Author's Note: Please note that with season 3 of Young Justice up and running that this story was written before that and will have nothing to do with what happens in season 3.

Sorry for the long wait but another chapter awaits you all! :)


"Good morning," Barbara said, before pecking Dick's lips.

"Morning, beautiful."

"Ready for finals?"

"Should be. We stayed up late studying, among other things," he replied with a grin. She shoved his shoulder.

"You're terrible."

"Tim," he said, and they both turned around and spotted the younger boy walking up to them.

"Good morning, Tim," Barbara said, handing him his coffee they bought. She noticed his look. "Is something on your mind?"

"It's Stephanie."

"Oh," she replied, a hint of a smile on her face. "Come here."

They pulled Tim over to the bench and they all sat down. She started talking again. "Now, Tim, what's going on?"

"I feel different," he said. "When I'm around her, I feel like something's changing between us. I don't know what it is."

"Oh, little brother," Dick said, a chuckle escaping from his lips. "It sounds like you like her."

"Of course I like her. She's my friend."

"No, Tim," Barbara said. "More than a friend. Like you want to be boyfriend and girlfriend."

"What? No!" he said, standing up.

"Here we go again," Dick chimed in.

"Huh?"

"Don't mind him. I know this isn't what's on your mind. You already know that answer. What's really on your mind?"

He looked down. "I don't know if I should tell her who I am."

"Tim, that is your choice," Dick said. "It's your identity and your family on the line. We all know this. It's what we agreed to when you first started."

"And we will support whatever decision you decide to make. If you trust Stephanie enough to tell her, we'll be right behind you every step. In the end, though, it's your decision."

"Thanks, guys," Tim replied. The bell rang. "I better get to class."

"Us, too. See you for practice tonight? Steph will be there."

"Yeah," he replied, grabbing hold of his bookbag. "See you later."


"There's been an attack in the city," Bruce said, rushing down to the cave. "Multiple injuries. Sources say it's Firefly."

"Again?" Dick sighed. "He's so damn hard to take down."

"Language," Bruce replied. "We need to move. Now."

They all jumped on their bikes and followed the Batmobile out into the city. Once they arrived, they noticed that fires now engulfed the city.

"I'll take down Firefly," Batman said. "I want you all rescuing civilians."

They nodded, and started moving away. Batgirl joined up with Spoiler.

"Put your mask on," she said, grabbing the oxygen mask. Spoiler did the same. "We'll check this building over here."

The younger girl followed after her, and they carefully went into the building, looking for anyone in there.

"Do you hear that?" Spoiler asked, and Batgirl's heart started pounding in her chest.

"Look out!" Batgirl said, pushing Spoiler out of the way. The explosion went off.


"Over here, Robin," Nightwing said, moving into the grocery store. They both quickly looked around, spotting a few people who were caught in the smoke.

"Over here," Nightwing said, as he and Robin helped them out. Once they were safe with the G.C.F.D, they went to the next building.

"Is there anyone in here?" Robin called out. No answer.

"I'll check over here," Nightwing said, and Robin continued to look around, making sure no one was there.

"Nightwing? Did you find anyone?" he asked, looking around.

"No. I think the building's empty."

"Hopefully the same for Spoiler and Batgirl," Robin replied, looking over at the burning building next to them.

"Let's get out of here," Nightwing said, and they both left the store.

"Are you both ok?" a fireman asked, running up to them.

"We're fine, why?"

"Lynns shot off a fireball into that building over there. We're clearing it out to see if anyone was in there."

"Batgirl and Spoiler are in there!" Robin said, and they both quickly ran off, ignoring the warning from the fireman.


Smoke filled around them, and Spoiler started coughing, pushing the debris off of her. She started looking around for Batgirl, unable to find her.

"Batgirl?" she cried out, looking through the damage. "Batgirl?!

She finally found her, and her breath caught in her throat. "Oh, no!"

"Batgirl? Spoiler?" Nightwing called out, running through the smoke.

"Nightwing!" Spoiler said, fear and panic in her voice as she looked for a pulse.

