A Matter of Trust

(A Batman Short Story - Part 1)

Within one of the deepest caverns of the Bat Cave complex, Jason Todd leaned against the bedrock wall and took a puff of his cigarette. He closed his eyes and savoured the flavour of the nicotine as he exhaled. Smoking helped him to relax when he was feeling self-conscious or stressed.

Bruce — Batman — had warned him not to smoke within the main area of the Bat Cave, and he abided by that rule. He had been told on a continuous bases that second-hand smoke kills, and since none of the others smoked, Bruce didn't want it near them.

Jason heeded his mentors demand and chose to smoke away from everyone, and he had his favourite spot — in an undeveloped part of the Bat Cave caverns. The Bat Cave was always expanding, but this part was only in its beginning stages and had just been carved out.

And yet, in retrospect, he had smoked ever since he was a kid, even before being Robin, even before meeting Bruce, so he continued to do so even after he had been resurrected in the Lazarus Pit. So what harm could it do him now?

Besides, it relaxed him, especially after the memories of being beaten by the Joker with a crowbar when he was Robin came flooding back. And when that happened, he needed to relax — and fast!

After he finished the cigarette, he returned to the others in the main area of the Bat Cave. Bruce was static at a workbench working on something alone — a new Batarang perhaps?; Tim was, as usual, engaged in something on the Batcomputer; and Dick and Damien, were — he wasn't quite sure what they were doing. But they were quiet and talking to themselves out of earshot in a seating area on a couch.

Jason strolled over to the ladder attached to the upper tier of the Batcomputer platform and climbed up. Here is joined Tim at the upper consoles. Tim had his back turned to him and Jason wandered over to see what the teen was doing.

Suddenly Tim waved a hand across his face and turned. "Back off, Jason, you smell like an ashtray."

"I smoke, deal with it," Jason retorted bluntly.

Jason immediately took notice of a some-what familiar looking device that was connected to the Batcomputer by a cord, giving it power or data transfer — Jason wasn't sure. On the screen, Tim was computing arithmetic algorithms that was beyond Jason's not so mathematical comprehension.

The device looked like your average parabolic radio dish but on a smaller handheld scale.

"What're you working on?" Jason asked.

Jason went to pick it up, but Tim denied him, and snatched first as if trying to keep a toy from being destroyed from a rival. Tim was notorious for designing new inventions and territorial for keeping them safe. And he often kept the best for himself to work with in the field.

"It's parabolic radio dish," Tim said. "It can pick up any low-bearing sound while filtering out atmospheric noise."

"Don't we have one of these? It's not new. We've used them in the field before, but let me guess…this is new and improved, right?"

Tim's eyes narrowed slightly. "Well, yes. And this new device is much more powerful. And it comes with a visor. You can listen to conversion and look through walls like x-ray vision."

"Can you also look through clothes? Don't try that with me, its laundry day. I'm going commando."

"Too much information, Jason," Tim said straightly.

Jason smirked. "Okay, kid, let's have a listen. Show me your brilliance."

"If you're going to mock me…" Tim turned back to the console. He had a tendency of being oversensitive and, on occasion, over-dramatic.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Okay, Tim. Please, can I have a try?"

Tim turned and smiled, apart from being touchy, he was also quick to forgive. Just like Dick. "Okay," he said, and gave Jason an ear piece, with a visor. He had created two sets. Tim mirrored Jason by putting on a visor and inserted an earpiece. He then picked up the parabolic dish and switched it on.

Jason clenched his teeth. "Too…much…ambient noise…" But Tim was in the middle of adjusting the controls, and within moments, the sound stabilized to a comfortable level. "Much better," he then said, and then listened. "Interesting, a wide variety of sounds I've never heard before. Quite eerie, to say the least, if you think about it."

"I know, right?" Tim answered. He had his eyes closed. It was almost soothing for him. "The screeching of bats, the sounds of dripping water through the bedrock like water falls, the hum of circuitry from the Batcomputer, and…"

"Tim, focus on them," Jason said. "I want to hear what Dick and Damien are saying."

Tim opened his eyes, and looked down at the pair in conversion on the other side of the cave on a couch. "They seem to be having a private conversation. Dick would be very angry of we eavesdropped."

"Our excuse if caught will be testing out your device."

Tim was hesitate, but he could never say no to the experimentation of one of his devices. Besides, what harm would a little eavesdropping do if it was for a good cause? He agreed, if only for a for moments.

"Okay, but not for very long," Tim said, and pointed the dish at the pair, and then focused the beam to pick up their conversion. But he stopped short at using the visors to picture them without clothes.

