Chapter 2: I Know Abuse
Jason Todd fiddled with his tie. He hated wearing tuxes. He mentally reminded himself to thump Tim and Dick for weaselling their way out of this trip. "Master Jason, if you insist on fiddling then please take care not to damage that tie, it Is rather expensive." The voice of Alfred Pennyworth came from behind him. Jason smirked. "Just don't get why I have to meet these people. I mean, don't get me wrong, go England. Obviously." He heard Alfred snort slightly. "But this is just gonna be two hours of some rich people schmoozing Bruce for a deal or something." Alfred's hands came around his shoulders and fixed up his tie, tying into a Windsor knot. "I HATE that I know that!" Jason thought. "You are Bruce Wayne's son." Alfred said, brushing down the young mans shoulders. "So it helps his image?" Jason snorted derisively. "No. He wants you here. It does him good to have some company on these trips. And although even torture would never get him to admit it, he values your judgement above the other two." Jason felt warmth rise in his cheeks. "Well, shit. Thanks for the guilt trip. Now I have to go." Alfred playfully boxed his ear. "Oh what torture! Enjoying a fine meal in a lovely house for an afternoon!" he mocked. Jason laughed.
The two of them left the hotel room and headed for the elevator. "Master Bruce is downstairs with the car." Alfred said as they entered the lift. "So, tell me about these Durfleys." Jason said as the lift descended. "Dursley's" Alfred corrected. "And I'm surprised you don't know yourself. Their lives are well documented in various newspapers, even in America." Jason shrugged. "I'm more of a funny pages guy myself." Alfred frowned at him. "They're millionaire socialites. Vernon is a self-made man. After his father died, he inherited Grunnings, his father's company, and transformed it into DursleyCorp." Jason narrowed his eyes. "Oh yeah, I have read some stuff about them." Alfred raised his brows. "Archie and Jughead discuss it over Lasange?" he quipped. "Lasange's Garfield silly." Jason smirked. "But yeah, I remember reading something a few months ago. They got out of some big lawsuit involving dumping raw materials near farms and stuff didn't they?" Alfred nodded. "Yes. Near the Isle of Wight if I'm not mistaken. Of course the incident was forgotten almost a week later when Petunia, Vernon's wife, gave over two million to displaced refugee children in Sudan." Jason groaned. "Awww come one! They're not those kind of people are they?!" Surprisingly, Alfred did not admonish him for his tone. "Yes, I'm afraid so Master Todd." Jason sighed. "Why the hell is Bruce giving them the time of day then? Surely giving money to some kids isn't enough to sucker him!" The lift reached its destination and opened. "Master Bruce is a good judge of character. I believe if he's entering into a deal with these types of people, it's for the greater good."
The two exited the lift and walked through the hotel lobby. Out the front near a silver limousine stood a tall, broad shouldered man with well groomed hair and wearing a nice suit. He looked up and saw Alfred and Jason approach. "Alright, lets get this over with." Jason grumbled. Bruce frowned as they both got into the back, and Alfred into the drivers seat. "You could try to be more enthusiastic in front of these people Jason." Bruce chided him. Jason leant back into his seat. "The limo seems like a bit of overkill, doesn't it?" Jason asked. "Bruce Wayne would arrive in a limo." Bruce explained. "The most important part of a secret identity…" Jason crossed his arms. "'is maintaining it' yeah, yeah." He muttered. "Why are we even meeting with these guys? From what Al's been telling me, they sound like crooks." Bruce smirked and glanced at the rear view mirror. "Alfred, please stop gossiping with my kids." Alfred gave a dramatic sigh. "He twisted my arm sir!" Jason chuckled. "To answer your question Jason, Vernon Dursley recently met with Richard Daniel, head of the Gotham International Banking Agency. Daniel made Dursley an offer to import some goods I had Dick track leaving Bludhaven. As you know, Richard Daniel has ties to the Sionis crime family." Jason sat up, suddenly excited. "Wait, wait… there's a Bat-angle?" he said excitedly. "Why didn't you tell me?!" Bruce raised his hand. "Because I need to confirm whether or not Dursley was complicit in the deal or if he was strong armed." Jason nodded. "Okay… so why come as Bruce Wayne?" Bruce smiled. "People like Vernon and Petunia Dursley adore the spotlight. Someone like me even coming to their house is enough to get the gossip rags drooling. If I make a deal, I can keep an eye on things across the pond, and make sure Black Mask isn't trafficking weapons of mass destruction like Amazo out of America." At this last sentence he stared pointedly at Jason. Jason grumbled. "When are you gonna let the Amazo thing go?" Bruce continued. "While I talk to the Dursley's, I want you to look around the house. Being that you're my son, they wont think much of it. Look for ledgers or documents." Jason nodded, barely containing his excitement.
