Chapter 7

"…and after that, I would rather hang by my bleeping toes 'offa skyscraper under construction than spend a single second longer with you and your cohort of replacements and cannon fodder than is absolutely necessary to save Golden Boy from his own self-esteem issues! I'd rather go to a friggin' sleepover with the Joker and braid his hair and paint his curling toenails than help you out! Not unless I'm getting something out of it"

"Calm down."

"Cal – you son of a – a, how DARE YOU TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!"

This was stupid. All so freakin' stupid. Jason didn't even need his hood on to be seeing red. And red was not Bruce's color. His fingernails were leaving tiny crescent cuts straight through the callouses on his hands, his jaw clenched so hard it felt like it would shatter at any second. Right along with any control he might have.

Bruce just stood there, cowl still on, looking both cold and smug as he undoubtedly enjoyed getting such a rise out of his 'biggest mistake.' Jason knew it shouldn't have bothered him as much as it did… he just wasn't worth it. Yet there was still some raw, festering part of him that ached and craved something from the man he'd once called father that Jason would never be able to get.

No, instead he was standing here in civvies screaming out some twisted version of the game 'Would You Rather,' in which he meticulously laid out all the terrible situations he'd rather be in than be stuck in the same room as Bruce.

And the man who couldn't be bothered to avenge him just let it slide off his stupid, sleek cloak and still had the nerve to tell Jason to calm down?!

"You act like you care about Nightwing," Bruce interrupted before Jason could really get going again. The teen's face twisted into an even nastier look, but he continued. "and yet you've failed to notice, even with all the training that I've given you, that he has left the Cave."

Jason's prepared retort died in his throat and he felt his jaw drop a little. Sure enough, a quick scan of the cave showed that both Dick and the Demon Brat were nowhere to be found.

"Are you kidding me?" he shrieked, using all his strength to shove Batman in the chest, satisfied when the sizeable man nearly fell over. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, HE'S PROBABLY ALREADY GOTTEN HIMSELF IN ANOTHER SITUATION!"

"My fault? Your forbidden presence in my Cave was the instigator to Dick's untimely absence." Batman replied coolly, sidestepping when Jason tried to shove him again.

"First of all, forbidden presence, Bruce? REALLY? Since when? What happened to the whole 'Ohhh Jaybird we miss you please come home' you were spewing last Thanksgiving, huh? And don't you dare try to pin this on me! You can't always use me as the Scapegoat, bruce!"

"You're a murderer!"

"You refuse to do what needs to be done!"

"You have no right to be here."

"I have no right to be living!"

"SIRS!"

The two men startled at the very British sound of indignation. Their faces, inches apart by now, turned to see the elderly Butler a few feet away, bringing them both shame once they'd realized they'd been snuck up on. Sure, it was Alfred, but still. Alfred wore his disappointment heavily, the lines and cracks and liver spots standing out even more in its wake, giving away just how truly old he was getting. Apparently, age had had little effect on his ability to make any of them shut up and listen.

"Master Bruce, your parents would be rolling in their graves right now if they heard you speaking in such an unfair manner to your son. I know I myself am more than distressed at seeing you give so little regard for the lessons in patience and objectivity I endeavored for so long to instill within you throughout your rearing."

The Batman winced under his cowl and Jason forgot to be angry at the 'son' comment, giving out a low whistle instead. Alfred had to be seriously ticked to bring out that particular card…which made the Red Hood more than a little nervous to know what was in store for himself. He wasn't disappointed.

"And you, Master Jason. It is my regret that your visit should be met with such hostility, whether it is deserved or not. You also brought an ailing Master Richard with you, which is commendable despite the former's departure soon after. However, your easy willingness to completely forget about that which brought you here in favor of exchanging heated words with your father is most disheartening."

"…Not my father." Jason muttered, but he continued to hang his head and stare at his feet. Bruce was doing the same, maybe with a little less of an angle. Prideful git.

"Now, I would like the two of you to set aside your differences for once and figure out how the two of you may approach the situation as adults, that you might use the extensive resources of the Cave and your own experiences to get to the bottom of Master Richard's problem. Also, might I suggest you do so within the next five to ten minutes – I have prepared a brunch and coffee to fuel you both through your research. It would not do to be served cold."

