Work Text:
“Hey.”
Dick Grayson prides himself on being stealthy. After all, he spent his formative years wearing bright colors and running around Gotham without being seen. He also prides himself on being perceptive– he’s the one that does the sneaking, thank you very much, he is not the one being snuck up on. But he has just been snuck up on.
He’ll give himself a little grace– he and Bruce are in a panic right now, considering Tim’s tracker went dark more than twenty-four hours ago and there’s been no sign of him. That’s definitely why he didn’t notice the figure on the rooftops following him until they spoke.
Dick whirls around. Standing in front of him is Red Hood, Gotham’s newest crime lord, quickly rising in notoriety. Dick hasn’t met him in person, but he’s heard a hell of a lot– especially about Red Hood’s hatred of Batman. So he figures Red Hood, confronting Nightwing on a rooftop at just past three in the morning, while Robin is missing, is not going to be a good thing.
“I’ve got your bird.”
Oh, Dick thinks. Oh, that’s not–
Hood catches him before he can spiral. Or attack.
“Found him snooping around Crime Alley, drugged to all hell. Figured I’d pick him up before someone else did. He mentioned Scarecrow but he wasn’t acting like he got hit with fear gas.”
Red Hood continues talking, oblivious to the panic that Dick is going through. He only stops when Dick takes a step forward.
“He’s okay?” Dick asks, and god he kind of wishes he didn’t sound so wrecked. He and Tim have yet to grow close, but he’s trying to be a better brother than he was with Jason. He cares about the kid, and the way his heart plummeted when B called saying he was missing–
“Yeah, he’s fine. Not a scratch. From me or anyone else.”
“Okay,” Dick says, and he takes a deep breath. This might be a trap, but Hood sounds… earnest. Concerned. “Where is he?”
“I told him to stay at my place, but he’s probably–”
“Hey.”
For the second time that night, someone sneaks up on Dick. Tim is very, very good at being sneaky. He’s probably been standing there the whole conversation.
Dick whirls around again. Tim, in full Robin garb, grins at him.
“–been following me,” Hood finishes. “Seriously, kid, what don’t you understand about stay put?”
“Uh, if a crime lord kidnaps me and holds me hostage and tells me to stay put I should try to escape,” Tim says. “That’s, like, rule number one. Or maybe not number one, but it’s one of the big ones.” Tim then flashes a toothy grin reminiscent of both Dick and Jason’s days as Robin. Dick is almost impressed.
“You gave me a fucking heart attack,” Dick says eventually, and, not caring that Red Hood is standing right there with guns in his holsters and that creepy fucking helmet, he pulls Tim into a tight hug.
“Holy language, Nightwing,” Tim quips, but he actually hugs Dick back, so Dick will take it as a win.
“Come on, we’ll get you back to B. Hood–”
Hood is already gone. Tim doesn’t seem surprised.
Bruce doesn’t let Tim out of his sight for three days. Considering the last time a Robin went missing, he wound up dead, Dick doesn’t blame him. Tim just seems happy to be there, like usual. Dick doesn’t really know what he put up with right after Jason’s death, but Bruce has been better in the past couple of months and Dick thinks Tim is a big part of that.
Tim tells them what happened– Scarecrow nabbed him, dosed him up with a new batch of fear toxin that must not have been very effective. Tim escaped, tried to get back to the Cave with a dead tracker and no comms, and wound up in Red Hood’s apartment. Hood then proceeded to make him dinner, offer him comfortable clothes, and let him crash on the couch until the drugs wore off.
“He’s nice,” Tim says, and there’s a gleam in his eyes that Dick’s starting to learn means Tim knows something the rest of them don’t. He’s got a little smile that says whatever it is he knows, he’s not going to be sharing anytime soon.
The next encounter with Hood is a few weeks later, and it’s a lot bloodier. Dick crashes through the warehouse skylight with little hesitation just as Black Mask is running. He’s more concerned with Tim, though, Tim who is on the ground and clearly beaten up, but not in nearly as bad a condition as Hood. Hood’s helmet is off and his domino is peeling and he’s leaning heavily against Tim, who’s a head shorter than him. Dick would laugh if he wasn’t so worried.
There’s a collection of unconscious (or dead) goons scattered around. Hood is muttering something to Tim, who nods and says something back.
“Jesus Christ, what happened?” Dick exclaims as he reaches them. He takes Hood’s weight from Tim and pretends not to notice the way Hood flinches.
“I found Hood getting beat up,” Tim says. “And I stepped in.”
“By offering yourself as a punching bag,” Hood growls. “Obviously I wasn’t about to let that happen.” They make it outside the warehouse. GCPD is on its way. None of them really want to be here when that happens, so Dick guides them down the street.
“Why do you care so much?” he asks after a long silence. Hood freezes up, and Dick tugs him along. Surprisingly, he follows.
“Soft spot for kids,” Hood replies after a moment, but Dick can tell there’s more to it. He can also tell he’s not gonna be getting anymore answers, so he shrugs and keeps moving.
Hood takes off as soon as Dick verbally confirms Batman is on the way. Tim makes him promise to take care of himself, which is endearing. Tim also passes out before Bruce can get there, which is less endearing and more worrisome.
It’s another three days of Tim not being let out of Bruce’s sight. This time, Bruce doesn’t let Dick out of his sight, either, which is frankly ridiculous because Dick wasn’t involved, like, at all. He voices this and gets a patented Bat Glare in response, so he keeps his mouth shut and calls off work.
