Injustice of Living
Chapter Two

Chapter Two: A Friend

I couldn't help but give him a warm little smile. "Sure, Tim… What can I help you with?"

The younger boy fidgeted where he sat, "Well, it's something I can't really talk about to anyone else..."

I quirked an eyebrow, "Not even Bruce?" Surely there weren't many problems that Batman couldn't solve… And if it wasn't something Bruce could help with, why would he come to me with it?

Tim laughed under his breath, "I don't think this is a problem Bruce can handle..."

Well, if he didn't have my complete attention before, he certainly had it now. "Something Bruce can't handle? What can it possibly be?"

Tim inhaled a large breath, and avoided looking me as he said, "My… my girlfriend's pregnant."

It took me a minute to process the information. When I did, I was sure my eyes bulged out of my head, "What?! You're- like, twelve!"

"Fourteen," he corrected me promptly, "And she's fifteen. And I'm not the dad."

"Oh!" I heaved a sigh, "Well, shit. You almost gave me a heart attack..." I paused before questioningly lifting my head to meet Tim's mask covered eyes. He was somber, clearly confused and in need of help- a rather mature decision for a boy his age to make, I was sure to note. This made me feel suddenly grown-up, too. "So what're you gonna do?"

"Well, I kinda wanted to ask you that..."


And that's how it sort of happened… Tim became my new Jason.

Their problems were vastly different, though. While Jason came to me looking for someone to listen, Tim came in search of advice. And I was more than happy to comply. I felt more like an adult around Tim; Jace usually made me feel like a little kid. Tim had normal problems- at least, compared to the ones I was used to hearing. He'd talk about his girlfriend, and dad, and school. In turn, I could tell him about my job and complain about my neighbors. These were average conversations, casual… They lacked a certain weight that the talks Jason and I would have. We didn't use words like "death" or "fight" or "kill." Tim and I could speak without needed to take a break from sheer emotional pressure. Even though we did talk a lot about Batman and Robin, Tim filtered himself a lot. He'd give me the gist of particular events, only going into detail if appropriate or out of necessity. I was somewhat grateful for this, but came to accept that I wasn't going get Tim to open up as much about that side of his life.

I began to realize Tim and I weren't nearly as close as Jason and I had been, and never really would be. Probably because of the age gap between us. He became more of a little brother to me, which turned out to be really nice. He was someone I never knew I needed. I never had any real family to speak of, except for Jason. But Jason and I were so much more than family or friends... We were like soul mates, I guess. And not just in the romantic way, either. Jason had been everything to me, even though I knew I wasn't everything to him. He was my other half, and (believe it or not) my better half.

But with Tim... It was a simple yet meaningful relationship. We fell into a routine where he'd stop by at the very least once a week. I'd usually come home from work to find him sitting on my couch or going through my fridge.

I ended up spending quite some time as Tim's unofficial counselor. He had only been Robin for a couple months when we met. Turned out that I was the one to see him through as Batman's sidekick, even though I didn't know it at the time.

But, as good things always do, the era of Timmy and me came to an end.

He left me for Young Justice, a team set up by the Justice League, through which Tim tried so hard to prove himself. But they disbanded- through tragedy, and I had him back for a little while. Then the Teen Titans recruited him, and though it took some persuasion, he joined that. While he was never gone from Gotham very long, he was so busy when he came home. Unlike the other Robins, Tim had a family. He lived two lives; one as Tim Drake, the other as the Boy Wonder.

When Tim was gone, I found myself seeing Bruce (of all people) more often, which I suppose was a pleasant surprise. He visited me at my new job; a personal work assistant for one of the head board members of Wayne Enterprises. It was a cushy gig, if I do say so myself. The work was mostly just keeping things organized, filing papers, and making coffee runs. Bruce would pop in to check up on me, often before he had a meeting with my boss. We'd talk for a bit, which was always nice...

Well, until recently it's been nice. Lately... he's been asking me weird questions.


"Madeline," he greeted me with his usual politeness. I still haven't gotten him to call me Maddy...

"Good afternoon, Mr. Wayne!" I greeted back cheerfully, as I had been instructed to do. It was a boring day, though. I was genuinely happy that Bruce bothered to stop by, even if my cheerfulness was a little overstated. "What can I help you with this fine day?" I had held back a cringe, overly aware of the pep in my voice.

He was pretty blunt, "I'm just wondering if anything... strange has been happening to you lately." His tone grew steadily darker, less Bruce-like, and more how I imagined Batman would talk.

"Strange?" I echoed, my tone dropping just as his did, going from peppy to confused. "What do you mean?"

"No... Odd visitors? No one seeking you out or following you?"

I paused to think. No, no visitors (seeing as I never had any to begin with, I'd think I'd notice one), definitely no one following me. Wait… Why would anyone be following me? I've had hardly any human contact outside of my job, now that Tim left. "Nah, not that I can think of..."

