TW: character death
Dick climbed into Jason's most recent base of operations. He crouched in the rafters for a moment, his Nightwing suit blending in with the shadows. He was absolutely furious with the younger.
Jason was usually unreliable when it came to showing up, but he never missed meeting up with Dick on April 27.
It was a tradition that Dick had started the year after Jason had come back. The two would meet on the top of an abandoned warehouse in downtown Blüdhaven and spend the entire day together. Dick did it so Jason wouldn't have to be alone to remember the horrific way he'd been killed years ago on that very day.
Jason had been there waiting every year when Dick showed up at the building, but this year he hadn't shown. Dick had waited, watching as the hours ticked by and the sun first rose in the sky before starting to fall again.
Dick had waited on the rooftop for hours, hoping that Jason would show up, but he hadn't. This made Dick justifiably angry, so he'd stormed over to Jason's safe house to give him a piece of his mind. Only to find that empty too.
A frown of concern found its way onto Dick's face when he saw that Jason's signature red helmet and leather jacket were gone.
Dick walked over to the wall and pressed a cleverly concealed button which revealed a large computer screen.
"Jackpot." Dick said aloud as he hacked into the mainframe, looking for the signal from Red Hood's helmet or the feed from Jason's domino mask that he wore underneath.
The text 'helmet not found' flashed across the screen of the computer and Dick grit his teeth, shifting all of his focus onto trying to find feed from Jason's domino mask.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, an image flickered to life on the screen.
The view seemed to be the inside of some sort of puppet making factory. The view drifted down to the floor for a moment, showing blood-stained concrete. The view was suddenly pulled up sharply, and to the side. Standing directly in front of the camera was the Joker. His grotesque grin showed his crooked yellow teeth, and there were splatters of blood on his face and hands. He reached one hand towards the camera and suddenly the screen went blank, showing nothing but static.
Dick backed up from the computer, breath coming in short panicked gasps. Jason was back with the Joker, on the anniversary of his death no less... Dick shuffled through his mind, trying to think of a place that would have a bunch of creepy puppets hanging around like that.
"I've got it." Dick said, snapping his fingers. He wasted no time calling Bruce to tell him where he was going, instead leaving and racing to the spot he'd parked his motorcycle.
Dick raced to the abandoned building that used to house a company called 'the puppet factory'. The building was in downtown Gotham, and Dick sped there as fast as he could. Hoping with all his heart he wasn't already too late.
When Dick arrived he carelessly tossed his motorcycle to the side, running to the nearest entrance, which happened to be a window.
Dick let out a quiet sigh of relief when he saw that Jason was still alive, and was in fact in the building at all. He slowly crept along the rafters until he was standing directly above Jason and the Joker. He took a rope from his utility belt and tied it snugly onto the beam he was balancing on.
Before climbing down to a safer jumping height, Dick looked down. There was Jason. He looked badly beaten, and his head was dropping forward. Joker stood before him, holding a long sword that glinted wickedly in the light.
Dick's eyes widened and he scuttled down the rope as fast as he could, but Joker swung before Dick could jump on him.
The decision of what to do was made in Dick's mind only a fraction of a second after the sword was raised. He was not going to let Jason die again.
Dick dropped from his rope and landed in front of Jason with his back towards the Joker. He wrapped his arms around his younger brother and braced himself as he felt the Joker's blade slicing through the skin and muscle on his back.
"No!" Jason screamed into his duck tape gag as Dick's body fell to the floor.
Dick cried out and whimpered as a puddle of red blood formed around and under him.
The Joker just stood there, shocked. He held the large blood-covered sword in his right hand for a moment, looking back and forth between the deep gash on Dick's back and the blade covered with the vigilante's blood.
Joker's shock only lasted a few seconds before he let out a giddy giggle.
"Pretty bird came to play?" Joker cooed as he ran one of his bony fingers down the gushing slash in Dick's back.
