If I owned Batman, I'd have all sorts of cool Bat gadgets

Ah, sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller's journey is done

Where the youth pined away with desire,
And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves, and aspire
Where my sunflower wishes to go

Mount Justice

March 19, 05:58 EST

"This is absolutely insane, we are going to get into so much trouble." Kid Flash moaned as he reluctantly trailed behind his teammates and the kid they'd just broken out of jail. "Batman is going to kill us, throw us in the Lazarus Pit and resurrect us just so he can kill us again." He said in a hushed whisper as the seven of them stopped around a corner.

Damian turned to him with a serious expression on his face. "I know someone who was killed and resurrected by a Lazarus Pit, it is not a laughing matter." A few beats passed before the boy cocked his head, "I was attempting to be humorous, Todd makes jokes like that all the time."

The six members of Young Justice stared incredulously at Thomas. Kid Flash turned to Robin. "You're his big brother, how could you allow him to have such a terrible sense of humor!"

"I'm not his- arg we don't have time for this." Robin hissed, indicating for the rest of them to huddle closer. "We're only going to get one shot at this. Miss Martian, you said Red Tornado is on duty, right?" He asked, activating his wrist computer and pulling up the Cave's security footage, he made a face at what he saw. "And of course he's blocking our way to the Zeta tubes."

"Well let's steal a jet then," Superboy shrugged but Aqualad shook his head.

"Not only would we be unable to leave without somehow alerting Red Tornado, all the vehicles are programmed to return to Mount Justice if they are taken without authorization. We're going to have to find some way around Red Tornado, preferably without him informing the League of our escape."

"You're from the future," Artemis said addressing their youngest. "Don't you know anything that can get us out of here?" Damian twisted his face thoughtfully.

"I don't know this base at all, Mount Justice was destroyed before my time and I haven't had much interaction with Red Tornado either. Tell me, is he connected to the Cave's mainframe?" He asked Robin.

"Mount Justice gets destroyed? When?"

"Focus KF, yeah I believe so when he has to charge himself up. Why, do you have something in mind?" A wicked smirk appeared on the youthful face.

"I have an idea, we just need to retrieve my utility belt and have the idiot distract the android." The whole group turned to look at Kid Flash who growled and slapped his knee.

"Aw come on, why is it always me?"

XxX

"Hey RT, how's it hanging?" Kid Flash said, speeding into the meeting room where the Zeta tubes were.

"I am perfectly upright Kid Flash and not 'hanging' as you put it." The android responded robotically, continuing to type on the computers. "Where are the others?"

"I think most of them are still asleep, it's been a long night after all. Whatcha doing?" Kid shrugged.

"I am finishing my charging cycle in addition to identifying several League members who may be useful in returning the boy to his correct time." Red Tornado added, stopping his typing to directly address Kid Flash. "Have you checked on the prisoner?"

Kid scoffed, taking another step forward until he was leaning against the console. "What? No, why would I want to hang around a snot nosed kid?" He asked, slipping the small circular signal disrupter from his pocket behind his back. When Red Tornado's attention was diverted to the screen, Wally attached it to the computer where it began to silently power up.

"Because the footage of the prisoner has been on looping for nearly twenty minutes now. You are here to distract me while the other children escape with him." Red replied, pulling up security footage of the Team preparing a jet. With the press of a button, Red Tornado locked down the hangar. "Please tell the Team to escort the prisoner back to his cell and wait in here until your mentors return."

"Sorry Red, but lives are at stake here." Kid Flash said. Back on the screen, the kids quickly abandoned the jet and made their way back to the Zeta tubes. As soon as the disrupter reached full capacity, the screen turned all red except for a black and gold symbol that looked vaguely like a bird's beak. It didn't last long before the computer shut itself down along with Red Tornado. A moment later the rest of the Team ran in.

"Jeez kid what did you do?" Artemis asked giving Red Tornado a knock on the head without response, she pulled out her phone and raised her eyebrows. "This place usually has the best Wi-Fi but I'm getting zip now."

Damian was busy checking his utility belt, making sure everything was in the correct place. "It was a Christmas present, a signal disrupter that temporarily prevents anything associated to it from sending or receiving any signals. If we hadn't re-routed the Zeta tubes to the secondary generators, they would be down too." He answered, "the charge will only last an hour, especially on these systems, so we must hurry."

