AN: this chapter was edited by McKennaC.
Dick and Barbara were down in the cafeteria.
"That was so cute." Barbara said.
"I like to think of it as blackmail material." Dick said.
"Don't you dare. Otherwise I will show Jason the photo album of all the times you've..."
"That's not fair. You made me..."
"No. You lost the bet. So you had to pay up."
"It was humiliating."
"I thought you made a very cute Batgirl."
"It was a low blow."
"Aww, can my wittle dicky bird not take what He dishes out?"
"Stop patronizing me."
"It could be worse."
"How?"
"I could show him the pictures of you while you're sleeping." Barbara said with a seductive wink.
Dick looked horrified. "You wouldn't."
"Not if you delete 'all' of the pictures you took of Jason and Skye."
"That's evil!"
Barbara took out her phone.
Dick deleted all his blackmail pictures of Jason. "Fine. You win."
Skye's room.
Jason moved Skye, slowly from his chest and laid her on her bed. When that was done he slipped into the bathroom.
Meanwhile.A man wearing a black trench coat with an eyepatch walked to nurses station. "I'm here to see Jason and Skye Todd."
"I can't let you in there without prior authorisation." The nurse on duty replied.
The man pulled a badge from his pocket, and showed it to her.
"I'm so sorry director, I didn't realize that S.H.I.E.L.D would be visiting after what happened last night."
"We just want to extend our apologies for what happened last night."
"I'd be careful director." The nurse said.
"And Why is that?"
"Mr. Todd took out Agent Coulson's Attack team, and agent May."
"I'll be careful." Fury said. "What's the room number?"
Skye's room.Jason was just about done when he heard Skye yell. "JASON!"
He ran out to the room and saw a man with an eyepatch and a black trench coat.
"Who are you!" Jason snarled dropping into a defensive fighting stance ready to rip the mans throat out at the slightest movement towards Skye.
"Don't worry Jason, I'm not here to hurt Skye. In fact I'm here to do quite the opposite."
"Prove it."
The man slowly reached into his trench coat and pulled a badge out of his innner pocket before throwing it to Jason.
"Nicholas Joseph Fury."
"Only my mom calls my Nicholas." Fury said. "You can either call me Nick or Fury."
"Okay Fury, what do you want?"
"In a word. You."
"Why?"
"You have certain... skills, that could be put to use, working for me."
"Pass."
"Did you know your dad worked for me?"
Jason stopped. "What?"
"Your dad. He worked for me, he wasn't the best, but he was adequate."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that I wouldn't send him on a top secret undercover mission, but if I needed a man at my side I'd want him standing there next to me."
"And how do you know so much about him?"
"Your mother divorced him when you were about three years old because of his job. He kept tabs on you to make sure that you didn't get into trouble."
"Trouble! Did he even realize what had happened to me! Did he even care!"
"Yes, But I wouldn't let him go get you. If you want to be mad at someone, you can be mad at me."
"I'll kill you!" Jason yelled launching himself at Fury.
Fury threw a thin disk at Jason.
Jason caught the disk and received an electric shock.
Jason didn't know how long he was out, all he knew was that someone was shaking his shoulder and yelling something garbled. As his hearing cleared up, he heard skye yelling his name.
"Jason! Jason wake up! Please Jason, don't be dead!"
Jason pushed himself up off the ground, and looked at skye. "Wha' happened?" He slurred out.
"The guy with the trench coat threw a disk at you and you fell down."
"I hurt, and coming from me that's saying something."
"Knock, knock." Barbara said opening the door. "hope you're hungry because we brought... Jason!" She threw the door open and put the food on the table. "What happened?"
"A guy in a trench coat hurt Jason." Skye said before Jason could say anything.
"How? Not many people can best Jason." Dick said coming in with drinks.
"He threw this." Skye said handing him the thin disk.
"Oh. I guess you had a run in with Fury?"
"How did you know?" Jason asked.
