"Who was that guy and why does he know Megan!?" Beast Boy howled, for once actually looking angry with no trace of his usual humor. Sure, they knew he could be serious, but he always took an easy, open minded approach to life even in the more dire, deathly situations. His green eyes held the echo of animalistic aggression as he stared down Nightwing, determined not to let this go.
They stood in the main room after much convincing on Nightwing's part to get them to go back to the tower without a decent explanation so he could split up and make sure Red Hood actually left the city (and give him an ear-full about how much of an ass he was). That battle also took another large amount of convincing, but that convincing consisted more of a fist fight and a few well-placed batarangs to get the violent vigilante to realize Dick was not in the mood for his usual taunting and get him to really leave. Jason wasn't completely stupid; he knew he'd blown Dick's cover, which, he'd done on purpose, but he also knew not to push his brother any father that day because of it and went semi-quietly without killing anyone else that day.
But, not before Dick proved once and for all that he really was Jason's older brother and could always kick his ass if need be (which, if you'll note, he'd promised Jay he'd do if he ever killed in Jump, so he couldn't say he hadn't been fully warned).
The moment Wing had entered the room after assuring Red Hood was half way back to Bludhaven with only mildly debilitating injuries, it was Beast Boy who had rounded on him first. He clearly saw the unhappy looks on the other's faces, but by their tightly pressed lips Nightwing deduced that B must have been upset all the way back from the tower and they were going to let him go first at yelling at him.
He sighed.
This was going to be difficult.
But, he was a Bat, and "difficult" didn't mean a giant robot with tracking missiles, or a fortified security system, or even bullet wounds and going two weeks without a wink of sleep—difficult meant talkingto the people you care about concerning secrets you wanted to keep hidden yet simultaneously knew in the back of your mind you wouldn't be able to hide forever. Dick had long ago recognized that was incredibly stupid logic, even if it DID happen to every Bat in his family, and had tried very hard to avoid that.
Yet, if the sudden fear in his stomach as he looked at his peeved teammates that he didn't have when staring down the barrel of a gun or when a bomb was counting down with only his wits to disarm it proved anything, it proved how tremendously he'd FAILED at avoiding it. He was good at the fighting and stuff, not the talking. Good at talking WHILE fighting, WHILE being a hero, but not so much at personal things, when it was his lies he was exposing.
Yes, difficult. Very, very difficult.
"Megan's an old friend of ours." He said as evenly as he could to the furious Beast Boy. He had to start somewhere, and disarming this argument seemed like a top priority.
"A friend?" The green boy snarled, his eyes wide with—not rage so much anymore—but worry. Ah, of course, he was afraid for Megan, not angry at Nightwing's lies. Not yet at least. "I don't want that psychopath anywhere near Megan! I'm your friend too, and he almost shot me! He even admitted he might've if you hadn't shown up!" He ranted, the worry ever more pronounced the more he talked.
"He won't hurt Megan, he has no reason to." Nightwing promised him sincerely, and he meant it. "He only showed up here because he wanted to mess with me, and he has no reason like that to go anywhere near Megan. Besides, she has Superboy to protect her, and you know he won't let something as simple as a bullet come within a mile of her."
Now the others were looking even more intrigued at the mention of a Superboy—a hero they'd heard about in rumors starting out his own hero career, but not truly familiar with yet.
"Superboy?" Beast Boy blinked. "Oh… Conner. Kon- that's who you were talking about!" He realized. "They're dating?" He asked randomly.
Nightwing smiled, happy to see his quirky friend's humor back in place, abrupt as the rapid mood change was. "Most definitely. Happened around the same time you met them, though they're good about not showing it on missions."
B suddenly looked suspicious again. "How do you know I met them at all!? I don't tell anyone about that because it's a covert team and I'm not supposed to talk about it!"
"Wow, you kept a secret?" Raven said dryly, and the green boy turned to huff at her.
"Actually yes! I owe them a lot, and Megan's my sister! I wouldn't endanger her by blabbing about her team that technically doesn't exist!" He scoffed proudly.
"Which brings us back to my point: you have a sister!?" Cyborg demanded of his best friend.
Beast Boy looked abashed, like he realized he'd messed up. "Oh, uh… no, not technically, only by blood." He shrugged.
"What?!" Cyborg complained at the unhelpful answer.
"Hate to break it to you, but that means she is your sister." Raven pointed out.
"Is she green as well?" Starfire wondered curiously.
"Uh, yeah she is actually." BB admitted to Starfire looking surprised himself at that off-topic connection. "Actually, she's a lot like you—very alien-y and not so good with the human lingo." He thought aloud.
"Alien-y?" Cyborg frowned.
"Her hero name is Miss. Martian, she's the niece of the Martian Manhunter on the first young hero team called Young Justice." Nightwing supplied.
"Yeah," Beast Boy agreed, looking suspicious again that Wing knew that, but continued to explain anyway, "I used to live on this animal sanctuary on a border between two conflicting countries, so when armies started invading for war, Young Justice showed up and saved my mom and me from being trampled by tanks," he clarified quickly and everyone looked fascinated by this new information about their teammate… well, besides Nightwing who was there for this. He wondered what their reactions to his past would be.
"They decided to hang around for a day or so until they had to go stop the war brewing, but then the sanctuary was attacked because the armies didn't want Young Justice stopping them and I sorta ran away when I wasn't supposed to and got blown up…" He shrugged, looked embarrassed by that while Starfire crushed him in a hug.
"Oh! I am so glad you are still alive after being blown up!" She cried joyously. He looked a little confused but shrugged again with a smile as she released him.
