I kind of forgot I wrote this. It started out as a different version for the previous chapter. I changed it up so that it can still be used and gives a little family history to Elle (according to this AU). Also, for your edification: although Jason Todd died, events happened differently in this AU so that he is able to retain his identity as Jason Todd-Wayne. That part will be explained at a later time.

No Warnings . . .

"I know you are still harboring hope, but he's not going to come," Dick told Elle as he followed her into his old bedroom they were sharing. He hated to disappoint her, but whatever dream she had for this holiday would not come about with Jason present. "This trip to his apartment will be a waste of time."

Elle looked up from where she was tugging free her coat and scarf from the closet. She frowned at him.

"Did you try," she asked suspiciously. "Really try?"

Dick gaped at her. "What? Of course, I tried. I said I would, but sweetheart, he's still not answering the phone and he's not returning my texts."

She had the grace to look abashed as she set her coat on the bed. "I'm sorry. It's just that I got the impression that I was the only one who wanted him here."

"I would love it if Jason came for Christmas, but I've been trying for a couple of years just to get him to come over and he adamantly refuses every time," Dick explained; rubbing his jaw at the memory of how adamantly Jason refused.

"But we're going to issue the invitation in person," Elle asked, hopefully. "It will be so much harder for him to refuse you when you are standing right in front of him."

Dick snorted. "You don't know Jason. Trust me when I tell you that he has no problem refusing in person or over the phone or through text messaging."

Elle shook out the scarf and started wrapping it around her neck. It was cold outside. "That's why you need to take me with you."

"Elle, it's not a good idea."

"Of course it is a good idea," she insisted, picking up her coat.

Dick frowned at her. "No. No way."

The more he thought about it, the more he preferred to keep some distance between the two of them. Jason might refuse with his fist, and Dick didn't want Elle near if that happened.

Elle smiled at him and slid her arms around his neck. "Yes way," she said.

"Elle, Jason is not the sweet personable guy you thought you met at the party," he warned her.

Her eyes widened and she laughed. "That was his sweet personable side?"

Dick's mouth quirked up on one side. "Well, he showed up and didn't attempt to shoot anyone, so yeah, I'd say that was being pretty sweet of him."

Elle was startled. "He shoots people?"

"Usually only bad people," Dick shrugged.

"So, he's a cop like you?" She asked while pulling on her coat.

Now Dick laughed. "No, Jason is not a cop."

Elle stopped and stared. "I don't understand. How can he get away with shooting people if he's not a cop? Even bad guys . . ."

Dick turned towards the window. He still loved the view of the grounds he had from here.

"Batman cuts him some slack," he admitted, reluctantly.

"Bruce . . ."

"There is some history between them that you aren't aware of," Dick told her. "Jason was a Robin. Some things went . . . wrong . . ."

Elle stepped up behind him and touched his shoulder. "He was hurt?"

"He was dead," Dick said bluntly.

"He . . . Wait. What?" Elle stammered. "How . . .? Oh, okay, I get it. You don't mean literally, but figuratively. He did something that made Bruce cut him loose. Is that what you mean by his 'shooting' bad guys?"

"No. No, I meant that literally," Dick told her. "Jason was killed as Robin by the Joker."

Elle stepped back, frowning. "The Joker . . . I've heard of him. He's a crazy guy who dresses up like a clown, right?"

"That description, while technically correct, doesn't begin to cover what the Joker is," Dick sighed. "He murdered Jason, Elle. In the very real sense of it."

"But h-how?" Elle shook her head. This didn't make sense. "Jason is human, isn't he?"

The laughter was bitter. "Some might question his humanity, but yes, Jason is human." Dick turned around and leaned back against the window sill. "Another of Batman's adversaries switched out Jason's body and dipped him into what he calls a 'Lazarus Pit'."

Elle gaped at him for a second and then scowled in thought. "Okay, assuming that Lazarus isn't the name of the guy who discovered this pit, that is self-explanatory. Something about this pit can reverse death? That sounds like a bad sci-fi movie plot."

Dick pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Yeah, it kind of does, doesn't it? But it's real, Elle. Jason was brought back to life. Unfortunately, one of the side effects from that is a temporary loss of sanity. When he eventually came back to himself, Jason returned to Gotham."

"I take it there wasn't a happy reunion," she guessed.

"When he discovered that Joker was alive and well . . . He was . . . upset. He felt betrayed by Bruce that he hadn't taken revenge on the bastard in retaliation for his murder."

"Oh," Elle bit her lip. "Yeah, I guess I can see how that might be disappointing."

"Trust me, the Joker didn't get off easy. Batman came as near to breaking his vow then as he ever did. The Joker spent many months in a body cast and then traction, but that wasn't enough for Jason."

Elle finished for him. "Jason wanted him dead."

Dick nodded. "And to make matters worse, Batman stopped Jason from exacting his revenge on Joker himself. Jason's been . . . bitter, ever since."

Elle winced. "Oh, wow! And here I thought my family history was convoluted . . ."

Dick stared at the floor between their feet. "You aren't regretting your answer now, are you?"

Elle startled. "What? Oh . . . No, Dick! Never!" She walked into his arms and hugged him. "But . . . God! How ever did you manage to come out sane in this family?"

Dick gave a bark of laughter. "I'm not entirely certain I did," he admitted wryly. "But you do wonders at bringing a sense of normality back into my life." He smiled down at her. "I thank you for that. I need a little normality."

Elle grinned. "That's a sad thing when you consider life with a mermaid as 'normal'."

Dick laughed. This was yet another reason why he loved her so much. She always managed to do that . . . Make him laugh; make him feel as though everything was going to turn out all right.

"Okay, I understand Bruce's reticence, but what about the rest of the family? No one seemed eager to have Jason join in the festivities."

