Jason stared at Charlie in utmost confusion. Felix Crow is her father? She's willingly helping them take down her father? Or is she throwing them off their track? Can she be trusted? He was now regretting the fact that he allowed her to know their secret identities.
Dick's face also showed confusion, but more of disgust. "Your.. father?! Felix is your father?! He's a drug lord and manages prostitutes! He's even brought girls from international countries and forced them to work at his club! And now you're telling me that you, his daughter, is one of his girls? How old are you anyways?!"
Charlie rolled her eyes, annoyed at Dick's unnecessary freak out. "Calm down cowboy. You didn't let me finished. Felix is not my biological father. He's my step-father, okay? And for your information, I'm nineteen, which is past the legal age of making decisions concerning my life and what I want to do with it."
Dick just threw his arms up and backed away from Charlie to pace around the room, still trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Why does he even try having some bonding time with Jason if it leads to something as twisted as this?
"Why help us?" Jason finally spoke up. "Why would you even betray your father, biological or not?" He wondered why anyone would even think about betraying family.. No matter what fucked up things they're doing, why would anyone betray them without a moment of hesitation? Betraying a father, mother, daughter, son. He still remembers that day.. that feeling of utter betrayal.
Charlie's face softened as she asked herself the same question. She hated Felix, that's a fact, and even wants him to go to hell. He was nothing like a father to her, but does she really trust two strange men that she had just met? "You have your reasons, I have mine," she said in an almost inaudible voice. Even if she couldn't trust either one of them about information of her past, she hoped to trust them to take down Felix and put her out of her misery.
Dick finally stopped pacing around the room and gathered his thoughts. "Alright, here's the deal. You know who we are, who we really are. So you know what we do. I can promise you that once we get to Felix, things aren't going to be pretty."
Charlie looked at Dick with cold piercing eyes. "Promise me that things are definitely not going to be rainbows and sunshine."
Dick nodded. "With this guy here, things are not going to be civil. Thank you."
"You can thank me once I see Felix on the floor of his bedroom."
Dick then turned to leave through the door that they entered through, leaving Jason alone in the room with Charlie. The vigilante and the young prostitute just stared at each other for what felt like hours. Both of them wondering if they can trust the other. Was she leading them into a trap? Was he capable of taking down Felix?
After a few moments of silence, Jason turned to follow Dick but was stopped by Charlie's voice.
"You have to promise me one thing too big guy."
"And what might that be?" Jason asked, with his back still facing her.
"Promise me.. that no matter what happens.." Charlie suddenly lost full stability of her voice, and heard the hesitations and crackles, "you're gonna help me escape this shithole."
Jason just stared at the wall, his back still towards her, and allowed a few more seconds of silence to pass between them. Yes, he decided to himself, she can be trusted. And without saying a single word, he walked right through the door and down the hallway to find Dick, leaving her in the room alone, and free to silently cry to herself.
After leaving the club, they headed back to Jason's place to come up with a strategy. Only some of the time there was used for strategizing. The rest was Dick convincing Jason not to murder the man, but let the cops handle it.
"The cops aren't going to do shit. They know what Crow is doing but they're fucking letting it slide 'cause they're a bunch of cowards!"
"I know Jay, okay believe me, I know how badly you want to take this guy down. But killing him just isn't what we do. We need to-"
"It's not what you guys do. Not we." Jason interrupted. Even though he admits that his relationship with his brothers, hell even with Bruce, has improved tremendously, he still sticks to his way of justice. To him, putting thugs behind bars are nothing. But guys like Felix? They don't deserve the privilege.
"It's not right Jason." Dick's voice was stern and serious. He was happy with his current relationship with the black sheep of the Wayne family, even if it was still a bit estranged. The last thing he wanted was to see it all fall apart because of their different views on justice. "You want him to suffer, I know that. So let him suffer in jail, where he'll stay and rot in. Let's just go and interrogate him on where the drug labs are located, and then tie him up and deliver him on the steps of the police station. Okay? He'll get what's coming to him."
Jason thought about it for a while. If only Dick knew how badly he wants to wrap his hands around crow's throat and watch the life fade from his eyes. How badly he wants to take him down so no one else has to suffer because of what he has done. No kid has to have a drug addict mother like he did.
