Well that took a long time. Sorry about that.

To be honest, I'm not really happy with how this turned out. It all but refused to be written another way though :/

Hope you enjoy nonetheless!

Spoilers for Nightwing Vol 2 #98-99.

Disclaimer: I don't own DCU

"Batman, Red Hood… the cops. They're shooting on sight. Be careful."

Jason rolled his eyes and groaned. He was working with Batman and Nightwing to prevent a gang war in Gotham and as far as he was concerned, the three vigilantes could do the police's jobs a thousand times better than they could. They didn't need to interfere now.

Of course, life liked to fuck Jason over a lot, so obviously the police had to show up with a shoot on sight order.

"I'm not sure I'm gonna make it to the docks. I—"

The second Jason heard that, his heart leaped in his throat.

"'Wing? Nightwing, respond!" he barked into his communicator.

"…got shot," Dick's weak voice continued. "Leg this time. Cops this time. It's…"

The radio went silent for a moment and Jason swore he nearly died again.

"…bad…"

"Nightwing!"

With a quick call to Oracle requesting a trace, Jason arrived at Nightwing's location.

"Nightwing? Fuck, Dick, can you hear me?"

Dick's head lolled in Jason arms, the bullet wound on his right thigh bleeding sluggishly. Jason exhausted his colourful vocabulary on the situation.

The telltale whoosh of a cape Jason knew all too well announced the third vigilante's presence.

"Hood. I'll take it from here."

"Like fuck you will! I'll take him!" Jason shouts, bringing Dick closer to him.

"We don't have time to argue about this, Hood. He needs medical treatment and fast."

"He wouldn't need medical treatment if he wasn't off his game! Where were you when he needed help in Blüdhaven?! Where were you when he was crying his eyes out?! Why weren't you there for him?!"

Why are you never here when we need you?!

Batman stayed silent in front of him, tense, the only indication that he had heard Jason's screaming.

"Where are you going to take him?" Batman finally asked.

"Home," was all Jason replied with before grappling away.

"How is he, Alfred?"

"Master Dick has been in better states of health, but he will live," Alfred reported, just having finished bandaging the bullet wound.

A groan from the bed alerted the two to Dick's awakening.

"… stop… stop… don't…" Dick mumbled. Alfred turned to readjust the cool cloth on Dick's forehead.

"Dickiebird?" Jason asked.

"…don't do it…" Dick continued to plead, unaware of his surroundings.

"Shhhh. There, there, dear boy. You are safely home now. Everything is—"

"No!" the downed vigilante shouted as he bolted upright.

"Lie down this instant, Master Dick," Alfred ordered as Jason moved to push his older brother back on the bed. "You're running a fever of one hundred and four."

"A hundred and four?!" Jason shouted as he finally managed to pin the acrobat down. "Jesus, Dick, go the fuck to sleep."

"I have to agree with Master Jason, Master Dick. You are in no condition to be moving at this moment."

"Alfred… Jay… I have to tell him," Dick insisted as he fought to sit back up. Jason quickly rectified that.

"Tell him what?" Alfred asked.

"About the shooting."

Jason flinched violently and was about to answer when Alfred beat him to it.

"Don't be foolish. He already knows."

Jason and Dick's eyes widened comically.

"He… he does?" Dick questioned.

"I never told him about that!" Jason shouted.

Alfred looked confused at the two. "He arrived with you to retrieve Master Dick, Master Jason. Of course he knows that he was shot by a police officer!"

Both vigilantes exhaled, one in relief and one in resignation.

"Oh. That," the two chorused.

"No…" Dick continued.

Alfred raised an eyebrow curiously while Jason tried to shut his older brother up without jostling him.

"Dickiebird, you're burning up with a fever and I don't think that you want Alfie to know about… you know what."

"I meant… the other thing…. with Blockbuster… with…" Dick's voice petered out as he slipped back under.

Jason breathed a sigh of relief. Alfred however, wasn't happy.

"A word, if I may, Master Jason."

"Uhh… what's up, Alfred?"

"I do believe there is something 'up', Master Jason. My only question is what."

"Alfie… I don't think Dickiebird would want me to tell you," Jason admitted, looking more serious than Alfred ever recalled him being.

With a sigh, Alfred steeled himself. "Very well. I will not pry into Master Dick's nor your business. However, do not think that I do not notice Master Dick's distress as of late. Am I to presume that you are handling it?"

"As well as I can Alfie. Sometimes I don't know what to do with him."

"The same can be said about any one of the residents of this manor, Master Jason. I'm sure you'll be able to help Master Dick. Heaven knows that boy needs it right now."

Jason swore he saw a tear in Alfred's eye before the old man reentered Dick's room.

Bruce's phone rang an hour later. Jason sat at Dick's bedside and watched as his older brother's eyes crack opened. Alfred observed the boys for a moment before leaving to answer the phone.

