jason todd & bruce wayne

Jason gets arrested by Superman and Wonder Woman, while undercover as Red Hood in a criminal organization. Problem is that they don’t know he knows Batman and trying to get free only poses more problems. Especially when it’s Dick, not Bruce that comes to break him free.

When Garth asked Jason what phrases he wanted translated, the mer hunched down in the water and blew furious bubbles before huffing, “No.” Garth frowned. You already know how to say that. What other things do you need to be able to say to Bruce and Alfred? Of the speech, Bruce recognized his name and maybe Alfred’s. It made it feel like something was clawing inside his chest, knowing that he couldn’t communicate properly with this child living in his pool. Jason curled his lip back. I know human words. You really don’t. --- Or: Mer Jason's recovery from trafficking.

Jason stood in the foyer of Wayne Manor and felt infinitesimal. He was a spec of dust, a grain of sand, a molecule of dirt on the Mona Lisa, or something. --Jason has been taken in by Bruce Wayne, some things go right, some things go very, very, wrong sequel to seventeen going under - you really need to read that one first

Jason never answers the phone. Not when it's Bruce calling. And recently, he's been calling a lot. Not that Jason can fault him, since he has only just finally appeared in the wild after having vanished after the explosion. Jason would never admit it, but he listens to every voicemail, reads every message, and rarely even chuckles at Bruce's stupid millennial memes. Though one concerning voicemail sends Jason barrelling back to the manor like a freight train.

“Excuse us for the late hour. We’re calling from the Neonatology Department at Gotham General Hospital. It’s in regards to our patient newborn Baby Boy Todd,” she tells him matter-of-factly. ”You were listed by their mother as their next of kin in case anything happened.” OR It takes a single call to turn Bruce’s whole world upside down. After all, it’s not everyday a phone call notifies you that you’re the father of a newborn baby. A baby whose mother is dead.

Jason has figured out that there are two groups of people: the "Heys" who keep him in a bathtub with too little water and subject him to unimaginable pain every time they pry scales from his body and the "Assholes" who buy the scales. So when he's taken from the Heys by some Asshole, he's not stupid enough to assume his situation will actually improve at all. All humans, after all, are terrible--especially Assholes who wear demon skin and don't quite grasp how lost Jason really is. (In which Jason misunderstands pretty much everything about humans and Bruce is an asshole...in the nicest way possible.)