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While the sun beating down brings boiling temperatures to the sands during the day, the lack of its presence at night meant the desert felt the opposite. Jason knew this, and had planned for it, but… he hadn’t exactly expected to make it even this far.Planning and preparation and patience— so much patience— and a little, though unexpected, help from Talia, and he was out. On the run from the League, but out of Nanda Parbat. His freedom came with a small price, however, because of course it did.He… hadn’t gotten to take Damian with him. Talia had promised Jason he would see his baby brother again, but… if he was being honest, he wasn’t sure he trusted her enough to keep that promise. When he’d told the kid about his plans to escape, Jason had made sure to hammer in the fact that, given their stations, the probability of getting the both of them out was next to impossible. Damian had claimed to understand, but Jason had a feeling that the boy’s feelings would have changed by now depending on whatever tale Talia had spun up. If they ever saw each other again, Jason had probably lost Damian’s trust, because when it came down to it, he’d left his baby brother behind.Jason stared into the fire pit, doing his best to not flinch whenever someone moved around him. He’d happened upon some nomads who’d insisted on letting him stay the night, insisted on offering shelter and food. That was more than fine with him, he could save his rations for longer, but… So many of them were wearing green or purple and it was jarring after spending so long with the League to see them work alongside others in white. It had him tugging at his own red and black robes. He hadn’t ever come across another League member in red…An older woman offered him a bowl of nuts and dried fruits, and it took a large amount of Jason’s willpower to not snatch it out of learned fear. Just because she’s in green, doesn’t mean she’s got power over you, dumbass. Her smile when he gave a quiet thanks was lined with an understanding sadness. Jason tried to focus more on the sand stuck under his tunic.He couldn’t stay with the nomads for long, likely just a few nights, if more than one. Jason tried to not travel during the day, but he wasn’t about to risk their safety by traveling with them for a long period. He had to keep going, had to keep hiding, had to keep the possibility of the League picking up his trail as low as possible.Because Ra’s was going to be pissed if he wasn’t already. Even more so when Jason came back for his precious Heir, wherever they inevitably relocated him to.The itch was crawling back into his throat. And it wasn’t from the sand.❧What Jason would give for some peace and quiet. Maybe not peace, his luck would never let him, but he’d sure appreciate some quiet. After spending however long in compounds full of assassins and then months on the road, hopping from village to village, being in a city was hell. It would have already been hell on his sensitive hearing even if he hadn’t gotten accustomed to a lower level of sound just because it wasn’t a city he was used to.But he could suck it up and deal with all the sounds of Istanbul for a few days. He was getting a few days’ pay working at one of the shadier docks and was waiting on fake papers from an even shadier guy. Not that Jason hadn’t appreciated a bed and a hot meal offered by the farmers he’d come across, but money was a bit more flexible in its use. And “official” documents were a precaution in case he got stopped because Jason didn’t trust his luck to keep him out of trouble.A car alarm went off a few blocks away, tugging Jason out of his thoughts. He threw an arm over his face with a groan. He briefly debated getting some headphones just to muffle the background noise but ultimately decided against it due to the continued threat to his life.Didn’t mean it wasn’t tempting.Jason just wanted to get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow was slated for a bunch of heavy lifting, and he wanted to make sure he was aware enough to not lift more than it would be assumed he could. He was out of practice and didn’t want to risk hinting at his Meta capabilities, despite how little the other workers might care about that. They were fairly nice people, fun to talk shit with— when he could get his throat to cooperate for more than a minute— but Jason wasn’t about to trust them with that sort of secret.The car alarm finally shut off, but not before a couple got into a heated argument in the building Jason was hiding out on the roof of. The possibility of him getting any rest tonight was looking bleaker by the minute. A splurge on headphones sounded just that bit more tempting. If only he wasn’t on the run. Who was he kidding, if the constant noise wasn’t an issue now, it would have been an issue when he got sent out on a mission to some other major metropolitan area.Not for the first time, Jason almost wished he was normal. But where was the fun in that?❧He wasn’t sure how he’d wound up here. Not that he was any surer of where here was. And at this point, he couldn’t be all too sure of who or what he was.Any time he could bring voice to the questions, he was just assured that he was alright, and he’d learn.Learn what?“Focus, pup.”Right. One-handed handstand on a slippery, wiggly rock in a freezing river. Practice. No moving. No sign of life besides blinking. Focus.There was a hum from off to the side. The sun was starting to creep into his eyes, and he couldn’t look over at Mother to question the sound.“Alright, get up.”Ready his muscles, bend his arm the slightest bit, and— push, hop, flip, flip, spin aaand land. Solid.A huff, this time. “You’re getting faster. Good. You’re climbing again today.”Yesterday, he’d been made to familiarize himself with the various vines and roots that grew all over the side of the massive cavern where he was being trained. His arms still hurt from that; let alone the balance practice he’s been going through every morning since he got here.…Whenever that was. Time was a blur.There was a smack, and he did his best to hold back the flinch at the harsh slap to his back before he tugged his tunic back on.“Come on, I want to have breakfast at a reasonable time, and you’re the one picking fruit.”The trek back to the cavern was a long one, and not at all easy. It was a winding, narrow path, with slick steps and loose rocks. More practice at agility and stealth, Mother had said. Endurance, too, since it was several miles.He would rather do parkour than this trek, but he hadn’t had any free time to test anything.He also wasn’t all that sure why he’d bother, or why it mattered to him.“The red ones are the ones you want. Not the orange. Yellow are safe, but they’re not what we’re having today.”Red fruit is good; orange fruit is bad. Yellow, okay.Okay.He adjusted his robes. He didn’t know how much mother wanted, but he knew how to carry a lot within the folds of the fabric. The trick would be coming down without bruising the fruit or himself.Instead of waiting until they reached the floor, he grabbed hold of one of the branches they passed by and started making his way to the nearest bunch of fruit. He was careful to avoid vines and roots that he knew wouldn’t hold his weight, or were covered in tiny thorns that would make him itch.Something told him Mother was pleased, despite the annoyance in her tone.“Hurry up, pup. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”❧There was a young woman here. Or she seemed to be. Truth be told, she was several thousands of years old. But she appeared young.Aside from Mother, she was one of the few people who he ever saw around. Sure, there were others, but they never entered the cavern he was occupying. She did her best to not interact with him outside of sparring.She did not like him.He wasn’t sure why, exactly, but he could make a few guesses.But her grudge meant that she was ruthless in sparring. He was fine with her wiping the floor with his ass due to her millennia of experience on him, but her anger was grating on his nerves.But what was worse was when she would watch him. Judge him. It didn’t matter what he was doing, she always disapproved. He was slowly getting better at ignoring her disdainful stare.It was fine. It had to be fine. Not everyone liked him. She was one of those who didn’t. It was fine.…Damn it, he just wanted to do his katas in peace. Was that too much to ask for?He finished the set and stalked over to the cup and pitcher of water he had put aside earlier. He pulled up the edge of his robe to wipe the sweat from his brow.He ignored her sudden appearance in front of him when he let go of the tunic to run a hand through his hair. Bru– Batman had done the same thing, way back when. He’d long since grown out of being startled by a little trick like that, even if she was using magic.He continued to ignore her as he reached for the pitcher and cup, taking a few sips of water before dumping the rest of what he’d poured over his head. He then turned around to work through cool-down katas.“You cannot ignore me forever,” she stated. He could picture the frown across her face and the annoyed cross of her arms.He ignored her anyway.Until her presence was suddenly behind him, with a slight shove between his shoulders. He startled for the slightest second and then whirled around to bat her hand away with a glare.Both of them were frozen in place for a few moments. Despite the green seeping into his vision, he could tell she’d been surprised but was still unimpressed. That surprise, however, quickly turned calculating.“I do not understand why Mother thought you were worth training. We haven’t recruited anyone in a thousand years, longer since any have survived the ritual.” She sneered, giving him another glance over. “And you’re not all that impressive. I have no idea what she could see in you.”“If you think I know, Essence, you are overestimating my capabilities.”⁂Damian was lingering in the shadows. It was something he did far more often than his instructors or his mother would like, but they couldn’t ever find him to stop him. It was also something his akhi had taught him, and if anyone were to try and stop him, they’d be forfeiting their lives.Right now, was, at least, one of the few times he was supposed to be on break. And, technically, he was, though Mother and Grandfather would both be livid if he were to be found in his current position.He was spying on them, after all. Because they were the only ones alive with the information he was seeking. Information on his akh. Which happened to be information they did not share with him. Because his akh was, to their knowledge, missing. Thus, Mother and Grandfather were fighting, and Damian ought not— could not allow himself to be caught while they were so heated.Their anger wasn’t even over the fact that Jason was gone. Or perhaps it could be said that it was, and they were currently just focusing on the fact they had no information. They hadn’t had new information in months, since the brief sighting in Germany. Akh’s trail had long been cold before then, too.Damian couldn’t quite wrap his head around his mother’s ire, though. Ra's was angry that the experiment, the weapon, the tool had gotten away and was on the loose. But the only way Jason could have managed to get Pit when he did would have been if Talia had helped. That being said, Damian still doubted his mother’s wrath was entirely a façade.At least, if they hadn’t found his akh, that meant Jason was safe. If they couldn’t track his akh, that meant they wouldn’t know if Jason returned for him until it was too late. If they simply hadn’t gotten word back about his akh, that meant Jason would be able to keep him safe.Of course, it had hurt that the teen had been unable to take him with him, but Damian understood. It was more work and more dangerous to travel with a small child, no matter how capable he was. And the League would be relentless in trying to find the Demon’s Heir. They would comb the planet and kill anyone in the way of their hunt. Jason would be killed— sure, the lingering Pit may bring him back, but it was the principle— and Damian would not allow for that to happen.It just meant he had to wait. Either for Jason to find and retrieve him, or until he could escape on his own. He still wasn’t sure why he had to get out of there, out of Nanda Parbat, out of the League, but his akh had insisted and Damian trusted him.They had both managed to get out of Nanda Parbat, at the very least. So, Damian could be patient, keep quiet, and stick to the shadows.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“I need you to shift forms.”Jason raised a brow in question, wondering what Mother could be referring to. He’d swapped hands not too long ago, so it wasn’t that…“Drop the human disguise, pup.”Oh.
Fuck.
