Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Otto blinked owlishly at the small child and man in the house. He would've attacked by now if not for the smell of Jason on them both. Strong, stronger then they've smelled on anyone else before. Aside from Nightwing. Otto squints, taking a step inside and shutting the door silently. "S̷t̷r̷a̷n̷g̷e̷r̷s̷.̷" They greet cautiously, trying to keep and ear out for their father. But the apartment was silent. 

The man waved at them, setting the girl down on the couch and holding a hand out. "Hi Otto. I'm Roy-" Otto zeroes in on the outstretched hand and bites it suddenly. Not enough to puncture or anything, but enough to warn. The m- Roy, yanks his hand back with a shout of alarm, staring at them incredulously. The girl giggled loudly and mimicked biting her father. Who put both his hands up like he was surrendering. Good. Otto turned away and walked into the kitchen, climbing up the fridge and grabbing the "forbidden drink". It's coffee, but their not allowed to drink it. Roy smelled like coffee. An undertone, he mostly smelled like fresh wood. They dropped the entire container by the mans feet and ignored him after that. Honestly, if he tries to attack, well.. Otto will just bite his hand off.

"I'm Lian! Roy's my dad, and he kinda likes your dad, but they won't act on it. Mommy says it's because their stupid, but I think dad and Jason are just scared! What's your name? When did Jason get you? Who's your mom?" Lian rambled off, and Roy felt like he just got smacked with the words, slowly picking up the coffee grounds and dumping some in the machine. He turned slowly, watching Otto stare blankly at Lian. "W̷h̷a̷t̷?̷" The kid asked, confusion and the biggest frown Roy has ever seen appeared on their face. "Y̷o̷u̷ ̷t̷a̷l̷k̷ ̷f̷a̷s̷t̷.." They mumbled, their voice hard to make out through the sounds of what felt like fighting. 

"Oh. Dad says I do that a lot. What's your name?" She asked again, at a normal speed this time. "O̷t̷t̷o̷." They replied, the frown lifting slightly as they stared at Lian. Otto hadn't blinked in awhile. Where's Jason, because Roy is freaking out. Why would the man invite him over just to not even be here!? "What's your favorite color?" Otto tilted their head, brow furrowing. "C̷o̷l̷o̷r̷?" They parroted, blinking a few times and shrugging. "W̷h̷a̷t̷ ̷i̷s̷ ̷c̷o̷l̷o̷r̷?"

Oh Jesus how much does this kid not know???

"Um, its.." Lian looked down at her shirt, which was bright yellow. "Color is.. what makes the world pretty. Like my shirt! It's yellow, and that's a color." She explained to the best of her 5 year old abilities. Roy couldn't fault her, he doesn't know how to explain it either. That's something most kids learn from TV or school. Otto nodded slowly, wandering off into a different room, Jason's bedroom by the looks of it. They came back out with.. Roy lunged forward and yanked the helmet from their grip, sighing in relief when none of the traps triggered. "Ok. Okay. You can't just grab this. It's got weapons that can hurt you in it." Jason's spare Red Hood helmet sat safely in Roy's arms as he exhaled quietly. They hummed, pointing at the helmet.

"W̷h̷a̷t̷ ̷c̷o̷l̷o̷r̷?"

"Red!" 

"I̷ ̷l̷i̷k̷e̷ ̷r̷e̷d̷." 

"I do too! It's my dad's hero costume color!" Lian nodded seriously, and Otto nodded with her. Jason walked into the apartment finally, and Roy almost chucked the extra helmet as revenge. "Hey kids." He greeted as he shut the door, grinning down at them. Lian jumped up and hugged Jason, while Otto let out a purr and clung onto the mans free arm. Roy chuckled, snapping a picture of the trio, pretending not to notice how the camera blurred around Otto. It's no big deal. Superman is a little brighter then others in photos due to radiation, no one mentions it. 

"Roy." Jason smiled as he walked into the kitchen with the kids literally hanging off him. Roy leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the others cheek. "Jason." He replied warmly, pouring the coffee into two separate cups. Jason set the terror twins down and grabbed a mug, watching the two run off into the living room. The sounds of impact, pillows, filled the silence. Lian was giggling and Otto let out little chirps as they pillow fought. 

