Chapter Text
Jason Peter Todd Wayne. Alpha.
Bruce's first son. Not the oldest, but the first.
The star student. He had been able to skip two grades when Bruce took him in and was still getting straight A's. He was on track to graduate early, already having acceptance letters to two universities by his junior year.
The cautionary tale. Whispers of a violent boy who leaped without a plan; who suffered for it.
The Good Robin. The Dead Robin.
Tim's Robin.
As a child, Tim had only seen Jason at night during school breaks, when he was leaping across rooftops as a colorful shadow to the Bat. They were four years and five grades apart, and they went to different schools. When he wasn't at the boarding schools his parents sent him to, he moved between his parents' city apartments and brownstones, depending on where the Vigilantes were patrolling. It was easy to follow them, take pictures of them, and be with them, even if they didn't know he existed.
Jason had been his Robin, the one he'd remembered growing up with. Dick might have been the Robin of his early childhood, but he hadn't paid much attention to the vigilantes of Gotham until he was nine, and had learned their identities. By then, Dick was living in New York with the Titans. He shed the Robin title, became Nightwing, and was rarely in Gotham. Tim had spent the first year after realizing who they were watching Bruce, alone, take care of the city. Then he took in Jason, and Robin flew over the rooftops again.
When Jason died, Tim was upset the same way anyone was at hearing a celebrity had died too young. He mourned and moved on with his life, continuing to watch Batman and his associates.
Then he noticed Batman was getting violent. Too violent. The Alpha was taking too many hits, ones he should have been able to avoid. Tim had seen him avoid hits like that before. Something had to be done. He took his photos and evidence and tracked down Bruce's Beta son, Dick Grayson. He tried to get him to return to Gotham, rejoin the Colony, and be Bruce's partner again. To take the Robin mantle back.
Dick refused. Tim finds Alfred's number; the butler was spending time with his daughter in England. Tim hadn't realized Alfred had a daughter. Neither did Dick. The butler and the Beta son return to help Tim keep Bruce from killing himself in his grief. Dick patrols as Nightwing and shouts at Tim when he tries to tell him that Batman needs a Robin.
He ends up in the suit instead. He switched to a public school, lived in the downtown brownstone his parents owned, and started training. He'd walk over to the Wayne Tower, where they stayed in the penthouse, having closed up the Manor after Jason's death. Bruce and Dick avoided discussing Jason, but Alfred spoke of him often. Tim imagined the teen was simply away for school, and he would come back any day to join them for tea and to help Tim with his English homework. The suit in the cave under the tower was a constant reminder otherwise.
He'd stare at the suit sometimes, tracing the stitches that sewed it back together with his eyes or the plaque Bruce had inscribed with his finger.
Jason "Jace" Wayne
Beloved son, taken too soon.
He sometimes wondered what Jason was like; his hobbies, favorite colors, favorite books, or favorite foods. Then Dick or Bruce would call him over to spar, and he'd forget to think about him again until he tried to sleep.
Things progressed.
Barbara was healed enough to sit in a wheelchair without too much pain. She rejoins the Colony as Oracle.
Dick suddenly quit the Titans and moved to Bludhaven, which caused another fight between him and Bruce. It's the first time Tim sees one of them physically attack the other, and he's even more shocked that it's Dick that throws the first punch. He waits until after he's helped Bruce with a bloody nose and a fractured jaw, and Alfred fixes Dick's dislocated shoulder and puts his arm in a sling, before he can hide in his room to cry. It's not the last time he has to patch one of them up after they fight.
He wonders if they've done this before; if Jason had once been the one to help Alfred patch them up when their emotions and inability to talk to one another overwhelmed them. It makes him feel closer to the dead boy in a sad way.
Somebody attacked his parents during one of their trips. His mother was dead, and his father was in a coma. He fakes an uncle to avoid being taken in by Bruce. No good person would willingly recruit a Delta into their Colony unless they had no choice. It was easier for them to believe he was just a pup that wanted to stay with his only Packmate. It hadn't fooled Bruce, but he let it be.
They moved back into Wayne Manor, Tim getting his own guestroom for when he decided not to travel back into the city to sleep in a lonely house. A room that became his.
He meets Stephanie, a Beta. Spoiler joins the Colony.
Bane came, broke Bruce's back, and Azrael was named his successor while Bruce and Alfred went to South America to find a way to heal Bruce. Azrael changed everything, locking Tim out of the cave.
His dad woke up. Stephanie and him start dating, and they find out she's pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's pup.
His dad moves them into the Manor next door to the Waynes and starts dating his P.T, Dana Winters.
Nightwing came back to help Tim take care of Gotham. Bruce healed and took the cape back from Azrael by force. Nightwing becomes Batman while Bruce finishes his recovery, making it easier for Tim and Dick to bond as brothers and coworkers.
Bruce heals and takes the cowl back from Dick. Tim finally becomes Robin to the real Batman, only for Bruce to send him to Paris for more training. The plan falls through, and he trains under Lady Shiva with the bo staff, wins against King Snake, and comes home.
Then the Plague happens, killing hundreds of thousands of people in Gotham.
His dad finds out about Robin, threatens the Colony, forces him to quit, and moves their small Pack to Keystone. His dad sends him to another boarding school. He only knows his father gets remarried once Dana tells him about the wedding over a phone call.
Stephanie and her mom move away from Gotham too, and Tim catches a plane to be with her when she gives birth to her daughter. He stays for a week while Stephanie gets used to being a Dame, but someone from her dad's past comes by, threatening her and her mother, and she decides to give her pup up for adoption, far away from their Colony and their city. Tim stays another week, holding her while she cries each night until his dad finds out he's skipping school and demands he returns.
The Earthquake happens.
He abandons his Pack again to rejoin the Colony.
The government declares Gotham as No Man's Land. It's eight months before he sees his dad again and a year before Bruce Wayne and Lex Luther reopen Gotham City.
His dad dies. Dana moves to Bludhaven and checks into a mental hospital. They meet Cass, another Beta, and she becomes Colony and Pack.
Bruce offers to adopt him, giving him a Pack again. He tells them he's a Delta. They don't care. He becomes a Wayne.
Bruce takes him and Dick on a training trip, and the two of them learn under all of Bruce's teachers from when he was preparing to become Batman. Alfred awaits them when they return a little over ten months later. They move back into Wayne Manor again. The last two years have changed them, Bruce, most of all.
Tim stares at Jason's suit, the new plaque Azrael had put up in the old one's place.
A Good Soldier
Bruce doesn't change it back, and no one else addresses it. Tim lets it go; they had other things to deal with.
Jason returns as Red Hood, and the Alpha takes over half of the city's underground drug scene with a single duffle bag.
Jason attacks Dick, so Bruce sends Tim away to the Teen Titans tower to protect him. Jason follows and attacks Tim.
Jason breaks the Joker out of Arkham, and Bruce and Jason fight. Jason takes over the East End of Uptown, focusing on Crime Alley. Bruce lets him while Tim makes sure to avoid him.
More shit happens; another year passes. Damian appears; the Pack has its first real pup since Jason died. Jason disappears with his team to detox the last of the Lazarus Pit's influence. Bruce dies –gets lost in time. Dick takes over as Batman, making Damian his Robin, and they move back into the penthouse.
Tim leaves Gotham to search for clues to bring Bruce home. The Alpha had been the first to accept Tim fully, not infantilizing him even after learning he was a Delta. Tim refused to let him go, to let him stay gone. He wants his dad back. He ends up working with Ra's al Ghul and the League. He loses his spleen. He becomes emancipated at 17, takes over WE as the CEO, and buys the company out from under Ra's al Ghul. Being kicked from the window and falling without a grapple was slightly less painful than thinking no one would catch him.
Dick does, though. The Delta had spent his entire recovery in Dick's nest, being fussed over, and calming the Beta down from nightmares about Tim falling, just like his parents had. He cries when Dick tells him he feared he wouldn't be fast enough to save his little brother. He spends a month living with his Pack before he starts to feel smothered.
The Blackest Night happens; the Justice League is finally taking him seriously, and the other heroes help him track down Bruce. Tim moves out of the Pack's Den, unable to stay with Dick and Damian. He buys and renovates the old Monarch Theater into a brownstone condo and makes his own Batcave, which he calls the Nest. They save Bruce, and Jason comes back to Gotham.
They've reached a shaky truce, and Tim hopes it's enough. He hopes that it'll last. He's prepared for his Pack Alpha, and second father, to disown him when he goes to Bruce to tell him his plan.
