Disclaimer – Own nothing.
To quicksilver – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you liked it! Oh yeah, the team deserves their anger for what they did. Hope you like this chapter!
To vi – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you liked it! There's some more humour to counteract the angst, along with a Kory and Rachel mother/daughter moment in this chapter. Hope you like it!
To Guest – Thanks for your review! We won't see much of Gar this chapter, but it is coming up. Hope you like this chapter!
AN – Important note at the end of the chapter! Hope you all like this chapter!
Enjoy!
Rachel let out a frustrated sigh as she flopped over to lie on her back. After they got to the Watchtower, they had a quick supper with Conner, then went straight to bed. It was late when they had gotten there and with all the traveling they had done in the last 24 hours, they were all exhausted. Despite that, Rachel couldn't sleep. Her body wanted rest, but her brain wouldn't stop racing. She couldn't stop thinking about Dick and Gar.
She hadn't really expected Gar to be angry at her, but thinking it over, she could see why he'd be upset. He was her best friend yet she left him without a second thought. Not to mention the fact they had been fighting beforehand. Ultimately though, her focus was on Dick. How he had reacted when he saw them. The injuries visible on his face. How his other friends, Wally and Roy, had reacted at the sight of them. While she knew next to nothing about them, it was clear that they knew what had happened. And that made Rachel feel embarrassed and a little ashamed.
Glancing over at the clock, Rachel saw it was almost eight in the morning. Quickly doing the math, she knew she had gotten some sleep but not much. And the little she did get, didn't feel like sleep at all. It felt like she had just blinked. Deciding it was a reasonable time to get up, she climbed out of bed and made her way out of the room. Going to the door that was right beside hers, she gave it a quick knock. Hopefully Kory was up. Maybe she could help her figure out what to do about Dick and Gar.
"Come in." Kory's voice answered quietly through the door. Rachel pushed it open and entered the room. The redhead was pushing herself up on the bed she was lying on, a frown appearing on her face as the teenager walked over to the other side of the bed.
"You look like crap." Kory commented while Rachel sat down beside her, leaning against the headboard.
"Didn't sleep. Too much on my mind." Rachel responded.
"Like?" Kory prodded, looking at her with a concerned expression.
"Dick." Rachel said simply. Kory nodded, but stayed quiet, allowing Rachel to continue. "I was so busy being mad, then worried that I didn't think at all what would happen when we saw him again."
Kory slipped her arm around Rachel's shoulders and said, "Sweetie, Dick loves you. Right now, he's just a bit hurt and is focusing on finding Slade."
"He's hurt?" Rachel questioned, turning her head to face the alien. She knew that Dick had the cuts on his head and a bruised eye, but she had a feeling that that wasn't what Kory was talking about.
"Rach, do you need me to remind you of how you all acted when he told us the truth about Jericho's death?" Kory wondered with a pointed look. Rachel couldn't help but flinch as she recalled how they had all reacted at Dick's confession. It was pretty bad and regardless whether or not Dick deserved, it was pretty harsh and had to have hurt his feelings.
"No, but he lied to us." Rachel somewhat tried to defend herself. Kory, instead of seeming to understand like she always did, looked more annoyed.
"First off, he probably thought it was a part of his past that was buried. I highly doubt he ever thought Slade was going to come back. And when he did, yes he told the truth. Unlike Hank, Dawn and Donna." Kory responded with a slightly bitter tone. She then looked pointedly at Rachel again before she added, "And he's not the only one keeping secrets here."
Rachel flinched again and ducked her head, avoiding Kory's gaze. "I wanted to take care of it myself."
"And he probably felt the same way about Slade. He didn't want any of you involved because he was trying to keep you all safe." Kory pointed out.
The purple-haired girl hadn't really thought about that. She knew that Dick was very protective over them but at the time, it felt like he didn't trust them and didn't want them to know what was really going on. It didn't really occur to her until now that Dick was most likely just trying to keep them safe. Especially now knowing that Slade had killed Garth and Jericho, and almost killed both Donna and Dick. Plus, it was actually hypocritical that she was mad at Dick for keeping secrets when she was still doing the same. Trust Kory to put everything into perspective.
