Chapter 7

2:00 AM January 19th 2011 Watchtower

After explaining to Selina and Alfred everything Falcone told me, we all began working on trying to find out any information of Daniel's current whereabouts. Selina went downtown to ask around, Alfred is currently working on the computer in the batcave while I am on the one in the Watchtower. Barry was already here when I arrived and Clark quickly joined after Barry called him. Connor was staying at Clark's apartment and overheard the phone call. Clark had told him to stay in Metropolis, but Connor's curiosity and worry got the best of him, so he is now waiting outside in the hallway for any update.

Falcone said Russello works with other mobster's names. So I am currently sifting through all properties associated with mobs from Italy or its neighboring countries. There are so many results, it will take weeks to go through all of it one by one. There hasn't been any word from Selina or Alfred about any discoveries. The reoccurring feeling of uselessness begins to set in.

Barry says behind me "How about we try to narrow down the results."

"You don't think I'm trying" I growl.

Clark places a hand on my shoulder, telling me to calm down. "Is there anything else that Falcone told you that would help?"

"I've been racking my brain trying to think of things Clark. But I don't even know if they are in America anymore. Falcone said Russello is from Italy, he could have brought Dick back there."

"It is weird thinking Dick is Italian, not Romanian" Barry comments.

Clark ignores him and tells me, "I doubt it. We couldn't handle keeping Dick and Jasmine under one roof. Think about how much they are probably fighting Russello right now. Most likely he is trying to keep them in one place, traveling would be too risky."

I sigh and stare at the monitor. Quietly I murmur "He's torturing them. Every second I spend looking for the correct building, the longer that monster has to hurt my son and Jasmine. For all we know that is where Joey has been all this time. Getting tortured for who knows how long. Every time I try to delete a property, I worry that I may be deleting the one Dick is at."

"We will find him Bruce" Clark assures me. "Dick, Jasmine maybe even Joey. We will find them."

"You said Russello has a mob business" Barry asks. I nod as he continues, "Get rid of all the non-Italian crime families. Russello probably wants this under wraps, wouldn't want any other family asking questions. Most likely he is working within his own branches."

I ponder the idea, before agreeing and do as Barry suggested. The results narrow considerably, but there are still quite a few. Russello sold the buildings last month, so I also dismiss any properties bought over a month and a half ago. Around a dozen properties are left.

"Get rid of the ones in Gotham" Clark says. "Most likely he knows about Dick's relationship with you. Russello wouldn't want him being in close proximity to Bruce Wayne."

"Any of our cities" Barry adds. "I don't think he would want to be anywhere near League members after you all showing up in Vegas and Happy Harbor."

There are only four properties left. One is owned by Falcone, so I dismiss it for now. Finding the names of the owners to the other three properties, I run them through the computer. Bruno Mannheim, Derek Alo, and William Sarni. Before the computer is done processing, Clark steps up and points to Mannheim's building.

"It's that one."

"How do you know?" I ask skeptically.

"I put Bruno Mannheim in prison three months ago. He is still trying to gain power in Metropolis, he has nothing to gain from a building in South Dakota."

9:00 AM January 19th 2011, Rapid City South Dakota

There are only a couple guards outside the warehouse. Russello must not want to look to conspicuous to the town. The building itself isn't that big and it only has one floor, but we don't know if there is a basement or not. Dinah recognized one of the guards from the motel incident, so we know this is the correct place.

A good chunk of the League is here along with the Team. At first I was hesitant to bring the team of teens, but they were determined to be part of this mission; Wally and Connor especially. As for the League; Clark, Diana, Dinah, Oliver, Barry, Hal and Roy came along. After fights in Happy Harbor and Vegas, the League agreed that it would be a good idea for more members to go on missions concerning Urien.

Artemis and Roy begin sneaking around the building to where the guards are in front of an entrance. It only takes a minute for them to bring down both guards and Oliver takes down a third who was making his way around the building. With the entrance open, I along with the League make our way into the warehouse. The Team is to keep watch outside.

There is only one guard in the first room, who I take down easily. Strange, I would have thought there would be more. Maybe Russello is careful of the amount of people who know about Dick, Jasmine and Joey.

Suddenly a scream erupts from a part of the building. The sound rattles from the walls, filled with pain. A scream that makes my heart stop, Dicks. I can tell by the looks on the other League members' faces that they heard and recognized it too.