"Hey, Bruce?" Tim knocks on the Pack Alpha's study door. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Of course." Bruce looks up at his third son hovering in the doorway and frowns worriedly. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah." Tim breathes. "It's… it's about Jason."
"What has he done now?" Bruce sighs, rubbing his eyes.
"Nothing, Bruce." Tim scowls. He hated it when the Alpha assumed something was wrong before he'd even explained what he wanted to talk about. Bruce notices his glare and rumbles an apology. He was trying, so Tim let it go. "He just got back from his vacation with his team. I just noticed that he hasn't been aiming for kill shots lately and was wondering, as our Pack Alpha, if you planned on extending a hand to him in peace to rejoin the Pack."
"Jason has already said that he doesn't feel like Pack anymore Tim." Bruce frowns. "I can not and will not, force him to join us just for it to blow up in our faces."
Tim nods, pleased that Bruce has at least thought that through. "I would like to propose an alternative."
"I'm listening." Bruce raises one eyebrow.
Tim breathes in, trying not to let Bruce see his shaking hands. He wasn't sure how this would go, but he hoped Bruce wouldn't throw him out for suggesting it. No, he needed to do this.
"I-" Tim choked. Bruce was half out of his seat before Tim could wave it off. The Alpha continues to watch him, and the Delta clears his dry throat. "I want to try to Court him."
"You want to…Court…Jason?" Bruce's eyebrows furled like he didn't understand what Tim had said.
"Yes." Tim hides his shaking hands behind his back.
"He's an Alpha." Bruce says slowly.
"And I'm a Delta." Tim shrugs. "I don't know if anything will come of it; if I am even capable of mating. I don't even know if he wants to be with something like me."
"You are not a thing, Tim." Bruce glares at him. Tim knows it comes from a place of love, not anger, but it doesn't make it any easier to not tense under his gaze. "You are my son. You are a human being; you are not a thing."
He snarls the last word like it had personally offended him. In many ways, it had. Tim had seen the look before, anytime the Newspapers, Talk Shows, other high society families, or even the other board members at WE had spoken of Tim's gender as if he wasn't human. Anytime Tim himself repeated things he'd heard from his doctors or his parents, or his teachers at the private boarding schools he'd attended as a pup. Bruce loved Tim and spent a long time trying to force others to at least respect him, if not also love him, enough that he didn't have to hear those kinds of slurs anymore. And as much as Tim loved Bruce, he couldn't explain that no amount of respect, love, or money would make Tim anything more than a Delta, and all the stigma that came with it.
"You're right, B." Tim smiles sadly. "And as an adult, I've made my decision. I'm going to Court your son, whether you a-approve or n-not, and you can't stop me."
"Tim-"
"And if you don't approve of me," Tim blinks back his tears, sniffing. "You can go to hell for all I care- I'm not going to give him up. I can't give him up, dad, I'm sorry, I-"
"Tim!" Bruce crosses the room and pulls the pup into his arms. Tim sobs into his sweater while Bruce croons at him and scents his hair, grooming him to calm down.
"I'm sorry." Tim sniffs. He loved being a part of the Pack, but Jason had been a dream he'd been chasing half of his life, an idea he'd been obsessing over since he was ten years old. If he had to give up one for the chance to get to know the other-
"Tim," Bruce pulls back, smiling at the pup. He wipes the tears from his son's eyes. "If you were trying to ask for my blessing, you have it."
"What?" Tim sniffs, looking at Bruce in confusion.
"You're an adult Tim, and I can't make your decisions for you." Bruce hugs him. "If this is what you truly want, and you're prepared for the consequences, both good and bad, then who am I to stop you?"
Tim sags into the hug, letting the Alpha's bulk encase him with a sense of safety he rarely got to feel these days. He wasn't going to be kicked out; he'd gotten not just Bruce's approval but his blessing to Court Jason.
"Jay-lad is not going to respond positively to an offer of Courtship right now." Bruce hums, "How do you plan to woo him?"
"Ew, B, don't say woo like that." Tim scrunches up his nose, causing Bruce to chuckle. Tim grins sheepishly. "And I have no idea what I'm going to do. But I'm going to start by getting him used to my presence so he won't shoot me at first sight. I need to switch with Stephanie so I can take over the Burnley patrol."
"That'll mean the whole of Uptown is your area, except for what Jason has claimed." Bruce hums. "It's a start, but it's not wise to corner him like that. Especially if you plan on gaining his favor. Come on, sit. We'll start strategizing and see if we can't come up with a plan."
...
He and Jason come to an understanding, and Jason no longer attacks him when he passes through the East End to patrol Robinsville as long as he uses the expressway to cut through instead of the neighborhood roads or the rooftops. But their truce hadn't magically fixed everything. They weren't friends, and Jason wouldn't admit to being Colony, let alone Pack.
Which leads Tim to his current problem; how do you get to know someone, who is supposed to be family, after years of brutal fighting, when the other is more likely to shoot you than talk to you?
"You smell like shit."
Tim ignores the voice and continues to try to wring out his cape. After chasing Ratcatcher and losing him, he had just climbed out of the sewers, and he was unprepared to deal with Hood.
"What do you want?" He throws over his shoulder.
"I want to know why you're in my territory, Replacement. We had a deal." Tim hears a gun cock and sighs. He needed a cup of coffee.
"I wasn't working in the Bowery, so I'm not in your territory. I'm in the middle of the street." Tim points to the opposite side of Burnley Ave. "I patrol Burnley now, so technically, this is mutual ground between our territories. I'm not trespassing. Good night Hood."
He replaces the manhole cover and starts towards an alley on the Burnley side of the road, heading towards his bike. A pull on his cape stops him. Red Hood was chuckling, his gun holstered. "You think I'm going to let this go on a technicality?"
"I think you'll let it go, cause I have to check in with Oracle about my case, and none of the Colony knows you're back in town yet." Tim pulls his cape away from Jason's hand. "How is your team doing, anyway? Dick said Roy's girl turned 4. You went to the party right?"
"Watch the names, kid," Jason growls. The helmet dampened the sound. "Are you threatening me?"
"No." Tim admits with a shrug. "I'm simply laying out the consequences of you trying to stop me in the middle of the street, when I have a job to do."
He turns around, heading towards his bike. "Good night Hood."
"I see you in my territory Replacement, and I'll-"
"Shoot me, kill me, yadda yadda." Tim straddles his bike, starting it. "You've already tried and failed. You're more than welcome to take a number, and get in line like all the rest. Good night Hood."
He leaves the Alpha in the middle of the street. Holding his breath until he was out of firing range, he breathed shakily and glanced in his rearview mirror, seeing Jason still standing there, watching him.
Fuck, he needed coffee.
"I'm not in your territory." Tim doesn't look up as Red Hood climbs to the roof where he is perched, watching men unload crates from a van to store in a warehouse.
"And yer lucky for that." Hood squats next to him. "Hate to waste a bullet on ya."
"What do you want?"
"Why do you think I want somethin' from ya?"
"You always want something from me." Tim sighs, putting the binoculars down to frown at the other vigilante. "Why else would you bother with me? So, what is it?"
"Barbie is refusing to give me some info on a dock worker Matches has undercover. Black Mask has a shipment coming in two days, and I want to check it out before B can confiscate it. Think you can do it?" Jason pulls the helmet off and takes one of the soft tacos out of the brown paper bag next to Red's feet. He hums. They were pretty good. He wondered which food truck or restaurant Red Robin had gotten them from.
"Maybe…" Tim hums back. He scowls when he sees Hood eating his food and pulls the bag closer to him. "Why is Babs keeping you in the dark?"
"Hell if I know." Hood growls. "Cause she's a Bat?"
"Ah. So it's a family thing." Tim doesn't mention that he's also a Bat. He sees Hood bare his teeth at the reminder that they are family, and Tim quickly changes the subject. "Fine. What's his name?"
"Jaywalker." Tim scowls at him, causing Hood to laugh mockingly. "They don't throw out their real names, dumbass. Only newbies fall for that shit."
"I'll have it for you tomorrow. Meet me on Burnley Ave at one. Now, I have a job to do. Goodbye Hood." Tim grapples down to the men below.
Jason hums, watching the younger man for a moment. He hoped this truce wasn't going to fuck him over. Roy had mentioned that it would be easier to have at least one of the Bats as an ally, rather than have all of them as hostile adversaries. He'd reminded Jason that many vigilantes in Gotham's Colony weren't a Bat but had a truce with them, and would be able to rely on them. Of all of the Bats, Jason figured his best bet would be Barbara, but she was selective about what she helped him with. The others weren't an option, so Jason was left dealing with the one Bat that was as much of a black sheep as him.
