The Red Right Hand

by Ophelia'song

Dick Grayson learns that some ghosts aren't so easily laid to rest when he returns to Gotham to visit his troubled friend Roy. In conversation, he learns some disturbing information about the man who once stood to destroy him—Slade. With his team on the verge of ruin, Nightwing finds himself in a dispute with the Justice League that may cost him his leadership and possibly more.

25. Blue Line Baby

A/N: Hey guys! So I just thought I'd post this update now since I probably won't be able to for a month or two as we are closing on our NEW (really old) HOUSE tomorrow morning! I'm still gonna try and sneak some writing and editing in here and there, but I'm gonna have my hands full with Wallpaper hell and bathroom renovations and all that jazz. So wish me luck! But in the mean time, thanks to all of you reading, I love hearing from you and I dare say for my Rojay shippers that I have something in the works for you. No idea when it will be ready, but hopefully sooner rather than later. And yes: my RobRae Shippers, your time is coming, I promise. Love you all and thanks for the support! And thank you my good friend Ellinist! She's been huge help, go read her work because she's amazing has worked so hard, I could not being moving forward without her help!

With Love -Ophelia

Chapter 25

Blue Line Baby

"Dear Cambria,
You're floating up the stream
She asked, "Would you sink with me?"
Pleased to see ya
But bird watchers stalk the bridge
Beneath where blue line rails begin." -Nothing

To tell you the truth, no one really knew what to do. Jason didn't mind inflicting pain upon horrible men, and certainly didn't flinch at giving them what they deserved. X was sort of in a similar boat, especially when it came to men that reminded him of his father. He never batted an eye when it came to giving someone a taste of their own medicine, but there was something about inflicting such suffering upon a woman that he had a hard time stomaching. And then there was Dick Grayson.

He had it in his head that she was somehow innocent in all of it, even though she'd have killed him in cold blood if things had gone her way. There was just something about his heroic nature that could not completely divorce her from the tonality that she may, indeed, be a victim of her circumstance.

Jason shook his head and thought about how only Dick Grayson could think that way, and how Dick was probably the only reason he wasn't chipping her teeth on his bare knuckles. But lucky for him, he had Jinx for that.

"Alright bitch, talk," she hissed and ripped the duct tape from her mouth.

She whined, the tape leaving her lips raw.

"I said, talk!" Jinx commanded again, "what the fuck do you know?"

Her balled fist crashed across her jaw, the girl's head swinging to the right from the force, but she still said nothing.

"You do realize the harder you make this for me, the harder it's gonna be on yourself?"

The girl straightened her back, this wasn't the first time she'd been smacked around. "Well then you'd better up the fucking anti, cause I'm not say'n shit, cunt."

Jason could see Jinx's eyes begin to fume, seeing nothing but red. As much as he wanted her to get her shit wrecked (as he felt she deserved) if he didn't step in, they'd get nothing from her.

Jinx let her fist rise as she pulled it back, ready to throw a full right cross and knock her the fuck out, when Jason's hand fell over hers and guided it down.

"I think it's a bit soon for that," he said flatly, shutting the angry gesture down.

Jinx glared at him with disappointment, not sure why he was stopping her. A low chuckle began to erupt, soft and gentle, but still somehow condescending.

Jinx was still seething, her eyes glaring back at the girl as she tried to pull free and strike her again.

"Jinx why don't you go cool off," Jason suggested, the girl giving him a dispaired look.

"But—"

"It's fine," he replied, "I got it from here, now go take a breather."

A heavy breath shot out her nose as her jaw grew taut, her brows pressed in discontent. Still, she did what her leader asked of her and turned away, but not before issuing a final threat.

"Don't think I'm done with you yet, cunt," she hissed, then carried herself up the stairs.

The girl smirked smugly, as though the threat didn't offend her, Jason finding this more than annoying, even feeling the need to wipe such a smirk off her face.

"Don't be so arrogant," he warned. "If I hadn't told her to take a walk, your blood would be staining my walls right now."

"What, do you want a thank you?" she asked, her frown smoldering as she stretched her jaw in discomfort.

"No," he shook his head, "but if you want to keep that pretty face intact, then you should probably stop acting like you're running the show."

She scowled at him, not caring what he wanted from her. "I'm still not telling you shit, you're better off taking the gun and putting a round through my skull, since that's probably what you're gonna do anyway."

"If you keep acting like a little bitch, I will," he replied, "but if you play nice, I might be more giving than you expect."

"Yeah you can fuck right off."

"This is gonna be a long fucking day, princess."

Wally had gone out to pick up lunch, leaving Donna and Raven to look after Roy. Donna was mindlessly at work folding laundry, a task she'd become so accustomed to, it actually brought her comfort. Raven on the other hand was sorting through an old box, trying to find answers, but just played it off as though she were organizing.

She looked over at Donna, the two hardly speaking, going about their tasks with as much dull feeling as possible. She watched as her hands moved, smoothing the clothing and taking great care to arrange each garment just so. She was always so innocent and ethical, her moral high ground greater than mountains no man could conquer. But it seemed now that mountain was not quite as high as she'd previously thought.

Apparently Donna liked to hide her secrets in plain sight, clever.

"So where's Robert?" Raven asked blankly.

Donna looked up at her, bewildered that Raven was the one asking a question just out of the blue.

"He's with Terry, he has some family in town."

Raven nodded and glanced into the box, an old photograph from many years past falling into her sight. It was obviously from when they were children, a picture of Dick with his arm around Barbara, a consumed look in his eye. Barbara had a rather big smile on her face, and if nothing else, they appeared the very image of young love. Wally and Roy were also present, bunny ears in tow and goofy expressions on their childish faces. Then there was Jason and Donna, the young boy smiling up at her flirtatiously, the precocious nature glimmering in his eyes. He must have said something charming or cute, as Donna seemed thoroughly amused, more than likely indulged by a flattering compliment. Raven looked up at the girl now, still as pretty as ever, but colder somehow. Secrets could do that.

"So does he know yet?"

Donna tilter her head, perplexed. "You mean the divorce?" she questioned. "Yeah, but I don't think it's really hit home for him yet. I'm not really sure what to say…"

"You could just tell him the truth," Raven replied, removing the photo from the box.

"Yeah well the truth can be a little cruel sometimes, you know that."

Raven gave her a half smile; she really was the last person to talk about truth, especially now. She heard the door open and come to a soft close, Wally's heavy footsteps creeping into the room.

"Hey ladies, I come baring pizza!"

Raven looked up at him and raised a brow at the sight above her. "I assume the other five are for you?"

He chuckled at her and placed them on the dresser. "Hey at least I'm willing to share." He glanced down and noticed the old photo, a nostalgic smile softly filling up the lines on his face. "I haven't seen that in years. Hey Donna, you see this?" he asked and knelt down to pick it up. "Didn't even know Roy had this."

She placed down the clothing, neatly placing the articles in piles before stepping over to see what he meant.

"That was a great day," he said fondly, "God that was such a long time ago."

Donna finally reach them and sunk down to view the photo in his calloused hand. For a moment, she didn't say anything, she just glanced at Raven and softly drawled, "Yeah that was a fun day."

"It's so weird to think we hadn't been in a room together since," Wally crooned. "A lot really has changed."

"It really has," Raven added looking at Donna.

Donna's face hardly moved as her eyes stayed pinned on Raven. "Yeah, time will do that."

An hour passed and they still knew nothing of their mysterious captive. Jason was growing impatient as he stepped out of the room.

"If she doesn't talk soon, we're gonna have to inflict some serious pain," he said running his thumb and forefinger down his chin tiredly.

"Maybe we just need to step back—think of another way?" Dick sighed.

Jason shook his head, pretty much done dealing with her iron lady act. "We've done everything short of breaking her fingers, Grayson. There isn't much left."

Dick frowned, he didn't want to be a part of such barbarous tactics, but like Jason, he too wanted answers, he just wasn't willing to tear her apart for them.

"And what if we pull out every horrible torture and she still doesn't talk, what then?"

"I don't know, Grayson, I'm not used to beating up girls for your information. Despite what you may think, I'm not proud of this either!"

"If you two could just like—I don't know—shut the fuck up a minute, that would be great," X muttered, his patients growing ill toward their rivalry.

"And do you have any suggestions, wise ass?" Jason asked crossing his arms.

"No," X grimaced annoyed, "but you both have a point. Maybe if you two spent less time trying to chastise the other and more time considering what the other has to say, then maybe you'd make a better team?"

The hero and Outlaw both looked at each other begrudgingly, neither of them ready to forgo their chosen path and stray for the others.

"But his way's wrong," they both said in unison, X smirking at them with irony.

"Yeah, you two are far more alike than you let on," he added crassly, "that, or you're both too stupid to see it. But I'm gonna go with the latter on this one."

"Thanks asshole, you're a fucking peach too," Jason said, not happy with his (very honest) words of wisdom.

He smiled smugly and turned to the stairs. "Yeah I'm gonna go get a beer and try and forget this mess."

"Yeah well it's not going anywhere, and I don't see you with any thoughtful words on how to fix that, you fucking prick!"

"No shit," X replied hastily, "you two figure it out, I'm gonna go day drink."

The two watched as he left, unsure of what to really do about their little conflict.

"Do you think he has a point?" Dick asked, taking a seat in an empty chair.

"About what?"

"Us being a better team…" The hero replied ruefully. "I mean, we both know we have more in common than we like to admit."

"Yeah, but we're also entirely different," Jason corrected and shook his head.

"That's not necessarily a bad thing, maybe we just have to trust that the other knows something we don't?"

Jason stared at Dick, the thought bringing back an old memory of Bruce telling him how similar the two boys were.

"Then how come I have such a hard time being like him?" the young boy replied after yet another failure as Robin. He could never quite live up to the standards set by his predecessor.

