Hey y'all! I have been wanting to do a longer story revolving around Dick Grayson for a while, I've also wanted to attempt writing the Joker, and play around with Jay and Dick's brotherly relationship, so I think I've set up the perfect fic to do all three!

Warning to any of my followers or people who've come from my other fics, there's gonna be a lot more swearing than usual and I'm probably not gonna warn you about it. (I will however, always put TW's for anything I think could need em)

I'll try to keep consistent with updates, but I need to focus on school a lot this semester (almost failed Physics, yikes!) So yeah, I'm looking forward to this and I hope y'all enjoy! :)

TW for the chapter: Gun violence

DISCLAIMER: I don't own these baby bird children, though I wish I did

CH 1: The Bullet

Dick looked around at his family and smiled. Even though Damian and Tim were glaring at each other from across the cave, and Jason was watching Bruce's every move, he had a feeling that tonight would be fun. He himself was leaning against the console, with his arms crossed. He watched amusedly as Bruce ignored him and continued typing away. Jason was pacing next to him, obviously antsy to be out of the cave and punching bad guys. Dick leaned back a bit, unfolding his arms to support him, he lifted his feet off the ground and grinned. He was a bit anxious to get out too, but Bruce was trying to find some hint of where the recently escaped Joker was hiding out.

Still, Dick was enjoying just watching his brothers, happy to have them all near him, for the first time in who knew how long. As if Dami and Tim had heard his thoughts and decided to wreck his optimism, they began to fight. Arguing loudly, their voices bounced off the cave walls and agitated the bats. Dick sighed and swung into a standing position, stretching and walking past Jason to stop the argument. Ruffling Damian's hair, Dick plastered a grin onto his face. "Hey kiddos, what's up?"

Tim stared at his older brother, obviously upset at being called a 'kiddo' despite being basically an adult. Dick noticed, but ignored the glare, he continued smiling, looking back and forth between his brothers in a comical way.

"Drake was getting in my way, so I told him to move, and he refused for no reason." Damian spoke without looking at Dick, instead he kept his gaze on Tim.

"Now, that's not completely true, I was working on something, and I couldn't move." Tim spoke tiredly. "Especially for the Demon Brat." He hissed under his breath.

"What did you call me Duck Boy?" Damian growled, shifting some discs into his hands. Tim tightened his grip on his staff. Dick hopped in between them and sighed, attempting to get some pity.

"C'mon guys, tonight was supposed to be fun." Dick turned to his youngest brother. "Please Dami?" He hoped using the affectionate nickname got him some points, especially after he added his puppy dog face.

Damian sighed, trying not to look at Dick's face, he was well aware of the tactics his brother primarily used. "As long as Drake stays out of my way, I am sure this night could be… fun." He shifted his weight, leaning to peer around Grayson and stare at Tim.

Dick turned to Tim, who quickly slammed a blank mask over his angry face. "Fine, I'll try, but maybe he shouldn't get in the way when I'm doing adult things." Tim couldn't help it, making Damian mad was too easy.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dami yelled, bringing his fists up.

"Damian, Tim, settle down, now." Batman appeared next to them, arms crossed, voice gruff and angry. "I've found the location of Joker, we should leave."

Dick, Damian and Tim all snapped to attention. Tim turned to the Batcomputer and started typing. Dick swung his arm around Damian's shoulders and followed Batman to where their bikes were stored. Jason was leaning against his motorcycle, grinning and glad to be on Bruce's good side for once. All of them were roaring out of the cave in the next minute. Damian rode with Bruce in the Batmobile and the former Robins rode their bikes. Tim was staying behind to manage coms. They traveled towards Gotham's warehouse district, near the docks. It only took a couple minutes before the Batmobile slowed to a halt and all of them crept into an alley to go over the plan.

"Nightwing, Red Hood, you'll take the east side, stick close to each other." Batman growled, he bat glared at Jason. "Don't kill anyone, and if you find Joker do not engage, fall back and radio me." Batman turned to Damian. "Robin, you're with me, we'll take the west side." With that, the Dark Knight melted into the shadows, Robin following him.

