Author's Note: So I was working on something else entirely when this idea just fell out onto my keyboard. This isn't set in any particular universe; I'm just chasing a random bunny. It will definitely be a two-shot, possibly a three depending on reader response. The second chapter will be much longer than this one is. For context, this is sort of post-everything, haha. Jason is Red Hood, Dick has been Batman for a year with Damian as his Robin and has gone back to being Nightwing (in Gotham) since Bruce's return. This is a solidly established Dick/Babs story. I hope you like it! Happy reading.

He'd been watching this corner of the city for hours now, waiting. He'll come out tonight, he assured himself as his eyes swept over seedy tenements. He'll want to know why I'm stalking him.

Sure enough, a slight puff of air interrupted the stillness a short time later, announcing Red Hood's arrival. "Hey," Nightwing greeted without looking around.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded, arms crossed. "You know better than to loaf around here."

"I'm not loafing."

"You've been here three nights in a row. I call that loafing."

"I was waiting for you to come ask me what I wanted."

"What if I don't care what you want?" he asked roughly. "What if I just want you out of my neighborhood?"

"…Then I'd be really disappointed. I would have thought you would try to question interlopers at every opportunity." C'mon, Jay. Don't be like this. Please.

His lips tightened. Damn it, Dick. "…Fine. Why are you here?" he spat.

"I have a question for you. Well…it's not so much a Nightwing to Red Hood question as an under-the-masks question, but I didn't want to ask you with a text. I'm never sure if you get them, anyway, since you don't reply."

"…I'm a busy man, I don't have time to answer everything you send me." …But I do keep them all, he thought guiltily. All the 'happy birthday,' 'sorry about kicking your ass last night,' 'sorry you kicked my ass last night,' 'sorry about trashing what was probably half of your income base' messages…I can't seem to bring myself to delete them, even when all they do is remind me how pissed I am at you. Don't ask me why. "Anyway, I'm here now, so ask."

"Oracle and I are getting married next month."

"I'm literate, thanks," he snarked. "It's been in all the papers. Congratu-fucking-lations. Are we done now?"

Nightwing looked up at the motionless clouds overhead and sighed. It was true; his and Barbara's impending nuptials had been second page news, and the wedding itself had a shot at the front page, provided it was a slow day elsewhere in the world. Finally he flipped up the lenses on his mask and turned to the other figure on the roof. "…Eyes?" he asked patiently when no move was made to match his actions.

Grumbling, Jason shoved his own lenses out of the way and glared at him. "Well? What is it?"

"…Please don't laugh at me for asking you to be one of my groomsmen."

That explains why he wanted to look me in the face, he reasoned, momentarily shocked by the request. I might have laughed, otherwise. Like this, though…I can't make fun of him. But I can't accept it, either. Something in him ached at that fact. "You know I can't."

"I don't know that, no. Why not?"

"Because nobody wants me there, that's why."

"That's not true. And even if no one else did, I do, and it's my wedding, so anyone who objects can just keep their mouth shut."

"…Why?" he asked plaintively. "What kind of a nutjob asks someone who attempts to beat them unconscious on a regular basis to be part of their wedding party?"

"You're not my enemy, Jason," he whispered his name. "You're my brother. That will never change, no matter how often we fight. Even if you killed me, I would still call you by that name as I died. Is it wrong of me to want all three of my brothers by my side at my wedding?"

No. I don't know. Fuck. "Let me guess; you made Red Robin your best man?" he sneered, trying to exhaust some of the tangled emotions in his gut in his typical fashion.

"Flash."

Oh. Yeah, Wally makes more sense. So…shit. That was clever, Dick, putting all three of us on the same level. No chance for anyone to claim favoritism down the road. "I still can't," he tried to sound disinterested.

"…Please, Jay," he all but begged. It wasn't even a question of numbers, although Babs had her maid of honor and three bridesmaids all lined up. It'll kill Alfred if the wedding party isn't symmetrical, but I don't care about that. I just want you to be there, Jason.

"Would you quit using my name? Of all the people to do that…Christ."

"I'm sorry, I just…look, I know you like to pretend that sentimentality doesn't affect you anymore, but…it's not going to be the same if you aren't there."

"Yeah, it will probably be a hell of a lot calmer and less bloody."

"Don't be stupid. Nobody's going to attack you."

He snorted. "I'm sure the other groomsmen will be delighted to see me. Don't get me wrong, I could probably take all three of them, but if Batman jumps in the mix you won't be getting your deposit back on the tux."

"I already told all of them that I was asking you, that my decision to do so was final, and that if they weren't going to be able to handle it they needed to tell me then. Nobody objected, Bats included."

…Shit. There goes that argument. Wally and Tim will bite their tongues until they're bleeding if it makes Dick happy, and Damian's under his control enough now that if he's told to let things be, he just might actually do it. "And you honestly don't think that at least one or two people in the giant JLA contingent that will probably make up half the damn audience will have an issue with my being there? Because I never thought of you as stupid before now, but if you answer yes I might have to reevaluate that."

"The ones who know who you are without a mask wouldn't jump you without better cause than 'hey, look, there he is.' And that goes double at the wedding of two other JLA members. You know that."

…He's right. But still. No. "I can't."

"Just think about it, okay? You don't have to answer right now."

"I said I can't. Are you deaf?" he snapped, frustrated. I would, but…I can't. I can't go up in front of all of those people and just…just pretend like so much never happened. You can't expect me to do that. It's unfair of you to even ask, Dick. Asshole. Once he'd managed to turn the blame onto his elder brother in his head, it became easier to pile on the abuse. "Even if I reasonably could, I wouldn't. I don't want to, all right? I don't give a flying rat's ass who you're marrying, especially when it's someone who's too weak to even walk down the fucking aisle under her own power. I'm not gonna be there, period, so find someone else among your billions of friends. None of you need or want me, and I'm not going to be pulled out of the shadows and paraded around just to make you look like the family peacemaker. Got it?" He slammed his lenses back down. "And stay the fuck out of my neighborhood, Nightwing. You're not welcome here."

Dick watched him go, his mask damp. …Jason. You didn't mean that. I wish you knew how many people still hope you'll come around, that you'll move past what was or wasn't done before and try to rebuild the bridges that none of us – maybe not even you, for all that you lit the match on most of them – wanted to see burned. I'm sorry, little brother, I am. I just hope you know how much it's going to hurt me if you aren't there next month. More importantly, I hope that you still care, even a little, that your absence would do that. If you do…maybe you'll be there, after all. I guess we'll see soon enough.

A sad, fleeting smile crossed his lips as he turned away and swung off towards his rendezvous point with Red Robin. I still believe in you, Jason. I hope you know that.