Jason jogged through the maze that was the Watch Towers hallways, trying to be mindful and careful of the injured and concussed brother in his arms.

" You smll 'ike smoke." Tim accused dazedly, " Alfred said- Alfred said no smokn' in th' manor." His suit was just a dirty and torn as Jason's own, but with far more blood.

"I didn't smoke today. It's from the explosion you idiot." Jason argued pointlessly, trying let his irritation cover up his concern.

"mkay" Tim said, closing his eyes.

"Nope stay awake, dumbass." Jason said, gently jostling his brother as he started to drift off.

" y'r a jerk" Tim slurred, grumpily."...'nd you smll Ike smoke". He rubbed at his eyes, smearing blood over his face as he did so.

Jason sighed and rolled his eyes.

Aliens had attacked earth (again, big surprise), but this time it was a coordinated attack. They hit large scale cities all of the globe simultaneously instead of focusing on any one singular city (a little more surprising). This left the Justice leagues resources stretched thin. As it became increasingly difficult to find a stable home base down below, the Justice League had turned to the Watch Tower for the center of all leadership coordinating, medical aid, off-duty rest, and evacuations.

Tasks were divided up and hero's split into groups for defensive and offensive measures against the enemy.

Red Hood, Nightwing, Red Robin, and Robin had been assigned to work on a squad with some mid grade heros' down south providing cover and assisting in the evacuation of civilians while the big guns of the justice league played offense.

It had all been going smoothly, a little sibling banter, some bad guy butt kicking, the usual, until some unexpected enemy fire hit the building Red Hood and Red Robin were clearing out and now...

Now Jason was jogging through the Watch Tower hallways carrying his semi-conscious and bloody brother in his arms. It wasn't life or death serious, but was more than they could handle down on the ground so Dick had sent them both up.

"Almost there Timbers," Jason reassured quietly.

At the lack of response Jason grit his teeth and jogged a bit faster.

When he reached the med bay door everything moved in a blur. Medical workers there quickly wisked Tim from his arms and hooking him up the various things, nurses asked him the necessary questions, and Jason gave them the required response, he tried to follow and...

He was blocked.

"I'm sorry sir, but we can't have anyone in the med bay except patients and medical staff. There is very limited room and we have to make the most out of it. Wait out here and we will update you once we have news" and with that she quickly retreated back through the med bay doors.

Jason leaned back against the wall opposite the door, increasingly impatient as the minutes ticked by. Being still for the first time in hours, it was getting harder to distract himself from his injuries, both new and old. He shifted, unsuccessfully trying to find a more comfortable position for his bad knee and in result flared up the pain in his bad hip. Fucking Fantastic.

The bad hip was a gift from the Joker and the knee a souvenir from his days in the league. Easy to ignore most of the time, but they caused issues when pushed too hard, such as a week long alien invasion.

The fractured arm and bruised ribs though? Ya that was new. Carrying someone with said fractured arm? Not an experience he wants to repeat. No thank you.

In an attempt to distract himself, he came up with several plans to infiltrate and break into the med bay and demand answers, but each was ultimately dismissed for various reasons. It would cause too much noise; he didn't have enough smoke bombs; he left his flame thrower down on earth. Perfectly logical reasons. After a very long 20 minute wait, and Jason about ready to just smash through the wall, the same nurse finally reemerged from the med bay doors.

Tim was going to be fine. He had a minor concussion on top of a puncture wound from some rebar, but it hadn't passed through any important structures. He's be up and around in a few days. Probably less knowing Tim.

Jason felt his whole body relax hearing the news. His brother would be fine. He pushed himself off the wall, intending to go send Dick an update, but immediately stumbled under a wave of dizziness. With his brother safe and sound, his body had chosen now to betray him apparently.

"Sir, are you wounded as well?" The nurse asked, now standing right next to him. "Cheryl! I need another med kit over-"

"NO!" Jason shouted blinking the black spots of exhaustion from his vision, and quickly softening his tone, "no, I'm fine...nothing serious, just tired". Jason finished lamely well aware of the unconvinced eyes of the nurse boring into him.

Jason was in fact injured. Was it serious? Probably, but not enough to warrant serious concern according to the "Jason Todd's pain scale". Which went all the way from hang nail to death.

However, the real issue was if he got admitted to the med bay, he would get put on a 12 hour mandatory rest period before being allowed to return back to the field.

Jason couldn't wait that long. Jason had 5 hours to rest and refuel and then he needed to go back down to relieve Dick for some much needed rest. His brother was exhausted, and with Tim down for the count that means Jason needed to take charge for the next rotation. If Jason got held in med bay for some 'insignificant' injury his idiot, already exhausted, self sacrificing brother would pull a double rotation and probably end up getting himself hurt.

