I don't own anything here. I was rewatching Batman: Under the Red Hood the other day and I was inspired. Jason's probably OOC...so sorry 'bout that. I may continue this one-shot if enough people like it. Oh well, we'll see. I hope you enjoy.
Robin sighed as he sat down on the bench their compartment. M'gann and Superboy had gone to get the bioship, since they had hidden it out of range, and Roy and Artemis were off somewhere, most likely arguing about archery.
Robin was happy that the mission was a success, but now whenever he closed his eyes he imagined himself falling on the trapeze. He knew that moment would be burned into his mind forever. He thought he was going to die the same way his parents did. Him dying in that performance would have been death's way of getting revenge on the young boy for hesitating the night his parents were murdered. The night he became an orphan.
"Me and Superboy have the bioship. We'll meet you guys at the rendezvous." M'gann's voice said over the link.
"Copy that." Robin responded, making himself to sound cheery and upbeat.
"We'll be there soon." Artemis grumbled, and it was clear Miss Martian had interrupted a standoff between the Team's resident archers.
He exited the compartment and the circus site. The rendezvous point was in a clearing on the edge of a nearby forest. He was alone, but that didn't bother the Boy Wonder. He could handle himself.
As he walked through the not-too-thick snow, he stared at the ground. He was still alert, if any dangers were to appear, due to years of training ingrained in him by Gotham's Dark Knight.
So that was why, when he heard the smallest of noises behind him, he froze. His hands had already been in his pockets, and now he fingered a birdarang that he had hidden there with his right hand and a smoke pellet with his left, prepared to turn on whoever was stalking him.
"Relax Goldie." He heard an all-too-familiar voice and he relaxed, letting go of the weapon and the pellet. "It's just me." Jason Todd told his younger brother.
He turned, "What are you doing here Jay? I haven't seen you in months. Not that that's surprising." he added that last part with a hint of resentment. He had been worried for his brother, despite the fact that he was Red Hood, a villain and he was Robin, a hero.
Jason grinned and walked closer, "Aww, Dickie-Bird got an attitude while I was away. How cute."
"Jay..." Dick looked at his older brother, telling him to answer his question.
The older man sighed, "I heard about what happened. I'm not going to be all damn mushy and everything, but... I wanted to see if you were okay."
Dick paused. That was not what he expected his brother to say. "I thought I was gonna die." He admitted quietly, "I thought I was gonna die like my parents did. The same performance for the same people."
"Dick, you didn't die that night. You lived. This time, this mission, you didn't die either. Someday, we're all gonna die. But I'll be damned if you die while up in the air." Jason said to the younger, smaller boy, "You're a Bat, you're Robin. You fly."
Robin smiled mischievously, "I thought you weren't going to be so mushy, Jay. Hanging out with Kory too much?"
Jason smacked him on the back the head, "I swear Goldie that I will beat you so hard if you ever say I'm mushy." he growled.
The thirteen year old put his hands up in surrender, "I see you lost your sense of humor. You're not whelmed, Jay, not whelmed at all."
"I see you lost your language skills. You still butcher the English language the best." He retorted. "Let's see: Chievious, tained, and now whelmed?"
Before Robin could explain how he perfected - not butchered, thank you very much - the English language, he heard a voice in his head..
"Robin where are you? Are you in trouble?" M'gann's concerned voice flooded into his mind and he could sense her worry.
"I'm fine M'gann. I just..." He looked at the outlaw, not quite knowing how to explain his predicament. Worried older siblings that happen to be once-dead anti-heroes? Not an easy thing to cover for. "I'll be there soon, 'kay?"
"Robin-" he blocked out M'gann's telepathy and turned back to his brother. "The Team's waiting for me." He tapped his head, "Telepathic link."
The other boy shook his head slightly, "Just when I thought you couldn't get anymore messed up up there." He backed away from the Boy Wonder. "Say hi to Arrowhead, Goldie. And don't make me have to tell Bats what happened here. I don't want to talk to him." His tone grew cold when he mentioned Batman, and Robin was slightly saddened at the reminder of the boy who was his brother and the man who was his father's (both in everything but blood) relationship, but he didn't show it.
"I will." He promised, and Red Hood vanished into the night.
Now more relaxed after talking with his brother, Robin finally made it to the rendezvous point where an anxious Team was waiting for him.
"Robin!" Artemis called, spotting the boy first. He held a hand up in greeting as moved towards the others.
"You guys are so not feeling the aster." He mused, noticing their tense stances.
"Well excuse us if we've been-" Red Arrow began to rant, catching that comment, before Robin interrupted him.
"Hood says hi." He said to the boy, successfully stopping him. The archer was caught off guard for several seconds before he sighed.
"I should've known he would be here." He muttered in defeat before stepping inside the bioship, to the Team's confusion.
"Who's Hood?" Superboy asked bluntly, slightly perplexed by the turn of events. Robin adopted a familiar mischievous smirk.
"Hood's my big brother." He said casually, before jumping into the safety of the bioship.