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Chapter Text

“She wanted to, if she  hadn’t thrown herself at me-”A heavy kick cut  off the  rest of  the man’s sentence, and Jason followed it  up with a  punch.He  rammed his  knee  into the man’s stomach and  he  went  down like  a  ton  of  bricks-pathetic.

He cracked his knuckles,ready to deliver some more  vengeance,when a sob broke through his rage.Looking up,he  was met with a terrified brown eye-the other swollen shut.The  girl  couldn’t  have  been  any older than twelve-and  already Jason could see that the  light  had gone out  of her  eyes.

With one  more kick to  the man, he made his way to the girl,keeping his arms up and walking at a slow pace.She scooted  back  whimpering,  her bloodied arms  wrapping around  her knees.Making sure  to keep the  beaten man  in  sight,Jason knelt down  beside  her,handing her  a tiny raincoat from  beside  them.

He  didn’t try to  cover  her without her permission,instead  keeping  his eyes  focused on  the struggling man, until  he  fell a gentle pull  on  the fabric  and let go.There was  some rustling,and when  it stopped,he looked  at her  from the corner  of his eye.

She was looking  straight ahead.

“This-It wasn’t your  fault you know”Her  breath  hitched at that,and tiny fingers  gripped his hand tightly  before she let  go.

She  stood,and he watched her limp towards  where her attacker  lay, and pick up a  metal pipe.

She was too small,and frail to  do  much  damage,but each time  she  struck,blood splattered, her screams mixing with  that  of  her  attacker, except now they were screams of rage instead of  terror.

Jason let her carry on  for a few minutes,until it looked like she  was really about  to kill him.He grabbed the pipe, and  instead  of  fighting him,she  wrapped  her  thin hands around his torso,…crying freely.

***

Hiding in the  shadows,  he  watched the  paramedics  take  her away, and pretended not  to  see the little wave cast towards  the shadowy  corner,he was hiding in.

Some nights made it hard to remember why Jason cared about Gotham, and that night was definitely one  of them.He walked through the  shadows, going  deep  into the  slums of Gotham.He spent  a few hours in his apartment,but  the stifling atmosphere was too much and  he jumped out the window.His feet taking him to his second home(none  of the  Bats even knew about  the place).

He made it to the sub urban  neighbourhood almost  without incident, and his  house was almost in sight when he  was nearly  run over by a car speeding past.The  vigilante made  to reach for  his gun and shoot  at the tires, but decided against it-it was  probably some stupid teens.

Something moved  in the  shadows where the car had been  and Jason was instantly on high alert.He made his way towards it, his boots not making  a  sound on the gravel.

“H-Help  me-somebody-please”

…Oh.

Using his phone,Jason shone  a light and  instantly regretted  it.He’d seen a lot of  messed up things in his  life,but this just took the cake.

The teen was face down,his hands  cuffed, but the thing that truly caught Jason’s attention was his back.There was a huge gaping wound, with the bones of his spine peeking out-and  blood,so much blood.

Looking back to where the car had gone,Jason let out a curse,before  dropping to his knees beside the other man.

“Hey,uh-it’s-it’s okay I’m here”He put  his hand  on  the on the back of his head, trying  to comfort him, but the other man was  too lost in his pain to even notice it.

Looking  back  at his  phone Jason made  to call an  ambulance, but  at the  memory of  the speeding car  he stopped.

Whoever had  done this,had  done it intentionally-and a hospital would make the teen a sitting  duck.He was just about  to swallow his pride  and call Alfred,  when  the other guy began coughing, dark blood  just streaming  out of his mouth.

…He won’t make it that long.

The truth in the statement, knocked the breath out of Jason and he  fought to remain focused,pushing aside how  similar the thought had been to his final one when he’d been trying to hold on,just long enough for Bruce to  find him.

His house was only a few meters away though,and he had a mini hospital in there.Enough to  at least keep  the other young man comfortable until  the end-it was more than he’d  had when he died-but it  was  the least he  could do for the stranger.

***

He ran to his house and came back with a stretcher in under  a  minute-and  seeing  that it  was the middle  of the night in the suburbs no one  had come  out.

Putting a  brace on the injured young man, he moved him as gently as he  could, blocking out the whimpers(they were taking him back to a place he’d rather not go),  as he  worked.When the stranger was strapped on,still face down, Jason activated the board, and levitated, making it  easier for him to carry the other to his house.

By the time  they arrived,  the other  was out cold, and Jason guided  him to  the room at the back where his little hospital was.

Jason,did not have a weak stomach,in fact he’d been pretty sure he was immune  to hurling,but  after cutting off the  teen’s clothes and starting to  work on his  wound Jason had gagged more than once.

After Barb’s injury,he ,like all the other bats had gone  through countless medical  journals, going from page  to page with hopes of being able to help her-like they were solving a case.When Barb had  sat  them all down, and  explained  in a gentle  tone-comforting them,instead  of the other way round…

“You have to stop, there was nothing you could do to save me, and there’s nothing  you can do  to change  this-we all have  to move  forward”They’d stopped researching, but all the knowledge had  still stuck with Jason,  and it came  easily  as he went about  trying to clean out  the wound.

What he was doing was probably what the hospital would  have done.He worked for hours, and  when he  was done,he  covered the area with a gauze(the wound  was too wide  to close with sutures-not that it  would  matter in the near future).Still in gloves and a cap, Jason clambered onto the bed next to his ‘patient’s’, exhaustion catching  up with him,making his intent to  stay awake until  the other  passed on, an empty promise.

Chapter Text

In a way Jen had known taking down Tobias couldn’t have been  that easy(come on,the police actually doing their job?!), and in hindsight she  was certain Khalil  had known as well.

“I love you”He’d said, and  it  had felt like “goodbye”,but  she hadn’t wanted to focus on that.

It had been hours since he’d been kidnapped and there was still no sign of him.She’d tried  to go out and look for him, but her mother,ever  the voice of reason,had stopped  her.

“If you go out in this state,you’re going  to get yourself killed,do you think Khalil would  want that?”That had stopped her in her tracks.

She’d been pacing since then,jumping  whenever the  phone rang,but it was never good news.No one knew anything,and those who definitely did,could not be found.

She heard the screech of a car wheels outside and  ignored the  sound, heading towards  the  door,tired of  feeling cooped  up.She’d barely made it past  the window when it exploded and glass rained down.

The whole thing didn’t  even  last long  enough for her to scream, and when she lowered  her arms and looked  out the window,there was no one there.

“Jen!Are you Okay?”She made to reply in the affirmative  to  her mother’s frantic  calls,but her eyes fell  on something laying amongst the glass.

Metal.

A long piece of  ribbed medal,covered in blood,she reached out  for it her hand  hovering just above it.

“No…No…No!”

She didn’t even realize she was screaming until her mother’s arms wrapped around her,pulling  her back.

“Jen ,honey,what’s wrong,were you hit?”

“Khalil!Khalil!Kha-lil!”She recognized the metal,how could  she not,the last time she’s seen it,it  had been a  part  of someone she cared-and now  here it  was,lying still  on the floor.

When her  Dad and sister came home,she and her Mom were on floor, the older woman still holding her tightly,both of them staring in silent horror  at  the bloody implant.

***

“Tobias,why’d you have us go all the way to Gotham,to dump him”Cutter crossed her arms, there was still a bit of fear in her eyes(good,but her annoyance masked it(also good).

“A street is a street,we should have just thrown him in front of the church”Beside her Todd was typing away at his phone,but he was clearly listening in,unlike Cutter, he was already over the spine debacle and was now more interested in his work-smart boy.

“Aside from the obvious,do you know why else African slavery was so cruel,Cutter?”She shook her head,and Tobias leaned back in his chair,taking her in.

“Killing a person in their home,is terrible yes, but even as they pass they have the comfort of dying somewhere familiar”

“The slaves who were taken from Africa and forced to live and die in America,did not have the comfort of home”By  now Todd had put his phone away,and Tobias put his hands together,giving them both a smile.

“Now imagine Khalil,spine ripped out,bleeding out and unable to move…dying alone in a place he does not recognize”

“In their final moments,people seek comfort in the things they knew in life.That spineless,thick lipped traitor-if he’s still alive,will have none of that”

***

“And not only does letting him die in a foreign land,serve to break him one last time-It also has another purpose”

“What?”Todd ever curious,was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“The Pierce,household received a little souvenir,from yours truly-a little something to add to the suspense”

“Knowing a loved one is dead brings closure, I gave them just enough to know that something happened to him”

“Where he is?How he’s doing,if he’s alive,those are all things they’ll wonder but never know”Leaning forward,Tobias grabbed his remote and turned up the music,letting the jazz flow through him as he closed his eyes.

He heard the others leave, and kept up the façade for a few more moments.Once he was certain they weren’t coming back, he got up.

The chess board he and Khalil had played on was still there, and looking at it,Tobias felt some foreign emotion(the same one he’d felt when Syonide and Tori died),pushing it aside,he grabbed a golden knight from the board and carried it upstairs.

In his bedside drawer,there was a little box,easy to miss at first because it was so unremarkable.In it was a bracelet that had belonged to Tori,the first bullet Syonide killed with(she’d dug it from the target’s head and had presented it to him with a radiant smile), beside those two trinkets,he placed the knight,right on top a handkerchief that had belonged to Joey.

“You were an idiot, but you had heart,…I appreciate that”Flicking his finger,he tipped the knight over,it idled for a bit before falling over,as though refusing to bow,and Tobias almost smiled at how much that reminded him of Khalil’s idiotic stubbornness.

Closing the lid, he put the box away, and got into bed.His mind blanking as he let everything go.

Chapter Text

To be honest, after startling awake,and realizing he’d fallen asleep without meaning to,Jason had fully expected to find himself next to a corpse.But the younger man had actually made it through the night-this was not good.
Jason had only taken him in to give him a safe place to die,given the severity of the injury,he should have lasted only an hour or two.For him to have hung on this long, bearing all this pain-it wasn’t right.Pulling his gun out,Jason approached the prone form.The teen didn’t even twitch as Jason placed the muzzle to head.
All it would take was one quick movement, a simple pull and the poor kid would be out of his misery.At point-blank range,the kid wouldn’t even feel it.
This was mercy,it was no use prolonging the kid’s suffering…and yet Jason Todd,who had more blood on his hands than most hardened assasins could ever dream of hesitated.
He couldn’t do it.
He’d killed countless times without a second thought,but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to end the already half dead young man before him.
Lowering his gun,he ran a hand through his hair,messing it up even more.
He couldn’t kill him, but he also couldn’t just leave him like that,the kid needed more medical attention than Jason could give.In Gotham doctors ,especially those willing to work in shady environments were in abundance(this was not a good thing), most of them were willing to do things to the human body,that made even Jason queasy.
Checking over the teen one last time, Jason stood, grabbing a hoodie on his way out, he’d just remembered that he had one other option.Whether the kid hung on long enough for that would remain to be seen.
Either way, he’d have done his best.He left without a backward glance, ignoring the pained whimpers that started up when he was half way across the living room.
***
Though the main reason Jason had decided to spend the night out of the slums was because he’d been tired of all the darkness-there’d been another reason,one he didn’t dwell much on.
It had been the anniversary of the deaths of the Waynes-and try as he might to distance himself from the man,Jason somehow always found himself feeling a bit down on that particular day,despite having not known Bruce’s parents.
He didn’t particularly like the inherited sadness,but knowing that it had been the day the Waynes died, also meant something else.
Dr Thompkins was most likely still in town.
After the falling out she and Bruce’d had,she was banished from Gotham, but since he practically lived in the Burrows,Jason knew she broke that rule once a year.She came quietly to pay her respects and then left before anyone noticed(Jason had been observing this pattern for a few years now).
Getting into the abandoned house was easy enough, and just as Jason had expected,the good doctor was there,with all her bags packed…she never even felt the pinch that knocked her out.

Chapter Text

Consciousness was a fleeting thing,but whenever it came,Khalil clung to it.

“…the damage to his spine, from lumbar to thoracic level…”The voice was warm,but professional-it reminded Khalil of Jen’s mom when she was in doctor mode.

“…His eyes are rolling back-is he supposed to be doing  that?”A male voice asked,the question somehow coming off as threatening.

“He’s seizing,hold him!...”

“He’s awake”A masked face came into view,some of Khalil’s tear drops landing on the man’s dark hair,causing the guy to pull up the hood he was wearing.

“Hey,shh-shh,it’alright, go back to sleep”A soft hand cupped the back of his head, and Khalil willingly obeyed,forcefully wrenching himself from awareness.

***

“…I’ve never seen a poison like this”

“…amazing,whatever’s in it has healing properties”

“…it’s also killing him”

“-lower his temperature,slow the toxin,…”

“…it’s all up to him now”After that,Khalil didn’t hear anymore.His mind far away and his body no longer trying to tether him to a place that only brought pain.

***

In a way,Khalil got used to the people who had him.He’d become aware enough to realize  they were his only visitors,but he was still too out of it to question  this,let  alone be wary of them.

“…Amazing, scar tissue falling  off…majority of injury healed,only one section left…don’t think the rest will heal…still  a miracle”He was aware more and  more,but he was still  stuck in  that place between wakefulness and sleep.

“…test for responses,determine level of… ”The blinding pain  that  had  been  following him was mostly  gone,so he  definitely felt  the pin pricks  that move  along his  upper body, and he squirmed trying  to get away,but  his body  was still too sluggish.

“…do x-ray, and  run more tests…better accuracy,but not likely wrong,…paralysis…will need a  chair?Can you get one?”

***

They say that when  you go crazy,you don’t know it…but the  thing  was,Jason knew he  was insane.

He heard  things  sometimes, hums echoing off silent  walls, other times it was screaming,but most of the time it was  sobbing,the pitiful, endless  sobs  of  a dying child(he refused to acknowledge who that child was).There were always hints  of green dancing at  the edges of  his  vision, and  sometimes  when he  stared at his hands  too long, he saw bandages holding  decomposing  flesh together.

Point was,he was the last person anyone should let care for another living thing.and yet he’d somehow wound up with an injured teen.And there was no way a kid with injuries like that was lugging around some serious emotional baggage.

At first he thought he could just dump him on Dr Thompkins, but the old badger had disabused him of that notion in the same blow she’d used to tell him that subterfuge was useless.

“I’m old, not senile,I know one of my grandchildren when I see them,take that silly mask off Jason”He’d pulled off the mask with more vigor than necessary, hoping she didn’t see his embarrassed blushing.

“I don’t know how,but whatever this child was poisoned with saved his life.He’s going to make it,but he’ll need a few months to recuperate-but I can’t stay that long”He’d made to protest but she’d silenced him with a look.

“By the looks of his injuries,I take it he’s no longer welcome wherever he was”She’d handed him a piece of paper.

“This is a care home in the outskirts of Metropolis, he can go there when he’s strong enough,just call that number,the people there owe me”

“I don’t know how long he’s going to struggle with his eating, but I’ve made sure that his feeding tubes and his formula are added to all the other things he’ll need-for so long as he needs them, you’ll keep getting supplies”

She’d stayed long enough for the kid, who’d given his name as Khalil to wake up and get settled.

Getting the kid’s real name had not been easy.It had taken after a lot of grilling , and promises that they had no intention of killing him-and even then, he’d only relented after they’d shared their own true names-apparently Jason didn’t look like a Stuart.

***

Even without his detecting skills, it would have taken an idiot not to know that Khalil wasn’t new to the world of paraplegia.At first he’d been too weak to do much, but as soon as he had some strength back he was handling everything himself-without having to be re-taught. Jason had overhead him refusing help with his stool evacuation,stating that he knew what to do(which he obviously did given that he hadn’t had accidents since then),He’d even given them the name of a specific brand of catheters, and had helped with the measurements when they were ordering a chair from him online(it wasn’t as good as a custom chair, but it would do until he moved to the care home).

When the wheelchair had arrived,his transfers had been slow but flawless-the kind of movements that had taken Barb a while to master-so yeah, the guy had definitely done this before.

It wouldn’t take much for Jason to snoop out the kid’s life,but he  didn’t care enough to do so.The guy would be out of his life soon enough, and all the memories of him would be swallowed up by green flames that danced at the edges of Jason’s mind.

The part of him that still cared about things like caution, and safety growled at him,trying to get him to pay attention.Jason hated that part with all his might.It sounded like Bruce-had it taken the low threatening tones of Batman,he’d have been able to bear it, but the softer more earnest voice of Bruce Wayne made his heart hurt.To silence it, he took out his tequila,drinking straight from the bottle.

On his way upstairs he caught sight of a pair of worried brown eyes.

“What?”The question came out more threatening than he intended, but he didn’t really care.

