Authors Note
I feel like I'm going to hit a wall sometime soon. But I need to power through! Messages about the story are always appreciated, as are reviews. :) Please note that there will be some dark themes, offensive language and death in my story.
WARNING: There's gonna be a little violence in this chapter again. I'm going to try being a little more vague. Also, there will be a spoiler or two for the movie musical Chicago.
Side note, the song Cullen will be singing along to in this chapter is Bed by Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande. In case anybody is interested.
City of Crime
1x4
Baby's First Murder
One week after the death of his mother, Jason was getting used to his new schedule. He'd spend his days sleeping in late, visiting Cullen and eating various forms of takeout food at Dicks apartment. Then at night, he'd sneak out to go to Mooneys, where the woman had promised to train him in the various things that set someone for life in their line of work. The first thing he was learning how to do, was properly fight. Mooney had decided that after his hostage situation, he would need to know how to fight his way out of a situation, so Waylon was teaching him the ways. Luckily the bullet hadn't hit bone by some miracle, so his shoulder was healing quickly but it still hurt like hell when the reptilian male knocked him down for being too slow.
Everybody had a different reaction to his new hair color. Dick had immediately demanded where he'd gotten hair dye, to which Jason replied a friend. It was enough that Dick didn't press further but he did tell him to not leave the apartment again without him. Like that was going to happen. Cullen decided that Jason was trying to imitate him, Harper was under the impression it was a way for him to cope with everything and Iri figured he just wanted a change. He had decided not to tell his friends about his mothers death. They had their own problems to deal with after all. Cullen had been beaten into a hospital and Iri dealing with some 'boy problems'.
As he entered the side entrance to Mooneys on Friday, Jason realized he was starting to feel guilty. Not only had he not gone to school all week, but he was keeping things from his friends and lying to Dick, who was really just trying to protect him at the end of the day. Pushing the thoughts away, he made his way through the back hallways until he reached the makeshift training room set up near the back of the building. It was really just a garage that had everything shoved to one side and a training mat set up in the middle. Waylon was already there waiting for him.
"Hey kid." The man greeted him. After being exposed to him so often, Jason was finally becoming more comfortable with Waylons appearance. However, his almost glowing yellow eyes still unnerved him. "How's the shoulder today?"
"The same as yesterday." Jason replied, reaching up with his good arm to take off the sling and dropping it to the ground.
"I'd say it should be fully healed within the next week or two. Didn't hit bone or any important things right?" When Jason nodded, Waylon continued. "You'll just have to keep favoring your right side."
"I know." Unzipping his hoodie with mild difficulty and tossing it to the side, Jason stepped onto the training mat and started doing the stretches he'd been taught. It was kind of amusing to him. In a real fight, they wouldn't have time to stretch but his teacher was insistent on him doing them anyway.
"The cop figured it out yet?" Waylon joined him on the mat, beginning his own stretches.
"Don't think so." Jason honestly didn't know. Dick was adamant about him not leaving without him, but he'd caught the older male looking at him suspiciously whenever he got out of bed after noon. "Not like it matters. Nobodies looking for me in the Narrows."
"The bosses people aren't. But Maroni has been sending his guys through lately." Leaning backwards, the reptilian male let out a sigh as his back cracked. "I'll start sending a car for you."
"Because that's so much stealthier." With a scoff, Jason shook his limbs out.
"I can't wait for you to work with Kathie. She'll sort out that mouth of yours." The deep chuckle from Waylon unnerved Jason a little, especially considering the gleam in his eyes.
Jason jumped backwards to avoid a swipe from Waylons clawed hand, gritting his teeth as his shoulder protested the sudden movement. The behemoth of a man was much faster than Jason had expected and the first time they'd done this, Waylons first strike had sent Jason on his butt before he even realized his elder had moved. Waylon smiled at his dodge and stepped forward. Jason ducked under the punch aimed at where his head had been before sidestepping another swipe from his teacher.
"Good." Waylon brought both hands towards each other on either side of Jason and the boy jumped back again out of his reach. "On most bigger guys, dodging their attacks to tire them out is a great idea. But what do you do when they have a lot of stamina?"
