Chpt.8
"I'm happy that we're on negotiable terms, Mr. Deathstroke." Marco smiled and the figure dressed in orange and black nodded.
"As long as I get paid, then you won't find any trouble from me. Now, who do you want me to kill?" Marco rocked a bit on his feet.
"Well, you see, it's not that I want you to kill someone for me. I actually want you to bring someone to me alive."
"Kidnapping? And you want this person alive when I bring them to you?" Deathstroke inquired, and Marco shrugged,
"If you rough her up a bit, I don't care. She just needs to be breathing and able to talk." Deathstroke was quiet for several moments.
"It'll be extra since this is something different from normal." Deathstroke stated in his rough voice, breaking the silence.
"Of course. I will pay you all you want. I just need you to do your part."
"Will do. What's the target's name and where was she last spotted?" the man inquired, and Marco was happy to provide him with the information if it meant finding her.
"Ruari Eve Whelan. She was last spotted in Gotham."
"Do you have a picture?" the assassin questioned, and Marco reached into his breast pocket to reveal a picture of him and Ruari when they were younger.
"This is the only decent picture I have." Marco informed as he pointed to the younger girl in the picture. "She looks like this, just a few years older."
Deathstroke gave the picture a hard look. The people in the picture looked to be ten years old at oldest. Marco was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, along with Ruari in the picture. They both were smiling at the camera and had ice cream cones in their hands. It looked like they were close.
"Child hood sweet heart?" he questioned.
"Cousin." Marco corrected.
"I see. So you want me to force a family reunion. Heh, sounds easy enough." Deathstroke chuckled as he placed the picture on the desk and started walking towards the exit.
"Mr. Deathstroke." Marco stated, causing the man to turn around and look back at his employer. "My cousin is very good and making herself disappear. Please don't underestimate her."
"Will do." With that, Deathstroke, a.k.a Slade Wilson, was out the door, ready to find Marco's elusive cousin.
~*~*~*~Elsewhere~*~*~*~
Ruari woke up to a dog licking at her face. Blinking her eyes open and giggling, Ruari pat the tall black dog on the head, all the while clutching the jacket Jason had given her to her chest.
"I didn't know the Wayne family had a dog." She said out loud in a conversational tone, looking at the dog. "What's your name?" Ruari looked at the collar around the dog's neck.
"Titus. What a strong name." she grinned and the dog's ears perked up at his name. "My name's Ruari. It's not as cool, but I still like it. It's an Irish name, you know that? Also, it's a boy's name, which is pretty funny. I'm pretty sure that my parents really wanted a boy." She shook her head. "Hell, they didn't care, my dad still treated me like the son he never had."
The dog sat calmly, as if he were listening and understanding what she said.
"They let me decide what I wanted too. Did I want a haircut. What kind of haircut did I want. What clothes did I want. What toys did I want. All of it was up to me, and they didn't care if I wanted to dress like a boy one day and a girl the next." Ruari let out a long sigh.
"They were good parents. Wonderful, even. It's just… I dunno. They were criminals. Wonderful, caring parents who were criminals." The young woman then frowned. "And then when they are killed on the job, all their problems become mine, and then good people die."
Titus licked her cheek and Ruari smiled a bit.
"You're a good boy, aren't you? Sitting here and listening to me complain." Ruari chuckled as she sat up in the bed. "Do you want a treat. I'm sure Alfred has something for you." The dog wagged its tail and Ruari rolled out of the bed and hid Jason's leather jacket under the pillow.
Jason would have a shit eating grin on his face for month if he knew that simply sleeping with an article of his clothing made her comfortable, and not to mention she didn't want any other members of the Wayne family finding out either.
She shucked off some old t-shirt that she used as a night shirt, and threw on one of the t-shirts Jason had bought her along with a pair of jeans.
Looking in the mirror, Ruari froze. It had been some time since she had looked at herself. Her hair was a mess with brown curls sticking out in every which way. Her eyes were so… different then what she remembered. Yes, they were their same green color, except something was off.
Even when she was running away from Gustav, she still had a brightness in her eyes. As if they were smiling, if eyes could smile. However, her eyes looked so sullen now.
Not only that but her tan skin looked a bit pale.
"Wow Titus." She whispered. "Don't I look like a piece of shit." Taking in a deep breath, Ruari tied her wild hair back into a messy bun and perk up as best as she could.
