
“It wasn’t reckless,” Damian argued, “It was…inventive.”
Jason smirked. Sure, not at all reckless, especially not when Damian had jumped off the mantle to do a backflip and throw a dart at the same time. Which he grudgingly had to admit was pretty damn cool since he’d made a bullseye like that.
All three of them jumped at a knock on the open parlor doorway.
“Jason, Imogen needs to get back to West United for the night,” Bruce said, wandering into the room. He glanced at the dart target. “Damian, Duke, can you watch a movie or find something to do with Delaney until Jason gets back?
“Sure,” Duke said. He was pointedly not looking at the wall. “The dogs probably need to be walked. Damian, are you coming? We can go find Ace and Titus.”
“Yes,” Damian said, also not looking at the wall. “That’s an acceptable plan.”
The pair started for the door. Bruce picked up a dart from the table and spun it once in the fingers as he followed after them. Jason heard a quiet ‘wzzz’ and a ping and then a thunk. Bruce kept walking, and Jason realized that he had somehow thrown the dart, bounced it off a metal lamp shade, and hit dead center on the board.
“Show off!” Jason yelled after him.
Bruce’s quiet laughter trailed after him.
When Jason reached the living room where he’d left Imogen and Delaney, he found Delaney doing a kind of puppet show for Imogen using the rabbit toys, mini-Wing, and mini-Hood. Jason stood behind the couch.
“Come on, we’ve got to save the good guys,” Delaney had mini-Wing exclaim to mini-Hood.
Mini-Hood put his hands on his hips. Delaney tried to make her voice deeper. “I’m going after the bad guy. I’m going to punch him. In the face!”
“Okay, but the good guys—”
“Okay, okay, good guys first. Then the bad guy!”
“I feel like this is so eerily accurate, it’s like watching a livestream rescue,” Mo mused.
Jason snorted. “That so.”
“At least that’s how I imagine this goes,” Imogen mused. She sighed as Delaney had mini-Hood and mini-Wing collect the rabbit family. “Hey, baby girl, want to walk me out to the car?”
“Do you have to go?” Delaney said, the toys drooping in her hands. She flicked her hazel gaze from Jason to her mom. “You could stay in my room.”
“I wish, your room here is awesome,” Imogen said, “But remember what we talked about? It won’t be much longer, just a few more days.”
Delaney nodded, and Jason wondered as he came around the couch and offered Imogen a hand up if it had something to do with Imogen’s drug trial ending soon. He hadn’t asked yet where she planned to go; would they be able to move back to her old apartment? Where were her and Delaney’s things, like furniture and everything?
“I think all the floors should be bouncy,” Delaney said as the three of them walked to the front of the manor where a car was waiting for Jason and Imogen. That’s where Alfred said he had parked the little hybrid he had used to go get Imogen. “The whole manor could be a bounce house.”
“I don’t know, wouldn’t you get bored?” Jason said, just to see her indignant reaction.
Delaney gasped. “No! Bouncy castles are too fun, and this is gigantic and it’d be a, maybe, maybe a world record bouncy castle.” She shook her head, her curls flying around. “Be for serious, Jason.”
“Wow, you’ve been hanging out with Steph way too much,” Jason said, laughing.
Mo grinned. “For serious.”
“I love Steph,” Delaney said, lifting her chin in the air. “We’re going to the movies. Did I tell you, Mommy, about the movies? We’re going.”
“Steph told me,” Imogen said, “Maybe you can watch a cartoon.”
“Yeah,” Delaney said, tucking her hand into Imogen’s. Jason noticed Alfred cross the foyer, reaching the door just in time to open it for them.
Imogen smiled at Alfred, then went up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. Jason had known she was short, about Cass’ height or an inch or so shorter, but she always seemed tall for some reason. “Thanks for the ride, Al. And for keeping everything a secret, I think it was a good surprise.”
Alfred smiled back at her, reaching out to gently grip her arm for a moment. “It’s been a pleasure, Miss Imogen.”
Delaney flung her arms around Mo’s legs. Mo managed to extract herself so she could bend down and actually hug Delaney. They held onto each other, Del snuggling against Imogen, until Mo kissed the side of her head roughly. “Hey,” she said, drawing back, kissing Delaney on the forehead this time. “Why don’t you show Alfred how Red Hood and Nightwing rescue people? He might like that. Or at least get a kick out of it.”
“I’m sure it’d be quite the event,” Alfred said.
Delaney hesitated. She backed up and leaned against Jason’s leg for a moment before nodding. “I left them upstairs.”
“I am quite adept at taking those stairs,” Alfred said, gesturing toward them. “If you would be so kind as to lead the way, I’ll be right behind you. Master Jason, we will see you later this evening, I’m assuming?”
Jason nodded. “Yeah, we’ll stay the night.” He and Delaney had been crashing at the manor for the last few days. His apartment was getting dusty, and he found that he didn’t really care. “Damian and Duke’ll want you to help walk the dogs, too, Del.”
“All right, I guess…”
With a last few goodbyes, Jason and Imogen left the manor, taking the car that Alfred had left. Imogen immediately hooked her phone into the car’s Bluetooth and pulled up a list on her Spotify. He had a feeling she was putting off whatever conversation she wanted to have just a little while longer, even though she was the one who wanted to talk. The tails of scarf drifted down over her shoulder as she thumbed through her options. Settling on some kind of mix, she settled back against the seat, which was warm from where Jason had turned on the seat warmers. He didn’t want her to get cold.
