Note: Chapter twenty! With some more of Jay-bird after his absence for most of last chapter (and brief cameo at the end). And I'm actually getting chapters written and posted in a timely manner, lol! Or timely when compared to my previous update schedule, but it's not been that long, right? Right?

Anyways, please enjoy and thanks, as always, for sticking with me! :)

Jason squinted, scrutinizing himself in the mirror.

The bruises still showed faintly. There was only so much concealer could do after all.

But they looked less serious now and, with luck, no one would notice they were there.

He frowned, not entirely satisfied with his job covering it up, but anymore and it would likely become obvious he was hiding something.

Jason scowled, thinking back to the fight at school. There had been three of them, picking on this girl, Rebecca Long. He just hadn't expected one of them to jump him from behind.

And after that… well, it hadn't been exactly a fair fight.

And the worst part was he was Robin!

He should have been able to take them all out.

But as Bruce Wayne's adoptive son, he wasn't supposed to be able to hold his own in a fight.

Yet adoptive Wayne or not, he'd been a street kid since his earliest days.

Jason never just sat back and took it.

He'd managed to get a few hits of his own in… He still remembered Felix Young's cry of pain when his foot connected with his groin.

A knock sounded on the door. Jason hastily hid the concealer in his pants pocket, before flushing the toilet and running his hands under the water.

When he opened the door, Dick was standing there.

"There are other bathrooms, you know," he muttered. He suddenly had trouble looking him in the eyes, no longer confident in his cover-up job.

Dick, however, moved past him without comment, shutting the door behind him as he did so.

Still, the last thing Jason needed was for someone to find out and interrogate him.

Maybe he could go outside and fall out of a tree or something. That could provide an explanation for the bruises. And it wasn't like Jason hadn't fallen out of trees before.

He'd broken his arm and very nearly his neck doing just that his first week at the Manor.

Jason sighed and gave up on the idea nearly as soon as it had formed. If he did fall out of the tree, that would mean Bruce and Alfred poking and prodding at him, trying to determine how badly he was hurt.

They would know the bruises on his face weren't inflicted by falling out of a tree.

Besides, he might actually break something on the way down and he wasn't exactly keen on that.

He decided to grab Ace. If he took cover with the dog outside, he could probably avoid being found out.

He just had to sneak out, before anyone caught him and realized he hadn't done his homework yet.

Jason pushed the door to his room the rest of the way open and peeked in.

Ace wasn't in his room- that was generally where the dog went when Jason wasn't around.

He stepped back and turned away. If Ace wasn't in his room, then Jason would have to look for him elsewhere.

Jason started down the hall, intent to search for him in the lower levels.

Ace often spent time in the kitchen as well, enjoying the warmth of the stove when Alfred was baking, unless the butler sent him out.

He wasn't prepared for a hand on his shoulder.

Almost instantly, he lashed out, but his fist hit nothing but air.

Dick had seen the signs and pulled back just in time.

Jason stared at him, heart beating rapidly, as he tried to dispel the image of Owen Rogers' face.

"Jason…" Dick said, a little uncertainly. Already, he looked like he was mentally kicking himself for creeping up on him.

Maybe another time, Jason would have been amused by the guilt written across Dick's face, but right now he was too angry and embarrassed to have found out that he wasn't as over things as he had thought.

"You snuck up on me?" Jason glared at him. "Why would you do that?" He was aware that he was clenching and unclenching his fists, almost like he was prepared to launch himself at his brother if need be.

"Sorry!" Dick held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "I was just… worried."

"Worried?" That wasn't the answer Jason had been expecting. They had a habit of sneaking up on each other when they thought the other wasn't expecting it.

He'd thought it was maybe an ill-timed prank.

Jason hadn't been expecting worry to the reason.

"You haven't said a word to anyone since getting home from school," Dick pointed out. "In fact, you disappeared pretty much as soon as you got home. Is somethin…"

He stopped, brows furrowing, and Jason suddenly wanted to hide his face.

He didn't, however, facing Dick stubbornly instead.

"Are those bruises on your face?"

Jason wished he had chosen to look away, to continue on his way to find Ace anyways.

