As much as i love fics where Nightwing finds out about redhood and recognizes him instantly I suggest another idea.
Where Nightwing and Redhood becoming not exactly friends but friendly. Like after they both helped each other out once or twice and then spent shit talking everyone and their mother they hang out every once in a while.
But since Redhood knows Nightwing is Dick Grayson, Dick jokes that it's only fair to know what Redhood looks like.
Redhood, of course, refuses but as Jason he ends up bumping into Dick and realizes that Dick doesn't recognize him.
Obviously. He looks completely different. He acts completely different. And in all technicality, for most of the world, he is dead.
So he decides fuck it, and reveals his face to Dick and... Dick doesn't recognize him. Doesn't think twice and their friendship continues.
But then slowly Dick notices little things. Not how he looks but how he acts or the things he loves or the small things that reminds Dick of Jason.
One day over bad take out and a tiring night Dick mentions briefly that Jason reminds him of someone.
And Jason freezes. Because that makes no sense. If Dick didn't recognize his face, the only thing Jason couldn't erase from his past then how did he recognize Jason over a some random conversation about a shitty old reality tv show.
Dick doesn't seem to be too focused on it though so Jason let's it go.
And then it happens again.
And slowly without even realizing it Dick chips away at the belief Jason held for so long.
The belief that the Jason who died and the one who survived were different people. He so far removed himself from the Jason who was robin, the one who thought robin was magic, the one who died . To him the two were different people. In no world Jason could fathom him being the same person as the boy who died wearing Robin's colours.
But Dick's comments seem to shatter his belief.
"You remind me of someone... I haven't seen them in a while..."
"Oh really? I know someone who loved that book! He hated that character too"
"Huh...I never noticed your dimple. I knew someone with the same left dimple"
"Woah I think you're one of the two people on earth who uses that slang"
"your laugh.... sorry it just sounded familiar"
It's just small stuff but it adds on. For both of them.
As Dick starts to realize that this is his little brother, Jason starts to also realize that maybe...maybe he didn't change that much.
Maybe he was still the same boy, that just because he grew didn't mean he let that boy die in that explosion.
