I proofed the last chapter at 2 in the morning so I'm sorry for my spelling mistakes. I'm skipping around a few months because a lot of this story would be repetitive imo but pm me if you'd like a chapter like that. I'm also willing to have a discussion on why Jason became the Arkham Knight while working for The Light, if you'd like.
Dick sat in his apartment, Jason had been missing for almost two months since he revealed himself to Dick, 3 months since he last made contact with Arsenal and they were still no closer to finding him. Arsenal remained easy to contact in case of any leads or dead ends becoming apparent on his end or on the Justice League's.
It wasn't hard for to see that Roy and Jason had a partnership that they didn't want to acknowledge to anyone but themselves. Barbara had finally cracked into Jason's personal laptop and saw that he had full access to the League database, using the second Blue Beetle's, Tula's and his own accounts, Wally's file had notes of energy reading connected to it and Artemis's file had sealed attachments dated from her "death" to the fall of The Light. It was slightly rushed but methodical notes none the less. It tracked her meetings with The Light and her alias as Tigress. Dick could tell Jason wrote them with the snarky comments written into them, "Guess you take after your sister more than previously thought." "Costume looks like based off Huntress but I dressed as a bat to fuck with the B man when he wasn't even on Earth, so who am I to judge?"
Roy's comments were usually responses to Jason's or comments about her interactions with The Light, "Jade's got a kid with my clone, and would that make me a dad?" "The knight is impressive but it's terrifying. I worry about you."
Dick thought about his previous interactions with The Light, remembering seeing a robot? that looked like a twisted form of Batman, instead of a bat on the chest it was an Arkham diamond. The voice was gravely, robotic but the way he spoke he spoke like a teenager, a kid who was in a game he was a little too good at playing.
Dick began to look through The Light's database and found the "Batman", "Arkham Knight under the control of Talia Al Ghul. Can be comparable to Batman, L-2 has been quiet on his background. Will not work with Joker of the Injustice League. Prone to reacting in anger when lied to and when the Batman or Joker are brought up."
Dick reread the little blurb, most of The Light's files had been updated with what The Light members had learned with working with each other where slightly more expansive than a post-it's worth of information, which made Dick question whether or not if it was Jason, too perceptive, too empathetic for his own good. "Maybe I get my revenge and kill the Bat for not avenging me." Dick thought remembering what Jason said in his video. How jaded he sounded, as if the world finally caught up to everything he already knew. Dick knew that Bruce was only a few seconds late but Jason probably didn't know that, he constantly waited for the other shoe to drop and when it did it dropped hard, and Jason's life got harder.
"Little Wing, why didn't you just come home." Dick felt tugging on his pant leg and looked down seeing his pet larvae, chewing or pulling on his pant leg showing that he wanted to have attention paid to him, Dick extended his leg allowing Silkie to climb up onto his lap and see what he was doing, "You ate 10 minutes ago. I'm not feeding you again."
Silkie made a cranky noise and proceeded to stare at the screen as Dick began scrolling through the Red Hood files for the fifth time that week, "Good thing being on sabbatical from the team. More nonexistent free time."
Dick watched the Red hood, Jason, fight. Simply, with brutal efficiency, minimal output with maximum results. If you knew what to look for you could see his Robin training in the way he would land, the way he would stop to taunt whatever thug he was beating, killing, technically. He made use of working without gadgets so he wouldn't become dependent on them. It was effective, and Dick couldn't help but compare him to Cheshire. He ran the videos of the Hood and the Knight fighting in the League's database to figure out who trained Jason. He found the matches in street fighting, the League of Shadows and the old robin training, but that didn't explain all his skills, that didn't explain the gold swords he had to cut himself to use, "Jay, what happened to you?"
Dick's phone buzzed loudly on the desk causing Silkie to hop out of his lap indignantly,"Puke in my shoes and I will send you to live with Connor."
Dick saw that Barbara was calling him and he answered it, waving to Kori as she entered the "office","Hey Babs, what's up?"
