Chapter Text
“I hate this goddamn city.”
Someone else in the van gave a short laugh, “Amen.”
Jason tried to look around in the darkness but had a hard time seeing anything more than the few people in front of him. His movement was heavily restricted by the man currently tied to his back. It was a smart move by their kidnappers. Everyone was handcuffed and tied back-to-back with another person, which was going to make it a pain to escape until everyone was fully untied.
The ties on his own were especially tight because he’d fought them hard on the way in. It didn’t matter that he was in his civilian clothes, he’d been trained for years to fight without weapons. Jason had left more than a few scratches before they drugged him. He woke up with ropes around his chest and upper arms so tight it was cutting off circulation. He felt bad for the guy tied to him.
One month back in Gotham and he gets kidnapped off the side of the road. As a civilian, at that! Talia was never going to let him live this down when she found out.
“Anyone know who got us?” He counted 8 others in the back of the van with him. All of them were scratched up, a few seemed to be drugged too, including the man attached to him. More fighters than he thought. He’d probably be able to convince them to stage an escape attempt, then.
“I think it was Two-Face. The driver was wearing a split colored suit,” A woman’s voice called from behind him.
“Well,” Jason considered his options for a few moments, “Could be worse.”
At least it wasn’t Joker or Scarecrow. Those two had always been his least favorite to deal with. Jason went back to examining every crevice he could see. There needed to be a way out. But he could do recon while there was no immediate danger.
“I’m sure Batman or Robin are gonna get here soon.”
Scratch that, there was immediate danger. Jason needed to get out before Batman or Robin came to save them. Ideally, he also needed to get out before cops came to take his statement because, even in Gotham, a kidnap victim running from cops was suspicious. Maybe when the van finally stopped, he would have freed himself already. He could handle the goons and run while the other hostages got free. There was a knife in his boot that his kidnappers hadn’t removed. He just needed to get his hands to it.
A bump in the road shook everyone. The force of it knocked his teeth together, and a low groan came from behind him. Finally. The man he was pressed against was waking up.
The man was only limp for a second before he was completely still. He was clearly trying to get a grasp on what was happening but he hadn’t tugged on the ropes or immediately tried to free himself like Jason expected. In fact, after a few moments the man was already sitting up straighter to ease some of the tension on their ropes.
“How long have we been here?” The man’s voice was a bit rough, likely thirsty and tired from the effects of the sedative. It sounded a bit familiar below all that though. He had a sort of mixed accent of Uptown and something outside of Gotham. Jason let it go and continued to plan possible escape routes that got them all out alive.
A man’s voice piped up from somewhere behind Jason, “It’s been about an hour since you guys were brought in here. The other two who got drugged haven’t woken up yet.”
Jason could see one woman still slumped over in front of him, with the man attached to her leaning into her to avoid the ropes tugging on him.
All he heard was a quiet sigh before the man behind him spoke again, “Ok, I’m gonna get us out of here. Everyone stay calm. I’m a police officer, I’m trained for situations like this.”
The man behind him continued but Jason stopped listening after that sentence. He had recognized that voice. It was a voice he'd known for years. One that was also attached to a police officer that he’d been lightly stalking these past few months.
“Dick?”
He cut off his sentence at Jason’s interruption, “Yeah… Do I know you?”
Jason cursed at himself in his head for slipping up. It was gonna be a pain to get out of this, “Hard to explain. I’m a friend of a friend.”
“Alright,” Dick was hesitant when he spoke. He didn’t believe Jason. He didn’t have much reason to believe Jason. Especially seeing as he was lying, poorly at that.
Behind him, he felt Dick start to play with his handcuffs, searching for what kind of lock it was. After he tried for a few seconds, he tried to tug on Jason’s cuffs. His hand purposefully touched Jason’s wrist, like he was trying to recognize it through touch. When all Dick’s attempts failed, Jason finally spoke, “We probably aren’t in the city center anymore. When they open the van, those of you who can’t fight need to stay inside. Running won’t do us any good if we’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“What are they after?” Dick still seemed cautious of Jason, he was straining the ropes around them to avoid leaning on him too heavily. It wasn’t comfortable for either of them but, as Jason knew better than most, Bat training didn’t prioritize comfort.