"Bruce and I had a run in with him a few years ago. If we weren't insulated we would have dropped."
"He said that he knew my dad."
Dick and Barbara looked at each other then at Jason. "What did he say." They asked in unison.
"That he worked for him, and he knew what happened, but wouldn't let him come get me."
"Listen Jason. Fury is a master manipulator and a spy, in fact some would call him 'the spy'. He as secrets, and those secrets have secrets. That's one of the reasons Bruce told us not to mess with him."
"So you're saying he goaded me into attacking him?"
"Probably. He probably did it to see how you stack up."
"If it wasn't for this taser disk, or whatever it's called, I might have killed him."
"More like you would have killed a body double. Fury very rarely gets his hands dirty, and lets everyone else play in the dirt till they finish, and he takes credit for it."
"Sounds like a real charmer that one."
"He sounds like a dill weed." Skye said folding her arms over her chest and sneering.
Jason started laughing, Barbara said "aww, how adorable." And Dick took a picture.
Jason got up and started walking to the table when he ran into the bathroom and lost the contents of his stomach.
"Are you okay?" Skye asked.
Jason rinsed his mouth out and said. "Yeah, I don't think that electric shock agreed with me."
The four sat down at the table and ate breakfast.
Skye had never seen so much food, she tried everything that was on the table.
After breakfast Leslie dropped in to check on Skye. "How are you doing today Skye?"
"Better."
"That's great, we should have you out of here in a few hours. Jason. A word."
The hallway.
"What's up Leslie?"
"A specialist took a look at Skyes X-rays."
"What did they say?"
"He said that Skye has micro fractures all over the bones in her forearms."
"What does that mean?"
"He says that he has only ever seen it in earthquake survivors."
"But?" Jason asked after a moment of silence.
"The micro fractures are only on Skyes forearms, nowhere else. The only way she could have gotten those is if she was walking on her hands in an earthquake."
"Which should be impossible."
"Should be, being the operative words. He believes that Skye might be a meta human, and that her powers showed up when she was about two years old."
"When her parents did who knows what to her."
"If it was her parents. For all we know her parents were killed, and the killers took her."
"You have a point. I just don't want to see her get hurt."
"You'll be a good big brother Jason."
That afternoon.
Skye was released from the hospital and was leaving with Jason. "Where are we going now?"
"Well, I thought that we would go do some shopping, get you some clothes and stuff."
"Okay." Skye wasn't going to argue. Jason was the first person who seemed to genuinely care about her as a person and not an asset or piece of property, and she didn't want to lose that.
They were in the parking garage where Barbara said she had left a car for them, before they headed back to their apartment,when three guys stepped out of the shadows.
"Ooh hoo. Look what we have here boys." The one in front said.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" Jason demanded.
"We are the guys who are going to rob you." The second guy said.
"I wouldn't advise that." Jason said.
The trio grabbed knives from their pockets and said. "We don't care if you advise it or not, give us your money and we leave you and your daughter alone." The third guy said.
Jason took off his watch, and took his wallet out of his pocket before holding them out.
The first guy walked you and grabbed them.
Jason grabbed his arm and punched the guy in the throat. "Sorry Larry, But you tried to mug the wrong guy." Jason grabbed the knife and said. "How about you Moe, Curly?"
The other two ran at him.
Jason dodged them until he was ready, then he kneed the one he called Moe in the face, effectively breaking his nose.
The one he called Curly, cut at him, Jason grabbed his arm and said. "Don't pick a fight you can't win." Before he stabbed curly in the leg.
Jason picked up the knives and put them in his pocket before calling Gordon.
"Gordon."
"Hey Gordon, it's Jason."
"What's happened?" Gordon didn't know what had happened, but if Jason was calling him, it couldn't be good.
"Three guys just tried to mug Skye and myself."
"What did you do?" Gordon was going to need aspirin.
"I used semi lethal violence. I punched one guy in the throat, kneed one in the nose, and stabbed the other in the leg. Then I confiscated the knives."
