June 5th

2347hrs

Gotham Skyline

Jason Todd sat quietly on the roof top, his legs dangling over the edge with his helmet beside him. He took a long, deep drag off his cigarette as a warm breeze ran through his black painted bangs. He was starting to think he should have done the opposite and had JT Bennet have all black hair; let the Red Hood have the stupid white chunk at his widow's peak.

He would feel at peace except that he knew Bruce was nearby. Well, not Bruce of course. Batman. And he wasn't really Jason at that moment. Nor was he JT Bennet for that matter. He was The Red Hood. While JT and Jason got along great with Bruce over the past few weeks, Red Hood and Batman were still at odds.

Besides, he'd been waiting for Batman to come and talk to him about the whole Waylon Jones thing. The news had painted a picture of The Red Hood that was almost as terrifying to the people of Gotham as Joker had been.

Ungrateful bastards.

"You gonna speak up anytime soon, or what?" He tested. "I have like four or five meetings tomorrow."

"Waylon Jones died the other night," Batman hissed. "Shattered into thousands of pieces with a cardboard sign announcing the return of a serial killer."

Looking up at Batman, Jason almost laughed. Almost. What had the man expected? He told them all weeks ago that he wasn't going to stop doing what he felt was right. Waylon himself had been plenty dangerous on his own, but police and city workers couldn't even go down into the sewers with Killer Croc lurking down there.

Jason knew for a fact that several manhunts for missing, endangered, and criminals on the run, had been called off because it was believed they'd gone down into the sewers.

No.

There would be no apologies for the execution of a man so deranged he had begun to eat people.

"It's not that you killed him, so don't look at me like that!" Batman said with a snarl in his tone.

He raised a brow, because yeah right, and flicked away the spent cigarette's filter.

"Okay," Batman huffed sounding far more like Bruce than normal. "So, it's a little bit that you killed him, but Hood you must recognize that the theatricality behind the signs is very dangerous. You are encouraging people to follow in your very violent and sometimes murderous footsteps."

Jason got up carefully from the side of the building and stepped more carefully onto the roof. "What's wrong with people defending themselves?"

Batman shook his head. "I have no issues with the men and women or even the children of Gotham City protecting themselves—"

"But?"

"Last night two men were brought in for questioning because of a drive-by shooting in Crime Alley," Batman frowned.

"So?"

"Both men were gunned down before they even entered the precinct, Hood. The gunman was one of the victim's mother," Batman raised his hand to prevent Jason from interrupting him, which was pretty intuitive since he had in fact planned to interrupt. "The two men killed weren't responsible for the shooting. They were informants."

Taking a deep breath to keep from losing his cool, Jason fished out his cigarettes as he debated on how he wanted to argue Batman's newest bit of "this is why you can't kill people" argument. Batman, Nightwing, Dick, and Bruce were all responsible for the increase in his smoking. No one stressed Jason out more than either man and their multiple personas.

He lit up and inhaled deeply off the cancer-stick. "Informants aren't always good people, Bruce. Sometimes they're just as reprehensible as the men they're informing on."

"That's your excuse?" Batman snorted in obvious disgust.

Jason shrugged. "Look, B," he inhaled and then blew out the smoke before he continued speaking. "Bullock and many, many LEOs have always maintained that Batman promotes a dangerous precedent. Men like you, whether you kill or not, also encourage reckless vigilantism that can and has gotten innocent people injured and killed."

"Hood,"

"No, B. You hang up the cowl and the cape. You put it all away for the greater good," Jason began as he offered his free hand to Batman. "I give you my word that the moment you shut down Batman, Robin, and Nightwing and then refuse to ever allow any vigilante to take their place in Gotham, The Red Hood disappears from this city forever."

Batman's eyes narrowed before he turned and took a flying leap off the building; even without Jason needing to tell him to do so.

"Well, I guess we know who won that argument," Jason snickered to himself as he finished up his cigarette.

"Don't think I didn't catch that, Red," Nightwing grumbled in his earpiece. "You didn't say you'd give up being Red Hood, you said Red Hood would leave Gotham."

"He ain't ever giving up Batman and we all know it," Arsenal added.

"Never," Jason agreed with the redhead.

June 6th

1157hrs

Harvey met up with JT Bennet and Roy Harper for lunch at a diner. Jason looked exhausted, but not in the sickly, terrifying way he had before Batman discovered the toxin. If anything, the young man was looking healthier and stronger by the day.

It had been about two weeks since The Red Hood finally made good on that promise about Killer-Croc. Harvey still didn't know how he felt about it, either. Some part of him felt relieved to know that the man would never harm another soul again, but another part had been horrified by the lengths Hood had gone to end Jones' blood thirst.

How many people would steal an absolute zero gun from a deadly thief, take on a cannibalistic meta that could crush them, turn said meta into an ice cube and then smash them into little pieces? Harvey could admit that he worried about being once again flattered by Jason's commitment to keeping his word.

"So, Snart ever call you back?" Roy teased before shoving a bleu cheese and bacon triple burger into his mouth.

JT smirked at Roy, too tired to react the way the he normally would have, while Harvey merely flipped them both off. It wasn't any of their business whether or not Snart had kept in contact with him. He felt his phone vibrate and decided he hated them all in that exact moment. A man couldn't even enjoy a club sandwich in peace!

