This was something I started a little over a month ago, but then nanowrimo got in the way of finishing it. I'd wanted to write a story about the friendship between Barbara and Jason for some time. Honestly, it's something I would love to see more of. I absolutely adore the two of them and the brother/sister dynamic that I think would be really strong if it was allowed to develop to its full potential.

It certainly didn't end the way I thought it would when I originally set out to write this piece, but then again, hardly anything I write ever does, lol. ;)

Disclaimer: Batman and related characters do not belong to me.

The wind blowing through the open window ruffles Barbara's hair as she wheels her chair forward with one hand.

Her other tightly clutches an escrima stick. The one Dick had given her as a gift once.

Hardly ten minutes ago, she had been sleeping.

Had, until the silent alarm she'd set up to inform her if an intruder managed to get past her initial security woke her.

She isn't happy about being disturbed.

"I don't know how you managed to make it past my security system," she mutters, more to herself than to her unknown intruder, "but you managed to trip the silent alarm." She's a little smug about that part- she was particularly proud of the silent alarm, which was wired to send an alert to the both the Cave and Bruce's cowl.

Should she be in any danger, backup is already on its way.

She'll admit she hadn't been happy when Bruce had first suggested that as part of her security system-after her attack, proving her independence had been the most important thing to Barbara.

"You always were good at outsmarting us, Barbara."

Barbara almost drops the escrima stick in surprise.

"Jason?" she breathes, as the very familiar figure steps out of the shadows-why was it that bats, even ex-bats, always seemed incredibly fond of shadows?

"Hey, Barbie," Jason says, with that same lopsided half smile he had as a kid.

Slowly, Barbara lowers the escrima stick.

Even with everything that's happened, everything he's done, she doubts Jason would ever hurt her.

"What are you doing here, Jason?" she asks, crossing her arms across her chest.

Jason shrugs a little half-heartedly. "I need information. On a mob boss. Johnny Pierce. I was hoping you could dig something up for me. Like maybe where he's holed himself up."

"You couldn't just call?" Barbara raises an eyebrow skeptically.

It turns out to be the wrong thing to say.

Jason stiffens. "Fine," he says, but there's a surprising lack of bitterness present. "I can understand why you wouldn't want to talk to me."

He takes a step back, turning, and Barbara's chest tightens, noticing the loneliness present in his body language.

Jason's been through so much-has it really never occurred to them-to any of them-how much he's been hurting?

"Jason, wait," she calls after him. "Please."

She expects to keep going, to leave. After all, when have any of them ever shown him that he could rely on them? That he could come to them for help? Trust them?

Jason is dangerous.

A killer.

Isn't that the rhetoric whenever Jason is involved?

To her surprise, Jason actually stops.

Barbara licks her lip, wheeling her chair forward. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that," she says. "Now, you were saying something about a mob boss?"

"Johnny Pierce," Jason supplies with that same tired grin on his face. "Got a location for me, Babs?"

After a moment's deliberation, he sits on the couch that's mostly just there to take up space because Barbara certainly doesn't use it.

She smiles. "Not yet, but there's no one better at getting information than I am."

Jason cracks a grin… and all Barbara can see is a reflection of his younger self, sincere, vibrant, quick-tempered, but loyal to the end, both loving and hating with all the passion in his young heart.

What might he have been had he been allowed to grow up?

"No one quite as humble either," he says and Barbara realizes her own smile has slipped.
"Hey, I earned my bragging rights," she quips, ignoring all the distracting might have beens, and getting a low laugh from Jason.

She rests her elbow on her knees, using her fist to prop up her chin. "That's not the only reason you came here, is it?" she pries, taking the direct approach.

Jason raises his head to meet her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Barbara rolls her eyes. "Don't play dumb. It doesn't suit you. You could have just called. Which isn't saying you aren't welcome," she adds, "because you are. Although a little heads up would be nice before you decide to break my security system next time."

Provided there is a next time.

She takes a deep breath and continues, "But this isn't just about this Johnny Pierce, is it? There's something else."

Jason shifts and Barbara presses onward. "Did something happen? Something with Bruce?"

Jason snorts and there's a bitterness, but no anger, in his eyes. "There's always something with Bruce," he says and Barbara's mouth dips down into a frown.

Jason's dangerous.

That's what she's been told.

Ever since his unholy return, he's been dangerous, consumed with a desire for vengeance (and can she really blame him? Didn't those same thoughts cross her mind in the months after her attack?).

But dangerous isn't what she sees right now.

The boy (because will she ever be able to think of him as anything else but the street rat who was her pseudo-little brother?) in front of her is hurting.

Barbara dares to move closer, reaching out to lay a hand on his knee. He doesn't flinch, doesn't move away from her, so she takes that as encouragement to continue. "So tell me what's bothering you, Jason."

