AN: Yeah so I lost all my work this summer so I had to rewrite both this chapter and the last. I'm not done revising the last one but I am aiming for that to be out around Christmas. Hopefully. I might split it in two to give you guys the first half which is almost done being edited. Sorry for the long wait. Here's a "who will piss Jason off the most" chapter!

Also, warning: near the end of Dick's POV, Orlando's crimes are kinda discussed and it may trigger some of you. I hope it doesn't and it might not even be bad but I still want to warn you. It starts when Tim says "Oh by the way," Tim's voice came through muffled, "I found out who Carlos Orlando is and what he did." and ends at the line.

Dick put a spoonful of cereal into his mouth as he watched his brother pull out his phone and within a couple of seconds, the screen that was put up in the makeshift conference room came to life with a security clip waiting to be played.

"Here we are," Jason sang. "So what I've noticed was—"

"How did you get into our servers?" Cyborg cut him off, looking completely baffled and slightly angry. Reasonable, of course. Some outsider comes in, a known "criminal," and has access to all the secrets of the Justice League. Yeah, Dick could see the cause for concern.

"Wasn't that hard. Anyways-" He let out a long exhale as once again, he was interrupted.

"No no, I personally created the firewalls to protect the network," the half-man, half-machine stated, adamant that his question receives an answer. "It's unhackable."

"Unless you hack it," Jay and Tim say at the same time. Dick chuckled at his two brothers but quickly turned the laugh into a cough once Cyborg turned his glare towards him. He glanced at Jason and let the silent conversation unfold.

'Just answer him so you can move on'

'It's not even that important'

'Just answer the damn question, Jason!'

His brother rolled his eyes but complied. "Alright look. The system is essentially the same one Bats has in his cave and Burger Boy over there," Tim frowned at the nickname, "most likely worked his magic when he got the gig. And I am familiarized with his coding so once I got past your firewalls, brilliant work by the way, it was a simple hop skip and a jump into his backdoor. There, satisfied?" Victor was definitely not satisfied. He turned to frown at the techie Robin, who hid behind his laptop. Getting nothing from Tim, Victor shifted his gaze to Bruce. Dick glanced up at his mentor, curious as to what he would do since clearly, something had to be done. There is no way the League would rest easy knowing the infamous Red Hood has access to their systems. Bruce held up a finger with a slight nod, signaling he'll speak to the gunslinger later.

"No, I most certainly am not!" Cyborg fumed.

"Very well, how 'bout… umm I found the admin password on a sticky note. That work for ya?"

"No."

"Then I don't know what to tell ya."

Victor's frown deepened when Jason stopped responding after that. Next to Dick, Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. This was gonna be a long meeting.

While none of the Gotham heroes, except for Babs, were nearly as good with computers as Tim

was, it wasn't too much of a stretch to imagine Jason breaking into the League mainframe. It's more than likely that his brother has hacked the Batcomputer as well. Plus, Jay has been on his own for a very long time, so knowing how to use a computer was basically a necessity. Hell, he even managed to make himself completely untraceable from the rest of the BatClan. Which was extremely annoying at times.

Then again, it also wasn't a stretch to imagine Jason legitimately discovering the password on accident.

Meanwhile, Jason began rediscussing his findings. "Like I was saying, I've noticed that this alpha alien is controlling the other two. Here, watch this." He pressed play and the clip started, showing an overhead view of the fight that took place the previous night. Everyone watched, or in some cases rewatched, Superman hit the smallest of the aliens away before it recovered and went after Shazam. Without a word, Jason made another video appear on the screen, the same footage only with a different angle, and left the two play at the same time.

In the new video, one could see the largest of the aliens turn its focus to the fight once the little one got hit.

"You see how Tiny right here gets hurt but is able to bounce back and kick ass only after the big guy sees the issue. Well-"

"Wait," Gar spoke up from where he sat next to some of the other titans. Dick smiled as his brother dropped his head to his chest, clearly annoyed that he can barely go thirty seconds without some sort of interruption. "I already know I'm not gonna be able to keep these aliens straight. Why don't we give them names?"

"Because we don't need to!" Jason snapped before forcing himself to calm down. It would do no good to lose his shit over nothing so he took a deep breath and clenched his hand into a fist. It was a tactic taught to all of them. The pain of the nails biting into the skin would redirect their attention, allowing them to focus on the sensation rather than whatever was irritating them.

Dick couldn't help but recall a previous conversation the two of them shared back when Jason donned the yellow R. It was after he first met the League. Jason had basically become the Energizer Bunny with how much he was moving. He recalled Jason telling him about everything that had happened with such enthusiasm that he didn't have the heart to tell the kid that the League had purposefully aimed to impress the youngster, that they weren't the professional group who always got straight to business. Jay would learn on his own in time. Dick allowed his brother the moment of utter glee.

In fact, it was only a couple of meetings after when Dick and Jason stood next to each other, witnessing how the League acts in its natural habitat, not preening for others. Jason had shaken his head in disbelief and whispered how amazed he was that any work got done, to which Dick left out a slight chuckle. That statement was beyond accurate.

Current Jason had let his head fall to his chest and it hung there for a couple of seconds. Those blue eyes looked up and through the dark bangs that acted as a barrier and met his older brother's mirthful gaze. The latter gave a half-shrug and raised his eyebrows in a Having Fun? fashion. Jason rolled his eyes before straightening and returning to the green shape-shifter.

