Chapter 3: I woke to nothing but coldness

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Dick's POV

I cursed when we couldn't find anything that could help us find where Jason had gone or even a trail to follow. The place had only been used for the purpose of this broadcast and all the hacking had been done from this location, probably miles from where he actually kept Bruce, but Hal Jordan and Superman were still checking the surrounding area and cots for Bruce.

It was odd that even Hal Jordan was looking for Bruce since the two did not get along, in fact none of the Green Lanterns except Kyle got along with Bruce. John had personally told Bruce to fuck off, Guy had been cold cocked by Bruce, and Hal had flat out decked Bruce once. Kyle was friends with Tim and Tim stood up for him, plus Kyle was one of the best and brightest of the League, much like his predecessor was before he was possessed by Parallax. There are some days I wished that something was possessing Jason like that, something to explain why he came back like he did. Maybe it was something in the Lazarus Pit or something Thalia had done to him. I'd put nothing past her.

"Nope, my ring hasn't picked up on anything," said Hal, a bit disappointed, another surprise seeing how their past animosity towards each other had never diminished. John had said it was because Hal wasn't buying into the one thing Bruce was selling, fear, and that meant he was not a controllable element. It was very much true, plus unlike Guy Gardner, Hal knew a few moves from hand-to-hand combat training in the Air Force. "I know that he was using a helicopter but it's been too long for me to pick up on any of the smoke vapors or the carbon emissions in the air. This happens to be along the path that helicopters take for a lot of things, he knew that when he planned this entire thing and there are at least fifty different directions he went. Plus we don't know if he took a helicopter in the first place or other transportation. There are snow mobile and tire tracks all around here so that is another possibility that we have to consider."

"Thanks Hal, I know you and Bruce never got along, but it's greatly appreciated," I told him, hoping that maybe they could finally bury a hatchet when this was over. Hell maybe Bruce will turn over a new leaf and actually get a life, but then again he would have to deal with the horsemen and the river of fire. On second thought, Bruce can be as much of an asshole as he can be…maybe a smidge less sometimes. I love Bruce like a father, but to others he could be such a prick sometimes.

"We didn't hate each other constantly, sometimes we even helped each other recognize mistakes," replied Hal as he started to rise in the air. "I've got a few things to take care of in the rest of my sector. Just found a planet with life on it and so I have to observe the life on it and determine if it is or is not planning to attack life on any other planet. Then I've got to make sure none of the other Lantern corps are doing anything they're not supposed to in my sector, so basically I have to make sure Larfleeze, Atrocitus, and Sinestro are not in my sector. I'll continue to look for Bruce when I'm done and when I can and contact you if I find anything. But I know Bruce, the man is like most of us old timers in the League. He hasn't an ounce of quit in him."

"Thanks and it's good to know he isn't completely anti-social," I said as I watched him fly away before turning to Superman. "I know you have a lot to do so why don't you get back to your walk thing before they think you've given up."

"Alright, I'll also be searching for Bruce if I can and Hal's right, Bruce will find a way," he said before flying off to where he stopped.

God what I would give to have his powers, but then again, who didn't think that one day? Funny thing was, the most amazing thing I had ever learned in my life was that Superman wished he had my powers or lacked his own powers. I always thought that was odd that one of the strongest of us all wanted to be just like every other man, not because he hated the burden that the world pushed on his shoulders, but because he wanted to be apart of the world he saved. He was almost the complete opposite of Bruce, Bruce wanted to make himself to be something more than human, Superman wanted to be human. If a movie was made about them it would probably be called World's Finest, but it should rather be called "The Odd Couple."

"Oracle, dead end from here, he kept this place isolated from where he took Bruce," I told her hearing her curse over the line with frustration. Frustration from Jason wasn't something new, we all had felt this before he died. He tried to be a good Robin, but he was as violent as Batman was when he first started out and would often cause unnecessary damage to thugs. He might have pushed one off though he said he just spooked him. I should have given him the benefit of the doubt, Bruce should have given him the benefit of the doubt, but none of us did, few of us gave him a chance. Only Babs did, surprisingly she barely gave Tim a chance only at my insistence and was staunchly against Stephanie when I didn't voice a favor for her. "Try checking any videos or cameras that might have caught sight of the helicopter or anything that went on down here. Did anything come up on the serial number of the laptop?"

