When Jason heard that The Joker was out of Arkham once again, he didn't hesitate to gather his gear and start his search for the deranged clown. He wasn't surprised when he tracked the psychopath to an abandoned warehouse-Gotham had far too many abandoned warehouses for that to ever be a surprise. However, what did surprise Jason was what he found once he entered the dilapidated building. There, in the center of the room, was Nightwing. He was tied up, suspended off the floor, gagged, and looked beat to hell. Jason checked for any sign of The Joker, but he knew that the clown had yet to return to his not-so-secret hideout. After all, that was all just part of the plan. Few things were sweeter than ambushing someone in their own hideout.

Red Hood jumped down from his hiding place on the rafters and landed in front of Nightwing. "Well, lookie lookie. I came here to get The Joker, and instead I found you. Looks like he got the best of you, didn't he, Dickie-bird?"

Dick barely lifted his head in acknowledgment. Jason rolled his eyes underneath his mask as he pulled a knife from his boot, and proceeded to cut through the gag. Dick hung his head, and worked his jaw once Jason pulled the gag from his mouth. "Thanks."

Jason nodded as he started to saw through the ropes. "Yeah, yeah, don't thank me yet. You still aren't out of here." When he got most of the way through he paused to give Dick enough time to brace himself. "I'm about to cut all the way through. Are you going to be able to steady yourself? Or am I going to have to catch you, so you don't smack your face off the cement floor? 'Cause I gotta feeling that isn't gonna be pleasant."

Dick shrugged, or at least he tried to. "I'll be fine."

Jason stared at him for a moment. "Yeah, sure. You know, if you're going to do that Bat thing with me, I really will just let you face plant. Now, do you want my help or not?" Dick nodded, but didn't say anything. "Okay, then." Jason grabbed him around the middle and held on while he finished cutting through the rest of the ropes. Once Dick was free, he just slumped into Jason's arms. "Are you going to be able to walk?"

Dick shook his head. "I doubt it."

Jason rolled his eyes under his mask again. "Great, so I get the glorious pleasure of carrying your ass to the rooftop. Please tell me you're at least able to hold onto me properly? The last thing I need is to get you out of here just for you to pancake on the sidewalk on the way back to the cave."

Dick nodded slightly. "I can hold on...probably."

Jason growled. "Probably?"

Dick tried to shrug again. "We'll find out?"

Jason tightened his grip on Dick. "Great, just great...just don't pass out on me. I only brought my bike, and it's already going to be hell taking the rooftops to where I left it."

Jason made sure that he had a firm hold on Dick before he even tried to ascend back up to the rafters. He managed to get to the rooftop with only a minimal amount of trouble. Dick was able to hold on slightly, but his grip wasn't nearly as strong as it should have been...even in his current state. Jason set Dick down on the roof to look him over. "Hey, you better not be passing out on me. Did that bastard give you something?"

Jason could tell that Dick was blinking rapidly behind his mask. "Something...it was...something."

Jason started searching his person for the antidote to the Joker venom, and just hoped that it wasn't a new form of it that wouldn't react to the antidote. "I swear this better work. I don't feel like lugging your unconscious ass around Gotham." Jason administered the antidote, but he knew he didn't have time to wait around and see if it worked. They were still at The Joker's most recent hideout, and it wasn't as though The Joker didn't have a thing for beating people nearly to death and then blowing them up.

Jason gathered Dick into his arms, and dashed across the rooftops. Before they were even four blocks away, which was nowhere near far enough for Jason's liking, Dick started convulsing in his hold, and Jason had no choice but to stop, once again, on the roof. "Shit, of course he pumped something into you that counteracts the antidote, because the fucking clown couldn't make one damn thing easy. Mother fucking..." Jason cut himself off as he tried to think of something to do for Dick. "Fuck, what the hell am I supposed to do? I can't carry you all the way back while you're convulsing like this, and I didn't plan for an incapacitated passenger tonight. Fuck!"

Jason stared down at Dick for a moment, frantically trying to think of something. After a few moments, he sighed in resignation. "Man, I don't even like you. I can't believe that I'm fucking doing this." Jason quickly reached for his comm. He couldn't believe who he was about to call for help. Well, Jason figured it could have been worse. "RH to R...I've got big bird, and he's looking rather...ah fuck...he just vomited on my shoes."

It only took a second to get a response, not that Jason was surprised. "Red Hood, I swear if this is some type of trick, I will personally hunt you down and..."

Jason scoffed at Tim's attempted threat. "And what? Kill me? Oh, right that's against your little rules."

Tim growled into the comm. "Jason, I swear..."

"Chill, baby bird, I've got him, and he's not doing so well, so if you'd like to kill the chitchat, and get your butt here-preferably with a car-that'd be great."

Tim huffed out a breath. "Where are you?"