"Look, it'd be a huge waste of time, time we don't have, and besides they're pretty easy to differentiate. The big one literally doesn't move. And the two smaller ones don't even look similar. May I continue?" Looking back, it had been foolish to even bother asking.

"No no, I'm with Gar. I vote we call them the three stooges." Bart suggested. "That big one can be Larry and that blue one-"

"How 'bout we name them after the three musketeers?" Wally countered with his own idea before pausing. "Anyone know their names?"

At that, Jason intertwined his fingers behind his neck and tipped his head heavenward. "How do you not… you know what, I don't c... This isn't important. Like at all. So, for all that is holy in this world, can we please move the fuck along!" The chide for Jason's swearing came from beside Dick, but it either went unheard or ignored. Dick's money is on the latter.

His smile grew at his brother's frustration. Jason is one of the biggest book nerds he knows (Dick's 99.99% positive that he could go to any library, pick any book, and Jason could give a complete synopsis) and he could see the urge in his younger brother's eyes to go on a rant about Dumas' novel, but as mentioned, they didn't have the time for it. They also didn't have time for this entire conversation, yet...

"Let's do yellow, red, and blue. Ya know like after the primary colors! We can call the blue one Blue for starters," the young Jon smiled.

"Actually the primary colors are yellow, magenta, and cyan," Damian said under his breath, irritated that this conversation was even occurring, not unlike his older brother. "Besides, if you are gonna name them based on how they look, then you're able to tell them apart, which renders this entire discussion pointless." Dick waved his hand, signaling to not even bother. Once this group got going, oh boy, there was no stopping them. Best to just let this conversation run its course.

"Ooh, I got it: Bert and Ernie!" Barry shouted excitedly.

Oliver gave him a bewildered look. "But there are three of them…"

"You know what, just call them 1,2,&3. Simple," Clark offered. Dick smiled as Jason had a hopeful look dance across his face. Superman is the leader so he'd be listened to... right?

Dick's delight increased as that hope was completely destroyed, like put in a shredder, lit on fire, then dumped into the sewer. His younger brother threw his hands up in defeat upon seeing Barry shaking his head vigorously. Dick's laughter almost caused him to spill his cereal, which must. Never. Happen. Cereal is far too important in this world. After he recovered from the near-disaster, Dick scooped more cereal on his spoon as he continued to observe the weirdest (best) conversation to ever happen at a Justice League meeting. And that was saying something.

"That's boring," the speedster whined, "How are you gonna be able to tell two and three apart?"

"How are you gonna tell Bert and Ernie apart?!" Clark countered.

"That one has a long head so he'd be Bert."

"Again that's only two and we need three," Oliver reiterated. Next to him, his wife smiled sweetly at his futile attempts to change Barry's mind.

"Wait why don't we just call that one big head then. That way you know who we're talking about," Clark said. He rolled his eyes when Barry mumbled something along the lines of the Kryptonian not having an imagination.

Seeing Jason's growing frustration, Kori leaned next to him and whispered something into his ear. Dick watched his little brother bite his lip to try and fight the smile, but alas, he failed. That's how things were with Kori. You could always rely on her to ease some stress. She could just take one look and know how to fix you. A true angel. A golden, red-haired, perfect angel.

Dick's cheeks flushed when he realized he was staring. But how could he not? The Tamaranean princess commanded attention with her fiery hair and spirit, the way those green eyes rivaled any emerald. He missed her. Yeah, they still talked, but not like they used to. Not like how she was currently talking to his brother. Dick gripped his spoon tighter till his knuckles turned white. His stomach twisted. Now, that's not fair. How come they're so chummy? Wait… what am I saying?

Releasing both the spoon and tension, Dick chided himself. His reaction was unwarranted. Jason and Kori didn't have that type of relationship; they were friends, nothing more. A small voice whispered As far as you know, but he stomped down on that. True, he didn't know if the two of them shared more intimate moments; however, it was not his place to say or do anything about it. He winced at the thought of even trying. Oh, the backlash he would receive from either one of them, God forbid both of them if he attempted to interfere.

Forcing himself to look away, Dick found his eyes on the person to Jason's left. No, his other left. Roy. The redhead's focus was entirely on the odd contraption placed before him. In fact, way too focused. Dick had known him long enough to know that almost nothing could be considered deserving of ADHD redhead's complete attention, especially not the amount that pile of scrap metal and wires was receiving. Dick allowed the voices to become nothing but fuzzy static as he observed the young man. Slight pout. Shaky hands. Refusal to let his eyes even start to drift to his left. Ahh. Dick could have slapped his forehead, it was so obvious. It appeared that the archer and the acrobat were more similar than previously thought. Both had developed the same tactic: repression through redirection. Dick tilted his head. Had something happened between Roy and Kori? Were they not speaking to each other or on

the same awkward middle ground Dick found himself on? Well, hello company, said Misery.

There was pressure in his shoulder, causing Dick to snap out of his reverie. He glanced up and met the questioning gaze of his mentor. Giving a thumbs up in response to the unasked question, Dick took another bite of his cereal as he reassessed the room. Exactly how long had he spaced out? Kori was no longer attached to Jason and the latter now looked like he wanted to slam his head against a wall. Ahh, so not much truly changed.

