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Chapter Text

Talia’s head was spinning.

She’d known this day would come. Ever since she’d come up with the idea nearly 8 years ago.

Honestly, she was surprised it lasted as long as it did.

How no one had heard the sounds of an infant crying the dozens of times she’d been unable to shush Athanasia, she wasn't sure. Those days were terrifying, but the sheer panic she had felt every time footsteps approached the door to her personal quarters after any such episode was nothing compared to what she felt now.

The rush of blood was pounding through her head, nearly deafening her. Making her fingers go numb. Her heart clench. Her face feel cold. Her body shake.

It was all she could do to remain standing. To prevent any of it from showing.

Because, somehow, her father had found out.

“You thought you could hide a granddaughter from me,” Ra’s was saying, but she was barely listening.

She’d known this day was coming.

Athanasia was seven now. She was not a helpless infant. Talia had half a dozen extraction plans, and twice as many escape plans.

“I have no need for two granddaughters,” Ra’s said and Talia resisted the urge to suck in a deep breath. To scream at her father. To cry out in anguish. Instead, she focused on steeling herself, as she went through every plan.

“I will give the girl a chance to prove herself,” he continued, smiling like he were being kind, “Bring her to me at dawn. She shall face the daughter of the White Ghost in combat.”

To the death, he meant.

Talia closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. “Of course, Father,” she said, her tone flat and uninterested. Like the entire charade were a mere inconvenience to her.

It made her sick.

Talia didn’t have any real affection for her brother’s child, the girl called Mara. She was so cruel to Damian, but Ra’s had been training her just as long as he’d been training Damian. The idea he would just throw her aside for an untrained child…

She’d have to include Mara in the plans. It would be cruel not to.

Not difficult. She already had fake papers for her, of course, but it severely limited them.

Jason would have to be involved, as well, of course.

Father had already made it clear he would rather execute Jason and send the head to Bruce as a momento of the last time they’d faced each other in battle. But Talia had argued that Jason could be useful.

He would be useful. Now. He was well trained with a heart for children. Really, a heart for the innocent, and her children were innocent. He’d protect Athanasia and Damian with his life. And Mara, she supposed.

“You have disappointed me, daughter. Do not allow it to happen again.”

“Yes, Father,” Talia said, kneeling down to dip her head toward her father.

It would not happen again.

Her and her children would be long gone from the compound by dawn. If she had to bring them to Batman himself for protection, she would.

That would be exactly what Ra’s expected, however, so perhaps they could pick a nice quiet cottage in the French countryside. Or a flat in London. Or an apartment in New York City.

Wherever they went, it would be far away from Ra’s and his reach.

Talia went back to her quarters as soon as Ra’s dismissed her. She was expected to prepare Athanasia for her battle in 9 hours. Instead, she was going to prepare all the children to leave. And somehow keep from tipping off her father.

Athanasia was right where she’d left her, an hour previous, when she’d been summoned to Ra’s. She had debated hiding her, but not once in the girl’s seven years of life had anyone actually entered her quarters while she was away.

And Athanasia always looked so peaceful while sleeping. Talia loathed to wake her, only to sow a seed of panic.

She sat on the bed they shared and ran a hand through Attie’s long locks. The resemblance she held to her infant self—to that of Damian—always took Talia’s breath away. To be reminded of the child Damian had been, before her father forced training on him, was painful. But to remember the child Athanasia was. The happy, sweet child.

Talia had always wanted a daughter. She had been creating Attie already when she realized her father would never allow her to have Damian. With her only choices being abandon Damian or keep Athanasia hidden, she hadn’t seen much of an option.

Sure, Bruce would have harbored her, no questions asked. Especially back then, so soon after their relationship. Her refusal to leave the League had been exactly why they broke up. Had she just left, and brought along their daughter, she was sure he would have welcomed them with open arms.

But Talia could not bring herself to abandon her son.

So she remained. She remained, and she taught Athanasia how to be quiet. How to be quiet and hidden. How to defend herself silently. She was good, but she was no where near as good as Damian or Mara. Her skills were that of self-defense. Born of necessity. She would not last thirty seconds against Mara, and Talia wouldn’t have it any other way.

No child deserved the training Ra’s forced on Damian or Mara.

Or on herself.

“Wake up, my princess,” she whispered, patting at Attie’s face, “we must prepare.”

“What, Mama?” her sleepy voice replied, as she dramatically stretched and rubbed her eyes.

“We are leaving,” Talia whispered, “we must prepare.”

Athanasia sat up and blinked at Talia, clearly struggling with herself to fully wake. “Where are we going?”

“Away, my love,” she said, leaning forward to kiss Attie on the forehead, “With your brother.”

She perked up at that, instantly awake as she asked, “Can I meet him this time?”

“Yes, darling. You will meet him.”

That set Attie off, as she bounced off the bed and to the closet where her things were hidden behind a false wall. It was her safe room, where she hid while Talia was away for any length of time. Or when people were over at her quarters.

The thought of Attie having her own bedroom with her own things proudly displayed, out in the open, brought a smile to Talia’s face.

Perhaps they should have run years ago.

“Do you think he’ll like me?” Athanasia asked, smiling as she changed into the traditional robes of the League. Some Talia had snatched of Mara’s, from when she’d grown out of them.

“Of course, my dear,” she said, standing to help her daughter pull together her belongings and pack them into her bag, “He will love you.”

“Can I meet him now?” she asked, as she zipped up her bag with Talia’s help, “I’m ready.”

“Not yet,” Talia said, placing her hands on Attie’s shoulders and kneeling down, “First, you must hide while I prepare the others.”

Athanasia’s face fell, but she asked, “Others?”

“Yes. Damian and your cousin, Mara.” When Attie nodded, Talia continued, “I will return for you soon, or send someone for you. Do not come out for anyone but me or Jason.”

“Who is Jason?” Athanasia asked, her anxiety at the idea of a new person not at all masked on her face. It was one of the many things Talia loved about Attie. She actually showed her emotions, even if she knew how to experience them silently.

“Jason is…” Talia started, then paused for a second, “he is your half-brother.”

“I have another brother?” she whispered, in awe as a smile grew, “Why have you not mentioned him?”

“He is your father’s son, not mine. But he is kind, and he will help us leave.”

“Will we meet Father, too?”

“No, darling,” Talia said, planting one last kiss into her hair, “Not this time. Now hide and I will see you soon. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Mama,” Athanasia said, backing up into her hiding spot and sitting down. Talia shut the false wall in front of her and took a deep breath.

It was going to be a long night. But tomorrow? Next week? It will all have been worth it.

Chapter Text

PART I

Jason was awake the moment his bedroom door opened.

Sitting up, ready to defend himself, awake.

He kind of really hated being tested randomly, but like hell was he going to let some idiot get the best of him, either.

But, for once, his vigilance wasn’t necessary. Because the person who so rudely barged into his room in the middle of the night was Talia Al Ghul. And Jason was pretty confident she wouldn’t attack him.

No. Instead, all she did was throw a mostly packed duffle bag at him and start furiously digging through his meager possessions kept in the wardrobe.

“Ugh,” Jason groaned, flopping back on the bed and hiding his face under a pillow, “Can’t we do whatever this is in the morning?”

He was fine with being shipped off to yet another trainer. It was what he wanted, after all. The training. But did it really have to happen at 2 in the morning?

“Get up,” she hissed, shoving something into the bag that was laying on top of his feet, “we haven’t time for your dramatics.”

Maybe it was the tone of her voice, or the ferocity at which she was throwing Jason’s clothes at his bed, but something made Jason sit straight up and stare at Talia. “What’s going on?”

“Get dressed,” she snapped, and yep. It was the voice.

Because Talia sounded…. Scared.

She had that protective fierceness about her, the one he’d only ever seen on the streets in Gotham. When muggers were picking on single women with children. Fathers with young children. And…. Bruce… with him. A few times. Back before he let Jason die, then replaced him with a better Robin.

Not the point.

Talia was afraid. Afraid and desperate. And Jason couldn’t help but listen.

He got dressed in about three seconds flat, then helped her finish loading up his bag before slipping on his boots.

“We have to go,” she said, shoving the bag at him, “the children are already packed. We must leave immediately.”

“Children?” Jason asked, whispering harshly.

“Yes.”

All Jason could do was blink, as he followed her out into the corridor, allowing her to keep lookout for who, he didn’t even know. Because he had no idea who Talia was talking about. He had never seen another kid anywhere as long as he’d been with the League.

Which, granted, it had been barely a year since he ‘woke up’ in that damn pit. But still. There were no kids, as far as he knew.

“What children, Talia?”

“My children,” she snapped, shooting him such a withering glare that normally would have caused him to sit down and shut up.

But Jason was going to blame his confusion on being woken so suddenly. “Wait,” he said, stopping in his tracks, even though Talia had a hold of his wrist and was dragging him along, “you have kids?”

“Yes,” she whispered harshly, “And they are in danger. We haven’t time for this. Keep moving.”

There were so many questions swirling around Jason’s head. How many children? How old were they? What were their names? Why had Jason never met them? Or even heard of them? But for some dumb reason, the only question that made it out of his mouth was, “Who’s the father?”

Talia’s glare turned vicious, and Jason knew that was so not the question she wanted to answer at that moment.

Which also answered the question for him.

Because she always got into a mood when he came up, in any context.

“We are not going to him,” Jason snapped, because if that was Talia’s plan, Jason would not go along. He’d help Talia get whatever kids out, because, hello, the were just children. But that was it. He’d go his own separate way, after.

“No,” she agreed, “but we must leave.” She jumped, slightly as a door slammed open somewhere down the next corridor, and Jason saw as she turned from frightened to downright determined.

“There is no time,” she said, pointing down the opposite corridor, “Turn left, then right, then fourth door on the left. Get Mara.”

“Mara,” he whispered, nodding his head. A daughter. Cool. Bruce’s daughter.

He so couldn’t do this.

Another door slamming pushed Jason forward. From the sounds of it, it was his door, just around the corner. They were running out of time.

“Meet me by the cliff you like to frequent,” Talia whispered frantically, and Jason nodded.

Get Mara.

Meet by the cliff.

Don’t think about Bruce.

He could totally do this.

Jason swore as he ducked around the corner, listening to the footsteps stomping through the building. For a cult obsessed with being ninjas, whoever this dude was they were avoiding was pretty damn loud.

Almost like he wanted them to know he was coming.

Left then right, Jason reminded himself, trying not to think about his unknown enemy.

One door, two doors, three doors…

He quietly cracked the fourth door open and slipped inside, then immediately had to duck. Because the occupant had thrown a dagger at him.

“Shit, can you not?” he snapped, whisper shouting as he put his guard up, “I’m already stressed as fuck as it is. I don’t need this.”

It was only after he took a breath did he take in the ridiculous little girl, crouched low, standing on her bed. Her hair was sticking out every which way, a red streak prominently hanging right over her eyes. How the hell she could even see was beyond Jason.

“What do you want?” she hissed, in English, which was such a fucking Godsend, because his Arabic was okay, but he was a little high strung and it’s hard to think when he was like that. And he definitely needed to think to speak Arabic.

When the girl pulled another dagger out of her waistband, Jason snapped, “I’m not here to hurt you. Talia told me to get you and get out.”

“Lady Talia,” Mara asked, because Jason was just going to assume this was Mara. He supposed it could be a different child, but it’s not like kids were common in the League. Jason had thought he was the only one. And yet, apparently there were at least two other fucking kids he didn’t even know about.

But coincidences were stupid and Jason didn’t believe in them. Talia said this was Mara’s room, so this had to be Mara.

She didn’t look anything like Bruce, though. Jason could see a bit of Talia in her. More of Ra’s, for sure. But nothing to hint she was Bruce’s.

Maybe he’d misread Talia?

Or maybe Mara just lucked out in the roulette wheel of genetics, and got all of the Talia and none of the Bruce.

That was certainly possible.

“Yes,” Jason whispered, “That is what I said. She told me to get you and bring you to her.”

“Why?” Mara asked, her eyes so narrow, Jason was surprised she could see anything at all. Her demand to know every detail and make her own decisions was definitely a Bruce thing.

“I don’t know,” Jason huffed, “she woke me up throwing shit around demanding I help her save her children. She said you were already packed. Did she lie?”

Mara blinked, seemingly dumbfounded by what Jason had said. It took her a good two seconds to recover, because she asked in sheer disbelief, “And she sent you after me?”

“Yes, Mara,” Jason exasperated, “Do you have a bag? We need to go.”

After hesitating a second longer, Mara jumped down off her bed and pulled a backpack from under it, then slowly stepped closer to Jason.

“Who are you?” she asked, raising one eyebrow at Jason, as if her skepticism could make Jason spill the beans and admit he was actually an assassin there to kill her, “One of Lady Talia’s servants?”

Fuck no.

“Jason Todd, at your service,” he bit out, “now grab your shoes and let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” she asked as she slipped on her boots. Jason ignored her in favor of listening to the hall outside. He needed to determine whether it was safe out there.

He had no idea who it was he was running from. The League, he was going to assume. Why else would they be escaping in the middle of the night, in secret? If not to escape the League itself?

But who could he trust? Probably no one. But who could he distrust less? Did every guard and assassin pose a threat to them? Jason knew how to get off the compound without encountering a single guard, of course, but that assumed security hadn’t been heightened.

Something had to have set Talia off, right? Triggered all this?

Who the hell was actively chasing them?

Jason grabbed Mara’s wrist and dragged her out of the room as soon as she was ready and said, “Hell if I know. Now pipe down.”

Mara yanked her arm away, even as she continued following Jason. “Do not touch me, peasant.”

“Sor-ry your majesty,” he whispered, straining to hear. He could hear a scuffle down that hall, so he turned the other way. Hopefully it wasn’t Talia. Jason knew she could fend for herself, but he had no idea how old the other kid was. Or kids. He had no idea how many more children there were, either. If Talia was carrying a baby or toddler, fighting would be difficult.

“Come on,” he told Mara, “Out the back.”

“I am not going anywhere with you.” She planted her feet, nearly stomping one of them, and Jason dreaded having to hoist her up and drag her, kicking and screaming.

That was not going to be quiet.

And he’d probably get stabbed a time or two for his efforts.

“Listen,” he whispered, kneeling down and not putting his hands on her shoulders, just barely, “I don’t know what’s going on, either. But Lady Talia was afraid. Of what, I have no idea. But she said you kids are in danger, and we have to get out of here. She told me to come get you and bring you to her.”

Mara faltered and looked at Jason, uneasy. “She really sent you to protect me?”

“Yes. And you’re making it exceptionally difficult. So come on.”

With a single nod, Mara followed behind. And somehow, they managed to slip out of the building without running into anyone. Not even a guard. Which was just making Jason more wary.

He decided their best bet for getting outside the compound was by scaling one of the walls. He chose one, on the far side, as far away from any of the guarded entrances as he could.

But just as they slipped out from behind one building to run behind another, they finally found where some of those missing guards were.

“Fuck,” he said, side stepping a sword as it swung at him. He backflipped to avoid another guard lunging at him and used the momentum to land on the third’s shoulders and knock him off balance. He bashed the hilt of his sword against the guy’s skull, effectively knocking him out.

Killing these guys was not something he wanted to do. It wasn’t their fault, after all. And Jason had no idea if they were actually on opposite sides. This could all just be one big misunderstanding.

Mara drew her own sword and lunged at one of the remaining two, so Jason went for the final one.

“Don’t kill them,” he said, as he watched Mara take a rather risky move, her sword swinging right for her opponent’s neck.

“What?” she hissed, “Why not?”

“They’re just servants, they aren’t our enemy.”

“Hmph,” she huffed, leaping out of the way of a lunge before she retaliated with her own move, “This is ridiculous.”

Jason’s guy managed to back him up against the wall, so Jason used it to jump up and over the servant’s head, grabbing hold of the collar of the guy’s robe as he went, bringing him down to the ground. With another quick blow to that one’s head, they were down to just Mara’s opponent.

She was good, Jason could tell. Despite her size, she knew how to wield a sword effectively, and was easily holding her own against the highly trained guardsman.

But she clearly had no idea how to fight without killing. Jason pulled a knife from his belt, one with a sheath, and threw it at the man.

The butt of the knife hit him square in the temple, sending him toppling over instantly. Jason retrieved his knife and grabbed Mara’s hand to drag her along to their destination. Because there was no way no one had heard that scuffle.

“I had him,” she snarled, snatching her hand away from Jason, “I did not require your assistance.”

“Yeah, I believe you. Running low on time here, though.”

“Why did they attack us in the first place?” she asked, her voice only slightly lowered. It was kind of pissing Jason off. They needed stealth here. For the child of a cult obsessed with being shadows, this little girl could be fucking loud.

“Less talking, more running.”

Mara sighed loudly, but thankfully did shut the fuck up.

At the wall, Jason quickly hoisted Mara up and over, then tossed both their bags after her. She seemed only slightly reluctant to leave the compound, but clearly they weren’t safe inside anymore, so Jason guessed that’s why she didn’t give him more lip over it. Jason just hoped Talia would be at the cliff to explain to her kid what the fuck was happening.

He backed up several long strides, so he could get a good running start at the wall. Just as he was about to run, he heard the sound of quiet feet on gravel headed in his direction. As quickly and quietly as he could, he ran at the wall and propelled himself up and over, then landed gracefully next to Mara.

“Why did those servants attack us?” Mara demanded, her arms crossed when she should have been admiring how sick Jason’s landing was, “Are we defecting? Because I do not wish to defect.”

“Fuck if I know,” he said, grabbing his bag and shoving hers back at her, since she hadn’t even bothered to pick them up from where they landed.

“That is not an acceptable answer!”

“I’m sorry but I don’t fucking know,” he snapped, as quietly as he could while directing her away from the wall. Where sound most certainly could travel across. And, like, reveal their location.

When, after they’d gone about fifteen yards further down the hill, away from the compound, Mara planted her feet and refused to move any further, Jason growled and turned to face her. “Talia woke me up, threw a bag at me, and told me to come get you. That’s all the information I have.”

Mara narrowed her eyes, so Jason just groaned and ran his hand over his face.

Talia owed him so much for this.

“Talia will meet us out by the cliff,” Jason added, hoping the promise of seeing Talia would calm Mara. Maybe. Just a little? Please?

But of course it didn’t. Just made her more suspicious. “You keep calling her that.”

“What?” he asked, because now he was just lost. Kept calling her what? Talia? That was her fucking name. He wasn’t gonna go calling her mom like this girl probably did. Or mother. Talia seemed like the kind of woman who would teach her children to call her ‘mother.’

“It is disrespectful. I do not believe she would allow a servant to address her as such.”

Kid or not, Jason just wanted to smack her now. Yep. Smacking her would be fun. If the other kid or kids were just like Mara, Jason would have to learn more restraint than he already had to prevent from actually smacking children.

Child abuse. Bad.

“I’m not one of her servants.”

Fear flashed across Mara’s face, quickly replaced by skepticism. She took a step back and grasped onto the hilt of her sword as she asked, “Then what are you?”

Jason threw his hands up, hoping to convey that he wasn’t gonna fucking hurt her.

“I’m— I don’t know” her lover’s charity case? Her enemy’s former partner? “Her project? Protégée? Something like that. She trains me.”

“Why have I never heard of you?”

“I don’t know,” he exasperated, “Why have I never heard of you? I thought I was the only kid in this entire damn compound, but come find out there’s at least two of you.”

“Everyone knows about Damian and me,” she said, narrowing her eyes again, and shit they didn’t have time for this.

But also, great. Now he had a name. Damian. Probably a boy. Bruce’s son. Fantastic…

“Well Talia didn’t think I needed to know, apparently, can we go now?”

“I don’t trust you,” she said, still not moving. And if glares could kill, Jason would be toast.

“Great. Thanks for telling me, I could fucking tell. Now can we please go to the cliff? If you don’t like what Lady Talia has to say, then you can come back, okay? I don’t give a fuck what you do, as long as you come to the cliff with me to meet Talia.”

After a moment of contemplation, Mara relaxed and rolled her head. “Fine. But if we are defecting, I will have nothing to do with it. I will turn you all in to Grandfather for your insubordination.”

“Fantastic,” he mumbled, finally turning back around to lead her toward his and Talia’s cliff. It was about a fifteen minute hike, down and around the mountain on which Nanda Parbat sat. They would, thankfully, be out of sight from the compound walls within a couple minutes.

Mara’s steps behind him weren’t quite silent. Not with the slight crunch of snow under her boots. It was summer, but with as high in the mountains they were, there was never not snow on the ground.

It was rather tiring, in all honesty. Never having a break from the cold. But at least they weren’t in a hot desert, he always reminded himself. There was plenty of water around him, if he had to escape. If he had to run. And, thankfully, Talia had provided him with warm enough clothing that he didn’t usually have a problem. Besides, it would only be a days hike before they were low enough to feel the summer heat.

He hoped that wasn’t what they were about to do. Because hiking through the mountains of Afghanistan with few provisions was not on his bucket list. No sir. No thank you. Especially not with a couple brats, assuming Damian was just as bad as Mara.

But whatever was going on, Jason had a feeling it was bad.

Chapter Text

Mara was blissfully silent the rest of the trek to the cliff. Her blatant distrust and outright snobbery was not, at all, helping Jason’s already frayed nerves.

This whole whatever was going on better not last too long. Jason would gladly help Talia get the kiddos to safety somewhere, just as long as that was it. He wanted to go back to training as soon as possible, or whatever. He had no idea what he wanted to do with his life, in all honesty. Training was at least productive.

When they finally reached the cliff, Jason was annoyed to see Talia hadn’t beaten him there. The fact that she wasn’t there was extra annoying, too, because the boy was. And he didn’t look any happier than Mara was to be woken in the middle of the night.

Damian, Jason presumed, was sitting on his backpack. He started glaring at Mara the second the two of them turned the corner, around some rocks, and came into view. Jason kind of wanted to nope it right out of there. Have nothing to do with any of this.

“Tt,” the kid huffed, as he stood and crossed his arms to address Mara, “What are you doing here?”

And holy guacamole Jason could definitely see the Bruce in this kid. He was the spitting fucking image of Bruce Wayne. The only thing Talia about this kid was his eyes. And his complexion.

“Lady Talia summoned me,” Mara responded, stopping about fifteen feet away from Damian. Jason paused with her, although he wasn’t sure why, but he figured the brat knew her brother way better than Jason did. Considering Jason didn’t know him at all.

Both kids rested hands on the hilts of their swords, and Jason groaned internally. They weren’t going to get violent, were they?

Holy-sibling-rivalry, Batman.

“My mother asked me to meet her here, of course. Why she would summon you is beyond me,” Damian said, all but sticking his little snot nose right up in the air.

“You must be the servant Mother mentioned,” Damian added, turning his gaze to Jason as he looked Jason up and down before rolling his eyes, “You don’t look like much.”

And yep. Jason was gonna have to work on that not-smacking-children thing.

“I am not a servant, you little brat,” Jason said, taking his bag off and dropping it on the ground, so he could sit on it, “And that’s no way to speak to your sister.”

“This bastard is not my sister,” Damian declared, at the same time Mara said, “I am not his sister.”

“Wait, what?” Jason said, completely thrown now.

What the fuck did that even mean? If Mara wasn’t his sister, then what was she? And why did Talia call her one of her ‘children?’

It would make sense, though… Since Mara looked nothing like Bruce. Jason would believe Mara and Damian were related, but even then it was kind of stretching it. That had far more to do with her complexion. And eyes.

The only two things Damian had from Talia….

Jason would easily believe half-sister. But then they wouldn’t have agreed on ‘not’ sister.

So what the fuck was Mara?

“I said, this bastard is not my sister, why would you assume-”

“Why are you being an asshole?” Jason interrupted, because sister or not, that was no way to speak about the little girl. “I think you owe her an apology.”

“You watch your tongue, peasant,” Damian growled, scowling at Jason and absolutely not apologizing to Mara, “You will not order me around.”

Oh boy.

“Are you both gonna call me peasant? Cause that’s just rude.”

“Tt,” Damian huffed, drawing his sword, “I will not be insulted by one of Mother’s servants.”

Jason hopped up and further away from Damian while he held his two hands out placatingly. “Look, kid, I told ya, I’m not a servant, so I’m gonna talk to you however I damn well please. But it’s no reason to get all stabby, yeah? So how about you put down the sword.”

“Damian,” Mara said, then switched to Arabic as she said, “He claims he did not know of our existence until Lady Talia ordered him to bring me here.”

“How could a servant possibly not know who I am?” Damian responded in like, and Jason just rolled his eyes. These stupid little brats acting like they could have a conversation right in front of his face. Yeah right. His Arabic wasn’t perfect, but he wasn’t terrible, either.

“I am not a servant,” he replied, also in Arabic. If either child was startled he could understand them, they didn’t show it. “Stop calling me one.”

“Then what are you?” Damian asked dryly, crossing his arms as he turned to face Jason.

“Like I told Mara, Talia trains me.”

Damian scowled, likely at his lack of ‘respect’ for his mother. These brats thinking they were royalty. And that Jason would even care about that. But then his face softened as he looked at Jason assessingly. “Ah. Then you are Mother’s pet. I have heard of you.”

“Pet?” Jason objected, “I’m not a fucking pet.”

“You would be wise to watch your-” Damian started, in a nasty little snarl as he pointed his sword at Jason, but was cut off by Jason’s current favorite person on the planet.

Because Talia Al Ghul said sharply, “Damian,” from just out of their sight, causing the little brat to snap to attention at his mother’s chastisement.

“Mother,” Damian said, turning to face Talia just as she rounded the corner, and froze, cutting off whatever argument he had been gearing up to share.

Right along with Jason.

Because in Talia’s arms was another kid.

This one was clinging to Talia in a way Jason would expect a kid to do at 3 in the morning, her arms wrapped tightly around Talia’s neck and her face buried into Talia’s hair.

“Jason is an ally and you will treat him with respect,” Talia said, exhaustedly, as she coaxed the little girl in her arms to sit up and look around.

“Tt,” Damian scoffed, rolling his eyes and whole head dramatically, as if Talia had just asked of him the world.

Talia narrowed her eyes at Damian, then said, “He is your brother, Damian, you will respect him.”

Jason opened his mouth to protest that instantly, because he was not a brother. He did not have brothers. Or sisters. Or fathers. No one. He had no family, and he was perfectly fine with that. He refused to allow Talia to trap him like this into family and all the bullshit that accompanied that. Especially not with such little brats.

But before he even got one syllable out, he was shut down by the nasty glare Talia shot him.

“And this is your sister,” Talia continued, when Damian didn’t say anything more in reponse.

“My-” Damian said, then just stared helplessly at Talia for a moment before steeling himself and declaring, “I do not have siblings.”

“Are you questioning me, child?” Talia said warningly, causing Damian to stand just a little straighter, before she softened her voice and said, “This is Athanasia.”

Talia set the girl down on her feet and Athanasia didn’t let go of Talia’s hand. In fact, she stepped behind Talia, just slightly, and looked between Damian, Jason, and Mara with a tiny little smile on her face. After a second, she waved and hid her face behind Talia.

“Hi,” Jason said dumbly, not sure how else to react. He’d already met two other kids, so what was a third, right? But Athanasia seemed incredibly shy, while the other two were aggressively… well, everything. Aggressive. And damn was she adorable.

When Damian looked at Talia searchingly, rather than speak to Athanasia, Talia sighed. “I kept her secret,” she explained, her hand carding through the little girl’s hair absently, “so that Father would not take her from me.”

Damian shook his head, and Jason looked over to see a whole slew of emotions flickering across Damian’s face. Hurt. Betrayal. Confusion. Anger. It was kind of making Jason feel bad for the little brat. What had he been subjected to that Talia clearly didn’t want Athanasia to suffer?

“Damian,” Talia said, letting go of her daughter to close the distance between her and Damian. Once she’d knelt down to Damian’s height, she put a hand on his cheek and whispered, “My love,” before pulling him into a very long hug, that Damian clearly found to be incredibly confusing.

If this kid honestly wasn’t used to hugs, Jason would gladly hike across all of Afghanistan, if that’s what it took to get him away from here. Brat or not.

“Mother, what is happening?” Damian asked, his voice a near whisper.

Talia pulled him back, placing her hands on either side of his face. “We are leaving, my prince, so you and your sister may grow up in safety.”

“We are defecting?” Mara asked, her voice partially incredulous, and partly shaken.

“Mother,” Damian said in alarm, pulling away from her touch, “We cannot-”

“I will not betray my Grandfather,” Mara said, this time with much more confidence as she took a few steps back from them all.

“We are Al Ghuls,” Damian asserted, scowling at Talia, “Mother, be reasonable.”

“Silence,” Talia shouted, when the two of them delved into speaking over one another in protest. Both children, amusingly, snapped their mouths shut instantly and stood at attention for Talia, who just sighed. “We haven’t a choice.”

“What possible reason could we have for defecting,” Mara asked, taking a step back from Talia, as if she were about to turn and bolt to get away from them.

“Father learned of Athanasia’s existence, and ordered her and Mara to face each other in battle,” Talia said, and the sheer bitterness on her face was staggering.

Then her words sank in.

“Holy shit,” Jason whispered, “Like to death?” He wanted one of them to kill the other?

Just looking at Athanasia and Mara, Jason had no doubt Mara would win that. But what kind of damage would that cause Mara? Had she already killed? Probably, right? Jason had killed a few times, himself. All while on missions, which were part of his training. It bothered him, a little. Sometimes. When he let himself think about it. But he was 16. He was 16 and chose this. Plus, all his targets have been adults. Horrible adults, at that. Human traffickers, child rapists, baby killers. All of them deserved it.

But a little girl, barely up to his waist? Probably 6 years old, if Jason had to guess? What would killing her do to Mara? She wouldn’t have a choice. She’d live the rest of her life knowing she took the life of an innocent child. Would she be able to live with herself?

Talia nodded grimly, and Jason could feel the fire in his blood start to burn.

“I could-” Mara started, only to pale and take another step back, looking up at Talia anxiously, “If it is what Grandfather orders…”

She could kill Athanasia, she meant, Jason was sure. Of course she could.

But she shouldn’t have to.

No child should have to live with that. Fuck Ra’s Al Ghul for even suggesting such thing. Jason was immensely grateful that he was no where near Ra’s at the moment, because had he been in the compound he’s fairly certain he would have barged into Ra’s quarters and punched him right in the face. As it was, all he had was his duffle bag, so he kicked it as hard as he could. The knives inside clanged against each other, and the bag skidded across the snow covered dirt a good six feet, stopped only by one of the many rocks surrounding them.

“Fuck him,” he growled, clenching and unclenching his fists. He needed something to hit. All he had around him were rocks, though. Rocks and children and Talia. He’d either hurt his hands or immensely regret his life choices, so instead he flung himself down on his bag and sat there, trying his best to calm his breathing and chill.

Everyone was staring at him, he noticed, when he looked up, so he closed his eyes in order to practice meditating in the way Talia had taught him, when she learned of his ‘anger management’ problems. He still had to roll his eyes at that. Since his anger was never unjustified, he didn’t see much of a problem with having it. But whatever.

“Mara,” Talia said after a minute, and Jason’s eyes snapped open at her her tone. Because she sounded so kind and almost… loving. Jason would expect that tone from a mother to her child, but everyone had been clear Mara wasn’t her daughter.

It’s a tone he’d heard from Catherine, many times. Jason, darling, she’d say, and no matter the circumstances, or why she was using it, the tone always made him feel safe. Like a warm blanket being wrapped around him, his mother’s words were comforting, no matter what message they delivered.

Talia’s words clearly had the same effect on Mara, because her shoulders dropped, slightly, as Talia knelt before her and repeated, “Mara, my niece. Do you think so little of yourself that you believe it acceptable to be pitted against an untrained child to prove your worthiness of life?”

Mara froze so visibly at that, Jason just wanted to get up and go murder Ra’s for sure. Because what the fuck was this. Damian wasn’t used to hugs, Mara wasn’t used to hearing someone affirm her worth in life, and Athanasia was standing off to the side, clinging desperately to a stuffed cat that apparently materialized out of no where. Perhaps she pulled it from the backpack she was wearing.

In fact, Athanasia looked downright terrified, in all honesty. Talia must not have told her about the whole battle-to-the-death thing. Her little body was trembling, and her face was ghost white as she looked pleadingly at Talia, whose attention was still on Mara.

“I-” Mara said, then paused and shook her head.

“Tt,” huffed Damian, rolling his eyes as he took a step closer to Talia and Mara, putting himself within arms reach of Talia, “She is not.”

“Damian,” Talia chastised, and Damian scowled up at her.

“Mother, if this is what Grandfather ordered, who are we to-”

“I will not allow him to harm my children any longer,” Talia snapped, and Jason had enough of this.

He stood slowly, so not to draw attention to himself, and carefully made his way over to the trembling little girl lost in the background.

He knelt down next to her, earning only a wary glance before he said, “They’re pretty loud, huh?”

Athanasia nodded slowly, as Damian started ranting about their station and honor or some other nonsense. Talia was pinching the bridge of her nose, and Jason was suddenly glad he wasn’t the little brat. Because he was fairly certain Damian was about to get told off. Or maybe even smacked.

“So you’re my little sister, huh?” he asked, wondering whether the little girl spoke much English. If she were kept secret from everyone, it was unlikely she’d had much of an education. “How old are you?” he asked, in Arabic this time.

“Seven,” she whispered in Arabic, so Jason figured he’d just stick with it.

“Seven, huh? That’s a good age. I’m sixteen.”

When all the little girl did was take a deep, shaky breath, Jason inched a little closer. “Hey,” he whispered, resisting the urge to reach out and hug her, “There’s no reason to be scared.” Athanasia turned her head to look at Jason, so he added, “Not with me around. I’m your big brother, right?”

She nodded.

“And do you know what big brothers do?”

“No,” she whispered, pulling her stuffed cat up closer to her face.

“We protect our little sisters and make sure nothing bad happens to them.”

The tiny little smile Athanasia graced Jason with made him just grin wider. He could already tell he was going to like this kid. She was just so damn cute.

“Does your cat have a name?” he asked, after looking over at Talia and seeing her speaking quietly to the other two kids, still. He couldn’t make out what she was saying, but both of them were absolutely entranced by her, so he figured she was getting through to them and convincing them to ‘defect’ from this damn cult.

Athanasia held her cat out so Jason could see her better and said, “Kitty,” in English.

“That is an excellent name.” Jason reached out and ‘pet’ the cat before Athanasia snatched it back and hugged onto it again. “Do you know how old Damian is?”

“He is eight,” she said, louder and more confident now. She’d quit shaking, too. Jason still had that urge to just hug her, though. Maybe she wouldn’t stab him, if he did.

“How old is Mara?” he asked instead.

Athanasia shrugged.

“Jason,” Talia said, successfully gaining his attention as she stood to address all of them, “We should get moving, we do not have time to waste.”

“Sure.” Jason stood and slung his back over his shoulder, then smiled down at Athanasia as she followed him to join Talia and the kids. “So what’s the plan?”

“We will hike to Kabul and fly out of there,” Talia explained, pulling out a small device from her bag, which appeared to be a GPS of some sort. Which was good, because Jason knew for a fact there were no roads anywhere near them.

Which… just meant this was about to be one hell of a hike. Because most of it was going to be through mountains and desert…

“Mother,” Damian said, shuffling to catch up as Talia began walking southwest, “That is a week’s hike.”

“Yes, my son. Father will be expecting us to cross into Pakistan or Tajikistan and catch a ride, so we will not.”

Jason slowed, a little, so that all the children were walking ahead of him, and took up the rear. Athanasia grasped onto Talia’s hand, and Damian just scowled at the little girl.

Oh boy, he thought. The next week was going to be hell.

“Do we have enough supplies for this,” Jason asked uneasily, mentally cataloging everything he had in his bag. Which was mostly weapons, clothing, and very basic sleeping supplies. No food or water. He did have an empty water bottle that he could fill, if he wanted to risk drinking melted snow, which he didn’t. Hopefully they’d stumble upon enough springs…

Talia waived their concerned off with a simple, “My pack is almost entirely food, do not despair.”

Looking at her backpack, Jason had doubts. While it was a decent size, he was having a hard time believing she had enough food for four people for a week. Maybe if it were entirely protein bars…

“Do you not trust me?” Talia asked harshly, apparently sensing his hesitancy. After sighing, she added, “If you are worried, we will encounter a village in four days where we can replenish our supplies and perhaps sleep for the night.”

“Where will we fly to, Lady Talia,” Mara asked, as she trailed along behind Damian.

“N-” Talia started, then halted throwing her arms out in either direction to stop the rest of them from walking forward. “We have been found,” she whispered harshly, turning and pushing them all in the opposite direction, “Run.”

They didn’t have a chance, though.

Because not even a step into their retreat, the sound of a gun firing engulfed the previously quiet mountain soundscape, the bullet whistling right past Jason’s ear.

And when he looked back, he saw the smug face of Deathstroke grinning back at them.

Chapter Text

The next several minutes were a blur to Jason.

Ninjas appeared out of seemingly nowhere, and Jason found himself sorely wishing they’d all started running at full speed the second they’d met up. The very second. Instead of standing around playing twenty questions.

And, of course, he knew the goons were technically called assassins, but with the way they seem to come out of thin air, calling them ninjas worked way better in his head. Besides, he wasn’t about to let any of them kill any of them, so the term assassin was a little strong, now wasn’t it?

Talia went straight for Deathstroke, and he seemed eager enough to face her, considering he drew his sword and smiled as Talia luged at him. Jason wished he could help with that, but again, ninjas.

Seven of them.

Damian and Mara leapt into action, to both Jason’s horror and relief. Both of them drew swords and somehow held their own against the four concentrating on them. The other three ninjas ran toward Jason and Athanasia, who had glued herself to his leg, one hand clutched desperately at his pant leg, the other holding tight to Kitty.

“Stay behind me,” Jason murmured, as he slipped his bag off and drew his own sword. This cult was fucking weird, with the whole obsession with swords, but Jason could hold his own with a sword. It was, actually, one of the many skills Bruce had taught him.

Of course, Bruce taught him with a bo staff. Something he’d never particularly enjoyed. But he could use one, and it hadn’t been difficult to transfer those skills to swordsmanship, after he woke up in the middle of the League of Assassins.

The fight was vicious. Actually winning against three swordsmen was damn near impossible, especially with Athanasia behind him like she was. He was so focused on protecting her, he found it difficult to push himself to the offensive.

And being on the defensive was the last place one wanted to be when facing the League.

One of the swords nicked his arm, again, when he barely got his own up in time to catch it. When he looked down and saw the blade inches from Athanasia’s terrified face, he hissed at her to climb the rock behind them. Maybe if she lay flat, she could escape most the action.

Maybe they’d even forget she existed.

But, of course, the little runt made that impossible. Because when he got hit in the side, and let out a loud gasp of pain, Athanasia started throwing rocks down at the ninjas.

For a clearly untrained seven-year-old, she was remarkably accurate.

Stupid, too. But Jason had to admire her bravery.

Jason took advantage of the distraction and pulled a gun from his bag, chambered the first bullet, and sank three of the rounds right into the guts of his aggressors. When they all fell rather unceremoniously, he turned and used the remaining four on Damian and Mara’s guys.

The startled gasp Damian made in response distracted Talia, just enough, though.

For years to come, Jason was going to regret his actions in that very second. Replay and analyze how much time he had, whether he’d been able to do anything. Everything. He just knew, in that very second, that he was watching one of his biggest regrets in life happen.

Because Jason watched in slow motion horror as Deathstroke took advantage of the distraction and plunged his sword straight into Talia’s abdomen.

And he couldn’t find another clip in his bag fast enough.

“Mother,” Damian screamed, as Deathstroke removed his sword.

Talia collapsed to the ground, clutching at her stomach, but didn’t make any noise herself. She locked eyes with Jason, briefly. No longer than a blink, but she said far more to Jason than he ever wanted to hear.

Far more than Jason could handle. Take care of my kids, they were saying. Help them get away.

That… that was not something he wanted to do without her.

He needed her.

She’d… she’d been his mentor. For almost a year. She was the one he turned to. The adult, the one with all the answers.

But he didn’t have time to think of any of this.

Jason lunged forward and grabbed Damian by the arm, preventing him from approaching Deathstroke like he clearly was about to. Like a suicidal idiot.

Deathstroke sheathed his sword and pointed his gun at them. Which was great. Because Jason still hadn’t found another clip, and now couldn’t, since he was holding Damian back. He needed to organize his bag better.

That probably wouldn’t matter, though. Cause he was about to die.

So none of it mattered, anyway. Not Talia. Not the brats. Nothing.

They were going to die.

Unless he could figure out a way to get one over on Deathstroke, without letting go of Damian...

Perhaps if he did let go of Damian, that would provide enough distraction for him to pull out a set of throwing knives and hopefully stun Slade long enough…

“Jason Todd,” Deathstroke said, interrupting Jason’s thoughts. Slade spared Talia only a second’s glance before he fixed his attention on all of them.

They were toast. Slade recognizing him could only spell trouble.

Mara held her sword at the ready, and looked like she was just waiting for the right opportunity to launch herself at Slade.

Double toast.

“Slade,” Jason said, as if they were greeting each other at the supermarket. If Batman had taught him anything, it was how to repress his emotions, and make it seem like he had none at all.

Which was good.

Because if Deathstroke knew how much he was panicking, he’d already be dead.

“Reports of your death have been greatly exaggerated.”

“How original,” Jason drawled. Because that was the most cliched piece of crap ever, and Jason really hoped he never had to hear it again. Slade probably thought he was clever, too.

What an asshole.

Slade ignored him and took another step forward. Instead of do anything Jason was expecting, like murder them all, he asked, “Is your father aware you are here?”

And Jason just glared.

Slade laughed. “Of course he isn’t. So was it the Lazarus, then?”

Fuck him, Jason thought. Fuck him so hard. He tried to use Slade’s dumb little story hour to pull a knife, but as soon as Jason’s hand moved an inch toward his bag’s opening, Slade pointed his gun right at Mara.

Because he was an asshole.

Too bad Jason wasn’t enough of one, himself, to let Mara get killed in exchange for the rest of them surviving this.

Movement from Talia drew Jason’s eyes to her, just briefly. She relaxed, some, as she seemed to lose consciousness. If that were the case, there was pretty much no way they could save her. Unless she got tossed into a Lazarus Pit in the next few minutes, there was no way she was surviving this.

But that probably didn’t matter, in the grand scheme of things. Because they were goners, anyway.

Damian tried to pull from his grasp again, so Jason sank his nails into Damian’s arms, and hissed, “Don’t be stupid.”

If the kids could not be stupid, maybe he could do something about this.

God, he needed to fucking think.

“But, my Mother,” Damian pleaded.

Slade laughed. “There is nothing you can do for her, child.” He looked thoughtful for a moment, then added, “there is not much you can do for yourselves, either.”

Maybe he should let the kids at him. If they distracted him enough, Jason could find his fucking clip and fill Deathstroke's stupid ugly face full of lead, then run like hell with the kids.

Mara launched herself at Deathstroke, as if reading Jason’s mind, but it was painful how easily he grabbed her wrist and dropped the sword from her hand. Then he just held her there, dangling in the air by her arm, kicking and struggling.

“Let her go,” Jason said, a little pleadingly. He wasn’t really sure what he could do to get around this. He was out of shots, and he knew Deathstroke still had at least six. And sure, he could let go of Damian and let Damian go nuts, but judging on how well that went with Mara, he was fairly certain all four of them would die if they faced Deathstroke. He wasn’t at his top, hurting and sore from his fight already. And Deathstroke was difficult for Batman. What chance did they stand?

“She’s just a child.”

“Ra’s was fairly explicit in his desires to retrieve all five of you. He would prefer the children alive,” he said, pausing to tighten his hold on Mara and lift her up, “but just barely so is good enough.”

The poor girl growled and kicked at Deathstroke, but got nothing accomplished.

“Slade,” he said, unsure about what to say.

So, okay. Maybe Slade wasn’t going to kill them, but Ra’s would.

Deathstroke was going to have to kill him, because he’d sooner die than be handed to Ra’s as a trophy.

“But imagine my surprise to find little Jason Todd among the traitors. What does dear old Daddy think of you joining the League?”

Jason ground his teeth together. He tried to use Slade’s momentary distraction to slip his hand into his bag, again, but Slade was apparently paying more attention than he thought.

Because in a blink, Slade whipped Mara into his arms, using one to pin her to his chest and the other to press his gun up against her head. She tried, boy did she try, to wiggle her way out of his grasp, but she wasn’t strong enough.

Throwing his free arm up to show he wasn’t grabbing for a weapon, Jason tried to fucking think. Take stock of their situation.

Damian had stopped fighting him entirely. Jason was almost sure he could let go of him and he’d just stand there, but wasn’t willing to risk it. Jason wasn’t sure what he’d do after seeing his Mother… like that. And his cousin on her way to joining her.

Mara was, of course, helpless.

That was when he realized he couldn’t hear Athanasia at all. He wanted to look back and check for her, but doing so would draw attention to her. Maybe she’d escape Slade’s notice and be able to escape herself.

What she would do after all the rest of them were killed or turned over to Ra’s, Jason didn’t know…

Besides. Turning his back to Slade would be what killed him.

Again.

He was sure.

“Ah, well. I suppose it doesn’t matter,” Slade said, as he tightened his arm around Mara, causing the little girl to gasp.

And fuck.

These were just little kids.

“Slade. What do you want?”

Smiling, Deathstroke asked, “Do you want these children, Todd?”

Jason hesitated, because he wasn’t sure if saying yes would make Slade just kill them all or if saying yes was what Slade needed to hear to spare them.

Was Slade even capable of sparing them?

Maybe? It’s not like Deathstroke was completely moral-less, right?

After he nodded shakily, Slade smiled.

“Here’s the thing, Todd,” he said, taking a couple steps closer to him and Damian, “I owe your father a favor. I don’t like owing favors.”

Jason wanted to back away, because with every step closer to them Slade took, the faster Jason’s heart started beating.

But then Slade holstered his gun.

“Consider this,” he said, tossing Mara at Jason, “making us even.”

Jason had to let go of Damian in order to catch Mara, who legitimately squeaked when Jason caught her.

He didn’t even have time to check her over and make sure she was okay before he had to drop her on her feet to grab Damian again.

Because the stupid little runt tried to lunge at Deathstroke.

When he tried to hold them both in hugs, albeit it a little awkwardly, Mara pushed him away and scowled at him.

Damian just bit him.

“Fuck,” he muttered, shuffling Damian around a little so he was pinned a little more effectively.

“I can see Bruce in them,” Slade said, outright laughing, “I imagine he has no idea Talia was keeping this secret from him.” Slade kept his gun trained on them as he knelt down and picked Talia up, slinging her over his shoulder.

And based on how limp she was, how completely unresponsive and pale her face was, Jason just knew there was no hope for her.

He couldn’t afford to think about that right now.

“You gonna tell him?” Jason asked, almost as a grunt as he continued to wrestle with a now thrashing Damian.

Slade smirked at Jason, letting out just a huff of a laugh, then said, “Like I told you. We’re even now.”

“Mother,” Damian cried, as he tried to kick at Jason to win his freedom. Jason felt for the kid, he did. Especially since the kid was actually crying now. But he could do without the fight.

“I suggest you run,” Slade said off handedly as he turned his back to them, “before Ra’s grows impatient and sends more men after you.”

Now would be the time for him to shoot Slade. It would take two seconds to locate the magazine with the benefit of his fucking eyes and hands.

But if Slade were seriously letting them go free…

Nodding, Jason jumped to his feet. It didn’t take much effort to pull Mara along after him. Surprisingly, she didn’t fight him at all when he grabbed her hand and pulled.

Damian was, of course, a different story. With a tight grip around the kid’s forearm, he dragged Damian along, over to Athanasia’s rock.

The girl had been completely visible, as it turned out. And absolutely, entirely, helpless. Because she was sitting up there obviously crying her eyes out. Her face was splotchy, her cheeks damp, and, most disgustingly, her nose all snotty.

She looked like a normal seven-year-old kid throwing a fit.

But she didn’t sound like that. Not at all. Her breathing wasn’t even loud and ragged. Jason couldn’t hear her, at all.

Now was not the time to analyze Athanasia. Since Mara seemed to be on board with running, Jason let go of her hand to reach up for Athanasia. After only a second’s of hesitation, the girl leapt down from her rock and straight into Jason’s outstretched arm. With very little goading, she climbed onto Jason’s back and clung herself there.

Something large and heavy skidded across the snow behind them, just as Jason started forward again. He’d been fully ready to run as fast as he possibly could or, rather, as fast as Damian and Mara possibly could, but couldn’t keep himself from looking behind.

What he saw made him want to thank his lucky fucking stars.

Or Slade, he supposed.

Because there, on the ground, was Talia’s backpack, right where Slade had thrown it.

They would have died, for sure, without it. Jason was a fucking idiot for not thinking about it himself.

He ran back and grabbed it, then shoved it at Mara, who put it on the front of her body, since her back was already occupied by another bag. Jason would have carried it, but he was wearing Athanasia and possibly Damian, in a second. He also didn’t trust the stupid little brat long enough to let go.

They’d need to stop in a while and rearrange their bags. But now, they needed to run.

“But, Mother,” Damian cried, as Jason started pushing them to run. He tugged at his arm in Jason’s hand, but did, indeed, move his feet forward.

“I’m sorry, kid,” he said, sincerely, “there isn’t anything we can do. We have to run.”

“We’re just leaving her!”

“We will die otherwise.”

Honestly, Jason was still reeling from the fact they weren’t dead.

Damian planted his feet and growled “She’s my mother, we have to try.”

“There isn’t time,” Jason snarled, pausing to guide Athanasia’s legs around his waist to make sure she could support her own weight. Because if he had to carry a kicking and screaming Damian, he wouldn’t be able to support her weight, too. “Either we run or we stay here and die with her!”

When Jason tugged harder at Damian’s arm and started to drag him, Damian pulled a knife and snarled, “Unhand me.”

Great.

So the kid had another fucking knife on him the whole fucking time.

Jason could have used that.

Too late now, though.

“Listen,” he said, tightening his grip on Damian, all but daring him to actually stab him, “Talia just sacrificed herself for you. Not so you can fight to defend her or whatever, but so you can live the rest of your life. Don’t dishonor her by throwing that away and making her sacrifice meaningless.”

They needed to get away. They had maybe ten minutes, if Jason was guessing, before Slade made it back to the compound and informed Ra’s that he was ‘unable to find’ them, or whatever he was going to say. Three minutes after that before the woods are swarmed with ninjas looking for them.

There was no time to argue over whether Talia was savable.

She wasn’t.

End of story.

“But,” Damian started, but the his face absolutely crumpled. Jason wanted to scoop him up, if only to comfort him. But they needed to run.

“Run, Damian,” Jason said, and that was all Damian needed. He scrubbed at his eyes once, and nodded. Obviously Damian had received the same training as Jason, on how to push down emotions for the sake of the mission.

Good.

They’d need those skills if they were getting out of this alive.

Mara, who had been standing ahead, keeping watch, even if impatiently, turned with them and the three of them started running down the mountain.

Jason had no idea where they were even going, but at least they were going.

Once they got far enough away to consider themselves ‘escaped,’ maybe then they could pause and figure out where to go.

Chapter Text

They ran for what felt like an hour. Jason knew, logically, that it had been no where near that long. But thankfully, Athanasia held onto Jason tightly the entire time, so he did not have to support her entire weight with his arms. A small mercy, considering the combined load he was carrying, anyway. He wasn’t quite sure to do about the fact that she hadn’t quit crying, though, her entire body shaking at times as she kept her face buried in Jason’s shoulder.

Instead of deal with that, or with the way Damian’s distress had turned to anger, Jason ignored it all and concentrated on where he was placing his foot for each step. The last thing he needed was to trip.

And if he stopped to think, he wasn’t sure what he would do.

Damian and Mara were being stubbornly quiet, which was probably also a problem, but just another thing Jason was thankful for. He really could not deal with them yet. Both of them were clearly stewing for probably two different reasons, judging by the significant scowls on their faces.

Jason focused on navigating them toward Kabul. That had been Talia’s plan, so Jason was going to stick with it. What they were doing from there, he had no idea. He’d dig through her bag, later, once they stopped for breakfast and hope the contents would direct him towards what to do next.

