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The wait was long. The silence was longer. Other than a few clatters from down the winding labyrinth of the Arkham Asylum, and the awful stench that lingered, there was nothing. Jason was glad that finally, they could put this Joker thing to a rest once more. He'd been on edge since it had begun, aa if he was hanging onto the edge of a cliff but the rocks had been hastily put together by a toddler's glue stick. One little slip and he'd fall into a pit where he held no control and he'd hurt someone again.
Dick had offered to stay on guard with him while the rest of his family pursued Joker and finally put an end to this reign of madness again. Duke was insanely brave to be able to go in there, something Jason couldn't quite gloat for himself. Jason did appreciate it all though, especially his brother choosing to stay back with him and guard the exit. He appreciated the sentiment–though he'd never be caught dead or revived saying that out loud. Dick was always full of sentiment after all but Jason always forgot to consider how his brother must've felt when he died. So they both just stood silently, leaning on each wall.
As if reading his thoughts somehow, Dick spoke up.
"You know you're very brave to face this situation head on. To be able to be in the same room as the guy again" He commented. Jason blinked and grunted in acknowledgement. He wasn't sure how to respond. He wasn't even sure if he could. But he was feeling a little better today than he had been during this whole crisis.
It was a little odd actually. He would've expected Dick to be making atleast some sort of silly pun or an inspirational and sentimental monologue or something. But no. He was completely quiet, and weirdly a little fidgety. Odd. He wasn't like this before but to be fair he didn't expect Dick to be fidgety while pursuing Killer Moth and Firefly. They had all been trained to focus on vigilante business first after all. Why now? And what was it anyway which was making him more fidgety than Jason? Jason wasn't sure this was about Joker. He ran things through his head. It wasn't his parents death anniversary or any of their birthdays. As far as Jason knew, he didn't think anything significantly traumatic had happened today in the past or this particular month. But he was only accounting what he knew of Nightwing after Jason had truly returned. He knew there was a lot he was likely missing.
He observed Dick. He was good at hiding it, that was for sure. But his fingers twitched irregularly and his gaze was fixed on one spot in the long hallway rather than looking around for anything out of place. He was oddly still–for Dick atleast–and yet uncertainty laced every fidget, like the calmness which brewed a thunderstorm. He seemed to want to get out of here.
So, impulsively, Jason tilted his head–with the mask–to regard Dick for a second. Dick noticed–of course he noticed, they were all trained by Batman after all and Jason could credit the old man for that much.
"So...why so fidgety?" Jason asked, sounding more curious than anything
"Just wanna get this Joker thing one and done with. He's hurt you, and this whole family enough" Dick responded.
That was true enough. Jason nodded in response. But there was something else there. He knew it. Dick was just being a little flighty today. He was pacing down the hall every few minutes and clenching his fists too much.
"Seems kinda like you wanna get out of here" Jason commented off-handedly.
"Arkham Asylum isn't a very nice place to be in. Smells musty" Dick shrugged and tapped his foot relentlessly in a way that was bothering Jason. There was definitely something up.
"Dick, I think you owe it to yourself to talk to family if something is bothering you. Let us help you for once. Plus with how many times you make me talk about my angst, you definitely owe me." Jason gave him a look.
"Awww, my baby brother cares about me" Dick said teasingly as a smirk made its way onto his face
Jason scowled and gave him a look
"Don't try to change the subject by being irritating" Jason gave him a pointed look
"Irritating!? I'm just expressing my love" He made a pouty face at Jason and then conceded
"Fine. I'll talk" He sighed and contemplated in silence for a moment. He didn't usually talk to his family about his friends and team. And this one was a bit difficult to explain. There was so much to say but so little that wanted to escape his muddy thoughts and unpleasant memories. Not to mention how much context was required. How was he supposed to explain how uncomfortable this time made him every year? How was he supposed to explain the after effects of surviving an apocalypse no one even remembers.
"Today is just a significant day, not really in the good way" Dick responded briefly.
"And I'm assuming it's not the maniac down there that's bothering you" Jason responded sarcastically and goaded him on. Maybe this was why Dick was always mother henning them. It was certainly satisfying needling his big brother to talk. Definitely not concern that had him continue.
"I have a life ya know. I've seen a lot" Dick responded giving him a look
"Starting to sound like the old man now" Jason responded sardonically.
"Low blow" Dick muttered.
They stood in silence for a few seconds again.
"You know I heard from someone very obnoxious once that talking about your problems helps" Jason mused
"Using my own argument against me huh?"
Dick responded with a teasing tone, raising an eyebrow.
"Learned from the best" Jason said proudly as Dick nodded in a self satisfied way
"Elizabeth Bennett" Jason finished and Dick deflated.
"Let's just say, you're not the first person I know who has died and come back" Dick answered way too casually. That caught Jason off guard. Alright, the whole resurrection thing had gotten a little old after him. It seemed he had started a trend somehow because Damian and Cass had also been revived after dying or a mortal injury. Wait, if Dick was talking about someone who had been revived then the most obvious choice was the Lazarus pit. Was he dealing with the insanity after effects of it here? Whoever it was, maybe Dick had to help them or something. But he had said 'first person', meaning whoever it was had had their ordeal before Jason ever did. Either way, Jason settled on his former thought, purely for confirmations sake.
