JJ knew he was laughing but didn't care; Laughing Jack was in control and nothing hurt right now because of that. He didn't have to think about Jaybird being gone. Didn't think about him going cold. About his own cursed blood. About killing his not-father. Laughing was better than crying. Better laugh until his face hurt than allow his heart to hurt any longer. He'd held out a long time but being Laughing Jack was just so much easier, especially with a gun in his hand. They could only hurt his body now and really, who did that hurt at all?
The gun fired again. Something shattered.
There was a noise. Just a noise. A rustle really. It was quiet, nearly silent but not perfectly so. Not fully trained. With a clear head he may have bothered recognizing it. With a clear head he would have turned and looked before it happened. With a clear head he wouldn't have laughed as he whipped his arm up and pulled the trigger again without even looking. Laughing Jack did not have a clear head.
The gun fired again.
It was only a gentle squeeze and a loud bang. And a thud paired with a pained cry as a body hit the ground. He looked then. He wanted to see. And then he didn't.
Jalal screamed and scrambled back. Brabat was lying in a pool of her own blood and not moving. He was literally holding a smoking gun. Another member of his family was dead, this time by his own hand.
"My blood is cursed," Jalal murmured, lifting the gun again.
The metal still felt cool despite having been fired repeatedly, maybe because death was cold. Stone graves were cold. His body felt cold. Jaybird's body had been cold. It was funny how touching a cool piece of metal against hot skin made the attention focus on it so intensely, so funny yet he wasn't laughing. His temple burnt like ice but he knew the sensation wouldn't last long so he didn't mind it. Jalal knew if he pulled the gun away he'd feel the ghost of it against his own temple. He wouldn't though. He was resolved. This was better.
"This ends with me. No more dying."
The gun fired again. Nightwing's Batarang made it in time. Jalal fired but missed his target. The hospital was called. Batgirl lived too. She never took another step under her own power either.
"Oracle." Jalal named awkwardly. He didn't have the right to give her one of his names. He had no right to look her in the eyes. Why had she come? He was a monster. He'd ruined her. He couldn't fix her. He was a monster. Jaybird would hate him for hurting his sister like that. Jalal hated himself for hurting her.
"Look at me," she ordered.
Jalal's head turned towards her, but his eyes remained firmly turned towards the ground.
"Look at me properly," Barbra Gordon ordered, voice clear.
Jalal obeyed.
"Are you okay?"
Jalal physically reared back at that question. Why would she ask him that? Shouldn't he be asking her? Shouldn't she hate him? Shouldn't she already know the answer?
Her face softened even further. "Jalal… it wasn't your fault. You didn't even know I was there. I should have known better than to treat Laughing Jack like I would treat you. I did not exercise the proper level of caution and paid the price for that. I don't blame you."
Jalal flinched. "I shot you at point blank range. I hit your spine. I could have hit something even more important. I didn't even look. I didn't. Fucking. Care."
Barbra Gordon was not impressed. "Do you blame yourself for Robin's death too?"
Jalal didn't answer immediately. "My blood is cursed. I am a monster. My blood killed him. It is my fault."
Somehow, it sounded like a dull recitation, a constant heartache that he didn't even have the strength of will to cry over anymore. Babs knew that wasn't true though because he still cried sometimes. Jalal still had fits of hysterics and catatonia over Jason's death. This must be one of his slow days.
"We all kill the thing we love most, sister. And loving makes you die a little inside. It's good your dad already knew. He needed to be able to understand. Just in case."
Babs's breath got caught in her chest for a hitch. Telling her father about being Batgirl, and now about being Oracle, had been one of the most terrifying ideas in her life because he could have taken that away from her. She had known that if he asked, that she would have put away the cowl. Barbra Gordon also knew that she would never, ever, want to give it up. Not even to have her legs back. If giving up her legs meant that all the lives she had saved would stay safe, then it was worth the price. It had to be. She couldn't bear to regret coming to this point.
"Jalal. It wasn't your fault."
"Lady Oracle... I don't believe you."