"Batgirl," he whispered, gently slapping her face. He put his hands on her chest and started CPR, fear growing in him when she still wasn't breathing. "Batgirl, come on!"

He continued with CPR, tears welling up in his eyes. His breathing became frantic when she still wasn't responding.

"Damnit, Barbara, come on!" he said, her name slipping out in his fear.

She awoke in fear, and he let out a relieved breath, his chest panting up and down. Spoiler had tears running down her face, and Nightwing quickly pulled Batgirl into his arm. Robin helped Spoiler up.

"What-?" Batgirl asked, confusion filling her face. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her hair. "Nightwing?"

"Shh," he whispered, watching as Robin tended to Batgirl's wounds.

"Nightwing?"

"You're ok," he said, and she felt tears drop onto her head. Not from Spoiler, who was on her other side. "You're ok."

"Nightwing, she needs to rest," Robin said, and he carefully picked her up, his heart breaking when she cried out in pain.

He's had a lot of injuries-some life-threatening such as this-but he's never seen anything this bad.

"I'm fine," she whispered, and he shook his head.

"No, you're not."

He quickly found the van and watched as it opened, revealing Alfred on the other side. He carefully took Barbara from him and laid her down on the bed.

"We need to get back to the cave."

"Robin? Spoiler? Batman?" Nightwing said through the comms. "We're going back to the cave."

Alfred carefully moved around until he got into the driver's seat. Dick stayed with Barbara.

"I'm here," he told her, smiling down at her. "Just hold on."

"You're bleeding," she said, looking at his shoulder.

"I'm wrapping it," he said, grabbing for the gauze. "You're more important."

"Not to me," she replied, and watched as he wrapped his shoulder.

When they finally arrived at the cave, Nightwing carefully lifted her up and stepped out of the van, watching as Alfred set up a bed.

"Master Richard, you need stitches!"

"Her first, Alfred!" Dick cried out, putting Barbara onto the bed.

"Dick!" she said, and he shook his head.

"Please help her, Alfred," he said, and the pain in his voice was enough for Alfred to turn his attention to Barbara. Dick pulled up a seat and sat down next to her.

Time seemed to move very slowly.

Barbara got some stitches, and Alfred had hooked her up to a heart monitor. Knowing that she would be in pain for some time, he gave her some pain medicine and within a few minutes she was asleep.

Dick was there the whole time, holding her hand and whispering to her.

"She'll be ok," Alfred said, watching the monitor. "Heartbeat is very strong, considering."

"Good," Dick breathed out.

"Your turn," the older man ordered.

Dick regretfully let go of her hand and moved to the other bed, watching as Alfred removed the wrap. He then winced when Alfred let out a gasp.

"You have lost a lot of blood," the older man said.

"I feel fine."

"Hold still," Alfred said, before he went to work.

"Nightwing?" Batman said.

"Here."

"We're got the situation under control. How's Batgirl?"

"She's ok. Alfred has us here at the cave."

"We should be there shortly. We'll stay and help clean up."

"Let me know if you need anything. Nightwing out."

He looked over at Barbara, sound asleep in her bed. The noise of the monitor became a background noise to her just sleeping in her bed.

"You really care for her," Alfred said, once he finished.

"Of course I do. I really care for her."

"Kids," Alfred chuckled, shaking his head.


Beep. Beep. Beep.

The annoying beeping awoke Barbara, who let out a frustrated moan. She tried to force her eyes to stay shut, not ready to awaken from the deep sleep she was in.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Her eyes finally opened, struggling at first before her vision finally came into place. She let out a deep breath and turned her head, watching as Dick stared down at her, an unknown look on his face.

"Hi."

"How do you feel?" he asked, pushing her hair out of her face.

"I'm fine," she stressed, sitting up in the bed.

He didn't reply, and she let out a frustrated sigh, closing her eyes once again as another bout of tiredness hit her. The feeling of his hand running through her hair was so comforting to her that she nearly fell asleep again.