"Eh, it was stupid… Anyway, I was dying and stuff, and needed a blood transfusion but no one there was my blood type, except that Miss. Martian had shape-shifting abilities and could shift her blood to match mine. So she did, I lived, and YJ went off and stopped the war, and then a few months later my eyes and skin started to turn green like hers and I started to shape shift as well. I lived on an animal sanctuary, so I took to turning into animals over all the other stuff Miss. M could do."
Everyone looked shocked.
"She gave you your powers?" Cyborg said, looking impressed. "I'd always assumed you were born a meta." He admitted.
"Nope- turned part Martian when I was eight from blunt force trauma. I think it's slightly more entertaining." Beast Boy boasted with a goofy grin.
"I'll say." Raven rolled her eyes.
"And now I get it—blood sister as in literally a blood sister. You have Martian blood." Cyborg put together.
"Yep!" B chirped happily. "Not only is she not my real sister, but she's not the same species either, but we still call each other brother and sister—by blood at least. When my mom died and I started out as a hero, she was like a mom and a sister and a best friend rolled into one, so you get why I was a bit peeved when trigger-happy red riding hood over there started talking about her…" He gave Wing an annoyed look, like it was his fault his brother was insane.
"Hood won't hurt her." He promised again, and B relaxed a bit more at the assurance. "Not only would he then have Conner after him, but probably Martian Manhunter and the rest of the old Young Justice team still around. Not to mention me, and he at least takes my threats seriously… sometimes." He amended carefully. He didn't want to in any way suggest he could control Jason—which he most definitely could NOT, seeing as he tried and promptly failed at that many times—but also to hint at the nature of their relationship. Somehow though, he knew trying to explain his and his wayward brother's relationship to such white-and-black heroes would not go over well—with the exception of Raven, who with her darker nature could possibly understand, if not be accepting or tolerant of it at least.
The phrasing prompted the expected question on cue: "And he's your brother?" Cyborg accused, as if blaming him for the murders Hood had committed. Which, if you thought about it, could be a reasonable claim. Dick was the oldest and in charge of protecting this city—crazy family members included.
"Yes, but unlike Megan and Beast Boy, not by blood. In every way but." He sighed.
"And you still put up with him?" Raven demanded in frustration. "He murders people, not to mention the fact he is clearly and obviously out of his mind in sadism and brutality—and you're not bound to him by actually being related to him and you still call him your brother?"
Nightwing had to admit, that was pretty fair reasoning.
"Family doesn't work like that." He sighed in defeat. "Blood or not, he is my brother… and he wasn't always like that, he used to be little and harmless." He defended half-heartedly. Like Jason Todd was ever harmless. He was a fighter and a street rat from age zero onward, he was only less harmful than he was now—less trained and less weaponized. "And then he got older and life completely screwed him up. He's a royal jackass to everyone but his brothers, and I'm trying not to take sides and giving him the fair deal no one else is going to—mainly that I not try and put him jail for his… techniques."
"Techniques? You mean murder!"
"Wait- brothers?!"
"What fair deal?"
Wing looked around wildly as everyone spoke at once. He held up his hands, pursing his lips in tenseness.
"Just… take a seat. It's a long story. I… didn't actually want to tell you guys all this, but Hood's been bugging me for months to just get it over with already and… well, him showing up was just to force me to spill it. He got his wish, the bastard." He muttered the last part under his breath and the team exchanged curious, if not wary, looks before settling in on the couches and staring expectantly at Nightwing, who took his own seat on the back of the sofa—the perched position making him feel at the ready and more secure even though he knew no one was going to attack him per say; the poised position was comforting as he tried to figure out a way to begin the story.
Cyborg seemed to notice his struggle.
"Start with this—you said brothers, as in, more than one." He prompted and Wing shot him a grateful look.
"Yeah, and you've actually already met him too, sort of. Rob—the friend who calls sometimes to chat, is the youngest. Red Hood's in the middle and I'm the oldest. We're all adopted, so not blood brothers, but we're family all the same." He explained.
"I was always impressed by how long Rob could talk to us and still not ever say anything meaningful about himself." Raven noted. "I suppose he gets that from you?" She said with a raised eyebrow.
Nightwing grinned guiltily. "Well, most of the time, but we all really get it from our father. He's the master at evading questions. And our grandfather too, now that I think of it." He considered aloud, thinking about how Alfred basically taught him English and educated him through his younger years, and still in all the quality time teaching a curious little Bat, Dick still didn't know what Alfred's last name was until he'd been living at Wayne Manor for just under a year. He supposed it was safe to assume that Bruce had to learn it from somewhere, and he sure as hell didn't learn it from the cave bats.
"And friend Rob is a hero like you? Or a villain like Red Hood?" Starfire asked innocently, and it was only her oblivious, innocently curious tone that kept Nightwing clam enough to respond without snapping defensively at her.
"Red Hood isn't a villain…! Not really. I'm not saying he won't hurt people, but he does it because he feels that's what he needs to do for the greater good: take down criminals by any means necessary. It's… brutal, and not what most consider hero behavior, but his heart is mostly in the right place. I think I mentioned he mainly stays in Bludhaven-"
"Bludhaven!? That place is dark." Cyborg shuddered. "Heroes and villains alike don't come back from Bludhaven! That place is so screwed up there's not one politician or cop NOT corrupted or double-timing it as a drug lord or something even worse." He marveled. "Heroes just don't even try with that freak-show of a city."