Several ideas had flowed back and forth between the large group. Even he had to admit, this was getting to be a bit much. Although, he was surprised Bruce hadn't stepped in yet. Normally, a conversation such as this one would have barely even been let out of the gates before the King of a Seriousness pumped the brakes.

He glanced back up and watched as Bruce surveyed the entire room, eyes bouncing from person to person. However, his gaze always returned to one specific person. Holy hell. Dammit, Bruce. That's why he wasn't stepping in. Bruce was waiting to see what Jason would do. He could already see how that would go down. It would be like having a small, containable spark and pouring a gallon of gasoline on top, then acting surprised when the house goes up in flames. Like that 'surprised Pikachu face' (yes, Tim, he knows what a meh-may is). Basically, it was an idiotic move on Bruce's part, as were most whenever Jason was involved.

Dick had to put an end to this, which obviously meant he'd need to come up with some names since that seemed to be the only way out. Sure, he could tell everyone to shut up or something, but that isn't as fun. He went to put another spoonful in his mouth as an idea popped into his head. "How bout we name them after cereal?"

The room glanced between him and the bowl in front of him. Tim was the one to verbalize the question.

"Is it because you're literally eating cereal right now?"

"… no."

"Wow. Said with such confidence."

Dick stuck his tongue out at his little brother, who, in return, gave him a look that said 'How old are you?' before the acrobat claimed, "I'm serious though. The big one can be Capt. Crunch because he's leading them—"

"Actually," Hal said, "Crunch isn't a captain, he's a commander. You can tell by the number of stripes on his sleeve." The group stared at him for a moment before Dick kept going, determined to sell his pitch.

"Anyways! The nasty blue looking one can be Cookie Crisps, we can call that disgusting being CC for short—"

"Whoa! Wait just a moment there!" Roy yelled. "Cookie crisps are amazing! How dare you!" Jason groaned next to his friend. Dick should keep quiet for the sake of his brother's sanity, but this was unacceptable. Roy just started a battle he won't win.

"I'm sorry, but do you have taste buds? Cookie crisps are horrible, you heathen!" Dick shouted back. In his outburst, he stood up too quickly, resulting in hell on earth. The cereal bowl tipped and began its descent to the floor. But to his ultimate relief, Bruce caught the bowl, managing to only allow a couple of drops of milk spill. Dick let out a huge sigh and reached out for the bowl. However, Bruce brought it out of reach with a warning look in his eyes. Dick weighed his options. Get the cereal back or keep arguing. Honestly, it was no contest. Cereal wins. Every time.

He held his hands in surrender (enjoy this victory while it lasts, Roy, because it will not be happening again), smiling when the bowl was gently placed in front of him. Dick was about to eat another spoon when he noticed all eyes on him, bewildered. "Alas, I digress. Where was I? Oh yeah! As I was saying, the other small guy kinda has an orange tint to it so how bout Sonny?"

"Sunny?" J'onn repeated slowly, clearly confused. "I thought you wanted cereals?"

"Yeah, Sonny is the bird who is coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs."

Jason currently sat with his head in his hands, elbows on the table, in complete disbelief. While the conversation had been lighthearted, the fact remained; there was a timer on the world, and Earth's only hope was discussing characters, colors, and cereal as the harsh red numbers ticked down, moving closer and closer to the inevitable all zeros.

The energy of the room changed when Jay slammed his hand on the table. Dick winced. He knew his brother was nearing his wit's end, and he could already see the Hood starting to break through Jason. It is not going to be a pretty sight if that happened. No sir.

"For the love of God, may I continue?! Or would you rather keep sitting on your asses, talking about insignificant bullshit? I could not give a single flying fuck about what to call these aliens as long as we can move the fuck on." The room made no movement, not even Hal made an attempt to further push the young man. When he received no retort, Jason allowed himself to breathe. "No? Wonderful! So, as I was trying to say five minutes ago if you'd watch carefully right as Sups hits the leader— forgive me, CC...wait. Is CC Capt. Crunch or Cookie Crisps?"

Dick raised his eyebrows as Jay paused, taking a deep breath. He lifted his head up towards the ceiling and spoke.

"I'm soooo gonna regret bringing this up, but we technically have two aliens that could be abbreviated to CC, and that's just way too many C's to keep track of. Change one. Quickly," he couldn't stress enough.

"Well technically Cocoa could also be shortened to CC so all three could be called CC," Roy uttered beside him.

"Fine. Captain Crunch can be changed to Tony the Tiger." Dick offered.

"Why not change Cookie Crisps to Tony? After all, it would make sense to keep Captain as Captain since that particular alien seems to be in charge so that one should remain," Wonder Girl proposed.

"Because Frosted Flakes are awesome and don't deserve to be associated with that garbage!" Dick yelled. He mumbled apologies after Bruce cleared his throat, ordering Dick to settle down.

"Ok wow," Jason blinked before waving his hand as he said, "You know what, forget about what I said. I'll just rename Cookie Crisps to Chip."

"Why Chip?"

"Because that's the name of the Cookie Crisps' wolf … I am so sad that I know that."

"As you were saying," Bruce prompted Jason.