He remembered from his geography lessons that they were situated in the mountains of Afghanistan, in the narrow corridor between Pakistan and Tajikistan, and there was a river that separated Afghanistan from Tajikistan. If they could get to the river, they could follow it west southwest out of the corridor and then find a road and follow it to Kabul.

That would also, likely, be the easiest route, considering they were quite literally right in the middle of the mountains. Hiking up and down every single one was going to become exhausting and would slow them down significantly.

They’d been running down a valley, so far, but Jason could see up ahead that their luck would not hold out forever.

Not that he thought it would. He’d wanted to put as much distance as possible between them and Ra’s, and this was the easiest way to do that. Maybe Slade would throw him off their trail. Surely that counted as making them even, right?

Because what was the point, if he let them go just to send the entire League after them?

Hopefully Ra’s would not be able to pick back up their trail once they crossed over the mountains toward the river.

It took an hour to hike over the next mountain, and by then the sun had fully risen. They’d been lucky the moon was up, and at a fairly full cycle, because other wise they would have been tripping about all morning long.

Waking up at 2 in the freaking morning to escape a cult was not how Jason had wanted to spend his day. But Jason rarely got what he wanted, now did he?

Jason figured they could finish hiking the rest of the day, then break at sunset and sleep that night. If they could make it that long, that was. He knew he could, but there were children with him to think about.

Freaking children.

Right before they reached the base of the mountain, Jason saw something he should have been looking for all along.

A well.

Sure, it meant they were near someone. Civilization of some sort. But the well looked friggen ancient. So there was no telling who was around, if anyone.

It didn’t matter. Out there? It was every man for himself.

He had a water bottle in his bag, of course. That had been a quick lesson to learn, early on during one of his first training sessions. Water wasn’t something just handed out to trainees of the League of Assassins. It wasn’t like the freaking batcave where Alfred appeared at just the right moment with a clean glass of crisp water.

No.

In the League, if Jason didn’t take care of himself, no one would.

Considering Jason had lived on the streets for a while, it hadn’t been a particularly hard lesson to learn. Just a… startling one.

Because Talia did take care of him.

He… he hadn’t had to fend for himself for a long time, because of it. Because of her.

It was nice. It had been nice. He missed Talia, when she wasn’t around. When he was off with trainers. On missions. Away.

Fending for himself sucked. Even if he could do it. When she was around, everything just felt… okay.

And now with Talia gone….

Shaking his head, Jason stopped short, then dropped his bag on the ground so he could fish his water bottle out. He drank the last few ounces he’d had, just what was left from his last refill before bed.

Mara and Damian caught on before Jason finished downing what was left of his water, and backtracked to the well.

They both dug their water bottles out and filled them without Jason even telling them to, which was nice. Athanasia didn’t, however.

He tried to detach himself from a still crying Athanasia, but she felt absolutely glued to him. His shoulders were stiff from where she’d been holding tight, and he’d like nothing more than to stretch his back. So if she could get off, that’d be great.

It took a little big of coaxing, but finally he managed to get her to let go.

But of course, she had to be dramatic about it.

Once she slipped to the ground, she sniffled once, scrubbed at her face, and then basically collapsed in on herself.

“Here,” he said, holding out his water bottle for her, “why don’t you get yourself a drink.”

If nothing else, it would give her something to do.

Athanasia nodded and filled the bottle with water Mara had already pulled up. Then she started gulping it down. And Jason just frowned.

Poor kid.

With all the crying she’d done, she was probably super dehydrated. Jason could feel a wet spot on his shoulder and tried not to think too hard about it. The kid was seven.

The fuck was he supposed to do with these kids?

Hopefully he’d get a clue from Talia’s backpack.

The kids had been taking turns carrying the bag, and Jason was pleasantly surprised by their actual teamwork. For some reason, he hadn’t been expecting that from them. And when he asked Damian to hand it to him, Damian didn’t protest for a second. Simply picked the bag off the ground and handed it over.

After filling their bottles each for a second time, the kids gathered around Jason and knelt down, watching as he started digging through Talia’s possessions.

She hadn’t been lying. Her bag was mostly food. She even had a few filled bottles of water. Jason handed one out to each kid, wordlessly instructing them to place them in their own bags. He also found Talia’s empty reusable water bottle, and handed it to Athanasia. “Can you fill this up for me?” he asked, without even looking up. He still hadn’t had any water, himself. Since he gave Athanasia his bottle and everything.

“Okay,” she whispered, taking the bottle from him and trotting over to the spring.

Did Athanasia have her own bottle in her bag? Jason hoped so. He’d need to make sure it got filled, too, before they moved on.

All Jason saw in the bag was food. Lots of food. Well, not lots, but enough to get them by, he was pretty sure.

Hadn’t Talia packed anything else?

Jason looked up, briefly, when Attie trotted back over to them and saw the other kids staring blankly at him. Like they were waiting for him to start talking. Or giving instructions. Or something.

The fuck was he supposed to do?

He had a feeling if he tried ordering them around, they wouldn’t listen well, but at the same time… They were all relying on him.

And they all knew it.

Where the fuck was he going to take them? Talia had a plan, but Jason had no idea what it even was.

Athanasia sat down next to him and silently held out the water bottle for him to take. Thankful for the distraction, Jason took it and drank half the water before looking back down into Talia’s backpack.

She’d packed all sorts of food. It was, unfortunately, mostly protein bars. Which Jason hated. Most of them appeared to have at least 200 calories, though, and many had as many as 500. So at least they weren’t shitty 50 calorie wastes of space. He picked a few of the lower calorie count bars and handed one to each of the kids, deciding that should be sufficient for breakfast. They’d stop again in a couple hours and eat a more substantial lunch.

He also found bags of trail mix, dried fruit, and, thank god, dried meat. At least two dozens large strips of it. He pulled out one of the smaller pieces to share between the four of them. Based on smell, it seemed to be lamb, which definitely wasn’t his favorite, but it was one of the staples of the League. So he supposed that made sense.

Between the protein bars and the lamb, Jason was already looking forward to their first stop at a restaurant. Whenever the hell that would be.

He ripped the jerky into four equal pieces and passed each kid a portion before he started robotically chewing on his own.

As the kids nibbled on their food, Jason went about making sure all the food was nice and neat, then zipped it back up and turned his attention to his weapons bag.

The entire reason fucking Deathstroke won that match.

To start with, he loaded all his spare magazines and lined them up on the duffle’s outer zipper pocket. Now each one would be easily accessible to him. He reloaded his gun and tucked it into his waist, then made sure his knives were organized and reachable. For good measure, he hid a couple of those on his body.

Now, all the rest of his gear, his sleeping bag, change of clothes, and such, were at the bottom of the bag and all his weapons right up top. Hopefully they wouldn’t be faced with another fight, but if they were, Jason wasn’t going to lose it thanks to disorganization.

He would say that’s the last time he lets Talia pack his bag for him, but that was kind of already obvious.

With her being dead and all.

Jason finished off the last bite of his protein bar and collected up the used wrappers from the other kids. When he went to shove them in a pocket inside Talia’s backpack, however, he had to pause.

Because shoved in there was an envelope with his name written right along the side.

Curiously, he pulled it out and slowly opened it. The kids seemed to notice his discovery, too, and quickly crowded around him to inspect it. Because maybe it was the fucking answer to “where the hell should we go??”

He was a little impressed no one had outright snatched it out of his hand. But maybe Talia telling the kids he was their ‘brother’ had sown enough respect into them to quit treating him like a servant.

Inside the envelope, he found a wad of local currency. He wasn’t very familiar with the afghani, but he knew its value against the US dollar was pretty low. Which was probably why he was staring at tens of thousands of afghani. Nearly a hundred thousand, if he were to guess.

“Count that and divide it into five piles,” he said, holding the money out for whichever kid to take. Mara did, and started diligently sorting the money into the piles. Jason was grateful he didn’t have to explain he wanted the money split between all the bags. Probably one of the worst things would be if one bag got stolen, and it so happened to have all their money.

It probably wouldn’t hurt for them to hide some of the money on each of their bodies, but the league clothing lacked proper pockets. At least, ones Jason would trust with valuable items. The robes were better for hiding weapons than anything else.

With the money was also a letter, so Jason pulled it out and opened it.

Talia’s penmanship was ridiculous. She’d honestly taken the time, at some point during the very chaotic night, to sit down and write out in near calligraphy this letter. The dramatics of this damn cult…

“Jason,” it started, then continued on in German. Why the fuck was it in German? How did Talia even know he knew German. He didn’t recall that ever coming up in their training.

“What does it say?” Damian asked, leaning further against Jason so he could see the letter better.

Ah.

Perhaps that was why it was in German.

“I regret leaving you with this burden,” Talia wrote, “but Father has forced my hand. If you are reading this, I was unable to escape with you.

Fucking hell.

She hadn’t expected surviving the night?

Fucking hell.

“Damian and Athanasia are your father’s children,” the letter continued, and Jason had an intense desire to roll his eyes. He hated how insistent she was being about Bruce being his ‘dad.’

They never spoke about him.

Which, actually. They did, sometimes.

But never did she refer to him as that. She knew how pissed off Jason was at Bruce.

And how justified he was in that anger.

Why was she doing this to him?

“I have kept them secret from him and each other. My father will not stop until he gets his hands on them. He is relentless. I know you do not wish to return to him, but your father can offer the protection they need. Consider him.”

Fucking hell.

Jason had to pause and take a deep breath.

Because.

There was no way in hell he was going back to Bruce. He’d specifically told her he would not go back to Bruce.

Why the fuck would he want to?

It’s not like Bruce wanted him.

Jason dying was probably a huge fucking relief to him. He’d replaced him fast enough, after all.

He’d been so pissed about the Gonzales thing. So quick to disown him. Well, Bruce had wanted to do that, at least. He fired him from Robin. Grounded him. And was probably researching ways he could unadopt Jason without causing a huge media storm. Jason had been sure the only reason he wasn’t kicked out was because of the bad press Bruce would receive for it.

Bruce did start ignoring him, after all.

It wasn’t fucking fair. Bruce was supposed to be better than that. Jason had trusted him.

Bringing the kids to that was…

Possible. He supposed.

If… if Talia thought… Maybe he would take them.

They weren’t him, after all.

But, then again. Bruce hated him because he ‘killed’ Gonzales. Bruce and his stupid damn ‘morals,’ as he called them, meant he couldn’t even see past something he thought Jason did.

Would… would he even consider taking the kids?

He definitely wouldn’t take Jason. That much was obvious.

Jason hadn’t even killed before, and Bruce hated him for it. Hated him for considering it.

What would he say, now? Jason had just killed seven men. Seven. Without second thought or remorse. He’d do it again, too, if that’s what it took to protect these kids.

They were just innocent kids, after all.

Although, it was very possible Bruce wouldn’t see it that way. He’d see the blood that was undoubtedly on Damian and Mara’s hands and judge them harshly. He’d probably offer protection anyway. Maybe. At least to Damian. Since he shared DNA with the kid.

He’d welcome Athanasia in with open arms, he was sure. Jason could already tell she was a sweetheart. And since Talia had spared her from the training, they wouldn’t have to deal with skeletons in her closet.

But Mara? Would Bruce take Mara? Why would he want the niece of his ex-lover? He had no responsibility to her.

He might. She was a child. Bruce might do it just to spite Ra’s. But even if he took all three kids, he’d likely just throw Jason in jail. Call him crazy and lock him up in Arkham.

There was no way in fuck he was letting that happen.

He’d… he’d have to figure this out.

Looking back down at the letter, Jason hoped to find more instructions. Instead, all he found were instructions on where to pick up the necessary passports to get them across all the borders they’d need to cross. German passports in New Delhi, English passports in Frankfurt, and US passports in London. Talia’s contacts were apparently preparing everything for them, and by the time they made it out of the Wakhan Corridor, everything would be ready.

That was… a lot of fucking travel.

A lot of travel, just to end up at Bruce’s doorstep, in the end.

The mere thought of that caused Jason’s chest to seize.

There was no way he could do that. How the fuck was he going to do that? Face Bruce?

Shit.

Fuck.

“Well,” Damian said impatiently, “What did Mother say?”

Take a breath, Jason told himself. He had to fucking hold it together.

He was the adult now.

Fuck.

“Nothing,” Jason dismissed, folding the letter back up haphazardly and shoving it back into the zippered pocket, happy to ignore it for a few more days.

He already had the travel plan committed to memory, so he probably wouldn’t have to reference it a single more time.

In fact. He should probably burn it.

Yes. The first chance he got, he was going to burn it.

“Do not lie to me,” Damian said, smacking his fist against the ground beneath them. His motion caused Mara’s neat piles to topple, and the girl scowled at Damian.

“Damian,” Mara snapped, stopping to straighten everything back up, “You’re making me lose count.”

“You would have lost count, regardless. There is little chance your brain is capable of-”

“Whoa,” Jason said, pointing a finger at Damian, “We don’t talk about family like that.”

“Tt,” Damian huffed, and seemed to want to argue with Jason on that point, but changed back to the original topic, “What did Mother say?”

“Nothing,” Jason reiterated, reaching a hand out now that Mara had finished counting up and splitting the money. When she handed him a stack to put in Talia’s bag, he added, “Just how we should go about getting to America. That’s it.”

Each of the children placed a stack of money in their own bags, and Jason put the remaining in his weapons bag.

“Isn’t that where Father lives?” Athanasia whispered, turning her still blotchy face up to Jason, “Are we going to Father?”

Damian perked up at her question, dropping the annoyed scowl he’d been holding since Jason evaded his question.

“I-“ Jason began, then hesitated.

Were they going to Bruce?

Could they even?

“Mara, how much money we got?”

“It’s 160,000 Afghani,” she reported, only slightly raising an eyebrow at him.

“Well?” Damian demanded.

“Lets see how far this money gets us.”

Maybe they wouldn’t even have enough money to make it to Gotham. Then they’d be stuck in Germany or something.

That…. That….

He didn’t like that idea, either.

“Tt,” Damian huffed, but before he could get another demand out, Jason abruptly stood and slung the bags over his shoulders.

Before any of them reacted, Jason started marching forward. They had days to argue about where they were going, to demand answers out of him. For all Jason was concerned, he was done talking about it.

Mostly, he wanted to stop thinking about it.

He had days to figure it out.

Hopefully by the time they made it to Kabul, he’d have a solid plan down.

But perhaps that was wishful thinking.

Chapter Text

The rest of the day passed in near silence.

Jason let Damian lead the way. He’d put Damian in charge of the GPS device Talia brought. It’s not that Jason didn’t know how to use it or anything, the brat just seemed less miserable when he thought he had an important job and could use his ‘superior intellect’ to do something ‘better’ than Jason could.

Honestly, kids were so fucking easy to manipulate.

Athanasia tried to get Jason to carry her again, not even an hour after their stop for breakfast, but Jason was an asshole and made her walk. They’d slowed down considerably for her, though, so he knew it wasn’t that taxing on her.

But, then again…

Jason kind of doubted she’d walked this far in her entire life. It wasn’t helping that they were hiking up now. One more mountain lay between them and the river.

He couldn’t imagine what life was like for her, hidden from everyone.

Did she ever leave Talia’s quarters? Where did Talia even hide her? She didn’t, like, shove her in the closet or anything, did she?

Jason was definitely curious, but didn’t want to pry too much into Athanasia’s life with her mother so soon after Talia’s death. Making the little girl talk about her seemed wrong, almost.

But he did keep an eye on her to make sure her whining was normal seven-year-old whining and not actual exhaustion. He would carry her if it came to that. They’d just get farther if Jason didn’t have to carry his bag of weapons and supplies, which weighed at least 50 lbs, and the probably same weight that was Athanasia.

They stopped for lunch at the peak of the next mountain, and rested there for half an hour before finishing the trek to the river.

Finally, once they reached the river, they started making much better time. With mostly flat land, it was easier to traverse, and they were hiking several miles an hour, rather than half of one, if that.

The biggest downside, however, was the number of tiny villages they discovered. Jason never realized how many remote villages there were in Afghanistan, but every couple miles they had to make wide arcs back into the mountains to avoid being spotted. Villages as remote as these would definitely leak, Jason just knew. They probably traded with one another, and word would get out about four kids wandering the Afghani countryside by themselves.

Jason knew Ra’s was looking for them. And the last thing he wanted was to be found by Ra’s.

It slowed them down, but it was still better than hiking up and down every single snow-peaked mountain on the south side of the Wakhan Corridor. And since Ra’s was likely expecting them to cross south into Pakistan and hitch a ride on one of the main roads there, they were doing the exact opposite.

But that was fine. Based on the map he found in Talia’s bag, they’d spend the first two days avoiding villages, then spend an entire day without encountering any, then they’d be in interior Afghanistan and wouldn’t have to worry so badly about being spotted. They’d still avoid villages for that next day, but then they would find a main road and hopefully catch a ride to Kabul from there where kids traveling alone might not be so odd.

Damian was absolutely right, it would be an eight day hike if they walked the entire way there.

Hopefully they wouldn’t have to.

Athanasia was a trooper, and made it until about two hours until sunset. Jason finally gave in and let her ride piggy back the rest of the way. It was hard not to when she started crying about her feet hurting…

Kids crying was something Jason could never handle.

It was likely far more than just her feet hurting, too. If this was indeed her first hike like Jason suspected. Based on how she passed out basically as soon as Jason picked her up, he figured pushing her for about 12 miles through the mountains was maybe a tad too harsh of a first hike.

Mara rolled her eyes at Athanasia, but took the food bag when Jason held it out for one of them to take. None of them spoke, but he could see the distain both kids had toward Athanasia.

Jason could only imagine the punishment they would have received for showing a weakness like this.

No wonder Talia kept Athanasia secret. Jason couldn’t imagine raising a cane to a sweet girl like Attie for any reason.

Actually, Jason couldn’t imagine doing so to either Mara or Damian, either…

Ra’s was definitely an asshole and Jason hoped the bastard slipped and fell off a cliff.

Into a swamp.

Filled with alligators.

There was a special place in hell for child abusers.

When it was about half an hour until sunset, Jason started looking for a decent place to make camp for the night. They wouldn’t be able to set anything up, because he knew they needed to be prepared to run at a moment’s notice, so he looked for something that offered a bit of natural shelter.

In the end, he picked a group of rocks uphill some from the river. They weren’t on the high, high ground, which would be impossible to do without climbing back into the mountains, but Jason had a decent vantage point of everything around him and they’d be out of view from anyone on the river, thanks to the rocks.

They’d filled their water bottles recently, too, so Jason didn’t need to worry about finding a spring or someone’s well. They’d used a well most recently, actually. Natural springs were hard to come by in the desert. Jason didn’t feel bad at all. The water belonged to the earth. Not whoever dug the well.

“Sleep,” was all Jason said, after he’d abruptly changed direction and stopped at the group of rocks.

“Tt,” Damian huffed, but incredibly, all he did was drop his bag onto the ground and start unpacking his sleeping equipment. A basic inflatable pad with a thin blankets was all any of them had. It didn’t take up much room in their bags, which was great.

What wasn’t great, though, was how uncomfortable it was.

“I can keep watch,” Damian offered, even as he started unlacing his boots.

Jason shook his head, and said quickly, “Keep your boots on.” If they needed to get up and run in the middle of the night, they were going to want their boots on.

Holy fuck the next week was going to be miserable.

“And no,” he added, looking around and finding a nice spot to sit, up against a rock, where he had a decent view of their surroundings, “you sleep. I’m good for now. I’ll wake you in a few hours for a turn. Cool?”

Damian nodded, and laid himself down, somehow managing to look cozy all wrapped up in his blanket. When he turned his back to the rest of them and his head head, Mara frowned, then told Jason, “I can take a turn after Damian.”

“Sure,” Jason agreed, smiling a little when Athanasia climbed up on the rocks with them, after she’d taken a quick restroom break.

“But I don’t trust her to protect us,” Mara said snidely, practically baring her teeth at Athanasia.

Which, that was unfair, directing any sort of anger for this situation at Athanasia. It’s not like she chose to be born. And Talia had quite literally laid down her life that morning just to protect both Athanasia and Mara.

Honestly, they should be banding together as grandkids of Ra’s. Survivors of his freaking stupid cult, not starting some stupid rivalry.

But Jason was too damn tired to address any of that. As long as the kids weren’t getting stabby with each other, he didn’t care what they did.

“No,” he said, lifting his arm when Athanasia laid her mat out right next to Jason and snuggled up against his side. Once she’d settled down, her back pressed up against his leg, he placed his hand in her hair and started stroking it in what he hoped was comforting. “Athanasia needs to sleep the whole night so she can walk more tomorrow.”

He’d never thought of himself as a comforting person, but something about having a seven-year-old cry into his shoulder for several hours made him soft, he supposed.

Plus, she was really freaking cute.

“My legs hurt,” she whined, her voice still not much above a whisper. Jason had yet to hear her speak any louder than that.

“I know,” he soothed, still combing through her hair, pausing only to work out the tangles caused by leaving it down all day, “Is this your first time hiking?”

Athanasia nodded, closing her eyes as she did. “Mama takes me on missions sometimes so I can go outside, but we never get to walk around outside much.”

Jason closed his eyes at Athanasia’s used of the present tense, and could feel the exact instance Athanasia realized she’d used it too.

“Took,” she corrected, the squeak of incoming tears in her voice.

“Well you’re going to see a lot of outside now, huh?” Jason tried, hoping his caressing of her hair was actually comforting. He knew he loved being pet like this as a child. Hopefully it translated to a kid who’d been deprived basic human contact, outside Talia of course, for most of her life.

There had to have been another person though, right? Because babies couldn’t like, feed themselves. Someone had to know about Athanasia other than Talia in order to take care of her when Talia was away.

“Yeah,” she whispered, “I want to see the ocean.”

“Oh yeah? Well I’ve got good news for ya, kiddo. Not only are we going to see the ocean, we’re going to fly over it.”

“Where are we going?” Mara asked, rolling over to face both of them. Damian was still hiding under his blankets, but Jason figured the kid was either conked out already or maybe possibly crying.

He wasn’t making any noise, though, so he wasn’t sure about the crying thing.

Jason wouldn’t be surprised if he and Mara both knew how to cry without actually crying.

He debated for a moment what to tell them. Talia really wanted them to go to Gotham, but the more Jason thought about that, the more panicked he felt. He couldn’t go to Gotham.

But he also knew he couldn’t blend in anywhere else in the world, either.

He wasn’t that good at faking accents yet. He might be able to slide by, especially when he only needed to speak to people once or twice, but to actually live in a city? In a country? And pretend like he’d always been there?

There was no way.

And there was something comforting about being on his home turf.

He thought, maybe, if he were back home, he’d be able to relax a little more. It’d be one less thing to worry about.

Plus, Ra’s controlled the Asia, the Middle East, and a lot of Europe, too. They wouldn’t find safety there easily.

America, though?

They might be able to blend in somewhere in America.

It was their best best.

“America,” he said, in a tone that didn’t invite protests.

Mara rolled her eyes, anyway, and protested, “You said that already. Where specifically.”

That… Jason didn’t know.

Talia was right, Gotham was the safest place, which was a funny thought in itself. Gotham and safe didn’t belong together in the same sentence, unless connected by the words ‘is not.’

But Bruce would offer protection Jason could never hope to replicate on his own. He’d be able to blend in somewhere on his own, as just Jason. He looked young, sure, but lots of people have ‘baby faces.’ All he had to do was tell people he was 18, and they’d likely believe him. With the false documents Talia had created, which hopefully all cited that as his age, at least. The Afghani passport said he was 18. Almost 19, actually, which was funny. His birthday was in just a couple months.

Could he keep the kids safe, though? That was going to be the big question.

On his own?

Put simply, fuck no.

“To Father?” Athanasia asked, somehow still not asleep, despite Jason knowing she was exhausted. He would be surprised if he didn’t have to shake her awake in the morning.

But of course she was awake enough to go asking stupid questions like that.

But Talia was right, Bruce was their best bet.

Jason could probably bring the kids to Gotham and send them on up to the Manor and escape off before he was spotted. He did know Manor security, after all. It’d only been a year and some change since he was last there, how much more could they have added?

He’d send the kids up to the front door, Alfred would answer and be startled by three tiny children standing there, but instantly see the resemblance to Bruce and know they were telling the truth when they explained their story.

Bruce would get three shiny new kids, and Jason would be free of the responsibility. Free to go find his own life, somewhere else in the country. Since there was no way Bruce would allow him to live in Gotham undisturbed.

That was actually a good plan. He could see that working.

That’s what he had told Talia he wanted, anyway. He’d told her he wasn’t going to Gotham. He wouldn’t go to him.

He’d help her escape the League and then they’d split ways.

Sure, Talia didn’t set out to die and shit, but that didn’t mean his own desires had changed.

But he was also now responsible for getting these little kids out of Ra’s grubby awful hands.

He wasn’t a massive fan of dying, and didn’t want to be dramatic or anything, but he’d probably die before he let Ra’s touch any of them again.

Even if that meant seeing Bruce.

He just… really didn’t want to.

“I don’t know,” he whispered back, still running his hand through Athanasia’s hair, then looked up at Mara and said, “Why don’t you both get some sleep, okay? We’ll worry about our plans another day.”

With a scowl, Mara hid herself under the blanket.

At least the brats weren’t being massive brats, Jason supposed.

Athanasia nodded against him, then snuggled in closer as she, too, drifted off to sleep.

Jason looked up to the sky to watch the stars as they slowly came into view with the darkening of the sky, trying his best to think of nothing. And he knew that ‘another day’ would come far too soon for his liking.

Chapter Text

The night seemed to drag on forever. With nothing to fully occupy his mind, Jason found himself drifting back to thoughts he didn’t want to have.

He already hated every single second of this stupid trip, and they weren’t even two days into it.

But, four hours did eventually pass, and after them, Jason woke Damian to take over watch.

After situating his bedding, Jason took his sweet time hiking a little ways from the kids to take a quick break and relieve himself.

At least there, about thirty yards away from the kids, he was able to pretend he was just out on another mission.

Hiking through the countryside, on his way to a pick up location.

No kids relying on him. No madman hunting them. No assassins tracking them. No threat of jail or… or worse… at the end of this journey.

Nothing.

Just Jason and the stars.

It…

did not help at all.

“Fuck,” he muttered, as he took a deep breath and turned around, back toward their camp.

Ready to close his eyes and hopefully sleep through the night. At least then time would move a little faster…

When he approached the campsite, however, his thoughts of sleep were pushed aside. Because the first thing he noticed, aside from the weird way Damian was keeping watch. Which was sitting up, stick straight, and looking around vigilantly. Weirdo.

No. The distracting thing was Athanasia crying.

Or… at least, he assumed she was crying. What he really saw was her tiny little shoulders shaking, her blanket pulled up to cover her face.

She hadn’t made a single noise once while crying, and it was a little creepy. Like, a lot creepy, actually.

After only a second of deliberation, he decided to ignore her for the time being, like the asshole he was.

The kid was going to cry.

Probably a lot, for the next little while.

Her mom had just died.

Then again…Jason hadn’t cried when his mother died. Not after the first few minutes, that is.

Once social services picked him up and dropped him off at his first hell-hole of a foster home, Jason had learned very quickly not to cry.

He was not going to teach Athanasia that lesson.

He… should do something, then.

Fuck.

Jason took a second to reposition his sleeping mat. Originally, he thought he’d sleep a little further away from Athanasia. He wasn’t a fan of sleeping in close quarters, and really, he liked his space. But he was starting to think being a little closer to Athanasia might be better. Might help her a little.

When she turned to face him, Jason reached out and brushed her hair out of her face and whispered, “It’s okay. Go back to sleep.”

Athanasia looked at him through tear filled eyes, then scrambled closer to him, tucking herself into Jason’s side. Her stuffed cat, which she’d been clutching all night, got pinned between her and Jason as she buried her face into his shirt.

That definitely wasn’t what he was expecting, but if it got her to stop crying without beating it out of her, then he wasn’t going to say anything about it. Because while he didn’t want to make her afraid to cry, he also didn’t want to deal with the tears…

Mostly because he had no idea how to handle them.

He just felt awkward, trying to comfort other people.

But he was a little touched she apparently felt so safe with him.

There was no way he would have trusted a stranger this quickly when he was in Athanasia’s shoes.

A newly orphaned, homeless child, that was.

Holy shit. That’s what they were, wasn’t it?

Homeless?

Jason never thought he’d be homeless again. When Bruce adopted him, he’d assumed he’d finally escaped poverty.

And perhaps they didn’t count as being ‘in poverty.’ ….yet. But they were most certainly homeless.

Refugees might be a good word to describe them, too. Refugees from a war between good and evil. Escapees from a ridiculous cult. Homeless for the time being. The next couple weeks, at the very least.

Thank God it was summer. He didn’t want these kids to have to experience sleeping outside in the snow.

That fucking sucked.

Nothing was worse than getting slightly damp in winter, because then you spent the following weeks never truly getting warm.

He still had nightmares about it, sometimes. If he slept somewhere colder than comfortable, especially, he’d wake every hour with a nightmare about freezing to death on the streets of Gotham. Heaven knew he thought that would happen enough times as a child.

“Tt,” Damian huffed, from a few feet away where he’d chosen to keep watch, “a child like you will never survive-”

“Damian,” Jason snapped, as quietly as he could since Mara appeared to be asleep, “shut up.”

“Do not speak to me in that man-” Damian started, but Jason wasn’t going to go back to being called a servant. Or whatever shit Damian wanted to dish.

Actually it would be funny to hear him throw around his lineage. After they’d defected from his Grandfather’s cult.

His Al Ghul blood would get him no where, now.

“Don’t speak to your sister in that manner, either,” he countered, wrapping his arm around Athanasia to try and position her somewhat comfortable. He did want to sleep, after all, and he couldn’t do that if her bony little elbow was digging into his ribs.

Damian sniffed at Jason, then said in the most haughty tone, “I do not have a sister.”

“You do, whether you like it or not. So get over it and stop being a brat.”

“Tt,” he huffed again, but did drop it, thankfully letting Jason try to sleep some.

Athanasia had seemed to quit crying, but Jason could tell she wasn’t asleep, either.

He was going to ignore that. She’d probably go back to sleep. If she didn’t whatever. They’d just have a miserable day tomorrow.

Really, he couldn’t wait to drop these brats off in Gotham.

Once he did, at least then he wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore. Wouldn’t be responsible for keeping their homeless experience from being as hellacious as it could be.

Because he didn’t want them to have the same experiences he did as a child.

But… as long as he was around, they wouldn’t.

He was sure of it.

- - -

Jason managed to sleep through the rest of the night, and only woke once when Damian and Mara switched out keeping watch. He hadn’t expected to be able to sleep so soundly. Outside. With minimal bedding, multiple stab wounds, and a seven-year-old octopus attached to him.

That had been what he was most concerned about, actually. The little kid.

He tended to have nightmares. And would sometimes wake up thrashing. What if he did that while Athanasia was clinging to him? Would he hurt her?

He sure hoped not.

But amazingly, he’d slept soundly, with not a hint of a dream.

He even let himself doze for about twenty minutes until the sun started to peek out from behind the mountains to the east.

“Rise and shine, squirts,” he said, as he sat up and stretched. His wounds, which were all pretty superficial, as far as wounds went. Scratches really, all ached as the skin tugged. But overall, he felt pretty okay.

All that insane training really paid off, he supposed.

Athanasia frowned hard, her eyes still closed, when Jason had pushed her off to sit up, but didn’t otherwise complain.

That is, until she started to stretch, too.

“Jason,” she whined, letting a little bit of a cry actually seep into her voice for once, “it hurts.”

“What hurts?” he asked, setting a hand on one of her legs to run up and down it. He assumed her entire leg was sore.

“Everything.”

“I’m sorry. It’ll start to feel better once you get moving around.”

“That hike was nothing,” Mara said snidely, as she stood and started to roll up her blanket, “We weren’t even running most the day.”

“The mountains weren’t even that difficult to traverse,” Damian added on.

“Kids,” Jason exasperated, as he started collecting up his own blanket. When he noticed some dirt on one edge, he walked a few steps away to shake it off.

“I am not a child,” Damian snapped, and Jason could feel his glare even without looking at him.

“Aren’t you like eight? Pretty sure you’re a kid.”

“I am a warrior,” Damian announced, finally standing, himself, to put away his things, “Age has nothing to do with it.”

“Uh huh. Well stop being a dick to your sister, Mr. Warrior.”

“Tt,” Damian huffed, “That child has no right to call herself an Al Ghul. I do not understand why Mother kept her around, but I can see now why she did not inform Grandfather of her existence. She would have never survived training.”

“Mama loved me,” Athanasia whispered, and Jason could already feel a headache coming on.

He had to remind himself that Damian was in mourning, too.

At least, he probably was.

He should be.

His mother just died, right in front of him. And he’d been the one adamant about trying to save her. Trying to defend her.

Why in the ever loving fuck did he have to take it out on the baby, though?

Because, in all honesty, even if Athanasia was only a year younger than Damian… and Mara? How old even was Mara? Athanasia was definitely the least mature of the three of them.

Jason didn’t think that was a negative thing, though. Athanasia actually acted like a little kid in every facet. The other two acted like they thought they were adults trapped in the bodies of children.

Their complete lack of emotional control, however, proved they were still children.

“Yes, well, people sometimes love rodents,” Damian said snidely, “It does not mean much.”

Athanasia’s face screwed up, like she wanted to both burst out into tears over that comment, and also possibly stab Damian. The hurt on her face, too, like Damian had betrayed her, was fairly evident to Jason.

Jason had a feeling it would be difficult to teach this stupid brat what it meant to be a brother.

But Jason didn’t really care. He was going to drop these nuggets off at Bruce’s and call it done.

He was almost entirely certain that was his plan, now. He’d waltz up to the gate at Wayne Manor, type in the code, and push the brats through the door, then book it.

Maybe he could rent a car and just kick them all out on the sidewalk. That way he wouldn’t even have to risk being caught on the cameras and he could drive off as fast as possible.

Bruce could deal with Damian’s attitude and Athanasia's timid demeanor. Get all the kids good therapists.

What do you even say to a civilian therapist? ‘Hi, these are my assassin children from an ex-fling I had many years back that I just learned about. They want to kill everything and each other. Fix it.’

Jason would actually love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.

Bruce was going to have one hell of a time explaining these kids away.

Reading all the gossip rags was one of the few things Jason was looking forward to.

And he’d do it safe from wherever the fuck he decided to move.

Cincinnati, maybe.

No one would think to look for him in Ohio.

“Damian,” he sighed, shoving his now rolled blanket and mat into his back, “Can you not?”

“He’s just jealous his mother loved a pathetic child more than she loved him,” Mara said, grinning so deviously, Jason could definitely feel that headache now. These brats sucked and were going to make his life miserable.

Because, yep, just as he predicted, Damian growled viciously and flung himself at Mara, screaming, “How dare you speak of my Mother,” as he pulled a knife from his belt.

Mara looked only slightly stunned, like she’d half expected Damian to do that, but wasn’t quite sure if he would in present company.

She pulled her knife, too, and was ready to defend herself, but Jason lunged forward and planted himself right in front of Mara as he grabbed Damian and disarmed him.

“No,” he hissed, as if he were talking to a fucking dog, “Don’t attack your fucking cousin, you brat.”

“You cannot order me around,” Damian seethed, trashing about, trying to free himself from Jason’s grip. The harder he fought, the tighter Jason wrapped his arms around Damian’s body, pinning his arms to his sides. Damian started kicking at his knees as he screamed, “Un hand me,” so Jason threw him as far as he could, again, like he were trying to stun a dog.

And that was a terrible thing to be comparing a literal child to, but damn. This kid was acting feral.

“We can’t afford infighting,” Jason boomed, as Damian regained his feet, “In case you forgot, Ra’s will be looking for us. If we waste time fighting and creating enemies out of each other, we will never get away.”

“I never wanted to leave in the first place,” Mara said, from still behind Jason.

Stupid little brat was going to argue against Jason, but still use him as a human shield against Damian.

He saw how it was.

“You think I wanted to get up at 2 in the fucking morning and get saddled with transporting three brats to the other side of the world,” he snapped, resisting the urge to turn on her, since he did not want to put his back to Damian.

Mara could definitely probably stab him, too, but Damian was the actual hothead at the moment.

“No one asked you to do that,” Damian snapped, “I am perfectly capable of delivering myself to my Father.”

“Who said we were going to him? Besides, you don’t even know where he lives, you stupid brat,” Jason said, scowling at him, “and for your information, your mother asked me to bring you to safety.”

“She did not,” Damian protested, crossing his arms as he did. And yeah, he was definitely not a child. Jason could roll his eyes right then.

In fact, he did. Rolled his eyes and turned to grab the food bag and his own bag. All the kids seemed pretty well packed. They’d stop and eat breakfast later, after they’d all walked this stupid fight off. “Do you honestly think I’d put up with you if she hadn’t? Now grab your shit and let’s go.”

Jason was glad he hadn’t gone ahead and dived the food up amongst their bags, like he’d considered the night before. It would be easier if all of them carried their own food, but now that he literally held the only thing guaranteeing them from starving to death, the three little brats had no choice but to grab their stuff and hurry after.

Maybe they’d end up stabbing each other anyway, but Jason kind of highly doubted it.

Holy fuck.

Literal eight year olds stabbing each other. Could he even trust them to be alone together?

He didn’t care.

Nope. He did not, at all, one bit care.

Based on the occasional crunch of gravel behind him, he knew they were there. And based on the lack of growling and screaming, he figured they hadn’t actually stabbed each other.

So, he didn’t look back.

Maybe if he just kept marching on forward, he could spend at least a few hours pretending it was just him.

Just him, and the desert, and the hundreds of miles of journey ahead of him.

One night down, he told himself.

One night down. God knew how many more ahead of him.

He so couldn’t do this.

Chapter Text

Jason didn’t look back for a good 100 yards, when he finally turned to make sure there were, indeed, three children behind him.

Damian was there, and when Jason looked at him, he scowled down at his GPS instead of meeting Jason’s eyes.

Like they even needed the GPS at that point.

They were following the river. It was a little hard to get lost with a river there. If they kept the river to their right, they’d make it out of the corridor with no problem.

But whatever.

Mara was beside Damian, although there was a good six feet between them. She was similarly scowling ahead and refusing to meet Jason’s eyes.

Jason had to wonder, were those two enemies or friends? Based on how they were constantly sniping at and trying to stab each other, he would have assumed enemies. But then, they always ended up sitting next to each other. Walking beside each other. And even ganging up on Jason or Athanasia together.

Maybe they were something in between?

If he could train the stabbing out of them, it would be pretty damn easy to pass them off as siblings. They were gonna need a friggen cover story before they reached Kabul, and siblings would be the absolute easiest.

He kind of wished he’d known about these kids before yesterday morning. If only he’d had a chance to observe them prior to their worlds being turned upside down. See how they acted naturally. It’d be interesting to know.

Would have made this easier, too.

Athanasia was, of course, brining up the rear. By quite the distance, actually.

Jason slowed his pace so she could catch up, and received only nasty glares from the older two children as they passed, both refusing to slow down, themselves.

Which was totally fine with Jason. He didn’t need them being little jerks while he spoke to Attie.

“Everything okay,” he asked, holding out a hand to Athanasia. Maybe if she held his hand, he could get her moving a little faster.

Athanasia refused it, though, and tried to speed up, but Jason could tell it was incredibly painful. She was moving almost robotically, her little legs almost wobbling in such a way that she wasn’t stretching out her calves much.

“Still hurt?” he asked, matching her pace as they continued walking and setting a hand on top of her head.

“Yes,” she said shortly, shaking her head free from his hand and pulling her kitty closer to her chest.

With a shrug, Jason said, “Stretch next time we stop, and make sure you’re drinking enough water, that’ll help, okay?”

“Fine.”

Attitude.

Hopefully just a symptom of feeling like shit and not a characteristic, because Jason would not be able to handle it if all three kids were major assholes.

“I can carry you again later to give you a break, all right?” he said, patting her on the shoulder before moving his hand completely, “But the more you move, the better you’ll feel. Being sore is good, it means you’re getting stronger.”

“I’m strong,” she protested, turning a little scowl of her own up on Jason.

It was freaking adorable, if Jason said so himself.

“I know, I didn’t say you weren’t.”

“I don’t need to be carried,” she insisted, picking up speed a little more to catch up with Damian and Mara. Her shoulders tensed as she started moving her legs more naturally and used those muscles more, but he wasn’t going to argue with her any more than necessary. There was absolutely nothing he could do to make the pain go away, and maybe if she just worked through it, it’d get better.

He’d carry her after lunch, though. Probably. Let her take a nap on his back again.

Jason let them all walk in silence for another twenty minutes or so, keeping all three of them in front of him. No one spoke, so neither did he. Which is actually pretty nice, but then his stomach started to grumble.

“Here, brats,” he said, after pulling out four protein bars from the food bag. When the kids turned around and slowed down to walk beside him, he handed each kid a bar and added, “eat up.”

“Why do you get to ration our food?” Mara grumbled, tearing open her bar to take a hefty bite.

“I’m not rationing it,” he said, opening up his own bar. It was coconut flavored, apparently. He hated coconuts. “Well, if you try to eat all the food in a day, I’ll have to, but I’m just carrying it. You were carrying it yesterday.”

“This is gross,” Athanasia said through a full mouth. Jason hadn’t paid any attention to the flavors he pulled, just calories, but judging off the wrapper it was the same as his. And his tasted like a petroleum based artificial coconut, so he definitely agreed with her.

“Yeah, sorry shrimp. Damian, does that thing tell you how long until we can get some real food?”

Damian looked at his GPS, then back up at Jason with a grave expression. “It will take us three additional days to simply reach the main road to Kabul. It will likely be an additional day of traveling beyond that to reach the city limits.”

So four days until they could eat something hot.

Fantastic.

“Well then,” he said, trying his best to sound more upbeat than he felt, “start dreaming about what kind of food you want now.”

Steak and potatoes. That’s what Jason wanted.

Or pizza.

“We could hunt,” Mara said, holding her empty wrapper out for Jason to take, when he shoved his own back into the food bag, “then we could have a hot meal and a healthier source of protein.”

Jason considered it for a second, but quickly decided against it. He didn’t have a bow with him or anything, and firing off his gun would attract too much attention. They might be able to stab something to death by throwing knives, but that was unlikely to kill something in a single strike, and Jason didn’t want an animal crying to attract any attention, either.

Plus, they’d risk having the animal attack them, and Jason didn’t see any good coming from that. He couldn’t protect all three of the kids at once, if that happened. Not without just shooting the damn thing, and then he was back to point one.

Then, even if they got something killed without causing a scene, they still had to cook it.

“A fire would draw attention,” Damian said, before Jason could put the thought into words, “Are you wishing to get us executed?”

“Maybe you executed,” Mara mumbled, a pout forming on her face.

“Tt. Like Grandfather would spare you and not me.”

“You forget, it was your Mother who forced-”

“Please, like Ra’s would execute either of you,” Jason scoffed as he shoved the wrappers from the other two kids into the bag, “Do you honestly think he’d let any of us off that easy?”

Ra’s had said it himself: if Jason stepped out of line, he’d spend the rest of eternity suffering.

Jason didn’t quite believe him, but he wouldn’t put it past him, either.

Being revived by the pit was painful. Jason didn’t want to relive it.

He definitely didn’t want to relive it over and over for the rest of his life, feeling his sanity slowly dissolve.

There’s no way Ra’s would just chop off his head. No. He’d be made into an example.

The kids? Ra’s grandchildren? Jason shuddered to think what would happen to them. But with Talia gone now, Jason doubted Slade got her to Ra’s in time for the pit to help, he wasn’t likely to kill the rest of his heirs.

Unless he had other kids Jason didn’t know about…

It wasn’t until they’d been silent nearly a minute did Jason realize the kids had shut up at all. When he looked back down at them, both walking to his left next to each other, he saw twin startled faces. Both looking ahead, and sort of dazed.

And shit.

Maybe he shouldn’t have told two little kids that their grandfather would likely torture them for a while instead of outright kill them.

“No,” Damian eventually whispered, “it will be much worse.”

Yeah. Whoops.

Jason was a gigantic, major asshole. Who the fuck though it was a good idea for him to take care of some kids?

Before Jason could figure out how to change the subject, though, Mara made a wounded sound, then turned to Jason and shouted, “This is your fault!”

His fault?

How in the ever-loving-fuck was this Jason’s fault?

“It’s no one’s fault,” he said, trying his damndest to not sound snarky. He couldn’t think of who to pin this whole thing on.

Except maybe Ra’s.

Definitely Ra’s.

If Ra’s hadn’t been such an asshole demanding his granddaughters fight to the death, they wouldn’t be marching across the fucking desert.

Ordering the death of a 7-year-old was all kinds of fucked up and for the millionth time Jason hoped Ra’s died a painful death, far, far away from Lazarus Pits.

“It is,” Mara half screamed, her voice so very, very close to sounding like she was crying. Or about to. “I didn’t want to come! You made me!”

And she’s fucking welcome.

Probably not a good thing to say.

“None of us want to be here, Mara,” he decided to say, instead. Seriously, how hard was it to get through their stupid thick skulls that the League wasn’t a good place to be, anyway?

God.

Ordered to kill a 7-year-old.

Er, probably almost ordered, since apparently the girls hadn’t known about it yet…

And Mara still would rather be a member of that stupid cult than not.

Ugh.

“You all wanted to leave,” she continued, actually stopping now to stomp a foot and keep yelling at Jason, “You were perfectly happy defecting!”

“I didn’t want to defect, either,” Damian protested, turning to face her, “but-“

“But you were blinded by your treacherous mother’s affection,” she snapped, “And now we’re-“

“I told you not to speak about my mother,” Damian shouted back as he got closer to Mara, and Jason just stepped right there in between them, because this was about to turn stabby, he could just tell.

“Look,” he boomed, placing a hand on both the kids and pushing them away from each other, “It’s over. It’s in the past. There’s no going back, so get over it, okay?”

“Tt,” Damian huffed, then mumbled, “My mother was not treacherous.”

Mara ignored that comment and scowled up at Jason.

It looked… a little forced, though. Based on how her expression tightened and she averted her eyes quickly, Jason would bet what she really wanted to do was burst out in tears.

But assassin child. Or something.

Were they ever allowed to cry? Jason’s trainers always mocked him when he showed any sort of emotions. Mocking was the least terrible response, actually…

Fucking hell.

These were fucking children.

As much as Jason hated being out here, he was glad it was happening. Getting these kids to Bruce was probably the best thing for them.

…right?

Mara stomped a foot, after a second, and started marching on forward. Looking at both the other kids, Jason just took a deep breath and let it out slowly, letting his breath tousle his bangs a little.

Athanasia looked up at him when Damian turned on his heels and started following Mara.

“You okay?” he asked.

Nodding, she offered her hand to Jason and started walking along with him, both of them taking up the rear. Damian kept his distance from Mara, which was good, because stabbing each other would not help at all. They were all going in the right direction, too, which was also good.

He wouldn’t be able to handle Mara trying to undefect.

Hopefully she understood that this was better.

It would be better. In a couple weeks.

They just had to get this hard part out of the way. But at least there were no harsh trainers, no canes, and no evil dickhead grandfathers ordering children to kill each other. So yeah. Surely Mara could see that.

“What will Grandfather do if he finds us?” Athanasia asked, squeezing Jason’s hand a little as she did.

Right.

He’d fucking said that.

“Don’t worry,” he replied, squeezing her hand right back and trying to look as reassuring as he possibly could, “He won’t find us.”

“But…” she whispered, then looked up at the other kids, who were so far ahead, now, Jason highly doubted they could hear Athanasia, “what if he does?”

“He won’t kill us, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

When all Attie did was nod, a little, Jason added, “But, like I said, you don’t have to worry at all, because he won’t find us. I won’t let him.”

“Because Mama told you?” she asked, looking back up at him.

“Right.” Kind of, he guessed. He would definitely protect her for Talia.

But…

Of course he would protect a kiddo like her no matter what.

Hell, he’d protect a kid like Damian, too. Or Mara. Even if the brat had stabbed him when they first met.

“Okay,” she said, her voice a little strange to his ears. It was almost angry, which was a tone he hadn’t realized until that moment she hadn’t taken with him yet.

The fuck was her problem?

When she let go of Jason’s hand and sped up, a little, to catch up with the other kids, Jason just sighed.

Whatever.

He could handle the kids like this. All walking forward. All staying a little apart from each other. No sniping. No stabbing.

It was almost pleasant.

That’s probably why he let them walk for another several hours before he finally said, “Okay, kiddos. Let’s stop and take a stretch break, yeah?” From his approximation, it was about 1pm, and he’d been watching Athanasia’s limp get steadily worse. She really needed a break. Probably a long one.

On his back.

Asleep.

After leading the kids through a stretching routine, stopping to correct Athanasia’s posture several times, and Damian’s once, much to Mara’s amusement, he hopped up and grabbed the food bag.

“Okie dokie,” he said, forcing as much cheerfulness he could into his voice. The triplet blank expressions he got for the effort made him falter a little, but not much. “Do you guys want jerky or trail mix?”

“What’s trail mix,” Damian asked, after a beat, neither him nor the other kids actually getting up to follow him. So Jason just carried the bag back to where they were.

“It’s like nuts and raisins and shit,” he said, dropping down in front of the kids and zipping the bag open so he could hold the large bag of trail mix up, “See?”

He’d probably give them both trail mix and jerky, now that he thought about it, but they could start with the treat.

Jason looked into the bag longingly for, like, something to clean his hands with. In the end, he just dumped a little bit of water onto his hands and got most the dirt off, wiping it off on his tunic.

It was absolutely not good enough, but at least he wouldn’t be getting dirt inside the sealed bags of food. The trail mix was too full to be able to easily pour a little out to each kid, so he had to physically scoop out handfuls.

“Hands,” he said, when he grabbed a generous handful and held it out to Mara, who was sitting on the left. She took the food without complaint. Damian, on the other hand, refused to hold his hands out for a good half second, as he looked at Jason’s hand appraisingly, like he were honestly contemplating refusing to eat food Jason had touched.

He must have realized he had no fucking choice, because he reluctantly held his hands out, and let Jason deposit the food. Attie took her handful eagerly, and smiled widely when she saw what all was in the mix.

Jason ignored them as he got his own. It was a bit of a production, trying to hold his own handful while getting the bag zipped back up, but he somehow managed with only dropping a couple pieces into his tunic.

Then, he realized why Athanasia had smiled, because he was a little more than pleased to find tiny chunks of chocolate in the trail mix.

He’d assumed all the darker chunks were raisins, which were already treat enough for him, but this was great. There were only three pieces in his handful, but again, way more than he was expecting.

At least there was something to look forward to for the next few days.

“I like the brown pieces,” Mara said, as if echoing Jason’s thoughts, “they are both sweet and bitter. What are they?”

“It’s chocolate,” Athanasia said incredulously. Jason watched as she very carefully ate around her chocolate pieces, just like Jason was doing. Saving the best for last. “You haven’t had chocolate before?”

“Tt,” Damian huffed, rolling his eyes, “Sweets are a reward. Mara has never earned a reward in her life. How could she?”

Before Jason could groan, Mara put on the most ridiculous pout and said, “I’ve had sweets.”

“Did you steal them from the kitchen?” Damian shot back, and based on how Mara’s pout shifted to a scowl, Jason figured that was probably exactly what she did.

“Do not pretend you didn’t.”

The little smirk Damian offered in response got Jason to actually laugh.

Like, aloud and everything.

“What?” Athanasia asked, smiling a little, herself.

“Nothing,” he said, finishing off the last of the almonds, before moving on to the raisins. All he had left were his raisins and chocolates, which was a little disappointing, but he’d get out a couple more things to help fill out a good lunch for them all.

Or, well, at least a filling lunch.

Maybe these kids weren’t as fucked as he thought they were, either.

Jason had fond memories of pretending to be a secret agent as he sneaked into Alfred’s kitchen to steal cookies from the jar or, once, straight off the cooling rack.

He doubted Mara and Damian had played pretend, or hummed the James Bond theme to themselves as they did it, but at least they did it.

And in just a few weeks, they could start sneaking treats from Alfred’s kitchen, too. Assuming Bruce takes them and everything.

Yeah. Maybe they weren’t quite as hopeless as he thought.

Chapter Text

The rest of the day went in mostly silence, to Jason’s utter relief. He didn’t have to deal with them talking, or fighting, or stabbing, or anything. It was… almost nice. Could have been, at least, if they weren’t marching across a desert.