“Nothing,”The reply was soft, like the kid actually cared, and that made Jason even angrier, he took another swig, stomping up the stairs without looking back.

He wound up on his bed, shoes still on, gun in one hand and a bottle in the other.Sleep didn’t come easy, and when it did, it came in shades of green and hyena laughs…the lullaby of the damned.

Chapter Text

Jason wolfed down his dinner, taking time to enjoy the pasta-for someone who didn’t really eat,Khalil was  a surprisingly good cook-even the sauce was perfect.

“I’m just earning my keep,”Had been the explanation Jason had gotten the first time he’d come downstairs after a rough night, to find an actual breakfast waiting for him.

They didn’t talk much-but Jason’d found he didn’t mind the other’s presence-at least at first.Now he wasn’t so sure.

The kid stared-a lot, and whenever Jason caught him looking, he pretended to be busy with something else.In fact,Khalil was staring right at that moment, Jason could feel it.He lifted his head from the plate, and as expected,the kid was now busy with pushing formula through his feeding tube, his eyes fixed on the syringe.

“Alright spill,you’ve been staring at me for days now, it’s annoying and more than a little creepy,”Wide brown eyes met his and the kid wheeled himself back from the table,nearly spilling formula everywhere before he stopped himself.

Unfazed Jason fixed him with a steady gaze,his respect for the other went up a few notches when he saw him regroup, the fear sliding behind a cold mask as he straightened his shoulders.He opened his mouth to answer but before he could,Jason’s phone buzzed,going at the frequency he’d reserved for emergencies.

He stood immediately and made his way upstairs,interrogating Khalil could wait.

He left the house a few minutes later, ignoring the sounds of  Khalil moving about in the kitchen.No one paid attention to the young man walking the streets with his backpack over his shoulder and phone in his hand.

***

Jason arrived at the scene before the cops did(the one thing they never disappointed in).

Dark smoke billowed from an abandoned car, and amongst the smell of burning metal and rubber- there was a stench of burnt meat.He threw a fire extinguisher ball at the vehicle, and moved in the moment it killed the fire-wrenching the van doors open-and taking a step back at the sight that greeted him.

He could make out vaguely humanoid clumps, held together by a still red hot chain.Pulling out his battered scanner(he’d nicked it from Nightwing a few months back, and it looked like he’d be needing to steal another one soon), he pointed it at the corpses.

It beeped softly once its analysis was done and Jason let out a curse at the results.

Females,aged 4 to 9,they’d been tortured and mutilated so badly before being killed,that the machine couldn’t even give a rough estimate of the exact time of death.

Steeling himself, Jason palmed the flask in his pocket(he’d definitely need a refill before the night was over).He climbed into the van,his helmet already recording everything, as he prepared to take some samples(hopefully the killer had been careless).He caught sight of something glinting amongst the corpses, and crouched to examine it, his mind barely registering exactly what he was seeing before his  body was on the move.

By the time the bomb went off, he’d already found cover behind a dumpster, his reinforced jacket protecting him from the heat.

***

Hindsight, for all its 20/20 vision, was completely useless.

The thought crossed Jason’s mind more than once as he ran, by focusing on girls, he’d walked right into an ambush-and whoever it was-they’d come prepared.One of his assailants,threw himself on his back, hands coming around his throat, and Jason dislodged the masked man by running a knife through his side.

Bullets rained down on him, not making it through his jacket, but still stinging in a way that he knew meant there’d be bruises.He ducked into a deserted apartment building, jumping over crackheads scoring hits.The sounds of dozens of people running made it through the thin walls, and Jason burrowed deeper into the shadows,more than thankful that the helmet filtered out the smell of the urine he could see lining the walls.

The movements of his pursuers slowed, but Jason knew better than to let his guard down- the addicts were probably selling him out in that very moment-he needed to move.No sooner had he stepped out of his hiding spot, he ran into a masked woman.He moved faster than she could react,snapping her neck and catching her body-easing the gun out of her limp hands as he lowered her to the floor (his had run out of bullets while he’d still been behind the dumpster).

***

The moment Jason had jumped out of the apartment building, snipers had crawled out of the woodwork , and soon enough even the goons he’d left in the building had once again been on him.To make matters worse, a news crew was there, following his progress from above-the idiots flying low enough that stray bullets sparked off their helicopter-but all they cared about was getting a scoop.

They followed him as he jumped from building to building, shining a spotlight on him that painted a huge red X on his back.Had it not been likely to cost him a digit, he’d have flipped them the bird.Instead, he fired his last round, catching a few knees, and cutting down the numbers chasing him.He looked around as he ran,weighing his options, his best bet was to get to the subway(being underground would get rid of the reporters, and moving through the tunnels would make it easier for him to lose the rats chasing him).He focused all his energy on that, ignoring the now almost unbearable ache on his back and ribs, and he ran over car roofs, pumping more energy into his aching limbs, the sight of his intended destination giving him a boost.

***

He was almost at the stairs when his helmet crackled, a small screen bursting to life as a connection was established.

‘What on earth!’Barb no longer had the frequency he used, he’d blocked her and the other Bats since the one and only time they’d managed to reach him through the helmet.When the transmission finally stabilized, the face staring at Jason wasn’t one of the Bats,but it was still very familiar.

“…Khalil!”The kid began to say something, but the connection fizzled off a bit when Jason, jumped over one more car before landing on the street, he was almost at the stairs(and with any luck, his pursuers would be stalled until traffic stopped).

The connection came back on just as he was about to enter the stairs, and Khalil’s panicked face came into view.

“Stop—don’t—no subway-you’re being herded,” Jason didn’t pause,but he did slow a bit,considering.Nothing about the chase had felt like he was being led anywhere,and he had no reason to trust Khalil,quite the opposite actually,seeing that the kid had just proven to know more than he’d let on.The stairs were now within arm’s reach, and beneath the bodies of Gotham’s never ending traffic, he could see his pursuers’ feet-in a moment they’d be able to cross the road…should he trust the kid?

***

The more things change the more they stay the same.

The saying had echoed in Khalil’s head the moment he’d realized that he was still alive. The venom he’d hated so much had healed the injury Tobias had inflicted,making sure that even though he could no longer walk again,his injury level hadn’t gone higher-he was still at T12 complete.He was alive-no longer able to eat more than a few mouthfuls without getting incredibly sick(once again thanks to the venom),but alive was alive.

He’d started teaching himself,eager to catch up the things he’d missed and to keep his mind off the constant ache that came with not only missing his loved ones.But knowing that if wanted them to keep living,he’d have to stay away from them for the rest of his life-holed up in a care home.

The urge to let his emotional hurt congeal and manifest into something bitter had been strong,but he’d resisted,remembering how that’d left him open to Tobias’ manipulations the first time around.So he’d kept on studying,moving on to complex things,getting into programming ,circuit design, and poisons(though he only had theoretical concepts), and adding more subjects as time progressed.

That should’ve been enough, and for a while it had been.Then in between his breaks from studying and trying to get his body in better shape, he’d begun observing Jason, and that was the start of his problems.

***

Just like with the Pierces he’d made the connection between his savior and the vigilante Red Hood, pretty quickly(it was hard not to, seeing that they both wore the same  rare pair of boots, and had the same build, plus Red Hood sightings always happened whenever Jason had ‘gone out’)

***

Back in Freeland, the 100 used to tell stories about him to scare the newbies.At first Khalil had thought it was all just exaggerated, then he’d had a ‘movie night’ with Tobias.He’d sat on an expensive leather couch,watching footage of the Red Hood butchering drug dealers in one of the older man’s Gotham warehouses.

“You see Khalil, that is a man not afraid to get  his hands dirty,”

“We walk on different sides of the streets, but I can still appreciate his talent,”

It was hard to believe that the ruthless vigilante,Red Hood, and Jason, who wasn’t fully awake until he had at least a cup of coffee in him, and who looked like he’d been surviving on  beer and whiskey, before Khalil came along were the same person.

But all the fact were there, and Khalil hadn’t been able to dispute them.

For a brief moment he’d actually considered going against Jason.

He had a first name and a hero persona.A last name wouldn’t have been hard to find.And with a last name would come the other’s history, he could’ve stored the information away, threatened Jason with it, he could’ve-

Even as the plan had come together Khalil  had known he wouldn’t be able to go through with it.

Though Jason posed a threat,he had saved him, and the other obviously didn’t know who he was.All he had to do was lay low until he could get to the care home.

It had been hard keeping the revelation to himself, but he’d stayed tight lipped, and he would’ve continued to do so, but then he saw Red Hood on the news.At first it had seemed like he was outrunning some henchmen, then Khalil had noticed the way the chasers,despite their apparent chaos had been careful to make sure Red Hood only moved in one particular direction.

***

It hadn’t even occurred to him,to let the other fall into whatever trap was coming.He’d hacked the helmet’s connection(putting the things he’d been learning into practice),and had sent out a warning.

The news crew had lost sight of Red Hood after that.That had been hours ago, and there was still no sign of Jason.Khalil’s back ached,he wanted so badly to just lie down with a hot water bottle, but he settled for transferring to the sofa and placing the bottle behind him-it helped take the edge off.

He was beginning to wonder if Jason had ignored his advice and gone into subway,when he felt a shift behind him, before he could even turn his head, he felt cold steel at the back of his neck.

“I’m going to sit, and you and I are going to have a long chat,”

“By the end of it, you’ll make sure to have told me exactly who you are,”

Jason’s usual calm tone, was replaced by something dark and grating, and had Khalil not spent months under Tobias’ thumb,he’d have been too terrified to form coherent sentences, but all he did was nod.

The gun left the back of his head, and Jason took the seat across from him,he was covered in bruises and blood, and was obviously very tired, but the look in his eyes was anything but dull.Seeing no way around it,Khalil took a deep breath,readjusting the bottle on his back, they were going to be there a while.

Chapter Text

What was failure?

If you asked Batman he’d say there was no such thing, there were only lessons obtained from not winning.If you asked Bruce Wayne the answer would be completely different-failure was being unable to protect a child and having to bury them…but Bruce Wayne wasn’t there-there was only Batman staring down  his former Robin.

“Let him go,”In response Red Hood shrugged, the gesture looking casual, but Batman knew better-he’d taught the boy that move afterall.

Proffesor Pyg flailed a bit, going still once again when a gun was pressed to the back of his head.

At his side Nightwing tensed,ready to move in, but he calmed himself enough to wait for an opening.Between the four of them,lay a baby, or what used to be a baby.The dollotron procedure was half way complete-the doll mask in place-the victim of Pyg’s latest escape from Arkham had clearly died during the experimentation-but by the looks of things, Pyg had only stopped at Red Hood’s intervention.

It was a gruesome sight(half of the little skull was caved in-brain matter oozing out), but that still didn’t make killing  the man right-something the other clearly intended to do.

“If you want his so bad, come and get him,”Red Hood’s stance shifted,all the faux-casualness going out of him, the rage that was always simmering beneath the surface coming out full force.

A solid hit to the back of the head drew blood, and sent Pyg flying, leaving just Batman and his former-protégés standing.

***

The fight, just like its  predecessors-was brutal.

Bullets bounced off their armour,and each time Red Hood’s limbs landed a hit, Batman knew that even with his protective clothing-he’d be feeling it for days to come,but he gave as good as he got.

The three of them, through a silent agreement fought far from the tiny body,with Pyg’s unconscious form laying a few feet from them.The mad professor however was free game-to Red Hood at least-the other had stepped on him more than once during their fight.

Batman blocked a sharp dagger, a kick from Nightwing saving him from having to wrestle it from Red Hood.They continued on like that for a few minutes, dodging, kicking and punching, none of them managing to get the upper hand.Bruce could almost taste the rage whenever Jason moved,it was there in the way he kicked, the slashes he made, and most of all it was in the glares Bruce could feel even though all of them were wearing masks.

Had he really failed the child so badly?

They ended up in a standoff, Red Hood’s blade on Nightwing’s throat,his gun on Batman’s temple,while the two of them each had a sai and batarang aimed at him.

A tray cluttered, and all three of them turned towards the noise-Pyg was up ,and trying to make a run for it on unsteady legs. Jason broke the stalemate with a complicated twist,his gun aimed at the retreating villain’s back.

Moving quickly Bruce threw himself in front of the gun,his cape deflecting the bullets.Nightwing kicked Red Hood’s legs, and Batman delivered a blow to the head as he fell…he was out cold before he hit the ground.

***

The drive to Arkham was quiet, and the Batmobile cut through traffic easily enough.

With Red Hood tied up in the back and Nightwing keeping watch,the Dark Knight should have been more at ease-but something was off.

The closer they got to Arkham the more on edge he got, but a scan sent by Oracle earlier had proven that the coast was clear.There was no one suspicious hanging around the asylum.

“Are you alright, Batman?”He’d answered in the affirmative, but he knew she could tell he was lying,encounters with Red Hood ,always left him feeling like he’d been  scraped raw, his eyes stinging with tears from long ago.

The Batmobile purred as it came to a stop in front of the forbidding building.A few orderlies and a doctor were already waiting for them.Nightwing nudged Red Hood out, with the other throwing back his shoulder in an attempt to get Nightwing’s hand off him, but Dick maintained his hold.

Two deliberate blinks beneath his mask allowed Oracle to see what he was seeing, and she quickly ran a background check on the staff they were walking  towards-declaring all of them to be legit.

“…worked in various war zones all over the world, served with-”A mosquito stung his cheek, and the Dark Knight stumbled, his hand automatically going to his face, his hand came back holding something that was most certainly not a mosquito.

A dart?!

In his ear, Oracle was speaking frantically, he tried to answer her but a dull thud from behind had him turning(why was he so slow?).He was met with the sight of Nightwing laying on the pavement.The foot he lifted to try and reach him tripped on thin air and he joined the other hero on the ground.

In his ear, Oracle’s worried voice cut off abruptly-and when sound resumed-the only thing the vigilante could hear was an endless stream of static.With his body wading through molasses, he turned at the sound of footsteps, being unable to do anything but watch as Red Hood disappeared into the night.

***

Barb had been moving around the Batcave, her eyes fixed on the computer screens as she kept an eye out for anything suspicious.When Dick had informed her that they’d found Jason,she’d immediately told Alfred-whether or not they managed to apprehend him, they’d be needing some comfort by the time the night was over-and the old man’s brownies always did the trick.Encounters with Jason always left everyone needing a bit of  Alfred’s comfort, that was the norm, even if they didn’t acknowledge it.What wasn’t the  norm-was somebody trying to hack into her systems.

She instantly switched her focus, wheeling herself to the main computer.There’d been a few attempts on the Bat-system over the years, and she’d gotten quite adept at kicking them out.The redhead vaguely wondered if it was Luthor trying his luck again as she worked, keeping an eye on the screen showing Bruce and Dick about to drop off Jason.The attack was banished quickly enough, though whoever it was, was smart enough that she couldn’t trace them-definitely worth looking into later.

She turned her attention back to the drop off,giving Bruce the information he needed.Just when she was about to turn her attention to one of their other cases,Dick stumbled and went down like a ton of bricks, with Bruce following soon after.The Bat system let out a wail, signaling another attack.She moved back to the main controls,recognizing the foreign code as the one she’d just recently wiped out.Her fingers flew over the keyboard, trying and failing to oust the intruder once again.

The initial attack had been a scouting venture, she realized as she tried and failed to pin down the snake-like virus coiling around her programming.Breathing through her panic, she came up with a game plan-no one had ever hacked the Bat system before and she was going to keep it that way.

She rolled her shoulders, boxing in and isolating the snake-code to one particular section.She closed her virtual fist around it, intent on snuffing it out, but the virus regrouped pushing against her hold, it twisted and rearranged,slipping right through her defenses.A strange blue pulse went through her system, and just like that everything went still-she could no longer access anything, nor could she talk to Batman and Nightwing.The panic she’d been suppressing bubbled up full force, and she did what all of them did when faced with a situation they couldn’t  handle.

“Alfred!Alfred!”She gripped her arm rest to keep from hitting the unresponsive machine.

“We’re under attack!”

Never let it be said that Agent A wasn’t prepared for any situation.He made it to the Batcave in a matter of seconds, and within moments he was organizing everything using the landline.Sending out back up to collect Dick and Bruce, and having the others be on the lookout for Jason.At his side Barb worked furiously trying her best to get the system running again-whoever’d dared touch her baby was going to pay-they were going to pay big time.

***

From his hotel room Khalil rolled away from the window, taking his sniper rifle with him.He took it apart with practiced ease, watching as the bars on his laptop screen filled, slowly siphoning information directly from Oracle.When it was done he didn’t waste time, he quickly transferred the files to a memory card and spilled water all over the pc-killing it instantly.

