Chapter One

This isn't about a war. It's about two brothers that loved each other and betrayed each other. You think you'd be able to relate. –Gabriel, Changing Channels 5.08

This isn't a story about Nightwing. It isn't about the Red Hood. It's about Dick Grayson and Jason Todd. It's about a mistake and how it gets resolved. It's about sacrifice and resolution to see it through the end.

Dick Grayson went missing the same day that Gabriel dies. These two facts weren't unrelated. The third fact, the fact that the third person would never talk about, is that Dick Grayson called Jason Todd one hour before he went missing. He told Jason everything. This is their conversation.

It's ten in the morning and Jason has just changed from his vigilante outfit into old sweats and a tatty t-shirt. The apartment reeks of beer and old sweat, and there's an odd stain on one wall. He'd flopped onto the couch and turns on the TV, settling onto Dr. Sexy MD and turns it on mute. He starts to clean his guns. The phone rings. He picks it up and answers it, almost absent-mindly.

"Todd."

"Jay, I did something stupid," Dick's voice croaks down the phone.

Jason carefully puts down the gun he's cleaning and pays more attention to the conversation. "Dick, what's going on? Whatta do?" He scans his living room, looking for his laptop. It's on the kitchen counter. He gets up to get it, planning to trace the call.

"I said yes. Fuck. I didn't think, I didn't know…" Dick's voice hitches on a sob, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

This is scaring Jason. In all the time he's known Dick, he's never heard his brother swear. He's also never heard Dick this freaked out. "Dick, what did you do? Where are you? Jason demands, diving for the laptop. He rapidly logs in and activates his tracer program. "What's going on?"

"Angels are real, and I'm one of Gabriel's vessels and I said yes. Jason please don't look for me- no! No, no, no, shit." A clunk is heard, and a tinny rattle. Dick's using a payphone. Dick cusses as he feeds the payphone and gets back on the line, "Jaybird…"

"Gabriel, the Archangel?" This wasn't making sense. Jason powered on through anyways.

"Yeah. Can you believe it? Angels and demons and monsters are all real. They're real, Jay." Dick sounded slightly awed.

Jason was speechless. Dick. Dick was going to be gone soon, and he didn't think there was much he could do to stop it. Things that lived in the part of Jason's brain that was labeled 'IGNORE' was rattling in his head. He shoved the entire thought process down and concentrated on his older brother.

"Take care of my stuff Jay. He said that him using my sexy, sexy body was only going to be temporary, but I don't know how much I believe him. I love you." Dick was trying to make him feel better with a joke. It wasn't working.

The line, however, didn't go dead. He thanked God it didn't go dead.

"Dick, please. I love you too, you piece of shit. What the hell is going on?" Jason demands.

Instead of replying, Dick rattled off a number that Jason memorized and wrote down by force of habit. "Don't tell anyone that I called you. I'll miss you Jay. I love you, and I love Little D, and Timmy, and Babs, and Bruce, and Stephanie, and Cass. I'll miss them, and you."

"Dickie, don't" Jason's eyes are glued to the loading bar, "Whatever your gonna do, don't. Take it back, Dickie-bird. Take it back. I love you, you great big moron." The laptop shuts down by itself. Jason cusses and reboots it.

"I'm sorry," Dick says again, and hangs up.

Jason puts his head in his hands and does something he hadn't done in years. He started to sob. It was a goodbye for an unknown length of time, and Dick had outright said that whatever the hell he was doing may not allow him to come back.

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.

When the laptop rebooted, Jason notices that the trace didn't go through. He glowers at the thing and wipes the hard drive. He does the same to his phone, to honor part of Dick's last request. He ripped up the paper that he wrote the number on and put the pieces in the disposable in the sink. For Dick. Who'd never given up on him, despite everything he'd done. The least he could do was get the Bat Family off his trail.

The next night, Jason is assaulted by phone calls when Dick fails to check in. He gets more when Dick's been AWOL for a week. Finally, Bruce breaks into his safe house.

"Jason," Bruce says coldly.

"I don't have him, and I don't know where he is. I've been repeating myself over n' over for a week now, Bruce." Jason snarls. The phone number that Dick gave him is burning through his head.

"I know he called you."

Jason scowls at him. "And? What, do you expect me to share what we talked about? He wanted to check up on me."

"You know where he is. Or, at the very least, who took him." Bruce accuses. He goes for the disappointed parental look. Jason doesn't fall for it.

"I don't." Jason asserted. "Go do big scary bat things. I have better things to do than listen to you accuse me."

Bruce leaves. Jason doesn't patrol. Instead, he looks up the number. It's a landline for some place called Singer's Auto. Jason purses his lips and checks the address.

Jason huffs out an irritated breath. He could make that in a day or so, taking his bike. Might as well see why Dick gave him the number before he went AWOL. (Jason ignores the feeling that is wondering where is big brother is. If he's okay. If he's alive. That totally isn't the reason why he's checking the place out)