The Red Right Hand

by Ophelia'song

Dick Grayson learns that some ghosts aren't so easily laid to rest when he returns to Gotham to visit his troubled friend Roy. In conversation, he learns some disturbing information about the man who once stood to destroy him—Slade. With his team on the verge of ruin, Nightwing finds himself in a dispute with the Justice League that may cost him his leadership and possibly more.

26. No More No Less

A/N: Hey Lovelies, I'm back! Well we are in the new house and most of the reno is done. So to celebrate the release of Titans? (I'm kinda indifferent about it as of right now. Like I don't love or hate it just yet, I'm just dispassionate about it as of episode one. But we'll see, I'll keep you posted.) If any of you guys would like a more in depth telling of my opinion, feel free to PM me, I'd love to hear your thoughts :D.) Now in the mean time I'm hoping to get some of my side projects posted or updated in the coming weeks / months. I'm still working on my Rojay projects, I'm just trying to get them just right before I hopefully send them off for editing. I'm also hoping to find some inspiration and update some of my older stories, but I'm really trying to get this one wrapped up first. I really do need to thank my Beta reader once more as she has really been a big help and I think you guys are gonna be really happy with the result. So if you haven't, go check out Elliniest! Thank you so much for the time and effort you have put forth to keep me motivated and progressing. And thanks as well to all of you for your feedback and patience. I'm currently working on chapter 33 which I think you will all enjoy as it's kinda fun and a breath of fresh air. But Until then, I hope you enjoy this as I officially wrote this chapter 2 years ago and it finally lives!

So Fuck Batman! With Love - Ophelia

Chapter 26

No More, No Less

"She was in the back yard
Digging out a trench,
Praying for her father's gun again.
All the holy weight, they'd laid across your back,
And the hundred years you'll waste
Just thanking them for, that."

-The Republic of Wolves

Dick opened the door to the apartment a little nervous, unsure how upset Raven was over the earlier incident. As understanding as she generally was, she could also dish out the hurt when she saw fit, and something told him she might not be so forgiving tonight.

"Well here goes nothing," he muttered to himself, pushing the door open.

He immediately noticed her sitting on the bed, a little zoned out as she looked down at something in her hand. He sighed and closed the door, waiting for the moment when she'd lay into him, but it never came.

"Hey," he said carefully, still at the door.

She looked at him and smiled weakly. "Hey—how'd it go?"

"I think it went well," Dick said ambiguously, not really sure how to appraise such a thing. "What you looking at?"

She shrugged and lifted the photo she was peering at, holding it out for him. "I found this at Roy's, I thought you might want it."

He took it, peering down and smiled, a fond memory quickly warming his stony face.

"I still can't believe you used to look like that," she said softly.

Dick laughed. "Yeah, this wasn't too long before we met, actually. You don't even look like the same person."

"Age will do that," Raven said taking the picture back a moment. "Speaking of which: Jason was a really cute kid..."

"Don't let Rose hear you say that," Dick laughed, "something tells me you'll have to fight her for him."

Raven smiled coyly. "I'll admit he's pretty attractive, and if I didn't know any better, I'd let him buy me a drink, but uh, that's not what I meant..." She handed Dick the photo again. "If you add red hair who does he look like to you?"

"You do realize he used to be a redhead, right?" Dick added and looked down at the photo, studying the boy closely, digging through faces in his mind until he finally fell on a shattering realization.

"Oh shit." He looked up at Raven, his mouth agape, his eyes dripping with concern. "Raven, you can't."

"I'm not," she reassured, "but, I might have to use it as leveraged. We can't let the League catch wind of what we're actually doing here. I just wanted to run it by you before I said anything."

"Do you really think it's necessary?"

"I don't know, Dick," Raven shrugged, "but I'm not willing to take the chance, and neither are you. If the League ever finds out... you're done." She paused and glanced down a moment. "I know she's one of your closest friends, it's probably best if I'm the bad guy."

Dick glanced away a moment, sifting through the smog. "Only if you have to," he said handing the photo back to her.

Dick honestly loved Donna, she was like the sister he never had, but he couldn't risk her throwing him under the bus because her moral compass didn't align with his cracked one.

"Raven, I'm sorry about today."

She looked up at him and shrugged. "Don't worry about it, it's over. No need to dwell on it."

Dick smiled at her. "And thank you, by the way," he said. "I don't know what would have happened to that girl if you hadn't stepped in."

He reached out for her hand, lacing his fingers in hers and sat down on the bed before her. She smiled at him, knowing that he genuinely appreciated her.

"You wouldn't have let anything bad happen to her," Raven replied, giving his hand a squeeze.

"I'd like to think that…"

She placed her forehead to his, she could feel his conflict—his guilt. She knew telling him what was happening at home would only add to that.

"You're still a good man, Richard," she whispered, "I know you are."

Those words meant more to him coming from her than anyone else; she always knew what was in his heart.

"Raven, I—" Before he could finish his statement, a loud and outlandish, but corky sound startled them both. "Rae, you gotta change that," he droned, referring to her colorful ringtone.

"No shit," she replied in a humored aggravation and looked down. "Damn it. I gotta get this."

He glanced down and noticed the ID photo. "Kory…"

She nodded and picked up her phone, swiping the screen and placing it to her ear. "Hey, what's up?"

"How could you, RAVEN?!"

Dick noticed Raven's face fall, perplexed. "Uh what?"

"Do not play dumb with me!" She was yelling so loudly, even her ex love could hear her.

"What happened, she sounds pissed?" he whispered leaning in. "And kinda drunk," he added in a hushed voice.

Raven shook her head and rose from the bed, but it was already too late.

"Is Dick there?"

"Um…" she began to mumble, not really knowing what to say.

"I am not stupid, Raven, I heard him," Kory hissed lazily, her voice hazy as she'd definitely been crying. "Did you put me on speaker?!"

"No," Raven assured, "but your voice is so loud he can hear you." She moved into the bathroom, the sound of the alien's words blurry as she closed the door. "Now Kory, calm down and tell me what this is about?"

"Calm down? You want ME to CALM DOWN?!"

Raven grimaced sarcastically. "Uh yeah..."

Kory stopped speaking a moment. She was either collecting herself or getting ready to blow a drunken fuse, Raven could only hope it wasn't the latter.

"YOU TOLD HIM!"

Latter it is!

"Told who, what?" Raven asked in confusion.

"Victor!"

The demon girl rubbed her temple. "Wait… you're freaking out over that?"

"Yes Raven, why wouldn't I—I trusted you—how could you?" she emotionally slurred.

"Kory, I only told him because he needed to know and I wasn't sure if you'd tell him—"

"Because you didn't trust me enough to!"

The empath frowned. "If you hadn't broken down and told me, you wouldn't have. How was I supposed to trust that you would?"

"Because I told you I would, Raven! That should have been enough!" Raven could practically hear her scowling as her breath heaved over the call. "But what was I supposed to expect from you?" There was disdain in that word, so much that Raven's mouth unhinged from the venom she'd been bitten with.

"Wait, is that supposed to mean something?"

She could almost hear her seethe over the phone. "I don't know, Raven? Why don't you tell me?"

The empath paused, not sure if she should bite at the implication or not. "You're gonna have to be more specific than that, Kory," she replied; she'd always been selective of her words, if only for the simple fact she wasn't taken out of context.

"Well I don't know, Raven? You sort of ran off with my fiancé…"

"Really?" Raven cackled, unable to help it. "You mean your ex- fiancé?"

"You know what I meant," Kory bellowed in her inebriated offense. "And what's so funny!"

"You," Raven chuckled, wiping a humorful tear from her eye, wondering whether she should be insulted or not.

"You think this is funny?" she snapped, alcohol boiling in her blood.

"In a way, yeah—fucking hilarious actually." Raven leaned on the door unable to hold herself up, letting herself fall into a momentary madness. Kory unknowingly the final thread to Raven's sanity. This wouldn't end well.

"I can't believe I trusted you."

"I can't believe how hyperbolic you're being," Raven countered. "I honestly don't know whether to feel sorry for you or insulted."

"And I don't know whether you're just lying or delusional!"

"Delusional, really Kory? You're the one implying that I ran off with your ex, who, may I add, is not your personal property. You're married to another man for God Sake."

Kory's mouth fell ajar in seething disbelief, completely floored. "Yes Raven, you're right," she laughed patronizingly, "I am only making it up." She paused a moment, viciously biting her lip. "But why don't you humor me anyway?"

"I've had a really shitty day, why the fuck not?"

"Alright then, tell me you love him," she demanded.

Raven grimaced. "He's my best friend, of course I love him."

"No, Raven. Tell me you love him the way I do," Kory corrected angrily.

"That's different, Kory. You're in love with a part of him—"

"So you are in love with him…"

Raven's eyes widened as her face grew flush. "Uh... I didn't say that—"

"You didn't have to," Kory spat, livid. "But you know what the worst part of it is, Raven?" she added woundedly. "I already told Dick that if he wanted, he could pursue a relationship with you, but instead you try and hide it from me like I am some stupid child!"

"Kory, no one is hiding anything from you," Raven insisted, this time trying to mend their already tarnished friendship.

"Then tell me the truth, Raven! Tell me that you love him!"

"Why are you doing this to me, Kory?" Raven huffed. "They're my feelings, why do I have to bare them to you?"

"Because Raven, you owe me that—you owe me the truth!"

