Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jason was having a - in his books - pretty good day, all things considered. Even though he had an unfortunate meeting with the bats, the pit hasn't reared its head, Bruce hasn't managed to piss him off so far and he went the whole patrol without shooting anybody.

So why was it that as soon as he rounded a corner towards his bike, he saw a little red headed girl crouching and muttering reassuringly to herself? Especially since she was in the act of stealing the tires of his bike.

"It's fine, I need this more. He won't mind. I'll pay him back someday." he heard her muttering to herself, which brought him back to when he was that desperate.

After he watched her try to work the tires of his bike for a bit he decided to address her and cleared his throat so as to not scare her. Apparently he did not do a very good job of not scaring the girl since she immediately jolted and in the next moment he felt pain in his abdomen and was on the ground. 'Oh God, is she a meta? This feels like super strength, it's probably super strength.', Jason thought to himself a little dazed from being knocked to the ground by a probably seven-year-old.

"Oh Ancients, I'm so so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you that hard!", she exclaimed fearfully probably scared he was upset or something. Honestly, Jason wasn't even mad.

"It's fine kid. Not the first time I've been hit that hard, just gimme a minute." Jason managed to tell her before she lapsed into a spiral of apologies. A few tense seconds later he asked her with a raised eyebrow (not that she could see it), "so… wanna tell me why you're trying to steal my tires?"

The red-headed girl raised her head from where she looked worryingly where she had hit him, looked him in the face (helmet) and whispered mortified, "These are yours?"

"Sure are." He nodded.

At least she had the decency to look embarrassed now, "This is so bad, I'm so sorry, I just really need the money right now."

At this Jason was even more worried, and his heart was squeezed as he understood that statement more than anything. "You wanna tell me what you need the money for? I might be able to help.", he offered.

Now it was the little girl's turn to look wary. 'Reasonably.', he thought to himself nodding internally.

"Why?", the kid asked him, trying to read his body language and leaning a bit further away.

As Jason was commending her in his head for her cautiousness, he still tried to seem harmless - well as harmless as possible with his body built like a tank - "Firstly, I would still like to be able to ride home today and not spend the rest of the night searching where my tires went.", he tried to start with a little bit of humour. When he saw the girl lightly snicker, he gave himself a thumbs up in his mind. "And secondly, I've also been in a similar situation before, only I've been on your side of the whole thing, before I hit some guy with a tire iron after trying to steal his wheels."

Honestly, Jason would have almost regretted mentioning it, but after seeing her reaction - surprise and interest in her face, even a little bit of trust - "You stole his tires?", the seven-year-old(?) paused a little before continuing, "How did he react?"

He managed to sit up and smiled, "Yeah I sure did, and he ended up taking me in." Jason missed when his dad was simply his dad and nothing more, he shook his head a little exasperatedly.

The girl looked thoughtful before telling him, "I need the money for my baby brothers and sister.", she mentioned sadly, "They need medical attention badly, I've tried doing it myself, but we don't have the right stitches or equipment." She continued to look thoughtful as she seemed to consider something for a moment.

'The right stitches???' Jason was very concerned as he found himself wondering. He was also frankly horrified that this seemingly seven-year-old was doing all this and not any adult, he knew more than most that not all adults are trustworthy, but he still wondered 'did they not know of Leslie’s clinic?'

The redhead continued in a softer tone, she sounded very worried, "I think Ellie has an infection, Dan's arm isn't healing right, and I'm worried about Danny, he hasn't woken up yet."

Jason suddenly found himself much more concerned than before, "Have you tried going to a hospital or clinic?" Before he could even say more, the child hissed at him and looked freaked out "NO NO, we CAN'T, it isn't safe! They'll find us." She bit her lip "Do you know anyone who wouldn't say anything? To anyone? No matter what?"

God Jason felt like he has aged with worry, and he hadn't even done anything yet, "We can try my family doctor, maybe even my grandfather." Jason couldn't believe that this is how he was going to end up visiting Alfred if she ended up picking that one, he finally was able to stand up again and offered her his hand, "Why don't we go look at your siblings first, hm? And before i forget, I'm the Red Hood."

The little girl looked hesitant, but still took his hand. "I'm Jazz." He smiled as she led him away from his bike.

Chapter Text

After being led through many alleys and using some shortcuts even he didn't know, Jason as Red Hood stood before an abandoned building, that if he remembered correctly was used as a headquarters for a gang that has been disbanded three weeks ago, he never thought four children would already be squatting there.

The little girl - Jazz - made hand gestures for him to follow behind her and when they stood before a specific - but unassuming - door she knocked in a special pattern. Knocks answered her and she opened the door. Red Hood didn't know what he was expecting, but two almost identical children standing next to a low table turned makeshift bed - he noticed - with a third one half hidden behind them was not it.

When the two awake five-year-olds(?) noticed him they immediately sprung to action hiding the third behind them before hissing and growling at him while their pupils become slits - just like cats. After about 30 seconds they seemed to remember that Jazz was with him. While still looking warily at them they made a confused sound, their eyes daring at the girl next to him.

Red Hood - wanting to show them that he was not a threat - removed his helmet. Showing them his face - well mostly, he still wore a domino after all - to establish trust. All kids looked at him now, staring him intently up and down, when they looked at the top of his head - his hair - they seemed to have recognition, and their tense bodies became looser. 'Okay, weird, but at least they don't look like they'll attack me anymore.'

Jazz walked over to her siblings and talked with them in whispers, probably asking them if everything was okay. Now that he was - supposedly - deemed as not a threat, he looked at the children closer and took in their appearances. Jazz had to normal stature of a seven-year-old on the streets - dirty clothes, hair haphazardly pulled into a pony tail and seemingly okay shoes - she wore a black long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans with old sneakers, her headband seemed to be teal in colour, matching the colour of her eyes. The girl of the - what he assumed to be - triplets had hair that reached her shoulders with the colours black and white perfectly split in the middle, she wore an oversized grey hoodie with black sweatpants and also sneakers, her eyes were green - they reminded him a little of Damian's eyes. The boy that was awake, had similar clothes to his sisters, his hair was largely black with white stripes intermittently, his eyes were red. Only after walking a bit closer could Jason clearly see the last child. He looked similar to his siblings, black and white hair not split vertically like his sister but horizontally with the top of his head being black and around his ears it started to be white all the way down, he was covered in a blanked and since this child was - what appeared to be - sleeping he could not see his eye colour. When he looked towards Jazz again, he could also see a white stripe of her hair beginning behind her hair which she seemed to have hidden before.

