Brothers Until Time Shatters

2

Jason watched the compound with narrowed eyes. It had been almost three months since Dick had disappeared on a routine reconnaissance mission.

Except that Jason had felt it meant more to Dick than just a simple recon. Dick had heard rumblings about the League of Shadows and taken off to investigate, and no matter how much he protested to the contrary, Jadon knew why. Ever since Wally had been severely injured in a car accident three and a half months ago, Dick had been searching for answers on how to fix him and, more importantly, how to bring the speedster out of his coma.

Jason sighed, flipping down the front of his hood. He should've known better than to trust Dick to go after the League alone.

Jason slipped through the shadows of the compound, unseen by the League guards. He snorted. This place had really gone downhill after Talia had taken over. He tread lightly, adjusting the red helmet he wore. He had started wearing it many years ago after taking the name Red Hood (a lot of people thought it was some deep and profound name, but in reality it was simply the fact that his favorite hoodie he'd worn during the cold months of vigilante work had a red hood. That was literally it. He had added the helmet after Dick had complained about safety.)

The hallway was dimly lit, but his helmet had night vision (courtesy of Tim) so he had no problems finding the dungeons. Yes, dungeons. Complete with medieval torture devices, green slime on the walls, and stone walls. Jason quietly checked each cell until he found an occupied one. He knocked in a quick pattern, and the occupants head snapped up. Jason grinned as Dick turned around, but his grin fell as he caught sight of Dick's face. It was . . . vacant. Jason was pretty sure he'd never seen his brother's face so devoid of feeling and thought.

"Dick?" Jason's voice sounded hoarse even to his own ears. Dick cocked his head but made no other move towards the door. Jason cursed. He'd come too late. Dick had already been wiped. But even as the thought crossed his mind, a smile, albeit a slightly vacant one, crossed Dick's lips. So not completely gone then.

"Dick." Jason picked the lock on the door and swung it open. "Come."

Dick slowly rose to his feet and walked a little shakily over to Jason. So he could follow orders.

"We're going to break out of here," he told Dick. "Follow me exactly and don't make a sound." As Jason crept away from the door, he could only hope Dick would follow. And he did, sort of.

Jason sighed in frustration as, rather than creeping like a normal person, for the fifth time Dick did a noiseless double back flip in the corridor. "Talia never could finish what she started." Dick, seemingly in agreement, did six cartwheels in a row followed by a front flip and a series of hand springs.

They made it out of compound without incident and back to the plane Jason had "comandeered" from the Batcave.

"Alright, Dickiebird, let's make sure you don't have a tracking chip on you, and then we're all set.

Dick said nothing and didn't object as Jason scanned him with a device designed to detect any foreign substance in the body.

"Nothing? The League is really getting sloppy. Come on, Dickiebird, let's head home."
**********
The landed neatly in the Batcave only a few hours later, thanks to the new supersonic tech Bruce had added to the jet. Jason grimaced as he walked out of the jet with Dick on his heels. He hated the Batcave. The only reason he had ever agreed to move back to Gotham was because their doctors were second to none (they had to be with the Batfam always getting injured so spectacularly), and Dick had insisted on getting a job nearby where he could keep an eye on Wally's progress as the doctors worked on him. Currently there had been no change since the speedster went comatose, but Dick had remained hopeful that that would change. In the meantime Dick had gotten a job in the GCPD as a detective, and Jason had turned his sights to cleaning up Gotham. Unfortunately, given his assassin's training under the League (for which he had long set aside his disgust), he tended to be less than careful with the gangsters, villains, and mob members that he encountered.

"Bruce?" Jason called out into the cave. "Selina?"

"What is it, Jason?" Bruce's harsh voice came from behind Jason. He whipped around and saw Bruce standing there in his Batman outfit with the cowl off. "What's the problem?"

Jason pointed at Dick. "That's the problem."

Bruce seemed unimpressed. "Did you and your brother have another quarrel?"

"No! The League got a hold of him and brainwashed him, and I need you to fix him!"

Bruce took a long look at Dick and shook his head. "I can't, Jason. This new tech they're using to wipe people is like nothing I've ever encountered before. I've tried on other victims that we've found, and I can't reverse it."

"What do you mean other victims? Why is this the first I'm hearing about this?"

"I didn't want to worry you boys. Besides, we were handling it . . ."

"You were handling it? You and who else, the Justice League?! Those guys can barely tie their own shoes!"

Bruce gave a long suffering sigh. "Jason . . ."

"No! You listen to me. Dick has been brainwashed, and he had no idea that we wouldn't be able to fix him. Maybe if he'd known about this new tech, he wouldn't have gone in there alone!"

"I seriously doubt that," Bruce muttered.

"Regardless, Dick and I will need a place to stay, and I'm certainly not going to stay here with you!"

Bruce sighed, knowing there was no point trying to reason with Jason, and pulled out a sheaf of papers and a ring of keys. "I keep an apartment at the Gotham Grove. You and Dick will be safe there for now."

"Good." Jason snatched the papers and keys from Bruce. "I assume you'll let the others know about Dick's incapacitation?"

"I'll tell them everything they need to know."

Jason narrowed his eyes, but since Dick's phone had obviously been confiscated by the League and Jason's had taken an unfortunate dive into a bowl of soup he'd attempted to make a few days ago (thereby deleting all his contacts), Jason didn't have much of a choice but to accept Bruce's word and hope for the best.

Which was, naturally, the absolute worst thing he could have done.