He takes the food with him when he leaves. They were delicious, and the Replacement left them, so it was fair game. He needed to find out where he got them from.
…
"You're late." Red Robin scowls as Hood meets him on the grass island in the middle of the street. A few cars passed by, some slowing down to get a better look at them, but none stopped.
"You said one." Hood shrugged.
"It's almost two." Red glares. "I do have better things to do, like the patrol I'm late for while I was waiting for you. Don't ask for favors if you're going to half ass it."
Hood pulls one of his pistols out and points it at the other's face, growling. "I'm not half assing shit. I have other responsibilities, Replacement. You could wait compared to them."
Tim watches him for a moment. Then nods. "Something came up in the Alley, didn't it? Fine, I apologize for the misunderstanding. Next time though, tell me instead of being a smartass. Here."
Jason growls at the younger man but accepts the file. He had thought that Red would hand him a piece of paper or tell him what he thought was relevant. But the file was thick, and Jason figured Bruce's best soldier wouldn't waste paper on stupid shit. Jason wouldn't have to spend until the ship docked tomorrow night trying to figure out the rest now.
He puts the gun away and opens the file to skim through it. This was more than he'd asked for; it was better. He looked up to say something, not quite a thank you, but Tim was already on the other side of the road, getting on his bike.
"Hey!" Jason yells at him.
Tim looks up. "Was there something else you needed?"
"Look you little-"
"You have the file, Hood." Red starts his bike. "If you have any questions, you can ask me later. I have to start patrolling before B starts breathing down my neck."
"Right." Jason rolls his eyes. "Am I supposed to stand here and wait for ya to show up?"
"We were trained by some of the same people, Hood." Tim pulls the bike onto the street. "If you can't find me, that sounds like a you problem. Let me know if you need anything else."
He takes off before Jason can retort. Jason huffs, tucking the file into the large pocket of his jacket and returning to his territory.
The Alpha was reading through the file after his patrol, and he had to admit, Red knew what he was doing as a paper pusher. The informant's info, his alias, and even a summarized version of the mission were in there. Nothing that wasn't relevant to the case was present. Still, there was some info that Jason hadn't been able to get, like the info on Matches Malone, Bruce's underground alias. Places he'd met with the informant, what they'd discussed, plans they'd made. It was all there, and Red had just handed it over like it was nothing.
The shipment wasn't just drugs like Jason had thought, but weapons too. Guns. Jason owed the kid a fucking fruit basket for this. Maybe he'd replace the food he'd stolen from the boy the other night, buy him a burger or something.
But first, he needed to plan how to get those guns away from Black Mask, and into his own people's hands.
...
"Here."
"What's this?" Red took the styrofoam container Hood handed him with only a slight frown and a sniff.
"I got the shipment a full two hours before Bats." Hood shrugs, putting his helmet to the side and opening his own container of gyros. "Plus, I stole your tacos, so…food. Now we're even."
"Right." Red snorts. He doesn't tell him that he had spoken with Bruce to delay him so Jason could get the weapons, or that Bruce had known what he was doing and played along, although he didn't want Jason to be giving out the guns he'd stolen to the Alley people. That was a part of the plan, to get Jason comfortable enough to come to Tim, to seek him out.
The Delta takes a gyro out of the container and takes a bite. "Thanks, I guess."
They eat on the top of the building overlooking Burnley in silence. Once done, Red nods his thanks again and grapples away, tossing his empty container into a nearby dumpster.
Jason heads back to the Alley. If this were how all of their team-ups would be, then maybe Red would be willing to keep an open line between him and the others.
"Well, well. Look who's on the wrong side of the street now." Tim kneels next to where Hood is lying on the roof with a rifle, peering into the scope. He looks at the street where Hood is focused on a man smoking a cigarette. "What do you got?"
"Why should I tell you?" Jason asks, looking up in curiosity. The Delta wasn't in his Red Robin uniform. He was in a hoodie, jeans, and a beanie with a visor, and there was a skateboard through the straps of his backpack. He looked like a skater head Jason used to see hanging around the mall as a kid.
Tim blows a bubble with his gum, resting his elbows on his knees. "Well if I have to have permission to enter your territory, at threat of gunpoint I might add, then the least you can do when you come into mine is tell me why you're here. Fair is fair, right? I respect your boundaries, you respect mine."
Jason tilts his head in thought. "Alright Replacement. The guy's selling drugs over here and some of the Alley kids have been venturing out to buy from him. So I'm watching the guy."
"Makes sense." Tim sighs. "I was wondering when you would notice they were migrating."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it's dangerous to stop most drugs cold turkey, especially for a street kid." Tim shrugs. "They can't get their fixes in the Alley anymore with you shooting any dealer that so much as looks at them. They've been coming into different parts of the city to buy drugs for months now. Better to risk getting caught out here than die in the streets cause they're bodies can't handle the sudden detox and shut down."
"Shit." Jason frowns. "Why haven't you guys been dealing with it?"
"We have." Tim glares at him. "But we have to be careful. Otherwise the kids are going to turn to other drugs or doing other crimes if it means they might get some relief. This is a delicate situation Hood. If we start grabbing all the dealers at once, we're going to start finding kids bodies all over the city."
Jason growls his frustration. Tim sighs, "I know. But yeah, this guy, Dotty, he goes out of his way to sell near stores and schools. Anywhere there might be high traffic of people. But he's only got weed. His buddy though."
Tim points to another guy that was coming up to Jason's target. "He's got the real shit. Heroin, meth, drop, even trigger. Shoot him if you plan on taking one of them out."
Jason looks at the Delta in surprise. "I'm not using rubbers."
"Well, that sounds like a disaster." Tim furrowed his brow. "I know you died before you finished high school, but isn't that like lesson one of safe sex or something?"
Jason snorts, shocked. Everyone else always spoke around the incident. Hearing someone else make a joke about his death didn't make him angry like he thought it should, but amused. "You're what, 15? Aren't you still in high school?"
Tim stuck his tongue out at the Alpha. The kid has some balls. "I'm 18. And I dropped out when I became a CEO of a multimillion dollar company. Besides, look at me. I'm a Delta. The closest I'm probably ever going to get to sticking my dick in someone, is an asshole with a weird fetish who thinks I'm a loophole to not getting on a sex offender registry. Plus I think I slept through my health class. That is where they teach that right? Or is it something else."
Jason watches as the Delta mumbles to himself, disturbed. "Well, if anyone does try that shit, let me know. I can take care of it for you."
"Oh." Tim went quiet.
"What?"
"It's just… people normally agree, ya'know? Once a Delta hits adulthood, they're only kept in their Packs as nannies for their family's real pups. Most people only take in a Delta for one of three reasons; to use as a servant, as a playmate for their pups, or- well…."
Jason rumbles with narrow eyes. Tim smiles sadly. "You're one of the few outside my Colonies or the Waynes that doesn't think like that. Hell, if I have to read another article about how I was only adopted by Bruce as a solution to his 'black-haired, blue-eyed orphan addiction' and how I'm 'so brave' for 'saving other pups from his carnal desires' because I'm a 'forever pup' and shit, I think I'm going to join you in shooting people that annoy me. Starting with Vickie Vale."
"Bruce is many things, but he's not a child molester." Jason grits his teeth. That was one of the few things Jason hated about being Bruce's pup. He'd been adopted just as Dick was becoming an adult, and there had been more than one rumor about why that was. The fact that people still spread that shit pissed him off.
"Trust me, I know." Tim frowns. "Well. I know that now. Anyway, I'll let you get back to this."
Jason frowns at Tim's back.
I know that now.
Had Tim really thought at one point that Bruce was capable of that shit?
Most people only took Deltas in for three reasons.
I know that now.
Well, shit. Jason turns to look at the Delta as he stands. "I'm still using real bullets."
He grins and starts walking away. "It's such a shame I didn't see anything then, huh?"
"Thought Bats didn't kill?"
"I'm not Bruce. And I was never here." Tim drops down onto the fire escape. "Happy hunting."
The Alpha grins and turns to his gun, aiming for the new target. Yeah, he and his Replacement are going to get on great.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Non ya business."
Jason stands there with his hands on his hips, staring up in shock as Tim holds an unconscious man over a building. He was in the alley below the Delta, so he could see the man's face twitch, indicating he was waking up.
"Want to help?" Tim asks as he holds the grapple line.
Jason tilts his head, thinking, before shrugging. "Sure, why not."
Tim grins and pulls his cowl down over his face just as the man's eyes open. He curses as he swings around until he sees Red Robin in front of him. The Delta stops his movement and frowns at him when the man screams.
"Shut up."
