Disclaimer: not mine

Glad you all liked the beginning and Lex wanting to be a father. He gets to show those changes even more here! There is a time skip from the end of last chapter.

Chapter 1

Lex tensed as a thud sounded from the balcony. If it was that blue boy scout again… he kept blaming Lex for Conner's existence, demanding to know what plan he'd had and he'd been very thankful for the lead lining in the penthouse. He'd retreated inside and messaged Batman to collect his raving teammate. The world may be glad to have the true Superman back, but for him, it had been quieter when he was dead.

He was ready to call security but then he saw the hunched shadow and moved closer. His eyes widened and he rushed outside. "Conner?" he called, seeing the blood.

"Help him, please!" his son begged, and Lex realised he was holding a smaller form…dressed in red, green, black, and yellow…Robin.

"Let's get you both inside," he urged. Conner looked far too pale himself, a familiar sickly green tinge to his skin. Kryptonite exposure. "Can you tell me what happened?" he asked as he moved some throw pillows on the couch so that the vigilante could be laid down. That was a lot of blood.

"He…he got into the Tower," Conner whispered. "Just walked through all the security, used some kind of gas to flood the rooms…all of them except where T, Robin was."

Lex ignored the near slip up, once he would have jumped on the chance to learn a secret identity but this was the boy who had led Conner to him, had helped his son adjust to life, and he was just that, a child.

"He went after Robin, wouldn't stop. When I got out there, Robin was down, bis bō shattered. But he didn't stop. He kept calling Robin, Replacement, he was so cruel…" Conner's breathing was shaky and he hoped that was only due to shock.

Lex felt sick as he checked over the injuries he could see. "He needs a medical team, surgery. Will you let my team handle it, while keeping him masked, or do you want to call the Justice League?"

Conner hesitated, staring at Robin. "They're good?"

"The best, but the Justice League may have tech I don't have access to," he warned. He had no doubt they had access to alien technology.

"Batman sent him away, kept secrets and there was something a few months ago…it really messed Robin up," Conner admitted, reaching out to gently brush Robin's hair off his face. "Call your team."

Lex nodded and made the call. Within minutes, a transport crew was in the apartment, moving Robin onto a gurney. Lex grabbed Conner's arm before he could follow them. "How badly were you exposed to Kryptonite?"

"He tried to keep me from grabbing Robin."

"Do you know who your attacker was?"

"The new Gotham Rogue, Red Hood."

"Alright, I'll alert security in case you were tracked, Robin will be under guard the whole time, even in surgery," he promised.

He had seen Conner's fascination with Robin from the beginning, he had chosen his name because it had been one of the few suggested by both of them. They followed the medical team to the basement where there was a full hospital suite set up for his own needs since he preferred full privacy. Given some of his old associates, a hospital would never be secure enough.

"Do you know of any health issues?" one of the doctors asked, and Conner frowned.

"He's an insomniac? He lost a lot of weight recently from stress and not eating but he's got most of it back…oh! He was exposed to that disease that was released in Gotham, nearly died."

"The Clench?" she asked in alarm, and Conner nodded.

Lex was impressed, that disease had had a very high fatality rate. How did Batman do it, send a child out into the city knowing a plague like that was spreading? If he had Julian with him, if Conner was human enough to be susceptible…he didn't think he could have done it. Unless Robin had snuck out?

"Is there any security in his suit? We can leave the mask but the suit needs to come off, it's contaminated and in the way."

"I can get it off," Conner answered, and she nodded, taking him into the surgical suite.

Lex watched from the window as Conner carefully removed the Robin suit, revealing the form fitting shorts and tank top underneath. He left the room and kept hold of the suit, joining Lex in watching. His colour had improved so the exposure was healing, thankfully.

"What of your other teammates?"

"Everyone else went home for the weekend, don't think Hood knew that since he gassed the place."

They fell silent, watching the surgeons work on Robin.

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Bruce desperately searched the Tower, Dick doing the same, but in the end, there was no sign of Tim anywhere. There were signs of a fight – bullet holes in the walls, blood smears… Tim's broken bō. The blood was Tim's or at least it matched his type. The place was empty, silent.

"I just got through to Wonder Girl, Superboy should have been here. Robin and he were the only ones staying," Dick called over comms. "I've sent the security data to Oracle to see if she can get anything from it."

Bruce stared at Tim's bed and the single bullet left behind on it, a message. Red Hood had come for his youngest son. Had he taken him? Or had Superboy gotten them both out? He knew Tim was close to Conner but the boy had ties to Luthor and he wasn't sure of those. Yes, Luthor had given them the information on Conner in order to free him from Cadmus but that didn't mean the man had no plans concerning his 'son'. But Bruce didn't believe that Conner would put Tim in danger, the two had become very close. Exactly how close was not something he had asked, there were some things even he didn't need to know. Just like he had never looked into Dick's time with his girlfriends. Not that he even had any proof that Tim and Conner were dating, they might just be best friends.

