Chapter 41: Keep Moving Forward

A/N: Let's just say it's been a week since new year's.

Dick's POV

"Hey Wally." I walk in the hospital bed room. I expect smiles and jokes.

But instead, I get tension in the air.

Uncle Barry sits beside the bed, hunched forward with his hands clasped together. Roy (the clone/my friend) stands by the wall leaning on it in deep thought. And Artemis is standing beside Wally, whispering something to him.

Wally lays on his bed, his face a little darker than usual and his arms crossed over his chest.

I furrow my eyebrows. "What's going on?" They all look at me.

Uncle Barry gets up and passes by me. He pats my shoulder. "I'll step outside for a while." The door shuts behind me.

"Dick." Artemis gives me a warm but slightly sad smile as I walk towards the seat beside Wally's bed.

"So uh, wanna tell me what's going on?"

Wally sighs. "Doctor came in yesterday. He said...I couldn't walk anymore."

"What?"

"Actually…" Artemis cuts in. "It could be temporary, with therapy. He could probably walk again."

"But he can't run." Roy points out.

Wally's face slightly brightens. "Guess all that running tired me out." He says, patting his legs and slightly smiling.

"But it isn't permanent...right?"

"I can still feel my legs Dick. They just won't...move…"

Roy moves beside Artemis. "But the doctors aren't sure yet if it's permanent." Roy looks at me. "They said that there will be therapy."

Wally sighs. "Whatever. I was retired anyways."

I roll my eyes. He took that better than expected. "But Wally. Still. Your legs...they could be permanently gone."

"Could be."

We all turn to him. "Don't get me wrong. I'm bummed out, but…" He smiles at all of us. It doesn't take a trained eye to know that he's hiding a whole wad of pain.

Artemis sighs. "Doctors say that therapy will start two days from now."

I no., "Uncle Barry seems…"

"Well. He doesn't like the idea of me not being able to walk again. But he's glad I'm alive."

Wally was never really someone who cared much about his own life. He focuses more on caring about others, he always has - no matter how arrogant he likes others to see him. Probably why he's my best friend. "Besides, we've got the Bart kid in my spot to continue the legend!" He grins.

"Wally not so loud! You're going to give us away!" Artemis says.

"To whom, babe? It's only you, me, and my best friends in this room."

Roy sighs.

"So Dick. What's up?" Wally asks me. Then he leans forward. "So when will we get to meet your new sister?"

That grabs everyone else's attention. "Dick has a new sister?" Artemis asks.

"Well apparently!" Wally gestures to me.

Roy sighs. "Another brat."

"Hey Chris is not a brat. You haven't even met her!" I defend.

Roy rolls his eyes. "So what's her name? Older or younger?"

"Younger."

"But this one's Jason's." Wally says.

"How come I've never heard of her?" Artemis crosses her arms and Roy shakes his head. "Bats and their secrets."

I sigh. "Hey! It's complicated, okay!"

"Yeah. Turns out she was a bad-"

"Shut up Wally!" I lean back as he raises his hands in defense. "Jeez." I breathe out.

"So when do I get to meet her?" He leans forward. "You never even gave me the kid's name. What's her name? What does she look like? How old is she?"

"Um…"

"You should bring her over and we'll all get to meet her!" The speedster says enthusiastically.

Artemis places her hand on his shoulder. "Wally that's enough. You're overwhelming him." She half scolds him.

"Sorry babe." He grins.

I sigh and run my hand through my hair. Wally's smile disappears. "Well do you even have a picture of her?"

I nod. "Yeah." I reach for my back pocket and take out my wallet. I take out a wallet sized copy of the picture Autumn gave Jason. The picture with all of us in it. I hand the photo to Wally. "You could guess who she is." I say as Roy and Artemis crowd around Wally as he holds onto the picture and examines it.

"She doesn't look much like Jason." Roy says.

"Except for the eyes and the hair." Artemis interjects.

"She's tiny compared to him." Wally observes.

I chuckle. "She is tiny." But she's strong.

Wally hands me back the photo. "So how's she Todd's sister?" Roy asks out of curiosity.

I shrug. "Same mom different dads."

"What happened to her dad?"

I sigh and rub my face. "He died."

"Dude. Does Bats have a thing for taking in orphaned children?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose, feeling uncomfortable talking about her.

Artemis comes closer to me as I keep my wallet. "Is something wrong?" She asks.

I sigh. "Wally. After you woke up, I came back home the next morning and…"

"...And?"

I sigh. "I found out that she...she…"

"She what...Dick?"

"She died." I breathe out.

