A Light in the Dark
A/N: As always a shoutout to my wonderful beta Alex Skywalker. We are coming to the end of this story here. Only three chapters left (this one and two more). So let me know how you feel about this story and review!
IMPORTANT INFO: Here's a little contest. You get to choose which story I write next. I have no joke about 1,238 plot bunnies/story ideas and with this story coming to a close I have no idea what to write next. So all you have to do is leave a review (I don't care if it is a good review or a bad review but please be thorough don't just put nice chapter and that's it) and after your review you have to tell me something interesting about the previous chapter 17. I borrowed a small paragraph from a comic, if you can tell me the paragraphed I borrowed and what comic it came from (not a specific issue just the comic name) I will let you into my vault of plot bunnies and you get to chose what I write next!
Chapter 18
The day had been one of the happiest of Jason's life. The amount of happy days the young man had had in his life, he could count on one hand. Jason and Tim had spent the day together and Tim was equally as happy as Jason. Each man felt like they finally had family in their lives, finally had a brother. They each had someone they could trust; someone they could care for and know cared for them in return; someone who they could walk into the fire with and know they would never get burned.
In the morning, after Jason pulled himself together after the emotion of Tim partially naming his new identity after him, Jason treated the younger man to breakfast. They then spent the day walking around the city, Jason's, or Red Hood's territory in particular. Both men knew that when night fell they would be patrolling together for the first time.
They also talked. Talked about everything from as simple as what a cloud in the sky resembled to small personal things they chose to slowly reveal about themselves. Things they liked, things they didn't like, and the reasons why.
As the two men walked along a sidewalk Tim decided to vocalize something he had noticed a little while ago.
"Jason, you're packing, aren't you?"
"Absolutely. Most people know that in this city you have to have some form of protection. And, when you have the same physicality and body type of one Red Hood well, then you absolutely bring the utmost protection. Let me guess, you didn't bring anything."
"I don't really have anything - a couple of bird-a-rangs, but that's it. Then again, I don't have the same physicality or body type as Red Hood."
"No, but you do have the same as Robin, and Timothy Drake-Wayne, which, as I'm sure you've experienced, leaves you vulnerable to ransom kidnappings. These hats and sunglasses we're wearing might fool most, but it also screams that I'm like your secret service bodyguard or something. So, especially with patrolling we need to get you a weapon."
"I'm not going to use a gun, Jason."
"I didn't expect you to. Don't worry, we're almost there."
"Where? We were going somewhere?"
Jason chuckled at the younger one's confusion.
"Yah kid, and keep your hat and sunglasses on, got it?" Tim nodded as Jason held the door open for them to enter what looked like an old pawn or antique shop. Tim noticed many different types of guns and ammunitions and interesting weapons out for display.
An older man stood behind the counter and Jason approached him.
"What ever happened to rainy weather?" Jason asked.
"It only comes when people start carrying umbrellas," the old man replied smiling. Tim stood confused as they were obviously talking in some sort of code.
"But remember, it is bad luck to open an umbrella indoors," Jason said, smiling back. The older man slid a small key with a number on it to Jason who took it. The man then pressed a button under his counter and the door, in the corner buzzed and opened. Jason grabbed Tim by the shoulder and led him through the door, closing it behind them. The room had an assortment of things inside including some small lockers.
"I don't get it, Ja-" Jason clamped his hand over Tim's mouth before he could finish saying his name.
"Hood, get it Red?"
"What is he watching or recording us or something?" Tim asked.
"I don't know but I'm not going to chance it if he is. I saved the dude's life and his store once. His store is his entire livelihood. So in return, he does me some favors and I continue to protect him. He's former military, specializes in weapons and ammunitions. He's the reason 90% of my weapons and bullets are untraceable."
Jason stuck the key into the same numbered locker as what was imprinted on the key. He pulled something out in the palm of his hand that Tim couldn't see.
"So, when we were training and talking I remember you saying your favorite weapon and the one you felt most accomplished with was the bo staff. And after acquiring a few new bruises I would tend to agree that the bo staff is your most accomplished weapon and therefore the one you should be using."
"Uh, Ja-uh, Hood, it's not that easy to carry around a six foot staff, jumping off buildings doing flips, etc."
"So what did you do in the field in the past?"
"I grab a pole, stick, something, not ideal but…..."
