(A/N notice: due to the passing of my friend's doggie who was the base for some of my Cujo's across fics on the 11th, the day after finishing/posting Astray and it's matching art where the coloring of living-disguise cujo was identical to the doggie, after this arc there will be significantly less Cujo for a bit bc it just really sucks to have to write him while the real life reference is not here to fuel it more. thank you for understanding)

November 6

Sneaking around the Mountain, they slid into their room. It still felt as barren as ever, but the air hung heavy. Neither had brought it up yet, but given their declarations last time they were on base, it didn't feel right anymore. Still, until they actually made a decision, it was theirs. With a deep breath to steady himself, Danny stepped forward to place a certain flower hairclip on the shelve above the desk. A mimic of Wally's wall of souvenirs, this would be the beginning of their own.

The initial plan was to keep it in the Batcave, claim a section for themselves and their souvenirs just like Bruce did. But the two sentient balls of lint for brains were annoyingly determined to try and eat it. Mount Justice was just a temporary spot until they figured out how to cat proof their claimed area.

As he still refused to transform, Danny hid his hair under a beanie and wore the same darkened sunglasses Dick did to walk around. His skin was still covered in marks, but given the time of year, he could get away with hiding in a hoodie and sweats. Throwing on a Batman logo covered face mask was just icing on the cake. At least they got to make good use of the gag gift.

Picking up an order of purple hydrangeas, they made a little pit stop at a certain door. Leaving the vase on their doorstep, Cujo helped them hide as they watched Tammie's mother open the door. Reading the note, she called out for her daughter. With excited pitter patter of bare feet on tiles, Tammie came rushing to the door. Trying to find the hero she adored, she leaned out of the doorframe, careful to not step outside without shoes on.

Softly her mother pulled her back inside. With the might of a determined 5 year old, Tammie dragged the vase inside as her mother rolled out of the way to close the door once more.

While it wasn't much, it felt like the right thing to do.

Sneaking back to the jet, they flew over to Gotham next. Turning on the autopilot, they got out as it flew over Crime Alley and watched it take to the clouds to make its way back to the Batcave unseen.

Their next order of business was technically not something they told Bruce or Selina about, but they knew Alfie knew. The man always knew when they'd sneak off to somewhere and brought them extra cookies to feed their target. Much to Dick's complaints as he still had not waited out the timing of their bet. Still 18 more agonizing days to go until he could be in confectionary heaven once more.

It was pretty hard to find their target, made worse by Danny's persistent injury and Dick's icy cast still dragging them down. He had hoped by now Frostbite and Alfred would let him out of it, but no. Not even magic assisted, time bubble proofed, healing was enough for them to throw away the necessary steps to ensure he wouldn't have any lasting damage.

Hell, running around as they were was probably still not allowed but Alfred wasn't here to scold him.

After way too much running around, they finally found who they were looking for. Really, it was Cujo who finally tracked how the boy but it was still a success. Dick worried slightly as the boy was still wearing the same ratty hoodie as before, but it wasn't out of the ordinary for Alley kids.

Letting Cujo take the lead, the pair walked up to the boy. It was hard not to look suspicious when Danny was walking around with most of his skin covered while Dick still had a beautiful bandaged foot stuck in a boot. They looked like a mummy and zombie pair with how Dick wobbled around. But he'd have to just deal with it as Alfred refused to let him go outside without it.

The boy turned around immediately at Cujo's yipping, faint smile gracing his cheeks as he looked up at the pair. Smile fading once again, he shoved his hands into the torn hoodie pouch.

Dick tried to not let the obvious apprehension get to him. Giving a small wave he got within non-shouting distance from the kid. "Told ya I'd come back." He tried not to take the boy's apprehension to heart. It was just something that came with the territory, especially since Bats don't come there often beyond picking up intel or a criminal.