She, of course, noticed his fluster and hesitation. “Easy, pup. I just need to know exactly what I’m working with. Plus, it wouldn’t do you any good if you didn’t train in your true form.”It made sense, which was the damnedest part.It was gonna suck, though.His ears and fangs didn’t affect his balance, and with his claws, he could grip the rock better. The hard part was the wings. There was a lot of shifting and wobbling to accommodate their sudden weight— they weren’t heavy, but they weren’t light— without falling into the frigid water. His core complained alongside his arm as he fought to stay upright.“Interesting.” He could feel her move across the stones to stand in front of him. She poked at his coverts a little before drawing a hand through his hair in imitation of a pet. “Yes, there will be much work to do, much to reteach. But you probably stand a better chance at surviving.”She moved back to the bank of the river and paused. “Come on, I want those fruits for breakfast again.”Well alright then.He let himself fall to his feet, quickly pushing back up to glide to the bank.Ducra was visibly unimpressed as he flapped to rid his feathers of water.“Quit staring at me like I’m your mama duck. Go, pick fruit, shoo. I’ll walk.”With a roll of his eyes and his shoulders, Jason let himself push off and into the air, following the path through the mountains back into the cavern.It was over said fruit and some congee that he was finally given some insight into the ritual Ducra and Essence had been mentioning.“It’s been well over a thousand years since a human has attempted, let alone survived, the cleansing ritual.” Ducra bluntly stated out of nowhere. “You’ve got the fact you’re only partly human going for you, but the Lazarus Waters will be working against you.”Partly human sounded like he was less human than not. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it— or the fact that Ducra could tell— other than he knew she was right.“If you do survive, it’ll probably take you longer to settle than someone without either of those factors.”So, he was an experimental case, is what it sounded like she was saying. Good to know that the only thing likely to go boom was his mortality.“Oh well, that’s not for some time yet. You’ve still got more training to do. Finish your breakfast and then fetch the kama.”❧Nightmares were a constant after the cleansing. Sometimes, he woke up lucid. If he was also functional, he’d get up, eat, bathe, and run through some katas until he was forced to collapse back onto his cot. But most of his lucidity was spent in a vegetable-like state as his chest burned from the inside out.Most of the time, however, he woke up to green threatening to consume him. Or he thought he woke up, but really, he could just be in a continuous nightmare. It would probably be better if it was the latter.But when the Waters tried to take over, it was all he could do to keep from drawing his own or someone else’s blood. He hadn’t been put down due to insanity yet, but he also wasn’t sure how many of the people he was seeing were real or not.This time, his room was tinted with green light when he opened his eyes. He immediately shut them and wished to fall back asleep. His choking breaths and the phantom pains across his body decided otherwise.He lay there, contemplating whether to get up and (hopefully) avoid killing anyone or just wallow in his misery when he noticed a shifting presence beside him. They knelt amongst his veritable nest of blankets, pausing before they reached across his body for the opposite hand.Jason snatched the offending wrist in a tight grip and opened his eyes to glare at Essence leaning over him. She raised a brow— unimpressed, as always— before reversing the grip, grabbing his other wrist, and pinning them both above his head as she straddled his waist.The blood drained out of his face as he froze. He was no longer burning on the inside, only chilled to the bone wherever she wasn’t touching him. “Essence,” Jason hissed. “What the Hell do you think you’re doing?”With her free hand, she started tracing where the tattoo was fading into his skin. A feather-light touch, and yet it burned worse than anything he could imagine. “Oh, hush. You survived the cleansing. I just wanted to… ease the aftereffects. We’ll be mission partners for a while, after all.”Against his wishes, the burning sank lower than the hand now splayed across his abs.“Essence–” he choked out. He tried to squirm, kick out, but she held his wrists in an iron grip and pressed him down further into the mattress. Something was off, was wrong in her eyes, but he couldn’t pinpoint what.“Shhh, Man-child, relax. I’m just doing you a favor.”❧The Waters were rumbling like a caged beast in the back of his head, simmering just under his skin.There was a lot that had gotten Jason to this point, and it took that reminder to keep him from letting the green take over.He’d somehow managed to pick up lessons from a master sniper, and his journey had spiraled from there into finding instructors in all sorts of subjects. Usually deadly, or at the very least able to be applied in lethal manners if one was creative enough.Like acrobatics. That, with a range of martial arts, was an interesting study experience. There was a certain amount of muscle memory from… from before that was clashing against his new body. He was so much bigger than when he’d gone into the ground. He was learning how to move all over again in ways he knew he used to be able to perform. It was awkward and infuriating in a way he wasn’t sure he could explain how he felt about it. (Badly— it made his skin itch when he thought about it for too long. Which would bring his attention back to the itch in his throat, which would worsen it, and then he couldn’t speak for a day or two.)Covering toxins and pressure points was alright, but there wasn’t all that much he hadn’t already learned with the League. At least comparing what was favored by different people in different regions was interesting enough to occupy his mind when he was staving off nightmares.Explosives and firearms were much more exciting. The League tried to avoid anything loud or flashy, sticking to sniper rifles when they even bothered anything with a bang. And with the Bat, all he had learned was how to disarm and avoid. Hell, Jason had learned more in his childhood in the Alley than after moving into the Manor. So, between actually getting to pull the trigger and setting off the fuse, these lessons quickly became some of his favorites.Jason was still picking up odd jobs, of course. Usually under-the-table, usually hard labor, but it put cash in his hands and kept him under the radar. He was hopping all over Europe, sometimes even making it over to Africa or back to the Middle East, but he was hesitant to go much further. Of course, his goal was to get back to Gotham, but he knew that out of anything, making that trip without a proper, heavily detailed plan would flag him to the League.Overall, things were going as well as they could, right up until Jason wound up in Germany. He caught wind of a secret his teacher was hiding right under his nose. The kind that struck close to home, and in that moment, he wanted nothing more than for the man to be six feet under. But with the lessons not yet over, he restrained the green and waited. (He may have gone a little overboard with the restraint in his training for the next few days, but it only served to sharpen his fury.)He soaked up every ounce of knowledge he could, both of the subject he was being taught and of the operation happening right below his nose. He spent many late nights occupied thinking of how best to go about putting an end to it. And when the time came, the children were freed and passed along to an embassy, before he turned back to the site of the operation.The mentor may have been teaching him lethal combat, but Jason had far more tricks up his sleeve.Like poison.Thank whatever higher power that thing— in Jason’s opinion, he could hardly call him a man— was practically addicted to that disgusting soda.Any later teachers he found guilty of similar crimes met similarly fatal ends. In their final moments, Death was kind. Jason, most certainly, was not. Slip them a mild sedative, 15cc of air injected under the tongue while they were out, and done. Most wouldn’t suspect a thing. Never mind what when down when he felt he could be a bit… louder.There… may have been a few explosions.Maybe more than a few.⁂As much as he tried to avoid them, Slade would still, on occasion, find himself in precarious situations. And in almost every instance, he would be able to get out of them on his own. By his skillset, his equipment, his knowledge, or some combination thereof.At this moment, however, all that was failing him.He’d completed his contract, of course, and had gotten the proof that the client wanted. Standard job. It wasn’t until after, that shit hit the fan.As he dashed across the rooftops, he considered extending the period he would be avoiding Damascus. Standard procedure, just… lengthened due to the current threat he was facing.There was a low growl, and he didn’t quite manage to dodge the next swipe, claws catching on his leg. The creature— because that was no mere man chasing— let out a cackle as he scrambled to get out of reach again. It wasn’t the first set of cuts he’d gotten from the thing, and unless he figured out something soon, he’d be in hot water.Of course, it didn’t help matters that there were several of the things. But he was focusing on the one that had him in its sights.Another few rooftops away was when he realized two things. One- it was toying with him. And two- there was someone else up there, chasing after the creatures.In his personal opinion, they were an idiot. But if they could get rid of the creatures— as then evidenced by them producing a sword of fire to cut through one of said monsters. Well, alright then— then it was fine by him.The glances he caught of them showed them leaping between buildings with a gravity-defying grace, slowly making their way through the small herd? Pack? Of creatures. The only reason Slade could even tell was by the slowly dwindling number of footsteps chasing after him.Now, the Universe does not care that Slade is a renowned mercenary. The Universe does not care how high of a kill count or how high of a success rate he has. The Universe does not care that most who know the name Deathstroke fear the man behind the mask.The Universe decided that he— highly dangerous and skilled mercenary that he was— should trip.He rolled to the side and avoided being impaled by the massive claws, only to get the other paw stuck in his arm guard. It was as the gaping, void-like maw descended, slobbering towards his head that, for once, had him capable of admitting fear.It was blinding, the sword that struck true and through the creature. The fire— or was that magic— ate away at the dark sinew-like substance that made up the thing. With a flick of their wrist, the person allowed the dead monster to slide off their blade to the side. With their other hand, they reached out to Slade.He stared, breathing heavily, before accepting the aid and being lifted.“How bad are your injuries?” the person asked, as their sword dissipated in sparks. Masculine voice, probably somewhere in their twenties.He took stock of the claw marks along his body. “They’ll hold til my accommodations.” He gave the mysterious person a glance over. Nothing about their garb or their visible weapons gave him any clues as to what sort of group they could be affiliated with. Which meant he could not tell what sort of agenda or goals they might have.“You saved my life,” he gruffly stated.The person paused where they were looking over the body of the creature. “Well… I don’t suppose I could cash that in for training, could I?”…Training? Really? “No. I’d still be willing to train you, but the… favor is gonna have to be for something else.”The kid— because that was about how old they were, really— let out a huff. “I’ll think of something. Not the biggest fan of being owed anything. I’ll meet you at your hotel in… two days?”“If you can find it—”“I will.”“—then sure, kid.”⁂It had been a long time since Jason had been in a fight that didn’t start with clashing right off the bat. Granted, he wasn’t sure the staring contest he was currently locked in was gearing up to be a fight— and he sure hoped it wasn’t— but the general anticipation was still present.His reasons for not wanting to fight were plentiful. One, he’d promised his current teacher he wouldn’t get into fights while here. Two, it would draw League attention to him, and he couldn’t afford that. Three, the Pit, although quiet at the moment, was a bit too close to the surface for his liking. Four, that for all his training, Jason highly doubted he’d be able to take down One Who Is All.And five was that One Who Is All was a kid. Around his age, sure, but still young in the grand scheme of things. She was lithe, a dancer’s grace in deadly combination with the skills Jason knew she possessed. Daughter of David Cain and Lady Shiva. He’d never gotten her name, and they’d only met a few times, but Jason could still recognize her. She’d been upgraded to gold thread on her black and charcoal robes, just as he’d combined his red and black League ones with his gray All Caste robes.Of course, the one time Jason allowed his meandering training to lead him outside the geographical range he’d deemed safe, he’d wind up facing such a reminder, such a threat.He was wary, of course, but moreover, he was curious. What was she doing in Hong Kong? Was she alone? Or were there other League operatives nearby?Jason held still as they stared each other down from across the rooftop, silently observing, waiting for one of them to make the first move. After what could have been anywhere from seconds to hours, the girl moved forward. Silent, hesitant steps, pausing just outside of immediate striking range. She lunged, delivering a light tap to his bicep, before flitting back across the roof.Jason couldn’t help his small smile or sigh of relief. Not a fight, then, thank goodness. Just the cobbled-together combination of tag and sparring they’d created throughout the times they’d met. “Tag” he could do, even with the Pit. His smile turned into a grin, and he leaped, and the two of them flew over the rooftops and through the alleys. He’d “catch” her, they’d spar, he’d slip away, and she’d give chase. Back and forth until they deemed it over.All that mattered to Jason was having fun and making sure she did, as well. That was one thing he was determined to make happen, as a favor from one Chosen One to another.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
For a base full of assassins, Jason would have laughed at how easily he was able to infiltrate it. That is, if he hadn’t known better, or if he had a death wish. But something about the level of easiness had his skin crawling. One Who Is All had warned him, the last time he’d seen her, that there had been some sort of major change at Nanda Parbat. Knowing where to look, it was easy to see that she’d been right.There was an odd sort of quiet around the base. Not just the quiet of a place belonging to a ninja cult, but the sort of quiet that signaled a significant decrease in the number of assassins compared to what Jason remembered. And Nanda Parbat had already been one of the quietest League bases Jason had ever been to.Something was indeed different, and Jason could only dread what he would find. Or, rather, not find.His fears unfortunately came true when he crept into what had been Damian’s quarters, only to find them empty. Not much had been left behind, namely the furniture and a few wall hangings. Clothes the kid had outgrown by the time he’d left Nanda Parbat. A small smattering of things likely deemed “too sentimental” for the Demon’s Heir to take with him, wherever he’d gone. What eventually caught his eye was a book on a shelf with a piece of paper sticking out from between the pages. Damian never did that to mark his place, always using a proper bookmark, and he wouldn't have let it peek out from the pages.Cautiously, Jason pulled the book from the shelf and thumbed through to the offending scrap. It looked like an old piece of parchment, a blank remnant absentmindedly torn from a discarded sheet. Again, something Damian would have never done, and so Jason scrutinized the little thing. There. A pattern to the faint markings on the parchment.A noise from down the hall filtered into the room, and the book was shoved back onto the shelf before Jason slunk into the shadows of the room, note in his pocket. Right. Enemy territory. He'd decipher the note once he got out of there.
