Soundtrack: Brother by NeedToBreathe
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Jason sat on the edge of one of the larger buildings in Gotham, a thin layer of patterned frost coated everything in sight. He took a drag from his lit cigarette and exhaled slowly, watching the smoke drift upward and disappear.

The nearly full moon illuminated the sky above Gotham, casting silvery light on a few sparse clouds. Jason could feel the cold night air seeping through the edges of his jacket, he realized even if he hadn't been smoking his breath would have still looked like vapor.

It had been a particularly hectic night on his patrol. Tim wasn't kidding, Gotham had been crazy, more so then usual. But the thing about it was, no matter how bad the rest of Gotham was, Crime Ally was always worse. Needless to say, the long patrol had left Jason feeling weary and exhausted. He had stopped for a smoke break and would be heading home in a few hours, when the sun would begin to rise and melt the frozen city.

Then he heard the faint echo of a grappling gun being fired. Jason sighed, his visible breath mingling with the cigarette smoke as they both floated away. He was hoping to be left alone tonight.

Ever since the 'portrait incident' nearly a week ago, Dick and Tim wouldn't leave him alone. Bruce was actually staying away oddly enough. If Jason was being truthful, the two of them constantly coming around was starting to get a little annoying. He didn't want their pity, if they cared so much why hadn't they thought to include him in the first place?

In the end, Jason was over that. Yeah it still hurt, but it was more of a dull ache now. He would simply bury it and store it away in his collection of shitty memories. Leaving him out of the portrait wasn't the worst thing Bruce had done to him. It hurt, but it was nothing compared to Ethiopia. Jason wasn't sure if he would ever fully get over that.

A moment later, Red Robin landed a few feet behind Jason, doing a tuck and roll in the process. At least it was the member of the bat-clan that Jason found the least annoying. Well, the kid had been a little more annoying lately, seeing as he wouldn't leave him alone.

"What are you doing here, Replacement, this isn't your usual patrol route." Jason spoke with hints of annoyance in his voice, taking another puff from his cigarette.

"Everything's pretty quiet on my side of town. Thought I'd drop by, see if you were all good." Tim replied, walking over and taking a seat next to Jason.

"For the last time, I'm fine. Just like the other dozen times you've asked me this week." Jason grumbled.

"Just checking." Tim answered.

"Well stop it, stop acting like some worried mother hen, that's Dickhead's act. I'm fine. Drop it." Jason snapped.

That was partly a lie, at least that last part. No matter how much Jason hated it, a part of him still wasn't fine. A part of him was still hurt from being was left out. He hated that feeling. Hated that they had ability to hurt him with something so simple.

"Okay, sorry." Tim raised his hands defensively.

Jason brought his cigarette to his lips and breathed in the nicotine.

"So what are you doing here, surely you didn't come all this way just to annoy me." Jason stated wryly.

"I always come to annoy you. But your right, I actually have some information I thought you might be interested in." Tim replied.

"Shoot."

"There's a Wayne Gala this Saturday." Tim began.

"Yeah. That interests me why?" Jason muttered

"I heard that there was a new crime lord trying to move into Crime Alley." Tim stated.

Jason nodded.

"His name's Victor Shade, he runs a fairly large gang and he's trying to push back my turf." Jason informed, "He sells hard drugs to kids and is an all-around scumbag. And when I find him, I'm gonna shoot the son of a bitch in the face." He stated, violently putting out his cigarette stub and tossing it off the edge of the building.

"Well, I can't condone the face-shooting, but word is he's dealing to one of the big corporate's in Gotham." Tim said.

Jason nodded once more, still unsure of what Tim was getting at.

"He's gonna be at the Gala. Thought maybe you could get some intel, it might give you an edge." Tim explained.

Jason let out a small scuff.

"Timbers, I'm all for getting an edge, but I really don't want to go to some stuffy Wayne gala. Especially if Bruce is gonna be there." Jason protested.

"Can't you just eavesdrop and feed me back the intel?" He suggested.

