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5:14pm
Ringing.
There was a high-pitched ringing in his head and but everything else felt muffled. Jason stared dazedly while he tried to puzzle out the past few minutes. He’d taken Tim to the gym he rented out one night each week to work with him on his form. Tuck and roll, he’d been teaching Tim how to roll and pop back up for the times he’d loose his feet or fell. Not because he wanted the kid to fight but this was Gotham and the odds were that he’d need the knowledge at some point.
After working with him they’d played around. He’d been… what had he been doing? They’d wiped off enough sweat and were going back home, Tim had a little more homework and Jason needed to make sure he’d gotten dinner before it got much later. But then…
Something. Something had happened but it was just out of grasp for his mind to catch it. They’d been heading to the car-
Fuck, the car had blown up. Jason pushed himself up, wincing at the sharp stab of pain from his head. Someone had blown up the car and he’d been too close, thrown back and hit the building too hard. Tim had been shouting- Jason looked around again, pushing back the pain as he narrowed his eyes. His vision was still a little off but he remembered the black van. Fuckers always picked the same damned vehicles for this shit.
Like a balloon popped, noise came flooding back to him and he swore. Siren meant cops. Cops meant questions and rules. Meant he would be detained for God knows how long. He pushed himself up, using the building to lean against while he waiting for the fuckin’ earth to stop moving on him. Damn, probably meant he had a concussion.
Cops also meant that Tim’s moronic and abusive parents might be dragged into this shit-show and that would just drag Tim into a media nightmare. Jason clenched his jaw and breathed out sharply, he just needed to grab their bags and then he could take off. The car was in his name and would never come up so as long as he was already gone before the cops got here.
Thank fuck for Gotham cops taking forever, even if this was a decent area.
Jason spotted the two bags and scooped them up before taking off the other way at a casual walk. Running would just make them look at him and right now Jason had some dead fuckers to track down before he killed them. Tim had homework and hadn’t eaten yet. These assholes were going to throw them both off routine.
“Fuckin’ assholes.”
------
7:18pm
Tim sniffed in his sleeve as he stayed curled up in the seat he’d been pushed into. His ears still hurt from the car exploding and he was a little scared that Jason maybe was dead. There had been so much blood where he’d fallen.
He’d dropped his pack and been trying to get Jason to get up when someone had grabbed him from behind. Tim sniffed again, he knew Jason wanted him prepared but, in the moment, he’d been so scared he’d begun to scream and cry instead of try to get away.
Not that it had mattered much.
He’d been thrown into a van where his arms and legs had been zip-tied and his mouth was taped shut. They’d at least put him in a seat instead of on the floor but hadn’t buckled him in. Jason would be mad.
More tears slid down his cheeks as he thought about his friend and protector. If his parents found out about this, they might try to make Jason go away and then Tim would be left all alone again. No more waffles. No swimming. No martial arts. No photography. No trips to the parks and museums.
Just him at home. Alone again. Cold and so desperately lonely.
Tim didn’t want Jason to be sent away.
The van finally stopped and Tim was pulled out and carried around so many direction he lost track of where he was and was also starting to feel a little sick, being carried over some guy’s shoulder.
He heard a door open and grunted when he was dropped onto a chair. Then the door shut and he was alone again. He looked around, the room wasn’t very big and aside from the chair there wasn’t much in there with him. Just a few grates on the floor.
No windows and just the one door.
Tim swallowed hard and shivered, this time in fear.
He wanted Jason.
------
8:37pm
It took him over an hour to get to where his stash was. After Constantine had gotten him back, he’d taken his weapons and more obvious armor to a storage facility. In the last year he’d also gotten a bike and had made the modifications to it he’d needed. It wasn’t quite on the level of what he’d had before but it was good enough.
But first he’d needed to clean up and find a place he could get a room for the week. He didn’t think he’d need it that long but he wanted the secondary location to fall back to. Just in case. Now he went though the weapons he wanted and armed himself. Waiting till it had been dark out had made him antsy but he knew it was necessary.
