A/N: Welcome to my attempt at an AU story. I wanted to try something different instead of my usual type of fics, and came up with this. I don't have much to say for now, so I hope you enjoy. Please let me know your thoughts, and I hope this story interests you!

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics.

There were only two pieces of knowledge that Jason cared about for a long time.

One, that the Joker was still alive. After beating Jason to a broken corpse and blowing him up in a warehouse, Batman still hadn't crossed the line. Bruce still hadn't avenged him. Taking away the life of his Robin hadn't been enough; it hadn't hurt his mentor the way Jason had once thought it would. Many said the Batman was emotionless; the shell of a man. Jason had begun to believe that was right.

But the second piece of information, that small fact, was just as torturing, if not worse.

Batman had a new Robin.

The rumors all praised him, the news reporters said that his skill was legendary. He worked in perfect sync with Batman, so he heard. They all pointed out that the new kid was better than him, even though they had no idea it was a different boy behind the mask. All of this just added in to the fact that Jason Todd had been replaced. How soon, the newly resurrected man had no idea. But considering that Batman was as much of a shell as the whispers on the street said, Jason had to bet that it hadn't been a long time. Bruce had moved on to a new sidekick, just like he had been Dick's replacement. Now Jason had his.

Enraged and betrayed, he had travelled the world and trained, harder than he ever had done. Vengeance was the mantra that he said every day, the one thing he reminded himself when he woke up and went to sleep. He refused to return to Gotham until he had perfected his training, until he was ready to confront his mentor. Not only that, but Jason intended to avenge himself if that was what it took. The Joker would pay for what he had done, not only to him, but to every unfortunate soul that had been a victim.

And the new little Robin?

Well, Jason intended to find him too.

He always planned on finding both of them, and to deal with them accordingly. It was a tip about the Joker's whereabouts that he heard first; not surprisingly the lunatic had escaped Arkham Asylum yet again. From there, Jason searched high and low for his murderer, knowing he had to beat Batman to it. As much as he hated to admit it, beating Batman was not an easy thing to accomplish. He doubted that he would actually find the Joker first.

But the streets had been oddly quiet, with no sign or rumor that Batman had been patrolling Gotham. On a normal occasion, Jason knew Batman would have been searching endlessly, attempting to find the Joker before he could leave a calling card. After a while of silence, Jason could only come up with one excuse; Batman wasn't in Gotham. It gave Jason the advantage that he needed, the chance to do what needed to be done. Before Batman could resurface in the city, Jason was able to track down the Joker.

He didn't expect to find the new Robin as well.

The old building was seated right outside of Gotham, by the ports. The night air was cold, the water of the river mixing with the sounds of city life. Jason had taken one look at the old building and had to repress a shudder. It reminded him of that night, with its worn exterior and foreboding air. Everything screamed for him to turn back and run, to get as far away as possible. But then Jason remembered why he was there; all of the months he spent training and molding himself into something greater. It was enough to shake him from the gnawing fear, and Jason gathered himself together. Easily he climbed to the roof of the building and approached a window, crouching down and peering inside the building.

The force of shock he felt was almost enough to send him flying off the roof. There, in the center of the room, was the newest Robin. While seeing him in real life and not just in the news was jarring enough, that wasn't what made him feel sick to his stomach. The boy was bound by the wrists, his belt missing as well as his shoes. He was covered in blood, his hair a matted mess. The uniform he wore was ripped, the mask barely intact. Even through the window, Jason could hear the boy's ragged gasps.

Then, from the shadows, came a figure waltzing towards the boy. In his hand he gripped a crowbar, slick with the boy's blood. His red lips stretched into a grin, one that looked too wide for his face. It took everything Jason had to not shoot the Joker in the head right in that moment.

Joker walked over to the boy, circling him slowly. "Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure that I killed you already, Bird Boy."

Jason had to swallow hard, his mind going back to that awful day. He could have sworn he was watching this happen to himself. The black hair, the blood, the crowbar; it was all too familiar. Even from the safety of the roof, Jason could still remember how each hit felt against his body; every single crushing blow. The only thing keeping him mounted in the present was the different costume the boy wore.

"And see, the whole point is that you stay dead," Joker continued, prodding at Robin's body with the crowbar, earning a groan from the boy. "You're going to confuse old Batsy at this rate."

Robin's fingers twitched, like he wanted to grab something in his belt that was no longer there. Joker twirled the crowbar in his hand, "That's my job. We can't have you stealing the show, now can we?"

Robin didn't respond, probably because he couldn't. The boy's face was half buried in the floor, his dark hair covering his face so much that Jason couldn't decipher his expression. The Joker must have gotten tired of being ignored, and grabbed the boy by his dark mop of hair and lifted him up. Jason saw the absolute expression of agony on the boy's face then, it screamed of undeniable pain. It was pain that Jason could still feel, deep in his bones. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the hatred he had towards the new Robin had begun to fall away; he hated instead that he could relate to this kid.

"Children are supposed to speak when spoken to," Joker chided, dropping the boy onto the floor again. Robin caught himself on his forearms, barely able to support the weight of his upper body. "If you were going to come back from the dead, you could have at least learned some etiquette this time around."

