working towards our future, by leaving our past

by Marudny_Robot

Summary:

Jason - an actual zombie - was used to the weird and supernatural things in the world. So, he wasn't as much worried about his weird stalker as he, perhaps, should.

However, the more he learned about his stalker, the more he realized that everything he knew about his reality might actually be a lie.
Now, that worried him much.

Notes:

Big THANK YOU to Mizuphae for beta-reading this chapter!

This fic will have more than 9 chapters, but for now I only have those 9 kinda written. I'll probably update tags with other characters when they will start appearing, or just additional tags in general.

There would be NO descriptions or mentions of "Rape/Non-Con" or "Underage" content in this whole fic - just fyi, if you were worried about that.

Have fun reading!

Chapter 1

Someone was following Jason.

The most surprising part was that Jason still didn’t know who it might be. Or how long had he been followed. Or why they allowed Jason to be aware. Or why they didn’t do anyth–

Point was, Jason was being followed. He didn’t have a clue until he connected the dots around late September, although it may have started earlier. And only thanks to someone saying ‘Jason’ around Red Hood.

Red Hood normally would’ve ignored someone calling his real name (there were many Jasons around and Hood didn’t have to be one), but the way it was said made chills run down his spine.

It sounded as hushed as a whisper. But instead of coming from somewhere far, it was right. In. His. EAR. And the tone was unusual too – asking, begging. His name was desperately uttered with an underlying plea and it horribly reminded Jason of all those voices of the dead he could hear whenever he was near the Pit. Terrifying.

There were other unusual situations that made Hood aware of a potential stalker, some of them being someone helping him in a couple of fights. For example, when he ended up fighting alone against a mob, someone helped him take care of a few – and it wasn’t help from anyone he knew. He actually asked O to confirm that! He had no idea how some of those thugs ended up bloodied, barely alive, or in a few situations, scared shitless, but he knew he didn’t have a chance with that bunch.

Other times, someone tampered with his case files. And they continued to do so, even if they were hard copies, electronic copies, or purposely hidden from sight. But the thing was someone was helping him , by pointing at things Jason did not know before. And even writing additional information on goddamn sticky-notes.

The first few times it happened, Jason was spending time with his team or stuck with one of the Bats. His friends liked to leave the most random messages to make him laugh, and his (as much as hates to say it) family liked to look through cases and help without any questions or requests for permission. Jason didn’t pay those little instances any mind. He was already a busy man and – blame him, for wanting to believe in something nice – he was getting back with his family. His life in general seemed to be getting less shitty, and he thought it was a sign of a healing relationship. He chalked those things under ‘Jason’s improving life’ and left it at that.

He should have known better.

Now Jason was stuck with a stalker. He didn’t know who, or how, or even goddamn why, and it started to drive him insane.

---

“And how do you even sleep at night?” Dick asked, finishing his beer. Jason couldn’t believe his brother could drink that piss of a beer, but his brother apparently preferred Blüdhaven’s originals.

“Surprisingly, good. Like, really, really good.”

That was also a strange thing that happened to Jason. He couldn’t remember another time he had slept so well. No nightmares, no bad memories. Was this how healthy and well-adjusted people slept?

“Seriously? ”

“Seriously. Like a baby. I even have nice dreams.”

Dick looked at him, clearly worried. And drunk.

“Those dreams…? Do they contain some clue or…?”

Jason pondered that. If someone was screwing with his mind, there was usually some indication of who it might be – some weird artifact, thing, element, symbol – that often repeated itself. It was like a contact card to the psychic responsible. But it’s hard to get rid of entirely, and often hidden in between the captive's imagination and thoughts.

Jason had no idea who it might have been in his case.

“I don’t know,” he finally replied and drank more. “It’s always… always the same guy...”

“Someone we know?”

“Fuck no. I would have fucking known, if I knew such an angel in real-”

“Oh! That kind of guy…”

“Yeah, that kind. Problem? ”

“None, baby brother.” Dick straightened his arm and ruffled Jason’s hair.

“Fuck off!”

“You wish!” He motioned the bartender for another two pints. “So, what do you know about that guy? Besides that you want to sleep with him.”

Jason muttered a reply.

“Jay?”

“...I was sleeping with him.”

Dick laughed. Loudly.

“Oi, fuck off!”

Dick was still laughing (as Dick often does), so Jason grabbed another beer to forget about the embarrassment he was sitting besides.

They calmed a little after that. A natural lull in the conversation occurred, which was a perfect break for cursed beers, laced with whatever toxin was drained lately, that you will only get near Gotham.

But, as much as they would joke that Ivy polluted the water reservoir with her pollen, Jason knew deep down that it wasn’t the correct answer to his growing problem.

Some weirdo started following him. And in the meantime, Jason’s got the most life-fulfilling dreams he couldn’t even hope for.

He wished he remembered more of those dreams. Maybe that way, he would have already found this mysterious, sexy guy, and – who knows? – maybe even his stalker?

