Drakunovski Demons

Starling City

Assassin HQ

18:00 pm

"Hey lovebirds now that you have got that out the way Richard do you want to test out the animus and find out who your ancestor is?" Rebecca asked "Yeah why not I'm game for it" said Richard who then sat down in one of the animus's while Shaun began to set him up "Is that wise putting him in the animus right after we had a security breach by the Templars?" asked Helena "It should be okay I don't think Jason wanted data all he really wanted was to reveal himself and St Dumas as well" said Erudito "Ready Richard?" asked Shaun, "Ready as I'll ever be" Shaun loaded it up as the animus began to register Richard and search his DNA for his ancestor the hacker trio stared in disbelief when it revealed who it was "No way" said Shaun "How is that even possible" said Erudito "I thought his lineage had ended at his son's death" said Rebecca.

Richard ancestor was Achilles Davenport "My ancestor is the guy who taught Connor on how to be an Assassin how awesome is that" said Richard "It says here that he was a very, very distant uncle to you" said Shaun, A young 25 year old Achilles was in the middle of chasing down a target alongside his mentor Ah Tabai the two of them were closing in on him Achilles tackled the target to the ground and unsheathed his left blade he was just about to stab him when the screen then went distorted and froze the image "What the hell is happening now?" asked Shaun the animus then switched over to a different memory but it wasn't of Achilles it was that of Richard's own personal memories the screen now showed a bedroom with a teenage boy now lying on the bed the boy had short red hair, black t-shirt and red jogging bottoms on he was also quite skinny as he then slowly got up from the bed and stood up slowly the boy began to wince from pain.

I-Ching knew what memory was being shown right now while Richard was trying not to show the fear on his face the boy then walked up to the door, opening it slowly he creeped his head out into the hallway checking left and right to make sure it was clear and made his way down the stairs slowly to the bottom floor the boy then poked his head into a room slowly and saw a man and woman who were currently asleep on the couch "Thank god" whispered the boy making his way down the hall and into the kitchen he opened the fridge door and grabbed a few items for himself to make a sandwich "Just got to get a plate now" the boy turned around and was met with a hit across the face from a baseball bat which then sent him to the floor.

I-Ching, Helena and the hacker trio gasped in shock "YOU LITTLE BASTARD WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" asked the woman who was currently now standing over him she had long red hair, blue eyes, 38 years old, 5 foot 8 and was wearing t shirt and jeans "I just wanted something to eat mom" the boy now had an expression of fear on his face knowing that he had just fucked up big time "YOU WANTED SOMETHING TO EAT DID YOU ASK OUR PERMISSION THAT FOOD IS FOR ME AND YOUR FATHER NOT YOU!" "I was hungry I'm sorry for not asking but you and Dad were asleep I didn't want to wake you up" the boy replied "TYLER GET IN HERE AND COME SEE WHAT THIS LITTLE CUNT WAS DOING!" a tall heavily muscled man who was 6 foot 3, brown Mohawk style hair and goatee, hazel eyes and was dressed in vest and jeans walked in "What is it Lisa" "This little bastard was eating our food without our permission" the man then looked at the boy with rage "Was he now and he didn't even ask permission now that is bad and you know what happens when you cross the line" the man all of sudden grabbed the boy by his feet and dragged him across the floor and into another room.

"DAD NO PLEASE, PLEASE I'M SORRY I WONT DO IT AGAIN!" the boy tried to resist but Lisa whacked him in the stomach with the baseball bat "SHUT UP YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" the boy was now writhing in pain from the hit with Tyler now duct taping the boys wrists to a radiator "Eating our food the nerve of this little shit" said Tyler "We need to stop this, where is this happening" said Helena "We can't stop it because this has already happened to him" said I-Ching who was now looking at Richard "You mean to tell me" said Erudito "The boy is him at the age of 16 this is what he hides from you Helena this is Richard's darkest secret" Helena looked at Richard who was clenching his fists as the tears fell from his face she then looked back to the screen.

Lisa handed Tyler a rope who then wrapped it around young Richard's throat and proceeded to choke him "Please" said young Richard his hands pulled at the rope and tried to resist he even landed a kick on his mom's leg which was the worst thing he could do because his mom began to strike him repeatedly in the head with the bat, Tyler let go of the rope and took his turn in beating the living shit out of Richard by punching him in the face and began to then kick him multiple times "LEAVE HIM ALONE YOU EVIL BASTARDS HE WAS YOUR CHILD YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN NOT HURT THEM!" screamed Helena who was now crying while the hacker trio and I-Ching now had horrified looks on their faces.

