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Birthday Boy

Summary:

Another tumblr request: reader insert jason being reunited with his best friend when he comes back alive

Notes:

Another fic that was posted on my arewehumansorarewebirds Tumblr! this one has been edited and updated pretty heavily. Just some continuity things I didn't like and editing to match my writing style now. As I post these I am missing writing for DC, should I write more Jason? I do have a lot of abandoned fics I could pick up again LOL

Jason's birthday is not in October but...I didn't want to keep this locked in the vault so....

Enjoy <3

Work Text:

Years had passed since the day you lost someone who you never thought would mean so much to you. Even thinking of his name still hurts, you wished that it didn’t break you every time you thought of Jason Todd. The memories of him are burned into your mind, but as each day and year passes you lose a little bit of him and you hate that. You could barely remember what his voice sounded like, or what he looked like without the help of the few pictures you owned. The one thing that you will always remember is his laugh and his smile, you would never forget that it was those memories you held on to the tightest. His smile always radiated a warmth you desperately missed, and his laugh was music to your ears. The death of your best friend still haunted you, even though it had been years. 

Even though you missed him, you knew you couldn’t waste your entire life mourning over him and moving on had to be the hardest part. Accepting the fact that he was gone and that he will never come back, didn’t settle too well with you. He was the one person you could trust with your whole heart, and he trusted you just as much. He told you about him being Robin

At first you couldn’t even believe that he could be the Robin until you saw him in the outfit. You remembered that he looked so different. There was a new light in his eyes when he put the costume on. Almost like being Robin had given him some sort of magic. What you loved most about him taking up the mantle of Robin was that he was happy. The smile on his face never faltered as he saved lives and brought justice to the criminals of Gotham City. You really missed that smile. There were only two times a year when Jason Todd littered your thoughts quite frequently; his birthday and the day you found out that he had died. His birthday is coming up, which initiated the resurfacing of a lot of memories. He would have been twenty this year. 

Usually around his birthday you would spend more time with Bruce Wayne and his little family which you had quickly become part of when Jason first brought you to meet Bruce and Dick, a memory that seemed like ages ago. After Jason’s death you had grown closer to them than you realized. They were there for you and you were there for them, they were the only ones who knew the pain you were going through. 

Every year Bruce would grow a bit distant and stay out longer than necessary on patrol. It took him time before he’d go back to normal, and you hoped that as each year passed he would get better. 

He didn’t. 

He couldn’t. 

He still blames himself over Jason’s death, no matter how many times you or Alfred or Dick kept telling him it wasn’t his fault. It got to the point that it was like talking to a brick wall and all three of you dropped the fighting all together. This year, you wanted to visit his grave. It had been years since his death and you think that you’re finally strong enough to go see it. 

Before you couldn’t stomach the thought of visiting the place where your best friend laid. Mostly for the fact that you didn’t want to accept his death for the longest time. You thought that maybe you were having a dream, and you’d wake up and it'd be all over. 

But it wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare. 

Dick had offered to go with you. He has been nothing but a sweetheart since the day you met him and you were grateful for his friendship the past years. You declined his offer knowing that this was something you had to do by yourself. All he said was that if you needed him just call, he’ll always be there for you. 

The days ticked by slowly as they approached the day you couldn’t stop thinking about. So many thoughts and memories were flooding your brain you could hardly concentrate on anything. Nothing would catch your interest and almost anything and everything kept reminding you of the boy you had loved so much. When the day finally came, you went out to buy some flowers and headed to his grave. 

You approached the headstone with some reluctance. You hadn’t seen it. Dick drew you a map on where his plot was.

Seeing his name carved into stone for the first time solidified the fact that he will never come back to you. You would never be able to see his smile again. Or listen to him telling you about his late night adventures. You would never be able to tell him just how much he meant to you, and that hurt the most. 

Bending down you placed the bouquet of a mixed variety of flowers by his headstone. You took a few steps back, feeling uneasy standing upon the ground where he laid. You sighed and looked around to see if you were alone. Once you felt like it was just you and nobody else, you sighed. 

“Well, this isn’t the kind of reunion I wanted,” You let out a dry laugh. Your voice shook as you continued, “Happy Birthday Jay. It’s been hard, you know? Celebrating a birthday without the birthday boy... Alfred still bakes you a cake and lights some candles on it. We never eat it or blow the candles out in hopes that you’d be the one to make a wish and get the first piece. I wish you were here so we could celebrate together.”

You paused. You could feel tears swelling in your eyes as you talked. You wanted to stop, but you couldn't. You had to get all your thoughts out in the open, you couldn’t hold them inside any longer. A single tear rolled down your cheek, and you didn’t wipe it away. You could feel more rolling now and you let them. 

“There are so many things I want to tell you, but it doesn’t feel the same not seeing you. It’s tough and not just on me or Alfred, but Bruce and Dick as well. We all care- excuse me -cared about you. It's still rough talking in the past tense.” You had to stop to take a deep breath before continuing, “Bruce has it the worst though. You know he still blames himself. He thinks that if he was just a bit faster or smarter you’d still be here with us. I wish I could place the blame on him, but I know it's not his fault. I know it wasn’t your fault either. You were just following your heart. You were always good at that.”