It took about 3 hours to settle the kids down. Lian would not stop starting pillow fights, or food fights. Otto wouldn't stop attempting to bite Roy, who was getting sick of this. Jason thought it was the funniest thing ever, but he wasn't getting small bites on his hands so he can't laugh. The kids were put to bed in Otto's room, which had an extra bed because of this specific situation. Jason had money, he wasn't gonna make Lian sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag. Jason read them to sleep while Roy cleaned up dinner and the dishes. 

"Hey," Jason reached around the red head, grabbing a towel and starting to dry the dishes. "-thanks for coming out." He said after a moment, placing the dry dishes on the counter to put away later. Roy hummed. "Of course, I wouldn't tell you to just suck it up. You're part of the single dads club now." He joked, nudging the other with his elbow. Jason rolled his eyes dramatically but smiled anyway. "There's a club for this? T-Shirt included?" Roy sighed and shook his head. "No. Unless you want to pay copious amounts of money on Amazon for it." Jason tsked and grabbed another dish. "That sucks." 

They had fallen asleep a few hours later. No one would need to know they shared a bed and totally held hands. Nope. That's a secret!!

Roy blinked awake at the feeling of being watched. He reached out blindly, assuming it was Lian. She was known to stare until someone woke up after a nightmare. Except it wasn't Lian. Otto let out a panicked squeak and bit down on Roy's hand. Hard. He flinched in pain, effectively waking up Jason, who grabbed a gun instantly. "Otto." Roy said after a moment when the kids jaw hadn't let go yet. "Hey. Bud, release." Otto relaxed his jaw, but seemed unable to pull his teeth out. They broke skin and looked grossed out as blood came from the wound, no doubt tasting it. Jason reached over Roy and started lightly pulling Otto's jaw further down, effectively releasing the two. Otto whined and starting spitting out the blood, while Roy yanked his hand back and rolled out of bed to treat it. 

"Why do you keep biting Roy?" Jason asked gently as Otto started to tear up. "I̷ ̷d̷o̷n̷'̷t̷ ̷k̷n̷o̷w̷ ̷h̷i̷m̷!" They exclaimed, frowning as fat tears rolled down their cheeks. They jumped up onto the bed and curled up into Jason's arms. The man pulled them tight into his chest and pet their hair softly. "That doesn't explain the biting." Jason reminded them, looking down to meet their eyes with a raised brow. "M̷o̷t̷h̷e̷r̷ ̷s̷a̷y̷s̷ ̷n̷o̷t̷ ̷t̷o̷ ̷t̷r̷u̷s̷t̷ ̷a̷n̷y̷o̷n̷e̷ ̷b̷u̷t̷ ̷y̷o̷u̷!̷ ̷A̷n̷d̷ ̷R̷o̷y̷ ̷i̷s̷n̷'̷t̷ ̷y̷o̷u̷,̷ ̷b̷u̷t̷ ̷h̷e̷ ̷s̷m̷e̷l̷l̷s̷ ̷l̷i̷k̷e̷ ̷y̷o̷u̷!̷ ̷I̷ ̷d̷o̷n̷'̷t̷ ̷l̷i̷k̷e̷ ̷i̷t̷!"

Jason frowned, patting their head lightly to make them look up. Otto blinked rapidly and met their fathers eyes. He was impressed, that was the longest they've spent speaking in one sitting. "Hey, Roy smells like me because I like him." He said quietly, trying to keep it from exiting the room. Roy was in the bathroom just a few feet away so he was trying to keep his voice down. "So I give him my clothes and stay near him." Otto's bright green eyes widened at the news, gaze flicking over to the bathroom. 

