Help your brother's boat across, and your own will reach the shore.

~Hindu Proverb

Chapter Nine

They arrived a day later than what Tim would have liked, but their feet were back on solid ground at least again. The crew that had taken them across the ocean made sure that their money was going to their bank accounts before doing much more than letting them out of the crate. Once the money was transacted, they were keen on getting the two boys off the boat. Tim and Damian were a few rows of shipping containers away when Damian turned to Tim and opened his mouth.

"Why did we not alert the authorities to their presence in the docks? Are we yet not still crime fighters?"

Tim only held up a hand and counted backwards from five. When he reached the number one, sirens pierced the air and shouts could be heard coming from the boat. Tim turned to look at Damian with a smile on his face.

"Did you really think that I would let them just walk away? Those other containers had young girls that were taken against their wills. Come on now, you must think of me better than that."

Damian grumbled something that Tim couldn't quite catch. He didn't bother in trying to figure out what it was, something else was bothering him.

The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up.

The quicker that they got out of there, the better he would feel. His feet picked up the pace as he searched for the right container. Three rows and four proclaiming's that he was incompetent later he finally found the right one.

As promised, the container had no lockbox covering the lock and the key was buried in the dirt right below. Tim brushed it off and opened the crate. Inside were two motorcycles and extra equipment hanging on the wall.

"How did you manage to get this all in here?" Damian asked walking over to where his utility belt hung from.

"Siblings are wonderful things. Remind me to thank Cass when we see her again."

"So she was in on your plan?" Damian looked at Tim.

Tim snorted. "No, I told you, it was all me. I just requested that she help me out with this one thing and then I would owe her one down the road." He tossed over a sack to Damian.

Tim didn't really pay much attention to what Damian did with the bag after he gave it to him. It was just a pair of clothes that were actually his size and a pair of tennis shoes instead of the fancy dress shoes that he had been wearing since his funeral. Tim didn't really care if Damian changed at all. It was just a quick ride over to Gotham and the rest of their lives could go on like it had before. Tim grabbed a couple of helmets and held one out for Damian to grab.

"Let's get out of here," Tim muttered. If only to himself. That feeling of being watched was starting to grate on his nerves.

"Good, you nervous tic of muttering to yourself had been annoying."

"I haven't been muttering to myself," Tim protested, sliding a helmet down around his head.

"You wouldn't notice it of course. But it is as annoying as Grayson's singing in the shower. But that wouldn't be as bad as it is if the man knew how to hold a tune."

Tim ignored Damian's comment and started the engine of the motorcycle. He wasn't going to reply to that, even though Dick's singing in the shower wasn't the greatest. He revved the engine and waited for Damian to climb onto the bike that was there for him.

Damian started his engine and inched slowly towards the door. Tim rolled his eyes at his little brother's impatience. He wanted to get home just as badly. Put this whole nightmare behind him and forget that this ever happened. Not that that would ever really be possible, but at least he could try.

Tim let go of the brake and sped out of there with Damian hot on his heels. Tim weaved his way through the shipping containers careful not to lose sight of Damian behind him in the side mirrors.

The kid looked relaxed almost. The wind was whipping through his clothes and through his hair if he hadn't the helmet on. Tim guessed that it gave Damian a sense of control about the situation. Something that he could be in charge of and know exactly how it would come out in the end.

But he was still on edge. Something wasn't right.

He just hoped that they would both safe within the borders of the Manor before he found out just why he was feeling so.

She lowered the binoculars. She climbed down from her vantage point and walked over to the car that was waiting for her. She climbed into the back seat and turned to the driver.

"Go on the interstate northbound. We'll be able to cut them off before they reach Gotham City limits."

"Yes, Princess." The gas pedal was pressed down to the floor of the vehicle and the car began its progress to the highway.

Talia tapped her nails upon the side of the car. She was lost in thought. Intercepting Drake and Damian wouldn't be difficult. They would need to take back roads to avoid any police or any public eye that may detain them. An adolescent boy driving a motorcycle would raise red flags with a lot people. They sacrificed speed for stealth.

One thing still bothered her. Her son, she caught herself referring to Damian more and more as such recently, hated the older boy. Yet he continued to follow and listen to what Drake would tell him to do, with some of his usual irritability, but still obeyed. It was out of character for him. Unless.

Unless he had come to respect Drake for what he'd done. Her heart paused for a moment. Was it possible that Damian could be growing affection for his older brother? If this was the case, a wrench may have been thrown in the plans. Not a large one, but one nonetheless.

He may fight for his brother.

Talia brushed that aside. Drake wouldn't allow it. His mission was to get the boy back from the pits alive and safe to his father. He would sacrifice himself first before he would fail that objective.

She was sure of that.

"Well that was a long-ass story," Jason said stretching his arms and legs.

Stephanie gave a small smile. "I warned you about that."

Stephanie had sat down midway through her story on the cave. She never really looked at Jason's face as she spoke. Jason was astonished. Those two had a lot of history. It was quite amazing that they still were as good friends that they were. But as Stephanie pointed out a little earlier in her story, they hadn't exactly broken up the last time.

"So what are you going to do when they get back?" Jason asked cracking his joints. Sitting in a cubby wasn't the most comfortable place to sit.

"I'm not sure," Stephanie said wrapping her arms around herself.

Shit, she has been through a lot. Dammit Replacement, can't you see the ripples you've caused? Jason thought to himself.