"Get a nurse down there and tell sec..."
The elevator door opened and a security guard came out followed by three nurses and two more security guards.
"Sir, are you okay?" The security guard asked.
"Yeah, We're okay." Jason said holding his hand out for Skye.
"Cute kid." The second guard said.
"Thanks." Jason said. "This is my sister Skye."
"Hi skye, my name is Terri, could I ask you a few questions?" The third guard asked.
Skye looked up at Jason.
"Go on, if you start feeling uncomfortable just call for me."
Skye walked a few feet away with Terri.
"Skye, can you tell me what happened?"
"Three guys came up to Jason and said to give them his wallet, Jason took off his watch, took his wallet out of his pocket, and held them out."
"What happened then?"
"It happened really fast."
"Can you tell me what you remember?"
"Jason grabbed one guy by his arm and held it away and punched him in the throat. Then the other two tried to hurt him, but Jason hit one guy in the face with his knee, and grabbed the third guys hand and made him stab himself in the leg."
"Okay, is there anything else we need to know?"
"I don't know if it's important."
"The smallest detail could help."
"Jason called them Larry, Moe, And Curly. I don't know if that was there names or not."
The security guard chuckled. "You can go back to your brother."
Skye ran back to Jason and grabbed his hand.
After the muggers were taken into the hospital and the guards were waiting for the police, Jason was walking to the car when Gordon stopped him.
"The knives Jason. They are still evidence."
"Oh, right. Sorry. I forgot that I took them."
"Uh huh." Gordon said taking the knives. "You know the rules, stay in town Incase we need to talk to you."
"Of course. See ya later."
"Just honor our agreement."
"Don't worry. I will."
They drove out of the parking lot and Skye asked. "Where to now?"
"The mall."
"Why?"
"The mall has all the stores we need."
The bridge of the helicarrier."How did it go sir?" Coulson asked Fury.
"I knew Jason would be mad, but..." Fury paused for a second.
"But what sir?" Coulson urged.
"He tried to kill me."
"No offense sir, but I'm not surprised."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"After what you did to him. To his father."
"I did what I had to."
"The worst thing that a boy can experience, is thinking that his father doesn't love him sir." Coulson said in a kind yet stern manner. "He will come around, just give him time."
"Are you talking about Jason, or Willis?" Fury asked.
"Time is said to heal all wounds sir." Coulson said over his shoulder.
Fury looked out over the horizon, and pondered What Coulson had said.
The Gotham city mall.
Jason was holding Skye's hand as they walked into the mall and made their way to the clothing stores.
"Do you know what kind of clothes you want?"
"I want some pants like you have."
"Okay. Cargo pants here we come."
They made their way to the boys clothes and grabbed eight pair of cargo pants and eight pair of cargo shorts.
"What type of shirts do you want?"
Skye walked around and found eight short sleeve shirts of various colors, and eight long sleeve shirts two were charcoal grey, two were black, two were dark red, and two were navy blue.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. That way they will match your shirts."
Jason didn't know whether to be flattered or worried that his sister wanted to be like him.
Jason grabbed a couple of bags of socks and underwear for her. He kind of had to just guess what sizes she would need.
After the clothes Jason took Skye to the toy store.
"What are we doing here?" Skye asked.
"Well, you need toys don't you?"
"I don't know."
"The answer is yes, every child should have toys."
Jason followed Skye around the toy store allowing her to pick out whatever she wanted.
"You know, it's a good thing that these carts are not for a specific store. Because I think we are going to need three carts for toys alone." Jason joked.
That couldn't have been farther from the truth. Skye had only found three things she wanted. Jason found a few more things and went to check out.
When he got to the cashier he noticed that Skye wasn't with him.
"Skye!"
Jason ran through the store in a full on panic. 'Where is skye, where did I lose her, who has her.'
Jason ran around a corner and found Skye staring at a six foot stuffed lioness with a litter of cubs creating a circle.
