Chapter 12: Leverage

Dick's POV

Alfred had to leave for England for a family reunion. Bruce was trying to bid on this project for his company and the bidding would take place on Saturday afternoon. So, we would be spending the weekend in Metropolis.

I finally finished packing, so I should probably check on Jay. There's no telling what he put in his suitcase.

"Jay, are you almost finished yet?" I called out while approaching his room. His suitcase lay empty on the bed. He was playing his PlayStation 2. I rolled my eyes and snatched his game controller from his hands.

"Hey! Give it back!" he shouted while trying to reach the controller I held up in the air.

"Jason, we are leaving in twenty minutes and you haven't packed yet."

"It doesn't take that long! Give it back!" He yelled while trying to seize the controller from my hand.

"Jason, do you even know where your suit is?"

He thought for a moment. "Does it matter?"

"Yes. Jason, get your stuff together. I'll help you."

********Break********

Jason's POV

We pulled up to Bruce's company plane. I've never been on one before. I've heard that people have died on them before. Great, I'm about to die and Dick wouldn't even let me finish my game, because we had to pack.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and reached for Bruce's hand as we walked towards the steel beast.

"Jason, are you okay? Is something wrong?" Bruce asked while looking down at me.

"Um… no. I'm fine."

Lucius Fox, Bruce's secretaries, and a few other board members walked up to us and started talking to Bruce about the project thingy. Apparently, Lex Luthor is his only competition.

Dick dragged me away from Bruce and pushed me into the plane. There was a couch, a tiny bar, a big TV, and a table with big, plushy, leather chairs. Two doors stood at the back.

"We'll be up here. Bruce will be in the conference room over there." Dick said while pointing to the first door on the left. "The bathroom's over there." He pointed at the door on the right.

Wow, rich people have nice planes. Wait, Bruce isn't going to be with us?

"Is Bruce going to be back there the whole time?" I asked nervously.

"Yeah, why? Jason, are you scared of flying?"

"No!" I shouted at him.

"It's okay. We're all afraid of something. You don't need to be scared. I'll be with you. And Bruce is just through that door."

"I'm not scared!" I yelled at him.

Dick's POV

We moved to sit in the chairs during takeoff. Jason immediately grabbed my hand as the plane left the ground. Once we were in the air, Jason still hadn't let go of my hand yet.

"Jay? You okay?"

He nodded.

"Just relax. We're perfectly safe. Besides, this is only like a thirty minute flight."

I think he just lost all the color in his face.

********Break********

Jason's POV

After we landed, we were driven to the hotel. I held Bruce's hand, while carrying my teddy bear. Dick walked beside me.

The hotel was huge! It had a waterfall in the main lobby! There's a lot of expensive crap in here! Wow! Women ran up to Bruce and started rambling about how cute I was and how handsome Dick was getting. Okay, I am not cute!

A lot of guys ran up to Bruce and started rambling about how happy they were that we would be staying with them. Yeah right!

Our room was huge! We had a dining room, a master bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, three huge bathrooms, a balcony, two other bedrooms, and a hot tub! The hotel had a bunch of expensive looking stuff in here too. Bruce took the master bedroom. Dick took one of the slightly smaller bedrooms. I was in a new place and I really didn't want to be by myself, not that I was afraid or anything. So, I'm pretty sure Dick or Bruce won't mind, if I 'accidently' fall asleep in one of their beds while watching TV.

********Break*******

Dick's POV

I guess Jason planned on sleeping with me tonight, since he left his teddy bear and suitcase in my room. Anyway, we got dressed and ready for dinner.

Bruce took us to the most expensive restaurant in Metropolis. Jason obviously hated it. He was upset they didn't have chilidogs, chicken nuggets, or hamburgers. Honestly, I had to agree with him. I really hate expensive restaurants. Jay and I grew up eating at similar places.

As we were leaving, we bumped into Lex Luthor and one of his dates. He and Bruce shook hands. I really don't like him. Jason didn't seem to like him either.

"I see you brought your… children with you. I'm sure they'll have a great time while they're here." Luthor said while looking at Jay and me with a disgusted look on his face. He moved his attention back to Bruce. "Anyway, did you get a chance to look at the plans I sent to your company last weekend?"

Bruce seemed to draw us closer to him. "As a matter of fact, I did look at your plans. And I chose to decline them. The plans called for a rainforest to be destroyed in order for a weapons factory to be built. I'm not interested in those types of projects, Luthor."

"I see." He looked down at us once again. "Well, have a nice night with your… family." He said in a threatening tone.

