Our Time in Reverse- What it Takes
/
Chapter 50: Lies for the Liars
/
Based on the Used; Liar, Liar – interim/ song fic.
~ Liar, liar –
~ Renegade. Get the device. The security was deactivated? ~
~ Pants on fire…~
"Yes, Master Slade." Dick skidded with his healed face and face scarf on. He didn't want to be spotted easily and put of his master's colors didn't feel great. Not at all. Slade was still working on the suit. If he could evaluate the same tech he'd used in Terra's, he'd have a team ready to take the Titans down.
Richard shot his gifted laser at the guard. His armor didn't crack, yet he hit the back wall as the glass of some other vessel held an even fancier blaster.
~ That. ~ Slade smiled through the mask as an alert on his screens had Dick bite back a breath and reach for the shattered case. ~ They're arriving. Get ready. ~
/
"Right after we just almost sorta finished getting through to her…Slade has ta have our dirt too."
Bb was too busy flying as an owl to the roost where the tech stolen was reported. "They told us here, but I don't-
"WHOA!" Bb swerved as a shot of laser red nearly singed his wing. "Dude! Found it!!"
/
Tara was too easily held up by Cy, as he went for trying to get her suit to pop off. His team had this time. Hevwas omly a call away. It could be rigged, yet she permitted this. "He's not gonna come for me, not unless I'm useful."
"You don't have ta talk about it, just hold still a sec." He used the small gadget as she yelped at a single pricking shock at her shoulder. "Watch it!"
"Sorry, but if you didn't –
"You wanna get this thing to kill me first? You so need to get a repair shop for your head –
"Ey!" Cy dropped the tools and exclaimed, "I'm not the one trying to make you into a weapon and steal your freedom. If you wanna have a normal life and get outta this, it's gonna hurt a little. I can't say he's not a super genius, cause you're the one he ended up messing with. Lemme work –
Tara bit her lip as fat tears fell down her cheeks. "As….as if I could choose to stay…. I'm not even human anymore!!"
Cy dropped his head as he let out a sigh. "You are. Some bad people got to you, but I'm not gonna let you stick around being bad. You're not a bad person. Just looking up to getting helped by bad people for what they did ta your family. It's not ok. I know, Star…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Star's sister tried to sell her off. Her mom and pops, they didn't get outta the war and well, she got rid of them too. Dunno how, but she wanted that throne. More than you wanna see your family safe."
"He showed you a part of the files on my old life." Tara turned her head away, embarrassed that she'd lost contact. Slade could use this. He would… never abandon her so she could take him out. Not the heroes, they didn't mean anything to her.
"He's only worried about his little spat with the dark knight. If I left, he'd start all over. He might even try to get even. My uncle, is a powerful opportunity to reenact fir Slade whatever he wants. Money, our money." Tara snorted. "That creep could take my….my…" Her voice dimmed as a memory of why she'd live stared back up at Cyborg. "Help me fight him….please! If his bratty bat personal servant is so good at acting coy, well…I'm not! I want protection. If you can't, call the Justice League. See if they'll care about my country, my brother…." She put her head into her knees as Cy eased up on the project, mouth opening as he shut it to think of what needed to be said at this point in time. "Tara, you are…more than just your powers, combined. I just wanna tell you; Robin wasn't on "his" side all the time. I think you can also help somebody else. That way, you'll have enough of us left behind you to find your missing brother. Slade –
"KNOWS." She sniffled. "He knows where Bryon is, but he won't let me see him unless I kill a Titan."
/
Starfire touched the cursor to adjust what box she wanted to open. Every file had a date as the label. None of it looked to be that secretive as to what.
She was, in her own mind and self, very afraid of what she might find.
~ Open the one that has the date he came to stay with you. After the case was won in court.~ Jason leaned in as the sweeper did its job on Bruce's end. He was still headed eat to Gotham from Cali. The skies looked a lot like rain.
And lightening.
" It, it a press to play, then. I shall. Forgive me Richard…."
~ DON'T. Anything on here counts as evidence. I'm going into turbulent storm clouds, read what you can. I'll hear it from my mic.~
Star understood. If Slade was convicted on the grounds of being "the guilty," Richard could have assistance to get well. Yet, Tara had said he was trapped into wanting only Slade. It made little sense to her, love was…not as she'd assumed upon coming to earth. If Slade truly cared about Richard as his bumgorf, none of this would have happened.
~ Go on.~ Jason coaxed her. ~ What's the very first entry. ~
/
~ Shit….I really got them to trust me. Sir? You're proud of me, right? I…I didn't even get hurt. I hope this will find you, even under the city someplace. There must be – oh, right. So, today…I was told Raven's back story. Since she felt sorry for me, I listened. The guys think I need to reprogram myself. They honestly don't know how to fight if its not to defend ourselves. Star, she's nice but….is it OK to want to get too close? She's stronger, an alien princess and…I think it would be a bad fit. So, maybe Raven is safer? She is after all dark and brooding like I was. Oh, off topic. Ah, Beastboy is learning that I am on his side sometimes, not a freak but, he gets it. Oh, and we stopped a bunch of kids the other day. The Hive, I think? ~
Starfire pushed the line of the video towards the end. ~ The schematics for the sub are in the folder I sent. Let me know if that file was received. I can together it somehow. Make it harder to navigate. Anything comes to mind. Oh, and…aha. Mumbo was controlled by magic. Turns out it's a thing so, Raven could work for us? Maybe mind control or something else like that? ~
"He is…..has, this is –
~ Keep watching, Starfire.~ Jason said in a calmer voice. ~ I think it's his want for approval talking.~
/
~ Cy clobbered me at practice…I'm sorry. I had to hold back. If I showed them what you taught, he'd be in a stretcher. Ah, how is the search for your latest weapon? We met this character that stole Cy to fix him. He lives underground, in this city. I know I told you this…sir? Are, are you going to call me to the haunt? I think my training is slipping, so…~
/
~ Oh, man. Aqualad is definitely someone we can defeat with enough of your sources to back us up. I mean, not to impose, sir. And if you know who Dr. Light is, he seems to be kind of a coward. They all. The Titans never know how to let these annoying creeps get a day out of the slammer. I…. I'm not going there. You too, we're going to make something of this city. You and me. ~
Jason rubbed his chin as the rain light hit the pane of the bat wing. ~ He's regressing. Looks like Slade did some more damage than we thought. ~
"I, he is unhappy. He keeps asking this man if he will be satisfied…. with what, exactly?" Starfire let the other teen mull over her question.
