Disclaimer – Own nothing.
To vi – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you enjoyed seeing what's going on in Jason's head! And I'm also glad that you love reading my author notes! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Got some DickKory coming your way!
To Alex martry – Thanks for your review. I have different idea of what I'm going to do with Conner in my season 4 AU. Hope you like this chapter!
To Spectacular Webhead 11 – Yeah, Tim is definitely Robin material. Hope you like this chapter!
To Guest – 1. Yup, I'm having him acknowledge that in this story. 2. That will probably be addressed later on. 3. I'm having it that while there were other recruits Bruce was looking at, he was starting to narrow in on Tim, so that's why Jason's focusing on Tim. 4. I don't know, I never watched Stargirl. Not really interested in the show.
To Guest – I'm not going to answer any questions about what's going to happen further on into the story. That would give the whole thing away lol. But I hope you enjoy this chapter!
To Guest – I actually started working on a Titans/Court of Owls storyline before season 3 even aired I think. I've just been focusing on other things right now. It will probably be quite a while before I start posting it. I have a lot on my plate. Other than that, and my season 4 AU, I don't think I will be writing any more Titans stories. Sorry. I hope you enjoy this chapter though!
AN – Hey everyone. Sorry this chapter took so long, life has been very busy for me, and I don't think it's going to be slowing down anytime soon. So unfortunately, updates are going to be slow in coming. But I promise, I'm not abandoning this story! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Enjoy!
Kory was back in Titans Tower, but she didn't know how or why. The last thing that she remembered was fighting people in an alley in Gotham. How did she get back to San Francisco? Why was she here alone? Where did everyone else go? She remembered the other Titans were with her before she ended up here, but she didn't see anyone else here. What happened to them? And why were all the lights off? It was so dark in the building.
"Hello?" Kory hesitantly called out, slowly walking down the hallway. She felt like she was in the middle of a horror movie, even though she has hardly seen any horror movies since she arrived on Earth.
"Hello Koriand'r," a familiar voice said from somewhere behind her. Kory turned around to find a green-haired teenager that she knew very well, but was wearing a sickly, evil-like grin that she had never seen before.
"Gar," she whispered, unable to hide the uneasiness that was filling her stomach.
"No, not Gar," the teenager responded. His voice was is, but his tone was different, in a way that she instantly recognized. She knew exactly what was going on.
"Komand'r," Kory whispered in shock, slowly backing away from the teenager. Gar however, shifted into his tiger form and charged forward.
"Stop! Stop it Blackfire!" Kory shouted as she took off running away from the controlled boy. When she came to the kitchen, she came to an abrupt halt at the sight of another teenager. A young girl, with short black hair with purple highlights. In shock at the appearance of the girl that she cared so much yet hadn't seen in months, Kory ignored the approaching threat as she whispered her name.
"Rachel?" The teenager turned around to face her, with an expression that was identical to Gar's before he shifted into an animal.
A low growl reminded Kory of the tiger that had been chasing her. Now, the green animal blocked the path to the elevator. Unless she wanted to run through the window and possibly fall to her death, she was trapped. And the two possessed kids knew it. Within seconds of Gar catching up to her, they both attacked.
Kory screamed as she felt the heat of her power surge up inside of her before exploding outwards. She couldn't let Komand'r kill her. She needed to stay alive and save her kids. All she needed to do was knock them out, then figure out how to break her sister's control over them. As her power died down though, and she opened her eyes, she saw that she was too late. The burnt, blackened bodies on the ground were so disfigured that no one would be able to recognized them, but Kory knew them. She knew who they were, and what she had just inadvertently done.
"No, no, no," Kory mumbled in horror, staring at the burnt bodies. Slowly, she moved towards them, though she didn't get far before she heard another familiar voice call out, "Kory?"
Turning around, Kory felt her heart drop even further than it already had. Dick was on his knees and right behind him, stood her sister. She was smiling victoriously, and held a knife to Dick's throat.
"Too late, big sister," Komand'r said, then proceeded to slit Dick's throat.