Without thinking, I burst into the next room hoping to find Dick. Instead I face a dozen men, some wearing the same masks as Urien's henchmen, standing or sitting around. They all have guns and other weapons in their hands or lying next to them. But I don't take notice of any of the guards. All my focus is drawn to a door on the other side of the room that leads to what looks like it used to be an office with its windows filled in with drywall.

The League begins battling the guards around me. I begin making my way to the room, every once in a while being stopped by a henchmen. After taking each down, I immediately begin heading to my destination again. It takes me quite a while, I don't know how long, before I finally make it to the door.

As I should have expected, the door is locked. After trying and failing to beat the door down, I look around for another Leaguer who could help. Clark is a few feet away, battling two guards. Grabbing one from behind, I send the guard flying into a nearby wall as Clark defeats the other. He looks over

"Thanks."

I gesture to the door and say "I need you to break that down."

Superman nods and quickly makes his way over to the door, me following right behind him. Clark gives the door a push, but it doesn't move. Frowning, he hits it a couple times more with a greater amount of force. The door eventually falls to the ground, revealing the room to both of us.

Inside basically looks like an inside of a steel box. It is smaller and only has two lights from the ceiling illuminating the room. There are two tables with bodies on them, giving the eerie feeling of a morgue. What pulls my eye is a large figure huddled over what looks like a chair. The man is wearing the same outfit as Urien's, when he looks up I see he is also wearing the mask.

I go into attack mode, anger filling my being. Before I can move though, Urien holds up a hand. As he does the door Clark had previously broken down, flies up and knocks me to the ground. Next to me, Clark dashes towards Urien. Looking over to the villain, all I see is his retreating figure going through a wall. A solid wall.

Superman stops at the wall, turns to me with shocked eyes, "Did he just…?"

"Aqualad" I interrupt Clark by speaking into my communicator. "Urien is outside the building, have the Team be prepared."

"Will do" Kaldur responds.

My attention turns to the chair Urien was standing over before fleeing. Sitting in the chair is a tied up Richard breathing heavily. He is wearing the same clothes as the day at the motel, except they are more tattered and dirty looking. In a second I am by his side. Dick's eyes are open, but don't seem to be focused. His skin is red and he is sweating everywhere. There are tiny spots around his body bleeding, but from what looks like a needle prick, nothing major.

"Dick" I whisper to him soothingly. His bonds are metal, so I won't be able to break them until I get the proper equipment. In the damaged state Dick seems to be in currently, I don't dare ask Clark to break the bonds with his strength.

Dick's face scrunches and turns to face me. "Bruce?" he asks in disbelief, his voice raspy.

"Yes, Dicky. I'm here. You're going to be okay, I've got you. I'm getting you out of here."

The exhausted boy lets out a wheeze, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Before I can respond, Dick's head slouches. I check his pulse to make sure he is still alive. Relief overcomes me as I feel Dick's steady heartbeat and hear him breathing. The battle outside begins to die down as doors begin slamming. The guards must be following their fleeing leader.

"Batman!" Flash yells, zooming into the room. "Oh Geez" he exclaims a second later. Barry dashes next to me and says "How is he?"

"Alive" I grunt.

He makes his way over to Superman who is looking over the figures on the tables. "Are those…" I begin.

"Jasmine and Joey" Clark finishes. "Yeah, they are hooked up to something."

Barry begins examining the IV's. "Anesthesia" he says. That explains why the two are sleeping. I tear myself away from Dick's side and walk over to the tables as Barry continues to explain "The tubes look to be for food and digestion. He must have been planning on keeping the two like this for quite a while."

Jasmine is on the one closest to Dick. She is wearing a red turtleneck sweater and some black pants. Her hair is sprawled around the table messily. Besides having IV's and tubes all around her, she looks healthy, no injuries.

I look over towards Joey. Being the first time I've seen him in person, I'm a bit shocked by Joey's appearance. The same black hair Dick has is quite shaggy and Joey has an odd beard covering his lower face, except for a large spot on his chin. Unlike Dick he is very tall, standing he would probably be Clark's or my height. While Jasmine isn't short, she isn't as shockingly tall like her older brother. Joey is wearing a pair of jeans with a navy blue short sleeved tee-shirt, showing a well-built upper body. His facial qualities look very similar to the picture we have on file, except for the hair of course. Even with the muscle and height, Joey's face still only looks to be only sixteen years old.

