Arguments

Set after Bringing my Children home

Jason

He was only half-listening to Bruce and Dick argue on the coms, and not paying Roy any attention at all. Donna and Kory were exploring his recent upgrades to the Phoenix Base, and he assumed Roy was with them while he, and the rest of his siblings, waited for the argument to end and Bruce to shout his orders. Normally, when they argued, Jason took himself off the com, but their evening op was supposed to have started two minutes ago when Dick took exception to one of the targets.

"She's a suspect!"

"She's not crooked!"

It appeared that Dick's brief partner in the police was one of the cops suspected of getting word to Oswald Cobblepot when raids were planned. A text message with a channel # appeared on Jason's wrist computer screen. He gladly changed to that channel.

"Phoenix here."

"Batgirl."

"Alright, that's everyone," Robin said. "Spoiler, Batgirl, are you positive that Detective Gage is in the clear?"

"He was not lying," Batgirl said.

"Then we should make contact," Oracle said.

"Isn't this something we should go to Detective Harper about?" Jason interrupted. "Gage isn't an official contact yet."

"Detective Harper," Tim said proudly, "is on the Watchtower for the night. She is the official JL liaison from Gotham."

Robin had made her an official contact and had been instrumental in her rise from beat cop to Detective. Jamie Harper had partnered with the third Robin several times, and some of his brilliant intuition had rubbed off on her. When the major cities were offered a liaison with the Justice League, Commissioner Gordon had handpicked her because she was the most trusted Bat contact besides himself.

"-NO EVIDENCE!" Bruce roared in the background of Robin's com.

"Alright, I'm done with this," Tim complained. "O, whenever they are done, let them know I went out."

With that, the coms went silent. Jason took his out and slumped back in his seat. It was rare that a planned op did not commence due to an argument. Dick was not letting up on this. Detective Amy Rohrbach had been his cop buddy when he was on Bludhaven's Force. With Bludhaven annexed into Gotham, she was now a Gotham cop and had accepted a change to the main precinct.

"Whoa. I thought Ollie and Thea could fight. They were really going at it."

Jason leaped to his feet, first in surprise, then in fury that Roy had snuck up on him.

"Easy birdbrain," Red Arrow laughed.

"Were you here the whole time?" Jason growled.

"Long enough. Dick's usually a lot calmer when he argues. What's with that?"

"He's not thinking with his head. One of the investigative targets worked with him in Bludhaven. He doesn't think we need to investigate."

"And Bats won't listen?"

"Bruce won't give Dick's emotions the benefit of the doubt."

"So, who will you listen to? Daddy or Big Bro?"

"Shut up."

Roy easily ducked the stack of towels Jason tossed his way.

"No, really, Jay, when they argue, who do you follow?"

Roy's sudden seriousness surprised Jason, who glanced at him. The Arrow was staring at the nearest doorway, looking grave. Between his drug addiction and his dual role as Green Arrow's partner, and the boyfriend to said partner's sister, his separation from the Arrows had been brutal, cruel, and stupid on both sides. He had looked as lost as Jason had felt during his time with Talia before his reunion with the bats. Things were greatly improved, and Roy was even working with the Arrows again.

"I guess whoever I agree with," Jason said.

That wasn't quite true. Jason used Dick and Bruce as measuring sticks for his conscience. If they disagreed, he was not sure who to follow. Bruce was the more intelligent man, but Dick was the better people person. Frankly, if they disagreed, Jason was not sure either of them could be right. Tim clearly did not think so. The third Robin was obviously annoyed with both his mentors.

"Or whoever Tim agrees with," he added.

"Tim?" Roy looked surprised. "The third Robin? Isn't he like three years younger than you?"

"More like four. I think there are almost ten years between him and Dick. And over twenty years younger than Bruce, but that does not stop him from telling them both when they are idiots. Didn't you hear how he became Robin?"

"No. I was off the grid at that point. I figured that B-Man went Robin shopping."

Jason laughed, picturing Bruce watching for smart black-haired boys.