JT kept nodding off and Harvey wondered how in the hell these vigilantes hadn't been caught yet. Then again, he'd only just recently noticed how often Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, JT Bennet, and Bruce Wayne appeared drowsy in the middle of the day. Now that he knew what to look for, he caught them yawning, nodding off, slurring their speech, or blinking for longer than normal.

Grayson was the worst at it and the fact that he was a cop only bothered Harvey more. What was going to happen to the idiot if he performed a traffic stop while he was so tired. Traffic stops resulted in more cops deaths than any other police action among populace. Gotham was of course at the very top of that list.

"Good thing he doesn't operate any of the heavy machinery on his job sites," Roy whispered to Harvey when Jason's head feel back against the booth.

Harvey couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, but he does drive himself about on occasion."

Roy didn't look any more pleased than Harvey. "I'll let Dickie know."

"He's no better," he reminded Roy. "They're all bad at it and I would bet ten to one that if you were out there every night, you'd be there right along with them."

A groan from JT caught both their attention as they looked to him. "You are such a fucking mother hen," he grumbled as he crossed his arms over chest, keeping his head back and his eyes closed. "You're worse than Alfred, Bullock."

Harvey glared at the young man, for all the good it did. "Forgive me if I decide to take that as an unintended compliment."

JT's lips quirked into an amused smile. "You can take it however you like, babe."

Somehow, JT's timing had been too perfect for words. The moment JT called Harvey babe just happened to be the exact moment that their pretty, middle-aged waitress came to clear JT's empty plate. She blushed and looked to Harvey skeptically and then back to JT and Roy. He could feel the judgement radiating off the woman as she noticed the obvious age difference between himself and the boys.

Harvey felt mortified as the woman shook her head and started to walk off.

"Hey, darlin' can I get a refill," Roy flirted smoothly, catching the woman off guard. "Or are you to busy judging my two best friends to do your job?"

"Roy!" Harvey snapped.

JT's eyes were open and dancing with mischievous glee as he looked not at the waitress, but at Harvey. "I rather like that he defends us, Harv. It's so much better than him continuing to pine after you from afar."

"Fuck you both," Harvey muttered as the woman walked off with her nose in the air. "Why do you have to do that when there's a lady that I might actually like in the vicinity?"

JT looked more shocked than rebuked, but Roy actually had a look of sheepishness to him that made Harvey feel a little bit better. It wasn't that he'd have asked for the woman's number, but she was a very nice-looking lady and they came to the diner often. It may not have turned into anything, but it could have if those two had just left well enough alone.

"Harvey," JT said in a tone of regret. "I'm sorry man. We'll stop fucking with you like that. I hadn't realized we were causing you any harm."

Harvey shrugged it off. "Just, you know, don't keep doing it now that you know."

Both of them nodded but Jason in particular looked at Harvey carefully. It appeared to him that Jason was trying make sure that Harvey really had gotten over it and that they were still good. Sometimes Harvey was convinced that Jason was convinced that he'd leave the kid high and dry or maybe just stop talking to him.

There was something else that JT had been doing lately and it worried Harvey. JT, who almost never acknowledged a failing, was quick to apologize. Harvey knew it was probably paranoia, but there was something about it that made him worry.

It was almost like Jason Todd was making sure that there was nothing left unsaid between them. No apologies, no expressions of concern, and certainly no doubts as to how he felt about his new makeshift family. Jason hadn't become someone else, he wasn't suddenly talking their ears off or professing his undying love, but with his actions, he might as well have.

Was the kid going to take off as Slade had forewarned them? He'd need to talk to Roy and compare notes and see just what he'd noticed. Maybe Roy was a bit clueless, though. He'd been spending a lot of time with Dick and working out for rehab on his leg.

Anyone who knew Roy for a mere five minutes could tell it was driving him crazy that he wasn't able to get around the way he used to. More than once, Harvey had caught JT eyeing the way Roy limped and he could see the guilt and remorse that haunted him.

"Hey, I'm staying at Dick's tonight," Roy informed them both. "Do you want me to set up my station and be the voice in your ear?"

JT shook his head. "Nah, I can handle whatever comes at me tonight. Most of the big ones have been put away, anyhow."

"You mean put down," Roy snickered softly.

They start to make their way out of the booth, JT tossing down three twenties as he led the way out of the restaurant. Harvey headed to his own car and the boys followed, JT passing out cigarettes to all three of them. JT had brought his motorcycle which was parked a couple stalls down and Roy had taken a cab.

"So," Harvey took a deep breath and looked to JT. "I'm gonna be out tonight myself, so don't have a fucking panic attack, alright?"

"Out?" JT frowned, his tone disappointed and concerned. "What do you mean out?"

"As in out of my fucking condo," Harvey shrugged.

"As in out on a date?" Roy asked with interest and an eager smile. "Who's the lucky lady?"

JT looked overly concerned as his brows rose and his fell into a deeper frown. Despite the fact that Jason and Dick had been happily doing some weird courting thing, it didn't stop the young man from being overly protective with Harvey. Ironically, the detective was always the one being teased by the three vigilantes for being a "mother hen", but in reality JT had them all beat.

