**I love Jason Todd, and this is just my take on his reveal and returning to his family. Also, I am working on a crazy amount of requests, and those WILL be up in the next couple days. I fell out of my writing schedule so I'm trying to reestablish it. Thanks for the patience, and enjoy this very self-indulgent fic I wrote weeks ago.**

When a new villain popped up in Gotham, no one batted an eye. It was Gotham. Even a new crime lord was small potatoes to the Bats. But a crime lord, who was taking over all of Crime Alley, who was known for being an utter sweet heart to the girls who worked the corners and kids who were looking to eat, and who had been described multiple times over as 'nimble as a bird'... That was news.

Tim said it was nothing. He was the replacement but he was brilliant. A mind to rival Bruce's, and that was saying something. Dick had argued that it might be something worth looking at, but Bruce had just scoffed and sided with Tim and the family dropped the whole thing. Besides, Dick was in the Blud most of the time, and he and Bruce were on rocky ground anyways.

So Dick investigated on his own. Nightwing was a well known vigilante in both cities now, and he had some contacts in Gotham who might be willing to help him.

At the very least, he had Babs, and she could get him all the CCTV footage he needed to see this Red Hood character in action.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason Todd had lived an interesting, if not frustratingly difficult, life. Orphaned, adopted, killed. Back from the dead. Back home. All the while, acting as a vigilante.

A crime lord? Is that what they were calling him now?

Either way, he still considered himself a vigilante.

The kids at the warehouse he owned were a unusually excited to see him when he came in. He'd had the whole place outfitted with beds and an entertainment system in the corner and some really cool bikes they could ride around. The place was huge - Jason used it as a storage space for a while - but he'd tried to make it feel warmer. Homey.

"Hey, 'Hood!"

Jason turned. It was a group of kids who were new. They were all from the same alley Jason had come off of, but he didn't recognize any of them or their names. Must have been born after he was out of there.

"What's up?"

"Can we order pizzas? I know we have food in the kitchen, but it's Marcy's birthday and she's never had it before."

Jason pretended to think about that, then he shrugged. "Sure. Here, I'll order it now. What does everyone want?"

In the end, the kids ordered 6 large pizzas, and Jason had added a couple for himself and another 2 just to be safe. Kids could eat, especially kids like this. Jason knew that. He stayed to see the pizza show up, then took his own food and disappeared, leaving the kids to their own devices. They could look after themselves - they did it every day. Jason just helped them with the warm place to stay and the fun parts of being a kid they normally didn't have time to think about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nightwing looked over the footage. "Are those... pizzas?"

"Yep." Babs turned in her chair. "He stops by that warehouse every day. I thought it was a hub for his whole operation, and it was for a while, but he cleaned it out last month and nothing since."

"Is he still moving drugs through the streets? And he owns a couple strip clubs, too."

Babs gave a nod. "Yeah, he's still active there. But the strip clubs are super exclusive. I did some poking around. Not only are they expensive, they're also heavily guarded. I think he's trying to protect the girls more than anything."

Nightwing snorted, then pulled off his mask with a sigh. "Is it bad I like this guy?"

"Oh, Dick..." Babs knew better than anyone that Dick took this kind of thing hard. Bruce had spent years drilling it into his head that all criminals were bad, and every time Dick started to feel just a little bad for one of them, or see them in the grey-scale, he beat himself up over it. "If it makes you feel better, I like him, too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Red Hood was pretty accustomed to being shot, stabbed, hell, he'd even had a grenade explode in his hands. But an escrima stick? He hadn't had one of these things coming at him in a long time, and it was doing some kind of crazy thing to his Pit Rage.

He fought appropriately.

Nightwing - Dick - was a skilled opponent, but at the end of the day, there was only so much you could do when up against a gun. Jason got him in the shoulder the first time, then again in the side, just below his ribs. Nightwing fell hard, his grey and blue suit blurring under Jason's green haze. Jason turned with a sneer, but something pulled him back around, the green cloud lifting.

This was... his older brother.

The kid who hated him.

The one who taught him to fly finally.

Dick.

Jason took a heavy breath. This was never going to be the plan, but... Well, Dick liked kids. He would love the warehouse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing Nightwing noticed when he woke up was that he wasn't Nightwing. His domino had been peeled away, and his suit was replaced by a baggy sweatshirt about 3 sizes too big and a pair of jeans that fit surprisingly well. Oh, and he was surrounded by kids.

"He's awake."

"Someone call 'Hood!"

"Get him some food from the kitchen. Boulder made stew."

Dick pushed himself up on his elbow. His shoulder and side were bandaged neatly, in a way very reminiscent of Alfred's work. "Where am I?"

"The warehouse."

"What?"

The kids all scoffed. The one closest to Dick smiled in an soft way, almost like he was talking to a younger kid. Dick wondered briefly if he'd had to talk hurt and hungry and angry kids down from a panic before.

"You got hurt, but that's pretty normal for the Alley. We're in the warehouse. 'Hood's place for kids."

Dick startled. This was what Red Hood was doing here? He'd set up some kind of half-way house for the kids here. "You said there was food?"

"We all get fed here, yeah. Food and a bed and homework help when we have it." It was a different kid, and Dick snapped his attention that way. The kid was holding a book. A very ratty, very familiar book. Dick had to tense his arms hard to not grab it out of the kid's hands. It was one of Jason's favorites. Dick could still picture Jason curled up in the manor library with that same title tucked in his lap.