Kori pulled up an extra chair and sat next to Dick, seeing what he was doing as Silkie hopped into her lap, and began to purr as she coddled him. Barbara was silent and Dick spoke again his voice betraying his uneasiness, "Barbara? You there?"
Dick heard typing on the laptop,"Your computer's on. You need to sit down."
Bruce's voice came through before Dick had a chance to answer as Barbara began to mess with his computer from her Clock tower, "It's about Jason, Joker sent a video."
"Do we know where he is?" Dick asked a knot forming in his stomach.
"NO the video was mailed to the GCPD, left at their door practically. There are still no new leads with Jason." Bruce said as Barbra pulled up a video of Jason sitting in a chair shirtless and cut up, his right ankle in a makeshift splint and his arms bound to the chair, his head was dropped and you could tell the recentness of the video by the length of Jason's hair. The video started with Harley gripping Jason's black curly hair and showing his face to the camera revealing that it was Jason, a beaten bloody Jason, but Jason none the less, blue green eyes glared at whoever was recording from behind a red domino mask.
"Come on, Hoodie, say hi to Batsy." Joker said as he put the camera in Jason's face. Jason tried to jerk his head away but was held fast by Harley causing him to clench his teeth and force air out of his mouth,"Aw, nothing nice to say? You were so chatty earlier."
Jason jerked his head out from Quinn's grip and spat out on the floor, his voice was slightly ragged,"Hey Joker, I got, uh, I got a message for you."
Jason leaned forward as Joker stepped closer to him to hear what he said, the video began to tilt as Joker leaned down catching the back of Jason's head as he proceed to throw up all over the Joker's shoes. Harley made a disgusted noise and stepped back, "Well that was rude."
Jason grinned up at the camera, a shit stirring mischievous grin, he laughed, "I thought it was pretty funny."
Dick couldn't help the cheer that escaped him, "That my boy."
Bruce's voice was flat and emotionless, like always, "Keep watching."
The joker still held the camera but two of his goons came into view as Harley snapped the barbed wire off of him with wire cutters, "Come on, boys. Pick him up. Let see if he keeps the humor after my newest little surprise for him."
Jason's grin faltered slightly as he struggled between the two goons, the one that held his legs grabbed his right ankle and squeezed earning a scream and sharp curses in Spanish from the vigilante, "You remember this don't you Hoodie? I mean, you spent some time in one after our last encounter."
Jason paled and started struggling harder as a steel coffin with tubing all around it came into his view Harley helped open the lid with one of the other thug, Jason was shoved into the coffin, while trying to bite, kick or punch his way out the goons grip, he started to wail and scream in panic the closer he got to the coffin. His bare back touched the cool metal as the lid was shut and the last clear sound heard from him was him screaming, "Dad!"
The Joker motioned for Harley to twist one of the valves and an orange gas began to enter the coffin and Jason's screams somehow got louder. Harley locked the coffin so Jason couldn't get out of it, but the coffin would shake slightly on occasion.
"See Bats, I'm not the only one who wants our dearest Robin dead, or close to it at least." Joker said before turning the camera on to Harley who was randomly smacking the steel coffin in places so she wouldn't accidently knock out the tubing, "And don't try to find where I got the coffin, couple of friends made it for me free of charge."
Dick sat there pale, his hands shaking, "Bruce, that was fear gas. He's making himself relive pulling himself out of the coffin. Bruce, we need to find him.
Bruce's voice was sharp causing Dick to flinch, "Where do you suggest we look?"
Dick looked at the computer screen hopelessly, "I don't know. Fear toxin, maybe Crane. Harley is smart but she isn't able to recreate Scarecrow's formula. Joker maybe because of his laughing gas but I doubt Crane would part with the recipe."