During his time of appraising their appearance the kids finished their conversation. The oldest sibling turned to him and started to talk, "You said you could help. How?"

"Well, I could get you to a clinic -", before he finished his sentence, he noticed the tension rise in the children’s body again, "- or call someone trustworthy here. But for that I need to see the injuries, so they know what to bring with them." The kids seemed more inclined to have someone come here.

Jason knelt before the three awake children, "Can I take a look at your injuries? And get your names?"

The kids nodded and Jazz and her brother nudged the black- and white-haired girl towards him, "Start with her first."

"I'm Ellie." the small girl said while looking at him.

"I'm Red Hood.", he answered and when he did not see any sort of recognition in her eyes he was slightly confused. He motioned for her to show him his injuries. He held the grimace in when she pulled down her sweatpants and showed him an angry red scar that ran along her entire femur (upper leg), it was obviously medically sown shut, but he could see the infection. "Okay, you can pull your pants back up." Next, he turned to the boy with red eyes.

"I'm Dan."

Before Jason could even ask the kid to show him his injuries the girls walked to their brother and helped him shrug off his hoodie. Now he was genuinely shocked, this five your old child before him was missing his entire left arm. Before Jason could even utter any word, the kid told him, "It's growing back, but-"

Jazz helped him continue, "We're worried about infection and can't really keep it clean."

"It can't fully heal until Danny is better.", the boy finally finished with tears in his eyes.

Now Jason - Red Hood - has seen many things and injuries, but he was growing more and more apprehensive as the injuries of the kids only seemed to grow worse and worse. He was worried about the boy lying unconscious on the low table. When he made his way over the kids quickly overtook him, they were obviously wary but to help their brother they let him come closer, watching his every step.

Seeing this he asked the kids to show him the sleeping child's injuries.

As the smaller ones moved their arms to lift the blanket/cover. Jazz looked him in the eyes and told him, "Danny has it the worst, don't freak out, we haven't been able to wake him up yet."

Dread rose in Jason's heart as the cover was removed from the last child and he could see his open chest, the skin was haphazardly flapped closed and a green sheet - almost jelly in appearance - was over his wound. Jason could still clearly see the Y-incision.

He quickly calmed himself down so to not let the green overtake his eyes. It seems like a few minutes have passed since when he looked up again, the boy was covered up again.

As Red Hood pulled his phone out, he knelt down near Jazz again. "Earlier you said something about not having the right stitches…Do you need specific ones?"

Jazz's face lit up a bit as she told him, "The stronger and more resistant the material the better."

"Okay. Now I'm gonna go outside and call Dr. Leslie Thompkins-", he quickly held up his hands before they could say anything, "- don't worry she is a good doctor and always keeps her mouth shut, she specifically opened a clinic so people from all lives could get treated by her for free with none the wiser, even criminals go to her. One of you can join me outside if you want. Anything else I should mention to her?"

The girl seemed in thought for a bit before she sharply let out, "She can't wear white."

Chapter Text

POV Leslie Thompkins

Leslie started her day just as always – with a cup of coffee before she drove to her clinic.

After parking her car a few blocks away, so it would not be broken into, she started her trek into crime alley. With her bag in over her shoulder and another coffee in her left hand, Dr. Thompkins walked along the street sidestepping people to avoid being mugged or attacked.

She safely made it to her workplace in time. After donning her doctor’s coat, she let the nurses and assistants help her prep the various rooms.

At around 11 o’clock her first patients came through the doors. Nothing special happened during her shift. She worked through her patients, a cut here an infection there, the on or other gunshot wound.

After her last patient left and Leslie finished cleaning everything up, she put her hands into her coat pockets and stated to wander to the back door to smoke. Just as she was about to take her phone to check the time, it started to ring, an unknown number.

She quickly picked up with a "Hello?", when a male voice came through. He said he was the Red Hood and needed assistance for 4 small children that were hurt and could not be moved. After quickly scrambling back inside and listing everything he said she would need onto a piece of paper.

Just before Hood hung up, he mentioned to her, "Just one thing doc, the kids had a single wish. You are not allowed to wear white."

After giving the okay and hanging up, Leslie was slightly confused, but made sure she did not wear any white, took her blue doctor's overall, additionally with everything Red Hood told her she should bring and then some more.

After she made it back to her car Dr. Thompkins looked at the address Hood sent her and started to drive.

After about 20 minutes she arrived at the location. She could see Red Hood and a little redheaded girl awaiting her outside a building. At first, she was a little surprised that Hood only had his domino on, but she almost immediately remembered that he said there were 4 kids and thought he probably took his helmet off to build trust with them.

After parking her car, she made her way to them. Red Hood greeted her and introduced her to the little girl next to him. The child looked at her warily. The two quickly showed Leslie the way to her patients.

After making her assessment with the little girl watching her, she was seething internally. Who could do such a thing to such small kids? She turned to Hood and the eldest child and told them her assessment, she could see the little girl nod along with everything she said, telling her she already knew what wounds and maybe even why the kids had, and her eyes showed more trust in her as she could determine the others’ conditions.

Dr. Leslie Thompkins Assessment:

•  the five-year-old girl has been implanted some kind of poison/infection in her femur with the intent to keep it inside
• The awake five-year-old boy was missing his entire left arm, and the stump is vulnerable to infections, she has even seen some dirt already that needed to be cleaned but else they did a good job keeping it sanitary
• The asleep five-year-old boy had an open chest found in form of a y-incision, he needs stitches, on top of the wound there was a kind of gelatinous/jelly like substance that kept the wound safe from outside bacteria
• All 4 kids had many cuts and bruises and were in various states of malnutrition and dehydration

"Now, you made the demand of the strongest material for stitches that I have. Could you tell me why?", the doctor knelt down to the oldest child and asked her.

The girl hesitated a bit, looked up to Hood, saw something and decided it was safe to tell her, "We are different, the others more so than the me, but especially Danny, his bodily fluids are corrosive, especially his blood, normal materials would just dissolve and maybe even make things worse. We only need something to keep Dan's Stump hidden and clean until his arm can grow back. And for Ellie we need something to cut the things they put inside her leg out and also close it again."

To be honest this was more information than Leslie hoped to get at once. She immediately added to her notes mentally. 'The kids are all metas; someone did this to them; this someone also knew of their specific body requirements otherwise they couldn't have sown something into the other girl; they need help immediately'.

Before she could say anything as an answer the redheaded girl - Jazz, as the girl introduced herself as - looked her dead in the eyes with an intense stare and told her, "You will treat them here. No one will move my siblings or me anywhere."

