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"I swear, you must have been put on this earth just to torture me. To disprove everything I fucking do." Red Hood glared from his position on the roof's ledge.
Tim shrugged. "I'm not here to prove you wrong- that eventuality is just a bonus."
"Really because, you could have fooled me, replacement." Jason replied coldly.
"Look, all I'm saying is that if you want to blow up a building, maybe you should wait until we know something's wrong." Red Robin tried again. "We don't want to set it on fire if we know Nightwing is fine."
Behind him, Robin huffed. "It's been an hour of radio silence."
Red Robin shook his head. "It could be anything. He could have broken his comms or-"
"You're obviously worried, or else you wouldn't have called the psychopathic arsonist with a gun fettish." The youngest crossed his arms.
Hood scowled. "Hey, I can kick both your asses if-"
Red Robin cut him off. "We need to be prepared, and since B isn't available, we have to bring in everyone."
Batman was currently dealing with League problems, and had left Nightwing in charge in the month he'd been gone. Not that any of them needed to be told what to do, but someone had to make sure Tim ate and Damian nor Jason killed anyone.
"Okay, so since you've shot down all my plans, babybird, what exactly did you have in mind?" Red Hood clipped his words.
Red Robin pondered a minute, calculating the best option given the information they had. "Oracle?"
"Yeah, what do you need?" Barbara buzzed in his earpiece.
"Is Nightwing's comm still active?"
"Yeah, but it hasn't moved in the last half hour. You're standing on top of him."
His brow furrowed. "Thanks, check in later."
Robin scanned the rooftops again, while Hood sat back on his haunches. "So we know Goldie lost his comms. No way he's been still for that long." The eldest commented. Tim knew he was right, and should be relieved, that was why he hadn't contacted them. But still, Dick wouldn't just lose it if everything was alright. The comms themselves were built to last through more jostling than even hand to hand, so it couldn't have simply fallen out.
"Okay, we have no idea where he is, so we fan out, search within a two mile area. If he's injured he can't have gotten further than that on foot in half an hour." Hood nodded, standing to ready his weapons. Robin looked skeptically to the middle brother.
"What is it, Robin?"
"We're assuming he wasn't taken. He could have only gotten two miles if he were moving on his own whilst injured. What if he's been kidnapped? It's unlike Nightwing to go this long without even trying to contact us. He would have found a way." Robin shook his head, as if to make his words less true. "And it's not like his earpiece just fell out."
Both brothers stopped to stare at the youngest. Everything he'd said was fact, but couldn't be true, could it?
Hood shook his head. "Listen, I know you're still kind of new to this-" Robin's lip curled"- but I've known Nightwing for more than then years. And it takes a lot to take him out. I mean like, I've seen B down more than I've seen Wing. He's fine, wherever he is."
But Red Robin was ever the pragmatist. "Even if you're right, Robin, there should be evidence within the radius. No one kidnaps a cape and gets away clean. Especially not Nightwing."
A small bit of the tension in Robin's shoulders loosened, and he seemed at least pacified by the responses.
Hood swiped a hand through his hair as he turned to the city. Probably craving a cig, if Tim knew him correctly. Jason turned back with a firm set to his shoulders. "Okay, new plan. I go down, see whats up with the tracker, see if I can find Big Bird." Both Robins looked as though they were going to object, Red Hood raised a hand to halt them. " If shit goes south, we have two people to get help, and if I die again, no big deal." He shrugged. "You two stay out of line of fire until I tell you so."
Red Robin still wasn't happy with his plan, but could find no fault with it, other than the dying part. "Since when do you have brotherly instinct?"
He'd meant it as a jest, but Red Hood's tone was deadened, "Since I'm the older brother and Dick would rather die than have either of you hurt." Tim couldn't respond to that. And it apparently shut Damian up as well.
A moment passed between the three of them before Red Robin swept it aside. "Robin, perimeter sweep. You take north side, I'll take south. Report any suspicions. Hood, stay on the comms. If any trouble at all, call us in." Two nods.
"Be careful."
-----
Once inside, Red Hood found it was suspiciously quiet. More quiet than it should have been for a warehouse in far east Gotham. He narrowed his eyes, and switched on the infrared lenses in his helmet.
Other than the heating pipes and hot machinery, there was no heat signature. Which didn't particularly mean anything. It just meant if there was someone in here, they knew what they were doing.
Something in the warehouse made a noise.
"Robin, report." Red Robin's voice came quietly in his ear.
As the youngest bat said he found nothing of consequence, more noise echoed through the empty building. Hood crept towards the sound (which was hard to do when he had to listen to the conversation between the Robins, but he said he wouldn't go silence and he couldn't tell them to shut the fuck up lest he give his position away.)
Another burst of grainy speaking and Jason had pinpointed where it was coming from. A radio or something, was under one of the heavy machines. Checking his surroundings again, Hood knelt down, gingerly picking up the small- earpeice.