"But Hood does, and crime is actually going down now a days." Nightwing pointed out eagerly, happy to have an opening to defend his brother. "Ever since he started in on it, it's been getting better, even if only slightly. Sure, it's because of the fear he himself inspires, but Bludhaven is definitely benefiting from a… not so honorable hero. A dark hero for a dark city." He equated reasonably.
"That still doesn't justify murder." Raven frowned.
"No, it doesn't." He agreed quickly. "But in a city where serial killers and rapists walk free with ten dollar bail and the gangs have five times the firepower of the police—who probably wouldn't even get out of their cruisers to stop anything they saw anyway—a person like Red Hood is the only way to keep any order. Here, we turn the bad guys we catch in. If Hood did that, the villain would be released in an hour and right back at it. Justice doesn't work, democracy and due process doesn't work there, only a… an unofficial dictatorship of crime I guess, for lack of a better way to put it, is the only thing that could help a city as hopeless as that."
"So he kills them?" Beast Boy huffed.
Nightwing didn't want to get any farther into this debate because he knew he couldn't win—at least, if winning was defined as convincing his team that Jason was in the right. Because Jason wasn't in the right when he wasn't in Bludhaven. Up unto that point, he'd conveniently left out the fact that Red Hood killed criminals whether they lived in Bludhaven or not, and once they connected the dots and realized Jump City was suddenly short a dozen petty criminals because of Hood's techniques, all his arguments would fly out the window and they'd only be angry again.
"I'm not here to argue in his favor, because in all honestly I doubt him and his methods every other day too. Some days I agree with him, other days I have to consciously remind myself he's my brother and I promised him to be understanding in order to not lock him away in the nearest asylum. That's not the point right now—the point is that he is my brother and I'm not abandoning him or going to stop him either. If that makes me a villain too, then I'm sorry, but I'm not giving up on him. So, to answer your question Starfire, Rob is in fact a hero like me and Red Hood."
His tone left no room for argument, and the Titans knew Wing well enough by now to know that when he was serious about being stubborn, he really was stubborn as hell and nothing short of a nuclear bomb could unlock the vault that was his mind, and probably not even then. He made his decisions, and he stuck with them. The ethics conversation concerning Red Hood was one they didn't want to get any farther into, because they had a feeling that no one would end up being right, no matter how much they argued, so they let it be. For now at least.
"Does your father mind that all of his sons our heroes then?" Starfire wondered aloud, and Nightwing relaxed from the tension he hadn't known he'd been holding through that conversation now that they'd moved topics.
"Well, at first I guess he did, but we didn't give him much choice. Since then I had hoped we'd made him proud…" No one missed the way he violently grimaced when he'd said that.
The words were true enough, but now… after both him and Jason going "rogue" and Tim… being Tim, the perfect little solider although they all knew he hardly agreed with Bruce anymore than Dick or Jason had growing up as young heroes, he really did wonder if Bruce was still proud his sons had become heroes.
'Duty comes first'—that was the rule that every Bat abided by. But 'family comes first' was also another rule that no one had ever really clarified if it was more or less important than duty coming first. Dick got the feeling Bruce himself really didn't know, and now that he was confronted by choosing between his sons and their missions, what did he decide?
He was the god damned Batman, and the original Boy Wonder though he was, Dick still wasn't sure if he knew his father and old partner well enough to know the answer to that. Bruce was fueled by the internal conflict of right and wrong, and this whole ordeal was so far from black and white and so blatantly in that impenetrable gray area, that Dick wondered if the dilemma might be just too much for Bruce. Jason, Barbara, Dick, Alfred, and even Tim to a degree, they all knew where they stood—they all knew the pros and cons of each side and picked a stance. Bruce didn't get that kind of solace from having his decision made and done with—he constantly struggled with it.
So was he proud?
Dick got the feeling no one would ever know. Bruce included.
"Again, I'm always impressed by your emotions." Raven said quietly, and Wing gave her a curious look. She clarified, "Your emotions are all over the place, ranging from despair to acceptance to anger and depression, but none of it shows on your face."
He smiled wryly. "Another thing I learned from my father. Calling him stoic would be the understatement of the year." He sighed, looking out the window lost in thought for a moment.
"So… how does Hood know me? More importantly, how do I know him?" Beast Boy asked, obviously and not-so-smoothly changing the subject from the rather depressed tone Nightwing had taken on, and for that he was grateful, sending BB a small smile.
"My brothers and I are very good at pretending to be one another, especially before we all left home and sometimes had to pretend to be each other every other day. You may have called me more than a couple times and I wasn't home, so one of my brothers probably just stepped in and acted like me to cover. They know you very well from that, though to you I guess it seems like you only know one person."
Everyone looked shocked.
"That's creepy!" Cyborg declared. "Are you telling me that Red Hood could put on your suit and we wouldn't know the difference?!" He demanded.
"Well, as I'm sure you noticed, he's much taller than me now, so probably not. But when we were younger and it wasn't so pronounced, it's pretty likely. It was mainly used for talking over communicators or the like, rather than face-to-face encounters. Certain mannerisms are hard to fake when standing in front of someone who knows both you and the person you're trying to fake well, so it's mostly reserved for communicator and video chat impersonations."
"And you just… got away with it?" Beast Boy said in a daze, looking like he was having a hard time processing this new information.
"We're all excellent actors." Nightwing shrugged, but with a tiny prideful smirk.
"Why would you need to pretend to be each other?" Starfire fretted. "Could he not say you were not there and he should call back later? Why would you need to deceive him?"
Nightwing pursed his lips again, trying to think of a way to explain it.