"Fine," Jason agreed reluctantly as he pulled the red helmet over his head. He knew that if he stayed here arguing with Dick, they'll never get a move on. "But I get to do the punching, you just ask the questions."
"Deal," Dick grinned.
After forty five minutes on the road, Dick and Jason finally reached the address that Charlie provided them. They hid their motorcycles in a forest across from the house and quickly noticed that there aren't any guards in sight.
"The guards are changing positions, just like she said." Dick whispered. "We can break in through the roof and make our way to the south quarters."
Jason nodded as he reached down for the grappling hook. For a slight moment, a brief split of a second, Jason felt like he was Robin again. Given orders by Batman, using the grappling hook, and feeling the rush of adrenaline. He wasn't sure if he missed dawning the red and green uniform. He still hasn't found it within himself to fully forgive anyone after what happened.
Being the proteges of the dark knight, both of them were able to get to the roof before the guards settled in their new posts. They spotted a door that must lead into the mansion and Dick tried to open it, to no avail. "Locked."
"Well, she didn't mention this." Jason mumbled as he pushed Dick aside to attempt opening it himself. After the same results, he tried nudging the door open with his shoulder. Nothing. Jason groaned, already sensing that tonight won't go as smoothly as planned. He took a few steps back and ran towards the door, trying to give it one last blow, before the door abruptly opened. He couldn't stop his speed fast enough and ended up slamming hard on top of the person that just opened the door.
"Ugh! Well, hello to you too."
Jason groaned once again as he looked down at Charlie. His body was pressed heavily against hers, pinning her down on the floor. With almost little to no distance between the door, Jason noticed the freckles that sprinkled across her cheeks for the first time. He never knew that Asians had freckles too. Realizing that their position was reaching the peak of awkwardness, he jumped to his feet, not even bothering with an apology. Charlie raised her hand up for him to help her up, but immediately put it down once she saw that he turned her back towards her. She scoffed and stood up, patting down her shirt. Unlike her appearance in the club, where she wore heels, heavy makeup, and tight dresses, she looked more relax and more of her own age. She wore short red pajama bottoms with a matching silk pajama top. Her brown dyed hair was relaxed against her shoulders, and her face was clean from all the dark eyeliner and mascara.
"The door was locked." Dick informed, after enjoying the small blush he noticed on Charlie's face, and the awkwardness in Jason's stance.
Charlie swiftly recovered from her embarrassment and rolled her eyes at the raven haired man. "Well duh it's locked. You're breaking into the home of a dangerous wealthy man, did you really think we'll just leave the doors open with a welcome mat?"
"Could have mentioned that earlier," Jason mumbled underneath his breath.
Charlie ignored him and continued, looking only at Dick since Jason was already starting to get on her bad side. "I was waiting out there, but figured that you guys had probably bailed. Once I almost reached the end of the steps, I heard some banging. Next thing I know, I'm laying on the cold floor with Mr. Bad Boy over there breathing in my face."
"Sorry about that, we got carried away at coming up with a proper plan," Dick reported.
Charlie's face immediately transformed from annoyance to a mixture of determination and excitement. "Alright, what's our plan?"
Hearing the word "our", Jason instantly turned to face the young brunette. "Our? You're kidding me right? No, we will be the ones taking down your pops. You just go wait in your room or something, and let the big boys take care of it."
Charlie clenched her fists with furrowed eyebrows. After they take down Felix, she's going to make sure to kick his ass too. How dare he suggests that she's not capable of helping them? She might be less pissed off if he had simply just proposed that it was too dangerous. But instead he said to leave it to the "big boys." Hell, they wouldn't even be here in the first place if she didn't help!
"I want Felix gone just as much as you guys do, maybe even more," she hissed. "I am not going to leave it to the 'big boys', because even though you two decide to play superheroes at night-"
"We don't play, we kinda are.." Dick murmured under his breath.