"That's some present," Artemis muttered tucking away her phone. "Who was it from, him?" She asked nodding in Robin's direction.

Damian made a face. "No, he got me a sweater with reindeer on it. That drive was from Drake, the only use he's ever been to me. Don't worry about him, he's no one important." He added with an eye roll. "Is that Zeta tube just off Park Row still there? The one on Dixon Avenue?" Robin nodded, still deep in thought working on the tubes.

"Yeah I'm typing in the coordinates now, plus I need to add you in as a guest or, well, you might get vaporized."

"I'm sure you wouldn't mind too much," Damian grumbled under his breath. The others were not given time to respond as the Zeta tubes powered up. Robin pumped a fist in the air and gestured to the others.

"Let's see if this wild goose chase pans out, but first, we need to set some ground rules."

Gotham City

March 19, 06:43 EST

"I thought you said you could find this kid?" Robin grumbled as he perched on top of the Gleason Center for the Arts as he gave Thomas an annoyed glare. There was no way he was letting the possible spy roam around his city without supervision and, though he trusted his team, he didn't think the others were equipped to handle a literal ninja. So Robin was stuck with his supposed replacement.

The boy gave a half-hearted sneer back but his focus never left the streets he was searching. "I said I was the best candidate to locate Todd, I did not say I magically knew exactly where he would be. Despite your immaturity, you should know better than that."

Robin just rolled his eyes, what a morning this has been. He didn't sleep at all, Batman was going to be beyond furious when all this was over, not to mention he was spending time with his least favorite person. Bruce had better get him some nice birthday presents to make up for all this abuse. "Keep in mind that Todd's mother was just murdered, most likely right in front of him. Seeing as you have experienced a similar tragedy, you should be able to appreciate his desire remain hidden."

Dick winced at the thinly veiled hint to his family's murder. Oh yeah, not to mention the fact that this kid knew an uncomfortable amount about him. He'd had to remind the kid twice already not to call him 'Grayson', not just for security reasons but because it was pretty creepy.

'Please tell me you guys are having better luck on your end.' Robin thought into the mindlink, connecting to his teammates who were scattered around Crime Alley. Luckily, he'd won the argument to keep the kid out of their heads.

'No luck so far, but I'll keep looking!' Miss Martian answered cheerily as she continued scanning the many dirty alleys of Gotham.

'We haven't found him either, no surprise' Superboy responded, not bothering to hide his annoyance as he watched Aqualad question some loitering teens.

'Seen plenty of kids, none that we're looking for.' Kid Flash answered, carrying Artemis around the area. 'This is pointless Rob; we're never gonna find this Todd kid, if he's even real.' Robin pursed his lips and gave his companion a sideways glance before turning to face the south.

'Well, let's give it a little while longer. We're toast either way, so we might as well wait the half hour until either Red Tornado reactivates or Batman and the others arrive in the jet.' He mentally sighed, turning back and his breath caught in his throat when he found himself alone. He let out a string of curses Bruce would not be happy to hear. 'I've lost eyes on Thomas', he stated spitefully as he took in the scene for the direction the other boy had gone in. 'Forget about the Todd kid, converge on my location immediately, we need to find him now.' He shook his head in reluctant admiration, he turned his back for less than a minute and he's gone.

'Dude, how'd you lose him? I thought you were supposed to be the ninja,' Wally added. 'Don't worry, we're on our wa- Woah!'

Robin sat up straight as he heard several small explosions go off through the city. 'What's going on? Hello?' Robin demanded, getting a flurry of quick thoughts.

'A bomb went off, small one in this corner shop, the building's on fire. Arty and me gotta check this out.' Kid Flash responded after a moment.

'We too have encountered a bomb but, with it's size and location, I suspect this may be a distraction.' Aqualad stated, 'Robin, we can handle this. Go collect Thomas and find out if he has anything to do with this.'

Robin pursed his lips but turned away and dropped down onto the ground. His team could handle a few fires, he needed to focus on finding Thomas. There was no way the kid could have used his grappling hook without alerting him so the other Robin had to have made his way on foot. This alley provided good cover if the kid was trying to make a break for it. He paused as he heard some scuffling and hushed whispers up ahead and silently crept forward.

