Someone Speaks Softly

"Your father," Robin says. All the blood has drained out of his face. "He's your father."

Yes, Jericho writes.

"Well, why didn't you say anything about that months ago?"

Jericho visibly hesitates. Whatever his excuse for that is, it won't be enough.

My father…

Robin stands up and slams a hand on the table. "Your father," he seethes, "is a monster. And if you knew anything about him you should have told me."

Wally is staring at him, eyebrows knotted. He is clutching onto my hand like a lifeline.

"My God, Dick, what did he do to you?"
Robin looks at him, his face hard but his entire body trembling. And he reaches for the collar of his shirt and pulls it down, revealing the "S" carved into his chest.

"Anything he wanted to," he says, teeth barred. "I wasn't exactly in the position to say 'no'."

Wally's eyes go very, very wide. He catches on, just like he does everything else, quick.

"He raped you." It's not a question.

Robin doesn't look at him. "Yeah."

"I could kill him," Wally exclaims.

"No you couldn't," I say.

He doesn't protest. We both know it's true.

Donna has started crying again. "I made out with the son of a man who…" she sobs. "I feel dirty." Wally puts an arm around her, his other hand still gripping onto mine.

"I just…" he begins. "I didn't… Dude, why didn't you say anything?"
Robin's expression is grim. "Not now, Wally."

Wally presses his lips together. "Okay."

"What do you know?" Robin asks again, furiously.

Jericho starts to write again. My name, he writes, is Joseph Wilson. I don't know if it's real and I don't know if it's his. I suffered from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder after I got my throat cut. I remember almost nothing from before age nine, and he had stopped being my dad long before that. I don't know anything about him- not his name, not what he looks like. I'm sorry for what he did to you, and I'm sorry I can't tell you what you want to know.

Robin reads this several times, each time growing more and more angry. "Sorry?" he growls. "You're sorry that you may have unwittingly led everyone led everyone this team into the hands of a psychopath?"

Wally looks at him nervously. "Dick…"

"Not now, Wally."
I stand up. "Fuck this," I say. "Are we going to stand here throwing accusations at each other or are we going to do something?"

Robin stares at me for what feels like a very long time. "You're right," he says. "Let's do something."

Wally has also stood up. He looks at Jericho. "Do you know where your brother took Rose?" he asks. He is trying to be nice about it. Damn is he ever too good for me.

Jericho nods and holds out a piece of paper with an address.

I've been tailing him the last few days, he writes. That's where I think he's living.

Wally nods and takes the paper. "Thank you."

"Should we get Toni?" I ask. Robin shakes his head.

"Someone should wait here in case she turns up. Anyway five people's enough."

Five? Jericho writes. You want me to come?

"He's your brother."

Silently- well, with no visible response- he grabs his notebook and joins us at the door.

I glare at him. "Anything else we should know about you before we go?"

Jericho shrugs, and then writes something and holds up the paper. I'm gay.

"Yeah," I reply, turning towards the door. "That's what I figured."

Grant's apartment building is crumbling to bits. The windows are boarded up and a couple of walls look about ready to fall down. Maybe he's living here, but he sure isn't doing it legally.

"Who uses a fucking abandoned building as their hideout?" I grumble under my breath. I step through the front door- it's just as bad inside as it is out.

"Maybe he's planning to demolish it," Robin suggests. He hasn't looked anyone in the eye since we left and he's talking in near monotone.

"With her inside?" Donna exclaims, her hand flying to her mouth.

"Shh," I command. Fuck, am I ever a bitch today. I'll apologize later. "Don't let him hear you yet."

Wally pulls me aside. "Okay, what's up?" He whispers.

I roll my eyes. "Nothing. I'm just…" Ugh. I feel like I might cry again. "Long day."

He smiles and gently runs a hand through my hair. "Tell me about it. Least we aren't fighting anymore."

I can't help but smile too. "Yeah."

He winces. "So, um, you knew about this thing with Dick?"

"Yeah," I say. "He told me at the conference. He had to give a speech about the thing with Slade"

He glances at Robin. "I get why you didn't say anything, but…"

"He was waiting for the right time," I say.

