Assana/Shade: can you recommend to me any books that made you cry?
James/Blackbird: general mathematics 6th edition
Mike/Sound-Road: at least i'm gonna die doing something i love
Olive/Pandora: and that is?
Mike:
Mike: dying
Chapter 23: Confidence Movements
Actuality
"Are you out of your mind?" Assana shouted as soon as we were safe with the rest of the team, "What were you thinking? Do you know how worried we were about you?" She continued, standing in front of me with a frown on her face.
"I'm sorry," I muttered, still being held by my brother.
"It's either I or all our big problems are coming out at the same time," said Oswald, sitting on the edge of the roof of that 14+ story building.
"We must be alert, it is likely that all of them are allied," said my brother, turning to look at everyone, "We must warn everyone about these issues," he said, turning to look at me, at times I did not pay attention to what they were saying, as I was watching my shadow, looking for weaknesses and strengths.
"I will end the patrol, go home," I said, separating from my brother to start running to another building, a little away from the other patrol locations, so I could send a message.
But when I arrived, I met Robin and Red Robin.
"... We should report to Eclipse," said Robin, as he put his phone in one of the pockets of his suit.
"Report to me what? I asked, approaching what in theory would be my uncles, but due to the small age difference, I never referred to them that way.
"When did you arrive?" Damian asked me, turning quickly and walking over to where I was, "And what happened to you?" I could tell by the tone of that question that I still hadn't recovered from everything that had happened just a few minutes ago.
"You didn't answer my question," I said, the shadow coming out of my hands, like a threatening signal. Damian and Tim knew what I was capable of when I wanted something.
"Eclipse, calm down. It's nothing important" Timonthy tried to grab my hands, in an attempt to get me to stop threatening the youngest Wayne son. The shadow was quicker and grabbed him by the wrists. Something in me changed or he watched me closely, as his gaze changed and he tried to let go, "We found Slade Wilson," he said quickly. If they already knew, then we had to move faster before they interfered.
I let go of Tim, causing him to almost fall to the ground. Our plan had to be executed that same week if we were to catch him once and for all. I was even weighing the option of going alone.
I didn't wait any longer. I had to get home to ask my father to sign a permission slip for me to miss a few days of school.
On the way, I informed Jim and my brother about Red Robin and Robin and asked them both to find their last locations. We had to act fast before he moved out of town and disappeared completely.
When I got home, I noticed that the lights were still off, which meant that my father probably still hadn't arrived. Or at least that's what I wanted to believe because when I walked into the living room, the first thing I saw was 4 cans of beer, 2 empty brandy bottles, and a half-drunk bottle of tequila, blood, and Red Hood's guns lying on the floor.
"I had left... Batman in the kitchen... Hahaha... And when I came back... Poof... He was gone..." Jason was drunk, probably seriously injured, and saying nonsense.
Although the phrase itself gave a laugh, and probably would have been true, in a very strange context, it didn't help me much to know if he was okay, I let out a small laugh as I tried to imagine the situation. I walked into the dining room and saw him, sitting in my brother's chair, which was the closest to the door, and with his head leaning on the table.
"Now what happened to you?" I asked him, trying to sound more angry than worried. Something of ours.
"I got depressed..." He said, still without turning to look at me, "There will come a day when... You leave... And I don't want to..." From the way he spoke, I could tell he was about to cry. I began to pick up everything, avoiding touching the guns for fear that they were without the safety catch, I would ask my brother to put them away.
"I don't know what nonsense you're talking about, and clearly, you'll be the first to leave me. But I need to check that you are not hurt," I said. I didn't want to take desperate measures like talking to his favorite brother.
"No, you're going to break my heart." When Jason Todd drinks too much, he says a lot of stupid things. "I want to die."
"I give up," I said, before turning to the living room and sending an urgent message to Timonthy, though it would probably only make him worry since we had barely seen each other. Was I glad he was coming? No. Did I need his help so I wouldn't be tempted to hit my father to talk some sense into him? Yes.
My brother would be the wiser option in these situations, but he was more likely to join him, getting drunk and falling unconscious.
"Jane, play some depressing music," my father ordered me, still leaning on the table, another bottle in hand, "If you don't.... I'll start singing... Here I go..." He said, just waiting for Timonthy to arrive soon.
The minutes passed and Jason kept singing a repertoire of Mexican lady songs, or so I would like to think. I had never seen him like that, which in a way was funny, I was thinking about taking out my phone and recording him when he started the fourth song. Timonthy arrived almost 15 minutes later, entering through the living room window because apparently none of us know the doors.