"I don't owe you anything, you told me I didn't really love him! Remember?" Raven hissed, referring to a conversation the two had shared years prior.

"Because it was easier if you didn't!"

Raven paused dumbfounded, nearly dropping the phone in silence.

Kory's breath drunkenly heaved from the other side, her own voice trembling as she realized what she'd just said. "Um… Raven I—"

"Don't—YOU DARE—say anything," Raven warned, cutting her off.

Kory stopped her words short, a small whimper the only sound she was permitted to make.

"How dare you," Raven uttered painfully. "Screaming at me after half a bottle of wine, making me feel like a shitty friend, accusing me of lying when in reality you've been lying to me for years!"

"Raven I'm—"

"NO!" she growled, halting Kory's apology. "I don't need this shit right now, Kory. Especially not from you," Raven promptly concluded.

"Raven, I didn't mean—"

"No, you obviously did. You told me that what I felt wasn't real; you said he didn't love me like that," she spat. "I trusted you and you lied to me!"

"Because he didn't!"

"Then you should have had nothing to worry about," Raven replied venomously. "Oh and before I forget, tell your husband I said hello!"

Kory's Brow knit, her lesser nature getting the better of her. "You really are a cold hearted bitch."

"Right back at'ya."

Raven ended the called and turned to the mirror, supporting herself on the counter, her anger boiling to the point she thought it might actually burn through her skin. She cursed at herself for losing her temper, the heat of the moment too much to overcome. But truth be told, she still couldn't bear to own any of it just yet. She glanced up at herself in the mirror, her face steaming red and her brow creased in disdain.

Just then her phone rang again, she looked down at it, noticing Kory's face on the screen. She picked up the device with a livid fist and threw the object into her reflection with every last bit of strength she had. The shards of glass flew from the mirror like shrapnel, the damaged glass falling to the sink in a shimmering mess as though ice breaking.

A knock soon rapped on the door, something she expected, but still wanted nothing to do with.

"Raven," Dick called, his voice choking on concern, "You okay?"

"I'm fine!"

Only she wasn't.

He opened the door and peered inside, seeing her draped over the sink, scowling down at the broken pieces of herself. Her reaction was unusually cold toward him, but she remained unmoved as she quietly seethed. He glanced down, noticing a patchwork of small cuts on her hands and wrist, obviously a result of the spraying glass.

"Hey," he said, trying to reach out to her, her body quaking with anger.

"Don't touch me," she warned, her face still red as she held in her rage.

Dick wasn't really sure what to say, she'd never quite snapped at him like that. She immediately noticed the look on his face, and recoiled, as though she'd just kicked an innocent puppy for attempting to comfort her.

She cursed at herself and glanced up at the ceiling. "Sorry, I didn't mean…"

"It's okay," Dick assured, "what happen?"

"I'd rather not…" Her voice hitched and she glared down at the shards in the sink, the many reminders of her temper leering back at her. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Okay," Dick nodded, "we don't have to." He stepped toward her, wanting to lead her away from the broken glass: The evidence of her lapse in judgment. "Come on, Rae," he urged and slowly placed his hands on her shoulders, "we'll clean the glass up in the morning."

She set free a haggard breath and nodded shamefully, following him out, saying nothing. Dick closed the bathroom door and tried to smile at her.

"If it's any constellation, I think it's an improvement..."

She shook her head. That was typical of him, to take something difficult and try and make it simple—try and make it bearable.

She looked down at her hands, cut and scraped from the bits of glass that accosted her flesh as they flew by. They were nothing serious, especially for her; they'd be gone within the hour, already healing. But her abilities couldn't fix the fact one of her oldest friends thought she'd runoff with the love of her life. They also couldn't fix that she felt like she had. Nor could they fix how she felt, and she hated herself for it. Worst of all, she couldn't tell Dick that, he already had enough guilt to contend with. They couldn't help that they needed each other.

"I also think you might need a new phone," Dick added sitting down next to her.

"I really don't want one."

He leaned in and kissed her forehead, but said nothing, unsure of what else to do. He could feel that part of her wanted him there, but another part of her felt guilty that he was. Either way, that was where he wanted to be and he needed her to know that.

"It'll be okay, Rae," he said, "I promise."

She reached out and hugged him, burying her head in his chest. It was the only thing she could do, knowing by morning, the ghost of Johnny Rancid would be coming for its pound of flesh. Just as Kory's broken heart would be coming for hers.

---

Jinx finally made her way to the apartment. She'd received Wally's call a few hours prior, relieved Roy would be okay. She smiled, happy that Wally would be spared the heart ache, but she knew full well the ordeal had taken its toll on him. She walked up the stairs and opened the door, she could hear voices, but saw no one.

"Wally?" she called and entered, placing her bag down by the door.

"In here, Babe!" she heard him shout from the bedroom.

She stepped in that direction and could see Donna and Wally camped out on Roy's bed, one on each side. He still didn't look good, but he had a bit more color in his cheeks than the day prior. Jinx and Roy never knew each other well, but Roy was always very tolerant of her, unlike Donna, though it seemed she'd softened.

"Hey Roy," she said from the doorway, "how'y feeling?"

He mustered a smile, it was a good fake. "Like shit, but I'll live."

"Seems about right," she nodded. "What about you two?"

They both looked tired and worn out, even Wally who had an inhuman amount of stamina. But he mustered up a brave face and shrugged it off.

"Pretty good. Just happy this one's gonna be okay. I mean who else would I rag on about being a ginger?"

"Somehow, I think you'd manage," Roy replied shaking his head. "And I'm only half ginger, by the way, Pumpkin Patch."

"Don't look at me," Jinx said giggling.

"Dude, I told you not to talk about us like that," Wally whined in a falsely wounded tone. "I thought that night was special."

Jinx shook her head and sat next to Wally, joking, "Well that would explain your porn: I love you anyway."

"But for real," Roy said tiredly, "Fran—"

"Frances," Wally interjected, referring to his ex-girlfriend from the middle of freshmen year, "yeah she told everyone."

Donna shrugged. "Yeah she told me and Barb all about it..."

"You still talk to her?" Wally asked out of curiosity.

"Who: Frances?"

"No," Wally corrected, "Barb, I mean does she even know Dick's in town?"

"No," Jinx said. She didn't know Barbara, but she was very well aware of who she was. "And it should probably stay that way."

"Honestly," Wally added, "I'm more concerned about Bruce. I mean you know it's only a matter of time before he figures out Dick's in Gotham. I mean can you imagine that shit storm?"

Jinx shoved her elbow into her boyfriend's ribs, a sharp pain cutting through his words.

"Fuck Jinx," he spat, "what the hell'd you do that for?" He looked up at Donna and realized she wasn't that deep in the fold. Jinx wondering how someone as intelligent as Wally West could also be so fucking stupid.

Donna didn't say anything, she just glanced down, aware her old team was hiding something. Something they didn't trust her with. The moment was a little awkward and Wally felt a bit oafish, but Jinx quickly came to his aid.

"We should probably go. You have to work early tomorrow."

He nodded a little buffoon-like. "Yeah. You gonna be good here, Donna? I can stay if you need me to."

She smiled and shook her head. "No I'm good. I've taken on supervillains and hordes of toddlers, I can handle this."

"Well Roy is a giant toddler, so..."

"Fuck you, West," Roy smiled sarcastically.

"Feisty as ever I see," Wally countered as Jinx took his hand to lead him away. "Night guys and don't hesitate to call, okay?"

Donna nodded and walked them out, bidding them goodnight. She closed the door and locked it, letting her back fall against it as she took a deep breath. It had been a difficult few days and worst of all, she'd have to leave the following day. It was her time with Robert after all.

She pushed herself off the door and straightened her back, turning in Roy's direction. He watched as she entered his bedroom and smiled at her, feeling somewhat at ease in her presents. She crawled into bed next to him, as it was the first time they'd been alone since he'd woken up.

She placed her arm over his chest and her head on his shoulder. He could smell her hair, the heavenly scent of apples and apricots. She always smelled like apples. He wrapped his arms around her, unsure who was comforting who.

"I'm sorry, Donna…"

She looked up at him. "For what?"

"This," he replied defeated, "I pulled you into this, I shouldn't have. I should have just left you alone..."

"I love you, Roy," she said softly.

He frowned. "You shouldn't."

"Well I do," she replied, "and as long as I do, I'm gonna be here for you. I won't leave you again. I promise…"

He didn't know how to feel about that. On the one hand: He loved her—he loved her more than anything, but on the other: That was why it hurt so much. She could do so much better than him, yet there she was, lying beside him, the only thing keeping him tethered to the mortal coil. He just hoped that would be enough.

"Donna, maybe this isn't—"

His words were suddenly taken from him, the beautiful Amazon kissing him with delicate passion even her fatigue could not smother. He basked in the moment as if it were a small gift from heaven, until she finally broke away.

"I'm here now, Roy," she said by his side, "and I'm not going anywhere."

---

Wally unlocked the door to his Comanche and pulled himself into the driver's seat. He leaned over and unlocked the passenger door for Jinx. She pulled the handle and climbed in. Wally was quiet as she reached back and took the seatbelt in her hand, stretching it across her chest and fastening it.

She looked up at him, she could feel that something was off, and she had a good idea what that was.

"It's not your fault."

He looked over at her, puzzled. "What?"

"Roy," Jinx specified, "what happened to him. It's not your fault."

Wally looked down at his steering wheel, his hands resting there motionless. "I know, but I still feel like maybe if I just stayed on the team… all this could have been avoided."

