A/N: I had a lot of fun with this chapter. I much prefer writing action to writing the build up. Thanks again to the awesome people who have reviewed, totally made my day after a sucky day at work. I hope you know how much you rock. :)

oOo

It was with a heady sense of anticipation the following evening that Robin jumped into the Batmobile with Batman. He hoped they would run into the mysterious Red Hood. Batman had explained to him that Red Hood was a persona that had been utilized by several criminals, including the Joker, but that this Red Hood was someone whom Batman hadn't encountered before – despite the man's claims to the contrary.

The ride into Gotham was silent; Batman was in a grim humour and Robin knew better than to talk to him when he was like this. The man would consider and analyze every move they would make that evening before they even left the car.

Pulling into a darkened alley on the outskirts of Gotham, Batman turned to his young partner and fixed him with a stern expression. "Robin, stay close tonight. No solo flights."

"'Kay." Robin shrugged. He knew that was coming.

They left the car and travelled in the shadows of Gotham. The September night air was still warm and Robin revelled in the rush of wind through his hair as they whipped through the upper levels of the city. He didn't care what Red Hood said, he loved this; no way was he giving it up.

The night turned out to be rather uneventful; a couple of muggings and one store robbery, but no sign of Red Hood. After several hours, Robin could feel the disquiet coming off of Batman in waves. He knew the man had expected Red Hood to have shown himself long before now. Clearly this Red Hood was not as predictable as his predecessors, and that made him more dangerous in Batman's eyes.

Robin wasn't sure what to think. Batman was adamant that he had never encountered this Red Hood before, but something about the man's anger felt real to the boy. He hoped Batman wouldn't call it a night before they found him…or rather, he found them.

Suddenly, an explosion shattered Robin's thoughts. Without speaking, or even looking at one another, the dynamic duo changed course and swung smoothly back in the direction of the blast.

It wasn't hard to locate the scene of the disruption. Rockets were shooting fifty feet into the night sky and Robin realized that the old fireworks factory down by the docks was on fire. An acrid smell of smoke and fireworks greeted them as they landed on the docks, and the heat from the fire drove them back several paces.

"Do you think anyone was in there?" Robin yelled over the roar of the flames and fireworks.

"I hope not. But we need to search the area for anyone that may be injured. Take the right around the perimeter, I'll take the left. And, Robin," Batman paused and fixed him with a glare, "don't even attempt to enter that factory."

"Hey, do I look crazy?" he threw over his shoulder as he ran in the direction that Batman had indicated.

Robin was careful to keep his distance from the flaming factory that was spitting out fireworks like they were going out of fashion. He was glad that there didn't seem to be anyone in the vicinity of the factory, although something unpleasant churned in the pit of his stomach at the idea of someone being in there.

A bang sounded to his left and Robin had to throw himself to the ground as several whizzing pyrotechnics were launched in his direction. He looked up to see several stacked crates combust, sending multicoloured sparks spewing over his head. He flipped forward just before the upper-most crate toppled and crashed to the spot he had been just a split second before.

"Wow!" Robin breathed. "A little too close!"

"Nice move, Bird Brat!" a sneering voice sounded. "Too bad it didn't squash you, would have saved us the trouble."

Robin jerked his head around. Two men with guns stood there. He recognised them as Joker's goons and grinned. "Sorry, guys, not tonight!"

Before they had a chance to react, he catapulted into the air. Placing his hands on the shortest man's shoulders, he spun his body upright and twisted his legs in a fast helicopter kick that smashed into the taller man's face and sent him reeling, before continuing forward and using his momentum to leverage the shorter man into the nearest crate. Spinning, he snatched the gun from the taller man's hands and smashed it into his face before sweeping his legs from under him. The man groaned and went limp, and Robin tossed the gun aside.

"Nice move, Kid."

Robin whirled to see Red Hood standing watching him. "You!"

Red Hood inclined his head. "I'm guessing our little conversation yesterday didn't impress you?"

"Oh, it impressed me, just not in the way that you wanted." Robin shifted into a defensive stance. The Joker had used the Red Hood persona before, and these were his goons; was this guy working with the Joker?

"Relax, kid, I meant what I said yesterday; I don't want to hurt you."

"What are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd catch the show." He gestured lazily towards the spectacular pyrotechnic display showcasing itself overhead.

Robin snorted. "Yeah right! You could catch this show from anywhere in Gotham."

"What can I say? I like to be where the action is. Where's Batman?"

"Around."

Red Hood laughed and Robin wished he could see the man's face. It was hard to tell what he intended without any facial cues.

