I do not own Young Justice or any related characters.

Tim struggled to open his eyes, light invading them as soon as a crack was revealed. He eventually forced them open, and glanced around. He was actually rather surprised to be waking up in the bright and clean infirmary of the Batcave.

A small part of him had expected to wake up still in the warehouse, the Joker looming over him, a wicked grin in place as he prepared to inflict even more pain...

He was home, though. He was laying on a soft mattress, warm white sheets were draped over his bruised and bloodied body, and he was safe.

Now, he just had to figure out how he came to be that way.

Looking over at the infirmary's other bed, he saw Dick sitting there, flipping through a photo album. Tim quickly decided that if he wanted answers, Dick would very likely be the most willing to give them. Of course, he didn't know how sensitive what happened was, so he had no idea if Dick would be comfortable talking about it.

It was worth a shot, though.

"Dick?" his mouth struggled to form the name.

The injured acrobat looked up, surprised, before he smiled lightly and closed the album.

"What is it, Timmy?"

"What happened there?"

The smile suddenly seemed frozen, and honestly rather fake.

"... Well, the Red Hood got the Joker to stop torturing you, one thing lead to another, and soon Hood was leading me back to the Batmobile while Bruce was taking care of you."

Tim's forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"But... why was the Red Hood there to begin with?"

Dick's smile faded instantly, and he looked down sadly at the scrapbook as he answered.

"... Timmy, the Red Hood is Jason. Somehow he's back, and he didn't like seeing someone else going through what he did."

Tim was sure he had heard something wrong in that sentence.

"... What?"

Dick bit his bottom lip, misery filling his crystal blue eyes.

"He's really angry at Bruce for... for reasons that, while they make sense, are... well, wrong. So... he didn't tell us he was back. Until he showed up as Red Hood, I thought that my little brother was dead..."

A chuckle escaped through Dick's mouth.

"I think he expected me to not really care about him anymore. I'll never stop caring, though..."

Tim knew that occasionally people came back from the dead; Ra's al Ghul did so constantly. He had never thought that this would occur with the lost Robin, though.

However, it did make all the pieces come together. Why Red Hood talked to him. Why he didn't mean to shoot Nightwing. Why he didn't support Tim fighting Joker.

And why he came to help rescue him.

"Why-why was he angry?"

Dick sighed.

"He thinks that Bruce should have killed the Joker after he killed him. His reasoning makes sense, but it doesn't change the fact that we just don't kill."

Tim nodded, putting the pieces together in his mind.

"Where is he now?"

"I don't know. I'm kind of hoping he's still in Gotham, but it is possible he left..."

Deciding to focus on this rather shocking news when his head didn't feel like it was being used as a drum set, he asked the question that had honestly been haunting him since he had woken up.

"Where is Joker?"

Dick's smile returned, though it was immensely small.

"He's back in Arkham. At least there is that to say of the evening."

Tim sighed in relief, glad to know that the clown wouldn't be anywhere near him for at least weeks from then.

Another Robin, however, could not say the same that night. Mostly because he was breaking into Arkham just to talk to the Joker, but he was still rather afraid.

The Red Hood wasn't. His other identity didn't feel fear. But Jason did. And Jason only wanted to talk to the damn clown for just a little bit of closure, even if he knew killing him wouldn't work then, and only that would bring true peace.

Joker just had to get a few things clear, though. Since no one else could make him realize these things, it seemed it was up to him.

It was not hard for Jason to sneak into the Asylum's vents through the roof, and once inside the building, he was able to knock the guards at the door to the Joker's cell out just as simply. Breathing deeply to try and control the anger and hatred that was threatening to engulf his emotions, he slowly opened the door to the cell.

"Wowee, what Doc is comin' to talk with me this time?" the clown's high pitched voice rang out before he even entered the room.

"I'm no doctor, Joker," Jason growled out, barley resisting the urge to make sure his helmet was still covering his face. Showing any sort of weakness in front of the maniac could easily end in disaster.

"Hoodie! How nice to see you again! I had so much fun with you and your family last night!" The Joker didn't seem at all phased that the young anti-hero was there. Jason did his best to not let that bother him.

"I'm sure you did, clown," his teeth were firmly clenched, and his right hand was gripping his gun.

"Well, what has brought me the honor of the death-defying birdy visiting my humble cell?" That damn grin wouldn't leave his face...

"I've just got to make a few things clear, since you haven't seemed to figure them out yet." The Joker was staring cross-eyed down the barrel of Jason's gun in seconds.

"... What exactly are these things I don't get?"

Underneath his helmet, Jason's eyes narrowed as he started to answer.

"If you ever try anything like what you did last night again, not even Batman will be able to stop me from hunting you down and ridding the world of your worthless existence."

Jason did not feel comfortable with the wicked smirk growing, and darkening.

"Ohh, that is rather straight to the point, Birdy. What part of last night am I not allowed to do anymore without punishment? Was it my play date with the baby bird that bothered you? How about the little quality time with the first Boy Blunder?"

His grip on the gun tightened as the memories of the night before filled him with even more anger.

"All of it."

The cackle that sounded out afterwards made Jason's blood run cold.

"Ohhh, I can't exactly promise that, Hoodie."

The teen couldn't resist doing a small smile of his own, even if the maniac couldn't see it.

