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Jason Todd dies at fifteen.
That is the course of events as they stand in almost every universe of the multiverse. After that, though ... after that, there are numerous ramifications.
In this universe, Jason arrived at a motel and looked in the bag Talia had given him before she kindly pushed him off the cliff.
Money. Passports. A Gotham newspaper.
The boy pulled it out and instead of seeing the front page first - the one with the Replacement-Robin and Batman - his eyes fall on a completely different article.
Somehow it changes everything.
Jason took the first flight to Bludhaven. He had no other choice. Everything in him hummed that someone had to watch his big brother because no one else would. Not even Dick himself. Because if he did, Jason would never have read an article about how many times Nightwing had been hurt lately.
And Jason wasn't an idiot. The first thing Batman taught him was to always check your sources.
Jason had done it and found that the reporter had been diligent in doing his job.
Nightwing cleaned up Bludhaven, but it was like draining a bottomless pit. He would wreck himself if Jason did nothing.
One flight later, Jason even knew what he had to do. And he had only his Uncle Clark to thank for.
It was about time Bludhaven got a Flamebird to go with Dick's Nightwing!
Actually, Jason's plan had been to show up in front of Dick in his new outfit and politely make it clear that he could use all the help he could get.
Revealing his real identity was out of the question because then Dick would call Bruce, and Jason didn't want to talk to the man who had replaced him (and he didn't want to think about that, either).
Jason's plan was thrown out the window when he saw Nightwing tied to a chair in the clutches of several goons. In a goddamn warehouse, where else?
Jason snuck up and overserved the group. Two protected the door, and two others stood in front of Nightwing. None of them looked up. Why should they? There was no Batman in Bludhaven to come to the rescue.
"I think we should tie him up differently," one said to the other, over his brother's head, who was only keeping his mouth shut thanks to a gag. In fact, Jason was glad of that, because once Dick got started, fists would just fly - into the pit of Dicks stomach. And the stubborn man would only feel goaded by it. No, the gag was better. After all, Jason could already see the numerous cuts on Nightwings body from here.
"Oh?" the other asked, unimpressed.
"Yes. In such a way that we have access to that nice butt. It's just screaming to be ruined."
Jason felt sick while the other thug's interest was sparked.
"That's the first good suggestion that's come out of your mouth today," he agreed, "Though I must say that mouth does also have its advantages, as long as it's stuffed, of course."
They laughed as everything in Nightwing's stature tensed and then relaxed.
Jason didn't wait much longer and swung down, where he used the momentum to ram his feet into his opponent's face, sending him tumbling into his partner.
The Lazarus Pit had its advantages. It made Jason quite strong. And he used this strength to knock out his opponents with brute force.
They lay there like the meat bags they were.
"Hey!" shouted the guards at the door.
Jason took the gun from the asshole and treated it to the new attackers, who stared at him, frozen.
"Either get out of here or you'll regret it," Jason growled, through his mask.
Unfortunately, his costume wasn't as scary as he would have liked. He had designed it more for the sake of belonging. It was like a Nightwing costume, only with a red bird that had flames for feathers and a red leather jacket over the top.
But the biggest change was probably the red helmet. Jason had needed something that hid his entire head so no one would recognize him and disguised his voice, too. Plus, the bonus of the protection would have appealed to Alfred, so his choice had suddenly fallen on the thing.
"Says who?" asked the braver of the two as he drew his gun.
"Flamebird," Jason growled.
Nightwing's eyes widened as the smarter of the two tugged on his colleague's sleeve.
"Let's get out of here," he pleaded, "Just look at him! From the looks of him, he's Nightwing's lover, and I don't want to risk his revenge."
"You think so?" asked the other doubtfully.
"No!", Jason said without thinking, "He's not my lover, he's my husband and I'm going to count to ten, then I'll show you what I think of assholes who want to claim other people's husbands."
For whatever reason, that was the point where the smarter one put his feet up and the other followed because he didn't want to face the problem alone.
Jason sighed in relaxation, lowered the pistol, and tied the two unconscious together first.