"Right," he snapped his fingers, "so it's only after Capt. Crunch realizes there is a threat that it is able to address and respond adequately. Notice how Sups easily bitch-slaps Chip but once Captain sees this, he gives the command for Chip to hit back with just as much force. It just so happens that Shazam was the closest person to be on the receiving end of that force. Don't believe me, here, watch. Look, Cap's eyes kinda glow then bam! Chip is back in the game.

"And here, Sonny is able to chase after Flash once Capt sees that Flash is a new threat. And I can show you several more examples, but I think we're good, so imma move on."

Another video began to play, this time showing the end of the fight when the alpha alien got hit by both a sonic screen and a small explosive. The explosion caused the footage to cut out briefly before resuming, showing the same image as before, the only difference was that there were no more aliens on the screen. The recording ended and Diana was the first to speak.

"A hit to Captain made all of them leave, most likely so it could recover. But the others weren't hurt. Why did they leave with it?" She paused in contemplation before enlightenment dawned on her face. "Oh, so the big one not only controls the others to make them attack us but also to defend itself. I'm guessing Captain is essentially the brain and Chip and Sonny are the limbs. They cannot function without a brain to tell them what to do."

"Well, color me impressed. It's nice to know at least one of you has their wits," Jason smiled. His comments received some grumbles around the room. Which, of course, were ignored. "Anyways, based on what we were talking about before the Brady Brunch here attacked in addition to this, I figured out how to get rid of the bastards."

Jason began discussing how to kill the 'brainy' aliens. Since their attention was split between the two small ones, they were left with a blind spot. And they hated Canary's Cry, so if they used high-pitched noises to divert their attention even more, someone could kill it from the blind spot. And killing it should theoretically kill the others. And even if it didn't, they wouldn't be able to mimic different powers and would basically be headless chickens.

Furthermore, he didn't believe that Captain was the true brain, so if they find and kill that, again, the rest would probably die. But that 'brain' would most likely be heavily guarded on the ship, so most of the heroes would need to distract the majority of the aliens so that a smaller group of the League could take out the real leader.

He pulled up a map of a forest in Russia that had a cluster of clearings spaced between trees. If they separated into groups, the aliens would only be able to mimic the powers of the heroes in whichever clearing they found themselves in.

"What if we had the speedsters running between the clearings?" Barry asked. "And if we can get the aliens to follow us into a different group, we could attack them with completely different powers before they had time to adapt."

"Actually yeah, that would work," Jason affirmed.

Barry smiled, then motioned for Jason's phone. The gunslinger tossed it and Barry began making marks on the map. "Okay, so I say we use these three clearings right here." He labeled three fields that made up almost a perfect triangle. "We use one and two to move the aliens between, and three for almost a rest area. 'Cause I don't know about you guys, but they have us significantly outnumbered and I can't go indefinitely."

Arthur then asked for the phone. Now it should be mentioned Jason and Barry weren't that far away from each other. Barry and Arthur on the other hand…

Jason's eyes went wide and he barely got out a "don't" before Barry drew his arm back and threw the device. Half the room winced as Barry completely missed the mark and the phone hit the wall.

Dick put his hands over his mouth in horror. Arthur gingerly picked up the phone and looked sheepishly at Jason. His brother held his head in his hands, shaking it slightly

"Sorry," mumbled Barry. Oliver smacked the back of his head.

The silence was deafening as the group waited for Jason to react. After a bit, he slid his hands down, placing them together in prayer form, and hooked his thumbs under his chin. Jason met Arthur's gaze and muttered, "Do I wanna know?"

"Actually, it's fine."

Barry's eyes lit up. He placed a hand over his heart and let out a breath. "Phew. Thank god!"

Jason's eyes flicked to his. Barry swallowed. "I mean, of course, it's fine. Why wouldn't it be? You would need a durable phone to do all your maim… I mean... umm… vigilante-ing." Jason hummed, still watching the speedster squirm. Barry glanced next to him with pleading eyes. Oliver leaned back in his chair with raised hands. Barry looked next to him at the archer's wife, who just shrugged with a sparkle in her eyes, not even bothering to hide the beginnings of a smile.

Across the room, Arthur decided to put Barry out of his misery. "Anyways - hey!" He snapped his fingers. Jason dragged his gaze away from the speedster with a blink, attention on Arthur when he opened his eyes. "Anyways, anyone who can fly should be going after the ship. That should be a given right." When everyone agreed, Aquaman continued. "So, the rest of us need to be split into three groups. I like Flash's idea on breaks, but I'm gonna take it a step further. We should just have only two groups in play at one time and have a third group on standby. We just cycle through the groups like so," he drew three arrows on the screen so that each clearing pointed to the one clockwise to it.

"We would just need to decide who goes in which group," he added.

Conversations spurred to life around the room as the heroes came up with more strategies and possible group assignments. Next to Dick, Tim typed on his laptop, muttering under his breath about how to add remote-controlled sentry guns in the trees. Dick let his brother figure out those logistics.

He glanced behind him to see Bruce assess the room. His mouth wasn't stuck in that grimace for once. He seemed, dare Dick say, relaxed. The acrobat huffed out a breath at the idea.

Bruce's eyes shifted down to him. There was a slight twitch in his face. And Dick, being a fluent speaking of Batman-ish, understood. What?

"Admit it," Dick smirked, "you're proud."

"Hmm."