"Exactly, not ideal, so I got you this." Jason opened his hand, palm up and in his hand was a small white cylindrical object similar to a piece of chalk.
"A tampon? You shouldn't have."
"I love your smartass remarks, few as they may be. Just take it."
And Tim took it.
Tim turned over the small object in his hands and noticed there was a type of button on one end of it. Curious, he pressed it.
The small white object shot out at both ends, turning into a solid and sturdy six foot bo staff. The action happened so quickly and unexpectedly Tim gasped and dropped it. After staring at it for a few more seconds, waiting to see if it did anything else, he picked it up. Tim tested it's weight and balance, amazed at what he just saw happen from the formerly small white object.
Jason just leaned against the wall smiling, watching Tim play with his new toy. Tim began to twirl the staff left and right, behind his back, over his head and then moved through a few katas and defensive moves with it. It was amazing.
"Wow, this is…it's amazing." Tim marveled.
"Small enough to fit into your utility belt. You now have a weapon, and a signature one at that. Kind of like me with my guns or Dick with those damn sticks of his." Jason noticed Tim's smile falter a bit when he mentioned Dick's name.
"How do I fold it back up?" Jason showed him and Tim put it in his pocket.
"Thanks Hood…again."
"Let's go kid."
On the way out, Jason slid the key back to the man and gave him a two finger salute.
"Until the next rainy day," the man said.
"I will be sure to bring my umbrella," Jason replied and the two left the store.
As lunch time came around in the early afternoon they found a lovely little café that was barely occupied. With the weather being nice they decided to sit on the outside patio. After ordering, Jason decided to test Tim's observational skills, making sure he was still in the game.
"Blond male, green jacket, your ten o'clock," Jason said without even looking in the direction. Tim faked like he dropped something, using that distraction as a way to catch a glance at the gentleman in question. A blond haired man, probably in his mid-thirties wearing a light green jacket stood at the sidewalk newspaper stand looking through various magazines.
"Blue collar worker probably, due to the look of his clothes, nothing fancy. He's taking his time looking for just the right magazine because he doesn't want to waste his hard earned money - that is likely going to alimony or child support - on a magazine he doesn't want, plus he is reading most of the magazines at the stand so he doesn't have to purchase it."
Jason slowly nodded. "Interesting, not bad. But what makes you think some of his money is going to alimony or child support?"
"Ring finger, left hand. No ring, but there's still a tan line there. So he isn't married now, but used to be, and the tan line isn't too old, indicating his ex-wife probably hasn't remarried, thus he is more than likely still paying alimony."
"And the child support?"
"There's a little kid's sticker on the bottom of his jacket, plus he looked at some kids magazines earlier. Highlights and such. Kids typically go with their mother with visitation for the father, and if he is the blue collar worker we think he is and paying alimony he is working a lot of hours and wouldn't have enough time to have full custody. Thus kid goes with mom, dad gets visitation and he ends up paying child support."
Jason smiled back at Tim. "Well done Kid, not bad at all. Can't wait to see how you do on patrol tonight."
"Jason, about that….I need to talk to you about something." There was a pause between the two men as the waitress brought their food over.
Tim waited for the waitress to leave before speaking.
"Jason, you have a very…..specific way of doing things. And, I can't do that. I can't…..kill."
Jason stopped mid-chew and finished his bite slowly, glaring at Tim. He swallowed, taking his time. He then put his fork down slowly and folded his hands in front of his face, elbows resting on the table, his eyes never leaving Tim. Tim fidgeted, obviously uncomfortable.
"Tim…what makes you think I would expect you to do that?" When Tim didn't answer him Jason continued. "Do you think that I expect that as some sort of re-payment?" Still no answer. "HUH?" Jason yelled banging his fist on the table, shaking the glasses.
"Jason, please I'm sorry." Tim tried to calm Jason as people started to glance their way.
"Did you listen to nothing I told you earlier? You are you. The things that make you. Your morals, your values, that's what makes you, you, what makes you Tim Drake-Wayne. I would never take that away from you. I would never make you do something you didn't want to do or something you weren't comfortable with. Lord knows I've done stuff I wasn't comfortable with, and I'm not talking about killing."
"What are you talking about th-"
"We aren't going to discuss that, it was a long time ago."
"But, Ja-"
Jason had had enough and picked up his steak knife in his right hand, glaring back up at Tim over his glasses. Tim dropped the subject immediately.