Jason picked it up in one hand, and Skye in the other hand before heading to the checkout line.
"I'm so glad you found her." The cashier said.
"So am I. She was looking at this." Jason said putting the stuffed animals on the cart.
"An excellent choice sir."
Once they had gotten checked out, they headed to the car.
Jason noticed that Skye was getting tired, and buckled her seat belt. Afterwards he loaded the car, put the shopping cart away, and headed back to Wayne manor.
Wayne manor.
The first thing Jason did when he got home was take Skye up to his room and put her on his bed before unloading the car.
He took the lioness and cubs stuffed animals to Skye's room, which was right across from his room, and put them in the corner closest to her bed.
He took the other toys to her room next, Incase she woke up and wanted to play. She had picked out three other toys, a 1000 piece Batman LEGO set, a 5000 piece puzzle, and a drawing set. He didn't know why, but she picked them out.
He put The legos in one corner of the room and texted dick.
J: Hey Dick.
D: Jason.
J: Skye picked out some LEGO'S from the store.
D: NO.
J: And I was wondering.
D: NO!
J: Do you want to come do the LEGO fire walk with me.
D: Eff that.
J: Ooh. You owe five dollars to the swear jar.
D: Eff you.
J: Quick question.
D: WHAT!?!
J: Does Barbara like it when you talk dirty to her?
D: SHUT THE EFF UP TODD. I swear no one can get under my skin like you can.
J: It's just part of my charm.
B: Jason this is Barbara. Stop antagonizing your brother this instant.
J: *sigh* Yes, mom. Ugh.
Jason went to work setting up a table in the other corner closest to Skye's bed for Skye's coloring set. After that was done he took one of the doors to another room off of its hinges and set it on the ground in the last corner and put the puzzle box on it.
Next he went out to the car and grabbed Skye's clothes. He sat them on her bed and made a mental checklist of what they would need to get the next day. They needed to get a dress for black tie events, Great. If Skye was anything like him she would fight him, a swim suit, undershirts, self defense... everything, if she was going to be an honorary Wayne then she might get kidnapped, he was going to make it harder for the kidnappers. They stopped trying to kidnap him after the fifth or sixth time when he bit a guys ear off, it took them twice as long with Dick. He would be there for Skye though, anyone who tried to kidnap Skye would be in for a very disappointing day.
Jason went about putting Skye's clothes up, and had just finished hanging her outfits in her closet when he heard. "Knock, knock, anyone here?" He went to the entryway and saw Dick and Barbara with four large bags, three of which had clothes and toys in them.
"What's in the fourth bag?"
"Stuff for dinner." Dick said.
"You show me where Skye's room is, and the two of you can start making dinner." Barbara added.
Dick took the fourth bag to the kitchen while Jason took Barbara to Skye's room.
"Right across from your room?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, you're going to be a good big brother."
"I hope I can live up to your expectations."
"You will."
"How do you know?"
"Because, if you don't I'll kick your scrawny butt from here to next year."
"I'm not that scrawny."
"I'm just saying that if you hurt Skye, there will be consequences."
They stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes until Jason said. "Congratulations."
"For what?" Barbara said a little to quickly.
"Come on Barbara, I was trained by the worlds greatest detective, so was Dick. In fact I would be shocked if Dick didn't know."
"I just found out this morning, Dick doesn't know yet."
"You're going to be an excellent mother. I can't say the same for Dick though."
Barbara threw a stuffed animal at Jason. "Shut up."
"I'm going to go and help in the kitchen, because let's face it, compared to Dick I'm Alfred when it comes to cooking."
Barbara threw another stuffed animal at Jason.
The kitchen.
Jason walked into the kitchen whistling hush little baby.
"Jason." Dick said.
"Yeah?"
"I need to tell you something."
"Shoot."
"I think Babs is pregnant."
"WHAT!" Jason yelled in shock.
