Being Legit Has Its Perks.
"Go home, Jackie." David didn't take his eyes off the cape crusader at all, though he had an easy smile that spread across his scarred face. "And don't forget to lock up behind you."
"But-Dad!" Jackson tried not to look dismayed by this. After all, it's Batman! The number one guy a lot of villains wouldn't feel bad seeing gone. Not only that, he was notoriously hard to see close up like this too. "We could-!"
"Now, son."
Jackson stiffened at the tone before nodding and slinking off slowly towards home. He still couldn't help but glance back to make sure his father was alright being alone with the other man. He'd heard all sorts of things about Batman, but he wasn't sure how much of it was true or not.
Even as he walked, he felt- no sensed- that he was being followed. By who? He didn't know but his eyes scanned around as he decided to take a long detour towards his home. His dark eyes cut towards the buildings, catching a glimpse of red and yellow. His brows narrowed, trying to figure out who it was. He had heard that there was someone else in Gotham with Batman. Someone named Robin.
He pondered what to do about it as he climbed on the bus that took him half across the city, only to wait for another bus to take him back. Whoever this Robin guy was, he was good at keeping himself hidden through all the transfers. He just needed to figure out how to catch him off guard...
Spotting a chance at a small store, he went in behind someone and smiled at his own cleverness.
He waited for a bit, catching sight of the black cape and now could follow the mysterious Robin freely. He wanted to know what this kid thought he was doing. Also, he would like to get his backpack back to finish his homework too at some point. Paying off that guy to pose as him was definitely a hit to the allowance pocket but he figured his father would be proud of him for it.
As he closed in on his target, he could feel his heart beat wildly with excitement. As much as he liked being 'normal' it was so boring in comparison to this! Tracking down your prey, keeping yourself hidden and spying on them until the right time to strike! That was really the calling for him. He wanted nothing more than that. Maybe his Dad will let him do that?
Finally, Jackson spotted his chance to catch his former tail and went for it. It turned out, however, to be a bit of a pain, considering it *is* Robin. The young acrobatic sidekick easily dodged his way out of an attempted hold and then leaped over a swipe but nearly was tripped up by the hand that shot out and grabbed his ankle. He wasn't shy at all about kicking the older teen either.
Not being as apt as his 'twin', Jackson recoiled and decided a different approach.
"Alright," He panted slightly. So much exercise in one day was enough to wind him now. "Why are you following me?"
"Like I'm going to give you an answer?" retorted the eleven year old.
"Uh- yeah?" Jackson raised a brow, "Usually what happens when someone asks a reasonable question?"
Robin looked away, "Batman said so, is that enough?"
"No." He folded his arms, " It's not. Why the hell would Batman want you to follow me home?" A slight smirk drifted across his face, " Does he think there's plans in my homework? Because I'll have you know, Mr. Konus may be plotting something with that one assignment. Might wanna take a look at that."
Was that a smirk?
Totally was.
"Look, man, I just want to go home and do my homework in peace without some weird kid in a Halloween costume following me around." Jackson shifted his weight,"It's hard enough being a kid and all without that."
"Hm, for someone who wants peace and quiet, you sure don't act like some normal kid switching clothes with someone in order to hide from me." Robin kept his distance, but his posture said it all. Readying itself to move at a moments notice. "Doesn't seem normal at all."
"Neither are you, so we're at a draw here."
"Point taken."
He sighed, deeply annoyed and checked the time, "Ok, lets make a deal here, Robin."
The smirk appeared, almost as if it belonged there, "Deal? I'm all ears. Not that I'll take it."
"I'm going to get my stuff back, and you can sit and watch me do my homework at a diner until my dad comes to get me." Both brows rose, "Sound fair?"
"I guess." It also didn't sound like fun, either. " Would rather go to the dentist."
"Hey, you are the one stalking me. You don't get to complain!"
"Yeesh, fine." Robin took out his grappling gun, "You better be at that diner."
Jackson rolled his eyes, watching the boy go and grumbled, " Does everyone in Gotham have to deal with this?"
"What are you doing in this city?"
David shrugged at Batman's question, "What else? Living, working, raising my child- What does it look like to you? Accosting a simple citizen like myself for nothing."
"Don't give me that." Batman glowered, trying to tower over him. "I know who you really are, Black Manta, and whatever you're up to, I'm going to make sure you fail and leave my city."
David craned his head, an expression less than impressed, as he looked him over again. "I don't know what you're going on about, Batman, but I assure you, nothing is 'going on' other than me and my child trying to live. Surely, no one has objections to me trying to run a legit business."
A smile lit upon his face, "And I assure you, it is very legitimate."
Batman hated that the man was right, but he wouldn't say so. Instead he simply glared, trying to tame the need to know what angle Black Manta was playing here. He didn't generally get many of other heroes' villains in his city but when he did, they were usually called or being chased by said heroes. But this was unique. As far as he could tell, David Hyde did nothing wrong in Gotham. He opened a Deli, sent his son to school, paid bills and taxes in a timely manner.
Hell, the only suspicious thing he's seen was Penguin going in to the shop and even then, he couldn't entirely say whether Penguin was recruiting him or ordering meats for his clubs. It's not the first time he's wondered what it'd be like to have more than just Robin helping him- even if he was iffy on that alone.
"If you're done here, Batman, I need to go home and check on my boy." David said to him, somewhat smug. "Unless you want to discuss more on why you're threatening me for nothing?"