JT had fussed and hovered over Harvey until he'd been cleared to return work. Jason was always checking on Roy and making sure the young man hadn't fallen off the wagon or wasn't contacting those who might drag the kid back into a heroin induced haze. The Red Hood relentlessly kept track of Batman, Robin, and Nightwing's movements during the nights, acting as more of a back-up or bodyguard than a vigilante in his own right.

"You guys, relax, okay?" He chuckled as he enjoyed his own cigarette. "It's just a date."

"The last woman you flirted with tried to stop your heart," JT glared. "I just, let me run a background check on her or something."

"Fuck you, Kid. I'm a Detective in Gotham fucking City," Harvey sneered with genuine irritation. "I can take care of myself."

Roy looked away awkwardly as he shoved a cigarette in his mouth. Whether Roy did it to prevent himself from saying something or from being expected to say something, Harvey couldn't be sure.

JT looked like he was working himself up again and Harvey fought hard not to rip the kid a new one. Compassion, understanding, and patience didn't round out the small list of virtues the veteran detective held, but he had to try. JT was his friend. The kid had some major issues, but most of them revolved around protecting people.

"Jason," he said, purposely using the kid's real name. When Jason's own irritation fled in the face of anxiety and security, Harvey knew it had been the right move. "Jason, I know you're just trying to help me. I know that everything you do is about protecting your family, and I can't tell you how much it means to me that you count me as a part of yours."

Roy subtly moved a touch closer to Jason, which was actually pretty smart. It probably reinforced that Roy considered himself to be a friend and maybe family to Jason as well. It acted as a physical reminder that he was standing with the traumatized vigilante in solidarity.

"But, Jason," he said again, continuing to utilize the power of the young man's real name. "I have to be allowed to live my life. A man who would choose safety over liberty deserves neither."

The black-haired kid flinched at the words. Or maybe he just flinched at the heavy silence. After several long moments, Jason lifted his eyes and gave a curt nod. He then tossed his cigarette and straddled his bike without another word before taking off for his next meeting as JT Bennet.

"Talk about dramatic," Roy chuckled, playing with his phone, and likely calling for a ride.

"He needs to hear it, though," Harvey shrugged. "So, tell me, Roy." He waited until he had the man's undivided attention. "Is Jason planning to take off?"

Roy flicked at the butt of his cigarette impatiently as he shook his head. "I mean," he sighed heavily before looking Harvey in the eyes. "You heard Slade before they left. Once Jason has truly accepted that Joker's been dealt with, he's fucking outta here."

"I suppose he did," Harvey said in a melancholy tone. "I still don't understand why."

"Me neither. I can't get Jason to talk to me about it, and by time I realized I should have questioned Slade further, he and Wintergreen were gone."

Harvey's brows rose at that realization. Wintergreen would know! Wintergreen would likely tell Harvey, too. They'd become friends during his stay at the hospital and then when he'd finally been released to go home. He'd make sure he got in contact with the ornery old Brit and find out what he could about Jason's future plans. Hopefully that wasn't something that Slade would prevent Billy from discussing.

As he climbed into his car he looked out the window at Roy. "I'll check in with some of my own contacts."

Roy snorted. "Like you have any that I don't."

Harvey grinned and got into his car just as taxi pulled into the parking lot for Roy. These younger vigilantes had a nasty habit of underestimating him. He couldn't wait to rub their noses in it.

One Month Later

June 26th

17:43hrs

Wayne Manor

Bruce sat at the head of the table for the weekly family dinner. Selina sat to Bruce's right and Tim to Bruce's left. Jason was seated beside Tim with Roy sitting next to Selina. Dick, being the oldest usually sat at the other end of the eight-man table, but that night he had a 12hr graveyard shift.

Oddly enough, Alfred had gotten it into his head to invite Harvey Bullock to the family dinners, but so far, all ten invitations had been declined. Roy was convinced that Alfred wanted to get Bullock in Wayne Manor so that they could play cards, insisting that Billy Wintergreen had probably enlightened the butler to Harvey's skill.

Jason had at first denied it and argued that Alfred was just being polite. After the first three invites were rejected, he figured Alfred would give up having done his due diligence. But the invitations kept coming and thankfully for Bruce, Tim, Jason, and Dick, Harvey was just as mortified at the idea of sitting at a dinner table with a bunch of vigilantes he despised.

"So, what are you doing for the summer, Timmy?" Jason asked.

Bruce looked up from his meal to give Tim his full attention as well. That must have meant that the kid hadn't settled on anything yet. Normal kids didn't need summer plans. They could get a job, laze about, go to summer school, maybe attend some kind of camp for various interests, but trust fund brats? They were seen as socially weak if every day off wasn't accounted for in some way or another.

"Actually," Tim began and looked to Bruce with pleading hope in his bright eyes as his brows rose and his mouth turned to something of a grimace. "I was hoping you'd let me spend it with Conner on the farm."

Selina made a face at that. "You'd purposely spend your vacation working on a farm?"

"God forbid he work for a living," Jason rolled his eyes.