A few seconds later, there was a knock on the window-despite being twenty stories up.

Khalil let Jason in, handing him the bag with the gun, and the memory card without saying a word.With only a nod,Jason was out the window, and Khalil moved around the room, destroying any evidence that might have been left behind.

An hour after Jason left,the police came , they took one look at his wheelchair, did a quick search of the room, and didn’t ask anything else(the rookies couldn’t even meet his gaze, so he knew there was no way they’d be identifying him even if they suspected anything).

It was one of the things Khalil had always hated about being wheelchair dependent, but he was learning to use the negatives to his advantage.Something Jason had impressed upon him when the other had gone through Khalil’s past,bringing his skeletons to the light, and deeming him too useful to be allowed to fade away in a care home.

“A former-sidekick and a former-henchman, I think you and I would make a good team,”

Rolling over to the ruined laptop,he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.He’d just hacked the Batman,he’d gotten information that could save countless lives.But the person looking back at him, didn’t look happy or excited, he just looked tired,so-so tired, and Khalil couldn’t even find it in himself to even force a smile.

When had he become so numb?

Chapter Text

Mere hours after a successful heist on the Bat clan, doing so didn’t seem like it had been a good idea.In fact it might have been the worst scheme in the history of  hair brained schemes.In the months they’d known each other,they’d worked on several jobs together-establishing a level of understanding(neither of them were stupid enough to believe in things like trust), they’d only attacked Batman when they were sure of each other.On that end they hadn’t failed,which was why Jason still couldn’t understand why they’d failed to plan for their success.

The only light in the dingy warehouse let out an annoying unending buzz, but the two occupants of the formerly abandoned building didn’t mind.They’d barely made it out of the surburbs-torching the  place because the descending Bats hadn’t given them time to clean it out.They only made it out with a few essentials(Jason’s weapons), and Khalil’s supplies.

“Well, this has been a disaster,”Jason sent a glare at Khalil,not even caring that the other was more focused on flushing his tube than on him.

Using Batman’s resources had seemed like a good idea at the time.

They’d gotten the information on their guy a villain named Black Mask, he’d  been the craziest Gotham had to offer before Joker had taken the title of Clown Prince of Crime.Unfortunately,they’d also unwittingly brought the whole Bat clan down on their heads.

“What exactly did you do?This manhunt is too large for a few stolen files,”He finally asked,putting salve on his bruises-he’d encountered Demon-spawn when he’d been buying Khalil time, and had been forced to take a few hits in order to escape before Red Robin and Spoiler caught up.

“I froze the system, took what we needed and got out,”Was the answer, and Khalil went back to his feed.Seemingly unaware enormity of the task he’d accomplished.There’d been few who’d managed to hack the Bat computer in the past, but they’d always been swiftly dealt with, one did not simply waltz in, and freeze the Bat systems, at most Jason had been hoping Khalil would get a general idea of what they were looking for , before Barb kicked him out.

But he’d frozen the Oracle’s baby.

That took considerable skill, and whoever could do that and get away with it,…was obviously a threat.

There was absolutely no way, Khalil(even if they didn’t know it was him) was ever being knocked down the priority list.Oracle was the heart of the Bat’s operations, if she was under threat-all of them were in danger.

But on the bright side,it seemed Jason had found himself one heck of hacker.

***

After two days of each other’s constant company-Jason was struggling to see the point of having a good hacker if he couldn’t utilize the information gathered.He’d only ventured out once after his initial encounter with Robin, and the instant he’d stepped out on the street-all the cameras had turned on him like piranhas scenting blood-clearly Barb was angry.Soon after Red Robin had engaged him,his replacement was competent Jason would give him that.

The encounter had only ended because Black Mask’s men had attacked, and Jason’d used them as a distraction, even then he’d still fled with half a batarang sticking from his side.

He’d woken up on the warehouse floor,with Khalil seated next to him,patching him up.Whatever Khalil had used to numb the pain had been phenomenal, and Jason’d passed out again soon after.

***

 Day five of their unplanned isolation,found Jason looking down a bottle of whiskey.And as always when he was just the right amount of tipsy, Jason found himself being philosophical.

Through observation,he’d found that he and Khalil were a  good fit.And the reason for that was pretty obvious.

Both of them were broken.

When Jason had shattered-with the Joker’s crowbar grinding him to dust and the lazarus pit setting his ashes on fire-he’d burned.For Khalil when he’d shattered-spine ripped out of his back-he’d gone cold.

Whereas Jason was trigger happy and ready for a fight, Khalil didn’t react to much at all.He assessed things with a nonchalance that only  true trauma could bring, he’d been pushed to the absolute limit and his emotions had just shut down.

All this came to Jason somewhere halfway into his second bottle of whiskey-as he avoided Khalil’s disapproving gaze.

What good would being sober do?

Some sadistic nutjob was out there torturing and killing kids for fun, and Jason couldn’t hunt him down without drawing the attention of the Bats. Tires squeaked against the concrete floor as Khalil made his way to Jason’s bunk and the other cleared his throat to get his attention.

“I have a plan that might just get Batman off your back,”The whiskey bottle shattered.

***

Sometimes the simplest plan was the most effective.

Since the ‘incident’ Jason had been evading the Bats, he hadn’t actually talked to any of them during their skirmishes… a fact that was crucial for their plan to work.

The moment he stepped out into Gotham’s chilly night, the latest Robin-Demon spawn, was on him, and instead of engaging with intent to run, Red Hood fought with the intent to draw out the fight.

And as was the case with all drawn out fights, they began talking as the fight progressed.

“Not that I’m not flattered with all the attention, but don’t you guys have better things to do than chase me?”A staff swung his way-the force of it nearly taking off his helmet.

“Enough you peasant!”Red Hood jumped to avoid the staff,landing on an old railing, and quickly leaping off to avoid a swooping kick.

“I don’t know how you managed to bypass Oracle’s security, but rest assured, you will not be getting the chance to do so again,”A knife scraped across the red helmet, and Jason found himself wondering just how many assassin tendencies Damian still had left-he was always so adorable when he was going for the kill.

“The Oracle got hacked?!Getting sloppy huh?”There was no need to feign shock, he still hadn’t gotten over his initial surprise at finding out exactly how successful Khalil had been.

Robin’s assault seized and he regarded Jason carefully-contemplating, not so sure of his facts anymore.

Bingo!

“A lie told to the right person, at the right time can be very powerful,”Khalil’d said as he’d explained his plan(the catch in his voice had told Jason that at some point the other’d been on the receiving end of such a lie).

He didn’t wait for the latest boy-wonder to finish piecing things together.Instead he threw a smoke bomb and took off running.Damian would be sure to pass on the news to the others when they returned from handling the mini-incidents he and Khalil had set off around the city,to allow Jason to run into Damian specifically.The kid, as knowledgeable as he was, wasn’t as good at reading Jason as the others were, and would be the easiest to lie to.

***

“…Todd knew nothing of the cyber attack,”

“He was just an opportunist, who took advantage of the situation,”Damian folded his arms as he spoke, his glare becoming more pronounced(somehow he was taking the breach harder than all of them-even Barb,which should’ve been impossible).

“But what about the person who shot us?They had to have been helping him,”Dick added, grabbing one of Alfred’s chocolate-chip cookies.

They’d been at the issue for hours, replaying the feed of Jason hearing about the attack repeatedly.

He definitely wasn’t faking his shock.

But with Jason ruled out as a suspect,things got more complicated for them.And they still had no leads on who’d shot them.Both the darts and the neurotoxin had been homemade.The materials for the darts and the ingredients for the poison being common items that almost every household had.

“It seems we have a new threat in town.Everyone, keep an ear out, if they started big, we can be sure we’ll hear from them again.The next time they come-we’ll be ready,”There was a quiet confidence in Bruce’s words that all of them clung to.They scattered to carry out their respective duties,the sooner they dealt with the latest threat,the better.

Chapter Text

When Joker had come for him,robbing him blind and killing the woman he loved,all Black Mask had wanted to do was burn Gotham to the ground,using the clown’s blood to feed the flames.But cold hard logic had won over, and he’d controlled himself.

As time had passed and his rage had gone from raging hot to ice-cold,he’d found that the Joker-even though he was unaware of it-had his uses.Since the clown’s rise,Black Mask had gone underground, slipping into the cracks of Gotham-nurturing his empire,while the Joker, kept the Bat off his trail.

For a while,that had been enough for him.Then his workers had started turning up dead,lowering profit,and he’d gone out of his way to find the culprit.His search had ended in him watching a noir play brought to life.

There was no way words could properly describe the experience of seeing Red Hood in action.Black Mask had met many killers in his time, but never had he met someone who killed in a way that made him envious.

And for the first time in decades, he’d looked at something and thought-I want that.

But before he could acquire him,he needed to court him first.Sending him prey to hunt down, and watching the other master at work.It had taken unimaginable patience on his part to wait for the other to realize what was going on, but at last his labor was bearing fruit.

“Sir,he’s in the elevator, and he’s headed right down here,”Black Mask calmly poured his wine, pretending like he hadn’t heard the shaking voice(it was good that his lackies feared their future general).On cue the doors to the underground office opened and the body of his-former head of  security tumbled out.

His guest stepped out of the elevator,his gait slow and measured, but there was a cockiness to it.He unfurled his balled fist,and actually mimed throwing something onto the desk.

“Here’s your nose, I found it in my business,”Red Hood had a personality too-how wonderful.

***

Black Mask,as his name suggested, was wearing a skull shaped black mask that somehow it didn’t clash with his pristine white suit.

There was an air of calm indifference about him, and where villains like Penguin and the Joker unsettled you on sight, if you didn’t pay attention to the mask,everything about the man sang of a proper gentleman,someone you could trust,someone safe…that alone set Jason even more on edge.His observation done,he finally spoke up.

“Lovely as this charade of you killing little girls and sending your goons after me has been, I’d like you to stop now,”To make sure his point was understood,Jason put his gun right on the man’s masked temple, biting back a sigh when the other leaned into it-just great,of course Black Mask would be the kind to find death enticing.

“I’m in the process of expanding my empire”

“However, the new territory is…resistant,”

“And that’s where you come in. I need a general, someone to not only enforce my command, but to help me keep everything running,”

At first, Jason just stood there,waiting for the punchline, but when a full minute passed and the Black Mask was still looking at him expectantly, he realized that the man was being serious.

“At first I just thought you were crazy, now I have to add stupid to the list,”

“I don’t work for things like you-I kill them,”Black Mask didn’t even have time to blink before Red Hood pulled the trigger, he slumped forward a few seconds later, blood and brain matter coating the once pristine desk.

Heaving a sigh,Jason made to leave, but he stopped when he heard a dull click,followed by the floor opening up and swallowing the dead crime boss(desk and all).Only for another identical desk to slide up in its place,with another very much alive Black Mask behind it, spinning a gun in front of him, his other hand holding a nasty looking dagger.

“Well, I’m sad to hear that, I’d hoped this meeting would end differently,”The gun did one final slow spin,and came to rest with the business-end facing Jason.

Oh-Jason might have underestimated the situation.

He raised his own gun, but before he could even pull the trigger, Black Mask had already taken aim, and Jason’s arm caught fire.

Ammo that could go right through his normally bulletproof jacket-Okay, Jason had more than underestimated-he’d messed up, Khalil(with his ever worrying self) had been right.

Throwing himself on the ground he dodged the next round of fire.The elevator doors opened and he had just enough time to see the endless minions spill out before he threw out smoke bombs, and gripped his gun with his good hand, blocking the pain coming from the bleeding one.

It was time to see if he still had it.

***

Khalil was uncomfortable with Jason going out to face Black Mask without backup.

“Relax, if anything goes wrong I’ll call immediately,”Given how crazy and ruthless(a combination Khalil knew never ended well) Black Mask’s record said he was,he would’ve thought the other would be more careful, but there’d been no convincing him otherwise.

“Right now, he wants something from me, and so long as he doesn’t get it.That should buy me some time,”

Instead of loitering around in the safehouse, he’d made his way to the library soon after the other had left.Gotham’s uniquely chemical smell, as well as the city’s cold and damp forcing him to wear, a black surgical mask,gloves,a thick pair of pants and a hoodie-making him stand out amongst the gothamites who were treating the weather as though it were the height of summer.

After a few hours of reading up on  black mamba venom, he checked his phone and seeing no messages from Jason decided to do something else.

Unlocking his wheels he moved to a more secluded section that not only hid him from the entrance, but also made sure he was facing the shelves on the floor above(no chance of anyone getting an inkling of what he was working on-in a world with metas one could never be too careful).And with that done, he pulled out his new laptop and began coding, unaware that he had an almost smile on his face as he modified his viruses.

***

Work as always-was boring, Barb looked around pretending not to notice the teens making out in the corner.Her phone buzzed and she absentmindedly picked it up, and  tapped at the screen, only to freeze when she read the alert.

“Gotcha!”Ever since the attack, she’d been trying to track the hacker to no avail.She’d ended up setting traps so that if the hacker was ever in range-her systems would pick up on their activity.Holding her breath she locked in on the signal,watching as the map of Gotham got smaller and smaller until the bulls-eye settled over a location-the library-right where she was.

Her screen began freezing then, static flying all over the screen(an obvious counterattack) and she let out a curse, looking around desperately.Movement on the tables below caught her attention and she watched as a hooded figure hurriedly stuffed his laptop into a bag, his body language practically screamed fear-there was no way it wasn’t him.

She pulled out her second phone, ready to call for back up before the culprit started running-then she stopped.

Instead of getting up and making a run for it like she’d expected, he rolled out, and for the first time Barb realized he was in a chair.

A fellow wheeler!

The phone went back into her pocket and she was pushing off before she even made a conscious decision.

***

It had taken Khalil mere seconds to realize he was being tracked, and even less time to recognize the code…

Oracle.

He was almost at the exit when the elevator doors dinged, and given the quietness of the library,the sound drew his attention.A woman with bright red hair wheeled herself out, looking right at him with unnerving focus.

For a long moment where the two of them just stood there and watched, instinctively recognizing each other,and the threat the other posed.Then the doors dinged and reality came back into focus with a vengeance as the lady moved, coming right at him and Khalil took off.

***

“Ouch!Why not just rip off the whole arm while you’re at it?!”

“Really?!My arms are about to fall off,my back is on fire,and instead of resting I’m stitching you up.A thank you would be nice,”Khalil used more force than necessary to jab the needle into Jason’s flesh,closing up his bullet hole, and the other let out a pained hiss.

“It’s not my fault you ran into Oracle...she would have caught up with you anyway,”

“Well,it’s not my fault you went after Black Mask on your own either-I told you he’s dangerous,”He finished the last stitch,and went about the other injuries, massaging salve into the skin-making sure bruises wouldn’t have a chance to form, pausing every once in a while to breathe through his own pain.He hadn’t realized how out of shape he was, until he’d been out of breath after only a few blocks,only to look back and see Oracle grabbing onto rails and going down stairs herself just to get to him.

“Has Oracle always been so tenacious?”Jason let out a pained huff that might have been a laugh,visibly relaxing at the change of topic.

“You have no idea,how did you outrun her anyway?”

“I didn’t,she almost had me.Then I saw a group of old church ladies-I told them she was new to disability,and having a crisis of faith,”

“A few well placed compliments later,I was off ,and she was coming around the corner, they were on her immediately, showing her the ‘power of prayer’, and laying their ‘healing hands’ on her.She gave me the middle finger when they started singing-that fuelled them on more,”

“Are you…serious?”

Khalil shrugged-regretting the action when his shoulders pulled“It was either that, or head into moving traffic and hope for the best,”The chase had been a wakeup call, he hadn’t expected her to be in a chair too,but unlike him, she was obviously still exercising-he needed to get back to that,asap.

Jason let out a bark of laughter,followed by another,then another until he was just a pile of giggles,uncaring that he might rip his stitches, and that flecks of blood followed each exhale.

“Dude…she is so sending Demon-Spawn after you,”

“The crazy Robin who looks like he should be in kindergarten?”That to set off another laughing fit in Jason.

“…if he ever hears you calling him that…”

***

The moment Khalil was done patching him up,Jason decided to nip the brewing problem before it could grow roots“I’ll put these away and help you into your shower chair”As expected Khalil instantly tensed.

“No need, I can do it myself,”His hands even though he’d been helping Jason were clearly swollen.There was no way he’d be able to carry his entire body weight on them.

“Yeah, and I could have dug out my own bullet, and wrapped my own sprained leg, and dealt with my bruises, but it was easier having your help,”Khalil’s fingers drummed his wheels, and Jason could clearly see his inner struggle written all over his face.

