Okay buckle your seatbelts. It's gonna be quite a ride…

Replies to Reviews:

Bloodyloveless: Omgg…lol, cliffhangers are the bane of my existence—they show up even when I don't expect them or plan them (I swear). Well, honestly I feel like anything at the end of the chapter is going to feel like a cliffhanger LOL. Hehe yeah jealous jason~ I can't wait to see a seriously jealous Bruce though. Barbara is sharp yo. She just picked it up because Jason was being so obviously annoyed. I don't think she figured that he has feelings for the elder—well Jason hasn't fully fathomed that himself yet. They do have a lot to talk about but that's going to be pushed to the side for now since its about get complicated—as you'll see. Thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer in first chapter.

Chapter 10

As soon as Batman found his partner missing from the site he left him, he was speeding towards the warehouse. The elder didn't even wait to brake and hopped off the batcycle when he reached the hill. Batman barged into the warehouse, violently swinging the door open, nearly hitting Jason who was now lying two feet away from it. "Robin!"

The teen looked up, not believing his eyes. "Batman—" The elder rushed towards him, noticing the ticking time bomb instantly as he gathered him in his arms. "—I'm sorry." Even in that moment, Jason's guilt weighed heavier on him, but Bruce ignored everything else and jumped out of there; the explosion going off behind them, throwing them multiple feet across the snow.

The warehouse now burned behind them, wooden planks and rafts flying from the skies along with debri as the smoke spread.

Jason panted, having trouble breathing while Bruce's larger body was right on top of him. "Batman…?" He called out in concern as a wooden plank sat over them.

Batman straightened up, stifling a groan while the plank fell off him. "Are you okay?" He mouthed looking down at Jason's torn domino mask.

"…" The teen only stared up initially, in disbelief that they actually made it out alive. He would never take life for granted after this. "Ye-yeah." That was a lie, he could hardly move a muscle—his body was so sore and literally breaking apart.

The teen was waiting for a scolding but speechless when it never came. "Can you walk?" The inquiry was voiced instead.

Jason gulped, lying on the cold snow. "I…I wish. Sorry, I can't feel any of my muscles right now…"

Without warning, Batman firmly hoisted him up and took him to the nearest airport. Phoning Alfred, he ordered him to send a private jet to pick them up in that instant. Jason needed urgent medical attention. The teen just stayed pressed against the elder the entire time, leaning into his warmth in the freezing cold while his body ached.

Due to the time difference, it was still mid-day in Gotham and Alfred was already prepared for their landing. He had his medical supplies out and had also called in a few doctors incase they needed professional expertise—which they did. In the end, the younger was heavily dosed on morphine, his arms and legs were in casts, one of them in a sling. His head was bandaged and iced because of the concussion and he suffered multiple broken ribs. The doctors were set on inducing him in a temporary medical coma to allow faster healing but the elder held off on that. For now, he was attached to an IV drip and his vitals were closely monitored.

'Oh dear…' Alfred could all but think. None of them saw this coming. The teen was walking, talking, laughing with them just a day ago.

"Dick is gonna kill me…" Jason let out in a dehydrated raspy voice. Bruce was standing right beside him, not having left since the moment they returned. The elder frowned at that. "You have to take me home…"

"Jason, you're very hurt right now and in no state to be moving around." Bruce sternly told. That is, if he could move properly.

"I know…that's why I said take me there." The teen still had the brain cells to play semantics with him. Bruce appeared extremely hesitant to no surprise. "…And…" Jason averted his eyes, expression pained. "I think it's time to tell them now…there's no other explanation we can give to how this happened…" Even a motorcycle accident wouldn't cut it. Knowing Dick, he'd ask way too many questions, and frankly he didn't have the energy for all that. Plus, he was getting tired of the lies and sneaking around anyways.

The elder gave him a stern look before giving a short nod. He agreed and glanced at Alfred who understood the silent command. The butler walked over and removed the IV drip—which was more than halfway done— from the teen. "Good luck." Alfred genuinely wished. Bruce gingerly lifted Jason in his arms, who rested his cheek against the his collared shirt, leading him to the car and placing him in the backseat. Bruce sat right beside his laying body, resting the teen's head on his lap as Alfred drove them to the apartment.

Meanwhile Dick was pacing about at home, phone in hand, ready to dial 911. He rang Jason a couple times now and earned no response in return. The teen was supposed to be back last night and now it was late in the afternoon the next day. He was seconds away from reporting him missing.

That's when the door bell rang and Dick practically ran towards it, swinging the it open. His face paled when he recognized an all bandaged up Jason in Bruce's arms, nearly fainting on the spot. "Oh my God, Jason?!" He stepped away impulsively, leading Bruce in, who placed him on the couch. "What happened?!"

