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Dick forgets that Crime Alley is no longer an escape from his family. He immediately kicks himself upon realizing, because seriously, how could he forget? Jason's been back for over a year now. And yet it still feels like he's as dead as Bl— No, he's not going there. He's in a bad enough mood even without the thought of that incident.
Dick scowls at the sky, unable to convince himself to move. It's a bad idea to stay. He knows that. But since when has he made good decisions?
He huffs to himself. One cancelled mission with Slade and he's this down? No wonder Bruce never adopted him. Not that B would know any of this, of course, but he's sure it shows in his attitude. Not the specifics— never the specifics— but enough for judgement to tint Bruce's eyes every time he looks at him.
When the familiar thump of Red Hood's boots sound on the roof behind him, it takes everything in his very limited reserves not to stab him. He doesn't have the energy to put up a good mask right now. B would sniff him out in an instant. But Jason isn't B. And he's gotta at least try, right?
"Hi, Little Wing" Dick says, lightening his voice. It's still noticeably tense, unfortunately, but he kind of already gave away his upset mood by being here in the first place, so whatever.
"What's the big bird doing so far from the nest?" Jason asks, a dangerous undertone to his voice. Damn it. Jason's in a bad mood too. This is going to go horribly.
"People watching" Dick lies. He hasn't consciously noticed a single person since he woke up this morning and it's currently— sometime in the night? He's not sure how long he's been here.
"And you couldn't do that in Blud?" Jason sidles up next to Dick, and the fact he doesn't touch him is the only reason his hand didn't visibly twitch for his knife. Dick curses himself internally, even as he turns his head to look at Jason— kit out in full Red Hood attire, as opposed to Dick's low effort alley native disguise— with a fake smile.
"What if I wanted to see you?" Dick pouts. Asking leading questions isn't actually lying, right?
Jason stares at him for a few seconds. It's in these moments that Dick really wishes Jason chose a costume that didn't hide his entire face. He tries not to scowl. If things were right in the world, he'd be wearing a full-face helmet. "You know where I live" Jason finally says.
Dick can't help it. He huffs and turns his gaze back to the street. His fingers twitch, but he restrains himself. "Variety is the spice of life" He say, going for lighthearted and missing the mark by a mile. He swallows as subtly as he can, which isn't very when he's this drained. He knows Jason saw it.
"Oh?" Jason sounds properly pissed now "So you aren't here to intrude on my territory, then?"
Dick takes a breath so that he doesn't snap. It's fine. He's always known that Jason doesn't trust him. Why would he? Dick didn't see his call. He didn't save him. He was a terrible brother. He gives a dry chuckle "I promise you I'm not"
"And why should I trust a promise from you?" Jason hisses.
Dick makes a pained sound and looks back at Jay. His Little Wing. His brother has still yet to take off his helmet. "I'm sorry" he whispers.
"What'd you say?" Jason snarls.
Dick shakes his head "I'm sorry" He can't raise his voice. Breaths come ragged in his chest and tears sting in his eyes. He steels himself, repeating that pattern of breaths he's relied on since Batman taught him it as part of victim training. He's long since given up on feeling sorry for himself about using victim training on himself. He has plenty of other things to scold himself about.
"You really were intruding then" Jason accuses, leaning back in offense.
Dick grits his teeth "I wasn't." His voice is still too quiet for Jason to hear.
Jason reaches for his gun and suddenly Dick can't handle it anymore. In a swift motion that he doesn't have time to regret even though it definitely spoils how frequently he does this, he pulls a knife on his brother.
Dick's pretty sure that genuinely startled him, because in the blink of an eye Dick's got Jason pinned with a knife against his throat. He speaks quietly still, but this time his words are spoken directly into Jason's ear so that he can hear them. "Don't presume guilt from silence, Jason, because the only thing I'm guilty of that's relevant to this conversation is how I've treated you in the past. I would like to be better to you, but if you cannot at the very least assume I'm not actively gunning for you, that won't work great. I'm tired, Jason, and I'd just like some time without being interrogated. I'm sorry I forgot I couldn't trust you. Don't tell Batman I was here."
