Woah, thanks so much for all the support! It means the world to me. I'm not perfectly happy with this chapter but I'm not sure how to fix it, so hopefully it's good.

Chapter Two: Brothers and Crushes

"So he found it," Jason mumbled to himself as he stared at his laptop. He'd come back home after patrol and the first thing he'd done was plop himself down on his couch and check to see if Phantom had found the bug he'd planted in the phone he'd given him. Since he was no longer receiving the bug's signal, Phantom had clearly found and destroyed it. That was exactly what Jason had been hoping would happen. Phantom wasn't dumb, and he didn't trust Jason; exactly what he'd wanted.

"So he's not a complete moron," he said to himself as he stretched and got up, heading for a shower.

...

Later in the day, while he was sprawled on the couch with a bag of chips, he got a text from Tim.

Tim: How'd it go with Phantom?

Jason: Good, he found the bug, so he's not a total moron.

Tim: That's good. Are you going to try to plant another one on him?

Jason: Don't know yet. Not sure what the point would be.

Tim: To know his secret identity.

Jason: Yeah, but what's the point? Not like knowing that would do me any good yet. If he starts acting suspicious I will, but for now…

Tim: Just be careful.

Jason: Fine dad.

Tim: See you tomorrow?

Jason: Yeah yeah.

Jason ended the conversation by throwing the phone down next to him on the couch. He then continued to eat his bag of chips as he contemplated his first patrol with Phantom.

...

That night's patrol went smoothly. Jason spent most of it tailing Phantom and watching while he handled the Narrows thugs. He was pretty sure Phantom knew he was watching him the whole time, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to hide from the guy; he always looked right where Jason was hiding after he stopped a mugging or scared off some crooks. About half way through the night, Jason gave up and headed out to the docks to scout some more.

...

As he had found the night before, there were guards posted outside an abandoned warehouse. Whoever was running the operation wasn't stupid though, the guards were disguised. They wore ratty old clothes and sat slumped against the building under dirty blankets. But Jason could see the edges of automatic guns poking out under the rags. The last time he was here, he'd snuck into the building to find no one home. But today, it looked like there were lights on inside.

Sneaking around to the side of the building, Jason scrambled up the crumbling wall to a small window set near the roof. The glass had long ago been knocked out, so he grabbed onto the edge and slowly pulled himself up to look inside.

'Bingo,' he thought to himself. Near a dozen men milled around the building, shifting the contents of crates into duffel bags. Jason caught the glint of weapons and grinned under his helmet. He knew this was going to be fun.

Quietly, he pulled himself through the window and into the rafters. Creeping along, he tried to find the leader of the group, but he didn't seem to be in. With a sigh, Jason started to pull his guns out, when he got a better idea. Instead, he reached for his phone, and after making sure it was silenced, a pointless gesture as he'd already checked it three times before heading out, he texted Phantom.

Red Hood: Meet me at this address, we've got some gun smugglers to take out. Enter quietly. South side window.

Phantom: On my way.

And so, Jason settled down to wait. He didn't have long, Phantom was there in ten minutes, climbing through the window with absolutely no sound and settling next to Jason in the rafters.

"What do we do?" he whispered right near Jason's ear. With all the clanging and bickering the men below were doing, there was no way they heard.

"The leader isn't here," Jason explained. "We knock out all but one, and get that guy to tell us where to find his boss." Phantom nodded and Jason pointed him to one end of the warehouse before climbing through the rafters to the other side. On his signal, they both dropped.

"What the?!" a huge brute said just before Jason's boot smashed into his face. A cry went up from the other side of the building and Jason just caught the edge of a green light. The warehouse doors behind Jason slammed open as the guards burst in.

"It's the Red Hood!" one exclaimed before he got a rubber bullet to the knee. He went down with a cry as the bone shattered. Jason lunged behind a crate as the second man got his gun up and started firing wildly. One of his buddies cried out as he was caught by a stray bullet.

"Shit," the guard said as he stopped firing, giving Jason the opening he needed to take out both his knees. Unfortunately, men can still shoot with shattered bones, and the first guard got out a handful of shots. One hit Jason square in the chest and knocked him flat on his back. It'd hit his Kevlar, so he'd be fine, but it still hurt like a bitch. Jason aimed a shot at the thug's hand from his place on the floor and heard the satisfying sound of fingers shattering.