"Not so loud!" Dick hissed. "It's either that, or she missed her monthly cycle."
"How do you know?"
"She's not demanded chocolate or caffeine all month long."
"Stop the presses." Jason said sarcastically. "How do you know she didn't get it herself?"
"You don't know Barbara. If she can boss someone around, she will."
"What did you guys bring for dinner?" Jason said changing the subject before Dick found out that he knew.
"Asiago penne with garlic bread and salad."
"So you brought Mac-n-cheese."
"Yeah."
"Why do you have to sound so fancy?"
"Because that's what it's called." Dick said handing him a box.
"Well what do you know. Rich people mac-n-cheese."
The two worked on dinner making it to Alfreds specifications.
Barbara came down a few minutes later with Skye on her hip. "Look who woke up from their nap."
"Hey Skye." Jason said.
"Hello Jason." Skye said rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"I hope you're hungry." Barbara said. "We have mac-n-cheese, garlic bread, and salad."
Skye's eyes lit up ever so slightly that Jason barely caught it, and he couldn't help but feel a little sad.
"Okay." She said as nonchalantly as she could.
They sat down at the table and filled their plates.
"Skye, if you don't like this I'll order a pizza or something." Jason said.
Skye tried a noodle and spit it into a napkin, and Jason grabbed the phone.
Flirty five minutes later Skye was on her second slice of pizza.
After dinner.
Jason cleaned off the table while Skye talked with Barbara and Dick.
After he was done Skye grabbed his hand and took him to her room with Dick.
"What's going on Skye?" Jason asked.
"We are making home videos." Barbara said with her phone pointed at them.
"We are doing the LEGO fire walk." Dick said.
Jason and Dick took their shoes and socks off, spread the LEGO'S out in a row, and walked across the LEGO'S.
After Barbara had a chance to stop laughing and the boys had time to let their feet stop hurting, they moved onto their next video.
They worked on home videos until Skye fell asleep on her stuffed animals.
"Thank you." Barbara said.
"You're welcome." Jason replied. "All my pain and suffering is worth it for her." He said looking at Skyes small form. "I would crawl through the depths of Hell for her."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Dick said.
The trio sat up talking late into the night.
The next morning.
Jason woke up to Skye's small form sitting on his lap watching cartoons. "Skye?" He asked.
"Yeah?"
"What are you doing kiddo?"
"Watching cartoons and waiting for you to tell me to stop so I can say 'one more episode.'"
Jason had to smile at that. "Okay, What are you watching?"
"I just started watching it, it's about four kids and a talking dog."
"Scooby Doo." Jason said before picking Skye up and moving her onto the couch. "Where's Barbara and Dick?"
"Dead." Skye said.
Jason was startled awake. "Holy mother of..." He looked over and saw Dick and Barbara sleeping side by side on the couch.
He got up and went to Skye's room and saw Skye's broken body lying on the ground with a pride of lions fighting over her carcass. "GET AWAY!" He yelled.
Jason jolted upright.
"What's wrong?" Dick and Barbara asked waking up.
"Nightmares." Jason said wiping the cold sweat from his face.
"About Skye?"Barbara asked.
"One was About Skye, she was killed and being eaten by her stuffed animals. The other was about you, you were killed in your sleep."
"They were just nightmares." Dick said.
"They felt so real though."
"They were nightmares." Barbara reiterated.
"I need to check on Skye." Jason got up and ran to Skye's room.
Jason looked into Skye's room and saw her sleeping on her lions.
"Thank you." Jason said to no one in particular.
Jason was about to leave when he heard Skyes frightened voice say. "Jason."
He was next to her side faster than he thought he was capable of.
"What is it skye?"
"I had a nightmare."
"What was it about?"
"I had to watch you, and Barbara, and Dick die."
"We are all here. Do you want to see?"
"Uh huh."
Jason picked Skye up and carried her downstairs.
"Skye?" Barbara asked. "Are you all right."
