-Athena's POV-

"Red Hood!" I shouted, plummeting towards the busy street. My grapple buckled and snapped, no doubt caused by the fire a couple days ago. I hadn't bothered to check any of my gear for any problems because I had been too focused on nursing Jason back to health.

I regretted not checking as soon as I started to fall.

Just as I was sure I would taste asphalt, a muscular arm snaked around my midsection. Jason pulled me up into him, hugging my body tight against his chest with one arm. I looked up at him with fear, shock, thankfulness in my eyes. Jason didn't look down at me. He just continued on until we stopped on top of the Old Wayne Tower.

I crouched down on one of the gargoyles. Jason sat beside me. "What happened? Did someone snipe at you?"

"No," I shook my head, "Black Mask's little explosion last week must've weakened my lines and I didn't know until it was too late." I pulled out my grapple gun, inspecting the part where the tear had occurred. My line seemed to have ripped completely out of the end of the gun.

Jason took it out of my hands. I pouted, reaching for it. He jumped back. I raised an eyebrow, challenging him with my face. I dove forward, but he moved again. Because of my momentum, I slid forward off of the statue. My hips and legs dangled off as I gripped the horn of the beast with both of my hands. Jason crept onto my statue, staring down at me with a childlike grin.

I expected him to put his hand out to help me, but he just continued to tease me. I stuck my tongue out at him. "You know if you fall, you're going to die," Jason said, squatting down to meet my face.

"Thanks for that little fact," I groaned, trying to pull myself up. Jason pinched my finger, making me drop slightly. I glared up at him again. He just continued to smile.

I tried to pull myself up with a lot of force, but it back fired. As soon as I let go, preparing to land feet first on the gargoyle, my hands slipped and tumbled down the side of the building.

"Athena!" Jason screeched, diving head first down after me. I wasn't falling straight down. I was sliding on my palms, trying to find a single window opening to grab. I saw Jason's outstretched hand just as I snagged a jagged piece of old brick. I gripped it with my fingers. Jason rested on the wall beside me. He panted loudly, out of breath. "Holy crap," he mumbled. Despite me being completely safe, Jason refused to lower his hand.

I climbed up on top of the brick, my legs dangling over. Jason studied me for a few moments. His eyes seemed focused and distant at the same time. He just wouldn't take his gaze off of me. I slapped his palm down harshly. "Jason, I'm okay," I snapped.

He seemed to snap out of his daze. "We-we should be getting back to the mission," he said, lacking all of his personality. His voice sounded kind of timid and...hurt?

Jason handed me his spare grapple gun and quickly darted away. I sighed. I had managed to fuck everything up. Again.

"We need to attack Black Mask," I said, "we can't show him that trying to blow you up is okay."

"You mean us."

I barely heard him over the sound of traffic. I wasn't completely sure what he had said. "Huh?"

"I agree. Let's go blow up his office building," Jason grumbled, swinging around a building and disappearing from my view.

Something felt a little wrong. I didn't see Jason pop back out. Cautiously, I climbed around the building. Just as I suspected, Jason wasn't there. He was standing on top of a coffee shop, facing towards the city.

I landed down beside him, trying to figure out why he had stopped. I looked forward. Hiding in the shadows was Nightwing and Batman. I almost couldn't see them.

Nightwing already had out his escrima sticks and Bruce had batarangs in each hand. Jason slung his pistols out. I patted my guns, but decided to go with my lucky dagger.

At first, we just stared at each other. The tensions were high. Neither side moved an inch. We were playing a game of chicken. Bruce watched me with a dead look. Dick, of course, glared at Red Hood and awkwardly avoided me.

"If you surrender now, this will all be over," Nightwing tried to negotiate. Jason chuckled, making me laugh as well.

"We're doing what's right," I spoke, trying to take charge of the situation, "you have no reason to try to stop Red Hood. Or me." I squared my shoulders and straightened my back. I stood confidently next to Jason. A part of me wanted to grab his hand, but I instead chose to bump his shoulder gently.

