A/n: This… would be my first time writing a Jason-centric fic, and tbh, it kind of feels like a betrayal seeing as I'm a Dick fan (out of context imagine how out of pocket that would sound lol) but then again, the angst potential with Jason…

I would like to also say that I have never really read any of the comics, so don't expect accuracy, but we're gonna set a baseline and say that this fic would be on the basis of Jason's death being from the explosion after Joker beat him up and not from the beating him up itself. Just felt like I had an obligation to make that clear :)

It always amused him how often and how quickly things in his life go to shit.

A simple search for evidence on a rare joint case with Nightwing and Batman had turned into an ambush turned shoot-out turned massacre on the bad guy's side after which they decided it wasn't worth it and they just blew the whole place up. While they were all still inside like the geniuses the villains they fought usually were.

Now, normally, it wouldn't have been a problem. The building would have collapsed, and they'd have quickly made their way out before anyone except the bad guys would get hurt. There wasn't even any civilians in the building which was great! At least that was one good thing about the whole situation.

For as stupid and sheep-like as their opponents were, they certainly had good timing on when to blow up a warehouse. They'd waited until Batman had disappeared somewhere outside in pursuit of the leader of the group, Nightwing was busy fighting the majority of the guys in the main bit of the building seemingly spending more time in the air as he did so, while Jason himself had gone off down a side corridor in search of the evidence they were here to get in the first place. As his type of bad luck usually went, that corridor happened to be closer to the charges when they went off.

The bombs had been well-placed and the old warehouse had come down within seconds, giving him barely enough time to cover his head with sore arms before… well, after that he wasn't entirely sure what happened since he did black out then. He didn't exactly remember that bit, but he did remember waking up in panic so it would have been the only sensible option.

"-ood, come in Red Hood? You there?"

His earpiece crackled but the voice came through anyway and he was eternally grateful that it was even working at all because everything else about this situation was fucked up, majorly.

"I'm here," he said, or tried to say before his croaky voice cut out after the 'I' and he was left coughing. Why was he even coughing? How in the hells was there dust in his lungs? He was wearing his hel - oh, great, his helmet must be broken. He supposed it made sense though. At least it'd held out for the most important bit, which was keeping his head from being smashed like a watermelon. As for the rest of his body…

Now was as good a time as any to take stock of his situation right? First and foremost, it was dark, but he couldn't exactly tell if that was because he was caved in or the lenses in his helmet had malfunctioned. It didn't make much of a difference either way, he supposed, so no point dwelling on that. Nothing he could do anyway, seeing as he was unable to move really.

Up until now, when he'd consciously thought about it, that fact seemed to have been glossed over by his mind, but now that he'd actually said it inside his head, yes, he did start to panic a little. But he was a Bat, so he knew better than to let the panic control him, now or ever so he tried to push away everything going on in his mind in favour of continuing his mental evaluation.

As he focused on it more, he could feel something on his legs, and chest, and his arm and really his whole body was pinned down by what he guessed was debris from the explosion. Hey, that was one upside to this; he could remember what had happened so a concussion wasn't likely or too bad if he did have one anyway. He knew a helmet had been a good idea.

It seemed his head was the only thing that had been spared though. Not everything hurt necessarily, mostly just pressure on everything, but he knew just from shifting what he could that his arm was likely broken. The arm in question was awkwardly half-pinned under his back, the weight of his body and whatever else was on him stopping it from moving but almost guaranteeing that it was broken. Well, that and the fact that him shifting had sent sharp pains up his arm so bad they made him gasp.

The pain, and the tight space, and the suddenness of it, and the whole situation was starting to hit him. It was all so similar to when he'd died. The fight beforehand - this time not anywhere near the beating he'd taken last time, but still - and then Batman all but abandoning him as he lay trapped and broken under the rubble with false hopes of being saved. Only difference was, now he knew better than to rely on Batman to save him. Only problem was, this was a situation that forced him to do exactly that, and even if he wasn't pinned under who knew how much rubble, his breath would have come difficult anyway.

His earpiece crackled to life again.

"B, what do I do?"

He stopped breathing for a second, before his chest loosened a little and he found it the slightest bit easier to breathe. He knew better than to rely on Batman saving him, but he knew he had no other choice, yet he'd forgotten that the Bat wasn't the only option this time. Nightwing was here too, and from the sounds of it, still alive and well enough, and Jason knew Dick would die a hundred times before letting him die once more, something he could always rely on even if he wished he didn't have to. His brother was self-sacrificial to a fault.

