Work Text:
There was a tradition in the Batfamily now. It came from the simple need to explain something which anyone joining the family eventually needed to know but would assume couldn't possibly be true. Something would happen which the newest vigilante would see and the family would take him down to the Batcave and play recordings of one of the worst nights they'd ever experienced.
Now it was time to show Uncle Clark and Aunt Diana. Jason was fidgety and nervous, but he knew this needed to happen.
During dinner, someone had brought up, again, the idea that Jason should officially come back to life.
"Jaylad, don't you want to be able to be officially recognized as part of the family?"
Jason huffed. "Of course I do. There's more to it, Bruce. You know that. It would take all of fifteen seconds for Crime Alley kids to recognize the white in my hair and put it all together. That's the kids. Think about what the Rogues could do. I wear a domino under my helmet for a reason, but even without seeing my face, people would know. That would expose my identity and that would lead to everyone else's. It's not worth it."
Dick started to object and a sudden, violent storm blew in. Thunder crashed and lightning flashed and the power momentarily went out.
"See?" Jason giggled hysterically. "She agrees with me. I can't, and won't, do that. Drop it."
Bruce looked wearier than Clark had seen him in years. "Alright. I'll drop it."
"What just happened?" Diana demanded.
The family exchanged a look and Jason sighed. "We're going to have to tell them now."
"Are you sure?"
Jason shrugged. "I trust them."
Bruce looked to his old friends and sighed. "We're going to go to the Cave and show you footage of something. It's going to explain how Gotham started to change and why things are better now. I will warn you, though, that you are not to ask Jason about what happened. He will share with you anything he wants to share. You are not retraumatizing my son. Tim is also off-limits."
Clark and Diana glanced to Jason and agreed.
After dessert, the whole family headed downstairs and Jason pressed play on the footage.
***
They'd been in the middle of a relatively uneventful patrol when Jason gradually stopped bantering with the others over comms. Since he was staking out the Iceberg Lounge, no one thought much of it; he might simply be focused on gathering information. That led to a lightly-sedated Jason asleep on a medical bed in the Cave.
Jason had simply gathered his things and grappled away. Oracle requested a status update, but Jason hadn't responded. Since the stakeout was still supposed to be underway, Bruce had sent Steph and Damian to continue there while he and Dick went after Jason.
Oracle reported that Jason had simply stopped moving on top of WE. The pair landed softly and approached, calling his name. He didn't respond and didn't appear to hear them. When they arrived, one on each side, Jason's eyes were fixed on the pavement below, unseeing, and he made no sign that he was aware of their presence.
As they watched him, they realized Jason was trembling. More concerning still, he was swaying slightly. They tried several times to speak to him, but he heard nothing. Finally, he reached up and shut off his comm. He pulled his bag off his shoulder and moved to set it on the ground. Then he took the final step to the edge of the building.
Bruce and Dick each took an arm and Jason didn't resist. He seemed confused but just closed his eyes and started to cry. Bruce pulled him into a hug, at which Jason suddenly went rigid and started to panic. Bruce felt a moment of irritation until he saw the sheer helpless terror in his son's eyes.
"Jason, I need you to look around you. Tell me what you can see."
Jason's voice sounded wrong. It was too high, almost childlike. He gradually came back to himself, though, as they worked through his senses, and by the end, he sounded more like himself.
Bruce and Dick exchanged a worried glance. They took Jason down through the building, not willing to risk grappling him down. Oracle had summoned a Batmobile and they returned to the Cave.
The rest of the family gathered. Jason was barely present while they ran bloodwork, assuming that he'd been exposed to a toxin at the stakeout. They'd run tests on Damian and Steph as well, for safety, after cutting the stakeout short.
Jason couldn't answer questions. He flinched when anyone approached. He could barely handle even Alfred's presence. He sat curled into a tight ball on the bed, back against the wall, and had taken a moment alone to move the bed into a corner. That had been the only intentional act they'd seen from him since they'd reached the Cave, so they'd said nothing and worked around it. He was alternating between periods of complete dissociation and sheer panic when aware of someone's presence.
Things became even more confusing when the bloodwork revealed nothing. There were no toxins. He didn't have an infection. Everything seemed normal. There was no medical reason for this.