Jason launched himself back to his feet and whirled around, three more men had reached him, and all were holding weapons. Jason fired first. All three went down clutching broken hands, and knees, and shoulders. Jason ran over them, not caring what, or who, he crushed under boot and came upon another two men. They were facing toward him, weapons raised, and Jason caught sight of Phantom running into view behind them. The men fired at Jason and he nodded to Phantom before he dove behind a support column. There was the sound of a boot hitting flesh and a green flash of light, and the gun fire stopped.

Jason came out from behind the pillar. Phantom stood over the men, a grin on his face that was anything but cute. There was a spray of blood across his face that Jason didn't think was his, and his fists were still clenched at his sides.

"Did you leave any conscious enough to talk?" Jason asked, and Phantom's grin only widened as he gave him his answer.

"Over here." Phantom waved Jason behind a pile of boxes to a man sitting on the floor, encased up to his chin in ice. Jason whistled.

"So you weren't kidding about the ice," he said. The thug looked at Jason and Phantom and tried to sneer, but his teeth were chattering so badly it just looked silly. Jason knelt next to the trapped man and put his gun to the guy's temple.

"Now you're going to tell us who you work for, or I'll leave you here to get frostbite on your...," at this Jason purposely turned his head down, looking at the guy's lap. The thug got the message.

"His name's Dug, he likes to hang out at that strip club on Barrow Row. That's all I know! I ran into him there and he offered me the gig! That's all I know I swear!" the thug squeaked out. Jason just sighed and stood up.

"Unfortunately, I believe you," Jason said, and he turned to walk away.

"Wait! You gotta get me out of here!" the thug pleaded.

"Don't worry, the cop's will be along soon to thaw you out!" Jason called over his shoulder. He didn't check to see if Phantom was following.

...

"What now?" Phantom asked as they stood on the roof of a nearby building and watched the cops drag the men away.

"Now, you go back to patrol and I go find this Dug guy," Jason said with authority. Just then an alarm went off in his helmet, it was reminding him that it was 4am. "Tomorrow. For now, get some rest. I might be a bit late tonight. Just start without me." Phantom nodded.

"See ya tomorrow Hood," Phantom said with a salute, and headed off to god knows where.

"See ya," Jason said into empty air before he headed for his nearest safe house.

Normally Jason would have said dammit to sleep and tracked this Dug down right then and there, but it was Friday. Tim and Damian would kill him if he overslept their movie night. Sometimes having brothers was a pain.

...

Jason was at his counter kneading the pizza dough when his front door opened and Tim and Damian walked in. Those two never bothered to knock and just picked his lock, disabled his traps, and wandered in.

"You know you don't have to break in to see me anymore. I will let you in," Jason said without pausing his work.

"I know," Tim said, plopping himself on the bar stool across the counter from Jason. "But my way is much more fun."

"And good practice," Damian said from where he'd plunked himself down at the table and started to fiddle with Jason's half built bombs. "You need it Drake." Tim ignored this slight and pulled out a tablet and started typing away.

"Bruce got delayed," Tim said. "He won't be back till next Friday now. That gives you a few more days with Phantom."

"I demand to know more about this Phantom," Damian said without looking up from his tinkering. "What Drake has told me is not enough to judge his worthiness to protect this city or his ability to do so."

"What do you want to know?" Jason asked as he put the dough away and got out an onion and knife and began dicing.

"What fighting styles does he know? How many men can he take on his own? What weapons can he use? What...," Damian asked all these questions in rapid succession.

"Slow down Bat brat, I've only known him for three days," Jason interrupted. "And as far as your questions, his fighting style is dirty, I've seen him take six men easy, and his only weapons are his fists and powers."

"So he has no formal training? Tt," Damian said with a scowl.

"Meta's are different from us Dammie. They've got abilities we could never hope to have," Tim said with a lecturing note to his voice.

"That is no excuse for a lack of formal training," Damian argued as he got up from the table and joined them at the counter, his feet dangling from the tall stool. "What should happen if he loses his powers or is unable to use them?" he asked a bit patronizingly.