"It probably couldn't have been," Jinx said, "at least not unless you went in his place."

Wally sighed and shook his head. He was offered the mission, he may not have been a Titan anymore, but that still didn't stop the League from trying to get him to come back. Jinx had just finished a stint in Iron Heights for robbery and things between them were more than rough. Wally had a bit of a chip on his shoulder and confided in Barry about it. Next thing he knew the League wanted him to suit up and go into the thick of some hands-on, faraway mission for an undisclosed period of time.

Part of him wanted to go, but only because he wanted to get away from his life for a while, but he knew it would only make things worse.

Jinx was relieved when he didn't go—that he wasn't ready to give up on her just yet. But still, she couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if he had.

"I know you wanna believe you could have saved him, Wally... but you can't know that. We don't know who we'd be if it weren't for X, Y, or Z. We can only know who we are because of now."

"I know," he replied.

Jinx bit her lip and looked at him, she hated seeing him hurt like that. "Would you change it?"

"No," he said, that was where the real guilt was coming from. "I know if I wanted to I could, but… I won't."

"Why?"

"Because there's a good chance I'd lose you, and I can't, not again." He took her hand in his and squeezed it. He couldn't have loved her more. "Besides, messing with Time is sorta Barry's thing. I, on other hand, like to leave that shit alone."

"Wait, he's done that before?" Jinx asked bewildered.

"Oh yeah, couple'a times."

She looked at him and laughed. "You think he's fucked up this time line at all?"

"Probably," the redhead laughed, "I mean God only knows how different the world is because of it?"

"Yeah who knows, maybe I was bald before," she laughed.

"Yeah and I was probably black."

"And our parents actually supported our dreams."

"Something tells me it would take more than the timeline to fix our parents."

"Yeah, you're mom's a bitch," Jinx drawled humorously.

"Rudolph the Red Nose Alcoholic is way worse and your mom only calls when she wants money."

"Well how else do you expect Della to buy booze and Percocets?" she joked, though it was sadly the truth. "I love you."

He smiled at her. "I love you more."

He grabbed her by the back of the head and pulled her into him, kissing her with a painful need.

"Wally I need you to promise me something, okay?" she said glancing down.

"Anything."

She looked up at him, his bright green eyes full of life and mischief, something she hoped he would never lose.

"If anything ever happens to me," she began, "promise me that you won't try and change it."

He looked back at her perplexed and worry broke in his stare. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"No," she urged trying to calm him. "Everything is fine. But… it just could… it could happen to anyone at any given time." She paused as he stared out the windshield at a loss, but it was something she needed to say. "Everyone dies at some point, Wally. I just don't want you ruining your life to save mine."

He looked back at her distraught, he didn't want to think of a life without her, even if it was just a fabled thought.

"I don't know if I can have a life without you, Jinx. It was hard enough with you inside."

"I know that, baby, and I'm not going anywhere," she smiled, taking his hand. "I just want you to understand that everything happens for a reason and I don't want you trying to change that, okay?"

He looked at her, he knew she was right, but that didn't make it hurt any less. "Okay."

She smiled, letting her thumb run over his cracked knuckles.

"But you made me a promise too, Jinx," Wally said, "and I really need you to deliver on it."

"I'm working on it," she urged ruefully, though her heart wasn't quite in it.

"I love you and I really wanna move forward with you. But I can't do that till you're out."

"I know that, Wally and I will."

"When?"

"I don't know."

---

Jason was hard at work making coffee. He hadn't slept much, his mind heavy with the many burdens that plagued it. Not that he slept much anyway. He pondered over the Santo situation. The guy might not have had a lot of power, but that didn't mean he wouldn't take a pound of flesh on his way down. Jason couldn't afford to lose any more muscle, or anymore friends.

There was also the matter of the slew of prostitutes setting up shop in his part of town. That was gonna end today, even if it killed him. If his suspicions were accurate, both situations were coming from the same source and he intended to find out who that was.

He poured his coffee and took a sip, drifting off as he looked out the window. He heard the floorboards creak and looked up to see Rose stumbling out of the bedroom, still somewhat asleep. She was by no means a morning person, but she was still awfully pretty with her white hair a tangled mess and her eyes still dewy with sleep.

"It lives," Jason joked as she approached him.

She smiled at him in a coy, fluffy manner. "Oh good, you made coffee." She took the cup from him and took a sip.

"What, can't get your own?" he said as she sipped it, still smiling at him. Oh what girlfriends can get away with?

"Why should I when I can just drink yours?"

"Am I supposed to argue with that bullshit logic?" he countered.

She grinned and lifted herself on the counter in front of him. "Nope."

She tugged off the thin shirt she was wearing and pulled him against her, kissing him fervently.

Jason smirked. "I guess I can get used to sharing my morning coffee," he breathed and ran his hands down her form.

"That'a boy," she giggled, pushing her hands through his hair and wrapped her legs around his waist.

She bit his lip and moved his hands further south, but Jason still had something on his mind:

"So I was thinking..."

"I hate when you do that," she groaned huskily against his lips.

He laughed, but continued, "We need to go by your place today and get some of your stuff."

She pulled away a moment and stared at him. "And you're bringing this up now because?"

"Because it's a lot easier to talk to you about shit like this, when you're, uh, indisposed."

Her eyes drifted down to his lap then back up to his face. "Really? As far as I can tell, you're the only one who's "indisposed" here."

He hoisted her a little closer into his lap, and laughed. "Your panties say otherwise."

"That's nothing," she shrugged, "but whatever you're about to say, it can wait." She pulled him into another kiss, digging her nails into the back of his neck and shoulders.

Jason took a deep breath and muttered, "It could, but either way, you won't like it."

"Then don't say it," she replied on a haughty breath as he bit at her neck.

"We have to go, Rosie."

"Mmmmmm," she groaned, staring him down like an annoyed feline. "No, we don't"

"Yes," he huffed, "we do," and kissed her.

"But I don't wanna," she whined, "and I have stuff here, I'll be fine for a few days… Or a week… or two… or forever."

"You have a toothbrush and like three pairs of underwear you forgot here, that's not a whole lot."

"It's enough," she urged nonchalantly and tried to pull him back in, "I can buy more underwear."

"No it isn't," Jason corrected, "you need to go home: pack a bag, and figure out if you're going back there… or not."

She looked at him, worry in her eyes. "What if he's there, what if he's waiting?"

"Then we'll deal with it," he replied, not thrilled about the possibility. "It's not like I'm making you go alone. I'll be right there."

"That's what I'm afraid of," she groaned for more reasons than one. "He's gonna want an answer…"

"So give him one."

Yeah cause that's gonna go over well, she thought. The last time she'd stood up to her father, he'd nearly crushed her windpipe, never mind what he'd do when he found out she'd chose the Red Hood over him. She didn't want to admit it, at least not out loud, but she was afraid of her father. Uncertain what he was capable of with her, and at this point, she didn't even know if he loved her or not. But there was more to all of it, more than she could really articulate.

"Fine," she scowled and pushed Jason away. "I need a shower."

"Wait, you're just gonna leave me like this?" Jason groaned. He clearly was indisposed.

Rose looked over at him, her eyes cast on his current affliction. "It's a boner, not a gaping wound, you'll live." She picked up the coffee and headed to the bathroom, Jason still glaring at her audacity. "What?" she added annoyed. "You got two free hands. Go rub one out."

"Could you at least leave my coffee?" he droned pitifully.

"Pour a new one."

"I love you too."

She had nothing to say to that, she just flashed one finger in the air and didn't look back, closing the door. The sound of running water followed, Jason muttering something about her being a crazy bitch and how he didn't understand why girls were so fucking complicated. He took her advice and poured another cup, then took a seat on the couch. He picked up the paper, getting ready to open it and skimmed the front page when his heart sank.

"Shit," he huffed, reading the headline. He picked up his phone and dialed a number, listening to the dial tone, cursing for an answer. "Yeah X," he snapped quickly, "we have a problem."

---

He straightened his tie, looking in the mirror, a middle aged man staring back at him through the fine glass. He smoothed his collar and adjusted his cufflinks, he was older than both of them ever were. The very image of two ghosts staring back at him. He had his father's features, his coloring and his build. Many noting how at times it was like seeing a ghost, one that could age. But still he had his mother's smile, his face even wrinkling just the way hers had in his fondest memories. Bruce Wayne was all that was left of them, and he was reminded of that every morning he looked in the mirror. However, today wasn't about the two ghosts staring back at him. It was about the ones staring back at Richard.

Alfred entered the room, dressed sharply as usual, his hands gilded in black leather and his bald scalp covered by a dark brimmed cap. His face wore a faint disdain, it always did when he had to lie to those he cared about, especially about things such as this. It was easier when Dick was a boy, he could tell himself it was best the child didn't know; why worry him? But now, as a man, it just didn't seem right to keep something of this nature from him.

"Ready, Sir?"

Bruce was still fiddling with his tie, it was fine, but he always micro focused on the smallest details when uncertainty was afoot.

"Can you get me another tie, Alfred?" he asked, trying to hide his irritability. "This one's just not right."

"It's fine, Sir," the butler insisted. "We're going to be late."

Bruce looked at Alfred and his hands stopped pulling at the garment. "Alright then, we should probably go?"

"I think that would be wise," Alfred replied, "traffic is a nightmare this hour. You have you're speech ready?"

