Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and will not be making a profit off of them.

A/N: Is at that end of the chapter

colerfulldarkness666: This chapter should answer your question!

Chapter 3: You Can't Pick Your Family

A few days later, Dick's Scarecrow and Two-Face case was still making no progress. Neither villain had made an appearance since the break in at the museum. Besides the disappointment regarding the case keeping him down, Damian was moping around the manor and avoiding Dick when possible. He would walk into a room to find a shadow escaping out the door on the other side.

He hadn't meant to hurt the kid's feelings. Dick knew he was making backwards progress at this point trying to make the ex-assassin feel like he belonged. What was he going to do? He wanted to talk to the kid, but he couldn't get within 15 feet of him.

On a positive note, Damian hadn't gone against his orders and was actually staying at the manor instead of sneaking out at night to follow him on patrol. According to Alfred though, the youngest was still having nightmares. Dick promised himself he would pass by Damian's room tonight to see for himself. Maybe there was something he could say that would make the kid feel better. But Dick tried to push it to the back of his mind as he stared out at the city from his perch on top of a building.

For the most part, the night had been relatively quiet. He had stopped a few petty crimes, but nothing of the Scarecrow and Two-Face magnitude. As he sat on the building, he found it harder and harder to focus. He really, really needed to sleep, but he was so restless lately. Every time he tried, he was reminded of all the things he had to do, all the leads he could follow, and all the people he needed to talk to.

Thinking of people he needed to talk to, he needed to call Tim. Well, not call. Tim hadn't answered any of Dick's calls over the past week. Stephanie had informed him that Tim had a new headquarters, but Dick had asked that she not tell him the location. If he found out, he would be over there in a heartbeat, and Dick knew that it would just push Tim further away. Tim already felt like he couldn't trust Steph, and if he found out she had sold out his hiding place, he would never be able to trust her again.

Dick's thoughts where interrupted by a scream in the alley below him. Without a moment's hesitation, Batman was off the building's ledge jumping into the black abyss below him using his cape to glide safely to the alleyway's floor. Upon landing, he assessed the situation before him from the shadows. A woman was backed into a corner by two rather large men.

"If you don't fight back, you won't get hurt," one of the men told the woman.

Batman growled from the shadows, "More like, if you don't fight back, you won't get hurt."

"It's the Bat!"

Batman advanced toward the two thugs who had completely turned their attention away from the woman. As he sparred with one of the men, he found it harder than usual. You should've slept, Grayson. You're paying for it now. His punches were slow and so were his reactions. Simple hits he would have easily avoided the day before were making contact.

While trying to take down the first thug, he lost track of the second one. However, the thug made himself known when a knife wedged itself into Dick's arm. The armor kept most of it from penetrating skin, but part of it did causing Dick to cry out in surprise. His adrenaline rose and he decided to end this now. He focused all his attention on the fight and grabbed the hand that held the knife. He spun the thug's arm around till it was behind his back. He twisted it with as much force as he dared short of breaking the arm in two. Batman let go and the thug fell forward in obvious pain.

The man's partner tried to sneak up on him, but Batman was prepared. He hit the man with a sharp uppercut to the jaw followed by a swift punch in the gut. The man fell over on the ground unconscious. Batman spun around to face the other thug, but he lay on the ground clutching his injured arm. As Dick approached the man cried out, "No, I give up. Just leave me alone! Please!"

"Funny, I think that woman from earlier was thinking the same thing," Batman replied. It was all bark though. Dick was done here. He dragged the shaking man and his unconscious partner to a pole and handcuffed them to it for the police to find. He had been a little rougher than need be, but he was done. His exhaustion had reached an all-time high and his arm was throbbing.

As he turned to leave he heard something. It sounded close to whimpering. The woman from earlier. Dick followed the sound until he found the woman lying in a ball on the alleyway floor not far away. The sound of him approaching startled her, and she looked up at him yelling, "Get away! Don't come any closer!"

Batman stopped short, "I'm just here to help you and make sure you're alight."

"No, go away!"

Batman took a closer look at the woman. Her eyes were heavily dilated and she was shaking violently. Drugs maybe? Then she began screaming again. Dick listened to her words and noticed she was yelling at things that weren't really there. The woman wasn't seeing Batman in front of her, she was seeing someone or something else. She continued repeating how sorry she was to nobody. That's when it hit him, Scarecrow's fear toxin. He had seen these symptoms before.

He reached into his utility belt and took out a needle. First, he was going to take a blood sample to test back at the cave. Second, he would administer the cure to the woman. However, taking blood from a hallucinating woman without hurting her proved to be more difficult than Dick had hoped. Eventually though, he had the sample and placed it safely into his belt. As the woman lay shaking in his hold, he administered the cure and she immediately calmed down. Dick let her go so she could lean against the wall.

Of all the people to save tonight, a random woman affected by the fear toxin. Question was, was it the new form or an older one? If it was the new form, there could be a lead here. Small dosages of the old toxins, however, could be found in local gangs who had enough money to buy it from Crane. However, Dick had a feeling Crane wouldn't be selling his new stuff to petty criminals off the street. He was looking to make a lot of money.