Bruce stepped forward with one foot. His eyes darted between Red and I. "Red Hood has killed countless people and caused significant amounts of damage. Are you sure this is the kind of person you want to associate with?"

His tone confused me. It almost sounded like he cared what happened to me. I glanced at Jason. His eyes stayed glued on Dick. Confusion brewed deep in the pit of my stomach.

No.

I shook my head, passionately staring at the side of Jason's head. We were the same. And if Bruce thought those bad things about the Fallen Robin, then he thought those things about me. I wasn't going to let Bruce put doubt in my mind.

"Sometimes the bad guys need to be killed instead of jailed," I said.

Dick looked at me. He cocked his head to the side, his black hair flopping around. I met his gaze, intensity filling my eyes. I was trying to convince myself that his drunken night at my apartment didn't change anything, but it did.

Dick had opened up to me. We hadn't talked in forever, not really. But this time, he had showed me how he really felt. And it wasn't good. I had hurt Dick, badly. He didn't trust me. He didn't love me. He wanted the truth from me and I wanted to tell him. That was revealed to me. I really needed him to know the truth and that desperation had gotten the best of me. I had told him. Luckily, he didn't seem to remember. I couldn't let myself sink to that level again. I had to keep reminding myself that I was protecting Dick. Everything I did was to protect him.

Except for working with Jason.

As I stood beside Jason opposite of Dick, I came to realize why I was so persistent with being Red Hood's partner. I had gotten so caught up in doing everything for everyone else I never knew what it was like to work because I wanted to. Choosing to fight beside Jason was my decision. I didn't need to protect him, I didn't need to prove myself to him. He accepted me with all my flaws and it was refreshing.

"Well, because of your crimes against Gotham, we will have to place both of you under arrest," Dick said, trying to flaunt his police attitude. I glared and clenched my teeth.

"That's not gonna happen," Jason growled. I smiled small. I could've sworn his muscles seemed to grow and he grew a couple inches. Manliness radiated off of him.

Bruce tensed. "There doesn't have to be fighting."

I rolled my eyes. Of course there had to be. We weren't going to get out of this situation without causing some damage to both sides. "Let's just get this over with," I groaned, not wanting the situation to last any longer than needed.

Jason fired the first shot as a signal to me. I combat rolled towards Bruce before the bullet even left the barrel. The movement usually tricked the bad guys we would fight, but Bruce wasn't a bad guy. He dodged my punch and countered, knocking me in the ribs.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jason and Dick engaged in a tough fight. I felt bad for Dick. I knew that Jason felt like he needed to prove himself to his old friend. Nightwing had beaten Red Hood in combat before. He wanted to show that he was a threat. I prayed Dick had that same kind of vicious energy that flowed through Jason.

Bruce tried to avoid me and help out Dick, but I kept him away from their fight. I tried to hit him and attack him. Batman was a great fighter. Unless I was giving it everything I had, all my punches were deflected like they were nothing.

I decided to step up my effort. I channeled all my energy into one roundhouse kick, putting my entire body behind the attack. My foot collided with Bruce's knee, knocking him into the ground. While he was down, I sneaked a peek at my partner. The fight was heating up between him and Dick. Honestly, I couldn't tell who was winning. They were pretty evenly matched.

I jumped over Bruce's leg, but he kicked up and drove his fist into my face. "Stop this, Athena," he whispered, pushing me down. My eye closed up and blood filled my mouth. I couldn't fight him off for much longer.

The brother fight was still active, with no end in sight. I looked over my shoulder, catching Jason's eyes. I shook my head at him. We both were pretty beat up. I think he understood my message.

He allowed Dick to whack him across the face. Absorbing the shock, he tumbled off the building and grappled away. Dick moved to chase, but Bruce stopped him.

From the ground, I looked up through my one eye. Bruce and Dick stood over me. They had disappointed expressions like a teacher whose best student got an F. I just shrugged.

