Chapter 2: What am I to you?
Disclaimer: Don't own shit.
Barbara's Point of View
We couldn't believe it had happened when we woke up in the morning. It just seemed unreal, like the horsemen would be riding in on Harley Motorcycles with the legion of Hell's Eskimos. At first we had thought that Alfred was worrying too much when he said that Bruce hadn't returned that night, despite it being noon. I knew Bruce could easily swing by one of his lay-low houses, but Alfred had called each one of them and not a single ring. Okay, that was a little bit worrisome.
I quickly tapped onto the network to see if any of her contacts had any information, like maybe he had been drafted for some black-ops type shit or was chasing some super spy that just got loose, but nothing. Bruce had fallen off the grid and now the shit storm was about to happen. Lots of possibilities went through my head as I thought about what might have happened to him, none of them were any good.
One, he could have been killed and in that case his mask less face would have been all over the news and the police would be breaking down the doors to seize whatever evidence they could get and hold us on suspicion of illegal activities. It would be hell for my father, not only would he look like a fool for not seeing it for so long but he would be dragged over the coals for this, all because she was his daughter. I'd have to call in so many political favors for a cover up as soon as the story broke, but one thing was clear, the boys would all be targets, every last one of them and they would have to go into hiding.
Option two was that Bruce had been kidnapped by someone, maybe Ras Al Ghul to brainwash him, Joker for whatever his sick obsession dictated, probably psychological torture, the same from Scarecrow, and the list went on. There was a moment when Cassandra was nearly raped after taking a nasty fall. A group of thugs working for Two-Face crowded around her trying to tie her up and remove her clothes to rape her, but thankfully she kept them at bay long enough for the most strange arrival. Jason. He had appeared out of nowhere, guns blazing and gunning down every last thug, shooting them in places that would cause them to slowly bleed to death. He delivered her to our doorstep and I was always thankful for that.
Jason was one of those we hated to fight because it was essentially like we fighting our little brother or big brother, even though Tim was less forgiving of Jason. Dick had never forgiven Jason of taking his place as Robin while the boy was alive, but when he died she saw Dick tear up from the regret of not being an older brother, helping the boy find his way and be a Robin in his own right like so many had done for him. There was something about me and Jason, like we connect on a level because we've both had everything we loved taken away from you, our lives destroyed by the same psychopathic son of a bitch.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't understand why Jason had wanted to kill the Joker and I would also be lying if I said that I didn't understand why he wanted to be avenged, why he wanted Batman to finally put that mad man down, once and for all. I wanted it just as much as he did, probably a lot less due to what happened to him, but I can't tell, Jason has been avoiding me for some reason. Whenever I did have a rare moment of time to myself, something that happened a lot rarely now then it ever did, I wal-went to his holding cell in Blackgate only to find that he had got himself committed quickly.
At first I thought that meant that he was finally going to get help for himself, but I soon found it wasn't the case when other inmates started to be severely injured, Crane was almost strangled to death, Tech was stuffed into a small guard's locker for a week with hopes that he wouldn't be found, and Zas had both his arms broken, each attack carried out with brutal efficiency.
I had tried to see him in Arkham, but he was always somewhere else that couldn't be accessed by civilians just before I could catch sight of him, as if he wanted to hide from me and me alone. Maybe it was because he didn't know what to say to me? Dick had often seen Jason while he was in Arkham, each time Dick would get back with a disgusted but sad look on his face, as if torn between seeing him as the criminal Red Hood and the lost little boy Jason Todd.
All the Joker had done to me was to take my legs away from me, along with my feelings of power as Batgirl, and he had kept me alive, plaguing my father constantly. Jason had lost his birth mother and had been beaten to an inch of his life before the Joker finally blew him up along with his mother. All the while that poor women had to watch as the Joker beat her only son who had come to find her. I don't like to think about what happened to Jason or myself, or all the things that Joker had done. When I do I feel that great rage building up inside of me, the same rage that was tearing Jason apart right now.