"-that doesn't mean that I am anything less. You guys have no idea what I can or cannot do. I may not be wearing a mask, or a helmet, but I can still kick some ass. Do not even dare to underestimate me when you have not seen what I can do. And never ever say 'let the big boys take care of it' again. Just because I don't have a penis between my legs doesn't mean that I can't fight." Charlie's glares shot right through the red helmet that Jason donned. When no one responded to her slight outburst, she decided to continue. "You promised."
Dick proceeded to rub the back of his neck, a habit that he inquired whenever he was in an awkward situation. "Actually, I promised you that things are going to get roug-"
"Not you," Charlie said flatly, without even casting a glance at Dick. Her eyes were glued onto the helmet a mere few feet in front of her. She hated that helmet already. Not knowing what his expression looks like, not knowing what he must be thinking, feeling. She hated it. At least with a mask, she can have some kind of hint. "You. You promised me that you're going to get me the fuck out of here."
A few more moments of silence passed by. "Look, she is the only one that knows the blueprint of this mansion. We do kind of need her," Dick proclaimed.
Jason gave it some thought before finally giving into Charlie's demands. Without her, the mission would only involve him and Dick aimlessly wandering around. "Which way?" He asked in a low voice.
Charlie finally unclenched her hands and flashed him another one of her smirks. "Follow me."
"So.. am I ever going to learn your names or should I just proceed to call you 'Twinkle Toes' and 'Helmet Head'? Believe me I have no problem just sticking with them," she teased over her shoulder as she led them through a long hallwayof the south quarters.
"I understand the 'Helmet Head' part, but 'Twinkle Toes'..?" Dick pouted, not amused over his nickname. Jason couldn't help but chuckle a bit, seeing how the nickname fitted his brother in a sense.
"Well yeah, you look like you're light on your feet. Like some kind of acrobatic or something," Charlie elaborated.
"Or something.." Jason snickered.
Charlie stopped short just as they reached a corner, causing Dick and Jason to crash into each other. "What the fu-" Jason grunted.
"Shhh" Charlie warned. "There's two guards around the corner. You guys stay here while I distract them. Then do your whole superhero thing, and knock them out- just like you did to that asshole in the alley."
Before they can answer, Charlie strolled to the guards with a grin on her face.
"Hello, gentlemen. Late night, huh?"
One of the guards, a big muscled man in shades took an instant interest in the young Asian step-daughter of his boss. "Miss. Charlotte."
The other guard, a skinnier version of the first did a playful bow as he took her hand and kissed it. "The night just got more brighter now," he flirted. With Charlie's exotic features, her unique emerald eyes, and her fierce attitude, it was no surprise that the guards fancied her. Her relationship to Crow made things even more interesting. Who wouldn't want to try to get with the boss' daughter?
"Shouldn't you be in bed, Miss?" the first guard asked as he turned his back towards the corner to face her. "It's getting pretty late."
Charlie faked a yawn and lifted her arms to stretch, lifting up her silked shirt to reveal her midriff. The guards' eyes were immediately glued to her toned stomach.
"Yeah, I am getting a bit sleepy. Maybe I should hit the hay and catch some z's. You two stay be careful, okay? We don't want anyone creeping up on us," she said as she winked.
Before either one of the guards had a chance to answer, they fell to the floor by Charlie's feet. Dick and Jason stood above the two, easily knocking them out.
"Hey, what's going on there?!" a guard screamed from around the corner. Soon, the trio heard footsteps charging to where they are.
"Looks like the party's getting started," Charlie said.
Just then two more guards came around the corner, both pointing their guns at Nightwing and the Red Hood.
Their faces became puzzled once they recognized Charlie with them. "Miss. Charlotte? Are you okay?"
Charlie instantly faked an innocent scared expression. "Oh guards! Thank goodness you guys are here! These guys just popped out of no where and attacked!" She wailed as she ran towards the two.
"Some actress.." Jason whispered to Dick.
"Well, you two.. hooligans. Put up your hands and surrender." Charlie instructed. When neither Dick nor Jason moved a muscle, Charlie shot them a "do-what-I-say" look.
Seeing their hands in the air, one of the guards was pulling out a walkie talkie. But before he can speak another word, Charlie quickly grabbed the gun from the guard next to her and slammed it over the other guard's head, knocking him to the floor.
