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When Jason first met Dick, he wasn’t sure what to think. All he could see was a kid in front of him.
He had heard about the tragic story behind the reason the kid was orphaned. How could he not? It was all over the news. The story of the famous Flying Graysons plummeting down into their deaths, leaving their only son all alone.
He was a lot shorter than Jason expected. Then again he was five years older than the him. The poor kid looked so out of place as he stood half hiding behind Bruce’s leg and stared at his surroundings with wide and frightened eyes.
"Jason." He heard Bruce say. "Dick will be living with us from now on."
Jason didn’t know why he was so shocked and angry when he heard those words. He should have expected it. After all, didn’t Bruce take him in too? A lonely child that grew up on the streets? Perhaps it was because he didn’t expect Bruce to take in another kid. Not after Bruce already had him.
Dick’s brief title of kid quickly evolved into brat.
Over the next couple of months Jason spent most of his free time hating the little brat. He felt like he was being replaced. Bruce didn’t need another person in the Manor. Bruce didn’t need someone else that could also potentially find out about his secret. He didn’t want Bruce to have another partner. Another son.
Of course he knew that the brat couldn’t understand why he was on the receiving end of so many glares or why Jason seemed to snap at him constantly. He had no idea what he did wrong. He was being unfair, but he was hurt. Bruce didn’t even hint at wanting to take in another brat… he didn’t try asking for Jason’s opinion on the matter.
Jason could see that the brat avoided him as much as possible. He could tell that the other was scared of him. He felt a bit guilty, knowing that he wasn’t helping the kid get over his fears. Or get over his parent’s death. He could hear the terrified cries at night when he got back from patrol, but when he heard Bruce’s soft voice comforting and soothing away those fears, he pushed away the guilt. He hated how Bruce was so quick to comfort the brat.
The flame of jealousy was steadily growing in him. Bruce and the brat had one significant connection that he didn’t. They both understood what it felt like having both parents torn from their lives in an instant. Both knew what it was like having their parents murdered in the hands of Gotham’s criminals.
It was only a few months after that when the brat found out, like Jason had predicted, about both his and Bruce’s nightly outings. And just like Jason thought, things changed after that. What was surprising was that he actually welcomed these changes.
During the course of the months after the brat was taken in, Jason and Bruce were slowly, but steadily arguing more and more. It was getting to the point that Jason was about to up and quit even though he loved doing his nightly job.
It was on the night that Jason had gotten fed up with arguing with Bruce that he had stormed back into the cave, ending patrol early, that he spotted the brat. He was just standing in the middle of the cave staring around once again with wide eyes.
Jason was about to yell at the brat, when he saw a familiar glint in his eyes. He was in awe of discovering the cave just like he was those years ago. Those wide eyes turned to him and while they were slightly scared at being caught, there was a smile on the other’s face.
Jason knew that feeling. The feeling of discovering such a hard kept secret. Not only that, the brat decided to run over to him and give him a hug. He could have easily avoided it, but for some odd reason his legs didn’t want to move. He didn’t return the hug, but he didn’t reject it either.
As he was being hugged, he could hear the brat chattering away, completely excited. He said he admired him and wanted to thank him for helping Batman, no Bruce, on capturing the man that did his parents wrong. After a rough night, felt nice being thanked.
The brat was simply Dick now.
When Bruce had found out that Dick knew about Batman, he refused to let him join, even after all the pleading he did. It was only after Jason, which the slight twitch of Bruce’s eye indicated that he was surprised, said he thought it was a good idea to train Dick too did Bruce finally give in. It wasn’t hard to see that Jason disliked Dick, in fact it was the topic of many of their arguments. So when Jason said he wanted Dick to be Bruce’s second partner, there wasn’t anyway for him to refuse.
It turns out that Dick was a quick learner just like Jason. And the more that Jason got to know Dick, the more he found in common. The more he spent time with Dick, the more Jason started to like him.
The previous guilt he had for treating Dick badly came back full force. It didn’t help that Dick instantly forgave him when he apologized. How was Dick so forgiving. How did he have such a pure heart even after all that he had been through? Jason didn’t understand, but he was willing to try.
Robin. That is what Dick wanted to be called. A lingering memory of his mother. Jason’s respect for Dick grew a bit more over the days.
On Dick’s first night of patrol, Jason couldn’t help feeling excited and worried for him. He knew what it felt like flying through the skies, doing something useful, but he also knew how dangerous it was. He spent most of the night keeping an eye on that red, green, and yellow bundle of energy.
Turns out Dick was better at being Bruce’s partner than he was. What surprised him was that Jason didn’t mind. It was one of his initial fears when Dick first came to live with them, but after getting to know him, he was actually happy that Bruce found a new partner, a better one that can protect Bruce. This meant Jason was able to go off on his own without any worry.
And that is exactly what he did.
Jason left Gotham and instead settled into Bludhaven.
Even though he was settled in a different city, it didn’t mean he didn’t come back and visit Bruce and Dick. He may love working on his own, but he cared about his old partners and made it a personal goal to always know what was happening in his old city.
All three of them fell into a comfortable system, which continued for a good few years, until that fateful day when all the ‘sidekicks’ were taken to the Hall of Justice. And after the incident at Cadmus, Dick had decided to he wanted to join another team, one without him or Bruce.
It was only then did Jason realize that Dick had become little brother.
Jason didn’t want his little brother out on his own with a bunch of kids. He was livid with Bruce when he heard that he had let his little brother join that team. There was no way he was going to trust them to take good care of his brother.
Jason had stormed back to Gotham to give both of them a piece of his mind, when he saw just how happy his little brother was. Then he understood. His little brother missed having someone his age around. After he had left for Bludhaven, his brother was left all alone with only Bruce as his companion.
Knowing this, Jason moved out of Bludhaven and relocated back into Gotham. Bruce needed a partner and with his brother spending most of his time with the Young Justice, he was happy to volunteer. It would take some time to get used to working with a partner again, but he would try his best. As long as his little brother happy, being with his new friends, it would be worth it.
Besides, it felt good being back home.