[Comprehensive British and American] Family Matters

Jason squeezed out a smile in front of the unknown Mrs. X and X, and endured them pinching his cheeks, or holding his face and patting his cheeks lightly, exclaiming "Whoa! He's so cute!".

"Uh heh heh, thank you." Jason silently recited the periodic table of chemical elements, the poem he just read recently, pi...anything that could distract him.Only in this semi-fugue state can he deal with the guests while ensuring that he doesn't go crazy on the spot.

As the protagonist of this banquet, Bruce especially educated him on the importance of public image before the banquet, and ordered that unless there was a particularly urgent event—such as the bombing of Arkham—Jason was not allowed to leave the banquet after the banquet ended. Sneak before.This time even Ah Fu won't help him cover.

To paraphrase Bruce: "You've also reached the age where you should put the skill of dealing with public situations on the table."

So now he has to endure the all-round siege of aunts and grandmas here, pass him around in the crowd as a big doll, and recall from time to time: My grandson/son/nephew/cousin is like his age when……

How on earth did Bruce do it?

Jason turned his head and searched for Bruce in the crowd, hoping that the other party could receive his distress signal, but he saw Bruce's left and right arms around the waist of a young beauty. From the lips he could read, it seemed that Bruce was pulling her away from her. The choice of fragrance compliments the matching heels.

Well, it was his fault for forgetting that public appearances had to be Playboy Brucie.

And Dick!Dick is back too!Jason quickly switched targets, swearing that if Dick could save him from fire and water, he would put up with those idiot Titans for 10 minutes longer—seriously, that group was really a team of young heroes and not some mentally handicapped idol group ?Well, he could barely accept what Harper said.

"Long time no see, of course I remember! The opening reception last time? Yes, yes, the West End History Museum! My God, how long ago was that?"

Dick was chatting enthusiastically with a man in a well-fitting suit, as if he knew him very well.But Jason could tell at a glance that Dick didn't remember who this guy was at all, and Dick dug holes for him to fill in all the details, so the two of them could still come and go, like reuniting with old friends after a long absence.

Great, worthy of being the golden boy.

But this also means that he has lost his reinforcements. Ah Fu has already made it very clear that he will not cover him this time, even if he wants to destroy his personality as "the second young master of the Wayne literary bookworm", Ah Fu will only Come over after the fact to clean up the crumbling setup.As for how to solve the problem in the process?

——Master, this is the homework you must master. The daytime image is equally important as the nighttime crime fighting, please work hard.

Ah Fu!I didn't expect you to be such a fu!

Oh, Mother Mary, they're bringing more companions.Jason looked blankly at an aunt who brought more big sisters: "Honey, you have to see how cute he is!" A group of giggling women seemed to Jason to be staged in slow motion before his eyes, Their skirts flutter slightly with their footsteps, their left feet, right feet, left feet, right feet, and high heels "click" on the shiny floor, and their hair of each color is permed into elegant arcs. Follow their movements, or bounce on the shoulders or hips.

If this was a movie, there would be a character yelling in despair, "Here they come!"

Jason touched his cheeks and the top of his head subconsciously.He shouldn't be the first Robin to be pinched into a cake face or bald, right?

"Ha! Why are you hiding here? I finally found you!" A voice he didn't recognize, a little boy Jason didn't know appeared beside him (when did he approach?), holding his hand He took it to the side of the table where the food was placed, "Come on, you are the only one missing when everyone else is here."

"What? Listen, kid, I don't..." Jason wanted to tell the kid that he had identified the wrong person, but he was interrupted by "shh" and "cooperate with me".After assessing that the threat this kid could bring to him was not that great, Jason decided to cooperate with him for the time being and see what tricks he was going to play.Maybe there is an adult behind him who instructed him?Jason will find out.

The child led him around to the corner behind the food table, where there were benches and low tables for the guests to rest.There are already two plates of snacks and two cans of juice on the low table.

Jason watched the kid bounce onto the bench with a little bounce, picked up the snack plate with one hand, patted the seat next to him with the other, and looked at Jason expectantly.

He sat down next to the child in a good manner, watching the joy in the other's eyes almost bursting into flashes.

"Here, this is for you. There's still something to drink." Jason took the drink and food from the child, and wanted to thank him, only to remember that he didn't even know his name.

"Timothy Drake. My name." The child blushed and shyly twisted in the seat, "but you can call me Tim."

"Oh, thanks, Tibbo." Jason snorted, not eating the food Tim gave him right away, "Do we know each other?"

"...Or Tibbo." Tim stared blankly at Jason, who didn't have the shrewdness that led him to kill the aunts a few minutes ago, "Uh, you probably don't know me, but I Know you. You are Jason Todd. Oh, sorry, it should be Todd-Wayne, since Mr. Wayne adopted you. Anyway, we... don't know each other."

"Whatever, just call me Jason. Actually, I didn't intend to call you the old man's surname. Your name can't determine who you are. But the old man insisted, saying that this is a gift, no matter where I go His son is everywhere. Tsk, why does it feel like being stamped." Jason narrowed his eyes and looked at Tim, who was holding back a smile, "What's so funny?"

"Sorry, you just had a cute accent." Tim tried to imitate but failed, so he scowled and said seriously: "I think you're right, names don't determine who we are, What we do is what matters.”

Tim had just finished speaking when he found Jason looking up and down with his head tilted and his mouth slightly pouting.

"You are really a very strange child, Tibao." And this is Jason's observation conclusion, "What kind of child will suddenly intercept the owner's son at a banquet at someone else's house, and then you can still treat me right?" People who know him compliment his Crime Alley accent. Aren't you afraid of what I might do to you?"