Walking barefoot out of the room, Ruari attempted to find her way to the kitchen to see if she could get the dog a treat.
Miraculously, she made it to the kitchen, and calmly cracking some eggs was Alfred.
"Oh, good morning Miss Whelan. You certainly are up early." Alfred said while glancing over at the clock that read: 5:12.
"Titus here woke me up. Do you have any treats to give him?" Ruari inquired and Alfred chuckled.
"You can give him some bacon." Alfred informed, handing Ruari over some freshly cooked bacon, and Ruari fed it to the dog.
"Thank you, Mr. Alfred." she grinned.
"I'm surprise that Titus woke you up. He is usually glued to Master Damian's side." Alfred informed, and Ruari questioned,
"Damian's?" She hadn't seen the boy much and also didn't know a lot about him, other than that he spoke using a large vocabulary for someone his age, and the fact that she got the feeling he and Tim didn't get along.
"Why yes. Titus is Damian's dog." Alfred nodded.
"I suppose that's why the dog's name is Titus." She murmured, noting the powerful name of the dog.
Just then Damian came bursting into the room.
"Pennyworth, have you seen Titus, he-" Damian's eyes went from Alfred to Titus to Ruari.
"Sorry to scare you like that." Ruari said lightheartedly. "He woke me up. I guess he smelled the bacon Mr. Alfred was cooking and knew I'd give him a piece if he pouted."
Damian eyed Ruari suspiciously while Titus pawed over to Damian, looking cheerful as ever.
"I see." He mumbled, then walked off with the dog by his side.
"Why do I get the feeling that he doesn't like me too much." Ruari sighed and Alfred just gave a short chuckle.
"Master Damian tends to live by a motto of 'Guilty until proven innocent' in life. Even then he can still be disagreeable at times." Alfred informed.
"Huh. Interesting." Ruari nodded, thinking back to when she stared at Bruce's knuckles the day before when she was thinking about staying. However, she pushed the thought away.
"Anyway, is there something I can do to help with anything, Mr. Alfred?" she inquired.
"Well, this my go quicker with someone to dice the tomatoes." Alfred informed and Ruari grinned.
"Cutting tomatoes is my specialty."
~*~*~*~Later~*~*~*~
Cutting tomatoes was not Ruari's specialty. Sure, she could cut them, but not without making a mess and getting seeds everywhere.
However, the food was prepared and finished, and just as Alfred announced so, Bruce strode into the room in a nice business suit and tie.
"Good morning Alfred." he grinned, then looked at Ruari. "And good morning, Ruari. You're up early." Ruari shrugged. Her sleeping patterns were irregular. She enjoyed waking up early, but there were times where she would stay up all night just to finish a chapter in a story, causing her to wake up mid-day.
"I had a furry wake up call." She smiled, but wanted to leave. She couldn't help but feel like she was being interrogated by Bruce even when he was just talking to her casually. Even though Ruari figured that she knew why, she still didn't like it when people knew a lot about her. "I gotta go check on something, but good luck at work today, Mr. Wayne." She smiled, and shot out of the room.
"Thank you." Bruce called afterwards, then she was gone.
Ruari ended up back in her room. Or at least the room she would be staying in. Labeling things like rooms as hers wasn't a good idea in her mind. It was less to get attached to when she would have to leave.
Because she knew that she would have to leave at one point. She couldn't stay cooped up in the mansion forever, and yes, it was nice, but it was far from what she would call a 'comfortable house.'
If anything she felt like it could be haunted, which was something she didn't want to think about due to her already present paranoia and her wild superstitions.
Ruari looked over at the bed, and straightened it up. If this were a room she had bought, she would have left the bed unmade, however Ruari was in somebody's home. And when in somebody's home, she figured that she should be respectful and keep things as tidy as possible.
She felt bored. Yes, she figured that she could write on her laptop, but not only did she feel bored, but she felt restless. Walking out of the room, Ruari decided to explore the manor.
Meandering around, Ruari came across a large picture with a man, a woman, and a young boy all posed happily together. The picture was fairly large and looked like it was painted.
Ruari hummed, staring at the picture. The young boy looked familiar.
"That is father and my paternal grandmother and grandfather." A voice spoke, and Ruari jumped, startled by the voice.