Dick winced. "Well, just as upsetting as finding the Joker alive, then there was Tim."

Elle tilted her head, curiously. She really wanted – no, needed – to understand this family. It was going to be her family one day soon. There was an ache in her heart already for the pain and emotional turmoil that everyone here must suffer.

She sat on the edge of the bed. "I don't understand."

"Tim became the new Robin," Dick explained. "He had figured out somehow that I was the original Robin and through that Bruce's identity; much as you did."

Elle lifted an eyebrow and pursed her lips. "You aren't very good at keeping that secret, are you?"

Dick snorted. "Apparently not. Anyway, Tim began following our exploits. He reasoned out that I moved on to become Nightwing and that there was a new Robin. And then when Robin disappeared and Batman grew even darker and more dangerous, becoming even more violent than ever before, Tim worked it out that something had happened to the new Robin. He saw the need for Batman to have a Robin in his life or else he might one day break his vow and do the unthinkable. Anyway, Jason saw Tim as his replacement.

"That's the second time you referenced this 'vow'. What is it exactly?"

"To not kill," Dick explained to her. "Batman doesn't take lives. He brings criminals in to face the justice system, but he doesn't kill them, no matter the atrocities they might commit nor how much he might personally feel they might deserve it."

"Honorable," she murmured.

"Not completely," Dick said. "His father was a doctor and that instilled in him a deep sense of value in human life, but also Bruce fears the darkness that is inside of him." At her look, he explained. "He fears that if he gives into the urge to dole out justice himself by taking a life, like that of the Joker, he wouldn't stop with just one life. What would then stop him from taking another and then another, but always justifying it with the idea that they deserved it? He refuses to take the chance that he would become one of the very monsters that he hunts."

Elle was silent for a long minute. "No," she said, looking up at him. "No. Still honorable."

Dick leaned down to press a kiss against her forehead. She always saw the best in people, his sweet, naïve Elle.

She smiled. "That he recognizes the potential for the abuse of his power and takes the care to not to fall victim to it, that takes honor and some pretty incredible self-discipline. Something to admire." The smile fell away. "But Jason, I take it, doesn't share this fear."

Dick straightened and sighed. "No. When he first showed up, Jason killed a few criminals. They weren't the pillar of even the criminal community, but it wasn't for him to decide that. It's created a distance between him and Bruce, and all of us really, that is almost impossible to bridge."

"Almost," she said, biting her lip. "But he still came to the party and even joined in briefly. I think that maybe he wants to bridge that distance as well, but can't think how to do it. Too much water under the bridge so to speak."

"So to speak," Dick agreed.

"And now, not only does Jason not get along with Bruce, but also is jealous of Tim. How does he feel about Damian?"

Dick shrugged. "He doesn't really know Damian enough to care. But you should know he's tried to kill Tim once or twice."

Elle sat up straight at that revelation. "What," she gasped. But it was only a moment later, she was shaking her head. "No, he didn't."

Dick blinked. "Yes, he did, and that would make Christmas with them together in the same household a challenge at best."

Elle shook her head. "No, he didn't. Dick, if he tried to kill Tim, Tim would be dead. Unless you are telling me that Jason is incompetent with his guns . . ."

Dick frowned. "No, Jason is one of the best shots I've ever seen."

"Then if he wanted Tim dead, he would have shot him and Tim would be dead." Elle nodded as she thought about it. "Maybe he was trying to frighten Tim away, but he wasn't trying to kill him."

"That's an interesting way to look at it, but Jason admitted it."

Elle glanced at him as she began buttoning her coat. "So, you're saying that Jason just walked up to you and told you flat out that he tried and failed to kill Tim?"

"No, it didn't happen like that."

"So, when you saw him you said, 'why did you try to kill Tim?' and he didn't deny it," Elle stood up and tied the belt.

Dick opened his mouth and then paused. "Uh, well, yeah, it kind of happened like that."

She smiled. "He wasn't trying to kill Tim, then. Besides, you said he tried twice and yet Tim's still walking around, taking college classes, and fighting the good fight against criminals on his own."

"The two of them fought, sweetheart," Dick told her. "And Tim's no pushover."

Elle pulled out her gloves from her coat pocket. "They fought," she clarified. "Hand-to-hand?"

Dick was frowning at her as he began to see this bit of family history from a new perspective. "Yes."

"He was angry then and wanted to run Tim off, but when that didn't work, Jason challenged him in order to test him. Perhaps it was to reassure himself that Tim wasn't the better Robin, or maybe it was to see what Tim was made of but his anger pushed it into scary territory." Elle summarized as she tugged on her gloves. "Either way, if Jason had honestly wanted Tim dead, I don't believe he would have failed . . . Particularly if he tried twice."

Dick was silent now. He stared at Elle with new eyes. "You . . . You may be right," he said. "But it is still a big risk to take on a theory put forth by someone who has spent forty-five minutes in Jason's company."

"You'll see . . . In this, I am right," Elle assured him. "So, are you ready to go and issue the invitation personally? Because I am going with you."

Dick opened his mouth to put up a token protest, but changed his mind. He already knew she would go, and he also knew if there were any hope of Jason agreeing, it would be because of Elle. He grabbed his own coat and the keys to the car; feeling hope for the first time as he saw the past through Elle's perspective.

"Let's go," he said, holding open the door for her. "Dinner's in less than an hour. It takes twenty minutes to get there, so you have ten minutes to convince him to come back with us."

Elle's smile wavered. She looked back at him, startled. She had forgotten the time.

"Ten minutes?" She squeaked.

Dick laughed. "Up to the challenge?"

Determination filled her, and Elle grabbed his arm; tugging Dick after her. "Come on," she yelped. "Hurry up!"

REACTIONS?

I promise - Jason is in the next chapter!