"I think you look like you don't want to be there, and what are you going to do to me?" Tim blinked and asked quite sincerely.

"No! Of course not. What I mean is that a kid from a good family like you should stay away from anyone and anything related to Crime Alley. You will be eaten without bones left." Jason said in the second half The words were mumbled along with the snacks, but Tim obviously didn't even pay attention to the first half of the sentence, and just hummed a few times symbolically to show that he heard it.

"I'm not afraid, we have Robin protecting us in Gotham." Tim grabbed the fruit tart and stuffed it into his mouth. This was clearly supposed to be a scene where two young people were discussing Gotham's most famous teenage hero, but Jason It was strange for some reason, maybe because of Tim's serious expression when he spoke.

"I thought it was Batman protecting Gotham." Jason looked at Bruce who was still greeting different people in the hall, and suddenly found that this position can completely see the entire banquet hall, but if guests want to see it, they can't. The sight will be disturbed by the dim sum table first.

——Is it a coincidence that the child chose this position?

"Well, I think it's a little different." Tim put down the snack plate, took a sip of the juice, "Batman protects justice, but Robin protects people. So... yes, we Robin is there to protect you!"

Jason couldn't look away, especially Tim's sparkling eyes when he talked about Robin.But the kid must be talking about Dick's Robin, the witty and lovable Robin.

"Especially the second-generation Robin." Tim suddenly added this, and then Jason noticed that the child's eyes were not only shining, but even his cheeks began to turn red, "He is definitely the best Robin, never before or after Robin of the

"He's not that good." Jason had to face the fact that he seemed to have a fan, "Most people like the first one."

"That's because they're intimidated," Tim said solemnly, nodding. "The first Robin, he cared about other people, but on a normal level, maybe a little bit higher. It's like seeing When someone falls, most people choose to help him up, but the first Robin will help him to the side of the road, and then ask him if he needs help. But the second Robin, he cares about So deep, to the point where it would scare other people. He didn’t just lift people up when they fell, he gave a lesson to people who bumped into each other and sent the injured straight home.”

Tim put down the juice in his hand and sighed sadly like a little adult.

Jason, who dared to speak loudly in front of Batman, was suddenly speechless in front of a child at this moment, except: "Little devil, where did you come from?"

"Uh, my house is next door to yours, actually." Tim pointed in one direction.

It is said to be next door, but every family in this area occupies a large area, and the Wayne family is the largest landowner in Gotham. Jason can only vaguely remember that there is indeed a family named De in the direction Tim pointed. Lake's mansion, but that room doesn't seem to be often home.

"That's your house. I thought no one lived there, don't your lights turn on at night?" Jason remembered that when they went out to patrol at night, most of the residents had their lights on, only that one was dark .

"My parents traveled all over the world, so I went to boarding school." Tim didn't seem to mind the fact that he was forced to live in school at a young age, "As long as you don't be regarded as a problem person by the school, you are actually quite free of."

I didn't care, Jason could only nod his head and didn't say anything more.Judging from Tim's relieved look, he made the right choice.The little ghost is probably tired of hearing other people's criticism or sympathy for him living in school since he was a child.

"I have to go first, my mother and the others are about to leave, and they will fly to Argentina early tomorrow morning." Tim jumped off the bench, picked up his plate and juice, and smiled back at Jason , "Nice to chat with you, Jason, goodbye."

"Me too, Tibbo." Jason raised his hand and shook, "Goodbye."

There was one person missing beside the bench, and he seemed a little lonely all of a sudden.Jason leaned back against the wall, watching the people in the hall gradually disperse, and then Dick walked around the dining table to this side, with an expression that looked like he had been looking for him for a long time.

"You're hiding here! Bruce has been looking for you for a long time, and I thought you were hiding in your room." Dick said as he bent down and took a fruit tart from Jason's snack plate on the low table, " Why did you change your sex today, I thought you didn't like fruit tarts."

Jason hadn't tried to explain to Dick that this was an offering from his fans (not that he could sign Tibbo's name in a fair way) but just shrugged and said it was a random grab.

"What is Bruce going to do? I've already been there, and I didn't slip away, so what else?" Jason raised his head and gulped down the remaining sips of juice in one go, and Jason stood up reluctantly and stretched his stomach. Lazy.

"It's almost time, we have to see off the guests." Dick explained, staring at Jason suspiciously, "Is it my illusion, why do you seem to be in a good mood, Little Wing, do you have a hidden party?" soul?"

"Sister Soul. Let's go, I'm not going to see off the guests." Jason snorted, and slapped Dick on the arm as he walked past him, with no restraint at all, causing Dick to open his mouth wide and let out a silent moan. Shout out.

Those are "his" fans, and he doesn't want to share them with the golden boys.

And that kid was cool, way more fun than Dick's titan friends, and maybe he could invite him over someday, and boarding school would be closed.

***

Until Jason was lying in the abandoned warehouse, there was no intact part of his body, and two toes were broken, and he couldn't even feel the pain (from the inside to the outside, there was no place that didn't hurt).

He hadn't even had the chance to extend the guest invitation.

Everything seemed to be sucked into a vortex of madness, and he and Batman quarreled more and more violently, until he was placed on a "surveillance mission" by an alternative ground; A villain rather than a hero.And Dick chose to go on a space mission beyond the earth-this big brother who didn't grow eggs.

This is the end of his life, in a dirty and smelly warehouse, with a body of broken bones, the only companion is the countdown bomb, and it is said that his own mother handed him over to the clown woman.

He should have listened to Bruce.

He really wanted to go home.