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Art is Too Important

'Art is too important not to share.' Romero Britto

The two of them stood there, staring at each other for about a minute, and then Arthur cocked his head, indicating that they should take this elsewhere. In total agreement with that Blake carefully turned around and started to crutch his way further down the hallway, the two of them making their way to one of the tastefully decorated guest rooms there. They'd be afforded some privacy while they talked this out-at least until someone noticed they'd been gone a while. It would be better to leave their grandfather's and go to one of their apartments, but that would draw even more attention and lead to more questions. Because of course the place was filled with family at the moment. Family that would need to be clued in to what was going on, unfortunately, but Blake assumed that one of the things they'd be discussing was just what needed to be passed on and to who. Fun.

Once the door was closed and locked Arthur joined Blake in sitting on the double bed, the two of them facing the large windows there that provided a decent view of their grandfather's patio garden. The flowers looked nice, were growing well.

"Who has the case, by the way? Bai's."

"Detective Finnes."

"He's good." Not great, but that was probably for the best for the time being.

"So let's start from the top." Arthur stated, getting straight to business.

"As you wish, Little Brother." And fuck was this bad. "Roman is probably in Gotham-though we don't know where. He would have taken the last couple of days to shake off the jetlag, acclimate, find someplace to stay. He probably started looking into the syndicate and what players would be eligible for retrieval before he even set foot in Gotham. You have to have something to do on the plane. He'd have learned that all the fish worth catching are locked up currently or dead. That would have pissed him off."

"Yes. And he was never all that good with computers according to his father. He also said his son didn't have the patience for research, which is to our benefit. Then again, his time in prison might have beaten patience into him. Or at least given him plenty of time to plan."

"Let's hope not." They had a lot of things to hope for, Blake silently acknowledge with a sigh. "He would have got a place near Chinatown but not too close. He's very obviously Caucasian and he'd stick out more. Not to mention they wouldn't be eager to rent to him anyway. Being memorable, drawing attention to himself by putting up a fuss-not a good idea. He should have disposed of Bai's body, not left it out like that. A message? To who? No one cares that fuckup's dead."

"His sloppiness is what put him in jail. That and his bloodlust. But I agree...he left the body out to be found. Alleyway a stone's throw from his flop. Wasn't killed there. If not for the torture element I wouldn't be half as concerned about this. If was only a matter of time before he ended up dead."

"Exactly. So back to the start. He gets here, looks for people who might have been in the room when his father was executed. No luck. He can't get to any of the major players without finding a medium or breaking into a prison. Given he just got out of one, he isn't going to be eager to visit another. So he starts looking for members of the Long family. The relatives of the top brass. He asks around about the Longs in the neighborhood, Bai'd be the obvious choice. The locals would know the family wouldn't come after them regardless of what Roman did to him. No one's going to miss Bai."

Arthur picked up the narrative. "So he's got Bai, Bai wasn't in the room. From what I remember of him-and from what his own family said about him-he'd have tried to pump up the story, make himself a part of it somehow. Anyone with a brain would have seen through that though. Ergo after some painful retaliation for trying to come off like a badass, we can guess Bai gave the standard lines. The old man learned the identity of the man who'd stolen something from him, aka Roman's father, and lured him to the house under the guise of hiring him. The hired muscle overpowered him once he was inside and Long Ka-shing executed him old school by way of decapitation with a really sharp blade. Body ended up in the rose garden like all the others. Which means Roman has further confirmation his father is dead and how. So why kill him? Bai wouldn't have gone to the cops. Payback? Pleasure? Frustration?"

"Probably some of all three. Hopefully Bai just pissed him off." Blake blew out a breath. "So now the question is...where does he go from here? The old man left him to rot in prison. For life. But Daddy's dead so...will he just leave Gotham or go after more of the syndicate? And if it's the latter...why?"

"Putting myself in his shoes-they killed my prey. Stole my prize. All that stored up anger and rage had to go somewhere."

"Yeah, but Long Ka-shing is as dead as his victims. What satisfaction is there in killing people the old man wouldn't have cared about even if he was still alive?"

"Rationally you're right. But who's to say Roman's at all rational when it comes to his father? If he leaves Gotham now-then it was about closure and he killed the messenger because he didn't like the message. That's that. If he stays...it's going to be because he wants to fuck with what's left of the Long family, the fact that Gotham's a crime city so he feels right at home...or he wants to know what happened to us."

"Assuming he knows we exist. And that he cares. We were victims too."

