Chapter 1: So This is Family, Huh?
Chapter Text
Of all the people Duke had expected to meet after joining the Astral Express, it definitely wasn't a Bounty Hunter.
Galaxy Rangers? Sure. The Express had connections everywhere. That made sense. Same with people from the Genius Society or people affiliated with the Ravagers or even a completely original group that trailblazed under the path of Harmony.
But Bounty Hunters weren't even technically a faction. Sure, they were famous - there had even been a Bounty Hunter navigator for the express at one point, if he remembered right. But it still felt so...unexpected?
"Steph, meet Duke," Tim introduced them, smiling at the blonde girl in purple. "He's a new member of the express. We picked him up from Gotham."
"Steph" eyeballed him, a smirk that Duke was starting to feel was a permanent fixture on her face making him somewhat nervous.
"Uh, hi," Duke said, waving his hand awkwardly. "I didn't know there was going to be someone..."
"Yes you did," Tim sang, leaning back on the counter. "Alfred told you yesterday but you were too distracted again."
Oh...
Now that Tim mentioned it, Duke did recall Alfred mentioning something about a guest. But to be fair, he had thought it would be Dick or Jason.
"Must have missed it," he muttered, peering curiously at Steph. "So...you're a Bounty Hunter?"
The blonde nodded, nodding a thanks to Oracle - the robot, that is, that acted as Barbara Gordon's presence on the Express - for the drink. "I used to be part of the Nameless - "
"Technically still part of it," Oracle interrupted, indicating that Babs had hopped online.
Steph rolled her eyes, though the smile on her face was too wide to indicate any real annoyance. "Yeah, yeah. Hello to you, too, Babs. But I'm more a Bounty Hunter now. After falling out with the good old bat, I - well, first, I tried to chill in Lukasha after faking my death, but circumstances."
She made a "what can you do" gesture and elbowed Tim. "'sides. I couldn't leave Tim well alone when he kept getting clobbered by people he was supposed to beat easily."
Tim scowled. "I wasn't getting clobbered! I had everything under control."
"One day, you'll learn that having a plan with 87 steps when you need to act now doesn't mean having 'everything under control.' I can't believe that small time criminal gave you so much trouble."
Tim sputtered as Babs and Steph laughed. Even Duke couldn't help grin at the light-hearted jabbing.
"I was shocked that you were alive! That was your fault??"
Shaking her head, Steph tsked. "Excuses."
Leaving Tim speechless, she turned to the roboty Babs and Duke. "So tell me about yourself, Duke. I got a message from Dick telling me the old man had picked up another stray from his planet. What got you in?"
"Uh..."
Duke tried to think of a way to summarize all the drama that had gone on. What with starting a band inspired by the series of child/teen guards of the Express and then kind of accidentally helping an amnesiac Bruce Wayne save Gotham from Bloom and all that drama.
"He basically saved Bruce," Babs summarized, pouring another drink for Steph.
Steph raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed.
"He saved me too," Duke waved off. "I was just...in the right place at the right time. Makes up for all the times I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, you know? Then, Bruce asked me if I wanted to be a Trailblazer, expand my world. And how could I say no to that?"
Stephanie nodded, crossing her arms on the table. "Hmm, I know what you mean. Trailblazing is incredible. I got picked up after Tim here went AWOL for a spell." There was a sad edge to her smile. "I wasn't very food as a trailblazer, but I don't regret it one bit. You'll meet so many incredible people and see so many worlds."
"Lies. You were amazing," Babs dismissed. "And now you continue to trailblaze as a Bounty Hunter."
"Fine, fine," Steph laughed. "But I'm always chasing up some criminal who thinks they've a right to the cosmos. Which," Steph's expression turned a fraction more serious, "brings me to why I kind of stopped by, asides from meeting the newbie and seeing you all. Babs, could you look into what Black Mask is doing? I've been commissioned by the IPC to track him down."
"Sure," Barbara agreed easily. "Any reason why they commissioned you?" She paused. "Any reason why you agreed to it? You don't usually like working with rich people."
"It's Black Mask," Steph said curtly.