Time to do this escape all over again. Let's see if I can get out without having to cause a distraction.
❧Jason was smart. Sure, Dick had been more conventionally smart— dude had been a damn mathlete and science-oriented nerd, for crying out loud— whereas Jason leaned more towards languages and literature, but he was still smart. He'd still been trained as Robin, trained by Batman, trained by countless others after, so—The point was, he deciphered the note. A pain, since he wasn't the biggest fan of puzzles, but it was more of a linguistic challenge than a proper code. Russian transliterated into Latin characters, and put into International Morse Code, because using Russian Morse would have been too easy to crack. (It would have, but something about the note having been stuck in one of the kid's Mandarin textbooks had Jason shaking his head.)His brother's idiosyncrasies aside, Jason at least knew where Damian had been relocated to. Getting there and planning an escape was yet another problem.Making it back out of Nanda Parbat was, thankfully, uneventful. His hike across the Indian subcontinent was the same, aside from one stray assassination attempt in Chennai. Once he made it to Kochi, it took a while to first find the contact and haggle out a deal. But after emptying most of his wallet and performing many favors, Jason had a small ship. It wasn't the best, but it would work well enough for the journey he was about to take on, and that was all that mattered.The trip was a long one, but all that meant to Jason was that he had time to plan his infiltration, escape, and near-Bat-level contingencies for any issue his mind could come up with.He prayed, as he anchored the ship near the island in what he hoped was a secluded spot, that Damian hadn't been moved again, and that they’d both make it out of here.At least once he made it onto the island itself and down into the tunnels, things turned out more like how he had expected.This place is crawling with assassins, Jason noted as he clung to supports near the ceiling of a passageway. Hopefully, that's a good sign.Considering he'd never been to the island before, it took a lot longer than he would have liked to locate Damian's quarters, as well as every ounce of training instilled in him to keep from getting spotted. He found Damian before he found the boy’s quarters, and resolved himself to trailing behind, out of sight.It's been, what, a year? And he's already so much bigger... Too much bigger... he noted as he followed along. Whether Damian noticed his presence or not, the boy didn't show.To be fair, the kid didn't show much of anything besides an air of grace and power until he'd closed the door behind him. Jason waited a few moments before killing the two guards in the hall and hiding their bodies up on the supports. A few moments more to make sure his presence still hadn't alerted anyone, and then he knocked on Damian's door.The annoyed face that greeted him quickly shifted into one of surprise. "What are you doing here?!" Damian whispered, leaning out to glance down the hall. "Get inside before you get caught!"Jason was tugged inside and caught the door before it could slam shut, closing it with the smallest click. He turned back to face Damian, who was standing there, arms crossed and a mask of anger across his face. "Take off your mask," the kid demanded in a betrayal of his anxiousness.Doing as he was ordered; Jason slid his mask off and flipped his hood back as he dropped to one knee before the boy. Blue-green eyes flicked over his face, scars old and new, searching his gaze for something only he knew."Akhi?" Damian let out in a trembling voice.Jason's expression softened at the crack in the boy's façade. "It's me, Dami. I'm here." His voice was practically a croak, and he tried to pretend it was due to emotion and not the still-persistent itch.He suddenly had an armful of crying kid, the quietest sobs shaking the poor boy's body. It both broke and warmed his heart, that the boy had shed his mask so quickly for him."Shh, habibi, I'm here. I'm here. I'm not leaving without you, this time. I've got you."They stayed there until Damian pulled back, sniffling. "You got my note, then," he stated with a false air of stoicism. "But how did you get here, this is Infinity Island!"Jason merely nodded as he put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "I did, and we don't have the time for me to explain. How quickly can you pack?"Damian seemed annoyed at the non-answer but gained a determined look in his eye. "How much can I bring?""Not much more than the bare minimum. A few weapons should be fine. I'll grab your toiletries."Damian gave a nod and darted off to his closet as Jason stood and made his way to the bathroom. In a small bag, he gathered the kid's things, as well as some extra first-aid supplies from the stash in the cabinet under the washbowl.Of course, the mission couldn't be as simple as he hoped, as there was a knock on the door the moment he stepped back into the main room.Не knew that knock. And he cursed his luck for having dared to hope he'd get through this without coming across its owner.⁂The knob turned before one of them could do anything, and Mother stepped through. There was a brief moment of surprise that flitted through her gaze before a deceptively warm smile overtook it.“Jason.”Akh, already frozen, didn't even flinch at the address, only giving an appropriate how to her. "Lady Talia," he responded, voice and face carefully neutral. He made a small movement with his hand, signaling Damian to hurry with his packing.He did, but he kept an ear and an eye on the two."I had come to inform Damian of the... commotion going on aboveground," his mother stated. "I assume it had nothing to do with your arrival?"
Something was going on up above? Since when?
Jason’s expression gave nothing away. "No, my Lady."Talia pursed her lips at the answer, and Damian did not miss the flicker of her gaze across the modified garb his akh was wearing. Her expression maintained its false warmth and she cupped Jason's cheek with her hand. "How long are you staying, azizi? I wish to know how you've been."Where the young man had been neutral before, he was now blank, aside from the slight flicker of the Waters in his eyes. It was eerie. Unnerving. Damian did not want to know what had happened that would cause his akh to have that reaction to his om."It has already been too long, my Lady," Jason choked out. He had been hoarse since his arrival, but this was more gravel than strain. "We must get going."Damian took that as a cue to step up beside his akh, bag slung across his back and sword at his side.A tightness appeared in Talia's smile, and she took a step back. "I see." She pulled something from one of her pockets and held it out to the older boy. "There is a safehouse in Metropolis. Use it as often as you need. There is also a one-time call to me, should you have to reach out."Jason hesitantly took the flip phone from her and pocketed it with a curt nod.Mother then knelt in front of Damian, and the hand upon his shoulder carried a different weight than Jason’s had. "I shall see you eventually, habibi. Do well." She leaned forward to kiss him on the forehead, before rising.She gave another kiss to Jason's cheek, before turning and leaving without another word.It was a few seconds before Jason seemed to return to the present and turn to Damian. "C'mon. Let's get you wrapped up in the sling so I can carry you. I want to get out of here as soon as possible."Damian did his best to ignore the shake in his akh's hands and voice.⁂There were many things this mission was supposed to have been.To start with, this was supposed to have been a training mission for the Teen Titans, with Nightwing and Donna "supervising". And it had at least started off that way. But in the course of that half of the mission, they'd uncovered some... unexpected involvement in the operation they'd been busting.Secondly, the League of Assassins wasn't supposed to have been involved. See above.Thirdly, was that this new half of the mission was supposed to have been a quick in-and-out sort of deal. "Supposed" was definitely the operative word in that statement, considering... everything.And there was a lot encompassed in that "everything". So, suffice to say, Dick was firmly on the side of not being entirely surprised when something new and/or unexpected was thrown into the mix.Like the lone figure he could see off in the distance from where he and most of the team were playing The Distraction™️ so Robin could work his figurative magic at hacking. Nightwing was supposed to have been on-the-ground supervision while Donna stayed up in the jet, but there were many more League assassins than the kids were ready to handle. Hence why he was also in the fight but had enough awareness to notice the new addition.Were they friend? Foe? He couldn't tell. It seemed more like they were just taking advantage of their distraction to do... whatever they were doing. Dick would have ignored them if it weren't for their odd get-up. Clearly an assassin— clearly a League assassin— but something about them seemed off. And then he realized they weren’t in a color Dick could remember League members ever wearing. Or maybe he had just never seen an Assassin in red? And that techy mask was even odder. So potentially not another member of the League of Assassins, but Dick would have to withhold judgment on that.Whoever they were, the large bundle in a sling tied to his back was certainly their prize.
Where are they taking it, though? This is Infinity Island; notoriously difficult to access and escape.