"Right here." Bruce lifted his tablet and held it to his side.

"Well let's just hope whatever words you've weaved are enough to keep that monster in his cage then." Alfred turned, getting ready to make his way downstairs. "Though they would probably be better coming from Master Richard, they were, after all, his parents."

Bruce frowned, now wasn't really time, though Alfred was right. "We talked about this, Dick doesn't know Zucco's still alive. He can't know."

"I know Sir, but you know as well as I do, that one day he is bound to find out," Alfred said flatly, "the better question is: what are you going to tell him when he does?"

Bruce looked at him disapprovingly, not answering the question. "Come on, we're gonna be late."

He walked passed his old friend, a coldness just at his shoulder. This wasn't anything new, but Alfred still didn't appreciate it. He watched him go, thinking how much he was truly like his ghostly father: Poised, kind, generous and above all, . He knew his heart was in the right place. That he just wanted to protect his own son from the horrors of that weight, the very one that crushed his own soul, but at what cost?

Alfred's eyes fell upon an old photo of the elder Wayne and his beautiful wife. This young son a far cry from the man he'd grown to become.

"He's more like you than you could ever know, old friend," Alfred sighed. "Though sometimes I don't know whether that is for the best or not?"

---

Jason scrambled across the bar, followed by X, Clancy and Jinx, trying to hide any shred of newspaper or anything that could lead to an unwanted discovery. He gathered up the entire weeks' worth of newspapers and piled them up on the bar in a stack, frantically.

"Okay Clancy, take these and go put them in the sink and run hot water on them until there's no way in hell they can be read. Then throw them out," he ordered. "Jinx, you got all the papers from next door?"

"Yeah," she replied, "What we gonna do about O'Leary's?"

He took out some money and threw it at her, not thinking of the coffee shop down the street. "Go get every last shred of newspaper they got. Gogogogogo! Clancy I got more for you."

"I'm not done with what you gave me!"

"Shit Jason, he's coming," X huffed running from the hallway.

"Fuck what are we gonna do?"

"Dish washer!" X cried in epiphany.

"Good one." Jason took off to the kitchen, and threw the mound of papers in the appliance. In hindsight, is was probably a really bad idea, but he'd foot the bill if it meant avoiding the hellfire that was to come. "Clance, turn that on high!"

"Got it!"

He ran out into the bar, X had turned off the TV, but was still trying to figure out what to do with the remote.

"What do I do with it?" the thief asked wide eyed.

"Hide it!" Jason replied, "hide it anywhere!"

X scribbled a moment, trying to thinking of something when they heard Dick's voice from the hall. Jason's head darted to the side, looking at the doorway. The thief looked down, noticing the handle on the ice bin and pulled it open just as Dick was coming around the corner, shoving the remote to the bottom.

"Hey Dickhead," Jason said, trying to sound natural, as though there was nothing to hide, "How was your night?"

Dick looked at him crudely, he knew something was off. "It was okay…" He paused looking over at X who also seemed uncomfortable. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Jason said, "why?"

"You're acting really awkward."

Jason looked at X who shrugged.

"We should probably just tell him," X sighed.

"Tell me what?" Dick looked at Jason who was glaring lividly at X. "Jason?"

"Fine," the Outlaw grimaced, "I didn't want you to find out—this is really gonna upset you, but—"

"Carrie Fisher died," X said cutting Jason off.

The Outlaw looked at the thief with eyes wide, especially because that was not what he was going to say. But that was what made X such a good liar, he always told the truth.

The Bat Brothers both glaring in confused unison. "What?!"

---

She sat outside on the back loading dock, looking out aimlessly. The view wasn't much, just buildings and old vehicles made nearly a decade ago. She lit the joint X had given her a few nights prior, she didn't want Dick to see, but she needed something to take the edge off, even just a little.

She kept running over her argument with Kory. She knew she could have handled it better, but there was just something in her friend's voice that haunted her, as if she blamed her for their failed relationship.

Raven and Dick's connection had always been one of complexity, but it was cut and dry nonetheless. They had a deep understanding, one of brutal honesty that ran straight into their bare bones. They'd lane witness to the others lesser nature and knew the turmoil that ran within their hearts. Yet still, they saw beyond their troubled pasts and found support in each other. No matter what. He recognized the good in her, even if she thought he shouldn't, and she believed in him when he didn't. So what if she loved him? He loved her too, they always had. What was so wrong about that? How could that be so complicated?

She inhaled the musky smoke and held it a moment, feeling it writhe in her throat and lungs. She let the fog slip passed her lips and a soft cough followed. She was getting ready to take another hit when the door flew open and she froze.

The door closed with a careless slam. Rose stood looking back at her, her damp hair pulled back in two messy braids, a cigarette tucked behind her ear.

"You okay?" she asked noticing the blank look on the sorceress's face.

Raven nodded and freed her breath with a thick sigh. "Yeah I was just a little startled is all."

She nodded and stepped toward the railing, placing her cigarette to her lips. "You into sharing?" she asked flicking her lighter, glancing over at Raven's joint.

"Oh—sure, sorry" Raven shrugged and passed it over, Rose taking a rather large hit.

"Thanks." She passed it back to the empath and replaced the joint with her cigarette. "Having a rough morning?"

"Rough night."

"I'm not really one for girl talk."

"Me either."

"Good, no bullshit," Rose smirked, "why'd you have such a shitty night?"

Raven rolled her eyes and placed the joint to her lips again. "My best friend thinks I'm sleeping with her ex."

"Aren't you?"

"No," Raven frowned defensively.

"Well that's boring."

Raven laughed and passed the joint back to Rose. "What about you?"

"Uh," she sighed, "Jason thinks I should go pack my bags and confront my daddy issues. Y'know the norm."

"I hate that shit."

"Right?" she huffed. "It's bad enough I have to choose between my dad and my boyfriend. I can't just have like a day or two to figure shit out?"

"Sounds like life."

"Fuck life." She ashed her cigarette and took another drag. "He's not the one who has to look his father in the eye and say: I'm done."

"Something tells me this is less about your stuff and more about the fact that by the end of the day you're probably not gonna be on good terms with your dad?"

"Try absolutely not," she corrected. "It's not fair."

"You're right, it's not. But you still have to do it."

Rose held out her hand and took the joint again, taking a generous puff. "How did you get over it?"

"Get over what?"

"You're dad?" Rose replied passing the joint back. "How'd you get passed the fact that he was an asshole?"

"Um," Raven began, "it was always something I was aware of. To be far, there wasn't much to get over." She paused as though chewing on her words. "But I think the thing that I had to get over was that I didn't have a normal family and my life was difficult because of that."

Rose looked down, her eyes cast to the ground, the dust rising in the drifting wind. Her life had always been far from normal, but that wasn't what bothered her, it was that her family was beyond dysfunctional, it was completely fractured.

"What was your life like?"

"Weird," Raven shrugged, "I grew up in a cult. My mom was this tragic teenage runaway, you know the type: Abused and naïve. She pretty much drank the Kool-Aid without a second thought and... got knocked up with me. Luckily, she wised up enough to leave said cult, but joined another one right after that. She died on my 15th birthday. Then I was alone."

"Shit…." Rose said taken a back, glancing down, thinking about her own mother. "What happened after that?"

"I found my own family," Raven replied. "Fate didn't give me a biological one, so I did what my mother tried to do. I just had more luck, I guess? I found good people who cared about me. Still do."

Rose looked away from her again. She recalled being a little girl, wondering who her father was, hoping one day he'd find her. That hopefully she had a real family waiting for her. Maybe that was her problem; there wasn't one. Slade was all she had, that wasn't much.

"That's all you need, people who love you. That's what real family is."

"I don't have that," Rose lamented over the scent of cigarette smoke.

"You can," Raven corrected, "and from what I can see you're off to a good start. You gotta work on your people skills though."

"Yours are nothing to write home about," Rose replied and smirked sardonically.

"Being a sarcastic bitch is sorta my thing," she smiled. "But I think if you give it a try, you could really be happy here." Raven paused and put out the joint. "You just need to be honest with yourself. Will you be happier here, or with your dad?"

Rose didn't answer, she just looked down at her hands as she ran her finger over her thumb. It had been six years since her mother died. That was six years she'd spent under the wing of her father. Six years spent training and not asking questions. Six years spent at the cold shoulder of his bitch of a wife, being called everything from his bastard to the whore daughter. Even if there was a family Slade had to offer, Adeline would have never let her be a part of it. Rose had been in Gotham for Six years, not once had she met her brother. Slade's precious Addy, would not allow it and as far as she knew, Joey never wanted to see his father again. Apparently it had something to do with Grant, who was probably long dead. Or least everyone acted like it. There were no pictures of him, he was hardly ever mentioned. Adeline lit a candle every year on his birthday, but that was it. Slade had mentioned that Rose reminded him of Grant, that they had similar qualities. This led her to wonder if that was why Adeline hated her so, she reminded her too much of the ghost in the walls.

Then there was Rose herself, the disenchanted, dejected daughter of the world's deadliest mercenary and his mistress. A cold reminder of the end of the Wilson family unit: The beginning of the end for them. Was that how he looked her? She couldn't help but wonder that sometimes. Was that what made it so easy for him to hurt her, so easy for him to act as if she didn't exist, to pump that poison through her veins and turn her into a living weapon? He sat and watched as what was left of her childhood dissolved before him, and killed any hope left for her. Yet he wanted her loyalty and her undying devotion. But for what? To be kicked like a dog, to have her heart ripped from her chest again and again, until her loyalty finally killed her? It didn't matter how hard she trained or tried, because through all of it, Rose was just another broken piece to the Wilson Family Picnic. Simply another one of her father's mistakes.