A long silence stretches through the air. "She died at around the time you woke up." I gesture to Wally. "I came home and then she was just...gone. She was killed. And she was only 13." I bite the inside of my cheek.

I guess Autumn's death made at least a little impact on me.

"We don't know who killed her. And...we're doing everything we can to find out who did that to her. But we found nothing so far…"

Suddenly I'm pulled into a hug. "I'm sorry Dick." Artemis says.

"We'll be here for you bro." Wally says.

I wasn't really close to the kid. But all life is precious. And she didn't deserve to die.

...But it's nice to have my friends by my side…

****Break****

Damian's POV

School is so pointless. I hate how we have to go back and how the break is over.

I still don't understand why I have to go back to this school of idiots. My tutors have already covered everything a long time ago. But father says I must go to school even so.

"Looks like Miss Cross is absent today." Our class adviser says, checking the attendance. "Looks like she's the only one absent today."

I look at a group of students whispering to each other. "Nobody needs that quiet piece of trash anyways." Someone says. My fist clenches slightly.

"I wonder where she is." Daly whispers to me. I look away to the empty seat near the window.

"Who cares?" I mumble, still staring at the empty seat.

"I don't know. Isn't she a friend?"

My eyebrows arch slightly. "Yes...she was…" My lips hardly move.

"What?" Daly asks.

"I mean. I don't have any friends. She was never my friend. Ever. We just had to do a project together. But that doesn't mean we were friends."

"Why are you talking in past tense? It's not like she'll never come back." He says and a lump forms in my throat as my hands clench harder.

"Just shut up Daly. I don't wanna hear it anymore."

****Break****

Lunch. I sit here in the table beside Daly. Then suddenly Autumn's old friends place their lunch boxes down and sit beside us. "What are you three doing here?"

The two Kai twins look at me. "Where is Autumn? Why is she absent?" The smaller twin asks.

I shrug tightly. "How should I know? Do I look like her keeper?" Annoyance laces my tone.

"Sorry, just thought you would know." She says.

I look at Rein, who just silently eats his food. "Hm…" He looks towards the table across ours, then I look behind me to see at what he's looking at. I narrow my eyes to see Luke Snyder sitting with his old friends and a bunch of the more popular girls, laughing. He notices Rein and I staring at him and smirks.

I turn my head around and get back to what I was eating. "I thought he said his friends left him out." Rein says.

I shrug. "I don't care."

Footsteps come towards us, and we all lookup to see Snyder and that girl name Mackenzie standing above us.

She bats her eyelashes at me. "So uh, I've heard that you and Cross were close?"

"We're not close." My eyes dart to Snyder. "We're not even friends." I glare at him.

He smirks. "Yeah, yeah. I honestly don't care if you're friends with her or not." He waves his hand arrogantly. "But I just wanna know. Where'd the self-harmer go?" He asks smugly.

I stand up, toppling my chair slightly with a screech. I walk closer to him and we stand face to face. "How do you know about that?" I clench my teeth and glare into his eyes. But in return, he simply puts on a smug smile.

"Oh so it is true, then." He smiles like a crocodile. "She told you." He concludes.

I grab his collar. "You told everyone. Didn't you?"

He shrugs. "Hey. She never told me to keep it a secret."

I growl. "Stop this. Now."

"Stop what?" He asks. "I was just asking if you knew where she was."

My hand crumples his collar as I make a low growl. His smug face turns even more smug. "Or did that depressed loner finally kill herself?" My eyes widen and I'm about to punch his face when- "Damian. That's enough." Rein pulls me away from Snyder.

Snyder smiles and fixes his collar as I sit back down, still glaring at him. Snyder holds his chin up high and smiles ever so arrogantly. "C'mon Babe. Nothing to find here." He holds the girl closer to him and walks away.

My fists clench so hard.

"Whatever. Nobody needs that emo b**** anyways. If she died, then the world would be better off without her. No one would care."

The lump at my throat pops and the next thing I know, I find myself jumping at Snyder and punching him in the face.

"Mister Wayne!"

****Break****

Jason's POV

"Where's the brat?" I ask my replacement who's fiddling with his cell phone. Chris shrugs with a look of 'don't know' as she enters the car.

The Replacement puts his phone down and looks up at me. "Principal's office."

"Until now? The incident happened at lunch." Chris says and I sigh.

"You two stay here. I'll go get the demon spawn."

I walk down the half-empty hallways until I reach the room that I remember as the principal's office (I studied here too). On the seats in front of the office is the little brat with his arms folded over his chest, his eyebrows furrowed and his head turned the other way.

"Demon."

