Authors note: Hi everybody, I hope you're all having a great holiday! Here's the next chapter. I've had a few suggestions for names for Bruce, but you'll have to wait and see what I chose ;)
Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own DC Comics.
Reunion
Chapter 5:Youth
Jason stood at the entrance to the Cave of Eros. Trust the Bat to migrate to a bloody cave. Something was up with the League, he was able to decipher that much from Superman's transmission. Bats was missing, and Jason was going to be the one to find him.
"Here I come Bats" Jason mumbled, taking his first step into the unforgiving mouth. Unable to see in the dark as well as the others had, he lit one of the torches lined on the walls with a matchstick, casting an eerie glow around him.
He walked for what seemed to be hours along the cave, noticing repeating patterns on the walls. Jason's eyebrows furrowed at the lettering. "dnecsed lliw etaf ". He stopped in his tracks and looked behind him, the words suddenly forming an order. The words spelt "fate will descend" when seen in the opposite direction.
"Fate will descend?" Jason muttered to himself.
"It will indeed!~" came a singsong voice, echoing around the cave.
"Who's there?! Show yourself!" Jason demanded to thin air.
Suddenly, the earth shook beneath him, pebbles and stones rolling to one concentrated spot. Jason blinked a few times to clear his vision...were those rocks...climbing on each other?!
The rocks congregated into a mound, taking a shape which seemed to be human. The rocks smoothed into a dark skin. Grass sprouted from the head, growing longer with flowers littered in, forming long beautiful emerald hair.
Jason's mouth formed a perfect 'O' as he started at a dazzling young woman. Her attire also didn't leave much to the imagination.
"Welcome Jason Todd!" The woman giggled, "my name is Petail, please state your business in the Cave of Eros."
"Uhhh..." Jason stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence.
"Oops! Forgot to explain" Petail winked, knowing all too well why Jason wasn't looking in her eyes. "I am the guardian of the Heart of Eros, the chamber hidden to all those apart from us guardians. Few mortals make it here Jason, and few survive. So, state your business!"
"I... I'm here to find my friend. He's in here somewhere, missing. From what I understand, he's after Morgan Le Fey."
At the latter part of his speech, Petail's eyes narrowed dangerously. Her impish charm vanished.
"Le Fey is in here asleep, with a team of brightly clothed mortals. My sister Mayua has taken one to the Heart of Eros. Without my consent I may add. That might be your friend"
"Was he dressed like a giant Bat?" Jason asked, one eyebrow raised trying to revive that cute smile on Petail's lips. Her eyes brightened and she showed her white teeth in a gorgeous beam.
"Hehe! That's the one! He was dead." Jason froze. Dead? Was he too late? Had he overestimated Bruce's skills?
Petail recognized the look of bewilderment on Jason's face, "Don't worry Todd! He's being resurrected! But Mayua owes me a new sun for my crops" she mumbled the last part.
"Resurrected!" Jason looked up into Petail's chocolate eyes.
"Yes! Surely you didn't believe that pool you were revived in was the only source of such tremendous energy? Our suns are just as powerful! But they take hundreds of years to craft. I only hope Mayua got to the Heart in time..."
"Petail, please take me!"
A playful smile from Petail was followed by, "I hear that all the time, lover boy"
"What no?! To the Heart!" Petail giggled at Jason's cute blush. This was perhaps the first girl that had made Jason flustered. Usually he was not on the receiving end of-
Petail grabbed Jason's hand and immediately the two started to sink into the ground, as if they were being enveloped by quicksand.
"Why did you lie?" Diana spoke harshly to Superman.
"He would be too grief stricken to locate Batman if he knew the truth-"
"Clarke he's Bruce's..."
"Bruce's what? Son? You know as well as I those two have been walking on eggshells around each other ever since Dick left. He made it quite clear he wanted to work independently so why should we jeopardize his ability to locate Bruce?" Superman sighed. "I know tension is high and we're all worried. I consider Bruce as my closest friend. He'll be alright. I just know it."
Jason rose from the ground and instantly buckled over into a coughing fit. Jesus that trip clogged his lungs up with dust.
"Well judging by this darkness, Mayua used the sun." Petail snapped her fingers and the chamber illuminated once again. "Its not a sun, but it'll do", she sighed.
On the floor lay two bodies. One had the same figure as Petail, however her skin was sky blue and her hair the shade of sapphires. The other seemed to be shrouded in dark material.
"Bruce!" Jason gasped, sprinting over to his former mentor. Hesitantly, he lifted the cape that cloaked the sleeping man. The sight that lay before him made his heart jump up into his throat.
Bruce felt his shoulders being shook roughly. The touch sent waves of pain through his whole body.
"Urghn" he moaned softly, trying to tell this intruder to leave him in peace.
"Oh thank god!" A deep voice sobbed. "Can you hear me Bruce?"
That voice... Was that...
