"I tore the dreams from my head and tossed them in the flames, And the smoke smelled like my past." –Sleepwalking, Radical Face
The blade was cool against Jason's neck, but it barely registered. The only thing that Jason's half-fogged mind saw was Red Robin's face. It was shocked, scared. Afraid for Jason.
And suddenly, Jason felt like he was punched in the gut. Flashes of his own fear crossed his mind; flashes of his own mask looking up at a smiling face, wondering if that would be the end.
Had the crowbar been cold?
As suddenly as the flashes came, they receded, and Jason's mind was blank once again. The danger registered and he elbowed Ra's in the side, the jolt taking the air out of his lungs, causing him to loosen his grip on the sword. This gave Jason enough time to slip his arm between his neck and the blade and then turn his body so he was facing Ra's, who then earned a head-butt that knocked him on the ground. Jason stole the knife before it fell with Ra's, and then pointed the tip of the blade at the neck of a very stunned Al Ghul.
"Jason!" both Nightwing and Talia yelled, and the sword clattered to the ground. He was, once again, hunched and unthinking, but he still managed to turn towards them.
Nightwing sighed in relief and walked over to his brother, ruffling the younger man's hair. Talia took in the scene and then looked over to her own boy, shuffling his feet awkwardly trying not to look her direction. She sighed inwardly; Talia supposed she deserved to be ignored for her crimes in parenting, but it wasn't in her nature to apologize. She stood tall, even when she was wrong. Still, her eyes were sad when they finally left Damian and turned on her father, who had since recovered and sheathed his sword. She tensed as he dusted himself off.
"It seems the boy is very capable," Ra's said casually.
The brothers stood gaping in shock. Ra's rolled his eyes.
"Talia, I have decided that you may use the Pit for whatever you desire, just this once. But know this: Jason Todd barely survived his first dip in the Lazarus Pit. Madness still permeates his soul because of that first time. Do you really believe it is in the boy's best interest to subject him to that madness once again?"
"He wishes to think, Father," she said. "He wishes to feel, and for others to feel for him. He cannot do that in this state."
Ra's nodded. The guards began to file back into his car. "Very well. You know the way to the base, and I trust you can get there on your own. I will not be staying for the Detective's inevitable arrival."
With that, Ra's left the brothers and his daughter to their own devices. Red Robin let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Am I the only one who thought he had a point?" Tim said to the group, who avoided each other's gazes. "Ah, so everyone thought he had a point and we're just going to intentionally make a mistake because we think a catatonic and traumatized 21 year-old wants to make this mistake."
Nightwing forced a smile onto his face. "Exactly!"