“How ‘bout I help you into the shower, come out and prepare our meals, then when you’re done,I’ll come help you out?You can use your transfer board to get into bed,”It took a few more moments, but eventually Khalil nodded.

An hour later,Jason lay on his bed, eating one of the meals Khalil had pre-prepared, the other was in his own cot, enjoying some yogurt(one of the few foods he could actually keep down).

They were in trouble, Jason had seen the greedy gleam in Black Mask’s eyes right before he’d made an opening for himself by blasting a door into the sewers…he’d be back.And now, the Bats had a bit of information on Khalil.All these things spelled chaos in the near future, but it wouldn’t help anyone to worry about them at that moment, they could afford to take a few hours to themselves.

“So, are you a Jessica Rabbit kind of guy, or does Lola Bunny do it for you?”The quip earned him a spoon to the head and a disgusted snort from Khalil,who then made a show of putting on headphones and ignoring him.

With his king of jerks title once again unchallenged,Jason turned to his phone,going back to the book he was reading.If anyone asked,it was a book on various stratagems employed in war, but really it was romance novel with characters so ridiculous, he just had to read it, if only to make fun of them. 

***

When Barb finally arrived at the emergency meeting she’d called, all of them were instantly on edge.At first glance she didn’t look any different from usual, but there was a look in her eyes that Dick hadn’t seen since the days she used to wear during her Batgirl days.

This was Barb on a hunt.

“I found the hacker,”Her mouth split into a feral grin.

“What?!”

“When!”

“Give us the information, we’ll begin tracking them before they know we’re onto them,”

“He, the hacker is male,”She moved towards the main screen.

“And as for him not knowing that we know, that’s too late-I gave chase when I saw him,”

Alfred was the first to recover from the revelation“Young Miss, that was uncharacteristically careless of you.Are you hurt anywhere?”The old man moved forward,mother hen mode in place, but Barb brushed off his concern with a carefree laugh.

“If I were you, I’d be more worried about the other guy,”She pulled up footage from the library and all of them watched as a guy-face obscured by a hoodie and a mask,made his way down the library  ramp, a few seconds later,Barb came into view, focused solely on the guy as she gained on him.

More clips followed, some showing the guy clearly thinking he’d lost her and pausing to try and massage his shoulders, only to look back and tense before taking off again.

“I lost him at the church, and he managed to avoid all other cameras after that,”None of them thought to ask exactly how she’d lost him, and they were too focused on the footage to notice her embarrassed blush,something she was eternally grateful for.

“Do you know him?”It was Damian who asked-of course.

“Why would I know him?”Damian looked pointedly at her wheelchair, and Barb sighed giving  Dick a look which he correctly interpreted, and gave the kid a slap on the back of his head for her, since she was too far to do it herself.

Bruce casually caught the batarang Damian threw in retaliation, and tied him up while the rest of them continued talking, and looking at the various pictures they now had, to see if they could spot any identifying features.

It was only a matter of time now.

Chapter Text

“The wheelchair was bought online, but the money bounced around a lot before it reached the seller…”

“…the purchasing address is an old age home…I’ll try to see if there’s anything more but I doubt it,”

“…didn’t take public transport after you lost sight of him-might have gone somewhere close,or had an accomplice come pick him up,”The voices of the others faded as they headed out to do their patrols,and Barb was once again left alone in trying to find the mystery hacker.

The thrill of the chase had waned in the two weeks since she’d seen him, but she was still searching.

There was something she was missing-she could feel it.

Her phone beeped and she reluctantly paused her search, either she cathed at her usual time or she ran the risk of peeing on herself.She went through the whole process as quickly as possible.Halfway back to the cave, a memory came to her, and she moved faster.

That day at the library,when she’d gone to use the only wheelchair accessible toilet,there’d been another catheter in the bin.There was a small chance it could have belonged to someone else, but the probability of it being his was much higher-and she remembered its brand.

A search through the local database showed that exactly two hundred people in Gotham were  currently using that particular brand, and all of them were accounted for except for one person.Further digging showed that the catheters were being delivered to an old age home-but no one there was using them.Finally she checked the garbage trucks and hit the jackpot,once again she eliminated the medical waste that came from the places that were accounted for, until she was left with a shipment that came from a part of Gotham filled with abandoned warehouses.

And according to the power records, there was only one warehouse that had been tapping into the grid-a small amount,but still noticeable.

“Hello there,”She grinned at the screen,already sending the coordinates to everyone and watching as all of them abandoned what they were doing,the dots on the screen showing them headed towards the same location.

Were she an over the top villain, she’d be laughing evilly, but she contained herself and did a little victory dance that ended with a fist pump instead.

***

Stix wasn’t the smartest, nor was she the strongest-but she was quiet, something that often decided the difference between life and death in the streets of Gotham.But even she had her limits, she licked at the sores in her arms,trying to get as much goodness out of them as she could, but it could only go so far.

She needed and she needed now!

But she was out of money, and none of the dealers would sleep with her anymore-something about her bones getting in the way.

She burrowed into her box,trying to savor the taste in her mouth-but it was long gone.The sound of someone approaching reached her long before the person came into view,and she immediately did what she knew best-stayed quiet.

A pair of boots passed in her line of sight-they paused,the person clearly sensing something,but she remained silent,and soon enough they  moved away crossing the road.The dim streetlight didn’t show much, but there was no need to-everyone knew the Red Hood.

She watched the vigilante disappear into a warehouse,the fear that had coiled around her gradually easing the longer he took not coming out.Morning found her still there,and she watched as he made his way out, blending in with the morning shadows.

Only when she was sure he was gone did she move,her feet carrying her to a section of town owned by the Falcone family.A few days earlier,Red Hood had burnt down their drug labs, surely they’d be willing to spare a bag or two of merchandise for info on his whereabouts.

Just the thought of another hit had her moving faster, her dirty nails scratching away at her open wounds.

***

In the days since their ‘encounter’ there’d been no sign of Red Hood,and Black Mask was bored.There were only so many live-autopsies one could do afterall, and doing them made him miss Lady Eve…that woman had known her way around a body.

Deciding that he was focusing too much on the boy, he tossed his knife aside.His latest project didn’t even realize that he’d stopped carving into him…continuing to beg and plead-pitiful.

He’d heard of his future-general(no matter how much he might deny it), having a run in with the Falcone family.Black Mask himself didn’t particularly like the youngest son-too spoiled.Maybe interfering with their plans and reminding them of their longstanding rivalry would drag him out of his slump.He sent word out, and a few minutes later a minion returned with information.

The Falcone family had something going down in one of the abandoned warehouses-they were being very tightlipped about it,which meant it would get their panties in a twist if he messed with it.

He snapped his fingers and a lackey materialized.

“Send a squad to tail the Falcone, when they reach their destination ambush them,”

***

The bats and the birds arrived to the sight of a burning warehouse-with bodies all over the place.

“These guys are from the Falcone family, and the others work for Black Mask,”Tim said, crouching to inspect the nearest body.

“Do you think the hacker was working or them?”Bruce shook his head at Dick’s question.

“No, neither of these two sides is the type to allow an asset library breaks.Most likely he was a freelancer and did to them, what he did to us,”

“Do you think he survived?”A section of wall that was more bullet holes than concrete chose that moment to collapse, and another explosion followed.

“Doubtful,”The Bat drew his cape around himself, his head tilting slightly at the sound of sirens in the distance.

“Gather as much as you can from the bodies, we need to leave,”His children got to work, and as always when it came to buildings that had exploded,Bruce fought back the suffocating feeling he’d had since the day one had gone up in front of him,taking with it a piece of his heart.

They passed by another corpse as they left,this one a teenage girl, her arms riddled with sores, and foam dripping from her mouth- a clear overdose.Damian quietly kicked off the cardboard covering her, making sure the ‘rescue’ team would find her.

***

Jason awoke in darkness, contorted in ways the body should not be,panic tried to overtake him,but he fought it off,taking deep but quiet breaths until his memories of recent events came back.He remembered the alarms being triggered, and him and Khalil trying to escape before realizing they were surrounded on all sides.He’d locked Khalil in the bathroom-the only place with the reinforced steel door-to protect him from the storm of bullets.When grenades had joined the party, he’d gone back into the bathroom, and had taken out the seldom used tub so that they could hide beneath it.

He clearly remembered taking the thing out, but he had no idea how he’d come to be under it-without Khalil.

Voices reached him, and he carefully lifted the tub, and crawled out, going unnoticed by the  men and women going through the ruins.

A few minutes later he was searching through the  countless bodies laid out in front of the ruined building, stolen protective gear masking not only his face,but also his various injuries.None of them was Khalil, and a breath he hadn’t known he was holding escaped him at the finding.He disappeared into the crowd before his shaking hands could become more visible, managing to hold himself together long enough to disappear into a manhole before the shock of the evening kicked in.

If the Falcone family had Khalil,there’d be hell to pay.But if it was Black Mask, Jason was terrified of what the man would do to his partner-and more than terrified of what he’d do to the man if he so much as touched Khalil.

***

Forty minutes from the wrecked warehouse, police stopped a car.The driver was friendly and cooperative,whispering so as not to wake the sleeping young man in the passenger seat, and silently gesturing to the wheelchair in the back, after checking his license the officer let him pass.Had he looked a little closer at the shadowed passenger, he’d have noticed the blood flowing down his temple, and the fact that beneath his blanket,the young man’s hands were tied together.

But he did none of that, and he’d forgotten about the car a few minutes later.By that time,said car was already out of Gotham, it’s destination…Freeland.

Chapter Text

“…If you take me to him,he’ll kill us both,”The redhead continued driving, pretending like he’d gone deaf after he’d shared his grand plan of trading Khalil over to Tobias-

“I used to live in Freeland,I recognized you on sight-and I figure the White Whale will pay good money to finish you off properly”-The man had developed selective hearing.

Familiar buildings flew past,and had the situation not been so  bad,Khalil would have taken the time to enjoy the sights he never thought he’d see again.The whole way towards the meeting point, Khalil tried in vain to talk the man out of his plan. But in the end he realized it was useless,and his fear quickly bled away,taking with it his worry over whether Jason had made it out.Khalil had given him a chance by hiding his unconscious form beneath the bathtub, before his kidnapper had finished kicking down the hidden door into the bathroom.

The cold cutoff state he’d been in since waking up in Gotham washed over him, and he let it sink in, all traces of emotion leaving him as he withdrew into himself, not even paying attention to the throbbing  headache he had courtesy of the fist that had knocked him out.

“Fine then, do what you have to do,”He closed his eyes, ignoring the anxious looks he was receiving due to his sudden change in attitude.

***

Shakedown wasn’t new to being a mercenary.He might have been on ice longer than usual, but the job was still the same.What was different however, was their current boss, Tobias Whale.

The man was …insane.

And not in the kill people for me sense(all their previous handlers had been crazy like that),Tobias   nutjob that he was-had layers to him.

By now the Masters of Disaster had learnt not to disturb him when he talked to his sister’s portrait. They didn’t question his mania when he went around breaking everything insight(human necks included), nor did they say anything when he pulled out a dark blue wheelchair from a room none of them were allowed to enter and sat on it for hours, mumbling to himself about painkillers and cyanides.

At the rate the man was deteriorating(he’d even stopped grooming-and his hair was a hot mess), they’d have a new handler soon-something none of them were sure would be a good thing, in their experience, handlers got worse with each exchange.

“You see Tori, this is why I don’t like giving out my number,some idiot called to arrange a meeting with me, calls himself Natedawg- and says he has something for me-”Heatwave silently backed out of Tobias’ path as the man grabbed his jacket.

“Yes-yes I know it’s my work phone-but does that mean everyone can call me?Times like this I wish that Todd boy was still alive…I know he’s dead, but it was Cutter who did it, then she tried to cut me.Can you believe it?”He paused grabbing a tumbler of scotch and raising it to picture, nodding to a conversation only he could hear,he took a sip of his drink, and put it down, grabbing his gun.

“Let’s go,”They fell in line  without question.

***

Paranoia was now second nature to Khalil-something Natedawg didn’t know.During the whole time Khalil had been pleading with him,he’d been subtly searching for the tiny knife he kept in his pants.It had moved from the usual spot,and since his legs couldn’t feel it,he had to do a careful search with his tied hands.

When his fingers finally closed around the thin handle, he got to work,moving slowly so that his kidnapper wouldn’t realize what was happening. He’d just made it through the final rope when the car turned into an old garage, and stopped- and right in its headlights-stood Tobias Whale-looking unkempt and crazier than usual-but it was still him.

A flash of rage ran through him,mingling with pure terror as his back grew taut, pulling on itself and a bone deep ache emanated from his spine.

Not now, not now, not now…

The mental chant put his walls back up, none of his fear or his pain showing on his face as he slowly drowned it in ice.Tobias had already done the worst to him,he looked down at his unmoving legs, and gripped his knife tighter.Reverend Holt’s voice came to him then…

“All I have to do, is be black and die,” Remembering the words settled Khalil, and helped him bury the last of his fear-no way would he die cowering at the feet of a worm like Tobias.

He watched as Natedawg talked to the crime boss, gesturing wildly, his red hair flying all over his face.When the men made their way to the car, Khalil got ready-he’d only have one chance after all.Natedawg opened the door, and Tobias looked in.

His eyes widened in shock(Natedawg clearly hadn’t told him exactly who was in the car).He leaned in, the same smile he’d had on his face when he’d broken a fish tank with Khalil’s head, gracing his features.

“Well, well, well-Khalil Payne, long time no see,”

“Tobias Whale- still looking as pasty huh,”The man leaned further  in at the insult and Khalil struck, slapping him(the hit wasn’t meant to hurt,not that it could even if Khalil wanted it to), but it surprised Tobias enough,that he jerked his head to the side-and right into Khalil’s knife.

The force of Tobias’ own movement would have to be enough to drive it in, and severe his carotid.

But the puncture never came, the blade vibrated before it was wrenched right out of Khalil’s hand and it folded in on itself as though it were made of paper.

What?

***

The attack,was unexpected,and for a moment-Tobias just stood there-looking over at the lump that used to be a knife.Shakedown snapped his fingers and it compressed into a smooth ball,and Tobias picked it up-pocketing it he looked over at Khalil, and an unrestrained  laugh bubbled from his throat.

That was the most unexpected thing to happen to him in a long time.

He reached into the car dragging the  teen by his neck, and pulling him out.Khalil went without a struggle, and still using one hand,Tobias pulled him so close their foreheads touched and he bared his teeth at him,squeezing tighter.

Indifferent eyes met his, and for a moment Tobias was reminded so strongly of Syonide’s blank gaze that he almost stumbled.He loosened his grip,allowing the boy to breathe, and swept him into a bridal carry.

“…So sorry, I didn’t know he was armed I-”The freckled mongrel’s words finally filtered  through,and Tobias turned an icy glare on him-he shut up.

“What happened to his face?”Tobias asked and the man took a step back,only to be blocked by Heatwave’s bulky form.

Dismissing him Tobias began walking away.

“Sir, his supplies-I managed to take them during the fight,”The man opened the back of the car,pulling out a wheelchair,as well as a bag, and put them down.

The Masters of Disaster shared a look-like pieces of a puzzle were falling into place,and Tobias scoffed at them,readjusting his hold on Khalil who was doing his best impression of a lifeless marionette.

He gestured at the stuff and Shakedown picked it up as Tobias  began walking away,his exit was once again halted by the idiot henchman.

“…What about my payment?I-”An ice spear went right through the man’s head,and his body turned to ash before it hit the ground.

“I don’t pay for damaged goods,”The upper part of Khalil’s body stiffened at the comment,but his legs remained limp.Tobias added pressure to the limbs-squeezing hard enough to leave bruises, but the teen didn’t react.

He’d done the same thing the night he’d gone to see him in the hospital,and Khalil hadn’t reacted then either-ahh,memories.

***

Khalil looked around his old room(the one he’d only used once before being shipped off to the ASA, nothing had changed-even his custom made wheelchair was still there, a blessing since Tobias had destroyed the one he had,calling it cheap).

“Are you incapable of eating completely or is the feeding tube just a supplement,”

The thing about Tobias was...when he was being cordial, you could almost forget how vile he was.But those days were long behind Khalil, so rather than play his game of faux politeness he decided to just get to the point.

“When are you going to kill me?”Tobias’ took a sharp breath,as though genuinely surprised by his question.

He casually put aside Khalil’s bag, and stood,walking to the bed where he’d deposited Khalil earlier.

“The decision to kill you, though cruel came from a place of love,”Khalil’s brows rose in disbelief,but Tobias carried on, seating himself at the foot of the bed.

