This is it. The final chapter. The end of the story. I kept editing pieces of it, thinking I could add more or there were other people that needed more time, so on and so on. But, those are other stories. This ultimately was a story between Dick and Jason with a hint of others here and there, and hopefully this last chapter is faithful to that.

Thank you all for sticking with this story. Also, a big thank you to a friend of mine who lit a fire under me just yesterday, and it got me to put in the last 2/3 of this story today. All of you are amazing though, so thanks!

August 31, 2017 10:14 - Watchtower

For all the noise he had gotten used to thanks to the warring voices in his head, it was strange to find a place so silent. It was almost deafening, sitting there amongst the holograms of the dead. Jason still stood there with his famous scowl on his face. It stared ahead at nothing in particular, almost daring an invisible enemy to test his nerve.

"Idiot," he said to the fifteen-year-old shadow of himself.

Dick knew watching him was an intrusion. If the younger saw him standing there, at best he'd call him a stalker. At worst? Well, he was still trying to get a handle on how much of his brother had come back from the dead. He was optimistic since their jaunt inside Jason's head, especially now that Jason and Bruce seemed more comfortable around each other, but Dick wasn't stupid. Something could still go wrong.

And no doubt being caught staring at shadows of the dead (and not-so-dead anymore) could send anyone into a frenzy. So, Dick hung back in the shadows or what little were provided in the Watchtower's memorial area. Spying would have been much easier in the Grotto back on Mount Justice. Too bad about that, though…

The eldest Robin shook that depressing thought off only to have it replaced with another one. He had hoped there would be more time between Jason's return to himself and him seeing this place. Five years is a long time, a lot to be missed. A lot of people to miss. As morbid of a thought as it was, maybe it would have been a little better if Jason hadn't been the first to die. Then him standing there now, watching the holograms of those that fell after him may not have been such a shock.

He had been friends with them, Tula and Wally. Maybe not as much with Wally as Dick had been, but Kid Flash was still a close friend to the second Robin. Dick would even go so far as to say the speedster had been another influence. Not always a good one, but certainly one who understood insecurities, bad jokes, and caloric intakes.

Jason shifted ahead and suddenly broke the eery silence. "I'm sorry." A pause followed, then Jason turned to face Dick, turquoise eyes meeting cerulean. "And not just for just now proving how much work you need on your stealth."

Dick cleared his throat and managed and apologetic smirk. "I guess I'm getting sloppy in my old age."

"Oh, yeah, you're like… twenty-three now, right?"

"Twenty-two, thanks. Not twenty-three until December," the elder answered, feigning offense.

Jason laughed, though it died in his throat into a slow whisper. "I would have graduated high school by now. Maybe. That I can't really picture. The only thing I could focus on what this team once I was all brain-gamed back together, or whatever. Problem is, I didn't really expect…"

The whisper fell away completely as he returned his gaze to the other holograms.

Dick raised his hand to rest it on his brother's shoulder, but thought better of it, letting it fall back to his side. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to find out like this."

"They didn't suffer, did they?" asked Jason.

"No. Tula sacrificed herself in battle, but in the end it was quick. Wally… when some alien tech threatened to destroy the earth, he helped to contain it but the tech's syphoned energy hit him and he just… stopped. Or ceased. That's the word they kept using." Dick felt his mouth go dry at the words, pulling his gaze from both Jason and the frozen hologram of his lost best friend. "He didn't feel pain, at least. So… so there's that."

Jason watched his older brother few a few minutes, Dick seeing the questioning flicking back and forth in his head. Just as the silence eased into uncomfortable, the younger offered, "Wally was a good one. One of the best, really. Thanks for letting me hang out with you guys when I was younger. He was great to get a rise of and had damn good taste in food."

Dick chuckled. "Dude, he ate everything."

"I know! My kind of guy," Jason snickered.

Just like that, the vice that had twisted Dick's chest in a painful grip relaxed, and the pair of them looked back out to their fallen friends to give another moment of thanks, peace, or whatever it was the living could offer the dead.

Jason had a fleeting realization that all of it, the memorials and well-wishes, benefited the living more than those it was supposed to honor, but he knew now he wouldn't have had it any other way. As horrible as some of his memories were, there was nothing as clear as him hoping, wishing that his family found some peace and something to be thankful for when they thought his life had been blinked out.

"Speaking of food," he inserted into the warm quiet, "feel like getting any? Someone mentioned churros somewhere, and even if it was in one of my dreams, I'm determined to find out if we have any stashed in this place."

Dick let out a laugh, loud but light, reminding his younger brother exactly how the elder used to sound. How happy he had always seemed. He couldn't keep from smiling wider at the sound, and even let Dick's arm fall across his shoulders as he pulled them both in the direction of the kitchen.

August 31, 2017 12:49 - Watchtower

"You ate how much?" railed Barbara as Dick and Jason both held their bellies, both of which bubbled with food.

"Let's not focus on quantity, Babs. Instead, let's just focus on the quality it gave to our lives. Don't we look happy?" asked Jason.

The redhead crossed her arms and glared at the pair, though Dick saw a glint in her eyes she couldn't hide if she were being stared down by Joker himself. The whole scene made her happy. Blissfully, ridiculously happy. God, he missed that look in her face.

"We'll clean it up," he offered, "and deal with whatever lecture Al will give us for ruining our appetites."

Jason shot up, immediately regretting the decision as half of his food jumped. "Al… Shit, does he know? Is he… is he okay? How has he been?" The questions came faster than even he could process, spilling out of his mouth like word vomit.

Dick glanced around to ensure they were safe. "Bruce told him. First thing, actually. Gave the old man half a stroke, but since then he's been working around the clock to get the house ready for you to come home. Like it wasn't ready, already."