The only thing Leslie could do was nod and assure her. First, she cleaned the conscious children's cuts as they all said they had to help her treat their brother.

When they stood before the table that had the fourth child asleep on it, the other kids got to work, the girls put away the blanket and the boy used his hand to pick up the jelly-like substance to allow Dr. Thompkins access to the wound. She made quick work.

After cutting the end of the thread the boy - Dan - put the green substance back on. They told her it helps their brother heal faster/better.

After that she treated the other kids. All of it together took about 2-3 hours.

Before she left, she gave the kids a few scar creams and instructions how to clean and treat their wounds, little Dan got a stump sleeve from her, so he could protect his wound.

As she made her way outside, she motioned for Red Hood to follow her to talk. Outside she made him promise to take the kids to her in 2 weeks to check up on them, as she was sure they would not stay in their hideout anymore.

Chapter Text

After the doctor bid her farewell to Jason, he watched her for a bit and only after he saw her round the corner, did he turn around himself and went back into the building again.

Inside he was met with a determined-looking Jazz, behind her were her siblings each had a blanket filled with stuff, probably their belongings. When Red Hood looked to the table with Danny on top, he noticed the boy was bundled into a blanket, as if ready to be transported. He looked back down to Jazz, who now stood exactly in front of him.

"You will take us with you to someplace safe, right?"

It seemed in the time that he escorted the doctor outside, the kids came to a conclusion. After thinking which safehouse would be the best for the kids and himself and also the nearest, he came to a start, he needs a car first.

"You beat me to it, I wanted to suggest the same thing", he said smiling at the little girl, "But first i need to get a car, I'll let it be brought here, okay? So, we need to wait a little, you can gather all your belongings during the wait."

He took out his phone and let one of his goons bring him a car with enough space for the kids and himself. After about 10 minutes Jason got a text telling him the car was here. He told the kids that he would go outside get the keys and then come back to get them. He made his goon leave and went back to the kids. The younger ones were holding two bags each and the eldest child had her unconscious brother in her arms.

Red Hood quickly got closer to Jazz and offered her to take her brother in his hands so she could help her other siblings. After a little hesitation she let him move her brother from her arms into his.

Inside the car, they put the "bags" in the middle of the rear seats, Jazz sat on the left side from them while the boy with only one arm on the other side, the youngest sibling sat in the front seat. Danny was put between his siblings, with the redheaded girl holding onto his head and his brother doing his best holding his feet/legs. Red Hood got into the driver’s seat and started the car.

After about half an hour they arrived at Jason's biggest, most refurbished and best equipped safehouse. It was inside a building he himself owned. He helped the kids inside and they all wished to sleep inside the same room. He could understand that they wanted to watch over their sleeping brother.

After he made sure they were asleep, he grappled his way back to his motorcycle. He found it intact and drove it home.

After he made it back inside, he sat down on the couch and while he removed his armour/suit he thought over what happened this night.

First, he found a girl trying to steal his wheels, then he went to meet her siblings all of whom are very hurt, one was even unconscious for some time already, and he took them home. Which he now noticed was his first and only thought. ‘Oh my god, I hope I don’t turn into Bruce’

Even with this thought in his brain, it seems he already thought of them as his.

He treated his wounds from the evening and started writing a list what he had to do the next day. First, get the kids some food, second buy them some clothes. Ask them for their preferences.

Nothing else came to mind and he decided to go to sleep. He set his alarm for the morning and went to sleep.

At around 7 o’clock his alarm blared. Jason woke up, took a quick shower, brushed his teeth and went into the kitchen to make breakfast for himself and his houseguests. After making a few stacks of pancakes and some oatmeal he went to the room with the children and knocked.

Inside he could hear a little rustling. The door opened and he was met by a pair of green eyes and a mop of hair, the right side black and the left side white. Ellie – as the girl introduced herself yesterday – let him inside. After he went inside, he greeted all the kids and told them he made breakfast, he asked them if they would come outside to eat. The kids followed him outside, after they finished. He went back with them to the room with the last still asleep child.

Jason decided he would ask a few more question about them while checking on the last boy.

Just as he opened his mouth, he realised he didn’t have a mask on and thought he should introduce his civilian name, so they wouldn’t call him “Red Hood” out of costume.

“Okay kids, my name is Jason, so when I don’t have my mask or helmet on, call me Jason. Now I wanted to ask, how long have you been on the streets or better said how long has your brother been asleep for?”

Jazz answered him and told him that it has been about 2 weeks since Danny was awake.

Just as Jason put his fingers on Danny to feel his pulse, the boy’s eye twitched and opened slowly. Everyone else in the room stared at him and Jason. Jazz immediately ran to the kitchen and grabbed the extra bowl of oatmeal Jason prepared and a glass of water. She helped Danny drink the water before he fell back asleep.

All of them were quiet when Danny fell back asleep. His hand clutching Jason’s sleeve with superhuman strength. Jason could not move his arm away.

“Okay, that is a good sign, right?” he asked into the round.

The kids looked at each other and Jazz must have said something with her eyes to Dan because he pulled the blanket away from Danny and let them see his chest. He then took most of the jelly like green film from on top of Danny away and slurped it up. The pit that was left formed itself so that the Y- incision was still covered put not in a square anymore but still along the cut.

Jason didn’t know what it was for but after around half a minute Dan opened his eyes again and they shined with understanding. He looked at Jason and his understanding seemed to grow.

Before Jason could ask what was wrong, Dan opened his mouth and told them, “We will stay with you, Danny heals faster if he is in physical contact with you.”

Now Jason really needed to ask, because that made almost no sense to him. But it seemed like Dan had a hard time explaining so he and his older sister went to the side, and he explained to her what he learned and after about 5 minutes they came back.

Dan together with Ellie brought Jason a chair and Jazz went and got herself also one.

So now they were all together in one room. Danny lay on the bed asleep with his right-hand clutching Jason’s left sleeve. Jason sat on a chair on the right side of the bed, Jazz sat across from him also on the right side of the bed looking at him. The other two kids went to the left side of the bed and climbed on Dan by his brother’s other hand and Ellie near his legs.

“From what I understand you have something inside your body that attracts Blobs, they cling onto you and when they felt that Danny was hurt, they let themselves be absorbed to help heal him. As such if you are going somewhere and can take us with you it would be preferable to have him as close to you as possible.”, Jazz did her best to sound as mature as she could, which was quite a high level.

