Chapter Text
Jason sighed as he tied his brother's shoes and slung his backpack over his shoulder. Watching over his brother at high school was turning out to be a bit more difficult than he had hoped it would be. It's not like Dick had full on meltdowns at school; after all he still had a public presence to be aware about, he always went out in disguise whenever he was being little. It was just that the potential that he could get out of hand at any point was what was stressing out Jason. Ever since they had gotten back from the Hawaii vacation, Dick has adopted a bit of an attitude towards his family members. It showed that Dick was starting to get used to his new routine and the new people that stopped by, such as the Justice League and several of Bruce's trusted family friends, but it was starting to get out of hand in Jason's opinion. Well, at least he wasn't ever like that to Jason directly and it relieved him that they still had a genuine connection that Dick respected.
He stood up and offered his hand to the smaller young man sitting on the floor in front of him. Jason had recently gone through probably one of his last growth spurts and he was now taller than Dick. Not to mention more muscular as well. The training has been going well over several months and he's been on several missions, as well as a few very close brushes with death, but Bruce always came just in time to save him. He considered Bruce a respected and trusted mentor, but not anything close to a father figure. Dick grasped the proffered hand and leapt to his feet with a goofy grin.
"What's with that face, Dickie? We have to go, let's go." Jason rolled his eyes and lead Dick out the door to the red truck parked outside. Bruce tried to buy Jason a car, but he refused instead buying a rusty piece of junk with his own money saved from his part time job at the café. Unfortunately, he was a barista there, but he was hoping to eventually get promoted to manager by the end of the month. He threw their backpacks into the trunk and hopped into the driver's side, pausing for a moment to make sure Dick buckled up before speeding off towards the school.
Bruce took a long sip from his second cup of coffee. He had been stressed lately and hadn't been getting much sleep, so his usual one cup of black roast wasn't doing much to keep him awake. Several beeps start coming from the bat-computer and Bruce rubs his temples before clicking the alert open. A message popped up on the screen, it was a video message. Eyes furrowed in only slight concern, he clicked it open. He was greeted with a slightly balding man with vaguely frantic eyes. Bruce wasn't sure what he said in the first sentence, because it was garbled, but what he whispered next was chilling. Dr. Darrk is back. He had failed a mission so he went rouge and now he is planning to kidnap Ra Al Ghul's daughter. By the time this gets to you, he may already have got her. Bruce eyes widened as he heard the last part. He nearly jumped out of his chair and into his suit, racing to the bat-mobile and speeding off, in the opposite direction of his boys. His tires screeched on the pavement in loud complaint, as the monitor relayed all the information Bruce had found out about the League of Assassins. This has been an ongoing investigation for a while, he had finally hit a breakthrough to this stupid mystery that was bugging his for months now! Bruce radioed Barbra to meet him at the Wayne Enterprises building for a quick synopsis. His research had lead him to a remote warehouse on the upper west side of Founder's Island.
Screeching to a halt in front of the Wayne building, he runs to a shadowed part of the building, behind some shrubbery. He pressed his hand to the smooth glass surface and it lit up, recognizing his handprint. The secret door gave way to a type of conference room he usually used for big operations like this, in order to meet with the other members of the Justice league. Sitting in a black leather chair under a widescreen monitor was Barbra, unmasked but still in full gear. She nodded to him as he took the seat next to her. "Barbra, this time Dr. Darrk has taken Ra's daughter as a hostage. He's obviously not aligned with Ra Al Ghul anymore, and who knows what that man is capable without someone holding him back. I almost fell victim to his trap the last time I fought him..." He turns his head, his mind filling up with memories at his almost failed -and almost fatal- mission.
"Bruce, you can't let that stop you from facing him again. Gotham needs you, Ra's daughter needs you, the boys need someone they can look up to." Barbra's eyes sparkle with hope and faith. He can always count on her to believe in him. Bruce looks up at Barbara and gives her a weak smile, "Thanks Barbara, I really needed that." He stands up and walks towards the door. "Go pick up the boys from school and keep them safe, I'll be back by sunrise." Barbara stood up quickly, "But won't you need help? I really woul-" "No Barbara," Bruce cut her off. "I need you with my boys, not out in the field where you could possibly get injured… or worse." Barbara glared and Bruce left silently, not wanting to continue the discussion anymore.
Barbra continued to glare even as he was gone, she had been his loyal partner going on two years now, she could handle herself out there. She sighed heavily as she let the tension in her shoulders release. As soon as she found her inner zen she usually adopted whenever Bruce acted so self-righteous, she hopped in her car, shooting off a short text to Jason about the situation and drove off in the direction of Gotham High School, fuming the whole way there. Turns out finding peace with someone as jerky as Bruce is not going to happen when the stupid jerk keeps making me lose my cool like this! Barbra slammed on her brakes just as she was about to run a red into oncoming traffic. Taking a deep breath, she reassessed why she was feeling so angry about Bruce blowing her off like that after so many successful missions and hours of training, not to mention her superior research and detective skills, as well as her dedication to his cause.