"Todd." He says, not looking at me. "If you're here to gloat about how you are going to tell father. Might as well do it now before we reach the car."

I sigh and sit down beside him, but he still doesn't look at me. "Damian." He looks at me, probably surprised that I used his real name. "What happened?"

His arms fold tighter and he looks away from me. "None of your business."

"Uh, actually it is my business."

"Why do you say that?"

Oh, wow. Deja Vu.

I was in this situation once.

I sat on that very seat where the demon is sitting with the same stubborn attitude on, then Dick came and sat beside me.

"Hey Jay. What happened here?"

"None of your business."

"Well actually. It is my business."

"What makes you think that?" I asked so stubbornly.

Dick paused before answering. "We're brothers."

The Demon looks back at me with the lack of response. I look back at him. "What makes you think that, Todd?" He repeats, expecting a quicker answer.

"We're brothers." I mutter but loud enough for him to hear. "So you gotta tell me. You know what, if you tell me, then I won't tell Bruce."

He grunts and grumbles in response. "Fine. But you better not tell anyone. If you do, then I swear-"

"No need to swear Demon Spawn. We are in a public place." I grin mockingly.

He unfolds his arms and looks forward. "I got into a fight. Punches and kicks were thrown."

"Who were you fighting?"

"Snyder."

He's so much like me when I was his age. I have to stop myself from pinching the bridge of my nose. "So did you provoke him? Or did he provoke you?"

"It wasn't my fault! He started it! He provoked me!" He begins to blow, but I raise my hands.

"I never said it was your fault." He calms down and I place my hands back down. "So you said he provoked you. What did he do?"

Damian's icy blue eyes hit the ground as he clenches his fists and gnashes his teeth. "He said...he said. Things…"

"Things about what?"

I notice that he takes an inner gulp, as his eyes travel back to me. "Things about Autumn."

I narrow my eyes, and his eyes fall back to the ground as he stops gnashing his teeth and clenching his fists. "He said that the world would be better off without her. That no one would care if she was…" He pauses, letting the news sink in, "dead." He mutters.

My fists clench and I feel like punching this Snyder guy right in the face - but a more rational side of me takes over. My fists unclench and I look right into Damian's eyes. "You were defending her name…"

"If only they knew." He grits his teeth. "If only they knew who she really was. They shouldn't be saying things like that about her."

I sigh. "You defended her." Then I force a smirk. "If you ask me, this Snyder kid got what he deserved."

Damian looks at me with a little smirk curling at his lips. "A black eye and a bruise to his jaw. It was worth it."

I stand up and he follows. "But principal says-"

"When I was still in this school, I used to defend others from bullies too. Was called a delinquent that doesn't belong anywhere near Bruce Wayne." I shrug. "Never really let those words stop me though." I grin down at him and ruffle his hair. "Now c'mon Demon. You're brother and sister are waiting in the car."

We start walking down the hallway. "You won't tell Father will you?"

"Nah. This'll be our little secret."

"But Drake and Carter saw the whole thing. Those tattle tales."

"Well I think I can just convince Chris on our way home. But if Tim doesn't budge, I have my other ways." I grin devilishly. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. Just try not to get into trouble again." Besides I don't think Bruce will be home anyways - some kind of League mission? Don't know, don't care.

I don't look down at him but I hear him mutter a quick. "Thanks."

****Break****

Chris' POV

"Where's Batman?" I ask when I enter the cave.

"League mission. Some worldwide crisis. Again." Tim replies in his Red Robin outfit.

"Guess it's not much of a crisis since it's not all over the news." Red Hood comments.

"How would you know? It's not like you watch all the news channels every minute of every day." Damian remarks.

Damian and Jason have a glaring contest from behind their masks until Dick grabs our attention.

"There have been a series of kidnappings over the past couple of days. Total of 14 by far. Victims are between 13-19 years of age. Hood and I have analyzed all the reports on the missing teens and found that all the teens have been in Gotham Academy, either have graduated, left in the middle of the year, or are still studying there."

"Any leads on the kidnapper?" Red Robin asks.

"Other than his MO, no."

"But Nightwing and I came up with a plan." Hood says.

"Are you going to make one of us bait?" Damian inquires.

"Exactly."

"So which one of us?"

"Well...all of the kidnapped teens are girls." All eyes turn to me as Dick says this. My mouth thins into a line.

"Okay."

****Break****

"Tell me more about the kidnapper." I mutter, hoping the microphone in my shirt picks it up.