Arthur inclined his head in agreement. "True. But victims can often become as twisted as the ones who broke them in the first place. I think it's safe to say they were both fucked in the head. And more than that, that they were family. Not real family, obviously, but they had blood ties. Ties that mattered to them in so much as the actions of the other reflected on their own sense of self-worth. Roman probably spent a lot of time thinking about how he'd show the old man up once he got out. Now he doesn't have that. The only ones left that he can 'prove' he's better than...is us."

Fuck. "How do we figure out if he knows about us?"

"Roman would have wanted a list of everyone in the room where it happened so..." Arthur trailed off, immediately pointed a finger in Blake's direction. "No 'Hamilton' jokes."

Arthur knew him too well. Though he really wasn't in a joking mood.

"Bai wouldn't have been able to give him that list, Robin. Not definitively. The question is...were we placed in that room? Does Roman even know that his father wasn't working alone? Because I think he knows about us. I think, knowing the old man's pathology, he'd have found a way to communicate with Roman occasionally. He'd have needed to. To remind Roman what a disappointment he was. How he'd failed him. Rubbing us in his son's face is exactly something he would do." Arthur rubbed his hands over his face. "So he would know to ask Bai about us."

"So then the question becomes...did Bai know we were in that room, and if he did...did he know we survived to end up working for the family rather than be executed too."

"Going out on a limb-Bai wouldn't have known who we were originally. But if Roman asked him if he knew about a pair of twin boys..."

"We're fucked."

"Pretty much."

If a dark, noxious cloud had suddenly appeared above their heads Blake wouldn't have been the least bit surprised. They really were fucked. They were-hmmm...

"Worst case scenario he knows for sure that we existed. Bai rarely saw us, but he would have spilled every bit of information about his great uncle he had to save his skin. Ergo he knows we weren't executed then, but there's also a good chance he told Roman that we're dead. That we were shot trying to escape the compound."

Arthur blinked in surprise, his body losing a little of its stiffness. "That's true."

It most definitely was, Blake mused darkly. They both had the scars to prove it. But if it kept Roman from finding him than getting shot had totally been worth it. Yes they'd never found their bodies but the syndicate hadn't had long to look for them before-FUCK!

"Arthur-If he looks into who brought down the syndicate that would lead him straight to us."

Fuck. How had they not seen that until now?

Arrogance and his preoccupation with Bane, Blake silently answered for himself, face hardening with self-disgust as he fought the urge to punch his good hand through the nearest wall. And Arthur had no doubt missed it because he was worried about him and his relationship with Bane. So they'd both failed to realize that since their sorta stepmother had been the one to spearhead the takedown-well the fact that her ex had suddenly acquired twin sons shortly afterwards, of the right gender and age...

"Fuck. We have to find him. We have to find him now, Robin. He might not just come after us."

He could come after their family.

Which meant yeah, they had to find him. ASAP. But how? The bastard might have changed his physical appearance and even if he hadn't-Roman would know how to go into hiding. Would fit right in with Gotham's underworld and there was no way they could find him through legal methods and even-Bane. Bane would have the sort of contacts they needed to find someone like Roman. Have the network and manpower on top of men actually capable of going one on one with Roman and coming out the victor.

And he had just royally pissed the man off and dumped him.

Apparently reading his mind Arthur asked him if he and Bane were still in limbo dating or not dating wise.

Biting back some very creative cursing Blake sighed. "Go talk to dad about seeing to step mommy's protection. If he's killing people who denied him his prey she put away the majority of the Long family. And could be used as bait for us. I'll call Bane."

)

They were still at the airport, refueling, and for the moment Bane was mostly alone as he stood on the tarmac a few meters from his jet, getting some fresh air and stretching his legs before they flew out again. When his phone went off in his pocket and he pulled it out Bane saw who was calling and almost declined the call. But his earlier conversation with Barsad-and the question of why Robin would be calling him at all, much less so soon after their last conversation-had him accepting the call.

"Robin."

"I'm sorry for the previous call. I don't take rejection well. Or being ignored. How bratty I am tends to be in direct correlation to-the point is I'm sorry. And I'm not going to insult you or beat around the bush about why I'm apologizing. Because I probably wouldn't be if I didn't need a favor."

Interesting. And Bane would give Robin credit for knowing that he would see through the apology once he got to the rest of it. Though he was curious about what Robin had almost implied about his bratty behavior.

"I'm listening."

"The guy Arthur was going to have you look into. I need to find him. ASAP. He might come after my family and not all of them can take care of themselves. Fuck, right now I can't take care of myself, much less them. So I need your help. And I'm open to a legal way I could repay you. Or a non-legal way provided I don't have to harm innocents or make my father ashamed of me."