For now, he only had small fragments he remembered. The guy’s dark, shoulder-length hair. That cheeky smile of his. The gray-blue color of his eyes made Jason wonder what storm was brewing for anyone that would dare to cross him…

---

I could’ve sworn there were other things I knew , Jason’s drunk brain reminded him, as he closed the door to his current safe-house.

Like the fact that Jason was the one to cook and the guy was shit at it. Or that the guy tended to overwork, or get ill easily. Or that he so rarely cursed, it was always a surprise when he did it.

Jason knew those things, yet he didn’t remember dreaming about them. It just… felt like common knowledge he’d always known. About some weird guy. Dreams worked like that, right?

Nothing weird, besides how happy and calm his dreams are, he thought as he slid under his blanket.

His last thought was about taking out a notebook and a pen and starting a dream journal or whatever Steph was calling this, to note his dreams right after waking up. But right now he was drunk and sleepy. It was a morning-Jason problem, anyway.

---

From the darkest corner of Jason’s bedroom, two little bluish lights appeared.

The nearest window opened itself, letting the harsh, cool Gotham wind inside the safehouse.

“Ja...son,” the wind pleaded.

Chapter 2

Notes:

Big THANK YOU to SleepwalkingTimDrake for Beta-Reading this chapter!

Plan is to post new chapter each weekend, so be ready for that!
Enjoy!

“ Hey, Jason? What have you been reading lately?”

“ Why do you want to know? Finally starting to appreciate good literature?”

“ As if! I’m good with my Star Trek novels, thanks.”

“ God, sometimes I wonder why we even date.”

“ I sometimes wonder too, but then you tell me to stop being so self-deprecating. So, stop being so self-deprecating Jason”

“ Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny.”

“ Robin’s specialty!”

“ You are spending too much time with Dick. Going back to your question – why do you want to know?”

“ I’m planning the next campaign, and if I use another ongoing case, I’m pretty sure someone starts to wonder.”

“ I don’t think you will find inspiration in romance novels? Doesn’t sound like your typical fantasy quest idea.”

“ Says the living zombie I tried to romance, until we bonded over beating bad guys of the month and started dating, but go off I guess.”

 

---

 

Jason wasn’t in the best mood.

Hangover did that to a person, true, but the harsh Gotham wind wasn’t the best thing in the morning either. The main reason he woke up was to close the window. Which he did, while using a litany of courses he wouldn’t dare repeat in Alfred’s hearing range.

He was certain he had left the window closed before going to bed.

Jason preferred to go back to sleep. He had another of those nice dreams, with his mysterious guy, living the happy life together. Still he had no idea who the guy was, or how he looked, but Jay… didn’t pay it much mind.

At first he had– it was sort of the 101 for dealing with psychics: as itseasy for them to control you through your dreams. However, Jason couldn’t find anything that suggested he was dealing with an evil entity. Just… He just suddenly started having nice dreams. It’s not like he hadn’t had them before the Pit. Maybe it was time for him to finally have those again?

He stretched and yawned loudly. Unfortunately, for a legit zombie, Jason had quite a busy schedule waiting for him. He didn’t meet with Dick last night just to share his life woes. Actually they’d been on recon and who wasn’t drinking in a bar? They would have been singled in an instant.

So they drank and it just so happens that their guy didn’t show up.

They planned to meet today in the morning beforehand. No-one wanted to spend every night in the pub, and there was still a chance that their guy heard they were looking for him.

 

---

 

They didn’t start the case together. Just because Jason sometimes helped Bats with some bigger thing, didn’t mean that they were all good now. Although they were getting there.

This particular case Jason started alone. Something wasn’t adding up in the amount of weapons shipped to and from Gotham. He had quite good information on who had monopoly on what and how much they usually bought and sold and for how much in Gotham's Underground. However, since last month, there has been a sudden influx – with prices going down or some generous benefactor throwing cash for your typical grunts, just so they can be more armed than with what Hood’s usually encountered.

Cheaper unmarked weapons meant that anyone – without backing up from one of Gotham’s crime lords – could get something better (or more) and try their hand at getting richer. Which meant more robberies and kidnappings per week.

Dick had come to the same conclusions as he was working on his case in Blüdhaven. Small Frys suddenly have more to their arsenal without working for bigger fishes.

In the end, they’d both ended up searching for the same people – One of them being the potential buyer they’d tried to meet yesterday.

 

---

 

“He got tipped off,” Dick said the moment he heard Jason enter the Batcave. He didn’t look up from the files on the table,

Jason rolled his eyes. “ Obviously. Any other observations, oh wise one?”

“Leave the sarcasm for Bruce, Jay. I’m not in the mood.”

“That’s what hangovers do to ya. Told you not to drink that piss.”

“ Oh, wow! Thank you Mr Detective! I didn’t know this!”

“Now, who’s a sarcastic ass?”

“Obviously you, because my name’s Dick.”

Jason decided not to comment more and looked at the map in front of them.

“Gotham Docks? The usual?”