Jason's eyes widened as Waylon lunged towards him and barely managed to get out of the way of the charging beast. However, Waylon stopped short and swung his fist out in an arc towards Jason. Leaning his head back, Jason felt the air pushed by the giant fist brush his face then grunted as Waylons open palm of his other hand slammed into his chest. Falling to the ground, Jason rolled to the side with a gasp of pain as Waylon moved to stomp on him and quickly found his way back to his feet. Eyeing Waylons exposed knee, Jason lurched forward and tried to kick the back of his leg to bring him down. But Waylon caught his leg and chuckled, casually lifting it a little higher to make Jason hop around to stay upright.
"Very good. The answer is, exploit their openings. On a big guy like me, you always go for the legs or if you get the chance, their head. Do everything you can to get a big guy off of his feet as quickly as possible. As soon as they're down, you bash their head in until they stop fighting back." Waylon let his leg go and Jason re-balanced himself. "And remember, there are no rules about fighting so fight dirty. Everything is a weapon and anything goes. You gotta remember, it's either you or your opponent so kicking a guy in the nuts or pulling a girls hair isn't going to make you any less of a person if they're trying to kill you."
"What about if they have a gun?" Jason asked, his chest roaring from where Waylons hand had impacted moments before.
"Generally you'll want to find cover and get them disarmed as quick as you can. But we'll go over that later." Waylon smirked. "First, you've gotta take me down."
"Let's go then." Jason stated before springing forward to go on the attack.
Needless to say, Jason didn't manage to get the big guy down. Though he did get a few good shots in and almost managed to throw him off his balance. They had trained for some time before one of Mooneys guys came and told them to go see her in the office. So, covered in sweat and with a few new bruises, Jason followed the hulking form of his teacher through the hallways to Mooneys office. Jason moved to sit in one of the chairs at her desk while Waylon elected to keep standing. The boy assumed it was because Waylon couldn't fit in any of the chairs. The hulking male could barely fit through the doorways.
"You boys look like you've been working hard." Mooney observed. In front of her on the desk was a folder. Her eyes went to Waylon as she continued speaking. "How's he doing?"
"Better than I thought he would. Kid's a natural. Bit of a savage to be honest." As the words left Waylons mouth, Jason felt pride swell up in his chest and he couldn't help but smile. At least he was doing something right.
"Good. That's good." Mooney nodded slowly before opening the folder and turning it over so that the two of them could read it. There was the picture of a man who looked a little older than Jason in it. "This is Xclamation. He gave himself a cute little name and thinks that he can make moves in my territory because of it."
"Seriously?" Waylon replied, amusement clear in his voice. "Last I heard, he doesn't even have any people behind him."
"All he has is a couple of cousins but he still likes to talk a big game." There was an edge to Mooneys tone that Jason hadn't heard before. "Since he likes running his mouth so much, I'd like the two of you to go and have a little discussion with him."
"Are you sure?" The words were out of Jason's mouth before he knew what was happening and he chuckled nervously as Mooney raised an eyebrow. "It's just, I'm still recovering."
"If I didn't believe you were up to this, I wouldn't be sending you." Not for the first time, Mooney reminded Jason of his mother. Her tone was just like his parent when she was trying to encourage him. "Besides, it's just a discussion with an extremely low level thug. Waylon will keep you safe.."
"Persuasive or passive?" Waylon asked, confusing Jason.
"Passive preferably. According to Katherine, the GCPD thinks Willis is hiding out in the Narrows and are sniffing about." Mooney took note of the anger that flashed in Jasons eyes at the mention of his father and she shook her head. "There's no evidence that he's even here."
"We'll get going then boss." Waylon stated, tapping Jason on the shoulder. "C'mon kid."
"Jason?" The boy stopped halfway from standing up, looking at the woman with raised eyebrows. "Remember, facepaint."
Nodding, Jason followed Waylon out of the office. He felt his nerves starting to prick up, particularly around his shoulder but ignored them and focused on the mans back. He wasn't going to screw up this time, mostly because he'd rather not get shot again.
Iri stumbled out of Mooneys, alcohol making the edges of her vision somewhat blurry. Her head felt extremely heavy but light at the same time and the ground wouldn't stay in one place whenever she moved. It seemed that she was drunk. As she lurched forward, she felt a reassuring hand on her back then another on her shoulder and swung her head around to look at Roy. He was watching her with concern clear in his green eyes and she resisted the urge to roll her own. It irritated her to no end that he'd decided to stick around in Gotham for some reason and that she had to play house with him to appease her mother.