"Any new developments," asked Tim, the sound of worry in his voiced mirrored by his face. It snapped me out of my grim thoughts that were taking me away from the problem at hand. As bad as it was to neglect him again, Bruce's safety had to come first and then she would look into helping Jason get better.
"No, not yet, I was just letting my mind wonder dangerously," I replied as I started to access the computer and contact the rest of the team, the Outsiders and the Birds. I was thankful that I had gotten them back together, even if there were some sore feelings we all had to overcome. "All my agents are looking for him as well as connections to other organizations who are on the lookout in Gotham and the League of Shadow's territory."
"I've checked all the usual suspects and none of them have him, not even the Joker," said Dick, putting a lot more venom on the Joker's name. Joker had always been the worst of the worst, he even got Dick to nearly kill him, the same way that Jason wanted to, but now the Joker was trying to undermine him as Batman. Somehow he knew that Dick was Nightwing and he often taunted him by calling him that or asking him why he was dressing like Batman. Normally Bruce would deal with that psycho, but he wasn't here now. "And I'm pretty sure the League of Shadows doesn't have him. Damien's getting in touch with his mother to do a final check."
"I journeyed with Ras for a few months, I took some looks into his network so I can do some checking on him," said Tim as he started to pull up his own computer and brought up a connection into the internet, the back alleys of the internet where shadow empires and hackers dwelled, thank god for technology. If he didn't become Batman he could always take over for my duties as the new Oracle, even though I did promised Misfit that she could do that.
'That girl has so much heart, but she couldn't manage a Dairy Queen,' I thought with a laugh only to be looked at oddly by everyone else. I'm under too much stress if I just broke my cool with that thought. "Never doing that again. And i guess Misfit is on the right track now that I think of my...former life, but she's too much of a girl of action to want to be me. I'm stuck in a wheelchair, I'm not jumping across rooftops anytime soon. Not anymore...'
"I don't like the looks of this, it would have to take someone who could predict his movements and it's not the Joker," said Dick as he accidentally touched the domino mask in the plastic evidence bag. An atom bomb of awareness went off in our heads.
"Jason," we all seemed to gasp simultaneously as the realization dawned on us. Whatever had happened to Bruce, it involved Jason.
"I was wondering how long it would take for you to realize it," said a cocky voice that if I didn't know any better, I would have guessed it was the Cheshire Cat, but she knew that voice all too well. None of them would forget the voice of Jason Todd.
"What the hell did you do to him you psychotic little prick," barked Tim, the hostility that he held to Jason since their first introduction had never gone away, especially with their last confrontation. "And where are you?"
"What you think I couldn't find a way to hack into the communications setup you have there," laughed Jason through the speakers of the computer, he was being broadcasted on the same video link the Justice League used to contact Batman. The League had been inactive for some time except for another, less successful League. "I took a look into your systems while no one is looking and found a way to bypass your whole network. Not bad for the rejected Robin, don't you think?"
"That still doesn't answer the question of what you did to Bruce," said Dick in a calm voice, thankful that he could at least provide Bruce's calm anchor for the group. "That man is like a father to you and all of us, why are you doing this?"
"I figured after coming back from the dead, he needs to take it easy for a while," replied Jason. I could hear the taunting tone that he was throwing at Dick and I felt a bit of dread in my stomach as I knew that it sounded somewhat eerily similar to the Joker. "And he hasn't even called me after he came back, didn't even come to see me after he came back, I was beginning to think he wrote me off completely. What kind of father doesn't visit their son when he's locked away against his wishes? What kind of father acts like he cares and then doesn't even pay any attention to his son? I guess you could say I'm just trying to get his attention and sit down and have a little chat with him. Well I couldn't have a true heart-to-heart talk with him if the rest of the gang is hanging around so I decided the only way was to take him back and have a discussion on my terms."
"If you even think about harming him," warned Tim, his fists tightening and shaking with fury. Maybe Tim could use some counseling before he became a bit unhinged. Dick had warned all of us that he was a bit unhinged, but now I could see just how unhinged he was.
