Alias bent down to pluck a handful of jasmine flowers off the floor of her balcony, admiring the soft scent it carried and suddenly reminiscing about the moment Poison Ivy saved Gotham City. How beautiful nature looked as sparks of pollen decorated the night air. To think she would swap sides and help Batman cure the city of a virus of fear, but only save the future as thugs still ruled the streets with balled fists and reckless determination. Yeah, putting the most wanted criminals behind bars did do the trick, but what about those who were waiting to rise above the asphalt? Those willing to be put in the crosshairs? That's what Bruce didn't understand; you couldn't just throw your competition in a cell, you had to eradicate them. Maybe that's what he was talking about...
She pressed her empty hand on the marble railing and glared at the massive screen that was on the adjacent building, Bruce's unmasking being played over and over again on a painful loop. It wasn't fair. Of course, curiosity can drive a man to do crazy stuff but she never would've thought his identity would be unveiled so easily. The world's greatest detective to Gotham's kid billionaire, just like that. Alias flicked her hand and an icy knife was impaled through the screen, with a second causing the pixels to dance wildly and a third shutting the screen off completely.
"Feel better doing that? This city is already scarred, there's no hiding that." She peered off her shoulder as Red Hood walked up behind her, and she dropped her hand before turning around and almost tensed. She didn't expect him to be so close, she could practically hear the breathing that echoed about his helmet. He smelled so good. Woody and smoky, yet delicate to the senses. Just like the Arkham Knight. At least some things haven't changed. Then she pressed a hand to his chest, which made him respond by also placing a hand atop of hers, but she slipped past him to walk towards the glass doors.
"Are you not gonna tell me? Or do I have to wait for something stupid to happen?"
"Tell you what?"
"I know it's you, Jason. You can change your appearance as much as you want, but your scent and heat signature won't. It's still there...it's always there." Red Hood sighed as he turned to face her, her expression annoyed and hurt but it was subtle. As always. "Why are you being so distant with the one person who understood you? Why are you acting so selfish?"
"I'm not acting like anything. I'm just doing what Bruce could never accomplish. Just like Arkham, Gotham falls victim to the world's greatest detective and even then, he thought he could save everyone. He thought that he could stop the chaos once again but you know what they say...you can never fix a broken mirror." When he had finished talking, he had closed the gap between them again and Alias blinked away her tears, finding it difficult to look at his glassy face.
"But…" She stepped back a bit. "You never had the chance to hear how I feel."
"You're right. I'm listening. What's wrong?" He imagined the pain he would've felt when she slapped his red visor, his head slowly craning back to stare down back at her, and her cheeks reddened to her heated emotion. "Ow. Okay...I deserved that. I probably deserve more than that, but I won't push you―"
"You just leave me like that? You just think it's okay, after everything we went through, just to leave me behind? After what I've said, what I've felt, I thought…I thought I could put my life into someone's hands again, not have to keep my guard up anymore. I thought that person was you, but now I…now I don't know."
He chuckled, "I never thought you'd be so indecisive."
"I'm not indecisive, I-I'm just...confused. What, do I leave you...or love you? Do I abandon everything, or cherish the moments we had? I've always…" Alias looked up at him. "Ever since I met you, as the Arkham Knight, it was like I had seen you before, a thought from my past brought into my future. Only to find that our pieces were either lost or damaged and we have to fix ourselves together. Then I find out more about you, what you went through, why you're so...lost. The closer I wanted to get, you kept pushing me away. Then I realised, it wasn't out of anger, it was out of humility. You didn't want to hurt anybody else."
"Alias―"
"Jason, I...I just want to be certain that the person that's standing before me, is the same person that entranced me when I first met him. The man who was willing to fight me and protect me all at the same time. That he isn't someone willing to throw the life he was building aside to prove a point. I...I don't want that man, because I didn't fall for him. I fell for you, Jason."
"...I'm sorry."
"I know you are." She exhaled. "I've been wanting to get that off my chest for a long time…"
"Then tell me...what do you want me to do?" By now, her back was pressed against the glass door with his hand planted near her head, and his visor inching closer and closer to her face. "What's it gonna take for you to trust me again?" Alias blinked and quickly looked away, only resulting in the visored vigilante holding her chin and bringing her cloudy eyes level again. Her limbs slowly moved upwards, both hands sliding up his armoured undergarment and she glared at the noticeable redesign of his mask. But she didn't waste the moment as her hand slid around to the back of his head and felt for the mechanism, only for the sections to decompress, move apart and loosen its hold.
