Red Hood and Company – My Life as an Outlaw –
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Chapter Two: A House is not a Home
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I'm keeping a kid on my person, are you joking, Al – Ghul??
Dami has been hella quiet, he was as easy to lead around as well, a dog on a leash is a bad analogy. He'd bite me first chance and then I'll be haunted by his grandfather to the next world if anything ever happened to his little 'prince.'
So, Gotham. Very dirty, dark. We can't stay though. It'll take no time at all until Slade get territorial and tries to cage or kill the kid for status, well. I won't let em. Slade is gonna need to piss off. I eye – gouged his partner…she kinda looks just like him too…
Wherever this shit – road takes me, all I know is I can't take my eyes off of my little brother. Not ever again.
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The train car rattles. Slade, the prick, settled out the only assets we had by only giving us enough for a month, which means he's ready to refuel and hunt till we can hardly bat a lash. If I get bat's attention, heck. If, is the question. I really did want to crush both empires, but with Deathstroke crashing my plans, I'll have to do the next best thing.
Teach Dami to question the Dark Knight like I did, tell him that man is nothing but a murderer. That we have to remain…. ugh, vigilant.
While we beg for room and board, or a safehouse temporarily, I won't tell him shit about his father. The man is dead to me, even if I am going to milk him out of what he owes this red breasted asshole.
"Damian." The boy's green eyes, his mom's eyes look up at me and I am reminded of my futility. That she's taking the blunt while we are running into another enemy to suck up to. How the mighty fall, I guess…
Not for longer than we need.
"We'll need to make a stop, it's uptown. I need you to not leave my side. Kay?"
"Jason." Patronzingly as ever, Dami gives me a smug, curious look. "Gotham city is home to the most corruption on the east coast of the United States; only second to Bludhaven and Steel city. I was told to promise you that I would, not that it matters."
"It does."
"Deathstroke is an oaf, a coward. The shadows will send reinforcements and I will be able to make him pay…. there will not be time to run and flee from the destiny that m –
"Enough, we're stopping."
Dami pouted as the wheels stopped rolling. We had made it, but the next step was the call…the waiting, and the humiliation. I knew Al's number; it was the only one I'd trusted holding onto in my memory bank. And a backup file.
With a press, I got my answer. A ring as we moved and were instantly greeted in the station to a few thugs, only feet from us. Tattoos of the Assassins calling on their arms.
"Come on." I corralled Dami and he put his hood back up. "How did we not get you a different coat –
"I will not wear some inferior fabric woven from peasant manufacturers. I must always maintain –
" You have to stay hidden. Slade talked to those psychos and now, they must work for him." I whispered, the device going off so we could outwit our pursuers.
"Follow, shut it and don't ask questions."
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We don't resist the flow of traffic as the thugs still meander and make me nervous. They have ear pieces, possibly to connect with their cash cow, DS. I really think he needs a new profession. Why not tech support? That is always the worst possible affinity of –
"Todd. The crosswalk."
I'm snapped out of my delusional fantasy. Slade working a desk job. Yeah, and the Joker will join a major league baseball team –
He's not bad w –
I stop. Bad territory. FOCUS. The kid is right, we can lose them in the swarm.
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We keep walking, trying to just stay inconspicuous. However….this is a kid, and a grown ass adult in black, we look like a part of the problem!
"I'm getting us new duds once we –
"Hey, brat and company!"
Shit. I turn and thank god, Gotham thugs. Those other pigs didn't catch up.
"Wowy, you got a real nice set a threads. Any chance you can hook a guy up?"
"We don't have the simple luxery to cajole with peons, do we?"
I should have told Dami we were playing the quiet game, because a lovely FIST is just the thing I need. A shiner at B's front door. Oh, and a seven going on eight year old being harassed to strip off his customary gear and a short sword!??
He pulls it out and I have no damned choice. "NO! Cut it –
"I will cut him off for trying to assess that he could win agianst the son of –
"OY! The brat is armed?? Just fuck em up, boys! We ain't gonna eat in this shitty episode. Damn! Shoot em!!"
"Guns? How trivial.:"
"You're on time out." I grip his sword and take it, taking over in keeping this pit of idiots out of our way.
Dami shouts, and I have to turn to see a face that really burns my blood up.
Dami's neck is being handled like a kicking toddler by none other than Nightwing as he fails to land a kick at that pretty jock.
