This chapter, while long, and probably containing some errors, makes me feel awesome. Just- yes. I was in a slump, and I finally put all the pieces together one night to make this chapter, and I'm very pleased with how it's turned out. It's fa little bit of details on how the team deals with everything, and a lot on issues in the Bat-family that are developing. This chapter made me really excited to write for this story again, and I hope you enjoy it! :)
"We'll be working on communication training today." Nightwing spoke confidently, ignoring the strained silence the group of teenagers presented him with.
"The main object of this all is to obtain TRUST- we'll start with pass the person. So- let's all form a circle. We'll put someone in the middle- Nighthawk. You're in the middle."
Nightwing placed a blindfold over her eyes as she cocked an eyebrow in him. I don't trust these people.
"It won't be that bad, Babs and Tim are in the circle." Nightwing replied, voice too low for anyone to hear, before he guided her into the circle of her teammates. Everyone was facing Nighthawk, looking uncertain.
"Now- she's going to lean. One of you will catch her- the goal is to pass her around the circle without her moving her feet. Alright?"
There were some murmurs of uncertainty among the group, but Nightwing ignored them. "Nighthawk- begin."
She wordlessly started falling forward, arms crossed over her chest- a steady pair of arms caught her, and she was relieved she remembered where Tim had been standing. Tim passed her to the person on the right, and she recognized the flowery smell and realized she was with Bumblebee.
She was like the hand of the clock, her feet planted in the center, her teammates the numbers as they passed her along clock-wise.
Everyone was careful, steady, and she found herself alright with it. Not eager, exactly, but not uncomfortable.
"Good. Now- you can push her across the circle. Someone shove her across-" Nightwing ordered.
She went from leaning forward to falling backwards, and nearly caught herself out of reflex before she felt a small pair of hands shakily catch her. "Gotcha." Garfield reassured her quietly, before he pushed her a few degrees to the right.
"Now everyone close your eyes." Nightwing ordered. "This is where the communication comes in- hopefully, you've memorized the locations of your teammates in the circle- call their name before you push Nighthawk..."
"Bart." Garfield said, pushing her at an angle. A moment later there was a rush of air as gloved hands caught her. "Um... Batgirl." Bart said, gently pushing her.
"Bluebeetle."
"Robin."
"La'gaan."
She tensed slightly, but the green-skinned Atlantean caught her.
Things started to speed up as everyone became for confident.
"Garfield!"
"Wonder Girl!"
She went crashing into someone who was unprepared, and ended up on the ground. She heard someone struggling beneath her and rolled off them, tugging off the blindfold to see, to her horror, she'd landed on top of La'gaan...
"I'm over here, guys." Wonder Girl raised her hand, blushing.
"Yeah birdbrain- get it right." La'gaan huffed, glaring at Garfield as he got to his feet. Still, she could've sworn she'd seen La'gaan blushing...
"Hey! There's no need to talk to him like that!" Bumble Bee spoke up for Garfield before Nighthawk could.
"I gotta agree with Bumblebee here, man. That was uncalled for." Jamie spoke up, arms crossed.
"He needs to start taking this seriously! None of you are taking this seriously! None! This is why we aren't allowed on missions!" La'gaan burst out, voice rising in protest.
"Bullshit!"
"Not true!"
"He's right."
And they dissolved into separate arguing factions, voices rising as tensions and pent up frustration from being kept out of the field boiled over. Within a minute, everyone was trying to scream over everyone else, and things began to get physical when Robin shoved an agitated Arsenal away from him...
"ENOUGH!"
Everyone fell dead silent at Nightwing's raised voice, frozen. Their leader had never yelled at them before, and the look on his face was enough to cow even the most agitated of the teens.
Nightwing took a breath, trying to keep his temper in check. "Everyone- rooms. Now."
Slowly, the team trudged off t their respective rooms, tension diffusing into disappointment when they realized that, once again, they'd failed.
Nightwing sighed, leaning against the center console in the room and turning to face Connor and Megaan. "Nighthawk- stay." he ordered, and a moment later she'd joined the circle, arms crossed.
"Any idea why that fell apart?" Nightwing asked her, pinching the bridge of his nose.
She shrugged. "They wanted to do well. They failed at their last mission, were taken off field duty- tensions were running high. When someone messed up, they wanted someone to blame."
"Right. Any ideas on how to fix this? Anyone?" Nightwing looked over at Megaan and Connor hopefully.
Megann bit her lip and Connor shrugged. "They don't work well together. They're too new- they can only work together if they know each other. Like we used to." he looked at the ground as he said this, and Megann looked pained.