"They were stolen from China two years ago," replied Barbara. "I never thought Jason would be clever enough to pull the wall over our eyes like this, but I don't think he took Bruce to China, he might have stolen them years ago for occasions when he needed throw away computers. He's doing a lot to make sure we don't find where he stashed Bruce and Bruce is probably being sedated so we may be able to track him down by finding out what he's using to sedate him."

"That's good he's built immunity to a lot of them," I said, now feeling some hope for being able to see him. "Now that we have a path we can try to find out where he's getting his weapons and sedatives."


Bruce's POV

My head felt terrible when I finally came to full consciousness, the world seeming like a dim void all blurred together with inanimate objects that were indiscernible from animate objects. I could hear things but it sounded like they were far away, like I was hiding out in the caverns of my mind, and everybody else was outside of the cave, just like I wanted them to. It all started to make more sense as details slipped slowly back into my vision and the sounds became less distant. The room was wooden in frame, possibly a cabin of some sort with very little furniture of distinctive design to tell me where I was. As far as I knew I was still in America, but I could be somewhere in India. My mask was still on and I was still in my suit, though I was having a hard time remembering where I was, picking up on my subconscious memories.

I didn't have to wait long for my answer.

"Oh good you're awake," said a voice, a familiar voice that I should know better than anyone else. It haunted my nightmares and rang in my dreams. "I was hoping I didn't use enough to make you brain dead and I can't have that, you and I need to talk."

"You gonna remove his mask yet," asked one of the thugs, there were two, each one with a red domino mask and black jackets.

"Sure, why don't you try removing it," said Jason as he motioned for the thug to do so. The poor bastard didn't have a chance as he was shocked with enough volts of electricity to down a rhino the instance he touched my mask. 'What about you Bob, you want to try that?"

"No I think we can keep the mask on," said Bob as he picked up the other thug. "You sure you're going to be okay here?"

"I can handle this, get going and don't come back till I call you," said Jason, never bothering to take his eyes off me as he eyed me over, as if trying to decide if he was going to kill me or talk to me. I had never seen him so angry with me, even when he was expressing his anger over the Joker being alive. "Now go."

The thug didn't need to be told twice, I knew that if he had talked back Jason would have shot him in the head just out of sheer frustration. I could see the gun outlined in the holster under his brown leather jacket. After all those years I could remember the little boy who loved his uniform, that old outfit that Dick made, god knows I wished he allowed me to change it. I felt a bit odd allowing him to run around in underwear with bare legs after I found out people had been talking. I still think Dick was playing a joke on me when he wore that, but it was the same outfit he used when he was an acrobat with his family, something that he held dear and I can see why he hated me giving it away. It was personal to him and it was a mistake to give it away. I should never had made him Robin, he would have been better living in an orphanage, but I was selfish and I needed a Robin.

"Jason, you need help," was the first thing I said to him and I was greeted with a kick to the face. It wasn't like his usual blows, the ones where he was angry, but not angry enough to want to really hurt me. Before he wanted to hurt me only a little, but this was all of his hate and rage. It was like the blows he'd give to the Joker. Has he come to hate me that much?

"That the first thing you have to tell me," he asked, knowing that I hated when he added the slang into his speech as Robin. I tried to make him talk with proper English and he did for the most part unless he was angry. "I didn't get a chance to see you when you came back after being gone for so long and that is all you have to say to me? You didn't even come to visit me while I was in Arkham and yet you have the nerve to tell me that! You stubborn, inconsiderate prick!"

"I'm sorry…I haven't been to see you…I had other things on my mind," I replied, hating that I could find no better way to say that, maybe in a way that didn't make me want to throw up as soon as I said it. "I'm sorry there's no better to way to say that, but Jason, look at yourself for a second. Look at what you're doing right now. You're not the Jason I first met, the Jason who became a son to me. You're different than what you used to be."