"It happened a year ago…" he says. He seems frustrated. Makes sense. They've been friends a long time.

"He said it's harder to tell the people he's close to," I say. "I don't even think Starfire knows."

Wally smiles, more sadly this time. "Yeah, that sounds like Dick, alright." He turns to me and his smile grows more genuine. "Anyway, let's get this done. Then I'm gonna go home and make y'all chocolate chip pancakes."

"Y'all?" I tease. He grins and wiggles his eyebrows.

"Well, given the events of today, I'd say all four of my girls deserve chocolate for dinner." He slips his arm through mine. "Don't worry, though. Baby Spice was always my favorite."

"Was she?" I quip, grinning back.

"Oh, yeah. Want me to…"

He is cut off by Donna shrieking. The floor seems to have given way underneath her, and she is clutching the wall, having just narrowly avoided falling in.

"And back to the mission," Wally jokes, drawing out the "and" like a radio announcer. "Donna, you okay?"

"Uh-huh," she squeaks, inching herself away from the broken floor.

"So I'm thinking we shouldn't go that way," Robin says, sounding almost angry.

"Brilliant plan," I grumble. "Maybe we should split up," I suggest. "Cover more ground."

Wally looks nervous. "I don't know," he says. "It's just one building. Maybe I should just search the whole thing, it'll take a couple seconds."

"Don't," Robin says. "We don't know what we're up against."

"A murderous psychopath fathered by another murderous psychopath," Donna exclaims. "What's not to know?"

"Well…" God, I hate that I'm about to suggest this. "Maybe it's not that simple."

To my surprise, Robin does not argue with that. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. This is, after all, guy who considers himself a villain because he was threatened and blackmailed into it.

"It's not a bad plan," he decides, "but can you really search carefully enough?"

Wally shrugs. "Probably not."

I take another look around the building. The walls are papered in pink-and-white striped wallpaper that has been mostly torn to shreds. The floors are wooden and creaky and look like they're full of termites. This is one shitty evil layer. Unless…

I kneel down and stare into the hole Donna broke in the floor. It's pitch black, no ground in site.

"Did you guys see any down staircases?" I ask. They shake their heads. Yeah, that's what I thought. "He's in the basement."

Wally kneels down next to me and drops of bit of debris into the hole. After a couple of seconds, there's a metallic noise. It has hit ground.

"So should we just jump down?" he asks.

Robin shakes his head. "Not we. I'll go."

Wally looks at him. "Dude, do you really think that's a good idea? Rosie hardly knows you, and…"

Robin suddenly gets very angry again. "Well someone has to go down there."

Wally seems to shrink in place. "Dude, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to look out for you."

"Well I don't need you to-"

"I'll go," I interrupt. "Wally, get the police. The rest of you search the rest of the building, just in case."

"You sure?" Wally asks me. His eyes are soft, warm, and it makes me blush.

"I'll be fine, you go," I reply. He seems nervous about this, but he doesn't say anything. He kisses me on the lips before he speeds off.

Jericho is looking at me with an expression I can't place, but nobody else says anything to me, so I just jump down.

It's not quite as deep as I thought it would be. I manage to land on my feet, one hand on the ground, without it hurting too much. It is, however, just as dark as I imagined. I can barely see two feet in front of me.

I try to get something to glow, give me light to go by, but probability seems to have decided not to work that way. I could probably manage to set something on fire, but that seems like it would do more harm than good. I don't know what's down here or how flammable it is.

The air is dank and heavy, like a sewer. It smells, like Rosie's room, of death.

I can hear Robin and Donna start to talk above me, but I don't pay attention. I find the wall with my hand. It feels like metal, and it's wet, probably with blood, but the smell of blood is already so strong down here that I can't really tell.

This should be fun.

I take a deep breath and start walking forward, keeping my hand on the wall. I don't know what I'm looking for- just some sign that this was a decent plan, I guess. A door, a dead body. Anything that might lead to me Sid… Grant. Whatever. If he's even here.

Oh, God, this was a stupid idea, wasn't it? He's probably not even…

Something hits me in the forehead.

