Hey guys, I'm back! I'm sorry it's been a while but I've just had my last week of school and I've almost been having all-nighters because of all the exams and assignments -_- but all is good because I am officially finally on holidays and here for you with a new chapter. By the way thank you for all the reviews! It makes my whole day better and inspires me to keep writing.

-Jason's POV-

"Circus boy…" Jason grumbled and tried to nudge Dick's head off his shoulder. He had fallen asleep already, "Grayson," still no reply. He tried to struggle into a more comfortable on the floor of the Batcave. After Bruce and Tim had left them alone golden boy had suggested for them to both sleep in his bed. Yeah, that wasn't happening. He had already been through enough shit these last two days what with saving Dick and Tim, being strapped to a bed and threatened to be taken back to Arkham, forced to stay with his fucked-up family and then worst of all; injected with a lethal poison that could only be cured by something that usually made him cringe of thinking about; having to stay in constant physical contact with someone for at least twenty four hours, in other words; having to cuddle with Grayson for a really long fucking time. At least it was better than having to deal with the Bat, as he usually avoided hugs at any cost; meaning he would silently keep a safe distance from Jason at all times- just in case, but sometimes he had to mull over what was worse; the scarecrow venom or having to deal with this dork wrapped tightly around him. This was one of those times; he was getting more and more uncomfortable. Jason's back ached from keeping a sitting position, his arms and legs cried out for a stretch or some movement and Dick's head was digging into his shoulder painfully. It didn't help that his brain was screaming out for some alcohol or a cigarette or that he really needed to piss.

"Dick!" Jason growled loudly. Dick mumbled something in his sleep but didn't move.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jason elbowed Dick in the ribs, making him snap awake and jerk backwards holding onto the area he had hit. That's when Jason realized that Dick hadn't even thought to attend to his own stupid injuries from last night; idiot.

"What are you doing?" He asked, half asleep.

"You need to patch up, we both need to shower, and I need to take a piss." Jason stood up and stretched before heading to a bathroom.

"What about Scarecro-"

"It's not like I'm on the ground hyperventilating Dickie-Bird. It looks like it's worn off a bit. I'll be fine, just give me at least ten, fifteen minutes."

"And if you start hallucinating before then?"

"Don't you dare barge in on me naked," Jason said seriously and Dick opened his mouth to give some sort of dumb response but he cut him off before he could, "That's all I'm saying."

Dick gave a huff of agreement then walked away to patch himself up. Jason went to one of the guest bathrooms in the manor to go to the toilet before peeling off his clothes and stepping into the shower. For the first time in two days Jason felt a blast of relief as the hot water sprayed across his skin. He was able to wash himself for at least three minutes before he felt it again; the empty pit in his stomach, the irrational thoughts flowing through his head, the thought he was being watched. His hands began to shake as he tried to turn the water off and he could sense that his breaths were getting shorter and faster. He knew these feelings well by now; anxiety, helplessness, unease; fear. He clenched his jaw, trying to transfer the fear into any other emotion he still had; anger seemed to be the obvious answer. Jason slipped out of the shower then hit the mirror; making it smash into thousands of pieces. He was not getting hugged in the nude by Grayson. No way; that is not only against so many of his principles and incredibly embarrassing, that would be just plain fucking gay. He kicked off the doorknob of the bathroom door then drived his fist into a wall, leaving a large crack. He could feel his heart pumping hard against his chest as the fear slowly overpowered his anger. Okay; maybe he wasn't going to be able to win this through sheer emotional replacement. Acknowledging this, Jason quickly pulled on fresh clothes Dick had left him, (at least now if it came to having to hug it out, he wouldn't have to do that shit in the nude.) Suddenly he clung onto his head as it throbbed in pain and he swore he could hear faint laughing in the distance. He fell to the ground and crawled into a corner. This was pathetic and he knew it, but for some reason, he couldn't escape it, this intense feeling of fear. He heard the laugh again then recognized it immediately, he would never forget it. It was the sound that pained him in too many ways to count, the sound of a murderous maniac, the sound of his lost childhood, life and even sanity at times. It was the sound of the Joker.

He was hit unexpectedly across the face with painful force and he fell forwards to the middle of the bathroom, "Hello there again bird boy. Gotten a little bigger I see."