Kory shot up with a scream, and the first person she saw was her sister, standing over her. Apparently sensing her rage, Komand'r backed away, but that didn't matter. Kory's powers could still hit her easily, and she was about to let her powers go wild, when she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard Dick's voice say, "Kory, it's okay. You're okay. Everyone's okay."
Her head snapped to the side to find Dick standing on her other side, leaning over her so they were eye-level. Seeing his chocolate-brown eyes, filled with concern, she threw herself into his arms, wrapping her own limbs around him tightly. He immediately returned her hug as he shifted to sit on the side of her bed. She could feel his hand run through her hair, feel his breath hit her neck. He was here, he was alive.
"What happened?" She asked, reluctantly pulling away after a minute so she could see his face.
"You got hit with fear toxin, when we were out on patrol. Dawn came to pick us up. Your sister helped. Whatever you saw wasn't real," Dick answered, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.
Still a bit traumatized but now reassured, for the most part, Kory shifted her gaze back to her sister. "Thank you, for your help."
She must've looked particularly pitiful because Komand'r didn't do anything except nod. There was no sarcastic comment, insult, or joke thrown her way at all. Kory wasn't often vulnerable in front of her younger sibling, but when she was, Komand'r was typically quick to take advantage. With her strained relationship with their parents, she jumped at any chance to prove to them that she was better than her older sister. Then again, they weren't in the picture anymore thanks to Komand'r herself, so maybe she just didn't feel the need to do that now. Either way, Kory was grateful for her silence right now. If Komand'r did make a crack at her, Kory wasn't sure she could keep herself from lashing out.
Examining the room, now that she was calmer, she found that she was in the medbay, and that Gar and Hank sitting up on their own cots, both with their legs dangling over the side. Hank had his head in his hands while Gar stared down at Krypto, who was sitting by the boy's feet. He was petting the dog, but didn't seem to realize he was doing it; there was a lost expression on his face.
Also looking lost, though most likely for different reasons, were Conner and Dawn. The clone was sitting on the bed right beside Gar, a hand awkwardly laying on his back. It was a bittersweet sight, Conner trying to comfort his friend but unsure how to do it or if he was doing it right. Dawn was much more at ease, rubbing Hank's shoulder. It was obvious she had practice comforting the tallest Titan, but he didn't seem to notice at all, just like Gar.
"Are you two okay?" Kory wondered.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," Gar told her. It was an obvious lie, but no one called him out on it. Now wasn't the time. Instead she looked at Hank, who still had his head in his hands, seemingly unaware of what was going on around him.
"Hank?"
The man raised his head at the sound of his name, but he turned his attention to Dick, not Kory, and asked, "Did you manage to get any leads on where that little b*****d Jason is?"
"Um, no. Honestly, I'm not sure if Jason was even out in the streets last night. We kinda had our hands full with you guys, after you were exposed to the toxin. By the time we got back to the Cave and got you three stabilized, the police had everything under control," Dick explained, a little taken aback by the demanding tone of voice. As he spoke, he stood up and made his way over to Hank and Dawn.
"Then what are we doing sitting around here for? We need to find him and kick his a**," Hank stated as he got to his feet. Before anyone could respond in any way, he stormed out of the room.
"Hank!" Dawn called out and moved to follow him, but was stopped by Dick grabbing her arm.
"Let him go," he told her. "He just woke up from his worst nightmare. Give him time to cool down."
Dawn looked back in the direction Hank had left in, then looked back at Dick. "Do you think that Jason really played a part in this?"
"Hard to imagine how he could be working with Crane and not have been involved in what happened last night," Dick answered as he let go of her arm. Dawn didn't look any less worried about the other blonde, but nodded and stayed put.
"I'm going to call Barbara and check the police reports. Hopefully someone out there saw Jason, or Crane after he took off," the acrobat then informed the others. They all nodded, but still appeared very downcast, which was understandable.
"Are you sure you are both okay?" Dick directed his question to Gar and Kory, not wanting to leave unless he was sure that they were okay and the fear toxin had worn off completely. "It's alright if you're not. Fear toxin is insanely strong, designed to play on the worst horrors you can imagine or have gone through. It shakes everyone."
"We'll be alright. You go talk to Barbara," Kory replied, though didn't meet his eyes.