"Good evening, Master Bruce."

"Is Dick there, Alfred? How is he?"

"He is. No significant change in status, I'm afraid. I'm still concerned about the fever and some recurrent hemorrhaging from the femoral arterial laceration."

"Have you talk to him about what happened to the others?"

"No, I have not mentioned any of that. Thankfully, he has only asked of your whereabouts so far. I honestly have no idea what I'd tell him."

Jason perked up from beside Dick. He moved to stand, just about to go outside to ask what the heck Alfred was talking about when he felt a tug on his jacket.

"Jay…"

"Relax, Dickiebird," Jason soothed as he tried to gently removed Dick's hold on his sleeve.

"Something's wrong…"

"Yes, of course sir. I will make sure Master Dick gets the rest he needs."

"Alfred, he's going to fight you. I don't know whose side Jason will be on but—"

"With all due respect, Master Bruce, I have raised both of those boys. I think I am capable of handling them."

"Something's wrong, Jay…"

"What is it, Dickie? Do you need more painkillers?"

"No…" Dick said as he shook his head.

Jason frowned and removed his glove, placing his hand against Dick's forehead, the cool cloth that had been there earlier now forgotten.

"Dick, you're still way too warm. There's nothing wrong."

"No… not something…" Dick mumbled. Jason had to lean down slightly to hear him.

"Someone," Dick said.

"I'll be back soon, Alfred. Take care of them while I'm gone."

"Certainly, Master Bruce. When might you be back?"

"Give me another thirty minutes, Alfred."

"Very well, Master Bruce."

"You're going to have to be more specific, Dickie," Jason prompted, genuinely confused.

Dick however, ignored Jason. "Alfred…?" he called out weakly.

The butler strode in and stood beside Jason. "I'm afraid Gotham is once again exclusively the undertaking of Batman," the old man reported. Jason raised an eyebrow while Dick fought to sit up.

"What? What d'you mean?" Dick asked with urgency. "Where's Tim?"

"Dick, calm down and get back to bed. You need to rest," Jason ordered.

"I'm inclined to agree, Master Dick. You are still running a fever."

"Cassandra?" Dick asked.

"I was told by Master Bruce specifically not to speak with you on these matters. Not until he comes back, at the very least."

"Dick, seriously. Rest!" Jason shouted.

"They're ok though, right?" Dick said, disregarding both Jason and Alfred. The old man avoided his gaze and immediately, both former Robins knew that there was something being hidden from them. Two sets of eyes narrowed at the butler.

"Alfred…" Jason started.

"And Babs is still—" Dick said but cut himself off when he saw Alfred's shoulders tense. Immediately, with a speed that no one with a bullet wound in his thigh should be capable of, Dick got out of bed and grabbed Alfred by his lapel. The IV drip fell to the floor, clanging. Jason was nothing if not impressed by Dick's determination.

"Alfred where's Barbara?!" Dick demanded.

"S-She is unharmed. At least, physically."

"Where is she?" Dick demanded again, a fist pulled back, ready to strike. Jason frowned at the sight. This was all so wrong on so many levels.

"That I can't say with any certainty. After the clocktower was destroyed she…felt it necessary to create some distance from Gotham."

Dick's expression crumbled at the same time his knees did. Jason immediately rushed forward and caught his collapsing brother.

"Whoa there, Dickie. Time to get back in bed."

"Do listen to Master Jason, Master Dick. Should you worsen your condition, it would truly be more than I could bear," Alfred said as he helped Dick sit on the bed.

Dick buried his face in his hands. "So she just… left? Without saying goodbye?"

Jason cringed at Dick's broken tone. He had never been heartbroken before and judging by Dick's current disposition, he wasn't eager to fall in love any time soon. Everyone knew how much Dick loved Barbara and if falling in love meant risking this much pain, it wasn't worth it.

Alfred seemed better equipped to deal with this problem. "I am sure you will speak with her again, dear boy."

Jason noticed that Alfred said speak and not see.

"And poor Steph can't be up on her feet yet… which means that Bruce is out there all alone," Dick finished miserably.

"All the more reason for you to speed along your recovery, Master Dick," Alfred said as he turned away and brought his hand to his face. Jason watched incredulously as Dick voiced out what they were both thinking.

"Alfred are you… crying?"

"Certainly not," the butler insisted as he placed a hand on Dick's shoulder. "Now back into bed with you, chop chop…"

"I'm fine. I've gotta get up," Dick said as he pulled himself to his feet. Jason was beside him instantly. "I've gotta find Barbara and—"

"Get the fuck back to bed, Dick," Jason hissed. "Listen to Alfred and rest."

"You are not fine, Master Dick. Please do not try my patience on this matter."