"So what do I do?" Rachel asked, lifting her head to meet her friend's eyes, desperate for some kind of answer, some kind of advice. Kory however shrugged and said, "Only thing you really can do is apologize and give him some space."
Rachel bit back a frustrated groan. She wanted a simple answer with an instant solution. Suddenly, her stomach grumbled loudly. Kory chuckled at the sound and said, "Come on. Let's see if they have any more food here."
The two then stood up and left the room. To their surprise, outside in the hallway, were Hank, Dawn and Donna. They had apparently woken up, though Rachel kind of doubted they actually slept due to the dark circles under their eyes, and decided to go get food. Or go to the bathroom or something. It was a little amusing and weird that they were up and leaving their rooms at the same time.
"Morning." Dawn said politely as her eyes fell on them.
"Hey." Rachel responded, stifling a yawn.
"Oh, you guys are all up too." Jason suddenly joined the conversation as he exited his room. To Rachel's surprise, Rose followed right after him even though Rachel knew that Bruce had given the girl her own room. She had no idea when Jason and Rose had gotten that close, but thinking about it now, it must've happened at some point since they had left the Tower together.
"Barely slept." Donna informed him, lifting a hand to cover her mouth as she yawned.
"Me neither." Rachel chimed in.
"Same." Dawn revealed. Beside her, Hank nodded reluctantly. Neither Jason or Rose said anything, but the slight dark circles under their eyes told everyone that they had the same problem.
Silently, they all headed down the hall towards the kitchen/dining room. Once they got near the entrance, Rachel felt her eyebrows rise. They could hear familiar voices from the room. Dick's, Gar's, Conner's and two others that Rachel assumed were Roy and Wally. She wasn't that surprised that they were up, Dick was always an early riser, but what was a little surprising was that she could hear Dick laughing. An actual, real, happy laugh. She had never heard anything like it before.
As soon as they entered the room and were noticed by the others, that immediately stopped. Looking around, she quickly spotted Dick sitting right by the end of the table, where Wally was sitting. Gar sat on Dick's other side, and Roy and Conner were by the coffee maker on the counter in the kitchen area with Krypto right by Conner's feet. The atmosphere filled with tension as Roy and Wally somewhat glared at them, while Dick and Gar seemed to be doing their best to ignore them. Conner however didn't seem to notice anything going on.
"Morning." Rachel greeted everyone, though her eyes focused on Dick and Gar. Gar glanced up to glare at her and the others she was with, but Dick didn't lift his eyes or head at all. Everyone else at the table mumbled 'morning' back to her with cold and uninterested tones. Except of course for Conner.
"Have you guys ever heard of 'coffee'?" The clone asked with an excited smile. He took a sip from the mug in his hands and said, "It's amazing."
"Yes. And I need some, now." Jason replied, making his way towards the coffee maker.
"Stuff's there." Roy told him, making his way to the empty chair on the other side of Wally with his own mug. Looking at it, Jason could clearly see that a pot of coffee had been made but was all gone, leaving him to make more. He didn't mind though. That's how it was in the Tower. If you wanted coffee and the pot was empty, you make it yourself. Plus, Conner was still standing there and he wanted to talk to him.
Dick, staring at Conner who was drinking more of the caffeinated liquid, mumbled, "I feel like I'm going to regret letting him drink that."
"If he gets too energetic we can just let him loose in the training room." Roy suggested, looking over his shoulder at the clone.
"Yeah, good idea." Dick agreed, then turned back to his breakfast. His attention however was soon drawn towards the others who had just joined them when they sat at the table. He been intending to do his best to avoid them and stay out of their way until they got the whole situation dealt with, but then he noticed Rachel let out a large yawn.
"You okay?"
"Just didn't sleep very well." Rachel answered, meeting his worried gaze. Dick held it for a for seconds, then looked away, unaware of the guilty and pained expression on her face when he did so.
