The smell of dust and insulation clogged Batman's nostrils. He was buried under some rubble. He moved carefully and dug himself out. He looked around, half the dilapidated building had collapsed. Joker laid several feet away. Batman reached over and checked his pulse. The Joker lived, much to his disappointment. In the distance sirens were rapidly approaching. The area showed no signs of Jason. Batman checked Joker for any weapons then placed a pair of handcuffs on him. Jason may have removed his utility belt, but he was never without tools.

Batman slowly lowered himself into the batmobile. A sharp pain in his side making him breathe through his teeth. He used the scanner in the vehicle to see if there were any other bodies in the rubble. There were none.

He closed his eyes.

Thank God.

The communicator crackled in his ear. "Sir? Master Bruce are you okay?"

Bruce rubbed his side. "Just a few scrapes Alfred, I'll be fine."

Alfred breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I have Master Grayson and Miss Gordon in the Rolls Royce driving back to the cave sir."

"Jason." Said Batman.

"Yes sir. It must have been a timed e-mail, since I received it when you two were in the middle of your fight. It gave me instructions for retrieving them. They are both safe and sound."

There was a moment of silence before Alfred spoke again. "Sir…Master Todd?"

"Gone Alfred. He disappeared. I doubt we'll be seeing him again anytime soon."

Alfred was silent for a moment. "Come home Bruce. We'll be here waiting for you."

Barbara was busy explaining what their time with Jason had been like. "Before he left he brought in this monitor and turned it on. It was a live feed into another apartment. We couldn't hear anything, but we certainly saw it all."

Bruce nodded. "He wanted me to kill in cold blood in front of you. To bring me down to his level."

She glanced at Dick and Alfred. "He needs our help. He's lost."

Alfred stepped in. "No one is arguing that Miss Gordon, but until he comes to us looking for help there is nothing we can do for him."

Barbara put a hand on Alfred's arm. "How many times do I have to tell you Alfred, Barbara. Just Barbara."

Alfred gave her a warm smile. "Yes, yes. I'll get breakfast started."

Barbara called after him. "None for me, I need to get home to my dad. I'm sure he's worried sick."

"Take one of the car's." Offered Bruce.

Barbara gave Bruce a tight smile, she hesitated for a second. "Thanks. Bruce…none of this is your fault. You know that right?"

Bruce nodded.

She didn't believe him, but that was Bruce for you. She placed a hand on Dick's arm as she passed him. He stood there, wrapped up in his thoughts.

It was awkward for them both, so she left without saying a word.

She strolled past a line of classic bike. Barbara took a seat on one of Bruce's vintage bikes. A 67' Triumph Bonneville, fully restored. She preferred motorcycles anyways.

"Barbara!" yelled Dick as he jogged over to her.

She raised her eyebrows. "Yes?"

Dick stopped in front of her, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, um. Are you doing anything this Friday?"

She grinned as she felt that familiar flutter in her chest. "No. I'm free."

He shuffled his feet. "Do you think maybe; you'd want to grab dinner?"

"No." she said flatly.

He looked surprised. "Oh… its coo-"

She cut him off. "Skip dinner, we go on patrol together."

He gave her a lopsided smile. "Alright it's a date."

Without another word Barbara started the bike and rode off into the warm dawn light.

Dick walked into the kitchen that rivaled most professional restaurants. He took a seat on the kitchen island and popped a piece of crispy bacon in his mouth.

Alfred worked silently with a sheepish grin on his face.

Dick rolled his eyes. "Oh come on Alfred."

The butler shook his head. "I didn't say a word Master Grayson…but I will say this." He stopped and faced the young man. "It's good to see you and Miss Gordon speaking again. For too long this family has been fractured, lost. We get so few precious moments in this life of ours, that the ones we do get, we must hold on to them tightly. Do you understand?"

He nodded. "Sure."

Tim walked in, yawning. He wasn't used to the all-nighters like the others were. "Smells delicious. Are we eating breakfast before training?"

