Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 7

Bruce was surprised when Janet stormed into his office, trembling hands placing a photo before him. He looked at the image and blanched. It was Tim's grave… "Janet, you don't think,"

"No," she cut him off. "But Wayne Enterprises has some of the best surveillance technology available. I want my son's rest to be protected."

He knew that she at least suspected their identities but if she had fully worked it out, she'd never said. The Janet from before Tim's death, he never would have trusted with that knowledge, but this woman would do anything to protect her sons' memory. And he would protect Timothy the only way possible.

"I'll see to it myself. The grave isn't covered by any cameras?"

"They went out with the storm, which is around the time this happened. The staff say the grave was like this when they showed up. Why…why would someone…" she took a shaky breath.

"I hate to ask, but Jack?"

She shook her head. "He's not even in the country. He wouldn't pay to have this done, he'd do it in person and only if he was too drunk to think through the consequences."

"Have you reported it to the police?"

She nodded, looking angry. "Not that they'll do anything."

"I can have people look into it, though with the storm and lack of cameras, it won't be easy," he warned.

"Thank you, Bruce."

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Dick fought the urge to shift from foot to foot as they waited. Finally, after eight months, Jason was coming home! He'd missed his baby brother but from the sparse postcards, the trip had done him good. His panic attack when he'd put on the redesigned Robin suit had scared them all so when Bruce suggested going on a trip to train with those who had trained him…Dick hadn't wanted Jay to go. Babs had talked him into supporting it when Jason had wanted to go. She was standing beside him for support since they had to tell Jason about Tim's grave. At least it was fully repaired now, Bat grade surveillance in place just in case the perpetrators tried again.

And then he was staring in shock at his baby brother…what the hell had they been feeding him?! Sure, Jay was almost eighteen now but…so not fair! His baby brother should not be taller than him!

"Dick! Babs!" Jason was grinning at them and then yanking them both into a hug.

"Missed you Little Wing."

"Not so little anymore Dickie," Jason shot back.

"Come on, let's get you home. Alfred's been whipping up all your favourites."

"Sounds good," Jason's smile was brighter than Dick could remember seeing since before his near death. He looked healthy, his scars further faded. He hadn't just shot up in height, he'd put on muscle too. Not as big as Bruce, childhood malnutrition ensured that, but he still wasn't going to be a small man.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Jason knelt in front of Tim's grave, gently putting down some fresh flowers. "Hey Timmy," he whispered. "Sorry it's been so long; the trip went longer than planned. I…I'm so sorry, I should have been here, should have stopped them. But it's all fixed up now, better than new, and we're keeping an eye on you. Anyone messes with you again, they'll find the Bats on their doorstep, promise."

He settled onto his knees, eyes tracing the words on the marble stone. There was no evidence left of the damage. Who had done it? Why? Tim was just a kid.

"I miss you," he murmured. "It seems silly, we barely knew each other…I never even knew your real name. But you knew me. I wish…I wish you'd told me. I know why you didn't, I just wish it could have been different, that we really could have been friends."

He opened his backpack and pulled out a cupcake with a candle in it. "Happy sixteenth, Tim," he tried to sound cheerful as he let the candle.

"Those were his favourite, you remembered."

He looked up and nodded at Janet. She joined him, kneeling down and setting a bouquet next to his. She looked nothing like how anyone would expect, dressed down in jeans and a blouse, had Tim ever seen her like that? Tim's cupcake was placed on the grave, under the headstone, and Jason got out the food for all of them. And a few moments later they were joined by Selina, Harley, and Ivy. It still felt a bit weird to be around those women, especially Harley, but she had helped kill the Joker. They hadn't done any crimes since Tim's death; Ivy was even opening a greenhouse!

Towards the end, Dick appeared, ready to give him a ride home. Tonight was the night. He was ready, he was. He missed flying through the Gotham sky's.

"We'll all be out there," Selina purred, ruffling his hair, "cheering you on."

Jason nodded and left with Dick.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Bruce stood with Dick and Barbara, waiting for Jason to emerge from the changing rooms. Tonight was his debut and they were all excited for him. Though Bruce did wish Jason had chosen to hang up the cape for good, he didn't need to be a vigilante to be his son. But Gotham was safer now, sure there were still plenty of Rogues, but the most dangerous one was dead. Harley and Ivy were out of the game, for Tim's memory. Selina had even curbed her work, only stealing from those who truly deserved it and often repatriating stolen artifacts. Penguin spent more time running his club, but kept his hand in. Black Mask was becoming a bigger issue which would need dealing with. No one had truly stepped up to take the Joker's place…worried they'd go the same way? Word had spread of the manner of his death, the three women given a wide berth these days.

