Robin's Shadow (Batman OC)

Chapter 42: Twins Reunited

"They're so cute!" I hear a deep voice squealing softly above my head the next morning, waking me up from my short sleep. I know it's Dick, no other grown man can squeal like a teenage girl quite like him.

"I didn't know Ana could look so peaceful. She's so cute." The next voice, Tim, says kindly.

"Fucking idiots." I hear Jason say right next to me, and my eyes shoot open to look at him. He's actually here, it wasn't a dream and I didn't make it up. I smile at his new green eyes softly as he looks at me too, probably thinking the same thing as me.

"Get out of my room before we show you why we're the terror twins." I say calmly as a threat to my other brothers.

"One, we're not in your room, this is Jaybird's room." Dick says smugly, pulling the blanket off of us with a flourish. "Two, Bruce wants you both, and I fear him more than you."

Jason and I both had pulled out a weapon when Dick stole our blanket, both of us still in our vigilante uniforms we never changed out of. We both had our guns held with steady arms aimed at him.

"Uh, you know, when you're ready." Tim interjects quickly, shoving Dick aside. "Take your time." He pushed Dick out of the bedroom and closed the door. "I fear them more than Bruce." We hear him tell Dick in the hall in fear.

"Smart kid." Jason says angrily. "That my replacement?" He asks me bitterly.

"Yeah." I chuckle out. "That's actually my nickname for Tim, too. He's a little genius. Morbid, sarcastic, and depressed, but genius and loyal. You're going to both love and hate him." I smirk at him as we get out of bed. "Don't run away, I'll meet you downstairs." I say to him sternly at the door as I see him eyeing the window. He groans lightly in response, but I see his resolve.

He told me last night all about his time with the League of Assassins. How Ra's, out of guilt, took his body from the coffin before it was sealed. Ra's had been the one to break everyone out of Arkham when the Joker was released all those years ago, he needed the clown to be a distraction while he was trying to overthrow the European economy. That explained why the banks were being robbed with every drug location we found in Europe while we searched for Jason. Ra's underestimated how evil Joker was though, and didn't know he took Jason, so he felt guilty and tried to resurrect him. It took six months to get him to a Lazarus Pit, so he was really dead that whole time. 

I told him how I felt a weight off my shoulder after Joker was killed. It turns out, I killed the clown on the exact same day Jason was thrown into the pit and brought back from the dead. He explained to me how broken his mind was, how he couldn't remember who he was, who I was or anything else. It took him years to remember, and even now he still questions if a memory is real or made up. I vowed to help fill in the blanks on his memory for him.

"There are going to be some rules for you two." Bruce says sternly by way of greeting when we walk into the cave, both of us changed into civilian clothes. "Rule one, no more killing." He says darkly, locking eyes with us both. "You kill again, I take you into custody."

"That's not how I work, Bruce." Jason immediately counters. "My way works, crime is down in Gotham thanks to me doing those deeds. I'm feared now."

"So is Nightingale." Bruce counters, and I look at him in surprise. "Minus Thomas Elliot, Nightingale hasn't killed in a long time, but she's still feared."

"Ah, yeah, him." I say darkly. "Not still mad about that, are you?" I say plainly, having heard his bitterness and anger when he said his friend's name. 

"Who the fuck?" Jason asks me curiously.

"Asshole who dug up your grave a few months ago." I shrug to him dismissively. "I took that personally." He nods, already accepting and over it like the good twin he is. I don't feel the need to correct Bruce and add in Riddler's name to his shit list for Nightingale. If he doesn't know it's me, than I'll let it stay that way.