The pouring rain did wonders to mask Red Hood's hurried footsteps across the sludgy rooftops. Lightning tore in jagged fissures across the night sky, briefly casting a brilliant light across the red masked man's imposing figure. He'd been chasing Crane for days. And now the master of fear cowered before him, scrabbling on hands and butt across the rough rooftop as rain drenched his clothes.
"Crane." Red hood seethed, eyes narrowing behind the white emotionless lenses. His voice, icier than the chilled rain, earned a satisfying whimper from the Scarecrow. "I believe we have a score to settle."
"P-P-please! Just send m-me back to Arkham!"
A cold laugh was his response. Crane's back hit the small ledge overlooking a four story drop off the Gotham Chemical Company's rooftop. He breifly glanced over his shoulder, and in those few seconds, Hood had him by the throat, gliding the Scare Crow's back over the drop, letting the jagged ledge's edges tear his back up. Crane howled, grabbing Red Hood's hands as the wind tore at his hood.
"I think you're forgetting something, Crane." Red hood sneered. "I'm not Batman." He squeezed, lifting Crane and slamming his back against the edge, pushing his neck until a strangled gasp for air left the villain's lungs. "I don't care if you worthless scum bags die... In fact." Hood dropped to one knee and added the other hand to Crane's neck. "I prefer it."
"Pp- Aghk... P-ple- Grk- ease..."
The villain's fingernails tore into Redhood's wrists, drawing rivulets of blood, a minor pain compared to the crow bar or the explosion that followed. It only earned a tighter grip from the outlaw.
"Did you ever show your victims mercy, Crane? Or did you take pleasure in watching them writhe in agony? Did you enjoy watching me?" Hood roared, letting all the anger out as Crane's eyes widened. "Does it pay? Was it worth watching me relive my worst fears?"
"Aghk..."
"Huh!?" He pushed out and down, watching Crane fall and snagging his foot last second. He leaned down hard as the wind tried to tear the screaming villain away and send him plummeting.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I can't hear you!" Scare Crow was making holding onto his foot a nightmarish task, flailing and letting out hoarse cries of pure terror. But that wasn't what ultimately caused him to let go. A glint of metal in the dark, to his left, more than likely the gun barrel of someone shadowing him.
BANG!
Hood smirked as he shoved his gun back in its holster and pulled his grapnel out, glancing over the ledge and letting it fire. He heard Scarecrow's screams end with a pained wail as the hooks dug into his leg and halted his fall. He reeled his line back up and fished Scarecrow up by the lapel, tossing him across the roof. The drenched Arkham escapee grunted as the cement rubbed his palms and skull raw. Two Hood's loomed over him, quickly merging into one, and through the lenses he could swear he saw the hate burning in the vigilante's eyes.
Red's hand curled into his shirt, pulling him until Crane's nose was pressed against the cool rain droplet covered mask. The lightning flashed again and Hood let out a growl.
"So let's see what you fear."
Pain stabbed his bicep, and Crane realized with horror that the masked vigilante had stabbed him with his own fear toxin. "No!" Crane sobbed, clawing at his eyes as his feet dug into the relentless cement. Burning agony lit his arm on fire as the toxin ravaged his brain. Hood watched him writhe and twist, scratching his own face and clawing at his shirt, eyes wide, neck muscles taut. Tying him up was easy, and Hood would mark this revenge as petty but worth it.
He decided he'd let Crane suffer for the night in the torrential downpour, then call the police. He wasn't going anywhere.
As the vigilante turned to leave, he remembered shooting his shadow. It wasn't his greatest moment, but he hadn't aimed to kill either. Bruce would be ticked at his decision to use guns again, but what no one knew wouldn't hurt them right? He could easily mask it to look like a gang shooting, use a little intimidation to ensure the silence of his unfortunate victim. Pulling his spare grapnel from the back of his belt, he shot a line to the adjacent building to check out his second capture of the night.