"What in th-" the guard whose gun was just stolen was unable to finish as Charlie elbowed him in the ribs, bringing him to his knees. She then brought her knee up to his face, knocking him out. All of this was done so swiftly, that Jason and Dick's jaws were dropped. These guards had to be at least specialized in combat, since they were hired to protect Crow. How did a mere prostitute knock them out without breaking a sweat?
Charlie turned back to the two brothers, who were still astonished by what they had just witnessed. "Told you that I can take care of myself."
Just who is this girl? Jason wondered.
"Little D better watch out, he might just be replaced," Dick joked with a grin as he bent down to pick up one of the guards. Jason followed suit with the other guard and dragged him to a nearby closet, stuffing him inside along with the rest of them.
"So what now?" Jason asked.
"Do you know where Crow's office is? Or at least where he keeps records of his documents?" Dick asked Charlie.
"You're just in luck." Charlie grinned as she walked down to a big door with a security pad. "This is where he seals everything. Documents, records, you name it." Her grin quickly faded as she remembered something. "But.. I don't have a single clue of what his password might be."
Dick smiled as he reached into his utility belt to pull out a device. "No worries, leave it to Twinkle Toes." He placed the device onto the security pad, and within a few seconds Charlie saw various combinations of numbers on the screen before one finally settled. The door then clicked and Dick effortlessly pushed himself inside, with Jason following him.
"I'll stand guard," Charlie assured them. "Since now we know that you guys aren't the only badasses here."
Jason rolled his eyes as he went through the papers on Crow's desks. There was nothing but statistical reports, drug sale numbers, information about girls he was looking to buy, and bills for his clubs. "Nothing here. Any luck with you?"
"Give me a second," Dick mumbled as he typed rapidly on the laptop. He was too concentrated on hacking through Crow's firewalls to access his files. Despite the fact that he had outgrown the alias of Robin, Nightwing was still a master hacker. After only five minutes, he was able to crack into Crow's documents. He tried to look for any information that will inform them of where his drug labs were located, but so far he wasn't getting any results. Until..
"Jason, look.." Dick called. "It's an email to Crow."
Mr. Crow,
We are extremely satisfied with the increased sales of Scarlet. Expect your next delivery of two hundred pounds of Scarlet within the next three weeks. If sales continue to increase, then we will be more than happy to continue our partnership. We will email you with more information concerning the location of the shipment shortly.
- The Shop
"Next delivery? Continue our partnership? Are you telling me that this guy isn't the one making this shit?!" Jason shouted, slamming his fist against the desk. "I've been tailing this guy for weeks now, and you're telling me that he is just another puppet head?"
"Apparently.. The ones in charge go by the name 'The Shop'. This changes everything." Dick sighed as he rubbed his temples. "If we take down Crow right now, we won't have a single lead on The Shop. Our safest bet is to keep more tabs on Crow and find out more information on just who this Shop is."
Just then, Charlie bursted through the doors and ran up to them. "We have a bit of a situation.." The doors then slammed open and around fifteen more guards charged in, all of them aiming at the brothers.
"Shit.." Dick cursed as he noticed the red blinker on the side of the laptop.
"Stop right there!" one of the guards yelled as he aimed his gun at Dick's head. The guards crowded in, surrounding the two. Charlie found her way next to Jason, clutching onto the gun that was hidden underneath her shirt. She didn't know what to do at the moment. She can help them fight, but they were clearly outnumbered, and even she wasn't that impulsive and rash. She can pretend to play dumb, and not know who either one of them are, but then there goes her chances of ever escaping from Felix.
"Miss. Charlotte.. back away from him. It's not safe here." one of the guards called out to her. Charlie stood still, questioning what she should do. When she just made up her mind, and was about to punch the guard in the face, she heard Jason's voice.
"What floor are we on?" It was almost inaudible. They were only standing a few inches away from each other, so only her and Dick could hear his question. She held her fingers behind her back and singled the number three. Dick noticed this and turned his head to see a large window, overlooking a pool.