And then Jason emerged from the changing rooms, revealing Gotham's newest vigilante. His new gear was mostly black with a red bat across his chest and some glints of gold here and there. It was also nothing like their suits since that had been what triggered his panic attach. His red domino was outlined in gold and was larger than his old Robin one, with more jagged looking lines. He couldn't believe his youngest was now bigger than Dick, though thankfully still not a match for himself. He likely would be if not for his childhood. His new gear did not immediately bring to mind a vigilante, other than the domino. The heavy trousers and jacket were more military than anything. All of it was armoured, the best protection possible. And his eyes were drawn to the bat…and the symbol that wove around it…a golden dragon…wyvern technically due to having less legs. All of the family knew who that was for, Tim had been a Drake after all and that was another name for a dragon. Though, he supposed Jason could have gone for something tied more to ducks given male ducks were also drakes, but the dragon imagery suited him more.

"Ready Red Wyvern?" Dick asked, bouncing slightly on his toes.

"Ready," Jason grinned.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

News quickly spread through Gotham, not of a new Robin, but a new vigilante. One who seemed very different to the others, this one didn't make quips though used his fists like Batman and instead of a letter, he wore a red bat twined with a golden dragon. The people went crazy with theories about him, some swearing he was the second Robin while others claimed that was impossible, that after three years of no sightings, Robin was surely dead.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"He'd be proud of you, little dragon," Selina murmured, leaning back against the chimney.

"For what?" Jason glanced at her.

"Overcoming it all and getting back out here, better and badder than ever," she teased, happy when she saw the slightest hint of red to the little visible skin.

"How can I miss someone I barely knew so much?" he asked after a while.

"But you did know him. You played with him, he helped you with his photos, you saved him when he fell. Sometimes, you don't need time to know someone."

She still missed her Kitten and always would, opening the centre in his name didn't help the grief but it had felt good. Tim would have loved it, would have loved them working with his mother and Jason on it. He would be glad that Gotham was even a little safer now but she knew he would feel bad that they had killed to avenge him. She wished he was there to tell them he was upset they had done that…then again, Tim hadn't been like Bruce, he might actually be fine with them killing his killer.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Jason stared as three teens appeared in front of him. "You know the Bat doesn't like Meta's in the city, right?" he asked. He was pretty sure the girl was the new Wonder Girl. He'd missed a bit while off on his whirlwind training trip.

"Well, we didn't know how else to find you," the taller of the two males answered.

"And you all are?"

"We're Young Justice!" the smaller chirped. Speedster, definitely a Speedster from the way he couldn't stay still.

"That's Impulse, I'm Wonder Girl, and this is Superboy."

Right…some idiot had cloned Clark while Jason was comatose. Did Wally have a kid brother or something for Impulse? "Red Wyvern, but I'm guessing you knew that?"

"Yep!" Impulse chirped. "You'll join right? Sayyou'lljointheteamit'llbesomuchfun!"

"Um…" Jason blinked and looked to the other two.

"We wanted to ask you to join the team," Superboy explained at a more normal speed. "You're a bat, right? So, you can do the detective stuff, computers…"

Because while they all had superpowers, not every opponent was one you could just pound into the dirt. Join a team? He'd been working with the Titans, working towards being on their team, before… going back there was something he couldn't bring himself to do. Could he join another team? He was eighteen now, he didn't need B's permission, but he should still talk to him about it since it'd mean working outside of Gotham.

"Got a number I can reach one of you on? I'd have to talk it over with the others, make sure my patrol routes could be covered and stuff when working with you."

"Sure," Wonder Girl agreed. He pulled out his 'work' phone, inputting the number she rattled off.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

The thought of Jason away from Gotham was not one Bruce liked but he could see the look on Dick's face and knew it could…would become another fight between them if he denied permission. And he had encouraged Jason to meet the Titans back then…but that was before his son nearly died. And the Titans were older, well trained, Young Justice…wasn't. Jason would be the oldest and most experienced on that team, but as the newest member, would they listen to him when it mattered?

"You want to do this?" he asked.

"I want to give it a shot," Jason answered. "From the mission files I've read, they need someone with bat training to keep them focused. They won't accept Dick but they came looking for me."

