Tim stretched his arms high above his head and yawned.

And then walked right into Jason.

"Scuse you." Jason, mostly suited up for patrol, turned to him. "Is it your first time walking or something?"

Tim rolled his eyes and headed for his own suit. "Have you ever tried *not* being in the way?"

"Oh, ho. Burger joint's got comebacks." Jason taunted, following him.

Tim scoffed, not even bothering to turn around as he got dressed. "Please. You're such an easy target I almost feel bad."

"At least I didn't drop out of high school." Jason leaned back against the bat-computer desk, checking his belt to make sure it was all in order before he went out.

Tim pulled on his gloves. "Yeah, because I'm struggling *so* much running Wayne- wait, yes you did!" He interrupted himself and shot an incredulous look at his brother.

"Are you counting my death as me dropping out of school?"

"Did you graduate?"

"Did you get to make the decision on your own to stop attending?"

The two stared at each other, at an impasse.

Tim broke first, sighing out a half-hearted, "Jackass."

"Aww. Baby bird's got the big words."

"Aww. Dead bird's running out of insults." Tim returned in the same mocking tone.

Jason followed him as they headed for the vehicle bay where the rest of their family was, pretending he wasn't trying to think of another one.

"And to think, you used to worship me."

Tim didn't even hesitate. "And to think." He turned, walking backwards a few steps to look Jason in the eye as he talked. "You used to be worthy of that worship."

Yyyyy

Jason slowed his motorcycle to a low rumble, and then pulled to a stop beside Spoiler's.

Just as he got off and removed his helmet, Damian ran up.

"Go upstairs."

"Excuse you, brat?" He huffed. And then he noticed that everyone else was gathered in the med bay. "Oh, shit. What happened?"

"Go upstairs, Jason."

Jason pushed past him. "Who's hurt?"

Damian hopped in front of his brother and blocked his path. "He's not hurt, but go upstairs."

Jason paused. "What happened?"

Damian huffed, but relented. "Tim is not hurt, but… you should go upstairs. You don't need to see him like this."

Jason felt his stomach drop. Not injured, but in the med bay, surrounded by their family? "Who did what to him? Hatter? Crane?"

Damian shook his head. "No. It's nothing like that. He went up against a new villain. A magician."

A magician..?

Ohh.

Jason pushed past Damian again, unable to hold back his wide grin.

Oh, this was too good.

The last time they had gone up against a magic user, Nightwing had spent two days as a pigeon.

He wasn't wasting this opportunity.

"Jason, stop-"

Cass saw him enter the room and tried to block his view, but was too late.

He saw Tim, and finally did stop.

Tim wasn't a pigeon.

He wasn't any kind of animal.

What he was, however, was small.

He appeared to be younger than Damian by a few years, and was dwarfed by the hoodie and sweatpants he'd been given.

"Batman and Nightwing are searching for the guy, but until they find him, we've got to keep an eye on Tim." Duke, in his civilian clothes, filled in.

He, Cass, Steph, Barbara, and Damian had dug out an old gaming system and hooked it up to keep Tim occupied, along with a small stack of books and movies.

It seemed to have worked, because he was concentrating on moving Mario through an underground dungeon, not giving any indication that he'd noticed the newcomer.

Until Jason, not even realizing until he felt a wave of dizziness that he'd stopped breathing, was suddenly grabbed by Duke and told to sit down.

Jason did and heard the music on the screen change to the 'game over' sound, along with a gasp.

"You're… Robin."

Tim stared at him in wide-eyed wonder.

And Jason's stomach twisted.

Most days, the brothers were perfectly fine interacting with each other.

Teasing.

Throwing insults.

Sparring.

But, despite all the time that had passed, they both still had their bad days.

And this?

Seeing Tim as the wide-eyed fanboy he'd been?

This was a bad day.

Especially since all he could think of was exactly when he'd stopped.

"Robin?" Tim questioned, head tilted in concern.

'And to think, you used to be worthy of that worship.'

Jason bolted to his feet and ran out of the room.

Yyyyy

"Jason."

"I tried to kill him."

"Jason, stop." Duke grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around. "He doesn't know that."

"*I* know that!" Jason snapped, tugging his arm free. "Duke, I know what I did!"

Duke grit his teeth and sighed.

And then he gave Jason a firm shove, prompting him to walk.

They weren't headed back to the cave, but Jason needed to take a walk.

"Look, you two have moved past this. We all see how close you two are. Don't let this be a setback."

