Summary: Takes place about 2 weeks after Dick leaves Bruce. This one won't have Dick in it, but it will feature Bruce quite a bit

Disclaimer: I don't own DC

Batman dropped from the fire escape into Crime Alley as he approached the Batmobile. Another night, another horde of endless crooks trying to prey on the innocent. It was really a wonder that Gotham was still around; without the Dark Knight, they would be long gone. The GCPD did a fine enough job with the limited resources it had, but crime outnumbered cops about 10 to 1 in this city. The only other city that came close to this level of crime was Blüdhaven, which was, in some ways, worse. At least Gotham's police department had been mostly purged of corruption. The BPD was almost as bad as the crooks it sought to apprehend.

Bruce was used to his daily 2-3 hour patrol routine. He had been doing this for a long, long while now, almost 11 years at this point, but recently he had felt like something was missing. He hadn't run solo in Gotham for nearly 9 years at this point, it was jarring not having Dick by his side. It made things a lot more gloomy for him. Barbara rarely joined him for patrol; she preferred working with the team to working in Gotham with Bruce. Diana recently started joining him for patrol every now and again, but she was often too busy to ride with him for his full patrol cycle, and even with Alfred in his ear 24/7, he felt alone out on the streets of Gotham without the ever-optimistic Boy Wonder by his side. Man, I miss Dick. Can't believe how much. Well, it was bound to happen. The kid's not an 8-year-old anymore, he's a young adult. I wasn't gonna have him around forever anyways. But still...Bruce approached the car, not bothering to stop and pay respects to the fateful alleyway he was walking in. He had faced his fears a long time ago, and even if he never moved past his parents' death like Dick did, he wasn't gonna have a fit every time he stepped foot into this place. However, the ghosts haunting the old alley were the least of his problems that night...

Bruce spotted a figure messing with the tires of his car, and he glared daggers at them. "Hey! Get away from that!" The figure, a boy who looked to be a year or two younger than Dick and dressed in very ragged jeans and a slightly ripped red hoodie, gasped as he looked up, eyes widening and jaw flopping. He didn't move a muscle, though he didn't seem scared. He seemed more surprised, as if he didn't expect to see the Dark Knight. "Who are you?" The boy recomposed himself and tensed up as the Bat approached him, holding his ground and returning a glare of his own. Well, this kid's got guts.

"Harley Quinn." Bruce's glare only hardened.

"You do realize that's the Batmobile, right?"

"No shit. You do realize this is Crime Alley, right?" Hmph. I'll give him this much. He's brave.

"Drop the wrench and get in the car."

"Why? Is Batman a pedophile now? Ice cream truck in the shop so you're using a sports car?"

"I'm taking you to an orphanage."

"Over my dead body."

"Kid, settle down and-" The boy swung his wrench at Bruce, hitting him so hard in the stomach that he fell back a bit to recompose himself. Damn. Didn't expect that. Okay, then...Instead of fighting, the kid started to run away.

"See ya around, creep." Bruce smirked as he watched the kid climb up the fire escape rather quickly. He was clearly experienced with this sort of thing. It reminded him a bit of Dick's finesse, though not nearly as refined or advanced. Bruce simply tossed a Batarang at the ladder, watching the kid slip and fall. He caught him before he crashed to the floor and held him up by his shirt. The kid tried to fight back, but Bruce was having none of it. He held him up a bit higher, and he eventually stopped struggling. Bruce softened his tone the tiniest bit when addressing him next. He had seen his fair share of homeless people on the streets of Gotham, but none so...young. And talented. The kid could do so much more. If only he had a chance to prove it.

"What's your name?"

"Why the fuck should I tell you?"

"Okay then, let's ask another question." Bruce smirked a bit at the kid before speaking. "Are you hungry?"

Fortunately, the nearby Big Belly Burger was a 24-hour-service, so Bruce got the kid a burger. Or three. He looked like he hadn't eaten in a while. After getting his food, he drove him to the nearby hillside overlooking Wayne Manor and parked his car. The two got out and started to eat. Bruce watched the kid devou a burger faster than even Wolf could.

"Calm down there, kid. You're gonna take your hand off with how fast you're eating."

"Mmf-s-sorry. 'S b'n a while since I had a real meal like this." Bruce nodded.

"I can see that. Now that we're here, you mind telling me more about you?" The kid moved onto his second burger as he spoke. He had dropped his tense guard around Bruce by quite a bit. Almost like a wild animal, when Bruce offered him food and an open hand, he got less aggressive with him.

"Jason Todd. Resident of...well, Crime Alley, for the most part."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your parents?" Jason scoffed at the mention of his parents.