She gave him one slow blink to show she was just going to ignore him as she took Bruce's hand. Jason shoved a bite of food in his mouth as he waited for the head of their odd family to make his opinion known. Timmy was getting older and soon, Bruce wouldn't be given the opportunity to say no. He doubted he would let that chance pass him by.

"How does Clark feel about it?" Bruce asked.

Tim shrugged his lean shoulders and swallowed what he was eating before he answered. "You know how Clark is…"

"Anything to distract him from the fact that Conner is half Luthor?" Jason said with a taunting smile.

Neither Tim nor Bruce were amused, but it didn't change anything. Conner got on with Clark as well as Jason had Bruce. In both the good and the bad ways. Unfortunately for Superboy that meant Superman was always waiting for the other foot to drop; for Lex Luthor to trigger some trap and use the clone to defeat his alien nemesis once and for all.

"I don't recall you ever being this mean," Selina frowned as she played with her food a bit. Her bright blue eyes focused on him steadily as she finally looked up from her plate. "Do you even remember being the sweet, protective boy you were when we met?"

Tim and Bruce looked awkwardly at their own plates and didn't that just make Jason feel even worse? What was Selina's problem anyhow? Things were supposed to be getting better with his family. Why was she so against him?

Oh.

Right.

She was also waiting for the other foot to drop, just like Clark Kent with his clone-son thing. Selina Kyle didn't trust Jason Todd now that he'd grown up to be a homicidal maniac. She was blind to all the reasons that Jason Todd had become JT Bennet. The woman had related to the thirteen-year-old tire thief, but it didn't seem like she was able to relate to a man who wiped out monsters.

Her loss.

"You want to find out how protective I am, go ahead and try something with Bruce, again," he threatened in a deceptively casual tone. "Hang him out to dry one more fucking time and see what happens."

"Jason!" Bruce snapped his name in that old familiar way.

Taking a napkin, Jason wiped his mouth and set it down on his plate. He slid his seat back and stood up to leave. He didn't actually care about the outcome of Tim's summer plans. It wasn't likely that Bruce would say yes anyhow.

"You're leaving already?" Tim said as he frowned at him.

"Yeah, I'm out Timmy," Jason nodded. "Same time next week, though."

Roy looked at Jason and started to get up, but Bruce shook his head at the young man and said something about giving them a few minutes. Jason was relieved when the big guy didn't try to stop him from leaving the dining room. Instead, Bruce stood up and walked with Jason to the front door.

They were silent the whole way.

"B, you gotta stop waiting for me to beg you to speak up. You and I both know you have something to say and you've never been afraid to speak your mind with me or anyone else," Jason said. "Did the tumor really change you or has it made you overly cautious?"

Bruce glared and Jason wasn't annoyed one bit. It was steadying to know that Bruce was very much the same when it came to his weaknesses being discussed. It was something the two had always had in common and Jason would have been sad if the billionaire had overcome that particular failing.

"I wanted to thank you," Bruce said stiffly.

Jason raised a brow. "For?"

"Trying," the elder answered. "I know that we're all trying and that we haven't all become completely comfortable with one another, but I want you to know I see the effort you're putting in. I am grateful and you should know that."

He felt his cheeks burn and he couldn't hold Bruce's gaze any longer. He looked down as he fought the blush, the acknowledgement that the most impossible man to please alive was actually pleased for once. Jason gave a short nod and grunted a quick thanks. He was just about to make an escape when Bruce wrapped his big arms around Jason and squeezed.

The moment he was released from the hug, Jason ducked his head and ran from the house and to his motorcycle. He felt stupid and childish running away from a hug. But maybe he ran because there was so much Jason still didn't know; like how they'd been able to get to such a point. Only a month ago Batman had ripped Red Hood a new one for killing Killer Croc and now they were hugging at family dinners!

Whatever, it was good. Everything was finally getting better.

It wasn't until he arrived at his apartment that he realized he left Roy behind.

Jason, having gone back to pick up Roy, stood beside his friend and looked at the door oddly. It wasn't their door, but Harvey's and there was a blue tie hanging from the silver knob. Despite having died and never attending college, Jason knew what the symbol meant. The only concern was that Harvey didn't own a tie that shade of blue.

"We should definitely knock, right?" Roy asked, looking just as concerned for Harvey's safety as Jason was. "I mean, he had the one date a month ago, but nothing came of it. Did he tell you about a new chick? Did he say anything about skipping poker night?"

For once, Jason was at a loss. He didn't want to crash a date because he was being over-protective or paranoid. He couldn't see any blood and there were no signs of forced entry, yet something about the tie felt very… not Harvey. It was difficult to explain, and Jason was sorely tempted to kick the door down. Harvey hadn't missed poker after Roy and Jason returned from Wayne Manor since the inception of the weekly dinners.

"Come on, man, he could be hurt!" Roy hissed beside him, and Jason was only a little relieved that his partner in crime was as anxious as he was.

Jason pulled out his key to Bullock's place and very quietly and carefully turned the lock. With all the stealth of professional vigilantes they opened the door without it creaking or making a sound. They each stood in the doorway and listened carefully before hearing a low masculine groan that most definitely sounded like Harv.

And he wasn't in any danger.