Whoever was shadowing him had been concealed in the shadows of a balcony on the next building over, and fallen there when Hood shot him. All the masked man saw was a lump in the dark, but finding a neck was easy enough. "Thought you could sneak up on me, huh?" He growled as his fingers clamped around the windpipe of his victim. He threw the guy into the railing of the balcony, into the light.
"Nightwing!"
The horrified shout left Redhood's lips as the downed vigilante cried out, collapsing into a heap on the ground, fingers clawing at a gushing wound in his side. "Ja-" He broke off into a cough which tapered off into a pained whimper.
"Oh sh-" Jason breathed, dropping his grapnel and jumping into the pouring rain to tend to his fallen... fallen what? Brother, friend, ally?" He shook his head. he could figure out his personal feelings about Dick later. He knew that this was mostly his fault, and as the lightning lunged through the night sky, Jason got a clear look at his handiwork. "-oot."
The rough balcony floor scraped and grated across his knee pads as he dropped to his knees. "Oh crap oh crap oh crap." He muttered, fingers hovering as his brain tried to figure out how to make this better. "Nightwing, just uh..."
A bloody hand slapped down on his wrist, fingers soaked and chilled with both rain water and tacky crimson. "You... Gah.. gah...shot me..." The older bird panted.
"Yeah... well..." Jason cleared his throat. "Didn't your mom ever teach you not to sneak up on people, Dickie bird?"
It was a low blow, and they both knew it, but Jason didn't know how else to meet this rather unfortunate situation. Dick's hand slipped, slapping back over the wound.
"W..." His voice hitched. "Wanted to make sure... you w're okay."
"Well I'm touched, but next time approach me in the light, you idiot." Next time? Blood was pouring from between Dick's fingers, coating this some unfortunate person's balcony. Jason needed to stop bantering and get this fixed or there weren't wouldn't be one. "Look. I made this mess, least I can do is fix it." He rolled Dick on onto his back, ignoring the agonized cry moving caused. "And it's probably gonna hurt, but I'll spare you that detail."
He saw a pained smirk tug lightly at Dick's face. Oh Batman was going to murder him, bring him back in a Lazarus pit, and then throw him in Arkham. Jason just knew it. Killing criminals got the bat's blood boiling enough, but killing the goldenboy? That was unforgivable... something he may have once used to get his revenge. But that was a version of him he only let loose on really bad days... and while yes, this one of those days, he didn't feel that Dick deserved anymore of his ire.
His field bandage was soaked, practically useless, but he shoved it over the would regardless, earning a strangled scream from Dick. His heart clenched... Why? he would never admit he felt bad about this, but he did. He really really did. "Easy." Jason grunted, pushing Dick down flat as the guy tried to curl in on himself.
He tied the field bandage down and pushed Dick's hand on the wound. "I got a safe house not far from here." Jason declared. "Just stay with me." He made quick work of snagging his grapnel and returned to Dick's side. The older vigilante was losing focus, eyes slipping shut."Hey, no!" Jason slapped him, hard. That should have felt good. He mused angrily to himself, knowing on any day the ability to slap Batman's golden boy would have brought him joy.
But not this time.
"Hold that there." He ordered, hauling Dick into a sitting position. The following pained hiss grated on his ear, and he didn't give Dick time to recover, hauling him into a rough fire man's carry. Dick's head sagged, and Jason fought the urge to apologize... He hadn't done so yet.
Dick rode out the pain in silence, letting out the occasional moan or grunt at being jostled. He was dying... He was really dying...Tim told Jason on a regular basis to be optimistic. Okay... Optimism. Dick was creating a terrific umbrella. He had no idea what to say. Should he apologize? Okay, the better question was would he apologize... Should he say something sappy? Try and say something sappy? Jason couldn't stomach either option, so he settled on- "Stay with me."
The safehouse wasn't far, a few blocks of pointed buildings and a stretch of alley ways was all that remained. He could feel Dick going lax, losing his will to fight, so Jason decided to give him a little incentive. "If you don't wake up right now, I will personally tell Alfred that you're the one who ruined his crumpets." The startled and hitched laugh was music to his ears. His legs were burning, but the adrenaline kept him moving. His place was warm, and dry, with medical supplies... and both his and Dick's lives depended on getting there ASAP.
