His Greatest Failure

"Everyone stays here. I'll deal with The Hood myself and keep a line open with Oracle. When the location of Black Canary and The Huntress is known, get them immediately. Under no circumstances are any of you to come for me, not while he still has Robin. Hood is mine, and mine alone." Batman eyeballed each and every member of his team, making sure his orders were clear.

"Bruce…" Worried, Diana took a step towards him only to be stopped as Batman held his hand up.

"We must get Black Canary and The Huntress back. I will not jeopardize the safety of their lives. I won't fail them Diana. DO NOT come for me while I'm confronting The Hood." Batman gently brushed the sided of her cheek with his hand before turning back to the rest of the team. "Just so you all know… although I may have said or acted otherwise… if there was anything I could do to save any of you from dying short of taking a life besides my own, I'd do it." Batman turned away and flew off into the night to finally meet The Red Hood face to face.

Nightwing slammed his fists into the computer console as he hung his head to much of the surprises of Diana and Oracle. Initially they both thought that he was shocked as much as they were when Bruce actually opened up to all of them, but his face told them that he was furious. "Damn it!" He stared at the keyboard, clenching his jaw while his body shook in anger.

"What is it Dick? What's wrong?" Oracle asked hesitantly.

"He knows who Hood is…" Nightwing spat out through his teeth.

"Are you sure? I… I don't understand… why are you mad at him? Do you know who he is? Is it because he wanted to face him alone? But The Hood told us he only wanted Batman or he would kill Dinah and Helena…" Diana said carefully, not wanting to aggravate Dick's anger any further.

"Yes I know he knows… and no… I'm not mad at Bruce… its just…DAMN IT!" Nightwing punched the computer again, this time breaking the unit and startling everyone, including Batgirl.

"What? What is it Dick?" Barbra placed her hand on his, trying to get him to elaborate on his frustration.

Nightwing looked up at Barbra with deep pain and grief in his eyes "It's Hood… I know who he is... I just hope I'm wrong…"

"What? How did you figure it out?" Oracle started to go to the computer to see if Bruce had left anything on there.

"Because of what Bruce said… everything fits… I just want to know when he actually figured it out…" Nightwing took a deep breath as he looked up into the darkness of the cave.

"Who? Who is he Dick?" Diana asked anxiously.

"Jason" Batman stood concealed within his cape in front of the so-called Red Hood as he crossed his arms.

"So you've figured it out. Can't say that I'm impressed… how long did it take you? I wondered if the clues in my message might have been too obvious." The Hood stepped out of the shadows twirling one of Robin's bat-a-rangs in his left hand.

Batman's eyes narrowed at the sight of it. "How did you come back to life?"

"No Bruce! The question is HOW COULD YOU LET ME DIE!" The Hood angrily threw the bat-a-rang at Batman's feet. "You let The Joker beat me down with a crowbar. A CROWBAR! You let him torture me. You let him KILL ME!"

"I did everything I could to get to you Jason… everything…" Batman's voice was still flat, but it had a hint of pain and regret within it.

"Bullshit! NO!" The Hood waved his hand in disgust before continuing. "You know what? That doesn't even matter. I died. The Joker killed me. Fine. But what I don't understand is HOW IN THE HELL IS HE STILL ALIVE! The Joker! He's killed so many people, destroyed so many families, he won't stop! NO! You let that bastard live! For what? To have him gun down Barbra?" Batman's fists clenched tightly as that stung tremendously.

Jason removed his helmet and dropped it on the floor. His face…he was just like Bruce remembered him, but a little older. His eyes showed nothing but anger and hatred. His skin was dried and coarse as his scars revealed the areas where the crowbar and explosion damaged his face. "Not only did you fail me, you failed her Bruce. My death, her pain… it's all your fault. You and I both know that the world would easily be better off with The Joker dead. If he had killed you, I would have avenged you. I would have KILLED HIM! I would have done anything to save you! Anything to avenge your death!"

