Author's Note: Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, I've been busy. Anyway, this is a pretty short chapter, but I hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless.

It's been weird for Barbara ever since Dick quit.

She knew where he was coming from, but still, she didn't expect him to actually stay mad. She hasn't seen him in person in over half a year. She was upstairs when the fight happened. She had come down to the cave to train. She descended the long stone staircase, and that's when she saw it.

She heard shouting, and then Dick got on his motorcycle and rode off. Just like that. She cautiously went down the stairs even further, and sees Alfred drop the tray he had been holding.

Bruce looked ashamed and angered. But not angry at Dick. He looked as if he was angry with himself for letting it get to this.

Bruce's hand trembled with anger and aggravation. A tear rolled down his face as he shouted, "GODDAMMIT!" His hand collided with a nearby table as he shouted, resulting in the table breaking in two. "I need to go find him," Bruce announced.

Before he could walk away, Alfred put a hand on his shoulder, "Master Bruce, he just needs some space. He'll be back." Bruce looked down at the ground ashamed.

"What if he doesn't come back?" Bruce asked.

Barbara just stood on the stairs, taking in the whole conversation. She couldn't believe what happened, so her feet began involuntarily taking her towards Bruce. "What the hell happened?" She asked unbelieving.

But Bruce shut her out, just like he always did. "Nothing," he answered.

The rest of the night is a blur, but she remembered in the morning, Bruce got a phone call. Hoping that it was DIck, she stood behind the door, eavesdropping. Bruce as always put the phone on speaker. "Bruce," the voice boomed.

"Clark, what the hell is it?" Bruce asked.

"Dick is here, and well, pardon my language, but he seems pretty pissed off. He showed up at my place around three in the morning. What happened?" Clark asked.

Bruce's voice softened, "Just a disagreement. I… made a mistake."

Clark stays quiet, "I'd love to keep talking, but I just heard Dick get up, call you later." And just like that, the phone call ended.

About two months later, Bruce and Dick still hadn't talked. She sat in the cave awaiting Bruce's arrival, so that she could train with someone. However, what occurred surprised her. The Batmobile pulled into the cave, and not only was Bruce in it, but a young teenager was too.

The kid popped out of the Batmobile excitedly, taking in the whole scene. "This is soooo cool," he muttered. Then his eyes landed on Barbara. "Who's she?"

"Better question, who's he?" Barbara asked.

"Barbara Gordon, meet Jason Todd," Bruce introduced. Barbara was surprised by Bruce's liberal use of secret identities.

Jason looked at her thinking. "Gordon? Like the Commissioner?" He asked.

Barbara grabbed Bruce's arm, leading him away, "Can we talk for a moment? Thanks." She responds, not waiting for an answer. "What the hell is going on? And who is the kid?"

"I told you, his name is Jason Todd. He's going to be staying with us for a little while. I'm going to train him."

Barbara's eyes widened. "You're what?"

"It's been difficult since… Dick left. I could use an extra hand. Just, see how it goes okay?"

Well she saw how it went, and to be completely honest, she actually likes this kid. Right now it is his second week of patrol. Bruce gave her the role of chaperone for the night. Not that she minds, she just has to remind herself to slow down for Jason every once in awhile.

She looks back at the boy. He is super excited. He reminds her of herself when she first started. Energetic, happy, excited.

They run along the building until they come upon an alleyway with woman screaming.

They look into the alley to see a man forcing himself onto a girl who looks around seventeen. He looks about twice her age. The man throws the girl into the wall, face first. He is about to unzip his jeans, when Jason flies off the building at him.

Jason's feet collide with the man's face, making his nose break. The man lands on the ground with a thud. Jason doesn't feel satisfied though. He looks toward the seventeen year old, to find that she is already running. Jason can't get the sick image out of his head. His fist collides with the thug's face again and again.

His once green gloves are now crimson. Barbara looks at him, eyes wide, and pulls Jason off of the man.

She sees Jason look at his hands terrified, and he's shaking. She pulls him into a hug. "It's okay," she tells him.

"I'm so sorry Babs," he whispers.

"It's fine, he deserved it," she says trying to comfort him, though she doesn't agree with the brutality.

His tears hit her suit. "I would've killed him," he tells her through the tears, and he sounds terrified.

They hear the sirens, and both grapple up to the rooftop. "C'mon, let's go get your mind off it," she tells him. He follows her hesitantly. They go to the nearby diner and sit down.

For any most diners, this would be an unusual sight, but there are a select few diners across the country, that Dick, Wally, Roy, and the rest of the Titan's stop at after missions, and this is one of them.

They sat in silence for a little while, before Jason finally talks. "Ba… tgirl, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. Just, please don't tell Batman."

She looks him in the eyes. "Don't worry, I won't. But, you have to be honest to me, has this happened before?"

He looks down towards the ground, ashamed in himself. "Yes," he admits. "Once before. I went out on patrol with Batman, he told me to go check something out for him, so I did. Along the way, I saw a guy beating a girl. Trying to ra… do bad things. I hit him until my knuckles started bleeding, and my gloves began tearing." He looks up, to see her looking at him with no judgment in her eyes.

"I guess it's because my dad used to hit my mom when he got drunk," He answers sullenly. "He didn't get drunk too often, and he was a great dad when he was sober, but when he got drunk, he hit her. And he hit me sometimes too. He wasn't the best person, but he tried to be a good dad and husband. But that went to shit when he got drunk." Jason's eyes begin tearing.

Barbara looks at him with sadness, "I'm so sorry for you she tells him," almost choking on her words from the tears.

He goes to speak, but he can't get any words out. Barbara walks over to his side of the booth and pulls him into a tight hug.