Dick rolled his eyes. "Real eloquent."

Bruce gave him a deadpanned look that had him swiveling away. He took another bite of cereal as he refocused his attention on Jay. He was talking with Riy about the mess of wires and metal in front of them. When his brother went to touch it, Roy caught his wrist. Whatever he said to Jason had the vigilante's hand snapping back and seeking comfort against his chest. Oh, Dick really wanted to be over there now. Jason's eyes were wide and kept shifting between Roy and the contraption. Roy shrugged. Kori tapped Jason's shoulder, and while he slightly turned to accommodate the new conversation, he never looked away from Roy's thingamabob, watching it as if it would suddenly come to life and attack him. What the hell did Roy say?

A few more minutes passed of conversation. Unfortunately, Dick finished his cereal. He slumped in his chair, slowly tracing the rim of the bowl with the edge of his finger.

"Oh no."

Dick followed the noise and turned. Bruce was staring at J'onn, who in turn was staring at Jason. His brother was just talking with Roy and Kori, phone in front of him. When did that happen? It was interesting, but not really significant. He looked back at his mentor. "What's wrong?"

Bruce jerked his chin at J'onn. Dick glanced back, trying to figure out what had captured Bruce's attention. But for the life of him he couldn't. Once more, he turned around. When he shrugged, Bruce sighed.

"Wait for it," he growled. Now it was Dick's turn to sigh.

"Is this gonna be a horrible thing that you could have prevented but for some inane reason, you aren't?"

"Hmm, probably." Dick threw his hands in the air. Unbelievable.

Before Dick could respond, Bruce straightened.

"You are not going to join us, are you?"

Dick whirled around as the room grew quiet. J'onn was still staring at Jason, but now Jason, and everyone else, was staring right back.

Jason's brow furrowed as he contemplated the odd and out of nowhere question. "Pardon?"

"This fight," J'onn spoke. "You are not planning to be there with us."

The attention went to the young man. Jason didn't even have to say anything. The slight resignation in his eyes along with how he squared his shoulders told Dick all he needed.

"You're not fighting with us?!"

Jason didn't even turn towards him. "No."

"But on the roof you said-"

"I said I would listen to your plan, which you didn't even have. Hell, I told you basically everything you need to know. But I never said anything about actually fighting with you." Dick thought back to that night. Technically Jason's right, but he expected more from his brother.

"Hood," Dick pleaded, "You can't be serious."

"Oh, but I can."

"But Batman said-" Shazam started.

"First of all, Batman says a lot of things, most of which are complete bullshit, so don't hang on his words like he's some god." Jason spat out with a sneer. Dick could almost see the steam starting to escape from the black pointy ears next to him. "Second of all, Batman sure as hell doesn't speak for me. He should have been smart enough to know not to make another promise he couldn't keep. But who am I kidding? He does that every other day." Up until this point, Jason maintained eye contact with Shazam, but when he was done, he turned to Bruce with a humorless smile. "Isn't that right, B?"

Dick raised his hand to Bruce's chest, stopping him from moving. Shaking his head, Dick managed to communicate the 'stand down.' However, if the narrowed eyes and clenched gloves were any indicator, he would be ignored. Figures.

Jason tracked every motion, eyes lighting up when his old mentor first moved. He seemed almost disappointed when he realized that Bruce wasn't gonna fight back, but he said nothing. Tim wouldn't stop glancing between Bruce and Jason, muscles tight. Even Damian had reached for the Batarang he always quite literally kept hidden up his sleeve. None of them were quite assured that a fight still wouldn't break out. Damn it, Bruce. Please stand down.

Diana, bless her heart, decided to remove some of the tension. She asked with honest curiosity,

"Why won't you help?"

She slightly succeeded as Jason turned to her (therefore away from Bruce). "Why should I? I've done more in less than two days than you guys have done since this problem first arose. The only thing I agreed to do was listen and I've already gone way past that. Now you're saying I have to do even more?" Diana, to many's disbelief, accepted this answer. She remembered his reluctance and appreciated that he agreed to help in the first place, even if it was through blackmail.

"Think of it as penance," Martian Manhunter offered. "A chance to pay back for the wrongs you believe you've caused."

Oh no. Tread very carefully.

Jason's eyes narrowed as he studied the green alien. Roy tapped Jason's shoulder and when his friend turned to him, the archer muttered a question and Jason gave a small shake of his head with a shrug. He then refaced J'onn, tension in his shoulders and hands behind his back, probably to hide his newly formed fists. "Seeing as many believe my existence is in itself a wrong," he spat with venom," you should probably be a tad more specific."

J'onn pondered for a moment, before saying a name.

"Carlos Orlando."

Jason froze. A million emotions were displayed on his face but Dick couldn't quite lock onto any. Who was Carlos Orlando? And why did just his name cause Jason to spook?

Tim typed something onto his laptop. More than likely he was searching for information on this mystery man.

The other heroes were glancing between J'onn and Jason. Many wanted to ask questions, but something about how the young man reacted kept them quiet.

Jason blinked himself out of whatever revere he had been in. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't seem to find the words he was looking for. Dick had never seen his brother so speechless before. It was unnerving. There was a beat before he managed to speak.