"I'm sorry about the lie," he said to his brother, "But honestly, I've never used a gun before, and I wouldn't have hit them in my life. Bluffing was the only option."
Nightwing raised an eyebrow.
All right, that was fair. After all, he was still gagged.
Jason cursed, "I forgot about that. Wait a minute."
He pulled out a knife and cut the bonds. As soon as his arms were free, Dick ripped the gag from his mouth.
"Who the hell are you and how do you know the name Flamebird?"
Jason sighed. Like the father, like the son.
"From Superman, just like you," he rolled his eyes, hoping, that Nightwing could hear it in his voice.
Nightwing's eyes narrowed as he stretched.
"And you know Superman how?"
Jason held a hand to his heart, feigning emotion, "I'm flattered that you want to get to know me so well right away, but we should save the conversation for the future as well. After all, we'll have plenty of time when we go out on patrol in the future."
"There will be no future for us together," Nightwing said coldly and firmly, "Find your own city. I don't trust anyone whose face I don't know."
"I just saved you!" complained Jason.
"And I'm very grateful," the other vigilante assured him (which was more than could be expected from Batman), "but that doesn't change the fact that I don't know you or trust you."
Jason prevented a hand on his hip and tried to look as blustery as possible, "First: Superman trusted me enough to tell me about Flamebird that should be enough for you. And second: I don't care what you say. I'm going to support you either way."
"We'll see about that."
And with that, Nightwing disappeared into the night.
Jason grinned. If this was how his big brother wanted to play, then this was how they would play.
For the next few days, Flamebird followed Nightwing at every turn. Could not be shaken off and helped in every single fight.
Nightwing was visibly annoyed.
Jason was pleased with himself. Since he had been watching Nightwing's back, the other had suffered no injuries. Goal achieved!
Still ... it hurt that his brother fought so vehemently against working together, even though their fighting styles complemented each other perfectly.
A week later, Nightwing finally came to his senses and sat down on the edge of a building to beckon Jason to join him.
Flamebird landed gracefully beside him and sat down at his side.
"Did you read today's paper?" his brother wanted to know from him.
Jason grinned, "The power couple of the year."
And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Social media posts had been going around since the "partnership" began. There were a few homophobic comments, but most just consisted of photos and heart emojis.
Nightwing looked up at him, "Are you in love with me?"
The question caught him unaware, and he laughed out loud. Couldn't stop himself from laughing.
"What?" snapped Nightwing, "You called yourself Flamebird. What was I supposed to think?"
"You have an ego as high as Mount Everest, Dickie," Jason continued to laugh.
Flamebird was shoved backward and pinned to the ground by Dick. An Escrima stick bored menacingly into his Adam's apple almost immediately.
"How do you know my identity?"
Oh. Jason hadn't even realized he'd screwed up. It had just been like before, and he'd immediately fallen into old patterns and nicknames.
And suddenly he didn't feel like playing hide-and-seek anymore.
"If you promise to keep my identity to yourself, I'll take off the helmet now," he said tersely.
Nightwing nodded, but that was no promise. That was all Jason would receive.
His hand was released, and he took off the helmet with trembling hands.
"Surprise," he said with an uncertain smile.
Dick stared at him as if he were a ghost before dropping and pressing against Jason as if he were a blanket himself. His shoulders shooked.
"Dickie?" asked Jason uncertainly.
"Shhh!" admonished Dick, "I want to enjoy this moment, and as soon as my brain is back online, you will tell me everything - everything."
Jason told him everything. How he had ended up in the Lazarus Pit and became Flamebird to protect Dick.
How he couldn't stand the thought of Bruce.
How he loved being Flamebird by his big brother's side.
Dick nodded at the end, still looking at him as if he were a walking miracle.
"Don't you hate me at all?" was surprisingly his first question.
Jason shook his head, "You weren't a perfect brother. But neither was I. All I want is for us to change that."
Again, Dick burst into tears. Jason wished he had packed tissues in his leather jacket. Instead, he pulled his brother into a hug.