"You're awfully quiet," she said, turning towards him.

"I'm glad you're ok," he said, kissing her hand.

"You were really scared, weren't you?" she asked softly, looking into his eyes. Her hand moved to his cheek.

"You have no idea," he replied, grabbing hold of her hand. "Barbara, I love you."

"What?" she asked in surprise, her eyes widening.

"This is probably the worst time to tell, but I want you to know. I love you."

"Oh, Dick," she whispered, moving so their heads were touching. "Dick, I love you, too."

"You do?" he asked, and she nodded, smiling at him.

"I love you."

He smiled, then pressed their lips together.


"What a long, boring day at school," Barbara said, throwing her bookbag down on the floor next to Dick's couch in his room. He smirked.

"Who are you and what have you done with Barbara?"

She laughed, throwing her head back. His eyes lit up as he saw her.

"Babs, have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"

"Once or twice," she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Is that all?" he asked, playing with a piece of her hair.

"Alfred's gone to town," she said, playing with the collar of his shirt. "Bruce is gone. Whatever should we do?"

"Study," he said, taking her hands off of his collar. She furrowed her brow.

"Study?"

"Yeah."

"We have a mansion to ourselves and you want to study?"

"Yeah."

He turned away from her and grabbed for his bag. A concerned look came on her face as she watched him sit down on the couch and pull his books out.

"OK, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since my heart stopped, you've been cautious around me. You won't let me go out on missions, and now this."

"Barbara, I-"

"Are you afraid my heart is going to stop again?" she asked, watching as he dropped his head. "It is, isn't it?"

He didn't reply, and she walked over to him and bent down, putting her hands on his face. "Leslie cleared me to go back to work, even though she's against it."

"Babs, I nearly lost you," he said, standing up to put his hands on her arms. "I can't lose you."

"I'm right here," she said, grabbing hold of his hand and putting his hand on her heart. "It's still beating."

"I can't lose you."

"You'll never lose me. I'll always be right here."

He laid his head down on her shoulder, and she gently ran her hand through his hair to comfort him. They stayed like this for a few minutes before she pulled away.

"Let's study."

He kissed her head before they walked back to the couch, pulling their books out. She cuddled up against him and opened her book, laying her head on his shoulder.

"By the way, you totally cried over me."

"I did not cry over you," he replied, and she smirked.

"You cried over me."

He rolled his eyes. "No, I didn't."

"Mmhm."

He gave her a look before he pushed her books off of her. He then pressed their lips together and pulled her on top of him, smiling against her lips.


"Tell me something," Barbara asked, her head resting on Dick's chest.

"Ok. Something."

"Asshole," she said, watching as he smirked at her. "I'm serious."

"Ok," he said, worry setting on his face as he looked down at her.

"If something were to happen to me, would you stay with me?"

"Babs!" he said, but she put a finger to his lips.

"I mean it."

"You know I would," he said, sitting up, causing her to sit up as well. The blanket fell to their waists. "Barbara, I love you. I love you more than anything. No matter what happens I am not leaving you."

"You mean that?"

"Always," he replied, pressing their lips together.

Her eyes started watering, and he reached up and wiped the tears away. She then wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed their lips together again.

"Promise me one thing," she said, pulling away.

"Anything."

"You'll move on if something happens to me."

"Barbara-"

"Promise me," she whispered, pressing their lips together.

"I promise," he replied back, pressing their heads together. "And you promise the same if something happened to me?"

"Yes," she whispered, tears welling in her eyes again.

"Don't cry, beautiful," he whispered back, wiping her face again.

"I love you."

"I love you, too," he said, and she pulled him back on top of her and pressed their lips together.


"Where has Bruce been at lately?" Robin asked, nearly dodging a hit from Stephanie.

"He says he's working on something, but he won't tell us what," Dick replied, turning from Barbara to Stephanie.

"Got ya," Barbara said, knocking Dick over. Robin and Stephanie laughed.

"Why always me?" he grunted, getting back up.

"Aww, is someone mad?" she joked back, helping him up.