"Okay. Let me know if you need anything," Dick said, then left the room. It only took a few seconds for the others to excuse themselves as well.
"I'm going to head upstairs, maybe watch some TV or something," Gar said as he got up onto his feet.
"I'll come with you," Conner jumped to offer, also getting to his feet. Gar stared at him for a second, then nodded in acceptance. After the two boys were gone, Dawn also made her exit.
"I'm going to check on Hank."
Kory shifted uncomfortably on the bed, now left alone with her younger sister. This was the first time they'd been alone since she brought her to the Manor. Without anyone else being here, without any kind of buffer, it was like trying to read a book while there were people looking over your shoulders. It was awkward, and made her feel exposed. Especially since she had just had that terrible nightmare of her sister causing the death of three people that she cared about greatly.
"You were a little harsh with, what's his name, Dick?" Komand'r broke the awkward silence. "Is that really his name?"
"It's short for 'Richard', though I have no idea why. And I wasn't harsh with him," Kory responded defensively, now getting to her feet herself.
"Did you not hear yourself?" Komand'r wondered.
"It's none of your business," Kory said, starting to getting annoyed. Why was Komand'r even commenting on this? She didn't even know Dick, or their dynamic. Why did she think she had any right to question her about this.
Komand'r didn't stop though. Instead, she asked, "Is it this 'Barbara' woman that he mentioned?"
"How about instead of trying to cause trouble, you do something useful?" Kory snapped angrily, then stomped out of the room, not caring that she was leaving her sister, that she did not trust, alone in the Batcave.
2018TITANS2018
In the movie room, Gar sat on the couch directly in front of the TV. He wasn't actually watching movie that Conner had put on. It was a random one that his friend had just grabbed and put it in, one that Gar hadn't watched before. Even though Conner had picked it, and was currently sitting beside him, Gar could tell that he wasn't watching the movie either. He could feel eyes land on him every 20 seconds. It was starting to get annoying and a little unnerving.
"Can you stop looking at me?" Gar finally requested, trying to not sound as annoyed as he felt.
"Sorry," Conner said and turned his eyes back to the screen. Gar also tried his head to watch the TV, and tried to actually pay attention now to the movie. That only lasted for about 10 seconds this time before he again felt Conner turn back to him.
"Seriously?" Gar nearly shouted, causing the clone to jump in surprise.
"Sorry, I'm just…" Conner paused for a minute, trying to find the words, then continued, "You're really quiet."
"Don't have anything to say," Gar responded with a much quieter voice.
"You can, if you want," Conner hesitantly told him.
Gar nodded but stayed quiet. What he saw, was something that already haunted his nightmares more often than he'd care to admit. It was the torture, the conditioning that CADMUS put him through all those months ago. The only person he talked to about it was Dick. Even though Dick wasn't with him and Conner when they were captured, and were tortured, he revealed he had gone through similar things in his vigilante career. Not in the same way, but close enough. Despite going through it together, Gar and Conner never broached the subject. Maybe it was time to change that.
"I dreamed about CADMUS, about being forced to change into a tiger, and attacking people," Gar revealed, keeping his eyes on the TV.
"Oh," Conner mumbled, now feeling self-conscious and awkward.
He had done his best to forget those days being trapped at CADMUS with Gar. To forget being tricked into attacking Gar. But whatever memories he had of being there, he knew it was worse for Gar. The other teen had such a big heart, and he had been tortured and manipulated into attacking innocent people, all so CADMUS could 'advertise' Superboy to potential buyers. He knew that Gar had a hard time recovering from that, if he even had fully recovered yet. To have all of that brought up again must really suck.
Conner tried to think of a way to response. Gar had made it clear that he didn't want to talk about it, but he then literally just told him some of what he saw while drugged. Did he now want to talk, or did he only tell him because he was getting sick of Conner looking at him? Maybe he should just leave the room and let Gar have some time alone to process. Maybe he should stay and wait for his friend to speak again. He couldn't deny that he was a little curious to learn more, specifically he played a part in Gar's worst fears, but at the same time he didn't want to know. Before he could make up his mind, Conner heard something, a heartbeat and footsteps coming towards the locked gate in front of the Manor.
