So… references to several works here… hee… also, did anyone read the latest RHATO? XD I'm. yeah. Anyways, here it is! Please Read and Review.
Chapter 12
"Goddamn! Did you read what happened to this guy? Parents dead at an early age, one from overdose, then years later he finally has the chance to move on with his new girlfriend and some psycho freak pushes drugs into her system? How fucking traumatizing would that be? Fuck! What a life." He said flipping the newspaper down before the tale could sicken him further.
"I don't know, the beginning kinda sounds like you… only this guy didn't have Bruce…"
Jason threw Tim an incredulous look, "He also didn't have to die early and come back to life."
"Point." Tim paused long enough to gaze into the distance semi-thoughtfully, though Jason figured that was just to gather up enough snark for his next comment. "not to rub it in or anything, but your life sucks."
"Tell me about."
"well first there was the incident with-"
a light punch to the arm shut his mouth before Tim could go on, but the two were smiling as Jason moved his fingers over the file once more. The brothers had been waiting for Bruce and their two remaining brothers to return for a serious family meeting. Except, y'know, instead of talking about their days they would be talking about a notorious Italian drug lord who had just relocated his friendly neighborhood meth labs to Gotham. Jason had already decided that he liked Tim, as the witty teen went back and forth with their own brand of raillery.
"so how long have we been waiting?" Tim asked abnormally, a devious smile playing on his lips.
"an hour or so, you know that." Jason replied, though he knew his brother was planning some sort of trick or game.
"Statement. One – Love."
"Huh?"
"We're playing a game, don't you know the rules?" Tim said.
"No."
"Statement, two– love." Tim's smile was positively irritating now.
"The hell?"
"Don't you know the rules?" Tim asked again.
"Repetition, two – one." Jason smiled, catching on quickly.
"huh?" confusion filled his brother's features.
"Foul! No grunts. two – all."
"How did you catch on so quickly?" Tim asked.
"How could I not?" Jason squared his shoulders, leaning forward to speak to Tim on equal terms.
"what do you mean?"
"What does anything mean?"
"Foul! No rhetoric! Three – two, one game all." His brother announced triumphantly, waving his hands in the air like a maniac. Jason punched his shoulder and the two were about to start a battle-royale – Jason Todd would not be shamed out of kicking the ass of a snobbish wheel-chair-bound idget – when a slight cough set them both back to their seats immediately.
Standing in the doorway were three sets of eyes, all sharp blue and with a glimmer of laughter at the center.
Tim coughed awkwardly, "um… we were just… reviewing the case."
Dick entered the room with a stride of confidence and bounced on the bed with a simple grace that just should not be possible for a male. "right, and I'm Santa."
Something changed in the room immediately and all of a sudden Jason was unsettled and anxious. They all seemed to notice and react to his stress by spreading out and then focusing their attention on the case.
"So have you two reviewed the facts?" Dick asked with trepidation.
"yeah, since you guys were taking your sweet time out there, Tim and I went over everything. I just have one question." Jason said, turning to look directly at Bruce. "Why do you need me on this?"
Dick cleared his throat, speaking before Bruce had a chance to, "We would usually have Tim research big cases like this, and I suppose he still could, but you are the resident all-knowing-drug-vigilante." He paused before going on, "err… that is, you've been involved in the drug trade before, you would know the most about it."
Damian sat apart from them, listening but not interacting. In fact, the boy had barely spoken to him since Jason came to the manor. He was about to change all that. "by 'involved' you mean 'running.' He's a criminal, I don't see how you all don' see that."
"It would be nice to do this one thing as a family." Tim said, looking anywhere but at Jason.
"-Tt- if you were looking for a family why don't you go back to your little tower, Drake."
"Shut up Damian, I'm seriously not in the mood to deal with your shit!" Tim exclaimed. It was true, he'd had an amazing day of slouching in his chair and talking with his two older brothers, he just didn't want that ruined by the brat. Now the youngest wanted to stir up trouble? Well he wasn't biting.
Instead Tim swiftly switched subjects and turned to Dick, who had been in the cave all night relaying information to the Dynamic Duo. "How's the shoulder?" He asked loud enough for Damian to catch the hint.
Dick rolled his shoulder slightly and, to Jason and Tim's amazement, he did not wince at all. "I've always healed pretty quickly," he said, a shy smile swiped across his face.
"Right, well. We should get to work then." Bruce said, calling their attention back to the case. Typical.
"If you ask me, which I think you are, I'd say this Gianni fellow is downtown. Let's go get him." Jason said, completely serious in nature.
"We can't just 'go get him' we have to gather evidence to show that he is the main runner."
"He's not, but we can learn what we can from his 'associates'. They will be down there too."
Bruce gave his second eldest a look, "What do you mean he's not the one in charge? All the evidence points to him."
Jason glared at his once-father-figure. "Don't play dumb, Bruce. Dick said it first, I am the resident expert on this and any idiot would know that Gianni is in Florida. He runs the I-95 drug trade. He would never move to Gotham without specific reason, and even then he would send a subordinate first."
Tim turned pale as soon as the words had sailed out of his mouth, but Jason continued nonetheless. "I've been looking into this man for quite a while. Several hundred people have been slaughtered recently, but he has never really been readily visible. He's not the main man here. If anyone is running the drug trade in Gotham it would be someone within his organization, but not Gianni himself."
Some color returned to Tim as he realized that Jason had not found them out, only made a jump in the case from step one to step three. Tim turned to Dick and smiled.
Their plan was going off without a hitch.