And they listened in.

x x x

Damien and Dick were seated together close, their conversion very engaging but private. Damien had asked to speak to Dick on a very personal matter, and Dick, the ever approachable one, and experienced one, agreed. Damien went to Dick first, because he didn't want Bruce, his father, to feel uncomfortable. A bond had been formed between Damien and Dick recently, and Dick felt like a second father to him. So, unlike his real father, so cold and harsh when it came to human emotions, Dick Grayson was not.

At first it was difficult to even get the words out, but Damien eventually opened up to Dick, and it was a good thing it was in a private venture, too, given the nature of the talk.

Dick Grayson smiled thin. "Damien, trust me, don't be embarrassed," Grayson said, after he had listened to the boy's concerns, "it happens to every guy, and to every boy at a certain age. You're not the first to experience it, and it will happen again. But stop reading Cat Woman's stories. They'll give you dreams, fantasies. After you lent me the USB you saved the stories on, even my eyes popped after reading some."

"I like to read them; they're intriguing, storying telling," Damien defended.

"I admit, Selina can write exceptionally well, and if she could — and I wish she would — I would hope she'd pick a better career choice than professional cat burglar," Dick said. "But those erotic stories were meant for Bruce, not for kids. They can warp your mind…worse than Jason."

"No one's mind if more warped than Todd's, given the circumstances of his resurrection," Damien agreed. He knew if Jason had heard that, he'd probably sneer, and call Damien some sort of name that referred to his short stature like tater-tot or short-stack or damn Hell Spawn.

"Jason has his own issues, but that's his business." Dick sighed. "Let me tell you a story…"

Dick leaned back and for a moment looked reflective, he looked up at the ceiling, and exhaled deeply. "When I was a member of the Bludhaven Police Department — Bruce installed me there to infiltrate the corruption he saw, and it was a chance for me to stretch my legs as Nightwing — I saw some weird things beyond the normal standard of crime fighting. In fact, I still have nightmares about it. The criminal that came to become my sworn enemy, Blockbuster — he made bodybuilders look small — despite his grotesque size and criminal standing — he never, ever, engaged in some of the worse of humanity I witnessed…" Dick took a moment, and closed his eyes. "Damien, there are some things even I thought human beings weren't capable of without superpowers and abilities. Human's can be very, very cruel to their fellows. And it sickens me still."

Dick put a hand to his mouth as if was about to vomit. Damien touched him on the shoulder, "Grayson — Are you okay?" he asked with compassion that normally was not Damien's forte. Damien observed Dick had not actually told him a story, more of a vague description of his past.

"I suddenly feel nauseous," Dick said, his eyes still closed. "How could humans do that to each other?" Dick seemed to be revisiting something he had witnessed without describing it. He went on to describe in his own way, if only vaguely, the way some people were so mentally disturbed and blood-thirsty that they deserved to be wiped from existence. And to be locked up in Arkham Asylum was too good for them. "There is evil, Damien, and then there is evil beyond evil."

Damien wondered what all this was about regarding his issue? But Grayson sometimes went off on a tangent, and often about nothing at all. Or, perhaps, he was relating Jason's mental instability to some of his past experiences? It was best to just let him get it out of his system.

Dick lurched over as if he about to vomit.

And suddenly something else happened and it was completely unexpected. Behind Grayson, masked somewhat within the cushions of the couch they sat on, a soft rumbling sounded.

Dick Grayson's eyes burst open. "Oops! Sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

Damien snorted with a little chuckle, then waved a hand across his face. "That is rank. The infallible Dick Grayson passed wind in my presence," he said humorously.

"Now you know why I have several Nightwing costumes," Dick joked. "Even I, the great Dick Grayson, get a little stressed out sometimes." Dick blinked, and waved a hand several times across his face. It was pretty rank. "Thanks for the understanding…and sorry about the smell."

Damien held his nose. "Like me and red meat," he said, and they both had a small laugh.

After a minute, Dick got a little more serious with Damien again. "Anyway, back to you. What happened was normal. Don't fret about it. But, if you have anymore dreams or if you just like to talk sometime — I know Bruce is not the best to talk to — come to me, and maybe I can help." Dick's voice got a little lower. "Between you and me, I enjoyed those stories too. I've read the story The Gentleman's Game twice! Selina has got exceptional talent."

A heavy sneeze echoed the Bat Cave, and Dick and Damien snapped their attention outward, and Dick instantly saw both Tim and Jason on the upper tier of the Batcomputer platform, with visors on and Tim holding what looked to be a parabolic radio dish. They weren't looking in their direction, but Dick could read lips, and Tim was saying, "Jason, you sounded like a Thunderclap. They'll hear us!"

Dick stood up, then Damien. Even Bruce looked up from his workbench. Tim had obviously seen their movement, and quickly snatched off his visor and tried to hide the parabolic radio dish. Dick knew exactly what that device was used for, and he frowned to think they had done what he thought they done.