Whats worse was they encountered several villages during the day, so ended up hiking further away from the river than comfortable. Which meant a lot of scaling up and down steep hills. But if Jason was right, they were also gradually descending, which was nice.

Because being so high up was really exhausting.

Jason had been living high up in the mountains for a year, but he still felt winded, sometimes, due to the elevation. He figured it was just a remnant from living the entirety of his life at sea level. To be up at something like 15,000 feet, now, was staggering.

Somehow, amazingly, Athanasia kept on walking the entire day. Jason didn’t hear a peep from her, not that she often made peeps, anyway. But after her whining that morning, she hadn’t said a single word about any of her muscles hurting.

After they stopped for a break sometime about two hours before sunset, though, Jason could tell she was struggling.

She sat down on the ground and stared vacantly out into the distance the entire time they sipped at their newly refilled water.

Jason sat down next to her and handed her a strip of jerky, hoping to engage her a little. Maybe cheer her up some. He’d already given the other two kids their food, and they were each sitting about ten feet away, idly chewing on their jerky and drinking their water.

For kids who acted like they hated each other, Jason found it endlessly amusing how often they chose each other to sit next to.

Athanasia took the jerky, but didn’t begin eating it right off.

“Everything okay?” he asked, stretching his legs out in front of him as he leaned back on one arm. He was feeling a little sore from all the walking. He could only imagine how Attie was feeling, now that she had nearly two full days of walking under her.

Athanasia blinked slowly, but did eventually nod her head. After a second, it’s like she realized she had food, and slowly took a bite of the jerky.

The kid looked exhausted.

Sticking the last of his jerky in his mouth, Jason set his now free hand on Athanasia’s back and started rubbing circles. “You want me to carry you for a while?”

“I can do it,” she whispered, between slow, methodical bites, “I’m not a baby.”

“Didn’t say you were,” Jason hummed, “just thought you could use a rest.”

“I can do it,” she said again, a little more forcefully.

Jason sighed, but pat at her back and said, “Okay,” before he stood up, about ready to keep moving. After a quick bathroom break, and encouraging the kids to do the same, although Athanasia claimed she ‘didn’t have to,’ Jason slung his bags back on his back.

His shoulders were as sore as they’d ever been, but he couldn’t ditch anything they had in the bags. And he couldn’t ask the kids to carry the food bag more than necessary. He could tell their own backpacks were causing them enough trouble, as was.

“Let’s go, squirts,” he said, as soon as everyone had put their bags back on. Athanasia still hadn’t stood, but she’d put her cat back inside her backpack and looked ready to go.

Damian and Mara started hiking west, before Attie even stood.

“Come on,” he said to her, offering a hand to help her up.

Athanasia refused it, and pushed herself onto her feet. As she did, her face contorted, and her legs seemed to almost spasm when she tried to straighten them out.

It had to hurt a whole hell of a lot. And not for the first time, Jason wished Talia had packed some pain killers. Giving this little girl some Tylenol was pretty much the only thing he wanted to do at that moment.

That and kill Ra’s for forcing this trip in the first place.

And yell at Talia for keeping Attie secret as she did.

And Ra’s again for forcing she be kept secret.

And maybe Bruce for not knowing he had two fucking kids being raised in a cult.

Yelling at people would be fun.

But it would not fix the pain Athanasia was in at that moment.

“Okay, kiddo you need to let me carry you.”

“I can do it,” she said, a tad louder than she’d spoken so far, and absolutely defiantly. It made Jason smile, a little, to know she could talk at a more normal level.

“If you keep pushing yourself, you’ll just make it worse. You need to rest.”

Athanasia scowled at him, then started limping off toward Mara and Damian, who hadn’t stopped completely, but were clearly waiting for them to catch up.

Jason sighed, loudly. He had to take a deep breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Because this stupid brat was going to be the death of him.

He could see how much pain she was in, why the fuck wouldn’t she just let him carry her?

Fuck if someone offered to carry him he might say yes, at that point. He was exhausted.

Heaven knew he let Bruce carry him piggyback whenever he was tired. Back when he was little and Bruce was still pretending to care about him.

Why the fuck did his thoughts always go back to him.

“Fine, whatever, suffer then,” he said, slinging the food bag back up on his back. He stomped on ahead, catching up with the other kids.

They walked for about a mile before he finally looked back at Athanasia. She’d managed to keep up with them, but Jason could tell it was difficult.

She was limping, still, like she was trying not to stretch her calf muscles as she walked. It made her kind of hobble after them. When Jason slowed down, and she got a little closer, he could see the tear tracks running down her face.

Jason stopped short and glared up at the sky.

Fuck this and fuck everything.

“All right,” he said, walking back toward her in about five long strides, “that’s enough of that.”

Athanasia yelped when Jason scooped her up in his his arms, but relaxed almost as soon as he settled her down, carrying her bridal style. “Put me down,” she said, her voice lacking any sort of anger or emotion needed to make that sound remotely threatening.

“Nope,” he said, shifting her weight a little more. With her, her backpack, the food bag, and his bag, he was carrying quite the load. But if they only walked for another hour, he could probably make it. And if he couldn’t, then they could always stop for the night a little early.

“Put me down,” she whined a little harder, feigning an attempt at getting out of Jason’s hold. After struggling for barely half a second, she added, “I’m not a baby.”

“No one said you were,” he said, adjusting her a little in his arms so she could snuggle down and maybe nap some. If she fell asleep, it’d be way easier on Jason. He wouldn’t have to deal with her. “Just rest, Attie. You did good today, you should be proud.”

Athanasia froze and blinked at him, the little scowl she’d adopted slipping right off her face. The way she scrutinized him made him wonder whether she didn’t believe him, or something. But after a second, she relaxed. Jason only had to jostle her a little to get her to rest her head down and close her eyes.

Predictably, she was out within a minute, and Jason kept walking.

They only walked for another hour, since that was about all Jason could take. He shifted Athanasia around in his arms a few times, and finally ended with her head on his shoulder, his arms holding her body close as if she were a toddler being carried around, and not a much larger seven-year-old.

Damian and Mara were amazingly silent about it, too. Jason could tell they were just as exhausted as he was.

It’d been a long fucking two days.

Mara pulled Athanasia’s mat out of her bag and laid it out, all without Jason prompting. He tried his best to smile at her in thanks, but it probably fell flat because she just rolled her eyes.

Whatever.

“Let’s make sure we stretch,” Jason said, after freeing himself of all the bags. “We’re going to regret it if we neglect it.”

Mara nodded at him, and immediately sat down to stretch. Damian considered him for a moment, then sat and and joined him, as well.

He’d kind of expected Athanasia to wake up, now that he’d put her down, but she was out cold. Silent, even in her sleep, but breathing deeply nonetheless, completely oblivious to the world.

Jason envied her ability to sleep so soundly. He hadn’t been anything less than an ultra-light sleeper in a year.

Really not since his mother died and he’d ended up out on the street, if he were being honest. Even at the Manor he’d never become a true heavy sleeper.

“You should teach Athanasia how to stretch,” Damian commented after a minute of stretching, pausing to take a long sip of his water, “She is dead weight if she cannot walk. She will get us captured.”

“It’s her fault we’re out here in the first place,” Mara pointed out, like that even mattered.

“Damian, Mara,” Jason sighed, sitting up from where he’d been hugging onto his legs, stretching out his back muscles. Somehow, they seemed to be the worst out of everything. He was going to blame his duffle bag for that.

“She’s just a little girl, none of this is her fault.”

“This is entirely her fault,” Damian spat, slamming his water bottle down on the ground next to him, “had she not been so helpless, Mother would not have felt the need to protect her by running. She would have faced Mara as Grandfather desired. He might not have even required it be to the death. He has Mara and me duel frequently, and always stops us before we cause permanent damage. Mother overreacted, because Athanasia is weak.”

“Damian, she’s seven,” Jason said in disbelief. What was honestly so hard to grasp about that?

“And we are eight, what is your point?” Mara said.

Good to know.

“You guys are just little kids. It’s kind of fucked up you’ve been as trained as you are, to be honest.”

“I am a warrior,” Damian said, “bred to succeed my Grandfather as Demon’s head, and my Father as Batman.”

Mara scowled at him, and said, “Grandfather would never allow you to succeed him, now. Your entire bloodline has proved to be treacherous snakes.”

“I did not see you fighting my Mother to remain very hard, Cousin,” Damian sniped back.

Mara growled but before she could say anything, Jason said, “Yeah, yeah, we’re all traitors, blah blah. Damian, don’t you think it’s pretty messed up you were ‘bred’ to do anything? Most kids aren’t ‘bred’ for specific purposes. They’re just…. Born.”

“Tt,” Damian huffed, lifting one arm above his head as he started to stretch his shoulders, “children without purpose are useless and a drain on society.”

“Children’ aren’t supposed to be useful, they’re supposed to be protected.”

Like, holy fuck.

Was this seriously what Talia taught her children?

Then again…

Bruce wasn’t much better, if Jason really thought about it. Jason hadn’t been a child in years, though, when Bruce caught him stealing his tires. So maybe it didn’t count, even though Bruce did technically kidnap him just to make him Robin. And being Robin had been a lot of training and giving Jason a purpose in life. Something maybe 12-year-old him didn’t need.

Considering it led to his death and all.

But no. No. That was vastly different from the training and purpose Damian had been given. Mara, too, maybe. It kind sounded like she’d been on the same training regiment as Damian, just perhaps without the whole ‘succeed Batman thing.’

Funny.

Jason wondered if Batman knew about his replacement-in-training.

He highly, highly, highly doubted it.

“Then why have them?” Damian challenged, glowering hard at Jason. Mara, too, seemed curious about the answer, but perhaps in a less angry way than Damian.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. He was fairly certain he personally had been an accident.

No, he knew that to be the case outright.

But Catherine had still loved him, even though she hadn’t given birth to him.

Adoption was a thing.

He’d even been convinced Bruce loved him there for a while. Bruce certainly loved Grayson.

And many parents struggled for years to have children, then rejoice when their little one finally comes.

Why did parents have children? Perhaps to carry on the next generation. To continue the family name. To have companionship in their old age. For the mere joy of raising them, watching them grow and learn, turn into great people one day.

But most simply, “Because they love them.”

Damian rolled his eyes rather dramatically, then huffed out, “That is ridiculous.”

“Yeah, well,” Jason drawled, rolling to his feet so he could stand, “Regardless. Athanasia is your little sister. You need to be a little less of a dick to her, got it?”

“Tt.”

“I mean it. You’re her big brother, it’s your job to protect her.”

“It’s every man for himself,” Damian sneered, “if you wish to weaken yourself by protecting her, then that is your decision. But I will not risk myself for a helpless child.”

“Oi,” Jason mumbled, grabbing all the water bottles as he stomped off, “you brats are gonna be the death of me.”

“Precisely my point,” Damian hollered after him.

Jason just grit his teeth and walked down to the well they’d passed on their way to camp.

Bruce could teach him about family loyalty. Or… or Alfred. Alfred would be a better teacher of that lesson. He’d just focus on getting them there alive, and leave the rest up to them.

He just wished they’d speak kinder to each other.

Or not speak at all…

- - -

After the sun set, and Mara and Damian had both laid out their beds and wound down for the night, Jason finally pulled out one last snack for each of them to eat.

He was liking this ‘grazing’ they were doing. It kept him from feeling too full at any point, but was also staving off hunger. It was nice. Talia had, indeed, packed plenty of food for them, even doing this method.

Since none of the kids had complained, he figured they were okay with it, too.

He considered waking Athanasia to eat, but was afraid if he did so, she wouldn’t be able to fall back to sleep any time soon. In the end, he just set a granola bar next to her on her mat, hoping that if she woke in the middle of the night hungry, she’d see the food and eat it.

“I can take second watch this time,” Jason said, watching as Damian and Mara both started to settle down for the night, “That way I’m the one splitting my sleep.” He felt a little bad he was making literal eight-year-olds break up their sleep like that. It probably wasn’t the best practice for getting restful sleep.

“Because you can be trusted to not fall back asleep after being woken,” Damian huffed, curling up under his blanket.

It was hilarious how tiny that made him look.

It was not hilarious how much of a prick he was.

“Kay, whatever,” he mumbled, rolling his eyes, “which brat am I waking up then?”

“I can-“ Mara started, but Damian cut her off harshly with a glare.

“I trust you even less,” he snapped, “I will take the second shift.”

Mara half pouted, half glared back at Damian, but then flipped over in a huff, putting her back to all of them.

“Yes, your majesty,” Jason said, shaking his head as he did. God help him, because he did not want to murder his first child this week.

With a deep breath, he told himself as long as they all got sleep, it didn’t really matter who took a shift when. Damian would probably be a prick regardless of how much sleep he got.

“Tt,” Damian huffed, but didn’t say anything further.

Jason set his bed back next to Athanasia, expecting her to cuddle close to him again. It didn’t happen immediately, but even though she was still dead asleep, it was like she’d sensed his body heat. As the night went on, she gravitated toward him.

When Jason woke Damian to take his turn, and lay down fully, Athanasia basically rolled on top of him, and started using him as a pillow.

Somehow, he didn’t really mind.

It was slightly relaxing to know that at least one of the kids was safe, without even opening his eyes.

And maybe a little comforting, to have her weight there. Warm and moving.

Jason hated how much they were growing on him.

Chapter Text

Something startled Jason from his sleep.

More than startle. Whatever it was, it caused him to sit straight up and look around frantically. And he wasn’t even sure what he was looking for.

“What is it?” Mara whispered, anxiety seeping into her voice as she, too, looked around. Obviously she hadn’t thought anything was off, as the one officially keeping watch.

“Jason?” Athanasia whispered, scrubbing at her eyes. Jason must have pushed her off rather suddenly when he woke. He didn’t remember doing that, but he doubted she hadn’t been sleeping against his chest.

“Shh,” he hissed at both of them, now stirring Damian from his sleep.

Then, Jason saw it.

Off in the distance.

A light.

Or, perhaps, lights. And they were moving. Like they were spotlights.

Searching the earth.

“Fuck,” he exclaimed, in as quiet as a voice he could, “Up, up, up,” he said, leaping to his feet and rolling his blanket up incredibly sloppily and shoving it into his bag.

The kids sprang to action, each one storing their blankets at quickly as possible, too. The mats were more difficult, with them needing to be deflated, but they managed to get them packed away within a minute.

Something about seeing Jason panicked seemed to get the kids in gear.

“What is it?” Damian asked, as he zipped up his backpack.

Jason helped Athanasia shove her mat into her bag, then took quick inventory of their stuff. Mara had her bag, Damian had his, Attie hers, obviously, and he had both his duffle and the food bag. Everyone had shoes and there was no stuffed cat sitting on the ground.

“Search party,” he said, as he placed a hand on Mara and Athanasia, the two kids closest, and pushed them westward, “Run.”

That seemed to do the trick. All three kids took off, and Jason matched their pace, as they started running through the country side.

There was nothing left sitting in their campsite, and since they hadn’t left anything behind ever on this hike, it was highly unlikely they were being tracked.

Jason really hoped that’s what this was. He’d not noticed any sort of tracking device on any of their luggage, but it’s not like it was hard to hide those sorts of things. For all he knew there were trackers in each of their boots.

But hopefully that wasn’t the case. Hopefully they were just traveling down the valley, searching it. It’s not like it was hard to notice four kids hiking along, after all. The terrain was very sparse. They’d been staying far enough away from the villages and shepherds that the structures and people looked like tiny dots, knowing that they, too, would look like little dots to people inside. Hoping that would be enough to escape notice.

So far it had been.

He knew it wouldn’t be enough for these people. As soon as they got close enough for their lights to show them, they’d be found.

Maybe, if they could find someplace to hide, this search party would pass right by them.

As they ran, Jason started looking around for a good spot. Something like a cave would be ideal, but they could also choose some rocks, or perhaps even a well. If the party didn’t stop to use the well, that is…

They hadn’t passed very many caves during their entire journey thus far. Lots of large rocks, and even more long, sparse terrain.

Honestly, this part of Afghanistan was the absolute worst for trying to hide in. They’d been extraordinarily lucky there weren’t very many hikers out this way.

“There,” Jason said, once he saw a rock formation that seemed to have an opening just barely large enough that he thought he could squeeze inside. If nothing else, he knew the children could fit.

That is, if it created a cave-like structure, like he was praying. It looked man-constructed, but not currently used.

Pulling a flashlight from his bag, Jason knelt down at the opening and shown his light inside.

There was evidence animals had used the shelter, in the past. Lots of dirt, and some spiderwebs inside, but the cavern was, thankfully, currently unoccupied.

And it looked just barely large enough to fit all four of them in there. If they squeezed in and got to know each other a little more.

Looking around, Jason found another rock he thought he’d be able to position right in front of the opening from the inside, to hide the fact that this was anything but a few rocks.

“Inside,” he said, pulling Mara’s backpack off her as he ushered her inside.

Mara crawled in, as requested, then dragged her bag in behind her. Damian followed after her, and Jason didn’t hear a single word of protest from those two as he knew they huddled close to make room for Athanasia, too.

Once Attie was inside, Jason shoved both his bags in and started moving the rock closer to the opening.

“You’re coming in with us, right?” Damian said, a touch panicked when he must have realized what Jason was doing.

Heh. So much for ‘every man for himself.’

“Yeah,” he whispered, “just a second.” He took the rope he’d pulled from his bag and wrapped it around the rock, then tied it in a loop and tossed the slack inside the opening.

As gracefully as he could, he squeezed himself through the tiny opening. It took contorting his shoulders in such a way that his upper body fit, but he just managed to get inside. “Sorry,” he said, when he kicked one of the kids, he wasn’t sure which, in his strange flip around maneuver, but whoever it was didn’t complain.

They were too scared, he was sure.

He was a little glad it was too fucking dark inside the cave to see their faces. He just knew it would make him want to punch something.

Once he’d found a comfortable enough position where his arms were free, Jason grabbed onto the rope and pulled the rock the rest of the way in front of the opening. It took a minute, and a lot of strength, but it did finally close it off, fully enveloping their hiding place in darkness.

That was a good sign.

If not even a touch of moonlight was making it inside, he was fairly certain the search party would not find them there.

Jason felt along the rope until he found his knot, then quickly untied it and pulled the rope inside, effectively hiding the fact that the rock had been moved at all. He doubted the gravel outside would show enough evidence of it’s movement to attract attention.

After that, Jason lay on his back, his legs squished up against the wall beside him, and all three kids huddled together next to him. Each of them small enough that they could sit up, if only a little hunched over. Jason knew, based on how much space he had, that each of them had to be squished up next to each other, and he was kind of grateful they were having the opportunity to sit like that without drawing knives on one another.

Bonding.

They were bonding.

If it weren’t so fucking terrifying, he’d think it was nice.

As quietly as he could, Jason reached into his weapons bag and pulled out his favorite glock, then chambered a round, setting it down in the small opening they’d all crawled in through, so none of the kids could accidentally kick it, and he’d be able to grab it quickly.

If someone move that rock, they were going to get a face full of lead. Like hell was Jason going down without a fight.

The silence in the dwelling stretched on for what felt like an eternity. The kids were all remarkably good at being quiet. Athanasia, as Jason kept being reminded, most so. He could hear Damian and Mara both moving around, minutely, but he could only hear two. And that was only because he knew to listen for them.

He knew they were all being silent enough that no one would be able to hear them from outside the rocks.

In fact, it was so silent, Jason started to hear his own heartbeat, right in his ears. He was able to count it, using it to tell time. Counting the minutes as they stretched by.

It took fifteen minutes for the sound of horses to be heard, off in the distance. One of the kids fidgeted against him then, and another took in a long, sharp breath. Almost a gasp.

It sounded like a girl, although Jason wasn’t quite sure why he thought that. It would make sense for Attie to be terrified, however. She was the least able to defend herself.

Not that any of them would be able to defend themselves well, stuck inside this cave.

Regardless, Jason reached out blindly to where the little gasp had come from, and found a knee to set his hand on. Considering no one stabbed him, it had to be Athanasia. He squeezed her knee, a little, hoping it would be enough to keep her grounded and calm.

As long as they remained quiet, everything would be fine.

The galloping hooves drew nearer, and to Jason’s momentary panic, actually started to slow the closer they got to their hiding place.

When they stop entirely someplace near the rocks, Jason’s heart nearly stopped.

Surely they hadn’t seen them, had they?

Had they just trapped themselves in a very tight, cramped corner?

Doomed themselves to their fates?

Perhaps they should have kept running.

Fuck fuckity fuck fuck.

He promised these kids he’d protect them from Ra’s and he might have just handed them right over.

The knee in his hand started trembling, a little, so he started running his thumb back and forth, hoping that maybe focusing on something would help him stay calm, too.

Panicking was not going to help anything. With his other hand, he slowly and silently grabbed the gun and held it ready, so he could shoot if necessary.

“There is nothing here,” someone said, from just outside. A pebble thudded across the gravel, then clattered against the outside of one of their walls, “Your eyes are playing tricks.”

A quiet gasp came from right beside him, and Jason knew that was one of the other kids. Damian, maybe. He wanted to shush them. Tell them to shut up, but the kid he was holding shifted, slightly, and leaned in toward the child gasping.

Jason knew exactly why they were scared.

These men were speaking in Arabic. Particularly in the dialect of the League.

They were, without a doubt, being tracked.

“There was movement in this area,” someone else said, from the opposite side of the rocks.

“Perhaps it was rats.”

“We would not have seen rats from that distance,” another voice added.

“We found one of their snacks not two miles back. They have to be around here somewhere.”

Jason’s tally was up to four people, and at the sound of that, he had to close his eyes.

He’d completely forgotten about Athanasia’s dinner.

God. He was so stupid. If they got caught, this was 100% completely and totally his fault.

But four men? They could take four men, right?

“Unless that was dropped earlier,” the voices outside continued.

“How would they have made it much farther in a day?”

“They could be on horse. There is no telling how well prepared Lady Talia was.”

“But they are not traveling with Lady Talia.”

Jason jumped, slightly, when someone kicked the makeshift door he’d created, causing it to move, just slightly. He froze there, staring at what was the opening of their cave, for a long minute as the world around them went silent again.

He could feel his finger twitch against the gun’s side, ready to reach for the trigger and pull, should that rock move completely out of the way. Should the moonlight from outside expose their hideout. A face appear and peer in.

It took a lot of strength not to immediately pull the trigger right then. Instead, he brushed his thumb across Athanasia’s knee again, hoping that in reassuring her that everything was okay, he could reassure himself, too.

The silence seemed to stretch, and he could feel the knee in his hand start to tremble.

No one took a breath. No one said a word. No one moved a muscle.

And after a long minute had passed, someone outside said, “We are wasting time. Master will have our heads if we do not return with the traitors. We should move on.”

After another excruciatingly long moment, the sound of scuffling outside quieted, only to be replace by horses trotting off. It took another minute for all the horses to begin moving, and finally start to run, off in the direction of where he and the kids were heading.

None of them spoke for several long moments. Jason kept caressing the side of Athanasia’s knee, and he could feel the tension bleed out of her the longer he kept it up… and the further away the horses got.

And, then, it was like the bubble burst, and all the tension in the air dissipated. Jason let out a long, slow breath, and pat at Athanasia’s knee, then removed his hand. “See,” he said, “That wasn’t so bad.”

“Who dropped a snack,” Damian hissed, from right at Jason’s side. Now he knew Damian was in the middle, between the two girls. That’s what he’d figured.

“Guilty,” Jason whispered back, only to get kicked in the side before he could finish defending himself, “Ow, you stupid brat. I got it out for your sister and then forgot about it.”

“I thought she was your sister, too,” Mara said, and to Jason’s astonishment, she was the child sitting right by his head. Not Athanasia.

Patting at Mara’s leg again, Jason said, “yeah, kid. Sure. But we’re not like, full blood siblings or anything.”

And, technically, they weren’t siblings at all. But Talia and her stupid mouth. If he hadn’t been appreciating all the brats dropping the whole ‘servant’ shit, he would have already set them straight. If them thinking he was their half brother or whatever was the price he paid for that, he’d take it. It’s not like it would matter once they got to Gotham, anyway.

Drop the kids off and wash his hands of this entire debacle.

“Now what do we do?” Mara asked, once the silence had stretched on too long. Her voice was still a hoarse whisper, and Jason didn’t blame her for wanting to keep quiet.

He almost loathed to climb out of their hiding place. It was still dark out, and really they hadn’t received enough sleep.

If Athanasia had struggled to keep up the day before, it was going to suck if they started hiking right then.

Plus, with those ninjas out looking for them, Jason was afraid they’d back track some and notice the four of them. There was no telling how quickly they were moving. If they were combing the valley carefully, they could easily spend the rest of the night checking every single hiding place.

The absolute last thing Jason wanted was to face Ra’s ninjas that night.

Or ever.

“Can you guys get comfortable enough to sleep?” he asked, fully aware that while he was lying on his back, those three were curled basically into balls, their backpacks squished between their bodies and their knees. His bag was, at least, under his legs.

“You want us to fall asleep in this indefensible position?” Damian asked, scandalized.

“Do you see a better option?” Jason challenged.

“They clearly are not aware we are here,” Mara reasoned, as she shifted around, obviously trying to find a more comfortable position to sit. When she’d basically curled up like a cat on her side, her backpack laying on top of her, as far as Jason could tell, she added, “might as well sleep. They’ll wake us up if they come back, anyway. They weren’t exactly quiet.”

“No one ever finds sleeping children hiding in a small place,” Athanasia whispered, and Jason figured she’d probably know.

They were crammed in there. From the outside, it definitely looked too small for four people to be hiding. And that was assuming it was a cave. Clearly the ninjas thought it was just a couple rocks. There were rocks sporadically throughout the valley. It looked no different than any other cluster, with the ‘door’ blocking the only large gap.

Once again, Jason was sharply reminded of what Attie must have gone through the previous seven years.

He’d hidden before, sure. Many times, back when living on the street. Found dumpsters to hide inside. Alleys to curl up in. Bushes and crates and crawl spaces he was able to use as temporary shelter from whomever he was running. But that phase of his life had only lasted about a year. Then he was rescued, and never again had to hide his very existence from people.

That is, until that very moment.

But Athanasia? She’d been doing it her entire life. Never once was she able to tell people she existed. Her existing was a crime. It would get her killed. From the time she was an infant.

Jason kind of wanted to pull her into a hug, at that very thought.

He hated how soft she was making him.

But he couldn’t be soft. Not right now.

Because, now, all four of them would be killed if anyone knew they existed. If they were there.

“They’ve already searched this area,” Jason said, still whispering so hopefully not to attract any attention to the rocks. Since he couldn’t see outside to see if anyone was around. “They won’t check back here, so it’s safe to sleep here.”

“Do you think they will double back tomorrow?” Mara asked, as Damian started shifting around. He ended up turning completely around and resting back against Jason, using him basically as a pillow. Jason had no illusion that it was a display of affection, but rather was simply the best option Damian saw for getting comfortable.

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t set the gun down to reach up and ruffle his hair.

“Tt,” Damian huffed, swatting Jason’s hand away as he answered, “They would be wise to, but Grandfather’s men are hardly wise.”

Mara snorted in response, and Jason couldn’t help but smile a little.

“True,” he agreed, then rubbed at his eyes. “You good, Attie? Can you sleep for a few more hours?”

“Yes,” she responded tersely, and Jason just sighed. Whatever. Two kids in okay-ish moods was victory enough.

Athanasia did, however, turn around and use Jason as a pillow, too. Or, kind of did. She shoved her backpack up against his and ended up curling up right next to him, her head touching his leg.

“Night, night,” he whispered, reaching down and scratching her head, just like he’d done for Damian. She didn’t bat him away like he had, but she didn’t react much to it either.

Somehow, with the quiet sounds of three sleeping kids, Jason finally nodded off about an hour later, and slept dreamlessly, the weight of Damian against him, and the heat from the girls beside him, keeping him grounded enough to stave off the nightmares.

Chapter Text

Jason woke to the sounds of birds just overhead. He jumped awake, actually, completely startled by the sound of a bird directly overhead. It’s cawing like a scream, jarring enough to jolt him from a deep, restful sleep.

He hit his head on something hard as he did, unable to fully sit up because of it. And when he came to his senses enough to try and see what was in the way, he realized he couldn’t see anything.

Because it was fucking dark.

Dark and small and, and-

Just like… just like…

Damian, who had still been curled up on top of him, jumped as well, and sat up quickly, asking, “What is it?”

With a breath, Jason lowered himself back down, and took a second to collect himself. Damian was there. In their cave. And he could feel Mara and Athanasia, too, both of them near enough that he could sense the heat coming off them.

Actually, the entire cave was freaking hot.

“Fucking bird,” Jason mumbled, scrubbing at his face, trying to fully calm his racing heart back down. The girls had both woken, he could tell, because Mara was letting out a deep breath, as if yawning as she stretched, and Athanasia was pushing against Jason’s legs to help herself sit up.

Jason took a deep breath, then held it as he listened to their surroundings. The kids all seemed to get what he was doing, because they all became unnaturally silent as they observed.

Aside from the stupid bird, there didn’t seem to be any movement around them. No weird crunching of gravel, no heavy breathing, no horses snorting.

As far as Jason could tell, they were alone out there.

With another steadying breath, Jason whispered, “you kids ready to face the outside world?” Because Jason sure as fuck was ready to get out of the cave.

“It is inevitable,” Damian drawled.

“Right. Let’s get this over with then.”

Jason took his gun and pushed it a little further through their opening, then tried to figure out how to move the rock. He could reach it okay, but couldn’t really put any real force on it in order to move it out of their way.

“We’re gonna have to shuffle around,” he grunted, as he pushed as hard as he could against the rock, “I need to push against the back wall, I think.”

“Don’t collapse the entire thing on top of us,” Mara hissed, and Jason rubbed at his face.

“Then what do you suggest, all knowing one?”

“I could push it out of the way,” she said, almost irritably, as if Jason had already annoyed her to exasperation. Five seconds after waking up. Oi, these brats. “With you helping push me toward the rock.”

“But don’t press up against the wall behind us?” Jason said skeptically. He could try, he supposed. She was smaller, and would have a much easier time pressing. She wouldn’t need to brace herself, either, if Jason held onto her feet and let her push against his hands.

In the end, after some serious shuffling of the three kids and Jason, Mara positioned herself to push the rock out of the way, and Jason pushed on her feet as hard as he could without putting pressure on the rock behind them. It took a second, but they were able to move the rock, and Mara was the first to crawl out.

“It’s clear,” she said, in a normal voice after she’d rolled to her feet as quickly as possible and surveyed their surroundings.

Jason wasn’t, at all, happy that she’d been the first out, but all’s well that ends well, he supposed.

Slowly, the rest of them crawled out from their little cave, and Damian shoved all their bags out after them before following himself. They spent a few minutes running through some stretches, since each one of them were sore from being so crammed up all night. Jason could tell, just by the scowls set on all three kids’ faces, that they were all grumpy from the uncomfortable night.

It was going to be a great day, Jason knew it.

They took a quick potty break, and then Jason distributed some food for them to eat as they started their hike west. The faster they could get moving, the better. They needed to get to Kabul as fast as humanly possible.

Get to Kabul. Get on a plane. Make it to America. Then this could all be over.

Athanasia seemed to be doing better, after their initial stretching that morning. She wasn’t walking quite as stiffly, and wasn’t in any visible pain. Every time Jason tried to ask her about it, though, she completely ignored him.

So he just rolled his eyes and kept walking, whenever that happened. They ended up moving a little closer to the river as the morning went on, as they’d finally moved beyond the area where there was a village every several miles. Jason was hoping that by doing so, they’d trail far enough away from where their searchers would double back. If they doubled back. Because why would the kids walk right along side the river, out in the open, where there was no cover? They weren’t along the river yesterday, after all, as far as the assassins knew. He at least hoped they’d use that logic.

They stopped for lunch, sometime around noon.

As Jason was passing out an assortment of jerky and granola bars, Damian felt the fucking need to say, “Try not to leave any evidence behind this time,” as he started opening his bar.

“I’m fucking sorry, okay?” he snapped, “It was a fucking stupid horrible awful mistake, but those morons were already after us before they came across our campsite. So maybe drop the attitude, you stupid brat.”

“Yes, and now they know we are out here, somewhere,” Damian drawled.

No one said anything after that, and they ate their lunch in uncomfortable silence.

Jason moved his gun to his waistband and made sure his clips were accessible before they started moving again.

There was no trace of their searchers, though, and as the afternoon stretched on, they all started to relax some. Well, at least Jason did.

Athanasia started walking slower and slower, but as she did the day before, she refused any of Jason’s offers of carrying her. “Don’t touch me,” she’d demanded, in her soft-spoken voice that somehow commanded more attention from all of them than Damian’s high-pitched shrill did, whenever he got angry and started demanding things.

“Fine,” Jason said, throwing his arms up as he stepped away from her, “But, Attie, you gotta tell me when it gets to be too much. It’s okay to need to be carried the last few hours of the day. As you build your stamina, you’ll be able to hike longer. The only reason the other two can hike all day is because they’ve been training for years to do so.”

“Tt,” Damian huffed, but thankfully didn’t comment further. Mara, to Jason’s surprise, nodded slightly at his words.

Athanasia didn’t seem to care, though, because she crossed her arms and huffed at Jason. “I can do it now.”

“Okay.”

Even with her continued refusal to be carried, Jason could tell by about an hour to sunset that she’d reached the limit of her abilities for the day. They’d been walking rather slow for a couple hours at that point, and finally she’d started absolutely dragging her feet.

“No,” she whined, when Jason swooped over and scooped her up, ready to carry her for an hour or so, just like the day before. But as soon as he did, she started kicking at him and thrashing about, forcing Jason to drop her.

“Athanasia,” he sighed, watching sympathetically as she landed on her feet and tried to stretch her clearly aching muscles, “just let me carry you.”

“No,” she said, a touch more forcefully, “I can do it. Stop babying me.”

“I’m not babying you,” he exasperated, pausing in his trek to throw his arms out dramatically, “Oh my god. If Damian needs me to carry him, I’ll carry him too. But you’re the one in pain right now.”

“I would never need to be carried like a child,” Damian scoffed.

Jason wanted to smack himself in the head.

Or smack Damian.

That would be fun.

“Neither do I,” Athanasia insisted, crossing her arms petulantly. They’d all stopped walking at that point, and were just standing there, in a circle. Arguing.

Jason rolled his eyes. “If you broke your ankle, you’d need to be carried.”

“No I wouldn’t,” Damian replied, smugly, like that was the actual answer a literal eight-year-old should give.

There was no way Damian wouldn’t whine forever if he broke his fucking ankle. Kids were shits like that.

“Fine, if you broke both ankles, then I’d carry you.”

“Tt. I assure you, I will not require your assistance regardless of how many ankles you break.”

“I wouldn’t break your ankles,” Jason said, rolling his head to the sky. Why were these brats so ridiculous, “and you can’t walk on broken ankles, Damian. It’d be too painful and damage them further.”

“Pain is merely the vehicle for strength,” Damian said, as if that statement made fucking sense.

When Mara nodded, however, Jason scowled and said, “Who the fuck told you that nonsense?”

“Grandfather,” Mara said simply, looking over at Athanasia, who’d sat down on the ground while they were arguing. From the looks of it, she was about to fall asleep.

“Well Ra’s was an idiot, kay?”

“Do not speak of my Grandfather,” Damian started, just to trail off and look over at Mara, who was frowning back at him.

And Jason didn’t want to touch that with a ten foot stick.

Get these kids to Bruce.

Let him handle the whole hero-worship for a crazy immortal ninja demon who wanted them all dead. Then brought back again over and over, so they could be tortured. For all of eternity.

Jason was like, ninety-nine percent certain that’s what Ra’s wanted.

“Well that’s not what Batman believes,” Jason mumbled, as he dropped the food bag onto the ground and knelt down next to it. If they were going to stand around, they were going to eat dinner. Jason loathed wasting time.

Damian seemed to perk up. He stood a little straighter and looked Jason right in the eye, a touch of child-like curiosity present in his eyes. It was a little reassuring to see, actually.

“Father?” he asked eagerly.

“No, I was talking about a different Batman.”

“Your father is named ‘Batman?’” Mara asked, dropping her bag down next to Athanasia and collapsing down with her to eat her stick of jerky and granola bar. Jason could hear the touch of criticism in her voice.

It was a stupid name.

Jason liked this kid.

“That is his codename,” Damian said, stomping as he turned to face Mara, “Do not disrespect my Father.”

Mara made a taunting face at Damian, then took another bite of her jerky as she rolled her eyes. “Will I have to call him ‘Batman?’”

“No, in fact that’s kind of a secret, so you can’t call him that,” Jason said, then turned his attention back to Damian, “anyway, ‘Dad’ says that pain is your body telling you it’s time to quit and let it rest. It’s a sign that it’s time to rest,” he turned back to Athanasia and tried his best to make his words penetrate into her, “and heal. You can’t rest and heal if you’re working through pain. Pain means stop. When you feel it, you stop.”

And sure, Bruce was a giant hypocrite when it came to this, but he had always been adamant about that rule when he was training Jason. Pain meant stop. If Jason felt pain, he was supposed to say something. Say something to make the pain stop. Rest and heal.

It was… the exact opposite of his league training.

He kind of understood Damian’s statement, then. He’d just never thought that Talia would have allowed Damian to be trained that way.

He was a fucking child, for crying out loud.

Pain meant stop, and stopping meant an end to his pain.

“You’re suggesting that I surrender if I feel pain,” Damian drawled, “it is no wonder Father sent you to Mother. That method will only result in your death.”

“That,” Jason started, then floundered for a second, standing there, opening his mouth and closing it again. Unable to come up with some sort of response.

Because.

Wow there was a lot there.

“Look,” he eventually said, sitting down in front of the girls, not far off from where Damian was still stubbornly standing, “I’m just saying, if you’re in pain and all we’re doing is hiking, just stop, okay? Stop and let me carry you. Any of you.”

None of the kids responded, so Jason sighed and collapsed backward into the dirt, splaying his arms out beside him. “Fine, whatever. Let’s just camp for the night.” And maybe take baths. He kind of wanted to scrub all the friggen dirt off him.

Why was there so much dirt?

Miraculously, the kids agreed with him when he voiced that desire aloud, and the four of them took turns washing up in the river while the others kept watch.

It was a little awkward, trying to wash up without getting his clothes completely soaked. Especially since they didn’t have any towels.

He should know better than to travel without a towel. It was the number one rule, after all. And yet, there he was. Shaking his head to dry his hair the best he could before squeegeeing himself dry.

Kind of dry.

Talia hadn’t packed herself any clothes or bedding or anything, either, so there wasn’t an extra anything to use.

Jason knew she hadn’t expected to make it out of the compound alive, but it almost seemed like she didn’t plan on making it out alive.

That, or she was just going to share with Athanasia.

Considering how much of a cuddle-bug Attie was, that was possible. The two of them probably shared a bed, anyway. Unless Talia made Athanasia sleep in the closet or something, which he highly doubted.

Children as old as her didn’t curl up and climb on top of caregivers unless they had a history of doing so already.

At least, Jason hadn’t.

He’d certainly been small enough to curl up and cuddle with Bruce. And Bruce was probably willing enough, right? It was something Dick did, after all. When he was little. But Jason had never been a cuddler. His dad was too much an asshole for Jason to want to. If his dad were home, Jason steered clear of his parent’s room. And when his dad wasn’t home, his mother picked up extra jobs and tended to work nights.

So, it hadn’t been something he learned, and therefore never something he craved or would have done naturally in his sleep. Unlike Attie.

It was strange, now, to let a kid cling to him like that. Not a bad strange. A little reassuring, actually, to be able to feel that she was still there and alive without having to check.

He hadn’t had a single nightmare yet, too. Which was weird, because a night without one was so rare. But that could be from all the stress, too. There was a weird point where he got so stressed his nightmares stopped.

At least something was going his way, for once.

After they’d all washed up and managed to air-dry the best they could, without remaining vulnerable for longer than necessary, they found a decent spot to set up camp. It was pretty out in the open, but there wasn’t much around, anyway. It was, at least, on the side of a hill, so they wouldn’t be visible from all angles. That was pretty much the best they could ask for.

To Jason’s surprise, however, Attie took note of where Jason was laying out his bed and set hers up on the exact opposite side of the camp. Both Mara and Damian were between them. Considering the little glare she shot him before curling up with her kitty and turning her back to them all, Jason figured asking what the heck that was all about was a terrible idea.

After arguing with her all day about being carried, he did not have the energy to now start a fight over where she was sleeping.

Because, really, he was fine without her clinging to him, too.

“I’ll keep first watch,” Mara said slowly, after looking back and forth between Athanasia and Jason a couple times.

“Fine, whatever,” Jason said, as he lay down and pulled his blanket up over his arms, trying his best to convince his body it was comfortable. His feet were aching to be let out of his boots, but after the scare they’d had the night before, he wasn’t about to take his shoes off. He’d taken them off long enough to bathe, and that was it.

But they had just one more day of hiking left before they’d reach civilization. And maybe they could find an inn to stay in.

Two more nights out under the stars.

He could handle it. His feet could deal.

Probably.

Chapter Text

Despite his discomfort, he must have eventually drifted off, because next thing Jason knew, Mara was waking him to take his turn keeping watch.

Which was nice.

It meant he’d slept fairly solidly for at least a few hours. He kind of wished he could sleep more, but it was more important the kids got sleep, anyway. None of them seemed to catch on that he took about half the night as his watch period, and let them sleep longer.

It was because he didn’t want to deal with grumpy, sleep deprived children, of course. Obviously.

Plus, kids just needed more sleep than adults.

And since Mara had chosen him to take the middle shift, despite Damian’s stupid trust issues, that meant all the kids would get a solid chunk of sleep.

Good.

Maybe Damian would be less of an asshole with more sleep.

Jason passed time by drawing in the dirt next to him. At first, he played anagrams, taking the name of random objects around him, or children, and seeing how many words he could make out of them. Once that grew boring, he started simply sketching out his surroundings. Really crappily.

Honestly, it looked like a child’s finger painting.

But it was something to do. And Jason was bored.

He looked around them, of course. Constantly. But there was only so much entertainment he could glean from staring at the same moonlit hills for hours on end.

His boredom ended when sometime around 1am, if Jason were to guess, Athanasia started crying.

It was startling, actually. Because one second the air around him was silent, save the gentle breathing of Mara and Damian, and everything absolutely still. And the next, well… it was still silent. But Athanasia started shaking.

Jason would have expected sound, based on how hard she appeared to be sobbing, but as always, she was eerily silent.

It was creepy, actually.

But Jason ignored that and got up on his hands and knees in order to crawl over to her.

Damian stirred at the movement, but quickly fell back asleep when he cracked an eye open to see it was only Jason.

After brushing the dirt off his hands, away from Athanasia, Jason gently set his hand on her head and whispered, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Instead of respond, Athanasia pulled her head away, then buried herself under her blanket, so Jason couldn’t reach her at all.

“Attie, why don’t you come out and talk to me.”

“Go away,” she whispered back, curling up into a ball under her blanket. Jason could just imagine her little kitty squished up right in the middle of her, while she cried into its fur.

“Not until you tell me why you’re crying.”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” she said, her little voice somehow managing to sound more pitiful than Jason thought possible.

Fuck he had to stop thinking this kid was cute.

Placing a hand on her leg, Jason pat at her and said, “Why not? I’m fun to talk to.”

“No you aren’t, I hate you.”

“Hmm.” Jason crawled a little closer and sat down, resting his head on his knees. The two other kids still looked asleep, at least. “That’s not a nice thing to say.”

“I don’t care.”

Sighing, Jason looked around them. He was still on watch.

Also he had no idea what to do, now. So far all he’d had to do was hold her and everything was okay.

Of course it couldn’t just be that easy all the time.

“If you come out, I’ll give you all my raisins tomorrow.”

Athanasia mumbled something that was probably ‘go away,’ but she was too damn quiet for Jason to fully make it out.

Freaking brat.

It was way too early for this shit.

“At,” he exasperated, flicking a rock sitting next to him on the ground. He actually had no idea what to do now. If bribery didn’t work, really there was nothing left in his repertoire

Maybe he just shouldn’t care why she was crying, and let her just freaking do it.

But, no. Because if she cried all night, she wouldn’t sleep, and then she’d spend the entire day cranky and Jason couldn’t carry her all day.

Not that she’d even fucking let him.

“I said go away,” she said, forcefully, as she kicked at him.

Fucking stupid brat. Were all the kids going to attack him?

When she tried to kick him again, Jason caught her foot and snapped, “I can’t go away, so knock it off and just tell me what the problem is.”

“No,” she growled back, flipping the blanket off of her face, finally, so she could glower at Jason, “it’s not like you care.”

“What the fuck, Athanasia,” letting go of her foot in such a way he practically tossed it back to her. Where the hell was any of this any fucking coming from.

It didn’t help that he could hear the other two kids stirring behind him.  

“Leave me alone,” she said, her voice practically shrieking at the last word. For her, at least. The volume was almost a normal level, though.

Jason would have taken a moment to appreciate it, had she not kicked him again, this time right in the side.

Right where one of those swords had nicked him a few days before.

It fucking hurt.

“Fine then, just cry” he said, pushing himself back to his feet, so he could return to his own bedding. He wasn’t being paid enough to deal with this shit.

Especially since, he wasn’t being paid.

Maybe he should extort Bruce upon their arrival. Demand some money to help him establish himself in Cincinnati.

“I don’t care,” he huffed.

He didn’t even get fully to his feet before he started regretting his entire life. Second life.

Because Athanasia’s face absolutely crumpled, and shit.

He was a major asshole.

“At-“ he tried, reaching a hand out to her. He had to apologize. Take it back. Something.

God. He didn’t- He shouldn’t have fucking said that.

But Athanasia jerked away from his hand, then scrambled to her feet, throwing her blanket down as she did so.

Before Jason could say anything further, before he could even figure out what to say, she started crying again and, this time, said, “I want my mama.”

“Attie,” he tried again, holding his arm out to her. He wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do, but he figured it was probably hug her. Or something similar.

Athanasia, however, didn’t seem to want his comfort, because she stepped away again, then, after considering him for a moment, turned and started to run.

“Fuck,” Jason said under his breath, then turned to the other two kids who were unashamedly sitting up and watching, “stay here. I’ll get her.”

Jason only had to run for maybe a dozen steps, because Attie seemed to realize there was no where to go.

What had she even been doing?

“Hey,” he said, as he reached out and grabbed her arm, making himself feel better that she couldn’t bolt again, “At, come on. You can’t run off like that.”

“You don’t care,” she repeated, trying, and failing, to free herself from Jason’s grasp.

Shit. Fuck. He was the worst.

“I was lying. Of course I care, okay? I don’t want to see you get hurt, and if you run away, you’re going to get hurt.”

“I wasn’t running away,” she protested, “Besides, I can take care of myself.”

Then the fuck was she doing?

“Listen, I’m sure you can,” he soothed. Or, at least, tried to. He wasn’t sure how effective he actually was.

He needed to work on that, didn’t he? Being soothing to children.

It’d come in handy, for sure. For at least the next couple weeks.

Right now all he was was an asshole.

“But we need to stick together,” he continued, rubbing his free hand up and down her arm, “we can’t afford to split up. Not if we plan on making it home, together.”

“What home?” she cried, absolutely devolving back into a mess of tears and shaking.

“Come here,” he said, tugging her close and wrapping his arms around her. Athanasia hesitated, but did wrap her arms around Jason, too, and buried her face into his shirt.

“I’m sorry, okay? I’m kind of a major asshole and I have no idea how to talk to kids.”

When all Athanasia did was let out a little sob, in the middle of her otherwise silent tears, Jason wanted to celebrate. Throw a party, or something. Give her a card congratulating her on actually expressing herself. Aloud. So people could hear it.

“What’s wrong,” he asked, running his hand up and down her back, trying his best to be better at this.

He hoped it was working and wasn’t just coming off as creepy. He was starkly reminded that he’d only known this little girl for three days.

“I want my mother,” she said again, snuggling against him a little more. She must not find it weird, then.

But Jason could feel for her. He had been a little surprised none of them seemed to talk about the fact Talia had died right in front of them again since the first morning, but even he was running in survival mode.

Even now, he didn’t want to let himself think about her being gone. Not really.

“I know,” he said, still hugging her tightly. Letting her cry about it.

Sure, she hadn’t been his mom or anything, but she’d been kind to him. She’d been there for him at the lowest point in his life. Picked him up and healed him.

Even though that meant throwing him in the pit….

That had been necessary.

He needed to quit being upset about it. Talia had told him herself. It was necessary.

And then, she’d been there for him ever since. She’d sat with him while he cried. Hugged him, even, when he was homesick. Helped him let go of a home that didn’t want him and stop feeling homesick in the first place.

Yeah. Jason missed her.

And he could imagine how much Athanasia missed her, too.

“I miss her, too,” he said, as he scooped her up into his arms and stood.

She didn’t object to being carried back to where Jason could see Damian and Mara, both sitting across from each other at their campsite. Jason hoped they were getting along and not exchanging barbs.

Or threatening to kill one another.

“I don’t like it out here,” Athanasia whispered.

“Neither do I.”

Attie sat up some and wrapped her arms around Jason’s neck, watching now where they were walking. “I miss my bed.”

“Me too,” he said, trying to make his voice sound happier as he did, “I miss pillows most of all. I’m going to put like fifty pillows on my bed at home.”

“I’d like fifty pillows.”

“Attie, you can have a hundred pillows if you want.” Bruce would certainly buy them for her.

If Bruce was anything with her like he was with Jason.

In the beginning.

But Athanasia was his actual daughter. And Jason had no doubt Bruce was going to fall for her almost instantly.

Mara and Damian, on the other hand?

Jason was a little nervous about how Bruce would take them.

“Mama used to call me Attie,” she whispered, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Yeah? Can I call you that, too?”

When Attie just nodded against him, he said, “You can call me ‘Jay.’ That’s my nickname.”

“Did your mama call you that?”

“Yeah.” Sometimes. Not really. It was more of a Bruce thing…

He never understood why Bruce just randomly started calling him Jay and basically never called him anything else, but he also never complained about it. He liked the name, after all.

“Okay, Jay,” she said, and he could hear a hint of a smile in her voice.

He reached up and ran a hand through her hair, hugging her a little more. This was the Attie he knew. A sweet, cute little girl…

Bruce was going to love her instantly. It was basically impossible for him not to.

At the campsite, Damian and Mara were, thankfully, not murdering each other. Jason couldn’t tell if they’d actually been talking, but they were quiet when Jason got there.

“Damian, your turn to keep watch,” Jason said, as he sat Athanasia down on her feet.

“That’s it?” he spat, “She runs off and jeopardizes all of us, and you just hug her and call it done?”

“What would you have me do?” Jason asked, a little annoyed now. The fuck was he supposed to do? Comfort was what she needed, so Jason gave it to her.

“If I had done that, if Mara,” he said, pointing at his cousin angrily, “had done that, we would have- we would have been-”

“This is not the League,” Jason snapped, “In case you haven’t noticed, we defected. I’m not about to go treating you brats the way they treated you.” If Damian had run off, Jason would have hugged him, too.

“They trained us to be strong,” Damian shouted back, “She needs to be trained, too. She will get us killed, otherwise.”

“No she won’t, we’re almost done with this hike anyway. As soon as we get out of these fucking mountains we’ll be able to blend in with society and hide in plain sight.”

“Grandfather will find us easily. He has operatives all over this country. All over the world.”

Which was why they had to go to Bruce.

But Jason couldn’t go back there. He couldn’t.

He could easily dump the kids off. No problem. Sayonara, have a nice life, good bye brats.

That would be easy.

That would probably be the best option for them.

But Jason would not be able to stomach being back there.

Would Bruce even let him stay? Keep him around, let him be around Drake?

If Bruce didn’t want him around back when there was no other kid in the house, why in the hell would he want Jason around his new little Robin and these three kids?

And now that he’d actually murdered people, there was no way in hell Bruce was ever going to forgive him.

Bruce would throw Jason in jail, Jason would escape without issue, and Ra’s would find him and chop off his head for his treason.

Or worse, he’d chop his head mostly off, then shove him into the pit so he didn’t die.

Over and over.

For the rest of eternity.

Jason would lose his sanity one drop at a time And there would be absolutely nothing he could do about it.