Alfred spooned scrambled eggs into a dish. "In light of recent events, I think we'll take the day off. Now go set the table while I finish up."

Dick pushed himself up off the countertop. "I'll go get Bruce."

Alfred watched the two brothers leave the kitchen, and thought back to Jason's arrival to Wayne Manor. The boy was more feral animal then human at that point. The next few weeks were a constant battle. Alfred lost count how many times he'd caught Jason trying to steal the silverware. All the times the boy used his hedge garden for katana practice, snuck in to the garage for joy rides in one of the many expensive vehicles, or all the wrestling matches they had just to get him to bathe. The boy stunk worse than any child that had come through the mansion.

Alfred smiled, knowing one day his family would soon come back together. He had to have faith.

Richard Grayson walked the familiar halls of Wayne Manor. Technically these were new halls, since the original burned down, but Bruce had it rebuilt to the exact specifications as the old mansion.

He found Bruce sitting at the computer as usual, brooding face and all.

Bruce spoke first. "You were awfully quiet. That's not like you."

Dick leaned against a workbench arms folded across his chest. "Just thinking. Jason coming back, it's a lot to take in. He's family Bruce, we should go after him. Jason needs our help and he's a danger to anyone he's around."

An old familiar feeling crept into Richard Grayson's chest. It was guilt. Guilt for not being there enough for Jason when he was Robin. He thought back to the first time they met. Jason was on patrol alone. It was not unusual to see the Boy Wonder on his own. Dick did the same thing and he theorized that Tim would follow suit. Every Robin wanted to prove to Batman that they were capable of taking care of themselves. A perpetual struggle for his approval.

He tried sneaking up on Robin and almost ended up with a batarang to the throat.

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy." Nightwing said stepping out from the shadows.

Robin narrowed his eyes taking him in. "Nightwing I take it? Gotham isn't your city anymore, so get walking."

Nightwing raised his hands. "Hey I'm not here to take your place kid. What are you up to?"

Robin was apprehensive at first and it took him a moment to open up. "Staking out some drug dealers."

Nightwing nodded. "Cool, mind if I join?"

Robin shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever."

They sat on the rooftop for thirty minutes before it began to snow.

He tried making small talk with the boy. "Cold night huh?"

Robin shrugged again. Too proud to admit how cold he was. Nightwing revealed a thermos of hot chocolate.

He opened it, letting the smell waft over to young Jason, before taking an obnoxiously loud slurp. "Ah that's good. You want some?"

Robin eyed the thermos, then Nightwing, then back to the thermos before extending a hand towards the container and taking a drink.

Nightwing smiled as the kid visibly warmed up. After another 30 minutes Robin stood, content with the information he'd gathered for the night.

Robin dusted the snow off his uniform. "Hey, uh thanks. I didn't really know what to expect. He doesn't talk much about you." He looked down at his feet. "He doesn't really talk about much of anything really."

Nightwing gave him a sad smile and handed him a scrap of paper.

Robin unfolded it. "What's this?"

"It's my number Robin. If you ever need to talk, day or night, call me. I remember how cold it can be in that mansion."

The sound of Bruce's voice brought Dick back to the present. "I'm going to keep looking for him Dick, but Jason had the same training you and I did, and then some. If he doesn't want to be found, he will make it very difficult for us."

"You really think we won't be seeing him again?" asked Dick.

"Not as the warlord he tried to make himself. Whatever the pit did to him, I think it was losing its hold."

"You don't know that Bruce. What I saw on that monitor, I don't know, it wasn't Jason."

Bruce shook his head. "If he wanted to, he would have made that shot count, not to mention the bomb was on a timer. Contrary to what he said, I don't think he wanted me dead. Not in the end."

Dick sighed. "If you say so. How are you doing by the way? Not that I'm expecting a straight answer."

Bruce chuckled. "Honestly? I'm okay. Jason said what he needed to say to me, and I think now it's on him to change. Its good seeing you and Barbara again by the way."