"He isn't perfect, you know? He's still human, just like you. The difference is he realized that, he used it as a strength." He recalled the cold look in Bruce's eyes, acting like the boy should have known this by now. "You're far too caught up in being above you're humanity, Jason—you're afraid of it, you think it makes you weak."

And to him it did. It was humanity that got him killed, his humanity that allowed him to feel love and protective over his horribly selfish mother. It was his humanity that drove him to take revenge on anyone who wronged him, even those he actually loved. To Jason Todd, his humanity was his curse—the cross he bared and the very thing that crushed him. Because deep down, Jason knew he was unforgivably human.

But to Dick Grayson, humanity was his saving grace, the light beyond his shadow, the force that pulled him from the ground. It was the thing that gave him purpose and meaning. Humanity was his tether to the world and the one thing he shared with the people in it.

Jason crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. "Why are you still here?"

Dick glanced back at him, perplexed. "What?"

"Why are you still here," the Outlaw asked again. "You're clearly not comfortable?"

He glanced away, the thought a bit painful. "Are you comfortable?"

Jason didn't say anything for a moment. He didn't mind striking down harden criminals, but the jury was still out on this one. "Not entirely, but I belong here, you don't?"

"I know," he conceded, "but I don't belong anywhere else either…" He paused as his eyes fell to the ground, his thoughts growing darker. "I made one mistake, one I would change if I could, but it just feels like everyone just abandon me. They look at me different now, but you don't, none of you do."

Jason looked away, his humanity momentarily connected with the wounded hero's. "You really feel like that?"

Dick nodded, his eyes still cast to the floor, his hands clasped together meagerly. "I just feel like I disappointed everyone, my team, the league, Batman."

"Fuck Batman," Jason snapped with some venom. "Do I sound edgy enough?"

"You're a fucking edge-lord and a half," Dick replied dispassionately. "But yeah, fuck Batman."

"So what do you think?" Jason shrugged. "What if this was you?"

Dick looked back at him and leaned forward in thought. "I'd find the one thing she has to lose and go from there."

"Yeah, but we don't know what that is."

Dick looked down and took a deep breath. "What if I can find it without spilling any blood? What if we can do this the right way?"

Jason's mouth opened, about to answer when his phone rang, calling for his attention. "Hold that thought," he said and flipped the burner open. "Yeah?"

"Meet me outside, now." The voice was cold and held a heavy warning, telling Jason objection was not an option. "Come alone and say nothing. We need to talk."

"Fine," Jason replied void of emotion, "give me a minute." He closed the phone and looked at Dick, a question readily waiting at the tip of his tongue. "I gotta meet somebody real quick: business," he said casually. "As for the right way, you have 3 hours, make it count."

Dick nodded, thankful for the show of good faith, but there was still something off.

"Who you meeting?"

"No one important, just somebody who might know something."

"You're lying," Dick said, not so easily fooled. "Now who are you really meeting?"

"I can't tell you that, Dick, you even asking could be seen as a problem," the Outlaw replied evenly and began to walk up the stairs.

"I thought we were trying to do the whole trust thing here, Jay?"

Jason glanced back at him; he hated that nickname ever since that horrible clown put him six feet under and grimaced. "We are Dick, and I need you to trust me now just like I am trusting you, okay?"

"Okay," the hero replied, "but I'm trusting that you're coming back here alive."

"I'll do what I can, Boy Scout, now get to it, you're wasting time."

He turned and headed up the stairs, doing his best to keep his composure as he wasn't sure staying alive was a promise he was meant to keep. His heartbeat raced, as he open the cellar door, his mind trying hard to keep the feeling hidden as he faced the bar and everyone in it. He'd have to make this brief and do everything to keep his hands steady as he passed them by: Dodging questions and trying to look them in the eyes without feeling a single thing. This was why humanity was his downfall, he felt too deeply; he simply had to shut it off.

He took a deep breath and entered the bar casually, avoiding any glance he could. He heard his name, and replied with a greeting to acknowledge it, though in truth, he just wanted to go unnoticed, the threat of questions frequent. He rattled off some simple words, passing Clancy and X as they argued over something little and mundane. Lucky for him, X was still a little livid and paid him no mind.

Thank God, he thought, sighing some relief. Jinx however, she would be a different story.

"You get anything yet?"

"No," he replied blankly, "Grayson's on it, I decided to humor him."

"Yeah like that's gonna work," she droned, "what's he gonna do, read her a bedtime story and tuck her in?"

"Probably, but if it works then I really don't give a shit."

She could tell something was off, but said nothing, knowing if he were that detached, there was a reason and obliged.

"Okay, well um… let me know if you need me to y'know smack her around."

"I can count on you having to do that."

He squeezed her arm and opened the door, half expecting to be shot on site. When he wasn't, he looked around, trying to figure out exactly where to go next when his phone rang again.

"Walk to the end of the block and keep out of sight," the voice said voidly.

He did as he was told, doing all he could to keep his stomach from jumping out of his throat.

"Mind telling me what this is about?"

"You'll find out soon enough, son," the menacing voice replied.

A black Bentley approached, wreaking of money as it pulled up beside him, clearly out of place in his neighborhood. The windows were tinted an inky black, gilding the occupant of the car. The slick glass suddenly rolled down, just enough for him to see that legendary mask.

"Get in," Slade said, his voice emotionless as he glared at the Hood.

Jason reluctantly opened the door and looked around, wondering if this would be the last time he'd be seen alive. He crouched down and slipped into the car, sitting upon the rich beige leather, reminiscent of the day that little hood rat was adopted by the city's most prominent billionaire.

"Nice car," Jason said, trying to not look uncomfortable.

He couldn't see the man's face, he never had. His mind somehow wondering if she favored him in anyway.

"So what's this little visit about?"

"We haven't met in a while," Slade replied dully, "I thought that maybe, for once, I should pass along the message as opposed to sending it through my daughter."

Concern vaguely fell over Jason, wanting to look away from the man, but didn't and kept his gaze on Slade as he continued:

"Though it seems that you don't really mind it that way now, do you?"

The question left Jason a little vulnerable. There was just something about the connotation of his voice that was taunting, like a cat playing with a dying mouse.

"Well I trust her."

Slade smiled under his mask, though it was more from amusement than anything. "Yes, word on the street is you two have become awfully close."

Jason moved his gaze from him; Slade was trying to embarrass him by humiliating his own daughter, a tactic he cared little for.

"The streets can say what they want, nothing matters but the truth."

"Yes," Slade agreed, "and we both know what that truth is." The man then produced an envelope and handed it to the Outlaw.

Jason took it and opened it, pulling out a stack of photos. A mortified look fell over his face, one he could not hide as the distant and invasive images depicted him engaged in an intimate act with his daughter.

"You can thank my wife," Slade said noticing the humiliated expression, "apparently she thought Rose was sleeping with Rancid, imagine her shock when she found out it was actually you, though I had a feeling."

Jason smiled sheepishly, trying to hide his anger at the invasion of privacy. He was between a rock and a hard place. "So what? Is this the part where you get all fatherly and tell me to keep my filthy hands off your little girl, or are you just gonna skip all that and kill me for your troubles?"

He smiled again, this conversation really was worth his time after all. "No, none of that," he shrugged. "If I went out of my way to kill every boy my daughter's spent the night with, I'd have little time for anything else."

Jason could have hit him for that, but refrained, knowing it would probably get them both killed, or worse.

"Would you care for a drink," Slade added.

"I don't know, how much arsenic's in it?"

"You're awfully paranoid," the man replied. "How about a beer?" he asked pulling a bottle from the mini bar.

He opened it and hand it to the Outlaw, who begrudgingly accepted, mostly out of sheer etiquette. He also felt that to get through the rest of this lurid conversation, there would have to be alcohol involved.

"Well you have a long standing reputation of making people vanish and all. I'm still not convinced you're not gonna kill me for getting friendly with your daughter," he said, trying to pick his words carefully, out of respect for Rose.

"None of the people I've killed have ever had the balls to do that," Slade snickered, "you're the only one stupid enough to."

Jason couldn't tell if that insult was meant for him or Rose, but it was probably both.

"She's a pretty girl, what can I say."

"Aw, so pretty girls are a weakness for you?" He laughed slightly at the irony. "You know the reason I charged her with you was because I thought you'd find a girl like my Rose distracting. I figured that a man such as yourself would be too engrossed with his ambitions to pay her any sort of mind. It looks as though I missed judged you."

"I guess you did," he scowled slightly.

"Here," Slade said throwing a large duffle bag in his lap, "it's my understanding that you were never compensated for the run."

Jason opened the bag to find the hefty payment inside.

"I added a little extra for the body removal as well."

"Thanks," Jason said evenly, "but I thought that wasn't a paying gig?"

"It wasn't," Slade agreed, "but you acted so willingly and my daughter spoke very highly of your efforts. It's a gesture of appreciation, is all."

Jason fought the urge to snap, realizing what all this was.

I'm not your fucking bitch, he grimaced silently, wanting to throw the money back at him, but couldn't if he wanted to keep breathing. And he did promise Dick that he would not come back in a body bag... today…

"So is that all, or do you need me to bend over before I go?"

The man laughed again, thoroughly amused. "I'm afraid you're not my type, but I can see why my Rose has taken a liking to you. You both have a feral nature about you."

"You could call it that," he smiled sarcastically, wanting to bash his masked face through a window. But instead reached for the door handle and pushed it open, looking back on that mask one last time and said, "I however, like to think it's cause we share a broken heart."

Slade looked back at him quizzically. "That's an awfully sentimental thing to say?"

Jason shook his head. "Well maybe it's my sentimental nature that your daughter likes so much." He turned and looked back into the car. "Maybe if you were more sentimental, she wouldn't feel the need to turn to a man like me?"