As soon as the words are out of her mouth, she feels stupid. Does she honestly think he's going to open up to her? After all this time? After all that's happened?

She refuses to take the words back, stubbornly keeping her mouth shut.

"I can't hate you," Jason says, and, out of everything he could have said, that rocks Barbara considerably.

Did he-does he want to hate her? she wonders and the question actually hurts.

"It's been so easy," he continues, "to hate everything connected to… him. The Golden Boy. The Replacement. But not you."

"Jason," Barbara says softly. She reaches for his hand, takes it in her own, and holds it.

He doesn't move, but, with the way he's staring at the floor, she's not sure he even knows what she just did. "You don't have to hate any of them."

Jason shakes his head. He laughs, but there's no mirth present. "What's not to hate? Bruce went out and found a new kid before I'd even been dead a month."

"It wasn't like that Jason…"

"No? Then what was it like?" Jason says. There's a hardness to his voice now.

"It…" Barbara finds herself at a loss for words, which she knows is not helping her case. Not with Jason the way he is. "He didn't want anything to do with Tim when he first showed up," she finally says. She notices the way Jason stiffens at Tim's name.

He probably didn't know it until this point. Hadn't bothered to learn it.

And why should he?

But maybe talking to him, helping him understand that they're all still human, but that they all still care will be the first step in bringing him home.

Because that's what they want more than anything in the end, isn't it? To come home.

Jason doesn't say anything, and Barbara takes that as her invitation to continue. As a sign that he wants to hear what she has to say. That he's willing to listen.

She's willing to bet Bruce never tried reaching him beyond justifying his reasons for never killing the Joker. It makes it all the more important that she shows him that he was missed. That he wasn't just replaceable.

"When you died…" They're treading dangerous waters here. She doesn't… know, really, how Jason has taken to his death and return. She knows it isn't good, based on the stories she's heard. She isn't going to bring that up now. "When you died, it was like… Bruce became a different person." It seems the safest way to describe how things were. "He was reckless. Careless when it came to his own safety, to the point where he nearly died. On numerous occasions."

"And the point?" Jason's voice is softer, more subdued, but it still holds a challenge. A challenge for her to defend Bruce. Because in Jason's eyes, what Bruce has done is indefensible.

"The point," Barbara continues, frustrated, "is that he didn't just throw you away. He cared about you. He missed you. Your death nearly drove him over the edge."
She wants to say more.

There's so much she needs to say, words that maybe she should have said a long time ago.

"I love you." "We're family."
"Come home."

Barbara doesn't say any of those.

Instead, she remembers.

And when she remembers, she brings a hand to her forehead. "Oh, crap!"

Jason looks at her, vaguely amused, but also slightly concerned. "'Something wrong?" he asks.

"When you… broke in," she explains. "You triggered a silent alarm." She can't help the small smirk that arises at his faint look of surprise. "You didn't think my apartment would be so easy to break into, did you?"

"Point taken." Jason returns her look with a sheepish smile of his own, one that Barbara has missed so, so much. It reminds her of the boy he used to be. "So… is your dad going to be showing up any second now than?"
"No… Jason, it's wired to send an alert to Bruce. It's a precaution, because anyone who was able to get that far past my security system had to be, well… dangerous." She watches his face for any reaction. "And good."

She's… not sure what she expected from Jason, but she does know it's far too early for Jason to encounter Bruce again. Not when these feelings are clearly so very raw still.

Barbara doesn't have to warn him that Batman will be here. He's deciphered that all on his own.

"It's been ten minutes," Jason says flatly. "If I'd been here to hurt you or kill you even, I could have done it ten times over." He pulls his hand away. His voice is tight with anger Barbara recognizes.

Bruce was too late once.

What's to stop him from being too late again?

"Jason," Barbara reaches for his hand again, "I'm not helpless. I have plenty of ways to keep myself safe without Batman's assistance, but he'll still come anyways. And I appreciate it."
Jason meets her eyes. "Bruce is going to be pissed," he finally says.

Barbara cracks a smile. "That he came out here for nothing? Probably."

But he'll also be upset. Disappointed.

That he missed you.

He'd ask her how Jason is. How he was when they spoke.

And she'll tell him.

But now is not the right time for them to run into each other again.

"I should go."

Jason stands abruptly.

"Wait!" Barbara calls after him, her hands hovering above the wheels of her chair, prepared to go after him. Jason pauses. "Keep in touch," she says. "Please."

He hesitates, before an almost smile appears on his face. "Sure. Maybe," he says.

"But this time, remember to call first. I can turn off the alarm that way."
This time the smile on his face is completely genuine.

"I'll remember that."

Thank you so much for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts!