Dick is 16 and Jay is 12.
Chapter 45: The Hunted
Dick's POV
"Dick. Dick. Dick."
"Hmm?"
"You gotta get up… I gotta pee."
I rolled over in my sleeping bag to find Jason bending over me.
"Then go." I mumbled.
"Go with me." he pleaded.
"Go ask Bruce to take you."
"Please, big brother."
I groaned as I got out of my sleeping bag. Me, Bruce, and Jay were currently camping out. I looked over at Bruce's lucky sleeping form as we climbed out of the tent.
"Hurry up!" I hissed as we moved a little ways away from our camp. Jason quickly disappeared behind a tree as I yawned.
He came back a few seconds later.
"You done?" I asked as he nodded. "Come on."
*******Break********
Jason's POV
I didn't expect to be tackled and have Dick's hand cover my mouth as we were several feet away from our camp. I glared at him as he held his finger to his lips.
What?
We inched closer. My eyes grew wide at the sight before us. Bruce! He was on his knees with his hands behind his back as guys with guns crawled around our camp. I felt Dick's hand on the back of my jacket pulling me closer to him.
"Alright, Wayne. You give us what we want and no harm will come to you." The man, I assumed to be the leader, sneered as Bruce glared at him.
"No." he spat, only to have the asshole kick him in the gut.
I nearly screamed at him, but I couldn't. Dick's hand was over my mouth again.
"Boss, take a look at this." One of the men said as he exited our tent.
My eyes grew wide when I saw what was in his hands. Berry.
"Aww, a teddy bear. A little old for a bear, aren't we?" the leader scoffed as Bruce clenched his teeth. "Unless… Of course, you're on a little family camping trip aren't you? You lied to me! You said you were alone!" he screamed before kicking Bruce again.
"Go to Hell." Bruce ground out through clenched teeth.
"Boys, it seems that Mr. Wayne is being difficult… I guess he'll need convincing. Find the brats and bring them to me!"
I felt Dick's arm wrap around my stomach as he began silently dragging me away from Bruce and into the dense forest.
********Break********
"We have to go back! They have Bruce!"
"Jason, listen-"
"No! You listen-" I began before he kicked my legs out from underneath me, dropping me on my back.
I groaned as he slammed his weight into my stomach. I glared up at him as he pinned my arms down.
"Get off!" I hissed.
"Jason, listen to me. You have to be quiet. No more yelling… I know you're scared. I know you want dad right now, but you have to understand something. Bruce is not Batman right now. I am not Nightwing right now. You are not Robin right now... Right now, Bruce is a playboy that is head of a billion dollar corporation that those people want. And Bruce is not willingly going to hand it over; unless he has something to lose that he loves more than anything. And that would be us. And right now, we're just a couple of scared rich brats that want their daddy back… And those men are going to use that against us. If they catch us they can force Bruce to do whatever they want. And once they get whatever they want, we become useless. They will kill us and Bruce. Do you understand?"
I nodded as he backed off and helped me up.
"I just want our dad back." I whispered as he hugged me.
"I know, Little Wing. I know… We'll get Bruce back. I promise."
"How?"
"I'm working on it."
"You have no plan, do you?"
"Not a clue… But, we need to keep moving. We have to find help."
*******Break********
Dick's POV
"Dick, I'm hungry." Jason whined for the hundredth time.
"I am too, Jay. But, what exactly are we supposed to eat? Even if we caught anything, we couldn't risk a fire to cook it."
He mumbled under his breath as he continued to trail behind me.
"Dick! Look!"
I turned to find Jason grinning with a bag of marshmallow and a couple of raw hotdogs in his hands.
"Where did you get that?" I asked, coming over to him.
"Don't judge me, but after Bruce told me no more s'mores, I kinda stole the marshmallows. And I kept the dogs in case of a late night snack." He replied sheepishly.
"What would I do without you?"
"You'd starve." He smirked.
As I bit into the cold hotdog, I noticed that night was beginning to fall.
"We need to find shelter. Come on."
We ended up in a small cave carved into the side of the mountain. I leaned up against the wall as Jason snuggled up to me. I wrapped my arms around him as he laid his head down on my shoulder.
"I wish Bruce and Berry were here." He whispered as I squeezed him.
"Me too, Jay. But, it'll be okay. We'll get Bruce and your teddy bear back… Soon we'll all be back home eating Alfred's cookies."
He nodded before closing his eyes as I combed my fingers through his dark hair.
*******Break********
Jason's POV
I gazed up at Dick's slumbering frame before wriggling out of his arms. I can't just sit here. I crept out of the cave and gazed around the dark, dense forest. Bruce could be anywhere out there. I looked around a little more before my eyes came to rest on a familiar bear… Berry!
I looked around before creeping towards the bear. I smiled as my hand brushed against his fur. But, how did he get here?
"Aww, the baby missed his little friend." A voice mocked as I nearly jumped out of my skin.
"Dick! Dick!" I screamed before he backhanded me, knocking me to the ground.
His hand covered my mouth as he pinned my arms beneath his legs. I squirmed beneath him, but it was no use.
"Get big brother! I'll watch the baby!" The man on top of me ordered as his partner nodded.
His cold, dark eyes returned their attention to me. "Shh baby. I'm sure big brother has problems of his own. But, I'll take good care of you." He breathed against my neck as tears slowly started creeping out of my eyes. "You and I are going to have a lot of fun together."
