March 12th
2213hrs
Wayne Mansion
Bruce watched the nightly ten o' clock news. For the most part, crime was still low. It was the third night in a row. A time when the entire city was holding its breath, waiting for the next shoe to drop. Sure, Black Mask was gone, but so too was the Batman. People had officially noticed his absence and were becoming afraid that The Red Hood, a man they had once reluctantly called a protector, may have killed their original hero.
He didn't care about any of that though. What Bruce cared about was Slade Wilson's presence in the city. Was it a hindrance? Who was he after? Was he there for the Joker, or was there for the Joker. Even if Slade proved not to be a bother at the moment, that didn't mean Joker was going to allow the city to find some semblance of peace. If there wasn't a report by the end of the night that involved the Joker in some form or another, Bruce swore he was going to suit up and find him.
The intensity of everything that had been happening was just too great for the psychotic clown to disappear now. No, if he was quiet it was only because Joker was planning something sinister. Something dreadful. Furthermore, Bruce had absolutely no doubt in his mind that whatever that plan was, it would be horrid enough to potentially break The Red Hood.
And that thought terrified Bruce most of all.
The Red Hood had been a conundrum from the start, but knowing it was Jason Todd beneath that red helmet?
It had changed and continued to change everything.
He had been debating for days whether Jason needed Bruce Wayne's compassion or Red Hood the Batman's anger. For a while, Bruce convinced himself that all Jason required was a good example. Truth be told, the day in the diner, when Jason fell apart in front of Lucius, Harvey and himself, Bruce was shown the error in his thinking.
Jason didn't need a friend. He didn't need a good example to look up to or even a disciplined mentor to help him get through his trauma. He needed a father. It had been all too obvious that Harvey's "gentle" attempts to calm and help Jason had failed miserably. He needed someone who wouldn't coddle him or play into his insecurities.
Jason needed Bruce.
The question wasn't whether or not Jason would accept him. It was whether or not he could accept Jason.
He rested his gaze just above the TV as he listened, more than watched the newscast. They went through the shocking behavior of the criminal element and listened to clashing opinions and viewpoints on the incredible change. Most, however, agreed that it was a state that couldn't possibly last. Not here in Gotham anyhow.
"Master Bruce, the telephone." Alfred announced, bringing the cordless land line to him. According to Dick, keeping a land line made Bruce "old school."
"Hello?" he answered once he took the black receiver.
"Hey, Bruce," Tim answered.
Bruce couldn't deny he was happy to hear his voice.
"Hello, Tim. What can I do for you?"
He could tell by the tone of his youngest ward that something was wrong. It wasn't an immediate sense of danger, but it did remind Bruce of the first time a criminal had ever escaped when Tim was officially Robin. Bruce hadn't been as kind as he could have been.
He regretted that.
"Nothing, well…" The boy stalled and Bruce knew now that something was definitely off. Tim just didn't hesitate when he wanted something. There was apprehension in just those two words and it worried Bruce immensely. "Unless of course you want to let me come back home?"
There was so much hope, so much pleading in the request that Bruce nearly agreed without thought. To bad for Tim, the anchorman blanched as he paused midway through a recap of an earlier story about a possible flu outbreak in the state.
"Hold on," He ordered and turned the volume up on his television set.
"–Have just heard that the Joker has blown up the North Pier Warehouse. The scene is as chaotic as any crime scene involving the Joker, but as of yet we have no confirmed casualt –" Anchorman Troy cut himself off and pressed his hand to his left ear, clearly listening in on some message from the producers. "I take that back, ladies and gentlemen," he announced solemnly and then took a deep breath. "It appears there have been two confirmed casualties. We await further updates from our field reporters who have just arrived on scene."
Bruce turned the television off and pulled out his cell phone. Barbara had already sent him what she and her father knew. He read the words and shook his head, still holding the receiver to his ear. "No, Tim." He decided. "Not yet."
"What? Why?" Tim asked, sounding every bit like the teenager he was, which was unusual.
"It's not safe," he answered. "The Joker just killed two more look-a-likes."
"Two?" Tim sounded surprised.
"Twins," Bruce confirmed. "Barely sixteen."
The line was silent, and Bruce knew that Tim was struggling to come up with a reason to argue. While there were many good reasons for him to be home, the fact of the matter was, Tim was himself a look-a-like. And while the city might not yet realize that the Joker was going after dark haired, light eyed young men, the clown obviously knew what he was doing.
Even without knowing their real identities, Joker would find it hilarious to murder a prominent Gothamite that just happened to look like the Robin he killed six years ago. Tim would be in more danger simply because he was Bruce Wayne's ward, and that just wasn't a scenario that he was willing to risk. He had no doubt that Alfred, Barbara, Selina and Dick would agree with him whole-heartedly. There was even a gut feeling that told him Jason wouldn't appreciate it either.