"He has access to the school's files, since he knows alumni of the school. Most of the girls were last seen somewhere on the streets of Gotham, mainly the North side. All kidnappings were at night. Tim and Damian looked deeper into the victims' lives and found that all have good grades and are or were in good standing with the school. Most of the victims were scholarship students or given financial aid."

"Someone who doesn't like smart poor people?" I ask.

"I don't know. Maybe. But that doesn't seem like a good enough motive."

I continue walking on the sidewalk as cars zoom past me. All the streetlights are lit, and I catch words from the music each shop is playing as I walk by them.

"Do I have permission to engage if I come into contact with the target?" I ask Dick. I get some funny looks from a couple as they walk past me. I just ignore them, but bring the volume of my voice down a bit.

"No. That's why Jason's tailing you. You're the bait. You can't just pull off some moves and go unnoticed."

"But what if they're a pervert? Sure sounds like one from the information you've gathered."

"Then just kick, punch, and struggle like a normal kidnapped 14-year-old." Odd sentence...

I look around me, my hands in my hoodie pocket. So far nothing suspicious.

"What do we do if this doesn't work?"

"Then we wait for Bruce, if he's back within the week."

"Who are the suspects so far?"

A pause. "None."

I frown. "Why haven't you made a list of suspects?"

Another pause.

I stop walking. "Dad doesn't know, does he?"

A shorter pause. "He told me not to take up the case until he gets back, unless he says otherwise."

"Then what makes you think you can take matters into your own hands? If he tells you not to do something, he has his reasons."

"His reasons are that he knows the best way to catch this guy is through you. He's using this time to think of other things we could do, but the sooner we catch this kidnapper, the better."

Unfortunately, I get his point.

"See. You know I'm right." I guess I didn't answer quickly enough.

I continue walking down the sidewalk. "So this was your idea? Disobeying Dad? What happened to you, Dick?"

"I...I don't know, Chris." His stutter makes me take a breath. I suddenly realize why this is irritating me so much. He sounded like...like Batman. His slight arrogance, his independence, his determination no matter the costs... Then that stutter brought back my big brother. I heard his voice and not my dad's voice.

Neither of us talk as I continue walking down the street. I look to the ground and focus on my feet with every step they take. thump thump thump. I pay attention to the rhythm of my steps, then I remember I'm supposed to be keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Immediately, I lift my head and continue scanning my surroundings.

I press a button on my wrist watch to change the radio channel. "Jason, you got anything?"

"No."

I switch back to the Batcave's channel. "Maybe the kidnapper isn't interested in me. We probably need better bait." I keep my voice low.

"Just wait a little longer. Are you cold?"

I stop walking and turn to look at a shop window. Behind the window are a bunch of different picture frames. My eyes are drawn to this one frame that's simple and made of wood. It looks a little old, and the color seems to be fading a little bit. For some reason, the frame looks familiar. I've seen it somewhere...

"Chris behind you!" Jason's voice yells in my ear.

The last thing I see before the chloroform cloth on my mouth and nose knocks me out is a shadowy figure strangling my reflection in the large window.

****Break****

Jason's POV

"He's strong. Lifted up Chris in a swift motion." I say to Nightwing on the other end of the line.

"Noted. Jason." He says in a warning voice.

"I know, I know. Don't engage, just follow."

"Keep her safe. I've told Tim and Damian to continue patrol, but they're aware of the situation. They'll come if needed."

"I'm sure I can handle the scumbag." I say in an annoyed tone as I follow the kidnapper from the rooftops.

"You just lost someone, Jay. You're unstable. I'm coming to your coordinates." He closes the line without giving me enough time to grunt in response.

The guy - he looks like a guy from here - runs into an alley. I jump over to the buildings by the alley and look below me. He hauls Chris' unconscious body into the back of a white van. Seems even more like a rapist by the second.

Quickly, I zoom in on the licence plate of the vehicle as it backs out of the alley. I take multiple pictures and send them to Babs using the tech in my helmet. She's off duty right now, but scanning the license plate shouldn't take too long.

I jump from rooftop to rooftop, constantly looking down at the street below and the white van, which at this time of day sticks out like a sore thumb.

I wish Dick would understand that I can handle pain. Hell, I died and came back to life! I've had my own dose of pain, and I'm still living aren't I? I can handle this gig. Moving on isn't always easy, but I can do it. I'm sure I can.

****Break****

I follow the white van all the way to a house in the outskirts of Gotham. There's no other establishments within a three mile radius, and there are a few trees here and there.

Right now, I'm staring through a window, watching as Chris is tied to a chair by some mystery man. The shadows just happen to be covering his face, so I can't make out any defining features. I still don't know anything about this guy except where he lives, his figure, and his license plate number - which Babs still hasn't run through the system.