Well, fuck.

I must have passed out, because the next thing I know my head is throbbing and I'm tied to a metal chair in a small, dark room.

And I hear laughter.

"Walked right into your trap, didn't I?" I ask, even though I can't see who I'm talking to. I struggle against my restraints but I can't get out. It feels like cheap rope, but it's knotted pretty tight.

There's more laughter, but no response. Apparently, I'm dealing with a Joker wannabee in addition to a Slade one.

Okay, now I'm just annoyed. "So are you just gonna laugh, or are we gonna do this?" I snap. "Are you gonna show your face and want to fight me?"

There's a clicking noise and a bare lightbulb turns on. The sudden brightness hurts my eyes. I'm seeing spots.

There is something in the corner of the room, a limp looking shadow.

My eyes clear out.

It's Rosie.

"Fuck," I whisper sharply. She's lying on the floor bloody and battered. I think she's breathing but I'm not close enough to be sure. I start pulling at the rope around my wrist but I can't reach the knot.

"I thought someone would come after me," someone sneers. I recognize the voice immediately- it is, as suspected, Sid-I-mean-Grant. "But I have to say, I had my money on the ginger."

"Not on your brother?" I reply, trying not to let on how much my heart is pounding. I think he's standing right behind me but I can't turn around enough to see.

"Well, I might have, until Rose there-"

"Rosie."

He laughs again. He's like a fucking hyena. "She always hated being called that. Before she met you."

"Did she?" I ask. Maybe if I can get him talking, buy myself some time.

He cackles, and suddenly there is a knife on my throat. "The monologue trick? Really think I'd fall for that?"

"Worth a shot," I say. I close eyes and try not to think about the way the metal feels against my skin.

"Well, I guess since you're a captive audience anyway…" he chuckles. "What do you want to know?"

Damn. Now I need to think of a question.

Rosie groans slightly, like she's in pain. Well, at least she's alive.

"What's your plan?" I ask.

"Well, first I kill you." He jabs the knife against my arm, just hard enough to rip through my sleeve and break the skin. It stings and I nearly cry out. You'd think a little superficial cut like this wouldn't bother me, what with how often I've done it to myself, but there you go.

"And then I send the photos to my father, get him to see I'm not such a failure after all."

I feel the blood start to pulse out of my arm and I can think straight again. It always makes it hurt less when they start to bleed.

"So that's what this is about?" I ask. What's the probability of a knot just coming undone without any prompting? I try to focus on it, make it slip open, but it doesn't work. "Just trying to be evil for Daddy?"

"No," he says. "See, after I get his guard down, I'm gonna kill him too. Then I'll be in charge. Won't that be fun?" Out of the corner of my eye, I think I see him lick his lips.

"So how does Rosie figure into this?" I ask.

"Just a bargaining chip," he says. "Dad always wanted deal with her himself."

I move onto trying to get the chair to fall apart, but it seems like it's all one piece of material- no nuts or bolts that could fall out. And metal isn't exactly combustable…

Combustable. Of course.

This is going to ruin Wally's sweatshirt. Also my wrists, but I don't feel so bad about that.

I snap my finger, and the rope bursts into flame.

It hurts like hell, but I make myself ignore the pain. I stand up, throw the rope aside and whirl around to face him.

Grant has removed his prosthetic. There's just a hole in his face where his left eye should be, the skin red and shiny with scars and veins sticking out. It seems out of place with his toothy smile. He looks fucking deranged.

I pick up the chair. "Your turn." And I slam it into him.

The chair glows glows pink and he is thrown against across the room. He hits the wall and then falls to the ground, unconscious.

I rush over to Rosie and roll her onto her back. She's out, but she's alive. She's covered in cuts and bruises, but nothing too serious. Her eye patch has fallen off. The eye socket behind it is just as gruesome as his. I guess it runs in the fucking family.

I pick her patch up off the floor and put it back on her. Poor girl deserves her dignity.

My communicator is hooked onto my belt. I grab it and jab my finger into the buttons, so hard I'm surprised it doesn't short-circuit.

"Wally?" I say, as soon as I get him on the line. He takes one look at my face and starts to worry.