The last thing he needed right now was for someone to see him running the roofs and call the cops. Or worse, for someone to tell the Bats that there was another player in town. The constipated asshole wasn’t all that great with shared territory. And right now Jason wasn’t in any kind of mood to explain or play nice. Not even if the bat had Dickie with him.
He clicked into the police scanned and drove till he was back at the gym. The cops and fire department had already cleared out. They’d towed the car, which meant now he had to break into the station to look over what they’d found and see if he could look over anything left from the device that had been used. He might had hit his head but he knew the sounds if something had been launched at them, this had been planted. Now he just needed to see what it might tell him.
Carefully he watched until he was able to slide through what security there was and was silently grateful that Gordon hadn’t fully cleaned this place up yet. It took him longer that he’d admit to or was happy about but he found what he needed and slipped back out the same way he’d come.
Getting to the car at police impound was easier and he found where something had been tossed into the car. Fucking amateurs. He grinned as he found enough shrapnel pieces to be able to take with him. He wouldn’t get prints off this but that wasn’t what he wanted in any case.
Everyone who ever built a bomb or exploded one in Gotham had been in Bruce’s files and Jason had been drilled in all of them. Then Talia and the League had expanded his knowledge. Jason would be able to figure out who had made this one and be able to trace it back to the stupid fucker. Then to the asshole who had paid him to which would take him to Tim.
It only took him a few hours to piece enough together to be able to get a direction to head. C-4 was common enough but the copper wire and that ugly red shard told him exactly where to go looking.
As Jason ran the roofs, he tried to not let himself think about how much time had passed since Tim had been taken. He also didn’t let himself think about how scared he was for the kid. They hadn’t gotten to knot work or things like that, Jason had hoped that he wouldn’t need to start shit like that for a few more years. He was really attached to the little gremlin and wanted to preserve what innocence there was still in Timmy.
He shut the door on those thoughts and kept running till he found the territory for the East Quarter gangs. It was outside of the Falcone’s territory and no other mod had control of this area so far but in Gotham shit like this changed at the drop of a hat. Jason watched until he spotted the lanky blonde and jumped down, landing behind him. He’d drawn his kris on the way down and now held it against the man’s throat.
“Evening Sykes, got a couple of questions for you.”
-----
11:18pm
Time was a lost concept for Tim, he tried to figure out how long he’d been left on the chair. His feet and hands had gone numb what felt like hours ago and he really, really, really had to got pee. He hoped someone let him use a toilet before he had an accident. That would be really embarrassing, even if Jason wouldn’t laugh at him for it he was still feel very dumb.
Finally, he heard a sound and then the door opened. It was brighter out in the hallway than in the room he was in which made his eyes water a little bit.
A big man in a grey suit walked in, holding a lit cigar in his mouth as he stared down at Tim. There were a few other men in black suits but they didn’t say anything or do much besides stand around. Tim stared up at the first man and tried to place him but he’d never seen him before at any of the gala’s or gatherings that Tim had been sent or dragged to over the past few years. So not one of his parent’s business partners. Not one of the Rogues that Batman fought either.
A light flashed a couple of times and he jerked back as his picture was taken.
“I think we can remove the ties and gag for now.” The big man spoke around his cigar and of the others, probably a bodyguard or something, pulled out a knife and sliced through the ties holding his arms and legs together then ripped the tape off his mouth making Tim yell out.
That hurt!
His eyes watered again from the sudden pain of having the tape ripped away and he squirmed as he blinked. “I have to go potty.” He said softly.
The big man stared down at him then laughed before turning around and leaving, this time Tim heard the bolt that secured the big metal door.
Quickly Tim tried to stand up and cried out as he fell off the chair when he legs didn’t support him. His face hit the ground first when his arms wouldn’t respond to stop his fall. He whimpered as he tried to make his arms work a little better, they were completely numb which meant that his legs were too. He’d struggle with them till he could get feeling back and then there would be the pins and needles which would hurt. He squirmed again hoping he could hold it. Surely they would let him go to the bathroom.
“Jason will find me.” He whispered as clumsily rubbed at his tears. They took his photo so they probably wanted money and his parents were always so hard to reach. Jason would save him.