“Apparently Gothamites like smuggling that way? I thought if they didn’t use other routes – but there weren’t any mentions of unscheduled planes or trains – checked it with O. There wasn’t anything suspicious with the baggage on those.”

“I told you, everyone will go with boats as long as those tunnels are open. No-one is checking them, and it’s easier to redistribute to the inner city that way.”

“Hey, at least we know it’s a local? Outsiders don’t know how to go through Croc’s territory.”

“And come back alive, at least.”

Dick didn’t comment more and both started discussing their plan.

Usually, for such a simple stake-out, the planning would’ve been done much much later. While riding to their destination–later. However, neither of them were in a hurry and nothing pressed for their attention.

Gotham in recent years has become...quiet, more peaceful. Most of the infamous Rouges actually tried to get better and with Wayne Enterprises helping the Little Guy in every way possible people had gradually stopped turning to mob families for help.

Thinking about it, Jason realized that he could finally start to see what Bruce has been working on through all those years.

There still was crime. From corrupt businessmen and politicians, to small thieves, to madmen who wanted to spread the destruction in any shape or form.

Still, it was getting better. Jason could see this in himself and other Bats. No longer run rugged on a few hours of sleep each day and night.

Dick was apparently getting a promotion soon – finally working for long enough to have a chance at it. There’s less warnings from Gotham Academy stating that Damian is falling asleep in classes again, or being concerned about Damian’s injuries. Bruce – despite still having WE to overlook as majority shareholder, and Justice League still needing Batman – he now has time to be a father to Damian. When Cass visited, she didn’t have to help others immediately with another Arkham breakout or something, and Steph was bewildered each time she told him that she had time to actually study for her college degree.

And Jason? Jason began thinking to maybe announce himself alive again, as Red Hood might have become not needed in the next few years.

 

---

 

Their vigilante instinct still worked. Plus, the information they’d got wasn’t bad.

Jason and Dick were in the middle of looking through the records in the office.

At the moment, they were alone – though their suspect should come soon, according to their info, but until then both Jason and Dick should be done with collecting everything needed.

It was an easy job. There was no need for easy banter to relieve the stress and it’s not like they needed to communicate to do what they needed. Thanks to years of practice, they knew how to work together in silence.

It seemed to be another easy day for them.

Until Red Hood heard the voice. Again.

“ Ja...son... ”

Hood stopped what he was doing.

“Did you hear that, ‘Wing?” Jason asked from his pile of paperwork.

Dick looked up from the document he was reading. “What?”

“ JA...SON... ”

“Ok, now I definitely heard that .”

Suddenly there was other loud noise from behind the office door, and moments later Dick and Jason could hear a bunch of people going in their direction. They both could hear scrapes of conversation from the other side, some of those voices sounding like they belonged to their suspects.

Dick took out his escrima and motioned Jason to hide for a sneak attack.

“ JA….SON…. DI...CK... ”

Both brothers looked at each other, having no idea where that terrifying voice came from. Who was with them?

Unfortunately, in that moment of distraction the thugs came upstairs, surprising them both.

“The hell?!” The first thug shouted upon seeing them.

There were five of them, but it was nothing for Dick and Jason – even with little space. They both took one out, each at the same time, with one strong punch, and turned to another thug. Moments later four thugs were lying unconscious on the floor. However – before they had a chance to turn towards the last one –they saw the two guns he was pointing at them.

“Isn’t this too much Wild West for ya, buddy?”

“’Wing, isn’t it cute? He thinks he can hit the mark lik-”

The bullet flew past Nightwing’s cheek, hitting the wall behind him.

“I think he actually can, Hood.”

“And here I thought my day would be boring.”

“SHUT UP!” The guy shot a warning shoot near their heads, again. “If you don’t want to be killed you will do as I sa-”

A heavy cabinet, that was standing beside one of the walls in the office, just flew with incredible velocity at their thug, successfully killing him instantly.

Both brothers looked in horror at what was left of the guy.

“The...fuck..?” Jason muttered, before they both slowly turned towards where this cabinet flew from.

In front of them stood a creature . A human-shaped creature, not bigger than Nightwing and dark as a void. It’s body seemed to be made of a tar, but it didn’t explain the dark smoke surrounding it.

Where the head should be there were only two bluish lights shining at them intensely.

“Ja...son….Di..ck,” the voice sounded like it was being carried from the outside, yet there was no mistaking what just talked..

“What the fuck?!” They both jumped away from it.

The creature winced , as if hurt, and stepped back curling in itself.

“Ja...son?” It asked, and Jason had no idea why, but for him, it sounded confused .

Before they have a chance to do anything – speak to this creature, call reinforcements, think of a plan, or just anything – the creature...slowly starts to melt and evaporate in front of their eyes. Two bluish lights became more dim till they couldn’t see them. Dark tendrils of smoke were soon gone with the wind, and the black oily substance hid through cracks in the building. Moments later, Dick and Jason were alone with four unconscious and one dead thug on the floor, and the room suddenly became brighter.

“Do you think it was your stalker?” Dick asked, not taking his eyes from where this entity was standing.