They both bit back their laughter like pre-teen boys and carefully shut and relocked the door. When they were inside their own apartment Roy gave into his mirth and laughed loudly. Jason couldn't help but chuckle with him.

"Who would have thunk it?" Roy smiled. "Old Harvey is ditching poker night because he's got himself a girlfriend. Maybe now he'll finally get over us pretending he's our sugar daddy in public!"

Jason agreed wholeheartedly. Not just because Harvey was so good at holding grudges, but because it had taken a couple weeks for Harvey to get right with Jason killing Killer Croc. Once that had happened, one he'd finally allowed himself to be okay with it there was an obvious lightness to Harvey. It seemed that so much of the detective's guilt and anger had dulled when he accepted it. Jason wondered just how long the death of Harvey's fiancé and future stepdaughter had been weighing on the detective.

"When do you think he'll introduce us?" Roy asked.

"To us? Never," Jason laughed. "Would you introduce your mild-mannered girlfriend to us?"

"Sure, I'd say 'babe, these are my nephews,' What's so hard about that?"

Roy picked up friends and family with an ease that made Jason envious. Harvey Bullock had already been assigned the role of uncle for Roy.

Jason grabbed a beer from the fridge and tossed another to Roy as he let his mind wander over the idea of family and how much his own had changed in the past year.

Roy was definitely a brother and friend now, made more important because he was Dick's best friend as well. Timmy had been Jason's younger brother from the moment he'd learned of him, no matter how angry and bitter he'd been over being replaced. Jason was self-aware enough to know that about himself, especially since he'd nearly died to protect the little shit and rescued Tim/Robin multiple times already.

Alfred was the grandfather whose methods had to be questioned. Jason loved him, no doubt about it, but Alfred was as much to blame for Bruce's becoming what he was as Bruce himself. Alfred was the one who chose to keep a professional relationship with an eight-year-old orphan despite Thomas and Martha Wayne choosing the man to be Bruce's guardian and custodian. To think for even five minutes that that Waynes would have wanted their son to have an employee over a loving father or uncle was selfishly naïve.

Thoughts like that had been what reminded Jason that his bitterness extended far beyond Bruce. There was a great deal of rage for the butler, but also Barbara Gordon and Selina Kyle. They had been the only decent women that Jason had known after his step-mother OD'd. Emphasis on had.

Catwoman had fucked Batman over on numerous occasions, usually for her own gain, to some of the most dangerous of Gotham's Rogues Gallery. She'd even endangered all three incarnations of Robin while stealing whatever she wanted. And Selina Kyle had ripped out Bruce's heart and tossed it at him again and again and again.

So Jason couldn't really call her family, no matter how close she and Bruce grew.

As for Barbie, that was something Jason just couldn't get over. Barbara was a good person, she was. Genuinely and altruistically, she was someone that should be emulated. He understood her dumping Roy's junkie ass, he understood her standing up for herself and not allowing him to manipulate her or bring her down. But Jason could never get over the fact that she had a part in turning Bruce and Batman against Jason when he was just a dumb teenager.

Right or wrong, Jason saw her words as the catalyst to Jason running away and getting himself killed. He saw her warning as the deciding factor in Bruce grounding him from Robin.

"Jason, you okay?" Roy asked. "You look… stuck in a thought that you aren't really enjoying."

Jason wanted to be annoyed that Roy had caught him brooding and maybe even snarling at himself, but he let it go. It wasn't Roy's fault that Slade told him to keep an eye on Jason. It certainly wasn't Roy's fault that Jason started carrying that damn crowbar he found on the streets. The nightmares that plagued him now and again weren't his fault either.

"I'm fine, Roy," Jason promised and put on a smile for show as he sat on the couch to watch some TV. "I was just thinking about the past."

Roy joined him and grabbed the remote. He nodded as if he understood, and maybe to an extent he did. Roy had his own demons and unfortunately, he had to fight his every single day, too. The moment he stopped fighting, the moment he gave in was the moment he'd end up with a needle in his arm. That was why Jason invited Roy to move into the apartment with him.

Even if Slade had tasked Roy with keeping an eye one him, Jason was keeping his eye on Roy just as much. Not just because Arsenal was mildly helpful or even because Jason felt extremely guilty for shooting a grappling gun through Arsenal's leg, but because he was Dick's best and closest friend.

That was probably why Slade chose to warn Roy in a way he hadn't anyone else. He knew that Slade told Harvey, Dick, and Roy that Jason would eventually leave Gotham. He was pretty sure he'd taunted Batman and Alfred with that same information, but only Roy had been warned about Jason's previous instability and the likelihood that it could return.

He stared past the television and whatever sitcom Roy chose.

"Put our past behind us and shut up, Harper," Slade snarled. "What I have to say is important and just might save your life."

Roy never dropped his glare, but he did shut his mouth.

"Jason's stability has always been questionable, Roy," Slade began and then glared at Jason, a warning to keep his mouth shut, too. "I completed his training and there wasn't terror juice or clown spray to fuck him up back then. You understand?"

Jason could see the war within Roy's head. Instincts and common sense told him to listen to the assassin while fear of Deathstroke insisted that he argue. That had always been Roy's biggest obstacle when it came to the assassin.

