Disclaimer – Own nothing!
To vi – Thanks for your review and for the birthday wishes! I had a great birthday. I'm glad you liked the last chapter and thank you for understanding. I hope you like this chapter as well!
AN – Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukah! Happy Holidays to EVERYONE! I hope you are all having a GREAT holiday! I considered taking another week off for Christmas, but I had already taken a week off and, well, I can't really give you guys gifts so I thought maybe a chapter will do? Also, I was originally planning on this story having 15 chapters, but I had to add another one. So it's now 16 chapters. Chapter title is taken from a line in the song A Little Faster by There For Tomorrow. I hope you all like this chapter!
Enjoy!
Rachel didn't see Dick at all during the day. Not even at lunch or supper, but both of those meals were a fend-for-yourself meal. She didn't see much of Roy or Wally either. The few times she did, she asked where Dick was, as it appeared they were keeping an eye on him, and all they said was that he was still working on finding Slade. The fact that they didn't say where he was exactly told her that either Dick just wanted to focus on his task, or didn't want to see her or the others.
That messed with her thoughts a bit. When she first met Dick, it was awkward. He was definitely trying, but they had a hard time connecting. Especially when she learned that he had been planning to leave her with Hank and Dawn. But eventually, they found their rhythm. He became her protector, guardian, friend and father figure. Now, it was like he wanted nothing to do with her and that hurt. Granted this time she was the one who left and she should've realized that there would be consequences to that. That didn't lessen the hurt though, nor did it help her come up with a way to fix things.
So instead, she went looking for Gar. She figured that it would be easier to talk to him and fix her relationship with him than Dick. And since Gar had stayed with Dick, maybe he could help her figure out how to fix things with their leader. Unless he was too angry. Gar wasn't the bitter type but they had never been in a situation like this before. She had no idea what Gar was going to do.
Hearing noises coming from the training room, Rachel quickened her pace a little and entered the doorway. Only Gar was inside, punching a dummy near the middle of them room. She was grateful and a little surprised that he was alone. She would've thought Conner or Jason would also be in here with him. Deciding not to question it, she walked further into the room and said, "Hey."
Gar looked over at her, then mumbled, "Hey," and turned his attention back to the practice dummy.
"Can we talk?" Rachel asked, her stomach clenching with nerves.
"About what?" Gar questioned, not taking his eyes off the dummy.
"About what all happened, at the Tower, when Dick told us what happened to Jericho."
"What's there to talk about?" He asked, punching the dummy hard across its face. "Dick told us the truth. Hank, Dawn and Donna decided to pretend they had nothing to do with how they used Jericho to get to Slade and blamed it on Dick. You got mad even though you didn't really have a reason to and you all left. Then Slade attacked and almost killed us."
Rachel opened her mouth, planning on explaining what had been going on in her head, but paused when she realized that Gar didn't mention the other two who left that day. Well, three but she knew that Kory had only left because something personal had come up.
"What about Jason and Rose?"
"Considering Jericho was Rose's brother and Slade almost killed Jason, I kinda think they have the right to be angry." Gar replied. Turning his gaze over to her, his eyes hard, he added, "Unlike you, Hank, Dawn and Donna."
"Gar," Rachel started, but her friend immediately interrupted her.
"I mean, you were the one who said you didn't want to tell Dick about the issues with your powers because you didn't want him to think he was a failure. Well, not only was that kind of a sucky reason, you guys managed to do that without telling your secret.
"And that's another thing." Gar continued before Rachel could even think of a response. "You got all angry about Dick keeping that big of a secret from us, yet your secret almost killed me, Jason and Rose."
"You're right, I did." Rachel admitted, looking down at the ground. Apparently though, Gar still wasn't done his rant.
"You know Rach, Dick didn't have to help you. You were a random girl he didn't know who just showed up where he was working and basically demanded that he help you. And if it wasn't for him, you'd probably be dead. He was under no obligation to help you but he did it because that's the kind of guy he is. Helping people who need it without even thinking about how it would disrupt his own life."
That made Rachel's mouth go dry as she felt her stomach drop. She had never even thought of her first meeting with Dick from his perspective. She really was just a girl who showed up out of nowhere and begged for help. He didn't have to come after her when that cop tried to have her killed. He didn't have to take her to Hank and Dawn's, didn't have to come after her when she got kidnapped by that crazy family. Yet he did, even though he didn't know her. Even though she wasn't that open with him for the first few days. Yet he did, and she didn't think she ever thanked him for that.
"Um, guys?" The teenagers both turned around and saw Kory standing in the doorway looking extremely awkward. "Batman's back. He wants to talk to us. We're meeting in the rec room."
Gar immediately took the protective wrappings off his hands, letting them drop to the floor, and stormed out of the room. Kory reached a hand out to him, easily seeing that he was upset. He twisted out of reach though and headed down the hall. The redhead then gave the purple-hair girl a sad look before she waved her over. As much as Rachel felt wrung out from Gar's words and just wanted to cry, she forced those emotions back and made her way over to Kory. Once she reached her, Kory placed a comforting arm around her shoulders and led her to where everyone was gathering.
