Hey everyone! Sorry again for the delay. School is super crazy. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks again to those of you that have added this story to your alerts and favorites. It really means a lot to me. And a special thanks to Lady Syndra for reviewing! You rock my socks, and I would give you a big hug if I knew you!

On with the story!

"Like any artist without an art form, she became dangerous."

~Toni Morrison, Sula

'Bang'

Riley fell to her feet next to the gun.

The light faded from her mother's eyes as Riley drowned in the blood pooling around them. She had never seen death before, but she was certain this was what it was, and she was certain she never wanted this. She never intended this to happen. The eyes she found so much love and beauty in were gone. The eyes that were usually glistening and full of joy, even when correcting Riley, were now dull, hollow shells with no trace left of their former identity.

Tears rolled down Riley's cheeks as she stared down at her hands, soaked in blood. Riley shook her head. They couldn't be her hands. They were too red to be her hands; too cold and menacing to be her hands. Frantically, she wiped her hands on her jeans, but the blood remained. In a fit of terror she continuously wiped her hands off on her pants and shirt in a useless attempt to clean off the blood that just seemed to appear out of thin air.

She kept at it until she felt someone grip her arm and hoist her up.

"Riley," someone was gently shaking her. "Riley, wake up. You're just dreaming."

Riley bolted upright, hitting her head against Jason's as she did so. She felt her heartbeat pounding throughout her entire body as she looked at her surroundings and then finally at Jason, who was rubbing the spot on his forehead where her head had collided with his.

"Where was that when we were training? He joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. Riley drew her knees in to her chest as she quickly averted her eyes. She shrunk away from him, and he got the impression that she was embarrassed and still frightened from the nightmare.

Jason was careful not to make any sudden movements, as he was well aware she was still trying to return to reality. He knew that period of disassociation all too well.

Knowing he never wanted to divulge the details to another person in order to process through them, he gave her the courtesy of not prying, partly out of empathy, and partly so that she would begin to feel comfortable around him and trust him. He needed her trust and loyalty in order to follow through with his plans, and he figured one way to do that was to let her open up when she felt ready to do so. Prying only pushed people away.

Instead of prying, he offered a suggestion- something he would do to bring him back to reality after particularly troubling and vivid nightmares. "I was just about to head out to this one diner that serves the best waffles. Want to join?"

Riley still refused to meet his gaze. "It's the middle of the night."

"There's never a bad time for waffles." He sat down on the edge of the cot and offered, "I'll even pay. All you have to do is eat."

She was silent for a moment before she nodded and finally looked up at him. "I guess I can go if I don't have to pay," she replied flatly, but he could see the glossy, far-off look in her eyes begin to fade.

Once at the diner, Riley realized what Jason was doing this for her, and she was thankful he didn't pry or give her a lecture about the necessity of dealing with previous traumas like Rachel always seemed to do.

The diner itself was run down and empty for the most part, except for the two elderly men sitting at the bar near the entrance to the kitchen, drinking coffee and arguing about local politicians and the state of the economy.

The pair grabbed a booth near the back of the restaurant, far away from windows where Riley could be easily spotted by Black Mask's men, who were surely out in this part of Gotham at that particular time at night.

As an added precaution, despite having her hair wrapped- since it was too time consuming to go through that whole process twice in one night- wore a navy blue hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled over the top of her head. The multiple layers on her head gave it an oblong, almost alien, shape. The flickering light overhead only added to the feature.

"Jay! Good to see you again!" the middle-aged waitress exclaimed as she sauntered up to the booth. Her blonde, curly hair was fighting against the hair tie, wanting to be free from its bondage. Her icy blue eyes were framed with harsh, smudged black lines that attempted to distract from the lines etched on her face.

"Fannie! It's been a while. How's life?"

Riley had to do a double take. Was Jason actually being friendly with someone? She carefully studied his face for any trace of an act, but failed to find anything.

"Same as always. The two brats finally started school, so I can actually have a few hours of peace." She glanced over at Riley. "I see you've brought a friend with you! I thought you were incapable of that."

So did I Riley thought as she felt the corners of her mouth tug into a polite smile. She was still slightly absent from her body. It was all she could force herself to do.

Luckily, Jason replied for her at this time, recognizing her struggle. "This is Leigh." He used the fake name she gave to everyone, giving her the sense that while Fannie was someone he was familiar with, he was still hesitant to fully entrust her with Riley's actual name.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Fannie replied with a genuine smile, which Riley returned with a slight nod. "I already know Jason's order, but what can I get you?"

"I'll have whatever he's having." Her voice still sounded foreign to her.

Fannie left them to place their orders, and Jason picked up the conversation. "My mother used to bring me here as a kid. After she died, and Bruce took me in, I rarely came here-"

"You lived with Bruce Wayne?" she asked, somewhat shocked by that bit of information. He didn't seem like the type Bruce would take in. The idea of a stubborn, rebellious Jason in Wayne manor made her laugh. "How'd you swing that? No offense, but you seem a little rough for Wayne."

Bit by bit, Jason watched as she became more relaxed, and couldn't help but smile at her laugh, which seemed other worldly as the other two customers turned to look at her.

"Mutual acquaintances. I tried stealing the tires off of the Batmobile-"

Once again, Riley broke out into a fit of laughter, which shook her entire body this time. "You did not!" She wiped a tear from her eye. "And how exactly did that work out for you?"

Jason shrugged. "Batman caught me. Next thing I know, I'm in contact with Bruce Wayne. For some odd reason, he has a thing for taking in strays." He decided not to go into further detail.

"And that's how you know Dick?" Riley observed the brief break in his rare, content demeanor. She could tell back at the bar that Jason wasn't a fan of him just by his tone, and the emotions on display currently just confirmed it.

He nodded. "He was out of the house by then, but yeah."