Seeing Conner suddenly become alert, Gar asked worriedly, "What is it?"
"Someone's at the gate," he informed him.
Almost immediately, they ran over to the kitchen, where the tablet that accessed all the security cameras was. Sure enough, there was someone at the gate, with a bicycle and a backpack. He was looking through the gate, trying to figure out how to get or something, when he found the small speaker on the right side of the gate.
"Hello?" A nervous voice came through the receiving end in the kitchen.
"Hello, who are you? We aren't expecting anyone," Gar hesitantly answered the unknown teenager from their own speaker.
"I know, my name is Tim Drake. I need to talk to Nightwing," the teenager replied, causing both Gar and Conner's jaws to drop.
"Excuse me?" Gar questioned, trying to hide his absolute shock, though he doubted he did a good job of that.
"I know that Dick Grayson is Nightwing." Gar didn't even have time to think of a response to that before Tim added, "And I know that Bruce Wayne is Batman."
2018TITANS2018
Dick did his best to appear casual and amused as he sat on the couch in the living room. Timothy Drake on the other hand, was making no obvious attempts to hide his excitement. Or maybe he was just extremely nervous, but Dick didn't think that was the case. He remembered people's reactions to seeing him as Robin when he was younger. Awe, excitement, and almost disbelief. The teenager had that same sort of energy, that same look on his face as he struggled to contain himself in his spot on the couch opposite of Dick.
"So, what makes you think that I'm this Nightwing guy, or whatever he calls himself," Dick wondered, trying to make it sound like he thought that the idea of himself being a vigilante was ridiculous.
Tim was not dissuaded by his tone of voice at all. Instead, he leaned forward and said, "Why would you agree to meet with me if it isn't true? Why wouldn't you just send me away?"
"Because I was curious as to what you had to say. Plus, being a vigilante, or hero, or whatever you want to call him, makes enemies. I don't want any of Nightwing's enemies coming after me, or my friends. If there is something about me that makes you think I'm Nightwing, I want to know about it," Dick responded. Tim didn't seem to believe him, but moved on to explain how he came to the conclusion that led him here.
"I was there, the night your parents died." The teenager's words had Dick freeze in his place. It must've been noticeable because Tim continued with a somber tone, "I saw your acrobatic moves, including the quadruple somersault. That's a move that only three other people aside from The Flying Graysons could do."
As he said that, Tim opened his bag and pulled out some photos. Subtly taking a deep breath, Dick leaned forward to take a look. Most of them were of the performance from that night, though a little grainy and blurry. They were still recognizable though, and three of them alone featured him and his parents doing the move Tim had mentioned. However, there was one picture in particular that caught his attention almost immediately. One that was taken before the show started. It featured Dick, his parents, a man and woman who, he assumed were Tim's parents, and a little boy standing right beside Dick. Despite the age difference, the boy was clearly a young Tim.
Dick only needed to look at that photo for a few seconds before the memories started to return. He had mostly blocked out everything that happened that night aside from the murder of his parents and meeting Bruce, but he remembered meeting this family. It was right before the show started. He, and his parents, were getting ready to get into their positions when this little boy ran up to them, followed shortly by his parents. He knew exactly who they were and couldn't wait to watch them perform. By the time his parents caught up to the small boy, Dick and his own parents were charmed by the child. They decided to take a quickly take a picture before they headed into the back of the tenet. That was the last time he had seen the family, and the last time he ever took a picture with his parents.
"And what does me being acrobatic have to do with this notion that I'm Nightwing?" Dick asked, forcing his attention on the Tim in front of him.
"Only a month after that night, Robin showed up as Batman's sidekick," Tim responded as he pulled out another photo and placed it in front of Dick. "He quickly showed off his acrobatic skills, including the quadruple somersault. At the time, the only person at that age who could pull off that move was you."
The photo Time had produced was also grainy like the others, but the bright colours of Robin's suit made the person easily identifiable. From the looks of it, the hero in the photo was in the middle of a flip, while surrounded by other masked people. Criminals most likely. While the quality of the photo was pretty bad, it was also clear that the person who took this photo had managed to get decently close. That was a bit concerning. How young was Tim when he first started following Robin and Batman? How did neither Dick or Bruce notice him? Were there others who managed to get close enough to spy on them?
