"Where've you been all this time?" Tony, who seemed to be mostly uninterested, asked as Jason walked back inside.
"Out." Jason curtly responded. He sighed, trying to think about what he could possibly do for to make Damian feel a bit better. He walked over to the room that Damian was in and looked inside. He was asleep, sprawled across the couch with a blanket loosely hanging over him. Jason walked over, quietly, before nudging him gently. "Hey, Dami, come on."
"What do you want, Todd." Damian spat at his older brother, obviously still upset.
"Just come on," Jason rolled his eyes. Damian rose from the couch, his arms crossed.
"This better be worth it, Todd." Damian followed his brother out of the tower. Jason got on a motorcycle, tossing Damian a helmet. "You aren't wearing a helmet," Damian pointed out.
"Yeah, well, I only got one," Jason rolled his eyes. "Now, are you coming or not?"
"Can I drive?" Damian asked curiously. Jason chuckled.
"No." He grabbed the handlebars, a wide smile across his face.
"I know how!" Damian complained, grabbing the sides of the motorcycle instead of Jason's waist. "Besides, with the look in you're eyes I'm worried for my own personal safety if I let you drive. You might end of driving us off a cliff, or do you still not trust me enough."
"Oh come on, Damian, you're ten!" Jason scoffed. "I had to wait until I was thirteen before I even learned how to drive!"
"Pity," Damian stared straight ahead as Jason took off. Neither of them bothered speaking, as there really was nothing to talk about. Jason drove the motorcycle to a nearby park, then lead Damian to a soccer field. Damian raised an eyebrow.
"Remember how I said I trust you about as far as I could throw you?" Jason bit his lip. "Well, kid, I can throw you pretty far."
"'Tt'," Damian glared, "You don't trust me, or you would never have said it."
"Damian, look, I'm serious about trusting you as far as I could throw you, okay?" Jason gave an apologetic look to his brother before hoisting him over his shoulders. Damian was a bit too surprised to speak, and before he knew it he was about ten feet from where he'd been a few seconds ago and his wrist was definitely dislocated.
"TODD!"Damian screeched from the ground. He lifted his dislocated wrist and Jason widened his eyes.
"I'll uh...I'll get you back to the manor-I mean, tower!" Jason lifted Damian up, thankfully he'd still been wearing the motorcycle helmet. He rushed back to the tower, getting into the elevator with a very angry Damian. "See, I really do trust you!"
"Todd, you idiot, you dislocated me wrist!" Damian yelled.
"It's not like you haven't dislocated my wrist before!" Jason argued, remembering the time during training where Damian had kicked the back of his hand so hard it had almost completely shattered his wrist.
Once they got up there, Steve was waiting at the elevator with his arms crossed. "You didn't bother to tell me you were leaving?"
"Steve, can we talk about this later?" Jason pushed his way past him, going through some drawers.
"What are you looking for?" Steve asked, curious.
"Uh...saran wrap and duct tape," Jason grabbed the saran wrap out of a drawer, continuing to look for the duct tape until Steve tossed it too him, very confused. Damian and Jason went into Damian's temporary bedroom, closing the door behind them.
"Alright Damian, this is kind of going to hurt, alright?" Jason looked at the young boy, who rolled his eyes. Jason quickly popped the wrist back in place, and Damian bit a pillow. Jason then set to work fixing up a cast so it would heal. "Try not to use this hand too much for a few weeks, but you can probably take the cast off tomorrow."
"Alright, I was going to take you for some ice-cream or something, but I guess we might have to-"
"I'll bet Tony could direct you to some," Damian rolled his eyes, a common thing at this point, and rested his injured arm on the edge of the couch.
"Yeah, uh...good thinking, then." Jason nodded, going out into the living room once again. Steve and Tony were talking in hushed voices, but stopped when they noticed Jason. "Hey, do you think we could have some ice-cream or something...?"
"Sure, I'll get you some." Steve stood up. "What was the saran wrap and duct-tape for anyways?"
"Nothing important," Jason shrugged, playing it off as if Damian hadn't been hurt.
"Alright, well, I have to ask, when will you guys be leaving?" Steve asked, curious.
"Honestly, whenever Damian stops being a brat," Jason watched as Steve not only scooped the ice-cream for them, but placed sprinkles on top. Everything the man did was just...so much different than what Jason was used to. People usually didn't want Jason around, yet Steve, and even Tony, didn't seem to mind the young boy being around.
"You know, you're both welcome to stay as long as you want." Steve informed him.
"Well, I've got to get Damian back to Bruce," Jason looked down.
"You're not going back with Bruce?" Steve suddenly asked.
"It's not that he doesn't want me around, it's just...I don't really fit in. Bruce is great and all, and he loves me and I know that, but...Bruce is just...Bruce. Every time I'm over there, it's a stupid lecture about how I'm not being responsible enough. Yet he was too late. Five minutes too late, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive him for..." Jason shook his head.
"For what?" Steve asked worriedly.
"I can't tell you." Jason frowned. He took the bowls of ice-cream back towards where Damian was waiting on the couch, leaving Steve to ponder his words.
