He was almost there. So close. He could still hear the frantic voice of his little brother echoing in his head. The transmission had come through about 20 minutes ago, and he still wasn't there yet.

Something was wrong. Very wrong. It was one thing for Tim to be requesting backup from any other Bat family Member (the third boy wonder was too proud to ever do something like that unless it was absolutely necessary), But to hear the usually calm and collected teen screaming for ALL of them to come to his location immediately made Dick's blood run cold.

The worst part was how the line was cut off before Dick could ask him any questions, so not only was his little brother in need of him, but Dick had no idea what was happening. But it didn't matter right now. All he was focused on was getting to the coordinates of Red Robin's tracker.

Dick was infamously fast on his N-Cycle, but driving from Bludhaven to Gotham would still take some time. Bruce and Damian should definitely be with Tim by now, they were most likely out and patrolling before the transmission came through.

There was a reason Dick was so affected currently. A Robin in danger has always been dangerous territory for him. He would be lying if he said he was completely over what happened to Jason...because a small part of him wasn't. It was quite traumatizing to see your adoring little brother come back from the dead as a jacked psychopathic killer. Even though they are on better terms now, he still couldn't forget any of it. And he'll be damned if he lets anything like that happen again. Not while he was still breathing.

The blue crested man looked down at his GPS again. Ten more minutes... Hang in there baby bird.

…

After finally arriving at the scene, Dick was greeted by a three story building - that was set on fire. Before he could contemplate what to do, a familiar voice called out to him.

"Nightwing!" Damian was running towards him. The youngest Robin was covered on ash and his suit was ripped in multiple places. "No time to explain. Batman and I are handling this" Damian declared while gesturing the blazing construct. "You go help Red Robin. He was last seen on top of the Vanaver tower"

Dick took off without any further queries, he knew Damian and Bruce could handle a fire - but that meant that Tim was still alone.

The tower was just around the block. Once he reached it, the first boy wonder used his parkour and acrobatics to his full advantage to get himself to the top.

The first thing he sees is Tim, engorged in a battle with someone else. Something was off, Tim wasn't touching his adversary at all, just using his staff to keep it back.

Dick grabbed his escrima sticks and lunged towards the two, kicking the man hard in the chest and pinning him to the ground with his foot. There he was met with one of the most disturbing sights he had ever seen, and that was definitely saying something for Dick Grayson.

The thing he had mistaken for a man was certainly not human, at least not anymore. Its face was sullen and lifeless and its skin reeked of rotten flesh. What caught Dick's attention was it's eyes - yellow, empty and unseeing. Whatever this thing was, it didn't seem to have any real life to it. It was a soulless killing machine.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Tim screaming at him, saying something about not letting it touch him. The creature growled and snapped its teeth in a feral and animalistic manor, trying to bite at Dick's ankle.

Dick immediately jumped off and landed a few feet away before the teeth could latch on to him. The creature was quick to follow, and launched itself at Dick. The acrobat flipped back and landed very close to the edge of the tower. He activated the taser in his escrima sticks and was about to charge forwards, before someone landed in front of him.

Dick witnessed the creature pounce on this person and knock them to the ground, clawing at them.

Dick didn't even see who it was because everything just went so fast.

A loud gunshot followed and the half the creature's head was blown off, spraying blood and brain matter everywhere - just narrowly missing Dick. The corpse fell completely motionless and slumped down on the body beneath it.

Before he could fully come to terms with the fact he wanted to throw up, Dick kicked the beast off to the side and gasped when he recognized who just jumped in front of him.

"HOOD?!"

Jason was lying on his back, red helmet covered in blood and … other stuff. His chest was rising and falling rapidly and he seemed to be panicked. Could he not breathe? Dick quickly reached under his neck and removed the disgustingly dirtied helmet and threw it away. He always hated that stupid thing anyway. Jason wasn't wearing a red domino like he usually did under his helmet, which allowed Dick to see the frantic and almost incomprehensive gaze he was giving the sky above him. His teeth were gritted and his breathing was becoming more and more erratic. Something was wrong. Very wrong. "Little Wing? What's wrong?"

"Nightwing! Get away from him!"

Dick startled and realized it was Tim was screaming at him again. Was this going to be a regular thing now?

Dick turned and saw Bruce and Damian had arrived at the scene, both covered in a heavy coat of ash and soot. The caped Crusader's white lenses widened comically after seeing Jason, still panting and writhing on his back. Dick looked down and felt his stomach drop. There was a torn and bloody bite mark on Jason's chest just above his red bat symbol. That thing had bitten him.

