"So is this what you are doing all day?" Dick quipped from the door. He was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.
Jason and Barbara were sitting on the antique sofa in one of the manor's libraries. Barbara leaned against the left arm with her knees bent and socked feet on the couch. Jason sat with his legs crossed on the right arm of the couch. Both had books. Both ignored him. Barbara turned a page.
Dick rolled his eyes and flopped down between them. They still ignored him. Desperate measures then.
"Are you reading Shakespeare for fun, little nerd?"
Jason slapped him but still held carefully the fragile book he was reading. "Said the mathlete."
Barbara snorted but didn't set her book down.
"Hey! Bruce wouldn't let me join the gymnastics team," Dick replied.
The redhead kicked Dick in the thigh. "Out."
"Come on, Babs, I'm way more entertaining than" He glanced at the title of the book. "Paper Towns."
"Go bother someone at Mount Justice. Jason and I have been looking forward to this day," Babs told him.
"A day to just sit and read together? You're not even reading the same book!"
Jason snorted. "Besides, he can't."
The older teen elbowed his brother. "Shut up."
Babs finally set the book down. "What did you do now?"
"I resent the implications of that statement," Dick replied, but a faint blush crept up his cheeks.
"He was caught making out with Zatanna on the training mats." Jason smirked. "They're no longer allowed together at Mount Justice unsupervised."
The acrobat crossed his arms with a petulant look on his face. "I hardly think that's fair, considering how often he sends us away when Catwoman shows up."
Barbara looked pained. "Please tell me you didn't say that to Bruce's face."
"Oh, he did!" Jason cackled. "Now, he's grounded from patrol for two weeks."
Dick scowled. "He's a hypocrite."
"He's an adult."
The teenager dropped his mouth open. "You. You can't be taking his side."
The younger boy returned to Twelfth Night. "Barbie's like 80. Of course, she'd picked Dad's side."
The female reached around the back of the couch and whacked the boy upside the head.
"Ow!" Jason rubbed the back of his head. "I'm just saying Barbie. You agreed with Mrs. Henning when she gave everyone an extra essay because she caught ten people plagiarizing their original essays."
"The additional essay wasn't even difficult," Babs protested. "And those children deserved to write at least one essay."
"Ugh," Dick complained loudly. "You are supposed to be on my side by default. We're teenagers. We hate adults."
The redhead rolled her eyes. "The frontal cortex of the teenager brain has not fully developed, which leads to impulsive decision making and poor life choices."
The teenager decided to prove Barbara's point by tackling the female, who responded by elbowing him in the gut hard. Dick rolled away.
Jason, not to be undone, jumped on top of Dick's back. The acrobat threw his little brother off him at Barbara, who flipped out of the way. There was a loud crash as Jason crashed into a bookshelf.
Three teenagers looked to the door.
"Maybe he didn't hear?" Jason whispered.
Babs started righting the knocked-over bookshelf and placing the books back.
Dick looked around the room. The antique Shakespeare play that Jason had been reading was torn. Books landed in several different places.
"I'm so dead."
Alfred showed up in the doorway with pursed lip and one raised eyebrows.
"Master Richard, care to explain what happened to my library?"
Author's Note: This is just a fluffy oneshot because of all the angst in Incomitatus. The next chapter is halfway done. It will be up soon!
It's totally my head cannon that Bruce is an overprotective Dad regarding the teenagers and their hormones at Mount Justice. No one is going to touch his Baby Birds! And Jason and Babs get together to read and discuss books because they are the only two readers on the team.
I just love Dick, Babs, and Jason together. So much.