"Did you find anything about Slade?" Kory questioned, looking intently at Dick. The former Robin didn't at all mind looking at her. Yes she had left, but he couldn't truly expect her to stick around and help him solve his problems. She had nothing to do with it. And she had her own issues to deal with.
"Found something. Batman's checking it out right now." Dick filled her in without giving any details. He wasn't sure how involved they all wanted to be and he wasn't sure what was all going on with Rose.
"Um, Dick?" Rose suddenly spoke up. Whether it was because she realized why Dick wasn't telling them the details or was just suddenly wracked with guilt and needing to confess, Dick didn't know, but he gave her his attention and waited patient. Seeing that, Rose continued, "There's something I should tell you."
"That you were working for Slade? Yeah I know." Dick revealed, clearly shocking her and everyone else. Except for Wally, Roy and Gar. He had already told them about Rose the other day. They were curious as to how Slade had found the Tower where he attacked them in the first place. He wasn't sure what all Conner knew as Gar had been trying to fill him in on everything going on, but he still seemed a bit confused and oblivious.
"For how long?" Hank demanded angrily and Dick forced himself not to flinch. He understood why Hank would be furious with that confession. If Dick had known all along that Rose was a mole and didn't say anything, then he had put all their lives in danger even more than he already had.
"Not long." Dick answered. He had figured it out the second he saw the pictures of him and the other heroes and teenagers at the church when he was trying to hunt down Slade. With all the security that their home had, it would've been impossible for someone, even someone as skilled as Slade, to get inside without setting off an alert. Unless of course he had someone on the inside, and Rose was the only real suspect.
"You're not mad?" Rose questioned with an incredulous tone of voice.
"I'm not happy, but I don't blame you." Dick responded, staring directly into her eye so that she could see his sincerity. No one would be happy finding out they had a mole among them, but Slade was her father and Jericho was her brother. Of course she would instinctively side with the assassin and against the people who had gotten her sibling killed.
Guilt seemed to swirl in her eye as she said, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry." Dick nodded in acceptance, then turned his attention back to his plate.
For the next several minutes, everyone was quiet. The only sound was the scrapping of their utensils on their plates as they ate. Rachel kept glancing up at Dick and Gar, but only Gar ever looked her way, and it was just to glare at her. Maybe she should start with Gar before talking to Dick.
"Can dogs drink coffee?" Conner suddenly broke the silence. Dick looked up to see Krypto was staring up at his owner with sad, puppy-dog eyes that was clearly upsetting Conner.
"No." Roy answered, slipping into his 'parent' voice that he had perfected back when he was a teenager and was looking after Dick and Wally. Now though, he usually only used it on Lian.
"But he looks so sad." Conner objected. As if to agree with Conner's statement, Krypto let out a sad whine.
"Conner, do not give him coffee. Or any other drink besides water." Dick ordered. Conner didn't look happy about it, but he nodded and said, "Okay."
"So what are we doing today then, if Batman is hunting Slade?" Jason changed the topic. While he couldn't deny a small part of him was a little terrified of the man who had nearly killed him, a larger part wanted to pound his face in.
Avoiding his gaze, Dick replied, "I'm going to keep looking into Slade and Cadmus."
"You should get some more sleep." Roy told him, giving the original Robin a pointed look that was ignored.
"Plus, it's not a good idea to be in front of a screen for a long time when you have a concussion." Wally added, agreeing with the archer that Dick needed a break. Wally wasn't fully sure when Dick went to bed last night, but it was well past midnight.
"You have a concussion?" Rachel wondered, sounding extremely worried. Dick risked a peak at her, and the others, and was a little stunned to see that they all looked concerned.
"A minor one. Nothing to be worried abo – hey!" Dick exclaimed. As he was talking, Rachel had leaned over the table, practically laying on it so she could reach him, and put her hand against his cheek. Almost instantly, Dick could feel the scabbed cuts on his face disappear, along with the dull throbbing in his head and left eye from when Hank had punched him.
Pulling her hand back, Rachel asked, "Better?"
