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Jason was as ecstatic as he was pissed. On the one hand, his so-called “father” had recruited yet another pre-teen into the fucking war that killed Jason. That damn traffic light suit hadn’t been empty for twelve months, not even a year, and Bruce had already slapped it on the first black-haired blue-eyed child to look his way. Jason’s death had clearly meant jack shit if he was willing to throw away the name that mattered to Jason more than anything, the title he had worked his ass off to uphold, the one thing that made him feel safe-
On the other hand, Bruce must be slipping if he felt his beloved new toy was remotely safe locked away in his ivory Titans Tower. Not only was the tower a glaring target for every damn criminal in the area, but Jason didn’t even have to try to break in. His master plan proved unnecessary the instant the doors slid open for him without alarm. The security on this place was so lax they apparently hadn’t even bothered to remove his old access codes.
Imbeciles, the Pit hissed, and Jason was inclined to agree. Who left their precious Robin alone, thousands of miles away from Gotham, with no superpowered children in sight, and this kind of pathetic security- if they cared about him at all? It was like they were just begging for someone like Jason to come along and kill him.
Not that he was going to kill him, of course. His replacement just needed someone to clip his wings a little. Someone to remind him of his very fragile mortality before he went off and got himself killed by someone a lot less well-meaning than Jason. He was just looking out for the kid, that was all. Nobody had bothered to look out for Jason when he was being beaten to death by a fucking crowbar.
It was all sort of poetic, Jason mused as he stalked through the tiled halls of the tower. Predecessor helping successor and all that. Bruce wouldn’t see it that way, but who the fuck cared what he thought. Bruce was going to let another kid die because he couldn’t go one year without his emotional support criminal bait, so he didn’t get to have an opinion.
Jason quickly skidded to a halt as he almost walked right past his replacement. The newer model himself was curled up on an ugly green couch in one of the tower’s many living rooms, completely unaware of Jason’s looming presence. Some replacement, Jason scoffed. Kid didn’t even notice his muffled footsteps, something he was sure the ever paranoid Batman had trained him to listen for. He was completely defenseless too- just sitting on the couch, twiddling his thumbs like a fucking moron while a threat lurked in the hallway. He could take him out so easily, with one shot to the head or a well-aimed shuriken, and this kid just sat there without a clue. Idiot.
Jason slumped against the wall dividing the hallway and the living room with a purposefully loud thud, and finally the kid whipped his head around to stare wide-eyed at Jason. Finally Jason would get to see the terror on his face as he realizes he’s fucked, finally the kid opened his mouth to scream and-
“Jason! What took you so long?”
What the hell.
What the hell.
What the hell. The kid was expecting him? Why was the kid expecting him? Why was he expecting him, not the Red Hood? Why was he expecting Jason of all people? He knows that Bruce and Dick hadn’t told the Replacement Jason had revealed himself to them, he had been watching them- so how the fuck did he figure out his name? Was he just that obvious? What the fuck did he miss? There was no fucking way he’d figured it out, but he had. He had. How? Why? And why was he so damn happy to see him? Why-
The Replacement smiled at Jason. Smiled. Like Jason hadn’t been planning to break all of his bones to send a message to the Bats less than three seconds ago and was just there for a friendly chat. There had to be something wrong with this kid.
Further confirming Jason’s suspicions that something was seriously wrong with his replacement, the newest Robin patted the seat on the couch next to him like he was telling Jason to come sit.
Jason numbly detached himself from the wall he was leaning against and walked over to the Replacement’s couch. He didn’t sit down. Why would he? He was here to teach the dumb kid a lesson, he wasn’t going to sit next to him. That would be a stupid move, giving up the leverage he had from standing. He wasn’t going to sit next to the kid. Even though he really wanted to find out what the fuck was going on in his Replacement’s head, greeting a known crime lord and then offering him a damn seat. That would be a mistake. He wasn’t going to do that.
The kid motioned again for Jason to sit down next to him.
Jason sat.
Jason could feel the Pit’s disapproval in his head, but it didn’t say anything. It hadn’t been this quiet in a while. Maybe it wanted to know what his Replacement was doing too, Jason didn’t fucking know. Jason didn’t know what he was doing either. He came here to show his Replacement what happened when you got involved with the Bats, he had come here to help him, he had come here to teach him a lesson.
“I know why you’re here.” Replacement’s voice broke through his thoughts, and now it was Jason’s turn to whip his head around and stare.
“What-” Jason started, but the kid cut him off.