"Do you hear that? It's probably Epoch looking for you. You're an idiot if you think you can continue to outrun him but we can get you to safety. I'm Robin, you can trust me." Robin narrowed his eyes as he heard Thomas whispering.

"I don't want to run," another angry voice soon followed by the sound of a trashcan being knocked over. "That freak killed my mom, I want to make sure he pays." It sounded like a preteen boy but he was standing with his back turned to outlet of the alley so Robin couldn't really see him in early morning light. "Besides, you're too small to be the real Robin. You're younger than I am, how do I know you're not working for the bad guy?" The nameless boy asked suspiciously, bringing pitifully small fists up as if to fight.

"Nice to know at least you're still the same Todd," Damian scoffed. Robin opened his mouth in a silent show of surprise, this was the kid they've been looking for?

Damian nodded his head over in Robin's direction. "But you're right, while I am the best Robin, I'm not the first. He is right over here." Robin winced as his hiding place was revealed and he stepped forward into the dim light. "Todd, Robin. Robin this is Jason Todd." Robin really wasn't sure what he thought this Todd kid would look like but it certainly wasn't this.

Robin would place him between 11 and 13 judging by his small size. Like many kids in Park Row, he was painfully thin and dressed in worn, second hand clothes. His face was pale and even the dirt and light bruising couldn't hide the splash of freckles across his nose and cheeks nor the fire in his blue-green eyes. He frowned suddenly as the boy, Jason, shifted slightly and Robin saw it was blood, not dirt, streaked across his face.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked as Jason brought a hand up to touch the dried blood on his face.

"s'not mine," Jason muttered sadly. "Some creep dressed in this white space suit burst into our apartment early this morning. I was still sleeping when he came in but Mom was having her usual early morning... medicine." He paused as tears threatened to spill and he ducked his head, his shoulders shaking slightly.

"She told me to run, she stood right in front of me and told me to run while that monster shot her! Shot her right in front of me and I didn't even think, I just abandoned her and ran out the door as fast as I could. I keep thinking I should go back and check on her, but there was no way she could've..." He grimaced as he brusquely wiped at his eyes with his forearm, unintentionally smearing the blood on his face. "She was all I had left and that man took her from me." When he brought his hands back down they were clenched into fists with rage in his eyes.

"He killed her and I'm gonna kill him right back." Next to him, Damian smirked a little.

"Sounds about right," He muttered under his breath. "You can't kill Epoch. For one, you're not thinking straight on top of being untrained and criminally undernourished. It wouldn't even take a second for him to finish off a pathetic child like you," Damian stated in a bored tone while the street kid seethed. "And two, we need him alive so we can find who hired him to kill you." Jason started at that pronouncement.

"Me? I didn't do nothing, why would someone want to kill me?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you and anyway we don't have time for this. We need to get you off the streets and somewhere safe before Epoch finds you." Damian stated gruffly, reaching out to grab Jason's forearm. Predictably, the other boy didn't like this.

"Hey! Let go of me you annoying brat. I don't have a problem taking down some 8 year old wannabe Robin." Jason shouted, resisting as Damian adjusted his hold, pinning Jason's arm behind his back and pushing him roughly into the wall. Jason grunted at the impact and squirmed futilely against younger boy's strength.

"Listen here Todd, just because you're older than me and you've had a bad day, a bad life, doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you. That's your problem, everyone's always walking on eggshells around you." Damian sneered pulling Jason away from the wall and pushing him deeper into the alley. "'Poor Jason living on the streets'. 'Poor Jason beat up by a clown,'" Damian mocked. "Well not me, you're not the only Robin to have a rough childhood. Now we're taking you to Mount Justice where you'll be safe until we manage to subdue Epoch."

"Oh, I'd very much like to see you try." The three boys gasped to see Epoch floating daringly at the mouth of the alley looking very much like a cat with a cornered mouse. "I planted those bombs expecting the Justice League, not the Little League but it will be enough to keep the metas distracted while I finish the job." Though his stark white helmet showed none of his face, Robin imagined the man was grinning. "It's just you and me little birds." He teased, bringing up his fists which glowed threateningly with blue energy.

"Get down!" Robin shouted, ducking behind a dumpster while he saw Thomas dragged Jason off to the side and covered the boy with his cape. The blast lit up the alley, temporarily blinding Robin but he could fight blind. He flipped over the top of the now distorted dumpster and sped for the spot Epoch had been standing last. Something finally went right for him as his fist collided with the man's shoulder and Epoch was forced down to the ground. "Thomas, take Jason and get out of here." Robin ordered, delivering a powerful kick when his opponent started to stand up. He jerked in surprise as his ankle was caught right before he connected.