"Yeah actually. You didn't have to do that but thank you." Dick told her, reaching up to pull off the now useless bandages. Beside him, Wally poked his cheek where a cut had been, fascinated by the fact it was now gone. Dick resisted the urge to elbow him to get him stop.
"Least I could do." Rachel said with shrug and small smile.
"So, do you need some help hunting Slade? And finding out about Cadmus?" Jason asked, then frowned when he realized he had no idea what Cadmus was or what it had to do with them. "Whatever that is."
"Cadmus is the name of the facility that created Conner." Gar informed him.
"And I'll be helping him. I'm a speed reader after all." Wally said, smirking at the small joke.
"We should probably get going on that actually." Dick told the speedster. Wally nodded and, after putting their dirty dishes away, made their way out of the room, Dick saying, "See you all later," as they went.
"Is letting them go off alone really a good idea?" Donna wondered, looking over at Roy once they were gone. However, before he could answer, Jason asked, "What do you mean?"
"When Dick and Wally are left without supervision, they tend to get in trouble." Wonder Woman's partner explained.
"Donna, they were 15. I think they're more mature now." Roy finally chimed in, his tone full of annoyance, though whether it was because she was recalling something from years ago, or because he was mad at her, she didn't fully know.
"What happened when they were 15?" Jason asked, eyes bright with curiosity, though it was more likely he just wanted to hear embarrassing stories of his predecessor.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." Roy shut down as he stood up from the table, his empty plate and cup in his hands. As he did that, his eyes landed on Donna, filled with fury and she knew that soon, she'd have to deal with that.
2018TITANS2018
About an hour later, Donna was alone with in the dining room with Roy. She wasn't sure where everyone else went and honestly, she didn't care at the moment. Right now, her focus was on figuring out a way to talk to Roy without him blowing up at her. Once she realized that Dick must've told him what happened, she knew he'd be furious and he clearly was. He was just as close to Dick as she was, and he was also one of her best friends. They needed to clear the air. She also needed to clear the air with Dick, but she wasn't ready for that yet.
"So, you're mad." Donna stated, coming into the kitchen part of the room where Roy was.
"That surprises you?" Roy inquired, his tone filled barely controlled rage.
Crossing her arms, she asked, "Did Dick tell you everything?"
"Yes, he did. Told me and Wally about how Jericho really died, how he lied about it, how he told the truth." Roy replied, turning to face her. Crossing his own arms, he continued, "And when he did, it became abundantly clear that while he may have come clean, you have not."
Donna immediately tensed up. A couple of months after Garth died, she and Roy were hanging out, which ended up involving a visit to a club where Donna decided to down as much alcohol as she could. While she wasn't really the type to indulge in booze to the point where she got drunk, she was having a hard time and just wanted to numb the pain for a bit. During her drunken stupor however, she revealed to Roy everything about Garth, Slade and Jericho.
How she had lied to Dick about having to go back to Themyscira. How she was trying to run from Garth. How Jillian told her that she was taking over the hunt for Slade and she didn't tell anyone. How she pressured the others to continue using Jericho so she could get revenge for Garth and how it ended. The next morning, while nursing a massive hangover, Roy insisted that she come clean, but Donna told him that it didn't matter. The situation was over and there was no point in telling Dick, Dawn and Hank what all happened. Roy didn't like it, but agreed to keep it secret when he saw how much pain Donna was in. Now though, it seemed like it was time for her to pay for it.
"Roy," Donna started, but he immediately cut her off.
"I don't want to hear it Donna. You are more guilty than Dick is and I didn't say anything because I thought you both just wanted to get past it. But Dick has been suffering under the guilt for what happened for five years, and now that it has come back up, you still keep your mouth shut and allow him to take more of the blame than he deserves." Donna ducked her head, avoiding his gaze, but Roy wasn't done.
"You used to say that Dick is like your little brother. Remember that?" Roy then asked. Wordlessly, Donna nodded, her eyes starting to burn as the memories of all the times she called Dick her brother filled her mind.