He had to.
-----
11:47pm
Jason cleaned the blood from his blade and gave the last body a shove with his boot. He’d been nearly jumped while he’d been dragging intel from Sykes and it had ended up in a full-blown brawl. Thankfully the armor he wore held up, now he just had a street of dead bodies but he also had the next piece he needed. The name and location of where to find Fingers, one of the Maroni’s lieutenants. He hadn’t been around in Jason’s time so he didn’t have a face, just a description and a location where he could be found most nights.
Jason climbed the building and headed off for the club, Grey Lady wasn’t much of a name and an hour later Jason stared down at it in disgust and wondered if anyone would care of he burned this place to the ground. Rather a dump for the Maroni he knew, nothing high priced about this place.
Jason made his way down a little more carefully and stashed his mask. No one would know his face and for now he needed to be able to get close. He pulled out the baseball cap he’d snatched and zipped up his jacket. Rounding his shoulders and walking with more of a shuffle, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the partial pack.
He lit a cigarette and hoped Timmy would forgive him the one, the kid was after him to quit smoking as got very cranky when he smelled smoke on Jason or found any cigarettes. The kid was getting better at finding where Jason had them tucked away and kept breaking them into the toilets for Jason to find.
He smirked, the little shit was clever and Jason respected the tactics. Even if it was driving him crazy.
He strolled right through the main doors and headed to the bar, getting a beer while he covertly studied the people in the dive from his slouched position. Normally he wouldn’t be skulking but he didn’t want to draw attention to himself. He wasn’t a player and didn’t want to be, just in and out. Another face that didn’t matter and wouldn’t matter later on. He’d tried to make himself smaller and kept his face down, mumbling in with a thicker crime-alley slur.
He'd expected to have to wait for a few hours but fate seemed to throw him a bone as one of the side doors opened and out walked a couple of men.
“-terms of the deal. If you don’t like it, I suggest you find another city.”
“Not much of a deal with you taking 60%.”
“I’ll inform the boss that you are saying… no?”
There was a beat, “I’ll have your cut ready for you tomorrow.”
“Tonight, no more delays or I’ll have to take another one. Or two.”
The other man pulled his hand protectively into his jacket but Jason saw it was roughly bandaged and bleeding. Inwardly he scoffed, so that was why this guy was called Fingers.
“Tonight. I’ll have it tonight.” He ground out before turning to leave.
Jason watched the man still there and finished his beer, waiting for a few more minutes before leaving quietly. He didn’t think he drew any attention to himself but kept up his slumped walk before sliding into a dark and abandoned alley. Quickly he put on the mask, tossing the hat into the dumpster before he climbed up to get a vantage point.
15 minutes later a car pulled up and Fingers walked out, holding the arm of petite brunette woman. One of the prostitutes or strippers probably. She didn’t look very excited. Jason scowled and waited till the car was moving before hitting it with a tracker.
He kept his distance and followed till it stopped, he watched the two passengers get out and go into an old brownstone townhouse. The car left and Jason made his way closer. He needed to find out where the security for this guy was and get him alone, get that girl out while he was at it.
Cautiously he made his way to side window. He watched and kept checking. It made him antsy to wait but when nothing happened and no one appeared, Jason carefully let himself into the house. 10 minutes later he was shaking his head in disbelief as he slammed open the door, causing twin shouts. “This whole fuckin place to yourself Fingers? What kind of moron doesn’t have someone watching his fucking front door?”
“What the fuck! Who the fuck are you?!”
Fingers shoved the girl off the bed at Jason and made a dive for where was probably a gun or phone but Jason beat him there, kicking the man in the head and knocking him out. He looked over at the girl and tossed her dress to her.
“Better find a safer area if you have to keep working. Stay out of the east end and get anyone else out with you that you can.”
She was gone in minutes.
Jason hauled the other man up onto the bed and threw the sheet on him. “Got no desire to see what. Stupid fucker.” He leaned over, slapping the man a few times. “Time to wake up asshole, I need a few answers before you go.”
It took a few minutes before Fingers did wake up, he pushed himself up and glowered at him. “Do you have any idea who I am?!”