Jason froze, "No, no you're not real… I'm not afraid of you; I can kill you whenever I want, if it wasn't for the Bat you would be dead already…"

The Joker gave a screech of laughter and hit him again in the ribs making him roll over to face him, "Well, well big boy, why am I here then? You're pretty little brain here seems to be arguing a different point." Jason groaned as his head snapped to the right as he was hit again across the face. Looking up he could see what he was being hit with; a crowbar; a fucking crowbar. He roared and lunged towards the Joker only to fly through him and slam into the shower.

The Joker laughed in delight and bounded over to him, "you do realize you can't hurt your own imagination boy blunder, which makes this so much more enjoyable for me," he smiled so widely Jason could see the cracks in-between his lips, "We can have as much fun as we want; even more than we did in that warehouse, it was a little sad having to leave so soon." He held the crowbar over his head then slammed it down into Jason's gut; making pain ripple through his body. It was just a hallucination but the pain felt so real, this wasn't just his imagination, it wasn't just the scarecrow venom, this was a memory; each hit smashing into the same areas they had years ago. He clenched his fists and looked up at the insane sociopath, "You're- not- real."

The Joker only laughed at this and grinned, "Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I can't kill you." With that he held up the crowbar again, ready to slam in down into Jason and gave out a large shrill of laughter, "Let's have some fun."

-Dick's POV-

Dick yawned as he pulled a bandage over the last of his wounds. It hadn't taken too long as Croc had only been able to get a few cuts and bruises on him; nothing too serious. He put on some fresh clothes then walked up the stairs towards the Manor to check on Jason. It would probably be hard for him; being not really accustomed to physical touch and being a person that enjoys his personal space. He is also not completely familiar with any abrupt overpowering emotions other than anger. It made Dick wonder what he was actually afraid of; what was he seeing in his hallucinations? By the way he talked about it; Dick's first guess was Arkham Asylum, but perhaps it was something else. Maybe it was Batman, as Jason seems to be at complete unease whenever he is around, but then knowing Jay, that was probably him feeling awkward or angry towards him, not scared. The only other thing Dick could really narrow it down to was the Joker… But he had taken on his old identity, strategized and planned and most likely would have killed the maniac if Bruce hadn't stopped him. Why would he fear him still? He has already proved to himself that he can beat him, but then again; the Joker still had killed him, sent him into madness and destroyed any childhood he had going for him. How could someone not fear him after all that?

Suddenly he heard something smash upstairs, "Jay?" No response… Dick's heart began to drop, "Jason!" Nothing. He ran towards the guest bathroom and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. Inside he could hear something slam into the wall; hard. "Jason? Are you alright?" He pressed his ear against the door and could hear Jason mumbling, talking to himself, "You're- not- real." He was hallucinating again. He could hear him grunting in pain as if something was hitting him which was just about enough motivation for Dick to try and kick the door down. It only took him two tries before the door collapsed and Dick found Jason in the corner of the bathroom clothed with hands out trying to protect himself, "Jay it's okay, it's just a hallucination… You're right; it's not real." Jason didn't move, didn't give any sign of acknowledgment that Dick was even there. Slowly, Dick moved towards Jason trying not to startle him, but as soon as he reached down to touch him, he leaped upwards and put his hands around Dick's throat using his own body weight to pin him to the ground.

"Jason… It's, it's me…' Dick choked, "Little wing… Please…"

Jason's grip only tightened, "I won't let you hurt anyone else you psychotic piece of filth."

Dick's eyes widened, it was the Joker. He thought he was the Joker, "Jason listen to me! You're hallucinating, snap out of it!" Suddenly he was free from the grip as Bruce tackled Jason to the ground and cleanly punched him in the head; knocking him out. Dick grasped his throat as he tried to breathe again then looked up at Bruce. He was just staring at Jason almost looking sorry for him, not really sure what to do. Tim rushed over to Dick and tried to help him up, "What the hell happened?"

Dick glanced around at the shattered mirror, the small fist sized cracks in the wall next to the sink and the large body shaped dint in the wall next to the door, "I swear I came in on him like this. I tried to help him but he lashed out… Thought I was someone else."

"Why was he left alone?" Bruce sternly asked.

"He… Well he wanted to wash up and he said he was feeling better so…"

"So you believed him."

"He needed space." Dick stated angrily.

"Lot of good that did," Bruce said sarcastically.

Dick shook his head, picked up Jason and threw him over his shoulder then walked towards his room.

"Where are you going?"

"To go to sleep. I've had just about enough drama today." Dick said without turning around.