"A setback?" Jason laughed. "I'd say we're past a setback. You know that kid- *that* kid, in there, right now, used to follow me and Batman around the city?"

"Yeah. He'd take pictures."

"Do you know why? It's because he wanted to be like me. He saw," Jason gestured wildly at himself, "me, and decided I was someone to look up to. I was someone he thought he wanted to be like."

"You're still a good guy, Jason. We've all had lapses of judgment, and you *didn't* try to kill him. You already told us what happened that night. You were trying to make him quit. To show him how dangerous it really was being Rob-,"

"What if I lied?" Jason interrupted.

"What?"

"What if I lied? Would I still be a good guy? Would I still be someone anyone should look up to? Duke, did you ever wonder where your brother got that line across his throat? Because I'll tell you one thing. It's not cosmetic."

Duke didn't say anything.

"I went into that tower with that goal in mind. I started that fight, planning on showing him… that just because he was wearing the cape and colors didn't mean Batman would come to his rescue. But then…" he exhaled and stopped walking. "But then all I saw was green. People usually say they see red when they lose control, but… I *literally* saw green."

"The Lazarus pit?"

"It gives life to corpses. Turns them crazy and violent for a bit, but that's not exactly something Talia and Ra's were concerned with." Jason shoved his hands in his pockets and continued with their walk, Duke right beside him. "I thought it had gone. That I was back to myself. But then I was suddenly waking up covered in blood."

"That's why you went so far."

"Yeah." Jason muttered. "I had no idea what I was doing. But it still happened. I still did it. He was still hurt. By me. And no matter how far we come, how much time passes, that's not something I can ever erase."

"But it *is* something you two have worked through. Don't forget that. This Tim won't be sticking around for long. Jason, look at me. Everything is going to be back to normal before you know it. We'll keep you two separate until then, but you can't let yourself regress, okay?"

Jason sighed and nodded.

Before the conversation could continue, Duke's phone rang.

"Hello?" He answered it and listened for a second, face falling into a slightly annoyed, but mostly tired expression. "Alright. Yeah, thanks for the heads up. I'll let you know if I see him. Bye."

Jason didn't need to have heard the other side of the conversation to know both who and what they had been talking about.

"They lost Tim, didn't they?"

"They lost Tim." Duke confirmed.

"Do you want help look-,"

"No." Duke cut him off firmly, hand held up to stop him. "You're going to the library. I don't care what you do there, but *we* are finding Tim, and *you* are staying away from him."

Yyyyy

Jason didn't go to the library.

He wasn't in the mood to read.

But he ended up on the balcony overlooking the backyard.

It was still dark out, but he was just able to make out the shape of their neighbors house.

Tim's house.

Jason braced his hands on the wet railing and took a long, slow inhale.

And then he let it out just as slowly.

Tonight wouldn't be easy to move past.

For any of them.

Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out a misshapen, partially flattened carton of cigarettes and put one in his mouth.

He was just reaching for his lighter when he felt a presence on the balcony with him.

And then leapt nearly a foot in the air when he saw the small version of his brother smiling up at him.

"Holy-!" Jason grabbed the railing again with one hand while his other flew to his chest. "Jesus, kid. Don't sneak up on me like that! Where did you come from?"

Tim looked out over the yard and pointed to the house Jason had been looking at not even a minute ago.

"That's my house."

"Yeah." Jason agreed, heart still racing. "That it is."

Tim, hands tucked inside the front pocket of the hoodie he was wearing, frowned up at him. "You're older than when I last saw you."

Jason, realizing he'd dropped his cigarette somewhere, probably off the edge of the balcony, leaned back against the railing to face the kid. "And… when was that?"

Tim frowned deeper, though this time his eyes turned glassy, like he wasn't entirely there. "I don't… I don't know. I keep trying to remember, but," he then winced and ducked his head, rubbing his temple. "my head hurts whenever I do. Your friends said I shouldn't think too hard about it, but I can't exactly just turn off my brain, you know?"

Jason didn't say anything, so Tim continued.

"But, I know you're Robin. I'd recognize you anywhere. Even when you're Jason Todd- oh! I'm sorry!" Tim cut himself off, eyes wide. "I know I'm not supposed to know your secret identity. But I promise I've never told anyone. Pinky promise."

Tim proudly held up his hand, pinky held out.

Jason didn't move.

Tim held his hand in the air hopefully for a few more seconds before blushing in embarrassment and lowering it back to his side.

"Go on back down to the cave, kid." Jason finally said, softly ordering him.