Red Hood didn't move, didn't protest, didn't react when she finally took it off and revealed the face underneath. He half-expected her to react to him; although his skin was healthy-looking, he had covered his face for a reason. Alias let a tear cascade down her freckled face as she gently cupped his cheeks, and felt him shiver at her touch. But, no, he was beautiful even with his scars. His front bangs were white possibly due to tissue damage, and his face looked hardened yet youthful. Even his eyes were two different colours, one a natural blue and the other coated with a green tint. Jason had seen a war and wore it against his skin, his crystal eyes had seen more than a war. "I want you to stop pushing me away, Jason...I want you to stop thinking you're alone. I'm here for you...I'm always here for you."
Jason raised his brows. "We promised...right?" And before she could retaliate, his lips were already on hers and heat radiated off her cheeks like wildfire. The world had frozen in its place. He wrapped an arm around the small of her back and pulled her in, but she wasn't satisfied enough and tightened her hold on him just a bit. She didn't realise she melted so fast, because she tilted her head and let her hand slide up his chest, his left cheek and into the tufts of his jet-black hair. He leaned away from the kiss that felt like a lifetime and her breathing shook slightly, her eyes opening to gaze into his own. The world had just begun to thaw when he moved back and had his visor back in his possession. "I promise you, Blake…I'll find you."
"Wait!" Alias darted towards him but he had leapt off the balcony and vanished past the edge, and she knew he wouldn't be there if she tried to look. She let her fingers glide across her lips, the sensation, the taste, the texture of his own still there, still fresh. He...he kissed her. I mean, she was prepared for it but it felt so different it startled her. She was expecting a harsh kiss full of tongue and saliva, only to get a loving kiss with soft lips and warming hands. That was when she realised that the city was to blame for this, for those who are seen as different are dangerous.
Jason could've killed her. Jason could've ended her life right then and there. But he didn't. Because she didn't cast him out.
The Meta Mercenary had forgotten about reality until beeping brought her back, her gauntlet lighting up as someone wanted her to go on the line. With a sigh she lifted her arm and pressed a panel. "Yes?"
"That USB stick of yours had more intel than we hoped for...and Tim says hi."
"What did it contain? And hello, Drake."
"A list of the suspect's affiliates, three of which are headed for the old mall on Founders...if you don't mind, I'm definitely crashing this party." The Arkham Knight's HQ. That's weird.
"Yeah, don't say that ever again. Ever."
"Why? I thought it was cool."
"It wasn't."
"...someone's jealous, much."
"And I'll meet you there in five, Grayson. Come prepared though, having three affiliates in the same vicinity is usually a sign that their boss might show up. Also, did you figure out who their boss is?"
"Unfortunately, no. Barbs only had a set time before the data self-corrupted, but from what we know there's two; a male and a female. Both armed and both dangerous."
"Armed and dangerous. Are you sure you can handle it?"
"I thought you said we were gonna meet in five. Now it's four, and I'm halfway there." The line had cut and Alias laughed to herself before fixing her suit and jogging to the railing, and stopped just as she was about to jump. Her expression fell to a faint smile as her mind lingered to Jason's lips again, and didn't realise the jasmines in her hair until she reached up and felt the soft petals. An icy wind blew that snatched a jasmine out of her hair and she froze the rest in place.
"Jason."
It's always been hard for me to say goodbye. So I never do.
She gracefully flipped onto the rooftop of the mall and combed back her bangs as she admired the unconscious bodies littered about, alongside destroyed firearms, broken shields and snapped baseballs bats. Impressive. "You just couldn't wait, could you?" She questioned Nightwing, who was leaning against the wall beside their access point with a massive grin on his face.
"Well, I was gonna but you were gonna steal my count."
"So you steal mine instead?"
"Ah ah, not steal. After last time, you owe me."
Alias rolled her eyes as she walked past him and pressed the button for the elevator. "Right. Status report."
"Arrival was a few minutes ago so seems like we're on time. Chemical analysis indicates that they're hiding a bomb but the scale of which we're not entirely sure about. 13 guys in there, their bosses not. Nice flowers by the way. You should do this look more often." Alias sauntered in first and waited for Nightwing to enter before following him down to the lobby, having to use a couple more vents and floor grates to get to their updated destination. But before the Meta could open the door to the main lobby, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder; usually when he did this, something was wrong.