The man screams again. Red glares and releases the tension causing the man to fall. Jason chokes but runs to break the man's fall. Red Robin stops his descent and pulls him back up until the man is at eye level with the Delta again. The entire alley smelled of fear and urine.
Jason breathes heavily, yelling up at the two men. "What the fuck Replacement?"
The Beta man looks down, sees Red Hood, and lets out an abrupt laugh of fear. Red calls for his attention again. "Rebecca is in the hospital again, Tony. Who was it?"
"Ey man, I ain't done shit, I swear!"
"She's one of your girls isn't she, Anthony? Who put her in the hospital?"
"Nah man, she's one of Andre's now. She went to work for my cuz, I ain't seen the bitch in weeks man, I swear!"
"The hell is going on?" Hood growls.
Red looks down at him. "Tony's a pimp in the Narrows. One of my informants said they recognized one of his girls as a hit-and-run victim. She was supposed to give me some information for a case."
He turns back to the man. "I want a name Tony. Now."
"I don't know." The Beta whines in fear. "But I know where Andre is working, he can get ya a name, I betcha."
"Hood, catch." Red releases his grapple, and the man drops with a yelp. Red Hood braces the man as he stops a few feet from the ground, and the Alpha unwinds the line from his feet. The man lands on his ass and immediately starts to pray.
"Meet me at the Red Bird." Tim's voice comes through his helmet. Jason hums his acknowledgment and gets the man to his feet, pulling him to the alleyway's mouth. Tim pulls the car up, and Jason pushes him into the backseat. Tim raises his chin in an offer, and Jason climbs in the front, pulling his gun out and training it on the man. The man only stops his prayers long enough to tell Tim the address, and Jason spends the entire drive alternating looking between them. What the hell had the kid done to make this Beta fear him so much?
They pull up to the building, and the man sits up, pointing at the alley. "He'll be back there."
"That's sketchy as fuck, Red. Need backup?"
"Sure." Red Robin turns to look at the other man. "Get out."
The Beta was on the sidewalk before Jason had even opened his door. He follows the others as Red directs the man to go and get his cousin. The two vigilantes watch him get halfway and knock on a door, waiting.
"You're sure that he ain't gonna bolt?" Jason asks quietly. Another man comes out, and he and Tony start arguing.
"He knows better." Red replies, just as low. "On the sides, get ready."
Jason presses against the side of the building, Tim on the other side. He could hear footsteps running towards them, and Tim twirled his staff, then swung it as Andre came running between them, catching the Alpha in the gut. Jason steps before him and trains a gun on him while Tim calls for Tony to join them.
"I told you, man." Tony whimpers as he kneels next to the Alpha, still flat on his ass, holding his stomach.
Andre hisses. "You said Red was after me. Ya didn't say it was the fucking bird, Tony."
Tim kneels in front of the men, and both flinch back. Jason watches, silent and amused. These two grown men were scared of someone a head shorter than them that still carried a pup scent. It was somewhat pathetic.
"Why is Rebecca in the hospital?" Tim asks.
"I don't know." Tim frowns, shifting his feet, and the Beta whimpers while the Alpha flinches again. "I don't! She was supposed to meet here last night for her shift as a dancer, but she called in, said she was scared she overheard somethin' she wasn't supposed to. She got hit trying to get here."
"One of her johns?" Jason asks.
"Maybe." Andre swallows, his eyes only glancing at the Alpha before returning to Tim. It was weird; Jason had a gun to his head and a reputation for shooting people, but he acted like taking his eyes off the Replacement was the worst offense. "She only had one the night before her accident. A guy named Richard Wrighthouse. Some CEO; he bought her services for the full night and paid double for him and a buddy of his. I don't know the other guy's name, but I gave her a lift to the hotel on 6th street. She was supposed to go home after and pick up her cut last night."
"He paid in full?" Tim asks.
"Yeah."
"Alright." Tim stands. "I'm gonna call Gordon. Sit tight."
Hood stands guard over the men until he hears the sirens, then he goes to the roof to wait while Tim hands the men over to the Commissioner. He waits until they're gone before meeting Tim at his car.
"Need a ride back or are you still gonna be patrolling?" Tim asks him.
"Sure, I can call it a night." He gets in with Tim and takes off his helmet. He breathes in and scowls, rolling down the window at the smell of fear and urine.
"Shit. I'll have to take the bike tomorrow while I air this thing out." Tim sighs as he starts the car.
"Why the hell were they so scared of ya?" Jason asks, grabbing the soda from the console and taking a sip.
"Dude!" Tim glares, taking his drink back and setting it between his thighs as he starts driving. "Mine! And my best guess is 'cause I'm a Bat."
His smirk told Jason he knew but wasn't going to share. Jason almost pushes it, but the comm connected to the car goes off, and Bruce speaks up, causing Jason to tense. "Red Robin."
"Sup B?" Tim motions for Jason not to speak as he answers their father. The Alpha grits his teeth but stays quiet.
"Check-in."
"Got a lead I'm working on, about to head to my place. The others?"
"All have checked in. No one else is still out." Bruce says. "Are you taking Burnley?"
"Sure, B." Tim grins sadly. He was asking if Tim could check if Jason was still out too. "I'll call when I'm back at the den."
"Batman out."
They hung up, and Jason glared out the window. He says nothing as Tim stops on Burnley Ave and gets out without looking back. He grapples to the roof and waits until he hears the car pull away before he turns to watch his Replacement drive away.
"The hell are you doing here?"
"Uh, eating?" Tim blinks up as Jason slides into the booth across from him.
The Alpha glares. "Why are you in the East End, Tim?"
"Oh!" The Delta relaxes, "Rebecca is getting released so I went to check on her. I just decided to get lunch before I head home."
Jason relaxes at the mention of the woman. So the Delta was just passing through; he could deal with that. "It's already been a month, huh? How's she doing?"
"Good." Tim sighs, "She'll need a bit of physical therapy for her shoulder, but she's good to go home tomorrow. I'm gonna have Alvin pay her hospital bill and drop her off at home."
"Who's Alvin?"
"One of my underground aliases" Tim hums as he takes a bite of his burger. "He's the most well known informant for Red, so it's easy to get my other informants to trust him enough for situations like this."
Jason steals a fry causing Tim to scowl. The Delta takes his own fry and dips it into his smoothie before eating it.
"That's -" Jason leans on the table. "What the fuck Tim?"
"What?" Tim does it again. "It's good."
"Dude, those are Cajun fries."
"Yes?"
"And that is a tropical citrus smoothie."
"Uh-huh?"
Jason laughs. "I've heard people dipping their fries in vanilla or chocolate shakes, but this is just too weird."
"Try it." Tim pushes the shake closer to the Alpha. Jason takes a fry and dips it into the drink before popping it in his mouth.
"Fuck you." He glares at the Delta while he grabs another one.
"Good, right?" Tim grins, finishing off his burger and grabbing a fry. Jason scowls, even as he dips another fry. It shouldn't be this good; what the fuck?
He helps Tim finish off his basket of fries and walks out with Tim, his own citrus smoothie and cajun fries in hand. Tim had the Red Bird in its civilian form with him, a red sports coupe. He waves at Jason as he gets in, and the Alpha waves back before he catches himself.
What the fuck was he doing?
Jason grits his teeth as he sits on a bench in the skate park near Park Row. Shoving his fist in his hoodie pocket, he glares as he watches Tim, Cass, and Stephanie skate around the park with a group of people. They were laughing and hanging out, which he understood was what teenagers did, but did they not understand that this was too close to his territory? He knew Tim's territory was surrounding him, which pissed him off once he realized it, but at least it was the one Bat he could stand. Not to mention, Tim was almost as possessive of his patrol routes as him, which meant he was usually the only Bat he had to deal with, and when the others showed up, Tim typically gave him a heads up in case one of them tried to overstep their bounds. Now, Tim had at least two other Bats here with a group of people he didn't know, and the Delta hadn't said shit to him.
Tim notices him and skates over to greet him. "Relax grumpy pants, we're not going into the East End. One of Steph's college buddies lives in Robbinsville, on the other side of the park. We'll be gone in a few hours."
"So long as you keep the others out then." Jason scowls.
"You ride?" Tim gestures to his board. "You could join us. I brought an extra for Steph, but she brought her rollerblades to teach Cass how to skate, so you can borrow it if you want?"
"When the hell would I have had the time to learn to skateboard Replacement?" Jason glares at him.
"Geeze, what the hell did you do at the Manor?" Tim frowns, "School, homework, train, and sit on your ass until patrol?"
"Fuck you." Jason growls.