Jason could escape from Ra’s once, but doing it twice was highly unlikely to happen.

He couldn’t….

But what choice did he have?

Where on earth could he hide from Ra’s, and do it successfully?

“Jason?” Mara asked, and it startled Jason just a little. Although he wasn’t sure why it was so startling.

Then again…

So far only Athanasia had actually addressed him by name.

He’d kind of assumed the two brats hadn’t fully accepted him as not-a-servant. Even if they were following him and listening to what he told them to do. And he highly doubted they ever addressed servants by name.

Or even knew their names…

They were probably just listening to him out of their own self-interest. They wanted to get to Bruce so he could protect them, and since neither of them knew where Bruce was, they had to follow Jason.

“What?” he asked, looking over at Mara.

What was she to him? Was she his cousin? Not really, right? Cause even if he bought into the whole Bruce-was-his-dad thing and that meant Damian and Attie were his siblings, Bruce and Talia were not married. So he wouldn’t be at all related to Talia’s sibling’s kid.

“Where are you taking us?”

“I don’t know,” he said, waving a hand, “America.”

“You don’t know,” Damian mocked, clearly exasperated with Jason as he played with a knife.

That wasn’t mildly threatening or anything.

“Yet you claim you can keep us safe,” Damian continued, “You don’t even have a plan.”

“I do have a plan,” Jason snapped back. Because he fucking did. He just wasn’t sure how well it would work out for him.

“Then why won’t you share it,” Damian snarled, stabbing his knife down into the ground next to him, “You cannot keep us in the dark like this. It is unfair. What if something happens to you? What then? We must know the plan, too.”

What if something happened to him?

Fuck.

But if he did tell them how to get to Bruce, then they’d likely ditch him, and then they, for sure, would be dead.

It was only a maybe, if something happened to Jason.

“He doesn’t have a plan,” Mara scoffed, as she shared a smug look with Damian.

Fucking brats. Bruce might not take to them. He hated attitude.

‘I’m not your father, Jason. I don’t need you teenage rebellion.’

Yeah, well. Fuck him.

“Why won’t you tell us,” Damian demanded, stabbing the ground with his knife again.

Jason kind of wanted to take his fucking knife and stab him. “Because I’m not sure if it will work for all of us,” he nearly shouted back.

“What do you mean?” Mara said, slowly, much more calmly than he or Damian, “Who would it not work for?”

“Me, okay?” he snapped “So it doesn’t fucking matter to you. You’ll be fine.”

“Why would we be okay, but not you?” she asked, apparently not even bothered by Jason’s tone.

“Because,” he shouted, “I can’t think of a single option that doesn’t land me back in Ra’s hands, in the end.”

God. He couldn’t go through the pit again.

“Then why would Mother trust you to bring us to safety,” Damian screamed back, “If you cannot come up with a viable plan.”

Jason whirled to face Damian. He wasn’t even sure what he was going to say, but he stopped when he saw Mara. He wasn’t even anywhere near her and Damian. Probably a good ten feet away, but Mara scooted back, a little further away from him, and he wanted to scream.

Instead, he walked over to his own stuff and kicked his bag, not even caring when his foot protested him kicking a bag full of metal. Again.

He flung himself down on his sleeping mat, and tried to chill the fuck out by practicing his breathing. Just like Talia always forced him to do.

This was all Talia’s fault.

No. It wasn’t.

This was all Ra’s fault, and Jason was going to kill that motherfucker one day. That was his new life goal.

Kill Ra’s al Ghul.

Slowly and painfully.

“Answer me,” Damian demanded, but Jason ignored him.

Jason took a minute, to focus on his breathing. If he’d startled Mara before, he didn’t even want to look at Athanasia. Instead, he kept his eyes closed, as he counted his breaths.

“You said,” Athanasia said, from where she was sitting, across the campsite, probably hugging onto her kitty, “You said we can’t split up.”

“We can’t.”

“Then,” she said, softly, a little wobbly, “why would you end up back with Grandfather and we would not?”

“Because,” he exhaled, opening his eyes and rolling his head, “Bruce isn’t going to take me back.”

There just… wasn’t any possible way he would. At this point, he had no obligations to Jason at all. As far as the world knew, Jason was dead. So he wouldn’t even have to honor the adoption papers, anymore.

At least Bruce valued his own public image…. enough, at least. For Damian and Athanasia. Bruce wouldn’t want to seem like a dead-beat dad if he wanted the state to keep approving his adoptions of little Robins, after all.

“Who is Bruce?” Mara asked, while Damian just blinked at him. Did Damian even know that was his dad’s name? Did Athanasia?

“Uh, ‘Dad,’” he mumbled, “He’s Batman.”

“Why would Father not take you back?” Damian said, scowling as he did, “I thought you were his son.”

“Yeah, well,” he said, sighing deeply as he did, “he’s not very forgiving to murderers.”

“Tt,” Damian huffed, “You are not a murderer, you are an executioner. It is different.”

Yep. Absolutely true. Some people just didn’t deserve to live. Like Ra’s al Ghul.

But did Bruce ever see it that way?

“He won’t care,” Jason droned, as he laid back on his mat, stretching his arms out as he stared up at the sky.

“Why did he send you to the League of Assassins if he didn’t like assassinations,” Mara scoffed, and Jason was so over this conversation.

“He didn’t send me. He kind of kicked me out. And then Talia collected me.”

With, a couple steps in between, of course.

But fucking eight-year-olds didn’t need to know any of the dirty details. Bruce could fill them in on all of that. Explain how much of a fucking failure Jason was, or whatever.

“But you are his son and you are quite capable combatively,” Damian said, “Mother always said Father respected warriors. If anything, it’s Athanasia Father will not accept.”

Athanasia frowned hard, and Jason watched as she stood and started dragging her sleeping mat over to where Jason was laying.

“No, I think he’ll have the easiest time with her,” he mumbled, scrubbing a hand over his face. Because Attie had never done anything wrong in her life. Bruce was going to love her.

Love doting on her, he was fairly confident.

But then again, maybe he wouldn’t.

Maybe he’d see her as dead weight, just like Damian…

Bruce had only taken him and Dick in to be sidekicks after all… Sure he’d played the role of dad there for a few years, too, but Robin was always what it was about. Robin came first.

Sure, Attie was cute and precious and all that, but would Bruce like having a child around too young and untrained to be helpful in the field?

And would he take in three kids all at once?

Talia seemed to think so. She thought he’d harbor them all.

Perhaps Talia knew him better, then. She had… created children with him, after all.

“Does he not already have a daughter?” Damian asked thoughtfully.

Jason lifted his arm up out of Athanasia’s way, when she settled her mat down next to him and fixed her blanket. “Uh, no. He’s just got three of us boys.”

“So then why would Father have a difficult time accepting me, if he already has three sons? Clearly he is not against having more than one son.”

“The, uh, murder thing, kiddo.”

Although, he’d never had two of them at once. He adopted Jason after Dick left. Then took Tim in right after Jason died.

Maybe he did have an issue with more than one kid at a time.

“So we will have to convince Batman to harbor us,” Mara said flatly, “How can we trust him at all, then?”

“He’s Baba,” Athanasia whispered, now sitting down, right next to Jason, her kitty clutched tightly in her arms again, “Mama said Baba will love us.”

“Very well then,” Damian said, as if that settled it, “Mother would not lie about this.”

“But she also said Damian would love me and he doesn’t,” Athanasia said so quietly, Jason’s ears were straining to hear her at all. He wasn’t sure, at first, if the other kids had heard her.

But based on how deathly quiet both Mara and Damian got, and how tense the air became, Jason figured they both heard just fine.

Good.

Stupid brats needed to hear how horrible they were.

At least Damian hadn’t shot back with something scathing like ‘who could possibly love a useless child like you’ or whatever.

When no one said anything for several long minutes, Jason wrapped and arm around Attie and pulled her into a laying position, tucking her up against him as he flipped his blanket over both of them. “We’ll figure it out,” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear him, “I’m gonna find a way to keep you brats safe, okay?”

“Sure,” Damian drawled, from where he sat straighter, to keep watch.

“I will,” he forced, combing his fingers through Attie’s hair when she finished settling down against him, “I promise.”

He just wasn’t quite sure how, yet.

They were just kids, after all. They deserved safety.

Chapter Text

The next day of hiking seemed to drag on forever. There wasn’t any particular reason for that, Jason thought. It just did.

He had grown to hate the trail mix in the bag. And the lamb jerky. And the meal bars.

Everything they had to eat was disgusting and Jason was sick of it all.

He could tell the kids were growing tired of it, as well.

At least none of them had voiced their complaints… It’s not like he could do anything about it.

But it was relieving to know that tomorrow they’d reach a town with a store. And an inn. And a restaurant.

If it had that many businesses, Jason was sure it saw enough travelers that they could blend in fairly easily. They’d just claim to be tourists. Hiking around for fun. Meeting back up with parents, they could say, if someone called him out for being too young to be responsible for the brats.

The only downside was they’d finally exited the Wakhan Corridor, which meant they no longer had the river to help them along. They actually had to follow GPS, now.

Or, at least, that’s what Jason let Damian believe. He knew they needed to head almost precisely southwest, so it wasn’t very difficult to do without the aid. But it kept Damian busy. So whatever.

The brats were fairly quiet over all, which was nice. But Jason supposed he gave them a lot to think about the night before.

He still wasn’t sure what the answer to their problem was.

He could always just take them to some random ass city and try to blend in there. Hide the kids from Ra’s.

Jason almost laughed.

There was no way in fuck he was doing that.

Four days with these brats and he’d already come close to murdering each of them seventeen times. Quite the exaggeration, of course, but the sentiment was there.

If he had to deal with them daily. For, like, ever. Ten years? Holy fuck. Athanasia wouldn’t be eighteen for eleven years.

Jason was only sixteen himself. He couldn’t imagine committing to watching these little punks for eleven more years.

He’d probably definitely kill them if he did.

Surely there was a way to make the whole Bruce thing work…

Athanasia was doing better that day, too, which was great. She was already getting stronger, and Jason was so proud of her..

She still dragged behind the other kids, but she stayed ahead of Jason. Finally allowing him to take up the rear.

But sometime after lunch, still a couple hours from making camp, Athanasia slowed down and started walking alongside Jason.

“Everything okay?” he asked, earning curious glances from Damian and Mara, before they both continued forward. Damian still holding the GPS, just to be sure they were hiking in the right direction.

“Are you going to stay with us after we get to America?” she asked, looking up at him with the most pitiful expression ever.

Jason wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Because if he dropped them off at Bruce’s, then hell no he wasn’t going to. And he didn’t really want to not drop them off at Bruce’s, because he couldn’t think of any other decent solution to this conundrum.

But how the fuck could he just say ‘no’ to that little face?

Either Athanasia had natural puppy-dog eyes, or she was a criminal mastermind who needed to be stopped.

“Why would you be worried about that?” Jason said, instead of committing to an answer, “I told you, I’m going to keep you safe, okay? I won’t abandon you.”

And he wouldn’t.

He’d just… leave them. With Bruce. If they were safe, it wasn’t abandoning them.

“It’s just,” she said with a little sniffle, toying with the ear on her cat as they continued walking, “you said you’re only here because Mother asked you to be.”

“Well yeah, but-“ he started, but stopped when Athanasia started crying.

Like.

Right there.

In front of them all.

While hiking.

It still killed him how she cried. If he weren’t looking right at her, he’d have no clue. He bet neither Mara nor Damian knew she was crying.

“Attie,” he said in distress, stopping abruptly and squatting in front of her, forcing her to stop walking by grabbing onto her arms, “Hey, listen. Shh.”

At his voice, perhaps the tone, the other two kids stopped walking too. Jason could hear it in the crunch of gravel. How one of them kicked the rocks, slightly, turning around.

“You’re just going to leave us, aren’t you?” she said, covering one of her eyes with her free hand, “Mama asked you to take us to Father, right? And then you’re going to leave.”

Fuckin’ hell.

“Attie…”

“You said you’re only here cause Mother asked you to be.”

“Athanasia, I promise you, I’d be right here even if she didn’t,” Jason said, and that was absolutely true.

The second he found out Talia had children-that there were children in the League, he’d been ready to help.

Sure, he didn’t want to be, like, responsible for said children for the next eleven years or whatever, but he had committed himself to keeping them safe the very second he knew they existed.

And that was even before finding out they shared a connection.

Athanasia scrubbed her face against Kitty before peering up at him and asking, “You would?”

“Yeah, of course,” he whispered, patting her on the arm holding Kitty, “Remember what I told you?’

When she shook her head, Jason prompted, “What am I? I’m your what?”

“Big brother,” she whispered, still holding Kitty up to her face.

“Yeah, and what do big brothers do?”

Smiling into Kitty, just enough that her eyes crinkled, Athanasia said, “Protect their little sisters.”

“Bingo, kiddo,” he said, running his hand up and down her arm, “I’m going to protect you, okay? We’re family. That’s what family does.”

At least, Jason thought that’s what family did. He wasn’t very sure, now-a-days.

Jason had thought family meant loyalty, when he was with Bruce. That’s what Bruce had taught him, but apparently even that had been a lie.

Sheila was supposed to be his family, and look what she did. Sold him out to the Joker and just watched.

And Willis…

Willis probably wouldn’t have done that, but he was no where near father of the year.

Regardless, Jason wasn’t going to betray three little kids, kind-of-family or not.

Athanasia leaned forward, then wrapped her free arm around Jason, making him return the hug and squeeze her back.

“Okay?” he asked, earning a nod against his chest.

Good. Okay. Maybe she’d quit crying, now.

Fuck.

Jason let go of Attie a second later when Mara, still standing behind them, waiting on them with Damian, scoffed loudly.

“Something wrong?” he said, forcing himself not to clench his teeth. They just had to have attitudes, didn’t they?

Mara rolled her eyes when Jason turned around, then said, “You’re not even sure if Batman will harbor us and he’s your family.”

“Yeah,” he said testily, “but-“

“But what!” Mara nearly shouted, “What are you even doing? What are we doing?”

“Mara-“ he tried, but she just kept yelling.

“You ruined everything! Grandfather will never take me back, and I didn’t want anything to do with this. I didn’t want to defect!”

“Mara, it’s going-“

“No,” she shouted right over him, “this didn’t have anything to do with me! It was all about Athanasia and Talia and I’m not one of them! I’m not one of you. Batman isn’t my father and he doesn’t even want his own son, why would he want me? Why am I here?”

She was outright screaming, at that point, and Jason was, for the first time, glad they were in the middle of the fucking desert, so no one could hear them.

“I was fine. Why did you ruin everything for me? I would have been fine had you left me behind!”

“Mara,” Jason shouted, finally earning himself a little flinch from the girl, the first acknowledgment that she was even listening. Jason didn’t have to feel bad about it, though, because she immediately glowered at him.

Damian, however, quietly retreated away from Mara, going somewhere behind Jason.

“I don’t know why Talia wanted you to come,” he said honestly, taking a few steps closer to her, his hands held out in a peaceable gesture, “I don’t know any of that. I have no idea. I don’t know what she was thinking, but would you honestly rather be with Ra’s?”

“Yes,” she said, choking a little on the sob she was clearly trying to keep from happening, “he’s my Grandfather!”

“He’s a psycho,” Jason said, inching his way closer to her.

Mara took a step back and cried, “No he’s not! He’s-“

"Why do you believe in him so much,” Jason asked, as gently as he could, stopping in his place when Mara took another step backwards, “He didn’t believe in you.”

“You’re wrong,” she choked out, her face screwing up so much, Jason just wanted to pull her into a hug.

He almost did, but knelt down on the ground, still about four feet away from her where she wasn’t letting him get any closer.

She started crying harder, and managed to shout, “He trained me,” through her tears, “I was to be his heir!”

Damian made his stupid little, “Tt,” sound, and before he could say a single syllable of what Jason was sure was going to be a scathing remark about Mara being unworthy or something, Jason turned around snapped at him.

“Damian, I swear to fuck, if you know what’s good for you, you will keep your trap shut.”

Jason only mildly felt bad about the way Damian shrank back away from him. Stupid brat needed to be scared more often, probably. If he couldn’t be nice on his own, perhaps he needed to be scared into being nice.

“Mara,” he said, after taking a breath to relax, a little, and turning back around to face her, “he was going to force you to face an untrained seven-year-old. He thought it was necessary that you face her, like you had to prove yourself better than an untrained seven-year-old.”

“No,” she protested, “it would have been to teach Talia a lesson, it-“

“He would have made you kill her,” he said, trying for gentle, holding his hands out in a placating manner. He had no idea how to get her to stop crying. If she were Attie, he’d just hug her. Like he’d done not ten minutes ago.

“I-yes,” Mara stammered, before she sniffed and wiped at her eyes, “Perhaps. Sometimes not. He never has Damian and me fight to the death.”

“If that were the case, why didn’t he have Damian face her?” Jason asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“I- I don't know.”

“It’s because he decided he didn’t need two granddaughters. He was going to keep only one of you, and your fight would determine which one.”

“Get off me,” Damian whisper shouted, and Jason looked back just long enough to see Athanasia clutching Damian’s arm.

Oi. He should focus on Mara, probably.

God he couldn’t do this.

At least she’d stopped crying. Mostly.

“Fine,” she half-shouted at him, stomping her foot as she did. In doing so, she’d taken a couple steps forward. “But I have trained my whole life so I can be his heir. So I can prove myself worthy of- of-“

“Of killing a child?”

“No! To prove I am not my father. A traitor! And you ruined it,” she shouted, tears streaming back down her face.

God.

Jason rubbed at his face. Why couldn’t Talia have like, told him this shit or something. Explained to the brats what was going on.

Or, better yet, not fucking died.

Next time Jason saw Slade, he was going to shoot him in the ass for this.

“So you would have killed an innocent seven-year-old to prove that?”

“If that’s what it took,” she said so confidently, Jason wanted to just sigh.

Instead, he asked as gently as he could, still kneeling down in front of her, now within reach of her, “What would that have done to you?”

Mara paused, then wiped at her face again before she asked, a little squeakily, “What do you mean?”

“You, as a person. What would that have done to you?”

“I-“ she started, but just stopped. She shook her head, like she still didn’t understand.

“You are a person, you know.”

“Of course I know that,” she snapped.

“You have feelings.”

“Feelings are useless,” she said, almost robotically. Like it was something she parroted a lot, “They are a weakness to overcome. They-“

“Everyone has feelings,” he cut in, ready to squash whatever the fuck that was. Did Damian believe this shit, too? Probably. “You have them. Damian has them. I have them. There's nothing wrong with that.”

When she just scowled at him, he added, “And having morals is okay, too.”

“What are you even talking about,” she whined, “What does having morals have to do with you kidnapping me!”

“Talia wanted you here for a reason,” he said, refusing to rise to the bait. They both knew he hadn’t kidnapped her. She’d come willingly. “I don’t know what your relationship to her was like, but she obviously decided you were worth saving, too, right along side her kids.”

“I didn’t need saving.”

Jason did sigh, then. “The fact you can’t even see the abuse of the League is only more evidence that you did.”

“It’s not abuse,” she screamed, “It’s- She just wanted me here because to her if Damian couldn’t be heir, then no one could!“

This was going fucking no where.

“Mara,” he snapped, “It’s done. We’ve left. There is no going back.”

“I know,” she cried, “That’s your fault. I hate you.”

“Okay, fine,” he said, trying his hardest not to roll his eyes at that, “But I promise you, I’m not dragging you across Afghanistan to punish you or make sure you can’t be Ra’s heir, or whatever the fuck it is you think. It’s to save you.”

“Why would you even care. You don’t know me.”

Hadn’t they established Jason didn’t know any of them?

“Look,” he said, reaching out and taking Mara’s hands. When she tried to pull it away, Jason just tightened his grip until she relaxed, “I will protect you with my life, Mara, okay? Just like I will Athanasia and Damian, against anyone wishing you guys harm.”

“You don’t have to,” she whispered, the scowl she’d put on ruined by the way her jaw was shaking, “No one asked you to.”

“I know, but I am.”

Jason ran his thumbs over the backs of her hands and said, “Look, just- Just give it a chance, okay? Everything will start looking better once we get to America. I promise.”

“It’s not like I have a choice.”

Mara pulled at her hands again, so Jason let them go. When he stood and turned around, he saw Athanasia looking at him with pleading eyes, no longer holding onto Damian.

Hopefully Damian hadn’t hurt her to get her to let go…

Damian just stared at him as he walked back over and held his arms out to Attie, who easily let him pick her up. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder.

“What?” he asked, hating himself for the bite of annoyance he had at Damian staring at him so weirdly.

Was Damian going to yell at him now, too? Fuck his life.

“Why,” Damian said, then swallowed and tried again, “Why would you do that?”

“Do what?” he exasperated. When Attie shifted against him, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then pat at her back.

Mara had turned her back to them, and was wiping at her face with her tunic. Jason was going to give her a minute to finish pulling herself together, then they had to get moving.

“Die,” Damian said forcefully, like Jason should have just know what the fuck he was talking about, “Why would you die for me? For Mara? That makes no sense. You make no sense.”

“You guys are just kids,” he nearly exclaimed. And he was- had been Robin. That was what Robin did.

Protected the innocent.

And even if Bruce could take the name from him, he couldn’t take that. His mission.

“We are not,” Damian protested.

“Fine,” he acquiesced, holding the hand not supporting Attie’s weight up in surrender, “but I’m your big brother, too. Okay?”

If he was claiming to be Attie’s big brother, then he couldn’t pick and choose, now could he?

Fuck him. He maybe almost didn’t mind….

“Look,” he said, before he could think too hard about it, “we need to keep moving if we want to make it into town tomorrow.”

Attie nodded against his neck, then squeezed a little harder before letting go completely, gracefully dropping straight to the ground.

With only a second’s more of staring, Damian nodded once and pulled the GPS back out, then marched on ahead to lead the way.

Mara didn’t budge, or even acknowledge any of them were moving, so Jason set a hand on her back as he started to walk past her, pushing her slightly as he did. She tensed at the contact, but then started walking, only briefly glancing up at him.

She’d stopped crying, but looked like it was a struggle to keep it that way.

“I promise,” he said, rubbing her back as they kept walking, “it’s going to be okay.”

When she didn’t say anything in response, Jason put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her a little closer, kind of giving her a side hug. He was afraid of doing much more than that, though, because of the knives. She didn’t have one out or anything, but he knew she could grab one in the blink of an eye.

Mara just stared up at him in response, almost like she were indifferent, so he squeezed her shoulder and let go.

One more day. Just one more day and they’d make it to town. Sleep in a bed. Eat real food.

Hopefully they’d hold it together long enough. He really did believe everything would start looking up once they got out of the desert.

He needed to figure out a solution to this whole Bruce-thing, though. Because dumping them off and high tailing it to Ohio apparently wasn’t a solution.

Not after all the promises he’d just made.

Besides…. He wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to just ditch them, anyway. That wasn’t what family did. And… and even if they weren’t really family, that’s what he’d just sold the kids. So he couldn’t go back on that, now could he? That would be teaching them the entirely wrong lesson.

There was plenty of time to think about that later, though.

All that was important in the moment was making it to town. Everything else could be worried about later.

Chapter Text

Jason reviewed the cover story with the kids the next morning. They’d finally found the road to Kabul, and were soon going to be encountering actual people, so they needed to all be on the same page.

He would have discussed it the night before, but after the day they’d all had, no one had been up for chatting.

“We’re siblings,” he explained, the kids all walking just ahead of him, following the road now, “from a remote village in the corridor. Our father moved to Kabul last year, and he’s sent for us.”

There were Afghani passports in his bag, one for each of them, but for this cover story they wouldn’t need them. In fact, having them would detract from it, so he kept them in the hidden pocket. Poor children from a random village was what they were going for.

“Like anyone would buy that,” Damian scoffed.

“Hey, I may not look anything like Mara, but she looks like you, and you look kind of like me.” Especially with all the sun Jason had gotten. Not for the first time, he was happy he tanned, rather than burned. His features were ambiguous enough people usually had a hard time discerning his ethnicity. Mix that with blue eyes, which Athanasia had, and the black hair they all had, and it wasn’t that hard to believe the four of them were related.

Even Jason’s white streak in his hair matched Mara’s red one. They could just tell people she dyed her’s, if anyone asked.

Not that he expected such intrusive questions. It was just good to have the story sorted, first.

“Do you two really have the same birthday,” he asked, remembering seeing the same exact birthdate on Mara and Damian’s passports. October something. 26th? Regardless, the obvious story would be they were twins. Way easier than trying to explain why they were so close in age, otherwise.

“Don’t remind me,” Mara groaned.

“Well congrats, you two are twins now.”

Damian groaned, and Jason smiled. “Perfect. Just keep acting like you hate each other, and no one will question whether you’re siblings.”

“We do hate each other,” Damian said, and Jason just grinned. Not that either of them turned around to notice.

“Uh huh,” he said, grinning even wider when Damian made a frustrated growl, but let it drop.

“I’ve always wanted a sister,” Athanasia said, bouncing a little as she walked, smiling over at all of them.

Mara did not return the smile. Instead, she scowled at Attie and said, “It’s just a cover story, we aren’t really sisters.”

“Hate to break it to you, but ‘cover story’ is gonna be your life now, Mara.” She couldn’t be Bruce’s ex-lover’s niece that just randomly showed up in America with fake papers. That would raise too many questions. Far too many questions. Jason didn’t see a single path ahead of them where Mara didn’t end up being legally Damian’s twin sister.

Jason would be a liar if he said he didn’t find some amusement from that thought. Mr. I-don’t-have-a-sister was going to have two.

“This is so stupid,” Mara grumbled.

“Yeah, but, that’s life,” Jason said, as they continued onward.

Throughout the day, four different vehicles passed them. No one stopped to bother them, which was great. But, at the same time, Jason wouldn’t have turned down the opportunity to sit in the back of a pickup instead of walking. Forever.

Regardless of their lack of ride, sometime around 7pm, by Jason’s estimates, the small village they had been aiming for came into view. Jason could cry for how relieved he was.

Damian and Mara both picked up their pace, obviously eager to reach the inn and have some place to actually rest, while Athanasia actually slowed down until she was walking in line with Jason.

“Are we going to see people?” she asked, reaching up and grabbing onto Jason’s hand as they walked.

“Yeah,” he said, matching her soft tone in response, “Is that okay?”

Attie nodded, but squeezed his hand and asked, “Are they going to tell Grandfather where we are?”

“No. Not everyone is part of the League. It’s highly unlikely these people are. If we don’t mention the League, they won’t even think of it, okay?”

“Grandfather is likely hated by the locals,” Damian said matter-of-factly, from where he and Mara were still walking about six feet ahead of them, “many of his younger recruits are… acquired from nearby villages. You needn’t worry the innkeeper be one of his agents. It’s almost impossible.”

“Right,” Jason said, squeezing Athanasia’s hand back as he smiled, “So, if we just stick to the cover story, it’ll all be okay.”

The inn was relatively easy to locate, once they arrived in the village. There were a few people walking around, socializing with each other, but for the most part no one paid them any real attention.

It only took someone a minute to answer the door when Jason knocked. When she opened the door, who Jason assumed to be the innkeeper looking the four of them up and down, then looked to Jason expectantly.

“Hello,” he said in Arabic, trying his best not to use the League’s accent or dialect, “Do you have a room available?”

But the woman just shook her head and said something in Dari, and Jason cursed himself for not focusing on the local languages. He’d spent the past year trying to perfect his Arabic and learn the different dialects of it. Or… at least the major dialects of it. He hadn’t even started on Dari.

There hadn’t been a plausible reason for him to need it. It’s not like they often ventured out into Afghanistan.

“English?” he asked, trying to make it sound heavily accented. He’d told the kids not to speak English while they were in town, but if it were necessary…

The woman shook her head again and frowned, but Damian huffed next to him and mumbled, in Arabic, “You’re useless,” before he said something in Dari.

Oh.

Good. Maybe he should have asked the brats what languages they spoke.

Jason guessed Damian was saying the right things, because the woman smiled down at him and they went back and forth a few times.

Mara eventually said something, too, then turned to Jason and said, “She says it’s 1000 afghani, but if we want breakfast in the morning it’s 1100.”

Fuck yeah he wanted breakfast.

“There’s only one bed,” Damian whined, but Jason rolled his eyes at him and pulled the right amount of money from his bag and handed it to the woman.

“At least it’s not dirt outside,” he murmured at Damian.

She led them through the house and showed them a decent sized room, that had one full size bed in it. There were plenty of floor cushions stacked in the corner, and the entire ground was covered in rugs.

It was heaven

There was one small washroom, with actual running water. They took turns getting cleaned up, and changed into their fresh pairs of clothes. Once they reached the city, they’d need to actually clean their clothes, but he wasn’t going to bother with that there.

Maybe he’d just buy new clothes and throw out the league robes.

Actually, they should probably do that, anyway. They had no more use for the robes.

By the time they were all cleaned up, it was pushing 8pm, and Jason was beyond ready for bed. Breakfast was at 7, and he was looking forward to it. All he wanted to do was get to bed. Although… even though the bed looked exceptionally comfortable, Jason knew there was no way he’d be able to sleep on it.

Not with a door that had only a flimsy lock on it. Picking locks was pathetically easy, and there was no way he’d be comfortable with the door unguarded. Without anything available to barricade the door, Jason had already decided he would just use his body, and sleep up against it.

“Okay,” he said, after he passed out one last snack for them all to eat. The two older kids were sitting up on the bed, while Attie was sitting with Jason down on the floor cushions.

Talia was right, she’d had plenty of food for the trek. Sure, they still had a couple days hike ahead of them, but they hadn’t even gone through half of the food in the bag, despite being beyond the halfway mark for their hike.

“Okay?” Damian prodded, making Jason shake his head and refocus.

“Yes, so, you brats gotta put your knives on the table here,” he said, pointing at the end table next to the bed.

“What,” Damian demanded, his scowl mirroring Mara’s.

“You want us to disarm?” she nearly shrieked, and Jason held a finger up to shut them up.

“Yes,” he said simply, “Have either of you ever shared a bed with someone else?”

“No,” Mara said, at the same time Damian said, “of course not.”

“Right, so I don’t want one of you waking up and stabbing someone when you get kicked in the middle of the night. So knives on the table.”

“What if we’re ambushed during the night?” Mara asked, looking a little distraught at the thought.

Jason looked around the room, which was decent sized, but had no windows.

“There is only one way into this room,” he said, standing and picking up a few floor cushions to bring to the closed door, “and if anyone wants in, they’ll have to get past me. I’ll sleep right here, okay?”

He’d likely wake the second footsteps sounded outside their room, regardless, and if anyone tried to open the door against him, that would certainly tip them all off.

It’d be fine.

Athanasia stood up and pulled a knife from her waistband, and set it on the table next to one she pulled from her sock next. Jason was a little impressed she had knives on her. He had no idea those were there. With her knives now on the table, she climbed up on the bed and claimed a pillow, hugging it tightly as she laid down.

“I’m not disarming,” Damian still insisted, crossing his arms as he actually pouted at Jason.

“Then you can sleep on the floor.”

“How do you expect me to sleep unguarded?” he demanded, scowling as he clutched at what Jason assumed was one of his knives, hidden in his sleeve.

Jason took a second to answer, because how did he expect that? Damian wasn’t truly unguarded, of course. Jason was right there, and would defend them easily.

But… they didn’t trust Jason. And he didn’t blame them. Jason wouldn’t trust him, if he were in their position. Trust had to be earned, and it was difficult to achieve that trust in a few short days. Athanasia was a clear exception to that, but even then Jason wasn’t sure if it was true trust she held or just childlike naivety.

“The knives will be right there, on the table,” he eventually said. Because even if the kids had no reason to trust him, Jason didn’t trust them not to stab each other in their sleep, “I have no doubt you’re skilled enough to grab it if necessary.”

Damian paused at that, and seemed to think about it before he finally nodded and said, “Yes. I am highly trained.”

“I’d rather sleep on the floor,” Mara scoffed, watching with scorn as Damian pulled no fewer than seven knives off his person and placed them on the end table.

“Suit yourself,” was all Jason said, as he snatched one of the pillows from the bed and tossed them at his line of cushions. They were lucky the double bed was stocked with four pillows, so each of them got one.

Mara made herself a little bed of floor cushions basically as far away from Jason she could get. She ended up squeezing in between the end table and the wall, on the opposite side of the room. Once she was settled, and both the other kids seemed tuckered in, sharing the bed, Jason cut the light out and bid them all a “Good night.”

And somehow, it only took him an hour to fall asleep.

- - -

Amazingly, incredibly, no one bothered them during the night. Jason woke up a few times as the Innkeeper’s family moved about, but each time he was quickly able to dismiss their movements as non-threatening. They were clearly trying to keep quiet, too, which was highly appreciated.

Breakfast was at 7, and Jason made sure he and the kids were ready and packed before they attended.

When they got to the dining room, the Inkeeper’s family was already there. Who Jason assumed to be her husband and two daughters were all sat on one side of the table, with four spots set out for Jason and the kids on the other side.

And Jason nearly cried at what he saw on the table.

Fried eggs.

Hot. Food.

Finally. He was going to eat hot food. He didn’t even care that it was only eggs, as far as the hot food went.

There was also bread and some jams and stuff, which Jason appreciated. The League often served a similar thing for breakfast, but he was most excited about the fried eggs.

After exchanging pleasantries, the Innkeeper served him and the kids some of each of the things on the table, along with a glorious cup of tea.

“How do you say ‘this looks delicious, thank you,” Jason asked the kids, barely containing himself enough to wait until everyone had food to eat.

To his surprise, it was the husband who answered Jason’s Arabic. “Tashakor means ‘thank you,’” he said, smiling when Jason turned his attention to him.

“Tashakor,” Jason repeated, then said, “We have been hiking for a while. I am so happy to be eating good cooking again.”

“My wife mentioned you are on your way to Kabul,” he responded, motioning for all four of them, “to meet up with your father?”

“Yes. He found work there many years ago,” Jason said, as he finally cut off a piece of the egg and dipped it in the yolk. The kids had already started eating, they and the two daughters all seeming too focused on their food to chat.

“That is a four day hike,” the husband said, and Jason kind of wished he knew his name, but he wasn’t sure if he was, like, allowed to ask or whatever. No one had asked him for his name, either.

Jason nodded, savoring the delicious egg, in lieu of saying anything else. He knew it was a long hike. He didn’t want to think about it. He just wanted to eat hot food.

“But my neighbor makes a weekly trip on Tuesdays to trade and bring back supplies,” he continued, after scrutinizing Jason for a moment, “If you go see him after breakfast, he may give you a ride. The truck is often empty on the way there.”

“A ride would be amazing.” Like, better than hoped for. If they could just hop on a truck and be in Kabul in four hours. Well. Jason might actually cry about that.

Maybe if he offered this neighbor money, he’d eagerly take them along.

“Most weeks he leaves around 9, so you will need to hurry once we are done eating.”

“Yes, yes,” he said, eagerly, eating his food a little faster. Not that he was rushing, because that would be rude, but he wasn’t savoring every single bite.

Fried eggs were great, but the possibility of being in Kabul by lunch time? Or… probably a late lunch? Totally worth it. They could buy any kind of hot food in Kabul.

And even better, they could buy friggen plane tickets and get out of Afghanistan.

Jason was so ready to be out of the desert. He wanted tall buildings. Lots of tall buildings around him. Millions of people, speaking languages he understood. He wanted to go home.

Maybe it didn’t have to be Gotham, though. There were lots of large cities in the U.S. Maybe as long as it was an American city, it’d be close enough to home to be comfortable. Large enough to be safe.

Could they be safe without Bruce’s protection?

That… that was a question he should worry about later. Until then, he should do the next best step. And right then, the next best step was catching a ride to Kabul.

They were going to be in Kabul that night.

Just that one thought was enough to keep Jason smiling all throughout breakfast.

Chapter Text

They wasted no time after breakfast. The innkeeper’s husband, whose name was apparently ‘Sohrab,’ led them straight to the neighbor’s house.

The neighbor seemed like a clean-cut man. Just based off the brief smile and nod Jason exchanged with him when they approached. A handful of sons were loading boxes of something into the back of a pickup while the neighbor started talking with Sohrab.

Jason had no idea what they were saying. Both Damian and Mara were listening intently, and neither one had made a face. Damian wore his distrust on full display, so Jason figured if he wasn’t too concerned about what they were saying, Jason probably shouldn’t be either.

“Kahlil,” the man said, extending his hand out for Jason, who took it and nodded.

“Jaah,” he said, introducing himself using the name on his Afghan passport. He hoped his U.S. Passport said “Jason,” on it, because he was a little attached to his name. He supposed it made sense to use names in the local language, though, while traveling. Would make it harder for Ra’s to find them on a flight manifest, too.

“He will be honored to give you a ride,” Sohrab said, smiling once Jason let go of Kahlil’s hand, “he is glad to help children reunite with their father.”

Jason looked down at Damian, who nodded once at him, confirming Sohrab was telling the truth. “Tashakor,” he told Kahlil, hoping he was remembering the pronunciation of ‘thank you’ properly.

Overall, Jason wasn’t getting any weird vibes from any of the people around them. The sons finished loading up the back of the truck, which was now packed full of a mix of things like eggs, wool, and hand woven things. Out of everyone there, Jason was probably the sketchiest person. He and the kids, since all of them were dressed in clothing from the League…

And yet, they were still willing to help. A little touching, if Jason let himself think about it very long. Maybe they hadn’t recognized their clothing.

There was just enough room in the back for their bags. Jason kept his weapon bag with him and shoved it into the footwell up front, but didn’t protest the rest of their bags being out of reach for the duration of the ride. He knew each child was well armed, and there were plenty of towns around. If they never saw those bags again, he knew they’d be fine.

The pickup had an old-school bench seat, and that was it. So the four of them had to squeeze in, with Damian sitting right next to Kahlil, Mara squished between him and Jason, and Athanasia sitting on Jason’s lap.

It was uncomfortable. It was cramped. But it wasn’t walking for four days, so none of them said a single word in protest.

In fact, none of them said many words at all. Damian and Kahlil spoke back and forth a few times, but considering Damian’s tone had remained incredibly cordial, Jason figured they weren’t doing more than exchanging small talk.

Mara spent the entire trip with her arms crossed, staring straight ahead, so Jason left her alone. He was a little tempted to hug her, just to make her mad, but decided against it. The last thing he wanted was to have to hurt or kill Kahlil. And he’d have to do that, if he found out they were actually defecting from the League. Getting stabbed by an eight-year-old was a sure-fire way to expose that little detail of their lives.

Instead, he kept his arms wrapped around Attie as he stared out the passenger window. Every once in a while, Attie perked up and pointed to something they were passing, whispering her observations to Jason, but otherwise the ride was extremely boring. The most exciting part was the herd of cows they passed, which was the coolest thing, apparently. According to a certain seven-year-old.

That is, until the city of Kabul came into view. Attie gripped Jason’s arms tightly as she looked ahead, taking in the sight of an actual city. Jason could sigh from relief at the fact they were about to melt into a city with over four million people.

“That’s a lot of people,” Attie whispered.

All Jason did was squeeze her a little tighter and smile. He was looking forward to introducing her to a city more than twice the size of Kabul.

After a little over three hours of driving, Kahlil diverged from the main road and through the streets of Kabul. Finally, after about fifteen different turns, they pulled into what appeared to be a marketplace, and Kahlil put the truck into park.

“Tashakor,” Damian said, before he continued on too fast for Jason to even try to decipher individual words.

While they were talking, Jason opened the truck’s door and set Attie down on her feet so he could get out. Mara quickly followed, before Jason could pull his bag from the footwell.

Kahlil came around the truck and helped Jason pull their backpacks out, smiling the entire time. Once everyone had their bag, Jason shook Kahlil’s hand again and tried to hand him a few hundred Afghani as a thanks, but Kahlil refused to take it, shaking his head adamantly. Instead of argue about it, Jason slipped it into the truck when he closed the passenger door.

“Okay,” he said, once they’d waved to Kahlil and started walking away, with no real destination in mind yet, “How does lunch sound? I bet there’s some food somewhere around here.”

“Have you even been to Kabul before?” Damian asked, from where he and Mara were walking in front of Jason and Athanasia.

“Uh, no,” he admitted, holding tightly to Attie’s hand, who was squeezing like her life depended on it every time a stranger passed them. He wasn’t quite sure what to do about her nerves. She probably just had to get over it.

“Have you?”

“Tt. Of course. There are excellent restaurants this way,” Damian said, turning on his heel and leading them west, rather than the north Jason had arbitrarily picked. Mara followed Damian, but only after she rolled her eyes at his back.

“What about you, Mara?” Jason asked, “Have you been to Kabul?”

“No,” she said shortly, as she gripped her backpack’s straps. Jason kind of wished he could see her face better, but she was walking in front of him now. He supposed it wasn’t surprising she and Damian hadn’t had the exact same experiences.

“Have you ever left Nanda Parbat?” He hadn’t quite considered that a possibility, but he wasn’t sure why. Even Athanasia had left Nanda Parbat, right?

“Yes,” she said, after hesitating for a moment.

Damian turned and scowled at her, as he corrected her. “No, you haven’t.”

“Yes I have,” she snapped back at him, “Grandfather sent me on missions.”

“Sure,” Damian said, in a little mocking tone that kind of made Jason regret he’d ever asked. Learning more about them was not worth them murdering each other.

Mara didn’t rise to the bait, though, and instead stormed on forward.

“I’ve been to France,” Athanasia said with a little skip in her step. They were cutting between buildings, following Damian’s lead, and there were no people in sight for the moment.

Jason swung her arm some as he asked, “Yeah? What were you doing in France?”

“Do you mean last year?” Damian asked, turning his head so he was looking down at Athanasia, “When Mother spent six months in France on an undercover mission?”

“Yes,” Attie said, grinning wide, “Mama took me with her.”

Damian narrowed his eyes and turned back around, like Athanasia was making no sense to him.

When he didn’t say anything else, Jason asked, “Can you speak French, then?”

“Oui,” Attie said, grinning so wide Jason could just feel the pride in herself Attie had. Then she shrugged a little and added, “Well. A little. Mama didn’t take me out much, but our housekeeper was really nice and liked to teach me.”

Scowling, Damian turned back on Attie and snapped, “So you’re the reason Mother refused to take me?”

The real lack of bite in Damian’s voice that made Jason frown. Six months alone with his mother was probably something he’d dreamed of. Jason certainly dreamed of those sorts of things, as a child.

But what, exactly, was a secret child supposed to do for six months by herself? Starve to death? Maybe one day Damian would understand that… For now Jason would let him pout about it.

Attie quit skipping, and looked rather down, too. “I wanted you to come, too,” she whispered, after a moment.

All it accomplished was Damian pouting harder.

Jason squeezed her hand, and tried to let it completely drop. He was done asking the kids personal questions. All it resulted in was tantrums and hurt feelings…

Damian led the way for about fifteen minutes, bringing them past countless restaurants. So many of them smelled amazing, and yet Damian didn’t give any of them a single glance.

He was probably bringing them somewhere specific, Jason assumed, so he tried to trust the little runt. But then he caught a whiff of a magnificent smell wafting out the front door of a restaurant, and Jason couldn’t ignore it any longer.

“Oh,” he said, as they were passing. He stopped in his tracks, and let Attie pull his arm a little before she, too, stopped to look with him. In the window was the restaurant’s menu taped up, and Jason felt like they were in heaven. “We’re here,” he declared, catching the attention of the other two.

Jason didn’t give either brat the chance to voice any complaints as he entered the restaurant, trusting them to follow. Damian groaned, but did, indeed follow him inside with Mara by his side.

“There is an excellent kabab restaurant three blocks-“ Damian tried, but Jason cut him off.

“I want fucking pizza, we’re getting pizza. You know the last time I had pizza?”

“No,” Mara said dryly as she stood by Jason’s side, where they waited for a table to finish being cleared so they could sit. It was the only free one in the restaurant.

“Me either.” It was definitely before he died, he knew that much. It was probably made by Alfred, too.

“What’s pizza?” Attie asked helpfully, and Jason grinned.

“Pizza is a gift from God.”

Athanasia looked up at him, skepticism clear all over her face, while Damian scoffed loudly.

“We are going to America, are we not?” Damian asked as they sat down around the table, after one of the staff gave them the go-ahead.

Jason let the kids all sit down first, then took a seat next to Athanasia. “Yep.”

“Then why can we not get pizza there?” Damian said, even as he picked up a menu and started looking through it.

After only a brief hesitation, Jason said, “Shut your trap, brat,” and looked down at the menu himself. It was in English, which was just incredible.

Finally something felt familiar.

None of the kids had any clue what they wanted, so Jason ordered a large for them to share. A classic supreme pizza with lots of black olives. When it arrived at the table, Jason was not disappointed.

Damian had, apparently, had pizza before because he knew how eat it. Both girls poked at it skeptically when Jason put a piece on their plates, but eventually picked it up and gave it a try.

It was the best fucking pizza Jason had had in his life. Which, he knew logically, probably was not true, but it tasted just like he remembered pizza being.

“We could have had anything we wanted,” Mara whined, making a face after she took a bite, “and we get cheesy tomato bread.”

“Greasy cheesy tomato bread,” Damian corrected, even though he was half way through with his first piece. Stupid brat clearly liked it.

“Just eat it,” Jason said, poking at Mara’s plate to push it closer to her, “it’s good.”

“It’s really not,” she complained.

When Attie nodded in agreement with Mara, as she started picking off the olives from her piece, Jason sighed. “Fine, you brats get to pick dinner.”

Hopefully they didn’t turn their noses up at chilidogs, once they were in the U.S. Jason wasn’t sure he could handle them refusing to go get those.

They passed most the day shopping. Damian was as big of a snob as Jason expected the son of a billionaire to be. Although, it was probably the whole, thinks-he’s-a-prince thing that made Damian scoff at every single piece of clothing Jason tried to make him pick out. In the end, Jason picked a couple outfits out for him. Damian could whine and pout about the ‘peasant’ clothes all he wanted, they weren’t going to look like assassins any longer than they had to. Damian’s robes would disappear that night, if that’s what it took.

Mara and Athanasia, thankfully, did not protest at all, and picked themselves out a couple outfits that looked just like what every other little girl in Kabul was wearing. Attie had found a little dress with flowers all over it, and was so excited about it she demanded to wear it immediately.

Jason kind of loved how much it made her look her age.

Damian brought them to the kebab place he’d mentioned, and all three kids were much happier with the food there. Jason had to admit it was pretty good…

Hopefully there were Afghan restaurants in Gotham. If only for the kids’ sake. He knew how much he missed his comfort foods.

The four of them found a small inn not far from the restaurant to retire at for the night. In the morning, Jason decided, they could go to the airport and figure out how to get out of Afghanistan. One more night of rest was something he wanted.

Unlike the inn from the night before, this one had quite a few rooms for rent on three floors, and all but one were already filled. The man at the reception desk spoke English, meaning Jason was able to muddle through a conversation with him as he pretended to only know broken English.

Despite being closer to the kind of hotel Jason was used to, the bathroom was shared by multiple rooms on their floor, and when they passed by it on the way to their room, Jason’s skin started to crawl.

He hadn’t seen another guest yet, but he already hated them all. He wasn’t even sure why.

“I call first shower,” Damian declared, after he’d seen the bathroom did, indeed, include a shower, “the facilities last night were inadequate.”

“Yeah, kay, whatever,” Jason mumbled, as he surveyed their room. It was smaller than the last room, but had a window. There was one king sized bed, and no floor cushions.

At least the floor was still better than dirt outside.

Damian wasted no time pulling out some of his new clothes and the soap and a towel they’d been provided, so once he slipped out of the room to go shower, Jason dropped his stuff down near the door and sat down in the doorway to keep his eye on the bathroom.

“Are you going to make us disarm again,” Mara asked, as she organized her bag, incorporating all the new stuff they’d bought.

Jason opened his mouth to answer, but got distracted when a large man brushed passed their room and down the hall. He didn’t stop outside the bathroom, though, and kept going down to the room at the other end of the hall.

“Jason?” Mara asked impatiently, when Jason kept staring at the closed door at the end of the hall.

“Uh,” he stammered, because like hell was he going to disarm that night. He almost didn’t want to take a shower, just to keep from having to be away from the kids that long.

“No,” he finally said, turning to look at the girls. Attie was sitting next to Mara on the bed, snacking on the trail mix she’d stolen from the food bag, kicking her feet as she did, just content looking as ever. “No,” he repeated, “but, God, just don’t stab each other, okay? Can you do that?”

“Yeah,” Mara exasperated, zipping up her bag and dropping it on the ground next to her. She kicked her boots off, too, then put her legs up on the bed so she was sitting fully next to Athanasia.

“I never stabbed you,” Attie said, smiling as she popped a raisin in her mouth, “And you pushed me that one time, remember?”

“Don’t eat all the raisins,” Mara complained, taking the bag out of Attie’s lap, “You’re going to ruin the whole bag.” Despite her protest, Mara very obviously fished out a piece of chocolate before she zipped the bag shut.

“I was eating that,” Attie whined, making grabby hands at the bag.

“You don’t need it,” Mara snapped, holding the trail mix out of Athanasia’s reach, “We ate plenty today.”

That didn’t dissuade Athanasia, though, because she scooted closer and tried her best to get the bag back.

When Mara pushed Attie, and the bag fell over, spilling out all over the bed Jason said, “Girls. Seriously?” What was even happening?

“She’s going to eat all the good stuff,” Mara said, helping Attie put the trail mix back in the zippy bag, “then it’ll be ruined.”

“I was eating the almonds, too.”

Jason sighed as he stood. Once the girls had it all cleaned up, he took the bag, then gave both of them a handful. “It doesn’t matter, anyway,” he said, tossing a few pieces in his own mouth before he put it away, “We can buy more, you know. I bet we could even find some with other fruits, like pineapple, mixed in.”

“I love pineapple,” Attie exclaimed, as Damian tromped back into the room.

“Everything okay?” Jason asked, when Damian scowled at the girls and flung himself on the bed. He’d only been away from his watch of the door for a minute, there was no way anything had happened.

“The water was cold,” Damian grumbled, as he picked at Attie’s trail mix, which was sitting on the bed between them, “Is a warm bath too much to ask?”

“Get your own,” Athanasia whined, covering her snack with her hands.

“Can you kids not bicker for ten seconds?”

Maybe he should go take a shower. If the kids got murdered in the five minutes he was gone, at least he’d have some peace.

In the end, he decided against it. Aside from a quick trip to relieve himself and brush his teeth, Jason stayed in the room so he could keep an eye on all three of them.

As the night went on, both girls got their showers done and Jason saw four more of their hotel neighbors. All were men. All were in their twenties, if he had to guess.

He was happy when he was able to shut and lock their door for the night. Before the kids were allowed to go to sleep, Jason made them get their bags ready to go. He claimed he wanted to get going ASAP in the morning, and for some dumb reason they actually believed him.

Somehow, they hadn’t caught on to his unease about the entire damn inn. Jason almost made them put their boots back on and leave. But the thought of wandering the streets of an unfamiliar city after dark was more daunting than staying put.

All three kids fell asleep rather quickly, all things considered, all sharing the bed, while Jason took the floor. He’d tried to lay down, like he had the night before, with a blanket and pillow stolen off the bed, but every time he closed his eyes, worry would gnaw at his stomach. Even when he took his gun out so he could hold it while he slept, something he’d had to do countless times while out on missions for the League, he could not get himself to relax enough.

So, in the end, he sat there. With his back against the door he could hear and feel everything that went on outside their room. He watched as the kids slept peacefully, or, mostly peacefully, only occasionally twitching or sighing and looked forward to the day he could guarantee their safety. Looked forward to the day he could lay down in a bed and sleep, while all three of them did the same.

That night was most certainly not the night. It came as a massive surprise when he finally dozed off, sometime well after midnight.

Chapter Text

Something slammed to the ground in the hall outside their room.

Jason had been asleep maybe two hours when it happened. But he was awake and on his feet when he heard someone grunt, and another slam a second later.

“Up,” he hissed, at the kids. He had no idea what was going on, but they were leaving. The older two were already stirring, but Athanasia was dead asleep.

“Up, now.” He grabbed the blanket and pulled it off the kids, before turning to collect up all their shit.

Damian jumped up, standing on the bed with his knife in his hand as he looked around. When someone outside shouted, his eyes widened and he looked down at Athanasia, who had merely rolled over and stretched her arms out.