Jason gave them his promise to do so, he could not kid himself any longer he already viewed the kids as his own. But when he asked what it was that attracted these “Blobs” as Jazz called them, she didn’t know.

Chapter Text

Jason was walking the streets with his four charges towards the nearest shopping mall. Each of his hands was holding one hand of the kids, Jazz on his left, she was also holding hands with Ellie, on his right was Dan holding his hand and on his back in a baby sling was Danny strapped to him. Jason made for quite the sight.

They first went clothes shopping for the kids. Jazz helped Ellie choose clothes, while Dan chose for himself and Danny. Each kid got a few shirts, some pants, socks and underwear.

When they left Jazz switched places with Ellie so she could carry the bag with their clothes. Each kid got one pair of shoes. They decided to come for more at a later time, when Danny was healthier. Shopping took quite some time, so they decided to eat in the mall.

Jason asked the kids what they wanted, and they did not know what food they even like, that was a concerning thing for Jason, seemed like the kids only got food and never got to choose, they even seemed a bit surprised that they got food again so soon. They let him decide. Together they found a table for all of them together. Jazz, Dan and Ellie sat down and guarded their bags, while Jason with Danny strapped to his back went to the food court to get some food they could digest, as such he did his best to find something that is not too heavy but also not too oily.

---

Dick was walking through the mall, since he was in Gotham, he wanted to be helpful to Alfred and offered his help, his grandfather figure sent him on a little errand in the mall to buy something. As he was walking, he saw something in the corner of his eye. It looked like Jason with a little child strapped to his back. Dick was humming to himself, when the thought went through his brain again. He stopped turned his head around but now he could not find the person he thought was his brother again.

He quickly went to the side and pulled his phone out, calling Jason almost immediately, the person on the other side said annoyed: "What do you want, dickwad?"

"JASON, are you at the mall right now?"

"Why?"

"Because I think I just saw you with a child strapped to your back?"

"Wha-… Why should I have a child strapped to my back? Are you sure you saw correctly?"

"That's why I'm calling you! It was so surreal that I had to make sure."

"Well, I need to do something now. Bye!"

Before Dick could say anything else, Jason already hung up. During the call he looked around but could not see the person (Jason?) again. Maybe he did not sleep enough. Better finish Alfred's errand and get some sleep after.

Later he would realise that Jason never answered his question but not on that day.

---

When Dick called him and said he saw him, Jason was almost immediately panicked, he just found the kids yesterday and they definitely were not ready to meet any of the bats and birds. Especially with the boy on his back still so weak.

He also turned to see where Dick was, he found him pretty quickly, but was confused when his brother did not see him but still looked around. At this moment, he noticed movement from his back. Danny woke up. The boy had his head on his right shoulder and looked into his eyes. With a barely there voice he whispered to Jason: "Be quick, he can't see us, right now."

Jason looked down and saw that he was transparent. This was not what he expected, it seems part of Danny's powers was to make himself and others invisible.

He quickly ended the call and returned to the other kids with their food. During their way back he could feel that as soon as Danny fell asleep again, the invisibility dropped. When Jason simply popped back up next to their table the kids did not even seem surprised. Thinking back, they seemed to look in their direction even when invisible.

It even seemed like the kids were even more relaxed when he came back, and they saw their brother had used his powers.

After their meal, Jason decided they should get some plushies/toys. With their bags in hands the group made their way to a toy store. Inside he let the kids roam around a bit, Jazz took Ellie's hand and went towards the teddy bears. Dan let go of Jason's hand but did not go far. Meanwhile Jason watched them. Dan soon returned with some pens and a notebook, plus a stress ball in the design of a vampire. After he put them inside the shopping basket Jason carried, he touched his brother's leg. Danny was already slowly stirring awake - a good sign, he was awake more often - the two just kind of looked at each other and seemed to be able to communicate. Just as Jason wanted to tell Danny why they were there Dan came back with two teddies squeezed in his one arm. He looked Jason in the eye and said, "Danny's choice."

As the teddies were being put inside the basket Jason looked at them: one bear dressed as an astronaut and the second one was in a Red Hood getup. He was surprised and looked startled back at Danny. It seemed that even though the child was mostly asleep, he already knew who he was and seemed to even like him very much. At the same moment the boy snaked his arms around Jason's neck and cuddled his head against him. 'Aw, he's shy.'

The girls came back soon after, Jazz with a bear dressed as Albert Einstein and Ellie a plush plane and train. Additionally, Jazz also had 5 keychains in hand, 4 with Red Hood and one with a cartoon ghost.

After Jason paid, they went back home.

Inside the apartment, he put the bags down and let the kids put their things away while he made them a snack. Just as he finished preparing 4 fruit bowls and turned around to call them, he saw Jazz fidgeting a bit, she held her closed fist toward him, recognising as her wanting to give him something he held out his hands under hers. She put something in his hands and said, "For you." Looking into his eyes hopefully.

Jason looked at his gift. It was the little ghost keychain. "Thank you.", he said to her while looking into her eyes so she will know that he really means it. Immediately, he put it on his bike keys.

Afterwards he took the bowls and put them on the table near the couch, he called the kids to eat a snack. He himself, took Danny from his back, put him in his lap and helped him eat the fruits.

Chapter Text

It has been about a week since he thought he had seen Jason at the mall when he finally realised that he never really answered.

Dick almost wanted to kick himself in the head, since he only realised it now. Additionally, Jason was a bit different on patrol since then, something must have happened. Especially since he frequented one safehouse almost every day since then and ended patrol more abruptly.

Time to use his detective skills.

This night was a little busier than normal as such Dick was in Gotham ready as backup and decided to visit the safehouse that Jason seemed to prefer recently. First, he used the bat computer to look up the address and noticed that the whole building belonged to Red Hood and one of the Apartments was rented to one of Jason's aliases. It seems like he built his civilian life more. After erasing his search history the best he could - Babs would still be able to find it, but probably write it off as Dick just being his normal worried self - he made sure he got on all of his Nightwing gear and weapons on hand and started grappling towards the building.

On the way there he was able to stop a few muggings and an impromptu robbery, when the GCPD finally came to arrest the would-be robbers, Nightwing wanted to quickly leave, worried that Red Hood was almost done with the bust he aided Batman in this evening.

