controllingcrime - Tumblr blog

[controllingcrime]

Jason picked up the remote as Tim wandered off to the kitchen, flipping through the options.  “What about That 70′s Show?” he called out, pausing over the option.

Tim coughed out a little laugh and shook his head.”Okay, okay. No Frozen. What about Family Guy? It’s gross and funny.” The oven dinged, signaling it was up to temperature. Tim tossed the remote in Jason’s lap and got up to put the pizzas on their racks.

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“So long as it’s not Frozen,” Jason said with a wave of his hand, “The kid next door hasn’t stopped singing those songs in over two months, I’m pretty sure I hear them in my dreams now.”

Tim snagged the remote and settled next to Jason. “’m not a lightweight.” But he definitely was. He and Jason had already figured that out before. “We both know I have good taste. Now what genre are we looking at? Romance? Comedy? Animation? An animated rom-com?”

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The kiss came as a surprise, but Jason huffed out in amusement and returned it a second later.  “No wonder you’re such a lightweight, when you drink like that,” he teased, taking another drink and then moving for the living room.  “Alright, you’ve got control over the remote.  It’s a very serious responsibility and I expect you to not disappoint me with your choices.”

“It’s for Lian,” Tim laughed. He’d lost count of the shows and movies he’d watched with her. And, hey, some of them were good. He was pretty sure he’d watched Frozen about and hundred and five times now, and he didn’t hate it nearly as much as he thought he would.

He didn’t miss the way Jason grabbed a beer instead of the soda. It was well deserved and Tim wouldn’t call him on it. He set the oven to preheat after he’d adjusted the racks so he could put in both pizzas at once.

“It won’t take that long,” he retorted with a smile. Maybe when it was the three of them trying to agree on something, yeah, but he was sure he find something for Jason without too much trouble. “Can I taste?” He asked, back in Jason’s bubble. Instead of reaching for the beer bottle he kissed Jason again. “Mm. Not bad.”

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“Says me,” Jason repeated, flashing his teeth with a threatening smile.  “Please fuck off, thank you.”  He could break out of the grip, he could feel where it was weak, but where would be the fun in that?  He was far more interested in seeing how far his other self would push.  “Why so serious? You’d think someone died.”

     “Says you,” Jason countered, and somewhere in the back of his head echoed, says me. Fingers tightened around the wrists he held. His grin got a little sharper, a little more edged. “Price’s up to a please and a thank you, now that someone’s gotten nasty.”

     Jason was fully aware he wasn’t holding the other well enough to completely avoid the grab from being broken. But he was also fully aware that this was the way things went with them, so, y’know. It was a little give and take.

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The bastard grabbed his wrists before he could shake one of the sticks from the pack.  Asshole.  “Fuck off,” he said, with a smirk and a sneer.  This was how it went for them, flirtation hidden under a veil of disgust and anger.  It was like they couldn’t decide if they hated each other or not, which was perfect since Jason couldn’t decide if he hated himself or not.  His himself, not his other self.

Yeah, this would never not be fucked up.  “How about you let go and I don’t put my first one out on your pretty face?”

     Jason waited until the other had successfully retrieved the pack (and been handsy in return; he’d gotten a sharp grin in return, no warmth in the expression) before catching the wrist that held the box, fingers gripping tight. Now he had both wrists, and showed no signs of letting go.

     “Say please?” he suggested, not very sweetly.

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Back by unpopular demand: ME

                                                      independent pre-N52 Harvey Dent

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Jason wanted to object, but couldn’t.  Not when Tim seemed to happy to see him, and had come bearing food.  “Harper has Netflix?” he said, closing the door and bolting the lock back into place, “Didn’t know he was living the rich life now.”

He turned back to Tim, and for a moment his brow creased into a frown, as if he wanted to say something.  It smoothed over a moment later.  “Yeah, sure.  Wasn’t planning on working tonight anyways.  The boys have got everything under control.”  He crossed over to the fridge and opened it up, grabbing a beer instead one of the sodas Tim had brought.  He was going to need a little alcohol if he wanted to make it through tonight without alerting Tim to his less-than-stellar mood.  He popped the cap and took a drink.

“Lets throw those bad-boys in the oven and spend an hour trying to decide what to watch.”

Tim hurried his way up to meet Jason at his door but it was open and waiting for him by the time he got there. He smiled and shrugged. “It’s never exactly clean you know.” He pushed up onto his toes to give Jason a quick kiss. There was the taste of smoke lingering on his lips, and Tim couldn’t say he hated it. 