“You were too weak for this world, and as your father-figure it was up to  me to remove you from it as an act of mercy,”A hand clamped around Khalil’s ankle,and he tried to drag himself backwards,but the headboard blocked him.

“You ripped the spine from my back,”There was nothing but venom in the statement.

“Yes-yes I did,”Tobias reached out and tapped at his unmoving ankle,“But you still survived,that shows strength-you’ve earned your right to continue living, ”With that Tobias got up,leaving the room after one final unnerving glance back.

Desperate for some level of normalcy, Khalil went through his nightly routine,even if he was slower than usual, by the time he was done, he was exhausted, but sleep refused to come.

He spent the rest of the night looking down at Freeland from his newest prison, his back radiating waves of pain.The agony not helped by the fact that he could almost hear the screams of his past self coming from downstairs.

Chapter Text

Gotham was a blood bath,in the days following the death of her rival(yes Barb secretly called him that), Jason had gone on a rampage.And after months of her wayward brother being well behaved, it’d caught them off guard.And Barb had been forced to push aside her search for her  deceased rival’s identity.

This rampage wasn’t like the first one,when he’d come back from the dead.That had been fuelled by rage, this recent killing spree was more desperate and had wrecked up a larger body count.The few who’d lived long enough to be questioned had mentioned that Red Hood was looking for something.None of them ever said what it was,so the Bats were playing a desperate game of catch the killer, rather than trying to find out what he was looking for and try to use it to control him.

The entrance to the Batcave opened up and Dick came through.He was covered from head to toe in blood, and grey guck.Before Barb could even start to worry, he disengaged his Nightwing suit(showing the unharmed body beneath) and all but fell on her,his head pillowed on her lap.

She ran a hand over his dirty hair.

“Jason killed Pyg tonight,”

“Head shot?”She asked,staring at the grey matter on the discarded suit and he made a disagreeing sound.

“He beat the head off his body with a crowbar,”Barb stopped her ministrations, feeling queasy just imagining it.She resumed her gentle caress,trying to chase away the horrors he’d seen through touch.

“Last time I saw Pyg,he’d been working on a baby.Bats and I stopped Jason from killing him then.Today he had another batch, none of them couldn’t have been older than a year-and he hadn’t even cared,”

“Hey, it’s not your fault,”

“But in a way it is-Pyg’s done this so many times and we’ve always sent him to Arkham knowing he’d be out in no time.The man was murdered right in front of me,and that’s wrong, but I don’t feel bad.Barb,it feels like justice’s been served…and that scares me,what if I turn into Jason?”The defeated slump in his shoulders tore at her heart and she lead down,placing a kiss on his brow.

There was nothing more she could say to his statement.They had a rule-don’t kill-it was the dividing line between them and the bad guys.But the bad guys had long since stopped playing by the rules, she looked down at her unmoving legs before shaking her head to dislodge the bad thoughts.

“Pyg was a bad man, but we can’t play judge, jury and executioner- we just have to  do our best to makes sure those like him stay off the streets longer,”It felt hollow even as she said it, but it was all they had,their last bit of sanity, and both of them were going to cling to it.

***

Jen checked out the modifications to her suit.Uncle Gambi had really outdone himself, next to her Anissa was texting Grace-and judging by her goofy smile, they were probably saying sweet nothings to one another.

A few feet from them, their parents, Uncle Gambi and Chief Henderson were watching the glasses taken from one of Tobias’ victims-Todd Green-with interest.Uncle Gambi was certain he was close to cracking the code protecting whatever information was in the burnt out glasses.There probably wouldn’t be much given the level of damage the boy’s car exploding had caused, but at this point, a little info was better than nothing.

A holographic screen came to life and Uncle Gambi gave a triumphant cry as an image started to form.

It was a bit blurry at first, but then Tobias Whale’s ugly mug came into focus and Jen rolled her eyes.She was just about to go back to admiring her suit when another person came into Todd’s line of sight-Khalil.

Breathing was suddenly very difficult.

The sound was a lost cause, but despite having a few cuts here and there the video was pretty clear.For a long while nothing much happened,Khalil and Tobias appeared to be exchanging words,before the video cut off,then when it came back up again,Tobias was in Khalil’s personal space.

The sound in the next shot came out of nowhere, and the  tortured scream made all of them jump.None of them looked away-they couldn’t.Everything was suddenly so loud and so bright.The sound of Khalil’s screams mixing with the squeaky squelch of metal rubbing against bone and being torn from flesh.And just as quickly as it had begun, it was over.

They were once again watching a silent film,with Khalil’s open back on display.Against all odds,he was still alive-still moving, trying to crawl, and when the fight finally went out of him and his head hit the floor,everything faded to black.

Then the black gave way to golden light.

It was only when her Dad enveloped her in a hug,siphoning her energy that Jen realized the light was coming from her.The lights flickered and she watched her suit catch fire, knowing that she had to stop, but the things that usually grounded her were gone.Even the hair salon in her mind offered no comfort,the Jennifer in there was screaming,holding a pearl necklace that kept shifting into a human spine whenever she tried to put it down.

***

The lights in the penthouse flickered before going out, a few seconds later the generator kicked in.The momentary darkness reminded Khalil of the night Jennifer had come for him when he’d run from Tobias, and he swiftly pushed thoughts of her away.This was an ordinary power cut,she had nothing to do with it, and he wasn’t doing himself any favours by thinking of her.

He finished the last chapter of his book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, and put it down, not quite sure what to feel-was the main character weak for refusing to change and committing suicide,or was he strong for choosing to go down in his own terms.When he’d been with Jason all his reading had been on the non fictional things, but Tobias wasn’t allowing him any electronics,so he had to make due with a lot of books.Most of them left him feeling out of sorts as he tried to interpret the meanings-it was good exercise, and he’d found he really enjoyed philosophy.

“I’m home,”Tobias’ low rumble caught him off guard but Khalil didn’t show it,simply putting the book on his lap and taking it back to its shelf.

The moment he finished,he was jerked back and Tobias began wheeling him out of the library,not even bothering to ask for permission.Something Khalil hated,but it was better than when the man decided to carry him.Both actions were a show of power, Tobias’ way of reminding him of the things he couldn’t do anymore, and Khalil would die before showing Tobias  how much it bothered him.

***

Tobias dug into his salad, across from him Khalil was slowly making his way through a banana(fifteen minutes and he was almost half way through).For the first few days,the boy had actually tried sticking to just solid food-not trusting the formula Tobias brought him,good, at least he was no longer annoyingly gullible, but hunger had finally driven him to start tube feeding.

It wasn’t a matter of trust-it was survival.Khalil hated him, but he understood Tobias’ importance to his survival.And though he didn’t know it,Khalil was just as important to Tobias.

Khalil’d come back.

Tobias’ Mom had left, his sister had left and Syonide had left.Everybody kept leaving,that was the way of his life-but Khalil had come back.And he’d come back at a time that Tobias, though he didn’t like to admit it,had been falling apart.Then there’d been Khalil, who’d taken just one look and had immediately tried to kill him(most grown men,with full functioning arms and legs wouldn’t even dream of it, but the boy had dared).Tobias didn’t do hugs unless he was trying to kill someone, but immediately after Khalil’s failed assassination, he’d been overcome by the urge to hug him, he’d settled for carrying him instead.

It was the first none violent contact he’d initiated with another human being in ages and he’d found himself carrying the boy from time to time-the touch calming him,and clearing his mind.He looked back at Khalil,who’d abandoned the banana and was now enjoying his vegan formula, and  smirked.

The unexpected clarity the kid brought  had  made a lot of things align in Tobias’ mind.There’d been a lot  of discord in his operation in the weeks he’d been…out.It was time to clean house. He signaled for the chef  and got  up,grabbing the  bag that had Khalil’s feed pump and his formula, and slinging it over his  shoulder .The boy didn’t even try to fight when Tobias picked him up,his head coming to rest against Tobias shoulder in a resigned manner.

“Grab his chair and his shoes, were going to a little get together,”The Masters of Disaster were instantly by his side, and Tobias couldn’t suppress a feral grin as they entered the elevator.

***

The drive to wherever they were going was silent, and once they got there and his wheelchair was assembled again, Khalil was so glad to no longer be carried by Tobias,that he didn’t even mind that the man was pushing him.

Neon lights flashed and for a moment Khalil’s mind blanked-club 100?But why?The reason became apparent as soon as they made it to the underground.All the leaders on the different sects of the gang were there,seated around a table and chatting silently-their enforcers standing behind them.

Tobias’ new bodyguards entered first, while he and the bald man lingered in the shadows at the edge of the room and everyone instantly fell silent.

“Evening, Mr Whale thanks you all for showing up despite the short notice,”It was Shakedown who spoke, and when a few of the less patient bosses voiced their discontent, there was a burst of energy from him that shook the room and quieted them.

Tobias let out low rumble of a laugh that was more threatening than reassuring as they got out of the shadows and all eyes were instantly on them.

***

Like the final drop of  water needed for a  dam to burst, the reason they were there came to Khalil the moment the eyes of the 100 landed on him.Once upon a time Khalil had been Tobias’ shadow-working alongside Syonide, he’d been powerful, and when Tobias  had clipped his wings he’d hit the ground-hard.

Some of the gang leaders looked at him in pity, others looked as though they might throw up-but it was the third group that was most interesting.

They…were terrified.

Human beings as a whole did not show fear for a misfortune that had befallen someone else, unless they knew that they too were in danger of the same thing happening to them.

Snitches.

They were two headed snakes and the sight of Khalil-alive and back in a wheelchair had startled them so badly their masks had slipped for a split second,and that split second was all Tobias had needed.

The move was calculating,terrifying, and unquestionably brilliant-Khalil would have done the  same to get information for Jason, and even the slightest hint of being similar to Tobias scared him.

Then Tobias snapped his fingers and the screaming began.

Khalil watched the mini-genocide unfold and it scared him, not because of the horrors he was witnessing, but because of how unbothered he was by it all-when had cold blooded murder stopped bothering him?He looked up only to find Tobias watching him with an approving look and Khalil turned his attention back to the growing blood stains.

Tobias had no business looking at him like that.Not when Khalil’s back ached 24/7 and the sound of metal rubbing against his spine had become the theme song to his nightmares.

***

After disposing of most of the rats that had been trying to steal his cheese,Tobias had left only one alive-no way those fools had thought they could take him on their own.Someone had to have been feeding their egos, and Tobias was going to find out who.

He’d left Newwave to do the questioning (the woman had a knack for torture), but while he was still riding the high of his success, he decided to deal with one other thing.

His lower level lackies had tracked his target to a supermarket and Tobias waited patiently, listening to some smooth jazz.He watched the woman step out, her arms laden with groceries, and he got out of the car,reaching her just in time to catch one of the bags before it fell.

“Dr Stewart, fancy seeing you here,”He gave her his coldest smile and the woman flinched before  collecting herself and glaring at him.

“What do you want?”He let out a genuine laugh at her haughtiness, easily keeping up with her as she tried to speed walk to her car.

“Ahh, forgive me.I was so excited I sought an audience with royalty without making an appointment,”She slowed then,giving him a confused look.

“Isn’t that what you are?Superhero royalty?Should I call you Lady Lightning?”Her head reared back and she stopped completely, her fear showing.

“W-wha-I don’t know what you’re on about,”

“I think you do,”All traces of mirth left his face and he fixed her with a stone cold look.

“Whenever something happens to your children,Black Lightning is always there, and a week after I tore out a boy’s spine, a fire cracker of a girl showed up at my door step and lit me up-and who was there to stop her-Black Lightning,”She resumed walking,visibly struggling not to break into a run.

“Tell me, are you catching my drift,or do I need to spell it out,”They’d reached her car, and he opened the door for her.

“Are you going to kill me?”Her composure was back as she stared him down, and Tobias handed her, her groceries.

“Of course not, you’re a mother, I have a very strict rule about mothers,”

“I just want you to pass a message along.Black Lightning and Jefferson Pierce are going to die, and should he do anything more to inconvenience me…your daughters will be joining him,”He walked away after that,his job done.Before approaching her,he’d only been 98% sure, but she’d unwittingly just confirmed his theory.

Jefferson Pierce really was Black Lightning-interesting.

***

Jason stood in front of a wooden post, taking deep breaths,and somewhere between the count of five and six he rammed himself into it.Stiffling his screams as his shoulder popped back into place, he fell to his knees.

What a mess.

In his rage, he’d decided to take on both Falcone and Black mask, and any other criminal that crossed his path.Rather than making things better,it had gotten worse.To take him down,the criminals had formed an alliance-something unheard of.He’d been too enthusiastic when he’d killed Pyg, and maybe beating Killer Croc to a pulp with his own severed hand had been overkill, but there’d been green-so much green.The endless mist moving just beyond his reach,swallowing up everything he killed and still baying for blood,wanting more and more until Jason was consumed by bloodlust.

He’d only just been able to pull himself from it-and he had no Khalil to show for his efforts.Not only that, crime had tripled thanks to the criminals teaming up.And Bats were now hounding him more than ever.

He needed a new plan.

Doing the things the heroes were too chicken to do themselves hero hadn’t won him any favours, but he knew one person (besides Khalil),who’d be willing to help-and Jason would do the same for him.

He picked up his cell-the latest in a string of burner phones,ignoring the cracked screen as he dialed.

“…hello?”He took a calming breath,shocked by how much he’d missed the other’s voice.

“Hey, Roy-been a while huh…”Something cluttered on the other end, and Jason leaned against the pole that had reset his shoulder,already feeling much better.

Chapter Text

Khalil awoke to Tobias’ fingers moving over the scar that ran along his spine.For a moment his mind just switched off,everything  narrowing until all that mattered was Tobias’ hands dancing over the same spot he’d reached into to rip out Khalil’s implant.

No.No.No.No!

His hand gripped the sheets tight,as he struggled to breathe.Cold sweat made its way down his brow, and he turned his focus to the window-looking over at the soft rain hitting the glass,trying  to  count  the droplets.

“…idiot think he is,”Tobias was on the phone he finally realized, and  the albino man’s voice became his anchor-if he could focus on figuring out what the conversation was about, and he wouldn’t have to pay attention to the hands touching him.

He clung to the voice, and when the distant echo became something solid that he could make sense of,he nearly let out a relieved sigh,but managed to hold it.

“If Sionis thinks he can just move in on my turf,he’s got another thing coming,”There was bite to Tobias voice, and for a moment Khalil registered a twinge of pain in his back before the other eased up.

Who was Sionis,and where did they get the balls to go against Tobias?

“The 100,are what they are because of me.The Shadow Board gave me a husk, and I made it into something magnificent,”

“Some Ivy League whiteboy thinks he can just waltz in and take it…”

“And the idiot doesn’t even have the guts to face me using his true name….Black Mask-Black Mask,really?”

“Like Black Mask is any better than bedwetter-Ramone, or thumbsucker Sionis…everyone worth their salt remembers that…a suit and a new mask do not change what he is”The realization of exactly what he was hearing knocked the breath out of Khalil and he was no longer able to feign sleep.

Not even Oracle’d had information on Black Mask’s true identity, and Tobias had just handed it to him on a silver platter.Ramone Sionis was old money,rich to the point of owning a bank-he’d been suspected of killing his parents a few years back,but the charges hadn’t stuck(Black Mask had killed the witnesses).

“You’re awake-good-how do you feel about a game of chess,”It was two in the morning,and Khalil had just had to talk himself down from a panic attack.But getting up meant Tobias wouldn’t be touching him anymore,so he  gripped the side of the bed and levered himself up-ignoring the deliberate way Tobias’ hand lingered,pulling away slowly enough to let him know he was only moving because Tobias allowed it.

In their last chess game,Tobias had beaten all thinking and logic out of him(literally).But their latest game was played quietly,with no slaps in sight(and Khalil was glad,he was pretty sure a slap from Tobias could kill him now).Both of them went through the game,each plotting out their next steps with the new information they had.At the end of it,Khalil looked up at Tobias, his face blank, and the other glared at him-unable to understand how he’d lost.

Leaving the man to figure it out, he headed for the bathroom-it was time for his first cath of the day.

***

Jason walked through the streets of Freeland, his skin itching at the openness of it.

Where was the cold-the damp-the oppressive smell of chemicals eating away at his lungs?

Had it not been for the obvious drug deals he could see happening in the street corners and the distant sound of gunshots, he’d have run out of town long ago.

Bright,sunny places never did sit well with him.

With the sun setting, he felt a bit ‘safer’ as he moved into the shadows and kept an eye out.

