AN: I am sorry, I was doing research lol, I wanted to start putting bits and pieces of important information we will need for the third book into this book so it flows nicer. Anyone who knows this Bat Clan like the back of their hand will know a little bit of it with this chapter. I promise I am trying to keep this good for you awesome readers who have stuck by my story.
Next day-Tim
Even with finding out who was behind everything, the energy here is still off somehow. I try not to be out with everyone too much, Jason and Dick can't seem to get along and Damian is just using it as an excuse to also be a little shit. So I just spend my time in my room working on my programming and hacking skills. I feel like I can never get too good at it, I want to be able to shut down power grids with ease, and make fake identities. Which I guess I could do, but it would take me forever. For now I have been using my hacking skills to keep an eye on Titans Tower, and the city in General. If Jason's...lady friend who is behind everything knows where Raven is I doubt she is letting her sit there in peace, she has to be trying to make sure in some way she doesn't come back here. Why else spend all that energy getting rid of her?
I think I am the only one who is more focused on this new threat instead of pettiness. It's turned into a war on who cares more, who should be trusted with what. Personally after finding out about Tess being a Meta I don't blame Jason, there was nothing he could do. That's like...borderline sexual assault. I think...I don't know. Dick throwing it in his face every five minutes doesn't seem fair. It feels like I am also the only one trying to get all the information on our enemies that we can. I for one don't want to go back to face Witch Dick without knowing more about him, without doing as much research as I can.
A knock on the door pulls me away from more of my programming practice, I get out of my chair opening the door, Damian stalks in. He never asks. To him if you open the door that's enough for him to walk in. I have gotten used to it. He grumpily folds his arms across his chest taking a seat in my desk chair. I close the door as he moves the chair in circles.
"You okay?" I ask softly
"She's in town and she doesn't want to see me?" He asks I nod connecting the dots in my head.
"Yeah that's pretty shitty. Did you want to see her?" I ask,
He doesn't answer right away looking down in his lap as he moves back and forth in chair. It's moments like these where his age is so apparent. Most of the time he acts almost like Jason erratic, angry, blunt, kind of asshole like. But it's hard for me to remember he is just a kid.
"I don't know" He mumbles, it makes sense that he would be confused, I know I would be.
We both stay in silence for a moment, unsure on how to talk about what is going on his head but not wanting to pretend he didn't come here for some help. I don't even think he knows how to voice his own emotions about something like this, he's a lot like Bruce in that way, he's emotionally stunted.
"Well, it could be she didn't want Bruce to know she was in Town. You know how they are. She doesn't want to have to fight with Bruce about being close to you" I say, he huffs leaning back in the chair, his lips are almost a pout but I don't comment.
"Well that's her fault, she's the one who brought me here!" He says loudly in frustration.
"I'm not saying it isn't her fault. I am saying that could be the reason. I am sure she wants to see you. She cares about you. It's just not as simple with...our lives" I reply. That's one thing I miss about my parents, everything was simple with them.
"So she goes to see Jason instead? She puts in all that work to break up Jason and Raven but doesn't even bother to let me know she's here?" Damian asks, I guess he is more confused than I thought. I pat the bed next to me beckoning for him to sit besides me, mostly because I want him to stop swinging back and forth in the chair, trying to keep my eyes on him is making me sick. He gets up, sitting on the edge of my bed beside me looking up at me, his eyes are a dark green, sometimes they look more blue. I guess it depends on the light. One thing for sure, there is sadness in them.
"Damian, your mother isn't like other moms...she loves you and cares about you yes. But I think her way of showing you that is giving you this life with your dad" I say, I don't know if it's true or not.
"She just didn't want to deal with me" He said sadly looking down in his lap.
"Well even so...she gave you to Bruce, your dad. Now you have siblings. If she didn't want you back Bruce wouldn't go through so much trouble to make sure you are safe from her if she didn't" I answer, at this point I don't even think I know I am talking about. I just know this could be what he wants to hear to help him through his own emotions.
"I don't even know why I care! She wasn't a good mom" He says rolling his eyes at himself, I give him a small pat on the back.
"You care because she's your mom." I answer, that I know for sure, I look towards the family picture on my desk, the need to hear her voice or get my moms advice attacks me. I crave it to the point of frustration knowing I won't receive it.
"I wish she wasn't" He says angrily, get up from the bed looking around the room. He sucks in a breath regaining his composure, walking to the door he turns around looking at me for a moment. "Thank you"
He exits without closing the door all the way leaving it open a crack. I close it behind him sitting back in my seat, I look over at the picture again. It makes me angry and sad at the same time, I was the only one here with both parents other than Damian, and now I am just another orphan Bruce has adopted. Just another Robin. I push the thoughts out of my head as best I can moving back to working on my skills, I try not to think about how angry I actually am. It will only make things worse.
After an hour or so of working another knock disturbs me, I yell out for them to come in and the door opens, Bruce leans in the doorway a serious look on his face. I already know what he is in here for, I grab a file folder with information handing it to him.
"That's all I got on it" I say he opens it looking it over.
"You know, I really did think you would have been able to stop the Riddler" He says, I roll my eyes, Zero Year isn't something I enjoy thinking about. It was a rough time for everyone.
"Don't worry about it...I mean I didn't think that the answer would be so simple" I say laughing slightly
"Neither did it, I was just hoping he didn't change the rules on me. Now I got to find a way to make sure this kid isn't putting himself in anymore stupid situations. I have a feeling" Bruce says holding up the file. I nod When Bruce has a feeling for a kid...it normally means we will all meet him very soon.