Damian sniffed it, as if trying to figure out if it was poisoned or not. Jason rolled his eyes, digging right into his own bowl. "Wanna watch a movie?" Jason asked, his mouth partially full of ice-cream.
"I just watched a movie with Steve," Damian retorted. Jason once again felt another pang of...well, it was either guilt or jealousy, he wasn't sure which. Maybe it was a bit of both? How long had his brother even known Steve? 3 days? Okay, sure, it wasn't like Jason really knew Damian for more than 2 months or so, well, okay, scratch that, 5 months, but the better half of those five months were spent with Damian thinking Jason was evil. In Jason's defense, he only killed the bad guys! He still only killed the bad guys...
"Well, what else do you want to do then?" Jason was trying desperately to get back on his brother's good side so they could go home. Well, that and he kind of felt bad for everything he'd done already.
"I think I'm going to go to sleep." Damian announced, making Jason's heart deflate.
"Okay then, I'll uh...leave you be then..." Jason left the room.
Steve couldn't help but notice Jason's upset look as he exited Damian's room. Jason's words almost stung. What had Bruce been five minutes late for that could possibly have had such a dramatic affect on Jason?
"Hey," Steve walked up to Jason. Jason simply glared at the man before shoving past him. Steve stared after him dumbfounded. What had him so upset? Was it something that Damian had said or something? He guessed so, as neither brother ever seemed to run out of bad rep for the other.
Tony looked over at the news. This 'red helmet' figure had come back again. Dang it, Steve was right. This time, the guy seemed a bit more violent. And by a bit, he meant that all the perps had been found dead.
Then the news person's eyes widened. "I've just received news that the man in the red helmet has been spotted at a warehouse just off the east side of town-" Tony stopped listening. He looked up.
"JARVIS, please tell the Avengers to meet me in the jet." Tony spoke out.
"Of course, sir." The A.I. replied.
Tony made his way up, the Ironman suit now encasing his body. Everyone was already waiting for him, though Banner seemed nervous.
"Do you think Hulk will be needed for this one?" The scientist asked. Tony shook his head, and Banner let out a sigh of relief. "Well, tell me how it goes, call me if anything goes south, and you know where to find me." Banner walked back into the building.
"We will." Tony assured him as he was leaving. "Alright, we've got to hurry."
"What exactly are we doing?" Nat cut him off.
"Remember that red helmet dude from earlier?" Tony asked Steve as they boarded the jet. Steve nodded. "Well, it turns out you were right. Seven perps were found dead in some warehouse, and the guy's said to have been spotted in another warehouse on the East side." Tony explained.
"I see," Thor stroked his beard lightly. "So, are we to take him prisoner or discuss him becoming an Avenger?"
"He isn't becoming an Avenger. We'll try talking to him though, but we might have to put this guy behind bars if everything turns bad." Steve replied.
"Which, for us, probably means we're going to end up putting him in prison." Clint rolled his eyes, and Steve sent him a glare.
"I hate to interrupt, but we're here." Tony began to lower the jet. Everyone got ready as the jet graced the ground with it's presence. The jet must have gotten Tony's ego as a built-in program.
The five went out, Clint armed with an arrow, Tony with his hand outstretched, Thor held his hammer, Steve had his shield, and of course Nat was just as qualified as a person as much as she was qualified to kick butt.
There were plenty of gunshots, which probably meant they were in the right place. Or if not, they were at least going to be stopping something big. "Ironman, you and Thor are going to make sure this guy doesn't get out through a window or any back doors." Steve looked to the two, who both nodded.
"Hawkeye, Black Widow, you're with me. We're going in," They also nodded, as Thor and Ironman flew off to go back to their duties.
Red Hood wasn't in a good mood. Not only was Damian being a total brat, but he'd come across a group of human traffickers. He let the last shot go to the boss of this little group. As he was about to leave, he heard a somewhat familiar voice.
"Stop!" It was a command. Jason didn't like commands, either. He slowly turned around, guns still raised. There stood three people, a man wearing a very patriotic styled suit, a guy who looked almost like a purple Green Arrow, but instead of a hood and domino mask, it was a much weirder mask that he honestly couldn't describe even if he'd wanted to. The third was a woman with fiery red hair, and an even more fiery expression written across her face. She wore all black, and Jason immediately recognized her as the most potent threat with the way she held herself.
"Who are you?" Red Hood scoffed. The apparent leader looked surprised.
"Y-" He cut himself off, apparently deciding that it wasn't worth it. "We're the Avengers, I am Captain America."
"Hawkeye," Purple Green Arrow spoke up, an arrow aimed at Jason's chest.
"Black Widow," The girl frowned as if she didn't like the idea of fraternizing with him.
"Well, I'm Red Hood, and if you'll excuse me-"
"We just want to talk," Captain America cut him off.
"That's what they all say," Jason was rolling his eyes, though he knew they couldn't tell. Before any of them could react, he sent out a warning shot. Black Widow was the first to advance, her eyes focused and determined.
