Jason groaned tiredly, lances of light piercing the window and striking his closed eyes. He shut his eyes tighter for a moment, head pounding as he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. He rubbed his head a bit, hand raking through his hair as he opened his eyes and looked around the room. The first thing he noticed was that he was only wearing a pair of jeans. The last thing he remembered was trying to flee before that Delirium bomb exploded. He remembered being thrown back by the force of the blast and then nothing... The second thing he noticed was that there were several cats all around the room, counting roughly six in his head. Where the hell am I? And why am I half naked? Where the hell's my gear?!
He groaned again and scrubbed his face with his hands, pushing the blankets away and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He sat there for several moments, scanning the room for his gear. He found his helmet on top of a dressed, his jacket hanging on a coat peg, and his armor and utility belt sitting on on arm chair.
"Sleeping Beauty finally awakes," came a woman's voice from behind him. Jason turned and spotted Catwoman, a.k.a Selina Kyle, coming through the bedroom window. The woman took off her orange goggles and set them aside. She took off her cowl as she sauntered across the room, grabbing some clothing and giving Jason a wink before retreating. Jason groaned and scrubbed his face again, pushing himself out of the bed. Three of the cats came to greet him and he petted them before grabbing up his gear and pulling it on, leaving the helmet where it was for now. He made his way out of the room and found Selina in civilian clothes, in the kitchen.
"What happened, exactly? And how did I get here?" Jason asked, headache tormenting him again. He stopped in front of the kitchen then, with his eyes on Selina. The woman glanced over her shoulder as she moved a kettle off of a burner.
"Well, you're welcome," she replied. Jason frowned, and gave a nod, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Right. Thanks. So-"
"I found you laying on a sidewalk nearby. Some blue-ish haze was filling the air. Lucky for me, I stole a rebreather from Bruce once," she said with a little laugh. "You were unconscious. It wasn't easy to get you back here. You're heavy," she said evenly, turning around and arching an eyebrow at him. Jason grumbled a bit under his breath and nodded.
"Well, thanks. But I've gotta go," Jason said again and headed for the bedroom, grabbing his helmet, then heading for the window.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Selina warned. Jason turned to Selina to see her standing in the doorway. "It's hell out here. You've been out cold for seven hours, but a lot has happened since then," she added. Jason frowned, tucking his helmet underneath his arm.
"Seven hours, huh? What could I have missed?"
"A lot," she said smoothly, gesturing for him to follow. With an annoyed sigh, he followed her out to the kitchen. She grabbed the kettle and poured a couple of cups of tea for the both of them and joined him at the table. "Bruce called me, asked for my help. An all hands on deck type of situation. I assumed it was bad, but I had no idea," Selina said smoothly, sipping her tea. She looked up at Jason and went on "there was an explosion at Blackgate. Some kind of gas that made the inmates go insane. There was a riot, then the inmates escaped and pretty much took over the area." Selina took another sip of her tea and glanced over at Jason. The man held his tea cup in his hands, staring pensively into the liquid as she spoke. So she continued "shortly after, Arkham got busted open from the inside. More crazies leaked out onto the streets. It became total chaos. Within the last hour or so, the mayor mobilized the entire GCPD and quarantined off everything south of Arkham," Selina explained. Jason sat back in his chair, wide-eyed. So he didn't just miss a lot; his missed hell itself breaking loose all over Gotham City. Or Downtown, at least.
"The chaos hasn't reach here yet, but it will soon, I think. Nobody can get in or out of Downtown Gotham until this dies down. There are thousands of people trapped here with the worst of the worst and it looks like it's going to get worse before it gets better," she added. At first, Jason had wondered why Selina seemed so...serious. She was usually more aloof, but after hearing what it was he'd missed...well, damn.
"Shit," was all Jason managed. Selina smirked a bit and nodded.
"That's one word for it," she replied. Jason pushed himself up from the table and pulled on his helmet, making for the window.
"Oracle? Nightwing? Anyone, come in!" Jason called. There was static from his communicator, then finally a voice broke through.
"Jason?! Oh thank god you're okay!" came Dick's voice. Jason snorted a bit.
"Yeah, Selina pulled my ass out of the fire," Jason answered. "She told me what's going on. Now I'm asking you," Jason added. There was a pause, then came Bruce's voice next.
"It's not good, Jason. Downtown Gotham is a mess. We're...not sure where to begin. There's a blockade at all the bridges connecting Downtown to the rest of Gotham. They're not letting anyone in or out without permission," Bruce replied. Jason nodded and paced a little bit, heaving an exasperated sigh.
"Shit...this is my fault," Jason muttered.
"No, it's not. How do you even figure?" Barbara asked.