The wayward thought was tossed to the side as yet another ninja lunged at Dick. He didn't know what exactly the difference in the clothes signified— this one had some purple in addition to the standard black, as opposed to the majority of the others all wearing straight black or grey— but it took a little longer to knock this one out than the rest. And then there was another one in the same get-up. And then another. And another. In short order, soon all the assassins Dick was fighting were those black-and-purple-robed ones.There was a glint off in the distance. The unknown ninja was watching the fight go down as they continued on their way.Didn't matter for now, because Dick had to focus on all the dang ninjas he was fighting. He was starting to tire out, and he could see Carrie and Connor starting to look a little worse for wear, even with their superhuman stamina. How long did Tim need? And where the heck was Bart?"Donna, tell me you've heard from Robin or Impulse," he grumbled into his comms."Nothing since you all landed," she answered. "When did you last hear from Robin?""Since he went down into the tunnels," Dick responded. "Give it five, and then I'll split off to find him. I swear Impulse was just here, but he must have gone off at some point.""Copy. I'll try to track him down."A commotion off to the side. The Red Ninja was a flurry of motion, cutting through the sea of assassins toward Nightwing with brutal efficiency.
Ah, fiddlesticks. I really hope they're not here to fight us.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Jason couldn't say he'd been expecting a team of superheroes duking it out against the League, but it was a welcome distraction. Right up until he noticed that Nightwing was among them, and they were all— normal and super powered alike— collectively getting their asses beat.He paused for a moment, before deciding that it wasn't his problem. Getting himself and Damian off Infinity Island was higher priority than making sure the heroes were alright.Jason could tell Nightwing was keeping an eye on him, but again: not his problem.Or, it wasn't, until he suddenly had a speedster standing in his way."Huh. You're different than the rest of them," the kid— Kid Flash? Maybe? He hadn't kept up with the newest generation of heroes, so he didn't know who had what titles— casually stated. "You're not here to fight us too, are you?"Jason shifted the weight of the sling and the bag. « No. But you're a good distraction, » he signed, risking using League— Justice League, not Assassins or Shadows— code.For some reason, the kid smiled. "Thanks, I guess. Say, any chance you could lend us a hand? We've already been fighting for a while, but it's gonna be a few more minutes before we've got what we need."Who else is here with them? Jason couldn't help but wonder. How many new heroes are there? What are they even after? Instead, he asked a different question. « If I say yes, would you take these bags to the boat on the East side of the island? »The speedster punched a fist in the air. "Thanks, man- err, person? Oh, I'm Impulse, by the way. People keep thinking I'm Kid Flash, but that would be so not crash, y’know? Especially, considering—"Jason didn't bother with wondering over what the kid was saying at a mile-a-minute, instead just setting down the bag and carefully shrugging off the sling Damian was hidden in. He'd be getting an earful later from the boy. « Be careful with these, and don't look in them. »"Why, are they cursed, or something?"Fuckin' speedsters. « Or something. »"Okay," the kid— Impulse, said with a shrug, before disappearing with the precious cargo.Already too on-edge to worry about it, Jason turned to the fight. The new Wonder Girl seemed to be holding her own well enough, so did— was that a Kryptonian kid? The hell had Clark been up to— Ah, shit. Nightwing took a deep slice to the arm.
Guess I know who l'm helping out. Gods, this is gonna be weird.
⁂Instead of joining the rest of the ninjas, the red one wound up back-to-back with Nightwing.It was… odd.Dick had been trained to be flexible in his fighting, adapting to whoever he had at his side. But something about the Red Ninja felt way too familiar. Alongside the more easily recognizable forms of martial arts, they were clearly trained by the League of Assassins. There weren't many moves they pulled off that were completely unfamiliar, and none that should have been tugging at his memory like they were.Again, it was odd.Moving together like a well-oiled machine, they quickly decimated the assassins surrounding them and began making their way over to where Cassie and Connor were fighting."Who's the new guy?" Superboy called out when he soared past them.All the Red Ninja did was mime zipping their lips before giving the ASL sign for 'mute' and continue to wreak havoc on the opposing ninjas.
Well, then. Certainly a character, but I guess I can’t complain.
With the new ally, it was quick work to take out the rest of the League ninjas.Bart showed up not long after the fight wound down, Tim in tow.“I've got what we need!” Robin called out as the speedster set him back on his own feet. "Let's get outta here!”Behind him, Nightwing could feel a cold air settle about the Red Ninja when they turned and spotted the younger vigilante. A chilly dread settled in his own gut, and Dick whirled on the unknown assassin.The Red Ninja flipped away in an all-too familiar move before Nightwing's charged escrima could land. Dodge, dodge, parry, dodge. Unlike in the fight against the League assassins, they were only fighting to incapacitate, not kill. In fact, they were more on the defensive, rather than trying to attack.Their next leap took them out of close-range, and they sheathed their sword instead of continuing the fight. They raised their hands in a non-threatening manner as Dick could feel them giving everyone a cautious look-over.Bart gave the Red Ninja a mock salute when the masked gazed was turned to him. Dick would be asking about that, later.The Red Ninja moved his hands in a series of signs— Justice League code signs, not League of Assassins code signs, and that was a potential can of worms Dick was not expecting, at all— and then disappeared before their eyes.« Not an enemy. Do not follow. »A new wave assassins started emerging, so Nightwing gave the order to retreat to the jet. Settling aboard was a welcome moment of relief for everyone who'd been on the ground."Everyone alright?" Donna asked from where she was piloting.Dick gave the teens a look-over. "All good," he answered, ignoring the cuts and bruises on his own body. "We'll debrief when we get back to the Tower."At the groans from the younger heroes, Dick had a passing thought that he was turning into Bruce.
Nah. If I were, I would have followed that Red Ninja despite what they signed. Fudge— I’ll have to include them in the report.
⁂Jason had almost forgotten that there had been another hero involved and had to keep himself from whirling around when they suddenly appeared, courtesy of the speedster.Never in a million years could he have been prepared for the sight that faced him.It was all he could do to keep the Pit down, the green spitting, frothing, roaring as it tried to rear its head. He couldn't let lose himself to an anger that wasn't entirely his own over a decision that he had no say in. Or that's what he told himself. At least the kid had gotten pants. A point in his favor.Fighting Nightwing was enough of a distraction to wrangle the waters back to a manageable point. They wanted to lash out at the older hero, too, but it wasn't as strong of an urge. Jason could kind of understand why Dick was attacking him— they were strangers, and he'd had a reaction to seeing Robin. Considering what happened to the last one... yeah, he couldn't blame Dick for that— but it didn't mean it didn't still hurt.Both because of the Pit and because Jason knew he stood no chance against a whole team of superheroes— even ones in training, as the kids were— he ended the fight when he had the chance. Everyone seemed fine, so he signaled for them to not tail him and bolted.(He also just wanted off this damn island.)Damian was still tucked in the makeshift sling when he got to the boat. Jason was quick to unwrap the kid and shoo him into the small cabin before getting the boat ready to leave. He had to be quick, as he could hear search groups of assassins spreading out across the island. Thankfully, the wind seemed to be on his side, swiftly pulling the catamaran away once he pulled the anchor. He'd worry about where they were headed once they’d put enough distance behind them.Admittedly, it was a long while before he felt they’d gotten to that point. Jason double-checked their heading and speed, fastened down what he needed to, and staggered into the cabin. Damian was now passed out on the tiny couch, and Jason took a moment to drink in the sight before sitting next to the kid. The light jostling woke the boy up, and he groggily sat up to lean against Jason."So, what is our plan?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes."We'll dock somewhere in East Africa, and then head up north through the Middle East before bouncing around the Mediterranean for a while," Jason answered, wincing at the initial gravel in his voice. "Once we've taken care of our trail, I'll get us a flight to Metropolis, and we can train-hop into Gotham."That seemed to jolt Damian awake. "We're really going to Gotham?"A ruffle of the kid's hair was met with a glaring pout and a smack to his arm. "We sure are, bud. Safest place from the League, after all.""Are we... Are we going to see Father?"Jason had to take a deep breath before he could answer that loaded question. "No, habibi. I'm sorry. It's... He doesn't know l'm alive, to start. And a practical stranger loading a kid off on him would... would not go over well." He's got a new one, already— "There's so many more reasons, but we can get into those later, хорошо?""Понятно. But if we're not going to see Father, then where will we be staying?""I'm not sure yet. I got us papers a while back, so we'll at least have some documents saying we exist, but that's as far as I've managed to get.""Oh." The cabin was quiet aside from the waves outside as Damian curled up further into Jason's side. "I have a wallet with some bills and one of Mother's credit cards in my bag."The admission startled a laugh out of Jason, and he gave the kid a tight squeeze. "You're somethin' else, y'know that, right? We won't be able to use the card often, but it's a good backup. Pull out your bag and start showing me what you've got in there. I'll try and fix us something to eat."⁂His instructors and his mother had warned Damian about the world outside of the League, but there was only so much that could have prepared him for. His akh had done more explaining in the few days they were aboard the catamaran than they had, but even that could only go so far.So, he defaulted to the number one rule Jason had implemented: stay close. That led to Damian usually being carried— he'd been indignant at first, because he was five and could very well walk on his own. But then he'd felt guilty about how his akh was not only carrying him, but also all their things— or holding tight to Jason's hand, like he was now."—habibi? Amir?" Damian looked up at Jason's mild concern. "You alright?"That was another thing. The papers Akhi had gotten them had given them aliases, which he'd insisted they use out in public. Damian was now Amir Daniel Jameson, ibn-al-Asim. The alias was a bit on-the-nose, as was his akh’s, but they both chose to blame the person who'd forged them."It's loud," Damian ended up answering, moving closer to Jason's side as they wove through the market."You're not going to like any of the larger cities, then," his akh said with a smile. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, though, let's just focus on getting some... less obvious clothes."They hadn't traveled very far on land before Jason had made that decision. Damian was inclined to think he'd decided on it well before they even disembarked but had opted to not comment. He didn't like the looks they got while wearing League clothes, which were all Damian had, and Jason didn't have many outfits that weren't those or similar garb.Damian had pointed out a few storefronts and stalls at first, but his akh had turned those down.“They're out of our price range, for one. And two, cheap or even second-hand clothes will help us look ‘normal’.”So, he was letting himself be led through the market as his akh hunted for a place that fit what he was after. And they eventually did, so Jason led them to an alley, climbed up the side, using window frames and sills as hand- and footholds to get to the roof, stashed their bag, and clambered back down.The storefront was deceptively small, as the interior extended further back than Damian could see, even when hefted onto Jason's hip. The young man nodded at the woman behind the counter and made his way over to where some of the children's clothes were."Alright, I'm thinking three or four outfits that we can change up," Jason muttered in Arabic as he started to peruse some one of the racks. "And preferably something with room for you to grow into."He'd only picked out one tunic by the time a staff member approached them, asking if they needed any help. Jason only paused for a second before accepting the offer. Damian largely tuned out as they chatted, offering up his opinions on colors and patterns when asked. It was an odd exercise in acting."Akhi," he tugged on the front of Jason's shirt and pointed to a tunic he'd spotted. "Look at that one, it's like that bird we saw yesterday."There hadn't been a bird like that, but the colors did bear an uncanny resemblance to what his akh had described the Robin costume to be. The young lady 'helping' them— really, she was just flirting with his akh, which Jason either was ignoring or was oblivious to, and Damian hoped it was the former— didn't have to know that."I think we have enough options for you, habibi," Jason stated, though he plucked the tunic off the rack and started walking in the direction of the changing rooms. "Why don't you try these on while I go look for a few things for myself? Remember, three outfits that you can interchange the pieces of. I don't want to spend a ton of money on clothes when you'll grow out of them in a month."Damian agreed, if only to get away from the young lady and her giggles. After narrowing down the small pile he was handed to what fit him, it was easy to pick out articles of clothing that would be easy to blend into a crowd with. He still hung onto that Robin-esque djellaba, wondering if his akh would allow him to have that as well.By the time he stepped out of the changing rooms, Jason had made it back with a few garments and the minor annoyance. "Have you picked out ones you like, habibi?"Damian nodded as he reached to set the discarded clothes on the nearby counter. He then lifted the Robin-esque djellaba up for Jason to see. "Can I have this one, too?"When the young man paused, Damian tried out the begging-child persona he'd witnessed in the market. "Please, Akhi?"He didn't have to beg any more than that, Jason's resolve crumbling in an instant. "Alright, but you get to carry it home."Damian didn't protest, and soon they were checking out, the woman behind the counter quietly apologizing to his akh for her daughter's advances. Jason shrugged it off with a short laugh, and they went on their way. They returned to the alley, his akh scaled the building to grab their bag, and they changed into some of their new clothes before disappearing back into the market.