Hey guys. It's me. Back from camp and ready to write. I really hope you like this chapter. I know it's moving kinda fast now, but trust me when I tell you I will divulge more into everyone's characters in this story, I'm just trying to get the ball rolling at the moment.
Oh, and just in case you guys were wondering, I do have people in mind who I would cast as the major characters in this story, but I don't want to ruin anyone's idea of what Dick, Tim, etc are like, but if you'd like to hear my "all star cast" let me know.
Anyway, hope you enjoy. I only own the OC, so please don't sue.
Haley rolled over on the dingy mattress on the floor of her run-down apartment. She shivered as the holey blanket barely blocked the chilly breeze coming in through the cracks and holes in the wall and where the window seal's seal had fallen apart.
It also didn't help that her window had been busted out three days ago and she had leant out the only tarp she owned to a neighbor with the same problem. She curled up in a tighter ball to attempt to keep herself warm.
"Not exactly the palace I imagined the leader of the outcast living in."
Quickly reaching up, she grabbed the gun from her nightstand and pointed it at the intruder.
Red Robin's stiletto was seen in the window as he held his hands up, showing he was not there to cause any harm. Haley sighed as she sat the gun back down on the nightstand. "That's the second time you've nearly given me a heart attack." She scolded, attempting to get her breathing under control.
"Sorry, force of habit." He explained with a shrug as she stood out of bed, wearing a long sleeved t-shirt and short shorts. She rubbed at her sapphire like eyes.
"What are you doing here?" She asked before a look of realization suddenly crossed her face and she ran a hand through her blonde locks. "Oh, right, Nightwing." She walked into the other room and he followed her through the tiny apartment. It was simple; one bedroom with a combined kitchen and living area and a bathroom the size of a closet.
He took a further look around the apartment. There was no air conditioning unit, no heater. There wasn't a TV nor a computer. The only furniture was a mattress lying on the ground, a slanted card table, and two folding chairs. There were no dressers, but a small pile of clothes were in the corner. A small, dingy teddy bear lay on the bed next to where she had been trying to sleep.
"I know it's not much." She said with a sigh. "But it's enough to get by." She started walking toward the sink. "Do you want to sit down? Can I get you a drink or anything?"
Tim couldn't help but chuckle. "I don't freak you out at all, do I?"
She got a dingy looking cup out of the cupboard and filled some water in the tap, then turned to lean her back against the counter with the makings of a smug smirk on her face. "Well, you aren't nearly as intimidating as your Dad or boss, or whatever the big bat is to you. But, most importantly, you really only need to be nervous about the bat and his crew if you've been doing something wrong. The worst thing any of you would do to me would be to tell me to focus on school and leave the crime fighting to you. I really don't plan on listening, so…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm being rude. Did you want that drink or some food maybe?"
Red Robin looked at her, and she could tell his eyebrows were about to his scalp.
"What?"
"In all the years I've been doing this, no one has ever asked me that."
She shrugged. "Well, Gotham is pretty rude." She paused for a moment. "How's Nightwing? I mean, I assume that's why you're here."
"It is." He said. "He's alright. Nothing that won't heal."
When Red Robin didn't even grin at his news, Haley gave him a questioning look. "You don't smile a lot, do you?" When he didn't respond, she gave him a soft smile. "Well, I'm glad to hear he's okay."
"Yeah, thanks to you. Although my 'boss' as you put it, has never been too thrilled that a bunch of rogue teenagers are out standing toe to toe with villains and criminals alike."
"Ah, so you've heard of us?"
Red Robin nodded. "We knew that crime had dropped in the area and, when we investigated, we saw that it was the local teens who had taken the initiative to cause that. Didn't realize it was so evolved though."
"We are pretty awesome, aren't we?" She bragged, taking a drink of water.
"Don't get too cocky. Joker won't take this lightly. But, you saved Nightwing tonight, so we'll be watching. We owe you one. I owe you one."
She smirked and turned back toward the cabinets. "Hey. I'm sure you guys have saved us more times than I'll ever know about. So, I'd call us square at the least." She rummaged through it for a few seconds. "Are you sure that you don't want any…"
She stopped short when she turned around and saw her apartment was empty. She scoffed, shaking her head. "Friggin' bats, man."
