Author's Note: Sorry for the long gap between updates! I ended up working almost every day during my last week of Christmas Break and then started up college again. I've also been trying to figure out where exactly I'm going to end this story (There is a possibility of there being a third story if I end it a certain way). Thank you to soccernin19 (Alfred is nothing short of amazing! As for Bruce's messages and the rescue, we have Deathstroke to take care of first) and MaikoYuukamiMegumi (I'm glad Barbara's actions seemed justified after the last chapter! With this many characters, I sometimes struggle getting my readers into the minds of every character so I'll try to work on that! As for Joy being Roy and Jade's ship name, I'm pretty sure they'd both be sick or something, heehee! And there will definitely be some butt kicking when it comes to the Justice League!) for reviewing the last chapter! I own nothing.
Stephanie Brown stepped into Wayne Manor the next morning expecting a war zone. She had come at Tim's behest, the request sent to her via text message at just after three in the morning, and he hadn't answered any of her calls. Therefore she had believed it reasonable to expected screaming and chaos. Instead she found the Wayne siblings sitting together eating breakfast. Furthermore, there were butter knives at the table and Damian wasn't trying to stab anyone. She absorbed the scene for a moment, then promptly turned around and walked out of the room. She stood in the hall for a moment before coming back only to see all four of them staring at the door.
"Hi?" Tim asked tentatively, waving at her a little.
"Who are you and what have you done with my loveable idiots?" she demanded in response.
"Steph,what are you talking about?"
"There are butter knives at the table. Butter knives," Steph pressed.
"Thank you for stating the obvious," Damian commented and she scowled at him.
"And you aren't even arguing with each other," the blonde continued. "What's going on?"
"Steph," Tim said, eyes sparkling. "I was right. Bruce is alive and I have proof."
For a moment all Stephanie could do was stare. She knew Tim well enough to believe that he had some sort of conclusive proof but that was a lot of information to take in all at once. "He's alive?" she questioned at last. Tim nodded, his expression a little worried. Apparently Steph looked like she was going into shock or something. She watched as Dick and Jason exchanged a worried look, stunned silence giving way to boiling anger. "Bruce was alive and he let us think he was dead!"
"No!" Tim scrambled to his feet, reaching out towards Steph as if he wanted to touch. She jerked away, not sure if she was angry at him for telling her the truth or really just furious at Bruce and her boyfriend was just a convenient target. "He didn't let us think he was dead," Tim continued, voice calmer but eyes pleading with her to listen for a moment. "He's been sending us messages and at least one person in the League has been hiding them from us."
Steph's fury almost immediately redirected itself and her hands clenched into fists. How dare they? For most of the people present, Bruce was the only family they had left and the League had just tossed that aside like it was a toy they were finished with. How could they live with themselves? Part of her insisted that she wanted them all dead but the logical part of her brain pointed out that the world needed the Justice League. That meant she and her patchwork family would have to get their revenge in a non-lethal way. "So what are we going to do about it?" the blonde demanded, settling her hands on her hips.
"Nothing yet," Dick replied, lifting a hand to forestall her complaints. "First we have to take care of Deathstroke. If we're to leave Gotham and rescue Bruce from the situation he's gotten himself into then Slade Wilson must be out of our city and locked somewhere secure. Then we have to discover what members of the League deceived us. From there, after we've rescued Bruce, we can take our revenge." His lips quirked up in a slight smile and he added, "Can you wait that long?"
Steph considered the question honestly, considering whether revenge taken early would be worth it if it put her family together. The answer to that was blonde was not one to simply stand by while people she cared about were in terrible danger. It was one of the things that had led her to thwart her father at every turn and one that pushed her to continue using the mantle of Batgirl, gifted to her by Cass, despite the danger. "I can wait," she told him. "But I don't want to have to hold back when the time comes."
"I don't think there are going to be any protests about that," Jason replied, expression dark. From her few experiences with the Red Hood, Steph had come to realize that Jason really didn't appreciate being manipulated. The blonde doubted he was any happier than she was about the current situation.