"Is my gear downstairs? If you have coordinates on Bruce, I'll stop by on my way to—"

And then something happened that was so surreal that Jason would later swear that he imagined it.

Alfred shouted.

"Richard John Grayson! Get back into bed this instant!" the man shouted, whirling around in anger. Amazingly, Dick ignored his pseudo-grandfather and continued to make his way to the door. Jason shook himself out of his astonishment and blocked the door.

"You aren't going anywhere but the bed, Dickiebird."

Alfred came up beside them. "This is the second bullet that you've taken in a matter of several months, and I will not allow you to compromise your care!" he scolded as he threw his arms up in exasperation.

Wait, what?!

"Second bullet?" Jason asked suspiciously.

"Deathstroke," Dick answered absentmindedly. Turning back to Alfred, he said, "Look, you can't keep me here against my—"

The stars must be in alignment or something, Jason mused, because Alfred began shouting again.

"Like hell I can't!"

This time, Dick looked properly bewildered.

The old man turned away from his two grandsons dejectedly. Dick seemed to finally get the message and came up behind the man.

"Alfred… what's the matter?"

Looking away as if not bearing to face him, Alfred answered, "Oh my dear boy, if only I knew…"

At this point, Jason felt like he was intruding on a private moment, but he still wasn't convinced that Dick would stay and be treated like a good boy and so he found himself staying.

"Ever since you were a child, I have seen in you such luminosity of spirit… it was truly almost visible— some indefinable yet unmistakable fire at the very core of your being that allowed you to survive and thrive where so many others…"

Alfred pointedly avoided looking in Jason's direction as he said this. Jason found that he didn't mind however. After all, Alfred had done him no wrong. Not really anyway.

Dick seemed frozen for a moment as Alfred turned back to look at him. Then with a sigh, Alfred looked away.

"But now that very spark seems to have vanished from you, Master Dick, as if it had never lit your heart. I do not know why and I do not know how to help you," at this Alfred sent a look in Jason's direction, which he returned with a nod, "But I fear that without it, this life that you and Master Bruce lead could well prove… unsurvivable." The last word was said so quietly that Jason strained to hear it. When he did, his heart leapt in his throat.

Crowbar.

Joker.

Bomb.

Had to get out! Had to get free!

Help!

Jason snapped himself out of his memories to find that Dick had moved closer to their pseudo grandfather.

"Alfred, what are you talking about? Bruce hasn't had any innate optimism this whole time, and he'll outlast every one of us!"

"But of course he has had optimism!" Alfred said and Dick turned in bewilderment.

Jason decided to step in. "He's had you, Dickiebird."

There was a long silence before Jason decided he had to intervene again.

"I'll take it from here, Alfred. Go get some rest," Jason said. The butler turned to look at Jason, his age showing on his face for the first time. The old man was weary and they had all been blind not to see it.

"I bid you good night then, Master Jason. Please take care of Master Dick."

"Don't worry, Alfred. I intend to. Even if he won't."

"Are you finally going to see what's in front of you, Dickiebird?" Jason asked as he maneuvered his older brother back to his bed.

"What are you talking about, Jason?"

"You're not ok. And you won't be until you learn to forgive yourself, nevermind Bruce's forgiveness."

"I can't, Jason. We don't kill," Dick insisted.

Jason scoffed. "Take it from someone who's actually done it, Goldie. What you did wasn't killing."

"It might as well have been!" Dick cried and tensed as he jostled his wound.

"Easy there, Dickie. You're going to be out of action for a while with that wound. Just lie down and let us take care of you, yeah?"

"Why're you doing this? Don't you hate me? Why've you been taking care of me all this time?" Dick asked, his eyes filling with tears. He didn't deserve to be treated with such kindness!

"I'm doing this because I know what it's like to feel like you have nothing left. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, which may or may not be Bats and by extension you, but I'll do everything I can to make sure you don't end up broken like I did, Dickiebird."

"You… you're not broken, Jay. You've never been broken," Dick reassured as he looked up at his brother.

"Thanks, Dickiebird, but I think the other members of our 'family' think otherwise."

"Jay…"

"Get some rest. We'll still be here when you wake up."

Jason had made his way down to the Batcave when Bruce returned. Furious, he stomped up to the car just as Bruce climbed out of it.

"Before you say anything, Jason, I had my reasons for not being there for Dick."

"Like what?!" Jason shouted. He had dealt with Bruce's shit one too many times.

"I don't need to explain myself to you, Jason. I was busy. But that doesn't mean that I don't care."

Jason laughed coldly. "You care? You sure have a fucking hilarious way of showing it, Bruce. He needed you!"

Bruce closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know."

"Then why didn't you do something?!" Jason exploded.

Before Bruce could answer, he tensed and jerked his head to the left. Jason paused as well, hearing something. A telltale tik tak of crutches informed Jason of just who it was that was down there with them.