"What's with the boot?" Caribbean blue scanned over the two, softly petting Cujo who had made his way into the boy's arms once again. He still looked like he wanted to bolt at the slightest hint of something being off. Well, more off than the two most suspicious looking people in the Alley at the moment. And that was a hard feat to pull off.

Dick rubbed the back of his head, awkwardly clearing his throat as he heard Danny snicker behind him. "Consequences of the job." It wasn't really a lie. Plus it looked a whole lot better than what actually happened. It was hard to remember that for the real world it had only been a day or so, while for them it had been a good week and a half already. The magic assisted healing also did wonders to get him out of the cast faster.

The boy's look didn't change as his focus shifted over to Danny. It was a lot harder to excuse, especially since they were taking a massive risk having him go out as a human at the moment. "What's wrong with him?" The boy pushed his chin up in at him, slightly turning his torso to angle Cujo away from Danny. Clearly he knew who was standing before him, and he wasn't too keen on having to give up fluffy cuddles once again.

Danny, however, seemed to not get the memo you shouldn't try to bud heads with Alley kids. "Nun." He crinkled his nose, glowing scars rippling with the movement. "What's wrong with your face?"

"Shut up." Dick sneered softly as he slapped a hand over Danny's mouth, panic shooting through him as he felt Danny's face contort in discomfort at the sudden pressure on still too sensitive wounds.

He'd completely forgotten about the broken nose as well. At least the mess of bruising around his eye was mostly covered up. Nabu really did hit him with all he had to snap a Bat quality mask the way he had. Some broken bones were bound to come from it.

Just like what usually happens when you challenge an Alley kid to a bitch off. You either get stabbed or ignored. Clearly Danny was hoping for the former to happen given how easily the response came. Releasing Danny once again, he turned back to the boy. "Ignore him." He tried to laugh off his nerves, only to be unnerved by the toothy grin the boy shot his brother.

"I like him."

Blinking hard, Dick looked at the boy. "Or ignore me, I guess." He mumbled, not sure what to make of it but deciding to just roll with he turn of events. Having had enough of the people keeping an eye on the trio, he figured a change of scenery was needed. "You wanna grab something to eat?" He offered as casually as he could, hoping it didn't sound too odd given that they weren't exactly strangers.

Waiting with baited breath, Dick sighed in relief when the boy turned on his heel. With Cujo still firm in his arms, he called over his shoulder. "I'm choosing where." As if they would have tried to argue. Anything was good, so long as the kid wouldn't be a risk of flying away in a strong gust of wind anymore.

Following the kid in relative silence, they were pretty thankful when Cujo knew to turn invisible before they entered what looked to be a locally owned burger joint. "Ay, welcome, lad! I see you brought some friends." The older man behind the register happily greeted. "To go or stay in?" He asked right off the bat.

The boy's expression was unreadable as he answered "To go."

While there didn't seem to be an outward change to his happy demeanor, the was something uncanny about the way the man looked between the three of them. "Out back?"

"Front." Came the quick reply. And with that, the darkened air around the man vanished once again as the easy go lucky attitude returned. Dick knew he shouldn't question it. They're in the Alley, it would be a bigger surprise if the joint wasn't a front for something less than legal. It just never sat right when kids get involved with it.

The kid ordered freely, soft smirk peeking through as he listed off what he wanted. Dick and Danny just chose some generic menu since they didn't quite know the place or what to expect. Ringing up everything, the man looked between the three boys. "So under what name would you like to place your order?" His eyes hovered over the boy before staying between the two older ones of their little group.

Well, they hadn't quite thought this through. They weren't here as them, they were undercover Robin and Phantom. The kid knew that, so giving any normal name would be a possible clue to find their identities, no matter if it was the real them or not. Countless of innocents have gotten harassed before by the mob of people trying to guess the Bat ID's. Giving a fake name might just put a target on more innocents.

But they also couldn't give either hero name either, because undercover.

Noting their dilemma, the kid sighed. "Just put it under Jason." He messed around with his sleeve subtly enough that it wasn't noticeable to anybody except the three of them that he was petting Cujo in secret. "They're paying though." He nodded his head their direction.