I place a listening device on the wall right next to the window and test it out to make sure it works. I know it works when I hear someone mutter, "What the hell...?"

"Hello there, Miss Wayne." A smooth voice says.

"Cut the crap. Whaddya want?" Well, she can be fierce when she wants to be.

The man paces around the chair as Chris glares at him. "Lots of things. You know, I was expecting you to be a little more...afraid, being the spoiled princess you are."

"Shut up." She mutters.

"Well, of course you're afraid. This "tough girl" thing is just an act, obviously. You're heart is probably pounding, your breathing quickening, your eyes watering. I bet you just wanna go home."

She stays silent.

"WELL TOO BAD YOU CAN'T. YOU'RE MINE, FOREVER AND ALWAYS."

"Someone's got possession issues." My thoughts exactly.

He just chuckles. "You think that's why you're here? Why I kidnapped you and tied you up in my lovely house?" So this is his house...I was expecting some abandoned shack or something. The place actually looks pretty decent from what I can see.

"Why don't you tell me your life story then? I'm sure it'll clear things up." She continues glaring at him, and it looks like he's glaring at her back. Stupid shadows. I can't make out anything. The light just had to be only on Chris.

"It's not my life story that's interesting." He pulls up a chair and sits in front of her. "It's yours."

"What? You been stalking me or something? Creep."

He straightens his back. "I'm not a creep." He says slowly.

"Uhh...do you not have any mirrors in here? You kidnap girls. You're a creep."

He abruptly stands up and pushes the chair out of the way. He grabs Chris by the hoodie and pulls her face right up to his. I swear I see the chair lift up a bit.

"I AM NOT A CREEP. SO SHUT YOUR MOUTH B*TCH."

He releases his grip, and a slight thud signals the chair being stable on the ground again.

"Sooo...why is my life sooo interesting? 'Cause you obviously know it better than I do."

He pulls out a knife from inside his jacket and points it at Chris. I notice Chris grip the chair a little and her body tense so slightly that you wouldn't notice it if you weren't paying close attention. Wait a minute...is she...?

"I'm getting annoyed with that attitude of yours. Now can you keep yourself under control or will I have to?"

She stays silent, but continues glaring at him.

He takes a seat and starts fingering the knife. "Did you know that you aren't the first girl I've kidnapped?"

Chris doesn't respond.

"The 15th to be exact." He counts how many victims he has...definitely a creep.

"But I don't just pick random girls off the streets. You all have something in common. I bet you want to know what that is, now don't you?"

She remains silent.

"You all go to Gotham Academy, or went for the special few. You all have good grades and were given money so you could attend the school. Financial aid, scholarships, being adopted by billionaires..." He leans forward into the light, and I can see grey eyes filled with hatred.

"The school decided to be nice to you. I don't know if there were any special reasons, but for some reason they weren't nice to me." Oh...a grudge holder. "I had a daughter. Had. She was about your age when she wanted to move to Gotham Academy. She told me that she was sick of public schools, with the drugs and the alcohol and whatnot. The only problem was that we didn't have the money. So she worked hard to get a scholarship into the school. She didn't even let me do any of the paperwork, unless it involved my signature."

He leans forward even more. "You know what all that hard work gave her? Nothing. The school didn't offer her a scholarship! When I went and asked why, they said that she didn't fit all of the qualifications. They informed me about your father's foundation, the one that provided the money for most of the scholarship students. The rest of the scholarship students were 100% scholarships and rare. So we went to the foundation office to talk to them. They told us the exact same thing! They said that there were more qualified applicants, so they received the money and not my daughter. And that...that's what crushed her."

"She was smart and considered herself qualified for a scholarship. So she began to question herself. She began doing...insane things. I tried talking to her, tried helping her, but she never listened. One day, she just lost it. I don't know what triggered it, but she just ran out onto a busy street while we were walking through the North Side of Gotham and got herself hit by a car." He pauses in his story, as if it hurts to recall that moment.

A few seconds later, he continues. "I took her death...pretty hard. But then I began to look at it differently. I started to blame people: Gotham Academy, the other scholarship students, the Wayne Foundation, your father. So I decided to do some investigating. It took me a year to learn how to hack. I'm a slow learner. After I learned how to hack and cover my tracks, I hacked into the Wayne Foundation database and the Gotham Academy database. I learned that there were less scholarship students that year than previous years. I'll let you guess why. Here's a clue: it was four years ago."

The scumbag stares at Chris expectantly, but she just stares blankly into his eyes.