Soon he was at his destination. The safehouse was one floor below the apartment Jason Peters rented. After disarming the window and climbing inside he looked around and found a side room, just as he wanted to enter and look more he heard a thump or something else in the room above him, the civilian apartment from Jason, that should be empty since Red Hood was still on patrol - he made sure, it seems that the others did not need his help and are on their end spurt of their bust. Nightwing climbed back out of the window, rearmed it and climbed the fire stairs to one room above him. Looking through the window it was dark, but that did not mean anything. This window was also armed, even more so than the one a floor beneath him - weird. Dick chooses to continue his action of disarming the boobie trapped window and climbed inside. After taking two steps inside he could only see a pair of glowing eyes before he was hit in the back of his head and knocked out.

---

Just as they finished tying up all the criminals at the warehouse of the child trafficking/drug ring they busted tonight. Tim was eyeing Jason, he seemed more aggressive than usual when the criminals threatened to hurt the children. Sure, Red Hood was known to not be kind to anyone hurting or trying to make money of kids in any form - doesn't matter if you sell to kids or sell the kids - but this was about 2 notches more than usual. Something must have happened, but Red Robin could not for the life of him even think of any possible scenario.

After getting the confirmation that the police were informed, and they were 10 minutes out. Tim looked up and towards Red Hood just in time to see his body language change. Instead of the annoyed relaxed stance that said he could not wait to leave, he now was anxious to leave. It seemed Jason also still had his com on since after hearing the ETA of the GCPD and after looking at something on his wrist - did he have new gadgets? - he immediately zipped away with his grapple gun and left them all standing confused after a shout of "Don't you DARE follow me."

What the hell happened?

---

Jason sprinted the way home, this was a scenario he never wanted to happen, but he was happy he made precautions. This was the first time his kids - yes, he already referred to them at his, sue him - used the panic button he gave them. Danny even used the time he was awake to build him a little gadget in form of a wristwatch, that was connected to the button and would show him the location of the button like a sonar radar on submarines and ships, but only him, to anyone else it would.

What he did not expect to see when he arrived in their apartment was to see a knocked out Nightwing lying on the floor with the kids trying to lift him onto the couch.

When he saw that Jason could not stop himself from holding his stomach and laugh like he has not had in a long time. He was laughing so hard and also already kneeling on the floor the kids abandoned Nightwing mid lift and crowded him to make sure he was alright.

His laughing fit was so long and loud apparently added with the fact Nightwing was dropped that their intruder woke up.

---

Nightwing did not know what he expected to see after opening his eyes. But Jason in his Reed Hood regalia almost lying on the floor laughing his lungs out with four kids - one a redhead and three which had some mix of white and black - surrounding him looking worried and after hearing a noise he made turning their heads to glare at him was not it.

---

When Jason had calmed down enough to hear the noise Nightwing made only to look up and see his kids glaring at him, he almost burst out laughing again. He still coughed into his hand to stifle his laughter, and the children turned back to him at the sound all wearing worried faces.

He reassured them with patting them on their heads and picked Danny up to help him heal again, he looked a bit exhausted. Now he looked at the room more carefully. The window to the fire escape was open, Nightwing was on the floor between the couch and the living room table on his side supporting himself kind of upright with his left arm looking a bit disoriented but mostly confused, near the table laid an abandoned baseball bat - where did they even get that? - everything else looked normal, but he could see a bar stool stand before the curtains of the window, hidden from the outside but not the inside. It seems this was at least a little bit premediated.

Red Hood went to help Nightwing up on the couch but not before snapping a pic off him disoriented on the floor. After Nightwing was safely on the sofa, Red Hood took the kids with him to the kitchen and helped them sit on the counter. After taking of his helmet and taking of his domino, he asked his kids what happened. He did not expect their answer. They told him that they heard someone skulking around in his work apartment on floor beneath them and wanted to lure the person upstairs and as such made some noise the intruder would hear. Then they put the stool near the fire escape window and Jazz stood on it with the baseball bat in her hand. The triplets all stood in different parts of the room staring at the window making their eyes glow to make the person focus on them. After their window was broken into (not literally they know the window is not damaged), Jazz hit them over the head with the bat. Afterwards they turned on the lights and noticed it was Nightwing, they panicked, Jason told them about the various vigilantes in Gotham, so they could recognise them, since they didn’t seem to know anything about them. As such they quickly used Jason's panic button for them. He came back right as they were trying to put Nightwing on the couch.

Chapter Text

Dick was finally not dizzy anymore and appreciated the glass of water Jason handed to him - yes Jason, he was not wearing his helmet or his domino right now.

It seemed Jason finished calming down the children as they were no longer glaring at Nightwing. Nightwing said thanks to him and noticed the child in Jason's arms, it was one of the triplets a boy, his hair was split horizontally the top half black and the bottom half white.

Jason introduced Nightwing to his kids - his kids - Nightwing was overloaded with new information right now. The oldest one, a red headed girl named Jazz was 7 years old, the other three were her younger siblings, Dan, his hair was mostly black with stripes of white, Danny, the boy in Jason's arms and Ellie the youngest and a girl with her hair split in the middle, black on the right side and white on the left.

Almost immediately after their introductions the kid in Jason's arms yawned and lay his head on Jason's shoulder, the other kids immediately put their attention on him and Jason stroked his back, - Dick immediately took advantage and snapped a pic with the cam in his mask - his brother went into a different room - probably the bedroom of the kids - and was followed by the gaggle of children behind them. It seemed to be bedtime.

After having apparently put them all to bed he came back out and sat next to Dick. "Come take of your mask. Relax."

Just as Dick did as he was told, he heard a little laugh come from Jason, he turned his head and saw Jason look at him funny.

"What?"

"You got your ass kicked by a seven-year-old. That's so funny."

"Whwa- no they just got lucky, and I was distracted by glowing eyes."

"No dude, they lured you in here after hearing you stomping around downstairs and laid a trap, and you fell for it. I'm so proud.", Jason laughed and wiped a tear from his eyes at the "proud" comment.

Dick was astonished but quickly regained his bearings, "What the heck dude, I asked last week if you were at the mall and you lied."

"I didn’t lie, just didn’t answer."

"Lying per omission."

"Dickwad, I-", Jason started and stop taking jabs at Dick as he became more sombre, "On that day I only just found the kids the evening before. Jazz pulled a me."

"A you?"

"Tried to steal my wheels. And then hit me when I came up to her."

"Ha! So like you."

"Yeah, but in the week I've had them now, I only got titbits of information they sometimes drop. They definitely were held somewhere for a long time. They have the scars and wounds to prove it."

The mood turned sombre.

"Below us I have a whole conspiracy like board with everything they told me. It does not look good. Don’t tell B, or any of the others, Babs will probably find out soon-", Jason said as he pointed at Dicks mask. "But also have her keep a lid on it. My kids clearly came from somewhere bad and I didn’t want to introduce them to any one of you guys yet, as you felt yourself they are quite hostile to other people. I still have to convince them to go get a checkup at Leslie's."

