Chapter 6
A/N: First off, I want to apologize to everyone for delaying this fic for so long. I ran into a severe case of writer's block, among a bunch of other personal stuff I don't want to bother you guys with. But, I'm back into the swing of things, and I plan on seeing this fic through to the end. So, without further ado, I give you Chapter 6 of "From Shadows, I Come"!
Diana wasn't really sure what to expect from Chief's home. She found the idea of him settling down anywhere more than a little mind-boggling. But, here he was, leading her to the more suburban areas on the outskirts of Gotham City.
It was your typical, white picket fence neighborhood. Each house looked almost identical, save for the cars that resided in their driveways. Gardens and rosebushes were groomed to near perfection, and children would play in the streets without a care.
Diana had been expecting something a bit more secluded from her friend, though the idea of him hiding in plain sight never really crossed her mind. She was surprised, to say the least, that no one commented as he walked by with an unconscious Bruce tossed over his shoulders.
"They can't see us right now," Chief explained, almost as if reading her mind. "It's one of my... Many gifts."
"That you have yet to explain," Diana added. She was raised in a world of gods and monsters. She was never one to question the strange happenings that occurred around her. But the fact that it was happening around a friend, whom she thought to be dead all of these years, made things different.
"I know, I know. But let's get him looked over first." He said in reference to Bruce.
When that finally reached the house, it was just like all of the others. A well-kept garden, a stone walkway, and a house painted in some sort of pastel color that had begun to fade.
It was Chief's own little paradise away from the corruption of the city.
He opened the door, and Diana was greeted with the familiar scent of earth and pine. The house was warm, and she almost felt as if it was inviting her in.
Chief carried Bruce into the house, laying him gently on the couch before making his way into the kitchen.
Diana shut the door behind her, allowing her eyes to drift along the walls. Newspaper clippings resided in frames, almost untouched by time. Just eying some of the headlines brought Diana memories of the war that had started everything; the war that had forged her into who she was today.
"You kept all of these?" Diana asked.
"Just the major ones. That's more or less what I do. Travel the world, collect things from the time I'm needed there..." He trailed off, riffling through a familiar looking medicine bag.
He began working on Bruce's injuries, concocting some sort of salve and gently coating the wounds with it. Diana couldn't help but watch in fascination, hoping to gain some sort of idea of what he was doing.
He soaked some of the bandages in a liquid before wrapping them around Bruce's torso. He then rolled the injured man onto his side, allowing him to breathe easier.
"Now, let's take a look at your shoulder." Chief offered to Diana.
"My shoulder is fine." She retorted. "Napi, please, I just-"
With a good shove, he popped her shoulder into place again. She gave a sharp hiss, flexing her hand before rolling her shoulder a bit. Just as good as before.
"So, you want to know how I'm here, correct?"
Diana nodded, hoping that this would finally be it.
"How much do you know of my people? The Blackfoot, I mean." He asked, taking a seat in the chair across from her.
"Very little, I must confess." Diana sighed. "I've been attempting to keep up with the Modern era, as well as trying to learn from the past. So many cultures..." She trailed off before shaking her head. "I only recall what you've told me."
"Well, like any other culture, my tribe carries a lot of stories with them. Some are even similar to the stories you may have heard as a child. Like Greek and Norse mythology, the Blackfoot believe in Demigods. One of them has been known to go by the title of 'Old Man'. He is a creator; a jokester at times. But he is known to help those that need it. He is a teacher, and will come to the aid of those that need it. He is known by many other names, but the one he goes by now is-."
"Chief..." Diana concluded, quickly rising to her feet. "Napi. The Demigod's name is Napi, isn't it? That's why you're still alive! You're a Demigod. You're like-"
'Like me.' She realized to herself.
His gaze fell to his hands in his lap before he ultimately rose to his feet.
"I have some tea ready if you would like some." He offered. "You and your friend are more than welcome to stay here tonight to rest."
"Do you know why Steve is alive?" Diana asked, completely ignoring Chief's offers. "Do you know why he is acting this way?"
"Unfortunately, I don't." He replied. "But we can discuss all that in the morning. Please get some rest, Diana. I have a spare room you can take up, and I will insure that your friend's bandages are changed frequently. He'll be awake in the morning."
Diana wasn't too pleased. She wanted answers, and even now they were being delayed.
But she knew those answers wouldn't come; not this soon anyways. She resigned herself to this realization and took Chief's offer for room and board for the night.
When she finally allowed herself to get into bed, all she could think about was Steve. She couldn't get out her head how confused and frightened he'd looked. He reminded her of a wounded animal, the way he shrank back from her.
