PROLOGUE

All my life I had figured I'd probably die pretty young. Most people don't live long in Gotham, especially in Crime Alley. Never did I imagine the truth; that I'd live, but without you.

Bruce probably would have told her to let him handle it, but he never got the chance. As soon as Mara found out that the Joker had Jason, she was figuring out where he and the Joker were so that she could rescue Jason. Hopefully, The Joker would be gone by the time she arrived. But if not, she wasn't afraid to fight.

She used the Batcomputer to trace Jason's location via his tracker and saw that he was in a warehouse in Ethiopia. She changed into suitable clothing, got on her bike, and was gone. She didn't look at the snow around her, barely noticing the frigid temperature. The only thing she paid attention to was how much distance there was in-between herself and Jason. She had to get to him before it was too late. She felt that surely, she wouldn't survive if he didn't live through this. There was no her without him, no Mara without Jason, and definitely no Phoenix without Robin. She was in love with him and she hadn't even told him.

But Jason would survive. She'd get to him, and Bruce would arrive soon after. They would patch Jason up and everything would be fine. Maybe they'd get to send The Joker back to Arkham if he hadn't left the warehouse by the time she arrived.

At least, that was what she told herself.

It took her too long to get there. Once she finally arrived, she immediately jumped off her bike and raced to the backdoor of the warehouse. She figured that the front door wouldn't be the best idea. Once she got in, she began to look around.

The first thing she saw was how empty the warehouse seemed at first glance. Once she looked more closely, she noticed a crowbar as well as puddles of blood in several spots, but there was one spot larger than the rest. And on top of that spot was a bruised and broken body.

"Jason? Jason!?" she shouted as she ran to him. She knelt down next to him, her eyes tearing up.

He turned to look at her as quickly as he could, which caused him to let out a groan of pain. He only felt either numb or in pain, it seemed.

"Mara?" his voice came out quietly and in a broken way.

"Yeah, Jay, it's me. We need to get you out of here." Mara replied, already crying.

"Mara, no, you have to go. There's a bomb about to go off and I'm in no shape to be moved," Jason told her resignedly, motioning with his head to the other side of the warehouse.

Mara looked to where he'd motioned and noticed that there was, indeed, a bomb with only under seven minutes left.

"Jason, no! I can't leave you!" Mara was outright sobbing by this point, but she would not leave him there.

"You have to, Mar. I won't be the reason that you die." Jason insisted.

"But you can't I-Jay, I-I love you," Mara confessed, breaking more and more. She had to say it now in case it was her last chance. But it wouldn't be, it couldn't. If he did really die, he would not do so without knowing the truth.

"I love you, too, Mar," Jason told her, attempting to smile, though he really only grimaced.

Sobbing, Mara went to grab his hand and Jason realized there was no way she would leave without him. He looked over to the bomb and saw that they had only three and a half minus left. He began to try to get up. Maybe he could make it, but he doubted it. But maybe once she saw with her own eyes how broken he was, she'd leave. He had only taken a few feet before he collapsed, as he'd known he would.

Mara watched, a distraught noise leaving her the moment Jason fell. She was starting to realize that he really wouldn't be getting out of this.

"Mara, I'm sorry, but this is it for me. Don't die with me. It's not the end for you. Now, go!" Jason told her, silently adding "I won't be the death of you."

She looked back at the bomb which now had a little over a minute left. And then she knew: Jason would not survive this. Mara nodded brokenly as she let go of his hand and ran out the back door. As soon as she'd gotten about five feet or so away from the warehouse, it went up in flames. She was far enough that the blast didn't affect her greatly. Mara collapsed to the ground in tears. The warehouse behind her seemed to be nothing to her except a flickering warmth. Mara half-hoped Jason had survived the explosion somehow. Deep down, she knew he hadn't. It wasn't possible. There were no miracles in Gotham.

Everything is pretty hazy after that. She remembers that Bruce found her there, sobbing outside of the warehouse. She remembers that he carried her to the Batmobile. After that, everything went black.

Jason's funeral was a quiet affair with only herself, Alfred, Bruce, and Dick attending. Some part of her always thought it would be somehow remarkable on the day of a funeral for someone as important as Jason. She was wrong, as the day of the funeral was just like any other, cloudy and gray.

She stood in front of his grave for hours after the funeral had ended She didn't see a reason to move. Her reason to live was gone, buried six feet deep right in front of her. She wouldn't care if the world ended right there and then. Hell, she'd be glad if it did, because then she would be with Jason in whatever afterlife awaited.

Eventually, sometime after the sun began to set, Alfred gently put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, having run out of tears long ago. Alfred just pulled her into a hug. Mara wanted to cry some more but didn't seem to have any more tears. Eventually. Mara broke the embrace and Alfred gently coaxed her back inside Wayne Manor.

Mara knew she would never love again.