AN: Special shout-out to Sunshine-Midnight123 who keeps leaving nice comments for this story. It always makes my day to see that someone is following and enjoying this.
As promised, the end of the Arkham-mini-arc. It will shake things up quite a bit…
14. Bruce
Something slammed into Bruce at considerable speed. He was thrown against the wall losing the Batarang that he had used to draw cuts into Joker. The bastard did not deserve to die with one quick stab. He should suffer as much as Jason had. If that was even possible.
Bruce still dreamed about it every night. Racing towards that warehouse pushing his car to its limits. Only to be too late. The flames erupted into the sky bringing the ceiling down with them.
Bruce jumped out of the car. Praying that his boy had made it out in time. That he was wrong. That Jason was being held somewhere else. But Batman was never wrong. He climbed over the rubble ignoring the heat. He noticed the tattered remains of the Robin-costume first.
Bruce threw the rubble aside pulling Jason out. He was barely recognizable. His eyes were closed and his skin was charred black by the burn marks. What the flames didn't reach, the crowbar had already destroyed. Bruises and blood covered Jason's body.
Bruce knew that it was too late. He still spent the next hours doing CPR desperately trying to get his boy – his son – to breathe again. But even Batman had to give up at some point.
And then the tears fell.
Bruce had forgotten how it felt like to be shaken by sobs and to be plagued by the empty feeling in his chest. Crying over the dead body of someone he loved and knowing that he had failed them. He had repressed the memory for his whole adult life. Jason's death had ripped all of the wounds open. It made him feel like the helpless boy in Crime Alley again.
Joker deserved every little moment of pain. And Bruce would make sure that there were many of them. Bruce's eyes were glued to the laughing clown.
Kid Flash pushed him back. He must have been truly distracted if the annoying speedster had gotten the drop on him. Couldn't Dick have another best friend?
Kid Flash was trying to tell him something. But his voice didn't get through Bruce's rage.
"Nightwing", Kid Flash said, "…injured…stop being an idiot…"
Bruce tried to shove him aside.
Flash Boy got increasingly desperate: "…almost dead… your son."
His son? Bruce frowned. In his rage he had forgotten about Dick. Where was he? Was he still fighting Deathstroke? Bruce thought that he would have been finished by now.
Batman calculated if it was worth breaking Kid Flash's leg to get back to the Joker. Speedsters were easy to bring out of commission. And right now, one of them was the only thing standing between him and his last mission: Killing Joker and avenging Jason.
Then, Flash Boy slapped Batman in the face. Bruce's rage got overshadowed by surprise.
"Nightwing is dying", Kid Flash screamed at him, "So do your damn job and save your son's life. You owe him at least this."
Bruce frowned – confused: "I thought he could hold his own against Deathstroke."
Flash Boy almost tore his hair out: "He needs you right now. You'll lose another son if you don't act now."
Bruce looked up from Joker. A bunch of unconscious villains were lying around and a very relaxed Deathstroke leaned against the wall. Dick sat against the door on the other side of the corridor and he looked horrible. Jason's battered body flashed before his eyes. Dick looked uncomfortably like him right now.
Bruce's stomach churned. But Dick still seemed alert. He lifted his chin slightly searching for eye contact with Bruce. Bruce bit his lip – torn between avenging his dead son or protecting the one he still had left.
Dick seemed to hold on. He could handle it if Bruce spend another small moment ending the clown. Bruce threw a bola around Flash Boy's legs making him tumble to the floor.
Then he was back at Joker's throat holding a Batarang to his skin: "I wish I could make you suffer more but my son is in pain and I have to take care of him."
Joker just laughed: "You took great care of your other kid. The stupid one. Walked directly into my trap."
The anger inside Bruce flared up again. He punched the bastard.
"Something is going on", Wally freed himself from the bola.
The Team suddenly seemed panicked pointing to the other end of the hallway. They screamed trying to get Batman's attention. Gas filled the hallway and Dick's scream made Bruce shiver.
"Shit", Wally was shaking, "We forgot Scarecrow."
Suddenly, Dick laughed - painfully so. The gas was tinged green. A mixture between Scarecrow's fear toxin and Joker Venom. Bruce growled and let his fists rain down on Joker: "You did this."
Wally shoved Batman away again. He pointed to the hallway. The gas was clearing. Dick was lying on his side curled into ball. He suppressed laughs and flinched away from an invisible figure. Bruce wondered what he was seeing. Probably the death of his parents. This moment had always been the most traumatic one in Dick's life.
Dick had handled fear gas before. Bruce would slide Joker's throat and then-
Dick's whimpering made him stop. He could finally make out what his son was saying: "P- Please don't kill me, Dad. I'm sorry. I- I shouldn't have gotten in the way."
Bruce froze. He felt like he had to throw up. Dick's biggest fear was being killed by Bruce? How could he think that Bruce would hurt him? Bruce loved the kid. Robin had brought light back into his life. If Dick hadn't become his son, Batman would have given in to revenge years ago.
But he had hurt his son. Multiple times. It had started after Jason's death when he had questioned every move Dick made. He had done it out of worry. Losing his eldest - like he had Jason - would make the guilt unbearable. Bruce wouldn't survive it. But his paranoia had only driven Dick away to Blüdhaven.
And even tonight he had fought Dick. Hell. Bruce had strangled him in an effort to get him unconscious. Handprints were starting to become visible around Dick's throat. Ugly reminders of what Bruce had done.
Dick was writhing on the floor. Caught between laughing, screaming in pain and coughing up blood.
Bruce let go of the Joker. He froze. What had he done? Dick had been hurt directly under Bruce's watch and he had done nothing to protect his son. No. Instead, Bruce had fought with him – seen him as another obstacle to his crusade.