"I̷s̷ ̷t̷h̷a̷t̷ ̷w̷h̷y̷ ̷y̷o̷u̷'̷r̷e̷ ̷s̷h̷a̷r̷i̷n̷g̷ ̷t̷h̷e̷ ̷b̷e̷d̷?" They whispered back, excitement in their eyes. Jason nodded. Otto gaped at their father, then whispered even louder as his excitement doubled. "I̷f̷ ̷y̷o̷u̷ ̷s̷t̷a̷r̷t̷ ̷a̷ ̷p̷a̷r̷t̷n̷e̷r̷ ̷d̷o̷e̷s̷ ̷t̷h̷a̷t̷ ̷m̷e̷a̷n̷ ̷L̷i̷a̷n̷ ̷i̷s̷ ̷m̷y̷ ̷s̷i̷s̷t̷e̷r̷?" They asked gleefully, snuggling further into Jason's arms. He huffed out a laugh. "Maybe. Keep it a secret." Otto nodded quickly and rolled out of the bed and thumped onto the floor. "I̷'̷l̷l̷ ̷g̷o̷!̷ ̷B̷e̷c̷o̷m̷e̷ ̷p̷a̷r̷t̷n̷e̷r̷e̷d̷!" He stage whispered, and Roy choked in the bathroom. Stage whispered may have been an understatement. 

It had been weeks since that encounter. Jason had dropped Otto off in Star City with Roy as he went out as Red Hood that night. Something about a large drug bust that would have all the vigilante's (that knew about Otto) busy. So Jason had no babysitters except Roy. The red head didn't mind, he liked Otto. When they weren't biting him and instead playing and engaging Lian. Roy was out shopping, grabbing some snacks and nuggets for the kids tonight when they all watched a movie. 

Otto waved goodbye to his father as the man revved and drove off on his bike. They walked into the house and faltered, staring at the stranger in the hallway. Right outside Lian's room. Lian was loudly playing inside, banging something around in there. Otto snarled as the man reached for the doorknob and lunged at him. The man slammed into the floor and grunted in pain, loading a bullet into his gun and shooting Otto. Who whined as the bullet went into  their stomach. Otto rolled off the man and stood up, spitting the bullet out and growling. Well. It seems as though they cannot die then. 

The stranger looks horrified, scrambling back and into another closed door. By the smell, Roy's room. Otto pounced on him again and started clawing at the mans face. He screamed and shouted, trying to push the kid off, but Otto held strong until they felt the man go limp. Otto panted hard, slamming the guys head into the floor a few times as precaution and ran to Lian's door. 

"Ḷ̵̞̟̤̖͙̻͈̈́̊̓̿́̋̕̚ị̸̧̢̨̧̙̮͍̖̈́̇a̸̙̭̲͚̖̺͓͌n̵͉̦̩̫͖͈̗͍̞̉̄͌̽̅̒̉̀̽!" They yelled, knocking on the door frantically. "Ḷ̵̞̟̤̖͙̻͈̈́̊̓̿́̋̕̚ị̸̧̢̨̧̙̮͍̖̈́̇a̸̙̭̲͚̖̺͓͌n̵͉̦̩̫͖͈̗͍̞̉̄͌̽̅̒̉̀̽!"

Their voice sounded echoey and terrifying, but the door was opened anyway. Lian was openly crying as she launched at Otto, hugging them tightly. "Otto! I was so scared!" Otto skillfully turned her away from the body and into the living room. "W̷h̷e̷r̷e̷'̷s̷ ̷R̷o̷y̷?̷" They asked, knowing the man would've come out to help. "Dad's getting snacks." She replied, sniffling as her fearful sobs died down to occasional hiccups. "He wanted us to watch a movie." She pointed to the TV with the blanket fort set up in front of it. Otto brought his sist- friend into the fort and mimed a stay motion. They ran over to the body and dragged him to the front door, right as Roy opened it. He dropped the groceries in shock and auto kicked them inside. 

"What happened!?" He exclaimed, quickly grabbing Otto and slamming his foot into the guys face. Or what remains of it anyway. Otto mimed a weak punch and pointed at the guy. "You fought him?" They nodded. "Okay. Why?" Lian pipped up from inside the fort. "He was outside my door! Otto jumped to my rescue!" She reported, staring pointedly at her father. Roy nodded slowly and set down the kid, picking the man up by the armpits and dragging him outside. "Okay. Great, cool. Let's call Oliver, Lian?" The girl yelled out an "Affirmative!" and started dialing the hero. Otto looked worried, but busied themself with cleaning up the blood. Which there was a lot of. 

