Bait
"OW!"
"Master Kaden, you shouldn't feel anything," Alfred chided softly as Bruce diligently stitched his muscles together.
"Yea, well, how about this? OW," he snarled. In all honesty, Kaden should have been anesthetized, but he was being stubborn and said he could handle it. The knife wasn't simple to pull out; it was cut in a way that made it go in easily while causing maximum damage to the muscles and blood vessels. Taking the knife out the same way it went in would cause more damage and would kill Kaden as every edge was shaped a little differently. It had taken two hours as Bruce and Alfred had to work in tandem to carefully wiggle the three inches embedded in Kaden's shoulder without causing permanent damage to it.
When Bruce could finally look at the weapon closer, the knife had a six-inch blade that retracted into the handle by snapping the handles apart and closing them around the blade. The weapon alone was a piece of art; the slim profile was perfect for an assassin.
"All right, Kaden, you're good as new," Bruce said as he applied the antibiotic and a bandage to his shoulder. "No gymnastics for a month at least while that heals."
"WHAT?! What do you mean no gymnastics?!" Kaden said in disbelief.
"Try picking up a pencil and writing."
Kaden grasped a pencil with his right hand and could feel the torn muscles in his shoulders whine in protest. Oh shit, oh shit. If it whined now, he could only imagine the pain once the anesthetic wore off. He was ambidextrous, but he did prefer to write with his right hand; it was easier at school as most desks are oriented for right-handed people. Oh shit, this was going to be a bucket of fun.
He dropped the pencil in defeat and let his grandpa wrap his arm in a sling. Bruce hugged him gently. "How about you let your Uncle Tim help you change upstairs and we get some tea? I can hear your parents fighting in the locker room." Kaden nodded, too tired to argue.
"I'm going to kill him!" Jason shouted, storming into the locker room with Dick hot on his heels. The latter had changed back into civilian clothes, and Jason had just gotten back. He'd stayed out a bit longer to hunt for the assassins; someone had to pay for stabbing his kid. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a trace of them and came back to the Cave. Angry.
"Jaybird, calm down. Kaden's okay, there's no reason for you to be so upset," Dick replied, grabbing the man's arm. Jason snorted and shoved the man off of him, shooting him a glare.
"No reason to be upset?! How about he disobeyed me and nearly got himself fucking killed!"
"That's the point Jason! Your son is fucking injured and blowing your lid on him won't help!" Dick shouted back. Jason's jaw worked in frustration as his fists clenched and unclenched at his side. He poked Dick in the chest, shooting him another glare.
"Fine! I'll hug him first, and then I'll kill him. How about that?" he snapped and marched to the medical bay. Dick growled in frustration, jogged to keep up and grabbed Jason by his arm.
"Let me talk to him first.
"Dick-"
"Jason. Let me handle it first. You need time to calm down. Go," Dick ordered. Jason glared at the man, but it held no weight behind it. With a defeated sigh, Jason raked a hand through his hair and threw his arms up in defeat.
"Fine. Fine, you're right. But I'm still gonna rip him a new one," Jason warned. Dick chuckled in amusement and pressed a kiss to the man's jaw.
"Go on. Get changed, then come upstairs to get some tea, and calm down," Dick said smoothly. Jason gave a curt, angry nod and turned back towards the lockers, to change into civilian clothes. Dick sighed deeply and raked his hands through his hair. After more than sixteen years together, he could see through Jason; beneath his anger was fear and worry. He was angry at Kaden for disobeying him, but scared and worried because his boy nearly lost his life tonight. For Jason, it was just easier to be angry.
Dick spotted Kaden heading for the stairs, which was not a good idea; he had received too many injuries to take the stairs by himself. He jogged up to the teen and stopped him, placing a hand on his good shoulder. Kaden glanced up at Dick and flashed a fake smile; he was in pain, that much was obvious. Dick was pretty good at reading people.
"Kaden, we have to talk," Dick said evenly, guiding the teen toward a workbench at the back of the Cave as he sat on a stool next to his son. Kaden heaved a sigh and toed at his boots.
"I already know what you're going to say. I should've listened to Dad, stayed in the Cave, and I screwed up," Kaden murmured in a disappointed tone, unable to look at his papa. Dick sighed and patted the teen's back gingerly.
"Well, I can't really disagree with any of that," Dick said evenly, gently grabbing the boy's jaw and coaxing him into looking at him. "You scared the shit out of all of us tonight, Kaden, especially your dad." Kaden sighed again and pushed away from the bench, pacing a little. Dick turned in the stool and just watched him.