"You really do meet the dregs of Gotham society in this part of the city, don't you?" a husky voice sounded just behind Red Hood. The man snapped around revealing the Joker, holding a very big knife. "Hey, Bird Boy, who's your new friend? Can't say I like his taste in clothes much." The Joker swung his knife at Red Hood who flipped backwards, landing near Robin.

"Who's the clown?" he demanded.

Robin was surprised. "That's the Joker. How can you know all about Batman and not know who the Joker is?"

Red Hood jerked slightly. "That's not the Joker!"

The clown scowled at Red Hood. "What's the matter, not what you were expecting?"

"Not what I know!" the Red Hood growled, clenching his fists. "Is this some sort of trick? Because if it is, it's not very funny."

"Oh, you want funny?" The clown smiled. "I can do funny."

He raised his left hand and it was then Robin spotted the device. "Look out!" he shouted. "He's gonna–" His words were drowned out by an explosion that echoed even over the fireworks and something slammed into him.

The something rolled with him behind the fallen crate and Robin found himself pinned by a much bigger someone.

"Stay down!" a voice growled in his ear as another deafening bang whistled, sending debris raining over them.

Robin was stunned to realize that Red Hood had knocked him out of the path of the explosion and was now shielding him from the rubble that was clattering down around them.

A distant wail of sirens sounded, but it was drowned out by a third explosion that impacted across the ground and vibrated through Robin's chest. Flames were licking their way towards them from the stacked and fallen crates.

"We need to get out of here!" Robin yelled. "This whole area is going up!"

"We're not putting ourselves in that crazy wannabe's line of fire!" Red Hood snapped.

"Is that a bad joke? We're already in the line of fire!" Robin could feel the heat starting to burn now and tried to push himself upwards, but Red Hood was more than twice his size and kept him firmly pinned.

"Relax, Kid, I know what I'm doing. Now, stay down!"

Red Hood shifted upwards, peering carefully around the crate. Robin was alarmed to see that he had a gun. "What are you–?"

"MOVE!" Red Hood seized the back of his cape, dragging them both to their feet as the crate shattered into pieces. Joker came into view; the knife was still in his hand and the other hand now contained a very big gun.

Robin instinctively flipped upwards onto the crates behind him as a hail of bullets snickered towards them. He was aware of Red Hood doing the same thing. Being lighter than Red Hood, Robin landed two crates higher. He looked down at the man. "You know what you're doing, huh?"

"Shut up!" Red Hood snapped, lunging upwards and seizing Robin then dragging him down behind the crates as more bullets whizzed past them.

"STOP doing that!" Robin complained irritably. "I can take care of myself!"

There was a whoosh and from nowhere, Batman landed beside them. "Are you both okay?"

"Fine," said Robin shortly. "It's Joker, he's got–"

The crates hiding them exploded, and Robin found himself being forced to the ground by Red Hood. "Quit it!" Robin growled at him.

But Red Hood wasn't listening. "That lunatic must have explosives hidden everywhere! This place is gonna go up like the fourth of July!"

"I already told you that," Robin reminded him irritably as they got to their feet.

"Come out and play, boys!" the Joker's voice called and he appeared through a haze of smoke, the gun pointing straight at them. He smiled when he saw Batman. "Afraid of missing out on the action? Can't have that." He fired again and they scattered to avoid the hail of bullets.

Robin found himself behind another crate with Red Hood and groaned. This was getting ridiculous! The man was like a limpet. No way was Robin seeing any action while he considered himself the dedicated babysitter.

Bullets were whistling overhead, sending chunks of wood splintering around them. Red Hood leaned around the crate and discharged his own gun in response. "I don't care who this guy thinks he is! He's really starting to piss me off!"

Batman appeared on Robin's other side as another explosion rocked the docks. The atmosphere was heavy and hot, and Robin found his chest getting tight as the growing inferno sucked the oxygen from the air around them. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

Batman scowled disapprovingly at the gun in Red Hood's hands but didn't comment. "Can you get out of here?"

"You know I can. But I'm not leaving that psycho to ignite this whole area!"

"I can handle the Joker. You get Robin out of here."

"You've got be kidding me!" Robin burst out furiously. "Not you too! What is with the kid gloves?!"

Batman ignored him and flung a batarang at the Joker as more gunfire erupted overhead. Furious curses sounded and with a sharp swish of his cape, the Dark Knight was gone.

"That's our cue, Kid," Red Hood told him, holstering his gun and producing a suspiciously familiar line gun. Firing a rope upwards at the crane overhead, he wrapped an arm around Robin's waist and before the boy could object, they were flying through the air.

"What are you doing?!" Robin cried. The raging inferno swallowing most of the ground beneath them looked even worse from the air. "Batman's down there! We can't leave him!"