"Hi Mr. Arrow." Lian said from the couch, having moved so she could watch Otto. "A scary guy broke into the house, dad said to call you." A shocked shout came from the phone that even Otto heard from the hallway. They perked up, looking over to the girl with curiosity. "No I'm not hurt." She replied after a minute, tapping her foot impatiently. "Dad took the guy outside, I think he needs your help." 

They didn't end up having a movie night. Otto had hidden themself from Green Arrow and didn't come out of Lian's closet until the next morning. They missed their dad. Lian and Roy had moved the fort to outside the closet and the two kids slept on the floor instead. Roy pretended he didn't notice how antsy Otto got when Jason didn't return that night.

"Hey Otto." Roy said, carefully placing a toothbrush in the kids hand. They blinked down at it, a sign that they were confused, Roy noted. "Let's brush your teeth before breakfast. Get the blood taste out?" 

"Brush teeth?" 

JASON DID YOU NOT TEACH THE KID TO BRUSH?

Outside a Gotham warehouse, Red Hood felt chills go down his spine. Something just happened and it was his fault.

Chapter Text

Jason got to Roy's apartment, showered, took a nap, and was yanked to the car. In that order.

"Why are you dragging me around?" He asked slowly, staring at Roy with poorly concealed irritation. "It's come to my attention that Otto doesn't have a toothbrush. Or clothes that aren't Damian's. And the kid dislikes those clothes if the growls are anything to go by." Jason winced, recalling the pure panic as he begged Dick for clothes that would fit Otto. He hadn't wanted to go shopping in Gotham, that would put such a huge target on the kids head. 'Jason Todd Wayne with a son?' Son. He scowled, because reporters in Gotham wouldn't care for his child's pronouns. That shit wasn't happening. 'Jason Todd Wayne with a freakish son!' 

So they hadn't gone shopping. Otto hadn't minded, preferring wearing Jason's clothes anyway. They didn't like Damian's hand me downs but hadn't growled at him. Maybe it's because Roy was dressing them, but that doesn't matter. It was time for the kiddo to get their own clothes anyway. 

Roy stopped Jason from getting the kids out with a hand on the shoulder. He looked over at his friend, eyebrow raised. "Otto killed a man." He whispered, patting Jason's shoulder and getting out Lian. "Have a talk." He advised quietly, Otto crawling out after Lian with wide, curious eyes. Jason nodded and held a hand out for his cryptid to take. They did, smiling a little too widely up at Jason and looking around the parking lot. Gotham didn't have any of those in Crime Alley. "This is a parking lot. It's where people park their cars when they shop." Jason explained, gesturing with his free hand to the spot Roy parked in. Otto nodded, pointing at a bright blue car and tilting their head. Lian perked up and chirped back. "Blue!" Otto nodded firmly, seriousness taking over their expression. 

Apparently Otto knows not to speak in public. Maybe they should teach the kids sign language. Jason didn't know how to take that. He walked a little further back from the other two and tapped Otto's hand with his thumb. "Hey bud." He said softly, looking down and meeting Otto's eyes. "I heard from a bird you got in a fight." Otto averted their gaze and looked down, puffing out their cheeks. They nodded anyway. "Yeah." Jason paused, trying to figure out how to word this. He wasn't mad, he'd be a hypocrite. No, he was worried Otto didn't know how to handle death. How to deal with knowing they'd murdered someone and not even blinked. 

"Ruthlessness is mercy." He said carefully, picking Otto up and settling them on his hip. Otto tilted their head a little too far and Jason lightly tapped their head to bring it up. "Mercy on ourselves." Jason continued, grabbing a cart and pushing open the doors to the .. Ross. Oh God. He shot Roy a glare, who was being dragged off to the makeup section by Lian. Well, seems as though it'll all be worth it then. "ₒₙ ₒᵤᵣₛₑₗᵥₑₛ?" They repeated, and Jason did a double take at how quiet and human their voice was. He barely heard it over the cart being pushed. Regardless, he pushed on, placing Otto in the basket. "Yup. On ourselves. You don't have to live knowing that person will come back and get you. You or anyone you love." Otto nodded, eyes flicking away and their hand shot out to grab a shirt as they passed it. Jason hadn't seen them move that fast ever. 