"Roy, he might not tell you this," the giant said as he pointed at Jason. "But that brat crawled out of his own grave months after he died. Think about that for a moment. He was six feet beneath the ground. No air, no food, nothing. Then he wakes up and breaks his way out of a sealed coffin with at least a ton of dirt weighing down on him. He then must tunnel to the surface and yet look at his hands, look closely at them."

"I've seen them, Slade," Roy spat without looking at Jason or his hands. "They're fine!"

Jason looked down at his own hands and saw that save for some scars caused by Joker and other things, his hands were exactly as Roy said. They were fine and yet Jason remembered that at least three fingers had been torn off by the crowbar when he tried to defend himself.

"That doesn't strike you as odd? He has very few scars, Roy. No burn scars from the explosion, no missing nails on his fingers from digging out of a grave."

"Dude, he's covered in scars from Joker's crowbar!" Roy shouted back and then flinched when Jason sucked in a breath.

"Not as many as he should. It's almost as if the beating reached a certain point and then all damage after that didn't stick with his body. As if his body decided to ignore or maybe forgot about the rest of the damage done," Slade said.

"His body forgot? You sound crazy, Slade," Roy barked.

"Suit yourself, but I am warning you now, this kid is different. You aren't enhanced, Harper. Don't get caught up in a fight with him if he's lost himself, understand? Anyone you want to protect; you keep them from him in those states."

And then Slade turned to look at Jason, worry in his dark eye as he pressed a hand to his shoulder and squeezed tightly. "You know I'm right, Brat. You start slipping you get the hell away from your family, do you understand?"

Jason looked at his hands as the memory lingered in the back of his mind. He'd been busted up badly when he got out of the coffin. He closed eyes on the memories. It was no one's fucking business what he'd been through, and fucking Slade should have kept his damn mouth shut.

July 1st

2352hrs

Gotham Skyline

The Red Hood scanned the city scape surrounding him. Arsenal was in his ear, Harvey was on a date with some woman they'd yet to be introduced to, and Nightwing was likely sleeping after a long patrol shift as a member of the GCPD. Batman was uptown keeping an eye on some annual charity event that usually was targeted by a few psychos looking for a spotlight.

"Oracle got a location on Robin?" Red Hood asked.

Roy's voice filled his left ear. "Robin's out of town remember."

"Oh, right," he said.

Red Hood frowned because he had been sure he saw Robin earlier that evening. Then again, Jason was so used to seeing him out and about it was probably the memory of a previous night overlapping with tonight. That was the problem with routines. They could become so engrained that one went on autopilot and the brain filled in details that might not actually be there just because it was used to processing said details.

Jason knew better than to call the night a boring night, but it sure was tempting. Things had been quiet, and Dick and Roy had joyfully reminded him that when you killed off criminals left and right, the city was bound to get safer. He was a little ashamed that he was resentful that there wasn't anyone to kill.

A strange flash of light caught his attention, and he looked toward a building and frowned. A loud rumble followed seconds later, and Jason sighed as he realized he was about to get to soaked. He knew the area well enough and decided to head to one of his hide outs.

"Hey, Arsenal," he said as he carefully made his way down the fire escape just as the rain began to pour. "I'm heading to an old hideout of mine."

When he gave the address he heard Roy suck a breath in through his teeth. It was evident that he knew the address, but Jason didn't see what the big deal was. He wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to indulge Roy by asking what his problem was, either.

"You know what, fuck you, Hood," Roy said suddenly. "Someone has to tell you. That bolt hole was compromised and you know it, you ass-hat! Nightwing told me all about it! Why haven't you cleared it out?"

"Compromised by a dead man," Jason rolled his eyes. "Besides, for all we know it was me that hid the crowbar under my mattress."

He didn't like to think that way, but with the fear toxin and joker venom in his system it was hard to say for certain what Jason had been doing when no one was around. He knew he was capable of doing some strange things in his madness and from all he could gather, he'd been out of his mind for several weeks at least.

"Hood!" Arsenal snapped.

"Fine, I'll fucking clear it out while I'm there!" Jason growled back. "Just quit fucking nagging me."

He stepped into the building and out of the rain. A few hobos had been living there off and on, but he didn't see any signs of life at the moment. He removed his helmet and clipped it to his belt as fished for his cigarettes in his utility belt. His nose itched at a strange smell that was on its way to being over powering. He abandoned his search for the smokes as the rancid odor of rotting flesh filled his nostrils. He coughed hard and felt his stomach turn violently.

He managed to unclip and throw up into his helmet of all things. Irritated and disgusted with his response he tossed it down angrily.

"Hood, what's going on?" Arsenal demanded.

"I think some transients fucking died up in one of these rooms," Jason answered calmly.

"It's nearly summer, Jason, they couldn't have frozen to death," Arsenal warned.

"True, but if they died while it was still cold?" he reasonably pointed out. "Now that it's getting warmer the stench has gotten rank."

Jason abandoned his helmet to whatever corner it landed in and started to climb the steps. The smell only got stronger and so he kept climbing and honestly, he figured drugs were the real culprit; he just didn't have the heart to say that to Roy anymore. Not when he knew that the man was really struggling at the moment to stay busy while weening himself off pain killers.