"Hi. Red."
"Yo, Goldie."
The thugs are confused, Remember; the day of the god of mortals is upon us. The blood of the son will find the eternal pools of light. And when they are sure, there will be only our world to conquer. but more nervous as the shouts are quieted by a signiture move from pretty boy Grayson. I heard he switched egos, cause I still think his is pretty bloated for a bird brain.
"What? No hug hello?"
"Fuck you, I'm way too busy to kiss your ass –
"Language." Tuts the kiss ass vigilante.
"Jason, please introduce us." Dami is calmer as he's dropped to his feet again. "He doesn't look like you at all, maybe…"
"He's….he's not. I'm watching him –
"For, Talia?"
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The drive is a pain. Dick works in Blud, but he was called to action to do some runs while Bruce and the JLA took out some psycho in Central. He's back in the next few days, I hear from even Al, who Dami seems to poke fun at a lot less than anyone else he sees. Including Barbie on a vid call, or Tim Drake. My replacement.
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"You think he won't know about this?"
"I am not a this, Nightwing. Or, should I call you Dick Grayson. Richard."
"Good for you…" Dick rolls his eyes and pulls off the mask a minute to wryly smile at me. "What else did this traitor Jason tell his charge, did he tell you that we have a secret blood oath?"
"You…no, but I would love to understand just how –
"See?"
Dick chuckles and I get red as a cheery, fucking cherub. "He's a kid, you should know."
"That's what I mean, he is like a mini – you. Sort of."
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Babs has questions, but we have to wait in the cave like it's a lost and found for tykes and men in tights.
"So…." I look to see if Tim decided to screw up any more of my memories with the big bat. Why do I care? Is that the insane part of me talking?
"Richard." Dami breaks the silence. "I have heard of your exploits as a leader for the Titans. Would you care to go a round with me, for just a few moments. I won't disappoint."
"You're Talia's kid, and if you are just in it for favors….no."
"I want to gauge our skills, to see if you are better or worse than Todd."
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Dick ends up nearly with a twisted leg, sprawled in the bat computer seat. Dami clocked him real good, so I can't help but smile. "I learned that last move from Jason. So, he is the better fighter."
Dami is so smug, but hell. He gave me props? I'm crying on the inside….
"So, now that introductions are official between, we three, you think B can get his tail down here so I can talk?" I dust my hands and stand over Goldie, who is reluctant to talk about why Bruce is late to the gathering of bot fowl and bat kind.
"If that man is in fact connected to my mother, I wish to also know exactly how and why we are here, Todd."
The brat's got a point, but not yet. How can you tell a pipsqueak like that stuffy prince that his daddy is nonetheless than a crime fighting legend? That he'd never kill unless shit got really real. And it has, but not on his time card.
Alfred is moseying around and I have a hunch he knows. They all kind of act like I'm to be kept away, away from whatever I missed for a few years too many.
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"It seems he's come home to us, Master Bruce. Just as you and I might never have anticipated." Dryly, my wit is missed by many others before coming to this City by the waterways…. Though few tend to recognize when they've been had by this esteemed butler. In my years under this family in particular, there is only one rule. Secrets, are kept. We can know whom to trust and what to treat as ideal to whatever part is planned accordingly. The bat in Gotham sees this as no rule broken or fixed, tampered. Maybe. But the blokes I've tussle with, the wars fought and the lives made a mess through such conflicts that are all but internal. The greatest battle, is one's betrayal. Whether that is a son or uncle, it makes more than a difference in how one sees the world around them. Master Bruce lost his parents to a Joe Chill at a tender age when I was needed in his life more than anything else. Now, seeing the changes that have happened; Nightwing's flamboyant debut as a vigilante in Bludhaven, Oracle taking charge for all of our safety, despite her own losses. Timothy becoming a financial advisor worth grooming into the position, which is knowledge in Wayne tech's own products too profound for a boy of seventeen to seem. And Cassandra Cain as Black bat. Stephanie Brown as Spoiler. Could there be any greater responsibility than having trust in the youth of tomorrow's future? As I talk along the call to Bruce and tell him my exact sentiments in bold, I fear that the trust kept in us is paper thin enough that the seams could split with the slightest tug in that wrong direction. As I've come to hear again too many a time, Jason was the Batman's biggest and greatest failure. This is just poppycock, utterly nonsense. The boy was misguided, and sadly the war he could not battle through transformed him to this very hour. And at that same hour, I've opened the doorway to a possible shift in perspective. Starting and ending, with one green eyed, eight-year-old boy.