Dark blue with little stars all over it, cute. Otto visibly sized up the shirt before looking up at Jason. "Go ahead. Drop it in the cart." Otto dropped it right on their legs and looked more alert, scanning the racks of clothes. "ʸᵒᵘ ᵃʳᵉⁿ'ᵗ ᵐᵃᵈ ᴵ ᵉⁿᵈᵉᵈ ʰⁱᵐ?" They asked, running their hands along the rows with disinterest. Apparently none of these suited their wants. Jason pushed along to the red section and shrugged. "No. I do the same." He explained simply, holding out a Flash shirt, which got a scrunched nose. Okay, no Flash. Jason held up a random kids cartoon with a raised eyebrow, and the kid raised one right back. God.

"What are we looking for?" Jason prompted after the 10th miss. Otto shrugs dramatically and points to their current shirt. The only one they picked. "Yes, space? I showed you a red spaceship-" They growled under their breath that sounded suspiciously like a sigh. "ʸᵉˡˡᵒʷ ᵗʰⁱⁿᵍˢ." They pointed at the stars specifically, and Jason wanted to tear his hair out. Star themed shirts are not Ross friendly!! Ross doesn't carry that kind of stuff, Walmart does! He nodded slowly and went back to scouring the racks for star shirts. Planets too maybe. Roy dropped a shirt 2 sizes too big into the cart, "Star City" printed in bold letters across the front. Great. Otto clutched it as Jason tried to put it back though.

Four hours later and multiple different outfits, Jason was done. Roy didn't seem to mind, happily pulling the two kids along as Lian stopped every two steps to point something out. Otto had gotten a bright yellow cat hat, neon pink sneakers and overalls. 2 pairs of pants, a singular space shirt, (they weren't happy about that) a shirt with a weird looking creature on it? Roy laughed and said it was an autistic creature but Jason didn't think that was funny? Until Roy explained that the creature is called that. Anyway Otto insisted on lots of plain long sleeves and some with more "girly" looks, frills and shit. Jason was 100% willing to break gender norms for this kid. He's seeing a pattern in what the kid likes, rainbows and stars? Two things you'll basically never see in Gotham. Luckily Jason found plenty of starry socks, so Otto wasn't too upset. 

Lian had demanded the $10 matching bracelet that Jason could've made at home in 2 minutes. "I want to match with Otto!" And he caved. Finally done with shopping, Roy and Jason practically shoved the kids in the car and buckled them in. "Okay, we've gotta bring Jay and Otto home sweetie." Roy said as they started driving back to the house. Lian kicked the seat and shouted out her protests. "No! I don't want them to leave! Aren't you guys kissing yet like mommy and dad!? What's!! Taking!! So!! Long!!?" Otto looked just as frustrated, crossing their arms and splaying their feet out in front of them. 

"Y̷̡̼͖͍͕͙̫͓̦̌̈̌̃͘ẽ̴̡̨̫̤̟̠̟̞̒͆͆͊̐̌̉̚͝a̸̹̣̭̪̦͌̍ͅẖ̸̞͈͇̮̻͚͕̞̃̈́̇̄̏͌!̷̩͌̈́͛͒͛̍͌͘͝ ̸̫̈́͗̌͂I̴̭͊̇̓͋͘͠ ̷͉͖̲́̈́̏̐̍̌͋̃l̷̡̢͈̣̲̭̮̩̀̋̊̅̈́́͊̀ͅe̷̘̞̺͕͎̩͍͇̯̿͆̋̇́̎̚f̶͚̲̉̿́̇̎̈́̈́̊͜͠͝t̷͕͕̯̭̗̙͈̟̝̃ ̷̬̜͓̦̹̣̜̖͆͜y̶̢̜̣̝͗ǭ̵̞̲̙̜̗̖͈͕́̓̀̓̀ͅư̶̛̛͖̺̝̠̺͙̳̑̍̏̅́̀̄͜ͅ ̵̫̟̦͂͋̽͋̓̚ä̵̡͕͙͍͕͍̼͈͉̘́̏ľ̵̬̳̠̙̬̯͍̓ͅő̶͚͓̗̜̼ṇ̷̱̥͉̝͙̰̓̽̓̓̂̑̕̕ͅê̵͚̠̼̫͑̓ ̷̺̅͒̐͋̓͌̇͒̔͘s̷̛͙̿́̌̔̒͊̋͜͠ò̸͎͍͎ ̸͉̠͘͘ÿ̴̳̦̱̞̠̖́̊̄̇͋̃̏̒͛͜õ̷̃̂̃̈́́̚͜͝u̵̦̓̄͂̐̃͋͘ ̴͈̌̄͆̀̿͊͝͝w̸̧͔̭̞͙̳̝̣͝ͅo̴̥͖̗͈̰̓́̑̆̕͜͝ụ̷͙͑͒̎̕l̴̨̩͚̳͙̬͍͙̈́͝d̵̨̨̡̡̡̬̻͓̦̆͗̽̽͝ ̷̨̟͓̮̣̹̌͜p̵͔̳̞̗̞̓̍̊̚̕ą̵͈̘̜̘̗͙̱͗͊ͅr̷̡̟̮̯̓̉̆͊̒̏̆̆̕t̵̪̭͓̙̊́n̸̰͇̱͇̓͌e̵̘͈͕͉͆ȓ̶̖͓͖̥͈̠̅!̵̜̥̩̪̲̬̟̮́̀̎̔͝͝͝!̵̨̢̹̘̙͈̠̑̌̈̉͌̎̅̈͜͜ͅ"