“I hope the fuck not.”

Notes:

Happy to hear what you think of the chapter! Any theories?
See ya next weekend!

Chapter 3

“Maybe you should take a break? I won’t be the only zombie around if you continue like this.”

“Jason? Could you just ‘not’?”

“The Case is still bothering you?”

“Of course it is! For fucks sake, either someone is screwing with me or they didn’t learn how to drop hints in Villain 101!”

“Sheesh ... take a break. Call Ives and others, have a W&W night.”

“What about the threats?”

“Look, babe. They were sent a month ago and no-one did anything with them till now. And we are living in Gotham with opportunistic clowns. I’m pretty sure I can be alone for one night.”

“If you say so...”

“I do. You worry too much about others. For once chill and let yourself have a break.”

“Asshole.”

“Your asshole. Go call Ives, Babybird.”

 

---

 

The first thing Nightwing and Red Hood did when they came back to the Batcave, was to let all the stress of the mission out .

“What the hell was that?! ” Dick shouted, still not comprehending.

Stephanie looked up at them from the training mats. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Jason’s stalker!”

“I don’t have a stalker!”

“Come on! You’ve got a demon calling for you!”

“It called your name too!”

“Ok, wait, wait, wait… How come Jason has a stalker and how come it’s a demon?”

“For fuck’s sake ...” Jason muttered and summarized what he had previously told Dick. About weird incidents and terrifying voices knowing his name. And how come it was helping Jason, while also being hell-bent on protecting him.

The only thing he didn’t mention were his dreams – it was not time and place, and he didn’t have any proof they were connected in with the creature.

Finally, they both told Stephanie what they witnessed during their job.

Steph surprisingly didn’t make any jokes about the situation. She didn’t seem as concerned as they were, but she listened till the end.

“So, which magic expert are we calling?” She asked instantly, when they finished talking.

“What do you mean ‘we’?” Jason retorted. “It’s my problem.”

“And you told us. So now it’s our problem.”

“What? ”

“Jeez , no-one told you about Robin solidarity or what, Zombie Wonder?”

As Steph helped them to relax, Jason noticed the tension drop from Dick’s shoulders.

“I’ll contact Raven, see if she could tell us anything.”

“Maybe Constantine?”

Jason huffed.

”I’ll try, but I don’t think he would help, unless people actually start dying.”

“I’m pretty sure that Jason Blood lives in Gotham,” Dick suggested.

“Then I’ll pay him a visit, hear what he says.”

“Shouldn’t we go with you?”

“And hold your hand?” Steph had to add.

Jason’s glare showed exactly what he thought of bringing them along.

“I think I can deal with a conversation,” he snubbed. “Besides, whatever it was, it was obviously more connected to me , than you ,” he reminded his older brother.

Dick shrugged.

“Yeah, you are right. I’ll sit this one but I’ll let you know if it decides to visit me too.”

Steph clasped her hands, bringing attention to herself.

“So, that’s all for our plan! No point discussing it more - let’s go upstairs and eat. Oh, and Jason?”

He looked at her in question.

“Don’t share your cursed cooties with me.”

“I don’t- What the hell are ‘cursed cooties’?”

“Like ‘girl cooties’? Obviously yours are cursed and attract demons, and you have already shared them with Dick.”

“What?”

Dick laughed all the way to the showers.

“Eew, Little Wing! Take back your cursed cooties!” He called from his locker.

“What the hell, Dick? Are you twelve?”

Steph just shook her head. Explaining it to Jason as if he was a toddler.

“That demon knew Nightwing’s name, so Dick must have taken your cursed cooties from you.”

“She’s right!”

“I don’t have goddamn cursed cooties, you fucking idiots!”

 

---

 

Jason’s experience with magic users was mostly unsuccessfully finding the ones he needed to talk with and trying his best to hide from the ones who needed to talk with him.

He didn’t expect anything from his trip to Jason Blood, but he went anyways. If he didn’t go, then Dick would go - and really, that whole thing with the ghostly stalker was Jason’s problem only . It would be better for all the Bats to just leave it to him.

Unfortunately, Jason was well aware that they wouldn’t.

Which brings him back to why he was spending his afternoon at Blood’s place.

He had to say that he didn’t expect to find the guy and be invited for tea. If Blood couldn’t help him this time, at least Jason now knew where he’d be going for any future supernatural problems.

“The best I can say at the moment is that this creature must have known you when it was alive.” Jason Blood answered politely. “They probably died a very tragic death. It takes quite an amount of negative emotions or malicious intent in one's last moments, for the soul to be as unrecognizable as you described. Or if it’s soul was parted - that also does the trick.”

“So you’re saying that was a ghost?”

“There’s a characteristic smell of sulfur around demons and demon-like entities. If this was an elemental of some kind, the element of its nature would be easy to spot on.”

“’Void Elemental’, maybe?”

