When Richard stumbled inside the cave, Alfred was already taking care of Tim's injuries, Barbara was talking to Bruce, telling him about how she had lost connection with Richard and had no idea where he was. He cleared his throat to gain their attention and the four of them turned to look at him.

"Richard, thank God you're here," the slight relief that had spread on Barbara's features vanished soon as she took in his condition, "what did you get yourself into?"

"Assassins," he mumbled, dropping down to a chair. Barbara was beside him in an instant, checking the injuries with a concerned look on her face. "Deathstroke has assembled a whole league of Assassins trained under him," he elaborated, "and by what I saw tonight, they were clearly targeting me only."

"That's suspicious," Barbara mumbled, gently wiping away the blood from his forehead, "come let's get you treated first. Then tell us what happened in full detail."

"How's Tim?" He asked craning his neck to see the boy but soon enough Tim had approached the two. His arm was in a sling but other than that he looked fine; a little caffeine deprived since his eyes were drooping with fatigue but fine nevertheless.

"Dickie, you look awful," he remarked, blue eyes narrowing slightly, "I kinda had a suspicion Deathstroke would send his men after you. The whole Red Robin's abduction was merely a distraction."

Richard seemed confused but before he could ask, Bruce explained, "Tim got himself taken intentionally. He managed to infiltrate Deathstroke's base even before I got there but that doesn't mean I approve of it." His eyes had flashed towards Tim who quite visibly looked shaken, "Deathstroke is aiming to take over the League of Shadows and he is under the impression that we are allied with them hence he targeted us first."

"Yeah and since he was under the impression that we have an alliance with the League, I made my short stay with his team a little useful," Tim elaborated.

"But Master Timothy, that does not mean you would risk your life to get valuable information be it any case you are working alongside Master Bruce," Alfred rebuked him gently, his voice laced with concern.

That time when Tim had been taken, Bruce and Alfred were both reminded of the day Jason had been taken by the Joker. And though the two had managed to keep a calm resilient outlook, deep inside both of them were equally anxious.

They could not let what happened to Jason repeat in Tim's case as well. Because if that happened, Bruce would never be able to recover from the guilt of losing another son as well.

Richard looked at the boy and nodded, "I agree with Alfred. You put yourself in great danger tonight, kiddo. That should not happen again."

"Yeah, Bruce has given me a lecture as long as the whole flight back to Gotham and I understand," Tim gulped recalling the stern words and then shook his head, "anyhow, I'm glad you're alive. I had been freaking out earlier about not being able to get to you in time but then your comm connected with the Batcopter and trust me, that was a big relief."

"Jason's comm," Bruce interjected, steel blue eyes boring into Richard's irises. Even though he hadn't changed the link address of his Batcopter after the time Jay had connected his comm to it as Red Hood, he knew the coordinates very well and had realized immediately that instant that Dick was using Jason's comm when he had communicated with him. 

Richard averted his gaze from him as he spoke, "yeah, he was there at that time. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here either."

Bruce looked at him as if he would say something but then left without doing so. Jason was still a sensitive topic in between them and they hardly ever mentioned him despite the fact that all of them missed him and wanted him to return.

"Jason saved you?" Barbara asked when she was sure that Bruce wasn't going to hear them, her green eyes glimmering in an unfathomable expression.

"Yeah," a small smile crept over Richard's face recalling Jay's words, "he said he had only two words to justify his action: ohana, bitch."

A short laugh escaped both Barbara and Tim at that. Ohana was a Hawaiian term meaning family and it was also a reference to the Disney TV show Lilo and Stitch.

"I met him last when I went to Evelyn's place," Tim remarked, "at first I was intimidated and thinking he would beat me up again. But then he hugged me saying he was trying to squeeze me to death."

"He always had a flair for being dramatic," Barbara added, features set in a nostalgic look.

"Yeah that hasn't changed," Richard remarked in a low voice thinking that aside from that, everything about Jason had changed such a lot.

Alfred was listening to the three with a sad almost negligible smile on his face. He too missed Jason a lot. Not a day passed when he didn't think of the ambitious boy who was so thrilled to be a city savior. Not a day passed by that he didn't think of how terribly fate had torn him apart from them.