"So far as Beast Boy and the others around him knew, I had no brothers. We're all heroes, but we had to grow into it very carefully and make sure no one realized there was a progression happening. It would make it very difficult to obtain credibility and put all our lives at risk, so we kept it hidden, even from our allies. So far as they knew, we were all one person. Since then it's changed and everyone, even the public knows there were three of us, but at the time it was top secret, for our sakes and our secret identity's sake as well."
"I do not understand." Starfire frowned the same time Beast Boy and Cyborg said "You lost me."
Well, there goes trying to explain it without giving out details.
He gritted his teeth and let out a deep breath. Here goes nothing.
"Well… you all know I've been a hero for a while now, but… what you don't know that I've only been Nightwing for about a year and a half now. In fact, I put on this suit for the first time two days before I met you all."
They exchanged surprised looks. "I never really considered that heroes might change their costumes and names and still be the same person." Raven admitted.
"It doesn't seem natural I guess." Cyborg frowned.
Nightwing smiled ruefully. "Heroes get this impression on the public that they're more than mortal—and some are for sure, with unique powers that can't be replicated, but it's not always the case. Heroes are still people that can get hurt and that can be killed, but the mantle they wore is what is important, what keeps the people hopeful and feeling safe. It doesn't matter who's wearing the mask so long as someone is and they're still protecting people with it." He sighed.
"That's depressing." Beast Boy noted bluntly.
"But very true!" Starfire burst out in whole-hearted agreement. "On Tamaran, the great hero of Blargnock wears a helmet of a Jarkaracum skull into battle and has a legacy of never being defeated! It has been thousands of years since that hero has lived, yet when my people go to war they rally behind a warrior in that armor and calls him Blargnock even though it is surely not the same warrior that has lived all this time through the hundreds of wars. It is the spirit of the warrior we fight for." She declared proudly. Dick had to admit, of everyone he had not guessed it would be Starfire who would grasp this idea of handing down a mask, but the proud fire in her eyes told them all how powerful and important this process was and just how completely she supported it. She did not have a mask to hand down, but Nightwing didn't doubt for a second that if she did, she would hand it down with the utmost care and respect as Dick had for Jason, and then for Tim when Jason couldn't do it himself. He gave her a thankful smile.
"She's right, the person behind the mantle doesn't matter so long as they can still pretend to be that hero. I've seen many heroes go down in a fight, and a week later someone's replaced them, wearing their same costume and trying to figure out how to measure up to a legacy. Because that's all it is: a legacy, a name. Sometimes a hero is larger than life, and stepping up to that role is daunting. I've been a hero a lot longer than you might think, and when I outgrew one mask, I exchanged it for another. Then, when that one became old too, I moved cities and became Nightwing."
"Dude, you've been three heroes? When do you sleep?" Beast Boy joked.
Not often. Nightwing thought truthfully, but just smiled along with the joke.
"I wasn't three heroes all at once B, it was just the progression it took. When I was done with my first mantle, I gave it to Hood, who continued it until he became Red Hood and handed it down to Rob. Rob is still that hero, but in a couple years, once he's old enough, I expect he'll find a new mantle of his own creation like Hood and I did."
"This is insane, it's like a family business or something!" Cyborg exclaimed. "It's like there's this whole side to being a hero I didn't even realize…" He marveled.
"The show part?" Nightwing offered. "What the public sees is just as important as what actually happens. The mood of a city can change everything, and the business aspect of being a hero is a crucial part that doesn't just happen—it's learned."
"Which is why you've managed to organize all the Titans so successfully and earn us credibility." Raven realized. "You were the only one with enough experience to know what we needed to do because this is a family business for you. Not just heroes banding together informally, but an actual business you already knew how to run."
Nightwing considered that, and decided it was a fairly accurate description.
"In a way. We're all young enough that we don't have to get into the conversations about training new recruits to be us, not to mention the fact that most of the Titans have unique powers and don't wear masks to hand down… but yes, basically, this—this team and this hero thing— is a formula I've already worked through and perfected in my own way. What good would it be to keep it to myself? The Titans are doing great things, and all I did was provide a medium for it."
"I am so confused by all of this." Beast Boy groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Where did you even learn all this stuff anyway?"
"I took notes." Nightwing smirked.
"Notes of what?" Starfire asked.
Again, here goes nothing.
"The League." He answered simply. Everyone blinked for a moment while they absorbed that.
"I thought we hated the League?" Cyborg frowned in confusion.
"Whoever said that?" Wing asked politely with a too-innocent expression.
"I believe we assumed since you took care not to cross their paths and avoid them that you did not like them very much." Starfire pointed out.
"Oh no, I love them all to death. They practically raised me. But, that's the problem." Nightwing told her cheerfully, but she only looked more confused at that. He smirked a bit wearily, "You see, they're like my family, and if I ever crossed paths with one of them again, I've no doubt they'd recognize me in a second, and I couldn't let that happen."
"Why not?" Raven demanded.
He looked down and away, flinching internally at the memories and the mental image of a very, very pissed off Batman after he found out what his eldest son had done.
"I… I deviated. I went a little rouge after… well, some very bad things happened and I didn't react well. My family was hurt and I was furious that the monster responsible wasn't going to pay for it so… so I did a very non-hero-like thing and… sort of ran away. I didn't want to face the League, to face my father, with what I had done, because I didn't regret it, but I knew they'd want me to be… and I just couldn't. I wouldn't, and I still won't. But… they are my family, and they mean well, but I just can't be who they want me to be. So I ran, and I hid under the mantle of Nightwing with the phony reputation that I disliked the League and we've kept our distances nicely."
"What did you do?" Starfire worried.