"Definitely time to get you home." Roy stated, steadying her as she stumbled again.
"Nonsense." Iri waved her hand dismissively and started to walk down the street. "We've got s'much to do."
"Babe, you're hammered." Roy said, eyes widening as Iri spun around to glare at him.
"I'm not your babe!" She growled, narrowing her eyes. "Go back to Star City."
"Come on." Roy reached out to grab her arm but she snatched it back.
"No!" She knew people were watching her but she didn't care. Losing her balance as she stepped away from Roy, she fell flat on her butt and clenched her fists angrily. "Dammit Roy!"
"Iri?" A familiar voice said and she looked over to see Jason standing in an alleyway. His face looked weird and she squinted at him. Was he wearing face paint?
"Jason!" She struggled back to her feet, with some help from Roy, and bounded over to her friend. She threw her arms around him in an enthusiastic hug. "What're you doing here?"
"I uh..." Jason seemed to look for words to say and she pulled away to look at him expectantly. "I'm just heading to a costume party with another friend."
"Oh?" Iri looked around, seeing a large shadow standing further into the alley. "That him?"
"Yeah..." Iri caught Jason glancing at Roy who was at her side before speaking again. "You should get her home."
"I'm trying." Roy grumbled, once again taking Iri by the arm. "C'mon Iri."
"Don't touch me!" Iri exclaimed, throwing herself out of Roys grasp and falling into Jasons.
Everything started to go blurry and things around her began to become muffled. She wasn't sure how it happened, but the next time she was able to focus was when she was being lowered into her bed. Looking up at Roy, she squinted at the male.
"Cuddles?"
The word came out and she watched a myriad of emotions go over the males face. Slowly he got into the bed with her and wrapped one of his muscular arms around her. Hugging the limb to herself, Iri smiled as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
Jason followed Waylon up the stairs towards the third floor where Xclamations apartment awaited them. The entire car ride, Jason had needed to block out his teacher due to the fact Waylon seemed to think it was funny to taunt him about his friends. A punching bag and a drunken mess. He focused on literally everything else so he wouldn't say anything and was honestly surprised that he'd managed to hold himself back. Maybe what Dick had been talking about was actually a good thing after all? Not that if he hit Waylon it would actually do anything except annoy him.
When they reached the apartment, Waylon casually opened the door. Three men were seated on a couch in the lounge and all of them stood up in surprise as they walked in, with Waylon casually leaning against the wall while folding his arms over his chest.
"What the-?" Xclamation exclaimed. Ironic. "Who are you?"
"Mooney's sent us to have a little conversation about the downside of trying to take territory in the Narrows without permission." Waylon said, sounding awfully cheerful.
"Hey man, thats the Killer Croc." One of the men informed Xclamation and Jason raised his eyebrows. It was actually a pretty accurate nickname. "I ain't in this to end up eaten."
The tension in the room was palpable and before Jason knew what was happening, the men had drawn guns on them. Waylon moved like a blur and tackled two of them straight through a wall into an adjoining room while the last one pointed his gun at Jason. The sounds of a struggle in the other room were clear, but the man was watching Jason intently.
"Damn man, you're just a kid." The man eyed him. "What they hell is up with your face? Is that paint?"
Jason watched the gun and suddenly felt something well up inside his chest before it overwhelmed him. His heart beat faster and he lunged forward, managing to cross the room and slam his shoulder into the man before he could react. The gun disappeared and Jason threw himself on top of the man. As he looked down at the mans face, he was shocked to find the face of the Italian who had shot him instead. Panic overtook him and he punched the man in the face as hard as he could.
Then again.
And again.
And again.
"Kid."
Again.
Keep.
Going.
Until.
"Kid!"
They.
Stop.
Fighting.
"JASON!"
Back.
Jason drew up his fist to throw another punch and found that his wrist had been grabbed. Looking up at the culprit with frenzied eyes, Jason frowned in confusion as he recognized Waylon. Wait, what was going on? Slowly he looked down to where the Italian was lying, but found Xclamations man's face instead. Or at least, what was left of his face. Waylon released his wrist and Jason looked down at his hands. They were covered in blood. His knuckles were sore. His shoulder was screaming in protest.