Jason smirked to himself as he gave Tim exact coordinates in latitude and longitude, just to be a condescending ass. "See you soon, baby bird." Jason turned back to Dick, and held him on his side, just in case he vomited again. "You really are more trouble than you're worth."

When Robin got there, Jason was wiping Dick's vomit from his shoes. He leveled an accusatory glare at Jason. "What happened to him?"

Jason really wasn't in the mood for 'all business mode' Timmy. None of Jason's plans for the night had worked out, and that was just frustrating. "Drop the attitude, and stop looking at me like I'm the one who beat the hell out of Dickie-bird. I don't know what happened to him. I slipped into Joker's hideout, and found him all trussed up. It was clear that Joker gave him something...I don't know what, so I gave him the antitoxin, but that induced vomiting and convulsions."

Tim nodded once, ignoring everything but the facts. "Okay, I'll take him from here. Thanks for the help."

Jason scoffed at Tim. "Yeah right. There is absolutely no way I'm trusting you to carry him down to the car yourself. He's about twice the size of you."

Tim folded his arms over his chest underneath his cape. "I can handle it. That is part of the job description.

Jason honestly had no idea why he was arguing. If Tim thought that he could handle it, then, by all means, he should have just taken the out and left. After all, it wasn't like he didn't have things to do. However, he just couldn't stand there and watch Tim struggle with an already hurt and inebriated Dick. "Nah, it's fine," Jason hoisted Dick up into his arms. "I'll just get him to the car for you. Wouldn't want the delicate baby bird to injure himself."

Tim glared, but didn't say anything. Instead, he just jumped off the roof-clearly expecting Jason to follow-and led the way to the car. When Jason landed in front of Tim's car he simply whistled as Tim opened the door for him to place Dick inside. "Baby bird gets all of the nice toys."

Tim shrugged as he got into the drivers seat. "Nightwing has his own key to the batmoblie...you tell me who gets to play with the cooler toys. Are you coming?"

Jason wasn't sure what possessed him to nod and get in the car, but he was almost positive that it had nothing to do with the explosion and faint laughter coming from four blocks away. He slid into the back seat, and held Dick on his side just in case he got sick again. Neither Tim nor Jason said a word the entire drive, and Dick stopped convulsing, and slipped into what seemed like a peaceful unconsciousness rather quickly once they were on the road. Jason wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but it didn't really matter. After all, it wasn't as though there was anything they could do about it right now.

Once they reached the cave, Tim motioned for Jason to bring Dick and follow him. Normally, Jason would have been annoyed by the silent treatment, but right now, he didn't care all that much. He just wanted to get Dick on a med table, figure out what was running through his system-so that he could be prepared for whatever new toxin The Joker came up-and maybe stock up on some supplies while he was here. After all, it wasn't as though daddy Bats couldn't afford to 'misplace' some supplies. Jason placed Dick on one of the tables and stood back as he watched Tim start to take blood samples.

Tim didn't say a word to him the entire time that he worked, but he did gesture for Jason to come over and hold Dick in certain positions to make his tasks easier. It was weird being back in the cave and not trying to kill his replacement, but Jason figured finding out what he was up against was probably more important than whatever issues he still had with the creepy silent Robin. After a few moments of boredom, however, Jason couldn't help but start to annoy Tim again. "How long is this going to take?"

Tim huffed out a breath, and his shoulders fell. It was almost as though he had been counting the minutes of silence, wondering when it would break. "This is advance bio chemistry, Jason. It's going to take as long as it takes. If you're really so concerned, I'll contact you with the results later."

Jason scoffed at that. "Ha, concerned? I'm not concerned, bird brain. I just want to know what I need to be carrying the next time I see that deranged clown."

Tim nodded once as though that was the expected answer. "I'll let you know."

Jason knew when he was dismissed, but that didn't mean that he had to like it. "Yeah, whatever, baby bird," Jason growled as he started heading towards the exit. He was lost in thought about the best way to get back to his bike when he heard Tim's voice behind him. "What was that?"

Tim sighed as though it was truly painful to repeat himself. "I said, 'Thank you, Jason'." At Jason's look of confusion, Tim continued. "You probably saved Dick's life. I know that doesn't really mean anything to you, but thanks anyway."

Jason didn't know what to say, so he simply nodded and left.

XYZXYZ

A week later Jason entered his apartment to find a note and vial of clear liquid lying on his kitchen table. He picked up the note and read it quickly. It simply said, 'Thanks for your help. Here's the new antitoxin. Tim.' Jason didn't even know what to think. He had give up on the kid ever contacting him when he saw that The Joker had been recaptured two days ago. Jason shrugged to himself as he placed the vial in one of the hidden compartments in his shoe. He needed to analyze it later and possibly make more of it, but right now he could use a drink.

The End