"I'm not gonna be an accessory to whatever you got planned for that guy." Tim replied, "And besides I have my own Wayne Enterprise business I have to do while I'm there." He added.

Jason sighed, exasperated. "Alright. But I'm staying as far away from Bruce as I can."

"Sounds like a plan." Tim spoke, before getting up.

"See you later, lil wing." Tim called over his shoulder, doing his best impression of Dick.

"Go to hell!" Jason yelled in annoyance.

Tim threw his head back and cackling before firing his grappling gun and swinging away.

Jason racked a hand through his hair. What the hell was he doing now?
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Buildings whizzed by as Red Robin swung away, after he had built up enough momentum Tim put away the grappling gun and expanded his cape. He immediately caught air and began to glide above Gotham.

That had honestly gone better than he had expected. He had succeeded in what he had set out to do. He had convinced Jason to come to the Gala, which was just step one of a much larger plan. Tim was tired of Jason always being left out, and now he was determined to do something about it. It wasn't enough to just talk or, yell, or even apologize for it. He had to do something about it, because Bruce sure as hell wasn't going to. When it came to Jason, suddenly the master detective was incapable of rational thought.

Jason may claim he's fine, and his constant assertions thereof would probably convince everybody else. But Tim knew better. So he got to doing what he did best, planning. He was going to try and bring Jason closer to the family, Alfred and Dick were already behind the idea.

But Tim knew he would have to start small and tread lightly. Jason was a lot like a very grumpy, abused cat, get to close to fast he would lash out and probably claw your face off.

Tim smiled at the mental image.

He knew he would need to start small and ease him into it. Something business-like and formal was a good place, the Gala was perfect. However, he knew Jason would never come unless he had a good reason, a business reason.

So Tim had manipulated a few situations here, staged a few small accidents there. Before he knew it the crime lord currently at the top of Jason's list, was having to come to the Gala to meet one of his clients in person. The best part, neither Shade nor Jason would ever figure out it was him. All in all, tonight was a win. But there was still a lot Tim had to do.

The hard part was going to be trying to keep Bruce from screwing it up, as he always seemed to in matters that concerned Jason. So far they had been able to keep him separate from Jason, but eventually that wasn't going to work anymore. As Jason had said, he wasn't sure what was going to happen when they were in the same room together. Truthfully, Tim sure wasn't either. He wasn't sure what Bruce was going to say when he finally got around to 'talking' to Jason. Tim was willing to bet it wasn't going to be a proper apology though.

The Dark Knight actually acting emotionally mature and apologizing, now that was a joke. Bruce might feel sorry for it, but getting him to say it was another matter entirely. That was part of the problem, those two sucked at talking, especially to each other.

The thing that Bruce never got was that at the end of the day, Jason just wanted the same things that all children want from their parental figures. The same thing that all of the other Robins wanted at one point or another. To know that Bruce cared.

Despite all that, Tim was still undeterred. He was going to do his best to right this wrong. To keep his brother in the loop. He already had Dick and Alfred on his side. Then there was Damain who...could still be a little brat sometimes, but he would work around that.

Right now the main concern was including Jason and attempting to get him used to being around the family.

Tim just hoped he could pull this off.
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Jason tucked his hands in his pockets as weaved through the crowd of posh, rich people, the tie around his neck was annoyingly tight. He hadn't been to one of these things since before his death, and to say he was uncomfortable was an understatement. He had to keep reminding himself that this was business, not personal. He needed to keep his mind-set accordingly.

Jason was a Crime Alley kid, this had never been his type of crowd, even when he lived with Bruce. Still though, he thought he was doing a pretty good job at blending in, the practice he had gotten while he was Robin helped. He wore clothes that were nice enough to blend in, but not too nice as to draw unwanted attention to himself.

Jason still recognized a lot of the people there, he just hoped none of them recognized him. He doubted they would, the last time any of these people had seen him he was a smart-ass little boy who had missed a few growth spurts. Now...he was very different.

Besides, he was legally dead, so even if someone thought they might recognize him they would more than likely dismiss it.