Damian Al – Ghul.
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Batman is on his way back. That's what Dick head hinted and I can read loud and clear Dami's impatience. The fact will be, I may soon become the most hated big brother to the only person I could trust to listen. Now, it's only a matter of time. I'm loyal to Talia, up to a point. I don't want to give it up, but if Bruce doesn't know…. then I don't think I'll tell him just yet.
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Wheels and an engine rev just below the surface of where we stand. Time's up, my mind keeps on uttering. A metronome of possible fails. Dick is still patching up his leg, it looks bruised but he's had worse. He's been shot at, dropped in the river like a stone, and even worse….
Taken on by the same guy who messed wkth us, to be his flipping protégé. Remember how Red X made a splash last season? Those days are behind me, but Dick and Slade have beef. I mean, they have a respect that ticks me off and he was chosen to take the helm when Slade can't die. What? Does his power cause blindness the more he uses it? Will that mean he needs a mini him to clean up the blood splatters off the walls of the man's base? Or basement, not sure how kinky torture gets the dude, but Dami is to stay the fuck away. Even if I tell him, he is going to run a test. Shit! Oh, jeez. Plan lost. My palms sweat. A DNA test. I'll try to act dumb. Say I don't know who the father is. Cause why should Dami be put to death right now? I'm gonna get him all fixed up. No one else.
The bat steps out, and my memories come flooding back. About how much I hated him. How much he loathsome what I am now. That I took the side of glorified murderers.
Especially, with a wild looking kid off my back.
"Richard."
"Back already, Bruce?" He's a grinning idiot, but that's all for show. Dickie is shitting his pants like the rest of us.
He doesn't set the cowl down, his face masked and Dami looks like he doesn't mind that much. He's too adult sometimes, I swear. I was grabbing shit and running around trying to swipe gear when B got me in on his identity that night. Dick was like it had been the Easter bunny he'd spotted. Tim? Who the fuck knows. I heard that kid is a genius with nepotism on his bio to blame for it. Daddy Drake must have been a lucky guy. Almost got the world's answer to peace shot. Asshole.
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Dami is ignored for a definite, few minutes as Bruce just strides in. Analyzing fucking me. ME. That's right, ladies and germs.
I'm the bad guy here.
"Why did you let him into the cave, Dick."
"He had something to tell you. Super important from the looks of it…and…he has nowhere to go –
"I don't care. He isn't welcome in my home. Al –
"MASTER BRUCE."
Alfred stepped in at not a moment too soon. Dami just watched from the catwalk. Bruce not paying mind, like he's a bat in the rafters or something only a bat -man would deduce.
I doubt it, he must be waiting.
"I allowed the young Master Jason into our home. Master Dick and he, with their young com –
"That, is what I needed to talk to you about, Bruce." Rubbing my neck, I'm a terrible actor. Blending in took years to master, so standing out is a push out of my comfort zone.
"Jason." Finally, all eyes on me, playboy. That's it.
"You need to meet hem, my…. employer's…. kid."
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Dami walks down with the grace of a damned duchess. He's not in heels, but his soundless steps are enough to leave us all without a true comment.
"Greetings, Batman."
That voice, and to me it looks like Bruce understands who's kid.
"Who is your mother. Your, clothing. That symbol you're wearing is from the secret organization known as the …." Bruce stopped pointing at the kid's emblem. His eye hole grow wide at Dami, then back at me. Fuck it….
"Jason." The dark knight's tone was edgy and serious. Shit. More interrogation tactics? I can't faint now, Dami is my only lifeline to getting what I want.
"Did you join the league of assassins?"
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"I did."
Pow !
Right in front of my – uh, Talia, his kid, I got smacked across the face. Punched, and I can take a hit. Man is wearing gauntlets, and Dami. He looks ready to step in to defend me from the big bad bat.
No one comes in, Dick is on his feet, ready to stop the fight. Wuss.
Alfred is observing with a finger wag. No help, I don't need it anyway.
"You brought a child reared by a criminal group into my home, and you even became a member…Talia and I spoke but she never…" He pulls back as the young Al- Ghul cocks his head at the weary dark knight.
"Why were you even informed? Who is this man to you, Todd?"