“I know that we like to joke ‘it’s Gotham! Everything’s possible!”, but I would prefer if we do not joke about the existence of such a type. Elementals exist around something material, existing . ‘Void elemental’ suggests that it exists on nothing , or more accurately, on lack of something . I would prefer we would never have to consider this option.

“I’ll put this as ‘just in case’ and start with your first suggestion.” Jason munched on a pastry, briefly wondering if the other Jason and Alfred got those from the same place. “It’s still something to work on - narrows down the list of suspects.”

He finished his tea.

“Before I leave - if it's the vengeful spirit of someone I know - is it possible for it to learn the identities of others, while being a ghost? Or would it have to know them when it was alive, to know them now?”

“To learn, it would need a conscious mind. Ghosts kind of can learn, but not the same way as living beings. Ghosts don’t have brains. But they have a soul they carried from when they were alive. ‘Ghost’ is basically a term for a Soul that stayed in the mortal realm. Souls - which is, let’s say, the core of a person's being - can gather new information, and in a sense , learn. Because, basically, souls and information are both energies. However, the souls can’t be damaged for them to be able to do that. As in, energetically, ghost’s soul energy imprint should be the same as when it belonged to a living being. It can also have more to it. However it can’t have less, or something be changed.”

“What if something tampered with the soul?”

“If the soul was tampered with, there's a chance that the ghosts won’t remember everything from it’s life - or whatever it experienced while being a ghost. Hard to say what exactly kind of damage that would do, but memory loss would usually go with it.”

On that note Jason left, promising the other to keep him updated on the situation.

 

---

 

Being unable to do anything was driving Dick nuts.

He didn’t know anything about magic and ghosts (at least from a practical sense - it wasn’t his expertise), that’s why he couldn’t help Jason directly. He already asked Kory if she had Raven’s current number and if she knew anyone else who could be of help - and what he had found he already told Jason.

The one positive thing was that Jason decided to keep him and Steph in the loop. He couldn’t be more grateful for that. Dick was worried about him - that was just how he operated: being worried about his family, even when he trusted them.

Plus it hurt, whenever Jason thought he didn’t belong with them.

But now Jason started to actually talk with them and let them spend time together - Dick could care less that most of those had happened only on missions and that Jason wasn’t allowing them for more. He was just proud of his little brother that he decided to trust them again. 

Dick promised himself to never let down any of his siblings ever again.

But right now he couldn’t do anything more than just wait. Jason would talk with Blood and Raven later. The damn ghost wasn’t appearing anywhere near Dick, and Jason didn’t mention anything about seeing or hearing it more from their last meeting.

He tried to occupy his mind with his job - but Nightwing just finished his latest open case, and his supervisors didn’t like how Dick was taking care of so many cold cases.

Dick didn’t want to be sent to easy menial jobs for rookies, just because someone was jealous that Dick actually did his job .

That’s why he did what Babs was telling him to do for a long time: organize his case files. He had to change computers a few times and wasn’t up with filing all of his cases to databases for Oracle - that’s why he had so many boxes with case files (labelled ‘job’ for any civilians who knew him as a police officer).

He didn’t know how it happened that he had a bunch of case files from a few years ago (he could swore he filled them as they went), but apparently he was wrong.

One particular case was kind of interesting. From the state of his notes and the amount and timing of gathered clues, Dick couldn’t have done this case by himself.

But he didn’t remember with whom he was solving this one. With Jason? After all, the case sounded like someone was threatening Little Wing back then...

 

---

 

Jason swore that his appearance in the Batcave this time was completely not planned.

He was working on his territory tonight, but O called that Robin was in danger and Jason was the nearest…

He only stayed in the Cave with the rest, just to check if the brat was alright!

Besides, he promised Steph and Dickward to fill them on what he found, and they would annoy him relentlessly later if he didn’t do this.

And with all of that done, he should get back. Brat was saved (Alfred was patching him up). B-man was being his usual self, working on the Batcomputer and acting as today hadn’t scared him. Jason just finished sparring with the rest. Blonde was still kicking Dick’s ass, and Cass decided to join Jason in finishing Alfred’s cookies.

It was peaceful. There was no crisis and everyone was calming down.

He should really get back.

“What is–? Oracle!”

Everyone else turned to see what had agitated Batman. On the computer, by itself, files were being opened up, searched through, and closed. Several files were opened at the same times, then several others were closed at the same time, and then another bunch was simultaneously opened, searched and closed. Again and again. Whatever was reading them was doing it in a very chaotic order.

“IT WASN’T ME,” Oracle spoke through speakers in the cave, apparently untouched by the cyber-attack. “I CAN’T DETECT ANY HACKER OR MALWARE GOING THROUGH IT.”

“Whe..re.. ”

Bruce tried closing the opened files, but as soon as he did it they were opened again by itself. Oracle tried the same without any success.

Everyone else got ready to fight and looked out for any intruders in the cave.

“Where? Jay, help… Where is it? Jay? ”

The terrifying robotic voice - clearly not belonging to Oracle - was coming through the speakers.

Dick and Jason looked at each other, recognizing the phenomena. The others sent Jason a puzzled look.