Tim turned and looked back at the house, but didn't move.

"Can I ask what happened?"

"Lots of things happened."

"No, I mean, to you." Tim stepped closer, arms crossed against the cold night air. "You're… different."

Mentally.

Physically.

Emotionally.

"Like I said, lots of things have happened."

Please go away.

But Tim stepped closer.

"One of the only constructive things I've learned from my parents is that, if you're quiet, people forget that you can hear them. So they'll say things in front of you."

Jason didn't like that.

"I heard them call you 'Red Hood'. Not Robin."

"Yeah." Jason nodded, walking back inside. "Because that's who I am."

"So what happened?" Tim had to jog to keep up with him. "Cause… because I saw you out there. I saw how much you loved being Robin. And how good you were at it. Something big must have happened if it made you quit."

"Tim, go back to the cave."

"I'm sorry. If you don't want to talk about it." Tim apologized, but didn't stop following Jason. "But, can I just stay with you? I don't… I don't know anyone else."

Jason stopped walking.

"I'll be quiet. If you want. I know I talk too much sometimes." Tim seemed to shrink in on himself and Jason cursed under his breath.

"Red Hood is… the name I decided to go by after- after Robin." He finally said. "Someone else is Robin now."

"So you quit? Like the first Robin?"

"... It's complicated."

Tim tilted his head. "That means 'no', right?"

"That means it's complicated."

"Did… did Batman fire you?"

Jason started walking again, and Tim followed right on his heels.

"Or did… um… Dan? Dick! Did Dick Greyson want his old name back?"

Jason didn't answer.

"Did Batman replace you?"

That got him to stop.

Which meant that was the answer Tim latched onto.

"He did!"

"Tim."

"With who?"

"Tim, stop."

"Why? Why would he-,"

"Because I died!"

Tim opened his mouth to respond again, but no words came.

He closed his mouth.

"I died." Jason repeated, softer.

"But… but you're right here."

"Yeah, well. Like I said. Lots of things happened."

Tim put his hands back in the hoodie pocket and looked around in silence for a minute, thinking.

Jason sighed and walked back down the hall, grabbing the back of the hoodie and giving it a tug, signaling Tim to follow him.

"Look, kid. I'm going to give you a piece of advice, alright?"

"Okay."

"Quit putting your heroes on a pedestal. We're human, and no one's ever going to live up to your expectations."

"You save people."

"Yeah, well. I also hurt them." They reached the kitchen and Jason, needing something to do, grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and started slicing it.

"You hurt the bad people."

"Tim."

"You hurt the people who hurt others."

"Not always."

Tim, eyes widening slightly in understanding, accepted an apple slice, handed over mainly to get him to stop talking.

It worked, for a little while.

"Were you scared?" He finally asked softly, done with his apple slice.

"When?"

"When you hurt… the not bad person."

Jason pretended to be focused on slicing the apple.

He handed over another slice, but Tim just held it.

"I get scared sometimes, too."

Jason sliced the apple again.

"Especially when I'm alone."

Another slice.

Tim looked down at the one he was still holding.

"I'm always alone. Well, almost always. Some days, Mrs. Mac brings board games, even though my parents don't like her playing with me while she's supposed to be working."

Jason brought the knife down again.

"But I'm used to being alone."

Another slice.

Tim didn't say anything else.

He just stared at Jason expectedly while nibbling on his apple.

Jason brought the knife down again-

And suddenly, he was back in the tower, stained with blood that wasn't his.

He dropped the knife, hands shaking.

In an attempt to hide that, though, he gripped the countertop.

He didn't want to think about that night.

He'd already gone over it with Duke.

He'd already gone over it a hundred times on his own, everytime he closed his eyes to sleep.

He'd already lived it.

"Yeah." He heard himself say. "Yeah. I was scared."

Tim nodded absently and took another bite.

"I don't… really like people sometimes. They lie. Steal. Hurt others."

Tim, staring off into space, took another bite of his apple.

Jason used the paper towel roll to shove the knife to the far end of the table, leaving it there to hide the utensil from view.

He didn't want to see it.

"I think… that's why I decided you were my favorite hero. You're… you're who I want to be like when I grow up. You're different."

"I took the cape from the first guy, you realize." Jason pointed out, taking one of the apple slices for himself. "Just following in his footsteps."

But Tim shook his head. "No. You're different. Batman… he focuses on the criminals. Someone does something bad, he stops them. He'll save people, too, but it seems like he pays more attention to the people like Joker and Ivy and Freeze than he does the civilians."