He could see the look in his eye shift, its amusement turning red and frenzied. "Last I checked, men like you don't make it in this world."

"Well maybe that will change?"

"I can promise you," Slade warned darkly, "it won't."

The two stared at each other a moment, exchanging the threat to the fullest extent, until Jason finally (and sarcastically) thanked him for his "generosity" and watched the car drive away, not moving until the car was out of sight. His heart immediately sank and he sighed, grateful he was still breathing, but he knew he'd pay for his comments at one point or another. He cursed himself for not keeping his mouth completely shut, but was also shocked he'd kept his cool for as long as he had. Still, the encounter left him feeling cheap and rented.

If I were even a year younger, my blood would be staining those seats about now, he thought and headed back to the bar, still a little troubled. As he approached the door, he could see Jinx watching from the window, he knew she'd was probably doing so the whole time, doing her damnedest to not get caught. He opened the door and she immediately threw her arms around him, grateful he came back in one piece. They didn't often hug, it was a gesture reserved only for heartfelt occasions: this was obviously one of them.

"So what happened?" she asked, her pink eyes wide and desperate.

He caught his breath, still trying to keep his voice down. "I basically just got my shit wrecked," he huffed tiredly, "but I'm still breathing, so I'll take it."

"Aw," Jinx sighed, "enforcing the pecking order was he?"

"Something like that."

She looked at him, "do you think you have anything to worry about?"

He let out a rough breath and grimaced. "For now, I think I'm fine, beyond that… I honestly don't know?"

She glanced away, leaving his eyes a moment then looked back up. "Even more reason to move forward on the plans for Jump."

"Yeah," he nodded, "but let's fix home first."

He suddenly saw Enigma stumble in from the back, a large file in hand. She looked in his direction tiredly as X called out to her:

"Damn girl, I haven't seen you since like Chapter 17 or some shit like that!"

"Way to break the fourth wall, asshole," Jason replied, a little annoyed that the narrator's pulling a Deadpool.

"Well it runs in the family," X smiled impishly.

The Outlaw shook his head at the thief and brought his attention to the quizzical redhead. "What'd yak got for me?"

She smiled smugly. "JT, you're gonna fuck'n love me."

"You actually found something?" he asked.

"Did I find something?" she laughed patronizingly. "Are Tara Strong's tits fake?

"Probably—yeah," X interjected as Jason rolled his eyes.

"So I did a little digging around on the darker parts of the interwebs," she continued, "trying to find a trail of breadcrumbs, hoping they would lead me to a piping hot gingerbread house and not a half-baked cookie."

"So what'd you find, Gretel?"

"Um, so I looked around on the hidden wiki, trying to see if I could pick up the scent on our girl Shimmer. After a day of searching, I stumbled across this little conversation on a message board called the Punch Card."

"Cute," Jason said taking the piece of paper she placed in his hands and read it aloud:

"Shimerlite: (That sounds like a chick beer or a stripper) I hear you need to close the curtain on the Red Veil.

"M33: Yeah like yesterday, I'm sending you a private server."

He looked up from the text he'd just read and Enigma continued:

"So anyway, I looked up the IP addresses on both usernames."

"Please tell me you found a name?"

"I found two," she smiled. "One belongs to Selinda Flinders, AKA Shimmer and the other belongs to a Michael Vitagliano."

"And people say Victor Stone is the best hacker on the planet."

"Hey that guy's pretty good, but that's not it," she continued, "I was also able to turn up good ol' Mikey's home address here in Gotham and his Facebook page."

She then removed a photo from the folder in her hand, Jason's heart sinking when he saw the photo.

"Oh shit," he said in shock taking the photo, "I got you now, bitch."

Raven threw her phone in her bag and raffled around, looking for the keys to her Jeep. She'd just gotten off the phone with Dick, who'd asked her to meet him at the bar. He'd didn't give her any specifics, not that she needed any. He needed her help, end of story. That's how it was with them.

She found the old set of keys at the bottom of her bag, pulling them free with her designated search and rescue claw. She'd always felt like her bag was secretly a bottomless pit were useless shit went to die, but that was a whole other issue entirely.

She took the damned keys in her hand and looked up to see Wally staring back at her, apparently amused by her feral raccoon-like posture.

"So Dick says jump and you jump?"

Raven smiled at him crassly. "Yeah, it's a lot like when Jinx tells you to roll over."

"Touché," he grinned. "Everything okay?"

"I'm sure it's fine, he's just hit a snag with something and needs me, you know the drill."

He shrugged. "All too well. Anything I can do?"

"I don't think so, but keep me posted on how Roy is doing, okay?"

"You got it. What do I tell Donna?"

"The truth, Dick needed me."

"Yeah, I'm sure she remembers what that's like."

Raven paused a moment, recalling that Dick and Donna were almost as inseparable as they were, but with time and distance that eventually changed.

"Okay well, I'm off, keep me posted."

"Will do, boss!"

She'd just gotten back from her run, trying to clear her mind of the last few days, not really sure who to believe. Her chest rose and fell with a heavier pace than it probably should have, but that's what she got for dulling the pain at the expense of her lungs and liver.

"I really oughta quit smoking," she huffed taking in a desperate breath and unlocked the door of her tiny apartment. "Maybe cut back on the drinking too?"

She stepped inside, closing the door and slipped off her sneakers. She pulled out her ear buds, placing her iPod down on the table beside the doorway. She freed her lily white hair from its binding and let it fall down her back, not even thinking twice as she began tearing off her lose sweaty tank top, leaving her in nothing but a tiny sports bra and thin shorts as she made her way to the shower. She wrapped her finger around the seams of her bra, getting ready to partake in the eternal struggle of taking the damn thing off, when she heard an unwelcome voice greet her.

"Did you have a nice work out, Kitten?"

"Holy fuck!" she snapped, startled, "Jesus Christ, Dad, what the fuck are you doing here?"

She crossed her arms over her chest, uncomfortable with him seeing her in so little as he spoke. "If she only knew.)

"I just have something important to discuss with you," he said unaffected.

"And it couldn't wait till after I at least showered and got dressed, or was given a heads up? Like: "hey Kitten, mind if I meet you at your place? I have something important to tell you, love you—bye!" Is that really too much to ask?"

"I know it's last minute, I'm sorry," he replied unamused. "Maybe next time you should take a mental note of your surroundings. I know I taught you better than that."

"Oh yeah, you creeping into my apartment and sitting around in the dark is somehow my fault. Nothing ever changes with you, does it?" she droned sardonically, waving her hands in annoyance.

"If you're finished," Slade mused coldly. "I came here to talk about our plans for the future and where you stand in all of it." His tone was more serious now, signifying that her little tantrum be over with.

"Okay," she nodded, "what did you have in mind?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking," he began. "In the last five years you've been working really hard to prove yourself, and well, I think it's time that I give you more responsibility."

Rose smiled, unable to help it. "Really?"

"Yes. I think you've earned it—your own territory that is," Slade said, his stoic face not cracking one bit.

"My own territory?" Now that was some serious power. She grinned a little wider, her eyes lit with the fire that reminded him so much of his own… and of Grant's.

"Yes, with our leverage in Jump subsequently diminishing, I think it's only appropriate to send my own daughter there to rebuild it."

Her smile melted, and she could smell that something was off.

"Jump? I don't even know that city. Why not just give me a slice of Gotham or Blüdhaven—hell—you could even send me to New York?"

Rose knew the streets of the North East like the back of her hand. She knew the gangs, the members, the lingo, she lived and breathed the fringe culture of the old gothic cities. She'd even be fine with him sending her to Boston or Pittsburg, but Jump City? That was a whole other animal she had not the fire to tame. And Slade knew that, so why have her go in the first place?

"I need someone I trust, Rose. It's a mess out there, especially after the Nightwing fall out. Someone has to take up Rancid's rank."

Rose rolled her eyes, she was honestly happy that asshole was dead. Though for her it was more personal on account that Johnny had a weird fixation on her. The sick fuck even went as far to make a sport out of it. She hated working with him as he'd always make some lurid comment towards her, or place a hand where it didn't belong. This was only amplified by the fact that she was only 16 when they met. And after she'd rejected him for what felt like the hundredth time, he retaliated by spreading a nasty, underhanded rumor about her. None of which was true, especially because she'd never let him touch her: willingly. The only reason she'd even put up with him was because she didn't want her father to perceive her as weak or get the impression that she couldn't take care of herself. And Rancid knew that, and knew it all too well. So she shouldered his burden, his comments, his sordid gestures, and even his uninvited hands, waiting for the opportunity to arise when she could get away with slitting his goddamn throat. Even Jason considered showing him the way of Ol' Yeller as he referred to it. Lucky for them, Nightwing saved them both the trouble. She even thought about sending the guy a fucking fruit basket as a thank you. Hell—she probably would have given the guy a complimentary blow job if she weren't already seeing his brother, she was that over the moon about Rancid's not so untimely death.

"Yeah, I'd rather not be that person, to be honest."

"Well you don't have a choice, Rose, you're going."

"No," she said, her brow knit, "I'm actually happy here, I don't wanna pick up and move all the way across the country and deal with all those shiny happy assholes in Jump. I'm staying here where I have a life. You can go ahead and demote me back to patsy if you want too."

Slade rose to his feet and calmly walked toward her while she finished her words. "You're going, end of story, Rose."

"No."

He let out a deep breath, his calm expression suddenly extinguished and instead quaked with a wildness. His great hand stiffened, the back of it cracking across her mouth, nearly knocking her over as she wasn't even half his weight.