"Sorry," Tim mumbled as he went back to eating.
Patrol that night went pretty uneventful. A week passed before they knew it and then they ran into someone who Jason was looking for. It was someone under Jason's control and he broke one of Jason's rules. He sold to a kid, that kid OD'd. Tim stood by as look out as Jason used his large knife to let the guy know how unhappy he was.
"Now, now, you broke the rules Larry. What is the punishment for breaking my rules?"
"Please Hood, I needed the money. I-"
"Don't I give you peddlers the biggest cut out of anyone?"
"Yes, and I'm sorry, just please don't kill me."
"You know what I did to the last person who broke my rules?"
The scared man could only nod. Jason brought his gun out and pointed it at the man's head.
"Hood!" Tim yelled.
"You have five seconds for your last words," Jason said as he cocked his gun. Tim knew Jason would kill this man.
"Hood, don't do this."
"Walk away if you need to," Jason called, not taking his eyes off the shaking man.
Tim then decided to use his trump card.
"Hood, I'm not comfortable with this going down on patrol with you."
Jason chewed on the inside of his cheek, and took a long sigh. Jason knew that if he did this he would be hurting Tim more than helping him and Tim still needed help.
"Get out of here," Jason whispered to the man and watched as he scrambled away clumsily. Jason turned around and started walking away, not making eye contact with Tim. "Let's go home," he said.
Tim let go of the breath he didn't realize he was holding and followed after Jason.
A week later and things were going more smoothly for them. They were really starting to work together. Word had no doubt spread that Red Hood was working with a mysterious new partner going by the name Red Robin. Jason wondered two things: one was that if word had also spread that he hadn't been killing and two, if Dick had heard any of this news as the man still kept his distance…..until tonight.
Red Hood and Red Robin were trying to track down two new smugglers that had come into Jason's territory. They stood atop a rooftop looking down, but unfortunately weren't finding what they were looking for.
"Let's go two more over, maybe we can get something there," Jason said, and the two were off across the rooftops. Once they got to the second rooftop over they looked over the edge.
"I'm not sure if they-" Tim started.
The sound of feet landing behind them made them spin around, Tim immediately pulling out and extending his bo staff and Jason raising his guns. Across the rooftop stood Nightwing, also known as Dick Grayson. Dick and Tim locked eyes. This was the first time in months that the two brothers had seen each other. Upon seeing who it was that had landed on the rooftop, Tim immediately put away his bo staff. Jason, however, counted to ten in his head then slowly lowered his guns. He wanted Dick to know who was in charge here; it worked as Dick didn't move until Jason lowered his dual weapons. Dick took some steps towards Tim and stopped when Jason stepped forward in between the two, glaring at Dick. Jason was furious that Dick thought he could force Tim to do this; he'd made it perfectly clear that Tim needed to come to him. Dick stopped but didn't take his eyes off Tim.
"This is my turf," Jason whispered dangerously.
Dick's body still faced Tim as he slid his eyes to Jason and let out a sigh, showing he wasn't intimidated. Seeing that they were the only ones around within earshot, Jason kept his body pointing at Dick, but looked over his shoulder at Tim. Tim was looking down at the ground, his foot playing with a rock on the ground. He bit his bottom lip and his left hand gripped his right upper arm. Tim looked every bit of nervousness his body could display.
"Tim?" Jason asked.
"It's fine," Tim said.
Jason backed away, standing only a couple feet behind Tim, ready to act if necessary.
"You look good," Dick started. It wasn't clear who was more nervous, Dick whose voice shook with his first word or Tim whose nervous stance hasn't changed since Dick had arrived on the rooftop. Tim merely nodded at Dick, yet his eyes remained focused on the ground. Dick decided to make a move and walked towards Tim with his arms spread wide for a hug. As Dick walked forward Tim took a few steps back and Jason straightened up, putting his hand on his holster. Dick was taken aback by Tim's reaction; the boy was now watching Dick should he try to make another move. Dick sighed, put his arms down, and glared at Jason.
"Don't," Tim said.
"What's that?" Dick asked.
"This isn't Jason's fault. If anything, though he didn't like what you did, he seems to think I should forgive you."
Dick glanced down at the ground for a moment, ashamed that he was wrong about Jason.
"Tim, I'm sorry," Dick said. Tim just nodded. "Tim, I don't know what to say-"
"It's not what you said, it's what you did!" Tim exclaimed, his voice finally having some strength and courage behind it.