Tim pulled his cowl down as he entered the cave. Walking over to the infirmary, he looked at his still unconscious brother and rested a hand on his chest.
"Is he still doing alright?"
"He's fine. He hasn't woken up since you left." Bruce answered, cowl down, not turning away from the Bat-Computer.
"I was afraid of that. When you tell him you don't want him patrolling for at least a week so he can heal up, he isn't going to be happy. I really didn't want to be anywhere near the line of fire."
"Well, he'll just have to get over that."
"You know he'll make the argument that he isn't a child anymore, right?"
"To me, yes. But, he won't be able to say no to Alfred."
Tim scoffed a little. "That's just low." Walking up to the computer, he sat a hairbrush down next to Bruce, causing his adopted father to raise an eyebrow at him. "It's the girl's hairbrush. It's got her fingerprints on it, so we can finally learn about the leader of the outcast."
Seeing the look Batman was giving him, Tim rolled his eyes. "Would you have rather I kidnapped her and drug her down here so you could interrogate her and run test?"
Bruce chuckled despite himself. "Good point. But you chose to lift her hairbrush of all things?"
"She lives very hand to mouth." Tim explained with a sigh. "Not much food or wordly possessions. I just didn't want to take something I didn't think she could borrow or replace easily."
Batman nodded his understanding and, after grabbing the proper tools, dusted the brush for prints, placed it on the computer scanner, and waited for the match. The computer began to scan the files as Bruce turned back to Tim.
"You didn't see any sign of Joker or his thugs in the area, did you?"
"No." Tim quickly replied. "I circled the blocks three times then once more after I left her apartment. I let Commissioner Gordon know he may want to keep a closer eye on the area, but it doesn't look like Joker is going to do anything yet."
"He'll be back though." Bruce growled darkly, taking a glance toward Nightwing. Tim sighed inwardly, knowing how difficult it had been for Bruce to deal when he had brought Dick back from the alley.
Tim jumped out of the car as Bruce hurried over, his cowl already down but in full Batman mode. "Status." He was already hurriedly grabbing Dick out of the car and carrying him to the infirmary where Alfred was waiting.
"He passed out on the way here. Initial assessment showed a concussion, broken ribs, multiple lacerations and contusions."
"How?"
Tim shuffled his feet nervously before swallowing down his nerves. He looked up to meet Batman's gaze. "It was Joker. He…he used a crowbar."
The murderous glare that Bruce gave him was something he had never seen before. He had seen similar stares from Batman, but never anything quite this filled with rage while the cowl was removed.
Bruce swallowed the bile in his throat as he took in his sons injuries, the angry mask gave way to one of fatherly concern. Realizing how close he came to losing his son, his eldest, he allowed himself a rare and brief moment where he showed his affection for his children by running a comforting hand through Dick's hair a few times.
However, after mere seconds, the softer side of Bruce Wayne was gone and a raging bat took over. He glared at Alfred, muttering a quick, "take care of him," before sulking over to the Bat-Computer. Hitting a button he quickly opened communicator lines to all channels.
"This is Bat-Man on an open line. Joker is loose in the city. If you see him, do not engage. Trail him and contact me. That is an order. Batman out."
Batman spent the remainder of time pacing next to the infirmary, watching Alfred work on his son, offering help when and if he could. This was, by far, not the worst injury Dick had ever received, but something about Joker and a crow bar being involved sent Bruce into a tailspin of flashbacks of loosing Jason. And, although the logical, detective side of his brain argued that Bruce should go back on patrol since Dick's injuries, while somewhat severe, were not life-threatening; the fatherly part screamed at him to stay put and take care of his son in a way he couldn't take care of Jason after such a similar attack by the Joker.
And that's exactly what he did. Nerves on end, he watched until Alfred deemed Dick would be fine, but would need to take a few days off of patrolling to get better.
Bruce not only agreed, but said that Nightwing would be taking a week off.
After everything had calmed down and Dick was alright, Tim had gone to meet with Haley like he had promised and Alfred had gone upstairs to make refreshments and check on Damian, who was home sick with the flu.
Bruce however, though he would deny it if anyone ever asked, had simply sat next to Dick's bed and watched the up and down motions of his chest and listened to the soft beep of the heart monitor until he was alerted by the security system that Red Robin's car was approaching.