Bruce's stoney face stared me down for another long moment before relaxing. "Alright... Just let me know if you see anything- or anyone. Let me know immediately."


He left after that.

I finished my day at work and headed home, Bruce's ominous warnings ringing through my thoughts. Strange visitors? Why would he ask me that?

Considering the fact that I never technically finished high school, I still thought myself to be pretty smart sometimes... I could put the pieces together. Bruce wouldn't be so cryptic if it was a socially "normal" issue. I can only assume he's dealing with something as Batman that somehow involves me...

But my only connection to Batman is Jason and Tim. Tim's still off with the Titans for another week, and Jason's... Well, Jason's been dead for almost four years now.

I was halfway through my drive home when I chose to alter my route, intentionally ending up in a very familiar cemetery.

I could walk this path with my eyes closed. They took me right to the place I always ended up: in front of Jason Todd's grave.

But it wasn't the peaceful scenery I was used to. There was something so... off about the grave site. Patches of grass were torn up, leaving long streaks of muddied ground. A few gravestones had toppled, some even breaking. I was familiar with this type of damage from my younger years as a delinquent. There had been a fight… a big one. A bat-sized one.

"You shouldn't be here, Maddy," I heard a voice say behind me, only a few feet away.

Turning quickly, I found it was none other than Tim, donning a rare outfit of civilian clothes. A school uniform, by the looks of it. "You need to leave."

My brow furrowed, he was supposed to be in California. He never told me he was home.

"What happened here, Tim?" ignoring his request, I got straight to the point. On an instinctual level, I was offended by his disrespectful tone. But I pushed down my pride because frankly, I was paranoid and edging on scared. What was happening?

Tim sighed, frustrated, but with an expression that read 'Yeah, I thought you'd say that.'

I noticed he was sporting a few more scrapes and bruises than usual, a fairly dark one spotting on the corner of his jaw. I knew that mark pretty well, he'd obviously received a hard hook to the face. Even though he kept his collar pushed as far as it would go, I could still make out a thin cut along his neck and a hidden bandage covering either his shoulder or chest. It was tough to tell.

"It doesn't matter, Maddy," he scolded as if I were a child (which was fucking stupid, really, seeing as he wasn't even seventeen yet, and I was nearly twenty). "Just go home. It's getting dark."

I pushed a chunk of my short chestnut hair out of my face, narrowing my eyes at my friend, "Tim, just tell me what's going on. I know it involves me somehow." I didn't mean for my voice to shake so much.

Tim seemed unsure, and started to glance over his shoulder as if something was about to jump out from behind the grave and attack him. "Let's go to your apartment. I'll tell you there," he bargained reluctantly.

To his relief, I pulled my keys from my pocket, letting him walk me out of the cemetery. I remained vigilantly suspicious, though. I wa pissed he was keeping things from me. But if obeying meant finding out what was going on, then I'd do that.

We made it to the parking lot, and I practically pushed Tim into my boxy blue convertible. This cheap, gaudy mess of a car was my absolute pride. I poured into it money I'd saved for months. As of right now, it was the most valuable thing I owned- and probably ever would own.

Before I even turned the key in the ignition, I demanded, "Tim, just tell me. What's going on?"

Tim was still fidgety, "I'm not really supposed to tell you..."

"That's never stopped you before."

Finally, he looked at me. Straight at me, in the eye, "I care about you, Madds... You're my friend, but I don't want you doing anything dangerous..."

I was getting frustrated now, "Why would I do anything dangerous?" I snapped barely containing myself enough to not shout, "I still have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Do… Do you still care about Jason?" Tim asked, out of the blue. "Like… Like- do you, you know, do you love him? Still?"

The question caught me off guard. I consciously slowed the car, knowing I was too distracted to go my normal break-neck speed (Tim hated how I drove- said I was like a bat out of hell, which always made me laugh). Luckily, at that moment, we pulled up to a stoplight, and I had time to glance over at Tim.

His ice-blue eyes met my dark green ones with an evenness I couldn't quite describe. Like I wasn't talking to a kid, like Tim wasn't just a kid anymore. He wasn't even Tim. He was Robin, straight-faced and completely serious.

"... Of course I still care about him..." I answered at length, just as the red light turned green. "He was my best friend, Tim. I loved him with everything I had."

Tim sucked in a deep breath through his nose, "Will you ever stop caring about him?"

I chuckled dryly, waves of feelings beginning to stir in my gut, "Honestly... I kind of wish I could." Tim seemed surprised by my statement, so I elaborated, "Back when Jace first died... It hurt me so much..." my eyes glazed over as I numbly drove down roads, losing my set direction. "I wish I could just forget about him... Or just move on... But, I can't. I've never had a normal life, Tim. I don't have support or goals. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm living for. Sometimes, it feels like the only things that keep me alive are my feelings for Jason. It hasn't taken long for me to figure out that my feelings weren't going to stop just because he was dead."