"Um," she began, her arms draped over the railing, "do you think you could come with me?"

Raven looked over at Rose and tilted her head. "You mean to get your stuff?"

"Yeah," Rose nodded, "I know Jason has a lot of shit on his plate, and, to be honest, I think I'd feel better having you there."

Raven smiled. "Um, sure..."

---

"What do you mean?" Dick asked, brow furrowed.

X shrugged. "The chick from Star Wars, she died."

"No shit," Dick said glaring back at X tiredly. "I mean is that really what you didn't want to tell me?"

"Well she was your childhood crush," Jason added with faux sincerity, contemplating how stupid this ruse was.

"Yeah I'm devastated," X replied, "I loved her too, man."

Dick glared at both men and rolled his eyes. "You're both ridiculous."

Jason shook his head. "Well it is sad…"

"It is, but I think you're overreacting a tad," Dick added looking around. "Where's the remote?"

Jason looked at X as he replied, "Dunno…"

"I think it's been missing since yesterday," Jason added. "Someone probably stole it."

"Why would someone steal a remote?" Dick asked perplexed.

"This is a bad neighborhood," Jason reasoned. "People take shit."

"Yeah but it's your bad neighborhood."

"Yeah so that doesn't mean anything. Half the people in this bar would steal from the pope if the opportunity presented itself," Jason defended as X nodded in agreement, especially because he'd actually stolen from the pope.

Dick shook his head and looked around the bar again, recalling the story of how Jason even caught the attention of Bruce in the first place.

"Well you did grow up around here, so that does say something."

"What does that say?" Rose asked entering the bar, Raven trailing not too far behind.

The boys cast their attention to the girls as they approached, two of them not really sure where they stood with them.

"So Raven's gonna go with me to my apartment, I know you have a lot of shit to do. I figured you wouldn't mind sitting this one out."

Jason looked back at her with a bit of question. It was true, he did have a lot on his plate, but that didn't mean he wasn't willing to help.

"I honestly don't mind going."

"I know," Rose nodded, "but I honestly don't need you to. Plus, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I kinda need some girl time."

"Are you feeling okay?" Jason said holding his hand to her head as she swatted it away.

"I'm fine, I just need to bitch, okay?"

"Okay," Jason sighed. "What if your dad shows up?"

"Then God help him," Dick said still looking for the remote. He glanced over at Raven and smiled, knowing she was more than capable of ripping that man limb from limb.

"We got this, Todd."

Jason glanced over at Raven hesitant. It wasn't that he thought ill of Rose's ability to take care of herself, she clearly could. But when the thing you're going up against is your greatest weakness, it's hard not to worry. Luckily for him, Raven understood this.

"I'm on it," she mouthed silently, coupled with a soft hand motion.

He smiled at her and nodded, but naturally, he was still a little apprehensive.

"Can I come?" A mild voice said from the corner.

Rose turned her head toward the source to discover a young blonde. "Who the hell is that?"

"I'm Mia."

"She's a prostitute," X added, opening his first beer of the day.

Rose looked over at Jason, her face demanding answers.

"Was a prostitute, is more appropriate," he corrected, trying to clear the air. "We acquired her through a string of unfortunate circumstances."

"So what's she doing here?"

"Not sure yet," X said very blasé. "She hasn't really brought anything to the narrative yet, but that's because our narrator's shit at her job."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Y'know when you break the fourth wall, it's not as charming as you think it is, right?"

X flashed a shit eating grin. "So you do have that ability."

"Of course I do, my last name is Wilson isn't it?"

"It's actually Worth, bu—"

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Jason asked confused.

Rose and X both looked at each other like they were caught stealing from the cookie jar.

"Nothing," both said awkwardly and moved on from their momentary lapse.

"Speaking of the prostitot, we really gotta shut that shit down before Vice gets wind that there's a horde of whores roaming my streets," Jason groaned.

"And how do you propose we shut that shit down oh valent leader?" Dick droned giving up on the remote. "I mean we already got enough problems right now, I don't think you wanna add to the pile."

"When you say pile, you mean body count, right?" the Outlaw surmised.

"Pile sounded more tactful."

Jason glared at his older brother and raised a brow. "What'd y'have in mind, invite them over for tea and crumpets?"

Dick leaned against the bar with a chafed look. "I was actually thinking something a little less formal."

"Enlighten me?"

Dick smiled with an eye roll and began, "So I'm sure you've already realized that whoever set up Santo for the hit is probably also responsible for the flock of girls for hire?"

"Yep, continue."

"So I figured, before we go in guns blazing and take down Santo, we might as well try and get some intel on who it is we're really going up against."

"I'm listening," Jason said intrigued. "So what's this plan entail?"

"We're gonna need to get Montoya on board and we're gonna need someone to play bad girl for a few hours."

"So like an undercover mission?" X nodded.

"Yep, I figure if we send in a girl, y'know someone who isn't on the roster, it will provoke some attention, a handler will be likely to show up and that's when we make our move."

"So why do we need Montoya?" Jason asked.

"You want the whores gone?"

Jason nodded.

"That's phase two. Get what we need from the handler and then we have Montoya finish the rest by the book. Get the handler off the streets, create a diversion at the bar the girls are working out of and have Montoya send in the blue Calvary. No one knows what hits them, and we don't break a single law doing it. Everyone wins. Well except for the poor bastard who shows up, you're probably gonna kick his ass."

"Damn straight," Jason confirmed. "So who we sending in, Mia?"

Mia's eyes grew wide at the sound of her name, wanting no part of the plan.

"Only if you want this mission to fail miserably," Dick grimaced sarcastically.

"What about Jinx?" Raven said as the pink haired girl entered the bar. "What'd ya say, Jinxy, wanna play Pretty Woman."

The witch frowned. "What the fuck is she on about?"

"We need someone to pretend to be a hooker for a few hours, you up for it?" Jason asked.

"No," she said annoyed, "they'd see me coming a mile away. You might wanna hire out of house for this one."

"She's right, whoever we pick can't be an Outlaw, it'd be too obvious," Dick added.

"I can do it," Rose said leaning on the bar with a blasé tone.

"Like hell you are, Raven can do it," Jason corrected, glaring back at her.

Rose stared at him a moment then over to Dick and Raven. "Really Todd?" she said with an arched brow. "You really think Raven can pull this off?"

"Yeah seriously, no one would ever buy that Sunshine was a hooker?" X added sipping his beer. "Plus Rose is kinda perfect."

"Yeah she's a little dead behind the eyes and she doesn't care if you stare at her tits," Mia said approaching the bar.

Everyone remained silent for a moment staring at one another crudely until X finally spoke:

"I was gonna say cause she grew up in a brothel, but yeah, I guess she lacks a certain self-preservation..."

Rose grimaced awkwardly. "It's kinda true… Point is, I know the lingo, I know how to act and I can take care of myself, what more do you want?"

"I don't want anything from you, Rose," Jason asserted, "and I certainly don't want you debasing yourself for information."

"Oh but it's okay for me to debase myself," Jinx snapped and slapped the back of her leader's head.

Rose looked at him disapprovingly. "It's fine, I won't be "debasing" myself, I'll only be pretending to. It's not like I'm gonna actually have to suck dick and take one for the team—" she paused and looked back at Dick wide eyed. "I don't have to do that, right?"

"Not required," he nodded ironically.

Jason looked up at Dick with disdain then looked back at Rose. "Fine, but I'm still not happy about it."

"Get over it, Todd," she retorted. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go pack my shit and find something slutty to wear." She planted a kiss on his cheek and walked passed him. "Let's go girls, that means you too Mia."

"Really?" the young girl squealed happily.

"Yeah, I got a lot of shit to pack, could use the help," Rose said motioning the girl along. "You wanna come, Jinx?"

She looked up at Rose, a flat look on her face. "Why the fuck not?" she drawled, "It's better than hanging out with these shitheads."

The four girls started to leave. Raven glanced back at Dick and paused, calling to the other three. "Hey start my Jeep, I'll be right there." She threw her keys to Rose and turned toward Dick who met her half way.

"You gonna be good?"

She smiled. "Yeah."

"If you need me, c—"

"Call," Raven finished, "I know, and I will."

"Okay." He kissed her forehead, taking her hand in his without a second thought.

"Good luck with Roy," she smiled. "Bye." She slowly pulled away, leaving Dick a little cold as he held on to her hand a moment or two too long.

He watched her go a long a moment, still trapped in the passing one. A certain feeling lingered with him, something familiar, but oddly different. Like something he'd felt before, yet it was still somehow undiscovered. He dwelled in the thought a moment longer, until a crude comment pulled him back to the hostility of reality.

"You hitting that yet, Chuckles," X said caustically.

Dick glared at him with a sharp expression and swiped the beer from in front of the thief.

"Hey, I'm not done with that," he scoffed in protest.

"You are now."

"Then get me a new one."

"Get it yourself."

X looked at Jason as though the Outlaw would provide some assistance.

"Don't look at me, that's what you get for being a dick." Jason looked over at his older brother and smiled sarcastically. "Speaking of being a dick. Thanks a lot, asshole."

"Hey don't look at me," Dick scowled, "I'm not the one who signed your girlfriend up to be the Trojan Whore, she volunteered herself."