Jason smirked, “Fingers, one of Maroni’s lieutenants, often the one that sets up appointments and deals for him. You also at the mouth that hires out for a few specialty jobs the big man doesn’t want to do himself.”
“You must have a death wish.” He spat, “Maroni will take your whole gang apart before he’s even bothered with breakfast?”
“Over you? Think your that important, do you?” Jason laughed. “Save it, I don’t give a shit about your boss right now. I was pointed in your direction for answers and once I got ‘em I’ll be on my way.”
Fingers narrowed his eyes, this time studying the man leaned against the small table. He was built and looked to be carrying several weapons. He didn’t look like anyone that had been part of the gangs that answered to him and he wasn’t the Bat. “Information ain’t free.”
Jason reached into the bag he’d had strapped his back most of the night and pulled out some stacked cash to toss onto the bed. “Ten thousand now and fifty more when I’m satisfied.”
Fingers stared at the cash then back at the masked man, looking for any familiar feature. “What kind of information?”
“Looking into a bombing for a friend of mine. Earlier tonight outside a gym. Civilian car, green and four doors. I want to know who built it. I have my own contracts to fufill.”
Fingers was more alert now, “I may have heard about something going down in another area of town. Man you want is Sykes, he’s freelance and very good.”
Jason pulled out the blade from his thigh holster and nodded. “I want the name of who hired him for that specific job.”
“Don’t know, I only heard a few whispers. No real details.”
Jason aim was good and the knife was imbedded in the other man’s shoulder before he realized he had been thrown. Jason ignored the scream, “I don’t like liars, Mr. Fingers. Who hired Sykes for that particular bomb?”
“I don’t know! FUCK!!”
Jason threw another, this one nailed the hand that had been reaching for the knife to his chest. Jason advanced on the man, this time with his kris. “Liar, liar… see I’ve already had a talk with Sykes. Still want to play this game?”
“I DID! I hired him! Boss wanted a bombing!”
“Who is the target?” Jason wanted to shout but he kept his voice lower. “What’s Maroni after?”
Fingers flinched as he felt what he knew was another knife go up his thigh and hesitate, resting the tip on his cock. “He’s ransoming the Drake kid!”
“And where might I find your boss for a chat about this?”
“The old downtown jail!”
“Now was that so hard?” Jason tucked his blade away and pulled out the one from the shoulder before slicing the man’s throat. He jerked his last blade free of the man and watched him choke on his own blood. Once he was dead Jason left. Hold on Timmy, I’m almost there.
Jason left the brownstone at a run once he hit the roofs and headed for his bike. He opened up the throttle and sped his way towards where he knew the old jail had been. It had been in use in his time but he was a little light on the details from when it had been used and by who. He only remembered his mom warning him to stay far away from it always.
----
2:36am
Jason had swung by one other stash he’d left something from his past and had hoped to never use but now he was armed to the teeth and he watched from behind his helmet. He’d spotted 8 men on the outside and was getting a fair idea of the layout on the inside. Maroni wasn’t here but that might just speed things up. As much as Jason wanted to kill the fucker, he knew it was more important to get Timmy out of there and safely home.
He jumped to the next building and watched. He wished he had Oracle this one time, just to give him the layout of the building. Blueprints. Anything. He couldn’t just go in shooting everyone because someone might get to Timmy first and use him as a hostage… or worse.
It took him almost two hours before he spotted his way in and slipped through a vent on the side of the building. He slowly crawled his way till he found an empty room to drop into. He listened and cautiously opened the door, making his way down the hall. He checked every room and kept his gun up and ready. He’d prefer to not use it but he also wasn’t planning to leave any of these assholes alive.
He cleared the top floor and made his way down to the next to look in every room. It wasn’t until he was rounding another corner, he heard anything. Quickly Jason ducked into a room and waited, barely breathing. Finally, two men walked past him and Jason slipped out behind them, switching weapons.
Sadly, this needed finesse and Jason was rapidly nearing the end of his frayed rope of patience. He stabbed one man through the head, killing him instantly and body checked the other man, slapping his gloved hand over the man’s mouth.