Tim didn't seem enlightened by my answer. Hell, even I didn't really know exactly what I was getting at. Words were just coming out of my mouth, I wasn't thinking.

"Could you... I dunno. Could you tell me about him?"

I made a short turn, vaguely wondering where I was supposed to be driving to, "About Jason?" As much as we talked, Jason had been a taboo subject for Tim. Sure, I wouldn't have minded if he asked me under normal circumstances, but he just didn't. I never knew if it was out of respect or awkwardness.

"Yeah," Tim stared out the window, "Before he became Robin. Before Bruce knew him."

Just the thought made me release a remorseful laugh, "There's a lot to tell there, kiddo... What do you want to know?"

Tim shrugged, still not looking directly at me, "You can start with the basics. How you met, how you became friends, all that..."

I nodded, "Okay," I drawled slowly. Where do I start? "Well... let's see, Jason and I lived a few doors down from each other. In the same building I live in now. Both of us came from similar family situations, and we both had a knack for getting in trouble." A crooked and unconvincing smile crossed my face, "It was pretty much decided from the day we met that we would become friends- that was inevitable, you know? He was on the sixth floor, I was on the eighth. I forget exactly how we figured it out, but we'd meet on the fire escape everyday before school. If we wanted to go to school, that is."

Yeah, the seventh floor fire escape. We'd make (admittedly racist) jokes about the Asian couple who lived in that apartment.

"Jason's mom- Well, I guess she's actually his step mom- was deep into drugs. Like, full-on wired hype. Most days she could barely function. Walked around like a zombie most of the time. It didn't help that she was married to some petty, scumbag criminal. His dad was never around, and died a pretty long time ago, so I don't remember him too well. Catherine, his mom, on the other hand... well, it's hard to forget a woman like that."

"She was an addict?"

"Yup, all the hardcore stuff. Heroin, amphetamines, coke, and all that. We found her stash, once. It was like, this whole-" I held took my hands off the wheel to show Tim, "Gallon bag of shit." I was still amazed by it. "That doesn't mean she was a bad person, though." I told Tim sternly, "Catherine Todd was the type of woman who would give you the shirt off her back if she thought you needed it more than she did. Every time I came over to their apartment, she'd make us lunch or give us money to go to the movies, and corny stuff like that. She'd just be blitzed out of her mind while doing it." My words stopped flowing, and suddenly, I was back in that apartment, reeking of cigarette smoke and dirty carpet. I recalled how badly her addiction had affected Jace. "Sometimes, she'd sleep. For days." He'd stay with me if it got too bad… Not that my place was any better. "She died of a drug overdose when Jason was eleven..." I needed to take a moment, take a deep breath before re-living that particularly dark part of my history, "It really got to him, you know? He loved her more than life itself. Even though we sorta saw it comin'... Your mom dying isn't something you can really prepare for."

Tim nodded in agreement. I watched him carefully to make sure I hadn't stirred up anything with him.

'Damn. We should start a Dead Moms club or something.'

When I realized he was just empathetic, I continued. "So, then when we were about- Umm, maybe around thirteen or so, our shitty home lives caught up with us. We turned into the society's worst nightmare: troubled teens with no parents to weigh them down. Just to get by, Jason and I used to pickpocket and steal alcohol from the liquor store down the street. We thought we were the biggest bad-asses ever." I laughed a genuine laugh at the memory, "We thought we were all hardcore just cause we took a sip of beer. Can you believe that?"

Tim shrugged with a half-smile. I knew he had always been a good kid, and probably couldn't relate at all. He was too smart to ever get involved with smoking or drinking or any of the shit I did at his age.

"It's bad for you, though," I huffed like a fussy grown up, "I'm sure you've heard the lecture before, but too much of that shit will kill you. I've seen it first-hand."

"I know, Madds."

I leaned over to ruffle Tim's perfectly styled black hair. He hated it when I did that. "You're a good kid. Now, where was I?"

"Drinking and smoking."

"Oh yeah! Well, as it happened, Jason was picked up by our very own Batman. Did Bruce ever tell you that story?"

Tim looked thoughtful, but ended up shaking his head, "He just said he took Jason in from off the street."

I licked my lips. The worst part was over, so I concentrated more on driving again, "There's a bit more to it than that, kid. Jason and I had gotten into a car part-stealing scheme. It was simple: I'd find the cars, Jason would take the parts, and we'd both deliver them to a guy down by the docks who would give us money." I couldn't help but grin, "I mean, we knew it was wrong- but we were kids, ya know? Our conscious hadn't quite developed yet." Tim rolled his eyes but let me continue. "Well, I scoped out this nice shiny black car right by Crime Alley. It had these awesome rims, and two bat-wing fins off the back."

