Part 15 – Commissioner Gordon

Tim had a very terrifying spray which knocked Catalina out the moment he sprayed it into her face for a few moments. He announced proudly that he had been the one to develop it using some of the compounds Batman had already been experimenting with.

As Jason expected, Dick protested when they started talking about where to take Catalina.

"Dick, get out of the room," Jason finally huffed. Dick was right up in his personal space and they were almost yelling at each other. Dick was saying how Catalina didn't deserve what they were doing and that there was nothing going on while Jason insisted that she had a long list of crimes and Dick was lucky he hadn't shot her yet; not for lack of trying.

"I'm not leaving you alone with her!" Dick's voice was insistent but the slight furrowing of his brows suggested that he was less angry and more worried this time.

"I'll be fine," Jason insisted, not used to people worry about him. "Get out. Take the kid and go patrol or something."

Tim perked up from where he had been sitting, slouched on Dick's kitchen bench.

"Yeah!" he said excitedly and Jason couldn't figure out if he was really excited or if he knew that Jason was trying to get Dick to leave and that this was the only method he could think of.

"Renegade shouldn't be caught hanging out with Robin," Dick said.

Jason shook his head at Dick's foolishness. "I don't care if Renegade hangs around with Robin. Just don't forget that you might have to face him in battle one day."

"Unlikely," Tim said with certainty and a wide grin.

"You're just a smug little brat, aren't you?" Jason shot at him. Dick nudged him in the side, warning him quietly to 'play nice'.

Tim didn't answer and Jason couldn't tell if he was being wise and not provoking him or just being an irritating little brat and ignoring him.

"Renegade, go teach the little brat a lesson about skill or something," Jason said to Dick in a dismissive tone. Dick tilted his head questioningly and Jason simplified it into an order, "go patrol. I don't think the criminals care who beats them up."

Tim decided he was done waiting for Dick to decide and came over, almost pulling a stunned Renegade out of the room.

"Wait a moment, I need to get changed!" Dick stated the moment Tim pulled him over the threshold. He dashed back in and not even half a minute later, was walking out in the red uniform of Renegade.

There was silence for a few moments. Neither Roy nor Jason looked at each other or the unconscious body on the ground. While he didn't smoke often, Jason felt the need for a cigarette. Anything to get his mind of the storm of drama they were just holding at bay.

"Are you going to kill her?" Roy asked.

"I should," Jason huffed. However, something was stilling his hand.

"Dick will never forgive you."

"I don't care. It's not like we're family or something."

"You said you wouldn't." And there was the problem. Jason took his promises seriously. Even if Dick didn't see the same level of commitment that Jason had, Dick had still trusted him on his word. He would not kill Tarantula.

"And it sucks."

"I could kill her for you."

Jason's head snapped up to look at Roy. The red head's face was flat and serious.

"I don't let people do my dirty work," Jason responded in a low tone. He didn't care if Roy was willing to kill for Dick, Jason didn't stand by and let people dirty their own hands when he could do it.

Jason ignored the quiet whisper in his head which reminded him that he couldn't kill her without breaking his word and to just let Roy do it since he was offering.

"Should we take her to prison then? Drop her off on the doorstep of the 'Haven police department?"

"No," Jason decided. "Not 'Haven. The police are corrupt and Catalina's smart enough to slip through the cracks. Gotham."

"How is Gotham any better?" Roy questioned.

For one thing, the people in prison would make her re-think ever committing a crime in this area again, Jason thought but did not say.

"Oracle can pull strings in the police department. And, if we discreetly let them know what we suspect her of, Gordon at least will make sure she's tried and put away."

Roy thought about it for only a few moments before specifically talking to Oracle on the other side of their comm.

"You got that?" he asked her. "We'll take her to Gotham."

"Got it," Oracle responded. "Should I let the Commissioner know about her history with 'Wing?"

"No," Jason said. This was better said in person, where he could gauge whether the Commissioner was still the clever and law-abiding man he remembered. "But let them know that Catalina is about to be dropped off and give them all they need to charge her with murder and whatever else you want tacked on there that she's done."

"Got it."

Tim was a clever kid. He had left them the knock out spray with instructions on how to use it and what signs to look for in case Catalina entered some kind of distress from a chemical reaction.

"If she was allergic, we would have noticed by now," Roy mentioned as he read of the information. "And couldn't he just write 'allergic'?"

"There are other kinds of reactions. She could be on something we don't know about, there could be an unfortunate reaction and she'll slip into a coma or-"

"You sound way too happy about those options," Roy pointed out, although the corners of his mouth were twitching.

"Let's just get her to Gotham," Jason said, changing the subject.

They grabbed her and took her on the train. Roy suggested dowsing her in alcohol and saying that she was passed out drunk and they were her friends taking her home.

Because no one would question the guy in the red hood and the archer fellow of foul play, Jason thought sarcastically. Jason took off his hood and put on a pair of sunglasses, looking almost normal if one ignored the body armour and weapons. Roy questioned whether he was still wearing a mask under the glasses, endlessly amused by the response; a 'of course'. He kept looking at the glasses and grinning like an idiot.

Even though they had snuck into the cargo hold, Jason was alert for anything even the slightest bit off. Whenever Catalina looked like she was about to wake, they sprayed her back to sleep.

It was a dull journey back.

Red Hood and Arsenal met the Commissioner atop the police department, next to the bat signal. The Commissioner stiffed when he spotted them coming out of the darkness, Catalina slung over Roy's shoulder.

"You are certainly not who I expected," he said. Part of Jason thought he was foolish for not going to his gun the moment he recognised the Red Hood. Another part was impressed.

"Yeah, well, Bats wouldn't catch this one," Jason commented as Arsenal placed Catalina on the ground.

"We received her information. However," the Commissioner hummed as if tossing up whether to continue or not, "it sounds as if there's more to the story."

"You're a smart man, Commissioner," Roy commented. Jason was in silent agreement.

"She's done something that I don't think we'll ever be able to charge her with." Because Jason knew that Dick would never come forward. Jason knew the culture. The one where men were supposed to be able to defend themselves and women needed the protecting. Sadly, it was not the truth. There were many different people out there, which meant people like Catalina existed, regardless of gender.

Jason also doubted whether Dick could come forward without compromising his identity.

"It is not our story to tell. However, I will tell you as much as I can so that you make sure this woman ends up behind bars."

Commissioner Gordon nodded and relaxed a little.

"It needs to stay between us," Roy added.

"Understood."

"From what we can tell, she stalked and then entered into an abusive relationship with Nightwing," Jason said. It was much easier to say it now. Whether it was the distance from Bludhaven and Dick or that dealing with her was almost over and he just had to make sure she stayed away from their family for good, he didn't know. "She manipulated him emotionally during a hard time in his life and there has been at least one case of her forcing herself on him."

To his credit, Commissioner Gordon did not ask if they were sure or any other stupid questions. However, he did frown down at the woman.

"Is Nightwing okay?"

"Far from it," Roy answered. "He joined up Red Hood." Although they had both noticed that Dick was playing at being okay around them and upped the act to another level around Robin.

The Commissioner raised his eyebrows and gave Jason a look.

"He's emotionally dependant," Jason said shortly. "But I'm not a shrink," not officially, "so I can't say for sure." And, defending himself, he added, "Nightwing was practically offering himself up to Deathstroke. I think it's good I got to him first."

"Take care of him," Commissioner Gordon said. He didn't look at Roy or Jason as he spoke, making it unclear which of them he was speaking to. "I don't need two criminal ex-Robins in this city. One's enough." He finished with a pointed look at Jason.