Jason glanced around the room, this used to be his life. It was an odd feeling, he used to know a lot of these people, and now to them he was just a ghost. Except it's a lot harder when you're still around after people move on. Then again, Jason had been dealing with this ever since he came back. He really did feel like a ghost, an echo of who he used to be. That was all he was to Bruce, all he was to anyone. An echo that would one day, probably sooner than later, fade away.

Jason was pulled from his thoughts by a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find Tim, he too wore a nice suit and tie. Even though he was still just a teenager, he had the air of a businessman, including the bags under his eyes.

"Hey Jay." He greeted with a slight smile.

"Hey." Jason greeted, less enthusiastically.

"Have you seen Shade yet?" Jason asked as they began to walk side by side though the crowd.

"No." Tim shook his head.

"But, see that guy or over there." Tim gave a covert gesture in the man's direction.

Jason nodded. The man was tall, blonde, and looked like your typical young rich guy.

"Name's Arthur Bronson, he has connections to a lot of different places in Gotham, including the crime world. If your guy's meeting someone here of all places, I'd bet it's him." Tim informed in a quiet tone.

"How much are you willing to bet, because this guy doesn't exactly scream 'shady crime connections.'" Jason answered quietly.

"My spleen." Tim stated.

"You don't have a spleen." Jason countered.

Tim snickered slightly as they continued to walk.

Jason then stopped in his tracks, a few feet away was Bruce and Dick, from where Jason was standing he could see Steph, Cass, and Damian standing over by the food table. Apparently, everybody was there. Dick and Bruce began to walk closer.

"Jay, you're here." Dick said in his usual and downright annoying, chipper tone.

"Jason." Bruce spoke, except there was more shock in his voice, and Jason couldn't help but notice that he tensed slightly.

Any regret Jason had about coming tonight was now magnified by a million.

"Relax okay, I'm here on business that has nothing do with any of you. I'll be in and out like I was never here." Jason answered firmly.

"I'm not here to ruin your family event." He added before turning and walking away.

"Jason." He heard Tim call, but he kept walking. He really needed to distance himself from that situation, or any situation they involved Bruce at the moment.

This was one of the reasons he really didn't want to come. Because it just made him feel all the more unwelcome. He was an anomaly here, something that shouldn't be there, and he knew it. The Red Hood was a soldier, but he was not family. At least not to Bruce anyway. Jason took a deep breath and collected himself. He had work to do.
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An hour later Jason was heading for door. He had gotten everything he needed to take down Shade's operation and drive him out of his turf. By the time Jason was done with him, his business would be severely damaged. As much as Jason wanted to shoot him, he would leave him alive, he would make an example of him instead. A plan was already starting to form in Jason's mind and he would set it into motion tomorrow night, when Shade's next shipment went down.

The sooner that asshat was out, the quicker it would calm down. Things were always more chaotic when a new Crime Lord was fighting for turf, and it made it hell, more so then usual, for the people who actually lived in the slum that was Crime Alley.

Jason might not technically fall into the category of 'good guy,' but he protected the people there. He knew what it was like to live there, the dangers and the hardships. He did his best to lookout for the people who were going through the same things he had. Crime Alley would never truly be safe, but he tried his best to make it better.

"Hey. Where are you going?" Tim spoke, jogging to catch up.

"Got what I needed, I'm outta here." Jason shrugged.

"You're already here, can't you stay for a few?" Tim inquired.

"No way, not while Bruce is hanging around. I'm not in the mood for or any arguments or one of his 'talks' tonight." Jason answered.

"Bruce had to leave, he got an emergency call from the League. Intergalactic business." Tim informed.

"If it makes any difference, I think I just saw one of Dick's ex's show up, they parted on pretty bad terms and if you stick around, you might see him get slapped in the face." Tim added, with a slight smirk.

Jason contemplated it, these type of events really where not his thing, but on the other hand Bruce wasn't currently there, and Jason didn't like to miss a chance to see Dick get slapped...or punched, whatever worked.

"What the hell, why not." Jason sighed.

Tim grinned.