Young Richard laid there bloodied and bruised as Tyler left him alone and went into the room where he and Lisa were sleeping he immediately came back but now armed with a switchblade "Take his shirt off and duct tape his mouth" said Tyler, Lisa ripped Richard's shirt and duct taped his mouth with Tyler now cutting the duct tape off Richard's wrists "Hold his legs down Lisa" while Tyler held Richard face down by the neck "What are you going to do" asked Lisa "I'm going to carve his back up" said Tyler the blade then made contact with Richards back with Tyler now dragging it down making the poor boy scream from the pain Tyler did the same thing over and over again, Richard now screamed himself as he sat in the animus it felt so real, Helena screamed so loud it echoed through the building "YOU PSYCHOPATHS YOU TORTURED YOUR OWN CHILD YOU TORTURED HIM!" said Helena.

Azaria, Desmond, Bruce, Nyssa, Laurel and Roy burst into the computer room "What the hell is going on?" asked Laurel the small group then looked to the screen as Tyler stopped and Lisa stood up "That should teach him" said Tyler he then gave one last kick to the head of the now unconscious Richard and left him lying there in the hallway as they then went back into the front room "What are we witnessing right now?" Nyssa asked "The torture of Richard Drakunovski by the hands of his biological parents" said Erudito the group had looks of horror on their faces "This is what they would do to him everyday they used him as their punching bag" said I-Ching the feed then abruptly cut off as Richard got out of the seat he looked at Helena and saw the distraught and horrified look on her face the tears came to his eyes "I didn't want you to find out this way but now you know how damaged and fucked up I really am" he then ran as fast as he could out of the room "Richard wait" said Helena she was about to run after him when I-Ching grabbed her arm "Don't he needs to be on his own for now just leave him and give him time".

Kitchen

Richard walked in and everyone could see the horror on his face alongside the tears that were now rolling down his cheeks he then looked at Mitsuko "Richard what's happened" "She knows Mom she saw the whole goddamn thing when I was in the Animus she knows what happened" he then ran out of the kitchen Mitsuko attempted to go after him but it was too late he had already picked up the keys to Helena's Bentley and had driven off she then put her face in her hands and began to cry.

Bertinelli Mansion

18:45

He slammed the front door behind him, leaning against it and breathed heavily with that same panicked look on his face "Oh god she knows this was not how she was supposed to find out" he then slowly walked up the stairs and to his room entering it he opened the draw and pulled out the book that contained every moment of his child abuse it even contained photos which he had taken himself of the various injuries that he had gained over the years "What do I do now" he then recalled the conversation that he had with I-Ching and Mitsuko about not making peace with his past and that he hadn't set foot in St Louis much less America for a decade Richard at that moment came to a realization and knew what had to be done.

"I have to go back it is the only option right now and running away would be a cowards way out maybe by going back there I can finally put this to rest granted it won't stop the nightmares but it might give me peace of mind" there was also suicide but he had already attempted that years ago and failed due to I-Ching reviving him he retrieved his now empty suitcase and began to fill it with a small amount of his clothes picking up his backpack Richard filled it with various items including 2 blank sketchbooks and stepped into the bathroom to splash his face with water he looked at his reflection in the mirror "I have to do this" walking back into his room he sat down on the bed knowing that he would have to go back to HQ to talk to Helena and inform them that he was leaving.

Assassin HQ

Kitchen

19:20

All of them were now sitting at the table eating dinner in silence except for I-Ching, Mitsuko and Helena who were still reeling from what happened and had barely touched their food "You selfish, selfish Bitch Helena how wrong I was about him he has been suffering most of his life and I judged him as if he knew nothing that he didn't even know what it is like to suffer but he has more experienced more pain than any one person should in a lifetime" Thea was sitting next to her and nudged her best friend "penny for your thoughts?" asked Thea "How did he live through that to experience so much pain and still come out alive and happy I was so wrong to judge him as if he didn't what real pain was like what it's like to suffer" said Helena.

Thea was about to answer when I-Ching then spoke up "Alive yes but not happy he is very good at masking his pain he has been suffering for 16 years of his life he still has nightmare to this very day heck he even collapsed in the guest bedroom at Tim's house when they went to Gotham the nightmares plague him to such a point that at one point we nearly lost him" "what do you mean lost him?" asked Des "He tried to commit suicide one night we found him in his bedroom a rope around his neck his feet hovering above the floor" said Mitsuko.