Dick flashed back to when he was tied up with Barb as she told him about their encounter in her apartment.

"Feels almost like the family's back together huh?" Said Dick.

Bruce stood up, patting the young man on the arm. "Come on, let's go eat."

As they ascended the stairs of the batcave Bruce turned and his eye caught the Robin uniform. He thought back to the first time he and Jason went on patrol together.

Jason was still preening in front of the mirror, enamored with his new uniform. "I just didn't take you for the sentimental type Bruce."

Bruce was explaining to Jason the importance of the various trophies, statues, and pictures that were placed throughout the cave. "It's about remembering where you came from, so that you don't lose your way to where you're going."

"Uh huh, and it's not about reliving all your triumphs and victories?" Jason asked.

Bruce hid a grin, maybe it was a little bit about that too.

Alfred rounded them up in their uniforms in front of the batmobile, a camera in hand. "Unfortunately for you Master Todd I am the sentimental type."

"So how are we doing this?" asked Jason. "Funny?"

"Serious." Replied Bruce.

"Sexy?"

"Serious."

Alfred took the picture.

It would never be hung in the batcave, like so many other pictures. Instead the moment Alfred produced the copy he gave it to the young Jason Todd. From that moment on, Jason kept it folded neatly in half everywhere he went.

Bruce was confident that he would see his son again.

Jason clenched his jaw in pain. Breathing was difficult, thanks to the piece of rebar that had lodged itself in his shoulder. He stumbled along, leaving a trail of blood smeared on the brick wall he used to keep himself up. He needed to stop the bleeding.

Getting tired.

Maybe I'll just close my eyes for a second.

Jason tried to catch himself on a garbage can and succeeded in crashing into it.

"Oh man look at this guy, he's wasted."

Jason tried to murmur a witty insult, but was in too much pain.

He felt hands pat his pockets and instinctively he grabbed them and broke someone's finger.

"Argh! Son of a bitch broke my finger!"

Jason felt someone kick him in the ribs.

"Stop!" It was a female voice. "Can't you see he's hurt?"

"Shut up. This guys got nothing on him. I'm leaving him here."

"Well I'm not, so why don't you go fuck off." Jason was getting picked up by gentle hands. "It's okay I got you."

The edges of his vision were dimming even more now. He tried to look up and saw a pretty blonde woman holding him up. "H…Hide."

"Hide huh? Don't worry I'll get you to a hospital."

Jason could barely rasp out a "No hospitals. No cops."

"Okay, okay. Don't worry, we'll figure something out."

Jason smelled the leather of a car seat. After the night he had, it felt like he was laying on a bed of clouds. Before he closed his eyes, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a well-worn picture. It was Batman and Robin posing in front of the batmobile, back to back. Robin sporting the biggest grin as Batman held his classic brooding look. He closed his eyes, a single tear rolling down his cheek, and let the exhaustion of the past few weeks swallow him.

END

I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone who took the time to read my first piece. It means a lot to me, and every review, favorite, and follow further fuels my desire to practice. This story was heavily influenced by the "Under the Red Hood" comic arc, DC animated movie, and various comic runs. If you guys are interested in reading more about Jason, my favorite DC character, just let me know.

I have to admit, writing the ending to this novella was the most difficult part of this process. Not necessarily because I couldn't get the words typed out, but because I agonized over it being flawless. In fact, I had the last two chapters finished in one hour. Those two chapters sat for 2 weeks, as I read, and reread them, although you couldn't tell from the grammatical errors. It's funny that no matter how many times I read my own words, I am never happy with them. Each time I edit, add, or completely scrap my writing I become a little less unhappy with it. I cringe slightly less than before, and feel comfortable enough to let complete strangers I'll never meet read it. In my mind the climax and ending needed to be perfect, and while they are far from it, I hope you guys enjoyed them and the overall story.

Eternally grateful,

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