Tim patted his shoulder. "Yeah, he will be, but we're ready for him. He'll be back in Arkham, worse for the wear, and Dick will be bugging Alfred to make chocolate chip cookies in no time."
A shadow of a smirk formed on Bruce's face. He was about to respond, but the computer started beeping urgently, letting the two superhero's know that it had found a match for the fingerprints on the hairbrush. Bruce quickly turned to the keyboard and screen to analyze the findings.
"Does she have a record?" Tim asked, watching his mentor work.
"No. The match came from Child Protective Services. She was or is in the foster care system." Bruce explained. His eyes grew wide in shock for a moment before he quickly caught himself and returned to his normal brooding and stoic expression.
Tim saw the look, however brief it may have been, and quickly called Bruce out on it. "What is it?"
"Later." Was all Bruce said as he hurriedly tapped in the JLA Communicator. "Superman."
"Yeah Batman?"
"I'm sending you Red Hood's coordinates. I need you to got get him and bring him here. Now."
"Why?"
Bruce sighed as he lowered the defenses of the cave. "I don't have time to explain. It's a family matter and it's urgent."
Clark hesitated a moment before replying. "Just promise you aren't going to try to hurt him unprovoked."
"I could never hurt Jason." Bruce replied, his voice losing some of its edge.
A mere seven seconds later, Superman was standing in the cave holding a surprised and squirming unmasked Jason Todd under his left arm.
"What the f*** is this?" Jason shouted, the white streak in his hair standing in dark contrast to the dark hair around it. "Get off of me." He shouted, attempting to wrench his arm free of Superman. Obviously, he could not, but the Man of Steel quickly obliged the nonverbal request and released the Red Hood.
"Thanks for bringing him." Bruce nodded toward Clark before looking at the former Robin, his voice still holding the softer tone it had earlier. "Jason, calm down."
"Calm down? Calm down?" Jason shouted, his face growing red in anger. "You have Clark pull me out of bed in the middle of the night and drag me all the way down here without a hint of warning and you expect me to act calm? Who the f*** do you think you are? You can't just order me around like you did when I was Robin and expect me to be at your beck and call! You walk around like you're some superhero God and…"
"Jason, shut up!" Bruce harshly interrupted, causing the others to grow silent. Sighing, he ran a hand down his face before looking at Superman. "Clark, can you give us a moment?"
The Man of Steel nodded, and, seeing Nightwing lying in the infirmiry, he went over to check on the young man.
A look of concern crossed Jason's face for less than a moment before he rolled his eyes, indifference and annoyance clear in his features. "Did you call me here because Dickie-bird got himself hurt again? Because, quite frankly, I don't care."
"Yes, you do care." Bruce argued, but continued on before Jason could respond. "And that isn't what this is about."
"Then why the h*** did you have Clark drag me out of my apartment and away from my friends at three thirty in the morning?"
"Nightwing got into a little bit of a situation tonight." Bruce didn't go into details, not sure how Jason would respond to Joker's attack on Dick, seeing as it was so similar to the beginning of how he was killed. "He had some help out of it."
Jason rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm supposed to care, why?"
"Jason," Bruce said, and for once his emotionless, stoic expression was one of concern and regret, like he knew the words he was about to say were going to send someone whom, despite everything, he still cared for, through a whirlwind of emotions. "We found her."
"Bruce, you're Batman. You find a lot of people in your line of work, so you're going to need to be a bit more specific."
"Jason. We found Piper."
This time, Jason didn't even attempt to hide his expression. His jaw dropped and he looked at Bruce as if he wasn't speaking English and had grown a second head.
"Wh-what?" He barely managed to choke out as Bruce pointed toward the picture on the computer, showing that the Bat-Computer had found a match for "Haley's" prints.
"We found your sister."
And that was when Jason threw his first punch.
And there it is. Hope you enjoyed. Trust me, you'll definitely hear more from Dick as the story goes along, seeing as he is my favorite character and all. :) Anyway, please read and review. Tell me what you like or hate or what you'd like to see. Reviews = love and I'd love to have some, so please, just drop me a line and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading and I hope to post again soon.
Until then,
Casey
*2 Corin. 4:8-9*