"Tim, I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you. I really thought I was doing the best thing for you and trying to help you move on. And look, you look great and I hear you go by Red Robin now; it's great, the staff, the costume-"
"Jason helped me become this, it had nothing to do with what you did. You simply left me no choice. Jason gave me the staff, a costume base, that's why I go by RED Robin," Tim said putting the emphasis on the red, making it obvious who he named his costume after.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insinuate that. You honestly look good. I'm really proud of you."
"Don't patronize me."
"I'm not, Tim."
Jason relaxed his stance. Tim seemed to be handling himself pretty well.
"You have no idea what it took for me to become this, where I was before this, how bad I was-"
"If the amount of medical equipment Jason borrowed says anything, I have a bit of an idea."
"And, if it wasn't for Jason I probably would have been died, slowly, by my own hand and I wouldn't have even known what I was doing." Tim didn't mention Roy, knowing it might cause some problems between the two friends. "But Jason helped me. I'm sorry, but he helped me more than you ever helped me."
Dick suddenly got an odd feeling in his gut and kept looking between Jason and Tim, hoping what alarm bells that were going off in his head were wrong. The amount that Tim was praising Jason…. how much influence did Jason really have over Tim?
"Tim you haven't….." Dick's eyes went back and forth between his two younger brothers.
"What?" Tim asked unsure what Dick was asking.
"Have you used a gun? Have you…..killed?" Dick asked.
Jason straightened again and started charging towards Dick.
"What the hell?!" Jason yelled, offended at the insinuation that he would influence Tim to do that. Tim put a hand on Jason's chest to stop him.
"No I didn't, and Jason hasn't lately either. I'm still me. Jason didn't force me to do anything, unlike other people." Jason took his place behind Tim again and spoke up.
"The kid did this on his own, he did it, he fought for it."
"All Jason did was show me the various doors; I was the one who chose what door to walk through."
Jason nodded, agreeing with Tim's statement. "And the kid walked through it on his own, no one forced him through the door."
Dick nodded, finally understanding, finally realizing what he did wrong and how his good intentions truly hurt Tim. Tears started to escape Dick's mask.
"I'm sorry." Dick's voice shook as he tried to keep it under control. "I know that though I wanted what was best for you, it had to be what you thought was best, not what I thought was best. And above all, I should have talked to you, and I sure as hell should not have underestimated you." Dick turned to Jason. "Jason, I'm sorry. Thank you for helping our brother. I'm sorry that I thought the worst and didn't give you credit for what you've done. I'm really sorry Jason."
"Okay," Jason nodded. Jason too knew that though he didn't like what Dick did, the man only had Tim's best intentions at heart and knew what it took for Dick to apologize and admit he was wrong. If forgiving Dick might help Tim, he'd do it. But this wouldn't get better overnight.
"Tim, I hope that you'll come back to the manor or….at least know that you're always welcome. And I hope that you can forgive me enough to make the next move to see me again - I'll wait for you to make that next move. I'm sorry." Dick's voice broke on his last word.
Tim had taken up his nervous stance again, staring at the ground. Jason noticed that Tim wiped at his face and was trying (and failing) to keep tears behind his mask. Dick, however, was not trying to keep the tears at bay anymore.
Seeing Tim's reaction to this, Dick knew it was time to take his leave. Dick nodded to Tim, though Tim didn't see it, then turned to Jason and nodded to him, Jason returning the nod. Dick wiped his face clean, turned around and ran in the opposite direction, jumping off the roof, the sound of a grappling hook fire being the last thing heard from their older brother.
Jason walked to Tim and put his arm around his shoulders.
"Come on, kid, let's call it a night and go home." Jason let go of Tim when he nodded and Jason started down the ladder, popping his head back up when he realized Tim wasn't following. As he peered over the rooftop he saw Tim's body faced towards the ladder, yet his face turned in the direction that Dick had left in.
"What's the matter, kid, you ok?" Jason asked.
"Yeah…..it's just….."
"What's up?" Jason asked coming back on the roof. Tim's face never left the direction of Dick's departure.
"I think…I don't know…I think I miss him."
A/N: Well there you go. Only two more chapters left and the next chapter has a BIG event in it. PLEASE review! And don't forget about the contest! Only two more chapters to go, and something BIG happens next chapter.