"How do you," he whispered before clearing his throat. "How do you know that name?" It seemed Jason let the power of the false bravado flow through him because he continued with a defiant note to his voice. "And for that matter, how'd you know I wasn't going to fi-"

Something had to be going through his mind because this was a change in Jason. He clicked his jaw shut and straightened. No longer was there confusion in his eyes. No no. That had been burned away from the fire that was currently raging. There was also an eerie calmness about him that made Dick shiver.

He's not gonna lie. Sometimes Jason scared him.

He sees a storm in his brother. There is thunder rolling just under his skin, fighting to release a torrential downpour that would wreak havoc upon everything it touches. Electricity in his veins instead of blood. A true force of nature that is not to be reckoned with. Now Martian Manhunter was strong and powerful. He doubts Jason could take him on and come out the victor. But the Red Hood could. And the young man in front of him was looking less like Jason Todd and more like Red Hood. He firmly believed that if there was a gun in the vicinity, the Martian would resemble a Jackson Pollock piece. Then again, Dick has seen Hood deal substantial damage with just his hands.

But that being said, there was still enough Jason in front of him that gave Dick hope, hope that they weren't about to have a complete massacre on their hands. God, this amount of stress in such little time will cause Dick to go into early retirement. He pulled on the tips of his hair to check for any grey hairs. Phew, he's good for now. Possibly. He'll check later when he has access to a mirror.

Regret appeared on J'onn's face. He placed his hands in front of him in a placating manner. "I apologize. I realize I have made an error in judgment."

"Ya think," Jason seethed.

What the hell was going on?

"Would you prefer if I refrained from entering your mind in the future?" J'onn asked.

Ahh.

Well, this explains Bruce's 'oh no.'

"Gee, I wonder," Jason answered caustically, malice lacing the words. Well, at least some light had been shed on the situation.

While J'onn wouldn't read any member of the League's mind without permission, Jason wasn't a member. In their eyes, he was a criminal. So, Dick could understand why J'onn did it. Still didn't make it acceptable though. Privacy was one of the most important things to Jason. And the one private place anyone could truly rely on is their own mind. If that's taken away…

"However, I believe I should clarify something," J'onn said. When Jason raised an eyebrow, he continued, "When I brought up Mr. Orlando, I was not referring to the actions you took against him."

At the disbelief on the young man's face, J'onn continued.

"You wish you could have done more for those women, do you not?" At the Martian's words, Dick could see all semblance of the Hood leave instantly. While there was almost no perceptible change in his brother's stance, Dick could tell it was indeed his brother in front of him. Jason was doing a spectacular job at keeping his face blank, but no matter how hard people try, humans have no control over the eyes. They're called the windows to the soul for a reason. Those blue-green eyes held pain and regret. He knew that look. It was the same look Jason had this morning in the bathroom. Which now makes sense. Pieces started falling into place. The tense phone call. The even tenser rooftop. Dick might not know the specifics, but whatever happened during that case, Jason clearly took it to heart. He always does whenever things go horribly, horribly wrong.

J'onn attempted a comforting smile before saying, "What happened was unfortunate and I'm truly sorry, but the truth is you can't do more. There is nothing more anyone can do for them. But you can still help others by helping us. If we lose, many will be condemned to a horrible fate. And if we lose, we lose. Your presence on the battlefield might not even make a difference. But if it does, if it truly does make a difference, are you prepared to face the consequences if you decide not to join us?"

The vigilante remained silent.

"I know you've done more than what was asked of you and I know it is unfair of us to continue to ask for your help. But we have to ask it."

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb then transitioned to his full hand as he scrubbed down the lower half of his face.

"You guys really don't take no for an answer," he muttered.

"Not normally, no," J'onn responded. Jason huffed with a small shake of his head. He glanced towards Dick. He silently pleaded with his brother.

Please, Jaybird. Don't do this.

Jason nibbled slightly on his bottom lip.

Please!

His brother flicked his eyes upwards, looking just above Dick's head. He crossed his fingers under the table. Don't mess this up, Bruce.

Dick felt his stomach turn as Jason's eyes hardened. His brother turned back to Martian Manhunter, radiating with his usual defiance.

"Well, no time like the present to start learning. I said no."

Many voices started up at once. There were complaints about his decision, pleadings for him to stay. Dick would have thought it ironic how people's opinions of Jason have done a complete one-eighty if his head wasn't swirling at it all.

But then one voice came across clearer than the others.

"Hey, we don't need this guy," Hal said. "If he is too scared to fight, that's fine by me." To Dick's amazement, Jason didn't rise to the bait. He didn't even dignify the stupidity of that reasoning with an eye roll. Hal thought otherwise.

"Ahh, that's it, isn't it? You're scared." His brother snorted but still didn't say anything. Well, if Jason wasn't gonna defend himself, then Dick would. Big brother mode activated.

"Excuse me, Lantern, but what the hell are you talking about? He literally shot a bomb at that alien. So, why would he be scared?"

"He hasn't given any evidence to suggest otherwise."

"When did he give evidence to suggest he was scared? Hmm?" Dick was starting to get annoyed. And so was Jason.

"You know what? Fine. I don't wanna work with you guys because most of you are either incompetent or assholes. In your case, both." Hal's ring started to glow and Jason met his glare head-on. "Carefully there, it almost looks like you're about to do something incredibly stupid. Which would prove my point."