Someone had hurt him; twisted him into some sort of ruthless killer. The very thought made Diana's stomach twist.
She fumbled through her pocket, pulling out an old watch and tracing over the face with her fingers. Though it had stopped ticking long ago, she couldn't find it in her heart to fix it. It had stopped when Steve had died… or rather, supposedly died. Diana really didn't know what to make of it anymore.
Still, she held the old timepiece to her heart. Silently, she wished that she could see him again. She wanted to feel his hand in hers; his lips on her skin. Her heart ached at the thought of having him back, knowing that something horrible had been done to him.
"I'll bring you back…" She whispered into the darkness, squeezing her eyes shut. "I'll bring you back… And I'll make whoever hurt you pay."
It was this promise that remained in her mind, even as she slept.
This Ra's al Ghul had crossed the wrong Amazon; and he was going to learn that the hard way.
Even unconscious, Jason Todd found no peace.
His dreams were filled with nothing but fire. His skin was burning. He couldn't breathe. Everything around him was on fire.
Even when he'd open his eyes again for the first time, everything burned. The Lazarus pit only seemed to amplify how his last moments of life had felt.
When Jason finally opened his eyes, he was drenched in sweat. He gasped, sitting up in his bed.
He was back at the motel room. The one Ra's had arranged for him and Steve.
"You were mumbling again."
Jason looked across the room to see Steve cleaning his guns, not even bothering to lift his head and look at him.
"You were having nightmares again, weren't you?" Steve asked, sounding as bored and uninterested as ever.
"Not a big deal." Jason muttered.
"It is if Ra's finds out." Steve countered. "He's going to punish you again."
"Punishment" was Ra's sicking his fighters on whomever disobeyed him. It would end up with the punished victim either dying, or on the verge of death. Needless to say, it was something Jason had encountered a lot.
"Well, he won't." Jason snapped, pulling himself out of bed. "Not unless you run your mouth."
Steve shrugged, continuing his cleaning.
"Besides, I don't see you with Wonder Woman's head. You think Ra's is going to be happy knowing you failed too?"
Steve paused, setting his gun down on the table and turning towards Jason.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Jason mumbled, stepping into the bathroom to wash his face.
Silence had settled over the room. The two men soon found themselves lost in their mundane tasks.
It was after a good five minute, Steve finally broke the silence.
"She…. She knows me."
"Huh?" Jason asked, poking his head out the bathroom door.
"She knows me, somehow. She looked at me like she knew me… She reached out to me." His hands balled into fists at his sides. Jason could see then and there how much pain he was in.
"She touched my face, and I've felt it before. I know her, Jason. Somehow, I know her."
"Hey," Jason crossed into the room, taking a seat beside his companion. "Hey, it's ok. We both slipped up today." He said. "We'll get them next time. Once we're done here we can skip town and leave Ra's in the dust. Just like we talked about."
"She called me Steve…. I know that's not my name. But I feel, deep down, that it is."
Jason could see the conflict his friend was facing. He was fighting the truth he'd come to know, and the harsh reality of things. In truth, Jason had felt it too. It was like their world was threatening to crash down around them if they kept pushing.
"Don't worry about that. It doesn't matter what they said. We need to focus on finishing this job." Jason said again.
"But…. What if the job is wrong? What if we've been lied to, Jason? What if-?"
Jason harshly shushed him, quickly glancing at the motel room door. They were alone, but he had to be sure.
"You can't be talking like that. Like you said, Ra's will have our asses if he heard us. The only way that we can get out of this is if we finish this job. We wipe out the Metahumans, and then we're home free." He paused, seeing that Steve wasn't so convinced.
"Hey… I know what you're going through." Jason said quietly. "I've…. Been feeling it too. But we're so close. We've just got to-."
"I hope I'm not interrupting something, boys?"
Jason's head snapped around, seeing a man standing in the doorway to their room. Though the man looked to be fairly young, the presence he carried was older than anyone could imagine.
Dressed rather formally in a suit with his graying hair slicked back was Ra's al Ghul.
Jason and Steve both rose to their feet, standing at attention.
There was an agonizing silence that settled over the room. Ra's eyed the two up and down before strolling towards the room's fridge and procuring a bottle of wine.
"I trust that there's a reason the two of you haven't succeeded in your mission?" He said, not even to bother looking at them as he poured himself a glass.
Neither said a word. They both knew that excuses would do them no good. It was best to just wait it out and accept whatever fate Ra's had in store for them.
"No? Hmph. A pity." He sighed, taking a sip off of the glass and making his way towards the couch. He propped up a walking stick against the arm of the couch before taking a seat.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have the both of you killed right here."