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Despite all the planning, all the precautions, all the implemented training, shit still hit the fan.Because of-fucking-course it did, Jason half-grumbled to himself as he raced across rooftops in Shiraz.After so long on the road, he'd given in and gotten a hotel room for a night. Just one night for a shower and a bed. Just one night.And some fuck-ass ninja had gotten into their room and snatched Damian while Jason had slipped out to grab them something to eat. The only consolation he had was that Damian had put up a fight. Jason would have to shell out a little extra for the damage to the room, but his bigger concern was getting his brother back.One thing he could rely on, however, was the human tendency to return to the scene of a crime. So, as he was chasing the League operative through the city, he could be relatively certain they were leading him back to where they had taken Damian.Jason couldn't help but note some odd things about the League operative as he chased them through the city. First off was the dual allegiance their attire suggested. It was an unspoken rule that though all League members served Ra's in addition to whichever House they were a part of, they did not bear his insignia unless they were only serving his House (outside of ceremonial garb, of course). And yet this shithead not only bore their House's symbols, but also those of Ra's. So, either they weren't really a League member, or they were part of some sort of super shady operation.And second was this aura they had. One Jason was unfortunately far too familiar with and had him leaning towards the first possibility.The possible operative eventually led him to a run-down warehouse, slipping past a large sliding door and slamming it shut.Because why wouldn't it be a warehouse? Jason bitterly thought as he crept along the rooftop to peer through a skylight. It's always a damn warehouse.Damian was thoroughly tied to a chair in the middle of the open floor. There were a small number of ninjas lingering around the space, all of lower ranking.Hell, they're probably all relatively new members, he noted.The operative he'd chased stalked up to where Damian was tied and patted the side of the boy's face."He still out?" they asked of the other operatives, half rhetorically, given how Damian didn't move a muscle."Yes, sir," one brave newbie confirmed. "He had resisted sedation, and we had to use the stronger variant."The Lead Shithead let out an acknowledging hum, pacing around their hostage. He paused when he circled back to the side where most of the ninjas were at.And then, in a sudden turn of events, Lead Shithead started taking out the newbies.It wasn't even a struggle for him, and not just because he had the most experience.No, it was what Jason had been sensing earlier. But he couldn't do anything just yet, he needed to know what exactly was going on, besides a bloodbath. His heart was in his throat when Lead Shithead had finished off the last ninja and turn his attention back to Damian.Damian, who had just started to regain consciousness.Lead Shithead grabbed the boy's face, turning it side-to-side like a piece of merchandise to be considered."I don't know what Ra's sees in you to want you back so badly," the asshole muttered. "But we can have some fun before I hand you over, yes?"The Pit, which had already been snarling and pacing in anger, was now a roaring furious beast.First mistake had been daring to lay a hand on Jason's brother. Second mistake had been sending an assassin to Jason to finish off the job. (It had hardly been a fight. He almost felt bad. Almost.)Third mistake was daring to lay a hand on Damian again.Magic sang through the very fiber of Jason's being as his vision was overtaken by green.⁂Damian's first thoughts upon waking were that the assassins who had taken him were going to pay, and that whoever had their hand on his face was going to lose said appendage.His next thoughts were a little more coherent, cohesive, and calculating.He was tied to a chair. Excessively so, in his opinion, but once the sedative worked though his system, he should be able to escape the bindings. He cracked open his eyes to see a League operative standing above him.Or they would be a League operative if their insignia wasn't wildly out of custom, their pupils weren't goat-like, and they weren't eyeing him like a piece of meat.Damian was tempted to spit on them for the various forms of disrespect they were showing. He didn't have the chance to, however, as their attention was quickly grabbed by a figure swooping down cloaked in shadow and wielding fire.An angel, he would have called them, despite not believing in such beings. An avenging, vengeful angel.The fake League operative let out a demonic cackle as they lunged to intercept their attacker. The shadows dripping from the figure peeled back as they landed to reveal Jason in those odd grey robes of his, cast in a golden light from the fire in his hands.No, not fire, exactly. Magic. Damian marveled at the sight. Swords made of magic.But the swords were not the only source of light. It glowed in patterns through his akhi's robes— tattoos, maybe? — and his eyes were flashing vibrant green and coppery-gold.The fight was as brutal as it was beautiful. Shadows shifted around and with Jason as he moved, his movements graceful yet powerful. Like a tiger or a leopard. Precise. Deadly. The fake operative was wilder. Powerful, yes, but less controlled and with far more reckless abandon.Damian was so entranced he nearly didn't notice how Jason wasn't truly attacking. Instead, his akh was leading the fake operative away from where he was tied, drawing the dark magic the being was wielding away.He took stock of his predicament again. The sedative still hadn't worn enough to count on his limbs moving of their own volition. That, or the ropes that were digging into his arms and legs were tight enough to restrict not only movement, but blood flow.Jason came to a halt between Damian and the other creature— because it had stopped pretending to be Human sometime during the fight— with his back to where Damian was tied. The shadows at Akh's back stretched, lifted, spread, and blocked Damian from the creature's view.However, it also meant he could not see the final blow as it was dealt. All he could witness was the drop of the body— it appeared to be flesh, but the steam and sparks and smoke said otherwise— when the shadows slithered away once more.Jason swayed in place for a few moments, before the swords and hidden glow disappeared and he turned to face Damian."Are you alright, habibi?" he asked as he stepped forward. His voice was doubled twice over and carried an unnatural echo to it, no hint of the usual gravel. "What injuries do you have?""A few scrapes, is all," Damian answered, quietly. He winced as there was a tug on the ropes from Jason trying to cut through with a knife. "And maybe some rope burn. I'll be alright. Did that... thing get you?""A few scrapes," Jason repeated. His eyes still glowed slightly with green light, and they raked over Damian again once he was free from the restraints. "Let's go."Damian shook out his limbs, painful tingling starting to spread through them. But he started to follow his akhi out of the building, regardless. He'd dealt with worse.Jason stumbled, and the green flickered."Akhi? Are you sure you're alright?"The smile Damian received was a tired one. "Overdid it, I think." The echo and doubling were gone, gravel back in place. Worsened, even, if only slightly."Tt. You didn't need to go to such lengths for me, akhi. I would have been fine.""Mm." A heavy hand ruffled his hair, pulling an indignant squawk out of Damian before settling across his shoulders. "It was worth it, though."⁂The easiest way to make it through the city was back across the rooftops. The Pit still buzzing in Jason’s veins with protect-danger-careful would have made this a challenge, but all he needed to quiet it was to put Damian on his back. Problem solved.Questions unasked, however. One could take Damian’s silence for caution, but Jason knew the kid was really just waiting until he figured out how to word what he wanted to ask. It took them getting halfway back to their hotel— Jason was going slower than usual, both because he didn’t want to tempt the Pit with anything and also because Damian still had drugs in his system— for the kid to finally speak up.“That… creature. It was a djinn, wasn’t it? My studies did not do them justice.”“Many demonic beings have that separation between record and real-life,” Jason clarified. “I’m not surprised you hadn’t been taught about that specific kind of djinn, that’s a little more… advanced? And also restricted knowledge.”He could feel Damian’s pout. “How did you know of it, then?”“Two reasons: al karda, and the All-Caste. Short explanation for both of those is demon hunting.”“Hmmph.” There was quiet again as Jason landed on a fire escape and started making his way up to the next roof. “Are… those blades the only thing that can defeat them?”“No, there’s a handful of different things that can kill various kinds of demonic entities. The All-Blades were just what I had on hand.”“Oh,” Damian let out, clearly disappointed.“How about this,” Jason tried to offer as he hopped over a short gap. “If we run into more demons, I’ll occupy them long enough for you to identify them. Call it practice.” He doesn’t need to go searching for them.The proposition was considered for a few moments. “So long as you tell me what you can about these All-Blades. Are they magic?”“Soul-magic, if you want to get specific.” The admission had Damian nearly vibrating, which pulled a huff of laughter out of Jason. Kid’s always been interested in magic, despite having his weird level of affinity. “Normally, I just wield one or two, but I have manifested several dozen at once before. Don’t think I could do that now, though. It’s been a while since I used them and man, it was draining.”“…Draining, in what way?” There was a note of fear in Damian’s clarifying question.Back up. “Not like how you’re thinking, habibi, I’m not draining my soul or anything like that.” There was a slight pause as Jason leapt down from one roof to another. “Or at least, not majorly. I probably could if I used them for an extended period of time, but that’s a rare scenario. Just haven’t used them in conjunction with the Waters. I knew they didn’t like each other, but I hadn’t realized it was that bad.”“I had noticed the Green make an appearance. I assume the gold was from the magic? It was glowing through your robes.”“Oh.” That’s… new. “Yeah, that would be the tattoos. Don’t think they’ve glowed like the All-Blades before, though.”“I see. …Would you show me when we get back to the hotel?”Given that Jason could almost see the building and was tired enough to not want to put on sleeping clothes, he agreed. “Yeah, why not.”⁂Normally, John was the sort of person who avoided anything that gave him a bad feeling. That general rule of thumb to trust his gut had saved his ass more times than he could count. The number of times he’d ignored it, and was still living to tell the tale, was just as big, but it was the principle.That being said, when a contact of a contact had said something about an odd spike in magical energy, and John arrived in the city, he knew it would be best if he turned around and left.But he didn’t, because no shit, what he was sensing was… odd.It started when he stepped through the portal. Just a feeling that he was walking into something that would be better off left uninvestigated. It wasn’t djinn, because that was also present, but it was oddly grounded in this world for something that was notably other.Said contact of a contact had said that whatever had caused the spike had been over by the warehouses, so that’s where John headed. They’re not wrong, he grumbled to himself. Shit’s just getting worse the closer I get.Once the buildings were in view, he let various cloaking spells and charms cover his presence and set about trying to find the source of the latent magic. The closer he got, the more defined the feeling got. One was straight-up djinn. Smokey, fiery, sand, rock, and brush. The unknown was a strange mix of a freshly dug grave, ice-cold dread, and a light, buttery orange, cinnamon-sugar sweetness. Both were accompanied by a neon acid and frothing kill-kill-kill.And then he found the warehouse.