Trying to get this moving faster, Dick walked up and pulled out some crumpled bills, not even checking properly what their actual total was. The man eyed them with mild suspicion. Looking back over the kid, Jason, he looked to be asking some sort of silent code. With a casual shrug, he reassured the man enough to ring up the order. "Right..." He trailed off before gesturing for them to step to the side to let other people order as well.

It wasn't too busy, so they didn't have to wait for too long. Well, in their opinion at least. They were already pushing beyond when they said they'd be back but what's a few more minutes-turned-hours when the entire household could probably do with some alone time.

Ancients knew they didn't want to walk in on anything weird.

Speaking of weird, the moment they got their food, Jason immediately led them outside again. Looking over his shoulder, he dipped into the alleyway next to the shop and made his way up the rooftops. Bouncing between a few too many for a kid his size, the two undercover bats followed silently. They were certainly a few blocks deeper into the territory, bordering the Narrows.

Pacing around the rooftop, Jason finally sat down near one of the edges. Using the raised edge as a back support, he leaned settled comfortably. Eyeing the two tails he acquired, he made a point of softly setting Cujo down and giving him a nugget before the two finally made their way over as well. "Cujo." Danny called out softly, "Only one." Cujo's tail dipped a little as he trotted over to Danny's lap.

Jason eyed him, already reaching for another nugget to give to the poor starving pup. Danny watched him lean over, proud Cujo was holding back from scarfing down the offering. "If you don't say how many he can have, he can and will eat the whole lot." Danny warned with a smile, internally laughing at Jason's surprised look.

"Cujo," Jason softly called out, "one more." Looking up to Danny for permission Cujo happily lunged across Dick's lap to reach his treat. Smiling happily at the adorable fluffball, Jason scratched behind Cujo's ear. Thumping his foot in pleasure, Cujo leaned into the scratches.

"Actually," Dick swallowed a handful of fries as he glanced over to Jason. "Shouldn't you let your parents or family know you're out so long? It's been a while now, wouldn't want to worry anybody."

Jason barely looked up from his multitasking before shoveling some fries into his own mouth. "Ain't got nun." He muttered between half chewed potatoes, missing the scrunch in Dick's brows. "Who would care for street rat number 11?" He asked sarcastically between chews.

"Mood." Danny swallowed hard and held up his hands in surrender when Dick's head snapped over to him. Eyebrows scrunched hard enough even the wrinkles on Dick's forehead looked upset. Danny shrugged, guessing Dick took his comment wrong. "Kinda, at least." And scratched at his neck, hoping that was enough for Dick to get the message.

Thankfully he did, judging from his shoulders sagging. It didn't stop Jason from snorting as he ruffled through the bags trying to find his drink. "Sure, because you two definitely don't have half of the underground keeping an eye on you. Let alone all of the big bad bat's friends." Finally finding his icetea, he downed almost half of the cup before snacking on his fries again.

"You know you could always just ask Catwoman for help too?" Dick prodded softly, hoping he wasn't crossing some line he wasn't aware of. Jason's reaction gave him nothing to go off of as he just blankly stared at the undercover hero.

"I don't know what version of her you know, but it's not the one the Alley knows." He said slowly, like talking to a young child. As if he wasn't the youngest there, he had more street experience than both older boys combined. "Kids round here take care of themselves. We don't do handouts."

Danny glanced up from trying to swallow a boneless wing without chewing, looking between the literal feast they had between them. Jason caught his eye, small shrug easing away the judgement. "Not a handout when you owe me for watching that kid."

"So how was taking care of Tim?" Dick asked, not enjoying the looming threat of silence, or worse. He had enough silence in the Manor, enough silence with the team before all of this happened. Going out to Gotham was supposed to spruce things up and bring back some extra life. Not more silence while eating fast food on a dubiously stable rooftop with a kid he barely knew.