(Until Dick asks to enter the room assume Jason is speaking Spanish. Catherine is actually Jason's mother, not Shelia)
Dick didn't mean to compare mothers but he saw the photo that Jason put in the frame by his bed and how he'd talk to it after patrols, in Spanish. The photo contained a young woman no older than 19-20 with a mischievous grin on her face and dark brown eyes that glittered with happiness. When a patrol went especially bad or Bruce came down a little too hard Dick could hear Jason's voice talking to the picture, his Spanish was rusty but he understood the general meaning, "Would you be proud of me? I'd like to think you would be. Bruce is mad at me again, but I'm trying, do you think he sees that? He hasn't hurt me yet, even though I've given him reason too."
Dick nearly hit the wall in frustration but didn't so he could continue to hear Jason speak, "I think I'm sick like you or getting there. But life is good I have a family, Mami, what's wrong with me?"
Jason let out a wet laugh, "If you were lucid enough, you'd whisper that nothing was wrong with me. Bruce's has got a girlfriend, a cat burglar from Park Row. She's Cuban. It's nice being able to speak Spanish to someone I trust again. I miss you, Mami. I love you."
Dick knocked on the door and stood outside,"Jason, can I come in?"
There was some shifting and Jason opened the door a crack showing messy wild hair and slightly red rimmed eyes,"Is everything okay?"
Dick shrugged,"Just wanted to hang out after Patrol."
Jason opened the door wider and went back to the bed sitting up near the headboard, Dick decided to sit close to the footboard giving Jason his space, he looked for something to break the ice as Jason desperately tried to look like he wasn't crying, he pointed to the photo next to Jason,"That your mom?"
Jason nodded, his voice suspicious,"Why?"
Dick shrugged,"Don't know much about your life before you came to live with us. What was she like?"
Jason looked at him for any sign of deception so Dick kept an earnest smile on his face,"She did her best. She had me when she was still in high school and married my father. She was a good person that was dealt shitty choices. Her criminal record has willful neglect but that was when she'd make me leave when Willis began to hit to hard. I stopped leaving so I could try to protect her."
"How old were you?"
"3. My mom spoke conversational English. She worked as a waitress till she was fired. We lived in a one room apartment with candles for warmth around a mattress on the floor. I'd sleep on the table so I could protect her from dealers. She wasn't a bad person, she was sick."
Dick crossed his legs and leaned forward showing he was still invested in Jason's story, Jason continued wrapping his arms around himself,"I remember when we'd share the mattress if she was lucid enough to know I was on it with her she'd wrap her arms around me protectively. She couldn't protect me from Willis but she'd try to protect me from my head. She was a good person, she deserves this more than I do. My mom did bad things for me so I wouldn't die of starvation but she got so sick and her addiction, her way of coping took her away from me."
Dick nodded in understanding,"I think she'd be proud of you, Little Wing, you help those that can't help themselves."
Jason turned pink at that,"Prolly chew me out for doing stupid stuff like traveling back to Venezuela with Bruce, even though I was safe. Smack me with a chancla."
Dick looked confused,"Your mom was an immigrant?"
Jason nodded,"Came to America when she was 13, hoped going by Catherine she'd make friends easier, learning English faster. What about your mom?"
Dick shrugged,"Like most moms, sweet, gentle. Yelled at me when she thought I was going to get crushed by Zitka. Allowed me to help in my family's act. Would sing me Romani lullabies when I was sick. She was my mom, I was too young to see her as anything else as perfect before my family died."
Jason coughed awkwardly,"How old were you?"
"9. Someone sabotaged the trapeze rope. You?"
"6, when Willis left. 8 when my mom ODed." Jason said absently scratching the crook of his elbow," Lived on the streets since."
Jason didn't move closer but had his leg extended out to Dick and he put his hand on Jason's ankle lightly before tracing reassuring circles on it,"Well hey, I'm here for you, Little Wing, I'll protect as best I can."
Jason smiled softly as Dick collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. Jason put his legs over Dick's and fell asleep, feeling his muscles decompress.