"Now that we have thoroughly discussed the matter of retribution can we perhaps move on to more pressing matters?" Damian questioned, twirling his butter knife between his fingers.
"Are you actually capable of talking without sounding like you swallowed a dictionary?" Steph retorted, sinking down in a chair next to Bruce's only blood son and ruffling his hair. He batted at her a little but the usual sharpness of his movements had faded away.
"I sincerely doubt that I am able," Damian replied smoothly, slouching a little in his chair. "If you must blame someone for it, you may blame Mother."
"I'll remember that when I see her again," the blonde drawled before turning to look at Dick and Jason. "So do we have a plan for dealing with Deathstroke the Terminator? And where did your house guests go?"
"They're still sleeping," Dick told her. "Oliver and Roy had an argument last night so they were up late talking it out."
"And we don't have a plan for dealing with Wilson," Jason finished. "Dickiebird and little Demon Bird here are the only ones who have fought him before which complicates everything."
"I have informed you before, if I am allowed out then Wilson will find me," Damian pointed out.
"No," Jason, Dick, and Tim insisted at once, making Steph giggle and the youngest Wayne pout.
"It is a reasonable option," the boy pressed despite the fact that Steph was sure he knew he was going to lose this argument.
"It's a good way to get killed," Jason shot back. "And we're not losing you. Got it?"
"Fine," the boy huffed but there was something pleased and relieved in his big green eyes. It made Steph nudge him with her shoulder and she wasn't at all surprised when he elbowed her sharply in the ribs. Everything wasn't quite right in her world but it was getting close.
Jade woke with the baby kicking insistently in her stomach. She groaned and rolled from her side to her back, serious considering punching Roy, again, for getting her pregnant even though she was the one who had agreed willingly to having sex without a condom. The baby kicked again and she gave into temptation, leaning over to smack her boyfriend. "Ow," he whined through a yawn, blinking bleary green eyes open. "What was that for?"
"Getting me pregnant," she grumbled, sitting up stiffly and cracking her back. Roy, who had quickly wised up to her quirks, didn't say anything. Instead he sat up as well and gently rubbed her shoulders. "Ahh," she sighed in relief as he worked the knots in her muscles out and relaxed. The baby's kicking eased as well, allowing the last of her tension to wash away. She rubbed a hand across her belly in silently thanks and then twisted around as best she could for a good morning kiss. "Should we head downstairs and see what the Wayne kids are up to?"
"That would probably be for the best," Roy agreed, standing and then offering her his hand.
"My white knight," she gushed with playful mocking, taking the offered hand and allowing him to draw her to his feet.
"My dark princess," Roy replied with a slight smirk. Jade smirked back and they made their way out of the room arm in arm.
Talia al'Ghul stepped into the airport, her modestly heeled black boots not making a single sound despite the cheap tile. Her neat brown hair was pinned back in a bun and a pair of wire rimmed glasses along with her business suit meant no one looked twice at her. She was simply another businesswoman making her way into Gotham to talk to one of the heads of large companies that resided in the city. She made her way through the airport without touching a single person, her bags held in her hands. She was here to see her child, even if he wasn't related to her biologically, and she had killed half a dozen assassins to do so. Nothing was going to stop her.
She stepped out into the overcast Gotham and made her way past the cabs waiting for fares. Not a single cab driver glanced at her but that was the way she preferred it. She made her way two streets over and then startled a greasy looking cab driver parked outside a cafe by rapping once on his window. The man startled awake from his nap and scrambled out of the cab. He stared at her stupidly for a moment and Talia pulled off her glasses as she stared back, tossing them aside with a single careless motion. The crunch of the glass in them underneath a car's tires startled the man into motion and he hurried to open the back door of his cab for her. Talia slid inside and directed him in English with a distinctive Middle Eastern accent to take her to Wayne Manor. While the cabbie drove she undid her hair, letting it flow to her shoulders, and removed her jacket, carefully tucking it away in her luggage. Then she settled back in watchful silence, just waiting for any sign of danger.