"I'm sorry I'm so late, I was talking to Damian about something about Batman being in the kitchen and I don't know what other nonsense," he said, trying to approach me. I quickly pointed him to the dining room, where my father was trying to remember the words to a song.
"En mi mano izquierda tomé tu retrato, y en la otra mano una copa de vino, y brindé contigo sin estar presente, y brindé contigo por tu amor ausente" He began to sing, moving from side to side the bottle in his hand.
"Believe it or not, Jason also mentioned something about Batman in a kitchen," I said, handing him a glass of water, it was a tradition between us, something common but special for us, which on recent occasions I had forgotten to do.
"It's just that I... I had left Batman in the kitchen... And when I came back... Poof... He was gone" Jason interrupted his song, only for us to notice that he was getting worse and worse. When he finished talking, Tim turned to look at me and I just shrugged.
"Okay, this is weird. I'll take him to his room, give him a sleeping pill. In the meantime, try to pick up everything you can, and if you want you can make me a coffee." When he finished talking, he got up to go carry his brother, not before winking at me.
With a small vacuum cleaner, I removed the glass that was still on the floor. I arranged the dining room chairs and heated water for coffee. The guns were still on the floor.
"Luckily for me, Jason didn't have the guns on his belt. Your bad luck, they're here," Tim said, pointing to the floor when he came into the living room a few minutes later.
"Here I go," I said, forgetting my fear for a moment and taking them as if they were a toy. I checked how many bullets he had left and without Tim noticing I put the safety on." It's been a long time since I practiced my aim." I turned to him, raising the gun.
"You're insane," he said, laughing at the end.
"I've heard that so many times," I began to say, turning on the lights so I could see a little better.
The sound of the front door opening interrupted my little joke.
"I'm home, family."
Note: The song is called "Me bebí tu recuerdo" by Galy Galiano
Previous Chapter
Chapter 22: The First Encounter
3 years ago
That week couldn't have gone any worse. Nightwing on the other side of the world, without even giving us a call, Red Hood without showing any signs of life, and Red Robin in San Francisco on a mission.
I take it back, it could get worse. I was wandering around the city with my brother, robbing some convenience stores, just like in the old days. According to him, this would help me "relieve the stress" of the last few weeks. Although I thought it was because he had run out of the money Jason gave him and was too embarrassed to ask Bruce.
But just before we entered the fifth store, there were screams in the distance, patrol car sirens, and gunshots. My brother and I turned to look at each other and then saw the main avenue and, as if in silent agreement, we both ran straight into the chaos, throwing the backpack where we were carrying everything we had stolen on the ground.
As we ran, James put on the hood of his sweatshirt and a black cover-up that he carried in one of his pants pockets. As for me, I took off my glasses and put on my visor with the help of my shadow.
The place was not so far from where we were. As we arrived, the first thing I could see were three people, dressed in white, red and green, respectively, smashing the heads of anyone who crossed their path.
Batman, Batgirl, Batwoman, and, surprisingly, Poison were already there, trying to contain the three causing the mess or at least minimize the damage.
From one moment to the next, the three of them took off the masks covering their faces, looking from Batman to my brother and me. But they didn't move from their place. I signaled my brother and Jared to be on guard, but not to attack.
"We want to see the one who calls herself The Princess of Gotham", shouted the three of them at the same time.
"Over my dead body," said Blackbird, as soon as he could put a name to the faces. And as if it were a battle cry, Jared, my brother and I started the attack again.
At first, they dodged everything we threw at them, it got to a point where we had to defend ourselves and call for reinforcements. My first option, as always, was to call Pandora, but I remembered that she was with her father, on a mission. I finally decided to call Callan, Cheis, and Black Arrow.
And I won't deny it, I was afraid. Afraid that those things would be much stronger, afraid that they would kill me. And how could I not be, if I had already faced those attempts of human beings? During one stage of my life, I decided to call them "friends", even brothers. I took care of them and they took care of me. Henry, Arthur, and Samir.
The first reinforcement to arrive was Callan's huge wolf, but instead of feeling relieved, I became even more worried. This was the perfect scenario for another betrayal.
A bomb exploded a few meters away from us and as if it was a signal, I threw some small bombs that I was carrying with me, but they did not have the effect I wanted. Hakan had arrived, even without being called, exploding quite close to the enemy.
Arthur, who was dressed in greenish and black colors, approached me, so fast that I didn't even have time to attack him. A strange green smoke surrounded me, and the last thing I saw before everything went black was that hideous grin on his face.
