Title: That's What Older Brothers Do
Summary: '
Dick pulled Jason into a hug, ignoring Jay's attempts to push him away, messing up Jason's hair, and loudly singing, "I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour~ I'll be there for you, like I've been there before~ I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me, too~" "Will you shut up if I tell you what's wrong?!" Jason nearly-yelled finally.' One-shot, brotherly Dick/Jay. Please read/review!
Characters: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd
Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Family
Pairings: No pairing, but brotherly Dick/Jason (can you tell I love big brother!Dick? XD)

Headcanon (from incogneat-oh on tumblr): When something is bothering Jason and he refuses to tell Dick what it is, Dick will sing the "Friends" theme song at him, loudly and off-key, until he gives in.


Dick watched Jason closely, curious. They were in the manor, on their own at the moment. The younger bird was surprisingly quiet, focused on un/reloading his gun. The action wasn't an unusual one for Jason, so long as he could keep Bruce from seeing it too often; he was more cautious about that than he'd admit to. Repeating it for the tenth time in the past ten minutes, though, was suspicious. "Is everything okay, Jaybird?" Dick asked, concerned.

"Fine." Jason's short answer was no surprise, either. Asking never worked the first time, but the oldest of the Batbrothers was all Dick was if not stubborn.

He held up one finger with each sentence he said. "You've barely said a word. This has got to be the twentieth time you've un- or reloaded that gun. You're ignoring me—okay," he admitted when Jason gave him a serious look, "that one's pretty common, but still. That's not even mentioning the biggest giveaway that something's wrong."

"Which would be…?"

"I called you 'Jaybird', and you didn't tell me not to!" Dick lightly touched Jason's shoulder, choosing not to be offended when Jason pulled away and swore quietly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Dick's eyebrows rose. "You sure you don't want to tell me?" he said in a tone that strongly implied 'tell me of your own free will now or I guarantee you won't be happy with me'. "I'm giving you a chance to now."

"Dick. If something was wrong—not saying something is, but if something was—then why would I tell you?" Jason said seriously.

Insulted, Dick pointed out, "Maybe because I'm your big brother?" Jason said nothing, unloading his gun yet again and spinning the gun's magazine a few times before reloading it. A smile tugging at his lips (because he enjoyed doing this, no matter how mean it was), Dick started humming a familiar tune. Quietly to start, but when Jason ignored him, he hummed louder, giving Jason one last chance to talk.

"Quit it, Dickie-bird," Jason nearly-growled, well aware of where this was going. Dick grinned and started singing.

"So no one told you life was gonna be this way~ Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's D-O-A~"

"Shut up. Now."

Louder, Dick sang, "It's like you're always stuck in second gear~"

"Quit singing!"

"When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but~" Dick pulled Jason into a hug, ignoring Jay's attempts to push him away, messing up Jason's hair, and loudly singing, "I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour~ I'll be there for you, like I've been there before~ I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me, too~"

"Will you shut up if I tell you what's wrong?!" Jason nearly-yelled finally. Dick nodded, smiling hugely as he started on the second verse.

"You're still in bed at ten, and work began at eight~"

"Then quit singing so I have the chance to!"

Triumph shining in his smile, Dick stopped singing. "I gave you a chance to tell without me having to," he said. "Now, I repeat. What's wrong?"

"…" Jason said nothing. With a small sigh, Dick started humming again. "All right! I'll tell!"

"Come on. For once, tell me what's going on."

"It's today, okay?!" Jason glared at him. He was wearing his mask, but Dick could see the pain that filled his eyes. "Today was when Talia dumped me in the Lazarus Pit. That's when I found out the Joker wasn't punished for killing me any more than getting put straight back in Arkham like he normally is. It's not exactly a fond memory, so just leave me alone for once, all right, Golden Boy?!" He shoved Dick off, crossing his arms and turning away from Dick.

Dick was silent for a moment, a bit stunned. Jay… Why don't you tell us these things? We're family, for crying out loud! We care! You haven't told us any of this kind of thing…

Honestly, he wanted to say it aloud. He wanted to chew Jason out for always being the tough one, refusing to allow himself to rely on anyone else. Back when Jay was Robin, he'd told Dick that the first rule of Crime Alley was that at the end of the day, there might be allies, but you couldn't count on anyone but yourself; no one was loyal enough to stay with you through everything—there was no family, no friends, nada. Allies, sure, but no one you could rely on forever. Right now, there was nothing Dick wanted more than to destroy the part of Jason that would always believe that.

He didn't, though. All Dick did was pull Jason into another hug, holding him close. After half-heartedly trying to shove him away, Jason let him be, eventually reaching up and gripping his older brother's wrist. With a small, almost sad smile, Dick slid his hand around to give Jason's wrist a comforting squeeze, not releasing him from the hug.

"Hey," he said suddenly, spurred to the revelation on a whim, "you know why I'm always singing the 'Friends' theme song to make you tell me these things?" Jason gave him a 'there's actually a reason behind it?' look, but Dick kept talking. "It's not just to annoy you. I mean, the singing is to annoy you into telling me, but there's an actual reason for why it's always the 'Friends' theme."

"'Cause it's the most annoying song you could think of the first time and it stuck?" Jason guessed, his tone still implying the earlier question.

Dick grinned. "Nope. Going to guess again?"

"Enough with the guessing game, Dick. Just tell me."

Tightening his grip, Dick said, "Because it's trying to make a point. Pay attention to the lyrics, Jaybird. I'm here for you, but you have to actually let yourself rely on other people first. Otherwise it really doesn't do much good for you or the people there for you." He smiled. "Plus the show title helps. It is possible, you know, to be brothers and friends."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he muttered, pulling away again. His eyes darted away, making Dick smile. He knew Jason was simply too prideful to say 'thank you', but he also could see the gratefulness that Jason was trying to hide.

"You're welcome," the oldest bird said, wondering to himself if he should tell Bruce or Alfred what today was. In the end, though, he decided against it. If they noticed or it started affecting Jason more, then he would, but right now, it was only at the point where Jason had a bad attitude and wanted to be left alone, which was pretty much his attitude every day. Tim and Damian probably wouldn't get suspicious of anything. Besides, Dick took pride in being the oldest of the Batbrothers, and he wanted to do everything he could for his little brothers. Being there for Jason and not breaking Jay's assumed trust by telling the others was the most he could do for Jason right now, and that's what he was going to do. That was part of being Jason's older brother, and Dick was going to do everything in his power to make sure Jason believed it.

Because that's what older brothers do.


A/N: Is there an official day out there for when Jason got put in the Lazarus Pit…? I'm not sure…if there is, please tell me so I'm no longer ignorant. XD Please review!