"As much fun as it would be to play with you, my employer has said you're off limits, Dickie." Dick couldn't hide his shock at that statement as Epoch pushed him backwards by his foot causing him to crash into the rough brick. Did everyone in the future know his identity? "I'm after a much smaller, more dangerous bird, a Jaybird would do nicely and I will have him." Robin coughed and glanced fearfully over where Thomas had almost grappled himself and Jason onto the top of the adjacent roof. Dick wanted to scream, what was the kid thinking going out into the open like that?

Epoch didn't waste any time in flying up towards the other boys. "Come out, come out little birdies," Epoch said with a musical lilt as he hovered a few feet off the roof. "I've been paid a handsome sum to kill the little street rat so do yourself a favor and give-" He paused as he saw Damian's disembodied cape falling towards him. In his moment of distraction Damian made his way forward and jumped up, twisting the falling cape around Epoch's helmet pulling it tight. For a moment, Damian imagined the nostalgic feel of suffocating someone but in this case, the helmet protected Epoch. Besides, he had to set a good example for Todd.

Damian held the cape tightly over the struggling mercenary as he swayed back and forth in the air, clawing at the thick material covering his face. He fired a few wild shots into the air but still Damian held on. "Now Todd!" He shouted watching as the small boy ducked out from behind the air conditioner where Damian had placed him. Though inexperienced, Todd moved with an instinctual grace that, coupled with his intimate knowledge of these streets, made sure he'd crossed the roof quickly. By the time Grayson had managed to get up onto the roof, Todd was on his way down the fire escape . Damian almost can see why Batman had been so interested in training him. Almost.

"Move kid!" Robin shouted throwing a few low-grade explosives that stuck to the front of Epoch's suit. Damian twisted himself so that the villain was on top of him. Before he grabbed his cape and let go, he gave a mighty kick forcing Epoch higher into the air while he planted more charges on his back. As Damian rolled back onto the rooftop, both sets of bombs went off causing Epoch to shout in surprise and spin out of control.

"Where's Jason?" Robin demanded, bringing out more grenades once he determined they were somewhat effective while Damian reattached his cape. While Epoch struggled to recover, the two Robins ran forward, Damian putting his hands out to serve as a spring board for Robin. The elder boy used it to deliver a blow to the back of Epoch's neck forcing the villain back down onto the roof.

"Should be halfway to the street by now, at least he knows how to move when it counts." Robin chuckled lightly at the comment, finding himself at ease in battle with the kid. Though he would never admit it to his companion, the other boy clearly knew his fighting style and how to complement it.

"Hey come on, show your elders some respect."

Damian smirked back, falling into the familiar banter with his older brother. "Maybe when you earn it Circus Boy," he replied with the slightest tease in his voice. "With Epoch in custody, we should be able to discover his employer and get me back to the future." From the ground, Epoch laughed breathlessly, bringing his head up to look at the two boys through his helmet.

"Sorry to disappoint boys, you did better than I expected." He said firing his barely functioning wrist weapon over to the fire escape where Jason was probably still climbing down. "But I still have a job to do," he laughed as Robin came down hard upon him while Damian sprinted over to the smoking wreckage of twisted metal.

The Tomasi building had been constructed nearly half a century ago serving as one of the first large apartments built back when Park Row had still been an upstanding neighborhood. It had been closed for years and now only those desperate or on the run lived here so the safety equipment had not been maintained. All of the facts agreed that this fire escape wouldn't be standing for much longer. He skidded to the edge of the building, they were 6 stories up which translated to about 60 feet and a fall from anything more than about 20 would likely prove fatal.

Damian sagged with relief to see that Todd had managed to survive the blast but frowned when he noticed the metal had collapsed around the boy, essentially caging him with little option to move. Even worse, Todd was still about 40 feet up off the ground and the large hunks of sharpened metal would kill him even if the fall didn't.

