Alright, folks, I apologize for the fact that this chapter is kind of boring, but I've really got no choice. The flashback and real-time stuff are kinda necessary for the plot to work, even if it they are kinda dull. But whatever. I promise, more good stuff is to come.

By the way, I forgot to mention this at the beginning of last chapter because I was in something of a rush: if you look through the scene with Jackson at the bar, you can find three things:

1: An allusion to Jackson's namesake

2: An allusion to another role played by Cillian Murphy

3: An allusion to the literary version of the role from #2

Cookies to anyone who can find them!

By the way, just to avoid any potential confusion: I am well aware that Ducard and Ra's Al Ghul were one and the same, but I'm pretty sure that Jonathan wasn't. After all, Ducard didn't tell Bruce Wayne about that particular secret, and he was about to be inducted into the League of Shadows. Jonathan, however, was not a member, and they didn't even let him in on the real reason for poisoning the water supply; they just told him that they planned on holding the city ransom. Basically, my guess is that he really wasn't in the know for these things.

Well, that was a long author's note. Anyway, onward!
-----

A Twisted Kind of Brotherhood

Acid Trip Mentality

Eventually, Leon was forced to go home, but not before Jonathan promised that, yes, he was fine with what had happened, and yes, he had enjoyed himself.

After Leon had exited and hailed a taxi, Jonathan showered before collapsing back in bed and promptly falling asleep. The next morning, when he awoke, he found Jackson sound asleep on the sofa as usual.

The next day went by as Jonathan's Sundays usually did. He woke up early, went to a local store, and bought a copy of the paper (with the headline: "BRUTAL SLAUGHTER IN GOTHAM: Police have no suspects in the bizarre murder of a local woman"). After buying a croissant and some coffee, he headed home and read all about some woman getting bludgeoned and then torn open in the downtown area.

Later in the morning, Jackson woke up, and went about his normal routine of eating whatever was left over in the fridge as a meal. Surprisingly, he didn't mention the previous evening at all, and was cordial to Jonathan whenever he spoke. Even better, he kept his pleasant attitude for the rest of the day, with nary a foul word or perceptive taunt. But it was a restrained kind of politeness, as though there were more he wanted to say and ask, even as he stopped himself from opening his mouth.

Jonathan didn't mind Jackson's change in attitude; if anything, it pleased him. Gone were the usual knowing insults and the cocky jeers. Jonathan realized that the switch in behavior was probably temporary, but he enjoyed it while he could. It didn't seem to bother him at all that the reason for this change was because he'd caught his brother in bed with another man.

That Monday, Jonathan's day at work went by as usual. He saw patients, he did paperwork, he made sure that the water supply was successfully being contaminated, etc. When he saw Leon in the halls of Arkham, they greeted each other with a polite nod and nothing else. No one would ever suspect that there was anything more to them than perhaps a casual friendship.

And so the days after that night went on without much occurrence. And when the next weekend came, Leon and Jackson went out to a few places, and they went back to Leon's apartment, and they had sex. Jackson was left back at Jonathan's apartment, where Jonathan could only assume he was sulking and brooding.

But Jonathan was wrong.

Jackson was making plans.

-----

The day after the funeral, Jonathan found himself on an airplane with his aunt and his cousin, his ears popping and eyes boggling at how frigging far they were from the ground. However, for the most part he managed to endure the experience, only seeming to react when an imaginary Jackson made more jokes about the Mile High Club than most people could invent in a year. Helen and Tyler, for the most part, didn't seem to notice Jonathan's seemingly random laughter mid-flight…at least until a stewardess stopped to ask if there was a problem.

By the time they'd reached Helen and Tyler's house, Jonathan had gone from being giddy with laughter to sinking into a numb sort of indifference. It barely occurred to him that the house he was entering was easily more than twice the size of his former abode, or that he would be calling such a place his home. Instead, he spent his first day there wandering emotionlessly from room to room, not even seeming to realize that his legs were carrying him from one place to another.

For the first few days, Tyler and Helen left him alone. From what Jonathan could gather through whispered conversations in rooms that he stood outside of, they reasoned that he was still in mourning, and that they just needed to let his grief run its course. Within time, he'd be able to move on. Not really caring or understanding why it mattered, Jonathan was at the very least grateful that went unbothered, preferring to be alone.