The part of his chest that had loosened tightened even more than the first time as Batman's reply came through.

"If the rest of the hostiles are neutralised, then go back to the Cave. Get Alfred to check over any injuries you have."

Where before Jason had just seen darkness, he saw red that wasn't part of his suit. Bruce didn't even have the gall to sound worried. Dick, on the other hand, would not give up. Maybe after this, Jason would try being nicer to the guy…

"Ja - Red Hood's still inside."

A pause, and Jason held his breath.

"His vitals from the suit say he's still alive. Now go home, Nightwing."

He didn't even know why he tried anymore.

"Batman, we can't just - I'm not just leaving him. I don't care if his vitals say he's alive, they don't say that he's okay or not in danger of dying in the next two minutes!"

"You're not going to do any good in your current condition, Nightwing. I will get to him, but I can't deal with two sons in danger of dying on me, so go home now. Don't make me order you to."

"I'd like to see you try. I'm not Robin anymore, Batman. Don't forget that."

Jason couldn't help the smirk on his face at that. For all that Dick did for their family, and all that Jason and his younger brothers argued about the title of Robin, it was all too easy to forget where the name had started in the first place, who'd been the original. Some days, Jason hated Dick for it, for being the one who inspired the countless other child heroes to be so, but he couldn't deny that there was a reason Dick had been the first.

"Nightwing," Batman growled through the comms, but a tone sounded to signal that Dick had likely switched his channel connection to Batman off. From the way another tone sounded not soon after, it seemed that Bruce had gone to find and talk to Dick in person. How Jason wished he could have been there in that moment; that argument would definitely have been entertaining to watch. Nostalgic, too, in a dark and depressing way.

He didn't know how much longer he stayed there, in the dark and silence, and he started to think that maybe Dick had gone home after all and Bruce had given up on him. Again. Left him there to die.

No, not die. He wasn't completely crushed. He was safe in his little bubble of rubble - haha, that rhymed - and while he might run out of air soon, he would be fine.

He wasn't claustrophobic, exactly. Couldn't afford to be in his line of work as a vigilante and a billionaire's son both of which made him prone to kidnappings or being locked up in rooms too small for his liking. But now? The panic from before was getting harder to push away as time went on. Memories started to suffocate him more than the limited air did, and keeping his eyes open didn't stop the images from flashing before his eyes since it was dark either way.

Where was Dick? Hell, even Batman? Maybe his vitals from his suit did say he was still alive, but that didn't mean he was okay!

He was just contemplating whether or not to start coming up with a plan to get himself out when the building started shaking again. His earpiece crackled again. Dick must have switched his on again.

"B, there's still - "

"You were supposed to be gone - "

"I already told - you know what? I'm not - "

The sound of an explosion cut him off, and Jason might have been worried for his brother if the pressure on his body hadn't increased, the shaking making the debris on top of him settle further as more pieces fell on top. It hit him then.

He was gonna die there.

A rock fell from above somewhere, and a sharp pain came from somewhere on his head.

Maybe he would have a concussion after all.

That was his last thought before he blacked out again.

Like before, he woke up to his earpiece crackling with Dick's voice, but this time he wasn't sure whether the weakness in Dick's voice was because something had happened to his brother, something had happened to his earpiece, or something had happened to his hearing.

"J-'Hood, you there?"

The panic in Dick's voice was evident, and while Jason appreciated it, he wished it was Bruce's voice instead of his brother's.

He tried to answer, but he had to clear his throat first and then muster up the energy to and actually tap the side of his helmet to reply. It seemed his brother thought he took too long anyway.

"Oracle, can you track Hood and find out where he is?"

"Nightwing, go home. Oracle, send that information to me. 'Wing, this is not up for debate, you're injured."

"I'm fine. Hood, you there? Can you hear me?"

The debris on top of him shifted, and his suddenly something was on his chest. He decided now was as good a time as any to join the conversation. Biting his lip to stop from screaming, he painfully lifted his shoulder to tap his comms on the side of his helmet. The beep that told him it'd worked made him almost want to cry with relief. Almost.

"I… can hear the Bat being a massive asshole."

A relieved sigh came through, and it wasn't too difficult to guess who it was.

"Jay, you're okay."

"Names," he managed to get out, before the debris shifted again and made his broken arm move, sending hot fire up his shoulder. He distracted himself by talking to Dick. "But I wouldn't say okay," he ground out through clenched teeth.

Dick seemed to pick up on it, and was serious when he spoke again - or Jason guessed he would have been if the Bat hadn't interrupted.

"Do you know where you are? Where was your last location before the collapse?"