Tim looked at Bruce, "Jason's not going to be very pleased when he wakes up, will he?"

Bruce glanced at Tim for a moment and gave a quick, "no," before heading back towards his own room.

"So… Is anyone going to clean this up?" Tim asked looking around at the demolished bathroom, "guys?"

-Jason's POV-

Jason groaned as he felt his head throb. He stiffened as he opened his eyes only to find Dick's face three inches away from his own; his arm loosely hanging over his shoulder. He quickly jolted backwards to maintain some distance between the two of them. Dick seemed to notice this and he blinked into consciousness, "I thought my response was a 'no' to the bed." Jason grumbled.

"Yeah well, you made that a little difficult when you almost strangled me to death."

"I used to try and kill you all the time! I don't know what that means to you but to me it isn't a free; come sleep in my bed."

"Just deal with it Jay-bird, I seriously can't be bothered to argue with you right now."

Jason looked down at the arm hanging over his chest, "can you at least move this thing?"

"I can't be bothered with you trying to strangle me either… So no."

"What are you talking about? I haven't tried to choke you for a good two months now."

"More like a good seven hours," Dick mumbled.

Jason looked at him confused, trying to figure out what the hell he was going on about.

Dick raised his eyebrows, "You don't remember?"

"I remember getting my clothes on before getting smacked around by…. Well that doesn't really matter, then waking up in your bed."

"The Joker," Dick sighed.

"What?"

"You thought- must have hallucinated me being the Joker."

Jason's features slowly transferred into a look of understanding, "That's why I could actually grab him, before you came in he was just my imagination; I past straight through him."

"I guess that explains the huge dint in the wall… and this," Dick lifted up Jason's shirt a fraction to expose a large area of bruising on his side where he must have flung himself into the wall.

Jason waved his hand away and pulled down his shirt, "Same rules apply as before; you tell anyone about this; I will kill you," he then turned his back on Dick and sulked in silence.

"Fine by me," Dick smiled and pulled himself back into a comfortable position, "Earlier, when Bruce said he might have taken you back to Arkham… Would you have really killed yourself?" He could feel Jason's muscles tense; obviously uncomfortable with the question, not that his muscles weren't tense enough already from his uneasiness to having Dick's arm over his shoulder.

It had been a while and Dick guessed he wasn't going to answer but suddenly Jason shrugged, "No, I was just trying to use you and the replacement to get Bruce away from me. I don't die that easily; you should know that."

"Neither are you one to give up so easily," Dick stated, "that's why I asked."

"Yeah well, I may not be a murderous bastard anymore but that doesn't mean I've changed that much."

They lay there for a few minutes before Dick said, "You know before, how you asked me why I didn't hate you, even after all the crap you did."

"Just because I have to cuddle you Dickie-bird doesn't mean you have to coddle me." Jason muttered.

Pretending he didn't hear the comment Dick went on, "I did hate you, not just when you were Red Hood but when you were Robin too, you know; you could just be such a little… shit sometimes. And not in the good way either; you got on my nerves more than any other person I knew at the time but when you died I felt nothing but regret. I should have been there more often- I should have been a better brother, maybe then you wouldn't have-"

"Dick, nothing would have made a difference. I always would have ended up where I am now."

"I know but, just maybe I could have altered something; anything... Then when you came back and started killing; murdering innocent people for your own benefit, I felt so bitter towards you but eventually after you nearly died; again. I guess I just thought… If I didn't give you a second chance then… Who would?"

Jason felt his heart clench, "I don't really deserve a second chance… Not with this family."

"Everyone deserves a second chance."

Jason didn't reply to that. Maybe he was right; maybe he could try to work with his brothers again, possibly even Batman. He had practically been doing it the last two nights. But no; Jason was still too angry at Bruce; he still wasn't ready to forgive him and until they can sit down and actually talk about what had happened and what to do without having massive blow-outs Jason didn't feel welcome. He wasn't sure if he ever would.

Looking across at the clock Jason estimated that he would have to be here for at least another twelve hours before he could try and leave as he had been unconscious for about seven hours and spent the other five brooding in the Cave with Dick on his shoulder. As soon as that time was up though; he'd be gone again. It was best that way.

If you guys could tell me what you think about this chapter that'd be great because I spent a lot of time trying to think about the relationship kind of parts between Jay and his family. Also any other review/recommendations would be amazing. Thanks for reading