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Jason struggled to slip his bonds, but his captor had also trained with the League of Assassins and had made sure he was unable to escape. The struggle was futile, but he hated to portray the expression of giving in, even if it was just to conserve his strength for a future escape attempt.
He angrily huffed a white bang out of his eyes to glare harder at Nyssa, who was unperturbed and had her back to him in a display of nonchalance and confidence in her bonds.
Which…was validated by the various chains, ropes, and nth metal handcuffs this close to cutting off his circulation.
Behind Nyssa and to Jason’s right, a black blur caught his eye as someone or something blipped into his peripheral vision. At first glance, Jason thought it was one of Nyssa’s assassin goons, but a second glance revealed the difference in clothing and movement. This was not an assassin–from Nyssa’s team, anyways.
The question was, were they on his side, her side, or their own side?
Jason made eye contact and opened his eyes wide, glancing down at his restraints. It couldn’t get worse than this, could it?
Okay, apparently it could, there was some ominous bubbling black stuff in their hand that did not look OSHA-approved.
Jason weighed his choices. Be subjected to whatever Nyssa was planning (unfortunately, she’d been trained by assassins and wasn’t like the Gotham Rogues, who monologued and gave away their plans, which meant Jason was subjected to the mental torture of not knowing what would happen–he had some ideas, though, considering the radioactive-green spicy water), or be subjected to Unknown’s fizzy substance.
… And the fizzy substance just dissolved all his bonds into nothing, good to know.
Unknown made some hand gestures Jason recognized and explained the plan.
Unknown crept towards Nyssa, who was almost done preparing whatever she needed, and Jason headed back out of the cave to take care of the guards and get their weapons.
Two knocked-out assassins later (this was clearly an undercover mission if Nyssa only had two guards on duty with her) and four swords, seven knives, and a handful of throwing stars and blades later, he returned to watch Unknown and decide to help or hinder them.
Unknown had knocked Nyssa out and was leaning over the Lazarus Pit.
The bubbly black appeared in their hand again and Unknown dipped it into the Pit.
The knockoff Mountain Dew evaporated in a cloud of green and black fumes, making Unknown cough and wave their hand in front of their face.
“Ugh, the stench is always the worst,” they groaned, unwrapping their head covering and swinging it in a circle as a makeshift fan, blowing the last remaining traces away.
The lamps on the wall– al Ghuls, always so dramatic– flared higher as the noxious substance hit them, then settled down to the occasional flicker.
Unknown turned around, shaking their black hair down in relief.
Jason stared at the woman.
She stared at him.
“You’re still here?” she looked confused.
“Uh…yeah. Cool trick you got there,” he nodded at the empty pool.
She looked down, a small smile on her face. “Yeah. Do you know why you were tied up?”
“I assume Nyssa wanted me for some experiment with the Lazarus Pits, but she’s an assassin–she’s very close-lipped.”
“So you know about the Pits…” Unknown mused.
“I do. How do you ? You don’t look very League of Assassins-y.”
“I’m part of a sect that created the Pits in the first place. It was an accident. Are you part of the League, too?”
“I was. Left a few years ago; I’m mostly a freelancer. So you mean no one any harm?” he tightened his grip on the knife in his pocket momentarily.
“I mean no one any harm,” swore Unknown. “I’m globetrotting to destroy the Pits so they can’t be abused anymore. Do you mean anyone any harm?”
“Not currently,” he snorted. “You can call me Jay.”
“I’m Mari,” she nodded politely at him, still keeping a safe distance between them.
“Can you tell me more about this sect? I kind of thought the Pits just appeared one day.”
Mari cracked a smile. “They did. At the very beginning of my sect, some of the…beings we work with were playing around and created the Pits. The sect didn’t think it would amount to much, since nothing was happening and no bad things occurred because of them. A few centuries later, people discovered the Pits and found a way to use them, though it was only a one-time thing before the Pits were rendered useless.”
“They were single-use? But-”
Mari nodded at Jason’s realization. “Nyssa al Ghul found a way to stabilize them and make them reusable. My sect had almost died out at that part so nothing was done about it, but now it’s been revived some, and I’m here to track down all the leftover Pits and stop this from happening again.”