Anything.

Because he really, really didn't want to have this conversation.

"Did something happen at school?"

"No," Jason said shortly. Automatically, he brought a hand up to his cheek, though he knew that would only draw more attention to the marks.

"Jay…" Dick frowned at him.

Jason glared at him. "I can handle myself!"

That was it. No "you should see the other guy," because, in this case, the other guy didn't really have anything to show for it.

Except maybe bruised knuckles.

Maybe he'd be a little sore-Jason had gotten a few kicks in and maybe one punch, but there had been three of them. And then a fourth had joined in.

"It's stupid," Jason declared vehemently.

"Jason," Dick said, "Bruce got a call from your school."

Jason's head snapped up at that. He'd hoped they wouldn't actually call, but… it seemed like that had been too much to hope for.

"I don't think it's stupid," Dick said pointedly. "What happened? I don't think you were picking a fight over nothing."

"They were picking on a girl," he finally admitted reluctantly. His fists clenched, nails digging angrily into the flesh of his palm. "Rebecca Long. They're always mean to her and they just… they never give her a break. So…"

"So you decided to step in help her out?" Dick's voice was sympathetic and entirely without judgement.

Jason found himself looking at his older brother in surprise.

"Don't look at me like that. I got into my fair share of fights when I was at school." Dick almost laughed, but seemed to stop himself.

Part of Jason wished he would have laughed. Maybe some of the tension in the room would have been broken.

But instead, Dick is looking at him entirely seriously.

"I did! And half of them were because of some kind of comment about my heritage, so… it's not like they were for anyone but me."

"Oh."

"Yeah 'oh.'" Dick shifted. "So… they were picking on this girl… What happened after that?"

"One of them came up behind me. He knocked me down." Jason hated admitting that part. The boy had been bigger than him. By a lot. Living on the streets, not getting enough to eat, for most of one's life tended to make one smaller.

And it didn't matter that he was Robin, the Boy Wonder, Batman's partner, when he was at school.

It wasn't like he could actually use any of those skills for fight bullies.

"They hit you after you were already on the ground?"

Jason was surprised by just how much anger there was in Dick's voice.

He glanced up. "I hit him back." He's gotten up too. There was no way he'd have stayed down if he had a choice in the matter.

"Good for you." Dick actually grinned, though the dark light in his eyes didn't go away. Then he looked serious. "Bruce is going to warn you again after this. You can't put your civilian identity at risk."

Jason opened his mouth to protest, but Dick beat him to it.

"But don't let bullies be bullies either, Jay."

Bruce hung up the phone and ran a hand down over his face. It didn't surprise him to learn that Jason had been in a fight.

Quite the opposite actually.

The boy was volatile.

But Bruce knew he wouldn't have attacked without provocation, yet the principle he had talked to had not been very… forthcoming with the details.

Which meant dragging the answers from Jason.

That on top of a lecture he wasn't sure the boy deserved.

He sighed. He did have to talk to him about avoiding fights. Even if Jason didn't start them (and he had started them-quite frequently too-in the past), he certainly never went out of his way to avoid them.

But if bullying had been involved… which is what he suspected, than he wasn't really sure he was against it.

Bruce stood, leaving the room.

He needed to find Jason. The boy had stormed upstairs immediately after getting home, leaving his backpack near the door.

Bruce hadn't reprimanded him for that at the time, suspecting he'd needed to work off some steam.

Now as he made his way to the staircase, he saw Dick already on his way down.

He spotted Jason behind him, coming down the steps a little slower. He wasn't quite dragging his feet, but he was certainly taking his time.

Jason reacted to Bruce's presence first, eyes widening and then narrowing slightly with guilt.

Even from this distance, Bruce could make out poorly concealed bruises on his face.

So he'd been hurt and he hadn't wanted Bruce to know about it.

Bruce clenched his fist, but carefully schooled his expression.

Any anger present on his face when he confronted Jason would likely be misconstrued as anger, or worse, disappointment, towards him, and he knew that would either cause the boy to clam up or become confrontational.

If he was going to have a conversation with him, than neither of those would be a good response.

