No One's Son (Bat Family)

✨Chapter Three✨

Waking up in the Batcave's medical room with a throbbing headache and no sense of time wasn't an experience Jason wanted to have, but the universe always had a nice way of telling him to go fuck himself. The lights in the med bay had been dimmed and no alarms or sirens went off when he slid the IV needle from his arm, so he took that as a good sign. If they'd wanted him to stick around they should've cuffed him to something.

The job was done now and Jason wasn't on his way to a cell so it had all gone as well as could be expected, preceding drama not withstanding. Dick and the Replacement would probably knuckle down to find their leak; the one responsible for getting Black Mask those prototype blueprints from Wayne Pharmaceuticals, but Red Hood wasn't here for that white-collar corporate espionage crap. His bit in this game was done.

He slipped out of the cave to get on with his life.

Days passed and Jason was confident he could put the whole thing behind him. Nothing had really changed between him and the Bats, after all. Despite the heart-to-heart that he already knew would never be spoken of again by anyone, no opinions had been altered, no rules rewritten, no forgiveness given or asked for. Red Hood could walk away this time but there weren't any delusions that his next encounter with the flock would be friendly.

It was little over a week after the shipyard incident when his burner phone buzzed with a new message. It was the number he gave to his underlings - the gang leaders and dealers he'd forced under his control - so Jason's first thought was that a subordinate needed a word. He had been a little too busy to give them his usual level of attention, after all.

Unknown number.

Jason frowned as he checked his texts and image after image was sent to his inbox. It was a series of grainy screenshots, the kind that came from old surveillance cameras that recorded in black and white and took no audio.

Shot after shot of him having a seizure on the ground by the docks, Black Bat pinning him down as Batman stuck a needle in his neck.

Black Bat cupping Jason's masked face on her lap as a lingering Nightwing and Red Robin were ordered away.

Batman pulling him close in a way that could not be mistaken for anything but affectionate.

His phone began to ring, and Jason swallowed dryly as he hit the green button.

"I know the quality's not very good, but I think we got your good side," Black Mask's voice drawled over the line. "That bitch on Batman's payroll snatched the recording, but luckily I was viewing live and managed to save the good bits for myself."

Jason tightened his grip on the phone.

"You know it's all making sense now. Why Bats never took you down or fed you to the wolves like he should've. Why he's let you screw me over these past few years. You're his boy aren't you?" A rough chuckle. "Only it's pretty clear you and him aren't seeing eye to eye anymore. Isn't that interesting."

"Sounds like that mask is restricting some flow to your brain, big guy."

Mask gave a cruel laugh. "You can give up the act, Robin. It's over."

Jason was pretty sure the glass of his screen was cracking under his fingertips.

"You seem to be confusing me for a five-foot imp in tights."

"Oh, no no. Batman's always had an endless supply of you brats, everyone knows that."

"Personally I think the girl was the only one worth a damn."

"Really? I wasn't impressed."

Jason ground his teeth behind his helmet.

"It took some digging, but I'm looking at footage of a little bird with that kids' club right now, and it's dated just after Nightwing graduated past the pixie boots."

Jason let himself wince at that. Most people either mixed him and Dick up thanks to the matching uniform, or him and Drake due to the quick replacement, mistakenly thinking there had only ever been four Robins. His stint on the Teen Titans had been short and only done to make Dick happy but it was a bust - Golden Boy hadn't acknowledged his existence any more than usual, the team only saw him as the less impressive little brother treading on the original's legacy, and to top it off him being with the Titans made Batman moody.

Out of all the Robins, Jason had definitely been kept on the shortest leash.

"It was harder than pulling teeth to dig up any info on what the hell happened to you. So I rang up Freeze; paid through the nose just so he could tell me that everyone in the super special Bat-hate club thinks the Joker offed you years ago. Would have saved me some trouble, that's for sure."

Profanity streamed through Jason's mind. Of course the Rogues Gallery would know. They'd been up close and personal with every kid that ever clung to Batman's cape, and it figured the Joker would brag about what he'd done to that little inner circle of crazy.

"Well it's been real fun taking this ride into lunacy with you, but now I've got work to do. And my work generally involves ruining your work, so."

"Not sure how easy that's going to be once word starts spreading of who you really are, Robin. Can I call you Robin? I mean I gotta say that the current look's good, but not as flattering as the boyshorts."

"Keep talking like that and you'll owe me dinner."

"Oh I think I owe you a lot more than that, but it'll be more fun to watch as your men and every other goon in this city with a bone to pick with your old man comes at you first. Off the top of my head I can think of a good few."

"Even if you were right, just because the Bat doesn't come to my birthday parties anymore doesn't mean he'll let you take me out in his city."

"Of course not. But what's he gonna do when every scumbag in Gotham starts wriggling out of the woodworks? He couldn't protect you before. And even if you don't get offed at the very least you'll be ruined and unable to play crime boss anymore in my town. Win-win for me," Mask said with a low laugh. "You brought this on yourself kid, and your old man knows it too."

Jason's phone was shattering across the street before the screen even registered that the call had ended.

For a long minute his head swum in a tide of anger and panic. This could get bad very fast. He had to think damage control, but at the moment his thoughts were just a mess of garbled swears because fuck, how did Black Mask of all people figure this out just from a single under-the-influence hug?

But there was no reason for Batman to be holding Red Hood. There was no reason for Red Hood to be back on the streets and not in Blackgate after clearly having been carried off in the Batmobile a mere week ago. And as much as Jason hated to admit it, Batman had always gone easy on him in the field and there was no good reason for that, either.

Except for one.

You brought this on yourself your old man knows it. A dark voice echoed in his mind. Just like last time.

TEASER FOR WHATS IN CHAPTER FOUR:

"Yeah." Jason straightened, the smell of his own blood in his nose. "Looking for apartments too, if she likes it there. She's getting right."

A pause.

"You could get right too, Jason."

He cast Dick a venomous glare.

"Fuck off."

"I mean it. We could help you -"...........

AUTHORS NOTE:  iiiiiiiimmmmmmm tiiiiiirrreeeed.... 😭💤

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