The blow immediately caught her off guard, stunning her a moment. She quickly tried to right herself, but before she could even strike back, he wrapped his hand around her thin neck and slammed her slender frame against the wall. The collision knocked the wind right out of her, pain pouring through her back as the impact assaulted her bones and muscles. His grip tightened around her throat as he glared down at her, his single blue eye filled with a white hot rage.

"You ungrateful little bitch!" he spat through grit teeth, letting his fingers squeeze harder. "I took you in when no one else would have you! I trained you—taught you everything I know! I'm the one who took you out of that cesspool your slut mother raised you in, and if not for me, you'd be dead or on your back!"

She whined a little beneath his grip, but refused to cry; she'd let him kill her before she gave him that satisfaction.

"You owe me your life," he continued, "yet you repay me by fucking some street rat! Then all he has to do is tell you he loves you and you turn your Goddamn back on me! How—fucking—DARE—YOU!"

His grip tightened to the point that she thought he'd squeeze the very life from her. She could literally feel herself dying, but she didn't have the strength to fight him. And to be honest, she was too afraid to.

"Now you have two options so listen close, Kitten," he growled. "You can either do as I asked of you, and I will forget all this ever happened, or: you can stay here and play house with your little hood rat, like the pathetic whore your mother was, and I will have NOTHING to do with you."

He slammed her against the wall one more time, watching her bite down on the pain, a trickle of blood running from the corner of her mouth.

"If you were anyone else, I'd kill you," he seethed.

He let her go and she fell to the floor, gasping and coughing for breath, far too weak to speak.

"You have till tomorrow to figure it out, Rose, and that's me being kind." He turned to the door and opened it, looking back at the shambles he left his own daughter in. "It's either me or the Hood, Rose. You can't have us both, you remember that."

The door closed and she pulled herself up desperately, practically crawling to the door and locked it: deadbolt, door chain and all. Not that it would keep him out.

She slid to the floor, her back pressed against the door, the task more than tiresome as her body heaved to take in breath. She sat there, her heart racing as her body and mind remained trapped in the shellshock. Her back ached, her head pounding, the taste of blood still fresh in her mouth. Hot tears finally fell from her eyes, her body giving into the pain, fear spilling from every pore. He may have been gone, but she could still feel his hand wrapped around her throat, her lungs still heaving, trying to fill themselves.

She suddenly heard her burner vibrate, the sound startling her in her vulnerable state. She reached up to the table and gathered it in her hands. It was Jason.

She closed her eyes and let it ring. She couldn't bear to speak to him then, or anyone for that matter. She placed the phone down and let it go to voicemail. Her hands shaking as she did so. A bit of anger grew in her heart, that she'd let herself fall apart so easily, or so she thought. She'd always believed herself to be one of the few immune from her father's cruelty. But it seemed his wrath was something there was no cure for.

Dick closed his phone and slipped it back in his pocket. He heard the door open and the sound of heavy boots stormed down the crying steps. To his relief it was Jason, happily in one piece, a shit eating grin on his face.

"So I take it, it went well?"

"Oh no, it went terribly, I pretty much got my shit wrecked."

"Then why so perky?"

"Cause the universe finally threw me a bone," Jason replied and held up the photo.

"Holy shit that's—"

"Yep!" Jason smirked. "That bitch is talking weather she likes it or not."

Dick took the picture from him and looked down examining it more closely. "Who's the guy?"

"Michael Vitagliano, also known as Mikey Tag. We got her."

"Do we though?" Dick asked. "We have a lead, don't get me wrong, but we still don't know what this information means to her."

"Well then what do you suggest then, Wingnut?"

"I called Raven, she's on her way."

"What's she gonna do, aside from scare that little bitch till she shits herself?"

Dick laughed, realizing how unaware Jason was. "She's an empath, she's basically a human lie detector."

"Well that information would have been useful like yesterday," Jason groaned a little wide eyed. "No wonder why nothing gets passed her. You didn't think to mention that earlier?"

"Well maybe if you didn't have a gun to my head," Dick said crassly. "But yeah, I live with it, it can be a little jarring, but I trust her more than anyone cause—"

"Cause she knows exactly how you feel?"

"Exactly," Dick nodded awkwardly. "I figured if we wanna get to the bottom of whatever our little friend knows, we'll need someone who can smell a drop of bullshit from a mile away."

"Good call," Jason replied, "your plan might actually work out?"

Just as this was said they heard a pair of light footsteps come drifting down the stairs, Jinx then popped her head around the corner.

"I know you two are having a brotherly moment, and that's cute'n all, but Jason your assassin slut girlfriend's here, again, insisting to see you."

"Y'know Jinx, Rose is a lot of things, but slut's not one'em," Jason sighed tiredly.

"Y'know what?" Jinx quipped "I wouldn't really give a shit, but she's line dancing on my territory, and as long as she is, I will define her however the fuck I want, and if you don't fucking like it, then you can stop putting me in a position where I have to put up with her shit. Now are we clear? "

She gave him a sarcastic smile, as though she were symbolically flipping him off, giving not a single, solitary fuck.

Jason reluctantly nodded, knowing she was clearly in a mood and would have huffed and puffed until she blew the entire bar down.

"That's what I thought," Jinx said, a smile no longer on her face as she turned and stormed up the stairs.

"Wow she really doesn't like her," Dick said a little dumbfounded.

Jason rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Yeah, Rosie doesn't call her the Pink Eyed Rattlesnake for nothing."

Meanwhile, as Jinx was lamenting her inner breakdown, Rose stood waiting by the bar, hearing bits and pieces of the rant as it was given. She crossed her arms coldly, her hand shaking as she smoked her cigarette. Her manner was void, shutting herself off from the room, trying to avoid the eyes of anyone who dared look in her direction. X sat beside her, noticing the harsh look on her face and the sadness in her eyes.

"You okay?"

She looked over at him, her guard still held high for all to see, yet this boyish man seemed to see right through it.

"Don't act like you care."

He looked back at her perplexed. He knew she was hurting, but she'd never admit it.

"You don't have to keep it in y'know, it's okay to let go."

Just then Jinx walked in, giving the girl a bitter cold glare, her pink eyes seeing right through her guard and straight into her heart. X watched, Rose taking a rather desperate drag of her cigarette as she glared back, trying to stand her ground in a territory that didn't belong to her.

"She's just protective," X said, breaking the silence, "she'll get used to you."

"She probably won't have to."

Jason finally walked through the doorway, stopping as he took notice of her. She glanced over at him, noticing the smile he wore as a peace offering, only she wasn't sure she'd be able to accept it. He approached her and offered her a kind hand as he took hers. His nature was always so much kinder than many gave him credit for. To everyone else, he was tangled and rough around the edges, more than capable of the cruelty wrapped in his namesake. Only that wasn't who he was, not at all, and she was one of the privileged few to see that.

With her half broken heart, she followed him to the kitchen and he closed the door. He turned and leaned in, attempting to kiss her, but she turned her head away to dodge the gesture.

"So you're still mad at me," Jason sighed, catching her chill.

"I wish it were that easy," she replied and crossed her arms.

"It can be, you just have to talk to me, Rosie."

She used to hate it when he called her that, yet it somehow grew on her. When others said it, it was somehow patronizing and belittling but from him, it was soft and warm, like he cared.

He moved closer to her, but she turned away, it was easier if he weren't so close. She crouched down against the wall, letting her hands fall over her knees. She didn't really know where to start, it didn't matter what she said or didn't say, she couldn't win either way.

"I don't know what I was thinking," she began, "I mean… you were right, this is never gonna go anywhere. I just… I just can't do this anymore..."

She looked up at him, his eyes looking down at her like a dog she'd just kicked. He didn't say anything at first, he just sat there, the silence becoming unbearable.

"Okay then," Jason replied, part of him seemingly unsurprised, but quietly heartbroken.

He turned from her and began to walk away.

"Wait—that's it?" she snapped as she rose to her feet. "I've been with you for well over a year, and that's all I get: Okay!?"

He turned to her as she stood up to meet him. "What do you want from me, Rosie? You said you're done, if you don't wanna be here, I'm not gonna make you."

She paused, looking back at him. She really didn't know what to say to that.

He continued, "I'm not gonna fight for you if you don't want me to. That just wouldn't be fair to either of us."

"But what if I don't know what I want!" she huffed.

"You know what you want, Rose," Jason replied, "you're just too afraid to take it."

She crossed her arms again in frustration. "What does that even mean?"

"You know exactly what it means, you just choose not to hear it. And I don't know what shit your dad put in your head, but I can tell you, you know me better than that."

"This isn't about him, it's—"

"Yes Rose, it is," Jason corrected. "It's always about him." He paused a moment trying to gather his composure. "He paid me a visit today and he made it very clear I'm drinking out of his water dish."

"What the fuck did you say to him?" she replied, her eyes wide, a look of fear cast in them.

He frowned at her. "Nothing, why?"

She didn't say anything, she just shut down a moment, silently reliving his hellish visit.

Jason could see the clouds forming behind her eyes, and noticed the hint of dark shadow spidering from the side if her face, crudely concealed beneath cheap makeup. He looked at her a moment, disbelief holding his eyes there. He reached out his hand, startling her. She looked back at him, she knew she'd been caught. His eyes narrowed, a spark of anger setting a flame as his jaw clenched. They drifted downward, noticing that she was wearing a grey turtleneck under her mid length leather coat. He let his hand fall down, the anger burning as he pulled down the soft fabric, revealing the deep bruises around her delicate neck. She closed her eyes, both of shame and of some dull pity she hated herself for.

"I'm gonna kill him," he growled, his voice quaking as his fist balled.

"No," Rose spat, "you're not." She pulled away from him, about an inch from crying. "I mean, if he could do this to me… I don't even wanna think about what he'd do to you."

He could see the betrayal written all over her face. She naively thought she were immune to his cruelty. Only now, she knew she wasn't.