Putting on a neutral, though slightly amused, expression, Dick said, "Acrobatic moves can't exactly be copyrighted. Besides, pulling off that move simply takes a lot of practice and dedication, which vigilantes of all ages have. They wouldn't be able to fight criminals otherwise."
"Yet as soon as you moved to San Fransisco, the Titans, led by Robin, came to be. And Robin disappeared from Gotham right after you left for Detroit. A year after that, Robin appeared in that same city, before a different Robin showed up in Gotham." Again, Tim pulled out more photographs. The kid really needs to get a new hobby. Still, Dick glanced at them. These photos were more clear, more precise, and much better quality. He must've gotten better at his photography. And had probably gotten a better camera.
"Well, I can see how that could look suspicious, but that is purely a coincidence," Dick told him.
"If there's too many coincidences, it's not just a coincidence," Tim argued, then pulled out more pictures from his bag. This time, there were newspaper clippings along with personal photos.
"Then how is it just as you arrive in town, followed by your friends, the Titans arrive? Before, when you were in San Franscico, so were Nightwing and the Titans. That's just a coincidence?" Tim challenged.
"That's right. You should probably head home now. You don't want to worry your parents," Dick said, now trying to shut Tim down completely. He went to stand up, but then Tim asked, "So you aren't interested then in what Crane is doing?"
"Excuse me?" Dick questioned, freezing in his tracks.
"I have, I mean, I know someone who runs things for the gangs every now and then for extra cash. Crane and Red Hood has them all working for him. He used them to get his fear toxin out in the streets last night. It's what caused all that chaos, and my dad getting shot," the teenager revealed, his voice stumbling a little bit at the end when mentioning his dad.
"And you're telling me this and not the cops?"
"I don't want to get the person I know in trouble. He wasn't involved of what happened last night, and he doesn't help with anything dangerous. Robin, Nightwing, while they do help cops arrest people, are sometimes more merciful, and more understanding, than cops can be, especially in a city like Gotham," Tim explained. "Plus, you are a detective yourself, technically. And are working with Gotham PD."
Dick could easily understand the young man's reasoning. The gang life was dangerous, especially in Gotham. Crime flourished like weeds. People here were quick to violence, many of the cops were dirty, and people often fell through the cracks. It wasn't the first time people in Gotham went to Batman or Robin instead of the cops.
"You should head home Tim," Dick quietly repeated. This time, Tim nodded. He packed up his photos and stood up, then headed for the door with Dick following. As they reached the large double doors which led outside though, Tim turned to Dick.
"By the way, who was the second Robin? I had thought it was Jason Todd, but then I saw him last night, outside my family's restaurant. How can that be, since the second Robin was killed by the Joker?" Tim asked, and Dick's eyes widened briefly before trying to hide his reaction.
"Tim, go home," Dick repeated, his tone now more forceful. Tim stared at him for a moment, then reached into his bag again. It took a few seconds for him to find what exactly he was looking for, but when he did, he pulled it out and handed it to Dick.
"Here, keep it. I have a scan of it on my computer," Tim said as Dick accepted the picture. It was the one of him, his parents, Tim, and Tim's parents.
"Thank you," Dick murmured, staring at image. He barely even noticed Tim leave the building.
Only a minute or so after he was gone, Conner appeared at his side. When Gar had told Dick about Tim's arrival, and what he said about knowing who Batman and Nightwing were, he asked everyone to stay out of the way, in order to not scare Tim off. Everyone except for Conner that it. Conner was to remain out of sight, but still listen in, just in case this was some kind of trap. He highly doubted Jason or Crane would send someone directly to the Manor like Tim had, but they couldn't take that risk. Those two were unpredictable right now.
"You okay?" Conner asked cautiously.
"I want you to follow him. He's going to get himself in trouble, and I'd prefer it if he doesn't get himself killed," Dick responded, ignoring the young man's question. Though a little puzzled by the order, Conner immediately agreed.
"You got it."