"Seems like there's too many of them. I mean, it takes a lot- to go from five teammates to over ten, all with different backgrounds. They needed to get used to each other. And just pray, I guess." Nighthawk spoke up, and Nightwing nodded, still looking troubled.
"Right. Thanks for your input, guys. We'll speak about this later."
"I'm out tonight. Justice League business- can you five handle this?" Bruce asked, looking at his brood hesitantly as they stood in the Batcave.
While Scarlet, Dick, and Tim had been working together for a few months, Barbara and Damian were relatively new to the whole business, and he was hesitant to let them all out on the streets together.
Dick grinned. "We got it, boss." he assured him, bouncing on the ball of his feet.
Tim nodded. "If things get too heavy, I can take Batgirl and Damian home..."
"Ttt." Damian scoffed at the suggestion, and Batgirl rolled her eyes, before she exchanged a knowing glance with Dick. She could totally handle this.
"If a single shot is fired- take cover. Both of you." Bruce spoke seriously to Damian and Batgirl. They were new to dodging, new to the vigilante business in general, and he didn't want to see them hurt.
"I'm only at a cerimony, it's just for show, really, so if you really need me, call..."
"We will, Bruce. If we need you. And we won't." Dick reassured him. He knew Bruce would come if they really needed him- but at the same time, he knew it wouldn't look good for Batman to duck out of a cerimony that was probably being telivised. It would give the press something to speculate at, it just wouldn't look good...
Bruce knew it as well, but he didn't want concern for his public image to keep his children from calling. Their safety came before Batman's image, and he looked seriously into Dick's gaze.
"If you really need me, call." he repeated, wanting to make sure his message came across clearly. He was being maybe a tad bit over-protective, but at the moment he didn't really care.
Dick nodded, smiling reassuringly. "If we need you, we'll call." he reiterated calmly.
Bruce seemed to accept this, gaze lingering on his eldest two- Dick and Scarlet- for a long moment. Be careful. Take care of your siblings.
They met his gaze for a split second, eyes unwavering in their answer. We will.
Bruce nodded curtly, pulling on his cowl. With a snap of his cape, he disappeared into the zeta tubes and was gone.
"Well- are we going, or what?" Batgirl asked after a moment of silence, a mischevous smile crossing her features.
Dick nodded seriously, allowing a slight smile to grace his features. He was excited to take his youngest brother and Babs out for their first patrol without Bruce, but at the same time, he knew they had to be cautious. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to be hurt.
He allowed a cheesy grin to spread across his face as he pointed. "To the bat-mobile!"
"Ttt. Juvinile." Damian scoffed, while Batgirl simply rolled her eyes, and Tim smiled slightly at the corny joke.
"Shotgun." Scarlet muttered quietly, before bolting for the bat mobile. Tonight was going to be an interesting patrol, to say the least.
They handled a bit rough together, to say the least, but they got the job done. They stopped two muggings with Damian diving in before Tim could, using some swift kicks to the kneecaps to bring down the offenders.
They also stopped a robbery in progress at a liquor store, with Scarlet and Barbara teaming up to nail the two perpetrators while Tim spooked the getaway driver enough that he ran directly into Dick trying to escape.
They were all clearly lethal combatants- the only thing that they really lacked was communication.
They crouched atop a stack of massive metal shipping containers on the Gotham Pier hours later, listening to the water lap at the poles beneath the docks and the moonlight hit the water, waiting.
"I think we should call it a night." Dick spoke up from where he sat- it was nearly three in the morning, they'd all done well, and everything around them looked calm. He was glad to have an easy night, considering it was their first time out together.
Scarlet held up a hand, and he fell silent and listened. He closed his eyes and focused- the light buzzing in the distance was growing closer, and made it obvious a speedboat was approaching.
A dozen or so shadowy figures suddenly materialized from the darkness below, coming to the pier to meet the late-boat...
The boat docked quietly, and eight men emerged, two of them bearing trash bags.
"We got what we promised." he said simply, handing the bags over to the group.
Teeth glinted into a shark-like smile as the goods were recieved and passed off to companions.
"Your payment..."
There was a whimper as two smaller forms were shoved forward- Dick's eyes widened when he realized they were women- hands bound behind them and gagged, they were witnessing an exchange- illegal substances for human-trafficking victims.
A gunshot echoed at the exact moment Damian lept down to attack, and one of the men brandishing the women fell to the docks, dead, a pool of crimson dripping down into the water.
