Patchwork Siblings, a Batman fanfic by Raberba girl

Chapter 8 - Giving Chase [rough draft]

Once it's dark enough to be able to work under cover of night, Bruce goes out in the Batman suit and sets up cameras to watch Drake Manor. Then he returns to the cave, has Alfred bring Jason down, goes through his pre-patrol routine where the boy can see him, leaves in the Batmobile, then, as soon as he's out of Bristol, puts the Batmobile into its nearly silent stealth mode and doubles back.

He parks where the car won't be seen, calls up video feeds from all the cameras that watch Wayne Manor and Drake Manor, and waits. Alfred has been instructed to pretend to forget about Jason and act like he's busier than he actually is remotely assisting Batman, which will give Jason the chance to sneak away.

After about 45 minutes, the security system logs Jason leaving the house. Batman watches his son shuffle out to the gates and nearly misses the shadowy figure flickering indistinctly on the Drake feeds. When Batman does notice, he pauses only long enough to make sure the feeds are being recorded before he dashes out of the car and runs to hide much closer to his son, ready to defend Jason if the shadowy figure has any evil intentions.

As before, Jason waits once he reaches the street outside the gates of Wayne Manor. The approaching dark figure slips from shadow to shadow, and Batman is alarmed when even the various technologies in his cowl have trouble detecting whoever's approaching. The lurker must either be a meta or is wearing a very specialized suit.

Batman tenses as the figure gets closer and closer, but Jason shows no sign of alarm even when the figure, a humanoid with a bird-like mask and a dark body-hugging suit, slinks a little more into sight. On the contrary, Jason actually shambles directly over to the stranger and gives them a hug.

Before Batman can get over his conflicting emotions and decide how to react, the stranger easily and matter-of-factly hoists Jason up onto their back. Jason seems to have been expecting the gesture and holds on willingly. Then the figure takes off, extraordinarily fast.

"Agent A," Batman murmurs, trying to hurry after them without being noticed, "let me know if you notice anything on the feeds; I had to leave the car."

"Yes, sir."

The shadowy figure, with Jason still clinging to their back, nimbly scales the side of Drake Manor and vanishes into a window. Batman infiltrates the house as quickly as he can without being detected, but by the time he's tracked down the mystery figure and Jason, they're already heading out again and Batman has to re-exit the house and catch up.

"Sir, three people have just left Drake Manor."

"I see them," Batman grunts, adjusting his cowl.

There's the shadow figure, now wearing street clothes over their suit and carrying Jason on their back again. And there's...another boy. Timothy Drake, riding a bike and not looking at all distressed; in fact, he seems to be chattering happily to his companions as they make their way down the long drive.

Batman follows, feeling helpless. The only thing that gives him hope is that whatever this is has probably been going on for weeks, and Jason hasn't been harmed so far. Batman hasn't tipped his hand yet; Jason is probably safe for the short-term, and it's important for Batman to stay hidden and figure out what the hell is going on.

He tracks them to the nearest bus stop, where Timothy hides his bike and the adult stranger sets down Jason and removes their mask.

Batman zooms in on the stranger's face, eager to have something to make an identification with, then stares. His blood runs cold. The stranger is...Dick Grayson. Yet there's no way that the Dick of this universe and time would do this sort of thing without telling Bruce unless he was under some sort of influence, and he should still be away on his Titans mission, anyway; plus, there's the matter of the super-human speed. No matter what the explanation is, something is wrong. Batman will definitely be studying this footage in excruciating detail when he gets home.

He takes note of the route number the trio eventually board, then hurries back to the Batmobile and drives into town. He parks in an alley and grapples up to the rooftops, following Jason's tracker. It's moving in a way that indicates Jason is still on the bus. Batman follows the route until his targets finally disembark.

The trio seem like almost-normal civilians for a moment, ambling along hand-in-hand with Timothy doing most of the talking. Then, when none of the real civilians are paying attention, they casually drift into an alley, where Timothy and the Grayson lookalike become more focused and businesslike. Jason remains relaxed and vague. Grayson carries the boys up to the roof one at a time, where they stay for nearly an hour as Timothy focuses intently on his phone, Grayson amuses himself with acrobatics or draws on scraps of paper, and Jason either spaces out or wanders around the rooftop.