“Oracle!”

“AGAIN, NOT ME,” O replied. “WHATEVER IT IS, IT’S LIMITING ITSELF TO BATCOMPUTER AND WHATEVER IT’S IN IMMEDIATE VICINITY.”

Then suddenly, as every file seemed to be opened, a horrible screech resembling nails scratching across a blackboard came from the speakers.

Everyone stepped away, wincing.

“No! NO! Where?! Where is it?! Jason, where – ?!”  

Others turned to Jason, waiting for him to do something . Anything for it to stop. However, Jason had no idea what to do. 

He was still baffled by the fact that, apparently, whatever was following him spoke in full sentences now. He knew jackshit about what was going on and what in the fucking hell it wanted.

Computer was still unusable.

Bruce and O tried their best to take back control over the machine, but still without any luck.

“Jay! Has Blood told you anything?!”

“Nothing that would help us now! I told you earlier!”

The voice started to sound more and more desperate. The more panicked it sounded the faster files on the monitor were tampered with.

“No, please! Jay, please, help! Jason, where is it?!”

It was clearly panicking and Jason would say it was also crying, if he thought ghosts were capable of doing that.

Bruce finally called him, demanding explanation.

However, the moment Bruce called Jason, whatever was controlling the computer suddenly stopped.

Computer froze completely. Nothing moved.

Everyone waited, not daring to make a noise.

Then, slowly, from each crack and nook from the machine, some tar-like dark substance started to leak.

Soon it started leaking faster and faster, and what leaked on the floor - as if it had a consciousness - started gathering in one pile in front of the computer.

“Where is it? Where…?”

This time, the voice wasn’t as terrifying as before. It still came from the same speakers and had the same robotic sound, but the tone had changed to a more begging one.

Bruce stepped away from the growing tar-like pile, letting everyone see this eldritch horror. The dark matter didn’t move further from where it accumulated on the floor, gathering itself and growing up, creating a form, in the way reminiscent of Clayface. It surely wasn’t Clayface, thought.

Before it formed completely, it started moving forward on barely finished legs. At first slowly, awkwardly. But with each step more and more of its body was being formed, and each step was more confident than the previous.

“Jason where…?”

When it moved a meter from the Batcomputer, it’s head was formed.

“Jason… Jason where...”

Despite the thick smog surrounding it, everyone could see two bluish lights resembling the eyes. At first they shone at what was in front of it, then slowly looked at everyone gathered in front of him, searching.

When it found Jason, it moved towards him.

“Jay.. Jay, please...” Those bluish lights seemed to pierce Jason’s soul.

“help me, Jason, please…” it continued to plead, while standing in front of Jason.

Moments later, the creature started to fade like last time. With it’s light dimming, gas around it disperses, and it’s body melting and sinking through barely-there cracks in the floor. 

Then finally it was gone.

Everyone in the Batcave was silent.

“Hood, explain.”

Jason could hear that Batman wasn’t in the mood for jokes.

Notes:

Happy New Year!

Thank you to all of you who were patiently waiting for the update! I hope you liked the chapter! :>

Big Thank You to SleepwalkingTimDrake for beta-reading this chapter! It would be much much more confusing if they didn't help me ;-;

I'm sorry for very late update. Last year wasn't the kindest and it was foolish of me to consider update-schedule >>
Let's just focus this year on simply finishing this work, ok?

PS: Please, tell me know at which time of a day/night you are reading this chapter and how spooky it is! It's for science :>

Chapter 4

Summary:

After a ghost visit in the Batcave last time, Wayne family members start to realize that there are some gaps in their memories.
Jason's dreams get more detailed.

Bruce was sitting in front of the Batcomputer, but wasn’t using it. 

It was hours after the situation. The Cave and Manor grounds were already checked for any sign of intrusion, and everyone for any injuries. Now, in the early hours of the morning - when the rest of his family was finally sleeping - Bruce was trying to understand what had happened.

“ According to the scan, the computer should work normally. ” Barbara’s voice was heard through the speakers. She wasn’t using the modulator for her Oracle voice. “ You can try doing something. It won’t bite.... Probably. ”

Bruce only looked at the nearest camera, giving Barbara the most tired look. He didn’t appreciate her jokes.

She didn’t apologize, and instead started brainstorming over the case.

“ It was very frantic in it’s search. ”

Bruce hmmed.

“ It didn’t delete or change any files. At least according to logs. They were only opened- ”

“-and closed. It wasn’t even copying.”

“ It was searching. ”

“But for what?”

“ Something that was on the computer. ”

“But it couldn’t find anything. It was acting very panicked. Whatever it was searching for couldn’t be there.”

“Or... it couldn’t find it. ”

Bruce motioned to her to explain her theory.

“ Let’s assume it could find it, if the files were there. Why couldn't it then? ”

“Couldn’t go through passwords?”

“ It could go through easily. Something else. ”

“The files weren’t there?”