"Well, not that my advice is worth anything, when he gets back, tell him what you feel."

"He's changed." She muttered. Jason walked over and lifted her chin and looked into her tear filled blue eyes.

"So have you."

It was a simple fact, but Stephanie broke out into a wide smile and gave Jason a hug. Jason froze. Getting hugs from Dick was one thing; that man didn't know anything about personal boundaries, but this was different. It was a thank you. Jason hadn't been thanked in a long time.

He cleared his throat and stepped back. He opened his mouth to say something, but it shut again. Absent-mindedly he scratched the back of his head.

"The words, you're looking for are 'You're welcome'," Dick said walking into the room. Dick turned to face Stephanie.

"Oracle thinks she may have found a lead about our boys. I want you to go check it out, alright?"

Steph smiled at the thought and bounded off to retrieve the information.

Dick turned to look at his younger brother.

"Does-does that happen a lot?" He asked once his voice was back.

"Not as often as I would like, but then again being a part of this family, no one gives hugs as often as I would like them to." Dick gave a sad smile.

Jason rubbed the stubble that was growing in on his face. Did that mean that he was actually fulfilling his promise to Damian? That he was actually being a part of the family now? He didn't have very much time to think about it because in an instant Dick had his arm around Jason's throat and was rubbing a fist into his skull.

"Hey! Stop it dickhead!" Jason protested.

"Nuh-uh, little brother, take it like a man." Dick retorted. By the time Jason wrestled his way out of Dick's grasp and pinned him to the ground, he had forgotten that the last time he was called someone's little brother was before the Joker killed him. And by the time Bruce and Alfred came downstairs to remind them that there were things to be done, he had forgotten that he was a twenty-something year old wrestling on the floor with his older brother like they were kids again.

Damian could see that Drake was on edge. The way that he kept glancing in the side mirrors even so often to make sure that he was still behind him. The way that he would speed up only to remember that there still was a speed limit.

It was quite irritating.

That had been going on for the last eleven miles.

"When we cross the line of Gotham city limits, I want to you to pull ahead of me and go straight to the Manor, Alright?" Drake asked over the comm in the helmets.

"Tired of looking back at me every few seconds?" Damian snapped.

There was a pause before Drake answered that question. "Just promise me that you're going to make it back home safely. Do you think you can do that?"

He was trying to hide it, but Damian could tell that he was trying to hide his concern. Damian felt a small twinge inside somewhere. He didn't recognize the feeling. He filed it down later to ask someone about it. Preferably someone who wouldn't blab their mouths the moment that he turned his back.

Damian didn't respond for a while. To do what Drake asked, he would have to abandon him. And as much as he enjoyed the thought of leaving Drake behind in the dust, never to look at his ugly mug again, there was a tiny part of him that was suspicious of his motives.

"Damian?" Drake prompted.

"Yeah, fine whatever. Leave your sorry ass behind; I should have done that a while ago," Damian said finally.

Drake didn't say anything to that. And as much as he appreciated that there was silence between them, he sort of missed the bickering that they would exchange. He wondered if that was what Drake was talking about when he was talking about being dysfunctional brothers.

Damian's grip on the handles tightened. The sooner they made it home, the faster he could figure out what the hell Drake was meaning with his words.

"They should be coming around that corner any moment now. Get in positions," She ordered.

"Yes Princess."

From their vantage point, they could see the road curve blindly. It was the perfect vantage for a sniper or an ambush. No doubt that the Bats would have used it as a stakeout spot had it been in the city. They wouldn't be seen from the ground and there was cover from the air from the trees.

Talia would be pacing if she had been a pacing person. As it was, she wasn't and simply waited for those boys to come around the corner. It was only a mile or so from the outer perimeter of Wayne Manor. And were she more concerned about it, she would have chosen a location farther away from their destination.

The roar of motorcycles was getting louder. They were getting closer.

"Ready to fire," she ordered.

The assassin holding the rocket launcher flipped the primer and rested his finger on the trigger. He aimed down at the road below him. His aim was steady and he breathed evenly. No need for him to mess up and have wrath directed down in his direction.

"Aim for the first motorcycle," Talia said. It was a fifty/fifty chance that it would be Damian. Either way, the other would be dealt with quickly.

Two sleek black bikes came around the bend and it was difficult for her to determine who was leading the charge. Distance worked against her and they were wearing similar clothing.

"Fire."

There was a loud blast as the trigger was pulled and the rocket was launched through the air.

Tim was anxious to turn this corner. Somewhere in the curve, Damian should speed up and pull ahead of Tim and head straight for home. Tim was on the outside of the curve and Damian should be passing him any time now.

Tim was almost out of the curve when he saw it. He couldn't hear it; the engines were drowning out everything outside of the helmet. But there was no denying that he saw the smoke trail bearing down on him. It was aiming straight for the part of the road where he was going to be in a few seconds. He couldn't have avoided it if he wanted to. At the speeds he was going and the angle it was at, it would hit with his bike. He could try to swerve, but he couldn't tell how close Damian was behind him. So he stayed his course.

The rocket connected with the ground inches from his front tire. He closed his eyes and allowed whatever happened happen.

He could feel as he flew through the air. The moment that he and his bike connected with the ground and pinned him down, he blacked out from the pain.

But he was glad that it was him and not Damian.

A/N: Uh-oh. The action should be picking up in the next few chapters, and I ask you bear with me, I'm not the best at writing fight scenes.

'Til next time.