With that, Dick stands up and slides his knife back in its spot. It's one of many on his person, because he's not dumb enough to go into Crime Alley without a weapon even if he's in a bad mood. Okay, that's not an entirely truthful statement. That would imply a bad mood would reduce his likelihood of bringing knives places, when in reality he's named this set of knives his 'Emotional Support Knives' for a reason.
"I love you" Dick whispers. He knows Jason doesn't hear it. He leaves anyway.
Jason had been having a bad day when he found one Dick Grayson on a rooftop in Crime Alley. Several things had gone wrong in his operations for the day— Not to mention his massive headache, but that's fairly par for the course— and he'd decided to go on patrol to cool off. This, decidedly, was the opposite of cooling off, but if the Bat's sniffing around in his territory he needs to deal with it now. He can't afford the kind of loss that would imply.
He lands on the roof behind Dick. And it is Dick, no Nightwing costume in sight. Probably hoping he wouldn't notice him if he just didn't make himself obvious. Prick. As if he wouldn't recognize his brother.
"Hi, Little Wing" Dick greets him, seeming completely unsurprised. Maybe he did know Jason would notice him?
He continues anyway, because the fucker expecting him isn't going to make him not question his motives for being here "What's the big bird doing so far from the nest?"
"People watching" Dick offers, just about confirming that he was doing recon for the Bat. Green fills Jason's vision, but he pushes it back. He needs more info.
He approaches Dick, going up to his side "And you couldn't do that in Blud?" Dick looks at him, finally. He looks just as happy as always.
"What if I just wanted to see you?" Dick pouts, as if he's going to be fooled by such an obvious lie.
He takes a few moments to reign the Pit in. "You know where I live" Jason deadpans.
With a huff, as if he's expecting Jason to already know, Dick turns back to the city and says "Variety is the spice of life" in a way that implies Jason's supposed to have heard that before. Is this another thing he was excluded from?
He barely restrains his rage enough to keep talking "Oh? So you aren't here to intrude on my territory, then?"
Dick chuckles, like he's joking, and flippantly says "I promise you I'm not"
"And why should I trust a promise from you?" Jason hisses without really meaning to. He doesn't mean that. But he stands his ground. He's not a coward, he won't take it back.
Dick makes a noise and looks back at him, pained. Jason grins victoriously. His mouth moves but Jason hasn't been able to lipread since he died, so he has no idea what he said.
"What'd you say?" Jason snarls, covering up his shame at not being able to lipread anymore with more anger.
Dick shakes his head, mouthing some more words. Jason's briefly blinded by rage, but he's had enough practice in hiding it that he barely even tenses. He's definitely mocking him.
"You really were intruding then" Jason accuses, leaning back in offense.
Dick mouths more words but Jason ignores it. He's gotten his information. He reaches for his gun.
He blinks. He's lying on the floor and there's the sharp sting of a knife against the scar on his neck from B's batarang. It takes a few seconds to process that the one pinning him is Dick. His brother leans in to whisper in Jason's ear "Don't presume guilt from silence, Jason," That might just be the first time Dick's called him by his full first name since he revealed he was alive again. He's all nicknames unless it's a stranger or he's mad at them. Dread piles up in Jason's throat alongside the shock in his chest. "because the only thing I'm guilty of that's relevant to this conversation" relevant to this conversation? "is how I've treated you in the past. I would like to be better to you," Yeah, sure. "but if you cannot at the very least assume I'm not actively gunning for you, that won't work great." So what? He's just going to give up? "I'm tired, Jason, and I'd just like some time without being interrogated." Jason suddenly feels kind of guilty despite himself. He knows how it feels to be tired of being interrogated, to never be trusted. He just never thought Dickiebird would relate. "I'm sorry I forgot I couldn't trust you." Ow. "Don't tell Batman I was here." Wait, what?
Before Jason can process, Dick's disappeared, only pausing for a moment.
Okay, so. Either he really, really misjudged Dick Grayson, or he's been replaced by an imposter. Jason's leaning towards the latter, but for now: He's really, really confused.