"You're not going to say anything to Bruce, are you?" he finally asked when his brother had calmed down.
Dick looked at him, conflicted. And then shook his head.
"No. He misses you, will want to see you and will hate me if he ever finds out I hid this from him, but it's your trauma. If you're not ready for Bruce, then he can wait."
"He replaced me," came quietly from Jason, and he almost hoped Dick didn't hear him.
"Me too," Dick agreed, "eventually you get over it and realize he still loves us."
Jason wanted to believe him but couldn't.
The good thing was that Dick was now officially working with him and it was a dream come true. They were training together, they were bandaging their surprisingly few wounds, they were bringing justice to this corrupt city together, and they were doing it all with a brotherly bond that they had shared very briefly before.
It was exhilarating and Jason loved every second of it.
Which didn't stop him from keeping his latest favorite joke going, though.
To be fair, it was totally funny how all citizens of Bludhaven thought their dynamic duo was a couple and celebrated them for it.
So, when Dick shivered in the colder air, Jason didn't hesitate and tossed him his leather jacket.
"I told you to switch to your warmer outfit," he said with a sigh, but inwardly rejoiced as the other vigilante slipped into the garment that was far too big for him.
"Yes, Mother," his brother rolled his eyes.
It went without saying that the city just cried out when they saw Nightwing in Jasons leather jacket.
"Look at this post," Jason laughed, shoving his cell phone at Dick.
Dick obliged him, even though he was annoyed by the subject because Jason had also handed him some warm soup five minutes ago and it was worth everything.
"Their babies will have nice butts and thighs," he read aloud, turning bright red.
"That's it," he decided, "We need to make this right. So far it's been innocent, but this is going too far."
Jason looked at him incredulously, "You're going to throw down the joke of the century over this?"
Dick looked into his brother's green eyes and was clearly too serious.
"Jason, I love you and I don't want you more than a mile from my side for the next few years, but I've never found the assumption, that you and I are fucking, funny."
Jason's eyes glowed dangerously green, "It's not about that, you idiot." His voice was more snarl than human. "It's not about sex. Most of the comments are about how we have each other's backs, are tender with each other, and would do anything for each other. They're about the whole town seeing that we love each other. The fact that they take it to a romantic level and not a brotherly level is funny, I admit, but most of their comments are true. We are family!"
Dick glared at Jason.
"You're playing unfair," he said jokingly to lighten the mood, "When you say nice things like that, I can't refuse you anything and you know it."
Jason wrinkled his nose, "Eat your soup before it gets cold."
Dick smiled, "Such a dear husband, even makes soup for me."
Jason grinned, "Do me a favor and say that in front of witnesses. That would be news for days."
Dick shook his head, then thought of something.
"I love you too, by the way," he was serious again, "We're brothers, and that bond means more to me than our disagreement."
And if Jason blushed, neither of them mentioned it.
The next night, Dick kept snuggling up to Jason's side. In his defense, it had gotten even colder and Jason was warm.
Jason knew better. For one thing, Dick now finally had confirmation that he didn't have to hold back on his cuddling desires, and for another, he wanted to appease Jason by giving social media new photos.
"Do you want to cuddle or fight?" one of their opponents yelled at him.
The others in his clique looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"What?" he snorted.
"They were distracted," growled one of his friends, "We could have gotten away."
Flamebird waved it off, "If you leave the stolen goods, it will remain a reminder. I've got more important things to do right now."
And with that, he pulled Dick into a tight hug and whispered in his ear, "I've got a tracker tethered to the one guy. With any luck, he'll lead us right to his boss and we'll get the big fish instead of the little one."
"Now run along!" shouted Nightwing, who immediately fell into character, "I want some time alone with my handsome man."
As soon as they were out of earshot, Jason started laughing.
"Handsome man?! Please stop or I'll burst."
Dick had to join in the laughter, even though his little brother's humor was really at the level of a teenager.
After that, the two of them played their game even more brutally and it had real advantages.
