Always Look Forward

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye or Batman Begins!

Chapter Twenty-seven

"Who—what are you?" questioned Jackson, as he took in his surroundings. Was this hidden cave Bruce's big secret? Was Bruce Wayne really…?

"Batman," answered Bruce, showing the startled manager the bat suit. "I'm Batman."

"So, all this time, you knew me, but pretended not to?"

"Guilty," smiled Bruce, trying his best to make light of the dark situation that they were currently in.

"Master Bruce!" called Alfred urgently. "He's dying!"

Jackson's face paled. Oh no, not Joe. Joe Reisert could not die. Lisa would kill him!

"Joe, hey, fight it," the manager urged as he dropped to his knees besides the injured man. Joe was regaining consciousness for a moment. His final moment, Jackson feared… "Don't die on me, Joe. Lisa…she'd never forgive me."

"Jackson, you take care of my baby, okay? You take care of Lisa and those troublesome kids. Promise me?" Joe whispered, his voice faltering.

Jackson swallowed hard and nodded his head. He was not prepared to say good-bye to Joe. He had never thought about it. He realized in those few moments that he did not want to let go. In some ways, Joe had become his father. "I promise, dad," Jackson whispered.

"Good, son," smiled Joe, bestowing a name that he had never dared call Jackson before. He had probably never even thought of Jackson as anything other than a son-in-law. "Take care of them for me. Tell them I love them, and I'm sorry I couldn't save them…"

"I'll tell them. I'll save them. I promise. And I'll destroy Jack," Jackson swore as Joe smiled one final time, before closing his eyes for good.

Half-choked sobs sounded from the 'emotionless' manager as he mourned the passing of Joseph Reisert. To think that he had once threatened to kill the kindly man, who lay dead beside him. There was a point in time when nothing would have pleased him more than to see Lisa's father dead. But not anymore. Too much had changed since the red eye flight all those years ago.

Now Joe was dead. He had died doing the one task that Jackson had always failed at—protecting his family. Joe had been protecting the twins when he received his fatal wounds. Joe had not needed to tell him that or tell him that the twins were gone, kidnapped by the League of Shadows. Jackson knew all this instinctively and Joe must have guessed that he knew.

"Time for me to go," said Bruce sadly, decked out in his Batman suit and carrying what could only be described as various weapons. "Are you coming?"

Jackson took one last look at Joe and nodded, "Yeah, I am."

He was going to stop these murderers from hurting other innocent people. One good man had already given his life and Jackson was determined to end the death toll before it climbed any higher. No one else should have to die.

When Lisa awoke, she was trapped on the monorail. Handcuffs glittered in the dimly lit, graffiti-covered car, and were securely attached to a sturdy poll on top of her seat. She was essentially confined to the red seat, which she was currently occupying.

"Hello, Leese," smirked Jonathan Crane, his glasses-covered crystal-clear blue eyes staring at her.

"What do you want?" Lisa groaned. Her head really ached… She dimly remembered Crane smashing her, headfirst, into a brick wall.

"I have a friend who wants to meet you."

"Tell him to go to hell," snapped Lisa, her handcuff-less hand rubbing her sore head.

"It's nice to finally meet you too, Mrs. Rippner. Your husband talks of nothing else," said Ra's al Ghul, as he stepped into Lisa's line of sight.

"Do you work for the company?" questioned Lisa. The only people who usually knew Jackson worked for the company.

"Oh, no," chuckled Ra's. "I don't for the company, Mrs. Rippner. I am a part of the League of Shadows and your husband has completed work for us on several occasions in the past. Sadly, he perished in a fire earlier this evening…"

No, it could not be…not Jackson. They could not have killed him. Could they? These people seemed capable of anything. If they said Jackson was dead, then he was dead. Why would they lie to her?

"You…bastard!" screamed Lisa, straining against her handcuff to reach him. "How dare you kill him? How dare you kill Jackson!"

"Easy now, Mrs. Rippner. I would hate to have to harm your beautiful children," Ra's said, holding a frightened Henrietta by the shoulder.

Lisa's mouth gaped open for a moment as her eyes flicked from her daughter to their mutual captor. This man held all the cards in this deadly game and with Jackson dead; she was on her own. She alone had to save her family.

"Please," she begged, her green eyes beginning to tear. "Let her go. I'll do whatever you want…just let my children go. You've already taken Jackson from me…would you take my children too? Please…"

"You will join the League, or I will be forced to harm them," insisted Ra's al Ghul, pleased with how easily this was coming along. Lisa Rippner was supposedly hard to deal with and so was Jackson Rippner. But when you threatened their children, they were rather obedient dogs. Normally, he would not threaten the lives of children, but the Rippner twins were an exception. They could be a major threat later on in life. They were not ordinary children because of their parents.

"I'll join, just let them go," Lisa pleaded again. She would not stoop to begging for her own life. All that mattered was her children.

Ra's released Henrietta, who rushed to Lisa's side and someone released JR. JR ran to join his mother and sister, all hatred temporarily forgotten.

"Mommy!" cried the twins, hugging Lisa tightly.

"Don't worry, you're safe now," she whispered, trying to reassure them.

"Lisa," Jonathan was back, after having a brief chat with Ra's. "I'm sorry about Jackson. He was my brother…"

"You tried to kill him!" raged Lisa.

"Not me," he said, shaking his head as he pulled out a burlap mask and slipped it on. "Scarecrow."

Lisa's breath seized in her throat. His toxin no longer affected her, but her memories could still instill fear. She associated the mask with her memories and the confusion between Jackson and Crane.

"Crane, stop playing around and free the bitch already," ordered a nameless, faceless man.

Crane ripped the mask off and scowled. "As you wish," he muttered and unlocked Lisa's handcuff.

In a sudden force driven by anger and hatred, Lisa grabbed Jonathan's wrist and secured the handcuff around it. Jonathan dropped the key and she scooped it up, before ushering her children ahead of her. Jonathan yelled at her retreating back as she moved into the main part of the car, but he was now helpless.

"Why does that man look like daddy?" asked JR, staring curiously at Jonathan.

"Because that's daddy's twin brother," Lisa explained, keeping her children close to her.

"Is he a bad man, mommy?" questioned Henrietta.

"Yes, daddy's brother is a bad man. Daddy's a good man."

"What happened to daddy?" JR questioned. "Where is he?"

Lisa starting crying as she bent down to face both her children. They looked so much like Jackson that it hurt to look at them. The reality that she would never again see Jackson was beginning to dawn upon her. And it was a harsh, pain-filled, reality.

"Daddy's not coming back," she whispered.

"Did he go away on a trip?" Henrietta's chipper voice asked.

"No, sweetie, not a trip. Daddy's not coming back, because…" Lisa could not bring herself to say it. To speak it to her children would mean that she had lost all hope. It would mean that Jackson was truly dead and never coming back. It would be final.

"He's already here," whispered a familiar voice that she had only ever heard in dreams these past few days.

Lisa nearly fainted, but Jackson's steady arm grabbed he, keeping her from falling. At least until JR and Henrietta tackled him and Lisa in a hug. All four Rippners fell to the dirty floor, but none of them cared. For the first time, in a long time, they were together again.

But their reunion was cut short as a released Jonathan Crane sprayed the group with his toxin. All four of them choked and gagged on the gas, yet only one of them was changed. Only Jackson was affected by the fear toxin.

And in his right hand was a shining blade…

Author's Notes:

I'm working on finishing up this story. It'll be done by February 1st. Thirty chapters and maybe an epilogue too. We'll see. Enjoy!