“No clue, but it’s Two-Face,” Jason replied quickly, hoping he could distract from Dick’s suspicions.
He heard a sigh that sounded more annoyed than scared. Jason wanted to laugh at how similar their reactions to the two-toned villain were.
“I have a knife in my boot. If we shift around you might be able to get it out,” Jason turned his head just enough to catch the back of Dick’s head. Last time he’d seen him in person, he’d had that ridiculous mullet. Jason was glad he’d grown out of that phase.
“Ok, try to get it under you so I can reach,” Dick spoke with some authority, clearly happy to grab hold of the plan and take charge. Jason had always admired Dick’s ability to charge forward with his plans. It was why he made him a better team leader than Jason could ever be. It was why he made a better Robin.
Jason started shifting around, now that he knew Dick was the one tethered to him, he wasn’t too concerned with making him uncomfortable. He was twisted just enough that his boot was at their side, just barely out of his own reach. Dick started probing around with his hands until his hand landed on the hilt of the knife. He pulled it out of where it was stashed and made a noise of triumph.
“Did you get it? Can you get free?” Someone else in the van asked. For a minute, Jason had been so focused on his pseudo-brother behind him that he forgot there were other people present.
“Yeah,” Jason answered quickly while Dick was busy cutting their ties. He got the rope around them undone and Jason immediately slumped forward.
His hands were still in cuffs but now he had access to his lock picks. He didn’t particularly need it, the Lazurus had done wonder for his strength but he knew using brute force would probably only draw more attention to him. Thankfully, they came apart easily when he managed to twist the lock pick set into his hand from his pocket. As soon as he was free, he moved forward starting to undo the ties and cuffs on everyone else. Behind him, he could hear Dick doing the same thing.
He did his best not to look back for fear of having his face recognized. He worked quickly, helping all the people in front of him until he was finished. Finally, he heard Dick speak again, reassuring the other captives, “Leave this to the people who know what they’re doing. We’ll get you out of this. Stay in the van and duck if you start hearing shots being fired.”
Jason was thankful for the dark of the van because as Dick turned to him their eyes met. He knew all too well the acid green that sometimes filled his eyes in moments of stress. It seemed like that might be happening now, but as long as his eyes didn’t catch the light it was unlikely Dick would be able to see it. However, as their eyes caught, Dick hesitated for a moment too long.
Jason didn’t have time to think about what he was seeing in him because, at that moment, the van came to a stop. Dick turned back to the door but spoke one last time, “Take out the driver first. And don’t get into something you can’t handle, leave it to the professional.”
Jason wanted to laugh at Dick’s over-protectiveness and hovering that was so similar to how Bruce had been when he first started as Robin. At the same time it hurt, there was a time when Dick wouldn’t have had to give him the speech. When he could work with any of the Bats in perfect tandem, without being given direction.
He shook himself out of the thought, Dick was right: they needed to act now. Everyone but the two of them was sitting pushed against the far end of the van, keeping out of the way. They both stood at the sides of the van watching the doors. There was conversation outside but he couldn’t hear it. Instead, he focused on the sound of keys and the unlocking of the van door. It didn’t fully open yet but Jason took the opportunity to grab a second knife he had hidden on him. Dick was still wielding Jason’s other knife. He hoped he’d be able to grab it when Dick inevitably dropped it in favor of using his fists; It was his favorite knife and Talia had given it to him with his helmet, so he didn’t think it’d be easy to replace.
With a knife ready, he felt time slow as the door unlocked. This was the easy part. As soon as the door was cracked open, he was shoving past it and knocking the first two guards over. Dick was close behind him, already grabbing a goon’s baton to use as a weapon. As expected, it seemed like Jason’s knife was left somewhere in the van. Whatever, he could double back for it.
Jason forced his way to the driver’s side and pulled the man out by his collar, throwing him on the ground with no trouble.