"Bruce, I can help," Tim tried, but it was difficult to convince Bruce it was for the best, when Tim didn't sound like he believed his own words. It sounded like he spoke more out of commitment than out of conviction.
"You could, but losing you would never come close to breaking even with the help provided. You know with him on the loose that I can't have you here right now," Bruce stated.
"So, am I supposed to just move down here?" Tim demanded, once again the emotional irrationality warning him that something was very wrong.
"You haven't even been gone a week. We'll reevaluate if Joker is caught or after a week. Whichever comes first," he decided. Bruce listened for an argument, something he knew to expect from Dick or Jason once upon a time, but rarely from Tim.
"Fine," Tim sounded off and once more, Bruce wondered what was on his mind. He was about to ask when the boy continued. "I will do my best to follow your orders, Bruce but I am telling you now. I won't stay here longer than a month."
Bruce couldn't help the small smirk that formed on the right side of his mouth. "I recognize that this is going beyond what you had planned when you suggested the trip, but I will remind you that I am the parent in this matter and you will do as I say, Tim."
"We'll see," was all he said before hanging up. It was the most rebellious thing Bruce experienced from Tim in the last year or so and instead of accepting it as a part of the boy's growth, Bruce felt even more concerned.
March 13th
1130hrs
Bennet Construction
JT Bennet's Office
Jason sat at his desk, staring curiously at Harper. He didn't know why Roy had come out to see him. Where the Hell was Dick anyhow? Hadn't he noticed that his best friend kept sneaking off? Shouldn't alarm bells be going off or something? Jason was trying to get his work done, but he was struggling to concentrate, and puzzles like this certainly weren't helping.
"Shocked you left the hospital." Roy finally smirked.
"Why?"
"Well, between Deathstroke in town, Harvey being laid up, and Joker killing teenage boys, I just figured you'd have been confined to that room." Roy shrugged, leaning back in the chair that Harvey had taken to sitting in recently.
"Go away, Roy. Shouldn't you be kissing Dick's ass somewhere?"
The red head's eyes grew distant before he slowly shook his head. "They reinstated Dick. They need him and as many officers as they can get to be looking out for the homeless kids."
He expected Roy to make some comment about exactly which kids Dick was being assigned to look after, but the archer seemed to know better. "Dick gonna be okay?" He asked before he could think better of it.
Once more Roy's face relaxed into a smug smile. "Depends on what you're referring to."
"What the Hell does that mean?" Jason snapped.
"You referring to the fact that he just found out he's been screwing his little brother? The fact that his dead brother is alive?" Roy started to tick off a finger for every scenario and Jason just knew he was going to kill the man by the time he was through. "The fact that his ex is a murderer? The fact that his brother is a murderer?"
"You know what I'm asking!" Jason nearly bellowed as he got to his feet. He saw the shadow of his guards move beneath the crack of his closed door and forced himself to sit back down. He didn't want those guys interfering in his business and he certainly didn't want them reporting to Slade what he and Roy were discussing. He didn't know if Slade had hired real security or some of his own buddies to spy on the "capes" of Gotham. He cleared his throat and tried again in a much quieter, but no less angry tone. "You know what I'm asking, Roy."
"He's freaked out," the archer admitted, as if teasing Jason had been for the benefit of avoidance. To be honest, that made Jason feel a little bad. "The whole family is."
Jason's upper lip curled. "Of course, they are. Timothy is a look-a-like in the right age range, and he's rich and famous to boot. If he came back to town, he'd be the perfect target."
Roy agreed with a nod. "But that's not the only reason they're freaked out and you know it." The man had gotten a lot braver since they'd started working together. Jason had honestly been trying to drive him away while taking advantage of what was supposed to be a short-lived regret on Roy's part. Instead, the dumb shit seemed to take it as encouragement. "Quit being such an asshole. Your family cares, Jason."
Gripping his desk firmly to prevent flipping it over, Jason choked back the enraged shout he wanted badly to let loose. "They are not my family."
"Oh, deny it all you want, but you know they are, you big fucking baby!" Roy argued, not even bothering to tense up.
Was Roy fucking high? He had to be! Jason had fucking shot him, had proven he was more than willing to hurt him in anyway he felt like and yet Roy had the nerve to sit and call him names? To argue with him about something he had no business knowing, let alone taking a side in?
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Jason spat.
"Your pin cushion, remember?" Roy glared a little, but the smile remained. "You think this is a one-way street? Oh no, Hood. This road runs both directions."
Still resisting the urge to react violently, Jason closed his eyes and counted to ten a half dozen times. Only when he was sure that he wouldn't actually rip Roy's tongue out of his head and beat him with it, did he try a new topic. Sort of.