"Mom was an asshole druggie. Spent all her money on the shit, used to beat me when she was high. One night, she took a bit too much. Didn't wake up. Dad was alright, when he cared enough to be around. Spent the first few years of my life coming home for dinner before going out again, then dipped to hook up with Penguin. That was the last I heard of him, son of a bitch is either dead or in jail at this point." Jason didn't seem very remorseful when he talked about his parents. "Whatever, it happens. I've been livin' on the streets for a while now." Bruce nodded as Jason moved on to his last meal.

"How would you like to change that?"

"Ha! Yeah, I don't think so. I don't wanna go to juvie or an orphanage like some punk. Life on the streets is better than life with half the people in this damn city."

"You never know. Things could get better." Jason laughed.

"Ha! Yeah, sure. As if some billionaire like Bruce Wayne is gonna take me in!" Bruce raised an eyebrow as Jason continued. "Guy thinks he owns the world. Lives in that bigass castle up there, never comes down unless it's for business. Took that Grayson kid in for charity points so the public would stop ragging on him. Why the fuck would he take a street rat like me in?" Bruce sighed. This was very different from when he first met Dick. Dick was broken, but open to help, and Bruce helped him fix himself. Jason broke a long time ago, and he didn't seem like he was accepting aid, but Bruce still thought he could fix him. Just like he did with Dick. He missed having a younger half, someone to be a mentor to.

"People can surprise you, Jason. If you let them." Batman took off his cowl as Jason dropped his burger and stared at him.

"...Yeah, I don't really do the whole 'apologies' thing." Bruce smirked.

"I figured. What do you say I give you a home, something to fight for other than yourself? Sure beats living on the streets like this."

"Yeah, I don't know. I don't wanna be your public charity case like that other guy."

"I didn't take Dick in out of pity. I took him in because he needed me. I gave him a home, I made him Robin. He did a lot of good, even healed himself in that suit. I can give you the same opportunity." Jason was silent for a moment, and Bruce hoped he would accept. He saw the rage that was bottled up inside the kid, and he needed a way to get it out before it would get him killed. And Bruce would be lying if he said he didn't miss having a partner on the streets. This would be a mutually beneficial solution. Besides, he was growing closer to the kid by the minute.

"What happened to him?"

"He grew up. Moved on. He's living his life, and he's happy. Do you wanna be?" Jason let a soft smile appear on his face. He was starting to like Bruce, and he hadn't ever had a real friend in his life before. He liked the feeling. It made him feel less...alone. Plus, it did help that Wayne was a billionaire, and Jason had never tasted anything resembling wealth before in his life.

"When do I start?" Bruce smirked.

"You just did. Get in the car." He drove Jason to the Batcave and explained the basics of his whole routine. He introduced him to Alfred, who Jason took a liking to. Everyone liked Alfred, even the tough-as-nails street boy. Once they had gotten accustomed to one another, Al led the boy up to his room. Jason showered and got acquainted with everything, quickly falling asleep in his new bed, far more comfortable than the worn-down mattress he normally slept on, Alfred turned to Bruce once the boy had fallen asleep.

"Master Bruce, are you sure about this?"

"Yeah. he's a good kid, Al. He just needs a chance to prove it. I'm starting training with him tomorrow."

"And are you certain you are doing this for him alone?" Bruce scratched the back of his neck.

"I would be lying if I said I didn't miss Dick."

"So is Master Jason his replacement?"

"He doesn't have to be. Dick moved on, he's happy now. I did what I promised with him, I helped him get past the trauma. I wanna help Jason in the same way. He's got so much anger in there that he could probably fuel a Red Lantern power battery. Robin could be a way for him to get it out of his system. He's not Dick's replacement, he's just...my next mission, if that makes any sense. I'll have the paperwork to adopt him done by the end of the week. This could do a lot of good for him, Alfred. For both of us." Alfred nodded.

"Well, I must admit, I, too, have missed the youthful energy of Master Dick in the Manor. Perhaps Master Jason will fill that void for me. Though I doubt young Richard will be very happy about your decision, Master Bruce." Bruce nodded tersely and sighed. Yeah. I don't think he would be very happy about this, either.

"I'll deal with that when it comes time for it, Al. For now, let's get some rest. I'll see if he's Robin material in the morning."

I hope you all enjoyed Jason's "origin" here. I'm gonna gloss over his training a lot, since that isn't crucial to this story in particular, but feel free to note any interactions you may want with Jason, or Dick for that matter. I kinda wanna branch out to touch on more of the Bat Family in this book instead of making it a Dick Grayson only story, but he will definitely remain the centerpiece of the book. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions for chapters you wanna see. Next chapter up soon.