Steve's eyes widened in fear, but Jason immediately came in to defend the two of them.
"There were a few setbacks," Jason said, hoping to spare them of his employer's wrath. "But we won't let them happen again. If you would just give us-."
"Setbacks, you say?" Ra's interrupted him. "That's interesting you say that. Would one of those setbacks be you having second thoughts?"
"What? No!" Jason retorted, wondering where that had come from.
But then, he remembered.
Back at the hospital, when he'd snapped out of…. Some sort of trance? He couldn't recall it fully. Even now his head pounded as he tried to think.
"An informant of mine tells me otherwise." Ra's replied smoothly. "She says that you hesitated when you faced the Bat. Said that you were letting whatever lies he spread get to you."
"That's ridiculous!" Jason spat. "I don't know who your informant is, but she's a damn liar!"
"Watch your tone with me, boy!" Ra's hissed, making Jason flinch back for a moment. "Remember who it was that pulled you back from the clutches of death when your so called father gave up on you. Remember how he led you to your death. And don't you dare ever call my daughter a liar."
Daughter?
The nurse from the hospital… That's who his informant was.
"You… You sent your daughter?" Jason stammered.
"Did you really think I would trust the two of you with a mission like this by yourselves? You are formidable, yes; but you clearly still lack the proper discipline. Especially if you allow yourself to be so easily swayed by the likes of Bruce Wayne."
"Yeah, well, maybe he's not the one that's been 'swaying' me." Jason snapped.
He didn't know why he said it. But the moment he did, it was like the final piece had been put into the puzzle.
Everything had come back to him within an instant, and he knew just the type of people he was working for now.
Before he could even think of doing anything else, he was met with the solid metal ball on Ra's cane smacking into his face.
He stumbled to the ground, suddenly feeling a foot slam into his stomach. He almost couldn't breathe.
"How dare you!" Ra's hissed, continuously kicking him and beating him with his cane. "How dare you slander me like that! How dare you spit in the face of this organization! How dare you insult my kindness to you!"
Ever hit reminded Jason of that night. The night he'd died. The night that the Joker had mercilessly beat into him and left him for dead.
No. Not here. Not this time.
Delivering a sharp kick of his own, Jason swept the legs out from under Ra's. He momentarily gained the upper hand against him, kicking away the cane and attempting to get as far away from him as possible.
He had to get out of here. He had to run.
He shared one look with Steve, whom had just stood there and watched as this all unfolded. Steve's eyes darted from him to the man on the floor. Within an instant, Steve went for one of his guns and took aim at Jason.
Jason bolted for the window, smashing into the glass and barreling outside. Steve continued to fire on him as he ran for his motorcycle and started it up again.
Jason knew the moment that those words had left his mouth that he would become a target. Whatever hold Ra's had on him was gone now. Now, he needed to get out of here.
Without hesitation, he jumped onto his motorcycle and took off into the busy Gotham traffic.
Much to his surprise, he wasn't being pursued.
But he knew that wouldn't last. He expected that within the hour he would have League assassins coming after him.
He just needed to find a place to lay low. Just for a little bit.
For a moment, Steve had been conflicted.
Jason's accusations that Ra's had been manipulating them had resonated within him. Yet, at the same time Ra's had done nothing but give him everything he needed. His life. His memories. A job he could be proud of…
Jason had always been rebellious. He always fought back against Ra's gifts to them.
When Jason had fled out the window, Steve immediately went to follow him. Much to his surprise, Ra's had come up beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Leave him." He said, smoothing back his hair. "He'll be taken care of by sunrise. I'll make sure the League catches up with him."
"You… You don't plan on killing him, do you?" Steve asked.
Ra's sighed, patting his back. "These things must be taken care of. You know that as well as I do. If he will not comply with me…. I'm afraid I'll have to resolve the issue myself."
He paused, turning Steve to look him in the eye. "I trust that you don't have your doubts in me?" He asked. "The Amazon has not gotten to your head to, has she? I can't afford to have my best assassin turned against me."
Steve's face hardened, and he shook his head. "No, Sir. She tried to, but I'm stronger than that."
Ra's smiled. "I expect nothing more from the Zeitgeist." He replied, fixing his hair and adjusting his suit. "I shall expect the contracts to be carried out in the next two days. I will be returning home and expect to see you there shortly afterwards."
"Consider it done."
"I will, once I see for myself that the two of them are dead." He said, picking up his cane from the floor. "I would hate to have you disappoint me too."
With that, he left.
And with that, the Zeitgeist swore that the Bat and the Amazon would die. He would make sure of it himself.