"I hate you."

"Let's take a break," she laughed, and they all went to sit down, taking a drink from their water bottles.

"Stephanie, are you going to your father's trial?" Robin asked, and she shook her head.

"No. I don't want to go. There's enough evidence against him. He'll be put away for good."

"Is your mom going?"

"Yeah, but I don't know why. He's a criminal. He's a disgrace to our family."

"My father will be there," Barbara said, gently squeezing her shoulder. "He's worried about you, though. He is still your father."

"He's no father of mine," she replied, throwing her batarang. It hit the target in the bullseye.

The door opened, and the Batmobile pulled in. They all stood up once Bruce got out of the car.

"Bruce, where have you been?"

"Investigating something," he replied, sitting down at his chair. He pulled up a CCTV video feed. "There's a new criminal boss here in Gotham. He and Black Mask have been going at each other."

"Is this him?" Barbara asked, looking at the screen.

"He calls himself the Red Hood," Bruce said.

"Joker's old alias?" Dick asked, furrowing his brow.

"Yes. I went chasing the original Red Hood before he fell into the vat of chemicals, changing the man into The Joker. Now, it seems, someone else has started wearing the mask, but it's designed differently."

"So, not Joker?"

"No. Joker likes his new look too much. It's not him."

"Do you know who it is?"

"I don't. I've been watching this closely. There's something so familiar about him it's….frightening.

"And you have no idea who? At all?"

"None. I do have a lead where he'll be, though. Dick, Barbara and I are going to go. Robin and Stephanie, I may have a mission for you."

"What is it?"

"I'll explain the details soon. For now, Batgirl, Nightwing and I are going to move out."


"There he is!" Batgirl said pointing to the man.

"I want you both to stay up here," Batman said, looking at them. "Wait for my call."

They nodded, and watched as Batman jumped down to the building below. He carefully moved through the shadows, looking down below.

"I know you're there, Batman," Red Hood said, turning around.

"I'm putting an end to this."

"Can you see anything?" Batgirl whispered, as she and Nightwing both looked down.

"Not much. Batman is right, though. The design of the uniform is much different than the one Joker wore years ago."

"Were you Robin yet?"

"Not yet. It happened shortly before I was taken in."

Batman and Red Hood disappeared, and both were tempted to follow after them, but they followed orders and waited.

"I wonder how it's going," Nightwing asked sometime later, dangling his legs off of the building.

"We haven't heard anything from Batman yet. I'm starting to get worried."

"Batgirl, Nightwing!" Batman said through the comms. "He's heading your way!"

"We're keeping a look out."

"It's not just that. The man under the Red Hood. It's Jason. He's back."

"What?!" they both cried out. "How?!"

"No time! Find him!"

They both looked around, trying to spot the man. Batman ran to the middle of the alley before he was attacked.

"Wait!" Nightwing said, grabbing Batgirl before she jumped down. "He's got a gun."

"Shit," she whispered, watching as Jason pulled his helmet off, revealing black hair with a white streak, and a red domino mask.

"Barbara, you always got through to Jason more than anyone," Nightwing said, turning to look at her. "If you walk up to him, maybe you can get through to him. I'll stay up top. If it doesn't work, I'll take him down."

She sighed. "Jason, what happened to you?"

"That's up to us to find out," he replied, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You're up."

He let out a breath before she removed her cowl and jumped down. Jason had just pushed Batman to the ground, holding his gun right between Batman's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Jason," Batman croaked out.

"Jason!" Batgirl called out, running up to him. He turned to her.

"Barbara?"

"Don't do this," she said, watching as he lowered his gun. "Come home. We can help you."

"I don't need help!" he screamed out, the gun wavering in his hand.

"Of course," she replied, stepping slightly closer. "Jay, put the gun down, and let's talk."

"I'd rather not."

"Jason," she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. He had gotten so tall. "My little birdie."

"Get away, Barbara," he growled, but she stood her ground.

"I'm not moving. You need help. I don't know what happened to you, but we can help you. Come home, Jay. Come home."

