It was strange, being on this side of the door.

Strange, staring at the white, windowless doors with someone else's blood dripping off his hands, wondering if they were going to make it.

Strange, replaying the last several hours and wondering how everything had gone so horribly wrong.

Dick stared, stared as if he had Clark's powers and could see straight through those doors into the room where Jason was undergoing emergency surgery.

His ears were ringing, and he could still hear echoes of sound; the whir of the zeta tube as he dragged Jason's impossibly heavy body into the cave of Mount Justice, the cries and questions of his friends and Black Canary as they rushed towards the blood covered pair, and worst of all, Canary shouting for Red Tornado, "He doesn't have a pulse! Defibrillator now!".

"Rob, you're shaking," Wally's voice broke the heavy silence, and though the words had been soft, Dick jumped as if he had yelled.

"Are you hurt?" Kaldur moved in front of him, blocking his view of the doors.

"No."

His friends exchanged skeptical looks.

"He's going to be ok. He's going to be ok, right?" Dick barely recognized his own voice.

So strange, to be on this side of the door, paralyzed with panic, unsure whether his brother was going to live or die, if saving Robin was going to be his last act on this world.

An icy shiver snaked up his spine, his stomach lurched, and Dick fell to his knees and began to heave. His friends were beside him in a flash, steadying him as he emptied his stomach and continued to tremble.

"Sorry," he murmured when he was finished.

"Don't be, you should've seen what I was like when it was you in that room," Wally said grimly.

Dick winced. He understood better now, what it must have been like for his friends, for Jason and Bruce, when it was him who was dying.

Dying. Oh God. Dick had to clench his fists as his stomach lurched again. What if Jason…what if he-

"Hey," Wally said sternly, suddenly. "Whatever you're thinking, stop it. It isn't going to help."

"He's right. Trust in Black Canary and Red Tornado. They will do everything they can to save him."

Dick nodded, still dazed.

"Let's get you cleaned up. Are you sure none of this blood is yours?"

"I'm sure," Dick said tensely, allowing Kaldur and Wally to help him to his feet. He hesitated as they made to lead him to the showers, staring at those impassable white doors.

"They will come get us when there is news," Kaldur said gently.

They took him to the showers, and he brushed off their offers of help as he stepped under the warm water and washed off his brothers blood.

Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay.

His eyes burned as he fought back tears. He wouldn't cry. Crying would mean that Jason wasn't going to make it. That he was gone. And that wasn't going to happen.

Steeling himself the best he could, Dick dried himself off and dressed, finding a small amount of comfort in putting on his familiar sweatshirt and jeans, and replacing his mask with his sunglasses.

His friends were waiting for him.

"Are you sure you don't need medical attention, my friend?"

"It's nothing," Dick answered, then amended at Wally's skeptical look, "It's all just bruising."

From the hall, Dick heard the zeta tube sound off, signaling Batman's arrival. His heart constricted, and before he knew it he was bolting at full speed for his mentor.

"Batman!" He cried as the Dark Knight came into view. Batman, who had been storming for the med bay, changed direction and seized Dick by his shoulders.

"Are you hurt?" He demanded fiercely, his voice rough with strain.

"I'm fine," Dick said quickly. "But, Jason-"

His voice, to his horror, broke in his brothers name. Batman's grip tightened. "I'm going to check on him. Wait here," he ordered.

Dick nodded miserably, not bothering to ask if he could come. He knew what the answer would be. In seconds, Batman had disappeared behind those white doors, and the silence descended once more.

Dick swore violently, grateful Alfred wasn't here to witness his outburst, and turned to face his friends who had followed.

"What happened to you guys?" Wally finally asked.

Dick slumped against the wall and slid slowly down it until he sat, his arms resting on his knees.

"He called himself Hush," he said hoarsely. "And he broke into the cave."

Kaldur's eyes widened. "Impossible."

"No freaking way!" Wally gasped, horrified. "How?"

"I don't know. But he led Batman and RH on a wild goose chase and doubled back to break into the cave," Dick ran a hand through his hair, intensely grateful for the sunglasses covering his eyes. He fought to keep his voice from shaking as he brought it down to a whisper. "He had Bruce's face. He had his face and he was going to cut out my heart, and Jason stopped him."

Dick turned his face away as he continued shakily. "He saved me, and then Hush stabbed him."

Wally swore, and Kaldur leaned in. "It is not your fault, Robin."

"I know," Dick lied.

The three sat in silence. It was an eternity before Batman emerged. Dick shot to his feet, heart in his throat.

"They're still working on him," Batman said before Dick could ask. "It was a bad wound, but you got him here in time. He's going to pull through."

Relief slammed into him so hard, his knees threatened to buckle. He heard relieved sighs from his friends. Wally and Kaldur obviously sensed the pair needed to talk, and after patting Dick's back reassuringly, headed to their rooms.

Batman led Dick to a private room to wait, and the boy slumped wearily into his chair. Bruce pulled back his cowl and rubbed his eyes. He looked so weary, Dick thought.

"What happened to Hush?" Dick asked.

Bruce's eyes darkened so fiercely, so rapidly, Dick instantly regretted the question.

"Gordon's picking him up. He'll be in intensive care for a long time. His face will never be the same," Bruce said with savage quiet. Dick shuddered at the wrath in his voice. "And after he recovers, he will be locked away for the rest of his miserable life."

Dick said nothing for a moment, imagining what Batman must have done to him to put him in such a state.

"Why did he do it?" He asked quietly.

Bruce's eyes met Dick's for a moment before he finally answered. "Tommy and I were…friends when we were children."

Dick blinked in surprise.