The battle has come to an end by the sounds of it. Clark walks out to check on the League and Team while Barry and I begin unhooking Joey from all the IV's and tubes. I keep a close eye on Dick to make sure he is fine, well as fine as he can be.

Clark walks back into the room, "Urien and his men got away."

"All of them?" I ask.

He nods, "Apparently they are masters of escape. Nobody on the League is hurt badly, mostly just some bumps and bruises. Same with the Team except Wally has a bad cut. Dinah's taking care of it. Other than that, there is nothing that requires immediate attention."

Barry nods as he pulls out the last IV, "Now to get these three back to the Watchtower."

"And make sure they stay there" I add.

4:30 PM January 19th 2011, Watchtower

It has been hours since we brought Dick, Jasmine and Joey to the Watchtower. After the med bay checked their health and cleaned the three up, the League and I set them up in the recovery rooms. They haven't shown any signs of waking up, but the med bay said Joey and Jasmine would after the anesthesia wears off. Dick's body seems to be suffering from exhaustion, so when he wakes is unknown.

I made it clear to the League that there is to be someone watching each of them at all times, no exception. Currently Diana is sitting in Jasmine's room and I believe Barry is in Joey's. As for Richard, Selina and I have been by his side the entire day. Everyone in the League and Team has stopped in for visits.

After the big fight, everyone decided to relax the rest of the day. Most changed into casual clothes or in some of the teenagers cases, pajamas. When Selina arrived, she brought with her a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt for me. After a couple hours of sitting in the batsuit, I also decided to change, seeing as I will probably be here for quite a while.

"Hey, how's Dick doing?" Oliver's voice asks.

Selina and I turn to see the archer standing in the doorway of Dick's room. He is wearing his domino mask, but also some dark pants and a black sports jacket. His bow and arrows are slung on his back.

"Fine, no signs of waking up though" I answer. "What are you doing here? Didn't you leave an hour ago?"

"Barry asked if I could take over looking after Joey for a while, thought I'd check up on Dick before I head in there."

I nod as Selina asks "Did you check in on Jasmine?"

"Yeah, Diana said she is still asleep. Anyway, see you later."

"Bye Oliver" Selina says as the archer leaves.

A couple minutes later Barry appears in the doorway wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and jeans. "Hey."

"How's Joey?" I grunt.

"Still asleep, Dick is too I see."

"Yes" Selina sighs.

"It'll take time. Remember how long it took Jasmine and him to wake up last time."

A yell from Oliver sounds in the room next door followed by a loud thump. Barry and I jolt out the door and into Joey's recovery room. Selina must have stayed with Dick because she wasn't there when we reached the room.

Opening the door to the recovery room, Barry gasps and runs in. I follow and see an unconscious Oliver on the ground. Barry is struggling with a conscious Joey who is aiming an arrow with Oliver's bow at Barry. The speedster is telling Joey "Calm down, we won't hurt you." But the boy isn't listening. Instead he is screaming "Where is he! Tell me or I swear to god I'll shoot this arrow through your fu…"

"Enough" I bellow, stopping both. Joey angrily aims the bow at me, but then freezes. His face drops into one of recognition. "Bruce Wayne?" he asks. I steadily nod, knowing he must recognize me as Dick's guardian. Joey looks between Barry, Oliver and I then comments "This must be the Justice League."

There is a long pause as Barry and I wait for the boy to make a move. Finally Joey lets out a relieved sigh and says "Thank god, I have no idea how to shoot this thing straight, I'm more of a gun guy. Sorry about that" he points to Oliver. "Thought you were some of Daniel's goons. Here" he hands the bow over to a shocked Barry. Joey notices the pair of jeans and a tee-shirt in the corner that we got for when he woke up. He grabs the jeans and begins putting them on while asking "Either of you have a smoke?"

Stunned by the sudden change in the boy's demeanor I almost stutter "How did you know I was part of the Justice League as Bruce Wayne?"

"James told Jasmine and I" he shrugs. "I'm assuming, since we are talking, that you know about our little secret." I nod. Joey continues, "James had tried convincing us to let you become involved with our family issues when we first told him. He thought mentioning your extracurricular activities would help his case, it didn't. Takes a lot to impress Jas and me."