"Fine. Don't answer. I'll tell you anyway." He stands up. "You. Mister Bruce Wayne adopted you. He had to spend more money on his personal life at that point in time, so they had to lessen the number of scholarship students." I highly doubt that Chris caused Bruce to spend so much money that it affected the Wayne Foundation.

"So I thought, 'Hey! I lost a daughter! Maybe he should lose one, too!' But I knew that I couldn't just kill you. I had to make it...elaborate. Killing is an art most appreciated by Death. Plus, where's the fun in a gun? So I planned this out. Through my devious plan, I could get back at the scholarship students who stole my daughter's place in the school, Gotham Academy since they're losing students, and now your father! You have to admit, it's a pretty cool plan. Plus! I added symbolism. You remember how I said you're my 15th victim? Well, my daughter was 15 when she killed herself. Now, I'm still deciding whether or not to make your death look like a murder or a suicide..."

"Hood." Barbara's voice says in my ear.

"Did you scan the plate?" I ask, putting urgency in my voice.

"Yeah. Sorry it took a while. But the car belongs to a Marcus Paige."

"Does he have a dead daughter?" I look through the window again and see that he's tightened his grip on the knife and is slowly moving closer to Chris. Isn't Dick supposed to be here?

"Yeah. An Annie Paige. What's this for?"

"I have to explain later. Talk to ya later, Babs." I close the channel.

"I've decided on...murder. It's so much more fun, don't you think?"

I've heard enough. I grab the listening device off the wall and run a few feet away from the window. I sprint at it and jump through it, using my arms to shield myself. I land on my feet as glass falls on and around me.

"What the hell?!" The man screams as he pulls back the knife, about to slit her throat. The moment Marcus turns his body to me Chris begins to try and free herself from her bonds.

"Am I intruding on something? 'Cause that was my intention." I run up to him and do a jump kick. I nail him in the face, and he falls back on his furniture.

"You shouldn't be trying to stop this! You should know better than anybody that I'm just getting justice!"

"Buddy, all you're getting tonight is a whole lot of pain." I move closer to him and start throwing punches and kicks. He isn't well trained, and he didn't even try using his knife. He just let me kick it aside.

"What the hell is wrong with you douchewad?" I growl.

"Kill me. Kill me now. Let me join my daughter." He says in between breaths.

"Who? Annie?" He seems taken aback that I know her name. "I don't think she'd want you with her after what you've done in her name."

I could stop right now, but for some reason I want to keep hurting him. I continuously kick his ribs and stomach, and by now I've probably fractured most of them. I kneel down and start punching his face. Over and over again. I begin grunting, then almost screaming. Suddenly, two arms wrap around my raised arm right before I punch him again.

"Jason. He's already knocked out. Stop it."

I can feel the crazy look in my eyes as I shove her off and continue punching him.

"Jason! Stop it." Finally. Dickie Bird arrives. His hands grasp my arms as he pulls them behind my back. My anger dies down, and my shoulders sag. I notice that I'm breathing heavily and start controlling my breathing.

I shake Dick off and rise to my feet. "I told you that you couldn't control yourself."

"I had everything under control. You didn't have to end up coming."

"Obviously I did! Jason, you think you're handling Autumn's death but you're not."

I punch him in the face and he stumbles backwards. "DON'T YOU MENTION HER NAME."

"Jason, she was our friend, too." Chris says.

"Oh hell she was. You didn't accept her in the beginning. You're the ones who made her feel left out and depressed! You didn't want to help her! I was the only one there for her! I was the only one who tried to cheer her up and make her part of the family! All of you said you would but didn't! Not until recently, which really doesn't count for anything! She died because of you!" I point at Chris. "Because of all of you! You're all ignorant, self-worshipping douchebags!"

"Jason. Don't blame us for our sister's death."

"Oh she was barely your sister, now was she."

A long, tension-filled silence follows all the yelling. It's not until we hear sirens in the distance that we decide to leave the house.

"I'll be home tomorrow. Just...just give me some time alone." I hop onto my motorcycle and drive away from the house and the onlooking siblings.

****Break****

Dick's POV

I sigh as we walk towards Tim and Damian, who are already waiting for us with their masks still on. Chris follows right behind me. "So how did it go?" Tim asks, walking up to me with Damian along side.

I pinch the bridge of my nose.

"Where's Todd?" Damian asks, noticing the lack of people.

"He ended up freaking out." Chris answers for me as she walks towards the chair in front of the BatComputer.

"Tt." Damian roll his eyes. "Expected." He says as Chris plops down on the swivel chair and turns to face us.