"He doesn't just use his powers," Jason cut in. "He's not too bad with his fists."

"Have you spared with him?" Damian asked.

"No," Jason admitted.

"Then you are no fair judge of his prowess." Damian sat quietly and thought for a moment before declaring, "I wish to meet this Phantom and test his abilities myself. You will introduce me tonight Todd."

"Damian," Jason started with a growl.

"I think it's a good idea," Tim cut in. "If he's going to work in Gotham, we might as well know him."

"I agree," Damian said. "He could be a worthy ally, but we won't know that until he is tested properly."

"Fine," Jason said,and threw his onions and some garlic in a pan of oil. "I'll take you two to meet him tonight, but then you have to get your butts back to your regular patrol. My terf is full enough with him. I don't need you running around the Narrows too."

"Fair enough," Tim agreed amiably.

"After I've had a chance to spar with him and test his abilities," Damian argued.

"Where are you going to spar? There isn't a safe place to do that around here," Jason asked as he pulled a tray of roasted tomatoes out of the oven and dumped them into a blender.

"It wouldn't do to take him to the cave," Damian yelled over the blender. "But I am confident there is an abandoned warehouse on the docks that would suit our needs."

"What?" Jason said as he turned off the blender. He'd heard Damian, but he wanted to make the brat repeat himself.

"I said," Jason turned the blender back on and Damian glared at him. Tim snorted and Jason gave them both a shit eating grin before turning off the blender again and dumping the pureed tomatoes into the pan with the onions.

"I heard you Dames, warehouse at the docks. I know one that might work. Probably gotta shove some crap out of the way though," Jason said as he stirred the tomatoes in the pan.

"You can do that Jason," Tim said with a mischievous smirk. "All those damn muscles have got to be good for something." Jason was very tempted to pick Tim and throw him out the window to prove what 'all those muscles' could do, but he was too busy grating cheese. So instead he said, "If you want pizza you better shut your trap." Tim made a show of zipping his mouth shut and went back to his tablet.

"Anything else happening with you two?" Jason asked before the following silence could drag on.

"One of my teachers gave me a failing grade for my essay in history because it was written in Latin," Damian said matter of factly.

"Why did you write it in Latin?" Jason asked, bewildered.

"Because the directions were to write a historically accurate account of the day in the life of a Roman citizen, and they spoke Latin. It's not my fault the directions were unclear and the teacher can not read Latin," Damian muttered, annoyed.

"Most people can't read Latin," Tim put in.

"Well I could speak fluent Latin by the time I was three. I don't see why I was failed because I have knowledge he doesn't," he deadpanned.

"Why don't you just translate it into English and resubmit it?" Jason said, chopping up some bell peppers.

"Because the teacher has insisted on speaking with father first, and father isn't here," Damian pouted. Tim attempted to pat Damian's shoulder but was shrugged off.

"Eh, don't worry about it kid," Jason said. "Daddy dearest will talk to them and maybe you won't have to translate it for their lesser minds."

"I already translated it," Damian grumbled. "And I am not a child!" he raged.

"Dick keeps asking about you," Tim changed the subject before Damian decided to lunge across the counter and attack Jason for his insolence.

"Ughhh," Jason groaned as he tossed a pizza crust into the air. "Please tell me you didn't commit me to anything."

"I keep telling him he has to call you himself." Jason nodded at this. "But he says you never answer your phone."

"Maybe that's because I don't walk to talk to him," Jason said firmly. He put the crust onto a stone in the oven and ladled his sauce over it, followed by cheese, and bell peppers before he slammed the oven door harder than necessary. Tim took the hint. And a long awkward silence followed.

"Sooo," Tim started. "You meet any cute girls lately?"

"What are you doing Tim," Jason asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against the counter.

"Small talk?" Tim tried, with a cheesy smile.

"Well it was a sorry attempt," Damian said, fiddling with a batarang he'd pulled out of his pocket. "You sound like Grayson. Besides, Todd doesn't even like women."

"What?" Tim said, going wide eyed at Damian.

