The room was dark, just one window to let a streak of light through, but the atmosphere was heavy enough that Alias didn't notice it. She had been weakened to the point in which she couldn't hold up her own weight, her wrists shackled above her and skin covered in a thin sheen of blood and sweat. Her head hung low, no strength and lack of awareness to notice the man that walked into the room; he blocked out her abilities with something so simple as handcuffs.
"Look at you. A pitiful excuse of a God," he smirked as he stalked towards her, loosening his blood-red tie and stopped so that he could hear her shallow breathing. He was smartly dressed as if he just attended a conference meeting before coming down here, his blonde hair that was once slicked starting to flake forward and silver eyes that have seen too much. When she didn't respond he roughly grabbed her chin and tilted it upwards, a frown dusting his lips as the glint to her cloudy eyes completely disappeared. "I'm not sure how you inherited the power of Arcadius, but I sure as hell hate you for it. You don't deserve it if you can't even endure a little bit of pain." He clicked his fingers and the chain dematerialised into thin air, the sudden change of weight letting Alias collapse to the floor almost unmoving if he wasn't watching her breathe.
"I'm sorry, Blakelyn," he sighed as he nudged her onto her back with his foot and clambered on top of her, and let his hands slide to her throat. "But I'm gonna have to take Arcadius back now...let's just hope you don't die during the process. It would be a pain if you did. Literally." He tightened his grip and Alias could do nothing but barely grit her teeth, the overwhelming sensations of pain constantly pulling her into unconsciousness. But if she could scream, she would.
And she did.
Her eyes shot open in a frenzy to escape her nightmare and realised someone was holding onto her arms, so panicked even more with tears streaming down her face. "Alias, hey! Snap out of it! It's me! Blake? Blake!" She stopped struggling and stared at Grayson hard, not realising that Morpheus and Kyle were here too, and started to tremble. Grayson could only wonder as he silently ushered the two out of the room, what happened to her? "Blake, are you okay? You were screaming and―"
"It felt...so real," she managed to say, her throat sore from the screaming she didn't know she was doing. "His...his hands, tight around my throat...I've never been so afraid in my life…"
"Blake," he held her shoulders firmly for reassurance. "You're here now. You're okay. I've been waiting for you to wake up. Chaos's power almost brought down Pioneer Bridge if it wasn't for you."
"...for me..?"
"Yeah, Morpheus told me what happened, how you went up against an embodiment of chaos. I'm not sure what you did, but you did. To be honest, I'm glad you're awake. They've been silent since they brought you here, which wasn't...the greatest of times."
She shook her head slightly, "Wait, what are you doing here...?"
"Rex tipped me...in a sorta scary psychic way. It's not everyday you get a telepathic message, I honestly thought I was going crazy."
"And them?"
"They said they sensed a 'change in their reality' and had to come see you, not sure exactly what that means. The girl, Kyle? She's been really quiet, I guess she feels guilty in some way. She spent days taking care of you."
"She shouldn't be guilty, what happened wasn't her fault." She tilted her head from Grayson as she felt his eyes try to burn away her tears, but only now did she become confused at the change in scenery. The bed was way cushiony than she remembered and was that...fine china resting in a wall, glass compartment? "Where...where are we?"
"Jason's safehouse, well one of them at least. Usually he doesn't freely give out these spots, especially to me, but he insisted."
"That was nice of him." She smiled softly as she pulled the covers off her body and moved her legs off the mattress only to hold in her chuckle as her gaze drifted down to her body. "I'm already annoyed by the amount of questions I'm asking but what is this?"
"A kimono," Grayson half-smirked as he pointed at the patterned garment. It was weird since he was dressed casually. "What, don't like it? I think it looks good on you. A present from Morpheus."
"It does, doesn't it? It is pretty, and cozy…" Her thoughts had finally cleared and she held in her gasp, her eyes wide open while Grayson's light expression dropped gradually. "Rex. Oh my...no...Rex, where is he? Please tell me here's not here, I can face him after what happened."
Grayson averted his eyes, "Jason told me. Just when he recently got his voice back too. It's a shame. He's not here, but he told us that whatever apologies you have for him he won't take it. He doesn't blame you for what happened but he's a bit shaken up. He definitely needs the break."
"It's all my fault he got hurt in the first place, all because I put my trust in him. Syndicate knows exactly how I think, how I act. First they start with your pride, then move to someone else's, someone dear to you. Rex was...Rex was my friend and―" She was interrupted by Grayson's sudden but soft embrace, his arms coiled around her body to protect her from everything intangible, and it took her a couple seconds to understand why he did that. Alias sunk into his chest and tucked her head underneath his chin, her arms responding accordingly as she sighed deeply. He smelled soothing, sandalwood with a hint of ironing. "Thank you, Grayson. I really did need a hug...just wasn't sure how to ask for it."
"Anytime. From now on, I'll be your personal hugging buddy."
"Have I ever told you how nice you smell?"