"James?" Barry asks, sharing my confusion.

"Sorry, what's the name you guys call him? Rick?" Joey asks while taking off the hospital gown.

"Richard" I state.

"Yeah. Jasmine and I named him James as a baby. The Grayson's changed it after they adopted him." Joey pauses, "Since I am currently here with you, I'm guessing that means Daniel got his hands on James too."

I nod, Joey swears "Damn. What about Jasmine?"

"Yes. We managed to rescue the three of you though. Jasmine and Dick are still asleep."

"You call him Dick?" Joey says, raising an eyebrow. He smirks, "Well, going to bring that up next time we argue." He pulls the tee-shirt over his head and says "I want to see them."

"I think you should rest" Barry suggests.

"Look I've been resting for…what's the date?"

"January 19th 2011" I answer.

Joey freezes, his expression turning slightly gloomy. Taking in a deep breath he continues "I've been resting for almost three months. Now let me see Jasmine and James or Richard, or whatever he goes by."

Barry and I frown at the statement. Three months, that's how long Russello kept the boy under. My hatred for the man grows even more. "They are this way" I state.

Joey and Barry follow me into Dick's room first since it is the closest. Selina's eyes widen when she sees Joey enter, but doesn't say anything. Joey walks over to the bed Dick is sleeping in and scans the sleeping boy with an unreadable expression. He asks "What state was he in when you found him?"

"Urien had him tied to a chair. He was still awake when we got there, but quickly fell asleep" I answer.

Joey slowly nods, "How long since you brought him here?"

"A few hours."

"He'll probably be asleep for the next couple days. His body is still trying to process what Daniel did."

Selina asks apprehensively, "What exactly did he do to you three?"

Joey's jaw tenses a bit. He gives Dick one last look before heading out the door asking "Where's Jasmine?" I guess for now we will save that question for later.

"Next room" I answer as he passes me.

Joey makes his way into Jasmine's room, quickly followed by Selina, Barry and I. As he enters the room, I see Joey's eyes soften at the sight of his sister. Diana and Connor are sitting on the couch across from the door, both surprised at the new arrival. Joey ignores them and makes his way over to the bed. Sitting on the mattress he sadly stares at the girl for a while.

"I'm going to go check on Oliver, make sure he's okay" Barry whispers to me. Oh yeah, forgot about the unconscious archer. Barry travels down the hall into Joey's room.

I turn back to Joey who is still watching Jasmine with a solemn expression. After a couple minutes he asks "This is going to sound weird, but do you have anything else for her to wear? Jas always hated wearing dresses to bed; preferred shorts and a tank-top."

Diana and I exchanged frowns at the unusual request. Diana stands from her seat and answers "I'll go check. We have some clothes for when she wakes up in the corner. I'm sure I can muster up the shorts and top for now though."

"Thanks" Joey says still staring at Jasmine.

Diana exits the room, giving me a questioning look as she passes. Connor has the same expression on his face, I gesture for him to leave. He is hesitant at first, but eventually follows my directions and makes his way out of the room. Selina follows him down the hall, sensing that I want to speak to Joey alone.

We spend the next few minutes in silence. Eventually Joey sighs "So how much do you know?"

"Quite a bit, but it feels like a small part of the big picture" I state.

"How much did James tell you?"

"Nothing. One day I go upstairs to wake him for school and I find a note saying my son ran away. Our computer system was able to follow him and Jasmine around the country through security cameras."

"Jas and I never wanted James to get involved with all this" Joey sighs again. "We were hoping that growing up as an acrobat would hide his powers enough so he wouldn't ever notice them. Then one day his face was plastered in numerous magazines around Europe, so we had to go back to America and tell him everything. Only way to get James to settle down with all the publicity; we didn't want Daniel to recognize him and show up at your front door one day. Wasn't till I was captured that we find out it was too late. Daniel had created Urine or whatever stupid name he came up with, and had been testing James's powers for months."

"That's why he was in Gotham" I deduce.

Joey nods, "He probably wanted to see how much James was using them. When the three of us ran away, Daniel hadn't figured out what James's powers were yet."

I hesitate before asking the question that has been bugging me eve since I found out about Jasmine. "Why did you make Dick promise not to tell me anything? I would have helped."

"And get you in the line of fire. Sorry but I already have to worry Daniel going after us, we didn't need you slowing us down."