"Maybe, but ya got to pull the stick out of your ass first, or it's not gonna fit. Well, I can teach you if you want, but you would have to actually come over here and hang out with us. Later Hood."
Tim leaves before Jason can stand and punch him, rolling over to his friends and jumping over one of them with his board, where they are seated on the steps. The guy he jumped yelled at Tim while the others cheered. Tim just laughed and kept skating. Jason huffs, slowly descending to where they are until he is leaning against the railing. Their friends glance at him briefly, then ignore him. Stephanie Brown freezes when she sees him, skates to Tim, and points him out. Tim says something to her, waves at Jason, and continues to skate. The blonde Beta comes over, watching Jason wearily.
"You gonna skate?"
"No."
"Ok." She leaves him to stand with their gear and joins their friends again, and Jason sits on the steps to watch them. They continue to skate for another hour before returning to the steps. Tim sits close to him, Cass and Steph a step below them, and hands him a water bottle. He takes a sip while he watches them talk and joke around, showing each other Tiktoks and memes and sharing stories about their jobs and classwork. He wasn't sure what Stephanie was majoring in since when one of the other girls asked about her classes, she just let out a long, exaggerated groan. Everyone laughed and then moved on. The girls exchange their rollerblades for their shoes, and he follows them to the parking lot, where they say their goodbyes.
"Hey, Jason!" Tim calls out to him while he and the girls walk to his car, "You want a ride?"
"I'll walk." The Alpha replies. "Got a few errands to run before I head home."
"K! See ya later!" Tim waves.
"Bye Jay!" Stephanie says as they make their way to the car.
"Goodbye Jason." Cass calls back.
Their other friends called out their goodbyes from where they were getting into their cars, telling him it was nice to meet him. He waves as each car leaves, confused. What the hell was that about?
"I'm starving. Hey Hood, if I give you forty bucks, will you get me a pizza and something to drink?" Red Robin groans from where he is lying on the edge of a building, just as Red Hood grapples up to the roof.
"Well hi to you too." Jason kneels next to him. "Is it really that slow right now?"
"Technically, I'm not supposed to be out here, cause I got a meeting in the morning. But I can't sleep so I'm watching the door for Cass while she does some recon." Tim shrugs, still watching the door. "It's been a long night, and I'm going to bed after this. But I haven't eaten since this morning and I'm probably not going to eat when I get home. I'll pay for your food too, and the delivery fee."
"You drive a hard bargain." Hood hums. "Fine. Give me your wallet and watch my shit. I get to pick the toppings."
"Deal." Tim sits up while Jason peels off his helmet and mask, and zips up his jacket to hide the bat symbol. He pulls out his phone to check which pizza places are in the area, takes Tim's wallet, and climbs back down. Tim calls down to get two pizzas 'cause Cass is likely to be done by the time he is back. Within thirty minutes, he was back on the roof, eating pizza with Tim and Cass, listening to them joke about Hong Kong.
"Oi! I'll have you know that I'm only banned from Paris, not all of France. Thank you and fuck you very much." Tim sticks his tongue out at Cass, and she laughs.
"Hang on," Jason laughs, "How the hell did you get banned from Paris? What the hell happened?"
"Shiva." Tim and Cass say. Then Tim adds, "And a little…uh… a few people got hurt the last time I was there so yeah, Bruce says I can't go back without an escort."
"Hell?" Cass asks.
"Yeah it was during the year of hell, but not the Council. It was before that." Cass nods like what Tim said made sense.
"What is the year of hell, and which council?" Jason asks, confused. "And when the fuck did you run into Lady Shiva?"
"The year of hell was when Bruce was in the time stream, and the Council of Spiders is an assassin organization I took out. Cass helped me during the games when I was put on their hit list." Tim shrugs and takes another slice of pizza. "Shiva is Cass's biological mother, and she trained me in the bo staff during my first few years as Robin. We fight every time we meet up so she can test my skills. She doesn't want me to get rusty, since I'm one of the few people that can beat her in a fight."
Jason stared at him, then snorted. "Yeah no, I'm gonna need you to explain more than that, Baby Bird."
Tim smiles and takes another bite of his pizza, but says nothing else.
"Shit!" Jason shoots at the gang member hiding behind some crates in the warehouse and makes his way to Red Robin while they are still taking cover. Tim was already applying pressure on the gunshot wound in his thigh when he got to him.
"It missed the artery." Tim laughed in relief. "Looks like I'm not going to be able to steal another of your gimmicks, huh Jay? Holy fuck."
"Easy Red, you're not out of the woods yet." Jason pulls off his belt and wraps it around the upper part of his thigh to stem the bleeding. "Just got to steal everything from me huh? Even my title as the dead Robin."
"You wish." Tim groaned as his thigh throbbed. "Dick, Damian, and Stephanie already took that from you. I'm the only one that hasn't been legally dead as far as we know."
"Well, I'll need you to elaborate on that later. Come on, Red." Jason checked to see where the gangsters were, but no one was in the building. "You got your car with you? I can't carry you over the rooftops."
Tim pulls out a key from his belt and sways. "Outside. Jason I'm gonna-"
"Shit." He catches Tim as the Delta passes out, lifting him and sprinting to the car. He unlocks the door, puts Tim in the passenger seat, and then crosses over to get in the driver's seat. He throws the seat back and turns the car on. He drives to his apartment with two fingers on Tim's wrist, monitoring his pulse.
He drags the unconscious boy up to his apartment and lays him on the spare bed, running to the bathroom for the med kit. Tim comes to while he is stitching him up.
"Shit." Tim groans. "Remind me to lose your number when I need a tailor."
"Fuck you kid." Jason grins. "You'd need to have had my number to lose it."
"Is that an offer?" Tim snorts.
"Yeah, sure kid, if it keeps you from trying to get in the middle of a gang fight with no backup." Jason rattles off the number for his main burner, and Tim nods as he puts it into his phone. Jason snorts when Tim shows him his contact was listed as 'ILivedBitches' with a zombie as his profile picture. He wrapped the stitches up and pushed Tim's leg off his lap, standing up with a grin. "Smartass."
"Yep. Dick's the nice ass, I'm the smart ass, and Damian is the horse's ass, or pain in the ass." Tim grins. "Really it just depends on how annoying he's being."
"And what am I?" Jason raises an eyebrow.
"I guess you can be the badass since B already claimed both the dramatic ass and paranoid ass. He's just The Ass. Full caps." Tim groans as he stands up to move to the couch; Jason follows him with a laugh. "Do you have cable?"
...
In the morning, Jason wakes up to the smell of food. He rolls out of his bed with a pistol and goes to the kitchen. Tim was standing at the stove making pancakes, a plate of biscuits, and a bowl of eggs already on the counter. There were two plates on the dining room table, one at the head of the table and the second plate at the seat next to the other end. One at the head of the table and one place at a guest spot. There was a glass of orange juice next to the first and a cup of coffee at the other. Tim had placed his plate the furthest from Jason's as he could without offending him by taking the other end of the table, a place meant for his Mate or an honored guest. Jason rolls his eyes and takes his plate to the seat across from Tim's, then makes himself a cup of coffee too.
"Not worried about the dynamic bullshit." Jason rumbles in greeting as he grabs some of the food to put on the table.
"Good to know." Tim yawns, following him with the pancakes and a jar of jam.
"Why the food?"
"Cause you bandaged me up and let me sleep over."
Jason hums, taking a sip of his drink. "I didn't realize you could cook."
"My boarding schools had home economics classes. Then Alfred taught me some stuff. So did my mom; my housekeeper Mrs. Mac; our gardener Mr. Reese; and Dana." Tim grabs a biscuit. "And my team would have lived off pizza if it was up to them, so I learned to cook so I could feed them and myself."
"This isn't Alfred's recipe is it?" Jason hesitates before taking a pancake.
Tim snorts. "My mom's. Those things are like paste right?"
"Never understood how that man could out cook every fancy chef in the city, but he can't make something I could make at four years old." Jason grins as he takes two pancakes and some eggs. "Have you ever told him?"
"Nope." Tim looks Jason in the eye seriously. "And I'll take that secret to my grave."
"Good man." Jason nods. "Hand me the honey."
"You'll ruin it." Tim rolls his eyes but does so, making a face as Jason pours honey into his coffee.
"Shut up." Jason grins and flicks eggs at the younger man.
"Hey Hood, got a sec?" Tim was sitting on his bike in his civies, on Jason's side of Burnley Ave, but still not technically in the Bowery. Even after almost eight months of them working together and hanging out, this was still their preferred meeting spot during patrol. At least now he and Tim could text each other to meet there, so they weren't waiting all night to see if the other would show. The Alpha snorts but grapples down to him.