~ Next file. We gave time, but not a ton. Bruce is still out. I'm almost to Blud airspace. ~
"That is…a city, close the by?"
~ Yep. A town worse than Jersey City or Gotham after dark. If not the same…~ Blud shared its criminals with Gotham. If he told Star that Slade was no stranger, she'd lose it. Dick would be carted off to another state or on the lam like before…
She wouldn't trust either of the birds again.
~ Tonight, Beastboy suggested after what happened with, Bruce, that I watch a movie. That he won't come after me. I'll leave if I have to find you, sir. I won't abandon my role. You know I'd never –
~ He's been solely dependent on Slade all this time. Whatever that sociopathic murderer is doing to Dick right now…~ Jason saw the sign to Blud. He was nearly home, nearly. ~ Star, roll the next video. Got time before I land in another hour. ~
/
Bruce sat up by the main set of computer screens in the cave and leaned into his closed palm.
"Master Bruce."
Bruce looked wearily over to the butler. A cup of tea and a scone were placed there on a silver platter. "It's late, Alfred –
"That it is, Master Bruce. Sir, Jason has sent notice of his return. He'll be arriving in Gotham; shortly, the hour."
"There may be time for us, but I don't buy it. Slade could have killed me and Richard's team. He didn't. He's-
Bruce hunched over with a cough. Jus lungs were still weak due to the brutal beating Slade and his robots had handed the man back in Jump City. "I left Jason, unprotected. Now, Gotham will be up against the worst without my full supervision. Alfred, did you contact Barbara and Selina?"
"Ah, the…the Cat…woman? Sir, she us anything but heroic material." The butler flicked his stache in disdain. "She can watch over them. If I pay, she has no option but to feel sorry for her city. What that could mean without order. And…"
"And, sir?"
Bruce sat up again, leaning soon back into his seat as he faced the screens where data was pouring in from Kori's server on Dick's laptop. "I still have plenty of time to stay up. There's a lot that needs to be thinned down. Why Dick is that glued to everything Slade had said to him, it's manipulation of the worst element."
"I am fearful for him as well. Yet, Master Bruce…. the boy is beyond a barrier and you cannot scale that wall at all in your current condition. Allow yourself time this may as well be what Wilson wishes. He's a hunter as you told us, and a damned sadist if he's inducted children to become blood thirty killers."
~ LIAR, LIAR.~
"He has children, Alfred. Two boys, a wife he left because she forced him out if their lives. J heard about the loss of one of them. Grant was killed by the Hive. It wasn't something Interpol could jeep long from the Batman. When I found out about it, that had me wonder …is Slade really going to try to replace his son with Dick?"
"The blood samples confirmed it. He only needed a short time to become an unofficial resident of California, and he did it. Right as we walked. How is that, amnesiac, Captain Black?"
"Still not put back together completely, yet whatever Slade was after, Black is in protective custody for a while. I had to talk to him, ask how he recognized Slade. He said, Team Seven. Slade massacred the competition. Said they were not ready to face what was too much for them to really take on with eyes wide. He just, killed them. Teens."
"That….this is truly insane!" Alfred now didn't keep quiet. "We'll find them all. These insects in the bodies of the Titans, or yourself. How are you feeling at this moment, sir?" Alfred took up a hand-held scanner as he saw the deactivated and fried probes in real time. "Just weak, Alfred. We have to get them all out of my body soon. Anything else, it may end up…." Bruce coughed again, an ulcer mild where he took another pill, getting the liquid version to be safe. "As you can see, I don't want the Titans to do what they can without instruction. These probes are not low-grade materials. The program is flawless. And a stolen instrument from STAR labs."
"What are the heroes able to accomplish in their state if that may be the very sort of…of….oh. Slade was never this diabolical in his efforts before. Could it be something else he's after. Rather than our Master Dick?"
"I think…. we'll soon discover why, once Slade presses that switch. The countdown begins, when Jason arrives home."
"He…. intends to trap your team, right here, on Gotham soil ??"
~ LIAR…. LIAR…. PANTS ON FIIIRE, HANGING FROM A, TELEPHONE WIIIRE…~
The clue in this file. Bruce checked over before nodding back to Alfred. "That is my final prediction of tonight. When we're together here, safe and sound. He won't let us go back to save them."
~ Pants on fire!!~
/
Ah, overdid the pants part. Was trying on outfit ideas a while ago for Sept 6th. Seeing Beetlejuice Beetlejuice that day at 7pm!! Find out. Next is how things went, other than if the mission was a success.