"W-wh-" He tried, but the words wouldn't form. "I... is-"
"He's dead." Waylon stated. "They're all dead. Not how Fish wanted this to go, but at least they're out of the game. Good job kid."
Good job!? Jason scrambled backwards off of the man until his back hit the wall. He could see Waylons lips moving but he couldn't hear anything. His breaths were coming fast, but he felt like he wasn't breathing. His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. He didn't mean to... His eyes began to dart around, unfocused and he grabbed his head in his hands. It was an accident. He slid down to the ground and curled up, trying desperately to understand what had just happened. At some point he blacked out. When he finally came to, he realized he was in the back of a car speeding... somewhere.
What was going on?
"YOU WHAT!?"
Fish grabbed her bat with both hands and slammed it as hard as she could into the shoulder of Waylon, who seemed to be barely inconvenienced by it. In fact, judging from the look on his face, he was more hurt by the fact that she was angry with him instead of that she'd just assaulted him.
"The GCPD were at the door and the kid was having a panic attack-" Waylon stopped talking as Mooneys open palm impacted against his face.
"Of course he was freaking out! It was his first kill. Not only that, but he was left alone with an armed person less than a week after being shot!" Mooney back handed the male for good measure. "Idiot!
"Would you rather I had been caught with the kid?" The anger in Waylons tone made Mooney raise both eyebrows. Really? He was going to talk back to her?
"What is it with my lieutenants and losing the key to my plans!?" She screamed, storming over to her desk to pick up her phone. Dialing in Katherines number, she waited through two rings until the other line picked up. "The cops have Jason again. Go get him."
Hanging up before the other woman could respond, Fish wheeled back around to glare at Waylon. His head was down and he stared at the floor, shoulders hunched and a look of utter distress on his deformed face. She felt her anger soften for a moment, remembering when she'd pulled the ugly little boy off the streets and given him a job out of what kindness remained in her heart twenty years ago. Then she recalled the fact Jason was out of her grasp again and the anger flared back up.
"You had better hope Katherine can get that boy out, or I'm going to peel off your scales one by one then bathe you in acid."
Ellen stepped into the crime scene, immediately spotting the first body and letting her disgust show clearly on her face. Kneeling down beside it, she studied what was left of the face. It was, for lack of a better term, a mess. Blood covered every last inch of the remaining entanglement of bones and flesh, as well as soiling the carpet surrounding it. She heard the heavy footsteps of her partner approaching and ignored his irritatingly high pitched whistle that followed.
"Jeez, somebody wasn't happy with him." He stated, tapping Ellen on the shoulder with the report file.
"There's obviously some kind of pent up rage behind it." Ellen nodded, taking the file.
As she skimmed the contents, Harvey entered the next room and another whistle assaulted her ears. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she took in the information written down about the three victims. All members of an upstart crew led by a man named Xclamation, now deceased. There were clear indications they attempted to defend themselves, but failed. She looked up, studying the massive hole in the wall before returning her eyes to the file. It was entirely possible that the ones who did this were the vigilantes that worked with the Batman based on the brutality, however it didn't fit the idea that the group had a code of no killing.
"The guys in there are literally torn apart." Harvey informed her as he stepped out of the bedroom. "As if something with claws went at them."
"Jones." Ellen observed, standing up and surveying the crime scene once more.
"Definitely." Harvey nodded, gesturing at the body in front of them. "But this one's different. Face caved in like someone lost it and couldn't stop themselves."
"It's possible that whoever did this might have broken the skin on their knuckles during the assault. The amount of repeated force to do something like this is considerable." Ellen waved over one of the other officers. "Try to find some skin samples, then take blood samples and run them against all known players in the Narrows."
"Yessir." The officer replied and immediately set to work.
"Let's get back to the office." Ellen stated, heading towards the door. "We're close to uncovering a lead on Willis, I can feel it."
"Guess we've still got a long night ahead of us." Harvey grumbled.
"Thanks for letting me borrow the car Al."
Jason snapped back into reality, hearing the familiar voice of Dick Grayson. Slowly looking around, he could see that he was back in his apartment. The older male was standing near the kitchen counter, clearly on the phone to someone called Al. Jason looked down at his hands, swallowing heavily as he seen that the blood had dried considerably on them. He felt numb. Cold. It reminded him of how he'd felt when he found his mother, but somehow worse.