Sighing, you looked around once more. The sun was setting in the distance, which casted an eerie feeling…maybe you should have taken Dick’s offer to come with you. You stuffed your hands in your jacket pockets, staring at the flowers you placed. 

“Does this get any easier?” You mumbled. 

You turned to leave, eyes turned down staring at the grass as you started briskly walking away. You didn’t go ten steps till you ran into someone, almost falling onto the ground until two hands grabbed your shoulders steadying you. 

“Shit, sorry I wasn’t paying attention.” You said regaining your balance. Where did this guy come from? 

“You’re welcome, you should probably pay attention to where you’re walking.” They said in a playful tone. 

“Yeah I think I...” You looked up to see who had caught you. “What the fuck.” 

No way. 

No way was this man standing in front of you... Your eyes went wide as you took in his features. It couldn’t be, it can't be. It can’t-

“No,” was the only coherent word that would come out of your lips. 

You pushed away from him, taking a large step back to see him fully. The expression on his face changed from playful to hurt as he saw the fear in your eyes. 

“You. You can’t be? How? But? Jason? ” you whispered. 

A small smile spread across his face, something you didn’t notice in your state of mind. He really did miss the sound of your voice. 

“It’s me. It’s really me.” He answered. 

You blinked, trying to focus on him. He looked completely different from what you remembered. For one he was tall, probably as tall as Bruce, maybe even taller. Muscular as well, way more than when he was fifteen. His hair that used to be a light ginger color, was now black with a bright white streak in his shaggy bangs. He still had the light hints of freckles littered on his cheeks and nose. But what changed the most was his eyes. They used to be blue and now they were a piercing green . You couldn’t believe that Jason Todd was standing a few feet from you well and alive. 

You took a few cautious steps towards him, hoping that this was real and not some type of hallucination from Scarecrow's fear toxin. When you got closer you placed one hand on his shoulder to make sure it was real. He felt solid…real... 

You could feel the tensed muscles underneath the brown leather jacket he was wearing. Your hand skimmed down to his forearm, yeah still real. He smiled at you when you lifted your eyes to meet his. Something sparked inside you as you retracted your hand and punched him as hard as you could in the shoulder you were touching a few seconds ago. 

He yelped and took a step away from you, his other arm coming to cradle the place you just hit. 

“What was that for?!” 

“For being alive! What the fuck?! When did this happen? How did it happen? Why are you here now? I need answers!” You yelled, crossing your arms over your chest, staring him down.

Jason rubbed the place you just hit. Well that wasn’t the response he thought you’d give him, but it was better than nothing in his mind. He stood in silence as he took in your form. You have changed a lot. You were older, a bit taller than he remembered, and the deep dark circles around your eyes that were probably his fault… but he knew you were still the same person he knew before he died. He still considers you his best friend, but he’s not too sure you still do. He finally sighed, “It’s complicated.”

Your eyes squinted at his response. You still thought you were dreaming, how could someone be brought back to life? 

That doesn’t happen, it just doesn’t

But it did happen, Jason Todd is standing in front of you alive

A part of you wanted to just accept the fact that he’s back, you finally have your best friend back. But the other part didn’t want to believe it’s true. He could be a clone or something like that. 

“I want to know, no matter how complicated it is.” You stated. You were glad your voice didn’t waiver or break because it felt like it’s about to. 

“I’ll tell you everything, I promise.” He replied. 

You nodded your head a few times. All the emotions from the past five years had been boiling ever since you got to the cemetery, and now they were spilling over. Tears streamed down your face as you just kept nodding your head at him. You brought your hands to your face as you started to sob. Jason panicked and bolted towards you, he stood there awkwardly not knowing what he should do. He desperately wanted to hug you and cradle you till you were okay, but he didn’t think that was entirely appropriate since you just found out he was alive about ten or so minutes ago. 

One of your hands left your face to grasp onto his shirt and tugged him towards you. You buried your face into his chest and wrapped your arms around his torso as you cried. He felt so different from what you remembered, but right now you didn’t care. You needed his comfort right now, you needed to make sure he wasn’t going to leave again. He wrapped his arms around your shoulders and squeezed you tight against him. He really missed this feeling of being loved and cared for. In that moment he made a promise to himself that he would never let you go. He would never want to put you through any unnecessary pain ever again. 

“I’m sorry,” He mumbled, “I’m so sorry I put you through this.”

You shook your head, your hands making knots in his leather jacket holding on for dear life. 

“Just,” you took a breath, “don’t go away again. Please .”

Jason’s arms tightened around you, “Never again. I promise, I’ll always be here.” 

After the worst years of both of your lives, you were reunited. Not in the way you imagined it, but ten times better. He was alive . Although the whereabouts and how he managed to live eluded you, but that didn’t matter right now, you were just happy to have your best friend back. 

Jason felt the same way. After being away from what he would call his other half for so long, he didn’t want to let you go. He wanted to cherish this moment for as long as possible. Being reunited with and holding the one person he could tell anything and everything to was the best birthday gift he could ever ask for.