He used the rooftop access, not wanting to try explaining to the other tenants why he was dragging a half dead guy up the stairs... Or why that half dead guy was a well loved vigilante... or why he was dressed a well loathed vigilante. All of these were questions he wished to avoid like old England's black plague. The door to his safehouse flew open, splintering at the tread of his work boots. He'd fix it later. He walked to the couch and dumped Dick off his shoulders, returning to push his door shut.
He sighed, jogging to the bathroom to pull his sopping wet overcoat and spandex top off, replacing it with a hoodie and grabbing the first aid kit out from its shelf under the sink. With connections to Bruce, more importantly to Alfred, Jason never had to worry about being under stocked in anything medical related... except for strong pain relievers. But those were for injured people who had another set of steady hands to do the work for them.
When he got back into the living room, he knelt next to Dick on the couch, watching the first Boy wonder's chest rise and fall in rapid, hitched gasps. His eyes were open, barely slits behind their lenses.
"Ja..son." It was quiet, almost inaudible.
"Easy, I'm here, Dick." Jason assured. "I'm gonna get you patched up, but the best I've got is Lidocaine."
Dick groaned quietly and Jason set to work, prodding the wound and then snaking a hand behind Nightwing's back to check for an exit wound. "Crap." He breathed angrily, pulling his hand free. "Sorry, Big bird. This won't tickle."
"Couldn't..." Dick let out a shuddering breath, gloved fingers clawing into the couch cushion. "-Steal Clark's Shtick... anyway.."
Jason bit back a chuckle, cleaning up and slapping a pair latex of gloves on.
"Just don't... agh... botch it... gotta look good for -ng- the ladies."
"Well no promises." Jason remarked, engaging in the playful banter with a guilt ridden heart. He sighed and set to work. His couch was a mess anyway, blood stains from his own adventures like a patchwork of crimson across the mottled flower patterned cushions. He thus had no qualms about spraying a disinfectant over the wound. Dick's fingers dug in, heels planted firmly into the arm of the couch as his back went taut, jaw clenched in a silent scream. Jason winced when he saw that Dick was refusing to breath, holding his breath in some hopes that it might buffer him from the burning agony of a foreign object being lodged in your side.
"Breathe." Jason scolded, setting aside the potent chemical and grabbing a pair of sterilized tweezers from the kit. Oh right... He set the tweezers back in and pulled out a pack of needles, pulling one out and setting up a syringe of Lidocaine. "I've gotta fish the bullet out. If you stiffen up, it'll make things harder... Lidocaine'll help, but not much I'm afraid. Personal experience talking here."
"You... aren't... stabbing me with... some-a... Crane's Toxins... are you?"
ouch
Jason actually felt that like a kick to the gut. Did Dick really think he'd do that? He checked the man's face, seeing no lazy smirk or hint of humor in his eyes. It was actual fear. Great... Someone give me the worst brother of the year award.
"Relax. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Already did."
"Fine, I'm not going to hurt you again." Jason clarified, gently sliding the needle in right next to the wound to numb the area. "Don't want Batman to kill me for killing the golden boy."
"Nnng...M'not." He breathed, eyes squeezing shut, a gasp of pain slipping from his lips. His world was spinning, must have been. He didn't think that there were two ceiling fans occupying the same space above his head. The pain was mind numbing, and like it or not, Jason's presence was all that kept him grounded.
"Pfft. Well who is then?" Jason asked dryly. "Certainly not the demon spawn."
Dick shuddered as Jason slid the tweezers into the gaping wound in his side, fishing for the metallic bullet. The injured bird took a moment to catch his breath, gasping weakly as Jason slid the tweezers in further. "Tim... nnn.. maybe."
Jason didn't like the way Dick's words were slurring. It meant he was losing the very important battle to stay awake. At least Jason had a defibrillator if Nightwing's heart gave out; but here was too hoping that didn't happen.
"Hey, eyes on me... And can it already. You are definitely the golden-kid."