“ But it assumed they had to be there. It wasn’t searching anywhere else. And if it was limited somehow in its appearance, it chose the Batcomputer to be it’s first bet. ”

“I put everything of importance in there.” Most of Batman’s enemies would do everything in their power to get the information he compiled.

But it didn’t explain why the ghost failed to find what it was searching for.

 “Maybe it expected something I haven’t yet created?”

“ Or something you created, but got rid of. ”

“I don’t get rid of files in case they are needed.”

“ And you don’t have unlimited space for them. When was the last time you were doing backups? ”

“I have been doing back ups regularly every year, so the last one…” Bruce paused, as he realized he absolutely didn’t remember the last time did the back-ups. “The last few years I’ve been busy - with Jason finally starting to trust us again, Justice League needed space interference, Damian cutting ties with his mother…”

“ You started doing yearly back ups since you got back from being ‘dead’. Those last years weren’t as hectic in comparison, Bruce. ”

Bruce frowned.

“You are right, they weren’t. Then why don't I remember doing back ups?”

He stood up and went to the shelf with hard drives. Took the most recent one according to his system of labeling, and connected it to the computer to see when was the last time it was modified.

“ Five years ago. That's a lot of time, B. ”

“And lots of files. But if there’s something there that it isn’t on the computer now…”

“ Then perhaps we can identify Jason’s ghostly stalker. ”

 

---

 

Alfred had to calm down and think things through when there was no immediate danger. He decided to do something that would help him relax his mind the best - cleaning.

He regularly cleaned the spaces that were most often used: kitchen, bathrooms, living areas, corridors. He refused to clean his charges’ bedrooms - mostly for them to have some sense of privacy.

This time, he decided to clean the guest rooms in the family wing. They were mostly used when one of the family members decided to get someone over. They were then placed there (and not in the other wing), to prevent people from getting lost. However, in recent years, he didn’t have to do it as often as most of the occupants started to move out - and when they got back with their friends and partners they often slept in the same room.

Alfred was ready to clean, with the whole cart of cleaning supplies and a pair of lock picks. Each room had a different set of keys, and Alfred couldn’t be bothered to always remember which was which - the rest of his family assumed he actually did carry a ring of keys.

He finished clearing two out of six available rooms quickly. There wasn’t much to do besides dusting and cleaning the bathrooms and it was exactly the kind of mind numbing job Alfred needed for now.

He expected to finish all six rooms before he had to go prepare dinner.

He didn’t expect the 3rd bedroom to look like someone was living there.

He could swore this bedroom should have been empty.

 

---

 

Jason was sitting comfortably while sharing tea with Jason Blood.

“Even with that new information, I still wouldn’t change my opinion. It sounds like a ghost to me - ghost of a human who tragically died.” Blood paused to take a sip.. “ But, perhaps we could also include some failed resurrection as well - after all, Gotham has a precedence of that.”

“Hey! I came out alright!”

Blood proceeded to calmly drink from his cup, but Jason swore he heard him muttering ‘ Of course you have’.

For now, Jason let the comment slide - there were more important things.

However, he had to rethink if Jason Blood should be his go-to magic expert.

“Have you heard from the others?”

“According to Raven - Rachel Roth? - whatever it was, wasn’t connected to Lazarus Pits, or my own resurrection. It had to be connected to me when it was alive, so, perhaps I really knew that person... But I still have no fucking clue who it may be.”

Blood nodded, listening.

“With how stronger it gets, you should get clues with time. Something else?”

“She thinks I might be some kind of ‘beacon of light’, energetically speaking , for the creature. That’s why it usually hangs out around me, but disperse, as it doesn't have as much energy to stay. Its energy source might be somewhere else.”

“You asked someone else?”

“One of the younger superheroes by the name of Secret. She’s kind of an expert on ghosts and taking souls to the other side, so to speak. Anyway, I met with her on the other side of the continent and guess what? ”

Blood rolled his eyes, as if he didn’t like Jason’s gossiping tone.

“Geez, I don’t know. The ghost found you there?”

“Disappeared as soon as it showed up. Only got the time to call the girl - Secret - “Suzie”. Which, apparently , was something only few of her close friends knew.”

“This was the first time you met with that “Secret”?”

“ Yup . I know about her teammates - some of them are current Teen Titans - but this was the first time I talked with any of them.”

“That means that the ghost reacted the same as to your brother.”

“So, I may not be the only one who knew the fucker when it was alive.”

“Any ideas as for the identity?” Blood was really listening this time. “It would really help with knowing what had happened to it.”

“ As I told you earlier , no. Nothing for now. If it knew me, Dick and some obscure young hero that was only in one team, it was probably a hero when alive. For now we told the young ones to gather all the team information. Maybe there would be something there - some skeleton in the closet, or banished alien, or who knows what. ”

“There’s still a question for why any of you don’t remember a thing.” Blood mused. "Amnesia-related spells aren’t exactly a thing with ghosts. You can make ghosts forget things, but to make living beings forget about dead men? With a few years gap and not hundreds and more? With living relatives and loved ones? Memory of a person is connected to their love of the person. Usually there’s always some random relative or some guy that has at least one nice memory of the dead.”