Behind him, he could see Dick moving through the crowd and taking them down. He was a lot less flippy than he would be in uniform, but he was effective either way. Jason focused back on his side of the fight and kept going. Thankfully, these goons didn’t seem to be particularly good fighters. Some of them ran when they saw people fighting back.
It went quickly. At some point, he heard the fight behind him slow down. He looked back to the two men in front of them. The one on the left came forward and threw a punch. Jason dodged and knocked him off balance; his head thumped against the floor and Jason looked to the next. The man seemed like he wanted to run so Jason hit him in the knee but didn’t do any lasting damage.
After Jason knocked down the last goon, he turned back to the rest of the crowd. His post-battle calm was immediately gone, replaced by shock. Ten feet away, Dick Grayson was staring daggers into him. He spoke softly, tone laced with anger and something Jason couldn’t name, “Jason?”
“Who?” He responded too fast, taking a step back instinctively. Dick seemed to notice too based on the step he took forward.
“Jason Todd. Do not walk away from me,” If Jason was anyone else, he wouldn’t have noticed the slight shake to Dick’s voice. He tried to imagine what he was thinking right now: clone, Clayface, or secret relative. Those tended to be the most common in their line of work.
Jason tried to calm his expression to play off the situation, “I’m really not sure who you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I think you know exactly what I’m talking about,” Dick’s voice was quiet and empty of the usual mirth and joking. It wasn’t exactly angry but it was unsettling. Jason felt scared of him for the first time in years.
Behind Dick, Jason could see some of the victims, peeking out of the van towards the two of them. Whatever they saw had them skittering out of the van and standing far away but keeping watch.
When Jason looked back to Dick, he was still staring at him. His expression was becoming more gutted, “Do you… not remember me? Is that what this is?”
“I-” Jason cut himself off to think. It was getting harder and harder to pretend now that Dick brought out the puppy dog eyes. Jason gritted out an answer, “No, I just don’t think I’m who you’re looking for.”
Dick seemed to right himself. His sadness was replaced with scrutiny, “Then, how did you know who I was back there?”
Jason knew that was what was going to get him caught. He’d known he was caught from the minute he heard Dick’s voice, hadn’t he?
“Lucky guess?”
“You’re a terrible actor, Jay,” Dick laughed a bit, his expression still clouded with something intense. Jason took a step backwards, trying to seem casual while plotting his escape.
“You talk like Jason. You act like Jason. And you fight like Jason,” Dick took a small step forward with each sentence, “Either you don’t remember me or you’re lying to me.”
Jason tried another approach, “Look, I’m not Jason. My name’s George.”
“Yeah?” Dick let out an angry laugh, “Let me guess, your full name is George Knightley?”
How did he remember watching Emma together? Jason realized he fucked up by choosing a character from his favorite book but he leaned into it, “Yeah, maybe it is.”
Dick stared at him for a long moment, like he was waiting for Jason to crack. When Jason didn’t say anything, he sighed. A little disappointed but, if Jason wasn’t seeing things, he also seemed sad. As Jason continued to refuse to answer, Dick’s expression became more certain.
“So, George Knightley,” He put quotation marks around the name, “Why does your knife have a J.T. carved into the hilt,” Dick pulled out his dagger from where he had been keeping it behind his back.
Shit.
Only one way out.
Jason took off running in the other direction.
He had barely made it ten feet when he heard a grunt behind him. Before he could dodge, Dick’s body was sailing through the air and hitting his back. It wasn’t as easy for Dick to properly tackle him with their new size difference but the impact was enough to send Jason stumbling. And it was enough for Dick to kick the back of his knees and get his legs out from under him.
His face met the floor and he was instantly flipping himself over to fight back. Dick was an octopus when he wanted to be and, despite the weapons on his person, Jason wouldn’t actually stab him to get away. Which turned their fight into a messy brawl, mainly pushing and kicking at each other. At least, Jason was pushing and kicking while Dick held him down.
“George Knightley,” Dick scoffed from above Jason as the side of his face was pushed into the gravel with one arm pulled behind him, “That’s not even a good lie. Ready to say uncle?”