He blinked a few times as he stared at the walls. He also didn't tell Roy what he was seeing. He couldn't. It might not be there.

Vivid dreams returned in startling clarity as he saw the very same graffiti tagged on the walls of his mind as he saw in reality. The gloss was so intense Jason found himself reaching out to press his gloved fingers to the purple and green writing; he wanted to see if it was still wet.

Laughter rang out in his mind as his black gloves came back to him with purple or green tips. He shivered and pressed on his earpiece to see if the awful noise went away. The laughter wasn't real of course, which was a relief. And as he looked back at his gloves, they were black once more.

The graffiti didn't disappear, though and Jason got a sinking feeling it wasn't drugs or elements that had committed murder.

"Hood, what's going on?" Arsenal demanded.

"I don't think they're transients," Jason said. "I think before Joker died he left me a parting gift in my hideout."

"No fucking way! Dude, just leave. I'll send for Batman and Nightwing. The three of us can clear the place out, but I really don't think you should be there," Roy cursed and lectured. "That dude fucked with you enough while he was alive, you don't need his memory crawling back inside of your head."

"I can handle this, Roy. I'm okay now," Jason promised. "I just gotta lookout for tripwires and other stupid traps that Joker might have left behind."

Arsenal didn't answer, but Jason didn't really give a shit. He kept moving up the stairs, noting the graffiti and the style. It was definitely Joker's work all right. "HA!" was all over the place along with purple smiling lips and green teeth. Some of it was quick and sloppy but every now and then he came to a piece that looked as if hours had been put into the image of a stylized clown's visage using only green, black, and purple.

Jason stepped up to the door of his own hideout and read the message spray painted onto the door in black and green. Home is where the bodies rest. Ha, ha, ha! He wasn't shocked that there was a message or even by the words. What shocked him was that it was tagged in the same style as Jason's.

He removed his gloves and pressed both of his hands against the green paint, and it was wet and sticky. He took a step back and blinked, waiting for the feeling of tacky, cold paint to disappear. He waited for his hands to return to their natural pink, but this time they remained green.

"Red Hood!"

Jason glared at the door before him and with a surge of rage he kicked his right foot forward and the door gave way to his force. It opened with no effort, flying backward and into the wall and then slamming into the ground as it came off the door frame.

"Red Hood, what's going on? You need to talk to me, man!"

The smell that engulfed Jason was infinitely worse than it had been on the ground floor. Once again, he threw up, but as there wasn't much left, it was mostly bile he expelled. Still, he choked and dropped to his knees as he fought to regain control of his bodily functions. He stayed on his hands and knees until he was able to breathe normally.

Slowly, he got back to his feet, running his hands through his disheveled black and white hair. He hadn't planned to be without his helmet and so he hadn't sprayed his white streak black.

Jason felt his hands starting to tremble as he made his way deeper into the small apartment. He rounded a corner and was battered by the sound of the Joker's laughter. He covered his ears as his heart rate increased rapidly. Almost every inch of the walls were covered in green and purple 'Ha, Ha, Ha!' Logically, Jason knew that one couldn't hear sight, but it seemed the Clown Prince of Crime had managed to defy the laws of science as Jason heard and felt every cackle that bounced off the walls.

"Hood!"

Anger and fear coincided to create something murderous within Jason as he stormed through the living room and headed into his bedroom. Jason wasn't a coward, he wasn't. But with all his heart he wished to God that he'd just listened to Roy, that he had let someone else clear the building. He stared at the 'gift' left behind and began to dry sob.

Batman received the call from Arsenal and knew that Nightwing would be right behind him. Apparently, Arsenal had been attempting to make contact with Red Hood for the past twenty minutes but without a response. The archer told them he'd heard Jason muttering to himself about lost time in between sounds that Roy couldn't differentiate between hysterical laughter, screaming, or both.

The call unnerved Batman and something in his gut told him that everything he and Jason had worked so hard for was about to go right out the window. Oracle connected moments later, and she and Arsenal started trying to hack into Jason's helmet to see if they could figure out what had happened through the helmet camera.

Once Batman was inside the building, he knew why they couldn't get into his helmet. He found the discarded red "hood" lying in a stair well filled with vomit. The smell accounted for the illness, it was enough that Batman was tempted to put on his own ventilator mask just to avoid the odor.

"Hood doesn't have his helmet on. He's relying on his domino and an earpiece," Batman informed them in his rough gravelly tone.

He started to head up the stairs when he heard the muffled sounds of laughter. It wasn't crying or screaming. It was definitely laughter, the sound deep and terrifying in a way that even Batman couldn't deny. Few things frightened Bruce once he'd lost his parents, but there was no doubt that Batman didn't want to confront whatever he was about to see.

He knew the smell of death like any responder in Gotham should, but this smelled of something both lingering as well as recent. It was in that moment that Bruce realized that the laughter had stopped abruptly.

Jason!

He ran the rest of the way up the stairs as quickly as he could. What he saw in the living room made his head spin and nearly knocked him off his feet. Not only was the graffiti on the walls dizzying, but it was all in Jason's distinctive tagging style. He'd know it anywhere; it was how he'd found the boy not long after taking him in when Jason ran away the first time.