Tim pulled out the camera Jason had been using and connected it to the computer. The family sat and went through photo after photo in hopes of finding some reason why Jason would have such an intense reaction.
One photo troubled Bruce, but he wasn't certain why, so he asked Tim to keep that pulled to the side while they continued. It wasn't until the final photo that Bruce made the final connection. It would have been clear to everyone even without Bruce's automatic, uncontrolled gasp because the individual in the picture was staring straight into the camera and leering.
Bruce and Alfred shared a look and Bruce nodded. Alfred went to make Jason some tea while Bruce looked at the rest of his children. "This man is someone Jason knew a long time ago. I don't think Jason's seen him since before he came to live at the manor. I don't know how he knows the connection between Jason and Hood, but we're going to give Jason some tea with sedative so he can rest and the rest of us are going to work on finding this man. We need him off the streets."
Dick looked at Bruce. "So that we know what exactly we're focusing on here, is this because he's a threat to Jason, he's a security threat, or both? What are we looking at?"
Bruce looked older than his children had ever seen him before. "He is a security risk, but I don't care about that. What matters is that he hurt Jason, repeatedly, and he's back now. None of you are to leave the manor alone. He has been aware for years that I adopted Jay. He might well try to use you as bait."
"How do we know he knows Hood is Jason?" Alfred had woken Duke for this and the young man wasn't completely awake yet.
""We have exactly one previous photo including him, one Tim took of Jason, where this man was in the background. He has the same expression."
"Does Jay know about this photo?" Tim asked with a tightness to his voice. No one had mentioned this to Tim before.
"No," Bruce answered wearily. "I found it on your wall in Titans Tower and brought it home to show Alfred. Jason was dead and Alfred paid the man a visit. The man left town for medical care and we thought he'd never return."
"Master Jason is asleep," Alfred reported. "Now, Master Bruce, tell me exactly what happened on that rooftop tonight." This was not a request and Batman knew it. Bruce sighed and recounted the story.
Alfred's expression hardened. "I see. We will need to ensure that he's safe over the course of the next several days."
Bruce nodded. "I've been considering that."
Alfred spoke. "I will take the first watch while you begin searching. We will clearly need a rotation."
Bruce agreed. "Yes. I want to avoid restraints if at all possible."
Tim paled slightly and Duke looked at him. "Um, this is probably a bad time for this question, but so that I don't trigger Jay in the future, is there a story here I should know?"
Tim glanced at Bruce and then answered, "Jay came back to life in his coffin. So, he's claustrophobic and some kinds of restraints are an issue. Like, if you hang him upside down by his ankles in the middle of a room, he's just going to swear at you. Tie him down on his back or tie him upright in a glass box and he'll have a panic attack."
"That … is incredibly helpful information."
Tim nodded. "We definitely don't want to make him any more panicky than he's already going to be. I think sitting watch is probably going to be our best bet. Ideally, he'll wake up and be in a better headspace and we can do that up in the manor. We definitely shouldn't leave him alone either way, but this may just have been kind of a default reaction."
"Default reaction?" Dick asked warily.
Tim sighed. "Jay has PTSD. That much is glaringly obvious. The depression is there too, but it kind of comes and goes. Jay sometimes just kind of … jumps to self-destructing as the best option when he thinks it will protect us or will end a bad situation he can't find a way out of. We have a deal. He has to come talk to me first. Tonight he was so dissociated and probably kind of regressed, honestly, that he just didn't even think and went with what would end this for everyone. We'd all be safe and this guy couldn't hurt him. It overwhelmed him past the point of being able to think clearly enough to be able to reach out."
"How long have you two had this deal?" Dick asked.
Tim looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. "Since he showed up on a rooftop with a revolver loaded with a single bullet and I was sitting there with a bottle of alcohol and another bottle of sleeping pills."
Dick sat down. "Timmy."
"My point," Tim hurried on," is that Jay may wake up still panicky and needing support but not suicidal. It may just have … happened."
Bruce pulled Tim in for a hug. "Thank you for supporting Jay. And I'm very glad you're still alive, too. Please talk to someone if you feel that way again."