Bruce never clenched his jaw tighter than he did right now. He hated The Joker for all that he had done. Almost killed The Joker for what he did to Jason and Barbra. "Jason…"

"NO!" Jason took another step and angrily pointed his finger at Bruce. "You did nothing! NOTHING! You just stood there and let me die! Sent him back to Arkham as if nothing happened! Nothing's changed. He's still alive and killing people. Still destroying families. Killing the mothers and fathers of innocent little boys. You say you do this to make sure that no little eight year old boy will ever lose his parents again, but you continue to let him do it." Bruce flinched as Jason continued. "Face it Bruce, when are you going to realize that your way doesn't work? You failed to save all those people, those mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives… failed them all by letting him LIVE!"

Everything Jason said hit Bruce hard… he did fail Jason. He failed to save him, failed to train him better. Jason was Batman's greatest failure and he never forgave himself for it. Bruce pushed those memories out of his head as he forced himself to remain focused. There were three lives he needed to save, and he refused to fail them. "Fine… take your revenge on me, leave them out of this. You said you'd let them go."

"What your two Birds? Why should I? You should have left them out of this. I only wanted to deal with you. But no… you've gotten soft, needed others to help you get to me… Back in the day, you'd do this all on your own and get the job done. You're only a shell of your former self." Jason pulled out what looked like a tracking device and held it in his hand.

"What about Robin…" Batman growled as he tried to stay focused on the three in trouble.

"You mean the pretender? We'll deal with him in a minute… But a deal is a deal…" The Hood tossed the device towards Batman. An electrifying net sprang out, wrapping around him the instant he caught it. Batman couldn't move as he fell to the floor in agonizing pain. The electric flow pulsated through his entire body and seemed to only increase as he struggled to free himself. Even his super strength wasn't enough to break the net. Batman looked up at Jason as he crouched down beside him.

Jason picked up the tracking device with his hand and looked at it. "You must know your enemies and all of their weaknesses. You must know how to beat them before you engage them… You taught me that Bruce… an electrifying magical net… who knew?" Jason mockingly shrugged his shoulders as he stood up. "Since you're the one who wanted to make this a family affair… call your wife. I know you have them listening to this whole thing. Oh by the way, give my regards to both Babs and Dick… I can't say that it didn't hurt when they didn't send me an invite to their wedding."

"This stays between us" The last thing Bruce wanted to do was bring more of his family members into this mess.

"Do you want to save Helena and Dinah or not? Since you're tied up at the moment, someone else has to… call her, call her now. And just so you don't take too long…" Jason placed the tracking device on the floor in front of Batman. There was a timer on it ticking down. "You have less than ten minutes to get to them before the bombs explode. Like I said, their fate rests with you Bruce."

Diana couldn't believe what she was hearing. She never heard of Jason before, she thought that Tim was the one who replaced Dick as Robin. Dick filled her in during Batman's conversation with The Hood, but he told her that she would have to ask Bruce for the details. The story was already heart breaking. She now saw why Bruce worked so hard to isolate himself from everyone. He truly believed that everyone closest to him would end up in severe pain or worse, dead. Diana thought she knew everything about Bruce. That his brooding ways were just apart of him, his stubbornness to work alone or with very few trusted allies was just his way of doing things. She worked so hard to get so close to Bruce. To go from acquainted teammates to friends, from friends to best friends, from best friends to lovers… Diana refused let anyone take away what she has with Bruce – no one was going to take her world away from her. But now everything made sense. It was all so clear to her. Bruce lost one of his own, Batman lost a Robin… to The Joker of all enemies. If he failed to protect Robin, how could he trust himself to protect anyone else? And with that question, her eyes widened as it brought a revelation upon her. He couldn't, he didn't trust himself. Everyone who came to him afterwards forced themselves into his life. She did the same. Tim told Batman that he needed a Robin, forced Bruce to accept him. Canary and Huntress came before Jason's death. Cassandra was chosen by Barbra, and Bruce owed Lady Shiva a favor. Bruce had been keeping this inside him the whole time. Keeping the traumatic memories as a reminder of how dark his world truly is.

"Diana" Bruce called her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

She looked at Oracle who nodded, insisting that she go. "Remember… don't do anything that might cause Jason to blow the explosives. He still has Tim, Diana." Diana nodded before taking a deep breath and flew to her husband.