Jason shrugged, eyeing what to take next before opting for one of the burgers. "He bit me." He casually dropped before nearly unhinging his jaw to take a bite.

Dick nearly choked on his milkshake, coughing violently as Danny patted his back. "Oh gods, I'm so sorry about that." He tried to apologize, feeling horrible about how Tim acted around the stranger he had left him with. He should probably have seen it coming, considering what it took to get him into the Batmobile in the first place.

"It's fine, I just bit him back." Jason waved off, proudly pushing up his lip after swallowing his bite. "Made my tooth come out, see!" True to his word, there was a freshly missing canine. "I think he stole my tooth, though, little weirdo."

Dick sighed, shoulders sagging as he regretted certain life choices. Mostly agreeing to babysit Tim in the first place. "Yeah...he does that sometimes." Honestly, he'd rather not think about it, but there were a few too many signs something was up with that kid even before he revealed to know their ID's.

"You know," Jason mused with a slight grin, "I could babysit the kid again. Just need his address." He kept glancing over the edge, lifting his butt up just enough to tilt over the free edge.

Dick pulled him down, glasses slipping down just far enough to show more of his contorted brow. "Do we look stupid to you?" Anyone with half a brain could have seen Tim wasn't a regular Gothamite kid. Clearly Jason had more than 3/4ths of a brain so who did this kid think he was trying to get Gotham elite info out of them?

Jason, for his part, blinked frogly at him "Do you actually want me to answer that, or was that rhetorical?"

Dick felt like he could actually put hands on this kid with how he somehow managed to sound so innocent while hiding the smug bastard underneath. But he couldn't, not kids younger than him. Had it been Danny or Wally he'd jumped them the moment they breathed wrong. But he can't do that to Jason, much to his own dismay.

Danny, on the other hand, looked beyond amused. "Can we keep him?" He asked Dick, successfully getting even more on the boy's nerves as he genuinely felt ready to throw hands right about now.

Enjoying the chaos unfolding, Jason couldn't help but add more to it. "If I can keep your dog." The matching smirks on the two chaos gremlins should have sent Dick over the edge. Luckily for him, however, their tyranny was interrupted by a new visitor joining them on the rooftop.

Trotting over, a Pitty walked over to Jason. Keeping an eye on Cujo as well, he cautiously let the pup sniffle him before settling down. Pawing at Jason, the boy smiled as he pulled out the box of nuggets he had saved for his friend. "You know I saved you the good stuff." Licking his lips, the newly arrived dog waited with more patience then expected from a typical stray.

"Sit." He commanded, watching the Pitty grumpily get up and sit upright. Cujo inched closer, pup-crawling his way towards treats while trying to not get on the Pitty's nerves. Jason cackled at Cujo's wiggly butt. "Siiiit." He dragged out, waiting for the pup to match the Pitty. Even the Pitty didn't want to wait longer than needed, pawing at Cujo to sit properly so he could have his snack.

Danny snorted, knowing this would happen without setting boundaries with the snack monster known as Cujo. "Cujo, aŭskultu lin. (listen to him)". With a sigh, Cujo pushed himself up off the roof and sat properly next to the Pitty.

Jason eyed them both with interest. "How'd you do that?" He let the Pitty finish his snack before rubbing his cheeks, causing his ears to flop around. "Ace listens well enough but not always." As if on cue, Ace started pushing his nose into Jason's side. Pulling his arms into his hoodie, Jason wiggled around. The distinct sound of a zipper opening came from inside before his arm popped out from the bottom hem. Exposing just enough of what he was doing, they could see Jason's secret backpack and the rope dog toy he had been hiding in there.

Dick snorted, forgetting he was drinking and nearly getting Sprite through his nose. "Oh, Cujo doesn't always listen either." Enough was said as they watched Jason let go of the rope and Cujo fumbling to try and play with it too.

Come to think of it, how long has it been since Cujo actually got to play with other dogs like that?