Roy(much as Jason hated admitting it,since it inflated the other’s ego),was an exccellent tracker.He’d dropped into Gotham for  a whole twelve hours,  and by the time he’d left, (Green Arrow was after Arsenal,and neither of them  could afford to have the attention of two members of the league at the same time), Jason had known exactly where to look.

“Just buy  me a drink that doesn’t taste like piss next time, and help me work out the kinks in my arm,”He’d left with a wave of his mechanical hand, the bats never realizing he’d ever been there.One of the perks of the criminal population  going berserk.

***

It might not be a skill he used often, but when needed Jason was very good at gathering intel instead of beating it out of people.He skulked around in the shadows,listening to the 100 talk.All their conversations were hushed,overlayed with a sense of fear despite the confidence they were trying to convey.He moved from group to group,until he found goons who were high up enough to have an inkling of what was going on.

A reshuffle-the upper crust,they’d been cut down-literally-by Tobias Whale himself, and not only that,the terrified gang members spoke of something else.The White Whale hadn’t been alone-he’d resurrected one of his generals…Painkiller.

Jason struggled to associate Khalil with the type of reverence the gang members said his name-like the kid was something to be feared-something lethal, a predator.To him  Khalil meant pajamas and sweatpants no matter the time of  day, a mother hen personality,  not the fearsome  enforcer he  was hearing about.

Deciding there was nothing more to be gained from eavesdropping,Jason made to leave,only to stop when one of the man got a phone call and was instantly on his feet.

“Yo!Load up, Whale’s under attack!”They made their way out of the bar, none of them noticing the moving shadow trailing after them.

***

They’d been having another forced chess match, after Tobias had carried him downstairs in the  middle  of  the  night.The next thing Khalil knew,he was on the floor,Tobias holding him down as he barked out orders.

Then he was hoisted up, and they’d just made it to the top of the stairs when the wall to Tobias’ study exploded, and like a swarm of bees-men and women in familiar black masks were suddenly everywhere.

Tobias tucked Khalil in, shielding him and Khalil could hear bullets bouncing off his bulletproof suit.A wall of ice erupted out of nowhere,covering them for a split second before it was destroyed, but the moment it went down a wall of fire came up, and Khalil could hear screams coming from behind it.

“Where’s the chooper?”Tobias asked as Shakedown stepped in next to him, and the other man shook his head.

“I’ve just received word that it was gunned down outside Freeland,”Something shifted in Tobias’ gaze then,his eyes going hard as he changed direction and entered Khalil’s room,straightening after placing him on his wheelchair.

“No one makes it to this door,”He pulled out his gun and cocked it“Let’s go welcome our guests,”A man barreled into the room immediately after, and seconds later his blood was replacing the paint on the door.Tobias kicked him clean out of the room on his way out, and then he turned,giving Khalil a look he couldn’t interpret  before closing the door.

They hadn’t even bothered to give him a weapon, but black mask’s minion had dropped a knife when he’d gotten a new hole in his head, and Khalil swiftly made his way to it.It wasn’t much, but it was definitely better than nothing.

***

Not even  five minutes had passed before  the  door was kicked open.

Khalil didn’t hesitate, the knife went flying the moment  the intruder entered, and it lodged itself right  between his eyes.Except instead  of dropping  dead,the man  only staggered before  righting  himself and  reaching  for the blade’s handle.

There was only one person who could  take a hit like that and  shrug it off.

…Lala.

***

“Painkiller, looks like  the grim reaper doesn’t want  you too huh,”Blood dripped down the  length of  Lala’s  nose as he finished pulling the  blade all the  way out.The part of Khalil that still registered things like disgust and revulsion recoiled when the man casually wiped his own brain matter off the blade.

There was something about Lala that  just made people  uncomfortable, and his  presence had grown even more unnerving since he’d started ressurecting.

A sickly sweet taste,the  same that had been  making  eating  difficult, built up  in Khalil’s mouth  as he watched the man’s slow approach.

He wanted to scream, but screaming , if  he  was somehow heard over the chaos  outside meant Tobias coming to his aid, so he held his tongue.He was also  past the point of begging,experience had taught him how useless that was.

“Hello,Lala,”The cold monotone was back in his voice, and Lala paused,seemingly thrown off.

“For someone who’s  about to die, you don’t seem very scared,”Lala said it like he was commenting  on the weather.And Khalil  was forced to remember that the man had not only  killed his own cousin, he also didn’t have Tobias’ “ no mama rule”.

Lie…The sound  of Jason’s voice in  his head reinforced his will  and  Khalil leaned back  in  his chair, meeting  Lala’s eyes.

“That’s because I’m not  about  to die,”Lala’s steps faltered.

“You’re not going  to  kill me  Lala, you’re going  to take me with  you,”
***

Khalil ignored Lala’s disbelieving  chuckle, focusing instead on  throwing  together his argument.

“Boy, you are some  type of crazy,what makes you  think I won’t kill Tobias’s  play thing?”Lala  threw the knife to the floor and pulled  out his gun, the cold steel  coming to rest on  Khalil’s  temple.Rather than tensing or shying  away he leaned into  the weapon, almost choking on  the cloying sweetness in his mouth now.

He wanted to lash  out at the ‘play thing’ comment,instead he  grabbed his push  rims tight.

“Like you said, I belong to Tobias”He swallowed down bile“If you take me, Tobias will come, he’ll walk into whatever trap you set to get back what’s his, giving you a chance to kill him,”

It was foolish, and all kinds of dangerous, but Lala was probably his best bet for a chance at freedom.

He tried not to show his relief when the other man wheeled him out of the room and into the war outside, surviving multiple lethal hits before finally getting them to the garage .

***

Sneaking into Tobias  penthouse wasn’t all that hard seeing as all the security features were down and one section of the building had a literal hole in it.

Jason ghosted his way in,sticking to the dark corners and killing indiscriminately, one of the perks of being in a house full of murderers.He moved deeper into the penthouse, looking for signs of Khalil.

An empty blood covered room upstairs was as far as he got before an outraged scream sounded from behind him,and he barely got out off the way of a harpoon,his jacket sleeve not being so lucky.

“Where is he?”The soft growl somehow blanketed all the noise, and without even being given a chance to answer,Jason found himself going one on one with Tobias Whale.

Jason was a mean and dirty fighter, but Tobias hit like a freight train.And his strength wasn’t based on raw power like Superman, he actually knew what he was doing.Were it not for Jason’s own advanced training,his ribs would’ve turned to mush after the first few skillful jabs.

He danced around Tobias,pulling the man’s arm back,nearly popping it from its socket.Tobias did some kind of weird shake,throwing him off, and Jason hit the nearby wall with enough force to knock off the potraits there.

He got up in time to avoid,Tobias’ fist,which left a hole where his head had been,and in that split second he caught sight of something.

A man moving through the chaos as fast as he could,pushing a wheelchair,and though Jason couldn’t see who it was, he just knew it had to be Khalil.

He dodged a few more punches from Tobias,and when the right moment came…he threw a smoke bomb in  his face.After one last vindictive kick at the man’s crotch he threw himself out the window.

***

Lala wasn’t much of a talker-to Khalil at least.

The older man’d been talking none stop since they left the penthouse(where he’d conveniently left Khalil’s chair once he’d gotten him into the car).Only he was talking to people Khalil couldn’t see, and his tattoos were glowing like crazy.

From time to time Lala let go of the steering wheel completely,reprimanding the empty space in the backseat.The more he talked the more the sweetness in Khalil’s mouth increased,like something was building up in him.

He looked down at the legs he could no longer feel,and over at Lala batting away imaginary fleas,and not for the first time he realized things could have been much worse for him.

A motorcycle came up from behind them, and just when Khalil thought the biker would keep on moving,he slowed at Lala’s side and pulled out a gun,unloading it into the undying man.

Lala jerked wildly,the bullets falling out of their holes and hitting onto the leather chairs.He pulled out his own gun,but by that time the biker had already gone ahead,already having realized his assassination wouldn’t work.

But rather than continuing on like Khalil thought he’d do,the man did a swerve that had his knee nearly on the ground, and turned to face them,another gun in his hands.Pointed directly at the driver’s side.

***

Khalil didn’t see the gun go off, but when the glass exploded inwards,he put his hands up, shards raining down on him.Only the seatbelt kept him  in place when the car tires exploded,bringing the car to a forceful stop, and the car’s airbag pushed him back seconds later.

Lala made to get out, but the assassin was already on him, his feet coming right through the ruined windshield, and landing on Lala’s ribcage with loud crack.

Khalil recognized those boots,pitch black and most definitely custom made with the skin of a reptile that didn’t look like it had come from earth.

Jason.

Lala’s ribs expanded outwards again,rearranging painfully as the man coughed up blood.One hand came up, curling around Jason’s ankle in an iron grip.The other reached for his gun, and ignoring his own aches and pains,Khalil knocked it from his grip, getting punched in the face for his trouble.His head snapped back so hard he hit the passenger side window,his vision going fuzzy for a moment.

Warm blood ran down his face, but something in him had shifted.The sweetness in his mouth no longer felt cloying,it seeped into his blood, a cooling balm that took away his aches.The familiarity of exactly what he was experiencing took him by surprise.

It couldn’t be.

Tobias had taken his power the day he’d taken away Khalil’s ability to walk-again,but…

The cut on his forehead was closing up, his pain a distant memory,and everything just felt so wonderful…

A pained gurgle brought him back to his surroundings,right in time for him to see Lala stab Jason in the stomach  with a piece of glass, dragging him into the car and trying to inflict more damage.

The warmth flowing through him,turned cold and hard, like a snake uncoiling,fangs bared and ready to strike.

Lala had picked his gun up, and it was aimed right at Jason’s head.

There was no thinking about it,it was either Lala or Jason, and Khalil’s fingertips tapped Lala’s forehead,the man hitting the steering wheel almost immediately.When Jason unloaded a round into him, his blood spraying the interior of the car and going all over Khalil’s ruined pajamas …Lala didn’t get up.

“What was that?!”Jason pulled off the ski mask that he was wearing,hissing in pain when he tried to get off the hood.

Jason was hurt, bad enough that he couldn’t suppress the pain and pretend he was okay.

Jason should never hurt like that.Reaching a hand out,Khalil held the other’s bruised cheek.

He was fading again,going into that numb place where nothing really mattered, but he held on,trying to make sure Jason wasn’t hurting.To his surprise the bruises began to fade rapidly,and the glass Jason’d been stabbed with was pushed out by healing flesh,the skin knitting itself together,becoming flawless once again.

He could heal others…oh.

He brought his hand up to the now tiny cut on his temple,trying to close it all the way,but there was nothing left in him.His sluggish hand dropped,and his head lolled,finally allowing him to take sight of where he was.

The church,right where he’d been shot.The doors were thrown open and even at a distance he could make out Reverend Holt’s silhouette.He turned his head back to Jason,who was staring at his non-existent wounds in confusion.

“Go,”He whispered, and blinked,by the time he his eyes opened again, Jason was gone.

He blinked again, his eyes falling on the watch on Lala’s hand.

Two minutes.

An entire lifetime had passed in two minutes.

With his next blink,he was no longer thinking about the passage of time.Whatever had allowed him to exercise a power he shouldn’t have had anymore was gone.Leaving his upper body feeling like he’d been dunked in freezing water, his spine turning on itself,the pain something so deep, it felt like someone was reaching through his back and churning his guts.

Cold sweat ran down his brow,

“…My God…”Reverend Holt’s voice briefly broke through agony, a steadying hand holding his shoulder
“Hang on boy,…the lord is your shepherd…”He hung on long enough to hear the sound of the ambulance.

Then he just let the pain pull him away.

Chapter Text

Back before Jason’d come back to Gotham, when he still thought Bruce loved him enough to take down the Joker.He’d often wondered what his home coming would be like.The reality when he’d finally made it there,had nearly killed him a second time.

 He’d  found Joker alive,cackling, and with  an increased body count that wasn’t  a  barrel of  laughs.And all Bruce’d  had for  him was the cold glare of Batman, and chains that had thrown  him in  Arkham, in a cell  right next to the Joker’s, the man’s hyena laughs  burrowing into him  until Jason no longer knew whether he was dying all over again,or if the Lazarus pits were taking away the  last of his sanity, swallowing everything in  a poisonous cloud of green.

Khalil didn’t  know  what that felt  like,to be let down  so thoroughly, but Jason did.And looking over at the people waiting in the uncomfortable hospital chairs.Khalil’s mother, the Pierces and the cops, he knew what was coming.

Tobias had gotten to Khalil  before they could get anything out of him the  last  time, they were most likely going  to try again.Promising  protection and if that failed,dangling justice for  what had been done  to him.

Jefferson  Pierce despite being a vigilante,still believed  in  the  system, and Khalil might just burn  himself  to please the older man…Jason couldn’t  let that happen.

It was a simple  matter to  intercept Khalil’s doctor on  her way to the  waiting room.Spilling coffee  on  her and  buying  himself time to get to Khalil while she went to make herself more presentable.

He slipped into a camera blindspot and entered a storage closet.And when he came out,the fidgety young man in a too large coat and  a baseball cap  was gone,replaced by a confident man in scrubs,who made his way purposely through the  hospital corridors, and into one Khalil Payne’s  room.

***

Only moments after Jason had left, having drawn a solemn promise for Khalil to lie about everything,the door opened again.

“My baby…”Khalil heard her before he saw her, and  just the sound of her voice  was enough for feeling to bloom in  the numbness that had followed him for months.

He felt her soft hand on the  back of his head,a kiss  on the shell of his ear, and that was all  it took  for him to start crying.The sobs wrecking his body made everything hurt, but what hurt even more was that his mother was crying too.After the death of his brother,he’d sworn she’d never shed tears for him, then he’d gone off and  joined a gang.

He’d  brought  her more heartache than Keenan  ever had, he didn’t  think  he’d ever be able to forgive himself for  that.

She  pulled away from him and he started struggling  again.Ignoring the frantic machines, as he tried and failed to  hang on  to  her sleeve.

“Don’t leave…take me with you…don’t…”Her hand came back,this time settling on his cheek as she gave him a teary smile.

“Hey there, it’s alright,I’m not going anywhere,Chief Henderson and Mr Pierce are outside,they want to talk to you for a minute,”In the few seconds it took for her to open the door, he had himself under control.

***

Khalil stared up at the ceiling with  dry eyes,trying  and failing  to process all that had happened.

With Jason’s heads up, he’d been able to hold himself together even at the sight of his mom.He hadn’t let his joy at being reunited with  her blind him  to the very real trouble he was in.He’d lied through his teeth about everything, blaming it all on  a fictional memory chip,while hoping and praying that the inactive tracking chip in his head would fool them  long  enough for Jason to come up with  something.

Only that hadn’t been necessary-there really had been a second chip, and it would always be there.

“Not only is it made from materials we’ve never seen before,it’s embedded too deeply,removing  it would kill  you instantly,”

It had taken a lot to pretend like it wasn’t news to him,like he’d already known,and it was only the tight grip of his mother’s hand that had kept him grounded-he would not be leaving her again.

But now the adults were gone, and the full implications of exactly what the chip meant were sinking in.

How much control did he have over himself?Was he just a walking zombie-he knew for sure getting his implant ripped out should have killed him,what if the chip was what was keeping him alive?Who’d put it in him?Was it Tobias?But if it had been him why not use it?

Or maybe he had,and Khalil hadn’t even known.It was messed up enough that Tobias might actually have done it.But if so why stop,he  could have kept Khalil as a puppet,doing his bidding without ever letting him surface?
Almost as though summoned the door opened and Tobias-looking like a combination of  warmed up roadkill and an insane scientist walked in.The wild look in his eyes receding when they landed on Khalil.

For his part, Khalil tasted hints of a familiar sweetness in his mouth,his body pushing past his exhaustion to try and defend him.

***

His heart monitor didn’t reflect his panic,keeping a steady pace even as he struggled to not flinch when Tobias took a seat,his hand coming to rest on Khalil’s knee“What do you want?”
“Come now,what sort of mentor would I be if I didn’t come to check on you after last night’s events?”The albino man’s smile was too wide, and there was something in his tone that let Khalil know he  wouldn’t be up for word games,so he decided to just come out with it.

“Was it you?Did you have a mind control chip installed in me?”

Something dark and ugly rippled across Tobias’ face,disappearing as quickly as it had come, but making Khalil even more uneasy.“What?”So it wasn’t Tobias then.

“Was it Proctor?”Tobias shook his head, wariness slipping into his features as he pieced together something that he didn’t like.

“Proctor was an idiot, he wouldn’t have thought to put in such a contingency plan,but there is another…”Tobias wasn’t just wary-he was scared.

“Agent Odell,”The name sounded like a curse.