Hal scoffed, "What? Putting you in your place? Maybe you truly are scared, if you're making threats."

Dick groaned internally. Well, isn't this going wonderfully?

"Oh, that wasn't a threat. You'll know when I threaten you. Trust me." Hal took a couple of steps forward, the ring casting everything around it in a green hue. Jason regarded him nonchalantly. Others around Hal tried to persuade him to return to his seat, but the man shook them off.

"No please, enlighten me. What exactly do you think you can do to me?" Jason shook his head in disbelief.

He took a sip of his cold coffee before saying, "You might have picked up on the fact I am not a patient guy by any means. So, do. Not. Test. Me."

Dick felt like screaming. If he thought Jason and Bruce were bad, then he didn't know how to describe Jason and Hal.

Hal threw his head back and laughed, "You're a special kind of stupid, you know that?"

Jason shrugged, letting the insult roll off him easily. "So I've been told."

At that, Hal sneered, "Oh, let me guess, you're the 'what doesn't kill me makes me stronger' kinda guy."

"No," Jason met his eyes with a smile, "I'm the 'what doesn't kill me better fucking run' kinda guy. So, if you are gonna man-up and actually do something, make it count. Because you won't get a second chance. Or are you too scared?"

Hal turned to Bruce, face red. "I thought you said you would talk to him?"

His brother chuckled, "Aww, you need B to fight your battles? That's cute."

Dick groaned internally as Hal's face darkened. Never let it be said that Jason doesn't know how to make a situation 100% worse.

"You know, I seem to recall you ignoring me telling you no a little while back," Bruce spoke. "Why shouldn't we ignore your 'no.'"

Scratch that. Bruce wears the 'royally fucks shit up' crown. Any humor instantly left Jason's face. Dick could see that fire coming back to life, ready to burn down anything in its path.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because last time, you put an innocent in danger."

"And you could be putting more innocents in danger by not helping us."

"Yeah, could. Not exactly a definite there, Nostradamus. I'm a regular ole' human. Aliens aren't exactly interested in me."

"But they are. So stop being childish. You're helping and that's final."

Jason shook his head in disbelief. His fingers tapped on his legs as he held his breath. Dick knew what he was doing. There ya go, Jay. Calm down. The silence was growing borderline deafening.

Bruce would be a pile of ash right now if looks could kill, that's for sure. Hell, Dick wanted to slap his mentor himself. You would think that Bruce would have learned by now that you cannot order Jason to do anything. As he said at that first meeting, if Jason doesn't want to help, he won't. You can't force him. It would be like trying to capture a hurricane with a butterfly net.

"No," Jason said, much too calmly for Dick's liking, "I'm not. I told you to stay away. You ignored that-"

"One would think aliens threatening the planet would be an exception," Bruce interrupted, gritting his teeth. But Jason continued.

"When you asked for my help, I said no. To which he," Jason pointed at Dick without breaking eye contact, "blackmailed me. Your terms were just that I had to listen to the plan and then decide whether I would help or not. And my decision is no." He squared his shoulders and tilted his head up, meeting Bruce's glare.

Has Dick mentioned how much he freaking loves Diana?! Because she is truly a wonderful woman (ahh, get it? ...sorry).

"Hood," she called softly. He hummed but made no other effort to acknowledge her. Diana walked over and gently gripped his chin. She turned Jason's head, forcing him to look at her, and thus, away from Bruce. She offered a smile before speaking. "Walk with me? Please?"

When he was younger, Jason idolized Wonder Woman. She was his absolute favorite, much to Bruce's chagrin. Dick could only hope that he still admired her enough to listen.

Jason jerked out of her hold and searched her eyes. For what, Dick couldn't say. But he must have found it because he gave a sharp nod. It was only after the pair left that Dick let out the air he didn't know he was holding.

He turned around to glare at Bruce. "Seriously?" His mentor could have at least had the decency to look guilty or ashamed. But then again, this is Batman.

Next to him, Tim added, "And you were doing well, too. But now, you're gonna make me do something I loathe." Dick tilted his head as his brother pulled out a $20 bill and slapped it down in front of Dick. From his other side, Damian reached forward, pulling the money towards him.

"Thank you," the youngest sang. Dick groaned and placed his head on his folded arms. Of course his brothers made a bet on Jason and Bruce.

"Oh by the way," Tim's voice came through muffled, "I found out who Carlos Orlando is and what he did."

Dick lifted his head just enough to read the screen. And the more he read, the more he felt the urge to throw up. His brother dealt with this alone?! They've all had cases go wrong, but this… this was horrific.

Eventually, he couldn't read anymore. For once, he wished a police report had fewer details.

Tim stopped reading before him, his skin a few shades whiter. Bruce still kept that blank mask on, but his fists were clenched tight. Damian tried to see but both he and Bruce held him back, causing the youngest to pout. That's fine; he can deal with a crabby Damian.

Dick placed his head back in his arms, vivid images of bloody women filled his head. The report said they had been raped, even after death. That alone turned his stomach. Some were beaten that they still have yet to be identified. Some were burned, others whipped. One woman was mauled by dogs. A couple had their necks snapped. A few were stabbed or shot. The police even suspected that some deaths were suicides.

The youngest girl was 8. He shuddered.

Orlando was a sex trafficker. Why kill merchandise (he gagged at the word)?