“You’re here to kill me.”
Of course Bruce chose someone insane to be his replacement. Of course.
“ What-” Jason tried again.
“It wasn’t that hard to figure out,” the kid continued like Jason hadn’t spoken, waving a hand around as he went on. “Mysterious crime lord shows up in Gotham with an unexplained vendetta against the Bats and targets a specific area no one’s bothered to fix for years, while B and Dick suddenly start going through old DNA records. You having access to the tower was just confirmation, really. I had been monitoring the cameras already.”
Well, shit.
“Alright kid- if you’re so fuckin’ smart, then why are you still here and not, I d’unno, already on a plane headed far, far away from this shithole?”
Replacement shrugged.
“I thought that maybe if you killed me, you might finally go back to the manor.”
The words were said casually, without hesitation. Without the deep sadness or regret or whatever emotion that would come with saying something like that. He said it as if that wasn’t one of the most fucked up things Jason had ever heard.
“Replaceme- kid- Tim,” Jason settled on his actual name for once, “that’s fucked up.”
Tim just sighed. “I know you’re mad because you think I replaced you. I needed you to know that I didn’t try to take your place, I could never do that. You were my Robin, you know. And I really won’t hold it against you if you do decide to kill me. I really won’t, promise.”
Jason felt sick.
“I was never goin’ to kill you, kid. I mean, I was going to rough you up a little. But I wasn’t going to kill you. I don’t hurt kids.” As Jason spoke he realized that wasn’t entirely true. Jason had wanted to hurt Tim. Tim, who was just a kid. He was only… fifteen. Jesus, he was the same age Jason had been when he’d died. Maybe the Pit had fucked with his head more than he’d originally thought.
“Right, but what if you had accidentally hit me too hard, and I happened to die while you were beating me up? If we’re just speaking statistically, there would be a high probability of that occurring, so that would be okay, right? Accidents happen.”
“No! No, Tim, what the fuck. Do you have a death wish-?”
“I'm just saying it would be okay if you-
“I’M NOT GOING TO FUCKIN’ KILL YOU, TIM! OKAY?”
Jason watched Tim flinch and then instantly try to cover it up, and he felt the Pit’s rage vanish almost as quickly as it had appeared.
Jason tried to run a frustrated hand over his face, but he was stopped by his stupid fucking helmet. He wrenched it off his head and chucked it somewhere in the room with a loud clang. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to breathe deeply. He knew his eyes would be glowing a bright green if they were open.
“I didn’t… I didn’t come back right, Tim. I shouldn’t’ve held it against you in the first place. It was a mistake for me to come here. I'm sorry.”
“You’re… sorry?”
Jason huffed a dry chuckle. “Yeah, Tim. I’m sorry.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Jason rubbed his hand over his mouth, finally looking up at Tim. He was still curled up, crammed in the corner of the couch, looking the same as he did when Jason walked in. Tim probably still was the same as he was before Jason got there. The only thing different in the room- was Jason. Leave it to him to fuck up teaching someone a lesson.
Jason leaned back into the couch with a long sigh. He could feel Tim’s eyes watching his movements, and he stretched an arm out, beckoning the kid towards him.
“C’mere kid. You need a hug an’ I’m not gonna offer twice.”
The kid was understandably hesitant about getting a hug from the same guy who had broken into his base in order to, according to Tim, kill him, but he scooted across the couch towards Jason. Tim slowly made himself comfortable in the crook of Jason’s arm, and shit he was tiny. Jason felt another pang of guilt at the thought of hurting this kid. Of hurting his little brother, as Jason had just decided. Jason really was shit at the whole “big brother” thing. He had a lot to work on. Jason supposed he should start with the basics.
“Timbo, I may be shit at givin’ advice, but I’ve been around long enough to know a few things, understand? I’m-” Jason did some quick math in his head, “a whole four years older than you. That makes me wiser than you, and therefore you have to listen to what I say. First thing, next time a crime lord breaks into your house, don’t offer yourself up to ‘em. Run or something. I d’unno, do something. Got it?”
Tim made a noise that might have been an okay if it weren’t muffled beneath Jason’s leather jacket.
“Secondly, pass me the remote. We’re gonna watch The Princess Bride and instill you with some goddamn preservation instincts. No complaints or I’ll call Dick and he’ll make us watch some Disney Channel shit.”
“Can we watch Star Trek later?” Tim asked quietly.
Jason ruffled Tim’s hair. “Yeah, kid, we can watch Star Trek.”