"When did you gain Lazarus Pit V.I.P status?" Jason asked sarcastically.
"Not that." Dick responded. So Jason was right. He knew there were technically other strange, niche ways which he didn't know the specifics of.
"Then?" Jason raised an eyebrow instinctively from under his mask.
"It's...I don't exactly know. Or well I can't explain it. I think it was just her I suppose?"
Dick couldn't really explain how Raven had come back from the dead back then. He remembered waking up after Trigon blasted them. He'd had visions while he wasn't conscious. Visions of what he'd understood later was where Raven had been. Dead. Or well in Limbo. The point was, she'd been gone from the tangible world. Virtually dead. He'd felt the pain of her becoming a portal through their bond, it was like a volcano had exploded from inside him. Even now he knew that the pain had been far worse for her. He'd felt her death to his core. Then after roaming around the destroyed city, he'd felt a spark from her end of the bond again.
Jason had caught the 'her' even within his bewilderment. What did he mean, it was just her? Was that even possible? Well, at this point he'd believe anything was possible. He ran through any female friends Dick had outside the family. Kory was one but he knew Kory had never died. He was sure there were people in the Titans but the members always muddled together in his head.
"It was today that it happened. And it was a whole lot more than just her dying. It was just a pretty traumatizing ordeal altogether. The actual thing had been today but it'd been going on for a while back then" Dick continued. "So I make sure to pop by and visit her during this time every year. I mean not that I don't meet her beyond that but I try to make sure we're both not alone round this time" He shrugged a little
Jason decided to cut to the chase.
"Her?" Jason inquired cocking his head to the side.
"Raven. From the Titans. It was when I was still Robin so I doubt you'd know" Dick responded.
Right. He did know Raven. Or atleast, he knew of her. She was a pretty good friend of Dick's and Tim too–though he was quite sure she was closer to Dick. Infact he had the vague suspicion there was something between them–so Jason wasnt sure why he was talking like he wouldn't know her. Plus Kory talked about Raven all the time when they met.
"I do know of her" He responded "So, she died and came back to life just like that?" He raised an eyebrow
"Well it's more complicated than that. She has magic. Pretty powerful magic. She was and is definitely the strongest of us all. But there was a lot that happened. There was a Prophecy and Slade and..." Richard trailed off. There was a few vague things she had told him. About how she had woken up in a completely white space after turning into a portal. Apparently her soul had bern in Limbo. She had thought it was some sort of purgatory. Then she had heard her old mentor Azar and Raven had asked for the way to wherever the sinners went–which Dick had not been happy to hear–and Azar just said she shouldn't be here and then Trigon had given her whatever little life she had left and she came back as a child with no memories–which was apparently intentional because Trigon wanted to manipulate her to his side. That was as much as Dick understood from the conversation they had after.
Meanwhile Jason took a second to process everything that was dumped on him. Deathstroke? Where did he come from. And a Prophecy? This sounded like it was out of a Greek Tragedy.
"Deathstroke? Did he ki–?" Jason questioned and Dick shook his head.
"Nah. But he was working for Trigon" Dick mentioned off-handedly
"Trigon!? Like interdimensional demon Trigon? That guy? I thought that was some dumb story to scare people" Jason muttered and tried to keep his voice down despite the shock and slight fear rising in him from this revelation.
"Yeah. He's...he's Raven's father" Dick responded a little awkwardly.
Jason just stared at him with eyes as wide as daisies. He was finding out that not only was the demon and dimension conqeror Trigon was real but his daughter was friends with a friend. So this actually was practically a Grecian tragedy.
"Huh...and I thought we had daddy issues" Jason managed to scoff, still bewildered.
Dick snorted in response, flipping one of his escrima sticks in the air and catching it.
They both drifted into silence again. Jason was just thinking now. He wondered what it would be like being the daughter of an interdimensional demon conqueror. He couldn't imagine it. How could he have? And he thought Bruce was a problematic father.
"So you've seen him?" Jason asked now
"Trigon? Yeah. I mean atleast whatever form which was acceptable for me I guess" Dick shrugged which incited a questioning hum from Jason
"Raven says that mortals and most other beings cannot truly perceive Trigon's real form. The more knowledge and acceptance you have the more you perceive but even then, not many people can truly see it all without going completely mad and likely clawing their own flesh off" Dick sounded somber and wary just saying it. Jason genuinely felt a driver down his spine and like he'd been thrown off-kilter.
"And she's seen the real thing?" He asked to which Dick nodded
"Yeesh. No wonder you visit every year" Jason gripped his jacket tighter around him.
"Alright I've creeped you out enough for one night. I hear footsteps coming up anyway" Dick chuckled a little nervously. Jason had heats the footsteps too and heard their family's voices vaguely. The walls of the Asylum were thick after all, so no screams left it out toward the upper world.
"Let's go put Gothams favourite psycho in jail then" Jason nodded and his hands folded on his chest as the footsteps got closer
"Hey Dickhead?" Jason spoke suddenly.
"Hm?"
"After we get rid of him, you can go ahead and visit her. We'll take care of everything else. I can cover for you" He muttered.
"Really? Thank you Jay" Dick beamed in gratitude. "Seems you're getting soft" He teased.
"We'll see about that" Jason responded and they both got into defense positions, just in case and got ready to apprehend the Joker.