“Thanks for rescuing me,” Jason said, finally remembering his manners. Alfred raised him better than that.
“Happy to help,” she said neutrally. “Do you need help returning to…wherever Nyssa found you?”
“If you could tell me approximately where I am, that would be great. I was out of it for part of the journey.”
“We’re in a small cave system in the middle of the Black Forest, in Germany.”
“Oh, okay, thanks.”
Mari stood and finally approached him. “Shall we exit together? Better safe than sorry in a cave.”
He snorted. “Sure. So, any chance I can get to know you better?”
She looked him up and down out of the corner of her eye, gauging if he was serious.
“You are a strange man, Jay. You seriously want to get to know me better?”
“Yep! I’ve always liked strong, deadly women. Wonder Woman is my favourite superhero.”
“Huh. I do find you intriguing as well, so…why not. My friends are always telling me to stop planning so much and live in the moment.”
“You sound like you’d fit in well with my family, then.”
“How big is your family? I’m an only child.”
“Uh, depending on the day, I have about six siblings–all adopted–but my dad has probably adopted someone to take my place again by the time I get back. He has a serious issue. And...yeah…no mom. Although I kind of got adopted by Talia? She sometimes drops in on me when she’s in the area checking in on my little brother, her bio son.”
“You must love your family lots,” observed Mari. “You seem happier talking about them.”
“I do? Ew.”
Mari giggled. “That’s a good thing. I’ve always wanted a big family…If this actually goes anywhere, I’d love to meet them all.”
“You may regret saying that.”
They reached the beautiful outdoors and Jason realized with slight surprise it was the middle of the night. The passage was dark but lit with flickering lamps like the chamber, which messed with his perception of reality.
Ah, nothing he wasn’t used to. Good times.
He breathed deeply, enjoying the fresh, cool air and stunning view of the night sky. Quickly going through a couple basic katas to stretch and loosen up his muscles helped calm him from the niggling claustrophobic feeling left over from the cave and passageways.
Once he was calm, he turned to Mari, who had done a few stretches of her own while waiting for him. “Are you ready to go, or do you have other business to attend to?”
“I can stick with you for a bit.” She moved to be by his side, her body heat warming him, and pointed in the direction she wanted to go.
His fingers itched to hold hers but he restrained himself. Good grief, what was wrong with him? He didn’t even know her full name!
They discussed random things as they hiked through the forest to the closest village, which Mari said was Schwarzenburg.
Jason noticed they hadn’t run into any hiking trails yet, even though many ran through the region. “Mari, I don’t suppose you’d happen to know why we are still not on a proper trail yet, hmm?”
The moonlight that filtered through the canopy showed a hint of his companion’s flustered-ness.
“So…uh…I just didn’t want it to end, okay? You’re really interesting and I think I like you!” she blurted.
“Well, good, ‘cause I like you too. We don’t have to part ways for a while, and there’s this miraculous thing called a cellphone that lets you communicate with people halfway across the world at any time! I don’t suppose you have one of them so that I can contact you?” he joked, wondering why she’d stiffened at the beginning.
She playfully hit his arm. “I do have one, as a matter of fact. I’ll give you my number when we finally part ways, as long as I get yours in return.”
“Deal.” Jason held out his hand and they shook on it, but he didn’t let go afterwards, simply continuing their trek and swinging their joined hands happily.
Eventually, Mari led them to the actual trails and they made their way to Schwarzenburg, where a lovely cafe fed them a delicious breakfast.
Mari compared notes on the pastries from her parents’ bakery, entertaining him with her interjections.
After breakfast, Jason stopped at a general store to buy some items, such as a phone, a change of clothes, a backpack, and some things that would make him seem more tourist than ex-kidnapped-assassin who was wanted by several law-enforcement agencies while Mari got the passes for the train, which would take them to Paris.
He texted his family to let them know he was safe and not to put up another monument, that he’d be back sometime in the next week, he was perfectly fine and just on a spur-of-the-moment vacation (no one could argue against that since Alfred has been hounding him for months to take a break.)
The duo spent the 11-hour train ride getting to know each other better by playing games like Truth or Dare, 2 Truths and a Lie, and 20 Questions in between napping on each others' shoulders.