He didn't elaborate, and Jason was relieved he didn't. Jason knew Alfred enough, knew Bruce enough, to know his room had been kept the way it had been when he left it that last day. He shook the mental image away, afraid the emotion of it would send him into another fit of choking sobs and panic.

"He's excited to see you," added Barbara, her voice softer than before.

A smile stretched over Jason's face, pulling the corners of his cheeks tight. The sight filled Dick with what he thought breathing in sugar-flavored helium would feel like. Tonight they were going home. All of them, together again. Him, Bruce, Barbara, Jason, Tim, Alfred—

"What about Damian?" interjected Jason.

Barbara and Dick exchanged a look. What about Damian? The little demon beast had been screeching every few hours about his treatment, his lineage, his abilities, and anything else he could find to shout about. When he wasn't wailing, he was pacing in his room, refusing to get near anyone he deemed "unworthy", and worked on whatever physical drills he had seen fit to assign himself.

Upon seeing the looks on their faces, Jason said, "He's a good kid."

"I don't doubt that," Dick was quick to reply. "We're just not sure what to do with him."

"He's a little kid. You do whatever you do with little kids."

"Whatever he is, he's not a little kid," countered Barbara. "Especially if his parents are Bruce and Talia."

A deep breath heaved from Jason's chest. "He's a lot more of a child than you think he is. Put yourself in his shoes."

"I'd be a little scared to," she said.

Now was Dick's turn to sigh, his face falling into a diplomatic frown as he absent-mindedly rubbed his stomach. "I'm sure he's scared. Whether he would admit it or not in between him yelling at everyone, that's anyone's guess, though i doubt it. Either way, we're not going to just leave him hanging. He's Bruce's kid…. Jeez, he's Bruce's biological kid. That's rough to wrap my mind around. Anyway, we all just need to stay whelmed and let the pieces fall where they may. We just dealt with one…"

"It's okay, you can call me a crisis. Or fire you put out. Or whatever the saying is," replied Jason.

"Uh… yeah, well, we just handled getting you back. We haven't locked Damian in a cage or something and just fed him fish heads. We're giving him some time, then we'll see where to take it from there."

Jason thought over his brother's words before nodding. "I'm not going to promise he's any less of a pain than I was when I was even older than he is, but he's got some good in him. Has some Bruce in him. Stunted good, maybe, but good."

"Don't worry," Dick replied, smirking toward Barbara. "We know he couldn't possibly be more of a pain than you were."

The younger Robin reached out to slap his brother upside his head, but the computer's voice sounded, pausing his assault.

Artemis, B-07. Troia, B-12.

If Jason's eyes had ever bulged that far, that fast, Dick couldn't remember a time before now.

That name, that one name, rang in the space station, into Jason's ears, and down his spine into his every nerve. Troia. Donna. Donna was here. Donna was here. Forget word vomit, he was sure he was going to upchuck every last ounce of food he had just inhaled, right down to the churros.

"You lied to me." Her voice was older, sharp and sure, though damn it if it didn't send him right back to when he first met her all those years ago. She had to be no more than three feet from him, her shadow falling so close to his they almost overlapped.

Dick and Barbara fell silent as Artemis stood by them, leaning against the counter, watching the scene play out.

"Did you hear me?" pressed Troia.

"Uh… yes. I'm just trying to remember how words work, then trying to figure out when I lied and what about. Because whatever it was, I'm really, really sorry." He let the last word sink in before turning to face her, and nearly collapsed at the sight.

She rested her hands on her hips, which he traced up to her face and took in every inch of it. Her bright eyes, the narrowness of her nose, the fullness of her lips. Her hair framed it just as perfectly as it always had, the midnight black reflecting the bright lights of the room, almost giving her a halo. Hell, to him she was already angelic, it would be fitting.

"No, I don't mean just now. I mean when I called your name."

"Huh?" Jason and Dick both cringed at the idiotic response, Barbara and Artemis giving a knowing roll of their eyes.

Donna's grip on her hips tightened. "You said if I called your name, you'd follow me anywhere. Remember?"

The memory hit Jason like a punch to the gut, and in a second he was torn between laughing and crying. He had said that, hadn't he? Damn, either he had some sick game as a preteen or he was dumb as a brick from the start. He'd wager both. He took a minute to collect himself, forcing his heart rate down and and his lungs to settle.

Then, with one more ounce of whatever zen he had, he replied, "I heard you. I believe I said something about whispering it, if you want to be technical, but I heard you. Just took longer than expected. I'm here now."

At first he worried he had said the wrong thing. Then a small, uneasy laugh escaped from Donna. It trickled out, like water from a leaky faucet, then cascaded until she was grinning like a jackal and threw her arms around him.

"I can't believe you're here!" she exclaimed, squeezing his neck.

He'd be lying if he said his dreams didn't revolve around this very moment. Dick would be the first to call him on it, too.

"That makes two of us," Jason replied, having enough sense to wrap his arms around her.

They stayed like that for a few minutes. Maybe too long for the others to feel comfortable, but Jason couldn't care less. No one could, if he had taken a look around to notice. The idea he was back from the dead was still far from wearing out its welcome, let alone the sight of him reuniting with old friends. Dick's heart swelled as he witnessed what had would have sworn were a dream if the pain in his stomach and grip in his stomach didn't keep him welded to reality.

As Barbara's eyes filled with tears, as Artemis struggled with her bittersweet emotions in silence, Dick watched as his little brother and his brother's crush embraced. He couldn't have smiled any wider if he were on Joker venom.

More than seven years with the team and Dick couldn't remember being so happy. So relieved. Feeling so light.

One could say it was even overwhelming.