Somewhere ten feet away, a man stood and watched them warily. Jason recognized him as one of the people who’d been kidnapped alongside them. He seemed hesitant but when he finally caught Jason’s eye, he called out to them, “Hey guys, are you all good over here?”
Jason yelled, "Get him off me!”.
At the same time, Dick shouted, “We’re fine, man. Thanks!”
The man took a few steps back but lingered, causing Dick to speak again, “It’s alright! We know each other!”
“No we don’t, Dickwing.”
Dick looked down at Jason with happy eyes at the nickname, “There’s no use denying it, Jaybird.”
Jason was making less than dignified noises as he tried to shake Dick off of him. He somehow managed to get flipped onto his front. Dick had one leg underneath him and one digging into his back, with both arms around his shoulders. Jason recognized it as one of his freaky contortionist moves. He started to push out of the position when Dick leaned down and whispered in his ear, “You know, the only people I’ve ever taught how to break this hold were Jason Todd and Bruce Wayne. So, what’s your plan?”
It was a taunt, goading him into showing who he was, but Jason knew he was stuck either way. There wasn’t really a way out. There was no doubt Dick would track him down wherever he went until he got a solid answer. Jason was quiet for a while before he spoke, “Is B already on the way?”
Dick didn’t fully relax his hold but he leaned over Jason in a way that felt more like a strange hug. Jason felt a pang of nostalgia for the times when Dick and Bruce were on good terms and Dick would come to train him. They always ended their sparring matches with Dick trying to teach Jason the best holds, which never worked on Dick because his body was practically rubber. Instead, Dick treated it like brotherly bonding and would gossip with him the whole time despite having his joints bent at non-human angles. Right now, his cheek rested against Jason’s shoulder as he spoke, “No, but he can be.”
“I don’t want to see him right now,” His response was immediate and likely showed a bit too much of his anxieties.
Dick took it in stride, understanding better than most the reluctance to see the man, “That’s ok. If I let you go, will you come with me?”
Jason thought about it for a while. Now that Dick was here, he couldn’t find it in himself to be really mad about it. He was upset his plans were stopped but not that Dick was the one to stop them. Finally, he relaxed his body into the hold and sighed, “Alright, yeah.”
Dick let him flip onto his back and untangled them until they were lying face to face, “I’m gonna be so mad if you’re tricking me.”
Jason finally wrapped his arms around Dick’s shoulders in a loose hug, "m’ not. Promise.”
The older man snakes his arms around him and tugged him closer, “We should probably leave though. If B knows I was kidnapped, he’ll be bringing the cavalry.”
Right, they were wrestling in a very public place. With tons of witnesses and police cars approaching. Jason shot up to his feet, holding all of Dick’s weight while the older man refused to let go. If he was shocked by suddenly being upright, he didn’t let it show. Instead, he hung limply, face still buried in Jason’s neck.
“Where are we?” Jason looked around his surroundings trying to get his bearings.
“By the harbour. We can sneak past the cops easily. And there’s a safehouse a few blocks away.”
Jason just nodded, letting Dick go so he could start walking. Despite the scene they were causing, the cops were still busy dealing with the henchmen. With one nod from Dick, the two of them darted into an alley.
As they rounded the corner, Jason considered running. He used his peripheral to glance at the fire escape and, before the thought had fully formed, Dick had a hand gripping the back of his jacket collar, “This way.”
Jason let himself be guided through the streets. It was difficult trying not to pout while feeling like a kitten being scruffed. He focused on keeping an eye out for cameras or people who might see the two of them. The safehouse really was only three blocks away.
Dick walked towards the front door, staying casually, and gestured for Jason to stay where he was. The firm look kept him in place. At this point, running would be meaningless. He found he sort of… wanted to talk with Dick.
Dick opened the door and Jason walked forward, letting himself get ushered inside. The place was small; it was a studio apartment, with a small pull-out couch taking up most of the room.
Dick didn’t sit down, instead leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He watched Jason carefully, his eyes searching for something. Despite being sure enough to drag Jason here, he seemed suspicious. Jason sighed and sat on the couch facing him, hoping that he might make Dick relax too.