Tim's mouth dropped in a mixture of amusement and astonishment, "You guys tried to jack the Batmobile?"

"Just the tires!" I retorted, trying not to laugh. I finally remembered I was supposed to be heading home, and began charting a course, "Batman shows up," I wave my hands, still not believing what happened all those years ago, "Just as Jason's undoing the first bolt, right? Seeing that he got caught, Jace gave me the signal to run, and that's what I did... He came back two days later with a new haircut and a cape. You believe that? The rest is history, I guess."

My story didn't seem to uplift Tim very much. If anything, he seemed more disheartened than ever. We pulled to a stop in my designated spot outside of the building.

"Why do you ask, anyway?" I remembered I was supposed to be angry. Tim and Bruce were hiding something from me. "Does it have to do with what happening?"

We exited the car, beginning the long trek to my top-floor apartment. This wasn't the same apartment I'd grown up with on the eighth floor. I couldn't stay in that one… I even had trouble passing it still.

Tim was silent our entire walk up. Only when I was unlocking my door, he finally spoke.

"Some of the villains in Gotham were teaming up..." he began, "The leader... Hush, banded them together. We eventually took them all down, and we figured out that one of our... associates, I guess you could call him, betrayed us."

"If you took them down, then what's the problem?" I asked as we entered my (very) humble apartment.

"Well... Not all of them were apprehended."

I kicked off the annoying mandatory black pumps that my job required.

"And?" I began rolling my beige leg stockings down, too.

"One of them... Was Jason."

I ceased my undressing to look up skeptically at Tim from an awkwardly bent position, "Jason?" I asked with a typical you've-got-to-be-kidding-me stare. "Jason's back from the dead? And he's with the bad guys? Tim, that's just silly. I know you've seen some pretty messed up stuff in your days, but the dead stay dead. Hell, you and I know that better than anyone. There's nothing that can fix that."

If anything, Tim seemed relieved by my reaction. He laughed nervously, scratching at the back of his neck, unconsciously prodding the tender skin around the cut, "Yeah, obviously." I couldn't help but notice how he still wouldn't look directly at me, even now. "Bruce and I think it's an imposter... But he had us going for a bit." He returned to his serious tone- his Robin voice- but a bit more relaxed, "We're just keeping you safe, you know... But if it's an imposter, he probably doesn't even know who you are."

I pulled my lips into an easygoing grin, knowing I wasn't hiding my skepticism well, "Exactly. You and Bruce really need to stop being so foreboding all the time. You had me pretty worried."

Tim gave me an off smile and his usual shrug, holding up a black backpack that he'd been carrying with him, "I have patrol soon," he told me, changing the subject. "Mind if I change?"

"You know where the bathroom is, kiddo."

I studied Tim as he slipped into my tiny bathroom, relishing in the fact that he was indeed like a little brother to me. The fact that him and Bruce were so worried left an odd, content satisfaction in my heart. Still... the whole situation was a bit disturbing... Who would impersonate Jason Todd? How many people could possibly know that Jason Todd was the second Robin? I hadn't asked Tim who the other villains involved were, but I supposed they must have been pretty high up on the crime scale.

Tim ran out of my small, grimy bathroom, clad in his yellow, red, and green Robin costume. "I have patrol tonight, then I have to head out early to be at Titans Tower tomorrow. You probably won't see me for a while, okay?"

Impulsively, I reached over to the younger boy, who over the years had gotten just about as tall as I was, and hugged him fiercely around the shoulders, "Knock 'em dead, Boy Wonder."

He readily hugged me back, "Stay safe, Maddy."

I let him go and, as Robins always do, he disappeared into the night.

Stretching, I relieved some of the stress I'd built up from work. I began to unbutton my blouse as I walked into the bedroom, letting my clothes fall where they may. I've never been a particularly clean person...

Just as I was about to unhook my bra, I heard a husky chuckle from the other side of the darkened room. My heart, still weak from Tim's surprise interrogation, jumped to my throat as I panicked. My eyes made out the shadowy outline of a broad figure standing directly beside my open bedroom window, encased in the shadows. "Who's there?" I demanded, already well beyond panicked. Shit, where's my gun?

"Hey to you, too, Maddy," the broad figure stepped into the square patch of artificial light streaming onto the wooden floor. "Did you miss me?"


This chapter is an updated/edited version of the original.

I'd love to thank the amazing people who have reviewed so far! This chapter is extra long, just for them. Also, for those interested, I'm taking the post-crisis route storyline, mostly because it's a bit easier to follow. I apologize if I get a few events out of place, or if the timing doesn't match up. As far as when Jason comes back to life, in relation to things going on in Gotham is a bit difficult to follow.

Thanks for reading!

~Hadley-sensei