"Damian," Jason warned. Damian ignored him and continued, "Todd is a homosexual." He looked at Tim like the teen should know this.

"You're gay!?" Tim exclaimed, turning an accusatory glare on Jason. Jason sighed and pressed a hand against his face, confirmation enough for Tim.

"Since when?" Tim asked, sounding a little hurt.

"One does not just start being homosexual," Damian said flatly. "You are born that way."

"I know that," Tim said, waving Damian away. "I meant how long have you known?" He directed this question at Jason.

"I don't know!" Jason threw his hands up. "Last year I guess. I never really had much time to think about it before."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Tim asked, hurt. "And why does he know?" he pointed a finger at Damian that the child smacked away.

"I don't know Tim, it never came up with you before, and Damian…" Jason trailed off, a little embarrassed about explaining this part.

"It was my fault," Damian said, startling both of his brothers. Damian never admitted when he was in the wrong. "I entered Jason's house when he was fornicating with..."

"Damian!" Jason exclaimed, slamming his hands on the counter in front of the boy while his face turned beet red.

"He walked in on you having sex?!" Tim said shrilly, also turning red. Damian shrugged.

"It's a natural desire to want to relive yourself with your preferred partner, " Damian said stoically.

"Okay, change of subject!" Jason said loudly. Damian glared at him.

"I only mean that it does not bother me who you want to be with," Damian said, trying to get his point across.

"Nope! We are done talking about this!" Jason turned to the oven and removed the pizza with a large paddle and set it on the cutting board. He started preparing another ball of dough.

"You two go sit your asses down on the couch and start the movie. Now!" he added when both of them just stared at him. They scrambled off the stools and started fighting over what movie to watch while Jason took several deep breaths.

...

Several hours later, they all met up on what had become Jason and Phantom's usual roof.

"Phantom, this is Red Robin and Robin," Jason said in the least annoyed voice he could manage. Neither of his brothers had dropped the gay thing and kept trying to bring it up while they watched Die Hard, and Jason had been unable to enjoy one of his favorite movies. Now Jason's patience had worn completely thin with them.

"Nice to meet you," Red Robin said. "We've heard a lot about you from Red Hood."

"I can't say the same for you," Phantom said, but he shook the hand Red Robin offered. He turned to Robin who had his hands behind his back and was looking at Phantom like one might a used car, looking for flaws.

"Red Hood has informed me that you do not appear to have any formal combat training," he said.

"Uhhh. No. I'm self taught," Phantom said, looking confused. Robin nodded solemnly.

"I am going to spar with you to see if you are worthy to work with Red Hood," Robin declared.

"Spar?" Phantom asked, cocking his head.

"Do you mean you do not know what sparring is?" Robin asked, a disbelieving note in his voice.

"Oh, no it's not that," Phantom said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. It was a gesture Jason was beginning to recognize as meaning he was uncomfortable. Having a four foot tall personality like Robin judging you would make anyone uncomfortable. "I've just never sparred with someone before. My fights have always been, well, real." Robin seemed to consider this.

"I do not think you will be able to hurt me," he decided. "Come, I have had Red Hood prepare a place for us." And with that, Robin turned and grappled away, toward the warehouse they had prepared.

"Sorry about him," Red Robin said. "He had a weird childhood," he explained before following after Robin. Phantom turned toward Jason with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Come on," Jason said. "They won't leave us alone until we do what they want."

...

Phantom and Robin circled each other, looking for an opening. Jason and Red Robin watched from the top of a pile of crates that Jason had moved out of the way, thank you very much. Phantom and Robin had already exchanged several blows, mostly ending with Phantom dancing out of the way, his feet barely touching the floor.

"Come on!" Robin taunted. "You can't take down your opponent if you never strike!"

"And you can't take down yours if you can't hit them!" Phantom called back. He was starting to get surprisingly quippy.

Robin lunged and Phantom danced out of the way again, but Robin had been expecting this and he whirled and punched Phantom square in the gut, or he would have, but his fist went right through the meta. It was the first time he'd visibly used his powers against Robin, and it was enough of a shock to the boy for Phantom to grab his wrist and spin him around. Robin flew toward the wall, but managed to twist in the air like a cat. His feet struck the wall and he leapt off, grabbing Phantom around the waist and carrying him to the ground. He pinned him and Phantom panted underneath him.

