"What the fuck, Bruce? Seriously? Are you out of your mind? Why on earth did you think you could take care of another kid?" Jason asked, arms crossed over his chest, eyes narrowed in a glare as he stared down his old mentor.

"He needed my help."

"Oh yeah, sure he did. You should know better than to take in strays off the street. I mean, look at what happened with me."

Bruce sighed, shaking his head and lowering his gaze. There was a reason why he had not spoken with Jason for nearly a year. Well, a few reasons, actually, but this was one of them. Jason was so clearly angry, and while Bruce knew he had a right to be angry, he did not have time for this conversation.

"Look, we can discuss this later. I really do need your help with this."

Jason snorted derisively, rolling his eyes. "Well that I'm sure of, at least. You wouldn't have called at all if you didn't need some kind of help."

"Ja–"

"Just shut it and show me where the kid is."

This was probably a horrible idea. Bruce was already regretting asking Jason for help, and the younger man had only been in the cave for a few minutes. Letting out another sigh, Bruce turned and began leading them away from the entryway. "He's in his room... I brought Wally in to talk with him yesterday, which is how I found out the full details of what's going on, but... he really isn't in a good spot, and I don't know how to help."

"Of course you don't know how to help. You're a rich asshole with no empathy whatsoever. Just because your parents got killed, doesn't mean that you are given magical orphan communication powers." Pushing his way past Bruce, Jason stormed up the main stairwell, heading toward the bedrooms. "Please tell me you at least didn't lock him in there?"

One look at Bruce was all it took to make Jason let loose a stream of expletives.

"Seriously? Seriously, Bruce? What the fuck? That is not how you reassure a frightened child."

~•~

Dick had not moved from his spot on the floor, although he had kept the blanket once Wally had left. He was feeling better, truly, but he still did not feel comfortable moving around the room yet, especially not when he was worried that Slade had somehow heard his confession to Wally and would come barreling through the window at any moment.

That being said, his paranoia did not stop him from hearing the steadily approaching voices. One was easily identifiable as Bruce, but the other he could not place. It sounded younger... but definitely not one of the other guys from the Team.

Ears straining, Dick tried to pick up on what they were saying.

"It's for his own protection."

"Oh, fuck off."

"Jay..."

"Take your fucking hand off me, bastard. I am not in the mood to deal with your bullshit."

Dick fought back a snicker of amusement. Whoever it was definitely did not care about offending Bruce, and Dick could appreciate how much guts that would have to take.

The door to his room swung open, banging against the wall as a young man stepped into the room. He looked to be around his early twenties or late teens, dressed in a tan leather jacket and black shirt, a backpack slung over one shoulder, and a tuft of white hair standing out against his otherwise raven black locks.

Before Dick even really had time to register what was going on, the stranger was at his side, grabbing him by his arm and pulling him to his feet.

"Fucking hell, Bruce. The kid looks starved and traumatized. What have you been doing to him?" The man demanded, turning to glower at Bruce before looking back at Dick, still holding him firmly by the arm. "Sup, kid. I'm Jason, also known as that moron's first screwup."

Dick blinked, brows furrowing together in confusion, eyes darting between Bruce and Jason. "Um... hi? I'm Dick. I... I didn't know Bruce had a son."

"Dick? Seriously? Did your parents want you to get bullied?" Jason lifted his free hand, cutting off Dick's protest. "And I'm not his son. God help any poor bastard who is. He took me off the street a while back. Then he got me killed, but that's a whole 'nother story."

Bruce frowned, giving Dick his best reassuring smile. It did not look all that reassuring. "It's okay, Dick... he's here to help."

"Damn right I am." Jason eyed Dick judgmentally before shoving him toward the bathroom. "Take a shower and hurry up about it. We're going out."

"Going out? Going where? I... I don't... I don't want to leave." Dick protested, shaking his head and glancing back at Bruce again.

Jason rolled his eyes, pushing him a bit harder, making Dick stumble as he stepped into the bathroom. "He can't save you now, kid. We're going out, and we're gonna sort through your whole 'everything I know is a lie' thing. It'll be fun. Think about it like sibling bonding."

"But–" Jason cut off his words, practically slamming the door in his face.

"Make it quick, kid. The faster we get away from the asshole, the better."

Dick could hear Bruce's loud sigh even through the closed door.

Seeing no real way out of this situation, Dick undressed, unwrapping the bandage around his chest and stepping into the shower. The water had only just turned on when the door opened, and someone entered the bathroom.