Batman growled, "You better continue to do nothing, Manta. I'd hate to throw you in Arkham in front of your son." He turned, his cape billowed behind him, "If you don't want that to happen, get out of Gotham. Now."
Batman flew up and away, with more pressing matters to deal with, leaving David to fold his arms, rocking back on his heels amused by the entire thing.
Really, he pondered on making a game out of wasting the paranoid Bat's time. Just like he did Aquaman. Maybe Lex Luthor was onto something, there. It's far more fun to make heroes like him and others mess up while doing something legal. It made the people question their judgement.
It was definitely something to file away for now as he went on his way home.
Jackson was glad to see his dad, and have his homework completely done, by the time he came home. Robin had been a bit of a pain. He never realized that English was even worse of a chore with someone that kept going on and on about words and dissecting them every which way. It was enough to just switch to math for some reprieve.
Which ultimately didn't work either.
In the end, it was a sigh of relief when the sidekick left him alone and he could go home in peace.
"Dad!" He got up , looking his father over, "You're alright?"
"Yeah, son, it's fine." David moved along to wash up for dinner, "Glad to see you've made it home safely."
"Yeah." Jackson followed him to help, "Ran into that Robin kid, but I lost him for a bit. It wasn't that bad."
"Good boy." David tied on an apron, "We're having pork-chops, greens, and some other stuff. Sound good?"
"It does." Jackson moved to pull out the collards they had gotten the other day, "I'll wash these, then."
Once the meal was cooked and they were in the midst of eating, a sound went off. Loud, bleeping noise that came from the depths of a trunk in David's bed room.
"That's odd." David got up and went to retrieve it. Unable to resist, Jackson followed quickly behind him. "There shouldn't be a call scheduled today."
"Who is it?"
He didn't bother to answer as he opened it. "Kaldur'ahm?" Worry crossed his mind but he refused to show it yet, "What's the matter, son? Did something happen to you?" Or your mother? But he wasn't going to say that either. "Is the mission compromised?"
"Father, I have urgent news that I thought you should know that couldn't wait." Kaldur spoke in english for now. Excitement brimmed in his eyes and words, "It is about the mission- Father, I have become Aquaman's protege!"
Everything went still and then David laughed with joy, "Excellent, Kal! That's my boy! Good work."
Jackson also grinned, never doubting his brother would excel at his mission. He also missed him dearly too. "Do you have long to talk or not?"
"I do." Kaldur glanced off then back, "I've been given some leave time to return to Shayeris for the moment. Calvin Durham has things to over see that would take some time and will not be returning any time soon."
"And your mother?" Despite himself, David couldn't help but ask about her. "Where is she?"
Kaldur seemed to shrug a little, "Somewhere. She is often out when I wish to speak with you."
"Of course." David didn't expect anything less from Sha'lain'a. It warmed him in a way he didn't want to admit. That she still thought well enough of him still to speak with their son like this. And also having plausible deniability to top it off. "Well, I have to finish eating, but I will contact you later to tell you more of your mission. For now, you and your brother may speak to each other but for no more than an hour- understood?"
"Yes, Father." Kaldur said.
Excitedly, Jackson took a hold of the communicator and took it to his room to speak to Kaldur. It had been months since they last spoke and he had much to tell him. Once he had finished retelling his encounter with Robin and others, he listened patiently to how Kaldur became Aquaman's protege.
"That's wild, though." Jackson was saying, "I mean, you used magic to help him out? And then I meet up with boy wonder himself here."
"It is." Kaldur mused, "Though your encounter with Robin helps me a lot. It tells me that he's as impulsive as you are."
"And you're not?" Jackson grinned. "He's tiny, though he does pack a kick for someone that small."
"He was trained by Batman, after all."
"Some of it." Jackson lounged back on his bed, "He's an acrobat, I'm telling you. Some of those moves are definitely not Batman's style. If those vids are correct. It's flashier, and harder to pin down in a way."
"Hm..I'll take that in consideration." Kaldur said, " I hope you won't get tangled up with him in the future. He knows who you are."
"So?" Jackson shrugged, " It doesn't matter to me."
"It will when you want to do something covert or undercover." Kaldur warned. "Listen, Jackie, keep everything clean. As far as they're concerned, you're just Black Manta's son. You don't have anything to do with his operations. Just like me."
He frowned, "Seriously? It's boring being 'normal' all the time, Kal!" He looked down at the communicator, "At least you get to learn magic. I have to learn stupid equations that are wrong half the time and my teacher's a complete moron!"
"I know you're frustrated, Jackie." Kaldur tried to soothe him, "But it'll work out. You'll see."
"Whatever." He sighed deeply, " I can't wait til this is all over and we can be together again. I miss hanging out with you."
"And I, you." Kaldur agreed, "There's many things I wished I could've shared with you, here."
"Someday." Jackson said, wistfully. "We'll do that. I want to see Atlantis."
"I'll definitely show you around." He glanced off, "My mother has returned, I need to go, Jackie. Until next time."
"Bye."
Jackson closed the communicator with a sigh. Just how long were they going to do this? He didn't know, but he'll take his brother's advice. Now, he needed to finish eating and plan what his own move will be. Sure, he'll keep his nose clean and be a model student, but there needed to be some give so he didn't stay bored in this town.
"It's Gotham." He said to himself, getting up and glancing out his window, "There's bound to be something for me to do on the side. "