He searched the now still woman for some type of identification. Once he found some, he recorded the information for further use. If it proved to be the new form of the toxin, he would be back to question the woman about tonight's events.

Until then though, he contacted the police and waited for their arrival. From the shadows, he watched as they tended to the now semi-conscious woman. Knowing she was in safe hands now, he headed back to the Bat-mobile. As he closed the roof of the car, Dick felt the tiredness for the first time since his adrenaline had kicked in.

It was still somewhat early into the night, but Dick was heading back home. He needed to get the wound tended to before it became infected. Dick revved the engine and disappeared into the night.

When he arrived back at the cave, he took off the top half of his armor and looked at the fresh wound on his arm.

"Master Dick, if I may say, I wish you wouldn't go out with little to no rest."

"I'm starting to feel the same way, Alfred," Dick replied as the older man stitched his wounds.

After Alfred finished, he asked, "Will you require anything else from me?"

"No, Alfred. You can head off to bed. I will soon, so don't worry about me. I can't stay up much longer if I tried," Dick answered, giving Alfred a reassuring Grayson smile.

"Let's hope so for your sake."

Dick laughed, "I imagine you would be the only person excited to see me just pass out anywhere in the cave or manor."

"If I see you sleeping against a banister or face down on the ground, and you're still breathing, it's a good night in my book."

"Thanks Alfred, for everything."

Alfred patted the younger man on his shoulder. Dick watched as the older man walked up the stairs to head back to the manor. As he sat alone in the cave, he suddenly felt cold, but he enjoyed it. After nights of running around the city, it felt good to simply sit and feel again. He leaned back in the chair. Even then, he found himself nodding off. He would start a search for the chemicals he had recovered at the scene and he would head off to bed.

As he typed the search perimeters into the computer a reflection in the screen caught his attention along with glint of red.

Jason.

"What are you doing here Jason?" Dick asked not even turning around. Even without looking at his younger brother he could sense the smirk on his face.

"You've been really sloppy out there lately, Dickie-Bird," Jason said ignoring Dick's question. Dick didn't respond to Jason's taunting. He knew the second Robin was just trying to make him angry. The last time he had seen Jason the boy had been hanging off a train over the Gotham River. When he had let go of the train, Dick knew his younger brother hadn't died and if he had, he wouldn't have stayed dead long.

When Dick didn't reply, Jason continued, "So where is that little sidekick of yours? You know, the one that could prove to be useful to my campaign. He seems to like my fighting…"

"You will leave Damian out of this, Jay," Dick finally spoke, turning around. When he did turn around he was a little shocked by what he saw. In front of him, was Jason, but a rougher Jason than usual. The black hair was gone, replaced by fiery red with a grey streak down the center. Dick presumed it was from the Lazarus Pit, but still, it was different to see, and it caught him a little by surprise.

"What?" Jason asked smiling, "Is it the hair?" Dick again didn't reply, not wanting to indulge Jason by giving him much attention. "Well, you see. I'm trying to become my own man. And the last thing I want is keeping up Bruce's little charade of trying to turn me into you. Unfortunately for Bruce, I'll never be you, and I'm extremely happy about that. But seriously, does it matter? I mean, the man's dead."

"Don't talk about Bruce," Dick growled. Talking about Damian was one thing, but bringing up Bruce was another.

"Awh, is the Golden Boy still sad about daddy bats?" Jason mocked.

Dick was done. He tightened his fists and lunged at Jason. The younger caught his fist, but Dick kicked the boy in the chest with his boot sending him back.

"You wanna fight?"

"I want you out of my cave!"

The pair continued to spar until the clicking sound of a cocking gun made Dick freeze. He looked down to see the barrel tip of a gun against his chest. Every time he took a breath, his chest touched the cold metal.

"Look, I didn't come here to kill you, not yet anyway. I came here to warn you. If I'm going to take down the dynamic duo, I need the duo part. It proves nothing if I only take you down, which is easier than I remember," Jason paused smiling, "My sidekick and I want to prove once and for all that we are Gotham's true heroes. But like I said, your partner has been missing lately, which puts a dent in my plan."

"Why are you doing this Jason?"

"Because you shouldn't be Batman. You're not doing a very good job of it. Personally, I believe my rendition of the Bat mantle to be the most successful yet."

Dick groaned. Jason's twisted Batman persona came intact with lethal force and guns, the exact opposite of the legacy Bruce had left behind. He stared into Jason's smiling face. The boy was so angry, so tormented. Dick smacked the gun away from his chest and backed away from his younger brother. The life he must be living. One filled with so much resentment and vengeance.

"Get out of here, Jay."

Jason snarled, displeased with Dick's sudden lack of emotion.

"If you don't bring backup, fine. I'll take you down either way. I'm just feeling nice today, so there is your warning."

"Well, gee. I won't expect anything for Christmas then," Dick angrily replied.

