Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
Chapter Three
It had been a few weeks since that night in the hotel, and I still didn't know the answer.
Kory was already on maternity leave from the dojo, and I had told Jim I wanted some time off for a while. I needed to think things over.
One of those things was how the hell Kory was able to teach so many classes at once. She had tried explaining the whole format to me, but then hormones got into to the picture, causing her to become easily angry at me and making me sleep on the couch in the Manor. For a week.
She's going to be extremely moody until after she gives birth to our kid. We both decided not to find out the baby's gender. It's what we did with Ryan and Mari, too. We didn't want to ruin the surprise.
That and it's always the only thing Kory's extremely sure of while she's pregnant. I can at least count on the fact that she won't go changing her mind about that.
Ever since we-we meaning Kory-told Bruce and Selina that we couldn't stay in our house anymore, they-they meaning Selina-decided to have us stay at the manor until we could get a new place.
So far, everything was going pretty well. I get to spend some extra time with Mari and Ryan and relax a bit more. Bruce and I started talking a bit more and met up for lunch with Tim every Friday.
Things were starting to seem normal and…I'm really liking that. I can't even remember the last time things had felt this way.
Maybe I was finally getting my little miracle.
Right now, I was sitting on the back porch of Wayne Manor, watching Jason try to teach Ryan how to throw a football. I couldn't help but smirk. Jason's the athlete of the family, but he's not good at every position. Quarterback is one of those positions. Not to mention, he'd been a soccer player for the past two years.
"Isn't it your job to teach your son how to pass the pigskin?" Tim asked me as he leaned back in his chair.
"I already have. I just thought it'd be interesting to see if Jason could do it."
"Well, you were always a better football player than Jason," Bruce commented as he turned the page of his paper. "It's one of the reasons he decided to play soccer, instead."
"Because he wasn't as good in football as he was in soccer?" I asked, before taking a sip of my coke.
"No, because football was your sport," Jason answered as he and Ryan came walking up. He suddenly smirked. "Of course, that might have changed by now."
He was trying to draw me out. He wanted me to play.
"Why don't you call up Clark and ask him to teach you a few moves?" I replied back with a shrug. "Besides, you have Clark come play, you won't need me. I learned a lot of moves from him."
"C'mon dad, please play," Ryan pouted, holding out the football. Jason kneeled behind him, pouted and put hands over the football too.
"Yeah dad, please play," He mimicked. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the football, while Tim started laughing behind me. "I wouldn't be laughing, little brother, since you're going to be the receiver."
Tim immediately stopped laughing.
"I haven't caught a bullet from you in years," He told me as he got up from his seat.
"Then you better hope it doesn't hit your face," I replied and Jason began to laugh. "I wouldn't laugh either. You're on defense."
Jason and Tim glanced at each other and turned to walk onto the grass.
"Well, he's back," I heard Jason mutter to Tim as they started to walk a few yards away.
I grinned and kneeled down next to Ryan.
"Watch me send them both flying," I told him. He grinned up at me and took a seat on the steps as I walked over to where Jason and Tim were standing. I could feel everyone's eyes on the three of us. It'd been a while since all three of us stood back here, getting ready to play a quick game.
"Alright, Tim, remember, just keep running. I'll get the ball in your hands," Seventeen year-old Dick Grayson told his thirteen year-old brother.
"What about Jason?" Tim asked glancing back at their fifteen year-old brother, who was sitting in the grass, stretching.
"He'll come after me this time. Trust me." Dick gave Tim a reassuring grin before moving to the white marker in the middle of the lawn. Tim took his position two yards away while Jason got up and stood a foot in front of Dick. They all crouched down.
"Hut, hut, hike!" Dick called out before standing straight up, the football already in hand. Once he saw Jason coming at him though, he dropped his upper body so when Jason tackled him. The moment Jason landed on his back, Dick stood back up, flipping Jason off and sending him flying a few feet away.
Finally, Dick threw the ball.
It spun threw the air and landed directly in Tim's arms the moment he turned to catch it. The force of the throw tripped him up a bit, and he ended up landing directly on his back.
"Hut, hut, hike!" I called out, jumping up into position.
Jason faked a left, as if he was going after Tim, before coming after me. I took a large step to the right, causing Jason to miss his tackle, and fly a few feet behind me, before landing on the grass.
I raised my arm once more and threw the ball toward Tim. I looked back and down at Jason before smiling and saying, "Yup. I still got it."
"He hasn't even caught it y-" The ball landed in Tim's arms and caused him to fall onto his back.
Jason's jaw dropped while Kory, Mari, Cass, and Selina began clapping.