"Cover your ears," he warned her, as he slowly raised himself off the computer chair and put his hands up, as if he was surrendering. Then, without any notice, he reached into his utility belt and threw a sonic weapon in front of the guards. The sonic screams could almost match Black Canary's. At the same time, Jason grabbed the chair that Dick was sitting on and threw it at the window, making a hole big enough for them to jump out of. Dick was the first one to jump out, landing in the pool below them.
Charlie was still covering her ears until she felt Jason's arm grab her and throw her out the window. She screamed as she felt herself falling down, until she hit the water. She felt the pressure of the water as she hit it, and the coldness shot down her spine. When she came back up to breathe, she pounded her fist against Jason's chest who landed next to her.
"What the fuck, bro! You don't just throw a girl out of the window with no warning!"
"I promised you that you would fucking escape, did I not?!" he yelled, getting frustrated that this not the first time she didn't thank him.
Charlie's eyes softened as she realized that he kept his promise, even if she had to be thrown out of a window. When she made him promise her that, she thought that he was just going to ignore her. She was shocked that he actually owned up to it, since he didn't exactly say the words "I promise".
"If you two are done playing in the water, let me remind you that we're not safe yet!" Dick screamed as he got out of the pool.
Jason and Charlie swam to where Dick was and proceeded to run to where hid their motorcycles. While they were running, they noticed that they were being chased.
"Miss. Charlotte!" the guard screamed. "Don't worry, we'll get you!"
"Fuck," Charlie snickered. "They think that you guys kidnapped me."
"We're almost the- Ugh!" Jason stumbled as he felt three bullets pierce him through the ribs. The bullet didn't come from the men chasing them, but rather from in front of them.
"Jason!" Dick called out, as he helped his helped his brother get up to his feet, completely disregarding the fact that he called out his real name. "Hang on there, bro."
"There!" Charlie screeched as she noticed a gunman on top of the porch in front of them. She grabbed the gun that she stole earlier and shot him through the shoulder. The gunman fell over the porch and landed on the concrete floor below him.
"Guns too, heh?" Jason chuckled as he was struggling to stand.
"I did say not to underestimate me." Charlie said lightheartedly as she ran up to him to check how he was.
"Stop right there!" The guards that were chasing them were quickly catching up.
"Lean on me," Dick told Jason as they continued to run.
Soon, they reached the forest across the mansion and were able to lose the guards. They found where they hid the motorcycles, but Jason was in no condition to ride.
"Charlie, you don't happen to know how to ride a motorcycle do you?" Dick asked, hoping that Jason can ride with him and Charlie can ride Jason's.
"No, but if you're offering to teach me right now is probably not the best of times," Charlie shouted. She was overwhelmed by the night's events. She thought that she was going to be free from Felix, free from this life, but now she was just on the run. Running away with two strangers that she didn't even know for more than two days. She only just learned one of their names, and he was bleeding from a bullet wound.
"Shit," Dick brought his hands up to rub his temples. Of course things are going to be complicated, they always are with Jason. "We can't just stay here, he's going to bleed out!"
"I.. I have an idea!" Charlie stammered. "This is Felix's house, but it's also mine. I may not know how to drive a motorcycle, but I definitely know how to drive a car!"
Dick calmed down a bit, remembering that she also lived here. "That can work.. but how are we going to get your car? All of the guards are probably surrounding the area right now. We're lucky if they don't find us in the next ten minutes."
"Fuck," Charlie swore.
"Pre..press the button.. underneath the handle.." Jason said in a low, weak voice. With three bullets in his ribs, he was losing consciousness fast.
Dick walked up to his brother's motorcycle and pressed the button, confused of what it will do. Suddenly, the the side of the motorcycle extended and unfolded itself, transforming into an extended side car.
Jason chuckled a bit as he was still fighting to keep consciousness. "Heh. When you're solo, you're.. always getting shot at.. And you always.. have to find a way.. to drive yourself.. There's an autodrive on the motorcycle too.. You take Charlie.. and just place me in that.."
Dick nodded as he helped Jason get in to the sidecar, and press the autodrive. After Jason's motorcycle zoomed itself onto the streets, Dick and Charlie followed close by. He wondered just how many times Jason was in this position. Shot, bleeding, and on the verge of blacking out. Having no one there to help him escape, and only depending on himself..