"It seems that I wasn't the only one who had bad dreams last night." Jason said.
"How about we all go out to breakfast?" Dick asked.
"Okay." Skye said, her fear and anxiety ebbing away.
"So. Where do you want to go?" Barbara asked.
"IHOP!" Skye shouted almost falling out of Jason's hands.
"Okay." Barbara said a little shaken by the outburst.
"Is there a particular reason you are so excited about IHOP?" Dick asked.
"That was my birthday present for so long. That and they wouldn't hit me all day."
Jason's grip tightened ever so slightly, as if doing so could take away all the bad things that had ever happened to her.
He wished that he could find everyone who had ever hurt skye and just end their putrid existence.
IHOP.
"So, what do you want." Jason asked.
"Pancakes with whipped cream, peach syrup, and hot cocoa." Skye said.
When their food came, Skye ate the pancakes slowly, unlike the rest of her food which she usually ate as quickly as possible.
"This was the only time that I could eat as slowly as I wanted. All the other times I had to be finished eating before everyone else so I could get started on dishes and get coffee or dessert or something. If I didn't I would get punished."
Jason got up and walked outside.
"Did I do something wrong?" Skye asked feeling a little squeamish.
"No skye." Barbara said. "You didn't do anything wrong. Jason just... has difficulty hearing about someone else's pain, especially someone he cares about."
"I better go check on him." Dick said leaving as well.
Jason.
Jason ran about a block from IHOP before he finally stopped in front of an alleyway. "RAAHHH!!!!" He yelled as loud as he could.
"N-no p-please." A voice said from the alleyway.
Jason looked in and saw a girl maybe five years younger than him surrounded by five older guys. Jason picked up a rock and threw it as hard as he could at the guy directly in front of him, drawing blood. "You guys want to leave her alone, or do I have to make you?"
"Hey tough guy, leave before we kill you." One of the guys said.
Jason cracked his knuckles and said. "Hard way it is then."
By the time Dick found Jason, he was standing over a pile of unconscious guys with his hands clenched into fists. "Jason?"
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why wasn't I there for Skye when she needed me? Why did I find her when I did?"
"You did find her when she needed you."
"No, she needed me five years ago when she was put into the system."
"No. She was safe for that time, she probably didn't start getting abused by her kidnappers until she was five or six."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?!"
"No, but... you two are like kindred spirits. You went through something similar till Bruce found you, you can relate to her. You can help her get through this part of her life, you don't have to bring her into "our life", but be the best big brother you can be, and it will be enough for her."
"I'll start by doing this." Jason said walking away from the pile of bodies.
An hour later at IHOP.
Jason sat down in their booth and said. "Sorry Skye. I didn't mean to leave like that."
"It's okay. Barbara said that you don't like to hear about other people's pain, especially if you care about them, you feel that it's your fault they got hurt."
"Well, I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself from other people who might try and hurt you."
"Really?"
"Yup."
"Can we do it now?"
"Yup, we just have to make a few stops."
Their first stop was the manor, where Jason picked up his twin M1911's, then they went to a gun store where Jason dropped them off for repairs, afterwards they went to a self defense shop where Jason picked out a taser, an extendable baton, and some pepper spray. Their next stop was a knife shop where Jason bought four pocket knives, four sheath knives, four boot knives, and four switch blades.
On their way home they stopped for pizza, and Jason got a call that his guns were ready for pickup.
Jason picked up the guns and took Skye home, where he created a strict training regimen in which he would teach her hand to hand combat and how to use all the defensive weapons he picked out. He wasn't going to let skye end up like that girl in the alley that morning, she would be able to take on any moron who tried to hurt her.
Seven years later.
Ward dragged the target from the van and Coulson saw him drop a second later Before grabbing the targets hair and smashing it into the ground.
"Ward! Why did you do that!?"
"She punched me in the crotch sir."
"That's no reason for..."
"SKYE!!!!!" An unfamiliar voice yelled.