"Our lives were almost mirrored images of each other, but Tommy chose a much darker path. It's a long, terrible story, Dick, about a sociopath who blamed me and my family for a lot of things, who resented me for what I had and who I was, who became so obsessed with revenge, he wanted to become what he hated."

Bruce rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry he chose to target you first in order to get to me, Dick. If I had known, if I had any idea that he would…" he sighed deeply. "I was trying to protect you, and it almost got you killed. It almost got Jason killed."

"It wasn't your fault Bruce," Dick replied. "No one could have predicted what happened. How'd he get into the cave in the first place?"

"I don't know," Bruce admitted hesitantly. "But as soon as Jason is in recovery I plan on finding out, and making sure it never happens again."

"You'll need some help with that," Dick said with a small smile.

Bruce's lips curved slightly. "Good thing I know a certain hacker with a knack for trouble."

"Jason's really going to be ok?" Dick asked, worry still gnawing at his stomach.

"Yes. Provided that he listens for once and takes it easy for awhile so his body can recover, he will be fine," Bruce added. "I promise."

Dick sighed heavily.

Bruce's gaze suddenly sharpened. "You're hurt."

"It's fine, just some bruises," Dick assured him.

"Shirt and shades off, now," Bruce ordered firmly. Dick knew better than to argue with him after everything that had happened and obeyed.

Bruce's jaw tightened, and his eyes filled with cold rage as he examined every bruise, every mark. His gloved hands ghosted over the chafe marks on his wrists, on the bruises around his neck, on his jaw, his ribs, his forehead.

The man tried to hide it, but Dick could see Bruce's hands tremble slightly with the urge for violence, and knew his adopted father was wishing he had hurt Hush more.

"I'm fine," Dick repeated earnestly. "I'm ok."

"You're not, but it could have been so much worse."

Again that haunted look in his eyes, as if he was envisioning what Hush had promised to do. Dick opened his mouth to reassure him once more that he was fine, that he'd obviously had much worse, when a knock sounded on the door. Bruce pulled up his cowl as Dick hurriedly threw on his sweatshirt and shades. The door opened, and Kaldur stepped into the room. "Forgive me for interrupting, but Black Canary wished to inform you that the Red Hood's surgery is being wrapped up as we speak. He will soon be moved to recovery."

The first thing Jason was aware of when he woke was the intense pain radiating from his gut. God, he forgot how much stomach wounds hurt. Every twitch of his fingers or toes, every shallow breath sent jabs of agony from his core.

"Fuck," he cursed with a breathy groan, wondering why no one had given him more pain meds yet.

"You've got to broaden your vocabulary, Jay."

Jason pried his heavy eyes open and saw the raven haired teenager perched in the chair by his bed. "Says the kid who spends his days making up words."

"I'd ask how you're feeling, but I'm pretty sure you just told me," Dick said with a smirk that didn't quite meet his eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a picture of health," Jason replied. His eyes fell on the boy's face, at the bruises that marred it, and the ones that peaked from beneath his sweatshirt on his neck. His gaze darkened.

"Just bruising," Dick said, as if he'd been saying it a hundred times already. "I'm ok."

"And that murdering psychopath?"

"In the hospital. You'll be happy to hear that Bruce put him in intensive care," Dick replied with a grim smile. "We won't have to worry about seeing that face like that ever again either."

"Good," Jason said with no small amount of satisfaction, then blinked at the look on Dick's face. "What?"

"You almost didn't make it," Dick said quietly, his eyes falling to his feet. "By the time I dragged you through the zeta tube, your heart had stopped."

Shit. Jason knew what that must have been like for the kid, how he must have felt. "You mean you were able to drag my heavy ass out of the batmobile and into the zeta tube on your own? Damn, kid."

Dick didn't smile. Jason sighed.

"Hey, look at me," Jason ordered. Dick obeyed hesitantly. "I'm fine, ok? It was a close call, but I made it. We all made it. You think I liked it when I got there and saw what that psychopath was going to do to you?"

Dick shuddered. "I know what it must have been like for you, after what happened with…with the Joker," he said finally and released a long breath. "That sucked."

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "Lets try not to do that to each other anymore, huh?"

Dick smiled. "Sounds good to me. And for the record? Maybe it's best if I don't get left behind anymore."

Jason snorted, then regretted it as his insides cramped violently. He grunted. "You do have a point. Every time we leave you somewhere for your own good you manage to get yourself in trouble."

"Oh yeah, because it's always my fault," Dick rolled his eyes. "Smooth move with the tracker by the way. But let's save each other some time and equipment and just let me come along from now on."

"That's not exactly up to me, but I'll put in a word with the big guy."

Dick grinned and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. "I'm sure between the two of us we can present a pretty solid case. Are you ready for more pain meds?"

Jason debated between giving into the rapidly growing need for relief from the pain, and continuing on so as not to ruin his badass image. As if in response, his stomach gave a lurch of agony. Damn it.

"Drugs would be good," he admitted with a grunt.

Dick's cackle was the last thing he heard as sweet relief swept through him, and he sank back into oblivion with a sigh.

Author's note: is anyone still there! *hides face in shame*

I'm an awful person for leaving you guys with that cliffhanger for this long. I could give you all my excuses about how life happened and it's been rough, but there's really no excuse. You all probably forgot about this story and will have to reread it for those of you who are still following it. So I am very sorry! And I know this isn't the best ending chapter, but I though this short piece is much better than leaving it how I did. So I hope I'm forgiven! And I promise never to do this again. If I post another story, I will wait until I've written the entire thing to do so. Thanks to the few of you who have stuck with this story, to everyone who has ever reviewed, and to hide who forgive me for leaving you all hanging for so long.

Queen