“Wake up,” Damian snapped, lightly kicking at Attie’s shoulder. Mara slipped her boots on, not bothering to lace them, and tossed Damian his.

“Bag,” Jason said, as he collected up the bags and tossed them at each child. Attie was at least sitting up now, but looked like she had no idea what was going on.

The shouting started up again outside, from down the hall and possibly in the stairwell. They weren’t speaking a language Jason recognized.

Before the people got any closer to the door, Jason pushed the bed up against the door and opened the window, ready to get the kids the fuck out of there. Athanasia was still sitting on it, but was at least putting her boots on.

“What are they saying?” he asked the kids, readying his gun , but Mara just shrugged.

“I don’t speak Pashto,” Damian snapped, as he jammed Attie’s other boot on her foot, since she was going so slow.

Athanasia jumped, hard, when the door knob jiggled. She looked at it, with wide eyes, and whispered, “Jason?” allowing Damian to drag her off the bed and toward the window.

The window was easy to open, and a quick survey of their surroundings found the roof to be their easiest escape. Otherwise, it was a three story drop, and there was nothing between them and the hard ground beneath.

“Hurry, to the roof,” Jason whispered harshly, as whoever it was unlocked their door.

Fucking unlocked it.

Mara was first out the window. She didn’t protest Jason’s help, but she didn’t particularly need his push to get herself up on the roof.

Whoever was at the door, started slamming it open, over and over, succeeding in getting the bed to budge, inch by inch.

“Damian,” Jason said, holding a hand out to get him to go next. He let go of Athanasia, where he’d still been holding onto her arm, and scowled at Jason’s offered help. After batting Jason’s hand away, he vaulted himself up and out the window, effortlessly making it to the roof.

The asshole at the door succeeded in getting the door open just enough that he was able to squeeze through. And there was no doubt now.

It was the league.

Somehow, the league had found them.

“Duck,” he shouted, when the assassin drew a throwing star and threw it at Jason. Athanasia was standing next to him and ducked without hesitation. Using his backpack, Jason shielded himself and caught the star.

A quick double tap on his trigger brought the asshole to the ground, and Jason spun to Athanasia.

“Up you go,” he said, as he helped her climb into the window. With a tight grip on her legs, he pushed her upward. Mara grabbed her arms and helped her pull up onto the roof, just as someone kicked at the door, making the bed slide a good six inches.

Jason stuck around just long enough to shoot the new asshole. One he recognized as the fucking desk clerk. If he hadn’t been wearing the traditional robes of the League, Jason might have felt bad about shooting first and asking questions never.

He didn’t.

“The fucking desk clerk was League,” he panted, once he pulled himself up on the roof to where the kids were waiting.

Mara scowled, and asked, “What are we going to do?”

One of the windows near their room opened, and Jason pointed toward the next building, which was slightly shorter than their hotel. “Run.”

And so they ran, while a handful of ninjas jumped up on the roof.

They were able to jump three roofs before the gap was too large. That building had a balcony, half way down, so Jason helped each of the kids drop down onto it, before he leapt and prayed he didn’t break anything. Aside from a protesting ankle, he survived, so they repeated that to get to the ground, then took off running toward the city center.

Jason looked back every block or so, to see if they were being trailed.

They were. But they were moving quickly and erratically enough that throwing knives weren’t coming anywhere near them.

“Where are we going?” Damian asked, once they rounded a corner and were out of sight for a second.

And that was a question. “I don’t fucking know.” He knew very little about Kabul.

“You don’t have a plan?” Damian exclaimed.

Nope. He had no plan. There was barely a plan for how to get out of Afghanistan. This entire thing was being done by the seat of their pants, hadn’t the brats caught on yet?

“We need to find somewhere to blend in,” he panted, holding a hand out to stop the kids, as he stopped at the end of the alley. He poked his head out and looked both ways, seeing only an empty street. Still no ninjas were in sight, so he led the kids across the street to another alley.

“It’s five in the morning,” Mara grumbled.

“I know.” He was fucking aware it was early and nothing was open. It’s not like ducking into a restaurant or store would be advisable anyway. That would just get them trapped.

Jason hated being cornered.

They cut through two more alleys and wound up in a large intersection with several vehicles. Jason looked around frantically, and only saw a couple civilians milling about and half a dozen cars parked up against the building.

Ducking behind one of the cars, so they were hiding between it and the building, Jason said, “I think we need to find a building to hide in.” When all three kids huddled around him, he added, “Do you know of any abandoned buildings, Damian?”

“No,” Damian answered, “But I know where the League has safe houses.”

On second thought, going somewhere with which Damian was familiar was a terrible idea. That’s what got them caught in the first place. Going to Damian’s favorite restaurant and staying at a nearby hotel. Damian was League when he learned about all these places.

“Yes, let’s just hand ourselves over to Grandfather,” Mara scoffed.

“Ravi!” Athanasia exclaimed, almost shouted, startling both Jason and Damian, who both snapped their attention to her.

Before Jason could ask ‘what?’ Athanasia took off.

Like. Bolted.

“Athanasia,” he hollered, running after her. She stopped abruptly, right in front of an elderly man Jason had barely noticed. Mostly because he was, well, very old and frail looking. Hardly a threat in his book.

The elderly man bowed before Athanasia, and dread coiled deep in Jason’s gut.

“Lady Athanasia,” the man said, before he turned to Damian and Mara, who had followed and were now standing on either side of Jason, just behind Athanasia. “Lord Damian, Lady Mara.”

“Ravi? You’re alive?” Damian said, in clear disbelief. He turned to Attie and said, “You know Ravi?”

“Who is Ravi?” Mara asked, echoing Jason’s own thoughts. Someone from the fucking League of Assassins was the absolute last person they needed to be having a catch up session with!

And what the fuck did Damian mean ‘You’re alive?’

“Ravi used to play with me,” Athanasia said, grinning widely at Ravi.

With another bow, Ravi turned to Jason and said, “Ra’s men are still searching. Please, follow me.”

Following strangers went against everything Jason believed in. That was quite literally how children got murdered.

Damian and Athanasia followed him easily, though, which made Mara look at Jason. Probably for direction, or something. Fuck.

Shit. He didn’t know what to do.

“Do you think we can trust him?”

“Well,” Mara said slowly, turning back to see Ravi and the other kids a couple yards away already, “Lady Talia let him know about Athanasia.”

Jason nodded. “Good point.” If worse came to worst, Jason knew he could take Ravi.

The possible assassins he was leading them to, on the other hand…

Ravi ducked into a shop just as Jason and Mara caught up with them. As soon as they were all inside, Ravi shut the door and locked it. The cluttered, small store seemed to be one that sold primarily hobby supplies and knick knacks, considering the shelves were filled with random decor pieces and art supplies.

They did not linger long in the storefront, however, because Ravi led them back behind the desk into a back room.

“How did you find us?” Damian asked, casually following Ravi, looking around curiously as they maneuvered around the even more cluttered back room to a staircase.

“I keep my ear to the ground,” Ravi said cryptically, as he unlocked a door at the top of the stairs, and ushered them all inside.

Mara scowled and said, “That makes no sense.”

Through the door was a residence, small, and much more orderly than the store downstairs. The front room was the kitchen and dining room, and Ravi stopped in the kitchen.

“I knew Ra’s was looking for four children who were in Kabul and intercepted a message about your whereabouts,” he said, turning toward the kids, “I waited outside, hoping to find you pass through here. I was not disappointed.”

“Who are you?” Jason demanded. If this guy was league, he did not want to be trusting him.

“Forgive me,” Ravi said with a deep bow directed toward Jason, “I am Ravi. I was once in service to Lady Talia as the primary caretaker for both Lord Damian and Lady Athanasia.”

‘Once’ in service?

Former league… might be okay.

“I thought you were executed,” Damian said, his voice a little unsure.

An alarm went off, making Jason jump. Looking around, Jason could not figure out the source of the sound at all.

“Someone has forced the door open,” Ravi said frantically, kneeling down as he opened one of the lower cupboards, quickly removing the pots stored inside, “I will explain everything later.”

The cabinets were sitting against the wall that, at a glance, appeared to be shared with a closet. When Ravi pushed the false back of the cabinet to the side, however, a hidden passage was revealed.

“No one will find you there,” Ravi said, as he shone a light, letting them see the ladder, “Please. I will come when it is clear.”

Jason hated everything.

Like fuck did he want to climb down a dark fucking passage into God knew what.

He neither wanted to go down first, leaving the kids alone with Ravi, nor go last, leaving the kids to discover whether the passage led somewhere safe.

Before he could make up his mind, which he’d prefer, Damian slipped into the cabinet, feet first, and quickly climbed down the ladder. Damian’s blind trust in Ravi was not making Jason feel better.

Something crashed downstairs, and Jason pushed Athanasia toward the cabinet. If those were fucking ninjas downstairs, they sucked, but Jason did not want to be standing in that kitchen once they made their way up into the residence.

They were not in a good location.

“Hurry,” Ravi said, as Mara went next.

Quiet footsteps ascended the stairs, which were only audible due to the extremely creaky wood, so Jason took a deep breath and launched himself into the cabinet, feet first as he slid his body down into the passage. Once he was fully inside and gripping the ladder, Ravi slid the back of the cabinet back and, based on the clanking of the pots, put the pots back and shut the door.

Jason was left in pitch black.

He had to close his eyes and focus on breathing, just to keep from freaking out more as he slowly descended the ladder. It went down a good twenty feet, and with every step down, Jason’s heart rate kicked up faster.

They were so trapped. He had no idea what was below him, and no idea what, exactly, they were up against.

“Jay,” Athanasia whispered, once Jason landed on the ground.

Opening his eyes, he looked and saw a crawl space, illuminated by a light somewhere deep in the crawl space. When Jason crouched down, he saw it led to a larger room, where all three kids were sitting, looking around.

At least it wasn’t tiny and dark, he thought. Small mercies.

Jason put a finger to his mouth as he took his bags off and pushed them through the crawlspace. Damian took his bags and put them in a pile, where the kids had already ditched theirs.

Once he got all the way into the room, he took a seat next to Attie and looked around. The room appeared to be some sort of bunker, not unlike panic rooms Jason had seen in the past. There was everything needed to survive for a period of time. Food. Clothes. Bedding. Even a small kitchenette, complete with a sink and burner. Through a door, there even appeared to be a bathroom.

The fact they could survive in that tiny room for possibly weeks did nothing to comfort Jason.

They were trapped. They had willingly and unquestioningly backed themselves up into a corner. Into what could easily become a prison cell.

“Can we really trust a defector?” Mara whispered, apparently on the same train of thought as Jason.

On the one hand, a defector could easily be the most trustworthy person, eager to help others defect from the league, too. But on the other hand, Ravi could use this as an in, back into the league. Ra’s would likely welcome back anyone if they came with his three grandchildren in tow.

“Ravi was always loyal to Mother,” Damian whispered back, “not Grandfather. It is why Grandfather ordered his execution.”

“Ravi is the best,” Attie added, leaning up against Jason as she clearly got comfortable.

With a finger to his mouth, he reminded the kids to shut up. The last thing they needed was to draw attention to their hiding place. Even if they were obviously in a secret basement, it wasn’t entirely impossible for sound to carry up and reveal themselves.

Jason felt way too shaky to do anything more than sit there, focusing on his breathing.

They were so royally fucked. He just knew it.

Chapter Text

They sat in silence for what felt like hours.

Jason tried to listen for the intruders, he did. But other than a single pair of foot steps about half an hour after they climbed into the safe room, Jason heard nothing.

After two hours passed, Jason started to get antsy.

Started. Ha.

He’d been antsy since the second Talia woke him up in the middle of the night, what felt like a lifetime ago. His antsy merely intensified.

Athanasia was evidently entirely unconcerned, because she curled up against Jason and fell asleep within minutes of getting trapped down there.

“I think we should try to get out of here,” Jason said, after he was positive it had been three hours. If they were, indeed, trapped, it was about time they faced the music.

“Ravi has not come for us,” Damian said, lying on the ground, staring up at the ceiling. He had been working through a few katas silently to pass the time, but had finally stopped to lounge around twenty minutes prior.

Jason might have joined him in the exercise, just to have something to do, but he loathed to wake Athanasia.

Mara had spent their time sitting there, basically pouting. She had her arms crossed and was glaring straight ahead, at the empty wall in front of her. No doubt complaining to herself about how Jason had got her stuck in such a situation. Jason had been cursing himself for the same reason, after all.

“Just because you trust Ravi doesn’t mean he is actually trustworthy,” Mara snarled, still sitting there with a scowl on her face and her arms crossed. She didn’t even bother looking over at Damian.

Damian tutted and said, “Ravi is an honorable-“

“You said Grandfather ordered him executed for insubordination,” Mara exclaimed, cutting Damian off before he could finish defending his old caretaker.

“Voices,” Jason hissed, lowly. He wanted to leave the bunker, not attract people to it.

Both kids scowled at him, momentarily, before turning back to each other. Damian’s glower could kill a man, Jason was fairly certain, but the little punk did not say anything further.

“What did he do?” Mara asked, voice much quieter now. Not quite a whisper, but low enough Jason was confident it could not be heard outside the room.

“I don’t know,” Damian admitted, similarly lowering his voice, “Mother only told me when I was presented a new teacher.”

“Hm,” Mara hummed, almost taunting, “Your teachers often turn up dead, don’t they?”

Jason honestly expected Damian to jump her over that. He was dreading having to jostle Attie while he jumped across the room to catch Damian, but all Damian did was frown and advert his gaze from Mara.

“Why are you being loud,” Athanasia mumbled, still curled up against Jason’s side, “Hiding time is the best time to sleep.”

“I cannot sleep in such an indefensible position,” Mara snapped, and Jason silently agreed.

It was one thing to be hiding somewhere no one knew about, like in their rock cave several nights before. Quite another to be trapped where a League member knew… former or not.

Until they knew they could trust Ravi, Jason didn’t see himself sleeping a wink.

“Athanasia,” Damian bit out, turning his attention to the little girl, “Do you know why Grandfather had Ravi… ordered executed?”

“Yeah,” Attie said, pushing herself into a sitting position before she continued, “He thought Ravi was keeping secrets and working against the League, cause he’d come play with me when Mama was away. She said Grandfather thought Ravi tree— trees—“

When she looked up at Jason helplessly, he offered, “Treasonous?”

“Yeah, that, cause he disappeared when Mama wasn’t around and would not tell Grandfather where he went.”

“Talia told you this,” Jason asked, because it seemed like a lot to be telling a little child. Jason wouldn’t tell a little kid why their caretaker was to be executed…

If he could help it. Sometimes his stupid mouth moved without his brain’s permission.

Attie nodded. “She had to explain cause no one could come check on me anymore while she was gone.”

“What—“ Jason hesitated, “What did you when Talia was away for more than a couple days?”

How did Athanasia feed herself? Did she hide in a damn closet for weeks on end? Jason knew Talia’s quarters were larger than the apartment he’d grown up in, but still… To be confined to that, all alone?

“Mama took me with her,” Attie said, so brightly it warmed Jason, a little.

He still couldn’t figure out how the logistics of that worked, either, but clearly Talia had got by with sneaking Athanasia away without repercussions. At least, not until the week prior.

“That is why she brought you to France,” Damian stated, looking incredibly conflicted for a kid that usually just got mad and stabbed his problems. Or… tried to stab. Did he ever actually succeed in stabbing people? Jason couldn’t imagine it was encouraged he stab his servants and teachers and Mara all the time, just because he was angry.

Then again, maybe he was kept too busy with training to get angry.

“It seems,” Mara said, “Talia’s treacherous ways have dragged many down with her. I always knew your line—“

“Mara,” Jason interrupted tiredly. Why’d she have to keep poking at Damian? The hornets’ nest was quiet, why couldn’t she let it be.

The door upstairs scraped open, and all four of them jumped at the sound. As the ladder creaked under the weight of whoever was on their way, Jason pulled his gun from his waist, and the older two kids similarly produced knives.

A moment later, however, Ravi kneeled down and looked in through the crawl space and smiled.

“Forgive the delay,” he said, from still outside the room. Not much light reached him where he was, but there was just enough to see Ravi’s freshly split lip and bandage around his arm. Jason frowned.

“I had to tidy up after our guests,” Ravi continued, “and ensure they left no… unwanted presents for us.”

Damian perked up and asked, “Did they leave any bugs?”

“No, my lord. They seemed satisfied with my answers that I do not know anything about any traitors.”

Mara huffed loudly, but before she could whine about not wanting to defect, or whatever she was mad about in that moment, Damian asked, “Did they recognize you as a defector?”

“No. I am but a simple shopkeeper. This shop has been in my family for generations.”

Right.

“Why don’t you join me upstairs,” Ravi said, as he stood back up, leaving only his feet visible, “I have prepared some tea.”

Is this guy serious a League of Assassins Alfred? Tea fixed everything, didn’t it?

Damian and Athanasia both hopped up, clearly excited, and started toward the exit.

“Nah uh,” Jason asserted, as he pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his bags, “I’m going first.”

If this Ravi guy was leading them to a trap, Jason was gonna shoot as many assholes as he could before any of the kids got near them.

Jason forced himself through the crawl space and latched onto the ladder before he stood up. As much as he wanted to close his eyes as he climbed onto the first rung of the ladder, he forced himself to keep them open.

Now was not the time to be a fucking coward, he told himself.

Thankfully, with the cabinet above open, Jason was able to see some. So it wasn’t pitch black. And once Ravi crawled out through the cabinet, Jason was able to see more, without Ravi’s body blocking the light source.

He steadied his breath as he got to the top of the ladder, and tossed his bags out first. He wasn’t fond of not having his weapon bag on him, but it would be difficult to crawl out with it hanging off him. All Jason could picture happening was it getting caught on the ladder, and that momentary distraction costing him his life.

Once he crawled out of the cabinet, however, finishing his exit in a roll to his feet, Jason breathed a sigh of relief.

They really were alone.

And true to Ravi’s word, there was a pot of tea sitting on the table, with five empty cups waiting.

“It’s clear,” Jason said, before Damian got to the top of the ladder.

“I know,” Damian huffed, glaring at Jason as he crawled out, “I could have told you that.”

Like Jason would have believed it.

“Ravi, why was I told you had been executed?” Damian demanded the very second he was fully standing in Ravi’s kitchen.

“I regret you were not let in on the secret,” Ravi said, with actual remorse in his eyes. As if he would be sorry he was not dead, or something. Because it was fucking Damian’s feelings and life that mattered more than the dude being executed.

Fuck the whole ‘servant’ bullshit the League had. They weren’t servants. They were slaves, and if Jason thought about it too long he got pissed.

“Lady Talia faked my execution and arranged for my escape,” Ravi continued, “For it to succeed, no one could know about it.”

“Athanasia knew,” Damian said petulantly, accusation in his voice. Despite the scowl on his face, the slight tremble in his lip betrayed how upset he really was.

Okay.

So maybe… if Ravi was to Damian what Alfred was to Jason… he would have been pretty damned upset if Alfred got killed. Or he thought he got killed but really he just moved to New York and didn’t tell him.

But Alfred still wasn’t a slave. Or even a servant, despite technically holding the position of ‘butler’ to the Wayne family. So it wasn’t quite the same.

Athanasia pulled herself through the cabinet next and immediately launched herself at Ravi, wrapping her arms around his waist in a tight hug.

“No one knew about Lady Athanasia,” Ravi responded, before returning Attie’s hug with a, “I have missed you, as well, my lady.”

Damian opened his mouth to respond, but snapped it shut and stomped over to the living room they could see through an open door. He flung himself down on a seat, crossing his arms and outright pouting.

Whatever.

Mara crawled out of the cabinet, then just stood there. In the middle of the kitchen. Staring dully at the wall with her arms crossed.

Cool. Two brats in moods.

“Please,” Ravi said, as he pulled away from Athanasia finally to motion toward the table, “join me for some tea.”

As Jason and the girls took a seat, Ravi poured each of them a glass and said with a raised voice, “Your tea will grow cold, Lord Damian.”

Jason smirked into his tea as Damian stomped back into the kitchen, a murderous scowl on his face. Ravi wasn’t even fazed.

This guy was a League of Assassins Alfred, wasn’t he?

The tea was delicious. Jason waited for Ravi to drink some of his, but figured the old man had had plenty of opportunities to kill them already, so it was highly unlikely to be poison. He didn’t recognize the flavor as any of Alfred’s favorites to serve, but Jason never once claimed to be a tea aficionado.

Each of the kids added a little brown sugar to their cups, while Jason was content with the flavor as it was. They enjoyed the tea in silence for a bit, and Jason was more than happy to have the moment to relax. He fucking deserved it.

It had been a ridiculously long week, and he knew they had likely at least another week of traveling ahead of them. Not to mention whatever the fuck faced them once they ‘arrived.’

Pushing the thought of arrival out of his head, Jason simply enjoyed the peace of the moment.

“Lady Talia informed me of her mission before she left,” Ravi eventually said, after a sip of his tea.

“Like, that we were leaving the League,” Jason asked, trying not to visibly pout that the peaceful moment was, apparently, over.

“Yes. I was saddened to hear about the outcome, however I am glad you four have made it this far.”

Jason sank down in his seat a little and mumbled, “This far doesn’t feel very far at all.” They were barely 400 miles from the League’s compound.

Ravi nodded. “I assume you wish to leave via the airport?”

“Yeah. Our next stop is New Delhi.”

“What?” Damian demanded.

Mara was quick to follow up with, “Why?”

“I thought we were going to America,” Athanasia whispered, and Jason wanted to pound his face against the table.

“You can’t fly from Kabul to America, guys.”

“Yes you can,” Damian objected, “Maybe not direct, but—“

“Not on fake Afghan passports and no visa you can’t,” Jason snapped, “Talia has better documents waiting for us, but we have to get them. If we want into the U.S. with minimal questioning, which we do, we need U.S. passports, kay?”

Jason was not going to subject himself to intensive questioning by customs agents. Actually, he kind of doubted they’d be allowed on the plane in the first place without a visa, anyway. If they flew from Afghanistan. They needed to fly in from one of the countries the U.S. didn’t require visas from with appropriate passports. Period. There was no getting around that.

“You will be questioned quite extensively if you attempt to fly as armed as you are,” Ravi pointed out.

Jason… hadn’t thought about that.

Shit.

Fuck.

They would have to disarm completely in order to board a plane.

Jason’s heart rate spiked just thinking about it. And if they ditched their weapons, he wouldn’t have any upon arriving in Gotham.

The thought of facing— of stepping foot into Gotham without a means of defense—

“I believe I can be of service in that regard,” Ravi said, dragging Jason back to the moment.

Ravi stood from the table and walked over to a bookshelf that was mostly populated by cookbooks and kitchen supplies. Pulling one of the larger cookbooks out, Ravi turned back to them and revealed the book was actually a box. And inside was a stack of… cards. Of some sort.

“You have some?” Damian asked in amazement, “I have always wanted one of these.”

“Then this is for you, my lord,” Ravi said, handing Damian one of the cards before he distributed one to each of the rest of them.

“What is it,” Jason asked, staring down at what was just a piece of plastic the size of a credit card. One side had printing on it. A symbol with Arabic script next to it and a string of numbers at the bottom. Whatever the language was, Jason did not recognize. The card reminded him of a library card, though.

When Damian folded his card in half, the true purpose became clear.

“These appear as simple cards to the x-ray machines,” Ravi explained, as he walked the girls through how to fold the cards like Damian had, “However, when you hold it and apply pressure with your fingers here,” he moved Athanasia’s thumb to one corner, “and here,” he moved her pinkie to another corner, “it transforms into a knife.”

“It is not good for throwing,” he continued, “however it can stab through anything your standard knife can.”

“Cool,” Jason said, when he got his card to turn into a knife, too. Running his finger along the blade showed it was sharp. He had no idea how they managed to make plastic act that way. Perhaps it wasn’t entirely plastic?

Where should he stash it? In a wallet seemed like the most logical spot. That would attract the least amount of scrutiny to it, going through airport security. Although he did not own a wallet…

They had to go shopping again, didn’t they?

Also, how easily accessible would it be in a wallet?

“It is not the best, but if you stick to highly populated areas, you should be safe,” Ravi said, placing the cookbook disguised box back on the shelf.

“So what are we supposed to do with our weapons?” Jason asked, after he folded his knife back into its card form and set it on the table. Maybe if they rearranged their stuff and only carried their backpacks onto a plane, they could get most of their knives into his duffle bag and check that.

He wasn’t a fan of having to wait around to retrieve a checked bag, but if it meant they wouldn’t be defenseless while wandering random cities in Asia and Europe…

“I can hold onto anything you cannot check,” Ravi said, following Jason’s train of thought, “And once you arrive in your destination, I have means of smuggling such items into America so they may be returned to you.”

“We can’t just check twenty knives,” Jason said mournfully. That would arouse a shit ton of suspicion. Why would four kids need so many? Actually, Jason would not be surprised if they had closer to forty between them and his weapon bag.

“No,” Ravi agreed, “but we can disguise ten or so to look like a collector set.”

After that, they spent the remaining morning hours unpacking their bags and rearranging their supplies to look more ‘touristy.’

“You must look the part,” Ravi had said, “if you wish to pass as simple tourists, headed to India for a short holiday.”

After moving all their camping supplies to the duffle and redistributing the remaining food between the four backpacks to look more like ‘flight snacks,’ Ravi helped Jason put together a list of supplies they needed to fill out the bags. Ravi did the shopping trip for them, leaving the four of them in his apartment to prepare lunch.

Well. Jason prepared the lunch, following a simple recipe Ravi translated to English for him before he left.

Jason put the kids on guard, and had them keep an eye on the cameras in the closed shop, as well as the entrances of the building, just to be sure no one could sneak up on them. If it also kept them apart and quiet, that was just a bonus.

That afternoon, they would finish packing their bags and purchase plane tickets.

They were finally going to leave Afghanistan.

Jason couldn’t be more ecstatic.

Chapter Text

Their flight was scheduled for 10 the next morning.

Ravi exchanged a chunk of their money, plus some of Talia’s he had been holding onto, for a prepaid card, making it tons easier for them to purchase the plane tickets. It meant they didn’t have to look suspicious as fuck for dolling out huge wads of cash for last minute plane tickets.

Also, it meant they wouldn’t have said wads of cash when moving through customs. Apparently that was something that agents looked out for. Because drug smuggling, or something.

Jason might have technically been smuggling three kids out of the country, but no one needed to know that. He wasn’t human trafficking or anything, just rescuing some stupid annoying little brats from a dumb death cult.

Actually, only Mara was really being smuggled into the U.S. he thought idly as Ravi helped them set up their sleeping arrangements for the night. Mara wasn’t a U.S. citizen like the rest of them. At least, not legally. Not technically. Jason was confident whatever papers Talia had drawn up for her were air-tight, though, and would appear legal enough to not give them trouble.

Ravi purchased them enough stuff to convince the border agents they were just tourists, too, so really getting out of the country should be a breeze. As tourists, their tickets had to be round trip. Jason had originally been annoyed they would have to waste the money on round trip, until he realized it didn’t save that much to purchase round trip over one way.

The living room in Ravi’s apartment had two small windows. Long before the sun set, Ravi drew the blinds, though, so no one could see into the apartment. They’d had a debate on where to sleep. Ravi had suggested the safe room, since it was the only room he could guarantee as safe, but climbing back down into that creepy ass, tiny basement was the last thing Jason wanted to do.

Or, well. Maybe not the last thing, but it certainly wasn’t at the top of his list, either.

In the end, the living room had been the compromise.

Since Ravi was confident the assassins had cut their losses and moved on, Jason was trying to trust it. And even if they hadn’t, Ravi walked Jason through what security systems the building had, and even Jason was confident they’d be warned the instant someone breached the perimeter.

It wasn’t perfect, and Jason didn’t feel fully safe, but it beat sleeping out under the stars.

Ravi dropped an armful of blankets in the middle of the living room, and finished helping Athanasia and Damian set up little ‘beds’ made from cushions and pillows in the room.

“I do apologize for not having better accommodations,” he said, as he finished preparing Attie’s bed, “it is not often I have guests.”

“This is fine,” Jason said, stretching out on his little ‘bed,’ which he was kind of happy hadn’t been invaded by Athanasia. All four of them had chosen different walls of the room.

Mara had already lay down, and was either asleep, or pretending to be.

She hadn’t said much at all all day, and was pissed they were there in the first place. It was not her favorite thing, trusting a ‘defector.’

Reminding her that she was a defector, too, was not the right thing to do.

Jason hadn’t decided if he cared.

Athanasia and Damian stayed up a little longer, each of them chatting with Ravi about random, mundane things.

Once they turned out the lights, all three kids went quiet, and they all seemed to fall asleep instantly. They’d agreed on no watch that night. Just because of the security system.

And Ravi.

Damian had sworn Ravi was a light sleeper.

So was Jason, so he wasn’t worried.

But even with their perceived safety, it took Jason hours to fall asleep. His sleep was fitful, at best. He woke many times during the night. Whenever one of the kids shifted in their sleep. When the house ‘settled.’ When Ravi got up to use the restroom. When the wind blew strangely outside.

All around, it was the worst night he’d had thus far, as far as relaxing went. Because even at the hotel, once he’d fallen asleep, he’d been asleep.

Sometime around 5 in the morning, he stirred again at movement in the room. He cracked an eye open, just enough to see Damian get up and trudge out of the room.

When the bathroom door closed a second later, Jason rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

He couldn’t, though.

No matter how hard he tried.

Instead, he found himself listening for the bathroom door to open again and Damian to return to the living room.

Several minutes went by, during which time Jason considered rolling back over and looking to see if Damian had somehow magically returned, silently, he finally heard the bathroom door open.

But Damian did not return to the living room.

Jason groaned to himself, very quietly so not to wake the girls, and considered getting up to check on the stupid little brat.

“Lord Damian, I trust you slept well?” Ravi said, in a hushed tone from the kitchen.

Right. Okay. Ravi was awake. Cool.

Maybe Jason could actually get some sleep, then. Knowing Ravi was awake and watching over the kids. Keeping Damian entertained, or whatever.

“Well enough, yes,” Damian replied, and Jason shut his eyes, willing the sleep to take him. Their voices were quiet enough he had to strain to hear, so it shouldn’t be difficult to tune them out.

Why the fuck was a literal eight-year-old up at 5am, anyway?

Some dishes clanked against each other, and Ravi asked, “Would you like some tea?”

“Yes,” Damian said. After a long pause, he added, “Please.”

“Certainly, my lord.”

Jason couldn’t help but smirk.

Time passed, after that. He wasn’t sure how much, but he was jolted back to full awareness when Mara snorted in her sleep, then rolled over.

The sounds in the kitchen were muted, and few. He could hear when the teacups were placed back on the table. Heard one of them take a particularly loud sip at one point. Could smell the tea…

He’d never been a huge fan of tea, but it was almost tempting enough to get him up to see if he could have a cup.

But then Damian whispered, “Why did you keep this secret from me?” and Jason decided maybe he should just… not.

“It was not my secret to tell,” Ravi said plainly.

Teacups clanked again, and it was a long moment before Damian spoke again. Jason almost wished the living room door was shut, so he couldn’t hear the conversation. He felt… almost wrong. Intruding on it.

Damian nearly whispered, “I trusted you.”

Ravi hummed, then asked, “But you did not trust Lady Talia?”

“Well, I did. But…”

“Lord Damian,” Ravi said, sighing, “if I may.”

There was a pause, during which time Damian must have nodded, or something, because Ravi continued, “It was never your mother’s decision how much time she spent with you. Your grandfather took you from her when you were an infant.”

Jason pulled his pillow up and over his face, forcing himself to not growl in frustration.

Because.

Yeah.

Fuck Ra’s al Ghul.

“So she made a new kid instead of fight for me?” Damian asked. Jason could hear the scorn in his voice.

“Athanasia was already in existence when you were taken.”

Damian was quiet for several seconds, hesitating, before he finally said, “She was?”

“Yes,” Ravi said solemnly, “I cannot pretend to know exactly what was going on in her mind, but I will tell you, I advised her to take Athanasia to your father rather than raise her in secret.”

That would have definitely been better for Attie.

Beyond definitely.

But Jason couldn’t help but wonder if Bruce would have accepted them. And, if he did, would he have still adopted Jason…

Not that Jason cared. Getting adopted by Bruce was what got him killed.

It was also what got him off the street, though…

And would Damian and Mara have been able to escape the League? Cause as much as he wanted to murder the two brats, or ditch them the first chance he got, he also didn’t want them spending any more time in the League.

There was absolutely no place for children in the League.

Maybe Talia should have packed them all up when they were babies and taken them to Bruce.

“Then why didn’t she?” Damian demanded, and even though Jason couldn’t see him, he just knew Damian had his stupid little scowl on his face. The one he made when trying to look all tough and challenging.

Because eight-year-olds ever looked scary.

“Because,” Ravi explained gently, “she refused to leave you.”

“Then…Why did she not tell me? Did she think I would pick Grandfather over her?”

“Would you have?”

Mara would have, Jason thought. And considering Damian had been trying to convince Talia not to defect, that first night, before Deathstroke found them, there’s a decent chance Damian would have, as well.

But Damian protested, a touch too loud for 5 in the morning with sleeping kids in the next room, “No! Obviously I didn’t. I stayed with that buffoon Jason rather than return to Grandfather because she asked.”

“At least I’m not a demon,” Jason grumbled under his breath, not that Damian nor Ravi could hear him. Mara shifted, though, so Jason lifted the pillow off his face and looked over.

But she had her eyes closed, and looked just as asleep as she had been all night.

“My point is,” Ravi said, his voice still calming and gentle. He reminded Jason so much of Alfred. God, he missed Alfred. “She loved you just as much as she loved Lady Athanasia. It was your grandfather that got in her way of spending time with you.”

“She could have tried harder.”

“How so?”

“She could have taken me to France last year,” Damian complained, his eight-year-old attitude shining through, “I begged her to take me. She told me begging does not become me and did not allow me to mention it again.”

“Do you believe your grandfather would have allowed you to abandon your training for six months?”

“Mother could have—“ Damian started, but paused for a moment and said, in a defeated tone, “No.”

“No,” Ravi parroted, “Lord Damian, I hope you one day come to understand it was not your mother to blame for any of this, but your grandfather.”

“But, Grandfather…” Damian said, trailing off, like he didn’t know where to go with that.

Ra’s brainwashing ran deep, Jason knew. It was going to take a lot of fucking work to rinse it out of both the kids.

As nervous as Ravi had made Jason, he was fucking glad they ran into him. If only for his words to Damian.

Hopefully Mara was awake and listening, too…

That would be very helpful to Jason.

“I will admit, here in the freedom outside the League,” Ravi said, “I never liked Ra’s. It was always Lady Talia to whom I was loyal.”

“But, he—“ Damian said, clearly scandalized, “He’s Ra’s al Ghul, he’s—“

Heh.

Damian couldn’t finish the sentence.

Good.

“What is the phrase he was fond of saying to you?” Ravi asked, when Damian had floundered for a full minute. Jason kind of wished he could see his face, to see what confused and lost looked like. Rather than just the angry and mean he’d been seeing.

“Which one?”

“You exist at…” Ravi prompted, and Jason already hated where it was going.

Damian inhaled sharply, then finished, almost too quiet for Jason to hear,“…at his sufferance.”

Okay.

Okay okay okay.

Yeah.

Fuck Ra’s al Ghul.

“Do you know what that means?” Ravi asked, and his gentle tone was kind of helping Jason keep calm, but not really.

It wasn’t helping Damian, either, apparently, because Damian said, “Yes,” shortly, and Jason could practically hear Damian’s clenched teeth.

Or maybe that was just him projecting. Because he’d clenched his jaw and fists, all in an attempt to release his anger without hitting something.

He really needed to hit something. Preferably Ra’s stupid fucking face.

Who the fuck told a child they exist merely at their whim. ‘I could kill you whenever I want,’ basically.

Well, Ra’s had said shit like that to Jason. But he was Jason. He already knew Ra’s hated his guts and only let him live because of Talia. Damian was Ra’s grandson.

Didn’t that mean fucking anything?

Jason didn’t think he could get any angrier, then Ravi asked, “Do you agree with it?” and Damian fucking hesitated.

Hesitated.

“I—“ he started, but floundered again.

And Jason couldn’t help it. He rolled over and punched the floor. Hard.

Because how the fuck could a kid as aggressively confident as Damian al Ghul honestly agree that his grandfather had complete control over whether he deserved to live.

Jason wanted to scream.

Both girls jumped, when he hit the ground, Attie so violently she fell off the cushions she was lying on.

Looking out the living room door into the kitchen, Jason could see both Damian and Ravi staring at him, and could feel the eyes of both girls on him, too, so he said, “Sorry, but fuck Ra’s.”

“Fuck you,” Damian shouted back, jumping up from his chair and storming out of the kitchen. He slammed the door to Ravi’s room, and then threw something at the wall shared with the living room.

Hearing Damian say that was enough to snap Jason out of the fog of rage he was trying to suppress. The kid was eight.

Jason really hoped he wasn’t the one to teach Damian that word.

Maybe… maybe he should stop cussing so much in front of the kids.

Ravi sighed, loudly, but did not get up to chastise Damian. “One day, he will understand,” he said, instead, loudly enough Jason knew Ravi was speaking to him.

“Maybe,” Jason said, once he’d taken a breath and sat up, “but Ra’s brainwashed them pretty good. He’s one giant bastard.”

“I am right here,” Mara said tersely, but didn’t object to anything else.

Maybe she had heard the entire conversation, too…

“Perhaps, but not as thoroughly as you might think,” Ravi said, as he stood, “Would you three like some tea? It is about time to be stirring, anyway.”

“Yes,” Mara said, standing up and heading toward the kitchen. Belatedly, she added, “Please,” even though Ravi hadn’t shot her any sort of look.

Who knew the kids knew manners?

“I never even met Grandfather,” Attie said, bouncing over to sit next to Jason, all a little too cheerfully for 6 in the morning, or whatever time it was. And after such a heavy fucking conversation.

“I know,” he replied anyway, “I’m glad.”

“Me too. He sounds mean.”

Jason laughed and put his arm around her shoulder when she leaned up against him. “Yeah, you could say that.”

Mean was a fucking understatement.

But it didn’t matter. Because they were leaving.

In just a few hours, they’d be at the airport, boarding their plane to India.

Damian never had to see that motherfucker again in his life. Jason was going to make sure of it.

And if Ra’s al Ghul ever attempted to even look at the kids again, Jason was going to shoot his body so full of lead not even the Lazarus Pit could save him.

Actually, he was going to do that, anyway. Murder him, then bury him in pieces all over the world. Or maybe cremate him. Do something so he could never be revived ever again.

First, though, he was going to make sure these stupid kids made it to safety. If Ra’s had honestly told them shit like he could kill them whenever he wanted, it was unlikely any of them had ever felt safe a day in their lives.

Jason kind of knew what that felt like. His dangers and fears had always been a different sort, but he’d certainly grown up feeling unsafe, even in his own home. It wasn’t until he was living in the Manor had he know what safety was.

These kids deserved to feel that. To know what it was. No matter what Jason had to do, he was going to ensure they got it.

And, he was maybe starting to look forward to showing them what safety was.

Chapter Text

The morning passed a lot easier than Jason had been expecting. After Damian’s fit, he thought the brats would be absolutely unbearable as they attempted to finally leave Afghanistan, but nope. They were surprisingly bearable.

Mostly.

Athanasia cried as they said goodbye to Ravi. Jason felt bad, taking her away from him, but he couldn’t ask an old man finally free of that motherfu— stupid cult to risk his life and freedom trying to raise who were basically the prince and princess of said cult.

Also, that would still leave him with Mara, and no simple solution for where to ditch her…

At least with Athanasia and Damian there, it made perfect sense for Bruce to take Mara, too. Without them… he didn’t see a single reason Bruce would take her. Why would he put his neck on the line to protect some random kid from the League, when he had no obligation to her? And she didn’t even want to be away from the League?

Then, obviously, it was a dumb idea to leave the kids right under Ra’s’ nose by leaving them with Ravi. That was just asking for trouble.

“Where are we going after New Delhi,” Mara asked, after Jason had paid the driver who brought them to the airport and they were finally out of stranger earshot, for however briefly it was until they entered the actual airport.

Damian and Athanasia trailed along behind Jason and Mara, and Jason tried his best not to snap at them about not letting him take up the rear.

They were in public. At an airport. It was probably the safest spot for them in the entire stupid country.

“I’ll tell you in New Delhi,” Jason said, waving a hand to swat off any protests the kids had about it.

Mostly, the answer was I don’t know, but telling the kids shit like that never went over well.

“You are infuriating,” Mara grumbled, but thankfully didn’t argue further.

Jason grinned, as they reached the doors to the airport’s entrance and said, ‘I am aware, thanks,” as he opened the doors for the kids to go through.

Passing through security was easier than Jason had been anticipating, but still outright frustrating.

It wouldn’t be a trip to an airport without frustration, after all.

The first agent they encountered started interrogating them in Dari. Jason had no idea what he was asking, but Damian answered the first question with, “New Delhi,” so Jason could guess.

After a couple more questions, all of which Damian answered, the man raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Jason and asked one more question, looking down critically at Jason’s passport, which he held in his hand.

Damian answered in the negative, shaking his head, so the man help up a finger and called someone on his radio.

“What’s wrong?” Jason asked the kids, in Arabic. Had they discovered the passports fake?

Were they too suspicious of a bunch of kids traveling internationally? Ravi had dressed them like rich tourists, so it wasn’t like they looked suspicious.

Had Damian said something stupid? Jason wouldn’t be surprised by that one.

“They’re getting an interpreter for you,” Mara said.

“Oh.” Great. He had kinda hoped they’d just smile and nod and let him through, and not bother trying to bridge the language gap.

The agent asked them to move to the side as they waited and continued checking people’s documents behind them, and Jason focused entirely on not looking suspicious as hell while they waited.

“When are we gonna get on the plane,” Attie asked, making Jason smile.

Leave it to her to make them look more like kids than anything.

“Once they call for boarding. We’ve got another hour or so. First they’re gonna search us.”

Hopefully they hadn’t already searched their checked baggage and were going to interrogate them about the knives. Ravi had done a good job making them look decorative, like collector’s items.

Jason just wasn’t sure how to explain why they were bringing them in the first place.

Maybe he’d say ‘to sell them, if we need more money,’ or something. How believable would that be?

“Good morning,” a man said, as he approached them from behind. Once they turned around, he introduced himself as the interpreter and took their documents, like the first agent had done.

“Where are you going?” the interpreter asked first, in a dialect of Arabic Jason knew enough to be able to follow.

The League’s dialect was unique, but not far off from the academic version taught in many schools.

“India,” Jason answered, offering an easy smile as he shifted into an easy stance, “New Delhi, for sure.”

“What are your plans?”

Jason shrugged casually, still smiling, but trying to look more excited, “Explore the city, I want to see some of the bigger things around the country, too. Like the Taj Mahal.”

“No,” Damian groaned, and if Jason hadn’t been taught how to not by Batman, he would have startled, “I keep telling you that it is way too touristy. I want to see the Red Fort.”

Jason had no idea what the Red Fort was, but the interpreter smiled and said, ‘I have seen that. It was certainly worth the trip.”

“Is it really red?” Mara asked, and the interpreter smiled wider.

After that they were only asked quick questions about when they were returning, and whether they knew anyone in India.

“Two weeks,” and “No,” were Jason’s answers, and they were allowed to move on toward the x-ray machines. The interpreter did follow them, but kept up a conversation with Damian and Mara about all the fun things he had done during his most recent trip to New Delhi.

Athanasia put her hand in Jason’s and squeezed it tightly as they got in line, and kept Jason between her and the interpreter.

The interpreter certainly noticed, but he must have assumed she was nervous, because he smiled and said, “Don’t worry, the x-rays don’t hurt. They just take pictures.”

“Yep,” Jason agreed, squeezing Attie’s hand back as he smiled at her,” and they do this to keep us all safe.”

“Safe from what?” Athanasia whispered, just barely loud enough the interpreter heard her.

The interpreter gave her a gentle smile as he explained, “A lot of things. It’s just to make sure bad guys don’t try to get on the plane, and so we can keep dangerous things off. Like things that can cause accidental fires.”

“Like cigarettes,” Jason said.

Attie nodded, and watched carefully as Mara and Damian put their backpacks on the belt first. Jason let go of her hand, then motioned for her to follow.

Thankfully, none of the brats had tried to smuggle actual weapons through, because none of their bags were flagged for further searching, and their ‘library cards,’ apparently looked legit enough in their various wallets they each had in their bags.

“You’re all set,” the interpreter said, once they’d all walked through the metal detector themselves, and been deemed ‘not a threat.’ “Will you need any help at the gate?”

“No, thanks,” Jason said, as he handed each kid their bag, “I think we can figure it out ourselves.”

“Excellent. But if you do need further assistance, you can ask the gate staff and they’ll call down one of us again.”

Jason thanked him, and they all bid him farewell, before Jason looked down at the stack of tickets in his hand. “Okay. This way.”

Damian rolled his eyes, and reached for the tickets in Jason’s hand. When Jason pulled it up out of his reach, he stomped his foot and said, “One of those is mine.”

“I don’t want you to lose it,” Jason said, trying to start walking. Damian got right in front of him, though, and scowled.

“I won’t lose it,” he snapped, “How can I trust you not to lose it? I wish to know when the flight is and from where it is departing.”

“You could always ask me for that information,” Jason said, as he went around Damian and started toward their gate. The girls quickly followed, and Jason decided the other brat could either follow, or he could keep throwing a fit and have security tell him to follow.

Jason hoped he wasn’t stupid enough to draw that much attention to them…

“I’m pretty sure if we lose them they’ll just print us new ones,” Mara said, from where she’d hurried to catch up and walk beside Jason, on the opposite side from where Attie was walking, one of her hands clutching Jason’s shirt.

“Fine,” he huffed, as he looked down and figured out which ticket was which, “but if you idiots lose them I’m never letting you forget it.”

Mara and Damian both took their tickets, but Athanasia just stared at him, her little eyes opened wide.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

She looked at him for a solid second, before she shook her head and said, “Nothing.”

Because. Right.

That made fucking sense. Kid was clearly terrified, but whatever.

“I’m not gonna, like, hurt you if you lose it,” Jason tried.

But it didn’t make Attie look less scared.

All it did do was cause Damian to say, “Yes, therefore we should be afraid of you because?”

“Just come on,” Jason grumbled, tucking his and Attie’s ticket into his pocket.

The kids shouldn’t be afraid of him, but he was fairly certain that at least Damian, and possibly both Damian and Mara wouldn’t listen to him if they weren’t at least a little scared of him…

Fuck the fucking League of Assassins.

Athanasia forced her hand into Jason’s as they walked, so he squeezed it as they walked.

At their gate, Jason looked around and found a bench that was relatively secluded from the rest of the seating area, and led the brats to it. It was close enough they’d be able to hear all the announcements from the gate, or, well… Damian and Mara would be able to hear them and translate them… but far enough away Jason didn’t feel like their every word was being overheard.

Didn’t mean they’d talk about anything incriminating, but at least a little comfort to his mind that their conversation wasn’t being listened to by nosy neighbors.

He also couldn’t wait until they were someplace he spoke the language. So he could understand everything going on around them.

Jason let go of Attie and slipped his backpack off, so he could deposit it on the ground in front of the bench, before he flopped down right in the middle of it, daring the kids to complain about that.

Damian scowled at him, a little, and sat right on the edge of the bench, to Jason’s left, while Athanasia climbed up right next to Jason and curled up into his side.

Not that he had expected any different, but it still made him frown at how she hid her face in his side.

“What’s wrong, Attie?” he asked, as he scooted her over a little, toward the edge so Mara could fit on the bench between Damian and Jason. Mara didn’t look thrilled about it, but she didn’t complain, either, as she sat down.

“Nothing,” Athanasia mumbled, not even looking up.

“You’ve turned into little octopus,” Jason said, as he tapped at her leg gently, “clearly something’s wrong.”

Damian shifted, so he was leaning up against the wall behind them, and said, “There is no one to fear in this airport. The security measures are adequate enough to create moderate safety from anyone wishing us ill.”

Jason wholeheartedly disagreed with that statement. He didn’t think there was anything like ‘moderate safety.’ Yes, the airport was the safest place in Afghanistan, but that didn’t mean it was anything close to safe.

If the League really wanted to, they could easily attack the airport to get the kids back. But he doubted they’d do that. The League liked subtle, and attacking an international airport in broad daylight was not subtle.

But there was no way he was telling a scared seven-year-old that.

Athanasia leaned forward, just enough so she could see Damian and whispered, “But there are so many people here.”

Oh.

That was her problem.

Jason maybe kept forgetting she’d barely seen a handful of people in her entire life. He kind of very doubted Talia just dragged her around in public, in France. Seemed like a dumb thing to do if she didn’t want Ra’s to find out.

But now Ra’s knew about her.

So Jason looked forward to walking her through larger airports, like London’s maybe. Or hell, even Atlanta’s or New York’s. Or Gotham’s.

And cities. Lots of cities with tourists all over. Trains and buses and people everywhere.

“Don’t worry about them,” Jason said, “It’s rude to stare at people, so none of them will be staring at us, or paying us any attention.”

And school.

One day she and the other two brats would go to school and get to meet lots of kids their age.

That… that was good. School was important.

Kids should get to go to school…

“Really?” Athanasia asked, so Jason nodded.

“Yeah, so you don’t have to try and hide.”

Surely Bruce would send the kids to school, if Jason brought them to him. Surely.

Jason could understand being a little concerned about the other children, and maybe worried the League would track them down to the school and attack them there, but it’d probably be okay…

Fuck the League attacking a school would be awful.

But the kids deserved to go to school…

“Do we really have to sit here for an hour,” Mara grumbled, pulling Jason back to the present.

“Yeah,” he said, leaning down so he could dig out his book from his backpack, “That’s why we brought books, right? So why don’t you runts pull them out and start reading.”

Jason’s book was an old copy of a James Patterson book Ravi found while out shopping for them. Based on the blurb on the back, it appeared to be something like the twentieth book in a series… that Jason hadn’t read.

Which was bound to be interesting. Jumping in so far in..

It must have been the only book in English Ravi could find.

Another thing Jason looked forward to was an actual bookstore. With books. In a language he could read.

Based on the grumbling the older two kids made, when they pulled their books out, they likely agreed with Jason’s thoughts.

They’d have to find a bookstore in India, for sure.

“You expect me to actually read this drivel,” Damian asked, holding his book up scornfully for Jason to see.

Jason had no idea what the book was about, since it was in, what Jason assumed, was Dari. Whatever it was, however, did look like a classic children’s chapter book, just like the ones Jason used to read when he was in 1st or 2nd grade.

“Yep,” Jason said, grinning widely. He looked forward to watching Damian read a children’s book.

It probably had jokes in it.

He wondered if Damian even knew how to laugh at jokes.

“But—“ Damian started, but Jason cut him off.

“We’re basically on a mission, Damian,” he whispered, “And part of your mission is to look like an eight-year-old. You know what eight-year-olds do?”

Damian must have known exactly where Jason was going, because he scowled.

“That’s right,” Jason said brightly, “they read ‘drivel.’ So start reading.”

“This is ridiculous,” Damian mumbled, as he opened the book to the first page. Well, to Jason it looked like the last page, but that was the neat thing about languages that read right to left. The books were backward.

“I’m gonna quiz you on it later,” Jason hummed, as he opened his own book and settled down to start reading.

Damian huffed, and bit back with, “You will not.”

“Will so, just wait.” He wasn’t quite sure how to quiz Damian on a book he couldn’t read and had no idea what it was about, but he could figure it out.

Maybe by just asking basic book report questions. Who was the main character? What was the setting? That sort of thing.

Jason could totally do that.

It would be the perfect way to distract them and keep them from fighting, later on, too.

“This is ridiculous,” Damian grumbled again, but he kept reading. Both the girls, likewise, pulled books from their backpacks and settled down to read some, meaning Jason was able to relax a little more.

Even though he was still on high alert, paying close attention to his peripherals and listening to everything around him, he was able to slightly lose himself in the world of James Patterson. Just enough that the hour seemed to fly by.

And once their plane started boarding, the kids quietly gathered their things and went with Jason to board.

