Chapter Text
“Holy interdimensional shenanigans Batman!”
Jason burst out into laughter as Dick released him and Tim.
“Oh my gosh! Look at me!” Dick exclaimed. “I was so cute!”
Tim held back from commenting on the… ‘uniform’.
“Woah, we get taller!” small-Dick commented.
“Yep, I thought we were-”
“Going to be as tall as mom forever,” they finished at the same time.
“Can you still do a quadruple flip?”
“Yep.”
“Are we still Batman’s partner?”
“Nope, we’re Batman’s equal, our own hero.”
“Huh, what’s our name?”
“Nightwing.”
“Cool!” Baby Dick badgered the real Dick for details and wanted to see the suit.
Tim and Jason were far less enthusiastic about this new addition, especially seeing that this might mean that the evil-Dick could find his way here.
Tim was on the comms with Bruce before Jason could even voice concerns.
“Batman, we have a young Robin here, it’s happening again. I think it would be best if you could return to the cave,” Tim spoke.
Batman audibly sighed over the comms, “We’re on our way.”
Tim turned back to Jason and saw that the number of Jason’s had doubled. Batman-Jason had returned, looking a little worse for wear. And it seemed that Damian was now conscious again after his encounter with Demon Head-Tim.
“Batman, er… Jason, are you alright?” Tim asked the alternate Jason.
“I’m fine, but Dick’s gone and I think he’s coming here.”
“Tt. Why would an alternate Grayson want to come here?” Damian asked. Jason and Tim shared a look. They had not shared the details of Dick’s alternate universe with Damian because they hadn’t wanted to freak him out, so they had to be careful in explaining it and-
“Because he’s trying to kidnap you to replace the Damian that died in our universe.”
Or Batman-Jason would just say it extremely bluntly.
The kid seemed to accept that well enough, however, and decided to go hover by his Grayson.
“Do you have any idea of a possible timeline?” Tim asked.
“No, this is not an exact science, I left after him, but I got here before, unless he miscalculated and landed outside the cave, but-”
“Batman to Red Robin, we were ambushed by an alternate Dick Grayson, Cass is injured, I have to take her to Leslie. He was heading in the direction of the cave, initiate a full lockdown procedure and do not engage until I return. Batman out.”
Everyone looked around with pale faces, except the young-Dick, who wasn’t really sure what was going on.
“Am I the only one who thinks there is no way we’re keeping Dick out of this cave?” the real Jason spoke.
“I agree,” his counterpart said.
“Tt. Seconded,” Damian contributed.
“Well then what do we do?” Dick asked.
Tim looked to Jason, who seemed like he had an idea. “I think that Dick and Damian should leave, like right now. Take the Zeta up to the Watchtower. If this other Dick can track Damian, he’ll have a hell of a time getting past Clark and J’onn, and if he shows up at the cave, the three of us-” he gestured to himself, Batman-Jason and Tim “-should be able to delay him until Bruce gets here for backup.”
“Tt. I will not run like a coward,” Damian said sharply.
“I also don’t like this plan, not because of the leaving part, but because I know myself, I would be the most effective opponent against me,” Dick said.
“He has had years more training and experience, you wouldn’t recognize your own style anymore,” Batman-Jason pointed out. “And there is nothing wrong with a tactical retreat, it’s not cowardly.”
“Whoever goes with Damian, we need Robin here to go too,” Tim said referring to the younger Dick.
“No way, I want to help with… whatever’s going on here.”
“No,” everyone else said at the same time. Dick pouted.
“What if we just send them together?” Jason suggested.
Tim glanced at Dick, who gave him a small nod, and Batman-Jason also nodded, “Okay, get in the tube you two.”
Damian looked furious, but he complied. Robin, who was unfamiliar with Zeta tubes, was very excited to discover that he was about to be teleported into space. He was practically bouncing.
“Stop vibrating,” Damian snapped at the boy who was just a little younger than him.
“But how can I?! This is so cool!”
“Okay, beaming up,” Tim said.
Suddenly, Damian and Robin were standing in the watchtower, and Superman was standing in front of them. “Robin and-” He stopped and looked confused for a moment, “Robin… what’s going on?”
“There is an alternate version of Grayson that is trying to kidnap me for some reason or another. He was heading to the cave, and it was decided, not by me,” Damian gritted. “That we would be safer up here.”
“And, who is we?”
“I’m Dick,” Robin said.
Clark blinked.
“This is another alternate version, it was deemed too dangerous for him down there as well. I’m certain my father will explain everything later.”
“Okay, well, come into the monitoring room with J’onn and me, oh, and Barry’s here too, so you guys should be totally safe,” Clark said with a smile.