"Oh don't tell me you've forgotten the first rule to negotiating with a crazed maniac with a hostage. Never threaten the hostage taker when you don't know what he might do or if he has more hostages than the one you know about. Or did you forget without daddy being there to hold your hand? If I'm giving him back I'll tell you where to find him."
"Jason, please don't take this any farther than it has," said Dick as he secretly motioned for me to start tracking his location. "You need help Jason and this isn't the way you want things to happen."
"No I'm certain that it is the way I want things to happen," said Jason before he looked at me, the first time he had ever acknowledged me at all since he came back from the dead. "Babs, I'm not an amateur and I'm a lot better than most of the guys you've tracked down, trust me when I say, that's not going to do you any good. It's been fun but Bruce should be waiting and I need to talk to him right him now."
Jason's POV
I cut the communications and ran to the helicopter that I had outside on the tar spot of the building. I was far away from where I had Bruce held, but if the sedative was correct he was holding diamonds with Lucy or whatever the hell she was doing in the sky with diamonds. Never tried LSD, wouldn't know what the effects were nor for any other drug besides the ones they prescribe for pain at Arkham. Bruce told me that each pain was a teacher and warning on what you should avoid using in combat, funny thing though, Talia said the same thing as she whipped me. I wonder if he has a thing for dominatrixes since he had nailed Thalia, his tights shrunk around Wonder Woman, and he was currently giving it to Selina again. I wonder how long that'll last. I still remember seeing that one world where he had married her…and I was apart of the family again.
"No, don't lose sight of the situation, that world is not this world…and I don't know if it will ever be," I said to myself, uncertainty in my words, the same uncertainty I always had. That little voice that belonged to a kid who wanted to follow every word, the one that wanted to be just like Dick even though he made it clear he didn't like me. Fuck him and fuck everyone else, except maybe Babs, she was okay. Actually she was the only one who gave me any support other than Bruce, except she wasn't as demanding as Bruce. She was also another victim of the Joker and just like me, she had lost her place in the world. "But they helped her find one, they allowed her back in with warm and welcoming arms."
I didn't want to think about it anymore as I got on the helicopter and had the pilot fly off. It was a good thing that I had managed to steal so much money from organized crime. A million dollars goes a long way when you know how to invest it right. With the right insider trades and corporate espionage thanks to Thalia, that million had become a small fortune. Nothing like what Bruce or Dick had sitting under their asses, but enough to finance this whole operation and escape, plus a comfortable living. As comfortable as my life can get.
I lit a cigarette, savoring the rush of nicotine into my system, the only comfort I can get for my nerves these days besides the meditation and a good old unleashing of anger on some thugs. Found a couple of rapists two nights ago and had me one hell of a time. I left them alive, though I felt annoyed about doing that. Bruce leaves them alive, Jason kills them, that's how it's always been about us. If he knew he would get his hopes up about me getting better and it might get my own hopes up.
I'm too dirty for him to take back and he doesn't want me back anymore. I know because he told me himself in that damn will of his. Tim thinks he got fucked over when Damien took Robin away from him, finally feeling what it felt like when I found out there was another Robin after me. Shut out of the family, left to rot somewhere, useless too them now. I'm glad for the cigarette, had I tried the flask of whiskey the pilot had I would be raging out into a tirade, may even try to call Tim to get him in on this.
That would be a stupid move because he was so much like Dick, hell Dick even helped trained him and he already found his place. I'm gonna beat the hell out of that bastard for stealing another mantle from me. Red Robin was mine, I came up with it, and no one was supposed to take that from me. They say I had too much anger in me, all the time I was angry, and it's true these days. I've been marinating myself if sour grapes and lemons, waiting to make an acid that'll burn their eyes out just as soon as I get the chance.
'Calm the fuck down Jason,' I tell myself as I take another long draw on the cigarette and look out at the landscape, the explosion of the warehouse I had made sent my message from. A tear slid down my cheek as I remember the explosion of another warehouse a long time ago and wishing that I could see the face of my father one last time. I hate getting these feelings again because it only brings on more anger and don't need any more anger during this talk. 'Now to have the one thing I've been begging to have since your will. A talk, just you and me, so I can tell you just what I think of your will and you in general.'