No! Not again! No!
"Or maybe I'll just wait and play with you in front of your daddy. Think he'd give me what we wanted then?"
Dick! Please. Help me.
"Get the Hell off of my little brother!"
He looked up in time to see Dick's boot seconds before it impacted his face.
I gasped for air as the weight was lifted off of me. Seconds later, I jumped as Dick laid his hand on my shoulder.
"Oh, Jay." He whispered, wiping at my tears. "It's okay. It's okay."
I shivered in his arms as he held me close. He stood up with me still in his arms before grabbing my teddy bear and moving away from the crumpled figure on the ground.
What felt like hours later, he finally topped and sat down beneath a clump of overgrown trees and pulled me into his lap.
"Shhhh. Don't cry, Little Wing. It's okay." he whispered softly.
"Sorry." I mumbled as his hand carded through my hair.
"Did he, um, did he-"
"No."
"It's okay to be scared, Jay. I know-"
"I don't want to talk about it." I hissed as he nodded. "I… I tried to call you and he said you had problems of your own... Is that how you got the black eye?"
"I heard you shouting and when I got out of the cave, I got jumped by one of them."
"What did you do?"
"I got him off of me. I guess you could say I was in protective big brother mode… You okay?"
"Fine." I grumbled as he sighed.
"I'm your brother. I know when you're not fine."
"I just… he… I want Daddy." I whimpered as Dick collected me against his chest.
"It's okay… I won't let them touch you. And we're gonna get Bruce back. I promise."
********Break********
Bruce's POV
I spat out a mouth full of blood as I glared at the bastards. The leader hovered over me with a death defying smirk as his bat rested in his hands as he bent down to my level.
"You ready to talk now?" the cocky voice asked as I clenched my teeth. "Guess not."
"Boss! We got a location on the kids!" one of them shouted.
"Looks like you'll be having a family reunion soon enough." He scoffed before turning to his man.
"Where are they?"
"Well, we put a tracker in the bear like you said and the little one took the bait, but um, well they kind of escaped." The man rambled as the boss glared at him. "But, they took the bear with them! We'll have them momentarily!"
No! Dick! Jason!
********Break********
Dick's POV
"Thirsty?" I asked as he nodded.
I looked over at the river near us. Dying of thirst or risking being out in the open?
"I'm going to go first. Wait for me by-"
"No!" he exclaimed, grabbing my sleeve as I sighed.
"Alright. We'll go together, okay? Just stay close to me."
He nodded. We cautiously made our way down to the river. I watched the area as Jason got water first before it was my turn.
"Dick!"
I spun around to see about four armed men coming towards us. I shoved Jason behind me as they advanced. The one that had pinned Jason down the other night was closest to us.
"Come here, baby." He called out as Jason tensed.
"Leave him alone!" I threatened as they laughed.
"Come on, boys. Don't you want to see Daddy again? He's dying to see the two of you."
**********Break********
Jason's POV
It wasn't long before our hands were bound behind our backs as we were pushed into a log cabin in the middle of nowhere. I gasped as Bruce came into view.
His clothes were torn and bloody. A deep gash was on his cheek and his left eye was swollen shut. The ropes that held his hands together were stained with blood.
"Daddy!" I cried out as he turned his head in our direction.
"Dad!" Dick screamed.
"It's okay, Bluejay. It's okay, Dickie." He soothed.
I cried as we were pushed into the corner of the cabin away from him.
"Alright Wayne, the time for negotiating is over. You know I want the codes and you know I'll get them one way… or another." He growled in our direction.
"Let them go! They're only children!" Bruce growled, his temper flaring.
"Huntington, start with the little one." The leader instructed as the man who threatened me earlier moved closer.
"Don't touch him!" Dick snarled, moving in front of me as Bruce started making death threats.
"Daddy! Help!" I cried as he moved closer.
"Jason! Stop! Don't hurt my sons! I'll give you what you want! I'll give you whatever you want!" Bruce screamed seconds before a blinding light filled the room.
As the smoke cleared, we could see all of the guys down, all except one. The leader held a knife at Bruce's throat.
"Drop that bloody knife!" A familiar voice ordered as I looked up in shock to see Alfred with an assault rifle.
Alfred? Alfred! Oh my God! Alfred stood with a dozen armed men in MI6 uniforms. Oh my God! Alfred's a badass!
"Back off or I'll kill him!" the criminal snarled as Alfred gave him a glare that could put Batman's to shame.
"You do and it's the last bloody move you'll ever make." Alfred threatened as the man dropped the knife.
********Break********
Bruce's POV
"Relax, Master Bruce. We'll be home soon. I've already notified Dr. Thompkins and she'll be waiting for us." Alfred gently stated as I leaned back into my seat with Dick and Jason on either side of me.
"Alfred, how did you-"
"I called in a favor. But, it's better if you didn't know the details." He replied before turning to Jason.
"Oh dear, it seems Master Berry is in need of a bath. I'll take care of it immediately when we get to the manor." He gently stated as Jason smiled at him.
He then turned to Dick. "And Master Richard, how did you get that black eye? No matter, some bed rest and a topical cream will have you better before your date with Miss Donna… And perhaps I'll throw in a cookie."
"I get a cookie too, right Alfred?" Jason asked as Alfred smiled at the boy.
"Of course, sir."
"What about me?" I asked.
"Don't push it Master Bruce… However, the three of you are forbidden from going camping again."