"What?"
"Here." Tim tries to hand him a file.
"What is it?" He crossed his arms, making no move to take it. After a few seconds, Tim pulls it back, tucking it under his arm.
"A case me and Steph are working on." Tim says. "Missing persons, possible trafficking. A couple of the people had East End addresses. Got what I could from the list she's making but it's not complete yet. She's still making her way through the database to find ones that fit the M.O. I told her I'd try to get your permission to check the addresses, or give you a copy of the list that crosses into your territories for you to check out yourself. She said you have to keep us updated though so we're not wasting time following up on people you've already cleared."
"Give me the file." Jason snatches it away. He finds the list of addresses and skims it. Some were P.O. boxes that the homeless used, so those would be harder to track. "I'll keep you updated, but I'm not going to the Cave."
"Good thing it's mainly Batgirl's case then." Tim starts the bike. "You can just contact Oracle or me, or stop by the Belfry. I'll let you know if any other addresses pop up from your area."
"Tim." He stops, looking at Hood. Jason pulls off his helmet, the Delta's blue eyes meeting the Alpha's blue-green ones. "Thank you."
"They're your people, Jay. You don't need to thank me for informing you about something that might harm them. We're Colony." Tim speeds away before Jason can correct him.
Colony huh? So were the Batgirls. So were Huntress, Tigress, and the Sirens. They were allies but not technically family. Yeah, he guessed he could work with that.
For now.
…
Jason knew Barbara was doing this to piss him off cause there was no way that she actually liked elevator music. He taps his foot, impatient, and breathes a sigh of relief when it comes to a stop.
"Hey, got the list." He says as he enters the main room, where the others are gathered around a table. Tim, Stephanie, and Cass glance at him before returning to their files while Barbara welcomes him.
"Hey, Hood." Babs smiles, wheeling over to him. He hands her the file he made based on the list of addresses they had given him, and she takes them to the table. Each piece of paper is read and handed to one of the girls. A few were given to Tim, who scanned the information and adjusted the colored pins of the corkboard with a map of Gotham on it.
If it was based on the system Batman had taught them, then the green marks were people accounted for, while the red was missing. Colored strings mapped out their patrol routes, though he noticed the East End was bare of any marks. Tim adds green, red, and purple pins to Jason's territory.
"What's purple?" He asks, setting his helmet down.
Stephanie and Cass look at one another, then Babs, then Tim, like they weren't sure if they could share the information. The Delta doesn't look up from where he is adjusting other pins as he answers, "Purple is unaccounted for people. Green is found, red is confirmed to be missing, and blue if they're involved. We're still trying to track down some people we think might be involved or victims. The list is still growing as we get info from the others."
"Who else is on this?" Jason sits down, looking at one of the smaller maps on the table of Tricorner. He pulls it closer to him, and Stephanie passes him a file. He raises an eyebrow but accepts it, opening it to see a man's profile with a red stamp in the corner, labeling the man as missing. He had a Tricorner address.
"Nightwing is in Bludhaven, B is dealing with some stuff going down in Dixon docks, and he's got the brat with him. Kate is dealing with something in New York with Selina. Everyone else is feeding us the info, but it's mostly us here and Duke." Tim looks up as a buzzer sounds, and he goes to open a window. "Speaking of Duke."
Babs returns to the computers and starts helping the others on patrol while Tim lets in someone in bright yellow and black with a white bat on their chest. Duke Thomas, aka the Signal. One of Gotham's daylight heroes. The boy is only a year or two younger than Tim, and he freezes when he sees Jason at the table while Cass points something out to him.
He tugs at Tim's sleeve. "Is it ok that he's here?"
"Yeah, he's got people missing in the Alley, so he'll help until we find them. After that…" Tim shrugs.
"Cool cool." Duke shifts. "He won't shoot me, will he?"
"Maybe if you keep actin' like I ain't here and can't hear ya, flashlight." Jason growls.
"Be nice. Or leave." Cass glares back at him. "Our case. Help is good, but not necessary."
"Fuck you." Jason spits at the Beta. "If ya didn't want my help then ya shouldn't have said shit to me. I can fucking leave, and if I find who's got my people, I'll be sure to drop their bodies off at whatever place you sleep."
Cass tenses, which causes the others to tense as well. Except for Tim, who sighs and turns to Duke. "Do you have your files?"
"Y-Yeah." The Beta stutters as he avoids Jason's gaze. He pulls a file out of his backpack and hands it to the Delta, who brings it to the table. It was the largest of all the files.
"Where?" Stephanie frowns, her body tense as she adds pins to the map.
"The Narrows." Duke sounded grave. He looked overwhelmed by all the papers. Tim squeezes his shoulder as the Beta sits down.
"It will be ok." Cass tells him. "Not your fault."
"The Narrows is mine." Duke frowns. "It's my home, and my territory, and it's missing the most people. How is this not my fault? How did I not catch this before now?"
Jason looks up. The kid looked gutted and maybe even teary-eyed. How long has the kid been doing this again? A year, more or less?
"We'll find them," Tim says, sitting beside him. He waits for the Beta to look at him and makes a sound in his throat that almost sends him into a coughing fit. Cass hugs Duke, purring loudly until the other Beta sags against her.
"Thanks Cass. Oh! And Tim. Thanks for trying." Duke rubs the back of his next, embarrassed.
Tim's lip twitches, but he forces a smile and pulls his scent close until the smell of the distressed pup disappears. Jason watches them, frowning. He knew that as a Delta, Tim couldn't make all the vocal messages that others could, but even pups can purr. A pup's purr differed from an adult's, and Jason wondered if that made it so difficult for the younger man to express himself. The Alpha was curious because he had just tried to purr at a younger Packmate and almost choked. He didn't know much about Deltas outside the usual rumors, but that didn't seem healthy.
Duke looks even more upset as Tim stands up and starts going through the pictures they'd taken of the missing people's homes, trying to find a connection. The Beta watches the Delta before getting up and going over to him, throwing an arm around his shoulder and pointing something out. Jason watches as Tim squints and goes back to another photo, then another. He and Duke point at something, each taking a monitor to flip through the photos. Duke grabs a flash drive from Jason's file and adds them to the mess. The Alpha stands to join them when he notices them flagging specific photos.
"You found something?" The others join him.
"Maybe." Duke says. "I found one of these at one of the homes of a couple that were on the list. They said someone gave it to them but they're not going to be in town that week, so I could bring it with me. I have it in- excuse me."
He moves around Jason to grab something out of the Narrows file. He hands it to the Alpha. "Did you see this anywhere?"
It was a pamphlet for a cruise. Jason frowns. "Maybe? The only people I couldn't find are homeless and they always have trash around their- why are you staring at me?"
"Huh? Oh!" Duke flushes, having been caught staring at Jason's pecs. The Alpha smirks, crossing his arms over his chest with a slight flex to his arms as the Beta shakes his head. "Sorry, sorry. It's just- Do you have a taser in your chest plate?"
"A what?" Stephanie looks up.
Jason blinks. That wasn't what he was expecting. "How did you-"
"Sorry! I just- I mean the volts are really bright, and kind of distracting. Anyway." Duke moves back to Tim's side like he hadn't just confused the hell out of the Alpha. "So I noticed that this pamphlet is at most of the houses in the Downtown area and some of the Midtown ones. Look, you can see-"
"How?" Jason looks at Cass as she comes up to his side.
"Duke is a Meta. He can read light. It is confusing to me as well."
"Thought Bats had a rule about Metas in Gotham?" Jason scowls.
"Yes." Cass agrees, then goes to help the others.
Stephanie comes up to his side next. "Most people that come into Gotham with powers don't listen when B explains that there are certain rules they have to abide by for their safety, our safety, and the civilians' safety. It's just easier to explain Duke and a few others as an exception than rehash an old argument most people refuse to listen to. Because, you know, having powers obviously means they're immune to gasses, poisons, and psychopaths."
"Right," Jason says as if what she said had made sense.
She rolls her eyes. Tim snaps them out of their conversation by barreling towards them, using Stephanie's shoulder as a stepping stone and Jason's head as a brace as he jumps over them to get to Babs.
"The fuck, Replacement?"
"Jeez Tim!"
The Delta ignores them. He grabs Barbara's chair and moves it, pulling something up on the computer that takes over all six screens. Hundreds of thousands of small cameras cover the screen. Tim's eyes flicker between them.
"Jesus Christ Tim!" Barbara growls, wheeling herself back to his side. "What is your problem you crazy son of- what is that?"
"Oh Tim." She breathes. Jason was concerned at how horrified she sounded. "What have you done?"