Dick's eyes struggled to stay open, fingers still clenched into the cushion, and Jason watched his head jerk against the cushion to focus on the younger's not so pretty face. Jason tried to smile at him weakly, but the guilt was written across his face. Jason was wondering if this was the end. His brother was pale, barely getting full breaths of air. It almost felt like death was standing nearby, begging Dick to just give up already... And apparently Dick was thinking much the same. He made a pained noise in the back of his throat before finally managing to speak in choppy bursts.
"Didn't...know... 'bout agh! Joker... I'm sorry." Talking was clearly a struggle, and every word sent waves of pain through the older... but Jason could tell that it was something burdening Dick's heart for a long while. And the most painful part was that Jason could decipher exactly what Dick was apologizing for.
Jason froze, a rock settling into his chest, breath catching at his throat. For so long, he'd blamed Dick right alongside Gotham's big bad bat. No one, not even someone he saw as an older brother could be bothered to avenge him... But Jason had to wonder how long it took Bruce to tell Dick that Jason was dead. The two weren't exactly close at the time; so it was no wonder that Dick just... didn't know.
"Couldn't... save- Aaagh!"
Jason yanked the bullet out, dropping it on the wooden floor with a thunk.
"Don't talk." The red hood commanded, bloody fingers digging through the kit for his suture kit. "Just save your strength..." He really didn't want to get into the nitty gritty of where blame should be placed now of all times.
It only took a few sutures, but Dick rode out the pain like a trooper. Jason had to commend his stoic ability to mostly stay quiet. He sighed as he took in the blood smears all over the place. It would be heck to clean up in the morning, but he was beat, and his patient was shaking. Jason dug his fingers into his latex gloves tearing them off and tossing them aside.
Dick watched him vanish around the couch, feeling the blackness overwhelm his foggy brain. He could barely put two coherent thoughts together at this point. The pain was racking his side, stabbing burning waves of acute and localized agony pinching at his waist with every gasping breath. The black abyss of unconsciousness had wrapped its icy tendrils around his brain prepared to drag him down, and may have succeeded had a hand not slid under and cupped the back of his head, lifting it up gently to shake him back to reality. A cold glass was pressed to his lips.
"Slow now." Jason's voice was far away, underwater? Maybe. After a moment of letting the water slide down his throat, Dick choked on it, and the glass was pulled away. He felt the hand lower his head back down and pull away. "I'm gonna get you on a blood drip... try and stay w..th... e."
Jason saw Dick's eyes slip shut, the battle lost.
"Nightwing? Dick?" He shook the hero slightly, to no avail, reaching over to check his pulse. It was weak and thready, yet still there. Good, Bruce couldn't really kill Jason... yet. And the ironic part was that all the death seemed to be directly linked to Jason. First the Joker had killed him, then he'd tried to kill Bruce, then the Joker. He'd actually killed a whole bunch of other criminals before the tenuous truce with the bat. Now he'd shot Nightwing... and if the vigilante didn't make it through the night, then Bruce would kill him.
He knew it.
Jason taped down the IV needle and hung the blood bag on a hat hanger, plopping heavily into a chair facing his downed brother.
The brother who blamed himself for Jason's death. "Couldn't... save-"
You.
That was undoubtedly what the golden boy had planned to say before Jason made the bullet extraction just a little more painful to shut him up. Jason had shot him, and he was trying to apologize for something that had happened a really long time ago... How long had Dick been beating himself up about it? How long had Jason known and let him suffer? He'd always suspected that Dick blamed himself, but couldn't be bothered to bring it up. He thought Dick deserved to suffer... but over time that had changed.
Perhaps he should have told Dick.
Would he get a chance? Dick was weak, and whether he'd make it or not was still up in the air... So Jason let out a breath. He had no idea where to start.
"What am I supposed to say, Dick? I... did blame you. I blamed you just as much as I blamed Bruce. I asked myself over and over why neither of you could be bothered to actually care." Jason felt tears pressing against the back of his eyes, old memories, old feelings of pain and betrayal surging back like a dam had been broken. "I was hurt, Dick... and I... I was selfish. Sure. The Joker should be dead. I want him dead. But none of what happened is your fault. I let you suffer because I wanted you... you... I wanted you to feel the same pain... that I did."