He hadn’t really studied him before, but Dick looked older. His hair was short and his face a bit more defined. His style had changed too, though he was just wearing black jeans and a dark blue t-shirt. It was better than Jason remembered but the bar was low.
“Are you really Jason Todd?” Dick spoke after a few moments.
Jason responded clearly, “Yes.”
“Did you really die?”
“Yes.”
“How did you come back?”
“I don’t know.”
“How long have you been back?”
This was starting to feel like an interrogation but if that’s what Dick needed to feel in control, he could do it. He sighed, “Back in Gotham? Or back breathing?”
Dick hesitated for a moment, “Both. I guess.”
“I came back to life mostly catatonic and the Al-Ghuls were taking care of me. That was around two years ago,” Jason watched Dick’s face morph into one of genuine anger for a moment before smoothing over, “I came back to Gotham three weeks ago.”
Dick stared at him unmoving for a while before Jason started to get angry. He wanted Dick to yell or fight or give him a hug, not stare at him blankly. He bit out his next words, “Can you just do your DNA test or whatever?”
That seemed to shake Dick from his haze and he moved towards a kit that looked a bit like a briefcase, “Yeah… just give me a minute.”
Jason watched as Dick pulled out a needle and vial. He placed a small tablet next to the kit and kept it far out of Jason’s reach.
He moved closer, seeming hesitant to touch him. Jason met him halfway, pulling up his sleeve to offer his arm. Dick took a sharp inhale when he saw the scars lining Jason’s arms, the worst of them at the tips of his fingers. He watched carefully as he put the needle into Jason’s arm, probably looking for that discomfort that Jason had never been able to get over when he saw a needle piercing skin.
Dick was quick through the whole process. He even pulled Jason’s sleeve back down and gave him a small squeeze on the bicep as he finished up.
Jason watched as Dick moved back over to the mini-lab equipment. After placing the sample into the scanner, Dick pulled out his phone. He angled himself away from Jason and spoke low but kept him in his peripheral.
Jason listened to Dick’s side of the conversation: “Hi Babs- I know but It’s an emergency. I need you to run something through the system but you can’t tell Bruce- Please. I know.”
He sounded more and more defeated as he spoke and Jason wondered what had happened between the two of them. Finally, Dick spoke again, “You know I wouldn’t call you unless it was an emergency. Please, Barbara.”
He heard the dial tone as Dick pulled the phone away from his ear. A few moments later, the screen on his tablet went green and read, “Analysis in progress.”
Dick turned back, happy to get back into interrogator mode after embarrassing himself on the phone, “Were the League of Assassins the ones to tell you who you were?”
“Yes.”
“How can I know this isn’t some plot from the League? If you don’t remember coming back at all?”
“I didn’t say I don’t remember coming back, I said I don’t know how,” Jason’s tone was sharp and a bit mean when he spoke but it wasn’t exactly a memory he liked to discuss.
“You remember coming back?”
Jason gave a humourless laugh, “Pretty hard to forget digging out of your own coffin.”
Dick’s expression looked gutted for just a moment before he smoothed it over. His posture was getting worse though and he was using the wall as support.
They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes before the screen beside them caught their attention. It was lit up green again with “DNA MATCH FOUND: JASON TODD” in big letters.
Dick’s phone was ringing with calls from Barbara, but he was just staring at the screen. Jason looked at him and waited for something. Dick was completely still for at least 30 seconds.
Finally, he looked back at Jason, tears filling his eyes.
“Oh my god,” Dick’s voice was hoarse and Jason barely had time to prepare himself before Dick was vaulting over the table and into his body. He let himself be tackled into a hug that dragged both of them half off the couch. Somewhere in the background, Jason could still hear the phone ringing.
“Oh god, it’s you. You’re alive. Holy shit, Jason. You’re alive,” Dick was muttering to himself as he shoved his face into Jason’s shoulder. Finally, he brought his arms up to wrap around his older brother, who seemed to fall even further into disbelief at that.
They had long since decided to ignore Barbara’s calls and texts. Which meant they missed the one that read, “If you don’t answer in the next minute, I’m calling Bruce.”