Bloody fuckin’ Hell, that’s nasty.
The sheer intensity of the magic forced him to stop in his tracks to avoid vomiting. After getting his bearing, John could then assess what he was dealing with.There was a lump of something in the middle of the floor. Dead djinn, he had to guess. And he meant dead. Not sent to their realm. Dead. That magic was slowly deteriorating, and he wasn’t about to go near that with a bargepole. He didn’t need to know anything other than it was dead.As for the grave-dread-sweet, that was a fading presence. Whatever it was had walked out of the encounter alive and was long since out of the area. It wasn’t quite something undead but had more than just a brush with Death. Not a zombie, mummy, revenant, or skeleton. Not a vampire or a lich. Not a wraith or a poltergeist, or any other type of ghost.
Not that they count as undead, but it’s not a demonic entity, either. Not a capital-S Spirit… Maybe something eldritch or Fae? Not sure I want to meet it, even if it did manage to kill a djinn.
John set up a portal to send the remains back to their realm and then went about cleansing the building. If he ever ran into the unknown entity, perhaps he could call it an owed favor for dealing with their mess. (He didn’t think about how it felt young, at least on a scale of otherworldly aging. If it was young, then there was the chance it was inexperienced. An inexperienced being with the ability to kill a djinn was… not bad news, but not good news.)Barriers were set up around the building to let the magic continue to fade without leaking out into the rest of the city. He didn’t need to get called back here because some other djinn decided to take on some of the nasty magic that had been left behind.He left with salt over his shoulder and a wary eye on his surroundings.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
She spotted them when she was taking a well-earned break between missions. She’d initially been surprised but supposed that the Demon’s Heir being loose in the world would not be common knowledge. However, she still couldn’t quite get over that little Damian al Ghul was with that guard of his.The one who’d escaped.Yet here the two were, sitting at an outdoor table of a café in Athens, Greece.The guard was at least good at his job— if it still even was his position, given he’d run away— and noticed her watching not long after she had spotted them. He raised a brow at her, almost as if daring her to do something about his presence, and turned back to where Damian al Ghul was scribbling on a napkin.What to do, indeed. This involved the apparently missing Demon’s Heir, but she wasn’t on a mission… Who said she had to report anything back? She’d earned her position and rank for a reason.“It has been too long, Mas’ud,” she announced as she approached their table. “How are you and the little Prince doing?””Dealing with things as they come,” he answered, and he rose to give her a quick la bise. He then gestured for her to take a seat. “I take it you’ve been well, Jade?”His voice was different than she remembered. The main point was that he spoke in more than one-word sentences, and second to that, his voice had lost some of the gravel to it."As well as I can be, given how busy work has been keeping me. How have your travels been?”The young man had been wary before, and now he was clearly suspicious of her. “Considering the Demons that have been making appearances since Iran, our journey has been… more complicated than one might prefer.”Actual Demons would be a cause for concern. “Would He really wish for the boy back badly enough to use such forces?”“Of course. Any royal would want to keep their heir safe. Our best way forward is to head west.”“So, you are headed to Gotham.” It was the only place they could be going. That was where the boy’s father lived, as well as being one of the few places the League did not dare enter.Another few seconds of hesitation. "Not immediately. It’s going to be a balancing act of keeping out of the claws of the Demon and keeping from alerting the Bat too soon."Jade drummed her nails against the tabletop. "Hmm. Does Lady T know about this plan?"A rough chuckle escaped the guard. "She all but encouraged it." His gaze caught hers, and already green eyes turned an unearthly shade and brightness. "We'll be having no issues, then?"Such a display of power always unsettled her, particularly from one not of The Line. She cleared her throat before answering, a brow raised to portray a false unimpressed attitude. "I already had no intention of interfering, Mas'ud. But if I come across anyone else from work, I'll keep them from doing so, as well."
The young man only gave her a nod, before nudging the boy. "Habibi, it's time to go. You can finish your tea as we walk."Damian stood, not saying a word as he left the napkin on the table. He gave Jade a short glance and a nod and then moved to grab the guard's hand."May your blade stay sharp and your wit sharper, Lady Cheshire," the young man said as the two turned to leave."And may your strike remain true, karda," she replied.Despite the lack of a crowd and the sun beating down from above, they disappeared in the blink of an eye. With a sigh, Jade looked down at what the Demon's Heir had drawn.It was a sketch of the original Titans. The detail on such a small drawing was incredible, though that didn't distract her from one unsettling feature. While almost all were in pristine uniforms and gear, Robin's— and not only was Robin almost hiding behind Nightwing, but that was the old Robin uniform, and not the current— was scuffed and torn, burnt and bloody.As if he had just come from a fight for his life. Or perhaps had not made it out alive.⁂Jason had not wanted to get a hotel room after what had happened the last time. But Damian had argued to stop for another night, and his akh had eventually caved. (It took Damian getting teary-eyed and grumbling that he was tired, but it did the trick. And it wasn't entirely an act...) Despite the mild indignity of acting like a child — he ignored the fact that he was a child. He was an al Ghul, after all, and should act as one— he now was glad he had been able to convince his ba- his akh.Most onlookers would have seen an older brother leading a younger one by the hand. They would not look close enough to notice how Jason was gripping Damian's hand, or how the boy was giving slight nudges to direct his akh where to go. They would not look close enough to see the shaking tension in the line of Jason's figure, or how his eyes held a light that wasn't just a spark from the sun.They made it to their hotel room without issue, though Damian had to pry his hand from Jason's to close the door behind them. The young man was stock-still in the middle of the floor when he turned back around."Akhi?" he asked, cursing the audible hesitation. He walked around to Jason's front and peered up at the solid, unblinking green. "Jason?"At the call of his name, the young man's gaze flickered down to him. The rise and fall of his chest was quick, or at least faster than Jason's normal. His hands trembled as Damian took them."Sit, akhi, or you will fall flat on your face when you pass out." He frowned when Jason still did not move. "I shall laugh if you do so." Still nothing.Damian tugged at Jason's hands and could not hold back his grimace at the thud of his akh's knees against the ground.So, the Pit's not in complete control, but Jason's not present, either, he determined. It had been a long while since something quite like this had happened. At least in Damian's presence. Curse her for causing a flare, as unintentional as it was.He darted over to the bed and grabbed one of the blankets to put around his akh's shoulders. He then cautiously climbed onto Jason's lap. There was every chance the Pit could lash out and Damian could get hurt, but if his akh had any semblance of awareness, that wouldn't happen. He tucked his head under Jason's chin and began to hum, trying to calm down his own slightly panicked breathing as he did so. It was an old lullaby his akh used to sing to him on… particularly bad nights.He did not like being this close to someone experiencing a bout of so-called “Pit Madness”— an incorrect term for what the afflicted were subject to, in his opinion— having endured such scenarios many times before. He’d been this close to Jason during his kind of “Pit Madness”, in particular, more than he’d ever like to. But Damian knew this would help, and so he’d swallow down his fear.Al Ghuls did not show fear. And this was for the betterment of family. He’d live.⁂Everything was… fuzzy. Like a static kind of fuzzy, not a soft kind of fuzzy.There was also the green tinge to all he could see, and a roaring in his ears that muffled everything.Something wasn’t right, and he didn’t like it, but he didn’t know how it was wrong, or how to fix it.Every blink brought different, yet consistently similar scenery. There was a follow me tugging at his hand that he couldn’t disobey, so he forced his legs to work.Eventually, the scenery changed with his next blink to… he wasn’t sure what. There was some sort of noise being made. At him? Maybe? And then a tug at his hand and he was kneeling. Maybe? More garbled, muffled noise. And then something warm was tucking itself close to him.Keep safe, some part of him whispered. Protect.He wrapped his arms around the warm thing, tugging the blanket— the what? When had that gotten there— that was around his shoulders around the both of them. He shifted how he was sitting so there was less of a chance for the warm thing to fall out of his lap. Yes. Hold close. Keep safe. Protect.The warm thing was vibrating. Humming? Purring? He didn’t know. It was making noise and vibrating. The noise was… oddly familiar. He couldn’t place it.He tried to copy it. His throat didn’t want to work, but damn it if the noise was familiar, it meant something, right? And nothing else was making any sense, and—
Blink.
Jason was sitting on the floor of the hotel room, Damian in his lap. Damian, who was humming that old lullaby. The old lullaby that Jason was now humming along to.Things were still green, but significantly less green.Returning to the present was a shock to the system, but Jason squeezed his brother closer to him instead of turning the jolt of adrenaline into stabbing someone."Thank you, habibi," Jason hoarsely whispered as the lullaby came to an end."Someone has to save you from yourself, b— akhi," Damian grumbled.And uh oh, that was the I’m scared slash worried and I don’t want to let it be known tone of grumble.Jason squeezed Damian even tighter, to a small squeak of protest, starting to rock back and forth. “Well, if things go to plan, I shouldn’t have any more episodes until Gotham.” Speaking of, I should really do some research before we get there.“Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.”“It’s a wish, Dames. I know better than to promise something like that.” Just as I should have known better than to accept Jade’s offer of a favor. That’ll come back to bite me in the ass later. Because why wouldn’t it?