"Tim's not coming back, is he?"
"Afraid he'll get hurt?" Roy grinned meanly.
"No." Jason rolled his eyes. "Just need to know if I'm going to have to rescue his ass again."
"Sure," Roy nodded. "Makes sense. I mean, you've probably saved that kid more times than you've threatened him."
Running his hands through his thick white and black hair, Jason took a deep, irritated breath inward and held it. Why the fuck was Roy antagonizing him? It wasn't like Roy could outrun him at the moment. Though, to be fair, Arsenal wasn't completely helpless with a bum leg.
Wait, why the fuck was he giving him any semblance of credit?
"Have I lost all intimidation over you fucks?" he demanded.
"Sort of," Yet again, Roy was sincere.
"How? Why?"
"Bruce, Tim, Dick, and Harvey." He shrugged. "Kind of Kid Flash and myself, too"
"What the Hell does that mean?"
At first, Jason really wanted to know. Mostly because he thought Roy would just give him some flippant reply. But the look on his face warned Jason that they were about to go much deeper than he'd ever wanted to with Roy. He tried to think of some way to delay the inevitable, but there was no use. The archer began.
"You had so many shots at Bruce. So many. So many before you even started pretending to be JT Bennet." Roy smiled sadly. "I looked over the reports earlier this morning and it's all right there, Jay. If killing the Bats and avenging who you once were had really been your goal, it would have been accomplished by now." Roy stood gingerly from his chair and winced a little, but remained standing. "You are the greatest villain these guys could have ever faced and they never would have known it, Jason. Never would have seen you coming!"
Jason swallowed angrily as he sneered up at Roy. "Maybe I had a different plan in mind, maybe–"
"Bullshit!" Roy interrupted. "Whatever you wanted to say, bullshit. You know why? Because I believe you were going to go through with your evil plan to kill them all. I do. Or at least, I believe you believed it."
He refused to look at Roy and so he glared down at the large desk. He wanted to tell him off, wanted to kick him out. Hell, he was right back to wanting to kill him and yet, like his former mentor and Ollie before him, Roy continued on, driving his point home with agonizing finality.
"You came here, you started your reconnaissance shit, and that's when everything changed. Watching them forced you to see them." Roy shook his head and chuckled. "You saw your family. You saw the people who even with their flaws, their fatally cruel flaws, you just couldn't hate. Not really.
"You probably told yourself that you just needed to work up the nerve. That watching them be their insufferable selves would push you into a frenzy and you'd do it without thought." Roy's words were spoken confidently, as if he was so sure he could relate, and Jason realized with a strange pang in his gut, that Roy did. The archer understood him on a level he would have never expected. "It still hasn't happened yet and I know it hasn't because the opposite took place instead.
"You came with your plan, you came in ready to kill them all, and instead you have been saving every fucking one of them." Roy laughed at him now, but it was as self-deprecating as it was mocking. "You rescued Bruce when he needed you most, you forced him to fix the tumor. You even got him to stay home!
"Then, Tim comes along and keeps falling into your traps. Despite seeing right through you, despite seeing what's going on inside of you, he can't see the danger he walks right in to and instead of letting him die; you rescue him. You protect him!
"Harvey? Well, that one is pretty fucking obvious. Childhood crushes and heroes are difficult to dethrone in our minds, Jason. He'll never be the slob everyone else sees. He'll never be too old, too corrupt, or too Harvey for you. You got it for him, no doubt about it. But," He paused and smiled. "But Harvey, despite what you think you know, is not the one you want.
"Dick is. And boy, do you have it bad for him. I still don't think you would have gone through with your nasty plan to kill everyone in Gotham even without Dick around, but with him? There was never a chance." Roy continued while Jason glared daggers into the dates on the calendar lying atop his desk. "You were so stupid to get in his bed! It's like his fucking super-power, Jay!
"I mean, come on! You must have known," Roy accused, "Had to have known that if you got in his pants that you'd never be able to give him up. Not even for your fantasies of revenge."
He couldn't take it anymore. He snapped. Jason grabbed the stapler on his desk and threw it with great force at Roy. He was aiming for his head, but Roy caught it with a smirk, which of course only made Jason more murderous.
"For your information, I've been getting very close to Harvey for the past–"
"What three days? Four days?" Roy openly laughed as he played with the stapler in his hands. "Has it even been a week? I know how long you two claim you've been together, but really?"
Jason was dumbfounded at the revelation.
"It feels like much longer, but that's just because of how fast our lives move, Jay." Roy shrugged. "I get that you feel something for Harvey, but I'm telling you right now, the intensity with which you feel it is heightened because your denying your feelings for Dick."