Damian didn’t look too pleased, but Dick still found the idea of the Watchtower to be awesome. “Cool! Uncle Clark? Can you breathe in space?” He asked. Damian rolled his eyes.
“Sure can kiddo,” Clark said with a huge smile as he walked down the corridors with them.
“Tt. That is an oversimplification,” Damian said. Robin did not seem to care.
They entered the main control room and Dick’s brain almost exploded. There was a large window looking out into space.
“Holy galaxy Batman!” He nearly squealed. “This is awesome!!”
He bounced over to the window and basically plastered his face onto the glass to get a better look at the stars.
“Uh, Superman, is that…”
“Apparently, Batman is having some sort of inter-dimensional crisis?” Clark spoke with more than a hint of uncertainty. “This is a younger Dick Grayson.”
“Uncle Barry!” Dick exclaimed happily.
Flash grinned and was at the kid’s side in an instant, “Hey Robin, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you this small, you’re adorable.” He booped Robin on the nose, which Dick laughed at. Damian would have cut off the man’s hand for doing something so disrespectful and asinine.
“Tt. Superman, can you hear the goings-on in the Batcave?” Damian asked.
“No, sorry kid, Batman lined the thing with lead a long time ago,” Superman said.
Damian wanted to be mad about that, but it was true that occasionally the alien had a bad habit of sticking his nose in places where it didn’t belong.
So Damian waited… and waited… and waited. And just like when it seemed that he was going to have no other choice than to dispatch the infuriatingly upbeat Dick Grayson, Bruce walked into the control room.
“Robins,” he started. Damian looked over as Dick bounded over a chair and did a handspring right into Bruce’s arms. “Hello, Richard.”
“Hi Bruce,” Dick said, beaming. Bruce put the boy back on the ground.
“We are returning to the cave, it is safe.”
“You dealt with the interloper?” Damian asked.
“Yes, he is still present, however. Dick said that he was no longer a threat and that it wouldn’t do any harm to allow the two of you to meet. Regardless, I will be right beside you the entire time.”
Damian nodded at that. He wasn’t scared, certainly not, he was just concerned. How could this family of imbeciles possibly function without him there to keep them alive? Clearly, that had been the problem in this alternate-Grayson’s future.
...
Thirty minutes before…
Tim, Jason, Dick and Batman-Jason were suited up and ready to face the evil-Dick.
“When he shows up, let me talk with him first,” Batman-Jason said.
“He’s dangerous,” Tim pointed out.
“He’s my brother,” Batman-Jason said back determinedly. “I know he’s in there somewhere.”
Dick glanced at his Jason, and then immediately back to the floor. He was having a hard time with all this.
The alarm went off, indicating someone had entered the cave tunnels uninvited. Batman-Jason stepped forward in front of the others.
A figure gracefully fell from the ceiling and landed a few meters in front of Batman-Jason.
“Dick,” he said.
“Batman,” evil-Dick spat.
Jason removed the cowl and tossed it aside. He took a step forward. Dick took a step back.
“Dick, I’m sorry,” Jason said. “I’m sorry that this happened to you.”
Dick twitched. “You’re sorry ? How could you possibly understand?!” Dick shouted back.
“I’ve lost everything too,” Jason said almost gently.
Dick shook his head and angry tears rolled down his cheeks. “But you can’t understand! You’ve never known what it was like to lose a child like that! To hear him screaming! Calling for you to help him! But you can’t! You have no idea!”
The real Dick felt a little nauseous.
“I do know what that feels like because I’m standing here watching you. I know it’s different, but you’re my brother, you’re in pain, and you need help. Let me help you, Dick,” Jason took a step forward.
Dick pulled a knife, “Stay back,” he warned.
Jason stepped forward, he was right in front of Dick, “I know you think you can’t come back, that it’s too late, but it’s not. We can leave Gotham together, we can travel, go to Greece like you always wanted. We can be brothers, maybe for the first time in our lives. And I know that you hate that I’m here and he’s not, I hate that too. If it were possible, and I could die to bring him back, I would, in a heartbeat. But I can’t help him, I can help you. If you let me.”
Dick stared at him for a moment, betraying no emotion, and then suddenly rage flashed across his face and he let out a shout as he stabbed Jason in the chest.
Batman-Jason didn’t move, didn’t react to being stabbed, he grabbed Dick’s hand, which was still holding onto the knife and squeezed it. The others were frozen behind them.
“Big bird…” Jason said with a wheeze. Trying to breathe through the pain with a knife in his lung was difficult.