But that wasn't all and that wasn't what made him temporarily lose his equilibrium.

Two rotting corpses were tied together in a seated position. One was wearing a costume similar to the pixie boots outfit that Dick had once worn. The boy's head was beaten in, contorting the face unnaturally, his legs stretched in front of him with several gashes and one compound fracture in the calf of his left leg.

The second look-a-like was wearing the costume Jason wore the longest of his three-year stint as Robin. This one was almost unrecognizable as having once been human. While they were both somewhat bloated, the second was worse. Almost all his fingers were broken; one finger half tore off and Batman knew the damage the crowbar had done, because he'd seen it once already. The boy was likely unbound when Joker started in on him, which was why there were so many defensive wounds along the bare arms, just like Jason's had been.

Batman stared at the two young men who were meant to represent both of his former Robins. But as rotted as the bodies were, they weren't that old. They were too recent to have been killed by Joker, but then who could have done it? Who else could have known?

Was that why Jason was trying to account for his time?

Laughter, low and unhinged startled Batman as he recalled Jason was in some kind of trouble or danger. He ran into the bedroom, and it took a moment to realize what he was seeing. Jason's hair was green with dark red blood dripping over his face, especially his mouth, as he laughed wildly, clutching at a bloody, broken body draped in Robin's colors.

It wasn't possible! It wasn't.

"Murderer!" Batman shouted in agonized rage.

Jason looked up, an incredulous expression morphing into a sinister smile as green bangs fell over his eyes. He held out the body, laughing.

Not again.

Not Robin.

Not again.

Timothy Drake lay lifeless in the extended arms of the Red Hood. The hilt of Jason's League dagger protruded from Robin's heart. There was blood everywhere. Worse, was the Glasgow smile carved into Tim's face and the safety pins that forced the eyes to remain open.

"You killed him!" Batman roared. "You killed Robin!"

He lunged at the laughing maniac as The Red Hood carelessly dropped Tim's body and stepped back near the window. Batman caught the image of a smiling mouth and the ever present Ha, ha, ha! fingered into the grime on the glass pane.

Batman threw himself at Jason, but this time, he didn't step back and for a moment, Bruce blacked out. For a moment, Bruce gave full control to the side of him that wouldn't settle for a cage. He'd killed them! He'd killed all three of those boys in the same disgusting way he'd been murdered! Three innocent young men who had nothing to do with Jason's own demise.

He struck Jason and when the deranged young man laughed, Batman hit him even harder until finally he felt something pop. An orbital bone or maybe Jason's nose.

Bruce shouted and forced himself to back off before he killed Jason.

"Do it!" Jason screamed in an unholy pitch. "Kill me!" He demanded as tears ran down into the blood that covered Jason face. "I can't… I told you I couldn't… No more, Robins!" And then Jason's face contorted from desperate fear to that red hot rage that Jason had always named Red.

"No. More. Robins," Jason's eyes widened as he started to laugh even has his face remained furious. "No more fucking Robins, Batman. I won't allow one fucking more replacement! No! More!"

Bruce felt tears sting his eyes as looked at his third Robin, his third partner, his third ward. He remembered taking Timothy in. He remembered how much he'd fought the boy and tried to treat the young teen with cruelty so that he'd just leave Bruce alone. Timothy had fought so hard to stand at his side and worse, he'd loved and admired Jason best of the two previous Robins.

How could Jason… How could he have killed a boy who looked up to him. How could he have been so brutal? He kept hearing Jason's original promise ringing in his ears. No more dead Robins. He stared at the boy who had been tortured before he died; tortured, and then murdered, and for what reason?

The callous way that Red Hood dispatched criminals had always bothered Batman, but Bruce had been more concerned with and disturbed by the methods Jason had used on the others. The ones that the Red Hood had purposefully drawn out and tormented; men and women who he had burned alive, drown, starved, disemboweled, or impaled.

What could Timothy Drake have possibly done to Jason to deserve such an end? What could any teenager have done? Bruce's blood boiled and the Batman leaped forward at the muttering, cursing lunatic.

Batman dragged Jason to his feet and roared furiously when Jason dared to smile at him. He grabbed Jason by his throat and began to squeeze with all his strength.

"Bet you'll never make another Robin after this," Jason spat as he grinned nastily at Batman.

With an inhuman growl, Batman lifted Jason up with one hand still wrapped about his throat and the other grabbing onto his utility belt. He threw Jason out the tenth story window.

He stared at the shattered glass and froze as he sucked in a deep breath of fresh air. He'd killed someone. He had intentionally murdered. Worse, he'd murdered his own, his Jason. He murdered his precious boy who had been broken and…

He fought himself and his guilt, forced himself to look at Timothy's body. Forced himself to pull Tim into his own arms and grieve his losses. One who'd been solen from him, the other he'd discarded. He sobbed uncontrollably as he clutched another fallen soldier and partner to his chest.

A loud clap rang through the air, followed by another, and then another. He looked up, confused as his eyes moved to the source of the slow clap.

"Talk about killing two birds with one stone, eh Batsy," Joker cackled maniacally.