"Dickiebird."

"What are you doing out of bed?" Bruce asked as his eldest came up to him, balancing on his crutches.

"You did it again, didn't you? You pushed everyone away!" Dick accused, completely ignoring Bruce's question.

"Dick…" Bruce began. He decided not to face either of his sons though, as he turned and began a descent down the stairs. "Stephanie is dead."

Jason inhaled sharply and his head immediately snapped to Dick. The poor golden boy looked like he was going to keel over and faint. Morbidly, he wondered if Dick had looked like that when he had been told of his own death.

"W-what? How?" Dick stammered as he attempted to follow after Bruce. Jason was at his side, holding him back.

"Don't follow him, Dickiebird."

But Dick would have none of it as he continued to hobble forward. Jason sighed as he followed his brother, watching to make sure he didn't fall.

"She was tortured by Black Mask. She didn't survive the injuries… inflicted on her."

Torture, Jason thought grimly. For the second time that night, images of a crowbar flashed through his mind.

Bruce's voice brought him back to the present. "And there's something else you should know."

Jason watched his adoptive father carefully. He didn't like Bruce's tone.

"The gang war that we just fought… Spoiler was responsible for starting it. She somehow got a hold of one of many war game contingencies I had drawn up, and executed the opening move without understanding that it was never meant to—"

"Stop. Just stop," Dick pleaded. Jason watched him make his way up to Bruce as he hung back a few feet. "What are we doing? What are we doing, Bruce?!"

"Dick…" Jason breathed.

"When I was growing up with you, I always knew where the line was…exactly what we did, exactly what we didn't do, and why. But Jason—" And here, Dick's voice choked off and he turned his gaze briefly to his younger brother before facing his mentor again.

"—Jason didn't know what the hell he was doing, or why, and Tim spends half his time trying to decide if it's even worth doing and Stephanie… Stephanie went up against odds so bad, even I would have to say it couldn't be done," Dick whispered.

Jason sighed and closed his eyes. The Bat family was falling apart in front of him. Maybe a few months ago, he would've been pleased. But watching it now… he wondered how he could have wanted this.

Bruce had shed his cape and cowl and was continuing to walk away from his two sons. Whether he was walking away from Dick's words of the reality of it all, Jason didn't know.

"Do you still know? Do you still know what we're doing?" Dick all but whispered. "Because you seem murky to me, Bruce, you seem closer and closer to that line every time I look at you, and that line keeps moving, and me…"

Bruce turned and wrapped his cape around his oldest's shoulders just as he said,

"…Bruce, I'm lost."

Jason sighed. Acceptance was the first step and it looked like Dick had finally realized that he was at a standstill. He made his way up to the pair and slung his arm around Dick's shoulders.

"It'll be alright, Dick," he promised.

"It's just us again, Dick. Jason," Bruce said wearily. Jason was almost taken aback at how tired Bruce sounded.

"But there's plenty of work to do. Black Mask has seized control of the entire Gotham underworld and has his men actively stamping out dissenters," Bruce said as he came to a stop in front of the Batcomputer. Dick took a seat in the armchair normally reserved for Alfred. Jason simply stood off to the side.

"We've lost the support of the police department and will be forced to move with extreme caution," Bruce continued as he leaned over the keyboard. Jason glanced up at the screen, taking in the information.

"Listen, Dick… we don't get to choose the type of crime we fight or the kind of world in which we fight it.

"All we have control over is the selection of those with whom we choose to fight—" Bruce said, cutting himself off as he turned to face the armchair, only to find it empty. A distant roar of an engine sounded from what Jason knew was the floor where they kept their bikes.

Bruce glared down at the keyboard again, looking so old and Jason didn't know what to do.

So he left.

Jason found Dick perched on a gargoyle in downtown Gotham.

"You're not healed yet," he said in lieu of a greeting.

Dick didn't even look up.

"I'm going to take a break from Nightwing," Dick revealed.

Jason would have been shocked if he hadn't already expected it. "For how long?"

"Don't know yet," his older brother replied, looking out at the streets of Gotham.

Jason was at a loss. Dick had never looked so lost, even when he had admitted as much back in the Batcave.

Dick looked up at his brother and offered him a weak smile. "Thanks for everything, Jay."

"…No problem, Dick. Are you ok?"

"…I will be."

Jason closed his eyes and exhaled. That was all he wanted to hear.

"I'll call."

"Don't bother. Don't wanna hear from your sorry butt for another month."

Dick laughed a weak laugh, but a real laugh. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back so that it rested against the building. Jason watched out of the corner of his eye and smiled.

The two stayed on the ledge of the building for a little longer, not speaking but just listening to the sound of the city they had grown up in.

Ta-da? Review please :D