"Alright," Bruce agreed.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Cassie watched as Kon trained with Red. None of them knew his civilian identity, but that had been the one rule Batman insisted on for him to join them. It was frustrating but he was really helping them a lot so it was still good that he had joined up. It must be nice to have a mentor who was there for you and everything. Barry had tried a bit with Bart before foisting him off on Max Mercury, it had to be weird to suddenly have his grandson from the future show up. The less said about what had happened between Kon and Clark when the man was revived the better. She was still tempted to see if she could do damage to the older super with her lasso, but at least he'd given Kon his name, finally.

"Better," Red offered as the two boys finished.

"Why do I need to do this?" Kon grumbled.

"Because there are things that can neutralise your powers and beings stronger than even Kryptonians. You can't always rely on your strength and speed," Red explained pretty patiently.

It was nice, he was more open than she'd heard Batman was, but not as energetic as Nightwing. They'd made the right choice in who to approach, then again, Nightwing already had his own team and they didn't want to be part of the Titans. They were their own team, thank you very much.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"Everything alright?" Kon asked from the doorway, watching the way Red was sitting. He'd been with the team for several months now and they still didn't know his name but…he was still their friend. He moved towards the vigilante and then his eyes widened as he took in bare skin. "Oh, um…" he slammed his eyes shut, hearing a watery laugh.

"S'okay. Screw B's rules." Had Red been crying?

Kon slowly opened his eyes, taking in blue eyes and a smattering of scars, some that a human wouldn't be able to see. "So…"

"Jason."

Jason…scars…Kon stared at him, no way…that wasn't possible… "Wayne?"

Jason laughed and nodded.

Well, that explained the second Robin vanishing for so long, Jason Todd-Wayne had nearly died a bit over three years ago. Kon sat down beside him. "Are you okay?"

"It's the anniversary," he murmured.

"Anniversary?"

"The day I nearly died, would have…if my only friend hadn't died in my place."

Kon winced. "I don't really know anything about what happened, I know the Daily Planet had an article on you almost dying in a kidnapping?"

"It was a cover, to hide my other id."

Kon listened to the horror story of betrayal by his own mother, the Joker beating him…and then his civilian friend showing up. "I'm sorry," he whispered when Jason was done, not sure what else to say.

"Tim would have loved it here. He was so smart; he worked out who Batman and Robin were back when Nightwing was in the suit. Used to follow us around at night. He was a brilliant photographer. He turned fourteen while chasing me around the world. I never even knew him, not really, but I still…"

"You miss him," Kon finished, and Jason nodded.

"Pretty sure his Mom's worked us all out, but she's cool. She's let me stayover a few times when Batman's gotten overbearing, we meet up at Timmy's grave for important days. Even opened The Tim Drake Memorial Centre together with her, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn. They saw Tim when we never did, took him in and taught him how to defend himself. Couldn't stop a bomb though."

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"Hey Little Wing, how's the team?" Dick asked as he flopped on the couch.

"Good. They hate Bat training though," Jason smirked, and Dick laughed.

"Oh yeah, the Titans hated me for that, but they've been thankful since when we've run into things that disable their powers."

"Well, we haven't yet, so they still hate it. But I can see the difference in how they fight already. Well, except Impulse, I have no clue what he's doing in fights since he's too fast."

"How's Superboy doing?"

"Good." Jason glanced at him, wary, and Dick knew why.

"I'm not on the 'clone bad' bandwagon Jay. He doesn't have a lot of support and he's justifiably angry, so is he doing okay?" he asked. He didn't agree with how Clark had reacted to Kon.

"Better. Been working with him on that and he has my number."

"You mean your comm."

"No, my number."

"Oh boy, B is not gonna like that," Dick warned, it'd been years before he was allowed to tell the Titans who he really was.

Jason just shrugged. "Don't care, he's my friend and he needs support."

That was something that had changed since the Joker, Jason wasn't as desperate for B's praise and acceptance as he had been. Then again, that case before he went looking for his mom apparently had something to do with it to… he was a lot more likely to do his own thing now. Sure, some of that was getting older but Dick wondered if some of it was because Bruce didn't make it in time. If not for Tim, Jason would have died in that warehouse and they all knew it. Did some part of Jason blame Bruce? He knew Jason blamed himself for going on, for trying to help his mom only for her to betray him.

"I won't tell," Dick promised.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Janet hung up the phone, unsure what to do. On one hand, there were no ties between them anymore so why should she do anything? But…if she did nothing then he would die. Foolish man. She hesitated, torn. Because of him, she'd had so little time with her son, why should she pay the ransom? But he had given her the one good thing in her life as well.