"I trained him in a different language so he only properly listens in that. Anything else is more like a suggestion." Danny added, amused at how Cujo kept pawing at the air, wanting more snacks, before remembering he was paying tug of war with Ace when he inevitably lost his footing and took a small tumble.

Jason stared in well hidden awe. Looking between boy and dog, he weighed the pros and cons of asking what was burning in his mind. "Teach me." It sounded less like a question than it should have, but the struggle of daring to ask for anything wasn't lost on any of them.

"I'm afraid they do not have the time for such things." James' sudden appearance made the group jump, even Danny and Cujo who had been too distracted to notice the shift.

"Hi Mr. Craddock." Danny mumbled as he tried to drink away the now very apparent lump in his throat. The ghost sense that had refused to make itself known chilling down anything that pushed past it.

"Hi James." Dick greeted as well, knowing their time on the outside was running to a stop. He was mildly taken aback when he noticed James and Jason staring at each other. Like there was a silent discussion going on, it felt odd being on the outside of one. Was this what others felt like when he was with Danny and Bruce?

Breaking away from the boy, James turned to look at Danny. "You have a visitor waiting with some new prototypes to test out." Danny cringed, not looking forward to facing Frostbite's grumpiness at being made to wait for who knows how long. To think he went out of his way to talk to Technus as well just to try and make him a new and safer collar until he was properly healed up.

And healing up would take some extra time too, after the hour long scolding he got for putting himself in that situation in the first place. The yeti agreed a whole lot less with the either die and prevent that thing or live and save people shtick Danny had going on. Apparently it "wasn't a win for the people who care about him and believe in him to overcome the struggles that come with what he had been through." Danny still wasn't convinced, but he did promise to try to do better.

Mostly because he never wanted to see that look of hurt on Dick's face ever again.

The disappointment at having to leave wasn't just a singular feeling. None of the little group's participants seemed all too happy at having to part ways. Surprisingly Jason the least as he would have to once again say goodbye to Cujo. Seeing the dismay painted all over his much too skinny features, an idea sparked to life. "Hey," Danny called out, "tell you what. How about you help out Mr. Craddock, so we can find you a bit easier. And then he can let us know when our schedules match up to hang out again."

Dick's eyes sparked to life, back straightening out in enthusiasm at the idea. "Yeah! Plus, it's not a handout if you're working for your compensation." He added on in a playful tone, knowing any bit of extras thrown on there would help persuade the boy.

Jason looked between them, Ace coming to sit next to him. It was a silly sight, seeing the Pitty and boy reach the same height. But that made their want to help him out even bigger. Even if it's just once Alley kid they can help, it's a step in a better direction. Jason was exactly the type of kid they were overlooking with how little the Alley was patrolled. Maybe with Selina's help, they could get Bruce to loosen up the patrol routes.

And where they still failed, any set of eyes was more than welcome.

Jason's eyes ticked between James and his hands. It was a big ask, but so was what he had asked them to do. Every inch in him was telling him not to trust it, but it felt nice to finally have somebody to talk to who doesn't think the worst of him just because of where he grew up.

Maybe this new kid was worth trusting in heroes again.

The promise of getting to play with his dog sure was sweetening the deal.

With a tentative nod, Jason agreed. It wasn't much they were asking for. Just playing information broker, being another set of eyes for them and letting them know of any suspicious stuff going on in the Alley. With a snail's pace dripping of procrastination, they packed up their little feast. Not that much remained of it, but it was still a lot for somebody like Jason.

Dick made sure to hand him a card. "An emergency number." He added, just in case it was something that couldn't wait to run to James for. Hesitantly, Jason accepted. It was part of his new employment, so it wasn't like he could actually refuse. With a final face full of fluff, Jason and Ace bid their goodbyes as the remaining 4 made their way back to the Manor.

art by half-half-bish2 on tumblr (see added external link down below), first posted jan 24 2026. ref: the pic Tim shows Dick in 73