"What?" Jason laughed skeptically, but really, he wanted to just walk over to Roy and push him. Push him through a wall and maybe shoot him a few times. Center mass.
"You have rebound madness. You spent months with Dick, getting to know him again and falling in love with him all over again." Roy was looking only a little concerned, but whatever he wanted to say, Jason knew he was going to get it out before he couldn't. Possibly even before Jay could strangle the life out of him. "He dumped you, Dude. Dumped you."
"SHUT UP!" Jason shouted as he moved toward Roy, and finally he saw the man's green eyes widen in alarm. "You don't know shit about me!"
"The fuck I don't!" Roy shouted back, unnerved but unwilling to fully cower. "I know almost exactly what you're going through because I feel the fucking same!"
Really, Jason shouldn't have been surprised by such a response, but he was. He knew Roy had some problems and yeah, based on some of the shit he'd mentioned, it turned out they were very much a like, but that didn't mean he'd accepted it.
To be honest, the idea that Roy felt for his own family the way Jason did for the Bats, made him uncomfortable. Obviously, they weren't exactly alike, but Jason could admit that Roy had always been the bad boy of the Titans. Even with Connor's apparently massive temper issues, it was Roy who caused the trouble. The one responsible for a majority of the infighting amongst the group of teens.
"You think you're the only one who feels like he was a disappointment to his father? Or just as badly, like your father disappointed you?" Roy demanded and took a very shaky step forward. "I know how you feel, I know how much it hurts to feel like nothing you ever do will make them smile again, like nothing they do will ever make you feel like you belong!"
Jason shook his head, but Roy didn't stop. God, he talked more than Dick! Who would have known?
"You just know you'll never feel safe with them, and that probably hurts more than anything else." Roy's voice became softer, like he was afraid that now he'd over step his boundaries.
Or maybe…maybe he just knew that what he was saying was so sharp and biting, that just speaking the words were cutting him up inside. Maybe he even knew that they were cutting Jason up, too.
"Even if they welcome you back, there's this… this stigma. You're the tainted one. The bad one." Roy shook his head.
"The broken one," Jason added in a whisper.
Roy nodded. "Yeah," He shook his head, but Jason knew it was likely to prevent him from seeing the unshed tears. "Exactly. They'll never see the heroic deeds. Just the mistakes."
"The violence," Jason agreed.
"The needles," Roy frowned and looked as if he was going to fall as he paled.
"The carnage." Jason finished. He walked over to the chair behind Roy and pushed it closer. "Sit down before you fall down, Roy."
There was no argument. Just a softly mumbled thanks followed by an uncomfortable length of silence. Jason didn't know what to say to the older man. Roy had always been his rival. Never an enemy, to be honest, just a pain in the ass rival that he had fought over Dick with. Like a doll or something. He wanted it to be hard to feel any kind of camaraderie between himself and Roy, yet there he was.
Feeling it.
There was really only one thing he could say in this moment and while he'd love to laugh it off, he knew it wouldn't be right. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and just said it.
"I'm sorry, Roy," Jason told him. "For everything. For the pain, the risk of relapse. The chance I took all this away from you. I'm sorry."
Bright, glassy green eyes widened as they looked him up and down. Jason was surprised at how quickly one could go from knowing exactly what to say, to being speechless. He apologized, yeah. But now what? What if Roy didn't forgive him? Clearly, Jason cared a little, or he wouldn't have apologized at all. Well, he wouldn't have meant it if he hadn't wanted...
"I…I don't think I ever would have expected that from you," Roy admitted. "Thanks."
Jason nodded, because he still didn't know what to say. What the Hell do you say to someone you shot a fucking grappling hook into and nearly crippled?
"Look, I'm gonna head back to Dick's apartment, but I wasn't messing with you." Roy started again. "You love Dick, man."
And then a devious a smirk formed over Roy's mouth as he realized what he just said.
"I've always loved, Dick." Jason grinned, wishing Dick was there. That idiot loved puns. Especially when it involved his name. "I think about Dick all the time."
The red head chuckled, but then straightened up a bit in the chair. "I wish I hadn't been so distracted with Grayson to realize that you needed a friend." Roy offered and by using Dick's surname, made it clear he was trying to be serious. "I shouldn't have kicked you out and I shouldn't have competed with you." Another pause and then Roy frowned. "Do you think, do you think if I hadn't pushed you out, that things would have been different?"
It was a fair question. A hurtful one. For both of them.
But fair. Which was why Jason had to be honest.
"I think so," Jason nodded.
"Yeah…yeah, I think so, too."
"For both of us." Jason added, not wanting Roy to carry so much of the burden.
"Well, according to Tim there are infinite universes out there," Roy tried to smile, but it didn't reach his still glassy eyes. "Let's hope there's at least one where we did the right thing by each other."