"Oh hes wake. I'll update you later." Dick said, hanging up his phone and crossing to Jason. Dropping into a squat in front of the boy, he tried to catch his eye. But Jason found himself looking right through Dick. It was like he wasn't even there. "Can you hear me Jay?"
"Mhm." Jason replied in an absent minded manner, his gaze drifting to the window. It was raining outside now.
"Alright. I need you to tell me what happened there." Jason felt a hand on his cheek and he was pulled back to where Dick was looking at him with concerned blue eyes. "Can you do that?"
"I-" Jason felt himself choke up as the emotions slammed back into him and tears began to well in his eyes. "I killed him."
"We can deal with that later. Waylon was with you right?" Jason nodded slowly at the question, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Would you be willing to tell that to a Detective?"
"Detective...?" The word hung in the air for a moment and Jason found a moment of clarity, understanding what Dick meant. "I'm not selling him out."
"Three people are dead and the force will already be looking into it. Somebody is going to have to take the blame." Dick's expression was serious when he next spoke. "I will make sure they keep your name out of it but Waylon needs to pay. This isn't the first time he's murdered people in cold blood."
Murdered? The word felt so much more harsh to Jason than killed. Murder implied that there was an intention behind it, that somebody was consciously trying to end another persons life. But then, that's what he had done right? Just because he was technically doing it in self defense, that didn't make the end result any more justified. Screwing up his face in panic, Jason felt his heart rate start to rise again and his breaths started coming faster. More tears were falling now, flowing like a waterfall.
"Jason, breathe."
Dicks voice was clear, unlike Waylons. Jason still had no idea what his teacher had said to him back at Xclamations apartment in fact. But Dick's voice was calm, soothing and stable. Despite this, Jason felt himself start to shake as the memories of him beating the man began to intertwine with the Italian forcing him up on the ledge and him finding his mothers body. Her cold, motionless body.
"I'm here Jason. This will pass. Breathe."
He felt like his entire body was about to explode, but at the same time it was like the world was collapsing in around him. Squeezing his eyes shut, Jason focused on his breathing like Dick had told him. It helped a little, but now that his eyes were closed, the images were coming faster. And not just images now. He could feel things too. The wind on his face as he stepped up on the ledge. The warmth of the mans blood on his hands. How quiet his mothers room had been. It wasnt fair. None of this was fair! He clenched his fists, trying to push them out but he couldn't. Instead, his breaths started to become more shallow and he felt himself actually gasping for air.
"I think one of your friends likes you. As in feelings and stuff."
Jasons eyes snapped open and he looked at Dick with a look of complete and utter surprise. For a moment, he was distracted from the vice grip the memories had on his mind. As he tried to process the statement, the images in his mind started fading and the panic inside him started wrestling with the confusion brought on by the question.
"Wh-what!?" Jason gasped, making sure to keep fighting to breathe. Even if it was just a little bit of air.
"Yeah. The way they look at you make's it kind of obvious. And they way they talk to you." Dicks tone was completely casual and for some reason, Jason was slowly feeling less panicked as each word left his caretakers mouth.
"You... can't be serious..." Jason stated, his breaths starting to come easier. The images of the traumatic event's he'd undergone in the past week were almost fully gone now and he couldn't feel the things from during those times anymore. He could even focus his eyes once more and tried to keep them on Dicks face.
"This is my serious face." Said Dick while having a small smirk on his face and a hint of amusement shining in his eyes.
"Which one?" Jason asked, his heartbeat starting to settle. He was able to breathe evenly now.
"Uh uh." Dick replied, shaking his head with a chuckle. "I'm not going to give you all the answers. I'm sure they'll tell you when they're ready to."
"Screw you." Jason glared, then stopped and realized he wasn't having a breakdown anymore. Slowly, a smile crept onto his face a he wiped the remaining tears away and he spoke again. "Thanks."
"It's what I do. Now, you should probably go shower. I'll grab you some clothes." Dick replied, standing up and offering a hand to Jason.
