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Dick isn’t sure when he stopped hating Jason Todd. He isn’t completely sure he ever really hated him. Maybe he just hated what Jason represented.
It’s one thing for a hero to have a sidekick and for that sidekick to grow into their own. Become a hero themself and repeat the cycle. But that isn’t what happened. Bruce basically banished Dick. Bruce stripped him of Dick’s family colors and uniform like they belonged to him and not Dick. He stole Dick’s name for fuck’s sake. And then he gave it all to some kid. As if it wasn’t bad enough to bring one child into the horror that was vigilante crime fighting. He brought in another. A Gotham street kid who Bruce molded to not only perform like but look like Dick. Gotham City as a whole was unable to distinguish the two Robins.
They were different. In so many huge and tiny ways. The butted heads. They bickered. They pushed each other. Dick found himself wanting to prove more and more that he was the original Robin. Nothing is better than the original. Jason in turn pushed himself more and more. He wanted Bruce to see he was capable of taking on the role. He wanted Dick to see he was worth it. It went from a rivalry built on outdoing each other to amicable competition.
Whether or not Dick will admit it, they are two of a kind. Two orphans given impossible hardships and the tools to deal with them. The tools being metaphorical and literal. Dick watched his parents die right in front of him. He can't even imagine the things Jason has seen growing up. Those things somehow haven't dimmed the spark Jason emits. It doesn't take a genius billionaire playboy to see Jason does perk up when Dick is in town. He says it's because hanging around just Bruce and Alfred 24/7 "totally blows" and he wants an actual challenge when sparring. He can only run through so many of Bruce's drills before it's muscle memory and he's breaking Dick's speed record. Dick won't admit he does actually enjoy the sparring they do and the challenges someone who grew up throwing fists brings him. When he isn't in Bludhaven or Star City, he is almost always in Gotham showing his successor something new. Or teasing him for his slacking form. They're as okay as they can be, all things considered. Jason does not tell him it's impossible to live up to the standard the first Robin created. Dick does not tell him how hard it is to see him wear the costume his mother designed for him in his family's colors. They teetered too close to maybe one day being friends.
And then he died.
Jason died 6 months ago and Batman is out on the streets and rooftops of Gotham every single night. He still patrols every night. Every single. Fucking. Night. It makes Dick’s teeth rage spike and teeth grind.
The Batman can not go one night without making sure the city is safe. People are counting on seeing him from the corner of their eye. He’s never close or slow enough for them to actually see him, but the shadow of him brings them the tiniest bit of ease. Mother’s still make sure their children are home and safe before the street lights come on- the good mothers anyway. City officials still issue whatever statements they must related to whatever crime of the week happens. The working girls and street kids of Crime Alley are still hardened and tougher and meaner than they should have to be. But the Batman does something for all of them. He takes the edge of the night away and makes it just a little easier for them all.
So, Batman is out every night.
Dick doesn’t know how he can do it. Well, he does. If anyone understood Batman it would be his first and should-have-been-only sidekick. If you are constantly moving, always fighting the ‘good fight’, and don’t give yourself time to even breathe then how can you even think ?
He isn’t much different. Nightwing is seen nearly every single night in Bludhaven. He is a black and blue blur as he takes out any criminal he crosses paths with. From petty thieves to a gunman on a killing spree late in the night. Every single one is brought into Bludhaven PD cuffed and scuffed. Some have nothing more than a scratch or two. Others are nearly unidentifiable when they stumble into the precinct. Nearly all of them have the same dark bruises in the shape of perfect lines. No one on the police force questions what exactly made Nightwing become more brutal. In any case, they don’t want to be on the receiving end of the sticks.
And yet he is still alive. He is still running around causing chaos and ruining lives again and again. That is what enrages Dick Grayson. No matter how many criminals they bring in, no matter how many fights and bruises they give, he is still alive. And it will never bring Jason back.