Title: What Has Been

Author: Rea Treoni

Rating: T

Characters: Damian Wayne, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake.

WARNINGS: Mention of homeless kids, child abuse, swear words, bad use of alcohol.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Batman related character. They are DC Comics's.

It had been a long night; the four of them were on patrol, covering for Batman because he had to go to a League mission and wouldn't be back for a few more days. The group of brothers had agreed to divide themselves in pairs, to cover more ground around the city. Dick and Damian went to the East Side, while Tim and Jason went the West side.

The middle sibling confronted the usual crime, as if it was any night: some robberies, two assaults, and a gun fight between gang members. They had to admit, they were doing pretty good until it happened.

Red Hood and Red Robin had been on their way back to the meeting point when suddenly a high pitched cry pierced the silence of the night. Sharing a quick glance between them, the pair instantly took action, following the cries to its origins. As they arrived to a dark narrowed alley at the end of the street, the scene in front of them twisted their stomach.

There stood a full grown man, an empty bottle of alcohol gripped on his hand as he kept on kicking brutally the small figure below him. The small child was in a fetal position, trying to protect himself from the ruthless attack with his small slim arms, piercing and loud sobs coming out from his mouth, crying and pleading for it to stop and that it hurt. The ragged clothes on his were even dirtier now that they were decorated with small patches of blood all around them.

Jason sight went red and suddenly he was above the miserable man, punching him in the face without mercy, every time his knuckles went down they came back up even bloodier than before.

The vigilante barely noticed the arrival of his brothers. He was able to hear on the distance the comforting words Tim kept murmuring the bruised kid on his arms, in an attempt to keep him awake and calm him down, standing protectively in front of them was an angry and snarling Robin, batrang raised in defense, glaring coldly at the pulp mass of blood on his brother's feet. Jason wasn't even aware Nightwing was behind him until he felt a firm hand placing itself on his shoulder, as a sing of comfort but at the same time an order.

With a snarl, Jason let go his grip on the man's collar and dropped him hard on the ground, ignoring the moans of pain that the man made. Without a word, the brothers separated themselves once again, while Dick and Damian stayed behind to wait for the police to pick up the wasted man, Jason and Tim took the kid to an hospital, making sure the one treating him was Dr. Thompkins before leaving.

They met up in the Batcave, all of them somber and quiet, not daring to break the thin and eerie silence around them. Without a word, Jason stormed off, heading upstairs still in his uniform, despite Alfred's rules about going around the top floor in their uniforms. The three brothers left behind shared a look between them before going over the showers to change.

Once they went up and saw no sight of Jason, the trio headed towards their own bedroom. Dick climbed the stairs lazily, an unusual quiet Damian in his arms, rubbing the small back soothing. Damian just stayed silent and pressed his cheek against his brother's shoulder. Tim was walking close behind them until the sound of pans clashing caught his attention.

As Tim walked towards the noise, his eyes met the scene of his brother hovering over the stove, a single pan out and water boiling in it. Confused and somewhat concern, Tim made his presence known.

"Jason?" he calls hesitant. The Red Hood hummed back at the mention of his name, not turning away from his cooking.

Tim sighed as he took a step forward, entering the kitchen "What are you doing up at –what time is it?" he murmurs softly, glancing at the digital clock on the wall behind him "Uh, three thirty in the morning, making mac and cheese?"

Jason, still clothed with his kevlar uniform minus the domino mask, moved his head enough to look at his brother over his shoulder, an annoyed frown in place "Look, I don't ask for much in life but just this once, could you not question my madness for, like, ten minutes?"

The un-uniformed Red Robin held up his hands in surrender, not really surprised at the hostile tone on the older man. A few minutes passed before Tim spoke up again "You okay?" he asks softly, taking seat on one of the chair on the counter.

"Fine" came the dry answer.

Tim frowned, his concern growing "Jay, it wasn't your fault"

He watches as Jason's shoulders tensed as soon as the words left his mouth, followed by a sharp intake of breath.

"You were there, Tim" the teen knew that already, it was hard to forget about that fact.

"Jay – "he started but got cut off by Jason turning around sharply and slamming his fist against the counter.

"He was a kid, Tim! For fuck's sake, a kid!" he snaps angrily "A homeless, innocent, defenseless kid! The sick fuck had his beers at his fancy bar and then started to beat up a poor kid that happened to be there at the wrong time!" he rages on, running a hand over his black greasy hair "He was Damian's age! He could have been Damian, or Colin or Nell" he listed off rubbing his hand over his face "That kid has been me" he whispered in low voice, groaning against his hands, feeling sick.

Tim stood there, frozen at the outburst but quickly recovered as he finally understood his brother. Tim's blue eyes softened as he walked over to Jason dropping a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I promised myself that I wouldn't let a kid suffer like I did" Jason murmurs, pinching the bridge of his nose "Not everyone gets lucky to find a Bruce in their life"

Tim had to agree with that, because whenever Bruce was good at expressing it or not, every single one of them knew that he loved them and they would be lost without him.

The teen balanced his options about how to approach the situation and knowing that Jason preferred facts and avoid sentimental stuff, he went with his best option on offering some sort of comfort to his brother.

"The kid is going to be okay, Dr. Tompkins is in charge of the treatment and she is gonna give us the update as soon as the sun rises" he reminds, shaking gently his brother's shoulder "And we're gonna make sure the kid leaves that hospital with a healthy caring family" he declares firmly, Jason eyed him from the corner of his eye before letting a small smile.

"Not like ours?" he jokes, Tim let out a tiny chuckle.

"God forbids it" they quietly laugh, both of them losing the tension on their shoulders. A hissing pop brought them back to reality and realized that the stove was still own, the box of Mac & Cheese still closed besides it.

"You know" says Tim as Jason stepped forward to turn off the flame "I'm actually in the mood of Mac & Cheese" he shrugs, a playful smile on his face.

Jason shares the smile before punching softly Tim in the arm "All of my cooking lessons throw out to the window" he complains dramatically "Alfred would be disappointed" he jokes, shaking his head in amusement, pouring the contents of the box into the pan before turning back to his brother and smiling genuinely.

"Thanks, Replacement"

Hope you liked it!