And even though he wanted Jason to return, he knew he couldn't do anything to make that possible until Bruce and Jay resolved their differences by themselves.

***

Jason sat up with a jolt, his forehead beaded with sweat and his breathing erratic. Even though years had passed ever since that night when he had been tortured to death by the Joker, still he could not get rid of the trauma that still lingered in the form of disturbing nightmares.

The scene still flashed in front of his eyes as vividly as if he had returned to that night and no matter how hard he tried to push it out of his head, the terror only grew and haunted him in his sleep.

He held his head in his hands, Joker's manic laughter raging in his conscience and driving him to the edge of his wits. Each smash of the crowbar against his bones felt horrifyingly real and though no sound escaped him, he was slightly trembling, his hands clutching his temples tightly.

Thin hands reached out and gripped his forearms but he pulled apart roughly, eyes wide but not seeing where he was in physical state, only the scenes from that night were repeating in his vision.

The cracks of the crowbar smashing his backbone drowned the faint voice that addressed him and though he was no longer in that warehouse in Bosnia, the horror of the night gripped him with piercing claws digging deep into his heart.

"Jason...?" 

He gave no response which concerned Evelyn even more as she sat up and gripped his arms tightly, noticing that he was shivering. 

"Jay, what happened?"

The room was dark and he could not see properly but somewhere in his head, there was a faint recognition that Evelyn was with him at that moment. And thinking about her made him realize that he had been through a nightmare again and all that he had just seen wasn't real.

She reached out towards the lamp switch on the bedside table, one hand still clutching on to his arm as she switched on the lamp. Warm yellow light engulfed them mildly and it was then Jason saw her clear, sitting right in front of him, her delicate hands gripping his forearms and her eyes wide in concern.

"Jason, look here. Look at me," she seemed to have realized that he must have envisioned a nightmare for her hands found their way to his face, fingers gently caressing the hollows of his cheekbone, "you're safe. You're with me, see? Nothing is going to go wrong."

She had no idea what had happened to him in all those years he had been believed as dead nor did she know what accident had caused his death. But she could sense that it had been intensely traumatic such that even then he couldn't be free of its terror.

"Eve..." His voice was unsteady as he wrapped his arms around her, head burying into her neck. She held him close, allowing him to calm down as she rubbed his back reassuringly, her soft voice whispering comforting words to him.

She knew how difficult it was for him to harbor such a trauma within him because he could not let it resurface and destroy whatever life he had recovered after that incident. He was scared that his past was still affecting his present and would rob him of his second chance at happiness but he tried his best not to let it show.

Jason always tried to give the impression that he was fearless and strong enough to bear whatever life threw his way but at that moment, Evelyn could clearly see through his facade and recognize that vulnerability that he hid so well from others.

She knew the second he would gain control over his emotions, he would shut out that slight trace of vulnerability again and refuse to acknowledge what he just went through. And knowing that, she was also well aware that she had to make him realize that it was okay to break down sometimes.

It was okay to share one's burdens with people who cared.

"It's alright, Jay, you're going to be fine," she mumbled softly making him lie back on the bed, her fingers gently weaving through his dark hair, "everything's going to be alright. You're with me and I'm with you, what else could we possibly ask for?"

His breathing that had been erratic earlier was gradually coming back to the steady rhythm. And when her lips gently touched his own in a soft lingering kiss, he took in a deep breath letting go of the fears that were clawing at his heart.

Her fingers were still brushing through his hair comfortingly and soon after he felt exhaustion strike him hard. And despite the fact that normally it was extremely difficult for him to go back to sleep if he was woken up by a nightmare, that once he found her presence beside him intensely comforting.

The way her soft voice lulled him to sleep and her delicate fingers rested against his face lightly, he couldn't help but slip back into a somewhat easier state.

"I don't know what you've been through," she mumbled in a low voice but he heard her nevertheless, "but I can assure you that I'll try my best to make you come out of the darkness of your past that still grips you. You have my word, Jason, we'll both make through this."

And that was the last he heard for his eyes dropped shut at last as sleep overpowered him and seconds later he had drifted off to sleep, his head placed in her lap as she still ran her fingers through his messy hair.

***