Rather than make Jason feel more irritated- especially since he was the one paying and being nice for once- she changed the subject. "The food must've been pretty great. I bet Wayne could afford the high quality stuff and has a bunch of world class chefs…" Her mind went wild with the possibilities.

Despite having a rich father, she was never given the luxury of good food. She had to fend for herself since he was too focused on building his empire.

"His butler did most of the cooking. He's great at making most things, but waffles. It had the taste and inner consistency of paste."

"And you're familiar with the taste of paste? What is it with you and your waffle obsession?" she asked, poking fun at him for his fixation on waffles that was now becoming visible to her.

"They're delicious! What is it with you even questioning it?"

Riley giggled and placed her hand over her heart. "I'm not saying I don't love waffles, it's just I've never seen you this hyped about something before."

Jason shrugged and smiled down at the plate that suddenly appeared before him. "Just try these, and you'll understand."

She rolled her eyes and took a bite of the mound of waffles in front of her. Despite how dense they appeared, the waffle was light and fluffy in her mouth, and seemed to dissolve onto her taste buds. "Point taken."

They ate in silence, both focused on the meal before them- both unsure of what to say. Riley felt obligated to keep the conversation going, but she didn't have anything to say that would give too much away about her. She didn't even know how much he knew about her, and that scared her.

Was he just being nice to win her over and use her? Or was he genuinely trying to help her deal with the aftermath of her nightmares?

As if he could read her mind, Jason met her uneasy glance with a hesitant smile and said, "I'm not trying to manipulate you or anything, I just know what it's like to deal with reoccurring nightmares-"

"They're not reoccur-"

"I've heard you every night." Riley remained quiet as he continued. "I struggle with them too."

Riley's face softened as he admitted it. It made sense that he had experienced trauma. His erratic behavior and their previous encounter with a knife clued her in somewhat. It was always hard to admit to yourself, let alone another person, that you struggled with deciphering reality at times.

They seemed to come to a mutual understanding of one another in that moment. In that moment, all of the resentment they both felt about each other vanished- her resentment about his doubt in her; his about her being slow on the uptake. Despite not knowing the specific traumas, they felt as though they were drawn from the same cloth.

Before Jason even met Riley, he could see the rage he felt bubbling over in her, even when she wasn't aware of it. It's what drew him to her in the first place. Rage was effective and dangerous. It tore down the walls of disillusionment and gave the strength to act. It was clarity. It emboldened. He needed that rage- craved that rage. He would continue to draw that rage out of her.

"Don't get used to this though," he muttered gruffly and took a bite of what little remained of the waffles. The moment of peace between them vanished. "And if you ever bring this up, our last training session will seem like heaven compared to what I'll put you through."

Sure, lash out at the person you were vulnerable with… She thought, stabbing the last section of waffle on her plate. She should've known the past few hours between them would only last so long. They were partners forced together by circumstance- or rather he forced her to work for him because she was an insider. If either had their way, they'd be working alone.

As they drove away from the diner on the motorcycle they had acquired from their previous target, they failed to notice a black car trailing three car lengths behind them until they took a left turn towards the river.

"Jason," she yelled above the sound of the engine.

"I noticed. Hold on."

They sped through the cars ahead of them and took the bridge over to Gotham's east side. Riley held tightly to Jason as the black car appeared out of nowhere. Gunshots rang out, causing Jason to swerve about in an attempt to dodge them.

"Reach inside my jacket and grab my gun," Jason ordered as he took a sharp turn. She did as she was told, and then began firing back at the car that was pursuing them. They exchanged fire for a bit before both the motorcycle's back tire and the car's front tire blew out, sending both Jason and Riley skidding into an alley way. They crashed to the ground, landing side by side, and without warning, Jason had Riley up on her feet, in a headlock with a gun pointed at her head. She felt warm blood trickling down the side of her face.

"Come any closer and I shot her in the head," Jason warned, his voice full of malice. Riley panicked and began struggling against him. How could he do this to her? Wasn't she part of his plan? She looked up and saw two of Black Mask's men headed towards them, but paused a few feet in front of them, pointing their guns at Jason.

"Go ahead," one of them prompted. "Boss just wants us to bring her body back."

She froze as the realization that her father only cared about what the scientist had turned her into. The fact she was his daughter had nothing to do with his desire to bring her back. She, just like everyone else, was a means to an end. Both to her father and Jason.

The emptiness she felt briefly was filled with rage, specifically towards her father. From the start, she knew she was nothing else to Jason, and she had come to terms with it seeing as he was paying her, but her father. The man who had raised her. The man who put her through hell and back, all for her supposed benefit- all because he loved her and wanted her to succeed. Any doubt she had in her mind about loving her father was confirmed in that instant.

Before anyone could do something, the two men across from her were hit by something that whizzed by her, causing them to fall to the ground seconds before Batman and Robin appeared in front of her. The duo knocked out the men, and then turned to address Jason and Riley.

"Let her go," Batman growled. Riley turned her head slightly to glance over at Jason, who was wearing his red hood. Where'd that come from?

"Why don't you let her decide who she wants to go with?" Jason countered as he pushed her forward.

Riley glanced between Batman and Robin and Jason. He was giving her the chance to be free. Not that she truly believed that. If she chose to be free, there was no doubt in her mind that she would be killed. He made that clear when she first met him. Although, she had a feeling Batman was aware of that danger and would try to keep her safe. At the moment though, she wasn't so sure she wanted to be free from Jason. He wanted to bring down her father at any cost, and so did she. No longer would she be loyal to someone that abused her for as long as her father had. And she doubted Batman would let her follow her vendetta against Roman Sionis.

Riley walked back towards Jason and said over her shoulder, "Thanks for the help, Batman, but I'm sticking with the Red Hood."