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Song of Cassandra: Chapter 3

Warnings: Family Drama, Family Issues, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Emotional Baggage, and Child Neglect

Summary: What is Batman without a Robin? Everyone in the family makes jokes about the ‘dead robins club’, but Dick and Jason really do have measures set in place for the day Bruce loses sight of what’s really important. They won’t let Bruce sacrifice another Robin for the cause, even if that means separating Robin from Batman for good.

Pairings: Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson, Stephanie Brown/Tim Drake, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Bruce Wayne, and Dick Grayson & Jason Todd

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The rain pelted down on Jason’s shoulders as he sat stooped behind his sniper’s rifle. He gazed through its scope and blinked away the droplets that clung heavily to his eyelashes. The spot he’d set himself up in was nothing more than a patch of roof hidden in the shadows of the building’s HVAC system where he could prop up his rifle and wait out the hours until his target showed his face. But what the spot lacked in creature comforts it more than made up for with its clear sightline of the highrise building across the way.

A shiver rattled through him, reminding him once more of his soaked clothes and aching muscles. Don’t move, he chided himself, you might only get one chance at this and it’s not just your life on the line this time. His thoughts derailed once more into a spiral of anxieties. Black Mask was back. Sometime in the past 24 hours he’d managed to free himself from his techno-virus-induced coma and escape Ma Gunn’s home — Jason still wasn’t sure how, though knowing Roman it was probably through sheer force of will. Now he was gunning for him, his mind set on revenge. On the streets below him, Roman’s hired brigade of criminals scoured Gotham for any sign of the Red Hood, fueled by the promise of a substantial reward for anyone who brought him in alive.

That was where Steph found him twenty minutes later. The mechanical whine of the air vents muffled the sound of her approach, but the shifting reflection in the rooftop puddles gave her away.

“You should have told me,” she said.

Jason sighed and spoke over his shoulder. “I told Oracle not to say anything.”

“She didn’t.” Steph said, coming to stand at his shoulder, “She called to check on my security measures. She wouldn’t do that unless she thought the threat was legitimate. I knew it had to be Roman, but I didn’t understand how serious it was until I saw False Facers on the streets asking for you by your real name.”

Despite the painstaking care he’d taken to appear unconnected to Batman during his time working undercover, he’d later learned, Roman hadn’t bought his loner anti-hero act for a second. He’d known his real identity the entire time and that his connection to Batman and the others went deeper than he claimed. After their final showdown, it had seemed pointless to confess that his identity had been compromised since the man had stupidly schemed himself into a vegetative state. He hadn’t thought that Roman would ever recover.

Calling Babs might have been a mistake, but after his falling out with Bruce, he couldn’t stomach the idea of admitting a fuck up of this proportion to him. Because when it came down to it, after all his talk about how Bruce had formed a family only to throw them to the wolves for his caped crusade, it had been him, not Bruce, that had potentially exposed their true identities to one of Gotham’s top criminals. So he’d called the only other person he could think of, Oracle, and rattled off some half-truths using Dick’s undercover op story as an excuse for a security sweep.

“I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to stay safe.”

That had backfired spectacularly. Steph, it seemed, wasn’t one to be easily fooled. She had connected all the moving pieces to understand the heart of the situation when nobody else had. The idea didn’t sit well with him for Jason knew that if Steph had put it all together, Batman wouldn’t be far behind. Just another reason why he needed to keep his gun trained on the windows of the 14th floor and wait for the moment when he could put a bullet through Roman’s ugly deformed head. Bruce would probably end up dragging him to the city limits himself come morning, but at least if he killed Roman he’d be able to leave knowing he’d done all he could to protect his family.

“Safe?” Steph grabbed him by the arm and jerked him around until he stood facing her. “I don’t know what your plan is, but if it only involves you and a sniper rifle I’d say it has about a thirty percent chance of success and definitely does not ensure my safety.”

It was only then that Jason noticed the sheen of black and purple kevlar peeking out from under Steph's zip-up hoodie. He reached out and hooked his fingers around the opening in the soaked fabric, pulling it to the side. She was wearing her Spoiler suit.

“Are you here to stop me like you tried to stop Batman? ”

She shook her head.

“I came to help you. You don’t stand a chance against Back Mask on your own, but with the two of us working together we’d stand a solid chance. I can take down his men — draw Roman out into the open to give you a clear shot—”

Jason’s insides churned, imagining the sick glee Black Mask would get at the sight of her coming at him alone and offering him another chance to finish what he’d started all those years ago.

“Absolutely fucking not.” This plan was already a suicide mission. He wasn’t going to turn it into a group activity.

“I wasn’t asking for your permission, Jason. I'm just as wrapped up in this mess as you are. We’re the only two people to face him and survive. We’re the ones that got away. If he knows about you, do you really think he doesn’t know about me?” She hugged her torso, her suit shining with condensation. “If you’re going to take him down then I want to be there to help you do it.”

He was momentarily struck mute by that. He wanted to be flattered but instead, he continued cautiously, aware that they were dancing at the edge of something he wasn’t sure he liked. “You can’t say stuff like that.”