He hadn't seen Tim for almost a month, he was meant to be safe here in Titans tower. He had sent him away to keep him safe, he had never thought Hood would come after him here. The Tower had the best security possible. He spotted Tim's laptop, discarded as if he had been using it when alerted to Hood's presence. He picked it up and found the security data…old codes had been used to access the Tower…Robin's codes…Jason's codes.

He'd suspected but hadn't wanted to believe it. His son would never do what Hood had and yet…every piece of evidence kept adding up to it being Jason. How? He had buried his son years ago. His moves, the way he fought now, there were signs of the League of Assassins but even the Pits couldn't have brought Jason back after so long dead.

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Danny lay on his bed, he ached. The two points were the Plasmius Maximus had hit his skin burned still, even with his powers back to normal. The point of contact always took the longest to heal, even with his healing rate.

"Danny?"

He looked up at Jazz, seeing her worry.

She entered his room and sat on the edge of his bed. "This can't go on," she whispered, lifting his shirt to check his wounds.

"Mom and Dad won't listen, not really."

Mom had a bit, even she had realised Vlad was a bit creepy. But Dad? He thought that him and 'Vladdie' were still the best of friends. And Danny was still forced to spend time with the man. He was a monster but anytime someone got close to the truth, they were Overshadowed and discredited or vanished. He was getting worse with time, not better.

He'd considered asking the Justice League, but an Overshadowed Wonder Woman or worse, now that Superman was back? He didn't know if he could beat them, not without really hurting them. He'd seen what he could do, had seen the grave markers in that dark future. The Justice League had been all but wiped out. Aquaman and his people had survived, Green Arrow, one or two of the Bats but not Batman.

But who else could help? Especially with the US government involved. The GIW hadn't been a threat at all, more of a joke, when they'd started but lately…someone had seriously worked on their training.

Between the GIW and Vlad, he was being worn too thin and the whole team knew it. At least Val was on their side now, part of team Phantom. Not that anyone else knew since they kept up the antagonism in public. It was safer that way, she was their spy against the GIW.

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Jazz had watched the last few years as Danny got more and more tired. He was being pulled in too many directions, attacked from all sides… it wasn't right. She'd stopped telling him to tell their parents the truth last year after…well, if she could afford to house the two of them, she would. But even with scholarships and a part-time job there was no way she could afford an apartment off campus. She'd gotten into Princeton which meant during term, she was far too far away to be of any help when it was needed, but Danny had insisted that she go, that she couldn't waste the opportunity. Her brother was way too selfless.

Maybe…she went to where she'd long ago stored all their most important documents, digging through them for the adoption paperwork. There was nothing indicating who his birth family was, not even a last name. He'd had a first name, Julian, but that wasn't a lot to go on. Would it be enough for Tucker? Hopefully. There was no guarantee that his birth family was alive or would be good people, but they were running out of options. She needed her brother to be safe, and he wasn't with the Fenton's, not anymore.

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Conner kept his senses locked on the surgical suite. He didn't look away even when they were operating. Tim was draped so he couldn't see much and the suite was lead lined so he couldn't look through anything for a clearer view. Even his hearing was muffled but he could still make out the familiar heartbeat, slower than normal, but mostly steady now that a bag of blood had been transfused.

As the surgeons seemed to move to cleaning him up, one left and moved to the door. They opened it and stepped out to face him and Lex. "He's stable," was the first thing she said. "He's in for a prolonged recovery though."

"How bad was it?"

"Gunshot wound to the right shoulder, we removed the bullet and it didn't hit the bone thankfully."

Thankfully…right, if it had hit the bone then it could have broken it. Flesh wounds healed quicker.

"The wrist on that had is broken as well, as is his left tibia. The patella was dislocated and the bone is badly bruised but he escaped a break there. His ribs on the left are all badly bruised, three are cracked and one broken which had to be stabilised. He's had a blood transfusion and respiration is almost back to normal now that the pressure if off his ribs. We're keeping him sedated for now due to the pain he'll be in once awake."

"But he'll be alright?" Conner pressed for assurance.

"I'd suggest he take a good, long break from vigilante work, at least the field side of things. Bones take time to heal and he will lose muscle until he can get back to full mobility. He'll need physiotherapy as well; we'll forward the surgical reports to whoever he chooses to see unless he remains here."

And then the League comm he'd been given began to beep. He looked at it and winced. "Nightwing."

"Is he involved in Robin's issues with Batman?" Lex asked.

"I don't think so. Robin really looks up to him."

"If any kind of alarm went off, he may be trying to reach Robin."

"Right." He took a deep breath and lifted it. "Superboy."

"Is Robin with you? We're in the Tower and…"

"I got him out," he assured Nightwing. "He's just out of surgery; they left his mask on. It's…he's going to be out of the field for months at least."

"Where are you? Do you know who attacked?" Nightwing demanded, fear clear in his voice.

Conner glanced at Lex and then answered. "It was Red Hood, Robin identified him before he passed out. Metropolis, LexCorp. There's a private surgical suite here. I can hand you over to one of the surgeons who saved Robin. They said he's stable now."

"Please."