Robin made a noise that sounded like he was trying to speak. It was the wrong move to make, as Joker whipped around and struck the boy across the face with the crowbar. The weapon hit so hard that the boy was rolled onto his back. Jason tried to ignore the strange tingling he felt on his cheek, the memory of how it felt to have metal hit skin not at all vague.

"Lesson Number One," Joker said, "Don't sass your host."

Jason was frozen to the roof. He watched, feeling like he was bound up and helpless as Joker raised his weapon again. "In the next chapter, we'll be answering the long debated question; how many hits does it take to kill a Robin with a crowbar?"

Joker's laugh felt like someone was grinding their nails down a thousand chalk boards to Jason's ears. He could only stare as Joker brought the crowbar down on the boy, again and again. Robin flinched, twisted, tried all that he could to get away. Finally, as if giving up on all the hope he contained, he screamed.

His scream reached through Jason's dazed state, and morphed into his own scream all those years ago.

It was what he needed to break him free. Jason grabbed a gun from his holster and aimed, just as Joker brought up the crowbar again. Jason jumped through the window and fired, the bullet striking the crowbar and sending it flying out of Joker's hand. It hit the back wall and clattered to the ground, and the villain spun around to face Jason as he landed on the floor.

Jason rose slowly, "Class is dismissed."

"Well don't you look familiar," Joker said, looking Jason up and down. "I wore something close to that, though I was a lot classier than you."

Jason hadn't debuted as yet, he hadn't even made himself known to the public in this gear. But he was sure the red helmet gave enough away that even the Joker could figure out who he was. Jason responded, "Had to get with the times."

The Joker looked disappointed, "Fashion these days, it's just gone downhill. I'd love to chat but I'm a little occupied—"

Jason lunged forwards, his fist connecting with the Joker's jaw. He grabbed the villain by the neck and shoved him into the wall. "Why didn't he kill you? Why? Did I mean nothing at all?"

The Joker struggled against his grasp, "Well you don't mean anything to me. Did I know you before?"

In response Jason clutched the gun tighter in his hand as he brought it up to the lunatic's head. He wanted to end his killer right then and there. It was the vengeance he deserved. But without Bruce there to witness it…

No, Bruce should have done it in the first place. Jason knew he shouldn't have had to come back to life, to this messed up scene of the past, to do it himself. But that line, that damn line the Batman refused to cross; it held the crime fighter back. Jason would never be enough to make him do it, never.

Joker gasped out, "You know, whoever you're angry at, you can't be more upset than that kid."

Looking over his shoulder, Jason saw Robin sprawled out on the floor. The boy was trying to get up, his hands sliding in the blood around him. Before this, Jason intended to confront the Robin another time and deal with him then, show him just how he felt about being replaced. But after watching the awful scene, one so similar to his own death, something in Jason had disappeared. The bitterness he had towards the kid had immensely lessened. No matter how good the kid was, he still ended up here, just like Jason had. It made him just as vulnerable as Jason, and no better.

He knew that right now he couldn't kill the Joker, not when he wanted Bruce to do it so badly. Jason looked back long enough to smash his fist across the Joker's face, effectively knocking him out. The Joker slipped from his grasp and onto the floor, and Jason pressed his fist into the wall, trying to reign in his anger. It took a minute for him to regain his senses before he walked over and stopped before the kid. Robin looked up at him, as much as he possibly could angle his head to do so.

Jason didn't want to kill the kid, that much he was sure. He let out a sigh, partly to reduce the agony of his fraying nerves. "Maybe if it were you, then he'd cross that line."

Robin didn't seem to hear him, and Jason didn't care. He reached down and picked up the boy, knowing that no matter how careful he was it wouldn't matter. In his arms the boy tensed, gritting his teeth against the pain. Jason could remember how every moment had hurt, every breath had been shards of glass in his chest. The kid was barely conscious, and probably barely alive. Jason clenched his jaw, trying to make a decision when suddenly he heard it.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

It was the quietest sound, but Jason knew what it was. His head snapped to the side, where he saw a timer set back in the shadows, counting down. His heart stopped, throat constricted, and then he bolted, the kid still in his arms as he ran for the front of the building. Jason paused long enough to send his boot clad foot into the door, panic seizing him for a moment as he remembered that back then it had been locked. But this time kicking it open worked, he briefly noted as he ran that the lock had rotted.

He ran, faster than he had run in a long time. The explosion was deafening, and sent Jason flying off his feet. His body travelled through the air, Robin still in his arms before he crashed to the ground on his back. Robin let out a groan, loud enough to let Jason know he was still alive. Jason clenched his jaw and sat up, watching the building slowly burn to ash. That was how it had ended back then, though he'd never seen what remained, until now.

Joker had really planned to reenact the whole scene, straight to the end. At the thought of the Joker, the inner fire in Jason started up again. He had come for vengeance, he had come to wreak havoc on Bruce for betraying him and yet—

Jason looked down at the beaten boy, and suddenly realized he didn't need the Joker.

Vengeance was in his grasp.

The idea was just a thought, and not a developed one. But it was possible, so possible that Jason couldn't let it go. It was better than the Joker, better than blackmail. Jason was sure that it would be the biggest blow to Batman, and especially to Bruce Wayne.

It would work, Jason was convinced, but there was only one way he could pull it off.

Robin had to live.