Her tone reminded Duke of the story of how one of the "Robins" of the Astral Express had purportedly been killed by a criminal who went by Black Mask.
So that had been her, huh?
"Yeah, like we're going to believe that," Tim snorted, but pulled out his laptop. "But whatever. Race you to the info, Babs!"
"Too late," Babs ruthlessly crushed. "Already done before you even suggested it."
"Aw, man..."
"You should see the info in more detail in your phone, but for now? He was last seen in Penacony talking to Talia al Ghul."
Well that captured everyone's attentions.
"Damian's mom?" Duke remembered, surprised. Sometimes he forgot that Damian came from the League of Assassins.
"Seems like a standard, mildly harmful but no all that cosmically destructive deal to me," Babs hummed, nodding the automaton slightly at Duke's direction. "It seems Black Mask is more interested in the League's Abundance aligned abilities than their Destructive ones. And if that was any modicum of harmful, the Xianzhou Alliance would be on their tail immediately. Could be that the IPC is threatened by two incredibly wealthy factions making a deal."
The way Steph hummed her "maybe" made Duke doubt it. But he didn't want to press.
"What are you holding out on us?" Tim, having zero qualms about it, pressed instead, nudging Steph's shoulder and making a valiant attempt of invading her space to look at her phone.
"Hey! Privacy!" Steph yelled, flinging her phone high above her head and elbowing Tim.
The movements toppled them both off the stools, where they landed with a thud on the party car's carpet.
"You should know there's no privacy in this family!" Tim protested, holding Stephanie down as he tried to grab at her phone.
"Then have the dignity to use your detective skills and figure it out! This is a confidential commission!"
"It's the IPC, who cares? They have data breaches like every other week!"
"Tim!"
"Steph!"
"Uhhh, should we stop them?" Duke stammered staring at the two teenagers scuffling on the floor like angry cats.
"Nope, leave them be," Babs hummed, and Duke swore he could hear a smile behind that automated voice. "Consider it practice for the future."
Tim's exclamation of triumph, having stolen Steph's phone, was cut off by a scream as she full-body tackled him.
"Right..." Duke laughed, unsure if the jittery feeling in his chest was apprehension or...warmth.
"That's gonna leave a bruise," Babs commented as they witnessed Tim throwing Steph off into the air.
...apprehension it was.
Chapter 2: Only Naught is Meaningless
Notes:
Jason Todddddd!!
Chapter Text
<Jason, get out of there!>
"Just a sec, Oracle," Jason hissed in his earpiece. "There's still someone in there."
A sigh. <Fine. But you have 5 minutes before life support will start failing.>
Five minutes?
"Easy," he scoffed.
And then he dove deeper into murky depths of this certain forest in what remained of Tamaran, trying not to think too hard of the sludge moving apathetically under his feet.
Kori owes me big time, Jason grumbled to himself, if only to keep the other thoughts at bay.
It didn't work.
He'd received his fellow Ranger's private SOS a few days ago. Kori's haggard look when they met up to talk about what had been on her mind almost made Jason angry that she hadn't tried contacting him sooner. Once he heard her story, however...
Well, Jason was still angry. But of course, it was at himself.
<I can hear your thoughts, and no, you're not weak, Jason> Oracle's voice sounded into his ear.
"Uh huh," he mumbled, not in the mood to hear Babs' platitudes.
Whatever she said, she'd be right, but Jason was too angry to care.
When Kori's home planet, still on the mend from her Destruction Pathstrider sister's coup a few years back, had started to be eaten up by the Nihility in some twisted squabble Nanook was having with IX, she hadn't felt that she could ask Jason for help given his past...experiences with the Aeons and their wars.
To out it more bluntly, one of Jason's friends had felt she had to suffer alone because Jason was too pathetic and she was trying to be considerate.
<Jason> Babs' voice was almost reproachful. <You're here now.>
Deep breath in. And out.
"Right," he agreed, even if it felt hollow.
But Jason was here, and he'd been right in sensing this spot of "something" in this dying planet slowly being reduced to nothing.