"Some things never change, Dickie-Bird. Your kindness will be the death of you."

Dick didn't reply, but he headed back to the computer to finish the beginning of his search.

"By the way," Jason added, "You should really think of upgrading the security in this place, it's a little out of date."

Dick listened as Jason laughed. However, when he turned around his younger brother was gone. Just when Dick wished that all human interaction was done for the day, Damian came out of the shadows.

"How long have you been there?" Dick asked.

"The real Batman wouldn't have to ask. He would have known the minute I entered the cave."

"I was a bit distracted, Damian," Dick sighed. Then, he remembered, I had promised myself to check up on the kid tonight. Well, with that last statement, I diagnose the child as perfectly fine. Done. Time to go to bed. However, it wouldn't be that straightforward.

"Well, either way. I heard everything. You need me, Grayson," Damian replied. Dick wanted to argue, but he couldn't find it within himself right now. He looked up at Damian. The kid looked almost as bad as he did. He was exhausted and Dick could tell he hadn't slept in a few days. He decided to be bold instead of arguing.

"Are the nightmares still keeping you up at night?" he asked rubbing his eyes with his hands.

Damian was taken aback, "I…I…I'm fine. I haven't had any nightmares."

"Sure," was the only response Dick gave at first. After a few moments of silence he added, "it's okay Damian. That stuff was strong. Because of that, I don't want you going out till it's fully out of your system. You're not used to it. The first time I was hit with the stuff I had nightmares for months," Dick paused when Damian said nothing, he continued, "It was like the few months after my parents died. I relived it over and over. Eventually I talked to someone. Eventually I handled it."

He didn't know if the kid would take to being personal, but he sort of hoped the tactic would work.

"I'm fine, Grayson," was the unfortunate response. You really should invest in a parenting book. How to Make Your Vigilante Child Talk to You. That's probably easy to find in a store.

"Well, then let's head to bed and discuss this later," Dick said, standing up. The search on the computer was under way and it would be done by the time he woke up, which he was hoping was quite some time from now.

Damian snorted, but followed suit, heading back upstairs.

Tim hadn't talked to Dick or Alfred since the last time he had gone to the cave. Honestly, he didn't plan on talking to them again till after he left Gotham, and they couldn't track him down. He knew Dick could easily find him, but so far his older brother had given him his space. Besides, he wouldn't be in the city much longer. He had already spent more time here than he had originally planned. While searching a Bruce lead in Paris, a group of assassins had tied themselves to his trail. With a group of assassins following him, he definitely didn't want to stay in one place for too long. But as far as he was concerned, he had left them behind back in Paris.

As he prowled through Gotham late that night, he found himself heading to a particular side of it. Soon, he found himself near a familiar place, Bruce's grave. He knew Bruce was alive, so he didn't know why he bothered showing up here. As he stood before the headstone, a voice came from behind.

"How you doing Tim?"

"What do you want Jason?" Tim replied turning around to face his older brother. Last time Tim had seen Jason, he had tried to give the older man a second chance at being a hero. However, it had proved to be a bust and Jason had killed people. Just another mistake I've made. Now, seeing the man in front of him again made him angry. He had tried to believe people could change, but he had been wrong.

"Well, you know, I've been trying to keep in touch with my brothers lately. According to some of my sources, your fighting style has become a bit more, should I say, my style," Jason answered.

"I'm still not killing people Jason."

"Not yet. But a think you and I both know with every day that line becomes blurrier and blurrier for you," Jason informed Tim with a smirk.

"Okay. But I asked what you wanted," Tim said.

"Awh, no need to be angry Timmy," Jason mocked, "I just wanted to know how long my dear brother was going to be in town."

"Not long," Tim growled.

"Shame," Jason replied smiling. With that, the older turned and left the cemetery clearly getting what he came there for.

Tim had lied. Now that he knew Jason was back, it appeared he would be staying in Gotham a little longer than he had anticipated. Dick was under enough stress with the little pugged-faced kid under his wing. The last thing his older brother needed was his other older brother showing up.

A/N: In Red Robin #3, Tim told Cassie that he had helped Jason break out of prison, because he believed Batman would have done the same. He honestly thought Jason could be a hero again, but then he did as Dick mentioned earlier, took on his own Batman persona and killed a bunch of people. Of course, as any good Bat-boy does, Tim blamed himself and held the guilt inside.

In addition, for Jason, this is set during Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin series. So, if you haven't read it or the Red Robin series, I highly recommend it. But during this time, Jason was out for revenge as the Red Hood against the dynamic duo, because he thought he could create a better crime fighting duo for Gotham, just using lethal force. If you haven't read the series, specifically the Red Hood Revenge story arc, I'll give more details about his above mentioned sidekick.

Lastly, this will possibly be my last update for this Spring Break. I have a 7 hour car drive tomorrow morning, an event Saturday, and a drive back up to school Sunday. Should be a fun next few days! Thanks for reading guys, it definitely makes me want to write faster, especially reviews!