Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. I don't own Batman or any DC characters.

Note: Well, here's chapter 10! Sorry for the late update, things have been hectic with school waiting for my house to be ready so I can move in. This chapter mostly sets up the events in the next chapters, but the second half is a crucial story for the Wayne family. Trust me, the story will pick up by the middle of this chapter!

Note: I introduced a character from the Animated Batman series, in this chapter. Also, I reference Justice League Unlimited in this chapter, especially the Cadmus storyline and Amanda Waller.

Enjoy and review!

…...

Chapter 10: Jason POV

"Mrs. Wayne, the fellow from the planner company called to confirm your appointment today," Alfred stated as he set a pot of coffee on the table.

"Thank you, Alfred," Diana answered as she buttered her toast.

Alfred nodded before pouring Bruce some coffee, and then left to the kitchen. Bruce turned to Diana, "How's the planning going, not too boring?"

Diana smiled, "No, with Veronica there, she'll be sure to make sure things lively."

Bruce smirked, "She always does."

We were eating breakfast as a family again that morning, and Diana and Bruce were going over the garden party the Waynes were throwing this year. Diana thought it would be a good idea to throw a party as part of the whole "act like a normal rich family" act. Plus, Veronica Vreeland, Diana's new best friend who enjoyed parties so much she equated them to breathing, had begged the first female Wayne in years to throw a party. After weeks of her pestering, Diana had settled on a fancy garden party with classical music and tea dresses…

Everything I hate about parties.

And I knew I would be forced to attend.

That is, if I didn't come up with an escape plan.

Unfortunately, lately my awesome brain was lacking in ideas.

I tuned out the conversation and dug into my food. As I shoveled eggs down my throat and drowned myself with orange juice, Tim looked over at me with a sly smile.

"So, Jason," he started slowly, "how's your shift with Supergirl been?"

I stopped my spoon midway to my mouth to glare viciously at him. The rest of the table had suddenly turned extremely and uncomfortably quiet. I avoided their stares and continued to glare venomously over at Tim, who just leaned back and smirked triumphantly. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Dick trying to hide a chuckle and Stephanie was giving me a knowing look. Glancing over at the others, Damian was scowling as if this was a total waste of his time, but Bruce and Diana were looking questioningly at me. Well, Bruce was also giving me a concerned expression, probably worried that I had gotten myself in trouble with the girl of steel.

Stephanie was the first to speak, "Yes, Jason, how is having Kara at your side?"

I placed the spoon back down and straightened, deciding to act cool and collected, "She's all right."

Dick raised an eyebrow, "But I heard you two hit it off. That has to means that she's better than just that."

Damn, I thought before retorting, "Shut up before I make you, Dickie. Don't tempt me."

The jerk just smiled and luckily didn't say anything else or else I would have wiped that stupid grin off his face slowly and painfully, the Jason Todd way.

Instead, Bruce spoke up in a stern voice, "Jason, at least try to avoid a confrontation with the female Kent."

I shrugged my shoulders, "Whatever. All I do is count the minutes till my shift is over so I can get the hell out of there. Isn't that what all of you do when you're around member of the Kent clan?"

I may have lied at that part; monitor duty wasn't so bad with Kara around. In fact, she could be slightly more tolerable than the rest of her family, but you won't hear me admitting that aloud.

"Did you at least apologize for your insensitive comments?" Diana questioned.

"Jason Todd Wayne doesn't care if he's a jerk, and I won't go around apologizing to make people feel better," I retorted.

Diana sighed, "It was too much to hope for."

Tim looked over to me and gave me a look that seemed to say he didn't buy a word I said.

I glared at him, warning him to continue.

Instead, he just shook his head in disbelief.

…

I rushed through the building. Classes were finally over and I was making my escape when I crashed into something that felt like a tank and slammed backward onto the ground.

"You really need to stop doing that," a familiar voice murmured as if to themselves.