Jason let out a shuddering breath, knowing that all of this was falling on deaf ears. Its' the only reason he'd dare to share it.
"When I came back... I pushed you away... but that didn't stop you from trying... to..." Jason sniffed, feeling a wet trail trace down his cheek. "From trying to be my brother again. And I still let you suffer. I'm sorry, Dick... You shouldn't be sorry. I should. My life's a wreck... and at every turn you pay for it. Please." His hands clenched as the guilt welled. "Please forgive me." The dam broke.
The broken sobs of a broken young man were the only sounds any listening carefully would hear that night.
{EIGHT HOURS LATER}
Dick woke with a strangled gasp, fingers clamping over his side. A thick bandage was wound tightly around his waist, restricting his breathing and masking whatever was causing stabbing bursts of pain to cramp up his side.
"Don't move too fast."
Jason was cooking, and it actually smelled really good.
"Agh... feels like someone skewered me."
"Not quite, but close enough. Would you believe me if I said one of Scarecrow's goons did it?"
Dick flashed a smile at him. "Sure."
Jason almost forgot he was smack dab in the middle of flipping an egg; because it slid off his spatula. "What?" His surprise was scrawled across his scarred face.
"Gotta tell Bruce something." Dick replied, sitting down at the table.
Jason just stared at him, mouth agape. Dick pointed silently at the skillet, and Jason turned back to his breakfast. Dick was covering for him? But he deserved Bruce's wrath, every bit of it. He'd been careless, used his guns, and nearly gotten Dick killed. All of those warranted being kicked right out of Gotham.
"Look... Jason... We both could have been a little more careful. And I owe you-"
"You owe me nothing!" Jason snapped, his anger surging from the careful mental lockbox he kept it trapped in, shattering the locks and rearing up like a cobra. The delicate plate he was carrying slammed against the table; and Jason inhaled through his nose, counted to ten and let it out.
"I know."
Jason snapped his gaze up. Dick took a bite of his eggs, humming at how good they tasted.
"You-"
Dick covered his mouth and averted his gaze, since he didn't want to finish the bite in his mouth before addressing the young man. "I got bits and pieces of what you said... I was pretty out of it."
Heat burned Jason's cheeks, his appetite fleeing like a mouse from Bane. He felt nausea churn his stomach as he pushed his plate away and put his head in his hands. "You weren't supposed to hear... a-any of that."
"I know. I couldn't decide if it would be better to tell you I did or not, but I appreciate the honesty... And I'll forgive you if you forgive me for not being a better brother."
"Deal... and you're a fine brother. Can we just..." Jason stared brokenly at his glass of water. "Not talk about it... like ever?"
Dick smiled, crimson stained hand resting on Jason's shoulder. "Sure little brother."
"You're back. What happened last night?"
Dick parked his bike, shoving the kickstand down with his boot.
"Crane. Jason and I ran into him last night, one of his goons got a in a lucky shot. Jason dragged me back to the safe house and patched me up."
"Funny he didn't mention it." Batman's eyebrow was clearly arched behind the cowl.
"I asked him not to. It's pretty embarrassing when a thick headed moron actually manages to shoot you."
"And yet you're telling me about it now?"
"What can I say? I wasn't thinking straight."
"Clearly." Batman spun his chair back to the batcomputer, missing Dick's sly smirk.
"But don't worry... He got what was coming to him-" Dick reached into a small satchel, pulling out a pair of twin pistols and casting them over the railing that prevented some moron from dropping headlong into the abyss bellow the main floors. "He couldn't shoot me now if he wanted to."
{JASON'S SAFEHOUSE}
"Ah come on! DICK!"
Author's note. Firstly, I'd like to say thankyou to the people who pointed out some pretty fundamental errors in my first posting of this story. Hopefully this made up for up. This is part 1 of the Bat-brother's Forever, Part 2 and 3 will be posted here before long. I hope you all enjoyed the story, and until next time- Bloodraven