Identity
Lances of light pierced the window through the blinds, striking Dick's still-closed eyes. The man grumbled and rolled over before the memories of last night came crashing back and he bolted up. Shit, what the fuck did I do?! He knew the answer, so the better question was why did he do it? No wait, he knew the answer to that too.
He looked around the room but Jason was nowhere in sight. He sighed softly and pulled himself out of bed, blushing a bit at his own nudity, coupled with the memories of last night's events. He and Jason had had sex, and holy shit if it wasn't amazing! But what disturbed him is the fact that it had happened at all; that was not something he had planned.
So Dick pulled himself out of bed and to his surprise, he found some clothes tucked folded and waiting for him on a nearby chair with a side bag beside it. He looked around the room for his Nightwing gear and tucked it into the bag, pulled on the clothing and making his way out of the room. To his surprise (again) he found Jason out on the balcony of the living room, smoking a cigarette. He approached cautiously and Jason turned his head, briefly, blowing the smoke into the air.
"Those things will kill you, y'know," Dick said with a teasing tone. Jason snorted and put the cigarette out, tossing the butt over the rail and down into the street below without a care.
"Relax Dickie-bird, it's something I do only rarely. And only when I'm stressed," he admitted easily. Dick felt a twinge of guilt and wondered if he'd caused that. Jason apparently picked up on that because he said next "relax, it's not you. Not entirely." He passed Dick and went into the living room, flopping down onto the couch and scrubbing his face with his hands.
"I won't lie though, I was tempted to take off last night. Shit, I'm not even sure how that happened," he muttered. And the guilt was back. But also...
"Do you regret it?" Dick asked slowly, moving into the living room. Jason looked up at him with a raised eyebrow and snorted.
"Not for a moment. I've dreamt of fucking you since I was 16," Jason admitted without a trace of shame. He lips twitched and tugged into a cocky smirk. Dick quirked an eyebrow and joined him on the couch.
"Really?" he asked. Jason snorted again.
"Yeah, really. I've had a crush on you since I was fourteen for god's sake. So no, I don't regret having sex with you," Jason said with a dismissive hand wave. The two of them sat in silence for a time, Jason with his arm draped over his eyes and Dick looking nervously around the room. He felt like he should say something, anything, but he didn't know what.
"You know, I didn't plan for...last night to happen," Dick finally admitted, glancing over at Jason. Jason lifted his arm for a moment to look into the man's eyes, then came another snort.
"I'm aware. I was pretty certain you hadn't come with the intention of getting a dick up your ass," Jason joked. Dick frowned, not because of how crude the man was, he was used to that because Jason had always been a bit of a perv. No, he frowned because he was more crass than he remembered.
"Classy, Jason. Very classy," Dick snorted. Jason chuckled in amusement and playfully nudged the man's leg with his foot.
"You know me, Dickie; classy and sophisticated has never been my style." Jason sat up and looked at Dick and said "but enough about that. You should go." Dick looked over at Jason and tried to conceal his reaction; he felt a little sad that Jason was trying to get rid of him.
"Jason-"
"I'm not changing my mind. This is what I'm doing," Jason snapped. Dick flinched at the reply, the tone in Jason's voice, but gave a nod and got to his feet, moving for the door. He stopped, looking back over his shoulder, expression turning from neutral, to sorrowful.
"Jay," he began slowly, hesitating. Jason made no move to look at him and just remained staring passively into the empty space, laying on the couch, so Dick continued on his own "I'm not done yet. I'll save you." He hesitated for another moment, looking for any kind of reaction from Jason, but none came. He shook his head and said to him "some of us still grieve for your loss, Jason. Even if you don't realize it, we still love you."
"You should get going before daddy bats gets worried about you. He can be insufferable when he's worried. I wish I'd known what the was like," he said, muttering the last part in a low tone, barely audible. But Dick caught it anyway, but he chose not to remark on it.
"Alright. I'll see you soon Jaybird," Dick said softly, leaving the apartment behind.
Jason sighed deeply at the sound of the door opening and closing, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Last night was...amazing. He'd been in love with Dick for a long time, and having sex with him was like a dream come true. But it was also a nightmare; it caused all sorts of problems and would likely impact his ability to perform at his best if they ever crossed paths again, which they would. At this point, it was only his anger that would keep him going. He wanted Bruce to suffer, like he'd suffered. He wanted him to know what betrayal felt like. That was what was driving him at this point.
His anger had always been both the source of his strength, and his greatest weakness. It blinded him at times, made him reckless in fights, but now, he'd eliminated that weakness. His training over the last five years hadn't made him any less reckless, but now he could fully control his anger and when the time came, Bruce would feel the full force of it.
Batman and Robin had been tracking a gang of drug peddlers through Gotham for a good week when they finally found one of their major safe houses. They followed the lead to Crime Alley, to the apartment building where some of the thugs were holed up.
"Don't move!" said one of the thugs with a hand gun. Robin glared up at the man.