I grunted and cursed as someone bent over and placed a hand gently on my shoulder. I tensed and looked up at the person who dared touch my sacred body.

Staring me down with an apologetic smile was a, and I hate to admit this, beautiful blonde girl wearing glasses.

She began to ask me if I was alright but she stopped mid sentence when our eyes met.

Her eyes widened and I could feel myself curse my luck.

She recovered first and tried to cover up before I cut in a bit harshly, "Save it, I know you who you are Kent. We all do."

Kara Kent, otherwise known as Supergirl, relaxed visibly and shrugged, "Sorry, I seem to be making a habit of this."

"It's all right," I responded gruffly as I stood up and grabbed the books I had dropped, trying to ignore her gaze.

She stood there awkwardly and I felt the urge to be nice to her. Before I could squash that urge, I opened my stupid mouth.

"So you go here?" I questioned as I turned to face her.

She fixed her glasses which, I had to admit reluctantly, looked attractive on her petite face. They made some people look nerdy but they made her look intelligent. She certainly pulled them off better than her idiot cousin, who looked like a geek in his disguise...

I mentally cursed myself at getting myself distracted and tuned back into the conversation.

"Jason, are you listening?" Kara questioned, studying my face, "You seem distracted."

"I'm fine," I responded quickly, hoping she'd leave me alone.

Kara seemed taken aback but persisted, "Are you sure, Jason? If you need anything, you know you can trust me."

I felt slightly touched that she cared enough to want to help, but then I shook my head of that thought.

"Yes!" I snapped.

She visibly flinched at my tone and her eyes hardened, "Fine."

She turned around and began walking away with a quick pace.

Something in me stirred. I lunged forward and grabbed her hand, trying to ignore the annoying tingly feeling I felt when our hands touched.

It felt nice, I thought briefly.

Damn it, I cursed inwardly, Where did that come from?

"Look," I forced out, "I can be really difficult to deal with sometimes; and I usually am perceived as a jerk."

For a moment, she didn't say anything.

I thought she was going to ignore me and leave, but instead, she turned her head towards me and raised an eyebrow, "Perceived?"

"All right, I am a jerk," I replied frowning, "But it's not you, it's me. It's just the way I am. I'm a jerk to everyone, and..."

I had no idea why the hell I was rambling off to this girl; but luckily she saved me from further humiliation.
"I get it," she said lightly, "You're a jerk by habit."

I couldn't help but smirk, "See you get it! Dick just won't accept that truth; he still thinks he can change me."

Kara laughed quietly and I felt my smile widen as she added, "Well, Dick seems to think he can solve everyone's attitude problems. Barbara told me about how he tried to improve Damian's behavior issues. Needless to say, he seemed to have failed miserably."

"That little demon will never the resemble the word good," I muttered as Kara laughed again.

We settled into a comfortable silence, a first for me, when Kara suddenly asked, "Are you going to let go of my hand now?"

I glanced down at our intertwined hands, her soft small but undoubtedly strong hand in my rough and scarred one.

Reddening, I released her hand and took a step back.

We stood there awkwardly until both of our hands flew up to our ears.

"Jason, suit up. We have a mission," Tim's voice called.

I turned away to be more discreet and noticed that Kara was doing the same.

"League business?" I asked.

"Yeah, pretty important too," Tim responded.

He didn't elaborate, but I'd have time to ask him later.

"Who else is on the team?" I questioned.

"Stephanie and Supergirl," Tim responded and I could swear I could hear slyness in his tone.

"Why her?" I demanded even though I wasn't upset at her inclusion, but I knew this was a ploy Tim had concocted to irritate me and make a laughing stock out of me.

"We need Stephanie for this stealth mission," Tim replied as if that was obvious.

I gritted my teeth and hissed, "You know who I meant. Why is she coming with us when we're on a stealth mission?"