Diana quickly found them and landed beside Bruce, glaring at Jason. She wanted to bash his head in for all the trouble he caused. "You don't like me already? Blame your sweet and loving husband for that. He's the reason for what I've become today. Well… actually it's just as much your fault as it is his…" Jason smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'll break you in two" Diana's glare intensified as if she was trying to burn a hole through his face.

"You're in no position to be giving out threats… now be a good little wife and save those two pitiful Birds." The Hood pointed to the tracking device on the floor. "You have less than five minutes."

Diana looked at the device on the floor, hesitant to pick it up. She didn't know if another net would pop out and trap her too. Sensing her hesitation, Bruce spoke up. "Go Diana, they need you. Save them."

Diana carefully picked up the tracker and read the coordinates before turning back to Jason. "This isn't over."

Jason smirked. "You have no idea Wonder Woman… but if you don't want to continue this without Dinah and Helena, I'd suggest you leave now." Diana took one last look at Bruce before taking off towards Helena and Dinah.

"Where's Robin?" Batman demanded, bringing Jason's attention back to him.

"Ahh yes… the pretender… seriously how could you give the title of Robin to him? He's pathetic and weak. He doesn't deserve to uphold the legacy of Robin!" Jason clenched his fist and waved the other in disgust.

Bruce glared at him as he responded coldly. "Tim is the definition of the legacy that is Robin. He's a better Robin than you or Dick ever was." That surprised everyone listening in on Batman except Nightwing. Oracle raised her eyebrow as she turned to Dick for an explanation, but he just crossed his arms, smirked, and motioned for her to continue to listen. Batgirl scratched her head trying to reason it out. It wasn't like Bruce to play favorites… Yes, Tim is the better detective but Dick is the better fighter. Diana flinched as she heard it but continued to fly towards Helena and Dinah. She landed on the roof of an old cabin on a garbage ship. She ripped open the roof and saw both Dinah and Helena tied up surrounded by explosives. They were still bleeding, badly beaten, and unconscious. She quickly scooped them up and flew back to the cave as quickly as possible.

"WHAT? Are you shitting me? There's no way that little punk means more to you than the rest of us!" Jason yelled through his gritted teeth.

"He means just as much to me as the rest of you. All of you. But that has nothing to do with Robin's legacy. Tim realized and understood what Robin meant to Batman and the city of Gotham. He alone gave meaning to the legacy of Robin. He showed me that having a Robin created a balance for Batman, and without that balance, Batman would be completely consumed within the darkness of Gotham… He was right. Tim became Robin because he knew there needed to be a Robin."

Batman's eyes narrowed, knowing Jason wasn't going to accept what he had to say next. "Dick saw being Robin as a thrill… that's probably why he outgrew it… among other things. He wanted his own life, he became Nightwing. That's his legacy. You… You saw it as a game… THAT'S what got you killed. I should have never let you become Robin when you did. You weren't ready. That's where I failed you."

"DAMN YOU! I'M NOT WEAK!" Jason's rage took over as he began to savagely beat Batman with his fists.

Diana entered the cave and quickly placed The Huntress and Black Canary on the medical tables for Alfred to tend to. She raced back to the computer to stand with Oracle, Nightwing, and Batgirl while listening to the sounds of Batman being pummeled by The Hood.

Jason stopped and stood up to catch his breath as he watched Batman spit out blood while shaking his head, trying to regain his vision. It had been a long time since he took a beating like this. Jason seemed to have super strength of his own. There was no possible way for Jason to damage his body like this without it. Batman tried to think of a connection between Jason's reappearance, his strength, and the magical net, but was interrupted by Jason's cold hardened words. "You believe Tim's the best Robin? We'll see about that. I won't be the only Robin you will have failed to save." Jason picked his helmet up and disappeared into the dark cold night leaving Batman lying on the roof.

A/N: I decided to go further into Bruce's past in this one. I personally never really liked that storyline with Jason, but it's such a big part of Batman's history now. It does however, reinforce the mood that things must get worse before it starts getting better.

Thanks for reading! All reviews are greatly appreciated.