He shook the thought away. He doesn't care. Dick knows he should, but he doesn't at the moment. His thoughts drifted towards his brother.

He didn't read far enough to know if Orlando was dead. Jason was always particularly vindictive towards sex traffickers and if he stumbled across that… Well, who is he kidding? Dick knows Jason saw. Was it enough for his brother to break his no-kill streak? Would Dick even be mad if he did kill Orlando?

He would like to say no, that scumbags like Carlos Orlando deserve to rot in hell. But he still can't condone the taking of a life, no matter who.

At least Dick knows exactly what made Jason throw up this morning and put that haunted look on his face when J'onn said… his name.

If he is being honest with himself, he wished he didn't.

Jason wanted to hit something. Bad.

Diana hadn't said a word when they walked away from the room. She had led him away from any burning ears and he allowed the silence to wash over him. It was almost cathartic. Almost.

Fucking Bruce.

Nope. Think about something else. His mind went blank. Great.

As though sensing his need for a distraction, Diana finally spoke.

"How are you, Jason?" He stopped in his tracks. Jason narrowed his eyes and suppressed the urge to take a step away. He opened his mouth, but Diana held up a hand.

"Yes, I know your name. Don't worry, I don't plan on sharing it." She jerked her head, signaling him to continue walking with her. He did but kept a safe distance between them. "You're probably wondering exactly how I know your name." It wasn't a question, but he nodded anyway. "Well, I'll admit it took me a bit. But you seemed awfully familiar to me and I couldn't put my finger on why."

She led them down a corridor where the lights seemed less harsh. "The way you interacted with Richard should have been a dead giveaway. That, plus the fact he actually called you his brother earlier. And he doesn't use that term lightly." Jason held back an eye-roll. Leave it Dick to let something that stupid slip. "But I hope you'll forgive me for my less-than-stellar detective skills at that time. My mind was otherwise preoccupied.

"Then, you interacted with Batman. I thought to myself, 'You know who he reminds me of? That little Robin who used to stir up trouble with anything that breathed.'" She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "You would have liked him. That boy could start an argument in an empty room."

Jason snorted.

"He was a sweet thing, though. Hot-headed for sure but had a good heart. When we heard of his death, oh there aren't words."

He paused and closed his eyes. Breathe. Jason always hated hearing about his death. The way people talked about it always rubbed him the wrong way. They were too gentle, carefully choosing words as if the wrong one would break him. Or they would pretend it was some grand secret he wasn't privy to. He knows about it. He was there too. The worst was the pity. Especially from Dick. The asshat would use those big golden retriever eyes and ask if he was okay, if he needed anything. He knew that Diana would have the same look on her face.

Why people still dwelled on it, he'll never know. He's moved on. Or at least he tries to. But every time he thinks he finally managed to put his death behind him, one of his dumbass siblings, or hell, even Bruce, will dredge it right back up. He gets it. He died. Let. It. Go.

Jason prepared himself for the inevitable, taking one last breath. Then he opened his eyes. And there it is.

Diana had a soft smile with searching eyes. Oh god, she probably thinks he was just having some horrid flashbacks or some other shit. She raised an eyebrow and he gave a quick nod.

"Bruce took it particularly hard." He kept his eyes forward as they continued their journey. Yes yes, he knows. He only hears about it all fucking time. After every argument, he'll get a text, call, or his least favorite, a personal visit. Usually from Dick. Sometimes Alfred or Tim. And they all say the same thing.

"Oh Jay, if you only saw him" or "he was quite distraught, Master Jason." Again, he gets it. At some point he might have even cared. But once you hear it over and over and over again in an attempt to make you feel guilty and make amends, well, it loses its appeal real quick. And - oh she's still talking about Bruce. Wonderful.

"-never seen him that bad. And trust me, I've seen him go through hell before." Jason only hummed. Ever observant, he caught the quick frown. What was she expecting? Him to go all 'aww poor Brucie?' Ha, fat chance.

"We still miss that boy, you know." Me too.

"So, imagine my surprise when I realized that this infamous Red Hood and that Robin are one and the same." Not quite.

"The thing that really confirmed it was your eyes. You got quite a unique color that I have never seen on anyone else. All you Gotham boys are like that. They seem just a touch greener than I remember. Though, I could be mistaken." Ahh, yes. Thank you, Lazarus Pit.

Diana stopped walking and turned so she stood in front of him. "Jason," she met his indifferent gaze, "I'm not going to try to change your mind about this. You made your decision and I respect it." I sense a but coming. "But I ask you to think about what that young boy would say if he were here."

She smiled again and squeezed his shoulder before walking back the way they came. Which left him all alone, completely unsupervised in the base of the world's greatest defenders. Who apparently were morons.

He leaned against the wall, letting his thoughts take over. What would that young boy say? Jason wanted to laugh. He knew exactly what that boy would say. You have to help! People are in danger and we have to save them! Come on, it'll be fun! We'll be heroes!

He shook his head. That kid was even more of an idiot than half the League. He was filled to the brim with hope and saw the good in people. He thought it was safe to rely on those who were supposed to protect him. Absolute fool.

That kid knew she cared more about her needles than him. So why did he think she changed? Because he was a fucking idiot.

Jason rubbed a hand down his face. Diana was right. That boy had a good heart. But it stopped beating.