"Come on, Jay," Nightwing whispered, staring down at them.

"I'm not going anywhere," he replied, and Nightwing finally had enough. He jumped down from the top of the building and knocked Jason out of the way, ignoring Barbara's pleas for him to stop.

Dick rolled to the ground, right before smoke appeared around them. Quickly turning his nightvision on, he looked around, but he couldn't spot Jason.

"He's gone," Batman said, once he was up.

"Are you both ok?" Nightwing asked, looking at them.

"He's gone," Batman repeated, staring at the spot where Jason had him pinned down.

"Batman?" Nightwing said, staring in worry at his mentor.

"I-I'll be at the cave," he said, walking back to the car. Nightwing turned to Batgirl.

"Are you ok?"

"You should have given me more time!" she told him. "He was listening to me!"

"He was hesitating," Dick replied, turning to her. "He could have turned the gun on you or fired at Bruce."

"And he got away! We could have brought him home, Dick!" she said, tears in her eyes.

"We'll find him," he replied, placing his hands on her arms. "I want to bring my brother home, too. More than anything. I want to find out what happened to him."

"You should have given me more time. I could have gotten through to him."

"Babs-"

"I'll see you later, Dick," she replied, before pulling out her grapnel and swinging away. He let out a frustrated sigh.


"I think Talia and I need to have a talk," Bruce said, tapping his fingers against the keyboard.

"Do you think she had something to do with this?" Alfred asked.

"I placed sensors on Jason's casket before we buried him. It would have alerted me if it was tampered with."

"Bruce, we had a closed casket," Dick said, walking up to him. "Do you think it's possible Talia did a switch at the morgue?"

"It's very possible. She could have done something else. We won't know anything until we find her, or Jason."

He trailed off, and Dick dropped his head. He couldn't imagine how Bruce was feeling. He had felt guilty enough after Jason died-they all did-but Bruce snapped. The loss of Jason was something else entirely.

"Whatever happened to him, it's still Jason," Dick said, watching as Bruce looked over at him. "He's still the same person we knew."

"That may be true, but he's different. He needs help."

"Batman? Nightwing? Batgirl? Someone please answer!"


"You're being cute, Boy Wonder," Spoiler said into the comms unit, looking out over the water.

"Focus, Spoiler."

"And you just ruined it."

"Look, I'll be back in a minute, ok? Just be patient."

"Fine," she sighed, getting more bored as time went on. "Contact me when you're almost done."

"I will. Just be-"

"Robin?" she asked, worry filling her voice. "Robin, can you hear me?"

Static filled the comms unit, and after a few attempts of trying to get through panic filled her body. Moving quickly, she ran through the hall, desperately trying to find Robin.

"Robin?!" she cried out, searching through the halls. She heard noise coming from the locked door, and she moved to the keypad, using her gauntlet Batman had given her to hack into it.

It wasn't working. It had already been hacked.

"Come on!" she repeated, attempting to override the hack.

Robin could do it. He knew everything about technology. She obviously didn't.

"Please work. Please work," she whispered, trying to open the door.

The door finally opened, and she quickly ran through, looking through the smoke for any signs of Robin. Once it finally cleared, her breath caught in her throat.

"Robin?!" Spoiler cried out, running up to him. She took him in her arms. "Robin, answer me!"

"J-J-Ja-"

"Shh," she whispered, placing her hand on his cheek. "We need to get you some help."

She carefully helped him up, fear rising in her when he couldn't stand. Sitting him back down, she quickly went to comms unit.

"Batman? Nightwing? Batgirl? Someone please answer!"

"Batman."

"Thank God!" she cried. "Batman, it's Robin. He's really injured and I can't get him back to the cave. Please, I need help!"

"I'm on my way," he replied, and the comms unit went dead.

"Robin," Spoiler said, gently patting his face. "Robin, please answer me."

"Steph?" he muttered, raising his head.

"I'm here," she replied, wiping the blood off with her gloved hand. "Batman's on his way."