They headed back into the main area and Tim started making his way to the rest of the group, Jason trailed a ways behind him. Dick, Damian, Cass, and Steph were standing around talking when Tim walked up, Jason in tow.

"Hi...Jason." Steph greeted, a few hints of shock in her voice.

"Hey, guys." Jason gave a slight wave.

Damian just glared at him, and Cass gave him a skeptical look. He couldn't really blame her, they hadn't had the most conventional of meetings. But unlike the others, as soon as he was close enough Dick had already pulled Jason into a bone crushing hug. Jason squirmed and tried to break free.

"Would you get off, Dickhead." Jason grunted.

A few moments he released him from his death grip, and looked him straight in the eyes, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I've been meaning to say this for a while but, I'm sorry, Jason. Bruce never should've taken you back to Ethiopia. I didn't know he did that." Dick spoke, his expression serious.

"It's fine. He was desperate and grieving." Jason shrugged off Dick's hand.

"It still didn't make it okay." Dick replied.

"Todd." Damian spoke up, stepping forward.

He stopped for a moment as if he was piecing the right words together.

Damian finally spoke. "You are an honor-less imbecile, but nevertheless I too regret the actions father took against you. It was not right for him to do what he did."

Jason stood stunned, blinking a few times. That was unexpected, he had just gotten something that resembled an apology from the demon spawn. Damian, for the most part, hated Jason. They didn't get along, but somehow they had established some weird kind of respect for each other since Damian came back.

"Thanks Dami." Jason smiled slightly and ruffled his hair.

That earned him another glare as Damian begrudgingly fixed his hair, and Jason was pretty sure he heard him mutter a curse word in Arabic.

"Hey, I think that's Tracy." Dick spoke glancing at a woman who was standing in the crowd several feet away.

"I need to go talk to her." Dick added before walking in her direction.

"That's her, wait for it..." Tim whispered in Jason's direction.

As soon as Dick walked over to her the situation quickly turned hostile. The woman looked less then pleased with Dick, she seemed to be angrily yelling at him. After a few moments her palm collided with his cheek.

"Woah." Jason exclaimed a slight laugh at the suddenness and ferocity of the slap. Yep, totally worth it.

Tim made a hiss of pain, because even though he wasn't the one hurting, it looked painful. The sound was actually audible even from across the room. The girl turned on her heel and walked away. Dick began to make his way back over to the group, holding his cheek.

"I think she knocked a tooth loose." Dick whined, rubbing his face.

Jason snickered but got a nudge in the ribs from Cassandra of all people. She looked at him and shook her head, though there was a ghost of a smile on her features.

"Grayson, did that wench harm you?" Damian growled.

"No, Dami, it's fine, she didn't hurt me." Dick assured.

"Besides it's like a tradition after a bad break up." Stephanie chimed in.

"It's traditional for a female to strike a male after they end relations?" Damian said, perplexed. "Your customs never cease to confuse me."

"Okay, Dick's bizarre love life aside." Jason changed the subject, "How long you guys gotta hang around here for anyway?" Jason added.

"Only a few more hours, we should be out of here in time for patrol." Tim spoke up, glancing down at his watch.

"Hey, why don't you join us, lil wing? We could use a hand, especially since Bruce is out of town. Well, planet now." Dick suggested.

After a few moments, everybody else seemed to agree with Dick.

Jason looked at them with suspicion.

Something had to be up. He could understand Tim getting him to come to the Gala that was mutually beneficial to Gotham. But now they were asking him to patrol with them. Him, the 'failure Robin,' the big bad Red Hood. Was it pity? Guilt?

Jason's instincts told him to run, because there had to be more to this than that. Maybe they'd been body snatched or something?

On the other hand, their company so far hadn't been awful. Part of him really didn't want to leave, didn't want to be alone. Even if he was used to it, and knew he'd be better off patrolling by himself. It was the same part that sometimes got homesick, the part that felt empty and upset when he was left out. He hated that part of him, because at that moment, it won out to his instincts.

Reluctantly, he agreed.