All of them gasped in shock but hearing those words hit Helena the hardest "It was by pure luck that we discovered him much less able to revive him he was literally inches away from death" said Mitsuko "Once he was breathing we called an ambulance and they were able to sort him out he stayed a few nights in hospital and the doctors diagnosed that he has severe P.T.S.D from what happened to him as a child" Selina then came to a horrifying realization "You don't think he has left to try it again" I-Ching, Mitsuko and Helena then came to the realization as well "OH SHIT!" said I-Ching the 3 of them got up and were about to rush out thinking that he was about to commit suicide when the doors to the kitchen opened and Richard walked in with his book in his hands "Hi is dinner still warm?" he asked "yeah your plate is there on the counter" said Stacey tucking his book underneath his arm he then went to go pick up his plate and grabbed a glass of water and took his spot opposite Helena as he then sat down and smiled at her.

"Hi" said Richard "Hey" said Helena "I guess I owe you an explanation but first" he then handed the book to her Thea saw the title on the cover "The child abuse of Richard Drakunovski" said Thea, Helena opened the book and began to go through the pages which had extracts of text and polaroid pictures of his injuries from each session of abuse from his parents Thea and Selina who were sitting either side of Helena had expressions of horror as they saw his injuries, Helena began to read "28th April 2001 the injuries I suffered today are as follows bruised ribs, cut on right side of forehead, bruised arms, left leg is bruised as well and I am currently at this moment in time limping from the beating that I got from mom and dad all because I accidently knocked a glass cup over and it broke on impact when it hit the floor which was the worst thing I could do because the rage on mom and dad's face was truly terrifying I often wonder as to why my parents are so different to other kids parents mine seem to hate me I wonder why that is because when I look at other kids parents they treat them with love and affection while mine treat me with cold heartedness for once in my life I want my parents to look at me with pride not disdain it is a strange and numb feeling why does it hurt so much on the inside is it too much to ask for to be loved by my parents instead of hated Mommy used to be so nice all the way up to my tenth birthday and then something changed in her and now she looks at me like she wishes I was never born".

Helena flipped through the pages and began to read again "23rd March 2002 what the hell was I thinking to hide Mom and Dad's cocaine I thought because they are addicts depriving them of it that it would calm them down a bit more and help them resist trying to use it ever since Mom stopped taking her pain medication and used coke instead she has become increasingly more violent and angry they were able to find it of course and then Dad beat the fuck out of me with his belt got mostly cuts on me but thank god for the internet and that it taught me on how to stitch my wounds" Helena looked up at Richard who looked at her in return with tears in his eyes that he was holding back "Keep going" Helena went towards the end of the book the pages were littered with words like Freak, Loser, Weakling, Piece of Shit, Why don't you just die and then she came across his suicide note that he had written and read it out loud.

"Dear Master and Mitsuko by the time you have discovered this note I will be dead my time in Tokyo has been the best of my life but unfortunately these nightmares that I have been having of my biological parents beating me is too much to handle there are times during the day where I am haunted by them even though they are dead and sometimes I have to sit down in order to calm myself, I appreciate everything that you have done for me you took me in a complete stranger, fed me, clothed me, put me into school and Art College you two treated me as if I was your son and I don't know how to repay something like that but my mind is so fucked up and it was just a matter of time before I resorted to this method do not blame yourselves my actions are of my own accord but at least I had the honour of meeting you and living in your home I love you both but this is goodbye" most of the ladies that were sitting at the table were crying while the lads were sitting there in silence except for I-Ching who had a few tears spilling out of his eyes.

Richard screamed as the tears flowed years of pain that he had held in finally came out as he bawled his eyes out Helena immediately got up and went around the table taking him into her arms as he cried into her chest with her crying as well "I'm so sorry Helena I wanted to tell you but I was so afraid" said Richard "Afraid of what" she asked "I was afraid that you would see what I see in myself the pathetic weak boy that couldn't stop his parents from abusing him, A man that is so fucked up in the head that he would never be good enough for an angel like you, I didn't want my problems being a burden to you as well Helena" she then cupped his face "Listen to me my love you will never ever be a burden to me we're going to get through this together okay" said Helena.