Outside, trees and undergrowth passed by, barely looking like Gotham. They were so far outside the city that there were occasionally horse pastures and massive barns, mansions and manors sitting on hills or tucked off long driveways. Imogen had grown up wealthy. He wondered if her family had a house like this. He hoped he never found out.
“Cool, this is awkward now,” Imogen said, suddenly tapping her fingers on console. She turned in her seat, pressing her back to the passenger side door. “We need to talk.”
“You sort of mentioned that a while ago,” Jason said, glancing briefly from the road to her.
Her hazel eyes shone in the dim light of the car’s dash. Out here, there weren’t any streetlights. Still, the light pollution from Gotham made it harder to see the stars.
“I did,” she said, “Listen. Okay.” She set her phone in one of the cup holders. “I’m getting out of the hospital on Tuesday. And since my landlord leased my apartment out to someone else, Bruce is going to let me and Delaney use one of his safe houses. A penthouse somewhere.”
“I think I know the one,” Jason said. It had to be the one he and Delaney had been at earlier that week. It was in a good location, safe, not far from a shopping district. A little far from Delaney’s preschool, but he could get her there easily enough. Or Imogen could.
“I’m not a charity case,” Imogen said. She let a breath out through her teeth. “But I’d do anything for Delaney. I’m not above accepting that apartment when it comes to her.”
Jason nodded. “She’s a good kid.”
“The best,” Imogen said immediately. “It’s not…I want to spend time with her, not worrying about how to afford an apartment.”
The silence that dropped between them seemed to drown out the song playing through the speakers. Jason’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“Aren’t you going to ask me how much time?” she asked, so quiet it was almost like she hadn’t spoken at all, like the question had been in his head.
He didn’t look at her. He didn’t want to ask because he was afraid of the answer. “Whatever it is, you deserve so much more, Mo.”
Again, Imogen was quiet. This time, he did look at her. A few tears were sliding down her cheeks, creating silvery tracks in the green glow of the dash lights. A flash of pain coursed through his chest. He put his hand palm up on the console.
After a few moments, she put her hand in his, threading their fingers together. “I’ll be here for Christmas. And maybe a few months after that. But…” She stopped, her words thick. Taking a breath, she blinked rapidly, looking out the window. “Yeah. I’m going to make the most of it.”
Jason squeezed her hand. There wasn’t anything he could say to make things better, but he could be here and listen to her. And he could keep helping. She might still need someone to pick up Delaney or take her to school—he’d only be a phone call away.
“I still have a question, though,” Imogen said. She reached over and turned down the music until it was barely audible. “This isn’t a question you have to answer today. But whenever you do answer it, I need you to be completely honest. Got it?”
He nodded once. “Understood.”
“Good,” she said. She shifted in her seat, gripped his hand, and then let go. “It’s about Delaney.”
Jason had been thinking it might be. His heart felt like it was smacking against his ribcage. “Okay…”
“I know you’ve only known us for a couple months—”
It seemed so much longer.
“But I’ve got to start thinking ahead,” Imogen said quietly, “I have to think about her future and what’s going to happen to her.” She brushed a hand across her mouth and wiped her knuckles under her eyes, brushing away the tears. “She can’t stay with Khloe.”
“No,” Jason said, “She can’t.” He and Imogen had already talked about the whole potential family vlogger idea that Khloe was considering, and Mo hated it even more than he did. She had called Khloe and reamed her out for even considering it. Khloe had begged for forgiveness. Jason wasn’t sure if Imogen given it.
“And she can never go to my parents,” she said, repeating that fear from an earlier conversation.
“She won’t.” Jason knew that he’d do everything in his power to make sure that didn’t happen. And then if he couldn’t stop it, Bruce was there with lawyers and more money than anyone really knew about except maybe Alfred and Tim.
“But you…Delaney thinks the world of you and I know you care about her,” Imogen said, “Again, you don’t have to answer now. But would you consider becoming her legal guardian? And maybe—” Imogen drew in a deep breath. “Maybe you could adopt her, if you think you’d be up for it. I don’t want to pressure you, but I have to ask. You can say no.” She started talking faster, but her voice was steady. “I know you have a lot of hang-ups about your lifestyle and your family and everything, but I—even if there were a dozen other options, Jason, I’d still ask you.”
Jason didn’t feel worthy of being trusted with Delaney.
“What about everything I’ve done?” he asked. “I’m not exactly one of the good guys.”
He could feel Imogen’s eyes on him, unwavering. “You are. No one’s perfect.” She held up a hand as he started to protest. “Can you just think about? Like I said, I don’t need an answer right now.”
“Are you sure, Mo?”
“About which part?”
“Asking me in the first place.”
The corner of Imogen’s mouth rose in a crooked smile. “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have wasted my breath asked. And honestly?” She let out a quick breath. “I think having an assassin detective criminal mastermind weapons expert protecting my kid is perfectly acceptable.”
That made one of them. That kid, she should have her mom and a happy life and safety and a completely normal childhood. But since that wasn’t an option, he also had trouble imagining with a different family. He used to be able to. Now, though, he could only imagine her as part of his. Still... "I'll think about it."
"Good. Thanks. Awkward question successfully asked, time for music to mask the fact that it's still a little awkward."
Jason almost smiled as she turned the music back up and hummed along to the song that rolled through the car. He had to really consider everything since this decision would affect Delaney's entire future. He owed it to her and Imogen to truly think it through and not make a rushed decision.