Dick pulled up into the circular drive of Wayne Manor and parked his bike right in front of the stairs leading up to the front door. He wouldn't be staying long and he was afraid if he parked in the garage, he'd do something he would regret. Some of those cars were vintage. He pulled his helmet off and just sat there for a moment, staring at his reflection in the visor.

How had it come to this?

He'd been on patrol as usual. An easy day in Blüdhaven, convince a gang of teens to stop trying to rob the local bank and stay in school, help a drunk lady get into a cab instead of behind the wheel of her bug, check on the casino. He'd been on his way to the docks for a quick tour when he'd gotten a call from Batgirl over the comms.

"Dick."

"Hey beautiful, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" He'd joked as usual. They were comfortable in their relationship non-relationship. It was a continuous dance with them. They'd work a bust together, end up at one of their apartments, and claim this was it. This was the time it would work. They would go in completely committed. And inevitably something would come up. They'd go about their business, tracking down leads, busting criminals, and they'd grow apart until a few months later when they would try again.

God. He wanted so much for it to work between them.

It was kind of funny to think that he'd despised the redhead at first. But he'd been immature, a preteen when Batgirl first appeared, and he'd been jealous that she'd been trying to impose herself on his and Batman's gig. It had been what he shared with Bruce. And she had been an invader.

When he'd turned thirteen however, things had changed. Barbara had become a regular part of their quest. They'd become friends after constant exposure both in and out of costume, and over time the next few years that friendship had morphed into something deeper. Unlike his Teen Titan friends, Barbara was...Barbara. They'd fought together. They'd grown together. They'd shared their first kiss together. She'd become his most important friend.

He had still been young though. It hadn't been until Dick was nineteen that he'd realized the extent to which he loved Barbara. When he'd learned that he loved her in the way that meant forever. But they had fallen apart over the years since he'd stopped being Robin and taken a new monicker. And she'd seemed happy and he'd had no right to try to come back after so long and intrude on her new life after leaving. So he'd kept his distance, sticking with his Titans. A decision he would later regret when Barbara had been paralyzed, and Jason had died. Because then, Dick had despaired. Because he should have been there. He'd cursed and blamed himself regarding both incidents. He'd regretted not being there for them. He'd regretted not coming home. He'd been so stupid to stay away because of whatever grudge his seventeen and eighteen year old self had harbored against Bruce. Robin had been years ago for him at that point and he'd no longer resented his mentor.

It was something he still thought about on occasion, even though Bab's had had her surgery and Jason had been back for a while now. He should have been there...

"Dick. I said, you need to come back to Gotham. NOW." The urgency in her voice had flipped a switch for him.

"What happened?" His stomach had coiled into tight knots, dreading her response.

She'd explained very briefly that Jason had shot Penguin and it had been broadcast live, that is was all over Chirper and Blastfeed for their area. She'd sent him an encrypted file to his phone. It had turned out to be highlights from the video feed of Batman's cowl from just minutes before.

Dick had watched the feed. His heart had momentarily stopped beating and his stomach had dropped down to his pelvis as he'd watched Bruce attack Jason over and over. He'd listened to him shout and scream at his brother. Jason had gotten in a few snarky comments, but overall it had been less of a fight and more of a beating. There had been a moment when the feed flashed a dark blue and red and then all he'd been able to see was dust and the Gotham night sky through a hole in concrete. Then it had cut out, Barbara's doing most likely, and then cut right back in to Jason, flying into a kick, but it hadn't been a well thought out kick. It had looked desperate and messy. The look on Jason's face had suggested only anguish. Something had to have happened during the few minutes of visual interruption. It had looked like someone had died. At the end, all it had taken was one punch from Bruce and Jason was out cold. The last visuals had been of red smoke swarming the rooftop and Bruce looking down at an arrow hitting his gauntlet before the feed went out.

Dick had sped home immediately after watching and changed into civvies before grabbing the keys to his other bike and tearing out of Blüdhaven. He'd worked as a cop in the area for a while, he knew where the patrol cars liked to hide. He'd deftly avoided those areas, but even if they had seen him, they wouldn't have followed. It had been too close to Gotham city limits.

Gotham had been even easier to maneouver. He'd grown up patrolling her streets.

The whole drive had been a blur for him. He hadn't been able to get out of his own head. The look on Jason's face immediately after Bruce had shattered the Red Hood helmet...it had looked like Bruce had shattered that boy's goddamn heart. It had been a look of surprise mixed with fear and sadness and regret and resignation. The way Jason's eyes shone had spoken volumes of his inner turmoil. It had made Dick's eyes water as he'd empathised with his brother.

Even now, he couldn't get the look out of his head. He couldn't believe that Bruce had done this. It was wrong. He didn't care about Jason shooting the Penguin. There had to have been a reason, and it was their fault for not noticing something was wrong.

Dick finally climbed off his bike and decided to leave his helmet. If he brought it he was going to throw it. That could only result in something priceless breaking and Alfred cleaning it up. And as much as part of him didn't care about breaking a useless thing, it wouldn't be fair to Alfred. He wasn't the one Dick had a problem with right now. So he left the helmet.

Dick skipped the stairs up to the door and threw the door open, before slamming it behind him.

Alfred came around the corner from the study and jumped in alarm.

"Master Dick!" Alfred was either surprised by his presence or surprised by his lack of tact in slamming the door. Dick didn't take the time to decipher which was right.

"Where is he?" It was a growl at best and a snarl at worst. He didn't actually need a response. He knew where the man was. Where he always was. He slipped past Alfred and stormed into the study, through the already open passage, and down the stairs.