Bruce nodded and replied, "Enjoy your dinner" before pushing us out of the restaurant.

********Break********

Bruce was silent the entire way back to the hotel. Jason kept trying to hide the fact that he was yawning the entire time. As we entered the lobby, one of Bruce's secretaries ran up to us. She claimed that they needed to have an emergency meeting about the project. I could tell Jason was growing extremely impatient. He gets really cranky and really hard to deal with when he's tired.

"Dad, would it be okay if Jason and I went on ahead to our room? Please." I asked, giving him my puppy dog look.

He looked extremely hesitant.

"Please, we'll be careful. Besides, Jay's really tired." I pleaded.

"I am not sleepy!" Jason yelled at us. Yeah, he's tired.

Bruce held his spare hotel room key in front of me. "Richard, be careful. You are to take Jason straight up to the room. Do not leave the room. Understand? I won't be long." He warned.

"Yes sir." I replied while taking the key and dragging Jason toward the elevator.

The elevator stopped at the top floor and Jason suddenly burst through the doors.

"Race you to the room!" he called over his shoulder, disappearing around the corner.

"Jay, wait!" I called taking off after him.

"Dick, help!" I heard him scream.

As I rounded the corner, Jason was struggling with a large man. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, probably around 6'1, heavyset. He clamped his hand over Jason's mouth, only to withdraw it with a pained expression on his face.

"He bit me!" The man screamed.

"Let go of him! Now!" I yelled at him.

I was grabbed from behind by another man. I drove me elbow into my attacker's stomach and twisted my arm out of his grasp, knocking my attacker to the floor. My attacker had red hair, beard, blue eyes, around 5'10 in height.

"Enough!" screamed the blonde man. He now had a gun pressed into Jason's temple. His other hand was clamped securely over Jason's mouth.

I stopped dead in my tracks. "Don't hurt him." I pleaded.

He released Jason's mouth and ran his fingers through Jason's hair. "Keep your mouth shut and do as you're told or else your little brother might get hurt." He threatened.

********Break********

Jason's POV

After they forced us onto the floorboard of their car, they tied our hands behind our backs and blindfolded us. I am not happy! First, the blonde ugly guy grabs me and shoves a gun in my head! Second they tie us up! Who do they think they are! They'll be sorry once Bruce gets here! He'll-

"Don't worry Jay. Everything's going to be okay." Dick whispers to me in a soothing voice.

"Duh! I know that! Our dad's Batman! Of course everything's gonna be okay! Dick needs to stop babying me!" I mumble under my breath.

The car stops abruptly and I'm yanked off the floor by my soon to be paralyzed kidnapper. He throws me over his shoulder. I hear the sound of a door being unlocked. I think we're walking down some steps.

"Put me down!" I scream at him. I can't take not knowing where I am any longer.

He drops me onto the hard floor and snatches the blind fold from my eyes. He invades my personal space and growls, "Keep your mouth shut, brat! Or else your big brother could get hurt!"

He really needs a breath mint. I narrow my eyes. "He's not my real brother! I don't care what you do to him!" I yell out of frustration. It is past my bedtime after all and I occasionally get a little grouchy and say stuff I don't really mean.

Mockingly, Blondie says, "Oh really?" He grabs Dick by his hair from the really harry guy with the beard and pulls my brother into a head lock. He punches Dick in the stomach and shoves a gun up against his head. "Since he doesn't mean anything to you, I think I'll just kill him now." He threatens while cocking his gun.

My eyes grow wide and my voice cracks as I scream, "No! Don't! I didn't mean it! Stop! Please. I… I'll be good. I promise." A few tears fall from my eyes.

Both our captors start laughing and he shoves Dick to the floor beside me. "Okay boys, play nice. We're going to have to make a little phone call to Daddy." The harry guy threatens.

They walk back up the stairs and slam the door shut. We're in a dark basement. An old mattress is the only thing in the room. The only exit is a really small window, which is too high to reach and the door leading back up to our kidnappers.

"Dickie? I… I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean it! I-"

"I know." He says.

What! I know! Here I am trying to say I'm sorry and stuff and he's mad at me because I almost got him shot! I can't believe him!

The door to our prison bursts open as our kidnappers walk downstairs. The red harry guy covers my mouth and holds a gun against my head. Blondie holds the phone up against Dick's ear. "Tell Daddy that you're both fine and unharmed, but you're both really scared and you want to go home. Say anything other than that and big mouth over there gets hurt. Understand?" He says while inclining his head in my direction.

