Batbrothers

Hurt/comfort

(Damian's still with his mother)

~

Dick was fuming.

Not because they couldn't stop that woman from getting shot. Not because the rapist got away. No, it was none of the above. His rage-filled glare was neither directed at the corpse lying next to him and his two brothers, nor the dark ally the man had just escaped through. It was directed directly at one of his brother, the red helmet tucked under his arm, glaring right back at Dick.

No one could have prevented the woman from getting shot, but letting the man get away, that could have been prevented easily. But Jason, who still hadn't got over the fact that he had been replaced, had to scream in Tim's face, yelling that he should have stopped the woman from being murdered.

Tim on the other hand, who had been fed up with Jason's perpetual nagging, threw it right back at him, asking why he even cared; he had killed people himself. And that's when the first punches were thrown.

Dick, conflicted between going after the rapist and stopping the fight between his brothers, had decided to do the latter, pushing Jason away from Tim. And that's how they had ended up in this stare-off, both glaring daggers at each other, while Tim held his bleeding nose. Fights weren't unusual, but the one thing that made Dick's blood boil? Jason seemed to have forgotten that Tim hadn't been the only replacement in the family. "Robin," Dick hissed through clenched teeth, hands fisted. "Would you excuse us for a second?" It wasn't a question and Tim nodded mutely, retreating.

Now alone, Dick turned his burning glare back at the bigger boy, who relaxed his fighting stance and leaned back against the wall, a slight huff leaving his lips. "Don't even say it, Golden Boy. I already know what you're gonna tell me. But I'm not apologizing to the brat."

"And what about the woman?" he spit, nodding his head at her corpse. "Maybe you should apologize for letting her murderer get away."

Jason's eyes narrowed dangerously and his causal facade dropped as his shoulders tensed. "That wasn't my fault," he growled, but Dick had had enough. He knew that he was moving on thin ice, angering Jason often ended in Jason's eyes flashing in the green of the Lazarus Pit, but he'd put up with his antics for way too long now.

"Oh, yes? Not your fault? From what I can remember, you started the fight with Robin, not the other way around. No one could have saved that woman, Hood. And you know that. You were looking for a fight and I'm sick of it! If you can't stand Robin, fine, but if your ego gets in the way of doing our duty, then maybe you shouldn't be here!"

Jason looked taken aback, eyes widening, but Dick didn't feel sorry, Jason needed to hear this. "I can't say I understand what you went through, Hood," he continued, voice softening as the fight drained out of him, "I can't come close to understand the pain and suffering you were put through. And I know that the Lazarus Pit messed with your head. And I'm not saying you haven't made process, heck, you aren't trying to kill us anymore, that's a win, but the way you're treating Robin, that's not okay. He is a good kid, Red."

At that, Jason snort bitterly and something clenched inside Dick as he realized that Jason's hands were trembling slightly. He couldn't say if it was because of anger, or...

He hadn't ment to hurt Jason, he only needed him to hear the truth.

"He is a good kid," echoed Jason, voice dripping with resentment. "Of course he is. He's more like Batman than I ever have been. How long did B. mourn me exactly? Two weeks? And then he went out, looking for the next kid to sacrifice to his crusade!"

Dick shook his head, sighing tiredly, shoulder slumping slightly. He was mentally drained. "That's not how it went," he reassured Jason, running a gloved hand through his hair. "Batman was getting reckless after your death. He started to get more aggressive, sending low life criminals we normally would have send to the police with a headache to the hospital. And he wouldn't listen to me. Someone had to do something."

Jason shook his head stubbornly, crossing his arms. "So he just chose the next best kid to carry on where I left off- oh right, I was murdered, I didn't just leave!"

"That wasn't Robin's fault!" countered Dick, voice raising in volume.

"He came to Batman," Dick continued, lowering his voice again. "Robin saw him spiralling towards the darkness, so he made it his personal mission to help him."

Jason snort again and as he spoke, there was just hollowness in his voice.

"So what? He went to Batman and said, 'Hey, I wanna be Robin. Your last sidekick died, but what the hell'?"

Dick shook his head, pursing his lips at Jason's stubbornness to understand that Bruce hadn't tried to replace him. "No, he figured out our identities."

"What?!" Jason sounded genuinely shocked and Dick could detect a hint of impression.

"And first, Batman rejected him, but Robin stuck to his guns. So eventually, after Agent A. and I encouraged him to accept Robin's help, B. agreed to train him."

Jason shook his head again, sneering at Dick. "That doesn't change the fact that he replaced me!"

"And you replaced me!"

The words were out before Dick could take them back.

Jason's eyes flashed green for a moment and Dick knew he'd hit a nerve. "That's different," snarled Jason, taking a few steps towards his older brother. "You left, Nightwing. You left and gave up being Robin. I was dead! Robin had no right to-"

Dick snapped. Striding forwards, he pushed Jason against the wall, his forearm pressed against Jason's chest. "And Batman had no right to take Robin away from me!"

At that, Jason blinked, trying to understand the meanings of Dick's words, and the elder of the two could see the confusion on his brother's face. "Wait, you didn't leave willingly?"

Dick snort dryly, letting go of him and taking a few steps back. "B. fired me. I was hit by a bullet, it was a close call." He sighed, slumping to the ground, sitting cross-legged and waited until Jason sat down in front of him. "I- He told me I wouldn't be Robin anymore after I was healed. We had a pretty bad fight, which ended with me leaving. I just couldn't imagine he'd actually..."

"Replace you?" offered Jason, sounding less offensive. Dick nodded. "None of you two have the right to be Robin without my approval, but Batman gave you my costume and my name anyway."

Jason groaned, raising his head to look into the night sky. "I guess you made Robin Robin, huh? Must have sucked to see me act differently than you would have."

"It's not that," muttered Dick, chewing on his bottom lip. "Do you know why Robin is called Robin? And why the costume is so colourful, even if black would be much stealthier in a city like Gotham?"

Jason shrugged. "Batman is strange, I learned not to question his decisions."

Dick shook his head slowly, trying to push the anger down that arose every time he thought about Bruce giving his name away. "You're wrong."

"Huh?"

"Batman didn't create Robin. I did. My mom used to call me her little Robin. It was a joke because of the trapeze flying. She always said I looked like a Robin." He smiled sadly, while Jason listened carefully. "And the costume has the same colours my circus costume had. It was supposed to remind me of who I am." He shook his head. "And B. destroyed that by giving it away. He knew what it meant to me. Being Robin, I felt closer to my parents than ever and he took that away."

Jason hadn't expected that. He knew Bruce was an idiot sometimes, but that... "I'm sorry, 'Wing, I didn't know."

The acrobat shook his head to clear his thoughts, putting his trademark smile back on. "It's fine. The person you should apologize to is Robin. He just tried to help, and when you came back, he was ready to step down and let you be Robin again."

Jason frowned. "Really?"

"If you had talked to him, instead of shooting at him, you would have known that."

Jason considered it for a moment, before sighing in defeat.

"Where is the brat?"

A small laugh escaped Dick and he pointed to a building a few feet away. "Up there."

Jason groaned as he realized that he seriously had to apologize to the kid now. "Screw it," he muttered, grappling towards the rooftop the Replac- Robin would be waiting. After apologizing, he would go shoot some thugs to feel like himself again and not like some softy.

~

Just a little something that has been bothering be since forever. (Jason has no right to be angry at Tim for "being his replacement", after all, he replaced Dick, too!)