"What happened?" he asks, breathlessly.

"I think I got him?" I say. "Are you back at the building?"

He nods. "Yeah, where are you?"

"The basement?" I guess. "I'm not sure, he knocked me out then took me somewhere." I stand up and try the door. It's locked. I take the chair and I knock it down.

Outside is same dark hallway from before. I can tell by the smell. "Yeah, the basement."

There's a thumping noise from Wally's end, and the screen goes dark. He must have just jumped down that hole. "Jinx?" he says.

"Yeah?"

"Scream. I'll follow your voice."

I laugh dryly. Just make myself scream? That's a tall order. I inhale, but nothing comes out.

I close my eyes and let myself feel the searing pain in my wrists.

I scream Wally's name.

There is a blur of color, and the next thing I know I'm outside. The sun has set, but the light of the city is still shockingly bright. It takes me a minute to reorient myself. I hear the sirens before I notice the several ambulances and police cars surrounding the building. The police chief is talking to Robin while several other officers are roping off the area. Rosie is lying, still unconscious, on a bench, while Donna sits next to her in tears. Jericho stands next to them, his hands in his pockets.

Screaming seems to have taken a lot out of me, but seconds later the pain hits me again, full force.

"Ow!" I exclaim. "Ow, ow…" I feel the tears start to come. "Ow."

Wally wraps me up in his arms. "God, I'm so glad you're okay," he whispers.

He breaks the hug to ask "Where are you hurt?" I manage to hold up my wrists and he gasps.

"That's like a second degree burn- can we get a medic over here?- what happened?" He says it all in breath, even as he turns to yell into the crowd.

"Um, he tied me up," I choke out. I'm in so much pain I can barely speak. I feel like there are bugs crawling in my skin and biting me. "I made the rope combust."

"While it was around your wrists?" he exclaims.

I cough. I seem to have inhaled smoke too. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

A woman in a paramedic uniform comes over to me. Wally starts talking rapid fire.

"Is she gonna be okay, does she need to go to the hospital, is there anything I can do, is…"

"Wally, calm down," I say. He makes a noise like a puppy dog and hugs me again.

The paramedic inspects my wrists and my now partly-melted medical bracelet. "She'll be fine," she tells him. She turns to me. "It's second degree but it's not too bad. You should see a doctor to make sure it's not infected, but you'll be okay." She smiles. "I'm sure you guys have faced worse, right?"

"Part of the job," I say. I wince at the pain.

"Stay here," she says. "Let me get you something for that."

I breathe heavily and sit down on the sidewalk. Wally sits next to me and puts his arms around my waist, like he's trying to protect me. He's so sweet. I manage a smile.

"Sorry about your sweatshirt," I say. My throat's sore and I can't talk above a whisper.

"It's okay, I like purple and bloody. Date you, don't I?" he jokes. I laugh, but then laughing hurts so I just lean my head on his chest.

The paramedic comes back with medicine and bandages. Just as she begins to wrap them around my wrists, a police officer comes out of the building with Grant, conscious again and in a straight jacket.

Donna sees him. She rises to her feet.

"You bastard!" she shrieks. I've never heard her talk like that. "How dare you! How dare you use me to hurt a nine-year old girl like that! If you ever, ever come near her or any of us again, I will personally bash your head in, do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," he replies. The officer brings him to a police car, and I hear his laughter even after they shut the door.

Rosie suddenly bolts up. She's got a cut that stretches all the way across her forehead and her skin is shaded red and purple. "G-Grant, what…" She looks around, realizing where she is. "G-guys? Where… What happened?"

"He tried to send you back to your father," I say.

"Jinx got him," Wally adds.

"Oh," she whimpers. "I… I, um…"

Jericho puts a hand on her shoulder, and she snaps.

"Don't touch me!" she screams. "Don't touch me, don't look at me, don't…" She starts throwing punches at him, too short to reach anything above his legs. "How could you let this happen, why didn't you say anything, I know you knew, I know you…"

Wally jumps up and rushes over to them. He pulls her off Jericho and she collapses into his arms in tears.