"I think I know where they are. Or at least who can get us to them." Tim mutters as he switches through the cameras. "I just need to.."
"Dude." Duke also looked uncomfortable. "This looks like you used the satellite to gain access to every single phone in the city. This is a huge invasion of people's privacy. This is wrong."
"I know but I just need to-"
"This is fucked up, even for you boyfriend." Stephanie shifts. "I don't think even B has this kind of program."
"Look I know it's-"
"B would not use this, little brother. It's bad." Cass puts a hand on the Delta's shoulder.
He shrugs her off angrily, shouting, "I'm not Bruce!"
They froze. He glares at his hands. "I know it's wrong. I know it's crossing a line. But we have 37 missing persons and I think I know who's behind this. Babs, look at the ship, that emblem on the flag. Tell me we have time for ethics right now, when we don't even know if those people are still alive?"
Babs takes the pamphlet, looks at the picture of the captain standing behind a flag inside the ship, and sucks in a breath through her teeth. She sighs, then glares at the Delta. "I want that shit off my system, Tim. Tonight."
Tim turns around and starts flipping through the cameras again.
"Are you sure about this?" Stephanie asks Barbara.
"No." She bites her lip. "But if this is who we think it is, then this might be the only way to find them."
"Who is it?" Jason grits his teeth, upset at being out of the loop.
"A gang." Babs was texting someone. "They popped up a few years ago. If I'm right, then this isn't a trafficking ring. It's worse. They'll keep them until they're ready, then they'll harvest them."
"Harvest them?" Stephanie was confused. Cass and Jason were right there with her, but Duke looked scared.
"What do you mean they'll harvest them?" Steph asks.
"Cannibals." Tim glares at his screen. "They were a problem during No Man's Land, but they went to ground when the city reopened. The capes in the city at that time had to be really careful about dealing with them."
"What the fuck?" Jason was staring at Tim and Babs like they were crazy.
"The city was locked down for a whole year." Duke said, rubbing the back of his head. "No one in, no one out. Anyone that tried to come help was turned away by the military. Food became a problem after three months, maybe? We had no power, which meant no fridges or stores. We couldn't get new shipments of food. The country left us to die; the whole city. Some people… some people found a way to survive."
"And after a year of basically being Feral, readjusting again was hard." Tim tells them. "We've run into a few others that had the same problem. Some can get help. Some can't. Got him!"
Tim was gone before anyone could figure out who he was talking about. The system was shutting down, and all of the cameras disappeared. Jason could catch a look at the one still highlighted, a man at a dock, before the camera blinked out. He grabs his helmet and is out of the window after Tim before the others react.
"I got him!" Jason says. "Stay here!"
Like hell, would he let the little shit take on cannibals without backup. He might tolerate the Delta as a friend, and didn't not like him as a cape, but he was right. He was the closest thing Jason had to a Colony, right up there with the other Outlaws.
He follows the Delta and gets in front of the Redbird as Tim opens the door. "You're not going alone!"
"Then get in!" Tim starts the car, and Jason barely gets his door shut before the car burns rubber.
"Fuck, kid." He growls. He removes his jacket and shoves it into the backseat while pulling one of his guns out of its holster. "Where the hell did you learn to drive?"
"Kansas, on the Kent farm." He takes a corner too sharply, and Jason slams into the door with a growl. "Pa taught me, Connor, and Bart, how to drive in the fields. I learned to drift 'cause Bart likes to do donuts, and it's better than flipping the car again."
He drifts around a corner, weaving between the traffic and running a red light. Jason switches his rubber bullets out for real ones. "Well, you suck."
"Cool beans." Tim swerves around a truck and flips it off when it honks at him. "You can walk if you don't like it."
"Fuck you." Jason laughs. The car was fast, almost as fast as the Batmobile. It was thrilling to see the city blur around them from his place in the passenger seat, in a nostalgic way. They make it to the dock in under ten minutes. He follows the Delta as they move around the yard, looking for the man from the camera. They split up, Jason taking the warehouses while Tim checks the container yard.
Jason ends up being the one to find them.
"-shipment? It's late."
"I can get it, I swear." Two voices come from an alley between two warehouses, and Jason creeps up for a better visual.
He taps his helmet. "Hey Red, I've got activity."
"Stay there. Don't do anything yet. We need to get as much info from them as we can." Came Tim's reply.
Jason rolls his eyes, looking into the alley through a piece of glass he picks up. It was the man from the video and a dealer he recognized from the Alley. There was a girl between them, one of the street kids that had been missing from his area. She was watching the two men, terrified, with blood dripping from her head. "I can't grab more from my area, though. Hood has us watching the streets even more since your last guy got caught with those girls. I just need a bit more time-"
"We don't have time!" The man hisses, pulling the girl closer to him. She whines, tears building up in her eyes. "They've already paid. Just get the ship back into the harbor, grab whoever, and process them instead."
"I can't!" The dealer snaps. "My boss doesn't know I'm doing this and if he finds out-"
"Find out what?" Jason growls. He was pissed, beyond pissed. He pulls his gun from his holster. One of his guys, one of his dealers, was selling a child to a cannibal. Neither of these fuckers was going to make it out of here.
"Hood!" Red was panting in his ear. "I'm almost there, don't do anything stupid, we need them."
"Boss! I swear, this-this isn't-"
"You led them here?!"
"Hmf!" The girl struggles when she sees Jason and tries to get to him, and the man pulls her back. He grabs her neck and twists.
Snap!
No!
"Oh god!"
"Jason! Please don't-"
The gunshot echoes around them, and the dealer screams as the man falls dead next to the little girl. Jason moves over to them, pushing the man off her tiny body. She was so small, a pup. She wasn't even older than the brat was, if he had to guess.
"What did you do?" Jason turns around and sees Tim standing there, his chest heaving. He was staring blankly at the dead man's body. "What did you do, Hood?"
"What I needed to do." Jason bristled. "I'm not dealing with Bruce's higher-than-thou attitude coming from you, kid. Not now."
"Needed to do?" Tim snaps his head to the Alpha. "Did you?! We needed him alive! What were you thinking?!"
"She's dead!" Jason stands, pointing at the pup's body. "I killed the bastard that killed her, and now I'm going to kill the rat that brought her here."
His dealer had been trying to make a break for it, and now he ran. Jason shot at him, catching him in the leg and causing him to drop. He hit his head on the side of a dumpster with a scream and fell unconscious. Jason stalked towards him, kicking the man in the stomach and sending him into the opposite wall.
"Jason stop!" Tim pulls him back, getting between them, and the Alpha raises his gun to his head, putting the barrel right between the Delta's eyes.
"Move." He cocks the gun. "Or I'll go through you as well."
Tim rested his forehead on the gun barrel, no fear in his body. "We need him alive."
"He needs to die."
"What about the others?" Tim's face was cold. "There are still 36 missing people and you just killed the only other person who knew where the fucking boat is. You kill him, we lose that boat and everyone on it."
"Then I'll get the information." Jason pushes past him.
"Hood, wait!"
"Stay out of it, kid!"
Kid. Right. Tim clenches his fist. He needed to do something to catch Jason's attention, anything that might redirect the Alpha's anger so they could have someone get the gangster. He hated it when any of the Bats got like this. He had an idea, but he knew it was risky.
"O?"
"Stephanie and Duke are almost there. Five minutes."
Five minutes. He could do that. He took a deep breath, held it, and as he released it, he released his control of his anger.
"God, you're just like your father." Tim spits at Jason's back. The Alpha freezes, then looks over his shoulder at the younger man, his hand tightening on his pistol.
"What the fuck did you just say to me?" He growls, meeting his Replacement's glare with one of his own.
"Tim, what the fuck are you doing?!" Barbara gasps in his ear.
Buying them time, he thinks.
"I said you're just like Bruce!" The Delta snarls. "You're an emotionally constipated asshole who decided to make a childhood tragedy into their entire fucking personality. You died, big fucking whoop. So has half the fucking cape community! Nightwing has died, Robin has died, Bats has technically died six fucking times! Superman, both Superboy's, three of the Flashes, hell I've even coded a few times in my career! Once at your fucking hand!"
Tim screams the last line at him, pointing at the scar on his throat. Jason lowers the gun, shocked. He hadn't known that the wound had been lethal. The Delta had returned to the streets within two days of the injury. Tim continues, "I don't know what the fuck your problem is -"
"You!" Jason snarls. "You and all the others that came after I died! He shouldn't have trained anyone else after I was killed in that fucking uniform!"