There was a boy, his form fading in and out of existence, staring helplessly at the land of Tamaran slowly sinking into shadow of the Aeon.
For a moment, Jason was taken back to a few years ago, lost in a planet that had long lost its name.
There was that joker, laughing at him from all around.
"My boy, do you know what separates the Elation from Nihility?"
"Let me out, you Masked Fool!" Jason, scared and angry and too young for this, really, shouted at the toxic poisonous venom all around.
"Masked Fool? Oh, no. I don't like to affiliate myself with those in that sad little Tavern. I'm a joker! A little bit of a wild card. Who cares about gods and cosmos and all that nonsense when you have the beautiful now?"
And Jason, desperate to get out, choking on the venom, feeling the beginnings of a wild laugh bubbling in his throat, ran.
He wouldn't laugh. He wouldn't laugh. He'd get out. Bruce would come after him. He'd make it out and continue trailblazing, discover new ways to live, prove that he had a right to life as anyone else, prove that the gods and fate had no say in his life.
He never did laugh, but he did hear the distant sounds of wild cackling as he fell into an endless abyss.
It was then when he felt small, so...weightless. And worthless. Not even in an emotional way, but as if the facts were spinning in his brain, reminding him how everything and everyone was for naught.
And then there was THEM, with THEIR trees and branches and life, looking at him, who was still fighting, still yelling at the void that he was here, that he had a name, even if it wasn't one he could remember. But that was all right. Somewhere deep down, he'd always know he was Nameless.
"Hey, kid, get out of there!" the present Jason hollered, shaking off those thoughts.
The kid jerked at the sound a voice, suddenly present and there.
Perhaps he could be spared from the fate of Self-Annihilation yet.
"Hold on! I'm coming to get you out!" Jason continued yelling, running over the waters as if they were nothing - because they were. Else it wouldn't be nothing, right?
Even from a distance, Jason could see the light of hope sparking in the kid's eyes.
"What's your name?" he shouted.
The kid jumped at that. "I...don't - "
"Yes you do!" Jason cut him off, skidding to a halt in from of the kid and picking him up. "Even if you don't remember your old one, you have a name. Come on, what is it?"
"I...I think it's...it was Ryand'r?"
And though he didn't vocalize it, mentally, Jason let out a breath of relief.
<You have like 2 minutes, Jason. Run!> Oracle reminded.
"All right, Ryand'r," Jason said, kneeling to face the boy. "Let's get out of here. Hang on tight."
So of course they made it out, with a few seconds to spare.
"Not a good thing," Kori huffed when Jason pointed that out, then seemed taken aback at the figure that Jason carried.
That reaction...would have to wait.
"I have to go now, Kori. Need a moment," Jason hurriedly said, pushing the kid into his friend's arms.
He made sure he was far enough away from everyone before he let himself drop to the ground and bite back at least half the volume of the scream pulled out from him.
Jason knew what he looked like right now. The other Nameless or former Nameless had seen him at some point or the other during one of his episodes.
The nothingness of the Nihility - sapping away at all his memories, self, body, etc. - competing with the curse of the Abundance, determined to transform him into something that would last, to preserve every memory of pain. Yaoshi's branches would grow around him, trying to envelop him into a mindless monster of pain, and then the Nihility would push those memories back under its murky abyss, though not quite able to destroy the Abundance so that Jason would be lost completely. It was just enough that the memories wouldn't swallow him and cause him to be marastruck.
It freaking hurt. And in some ways, Jason welcomed the pain. A reminder to those effing gods that the Nihility couldn't make everything nothing and that the Abundance couldn't heal everything.
<You okay, Jason?> Babs' voice brought him out of the haze.
Jason let a deep exhale, laying on his back as he stared at the stars shining through the skylight of Kori's gigantic ship. The branches were already receding and the monochrome of his vision was slowly filling with color again.
"Yeah, it's over," he reassured her, smiling as he thought of Ryand'r's eyes going wide when Jason had shoved him at Kori.
"Just some bad memories."
Mila_Mason369 on Chapter 1 Wed 26 Nov 2025 05:50PM UTC
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