"Well for the last five years, you put him through h*ll because you can't deal with what happened with Jericho and Garth. And now, you've made it even worse. You've got him thinking that you, and everyone else, hates him. So yeah, I'm mad. Because he is probably the person who deserves it the least. Yes, he makes mistakes but we all have and do. At least he's trying to make it right, unlike you, Hank and Dawn." Roy told her. Donna didn't have any defense to that, because he was right. As much as she wanted to put the blame on someone, it wasn't just Dick's fault. They all had played a part in it but she, Hank and Dawn had left, leaving only Dick to take care of it, as if it was only his problem.
Roy was silent for a minute, then sighed and said, "If you don't tell him and the others the truth Donna, I will."
"Roy, you promised." Donna protested, her head snapping up to look at him, her arms falling to her sides.
"I made that promise before I saw what it was doing to Dick. He's my little brother too Donna, and unlike you, I care about him. So you 'fess up, or I will do it for you." Roy threatened, then turned around so she was looking at his back, clearly dismissing her. Knowing that there was nothing she could say or do to change his mind, she left the room, her heart beating wildly in her chest.
2018TITANS2018
Adeline Wilson let out an exhausted sigh as she entered her small apartment, locking the door behind her. It had been another long and tiring shift at work. She wanted to crawl into her bed and sleep until her shift tomorrow, even though she hadn't had supper yet. She didn't really care about that. Despite five years passing, she hated coming to a silent and empty home. It couldn't even be called a home. Not without her son. Not without Jericho.
When Adeline had Jericho, the home always seemed brighter, happier. The place was filled with music and smiles, even when they left Slade and went into hiding. Since the night when Jericho was stabbed and was forced to jump into Slade's body, there was none of that. She rarely got to see her son. Her ex-husband said it was better that way. That he could keep him safe, but Adeline always wondered if Slade had another motive. Slade and Jericho didn't get along very well, which was not helped by Slade's constant absences. She wouldn't be surprised if Slade decided to take advantage of the situation and force Jericho to have no one but him. Adeline didn't like it, but there wasn't anything she could do about it.
Turning the lights on, she shrugged off her coat and turned around and shrieked. There, standing half in the shadows casted by the dim light, stood a man. For split second, she thought it was Slade, but the man was taller and bulkier than her ex, and he was wearing a different suit. It was black and dark grey with a bat emblem on the chest. On his head was a black cowl which masked the top of his face and seemed to be connected to a long, black cape. She had never seen him before but she knew who he was. Batman.
"Adeline Wilson?" Batman's voice was deep and gruff, and even though he worded it like a question, it was clear he knew who she was. She still nodded in response. She may not have met Batman, but she knew she did not want to make him an enemy.
"Where is your husband Slade?" Batman inquired, standing as still as a statue.
"I, I don't know." Adeline answered with a shaky voice, taking a step backward.
Batman titled his head to the side and asked, "You expect me to believe that?"
"Slade's my ex-husband. Has been for years." Adeline informed him, trying to convince him that she knew nothing.
"And yet, I have evidence that he has been in contact with you and has come up to see you." Batman responded, now taking a threatening step towards her. Seeing the obvious fear in her eyes though, he added, "I just need his location. He has killed several people, and recently tried to kill both of my partners."
Adeline stayed silent for a moment, thinking. She knew her husband wasn't a good man. That he hadn't been since he was discharged from the military and should pay for his numerous crimes. However, Jericho was innocent. It was already bad enough that he was trapped in someone else's body, unable to do anything unless Slade let him. If Slade was punished, then Jericho would be too. Yet, this might actually be the opportunity that she had been waiting for. Batman was a part of the Justice League. Maybe they would be able to help her son.
"If I tell you, I need something in return. Your help." Adeline finally responded.
"Help with what?" Batman questioned, sounding a bit wary of what she might ask.
"Help with my son, Jericho."
AN – So, this upcoming week, I am extremely busy with work and it's actually my birthday this upcoming Friday. Because of that, I'm sorry but I won't posting a chapter next week. I just don't think I'll have time. Sorry, I hope you all understand.