Jason locked eyes with Damian as he struggled to free himself from the distorted metal. "I can't get out! I'm stuck!" He cried out, just barely able to be heard over the dangerous creaking of metal on the verge of giving out. Damian hissed and pulled out his grappling gun and attached the hook around one of the roof's ventilation shafts. He didn't weigh much but he wasn't going to risk climbing the broken fire escape so he gently rappelled down the side of the building. "Hurry," Jason whined as he felt the structure beneath him giving way.

Damian was nearly parallel to the other boy when he reached into his belt and pulled out a small blowtorch. "I'm going to cut the metal here, here and here," Damian gestured quickly. "It's going to going to make the structure unstable so you need to get over to me as soon as I free you, alright?" Todd's eyes widened in terror, gripping the broken metal.

"There's no way, you're going to bring the whole thing down. You're going to get me killed!" Todd shouted, shaking his head fearfully. Damian growled, shifting the blowtorch to his other hand so he could reach out to the scared kid.

"It's going to be fine," Damian said resolutely, watching as Jason tentatively grabbed his extended hand. Todd was scared, untrusting and more than a little bit cynical, but he was still the same annoyance who roughly messed up Damian's hair on patrol and talked about his favorite books when stitching wounds. Looking at him now, Damian realized that he couldn't imagine a world without his other big brother. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, not ever." He squeezed Jason's hand before letting go and grabbing the blowtorch again. It was now or never, this structure wasn't going to hold much longer. "Ready?" After a moment of panicked breathing, Jason moved back as far as he could before he nodded grimly.

Firing up the torch, Damian cut through the metal trapping Jason as quickly as he could, feeling sweat bead on his forehead as he heard the final supports holding the structure up begin to fail. He's honestly surprised they'd lasted as long as they had. As soon as the metal was cut he dropped the torch and held out his hand which Jason immediately gripped as he kicked down the broken pieces. Damian grit his teeth as Jason's full weight shifted onto his arm but he merely secured his holding. There was no way he was letting go.

"Grayson," he hissed through his teeth, retracting the grappling hook as it slowly began to pull them up. Finally, the fire escape could not remain intact any longer and began to collapse entirely. They had almost reached the top when his strength began to leave him and he seemed seconds from losing his grip entirely.

"Hold on!" Grayson shouted, reaching down to grasp Damian's wrist. "Don't worry, you just hold onto Jay, I'll pull you both up." He grunted as he lifted Damian to the railing where he finally had a stable grip. "Come here Jason, I got you, you can let go of Thomas now." Grayson soothed and Damian sagged in relief as Jason's weight was taken off of him as Grayson tugged the other boy onto the rooftop.

A moment later, his brother was there helping him over the railing. "Come on up you little monster, you did good." Grayson said warmly as he half drug him back onto the roof. Damian scanned the rooftop and was surprised to find Epoch was nowhere in sight, he looked to Robin who shrugged guiltily. "Sorry, I was disabling his gear when he pulled another disappearing act. We'll get him next time, don't worry."

Damian groaned in aggravation as he sagged against rooftop, panting and rubbing at the sore muscles in his shoulder. He was pretty sure he pulled something. He'd have Pennyworth look at it when they got back to the Manor only to frown as he remembered he wasn't going back home. His eyes flickered and it seemed like he just might fall asleep right there. He was exhausted from the physical and emotional stress these early morning hours had wrought.

He felt someone brushing across his forearm before lightly taking his hand. "Hey uh other Robin, are you okay?" Damian rolled his eyes over to Todd who was glancing at him worriedly. Damian scoffed and ignored his exhaustion to sit up properly. He never let go of Todd's hand.

"I'll live," Damian replied curtly only to hear Robin moan anxiously.

"I wouldn't count on that," Robin said and Damian looked over to see the Batwing speeding out of the clouds towards them. "Oh man we are so busted," he murmured to himself but Damian paid him no mind. They'd won this battle and saved Todd. Both of his brothers were safe and, right now, Damian couldn't ask for any more.

Okay so a little bit of humor, little bit of action, little bit of mushy Bat bonding and little bit of plot development. Yes, I can say I do really like this chapter and this chapter wouldn't be possible without the help of my beta who tore the first draft to pieces and helped make it so much better. I haven't given her a shout out yet, but she deserves it for helping me through this story. Thanks Suzi, you da bomb. So we managed to save Jason from certain death but what are they going to do with him now? Who hired Epoch to kill Jay and why? Have the kids put their differences behind them once and for all? You need to keep reading to find out!