"Shouldn't your family be accepting or whatever?" Cyborg frowned.
"And wait- how does this relate to me knowing you? Which hero were you and how did I know you/your brothers or whatever the heck's going on!?" Beast Boy complained.
"No, no, no, back up a minute," Raven shushed them all. "You've been explaining all this without ever giving any details, and it's not working to help our confusion. We want to know, and we want to know exactly what you're trying to avoid telling us, so spill it—with some actually facts this time please." She huffed, leaning back and crossing her arms defiantly.
Nightwing had to admit her stare was impressive, if not pretty close to a Bat-glare, then definitely had the potential to be one at least. He shelved that thought for the moment and went back to fretting about this next part.
"I…" But he suddenly lost his voice. How was he supposed to just out and say everything he'd been trying too hard to keep hushed up and forgotten? He never talked about himself with his team, not even Young Justice before them. But this wasn't exactly about him though, was it? It was about Robin, and Robin's transition and history, not Richard Grayson or Jason Todd or Time Drake.
Only Robin.
He could talk about Robin then, right?
He took a deep breath.
"When I was little, my parents died and I was adopted by a man who turned out to have a nightlife as a vigilante in Gotham City." Beast Boy and Cyborg immediately tensed, knowing there was only one vigilante in Gotham—or, at least only one that mattered. The girls, being aliens who weren't as attuned to the League superheroes, didn't seem to catch on right away. "I was angry and upset about my parent's death and needed a way to focus my energies, so I followed him out on patrol until he gave up and actually trained me as his partner. Over time we got a formidable reputation both in Gotham and across the country, if not the world. He was one of the founding members of the Justice League and once I'd grown up some, I eventually joined the League's sub-team of sorts, or the team that consisted of all the young partners of the main League members—Young Justice. There was Martian Manhunter and Miss. Martian, Aquaman and Aqualad, Green Arrow and Artemis, Superman and Superboy, Flash and Kid Flash… and me."
"Robin." Beast Boy gaped, looking about ready to faint as his impossibly wide eyes stared at Nightwing as if he'd grown another head in the last five minutes.
"WHAT!?" Cyborg roared. "AS IN BATMAN AND ROBIN!? BOY WONDER ROBIN!?" He freaked.
"I'm not a boy anymore." Nightwing noted with one calmly raised eyebrow, though he wasn't particularly feeling calm at all. He couldn't decide if he felt nervous, proud, happy, or insulted by their reaction, and decided on a combination of it all, mixed in with a little confusion and weariness at it all.
"Wait… so it was you in the pixie boots?" Raven said dryly, but Wing spotted the way her lips were threatening to curl upwards into a smirk.
"Oi! I was seven thankyouverymuch, and I thought pixie boots were pretty damn cool at the time, so drop it!" He defended himself unashamed, having had this argument many, many times before and even managing to return the smirk playfully.
"I think I'm gonna faint." Beast Boy muttered dramatically, while Cyborg was obviously fan-girling silently. Even Raven through her teasing looked impressed, and while Starfire didn't exactly know a whole lot of Batman's reputation, she'd certainly heard of him and looked intrigued at least. No young hero becomes a hero without knowing about Robin, the Boy Wonder, and the first hero under the age of twenty much less under the age of ten. He set the precedent and the goals of all kid/teenage heroes out there: he WAS the reason most kids with odd powers or abilities tried to be heroes at all. Even the teenage villains saw Robin as an idol of sorts—except for the hero part—because he was the first kid ever to be taken seriously in the adult world. It meant a heck of a lot.
"So wait," Beast Boy said in a daze. "All the times I called Robin… I actually called you, or I could've been talking to… to Red Hood or Rob? Rob! Robin! He's the current Robin!" He squeaked.
"No way, this is unreal." Cyborg muttered. "There is no way Red Hood was a Robin- it's just not possible."
"How did he go from… from a bright little bird to that?" Raven wondered quietly.
"Life happened." Wing said with a tense expression. "Or death, depending how you look at it."
"Who died?" Cyborg asked seriously.
Nightwing only paused for the briefest moment to flinch at the memories.
"He did."
There was a long pause in which Dick just carefully watched his teams' expressions and figure out what they were thinking. For the most part, no one seemed to be immediately rejecting it, more just trying to puzzle together what he meant by that and reason out what he actually meant.
"Like, metaphorically?" Beast Boy prompted.
"No, as in literally. Physically, emotionally, spiritually actually dead as a doornail." Wing said evenly. "I was at his funeral and everything. I… watched them put him in the ground… although he died as Robin, and we couldn't give away his secret ID or expose us all, so it was only us, our father, and our grandfather…" He trailed off, masked eyes wide and spacey as he got lost in what he'd decided was definitely one of the top worst days of his life. Right up there with the night his parent's died and the day Two-Face beat his skull in and the mission he met the Joker for the first time.
Images of Bruce, stoically refusing to break down; Alfred, silent tears falling as he softly read a short passage from an old Bible; Tim, sobbing as he desperately clutched his big brother's side; Barbara, staring at the coffin in permanent shock, like she couldn't believe it was all actually happening; even Selina, standing just behind Bruce's shoulder had tear-filled eyes, but also said nothing and barely gave any hint of an expression before disappearing before the coffin was even lowered.
It was a bad day.
No one other than those who attended even knew Jason was dead. That was partly the reason Dick couldn't stand to be there a second longer: Bruce couldn't accept one of his sons was dead and was trying to act like he wasn't. He lied to the League and to everyone… just like Dick had lied to Young Justice about the Robin in Gotham not being him, not even telling them his real name or that he even had brothers…
The lies were too much.