"I just…everyone's always trying to protect me. I just want-"
"To prove yourself? To prove you can handle yourself?" Dick asked amused, because that's pretty much what Jason would've said. Kaden glanced over at the man and frowned. Dick chuckled in amusement, raising his hands defensively.
"Sorry. Go on," he said. Kaden smirked a little and gave a shrug.
"I just want him to be proud of me." That caught Dick's attention. He got to his feet and gently grabbed Kaden's arm, pulling him into a hug.
"Little Wing, whatever made you think he wasn't?" Dick asked. Kaden huffed and carefully pushed away from the man, signaling an end to the contact. Once again, Kaden found he couldn't look at Dick and he shrugged.
"Because he's always so…protective. So-"
"Hard on you?"
"Yeah."
"Baby Bird, it's because he loves you," Dick explained, gently wrapping an arm around his shoulders and leading him toward the stairs. "He's hard on you because he wants a better life for you than what he had."
"Yeah. I…I guess I never thought of that."
"Of course you haven't. I know that at your age, you think you know everything," Dick joked, earning a slight laugh from Kaden, "but you don't. Your dad might not say it, but he is proud of you Kaden." Kaden glanced up at the man curiously and Dick gave a smirk.
"He is?"
"Oh yeah. Your dad never finished high school; here you are in your junior year, already applying to colleges. Trust me Kaden, he's proud of you.
Kaden leaned into his papa with a slight smile, partly to snuggle and partly to get some weight off the bruises, scrapes and other injuries that were mostly on his right side. Dick stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and without warning lifted Kaden into his arms.
"Heeeeeey, PAPA! I'm not five!" Kaden protested.
"Oh, I know, but you are injured head-to-toe. Now shut up and enjoy the ride," Dick chuckled. Kaden harrumphed but snuggled into Dick's arms nonetheless as the two made their way up the stairs to get some much needed tea.
Jason had been putting on his boots when Dick had been talking to his son. He hadn't heard much due to how far the lockers were from the stairs, but he had heard, "PAPA! I'm not five!" which prompted him to hop on one foot and peek around the corner from the lockers and at the stairs. He couldn't decide whether to laugh or coo (wait, the Arkham Knight DOES NOT coo) as he watched his husband lift his injured son like he still weighed nothing. Okay, maybe he wouldn't rip Kaden a new one. Maybe he'd just lecture him.
In the den, everyone had made themselves comfortable. Kaden took the smaller couch to himself. He was in a pair of pajamas he kept at the Manor (Dick had insisted when he helped change Kaden into civilian clothes), had one ice pack on his right shoulder and another on his lower right leg which had gotten beat up in practice and in the field plus a hot water bottle on his left thigh which wouldn't stop spasming. He'd been given a muscle relaxant in the Cave, but Bruce and Alfred said it'd be twenty minutes before it'd start working and he'd probably get drowsy. Dammit, he hated feeling drowsy when he wanted to be awake. He was already feeling tired. Tch, twenty minutes my ass.
Tim, Jason and Dick sat on the bigger couch across from the fireplace. Damian sat in the big green chair to the left of the fireplace that basically became his when he moved to the Manor all those years ago and Bruce sat in the chair to the right of the fireplace, next to Kaden. In the middle, a dark walnut coffee table boasted a fine china set and a few family photo albums. They were on their first cup of tea and no one said anything until Bruce poured his second cup of tea.
Bruce sipped his tea and considered how to begin carefully. After another silent moment, he looked around the room with a serious look on his face.
"I couldn't contact Talia," he said evenly. Everyone perked up at the news, especially Kaden.
"She didn't answer?" Kaden asked. Bruce shook his head. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Not just that. Every conceivable method I know of to contact her has either failed or been ignored," Bruce answered. A grim silence fell over the room; nobody was sure what to make of the news. But if Talia was out of contact, and the League was here in the city-
"I think Kaden was the League's target," Damian chimed in suddenly. That drew everyone's attention, especially Jason who was literally at the edge of his seat. When no one else spoke, Damian continued. "The League's sudden retreat was right after Dick escaped with Kaden. That plus the fact that he was the only one they injured, the fact that the assassins kept blocking us from getting to him, and now this? I don't think Mother is in charge, so that just leaves-"
"Ra's Al Ghul," Bruce finished.