The moment Jason’s feet landed on the plane’s carpet, he could feel his shoulders relax, just a touch more. He knew they still had a long-ass journey ahead of them, but at least everything was working out for the moment. The kids weren’t fighting, no one was questioning whether they were tourists, and they were finally leaving Afghanistan.

Jason could cry, and possibly hug the plane. Instead, he just chose a middle seat in their middle row of four, and let the kids all sit down around him, somehow without squabbling. In just a couple hours, they’d be in India. And Jason could figure out their exact plan for getting to the US.

Finally.

Chapter Text

The flight lasted about two hours.

Jason spent its entirety reading his book. Or, rather… looking like he was reading his book. It was difficult to stay focused with three little brats to keep track of.

Not that they were doing much. Mara sat there stiffly most the flight, in the aisle seat to Jason’s right. She was staring down at her book, but considering she hadn’t turned a page in ages, Jason knew she wasn’t reading.

Jason had at least got half way through his book. Mara was only about seven pages in. He knew he should probably say something, or maybe ask her what was wrong, but he could probably guess the answer to that question. And he wasn’t particularly keen on arguing with her about defecting on an international flight. Where they would very quickly be arrested.

Or maybe she was just anxious about leaving the country, and it had nothing to do with the defection. If Daman was right, and she really had never left Nanda Parbat….. Yikes.

Jason had been nervous the first time he left his home country, too. But Bruce had been there… to talk him through it…

Nope. Jason was not talking to her. He just knew it would lead to a fight.

Instead, he chanced a glance to his left, at the other to brats, and found them both exactly how they’d been the whole flight, too. Attie was basically the opposite of Mara in every facet. She was twisted around in her seat so she was leaning back against Jason, her own book resting on her knees. Jason wasn’t sure how she was comfortable, but he remembered curling up in weird ways as a child, too. At least she seemed to be enjoying her book, one that appeared to be designed for children learning English, far more than Mara.

Meanwhile, Damian sat on the other side of Attie, slowly snacking on the trail mix portion they’d packed into his bag. Jason was fairly certain it was a strategy to avoid reading his book, but he didn’t care. Because for the moment, the kids were quiet.

And they were quiet, the whole flight. It was pure heaven. Jason was sure he could deal with the kids, if they were that quiet the entire rest of the trip.

But clearly that wasn’t going to happen.

Because the very second Jason grabbed their checked back from the baggage carousel, Mara turned to him and said, “We are in New Delhi now. Where are we going next?”

“So impatient,” Jason grumbled, as he slung the duffle over his shoulder, “First, we’re going to eat lunch.”

“You’re infuriating,” Mara exclaimed, stomping her foot before she scrambled to follow Jason toward one of the exits.

Athanasia grabbed Jason’s hand and plastered herself to his side, as they walked, so he looked down and smiled at her before he said, “I am, thanks.”

Mara growled frustratedly and demanded, “Do you even know where we’re going?”

“No, he doesn’t,” Damian said, much more dully, as he just followed along, walking on Jason’s other side, “if he knew, he would have told us days ago.”

“Of course I know where we’re going,” Jason said flippantly, rolling his eyes at both of them. They were going to America.

America was an actual place. Even if a very big one… and Jason wasn’t sure where in America…

Was anywhere other than Gotham even an option, though?

“Then tell us,” Mara demanded, as Jason opened the door and ushered the kids outside. Mara’s loathsome glare was enough to make anyone crack.

Or. Anyone who cared what an annoying eight-year-old thought of them.

Jason didn’t, so he rolled his eyes and motioned for her to walk outside, again. When she finally did, only after growling a little, Jason grinned and said, “What do you brats want for lunch?”

That question, of course, only led to more arguing. Damian and Mara started going at it, waffling between fighting over where to actually eat, and whether the entire argument was just a distraction from the real problem at hand, the fact that Jason was incompetent and probably leading them to their deaths.

Athanasia tightened her hold on Jason’s hand, and whispered, “Do we have to walk all day again?”

“No,” he said, squeezing her hand back. He kind of wished he could figure out what her anxieties were, and ease them… but it was kind of hard. Considering they could be found at any moment…

“Actually, let’s get a taxi and go find a hotel, first, then we can go from there.”

“Because we’ve had great luck with hotels thus far,” Damian grumbled, as Jason hailed a taxi.

“Shut up,” he said, as a taxi stopped and the driver asked them where they were going, in English.

Jason tried his best to put on a thick Afghani accent as he asked, “We need a hotel. Do you have any recommendations?”

His accent most definitely missed the mark, if Mara’s critical glare meant anything, but the driver bobbed his head up and down and said, “Yes, yes, I know several. Very nice,” so clearly he hadn’t noticed.

It wasn’t like Afghani was an accent many encountered on a daily basis. And considering the country was so large, there was probably a zillion accents. So yeah. He was probably fine.

“This one better have hot water,” Damian mumbled in Arabic as he climbed into the car, before Mara followed. Jason tossed their duffle bag in, letting it settle down at the brats’ feet before he climbed in and let Attie climb up on his lap.

It was awkward and uncomfortable, all four of them squeezed in with their backpacks, but the drive didn’t take more than five minutes, before the driver pulled over in front of a hotel that looked far more like what Jason was accustomed to, back in the U.S.

The name on the side of the building even said Raddison, which he knew was a chain back home, too. It was big. It was familiar. And it was clearly meant for tourists.

He could definitely cry.

Hopefully the inside was more normal, too. With private rooms and bathrooms and far too many people to be noticed.

Jason just wanted to relax and sleep in a bed for once. That’s all he wanted.

“Usually 2,500 a night,” the driver said, as he put the car in park, “very nice.”

Like, $35, Jason thought, as he nodded and pulled his wallet out. That was so fucking cheap. He paid the driver his fee and a decent tip, glad to have already exchanged for rupees at the airport, and said, “Thank you,” before he opened the door and basically pushed Athanasia out of his lap and outside.

He was so ready to get a room.

Maybe they could even order some food in? If the room was cheap, how expensive was room service?

Bruce used to always order room service, when he took Jason with him on trips. The meals would easily cost 40 or 50 bucks a plate, and it usually made Jason sick just thinking about it. But those hotels usually cost, like, $500 a night.

$35 was way more reasonable.

Once the kids were all out and they’d collected up their bags, they made their way inside and to the front desk. And, to Jason’s delight, the room ended up only costing 2000 rupees. He used his new card to pay, and happily led the kids up to their room, on the seventh floor.

The hotel was so huge. It should be easy for them to blend right in and go completely unnoticed.

“This is acceptable,” Damian said, once Jason pushed the door open and ushered the kids inside, “Could be better.”

“Could be better,” Jason repeated, under his breath. He was pretty sure only Attie heard him, because she grinned, but didn’t otherwise react. Damian didn’t try to stab him, so he definitely didn’t hear.

Jason did a quick sweep of the room with his eyes, before he stepped fully in and shut the door behind him, locking it as he did.

The room was ‘acceptable.’

More than that.

Because it had two beds. Two. With plenty of pillows and extra blankets sitting on a shelf next to the bathroom door.

“I’m sleeping in one of the beds tonight.” Jason said, as he crossed the room to set his bags down on the desk. Because the room had a desk and a TV, sitting on top of a dresser.

They didn’t need the dresser, but it was cool that the room had one, anyway.

Plus. TV. Maybe the brats could watch Spongebob or something, and leave Jason the fuck alone.

Damian and Mara shared a look with each other, so Jason added, “I don’t care who shares with me, but I don’t want any fucking fighting over this.”

“I’ll share with you,” Attie said, immediately. Which wasn’t a shock at all.

Of course the octopus would want to share with him.

“Tt,” Damian huffed, “This will end once we arrive in the United States, correct? I will receive my own quarters?”

With a shrug, Jason unzipped his backpack and pulled out his book and a change of clothes. “Probably.”

On his way over to the beds, he kicked off his boots and let them sit on the ground, right next to where he’d sleep. They’d go out again, of course, but not for a few hours at least. He’d decided they were definitely eating lunch in the room. He didn’t even care what the brats thought about that.

Jason chose the spot closest to the window, to be his side of the bed. Not that he expected Attie to respect it… It was the only bed with line of sight to the door, since the bathroom’s wall blocked the other bed from sight. Plus, it would put him between the window and the brats, should that end up being an issue. So he set his book down, next to the pillow, and grabbed the room service menu off the night stand.

“What do you mean probably?” Mara said, a little mockingly, “I thought you know where we’re going.”

“Shut up,” Jason grumbled, as he passed the menu over to Attie. She’d also kicked her shoes off and climbed up on their bed, and was sitting there, hugging tight to her kitty.

“I’m gonna take a shower—“ he started, just for Damian to cut in.

“Good, you need one.”

“—so you brats figure out what you want for lunch off that menu. I’ll order it when I’m done.”

“Let me see that,” Damian said, as Jason was walking into the bathroom. He chose to absolutely ignore how he added, “You probably can’t even read it.”

“I can so,” Athanasia huffed in response, “Jason said we all have to pick.”

Jason just shut the door, and flipped on the fan. He could still hear the brats, and knew they were out there. Alone. Safe and sound. But at least he didn’t have to hear every little word.

Finally.

He spent more time than strictly necessary in the shower.

Granted, it wasn’t more than ten minutes, but the hot water felt so good on his sore muscles. And his hair really needed the extra attention, getting all the grime out. In fact, he used the entire bottle of shampoo the hotel supplied them, so he’d have to add a bottle of it and soap to their shopping list, for sure. If he expected the rest of the kids to wash their hair, too.

But, reluctantly, he cut off the water and stepped out. The whole room had filled with steam, and was blissfully warm. Not in the miserable desert sort of way, but more in the way of a relaxing sauna. Like the one in the batcave they rarely ever used. Always so relaxing, after a rough workout.

Jason wiped the mirror clear of fog, and started fussing with his hair.

The pit had done something weird to it. Or perhaps it was the whole, death thing. He wasn’t sure. But where he’d had curly black hair as a kid, now he had straight hair, with a white stripe right over his eyes. It was a little unnerving.

Almost as unnerving as the silence, just outside the bathroom. Had the kids been that quiet for long?

With his comb half way down the back of his hair, Jason hastily hit the fan’s switch, and could have sighed in relief.

Because the kids were chatting away. Just in normal, inside tones. For probably the first time in their entire lives.

And by chatting, Jason was pretty sure they were actually arguing. Mara and Damian, of course. Because Mara snapped, “Why would we come to India to eat Chinese food?”

“Because, I like Chinese food,” Damian shot back.

Athanasia’s voice was missing from the mix, but based on how both kids shut up for a second, then shot back “We are not getting sandwiches,” he figured she was just too quiet to hear.

Great.

Jason went back to combing out his hair, content to put off dealing with the kids for just a touch longer. They were clearly fine.

Plus. It was a little funny that they seemed to think they had to agree on lunch. They didn’t have to agree. They could each get their own thing.

Finally, though, Jason had combed through his hair four times and gotten fully dressed, and couldn’t put it off any longer, so he opened the door and shut off the light.

“Okay, what does everyone want,” he asked, as he plucked the menu from Damian’s hands and collapsed back on the bed. The menu was actually pretty long, so he started skimming through it.

“We want hot garlic vegetable stir fry,” Damian immediately said, earning a betrayed look from Mara.

“No,” she said, “chicken chettinad.”

Before the scowls the two of them instantly leveled at each other could progress to actual stabbing, Jason nodded and said, “Okay. That’s stir fry for Damian, and chicken whatever for Mara. Attie, what do you want?”

“We’re getting both?” Mara asked, as she sat down on the other bed, and clearly tried not to smile a little at the thought.

“Everyone is eating,” Jason said, with a roll of his eyes, “I’m not gonna starve you brats, geez.” He looked over at Attie, to where she’d crawled up next to him, and raised an eyebrow.

“Can I have a tomato and cheese sandwich?” she asked, her voice just as soft and sweet as ever.

How did Talia ever say no to this child, he wondered, as he said, “Yeah, cool.”

The menu was freaking long. No wonder the kids took ten minutes to argue over what they wanted, because there were that many pages filled with options. And it was separated out by regions. So there was an Indian kitchen, of course, as well as a ‘Pan-Asian’ kitchen, where Damian had found his Chinese food. To Jason’s delight, there was a western kitchen, with all the foods he was used to seeing on menus, back home.

“Garlic bread,” he exclaimed, while browsing over the appetizers from the western kitchen. They were definitely getting garlic bread. “And buffalo burgers? Fuck yeah.”

He hadn’t fully realized how much he missed food from back home, until he was finally able to eat it.

“Anything else?” he asked, as he sat up and reached for the phone. He was going to call it in, and then watch TV. That was the plan.

“Rice?” Damian asked, as he finally kicked off his own shoes and climbed up into his and Mara’s bed.

With all the kids starting to settle in a little better, Jason called in the order.

The woman on the phone asked if they wanted drinks, which Jason hadn’t even thought about. He would have killed for a Coke to go with his burger, but soda wasn’t even on the menu, so he settled for a thing of juice and a thing of water. Anything they didn’t finish, they could store in the fridge, that was hidden under the desk in their room.

Jason kinda wanted to just stay there for a few days. Relax and decompress after that hell of a hike and escape from Afghanistan.

But, logically, he knew that was the worst thing they could do. Getting comfortable and complacent now would only get them killed.

So they would have to get moving again in the morning. Get their papers and shit that afternoon, and cement their travel plans into place.

For the moment, however, Jason clicked on the TV and started flipping through the channels. Just because tomorrow was going right back to the on-the-go momentum, that didn’t mean their afternoon had to be shit.

Chapter Text

The food took a little while to arrive. Jason didn’t mind, though, because he found Stuart Little playing on some random channel, that looked like it was playing English kid movies.

He’d never been overly fond of kid movies, when he was a kid. They had a TV when he was little, and often borrowed DVDs from the library, but even then he’d never picked out stuff like Stuart Little.

Bruce watched shit like that with him, though. For the first little while he lived with Bruce. Right up until Jason gathered the courage to tell him he would rather watch terrible action movies, with lots of explosions or car crashes, or even documentaries.

A lame kid movie was enough to keep the brats occupied, though.

Actually, all three kids were absolutely glued to the television, once he’d stopped flipping through the channels. They were staring at the screen like they’d never even seen a television before.

Which…

Okay. Maybe they hadn’t. Or had only very rarely had access to TV…

But they kept mostly to themselves. At least… the girls did.

Damian took offense to the movie almost immediately. It didn’t help that they’d started twenty minutes in, of course. But he did not, at all, understand why a family would adopt a mouse.

Which, fair, but when he then went on a big long rant about how it was only logical the biological son be so disgusted the parents adopted a literal rat, Jason kind of wanted to tape his mouth shut.

“Was he that terrible a son that his parents felt the need to look outside their blood, to find an adequate heir?” he’d said

“That’s not why people adopt,” Jason said, idly as he refused to get all worked up over it.

“Tt,” Damian huffed, “Let me guess. You think people adopt children because they love them,” echoing back his exact words over why people had children, in general. “They do not love a rat they found. No person loves a thing they randomly find.”

All Jason could do was grit his teeth. “It’s just a movie,” he grumbled, as he crossed his arms.

Whether that was true or not… Jason really didn’t know. It certainly felt like he was loved, when he was little and newly adopted. But clearly he’d been wrong…

He’d loved Bruce and Alfred, that most certainly hadn’t been fake.

“Are all movies illogical,” Mara asked, pulling Jason back. He didn’t need to be wasting his relaxing time thinking about Bruce fucking Wayne. Especially since he was sure Bruce never spent any time thinking about him.

“Uh, no not all,” he said, rubbing at his eye for a second, “but you’re supposed to suspend your disbelief when watching stuff, anyway, and ignore the illogical stuff. Makes it way more enjoyable.”

“Tt,” Damian huffed, but Mara nodded seriously, and went right back to being glued.

“I think Stuart is cute,” Attie said, grinning wide at Jason when he looked over.

“He is a rat,” Damian protested, but it didn’t change Athanasia’s mind in the least.

Because she turned her grin on Damian and said, “He is a cute rat.”

To Jason’s immense relief, someone knocked on the door before Damian could retort with whatever scathing thing.

They were supposed to be relaxing. Not fighting.

Or. Whatever the fuck they were doing. Being little assholes.

Jason hopped up and walked over to the door, to answer it when the guy outside knocked again and announced he had their food. With a quick look out the peep hole, Jason confirmed it really was a hotel employee and opened the door for him.

“Hey, thanks,” he said, as the guy immediately pushed the cart right into their room, making Jason take a step back and just… allow it to happen.

Jason didn’t particularly want the guy in their room, but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Denying him entry into the room would just look suspicious.

The very last thing they needed was any scrutiny.

He delivered the food quickly, though, and Jason slipped him a tip on his way out. He wasn’t really sure if it was expected, but Bruce always tipped the room service people, no matter where they were in the world.

“There’s so much,” Attie said, as he stared wide eyed at all the plates on the rolling cart it’d come in on.

“Yeah,” Jason agreed, as he picked up the plate with the sandwich and handed it to her. There really was a lot of food. The sandwich was a decent amount… for an adult. It also came with fries and a salad, and Athanasia put some of both things on her plate. It would probably be way too much for Attie to finish, but Jason didn’t see a problem with that.

Too much food was way preferable to not enough…

And they definitely had too much food. What the other two kids ordered looked to be enough to feed all of them. Plus the side dish of rice, the garlic bread, and Jason’s beautiful looking burger.

“We can put what we don’t eat in the fridge and finish it off for dinner.”

The kids each fixed themselves a plate of their chosen food, and added rice or garlic bread, or both, in Mara’s case, and retreated to the far end of the room, by the windows. There wasn’t much seating in the room, other than the beds, the desk chair, and a single armchair with a small table next to it, but apparently they kids didn’t care. Because they all sat right on the floor, facing the windows, and started eating.

Jason would have been cool with eating on the beds, but whatever, he thought, as he piled a few slices of garlic bread high on his plate, next to his burger and fries. His meal also came with a salad, which was great and all. But Jason was more interested in the garlic bread.

He’d eat the salad later. For dinner, maybe.

Sitting down right in the middle of the kids, between where Damian and Mara, Jason took a large bite of a piece of garlic bread and said, through his food, “I guess we should make plans for the rest of the day.”

“I see Father did not teach you manners,” Damian scoffed.

“Nah,” Jason said. He swallowed his bite of food before he added, “Alfred was the one who cared about manners. ‘Father’ didn’t care.” Bruce even broke Alfred’s etiquette rules…. When Alfred wasn’t around to see, of course.

“Who is Alfred,” Mara asked, as she pushed some of her rice around on her plate, letting it soak up some of the juices from her chicken before she took a bite.

“He was…” Jason started, but paused. He was not about to tell kids who had literal slaves growing up that Alfred was a butler…

They’d take that literally.

“Did you know Bruce’s parents died when he was a kid?” he asked, wondering how Damian was gonna take the fact that his own dad had basically been adopted. And that man was a big part of his life, still.

“Bruce?” Damian asked.

“Dad,” he exasperated. He probably shouldn’t be telling the kids Bruce’s name, anyway.

Just in case they got stupid and ran off in an attempt to find him themselves. He didn’t care if they ditched him for Bruce, not really. As long as Bruce wasn’t an asshole and actually protected them, but he did not, at all, trust two eight-year-olds, or, rather, Damian to safely make it to Bruce on his own.

Even if he could find where Bruce lived.

Which anyone with internet could…

Damian frowned, but finally said, “No, I did not know that.”

“Well, they did. He… he was your age, actually. When it happened. And uh,” Jason paused, and internally cursed himself for bringing up parent death. He was a fucking idiot.

He supposed that was something the kids now had in common with Bruce… And Dick. And Jason…

Did Tim Drake have that in common with all of them, too?

Probably. If Bruce was able to adopt him.

“And?” Mara pressed, completely ignoring how both the other kids’ faces had completely soured.

But maybe Jason could distract them, so he continued, “And Alfred raised him, after that happened. He still lives with Dad, and he helped raise us. He was the real boss, actually. If Alfred tells you to do something, you do it, no questions asked.”

“Hm,” Damian said, as he took another bite of his stir fry. Jason waited, for several long seconds, expecting him to say more but he didn’t.

So Jason said, “Yeah. But anyway, like I was saying, we gotta make our plan for the day.”

“Yes, and we should plan where we are going from here,” Mara drawled.

“First we gotta get our documents,” Jason said. It’d probably be easier to plan all that, once they had those in their hands.

Damian perked up, and asked, “Will these be our American passports?”

Jason shook his head. “I don’t think so. Talia’s note said they’re German.”

“So we’re going to Germany, then,” Mara said, nodding.

“Probably,” he said, picking up his burger to take a magnificent bite. It wasn’t quite the same as how he remembered burgers being, but it was absolutely delicious.

Amazing.

But they’d have to go to Germany eventually, to pick up the next set of documents, so it just made sense to go straight there.

Although they could always skip Germany and go straight to England, for their U.S. passports…

He doubted Ra’s knew where they were going, exactly, but straying from Talia’s plan wouldn’t be a terrible idea.

“Okay,” Jason said, after he’d finished off his whole burger, and just had his fries and two pieces of garlic bread left, “So plans for today. We need to go shopping, for sure.”

“Why,” Mara whined, “What could we possibly need?”

“For one, I need a new book,” Jason shot back. He pointed at the book sitting on the nightstand behind, “This one sucks.”

“Why can you have a new book, but I can’t? Mine is worse than yours,” Damian said, scowling hard at Jason.

Damian hadn’t even read his book, there was no way he knew it was worse than James Patterson. But Jason shrugged and said, “You can get a new book, too.”

“Me too?” Mara asked, the same question being echoed on Attie’s pleading face.

He wasn’t gonna deny the kids books, for crying out loud. Especially if they’d keep them quiet on planes. Or in hotels. Or, just. In general.

Jason liked it when the kids were quiet.

“Yeah, of course. Each of you can pick out a new book.” When Attie smiled, and Mara nodded once, apparently satisfied, Jason continued, “Okay. We should also pick up some more snacks, we’re running low.”

“You said we could get more trail mix,” Mara reminded him.

“Yeah, whatever, I don’t care what we get.” They could get straight up candy, if it kept them happy. “Then we need to pick up our documents.”

“Where’s that?” Damian asked, as he finished off his last bite of stir fry. He hadn’t even tried a piece of garlic bread.

Jason might force him to try some garlic bread. Clearly he liked garlic if he got a stir fry with garlic in the name.

But as for where the documents were, he knew they were on the other side of town, pretty much, from where their hotel was. It was down near the river, hidden away in a mailbox…

“I’ll show you,” Jason said, as he started in on his fries.

Mara groaned at him, of course, but none of them kept pressing him.

And, in fact, they quit talking all together as they all finished off their food. Once Jason was done, he hopped up and went about consolidating the food down as best he could, and used some of the empty plates to cover the full ones to put in the fridge. They ended up having more than half of Mara’s chicken and Damian’s stir fry left, enough rice for all four of them to eat it again, almost all the salad left, and three pieces of garlic bread.

“Damian, you should try a piece of garlic bread,” Jason said, as he picked a slice up and shoved it at Damian, “this stuff doesn’t keep well, anyway. Gotta eat it fresh.” Although Jason most certainly wouldn’t turn it down, they weren’t going to be able to carry around much food, anyway. What they had they needed to eat before they left. Which was likely going to be in the morning.

“It is just butter and garlic on a slice of bread,” Damian said, grimacing. He tore the bread in half and gave it a very skeptical look Jason kind of found amusing.

“Yeah but it’s really good,” Attie said, as she bounced over to the table, “Can I have another one?”

“Sure,” Jason said, passing her one of the two pieces left, “What about you, Mara? Want the last piece?”

“You do not want it?” Mara asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Nah. I ate like half the loaf, I’m good.”

Mara gave him a look he couldn’t quite interpret. Suspicious? But she made her way across the room and took the last piece of bread, then slowly ate it, so Jason chose to just ignore it.

He poured the rest of the juice into their empty water bottles, and put that into the fridge, too, before he put all the empty dishes back onto the cart. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with the cart, but Bruce always put their tray on the floor outside the room’s door, so that was probably what he was supposed to do with the cart, too. Right?

Hopefully, because it was what he ended up doing. By the time he had the door shut and locked back, all the kids had finished their bread, so Jason clapped his hands together and said, “Okay. Backpacks. We need to reorganize our sh-tuff. Stuff.”

The kids grumbled, a little, but all three of them grabbed their bags from where they’d ended up everywhere, and set them down on Jason’s bed, right next to where he put their duffle bag and his own backpack.

“Dump it out,” he said, as he unzipped his bag and just dumped everything right onto the bed, quickly followed by the duffel bag. He wanted them to have actual helpful shit with them, as the wondered the city. Just the mere thought of going out without what meager weapons they had left, and some survival gear made him anxious.

He’d never been one to enjoy wandering a city without what he needed to survive. It’d been something he had to learn after Bruce adopted him, and then had completely unlearned it, pretty much instantly when he woke up, drowning in bright green water.

Silently, Jason sorted out their blankets and sleeping mats, packing each one into the bottom of their bags.

“Why are we brining our camping gear, we are not going to be camping out tonight,” Damian asked, scowling at Jason from where he’d climbed up on the bed, sitting in the middle of it and just watching Jason pack.

Which actually was fine. He didn’t need little hands ‘helping’ him and messing everything up.

“No such thing as over prepared,” Jason mumbled. On top of the blankets, he put what meager snacks they had left, a water bottle, and full change of clothes for each of them.

“What?” Damian asked, “There most certainly is, and this is it.”

“No,” Jason said, trying for patient, but missing it by about seven miles, “there’s not.”

He grabbed their passports and hid them away in his own bag, then looked around for Attie’s kitty.

“Yes, there is,” Damian replied, mimicking Jason’s tone, just as he found Kitty sitting on the nightstand, next to where Attie was going to sleep.

“It’s something Batman says, just shut up.”

Athanasia climbed up on the bed next to Damian, and sat back with her back against her pillow. Jason held the cat to her, silently asking if she wanted to hold it, but she shook her head, so Jason place it at the top of her bag and zipped it up.

They most certainly could not leave Kitty anywhere. He was determined the dumb cat make it all the way to the U.S. with them.

He’d been particularly fond of a teddy bear, when he was a kid, after all. And knew the pain of losing it.

“Father requires you carry supplies for camping while going shopping?” Damian asked skeptically, rolling his eyes as if he didn’t believe Jason.

Damian was in for one hell of a shock, if he ever got to meet Bruce.

“Father would in this situation, yes.”

“Hm,” Damian hummed, but he looked thoughtful as he watched Jason split the knives up into four piles. Each of them would get three, which wasn’t ideal, but it was way better than nothing.

Jason passed a set of knives to Mara, first, who had chosen to sit on the desk chair behind him, “put these where you want them,” he said, as he then handed the other two brats their knives as well.

As predicted, the knives all ended up on the kids bodies, not in their bags.

Which was fine, because Jason hid his knives on his person, as well.

He rifled through the supplies he had left, in a pile on the bed, and sorted it all back out. It was mostly camping supplies, like the GPS device, and plenty of extra clothes. He threw one more pair of socks in each of the bags, and put the GPS device in Damian’s, then folded all the clothes haphazardly, stuffing them back into the duffle bag.

There was no reason to carry their entire wardrobe, after all. Just a change of clothes each.

“All right, you brats get ready to go,” he said, as he zipped up the duffle bag and looked around the room, “Use the bathroom, or whatever.”

Damian jumped off the bed, and seemed to race to get to the bathroom first, and Jason just rolled his eyes. The room wasn’t particularly large, but it did have plenty of hiding places, so he chose to hide their bag in the closet, tucked away behind the extra blankets that were stacked in there. It took refolding the blankets, so they could fit on the shelf in front of the bag, but if someone were just scanning the room quickly, they likely would not notice it.

“But we are sleeping here, right?” Athanasia asked, as she put her boots on by shoving her feet directly into them. Without untying them, first…

Jason could only grimace, and hold back his desire to tell her she’d just ruin the shoes faster, doing shit like that. That was something his dad would say, and he sure as fuck wasn’t going to repeat anything Willis Todd ever told him.

“Yeah, that’s the plan,” he said, as he sat down and slipped his own boot onto his right foot, sure to tighten the laces up well.

Attie nodded, then grinned brightly as she asked, “Can we watch another movie, later?”

“If one’s on, sure,” he replied, huffing a little laugh as he did. Too bad he couldn’t afford an iPod, or whatever. Bruce had given him one of those not even a month into him living at the manor. Even though it had been an old one Bruce had laying around, Jason had thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Even if he’d never been a big TV person, being able to watch whatever he wanted on long car or plane rides had been great.

“Will we have a TV in America?” Attie asked, as she kicked her feet together, “I hope we do.”

“Uh, yeah.” Maybe. Probably.

It really depended on what the fuck he was doing…

How in the fuck would he be able to afford a TV, without going to Bruce?

Or. Afford to do anything at all?

He’d… not really thought about that. Which was dumb.

Affording food was, like, the toughest thing when he was a kid and supporting himself. Without resorting to… unpleasant jobs, it’d been near impossible. He’d nearly starved to death at least once.

Now he wasn’t ten and tiny, either. It was much easier to steal when he was little and people thought twice about shooting him. Who wanted to shoot a kid that looked seven? Some gang members didn’t care, sure, but the vast majority of people did.

Jason didn’t have that to his advantage anymore.

And now he’d have to support both himself and three brats.

Was that even possible?

“Good,” Attie said, grinning wide, “Watching TV is fun.”

“It was… acceptable,” Mara agreed, “but perhaps we can find something less ridiculous tonight.”

“Oh, when we were in France we had a TV, and I used to watch it all the time when Mama was busy. Sam Sam was my favorite show. Maybe we can find it!”

“Was it in French? I doubt some French show is gonna be on TV here,” Jason said. But he could probably find something all the brats would like.

Okay maybe not. He should just pick something he’d like instead, and make them deal with it.

Athanasia opened her mouth to respond, but finally Damian came out of the bathroom, so she quickly hopped up and over to the bathroom, announcing, “my turn,” as she went.

“Tt,” Damian huffed, as he retrieved his boots from the floor and sat down to slip them on, properly, “I liked it better when she did not speak.”

“Damian,” Jason groaned, dramatically falling backward on the bed he was sitting on.

Maybe he shouldn’t be worrying about how he would possibly support three kids, and instead worry about how he was going to get them to America without murdering one of them, first.

Mostly Damian. Mara was a pain, too, but it was mostly Damian.

Perhaps he should just dump them off on Bruce…

Chapter Text

The kids were much less annoying than anticipated during their trek across town. They took a taxi, mostly because Jason did not feel like walking a zillion miles again. Not so soon after their escape from Afghanistan. Plus, their hotel was near the airport, on the southeast side of town. And their forged documents were hidden in a mailbox, on the north side.

And even though all four of them squished in across the back seat, none of them complained about it for a single second.

Perhaps they were all thankful for the lack of walking, as well.

Once he’d paid the driver and they’d all exited the cab, Jason pulled out the crappy map the hotel supplied them. Now he had to figure out exactly where the mailbox was at. Going strictly off his memory… of an address he’d never seen or heard of before reading it.

In a, quite literally, foreign format he’d never used before…

“Block 32,” he mumbled to himself, while he squinted at the map. As if doing so would make it zoom.

“Let me see,” Damian demanded, from next to Jason, where he’d tried to stand up on his tip toes. He tried to tug on Jason’s arm, to pull the map down lower, to no avail. Because Jason wasn’t giving him the map.

Jason rolled his eyes and snapped the map back tight as he said, “You don’t even know where we’re going.”

“If you told me, I could find it much quicker than this,” Damian huffed.

Finally, Jason saw the block labelled 37, and was able to count over where they needed to go. “Found it,” Jason said, smugly, “Probably half an hour walk from here.” He’d had the cab driver drop them off near one of the landmarks on his map, on the north side of a giant park, knowing it was at least moderately close to where they needed to be.

It’d be weird, probably, had he asked for a ride directly to the obscure address.

Mara groaned, but didn’t say anything further, because Athanasia cut in with, “Wait, but can we see the ruins? They look interesting.”

“No,” Jason said, at the same exact time Damian did.

Scowling, Damian added, “We are not tourists, dallying around will only compromise us further.”

“Hey, idiot,” Jason whispered harshly, “don’t say stuff like that aloud. You don’t know how many people around can understand you.”

He had no idea what the statistics were for people who could speak Arabic in India. Or… how many could understand their specific dialect of it, at least.

All it would take was one, though. Just one member of the league to overhear them and report to Ra’s they’d spotted four kids speaking in their dialect about not being tourists and not drawing attention to themselves and whatever other stupidity Damian spewed.

“Fine,” Damian ground out, “but we cannot waste time by visiting—“

“I know,” Jason cut in, “I was going to say no, so you can quit with this attitude.”

“But they look cool,” Athanasia said, a little crestfallen.

Despite her disappointment, she followed along just fine when Jason started walking north, the other two kids walking on his other side.

New Delhi felt more like a city than even Kabul did, even though Jason saw a lot of similarities between the two. The buildings were different, of course, and a little taller and a little tighter together, but it still had that same city feeling, full of life, with people on every street and stores scattered about.

The kids stayed quiet, on their hike. Each one observing the city around them as they walked. Athanasia grasped onto Jason’s hand, not even two minutes into the walk, and pressed herself into his side every time they passed other people. But since she wasn’t saying anything, Jason was choosing to ignore it.

About fifteen minutes in, they started passing a little stationary store, he thought. It looked like it had cards and paper and pens and all sorts of shit, so Jason abruptly said, “Let’s go in there,” before dragging Attie in by the hand he was holding. If they were going to be taking their documents from a mailbox, they should probably have something to mail. To at least seem a little less suspicious. Maybe.

He heard Damian huff behind him, but when he looked a moment later, both he and Mara were standing in the store, arms crossed, glaring at him.

Because they were brats.

The shopkeeper looked at them, furrowing his brow like he was trying to figure them out, so Jason asked, “Don’t you want to send a postcard to Father?” in his accented English.

Damian blinked, then said, copying Jason’s accent, “I suppose.”

“Then pick one out,” he said, motioning to the display of cards. Athanasia let go of Jason’s hand and jumped over to the cards, and she and Damian started looking through them, quietly bickering over which one to choose.

“You can each pick one,” Jason said, as he started looking around the store more.

He grabbed a pack of pens, for starters. Just because they were cheap and he needed a pen to make his card look deliverable. He wasn’t going to bother figuring out how postage worked, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t scribble out a fake address. He also grabbed a box of paperclips, to open the secret compartment their documents were in, and a small pack of paper, just to round out the purchase.

“Okay, ready?” he asked, once he walked back over to the kids. Damian and Attie had both picked out cards, and Mara was still standing there, her arms crossed as she scowled at them.

“Didn’t want to get one?” he asked her, as he grabbed one at random.

“What’s the point?” she said, glaring at Jason harder.

Which, fair. Since they weren’t actually mailing them to Bruce.

With a shrug, he led the kids over to the shopkeeper and checked out with their stuff.

“Are we really mailing these to Father?” Athanasia asked, speaking back in Arabic again once they were out of the shop and Jason had scribbled out a pointless little message on his card, along with fake addresses on it.

“No,” was all Jason said. It was just for cover, nothing else.

“Grandfather would intercept it, no doubt,” Damian said, as they continued walking north, “and would know exactly where we are going.”

Mara scoffed, loudly, and said, “Grandfather already knows where we are going. It is doubtful he would not be privy to your parentage, and where else would we be going?”

“He does not know where we are currently,” Damian shot back, “so even if he does know where we are going, he would still learn information should the cards be intercepted.”

Jason had to stop himself from snorting.

Because, well.

How could Ra’s know where they were going, when Jason didn’t even know?

“Oh,” Attie whispered, looking down at the card in her hand. She looked almost crestfallen over it, “I wanted to.”

“Why?” Damian scoffed, “It is not like he can reply.”

“Plus,” Jason added, trying not to let his annoyance or guilt over getting Attie’s hopes up on accident shine through his voice, “He does not know about you guys. He’s a very paranoid, skeptical man. He’s not going to believe a postcard. It will take him seeing you in person, and then running DNA or something.”

“Prudent,” Damian said, with a curt nod, “Mother told me Father is very wealthy. It would be foolish to bring in any random urchin who claimed to be his, without further proof. That would squander the inheritance for his actual children.”

“Yeah,” Jason huffed, rolling his eyes dramatically, “Because ‘Father’ cares about his wealth that much.”

If he did, he wouldn’t have adopted a bunch of kids. And written them into his will.

Sure, Jason was probably un-written-in, but at one point he’d been in there. And it had freaked him out, a little. Maybe. To find out he was inheriting half of Bruce’s wealth, upon his death.

Jason had never wanted to think about Bruce’s death. He’d already lost two parents. He didn’t want to lose another.

He wanted Bruce, not Bruce’s money.

Of course, that hadn’t mattered. Jason lost him, anyway. Long before he actually died.

Because Bruce was a liar.

“What do you mean?” Mara asked, but Jason just shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter,” he grumbled, as he turned them down the last road, where the mailbox was supposed to be, “Let’s just get this over with.”

The mailbox looked nothing like what Jason was expecting. He nearly overlooked it, when he quickly scanned the street. Granted, he was used to the huge blue things the USPS had, but a solid red bin flush to the ground was pretty much the exact opposite of what he pictured, when thinking of a mailbox.

It was also called a letter box. Because of course it was.

As they walked half the block down to the box, Jason slipped his hand into his pocket, and quickly unfolded a paperclip he’d stuck in there, then hid the majority of it inside his hand, with just the pointed end sticking out between his fingers.

Once they were standing in front of the letter box, Jason made a show about flipping his backpack around and opening it wide so he could dig through it for the post card.

Once he ‘found’ the card, he ‘accidentally’ let the bag strap slip right off his arm, and his backpack went tumbling to the ground, spilling out almost all the contents all over the sidewalk.

“Whoops,” he said, in English as he knelt down to start cleaning up the mess. He turned to Damian, who was standing nearest to him and just glowering at him, and handed him the made up card, “Here, mail the card. I’ll pick this up.”

“Tt,” Damian huffed, but he took the card and took his sweet time placing it in the box.

In the meantime, Jason started shoving his dropped items back into his bag, and while picking up his flashlight, which had rolled further around to the back, he quickly scanned along the bottom of the mailbox until he saw the pin-sized hole where his paperclip fit inside.

Jason had been expecting some sort of little drawer to pop out, when he jammed the paperclip in, hitting the release button inside. Instead, the whole fucking bottom slid toward him, just enough that he could reach his fingers in and feel the envelope that had been hidden inside. With one hand he pulled out the envelope and shoved the drawer back closed, and with the other he grabbed his water bottle off the ground, then shoved both items into his bag and zipped it up.

“Okay,” he said, as he stood and slipped his backpack on. He let his eyes scan over their surroundings, without moving his head and making it obvious, and didn’t see anyone watching them. Which was great. “Mission accomplished, we mailed the post card. You kids want to find the market now?”

“Yes!” Athanasia said, grinning wide again. Already over her little upset, Jason supposed.

Kids were so freaking weird.

“It is that way,” Damian said, pointing southwest, like he honestly thought Jason had forgotten when they’d passed it by only a block.

“Thank you, oh wise one,” Jason said, rolling his eyes dramatically. He readjusted his bag on his back, then started walking further down the block, so they could walk straight down the street with the majority of the shops.

Mara rushed to get beside Jason as she asked, “What do we need at the market?”

With a shrug, Jason said, “Snacks and books, remember?”

“That’s it?” she asked, furrowing her brow a little. All Jason did was shrug again, so Mara nodded once and started walking a little faster, so she was ahead of Jason, walking beside Damian.

“I still want dried pineapple,” Attie said, skipping to catch up with Jason, and walk by his side where Mara had been before.

“If we find dried pineapple, we’ll buy it.”

The market was only a few blocks away, so walking to it didn’t take much time at all. And the closer they got to it, the more crowded the area became. There were some shops and restaurants, of course, scattered about, but the market itself was nothing but stores and restaurants and food trucks and little stands, set up on the side walks where people could purchase random items, like shoes or clothes or… plastic containers, apparently.

And it being the middle of the day on a Thursday meant that it was pretty busy, but probably not as busy as it could be. Hopefully.

It still didn’t stop the prickling sensation on the back of Jason’s neck, as they fell into the crowd of people, perusing the shops.

He hated crowds.

Hated them.

Supposedly there was safety in numbers, but all Jason could ever think about was how there was danger in numbers, as well.

There were far too many people to keep track of, and while he and the kids really did just blend right in, mostly, he couldn’t help but feel a little antsy about it all.

Thankfully they had their documents now, though. They had what should be their German passports and visas, so as soon as they got back to the hotel he could purchase their plane tickets. And they could be in Germany, by tomorrow night.

Maybe.

They might be able to go all the way to England, but he wasn’t entirely sure. He didn’t know the laws and such off the top of his head for traveling to England on German passports. He thought they didn’t need visas, but he wasn’t entirely sure. And he didn’t want to go researching all that on the hotel’s computer. Even if he knew how to keep the computer from recording his online activities, he’d rather just get online to purchase tickets and that’s it.

Attracting more suspicion to themselves was the last thing he wanted to do.

“I see a bookstore,” Athanasia said, as she grabbed onto Jason’s hand and started pulling him, across the street.

Sure enough, there was a bookstore. But there was also a man staring at them, he noticed, as soon as Jason looked off in that direction.

But the man looked away, as soon as Jason caught his eye, and he didn’t look League. Didn’t look well trained and in excellent shape. Not that he was out of shape, per se, just not in the tip-top physical condition Ra’s demanded of his slaves, or, ‘assassins.’

With a breath, Jason let Athanasia drag him across the street, as he said, “Brats,” to get Mara and Damian’s attention.

Both of them turned toward him, and followed along into the bookstore.

The store wasn’t anything massive, but it was absolutely jam-packed with used books, with all the walls covered in them, and several rows of shelves on the interior of the little shop. There were also several bins of books messily stacked inside. In another life, Jason could have spent hours in the store, digging through the bins and browsing the stacks, finding dozens of books he wanted to read.

“Find something you want,” he told the kids, as he let go of Attie’s hand and moved over to the fiction section. Sitting on a table, in the middle of the store, Jason found all sorts of little odds and ends, like a whole huge stack of playing cards.

When he was a kid, he loved playing cards. His mom had taught him some of the more basic games, like crazy eights or go fish, but Alfred had taught him so many more. Several times a week, it felt like, Alfred would ask Jason if he wanted to play cards after school, and Jason had always loved it. Poker was probably his favorite game, but cribbage and gin rummy had always been fun, too.

Maybe he could teach the kids something, he thought idly as he grabbed two matching decks of the cards. He didn’t know many four person games, since it was usually just him and one other person playing, but he did know a few. Maybe they weren’t too young for poker?

If anything, it’d keep the kids occupied for a while. And maybe let them chill out and actually act like kids for five seconds. In a way that wasn’t bickering over pointless crap.

The books int he store weren’t organized in any real order that Jason could discern. Other than by language, that was. At least all the English books were grouped together, and seemed to be what made up the majority of the store. So Jason spent about ten minutes letting his eyes skim over all the titles, between sticking his head out of whichever aisle he was in every minute or two so he could put eyes on the kids.

Every time he looked, though, he just saw each of them looking at different groups of books, all quietly making their own selections.

Finally, though, Jason found a book his fingers stalled over top of, and he knew he couldn’t just leave sitting on the shelf. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Probably his favorite book ever, if he had to pick.

Bruce had read it to him, the first time he’d read it. Back when he was twelve, new to Wayne Manor, and unsure of his place in Bruce’s house.

He’d gotten the flu and spent the subsequent week dying. His head had hurt so bad he couldn’t read, but he’d been so bored at the same time. And so antsy, never wanting to be alone in such a weak state.

But Bruce had caught on, even though Jason had never outright said it. Perhaps camping out in the living room, rather than his bedroom, had been the giveaway. But Bruce had gone and pulled the first book in the series and spent hours reading it to him. And then the sequel. And the third and fourth book.

Did… did he only like it because of that? Because of what it had meant, between him and Bruce?

Or… what he’d thought it meant? Clearly all that had been a lie. A pretty little lie told to him to win him over and get him to be Robin. Not a traumatized little street child jumping at every little twitch in Bruce’s face.

Why else had he treated Jason like that? Spent so much time with him? If it wasn’t because Bruce actually cared about him…

No. No.

He liked the books because the story was great. Phenomenal. Funny and fascinating all at once. Something that could always get his mind off things. Every single time he’d reread it, which was at least five times.

He—he loved Marvin, the most. The depressed robot. And just the ridiculousness of the entire series. The whale that appeared in the sky and lived just long enough to realize he was going to die, once he hit the ground.

The planet of people who had never looked up to the sky, and sang about things happening above the ground.

He just… he loved the book. The series.

It had nothing to do with Bruce. Bruce just happened to be the one to introduce it to him.

Pulling the book off the shelf, Jason saw the sequel, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, down on the shelf below, and grabbed it, too.

The books were short, after all. Easy to destroy in just a few hours.

Clutching both books and the playing cards in his hand, Jason walked back to find the kids. This time, all three of them were together, digging through a bin of juvenile books. Both Mara and Damian already picked out their books, though, as far as Jason could tell.

Damian had a copy of Hamlet in his hands, which just made Jason roll his eyes.

Of course the eight-year-old would choose to read fucking Shakespeare. Pretentious piece of shit was what he was.

Mara, on the other hand, had a copy of some book called Pearl Harbor, and it appeared to be an actual history book, of all things. Non-fiction. But if it kept her quiet, Jason was not going to argue with it. He wouldn’t argue with either of them.

“What are you looking for?” he asked, once he’d finished approaching the bin. All three of them were digging through, looking at all the titles in each stack, so clearly they were on the hunt for something.

“Something appropriate for a child,” Damian scoffed, as he dropped all the books in the stack he’d just finished sifting through and starting in on the next one.

All Jason could do was furrow his brow. Because. He honestly couldn’t tell if Damian was being insulting, or genuinely trying to help Attie find a book.

“Well,” Jason said slowly, hoping it was the latter. He pointed to book as he named them and continued, “I see a lot of good ones just on top. Charlotte’s Web was one I liked as a kid. There’s Harry Potter there, which is popular. And Percy Jackson, too. Both are adventure type books. Uhh,” he paused, and pushed a stack as far to the side it would go, so he could scan the titles without picking them up, “Series of Unfortunate Events was entertaining. At least, the first few times. Each book is basically the same, though, got boring after a while. Chronicle of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables. Really, all of these are good. Just pick one.”

“Oooh,” Attie said, when she got to the bottom of her pile, “dragons.”

When she pulled a book titled The Dragon Slippers out, Jason just shrugged. “If that’s what you want.” He’d never even heard of it, but he supposed he couldn’t suggest anything to top dragons.

“It is,” she said brightly, so Jason walked the kids over to the shopkeeper and everyone laid their picks out on the counter.

“You get two books,” Damian asked, incredulous, when he saw what Jason set down, “Why do you get two?”

“Because I’m the one carrying them,” was all Jason said, as he waited for the shopkeeper to tell him what the total was. He was probably going to ditch the Patterson book, at some point. Leave it behind in the airport, or something, he had no idea. But it didn’t really matter. He could carry two or three books. He did not want to hear whining from the kids about how heavy their bags were, if they started carrying around a bunch of books.

Plus, it would just slow them down. Should they need to run at some point.

Damian kept grumbling about who even knew what, since he was doing it under his breath, but neither of the girls really complained, so whatever.

Once Jason had paid and they all left the store, Jason had everyone put their books in their bags before they continued on.

All they had left to do was purchase snacks.

Buy some snacks, then head back to the hotel for dinner. Maybe they could watch another movie, and Damian would shut the hell up about everything.

That would honestly be fantastic.

But more than anything, Jason just wanted to get out of the crowd.

There were just way too many people at the market.

Chapter Text

The next forty-five minutes or so passed in… relative calm.

Relative, of course, because Jason still had to deal with Damian and Mara. It felt like the two of them were conspiring against him, because every time Jason suggested something, those two had an argument against it.

Like when he told them to pick out some sneakers, because they were cheap and their combat boots did not help them blend in, Mara protested that she ‘liked’ her boots, and Damian pointed out every single fault in the sneakers, and why they were, therefore, inferior to his combat boots.

Jason had to nearly snarl, “Just pick out a fucking pair of shoes,” at them for them to fucking listen. It was like they didn’t understand the need to blend in at all.

And with the crowd around them only growing, the later into the day it got, the more it was necessary they didn’t stick out. Because it was getting crowded. There were people fucking everywhere.

Really, Jason just wanted to go back to the hotel and hide there until morning, or whenever he got them a flight for. At least in their room he could better assess anyone who came near. Out in public, in a huge market, he couldn’t even keep people from being behind him.

It fucking sucked.

And was making his skin start to crawl, every time he turned around and there were more people there.

Athanasia fucking running off wasn’t helping, either.

At all.

“Attie,” he seethed, under his breath, when he turned around and she wasn’t where she was supposed to be, standing right between the other two brats while Jason paid for the sneakers each of them had picked out.

“She went over there,” Damian said dully, pointing toward a store across the road and down half a block. And sure enough, when Jason looked over, there was Athanasia, looking in wonder at a bunch of brightly colored somethings. Toys, maybe. Jason couldn’t really tell from so far off.

“I’m gonna kill her,” Jason grumbled, as the shopkeeper gave him his change and a bag with all their shoes.

“That’s doubtful,” Damian said, as they all started across the street, to where Athanasia was still mesmerized. Jason just had to roll his eyes.

Obviously he wouldn’t actually kill her.

But maybe he’d get one of those kid leash things. Tie her to him.

Because that would help them blend in…

“Maybe we should leave her,” Mara said, rushing to catch up and walk on the other side of Jason, from Damian, “she’s just dragging us down.”

“Maybe we should just leave you,” Damian shot back, “it’s not like Father’s going to take you in, anyway.”

“He’s not taking you, either,” Mara snapped right back at him, the two of their voices like knives in his brain. “Jason said he’d only take Athanasia.”

“Tt,” Damian huffed, “I’m his son, I’ll prove myself useful in his mission and he will take me.”

Jason stopped short, just outside the store where Attie still was, so he could rub at his temples.

He needed a vacation.

For a century.

He couldn’t fucking deal with this.

Mara scoffed loudly, and a harsh grin came across her face as she said, “Jason is his son and just as trained as you, and Jason got kicked out.”

“Shut up,” Jason snapped, low and maybe a little too growly for 8-year-olds, “No one’s being left anywhere. We’re staying together.”

No matter how much Jason wanted to ditch the kids at the nearest fire station.

Did India allow kids be abandoned at fire stations like in America?

Damian and Mara both flinched, very slightly, at his voice, and turned to look at him.

And Jason wasn’t dealing with that either.

“Athanasia,” he admonished, walking the last few steps to the store and catching the brat’s attention.

“Jay, look,” she exclaimed, picking some bright pink thing off the wall of… brightly colored things.

Keychains or something.

Why the fuck had she run off for fucking keychains? How did a child who knew how to keep secret think something like that was acceptable??

“You can’t run off,” Jason said, trying his best not to be growly like before.

“But look at it,” she said, still grinning brightly as she held the little thing out for Jason to see.

“I see,” he exasperated, as he gently pushed her hand and the toy back down, out of his face, “but you can’t—“

“Tt,” Damian huffed behind Jason, making him pause when he heard what the brat said to Mara, “Why father would want this but not us is beyond me.”

“Obviously he’s not as great as you think,” Mara whispered back.

“Shut up,” Jason snapped, spinning around to face those two, “Stop talking about this.” He was so sick of hearing who was the best, or who Bruce would love more, or hate less.

Was that all they ever thought about? How they were better than the other two?

Couldn’t they just focus on staying alive? That’s all Jason needed them to do. Not die and stay out of Ra’s’ hands. All this fucking bickering wasn’t helping anything. In fact, it was doing the opposite of helping.

Because it was driving Jason up the fucking wall.

“Here Damian,” Athanasia said, still sounding super fucking chipper as she stepped around Jason and held out a little kitten keychain for Damian, “Mama said you liked cats, too.”

Damian looked down at the object like it would bite him. His cheeks turned red, however, as he scowled harshly and exclaimed, “I do not.”

“You do so,” Attie said back, offering him a scowl of her own, “She said you liked to feed the strays.”

“Guys,” Jason said, very very patiently.

He was being patient.