"He has no right to touch you!" Jason exclaimed. "This is no different then him shooting that shit up your arm!"

"I know that!"

They both paused, realizing they were taking their frustration out on each other.

"Why'd he do it?"

She smiled bitterly and shrugged. "He offered me a promotion—he offered me Jump… I said no… he didn't like that."

"Why didn't you take it?" Jason asked perplexed.

"Cause—" she began, but stopped, "it doesn't matter. I can't be in the middle of you two anymore."

"So you're just gonna let him win?"

"He's my father, what else am I supposed to do?" she whined.

"Your father!" the Outlaw snapped. "He doesn't even care about you, Rose! He made that very clear that second he wrapped his hands around your neck!" Jason growled. "You're stronger than that—I know you are. You're not the kind of girl that takes a push—you push back! But if you walk out that door, and crawl back to Slade, he owns you! And you will never get away from him—"

As he was uttering the last part of his rant, Rose's emotions had finally gotten the better of her as she reached out and slapped him. His head violently whipped to the side, his cheek red as it stung. He glared back at her, unsure of what to do, her eyes still wild. She lunged at him and pushed him back against the wall. She let out a loud grunt as his back hit the brick. Normally, he would have fought back; better yet, she wanted him too, she wanted him to give her a reason to leave.

"Why can't you, for one minute, just be like him!" she groaned and pushed him again, "why can't you just make me hate you!"

She turned from him and leaned against the counter, staring down. Jason approached her again and tried to comfort her, but she pushed him away.

"It doesn't work that way, Rose," he finally said. "I'm not gonna make this easy for you. You wanna hate me, that's fine… but you're gonna have to hate me on your own."

She stared at him, hard. She didn't know what to say to that. So she did the only thing that felt right in the moment: she kissed him. She grabbed his face and pulled him to her, feverishly, pressing her bruised lips to his.

It was a bittersweet moment—that they'd end the way they began. With her being an emotional wreck and him unapologetically challenging the way she saw the world.

"Don't let him push you," Jason whispered, seeing the conflict still in her eyes, "if you do, he'll push you right over the edge… and you'll drown."

He placed his forehead to hers. She could still taste his brand of cigarettes on her tongue, it was a taste she'd become so accustomed to, it was nearly a part of her. She wasn't really sure if she could live without it—live without him. And that's why what she was about to do next would hurt more than anything.

She leaned against his ear, rue falling from her lips, "Goodbye, Jason…"

She pulled away from him and turned, ready to walk away. Jason, in one last fleeting attempt to stop her, took her wrist in his hand, like he'd done so many times before.

"Rose…" he muttered, "I…"

"Don't," she replied and pulled free of him, trying to sever the ties that bound them together.

A warm solemn tear rolled down her cheek she wouldn't let him see. She took the door handle in her shaking palm and pulled it open, storming out at a frantic pace. Jason, a bit stunned followed her, trying to gather himself as he was only about an inch from breaking.

Both Jinx and X noticed the fevered pace at which the pair walked, and watched as Rose made her way to the front door.

Jason paused at the bar, Rose ready to walk out the door, many sets of eyes set upon the scene, including Dick's.

"Rose," he finally said just as the door cracked open.

She turned halting.

His lips fell part, but nothing came out. There was nothing to say, no prefect collection of words could convince her to stay. But only because she didn't want them to.

The two shared a final glance, unsure who they'd be to each other the next time they met. Maybe friends? Or more likely enemies?

It was a bitter thought as she broke his gaze and pushed the door open, stepping out of the bar, though she felt like she was leaving a part of herself behind, a part of herself she would never get back.

Jason watched her go, an old familiar feeling creeping from his bones and into his bloodstream, like an old virus that had lain dormant in his marrow. And with a sad heart, he watched her go, just like that little boy who watched his mother walk out of their apartment, and never came back.

"Are you just gonna let her go?" Jinx finally said, pulling him from the childish stupor.

"There's no point," he replied, fighting the mixed emotions boiling to his surface, "she doesn't want me to."

Jinx shook her head and set off for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"If you want to respect her wishes, that's fine," she replied, "me however, well it's my job to teach that bitch about the meaning of respect."

"Jinx don't—" Jason drawled.

"No," X interjected, "let her go."

Rose only made it about halfway down the sidewalk when she heard a voice, the last one she wanted to hear.

"Hey!"

Rose ignored her, she wasn't her problem anymore, and she never should have been.

"Hey, I'm fucking talking to you!" she heard again, this time with way more venom: she was pissed.

She continued to walk, fighting the urge to turn around and pummel her, when she heard her say one last thing:

"Fine bitch, fucking hightail it back to daddy! Guess I was right about you."

Rose stopped and finally turned, the Pink Eyed Rattlesnake straight in her sights. "What the hell is your problem?" she exclaimed. "We're fucking done, you got what you wanted!"

"Don't you dare try and tell me what the fuck I want, Wilson," Jinx snapped. "This is my family, that's my problem! I have a responsibility to protect them and make sure they don't get eaten alive by bullshit like yours!"

"Well you don't have to worry about my bullshit anymore, I'm gone! You can go shake your broom at someone else now."

She turned again, ready to walk away, but Jinx just wouldn't give up.

"Wow, you're fucking weaker than I thought you were."

"Fuck you!" Rose howled as she faced her. "You don't know shit about me, you bitch!"

"Oh believe me, I know enough."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You think you know me and that gives you plenty of reason to hate me. What? You think because my mom was a whore that that makes me one too?!"

"First of all," Jinx began, "I don't give a shit if you're mom's chosen profession required her to catch cum in her mouth, and second: I'm not calling you a slut, at least not right now."

"Then what the fuck are you calling me and why the fuck do you even give a shit—why can't you just trust me?"

"Because that's my fucking job, cupcake! You're not one of us! You have to earn my trust, which you haven't earned because you haven't proved me wrong. You're weak, that's what I'm calling you: weak."

Rose frowned. "You don't do that shit to Raven! Why does she get a free pass?!"

"She doesn't," Jinx corrected, "but unlike you, she earned my trust. What the fuck do you think happened to me when I was a Titan? I got my ass verbally handed to me by that fuck'n cunt on the daily! Why? Because that was her family and that was her job, and guess what! I couldn't deal. So I did what you're doing right now: I bailed—I gave up!"

"So why the fuck do you care if I give up?! You clearly don't like me?"

"Because!" Jinx yelled, "I might not trust you, and I might not like you, at all, but that man you just walked out on, loves you—he trusts you—you of all fucking people! And if you break his heart, he will never trust anyone with that part of him EVER again! THAT is why I don't trust you…" she heaved.

Rose looked away, she had nothing to say. She didn't want to believe that Jason loved her, it was easier if he didn't.

"So before you walk off, acting like this shit doesn't matter, ask yourself something, is your daddy's approval so important that you're willing to break the one person who actually loves you enough to let you you?"

"Shut up."

"The one who actually cares about what you want?"

"Stop!"

The one person who'll probably ever love you like that?"

"I said Shut Up!" she finally cried.

"Yeah, you may not wanna hear it, little girl, but that's the truth," Jinx hissed bitterly.

Rose didn't say anything, she just crossed her arms and stood there, wishing she could just forget everything she'd just heard. If only there were a way for things to become unsaid.

"So what do you have to say to that? Jinx pestered, like a shark circling his prey. "Well don't just fucking stand there you stupid little tart," she hissed, "say something!"

"I don't know, Jinx—I just don't!... Okay?"

Jinx smiled at her with malice and loathing dripping from the corners of her mouth. "You're a spineless little cunt, I don't know what he ever saw in you." She practically spit the words in her face as she turned away. "You never deserved him."

She went back into the bar, shaking her head in disapproval, leaving the girl to herself, or at least what was left of her. She turned around, her front only holding on by a thread. Her blue eyes were now shamelessly cast down, trying not to make eye contact with another living soul. She glanced up, but it was too late, for now she had another elder to contend with.

"You're really just gonna take that shit from her?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "What Raven, you gonna chew me out too?"

"No," she replied, "I agree with Jason, you have to make your own choice."

"Yeah well no one seems very jazzed about that."

Raven cracked a thin smile. "Yeah, I have a feeling you're not really jazzed about it either?"

"It doesn't matter, I made my choice. It's done."

"It doesn't have to be," Raven countered. "But at the end of the day, the choice is yours, it's not your father's."

"How much of that did you hear?" Rose sighed dejectedly.

"Nearly all of it," Raven sighed, "but I came in at about your mom's chosen occupation."

"Great," she sighed indignantly.

Rose turned in defeat and sauntered into the alleyway next to the bar. She took out her pack of cigarettes and lit one in frustration. She inhaled for a long moment then blew the smoke out through her nose, savoring the scent of aggravation.

"So is what she said true?" Rose asked, ashing the cherry off her cigarette.

"About what?"

"About you," Rose replied and took another drag, "y'know making her life a living hell n'all?"

Raven pursed her lips and glanced in the direction of the bar, thinking back to Jinx's short lived days as a Titan.

"Yeah," she replied and took a place on the wall next to Rose, "like she said, the team was my family, my only family. I didn't trust her with them."

Rose looked at her a moment and inhaled her cigarette. "Just like she doesn't trust me with hers..."

Raven nodded and crossed her arms. "She's not wrong y'know, you don't deserve him."

"I know," Rose replied coldly, the bitter taste on her tongue.

"At least if you keep acting like a little girl, you don't."

"Well you don't have to talk to me like one, I'm not a kid."

Raven laughed and shook her head. "How old are you, eighteen—nineteen?"

"I'm almost twenty," Rose corrected, not that it really made much difference.

"Point is, you're still young, and you don't know anything," she said. "And that's why it's important that you listen to me."

"Whatever Obi Wan," Rose sighed.