He let out a deep breath, then a painful moan after doing so. She gently patted his hair.

"You'll be ok," she said, continuing to pet his hair. He laid his head on her shoulder.

He kept drifting in-and-out of consciousness, and she wished more than anything that Batman would get here faster. Robin needed help.

"Robin!" Batman said, running up to them once he arrived. "What happened?"

"I don't know," she said, her voice shaking. "We were working on the mission, then his communications went dead. When I was able to finally get in, I found him like this."

"Bru-ce?" he muttered, and Batman carefully picked him up, wincing slightly when the young boy cried out in pain.

"Spoiler, go home," Batman ordered, turning his head towards her.

"I want to go with him!" she cried, running up to Batman.

"Alfred needs to exam him, and you can't find out his identity. I promise you, you can see him once he's better."

He carefully put Robin in the car, before getting in the driver's seat. Spoiler watched, both in anger and fear, as the Batmobile drove off.

Oh, no.

Grabbing Robin's bike, she quickly put the key into the ignition, driving back to the Batcave. Batman was carefully getting Robin out of the car. She made herself careful not to be seen.

"Bruce? What happened?" Dick said, running into the cave once he got the news.

"Tim was attacked tonight," he replied, helping Alfred remove Tim's suit.

"By who?"

"Spoiler doesn't know. She went looking for Robin after he comms went quiet. She found him like this, and called for me."

"We were talking before the communications went off," she said, coming out of the shadows. Both of them turned around and spotted her, mask off with tears on her face.

"I told you go to home. Not to follow me back to the cave."

"I told you I am following him."

"Let her stay, Bruce," Dick said. "She just wants to make sure he's going to be ok."

"She can't find out Robin's identity."

"We'll keep his mask on and won't say his name, but she has a right to be here, too."

"Fine," Bruce agreed. "Is there anything else you can tell us, Stephanie?"

"Before he passed out, he kept saying Ja, like he was trying to say a name."

Dick and Bruce both turned to look at each other. "Jason."

"Wait, Jason? As in Jason Todd?"

"He's back," Bruce said, walking over to Robin's bedside. "He attacked Dick, Barbara and I yesterday. He must have found him."

"How did he come back? How is that even possible?" Stephanie asked in disbelief.

"I have a theory," Bruce said, rubbing his face.

"What is it?" Stephanie asked. Dick sat next to her.

"We've told you about Ra's al Ghul. We don't know how old he is, but we're going to assume he's centuries old."

"Centuries?"

"Yeah. There's a way he does this. He takes a swim in something called a Lazarus Pit. If he dies, it brings him back to life. He uses it to prolong his life. If he dumped Jason in it, then it would have brought Jason back to life."

"The pit drives people to insanity," Bruce chimed in. "With Jason's injuries he sustained from Joker, I could only imagine what the pit would have done to him."

"Why is he attacking everyone?" she asked, confusion filling her face.

"He blames me for what happened to him," Bruce continued on, "and for not killing Joker as a result. As for Robin, I would assume he wasn't happy that he was replaced."

"So he beat him for it?" she cried out, standing up.

"Jason needs help. He's been with the League for too long now."

"There's no way he's going to let us help him," Dick said.

"First, I need to talk to someone," Bruce said. "Then, we'll deal with Jason."


Barbara laid on her bed, her phone hovering above her head as she scrolled through it. She had been hesitating with herself about Dick. It had been a while since she had talked to him after Jason's departure.

She felt a little bad. She knew Dick was trying to help.

As her thoughts continued to plague her mind, her phone started to ring. Looking at the name that came across, she guessed she knew her answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Babs."

"Hi, Dick," she said back, unsure of what to say to him.

"Are you still mad?"

"A little."

"Look, um, I'm sorry. We can talk about it later, but, something's come up."

"What is it?" she asked, worry in her voice.

"Jason attacked Tim, Babs. Tim's in bad shape."

"My God," she whispered, collapsing onto the bed.

"He's here at the cave now. Stephanie's here, too. I'll explain everything when you get here, if you can."

