Red Hood P.O.V.

I was not feeling the aster, as Dickiebird would say. It's been a year since I've been out and about with him and he's helped me, he truly did. Unfortunately, that's not enough for Batman. I was dead, okay get over it already. Ra's got nothing on me anymore, nothing I tell you.

While I rant inside my head, I ignored the stares people are giving me. It's like when I first came into Nightwing's care, sitting in a med lab having tests run on me. Overall giving me a huge case of déjà vu. I look at the screen as the DNA match comes up for the third time.

"There you go old man. I'm actually me. Shocker," I retort again. I don't even get a grunt as a response like the first and second times I said that phrase. This is starting to bore me too you know.

"He's checking to see if you're not a Cadmus clone," said Robin. I almost didn't hear it from how quietly he said it. I turned and looked at him. 'Ooh. It's the replacement. What are you going to do Jason? Are you gonna beat his ass? Blow his head off? Personally, I vouch for the latter. It'll be so entertaining.' Shut up, shut up.

I must have been staring too long, as everyone was looking at us. 'Possibly waiting for you to blow up.' Robin was looking at anything but me. Nightwing says I should put up the big brother act when I'm around Tim. An idea formed in my head and I decided to play it cool.

"So, have you ever painted the Batcave pink?" I asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Batman stop typing and Nightwing stare at me in horror, knowing what I was going to say. The Team members who were there during those unfortunate times just smirked.

I didn't even wait for a response before I jumped into the story. "So Nightwing, Wally, and I were bored one day because we haven't gotten a mission in two weeks. Well an actual mission, not one of those stupid recon missions". A few snickers, good. "And Batman was out for a week with the entire League on a mission in outer space. We were discussing what to do when Wally and Nightwing pointed out that they have never painted the entire Batcave pink like they wanted to when they were younger. So we decided to take this opportunity. We ordered a thousand paint gallons and painted everything, even the bats on the ceiling, pink. Trust me, painting bats pink is harder than you think. We each had to go to the hospital a few times to get a shot whenever one of the bats bit us". Robin gaped at me and Nightwing while said hero blushed.

"Anyway, we got the entire thing done in two days, which shows you how much time we had to kill. Two bats and a speedster can do anything if left with enough time and enough boredom. And to make matters worse, we decided to paint all the Leaguer's houses and bases pink". The new kids who were listing were dying from laughter while the older Team members and League shook their heads remembering what happened to their homes. "Since we couldn't do that all by ourselves, we hired a few dozen painters to get the job done for us. We told them to paint everything pink, from walls to furniture to bedsheets. That was done in four days. When the League came back, we decided to live the thug life. By that I mean we hitched a plane to Peru under fake names and we got jobs acting as tour guides at Machu Picchu. We were there for about a week before Batman found us and gave us an entire lecture most of which I don't remember". A scowl came from said man. I continued: "As punishment, we had to remove all the paint by ourselves and Wally wasn't able to use his speed so it took us a month to remove all the paint. But as revenge against Bats, we decided to remove the paint from the Batcave last". At this, Nightwing cracked a smile while Batman looked stoically at me.

"All clear," he said towards me. I unhook myself from all the wires prodding me and before I know it, Batman has me enveloped in his arms.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you," he whispered.

"I forgive you." Those three words must've done wonders for him as he immediately relaxed. Not that anyone but me noticed.

We release each other and I stand up. I look at everyone's expectant glares and sigh.

"You guys want to know how the hell I'm alive?" No responses just nods. "Fine," I sit back down. "Here goes nothing."

(Line Break)

3

2

1

Fire. All I saw was fire. The fire burned by skin, agony rippling through my body. Then darkness, nothing. I felt as thought I was floating or swimming or something. It's all very blurry to me. All I was certain of was that it was pretty lonely.

Then, I saw felt agony. Like I was being dumped in a pot of chemicals and left to die. Except this pot of chemicals brought me back to life. I remember opening my eyes for the first time in what seemed like eons, and all I saw was green. It freaked the hell out of me. I started to swim upwards and when I broke the surface, I gasped for air and started screaming. I couldn't comprehend what was happening to me, how I was alive and all. I remember being held down on a medical cart, then drugged and wheeled off.

The next few weeks I don't remember well. It was like I was in a comatose state, but I was aware of certain aspects of my surroundings. I heard a heart monitor, a blood pressure monitor, and voices. I think saw a few people. A boy about eight years old, a girl about twelve, scientists and other people I didn't recognize. But I did recognize two people.

Ra's al Ghul and Talia al Ghul. They used the Lazarus Pits to bring me back to life.

Soon, my mind started clearing up. As this happened, my surroundings became clearer. I realized that my dip in Ra's little Fountain of Youth produced a white strip of hair as a souvenir. After all the tests Ra's ordered on me were complete, I was kept a prisoner. Forced to train under Talia as her personal pawn to use against Bats. I was even assigned a teacher to the boy and girl I told you about earlier. The boy was stubborn, arrogant and almost impossible to teach, much less tolerate, while the girl was mute, and it was difficult communicating with her.

A year later, Nightwing was investigating why Talia made some deals with petty criminals in Gotham and Blüdhaven. Eventually, he decided to seek out answers at the source of the problem and he discovered me. He broke me out of there and brought me back to his place in Blüdhaven. He spent the next year trying to get me back into my right mind, as spending some time in death and with the League of Assasins can seriously mess you up. I didn't want to reveal myself earlier to you guys until I was fully back to my old self but then the Reach disaster happened. You guys know what happens next.

(Line Break)

After my long monolog, silence became tangible as I was met with astonished stares from the assembled heroes. Suddenly, Nightwing was up against the wall with Batman's hands against his neck.

"YOU KNEW HE WAS ALIVE FOR A WHOLE YEAR AND DIDN'T BOTHER TO TELL ME!" he boomed. Shit. Things just got real.

"Stop, you're choking him!" Green Arrow yelled, attempting to pry Batman off Nightwing.

As more and more heroes tried prying Batman off, Nightwing started to lose consciousness. Finally, Superman managed to get through the jumble of heroes, prying Batman off of Nightwing as he fell into the man of steel's arms, fully unconscious. Superman quickly revived him and I watched as he let in gaspy and shaky breaths, the lens of his mask wide, probably taking in the ordeal of what just happened to him. A moment of stunned silence filled only with Nightwing's shaky breaths. I started fuming.

"Batman leave" I demand. Everyone turned towards me in shock, Dick turning towards me like I have a death wish. Which I do. After giving me a batglare, I gave him one my own and seeing that I wouldn't back down, Batman stormed out, cape swishing dramatically behind him.

Once he was out of sight, I sighed and turned towards the heroes. "You guys should leave too". There were a few protests to which I responded: "He needs privacy". The heroes reluctantly accepted my explanation and they all filed out, most giving worried glances back to Nightwing.

"Robin stay" I commanded. He looked a bit surprised, then reluctant but was encouraged to stay by firm glances from both the League and Team members.

"If you need help, we're right around the corner," Troia said, putting a hand on my shoulder and giving it a squeeze. I nodded, knowing she wanted to talk to me personally.

Once everyone was gone, I pull off my mask, Robin doing the same. I approach Nightwing, who was still lying on the ground where Superman revived him looking off into the distance.

"Hey," I said when I reached him. "You're okay now," I say. He got up roughly, brushed me off and strode towards the Zeta tubes. I sigh, exasperated and put my mask back on and my helmet under my arm, and strode after him.

"Jason," Robin said hesitantly. I stop to look at him biting his inner cheek. "Where are you going?"

"The Batcave. I'm giving Batman a piece of my mind".