#so he'll have to watch how jason and batsis slowly build back their bond (from what remains of it) and how easily she relies on jason

[seleneprince]

My brain is truly my biggest ally and enemy at the same time. It doesn't stfu, even when I want it to

For the Neglected Family! Darlings au, originally Daughter and Jason's relationship was that they never met in person until he came back to the manor after his debut as Red Hood. That Wife! Darling did the whole blackmailing thing after Jason's death, which made sense because it caught Bruce in a vulnerable phase of his life that allowed her to catch him by surprise. Originally, Jason had only seen the family from afar when he stalked them for information about the Batfamily, and seeing them being just a normal happy family, with a loving mother, made his chest squeeze. His relationship with N! Daughter was leaning to hostile after he came back because he was low-key jealous of her and the life she got to experience, obviously not knowing better, while also deep down wanting to bond with her.

I intentionally made this because not only it explained how Bruce would be so careless to take off his cowl in a rooftop without checking his surroundings first (the grief affected his perception), but also because in all Neglected! Readers works I've read Jason and her had a great sibling relationship where he was this reliable, beloved older brother of hers, until he died and then distanced from her. Also, he and the Wife darling usually get along too because she adopts him and all. I wanted to change it a bit

But know I've been thinking, because I love drama, how cute of a detail it would be that Jason was still alive as Robin where the family moved in, and despite knowing something was off with the marriage, he couldn't bring himself to dislike the kids. How ironic it would be that while Dick was always everyone's reliable older brother figure, Jason was Daughter's and the only one she considered her big bro? How sweet it would be that Jason, who already felt insecure about keeping up with Dick and proving his worth as Robin, suddenly has people who look up to him and trust him wholeheartedly?

I even imagine a scene between the two of them, shortly before he dies, where he goes "I'm not as good as Dick is" and she replies "You're right. You're better than him" and his heart is about to burst. He also promised her he would always be there for her, no matter that. That whenever she had a problem, let her big bro handle it for her. He would always help her.

And suddenly he's dead. Gone. Her big brother doesn't come back from the mission and no one tells her what happened. Either to spare her the pain or because they can't be bothered to. It's a huge event for her, scarring her emotionally forever and hardening her. But then, when she's finally moving on and accepting his death, turns out he's alive. He's back, but not really. Everyone says he's not the same person, but she's too ecstatic to care about his new appearance. She can only think that her big brother Jason is back, the only brother who cared about her, and sure it might take time to get used to this, but she's willing to go through it. To wait until he's ready. Surely he won't forget his promises, surely he still loves her, surely he won't break her heart like everyone else

But it doesn't happen. He doesn't look at her, outright ignores her and sometimes he almost feels hostile on purpose. He's distant and cold. No matter how hard she tries, she can't reach him. He won't her reach him. He goes on missions with the family and then disappears, never contacting her, only showing up at the manor to talk with the others.

Now I don't know if keep the original plot, or add this one....again I hate my brain