Monday found Mike waiting patiently in Harvey's office with him. Donna finally buzzed Harvey. "Jason Todd is here."
"Send him in. Thanks, Donna," Harvey said before Jason Todd and a man who could only be Bruce walked into the office.
"Thank you for meeting with us on such a short notice," Jason began when he noticed the frozen look on Harvey's face.
"Hello Specter," Bruce smoothly said, "it's been some time."
"Wayne," Harvey curtly acknowledged.
"You two know each other?" Jason exclaimed. He looked at Mike, who just shrugged.
"Unfortunately," Harvey responded at the same time Bruce replied "Of course." The two men stared at each other, dislike evident in their eyes.
Jason looked at the two of them, clenched his jaw, and turned to Mike. "This man," he introduced, jerking his thumb at Bruce, "is Damian's father, Bruce Wayne."
"You're a Wayne?" Mike gasped. "You never said anything!"His voice brought both Harvey and Bruce out of the little intimidation contest and the older men stared at the younger two.
"Mike. You know Mr. Todd?" Harvey asked.
"Uh…yeah. We used to hang out until he moved out of New York," Mike replied.
"Crappy taste in friends, kid," Harvey stated. "First Trevor and now this guy?"
"Trevor's a piece of shit," Jason commented.
"Language," Bruce growled.
"Bite me," Jason shot back. "I only promised Dick I was going to play nice, not become him for the day."
Bruce glared. Then he turned to Harvey, "So sorry for wasting your time, but I think we can both agree that this won't work out. Good day Mr. Ross." The billionaire playboy turned to leave, only to find Jason blocking his way.
"No! We are not leaving. I'm not doing this for you, you damn bastard, I'm doing it for Dick!" Jason shouted at him. Bruce only fixed the boy with a glare.
"There's no point kid," Harvey added, ignoring Bruce and already sitting back at his desk. "Mike will show you out."
Jason balled up his fist. Taking a deep breath, he tossed his cell phone to Mike, who reflexively caught it. "Call Dick. Now! And put it on speaker." Mike quickly did so and placed it on the coffee table. Everyone took turns glaring at one another as they listened to it ring.
"Jason I— hang on—Alex! If you blow up that building I swear to god I will not stop Gibbs from kicking your ass. I don't care! Get your spy butt in the car right now before someone sees and shoots you! I don't care if you've escaped a burning building before! Get down here this instant!—Sorry Jay, what's the problem?" Dick sound much more frazzled and tired since they had talked to him the other night.
"Well," Mike began diplomatically before Jason cut in.
"Bruce and the lawyer are being a bunch of high-school assholes," Jason bluntly blurted out.
"Jason, language," Dick absently said as the four in the office heard him yelling at the Alex person again.
"Dick!" Jason yelled to his older brother's attention. "Bruce and Harvey don't get along and Bruce wants to walk out, but I did my research and so did Mike and Harvey's the best there is, so can you please just tell the both to get over it and do something! The more time they waste, the more of a head start Talia could get on this!"
"Jason, you are absolutely right," Dick seriously said. "Harvey and Bruce, step closer to the phone please." Neither man moved. "Now, I know you didn't do it, so I'll just be really loud, alright?"
"Will you two please pull your heads out of your asses!" Dick screamed at the top of his lungs. Harvey and Bruce looked taken aback, and Jason and Mike were staring at the phone in a mix on awe and glee. "This is a very serious matter, I would expect the two of you to quit acting like the womanizers you are and begin to act like the grown men two are supposed to be! I do not care about the past, what the girl's name was, or anything like that, do you understand me? All I care about is finding Damian and making sure Talia doesn't hurt him ever again! You may not care about your son all that much Bruce, but I sure as hell do! So stop screwing around, both of you make peace, and do something goddamnit! Or so help me god, I will be on the next flight back to New York! Specter, deflate your ego, just this once, and focus solely on the case. Bruce, deflate your ego and help him! Am I understood?" Dick finished his rant, yelling the entire time. Both Harvey and Bruce looked as if they had been (temporarily) knocked down a peg or two, and Jason stood with a smug smile on his face.
"I said—am I understood!" Dick screeched when he got no answer. He received mumbled yeses as Harvey and Bruce refused to make eye contact with one another. "Good, because I—Alex! Behind you!—I need to go," Dick hurriedly told them, the nervousness in his voice evident. "Mike, keep up the good work. Jason, keep everyone in line. Call me or Alfred if things get out of hand, okay?"
"Yes sir," Jason replied, a slight hint of a smile on his face.
"Good. Gotta go, bye—Alex!" Dick hung up the cell phone after calling the kid's name, leaving awkward silence in the room.
"Looks like Dick finally snapped," Jason commented to Bruce, whose eyes flew to Jason's with anger in them. "I mean, it was only a matter of time, right? His kid is gone, probably half-way around the world, and he has no idea what happened to him. All he knows was that he was beaten, bloodied, trapped and bound, alone in an empty room, and is now in his greatest enemy's hands. Does this sound familiar to you, Bruce? I'm sure Deathstroke can get a crowbar from somewhere…"
Bruce snarled at his former Robin. "How dare you," he hissed, anger and hatred dripping from his words, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.
"Don't let him become another martyr Bruce," Jason coldly ordered. "Do something. Mike and I will be at his cubicle when you two have sorted this out. Don't you dare step out until then." Jason walked over to the couch, where Mike sat, stunned, and pulled his friend from the room. Harvey and Bruce looked at the two young men as they left, then turned to face one another.
"Can I ask you a question?" Mike hesitantly began after he and Jason were back at his cubicle, both of them ignoring the stares of the other associates. Jason took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm not going to ask what the speech was about—I can respect the need for privacy and I don't want to pry. But I do want to know why you called Damian "Dick's kid" instead of being Bruce's."
"Besides the fact that Bruce is a shitty father?" Jason bitterly asked. "Because Dick was the one who took care of him for over a year while Bruce was away. Dick understood the kid; Bruce has no clue how to deal with him. You can hear how upset Dick is; he's always been an older brother—but he has a much more paternal bond with Damian. He can't lose the kid."
Mike took all that in a nodded. "We'll do whatever we can to make sure Damian can stay, alright? I swear it."
Jason gave him a small smile of thanks. Mike was about to respond when Donna walked over. Mike sat up a little straighter, as did Jason. Donna smirked at the two of them. "Go to Harvey's office. They resolved it. The four of you have some serious work to do."
So this is the end of this small divergence of "The Damian Effect". Look for it to continue in "The Trail" to be posted it the Alex Rider/NCIS crossover section.
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