"Or what? You'll shoot me?" He lunged at the man faster than he could react and kicked him through the door, shattering the wood. The other thugs inside were taken by surprise and pulled out automatic rifles and fired at him. He dodge rolled to avoid the gunfire and then flipped forward, taking two of them out and jumping into the air. A third with a shotgun aimed at him but he threw electrified batarangs and forced the man to drop his gun. He then delivered a blow to the face and knocked him out. Batman joined him moments later.
Grinning, Robin grabbed one of the men by the chin and said "twenty rounds a second and you were still too slow!" But he heard something and a man with a hand gun rounded the corner.
"I'm not too slow!"
"I got him!" Batman called, throwing a batarang. The man got off a few shots which Robin dodged, then the gun was knocked out of his hands. Robin lunged forward and brought his elbow down on his collarbone, a crack echoing through the room as the man fell to the ground, shouting in pain..
"I had to take him down!" Jason defended, when they got back to the cave.
"You shattered his collarbone!" Bruce growled. Jason snorted in response and waved his hand dismissively.
"He was a drug dealing pimp! He got what he deserved!"
"He could have talked! We needed information! You put him into shock!" Bruce replied. Jason's expression softened when he realized his error and slipped past Bruce, running a hand through his hair.
"I'm sorry, it was stupid, but he deserved it."
Bruce sat in the cave, going over the data again, still trying to piece together the Red Hood's identity. He had no leads and the Joker turned out to be another dead end. And yet all the evidence pointed at Dick's claims; that Jason was the Red Hood. But that couldn't be possible, because Jason was dead. That single thought sent a twinge of guilt and sorrow through him, every time it entered his mind. Jason is dead because of me. I failed him. He scrubbed his face with his hand and looked back up to the screen.
Tim was training against some sparring dummies, working mostly on his martial arts, but also practicing some of the acrobatic moves that Dick had taught him. He occasionally glanced over in Bruce's direction; the man had been sitting there, staring at that data for hours now.
"Is everything okay?" Tim asked, stopping his training and grabbing up a towel, dabbing his brow with it. He approached Bruce, grabbing a water bottle off of a tray Alfred was carrying and flashing him a smile. He took a swig from it, stopping beside him.
"Yes, everything is fine Tim. Just-"
"Trying to figure out who the Red Hood is?" Tim finished with a smirk. Bruce's expression remained neutral and he just gave a nod in response. Alfred placed a tray of tea beside him and he glanced up at the man, giving him the same expressionless nod.
"Sir, Master Dick is here," Alfred said smoothly, without turning around. Dick huffed from behind him as he approached the three of them.
"How did you know it was me without even looking?" Dick asked in amusement. Alfred, stoic as ever, simply turned to him and inclined his head.
"I raised Master Bruce, you and Master Tim. It has become a sixth sense," Alfred replied. Dick smiled at the man, but also noticed he avoided mentioning Jason. Alfred had taken Jason's death especially hard. Jason was Alfred's favorite and he understood why; Jason threw more passion into everything he did than any of them ever had. As a kid, he was cocky, abrasive, sometimes aggressive, but also full of life. It was just as easy to love the kid as it was to be angry at him, to hate him.
Alfred seemed to smile more around Jason than anyone else, but he understood it; Jason had a certain charm about him that made him lovable, even when he was being an asshole. So Dick wondered what it would do to Alfred to see what Jason had become...
"Sorry if I worried you, Bruce. But as you can see, I'm completely fine. Patrol took an...interesting turn last night, that's all," Dick replied explained. Bruce looked him over once or twice, then gave a curt nod, turning his attention back to the screen. Dick looked up at it, looking over all the evidence they had collected. He realized Jason had to have left this all behind intentionally; he wanted Bruce to suffer and it appeared to be working.
Bruce still seemed incapable of accepting that Jason was behind that mask. Dick understood that, he really did. It would take something tangible, like seeing Jason's face, or a DNA test, for him to finally accept it. He knew Bruce viewed Jason's death as his greatest failure, so he understood why the man couldn't bring himself to even consider the possibility. So for now, Dick opted to drop the subject and let Bruce figure it out for himself.
"Y'know, you should take a break, Bruce. You're running yourself ragged," Dick said with a smile, patting the man's back. Bruce glanced up at him but shook his head.
"No, this is important, I-"
"Need to rest, sir. I agree with Master Dick. Batman can't protect the city if Bruce Wayne is exhausted," Alfred cut in. Bruce spun in his chair to look at Alfred and made to protest, but Alfred cut him off.
"Master Bruce, you've barely slept at all in the last week. You have a business meeting in three hours, but I can see to it that it is postponed. You need to rest sir. You have young Master Timothy, Master Dick, and Miss Gordon to help you. Let them." Bruce was silent for a time, eyes moving over each of them. Alfred made a convincing argument, and as stubborn as he was, he couldn't argue with that logic.
"Alright," he said simply, pushing away from the computer with Alfred behind him. Dick turned to the computer and looked over all the data. Obviously, he didn't need to see it to know Jason was behind the mask, but all this evidence pointed to him regardless.
"Do you really think it's Jason?" Tim asked. Dick looked at the teen and nodded.
"I do."