"We need to talk." Bruce strictly announced and his serious expression wasn't comforting Dick at all. His elder brother sat down on the single armchair. From there, Bruce began from the beginning, how he met the teen, who he assumed was an orphan living on the streets to trying to make his life better and use his potential into becoming Robin. And then their most recent endeavor which led Jason in this predicament. Bruce blamed himself for not emphasizing to the teen strong enough but Jason interjected saying it was solely his fault for going out there on his own.

"Leave," Dick rumbled, his forehead low on his locked fingers as his brain tried to process all the information he was subjected to. He couldn't believe his ears. He just couldn't. "Mr. Wayne, please leave. I can't believe you would intentionally put him in such danger."

Bruce was silent, guilty as charged. "Dick…its not like that…" Jason whined.

"As you wish, I'll leave for now, but I will be back. If there's anything you need—" The elder stood up but was cut off.

"You've done enough." Dick spat with venom, slamming the front door after the billionaire was out.

"I agreed to this too—" Jason reasoned.

"You're just a kid! A freakin' teen who just graduated high school—what do you know?! It's his fault for even putting you through this! Batman? A sidekick? For real?! Who are you kidding!?"

"Like I said, I'm the one who didn't follow his orders and went after the joker!"

"It doesn't matter! You could've seriously died! On top of that look at yourself! You've ruined your future, there's no way you can do anything or finish the semester in that shape! Che." Dick covered his mouth with his hand, holding back tears but the crack in his voice was apparent. The elder ended up breaking into a sob anyhow, turning away, sucking in a sharp breath. It hurt Jason to see him like that, even if he had a point. He'd go and hug him, but he struggled to even walk properly with all the casts.

"'m sorry…"

"Damn right you are." Dick sniffed, wiping his tears. "Jason. No more robin please. No more vigilante. No more batman. None. Just Jason Todd."

That felt like a dagger to Jason's heart and existence. He found meaning, found a father figure, found someone he loved (?) by being robin. It was a part of him now. He couldn't just abandon it because things became a little difficult… Why? Why did the universe keep doing this to him? When he finally found something meaningful, loving, it was going to tear it away from his fxcking hands.

Jason closed his eyes. He was too exhausted to argue.

"Come let's get you to bed, I'm sorry, we can always talk about this later. Focus on healing first." Dick saw that and retracted. Him and Tim, who was anxiously watching from the bedroom door frame helped Jay into the bedroom. Tim lay besides him the entire time, eventually falling asleep. Meanwhile Jason couldn't catch a wink of sleep as he lay there for two hours. This was his room, his comfort zone, so why was he struggling to relax?

He stared at the ceiling, and he swore the warehouse ceiling kept flashing back and forth before his eyes, blending with his own ceiling. It was rejuvenating all the sores and bruises on his body, with the taste of metal coming back into his mouth.

'Was this how it would all end? In the hands of this psycho, alone, beaten to death…?' Jason tossed his head to the side. 'Fxck.' He clicked his tongue. 'Don't think about it—I'm not there anymore.' The sensations made his blood shiver and boil at the same time. For some reason, he couldn't feel his fingertips as he lay there. Then the bell ringing once made him jump out of his skin. Tim was still asleep, curled up adjacent to him. 'Was it Bruce?'

"I thought I made myself clear." Jason heard Dick say to the visitor. "He doesn't need Batman or Bruce Wayne right now. Far from that. If—if it wasn't for you, he wouldn't be in this—" Dick sounded enraged but equally upset at the same time. Dick was holding back tears again, and Bruce placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I apologize for what you're going through," Bruce began but Dick shrugged the hand off.

"We trusted you—che—forget it, why are you even here?"

"Jason needs medical and personal attention. I'm here to take him to the Wayne manor where I can provide that. Alfred is already preparing everything for him. He needs proper supervision and nutrition—not that I doubt your genuine care, but I think the former would be proficient."

"No. We don't want to have anything to do with—" Dick crossed his arms and ranted but was interrupted by a weak voice.

"Dick…" The pair turned to Jason who was trembling as he struggled to stand by the bedroom door, face evidently contorted in pain.

"Jason! Don't stand!" Dick rushed towards him as he slid down the door frame. Bruce was also by his other side in an instant.

"Bruce…" Jason meekly let out.

"I'm here." Bruce held one of his hands, as he collected the teen in his arms again, hoisting him like he had been doing so all this time—much to Dick's displeasure. "The car is waiting outside, I don't plan to take him there alone. Please get Timothy as well." Bruce turned one last time towards Dick who gawked at him in shock.