She picked up the phone. "Jason?" she smiled softly at his greeting. It had never been said, but she had put the clues together very quickly after that day at Tim's grave. She would not pay, if some hero stepped in, then that would be it.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Bruce attended the funeral, accompanying Janet, but neither of them grieved for the man who was being buried. His grave was as far from the Drake family and Tim as possible. Petty maybe, but he didn't blame her. Jason's team had been too late to save the man. Jack had already drunk the poison, but at least his killer had been caught and he hadn't died alone. Wonder Girl had held his hand while her teammates dealt with the Obeah man.

There was no one there who seemed to be genuinely morning the man, especially after the rather explosive divorce after Tim's death. But they still showed up because it was expected.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"You're retiring?" Dick was staring at her in shock.

Jason looked surprised but not as much as the others, even Bruce appeared to be completely unaware of her plans.

"I've done a lot of good as Batgirl, I know I have," she explained. "But I think it's time to move on to another role, one out of the field. Technology keeps advancing and while Lucius is a great help…he's not able to do everything that's needed. And while Alfred is excellent on comms, he still has other duties. I've already chosen a new name, Oracle. And a successor. Cluemaster's daughter, she's been spoiling his plans for a few years now. She's good and with access to Bat resources she could be a great Batgirl."

"You're sure?" Jason asked, and she nodded. "Oracle…our all-seeing eyes huh?" he smirked and she grinned, glad he understood.

Dick looked a bit disappointed; she'd been in the field almost as long as he had, he probably thought she'd always be there. But it didn't call to her the same way anymore. "How old is the new girl?" Dick asked.

"Seventeen, she's been at this since she was fifteen. You know those rumours about Spoiler? It was her." Then she'd reached out, offering help, and the rumours faded as Steph got better at staying out of sight. And hey, at least she'd stopped hitting people with bricks.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

She looked around the Cave in awe. Okay, this was very cool. And then she saw Nightwing and Red Wyvern but without their masks…that was Dick Grayson and Jason Wayne! So, Batman…Bruce Wayne?! No one would ever believe that.

She glanced at Babs who smiled at her. Right, she could do this. She wasn't Spoiler anymore, no, she was Batgirl now.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"Happy seventeenth Tim," Ivy murmured as she ran her hand over his stone, some roses following her movements. He had been dead now for longer than they had known him and yet it still felt right, to come to his grave every year and hold their little party in his memory.

Still, something or someone was stirring in Gotham's underworld and it worried her. They were mostly out but they still heard things. A new player could be very bad for the city.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Babs smiled as she took in her new domain. It was perfect. Everything was top of the line and ready to go. She even had a first case, brought to her by Ivy, via Jason. It was nothing more than whispers, but something had Gotham's underbelly jumping at shadows.

It was time for Oracle to get to work.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Jason grinned as Steph tackled him, throwing her off easily while keeping the plate out of reach. He'd been a little wry of Bab's protégé but she fit in very well. And as she pointed out, she had a mother and did not need adopting. And with Dick's help, he'd even been allowed to invite his team for the party since Bruce didn't approve of Meta's in Gotham…or anyone knowing their id's. He was shocked the man didn't realise that Kon knew.

His nineteenth birthday…four years since he'd almost been blown up.

Janet smiled at him, kissing his cheek, and then Harley lunged in to hug him. The three 'aunts' had only come because the party was in Jason's brand-new apartment, he'd finally moved out of the Manor. He still had his room there but it was time he acted like an adult. He'd be starting at Gotham U next semester even. He'd already had his family party at the Manor, this was the fun party.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Batman landed on the roof, nodding to the Commissioner.

"I don't know what to tell you Batman. Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, Black Mask, and Zsazs are all dead. Same M.O." Gordon held the file out and he took it. "Don't know if it's a new villain out to make a name for themselves or a vigilante without your rules."

"Cause of death?"

"Single stab wound to the back of the neck. Scarecrow and Zsazs were in Arkham but there's no footage or signs of a break in that we can find."

"We'll look into it Commissioner," he promised, vanishing into the shadows, smirking as he heard the man complaining about that move. But the smirk quickly faded as he checked through the files. Who could have done this?

TBC….

So, Tim's grave was 'vandalised' years after Jason's in My Robin or canon, almost three years later compared to the around 6 months.

Was originally just going to have Jason as Wyvern, but then decided he likes Red so made him Red Wyvern, the red dragon. Seen a lot of images of Red Hood where his gear looks more tactical than the bats, with the pants and armour. So, he's going for something similar, though minus the red helmet. The kind of suits the others wear is what caused his panic attack after all.