Harry limped down the stairs into the dining area. He hated this. He hated having to pretend that they where one big happy family. They'd dressed him up in nice clothes, or Dwight had. He wore a simple button up shirt and chino pants. Vernon and Petunia where supervising the catering and barely noticed him enter. Dudley waddled over to him. "Better not mess up today. Dad'll thump ya if you do." As usual, everytime Dudley opened his fat little mouth Harry wanted to hurt him. He wanted to hurt everyone in this house. But he took a deep breath and said nothing. Vernon and Petunia approached. "Right! Best behaviour boys." Petunia said, putting on a sickeningly sweet smile. "Yes mummy!" Dudley said, standing up straight. Vernon glared pointedly at Harry. "And no funny business." Harry nodded duitifully, wishing that IT would let him strangle his vile Uncle.
The doorbell rang. Vernon and Petunia hurried to the door. They liked to pretend that they did simple things such as answering the door themselves. Vernon and Petunia returned a moment later, chatting happily away to two figures who entered behind them. The first was a handsome, tall, man and the second was a shorter and athletic looking younger man who looked to be in about his early twenties. He looked bored and had his hands in his pockets. "These are our sons, Harry and Dudley." Petunia said, gesturing to the two boys. Both boys greeted the two men. Bruce had a very kind smile and a surprisingly soft handshake despite his large hands. When Jason went to shake Harry's hand, he peered at him for a moment.
After lunch, as Bruce sat down with Vernon and Petunia in the lounge, Jason took advantage of his opportunity. Politely excusing himself, he headed upstairs to explore. Vernon and Petunia seemed nice, but it didn't take a genius to see that it was all fake. Their kids seemed fake too. The fat kid was annoying and the small one was quiet. That stood out as odd, Jason didn't know many five year olds to be quiet. And when he went to shake the boys hand, he noticed something on his neck. It had looked vaguely like a bruise… "Focus Jay." He told himself. He walked around upstairs, peering into bedrooms and bathrooms. Eventually he came to a large room with several bookshelves and a large oak desk. "This looks like Vernon's study…" he murmured. The desk was neatly organised. Almost bare save for a few papers. Jason gave them the once over; just some invoices for catering and office supplies. Checking behind him, he closed the door and began to rifle through draws. He came across documents with Gotham letterheads, and even a business ledger detailing multiple conversations with Richard Daniel, and even one with a Mr Roman Sionis. "Jackpot!" he grinned, pulling out his phone and photographing the documents. He also slipped an earpiece into his ear. "Alfred? You there?" he whispered. The piece crackled. "Yes Master Jason." Jason began typing in his phone. "I'm sending you some pics. Can you get 'em to Barb to verify?" He pocketed his phone. "Right away, sir. How was lunch?" Jason began to put everything back where he found it. "Not too bad. Though the company nearly made me vom—" he stopped dead. He hadn't heard the door open. Harry stood in the doorway. His eyes went wide. "Stand by." Jason murmured, terminating the connection. He put on his best smile. "Sorry little guy. Got turned around looking for the toilet." Harry shook his head frantically. "Y-you can't be in here!" he hissed. Jason raised his hands. "Hey, calm—" Harry ran over and grabbed his arm. "You can't be in here! Only Uncles allowed in here! He'll catch me!" he was muttering frantically. Jason shook him off, causing the 5 year old to fall to the floor. He cried out in pain. "Shit! Sorry kid! Didn't mean to throw you that hard!" Jason crouched down to help the poor kid up. He noticed Harry clutching his side. "Can't be that bad." Jason said, reaching out. He lifted the kids shirt and gasped. Harry's front and side where covered in bruises and welts. "Jesus fucking Christ." Jason murmured. Harry scrambled back. "Please don't hurt me! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" tears stung the boys eyes. Jason reached out then stopped. "Okay. I'll stay over here." He said softly. Lots of things clicked into place. Jason felt a dark anger bubbling up inside him. He took several breaths. Freaking out in front of the kid wouldn't help now. "Did your Uncle do that?" he asked softly. Harry looked away. Jason sighed. He didn't know what to say. No one had ever found out about the abuse his own parents had dealt to him. Even Barbara didn't know specifics. Jason sat on the floor across from Harry. "Look uh… Harry." He said, speaking softly. Harry looked at him, wide tear stained eyes glimmering. "My… my folks used to do the same to me. And its usually for nothing right? You're playing too loudly, or-or you don't say 'thank you' or stuff like that?" Jason was surprised when the little boy nodded slightly. "Look…" he leaned forward, whispering and speaking quickly. "My dad and I can help you. Bruce is… he's a good guy. We can help you out. I'll tell him what they do to you, and he'll do something." Harry looked unsure. He was scared, clearly. Jason reached out his hand warily. "I want to help you, Harry. If you let me, I promise I will…"
Harry didn't exactly know why, but he trusted this boy. His eyes where filled with a compassion that Harry had never seen before. Maybe he could help him. He looked strong. Maybe he could whup Uncle Vernon before he could hurt him. And he said that his Dad would help. His Dad seemed nice too. Harry thought back. Not only to the night before. But every night since he'd been two. All the horrible things this family had done to him. He had nothing else to lose. "ok…" he said, sounding small. Jason gave him a half smile. "Go wait in your room." He said, sounding firm. Harry nodded. Jason walked him down the hall. He caught a glimpse of Dudley peering out from his own room, glaring at the two of them.
