Nightwing was cornered from all sides and outnumbered as the Assassins closed in on him, attacking lethally. And though he was trying his best to keep up with them, attacking and defending simultaneously, deep down he knew it would only be a matter of time before they would take him out.

But he could not give up. He was trained by Batman to fight till his very last breath and that was exactly what he was going to do. 

Slade Wilson had showed up unexpectedly in Gotham armed with an entire league of Assassins he had trained himself. Not much was known about the reason behind Slade's abrupt attack at the city, except for the fact that it was tied to the Bat vigilantes as well as the League Of Shadows.

At the current moment, Red Robin was held hostage by Deathstroke so Batman had gone to rescue Tim while Nightwing was left in charge of Gotham with Barbara as Oracle.

His connection to Oracle had also been severed during the battle with the Assassins and it was getting extremely difficult for him to stand his ground. With no knowing whether Batman had gotten to Tim yet nor any connection with Oracle, Nightwing could only hope that Barbara would send someone as backup.

His escrima sticks flashed in the darkness of the night as he fought off the Assassins who were themselves dressed in a dark fabric aiding them to blend with the shadows, making them difficult to spot and block.

The blade of one sword cut through his suit and he spun around quickly to disarm the attacker but was met with another blow in the back. The charge on his sticks gleamed as he electrocuted one of them, missing another attack by mere inches.

However, he was completely cornered and it was becoming very difficult for him to keep track of the attackers all at once, hence he was sustaining much more damage as compared to the opponents.

He missed a shuriken by sheer luck but another three came flying towards him at a swift pace. However, before the ninja stars could strike him, he was pushed down to the ground. Three shots were fired and then he lost track of what was happening. All he could hear was the noise of bullets being fired at a remarkably swift pace and then minutes later, a deadly silence gripped the atmosphere.

His head was swimming and as he felt his forehead, he winced when his hand came in contact with a deep gash, blood tainting the black glove. Willing himself to get up, he tried to heave himself to his feet but was surprised when a firm arm was draped round his back and another hand closed onto his arm pulling him up.

His vision was hazy but he could see red everywhere, pools of blood littering the dark alley and the clinks of bullet shells rolling down to the sewers were audible in the silence.

"You okay?" A robotic voice sounded and he realized immediately who had come to his rescue.

"Red Hood?"

"The one and only," there was a slight trace of satire in his tone but he hadn't let go of Nightwing and began to lead him away.

As Richard's vision cleared, he glanced back to see the bodies of his opponents sprawled on the ground lifeless. And then his eyes got caught by the scarlet helmet of the man supporting him and though his lips parted to speak up, no words came out.

"If you're wondering why I helped you, I have only two words to say..." There was a short pause after which he added, "ohana, bitch."

A light chuckle escaped him but he ended up coughing out blood.

"Damn, Nightwing, Bats went out of town for one day and you get yourself nearly beaten to death?"

"One against a whole league of ninjas doesn't sound very fair, does it?" His voice was choked but he let out the words nevertheless.

"What happened?" Jason asked at last when the two reached Gotham tower and took shelter there. He finally removed his helmet, looking at Richard closely as if seeing him after years, which in a sense was correct.

Noticing that he had removed his helmet, Richard peeled off the mask too, blue staring back at flecked green, "Deathstroke is up to something. He assembled a whole team of Assassins by himself and attacked when we were clearly not expecting it."

"Sounds like Slade," he mumbled, "and where's the Old Bat?"

"He went after Deathstroke. He has Red Robin."

"Wait, what?" The words sunk in and his eyes widened a fraction, "who has Red Robin?"

"Slade took him." Richard saw the shift in Jays demeanor instantly and he couldn't exactly figure out what had caused that change. As far as he knew, he had been quite hostile towards Tim when they had first met but right then it seemed as if he was actually concerned for the kid.

Jay's brow had knitted into a thoughtful expression but then he looked up at Richard, "you have connection to the Batcave, right?"

"It got damaged," he answered. 

"Right... I'll do something." Jason recalled that he had once established a comm link with the Batcopter and if Bruce hadn't changed the settings, the link address would be the same so he tried to establish connection with him.

Seconds later the communicator connected to the Batcopter and Jay held out the helmet towards Richard, gesturing him to talk.

"Who's this?" Batman's gruff voice sounded shortly after.

"Nightwing. My comm got damaged so I am using a friend's," he had paused at the last word looking over at Jason who simply nodded, "did you get to Deathstroke?"

"Yes. Red Robin is safe. We are coming back to the cave," the reply as usual was vague.

A sigh of relief escaped him but before he could say anything else, the connection was terminated. He looked back at Jason, giving him the helmet, "thank you."

Jason took the helmet and was about to put it back on as a cue for him to leave but Richard's hand closed on to his shoulder, stopping him.

"Jay, why don't you come back?"

He froze at those words, considering his reply carefully before speaking up, "I can't..."

"Why not? Look if you think that after all these years, a huge barrier has come in between us, you aren't wrong but we can overcome that barrier if we reach out to one another."

Jason took in a deep breath, shaking his head slightly, "I don't know. I have a few things to take care of first, after that maybe... Maybe I'll... I don't know for certain."

Richard gently patted his shoulder, "all of us want you back."

"Tim had told me the same," he mumbled in a low voice, "and I gave him the same answer which I'm giving to you now. I don't know and I don't want to think about it right now."

The scarlet helmet covered his features and he started to walk off into the distance, knowing that Richard was in no immediate danger and would make his way back to the cave himself.

"Jason..."

He turned back reluctantly to see him standing with his arms held wide open, "what now?"

"Won't you at least give your big brother a hug? For old time's sake?"

He sighed, eyes shifting as the memories kicked in of how he and Richard had always had a special sort of hug. A brotherly embrace that used to cheer them up no matter how low things were turning out to be, no matter how bad the days had been.

And then he stepped forward into his open arms and pulled him close into a tight embrace. Richard winced because he was injured but held his arms firm around Jason. And for that short moment, it felt like everything would be okay.

For that short instant, Jason felt the long-forgotten warmth of family creep into his heart and he held Richard even closer, as if not wanting to let go. It had been years since the two had shared that brotherly gesture and though the moment was short-lived as ultimately Jay had to pull apart, for those few minutes Jason felt as if he had never been astray from them and things were still the same.

However, the cold night air struck him like a whip of painful reality when he let go and his expression though warmed from the hug at first, retreated to the usual emotionless look. That was probably the most evident trait he had inherited from Bruce, both were much more alike than they were ready to acknowledge.

Like father like son, they say, or like mentor like pupil in some cases.

"Don't tell Batman I helped you out," he spoke up at last, "but let Tim know that he should not allow himself to get taken ever again. He can't be lucky enough to be rescued in time always."

Richard's face depicted a sadness at parting from him then but he nodded, "I'll do that. But you also have to give me your word that you won't beat Tim to a pulp next time you meet him."

Jason's eyes flickered but the helmet was concealing those flecked green irises, "I won't. I have already sorted things out with him. He's safe from me at least."

And with that, he left the tower without even a single backward glance. But the last words he had spoken to Richard held a deeper meaning. Tim definitely was safe from him but there were many other perils in store for the poor boy if he continued being a young hero.

***