"I still got it," I told him again as Ryan came running up to me.
"That was so cool, dad," He told me as he jumped up into my arms. "How'd you do that?"
"Practice, buddy," I told him. "You're turn. You want to play defense or offense?"
He tapped his chin in thought for a moment before telling me, "Defense."
"Yes! I got someone on my team," Jason said in relief.
I smiled. It really was good to be back. I never realized how much I missed this place. How much I missed my…family.
We got into position and, once I snapped the ball, Ryan came at me while Jason took off toward Tim. Ryan jumped up at my chest and grabbed my arms so I couldn't throw the ball. I couldn't help but laugh as he held on tight.
Finally I just dropped to the grass, pushed him off, and started tickling his stomach.
He started laughing uncontrollably and, every so often, would try to push my hands off, but never succeeded.
It wasn't too long before Alfred came down the steps of the patio with a phone in hand, He tapped me on the shoulder, and I sat up and looked up at him.
"Commissioner Gordon on the phone, sir. It seems very urgent," He added as he handed me the phone.
I nodded and stood up, my smile now gone and my face serious.
"What's up, Jim?" I asked as I began to walk away from everyone and toward the pool.
"Dick, we have a problem and need you down here now," Jim told me.
"What's wrong?"
"Criminals have been broken out of Blackgate. Criminals you've caught."
"I'm on my way." I shut off the phone and walked back over to Alfred and handed it to him.
Ryan was standing up now, holding the football out to play some more. I sighed.
I hate this part of the job. I hate having to suddenly run out on my family like this.
"I'm sorry buddy, but I can't play right now," I told him as I knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder. "How about tomorrow I take you out for ice cream and we can play in the park for a little while? Okay?"
Ryan nodded hesitantly before giving me a hug.
He was having the same feeling as I had. I could tell just from the force of his hug.
Something big was going to happen. We both felt it.
He finally let go and I walked over to Kory and Mari. I gave Mari a kiss on her forehead and she gave me a hug too.
When I got to Kory, she wrapped her arms around me and whispered in my ear, "I told you. You can't give up."
She didn't say anything more than that, though. She didn't tell me why. I wish she did, but she knew I had to figure it out on my own. She rubbed my back for a moment before giving me a quick kiss as we pulled away.
I said a quick goodbye to everyone else before running through the house and out the front door. Once I got to the front door, I saw one of Bruce's cars waiting for me. The keys were already in the ignition and it was purring like a kitten.
Thank you, Alfred.
I jumped inside and took off down the driveway and out of the front gate.
Why do I do it?
Why do I do this?
Whatever the answer is, Kory knows it. She knows it's the reason I can't give up.
Why did I just get in this car and start heading to the police department?
Criminals I've caught have escaped. I caught them.
But that still didn't mean I had to go. There are still a few other good officers out there, and they could have gone and caught the criminals that escaped.
So why am I going?
Why am I doing this?
I still don't know.
Damn it! I still don't know!
My family's safe where they are. Wayne Manor has the best security system in the world, it even takes Vic ten minutes to hack into it, and by then the sensors in the house go off indicating that someone is trying to get in.
By then, they can go to the safe house. Well, safe cave is more like it.
Either way, I know my family is safe. So why am I going? Why am I giving up my little miracle and going back into that hell? Why am I putting my family in risk again?
I hope I find the answer soon.
I slammed on the breaks as I stopped in front of the police department and jumped out of the car. I made sure to lock it and keep the keys deep in my jeans pocket. I know that won't stop anyone from stealing or messing with it, but it'll let me know if someone tried to.
I opened the door and ran up to the Commissioners office. I pushed my way past all the deadbeat cops on the floor and threw open the door to Jim's office.
"Who are they? Who got them out?" I demanded once I closed slammed the door shut behind me.
Commissioner Gordon closed the folder he was reading and set it onto the large pile in front of him.
There had to be at least a dozen folders there.
"Dr. Arthur Light," He started off, taking the folder, he had just been reading, off the pile, and starting a new one next to it. "Selinda and Baran Flinders. Dr. Simon Jones. Laura De Mille. Emil LaSalle. Mikron O'Jeneus. Sebastian Blood. Jade Nguyen. André LeBlanc. Johnny Rancid…" He hesitated for a moment before dropping the last file. "Slade Wilson."
The Dirty Dozen.
Of course the people that would be broken out of Blackgate are the people who hate my guts the most.
Well…there go my hopes for that little miracle.
A/N: Alright, there's definitely going to be some action in the next chapter! I promise!!
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review!