"But why? Why would Ra's want to kill my son?" Jason asked, both angry and confused. Kaden looked back and forth between them, at a loss, especially because his mind was starting to feel fuzzy. Who was Ra's Al Ghul? He couldn't remember ever having heard that name before, and more importantly, why would he want to kill him?! He involuntarily yawned, tried to shake off how tired he was. Stay awake, Todd-Grayson, you want to know who this Ra's Al Ghul is. Stay awake...
"If you recall how much I used to…dislike…Kaden years ago, well just imagine grandfather. It's likely he believes Kaden's existence is an affront to his legacy."
All of them looked silently towards Kaden, who was struggling to stay awake, concern written on their faces, especially his parents. Jason walked over to Kaden, sat on the edge of the couch and pushed his son's hair behind his ears, lulling him to sleep. He preferred his son to be asleep so he could recover and not hear this conversation. Kaden struggled against the medication, the day's events and Jason's warm soothing touch; he wanted to know what was going on but Jason knew him too well. A few more soothing strokes and his son was asleep. He continued to stroke his son's hair for a few more minutes before he took off the ice packs and the hot water bottle, then picked him up and mouthed, "One minute," and brought Kaden up to bed.
Dick smiled as he watched Kaden be carried out of the room, "If only it were that easy to fall asleep. Too many aches these days.
"Tt, you mean hip replacements, Grayson," Damian scoffed. Dick lifted an eyebrow like Damian had no idea what he was talking about. His hip replacements made life easier and less painful. He had to take a year off crime fighting when Kaden was fourteen for both surgeries, but damn were those hip replacements worth it. Now, back replacements...he could use one of those. His back hated him in the mornings.
"I have just one question," Jason said seriously as he walked back into the den and sitting next to Dick on the end of the couch, "How did Kaden get out of the Manor wearing his Robin uniform with the Batcycle?" He looked pointedly at Bruce, who had been in the Cave the entire night and would have heard both Kaden suiting up and, for all intents and purposes, stealing the Batcycle.
Bruce glanced over at Jason, knowing that this particular question was coming. He glanced over at Alfred who'd just entered the room with an elegant brow arched as their eyes met briefly, before Bruce turned his attention back on Jason. Jason wasn't going to like his answer. Not one bit. He let loose an exasperated sigh, scrubbing his face with his hands.
"I allowed him to leave," Bruce said. Jason felt his jaw tighten slightly, his brow furrow as he looked at the man who just said he allowed Kaden to put himself in harm's way.
"And why did you do that?" he gritted out. Dick looked back and forth between Jason and Bruce. Damian sat in his chair passively, waiting to hear the explanation; Tim, wide-eyed, got up to leave.
"Okay, I'm gonna take that as my cue to go. Good night," Tim said calmly. Shit was about to hit the fan and he didn't want to be involved in any part of it. Bruce listened for the front door to close firmly before turning his attention back to Jason.
"Like Damian, when I couldn't contact Talia, I suspected it had something to do with Kaden. So I allowed him to leave to test my theory," Bruce admitted. Dick stared at him wide-eyed and slack-jawed before he quickly turned his gaze on Jason, who looked completely calm. Uh-oh. Not good. Jason's jaw worked a bit as he pushed himself up onto his feet, pacing back and forth a little. Dick could see him trying to count backwards but it definitely wasn't working. Then he stopped and stared at Bruce.
"Testing a theory?" he echoed. Bruce didn't answer but locked eyes with his son. Jason continued staring. His hands tightened into fists then as he repeated, "Testing a theory?"
"Jaybird-" Dick said softly, but Jason held up a hand and silenced him.
"You were testing a fucking theory?" Jason said, his voice slowly rising as his anger built. Bruce gave a curt nod and folded his hands in front of his face.
"I had to be sure. I had to know if he was the League's target so we could prepare and better protect him," Bruce answered.
"You used my son as bait, you bastard!" Jason shouted, throwing a right hook punch at Bruce and nailing him in the face. The entire chair tilted to the left, nearly spilling Bruce in front of the fireplace, and Jason stormed out of the room. Bruce groaned, rubbing his jaw as he looked around the room. Dick glared at him before he followed after Jason. Damian snorted and shook his head as he carefully examined the knife Bruce had pulled out of Kaden. Bruce glanced up at Alfred who gave him an uninterested look.
"I'd say you had that coming, Master Bruce."