⁂Over the past month, Bruce had gotten used to seeing Dick down in the Batcave. That, of course, wasn’t to say that his eldest hadn’t stopped in semi-regularly before then, just that there had been a notable shift in behavior.He wasn’t going to complain. He was happy that Dick felt like they were close enough again that he could highjack the Batcomputer for long-term research. It meant their relationship had been improving. It was a good thing that he wasn’t going to jinx by mentioning that he also needed to use the Batcomputer. (He had laptops and other computers on the same servers and systems, because why wouldn’t he, but he still preferred The Batcomputer.)Bruce also wasn’t going to pester Dick about whatever it was he was intently researching. If his son wanted him to know, he’d say something, otherwise, Bruce would just let him figure it out on his own. Not prying was something he’d started working on since the last… incident. He was trying to be better and being better meant not prying. It was difficult, but it was worth it.So that evening, when Bruce made his way down to the Batcave and spotted Dick already seated at the Batcomputer, he merely greeted him with a warm, “Evening, chum.”An absent-minded “Hey, B,” was the response he got, and he was about ready to continue when Dick shook himself out of his thoughts and turned around to face him.“Actually, I’ve got a, uh… an unusual question?” Dick’s tone was the same as from back when he had been Robin, having done something and hoping he wouldn’t get in trouble for it.“Alright, what’s going on? Is it related to your research, or something else?” Bruce asked, moving closer to the Bat-computer. On the main screen was a paused play-back of mask-captured footage, timestamped to roughly one month ago. Robin and Impulse were in view, Impulse sending a mock salute to someone out of view of whoever’s mask it was.“So, remember that mission the Teen Titans were on that dragged us to Infinity Island?”“Hn.” He did remember that. He’d been proud of Nightwing for having been a good mentor and teammate, and of Robin for his excellent work.“And I mentioned at the end of the report that we’d gotten help from an outside, unknown entity?”“Hn.” He remembered that, as well. Odd, but he hadn’t given it too much thought, since it had been a one-line endnote. And he wasn’t going to pry.“Yeah it… The unknown person was actually an unknown assassin?”…What? “What?”Dick frowned at the very flat inquiry but got up to start pacing. “At first, I thought it was something you might have notes on, because you have notes on everything, and you have more knowledge on the League than I do. Which, by the way, it took me forever to dig those up, much less go through them. But you didn’t have anything on that, and I had to ask Babs for help, to see if she could find anything, but there’s nothing, so I finally figured I’d just ask because it might be something you never bothered to write down, and—”“Breathe, Dick,” Bruce interrupted with a warm smile. Saying so would break Dick’s train of thought, but he was proud of his kid for doing thorough research before turning around and asking questions.“Right.” Dick paused, now staring at the still-frozen video on the Batcomputer. “Anyways, my question is, what sort of rank or place does the color red hold in the League of Assassins?”Bruce couldn’t help his expression slipping into a frown. “The League of Assassins doesn’t use the color red.”“That’s what I was starting to think, but this guy—” the young man stepped forward, tapped a few buttons, and rewound the video by a few seconds “—is in full League gear, and is in red. So I don’t know.”And he was right. The assassin in red stood out amongst the sea of black and grey, though every part of their gear was stylized in the same manner.“Either they’re not League, or the League is up to something,” Bruce eventually said. “Play the video?”Dick wound it back a bit further, and they watched the battle. The red assassin fought like someone from the League, with hints of outside training. Someone higher up? Or someone the League was performing some kind of… experiment with? There was also the very slim, but non-zero possibility that they were formerly League.There were many possibilities, and Bruce did not like any of them.“Create a profile on them, and then join us on patrol,” he ordered before his tone softened. “You’ve been cooped up at the computer for so long, people are starting to question what happened to you.”“Please,” Dick pushed back, though with a smile and pulling up the documents, “you just want my help for wrangling Robin back for some semblance of a bedtime.”There was a cry of “Hey!” from over by the Batmobile. Oops.“Well, it would be appreciated,” Bruce admitted with a chuckle, before heading over to the locker room to get ready for patrol. He needed time to think over what the League of Assassins could be doing, and Gotham’s rooftops were the best place for it.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Ethiopia. Because of course it started there. Sheila, the betrayal, the double-crossing, the torture. Him. And then Jason was crawling out his grave again, only now in the Robin Suit. It wasn’t the first time that change had been present, but it was still jarring.He had almost made it out, he could see the thunderstorms overhead. And then Bruce’s face appeared over him. And he was angry, disappointed, uncaring. “You’re reckless. You’re cocky. You’re impatient, foolhardy, irresponsible. It’s your fault. This is unfounded teenage rebellion, and I have no use for that. I have no use for a kid who does that— does this. I’m not going to try and parent someone like you. I’m not your father.” Nothing the man had outright said, but their last argument— hell, arguments, since the last few weeks were barely anything but those— had certainly conveyed the sentiment.(The exact lines would forever be engrained in his mind. Bruce’s weren’t the only ones.)And then just when Jason’s foot got stuck, Bruce pushed him back in. Slipping back into the coffin, fruitlessly clawing at the mud and grass, Dick’s face appeared next to Bruce.“You’re not worthy of Robin.”“You’re not worthy of being my son.”“You’re not—” “You’re not—” “You’re not—”“You’re not my brother,” three voices overlapped.He was no longer scrabbling grip rain-slicked grass, but sharp stone. No longer trying to free himself from the pull of the mud, but the pull of water-that-wasn’t. No longer looking up at his father, his brother, but his little brother.His little brother whose gaze was far too cold, eyes far too green. His little brother whose sword was aimed straight at Jason’s chest, as though the boy would impale him should he free himself from the toxic pool.The Joker was laughing somewhere. Jason lost his grip and slipped back under.Green, green, green— HA HA HA HA HA— green, green— HA HA— black—“—Akhi!”Jason awoke with a start and scrambled away from the small figure hovering above him. It was all too green, and the Pit wanted to lash out at the nearest possible victim.Jason refused to let that happen.“Akhi? Breathe, Jason.”He was trying, but the itch in his chest was back in full force, and he was still laughing—“I will draw on you with that permanent marker of yours if you pass out.”A startled laugh bubbled out of his own throat. “Ye– yeah?” Jason choked out, pulling his head up to look past his tears at the kid. “Did– didn’t think they– they let five-year-olds into– into frats.”The frown painted on Damian’s face was more confusion than annoyance. “What?”“Don’t—” Woah, okay, shaking my head is a bad idea right now— “Don’t worry about it. How’s– How’s train-spotting?”“Hmph. Our… ride should be arriving soon.”Maybe it was just Metropolis being good ol’ Metropolis, but he would’ve thought that security or the police or someone would’ve hauled them outta there by now, because they’d been lurking there for hours, and he was sure his nightmare hadn’t been the silent type.Jason let out a huff in imitation of laughter at the thought of getting caught. He tried to look at it in a joking kind of way, but the reality of it was too bleak for that. Their documents were fake, Dames was still a minor— he was just barely a minor, still— and the cops here were actually decent, more-or-less. Or, ‘cause his luck, after all, he’d get the Spandex Boy Scout dropping in.Jason wasn’t sure if he’d be able to face Uncle Clark. But he didn’t have to wonder, because with a loud blow of the horn, the train he was waiting on finally pulled in.Now, his worry could be more focused on his city. Or his city’s “protector”. After all, B’s whole No Metas in Gotham rule was a thorn in everyone’s side. Sure, after having it laid out for him, Jason knew that Batman meant it to keep the other Heroes from interfering with Gotham business, because they don’t know how Gotham runs. But the people don’t know, and given that some of the Rogues are Metas, the “average” civilian can’t trust that they won’t get beat up just for existing with their mutations or using their powers in their everyday lives.Jason was very familiar with that terror, having carried it to the Manor with him and never let it go. And here he was, getting ready to return to that wariness even more different than when he’d left.He was getting a headache just from thinking about it. Or, a migraine, since he already had a headache.“C’mon, Dames,” he said as he scooped up his bag. “This is something Dick taught me how to do.”❧The train ride was thankfully less eventful than Jason had expected. He and Damian got to run atop the cars, jump and flip between them, all without getting caught. They did eventually settle down for the haul, but it warmed something in him— burned away some of the itch, some of the ache— that Jason had the chance to pass down one of the few positive things he’d had with Dick.They were just outside of Gotham, now, the ride not being a long one due to the city's close proximity. Damian was scribbling something in the notebook Jason had gotten him back in Madrid, while he just watched the skyline creep closer and closer.There was a slowly building pressure at the base of his skull and behind The Scar. Between that and the tangible tension in the air, he felt like he was being watched by something primal and other. This other wasn’t hostile, though the Pit did not like it, it was just waiting. Jason would almost call it excited. Giddy, even.He didn’t tell Damian.And then the pressure and the tension disappeared for a dizzying second as the train crossed the city limits. One brief moment where Jason was left with an unfamiliar gaping emptiness before he was slammed with a fuzzy home, welcome, safe, child, return, home.Dare he say the city had welcomed him back into the fold before he’d actually stepped foot on her streets.Jason was, frankly, bewildered that the city would be so inviting to him. But his thoughts were soothed over by that oh-so-familiar warmth and Gotham herself cooing that her child was home. (On one hand, he— the Pit, mostly— bristled at being called a child, as he hadn’t been one in a long time. On the other, he had longed and ached to return to this unconditional love and acceptance.)“Akhi?”At the concerned and frightened tone, Jason turned a teary gaze towards Damian, only to let out a hysterical laugh. Little tendrils of shadow were weaving their way around the boy, poking, prodding, tickling.“That’s just Mama Gotham, habibi,” he said. Another tendril swept over to him, wiping the tears off his face as there was a questioning pulse in his mind. “Mama, this is Damian. Bruce’s biological kid and my little brother.”The shadows froze for a split second, before engulfing the two.“Jason?!”Right. Kid wouldn’t know to expect that. “She’s just hugging us, kid.”“Oh.”…“She’s… happy.”
Yeah. Yeah, she is.