"...that was sudden, but no. You haven't."
"Well, you smell nice. And dress nice when you're in your civs."
"Wow, an actual compliment. I should frame this moment and hang it on my wall."
She held in her laugh as she moved back to glare at him, "Don't get complimented much?"
"They're used to my quirks already," he shrugged. "But it does feel nice coming outta your mouth."
"And she'll be the only person for a while," another voice entered the conversation and the hug was loosened as they diverted attention to the speaker, Alias's eyes resting gladly in heterochromic orbs. "She's still reeling from shock, Morpheus said," Jason told them as he forwarded the bed, his face still scratched from the previous battle, or maybe he went somewhere else to get those. "You mind stressing her out and letting her rest a bit?"
"Dude, she's been resting for a week." It's been a week?
"I'm sorry, 'dude', but until Alias can stand on her own. She's still injured."
"What are you talking about?" she glared at Jason. "I can stand."
"Go ahead."
"I will." Alias pouted as she pushed herself off the bed, ready to stretch her tight muscles, but let out a small sound of surprise as her legs abruptly gave way under her and looked up at Jason, who had on an indifferent expression. "Ah." But he didn't ask questions and reacted by picking her off the floor and she frowned at him; the amount of times he's carried her like this was actually starting to become a thing for the two of them. A thing Grayson was beginning to pick up and starting to dislike.
"I have to stop carrying you, you know? I really think you do this on purpose."
"I'm just as upset as you but…" She swung her arm over his head and hooked it around the nape of his neck, smiling as she did so. "Sometimes it doesn't hurt. Thank you for the assist, Jason."
"Don't mention it. Did he tell you everything?"
"He did, but I have a question: what happened that made Morpheus and Kyle come to our reality?"
Jason squinted his eyes as he tilted his head, "You…summoned Arcadius, like summoned him to fight. Not only did you obliterate Chaos out of existence but you repaired the bridge in a single second. A real time second. Morpheus said that the power was so immense it almost flooded the City of Light, not knowing that Arcadius was gathering his strength from there and not here. Maybe the Shards aren't enough."
"Whoa, okay, hold up," Grayson stood up from his place as he noticed that he was starting to be separated from the conversation, his eyes kept on Alias. "Arcadius, the City of Light...just what the hell is going on, Blake?"
"If I told you, you'll most likely be killed," she spoke as she tapped Jason's arm and he responded by carefully setting her back down on the carpet. "And I can't lose anybody else...not to Sinclair."
"But what about Jason? How is he involved in all of this?"
"They have a mark on him too, Grayson. They know who he is, who he used to be...there are days when I wish I can just run away and forget everything. But I can't, because they made me believe in a past that wasn't even mine. You think I want him to be here? I don't. But even if he's here there's no point...I've lost a piece of Rex and I couldn't…" she bit her lip to hold back her second wave of tears. "I didn't do anything about it. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about all this, but I don't wanna lose another friend. Not to Sinclair."
"Blake, I...I appreciate you trying to protect me but―" She rolled her eyes and roughly pulled him into a hug, her head pressed against his shoulder as she muffled her soft sobs through his jumper. He could only exhale as he wrapped his arms tight around the small of her back and burrowed his face into her neck. "I'm sorry," he continued. "For making you worry about me. I don't need it, honest."
"I know but...I'm scared, okay? I'm scared of losing you, losing Jason...I wish this could all end. All of it. No more Sinclair, no more Syndicate. I just…want it to…" Alias sunk into Grayson unexpectedly, her legs giving way under her, and he stepped back at the sudden change of weight as her sobs quieted and her breathing hushed. He brought his hand up to hook it under the nape of her neck and gently pushed forward, her head lolling back and her eyes glazed over with a matte hue.
"Shit, not again." Jason fled the room shouting Morpheus and Kyle's names while Grayson quickly moved Alias to the bed, placing an ear to her chest and couldn't help but smile gladly to the sound of her faint heartbeat. But what he didn't know was the festering black that exploded in her mind, the hands of the man that caused her fate pulling her further into nothingness. She fought against it and reached out to reality but, with Rex's telepathic relay completely fragmented due to Chaos's intervention, she was back where it ended. Sinclair's hands were still gripping her throat and her screams channelled out in the dark room, his silver eyes filling with a sadistic pleasure that brought more tears to her own.
No...not again. Please don't.
"It's upsetting knowing Rex's voice was taken from him again," Sinclair grinned as he dug his thumbs into her jugular and felt her muscles shudder and tense up. Her eyes began rolling back to the darkness behind her eyelids, the over stimulation of pain burning her thoughts away and ripping at her nerves. "Just when someone like you discovers organic healing, and Chaos takes it right back. You were never ready to be a mercenary. You care too much. Unfortunately, that's what I loved about you…"
Sinclair, please…
"This is what you're afraid of, Blake. Not of the you that would've been, but me. Taking everything you own, everything you love. Even in the depths of your memories, I can still tear you to shreds. I can do it all over again." Alias stopped moving, reacting to his words, and Sinclair frowned as he shook her slightly. He lifted her bound hands by the chain of the handcuffs and dropped it a second after, just to see if she was bluffing. She wasn't; her hands were pulled back to the ground by gravity and he stumbled off her. "You can't keep this up forever, Kyle," he chuckled coldly as his psychic presence loosened its hold on Alias's subconscious. "You're gonna break my little rose. Just know that if you remove me from here, undo all of the work I've done to her psyche, she will never forgive herself. And neither will I."