"Grayson! Get away from him NOW!" Damian demanded. Dick looked up and gave the rest of the bats a confused expression. Jason was hurt. He needed their help. Why were they keeping away and telling him to do the same?

Dick reflectively jumped back in their direction when Jason gave an unexpected animalistic growl. A growl that sounded just like - Oh no. whatever that thing was, it must have infected him.

No...Not again. He can't loose Jason AGAIN. They just got him back!

Dick started to slowly walk backwards, edging nearer to his mentor and brothers. Bruce grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him and the other two to stand behind him, posing as a barrier between them and Jason. What were they going to do? Run?

Bruce pressed his hand to his ear and sent out a transmission. "Alert. This is a code black. Flash, I repeat this is a code black. Red Hood has been compromised. Need back up now!"

Jason was on his hands and knees now, forcing himself to stand. When he was fully upright, he focused his attention on the other three and gave another feral growl as he started to come towards them.

Dick made a face. What the fuck was a code black? And what in the hell was the Barry going to do i-

There was a gust of wind and a familiar crackle of blue electricity. It was so strong, Dick nearly lost his balance. The acrobat felt a pang of nostalgia as he recognized the entrance. This wasn't Barry - it was another speedster. Someone Dick was very familiar with.

He side-glanced his brothers to make sure neither of them had lost their balance and toppled off the edge of the building. They were fine, both wearing the same expression. Widened mask lenses and parted lips, staring at where Jason was.

Dick nearly choked on air when he saw what they were looking at.

Wally ... Dick's best friend … was in a lip-lock with Dick's younger brother.

What...what the fuck?

Dick was sure he was wearing the exact same expression the other two robins were wearing now. But he was too confused to care.

The side view of them just a few feet away was enough to let them all see exactly what the speedster was doing. Wally was holding Jason's wrist with one hand and cupping the back of his neck with the other hand to keep him in place. Not that he needed to.

Jason was frozen, simply allowing the shorter male to kiss him. The speedster in question started to loosen his grip on Jason's wrist, and slowly pulled back from the kiss with a wet noise. Noses practically touching, they stared at each other for a moment.

Jason was panting slightly, and all traces of the feral animal he was turning into had vanished. Instead he was looking at Wally with a vulnerable expression, as if he was enticed by him. It was alarmingly uncharacteristic. Red Hood hated it when people got too close or touchy with him, so...why wasn't he pushing Wally away?

The acrobat felt his throat tighten at this. He had never seen Jason look at someone like that, and for some reason... it was strange that it was his favorite speedster receiving it.

Wally on the other hand wasn't out of breath in the slightest, and his gaze didn't have anything intimate in it like Jason's did. He was staring at the second Robin with a hard and determined expression, as if he was evaluating him. Another uncharacteristic gesture - Wally was a Flash! They were never stern and serious.

After another moment, Wally's piercing gaze softened and he moved back, letting go of Jason as he did. He looked over to Bruce and gave a small single nod.

Bruce walked straight to Jason, where he examined his son's face. Then he pulled Jason into a tight embrace - much to everyone's surprise. Once he let go, the Dark Knight turned to Wally again and gave an uncertain nod, apparently not knowing what to say.

Jason still had that confused and almost longing look on his face, eyes still on Wally.

"Jason!" Tim ran up and hugged him. Dick too snapped out of whatever trance he was in and went to see if Jason was alright. He'll ask questions later. "You okay little wing?" he asked quietly.

Jason still seemed out of it. He seemed reluctant to let his gaze tear away from the red and silver speedster a few feet away from him, but his eyelids looked like they were getting heavy.

"We need to go back to the Cave. I need to run some tests" Bruce informed Jason.

They were all bracing for a fight. Jason hated going to the manor, unless it was to see Alfred. The second Robin usually didn't want anything to do with his family unless it was to help them out on in the field every now and then.

But Jason didn't say anything. He just gave a small nod and looked down at his feet. He seemed as confused as Dick was.

"Dick. You should come too. Alfred is making that pesto chicken and rice that you love" Tim chirped happily. Ah, classic Tim Drake - always trying to initiate "family time".

Dick smiled. It has been a while since they had a nice family dinner, and tonight Jason will be there!

Wally made his presence known once again with an awkward cough. He had a strange expression, as if he was somewhere he didn't belong and was intruding on something private.

"Well. Everything's all good here now. I'll just .. uh.. Get going then"

Bruce placed a hand on his shoulder and gave a small but genuine smile.

"You should come too"