(Oh Dicky, how I love to torture)
Dick looked at Scarecrow's chem lab, his cowl activating allowing him to see how many hired goons he had milling around him protectively as he worked. He glanced up as Arsenal landed next to him narrowing his eyes as he looked through the window,"I take it you've seen the video, Roy?"
"Oracle sent it to me. Jason's still the ballsiest bastard I've ever met, Joker won't break him." Arsenal said trying to alleviate Dick's fears,"we've been in worse positions."
"He was put in a coffin, Roy." Dick said sounding miserable.
"Joker isn't going to kill him yet. Cheshire might know something, her and Jason used to run together when he was training with the Shadows." Roy replied, he leaned forward when Black Mask entered followed by a few bodyguards. Arsenal felt silent after this listening to Scarecrow and Black Mask converse.
Arsenal hissed when Bart showed up on the roof, and Dick pulled him down so he wouldn't be spotted,"What are you two doing?"
Roy shushed him,"Listen, motor mouth."
"How did the first batch go, Roman?"
"Well, from what Harleen has told me, says it's one of your best versions yet. The Hood was passed out in the coffin when I stopped by. That brat has been a thorn in my side ever since that damned invasion, I want his head on my wall."
Crane held up a hand, stopping Roman's Hood induced rant,"Enough, Roman. Remember your place in this affair. I assure you, you will have your chance to collect your pound of flesh."
Roman snarled at Crane causing him to look up unimpressed,"When?!"
"Whenever the Joker says. He's the Joker's prisoner, what he says are the rules. Why bring down the Hood when you can make all the bats suffer as well?"
Dick punched the roof in frustration,"Damn it."
Roy put a hand on Dick's shoulder awkwardly, not knowing how it would be received, knowing Jason wasn't the most touchy feely person but Dick seemed more inclined to physical comforting then suggesting taking out his frustrations on the henchmen,"Kid, maybe you should go home."
Bart shook his head,"No, I'm helping. There's too many to take by yourself."
Nightwing nodded,"You listen to me and Arsenal. No complaints."
Arsenal tossed Kid Flash a rebreather,"Just in case."
KF put it in his empty compartment that was usually filled with food,"Yes sir."
Nightwing looked at Arsenal as he prepared his grappling hook and Arsenal prepared his grapple arrow,"KF, you enter from the double doors on the south side. Ready, 3, 2, 1."
Nightwing and Arsenal burst in through the windows quickly dispatching the thugs closest to them. Arsenal was keeping away from lethal shots and trying to stick to his trick arrows as often as possible. Nightwing was going to town on 3 thugs beating them with his escrima sticks, occasionally tasing them before they went down. Kid Flash was knocking the thugs off balance and into Arsenal and Nightwing's reach, Nightwing grabbed Black Mask and chained him to the table while Arsenal slammed Scarecrow on the table,"Where's the Red Hood?"
"You won't kill me."
Arsenal let out a bark of laughter,"Not this time, maim, however, I am free to maim."
Arsenal pulled out a lethal arrow and began to aim it toward Scarecrow's optic nerve,"Now every second you keep me waiting I'm going to slide this farther into your optic nerve. Now are you really confident in your ability to make fear toxin half blind?"
Arsenal started to shove the arrow into Scarecrow's eye, causing him to scream,"Wai! Wait! I don't know where he is. Joker, messages us when we're supposed to meet up. I dropped off the last batch of gas in Amusement Mile. I don't know anything else, I swear!"
Arsenal pulled out the arrow and knocked out Scarecrow before wiping it off on his pant leg and turned to Black Mask, as Nightwing tied up Scarecrow and Bart tied up the thugs. Arsenal put the arrow up to Black Mask's carotid artery,"Now you said you visited one of my favorite vigilantes, where is he?"
Black Mask glared at him,"I don't know."
Arsenal dug the arrow into his neck until he saw red rivulets run down his neck,"You sure about that?"
BLack Mask fell silent as Nightwing handed Arsenal an Escrima stick,"Don't kill him."