The "my kids" Dick immediately filed away, as he felt now was not the time to tease his brother about his word choice.

"They seem quite attached to you."

"I know.", Jason answered dreamily.

"I'm glad you have each other, and you seem happier now."

"It's definitely an adjustment."

The two brothers sat there for some time stewing in their conversation.

"Alfred would probably like to know he has four new great-grandchildren.", Dick said, a bit mischievously.

"I'm probably gonna need help from him anyway. How to cook nutritious meals and such."

"Well, I'm gonna go, better come back soon so the others don't worry."

Jason cursed, the other two are probably already researching what made him run out on him so fast. 'Why the fuck did I scream Don't you DARE follow me, now they're gonna be even more interested.'

"Wait, Dickie, I need a favor."

Dick turned around with a shit-eating grin, "A favor? From meeee?"

"Yes, in return I'm gonna allow you to visit sooner and tell you some of their likes so you have a better chance at favorite uncle."

Dick gasped, "Totally, what do you need."

"B and Tim saw me run out on them since you made my kids use their panic button. Make up an excuse or something so they don’t look into it."

"Okidoki, Imma come up with something. I'll give you the info so you can back me up, little wing. That way, they're more likely to let it rest."

They said goodbye to each other and after putting his domino back on Nightwing jumped out of the window. Jason closed it and set up the traps again.

After that, he took of the rest of his Red Hood outfit, took a shower and got ready for bed. He chose a Jane Austen book, peeked into the room with his kids - they all slept in one bed peacefully together - and laid down in his own. Soon after he read about 5 chapters of the book, he fell asleep.

When he woke up the next day he was greeted with a bap on the face by Danny, who somehow has crawled into his bed, followed by following pokes or tugs on other parts of his body curtesy of the rest of his children who apparently all have crawled into his bed to snuggle with him, with everyone but him and Danny still asleep and their tugs and pokes are from them moving in their sleep. He let out a content sigh. Jason was really happy to be with his kids.

Chapter Text

Jason was sitting in the waiting room of Leslie's clinic, since today was the dreaded Checkup Day.

The kids were a challenge. Jazz and Danny were the easier ones to wrangle into the car, but Ellie and Dan were almost impossible to catch. Thankfully, he arrived in time for their appointment.

The drive to the clinic was not too long, since he only had to drive from their apartment in Robbinsville to crime alley.

This time Dr. Thompkins preferred to see the kids without Jason, as such he was sitting alone in the waiting room, wallowing in the information he was able to gather from the kids and put on his conspiracy board.

--- Flashback 

Nightwing was climbing through the window after he noticed the traps were disarmed and Red Hood stood in the room, arms crossed and staring at him, in a way that screamed, "come inside already".

"Hey, sorry I came so late!", the vigilante in the black and blue costume apologized.
"In here.", Red Hood said this to him and gestured for him to follow.

The two vigilantes, or better said one vigilante and one crime lord, entered the next room and on the far side of the wall, with a light shining on it, was a corkboard on wheels standing innocently. The board was filled, with spaces between them, with papers full of text. In the middle of the board was a papier that said "Bad Guys" in Bold and thick letters. From it many of the red yarns wrapped around to pins holding the papers to the board.

The papers that were connected to "BAD GUYS" were filled with the following content:

• Signature Outfit is White
• Had them since their birth
• Caused them to get powers
• Did not teach them how to use the powers => did not know which powers they would get?
• Only taught them to speak to ask them questions, they know basic words, medical words and scientific words
• Only one adult in same position, he was also in restraints, helped them escape => probably dead
• Refer to themselves as siblings but never talked about a mom or dad, did not know the words, but did know biological creators, which were a man and a woman, they saw them often and probably remember how they look like but like white outfit do not like to think about them => parents part of the bad guys => kids were born to be used in experiments? => why and how did they decide? (this piece was also connected with the "KIDS")

Another piece of paper that was the center of a web was "KIDS":
• Jazz = 7, Danny = 5, Dan = 5, Ellie = 5 
• No last name
• Named themselves, people in white never talked to them with names but words that had numbers in them, when being referred
• Have powers (this paper also had a red string that pointed to another bigger piece called Powers, which was the last web on this board)
• Want to sleep near each other

The center of the third and last web on this particular board, there was a second one dick could see out of the corner of his eyes, was called "POWERS", in reference to the powers the kids had.
For this one Jason had to ask the kids about them, for the other information he only gleaned stuff from info they dropped accidentally. The kids agreed with his reason that he should know what they could do, to be able to help them and so he would not worry, and told him about the powers they know of/remembered:
• Invisibility (Danny, Dan, Ellie)
• Umbrakinesis (Jazz)
• Flight (Danny, Dan, Ellie)
• Hovering (Jazz)
• Empathy (Jazz, Danny)
• Seeing Ghosts (Danny)
• Cryokinesis (Danny)
• Aerokinesis (Ellie)
• Pyrokinesis (Dan)
• Metal manipulation (Jazz)
• Glowing Eyes (Jazz, Danny, Dan, Ellie)
• Telekinesis (Danny, Dan)
• More to come??

When Nightwing pointed at the last paper and made a confused sound Red Hood told him, that the children instinctively know they had more powers but not what they could do or what they were called.

At Nightwing's distressed noise, Red Hood huffed and tried to convey everything would be fine, he had it under control.

Then after some time, the crime lord pulled the last cork board to the front. It was a bit different than the other board, this one had a "title", if you could call it that, with a piece of paper stuck to the upper most part in the middle. On the paper was written "theories and research". On it, Jason gathered his theories on who the Bad Guys were and why they were possible doing this and were. Things like, "secret government facility - like Waller" or "Cult" or "Mad scientists - trying to artificially create metas".

"Why do you think artificially creating metas, sure we had a case with people trying to activate meta genes through traumatic experience, but artificial? I'm not sure. Are they metas?"

"No, and I’m sure of it, since they made them learn all those scientific words and all and they have never really heard what a meta is, Ellie said she once heard the People in White say that "The P/E-Series is so different than metas, after all…", so they aren’t metas." Jason recounted with a slight shiver when he said "P/E-Series".

Due to Jason's physical reaction, Dick could glean from his words that with P/E-Series, the kids were meant.  That meant there were other Series too. They had to find these "Guys in White" soon.

