Gifts From the Sea, a Batman fanfic by Raberba girl

Batfam Bingo 2019: AU: Zoo

Chapter 35 - "For the Greater Good" (rough draft 2)

Jason woke up feeling half-depressed as usual, but also with a little flame of hope that he hadn't had in a long time. He wondered if he would get to see Damian again today.

The guards eventually came, but they didn't take him to Damian, or even for a walk or a bath. They went down an elevator and emerged in a quiet, blank corridor lined with closed doors and occasional glass walls. There were people working beyond the walls, but Jason couldn't tell what any of them were doing.

They went through a door with keycard security and through some more rooms, then finally came out into a room with a large pool. A cluster of people with tablets were talking quietly together, one of them with an American accent; the Al Ghul woman was working on a laptop at a table by the wall, not bothering to look up at Jason's entrance; and a man who kind of looked like he'd walked off the set of a cheesy old-school vampire movie was brooding over the seal pelt resting on a table.

Jason felt his whole body tingle. His eyes were fixed on the pelt, which was the same color as his fur when he was in seal form. He'd never seen his pelt as anything other than a red hoodie except for super-hazy memories from when he was very small. But this... It seemed right. He could feel himself shaking. "Is that my pelt?" he asked, startled by how thin and pleading his voice sounded.

Vampire Man looked up. "Commence," he ordered.

The guards pushed Jason toward the cluster of people, and one of them picked up the pelt. He grabbed for it and put it on, sobbing in wild relief. He transformed in mid-sob and his weeping turned into a series of hoarse howls.

"Good," he heard dimly from overhead. "Now, Variation 2."

Hands reached for him, grasping at his fur, and he SCREAMED and thrashed and bit. But they were bigger and stronger than him, and there were so many more of them, and being so scared as his pelt was removed against his will hurt, it fucking hurt...!

"GIVE IT BACK!" he howled. "GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT-!"

A hand struck him hard across the face. "Silence."

He panted in shock, shaking. Then he got his wits back and struggled as hard as he could against the hands restraining him, still crying with fear and pain and rage as he kept his eyes on his pelt.

The man gave a cold order. One of the guards raised a sheathed sword like a club and Jason was terrified, but then the woman looked up and spoke. "Father - the creature is quite attached to his pelt, it might be more efficient to use it as a bargaining tool than to simply beat him." The vampire raised an eyebrow at her, then looked back at Jason.

"Just...give me...my pelt...please...please give it back...!" He hated himself for begging, but he'd...he'd fucking lick the guy's boots if they just gave back his pelt. And didn't take it away again.

"If I permit you to take it," Vampire said, "will you cooperate?"

Jason looked up at him, shuddering. "If...if you let me keep it. You have to let me keep it, it's mine."

Vampire nodded at the tablet people, and the one holding the pelt offered it back. Jason snatched it and clutched it close, not sure how to wear it without transforming since it didn't look like a hoodie anymore.

"Do you know how to shift the appearance of your pelt?" Vampire asked.

Jason stared at him. He didn't even know that was a thing. "No."

"You must learn. Concentrate on the desired form and channel your shifting power into the garment itself."

As if Jason had any idea how to do that. Vampire Man was an even worse teacher than Damian, and the Demon's Daughter or whatever her name was finally came over and gave more helpful instructions.

Despite everything, Jason was shocked and a little awed when the pelt in his hands finally turned into his familiar hoodie. He scrambled to yank it over his head and then practically hugged himself in relief. It felt so good to finally be whole again.

"Now repeat the exercise, but pick a different form." Jason wanted to protest, but he looked at the guard, noticed he was still holding his sword ready, swallowed, and did his best.

They worked until Jason was exhausted. He miserably tried to follow all the instructions, but at the end of the session they still reached to grab his hoodie. "Let go! You said I'd get to keep it if I- LET GO!"

"I promised you nothing," Vampire Asshole said mildly.

Jason shrieked in betrayed outrage, then in desperation as he fought to keep hold of his pelt, but once again, he couldn't stop them from ripping it off his body. He wailed as they dragged him away, pouring out his rage and despair at the top of his voice, and felt so sick when they threw him back in his cell that he nearly threw up. He grabbed some books off the shelf and flung them across the room, then huddled on the floor, clutching his arms around himself and rocking as he wept.

o.o.o

There were more sessions, nearly every day. Sometimes they involved swimming or shifting, or Jason's tormentors would take his blood or his pee, or they'd put him through different scans or measurements. Sometimes other selkies were brought in.

If Jason had been stronger, he would have refused to cooperate, but the fear of being beaten and the knowledge that he couldn't win made any resistance seem pointless. And even without that, he...he wanted his pelt. Even though they wouldn't let him keep it, he was desperate to feel its soft weight around his body again, to have that raw wound in his heart filled, at least for a few hours...

He'd thought that things couldn't get any worse, that he couldn't sink any lower in his captivity, but he'd been wrong.

o.o.o

"What's wrong with you?"

"Go the fuck away."

There was a long silence as Jason huddled on his bed, facing the wall, and tried to will Damian to leave.

"...I came to see if you wanted to swim," Damian finally said, "but I suppose you are too selfish and ungrateful to even-"

Jason rolled over and launched himself at the child, who rocked back with wide eyes and struck out. Jason dropped to the floor, wheezing, and looked up at Damian. His eyes were blurred with tears of pain, betrayal, and frustration. Everyone in this compound wanted to hurt him; everyone.

Damian looked weirdly horrified. "I- I didn't-! Why didn't you counter, you fool?!"

"Fuck you," Jason whispered brokenly. He didn't think he could uncurl enough to get back onto the bed, so he shuffled underneath it like an animal instead.

There was another long pause. Damian finally left, and the click of the lock echoed in Jason's ears for a long time.

o.o.o

He was screaming and sobbing and desperately clinging to his pelt as they tried to pull it out of his hands, as usual. Somewhere in the background, he could hear Vampire complaining. Words like 'untenable' and 'useless' and 'terminate' were used. Jason didn't care.

TBC