"You are not a bad fighter, but you rely too heavily on your powers," Damian said matter of factly. He got up off the older guy and offered a hand to pull him to his feet. Phantom didn't take it and hauled himself up. Jason noticed he limped for a second on his right leg as he stood, but a moment later was walking back to the center of the room just fine. He got back into a fighting stance and Damian obliged.

...

Jason woke to the sound of noise in the apartment below his. It sounded like someone was moving furniture, which was strange because no one lived there. Jason rolled over and groaned into his pillow. Great, he had a new neighbor. He tried to ignore the noise and go back to sleep.

...

A few hours later, Jason left his apartment and headed downstairs. He needed to go shopping; Damian and Tim had cleared him out on soda and ice cream the night before. They always filled up on sugar at his place since Alfred rarely let the stuff into the manor. Jason paused on the fourth floor landing; someone was standing outside the apartment door, digging through his pockets and cursing.

"Hey, you good?" Jason asked. The guy turned and looked at him. He was the cutest person Jason had ever seen. Raven black hair fell into ice blue eyes. He was lanky, but built, shorter than Jason. He was wearing ill fitting jeans with holes in the knees, a t-shirt with some band logo on it, and a pair of worn boots. There were scars up both his arms; self harm scars if Jason knew anything, but they had to be several years old. They guy smiled shyly at Jason, showing off a pair of perfectly straight teeth.

"I uh, locked my keys in my apartment," he explained, rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed.

"Oh, that sucks," Jason managed to say.

"I just moved in," the guy explained. "You must live above me. I'm Danny." Danny stuck his hand out. Jason shook it, noting the calluses on his hands.

"I'm Jason. Is your window unlocked?" he asked.

"What?" Danny asked, confused.

"I might know how to get your keys if your window is unlocked," Jason explained. He knew he could pick Danny's lock in seconds, but that wasn't something most people would know how to do, and he didn't want his adorable new neighbor knowing he could break in any time he wanted.

"Uh, I think it is?" Danny said, looking back at his door like it might tell him.

"Well let's find out," Jason said, walking back up to his apartment and gesturing for Danny to follow. He hurried up the stairs to disarm his door before Danny could see, and managed to have the door open before Danny rounded the corner. He threw a worried glance at his bomb building table, but he'd set his backpack on it and it obscured most of the project. Danny came into the apartment behind him and closed the door.

"You've got this place set up a lot nicer than mine," he said, a little envy in his voice.

"Yeah, I've got a decent job," Jason said, going to his window and opening it. He stood in front of it waiting as Danny slowly made his way over, admiring the full bookcases and the replica weapons on the way. Jason noted how he limped on his right leg, an old injury perhaps?

"Is that?" he asked, pointing to a sword.

"Sting?"Jason finished the question.

"Yeah, from the Lord of the Rings," Danny said, excitement in his eyes.

"Yup," Jason said. Danny grinned at him and Jason felt a flutter in his chest. Fuck he was adorable.

"Come on," Jason said, stepping out the window onto the fire escape. "Let's see if we can break into your apartment."

Danny followed him down the narrow steps. When Jason reached Danny's window, he pressed his palms against the glass and simultaneously put pressure on the window and pushed up. The glass slid up and Jason got his fingers under it and opened it the rest of the way.

"There you are," he said, making a grander gesture with his arms.

"Woah, thanks," Danny said. "I should probably start locking that if it's so easy to open it from the outside," he said, a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, you should. And not lock your keys inside again," he added playfully.

"Yeah, thanks again," Danny said as he ducked inside. "I'll uh, see you around I guess." Danny looked at him hopefully.

"Sure," Jason said, determining that he would find a way to make that happen. Danny nodded and closed the window. Jason couldn't see into the apartment because the thick curtains blocked his view. He sighed deeply and climbed back up the fire escape to his window. Jason had to find a way to get to know this guy, because god dammit Jason wanted him more than he'd wanted anything in a long time.

And so it begins! I'm curious to see what you think of Danny and Jason's reaction to him. Please review, it makes my day!