“So you mean, that something made us hate the ghost?”

“Hate is just the opposite of love, but not it’s lack. The emotion is still there. If anything something dulled the emotion, the same way you forget about dead relatives in your everyday life as the years go by.”

“What about other options? Maybe it can read our minds?”

“Reading minds takes energy, and if it has barely enough to manifest, I don’t think it has enough to read mind and say it out loud. Just because ghosts aren’t physical it doesn’t mean they are energy-cost-free.”

“At least all of that gives me some clues as to what rituals or kind of magic had to be used for such a creature to exist. Considering something like group amnesia is not a cheap spell for living beings  in the first place...”

“As always - let me know if you had anything more.”

“Likewise.”

 

---

 

It was another night, during which Jason woke up alone in their bed. He saw the light coming from below the bedroom door, and had to squash the urge to get angry.

After all, Babybird was doing the work, because he was worried about Jason. But, it was also so fucking irritating, that his boyfriend didn’t care for his well being as Jason’s.

With newfound determination he got out of the bed and went to retrieve his boyfriend.

He knocked on the desk, surprising the other man. 

Jason swore, that guy…

“Jason?”

“It’s past your bedtime, Babybird.”

The other man rolled his eyes. “Because I ever had one. Go to sleep, Jay. I’m almost done.”

Now Jason felt like rolling his eyes.

“Sure. And I’ll see you in the morning in the same position, still not done. Go to sleep or I’ll carry you.”

“But I almost cracked the code! 

“And it will be tomorrow  after you wake up. You might even finish it earlier!”

“Please, Jay… I just want to help you...”

“I know that, sweetheart.” Jason came closer to him. “And I want to help you, even if it’s just making you take a break.”

His boyfriend smiled tiredly. “I guess we are quite in a predicament then? I refuse to rest unless I help you and you won’t move until I give in and sleep?” 

“It’s not that much of a predicament and could be solved easily. You just need to ask for help, Babybird.”

“Easier said than done? Others have their own things to worry about.”

“And they can’t spare you a minute to help? You? I doubt that.”

“Hey! What can I say? No-one usually helped me. I had to learn how to help myself.”

“Are you saying I wasn’t like that? Yet I could swear, I have this lovable-but-irritating boyfriend who decided to help me with some random anon hate.”

“That’s not just some random hate - someone is specifically targeting you!”

“ Someone, ” Jason intones, while slowly circling his arms to hug his boyfriend. “Has left various notes from different media nearby few of my safehouses. The only reasons you guys worry is because all those notes are about dead birds.”

“Isn’t this enough of a reason to worry, Jay? Should I not investigate it?”

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t. I’m just pointing out that those could also mean you . You were in those places often too.”

His boyfriend hugged him closer, refusing to look him in the eye.

Jason wasn’t finished.

“And what if it was really about you? You are back on your old habits - forgetting to sleep or eat… Refusing to ask for help…”

“..I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Just…”

His boyfriend met his eyes. He stood up and circled his arms around Jason’s neck.

 “...I know it’s hard for you to believe it, but I’m here for you.”

Jason hugged him close, hiding his face in the soft black hair.

“I’ll do everything to help you, Babybird.”

“....Promise?”

“Promise.”

Jason didn’t know how to describe this - was it the different air? The change of light? They didn’t move, yet something in this moment happened . The whole situation didn’t feel comforting anymore, as it was previously. Instead, all Jason’s instincts were looking for any kind of danger nearby. 

His boyfriend hugged him closer and mumbled something.

“What did you say? ”

“ Why..? You.. promised… ”

Jason froze at that sentence.

“ I need you, Jason! ” His boyfriend continued. “Why aren’t you helping me, then?”

He made a little distance between them, so he could look at his boyfriend and ask what he meant –

– but he was unable to speak, as he saw black familiar substance gathering as tears in his boyfriend's eyes and falling down his cheeks.

“Babybird?”

Jason felt hands claw at his head.

“You promised me! Where are you?!”

“I’m sorry... I don’t know what...”

“IT HURTS! Jay, it hurts so fucking much…” 

The black substance seemed to be everywhere now. 

“I called you! Why are you not coming?!”

“Come where?!” Jason grabbed the guy’s hands. “If you would just tell me-!”

“I told you where to look! I told you everything!”

Jason had no idea.

“I’M DYING HERE, JASON! Please, I promise, I’ll do whatever you want me to do, just.. Please. Please, it hurts so much. I don’t want to die, Jay.... Please…”

Notes:

What this fic should be about: ghosts, mysteries, who murdered who, tension
what I focus on the most: pseudo-scientific lecture on how ghost and other supernatural things work. Jason's Blood sass.

But this doesn't deter Dear SleepwalkingTimDrake from beta-ing this chapter. Thank You, again, SleepwalkingTimDrake for your help! <3

What was Your favourite part? Mine was the last one with Jason!
Thank You for reading and have a nice day/night!