Jason died a hero's death, and everyone who'd ever donned a costume should've been there to give him the biggest send off, should have remembered his life and the good times like you're supposed to do at funerals, to say goodbye.
But most didn't even know Jason existed, much less remember the good times when he was dead.
It made Dick furious, and he blamed Bruce for the deception and for slighting his little brother that way, even if he was also plagued with guilt for having had a hand in it.
He honestly didn't know, and didn't want to know, if the League now knew Jason had died. He supposed they did, because most knew a Robin had died, and even though there were rumors on the street for the public, he had little doubt the League had forced the real answer out of Batman. Normally force wouldn't work, but Dick had a feeling the League would initially think it was him that was dead instead of realizing there was another Robin, and probably would've been more than adamant about the truth. They had, after all, practically raised him alongside Batman.
"He can't have been dead, because he tried to shoot me an hour ago," Beast Boy pointed out as if talking to a child.
Nightwing rolled his eyes. "Raven, is it possible to bring someone back from the dead?" he asked bluntly, and the mentioned heroine looked startled. With her background in deep magic, he knew she'd probably have heard of something like the Lazarus Pit before, but not ever really believed it until now.
"Technically yes, I suppose." She admitted, still looking doubtful. "The theory is there and history claims it's been done before using certain techniques and some very ancient brands of magic, but if anything they're stories at this point. If anyone was ever brought back from the dead, it probably happened eons ago when magic was at its height of power." She reasoned
"Ever hear of something called a Lazarus Pit?" He said gently, and everyone was surprised and alarmed as all the color—what very minimal color was there to begin with—drained from Raven's face.
"That is dark magic." She said gravely. "Those pits are old, old magic that can't be contained and shouldn't be messed with. They're pure evil disguised by good intent. They're used to rejuvenate in small amounts, not to cure sickness or even death! I could only guess at what terrible things could happen if it was used on a corpse." She shuddered involuntarily.
Nightwing felt his stomach drop. He suspected as much, but hearing it from an authority source on the topic just made it so much worse. Poor Jason… no one but him is allowed to pick on/hurt his little brother, and hearing this…
"You met Red Hood. I think you've got your answer." He said in a deadened voice. He couldn't think about his emotions right then, he'd break down if he did.
Raven looked at him like he'd just told her she'd look good in pink.
"There's no way." She declared, but sounded rather unsure. "Lazarus Pits are… are ancient history! Hundreds of magicians through the years have all but destroyed them, and covered them up and locked them away if they couldn't physically damage them! No magician would be foolish enough to-!"
"His name is Ra al Guhl. He's a crime lord and head of a family of assassins and responsible for Hood's death. He felt guilty about it because he respected Batman, and killing heroes was never his intent, so he used the pit he'd been using for centuries to keep himself alive on Hood's corpse and… instant crazy brother."
Ok, so maybe it was the pain and the tortured months after the pit that turned him crazier, and didn't happen so instantly, but it was close enough to what they needed to know.
Raven looked truly freaked.
"I… I caught a glimpse of his mind… and… just that one second of exposure made me black out, I couldn't even… I mean the pain…" She trailed off, seeming to be overwhelmed.
"Suddenly I don't mind him being so whacko." Beast Boy frowned. "Ok, well, actually I still mind that 'cuz he tried to kill me, but I get it more I guess…?"
Cyborg rolled his eyes at his antics. "Ok, getting back on topic now—Robin the current Boy Wonder is your little brother, Red Hood is the Robin that died but came back to life as a vil-uh, unorthodox hero, I guess-"
"You can say homicidal psychopath, I do it all the time." Nightwing nodded understandingly to him.
"Yes, but you say it fondly and I'm trying to be respectful here," Cy frowned with another eye roll. "My point is this… Batman's your father?"
They all looked at him with wide eyes as that little fact fully sunk in.
Nightwing smiled wryly. "Adoptive father, yeah. Between you and me, he's not so scary out of the cowl. He was actually a decent dad when not pulling his 'I am the night' crap." He said with a amused scoff.
They stared at him for a moment.
BB and Cyborg especially seemed to be having issues wrapping their heads around this. The girls were impressed of course, but Beast Boy had met Batman once or twice and the dark knight scared the living daylights out of him, not to mention Cyborg was pretty much the dynamic duo's biggest fan. Batman was his favorite hero, and the one he'd been trying to emulate when he first started out as a hero—before quickly learning being a massive half-robot didn't exactly fit in to being stealthy and he had too much humor/enjoyment in life to be the stoic badass he'd grown up adoring Batman for being.
Finding out their teammate was Batman's son was just… mind-boggling.
"And the point of avoiding the League is to avoid him?" Cyborg struggled to connect, still having issues accepting this news. "Can… I mean, is it even possible to hide from Batman? The world's greatest detective and he can't track down his own son?" He said in amazement.
"Well, it helps that I'm the world's second greatest detective," Wing rolled his eyes. "I know how he thinks, what he's looking for, and even he will admit I'm ten times the hacker he is. Plus, I've got an ex-Robin and the current Robin helping out and occasionally setting up decoys in the Batcomputer to throw him off my trail."
"Complicated." Raven muttered.
The others didn't react, still caught up in him saying he was a better hacker than Batman.
"But, the main thing I've got going for me is that he doesn't really want to find me." He continued, "I know he's looked, but he hasn't looked with the unrelenting determination that is Batman yet, only as my dad wondering where his son is. Bats, for all their talents, are terrible at emotional conflict, hence the stoicism when in masks. I let him down, and he doesn't want to open that can of worms just yet, so he's allowing me to hide and not pushing much farther yet." He admitted.