Dick whimpered in pain, making Joker's smile broaden. He put a boot-covered foot on Dick's back and pressed it down, enjoying the sound of Dick's screams of pain.
Jason struggled against his bonds, trying to get free and save his brother. Tears spilled from his eyes as he listened to Dick's increasingly labored breathing.
Dick let out a groan of pain that he would have usually tried to keep in. Noises that expressed pain usually only enticed the Joker to keep going with his torture, but this time that worked to his advantage. If Joker was focused on him he wouldn't be harming Jason.
"You know pretty bird, your song sounds an awful lot like that of a little bird I met a few years ago. I killed the little bird, but I've heard rumor that he came back." Joker paused, ramming the steel toe of one boot viciously into Dick's side. The sick man's lip quirked up into a smile when he heard the soft cry of pain that Dick let out. "I hate leaving a job half done, so I've been trying to find the little rat and finish the job. I did think it could be your little red-helmeted friend, but as I recall, the little birdie had such a good singing voice." Joker paused again to slam his boot into Dick's side.
Jason tugged violently against his restraints, the duck tape that covered his mouth muffled his desperate screams and curses at the Joker. Jason tried to get Joker's attention, to keep him away from his brother's body that had gone still on the ground, but the Joker was focused solely on the oldest of the bat children.
"How long have you been Nightwing little birdie?" Joker asked Dick. "I haven't really been paying attention to all you little crime-fighting goodie goodies. Were you Nightwing before I killed that other bird boy? Or could you be the one I've been waiting to kill?" Joker took a step back from Dick's body and gave it another kick. When there was no response his brow furrowed and he kicked again. He continued kicking, frustrated when Dick remained motionless on the ground.
Jason stopped struggling and let his body lay limply on the chair he was tied to as he sobbed, his whole body shaking.
An evil smile twitched back on to Joker's face when he felt for Dick's pulse.
"Batman just doesn't make you kids like he used to." He muttered as he grabbed one of Dick's arms and dragged him out of the room. He returned a moment later and knelt down in front of Jason.
"Your little buddy Nightwing asked me to give you something. Straight from his heart to yours." Joker said with a cackle as he tore away a piece of Jason's shirt and lifted a hand coated in glistening blood. He pressed two fingers against Jason's chest and wiped a smear of Dick's blood directly over his brother's heart. (Comment if you know what book this is from.)
Jason looked down in horror at Dick's crimson blood that now stained his skin. It seemed to burn like acid and his breathing started coming in irregular gasps.
The Joker cackled. "I was going to kill you, but I don't seem to have enough time right now, so ta ta." Joker said before walking out of the door and driving away.
Jason hung his head and sobbed. When he finally ran out of tears he felt numb. The ache in his heart eclipsed his physical pain. He barely reacted when a hand was laid on his shoulder.
Bruce stood over Jason, gently picking the locks on his restraints and peeling the tape off of his mouth.
"Hood, where's Nightwing?" Bruce asked gently.
"He... he's gone. Joker killed him." Jason said, voice barely a whisper.
Bruce stumbled back. "But he... his emergency tracker..." He said, tears welling in his eyes.
"He must have pressed it before... before he died." Jason said.
Bruce looked down as if he had just noticed the blood coating the floor around him. "Is this... his?" He asked, feeling as if he was choking.
Jason nodded. He stood up and hugged Bruce. The red mark on his chest burned and he rubbed at it, trying to get it off. The mark wouldn't come off, so Jason gave up on rubbing at it and instead started walking towards the exit of the building. He took a step before stumbling and falling to his knees. His body was suddenly flooded with pain.
"What's wrong?" Bruce asked, trying not to panic.
"Ugh... forgot I w-was tortured a bit." Jason grimaced as Bruce slung his arm over his shoulder.
Bruce tried to hold it together during the drive back to the Batcave. He eventually had to put the car on autopilot because his tears blurred his view of the road. He blamed himself. This was the second time he'd been too late. Too late to save one of his sons.