“I was completely bored at home and there’s no one exciting to steal from tonight,” he lied with a sigh just as dramatic as usual. As he nudged his way past Jason he wondered if he should have gotten a little dressed up for him or brought over one of the new fun leather outfits he’d picked up in Star City on his last visit to Roy. But maybe any of that would have aroused suspicion and Tim wanted to be as natural as possible.

“So I got food,” he dumped it all on the counter, “and Roy’s Netflix info, and,” he stuck his ass out just enough as he put the soda away in the fridge and turned to face Jason, “now I’ve got you. So? Stay in with me tonight?”

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Jason took another drag, and let the smoke sit in his chest until it burned.  His exhale was more cough than anything, but the sting felt good in the most depressing kind of way: it reminded him he was alive.

Not that being alive had been his first choice.  He’d never wanted to come back, especially not to the reality of the world he lived in.  Bruce had moved on, the Joker was still killing, and no one gave two shits about the 14-year-old boy supposedly buried 6 feet underground.  Talk about being bitten in the ass by reality.

He exhaled again, watching the haze rise up and disappear into the setting sky.  The day would be over soon, but the taste always lingered.  Like gasoline and blood mixed in with a heaping of regret.

The voice yanked him from his self-depreciating thoughts, and he glanced down to see Tim standing in the parking lot, bag in hand.  Damn, he hadn’t expected this.  He’d specifically failed to mention the events that had transpired on this day so that Tim (and Roy) wouldn’t come running to his aid.  He didn’t need them seeing him like this, he was enough of a mess on his good days.

But he couldn’t exactly turn the kid away now, could he?  Jason sighed and snuffed out his cig in the ashtray by his hand, then turned and retreated into the apartment.  By the time Tim got to the door it was already open, Jason leaning in the door-frame.  “Place is a mess,” he warned.  He didn’t own enough for it to be a big mess, but it had been a couple of days since he’d touched the dishes, and there was a can or two sitting on the coffee table. 

He hadn’t known what had Jason all out of sorts for the last couple of days until he spent nearly twelve hours hacking into Batman’s own files. Those things were coded and locked tighter than a medieval chastity belt. But it didn’t stop Tim from getting what he wanted. There was no triumph with it. He felt sick, like he’d intruded on something so utterly private, like he’d stolen something he shouldn’t even know existed– And both were true.

It was Jason’s death day.

Tim backed out of everything and cancelled his night’s plans. Jason shouldn’t be alone. Roy couldn’t fly out on such short notice (if he even knew what was going on; Tim wasn’t sure and maybe kinda sorta forget to call him) and Tim knew there was very little chance Jason would want to go anywhere. So it would just be the two of them. Tim was fine with that. He hoped Jason would be too. But, then, maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe he’d never said anything because he didn’t want Tim to know. Maybe Tim had crossed a line here. He should probably avoid being direct about this.

Wishing the cats a good day and telling Mochi to stay out of the fridge, Tim left the apartment to hurry down to the corner store. Impromptu date night. Sure, that was a good cover story for keeping Jason close as long as possible, right? Tim could only cross his fingers for that. He picked up two frozen pizza, two giant bottles of soda, and more chips and cookies than their stomachs could handle.

He caught sight of Jason from down the block and readied a bubbly attitude for him. “Is that your cigarette smoking or are you just happy to see me?” He shouted up, shifting his load so he could wave at Jason from down on the sidewalk. “I have food! I’m coming up!”

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Something to think about: if Harvey hadn’t literally murdered Jason Todd’s father, and if he knew his whole story, there wouldn’t be a damn thing stopping him from looking at Jason post-resurrection and thinking ‘holy shit, it’s Mini Me’.

Think about it: poor kid from the streets of Gotham with a shitty parental situation claws his way into a better life through idealism and sheer force of will, only to have it all snatched away from him in a horrifically traumatizing event that leaves him badly, badly hurt (or dead).

Then, immediately after (by his perception, at any rate) he’s replaced, cast aside, and betrayed by everyone he ever cared about, and these people seem to have decided to let the person who destroyed everything he had walk away scot free. So he decides ‘I’m going to kill the fucker myself’. And then he thinks about it for a minute and says ‘well hell, why stop there?’