Arsenal grinned ferally,"Won't need to."
Arsenal stabbed the escrima stick into Black Mask's stomach causing his body to seize, Nightwing walked away to KF looking pale. Black Mask didn't speak so Arsenal began to hit him with the escrima stick, occasionally tasing him, Mask finally held up his hand,"I don't know where he's being held now. Last time I saw him was a week ago, passed out in the steel coffin in the basement of the Krank co. Toys."
Arsenal smiled at him, and knocked him unconscious with a sharp strike with the stick"Thank you, so very much."
Nightwing was leaning against the table, looking paler than snow, especially in contrast of the black and blue suit, he cleared his throat,"KF, can you call the cominshinor?"
Kid Flash nodded and began to drop the anonymous tip as he bolted back to the roof, Nightwing raised his grapple gun to get back onto the roof but his hand was shaking too bad to aim properly. Nightwing nearly sank to his knees as Arsenal out his arms around Nightwing and shot the grapple gun, and pulled them to the roof. Arsenal let Nightwing down, and he sank to his knees, curling up slightly,"Roy, what if he's dead?"
Roy shook his head and sat down next Dick as Bart joined them quietly,"It's Jason. It took an explosion to kill him last time and even then that shit didn't stick. I'll keep looking for him. I've got a safe house in Park Row. We'll hole up there until you feel better."
Dick nodded and slowly pulled himself to his feet,"Thanks, Roy."
Roy smiled awkwardly,"Anytime lightweight."
Bart looked confused,"Lightweight?"
Roy shrugged,"Dick, you weigh what? 170? 175?"
Dick nodded in agreement,"About 175."
"Jaybird has got you beat by a good 50 pounds, got himself built like a brick shithouse." Roy said laughing slightly,"We got into a bar fight and this frat douche tried to punch him into submission, got him once in the chest, and Jason threw him through a table."
Dick waved it off,"That's nothing. So Jason and I were sparring back when he was Robin and we were both working so it was just a way to kill some time. Two of Penguin's goons go to jump us and he grabbed my arm and flung me into them. He had gadgets, but no he choose to use his big brother. I dislocated my shoulder."
Bart looked between the two of them,"Jason sounds really crash."
Roy nodded in agreement,"You'll meet him soon enough."
They walked in silence till they came upon a run-down set of apartments in Park Row, Roy was first up the fire escape followed by Bart and Nightwing brought up the rear. Roy jimmied the window open and landed on the floor turning off the silent alarm before shutting the window and turning it back on again. Dick dropped onto one of the two mattresses on the floor as Roy grabbed a bunch of MREs tossing Dick the chicken with egg noodles and vegetables, Bart got a couple of packs of beef stew, and Roy passed out water bottles so they could heat them up, Roy began to prepare the chili and macaroni. Bart looked at the meal impatiently as Dick got comfortable so he could crash when he finished his meal. Roy discarded his quiver and weapons, rubbing his upper arm.
Dick spoke breaking the food induced silence,"Was this Catherine's apartment?"
Roy looked up from his spoonful of chili,"You know about Catherine?"
"Yeah, one night after patrols I heard him talking to her picture and we started to talk about each other's moms. He was only a little younger then I was when his mom died but he lost her before that."
Bart looked between them detecting the heavy tension that the woman, Catherine, brought up,"Who was she?"
Roy spoke as he tossed the trash into an empty box,"Jason's mom, bad mom, good person. The two of you should get some sleep, I'll take watch."
Dick nodded and tossed his trash into the makeshift bin, before laying down draping an arm over his face,"Got it, thanks, Roy."
Bart curled up on the extra mattress and fell asleep almost immediately. Roy moved to a corner of the room so he could watch the doorway and the window as the kids got some sleep. Yeah, Nightwing was older than him but so was Jason but Jason was still just a kid and he had trouble seeing Nightwing as anything but even though Nightwing was the most experienced on the team.
