Chapter Two:

The ride to the edge of Gotham had been quick. For once, traffic had been almost non-existent and there had been no accidents to prevent the Batmobile from taking the direct route. The Batmobile roared to a stop outside the warehouse district and Batman instantly took to the shadows. With the night only just begun, he would have plenty of cover to get inside and get Jason out without attracting any unwanted attention. But that would only be if luck stayed on his side and the goons who had his brother were taken down easily.

The last warehouse from the Gotham boarder loomed high above him as he completed two laps of the exterior. No sound of light came from inside, but the infrared vision built into his modified cowl showed only one heat signature. Dick sighed in relief. It must be Jason, and if his heat signature showed up then it meant he was still alive. Batman ran to the side door and used a vial of acid from his utility belt to melt the lock silently. The door swung open with a low moan. Once inside, he scanned the interior. The cowl's senses picked nothing up and the infrared vision showed no other people present. The goons had just left Jason to die.

On the far side of the warehouse, tied to a chair by his hands, legs and waist, sat Jason. He had been gagged with a dirty strip of cloth and his clothes were torn so badly that Dick hardly recognised them as Jason's. Blood, sweat and dirt covered his body and his hair was plastered to his forehead. At the sound of Dick's footsteps, his whole body tensed. He lifted his head half an inch and stared at Batman with dull eyes.

Dick knelt in front of him and removed the gag, stroking his hand down the side of Jason's face.

"Dick?" Jason croaked.

"Hey, little brother." Dick didn't know what else to say. He always had a witty remark to everything – it was a side effect of growing up in the circus – but seeing his brother look to weak, so helpless, it made every comment he could think of catch in his throat.

Taking a pocket knife from his boot, Dick sliced through the bindings, wincing in sympathy as dried blood mixed with fresh where the rope had cut into Jason's skin. Without the support, Jason slumped forward. Dick caught him and gingerly lowered him to the floor. Now that the bindings were gone, Dick reached into his utility belt and pulled out a small orb. He shook it hard and the entire warehouse was lit up in a soft, orange glow. It gave more than enough light for Dick to tend to Jason's wounds. With the same pocket knife, Dick cut away the remaining fabric of what used to be Jason's uniform and began to scan his brother's body.

Numerous welts and bloody cuts covered his shoulders; the rest of his back having been saved from the same treatment by the back of the chair he was tied to. Red tears trickled from the cuts, dropping to the concrete floor with soundless splashes. There appeared to be no signs of infection, but with the dusty state that the warehouse was in that could easily change before help arrived. Dick searched through his utility belt, pulling out a small cloth and bottle of disinfectant. He soaked the cloth and, while restraining Jason as best he could, began to clean his shoulder wounds. He bit his lip, trying hard to ignore the whimpers of protest as the antiseptic burned his back.

"It's okay, Jay." Dick reassured him once he had finished.

Jason's entire abdomen was decorated in black or blue. The best Jason could do was pray that there was no serious internal bleeding and move on to the rest of his injuries. Jason's trousers had been reduced to strips of material, and underneath them was bloody, shredded skin where Jason's captures had had their sick fun. Dick removed the material as gently as possible, but the blood had begun to dry over the cuts and he was forced to rip the material away from the skin. Jason sucked in a painful breath, blinking away tears. Each time Dick pulled at a piece of trouser, it felt as if someone was skinning him alive. When Dick was finally done, he pulled more cloth from his utility belt, soaking them in antiseptic, and wrapped them around each of Jason's legs until he had no more cloth left.

"You doing okay?" Dick asked as he began to move back up Jason's body.

"Hurts." Jason mumbled.

"I know, but you're going to be fine." Dick placed a gloved hand against Jason's cheek, frowning at the amount of dried blood and dirt that caked the left side of his head. Inspecting it more closely, Dick could see a jagged split in the hair line where he had been hit with some sort of blunt instrument. He hoped that it was nothing more than a flesh wound, and that his skull hadn't been damaged. He forced Jason's eyes open and took note of the difference in pupil size. "Jason, you still with me?"

Jason blinked, looking up at Dick with drowsy eyes. "Mmmmn."

