Part 5: The War Begins
Stephanie is sitting at the computer, trying not to wince as Jason hits the mat once again and is pinned down by Damian. The train session has been going on for almost an hour and she can only count on one hand the times that Jason had not ended up on on the ground. It was not like Damian was trying to seriously injure the boy, it was just the way he taught. Dick is positioned a few feet away, eyes wide as he stopped his own exercises to watch the two on the mats.
The fact that Damian was using his time, actually staying to make sure the two had his instruction made the whole situation almost surreal. Not that Damian was not involved with Jason's training from almost the start, it was just something reminiscent of a past long gone that had Stephanie distracted. Days long gone, after she had been taken truly into the fold, when she was where Dick stood and watched Damian doing almost the same things with another Robin. The irony that Tim was only a short distance away was not lost on her.
"You need to have better control, Todd." Damian huffed, getting back to his feet and pulling Jason, almost unwillingly, back to his own. "You're too distracted. Calm down and think."
Jason almost visually pushed himself away, maybe the only person besides Damian not outwardly showing anything from the beating he seemed to be taking. "Don't tell me what to do." He almost growled, going after Damian once more with punch that was easily blocked, followed by a kick that made some purchase at the older man's thigh.
Damian was off by maybe after a breath before Jason's next assault came, followed by a series of punches from the both of them. This current round of sparring, if you asked Stephanie, was much more intense than the last. It was only because she knew Damian so well that she knew the smirk on his lips was more akin to being proud than of any type of scorn. Jason was an excellent fighter, if he was given the right motivations.
The size difference of the two, now maybe somewhere between six to nine inches and less than fifty pounds, was Jason main obstacle at taking down the original Robin. Damian was too skilled to be taken by a sweep of his legs, and Jason's size made him just a bit more agile. Neither showed signs of stopping, blow for blow being exchanged between the two. With nothing but their bodies as weapons, both were formidable in their own rights.
A back handspring from Jason put some distance between the two, giving both of them a moment to circle and size up the other. Stephanie took a moment as the two paused to get a good look at Dick. This was maybe the second session the boy had had, Stephanie had not been by since the day before the last and was using that as an estimate, so he was set up with some wooden practice dummies to hit. The kid looked so small, hands wrapped and taped and gears on his shins, that if it was not for what was happening she would have screamed at Bruce and Damian for allowing him to do any of this. As it was, it was probably safer for him than ignorant.
The sound of skin smashing against skin brought her back to Damian and Jason, the sight almost comical as Jason ducked under Damian's kick and grabbed his leg, twisting his body to get the other to slam into the ground. There was a definite grumble from Damian as Jason backed away, both of them breathing heavily. After a moment, Stephanie saw Damian stand up. "Much better. See what happens when you study a situation rather than react to it."
Jason was leaning against a pillar, breathing slower but still taxed. "Yeah." He huffed, moving to grab a water bottle just a few steps away.
Stephanie turned back to the computer as it beeped, typing in some more search parameters before finally something definitive popped up. A corrupt businessman had been found dead in his home, throwing knives pinning him to the wall. "Damian, I found something." Stephanie called out, typing away at the computer to find more information.
"Todd, work with Grayson." Damian's voice said, a note in the back of her mind as she accessed the initial police homicide reports. Photos of the scene were gruesome, though the body was nowhere near brutal. The only blood not on the body was a message next to the body, the first blatant clue they have gotten since Tim's distress call.
"Enemies of the Court Beware, We Come for You Next"
"So, they've made their first play." Damian's voice was a low growl, making Stephanie jump slightly as she realized he had made it behind.
"It appears so." Stephanie said, "Why would they make it so obvious?"
"Tt" Damian breathed, the sound familiarly meaning that he was stumped. "Either it's a clever copycat or they're calling us out."
Stephanie turned around, looking away from the reports. Damian was leaning on the console next to her, eyes scanning the photos and reports with a studious gaze. "We need to let Bruce know."
"Father is in the middle of the Pacific evacuating an island with the League." Damian said after a moment. "I'll take Cain, you and Todd will continue to monitor for anything else."
"Damian…" Stephanie started, but was soon interrupted with a patented Damian stare and another more annoyed scoff.
"I'll let Father know, but if all we have is this he is probably needed elsewhere." Damian said, eyes scanning the photos once more before turning from the computer and looking right at Stephanie. "Cain and I can handle this until Father and the League are done. Todd is probably the second best person with computers, have him help you dig into those records you found. Maybe he can find something the rest of us missed. Tell Batgirl to meet me at the station and contact the Commissioner, I want to talk to him."
Damian turned towards the boys before Stephanie could protest further, walking in their direction. Stephanie was unable to hear what he told them but soon Jason was at the secondary console and Alfred appeared to take Dick back upstairs. There was silence before Damian's bike roared out of the Cave.
"Where's the files on the Court?" Jason asks as the computer booted up, sitting back in the chair. The seriousness in his voice in certain situations made Stephanie almost forget that the kid was only fifteen. After his growth spurts in the last few months, she just saw the small child that bounced around the Cave bringing back something she never thought would be back in their lives. The childish laughter was starting die down, but Jason was definitely good for them all.
"It's in my server, saved under C.O.O." Stephanie said, before something clicked and she turned to the boy. "How do you know this is the Court of Owls?" As far as she knew, Bruce and Damian were not tell Jason just yet what was going on. It was Bruce's decision, just until they had something definite. No need to worry unnecessarily he had said.