"I will," Tim promised.
"We need to find out where this man's been staying. We need to find out who he's working with and who he may have talked to," Bruce said.
Turning to Duke, Bruce continued, "I don't want you alone on the streets. For the moment, either work at night with the others or just stay in. It's entirely your choice. I don't want you at risk out there by yourself."
"Where can I be most useful?" Duke asked.
"Honestly?" Tim answered hesitantly.
"Yes," Duke answered instantly.
"I kind of feel like I need to be here with Jay. He'll actually talk to me. I can research here while everyone else is on the streets. But it puts them down a man on patrols."
"Then I'll take your place," Duke said. "Stay here. This is where you're most useful."
"Thank you."
Jason was stirring and whimpering. Tim and Bruce moved to his side. "Jaylad," Bruce began, but Jason seemed to grow more agitated and Bruce stilled.
"Jay," Tim called softly. "It's Tim. Can you hear me? We're all here. The whole family is safe. Everyone's okay. We're all in the manor. Everyone's safe."
Jason gradually calmed.
Bruce looked dejected as they walked back and Tim sighed. "It's not you, Bruce. I think it's that you have a deeper voice. When he's not fully conscious, he just hears a big, scary man and he can't differentiate. When he's awake, he's going to want you around."
Bruce pinched his nose. "That makes sense, given his history with this man. So, how do I help him now?"
"Play with his hair. Don't say anything, just play with it. He finds it soothing."
"I can do that."
Bruce got up and Tim said, "Bruce." When the older vigilante looked back, Tim continued, "slow and gentle."
Bruce nodded and left to sit with his son.
"Okay," Dick said. "Let's get to work. We can't leave the Cave tonight, so let's see what we can find out from here."
The next few hours they worked with Barbara to comb through footage of the city and the man's financials. By morning they had several solid leads.
Jason joined the family in the dining room for breakfast but was clearly still not fully present. Afterwards, Bruce led Jason to the library while Tim gathered his electronics. Alfred brought in tea and the four sat for a bit, Jason attempting to read, while Bruce and Tim discussed the plans for the day.
"We think we know where he's staying, and we've narrowed down who he could be working for," Tim reported. "The rest of the team is going to split the searches and, once everyone gets some sleep, they're going to head out early for patrol. Roy's on his way here and Dick's taken the week off work."
Bruce nodded his understanding. "What are your plans?"
"I'm going to be here. I'll help Barbara go through footage and trace funds, but if Jay's able to talk, then that's going to be my first priority."
Alfred agreed. "I'm very grateful that he's willing to speak with you. Do you have a similar ability to speak to him?"
Tim nodded. "Yes. I don't think either of us would have expected this, but there's not much which will make you feel more hypocritical than trying to talk your brother out of suicide while holding your own method. It opened up a door we've both used when we needed to."
"Does this happen often?" Bruce asked gently.
Tim tilted his head. "Not so much for me. For Jay, summers are hard, and sometimes there's a situation where he gets triggered. He says that after coming back, something changed. He's never felt like himself, like he really belongs, and his balance isn't always great with this. He's worked really, really hard with Dinah on it, but it seems like it's going to be here for awhile, maybe permanently."
Bruce and Alfred shared a look and Tim sighed. "Look, there are stories Jay's okay with my telling you, and pieces he's not. I can tell you that even Dinah isn't sure about the pathology of all of it. Superheroes coming back to life isn't all that unusual these days. Coming back the way Jay did is rare. Bruce got lost in the timestream. Bart got stuck in the Speedforce. Roy had the whole clone issue. Jay came back with massive brain damage which wasn't going to heal without the Lazarus Pit. Usually there's some PT and maybe working with Dinah and a hero's ready to get back to work. That's not Jay's story."
Tim stood and started to pace while the rest of the family gathered in the library. Jason still seemed lost inside himself. "Dinah said that coming back to life, the Pit, the training, and the brainwashing were all traumas that he went through between his death and showing up here. Coming back itself was traumatic because he nearly didn't get out of his coffin in the first place. She thinks it would all be easier for Jay if we knew how and why he's back, but we don't have those answers. Jay can't hold onto having come back for a purpose without knowing the purpose."