Richard unclipped his blades and got up walking towards Desmond he held the blades out towards him "I don't deserve to be one of you let alone even have these I am too fucked up you can take them back if you want Boss" Desmond and the rest of the table looked in shock Richard was going to leave the brotherhood "Put them back on you are one of us and no way in hell are we losing our best fighter" said Des. Richard was taken aback "You want me to stay as one of you?" he asked "You swore an oath to us and we are not letting you go that easily" Desmond replied Richard clipped his blades on "I have a request then if you will allow this?" "what is it?" asked Desmond "I would like some time away for 2 weeks so I can go back to St Louis to make peace with my past when I first left 10 years ago I left with my past still haunting me by going back I think I can finally put my past to rest and my mind at ease the nightmares won't stop I know that for certain but maybe by making this journey I can be at peace with myself as well" said Richard.

Desmond looked at Azaria, Bruce and Selina "Do you guys mind because I am authorizing it" the 3 of them agreed with him, Des looked at Richard "You got 2 weeks brother when are you going to leave" Richard turned his towards Helena "Tomorrow morning I will leave Starling for St Louis I would take you with me god knows I would but I need to do this on my own if you don't mind" "It's fine my love I understand" said Helena, I-Ching then spoke up "When you first moved in with us I thought it was going to be too much you were a 16 year old boy in a unknown city and I took you in because I didn't want you walking the streets as well not knowing what to do or where to go you couldn't even speak Japanese either but boy I did not expect this to happen 2 weeks into staying with us suddenly the house was filled with this light this energy you have experienced more darkness than any man will in a lifetime and you never let it dim your soul so there is me thinking I'm changing your life by taking you in but truth is you changed ours Mitsuko was incapable of having kids and then you came along and became our son so don't lose that light Richard look what you have accomplished you graduated university with highest honours, Those kids that you teach how to fight they look up to you all those trophies from the martial arts tournaments they won them because of you those kids that were given guidance by you are now walking better paths in life you have saved lives just by being you and you are no monster in my eyes you're a hero" the rest of the table agreed with him "I got a question for Richard?" asked Roy "What is it?" "You never told us what happened after your parents were killed by the police".

"Ahhhh when it comes to that I walked as much as I could granted that I was in a really bad way but by pure luck somehow I made it into the city and found a place to hide I then blacked out hours later I woke up in a bed my wounds treated and no clue as to where the fuck I was I then heard a person coming towards the door my first idea was to hide behind the door and then punch whoever it was but I didn't have the strength to move so I pretend to be asleep the person who came through the door was a woman she approached me thinking I was asleep and then when she got close I grabbed her by the throat my eyes full of rage and shouted at her demanding to know where I was immediately after that this man and a group of teenagers were outside the door realizing that I was now awake the woman calmed me down and explained that her husband had found me sitting in a pool of my own blood she said it took a lot of effort to save me and that she would really appreciate if I let go of her throat" "Who were the man and woman?" asked William "Reuben and Andrea Beaumont" said Richard

Bruce spat out his drink and started to cough "Andrea Beaumont" said Bruce "Yeah do you know her" "We both went to Gotham University" said Bruce "Wow small world turns out Andrea and Reuben were the leaders of the Phantasm thieves guild they then asked me how I got my wounds and I told them the truth about what my life was like and how I purposely called the police so my mother and father would be killed, I begged them to not hand me into the police they laughed saying that is the last thing they would do especially since they are wanted by various police agencies all over America I asked them if I could join their group in return for saving my life I would help them they agreed that I could join since they were always looking for new recruits I was then paired up with this guy called Cole Cash a.k.a Grifter we became best friends and worked together for 5 months doing various jobs all over the country I only did all this thieving so I could eventually get to Tokyo I wanted to leave the states behind me Reuben and Andrea were able to get that sorted for me I said my goodbyes to them and Grifter knowing I would never see them again and then left for Tokyo" "Why was Andrea stealing from people she was loaded with money?" asked Bruce "Actually no she wasn't since her dad owed the mafia money they killed him and took every bit of money that belonged to the Beaumont family even her inheritance was taken from her she then met Reuben and found the life he lived exhilarating from there they became a duo and then a group" "Damn you have had one hell of a journey in life" said Jack.

Azaria raised her glass "To Richard because only you could experience such hell and come out stronger on the other side you are and always will be an Assassin and we are proud to have you in our Assassin family" the rest of them raised their glasses to him "To Richard" Richard began to cry again but this time they were happy tears he was truly touched knowing now that he meant so much to this new family of his Helena turned his face so it was facing her and kissed him with all she had as he then responded both knowing that the huntress had found her dragon and the dragon had found his huntress and nothing would tear them apart.