Broken

Everything was great

Jason had gotten his ass kicked. There were still a lot of people who hated him, heroes and criminals alike, so this wasn't an uncommon occurrence. He didn't think it was that bad until he got back to the batcave. The second he was inside and let his guard down slightly his vision began to blur around the edges. He distantly noted that he probably had a concussion but decided not to worry about it, letting the peaceful darkness overtake him were he stood.

A few hours later Tim returned from from patrol. He saw Jason slumped on the ground just inside the door with his mask still on and rushed over. He found the clasps on the mask pulling it off and throwing it to the side, desperately checking for a pulse.

He breathed a quiet sigh of relief when he found one. Now comfortable in the knowledge that Jason was alive he allowed himself to take a step back to examine the older boy in front of him. His stomach sank as he began to take in the details of the scene before him. Jason was drenched in blood, his whole outfit was a sticky crimson. And Tim came to a quick solution, that was way too much blood to be just Jason's, so he must have gone off the deep end again and started killing.

Tim drew his weapon and shouted for Bruce's help, he knew Batman was close and would be there soon, so he shoved Jason waking him up. Jason stirred with a groan beginning to roll over. Tim cocked his gun with a distinctive click and Jason froze on instinct.

"Don't move."

Tim could see the wheels turning in his head as the Jason he knew switched into the murderous Red Hood. Suddenly a flash of betrayal flitted across his face as he placed Tim's voice.

"Tim?"

"Don't talk either. Batman is on his way to do what he does best, deal with criminals like you."

That earned another quick face as Jason felt more betrayal rip through him.

"Tim what's going on? I-"

He didn't get to say anymore because at that second Batman came through the door. Bruce quickly took in the situation before turning to Tim.

"What's going on Robin?"

"I think he killed someone. I came home and he was asleep just inside the door, and there's no way all that blood is his."

There was a small huff of surprise from Jason that got both of their attention.

"That's what this is about. You think I broke your no lethal force rule?"

Then he was laughing. Seemingly uncontrollably. His laughs turned into coughs and he ended up curled into himself his face contorted in pain. At his outburst Tim lowered his gun slightly. Concerned for the boy who would have been his older brother.

Batman stepped forward. "If that blood isn't someone else's then what happened?"

Jason drew himself up, not even flinching when Tim trained his gun on him again, and titled his head back to reveal a red angry wound around his throat. "I got my ass kicked. A kind of warning per say." He said with another laugh.

"So it's your blood? How are you alive? How are you conscious?" Tim asked in a rush. He'd seen just how much blood there was and if he was right then Jason shouldn't be conscious and maybe he shouldn't be alive.

He let out another laugh, this one harsh and angry made both Batman and Robin step back.

"I've had a lot of practice. Punishment for passing out was way worse than whatever caused me to pass out in the first place."

Neither Batman nor Robin knew how to react. This was the first time he'd been honest with them about anything that had happened over the years in his history that they didn't know about.

"So are you gonna shoot me or are you going to let me go get medical supplies so I don't bleed out for real?"

Tim quickly lowered his gun, cheeks burning.

"I'll help bandage you up." Batman said stepping forward.

"No!" Jason shouted. The word was desperate and scared. He leaped back. "No. I'm not a child anymore I can do it myself." He spat before storming off.

Batman and Robin exchanges uneasy glances but let him go.

Months passed uneventfully. Sometimes Jason came home bruised and bleeding but he'd brush off any concern with anger and statements like I've had worse and I know how to handle pain. So eventually everyone stopped asking. Everyone settled into a normal routine and Jason was accepted into the family once again. They didn't know what happened to Jason, but they didn't need to either.

Everything was great.

Everything was great until it wasn't.