"What are the theories?" Dick asked.
Tim snorted. "Well, the first is a rip in the space-time continuum caused by Superman. That's plausible, but I don't like it as much because it makes it seem like an accident that he's back and we don't need Jay believing that. There is the theory that Jason got dug up and thrown into the Pit still dead and Talia convinced him about the rest, but that doesn't account for the triggers he has now or the state of his coffin. My personal favorite is that Gotham just decided she wanted him back."
Dick fell out of his handstand. "Gotham?"
Tim nodded. "Constantine and Zatanna have been telling us for years that Gotham's cursed. There's something mystical here which is why they don't want to come here unless they absolutely need to. Some magic users have speculated that Gotham's actually built over a natural Lazarus Pit and that's how he came back. Others say that Gotham is sentient and wanted Jason back. She brought him back the way he was so that Talia would find him and that would all lead to Red Hood, who does for Crime Alley things the rest of us can't do.
"Wouldn't Grandfather know if there were a Pit here?" Damian queried.
Tim considered. "Not necessarily. If this were, say, a cousin to the type of Pit the League uses, it might not be on his radar. It could be a related but different kind of Pit. It also opens up the question of how much, exactly, Gotham has manipulated. Did she intend for Bruce to train with the League? That would have put Talia in position for both Jason's resurrection and for us to have Damian. Bruce's time with the League directly affected his perspective on how to be a vigilante and now maybe Gotham's ready to add in Jason's style.
"This is surreal," Duke murmured.
"Definitely," Tim agreed. "Imagine being Jay in the middle of all of this."
Duke shivered. "I'm starting to see the problem."
Jason put down his book. "If Gotham wants a Red Hood, did I come back wrong on purpose? Is this really what I'm meant to be? Am I doing what Gotham needs and, if so, what happens when I die next time? There aren't going to be Bats like me to continue my work. Do I come back again? Can I opt out of that? Does Gotham just choose someone else, hopefully without that person having to go into the Pit?"
Tim sighed. "This is what Dinah likes to call a post-return existential crisis, right, Jay?"
Jason poured himself some tea and refused to look at his family. "Yes. She thinks it's a combination of survivor's guilt, imposter syndrome, PTSD, depression, and general being a vigilante. And for the record, the concept of having survivor's guilt about coming back to life took awhile to wrap my brain around."
"As in, why you and not other heroes who died?" Steph asked cautiously.
Jason pulled his knees to his chest and nodded.
Tim spoke next. "The imposter syndrome is because it takes awhile to really feel like you're … you. And Jay got dropped in the Pit and then brainwashed by Talia, so it made it worse. Most days Jay understands that he's really human and supposed to be here and be a vigilante and he's not … actually a zombie, I guess. Some days are harder."
Jason's eyes glazed over and he had retreated into himself again.
Bruce's phone rang. "Oracle?"
"GCPD has just received coordinates for body parts strewn around the city. Officers are collecting them now, but the head itself was first and was left on the roof of WE. Evidence photos show it's the man who was after Hood."
"Inform the Commissioner I'm on my way."
"Batman." Oracle sounded unsure. That in itself was enough to have Bruce pause.
"What's wrong?"
"I found footage of Deathstroke leaving the head."
Dick made a strangled sound. "Are you sure? Why would he do that? How would he even know?"
"I have no idea," the hacker answered, clearly drained.
Dick's phone began to ring.
"Deathstroke?"
"Is this a secure line?"
"Yes."
"Tell me why the payment for my latest job came directly from the GCPD."
Dick opened and closed his mouth a few times.
"I have no idea. This man just reached our radar last night and none of us have gone to the police about him. "
"I also got an extra ten thousand to give you, specifically, a message," Deathstroke added after a pause. "My instructions said to tell Pretty Bird that The Lady protects her Protector."
Bruce reached for the phone. "Thank you, Deathstroke. I think that clears up some questions for us. You should know that you were caught on camera leaving the head, so if you're still in Gotham, you should leave before the police locate you."
"Understood." Deathstroke hung up without another word.
"We're just letting him go?" Damian hissed.