Tim eyed the plate of apple slices until Jason pushed it closer to him.

"The other Robin, Dick Greyson… I don't know. He just always seemed…"

"Goofy? Like he wasn't taking his job seriously?"

Tim shook his head. "Angry. Like… like he was always wearing a mask. Not just the one over his eyes, but one where he doesn't want people to know what he's really thinking."

Jason paused.

Dick had never been the picture of mental stability, but then again, none of them were.

But had it really been so obvious that Tim had been able to pick up on it?

Before he'd even met them?

"I guess it always seemed like he was too similar to Batman. And, don't get me wrong!" He was quick to jump in. "Batman's really good at what he does. He's saved a lot of people. But… he and the first Robin always had this 'criminals first, casualties second' thing going."

Jason picked up another apple slice, but didn't eat it.

"I thought you were going to be the same, when you took over. But you weren't. I saw you let the bad guys go sometimes. Not… not the really bad ones, but the small time guys. And sometimes I'd see you sneak off to buy food for people who were stealing it."

Jason had always had a different view of 'crime' than Bruce, having grown up the way he did. They'd butted heads since day one, but Jason had been determined to keep his own morals.

To remember how he'd used to live.

The things he'd been forced to do to survive.

Just because someone was breaking the law didn't automatically mean they deserved punishment. Sometimes they just needed help.

Bruce knew that, too, and would hire or check in on reformed convicts, but he'd never *truly* understood what life was like for those who were at rock bottom.

"I… figured out who Batman was a while ago. Dick made it kinda obvious." Tim started talking again.

"Mhm?" Jason grunted, still holding his one apple slice.

"I looked you up when Bruce adopted you. I saw… where he adopted you from. There were… cps reports."

Jason always had been one to talk back.

Fight back.

Hit back.

There had been cps visits.

Nights spent cold and hungry.

Bruises he'd grown skilled at hiding.

"You could have become a bad guy yourself." Tim grabbed another apple slice, and then pushed the rest back to Jason. "Or just… not gone back. Or even not helped them. After how you grew up, everything you went through, when… when you had to drop out in second grade? You could have just left it all behind. You could have moved on."

"No, I couldn't."

"And you didn't." Tim fiddled with his hands. "But… I think I would have." He admitted quietly.

Jason blinked in surprise.

"I know we didn't grow up the same. I never had to wonder where my next meal was coming from. I never had to leave school to… keep my mom alive. But… my life's not great, either. My parents are always busy, even when they're home. And they're never home. They don't want anything to do with me." Tim shrank in on himself. "I overheard Mrs. Mac on the phone once saying she wanted to call cps, but my parents kept paying them off to not come."

"What?" This was news to Jason.

"Yeah. She said I was being neglected, but," Tim shrugged, like it was no big deal to him. "I used to think that… if I was like you, a vigilante, and they needed me, I'd do to them what they'd spent my whole life doing to me. Just… leave them alone. I couldn't understand why you didn't. But, after a while, I think I started to."

Jason started to feel like they were branching off into some things Tim might want to keep to himself.

But he didn't interrupt.

"You saw that people who needed help, well, needed help. And you were there to help. It didn't matter if they were someone who could have helped you when you needed it and chose not to, or not." Tim fiddled with his fingers. "I… I know you're human. I know you make mistakes, and do the wrong thing sometimes, and I shouldn't follow everything you do. But… you're still the guy who showed me what kind of person I want to grow up to be."

Jason felt like he couldn't breathe again.

The room blurred and for a second he was worried he was about to blackout, but then he blinked and felt the dampness in his eyes.

Tim, not noticing, kept talking.

"You made me want to be someone who didn't hold grudges."

It had only been a few hours ago that they'd been trading insults.

Easily taunting each other.

"So… I'm sorry I put you on a pedestal."

They both still had their bad days.

"But… I still want to be like you when I'm older. I… I want to be strong enough to forgive people when they do bad things."

But… maybe this wasn't entirely a bad day.

Because Duke was right.

He and Tim *had* grown close over the years.

And that had taken work from both of them.

"Come on, kid. Let's get you back down to the cave." Jason walked around to the other side of the table and held out his hand for Tim to take.

Tim grabbed the hand tightly, following Jason out of the kitchen.

"We've got some time before Batman gets back. I don't suppose any of those video games were two-player?"

Tim's face lit up, and he practically tugged Jason the rest of the way back to the med bay.