"I guessed as much. This isn't the last time you'll see me, clown. If they get hurt because of your psychotics, for your sick sense of fun, well, I really wouldn't feel at all guilty freeing you from your own insanity."

Before the Joker could respond, running could be heard from down the hallway. Jason dashed out the door, slamming it behind him, and jumped into the vents where he had entered before the guards could make it to the cell.

Minutes later, he was running on the rooftops of Gotham, towards his run down apartment in the worst part of the city.

A few days pass. Soon Tim is deemed stable enough to leave the infirmary, though Bruce was still having Dick monitor him 24/7.

He was rather glad that it was Dick that was chosen for the job. No one else would be willing to help with what he was quite determined to do.

"Dick?" Tim spoke out five nights after the original incident. The acrobat, who had been texting Wally about something, looked up.

"Yeah, Timmy?"

"I was wondering if... you would be willing to help me with something."

Dick cocked an eyebrow at Tim.

"And that would be?"

Tim took a deep breath before answering.

"Well, if Red Hood was-I mean, is Jason... I want to talk to him. I mean, I guess I did talk to him before, but that was when I thought he was just a random weird vigilante, and-"

Dick stood, and put walked over to the ranting boy, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him from continuing.

"I get it, Tim. And I know Bruce would not approve of this..."

Tim felt himself deflating.

"But he has a League mission tonight, so he can't exactly stop us, can he?"

The young teen smiled up at his brother.

"I guess not, huh?"

They smirked at each other for a couple seconds before dashing for the entrance to the Batcave. Only a few minutes later, they were swinging through Gotham.

"Where do you think we should look for him?" Tim asked as they landed on a rooftop, his face crinkled as he thought.

"Usually he is hanging around the more beat up part of the city."

"How do you know?"

"I obsessively looked for him for awhile, remember?"

"Oh yeah..."

Tim followed Dick as the older hero swung in the direction of Crime Alley and the surrounding area. Eventually the acrobat stopped, and stood, waiting for Tim to catch up.

"How long do you think we will have to look?"

"Look for what?"

Both jumped at the unexpected voice. Turning swiftly to the sound, Tim was shocked to see Red Hood standing near the edge of the roof, his arms crossed over his chest. Dick, however, looked thrilled.

"Jaybird!" Dick nearly squealed out the nickname before sprinting to the teen, encasing him in his arms.

"Damn it- What is this, Dick?!"

"It is a freaking hug, Jason. I have not given you a hug in years. There is no excuse for you to avoid it."

"Really, Wingnut? A hug?"

"Yes."

Tim didn't want to interrupt Dick's affection, especially since Jason actually sounded like, though he protested, he really did enjoy it. However, he had a purpose for this, and, well... he really needed to ask something.

"Um, Dick?" he spoke quietly, but the older hero still heard it. He released the young vigilante from his grip.

"I almost forgot! Timmy wanted to talk with you, Jay. I'll just... go over there while you two do that." Dick then proceeded to awkwardly walked a few yards away, giving Tim a chance to approach Jason.

"What is it, kid?" the teen asked in a bored voice.

"... Why did you save me?" The words were very quiet, but Jason still heard them.

"What?"

"Why- why did you save me? Why don't you hate me for taking your name? Why-"

"Stop now, kid." Jason interrupted the now much louder and emotional questions.

"Well... why?"

Jason sighed, and took off his helmet to run his fingers through the raven hair beneath before answering.

"If it makes you feel better, I thought I was going to hate you when I found out there was a new Robin. While I was mostly angry at Bruce for putting another kid through this, I really didn't have the most positive emotions about you either. Then I actually met you. While you were acting kind of annoying, I think I might of kind of goaded that out, and it was obscured by one thing that I would be completely hypocritical to dislike in the least."

"... What?"

"An obvious need to make Bruce proud. Damn, I know how that feels..."

Tim nodded slowly in understanding, and listened as Jason went on.

"As for saving you, I would have done that even if I really did hate you. I would never let another kid go through what I did. That is one thing that no personal feelings would ever get in the way of."

Jason sighed again before continuing.

"So, kid- Tim, was it? Yeah, Tim... you seem like a good kid. And a really innocent one, at that. Try to keep it that way, okay?"

Before Tim had the chance to respond, Dick seemed to get impatient, and did a few back flips over to where they stood.

"Are you two done talking yet?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Dick smirked evilly, before suddenly hugging them both.

"Dick-"

"Really, Dickie-Bird?!"

"Group hug!"

"You are so immature!"

"I just want to hug my little brothers! What's so immature about that?"

"The fact that you are hugging."

"Well, then I'm just going to keep hugging until one of you hugs me back!"

There was a silence.

"Kid, you're younger, you should do it."

"He makes me hug him all the time. You do it!"

"No way!"

"Why don't you two love meee?"

"Oh great, now Dick's sad..."

The bickering went on, and while they thought they were completely alone, a dark shadow, that oddly resembled a bat, watched from a few rooftops away, a small smile on his face.

"Those are definitely my sons."

... It's over.

I am now sad.

However, while I originally did not plan to have a sequel, I actually thought of a plot for one last night. So yeah. Now there should be one decently soon. Be on the loom out for that.

And thank you to everyone who read and, even more so, reviewed this story!