This place really is haunted. She thought, but was relieved when she turned around and saw Damian.
"Sorry Damian, I didn't hear you walk in. You startled me." Ruari informed with a nervous chuckle.
"I figured considering your alarmed appearance." Damian informed haughtily. "Anyway, I noticed you were staring at the picture, so I thought I should tell you who it was of."
"Well… thank you. So, the little boy is Bruce?" Ruari questioned.
"Yes, that is father." Damian nodded.
"You look like him." Ruari smiled and Damian rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Well of course I do. I'm his son."
"That doesn't mean you would automatically look like him." Ruari stated. "Most men I know look like their mothers. Girls usually look like their fathers. I am an example of that. Though I have some features of my mother, a great deal of me looks like my father."
"I see." Damian murmured, slowly nodding. "I'm grateful to look like my father."
"I would be if I were you too. He's very handsome." Ruari grinned.
"Are you proud that you look like your father?" Damian inquired and Ruari sighed.
"From a genetic standpoint, I suppose I am. My father was fairly handsome with nice hair and body type, so I don't look too bad myself. But… emotionally I'm not sure. I loved them, but I really wish some days that I didn't look like either of them." She informed, and Damian nodded slowly.
"I can empathize with that." he stated. Ruari looked over at the boy, and realized how old he looked. Granted he was probably around twelve years old, but the way he spoke, held himself, and even when you looked into his eyes, he seemed like someone in their adulthood.
"Sorry, this topic just got a bit depressing." Ruari forced out a giggle. "Anyway, I was just walking around to familiarize myself with this place."
"I can give you a tour, but mind you, I am not the best of guides."
"I'd be happy to have your assistance." Ruari smiled, and Damian nodded, having her follow him throughout the mansion as he explained different rooms and pictures.
~*~*~*~Elsewhere~*~*~*~
Knocking softly on the bedroom door, then creaking it open slowly, Jason poke his head into Ruari's room, expecting to see her asleep.
However, he was surprised to see that the girl was nowhere in sight and he saw a fairly well made bed.
He noted that the pillow was a bit messed up, but after further inspection, Jason found his jacket underneath it, making him grin.
"Knew you'd like the jacket." He murmured. He then went downstairs, expecting that Ruari had maybe started to eat breakfast.
However, all he saw was Bruce and Alfred.
"Good morning, Jason." Bruce nodded and Jason stiffened.
This was so strange. So alarming. It was as if he was put in a time machine and sent back to when he was a boy. When Bruce would smile at him, saying a 'good morning' then offering him some bacon he didn't want while Alfred wasn't looking and it hurt.
It hurt Jason so much to see this all playing out years later.
"Morning, B." Jason nodded, forcing out the sentence. He had yet to really start mending the bridges he burned making the situation fairly awkward.
Thank god for Alfred.
"Good Morning Master Jason. Do you want an omelet? Miss Whelan helped me with cutting the tomatoes as best she could." Alfred informed.
"Actually, I was looking for Ruari. Have you seen her around?" Jason inquired.
"She told us she was heading to her room." Bruce stated, and Jason frowned, knowing that meant that he had just missed her.
"Alright, thanks for telling me." he sighed, and started to head out of the room, when Bruce stopped him.
"Jason. She's mourning." Bruce stated, a warning tone is his voice. Jason knew Bruce well enough that that tone meant not to bother something.
"Yeah, no shit." Jason snapped and Alfred shot him a pointed look. "Sorry Alf." Jason added.
"I'm just saying that maybe you should just let her come to you instead of you seeking out her." Bruce informed.
"You don't know Ruari like I do. She shouldn't be left alone when she's sad. She gets broody and self-hating and depressed. I'm not saying that I need to be at her side, but at least someone has to, if she is to get through this." Jason explained and to his surprise, Bruce grinned at him.
"Then best of luck finding her." With that, Jason ran back upstairs in search of Ruari.
"Jason has matured quite a bit, hasn't he." Alfred hummed.
"Yes he has, Alfred." Bruce smiled, thinking about how Jason was before the boy had died.
The boy that was so full of joy. However, when Jason was upset, he would get broody, self-hating, and depressed.
The fact that he is someone's rock during a hard time in their life is a sure sign of how much Jason's matured. Bruce thought, then continued to finish eating his breakfast.