"I was so scared," she whimpers. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Wally makes a shushing noise and rubs her back. "It's okay. It's okay, sweetheart, you're safe now."

Jericho reaches a hand out, like he might try to comfort her.

He puts it back in his pocket. I think it's killing him to do so.

It's a past midnight when we finish going through things with the police and get home. Grant, they said, will either be committed to an asylum or he'll go to jail. Either way he'll be locked up.

I wake up in the middle of the night, thanks to the pain in my wrists, and decide to go the kitchen for painkillers and a cup of tea. When I get there, I find Wally at the counter, in his pajamas, resting his head on one hand and holding the phone in the other, tears in his eyes.

"Hey," I say. He looks up at me, wipes his eyes and smiles.

"Oh, I didn't know you were up," he says. "Are your wrists okay?"

"They kinda hurt," I answer. I sit down next to him. "What's wrong?

He shrugs. "My dad just called."

"In the middle of the night?"

"Well, he knows I don't really sleep," Wally says, his voice cracking. "Apparently I missed an important rehearsal dinner."

"Oh, fuck, that was tonight?"

"Yeah. And now I'm officially uninvited to the wedding."

"Seriously?" I ask. "Did you tell him you were stopping a homicide lunatic?"

He nods. "Didn't make a difference to him."

"You want me to make his car break down?"

Wally laughs, and that laughter quickly turns into sobs.

"Oh, Wally…" I hug him, and he rests his head on my shoulder and cries.

"People suck, huh?" I say. He sort of laughs at that.

"Well, you can't pick your family."

"Can't you?" I reply. "I mean, who says they're the ones who have to matter?"

He doesn't say anything, just smiles and hugs me back.

Is it over? Is it over, I said, is it over? Is it?

Someone speaks softly through the horror and pain:

"Love has gone, but it could come again"
Spring arrives quietly, warming her skin
Her heart, now red, is beating again
Oh, it's over

Author's notes:

I actually think this turned out pretty okay, all things considered. XD

I don't really like writing big, action-y, "heroes saving the world" epic type of stories, partly because I don't think I'm very good at it and partly because I'm just more interested in smaller, more personal stories. This one… Falls somewhere in the middle, I guess, and I'm not too sure how I feel about that. Really, I just kind of wrote myself into a corner years ago by deciding to adapt Rose from the comics years, and I guess I made out… Well, it could have been worse XD. One thing I really didn't want to do, though, was to sort of solve the mystery of Slade. Frankly, I don't think I could do that sort of story justice, and even if I did, that is Dick and Gar's story and I didn't want to tell it here. So I'm sorry if Jericho's lack of knowledge about Slade and exactly what was going on seemed like a bit of a cop-out. I just really didn't want to go there in this story.

The thing that sort of connects the plotlines of this story- I guess it's a "theme", but I don't like to write "themes". I write about people. XD- is family. There are a lot of different family situations going on, and they all sort of mirror and/or conflict with each other. Anyway, the point is: Wally is essentially Rosie's big brother. Jericho knows that. Even though he is her biological brother, she will never think of him the same way she thinks of Wally, and he knows that. I think it's kind of sad and kind of interesting. Joey's a bit of a tragic figure here- he just wants to mend his family, but he knows there's no way to do that without hurting his sister, who he really does care about. So he lets her go. Also, Joey's's gay. XD I don't know why I decided that, it just fit. And statistically, someone on the Titans had to be, right? XD I've sort of established Speedy as bi in my other story, Trainspotting, and now I'm trying to work in a joke about them having made out once. XD

I have things to say about Dick and Wally but these author's notes are already really long (sorry) so I'll do it another time. XD And Jinx got to be all brave and heroic and of course she snarked her way through it and that's all I have to say about that, really.

Also, I've been updating really frequently the last few weeks, and while I really, really hope I can keep up the pace, I start college in like four days, so I can't promise that. But I can promise that I'll finish this as soon as I can. I really want to move on to the sequel I have in mind, which I think will be a much, much better story. XD Though it might be a while before I start it because I'm still working out the plot.

Title and lyrics from "Someone Speaks Softly" by Hannah Fury.