"Dami-"
Tim's urgent yell to his sibling was cut off by Barbara, as she clamped a hand over the boy's mouth, not allowing him to yell out his younger brother's name and risk exposing their identities.
Gunfire errupted a moment later, the pier was in chaos, and without a second thought Scarlet and Dick dove into the bedlam, Tim following a half a second later with Barbara at his heels.
Damian had taken advantage of the chaos to move towards the second woman captive, but she was being guarded by a frantic looking man with a handgun as his companions exchanged gunfire with someone hidden in the shadows.
The man whirled, hearing a board creak beneath Damian's feet, his captive held in a headlock, eyes wild, gun trained on the boy, ready to fire-
"Look out!" Tim dove in at the last second, tackling Damian to the ground and feeling the bullet fly past his ear like an angry hornet.
The delay gave Dick enough time to engage the gunman in combat, and a roundhouse kick sent the man's gun into the harbor below them.
"Find... cover!" Dick ordered, punctuating the move with a knee to the man's jaw and knocking him out cold.
Barbara had caught up by now and was helping the frantic woman, Scarlet was zip-tying the unconcious man on the docks, and Tim was breathing heavily, a rather startled looking Damian lying beneath him...
It was at that moment the men noticed the siblings.
"Kill 'em all! No witnesses!"
The air around them exploded in lead, adn Nightwing swore, frantic to protect his siblings from the deadly fire.
"Tim- get Batgirl and D to the alley! Find cover!" Dick yelled, before sweeping the legs out from a combatant and shoving the man off the edge of the pier and into the water below.
Tim seized Damian's wrist, sheilding the boy with his own body as Barbara ran after on his other side...
A cry errupted from their left and blood showered onto the docks as a thug fell to the boards, dead, weeping crimson from a bullethole through his head...
"Keep moving!" Tim yelled, shoving Barbara forward and dragging Damian along as well, trying to wipe the image from his mind.
Scarlet and Dick were doing their best to keep the armed thugs from shooting their way, there had to be at least a dozen and a half men, all armed to the teeth. Things had offically gone to hell.
Tim cried out as a stray bullet tore through his calf, crashing to the ground with a yelp.
Barbara stared, shocked, as crimson began to weep from the wound, and Tim himself simply gaped, shocked...
Damian was the one who reacted, seizing Tim under the arm and tugging with all the might he had in his ten-year-old body.
"Help me get him to cover!" he yelled over the gunfire, and a moment later Barbara was beside him, helping him drag Tim into the alley.
Scarlet had heard Tim scream and looked up, distracted for a brief second. A man lunged at her, about to plunge his knife into her- a gunshot rang through the bullet-riddled air, and a moment later the man was dead on the docks at her feet.
She whirled, shocked and unnerved, to come face to face with a familiar form clad in a leather jacket and a red hood.
"Kill the bitch!" someone yelled, and she was being shoved behind the man roughly.
A gunshot echoed from the magnum in the gloved hands, and another dull thud echoed on the docks.
Someone charged her from the right, and in her shock, she barely had time to throw a defensive side-kick and catch the man in the gut, knocking the wind from him. A swift upper-cut later, he was out cold.
She moved back instinctively, widening her field of view and ending up back-to-back with the hood-clad figure.
"Stay close to me!" he yelled above the gunshots, landing a critical bullet in someone's side, wounding him. The man dropped his weapon in shock, unable to nail Nightwing, who was being surrounded as it was...
She tasered someone to her right, a roundhouse kick to the head knocking him out cold- her next assailant came from nowhere, grabbing her by her hair and throwing her roughly down onto the docks. She gasped roughly, stunned...
The Hood-clad figure whirled, a crack splitting the air as the side of his pistol made harsh contact with her assailan's cheek. The man fell sloppily onto the docks a foot or so away, unconscious, and she found herself being thrown messily over someone's shoulder as they moved away from the battle...
She blinked- her head was swimming, things were fuzzing out...
She caught a retreating glance of Nightwing, though, looking panicked as he was surrounded by six men, nto outmatched but clearly engaged for the time-being, dripping blood from a slash across his cheek.
He looked horrified for a breif second, eyes widening in disbelief, fear, maybe...
"Nighthawk!"
He was swallowed up as the men surrounded him, and a moment later they'd turned the corner and the scenery of the docks was gone.
Combat was inching closer and closer to the alley, and they were crouched behind a few trashcans like cornered rats, uncertain as to what to do.