She sighed again, maybe it's because your afraid that he doesn't value you as a partner as much as he does a babysitter. She shook her head, she has been getting brushed off to babysitting duty a lot as of late, but she considers that an honor rather than a punishment. But it was the lack of respect, she realized she despised. The lack of confidence in her skills as a fighter, to protect herself and others in combat, that's what really got to her. Her lack of inclusion in important, yet dangerous missions such as this only further proved what she believed. She rolled her eyes as the light turned green and she pushed down on the pedal. No, she was only kidding herself. Bruce had the upmost respect for her and her skills…he just didn't want to lose anyone else. Bruce had lost both his parents to a low-life criminal. He was just scared of losing her to someone she couldn't yet handle. By the time she pulled up to the school, where the boys were sitting outside of patiently, she had partially convinced herself of this truth.
"Hey, Babs." Jason slid into the passenger seat of the car, Dick babbling excitedly as he crawled into the backseat and clicked his buckle in. "Hey guys!" She put on her usual cheerful demeanor she had whenever she was around the boys. It was just hard to be anything but happy around them, Dick was just a ball of sunshine most of the time, and Jason was a really sweet, innocent boy underneath all that shit he gave everyone. "Where we gonna go Buba?!" Dickie's little voice could barely be heard over the radio blasting kid's songs. Barbra turned down the volume slightly as Jason answered, "Well, I dunno, Dick. Hey, what are we gonna do, Babs?" Barbra hadn't given that much thought since her mind was occupied the entire drive over here. "Well, I guess we can go to the amusement park on the pier…" A loud shriek came from Dick's mouth, which Jason quickly leaned over to clasp a hand over. "Sounds great, Babs! Bruce gave me some money to watch Dick tonight so we can use that to get some food afterwar- OW! DICK WHAT THE FUCK?!" Dick stopped biting Jason's hand quickly and went to look innocent for Barbra. "What happened, Jason?" "The little devil fucking bit my hand!" Jason pointed to the teeth marks prominent on his hand now.
"Jason, are you okay?" Barbra said concerned over this new behavior that Dick was displaying, he had slowly been on a downward spiral in his behavior recently, but nothing ever physical like biting. "Dick! That was very very naughty! Now you say sorry this instant and I am taking you home so Alfred can watch you. You don't get to come with us to the amusement park today young man!" And with that final statement Dick burst in his usual unhappy screech, Barbra just rubbed her temples and kept driving towards the manor. Jason sighing heavily and trying to do some trigonometry homework he'd been assigned.
They pulled up and Alfred came out to greet them as usual. "Good afternoon, Miss Gordon. What are you all doing here so early?" Barbra sighed as her attention went back to the little terror in the backseat. "Oh…Master Richard is acting up again? Oh dear…" He turns her attention to Dick in the backseat as well. He grabs Dick and Jason's backpacks and Dick's hand, leading him away to have a well deserved time out. Barbra and Jason watch them disappear into the bright manor and feel relieved, Barbra also feeling slightly concerned. What could be causing this pattern of behavior lately? Could it be the incident in Hawaii is effecting him? She thought back to Hawaii and shook her head, she didn't want to open back up that can of worms, it was hard enough for all of them, especially Bruce. She put the car into drive and made for the highway to spend some time with Jason.
He landed with a soft thud onto the roof of the warehouse, his dark cape surrounding him as he crouched near a vent, listening intently for signs of life. He briefly considered that he got the wrong warehouse as his ear picked up on nothing, but suddenly hearing signs of life below him he reconsidered and climbed into one of the huge vents. Crawling along he heard more of what was happening below him, grasping the situation fully.
"Your father put me through so much…shit." The last word was spit out viciously, he could hear the venom behind the statement. "I couldn't work for that old fool anymore. That's why I left… I couldn't take him anymore!" Batman finally could see the two below him through a vent, Daark neared a young, beautiful woman menacingly brandishing a small knife. "You know," His demeanor suddenly became significantly softer, "I've always liked you." He caressed her cheek as she growled. "You'll pay for leaving the League of Assassins and my father! He will kill you for your insolence." Her thick Russian accent rang out through the empty warehouse. Daark lifted her chin so her eyes could meet his. "But now that I've got you, I see what a brat you really are!" He shoves her head away. "And how much you are like your father, Talia. People like him should be eradicated…you and your father will soon share a grave." Bruce decided that was as far as the conversation should go as her crash through the vent grate onto Daark himself.
As Daark groaned in slight pain, Batman worked quickly on untying Talia. "I knew somebody would come for me, I just didn't expect it to be you." Her newly untied hand found its way to Bruce's armored chest. "You know, I..." Her voice cut off suddenly with a gasp. Bruce adopted a slightly questioning look before his world was all searing pain in the back of his head. His expression changed to a dazed look as he collapsed his world going dark and Talia's screams the last thing he hears.