He could see the shadow that was Bruce standing near the computer, cowl pulled back. He could have believed the man was frozen until he turned when Dick marched closer.

"How could you?" Dick shouted. "You fucking bastard!" He pulled back and threw a punch straight across Bruce's jaw before grabbing the front of the suit and pulling the man down so they were face to face. "How could you?" He whispered harshly, still not wanting to believe the way this man had acted less than an hour ago. He made it sound like Bruce had betrayed him instead of Jason.

Bruce didn't push him away and he didn't say anything either. He just grabbed his jaw and cracked it back a forth a few times.

Dick made a disgusted tch. He let go of the suit and walked away so he wouldn't hit the man a second time. "That was despicable, Bruce."

"He broke his promi-"

"I don't care what Jason did!" Dick snapped, turning back to face the man. "It doesn't matter!"

"He broke the law."

"So what?! We break the law every day! You're a goddamn hypocrite, Bruce!"

"He shot the Penguin, Dick," Bruce said through gritted teeth.

"And he's not dead, Bruce! It's all over the news. 'Oswald Cobblepot in Critical Condition.' Jason fucking missed. Too bad because Penguin is such a stand up guy," he said sarcastically, snapping his fingers. "He's never once done something to deserve it or anything. Just hurt and killed hundreds over the years and gotten away with it because he's got money."

Dick took a deep breath to calm himself. Yelling and sarcasm weren't going to do anything for him in this situation. He closed his eyes, pushing the fire down.

"Bruce…" He started, choosing his words carefully. "Why is this different from when...from when I killed the Joker?" He paused. "Or do you just pretend that never happened? Because it's something I can never forget."

"That was different, Dick," Bruce protested. "We resuscitated him."

"It's not different, Bruce."

"The Joker played on your emotions," the man tried to reason. "You thought he'd killed Robin."

Dick shook his head. "You just don't get it, Bruce. Yes, he played my emotions. But I was the one who acted on them. I thought he'd killed Timmy. And then...then everything just went white when the Joker mentioned killing Jason. I had been so controlled by my emotions in that moment that I killed Joker with my bare hands." He lifted his hands and clenched them into fists to accentuate his words.

The fists shook, and he couldn't stop them. Remembering that night was difficult because it had been terrifying to know that he was able to kill a man with these hands that usually helped people. He unclenched the fists and slowly brought his hands back down, staring at them.

"You brought him back, but it doesn't change the fact that I killed him. And it doesn't change the fact that I felt happy that he was dead." Dick paused and then stared at Bruce imploringly. "You don't think Jason was upset about something? That he didn't at least have a reason for going after Penguin? Did you even try to talk to him? Did you even think to give him the benefit of the doubt?"

Bruce looked away from him, and Dick sighed.

"Look at yourself, Bruce," he said. "You need to figure your shit out. Last week you beat Mr. Freeze to a blue and bloody pulp even after he'd stopped fighting and confessed and given you the information you needed to take him down. Now tonight, you were angry enough to attack someone you promised to protect? Jason may not be considered a child by the law anymore, but he's still your child. And that child has been traumatized enough in his nineteen years of life. Having you, someone he relied on, come at him the way you did for him making a mistake? Come at him and not ask for his side of the story?" Dick shook his head solemnly. "I can still see the look on his face...You broke him, Bruce." Dick let that sink in and started walking back up to the manor. "You need to go back and rewatch that footage. And I need to go find my brother." Dick stopped for a moment on the stairs before adding, "And don't even think about coming after him. You've done enough." He then left Bruce standing in the empty cave, with nobody but the bats for company.

He walked back out the study and headed toward the entrance hall. Alfred was standing in the foyer.

"Master Dick?" Alfred asked when the young man passed back by him.

Dick flashed him a sad smile. "I'm heading out now, Alfred. I'll let you know when I find Jason." He opened the front door and paused. "Listen. I know Bruce is hurting because of the whole Selina thing. I'm not stupid. But he needs to take a step back to clear his head. He needs to talk to someone. Someone who is willing to help him. Someone who isn't...me." He shut the door behind him and checked his phone. It had buzzed a few times since he'd left Blüdhaven, but he'd been a little busy.

Three texts.

One was from Cass. 'Saw video. Duke with me at Steph's. Find Jason. Worried.'

He was glad to hear Cass had taken Duke with her. 'I will,' he messaged back.

Another from Tim. 'Is Jason okay? He's not answering his phone.'

Dick messaged back. 'I don't know yet. I need to find him first. I've got an idea of where he might be, but if you hear anything, lemme know. I'll do the same.'

There was also a message from Damian. 'I watched the news and Brown sent me a message. I'm staying with the Kents for a while. Keep me updated on the status of Todd. If I can be of use, don't hesitate to call.'

Dick smiled. Tim and Damian were good brothers. So much had changed over the past few years. 'I was gonna tell you to stay at the Tower, but the Kents is good too. I'll let you know when I find Jason.'

There was a missed call from Donna and a voicemail. That was...odd. He swiped to check it. "Hey, Dick. It's Donna. I just dropped Jason and Roy off at his place in New York. I thought you would want to know. Sorry I couldn't stay with them. Please let me know when you get this. And when you find out if Jason is okay or not. I want to help in any way I can. Hope to hear back soon."

He sent her a quick text as well. 'Got your message. Thank you. I understand and I'll keep you posted.'

He put the device back in his pocket, put his helmet on, and sped off.