"Yo, kid? I grabbed you some clothes from the closet... and I sent Bruce off to go do whatever it is he does when he isn't bothering orphaned children. Anyway... I'll be waiting out here for when you're done."

The door then closed, leaving Dick in relative privacy. Jason was weird. Really, really, really weird, and he really was not sure how to feel about it all. And he definitely did not want to leave the house.

Slade was mad.

It would not be safe. But at the same time, Dick was starting to overcome the initial shock of everything, his mind centering around something far more important. He needed to know the truth. And in order to do that, he needed to find Slade.

Dick dried himself off and got dressed, finding fresh bandages on the counter, before heading out into his room once again. As he stepped out of the bathroom, Dick could not help but raise one eyebrow as he took in the sight of Jason snooping through his drawers. "Um... what are you doing?"

"Seeing if you've got anything valuable here." Jason informed him honestly, shrugging and tucking a fancy looking watch into his pocket. Dick had not even known that was there.

Nodding slowly, Dick stepped past him and opened a drawer in his bedside table, pulling out his wallet and opening it. "Bruce gave me a credit card that's got pretty much no limit," he said, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he offered it to Jason.

The older male took it, eyeing the card for one long moment before tucking it into his pocket and grinning at Dick and slinging his arm around the shorter boy's shoulders. "Oh, hell yeah. I think I like you already, Dickie-bird."

"Dickie-bird?" Dick questioned, huffing as Jason only grinned more and ruffled his hair.

"Yup. I got a bone to pick with you, actually... how come you get to pick your own hero name? Like... what the fuck? Bruce made me be Batboy. Fuckin' Batboy. Seriously, thank God that Joker offed me when he did. No one needed to know about Batboy."

"... Batboy?" He could not help but laugh, the soft snickers quickly turning into a full-blown cackle. "I didn't even know he had another partner before me."

Jason only pouted. "Hey! Not my fault. Like I said, it was Bruce's idea. And, yeah... no one knew about me back then. Probably for the best with a stupid name like that. I'd only been patrolling with Bruce for a few weeks before I died."

The older male began walking, pulling Dick along with him, out of the bedroom and toward the stairs. Dick could not find it in himself to protest.

"You said that before... that you died. What method brought you back?"

"Lazarus pit."

"But the only one of those still around belongs to the League of Assassins... they brought you back?"

Humming absently, Jason nodded and pulled open the front door, ushering Dick outside. "Yup."

Dick's brows furrowed together, questions and answers clicking into place in his mind. "That's why Bruce asked you to come, isn't it? Because you've done your time with the bad guys?"

"Not bad kid, that's a pretty quick deduction. You're right though... I've done some things I regret, walked on the dark side, if you will. More than Bruce has, at least. As much as that idiot tries to seem all tough and bad, his moral code holds him back from being a serious threat."

Jason unslung his arm from Dick's shoulder as they stepped up to a motorcycle standing in the middle of the massive driveway. He picked up a helmet resting on the seat, tossing it to Dick.

Catching it easily, Dick put it on. "Right, okay. So what do you do? I mean... seeing as how you clearly don't work with Batman."

"Ever heard of Red Hood?"

"Wait... really? Slade talked about you sometimes. Said you were what Gotham actually needs." Dick murmured, eyes wide as he gazed up at the male with a newfound respect. Red Hood was an antihero that he had studied a lot, finding his approach to cleaning up crime more than a little bit fascinating.

Jason simply laughed, hopping onto his bike and gesturing with his head for Dick to get on. "Come on, kid. We got places to be. You can fangirl later."

Dick pouted, climbing on behind him with a huff. "I'm not fangirling... I just like how you do stuff... even if you're less in the spotlight. Actually, probably more because you stay out of the spotlight. You do what Bruce can't, and I respect that."

"Uh-huh. You really have trained with the experts. Flattery will get you everywhere." Jason shook his head, clearly amused by the younger male. Starting up the bike, they took off down the long driveway. If there had been a speed limit, Jason would have been way over it.

They both stayed silent as Jason drove, although Dick was growing more and more curious about where exactly he was being taken. If he did not know better, this would feel like a kidnapping.

But he trusted Bruce not to let some lunatic come take him.

Wait.

He trusted Bruce.

When had that happened?

Oh right. Wally should really become a psychiatrist or something. His friendship act had done its job nicely... or, as Dick was really beginning to believe, Wally truly was his friend. And that meant the world to him.