So no. Med bay was not an option.

"Honey are you sure you're ok?" The nurse asks again, startling Jason back to reality. He hadn't even realized he had zoned out. He was extremely grateful for his helmet as he felt his face heat up with embarrassment.

"Ya, I'm fine, just tired. It was a rough rotation" Jason quickly reassured.

"Ok then...Go get some rest, we will update you if there are any changes in your teammates condition.", The nurse said, still looking unconvinced. She turned to go back in but paused and added, "don't hesitate to come back if you change your mind."

"Will do." Jason lied, waving over his shoulder as he rounded the corner with the intent of updating Dick, finding food, a shower, and sleep in that order.

It wasn't until he reached the bustling cafeteria that he realized it wasn't going to go to plan. As he walked through the doorway the previously loud room suddenly went quiet and hushed conversations broke out among the hero's there, eyes glancing to him periodically.

Jason felt an uneasy feeling settle in his gut as some of the words floated to his ears.

Dangerous

Criminal

Psychotic

The tension felt similar to that of a gang war right before the fighting broke out.

Jason left without grabbing so much as a bottle of water.

He got those same mistrustful looks every where he went. The worst part was they were justified.

Jason reputation as a crime lord preceded him. Tales of some of his bloodier days and his battles with Batman himself were well known among the leaguers. Even his title in the league data base was that of a crime lord with a confirmed kill count. The general consensus was he was psychotic , murdering crime boss, with a lust for blood and power.

The big guns of the justice league, Superman, Wonder Women, Green Arrow, Flash, etc. knew the truth about Jason. Knew how Jason used his status as a crime lord and confirmed kill count to infiltrate and dismantle especially dangerous criminals rings from the inside while monitoring and manipulating the less volatile ones.

The general masses though didn't have this info. They only knew what they had been purposely led to believe. Red Hood was a threat. A dangerous and volatile one and that. Maybe one that needed to be neutralized?

Bruce and Jason had spoken at length on several occasions about this. Bruce wanted to change his status and bring Jason fully into the league as one of the bats. One of the good guys. However, after a lengthy discussion he had come to grudgingly agree with Jason that his status and reputation as a crime lord was crucial for both Red Hoods operations and as well as Batman's. Which was fine. Usually fine... except in situations like this.

Jason felt safer down on earth with bombs dropping than he did up here.

All the other times he had been up to the Watch Tower had been with his family or his team. So even if he got looks, it was no big deal he had people to watch his back. But now... it was just him and the masses. This on top of already being exhausted and injured, he felt very vulnerable.

Jason kept up a strong front as he went, refusing to show an ounce a weakness. 6'2 , broad shoulders, and well muscled he knew he posed an intimidating image.

However, on the inside he felt increasingly desperate and anxious. He paced through the halls trying to find an empty room he could lay low in and grab a few hours of sleep. Forget food and a shower. Kitchen, nope. Sleeping quarters, nope. Bathrooms, nope. Rec area, double nope. Everywhere was filled with off duty hero's. Everywhere was filled with those calculating and mistrusting eyes.

Realistically he knew they probably wouldn't do anything, but with the alien invasion everyone was scared and on edge. He was just another thing to be scared off and when people were scared sometimes 'accidents' happened. His anxiety continued fueling those flames, using the other hero's whispers and glares as fuel.

He was all alone.

He was trapped in space.

No where was safe.

The further from the center of the Watch Tower he roamed, the louder the noises of the ongoing space battle became. All three Green Lanterns were shielding the Watch Tower. Nothing was going to get through except the noise, but that did little to help his nerves.

Jason leaned on a corner, breathing heavily. Heart thrumming with anxiety. His bad knee and hip were pretty close to giving out on him, his ribs were protesting at each breath, and his arm screamed at each jostle. He was so fricken tired. His body wasn't going to hold up much longer.

Jason felt the second wave of relief that day as he recognized the door just down the hall.

The old Tec room, from his Robin days. It had been converted into a storage room after they upgraded to a large room closer to the Zeta tubes. More importantly, it was empty of people. Yet, still close enough the med bay that Jason could still get there quickly if there were an emergency with Tim.

Absolutely drained, Jason limped into the room and all but collapsed in the dark corner. He leaned back against the wall, bad arm pressed against his abdomen and good arm shakily clutching the handle of his gun. He wanted nothing more than to lay down, but even here that felt too vulnerable. So sitting up it was. His breath hitched as he slowly straightened his bad knee to rest straight on the floor. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing trying to ease the anxiety tightening around his chest. He was fine. No one would look for him here. Nothing was getting through the shield. He just needed to sleep for a few hours and then he would back on earth with his brothers. He was fine. He was safe.

The tower shuddered under the barrage of space debris.

If only his brain believed him.