"How have you let him down?" Beast Boy frowned.
"I deviated." Nightwing sighed.
"Deviated as in… Red Hood kind of rouge, or deviated as in you didn't follow orders kind of thing?" Cyborg frowned too.
"Deviated as in I went against the rules Batman creates to keep everything in order." He said. At their confused looks, he sighed in defeat and explained further. "Batman has certain rules that you can't break if you want to be trained by him—mainly common sense things, but solid unbreakable rules none the less. Things like never reveal your secret ID, never give away stylistic training secrets, never kill, and never give up. There are others, but those are the important ones. More specifically under the 'never kill' category is never to kill the Joker."
"Joker? Why, out of everyone, would Batman not want to kill the Joker!?" Cyborg exclaimed. "He's Batman's arch enemy and a sadistic madman that's killed thousands and driven hundreds more insane! How is that a rule?" He demanded.
Wing pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"I get that logic, I really do, but there's more to it than that." He tried to explain. "It's a slippery slope when it comes to Batman—he gives the persona of being evil to scare away villains and criminals, and will do everything short of killing someone to get the job done. If he ever killed… it wouldn't stop."
"And he'd turn into a villain himself." Raven said gravely.
Nightwing shrugged. "He's my dad, my partner—I'd like to think I know him best, but even I don't know the answer to what would happen. All I know is that Batman cannot kill. It would be bad, let's say, and leave it at that."
B and Cy shivered involuntarily while the girls looked troubled with that information.
"What does this mean for you deviating?" Star asked.
"It's important to know this about the Bat, because the same thing would happen if the Joker died." Nightwing said in frustration at that idea. "As stupid as it is, the Joker is Batman's balance. So long as the Joker is still alive and causing trouble, Batman has a reason to keep going and keep fighting the good fight even when everything else in the world has gone to hell. So long as the Joker's alive, Batman cannot be destroyed, he would never give up so long as he has that reason to keep going."
"Kill the Joker…" Cy realized.
"Batman's determination crumbles." Beast Boy finished.
"And a Batman without determination is just a guy in a cape." Raven sighed.
"Pretty much." Wing agreed softly. "But… I deviated. The Joker killed my baby brother. Beat him to death with a crowbar and left him in a building set to explode. It took Ra al Guhl quite awhile to bring Jason back, so at the time I'd just watched them bury my little brother and thought he was gone for good. Rob didn't stop crying for days, dad didn't talk… I was on my way out anyway, I was getting older and Young Justice had disbanded at that point…"
"That was when you came to Jump." Raven deduced, and Wing nodded slowly.
"Yes. But first… I wanted the Joker to pay. No one touches my family and walks away." He half-growled, causing them to sit back a little as his glare went farther than they'd ever seen it go before. "It's one of the rules: don't kill the Joker. Batman needs the Joker, so on and so forth. But I couldn't… dad and I had argued before then, about me designing a weapon that would make Joker sane for a time, so he could feel pain. He forbid me from doing that, calling it no less cruel that what Joker does. When Jason… well, I built it anyway. I used it. And then I ran, knowing the fallout would be something to behold."
They stared in silence.
"You won't see me complaining." Cy said evenly. "Pretty much anyone on the planet would agree that madman had it coming."
"Yes, but only one person's opinion matter on the topic of me remaining in Gotham." Nightwing sighed back. "I don't regret it—I still don't—and now that Jason is alive again I feel… less inclined to keep this all secret. I was grieving for a lost brother, but he's no longer lost so…" He shrugged a little.
"While I hate the guy, that is one damn lucky second chance." Raven noted dryly. Nightwing grinned in agreement back.
"I don't get why Batman would be so upset! I mean, yes he needs that crazy bastard as a blanace, but… I mean why the Joker!?" Beast Boy complained. "The Joker is the definition of insanity and evil and just all things horrible, so why-!?"
Nightwing pressed his lips together in careful consideration.
"You know… Batman created the Joker." He began, and they snapped their heads around at that news, all eyes panicky wide.
"What?!" Cyborg gasped.
Dick shrugged. "Nearly all heroes are responsible for creating their own arch nemesis', and Batman is no exception. The Joker used to be your typical criminal, very average and not that crazy or hard to defeat. In fact, he was rather a coward, so when Batman showed up to take him in, he ran. Batman chased him into a chemical warehouse where he accidently fell into one of the vats. His skin was bleached white, his lips permanently blood red, and went over the edge crazy. Didn't help that he went to Arkam and they decided electrocution would be a great way to try and cure him."
"And became the Joker." Beast Boy said, horrified. "Dude… so not cool."
Nightwing gave a wry, bitter little smile. "Batman is not perfect. He makes mistakes and then focuses on fixing them until he never makes them again, which is why he seems perfect. The Joker is the embodiment of all that he isn't perfect with, and getting rid of that… yes, he'd be a guy in a cape." He looked up at his teams shocked looks. "If I tell you something, would you keep it secret? I mean, all of this is top secret obviously, but this especially?"
They looked surprised but welcoming. "Of course! We shall be the vaults of secrets!" Starfire declared, the others nodding.
"Yeah, and I've got a feeling spilling any of this would not be so great. For anyone." Cyborg said quietly.
"You've got no idea." Nightwing sighed tiredly.
"None of this leaves the Tower. Ever." Raven nodded, and they all eagerly agreed.