Half the time the crooks didn't dare to seriously hurt one vigilante for fear that the other vigilante would beat them up - or worse.
Jason just tried to reinforce that feeling by making threats whenever someone threatened Nightwing, and Nightwing didn't even bother with threats. The last guy who shot Flambird was still twitching with electricity.
Not to mention that the police weren't chasing Nightwing anymore out of fear of being pelted with homophobia accusations.
But probably the best benefit was that the villains stopped gushing over Nightwing's butt or greeting him with condescending comments because of his looks. And it had only taken a few broken fingers to do it. Well, okay, it had taken twenty-five broken fingers to get the message across, but finally, Nightwing was rid of the comments.
"Why don't they act like that until a strong man beats them up?" wondered Dick anyway, "I wasn't squeamish with them, after all."
Jason just looked at him incredulously, "You're not serious, are you? That's one of the first lessons you learn on the street: nobody listens to the victim. But they listen to the cop with the gun or the man in the bat costume."
"That's not the way it's supposed to be."
"It is, though," Jason sighed, "Don't take it so hard. Someday you'll be defending my honor and I'll just stand by and be unable to do anything."
Dick hoped not. Words could hurt and he never wanted Jason to get hurt.
Flamebird was waiting on a rooftop for Nightwing to return with a nice big box of pizza. However, Dick was polite and would certainly get in line and wait patiently for his pizza to be freshly baked.
Right now, Jason hated him for it, as his growling stomach proved.
A shadow landed behind him and Jason almost immediately had his own Escrima Stick in hand to attack.
"Flamebird," Batman growled, and Jason recognized his whole posture as the one Bruce used to look more threatening than usual.
"You're a little far from Gotham, Batman," Jason countered with a growl of his own.
"You've got two hundred and six bones in your body. Break my boy's heart and I'll break every one of them for you."
Jason blinked in disbelief, "Are you giving me a shovel talk right now?"
"He's doing what?"
They both turned in surprise to Dick, who had dropped the pizza box on the roof in shock.
"Tell me it's not true, B!" almost pleaded Dick.
"He needs to know that I'm not going to stand idly by while he hurts you," Batman just growled defensively.
Jason bit his lips to keep from bursting out laughing.
Nightwing's posture became aggressive as he strode toward Batman.
"We're not together!"
Bruce wasn't fazed, "I have social media too. I'm not that old."
"Check your sources," Nightwing was almost yelling, "You always taught me that. Your primary source, in this case, would be me, and I'm telling you that I wouldn't sleep with Flamebird in my lifetime."
Jason snorted, "You pressed up against me pretty hard for that last night. It almost felt like we were merging."
No joke, Dick had taken him in, and the apartment had no guest room. So, they slept in the same bed, and Dick was the kind of person who was affectionate even when he slept. Which kept Jason away from nightmares and was now the perfect material to add fuel to the fire.
Nightwing looked at him as if he had just betrayed him and Batman growled with clenched fists.
"The other primary source says otherwise," he finally turned to Dick. Probably hoping that his son would now come out with the truth.
And Dick stood there, unable to say anything without risking Jason's identity.
Jason broke down and couldn't hold back the laughter. This situation was so funny. Batman as a father who didn't realize he had his two sons in front of him and had just given the Shovel Talk to one for the other and Dick with his helpless expression. Everything in Dick screamed, "Why me?"
Jason laughed and had to remove his helmet to catch his breath.
Finally, he looked up. His eyes were barely green, for his fit of laughter had for the moment scared away the effect of the Lazarus Pit.
"Hey, Dad," he grinned, immediately bursting into laughter as Batman realized that the world's greatest detective had just made a huge mistake.
"You're such an ass," Dick shook his head as Batman's hard drive was officially propped up.
"You explain it to him," Jason chuckled, "I have the whole world to tell that Batman gave me the shovel talk."
And before Nightwing could protest, Flamebird had disappeared into the night.
Batman looked at him sharply, "I expect an explanation."
Yeah, Jason Todd was a real asshole.