"We need to put her in the car. I dislocated her knee," Bruce stated. I was still able to walk. I had walked way farther with way worse conditions. But, I wanted to be defiant. I wasn't on their "side" anymore. I wasn't going to make it easy on them.

Bruce squatted down to pick me up off the ground, but Dick grasped his shoulder. "I'll do it. You need to check the area for any DNA from Red Hood," Dick insisted. Bruce hesitated and stared at Dick. Eventually, he stood up and allowed Dick to take his place.

I watched as he studied me. He was studying my body, trying to figure out which way to properly pull me up. His hands gently traveled down my sides and hooked underneath my legs. Dick put my dislocated knee in the bend of his arm, cradling it gently. His other arm pulled my body tight against his chest, his hand gripping just below my shoulder. His other hand was clamped around my hip.

His fingers were like little bolts of lightning, burning and striking my entire body. My nerves were aflame, completely aware of every place he was touching. I was angry with myself. After all this time and resentment, how could he still wake me up the way he did?

He shimmied between the opening of the car and the door. Gently, he rested me in the front seat. Before he turned away, our eyes met. When I saw his gaze, I grinned. A spark was hidden in his face, too.

Bruce joined Dick and they both drove to the Batcave. When we arrived, Bruce was the one who pulled me out and seated me in a chair. I faced them with a poker face.

Alfred watched on. I smiled and waved at him, making him blush and grin back. "Long time no see, Pennyworth," I called.

"Yes, well, things have changed drastically," Alfred's words were harsh, but he sounded more sad and sympathetic. It gave me hope. At least someone in the Wayne household didn't completely hate me.

Bruce kept his cowl on, to my surprise. Dick had already removed his mask. "Tell us about the Red Hood," Bruce's voice was so deep and threatening, "who is he and what does he want."

I crossed my arms. It wouldn't be that easy. I couldn't betray Jason. "I won't tell you anything about him. I don't work with any of you anymore."

Neither of them looked surprised. Dick looked like he was going to go off. "Tell us what you can, then," Bruce said, cutting Dick off before he even started. I appreciated Bruce's softer approach. It made me generally want to be honest with them.

I took a moment to glance around the Batcave. It still looked the same as the last time I had been there. In some ways, that gave me comfort. I didn't have that many, but I did have memories of the Cave and of Wayne Manor in general. To be back in the house made me feel nostalgic.

I turned back towards the two men in front of me. Memories played in the back of my head. The first time I made Bruce smile, "baking" Christmas cookies with Dick, binge watching all the Bruce Lee movies with them both late at night...the memories made my chest feel warm.

"I know what you guys think of me," I focused on a single piece of rock to avoid seeing anything in their eyes I didn't want to see, "The fact that I am working with Red Hood just further shows I cannot be trusted. It shows that I truly don't care about any of you. But, that isn't true.

"What I can tell you about Red Hood and my whole team up, is that it has nothing to do with any of you. You all gave me shelter and a family when I needed it most and I will never forget that. I will never stop caring about all of you. I deeply and truly care for this family no matter what we go through," I admitted, sighing loudly.

Dick looked skeptical, but his usual glares seemed softer towards me for once. Bruce still held his poker face. Alfred was grinning so widely I thought his old face was going to split in half.

Bruce suddenly stuck out his hand to me. I took it. He shook my hand gently and quickly before turning away and nodding at Dick.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed. Bruce had showed his respect to me. He hadn't given up on me, unlike his younger ward. Before Dick was forced to touch me again, I put my hand up and limped out of the Batcave myself.

~~~~~~~~~~Woooaaahhh we're halfway thereeeee!!! Halfway through this story you guys! I am so happy with all the attention and love it is getting. Seriously, I love all of you who are reading this story. Whether you love Athena and Jason or hate them or hate Dick and Jason, I love seeing your guys' opinions and thoughts. Keep on loving on this story and I'll keep on writing it <3~~~~~~~~