Present Day- Raven
I don't remember falling asleep, but I do know that I can't possibly be not dreaming. The edges of my vision are foggy and the world seems close enough to touch but I can't. The circular table in the middle of the room and the chairs which are filled with people. Their facing away from me. Why am I seeing this? Is this a vision? The voices are muffled, I need to focus. I sit behind everyone trying to make sense of this, I can see Witch Boy and his familiar sitting in the chair right in front of me. Someone in Flash colors, the girl with the Cat mask and...Tess. A woman dressed in all black walks to the table taking her seat. Is this the past or the future?
"Thank you all for coming, I would like to begin with what we all want." I hear her say, It's hard for me to focus on her voice I feel as though someone is pulling me here but not allowing me here at the same time.
"I was promised the Gem!" Witch boy shouts, the woman in black nods putting her hands in her lap.
"I want to give you an opportunity to get her. However, want I want and what you want are currently together. I can't get mine back until you get the Gem out of the way" she says, Witch Boy purrs in his seat interested now in what she has to say.
"I don't know what this has to do with me and Zari, I just want my girlfriend back." Tess says, it shocks me enough to stare over at her, for a moment I think she is trying to make eye contact with me.
"Once you do as I say you will get her back." The woman says, she looks around the table, her eyes bouncing off everyone's face or mask. "I want Jason Todd at my side again. Only problem...he is dating the Gem. They aren't in America right now, but we need them back. Get them back so we can split them apart"
"Why do we need them broken up?" Flash guy growls
"With The Gem with Jason, we don't have a chance of getting him on our side. If we tried to hurt him she would kill all of us. However...we can't hurt her with him around because he has the Pit inside of him. He could turn to the dark side...soulless and kill everyone who is in his way of getting her back to safety. We need them to hate each other." She explains, I feel a twist in my stomach as I hear it and bile rises to my throat. I push it back down trying to keep focused on what I am seeing.
"So why am I here?" Tess spits angrily
"Your Meta powers. Men are affected. I need you to get Jason under your...spell so to speak. Get him either to break up with her for you..or get him caught with you." The woman in black demands, Tess looks down in her lap her chest faltering in her breathing.
"The Gem's powers are connected by emotions, her sad...I have more of a chance" Witch Boy sneers happily
"Exactly, for this to work and everyone to get what they want we don't have room for mistakes." The woman in black says, everyone around the table nods and it makes me feel uneasy. I feel as though I am being pulled from the room, pulled from everything and am shoved into somewhere else, I release a panicked breath as I try to grab something in the void of emptiness I am being shot through but I find nothing.
My eyes fling open and I am in my room at the tower, my breathing rigid and heavy, sweat drips down my face. What the fuck was that?
Present Day- Jason
I see her eyes open and she looks around to me nodding. John takes his hands off her head shoving them into his pocket and stepping back, a small bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. Tess gets her feet dusting herself off from invisible dust. It's probably the nerves of the gun in my hand. I have had it pointed in her direction since she came to us, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot her, even if it would get me kicked out of this family again.
"I think she got the message" Tess says nervously "I saw her there."
"Good, now let's review. You want me and my family to break into where you think they are holding your girlfriend without actually knowing if she is there" I ask, Dick snorts next to me shaking his head
"I still don't know if we can trust her, your guys plan has changed so much so how do we know this isn't another change" He says, he raises a good point.
"I just want my girlfriend back, I didn't ask for this. I used to be a criminal but we stopped. We wanted a chance to be happy and...now I get pulled back in to break you two up." She says, I can't tell if she is lying, but that spell John said couldn't make up memories, so if she was trying to show off their plan to help me then she would be able to prove it the way we just made her.
"Mate, am I free to go? I did my bloody job" John asks I nod waving him off
"Thanks John" I say as he moves himself through a portal he created, I tighten my grip on the gun which Tess notices. She looks around the room nervously.
"What else do you know?" I ask pointing the gun in her direction, sure I could be being a little short tempered but this girl messed with my relationship and then tried to kill Raven. I am not taking the chance that this could all be a ploy and even if it isn't...I haven't decided if I want her dead or not.
"I see you are angry...and I understand why but I am just here to get Zari back and help fix everything" She says, I can only guess my eyes are glowing. Dick puts a hand on my shoulder telling me I need to cool it with the gun but it makes me want to tighten my fingers on it even more. I don't trust anyone here.
"Even with that information Raven might not ever trust me again, so you understand why I am not to keen on your existence right?" I ask sitting back further in my seat.
"If I didn't do it, they would have killed my girlfriend, I had no choice" She says I scoff
We all fall into silence, I don't stop the glare which is making her uneasy. I don't care if she is uncomfortable, she deserves it. Dick moves into the middle of the room of this warehouse standing next to Tess. I can tell she is more worried about me than him, she doesn't even flinch when he puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Why do you think they are holding Zari there?" He asks
"I used my powers on the Reverse Flash, he thinks we are together right now and I wanted to know where they were keeping her before he went to Jump" she answers, my eyes shoot up at her with anger.
"He's in Jump?" I growl
"Just to make sure Raven doesn't find her way back to Gotham before Taila gets her hands on you" Tess says hastily, I clench my jaw looking to my lap.
"So why don't you?" Dick asks, I look over at him with the same glare I was giving Tess.
"You want me to join Taila?" I ask baffled he nods looking between Tess and I
"Yeah, take it down from the inside out. I mean you get your revenge for them trying to hurt Raven. You can even call in the Flash Family to take care of Reverse Flash and we can handle the rest. I can talk to Raven about facing down Witch Boy. We can end this from the inside" Dick suggests, It isn't a bad idea. Though the thought of Raven going after any of these people worries me. They had no problem trying to kill her. I can only imagine what Witch Boy would do to her.
"Okay, so how do we tell Batman?" I ask