Slowly, Jonathan observed the day-to-day goings-on in the Bouvier household as he was slowly sucked into their routine. In the morning, everyone woke up, showered in turn, and got dressed. Tyler would grab a bus to school, Helen would leave mid-morning to do errands before returning in time for Tyler's return, and they would all eat dinner together before going to bed at an appointed hour.

At another time, Jonathan might have resented the way his time was suddenly restricted, how he had to suddenly adjust to living with a schedule when he'd never had a single hour of his life planned out for him before. But he merely let this change in his daily life sweep over him, not really caring much and not giving a shit where he went or what he did.

In spite of his lack of concern, Jonathan slowly began to learn about his aunt and cousin. It seemed that Mr. Bouvier had been a wealthy man, leaving behind a neat sum of money upon his death. There was evidence of it everywhere, from the nicely furnished house they lived in, to the expensive private school Tyler attended (which Jonathan was grimly aware he would eventually have to go to), and the fact that Helen easily supported them without holding a job.

The one thing that Jonathan saw that knocked him out of his apathy and made his heart ache the most was the close relationship he observed between Helen and Tyler. It was foreign to him, the way they spoke in friendly tones towards each other, the way they genuinely seemed to enjoy each other's presence, the fact that they really did seem to care about each other the way mothers and sons were supposed to.

The bond the two of them shared was stronger than that of most thirteen year-olds and their mothers. Watching them, Jonathan could see just how hard they'd been hit by the death of Mr. Bouvier. In the absence of a husband and father, they had clung to each other tightly, realizing that they only had each other.

Watching them, Jonathan would feel his chest tighten as he thought about what could have been and what had never happened. He had never been close to either of his parents, and even on their best days, they were never even close to cordial. He had never cared about his parents, and he could only wonder if they had ever cared for him.

But he tried not to feel jealous of his aunt and cousin. After all, he reasoned, they had suffered badly. One had lost a father, and one had lost a husband. Who could fault them for growing close to the only family member they had left?

And besides, just as they had each other, Jonathan had Jackson.

Because he didn't want to grieve, because he didn't want to feel the pain that accompanied loss, Jonathan pretended. He pretended that Jackson was there, that wherever he went and whatever he did, Jackson would follow him and always be there for him. It made things easier; why mourn for someone who was right there?

He would talk to Jackson sometimes, when he knew no one could hear them. It would always be about trivial, everyday things, with a silent agreement made to never let their conversations become too serious. And Jonathan would imagine Jackson responding to him in the ways that he had back at home, with a joke or a jeer or even just a shrug of the shoulders. And in some strange way, it was a comfort to Jonathan.

Soon, though, Jonathan started to let himself forget that he was pretending. He would talk to his brother and not remind himself that it was all a fantasy, and would become so wrapped up in the illusion that he barely seemed to notice the world around him. For hours, sometimes, he would sit inside the room that Helen had given him, silently exchanging words with a person that was hundreds of miles away.

It was only a matter of time before he truly, honestly began to believe that his brother was with him, that he had never been left behind by his older sibling. The fact that no one else seemed to see Jackson did little to deter his fantasies; all it meant was that he could keep his brother a secret to himself. He could keep Jackson all to himself, and no one would ever bother them.

But it was only a matter of time before his aunt and his cousin noticed that Jonathan didn't seem to be getting better, and that his odd behavior seemed to be growing increasingly bizarre. They had been concerned about him from the start, not sure how to handle the boy who wanted nothing more than to be left alone and to wander around aimlessly. But their worries increased as Jonathan seemed not to hear them when they spoke, and not even see them when they entered the room.

He would stare off into space, wherever he was, oblivious to the world as he watched something that no one else could see. Even as he sat in silence, he would make facial expressions as though reacting to someone or something. Sometimes he'd laugh or smile, or he'd nod or shake his head, or simply seem to change faces without rhyme or reason. At first, they only wondered vaguely as what was going on; as time progressed and it happened more and more frequently, they grew worried.

After about a week of odd behavior, Tyler decided to talk to his cousin, concerned about how he was handling all that had happened. Walking into the kitchen, where Jonathan was sitting at the table as he had for the last several hours, the younger boy barely managed to whisper, "Jonathan?"

Not hearing him and not even sensing him presence, Jonathan stared at one of the other chairs, seeming to smile a little before suddenly frowning at the empty air. Tyler tried again, calling a bit louder, "Jonathan?"

Nothing again. Jonathan seemed to be shaking his head slightly, still frowning at the nothingness in front of him. Tyler decided to try shouting, with no attempts to be subtle as he called, "Jonathan!"