And then he decides that if he can’t convince the world to be fair to people like him on its own terms, he’ll make it fair by force. And in so doing he alienates and breaks the hearts of all of the people who still want to believe that there’s good in him, who want to help him, who want him to come home, but who inherently can’t understand his perspective because it stands so at odds with their own, only deepening the trench between them.

Am I talking about Jason Todd or Harvey Dent?

Think about it.

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“I could use a stick or two in my mouth,” Jason growled, pressing forward until his chest was brushing the other’s.  He reached around to Jason’s back pocket, grabbing his ass with a wide-open palm and squeezing it once before pilfering the box from his jeans.

     He’d glanced up for all of half a second before contact was made. Good thing he knew what’d been coming.

     “— Someone hasn’t blown through a pack of smokes yet today, with that kinda attitude.” His tongue ran over his teeth, one hand’s fingers wrapped tight. around the other’s wrist in a reflex at the grab. “Got a pack in my back pocket if you feel like reaching for it.”

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@ilietobatman &&/OR @arsenalofarrowpuns

“Shitty ass fucking day....”

Jason lit the cigarette between his lips and exhaled a long trail of smoke as he leaned against the balcony.

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@bxmboozled

“Hey, asshole.”

Jason grabbed his other self by the collar and yanked him into a teeth-clacking kiss.  “Fuck you.”

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but bby u love my eyes

Bow chicka wow wow

you’re not allowed 2 talk shit one sec and then be over here makin eyes @ me w ur words get outta here >B(((

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“Please don’t,” Dick grinned, and Jason threw up his hands. 

“It happened one time!”

After pushing his glasses back up his face, Dick stood, “Alright, I’ll let you boys off with a warning, but don’t make a habit out of it.”

“Cops,” Jason hissed.

“And if you have any trouble with your alpha, give me a call and I’ll be happy to taze him.”

Ignoring Dick, Jason rose the window again.

“Are you sure?” Tim was grateful for the offer, but he knew how precious homes away from home were. They all understood where the pack centered but everyone had a favorite safehouse or two they went to when they needed it. Tim had tried having his own apartment too but it just wasn’t practical for the omega to live alone. For Dick to offer up his apartment to them was a kindness Tim would have to figure out how to repay. “Thank you. I won’t let Jason burn it down.”

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“Actually, that’s the other reason I’m here,” Dick continued, “We both know what the manor’s going to be like when Bruce gets home, so here.”  He pulled out a pair of keys and handed them to Jason.  “Use my apartment. Stay there tonight, until Bruce and Damian have a chance to calm down.”

Tim sat back up slowly, feeling a little guilty about not telling Alfred they were going out. He must have called Dick and told him what car was missing. Tim would apologize to the beta when they got home. “I’ll manage,” was the best answer he could give Dick without lying. The last alpha who had forcefully exerted such power of Tim had been Ra’s, and Tim didn’t want to think about what that said about Damian. “We’ll head back home soon. I just needed to get out the house.”

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“Other than you two running off without informing anyone?” Dick leaned against the door. “I heard what happened, and I don’t blame you for wanting to get away, but you,” he pointed a pen at Jason’s chest, “Need to keep it under 90.  And I’m telling you that off the record, because we both know the speed limit is 65.”

“Don’t be a party pooper, Grayson.”

Dick rolled his eyes but looked past Jason to Tim.  “You alright, Tim?”

“Sure,” Tim mumbled, knowing he’d probably have to step in. But as soon as the window as down and he caught Dick’s scent, Tim leaned forward and banged his head on the dash. “Dick, why?” Couldn’t he have left them alone? He had to know it was Bruce’s car. And if he wanted to chat he could have just called. He was being an obnoxious big brother, that’s what it was.

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Jason slowed and pulled over to the side of the road, giving Tim a ‘hell if I know’ look.  “I’ll take care of it,” he promised.  The cop tapped on the window next to Jason, and the alpha sighed and lowered it.  “Hello, officer.”

The cop leaned over to look at the two joyriders, lowering his big reflective aviator glasses down the bridge of his nose.  “Mr. Todd, do you know how fast your were going?” Dick asked.

Tim was much more at ease only a few minutes into their drive. Being away from the manor, out alone with Jason, and the faint remnants of Bruce’s scent in the car helped Tim to settle down and enjoy his tea while Jason got his well earned free time as well. At least until the lights behind them blared like a giant “NO FUN ALLOWED” sign. It better not be an alpha cop; Tim was well past his quota of dealing with alpha nonsense for the rest of his life. He sighed and looked to Jason. “What’s our story?”