Chapter 9: No Matter What

Jason's POV

Tim would be going on patrol with me tonight, while Damian would be with Dick. That's how things normally went. I didn't have a lot of patience for Damian. We were too much alike. Plus Damian and Tim normally ended up trying to kill each other. Besides, Bruce normally assigned Tim to me. Apparently I was less inclined to kill someone if Tim went with me. I didn't think twice about killing something if Damian was with me. He was already an assassin, so it really didn't matter. But it really bothered Tim, so I normally just wounded criminals or I'd beat the shit out of them.

I liked patrol on weekdays better. Tim and Damian had to stay home cause it was a school night. I was with Dick and Bruce. I never had to worry about 'watching my back, planning ahead, and what effect my actions might have.' I could just jump in and start shooting, because they had my back. I guess since they were older, they felt protective of me. But if Tim or Damian were with me; I'd have to look out for them, plan ahead, do sneaky ninja shit. No jumping in and shooting everything that moved. I had to be 'responsible.' I'd have to watch my back and theirs. That was the downside to weekend patrol.

I walked into the Batcave. They were already dressed and ready. Tim and Damian had already started trying to kill each other with spears and Dick was about to put his mask on.

"Dick, where's Bruce?"

He finished putting on his mask and turned towards me. "Jay, get dressed. Bruce went with Clark on a mission."

I slid my costume on. "Why didn't you go? Are they still going?" I asked while pointing at the two midget spear fighters.

"It was only a two person job and yes, they're still going." Dick replied, while separating Tim and Damian.

"What's my route?"

Dick dragged Tim and Damian over to Batmobile and made them get in the back. Then he turned back towards me and answered, "You and Timmy take the West and South side."

"Fine." I replied while jumping into the passenger's seat.

********Break********

Tim's POV

Jason and I had been patrolling for two hours and nothing had happened. This sucks! I was bored and Jason wasn't talking to me. He insisted we stay quiet. Jason slid from the roof onto a ledge. I dropped down silently beside him.

He held up his hand. "Quiet Little Red, I thought I heard something." He whispered.

"Big Red, nothing's happening around here. Can we check out another section of town? Please." I said somewhat loudly. "It's boring around-"

I was cut off by his hand, which now covered my mouth.

"Keep your voice down." He growled while removing his hand and scanning the area.

"Why? It's not like anyone's around!" I yelled while climbing onto a gargoyle.

The next second I heard Jason's grapple gun being fired and I was snatched from the gargoyle and deposited onto the roof. I then felt Jason's weight come crashing down on top of me. An explosion rattled the entire building.

The next instant Jason roughly yanked me to my feet and threw me over his shoulder and jumped from the building. He fired his grapple again and we landed onto a roof about three buildings over.

Jason dropped me onto the roof. He then removed his helmet and threw it to the ground. Apparently it had been damaged during the explosion.

"Dammit! I told you to be quiet and not to move!" he yelled at me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." I cried apologetically.

"You didn't know? You didn't know! You have to be aware of everything! Understand! You could have gotten killed! You could have gotten me killed! Can't you ever listen! Dammit! I told you to be quiet and not to move! When I tell you to do something, you'd better freaking do it! Understand! What the hell were you thinking! You never know what's going to happen!" he screamed.

"I'm…. sorry…. I…I-"

"Don't! Move! I'll be right back and you'd better not freaking move!" he turned from me and dropped somewhere down below.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I started to cry. Jason was right. It was my fault. We could have died because of me. And now my brother hated me.

Suddenly an unknown voice called out in a mocking tone, "Aw is the poor baby crying? Where's Daddy or did we get separated from big brother?"

Before I could do anything a hand was clamped securely over my mouth and I was roughly yanked to my feet. The blade of a knife rested on my neck. My attacker bent over and kissed my forehead. "Remember, children should be seen and not heard." He threatened. He released his hand from my mouth and drew a revolver. The weapon was pressed roughly against my temple.

My attacker leaned down and began to whisper into my ear. "Did you know that your big brother murdered my little brother? You ever heard the expression an eye for an eye? Well, how about a little brother for a little brother? My brother's life for yours. Doesn't that sound like a fair trade? What do you think Red Hood will do when he finds you here dead? I wonder how much you really mean to him."

"More than you'll ever know. Let him go! Now!"