“I was at the ASA facility for months,I’ve never heard of him,”Tobias gave him a pitying look.

“You wouldn’t have,and you should count yourself lucky that you’ve never met him,”
“You look at me and you think I’m bad,but to meet Odell is to meet darkness-there’s no soul,no heart, no light in him, just pure evil,the things he’s done make even the most hardened squirm,”

Odell,whoever he was had Tobias talking about absolute evil,something Khalil had been convinced used Tobias as a standard of  measurement.Hearing there was worse out there was jarring.

***

Sneaking back into Khalil’s room,Jason had expected to be reassuring him that he’d done the right thing in lying, not a good thing,but it had been necessary.Instead he was hit with a question he’d never expected.

“Do you know an Agent Odell?”And just like that he’d gone from standing to slumping in an uncomfortable hospital chair.

“How do you know that name?”

“You know about the other chip right?”Khalil asked tucking his feeding tube more firmly behind his ear.Of course,Jason knew about the secondary chip, he’d basically been reading Chief Henderson’s report as it was being typed,making sure the man wasn’t still suspicious.

“Well,Tobias paid me a visit,”Jason’s hand went to the gun hidden in his scrubs before he calmed himself“He said it wasn’t him and I could tell he wasn’t lying,he dropped that name as the most likely suspect-how bad is Odell?”

Raking a hand through his hair,Jason shut down his revulsion, gathering his thoughts.

“I’ve never personally met the man,But his daughter-Amanda Waller-is a piece of work,someone to actively stay away from,the Bats work with her from time to time,but I avoid her,she makes my skin crawl.”He idly tapped at the bed rail,his eyes hardening as he thought of the woman.

“Now that you mention the chip, Waller’s been known to chip villains and use them to the government’s wet work-they get caught or disobey her, she blows up their heads,they succeed she reaps the glory,”He took a calming breath,trying not to remember Harley cackling madly as Jason ran current through her,disabling her chip only for her to run back to Joker and get her hips dislocated.

“As for her Dad,he’s a puppeteer , a shadow master.Whenever the government does something shady,Odell spear heads it,”

“You remember the Gotham isolation  a few years back?”Khalil nodded.

“Yeah,the rabies scare,right?”Jason scoffed.

“That’s the official statement, but in reality,the president was covering up for the free clinics that had been dousing people with vaccine that gave them vampire abilities.They’d been trying to rid the streets of junkies by having them devour each other, they hadn’t accounted for bites spreading the epidemic and putting even the elites in danger,”

A moment of stunned silence passed.

“But that’s,that’s huge.How come no one said anything, and even after Gotham’s gates were opened again, why has no one even alluded to a different story?”

“Blackmail,murder,routine torture, mass graves,and reprogramming,you tell people they had a rabies scare enough times they start to buy it,because it sounds a whole lot better than the truth,and believing the lie is less likely to get them killed”He watched Khalil digest the news,finally beginning to understand exactly why Odell was bad news.

“I’m heading out to Gotham, I left a few loose ends when I came to bail you out,”They fist bumped and Jason made his way to the door,stopping half way there.

“I’ll be back in a few days, then you and I can talk about what happened in front of the church,”He watched the kid tense,then give a shallow nod,futher confirming the fact that he’d been just as shocked by his powers still being there as Jason had.Resuming his walk,he pulled the door open then looked back,his voice going scratchy with emotion.

“If you get kidnapped again while I’m away,I’ll let it slip to Oracle that you’re still alive, and let her hunt  you  down,”He closed the door to the sound of the other’s outraged cry.Walking out of the hospital with an extra bounce in his step.

***

“Your formula’s on the counter, and there are mango slices in the fridge, I’ll try to be back for dinner,”His Mom leaned down for a hug, and held him tight,letting go after one final squeeze and making her way out the door.

He waited until he knew she was out the building before wheeling himself to the kitchen,and getting ready for his morning meal-thinking  as he worked.

He’d been out of  the hospital for over a month,and with each passing day, it was harder to ignore his problems.

The first one,though selfish,was how much he missed Jen,Mr Pierce had drawn a line at Khalil seeing her.And as much as he hated it,he agreed with the older man.

Khalil was toxic- literally, he had too much baggage and absolutely no right to be with Jen after all the things he’d said and done.

She deserved better-admitting it hurt, but he was done with lying  to himself.

The second problem was that after promising to be back in a matter of days,Jason had dropped off the face of the earth,something that worried Khalil constantly.

The final  problem was seeing the strain his Mom was under.Since his return she’d picked up an additional job-trying to pay his medical bills as well as keep them on an insurance that covered his new dietary requirements(doctors had been stumped at the source of it,and had come up with some bogus diagnosis-he’d gone along with it because he now knew where the potent sweetness that made food unappetizing was coming from).But either way, that meant more expenses for his mother, and the other signs of a struggle were there.He’d seen her pulling out the hurricane lamp a few days earlier(which meant they would be without lights soon).He knew she was skipping meals, and he also knew the reason she was insistent on him having a blanket around his legs even when inside was because they couldn’t afford a higher heat bill,and the fall chill would soon give way to frigid winter.Something she was also clearly worried about,given the way she was constantly checking his temperature, and piling blankets on him.

She worried all the time,and that in turn,worried him.

But unlike the matter with Jason, he actually had a solution to their financial problems, something he’d been hatching ever since he’d  been in hospital.

It would have been easy to just offer his services to  a few companies-hack their security systems,show them  the chinks in their armor and  get paid-but  he hadn’t wanted to run the risk of someone recognizing his digital signature and linking him to his less above board activities, so he’d decided to do something else.

***

The world of online gaming was vast, and for  something that was based on fictional worlds-incredibly vicious, but it was also a goldmine.

The only problem with playing for money,was that to join  in,you had to make  a contribution  first- and he didn’t even have two pennies to rub together.

But his mom had a hundred dollars in her account.If he didn’t touch it, she’d probably be able to  stretch it  for  her own  necessities- meager as they were-until her next pay check.But then  the cycle  would  continue and  she’d  become even  more rundown.

He couldn’t  allow  that, so that meant only one thing-he had to  take  the  risk.

***

He spent his first few hours online  playing scrabble,and possibly  robbing  old people  blind with his word skills.The safer games earned him just over a thousand bucks  after playing against countless competitors , and he took  a break.Somehow cramming feeding, cathing, getting his hot water bottle ready and transferring to his bed into just over an hour(a new record).

After settling himself on his stomach, and balancing the warm bottle on his back,he went back to work,this time going for the more challenging,and more profitable  games.

The players on the other end were no slouches, and there were times when  Khalil was in danger of losing.He was vaguely aware of the room growing darker,  and his upper body growing colder, but the levels kept coming and the gain kept growing so he pushed all his discomfort aside, playing to the point where he had to get a pillow under himself in  order to keep his head up.

He’d just made it to a 150K when the room was flooded in light, and he was forced to shield  his eyes instead of starting another game.

“Khalil are you alright?”He hadn’t  heard his mom come in, and when he tried to push himself  up  so  that he could  turn over and face her-his  arms turned into wet noodles.

He hit his pillow face first and that of course was when all the aches of his  body decided to let themselves be  known.

His mom helped him turn onto his back.The worry that seemed to have been etched onto her face ever since the night of the march amplifying when his teeth started chattering.

Without a word she helped him strip down to his boxers, assisted in his transfer to his chair and guided  him into their tiny shower.Exhaustion clear in her movements even as she carried most of his weight,helping him out once the water had warmed him up.

Only after she’d helped him back to bed,massaged his legs and back,and then put blankets on him did she take care of herself.

When she came back to his room,weariness was still clinging to her like a cloak.

***

“You need to start taking better care of yourself,”Her voice was low,her hands moving slowly as she applied lotion on them.

“I just got you back, and I will not lose again,”She put the bottle down,leaning in to take his head in her hands,making him face her.

Unable to look away,all he could do was nod“I know things are hard right now,but we’ll make it through,just like we always have.Just-please-please take care of yourself,you’re all I have…”Her voice broke off at the end, and she heaved,wiping  away a stray tear.

Feeling his own eyes burn,he blinked away tears,reaching over to grab his phone.

“I will…today,what you saw wasn’t me trying to hurt myself…I was trying to help,”He tapped in her bank password.

“You don’t have to carry the weight alone anymore…”He held up the phone for her to see her latest bank balance“…I’ve found a way to help,”She took it with trembling hands, clearly not believing her eyes.

“Khalil, how?What? Where’d you get all this money  boy?Was it Tobias?”Her gaze went  hard and flinty and she looked at the numbers like they were a bomb.

“No-no,Ma-it’s legit,I’ve been gaming against paying competitors , and these are the winnings from today,”The hard lines on her face melted away,her defensive posture easing.At the very least she could always tell whether he was lying or being truthful.

“I know alone it won’t do much-especially for the medical bills, but  I’ve got a plan on how to not only make it last,but also to expand,”Drop shipping and affiliate marketing were definitely in the near future,and with the amount of money he had,plus his artistic side,and his business savvy-their struggles were going to be a thing of the past real soon.

There was no squealing,nor was there any excited jumping up and down from his mother.Instead there were sobs, her tears at odds with the big smile on her face, her hands clasped,her gaze to the ceiling as she thanked a god he no longer believed in.

When she drew him in for a hug,he didn’t even mind the star bursts of pain the action brought,leaning into her and holding her just as tightly.

The train had come and he could finally afford not only a ticket for himself,but for her as well…and it felt…good.

Chapter Text

When the story of Freeland having a  mutated form  of covid-19 and ebola had broken, Jason, from his spot in Arkham’s recreation room, had instantly recognized  Odell’s handiwork.And now after making  it  past the ASA’s barrier(sneaking  in was always much  easier than  sneaking out), a tank full  of goons in standard government black  had rolled up on him.

“Freeze!”

The idiots, so confident of  themselves,didn’t even realize they were being baited.

He could’ve easily ducked into one of  the empty apartment  buildings to avoid detection, but he’d stayed out on the streets and none of them even thought that was strange.

Dropping his duffel bag, he fell to his knees,swallowing a groan when his injuries from his latest escape made themselves known.

“On the ground!”They yelled in unison, and Jason complied, putting  himself on level with their achilles tendons.His submissive pose, deluded them further,and they all moved closer,ready for their usual beatdown on a helpless civilian.

The one who’d spoken raised a booted foot,intending to kick him-Jason did not let the kick land.

***

With practiced ease he flipped onto his back, his hands grabbing his attacker’s foot and breaking the ankle before any of them even realized what was happening.

Then-very predictably,they went for their guns.Now would’ve been the time where Jason expertly disarmed them and killed them with their own weapons, but he’d had an awful couple of weeks…so bare hands it was.

Snapping an arm and burrowing his fist right into the nearest guy’s arm, Jason let his mind go back to the events leading to his capture.

From the moment he’d left Khalil in hospital, intending to capture the latest baddie who thought Gotham was a playground, things had gone south pretty fast.

His latest prey,had turned out to be a predator in disguise.Grabbing two heads, he rammed them together so hard he nearly got blood on himself.

Matches Malone-from the way he’d taken over Gotham’s underbelly in the short time he’d been active, to the way he’d been so good at evading police capture.Jason should have known  something was up.

Someone swung a knife at him and he twisted their arm, ramming it into their gut.

How could he have missed it?Someone latched onto his back, pulling him into a choke hold and Jason fell back with as much force as he could muster-feeling ribs give beneath his weight.

More blows followed, countless bullets whizzed past, others he redirected into the weak spots of the ASA members.All the while trying to figure out how he hadn’t made the connection between Matches Malone and Bruce Wayne.

The Bats had been unable to contain the mess he’d accidentally made when looking for Khalil.Only a criminal could truly wrangle other low lifes.It made perfect sense for Bruce to have taken on the role of a crime boss, get everything running the way it used to,with the crime families regarding each other as enemies rather than allies.And then slip back into his Batman persona, going back to fighting against them once again.

The cherry on top was that Bruce’d known Jason would come for Malone-of course he had.

And they’d all been waiting,Robin,Red Robin,Nightwing, Oracle and Batman himself…he’d never stood a chance.

The only saving grace was that this time Joker hadn’t been in Arkham, it was just the usual goons.

A sudden silence brought him back from his musings and he found himself staring down at the bodies of his attackers.Shaking off any leftover rage, he went back to the original reason why he’d allowed himself to be spotted, pilfering a phone off the nearest corpse, hacking it with ease.

A few taps later and Khalil’s new home address(he’d found the old apartment empty) showed up.Together with some new information that made Jason’s heart plummet.

***

Dipping a paintbrush into some red paint, Khalil brought it to the canvas in front of him, adding an undertone of danger to the storm clouds he’d already painted.Not for the first time, his hand shook as he worked, and he put the brush down, wiping away his tears.Giving up on finishing, he made his way deeper into the new house, transferring onto the dark blue sofa and  pulling his mother’s favourite quilt towards himself, his tears finally overwhelming him.

***

There were many times throughout the year when Khalil had just felt done.First the shooting, then the whole thing with Tobias, but through it all,even with all the awful choices he’d made, there’d always been one constant, a source of strength keeping him going.

His mother.

But now she was gone…a week after the ASA had placed Freeland under lockdown,and just over  four months after they’d moved into their new house(six bedrooms, surrounded by acres of land, with an actual lake in the backyard-both easy to attack from and defend)she’d gone out with other church volunteers, delivering food to those who couldn’t make it out of their homes, and that had been the end.

Police had found her on the side of the  road, her car rammed into a tree-her neck broken.

She’d been buried three days later, with only Khalil in attendance.The ASA having prohibited ‘mass’ gatherings.And for a single wild moment when he’d touched her cold hand,he could’ve sworn he felt traces of his own venom on her.But reason had won over and he’d dismissed the notion, even when practicing he’d been careful to make sure his venom was dormant whenever she touched him, there was no way she could’ve come into contact with it.

The clock on his phone read six-thirty and he heaved himself up, transferring back to his chair and going to the kitchen,switching on lights as he went to prepare himself a meal.

He prepared his small plate,taking out feed bag and readying his formula.Afterwards he’d go through his two hour nightly routine, settle into bed with a good book, and if that got boring he’d pick up his sketch book.

Routine,routine, routine.

It was the only thing keeping him going.

After he’d made the money and they could finally afford it, his mom had insisted on him going to therapy.Four sessions twice a week, with countless assignments,the lady had pushed and pushed,making Khalil face things he didn’t want to,but in the end he was grateful for it.

It had made him realize just how vulnerable he’d been, by pushing his buttons in a controlled situation, she had made him prepared for such a thing happening in reality.And honestly speaking, Khalil was certain that if he hadn’t had therapy, he’d have followed his mother to the grave.

Perenna has stressed the  need not only for an outlet(art in his case, since running  was off the  table), and she’d also been adamant about the importance of having a routine.

Now without her, he carried on.He knew that would’ve been his mother’s wish, she’d sacrificed years of her life to keep him clothed,fed, and as happy as possible, he wouldn’t disrespect her by ending himself.

***

Hours later, with his list done,he was still restless,so he made his way to the living room.Being homeschooled, and no longer having to pretend he was a social butterfly had helped him discover a love for history documentaries,the only thing other than ASA propaganda that still played on TV.And he was currently engrossed in one about Cambodia’s bloody history, and the dangers of foreign government interference.

A strange feeling came over him, like the breeze of an open window,and he looked around,switching the TV off.Moments passed,the feeling still didn’t go away,and the longer it stayed,the more wary Khalil became.

“Good evening,”There was a soft lilt in the voice,calming even, despite the fact that it was being made to echo so that he couldn’t identify the intruder’s location.But the obvious power play didn’t distract Khalil, the uneasy feeling he’d been having sharpened, focusing on a spot in the shadows behind him.

Deciding not to give the game away he continued staring at the dark screen.

“Who’s there?”He asked, his voice calm,his left hand reaching for the two knives hidden beneath the cushions.

There were ten more hidden strategically on his wheelchair,which was angled for an easy transfer-since his mother’s passing he’d been more dedicated , when it came to making sure there were always weapons on hand.

“Pardon the…interruption, but when one is as busy as myself,you learn to take whatever opportuinities are available,”Near silent footsteps preceeded an old man in a tailored suit,a coat and a dark hat taking a seat on the armchair next to the sofa.

“You still haven’t told me who you are,”Annoyance at his rudeness flashed in the old man’s eyes before his expression went back to being neutral, his jowls shaking as leaned forward.

“Khalil Payne, my name is Agent Odell,”Khalil’s venom flowed in lightning fast,ready to defend“I’m with the ASA, here to offer you an opportunity to serve your country,find yourself a second family amongst our ranks,”

Something in the wording loosened a coil in Khalil’s mind, pieces of a puzzle falling together.