Tim looks at me, expecting a more detailed answer. I sigh heavily once more. "Well." I sigh and gesture to Chris. "Jason freaked out and left." My hands plop down at my sides. "He isn't taking her death well."

Tim's mouth turns into a line. "No one's over it yet." He mutters.

"I know Tim." I place my hand on his shoulder. "But they were really close." I say softly, and he nods slightly with a solemn face.

"We just need to be here for him." Tim says and I nod and smile. Damian lets out his signature 'Tt' but something tells me that he agrees with us.

"I'm just worried about him…" I whisper pursing my lips. I look towards Chris. "We need to find him." I say with a determined look.

Then a roar of an all too familiar vehicle fills my ears. The jet. Wind blows at our faces and Chris walks up closer to me. "Something tells me...that's not what we should be worrying about right now."

Damn…

Jason's POV

I stand on top of a rooftop of a building as I stare down at Gotham's busy streets, my helmet locked in between my rib and my arm. I watch as the puff of smoke coming from my lit cigar fades. I don't know why but smoking always calms me down, even when I was younger. It helps me clear my mind.

The cool but polluted wind blows at my hair and the light in my cigar brightens.

I've been trying to quit smoking, but that doesn't really work out well.

As I stare down at the littered streets of Gotham, I exhale another puff of smoke.

"You know smoking is really bad for you." I look down to see the kid sitting by the ledge of the building with her legs dangling, her shoulders relaxed, and her hands placed behind her as they take the weight of her body. She looks at me, wearing her uniform and her mask, and she smirks slyly.

I shrug. "I don't really care."

"Is this what you do when your bored? Smoke and stare?" She asks, standing up and walking towards me.

"Pretty much." I say casually.

"Wow. What I do when I'm bored is watch TV or something."

I roll my eyes. "Well I'm not you, kid."

"At least I don't smoke!" She complains. "Can't you do something else to calm yourself down instead of smoke? Watch TV or something!"

I raise an eyebrow.

"Watch cartoons or whatever if there's nothing good on the news!" She whines. "Smoking shrivels your lungs and kills you!"

"So?" My eyes move back to the city.

"Whatcha mean 'so'?! Stop smoking! Gob!" She says.

I can't deny that there's a little grin tugging at the edges of my lips. "Yeesh!" She whines and turns back to the world.

"Why are you so against smoking anyways?" I ask, letting the puffs circle around my face.

She sighs. "I just am, okay!" She says defensively and turns back to me, and her teal green eyes flash into mine without the mask. "You have to stop smoking. It's not good!"

The cigarette falls out of my mouth and I step on it, killing the light. I look back at Gotham, listening to the police sirens, the engines of the cars passing by the roads, those people walking on the sidewalks and crossing the roads blabbering.

I look up at the dark blue sky and the moon hiding behind the pollution. All the stars afraid to shine, hiding.

My mouth thins into a line and I suddenly feel older than I am. My hair stands as the hot breeze blows and howls at my face. I suppress a shiver as I try to keep myself standing.

Sweat drips down the side of my head as the world begins to churn. My knees wobble and the blood red helmet falls on the ground and rolls away. I fall forward and my knees hit the ground with a scrape, and my hands touch the edge of the building's roof.

I look down at the city's sidewalk, on my hands and knees. The ground suddenly seems so much farther. I grunt and try to stop the world from spinning and swallow the bile in my throat.

My eyes widen as I continue to struggle against the cold. ' . .Gone.' The wind howls in my ears as my mind cries and my heart races. I grunt, swallowing a wave of bile.

I bite my lip, stopping myself from screaming as small droplets of blood mark the pavement. 'Calm down. Calm down.' I tell myself, trying to control my breathing. I close my eyes for a while and slowly move back away from the edge of the building.

I take a deep breath and sit up on my knees. I open my eyes and take slower breaths.

Inhale.

Exhale.

"Just calm down." She would tell me. I grunt, clenching my fists as my face twists in pain. My head is still pounding but not as much anymore.

I hate it when this happens.

****Break****

Tim's POV

I hate it when this happens.

"I specifically told you not to continue the case until I got back!" Batman growls at Dick.

"We caught him!" Dick growls back. "If we waited any longer-"

"I don't want to hear it!" He glares at Dick, nearly burning his face, but Dick returns a glare almost matching Batman's glare. "You disobeyed my direct orders! I made myself clear, but you disobeyed! You put your sister in danger. Let Jason out when it was still too early. And now look! He's suddenly missing!" He barks.

"We'll find him!" He clenches his fists. "I only did what you would've!" He barks back.

Batman leans back in his stance as his fists clench as well.