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By the time Rachel and Kory got to the rec room, Gar had beaten them there. Dick, Roy, Wally, Dawn, Donna, Hank, Conner, Jason and Rose were also already there waiting there with Batman. Even Krypto was there, sitting right by Conner's feet. They all looked over in their direction when they heard them coming, then looked over at Batman.
"So, what did you find Batman?" Jason asked once Rachel and Kory came to stand by the rest of them.
"Adeline Wilson, Slade's ex-wife." Batman said, surprising everyone but Dick as he was the one who found evidence of Slade visiting her during the last five years. "She has informed me of where Slade is now hiding."
"And how would she know?" Hank questioned.
"Because Slade had gone to visit her during the last five years. He did it under the radar, but Dick had found proof and she confirmed it." Batman informed them, glaring a little at Hank as he did so.
"Why would she do that? I thought she hates the guy." Dawn chimed in with a confused tone of voice.
"Because of Jericho." That had everyone staring at him in confusion. "Apparently, he's still alive."
Dick felt his jaw drop open. He could feel the others' eyes turn to land on him, but his gaze stayed locked on Bruce. For a moment, he wondered if Bruce was lying, but he quickly threw that thought away. He knew when Bruce was lying, and he was not lying. Plus, Bruce wouldn't lie to him about something as serious as this anyways. But, it didn't make sense. He had seen Slade stab Jericho with his own eyes, saw his body. How could he still be alive?
"What?" Rose gasped, her mouth and eyes wide open.
"According to Adeline, Jericho also got powers from Slade, like you Rose." Batman started to explain and the wheels started turning in Dick's head. He had forgotten about Jericho's powers.
"Healing powers?" Rose questioned.
"No. He has the ability where if he makes eye contact with someone, he can jump into their body and control them. When Slade stabbed Jericho, he jumped into his father's body." Batman answered.
"Wait, are you saying it's actually Jericho who was attacking us?" Donna asked.
"No. Slade is too strong for Jericho to take control unless Slade lets him, which he hardly ever does. He's basically been a prisoner inside Slade's head for the last five years." Batman replied.
"We have to help him." Dick immediately insisted.
Roy furrowed his brows in thought and asked, "How?"
"I, don't know but we have to do something. We can't just leave him there." Dick responded, looking over at the archer.
"He can jump into me." Rose volunteered, getting everyone's attention. Seeing that, she added, "He needs a body, and since we don't have one, he's going to have to jump into someone else. He can jump into me. He's my brother after all."
Batman was silent for a minute, then said, "That's not that bad of an idea. At least until we find a better solution."
"However, we still have to find him and get him in a spot where we can get Jericho to hear us and jump into Rose without Slade trying to kill us." Jason quickly pointed out.
"That shouldn't be too hard." Wally chimed in. "Adeline told Batman where Slade is, so we have his location. And if we all attack him, we should be able to easily defeat him. He may be a highly trained assassin but he can't fight us all at once."
"'All'? You want to come?" Dick questioned, turning his gaze to the speedster.
Wally looked shocked that he actually asked that and said, "Of course I'm coming. You think I'm going to let you go without me?"
"I'm coming too." Roy joined in.
"Same here." Gar said.
"So will I." Rachel stepped up. Beside her, Kory took a step forward and said, "As well I."
"And if Jericho's going to jump into me, I kinda have to be there too." Rose reminded the Titans' leader.
"I'll come too." Donna said. "I've been wanting to punch Slade for quite a while now."
Hank took a step forward and said, "As long as you save some for me." Beside him, Dawn nodded.
Dick felt his heart swell in his chest. He couldn't help but feel touched that almost everyone in the room wanted come help him take down the assassin and save Jericho, but he tried to force it down. Just because they wanted to deal with Slade once and for all didn't mean that they forgave him, or even really wanted anything to do with him. They just wanted justice for Garth and to save Jericho. That was it and he wasn't going to hope there was anything more to it.
While everyone else had agreed to help, Conner and Jason stayed silent. Conner seemed confused by what was going on which made sense. Dick felt a bit bad for the clone being stuck in this situation and still not knowing what was all going on. Hopefully he'd be able to sit down with him and explain everything to him. And Jason, well Jason looked a bit nervous and unsure and Dick didn't blame him. His time as Slade's prisoner, though short, had majorly freaked him out. Dick wouldn't be upset at all or blame him if Jason wanted to sit this one out.
However, Jason took a deep breath and said, "I'm coming too."
"Can I?" Conner immediately asked before Dick could respond to Jason's bravery.
"You all sure about this?" Dick couldn't help but wonder. Though there might be a lot of them, Slade was a formidable enemy and was not to be underestimated. It was going to be dangerous.
"Yes, we are." Roy answered and the others all nodded in agreement.
Seeing that, Batman said, "In that case, I think you can use this," and pulled out a sleek-black, metal suitcase from behind him before adding, "I stopped by Stu and Lily's on my way back."