The clown stopped laughing: "Come on Batsy. End it."
Kid Flash took Bruce by the shoulder and shook him: "DO something."
Bruce jumped out of his stasis. He ran towards the electronic door hacking it with his wrist computer. His hands were shaking.
He gave Wally two syringes. One an antidote for the fear toxin and the other for the Joker venom: "Give them both to him. I'm not sure if they will work."
Wally nodded and ran towards his best friend. Maybe Bruce had underestimated the speedster. He seemed to truly care for Dick.
Bruce wanted to get to Dick but he wasn't sure if he should get close to his son when the boy was still terrified of him. And the Team was still trapped in the glass prison. Superboy had stopped hitting against the window and instead laid on the floor clearly in pain. M'Gann was holding his hand and tried to soothe him.
How could he have done this to one of his son's best friends? What had he been thinking?
Bruce hacked the door. The Team glared at him when they left their cage. They ran towards Dick who was still alternating between laughter, screams and bloody coughs.
"THE ANTIDOTES ARE NOT WORKING", Wally screamed.
Bruce's chest felt like bursting. He had failed another son. He would lose Dick, too. Jason's death had already killed him but Dick's would serve the final blow.
Slade pulled a syringe out of his pocket. He definitely was grinning behind the mask.
"Are you in pain, apprentice? Laughing like that must really hurt with all these broken rips. Luckily, I have the antidote right here. You just have to say that I am your master."
"Screw you, Slade", it was a good sign that Dick was still conscious enough to mouth off towards the mercenary.
Bruce ran towards Deathstroke. But the assassin was prepared and side-stepped Bruce's attack.
"Anger makes you sloppy", Slade aimed his katana at Bruce's chest.
It slashed trough the Batsuit but only drew a shallow cut. Bruce kept trying to hit Deathstroke but the mercenary evaded his attacks. Slade was right. Anger made Batman sloppy and it made him even angrier to acknowledge it.
An arrow flew towards the back of Deathstroke's head. The mercenary spun around and caught it - taunting Artemis: "You think you can surprise me?"
The arrow exploded in his face. Superboy and Aqualad lunged at Deathstroke and pinned him down with their superstrength. Kid Flash grabbed the syringe out of Slade's hand. He ran towards Dick. His son had significantly calmed down. M'Gann had laid her hands on his temples. Her eyes glowed green as she looked down on him.
The Martian seemed pained: "I don't know how long I can calm him. His pain is- overwhelming."
Kid Flash emptied the syringe into Dick's neck. Batman glared at Deathstroke who was struggling and knocked him unconscious with one kick to the head. He used another tranquilizer to keep the mercenary down.
Then, he ran towards Dick only to be kept at a distance by a furious telekinetic Martian: "I won't allow you to harm him anymore. I saw what you did through his own eyes."
"I want to help him. He needs medical attention now."
M'Gann glared at Bruce. Her finger wandered towards her temple and Bruce felt something rummaging through his mind. He knew that she had mindblasted people to get information before. And he knew that she was currently fighting with herself to not rip his consciousness apart.
Bruce almost wished that she would do it.
Her icy voice echoed in his mind: "I would love to. But you deserve to live with the pain you've caused."
M'Gann fazed through the door speaking aloud: "I'll ready the Bioship."
The rest of the Team also glared at Bruce. He kneeled down next to Dick. His boy was still holding on but his cheeks were stained with silent tears and blood coated his lips. Bruce wished he could pull off Nightwing's mask to make sure that his eyes were still alive under there.
Connor picked Dick up. Bruce wished he could carry his son himself but he hacked the lock of the metal door instead. They hurried up the stairs and through the abandoned asylum. Bodies coated the floor. Arkham's employees had not been prepared for Deathstroke.
Outside, a commotion greeted them. Police vehicles had gathered in front of the asylum. Gordon was talking into a transmitter coordinating the raid. He seemed surprised to see the heroes. The Commissioner ran towards them.
Gordon stared at Nightwing: "We need some paramedics right now! What happened to him?"
Two men ran towards them with a gurney.
"The villains are unconscious in the corridor with the high security celsl. They need to be secured right now. Scarecrow is still on the loose", Batman growled, "Nightwing is under the jurisdiction of the League. We'll take care of him ourselves."
Dick looked up at Gordon forcing a smile: "Hello, Comish. Haven't seen you in a while."
Nightwing coughed clutching his broken rips. Blood sputtered down his chin.
"I won't let a kid die because of jurisdictions. He's bleeding internally. He needs medical attention right now", Gordon glared at Batman challenging him.
Connor decided the matter for both of them. He gently laid Dick on the gurney. The paramedics hurried towards the ambulance.
"I'm riding with him. I'm his best bro", Wally followed them jumping into the vehicle.
Bruce crossed his arms: "If someone finds out who he is-"
"I'll make sure that no one does", Gordon said, "I'm vouching for these paramedics. They're the most honorable you can find in Gotham - certainly more honorable than you."
Bruce's throat was dry.
Gordon pointed at Bruce: "I don't know what happened in there but I hope this time it wasn't you who did this to the kid."
Bruce remained silent. The Commissioner seemed to take it as an admission of guilt.
"I still have questions for Nightwing if he even makes it", Gordon stormed off.
"He's got courage", Kaldur said, "Putting Batman in his place."
The Bioship became visible earning them confused glances from the police force.
"M'Gann is impatient", Artemis said.
"I am, too", Connor stomped towards the ship.
Bruce followed. He still felt like throwing up. And he had to face the possibility that Dick could die because of Batman's mistakes.