Chapter Two

When Cassie woke up the next morning, most of the team was awake and waiting for the next part of the story. The Bats were one of the most well-known heroes in the hero community. Their mentor was a founding member of League, a human who managed not only to keep up with the Gods and aliens and meta-humans but also the fact that many of their mentors knew was that he could defeat them all if he wanted too. The only thing as great as their legends were how mysterious they always were and now they were getting an inside look into their family something that they never thought they would be able to see.

No one had known that Batman had lost a Robin, many remembered the fact that the current Robin referred to Talia Al Ghul as Batman's ex-girlfriend. Like what the fuck? Just by revealing their identities, many questions had been answered but there was still so much that they wished to understand and they knew that the only way to find out everything that they wanted would be to know about man in the med-bay, a fallen Robin returned to them as a killer.

When Batman entered the Watchtower, he wasn't wearing his cowl, Nightwing and Batgirl didn't have masks on either and they looked unsurprised by the amount of people who wanted to know the rest of this story. They also looked tired, with red eyes and bags under their eyes, they looked stressed out. Megan on the other went to tell Tim and Stephanie that breakfast was ready and that they needed to wake up however she paused when they walked into the room.

Tim entered the lounge where Megan had set up a breakfast buffet wearing nothing but some sweatpants and he still looked tired. Stephanie entered behind him wearing what looked like Robin's sweats and the hoodie again. She looked tired as well. Tim barely nodded at everyone when he poured himself a cup of coffee and drank it, ignoring the fact that it was scalding hot.

Megan flew up to Steph and passed her a plate of eggs when Stephanie dropped the eggs and threw herself towards the sink before throwing up. Everyone paused as she dry heaved but Tim dropped the second cup of coffee in his hand and ignored the way the glass pieces shattered and the fact that it splashed over his toes as he stared at her in horror.

Stephanie washed out her mouth and the sink but she knew that he would know now. It was impossible to keep stuff from him and Tim had been her best friend for so long and he was a bloody detective, he would have figured it out as soon as she threw up in front of him.

"You're pregnant."

Stephanie felt her shoulders drop when he said the words and she knew that everyone in the room had heard him as well.

"That's why you haven't asked me for ice cream at 2am for the past two months. Its why you haven't been patrolling and why you've started wearing Jason's hoodies everywhere. You knew that I would notice so you covered it up before anything could change."

Stephanie nodded her head quietly and he grabbed her arm, "It's mine. That's my baby isn't it Steph?"

Cassie gasped and Stephanie looked at her miserably before shutting out her face and the faces of everyone. She knew that Barbara had sat down, losing all feeling in her legs and that B and Nightwing were freaking out but she was just miserable. This wasn't how she wanted him to find out, she thought as tears gathered in her eyes.

"We both know the answer to that Tim." She replied and Tim just stared at her and the dam broke.

"I found out two weeks ago and I didn't know what to do Tim." She said and Tim pulled at his hair in frustration, "You should have come to me. You tell me Steph that's what happens when you find out you're pregnant. You tell the baby daddy."

Stephanie threw her hands up in frustration, "No Tim, you tell the baby daddy if you think that he wants a kid. You're seventeen Tim, one of the most influential people in the world as a CEO and as a hero. I'm a girl from the wrong side of the street with a father in Arkham, a mother in rehab for the third time in the past six months and trying hopelessly to hold my life together, while I keep getting punched in the teeth."

Tim rubbed his eyes, "Did you ever think that maybe that's my decision to make? I know its bad timing Steph but you should have told me so we could make a decision together."

Stephanie looked at him coldly, "You say together like we're some sort of couple Tim. We aren't, you were drunk and sad that Cassie broke up with you and you came to me. I was sad, and miserable because my mom left again and we both wanted to make the bad feelings go away and make ourselves feel better. We woke up in the morning and we both agreed that it never happened. I'm on the pill Tim, I have been ever since I was thirteen. I grew up in crime alley, I know how easy it is to get knocked up and I always thought it would be enough but I don't know what happened. I know I didn't miss a pill."

Bart opened his mouth when Jaime slapped his hand over his mouth and hissed, "Say nothing, so totally not our place to say anything."

Tim sighed, "I'm not blaming you Steph. If I remember right it took two to make that baby but you're wrong about what happened that morning. You're not fair being Steph."

She looked away from him, "I know, its not like I don't know Tim, I just needed some time to process the fact that in about seven months I would have to push a 14 inch baby out of a 2 inch hole. I was going to tell you, soon in fact. I was going to tell you last night and then this happened."