Conner handed the comm over to the surgeon.

"I'll warn security that we'll soon have a Bat infestation and to lead them down here."

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Dick put the comm away, leaning heavily against the wall. And then Bruce stormed back into the main living area. "Tim's stable and just out of surgery," he announced before he could say anything.

"Where?"

"Metropolis LexCorp, Conner wasn't sure where to go. It's bad B, but he's stable. Apparently… things aren't good between you and Tim? So he wasn't sure about contacting the JL, especially since Hood managed to get passed the Tower's security. What the hell Bruce?" he snapped at the end.

He'd left for two back-to-back missions; he hadn't wanted to but they'd been important. Tim had insisted that it was fine even with him missing his birthday. But apparently, Bruce had screwed up, again. At least Tim was alive, unlike Jason.

"I sent him here to keep him safe from Hood. He made obvious threats against Robin; he's been staying here a month. Conner lives in the Tower too so he wasn't alone."

Dick glared, that would upset Tim sure, but not to this level. He stalked out to the nearest balcony. "Superman!" He yelled.

A few moments later, Clark was landing. "What is it?"

"I need a lift to Metropolis, the LexCorp building. Tim and Conner are there, Lex's medical team just saved Tim's life."

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Clark was shocked, quickly scanning the Tower, seeing the signs of a fight…and Bruce. "Bruce?"

"Not coming," Dick growled, obviously angry.

Clark picked him up and then lifted off. "How bad?"

"Surgeon said he's stable but…they had to give a blood transfusion and he'll be out of the field for some time. The bastard was torturing him Uncle Clark, he gassed the Tower to ensure he had Tim to himself…exposed Conner to Kryptonite but he's okay now. If Conner hadn't managed to throw off the gas, Tim…"

"But he did," Clark assured him. Conner had fought past some kind of gas and Kryptonite to save Tim. Had taken him to help, even if it was Luthor. "Is his identity compromised?"

"Conner said Tim's mask has been left on."

They fell silent then since the wind made it hard for Dick to hear him. They landed on the penthouse balcony a few minutes later. A security guard stepped outside and nodded to Dick.

"You've got permission sir." His gaze moved to Clark.

"Call if you need help or a lift." He didn't like the idea of leaving them there, but Dick could handle himself.

He went home to hug his son. Tim had been tortured…he couldn't help but see Jon in his place.

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Tucker leant back in his chair, stretching his back. Jazz hadn't exactly given him a lot to go on. He'd known that Danny was adopted, he'd told him after he found out when they were nine. But records hadn't been as computerised back then and whoever his birth family was had obviously done their best to ensure no traceable links. But why? To protect Danny? Themselves? Was he that unwanted by them?

But family outside of Amity Park would do Danny good. The town was tearing him apart. Sam wasn't helping with her pushing him to be a hero. It hadn't been too bad at the start but she'd become a little obsessed…like the Fenton's had become even more obsessed with Ghosts… it was happening all over town and Tucker figured it was the higher levels of ectoplasm in the air. If the Fenton's would just lock the portal when not using it… but they refused to listen to any opinion but their own.

Everything was getting worse, they were graduating in just under two years and every one of them planned to get the hell out of Amity Park, if they could all see what was going on, why couldn't the majority of adults?

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He felt…floaty, weird…but then slowly, pain begin to creep in. He didn't want it.

"Shh, it's okay Robin, you're safe now."

Voice…he knew that voice… slowly he became aware of a hand holding his, twitching his fingers.

"Yeah, I've got you baby bird. Don't try to move."

Baby bird…Dick. After a few tries he managed to open his eyes, whining at the bright light.

"Hey," Dick murmured. He looked tired, drawn…why was he wearing his mask? "Bout time you woke up, I told them they should put coffee in the IV," he teased.

"W…wha…" a straw was pressed to his lips.

"You were attacked, do you remember?"

Attacked…gas…pain…guns…red helmet…Red Hood!

"Easy kiddo, it's over, you're safe. He'll never look for you here. Conner brought you to LexCorp. Luthor has this whole floor locked down to keep you safe. Even had his personal surgical team see to your treatment. It…it was bad, we nearly lost you."

Tim managed to squeeze his hand and Dick smiled.

"You've got a lot of healing ahead of you, but they should you should be fine at the end of therapy. You'll be in a wheelchair for a while because of the gunshot to the shoulder and your leg."

A wheelchair…fun. But not yet, he was so tired. Why had Hood…Replacement…he heard the machine beeping fasted even as he weakly tried to pull Dick closer.

"Easy, calm down, it's okay."

He tugged again, and Dick finally realised leaning closer.

"What is it?"

"J…Ja…son…" he slumped back, eyes closing.

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Dick stared at Tim in shock and confusion. Jason? He couldn't mean…was Hood somehow connected to Jason? Someone he'd known growing up in the Alley? What the hell had he missed while away?

"Conner, I need to check in with Batman." He told the young man who nodded.

"I'll stay," he promised.

Dick headed for the nearest Zeta. Bruce better have answers.

TBC….