"You wish me to find your John Smith. A thief and murderer who goes by many other names, though he has a preference for Roman both as a first and last name. He has claimed to be the infamous thief The Black Tiger, or, more likely, his son. He's been in the custody of the Russians for nearly two decades after he broke into the home office of a high-ranking member of the SWR. The agent, Turgenev, found this Roman in his office, they struggled, and Turgenev was killed. Roman badly wounded. He was apprehended trying to escape and was sentenced to life for killing a Russian military hero. He served three years before the Russian government decided to put his talents to work for them."

"Wait-what?"

"You didn't know about that?" It was small of him, but it pleased Bane to one up him. "They put tracking devices in him, ones that would kill him very dead if he tried to escape or disobey. They kept him on a tight leash, but they also made it worth his while to cooperate. Privileges, kept him away from the general population, better food, like that."

"Fuck! That changes things. All this time we thought he couldn't get out-that he didn't have the skillset needed. He might be a lot more capable and dangerous than we gave him credit for. Did they train him?"

"No."

"But he'd be healthier, his skills sharper than we thought."

"That would be a safe assumption, yes."

"How do you know all this, anyway?"

Bane smiled, wishing he could see Robin's face. "I have contacts you don't. As you'll recall, your brother did ask me to find him."

"Yes...but then he told you not to. I told you not to. And you made it clear-why would you care?"

"You piqued my interest. And if a threat is going to enter my city I wanted to be aware of what I would be dealing with."

"Right. That makes more sense." A pause. "So do you know where he is?"

"No. He hasn't been spotted in my territory."

"Yeah, he seems to be hanging out in Chinatown currently. One dead that I know of so far."

Bane's eyes narrowed, his body tensing up. "Who did he kill?"

"No one you'd know. He was small time even at the height of his criminal career. It was his family you'd have heard of. He was killed for information-assuming it was Roman who killed him. Not important. What is important is that odds are he'll stay out of your territory. If he needed bait to lure me somewhere he'd pick someone easier than you and we're not-would you be willing to find him for me? I'm not asking you to kill him or even hurt him. Just find him."

"And then what will you do?"

"Depends on what he does before you find him."

Intrigued by Robin's tone and what wasn't being said Bane opened his mouth to comment, only to see Barsad motioning to him out of the corner of his eye. Telling Robin to hold on a minute Bane pressed mute and then gave his second his full attention. Apparently the refueling was done and they would be cleared to leave in twenty minutes. They should get onboard.

"One moment."

Unmuting the phone Bane brought it back to his ear. "I have to go. I will find this man for you. We'll discuss my payment when I do."

"I'm not supposed to like the way that sounds, right?"

Clever little bird.

"Bane...I was a jerk to you. You were a jerk to me. We were jerks together and this, this is my family. If you're fucking with me-I need you to be dead serious right now. Please."

Of course Robin would call him a jerk while asking him for a favor. Bane also wasn't surprised that Robin thought that he would use this as a weapon against him. Or that he was capable of saying that he was looking into the matter but do nothing. He knew his own reputation after all. Knew that Robin was right to be wary. Or would be...if this wasn't Robin asking him this.

"I am serious. And I will find him. You have my word."

He didn't know what to do with Robin and whatever was between them, but Bane did know he wouldn't, couldn't, allow someone like this Roman to get his hands on him. He'd seen pictures of what Roman did to his targets. And those were simply assigned kills. Strangers. What would he do to someone he apparently had great hatred for?

Bane had no intention of finding out.

And knowing Robin as he did, and not about to underestimate him, Bane added to his statement.

"I'll provide protection for your family."

"No need. My grandfather will handle that. We're having a family powwow after I get off the phone with you. But thank you for offering."

"Saito's men?"

"Not yet. The threat would have to be a lot more imminent for him to involve Saito. Though knowing Saito he'll get wind that grandfather arranged for protection and he'll add to it. With or without Grandfather's permission." There was a hint of amusement in Robin's voice before it went serious again. "Save the protection, just find him."

"I intend to. The name of the man he killed?"

"Long Bai."

That last name. Where did he knew that name from? Something related to-ah. Of course. And didn't that make things that much more interesting. "As in related to Long Ka-shing, the crime boss alleged to have killed his father."

"Exactly."

"I see. And your connection to the Long Syndicate?"

"I'll tell you about it...once you're back in Gotham."

"Fine. I'll be back soon. Call me if there are any new developments."

"Deal. And thank you. Again."