Jason waved his hand away and slowly made his way into the bathroom. The shower was shorter than he honestly would have liked, but he only stayed in there to scrub the blood off. After that was done, he pulled back to the curtain and raised an eyebrow at the 'clothes' dick had provided him with, being a black dog onesie. Shaking his head with a chuckle, Jason dried himself off and pulled on the onesie to find it actually fit him pretty well and was very soft indeed. Satisfied, he stepped back out into the lounge where Dick was waiting for him in a matching onesie.
"Really?" Jason's tone was dry.
"I thought that we could start to catch you up on the classics. Pizza's on the way" Dick informed him as he held up two DVDs. The titles on them read The Bodyguard and Chicago. Jason hadn't seen either movie. In fact, he hadn't even heard of them. "Figure I'll start you off easy."
"Oh... yay."
When Jason woke up the next day, the first thing he thought about wasn't he fact he'd murdered somebody. Or that one of his (literally) two friends were apparently in love with him. No, instead he woke up wondering why the only innocent woman in Chicago had to die. It wasn't the happiest way to wake up, but it was definitely better than having some sort of panic or anxiety attack. As he exited his room into the joint kitchen and lounge, he quietly hummed the tune of the Cell Block Tango to himself and raised an eyebrow to find Dick up and at the stove.
"Oh good. I'm about to make pancakes." Dick greeted him. They were both still wearing their onesies, which brought an amused smile to Jasons face. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah actually. I didn't..." Jason stopped himself before he completed the sentence. Dick didn't need to know about the fact he was usually plagued with nightmares. "I didn't wake up once."
"Slept right through huh?" Dick produced a bottle of premixed pancake mix, shaking it up to combine the liquid and dry parts.
"Yup." Jason replied, dropping onto the couch and inspecting his knuckles. There were small scabs where he'd broken the skin. "Cullen should be back home soon. Can we drop by?"
"Sure. Oh, and by the way. Since I know how you're spending your nights now, you might as well forget about seeing Mooney." Dick caught Jasons eyes as he looked up about to protest. "I don't want to hear your excuses. You're lucky I got there before the other GCPD officers did."
"I uh... I'm not sure if I want to go back there for a bit anyway." Jason blinked. Had he just been honest with Dick?
Dick didn't reply and focused on making the pancakes. Jason watched him in complete joy, amazed at how bad a person could be at making instant pancakes. It was actually kind of sad. Once they'd finished their slightly burnt breakfast, they headed out. Jason took note of the car they were getting in and recognized it as the same one that the Owl had driven off in when he'd first dropped Jason off. Which meant that either Dick had a very strange way to say the word Owl or now Jason knew that the Owls real name was Al. Kind of funny now that he thought about it.
They entered the Row apartment and Jason was surprised at the fact that it seemed entirely different. Literally everything in the lounge had been replaced and updated. There was a new coffee table as well, carpet now covered the floor instead of just old wooden floorboards and even the kitchen looked fresher than before with a new oven and fridge.
"Hey guys." Harper greeted them, entering from the bedroom. Picking up on Jasons unasked question, she let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, I was surprised too. I've been staying at the hospital with Cullen so I expected to walk into a war zone. Instead, everything was shiny and new. Cullens hospital bills were covered too."
"The place looks good." Dick nodded and Jason noted that the mans smile was bigger than usual.
"We also got left a pretty decent cheque." Harper informed them, picking up said cheque from the table and handing it to Jason.
"Signed by... Bruce Wayne?" Jason blanched at the amount of money on the cheque, then clicked as to why Dick was looking so proud of himself. "Do you have something to do with this?"
"Maybe." Dick replied, casually dropping onto the couch and sighing. "I love the feeling of new leather."
"Uh... why would Dick have something to do with Bruce Waynes money? The letter that came with it said we were chosen for a grant by some foundation." Harper glanced between the two males.
"Because he calls him daddy in his spare time." Jason replied, smirking at the shock on Harpers face at his statement.
"Not like THAT." Dick cut in, glaring at Jason. "He took me in when my parents died and I've spent most of my life with him so I have a little sway with where he puts his endless wealth."
"That makes sense." Harper nodded. "Anyway, I'm sure you came to see Cullen not me. He's just in the shower. Should be out any moment."