“Where’s the kid?” he hissed.
The man thrashed and Jason slammed his fist into the man’s face before pulling another blade. “Your partner’s already dead ya stupid fucker, tell me or you’ll be joining him.”
“Fuck you!”
Jason growled, stabbing the man in the throat. “Wrong answer.”
It was the work of minutes to stash them both in one of the empty rooms but the blood Jason couldn’t clean up, which meant he was now on the clock and would have to move faster before the others figured out what had happened to these two.
Jason nabbed the radio one of the men had been carrying and the automatic as well. He stuffed the radio into a pocket and strapped the gun to his back before moving through the rest of that floor. Quickly he made his way down a set of stairs to the basement level and paused, here were a few more men but still not a heavy presence. Either this Maroni was a chump and would be taken out soon enough or he was arrogant enough to believe no one would dare take him on.
Either way, all these men were dead till Jason got Tim.
-----
5:01am
Tim was huddled up in the corner of the room, no one had come since the man had taken pictures. Tim had cried when his arms and legs had begun to hurt and he’d cried again when he’d realized that at some point during that he’d stopped being able to hold it. Now his pants were wet and uncomfortable. He was cold and hungry.
He’d checked the grates on the floor to see if they could be lifted but the bars were buried into the concrete. He’d tried to see but it had been dark and all he could hear was water. He’d curled up and alternated between crying and whispering prayers for Jason.
It had been quiet but now he suspected that it was more due to the room being built to keep sound out.
He’d dozed a little but kept jerking awake from his position. He didn’t want to be laying down or asleep when the door opened up again.
He thought about the other kidnapping that he’d gone through a few years ago, his parent’s hadn’t paid at first and while Tim hadn’t been too hurt he’d been very much scared and sure he was going to die. When he’d finally been released and rescued by the police his parent’s anger and disappointment in him had made him shrivel up inside.
He hated when they were angry with him. It had been the first time his mother had struck him. He’d been crying about the dark and she’d walked over to him, slapping him hard enough that he fell off the chair.
“If you can’t comport yourself befitting a Drake then what use are you?” She’d hissed at him before demanding he get up.
He was hit twice more before they’d left again and even though he was now afraid of their anger he had been so alone he’d tried to wish them back.
Wishes, he’d learned then, don’t come true. He’d turned to school, aiming to get perfect marks to impress his mother with. He’d tried to teach himself to act like his parents demanded and hoped that it would be enough for them to be proud of him or at least maybe stay a little longer before they would leave him alone again.
Then he’d broken an artifact. Tim had tried to hard to fix it and when that hadn’t worked he’d thrown it all out, hoping that his moving a few things around would hide the missing object.
It hadn’t.
Tim withdrew into himself more and more, if he didn’t draw attention beyond his grades then maybe then his parents would love him and want to stay around more.
They didn’t.
Then Jason had been dropped into his house and his life, literally. He’d been scary at first and Tim had gone through a few personalities to protect himself. But Jason stayed. He didn’t get angry if Tim was clumsy or tired or just wore his pj’s all day.
Jason, who fed him, who listened when Tim asked questions and answered what he could. Jason who picked him up and took him to school, to lessons, to the park, the zoo, movies, ice cream, even a Christmas festival in Gotham. Jason who laughed and called Tim silly nicknames and wrapped him up in blankets and hugs.
When Jason had vanished in the kitchen Tim had been devastated. Wishes were curses and Tim had cried himself sick. He’d crawled into Jason’s bed, holding onto the pillow while he sobbed.
Then Jason had come back. He’d held Tim and promised to stay forever. He’d promised that he’d found a way to never leave again. Jason always kept his promises and this time Tim got his wish. His special Christmas wish. Jason hadn’t promised that wishes would work always but now Tim wished with every breath. “Please.” He whispered to his knees. “Please.”
The sounds at first were faint but they got a little louder, something hit the door and Tim’s head whipped up as he stared at it. The door opened and one of the men from before rushed in, looking around wildly for Tim before spotting him.