⁂Alfred was well aware that he had a better grasp on his connection with Gotham than even Masters Bruce, Richard, or Timothy. He just knew better than to show it to them and let them wonder about the magic of being the Butler of the Wayne Household.He also knew that even his own connection was nowhere near as strong as the late Master Jason’s had been, despite how much the boy had tried to hide it. There was an ache in himself that echoed the city’s, a hole the size of a punk yet caring, barely teenaged boy.Tonight was an unassuming night. Masters Bruce and Timothy were out on patrol, as usual, and Master Richard was doing the same over in Blüdhaven. All of the Rogues were currently in Arkham, so the only crime-fighting going on would be the usual levels. Normally, Alfred would be running comms, but tonight, Miss Barbara, as Oracle, had taken up the role. Which left Alfred to go through preparations for tomorrow, as Master Richard would be returning for the weekend.All in all, an unassuming start to the night. Which, of course, meant that something had to change.Alfred could feel the city suddenly pause, as if it was holding its breath, and he paused with it. Gotham was excited about something, the air almost seeming to vibrate with the force of her emotions. And then it was as if a damn had burst, and everything was a whirlwind of happiness, welcoming, celebration. There was the slightest hint of comfort, the type filled with tears and relief that all were home safe and sound.Alfred stood there, in his kitchen with the half-finished grocery list in hand, letting tears flow down his cheeks.Something good had just happened. Well and truly good.There wasn’t near enough of that in this world, let alone this city.The shadows shift, as if little creatures were dancing in the darkness. He pats his face dry with a clean towel, and continues on with the preparations, a slight smile on his face.Yes, something good had happened, and now Gotham was celebrating.Perhaps he should bake something in celebration as well. Something with orange. The Masters were sure to enjoy the surprise.⁂The city was buzzing just outside his skin as Jason helped Damian off the train car. Poor kid was too distracted by Gotham’s busy whispers— how much she had missed Jason, had mourned him. How much she would cherish the boy, help him learn, help him grow. How much she would do for her boy and his people— to complain when he was picked up.He made his way between the cars with shadows dampening his footsteps and trailing behind him. The Pit was displeased with being pushed back, used to having control, and made itself evident in the green glow of his eyes. At least there weren’t any stragglers around the depot to catch the odd spectacle.The alleys were just as grimy and dark as he remembered, but Jason didn’t mind. They had been home before, and they would be his home again. This time, however, he wasn’t just looking out for himself.Damian squirmed a bit in his hold. Asleep. Gotham must have lulled him into the land of dreams. She pushed a hazy warm, calm, keep safe at Jason, and he let out an exasperated huff. They were going to be staying in Uptown. They’d be lucky to stay warm, and all bets were off on the other two.The Batsignal lit up the clouded sky, causing him to shiver. Yeah, they’d be lucky if trouble didn’t find them tonight.It was almost surreal, sneaking around the city. Back whenever he’d first been conscious after his first death, he would never have thought he’d return to his home. But then again, he had thought his death had been final, and here he was.It was a funny thing.He’d been searching for a place to belong, since Bruce had made it a point that Jason wasn’t his son. He’d briefly thought he’d found it with Sheila, only for her to backstab him, and then for the Joker to backstab her.Of course, it took dying and coming back to life in order for him to find that place. Jason could never really get any peace, could he? At least now, the disruption was in the form of a five-year-old child ninja-assassin. Which, if he tried to think of that from an outside perspective, should not have been as relieving as it was.So, he tried to not think about how fucked up his life was and just focused on staying out of sight while hunting down a place to rest for the night. He pulled the shadows in close when he needed to, and let Gotham guide him through the backstreets. She didn’t have the best understanding of the sort of hole-in-the-wall that would work— she was inhuman and more-or-less immortal, how could she— so it took several stops before Jason finally called a place good enough.Damian let out a whine when Jason went to set him down. He thanked whatever higher power existed that the kid didn’t wake up, but also cursed them for letting his heart hurt at the sound. He didn’t leave the kid alone one the bare floor of the old apartment for long— he wasn’t even really alone, with how the city had immediately scooped him up like a kitten— and soon stole him back from the shadows to tuck him into the makeshift nest of blankets and sleeping bags.Jason would sleep soon, too. He just had to prep the place, and figure out what they were going to do next, and start learning the new lay of the land, and—He got tripped by a shadow and landed on the blanket nest next to Damian.“You sure, Ma?” he whispered to thin air.The response was shadows covering all the exits, to include the windows.“Oh. Thanks.”And he was out like a light.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Gotham loved her people, and they loved her. They were different, but so was she, and that didn’t matter to her. So what, if they were a little rougher around the edges than other humans? So what, if they had a different outlook on disasters? They were hers, and that was all that mattered to her.Part of what made her people special— or at least a large number of them, since no matter how much she hoped, the wish for it to expand to all was never granted— was their ability to hear her. It wasn’t truly hearing, more like feeling her surface-level emotions. But the humans called it “hearing”, and since only her humans could do it, she didn’t care what they called it.There were a small number that were extra special to her. They tried to listen. They weren’t entirely successful, but she was touched that they even tried and so she gave them her favor. These favored humans were quickly picked out from the rest and were given the informal titles of the Royal Court. A King and Queen, several nobles of various ranks, all with no true political weight behind the titles. (Monetary and societal was a different story, though, and both held a lot of sway in politics, regardless.)Over time, the titles of the nobles faded out of common use. The same could not be said for the Royal Family. They were seen as the light in an otherwise dark city. No one ever made comments on how the shadows moved of their own accord around them. This was Gotham, the darkness was generally considered to have a mind of its own.
Oh, how little her humans knew…
And then one year, one fateful evening, the light was snuffed out. Her dear King and Queen died. Were killed, actually. And she’d had a particularly strong liking for those two, Martha and Thomas.All those who could hear the city felt her sadness, and those who couldn’t were still swept up in the tide of overwhelming emotion.The little Princeling, little Bruce, ached with her and she mourned with him. She propped him up as best she could, helped the Caretaker watch after the little boy, and cried in both happiness and sadness as the young man eventually left the nest.(In her grief and impatience, she made decisions that she would later grieve as well, but not regret. This is not yet about those decisions, however.)He would return, she knew. Because all of her people returned. It was just a matter of when.When he did, he was both the same and different. Different in ways that were almost concerning, but she didn’t care because her little Prince— not so little, anymore— was finally home. Picking up his role and duties as the people’s Prince was only met with mild stumbles— he’d grown, but he still had to grow into it, after all— and then, well…He also took on the role of Gotham’s Knight.And finally, someone figured out a way to use her favor to its potential. She helped him, alerting him to screams for help, warning him against situations he wasn’t yet ready for. Little pushes, shadows closing in or moving away, rising up to soften landings or toughen armor.Her Prince was still lonely, even with the Caretaker by his side. And while he tried to listen to her, it wasn’t the same as if he truly could.Then, in a new night of hope and grief, the Prince gained a Princeling, and the Knight gained a Bird. A little spring Robin bringing a new spark of life and color to her perpetual darkness. A little vicious thing, too, which she didn’t mind.She knew of the Princeling’s connection to other, far more predatory birds. But the Princeling, himself, did not. So she gave him her favor as well.And all was well, despite her divided attention. But as the fledgling grew in his feathers and Dick grew ready to leave the nest, she grew frustrated with the arguments. There wasn’t anything she could do about them, either, she couldn’t make them see how their care for one another had twisted.It was a vicious cycle, after all, to care for someone so much it hurts them.❧It took an incredible number of coincidences, but that night was an exceptional one.She, if she was being honest, hadn’t expected for her Knight to find her Princeling.Because that’s what Jason was. He was her child. Her baby. Her son. Her favorite. Hers. She’d kept him hidden as best she could— she couldn’t call it safe, and that was one of her many regrets— and by some happenstance, he still managed to be found.Part of that was his own stubbornness, not listening to her when she warned him to not target that vehicle. But he was hungry, and a single tire would have earned him far more than an entire set off a normal car.Part of that was, again, his own stubbornness, not listening to her when her Knight was on the move. Just one more, he whispered. Just one more, and I could set up a safe space for all us street kids, Mama.See, Jason was her child. And in being her child, he listened. Truly listened. Hesitant to tap into her power, but he always listened. He understood her, and she understood him.He, as well as she, were just as stubborn as the Royal Family. Perhaps that’s what had gotten them crowned.Perhaps that’s what got her baby adopted.It was wonderful, having all of her people together. Would have been better had the fledgling been more... present, and not holding a grudge against someone undeserving of it, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. At the very least, she could help the Caretaker with adapting to her baby’s needs and keep a close eye on her child when he was out as the Bird.❧Jason?Jason! Jay—No.No no no no no no no no no no no no NO—He— No— He couldn’t be— Not her baby— NO—He couldn’t— Jason—He—He couldn’t be dead.❧Things were greyer, bleaker than she could ever recall them being. Her Knight was sinking deeper into the black, her Fledgling was rarely home, and the Caretaker was struggling to keep the family afloat.A new little Bird wiggled into the nest— a dragon, a Drake, a noble who knew those titles still existed— and the addition helped, albeit slowly. The new Bird refused to become a Princeling— thought he would be replacing, which he wasn’t. She tried to reassure him, pulled him into the fold, and yet he was just as stubborn— and things still felt out of place.And then something— Well. She supposed it was her fault, though it wasn’t exactly a bad thing. She had formed a habit of tugging at the faded connection between her and her boy. Nothing had come of it, but perhaps it was just her grief that had her continuing.And then, she wasn’t sure what happened, but something changed.A miraculous, impossible change. And with the next tug, her baby was alive.
Her baby was alive.
In pain— so, so much pain— but alive. She tried to help him crawl from the earth, but there wasn’t anything she could do, his panic too strong for her whispers of comfort to reach him. And once he was free, he was so, so scared.So she hid him. Led him down to the caves, where he would be safe, where she could help him heal. But he was still hurting. She fixed his physical wounds, but the mental scars ran far deeper than she could pull out.There was a lake. She did not like the lake, it felt like many kinds of wrong, but… It had the potential to help.No, it’s too dangerous. She remembered what had happened to people who had used it well before the living memory of most. She would put her baby through that.He somehow found the lake, anyway.
His screams—
The Snake crept from the shadows. Gotham did not like the Snake. She twisted and hurt her Prince, her Knight.But the Snake held knowledge of those cursed waters she did not. Coincidental timing, she happened to find her baby, but—No. No, no, no, don’t take him—She grieved again. And again and again, as she felt his heart repeatedly cease to beat and later restart.And once that cycle broke, she called to him. He did not answer, but almost heeded her call. Only to turn right back around.And then he returned.Truly returned.He was back— her baby— he was back—And who was this?A new Princeling?Yes. Yes, she would protect this one too, just like the others. He was her Prince’s son, and her child’s little brother.She would protect them both.They were hers.