Eventually, Jason starts showing signs of restlessness. He keeps wandering over to pick at Timothy, and when Timothy distractedly pushes him away one too many times, Jason hisses something at him that Batman is too far away to hear. Jason then ambles toward Grayson and picks at him. Grayson is more receptive, poking back and then taking gentle hold of Jason to lead him in a strange, awkward dance. Jason eventually pulls away and wanders near the edge of the rooftop. After a moment, Grayson follows, puts his arms around Jason, then, in smooth and graceful movements, sits on the edge of the roof and swings upside down so that he's hanging on with nothing but his legs below the knee, holding Jason, who is giggling.

Batman's heart is in his mouth and his hand tightens on his grapple gun. Before he decides whether to actually rush over there or not, Grayson abruptly swings back upright. He crouches there on the edge of the roof, peering straight in Batman's direction, his arms around Jason now possessive. Jason tugs irritably. Batman holds his breath, ready to leap out and catch his son if Grayson drops him.

Instead, Grayson unfolds to his feet and marches across the roof to Timothy, carrying Jason, who wriggles but can't get free. There's a brief exchange, then both Grayson and Timothy are looking in Batman's direction, and he tenses even more. He thinks they might not quite be able to see him, but they seem to know or at least suspect that he's there.

They move quickly then; Timothy clambers onto Grayson's back and Grayson shifts his hold so that Jason's clinging to his front. Then, looking completely unbothered by the weight of two teenage boys, Grayson leaps across to the next rooftop over without the aid of any man-made device. He keeps running, and Batman realizes that Grayson is fleeing with the boys.

Batman still tries to keep out of sight as he pursues. It's difficult - the Grayson lookalike is superhumanly fast and strong, and might have enhanced senses; he keeps looking over every time Batman fires his grapple gun as if he can hear the soft sound of it over the noise of traffic and the wind.

Batman soon realizes he'll lose them if he doesn't come out of hiding and chase them flat-out, but then Grayson comes to a stop. By the time Batman completes the next swing, Grayson has taken off again, but he's alone this time.

Batman is torn. They've split up, and now he has to decide whether to pursue the highly suspicious adult person who is fraternizing with Jason without permission, or prioritize Jason himself, who seems to be safe for the moment but shouldn't be left by himself on a rooftop with no one but a twelve-year-old for supervision.

When Timothy sees him coming, he scrambles for the fire escape, leaving Jason alone. Batman lands on the roof and heads straight for him, grasping the boy's shoulders. "Jason, are you all right?" he demands. "What were you doing with those people? Who is that man who looks like your brother?"

Jason frowns up at him. "You...s'pposed...out," he mumbles, gesturing vaguely around at the city.

"Not when you're up to God knows what in the city at night with a child and a highly suspicious stranger. Jason, who was that?" he demands, pointing in the direction Grayson went.

"T...Tal-"

There's a light thump and then, an instant later, before Batman has time to finish turning his head, something barrels into him. Batman fights back, and even as he's grappling with his attacker, he identifies him as the Grayson lookalike. Grayson's fighting style has hints of Nightwing's, but overall, there's something foreign about it. Between the supernatural abilities and the obviously different training history, Batman keeps getting thrown off by how simultaneously alike and different it is than fighting the Nightwing he knows. Grayson's snarl, however, is painfully familiar, and Batman wonders wildly how in the world this creature is related to his son.

"Talon, stop!" someone shouts.

Incredibly, Batman's opponent stills. Batman tries to take advantage of the opening, but the Grayson thing deftly evades him, dashes across the roof to snatch up Jason, then swiftly circles around out of Batman's reach and halts by Timothy, who looks more tense and unhappy than he has the entire evening.

"Timothy, what is going on here?" Batman demands. "Why is Jason Todd out here rather than home where he belongs?"

"Talon," Timothy says, "leave Jason and take me away from here."

There's a tense pause. Then the Grayson lookalike, apparently called 'Talon' (why does something about that seem ominously familiar?), says "I'm bad," grabs Timothy with one arm, and leaps to the next rooftop with both boys.

Batman chases them several more blocks until Timothy's shouts change from protesting to angry and authoritative. Batman manages to gain a little ground when Talon halts, but then, a few seconds later, Talon is off again, still carrying Timothy.

He has, however, left Jason behind.

Batman reaches his son's side and wraps him in his arms. "Jason...Jason, you can't do this to me, I can't take it..."