The two of them were locked into battle before either Captain America nor Hawkeye even knew what was going on. Jason and Black Widow looked almost like they were very aggressively dancing. Every time Red Hood threw a punch, or kick, Black Widow would block it. The same thing went for her attacks. That is until Black Widow finally got the upper hand, and Red Hood was suddenly in a headlock. Yet it wasn't finished yet as Jason managed to twist his body to the right angle to where he slipped out from her grasp.
Black Widow let out a soft growl of frustration before engaging once again. "Well don't just stand there!" She didn't take her eyes off of Red Hood as she yelled at her teammates to help her out.
Jason suddenly found himself outmatched. Though he continued to be able to block Black Widow's attacks, he couldn't block all of them at once, especially since any time he would go to block any of the others, Black Widow spotted the opportunity and got a solid good punch or two before he was able to keep blocking her. He couldn't access any of his weapons either, as the three of them had him so busy blocking he wasn't even able to get any punches in, much less reach into his jacket to grab a knife or anything.
Suddenly a miracle happened. As Jason spotted Cap's shield coming towards him, he managed to use it to bounce out of the corner the three had him trapped in. Using the surprise to his advantage, he pushed Hawkeye into Black Widow. He could maybe take on two alright, but he didn't want to seriously hurt any of these people, as he could remember something about the Avenger's being this world's heroes.
Which meant knocking one of them out was his best option. Personally, he'd have opted for Black Widow, but he knew she was going to be a bit harder to take out simply because of how her skill set seemed to almost match his. They were ready to attack again, having gotten out of the momentary confusion.
Jason grabbed out his gun with the rubber bullets this time. He shot at Captain America, though Cap's shield managed to bounce them off with absolutely no effort. Then before he even knew what was happening, that same shield was heading straight for his face, and he didn't have enough time to duck.
Clank!
The sound of metal banging on metal hurt Jason's head, mostly because his head had been encased in one of those metals. His mask was torn, bad. He ripped it off, thankful that he still had the domino mask underneath.
"You have a mask under your other mask?" Hawkeye stated, lunching an arrow at his leg, which Jason was thankfully able to lean just enough that it barely skimmed the edge of his pants.
"You don't?" Jason replied, frowning. He glanced at the window, knowing that he had to make a run for it. Black Widow seemed to catch on though as she stepped closer to the window, so Jason made the logical decision and ran out the door.
The three didn't seem to think he'd do that as they had seemed to hesitate a moment before chasing after him. Their loss, because if Jason had learned anything from Bruce, it was how to run as quietly as possible and how to stay hidden in the shadows. He'd managed to make a turn that the others didn't seem to catch, thankfully, and clambered into the air vents. He'd wait here for a few minutes at least, that way he could make sure he'd actually lost them.
"Dang it!" Nat hissed. They'd been looking for about half an hour. Thor and Tony had stated that he hadn't gone out of the building yet, so he had to be around somewhere.
"Maybe we should split up?" Clint suggested.
"No," Nat frowned. "I think that's what he wants. If we split up, he'll have no problem taking us out, especially if he manages to sneak up on us. You saw how well he was holding up, even with all three of us."
"True..." Steve sighed. "What do you suggest?"
"Well, you could just ask nicely." All three of them, including Nat, jumped at the voice. It was Red Hood himself, walking out of the shadows as if that was what he was made of. The three Avengers got into a fighting stance, and Red Hood copied. He let out a smirk, which worried them. "I've got a bomb hidden somewhere in the building. Now, it could be beneath our feet, or it could be all the way on the other side of the building, the point is, are you really going to risk it?"
"What do you want?" Steve growled, a death stare locked onto the Red Hood.
"Simple. Call of the two fly-boys outside, I walk out of here, and the bomb doesn't go off." Red Hood flipped one of the guns in his hands. "Or, you know, we could always test it out."
"It isn't beneath our feet, you wouldn't risk hurting yourself in the process." Nat deduced, a calculating glare focused on the man.
"Maybe, maybe not. You see, I've already been to the other side, and I'm not scared to go back. So," He pulled out a trigger. "What's it going to be?"
"You aren't walking out of here," Steve gripped his shield tighter. Red Hood placed his thumb over the button, his head tilted to the side.
"You know, there might still be a few people alive down there. Are you really going to risk it?" Nat knew Red Hood was messing with them. He'd killed all the people that had been in the warehouse, probably with no questions asked. Yet, Steve lowered his head.
"Fine, but this isn't over." Steve sighed, his tense shoulders falling loosely to the sides.
"Oh, of course it isn't." Red Hood walked towards a window. "It never is,"
Tony sounded surprised when he found out they were going to let him go, but didn't argue once he found out there was a bomb. Steve was about to go check and see if anyone was still alive, but Nat stopped him.
"They were all head-shots, Rogers. He knows what he's doing."
Steve looked torn, but nodded as he followed her out the building, Clint not far behind them. Almost the second they'd gotten outside, the bomb went off, and most of the building went up in smithereens.
"He really wasn't bluffing..." Clint muttered.