"Not a good enough answer, Jay."

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Good. Jason, listen to me. You've got a concussion, okay? So you have to stay awake as long as possible. You think you can do that?"

Jason stared at him, blinking occasionally. "Sure."

Dick nodded and began to get his priorities straight. Jason's wounds needed immediate medical attention. But he was already in a serious amount of pain, even if he didn't show it, and Dick couldn't risk giving him any pain killers with his concussion. But moving him would increase his pain and it didn't matter how much Jason bragged about his high pain threshold, there was no way he would make it to the Batmobile and then to the Batcave without going into shock or slipping into a coma. Dick only had one choice, and although he hated to make it, it meant saving his brother's life. "Jason, I'm going to phone Oracle, okay? We're going to get an ambulance here and you're going to go to the hospital."

"Secret…" Jason trailed off. His head lolled to the side as he tried to catch his breath. There had obviously been some damage to his chest that Dick had overlooked.

"Don't worry about secret ID. This is the safest way to save your life. I won't lose you again, little brother." Dick rested his hand over Jason's limp one and pressed his com-link. "Oracle?"

"I'm here, Boy Wonder. Did you find him?"

"Yeah, and he's in a bad way. I can't get him to the Batcave, so I need you to send an ambulance to my location."

"Is it really that bad?"

Dick looked down at Jason, who was struggling to keep his eyes open. "Yeah, it's bad."

"Right, I'll phone for an ambulance and then phone Leslie and tell her to get to Gotham General. I know what Jason's like with unfamiliar doctors. Then I'll contact Tim and Damian and explain what's going on. They didn't seem to care much when I contacted them last, but they'll probably want to know now. Just keep him alive, Dick."

"Thanks, Babs. Batman out."

As the night progressed, the air became cooler and a cold wind blasted through the warehouse. Jason shivered, wincing as his slight movement jostled his injuries. Dick took off his cape and draped it over Jason, careful to avoid nudging his wounds. The cape's fabric was fully insulated and would keep him warm until the ambulance arrived. "Jay, what happened to you?"

"Dunno…all a blur."

"Jason…"

"Got me think' though."

Dick reached out and stroked Jason's sweat soaked hair from his eyes. He spoke to Jason clearly and softly, as if it was any other night and they were just chatting on a Gotham rooftop. "Thinking about what?"

"Who will remember me?"

Dick faltered. "What?"

"Who will remember me, after I die?"

"Lot's of people will." Dick replied as if it was blindingly obvious.

"Like who? No one…(cough cough)…remembered me last time."

Dick sighed. "Not many people knew you back then, Jay. I never did. But this time around you've made a big impact on a lot of people's lives. None of them will forget you."

"When…" Jason was cut off by a sharp coughing fit that had his whole body in spasm. Dick tried to hold him still, but it seemed like even the slightest bit of movement sent screaming protest through his body. Two minutes passed before Jason finally calmed down and managed to breathe again. Dick wiped away the specks of blood that covered Jason's lips with the back of his hand, noting the definite signs of internal injuries that he couldn't see.

"Jason, don't talk so much. You're going to make yourself worse." But Dick's plea went unheard as Jason continued.

"When I die…(cough)…I don't…I don't want people to remember me for…(cough cough)…for all the bad things I've done." Dick pulled down his cowl and wiped away the tears that he couldn't hold back. It was killing him inside to see his little brother like this. Jason was usually so strong, always mocking them for not being tough enough or brave enough. "I want some reason…(cough)…some reason to be missed, Dick."

Dick paused at the sound of Jason calling him by his real name. He only ever heard it from Jason's mouth if it was spat out as a harsh insult. "You already have so many reasons to be missed, Jay." He smiled at his younger brother, not sure whether those blue-grey eyes were focused on him or not. The unexpected sound of Oracle's voice in his ear made him jump.

"The ambulance is on it's way and Leslie is already at the hospital waiting for your arrival. She said to use the false name that's already in the system; Peter Jones."

"Thanks, Oracle. Have you contacted Robin and Red Robin?"

"No, I'll do that now. Oracle out."

Dick sighed in relief. "See. Jay? The ambulance will be here soon. You're going to be alright."