But he got ignored, of course. Because Damian shot back, “I would never. They are nothing but filthy animals, no better than rats scavenging for—“

“Shut up all of you,” Jason nearly boomed, being as loud as he could without actually attracting attention. He turned to Athanasia and ignored how she shrank back, just a touch, at his looming, “Athanasia you can’t run off. Now come on, we need to keep moving.”

“But look at what I found,” she said, her voice dropping back closer to her normal whisper.

“I don’t care,” he snapped, grabbing onto her arm to pull her out of the store, “you can’t run off from me like that, do you understand?”

Jason didn’t even notice he was squeezing her arm, until her lip trembled and her eyes darted from his hand on her arm back up to his face.

And Jason dropped her like he’d been burned.

He hadn’t meant to—

Fuck.

He needed to punch something. Or… or. He didn’t know. There was nothing he could fucking do.

They were in public.

Clenching one fist tightly, he pinched the bridge of his nose with his other hand and tried to take a deep breath.

He hadn’t meant to scare her.

If he could just… take a breath in and let it out slowly, like Talia was always making him do, maybe…

But then Athanasia whispered, “I understand,” her voice a little wobbly, and Jason had to shut his eyes tight.

Fuck.

He clenched his fist so tight, he pressed his fingernails into the palm of his hand, and tried his best to focus on that.

Why did Talia think he was a good idea to watch a bunch of kids? He was liable to kill them on accident.

Fuck.

It took him a full minute of taking slow, deep breaths in through his nose, holding them for a few seconds, then slowly forcing them out through his mouth.

Just like Talia taught him.

Which just made him miss her… a little.

“Fuck,” he exhaled, as he opened his eyes and looked down at his palm.

No blood there, amazingly, but his nails created such deep indents, Jason was surprised by that fact.

When he finally looked back at the kids, the face Athanasia was making just killed him more.

He hadn’t meant to scare her. He really hadn’t.

“Look,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair. Hastily, he pulled out his wallet and grabbed a couple bills and held them out to Attie. “Here, get it.”

“You’re not mad?” Attie asked doubtfully, raising an inquisitive eyebrow as she cautiously accepted the bills.

“Just don’t run off again.”

“Okay,” she exclaimed, right back to grinning widely as she looked at the little keychain in her hand. It was a dog, Jason was pretty sure. Even though it was purple and made pretty much entirely out of sequins.

“You two pick one out too,” Jason added, gesturing at the other two kids, who, predictably, balked at the suggestion.

“No way,” Damian said, sounding more eight than he ever had before.

Mara, on the other hand, shifted her weight from one foot to the other before she asked, “Do I have to?”

“Yes. Kids need toys.”

“The cat one,” Attie immediately interjected, shoving the little kitten keychain she’d found back in Damian’s face.

Unlike most the other little trinkets, the kitten actually looked vaguely like a real cat. Black with yellow eyes, not at all over sized. Regardless, Damian still scowled at it even as he snatched it out of Attie’s hand.

It took Mara a couple minutes longer to find one that suited her.

At least, Jason assumed she was picking out one she actually liked. Since she spent that time reviewing all her options scowling like she hated everything she saw.

Athanasia tried to help her, by pointing out different options.

“This octopus is cute,” she said, pointing at a bright pink monstrosity. But every time Attie suggested something, Mara turned and looked in the completely different direction.

Finally though she picked out a unicorn. Or… Jason assumed it was a unicorn? It had what looked like an ice cream cone on its head, and was rainbow colored with a gigantic head, twice the size of its body, and nearly as massive eyes.

It was ridiculous.

Almost made Jason smirk, looking at it and the little scowl Mara was shooting him.

“Go pay,” he said, to Attie, as he stepped back out to the entrance of the store, where he could take another moment to breath again.

They could go back to the hotel. Go grab snacks, like he’d promised, then go back to the hotel. He could check out for the afternoon and sleep straight through until dinner, then book their flight or whatever then. He wouldn’t have to deal with them if he was asleep.

While Athanasia was showing the shopkeeper her stupid little whatever, clearly charming the crap out of him, Jason looked around for the first time in a few minutes.

And someone sitting on a ledge across the street was staring right in at the kids.

Maybe it’s just because Attie is cute, he tried to tell himself, as he shuffled back into the store, to put himself in the dude’s line of sight. Just so he couldn’t stare as easily.

There were lots of reason he could be staring. People like seeing cute kids, after all.

Maybe he was zoned out and not paying any attention.

Or he was just concerned Jason was about to snap and kill them all, and was keeping an eye on them…

Or he’s league.

Athanasia finished paying for the toys, which the shopkeeper gave her a discount on, and skipped over to Jason showing off the little dog. Damian shoved his in his bag angrily, while Mara begrudgingly clipped hers to her bag.

“Let’s go find snacks,” he said, quietly, as he shuffled them along and out the store.

The guy wasn’t across the street anymore, which did not make Jason feel any better.

It made his skin crawl a little more, actually.

Food and then they were out of there.

Gone.

“Can we get treats?” Athanasia asked, as she slipped her hand in Jason’s and started skipping along by his side. Completely forgiven, apparently.

“No, we need more trail mix or something,” he replied. They just needed stuff that could sit in their bags. Just in case. “Let’s just hit a grocery store then leave, okay?”

“I saw one this way,” Damian said, abruptly turning on his heel and leading them all down a side street. Right away from the market.

“You sure?” Jason asked skeptically, as he looked around. There were fewer people away from the market, that’s for sure. But still too many for Jason’s liking.

At least none were staring at them anymore.

Damian looked back at him and outright glared, before he pointed at a shop half a block down.

Sure enough, it was a fucking grocery store.

How did Damian even know it was there?

“Okay, sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you,” he mumbled, as they finished walking down to the store.

“And don’t forget it,” Damian said, sticking his nose up in the air a little higher. Jason just rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, whatever. You brats each pick something out, but whatever it is we gotta share.”

The grocery store was nothing like what Jason was used to, back home. It was small, for one. Something more similar to a bodega or convenience store. But it seemed to have way too much stuff for the small space, and everything just piled up randomly. No real order to anything.

Or… there had seemed to be an order, at some point. But as more products made their way onto the shelves, they were shoved wherever they fit. Because things like sugar and flour and chocolate chips were vaguely in the right spot, and the chips were together, and the bread, but then random snacks like granola bars or fruit snacks were shoved in random spots. Like in the middle of the toiletries section.

It was… bizarre, to say the least.

But, it being small was fine. Because the shelves were shorter than Jason was, so it was quite easy to keep an eye on the kids as he browsed the aisles himself.

The kids would no doubt pick out stupid snacks that were good, but not high in the right kind of things, like calories and protein.

Jason wanted hearty snacks just in case they had to live out of their bags for a few days again.

That was a lesson he’d learned hard as a kid. Always have back up food in the backpack.

Always.

Because it was when he ran out of the reserves that shit got tough.

That wouldn’t happen to them, though. They had food in their bags still, and were adding more. Plus Jason had plenty of money so acquiring more wouldn’t be hard.

And they weren’t homeless like Jason had been. Sure, they were homeless, but it wasn’t a problem yet.

If it ever did get to be a problem, he didn’t have no options, either.

Bruce… Bruce would probably take the kids. Even if he was an asshole to them and everything, he’d keep them from being homeless.

But it didn’t matter. Because they were fine. If Jason could just keep his head on and not murder the brats, it would be fine.

Jason just needed a nice long nap and everything would be fine.

Chapter Text

The kids scattered in the store, each one looking at different things while Jason zeroed in on the nuts and granola options.

Or…tried to, at least. Because he could not shake the uneasy feeling that had intensified, ever since stepping into the little grocery store. When he knelt down to get a good look at all the options of nuts on the very bottom shelf, the hair on the back of his neck raised, sending a chill straight down his spine.

From the very slim selection of peanuts, almonds, and nuts he couldn’t even identify, Jason grabbed two bags of almonds and quickly stood, sweeping his eyes across the store.

They were still alone in there, save for the merchant behind the counter, playing on his phone. Mara was looking at chips, while Damian was over looking at… cereal? Maybe? Jason couldn’t quite tell from the angle he was at. Attie was, of course, looking at candy. Outside, Jason could see people passing by the store, but no one seemed to be paying them any attention.

With a breath, Jason moved further down the aisle and found a few bags of dried meat. He couldn’t read the label, but he grabbed one at random, anyway. It was certainly better than nothing. They still had some of the dried lamb Talia had packed them, but it never hurt to have more protein.

Between the almonds and the jerky, he knew they’d survive another week.

While pushing around the other packages of dried meat, to see if he could maybe find a label he could read, just to give the kids another minute to pick, the hairs on his neck prickled again.

But, again, looking around, he saw nothing.

Not a thing.

There were people outside, sure, but none of them were lingering. They were all passing by. No one else was in the store with them.

Jason shook his shoulders, trying to rid himself of the feeling, as he walked over to the nearest kid. Maybe he could hurry them along, and they could retreat back to the safety of their hotel room.

“Done?” he asked Damian, setting a hand on his shoulder as he looked over at the girls.

Damian shrugged him off and scowled up at him, but did grab a bag off the shelf and held it up for Jason to see.

It looked like crunchy crackers, or something, and boasted on the label they were spicy.

“Yeah, whatever,” Jason said, his eyes following Mara as she made her way over with a bag of chips.

Chips that looked like puffy Cheetos, but the flavor said they were lightly salted, not cheese…

“Those look gross,” he said. Who made Cheetos not be cheese flavored?

“I like them,” Mara snipped back, so Jason just rolled his eyes.

“Attie, you done?” he asked, raising his voice just enough she could hear him, from across the little store.

With a wide grin, she skipped over to the rest of them and held out a bag of mixed dried fruits. “Look, it has mango and pineapple in it,” she said, softly.

“Yeah, that’s great.” Just as Jason expected, the kids all picked crap. Absolute crap.

Sure, it was all food and calories, but he was glad he’d picked out nuts and jerky for them.

“And kiwi?” Mara asked, “I want to try some.”

“Yeah, we’ll all share everything,” Jason said, putting a hand on Damian’s back and pushing him slightly, to get all three kids to move.

Checking out was relatively easy. The merchant wasn’t chatty at all, so it was a quick and easy transaction.

While he was checking out, though, two men entered the store.

And Jason recognized one of them as the man staring at them, earlier.

Smiling tightly, Jason thrummed his fingers against he counter, while the cashier counted his change, then quickly thanked him as he grabbed all their shit and rushed the kids out of the door.

“Shove it in your bags,” he whispered harshly, handing the snacks out at random, “quickly, let’s go.”

“What’s wrong?” Attie asked, but she dropped her bag off quickly and fumbled with the zipper, before shoving the bag of crackers down in there.

“Nothing,” he said, convincing absolutely no one. He shoved the jerky and fruit into his own bag, and tried to help the kids hurry up. The damn fake Cheetos wouldn’t fit anywhere, though, because their bags were getting way too full. “Damnit,” he cursed, grabbing Mara’s bag out of her hands and looking inside. Quickly, he grabbed one of her new shoes and shoved it into his own, making just enough room for the Cheetos without having to open the bag and risk it spilling out everywhere.

“Are you sure?” Attie asked, but she quickly grabbed Jason’s hand once everyone had their bags back on and they started walking.

Jason ignored her and led them straight back to the market. Safety in numbers, and all that jazz. Maybe if they doubled back from where they started, he could determine if they were actually being followed.

But, of course, just a couple minutes later Jason saw the same two people again.

And three more he’d absently noticed earlier, and hadn’t thought much of. He thought they were workers at the shoe shop… but there they were. Several blocks away. Standing up against a wall, not looking at them.

“Let’s go back to the hotel,” Jason murmured to the kids, in Arabic. Thus far they’d been speaking in primarily english, with simple fake accents to make them sound Afghani.

He hoped the sudden shift in language would be enough to convey how serious he was, but of course all three kids snapped their attention up to him, and Attie whined, “Why?”

“We need to get back to the hotel,” he stressed. The last thing he wanted to do was freak the kids out, but fuck. He wanted out of there, and fast, so he picked up his pace and forced the kids to keep up.

“What’s wrong?” Damian asked, perking up as he looked around.

It was only slightly annoying that the two kids raised by fucking Ra’s al Ghul hadn’t picked up on the same thing Jason had, but whatever. Hopefully Jason was just being overly-paranoid.

“I don’t know,” Jason said. About half a block ahead of them, Jason could see an alley. He really hoped it cut all the way through to the next road over.

“If you don’t know, why are we-“ Mara started, but Jason cut her the fuck off.

“Can you brats just shut up and trust me,” he snapped, in a harsh whisper.

Damian grumbled something, but all three brats did, thankfully, shut up and trust him.

The alley cut through to the other road, so Jason led them all through it.

There were still a lot of people, though, on the other side. Not nearly as many shops, but just about the same number of people. He turned them south, doubling back down toward the grocery store and hopefully down somewhere he could get a taxi. Maybe back at that park, where their taxi had originally dropped them off.

He nearly froze, however, when he saw someone he recognized mixed in with the crowd, two blocks ahead of them on the street.

But he couldn’t afford to freeze. Couldn’t afford to think about all the hours he’d spent with that assassin, training under the same teacher.

He’d never learned the assassin’s name. Never even talked to him, really. But he would recognize the scar across his cheek anywhere.

Jason had put it there.

Fuck.

“What?” Mara asked, clearly alarmed now. There was a slight shrill to her voice Jason hadn’t heard since they were being chased in the desert.

“Back this way,” he said hastily, turning the kids around quickly to head north, instead.

But, of course. Of fucking course, the five people he’d seen tailing them appeared up ahead, out of the next alley further.

“They’re league,” Damian said, in a hushed tone, “at least fifteen around us.”

At least fucking Damian was catching on, Jason supposed.

“Okay, shit,” he mumbled, “we need to get out of here.” He pulled Attie by her hand across the street, the two others following close behind him, shoulder to shoulder with each other right under Jason’s right arm. If they stayed close, maybe they could make it out of this.

He found the nearest alley and, as soon as they got inside it and out of sight of everyone on the street, he whispered, “Run,” and took off.

They darted down the streets as fast as they can. Or, well, as fast as the kids could, because Jason was not going to leave them in the dust. And Jason barely paid attention when someone shouted at them about running. Someone else shouted, too, but Jason had no idea what they said.

And he didn’t care.

Perhaps people just assumed they had all stolen something, he had no clue. When he was a kid, if he started running on the streets, people always assumed he’d just lifted something.

Sure, he usually had, but sometimes he was escaping people, and a random ‘good Samaritan’ catching his arm to make him stop running was never fucking helpful.

Before that could happen to any of them, Jason led them through yet another alley, then up the opposite way on the next street over, and did that several more times. He was trying his best to get them back to the south side of the market, in a large arc, as he tried to figure out what to do.

Athanasia tripped, about seven blocks into their running, nearly taking Jason down with her. He managed to catch himself and keep her from slamming to the ground, by lifting her arm up higher by the hand he still had a tight grip on.

“Fuck,” he panted, “you okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, watery, as she righted herself and brushed a shaky hand down her dress, dusting off invisible dirt that never came in contact with her.

Damian and Mara both slowed down significantly, allowing Jason to pull Attie along, to catch up. This time, though, they walked, choosing that moment to cut over a street, again, and hopefully away from watchful eyes.

“How did grandfather’s men find us,” Attie asked, her voice wobbling between her labored breathing.

All of them definitely needed the moment to catch their breath.

“Grandfather has people everywhere,” Damian exclaimed, quietly, “He can find us anywhere.”

“What are we going to do?” Mara asked, sounding far too hopeless for Jason’s tastes.

But, what the fuck were they going to do? He thrummed his fingers against his thigh and tried to think, still walking the kids at a fast-pace toward the south. At the cross-street intersection, Jason looked to the left and saw taxis.

Lots of them, passing in both directions. And finally, a way to get out of there.

“Hail a cab,” he declared, turning abruptly toward the street, so they could do just that.

Getting a cab wasn’t too hard, mostly because he found one stopped on the side, just waiting for a new patron.

He ushered the kids in quickly, looking around to see if anyone had followed them.

There was no one he noticed, but Jason wasn’t taking any fucking chances, so he rattled off the address of a restaurant he’d seen several blocks down from their hotel. There were so many hotels in that area, he really hoped no one would be able to figure out which one was theirs just based off the restaurant addressed.

The ride over was tense. Attie leaned up against him, obviously trying to either comfort him or just get cozy, he wasn’t quite sure which, but the whole time he sat there tensely, trying to form game plans for every possible scenario possible.

Just like Bruce had taught him.

If they got cornered in the hotel, he really didn’t know what they would do. The windows in their room didn’t open, like the ones at the Kabul hotel did. And he knew already he wouldn’t be able to relax in there.

Not with so many League members in the city, on the hunt for them.

And as the taxi drove closer and closer to their destination, the dread started to pool in his stomach.

What would they do, if they got to the hotel and it was swarming with assassins. How would they escape?

Jason was not handing these kids back over to Ra’s. No fucking way.

But if the hotel was compromised, well.

They wouldn’t be coming out. Not as free people, and maybe not even alive.

What all did they leave behind in the hotel? Jason did a quick mental catalog of all their shit. There was all their extra clothes and equipment and left-over lunch, but nothing much else. He’d made sure they had everything else needed to rough it in their bags.

So… did they really need to go back to the hotel? Attie’s kitty was in her bag. He’d made sure.

“Actually,” Jason said to the taxi driver, before his brain had fully formed the new plan, “could you take us to the nearest train station.”

Damian and Mara both looked at him, giving him calculated looks, but Jason absolutely ignored them as he went back and forth with the cabbie.

Yes, he really did change his mind, he assured him, and he needed to be able to purchase tickets for a train, so the station had to have a kiosk or whatever the New Delhi transit system used.

Jason tipped him generously for the trouble, when he stopped at a train station a minute later.

Deciding where to go was difficult.

He’d thought about maybe jumping the stalls for about two seconds, like he always did back in Gotham when he was little and too poor for a metro card, but the absolute last thing they needed was the police after them.

One group of people chasing them was enough, thank you.

Jason went through the process of purchasing fare cards for all of them while he wracked his brain for ideas.

Ra’s had to know where they were going. If they’d been tracked to India, there was no way he didn’t know they’d try to get on an airplane and leave the country.

Sure, he likely didn’t know Germany was their next stop, rather than America, but either way it required going to the airport.

Unless…

Maybe they could catch a plane from another city?

How far could the train take them…

“Okay, I think I have a plan,” he murmured to the kids, as he passed out their fare cards. It was a fragile one, barely thought through, but it was a plan.

And Jason made his best decisions on the fly, anyway. He always had.

They started out on the yellow line, just because it was the train in the station when they finally passed through the gates.

“Do you even know where we’re going?” Damian grumbled, as he followed Jason dutifully onto the train, but all Jason did was shrug.

Because obviously not.

The train was crowded, but they did find two seats next to each other, so the three kids could all squeeze in with Jason standing right in front of them. He had his back to most the train, which was making his skin crawl, but at least he could keep an eye on the children and watch out the window, to see if anyone was following them onto the train.

So far, he didn’t recognize anyone.

“Are we still going to watch a movie tonight?” Athanasia asked, from right between Damian and Mara. Her wide, bright eyes stared up at Jason, and Jason kind of hated the answer he had to give her.

“No, probably not.”

Someday soon, he’d be able to give her a normal childhood. Her and Damian and Mara. He’d give them all lives they fucking deserved to have.

Even if that didn’t include him in it. At least he’d have the comfort of knowing, from wherever the fuck he ran off to after dropping them off, that they were being cared for. Protected.

They rode on the train for a little while, but after a couple stops, Jason couldn’t help but tap his foot as he looked around outside the train.

Unfortunately, they were heading south, right back toward the hotels, and if someone was following them, that was exactly where they’d expect them to go.

And staying on the same train was a terrible idea, anyway.

“This one,” Jason said, right as the train was slowing down at the third stop. The kids all hopped up, and Jason quickly ushered them out. They crossed the platform and jumped right onto the next train they saw, that one going in the opposite direction. North, now. Away from the hotels and back through the city.

He didn’t have a plan, but at least this time he got a seat, too. The middle seat of three empty seats all together. He pulled Attie up onto his lap, and watched as the other two sat on either side of him. And this time, they stayed on the train for twenty minutes in silence.

Finally they passed out of the more dense part of the city, and the buildings continued to get shorter and shorter the further they went. It was finally letting him see around them, to survey the area and try and formulate a plan.

When he saw a legit cargo train at an upcoming stop, Jason knew exactly what they had to do.

“Here,” he murmured, pushing Athanasia off him so he could stand up. He held onto the ceiling handrail and grabbed Attie’s hand, when she swayed with the motion of the train, and made his way to the door. The second they opened, all four of them hopped off.

The platform was far less busy than the others they’d seen, and the couple other people who got off with them quickly moved on and out of the station, leaving it mostly clear. Jason looked around for good measure, but didn’t see anyone milling about, just one single person sitting on a bench, reading a book.

Quietly, Jason guided the kids away from the exit, and right off the platform to the side, along the tracks.

Considering it was an open platform, it didn’t seem like they weren’t supposed to do that. Just, perhaps, it wasn’t the normal way to leave. There being no sidewalk along the track, only gravel and dirt.

They followed the tracks for a few hundred feet, all of them being as silent as they could, so hopefully not to attract attention. Jason looked around, once there was a building between them and the main street to their left, and he didn’t see anyone. So he quickly shoved the kids over the track and toward the stopped train he’d seen before. He helped each of them jump over the joint between two cars, and leaped over it himself.

On the other side of the train was a fence, running right up against more buildings. All short, all residential looking, but no one seemed to notice they were even there.

Jason let his eyes scan all the train cars he could see, up and down the train, until he zeroed in on one that was cracked open.

“Bingo,” he whispered, pointing off toward it.

The kids followed, but Damian scowled and whisper shouted, “What are we doing?” when Jason stopped at the car and peeked inside.

“Shut your trap,” Jason said, as he reached out for Attie’s hand first.

She grasped it, and let Jason help her jump up into the train. The door was open just wide enough for them to squeeze in, so that was exactly what Attie did.

Jason held his hand out to Mara next, who took it without question and let Jason help pull her up to the car. Damian swatted his hand away, however, when he tried to help him. Because of course he did. Jason merely rolled his eyes as Damian pulled himself into the train.

With all the kids inside, Jason slipped his backpack off and shoved it in, then hauled himself up swiftly, pushing the door shut behind him until he heard it click.

He hoped to God there was a way to open it from inside, because otherwise he’d just royally screwed them over.

A light clicked on just as Jason reached into his bag to grab his own flashlight, and illuminated the car around them. Damian shone his flashlight at the various crates, and tutted at what they saw.

The car was about half empty, filled with wooden crates of… Jason honestly had no clue. It smelled like sawdust and mildew.

“We can’t hide in a train,” Mara whispered, her scowl clearly illuminated by Damian’s flashlight.

“Sure we can,” Jason responded, once he’d finally found his own flashlight and started shining it at every square inch of the container, just to make sure they were the only trespassers.

It was possible the door had been open because someone else had already used the car. As far as he could tell, it was empty now, though.

“Happens all the time in movies,” he added.

Damian huffed, then snapped, “They inspect trains,” like Jason were some sort of idiot and didn’t already know that.

“So? Why would that matter?” Honestly Jason would far rather be held by customs somewhere than be found by Ra’s or his men. If they got caught by customs, they might let Jason call someone. And if they did, he’d probably just call Bruce.

Probably.

Only because it would be the easiest way out of that little kerfuffle.

Jason turned his flashlight back at the kids, only to see Damian and Mara giving him twin incredulous looks.

“We’re kids,” he exasperated, throwing a hand up in annoyance. Stupid kids should just trust him for once, “They’ll assume we’re being trafficked and be nice.” That would most definitely be the story he fed them.

Yeah.

It might even go over well with the whole, ‘Jason Todd: Died at age 15’ problem he had.

No, he hadn’t died, he’d say. He got kidnapped and trafficked, and was only now getting away. The three kids were brats who also got trafficked and he couldn’t in good conscious leave them behind, right?

That could totally work.

“You hope,” Mara said, her face shifting to something closer to unamused.

“Hope’s got us this far,” Jason quipped. They were doing quite well, actually. They’d gotten away from Ra’s men many times now.

“What does that even mean,” Mara whined, but Jason shushed her.

“They’ll hear you,” he admonished.

“Who’s they?” Damian asked, “This is ridiculous.”

Ridiculous or not, it was going to work. Jason would make sure of it.

In fact, during a second inspection of the car, he found several spots where they could all hide, squeezing in behind and above the crates, so if the door did get opened and someone did look in, they would all be hidden.

So yeah. It was totally going to work.

He quickly briefed the kids on what their hiding spots will be, should they hear someone coming.

All that was left to do was wait, so Jason settled down to do just that. Wait and listen.

But no one ever came, and eventually, the train started moving.

He had no idea where they were even going, but hopefully that was a good thing.

Because if Jason didn’t know where they were going, it meant their trackers wouldn’t know either.

Hopefully.

Hope had gotten them that far, surely it could hang in there for a little longer, until Jason figured this out.

Chapter Text

Jason took a minute to lean his head back against one of the wooden crates and focus on his breathing.

His heart was hammering in his chest a little too loudly for his liking. If Talia had been there, she would have made him chill out ages ago because the thrumming of his heart was somehow louder in his ears than the thudding of the train. And his limbs were starting to feel a bit staticky, too, with each deep breath he took.

He had reasons to be high on adrenaline, obviously. But it always sucked to come down off it.

“We are heading southeast,” Damian announced, breaking right into Jason’s silence, “so we will not cross international borders any time soon.”

Cracking his eye open for just a second, Jason looked over and saw Damian sitting opposite him in the train car, his small figure hunched over Talia’s GPS device, just barely illuminated by the flashlight the kids still had on.

Jason needed to add batteries to their supply list the next time they went shopping, probably, he thought as he leaned his head back again. But that was a problem for later.

Hopefully between the four of them, they had enough flashlights to last however long they were in there.

“What are we going to do once the train stops,” Mara asked, from Jason’s right.

He tried to ignore the question in favor of counting his heartbeats, but Damian scoffed and said, “He doesn’t know.”

With a loud sigh, Jason sat back up. Break over, he supposed. “Lets see what papers we got,” he grumbled, as he pulled his backpack toward himself and pulled the envelope out.

Mara scooted over once Jason had it open, and shown her flashlight right at the papers while they both examined the contents.

Inside were travels visas stuck into their new passports, and each one claimed they had arrived in India the week prior, the day after Talia had pulled Jason from his sleep and sent them on this long stupid trek.

German passports were certainly going to be easier to travel on than Afghani passports, but Jason wasn’t fully sure what all they needed for going basically anywhere.

Could they just skip straight to America on German passports. Or… to London? Where they could pick up their U.S. Passports? They really needed those. He had no clue how to establish them inside the U.S. Otherwise.

He could obviously ditch the kids at a random fire station and the authorities would take it from there, but if he did literally anything else, they needed their identities.

Although he could ditch them with Bruce, and make Bruce deal with it…

That still didn’t help him, though. He’d still have to go to Germany to establish himself under the false name, and then apply for immigration to the U.S…. If that was where he wanted to end up.

Which sounded like a massive headache.

So. They had to go to England. And to get to England….

He had no idea how any of that worked. Whether the German passports were enough to purchase a flight there. He was used to people handling it for him. Talia pulling all the strings. Or Bruce, before that. And without a cell phone or computer, he had no way to look into it himself.

All he knew that in Germany, in Frankfurt specifically, were some British passports for them. So maybe he should just stick to Talia’s plan and take them all to Germany next.

Because, as much as Jason hated to admit it, Damian was right. Ra’s had people everywhere, and at least with sticking to the plan Jason knew how to take the next step.

“We’re going to Germany next,” Jason finally said, tucking the passports back into his bag. He’d need to ditch their Afghani passports somewhere soon.

“And how are we going to get there?” Mara asked.

“Plane,” Jason said without having to think about that one. He was aware of which countries were between them and Germany, and knew taking a train would probably take days if not longer, and would just basically be suicide for them.

Way too much could go wrong.

Mara, much to Jason’s annoyance, asked, “And how are we going to get plane tickets from here.”

“Obviously we aren’t,” he shot back, “we have to get to a city with an airport, buy tickets from a hotel or something, and then fly from there.”

“And how—“ Mara started again, but Jason cut her right off.

“Would you quit?” he exasperated, “We’re still alive aren’t we? It’s better to plan on the fly than to have everything mapped out in perfect detail. We have to be flexible with how this is going.”

“It’s impossible to plan at all when you don’t tell us anything,” she shot back.

“That’s because he doesn’t know anything,” Damian scoffed, “he’s just making everything up.”

“Yes,” Jason said semi-calmly, “because I had no time to prepare for this mission. None of us did.”

“It’s been a week,” Mara exclaimed.

“And we’re still alive,” Athanasia cut in, from where she was sitting in the corner of their open space, hugging her knees and looking all around.

“Yes, exactly see,” Jason said to Mara, motioning toward Athanasia, “Attie’s got the right attitude.”

Mara rolled her eyes, but it was Damian who piped in next, looking back at his GPS, when he said, “We seem to be headed toward Kanpur at the moment, though I cannot tell where the tracks are on this. They could turn somewhere.”

Jason sat back again and nodded. “How long do you think it’ll take to get there, if we are going there?”

“Hard to tell without knowing what stops we will make,” Damian said, bouncing his head back and forth as he studied the device’s screen, “but I would estimate eight hours.”

“Okay then,” Jason said, “When the train seems to be stopping next we can decide if we’re getting off.”

“And for now?” Mara demanded.

“For now,” Jason said, leaning his head back against the crates behind him again, “I’m going to rest.” And get his heart-rate back under control, down to at least a nice 70bpm. He would love if he could drop it below 50, though. He wasn’t sure if his heart had been that calm ever since they left Nanda Parbat.

As Jason took a deep breath in, ready to start counting his heartbeats, he heard Mara sigh loudly. An annoyed and frustrated sound. But he also heard her push her backpack over and lean up against it, so maybe she’d actually leave him alone a bit.

Maybe they all could take naps.

Damian, however, seemed to have another plan. “Athanasia,” he said, in his demanding tone Jason just wanted to smack out of him sometimes.

Jason opened his eyes and peeked over at Damian, just waited for him to do something stupid or mean… or both, but then Damian said, “I believe we should take this time to begin your training.”

“My training?” Athanasia asked, echoing Jason’s exact thoughts.

What training? Naps was what they all needed.

Naps.

“Yes,” Damian said shortly, “You are dead weight, unable to defend yourself, forcing us to defend you. We must correct that.”

Athanasia scowled fiercely as she snapped, “I can defend myself.”

“If that were true, we would not be in this situation,” Damian said dryly, “First we—“

“Mother did train me,” she interrupted, stomping a foot as she did, “we practiced every day.”

Damian waved a hand at her as he said, “Prove it, then. We will begin with katas.”

Jason rolled his eyes, but didn’t say a single word to either of them.

Was this bonding? Was Damian attempting to bond with his sister?

As long as no one stabbed each other…

Mara scoffed, but also didn’t say anything to either of them. Instead, she crossed her arms and sank back further into her backpack, brewing on whatever the fuck she was always pissed about.

And like always, Jason was going to ignore it.

Ignore it and doze.

He was.

At least, that’s what he kept telling himself. He mostly tuned out Damian and Athanasia talking. Damian’s words were delivered harshly, but nothing was mean. And Athanasia was giving him attitude right back, albeit in a much softer tone. So it was fine for him to be ignoring that, too.

Probably.

Jason managed to drift into almost dozing, that state where his heart-rate was slow and relaxed and his senses weren’t quite fully paying attention. His limbs had all quit with the static, too, and everything felt a ton more level. 

But then he heard the thwack of a knife hitting a wooden box and he scowled.

“Do not leave evidence we’ve been here,” he snapped. He opened his eyes to see Damian looking at a knife appraisingly, stuck soundly into the center of a letter on the crate to Jason's left.

Because apparently they decided to throw knives in Jason's direction.

“Acceptable,” Damian said, to Athanasia, as he inspected the crate.

“Did you brats hear me?” Jason said, when neither of them even looked at him.

Damian waved a hand and said, “Athanasia has far more pressing skills to hone than her knife throwing. Her aim is serviceable.”

“Serviceable,” Attie exclaimed, “I hit the target perfectly! It’s impossible to be better!”

Damian scoffed, but thankfully didn’t keep it up. Instead he said, “I believe we should focus on sparring.”

“No hurting each other,” Jason said, but he leaned back again, ready to ignore them for a while longer.

“Pain is—“ Damian started, but Jason wasn’t hearing it.

“No hurting each other,” he boomed, sitting back up to give Damian a severe look, “I mean it. Not even a scratch.”

“Fine,” Damian snapped back, scowling as he did, “her training will be inadequate then.”

Jason looked over at Mara as he sat back, and saw her still sitting there, seething, anger just etched right into her face. He rolled his eyes and then shut them, begging his brain to just put him straight to sleep. Ignore everything and everyone.

But he couldn’t.

He couldn’t, because Mara’s seething was way too damn loud. Her stewing and her brooding and her pouting over who even knew what.

Well, okay. Jason knew what. Her not being in the league anymore and having to follow him all over the world. But this was better and she knew it.

Or would. Eventually. So she should get over it.

After several more minutes of trying in vain to ignore her, Jason sighed loudly and sat back up. He grabbed his backpack and started digging through it. Mara glanced his way, but quickly looked away again when Jason caught her eye.

“Want to play a game,” Jason asked, once he found what he’d been looking for in the back. He pulled one of the decks out and held it up for Mara to see.

“What?” she asked, furrowing her brow, but not looking over at him.

“A game,” he repeated. He opened the deck and fanned the cards out, before scowling at the card right on top. Fuck that card, why do manufacturers even include it anymore? He snatched the joker card out and tore it into tiny pieces before shoving it into a pocket in his backpack. He would burn that if he got the chance.

He really hoped he got the chance.

Mara looked at him with a bewildered expression, but then shook her head as if to clear a thought and asked, “What kind of game?”

“A card game,” Jason said patiently, as he cut the deck to being shuffling it, “do you know any?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll teach you.”

“Why?” she asked, although she also scooted closer, so Jason took that to mean yes, she did want to play.

“Because it’s fun,” he answered anyway, as he continued shuffling the deck, “It’s a way to pass time.”

Mara didn’t say anything else, but she didn’t turn away, either.

With a smile, Jason said, “Okay, let's start with a classic. It’s called Go Fish.”

“Go fish?” she asked skeptically.

“Yep,” Jason said, trying for cheerful, though he wasn’t quite sure he hit the mark, “everyone in America knows how to play Go Fish, so it’s good to learn.”

“Okay…” Mara said slowly, like she weren’t quite sure agreeing was a good idea, but it wasn’t a no.

So Jason walked her through the basics of the game. He decided to keep it easy for a first time, and have matches be only two, by color and card type, rather than requiring all four of a card type be collected.

Mara, of course, caught on quickly, since it was a game three-year-olds could learn. Jason didn’t mention that bit, though.

Jason couldn’t really tell if she was enjoying the game, either, but she did at least look more relaxed and like she wasn’t stewing on all her gripes in life anymore.

That was… until they came down to the last several turns. Mara’s turn was next to last, and each of them had only two cards left in their hands at that point.

Meaning, when Mara asked if Jason had a red seven card, Jason handed it over, then was able to ask her for the black ten in her hand.

For some reason, the entire exchange made Mara look downright anxious.

Jason tried to ignore it, as he set his final match down on the floor between them. “Game over,” he said, as he gathered up all his matches, “how many matches did you make?”

“Eleven,” Mara said sharply, without counting.

“Then that means I have fifteen, huh,” he said, as he started counting up his matches. Once he got to fifteen, he said, “Yep, looks like I win.”

Mara just sat there, staring at him with wide eyes for a solid few seconds. It honestly made Jason squirm, a little.

He honestly wasn’t sure what to even do.

“Want to play again?” he ventured. They could also switch to another game. Although Jason couldn’t think of any game where there wasn’t a winner.

Because had Mara ever played a game where losing didn’t matter?

That would not surprise him one bit. And if he let himself think about it long, his heart-rate was going to skyrocket again, and Jason was calm.

He was calm, dammit.

“Again?” Mara echoed, now looking absolutely lost.

“Yeah. Or we could try another game? If you didn’t like that one.”

Before Mara gathered her thoughts enough to respond, or get over whatever was going through her head, or whatever was going on, Athanasia broke away from Damian’s hushed-tone training session and jumped down to right in front of Jason and Mara and said excitedly, “I want to play too!”

“We aren’t finished,” Damian shouted at her, though Attie completely ignored him.

“Please Jay, can I play too?”

“Sure,” Jason said easily, “Go Fish with multiple people is way more fun.”

“I love Go Fish,” Athanasia exclaimed, nearly squealing, only making Jason smile wider.

Mara’s shoulders dropped just a touch, at that, and wordlessly passed her matched cards over to Jason.

“Yo, brat,” Jason said to Damian, as he began to shuffle the cards back up, “Do you want to play too? Decide now before I deal out the cards.”

But Damian scowled as he started a kata and intoned, “Go Fish is for children.”

“Yep,” Jason agreed easily, “and guess what you guys are?”

“I would rather turn myself over to Grandfather than play a childish game with the likes of you,” Damian said, not even looking over at them as he did.

Jason just rolled his eyes and started dealing out the cards to the three of them. “Fine, be that way,” he said, “We’ll have fun without you, then.”

“Doubtful.”

“Okay,” Jason said, turning back to the girls and choosing to completely ignore Damian, “when there are several playing we still take turns, but you have to choose who you’re asking if they have a card, and you still only get to ask one person for one card each turn.”

Mara nodded as all three of them picked up their cards and started sorting them out into their hand.

“Youngest always goes first,” Jason said, once he had his hand set up how he wanted it, “and now that’s Attie.”

And so they played another game. Then another, and a third one after that. And Jason felt… almost relaxed. For real.

Even though Damian kept pouting and spent the entire time training on his own, it was nice. Just having a few hours of peace and quiet with the kids, as they forgot all their troubles for just a little while. He even got to see Mara smile, if only faintly, when she won the second game.

Jason could actually maybe enjoy spending time with the brats, if it was always that peaceful.

Chapter Text

The three of them played cards for well over another hour. Damian, of course, continued to ignore them and do his own thing, but Jason didn’t care.

No one was stabbing each other, and at least the girls got to relax a little.

Jason also got to nap, a little, afterward. Somehow playing Go Fish and then Crazy Eights with the girls for a couple hours did more for his anxieties than anything else. He kind of wished he could tell Talia her meditation techniques weren’t the only way.

He almost snorted to himself at that thought. Because Talia al Ghul would have played games to help anyone chill out.

Then again… who had taught Athanasia how to play Go Fish?

Dinnertime came and went, and Jason reluctantly filled up on dried meat and the various snacks they’d all picked out. He was definitely missing the perfectly good food they’d abandoned in their hotel room.

But the train finally started slowing down and came to a complete stop late that night. It had slowed several times before that, but each time had been a temporary stop, likely for train traffic to clear. It finally stopped at an actual station, so Jason quickly got the kids to pack everything up and they slipped out of the train under the cover of night into the city of Kanpur.

They quickly and quietly made their way across the tracks and through a container yard, hopefully without being spotted, and made their way out onto what looked like a main road in a decently sized city.

Even though it was late, there were still people about and around. Jason kept looking around, but no one seemed to even notice them, much less be paying attention.

“Now what,” Mara asked, after they’d walked about a block.

“Hotel,” Jason said easily. Checking into a hotel quickly and staying there would probably be their best bet.

Assuming the desk clerk wasn’t fucking league again.

Thankfully, it only took a couple minutes of walking for them to come across a hotel, so Jason led them all inside.

The desk clerk was a young woman who looked bored out of her mind. She smiled tiredly when they walked up, and wasted no time in booking them into a room upstairs in the small hotel.

“The stairs are at the end of the hall,” she said as she handed Jason the key and his charge card back, “and check out is at 11.”

“Thanks,” Jason said, tucking his card back away, “ready kids?”

Damian rolled his eyes, but the three of them started down the hall and up toward their room.

The room itself wasn’t quite as nice as the hotel in New Delhi, and of course was lacking all their stuff, but it still had two beds, was clean, and wasn’t dirt outside.

Plus, after a quick sweep of the room, he was happy to note the window could open and there was a deadbolt on the door, which he turned the moment all the kids were inside.

“This will do,” he said as he dropped his bag down next to the bed closer to the window. He kicked his boots off and gratefully flopped back onto the bed. They still had to get ready for bed, but he’d enjoy a moment of rest first.

“Can we still watch a movie,” Attie asked, staring at the TV hanging up on the wall.

“Maybe in the morning,” he mumbled. He did not want the TV on while he was trying to sleep. He needed to be able to hear outside their room. “For now, why don’t you guys get showers and change into your clean clothes.”

Jason had taken that shower earlier in the day already, but he would definitely take the opportunity to get washed up, too. They each only had one change of clothes with them, but at least they were clean.

And if they slept in the clean clothes, they’d be able to escape easily in the night and blend in even better.

“I’ll go first,” Damian announced. He dropped his bag down on the other bed and dug his clothes out before racing into the bathroom.

Despite Jason having just said they weren’t going to watch a movie, the TV clicked on, so Jason sighed and sat back up. He saw Mara with the remote in her hand, so he chose to ignore it.

He was not fighting with anyone. Just as long as the TV went off when he was ready to sleep.

“Everyone give me your bags, I’m going to reorganize everything,” he said, as he reluctantly got up. That was probably the best use of his time, anyway.

Of course, both brats currently in the room completely ignored him, as they both stared at the TV like zombies, so Jason sighed even louder and grabbed their bags himself.

They only had four backpacks between them, which was absolutely a major problem.

Because they needed to check a bag. Thanks to all their knives. Which meant one of them would travel without a bag.

Maybe if they had time tomorrow, they could run by a store or market or something and find a piece of luggage.

And more clothes…

They did look suspicious without much clothes on them, and it was imperative they looked like normal tourists. He could always claim their rolling luggage got stolen or lost, if anyone asked, though.

Jason put his and Athanasia’s hiking boots in Athanasia’s bag along with the other two’s blankets and sleeping mats and all their knives. He packed all of Attie’s essentials into his bag, and was able to just barely make everything fit.

The bags looked stupid packed, but it didn’t matter. There was nothing bad about what they had packed, so even if security looked through it, it probably wasn’t a problem.

He could make it even less of a problem by just buying more stuff.

But that was a problem for tomorrow Jason, he thought. For the moment, all he was going to do was worry about getting sleep.

And once all the kids had cycled through the shower and he freshened up himself, somehow, he actually felt relaxed enough to sleep. That was, as soon as Mara finally turned the damn TV off.

- - -

Morning came far sooner than Jason wanted, but for once it came peacefully, with Jason simply waking up. He sat up and stretched, and somehow only gained the attention of Damian, who rolled over and squinted at him.

Jason looked at the clock and saw it was 5am, and debated for a second on what to do. Should he wake all the kids, or leave them here while he ran downstairs to get them plane tickets?

“Damian,” Jason whispered, “Can you keep watch while I go buy plane tickets?”

“Of course,” Damian said primly, sitting up tall as he did.

“Okay,” Jason said, as he turned the idea over in his head. What could go wrong?

The League could take the few minutes he was gone to sweep in and take the kids.

Although, Jason would definitely notice people entering the building. And he’d notice people in the building on the way downstairs.

It was a small building, so he’d likely hear the commotion if anyone broke in straight through the windows, too.

So… it would be okay. Right?

Probably.

“Okay,” he said again, as he got out of bed and slipped his sneakers on, “only open the door for me. I’ll knock like this,” he tapped on the bedside table in an easy pattern, “and say ‘D it’s me.’”

Damian nodded seriously as he pulled a knife out of his waistband. “I can handle it,” he promised.

“Okay,” Jason repeated. He hesitated only a second longer, then grabbed their German passports and his wallet, and slipped downstairs to purchase the tickets.

In all, it only took him ten minutes. He was able to get a flight from the neighboring city of Lucknow to Frankfurt with only one stop. Most flights had two stops, but if they left later that evening, then there would be only one stop. Which meant they’d have time to get extra supplies at a nearby market and make their way over to Lucknow. A quick bit of research showed him train options for that, and it would be a two hour train ride.

Which was fine.

Probably.

They could leave the hotel at 11, when check out was, and head toward a market in Kanpur somewhere to pick up the things they needed. Then they could eat a late lunch before hopping on a train to Lucknow to get to the airport itself and get through security well before the flight.

The tickets really ate into their funds, though. He had to check the balance to make sure he knew exactly how much they had left, and it wasn’t too terribly much. He did the math and thought they’d still be able to get to the US on it, but it was going to be close. And they’d have to pick cheap flights from Germany to London, which he thankfully knew did exist.

But he still had a bit of cash, which they could use to get their needed supplies.

They’d just need to be extra careful this was the last time they got more supplies.

Jason asked at the desk if anywhere delivered for breakfast, since he knew the hotel didn’t have a restaurant, and the desk clerk gave him a menu for a local place, so he hurried back upstairs with their printed off itinerary, the menu, and a tourist map of the city from the lobby.

Damian let him in almost instantly, and reported, “All was quiet,” once Jason stepped inside. He looked up to see both the girls were awake, however, so Jason still sighed a little.

He was hoping they’d all get a bit more sleep.

“Thanks,” Jason said, as he locked the door back and slipped his shoe off. “Lets order some breakfast and we can plan our day out.”

“Can we have fried eggs,” Athanasia asked, in a very sleepy voice. She was sitting up in bed, but looked exactly like a 7-year-old woken far-too-early, complete with her Kitty being held in one arm.

“Maybe,” Jason said, as he collapsed down onto his side of the bed and started reading the menu. “Actually, no. I’m not seeing eggs on this menu.”

“Aw,” Attie whined, but Damian came over and snatched the menu from his hand before he could even begin suggesting things.

“Excuse you,” Jason grumbled, but he crossed his arms and just waited for whatever brilliant insight Damian thought he was going to share.

“Are we going to stay in the hotel again,” Mara asked, as she rolled over in her bed to face Jason.

“Yeah,” Jason said, “I think that’ll be best. We’ll stick around here until we absolutely have to leave.”

“Good,” she said, as she pulled her blanket up further over herself, “Did you get us flights?”

“Sure did,” he replied, “Our flight leaves tonight at 8:20 from a town two hours from here. We can head over that way sometime after lunch. By train, before you ask. There’s a train that gets us there.”

Mara nodded, and closed her eyes again, as if she was going to sleep more.

Because of course, the one time Jason had formed a plan, Mara wasn’t on his ass about knowing it.

Which, good. Jason wanted all three of them to lay back down and sleep more.

But then Damian announced loudly, “We should order the chutney, some extra roti, and the honey chili potatoes.”

“I’ll pretend to know what all of that is,” Jason mumbled, as he took the menu back from Damian. He turned toward the girls and asked, “Any objections to what Damian suggested?”

“No,” Mara said, though she didn’t open her eyes, “For once he actually wanted Indian food while in India.”

“There’s Chinese foods on the menu, too,” Damian said as he sat down in the only chair in the room, in the corner between Jason’s bed and the window, “but none of them are breakfast items.”

Rolling his eyes, Jason turned to Attie, who was still sitting up looking groggy-as-hell next to him, and asked, “Attie? Opinions?”

“I want eggs,” she mumbled.

“They don’t have eggs.”

“You will like this,” Damian said, “it is a very savory breakfast, sufficiently filling for a long day of travel.”

Athanasia didn’t offer up any more opinions, so Jason looked back at the menu for the hours, and realized the place didn’t even open for another hour. “Okay,” he said, “I’ll call when they open in an hour and place the order for delivery.”

“Can we watch a movie, then,” Attie asked.

“If you can find a movie this early in the morning, yes,” Jason said.

Before Athanasia even moved, Mara sat up and snatched the remote off the table between the beds and flicked on the TV.

“I want to pick,” Attie whined, but Mara completely ignored her as she started flipping through channels.

“You brats have to agree on whatever you pick,” Jason said, as he flipped the blanket back over his legs and settled back in, similar to how Mara had done. If they had an hour of nothing, he was going to doze some more.

He didn’t look over to see what, if any, response Mara gave, but as she was flipping through channels Athanasia exclaimed, “This,” when there was some sort of bright-colored cartoon on the screen.

“If it’s stupid I’m changing it,” Mara said, but Jason heard her set the remote down and her mattress squeak a little as she settled back down, so hopefully a fight wasn’t about to start.

But Jason shut his eyes, and didn’t hear anything but the sound of some children’s cartoon in the background for the next hour.

Now if only every morning could be that peaceful.

- - -

Breakfast was eventless. Jason ordered what Damian suggested, and the four of them enjoyed it quietly while the kids continued watching some dumb show with a fat bear. It kind of reminded Jason of Tom and Jerry, just with a bear and some little fluffy things instead.

Whatever it was, it had the kids fucking captivated.

Reluctantly, though, once 11 came around, the four of them gathered up their crap and made their way out of the hotel.

The good twelve hours they spent in the hotel was a fucking lifesaver, Jason thought, as they took a taxi over to the large market he found on the crappy tourist map the hotel supplied them. Because for once, all of them were calm and relaxed as they went.

Or, as relaxed as they could be, once their guards were back up out in public.

The taxi dropped them off at the edge of the market, and Jason zeroed in on a little shop selling all sorts of clothes and accessories.

“Yo,” he said, gaining all the kids attention, “Let’s each pick out a couple more outfits.”

Damian sighed a deep, annoyed sound, but he did actually start looking through the clothes. Both girls, of course, started looking around as well, Attie a bit more enthusiastic about it than Mara.

And while they did, Jason kept looking around their surroundings, trying to find anything out of place.

But there was nothing. No one was paying them any attention, even when they spent over an hour going from shop to shop, looking for exactly what they wanted.

Or, he should clarify, exactly what Athanasia wanted, since she was way too into shopping.

Mara was his favorite kid to take shopping, he decided once Athanasia finally picked out a third outfit, a simple dress with pink polka dots on it. Jason didn’t understand why it was different from the seventy other dresses and outfits they’d looked at, but whatever.

Damian did finally pick clothes out, but he was fucking picky, too. Just in a different way from Attie. Mara, on the other hand, was practical and decisive. She picked out three outfits quickly with no consideration other than if the clothes would fit, if she’d blend in wearing them in both India and Europe, and if they’d be easy to move around in.

Once they had everything they needed, including a new, or what seemed to be a lightly used, rolling bag, Jason pulled the kids into a quiet alley to rearrange all their stuff. Finally he was able to get all their hiking boots into the piece of luggage, along with all their blankets and sleeping gear, and their dirty clothes. He decided each of them should carry their changes of clothes in their own bags, just to keep it all sorted logically.

And finally, Jason felt like they looked like tourists again. Their luggage filled with camping equipment made it look like they just went backpacking around India for a week, which probably wasn’t the most ridiculous thing what customs would assume were ‘wealthy kids’ from Europe could do.

That’s what Jason was going for, at least. The best he could.

Jason kept his eye out all day as they got their lunch from a street vendor, then made their way to the train station. But everywhere they went, he didn’t notice anything weird. Nothing out of place.

Getting on the train was completely eventless, and the kids were perfectly behaved the entire time.

That alone was making him anxious as fuck, but he pushed it all aside in favor of grabbing sandwiches from a food stand near the train station in Lucknow for them to eat later, before they took another taxi straight to the airport.

And despite not seeing a single reason to get antsy about anything, Jason wasn’t able to relax again until they were sitting on their plane at cruising altitude, India finally behind them.

Two countries down, two more to go, Jason thought as he stared out the plane window at the land below them.

This entire ordeal was almost behind them.

Chapter Text

Their flights took seventeen hours total, including the layover in Muscat, which was seven hours long. Just short enough it wasn’t worth leaving the airport, but long enough it sucked. Like, a lot.

Jason got restless during the layover, so it was no surprise the kids went absolutely insane.

Well. Insane for what Jason was used to out of them.

Sure, they’d been total brats since the second he met them, but they’d at least been brats that could sit still. Jason tried his best to keep them entertained, but there was only so much he could do when they were trapped in a relatively small international airport. Card games only kept their attention so long, when each of them were basically running on fumes. In the end, Jason had to keep them occupied with brain teasers and logic puzzles that he'd memorized as a kid. And finally, the boarding for their flight began, but Jason wasn't as happy about it as he thought he'd be.