"Fuck you, you entitled bastard." Tim spits. "Spoiler, Black Bat, and Robin would have still gone out without Batman. I would have still been out there! Half of the Colony would have, and they would all be dead right now without Bruce there to help them. What, daddy didn't love you enough, so you decided to run away to find a mommy that also didn't love you, got killed, and now you blame him for your fuck up? Do you think becoming a fucking mob boss and putting heads in a duffle bag will make him love you more?"
Jason shoots at him—Tim ducks behind a dumpster while Jason empties both clips into the metal in a fit of rage.
"Jesus Christ Tim, are you trying to get him to kill you?" Barbara scolds him. "ETA, two minutes."
The Delta pants, the echoes of the gunfire around them fading. There was only one hole in the metal, each bullet having dug through until there was a clean opening to the other side. He winces at the blood welling up on his thigh.
"You don't know anything about me." Jason growls, his entire body shaking in anger. He drops one gun and reloads the other. "That fucking kid everyone wants is dead, and he ain't ever coming back."
"You're right; I don't know anything about you, Hood." Tim stands up; his calm composure irritates Jason, who goes to lift the gun to Tim's head. "But you don't know anything about us either. And who said I wanted that kid back?"
"Excuse me?" Jason snarls, his finger moving away from the trigger in his confusion.
"What, did you forget? Or have you never really thought about it before?" Tim rolls his eyes behind the mask. "I guess I'll spell it out for your thick Alpha brain, then. I'm not Nightwing. I'm not Agent A. I'm not Oracle. And I'm not Batman. The first time we ever met was when you broke into the tower and beat the shit out of me."
Tim pulls his cowl off, glaring at the Alpha. "I never met you when you were Robin, Jason. I knew your name, but I didn't know who you were."
Jason lowers the gun. Tim moves out from behind the dumpster, never dropping his gaze. "I never met the amazing Jace Wayne, the sweetheart of high society. Gotham's very own Cinderella story: the boy that went from rags to riches that was known for charming even the most infamous of the old families. I couldn't give a shit about what you were like when you were a kid, because you're right, you will never be that kid again. You will never be the Robin of my childhood, the Boy Wonder who was sweet and kind and spent more time taking care of the victims than fighting their attackers. That boy -who was supposed to be my big brother- he died. And he's never coming back, and I'll never get to know him. I'll never know what he would be like if he had lived, or if he would have even liked me."
Jason flinches, a sinking feeling in his gut. Tim's glare at him intensifies. "I have never cared to get to know the dead pup you used to be, but I did want to know the grown man that came back. I wanted to get to know you as you are now, the Alpha under the Red Hood. That is the only you I have ever known. And I've only ever been met with threats and violence for something that I can't help, because of your insecurities. Bats and Nightwing have never once treated you like the pup they lost. They loved him, they mourned him, and yes, they still miss him. But they also understand that you're different. They know you're not their pup anymore. They're trying to get to know you again, as an adult, a fresh start, but you're the one that met their efforts with a gun. Of course they're going to be hostile to an Alpha they don't know that attacks their Packmate, especially the Pack pups. You're not the son and brother they lost, and they're not the family you remember either."
"And the others?" Tim was getting worked up, his voice shaking in rage. "Cass, Damian, Duke, Stephanie, Harper and Colin, Azrael, hell even Kate and Bette? None of them know anything about you from when you were Robin. None of them knew your fucking name before you came back as the Red Hood. And you treat them like shit, cause you think everyone is comparing you to that child, who is fucking dead and gone. You are the only one who frankly gives a shit about the opinions of a dead boy."
"I-"
"You're the only one who still cares!" Tim screams. "Is that what you want to hear? The little Crime Alley pup that thought being Robin gave him magic, he's been dead for seven years Jason! No one who came into this family after he died wants him back because none of us knew him! We know you, and we wanted you!"
Jason removes his helmet to meet Tim's glare with one of his own. "Bruce-"
"Oh my fucking god Jason!" Tim scoffs out a laugh. "Bruce went through a lot of shit when he lost you, and I am so sorry that you're angry about how he dealt with his grief at having to find, carry home, and bury his son, by himself."
"You piece of shit." Jason growls. "You think-"
"Do you think," Tim doesn't raise his voice, but Jason still stops when the younger man speaks again. "Do you think the real reason you're so pissed off with them isn't because they didn't mourn you, but because they did? They mourned for you Jason, but they also kept living, they moved on. Maybe the reason you think everyone wants that 15 year old boy back, is because that's what you want. You want to go back to before you ran away. You want to go back to being Robin, and go back to being Bruce's son and Dick's little brother. You want to be that kid who's biggest concern outside patrol was doing your homework and helping Alfred make dinner. You want to be that kid again so bad, and you can't. You can't go back to being that kid, because he was what killed you; he's why you died."
Jason bites back a whine in his throat, shaking his head, even as he glares at Tim.
How dare he?!
Tim presses on. He'd seen Jason's reaction; he knew he'd hit a nerve. "If it hadn't been for Jace Wayne, you wouldn't have ever gone to Ethiopia and met your Dame. Without Jace Wayne, you wouldn't have been given over to the Joker and beaten to death. Without Jace Wayne, you wouldn't have died in that warehouse; you wouldn't have tried to save her, which cost you the time you needed to get out or disable the bomb. Without Jace Wayne, you would have been finishing college right now."
Tim steps forward, and Jason steps back. "You hate him, and you miss being him because he had the family and the life you want back, and he threw it away the second he thought he might get a better deal somewhere else."
"Shut up." Jason growls, blinking rapidly.
"You hate him because you know you can't be him anymore."
"Shut up."
"And you hate the others because he took you away from them. And they're still letting him do it now, seven years after he died. They're letting you set the rules of engagement and you can't forgive yourself enough to come home."
"Shut up!" He screams, lifting his hand, and fires the gun at Tim. The Delta doesn't flinch, even as the bullet comes towards him. He leans with it, the bullet grazing his neck and leaving blood to well up just above his collar where his gland was. His gland. Jason's stomach recoils at seeing the blood well up next to the sensitive muscle. If it had hit, it would have disfigured the Delta for the rest of his life. "I-"
"We're here, Tim." Stephanie's voice comes over the comms.
"I don't care anymore." Tim cuts Jason off. The Delta seems to curl in on himself, wiping the blood away. "I can't keep caring about this shit Jason, if you refuse to meet me halfway. You want to pull a Bruce and act like your the only one who has ever had a hard life, that the world fucking owes you something, fine. You want to clean up Gotham like a more violent Batman, reliving you're fucking tradgity again and again every night, fine. You want to do it all alone, fine. You can work, fight, live, and die again, alone. Fuck you Jason. Don't bother trying to talk to me again."
"Tim-" Jason reaches out to steady the younger man when he sways, and Jason realizes his leg is bleeding. One of the bullets had gotten lodged in his leg. Tim pushes him away.
"Don't bother." He spits, and Jason flinches at the venom in his voice. "Jace Wayne -my Robin, the boy that made me want to be a hero- died in that warehouse. And the man he became is nothing like him. The Red Hood has made his loathing for my very existence finally plain enough for me to get a hint. I guess you finally got what you wanted! And you know what, Jason Todd? You can loan wolf yourself in this fucking alley all you want. Stay away from MY Pack, from MY family, and from MY Colony. You've made it perfectly clear that you're still stuck in the past, and too blind to see what was right in front of you. I won't let you keep hurting people I love because you can't let it go, when they're finally starting to heal from YOUR mistake. Enjoy the rest of your second life, Hood. However long you decide to keep it this time."
The Alpha flinches back, hurt and angry. Tim limps out of the alley and grapples away, leaving Jason alone with the unconscious gangster.
The Alpha stands in the alley, a tear falling from his eye. How the hell was he supposed to fix this? What was he supposed to do now?
Tim breathes a sigh of relief as he watches Jason grab his helmet and leave the man, unconscious but alive, to flee from the scene. He felt lighter than he had in years, and he couldn't figure out if it were because he had gotten to scream his grievances at the Alpha or if it was the blood loss. Stephanie steadies him while Duke goes to secure the gangster.
"What have you done Tim?" She whispers.
"He has a choice to make now." Tim sways. "He's had one foot in Gotham, and one foot in the grave, ever since he came back. I'm tired Steph; he needs to figure out what he wants. We can't help him until he decides if he even wants it."
"Let's hope you haven't influenced it too much, Boyfriend, cause going based on your little rant, I don't know if he will come back."
"Then we'll finally know where we stand with him." Tim sighs. "And we can move on from there."
"Let's get you patched up man." Duke comes up to them, carrying the man with him.
"Let's hope he makes the right choice." Barbara sniffs. "Get our pup back here guys."
"Yes ma'am."