He hadn’t quite reached where Tim was curled up when the door was wrenched open wider and another man in a leather jacket and a red helmet charged in after him. The two men both had guns and Tim cupped his hands over his ears when they went off. He whimpered at the sudden sounds; he didn’t want to die tonight.
Abruptly it was quiet and Tim risked a peek, it was the man with the red helmet. He was heading right for Tim. He squeaked and backed up as far as he could into his corner.
His movement made the man stop then he reached up to take off the helmet. Tim burst into tears when he saw Jason’s face.
Jason hadn’t even remembered he’d had his helmet on once he’d killed the last fucker, all that had mattered was getting to Tim but he’d only looked terrified. Jason had only then remembered and tore it off quickly. “Nugget, I promised I’d always come.”
With Tim crying Jason scooped him up and held the boy close, murmuring quietly to him. He turned so he could keep an eye on the door but didn’t move to leave yet, he need Tim calmer first, then they could slip out. “I’m so sorry Timmers, I came as fast as I could and I’m going to take you home and then this will be just another bad dream. I promise.”
Finally Tim wound down and was left with hiccups. Jason pulled out a bandana that wasn’t covered in blood and wiped his face. “Are you hurt?”
Wordlessly, Tim shook his head. “I had an accident,” he whispered “and I’m cold. I don’t like this room.”
Jason looked around quickly then again more slowly. It looked familiar but he didn’t know why at the moment. “I need you to hang onto me for a bit Timber, I’m going to put the helmet back on and then we’re outta here. Okay?”
Tim nodded as Jason got them both ready and then they slipped out. Jason kept Tim’s head down and against his shoulder. “Don’t look. We’re almost out of here.” The last thing Jason wanted was for Tim to see the other dead bodies. Jason wasn’t proud but he’d had to mow through all of the men left here before he’d found the last ones guarding the room Tim had been held in. He’d deal with Maroni later but not tonight.
-----
7:15am
Jason tucked Tim into the blanket next to him, he didn’t want the kid out of his sight and Tim hadn’t been willing to sleep alone either. Not even in the next bed. It suited Jason fine.
As they’d left the building there had been no one left alive to stop them and he’d zipped the kid up in his jacket and headed for the hotel room. They would need a day or two before he could take Tim back home, appearing like that with Jason so soon would be very suspicious. No one should be able to identify Jason but he knew it paid to be cautious.
He’d had Tim take his shower first but had stayed in the bathroom so the kid had known he was still right there. Then Jason had showed Tim the locked door and let him stay in the bathroom so Jason could take a quick shower. He’d needed to wash off the blood and wash out the stain he’d put in to blend in the white of his hair with the rest. It stood out too much and he’d needed to blend in.
Now Tim slept beside him. Jason had already called into Tim’s school to tell them he was sick and would be out for the next few days. Jason would come by later to get any classwork needed. Then he’d checked in with a couple of Tim’s classes to let them know he’d be gone this week as well.
Jason meditated on the ways he was going to kill Maroni and blow up the building he’d taken Tim back from. It had hit Jason while he’d been in the shower why the room had looked familiar and it had made the pit still in him howl for blood.
There was only one reason for that layout and clearly Maroni had used it before. That he might have used it to drown Tim… Jason would blow it to hell. After he killed Maroni. For now, he’d watch over his kid. Maybe it was also time to see about getting someone for Tim to talk to.
Tim whimpered and Jason ran his fingers through the soft black hair. “It’s already Timmy, I’m here. Your safe again.” He kept at it until the boy relaxed again.
He was safe.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
7 days later
“…here was no footage available for authorities to capture and the police are releasing no information at this time. To recap, seven men were found hanging from the Sprang Bridge at dawn this morning. All of them hanging from old fashioned hangmen ropes. One of the men was earlier identified as Salva-“
“My word.”
“Hn.” The large screen muted at the butler’s approach. “They were found after dawn, blinded and no tongues. All hung from the bridge but nothing was caught on surveillance anywhere. Not around Maroni’s home or anywhere in between there and the bridge.” The man at the computer stood up, "I'll be late tonight Alfred."