Dick’s eyes widened as if he was shocked that he had done that. He began to sob, “Jason, no, no, no, no, I’m sorry, I don’t know why I- Jay, please, please just-” Dick was hyperventilating. He caught Jason as he fell. “No, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, little wing… please don’t leave me, please don’t go.”
“Dickie… it’s okay, I forgive you,” Jason rasped. He pulled the knife out of his chest and it clattered to the floor as blood began to dribble from his nose and mouth. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not, it’s not, I- I-” Dick turned to Tim and the real Jason and Dick. “Please, please help me!” He shouted. This spurred them into action.
Tim knelt at Batman-Jason’s side, “I’m going to need a chest tube and the emergency suture kit and some surgical clamps and all the gauze you can find!” Tim shouted to Dick and Jason. He looked up at alternate-Dick, who was borderline hysterical. “Dick, I need you to keep his head elevated, and keep him talking, okay?”
Alternate-Dick nodded. He shifted so Jason’s head was almost in his lap. “I’m so sorry, little wing, I’m so sorry.”
“No... I’m sorry, I-” Jason hissed as Tim started to put pressure on the wound. “I wasn’t there… for you, like you… needed.” Jason was running out of time. The real Jason came back with a chest tube and the large surgical needle.
“This is going to hurt, I’m sorry,” Tim said to Jason before stabbing it in between his ribs. This was a part of Bat first-aid. Stab wounds and gunshot wounds to the chest needed to be able to be dealt with by anyone, because calling the paramedics wasn’t an option, and if you weren’t close to Leslie or Alfred, you would die. So Bruce thoroughly taught all the bats how to do these things. Tim wasn’t complaining now.
Jason shouted out in pain and that sent Dick on another hysteric spiral. “I’m sorry, Jay, for everything, you’re right, I took everything from you, I’m sorry.”
Jason minutely shook his head, gasping as Tim dug around in his chest trying to stop all the bleeding. “Not- not everything. I still have… still have you. My-my big brother…” Jason trailed off, and his eyes went glassy. The real Dick and Jason, who were on either side of Tim went still, and the alternate Dick began shaking as heaving sobs wracked his body.
“What are you two doing, keep the pressure, I think I stopped the bleeding and-” Tim stopped as Jason shook his head at him, his fingers to his counterpart’s wrist.
Tim took his hands out of the hole in Batman-Jason’s chest, and they all found themselves moving away from his body as Dick cradled his head. “My little brother,” he breathed in between sobs. “Little Wing.”
He took a moment and then snapped out of the sobbing. He took the knife that he had stabbed Jason with and he moved like he was about to cut his own throat. The real Jason stepped in.
“Dick, don’t do that,” he spoke calmly.
“I have nothing left, my family is gone and it’s my fault .”
Jason shook his head, “He wouldn’t want you to do this. He said he would have died to save Damian if he could, and I know he’d be more than willing to die if it meant saving you too.”
“But there’s nothing left to save, what I’ve done is-is-” Dick stopped and began to cry again. He was about to go through with it, but then just before he could completely press the knife into his neck, and hand from below him knocked the knife away. Jason was alive, again.
“Don’t,” he gasped.
Dick’s eyes widened, “You-you’re, Jay, is this-”
Jason shifted and some of the gauze surrounding his wound fell to the floor and revealed a stab wound that already looked half-healed.
“I’m going to be fine, I have advanced healing, I’ll be okay in a few minutes. Might need a nap,” he added with a small grin.
Dick sat there, frozen for just one moment, and then he practically curled forward into Jason’s chest and began to sob against him.
With the situation seemingly diffused, the real Dick launched himself at the real Jason and attempted to hug the life out of him. Jason returned the hug with minimal grumbling.
Everyone stopped what they were doing as the Batmobile roared into the cave and Batman leapt out, ready for a fight. Instead, he saw two sets of Dick and Jason, where Dick was upset and Jason was trying to console him. And Tim was standing awkwardly, looking between the pairs. He glanced at Bruce and gave him a small shrug, and Batman stood down.
…
So Damian came back to the cave and saw his Grayson, who smiled warmly at him. He paused at Jason, who seemed uncomfortable.
“Damian, everything is fine here,” Bruce reassured.
“Tt. I was not concerned,” Damian said, even though everyone knew he was lying. Despite his fears, he walked up to the alternate Grayson, who was standing beside the alternate Jason.
The older man knelt down so he was the same height. “Dami… I’m sorry, for all this.”
Damian was silent for a moment, “You are fine. It has brought the family some level of amusement.” He paused. “I cannot say that I would have reacted similarly, but I do know that when… when we all thought you were dead, I would have done anything to get you back too.” The last part was almost a whisper.