Tim rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Did you make any plans?"

She shook her head, "I saw a doctor in Central City. Everything was fine, that was the extent of my plans. The next thing I was going to do was tell you, I don't know what comes next."

Tim looked towards the med-bay and narrowed his eyes, "Jason knew didn't he? That's why he jumped off the roof to save you. He was going to take all the impact if I hadn't managed to catch you to ensure that you wouldn't hit your stomach. Wait, you fell off a fucking roof last night. Is the baby alright?"

Stephanie sighed, "Jason figured it out after a week of morning sickness. He was the one who actually said that I might be pregnant. I thought I just caught a bug and the baby is fine. If anything was wrong I would have known by now and because of the way he held me I was safe."

Tim scrubbed a hand over face, "What do you want to do?"

Steph shrugged, "Get through one mess at a time. We're going to tell them what happened with Jason and you're going to go to him and give him breakfast and hope that he can resist going into pit rage while we're in here. I hope you can convince him to come out here or something and you can use that time to process and when we're alone we'll have a different conversation."

Tim looked behind him and sighed, "I forgot about them." He muttered and Stephanie giggled, "We're going to make it through this, just later. We'll deal with us later Tim."

Stephanie snagged some dry toast and ate that while Tim went to Jason and then she pulled up some video footage from the security cameras in the house and began to explain, "This is when he first woke up."

Video begins

Stephanie was wearing some tiny shorts and a sports bra while she made breakfast. She was also singing country music when she heard footsteps and turned to see Jason staring at her with a lost expression on his face. She put the plate of pancakes on the table in front of him and he looked at her almost warily.

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at him and put a plate in front of him and poured him some juice, "Sit and eat with me."

He moved warily, watching her hands, ensuring that she wasn't holding weapons and he sat down mechanically. He ate without a word and then woke up and did the dishes.

He moved around the room quietly, not saying anything when Stephanie started singing again and he watched her curiously.

She smiled at him, "Stephanie, my name is Steph." She told him and he seemed to have trouble remembering how to speak, "Jay-son." He replied and she smiled at him.

"Sun-shine." He told her and Stephanie didn't understand what he meant so she left him to wander around the house in peace.

Video ends

Tim was with Jason, keeping the Leaguers away from him while Stephanie explained, "He had trouble speaking at first. He didn't remember properly. He recognized some things but not everything. We spent some time together while Tim was running DNA tests and I managed to earn his trust. I helped him remember how to speak properly."

Tim walked into the room and he didn't look in the direction of Cassie instead he spoke, "We recognized that he didn't sleep much, suffered from nightmares and he could hear voices. We believed that the voices he could hear were because of the pit. He was also suffering from PTSD."

Dick looked surprised, "Post traumatic stress disorder? Why?"

Tim just sighed deeply, "Before the pit, which messes with the sanest mind, Jason died Dick, violently. He was brutally beaten, blown up and died choking on smoke. That shit is traumatic but the pit twisted his nightmares and filled him with rage. I went to Central City and bought a whole bunch of books to help him. I even went and got some reference material from Dinah. I told her I was researching careers."

Stephanie picked up from there, "I stayed with him since I didn't have anyone really looking for me. I read all the books and we started working with him. We started with what he remembered and we worked on it. A lot of his memories were twisted by the pit, everything tinged by pit madness twisting the good memories and tainting them."

Jason walked into the room and wrapped his arms around Stephanie's middle and cuddled into her back, "Didn't hear your voice in the morning." He told her and Tim face-palmed.

"I can't be singing in the middle of this place." She replied.

Jason slid his hand under the hood and cradled her stomach, "Safe, lil one safe?"

Stephanie nodded at him, "The baby is fine Jay. Are you alright?" she asked him and he pulled a face at her but she glared at him.

"I can't Steph. The voices are getting louder, hard for me, to remember right?" he replied and Tim cursed under his breath before wrapping his hand around the bigger man's wrist and tugging him away.

"There's an empty bedroom a couple doors away. Lets see if some distance works." Replied Tim and Stephanie rubbed her temples.

Bruce looked at them, "He was speaking just fine earlier. Whats happening?"

Stephanie threw her hands into the air in frustration, "We told you, he wasn't ready to be in this place. We were working on it slowly but then you guys found him and chased him and this happened. The pit takes over, the voices tell him to kill, to hurt, to end the threats that he faces. Its why he killed the criminals, the pit tells him to make sure that the people that hurt others cannot ever get back up to hurt anyone ever again. It taints the good memories, whispers to him, telling him that even the good things that he remembers are false, lies and he ends up in pit rage."