Tim's face was rapidly going pale, he'd left a blood trail from the docks to their current position, and he was beginning to grow shaky and less coherent. Barbara had torn off part of her cape and began to wrap his wound carefully, glancing up every now and again anxiously as the gunfire crept closer and the combat was louder.
Damian looked up as well, and Tim panted- he was struggling to stay concious, he was light-headed, and he might loose the battle any minute.
"Drake."
Small fingers held his chin in place, and he forced his eyes to focus in on the iron face of Damian Wayne.
"The wounded thugs are fleeing into this alley. I will protect you, but you must stay concious. Do you understand?"
Tim nodded faintly, tongue darting out to wet his pale lips.
Damian nodded to Barbara. "Stay with him."
With as much dignity as he could muster, the youngest Wayne stood, stepping into the alley fully. In the dingy light, he could see a thug panting, fingers clutching at a wounded shoulder.
Any pity he'd had evaporated at the thought this might be the man who'd shot Drake, and with a swift kick the man laid at his feet on the pavement, dead to the world.
He heard the click of metal and whirled, seizing the lid of a trash can as he moved, brandishing the metal before him to shield his face from the incoming bullets.
The impact was harder than he'd expected, and even though they didn't damage him through the trashcan, the force of the impact stung...
He moved, sliding between the man's legs and coming up behind him, swiping his legs out from underneath him and striking quickly to the man's face, knocking him unconcious.
Four thugs had simply been desperate to flee the conflict, and he moved, dodging to the side of one and avoiding a bullet only to be grabbed by a surprisingly agile thug and tossed to the pavement roughly.
He grunted, before he jumped to his feet again and struck out, fist sending droplets of blood into the air as the man staggered back, falling aganst a dumpster and slumping, unconcious.
A right hook caught him off guard, sending him stumbling backwards barely catching himself against the wall, ducking the second fist and driving his fist into the man's solar plexus, knocking the wind from him.
He moved to the left, then, only to feel sharp pain and taste blood as he was pistol-whipped, landing painfully on his knees only to be yanked up, still reeling, and slammed roughly against the wall. He spat blood into the man's eyes, a dirty trick Scarlet had taught him, before shoving him away and kicking a man to his right, elbowing another.
He was yaned forward by the wrist, and he yelped painfully as he felt it jerk and red hot pain flared up his arm, before he was forced to his knees, held still by two sour-tempered thugs, and the cold metal of a gun was pressed to his forehead.
He was pretty sure she had a concussion, the way her eyes were glassy and her nose was dripping blood. He hadn't meant to start a brawl like this- he hadn't even known they were there until after he'd fired the first shot, and by then it was too late.
He brushed raven hair from her face, wincing as he noticed the discoloring around her cheek. That was going to bruise, she had several minor slashes on her arms and torso, but right now he was mostly worried about the potential head injury...
"Jay?" her voice was so faint it almost wasn't there, and he tensed for a moment at his old name- he was the Red Hood now, Jason Todd had died a long time ago...
"Don't call me that." was all he said gruffly, wiping at her bloody nose with a gloved hand.
"I don't know what else to call you..." she sounded so tired, so defeated...
He realized she probably wasn't coherent enough to take his new name and persona, and he sighed.
"Yeah, Scarlet, it's Jay."
She fumbled to sit up, hugging him clumsily, head resting on his shoulder. " I... I missed you, Jay..."
"I missed you too." he admitted, peeling her off him and grabbing a flashlight from within his pocket, shining it in her eyes.
"Why'd you shoot me, Jay?" she sounded, yet again, small, and he was taken aback.
I didn't want to ruin you. I'm a fucking monster, I destroy everything, I'm not like you, I don't care about justice, I just want revenge- I've killed, you wouldn't leave me alone, I needed to scare you, if you were close to me you would've just gotten hurt...
"I'm an asshole."
"Asshole." she nodded as her pupils sluggishly dilated, agreeing with him.
He smiled slightly. "But I did save your ass tonight. Yeah, I did sorta kinda shoot you a few days ago, but it was for your own good- I can't care about anyone, Scarlet- or else you become a target. Same thing with Dick. Understand?"
She blinked.
"You have no idea what I just said, do you?"
"I missed you Jason!" she threw her arms around him again, and he couldn't help but smile, returning the hug. She wouldn't remember this, anyways, she had a concussion, and it was nice to be an older brother again...
"I missed you too, Scarlet." he admitted quietly.
He was an Al Ghul. Raised by the League of Assasins, he was born into the industry of death, shrouded in it. Should he die, he would face death with poise and grace, as was the custom of the Al Ghuls.