"I've been investigating Delirium for fucking weeks! If I'd said something-"
"Nobody, not even you, could've predicted this," Bruce cut in. Jason paused for a moment, a little stunned. Bruce trying to reassure him and not berating him? Well, that was new.
"Still-"
"No, Jason, this isn't your fault. This is Strange and Ra's," Dick replied.
"Ra's?"
"Yes. Ra's busted open Arkham. He was hiding in Arkham under the alias Terry Gene Kase, waiting for the right moment to bust Arkham open," Bruce replied.
"And the Joker has pretty much declared himself the 'Mayor or Arkham City'," Tim added in. Jason snorted.
"Arkham City?" he asked.
"That's what the Joker is calling it. Which is rather appropriate when you consider the circumstances. A bunch of crazed lunatics, hyped up on Delirium, running around and wreaking havoc through the city?" Tim added. Jason snorted.
"The Joker must be in heaven," he said flatly. A derisive snort sounded over the communicator, coming from Bruce. Jason glanced back over toward Selina, then out the window. He could see smoke in the distance, could hear shouting and gunfire; true enough, the chaos hadn't spread to here yet, but it was definitely getting here.
"Jason, listen," came Dick's voice again. "Things are getting pretty bad. Travel back and forth to and from Downtown is pretty restricted, but Bruce was able to pull up some old schematics of Gotham City. There are a series of subway tunnels we can use to travel. There are bat-boxes-"
"Wait, what? Bat Boxes?" Jason asked, arching a brow. Jason could hear snickering from the communicator.
"Er...my idea. From when I was Robin. I was nine, okay?" Dick said, earning a laugh from Barbara and Tim. Even Jason chuckled a little bit. "Anyway, there are a network of them on the power grid that siphon electricity anonymously and safely, and Bruce can control the cameras along the way."
"Got it. I'll make my way to the cave then. See you soon," Jason replied.
"Wait. Bring Selina with you," Bruce said. Jason arched his brow again and glanced over at Selina with gave a little smirk and a wave of her fingers.
"Sure, I'll bring your girlfriend," Jason replied, cutting the line before Bruce could reply. Selina giggled a bit when he turned around and shrugged at her.
"Well, sounds like Brucie needs some extra help," Selina said smoothly. Jason made a mock gagging noise.
"Just...no. Just no. Get your gear on and let's go. The less I know about you and Bruce, the better," Jason said sourly. Selina snickered, a grin plastered across her face as she retreated from the room to gear up.
Once she returned, the two anti-heroes made their way out of the apartment building. The chaos sounded closer now, with shouts, screams, and laughs growing closer. Gunshots and explosions sounded in the distance, and the smoke trails grew ever closer. Downtown Gotham has truly gone to hell, and true to Selina's word, it seemed to be getting worse. Fortunately, it seemed Selina had brought the motorcycle Jason had "borrowed" from the cave along with them. He hopped onto the motorcycle with Selina behind him, revving the engine and peeling away from the apartment building.
"So, what's the plan?" Selina asked. Jason glanced at her as he headed for the nearest subway entrance. He spotted a few cameras nearby, but they didn't seem active; likely thanks to the bat-boxes. He didn't really feel up to fighting through the GCPD's riot police at the moment. They were just doing their jobs, even if it meant trapping thousands of innocent people in with a bunch of criminals and psychopaths.
"We're taking a little detour to the batcave," Jason replied evenly, tires squealing as he turned the bike hard, racing it down into an old, unused subway tunnel. "God only knows how we're going to clean up this mess, but if anyone has a plan, it's probably Bruce."
"Mmm, yes, Brucie does often have ways of dealing with this kind of situation," Selina replied. Jason cringed and shook his head.
"Stop calling him Brucie," he replied.
"Why? Jealous?" she purred.
"More like disturbed."
Dick sat is the main Living Room of the manor, watching the news. He'd been benched, not by Bruce, but by Alfred. While he disabled the bomb in West Village, he'd been ambushed by several assassins. He managed to disarm the bomb, but in the process of fighting off the assassins, he'd receive several injuries, one of which was a sword through his calf. Alfred was able to patch him up and he'd tried to get back out there on patrol, but Alfred wouldn't let him.
"Thanks Alf, but I need to get back out there. They need my help," Dick said smoothly, growling in pain as he pulled himself off of the medical cot. Alfred hummed at him and nodded.
"Very good, Master Richard. But tell me something," the butler said evenly as he packed away the kit "how do you plan to be of use to the others with both your legs wounded?"
"What? But my other leg is fine, Alfred," Dick replied. Alfred shot him a blank look.
"It won't be if you don't get out of that costume and rest."
Needless to say, Dick didn't ask any questions and did exactly as he was told. Alfred had an even expression the whole time, which somehow only made him scarier.