With that, the butler primly turned, straight-backed as ever, and made his way up the stairs. Silence filled the cave once he'd finally left, a strange peace that contrasted greatly with what had been only minutes before.

"You know as well as I there's no arguing with Alfie." Jason said in a low voice, and the gruff 'Hrn' from Bruce sounded generally in agreement.

It was going to be a long day.

Brunch had better be good.

(B)(R)(B)(R)(B)(R)(B)

If there was one thing Dick Grayson hated, it was dirty dishes.

It didn't matter how many Styrofoam bowls and plastic spoons he had to buy, he never brought out the three plates and sets of silverware he currently owned. That being said, Jason had somehow managed to find them (hadn't they been on top of the fridge?) and now they were sitting on his shipping crate slowly bonding to rubbery waffle pieces and smears of sticky syrup. Between that, the disassembled makeup kit, the blanket in the floor, the bits of his Nightwing suit (whoops), and the garbage that still needed to be taken out…

Well, his apartment was a mess.

"My life's a mess, so why not my living space, too?" Dick grumbled, roughly stacking the plates up and taking them to the kitchen. He dumped the remaining food into the overflowing trash can and all but threw them in the sink, the resulting rattle echoing slightly. Cursing when he realized he was out of dish soap, he plugged up the drain and let the hot water run (or trickle, more like – the water pressure was seriously horrible). With a squeak he shut the water off again and paused, turning to look back at the tiny living room.

It was so empty.

Everything was so quiet.

Dick ripped off his sunglasses and cap and hurled them at the couch, barely restraining the yell of absolute anger and frustration he so desperately wanted to let loose.

It just…it wasn't fair.

"I'm not a child!" he growled out, feeling every inch like one as his vision began to blur yet again. His work was exhausting. Bludhaven was exhausting. His family was exhausting. He was exhausted. Not very 'hausted' at all.

Dick gave out a strangled laugh at that thought – it had been so long since he'd first decided to play with words and prefixes like that…he wondered briefly if Wally still had that 'Dictionary of Ri-Dick-ulous Words in the Queen's English' that they'd spent their time off compiling, giggling under Wally's sheets with a notebook, flashlight, and some form of sugar that Aunt Iris would undoubtedly have disapproved of at such a late hour.

Dick started to rub his neck before flinching and removing his hand. Wally had always been there for him, and vice versa. Until the Invasion and the Speedforce and the impossible situations… even after Wally returned and they'd made up, something almost tangible had been built between them, an invisible wall that continued to separate them and the absolute best friends the two had been. Wally had wanted to work on it, but Dick had been Batman again at the time, too caught up in the responsibilities of two cities and one very angry little assassin. Oh, and Tim had been mad at him. Jason had wanted to kill him at the time, too. And Barbara. And…yeah, needless to say, Dick hadn't had a lot of time to work on relationships.

But now…if anything, maybe Nightwing's 'appointment' at the docks and the ever-looming threat of his number one stalker was a good enough excuse to call up an old friend for a get-together.

"Alright, Walls, you better still have that ringtone I set when we were kids."

(B)(R)(B)(R)(B)(R)(B)

Tweedle-lee-diddle-lee-dee,

Tweedle-lee-diddle-lee-dee!

Tweedle-lee-diddle-lee-dee,

Tweedle-lee-diddle-lee-dee!

Tweedle-lee-diddle-lee-dee,

Tweedle-lee-diddle-lee-dee!

Tweet! Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!

He rocks through the tree tops, all the day long!

Hoppin' and a-boppin' and a-singin' his song

All the little birds on Jay Bird Street!

Love to hear the Robin going tweet, tweet, tweet!

"Rockin' Robin," the redhead murmured, blinking blearily at the sunlight streaming through his window. The sun shouldn't' be there…it was his day off! He was supposed to sleep in until the sun was on the other side of the house! But then again, since he was already up he could eat more food…

Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!

Rock, rock, rockin' Robin (Tweet! Tweedle-lee-dee!)

Blow, rockin' Robin, 'cause we're really gonna rock tonight!

Tweet, tweedle-lee-dee!