I woke up in a cellar. Sitting in a wooden chair, without my trench coat or my tool belt, with a lamp shining on me. There was blood everywhere. Swords, plants, broken glass, and some artifacts I didn't know about.
Samir, dressed in black and white, with disheveled hair and a few scratches on his face, came in sometime later, sat down on a chair in front of me, and although I had the chance to attack him because he was unarmed and I was not tied up, I could not even raise a hand without wincing.
"Don't even try it, princess. You'll be here for a while. Unfortunately, our boss doesn't want you dead, yet," he said, still smiling.
A short time later the other two came in, bringing with them heavy energy. One of them showed me a picture of a girl in what appeared to be the garden of Wayne Manor.
"Do you know who she is," he asked. I just shook my head slowly, "Have you seen her?" I shook my head again in denial, "Are you related to her?" Of course not, how could I be related to that traitor.
Apparently, he didn't like the answers, I could barely distinguish his hand that was going straight to my abdomen, giving me a strong blow.
"You're lying," said the only one to whom, so far, I had not paid attention. From his pocket, he took out two objects that at first sight were strange to me, but after a while, I deduced what they were about: "This is a potion of truth, granted by Shade herself," he said, raising a vial with a blue liquid in it, "I don't have to tell you what this is, surely you already know it." He held up a black, delicate dagger.
In any part of the universe, having objects like that you could be considered one of the most powerful people on Earth, after Shade.
With the little strength I had I tried to reach for the dagger but Henry, who at some point had positioned himself behind me, was faster than me. He grabbed my shoulders from behind to prevent me from getting up. While Arthur grabbed my cheeks, forcing me to swallow that blue liquid.
"Tell me the name of your biological father," ordered Samir, who was still sitting in front of me, after a few minutes had passed.
"Oscar Hart," I answered without even thinking about it. That thing was worse than I thought, even if I had been trained to evade the effects, it had been a long time since I had the need to use those skills. I had to get out of there fast.
The basic questions continued, making me reveal secrets that I thought I would take to my grave. My hands started to react when he started asking slightly more personal questions. I didn't think much of it and lunged at him to try to grab the dagger he was playing with with his hand.
As soon as I had it in my possession I tried to pull out my shadow again to try to protect myself. When I realized that it was going to be impossible in that situation, I started to run in search of a way out. The other two were following me, almost on my heels.
One thing I had learned from being with the Bat-family was to carry a device that was not so noticeable. In my pants pocket, I always carried a location and communication device.
"Callan, I need you to look for me near my coordinates. I will try to get out of here as soon as possible," I said as soon as the device was activated. My feet were failing, I felt like I couldn't speak and there were moments when I felt faint. That cellar had to have at least one window. And that was the first thing I found.
When I got to the window I realized not only that we were on the second floor, but also that this was my only way to escape. I backed up a few steps to take flight, seeing if my ex-partners were nearby. I ran, covering my face to avoid a cut. I heard the sound of glass breaking and at that moment I knew I was already falling.
Two shots rang out quite close to me. One of the bullets grazed my shoulder. When I hit the ground I had to roll to avoid getting hurt.
When I was able to get up, I looked around and barely managed to locate myself. From some signs, I could see that the warehouse was on the outskirts of the city. A vacant lot, surrounded by a tall brick fence a few meters from where I was, was the only thing I could focus on.
A loud noise behind me made me react, I started to run without turning to see what had caused the noise. I kept the dagger in my boot, trying not to get scratched. And I started running towards the fence.
A metal lever on the ground made me stumble. This might give me a small advantage. If my father could fight with this kind of thing, I could too. I took it in my hands, brushed some dirt off it, and continued on my way.
As I reached the fence, I turned back, barely making out the silhouette of one of the boys in the dim moonlight. At the speed I was going, I would still have time to jump and get out, but my limbs had to wake up well if I wanted to make it to the busy streets before I got caught again.
Training with Jason was paying off. As soon as I made it to the other side, I ran again. The risk of the boys still being close by, the adrenaline, and the strange poison they injected me with made stopping seem impossible.
I don't know how far I ran, when I stopped I was already reaching the Wayne Enterprises building. A group of people approached me, but only one of them stood in front of me, trying to stop me and reach my face so I could completely see him, but I was terrified, leaving me with no choice of where to run. Black smoke surrounded me before I could get off that street, and the guy who was in front of me disappeared. The roar of a wolf and the series of explosions that followed calmed me down a bit. James slowly approached me, wrapped me in a hug, saying that everything would be okay.
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