Even more than that, Dick trusted Bruce. Sure, Bruce had locked him in his room and not really made any attempt to speak to him over the past few days, but he had brought in Wally, and Dick had really needed his friend's support. And now, Bruce had brought in Jason, even though it really did not seem like the two got along well at all, and that... well... Dick appreciated that.

He appreciated the fact that Bruce was self-aware enough to admit when he could not handle a situation and needed to bring in help.

Dick trusted him.

That revelation alone was enough to give Dick plenty to think about, and he zoned out for the rest of the ride, eyes only vaguely picking up on the surrounding landscape that was gradually growing more and more familiar. In fact, it was only when they came to a stop that Dick realized exactly where they were, his body tensing as his eyes scanned the street warily.

It was a fairly average looking suburban neighborhood. And yet... to Dick, this place meant something so much more.

"Why are we here?"

Jason shrugged, climbing off his bike crossing his arms over his chest. "This is it, right? Slade's latest hideout? Or at least the one where you last were... I've been tracking him for a while now. Wasn't hard to figure out which one you had been raised in, considering the fact that he doesn't have many actual houses."

"That still doesn't answer why." Dick's eyes narrowed, gaze hardening as he too slipped off the bike. He was already holding his body differently, his stance ready to go on the defensive at a moment's notice.

"Bruce wasn't going to let you do this. But I'm not Bruce. I know what it's like to be lied to and to feel betrayed. It burns, doesn't it? Knowing that someone you trusted and looked up to let you down?" Jason looked too nonchalant, too calm.

Dick could feel himself already starting to panic, and yet, Jason continued on.

"You can't live your life in constant fear that someone's going to come after you. It isn't healthy, and you've clearly got more than enough bullshit to deal with without that getting in the way. Besides, you went after Bruce because you thought he murdered your parents, right? You're not going to feel safe or happy until you know the truth."

"Sure, you have a point, I guess. But he's Deathstroke. I'm not going to be able to take down Deathstroke."

"Who said anything about taking him down? All I'm saying is that you need to figure out what the hell is going on. Hiding from your problems isn't the way to deal with it. You need to know the truth and facing him is the only way to do that."

Dick gritted his teeth, body tensing further before he took in a slow breath, concentrating on calming his racing heart. "So what... you're saying I go in there and ask him nicely? He's not going to be happy about me figuring everything out. I... Slade gets ugly when he's not pleased."

"Who said anything about you going in alone? As if I'm about to send my new bat-sibling or whatever off to their death. That's just fucking stupid. I regret calling you smart already." Jason rolled his eyes, gesturing at himself in a rather over-exaggerated manner. "Of course I'm going in with you. Hell, the only reason I agreed to Bruce calling me over was because I knew the asshole wouldn't let you work stuff out how you need to work it out."

"Right... okay. So you and me... we take down Slade? I don't even have weapons." Dick was still rather hesitant about the idea, although Jason really was starting to make sense. He was right about not needing to live in fear. He was right about this being something that Bruce would never let him do. He was right that Dick needed answers.

He needed to avenge his parents.

Jason unslung his backpack, pulling out... wait... that was Dick's Robin costume.

"Jason, why do you have my Robin suit?"

"What, you thought I was just snooping around for valuables? You gotta do a better job at hiding your shit, kid. Behind the suits? Seriously?" Jason did not even have the decency to look ashamed.

"It's a backup." Dick protested, snatching it from Jason's hands and holding it close to his chest. "Bruce doesn't know I have one in my room."

"You don't have to explain to me, kid." Jason rolled his eyes, proceeding to dump out the other contents of his backpack, which mostly included various weapons from guns to throwing knives to grenades.

Dick picked up a gun, eyeing it for a long moment.

Slade had showed him how to use a gun.

He put the gun down, picking up a pair of eskrima sticks and nodding. "Right. Okay. We can do this. Just one condition."

"What?"

"Stop calling me kid. I'm not a child." Dick's tone had shifted colder, stonier.

Jason glanced over at him, noting the hardness in the younger boy's eyes, along with the resolved set to his shoulders. Slowly, a grin spread across Jason's lips. "Sure thing... Robin. About time you started getting serious."

For the first time, Dick felt that the name actually fit.

No longer was he just Slade's apprentice doing a mission.

No longer was he putting on the false pretense of being a hero.

No longer was he a naïve and easily fooled child, manipulated into doing what he was told.

Taking in a slow breath, Robin nodded. "Good."

He was ready.

It was time to know the truth.

Slade would not know what hit him.

Slade was going to be angry.

Good.

Dick was angry too.