"Batman can take care of himself," Red Hood answered, swinging them neatly onto the roof of a building well out of the fire's range and putting Robin down.

"Are you crazy? Look at that fire! He can't handle Joker and survive that!" Robin's voice was panicked and he made a dash for the edge of the roof.

Red Hood dived after him, bringing him to the ground in a flying tackle. "NO!"

"Get off me!" Robin rolled sideways and flipped to his feet. Red Hood did the same and Robin narrowed his eyes at the man. "Look, you want to protect me, I get it. But I can take care of myself and I am not leaving Batman to face the Joker down there!"

"Oh yes you are. And if I have to tie you up to keep you here, I'll do it."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Don't tempt me, Kid. I've been doing this for a long time, and however good you think you are, I'm better."

"Lets just see about that!" Robin threw one of his smoke bombs at the man, reached for his utility belt and discharged a line. But before he could swing himself off the roof, Red Hood crashed into him sending his line gun clattering to the street below. Furious, Robin threw a hard punch to the man's stomach then flipped backwards, landing several feet away and out of the man's grip. He retrieved an exploding batarang and flung it at Red Hood who twisted sideways, using a baton to knock the batarang over the side of the parapet.

Robin scowled and produced his escrima sticks, rushing the man and trying to engage him in combat. He didn't want to hurt him, but he needed to put him out of commission so he could get back to Batman. But Red Hood ducked his blows expertly, twisting swiftly and using his baton to send one of Robin's sticks clattering to the side. Robin frowned. Red Hood moved like Batman!

"I told you, Kid, I've been doing this a lot longer than you."

Robin snorted. "I doubt that."

Laughter sounded behind the mask. "How long have you been doing this? One, two months tops?"

Robin was even more confused now. This man knew enough about Batman to know his secret identity, how could he not know about Robin? "Two months? Try four years."

It was impossible to read the man's expression with that stupid mask, but Robin saw his whole posture go rigid and when he spoke, it sounded like it was an effort. "He's been training you for four years?! That son-of-a-bitch!"

Robin could hear the hurt in his voice and relaxed his fighting stance. "It's Jason, right?" Red Hood nodded. "Why is all of this so important to you? You said you worked with Batman, but he said he doesn't know you."

"He lied."

"No. I didn't." The deep voice of Batman sounded from behind Red Hood, who gave an angry start and whirled around.

Robin felt relief flood him at the sight of his mentor. "Batman, are you okay?"

"Fine. Joker is in the hands of Gotham PD. The fire department are trying to put out the fire."

"Have you lost your mind?" Red Hood snapped. "You know as well as I do, that wasn't the Joker!"

Batman fixed Red Hood with a piercing stare but the man didn't even flinch. "That crap doesn't work on me, Bruce, not anymore."

"Why do you keep talking like we know one another?" Batman demanded, as Robin joined him.

Red Hood's fists balled into fists. "Don't pull that crap! Tell the kid the truth!"

"That is the truth."

"You're a liar!" Red Hood was shouting now, anger and hurt bleeding out into his voice. "I thought that after my death you'd never take on another kid as Robin. But then he showed up!" He jabbed a finger in Robin's direction. "When I first saw him the other night, I thought that you'd taken him on after I came back because I was alive, because my death didn't matter! But then I find out that you've been training him for four years. Four fucking YEARS, Bruce! How long was I dead before you started looking for a replacement?"

"I told you, I don't know you."

Red Hood's response was to throw a hard punch at Batman's jaw and causing his head to snap to the side. "STOP SAYING THAT!"

"Whoa!" Robin was between them now, two hands held up in a placating gesture. "Take it easy, Jason."

"Take it easy? Take it EASY! He's lying, glossing over his dirty little secret! How long before the truth comes out, Bruce, huh? Before or after his death?"

"Will you stop talking about me like I'm going to die!" snapped Robin in frustration.

Red Hood put two hands on Robin's shoulders and stared down at him. "Kid, you're not invincible! I thought I was and it got me killed! And you!" He snapped back to face Batman once more. "What the fuck were you thinking when you took on a nine-year-old as Robin?! I mean, I know Dick was nine, but he was a circus brat with skills, and no where near as small as this kid! Have all these years of getting knocked about by criminals finally softened your brain?!"

Batman was very stiff now. "Who's Dick?"

"Who's Dick?! Jesus, you really have lost it! Dick Grayson, the boy wonder, the first fucking Robin!" Red Hood had stopped shouting now, his gaze going between both Batman and Robin who were both frozen in place. "What, what did I say?"

Robin's voice was very soft when he answered. "I don't know what's going on here, but…I am Dick Grayson."