"We should get out of here." I mutter, trying to herd the other two out of the cave. We reach the study when the yelling continues and soon gets closer to us.

We go up the stairs, trying to get away from the tension. Soon we're at the hallway of bedrooms, but Bruce and Dick aren't far behind us.

Then we find ourselves in a dark bedroom. I turn on the lights and realize where we are. "Aw hell." Damian mutters.

We're in Jason's room.

"Drake you stupid ass! Why did you lead us into Todd's room?"

"You'd rather go out there?" I jerk a thumb towards the closed door where I can still hear yelling. We glare at each other.

"Stop it you two!" Chris steps in. "We don't wanna fight like they are." I sigh and sit on the floor by the window.

Chris sits beside me and Damian positions himself on the floor, his head leaning on the bed. "When Jason comes. We're all going to die." I mumble.

"Tt. Todd is hardly home anyways."

Chris and I sigh at the same time.

A silence stretches for a while.

"About...this guy…" Chris attempts to break the silence and block out all the yelling occurring outside the room. "Paige. He was crazy…"

The Demon rolls his head towards her and raises an eyebrow. "Isn't everyone in Gotham." He says blantly.

"Well...yeah. But I feel like his story wasn't all that."

My head jerks up. "What do you mean?"

"Like he was hiding something." Chris tries to decipher. "He could be...working for someone, you know." She says, furrowing her eyebrows. "His daughter…" She mutters so softly that I almost didn't hear her.

I start thinking. He could've been working for someone, or he could've just been crazy. "I don't know Chris. I wasn't really there. So I don't really know."

She shrugs. "But I could be wrong though." But she's obviously still in deep thought.

The yelling gets louder outside and we all visibly tense.

We sit here in silence, trying to block out their yelling by making small talk but failing miserably.

Dick's yelling almost overpowering Bruce's but then Bruce's voice eventually gets louder than his. It's almost funny how Dick is becoming more like Batman.

Almost.

"This family is falling apart...isn't it?" We look at Damian whose head is lolled slightly to the side. His frown is so evident and pulling his face down. His eyes are on the ground and completely miserable.

His face looks almost...defeated.

It's a new picture for The Demon's Spawn. He never shows weakness. Never.

Chris sighs, sounding almost defeated as well. I shake my head. "What makes you say that?" I ask, defending.

Chris looks at me, her face suddenly darker. "Don't you see it Tim?" She asks rhetorically. "Even Dick is changing. Jason is hardly home. Autumn is dead. We're falling apart." She says.

"We can't do anything about it." Damian says. "Wake up, Drake."

My eyes fall to the ground. "I...I don't want that to happen."

"Then don't let it happen." I look up to see Jason on the ledge of the window. He jumps off and lands in front of me and Chris.

His hair is damp, drenched in sweat. His face is slightly twisted like he had a migraine. But despite the obvious look in his face that he's in pain, he struggles to keep his face stoic.

"Jason." I stand up. "I-I can explain."

His crosses his arms. "Alright. Explain why you three are in my room talking about depressing sh*t." He says but not angrily.

"Uh-" And just on cue the yelling outside suddenly gets louder and Jason cringes. "Ah." He nods in understanding.

"They've always been like that. Even before I...died." He looks at all of us. "Although I didn't have an older brother's room to hide in." He forces a sheepish smile and sits down on the edge of his bed.

I sit beside him. "Where'd you go?" I ask.

He looks at me and shrugs. "Nowhere." He answers.

"That's the most cryptic answer I've ever heard." Chris rolls her eyes.

He shoots a glare in her direction. "Careful. You're in my territory." He threatens. She smirks.

He sighs and lies down. "I guess you guys could hang around until they stop." He says, squeezing his eyes tightly.

For a while it's complete silence. We all hang around in the light while Jason tries to sleep.

Then I sigh, deciding to break the silence as a horrible realization pushes it's way forward into my head. "Dick's becoming more like...Batman."

Chris' and Damian's blue eyes swim towards me as mine look down, but Jason moves his arm over his eyes.

"Kid." He says. "We're all at least a little bit like Batman." He says gruffly.

A/N: Yes that was a pretty sucky chapter but keep your eyes peeled for more mysteries regarding the Bat Family. If you have any suggestions or requests please don't hesitate to tell us.

Okay so, we came up with this cool idea. You guys can ask us (the writers) or the characters (any one of them) questions about the story (but no spoilers!) Then when we have enough questions to fill in a chapter, we'll answer the questions. It's really fun actually, cause we're kinda running low on ideas because...writer's block! CURSE THE DAY WRITER'S BLOCK WAS INVENTED!