My mouth is not big! I glare at him. I'm extremely tempted to bite his hand.

Dick looks over at me and nods, while giving me his 'everything's okay' looks. "I won't say anything."

********Break********

Bruce's POV

Dick. Jason. My sons. They were taken. It's been twelve hours, thirty-two minutes, and forty-three seconds since they were taken from me. The only thing I have received is a warning not to call the police. I sigh as I step out onto the balcony.

"Clark, please help me." I plead into the night sky, while closing my eyes.

"Bruce, what happened? What's wrong?"

I open my eyes to find our 'fearless leader' of the Justice League hovering in front of me with Supergirl beside him.

My tone was icy as I said, "My boys have been taken from me."

"Has a ransom demand been made?" The teenager asked.

"No."

"Where were they last seen?" Superman asks.

"They were-"

I'm interrupted by the ringing of my phone. A number I don't recognize flashes across the screen.

"Bruce?" Dick's voice calls out to me.

"Dick! Are you okay? Where are you? Where's Jason? Can you tell me where you are? Are either of you hurt? Is Jason okay?"

"We're fine. We-"

Dick was cut off from me as a new voice came on the line. "Alright Wayne, both your brats are fine. If you ever want to see either of them again, you'll drop out of the bid Saturday afternoon. And you will sign that Lexcorp project agreement that was sent to you last weekend, tomorrow afternoon after the bidding. You'd better not go to the police or else I'll-"

"If you hurt either of those boys, I will spend the rest of my life tracking you down! There is not a single place on this Earth where you can hide from me! You will spend the rest of your miserable life in fear, always looking over your shoulder for me!" I threaten into the phone.

"Just sign the agreement and drop out of the bid. You meet our demands and your boys will be okay."

The line went dead and I turned towards the man of steel.

"Did you get all of that?" I ask.

He nods his head. "Don't worry Bruce, we'll find them."

********Break********

Jason's POV

I'm tired, I'm irritable, I'm hungry, I wanna go home, I want my teddy bear, and I want one of Alfred's cookies! And I'm tired of having a gun shoved against my head! And his hand smells like rotten cheese!

He finally removes his hand from my mouth and holsters his gun.

"I wanna go home now!" I scream at them.

"Shut up, brat!" the harry guy threatens while pointing his freckled finger at me.

My eyes narrow at him and I spit into his face. I obviously didn't think it through.

His hand sharply leaves an impact on my cheek and mouth. I can feel blood coming from my split lips. He shoves his gun into my mouth.

"Big mistake. I'm going to enjoy killing you." He growls.

That's when Dick loses it.

"Get away from him!" Dick screams at them. I've never seen him this angry before. An animalistic growl comes from his throat as he jumps to his feet and rams his shoulder into Blondie and knocks the man to the ground. I can see the rage in his eyes, the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He leaps into the air while pulling his bound hands in front of him and tackles the red head to the ground; knocking his gun far away. He repeatedly hits the man and slams his head into the ground. Now I'm scared.

Superman and Supergirl come crashing into the building. Superman pulls Dick off of the unconscious man, while Supergirl ties up our kidnappers, while I just there staring at Dick. I will never aggravate him on purpose again. I have the best and scariest big brother ever.

********Break********

Bruce's POV

The bidding on the project is about to start. Luthor walks smugly over to me.

"Wayne, are you ready to start? Or have you decided to drop out? Do you think you'll have a moment after the bidding to review those plans I sent you last weekend? Or do you have to get back to your… family?" he mockingly suggests.

My eyes narrow at the snake behind the kidnapping of my sons. "Surprisingly, I-"

"Daddy!"

Luthor's mouth practically drops open as I turn to see Clark standing behind me with both boys. Supergirl is beside him with… the kidnappers?

I drop to my knees as my two run into my arms. I can see Lois Lane standing to the side of us taking pictures. Luthor is seething with anger.

I stand up and extend my hand to the man of steel. "Thank you, Superman. I don't know how to repay you."

He smiles at both boys. "Payment is not necessary." His attention turns to Luthor. "Unfortunately, those two refuse to reveal who the mastermind of their operation was."

"You won't get nothing outa us! Couple more seconds and you would have had a dead kid!" the red headed man threatens.

Dick narrowed his eyes and took a step forward. The two criminals immediately shrank back against Supergirl.

"Can we go home now? I'm tired and hungry. Please Daddy?" Jason asks while tugging at my sleeve.

"Bruce, I'm sure I can handle the bidding if you're ready to go." Lucius says while coming to stand beside us.

"Thank you. Boys, let's go home."