---- Flashback End

During his musing about his meeting with Dick, enough time had passed that the kids were almost finished. About five minutes later Jason heard a door click and saw his kids step out of the room with Leslie.

As Jason stands up and walks towards them, he sees Leslie neutral face, but it was on the friendlier side, so he assumed the kids’ condition has not worsened.

While herding the children to a corner and letting them play a little bit, Leslie took Jason to the side to talk.

"First things first, their physical condition definitely improved. Their minimal scars are almost completely healed. The gash on Ellie's leg looks good right now, no infection. For Danny's Wound on his torso…", she looked away a bit, not really uneasy but more confused if anything, "Well I had Dan lift the green film - I noticed there was less of it - and have determined, that the wound does not need any additional protection. After that Dan slurped up the green thing. What's up with that?" Doctor Thompkins was definitely most confounded by the last part.

"Well, from what the kids told me, the green stuff was part of Dan, more specifically his arm, and since Danny has apparently healed enough that he doesn’t need it anymore, Dan took it back and can now focus on regrowing his arm. Remember what they said when they first met you? Dan's arm could not heal unless Danny was healed first."

Leslie opened her mouth in a little "o" - Shape and looked more enlightened.

Chapter Text

After getting a mostly clean bill of health for the kids, Jason decided they could have a little day out.

Dick has already been visiting a few times in the last week, so that, when Jason asked the kids if it was okay if his brother joined them, they had no complaints.

So here Jason was, calling Dick, to ask if he had time to come over.

"I CAN COME? Spend time with the kiddies?!"

Jason could feel Dick's excitement through the phone, and had to hold it a little bit away from his ear to not risk a ruptured drum. His brother could really do some damage in his excitement.

"Yeah, since they are quite healthy, we are going on a little outing. We haven't decided were to go yet. Maybe you could help the kids decide?", Jason told his brother while directing his gaze towards where his kids were all huddled over a piece of paper with some suggestions on where they could go.

"I'll be there in 5 minutes."

Before Jason could say that Dick was in Bludhaven and would not be able to be there so soon, his brother already hung up. As he looked at his phone Jason shook his head. After putting the device back into his pants pocket, he walked over to the children.

Jason sat next to Danny and put him into his lap. He joined the kids in looking over their suggestions. They told him their suggestions and why they should go there. As Jason was reading over the paper, he did not notice the kids sharing a look. Just as he was about to open his mouth to tell them his opinion, they swarmed him and pushed him to the ground in a cuddle pile, and soon dissolved into laughter.

----

Dick was just finishing his morning shift at the station and was on his way home, when Jason's call came through. After hanging up, he quickly ran home, changed and went as fast as he could to arrive at Jason's home.

This time, he went in through the door of the building and not the window. He skipped up the stars, taking 3 steps at a time, and was quickly standing before Jason's door. He opened it and was met with a downed Jason, and piled on top of him were his kids, Jazz, Danny, Dan and Ellie. All 5 of them were laughing.

He stood there for a few minutes and decided to take a picture. After the click of his phone camera went off, all 5 heads looked toward him. He sat next to the group to show them the picture and promised to have it framed after seeing the kids’ eyes light up.

Together with Dick, all 6 of them decided to hit a few spots in town with not too many people.

First the Mall, then the park, the dock and to end it they would visit the observatory.

----

When they were at the mall nothing special happened. The kids were happy, and all got some new pairs of shoes.

Then they made their way towards the park, the kids were using their new shoes and wanted to run around a little. The park was on the quiet side, only a few people were there all focused on their own things. The group made their way towards a free patch of grass and Jason laid out a picknick blanket. He sat down while Dick joined the children, and they played a game of tag.

It was quite relaxing. After they tired themselves out a bit, Jason called them back to himself and opened the bag he brought with him from home. He made a big batch of snacks, varying from sandwiches to cookies and muffins. They all enjoyed their food.

They only visited the dock for a short while. Additionally to the many goons they saw there, which they sent a message to Duke so he could check it out while on patrol and make a report to give to the Bat himself, the kids also felt sick due to the color and smell of the water and other unseeable things there.

It was still some time before the observatory opened so they visited the library that was nearby to read some books. Jason told them of Gotham’s History.

In the observatory Danny showed the most excitement, the other free were also excited but Danny was almost glowing, his eyes did glow a bit.

On the way back home both Dick and Jason each carried two snoozing children. They hoped to be able to put the kids to bed when entered at the apartment, but sadly they could do no such thing.

When they arrived back at the department Dick and Jason were the most exhausted of the bunch. Since almost immediately after they entered the threshold, the kids awoke with new Vigor.

To relax and help the kiddos fall asleep again, they turned on the TV and choose a news channel. It seemed to be working pretty well.

The Television was showing the weather channel, indicating that in the next few days rain would have a higher chance of happening.

Shortly before Jason and Dick could fall asleep to the lull of the news reporter, they rang in a remembrance sound.

"It has been eight years since young CEO Vladimir Masters, of Vlad Co. has disappeared. " The news lady said while next to her was shown a picture of a man who surprisingly had white hair for his young age, he appeared to be in his twenties. Fresh out of college.

Before the two vigilantes could truly fall asleep, they felt the kids in their arms, tense and use all their focus to watch the TV, specifically to stare at the picture of the man.

That woke them up. The look in the kids’ eyes was recognition and sadness, also gratitude. This gave more information for who had the kids. Since before Jason took them in, they didn't have anyone with them. Afterall, Jason met them two weeks after they arrived in Gotham. This means this person was in the same place they were before. And since that man was missing, they could conclude that he wasn’t there voluntary.

The two vigilantes looked at each other, seems  like they couldn’t rest after putting the kids to bed. And they would have to loop another person into their case.

Chapter Text

Jason really didn't want anyone else to know about the kids so soon. But to find out who hurt them and guarantee their safety, he needed more information.
 
Due to this he and Dick split up to bring a hacker each into the fold. Dick went to Tim and Jason to Barbara.
 
He already sent a text message to her, warning her he would visit her in the library.
 
He took the kids with him. They could read a few books while he talked with her.
 
As the group of five entered the building, the kids were huddled close to his legs, he almost couldn’t walk. Together they shuffled towards the kids section and he helped them each find a book with pretty pictures they could look at.
 
Danny found a picture collection of constellations. Ellie took a photography-collection of landscapes, she was fascinated by all the different locations. Dan surprisingly chose a cookbook. And Jazz choose books with words. He left the kids sitting, focused on their books on the bean bags and while making his way to Barbara, Jason kept them in his periphery, so he could always see them. Thankfully, the Information counter was not too far from the kids section.
 