"Yeah, but it was your fucking plan, Dickhead."

"Grow up, Jay. Rose is a big girl, she can make her own decisions." He turned and looked down at his phone checking the time. "Now come on, we gotta go deal with Roy, Dr. Tompkins will be there in an hour. Call Montoya, get her on board. X you start working on that diversions, something big that will take a lot of man power and will give the police probable cause to enter the bar."

"Like a fight?"

"That would probably work."

"Okay on it!"

Dick nodded and went to work prepping the bar, taking note of how many glasses needed to be stocked and checked the fridge to count out how many bottles were missing from there designated place. He wrote down the count, and opened the ice bin, looking inside to see it only half full when he noticed something. He reached down and took hold of the object, pulling it free.

"What the fuck?" he drawled, holding the remote.

X looked up and noticed he'd found it, Jason looking at him with a vivid glare.

Dick placed it down and took his list into the back to start stocking up.

Jason turned to X fuming. "You hid the remote in the ice bin?"

"You said hide it anywhere. That was anywhere."

They both heard the door open and turned, Jason getting his "we're not open" speech ready for the ornery drunk he expected. But instead, he was met with a far different sight.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he spat.

"Nice to see you too, Jason," said a pretty redhead, standing in the doorway. "Is Dick here?"

"Why, what'd you want?"

She glared at the young man she'd always held a spark of disdain for. But before she could reply, her target came absentmindedly stumbling out of the kitchen with an arm full of glassware. He walked into the bar area, walking right past her. He did a double take, like he couldn't believe what he saw and stared at her a moment.

"Babs?"

"Hey Dick."

He went to place the tub of glasses down and tripped over his own feet, leaving him a little embarrassed and startled.

"What—" he began. "What are you doing here?"

She smiled with uncertainty. "I heard you were in town, figured I'd come say hi." She paused and looked over at Jason, his stare razor sharp. "What are you doing here?"

"Tending bar, what does it look like he's doing, genius?" Jason quipped bitterly.

Dick glared at him, his old flame simply ignoring the comment made at her expense.

"So I was wondering if you had a few minutes to talk?" she asked with a warm smile Jason didn't like very much, but Dick was practically putty in her hands.

"Yeah."

"Not so fast," Jason asserted and looked over at Dick. "You still gotta stock the bar, we open in an hour."

"I can do it after."

"No, you'll do it now. I sign your paycheck, remember?"

"Actually Hogan does."

"I'm still your boss. Do it."

Dick scowled and looked over at the pretty redhead. "Can you wait like 10 minutes, Babs?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I have time."

Dick gave Jason another disapproving scowl, then walked into the kitchen, completely out of sight and ear shot. Jason turned his attention to the visitor standing to his left, objection clear on his face.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Barb?"

"I'm here to see Dick, I thought I made that very clear."

"Yeah, why?" he asked, vexed.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Can't I just see an old friend?"

"Not in my bar," he replied gruffly, "especially when you know damn well that you're not welcome here. So please, tell me why, when you are perfectly aware of that?"

"I just miss him. Is that a crime?"

"It is if he gets hurt."

She looked away. Barbara and Jason never really saw eye to eye, mostly because they saw each other for who they were, and neither of them really liked that very much. She took a step forward and placed her hand on the bar, looking Jason begrudgingly in the eye.

"I'm not here to cause trouble and I'm not here about the hearing today, if that's what you're worried about?"

He glared at her, it wasn't that he didn't trust her, it was just that he didn't trust her with his brother, especially now.

"He doesn't know anything, we have to keep it that way."

Barbra nodded. "I know."

Dick came back out of the kitchen, a crate full of beer in his arms. Jason looked back at him coldly, still unhappy with the current situation.

"You have 10 minutes, then get back in here and stock those beers before they get warm."

Dick nodded and placed the crate down with a smile, thanking Jason for his generosity.

"Oh and take it outside," he added, "I still don't want her in my bar."

Dick shook his head at the Outlaw's tone, and motioned for Barbara to step outside. She rolled her eyes, but did what was asked of her, Dick following not far behind. It was a nice morning, the sun was warm and summer nearly upon them. He looked back at her, the sun lit on her fiery hair. It had been years since he'd seen it that way, reminding him of the walks they took and the summers they'd shared as children. God how he missed those days.

"So how'd you figure out I was here?"

She shrugged coyly. "My dad told me."

Dick laughed and rolled his eyes. "Seriously? I thought he hated me?"

"He does," she replied, "but he doesn't know that I'm here, so… we should probably keep it that way."

He nodded, finding the notion odd. "Why's he so pissed at me in the first place?"

She sighed, the question heavy on her chest. She stepped forward and took his hand in hers, smiling. "Let's not talk about that right now," she said sweetly. "How've you been?"

He smiled at her halfheartedly, that wasn't a simple answer. "Okay, I guess… as good as I can be right now."

She nodded. That guilt must not have been easy to shoulder. "That was stupid of me—I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay," he assured. "How's everything with you?"

"It's good, I mean, I'm busy with work, but, I'm fine."

"I'm glad to hear that."

There was an awkward silence between them, one that had never really existed before. They looked at each other a moment, like they were both trying to hide something from the other.

"So why are you here?"

Dick looked at her. "What? Gotham or Jay's bar?"

"Both?"

Dick shrugged, he could only give her half the truth. "Um, I don't know, getting lost I guess?"

"In a very familiar place…"

"Something like that," he said with a spot-on hand gesture. "I'm kinda going where the wind takes me… and, um, all that stereotypical shit."

She smiled, but it faded. "Does Bruce know?"

"Not yet, I haven't gotten a chance to tell him. I honestly wasn't sure if I was staying."

She nodded and pushed some red hair behind her ear. "Well if you're gonna tell him you should give it a couple of days."

Dick grimaced slightly. "What's he so busy with?"

"Nothing," she said causally, "he's just busy with Wayne Tech stuff and a few charity events."

Dick cocked his head, as he suspected she were lying to some degree. "You seem to know a lot about that?"

"Because we talk," she replied offended, "unlike you."

"Ouch, that was low," Dick replied sorely.

"Um you're the one who just implied—"

"No, I didn't," he defended, "I just asked why you knew that. Last time I checked, you're not Batgirl anymore—"

"And you're not Nightwing," she concluded, cutting him off.

The two both looked at each other a little bitterly, neither really sure what to say or why they were suddenly fighting.

"I didn't come out here to fight with you, Babs," Dick finally conceded.

Barbara smiled and laughed a little. "Just like old times, right?"

"What?"

"The fighting?" she replied with an arched brow. "I mean, we fought a lot."

"We did?"

"Yeah," she laughed, "how do you not remember?"

"I don't know, I guess I just remember us being better."

"We were." She smirked. "I mean yeah, we fought, but we had fun too…"

She smiled at him and took his hand again. Hot and cold, that was how she was with him. One minute she was warm, like a bright spring day, and the next, she could be as cold as a harsh wind in December. She was so much different from Kory, she was brilliant and cunning, a bit cynical, and charmingly beautiful. And most importantly, she was his first love. But it seemed first love didn't mean forever.

"I should probably get back," he finally said and pulled his hand free of hers.

She leaned on the wall and took a deep breath. "Dick wait," she said not really sure what she was doing.

He turned and looked back at her. "Yeah?"

"Wanna get dinner—later?"

"Um," he began, "like a date or—"

"No—not a date, like friends?"

"Um," he stuttered, part of him willing and a part of him not, "I'm probably gonna be busy later, but um we can get dinner another night?"

"Sure," she nodded. "Here." She held out a card with her name on the front and an office number. "My cell's on the back, call me whenever."

"Okay," Dick smiled, "bye Babs."

"Bye Boy Wonder."

He waved to her and stepped inside, Jason glaring from the bar, already hard at work putting the beer away. Dick glanced down and walked over to help with the task, pulling a few bottles from the crate.

"You okay?" Jason asked.

Dick nodded. "Yeah."

"What she want?"

"Nothing, just saying hi," he shrugged.

"Okay."

Dick went back to work, putting a few more bottles away, then looked up at Jason again. "Um, did Babs and I fight a lot?"

"That's all you two ever did." Jason took the last of the beer from the crate and placed it in the fridge then set his sights on the glassware. "She was always mad at you for something, usually something you couldn't help. That girl was like an ill-tempered cat, the kind that you think was okay to pet, but when you got too close, she'd scratch your fucking eyes out."

Dick stared at him, he knew it was true, at least partially. "We weren't that bad, were we?"

"I mean you guys were kids, you fought about stupid shit," he replied. "But you're not kids anymore, now you have real shit to fight about."

The hero nodded, the thought of her invitation welcoming, but somehow too good to be true. He exhaled and began to help put away the glasses. There was still so much to be done, he couldn't think about Barbra now.

"We gotta be at Roy's in an hour, then we gotta tie up those loose ends, get the plan in motion."

Jason nodded. "Yeah, I'll call Montoya, get her up to speed."

"Okay," Dick nodded and took the empty crate in his arms, turning back to the kitchen.

"Hey Dick," Jason called before he was out of earshot. "Before you get any ideas about Barbra, you should probably remember what you're doing here."

Dick turned, a heavy look centered on his brow. "I know, but she doesn't…"

"And you should probably keep it that way."

---

The girls pulled up in front of the apartment building. Raven parked the Jeep as Rose continued to finish her tactless, but amusing story.