They said, louder then Jason had ever heard them. He startled, turning around to stare incredulously at Otto, he'd barely understood them! "What?" They grumbled and kicked, pouting. Genuinely pouting. "Wₕy ᵢₛₙ'ₜ ₗᵢₐₙ ₛᵢₛₜₑᵣ yₑₜ!?" They huffed, and Jason watched Roy go bright red as he swerved slightly in shock. He had to stop Roy from twisting around himself. "Otto," Jason started slowly, looking at Lian. "Lian, why are you so determined to get us together?" And Lian, the snarky little 5 year old, had the gall to huff. 

"Dad likes you! You like dad! I want a brother-"

"ˢⁱᵇˡⁱⁿᵍ."

"-sibling! So hurry up about it!" 

"ᴸⁱᵛᵉ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᶠᵃᵐⁱˡʸ." Otto said sagely, looking pointedly at Jason. "Lian, you and your dad can't just leave Star City. It's not safe in Gotham, and your dad works here." Jason said exasperatedly, and he looked over to Otto. "Otto, we can't leave Gotham. She's your mom, that's not fair to her, right?" Otto's brow furrowed as they looked at Jason, then Roy. They narrowed their eyes, confusion clear as day in their eyes. They pointed at Roy and asked innocently. "ᴺᵒᵗ ᵐᵒᵐ?" And Roy had to pull over so he didn't crash the car in horror. Jason stumbled over his words, face flushing. Apparently Otto didn't know as much about gender then he originally thought. Pronouns, they knew. Gender concepts? No. "No! No, Roy is a man. A dad." Jason explained quickly, and Otto's glare returned at full force. "Yₒᵤ ₛₐᵢd yₒᵤ ₗᵢₖₑ ₕᵢₘ!" They accused, their glare fixated on Jason. "I do-!" Lian cheered and Otto's glare disappeared into a smirk. "Oh you little shit-" He growled in embarrassment, unbuckling his belt to reach back and tickle Otto. 

Jason and Roy were together by the end of the night. They wouldn't be able to live together, but they dropped by each others houses so often did it really matter? They were practically living together now anyway. Otto would be enrolled in Lian's school and introduced as her older sibling, since Jason had (unfortunately) confirmed that no, they weren't a girl or boy. Apparently Gotham conjured this child up as completely genderless, and if anyone wanted to argue otherwise, then Otto had to go ahead to start a fight. Jason and Roy kickstarted Otto's education, as the school year started in a month and they needed to be ready and able to speak or sign. 

Luckily Otto took to sign language rather easily and spoke in that most of the time. They trailed Jason on patrol, occasionally following Roy when they visited. Although they mostly stayed with Lian and kept her safe instead. Roy had convinced Otto that they were a hero if they did that, and Otto was ecstatic. Except a bedtime was put into place once school got closer, and Otto couldn't be more annoyed. A bedtime! Ridiculous.