"Hood, report." Rang in his ear as well as from the device in his hand, tinny and quiet.
Jason sighed. "His ear piece is here, but there's no signs of a struggle- ... hang on."
He'd turned off the other comms unit, and yet he was still hearing something, like a pin dropping on a floor. Separate from the voice in his ear. It was almost... rhythmic. Consistant. And, now that he was counting it, every second.
Oh. Jason turned.
Shit.
The bomb, under the machine opposite him, read 00:23
00:22
Red Hood took off running, sprinting towards the doors."BOMB. 30 SECONDS AWAY FROM THE BUILDING."
In the back of his mind, Jason worried about Dick, if he was in the building, being held captive and about to die. But he quickly pushed it away because only Jason was dumb enough for that to work.
He got as far as the next block before the building erupted into fire.
-----
It took Red Robin longer than it should have to recognize what his older brother had said before he booked it away from the building.
He'd looked to see Robin not too terribly far away from him, glad the other knew when to run. They'd gotten about eight or nine buildings away. Far enough not to be knocked on their asses, but close enough to see the windows shatter outward and the pillar of smoke give way to the black sky.
"Red Hood, report!" With the immediate danger out of the way, Tim made his way over to Robin, who was standing stone-faced and watching the building burn. Silence by the time Red Robin made it to the younger.
"Hood. Report!" Again, sharper. Damian seemed physically fine. He'd been knocked down by the force, but caught himself without incident. His eyes seemed far away though. Tim snapped in front of him.
Robin came back to himself, and took off grappling back to the warehouse. Red Robin followed, unsure of how far Red Hood had gotten. Still nothing from the older man.
"Jason!" Tim was desperately trying not to let the worry into his voice as he called through the earpiece.
"Motherfuck." Came the reply. Tim had never been so glad to hear Red Hood curse. He silently thanked god.
"Hood, was Nightwing-" But Jason was already talking.
Distantly through Jason's communication unit, he heard another voice, to which Jason responded. "I am so fucking pissed at you right now, don't fucking touch me." But there was something other than anger in his voice, Tim couldn't place it.
Robin disappeared to the street and Red Robin followed.
Jason was having trouble standing, being held up by none other than Dick himself, pristine in his Nightwing suit, not a hair out of place.
Well, until Damian barreled into him, attempting his form of what Tim thought might be a hug, but also an assassination attempt. "Nightwing!"
Without his crutch Red Hood grunted in pain and swayed, but Tim was there in an instant, taking his older brother's place. "Where were you?! We thought- I thought you were- Dead. I thought you were dead." He finished lamely.
Nightwing was back to standing, his hand on Damian's back, who refused to let go. (Who knew the demonspawn had feelings?)
Dick smiled apologetically, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah,um, sorry about that. It was meant to be a trap. I guess it worked, a little too well, and not for the intended recipients." He glanced over to Jason. "Sorry, Little Wing."
Red Hood took a deep breath, and moved to stand on his own, grunting as he made his way to Nightwing. Dick opened his arms, either in an attempt at a hug (knowing Dick, probably) or to aid the younger.
But Jason squared a solid punch to Dick's stomach, knocking the wind out of him as he doubled over. "That is for getting me blown up in an empty warehouse the second time." He landed an elbow to the flat of Dick's back, who let out a whine. "And that is for making us think you were dead."
As soon as he could breathe again, Dick nodded. "Fair enough, I deserved that."
"You deserve much worse than that, Goldie. You had the Replacement and Babybat worried sick." Jason's voice gruff as he fell back into Tim, allowing the other to catch his side.
Red Robin smiled, amused actually. "Speaking of which, what exactly was your plan? You told me to wait for you, then go radio silence for an hour?"
Nightwing looked away, sheepish. "When you put it like that, it does sound stupid." Tim raised an eyebrow. "Okay, but Deathstroke was using our comms units to track us. So I set up a trap. I didn't expect you to call Hood and raise the alarm with Oracle."
"Without telling us? Dammit, Wing, what are we supposed to think?" Red Robin shook his head, signaling the Batcar to come pick them up. Wasn't anyway to carry Jason home, as much as he weighed.
Red Hood piped up from his side, "Why did you use enough C4 to level the city block? And why was it on a timer?"
Nightwing detached Robin from his leg( who was doing his best to ignore the tears in his eyes, B would be proud). "I never know how much to put. And it was a timer triggered by sensors in the windows. I hadn't figured anyone would be coming after me but Wilson. I'm sorry."
When they got back to the cave they sorted Jason out (just a few broken ribs, concussion, and a bruised femur), promised not to tell Bruce, and decided to spend the rest of the night gorging on Alfred's cookies and popcorn as they watched old movies Bruce still had. Jason threw popcorn at Tim, Tim made faces from the other side of the couch as they all piled together on the couch. And if Dick noticed his brothers being more affectionate, and creeping closer to him as the night went on, he didn't say.