"Yeah so that bitch thought she was pretty fucking slick until I drove a goddamn sledge hammer through her windshield, slashed her fucking tires and keyed everything including the c-word into the white paint of her Beemer, fucking cunt."

"Classy," Raven droned taking in the tale of why Rose destroyed Kitten's car.

"Yeah that's not even the end of it, but that's for a later date," Rose added.

"Spoiler, it doesn't have a happy ending," Jinx drawled cynically looking down at her fingernails as though engrossed in her cuticle situation. "But I will say, that was some quality handy work. Bitch had that one coming for a long time."

Raven rolled her eyes and turned the ignition off, though she couldn't really refute Jinx's claim. Kitten had a bad habit of taking what she wanted, even when she couldn't have it, it was just a matter of time before she fucked with the wrong girl, or her boyfriend. "How did we even get on this subject?"

"Candid girl talk," Jinx replied dully.

Raven nodded and looked up at the old building that was clearly built during the Industrial Revolution. For the most part, the building was well maintained and clean with a few modern updates, but in all, it kept its charm.

"What floor are you?" Raven asked.

"Third."

"Great," Jinx whined, "I was really hoping to get my cardio in today."

"Well we should probably get to it," Raven said. "If we all work together we can have it done in no time."

"Okay Mr. Rogers," Jinx said rolling her eyes.

Raven opened her door and grabbed her bag, her keys still in hand. "Y'know if you didn't wanna help then you shouldn't have come."

Jinx grimaced. "It was this or listen to JT complain about this one taking after her mommy."

Rose smiled at her forcefully and replied with a middle finger in Jinx's direction. Raven exhaled and shook her head, it was gonna be a long day.

The girls entered the building and walked up the three flights of stair, Jinx complaining about the apparent lack of elevator service. They reached Rose's apartment and she unlocked the door with a slight hesitance that Raven couldn't help but notice. She watched as she pushed the door open and paused before entering.

"Everything okay?" Jinx asked apparently noticing the same thing.

"Yeah," Rose nodded trying to brush off her apprehension and took on her normally rough exterior.

She stepped over the threshold and looked around. Raven could feel the girl's heart creep into her throat, a tight feeling growing in her chest. She suddenly felt a phantom grip form around her neck, as if a powerful hand had taken hold of her. Her back burned as though it had been hit with the force of an angry bull and an old memory surfaced, one from years long past. One she'd nearly forgotten, but somehow now, it lived with another the way it once did in her. Rose looked back at her, as if she knew they shared the same recollection, but she didn't know it. Raven mustered a smile from the pit of her stomach, trying to swallow the turmoil and move forward.

"So where you wanna start?" she asked, Rose simply shrugging.

"I mean there isn't really that much, mostly just need my clothes and weapons."

"Weapons?" Mia asked coyly.

Rose smiled back at her amused. "Yeah, my dad's one of the deadliest assassins in the world, so it kinda runs in the family."

"Well remind me not to piss you off then."

Rose opened her closet and pulled out a few bags and took down what looked like an old hat box, placing it on her bed. She looked down at her shirt and pants from the night before and grimaced.

"Uh I should probably change." She pulled off her shirt with no warning and unclasped her bra, throwing it to the floor, not even remotely concerned about baring it all.

Jinx and Mia seemed pretty unfazed, only Raven glanced away, overcome by her own modesty. "So you really don't care if anyone stares at your tits?"

Rose chuckled slipping on a new under garment. "Yeah it's kinda a byproduct of growing up around women with lax body boundaries."

She pulled a black Nightmare on Elm Street shirt over her head, covering her form, her shoulders visible through symmetrical cutouts. She took out a pair of torn shorts and followed by wiggling out of the confinement of her jeans.

Raven glanced down at the box sitting on her bed and found curiosity biting at her fingers to open it. "What's in the box?"

Rose glanced over at it, getting ready to step into her shorts. "Just some guns." Her words were unfazed, like they were something of a social norm.

Raven opened the box, lifting the lid up to find, well, more than a "few" guns. "That's a lot of hardware for a girl of your size…"

The girl laughed stepping toward her bed. "Oh that's nothing." She reached down and pulled open a drawer under her bed which housed what seemed like an arsenal for a very small army.

"Is it sad I'm not even shocked that you sleep with a fully stocked selection of weaponry under your bed?" Jinx drawled.

The girls laughed as Rose pulled everything from katanas and daggers, to deer horn knives and katars out of the drawer. However, Raven found herself quite perplexed by the sight, not because she was ignorant of this type of weaponry, but because of how clearly skilled she was to be so familiar with all of it at such a young age.

This was a concept not even remotely lost upon her, many of her closest friends were quite intimate in the art of wielding such lethal weaponry. The difference, however, was the sheer amount, and frankly, the selection of weapons that brought a realization to life: Slade, trained his own daughter, from a tender age, to become a living weapon.

"So you really gonna bring all of this with you?" she finally asked, Rose already throwing plenty of the deadly items into a bag Buffy the Vampire Stayer style (stake and Holy Water not included).

"Well I can't just leave it all here." She zipped the bag, fitting most of it. All that was really left were her swords and katanas. Those would be fun sneaking down to the car.

Rose placed the lid back on the shoe box, concealing the guns. For a moment, Raven felt as though Rose were a one woman weapons depot, all that was missing was the really heavy artillery. Apparently Rose didn't tote the big guns.

As this was taking place, Jinx felt the need to go dig around the fridge for some wine, instructing Mia to follow and help clean it out. Raven remained, looking around and trying to find a starting point as Rose finished up with her prized possessions. She looked beyond the hat box and up to the headboard. Pillows sat upright, full and neat, placed affront them was a stuffed bear, its felt fur was worn and its soft brown color faded, his black button eyes scratch and dull.

"You don't really strike me as the kinda girl who sleeps with a teddy bear?"

Rose looked up and noticed Raven motion to the bear. "Oh," she sighed, an odd look of defeat in her eyes. She picked him up and looked down at it. "Yeah he was a gift."

"From who?"

She winced at the question and opened her mouth to answer, when a growl erupted:

"Who the fuck are you?"

The two women looked at each other and Raven immediately took off. She entered the living room and stopped dead in her tracks as she took in the sight of a monstrously tall man with stark white hair and a single, but striking, blue eye. His solitary stare narrowed in on her, meeting her eyes. A chill ran down her spine, she knew then exactly who she was looking at, and after 10 years of pondering the face behind that menacing mask, she seemed to be before it now.

"Slade."

His face softened a moment at the sound of her voice and his brow sank. "Raven."

"Wait you two know each other?" Rose said entering the room.

Jinx looked over at the man realizing then who he was and immediately pushed Mia behind her.

"Yes, Raven is… an old friend," he said.

Raven grimaced, it had been years since she'd heard that voice. "If you call manipulating children friendship, then yeah, we're pals?"

He smiled, the expression bleeding with a predatory amusement. "You're much prettier than I remember," he commented, even going as far to let his eyes wander down the curves of her structure. "Jinx," he added, looking over at her, "You haven't changed much."

She remained silent, but her scowl said everything.

"What are you doing here," Raven demanded.

He cocked his head. "I'm here to speak with my daughter," he replied, "I thought that would seem obvious to you, being so clever and all?"

Raven smiled at the insult and stepped toward him. "Sorry, I thought you were here to belittle and brutalize. I recall beating up little girls being a kink of yours."

"I see you still like to run that pretty mouth," he quipped, "though with Nightwing choosing that little alien girl you probably didn't have much choice in the matter?"

Raven frowned at him forcefully in disgust, but did her best to keep her head before things got far too personal. "Jinx, why don't you take Mia to the car?"

She looked back at Raven with question, hesitant to leave. Raven nodded for her to do so, knowing that if anything were to happen, Mia wouldn't be able to defend herself. And frankly, she didn't want the distraction of having to protect her against a man who was more than capable of kill any one of them if present with the opportunity.

"Do it," Raven asserted, this time with far more demand in her voice.

Jinx cast her pink eyes on Rose who nodded for her to go as well and glanced back at Raven with capitulation. She took the young blonde by the arm and began pulling her away, her eyes not leaving the man as she passed him, protectively holding Mia to her side.

As they left, Slade looked back at Raven and smiled again. "You should probably go too."

"Like hell I'm leaving you with her," she hissed.

Rose looked down at the bear she was still clinging to, and gripped it tighter.

"This isn't your fight, Raven," Slade said, his diplomacy leaving his voice. "This is between a father and his daughter, you can understand that?"

"You son of a—"

"Raven," Rose said cutting her off. "It's okay, you can go."

Raven paused, she was right in his face now with only inches between her and her opposition.

Slade smirked as she stood there fuming. "See, you're no longer needed here. Unlike you, my daughter doesn't need a personal bodyguard."

She scowled at him, her deep seeded hatred for him thick in her expression.

"I mean it, Raven. It's okay, I got this," she said again, "I have to do this on my own."

Raven took a deep breath, the man before her still grinning vindictively.

"You heard her, Raven, it's time for you to go."

She nodded, her face unmoved. "Fine," she stepped to the side, the 5'4" blockade no longer standing between him and his daughter. "But if you as much even touch a hair on her head, I'll kill you."

She bumped passed his shoulder as she passed him, Slade finding the threat deliciously amusing.

Slade looked back at his young daughter, a tattered old bear in her hand and a snub nose pistol in the other. She favored him, but she still looked so very much like her mother, mostly through the nose and lips. She had his cheekbones and his eyes, and with everything he'd ever done to her, it was hard not to adopt his coldness.