The comment angers me. "Because you were doing so well by yourself" I snap.

"We were actually" Joey argues. "Jasmine and I kept out of Daniel's grasp for almost fourteen years. Sure we had a few hiccups along the way, but we didn't get captured."

"You know how many innocent people have got hurt because of your secret. For starters the Grayson's died because Zucco was trying to get his hands on Dick. Then all the people who happened to be in the same place as Urien when he was trying to capture you three. Not to mention all the incidents I don't know about. Still don't think you could have used some help?" I fume.

Joey glares at me while getting off the bed to face me, "It's not our fault all that happened. Frankly, if we didn't spend all those years running away the world would be a lot worse off right now. You were the one who was supposed to keep James out of the spotlight, that's what you kept telling newspapers when you first took him in. If you had kept that promise, none of this would have happened. Daniel wouldn't have found out where James was and Jasmine and I wouldn't have had to move to America. If you had kept James safe, I would have never gotten captured."

"I didn't know there was any danger in him doing interviews" I yell. "Besides Daniel probably found out who Dick was by following you and Jasmine. He wouldn't have known who Dick was just by a magazine article. Don't you dare try and say I didn't try to keep my son safe."

"Technically he's not your son" Joey interrupts me. "Jasmine and I are his biological family."

"And where have you been his entire life?" I snap. "You don't just abandon your brother then call him your family when it's convenient."

Joey's jaw clenches. "Look, I'm not going to say I regret letting that orphanage adopt James away, because I don't. I regret the reasons I did it, but not the action itself. He was better off with the Graysons. They traveled for a living and wanted the kid. I was twelve years old already looking after a not even seven year old sister and knew we would be on the run for the rest of our lives. Leaving him with the Graysons was the best thing for James. Now letting you take him in was an obvious mistake."

"Excuse me! Are you blaming all this on me?" I growl.

"No I blame myself for not taking James with Jasmine and I after the Graysons died. But again, I thought he would have a better life with Batman than two runaways."

"You knew I was Batman back then?" I question shocked.

Joey rolls his eyes, "Not immediately. I read you when you captured Zucco and recognized your brain when Jasmine and I snuck into your manor to get James. It's part of my powers."

Trying to process all the new information, I take in a deep breath. Finding out Joey and Jasmine had broken into my home doesn't sit well with me, along with many other things that has been said. But for now I push those feelings back and try to calm down. Right now, I need to get as much information out of Joey as I can, "What are your powers?"

"None of your damn business" he snarls. "They aren't fun or cute like Jasmine and James's, mine are anything but good."

"Why do you three have them? What exactly are you?"

"Heck if I know. Daniel barely told me anything growing up. To him the three of us were just pigs waiting to get slaughtered." Joey mumbles. I can practically feel the hatred in the boy's tone.

I internally wince at the statement. As much as this boy is infuriating me, I can tell he has been through a lot. I ask gently "What did Daniel do to you? I've talked to Carmine Falcone, I'm not sure if you remember him. He told me that whatever it was must have been painful. Daniel had also done it to you when you were a child."

Joey's glare lightens a bit. He takes in a deep breath "You're not going to give up are you?"

"Whether you like it or not, I'm involved now in whatever this is. Have been since the second I took your brother in." Joey doesn't respond, his stare turns into one of internal conflict. I walk over and put a hand on his shoulder, "Isn't it time you start accepting some help? You and Jasmine have been battling this alone your entire lives. Let me help you, I can make sure Daniel doesn't get you three again."

"You can't" Joey states. "No matter what you do, you can't keep us safe from that man. When he comes for us again, which he probably will, he'll be even more determined than before. Now after getting his hands on all three of us, he will be unstoppable."

"What do you mean?" I ask confused.

Joey hesitates before saying cynically, "You wanted to know what Daniel did to us? You really want to know? Because you won't be able to do anything about it."

"Yes" I answer firmly.

"First he stuck these special needles into us. Everywhere, into skin, bone, organ. Next he connected them all by this thread he has, stuff has some special chemical or something. Ever cut yourself with a raiser or have some hair plucked. Think of that over every inch of your body while your lungs are on fire, heart is beating a thousand miles per hour and every single one of your bones is cracking all at the same time. Because that's what it felt when Daniel extracted my powers out of me. I'm sure Jasmine and James would give a similar description."