The cause of his mother’s crash had never been determined.

And then there was that moment when he’d felt traces of his  own venom on her.Something that he’d dismissed as impossible, but he knew for a fact that the ASA’d frozen a vial of his venom,which made the unlikely possibility of his mother having been killed by his own toxins suddenely very possible.

…He was staring at his mother’s killer.

***

Of all the things Jason had been expecting when he finally made it to Khalil’s house-nearly being pinned to the wall by a dagger, was not it.

“Hey!”Normally he wouldn’t have been so offended, but the run in with the ASA had left him sore.

“Jason?”He stepped out of the shadows at the questioning tone,finally allowing himself to see Khalil better.

One look and he knew what he’d read from the ASA database was true,the signs of grief were clear to see.

“Sorry about your Mom,”It wasn’t the most tactful thing say-especially after weeks of not seeing each other-but it did the trick(a little too well).Khalil’s tense posture dropped, the  knife he was holding cluttering to the floor as his face crumpled.

Then he just started sobbing, hiccuping cries that made Jason’s own eyes sting.Feeling awkward he stepped forward, tentatively reaching out and placing a hand on the crying teen’s shoulder, only to let out a pained hiss.

 The limb tingling like it’d been dunked in ice as it lost feeling.Before the venom could spread any further, he knocked the unresponsive hand off with his left one, holding it to his side.

Khalil looked up at him, his eyes going dry, and he looked down at his arms like they’d betrayed him.

When he looked back up, a familiar coldness had settled over his features.

“I’m sorry,”He whispered, moving away from Jason, his chair hitting the back of his bed and knocking off the duffel bag there.

Offering comfort was not one of his greatest skills, but Khalil looked like a feather could knock him over, there was no way Jason could leave him like that.

“Pshh-this-I don’t even feel it,”The joke fell flat, but a bit of life was coming back to Khalil’s eyes so Jason counted it as a win.

Moving to sit on the bed,he let himself fall back,dirtying the sheets.Propping himself up with one hand proved difficult but he managed, finding that Khalil had turned and was staring from him to the mess he’d made, frowning-good.

“Looks like we’ve both had a tough couple of weeks huh?I’ve been enjoying Arkham’s hospitality since I left here,”The annoyed frown gave way to worry, and Khalil came over to the side of the bed, his fingers hovering.

“What happened?”

“Batman happened, he set a trap, pretending to be this super bad crime boss-Matches Malone-and when I went for Malone, I found Batman instead,”He shrugged with his good side,trying to keep it nonchalant, but he didn’t think he was too successful.

“Was he there?”It was a small thing, but not having the clown’s name be mentioned helped him breath better.

“Nah, just the usual crowd,baying for my blood-it was almost sweet how intent they were on offing me,”

***

“…so Condiment King, seeing an opportunity took aim,completely forgetting that a satchel of tomato sauce didn’t shoot projectile with the force of his usual weapons-knocking him out was an act of mercy…”Talking about his imprisonment didn’t take away the gloomy atmosphere, but it definitely helped.He was about to carry on with how he’d taken on Two-face, only to have the man’s coin flip half way through the fight when Khalil spoke up.

“I killed her,”Numbness finally gone from his arm Jason sat up.

“Who?”

“My mother, it was me,I killed her,”Shaking his head Jason scooted closer,careful not to touch the teen.

“No,it was an accident…”Khalil gave him a sad smile, his eyes shining.

“It was the ASA, and they used my venom to do it,”The confession startled Jason, he’d been suspicious when the stolen phone had listed Nichelle Payne’s cause of death as a imple accident-but he’d dismissed it given he was suspicious of  almost everything-clearly that had been a mistake.

“Are you sure,”The other nodded.“I didn’t put all the pieces together until tonight though…agent Odell paid me a visit,”Things had just gone from bad to worse, and Jason found himself on his feet, pacing.

“Tell me everything…”

***

“…then he just sat there,staring, and I could just feel the venom seeping out of my pores,if he’d touched me-just one touch-he’d have been dead and the ASA would’ve put a bullet through my head,”Khalil paused,hands fisted as he fought to calm himself.

“He can’t find me here, right now, Odell is giving me the illusion of choice.I won’t just stand by and let myself be used as a weapon,”Gripping the rim of his chair,he leaned over and picked the falled duffel bag,back up,throwing it onto the bed, only to have Jason take it.

“You’re not going anywhere,”He was still more Red Hood than Jason,the full force of the vigilante’s glare pinning him, but Khalil wasn’t backing down.

Moving over to his closet he started randomly tossing clothes on the bed.

“Odell had my mother killed,and he used my own power to do it.I want him dead more than anything,”Voice cracking he fixed the other with his own heated glare.“But right now,I’m not strong enough,”The admission hurt,but it was true.

“When I’m ready to take him down I’m coming for him, but that day is not today…so, stay out of  my way,”Jason threw the bag at him,then came to stand right in front of him,breathing heavily.

***

“You run now, no one will ever hear from you again,”Jason wanted nothing more than to slap some sense into Khalil, but the thought of losing limb function kept him in check.

“Think about it,why would Odell go to the trouble of a personal visit-saying enough to tip you off,just to leave you here,with no bugs, and no security detail,”The kid’s eyes widened.Jason’s point of view starting to trickle in.

“He’s herding me,”

Sitting back down on the bed,Jason blew out a breath.“Exactly,”

“Right now,he’s probably working the Pierce family, and he knows they care about you,”

“If you were to dissapear under suspicious circumstances,they’d come looking for you,”Jason’s own siblings, no matter how strained they’d become over the years,would do the same for him(Bruce he wasn’t too sure about).

“But if they saw no signs of a stuggle, of forced entry,they’d assume you found a way through the barrier,”

“They wouldn’t look too hard, and all Odell would have to do was pick you up and make himself a personal hunting dog,”Khalil let out a shaky breath, finally taking in just how manipulative Odell was.

“How did you pick up on it so fast?”Shrugging,Jason toed off his boots,his nose wrinkling at the smell.

“He’s Amanda Waller’s father, and that woman always has ten different reasons for what she’s doing at any given time.Manipulation comes as easy as breathing to them,”Leaving the kid to process everything, he made his way to the bathroom.

They’d come up with ways to get rid of the ASA after he’d had a long soak and some food in him.

Chapter Text

After the mess with Red Hood sending the entirety of Gotham’s criminals on the warpath.The Bats had expected things to cool down a bit while the crooks got themselves back in order.Instead they’d gone from one war,and stepped right into another-one they were ill-prepared to face.

A war against metas-a seemingly endless supply of them, all with different abilities and attacking with a cold detachment that spoke of mind control-to top it all off,the majority of them were kids,some not even in their teens yet.

Capturing them to determine where they’d come from had also proven unsuccessful.The moment they put cuffs on them-they died-leaving behind a pile of smoking ash.

That made their job even harder.Letting the metas go meant innocent lives were in danger, but capturing them meant ensuring their deaths.Whoever was sending them knew the Bats were against killing, and was messing with them in the most vile way possible.

“We need a new plan,”Red Robin said, the ashes of a girl who’d been able to turn anything she touched to stone clinging to him.

“I agree,”Robin said, his adversary of the evening,a hulked out form with a hunch back and superstrength,had revealed himself to be a boy younger than him in his final moments, crying freely as he struggled to breath.Damian hadn’t said anything,but they could all see that it bothered him.

For once Nightwing was quiet, seated next Batman as they tried to come up with a new game plan.

“I have something,”Oracle said as she got out of the elevator,Alfred following close behind.

“The trackers on the metas who escaped us went offline, and the metas we caught died.But there was one place we could bug that whoever’s been doing this wouldn’t be able to control-Gotham,”

“This morning I sent these out,all over the city”She held out a tiny mechanical fly.

“The majority were destroyed, but some survived.They’ve been clinging to the walls all day,waiting, and this evening one of them finally brought back intel,”The fly fluttered its wings and an image sprang to life.

It wasn’t much, just a portal opening up in a dirty alleyway, expressionless children milling in an out(the returning numbers significantly less than the outgoing),followed by lots of static,then towards the end, one of the returning injured teens said something.

There was no sound, but everyone in the room was well versed in lip reading, and to all of them,one word stood out.

Freeland… by nightfall three bats descended upon the town with the silence of shadows.

***

A black, military standard SUV made its way through the woods of Freeland, the two agents up front dressed in the same shade of black as their car, keeping a wary eye out as the vehicle moved.The passenger’s hands clutching  a meta killing gun tightly in his grasp.

On a normal day, such wariness and attentiveness would’ve been taken as just part of the job.But for the past few weeks, the actions had come from just more than the wish to do the job well.ASA agents had been vanishing, only for their bodies to turn up later, their trucks stolen, only to be recovered in pieces all around Freeland.

Whoever had done it,moved like a ghost, no prints,no hair fibers,no signs of a struggle from the agents.In and out, cold and detached.

“D’you think the Phantom’s out there?”The driver asked, breaking the silence“They say he’s a meta-like Blackbird,”The man continued, lightly tapping his hands on the wheel.

The passenger, faking a confidence he didn’t feel scoffed“Tch, of course he’s a meta, you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all, and I have their medicine right here,”He emphasised his point by holding  up his gun, the glow of the meta killing bullets illuminating both their faces.

Feeling reassured by his partner’s pep talk, the driver settled, his eyes staying focused on the dusty road. Neither of them noticing when the blinking lights of their comms suddenly stopped, they only realised something was wrong when the car slowed to a stop,without the driver’s input.

“What th-”The unmistakable cold of a gun muzzle pressed against both their skulls.

“Now,now, I’ve got medicine too, and you can’t take mine while driving-road safety and all,”The voice spoke softly, but there was no downplaying the threat of the guns.

Had he been there all along,listening to them?Shaking off the fear brought by the realisation of just how extensive Phantom’s powers were, the passenger agent discreetly pressed the emergency button hidden on the side of his chair.

This time the scumbag wasn’t getting away, help would be there in less than a minute.

“Nice try, but no dice,”Phantom said, sounding amused“You’ll find that all devices, including the little button you just pushed, are in the same state as your car…”Two near silent pops followed, and the ASA agents slumped forward.

“…dead, and for the record, I’m not a meta,”Pushing the bodies out of the car, Jason made quick work of finding and disabling all the trackers, and activating  a cloaking device on the car.

“Alright, bring it back to life-not you two gentlemen,stay dead”A moment later, Khalil’s virus released the car’s software and it started without a fuss.Driving backwards on the route the drivers had used,to make it look like the car had just vanished, Jason listened to Khalil lecture about respecting the dead.

“How about showing me some respect, I was dead too once…”As expected, the quip sent Khalil on yet another tirade, and Jason let it wash over him, focusing on the road.Being crass was one of the few things that still got a reaction out of Khalil, pulling him bit by bit from his grief.

***

“The church thanks you for your donation son,”Reverend Holt said, packing the last of the looted ASA supplies into the back of the church van and covering it up with a board, before placing the community’s food baskets on top.

“It’s the least I could do Reverend Holt,”The older man gave Khalil a nod and went back to making sure nothing seemed amiss with his van, giving Khalil a chance to observe him.He looked tired and weary, but there was determination in his movements and fire in his eyes.

Being a religious figure, Reverend Holt was one of the most well connected people in Freeland.He’d actively spoken out against the likes of  Lady Eve and Tobias, so it hadn’t come as a surprise to Khalil to learn that the man was heading up the resistance.Helping metas escape from the ASA.

“Sorry about Chief Henderson,”The van doors closed with soft click, and the reverend leaned his forehead against them, his shoulders sagging before he straightened up and turned around.

“Henderson died fighting the good fight, he’s in a better place now,”The sorrow in the man’s voice made Khalil think of his own loss, and he rolled back to let the man pass.

“I still have a few hours on my permit, how’s about you fix me a drink,”They made their way from the garage into the house, the reverend, after weeks of the same routine, now knowing his way to the kitchen.

***

“So, is your friend around?”Giving a non-commital shrug, Khalil stared at the reverend as the man drank his coffee, savouring each sip.

“One of these days,I’d really like to meet him,”Unbeknowst to the preacher, Jason was in the shadows only two feet from the man.

“Our deal is simple, we keep you supplied with provisions for the metas you rescue, provide back up on the times Blackbird can’t defend you…and you ask no questions,”Their gazes locked for a long moment, until the preacher broke the staring contest, finishing up the last of his coffee.

“Very well then,take care young man, and tell your friend to take care as well,”He left shortly after that, and as soon as his van disappeared from view, Jason materialised from the shadows.

“Can I get an Amen!”The mug he threw at Jason for that was well deserved.

“Thought you were an atheist,”The vigilante caught the mug with ease, and placed it back on the table with a shrug and a smirk(sometimes Khalil got the impression Jason said things just to wind him up).

“It’s almost nightfall, let’s head over to the abandoned garage, if we start now, we’ll be done scattering the ASA car parts before midnight,”The conversation whiplash would have thrown other people, but Khalil had been working with Jason long enough to just nod and go with it.

***

Tap,tap,tap…

Odell kept his steps slow…measured, making sure his ‘guest’ knew he was coming.He came to a stop in front of a cell.The occupant within sitting ramrod straight,giving off the air of a king looking down on a peasant,eyes blazing with rage.

If it weren’t for his bruised and burnt skin, the blood flowing down the side of his head and his cracked lips,he might actually have been threatening.

“Evening,Tobias, have you had time to…ponder my offer?”The man scoffed, gritting his teeth against his obvious pain, and Odell almost smiled.

It had been a trying few weeks, ASA shipments were being stolen by an unkown foe dubbed the Phantom, and Blackbird(he had no proof that it was Anissa Pierce, but he was almost certain) had liberated yet another group of metas.Seeing Tobias in pain-pain that Odell himself had ordered-was reassuring.

“We both know it’s only a matter of time before I find the Masters of Disaster,tell me where they are…and I’ll end your suffering,”

“Go to hell you overgrown squid,”Aah, he still had enough fight in him for insults,refreshing.

“You’re going to wish you’d taken my offer.You have nothing-no money, no power. Even the Shadowboard seat you killed Lady Eve for has been taken by another.You don’t even have family left…give up Tobias,”His speech was carefully designed to chip away at Tobias’ crumbling defences, but rather than shrinking in on himself, the man’s gaze sharpened, latching onto some obscure hope only he could see.

Was it the talk of losing his seat on the Shadowboard?Tobias had no family left(sister dead, daughter murdered by one of Odell’s underlings), so that was the only viable option.The man was keeping himself alive on greed and spite alone…admirable.

“It was you,”Voice hoarse after hours of screaming, Tobias managed a  smirk, blood stained teeth on full display.

“You were the power behind Sionis,the squid and the bedwetter-how fitting,”He broke into a racous laugh, his blood tainting the white walls, but Tobias was beyond reason.Odell left him there, his carefully blank face hiding his rage.

He must be more stressed than he thought if Tobias could beat him in a verbal spar, and manage to glean information from him.

“Mr Whale is due for a sunbath-make it hurt,”He called out, his pace not slowing.“Of course,sir”The AI answered, and it was Odell’s turn to smirk as the laughter turned to screams,echoing in the hallway.

***

Even as the UV light set his skin on fire, and he screamed himself raw.Deep inside Tobias felt more settled than he had since the ASA had captured him.

Family.

Odell had thrown the word out like blade, inadvertently  giving Tobias a lifeline.

Khalil was out there.

Light burned his closed eyes and Tobias put his damaged hands over them, shielding them from most of the assault at the expense of his fingers.Burrowing deep into his memories to stave off his physial pain, he thought of the last time he’d seen his protégé.

With the MOD holding back Sionis’ attackers, he’d managed to break away and follow the one intruder who hadn’t been wearing a suit.

He’d followed him all the way to the church, keeping his distance.

And then he’d witnessed something he thought he’d killed the day he’d taken out Khalil’s artificial spine…Painkiller’s venom.

Created to destroy, but somehow,the boy had dug it out from the pit Tobias had thrown it in, and had made it into something that healed.

Reaffirming exactly why Tobias was fond of him.

Had it not been for the Reverend showing up soon after Khalil’s savior had left, Tobias would’ve snatched him up,then and there. He’d cursed the old man as he’d retreated, but later when he found himself surrounded by the ASA in a safehouse that was supposed to be secure, he’d been glad to go down alone.

“Increasing light intensity,” Moving his palms over his eyes, he straightened both middle fingers, letting both Odell and the AI know how he felt about the new development.

The pain would’ve driven a lesser man to insanity. But Tobias was no average man. He was a self made success, and most of all, he was someone with a family to protect.