Kents were notoriously sloppy in the being stealthy and sneaky department, which was why they were banned from any undercover missions Bruce assigned the league.

"Clark and Bruce thought it would be a good learning experience for her," he answered easily.

"That's bull," I responded irritated.

"Language, Jason," Tim reminded.

I bit my tongue as Kara turned to me. I saw her studying me and I suddenly began to pray that she hadn't heard our conversation.

As if this day could get any more embarrassing.

"Red Robin out," Tim stated and shut off the connection.

I met her eyes, "Looks like we got a job to do."

…

An hour later and we were sitting perched on the roof of a building that faced a nearby neighborhood. Kara and I were keeping watch until Tim gave the signal to move. He and Stephanie were positioned near the target house, ready to break in.

I glanced up, it was a dark clear night, which meant a good night to sneak around unnoticed.

"Why are we here again?" I demanded on the connection with Tim, who had yet to tell us the full details of the mission.

"A few weeks ago, Batman hacked into Cadmus files and discovered they had resumed their cloning practices and he managed to discover that they were working on a two year project ."

I glanced over at Kara who tensed at the mention of Cadmus, they had been responsible for her cousin Connor's existence and the evil twin created from her own DNA to destroy the league. I'd been in jail at the time, but everyone had heard about how Cadmus had tried to take over the League with their clones.

"You think they're making another weapon against us?" Kara asked through the comlink.

"We don't know, they managed to cover their tracks this time," Tim answered.

"So why the hell are we stationed outside of Amanda Waller's house and not the Cadmus headquarters?" I grumbled and Kara gave me a look.

"Because a couple weeks ago a Cadmus truck delivered something to her house," Tim explained.

"Would Cadmus really be that sloppy and obvious?" I questioned.

"That's what we were wondering," Stephanie piped in.

"We won't know until we get in," Tim finished, "Supergirl, are we clear?"

Kara turned towards the house and peered down, "No one's around the house and the building looks empty. The surrounding houses are all dark and no one's in the streets, you should be clear to enter without alerting anybody outside."

"You'll have to deal with getting inside, that's the problem," I reminded them frowning.

"That's the easy part, Jason," Tim answered and I could hear his smirk.

I took my hand away from my comlink and turned to Kara, "And now we wait."

She nodded, "And now we wait."

"So, how are classes?" she asked me suddenly.

Seriously, why did she always managed to get me to want to answer her questions.

"Same hell as ever," I grumbled.

She smirked, "Jason, a little education never hurt anyone."

"Shut up and keep watch," I ordered.

"Fine, but you're usually more talkative during monitor shifts," she commented.

I tried to shrug it off, "Yeah, well, I don't exactly want to be here."

Kara faced me, "Is is because I'm here?"

My eyes widened and a managed, "No!"

"I heard you asking why I was invited, Jason," she countered.

"That wasn't because I didn't' want to you around," I explained quickly, "I just didn't think you Kents can be stealthy."

She eyed me for a second and then relaxed, "To be honest, I was surprised by Tim's orders too. I don't exactly have the powers of being invisible."

Oh, how I wanted to tell her that we were part of Tim's plot to embarrass me. But if I told her that, then I'd have to explain why Tim thought that I was attracted to her and wanted to see me suffer from the humiliation.

So I shrugged, "A little practice never hurt, Kent."

She responded to my jab with a small glare, "Shut up, Todd."

I smirked and leaned back against a wall and studied her.

She was dressed in a black suit with a black and silver 'S' on her chest; Tim had designed darker suits for when we took other teammates out for night missions where keeping hidden was key. I was dressed in my typical Red Hood outfit, but left the helmet behind. I didn't need to make myself a big red target tonight, I'll leave that for other nights.

"We're in," Tim reported through the comlink, "If the coast is clear, follow us. There's no telling the defenses she's put up; we'll need to prepared for anything."

And then he added slyly, "And your flirting isn't helping."

"Damn you," I cursed as I shut off the connection.