Dick stared at the case for a few seconds, then walked over and grabbed it. With it in hand, he walked over to the small coffee table. He placed the suitcase on top of it, then pressed his thumbs on the finger-print recognition locks. Hearing it unlock, he opened it up and looked inside. Feeling a hand land on his shoulder, he looked up to see that Bruce had come up behind him.
"Stu was rather upset about what you did to your old Robin uniform, but we agreed that it was time you had something different." Dick could only grin in response, agreeing completely. He couldn't wait to try it on.
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Dawn quickly put on her Dove uniform with ease once she and Hank had gotten to their room. The first time she had ever worn it, it had taken her half and hour to get it all on correctly. And Hank had helped her. With all the practice she had gotten over the years though, it was second nature.
Turning around, she expected to see Hank fully dressed as Hawk, but he only had his pants and boots on. The rest of his suit was laid out on the bed in front of him. He wasn't putting them on either. He was just standing there, staring at top and wings. Dawn had seen him get all quiet and still like this only a few times, but each time, it meant that something serious was going on in his head.
"What's wrong?" Dawn asked, moving to stand behind him, only a foot or two away.
Hank flinched slightly, clearly started out of his reverie, then reached for the remaining parts of his uniform as he said, "Nothing."
"Hank." Dawn said with a warning tone, telling him that she knew he was lying.
Before Hank could figure out a way to get his girlfriend to drop it, there was a knock on the door. By this point, he was fully dressed, just missing his wings, belt and mask, and hoping to distract Dawn, he shouted, "Come in."
"Hey." Donna said as she opened the door and came into the room. She was dressed in her Wonder Girl suit, lasso coiled up and attached to her hip. Looking over at them, she asked, "You guys ready?"
"Just about." Hank answered, slipping on his belt.
"Good thing we were able to grab these before we came." Donna told them, remembering how when Batman first showed up and drove Slade away, they quickly ran to grab their packed bags and bring them along. If they hadn't, they would have absolutely no clothes to change into.
"No kidding." Dawn agreed. However, looking at her friend's face, she something strange in her eyes, like she was upset or scared of something. "Are you okay?"
Donna actually flinched a little at the question before she answered, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"You sure?" Dawn questioned.
"Yeah." Donna did her best to assure the blonde. However, she cringed at the tone of her voice. She did not sound convincing at all.
All day she had been replaying Roy's words, his threat, in her head. She knew that Roy didn't make empty threats. If she didn't tell the others about her lies about going back to Themyscria, he would. And if the way they reacted to Dick's confession was any indication, they weren't going to react well at all. Most likely, the only difference would be that Hank wouldn't actually punch her in the face.
But she knew that they needed to know. Roy was right about that. As much as she tried to bury what happened, tried to forget, there were so many nights that she would lie awake thinking it over constantly. And it really wasn't fair to make Dick take all the blame. She was so busy being angry at being forced to remember her own pain and guilt over Garth's death that she didn't see Dick's pain. Now, it was all she could see whenever she closed her eyes. However, she couldn't tell them right now. Right now, they had to focus on capturing Slade and freeing Jericho.
"You slow pokes ready?" A voice pulled the three original Titans' attention to the open door where Wally, dressed in his red Flash uniform, was standing.
"Yup." Hank answered as he finished putting his wings on, his goggles in his hand.
"Then let's go." Wally told them, his tone harsh and angry.
"Wait a second Wally." Dawn said, taking a few steps towards him. When he looked over at her, she added, "I know that you, and Roy and Gar, are mad at us, but can we please put that to the side until we take down Slade?"
"Of course." Wally responded, though his voice remained the same.
"Did Dick tell you everything?" Hank questioned, still mad at Dick and not understanding why Wally and Roy were mad at them and were siding with their leader.
"Yes he did." Wally informed in. "He told me and Roy about how you guys all agreed to use Jericho to get to Slade. How Slade attacked Donna. How he tried to fight Slade and Jericho stepped in front of the sword for him and was stabbed. How he lied back then and decided to tell you all the truth and you guys yelled at him and punched him."
"And you're mad at us?" Hank demanded.
"Yes I am. You guys all decided to get Jericho involved and yet the minute it went wrong you all decided that it was Dick's fault when you are all actually to blame. And you decided to pretend you had no responsibility to deal with this situation at all and I had to find Slade shoving a gun under Dick's chin and pull the trigger!" Wally yelled.
Silence rang in the room at that. Neither Donna, Dawn or Hank knew how exactly Dick had gotten those cuts on his face, and they didn't even think about it. They had just figured it was from a punch or something. But to hear that it was actually because Slade tried to shoot him and Dick just got lucky? That they could've come to the Tower to find Dick lying on the ground with his brains blown out? It was horrifying.
Wally let out a sigh and said, "Let's just, let's just go."
Not saying another word, the speedster walked away, leaving the other three in their shocked silence.
AN – So, I'm hoping I will be able to have the next chapter finished in time for next week, but right now, I'm not making any promises. I hope you all liked this chapter and had/have a great holiday! See you all next time!