Jason tugs to get free, humming in distress, and after a couple of minutes, Batman is finally able to bring himself to back up a bit, though he keeps his hands on Jason's shoulders. "Gone," Jason whimpers. "Tees...gone. I want."

"I'm sorry, Jason, but it's time to go home now."

"I want Tees!"

Talon's and Timothy's names both start with the letter T. "Not right now, Jason. Maybe...maybe later."

"Tees," Jason mumbles. "Gone. Jerks." He leans against Batman, who hugs him close for a minute before carefully bringing him back to the car and then home.

o.o.o

Tim knows that they can't go home. Batman identified him and knows where Timothy Drake lives, so if Tim and Talon don't want to be caught, they can't go home.

He doesn't know where else to go, though. "Talon," he asks, "do you have any safehouses?"

"Yes," Talon says, and rattles off the address of Drake Manor.

"Uh...I mean, besides the manor. Do you have anywhere else where you can go to be safe and hide?"

Talon looks at him in concern for a moment. "No."

"Oh. Well...that's okay. We'll just...find an abandoned building or something and camp out there until Batman stops hunting us. You can protect me from any hostile squatters."

"Batman took Jason," Talon hisses.

"I know, Talon, but we had to let him because Jason belongs to Batman, not us. Batman will take good care of Jason, okay?"

Talon peers at him. "Jason and Talon belong to Tim."

Tim feels uneasy. He meant 'belong' in the sense that Bruce Wayne is Jason Todd's primary caretaker and has legal responsibility for him, but he has a feeling that Talon used the word 'belong' in a literal sense. "Uh...no. I mean, when I said 'belong,' I didn't mean that Batman literally owns him, I meant that he's Jason's dad and it's his job to take care of him and make sure he's healthy and happy. And you definitely don't belong to me, all right? You're my friend, not my- Just- You're my friend. ...I hope."

Talon, looking unhappy, stares at him intently for a while. He finally asks, "Who do I belong to?"

"You," Tim says quickly. "You belong to yourself. No one owns you."

"Tim is an Owl and Talon is a Talon. Tim owns Talon."

Tim braces himself. He thinks that he and Talon have grown close enough that the assassin won't stab him through the heart the second he realizes that Tim's not his master, but you can never tell with powerful metas in Gotham. "Talon, what would you do if I wasn't an Owl?"

Talon looks a little panicked. "You are an Owl," he says aggressively. "You are my master and I love you, buddy, please don't stop being my Owl."

"But... Okay... Okay, um, but, just, pretend. In your imagination. In a pretend, theoretical scenario, what if I actually wasn't an Owl? Then what would you do?"

"...If...if you weren't an Owl...the other Owls would send Talons to kill you and take me back. But you are Tim, so I can't let you be killed, so I will kill all the Talons and you will be safe and I'll never find out you're not a real Owl, so I can keep thinking you're my master."

Tim stares, wondering if this means what he thinks it means. "You...I think you already know I'm not an Owl, don't you. But you can't stand the thought of it, so you're just pretending."

"You are the Tim-Owl," Talon says firmly.

"Do you really think a bunch of, uh, other Talons will come and try to kill me?"

"I won't let them. I'll kill them all."

Tim's seen Talon's incredible healing and regeneration ability. He wonders how a Talon can be killed for good, but decides not to ask. "Well...thank you, I guess. Let's see if we can find a place to crash for a while."

They travel throughout the city, examining abandoned buildings until they finally find one they both like that isn't already occupied by anyone else. Tim leans on Talon and naps until dawn, then goes to a thrift store and uses cash to buy things like a blanket and a change of clothes and a pair of sunglasses for Talon. He goes to a different store to buy a toothbrush, travel-sized basic toiletries, and makeup and contact lens solution so that Talon can refresh his 'just a normal human, nothing to see here' disguise. Then, because Tim can't go to school in case Bruce Wayne tracks him there, he and Talon go to hang out at the public library all day.

There are books and computers, which Tim makes use of. He falls asleep again while sitting in a cushioned chair and wakes up two hours later to find that Talon is keeping watch and everything else is pretty much the same. He eats a granola bar for lunch, and Talon doesn't eat anything because he doesn't like granola bars and doesn't need to eat, anyway, and it's better to save the food for Tim while their resources are limited.

They stay until the library closes. Then, because it's too early to go to bed and Tim is bored, he tries to stalk Batman like usual even though he knows it's a bad idea, but Batman doesn't show up in Gotham that night.

TBC