Things start going to hell pretty quickly after that. Red Hood becomes a speck in the landscape of What The Fuck Is Going On. Damian shows up, Bruce dies, Tim disappears, Dick’s wearing the cowl. Somewhere in there Stephanie and Cassandra both dip in and out of the picture. Dick feels like he’s losing his mind, most of the time, and then Tim comes back and he brings Bruce with him and things are different.
Tim is angry, but in a quiet way. He shows up less to family functions, even though he still runs WE and patrols every night. Dick fights with Bruce more than he collaborates with him. Damian, still newest to the family, seems to get that something is wrong. None of them talk about it.
Then Red Hood shows up in the Cave. Like, inside the Cave. The Cave which no one but the Bats has ever been in. Red Hood, standing in the Cave, looking like he just got the shit beaten out of him, carrying an unconscious Spoiler.
Dick is the only one around, benched with a busted ankle. He descends the stairs into the Cave to see Red Hood just standing there, looking out of place, and then he’s running. His ankle protests but he doesn’t care, just directs Hood to the medbay, gets Spoiler on a bed and starts making sure she’s, you know, alive.
“How–” Dick starts, and Hood sinks down into a chair and shakes his head. “Okay,” Dick says. “Why?”
“She was Robin, wasn’t she?” Hood grumbles. “No more dead birds.”
Hood’s gone before anyone else gets back. Steph wakes up shortly after. She and Dick conspire to make sure no one knows Hood got into the Cave, because yeah that’s kind of a security concern but also this is the third time Hood has saved a Bat, the second time he’s gotten hurt for a Bat, and neither of them are going to fuck up this tentative alliance they have.
Hood lets Dick bandage him up before he goes, though.
Damian comes back to the Cave limping a month later. He tells them Hood saved him, and won’t offer any more information, even when Bruce pries, even when Alfred pries.
Dick tracks Hood down after that. Straight to Crime Alley, a safehouse, follows the sounds of angst and blood. He’s not really prepared for what he finds.
An apartment. Homey. Books lining shelves, dishes in the sink, blankets strewn around the living room. There’s a basket of laundry sitting on the couch. Dick slips in through the kitchen window and takes it all in, and then he realizes that Tim fucking Drake is standing in the hallway staring at him.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” Tim says flatly.
“What,” Dick says.
“You definitely are not supposed to be here,” Tim repeats, and then he’s pushing Dick toward the window. “Come back in, like, three days, maybe. Or never, he’d probably prefer never–”
“Timbo?” a voice calls. Red Hood’s voice, without the modulator. “You talking to someone? Don’t tell me Blondie’s here, I don’t want her to see me like this–”
He sounds awful. Like he’s sick. Tim shoots Dick a look that says stay put that Dick obviously isn’t going to listen to, and then moves back down the hall.
Red Hood is posted up in bed. Or at least, Dick assumes he’s Red Hood. He yelps and throws his blanket over his head as soon as Dick rounds the corner, and Tim sighs.
“Sorry,” Tim says. “He just showed up.”
“Does someone want to explain what the hell is going on?” Dick says, and he’s looking at Tim. Tim, who shrugs.
“I got drugged up taking care of the baby bat,” Red Hood says from under his blanket. “Didn’t really have anyone to play babysitter for me while it got out of my system other than Timbelina.”
“I didn’t even know you guys were friends,” Dick says blankly.
“There’s a lot you don’t know,” Tim mutters, and Dick–
Dick–
Reaches out for Tim. Pulls him into a hug, and Tim goes, despite all the tension between them. Tim hugs him back, and Dick murmurs, “I’m really, really sorry. We’re gonna talk about this later,” and Tim nods and gestures wordlessly toward the blanket.
“Hood,” Dick says. “Can I thank you for saving my little siblings? To your face, maybe?”
“I don’t think you want to do that,” Hood says, but Dick does. He really, really does, and he says as much, because he’s starting to put some dots together and he feels kind of stupid for not putting them together before. Slowly, Hood lowers the blanket and makes eye contact.
“Hey, little wing,” Dick says, lips quirking up in a half-smile. Jason looks miserable– like he’s still recovering. There’s a swoop of white in his hair and scars all over his visible skin and he’s older, definitely, but he’s still Jason.
“Hey,” Jason says softly. Tim coughs out something indistinguishable and leaves the room. Dick takes a step closer.
“This whole time?” he asks, and Jason says,
“Yeah.”
“I missed you a lot.”
“I figured,” Jason says, and now he’s cracking a grin, and Dick–
Thinks it would’ve been so easy for Jason to come back angry. And he did, in a way. He came back on the opposite side of what Batman stands for, but he’s proven he won’t let harm come to any of them, he’s still part of the family, he’s still looking out for them.
“We kinda failed you,” Dick says. He’s next to the bed now. Reaches out a hand. Jason, surprisingly, takes it.
“Yeah,” Jason says.
“Let us make it up to you?” Dick asks. Hopeful, because he’s always been a fool. There’s a long moment of silence.
“Yeah, okay,” Jason says eventually. There’s forgiveness written all across his features, forgiveness that maybe Dick doesn’t deserve. And Dick–
There are a lot of things Dick prides himself on. But there’s nothing in his life as good as his younger siblings, and he doubts there ever will be.