"No. He's the only person we know who figured the identities out without taking the mask off. Apparently, Bruce was falling apart after my whole "off-grid" experience. The kid couldn't have that, so he first told Nightwing off about leaving B alone. When Nightwing tried to explain he couldn't work as Robin anymore, the kid followed him to the manor, gave them a detailed graph of where Batman and Nightwing were going wrong, then ordered them to find a Robin.

"Both refused and ran off to fight one of the big guys. So, Alfred gave the suit to Tim, and that was that. He became Robin and basically dragged Bruce back to himself. He's the one who got me home. Really, if Dick and Bruce disagree…"

If Dick and Bruce disagree, Tim does his own thing.

"O," Jason flipped the comm back on. "Robin hasn't called for Batgirl by chance?"

"Just a couple of minutes ago. Why?"

"Batgirl is a human lie detector."

"If he went to patrol… oh, of course. He went to confront Detective Rohrbach."

Tim – One week Later

Wonder Girl dove for Kid Flash, caught him by his yellow onesie and flew him upwards. He yelped, so distracted by Superboy's rant about Beast Boy's shedding that he had missed her. She glanced proudly at the Titans leader. Robin nodded.

"Alright, enough. We'll add it to the fine board," Tim said, swinging down from the ceiling beam he had been perched on to watch the training session of the metas. "Bart, pay attention to your surroundings, no matter how entertaining it may be to watch a Kryptonian rant. Good job Cassie."

"So, Fearless leader," Kon said, grinning maliciously at Bart's disgrace. "Cassie said that Donna said that Roy said that Jason said he'd follow you over Dick or Bruce in an argument."

"It would be better if he helped talk sense into those two. They were arguing for three hours! The only reason they stopped is because O blasted my interview with the subject of their argument into the cave."

Tim grinned. O had shown him a recording of Bruce and Dick's stunned faces when Amy's voice had agreed with Tim that it was best to investigate. She had told him to tell Nightwing to stop being an idiot just because they had worked together on a few cases. Dick had been furious for about ten minutes, while Bruce had been frustrated for several days until Tim pointed out that talking to her directly had gained them another contact on the Police Force. Cass had cleared her.

"So, are you like the deciding vote when the two big men can't agree?" Bart asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Kara said that Spoiler and Batgirl agreed with Jason. Oracle said that she was independent enough to make up her own mind but admitted that you made the right move on this occasion. Clark said Agent A agreed with Jason that you were usually the one to make those two see sense."

"Don't you tell Clark when he's not seeing the other side of the picture?" Tim asked.

"Why would I do that? He's usually right!"

"What about when he's wrong?"

"I'm not usually thinking he was wrong then!"

"Ok, Cassie?"

She looked horrified. "I am Wonder Woman's student, not her instructor. Diana isn't wrong."

Tim rolled his eyes. "Everyone is wrong sometimes, Cassie."

"It's not my place."

"I told Gramps he was wrong," Bart offered. "Only, he was right that time."

Tim stared at his friends. He'd forgotten how normal they were outside the capes. They saw things the way normal people did. Tim had learned to mimic normal people and had assimilated enough that he never shocked his friends with social faux pas. They didn't care that he was smarter than them in things like strategy, science, math, patterns, and the like.

As much as Tim loved and respected Bruce and Dick, his personal relationships with them had always been colored by the fact that he had had to tell them how close to ruin they were. It had amazed him where his desperate bid to restore his heroes had taken him, but he had never forgotten their fallibility. It had been another bullet point in Tim's thesis that everyone was fallible. Which was proving to be not such an outlandish theory. It had been Tim's early discovery of this fact of life that had accentuated the separation between himself and his peers.

"Look, I do speak up when I feel I'm right," he sighed. "If you see something your mentors miss, it's okay to respectfully bring it to their attention. I appreciate it when you tell me things I miss."

"Does that happen?" Cassie snarked.

"I didn't know Beast Boy's shedding wasn't being cleaned up."

"That's because he stays away from your places!" Kon shouted.

Other

Jason had forgotten that Roy was social, outgoing, and loved to talk. Within weeks of their conversation, the greater American Vigilantes were under the impression that the third Robin told Batman and Nightwing what to do. Tim was horrified, Dick was amused, and Bruce was pleased with the sudden rise of respect for Robin among the greater community. While the Justice League Core were all aware of how Tim became Robin, it had not been known much further.