As he neared it he saw Barbara sitting behind the counter grinning at him. Oh great he still had to explain them to her. He was not looking forward to that.
 
"Hey Barbie."
 
"Hello Jay, those aren't typical street kids. Are you turning into B?", she asked, looking like a gremlin, enjoying his misery.
 
"Don't remind me. While I do love them, I do not want to turn into B. By the way they are actually why I am here.", Jason stated, looking more serious. "I need you to look into the disappearance of someone."
 
Barbara noticed his expression and in turn also became more serious. "Who?"
 
"Vladimir Masters. 5 days ago there was a special about his disappearance and the kids know him."
 
Jason continued, "He was missing before they were born."
 
That made Barbara look way more serious. "Okay, I'll look into his past. Should I go in with the assumption he is still alive."
 
"Probably not.", Jason told her while looking at the kids.
 
"Okay, you go spend time with them, I'll start my research after i get off."
 
"Thanks." He tried to express how much that meant to him in the single word. He hoped Barbie noticed it.
 
For the rest of the afternoon, Jason spend the time with his kids at the library.
 
-----
 
A day later Jason was just coming back with groceries, when he noticed that the children were not in the living room. 
 
After searching the rooms up and down, he found them exhausted on some mats they laid out on the floor.  At first he didn’t want to interrupt them, but as he looked on into the room he saw a few marks that were signs of a fight.
 
Trying his best to send out calm vibes Jason asked into the room: "What happened here?"
 
He seemed to have startled them, since they all sat upright immediately. 
 
Thats when he saw the bruises on their bodies.
 
"Umm…", the smallest one Ellie started.
 
Jason continued to stare at them, entering the room.
 
"WE WERE TRAINING!", Danny screamed and started to cry.
 
Jason walked to him and crouched down. "What’s wrong are you hurt? Why are you crying?"
 
"You can’t be mad at Ellie!"
 
When Jason looked back to Ellie again, he saw that she seemed to be shivering and tears were rolling down her cheeks. Oh no was that because of him?
 
"No, no. I'm not mad. I'm worried.", he quickly scooped Danny up to cuddle him and walked towards the other kids that were all looking to the ground with Ellie crying and Jazz and Dan trying to hold back tears.
 
He knelt down and hugged them all.
 
"I'm not mad at you guys. I'm worried that you are hurt. I would prefer it if you told me beforehand that you were training. Why are you training at all?"
 
"To stay safe." They answered him. He could also hear faintly, "To protect you."

Chapter Text

It has been a week since Dick visited Tim to ask him to look into Vladimir Masters and his connections. He was back in Gotham again and joined Batman in patrols. Today Tim and Steph, Red Robin and Spoiler were also out and about.
 
It was during the later hours of the night and quite a long dull with nothing happening, when Dick noticed that Red Robin and Spoiler deviated from their routes. 
 
With Oracle's answer after asking her which way the duo was jumping, Nightwing realized that's where Jason lives with his kids. And he also made his way over there.
 
He learned from his past mistake and used the front door this time. He did not expect what greeted him.
 
Tim and Steph lying knocked out on the floor with 4 pairs of eyes glowing in the dark above them, turning towards him. Dick physically took a step back and held a hand over his heart. That scared him.
 
The kids seemed to recognise him, because while they did still stare at him now he could also see glee in their eyes.
 
"Hey kids," Nightwing said crouching down, "what have you got there?"
 
"Intruders."
 
Well that was the answer he expected, he did not expect seeing Jazz dragging a baseball bat behind her.
 
Was this how they knocked him out too?
 
"I'm gonna call your dad okay?"
 
Synchronized nods answered him. Okay the kids at night were creepy scary.
 
He tapped the com in his ear, making sure to get the secure privat channel with Jason. "Hood? Do you hear me?"
 
"Yeah, what do you want dickface?"
 
"You should come home, your kids caught some intruders." Nightwing eyed his unconscious siblings on the floor. The 8 glowing eyes stared back. "Also I'm scared."
 
His answer was a barked laugh. "Hah, yeah alright I'm coming. Who are the unfortunate ones? Timbit?"
 
"Yes, he and Steph."
 
Hood's laughter continued until he arrived at the window sill that the two 'Intruders' used. 
 
Nightwing watched as all 4 kids turned their heads towards the window. He got shivers.
 
"Hey kids, I'm back."
 
Red Hood entered the room and was soon surrounded by four kids. "Let's get you to bed, alright?"
 
Jason walked ahead of them and he was followed by all four kids like ducklings. 10 minutes later he came back of their room and met Dick again.
 
"Come on, let’s bring our 'Intruders' downstairs. I have a fun idea." Jason said while showing him a roguish smile.
 
Dick could only nod and carry Tim on his back.
 
---
 
Tim woke up and felt himself be bound to another person, Steph. 
 
He looked at the ropes binding him. Just normal ropes, next thing he heard was the squeak of a chair. He focused towards the sound, he could only see the back of a chair.
 
"Why have you come here?"
 
At first Red Robin could not make out the voice, but after the person sitting in the chair turned it around, he was face to face with Red Hood.
 
"Hood. What's going on?"
 
"Release them." uttered Hood looking at a person behind Tim.
 
He felt the ropes loosen and looked at the person, it was Nightwing. What?
 
Tim was so confused. Nightwing walked away, now standing next to Hood. Not even a minute passed when he burst out laughing. That only confused Tim more.
 
Red Hood jabbed Nightwing into his side with his elbow. "You couldn’t even hold it together for five minutes?"
 
"I'm sorry, after thinking more about it. I just remembered when it happened to me and I had to laugh."
 
This laughter also woke up Steph. "What's going on?"
 
Her confused face just made Dick laugh out loud one more time. "You got knocked out by four elementary kids."
 
What?
 
"Okay, wing stop laughing." Jason tried to bring everyone on the same page. "Now Timbit, why did you and Blondie break into my apartment. Do you have new info?"
 
"Uuuh…" Tim was still a bit out of it, from the whole being knocked out and then laughed at by Nightwing.
 
Red Robin shook his head to get all his thoughts together and said, "Yeah, I have new info."
 
"And Babs send me. She also got info." Steph cheerily added.
 
"Ok let’s add it to the boards."
 
Jason pulled out two boards on wheels and turned them 180 degrees. They were filled with red yarn and pages filled with information. Tim almost felt as if he was looking at one of his own boards.
 
"First I'm gonna fill you in on what we already have." Jason tapped his ear, "Barbie are you also listening."
 
"I am."
 
"Good let's start."