"In a way, Lil' D." I smile cockily, wiping my lip from a cut the damn gloves always seem to cause in my nightmares. "He's my father, that's why we came back home."
"This isn't your home anymore. You gave up, became a criminal. Killed innocent people, Jason."
"Dick. Step off."
"I don't have the luxury of letting this go, because it hurt Bruce as much as your betrayal did all of us."
Dami is lost. Thanks Dick head…I have to explain all if this shit from the beginning!
"You wanna know why I left? Because in a way, you're right. I was a mistake to you, Bruce."
"Master Todd –
"No, Al. He needs to hear it before my head explodes." I'm seething. There isn't time! I'm running out of options if I can't find a way to get this kid on a pedestal while Deathstroke wrecks everything I'm keen on destroying once I get my hands around his beefy neck.
"This kid and all if Ra's army. They're done. We left to escape. You know a mercenary called Deathstroke, Dickie does. I do. So does the whole clan. He massacred this kid's home. Took out his…. his mom, his mom is Talia but I don't know who the father is. She never said. This was all I could think to do…. he had to stay safe. This. Is Damian. I want him out of Deathstroke's scope. He left us money from the funds for one month. That's it. Then, he's coming to take it back."
"Holy bombs blazing, Jay…. you could have just written-
"Calling while on the run, we had nothing." I feel like this lie that Dami has no papa is going to fall through. Someone is going to spot the difference. "Jason."
Looking up, Bruce takes the cowl down. He's still pissed, but he looks older. Needs a shave after being away for a few weeks at a time too. Dami just watches quietly, and waits with his arms crossed.
"Right now, where is Talia."
"He's imprisoned mother, I'm sure of it." Speaking his mind, Dami cares for that wild woman with a back door – except now, how could I day otherwise.
"Then why is he after you. What about Ra –
"Dead."
"He can't be."
"He is." I stare into B's blue as he gets it. He finally does. "What else can you tell us about the events you've witnessed."
"The training ground. They came by droves, Batman. Jusy took over. Slade was there with…there was some girl I think, the new Ravager. I took her eye out protecting –
"WHOA. WHOA." Dick is not amused, but to be expected. "Rose??"
"She's alive. Pissed off, but still loyal to that war dog." I sniff. "She would die for the man. It's true." Bruce rubbed his five o'clock. "I need time, but in the meanwhile, I want to have a talk with Damian. Alone."
"Huh? Why? Todd is my –
"Your mother never wanted him here to speak fir you, and as a sin of the Al – Ghuls, you can handle negotiations just fine, I think." The bat. I had to stop this. "He's been traumatized, B. Let me stand in on –
"My decision is final. You can't be a part of it."
"What about my rights?" Dami huffed. "I don't have to stand to be badgered by some pampered playboy and his followers. You cannot force me to do anything without a vote-
"You are a child, and Jason isn't prepared for whatever he's been made to decide on his own. I'm going to evaluate if that's the case. You can't go back home, Damian." The man softened up a bit. Heh, he does understand. I thought je grew cold with me out of the picture.
"You're safe here, but you have to follow orders. It's a first step to staying out of danger here in my city."
"Your city?" Dani looked annoyed, he hit a sore spot. "There is not a 'my' situation, but an ours, Batman. Jason is from this backwater development then as well. Is he not? Then it does not belong to you. But to US."
In other words, there is no king here. No one above the little stuck-up prince, and that could end badly if he runs his mouth one more time.
Dick hides his disbelief very poorly, and Alfred looks impressed. "You have honor in who you are, but I'm afraid that there is a lot you don't know. About your grandfather, your mother. And most likely, Jason's past involvement with the league."
He ushers Dami to follow and I'm left with Dickie boy and Alf the bloodhound instead of a big 'welcome home.' I throw my hand to my temples and sigh. How can I not? Jesus, Bruce is going to ruin that kid. Just like how I was supposed to…
Since he is the Batman's blood son.
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This is going to be a bit tame compared to the movie but to clarify, Dick masks his real feelings if resentment and concern from the others. So does Bruce, but we'll see why later. Jason won't tell B that he has a kid, but if Dami squawks and gives clues away inconspicuous, would it break their cover apart? That batman IS supposed to be a part of Talia's solution while remaining Jason and Slade's biggest threat?
With the outlaws, you'll see why. This us not going to get twisted enough. Find out!