The three of them didn't have to wait long for Cullen to walk out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel. Most of his bruising had gone down and his torso also had some bruising as well as some still healing cuts. But judging by the way he was singing along to a song Jason hadn't heard blasting from his phone before while drying out his hair with another towel, Jason's best friend seemed to be in perfect health. At least emotionally. Everybody remained silent as Cullen crossed the lounge, apparently not noticing them.
"Got a bed wit your name on it." Cullen sung, not having a terrible voice. He opened his mouth to continue but stopped dead in his tracks as he finally noticed them all. As his phone continued to play the song. He looked first at Dick, then at Jason and finally slowly to himself. Jason couldn't help but smirk as Cullen went completely red even despite the bruising and scrambled to turn the song off. "H-hey guys. I uh... didn't know you were coming."
"Thought we'd surprise you." Jason said. The thought of what Dick had said the night before came into his mind and he studied his friend who was still clearly embarrassed by the situation. Had he meant Cullen?
"Yeah well, I'm just going to go get changed." Cullen said, retreating to the room and slamming the door.
As Harper and Dick engaged in small talk while they waited for Cullen to dress, Jason found himself lost in his thoughts. It couldn't be Iri because she clearly had her issues with Ray or whatever his name was. But then, it also couldn't be Cullen because he was clearly into girls. Then again, jason couldn't remember Cullen ever actually being with a girl at any point during their friendship. Confused, he decided to file the topic away in his mind for later and looked up as Cullen emerged from his room and say on the opposite couch with his sister.
"Looks like we have Dick here to thank for all of the new stuff and the money." Harper informed her brother.
"Oh really? Thanks." Cullen smiled genuinely at the older male.
"It's no big deal. Bruce has so much money that he spends it on ridiculous stuff all the time instead of things that matter like this." Dick shrugged. "Which reminds me. We should get you a new phone Jason."
"It would be better being able to contact you directly." Cullen agreed, glancing apologetically at Dick. "No offense."
"I was starting to enjoy our back and forth." The eldest male pouted, causing Jason to roll his eyes.
"Him asking if I'm available and you replying "whats the magic word?" isn't back and forth." Jasons words only caused Dick to somehow pout harder. How old was he exactly?"
"Actually," Harper spoke up, drawing all eyes to her. "I was meaning to ask you why you're always together. Is Jason in some sort of trouble?"
Both Dick and Jason fell silent at this, glancing at one another. That topic hadn't come up yet so they hadn't actually come up with a convincing lie. Letting out a long sigh, Jason decided to be the one to answer.
"I've been doing some work with Fish Mooney." He didn't look Cullen in the eye as he spoke, knowing it would be easier to lie that way. It still wasn't the right time to mention his mum. "I ended up getting shot while doing a delivery for her. The GCPD thought I was at risk from another attack, so they assigned Dick to me as a bodyguard."
"You got shot!?" The Row siblings exclaimed in unison.
"It wasn't that bad. Honest." Jason smiled, but judging from their reactions, it was unconvincing.
"We should go get that phone." Dick cut in before the Row siblings could continue, standing up with a smile. "Did you guys want to come?"
"Sure." Harper replied after a few beats, looking down at the cheque. "I have to cash that anyway."
Iri wanted nothing more than to have Roy leave her alone and go back to Star City. But he was refusing to and hung around her like a cloud of sickening affection. When she'd woken up alongside him, she had almost taken out his eye with a high heel until he explained that her drunken self had asked him to. Heading to the shops with him, she decided she was going to ditch him and make her way back to the hotel. Even though he'd eventually figure out what happened, at least she'd have some Roy free space to breathe.
As they walked up the steps towards the Narrows only shopping mall, Iri felt happiness fill her as she spotted Jason and Cullen also heading inside. She waved them down excitedly and hugged both of them.
"Good to see you out and about boys!" She said, studying Cullens face. "Good to see the bruising is going away."
"Yeah, but the ribs are still tender." Cullen protested, clearly playing up his pain.
"You're lucky I didn't tackle you to the ground." Iri replied, hearing Roy clear his throat behind her expectantly. Rolling her eyes, she gestured first to her ex then to the other people present. "Everybody, this is Roy Harper. My very much former love interest. Former love interest, this is Jason, Cullen, Harper and Richard."