"Y-yes. I'm on my way."

"See you soon."

She hung up the phone, and her heart was pounding in her chest. She immediately grabbed for her jacket and left the apartment, hoping that Tim would be ok.


Dick hung up the phone, letting out a soft sigh as he did so. He then turned back to Stephanie, who was softly rubbing Robin's hand.

"You ok?" he asked her, sitting down next to her. She nodded.

"Robin will be ok, right?"

"He'll be just fine," he told her. "He's going to be sore for a little while. The broken arm and ribs, well, are going to take longer."

She sighed, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Now I know how you felt when Barbara was injured."

He looked down at her. "You really care about him, don't you? More than a crush?"

She blushed, and he smiled softly. Exactly like him and Barbara before they started going out.

"You better not say anything," she muttered.

"How can I not? My little brother has got himself a girlfriend."

"Shut up!" she cried, pushing him away. He laughed. "I don't even know his name."

He looked down. "I know Robin. Have most of our lives. There's a part of him that wants to tell you."

"Do you think he will?"

"I do," he said, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

They sat in silence until a bike roared into the cave. Turning around, they spotted Barbara pulling in.

"Oh my God," she whispered, pulling her helmet off once she saw Robin. "Is he ok?"

"Pretty injured, but he's doing good," Dick replied, standing up to greet her. She ran over to the bed.

"I can't believe he did this," she said, placing her hand on Robin's arm. "What happened to Jason?"

"We'll find him," Dick reassured her. "We'll bring him home."

"So, what happened?"

"Robin and I were out on a mission," Stephanie said quietly. "We split up. We were talking through communications when it went silent. I went to look for him, and found him like this. I don't know who did it, but all he could say was Ja."

"Jason," she whispered again, softly rubbing Robin's arm.

"I didn't know Jason, but would he ever have done something like this?" Stephanie asked, placing her hand on Robin's head.

"No," they replied together.

"Jason had a lot of anger issues," Barbara said, looking down. "We were working with him on it, and he was getting better for a while. The only time he ever attacked us was when he was being controlled."

They all fell silent, and Stephanie continued to rub Robin's head, earning a soft moan from the injured boy as a result.

"Excuse me," Dick said, standing up. Barbara followed after him.

"Hey," she said, grabbing for a water bottle.

"Hey, Babs."

"I'm sorry," she said, looking down. "You were right. Jason-I don't think he can be reasoned with."

"He just needs help," he said, placing his hands on her shoulder. "We'll fine him, baby, and we'll bring him home."

She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. His moved around her waist, and he pressed a kiss to her head.


Robin started moaning, and she lifted her head up, wiping the sleep from her eyes. She looked down at him, watching as he let out a small breath and opened his eyes. He blinked for a few times to get used to the light before he turned to look at her.

"Hi, handsome," she said, gently placing her hand on his cheek.

"Stephanie?" he croaked out.

"I'm here, Robin," she said, smiling softly at him. "Dick's here, too, but he's upstairs. Barbara had to go home."

"What happened?" he asked, trying to sit up in the bed but failing.

"Careful!" she said, helping him up. "You have some broken ribs."

"That explains a lot."

"We were hoping you could tell us what happened. We went out on the mission together, then I lost contact with you. Then I found you."

"Jason," he whispered, as if just remembering. "It was Jason. He set a trap for me."

"We were afraid of that," she replied, sitting on the side of his bed. "Bruce went to confront someone named Talia. He said she was in the city."

"He's going after Talia?!" Robin asked, trying to stand up. She put her hand on his chest.

"You need to rest. Bruce knows what he's doing."

"You don't understand. Talia and her father have been going after Bruce since the beginning. Dick and I are pretty sure he and Talia have dated. She has a hold over him."

"I'm sure he'll be ok," she said, grabbing hold of his hand. "You need rest. If he needs help, Dick will go."

He sighed, throwing his head back on the pillow. "I can't believe this happened."

"We had no idea of knowing. Don't be mad at yourself."