"You can put the gun down, Rose."

She frowned, her eyebrows taking on a look he'd seen staring back at him in the mirror. "I think I'll keep it."

His brow faltered ever so slightly. "I take it you have made your choice then?"

She nodded. "I have, sorry daddy."

He looked back at her, disappointed, but not surprised. "May I ask why?"

She laughed. "What? All the sudden you care?"

He stepped toward her and she raised the gun in reply, warning him to keep his distance.

"I'm just interested," he said, his hands up in defense. "I offered you power, you clearly don't want it, why?"

She glanced down at her bear again, a sharp pain pouring from her heart. "Because I'm not you."

"Fair enough, but you are my daughter, you deserve more than to be some hood rat's ol' lady. I never wanted that for you."

"Has it ever occurred to you that what you want for me isn't what I want for myself?" she questioned heading into the kitchen. "You want a drink?"

"It's a bit early," he replied as Rose poured herself a shot of whiskey. "But to answer your question, I guess it's just hard to think of my own daughter settling."

"How am I settling?"

"How are you not?"

She shook her head. This was typical of him. "You can stop," she said staring at the bear as it peered at her from the counter she'd placed it on. "I know what you're doing."

"And what would that be?"

"Gaslighting me, acting like you care about me—like you care about my wellbeing, but how can you—how could you actually think that?"

"I don't understand?"

"And that's the problem." She turned to him, angry. "Everything you have ever done for me or to me has been in your own best interest! Not once have you done something simply because it would be in mine! It's what you're doing now."

"Maybe I have benefited from choices I've made for you, but I can assure you, they have all been done with your future in mind."

"My future?" she snapped. "What future? With you, I don't have one, or least not the one I want!"

"Oh you mean the meaningless mundane one where you get married and knocked up, the one everything little girl is told they should have?"

Her blood boiled, his belittling words practically spitting on her dream. "My whole life all I wanted was a family!"

"And do you really think you're gonna get one with Jason Todd?"

"No!" she spat. "But I'm also not gonna get one running your drug trade in Jump City. At least he loves me!"

"Oh is that what he said?" Slade patronized. "Like I don't love you?"

"You don't know how," she seethed. "Your love comes from how much a person can give you."

He had to bite his tongue, he knew if he overreacted he'd only prove her point. "If teaching you to be strong isn't love, then I'm sorry, Rose."

"You think that's love?" Rose asked slamming her glass down. "I was a little girl and you turned me into a killer—a weapon! You held me down and shot me up with that serum to make me more like you! You used me for your own gain, how the fuck is that making me strong? My entire life I wanted to know you and love you! I didn't even know who you were and I wanted to be like you! Because I loved you!"

She glare back at him; if he were affected in anyway, he didn't show it, not at all. But for the first time in her entire life—he was speechless.

"…And I still do."

"You're making a mistake, Rose," he finally said.

"You only think that because it's not the choice you'd make," she replied, holding back her tears, still unwilling to let him see her cry.

"Fine," he spat gruffly, "if you'd rather play house with some hood rat, then take over my legacy, go ahead. But just know that I will have no part in it."

An ironic smile crept across her face involuntarily. "Of course you'd say that; you hate losing."

"So do you," he replied spitefully, she was after all his little girl. "So you're really just gonna turn your back on me—your father?'

"To be clear, you're the one turning your back on me," she replied ironically. "I want nothing more than for you to love me, but it's clear that your love comes with a cost and I'm not willing to pay it anymore." She looked up at him, looking into his eyes as clear as her own. "I love you—I love you the way a daughter should love her father, but that is all the love I can give you, no more, no less."

He glared back at her numbly, nothing but an air of disappointment structuring the lines of his face. "You've made your bed then."

He turned his back to her as she stood there, still clutching her teddy bear in her hand, sadly. There was nothing she wanted more than for him to understand, but it was clear by the sight of him that he didn't, and furthermore, didn't care to.

He stepped toward the door, part of him waiting for his daughter to say something, maybe even plea for him to forgive her, but there was nothing. If she didn't care about him leaving her behind, then he couldn't care either. Or at least they both pretended not too.

He crossed the threshold and stepped out into the hallway. A few tears fell down Rose's face, a few turning to many as she clutched her bear to her chest. She wanted to scream at him and beg him to stop, but she knew those pleas would only fall on deaf ears. This was a cycle she needed to break, the chain she had to cut. There was nothing worth being tethered to, nothing he could give her that was worth drowning for, and she knew that. But it was still a painful pill to swallow.

Slade enter the hall and paused, a pair of violet eyes staring back at him, gleaming with hatred and disdain. He walked toward her, approaching her until he was about a foot away.

"You didn't go far," he observed. "Somethings never change."

She smiled crassly. "My friends are important to me, but you wouldn't know anything about that."

A curious grin tugged at his lips as he took another step toward her. "It's funny how I never really noticed this before, Raven, but you remind me of my wife."

"So she hates you too?" Raven quipped, though there was something about his words that bothered her, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"She does actually," he said, the most candid she'd ever heard him speak.

"I can't say I blame her."

"It's your relentlessness," he added, "even when she knows you're down, she takes that last chunk of flesh because she can."

Raven glared at him, her anger high as she tried to push passed his emotionless front, but it was under lock and key.

He took another step toward her and lifted his hand as he spoke again. "I heard about what happened with Nightwing." He took a lock of her hair, Raven fighting the urge to pull away in reproach. "I always knew that boy had it in him." Raven scowled at him as he pushed her black hair behind her ear and leaned in. "Tell Richard I said hello."

His breath fell on her ear with sickening warmth, sending a cold shiver down her spine, his smooth voice dark as the words crept passed his lips and into her ear. Her eyes fell on his with daggers for the egregious contact, a faint look of disbelief cast deep within the lines of her face. He gave her what one could only have conceived as a friendly smile as his fingers slid down the lock of her dark hair, taking in its silkiness.

He let go of her hair and withdrew from her. Her reaction may have been mild at best, but Slade could tell by the look in her eye that his tactic was effective. He moved to the side to pass her and halted just at her shoulder. He glanced down at her, that unmoving smile still draped on his face.

"Oh and Raven, I look forward to seeing you again."

His voice was ominous, as though there were some silent promise attached. He bumped her shoulder with his, his force nearly enough to knock her over, reminding her that she was physically out matched, a concept she was sadly no stranger to.

She waited for him to go, holding back everything from rage, anger and fear, much too proud to let him see just how deep his threat ran. He finally walked off, leaving her alone in the hallway. She took a moment to collect herself, dispelling the hate and resentment that stormed through her chest with a sense of remorse. She chanted her mantra, something she hadn't been verbally doing as of late, the words slowly settling her emotions, giving her something less turbulent to think about.

Finally, she stepped to the doorway and entered the apartment. Rose was no longer standing in the small living room, but Raven could hear a faint commotion going on in her bedroom and called out to her. Rose didn't answer at first, she was too narrowly focused on the task she was committing. Raven entered the room, the girl taking piles of clothing and thoughtlessly throwing them into duffle bags. She again noticed the old bear laying on her bed, its lifeless button eyes staring at the dead-end ceiling. Rose was clearly upset, which Raven expected. She had heard the entire ordeal.

"I'd ask if you're okay, but I know you're not…"

Rose glanced back at her, her chest falling with dejection. "Thanks for noticing," she huffed.

"Anything I can do to help?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Only if you wanna help beat the shit out of my dad?"

"I might be game," Raven said deadpan.

Rose smiled at her ever so slightly. "But for real if you can just help pack my shit," Rose added grabbing her bear violently and throwing it in the bag before zipping it closed.

Raven nodded and opened a bag on her bed. She began filling it with the clothing, placing them in with a bit more care than her counterpart. Rose was still very much in the throes of her emotional turmoil, her anger ran deep, straight to the bone. Like it infected not just her heart, but the blood that ran through it, flowing into her veins and infecting the marrow like a cancer. Love had a funny way of doing that.

Rose finally looked over at Raven, noticing a passing glance from the girl beside her. Rose stopped what she was doing a moment and stared at the empath a hard moment, a question brewing.

"How do you know him?"

Raven placed down the shirt she was folding and looked back at Rose. "Your dad used to work for mine…"

"Slade doesn't work for anyone," Rose replied coldly.

Raven shrugged and exhaled. "My dad's the kinda guy you go to when you've lost something you're desperate to get back… The kinda guy you sell your soul to. Slade needed my dad to get that something back."

She bit her lip and looked away from Raven. "So then what did your dad want in return?"

"My dad needed me to do something for him that I didn't wanna do. He told Slade to make me do it."

Her eyes darted in Raven's direction. "How'd he do that?"

"You don't wanna know," Raven replied, "but something tells me you already do."

"I'm sorry," Rose muttered mournfully, her eyes painfully low, as if somehow her father's sins extended to her.

"Don't be. Just cause he's your father doesn't mean you're inherently responsible for anything he's done."

Rose smiled with a sharp irony. "Then why do people act like I am?"

"Because for some people, it's easier that way," Raven began, her words coming from a familiar place. "They need to believe you're a monster because if something good can come from something that bad then maybe the world isn't as black and white as they thought. Maybe it's more complicated than that?"

"I'm not like him," Rose said, her eyes glassy.

"I know," Raven concluded, her voice void of ill will. "Now come on, we have to go home."