"Jason?" Bruce managed, his voice croaking roughly as he spoke. Wait... Was his voice higher? Maybe there was helium gas in this chamber... but then why had Jason's voice been deep?
"Mayua, are you awake sister?" Came another voice.
"Yes." The guardian of the Sacred One replied. "I was resting."
"Give this...man some water"
"Yes sister."
Bruce felt a trickle of cool liquid down his throat, his reflexes telling him to swallow every last drop. The water gave him a flicker of strength so he sat upright, facing the second Robin. His clothes felt heavy and...large on his frail body.
"Why are you here?" Bruce spoke more clearly this time, a difference in his voice very obvious.
"I came searching for you. Bruce...have you...seen yourself?"
"No. But I feel...strange. "
Immediately, Petail conjured a stone Bird bath which Mayua filled with clean water from her fingertips. Jason helped Bruce stand, supporting the majority of his weight and walked with him to the bath. Since when had Jason grown so tall? He asked himself. Hands shaking, Bruce reached out and grasped the Bird bath, allowing his weight to shift from Jason to the stone. He looked into the water, waiting for it to settle and show its picture.
"I... I'm sorry Bruce. I told the others there may be changes...I'm so sorry." Mayua spoke softly as Bruce stared at his reflection, tears threatening to form in his eyes. Looking back was a face from his past. One that symbolized one of the hardest and loneliest parts of his life, before he had subdued the grief of the death of his parents by becoming Batman. Staring back was his 17 year old self.
Tim bolted into the mansion, footsteps echoing and surely awakening Alfred from his rest. Tim hurried to the piano and played a sequence of notes, revealing the hidden opening that lead to the Batcave.
"Dick!" Panted Tim heavily, "what's happened?"
Dick was fully dressed as Nightwing and already typing rapidly into the giant computer's keyboard. Tim was impressed at Dick's speed, only few could out type himself.
"Bruce is missing. The League fought and captured Le Fey, but she shot him." Tim's eyes grew the size of saucepans.
"Is...Is he dead?"
"No, thank god. He went deeper into the cave and is now missing. I can locate him from within the cave from his communicator. It may take a while to load, but don't worry Tim, we'll find him."
Tim prayed to God that would be the case.
Bruce couldn't take his eyes off his face. He was transfixed. It was only when a single tear slid down his face, dropping into the water and distorting the image did he pull away. Bruce turned on his heels sharply and strode towards his forgotten cape, lifting the material and hooking it back onto his body.
"Bruce?" Jason asked cautiously. "Sit down, you must be exhausted."
Ignoring him, Bruce pulled his cowl back down over his head. It was now too big but it would do. Eyes were the gateway to emotion and he wanted his hidden.
"God damn it Bruce, say something." Jason's temper flared. Mayua and Petail shared a concerned look. Petail took this as her queue to comfort Jason. She put an arm on his shoulder and spoke softly;
"We should leave him to his thoughts. Come on Jason, help Mayua and I gather logs for a fire."
Without his eyes leaving the back of his deaged mentor, Jason nodded.
Bruce was thankful for the silence. It was the perfect atmosphere to brood.
Jason walked into the woods following the two guardians. No one attempted to speak. What would they say?
Bruce was younger than him...it was hard to get his head around. Jason was 22 at the moment. Bruce definitely looked younger than him. Tim was 13. Judging by height and stature he was older than Tim. 16? Maybe 17? Had Batman not just been revived from the dead, the situation could be seen as quite comical.
"Mayua? Could you please gather fruit from the orchard? Jason and I will find the wood." Mayua nodded and walked towards a cluster of fruit trees.
"I'm sorry Jason." Petail whispered when they were alone. "I didn't realise your friend would be changed so drastically. Usually it's their mental state that's changed, and only temporarily. However, physical changes are not so temporary..."
"It's ok, we'll find a way to get him back." Jason didn't even look at Petail, just concentrated on gathering branches.
"Jason look at me." He gave in and looked into those doe eyes. "There's something else. The ruby's location has been exposed. It can't stay here any more."
"So find somewhere else to put it." Jason spoke coldly, moving forward to collect another branch. Petail huffed and rose the ground an inch so Jason tripped up, falling on his arse.
"This is serious Jason! My sister and I can't leave this place!" Petail knelt down to his level, causing the red tint to reappear on Jason's cheeks because of her closeness. She smelt like roses.
"I would entrust the Sacred One with Bruce but he's not in a fit state to protect it. Jason...Will you become a guardian and find a place to keep this stone?"
" Petail I...I don't know... I'm not usually the kind of guy that would be trusted with someone's dollar bill, let alone a bloody great gemstone. "
"I trust you. I can see the beauty inside people Jason, and I know what you've been through. People think... you're a monster." She leant forward closer. "People think...you're a killer. Jason, listen to me closely now. They. Are. Wrong."
Suddenly Jason leant forward, locking their lips in a tender kiss. When he pulled away, Petail seemed dumbfounded. Jason looked into her deep brown eyes and whispered;
"Thank you."