"Steph?" he asked, and she nodded, looking down at him. "Thanks for staying."

"I wouldn't leave you," she whispered, running her thumb back and forth on his hand.

"I've been lying to you."

"About?" she asked in confusion.

"Myself."

"You don't have to-"

"No," he interrupted. "Steph, I'm really sorry. I haven't been truthful with you. When I became Robin, I asked Bruce, Dick and Barbara to keep my identity a secret because I have a lot to lose. Then you came into the picture, and for some reason, I just want to tell you everything."

"You don't have to. I understand."

"You seem to care about me, even when I've been so cold to you. You stayed here with me all night. Thank you."

"I just want to make sure you're ok."

"I'll be better soon," he replied, gesturing to his broken arm.

"Can I sign it?"

He chuckled. "Sure."

She grabbed for a sharpie and wrote "Get better soon, cutie. Love Stephanie."

"Cutie? Really?"

"Yup," she replied, closing the cap. He playfully rolled his eyes. "Do you want anything?"

"I'll get some water," he said, starting to get up. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Stop moving. You need rest. I'll get you some water. Alfred might have medicine for you to take anyway."

"Thanks," he said, laying back down.

"You're welcome," she replied, throwing him a smile. She started to walk away.

"Stephanie?"

"Yeah?"

"It's Tim."

"What?" she asked, turning back around to face him.

"Dick and Barbara have told me you've been wondering about my name. It's Tim Drake. I live right next door."

"Tim?" she whispered, sitting back down on his bed.

"Stephanie," he replied, taking his domino mask off. She saw his radiant blue eyes for the first time.

"You didn't have to do this," she whispered, getting lost in his eyes.

"I wanted to," he whispered back, looking at her.

He carefully leaned forward and pressed their lips together, not knowing what was causing him to do so. He just wanted to kiss her.

Tim and Stephanie. Robin and Spoiler.


Batman stood patiently, waiting for his guest to arrive. Leaving Robin with Alfred and Spoiler in the cave, he sent a message out, knowing that she would get it.

He received a message back, telling him to meet her on this rooftop at midnight.

"Hello, Beloved," Talia said, walking up to him. "I'm surprised to have gotten a message from you."

"I think you know what this is about," he replied, his voice stern. She tilted her head at him.

"I haven't the faintest idea."

"Stop playing games, Talia. What happened to Jason?"

"I see," she said, turning away from him. "Jason returned to Gotham, did he?"

"What did you do?" he asked, anger rising in his voice.

"I did what I thought was right."

"You didn't!" he hissed, grabbing her shoulders to turn her around. "You threw him in the Lazarus Pit?!"

"I did what I thought was right," she repeated. "I brought your son back."

He turned around, his hands clenched into fists. She took a deep breath, but stood her ground, waiting for the response she knew was sure to come.

"How did you get his body out of the coffin?"

"It was never there, Bruce," she said, looking up at him. "As soon as we got word of what happened, I come straight to Gotham, and took him back."

"Not only did you throw him in the pit, but you trained him to be an assassin?" She didn't reply, and the anger grew in him. "Answer me, Talia!"

"After I revived Jason, once he was healed and strong again, I sent him to be trained by the All-Caste. He spent a year there, training as hard as he could. He spent some time with the League of Assassins as well, but he left. Apparently, he decided to return home."

"He tried to kill me, Talia. He beat Robin nearly to death."

"I know," she whispered, dropping her head. "He blames you for what happened to him, and for not killing Joker as a response."

"Do you know where he is?" he demanded, and she shook her head.

"I haven't heard from him since he left the League. I don't know where he is."

He wiped his face, and she continued to stand her ground.

"I don't want to see you in Gotham again," he growled, turning away from her. He then jumped off the building and swung away, his body trembling in anger.

"You can come out now," Talia said, a moment later. "He's gone."

A man emerged from the shadows, his domino mask covering his eyes. He walked up to her and stood by her side, running his hand through his black hair with the white streak.

"We have some work to do," she said, both watching where Batman disappeared from. "A lot of work."