Still nothing. The frown turned back to a smile, and suddenly Jonathan was giggling like a madman, the empty air having apparently said something funny. Tyler stood there for a moment, not sure what to do. Then, on a whim, he sat down in the chair that Jonathan was staring at.

This seemed to completely throw Jonathan for a loop. For several seconds, he just sat there, alternating between looking at Tyler with wide eyes and blinking rapidly. After a moment in which he seemed completely confused, he looked up at his younger cousin.

"Hello," he said cordially.

Tyler nodded. "Hello, Jonathan."

Sitting up in his chair, Jonathan asked, "What's going on?"

Tyler looked at him seriously, stating quietly, "I just wanted to see how you're doing. If you're okay."

Jonathan shrugged, his attitude somewhat cheerful. "I'm perfectly fine. Why shouldn't I be?"

"Well, your family died two weeks ago."

Jonathan blinked for a second, as though slightly confused, before merely shrugging resignedly.

Tyler, noting this, said carefully, "You've been acting really weird lately. I mean, I know it's gotta be tough, but you've been doing some really strange stuff."

Jonathan cocked his head to one side. "I have?"

"…yes."

Tyler looked Jonathan straight in the eye, trying to figure out if he was just making fun of him or whether he was truly serious. Try as he might, Tyler couldn't find a trace of mockery or ridicule in his expression. He just seemed…confused. Satisfied and confused.

Sighing, Tyler said, "Look, I understand that you're sad about your mom and dad and…"

He stopped when Jonathan seemed to scoff. "What?"

Looking at him wildly, Jonathan said, "I don't miss them at all. They never gave a crap about me, and I don't give a crap about them."

Not quite sure how to take this, Tyler continued, "Well, I know you must miss your brother, right?"

Jonathan blinked. "Why should I be?"

"…because he's dead. He died two weeks ago."

For some reason that Tyler couldn't even begin to fathom, Jonathan suddenly broke out into a grin and began to guffaw heartily. Shoulders shaking as he leaned his elbows on his knees, Jonathan just kept laughing and laughing and laughing, much to Tyler's bewilderment. Tyler tried to ask what was wrong, but Jonathan cut him off as he shrieked, "You're sitting on him!"

This certainly perplexed Tyler. "What?"

"You're sitting on him! Here you are, trying to pretend he's dead, and you're sitting on his lap!"

As Jonathan roared with laughter, Tyler watched him dismally and with a puzzled expression on his face. As convinced as Jonathan seemed to be, Tyler was pretty sure that he didn't have a teenager under his ass. Watching his seemingly insane cousin, Tyler has absolutely no idea what to say or how to react.

As his laughter slowly subsided, Jonathan barely managed not to giggle as he spoke. "You've all been telling me that he's dead, that he's gone, that he's not coming back." Leaning towards his cousin, Jonathan managed to whisper, "But you're wrong. He fooled you, don't you get it?"

When Tyler said nothing, Jonathan's expression became deadly serious as he hissed, "Jackson never died."

-----

"You need to go to Florida," Ducard intoned quietly as he paced the floor in front of Jonathan.

Jonathan, sitting on a small wooden chair, seemed mildly surprised by this abrupt announcement.

"Is there a reason why?"

Ducard nodded solemnly. "I've already told you that Ra's Al Ghul will be coming to Gotham, correct?"

Jonathan nodded. "Yes, you mentioned it several weeks ago."

"He will be arriving in Florida from Bhutan in a few days, and he'll be bringing his men for the last phase of the operation. I need you to meet him there and arrange for transportation to Gotham, as well as accommodations for them until the end of the operation."

Jonathan frowned slightly. "I'm not sure I understand why…"

Silencing him with a wave of his hand, Ducard continued. "Ra's Al Ghul and his men are considered fugitives in the eyes of the law, and had to use bribes to gain passage to the United States. They have no identification, and no legal right to be in this country."

Shifting his gaze towards Jonathan, Ducard added, "But you have leverage with Carmine Falcone, and people in Gotham will respect that. You are able to strike deals with the people working at the airport, or the bus stations, or the hotels. Do you understand now?"

Jonathan mulled over this, eventually nodding slowly. "When are they coming?"

"They'll be arriving in five days," Ducard replied.

"Where?"

Ducard looked back at Jonathan before responding. "Miami International Airport."