"What?"

"Now."

"ugh…" Dick couldn't fathom why he had to comply but he did. He packed the necessities including pajamas, and toothbrushes and followed. They rode in Bruce's limo and the elder kept Jason snug on his lap the entire time, who was breathing a little heavy. Bruce felt his wrist and it seemed he was beginning to run a mild fever.

"Let me know if you need anything." Bruce softly whispered to Jason, who weakly nodded closing his eyes. The billionaire's grip on his upper arm tightened, with a clench in his jaw, seeing the usually spirited ravenette so feeble like this.

The teen couldn't describe how peaceful it felt in his arms that he ended up falling straight asleep, not waking up again after that. As soon as they entered the manor, Alfred hooked Jason to an IV drop and a doctor examined him once again. His vitals were unstable and he had exerted his body too much, to the point where they determined it was only appropriate to put him in a medically induced coma for a few weeks, just to give his body some leverage again and allow it to heal.

Dick could only shake his head, concern engulfing him as he secretly prayed the teen would recover from all this.

"I appreciate your cooperation. This is all for Jason's wellbeing in the end." Bruce met him in the hallway, while they let Jason sleep away in peace.

"Hmph. I would say that I hate to impose but considering what you've put him through, I take that back." Dick was still understandably hostile and no amount of Bruce's charm was going to work this time. "We're only here until Jason heals fully."

"…Of course." The elder resorted to saying. For now.

Dick didn't know how he slept that night. The next morning, first thing when he woke up he reached for his phone and dialed a number.

"I need to see you right now." Dick virtually ordered before hanging up. He got dressed, checking once on Tim who was fast asleep in one of the guest bedrooms and then on Jason who was in his own world, his vitals calm as he soundly breathed into the oxygen mask.

Dick commuted from the Wayne manor to the main city, meeting an old friend at the bus stop. "Yo~" His best friend, Wally, waved with a carefree grin on his face.

"Wally…" Dick couldn't hold back the emotions and ran towards him, throwing his arms around him. "I don't know what to do…"

"Whoa, hey hey, it's okay, breathe." The redhead patted the back of Dick's head as he embraced him back. The ravenette pulled back momentarily.

"I don't how it all happened…how did our life just flip like this? I've been so stressed since yesterday…"

"You're not making any sense right now. Why don't you tell me all about it—let's talk over breakfast? I'm assuming you didn't eat anything either." Wally flashed him his usual welcoming consoling smile.

"Thanks Walls, I can always rely on you."

"That's what best friends are for." Wally led them to a nearby café. 'Best friends…'

They made their orders and picked a table. As soon as they did, Dick began spilling his concerns and what recently happened to Jason which was the bane of all his stress. And he knew he could trust Wally with all this information.

'So he found out Batman is Bruce Wayne.' The redhead thought, acting normal. What Dick wasn't aware of was the fact that Wally West was Kid Flash (even if he was no longer a kid). And while he had heard of a Robin, he never would've imagined in a million years that it was Jason—his best friend's younger brother. "That's crazy…" He voiced.

"You're telling me. It's unreal."

"So how is Jason now?"

"In a coma." Dick visibly tensed at that.

"Look, it's going to be okay. This is Jay we're talking about—that kid survives through everything and you have one of the richest people looking after him, they won't leave his care half-assed." Wally assured.

"I know…but I hate them. I can't believe they put him in that position…"

"I know you're upset Dick but this is Batman we're talking about—he wouldn't force Jason. Jason had to have agreed."

"I don't care about that—he's an idiot—do you expect him to make the right decision. You know how impulsive he can be."

"Right but…I think you give him less credit than what he deserves."

"Whose side are you on?" Dick comically glared at him.

Wally held out his hands in defeat. "Yours of course—no question about it."

"Good." Dick straightened again and sipped his coffee.

"So you guys are living at the Wayne Manor? I'm envious~"

"Hmph. I could care less."

"Liar, you used to a be a fan of Wayne, always admiring how cool he looked, how capable he was, yata yata." The redhead teased.

"S-shut up—well either way it doesn't matter anymore." The ravenette fought a blush. "I've come to see his true colors now."

"Now now, give the man a chance."

"Were you even listening to anything I said?" Dick deadpanned while his friend only grinned in response. 'Geez he hasn't change at all.' Though that was refreshing—Dick didn't mind that as a flashback played in his head to the first time they met.

To Be continued…

Yay~ Wally is here~! Our optimistic happy go lucky carrot haha. Okay I don't know why I called him that. Anyways, thanks for reading and plz review~ Next chapter we'll get a sneak peek into their meeting while Jay is in slumber world haha.