"Listen Rose, I know Slade's your father and you love him, even if you don't want to, but just because he's your father doesn't mean he wants what's best for you. Men like Slade, they only want what's best for themselves. And if that means man-handling his little girl, then that's what he'll do."

"You sound like you know?" There was a vague sorrow in her voice, like glass shattering. Like the pieces of the lie she lived finally began to crack and fall apart.

"Let's just say that I was once a lot like you, and to be honest, I'm not that different from you now. I knew the choice I wanted to make, but I didn't think I could make it. I just didn't think that freedom was in the stars for me."

"So what did you do?" Rose asked, finally looking at her.

"I was gonna give up," Raven admitted painfully. "Wanna know why I didn't?"

Rose nodded with a shrug.

"I had someone who was willing to fight for me, someone who refused to believe I couldn't overcome the hold my father had over me, someone who loved me enough to literally go to hell and back for me… that gave me hope."

"You're talking about Dick, aren't you?"

Raven nodded. "You have someone like that too."

She looked away and stared at the burning end of her cigarette. "What if he doesn't forgive me, what if he realizes he's better off without me?"

"He will." Raven assured. "Jason's not like that, he'll understand. As for the better off part, I honestly think you two need each other more than you're willing to admit."

"What like two broken halves make a very shattered whole?"

"Yeah, something like that," Raven laughed. "Y'know that's actually pretty poetic for a girl who's never read Shakespeare."

"No, but I have read a lot of terrible smut," she smiled crudely.

Raven smiled back at her. "You ready to get back in there, Padawan?"

"Only if you come with me," Rose replied. "I honestly think Jinx will ram her boot up my ass if I walk in there alone."

"Don't worry, I got your back, literally."

Rose giggled as the two headed toward the bar entrance. "So y'know how you said you were like me when you were younger?"

"Yeah?"

"So then what evil bitch used to kick dirt in your face on the playground?" Rose asked mischievously.

Raven glared at her a moment as she honed in on her muse. "A mean old bitch named Zatanna. She still fucking hates me, by the way, and I am still, and forever will be, on her shit-list."

The two girls laughed, sharing the feeling of disdain and for the first time in a long time, Rose felt like she actually had a friend. They entered the bar, stares quickly shot in their direction. Rose immediately felt out of place once more, especially since she could feel Jinx's eyes shooting through her from across the room.

"Oh did the little tart have a change of heart?" she asked. "Or did you forget to rip out the knife you left in his heart?"

Raven looked over at Rose, she could see she wanted to fire back, but was reluctant to do so. "Remember command respect," she whispered, "don't demand it."

Rose nodded and crossed her arms staring back Jinx. "You were right."

"About what, sweetheart?" Jinx hissed sardonically.

"That he deserves better."

"No shit, so what are you doing here?"

Rose pressed her lips together and took a breath. "I'm gonna try and give him better," she replied. "I made a mistake."

"Yeah you did," Jinx growled disapprovingly, "and I'm only gonna say this once: Don't make it again." She warned and pushed passed Rose. "He's down stairs, Dick too."

Raven glanced at Rose with approval, letting her know she'd done good. The silver girl giving Raven a smiling thank you, as the two girls headed down to the cellar.

"Yeah, you two might wanna rethink going down there," X warned, getting up from the bar and moving in their direction.

"Real smooth, X," Raven replied, her hand on the doorknob, "now we're definitely going down there."

"Yeah," Rose added, "though I'm admittedly a little scared now..."

X began to interject, but was promptly cut off by Jinx, who seemed more amused than anything. "Let'em go, X. They're gonna find out sooner or later."

Raven and Rose both looked at each other and opened the door, descending the stairs. Jinx soon followed, X glaring at her from the doorway.

"Oh don't look at me like that, X," Jinx drawled. "You're gonna thank me in about two minutes. This is gonna be good."

"You're an evil bitch, you know that, right?" he stated coldly in protest.

She smiled vindictively. "What can I say, it's fun."

The two girls hurried down the stairs, noticing Mutt standing in front of the meeting room door. He looked over at the pair, noticing the determination aimed in his direction.

"Um yeah, I'm gonna have't stop you right there, ladies."

"Move, Mutt," Raven ordered.

"Let her through," Jinx added before the boy could even deliver his well-rehearsed rebuttal.

"Why do I even bother with the door anymore?" he droned with a sigh and stepped aside.

Raven uttered a sarcastic "thank you" and pushed the door open, revealing a perplexing sight.

"What the fuck kinda kinky shit is this?" Rose asked, taking the sight of the bound and gagged girl in the corner.

"Doesn't anyone around here, understand the concept of a closed fucking door?" Jason hissed in annoyance.

"Nope," Mutt added.

"What the fuck, Grayson?" Raven scowled pushing him, anger seeping from her throat.

"I was gonna tell you, I swear," he replied blocking her from hitting him again, earning himself a few good smacks.

"Seriously! I wasn't even gone 10 minutes!" Rose snarled.

"Everyone relax," Jason said calmly. "This is perfectly justifiable, I can assure you."

"Well explain, you asshole," Rose demanded. However, it was possible she was just mad that Jason had tied up another girl. (Who am I kidding that was totally it.)

"Girls, meet Helena Bertinelli, she is our current hostage," the Outlaw explained.

Rose looked at the girl and nodded. "Oh, okay then?"

Raven, however, was not so forgiving. "Grayson, what the hell?" She pushed him again as she hissed, the concept still pushing her over the edge.

"Hey, this wasn't my idea, it was all Jason—he made me help."

"I did," Jason shrugged, "I pulled a gun on him and everything, swear on my empty grave."

"I'm about to put you back in that grave," Raven warned and ripped the duct tape off Helena's mouth.

The girl uttered a curse as her raw skin screamed from the abrasive tear of the type. "Finally, someone with some fucking sense around here," she groaned.

"Hey Rae," Jason droned with a smirk, "before you get all heroic and shit, you may wanna know how your little friend ended up here in the first place."

"Like it matters," she frowned.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Yeah cause shooting Dick at point blank range, five times means nothing to you, right?"

Raven turned, a stark, blank look on her porcelain face.

"Yep that's her," Jason added, "she would have killed him if it weren't for the vest."

Raven looked at Dick. He said nothing as he glanced away from her, her eyes still blank as he imagined a mini explosion erupt behind them. He was just about to say something in an attempt to try and reel her back in, but before he could utter a single, comforting word, she turned to Helena, and backhanded her, so hard, even Rose and Jason flinched.

Blood sprayed from her mouth as she cried out, a thin stream of red trailing from her bottom lip.

"Nice," Rose muttered, impressed, "but really, if this is cause she tried to clip Dick, don't you think taking her hostage is just a touch overkill?"

Jason sighed, still a little shocked at what he'd just witnessed. "Well she also has intel on who was behind the run the other night. We did some digging, and it looks like someone was trying to have me killed… and is still trying to have me killed."

Her head shot back at him. "So she might know who wants you dead?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay, my turned," Rose said, suddenly seeing red.

"Yeah, I appreciate the sentiment, Rosie, but we need her alive," Jason droned, pulling her back like the rabid she-wolf she'd suddenly become.

Helena started to laugh, blood still dripping from her mouth.

"What's so funny, bitch?" Rose snapped.

"Nothing, you guys just aren't really good at this whole prisoner of war thing."

Rose tried to charge at her again, Jason still holding her back. Helena continued to giggle carelessly, Raven zoning in on her.

"Don't make me hit you again," she warned and turned away from her.

"Whatever, you hit like a girl."

Raven paused, she was done with her smug little attitude. She faced Helena again, grabbing her by her bloodied black hair.

"If you wanna keep talking like a big man, then I'm gonna start hitting you like one, got it?"

Helena nodded, noticing the ravenous nature in her eyes. Dick may have been too moral to rain unholy hell down upon her, but Raven, she wasn't.

The sorceress smiled patronizingly at her, letting her go and turned back toward the group. "We should probably continue this little chat outside?"

Dick nodded, looking back at Raven's handy work and moved to the doorway. Rose and Jason followed suit. X held the door open while everyone filed out, taking a final glance at Helena before closing the door, leaving her unable to overhear the conversation.

"Nice one," Jinx said, golf-clapping in amusement, "that little bitch is actually afraid of you? Which is more than I can say for these two."

Raven ignored her and shook head, looking to Dick. "So I assume that was the thing you were gonna tell me about later?"

He nodded. "Yeah, and it's also the thing I needed your help with."

"What, did you need me to beat her up for you?"

"No," Dick replied insulted. "I need you tell me if she's lying or not. We're trying to do this without hurting her, Rae."

"Well she looks pretty hurt to me," Raven droned, arms crossed.

"Yeah," Jinx shrugged, "that was mostly me… You slugging her didn't help either though."

"Awesome by the way," Rose added, holding her hand out for a fist bump.

Raven only glared at her a moment, then shook her and dispassionately tapped her fist to hers, giving Jason a crude look as she did so.

"Okay," Raven finally began, "so what are we doing? What are we gonna do once we figure out what she knows… I mean we can't just let her go."

Dick looked over at Jason, the Outlaw glancing over at the fuming witch. "So I had Enigma do some digging and our little friend might be very valuable to a few people."

He threw the file in her lap and she opened it, seeing the photo of Helena and her boyfriend, Michael.

"What? Are we gonna hold her for ransom?"

"Sorta," Jason shrugged. "She's Santo Cassamento biological daughter, she was raised by his half-brother Franco Bertinelli. They were both members of the Cosa Nostra, and the Bertinelli's were a prominent part of the Five Families."

"So you think that Cassamento is gonna want her back?" Raven shrugged

"Yeah," Jason replied, "he's at the top, he'll definitely know more than she does."

Raven nodded. "But what if he doesn't want her back?"

"If he doesn't, her boyfriend will."