Tim continued the explanation when she stopped talking, "The pit overtakes his mind. He loses himself, like he loses time. He gets angry and then he blacks out, wakes up knowing that he killed someone, probably even remembers it but cannot stop himself. When the voices take over, he can't decipher whats real and what isn't. That's why his speech gets twisted around because he doesn't remember what he said aloud or keep the train of thought."

Stephanie picked up an apple and cut it into pieces as she spoke, "He once described it as being in the middle of a crowded room with everyone talking. You get so sucked up into the sounds that you can't hear yourself think or when you speak you can't hear what you're saying. He forgets what he says in the middle of saying it, gets confused with what he was saying in the first place because he listens to the voices and forgets what he was trying to say."

Barbara looked heart broken, "Why did you say that he was getting better?"

Stephanie sighed, "Because he was getting better. We started taking him around Gotham after three months. He remembered some stuff about his childhood and some stuff about his time as Robin. He even started training me when Tim wasn't around so we took him to areas of Gotham that he had been too. He remembered some stuff and we worked on it but the more he remembered, the more memories the pit had to try and taint and twist. When he was in places that he remembered the pit acted up, the voices started screaming, trying to make him lose control and give in to the bloodlust."

Stephanie sat on a couch while everyone more or less converged around her while she explained. Tim collapsed onto the floor in front of her and she unconsciously started running her fingers through his hair and Tim completely relaxed. Cassie noticed that he was completely at peace, guard down entirely and she felt her hands clench into fists at her sides.

Tim hummed before he spoke, "The stronger his emotions towards his memories the worse the pit rides him. We were trying to slowly build up his memories, help him figure out methods to lock the voices of the pit away as he remembered more things but then we had to bring him here and right now the rest of his memories are falling into place and the pit is warring with his self-control. Its why as soon as he saw Batman he went straight into pit rage. His adoptive father brings out the most emotion from him."

Dick's eyes widened, "We have to help him."

Stephanie shook her head, "We can't Dick. We've been doing this for months, building up his memories and helping him fight out of the pit madness, keeping him sane, helping him figure out what is Jason and what is pit, ensuring that he doesn't kill anyone but there is already so much going on in his mind. He has to deal on his own. A physic would drown in his mind and there is only so much his mind can take. The more you try and help, the more memories you uncover, the more the pit has to use against him."

Tim noticed that Dick didn't understand so he tried to put it another way, "He is drowning under the weight of his memories and only he can slowly swim up to the surface but if others try to help, they trigger other memories. Its like pouring more water onto an already drowning person. You make it worse not better. Besides we figured out that as time passes the effects fade, it won't ever go away but it does fade in intensity. We were hoping that once he remembered everything and the pit didn't try to take over all the time we could bring him home."

There was a muffled scream and Stephanie and Tim ran towards the door that Tim had locked behind Jason.

"He's losing." Muttered Tim and then he narrowed his eyes, "Start singing sunshine."

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at him, "You cannot be serious."

Tim shrugged, "Jason associates country music with you. It will give him an anchor."

Stephanie closed her eyes and started singing Blown Away by Carrie Underwood and several eyebrows rose when the screaming stopped and Tim sighed in relief.

Tim answered the unanswered question while Steph sang to him through the door, "Jason can hear everything around him but he gets confused. The voices in the pit and the sounds around him, he can't tell which is real and which isn't but Steph singing country? That's real, an anchor, if he focuses on the sound of her voice he can find his way out of his own mind. He always seems to remember her voice."

"Coz its shitty. Who the fuck sings country in Gotham? What kind of person even likes country?" called a roughened voice through the door and before anyone could blink the door was pulled open.

Stephanie came up to his chin and she huffed, "Me, I like country and if I cook the food then I can sing whatever the fuck I want."

"Language." Called out Bruce and Jason walked towards him slowly and he was actually sort of shocked.

He was only an inch or so shorter than him now, and he looked at the crows feet around his eyes and the stress lines on his face. He looked older, but there was something on his face now that hadn't been there before. A hardness, and Jason was shocked to realize that it was grief. It had changed him, so much that you could see the changes in him now.

"I did some bad things B, don't remember it all though, I broke your rule though."

Bruce didn't know what to say to the man in front of him, "Its alright son. We'll get you help."

Jason moved backwards almost violently, "I'm not going to Arkham B, they won't be able to help. I'm staying with Tim and sunshine."

