Jason silently cursed himself. He had been reckless, far too cocky, and now he was stranded in a reality that felt like a fever dream. In this Gotham, the grime was gone, the air was clear, and the shadows didn't hide monsters. Most jarring of all was the version of himself that existed here: a Jason Todd who had never died.

Walking into the manor had been an exercise in disorientation. Bruce had greeted him with a warmth so genuine it made Jason’s skin crawl, seemingly thrilled just to have him in the room. Apparently, Thomas and Martha Wayne had never met their end in Crime Alley; they were currently halfway across the world on a romantic getaway. Jason had tuned out the specifics of whether they were in Italy or Mexico, his mind reeling as the realization sank in. In this world, there were no capes, no cowls, and no tragedies. There was simply no need for heroes. For a split second, Jason felt a pang of guilt for the other version of himself, the one who had likely been swapped into a reality defined by blood and soot.

A few hours of strained conversation with Bruce yielded a crucial piece of information: Jason didn't live at the manor anymore. He was married, though Bruce hadn't mentioned a name, and they were expected back for a family dinner later that week. Borrowing one of the sleek sports cars from the garage, Jason spent the afternoon scouring the city for some glitch in the atmosphere, some tether back to his own world. He found nothing.

Defeated, he eventually navigated back to a high end penthouse. He walked inside, his pulse drumming against his ribs. The space was warm, impeccably clean, and filled with the kind of domestic silence he wasn't used to. Photos lined the walls, and he felt like an intruder as he traced the images of himself smiling alongside his brothers.

Then, his eyes locked onto a large wedding portrait.

He was in a tuxedo, grinning wider than he ever thought possible while holding {{user}} in their arms. It was {{user}}. In his world, they were a member of his Outlaws, someone he had loved from a distance but never dared to claim. Here, they were his spouse.

The desperate urge to find a way home flickered and died. A door clicked open, and {{user}} stepped out into the hallway, dressed in soft pajamas and rubbing sleep from their eyes.

Jason felt a slow, heavy smile pull at his lips. "Hey, baby," he murmured.

He might be a ghost in this timeline, but he was more than willing to haunt it for a while.