Still, he couldn't help but feel a small shred of hesitence, of shame, that he'd die by the hands of common thugs. He'd done his best, but he'd failed his father, failed Grayson...
The gun was cocked- a moment later there was the sound of bone cracking as Dick's heel made contact with the gunman's jaw, and the man fell to the pavement in a heap. The men on either side of him moved, but Grayson was too quick, slamming one with a right hook, then a knee to the chin, and lunging at the other one wtih a feral growl, bashing his head into the brick wall and letting him sink to the pavement, limp...
For a breif second, he just stared at Grayson, shocked. There was a look of rage he'd never seen before on the man's face, he was bleeding from a score of wounds, chest heaving. He'd never once had reason to fear Grayson, but the look on the man's face was chilling...
He didn't even realize he'd fallen onto the pavement until Dick was beside him, gathering him into his arms.
"Are you alright?" he asked, all trace of that shockingly raw expression on his face moments ago gone.
He managed to nod dumbly, too shocked and tired to say anything, until he remembered the entire reason he'd fought alone.
"They shot Drake."
Dick set him down, and even though he knew Drake was the priority at the moment, he couldn't help but feel a confusing barage of emotions when he realized he hadn't wantd Grayson to set him down.
Dick was already moving, though, taking Tim from Barbara and nodding. "Let's get him back to the batcave."
"Where's Scarlet?" Barbara's question made Dick stop dead, and he stared at the ground for tense moment.
"Jason has her."
MAILBAG
Cookiepiano (formerly Cookiecruncher), Chapter 36
OMG WOW
i was cookiecruncher back there, i was not logged in, but i dont understand... why is jason todd dead? he IS jason todd in the flesh. or does he not use that name anymore? this is incredible, im so hooked into your stories that im like, OBSESSED lol
im also kind of jelous though because i have a fanfiction character, wallys little sister, but i havent figured out how to post, mess with copywrite, and authors notes alone are a nightmare. i have soo many plans yet im stuck on how to execute them.
In the last chapter, Jason was trying to convince Scarlet he wasn't her brother anymore, because, after coming back from the dead, he's changed a lot (begun murdering criminals, developed a new persona, ect.). So when he says Jason Todd is dead, he's not physically dead, but he's telling Scarlet he's no longer a hero, and that he's also not her brother or ally. Essentially, he's trying to tell her the Jason Todd she thought of as her older brother is dead, and that it's pointless for her to try and talk to him because he's changed.
After his reincarnation, we can see Jason's struggling to keep the loyalty he feels t Dick and Scarlet, since he still thinks of them as siblings, and balance that with his new anti-hero persona.
Last chapter, we basically see him snap- he shoots Scarlet, knowing she's wearing kevlar and the shot will be non-lethal, because he feels that having people he cares about will be a weakness, and that it's better for both him and Scarlet if they don't associate. You can sort of see it in the way his thoughts are scrambled, the way he's thinking she needs to be away from him to be safe from his enemies, ect. Sorry if that was a bit confusing.
PM me sometime, I'd be glad to help you with your ideas. :)
TurtleLynn, Chapter 36
Nuuuu! *mind explodes* Jason why you do dis?! But you just wait. If Scarlet's ever on the brink of death you'll be like "oh mi gawd" and drop everything to go see her 'cause even if you want her to go away you'll still go see her as she dies slowly and *deep breath* you're still her big brother who loves her very much and the fact that you 'shot her' and were about to go make sure she didn't die confirms that you really are her brother and *continues lecture without stopping*
Lol, I didn't want to pm you or spoil anything, but yeah- you have no idea how right you are with this (as we see with Jason pulling her from the fight). But yes, you're 100% right- he still loves Scarlet and Dick like siblings, though his has an odd way of showing it (such as shooting them and trying to protect them by driving them away). Great prediction though, you were spot on! I'm impressed! :)
JIDNHEIUFHWEICFH chapter 36 .
Oh, my gosh. poor scarlet! jason should be alive, not just red hood... so... who is her love interest, hmmm? (:) the suspence is killing mehhhhhh
is it someone on the team? or maybe its someone from gotham... OR MAYBE IS SHE LESBIAN?! ok, eww, ew, ew, that would be gross.
I actually seriously considered making her lesbian- she's such a strong, independent character, and I've got nothing against the LGBT community. I thought it might make the story even more unique, but then I realized who I really wanted to pair he with, and he was a dude, so... she's straight. That's all you're getting from me, though! :)