"Meanwhile in Downtown Gotham, the catastrophe is worsening. When questioned about the situation, both the Mayor and current Commissioner, James Gordon, offered no comment," the anchor woman said. Dick fidgeted nervously on the couch; Alfred let him keep the communicator at least for which he was grateful. Jason had been down in The Bowery when everything went to hell. He'd only heard from his boyfriend minutes ago, but he felt relief wash over him to find out that he was okay.
As of now, he was watching the news and eagerly awaiting Jason's return to the manor. Bruce had been rather thorough with the cave; it connected to a system of tunnels underneath most of Gotham. A few of said tunnels ran parallel to the subway system. So Bruce created very well hidden entrances to those tunnels connecting to the subway system. The GPS on all of his vehicles, including the bike Jason 'borrowed' would have all of their locations marked. So for the moment, all Dick could do was wait.
"Master Richard," Alfred called, stopping by the Living Room on his way through the manor from the cave "Master Jason has arrived in the cave, and with Miss Kyle." Dick's head perked up at Jason's name, and despite his injured leg, he managed to hop over the back of the couch and made his way through the secret entrance behind the grandfather clock and down to the cave.
"Glad you're alright Jaybird!" Roy said happily, hugging his best friend. Jason grunted a bit, his ribs hurting a little from the blast, and gently pushed the auburn haired archer off of him.
"Yeah, thanks Roy. But a piece of advice; explosions hurt," Jason replied, earning a laugh from Roy.
"I'm amazed an idiot like you is still alive, Todd," Damian said flatly. Jason pulled off his helmet and went to speak, but he was interrupted when Dick grabbed him from behind, spun him around and kissed him hard. He didn't even care that everyone was watching while he kissed Jason, and Jason apparently didn't care either; he wrapped his arms around Dick's waist and tugged him a little closer, ignoring the disgusted sound from Damian, the snicker from Tim and the 'awww' from Barbara as she hopped off of her own motorcycle, having just arrived.
"You're an idiot!" Dick cursed, breaking the kiss and shoving Jason away. Jason dropped his helmet and stared at Dick wide-eyed with surprise. "God, why are you always trying to get yourself killed?!"
"Uh, Dickie? We're vigilantes. It's an occupational hazard," Jason replied with a smirk. Dick snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head.
"I can't believe you!"
"I was trying to diffuse a bomb!"
"I get it! But-"
"He was worried," Barbara said with a smile. She sauntered over to Jason and hugged him. "Glad to see you're alright. We heard the explosion over your comm link, and we were all afraid-"
"That you died again," Dick said softly, expression falling. Jason frowned a bit and waved his hand dismissively.
"Yeah, sorry for the scare. I tried that once. Obviously it didn't stick. 'Death' just doesn't look good on me," Jason joked, earning a glare from Dick. He opened his mouth to berate Jason some more, but instead, he just snickered.
"You ass! Joking about your death?! That's-" Dick paused for a moment, then leaned in and kissed Jason again "so you." Jason grinned and wrapped an arm around Dick's waist and pulled him in for another kiss.
"Alright, you two can suck face later," Barbara said with a laugh. Bruce cleared his throat and all eyes were on him.
"We've got a situation in Downtown Gotham," Bruce began. Jason snorted.
"A 'situation'? It's a fucking shitstorm down there. A 'situation' doesn't even begin to cover it," Jason interrupted. Bruce gave him a glare, but the young anti-hero just gave a shrug of his shoulders.
"Mmm, hate to be the bearer of bad news, Brucie, but your second bird is right; Downtown Gotham has seen much better days," Selina cut in. Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, but nodded nonetheless, making for the computer. He sat in the chair and pulled up images from all over Downtown Gotham.
"We're dealing with every escaped convict from Blackgate, all of Arkham's inmate, including nearly every super villain, from the Joker to Mr. Freeze. On top of that, Hugo Strange is on the loose, and we have Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins to contend with," Bruce growled, turning in his chair to face the others. "What's worse, is we may also be dealing with a League of Assassins power struggle to boot. I tapped the cameras in Downtown Gotham-" Bruce began, turning back to the computer. He pulled up an image of a very familiar old man with long silver hair and a mustache and beard. He wore blood red robes with a gold sash, wielding a katana "and found Sensei. Ra's al Ghul's Second in Command as well as rival for control of the League of Assassins."
"Did I say 'shitstorm'? I meant 'cluster fuck'. So we have all of Blackgate and Arkham, Hugo Strange, The League of Assassins, and some fucking power struggle, all going on just south of Arkham? We're going to need more than 'just a plan' to deal with all this shit," Jason growled. "We're going to need a fucking army."
"No. We'll be enough. We'll have to be."