I glanced at Kara and noticed her face had reddened, but I ignored that and ordered with a grin, "Come on, who knows what trouble they'll get themselves into. I don't like to miss a party."

She nodded and jumped down to the ground and I followed her.

We stopped in the bushes in front of the house and then made our way through the vent that Tim and Stephanie had gone through. I slipped through the vents and found an opening to one of the rooms. I dropped through it and landed on the floor of what appeared to be Waller's living room. I heard a thud behind me, and then Kara approached my side.

"What now?" she whispered as she studied the room.

I glanced around, the room was full of antique furniture and chinaware but strangely had a baby's pen in the corner. I approached it and reached in to see a light brown teddy bear and a blue blanket. Nothing else in the room indicated the presence of a child besides the pen.

Kara came over, "I didn't know Waller was married."

I frowned, "She isn't, and the last time Bruce checked, she didn't have children either."

"Then, what's this stuff for?" she wondered and then she searched through the room.

I followed her movements and watched as she picked up a picture frame. I cursed and then grabbed her hand, "What the hell are you doing? You could have set off a trap!"

She rolled her eyes and yanked her arm from mine, "Are all of you so paranoid? I was checking for any clues for why the head of Cadmus has a baby pen in her house."

I eyed the photo, which was of Waller and another man, probably her dead husband. I turned to Kara and murmured, "You don't think this has something to do with the cloning?"

Her eyes widened, "The truck delivery!"

I nodded and reached for my comlink, "Tim, we found something that may interest you in the living room."

"On our way," he replied and seconds later he and Stephanie were in the living room with us.

I raised an eyebrow, "Where were you anyways?"

"We were checking out Waller's office," Stephanie explained as Kara placed the frame back on the shelf.

Tim glanced over at the pen and then back to me, and we shared an understanding. Whoever this child was that Waller was keeping, it had to be the clone.

"We've got to find the kid," Tim ordered, "Batgirl, you and I will check upstairs. Red Hood, you and..."

He stopped and looked around, his eyes narrowing, "Where's Supergirl? She was supposed to stay with you. Did you piss her off again?"

Stephanie sighed, "Is is really that hard to work with other people, Red?"

I glared at them but before I could muster up a retort, Kara spoke through our comlinks.

"Guys, I come upstairs," Kara spoke through my comlink.

We made our way upstairs and heard the soft giggles, too quiet to be that of Kara's.

We entered a dark room that was brightened by a small lamp. In the room stood a single object, a baby crib where Kara was looking down at whatever was in the crib.

We all surrounded the crib and my eyes widened and Stephanie gasped.

Inside the crib, was a two-year old boy with jet black hair and bright blue eyes staring up at us with a smile. He reached up at us and giggled, as if we were the funniest things in the world. And I knew for a fact that I wasn't.

"So, this is the clone," I guessed as I studied the child, "It's so small."

"He is most certainly not a clone nor an it," a woman's voice came from behind us, "And his names is Terry."

We all whipped to face the woman, weapons and fists ready.

Amanda Waller herself chuckled and waved us off, "Put away the weapons, you'll scare the boy. Although with his parents, I doubt he'll be afraid of much."

Tim stepped forward and ordered sternly, "Explain, now."

"Of course, why else are you here?" she smirked.

I was getting the feeling she knew we'd be here and that she'd wanted us to come.

My younger brother seemed to have realized the same thing, because he started to study her suspiciously but didn't say anything as she continued.

"But first, some tea," she stated brightly, "And one of you bring Terry, thank you."

As we followed her back to the living room, Stephanie carrying the kid, I concluded that Amanda Waller was one crazy lady.

And that we were in for a hell of a ride.

Damn.

…...

Well, that's chapter 10! I hope you enjoyed it! I'll try to get Chapter 11 up soon where we'll find out more about Terry's origins and of course, Project Batman Beyond!

Please review!