Dick restrained himself from grabbing the nearest object to throw at the them, he had a very good Pitcher's arm. He leapt over the couch, and, with Damien in tow, crossed the distance to the lower tier.

"Damn it, guys! You better not have eavesdropped on us?" Dick demanded an answer.

Tim tried to act innocent. "We weren't, honest. I was — or rather we were — trying out a new device," he stammered. "We heard very little, nothing important…I mean…"

Jason smirked, putting his hands on the metal barriers than surrounded the upper tier, looking down at Dick. "He's right, nothing too juicy. But shall I call you Fartwing or Gassy Grayson for now on?"

Dick gritted his teeth, clenched his fists. "I'm going to send you into next week, you son of a —"

Bruce entered the fray, he looked confused. "What's going on here? What's happening?"

"They listened in on our private conversion, Bruce, with Tim's new device," Dick said, pointing at the parabolic radio dish. "That's a gross invasion of our privacy, especially here!"

"Honestly, it was all Jason's idea!" Tim said.

"Oh please, you were just as curious as I was," Jason said back. "Oh, and Damien, don't worry. Dickiebird is right, it's perfectly normal for pre-teens to wake up with a Bat-birdy in the nest." Jason snickered, then: "Especially after reading erotic fanfiction. I agree, Selina Kyle is an excellent writer."

Damien's face turned plum red. "I'LL KILL'EM! I'LL ABSOLUTELY KILL'EM!" Damien shouted in a rage and lunged for the ladder.

Dick immediately grabbed Damien and wrapped his arms around both his arms and chest, yanked him back. The boy struggled hard, but Dick managed to hold him back, with some considerable effort, holding him tightly to his body as the kid ravaged around.

"Let me go, Grayson! Let me go! I'm going to kill them both! Where's my sword?"

Bruce was angry. "Jason, Tim — come down here, right now!"

"Not with Damien like that," Jason said, pointing. "He's likely to scratch my eyes out."

"I'll do more than that! I'll cut off your balls and feed them to Titus!" Damien said enraged. Dick held onto Damien more tightly as he flayed around, the boy was stronger than he looked. He dragged Damien further from the ladder, as both Jason and Tim made their way down to the main floor.

"Damien, enough!" Bruce said. "Dick, pull him back!"

Dick complied. "Settle down, kid. Give it a break! You're not breaking free from me." Suddenly Damien began gnashing his teeth as if to bite Grayson. And Grayson has to squeeze tighter, his bipeds flexing hard to handle the kid. "I SAID ENOUGH, DAMIEN! COOL IT, NOW!"

Damien struggled with Dick's ever tightening grip and the scolding in his ears, but eventually relented and ended his fight. Dick eased up, but he did not let go. His arms clenched around Damien's arms and chest tightly enough to incapacitate him, the boy's legs dangling off the floor. Damien swore under his breath and Dick agreed with his sentiment.

Tim lowered his head apologetically. "Sorry Bruce, I never meant to hurt anymore. I was just testing out my new device and intruded on Dick and Damien's personal space." He looked at them and apologized. Damien spit at the floor like a snake spitting venom. And Tim understood Damien's anger.

Bruce gave Damien a stern look, and at Dick as well, to keep the boy under control.

Jason was less apologetic, stood straight, looked at Damien and Dick, said, "Okay, sorry squirt; Dickie. But don't take it too personally, we're family after all. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

A little bit of spittle seemed to drip from Damien's mouth as he gritted angry teeth.

Bruce gave Damien a cautionary finger which told him to cease his hostility, then turned back to Jason and Tim. He had the look of a man with stern disapproval. "I think you two need a time out," he said. "We are family, but we respect each others boundaries. Do I make myself clear?"

Tim immediately nodded and agreed, and Jason, even though he was a fully grown adult — he hated being spoken to like a child — understood he had crossed a line, and also agreed.

Alfred's voice suddenly echoed the Bat Cave, breaking the tension. "Forgive my interruption, sirs, but lunch is ready," the dapper butler of Wayne Manor said through the comm-system. "Please attend the Dining Hall."

"Thank you, Alfred," Bruce replied. "But only three of us will be attending. Jason and Tim won't be joining us."

"Really, sir? May I ask why?"

"I'll explain later."

"Understood."

Jason snorted, said, "Are you sending us to our rooms without supper, Bruce? We're not children."

"Shut-up, Jason," Tim scolded him. "Can't you see he's serious?"

Bruce eyed Jason with a father's contempt, and Jason was about to say something else, but thought best against it, and just looked away.

Bruce and the others then left, and took the elevator to the Manor above leaving the pair alone.

"You really did it this time, Jason," Tim said.

"Yeah, well…" Jason snorted. "Oh, to hell with it!"

Jason then took out a pack of smokes, struck up a cigarette, and then walked away, and headed back into the undeveloped caverns of the Bat Cave complex.

To be continued…