By the time they arrived at the patisserie, it was late and Mari forced him to stay the night. Her parents were already in bed (as bakers, they were early to bed and early to rise), so she simply climbed up the walls to her balcony and he followed.
He insisted on sleeping on the floor, just in case her parents decided to pop in and also because the bed wasn’t quite big enough for two people when one was his size, even though she was fairly petite.
The mouth-watering aroma of fresh-baked pastries woke Jason the next morning. He looked around, confused. He’d slept through the night, which wasn’t rare, but was unusual, considering he was in a new place and he hadn’t done much recon before sleeping.
After being practically glued to Mari’s side over the past 24 hours, he guessed that created a certain amount of trust and bonding.
Mari’s face popped up through the trap door and she smiled brightly at him, seeing that he was awake. “Bonjour, Jay.”
“Bonjour.” He rubbed his hands over his face and finger combed his wild curls down, making Mari pout.
“Aw, your bedhead was cute.”
“Really? You can see it more often if you want,” he winked and she blushed.
“Come down whenever, you can choose from the bakery’s selection for breakfast. I told Maman and Papa you’re here, so they won’t be surprised.”
“Okay. Thank you so much for your hospitality, Mari.”
“Anytime.”
Something that looked like antennae floating behind Mari’s shoulder caught his eye.
“Uh, Mari? Don’t freak out but I think a giant bug or something is behind you.”
Her eyes went wide. “Tikki!”
The …thing…zoomed around to get in Mari’s face. “What? You were right, he is hot.”
“TIKKI!”
Flattered but majorly confused, he asked, “What…who? Is that?”
“This chaos bringer is Tikki, the ladybug kwami of order, creation, and good luck, shockingly enough. You’re lucky the chaos kwami isn’t here and is busy gnawing on Camembert,” she groaned. “Tikki, Jason. Jason, Tikki, my kwami.”
“You’re…Ladybug?”
“Yep.”
“I guess we can get secret identities out of the way then. I’m Red Hood.”
Mari tilted her head, critically scanning him. “That makes sense.”
He nodded, not knowing what to say.
Tikki gave Mari a look, and she straightened, coughing. “Right…I’ll…let you get ready, then.”
Her head disappeared and she shut the door, but he could still hear her scolding her kwami for intentionally embarrassing her and the kwami’s giggly defence of “But you’re so cute together! You’re definitely a good match. Plagg agrees.”
Once he was presentable, Jason headed down to the bakery and was introduced to Tom and Sabine, who were quite welcoming, if not protective of their daughter.
Jason had finally found someone who made better baking than Alfred, though he would never tell the man that.
Mari spent the morning showing him her favourite places around Paris, slipping tidbits of history or akuma facts in with her tour.
Jason just smiled and swung their interlocked hands, happy to be with her.
After lunch, Marinette took him up to her room and retrieved a pair of glasses, transforming into Jument. She opened a portal and they stepped into Jason’s safehouse, which he’d given her the coordinates to.
“There you are, home safe and sound! Call me anytime you need an emergency transport.”
“Thank you, Mari. I’ll text you after I update my family, okay?”
She smiled and nodded. “I’ll be waiting!”
Mari headed back towards the portal but paused just before stepping through it. “Maybe we can see each other in person again soon?”
“I’d love to. I’ll make the time, so tell me whenever you want to.”
“Will do!” She stepped through and the portal closed.
Jason sighed and headed to his Bat-communication tech to alert them to his safe arrival home, then headed for the shower.
He chucked his shirt over his shoulder in the direction of the laundry hamper, keeping half an ear out for the soft thump as it joined the pile.
A muffled choke hit his ears instead and he whirled around to see who’d gotten in, half-expecting one of the Bats already.
Instead it was Marinette, who was staring at his naked chest.
He quirked an eyebrow at her and waited for her to speak.
“I want to see you in person. Can you make the time?” She offered him a small grin full of hope, which he returned.
“Absolutely I can; I wasn’t doing anything important anyways- was just about to shower.”
“Bonding activities so soon, hm?” she stalked towards him, not backing down.
She hooked her finger in his belt loop and tugged.
“Lead the way, Hoodie .”