Jason turned to Dick and grinned, then dropped it, remembering who they were hunting. Jason hummed to himself, thinking as he walked with his brother. He gritted his teeth, he couldn't help but hope that Bats found the Joker first. As much as he would love to find him and kill him, he rather enjoyed how he fit into the family lately. If Jason met the Joker he knew that he'd lose control, and no matter what, Bruce would blame him and kick him out. Jason didn't want to deal with Bruce's issues. His anger growled at that, he should leave a family that loved him conditionally, it said. Jason reminded his rage that at least Dick didn't love him that way. Sure, when the Golden Boy had been Batman they'd fought, and his brother shoved him in Arkham. Sure, they'd had epic fights in which Dick became his enemy, and Jay hated him. But he just couldn't hold onto that hate anymore, he could be fuckin angry, yeah, but no hate. Jason almost grinned at that, maybe it was growth. Now he looked after his little brothers, and he had friends. Maybe the pit anger was fading, he tilted his head at that thought, is that good? Jason sighed and shoved the thoughts away, not in the field, not when he wanted to keep his head on straight. He looked up, and put his body on full alert. Dick walked next to him, as they reached their section he motioned to Jay, obviously wanting to take the roofs. Jason nodded and Dick smiled and leaped up onto the first warehouse.

Dick left Jason to take the ground, silently hoping that someone else found the Joker tonight, he didn't want to have to stop his brother from killing his murderer. To be honest, he hated this never ending, no-good-way-out kind of conflict. Jason was angry, and it was righteous anger, anger driven by something beyond traumatic. Jason's anger at the Joker was acceptable. Dick knew the big reason why Jason was driven to kill the Joker, fear, the type of fear that settles in your bones. Fear that roots itself in your anger and you'd do anything to never feel it again. If Joker was dead, Jason wouldn't have to be afraid of him anymore. Dick wishes that Bruce could see it that way, see emotion behind actions. But he knows it's because Bruce doesn't like that emotions drive actions, he'd rather believe that he had control, not some silly brain chemicals. He trained them to act emotionless, and it confuses him when trauma interrupts that delicate state. Dick blinked, realizing how deep in his head he had been.

The acrobat sighed, he should focus on the mission, find Joker first, then take care of the angry brother. He flipped onto the roof of the second warehouse, checking the spaces in between the buildings. He peered through the windows, watching carefully for movement as he crept towards the next warehouse. Just as he was leaping over the next gap, a flash of green and purple caught his eye, and he dropped down into the alleyway.

Nightwing unsheathed his escrima sticks and stuck close to the walls as he followed the Joker cautiously. He was well aware that this was probably some kind of trap, and he needed to be careful. Dick watched as the madman met with a group of what looked like bodyguards, and began inspecting a couple of crates. He scanned the area, counting how many of Joker's goons there were.

He was so focused on observing his surroundings and staying hidden that he almost forgot to report his findings on his com. Berating himself, Dick backed into a corner and quietly turned his communicator on. "I've found the Joker, he's by Dock 19, there appears to be about ten men with him." He paused, thinking. "I think he's inspecting some drugs or something, whatever it is, there's crates of it."

"Stay put Nightwing, I'm on my way." Jason radioed back, almost getting cut off by Batman.

"Both of you, don't engage until me and Robin get there." Batman's growl was serious, and Dick leaned against the wall, he knew what the vigilante had ordered him to do earlier, no need to repeat it. He was about to quip back, but he heard a noise to his right and looked up.

Three huge guys stood grinning down at him, he gulped and clicked his com off, getting ready to fight. There were advantages and disadvantages to being in a corner, Nightwing reflected, as he spun into action.

The fight didn't last long, despite his years of experience, there was little he could do against a wall of muscle. Now that Dick thought about it, lying on the concrete with his hands tied behind his back, they were a lot stronger than usual, maybe it had something to do with the drug Joker was inspecting. Speaking of the clown, he had no doubt heard the commotion and would appear soon. Nightwing got ready for whatever was coming, hoping that his family would arrive soon and they'd get to kick ass together. Dick sighed and looked around as the henchmen hauled him upright. How many times had something like this happened? A million? A bajillion? He paused his train of thought when he saw the white skin of a familiar clown.

The Joker had that perpetual smile on his face as he walked towards the tied up bird. "Hello Wingy." he drawled, giggling. "Long time no see!" he leaned in and Nightwing could feel his breath on his face. "And who's with you tonight? I hope it's Batsy!"