"Nice to meet you all." Roy replied politely, but Iri caught him sharing a somewhat aggressive look with Richard. She wondered what that was about. From the few time's she'd spoken to the GCPD officer in Cullens hospital room, he'd seemed pleasant enough. "I see that we weren't the only ones who decided shopping was a good way to spend the day."
"Well, we just came into a bit of money, so why not splurge it all away?" Everybody chuckled at Harper's remark.
"Iri St Cloud?" An unfamiliar man approached.
"Yes?" She replied, eyes widening as he pulled a gun on her.
"The Boss send's his greetings to your mother."
Around her, everybody exploded into action. Roy moved to step in front of her protectively while Richard took the gun out of the mans hand in the blink of an eye. What shocked Iri the most though, was that Jason tackled the man to the ground with a strength she didn't know he had and began laying into him. Nearby people were watching the exchange, several of them already on their phones to likely call the authorities. An older woman had a hand over her mouth in horror. Everybody watched in horror as Jason continued to punch the would be assailant with cries that sounded liked they were fueled by a mixture of rage an terror.
Richard dragged Jason off of the man, but Jason fought against him, various swear words and abuses coming out of the young mans mouth. Iri observed with concern as Richard grabbed Jasons face in both of his hands while kneeling in front of him, saying things to comfort him. Next to Richard was Cullen, who had a hand on his friends shoulder while he also said things to try soothing his best friend. Jason seemed completely unfocused all of a sudden and was visibly shaking. Slowly, Iri looked to the man who had tried to shoot her. He was unconscious and sprawled out on the ground, his face a bloodied mess.
In the distance, a siren began to go off and Iri began to wonder just what her mother had brought her into coming to this city.
Silver St Cloud exited the hotel she had taken up residence in, storming across the footpath to the road where a limo was waiting for her. Slipping into the dark vehicle, she glared across at the woman in front of her.
"You gave me every assurance that your gang war would not endanger my daughter, Miss Mooney." Her words were cold as ice. Gone was the accommodating and charismatic socialite. Now she was the mother of a child who'd almost been shot.
"Let me assure you again then, that your daughter was never in harms way." Mooney replied, her own tone much more even. "I was forced to use her as a tool to motivate Jason into making his way back to me. We can't have that boy getting cold feet, especially with his hound of justice hanging around."
"The way you people manipulate children is disgusting." The venom in her words was matched by the expression on Silvers face as she spoke.
"'You people'?' Mooney leaned back in her seat and regarded Silver with a hint of humor in her eyes. "You are just as involved in this as I am."
Instead of replying, Silver settled for a glare and pursed her lips in irritation. She was starting to regret her affiliation with the woman before her, especially with how close she'd been to losing her baby girl earlier in the day. Slowly, she leaned forward and locked eyes with Mooney, her eyes hardening.
"Let me be clear, Maria." Mooney's eyes flared with annoyance as Silver said the woman's real name. "If my daughter even comes within a mile of danger under your watch again, I'll pull our funding for your plans and let Salvatore have his way with the city."
"Even I can't keep your daughter safe from unforeseen circumstances." Mooney responded coolly.
"Don't test me." Silver growled. "You know what my husband will do to this city if his precious heir suffers even a paper cut." This time, Mooney had nothing to say and clenched her jaw in obvious annoyance. Leaning back into her own seat with satisfaction, Silver smiled thinly. "Now then, down to business. I've managed to track down Willis. He's hiding out under the remains of the old Knights Stadium. I trust that you will take care of him?"
"Once Jason is bac-" Mooney began.
"What is it with that boy that has you so invested?" Silver interrupted. "He's just another faceless piece of street trash."
"At first, I just wanted to manipulate him. But after some exposure to him, I see potential there. Once I hammer out the dent's, he's going to be a very valuable asset." Mooney explained.
"Well whatever you need to do, have it done within the next few days. It won't take long for Batman to catch onto the scent." There was a clear distaste in Silvers voice as she mentioned Gotham's premiere vigilante.
"How exactly do you plan to deal with that particular problem?" Mooney raised an eyebrow, clearly expecting an answer.
"Focus on your own problems. We have plans for all of the Bats."
Without waiting for a response, Silver exited the vehicle. Closing the car door, she silently watched the limo pull off and disappear into the night as a chilly breeze wrapped itself around her. Wrapping her arms around her chest, she shivered and headed towards the hotel doors.