Bruce nearly winced, he was already messing things up, "I won't put you in Arkham Jay. I just want to help. You're my son, you'll always be my boy."

Jason shook his head, "You can't help B, not yet. The voices they're already screaming. I don't want to hurt anyone and I don't wanna hurt you but if I stick around you I will."

Tim and Stephanie shared a look before nodding quietly, "We have to take him away B. This many heroes, its freaking him out and being so close to you guys, it isn't a good idea."

Tim tugged Jason towards the zeta beam while Stephanie bit her lip, "Write him letters B and we'll give them to him. You can talk to him, tell him whatever you wanted to tell him and I'll have him write back to you."

Dinah raised an eyebrow, "That's a therapy technique."

Stephanie nodded her head, "We had him write down his nightmares and the more he remembered the more he wrote. He started writing letters to people he knew in the past and it helped keep his memories straight, remember what really happened and not whatever he saw or thought when the pit took over."

Bruce left the Watchtower and Stephanie nearly left as well when Barbara stopped her.

"You're pregnant Steph." And the blonde girl nodded her head.

"What were the two of you thinking?" cried Barbara and Stephanie tugged on her blonde hair in frustration not really realizing that most of the team had stuck around and were listening in on the conversation.

"It wasn't like we meant for this to happen. I was on the pill Babs, isn't that supposed to prevent this?" cried Stephanie and Barbara raised an eyebrow, "It isn't always effective, nothing is 100 %, the pill is like 91% effective against pregnancy Steph especially with vigilantes who generally get dosed with stuff like fear toxin. Its why I always make sure one of us wears a condom as well as taking the pill. We get dosed with so much experimental stuff, you don't think that it doesn't throw your body out of whack sometimes? All those chemicals? It messes with the body Steph."

Stephanie rubbed the bridge of her nose, "We took on the Scarecrow that week, fuck, yet another reason why we were so all over the place."

Barbara eyed her carefully, "Were you and Tim messing around behind Cassie's back?"

Cassie's eyes widened when she was asked that question and Steph groaned, "I knew people were going to think that and the answer is no. Nothing ever happened while Tim was dating Cassie."

Barbara narrowed her eyes at her, "But something happened afterwards?"

Stephanie raised an eyebrow, "I'm pregnant Babs, a lot happened when they broke up but not the way you're thinking."

Barbara shook her head, "You guys are still hiding something."

Stephanie threw her hands up in frustration, "Its complicated Barbara."

"How?" she questioned, refusing to budge, "Tim told me he loved me and I said it back. He said he wanted to be with me and then we screwed. In the morning we woke up and we couldn't be together."

Barbara looked shocked and confused, "Why?"

Stephanie felt tears run down her face and Tim walked in and saw them. He got pissed.

"Enough Barbara." Called Tim as he grabbed Stephanie's hand and pulled her towards the zeta.

"Tim, theres a lot we need to talk about." She cried out and Tim ran a hand over his face, "Later, tomorrow, book a fucking appointment for all I care just not now. Right now, we have a lot to discuss and the rest of your questions and your interrogation can wait."

Barbara got pissed right back, "You don't say the words 'I love you' Tim, not unless you mean it with everything in you so why would you say it and leave her?"

Tim shot her a glare, "None of your business."

Barbara punched a wall, "No more secrets Tim."

Tim turned on her, eyes hard and stalked towards her, "Okay then, when were you going to tell Dick that you're screwing that cop in Gotham?"

Dick's jaw dropped and Tim glared at her, "I know you're pissed I didn't tell you guys about Jason but you know why I did it and if I had to I would do it again. I know you're shocked or disappointed or whatever that I knocked someone up but you have no right to go digging into my love life Barbara and if you want to hit below the belt then I'll tear your relationship with Dick to pieces and then I'll tear you to pieces. Do not over step ever again, not like that and don't you ever try that shit on her again. She isn't a criminal for you to interrogate her like one so you don't get to throw a bitch fit just because things happened in this world that you weren't aware off and couldn't control."

Tim and Stephanie left the Watchtower in silence however he could have sworn that he could hear the fragile relationship that Dick had left with Barbara shatter behind him. It wasn't well known that BG and Dick were best friends and then they dated and then they broke up and they were trying to repair their relationship but the bomb that Tim just dropped on them shattered the fragile relationship that they had left and he didn't know if they would be able to recover from it.

Tim tried not to groan out loud, ever since the team found out about Jason, there had been nothing but secrets being revealed and chaos following and they weren't even done yet.