The day fell to a dark, starry slumber and Grayson was still there, watching over a sleeping Alias as she immersed herself in her cloudy fantasy. Her hand was locked gently in both of his, he wouldn't let go, he couldn't let go. Not yet, not while her words of genuine concern continuously echoed around the room, taunting yet comforting him. She did have a heart, whether it was drenched in blood or made of ice. A mercenary was trained to dull their emotions, but Alias was different. As she always was. But there was one thing that worried him though, and that was the look on her face when she woke up before. Terrified. He hasn't been there to witness all of her emotions, but the look of terror on her face when she woke up from her nightmare, explained how she didn't want to lose him...he tightened his grip on her hand out of anger, but instantly loosened when he heard her groan.
"Shit…" he cursed as he let go of her hand and moved from her bedside, quickly exited the bedroom and slid past Morpheus who looked back at him with unease, finding himself outside of the safehouse. Of fucking course he'd run into Jason, this guy of all the people he could've run into, casually leaning against the wall of the exterior breathing his way through a cigarette. Grayson locked eyes with him for a moment and Jason smirked as he pulled his hand away from his lips and let the smoke seep out slowly. "You never change, do you?"
"You get used to it. Look, if you're here for another fight, I'm not in the mood. Alright?"
"Funny, I don't remember starting the last one." Grayson deadpanned, the corner of Jason's lips curling upwards in hearing such stupidity before taking another puff. "Besides, I'm not here for you."
"Good, because you'd be wasting your time here."
"And that's the thing about you, Jason. Even to her, to Blake, you never really gave a shit."
It was too quick for him to see it coming as Jason lunged towards the gymnast and gathered his jumper in his fist, pulling him close enough that their noses were touching. Even with how close they were, Grayson continued. "You think you were helping her, running away like that? Running away from the one person who understood you? At this moment of time, she needs someone like you...but you only care about yourself, Jason. And it...it pisses me off when I see the hurt in her eyes, because only you have influence over her emotions like that. You're nothing but a coward." Jason eased, his rage lifting off his face and loosening the grip to Grayson's jumper as his words numbed his thoughts for a while. And when Grayson thought that his former partner actually registered what he said and took it into consideration, Jason burst into breathless chuckles and shoved him onto the floor, and dashed his cigarette aside.
"And what's it to you?" Jason taunted him as he cowered over him and got him by the throat this time. "You don't even know the half of it. You think I wanna hurt Alias? You think I don't care about her? You must be outta your mind if you think, for a second, I'm gonna leave her again."
"You already hurt her, but she still loves you! Why? You're a guy who wanted to end it all, break us apart―"
"You don't get to decide! You don't get to decide shit, Dick! I never asked for this life, I didn't wanna die. Yet despite all that, Alias would do anything to save me! She's the only one who...who can save me. If it wasn't for her, I would've killed you by now."
"Then go ahead," Grayson spat out of blind anger. "Kill me. It'll be the least of your troubles, right? But what would Blake feel knowing that Jason Todd, the guy that stole her heart, killed Dick Grayson: the only guy she came to for help, the only person she could trust during desperate times, the only person she didn't want to kill."
"That's because I―!"
"Because you what? Told her to!? She's her own person now, she knows exactly who she is! And you know what's the highlight of this act, what makes me laugh? You never even got to hear what she had to say about you. Never in my life would I hear a mercenary fall completely in love with an undead guy!"
"You son of a bitch!" Jason brought his fist up to strike Grayson across the face, and the gymnast squeezed his eyes shut to prepare himself for impact, but it never came. He slowly opened his eyes to witness Jason...hesitating? He was hesitating. Why was he hesitating? Don't tell me his words actually got to the one and only Red Hood, managed to crack that everlasting facade. There was no way he beat him. There was no way. Yet somehow, Grayson wanted to believe it. Jason's fist was trembling, balled so tight his knuckles turned white, and his breathing was heavy and paced. One of the stages of his anger, at least there was nothing in his hand but the need to bash Grayson's face in. "If she didn't care about you, Dick...I swear to you, you wouldn't be breathing."
He roughly let go of Grayson's throat and stormed back into the safehouse, leaving the latter with a reddened neck and time to contemplate Jason's words. What did he mean when he said she could save him? The fact that he didn't use the past tense meant that she hasn't done it yet, but what? She probably didn't even know what Jason was talking about.
She probably didn't know at all.