Jason shrugged, pulling up the files. "Detective, remember? I also know you guys have Tim hidden away too." His voice was even, but Stephanie at least thought she knew the other well enough that she could a slight hitch in his voice.
"Bruce hadn't wanted us to tell you until we had something more than speculation." Stephanie began, knowing that Jason would probably be upset but knew that truth already.
Jason voice is distracted as he next speaks, clearly reading through what information Stephanie had gathered. "That's what Damian said. Load of bullshit if you ask me." They were silent as they both worked. Stephanie found nothing more, even as an hour passed and new reports from the police came in. "Holy shit." Jason said, "Steph, look at this."
Wheeling over to Jason, looking at a file on one of Bruce's ancestors, Stephanie had no clue what she was supposed to be seeing. "The Alan Wayne case? Even Bruce couldn't find anything."
"Yeah, guessed that." Jason said, pulling up something else. "But I'm sure he grew up knowing about his crazy great-grandfather. Even Batman can be biases at times, and I'm sure no one thought to cross reference it with other city events." Pulling up archived newspaper clippings from the same week as Alan Wayne's death, something familiar came up. "Haly's Circus was in town that week as well."
"Haly's is old, Jay. Coincidence at best." Stephanie said, no knowing what thread Jason was pulling up as more old newspaper clippings littered the screen. Each showed mysterious deaths and disappearances, Haly's Circus being in Gotham, and even one magazine article about The Overlords of Gotham. "What is this Jason?"
"Don't know yet." Jason sighs, biting his thumb as he thought. "But it's something. Haly's isn't involved, but every twenty years or so something big happens whenever they come to town. Once or twice is a coincidence, but the same thing for over a hundred years? And when Haly's started in Gotham…"
Stephanie seemed to understand what Jason was trying to say, at least in some sense. "So.. If Haly's is involved, how? How is it all connected?"
"I don't know." Jason replies after a moment, and then pulled up a few more articles. "But it all seems to start here, the disappearance of Burton Crowne's grandson. That's just months later the first murder with throwing knifes occurred."
Stephanie looked the articles, dates seeming to line up with Jason's explanation but for a few things, the biggest being Haly's Circus. "But how does Haly's fit in?"
Jason just started typing away, bringing up a list he had obviously typed up. "This is a list of all the times Haly's Circus has come to Gotham." The dates were sporadic, every few years coming into the city, though it probably made more sense if other tours and cities were in the mix. Such a high profile organization, each visit was documented well enough for the dates to be accurate though. "And this is a list of every knife murder that looked even vaguely like tonight's, most victims being more well off so better documented." Another list lined up with the Haly's list, few dates lining up except where the list of homicides began and ended. From around 1920 to 1950, there were over 100 mysterious deaths in Gotham that were swept under the rug. Probably more that weren't documented.
"But that ended over sixty years ago."
"I know," Jason said, pulling up a final document. "But look at this list. It's a list of weird deaths involving the circus' performers. Car accidents, drownings, fires. Every time a body was either destroyed beyond recognition or lost."
"You're pulling at straws here." Stephanie said after a moment. "It's too circumstantial."
"Or that's what it's supposed to look like." Jason said, sitting back. "Just think, young acrobats. Trained from birth basically, it's only a small stretch to train them to be assassins later in life and give them to the Court." Jason looked like he hated himself, but he continued, "Circus society has its own structures, maybe killing can be twisted for a better purpose."
"What are you saying Jason?" Stephanie said, looking at Jason with a critical stare. "Do you think Haly's Circus is a assassin training ground."
Jason was unable to answer as alarms blared in Cave, Alfred rushing down pulling Dick behind him, as heavy steel doors closed off the Cave. "Master Jason, Miss Stephanie we have intruders." Alfred said, breathing heavily as Dick stared at them with wide eyes. "The Manor has been overrun."
***The Court of Owls***
"All the Talons have been awaken." The Grandmaster said from his perch at the center of the balcony overlooking the rest of his Court. Each member had been gathered for the first time in over fifty years. "Our night has arrived, we shall take back our future Talon. With Wayne's private police force, that detestable Batman Incorporated, distracted by our bread trails, we shall hit him where it will hurt the most."
They was a cheer from the masked spectators, each returning to their poised position as the Grandmaster raised his arms before speaking once more. "Wayne has inadvertently evaded our attempts to stop him, but tonight our Talons shall hit his home, taking from him what he has attempted to take from us. Tonight Gotham's brightest Son shall lose everything he holds dear, and in his grief we shall end him; and if the time comes that our newest Talon is ready and Wayne yet lives, the boy he tried to take from us will end the line of Wayne forever.
The cheers this time were deafening, the Grandmaster welcoming it as a shadow from behind him moved, heading to join the other Talons on their assault on Wayne Manor.
A/N
So, again sorry this took longer to finish than I thought. Wanted to get it done by Sunday but that didn't happen (I blame work). But it's a bit longer for you lovely readers (Which all of you are awesome, I'm totes loving the reviews/favorites/follows).
Probably won't post next chapter 'til next Tuesday (next day off and I have to study for a Food Safety test (why did I make myself a valued employee again?)
Lots of Love,
H. Kai & Co.