Raven shook her head a little disappointed at how easily this plan could fail. "What if he doesn't know any more than she does?"

"She's got a point, Jay," Dick said looking back at him.

"We won't know until we know what she knows."

"Not that I care," Rose drawled form the corner, "but if she talks, they're gonna kill her."

"I am not okay with that," Dick added adamantly.

Jason scowled, he was tired of having to repeat himself. "Oh my God, Dick, she tried—to—KILL—YOU! Why do I keep having to remind you of that?"

"Because he's not a fucking monster, Jason!" Raven growled. She let her head fall back looked at the ceiling. "How am I gonna fix this?"

Dick could tell her head was spinning, that she was scrambling to find a way to keep them all safe—keep him safe. He glanced away from her, feeling a little ashamed that she felt the need to clean up his mess, especially because he felt she'd been doing so much of that lately.

"I think I got it," Raven finally said and placed her laced fingers to her chin. "She's not gonna tell us anything about the run or you."

"What, so all this shit's for nothing?" Jason asked crudely.

"No," Raven frowned, "she's gonna tell me about her family and what it's gonna take to get them to tell us about the run. And I'm gonna need your help," she added turning to Rose.

Rose looked back at her a little off guard. "Can I hit her?"

"Sure," Raven said with an eye roll.

"Okay, I'm game."

"Today is turning out to be a lot more fun than I thought," Jinx sang with a shit eating grin.

"I don't know if this is a good idea," X finally said objectively.

"It's better than any idea these two have conjured up."

"Good point, Sunshine," X capitulated wearily.

"I'm gonna need to read though this file and Rose and I are gonna have to make a plan."

"Sounds good to me," Jason nodded.

Turmoil wrote itself over Dick's tired face as he approached Raven, pulling her close. "Rae, are you sure you wanna do this, you've been through a lot, what if—"

"What if what, Dick? I lose it?" Raven snapped. "I'll be fine, asking the mafia princess a few questions about why her daddy doesn't love her is not gonna be the thread that unravels me."

Dick looked over at Jason, uncertainty locked in his eyes. He initially planned to be present for the interrogation, he wanted to be there with her in case she over exerted herself. Normally something this simple wouldn't even concern him, but given the stress she'd been saddled with over the last week and her lack of mediation, he worried.

She could see his concern for her bleeding into his eyes and she could practically smell the guilt it mixed with.

"Dick, I'll be fine. Now just let me do what I do best."

Raven and Rose spent a good part of an hour reading through everything they had. They learned that Helena was actually engaged and that her entire family had been pretty much wiped out when Cosa Nostra imploded. And it seemed, for the most part, Michael was all she really had left in Gotham.

The two finally decided they had enough information and set their sights on getting to work. Raven would ask the questions, Rose would mostly just be there for muscle and follow Raven's lead. Jinx would also be joining them, but she was strictly there to spectate and nothing more.

Raven looked over at Rose before opening the door, the bag on her shoulder draped beneath her white hair. "We good on the plan?"

She nodded. "Yep, you're the fucking this cat, I'm just holding the legs."

Raven smiled crassly. "Sounds like the words of a wise old drag queen."

"Cause they are."

Raven gave her nod and turned the door handle. "On that note, let's do this."

She pushed the door open to reveal Helena sitting miserably, her face still smeared with dried blood.

"Took you bitches long enough," she hissed, "I was starting to get bored."

"Cut the shit, Helena," Raven ordered and pulled up a chair in front of her. "No one's buying you Italian tough girl act."

"You mean just like no one's buying your queen of the night act. If I were you, I'd hang that shit up."

Raven smiled, coldly. "Yeah if you think that benign aesthetic shit's gonna do anything, you're sadly mistaken. Your also not in a position to intimate anyone, so stop trying, it's pathetic."

"Ouch," Rose said placing her bag down.

Helena lowered her eyes, not wanting anyone to see her fading façade. "No, what's pathetic is having to clean up after your man."

"Honey, I'm not cleaning up after anyone, I'm getting shit done, that's what real women do," Raven replied coarsely. "Plus, from what I understand you've been doing your own clean up lately. Care to tell me about it? Or should I ask Mikey?"

Helena looked up at her. "You keep him out of this."

Bingo.

"Too late for that," Raven said patronizingly, "so what's his connection Cosa Nostra?"

"There is no connection," she hissed, forgetting herself. "He has nothing to do with my family."

"You mean what's left of it," Raven corrected. "From what I can see your family's day in the sun's been long gone. Maybe you and Mikey were trying to get that back? Or..." she paused a moment, making sure she looked Helena in eye, "Was Mikey trying to prove he was worthy enough to marry the last standing daughter of the Five Families?"

"The Bertinelli's are dead, I'm the only one left."

"You're right, They are dead," Raven said coldly, "but you, you're not really a Bertinelli."

Helena's head straightened, her eyes flaring at the mention. How could she know that?

"You have no idea who I am," she finally replied, "as far as I'm concerned, my father's dead, I don't care what my blood says."

"Well then if you don't care, why protect him?" Rose asked out of turn.

"I could ask you the same question," the Sicilian girl replied to a falsely puzzled Rose. "I'm not stupid, I know who you are. You're His daughter."

Raven looked over at Rose and nudged her head in the direction of the bag. "Then you should know what she's capable of."

Helena said nothing and glanced up at the ceiling.

"Listen, I don't care what your end game is, Helena, I just need to know about Santo."

"And what if I don't know anything?"

Raven looked at Rose and nodded. "Then I'm gonna let Rose mar up that pretty face of yours."

Helena looked over to see Rose remove a can of hairspray and a grill lighter from the bag. She smirked at her coldly, playing up her bad reputation.

"I've always been a fan of trial by fire." She lit the flame and flipped the cap off the can, spraying the flammable liquid into the flickering tongue.

Helena flinched as she could feel the heat from her bounds.

"Sorry, couldn't seem to find a blow torch, this will just have to do."

"Uh," Helena groaned, startled, "you can't be serious?"

Raven shrugged stoically. "Do we looked like we're kidding?"

"For real?" Rose added. "But y'know, if you want, I can use pam in place of hairspray? It probably smells better with burnt flesh."

Raven glared over at Helena, feeling the shift in her resolve. She smirked. Gotcha bitch.

Wally sat by the doorway, his hands draped over his bent knees, old photos entwined in his fingers. So many years had passed. His hands nostalgically flipped through them, taking in the old images of younger days when life was simpler and childish wonder consumed him and his friends. Those were the days he thought they'd never splinter. That they'd never drift apart. He knew better now.

He looked through the stack of captured memories distantly. They were all so different now, no longer children chasing dreams far bigger than their naïve egos' could have imagined. They were grown now, broken and embittered by the different paths they'd chosen, ripped from their innocence's the thrown into the fray, lives tarnished by circumstance. No wonder they drifted from one another. Dick ran away, Jason ran into the woods and got lost, Wally gave up his mantle, Barbara moved on, Donna and Roy lost their grip: One walked away while the other lost his sense of self. He glanced down at the photos again, wondering how much of them was left, or were they forever lost in those moments, nothing but a memory now?

He heard a groan and looked up again. He noticed Donna stir from the chair she seemed to be daydreaming in. He looked to the bed, the form beneath the thin blanket moving like a wave erupting as it crested with the pull of the ocean. Donna rose from her chair and moved to the mattress, falling to her knees beside Roy. She reached out her soft hand and brushed the ashen red hair from his paling grey face.

Wally rose from the dull wood floor, unsure what to do or what came next when he heard Donna speak:

"Roy," she said softly, her voice like broken glass, "can you hear me?"

"Donna?" he whimpered breathlessly.

A tear fell from her eye as she gripped her hand around his. "I'm here, Roy…" She pressed her forehead to his. "I'm sorry I left you… God, I'm so sorry…"

Wally stopped dead in tracks as he watched her begin to sob, practically able to smell the guilt that rolled off her. He still held the old photos in his hand as they hung at his side, unable to bring him comfort. What would they think of them, if those green, unworldly children could see themselves now? See how far they'd fallen, how far they'd drifted, and how little they resembled themselves in their current form? What would they say—would they even go on?

"I'll call Dick," he finally said, his voice thin.

He turned and moved to the door, taking the nob in his hand. He glanced back and took one last look before closing it.

Would it have made a difference if I stayed?

He choked down the thought. If he could have changed it, there was nothing he could do now. Or better yet, anything he did could only make things worse. And for all he did, and didn't know, nothing would have been any different. So why rake himself over the coals of regret now?

Dick and Jason both stared at the door, waiting for it to open, neither really sure what would come of it when it finally did.

"Not to sound like an asshole, but do you think Raven can pull this off?" Jason asked breaking the silence.

"Do you think Rose can?"

The Outlaw shrugged. "Not without hurting her. Not that I'd care if she does." Dick took an uncomfortable breath and Jason continued, "An outlaw and a hero cannot exist within the same man, Dick."

"Yet you try to be both."

Jason crossed his arms, and glared at the door. "I'm not a hero. To try and call myself one would be a miscarriage of the term."

"I don't believe you," Dick replied cynically. "You do everything the wrong way, but deep down, you're still trying to do the right thing."

"I tried really hard to be like you," Jason said painfully, "I did, but it just never took for me. What was worse was that everyone wanted me to be like you. They were afraid of me, you were the only person who wasn't. I mean, they weren't wrong—Bruce wasn't. I am a monster, and I'm just trying to help the only way I know how."

Dick looked away, wondering if he'd stayed in Gotham if it would have made any difference—wondering who he'd be if he had: who'd they both be.

"To answer your question: yeah, I know she can."

Jason smiled and laughed tiredly.

"What?"

The Outlaw shrugged. "Nothing. You two just seem really complete."