Jason's POV

I was pissed. Who in the hell owns a grenade launcher? Damn, my back hurts. I was pretty sure that my back had a chunk of concrete in it. I'd probably gotten it when I was trying to protect Tim from the blast.

Finding no one around the crumbling building, I returned to the rooftop where I had left Tim. I was still pissed at him. I mean I did tell him to keep his mouth shut. I probably shouldn't have yelled at him though, he is still learning.

I landed on the roof, but I didn't see Tim. Who the hell is that? A large man had his back turned towards me. I crept closer. Tim! Oh shit! He had my baby brother!

I managed to hear him whisper, "What do you think Red Hood will do when he finds you here dead? I wonder how much you really mean to him."

I venomously cried, "More than you'll ever know. Let him go! Now!" I drew my gun and aimed for the bastard's head.

He spun around revealing a gun aimed at Tim's head and a knife positioned at his throat. He removed the gun from Tim's head and aimed it at me.

I know this bastard, Pete Hess. He's supposed to be in prison. A few months ago he and his brother were arms dealers. They were about to do a deal, so Batman, Nightwing, and I went to stop the deal, but the freaking police screwed everything up. I killed his brother because he was using Nightwing as a human shield and the police had permission to engage their target. No way in hell was I going to stand there and watch Nightwing get shot by some gun running bitch or a freaking rookie cop. I did what I had to and I was willing to do it again.

Tim was crying. I had the urge to strangle the bastard who had hurt my little brother.

"Come any closer and I'll kill the kid." He threatened. As if to prove his point he pressed the blade into Tim's throat and I saw a trickle of scarlet creeping down his neckline. I froze in my tracks.

He smiled sinisterly before he spoke. "Tell you what, since you want your baby brother back so bad, I'll give you two choices. Either I kill him right here and right now and one of us dies trying to kill the other. Or you can turn your gun around and put a bullet in your mouth. Then I'll let him go."

I looked at Tim. He was crying harder now. Then I looked down at the gun I held. With my left hand, I slowly raised it and placed it in-between my teeth. I could taste the cold metal.

"Nooo!" Tim screamed. He was panicking.

The bastard jostled him and pressed the knife deeper into his neck. Scarlet coated the tip of the knife.

"Quiet brat!" he growled.

No matter what I did, I knew that he would still kill Tim. I couldn't let that happen.

Tim's POV

Through my tears I saw Jason place his pistol in his mouth. No! He can't! I need him. He's my big brother. He's supposed to protect me. Not die for me! This is my entire fault.

"Nooo!" I screamed.

My attacker shook me and pressed the knife in deeper.

"Quiet brat!" he growled.

Jason slowly inched his finger along the trigger. I was so focused on his left hand, I didn't even notice what the right had done until it was coming towards me.

Jason's POV

The bastard was too busy watching my left hand to notice that I had drawn my knife, until it was too late. I released the weapon, before he could react. The dagger had penetrated its target, his brain, by using his left eye socket as an entry point. He relinquished his grip on Tim and he dropped to the floor. Dead.

The bastard's blade dropped to the floor, splattering scarlet droplets onto the rooftop upon impact. Tim fell onto his knees beside it. He was shaking from shock.

I dropped down in front of him and pulled him towards me. I needed to check the wound from his neck. Fortunately, it wasn't deep. He buried himself deeper into my chest and I tightened my grip. I didn't want him to look at the body, especially since it had my dagger protruding from it. His nightmares would be a hell of a lot worse if he did look. He slumped against me sobbing uncontrollably.

"I… I… I'm…ssorry. I…I made… yyyou… killll…hhhim. It's… aaall… mmy ffault." He choked out between sobs.

What! He blames himself for what I did? This is why I try to avoid killing people when Little Red is with me.

"It's not your fault, Babybird. I shouldn't have left you alone or yelled at you. I was afraid that you were going to get hurt, so I thought I'd put you out of harm's way. Then I yelled at you. I didn't even check to make sure it was clear before I left. When I came back to get you, I heard what that bastard threatened to do… I was scared-"

He interrupted, "But I thought you were mad at me and didn't want me anymore. I thought you were gonna let him kill me. And when you put the gun in your mouth… I …" He started crying again.

"Hush, it's okay Babybird. Okay? You're my little brother and I love you. I'd never let anyone hurt you or take you away from me. I'm always going to want and need you."

His masked eyes looked up at me. "You promise?"

"No matter what, I'll be there. Always."

This story continues with Dick's and Damian's POVS in the next chapter.