"Wait a sec…no, like a millisec…"

Wally's eyes shot open and he sat straight up, his Green Lantern Corps shirt sticking to his back in morning sweat. Eww….grosssss. Artemis was already up, unless she'd managed to somehow become invisible and was occupying the indentations in the bed next to him.

The speedster picked up his phone and stared at the caller I.D. for a moment, as though the cheerful warbling of Bobby Day wasn't evidence enough of who was calling. Closing his eyes a moment and silently hoping this was going to be a chit-chat kind of call, Wally slid the little green phone icon to the side.

"What's up, Dick?"

(B)(R)(B)(R)(B)(R)(B)

"I told you to go home, Damian."

"I'm coming with you, Richard."

Nightwing stood with his arms crossed, slightly hunched in on himself. The blue and black-clad vigilante kept clenching and unclenching his fists, seemingly not knowing what to do with his hands – a testament to how desperate he was at the moment, and how…scared. "No, you aren't. I need my head in the game, not dealing with your Hissy fits."

Damian winced. Before, he would already have had his blade at the throat of any man who would insult him in this way, but now? This was Grayson. Grayson only became stern when Damian did something that truly deserved such treatment, not when he was merely trying to…trying to help. It was clear the former Batman needed it, distraught as he was over his possibly pregnant girlfriend being kidnapped.

For now, he would be patient.

"Our worlds have changed, Grayson," Damian began quietly, taking a step forward and spreading his arms for emphasis. "Drake is gone, Duke is in the Mansion. I'm stationed in San Francisco with the Titans. You're here."

He tried to make that last part sound less accusatory than it felt. He really did.

"But one thing remains the same. When you're in this kind of state, you'll surely get yourself killed without someone as focused and infallible as me watching your back."

Nightwing stared down at the boy who once followed him as Robin. Neither moved for several seconds, white lenses glaring, narrowing, searching the other. Finally, the older chuckled humorlessly, his stiff posture relaxing a little and looking more like himself.

"Yeah, okay. You're right. I could use….A Batman. One question."

Nightwing gestured towards the sleek car parked just behind Robin.

"Did you steal our old Batmobile from the cave?"

Damian could not resist the grin that stole across his face, feeling a rush of happiness and warmth as the realization that they were going to work together as a unit again fully sunk in.

"Indeed. Now let's move."

"Tt. Now you've gone and gotten yourself into a conundrum yet again, but you left before I could offer my unequivocally invaluable help."

Damian stopped his cycle at an intersection, considering. Grayson had not specifically said where he was going except for mentioning something about Drake, and Alfred had not given him any details as to where the pathetic hacker would be on the basis that Damian would not be in any way discreet in his intrusion on Drake's date. Pfft. As though that was any kind of good reason to keep him from finding Richard and assuring him Drake's help would no longer be necessary now that he was on the case.

That left making the drive to Bludhaven and waiting for his brother to return, assuming he wouldn't just stay over at Drake's asinine excuse for appropriate living quarters. That is, they were a sight better than Grayson's dingy apartment, but Drake had already contaminated the area with his presence. Or in other words, Damian was out of options.

Or was he?

"Perhaps, the Titans…?" Robin muttered uncertainly, his voice distorted by his motorcycle helmet in a way that was not unlike Todd's poor choice of costume. "…No, they would undoubtedly make matters worse in some way or the other. They are best contained within Jump City."

Desperately he racked his brain for anyone he felt would be able to help him handle Grayson's problem – accurately, discreetly, thoroughly, and intelligently. Those conditions didn't leave him much to work with, and Damian found himself gripping the handlebars with unnecessary force when someone behind him blasted their horn. He turned his head, ready to give the driver a piece of his mind when a particular feature on the woman visible through the windshield caused an idea to click into place.

"Perfect. Not only will we catch the despicable creature hunting Grayson, but she will undoubtedly tongue-lash some sense into his thickened skull."

With a screech of tires, Damian shot forward, leaving behind a confused redheaded stranger in a car now thoroughly coated in proverbial dust.

So updates might slow down quite a bit from here on, sorry... I work at a theater and we're playing Avengers right now so naturally I'm exhausted by the end of the day XD Still, there will be at least a weekly update! Oh, and why am I not writing Marvel fanfiction right now, you ask?

Reasons...shhhh...