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"Almost there," Tim said. His voice was expressionless. Two hours trudging through a forest with Jason could have that effect on people. They'd been forced to ditch their bikes when the realized just how much surveillance was surrounding the site. So they'd been walking. Slowly, cautiously walking, trying to stay covered by the trees and ignore the off and on drizzle of rain. To make matters worse Jason was in a mood. Tim wasn't sure what was wrong with his brother and Jason wouldn't say, but in addition to the literal dark clouds hanging over their heads Tim could see some figurative ones trailing Jason as well.

"You're sure the map to the warehouse is accurate?" Jason asked, pausing to survey the area in front of them with his binoculars. Trees, trees, and more trees.

"I cross referenced the plans I intercepted with Google Earth. And the intel Damian beat out of one of the Joker's goons seems to confirm it. Dick and Bruce stopped him before he could have any of the other lackeys verify it though and they've got him on a pretty short leash right now. But yeah, I'm pretty sure."

Jason nodded. "So we're getting closer."

"That's the plan," Tim agreed. "You doing okay?"

"Never better. I… hold up, is that the warehouse?"

Tim took the binoculars from Jason and focused. He could see the building in the distance with at least a dozen visible guards surrounding it. He wondered how many guards there were that he couldn't see. "That's it. So now we just wait until dark."

"We could do this now. No one expects an attack in the middle of the afternoon. Get it over with." Jason sat with his back resting against a tree.

"Get it over with?" Tim repeated, sinking down next to him. "This isn't a suicide mission Jay. We have a plan and I intend to get out in one piece. If you have something different in mind I think you'd better tell me now. You owe it to me to tell me now."

"Don't know what you're talking about Baby Bird."

Tim wished, not for the first time, that Jason's hood allowed for a better view of his face. It made him difficult to read. Maybe that was the idea.

"We wait until dark," Tim pronounced. "Take a nap or something. Have you even slept since we talked last week?"

Jason mumbled something noncommittal.

Tim couldn't lecture too much about sleep deprivation though. He'd been running on three hours or less a night himself.

"I'll take watch," Tim said. It wasn't that Tim wouldn't have appreciated some sleep himself, but he'd noticed from literally years of observing Jason that his brother's erratic moods always seemed to worsen when he was sleep deprived. Tim trusted himself to function on no sleep. He wasn't sure he felt the same way about Jason.

The first thing Jason noticed when he woke up were the stars. They were everywhere. Stars were rarely visible in Gotham and it had been a long time since Jason had seen the sky like that. He was glad to see it.

"Ready?" Tim asked. The younger boy was carefully rechecking his equipment.

Jason yawned and stretched. "As I'll ever be."

"Just stick to the plan. Remember, if anyone asked later: Primary objective- rescue Talia. Secondary Objectives- Capture Joker, dismantle operation, and minimize casualties. That's the official story."

Jason smiled bitterly behind his hood. "I remember, Red. You've got the C4?"

"Enough to send this place a mile high three times over."

Jason nodded. Tim had never belonged with the Bats. The kid was too pragmatic. While Jason had been mildly alarmed when he'd found Tim sitting on his couch the week before, he wasn't shocked at all that he had become disenchanted with Bruce and Dick's "morals." Regardless of their high minded rhetoric it wasn't moral superiority that kept them from killing; it was niavity. And Jason knew full well what happened to naive vigilantes- they wound up dead. Jason was glad Tim had seen the light. Jason could almost believe that it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Could be if only Jason had any plans to make it out of the warehouse alive.

"Let's do this," Jason said grimly.