"Worried?"
"I won't lie to you, Blake."
"I know you won't."
"You just seem…I don't know...not yourself. Is something up? I don't want whatever's bothering you to affect your judgement."
"I'm fine, Gray. Thanks for asking."
"No. Nope. Nuh uh." He pulled her around so their eyes could meet and Alias pouted a bit. "I'm not gonna take that as an answer. That, even that―you're pouting. You don't pout unless something's wrong...who was it? Was it Tim? Oh, I knew it! I'll kick his ass―" She covered his mouth and tried for a smile.
"Shhh…" She hushed him and dropped her hand. "You're making too much noise...and it's nothing for you to worry about. Honest."
"Of course it's something to worry about if you don't tell me what's wrong with you!" he whispered loudly, trying his best to not let his voice suddenly crack into a shout. She sighed guiltily as the pain and anguish in his voice spread across his bare cheeks in heat, and she held his face in both hands.
"There's nothing wrong with me, I swear. We're in this together, so I plan on leaving together." Gray's face warped but relaxed when she moved to the door again, and brightened when she had glanced off her shoulder and shot him a playful wink. "Or at least in one piece." She didn't give him the chance to open his mouth when she opened the door and almost instantly dropped to a crouch, knowing that using her ice to boost her to the vantage points would be too loud in such a compact space so she was on ground duty whilst Nightwing, who was already swinging across the massive room, was air support. 13 henchmen, walking about the place.
Seemed simple enough.
Nine counts of varied takedowns later and Alias was waiting for the next henchman to scale up the frozen escalator, while Nightwing was planning to take out another under his vantage point. Only after the fourth takedown did the henchmen realise the situation they were in; a pretty boy in a leotard and a pink-haired mercenary, both capable of doing some serious damage. But not as serious as their leaders, the ultimate power couple in the followers' eyes. Which got Alias thinking, the masks they were wearing weren't masks. They were visors.
She was quick, heaving the henchmen off the floor using her upper body strength and his firearm to strangle him into unconsciousness, and felt him slump onto her back. "That was one of them," she muttered as she let go and moved towards Nightwing's position by hopping across the marble railings before staying put to assess the movements of the other three. One had turned right, into a hidden pathway full of floor grates, and two stayed together and passed a section of shrubbery. Alias peered up at the Flying Grayson for a signal. Then she smiled. "Choose your pick, Gray."
He glanced at the pair huddling together, then at the henchmen who had fired at air out of fear that one of them popped out to scare him, and gestured to her with a smirk. "Ladies first." She tilted her head as a response and darted across the railings before letting the hazy mist rise to her face, the lone henchmen just about to walk under her. Shifting her body over the railing, she hung for less than a second before dropping down onto unsuspecting shoulders and curled her leg around his neck, twisting her body so that it didn't hurt as much when they both fell on the floor. Once he stopped struggling, she removed her leg and moved into the open before waving her hand.
"Done over here. Take care of the other two so we can see what's really going on."
"If you so dearly insist." She reached down for the henchmen's face and examined the visor, noticing the familiar markings of the Knight's own visor. What was going on here? She was so conflicted, did Jason lie to her? Did he push her away once again? No. She shook her head, she wasn't going to let those thoughts anger her. Not when they…
Her senses spiked, and she gasped. That heat signature. They were on the main platform, but there was something wrong. "Grayson, get down. Someone's here."
"They are? Guess I should go introduce myself."
"No, just―"
"Don't worry, I got this." She heard him swing across to the main platform and had to restrain her will to let out a blatant curse as she darted towards him, hopping over the railing and heard a round go off. Alias cried out his name as Nightwing stumbled back and collapsed onto one knee, the bullet wedged in his left bicep. Without a thought, the Meta rushed to his aid and held onto his arm. "Nevermind…" he struggled. "I don't...got this...ah-...God that hurts..."
"You've got some nerve…" Her words trailed off when she looked at the shooter, and every emotion coursed through her body that paralysed her to the spot. She remembered this person, whose memories of hers they were never in.
A man in blue and black ambushed Syndicate. Claiming to know you.
Know you.
Know me?