"Is that what I am to you, a son," he asked, the look on his face was one of confusion, as if he didn't understand where my words were coming from but he leaned closer to me. "You think of me as a son?"

"Jason, every Robin was a son to me, you especially," I said and it was very true. Never had my heart ached more than for Jason. The nightmares that aren't of my parents death are of Jason, what his last moments had been, the same last moments I had been torturing myself over, wondering if he had called out my name. "Not a day goes by that I don't think about your death, how I had failed to save you…how it felt like the end of the world when you died. You are my son and I mourned for you…I know you think I should avenge you…but that is one vow I can never break…even for one of my own."

"Dick might have, after all he did try and kill the Joker, would have to, but yet again you had to save him from the grief," he replied as he started to stand over, stretching the leg as he walked towards the door and sniffed the air a bit. "I'm going to start a bath for you and I'll remove your bondings so you can wash yourself. Don't want my dear 'father' stinking up the place do I and I don't think you're old enough for sponge baths, not that I would want to give you one if you were."

"Jason..," there are a lot of things I wanted to say at this moment and they were all playing out through my head, making me confused on what I want to say. He has to understand, I didn't want to drag him any farther into this mess of my life. I've taken so much from so many others, Dick, Tim, Stephanie, and Barbara, especially Barbara.

"Can't talk right now, there are more important things I have to attend to than you, though you know all about that don't you," he said, not looking over his shoulder at me, giving me the cold shoulder that I often give to others. I realize that this is my son, he's become his father and now I've taken his role. I finally feel what I've done to him.

He walks off to another room in where ever he's taken me, I don't know if it's a compound or a house, but I can hear running water not far. I'm able to get to my feet despite the fact that my arms are tied and my ankles are locked together. With some luck I was able to make it to the hall though I definitely would not call any of what I did stealthy as I had to hop all the way down there only to find Jason reaching in to test the water. He had taken off the jacket with his sleeves rolled up. No matter how angry he was with me he was still checking the water temperature…that he considered that much was something good. He turned around, not surprised to find me there as he started to remove the bindings, not even bothering to remove the gun. For some reason he knew I wasn't going to go for him when this was done, but what did he have under his sleeve.

"Are you that confident in your ability to neutralize me," I asked as he remove the last binding, moving to grab his arm, I had him in a submission hold in a few seconds.

"Please, you think I'm that stupid, but still," he said as he threw me forward so easily, and then twisted my arms in a submission hold of my own. "The sedatives are still in your system enough to make you weak enough to subdue, but when you do get your full mobility back, I've gotten a few bombs in populated and unpopulated areas around the world. Some are small amateur bombs and others can reduce cities to ash, others are napalm bombs. I'm the only one who can disarm them and the only way I'm doing that is for you to convince me. So the one person most dependent on these talks is you."

"Jason, this isn't the way to go about doing this," I said, hoping to reach some sense into him.

"Please, you know I've got problems, you told me that yourself," he replied with a smirk on his face as he got up and walked towards the door, again not bothering to turn around. "This time we're doing things my way and the one who has to be my therapist now is you, but do keep in mind that the fate of thousands or millions depend upon this. Now if you don't mind I'm going to get lunch started because even though you neglect your body, I decided even a prick like you deserved a location, might pull the stick out of your ass."

"I didn't know you were so hospitable," I replied, my own smirk playing on my face and I realized that there was still some signs of Jason, maybe enough to pull out. "You tested the water temperature to make sure it was just right, that seems very kind of you."

"Yeah it does, doesn't it," was all he said before he walked off.

I stepped into the shower, feeling a lot more hopeful than I should have, and I only got burnt. The shower water was turned to scalding hot and it would take a while before it cooled down, time that I doubted Jason would give me. This wasn't going to be easy, it was the exact thing I had tried to avoid. My presence would only exacerbate things, make him on edge and guarded when I was partially the reason he was like this. I could only hope that I had learned enough from Barbara to help. Despite my misgivings, I was going to be Jason's therapist and maybe, if I was lucky, I'd find out where everything went wrong and make it right.