Dick spotted him and, knowing instantly that Bruce wanted some privacy, he veered off to the side, intent on finding something else to do.

And so, when Jason reached the bottom of the stairs, that left simply the two of them alone.

"I heard about your fight at school."

Internally, Bruce winced. That wasn't the best way to open this… whatever he wanted to call it. It sounded far too judgemental, like he was prepared to get up on his case.

Are you entirely sure you're not?

Bruce silenced the doubt and scanned Jason for any sign that this might get ugly. He really didn't want this to become a fight, but if Jason suspected Bruce didn't understand him, it might.

Jason instantly looked cautious, but he didn't snap. Bruce was sure that Dick had said something to him earlier and he was silently grateful. Dick had seemingly smoothed things over.

Jason still hadn't answered him though and he frowned.

"Jason." His voice was sterner this time. He wanted this to be a mutually beneficial discussion, but he was a father here first and foremost. If he wanted the answers, than he was going to get them.

Jason opened his mouth. Then he shut it again.

"Did you get into a fight at school?" Bruce asked.

Jason met his eyes, suddenly standing a little straighter in defiance. "Yes," he said defensively. "But they had it coming."

"Do you want to tell me why?" Bruce pressed. "And while you're at it, why don't you tell me about the bruises on your face. Did that happen then too?"

Jason seemed to fight the urge to bring a hand up to his face, instead clenching it down by his side. "It was these kids at school. There's a group of them that always pick on the younger kids or… weirdos. People they think are different."

"Do they pick on you too?" Bruce was careful to keep his voice gentle. If Jason was being bullied, than he wanted to know about it. And while he was certain that the boy from crime alley felt that he could handle himself, he still wanted to put a stop to any torment that might be occurring at the school.

A grim smile nearly came to his lips. He was Bruce Wayne. He knew that if he put a call in to the superintendent, any complaint that he made would have to be thoroughly investigated. And if it wasn't… well, he could always withdraw funding until the matter was handled.

Jason stilled for a moment, before shrugging. "Maybe. Not much though. They pick on this one girl in my class. There's…" He reddened. "Her face. It was how she was born, but…" He trailed off uncomfortably, but Bruce knew what he was implying and it was enough to make him furious.

He would most definitely be calling the school to file a complaint.

"And so you stepped in to stop them?"

Jason nodded. "I got in a few good hits too." His face lit up with a sort of vicious pride at the victory and Bruce made a note to talk to him about it later on. Right now, though, he just wanted to get the full story, complete and uninterrupted.

"And the bruises?"

Now Jason brought his hand up, rubbing his cheek as a dark look crossed his face. "One of them came behind me. He knocked me down."

He didn't say anymore, but it was easy enough to guess where things had gone from there.

And Bruce suddenly felt cold rage stir within him. They had knocked his son down. They'd marked him, beaten him when he was down.

Whatever he felt must have shown on his face, because Jason suddenly snapped, "I told you they deserved it!"

Bruce's eyes found him again and he decided to overlook the tone this once. "I'm not angry with you," he assured him. "You did the right thing standing up for that girl."

Jason was surprised. "I thought you didn't want me to fight?" he said cautiously, almost suspiciously. "'Why wouldn't you be angry?"

"Jason, what do we do when we go out at night?" Bruce asked seriously. "If you had left that girl on her own, I would have been disappointed."

"So…" Jason narrowed his eyes, "you're not disappointed?"

Bruce closed the rest of the distance between them, resting a hand on Jason's shoulder. "No," he said. "I'm not. I'm proud of you, Jay."

Jason blinked several times. "... oh," was all he said.

"You stood up for someone who needed you to," Bruce explained. "That's something I want you boys to do, in costume and out. You don't need a mask to be a hero, Jason."

Jason stared at him a moment longer before breaking out into a grin. "You mean I do get to fight in school? Awesome!"

Bruce sighed. "Jason…"

"But if it's for a good cause, than there's no problem, right?"
"That doesn't mean you go looking for a fight."
"Unless it's for a good cause."

"Jason…"

"What?" If possible, the boy grinned even wider. "I won't hit anyone who doesn't deserve it. Promise."