Alternate-Dick’s lips were trembling. “Can-can I…?” He opened his arms slightly. Damian hugged the man. “Thank you,” he murmured. They held that position for a moment, and then Dick kissed the top of Damian’s head. “I love you, little bird.” He then stood on shaking legs and stepped back to his Jason, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“Ready?” Batman Jason asked his Dick. The older man nodded, staring at Damian all the while. Jason smiled at Tim, “See you around baby bird,” he said with a longing smirk. A brief look of guilt flashed over Dick’s face, and then they were gone.
A collective breath was taken in the cave. Bruce put a hand on Damian’s shoulder and smiled reassuringly down on him.
“Jay, can I talk to you?” Dick asked. He and Jason went off to a quieter corner by the showers.
Tim worked on sending the other Dick Grayson home.
“This was super duper weird,” he said as Tim entered his information into the Batcomputer.
“Yeah,” Tim agreed.
Dick paused and looked at Tim, “If I tell people in my universe stuff about this universe, will it explode or something?”
“No. It’s perfectly safe, and I’m sure Batman’s going to want to know where you’ve been,” Tim said with a knowing smile.
Dick grinned, “Yeah, we’re going to have to talk about it forever . But… I can change things?”
“You can change things,” Tim confirmed.
Dick looked up at Tim, “I’m not going to forget anything, I’m not gonna forget you, Tim Drake. Robin’s gonna come find little Timmy.”
Tim was blinking back tears, “I think- I think little Timmy will really, really like that.”
Dick grinned at him, “Beam me up, Timmy!”
Tim laughed as little-Dick disappeared. He wiped his eyes and took a breath before joining Bruce and Damian in the middle of the cave.
“Well, I’m glad that’s over,” Tim said, mostly to Bruce.
“Indeed,” Damian agreed.
Tim grinned down at Damian, “Good to see you didn’t throttle baby-Robin.”
“Tt. Not as if I did not want to.”
Tim laughed a little at that, he even noticed a hint of a smile on Bruce’s face.
“I am going to inform Pennyworth that the situation is handled,” Damian said.
“I’m hungry, I’ll come,” Tim said.
The two went upstairs, their rivalry went forgotten for the time being.
Meanwhile, Dick was just trying to process what he had just seen. “I’m sorry I was such a terrible brother to you, Jay.”
Jason rolled his eyes, “How many times do I have to say it, Dickface, that wasn’t you.”
“No, no, not that. I meant about before. When we were kids.” Jason stilled. “I was awful because I was jealous of how much Bruce loved you. And then you were gone and I… I guess I tried to make up for it with Tim and Damian, but Tim will barely talk to me anymore, and-” Dick composed himself. “I’ve been a bad brother, a bad friend.”
Jason wasn’t sure what to say, so he just started to talk and hoped he reached some sort of conclusion. “Yeah, you’re right. You were an asshole to me before I died, and there was never a time when I met one of your old friends that they didn’t remind me exactly where I stood with them. So yeah, I didn’t get to do a lot of things that might’ve changed things. I didn’t make a team, because they all hated me and adored you. I didn’t ever think that leaving to take a break from Bruce was an option because I never had anywhere else to go. But you were a kid too. A kid who thought that his dad didn’t give a shit about him and had just replaced him and I-” Jason took a breath, “I understand how that feels. So I get it, and I’m telling you this once , I forgive you.”
Dick hugged the man, “Thanks Jaybird.”
“Do not call me that.”
“Okay, whatever you say, Little Wing,” Dick said with a grin.
They turned to see Tim and Damian talk civilly and walk up the stairs. Bruce turned to the computer. Dick and Jason shared a look, Jason jerked his head toward the stairs, communicating that Dick should go upstairs with the kids while Jason would talk to B.
Dick followed his little birds, Jason approached the big bat.
“You alright, B?” Jason asked.
“It’s been a tiring day.”
“Yeah.”
There was a long and awkward silence.
“I’m going to kill him,” Jason blurted out.
Bruce’s head snapped toward Jason.
“The Joker, I’m going to kill him now, before he can ruin this universe like he ruined that one. I know you can’t ever say that it’s for the best, and I’ll understand if that means we’ll be enemies again,” Jason spoke strongly.
Bruce could see right through the young man, however. He knew that he was terrified that Bruce was going to tell him he wouldn’t be welcome, or that he was going to send him to the police.
So Bruce chose his words carefully. “I don’t want you to kill, not because I don’t think that you are making the right moral decision, but because I think that it hurts a part of you that’s very difficult to heal. If you feel that you need to do this, I won’t stop you, but I don’t want you to get hurt either.”