“Why not?”

Truthfully, he wanted to say it was because he’d considered asking her to be his partner way too many times during those endlessly bleak months after Tim’s death. Steph saw the way Batman’s version of justice prevailed at the expense of losing the people that she loved and she chose instead to fight for them, even if that meant standing in Batman’s way. That alone had impressed him, but even more so how she’d refused to return to the fold even after her plan had failed. Jason had to admire her guts, but he also knew how hard the fallout of a decision like that was. It left you lonely… directionless. He could have given her a new path to follow but in the end, he hadn’t done it. No matter how much hatred they shared for Batman and his practices, he didn’t want to make her into a killer. He never thought she’d find her way to it all on her own.

“Because I don’t think this is really about Roman. If it were you would have made a move against him years ago.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do, because I know you.” He lifted a shoulder in a bemused shrug. “You’re Spoiler — daughter of Cluemaster— the patron saint of comeback kids. In the entire time that I've known you, you’ve never taken the easy way out. You always give people a second chance.”

His attention was pulled away at the sound of doors slamming on the street below them. He looked down just in time to see a sleek black car pull away from the curb and a group of men hustle their way into the building’s entrance. Roman and his men were here.

Jason turned back to Steph. She’d seen it too for she unzipped her hoodie and crouched down to retrieve the remainder of her gear from the duffle bag at her feet.

She spoke more to her hands than to him as she slipped them on. “Batman says that showing criminals mercy is a hard choice but the right one. But we both know that at a certain point there’s mercy and then there’s giving your enemies another opportunity to hurt the ones you love. As far as I’m concerned Black Mask has gotten more than enough second chances out of me.”

Fuck, Jason clenched his hands into fists, his eyes flickering between the rifle that stood ready and Steph. The clock had officially started its countdown and he knew his window of opportunity was growing narrower by the second but he couldn’t let Steph go through with this.

“Steph, you don’t just wake up and decide to be a killer. Whatever's going on, let’s talk about it.”

”I’m not here to talk. I’m here to help you kill Black Mask.”

She moved to step around him but he caught her elbow in a tight grip and jerked her to a stop. He needed to stop her and do it fast. He played the only card he had left. “Think about Tim. He would never forgive me if I let you go through with this.”

She spun back into him all of a sudden, her face contorted. “Do not bring him into this. Tim doesn’t get a say.”

“So you’re just going to throw away your future… college…a normal life…all of it just to get revenge?”

“I'm not the one throwing their future away.”

Jason paused at the bitterness that threaded through her words. It reeked of a private argument — of lines drawn and choices made.

Perhaps she saw his questioning look for she continued, “Tim’s giving up his grant for Ivy University. He went to the Batcave tonight to tell Batman.”

“What? But that’s—” Insane, Jason thought. That’s insane. Tim was supposed to be getting out. It was pure luck that they had gotten him back at all. He had a second chance to live a safe, normal life with Steph. He couldn’t waste that on Batman’s crusade all over again. “No, you were hanging up your capes…”

“He said his time imprisoned by Mr. Oz refocused his purpose.”

Jason saw the way her face spasmed at the words, her lower lip quivered. She pressed her lips together tightly and turned her face away. Whatever dam she had been trying to hide her emotions away behind was crumbling fast.

Tim was with Batman and she was here. A horrible feeling twisted in Jason’s guts as he followed the threads of Steph’s logic. He realized it wasn’t just bitterness he’d heard in her voice. It was grief.

He swallowed through a choked throat, his own realization leaving him breathless. “You’re going to leave him. Aren't you?”

When Steph met his gaze again he saw her eyes were brimming with unshed tears. “I have to. Too much has happened with Batman for me to go back to the way things were.”

He had stupidly thought that Tim’s return would erase all of Steph’s problems and pain, but now he realized it wasn’t always so simple. She had made a promise to stand up for the people of Gotham, even if that meant she stood up against Bruce to do it. The moment Jason had prepared for all those months ago had finally happened. Tim’s decision had forced her hand.

Only, why, why, did it have to happen at the worst possible fucking night?

He squeezed Steph’s shoulders and pushed a wet lock of blonde hair out of her eyes.

“Listen to me. There’s something important we need to talk about but I can't do it now. Not until I stop Roman. I need you to go to my safehouse off Robinson Park and wait for me there. Do you know the one I’m talking about?”

“Yes, but I can help—”

“Steph, you know I’ve never asked anything of you. Please, I’m asking you to do this one thing for me. Let me deal with Roman.”

He saw the confusion swimming in her eyes. He wished he could explain it all right now, but letting Roman live threatened everything and everyone he cared about.

It felt like an eternity before Steph nodded. “Okay. I have your comm channel. If you need me—”

“I’ll be fine. I swear.” he pressed his apartment keys into her wet palm. “Just go. I’ll come find you as soon as it’s done and explain everything.”

He watched her disappear down the fire escape and off into the rain-swept darkness. Only when he was confident that she was out of danger did he turn his attention back to his rifle.

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