Nightwing smiled, actually enjoying this sharing of his life with his friends. It was… new, to say the least but… nice. It… wasn't like lying, or scheming, and he hadn't stopped doing that in so long he almost forgot what it was like. Maybe that was why he liked being around Jason so much, jerk as he was: because he didn't have to hide. He could share and not worry.
Being trusted put pressure on him, but trusting others was… kind of okay with him.
"It's sort of a tradition at this point in my family that your mantle is your greatest fear." He confessed, watching their eyes widen in curiosity. "When my dad was little, he was terrified of bats. He didn't want to be afraid anymore, so when he became a hero…"
"He chose bats as his mantle." Cyborg said excitedly.
"It's called exposure," Raven reasoned, "If you expose yourself to your fear, you can get over it. It's actually genius." She approved.
"Does that mean you were afraid of robins?" Beast Boy raised an eyebrow at their leader, who rolled his eyes.
"No, I was afraid of heights." He admitted. The team blinked. He smirked, "I was unfortunate enough to watch most of my family fall to their deaths when I was little, so it didn't sit well with me for a time. I used to love being up high, and my mom would call me her little robin referring to how much I liked to climb trees and be up somewhere, and then… well, once they were gone it was a fear of its own for a while."
They sat in silence, staring at him with wide eyes, as if afraid to comment.
He sighed internally. "I say this because my brother did in fact die, and it was the Joker who killed him. The Joker, who before he fell into those chemicals and went crazy, was a lower-level criminal who called himself The Red Hood."
Raven's eyes bugged out. "And your brother picked that name because he feared that clown?"
"I'd be afraid of the guy who killed me." Beast Boy muttered.
"That must've been tough." Cyborg frowned. "Your dad's arch enemy kills you and your dad can't kill the SOB because it'd destroy a city. Sucks." He sympathized, and Nightwing gave him a curious look.
"That's actually why he's so… aggressive, I guess. He was always a bit too aggressive to be a cut and clean traditional hero, and he's always had temper issues, but coming back from the dead messed with him in a way that he can't sensor himself anymore, not even slightly. He's angry at Batman for not doing anything to avenge him. He always used to think I was the favorite son, and it irked him, and he's under the belief if I'd been the one killed the Bat would've done something, but because it was him, he didn't."
"That's stupid." BB summed up.
"I never said he wasn't insane." Nightwing noted carefully.
"A father would not care which son is killed, he would always be hurt in the end." Starfire said sadly.
"Hood doesn't see it, and truthfully, he probably never will." Wing sighed. "And all that anger makes him twice as aggressive. Which is no help when trying to coral him."
"But he does listen to you, a little." Raven pointed out. "You got him to leave. I sensed this little killing spree was an attention getter. I'd compare it to a toddler throwing a tantrum to get the attention of their big brother, only with guns." She frowned.
"In truth, I'd have to agree with that sentiment." Nightwing frowned too, pinching the bridge of his nose in stress. "But as for listening to me… I'm hesitant at the least to claim to be able to control him. The Bat and I found him trying to steal the tires off the Batmobile, and he couldn't've been more than twelve or something at the time. He's got guts, and even if I could kick his ass any day of the week, I'd wonder at what cost. He's not one to give up easily, none of my family are, but him especially. He doesn't fear pain or loss, and that can make a dangerous opponent."
"Dude, I might be over him trying to kill me. Stealing the tires off the Batmobile is just freakin awesome." Beast Boy snickered with thrilled eyes.
"Awesome, and stupid." Cyborg shook his head.
Nightwing grinned fondly. "He is fearless. Always has been. And… he was a great Robin, while it lasted." He finished slightly sadly.
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Elsewhere…
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"Well this is just a load of crap…!"
"You brought this on yourself."
"Goldie's making me seem like some kicked puppy! And look at the redhead—she looks about ready to cry! They didn't seem too concerned when I was kicking their asses to the curb!"
"Relax, he's trying to angle it so they don't come after you for what you've done. He's humanizing you, which you should be grateful for seeing as you've accomplished your mission and now Dick can still talk to you and be on good terms with the Titans."
"… you're so logical it hurts. You been taking lessons from Nerdy-locks down there?"
"Shut up."
"Just pointing it out…. And, while we're on the topic of my mission accomplished, you figured out how to get your mission done?"
"Yes, but unlike you, I have patience."
"If you take too long, she'll kill you before it plays out."
"Don't you think I know that!? No, this way Dick will have time to adjust to his team now knowing, and she'll get her revenge in due time."
"You'll record it, right? I need to see that play out."
"Of course…! What do you take me for, a rookie?"
"Coulda fooled me."
"Shut up. It's gonna be priceless… I just have to avoid sparring with her until then. She's got a lot of pent up frustration, and I get bruised ribs from her glares alone."
"You mean sexual frustration."
"You're sick. Go bother Wing with that crap."
"I'm not the one who has to deal with her while she's on permanent PMS from missing our little midget."
"Leave her alone, leave him alone, and just butt out, okay? I've got it covered."
"Whatever dude, your funeral. And trust me, those things are a bore."
"Ha-ha, it's so funny I forgot to laugh…"
"You're no fun!"
"You want fun? Maybe you shouldn't have pissed off the brother who actually finds you funny."
"Ouch Timbo, that hurts, it really does."
"Oh, get lost."
"Naw, you'd miss me too much."
"Wanna bet?"
"I'll leave when Wing closes this security break in his tower's cameras."
"Oh, it's not a break. He left it open.
"Uh, WHY?"
"Probably to see your face when he makes you out like a kicked puppy. Note the planted webcam on the screen."
"… that bastard…. But damn he's good…."
"And now he has you on video admitting it too."
"…"
"…"
"… damn it."