"Hey Bruce. Can I talk to you for a moment?"
Although Bruce pretended to be annoyed, he was relieved Jason had asked to talk to him. Vernon and Petunia where perhaps two of the most obnoxious people he had met in his life. At least the Joker occasionally made some funny remark. The two left the sitting room and went out into the lush garden. "What's up?" Bruce asked, lowering his voice. Jason turned to him. His eyes where alight with anger. "Jason? Did you find something?" Bruce asked cautiously. "These fuckers are done for." Jason growled. "I found plenty of dirt in fat mans study. But that's nothing… compared to what they fucking do to that poor kid!" he was practically shouting, So Bruce raised his hands, signalling him to calm down. "Slow down, slow down? You're talking about Harry?" True. Bruce had noticed an oddness about the younger boy. He seemed easily frightened and skittish. "All tell-tale signs of abuse." He realised. "Yeah. The poor kid saw me in the study and freaked the fuck out. Thought I was gonna start wailing on him or something." Bruce nodded. "I did notice, they seemed a bit gruff when discussing him. With Dudley it was all praise. Harry was a different story…" Jason reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone. "I took pictures of all the documents. I sent them to Alfred. We should take these to the police right now!" Bruce thought for a moment. "No. A man like Vernon Dursley has the money to make photos like those disappear. We need to bide our time, figure something out. By tomorrow, we should have corroborated enough to warrant an arrest, then we can get the boy out of here." Jason shook his head. "No. That kid is NOT spending another night here. We're taking him now!" he moved to go back into the house, but Bruce stopped him. "Jason! We are not Batman and the Red Hood right now! We are Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd. We can't just go in there and take his child away from him." Jason opened his mouth but closed it. The old him would have ignored Bruce and stormed in there, snatched Harry up and lept out the window. But he knew Bruce was right. "I'll stay." Bruce raised an eyebrow. "What?" Jason stepped back, beginning to pace. "You said yourself, we can get Dursley arrested tomorrow. So I'll stay tonight, make sure I document some other stuff. He's gotta have more evidence somewhere. And… and I can keep an eye on Harry." Bruce looked hesitant. When he spoke his voice was low. "If that man is who you say he is, then I am NOT leaving you here with him." Jason was taken aback by Bruce's tone and words. He tried to put on a reassuring smile. "Bruce… it's me. I'm not some little kid who can't fight back. I can handle anything that fat bastard throws at me." Bruce still looked doubtful. "I have my earpiece. I'll call you if anything happens." Bruce set his jaw. "Okay." He said reluctantly.
"I cannot believe you left Jason with those… those brutes!" Alfred raged at Bruce when they had arrived back at the hotel.
The offer for Jason to sleep over had gone over better than Bruce had expected. Clearly the Dursley's where willing to do anything to impress Bruce. As soon as he'd gotten back to the hotel, he'd contacted Barbara, Jim Gordon and Eliza Menzies (Gordon's UK police contact) and gotten the ball rolling on Vernon Dursley's arrest. During that time he'd filled Alfred in on the situation. Alfred was not impressed. "Jason can handle himself Alfred." Bruce said firmly. Alfred sighed. "I know, sir. But… oh! Those people! And that boy… that poor boy. To lose his parents then be stuck with…!" Alfred was fuming. Bruce placed a hand on his oldest friends shoulder. "We need to stay calm. With any luck, first thing tomorrow Vernon and Petunia Dursley will be in handcuffs." Alfred nodded. "With luck, sir." He said. Bruce smiled. "I'll make us some tea. That'll calm us down."
Deep down Bruce was worried. Not just for Harry, but for Jason. Part of him for Jason's safety. Deep down, when Bruce looked at him, he still saw that broken boy being pulled out from that ruined warehouse, body broken and eyes dead. Another part of him worried for the other side of Jason… the side that the boy was working to keep down. Bruce just prayed that when the police arrived to arrest the scum, that Vernon Dursley would still be alive.
A/N: Hi all! Sorry for the slow start. The next few chapters are pretty much going to be build up. I'm trying to rush through as quick as possible, but I still want the story to feel succinct. Please drop a review to let me know what you think!