True Chiz: I got this idea late at night and stayed up until 2 am. writing and posting it. Inspiration strikes at the strangest times...

Disclaimer: I'd have to be much older than I am to own Batman. So, no. I only own my stories and my dignity.

"Jason…Jay, can we just talk about this?"

"No. I'm done talking, Dick."

"Why?"

"You know why! Just leave me alone!"

Dick Grayson stopped in the middle of the Batcave as his younger brother, Jason Todd, continued to walk towards his bike. He sighed heavily and looked at his feet. He was a grown man, and yet he and his brother still argued like children. Honestly, it was getting on Dick's nerves.

"Jay, why can't we ever see eye to eye?" he whispered, mostly to himself. He didn't expect Jason to hear it, but the young rebel suddenly spun around and glared fiercely at him.

"You don't get it do you?" Jason shouted back, startling Dick into snapping his head up. Dick looked lost and clueless, which just infuriated Jason more. "You want to know why we can't see eye to eye? Maybe it's because no matter what I do, you get everything, and I only ever get the scraps you leave behind."

He had meant for that to conclude their conversation, but as he started for his bike again, Dick's voice reached him.

"What do you mean? I don't get everything. I barely get anything!"

"Oh, really?" Jason responded, his back still turned, "Last time I checked, you were the golden boy, and I was this family's black sheep."

"Don't you dare pin that on us!" Dick shouted back, finally getting angry, "You're the 'black sheep' because of your own actions! If you had just come home when we wanted you to-"

Jason turned around now, his infamous temper flaring up. "That's just it, though! It's always what everyone else wants! It's always what you want! The world comes first, and Jason can burn in hell! That's how it works!"

"We don't think that way, Jason! We-"

Dick cut himself off, realizing that, much of the time, that was how it worked. When Gotham needed saving, and the Red Hood was in danger, the family usually chose Gotham.

What kind of life are we living where I would choose a city over my brother?

Counting Dick's silence as a win, Jason smirked and said, "Not so easy, huh? Admitting that you're not perfect and that you're not the amazing big brother you think you are. Admitting that you would give the world for the Replacement or the Demon Brat, but you'd leave this one to die. That deep down, you probably wish I'd stayed dead!"

A tidal wave of painful emotions flowed over Dick's face.

"No…No, I don't think that way at all," he said, walking over to Jason slowly, "I-I'm sorry, Jay, but you have to believe me…I've never thought I was perfect! Hell, I'm surprised Tim ever even forgave me after I fired him. I knew how much Robin meant to him…That's just one example of me being an absolutely horrible brother. And I would give the world for both him and Damian, but I'd do the same for you in a heartbeat. And I would never wish for your death Jason. I don't need to mourn for you again. No one does…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

By now Dick was standing in front of Jason, and before the younger could protest, he embraced him tightly. Jason struggled at first, but Dick held his grip, so he gave up and let his touchy-feely brother have his way for once. Dick stood there, holding on to Jason because he feared that when he let go, his little brother would simply leave, ignoring everything he'd just said. Soon he felt warm moisture on the back of his neck and wondered why he was sweating. When he finally let go of Jason, he realized that the rogue Robin had been crying.

"Jay?"

Jason roughly wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket.

"What?"

He removed his arm to reveal two pain-filled, dark blue eyes, tinged red from the tears.

"Are you okay?" Stupid question.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Stupid, typical bat-child answer.

"Alright, just…I want this to stop, Jay. One of us always says something to set the other off. Either someone's feelings get hurt, or someone physically gets hurt. And the other person feels terrible, but the cycle just starts over again. I don't want that. Like I said earlier, I just want us to see eye to eye."

"We can't see eye to eye," Jason said definitely.

"Why not?"

Jason sighed. He was really tired. He hadn't been forced to confront his emotions like this since he was a kid, and he really felt like a loser for crying in front of Dick. And now he was going to explain his feelings?

Who am I, and what the hell have I done with Jason Todd?

"Remember what I said earlier…about you getting everything? It's true,"

"No, it's-"

"Let me finish!"

Dick fell silent. Jason sighed and started again. He really couldn't believe he was doing this.

"We can never see eye to eye because we're different. Because…"

"Because I got everything?" Dick said, seeing that Jason was having trouble finding the words.

"Yeah, I mean…You know what? Forget it. I'll just leave and-"

"Jay, you're staying right here until we figure this out," Dick said, kindly but forcefully.

"There's nothing to figure out,"

"That's where you're wrong…But I still don't think I got everything. Maybe it's because I got things first."

Jason shook his head, smirking slightly. "Nah, that makes me sound like your everyday kid who's jealous of his older sibling."

"Well, hate to break it to you, but that's basically what you are,"

"No, I'm not,"

"Oh, come on. It's true and you know it, baby brother!"

Jason's eyes went wide and he looked ready to strangle Dick.

"I'm NOT your baby brother!"

"Yeah, you are. You were only twelve when I met you, so I totally have the right to call you my baby brother."

"No, you don't," Jason said, flustered and looking off to the side, "Not with your real brothers running around."

Dick smiled sadly and said, "Jaybird, you are my real brother."

"No, I'm not. I'm the psycho who tried to kill you, remember?"

"The past is the past, Jay. You've gotten better."

"I'm still psychotic."

"Who in this family isn't?"

Jason cast his eyes to the ground. He no longer looked like a rebel, a criminal, or a hero. He just looked…sad.

He muttered something that Dick didn't catch.

"What?"

"…I don't deserve to be your brother…I…Everywhere I go now, there's pain. I can't look myself in the mirror without feeling some kind of disappointment."

"Jason," Dick said sharply, making Jason meet his eyes, "Don't you know that that's what family's for? Even when you screw up…Even when you screw up so badly that you think the world would be better off without you…We're here for you. You're reckless, violent, and a real hard-headed moron, but you're my brother, and I love you. No matter what. I promise."

Jason looked both shocked and touched for a second, but then he caught Dick in a cold glare.

"Don't you understand that I'M NOT WORTH THIS?"

He shoved Dick onto the floor and continued to shout.

"I shouldn't even be alive! You can't keep forgiving me! I've spilled too much blood, including yours! If I can't forgive myself, why the hell should you?"

Dick stood and punched Jason hard in the stomach. He then grabbed the younger man's shoulders and forced him onto the ground, sporting his own Bat-Glare.

Dick growled, "Why don't you understand that I. Don't. Care? I just want my brother back! If you want to be a selfish asshole and keep living like you have been, then leave!"

Dick turned and walked away, taking the steps up to the manor two at a time.

Jason didn't know how long he sat there, but eventually, he got up and rode his bike out of the Cave.

When Dick came down the next morning, he found a note written in a neat cursive handwriting that one wouldn't expect from the Red Hood, but one that he recognized as Jason's all the same.

When I'm ready to see eye to eye, I'll let you know.

-JT

P.S. If you call me your baby brother again, I will stuff a batarang down your throat and laugh as you suffocate.

The eldest bat-child smiled and went back upstairs to see what Alfred had made for breakfast.

Please, please, please, please, please...REVIEW!