"Gotham sent out this hit," Bruce answered distantly. "She protected Jason. There's no precedent for handling this. And she wanted us to know she'd done so."
Alfred stood. "I will prepare more tea."
Bruce turned to Jason who was curled tightly on the couch. Jason's face was buried in a blanket and he was barely breathing. Bruce longed to reach out to his son but was worried that doing so would make the situation worse.
Jason pulled out his gun and Tim moved.
"Jay? Let me see your gun for a second, okay? Then you can have it back."
Tim removed all the bullets and gave it back to Jason, who held it tightly as if it were a security blanket.
"He's dead, Jay. He's gone forever. You're safe now. We're safe. He's not going to be able to hurt any of us."
"Dead isn't always forever," Jason whispered.
"We'll make sure he gets buried in Gotham," Tim answered. "She will make sure he stays dead."
Jason nodded fractionally and retreated further inside.
"Maybe the Commissioner should come to you," Oracle's voice sounded through the phone.
"Yes," Batman agreed. "We'll be here."
Half an hour later Alfred escorted Commissioner Gordon and Barbara into the library. Alfred took a seat on the couch next to Jason, prepared to protect his grandson.
"Can you tell me what's going on?"
Bruce sighed. "Last night we became aware that a criminal who had left town several years ago had returned. He was a direct threat to a member of the family and we began attempting to locate him. In the meantime, Gotham herself arranged the hit with Deathstroke. We are now aware that this city is sentient and she's working to protect her own. You'll find that the payment for the hit came from GCPD funds."
Jim sat stunned and then asked, "You're sure about this?"
Tim spoke. "There have been theories for awhile about Gotham being sentient and active, but no one had conclusive proof. In those theories, she's always referred to as Lady Gotham. Deathstroke contacted us to inform us of a message the sender of the hit provided, in which she identified herself as The Lady and stated that she did this to protect her Protector."
Barbara spoke next. "The funds transferred to Deathstroke's account without approval from anyone. The city wasn't hacked; she sent the payment herself."
"Gotham brought me back to life so that I could protect her people, specifically the ones no one else can defend," Jason said, uncurling to look at the Commissioner. "She knows what he did to me before. She saw last night that he'd identified me and she took action to make sure he couldn't hurt me again."
Jim Gordon took a long look at Jason and nodded. "Okay, then. What can I do to help? Where do we go from here?"
The Bats looked at each other and then Batman sighed. "I don't think we have an answer to that yet. Gotham hasn't told us how to communicate with her. We don't know if this is the first time she's acted or if this is simply the first time she's told us what she'd done. We are certain, though, that Red Hood is under her protection and that she's chosen him specifically to work with Crime Alley. Supporting his efforts there might be a good first step."
"What can I do to help, son?" Jim asked, looking to Jason.
"Blankets and food," Jason requested. "It's October now and it's starting to get cold. My people don't always have warm, safe places to sleep or anything to eat. I've been stockpiling so Timmy and I could start distribution next month, but we never have enough."
"Done," Jim answered immediately. "How do we get them to you?"
"Red Robin can pick them up, if that's okay?" Jason said tentatively, looking to Tim.
"Of course."
"I'll help, too," Duke offered. "I'm from the Narrows. I'd like to be a part of this."
Jason gave his younger brother a weak smile and a small nod.
***
The footage ended and Clark and Diana sat in stunned silence for a moment. Then Wonder Woman went over and wrapped her arms around Jason. "I'm so very glad you're alive."
Clark reached out and put a hand on Tim's shoulder as well.
"This is when things really started turning around in Crime Alley?" Clark confirmed.
"Yes," Dick answered. "Hood's got more help now for his efforts there and the police are officially supporting his work. WE has been able to pour in funding to make sure Jay can get what he needs for his people and, in return, the people are more willing than ever to work with Jay. That's kind of spilled over to have a similar effect on the rest of the city and crime rates are significantly lower now."
"She doesn't really … talk to us," Jason said hesitantly. "But sometimes she makes known what she wants. Or someone will mysteriously end up dead. We're pretty sure that she's what happened to the Joker."
"I'm just glad she protects you," Diana responded. "That's all that really matters."