"Oh, don't act like you care now. In fact, you better pray I don't get up this time around, because we all know how that went before and I'm pissed about a lot more now."

Imagining the look on Batman's face at that comment gave him the slightest bit of satisfaction, but the situation didn't really let him enjoy it. He was too preoccupied with the notion that he was running out of air already, and he hadn't been able to feel his legs in a while.

"Ja- Red Hood, please can we do this later? Where are you?"

"I…"

Another, new female voice cut him off, and good that it did because more dust had made him cough, which made the debris shift too.

"I got him. He's in the west wing, sending the exact coordinates now, but," - Oracle's voice suddenly rose in a panic - "you guys need to get him out now! The whole west side is about to completely go down!"

"Shit." Jason would have said the same as Dick, but his breath was coming short now. He was gonna die, and he was running out of air, and he was gonna die the same way, and the Joker was here, and the place was gonna blow, and the crowbar was lying right there two inches away from him, and Batman wasn't coming, he'd left him to die, and he was gonna die, die, die, die, die.

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he hadn't heard the arguing on the other side of his comms, the shouts and the instructions, with a new voice joining the fray. He was only brought back to the present when the debris around himself shifted again. This time, though, he wasn't crushed by it. The debris was being lifted up?

And suddenly he wasn't in that warehouse where he'd died, he was here in this warehouse where he wasn't going to die because help was here, and the Joker was long gone, and there was no crowbar. He'd be okay.

He squinted against the sudden light, left staring up at someone who was very not his brother or even Batman; instead actually the complete opposite.

"Superman?"

The Man of Steel flashed him a quick smile before turning to people out of sight. "He's here. You get Nightwing out of here, I've got this one."

There was no answer from the person Superman was talking to but the glare he gave them told Jason everything. Batman must have caved and left, which only ended up making Jason more worried than angry. There was only one reason he'd give up on one of his kids and that was if another was pretty bad off.

No time to dwell on that right now though. The building was shaking again, and now that Batman was gone, Superman had turned back to Jason, reassuring smile back.

"Hey, kid, long time no see. Now let's get you out of here. Anything I need to watch?"

"My arm," he croaked out, throat still incredibly dry.

He saw the look in Superman's eyes that told him he was using his x-ray vision, and Clark winced. "Yeah, that's a break," he muttered, glancing at a wall beside them with a worried look on his face, before the smile was back and he looked at Jason again. "Okay, we'll get you patched up in no time. Ready? Three, two, one."

He reached down and swiftly picked Jason up, Jason biting his lip hard to stop from crying out at the jarring pain of the action, instead just holding tight as Superman flew him out of the building and not a moment too soon as the whole place collapsed behind them in a cloud of dust a few seconds later.

Barely sparing a second glance behind them, Superman was quick to locate the Batmobile and follow it from above. Jason had to ask.

"Dick…?"

Superman looked down at him and smiled softly. "He'll be okay. He just got a nasty cut from a stray piece of building but he'll be fine. You both will."

Jason nodded, relieved. Batman may not have saved him this time, but that didn't mean Jason was on his own. He had so many other people he could count on to be there; so many that even if one of them failed him, there were five others to depend on anyway.

Safe in Superman's arms, on his way to the one place he considered home even if it hadn't been for a while, he finally relaxed and let himself go back to the darkness. A comfortable one this time though, because he knew he had friends and family to stop him if he went too far. Now and forever.

A/n: This really just went to a place so different from where I'd planned it to go, but not 100% bad so it's okay. I also have many other prompts to catch up on so I can't dwell on it anyway. So, yeah, a bit of Dick whump made its way in here anyway but no regrets. While writing, I kind of felt like it became a bit disjointed but then again, it kind of works for the situation so yeah. And because we don't see the Bat's pov, and I feel the need to justify his actions because I'm a sucker for Good BatDad.

So, the reason he kept telling Dick to go is because he was trying to get Dick to safety, and the reason they were there in the first place was to stop something really bad from happening so he had to follow up or else, yk a lot more ppl would have died. And as long as Jason was alive and physically okay, he let himself use that time to get the leader of the gang whtvr, BUT also it was because he was waiting for Supey. He didn't want to accidentally crush or make the whole place collapse and kill Jason by going himself so he called for help and had to wait a bit so why not be productive in the meantime. If you're interested, at some point maybe I can do a second chapter where Bruce explains that to Jason and there's a bit of fluff but probably won't get around to it for a while :)

Anyway, stay safe and see ya soon.

- CrowofArcadiaOaks