Jason was standing very still, “You’re not- I don’t think you understand. I’m going to kill him .” Bruce didn’t react further, “What if I don’t kill him, what if I torture him like he tortured me, or shoot him in the spine like he shot Barbara? What if I make it last days, or weeks, or until he begs for forgiveness and then finally end it?” Jason’s eyes were teary and starting to glow green.
Bruce still did not react angrily like he knew Jason was expecting him to. “As I said, Jay, I don’t care what happens to him, I care about what happens to you. If doing any of that will… help you, then I’m not going to stop you.” Bruce looked Jason in the eyes, “I just want you to feel better, Jason. I think you haven’t felt okay in a long time.” Jason was hugging Bruce barely before he finished his sentence. Bruce held his son tightly, “It’s okay, you can let it go,” Bruce whispered into his hair. Jason’s shoulders began to tremble as he cried into his dad’s shoulder for the first time in many years. “You’ve been so strong, Jay. You’ve been in so much pain and you’ve done so much good. I am so proud of you.”
… Three Weeks Later …
“Okay, that’s the last box,” Jason said. He and the family stood in the newly renovated Penthouse now surrounded by boxes and a breathtaking view of the sunset.
Bruce smiled beside him and clapped him on the shoulder. “All moved in.” Bruce glanced at Dick and Damian, who were lingering as if they wanted to speak to Jason and Tim in private, so Bruce said his goodbyes. “I love you both, be good to each other and I’ll see you for family dinner on Friday.”
“See you B,” Tim said.
“Bye dad,” Jason replied.
Bruce left and Damian stepped up. “Tt. Todd, you are a very deranged man for wanting to be with Drake, however… I give the two of you my blessing.”
Jason smirked and Tim narrowed his eyes. “Thanks, baby bat,” Jason said with more than a hint of sarcasm.
Damian turned to leave, and now only Dick remained. Alfred had said his goodbyes back at the manor and had hidden a card in the big bag of food he had packed up for them.
“You two going to be okay all the way out here?” Dick asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
Jason shared a knowing look with Tim. “We’ll be fine. And we’ll miss you too, you dork.”
Dick grinned and hugged both his little brothers, “Okay, I’ll see you around!”
“Bye Dick.”
“Bye Wingding.”
Jason sighed as everyone left. “Now we start to unpack, I guess.”
Tim grinned up at him, “I can think of something I would much rather be doing.” He had to go on his tippy-toes to peck Jason on the lips.
Jason did smile a little, “I have to get ready.”
Tim’s smile faltered a little, “You’re sure I can’t come with you?”
“I’m sure. I… I need to do this by myself. That day, it was just him and I, I need it to end like that too.”
Tim hugged Jason and rested his head against Jason’s chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. “You aren’t alone, though. Not anymore.”
“I know, and when I’m done, I’m going to come back home, to you, and I’ll never be alone again,” Jason said softly.
That night, Jason went out in the Red Hood uniform, but instead of patrolling his usual area, he went straight to a warehouse where he knew the Joker was hiding. He quickly and quietly made fools of the men guarding the place, and then he walked up to the Joker and subtly shot a dart at the deranged clown.
You see, Jason had a lot of time to think about how he had wanted to do this, and he decided he didn’t want the Joker to get a word in. So a paralytic in a dart that would render him unable to move, but yet fully conscious as Jason said his final piece.
“You ruined my life, destroyed it like you destroyed me. But you know what the strange thing about this all is? If that had never happened, then the man I love would still be all alone in a big house, wishing every day that someone would come and take him away. My big brother would still be distant and an ass. My baby brother would still be with his bastard of a grandfather. So your joke? It didn’t work, it made me stronger, it fixed us. And when I kill you, it’s going to fix Gotham, make her stronger. And no one will build any monument to you, and you’ll slowly fade away, you know why?”
Jason had thought about this part the most. How he wanted to string Joker up in the street, or dump his mutilated body at the doorstep of the GCPD. But that wasn’t what the city needed. No one needed another reminder of the Joker and what he had done.
“Because I’m not going to tell anyone. I’m going to hide every piece of evidence. No one will know what happened, not the Batman, not the police, not your little gang, not the people of Gotham. They’re going to think that Batman finally ran you off, they’re going to think that you gave up, and then they’re going to stop thinking about you. And you’ll be forgotten.”
Jason took out his kris, the one Talia had given him after he had been resurrected. He slit Joker’s throat and watched as he died just like anyone would, like the human he was. And Jason worked all night, and then as the sun was breaking over the city, he came back home to Tim and he had the best sleep of his life.