"Where did you get that book?"

The kid looked down at his hands. "Oh. 'Hood gave it to me. He said it was one of his favorites."

Dick swallowed down his hurt, instead taking a chance to look around the room. It wasn't really a 'room' so much as it was a sectioned off area of the warehouse. There were bunk beds across the whole room, so this must have been where the kids slept. One wall was open to the rest of the warehouse, where Dick noticed an entire area dedicated to movies and video games, an area where the kids all clearly ate, and a couple bookshelves fully stocked with books.

"'Hood is headed over. Said not to let this one out of here until he gets here." It was an older kid, the one who had been told to call Red Hood earlier. Dick felt a shiver run down his spine. If he was here, and Red Hood had been the one to take him down, and now his suit and mask were no where to be found, it was more than likely that Red Hood knew Dick's identity now.

"Shit."

"Language, Dick, there's kids around." The kids all split as Red Hood's mechanic voice came through the room. There was all the confirmation Dick needed.

"Red Hood. I didn't realize this is what you were protecting."

Red Hood shrugged. "Go get dinner or work on homework," he said, and the kids all scattered. "It's a weekend, so you guys can stay up late with movies if you want! Tio has candy and popcorn for you all in his car."

"Tio?"

"My bodyguard," Red Hood stated. "He goes with me to business deals. Spoils the hell out of the kids, too."

Dick gave a short laugh. "Didn't think you would need a body guard." There was a pause, where Dick and Red Hood just stared at one another, and then Dick sighed. "You know who I am. Who I really am."

"Yeah."

"Are you going to give me time to pack my things before telling people, or should I just leave now?"

Red Hood tilted his head. "Who said anything about telling people? If I did, you'd be trapped at the manor, and I know you're living in Bludhaven for a reason."

"So you know that I live with Bruce Wayne? Or did."

"I know a lot more about you than you think," Red Hood said trying to keep the green haze from his eyes. This wasn't about Dick. Jason didn't hate Dick. Jason hated Bruce but Dick, Dick had tried hard. He'd been a grumpy teen at first - as any teen would be when their adopted father got a new son and gave this new kid the super suit you wore - but over time, Dick and Jason had grown to love each other, and though Dick was out of the house more often than not, he'd taught Jason how to do flips on uneven bars and how to catapult over buildings.

"So you're a fan? Like Timothy?"

Green did swim through Jason's vision at that. "Timothy Drake. I heard about him. The newest one of Brucie's little boys, right? The replacement."

"Replacement?"

Red Hood scoffed. "Yeah, replacement. Replaced his little side-kick, Robin."

Dick peered into the helmet, as if he could see through the metal and into the eyes behind it. "So you must have been a fan of the Robin before that."

"You mean Jason Todd? Good kid, my favorite kid."

Dick rolled his eyes. "Bruce would love to hear that. Jason was his favorite, too."

Red Hood was across the few feet between him and Dick in a matter of seconds, holding the boy down with strong and shaking hands. "Don't fucking lie to me. Don't fucking lie. You say Jason was his favorite, but he let him go! He let him go, and then Jason was out of there, and he was killed and no one did- no one did anyth- anything to save him. No one came, and I was screaming for my dad and he never came, and you never came, and then you didn't even kill the Joker for it."

Dick bit his lip. It couldn't be. It wasn't true. It wasn't real, it was a trick, a dirty imposter trying to take them all down, inside out, emotions be damned, and he wasn't-

The helmet hissed and then Red Hood was pulling it up and off, black hair shaking down and a streak of white flopping into his eyes. Blue, green eyes.

"Jason."

"Dickhead."

Dick pulled Jason into a bone-crushing hug, crying at a high pitch with all those tight gasps as he tried to keep his breath. Jason put an uncomfortable hand on Dick's back, patting and rubbing.

"You going to stop crying soon?"

"Yes," Dick sniffled out. "Yeah, sure. I can stop- I can stop crying."

After a few more gasps and sniffled, Dick brushed away his tears, and then Jason was shoving him off. "You can't tell anyone about any of this, Dick."

"We have to tell Bruce. Jason, I know you're mad, but-"

"No!"

"Bruce was a mess when he found you," Dick pressed on. "I mean, I was so guilty and miserable, and Alfred was barely functional, but Bruce. Bruce wouldn't leave his room- wouldn't leave his bed. I moved back in to help Alfred take care of him. And the first night he went out patrolling? Jason, he almost killed himself. He nearly killed someone else, too. And he wasn't sleeping or eating and I wasn't sleeping or eating and I decided it was time to just end it and I went after the Joker and it was the only time Bruce got out of bed to save me."

"He stopped you?"

"I almost did it," Dick said, staring up into Jason's eyes. "I almost did, but then I was... It almost killed me."

Jason hummed. "Because of daddy bat?"

"Because my mom used to say that when people play God, when they kill or hurt others, they forget that we're all just people trying to do our best."

Jason's eyes burned blue, teetering between green and normal, and then Jason's whole body seemed to relax, and he steeled himself in another hug. He wasn't ready to forgive everything yet, but he was ready to forgive Dick. And, maybe even Bruce, but that would have to take a little time still.

"Do... do you want to go home?" Dick asked quietly.

"Well," Jason said, looking around at anything but Dick's face before finally meeting his big brother's eyes. "I have missed Alfred's cooking."