Before Dick could even inquire what Jason meant, the door finally opened and the two shot up like children waiting to be told they could leaving the dinner table. The two girls paused at the sight, the anxious display of masculinity a little jarring.

"Did you get what we need?" Jason asked looking to Raven who gave Dick a confident smirk.

"Yep."

"I knew you could do it!" the hero sang.

Raven smiled. "Yeah plus Rose was really convincing with the hairspray and lighter routine."

"Cause I would have done it if you'd let me," the girl smiled mischievously.

"And that's why we didn't send you in alone," Jason added. "I would have let you do it though."

She smiled at him softly. "Um, I didn't get a chance to say this earlier, but… I'm sorry. I was sorta hoping we could do that thing I hate doing?"

"We can talk," Jason nodded, returning the smile, just happy she was there. "But we gotta put this to bed first."

"Right," Dick added, "What'd you have in mind?"

She'd been gone for hours; she'd left and just never come back. Michael'd spent most of the day looking for her, trying to track her down. He'd tried her cell, but he quickly discovered it'd been left on the coffee table in front from him. This only brought more worry. Why would she leave her phone?

Darker thoughts then crept through his mind, racing and conjuring paranoia that hit too close to home. What if she was right? What if Santo took her as punishment for the run? Could he do that to her? She was his daughter after all? He thought about turning on the television, but was too afraid of seeing a report of an unidentified woman he feared might fit her description. He couldn't bear to hear the details of where and how'd they found her, speaking of her in past-tense as they described how she'd been thrown away like a piece of trash.

He tried calling around and asking the neighbors, but per usual, "nobody ain't seen shit."

He was at a loss as his shaking hand held his burning cigarette; no word, no lead, no Helena.

Dear God just let her be okay… Even if she left me, just let her be okay…

His phone rang startling him. He straightened his back, the number flashing across his screen was unknown and fear immediately ran through his mind.

"Oh God," he said. He had a feeling, and it wasn't good.

With a shaky hand, he reached for the phone and picked it up, swiping his thumb across the screen, accepting the call.

"Yeah?"

"Mikey Tag?"

"Who is this?"

"The person who has your fucking girlfriend."

"Shit—she okay? You better not have—"

"You're not the one asking the questions, Mikey."

He frowned. "Listen, I'll do whatever you want, but I need to know she's okay first."

"She's fine," the voice said, "but she won't be if you don't tell me everything you know."

"About what?"

"You're soon to be father in-law and why he took out a hit on the Red Hood."

"How do I know you're not gonna hurt her? How do I know she's okay?!"

"Cause if you don't tell me what I wanna know she won't be," the voice replied. "Listen she's not who we won't, it's whoever Santo is working for. That's who we need."

"Meet me off the Blüdhaven exit off 208: Bring Helena ALIVE. I'll tell you everything I know."

"Alright. Come alone, and pack a bag. See you in one hour."

After that the line went dead and Michael felt numb, like he was frozen in a dream. He quickly gathered himself and threw money, a few pictures he thought Helena might want, and some clothes in a bag, leaving the apartment as quickly as he could. For all he knew he was walking right into a trap, but he didn't care. He'd do anything for her. Even if that meant forfeiting his own life.

The hour had passed as Michael nervously waited. He was alone, just as he was told, but he wasn't sure what happened next, he just had to trust that she was safe. Finally a set of headlight cut through the thick dark, a distant beacon of hope, like a lighthouse gently whispering to the starboard at sea. The vehicle approach, pulling to the side of the road across from the old Doge. Two men got out of the black utility van, one in a black mask, the other in a familiar red helmet.

His stomach dropped, leaving him a little sick, but he got out of the car slowly.

"Do you have her—where is she?" he spat.

"Stop right there," a mechanical voice demanded and pulled out a gun. "I'm not gonna shoot you, but before you take another step, I need to make sure you're not caring."

"Where is she?!"

"She's fine," the man in the red helmet said, "she's in the van. And the more compliant you are, the sooner you'll have her back."

The lines in his face hardened, his brow falling heavier. However, he raised his hands in the air, signaling that he was willing to comply. X approached him and pat him down. Michael informed him that he was carrying a Glock in his waistband. X removed it, but found no other weapons on him.

Jason approached him looking down at the gun. "Is that the same gun you used the other night?"

Michael didn't answer.

The Outlaw rolled his eyes. "You said you'd tell me everything, so if I were you. I'd start spilling."

"What do you need to know?"

"Everything," X said, still holding a gun on him.

Michael looked back at them both, he was already a dead man. "Santo's trying to rebuild, ever since the turf war with Dent. Without the drug trade Santo took a big hit, both financially and professionally."

"No shit," the Hood droned. "Now tell me something I don't already know."

"I assume you're aware that Cosa Nostra is still pretty strong in New York and has an organization and operation in there and in Boston?"

Jason nodded.

"Well Santo has been trying to bring a taste of that back to Gotham and The Families agree they want their cut of this city back. When Dent took Gotham, he basically cost the Mob millions plus they don't have access to the port any more. Black Mask cut them out of that and Slade still won't allow them access."

"Get to the point, Tag."

"I'm getting there," the man frowned. "Santo was never really big on mine and Helena's engagement, he thought she could do better. He approached me a month ago and told me he was in talks with a big Gotham player. He said the guy told him if he took you out that he'd give him access to the port and he'd give him his old Territory back."

"What's this guy's name?"

"He wouldn't tell me."

"So if Santo didn't trust you with his daughter, then why'd he put a punk like you in charge of a hit like that?" X asked still holding his gun.

"He told me if I took you out then he'd give me his blessing."

"But then you realized he your head on the chopping block too, which is why you shot his men," Jason concluded.

"Helena figured that one out."

"Okay, so is there anything you can tell me about this player?"

"Just that they're here in Gotham," Mikey admitted, "but other than that he didn't tell shit, I swear if I knew I'd tell you."

Jason let his eyes fall down to the gun X had thrown to the dirt again. "So that's the gun?"

Michael nodded.

"There are at least two bodies on that gun, kid. It's hot." Jason pulled his fake Colt from its holster, and held it out toward him. "This is a ghost gun, no serial number, no ballistics, and most importantly, there's nobody on this one."

Michael looked back at him puzzled.

Jason signaled for to Dick, who opened the door and pulled Helena out of the back of the van. He unlocked her handcuff and removed them, nodding in the direction of her one great love.

"Go," he sighed as she looked back at him cautiously, mistrust thick in her movements.

She slowly moved toward Michael, rubbing her raw wrists and looking at her captors skeptically. Once she reached the arms of her lover, it took all she had not to sob. It had taken every last bit of strength she had not to break, but now she could no longer hold back her fear and sorrow. He looked at her face, a rather large cut on her forehead and a bruise cast around a slit in her lip. He grimaced at the damage and held her in his arms, still staring at the three men he held responsible.

"I thought you said she wasn't hurt."

"I said she was okay," Jason corrected, "but yeah, sometimes you gotta break a few eggs. And considering that you both tried to kill us, I'd say she's in pretty good shape, catch my drift, Tag?"

He grimaced, but realized that this scenario could have ended much worse than it had, especially if Helena's father had caught up to them first...

Jason removed an envelope from his coat and handed it and the Colt to Mikey. "Take these. There's a couple grand in the envelope, use it to get as far away from Gotham as you can. After what you told me, there's gonna be a lot of pissed off people looking for you two. So take your girl and get out my city. Got it?"

"Oh my God," Helena gasped, "what do you tell them?"

"What I had to get you back," Michael said firmly.

She stared at him, heartbreak bleeding in her eyes, but she said noting. Michael, began to guide her to the car, his arms still wrapped around her tight.

"Oh and Mikey," Jason said, causing him to stop. "If you ever come back to Gotham again, I'll kill you both."

Michael nodded in grave understanding, realizing that this charity would not be granted again. He put his battered girlfriend in the car, taking one last look at the man in the Red Hood and drove away.

"I think that went well," Dick said watching the car disappeared.

"I still think they'd be better off dead," Jason drawled, "but I guess this works too."

X rolled his eyes. "I hate you both."

Michael peered out the rearview mirror nervously, making sure they weren't being followed. Helena sat in the passenger seat, tears still rolling down her face quietly.

"How could you do that?" she finally asked.

"Do what?"

"Rat?" she spat. "You're a rat..."

He scowled at her. "He said he was gonna kill you if I didn't talk. I'm not happy with my choice either, but it was either you or Santo, and unlike that son of a bitch, I chose you!"

She looked at him gravely. "Do—do you think the Hood's gonna—"

"Once he gets the name he wants, yeah, I do."

Helena ceased to speak and looked down at her hands, a soft, but sharp pain running through them.

Michael looked over at her, she hated her father, but somehow, she loved him too. "Listen babe, I know he's your dad, but we gotta think about us right now, Okay? If you're dad finds out I ratted, he's gonna clip me before Red Hood can even get his hands on him."

"We're never going home are we?"

He shook his head.

She cried, neither of them saying another word as they drove deeper into the night. The stars above them oblivious to their pain and fear, shining on without a second thought as time took them further away from the chaos behind them. Helena looked out her window, the city lights growing dimer in the distance, like a fading memory, a ghost of the life she once lived, a life that was over now. But maybe if nothing else, she could finely live the life she wanted, a life away from the anguish, the blood, and the heart ache. A life no longer led by the hand of her father. Or would she do what was in her blood?

---

A/N: Also, just wanted to mention there is a cut scene from this chapter that I'm gonna post in Red Right Cuts either later tonight or tomorrow morning once I'm finished editing it. It's not smut, so for those of you who asked for Rojay smut this is not it, I'm working on that! But if you like Jason and Rose please feel free to check out chapter 2 of RRC because it's a nice Rojay moment that I just could fit into this chapter :D.