"No one." Dick growled. "I'm here alone, Joker." he tried to put sincerity in his voice, but he knew that Joker could catch his lies easily.

"Mmm, you shouldn't lie to a man with a gun!" Joker called cheerily, pulling a pistol from his jacket. "He might just wanna make a game out of it!" The clown lowered the gun to Nightwing's forehead. "Bang." he whispered. "Bang bang birdy."

Dick leaned away and scanned the rooftops for the shadows of his allies, Jason at least should be here soon. Dick knew that the Joker could get bored quickly, and he'd rather have someone interrupt before that happened.

"Now." Joker's voice brought his focus back to the clown. "Tell the truth, how long until Bats busts in on our lovely meeting?"

Nightwing debated if he should stall longer, knowing that the element of surprise was important when they went up against odds like this. Several possibly drugged up men were hard enough to beat, having them know you were coming just made things worse. But Joker was gonna shoot him if he didn't answer, and it wasn't something Dick wanted to die over.

Luckily he didn't need to make a choice, because Batman and Robin swung down from the roofs, dispersing smoke bombs, and began fighting the bulk of Joker's men. "Now that's an entrance!" Joker cackled, grabbing Nightwing's shoulder and yanking him into an alleyway, gun pressed to his temple. "Take care of em!" the clown called to his remaining henchmen. Then, he rushed into the dark, clutching his prize. Dick struggled in his binds, slipping a small knife out of glove and getting to work on the tough ropes tying his wrists together. Joker paused in a corner, eyes flitting nervously around, waiting for a dark cape to drop into view.

Dick had almost got his ropes cut off when they both heard the click of the safety being taken off of a gun. Joker growled as Jason stepped towards them. "That's far enough buckaroo." the clown warned. "Unless you want Big Birdy to end up with a bullet in his skull." In one movement he swung an arm around Dick's throat and cocked the gun under his right jaw. Nightwing grunted at the sudden pressure and the knife slipped out of his hands.

Jason froze, and the air filled with tension. Dick could feel anger radiating off his younger brother, and watched as he lowered his gun a bit. He wondered what was going to happen next, Joker had an audience now, and nobody could stop him from trying to kill them both. Maybe that was his plan, Dick's breath hitched in his throat as the severity of the situation hit him. Joker was cornered, and if the clown knew he wasn't getting out, he'd kill Dick immediately. With that knowledge, Dick knew he had to be the one to take Joker down.

As fast as he could, Dick snapped the last threads of rope and elbowed the clown in the stomach. Time slowed down as a loud noise erupted right next to his right ear. Then a force slammed into his jawbone. Nightwing could feel the bullet ripping through his face, it tore his mask off and swished through his hair. He fell to the ground and rolled off of the Joker. Distantly, he could hear Jason shouting and firing his gun, then he was on his back, sticky blood covered his face and he could barely see the night sky above him. His mind lazily wondered why it didn't hurt more, he had been shot in the face, hadn't he? Considering it, he realized he could barely feel anything, and that worried him. He lay there, full of fear and covered in blood, for what felt like hours. The fuzzy silhouette of Jason loomed over him, and he could feel fingers checking for a pulse, then Dick slowly slipped away into the darkness.

AN:

Hello all, hope ya liked the first chapter :) Uh, this was kinda hard to write for some reason and I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out, but oh well.

Well, not to talk too much (fuck, I'm chatty), but I feel a real connection to these guys. Sibling relationships are where all my trauma comes from after all, why not leech off of that and write from it? So, uh, if things start to get ranty or angry, I'm sorry, I'll try to edit that out as much as possible, but it may slip through.

Writing Jason makes me uncomfortable sometimes, he reminds me of my sister, which is hard, but I finally read RHATO, so hopefully I can characterize him well. As for Tim, I really can't get him, so I'm not planning on diving deeply into his character, sorry Tim fans, he's still a great child, but I do not understand his troubles. Damian? Well, he's pretty interesting, but I'm not quite sure how I should approach him, he's an asshole, but a lovable asshole. As for Dick? My favorite, I enjoy writing him. The peacekeeper, fake-happy, funny and oldest brother, that, I know. Now y'all know a bit more about me, expect my author's notes to be long, but ya can just skip em if they annoy you.

Some reviews would be appreciated. Anyways, I'll probably post the next chapter in a couple days.