Because they still had a seven hour flight ahead of them.

It sucked.

Jason found it absolutely impossible to sleep in public, including on the planes. He definitely tried, especially on the second flight, but he couldn’t calm him thoughts enough to even keep his eyes shut for more than a minute at a time. The older two kids seemed to be just like him, in that regard. Athanasia dozed some on the first flight, but she was wide awake during the layover and second flight. And definitely didn’t get nearly enough sleep for the night.

He tried his best to encourage them to read their books, on the second plane, since it was clear none of them would really sleep. And on the plane, he couldn’t make them walk laps or whatever like he did in the airport. He certainly tried to read his book, but Athanasia kept bugging him by asking him a million questions, instead of read her own book.

Stupid questions, too, like Are there cats in America? Do they look like cats in Afghanistan? Do cats have cat languages like humans have human languages? Is it different in different countries?

“Attie, please,” Jason had finally said, after he said ‘I don’t know,’ for the fifteenth time in a row, “I’m very tired. Could you please just read your book?”

“Fine,” she’d whined, but considering she leaned her back up against Jason’s side, Jason figured she wasn’t actually mad at him. The armrest that should have been between them had been raised almost instantly, once they’d found their seats on the plane.

Mara was sitting to Jason’s right, with Damian on her right, and both of them were already reading their books. Well. Damian was absolutely devouring his book. Mara, on the other hand, had her book open, but she’d had it open to the same page for the past half hour, so Jason knew she wasn’t reading.

Instead she was pouting again, as she did way too often.

Jason tapped on her tray table, right next to her book, and asked once she looked up, “Want to play a card game?”

“No,” she said immediately, scowling at him.

“You sure? I can teach you a new game,” he offered, as he reached into the seat pocket in front of him to retrieve the deck of cards he’d stashed there before takeoff.

But Mara scowled harder and said, “No,” again, more forcefully.

Athanasia, on the other hand, exclaimed, “I want to play a card game.”

“Okay,” Jason agreed easily.

He and Attie played a round of Go Fish, while Mara turned one single page in her book. Jason should have just ignored her, since she was at least being quiet and wasn’t drawing attention to them, but something in him just couldn’t let it go…

“Want to try my book?” he asked, as he turned toward her for a moment. Athanasia was shuffling the cards, since she’d insisted she wanted a turn as the dealer.

Jason had already finished reading both Hitchhiker’s and Restaurant at the End of the Universe… and had maybe read Hitchhiker’s a second time, too. It was a fun story, okay? Maybe Mara could appreciate it. Or maybe it would at least occupy her mind a little, instead of just letting her stew on whatever she was mad about, now.

Probably the same damn thing she’d been mad about this entire time.

Mara just glared at him, instead of answer, so Jason pulled the book from his bag and set it down on her tray table. She turned her glare toward the book, but didn’t push it away. Once Jason turned his back to her again, so Athanasia couldn’t see his cards as they played another round of Go Fish, she did finally pick the book up. Jason chose not to comment on it, or even look over at her. He remembered being a proud kid. He knew better than to call it out.

But her page turning became rhythmic, and Jason had to suppress a smile. It was a fun story.

Finally they arrived in Germany at nearly noon Indian time, during the 7am hour German time, and Jason was spent. They’d at least got a meal on the plane, so he didn’t have to worry about feeding the kids for a little while. But his exhaustion was kind of ridiculous.

How the kids were still upright, he had no idea.

Really, all Jason wanted to do was get their passports and check into a hotel. Stay hidden as long as humanly possible. The fewer people that saw them in Germany, the more likely it was they’d escape notice.

And yet, they had to pass through customs first.

Thankfully, their documents were apparently so good, they got through customs lickity split. The agent they got asked Jason just a few questions, mainly where they’d gone, why, and if they were bringing anything into the country. Jason answered all the questions in broken German, so he could quickly pretend the kids didn’t speak German at all, if necessary. Since, well. They didn’t. But the agent didn’t spend any time at all scrutinizing their documents, and accepted his answers just fine and sent them on their way. Instead, they stopped a man two behind Jason for further questioning.

He was thankful someone else on the plane was more suspicious than he was.

“Let’s go get our stuff immediately, then we can figure out where to go from there,” Jason said quietly, once they’d retrieved their bag from the carousel.

Mara mumbled something Jason didn’t catch, but he didn’t care what her complaint was this time.

He didn’t.

“Where is our stuff at,” Damian asked.

Jason pointed toward a brochure rack near the airport exit and said, “Grab a map and I’ll tell you the address.”

The address ended up leading them to a jewelry shop that was, thankfully, already open once they arrived half an hour later by taxi. The kids were all so tired, none of them gave him any trouble at all during the commute, or when he pushed the shop door open and ushered them inside.

Thankfully, there was just one elderly woman tending the shop, and as far as Jason could tell, there hadn’t been people out on the street watching them, either. So Jason shut the door behind him and took a steady breath.

“Can I help you,” the woman asked, in German. She smiled a kind smile, but her eyes were far more alert than normal.

So Jason took a deep breath and asked in the league’s dialect, “Have you got promise rings?”

The woman’s smile turned wry as she asked, “And what have you to promise?”

“My life,” Jason recited, just as Talia’s letter had told him to say, “in the service of my lady.”

At that, the woman reached under the counter in front of her and probably flipped a switch, considering Jason heard the door behind them lock. The kids all looked up at him at once, but Jason took a deep, steadying breath in hopes the kids took it as a sign to keep calm.

“It is relieving to know you have made it thus far,” the woman said, as she turned around and started removing some boxes from a shelf behind her.

Jason nodded, but stayed right where he was as he watched the woman open the back of the bookshelf, to reveal a shallow hidden area where a thick yellow envelope was hidden.

“I suggest you leave this town,” she said, as she set the envelope on the counter and started digging through a cabinet under the jewelry case next to her, “It is not safe here.” After digging a little more, she stood up straight and put the envelope into a store bag, then added a small wrapped package on top. She held it out for Jason to take, so he reluctantly walked across the room and took the bag from her.

“Go,” she said, “Do not linger here.”

“Thank you,” Jason said, bowing his head slightly to her, “stay safe.”

After ushering the kids outside, Mara turned and asked, “Are we still getting a hotel?”

“Guess not,” Jason said with a deep sigh, “Perhaps we should go book a flight right now.”

“I want to sleep,” Athanasia whined, but Jason could only frown.

“Me too, but we shouldn’t tempt fate.”

Damian pulled the tourist map out of his pocket and asked, “Where should we go next, then?”

Rubbing at his face, Jason took a second to think. He needed to buy plane tickets, but buying tickets at the airport was suspicious as fuck, these days. No one did that. “Uh,” he stammered, trying to think, “Is there a library on there?” Libraries had computers, and that was all he needed to buy plane tickets.

“Yes,” Damian said after scrutinizing the map for a moment, “there is one a few blocks west.”

“Let’s go there, then,” Jason said. As they walked, he carefully pulled their new passports out, and tried to scrutinize them from inside the bag so he’d know what names to put on the plane tickets. Currently their names were James, Alexander, Maria, and Lily Wilson. Once again, Jason really, really hoped their American passports has their real first names on it.

“Alexander,” Jason said in a thick British accent as soon as they stepped inside the massive library, “why don’t you, Maria, and Lily go look at the children’s books while I look up that book I need.” He made sure to look at Mara and Attie when he said their new fake names, and the kids all nodded once before they made a beeline straight for the children’s section in the library.

Jason found a catalog computer hidden in the stacks, facing the back wall, and made quick work out of defeating the program that kept the catalog software locked onto the screen. He navigated to a budget airline website and found a dirt cheap flight for that afternoon from the other airport in Frankfurt to London and booked it. He grumbled to himself as he bought their bags ‘room’ on the plane, as well, and decided to just pay whatever they charged to print the tickets at the airport.

Stupid budget airlines charing for literally everything.

Jason quickly committed the information to memory before he erased the history on the computer, even though he’d made sure it wouldn’t record anything in the first place, and pulled the catalog software back up.

The kids were still in the children’s section, all looking at a craft display the library had in the middle of the area.

“They don’t have what I was looking for,” Jason said to the kids once he walked back over to them, still using the fake British accent, “But that’s okay. I’ll just order the book, hopefully it arrives before we leave.”

All three kids nodded, and Damian said in a matching accent, “Perhaps we could check a bookstore next.”

Once outside, Jason said, back in Arabic, “Flight leaves at three. It’s nine now.”

“What do we do now?” Mara asked, as Attie grasped onto Jason’s hand and squeezed as they walked down the street.

“We need to ditch our old documents,” Jason replied, “and perhaps freshen up if possible.” Though he wasn’t sure where to do that.

In the end, they went into a brunch place for food and took turns using the single person restroom to freshen up. While Jason was in there, he tore their old passports up into tiny pieces and flushed them down the toilet. He was extremely quick as he washed his face, because leaving the kids alone at their table sent him into a near panic, but he also couldn’t bring all three kids in there with him. For one, everyone around them would think that weird, and two. Jason did need to relieve himself, and he wasn’t going to do that with the kids in there.

In all, he was in the bathroom for three minutes, max, but he half expected to see an empty table where the kids had been when he walked back out. But there they were, right where they were supposed to be, slowly picking at the waffles Jason had ordered all four of them.

The kids looked exhausted.

“Should we get new books on the way to the airport,” he asked, once they were done and leaving.

“Yes, please,” Mara said, in an almost exasperated tone, and the other two simply nodded.

“Cool, I saw one across the street,” Jason said, leading them that way. So far he hadn’t noticed anyone seemingly out of place, so he hoped the bookstore would be a safe stop. Then they’d go straight to the airport and wait there until the flight.

The bookstore was the largest one they’d visited yet, and was the first new bookstore they’d seen. Inside the envelope Talia’s contact had handed them had a decent stack of Euros in it, along with another stack of British Pounds, so Jason wasn’t quite as worried about their finances as he had been. He could get them to America on just the money on the prepaid card, so all the cash in his pocket was basically just gravy.

At least, that was what he was telling himself as he was looking at the price tags on the books he looked at.

“Stay together,” Jason said, when the kids tried to spread out as they’d done in the previous stores. Damian and Mara gave him twin outraged faces, but Attie smiled.

“Okay, Jay,” she said brightly, as she bounced to stand right between the two older kids.

Jason didn’t really care if Attie stayed with them or came with him, but he definitely did not want her alone. If the League ambushed the bookstore, they stood a much better chance if they stayed together, and could defend each other. He had no doubt they would protect each other.

When no shouting came from the kids as they perused the English book section, Jason figured they were probably okay, and went to look through the fiction books. He’d not read anything in German in quite a while. It would be good for him to exercise the language a little more.

After picking out a scifi-looking book entirely based on the cover, Jason found himself in what he could only call the coloring section.

Like. Coloring books, but possibly aimed at adults? He wasn’t entirely sure, but he could definitely get the kids to color, right? That would keep them occupied for hours, if he could convince them to do it…

Athanasia would do it, he was sure, but the other two were a total toss up. Maybe if he threatened them and insisted they had to, in order to blend in. Regardless, Jason picked three books from what looked like the same company, just different themes and three matching sets of cheap markers, then went to find the kids.

Somehow they walked out of the store with eight more books. Athanasia and Damian were the culprits, out of the kids. Attie argued her books were short and in the same series, therefore she needed both, and Damian had just said, “I’m the one carrying them,” echoing Jason’s excuse in India.

“Yeah whatever, did you just want one, Mara,” Jason had asked.

She shrugged and said, “I’m not done with the one I was reading yet.”

“Fair enough.”

After that they went ahead and taxied over to the airport, then spent a minute rearranging their bags to get their extra books into the checked bag, just so they weren’t carrying a million books around. Jason let Mara take The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy into her bag, and kept the second book in his own bag, just in case she wanted to continue the series instead of read whatever it was she’d picked out.

Once they checked in for the flight, dropped off their bag, and got their printed tickets. He had to pay for it, but the agent had been sympathetic when Jason said, “My phone was stolen last night, and I’m just so ready to be home again.”

Passing through security was a breeze, and soon Jason found himself sitting at the gate with the three kids, once again bored out of his mind but unable to nap.

Not that they had that much time to rest.

People watching helped pass the time well enough, while the kids all read in their new books. Well, Mara kept reading Hitchhiker’s, but Jason wasn’t commenting on that either.

Once they were finally on the plane and in the air, Jason decided to pass out the coloring books he’d picked out.

“All right brats, pick a book,” Jason said, as he pulled his backpack from under the seat in front of him and unzipped it. He grabbed the coloring books and fanned them out for the kids to see.

Attie grinned wide and quickly snatched the fairy-themed one right from the middle, while the other two kids didn’t even move.

Damian was sitting on the other side of Attie and narrowed his eyes as he demanded, “What are these?”

“Coloring books,” Jason said simply, as he handed Athanasia one of the packs of markers.

She eagerly opened them up and got straight to work.

With a scoff, Damian said primly, “I am not a child.”

“These were in a section called Adult Coloring Books, so that’s a dumb argument,” Jason shot back.

“Then why did you not get yourself one,” Damian demanded.

Jason merely shrugged.

Damian scowled and said, “Because coloring is for children.”

“Well, you look like a child, so take one and start coloring.”

“I will not,” Damian declared, crossing his arms.

“You will blow our cover,” Jason said lowly, so only the three of them could hear. Thankfully they were seated near the wings, so the plane noise was loud and helped cover their conversation.

Mara, gave him a skeptical look, but picked one of the books before Damian did. It was a mandala theme, as far as Jason could tell. Just, abstract, geometric patterns. She took a set of markers when Jason offered them, then started flipping through the book.

“Congrats, brat, you get animals,” Jason said, as he held the last set of markers and book out for Damian.

With a glare that rivaled Bruce’s bat-glare, Damian snatched the book out of Jason’s hands and clearly seethed as he flipped through the book.

Jason had to force himself not to smile in victory.

To his right, Mara kept looking up at him and over at Athanasia as she looked down at the first page of her book, almost like she had no idea what to even do. Slowly, she pulled a marker out of the box, but didn’t do anything with it.

Because she probably didn’t know how to color.

Fucking hell, these kids.

“Geez, okay,” Jason said, as he turned toward her, “There’s no right way to do it. Just, like, color the page however you see fit.”

“I don’t understand the purpose,” Mara replied.

“It’s just like…” Jason started, but he wasn’t sure the real purpose either. Other than to waste time. And practicing hand eye coordination and whatever-else kids actually got out of coloring. He knew it was good for kids to color. Maybe when they were younger than these kids, but since schools still had kids of their age color, he figured it was good for them too, right?

“Watch,” he finally settled on saying. He picked up Mara’s box of markers and picked the green marker out, then wrapped his arm back around her, so he could start coloring on the page in front of her without blocking her vision.

Mara stiffened instantly, but Jason was careful not to touch her too much as he worked. She looked up at his face, then back down at the book in front of her and watched.

“See, just like, color it. Whatever colors or patterns you want, there’s no rules,” he said, as he moved to another circle to fill it in with green, too.

“I’m giving my person blue skin,” Athanasia said, her smile evident in her voice as she kicked her feet and colored.

Mara made a disgusted face, but then looked back down at where Jason was coloring, and slowly started filling in one of the star-things with the red marker she’d already picked out.

Apparently she was left-handed. Jason would have never guessed. He was fairly certain she’d been using her right hand when using her sword.

Jason wouldn’t put it past Ra’s to force people to use their right hand for that, though.

Chancing a glance over at Damian, Jason saw him still scowling deeply, but he was filling in a picture with his markers. Angrily, sure, but he was doing it.

Slowly, Jason took his arm away, because Mara seemed to be doing just fine, and pulled his own book out to start reading.

He spent the flight trying to ignore the kids, while also not actually ignoring them.

Athanasia had a blast coloring, and every once in a while would demand Jason look at what she’d done so far. Mara… he couldn’t tell if she was actually enjoying it, but she was still coloring an hour later when the pilot announced they were making the final approach.

Damian, on the other hand, seemed to have gotten bored of coloring, because instead of that, he’d taken to drawing his own pictures, on the blank backside of one of the pages.

And… he was actually really good. He was currently working on a more realistic looking dog, based on the line art of the page next to the one he was drawing on.

Maybe Jason should buy Damian a sketch book in London. And, like, pencils or something.

Also, he should get more activity books in general. Word searches or sudokus or something.

The flight from London to America was going to be long, he knew, and they’d need more things to occupy their time.

Hopefully they’d have time to sleep between then and their next flights, though. Because all Jason could think about when they packed their books away for landing was just how exhausted he was.

Thankfully this whole damn trip was almost over. The next documents they got were their American passports, and once they had those, he could make the final plans.

It was about damn time.

Chapter Text

By the time they landed in London, Jason was so tired he just wanted to sleep solidly for a week. It’d been 36 hours since they’d checked out of their last hotel and he was done.

So, so very done.

Thankfully, it was late evening, so Jason was ready to just check them into the first hotel they saw.

Athanasia was half asleep once the plane finally docked at the jet bridge, and Jason had a hard time rousing her.

“Get up, it’s time to get off the plane,” he said, gently shaking her shoulder.

She’d crashed fast, actually. One moment she was happily coloring, the next she’d been asleep, her face buried into her arms on the tray table. Jason had had to pull her back into her seat to close the tray for landing.

That worried Jason, a little. That she was so out of it.

“Can you carry me,” Attie whined.

“Now you want me to carry you,” Jason asked, as he tugged his backpack from under the seat in front of him, “but no. You have to walk. Get your bag.” He was tired, too.

Attie whined a lot more, but Damian ended up pulling her backpack out for her and pushed it at her, then said, “March,” to her when it was their turn to exit the plane.

Jason tried not to smile too noticeably.

“You’re mean,” Athanasia whined at Damian, but she followed Jason as ordered, and eventually forced Jason to hold her hand once they were in the terminal.

One thing that really annoyed Jason was learning they’d landed at an airport called London Stansted. He should have paid more attention when he booked, because the airport was a two and a half hour train ride from where their passports were.

But it was fine. Everything was fine. Because maybe being so far outside the city meant they wouldn’t be noticed at all. Because no one was looking there.

Getting their bag took forever, he felt like. The airline never announced which bag return they’d been assigned, and the bags just started spitting out on one of the carousels. Jason felt they were just lucky they’d found the right one fairly easily.

Once they had the bag, Attie started complaining about needing to use the restroom.

“Can’t you hold it,” Jason had nearly whined at her. They’d be a hotel within the hour. He was holding it.

“No,” she replied, and Jason sighed even harder.

“Maria, go in with her,” Jason had said, as they stopped near one of the bathrooms outside security. He had to keep reminding himself not to say their actual names, or to use the fake ones.

At least the kids responded to them just fine, because Mara rolled her eyes, but followed Athanasia into the women’s room, while he and Damian stood outside. Jason leaned up against the wall near the door and crossed his arms as he surveyed the busy airport.

There were a lot of people there. Like, a lot. But as far as he could tell, several flights had landed all at once. Like, at least four. So the congestion was to be expected, he supposed.

It made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, regardless.

No one paid them any attention, though. And when the girls came back out a few minutes later, the only suspicious person in the area was Jason.

“That took long enough,” Damian drawled, but Jason ushered the kids outside so they could get going.

They ended up getting on the first shuttle that showed up to the hotel shuttle stop , and the driver didn’t even ask them if they had a booking. He just offered to help with their bag, which Jason declined, then quietly drove them to the hotel.

As they stopped outside the hotel, Jason noticed a McDonalds across the street.

McDonalds.

They were finally getting closer to the culture Jason was used to, and he could cry over it.

He didn’t of course. Instead he said, “Let’s grab dinner to go first and bring it in to check in.”

When no complaints came, Jason led them across the parking lot and street to the little McDonald’s, and ordered food for all three of them.

The restaurant had those kiosk things, so Jason was able to chat with the kids as they decided what they wanted, all without wasting the time of a poor cashier putting up with their tired bullshit. Flipping through the menu, Jason found something called chili cheese bites, which he’d never seen at a McDonald’s before, but it had been years since he’d last been.

It always took begging to get Bruce to take him to one. Begging. Dick had been the one to take him, most times he’d been. Actually, there was a lot on the menu he’d never seen on a McDonald’s menu, but that could just be because they were in a different country. Catering to the local palate, and all that.

Obviously he added an order of the chili things to the order before he turned to the kids.

“Are chicken nuggets okay,” he asked. No one objected, so he started to add three happy meals to the cart. But he had to select the drinks, and that did actually come with objections.

Once again the kids instantly thought they had to agree on a drink, and the bickering started instantly.

In Arabic.

Loudly.

“Hush,” he snapped at the kids in Arabic, “keep your voices down if you’re going to talk like that.”

Damian scowled, but the girls at least looked a little chastised. Because it was dumb of them to get loud in the League’s dialect.

Thankfully they were literally the only customers in the store, and hopefully there weren’t any league members working at McDonald’s.

“One at a time, what do you want to drink,” Jason said then, in his fake British accent.

Sprite, Fanta, and Coke Zero were the wrong answers the kids gave, and he was fairly certain all of them were ordered solely based on the color of the example cups on the screen. Hopefully the hotel would have drinking water as a backup, just in case the kids ended up hating their choices.

With the kids squared away, he selected a burger combo almost at random, and was thrilled to order a Coke for himself.

Finally.

Once they were handed their food, Jason was a little surprised no one, meaning Damian, complained about the ridiculously cute happy meal box each kid was handed, but they easily collected up their things and walked back over to the hotel.

Checking in was easy, too. The desk clerk barely looked at them as she booked them into a room with two beds, and Jason was able to cover it with the prepaid card he’d found in the package the lady in Germany gave them.

The package she’d included in the bag had only had the charge card in it. A prepaid one, of course, but Jason figured it was a good idea to use it instead of the one they’d used to buy their plane tickets in Afghanistan, India, and Germany. He didn’t know if anyone in the League was smart enough to make those sort of connections, but if they were, they wouldn’t be able to immediately trace their hotel from the card.

Really, Jason should see if he could withdraw the cash on that card and ditch it somewhere.

Upstairs in their room, which was just a basic room with two beds, a TV, and a bathroom, they all ate their McDonald’s in near silence.

Well. Silence except for the TV, because of course it got turned on the second they got in there.

But twenty minutes later, they were done eating, changed into clean clothes, and all laying in bed. They were all absolutely out once their heads hit the pillows.

Jason did one last check of the room, making sure the windows and door were locked, and he pulled the knives from the checked bag and put two on his person, then the other six on the bedside table between the beds. Just in case.

Then Jason finally gave in to the inevitable, and laid his own head down on his pillow.

He, too, was out the second he closed his eyes.

- - -

Jason woke in the morning peacefully, sometime in the 5 o’clock hour, which meant he got just over nine hours of sleep.

Nine.

Which meant his sleep deficit was still probably negative ten million hours, but damn if he didn’t feel better.

The kids were all still dead to the world, and Attie was tangled up in the blanket and not on top of him for once, so Jason carefully slipped out of bed and into the bathroom. He took the longest, hottest shower possible.

It was divine.

Almost made him forget about the fact they were currently on the run from the League of Assassins.

Almost.

He left the fan off in the bathroom, specifically so he could still hear outside in the room, and was happy that it stayed dead quiet out there until he was done, some fifteen minutes later.

Mara was awake, he noticed instantly as he tip toed his way back across the room to his side of his bed. She wasn’t sitting up, though, and was still snuggled down into the blanket she and Damian were sharing.

Jason offered her a smile as he set his bag down, but she just gave him a blank stare in return before she closed her eyes again.

Whatever. Maybe she’d sleep more.

He snagged the room service menu off the table before climbing back into bed to look at the breakfast situation. Apparently there was a complimentary breakfast buffet.

Jason wanted that.

It opened at 5am and ran until 9:30, so they had plenty of time to catch it. If the kids weren't up by 7, he’d get them up himself, but he didn’t expect that to be a problem.

And he was right, because by 6am, all three kids were awake.

Or, well. Damian and Mara were both fully awake, and sat up talking in normal fucking volumes as they asked Jason a million questions about what the plan is now. It came as no shock when Athanasia woke up, too.

“We’ll start today with showers, then breakfast, then we will go get our American passports.”

Mara rolled her eyes and asked, “Once we have those, are we done with this travel?”

“I hope so,” was all Jason said.

“Where in America are we going,” Damian asked next.

But Jason didn’t fucking know, so he merely shrugged. “One of you go get the first shower,” he said, instead of answer.

Because he didn’t know.

He was running out of time to not think about it, and he was maybe starting to panic over it.

Were they going to Bruce?

And if they weren’t, where were they going? Where was safest from the League?

Gotham was the absolute safest city, as far as that went, but the city itself was the opposite of safe. And Jason wasn’t going to subject the kids to the chaos that was Gotham without bringing them to Bruce…

Also Jason wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to live in Batman’s city without being noticed by him… Bruce would likely notice almost immediately if some kids who defected from the League moved to Gotham… And then how long would it take him to notice Jason?

Would he accuse Jason of being dangerous to the kids? And take them away?

But then what would he even do with them? Would he take good care of them? Of Mara? Was that really the best place for them?

So if he didn’t take them to Gotham, what other cities were there?

Jason was startled from his thoughts when the lump of blankets next to him started shaking.

Damian had demanded first shower, so he was in the bathroom with the fan and shower on, and Mara was laying down again, likely dozing more.

And Athanasia was crying, apparently.

Furrowing his brow, Jason leaned over to see Attie’s face, but couldn’t find it. Because she’d covered it with the blanket.

“Attie,” he asked, pulling gently at the blanket, trying to find her, “are you okay?”

Mara opened her eyes and looked over, but Jason was going to ignore her. Because he’d found Attie’s face, sort of.

She had it buried into the mattress as she absolutely sobbed.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, as his hand hovered over her. He hadn’t had to deal with the kids crying in days. Actually, in well over a week, right? Not since the first couple days in the desert.

Athanasia mumbled something, but Jason didn’t catch a single word of it, since she mumbled it right into the mattress.

“What?” he said, “I didn’t catch that. What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

With a deep breath, Attie rolled over so she was facing him some, peeking up at him from behind the blanket she was still clutching to as she cried, “I want my mother.”

“Oh,” Jason said dumbly, feeling himself deflate.

That wasn’t something he could fix.

“I don’t want to travel anymore,” she added.

Jason didn’t either. He wasn’t sure any of them wanted to be traveling like they were.

But.

Ra’s demanded it.

“Come here,” Jason said, holding his hands down to her, offering to pick her up.

She didn’t hesitate in getting up, so Jason could pull her up into his lap and wrap his arms around her.

“I lost my mom when I was about your age, too,” he said after a moment, “a little older.” He’d been nine, and yeah he’d been expecting it to happen, but still.

He definitely remembered what it felt like, waking up in the morning and expecting her to be there and she wasn’t.

“You did?” Attie whispered, from where she’d buried her face into his shirt.

“Yeah,” he whispered back, “I know how it feels. I’m really sorry it happened to you.”

Attie sniffled. Jason blinked, because he heard it, but he wasn’t going to comment on it. She didn’t have to be quiet anymore.

“When I woke up I thought I was back in our quarters,” she said after a moment, “but I’m not.”

Jason tightened his arms around her, and really wasn’t sure what to say to that.

“I miss her,” Attie cried.

“I know,” he said, as he hugged her tight again, “and I wish I could tell you that goes away, but it doesn’t. You’ll always miss her, but it’ll get easier to think about it without feeling sad as time goes on.”

“I just want to go home,” she cried a little louder.

“We’ll make a new home very soon, I promise.” And then everything would get way easier.

“With you, right?” Attie said, sniffling. She turned her face so she was looking up at Jason and added, “You’re staying with us, right?”

“Yes,” Jason said instantly, “I promised you, didn’t I?”

Athanasia nodded, but turned back into his shirt and stayed snuggled there, right into his chest. So Jason tightened his arms again and just sat with her.

It was easy to mean that promise now. The thought of just leaving them kind of maybe induced a touch of panic, in him. He wasn’t even sure when that had happened.

But.

It had.

And.

He could do this, right? This… family thing with them?

The bathroom fan cut off and the door opened, and of course, Damian instantly scowled at Jason and Athanasia when he saw them, but he didn’t comment as he went to put his dirty clothes away.

Which was good. Because Jason might have thrown something at him, if he had.

Could he really do this family thing with them? He might just strangle one or all of them if he kept getting attitude all the fucking time.

He’s probably just jealous, a little voice in the back of Jason’s head said, he was never allowed to show these sorts of emotions.

Jason really wasn’t sure if Bruce would be the best for teaching him he could have emotions, anyway. What with Bruce being an emotionless zombie. Or. With Bruce pretending he was an emotionless zombie.

Mara sat up in her bed and just sat there, staring directly at Jason. It took Jason raising an eyebrow at her to talk.

“What,” she started, slowly, before averting her eyes from Jason and pressing on, “What are you going to do with me.”

“I’m not doing anything with you,” Jason said, frowning. What did she even mean? Like, why would she think Jason would do anything but keep her with the other two? He was going to go through all the trouble of getting her away from the League and to safety to, what? Dump her off at a fire station and pretend he didn’t know her?

Like what even.

“As far as I’m concerned, you’re one of the brats just like the other two. You’ll stay with us, obviously.”

She looked up at him, but he couldn’t discern any sort of emotion from her look. After a beat, she asked, “Are we going to your father?”

“I… don’t think so,” Jason finally admitted.

Damian scowled and snapped, “Then what are we doing? You said we were going to him.”

“I did not,” Jason snapped right back. He felt Attie shift in his arms, but he pressed on, “I said maybe we were if I couldn’t figure it out, but I’ve figured it out.”

“I don’t want to go to Father if he won’t keep Jason, too,” Attie cried, wrapping her arms around Jason’s torso, “I want to stay together.”

“What have you figured out,” Damian demanded.

“That we’ll stay together,” Jason shot back. He looked over at Mara and added, “All four of us. I promise.”

“That’s not figuring anything out,” Damian nearly shouted, “That was always the plan.”

It wasn’t, Jason thought to himself, but he was not going to share that.

Originally he’d been seriously considering dumping them off at Bruce’s door and bolting.

They definitely didn’t need to know that.

“It’s going to be fine Damian, Mara,” Jason said, “don’t worry so much. We’re still alive and free aren’t we?”

“Dumb luck,” Damian muttered, but let it drop there.

Mara sat there for a few seconds, but then she abruptly got up and took her bag into the bathroom, so Jason sighed and leaned back against the headboard, still holding onto Attie.

Maybe they could go to another superhero’s city, other than Batman’s. Hide behind their protection. The League didn’t mess with several cities in the in the U.S., just due to the superhero activity.

Ra’s was too cocky to think he couldn’t take them, of course, but he didn’t find the trouble worth it often. Not when generally he could get by undetected literally anywhere else.

But which hero?

Damian scowled for a solid minute before he grabbed the remote off the bedside table and clicked the TV on almost violently. Jason ignored that, then got distracted watching the fucking news, since that’s what Damian chose to watch.

By 7, all three kids had cycled through the shower, so Jason got them completely packed up and ready to go, then took them downstairs to get some breakfast to eat back up in the room. After they were done, they’d vacate the hotel for the day. He wasn’t going to leave anything behind in a hotel room again, even if lugging around a roller case was annoying as fuck.

Besides, they probably weren’t going to be back to that airport again, so it would be stupid to leave shit here.

Once he and the kids got downstairs to the breakfast area, he was very happy that finally food was looking familiar.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same as American food, but it was so close. Eggs and sausage and toast and jam was sitting out, along with several different pastry options.

The kids, on the other hand, didn’t seem quite as thrilled as Jason. Even Attie was mad the eggs weren’t fried, but were scrambled.

They were going to have some major adjusting to do, once they settled in America.

Although if Jason had been bringing them to Bruce, Alfred would cater to their tastes, he knew. Alfred had started making chili for Jason, after all.

Jason should probably figure out how to make some of the staples of the league, then… right? That would be the right thing to do.

Maybe.

He’d have to ask the kids what kinds of foods they wanted, and see if he could figure it out.

Then again, they might just have to eat whatever he gave them. He already wasn’t sure how he was going to support three children by himself. Legally, at least. He could think of several ways to illegally obtain money.

He shouldn’t go drawing attention to himself like that, though…

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Jason filled his plate with basically everything available, but ignored the baked beans. He’d known that was a thing, of course, but he was not going to participate.

Baked beans went with hamburgers and hot dogs, not breakfast toast.

All three kids got a spoon of beans on their toast, though. Because of course they did.

Stupid brats.

He really did have a lot to consider, when it came to… raising them.

Since. That was kind of what he was saying he was going to do, right?

No. He was just going to live with them.

Yeah. Just him and some kids sharing a home. Not raising kids. Yep. That was what he was going to tell himself.

They brought the food up to their room to eat slowly, relaxing as they watched some show Mara found on TV.

Jason ate four danishes, and was tempted to get more, but he decided not to tempt fate like that.

And as he ate, he really started thinking about it. He could definitely do this. This family thing.

He felt almost at peace, sitting there with the three of them as they were all calm and content.

Now he just needed to pick a city.

Chapter Text

By late morning, Jason and the brats were off the train and walking through the city of London, looking for the little tailor shop where their final document pickup was supposed to happen.

So far, Jason hadn’t noticed anyone trailing them, and it was honestly sort of putting him on edge. They hadn’t seen a hint of the League in several days… But hopefully they really threw Ra’s men off by hopping on that train in New Delhi.

Maybe Ra’s could be thinking they were still in India, since the identities they’d flown to India with technically never left. That would be cool if Ra’s could just waste his time forever searching for them in India.

But Jason wasn’t naïve enough to believe that. Chances were Ra’s had some sort of access to the security cameras around the world, and had already figured out they were in Europe. Jason did his best to not look up for cameras to get a good shot of his face, but he had to be realistic here. Him and three kids were kind of obviously the four of them.

The tailor’s was a small little shop wedged between a sandwich shop and the lobby for what Jason assumed was the apartments upstairs. Casually, Jason opened the door and motioned for the kids to go inside first, then he followed right after them. He hardly had a chance to size up the two men inside before he heard the door click shut behind him.

Then lock.

Jason tensed and quickly looked around the room again, taking in every single detail he could. It was a relatively small room with several mannequins scattered about, showing off suits of different styles. The two men were both behind the small counter, one sitting, the other standing and looking at them expectantly.

Athanasia grasped onto his hand and squeezed it tightly, while Jason he heard both the others shift behind him, likely going for their knives.

If these two yahoos made any sudden movement, Jason would go for his, too.

“No need for worry,” the man standing, the younger of the two, said. He had a slight middle-eastern accent Jason couldn’t quite place, that blended strangely with a posh British accent.

“It’s easy to recognize you,” the older man said, “the little one looks just like her mother.”

Attie pushed herself closer to Jason, but Jason saw her shy little smile she was hiding into Jason’s shirt when he looked down at her.

Jason was too wired to smile in response, but he did relax a touch.

And then his heart sank. They were too recognizable. If they didn’t go to Bruce, they had to go somewhere extremely safe from the League. Because Attie did look just like Talia, and someone looking for Talia’s children would definitely see her.

“That must mean we’re in the right place,” Jason finally said, after taking a deep, steadying breath.

The younger, standing man smiled. “I was getting worried,” he said, as he bent down and started rummaging through the cabinet below the counter.

“It has not been an easy journey,” Jason said. Though Jason didn’t feel like they’d been terribly delayed. He wasn’t sure what timeline Talia had mapped out in her brain, but they really only got delayed a little in India. He thought they’d made up for that by only spending a few hours in Germany.

Both men nodded, but then the younger one stood and rounded the counter to Jason and the kids.

“Let’s trade documents,” he said.

Jason nodded, and slipped his backpack off so he could pull all their old stuff from the hidden pouch he had them in.

“Your tickets are for this evening,” the man said, after Jason handed the old documents over, “had you been any later, I would have had to redo them. I already redid them once, given the circumstances.”

Frowning, Jason nodded and took the envelope the man offered him. “I appreciate your effort for us,” he said, as he opened the envelope and looked inside. There was a stack of plane tickets, a credit card, a debit card, check book, four passports, and a driver’s license.

Jason had a driver’s license.

He’d never had one of those.

“Do you have any foreign currency on you, or a charge card,” the man asked, “It is best to have nothing like that while going through U.S. Customs.”

“Oh, yes,” Jason said, as he quickly pulled his wallet out and emptied it of the rupees and euros he still had. “Kids,” he prodded, when none of them followed suit.

Damian sighed loudly, but he and the girls all pulled their wallets out and handed over their cash, too.

As they were doing that, Jason took the cards and slipped them into his wallet, alongside the license. It was at that point he finally read the name.

Jason Johnson.

He…. kind of hated the alliteration, actually. A lot.

But.

He also couldn’t help but think about his mom. Step-mom? Adoptive mom, since her maiden name had been Catherine Johnson. Had Talia known that?

Surely she did, right? And that’s why she’d picked it?

Now. Now Jason would be known by her name for the rest of his life.

He wasn’t sure what name he would have picked for himself, if given the option, but he honestly couldn’t think of a more fitting one, since Todd was off the table. And it wasn’t like Ra’s or anyone would be out there expecting him to pick such a name.

And he got to keep Jason. That was all he really wanted. To finally be Jason again.

A quick flip through the passports before he shoved them into the protected pocket in his bag showed him the three kids also were saddled with the last name Johnson and also got to keep their first names.

That would make it easier to find them, but it wasn’t fair to take their names away, either. Ra’s was going to eventually find them, no matter where they went, so at least they got to keep the names their mothers gave them.

The young man took the cash from the kids and went back to the counter to put everything away, then he grabbed another envelope and walked back over.

“Enough for meals today,” he explained, as he pulled out a wad of British pounds and handed it to Jason, “but not enough to seem weird to Customs, and a trivial amount of American currency.”

With a nod, Jason took it gratefully and passed each kid a couple small bills, but kept the majority of it for his own wallet.

“Do not forget the charge card,” the older man said, “Lady Talia wanted—”

“Yes, yes, do not worry,” the younger one said, “He already has it. Those cards are attached to a bank account set up in your name. We made it look like you’ve had it since you turned sixteen, nearly three years ago, complete with little transactions over the years.”

Jason looked back down at his wallet kind of happily, since the bank account was going to be one of the more difficult things to get set up without looking super suspicious.

“There is a moderate amount of money in there,” the man explained, “it could not be too suspicious, and I was unsure of your plans from here. You can find all the log in information emailed to your new email, which is your full name and birth year. The password is presently your full birth name. I suggest changing it quickly.”

“I will,” Jason promised, “We appreciate all this, you have been more than helpful.” He chose not to share his actual plans, even though the guy had sort of just asked.

If no one knew the plan, no one could talk if pressured.

“Be safe,” the younger man said, bowing his head slightly, “keep a keen eye. No where is safe.”

Jason bowed his head in return. “Thank you. We will.” He double checked the passports and tickets in his bag, then turned toward the kids and nodded for the door.

The door unlocked just as Jason reached for the knob, and his heart didn’t fully unclench until all four of them were outside with the door shut behind them.

“When is our flight,” Damian demanded in that instant, and Jason couldn’t help his deep sigh.

“Later,” he said gruffly. How difficult was it for the kids to just go with it? He wasn’t going to tell them the plan anywhere near anyone who knew who they really were, and he wasn’t going to share every little bit of the plan anyway.

Really, what they were going to do in that minute was hop on the train and take it away from London’s city center and then get off at a random stop and eat at the first restaurant Jason saw.

“Right now let’s go get lunch,” Jason said, as he led the three kids to the nearest train stop.

The first restaurant they saw ended up being a Subway, which wasn’t exactly what Jason was wanting, but he also didn’t know what he wanted.

Sandwiches were easy, though, so Jason ushered the kids inside and let each of them order their own sandwich.

Well. The two older brats ordered their sandwiches. Attie absolutely refused to talk to the person behind the counter, no matter how many times Jason poked her and asked, “What do you want?”

In the end, Jason got her a turkey sandwich kids meal with some basic veggies. He didn’t get why she wouldn't talk to the person, since she’d had no problems talking to the clerk at the little toy shop in India.

Had she actually talked to him? Or just showed him the toy?? She’d talked to other people too, right?

Maybe. She sort of talked to the translator in Kabul… and…. Jason had ordered her food everywhere and… Huh.

She hadn’t really talked to strangers, had she?

That was probably something he should do something about? Maybe?

Or maybe she’d get over it quick enough. She had only been out of hiding for less than two weeks. And. They weren’t exactly out of hiding. She was just hiding in a different way now.

And she talked to Jason just fine, that very first morning he met her. So. Maybe she just needed time to relax a little and it’d be fine once they settled down.

They sat at a little table outside, the four of them absolutely crowding around it after they’d dragged two extra chairs over to it and quietly ate their sandwiches, chips, and cookies. Since obviously Jason couldn’t not get cookies. The kids chattered a little, but for the most part stayed silent.

After lunch he figured they’d make their way over to the London airport. He most certainly did not want to stay out in public any longer than necessary. Just in case. They could hang out at the airport until their flight, no problem, behind the security line. Maybe Jason could even buy their connecting tickets, for once they got to JFK, their destination airport.

New York City was not a city safe enough for them. Not by a long shot.

Although. Maybe he should wait on that until they got to JFK. There was no telling if someone would be tracking their flights. And it would be harder for someone to do something if their flights were unpredictable.

They could also just not fly.

Trains existed.

Which city were they going to?

Could they go to Green Arrow’s city? How safe was it from the League…? he knew Arrow had some beef with Ra’s, but then again there weren’t many heroes who hadn’t had at least some exposure to the League of Assassins. They just took special interest in Bruce, for whatever stupid reason.

Well. Maybe Jason knew now. Talia wanted to make kids with him.

Jason screwed up his face at that thought. He didn't need to think about them banging.

Ugh. Ew.

Why did he never know Bruce and Talia went at it?

Damian and Athanasia were both conceived during Dick’s tenure, too. So. Did Dick know there was a thing between them? Jason had been shooed away when Bruce was ‘catching’ Catwoman enough to know…

“Okay,” he said to the kids, trying his best to stop his brain from thinking. He kept his voice low so the kids could barely hear him, and anyone passing by would definitely not hear. His back was to the camera across the street from them, so they should be good. “We will encounter some pretty serious customs this time.”

“In America?” Mara asked.

“Possibly in the UK as well. And these are our permanent identities so we can’t mess them up.”

All three kids nodded at him, so he pressed on.

“We’re from New York, okay? Queens specifically. Can you guys do a New York accent?” Jason’s natural Gotham accent was quite close to a strong New York one, so it wasn’t hard at all for him to shift it just enough.

“Of course, I was trained to mimic accents perfectly,” Damian said, already in a perfectly convincing accent. It was uncanny how American he suddenly sounded.

Jason did roll his eyes at how Damian was obviously an expert at this, too. Since according to the brat he was an expert at everything.

“New York is not difficult to do,” Mara said, in a similarly convincing accent.

Athanasia, on the other hand, looked between all three of them and then frowned as she said, “I don’t know what New York people sound like.”

“Like us,” Damian said, “They speak like this. They drop their R sounds a lot, and there’s an almost ‘w’ sound added to some words, like caught or daughter, and-”

“I don’t know what any of that means,” Athanasia cut in, frowning even harder, “Mother never made me fake an accent before.”

“That’s okay,” Jason cut in, before Damian could say whatever it was he’d scowled and opened his mouth to say, “how about this. Damian and Mara, you two answer any questions asked in the accent, and Attie if you are asked a question, just pretend you’re shy and scared and don’t talk. If they keep pressing, you can start crying or something. Can you cry on demand?”

In response, Attie screwed her face up and big, fat tears spilled right down her cheeks as she shook with the exact same sobs Jason had seen her have for real many times.

Like.

It was a little too convincing, actually.

“Perfect,” Jason said, as he shifted in his chair a little, “do that if it seems like they won’t let you not talk. Maybe they’ll leave you alone then.”

Jason went over the basic story with them, where they’d gone in the UK, why they’d been there in the first place, and where they live now, so everyone would be on the same page when questioned, and it worked out quite well.

Because two hours later, after the four of them had made their way to the airport by cab, they were passing through security and got asked a bunch of questions.

The agent did talk to mostly Jason, but he was sure to ask the kids a few things.

After Jason had answered ‘to be tourists’ to the ‘why did you come to the UK question,’ the agent asked, “What all did you see?”

“Big Ben,” Jason said with a grin, in his New York accent, “And we rode on the giant ferris wheel.”

“I told you, it’s called the Elizabeth Tower,” Damian scoffed, to which Jason rolled his eyes.

“And Buckingham Palace,” Mara added excitedly, “We watched the soldiers!”

Damian nodded in agreement and said, “And we went to so many museums. I like museums.”

“What was your favorite place,” the agent asked, looking straight down at Athanasia.

Attie, following her script perfectly, pressed herself into Jason and buried her face into his shirt.

“Sorry,” Jason said, setting a hand on the side of Attie’s head, “She’s shy. She liked basically every restaurant we went to the best.”

The agent laughed and asked, “You like eating, huh?”

Attie nodded against Jason’s side.

“What was your favorite thing to eat?” the agent asked, and Attie pressed her face in harder.

Jason combed his hand through her hair as he asked her, “It was the beans on toast you ate every single morning, wasn’t it?”

All Attie did was nod again, but it apparently did the trick, because the agent looked absolutely charmed by her.

“I always forget you yanks don’t do that, glad she got to try it. Here you are,” the agent said, handing back the stack of passports and boarding passes, “enjoy your flight.”

“Thanks,” Jason said, motioning for the kids to one of the x-ray lines. Attie turned and waved at the agent as they passed, and the man smiled even wider.

As they passed through the rest of security and made their way across the airport to their gate, Jason felt his shoulders relax further and further. There was still several hours until the flight, but he was starting to feel more at peace, the closer to done they were.

But the anxiety of where was building stronger and stronger.

Star City, Queen’s city probably wouldn’t be all that great of a choice. Queen wasn’t scary enough to deter Ra’s.

And how would Jason even call Queen for help, if Ra’s did show up? He wasn’t sure Queen would simply notice.

The Flash might notice on his own if the League showed up in his city suddenly, so Central City might be an option. He could at least get there fast, if called upon.

But.

Jason would have to get his number and then convince him to listen. He’d never spoken much to Barry Allen during his tenure as Robin. He’d at least talked to Oliver Queen a lot more. What with him being friends with Speedy and all. If he suddenly called Queen up, he could probably convince him pretty quickly that he was Jason.

Probably.

Queen was always an asshole, though. So maybe not.

One person who would notice assassins in his city and would be exceedingly easy to contact would be Superman…

Plus, Ra’s would never think to look for a bat in Metropolis.

Bruce quite famously squabbled with Superman, to the point everyone thought he hated Superman. Which was funny, since Jason would call Clark Bruce’s best friend.

And, if he did try to step inside the city, Superman would know. He’d know and he’d start asking him questions.

Jason was confident Clark would keep Ra’s out of the city, even if Ra’s told him four League traitors were living amongst the residents of Metropolis, and that was why he was there.

What was the worst that would happen there? Superman pay them a visit and realize they are just four kids? He’d definitely defend them, regardless of everything. That’s how Clark was. He was a real big proponent of the idea every person gets to choose their own destiny, not follow any plan of any other person for them. And Ra’s choosing the brats’ lives and futures and purpose was definitely something Clark would be against.

Also it was highly unlikely he’d recognize Jason. Unlike Bruce. So Jason could stay free from all that, too.

Metropolis was a big city, so they could blend in easily, and it was safer than Gotham was. And, Superman was just a shout away. They could get there by train from NYC easily, and it was a stone throws away from a handful other cities, including Gotham. So Jason could talk normally and it wouldn’t even be weird.

So. Yeah. Metropolis was probably a good choice. Save doing something drastic like moving to the Watchtower or hiding out in Wayne Manor, Metropolis was probably the best place for them.

Yeah. This was a solid plan, Jason was sure of it.

A few hours later, after the four of them had boarded their plane and settled down in their center row, Jason felt relaxed enough to maybe sleep some on the overnight plane. The flight was about seven hours long, so not as long as he’d been anticipating, but not short either.

The kids had all settled in well enough. Attie was next to him, curled up under her camping blanket he’d packed, already dozing. Damian was reading on the other side of her, and Mara was sat to his right and, to Jason’s absolute surprise, had pulled her coloring book out.

When Mara looked up, Jason offered her a smile, and Jason swore her lip twitched, like she was almost returning it before she looked back down at her picture she was working on.

Because she was finally calming the fuck down, and settling in with the other two kids. And Damian was getting more and more protective of Athanasia, and had quit saying scathingly rude things to her. And he’d quit saying scathingly rude things to Mara all the time, too. And Mara hadn’t complained about abandoning the League in a little while, and.

Yeah.

Jason could do this.

He could handle these kids, and he could settle down in Metropolis. Get a job somewhere, get them a little apartment with the bit of money in the bank account to help settle them, and get into a routine.

Maybe he could even go to college in a year or two… after he got his GED or something. Since he’d need like, a future and stuff. Since. He did have a future to think about. Just like these kids had futures to think about, in their life outside the League of Assassins.

The brats would need to go to school.

Jason couldn’t suppress the small smile that thought caused. The brats going to school and being in, like, third grade was kind of amusing to him. School should be safe enough, too. He’d teach them how to shout for Superman, should they see anyone sketchy. And school didn’t start for a couple months, anyway, so they’d have time to settle so he could be sure Mara wouldn’t just defect back.

He was relatively positive she wouldn’t already. None of them wanted to face punishment for this, after all. And Ra’s had had his own daughter killed already. So he doubted that instilled much confidence in Mara that Ra’s would show her mercy, despite her lack of choice in the matter.

So yeah.

Once the plane was in the air and all the cabin lights had been turned off for the passengers to sleep, Athanasia pushed the armrest between them up so she could lay her head on his leg and really get comfortable. Jason leaned his chair back a click and set his hand down Attie as he shut his eyes, finally feeling at peace about the plan.

He didn’t sleep, but he did doze comfortably as he listened to the three brats around him all actually fall asleep on the dark plane, 30,000 feet above the Atlantic ocean.

Jason was confident they were going to be just fine.

Chapter Text

Bruce steeled himself for the normal thoughts as he descended the cave stairs to start his night.

Jason was all he could ever think about, all he ever thought about. It had been over a year since he lost his son.

A year, one month, and twenty-one days. To be exact.

The thoughts never left him.

His son’s death left a deep ache in his chest he wasn’t sure would ever dissipate. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted it to dissipate. That almost felt like forgetting. And he needed to remember Jason.

Jason deserved to be remembered.

Looking over at the memorial case he’d constructed, Bruce prayed that wherever Jason was, whatever happened to people after death, he was at least at peace. He’d been far too young to pass on from this Earth, and had had far too difficult a life to deserve anything less than peace.

Every night, as his thoughts revolved around Jason, Bruce had to remind himself that the black mop of hair he could see over the chair back at the batcomputer was Tim.

Tim had been his Robin for about eight months, now, and Bruce still didn’t feel used to it. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever get used to it. If he’d ever get used to not having Jason.

Sometimes Bruce wondered if he was being fair to Tim in this whole thing. He adored Tim, he did. He was a great kid, and a great Robin. A different sort of Robin from Jason, but Jason had been different from Dick, and that had been neither good nor bad, them being different. Bruce was glad Tim was different from Jason. He really wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle it, if they were too similar.

Alfred had finally convinced Tim to start spending the night with them recently, whenever his parents were out of town. Tim had a live-in-housekeeper, Mrs. Mac, whom he knew was there, but Bruce also knew she couldn’t be providing much supervision. Considering Tim was able to sneak out every single night, and had been long before he met Bruce and made himself Robin. So it was good for Tim to have actual supervision, while his parents were away.

Tim had been staying with them that week, and Bruce loved it. He loved having Tim around. Tim seemed to enjoy being around, too, even if he was shy about spending time with Bruce outside of Batman and Robin.

It did hurt a little, though. Just a touch, when Tim did something Jason always used to do. Bruce tried his best not to show that to Tim, because it wasn’t fair to Tim, but Bruce was sure he could tell, anyway.

Regardless, Tim was great, and was doing great. And that evening, he was sitting at the Batcomputer, happily chatting to Dick, who was standing behind him with a hand on his shoulder as they went over whatever case Tim had found himself that evening.

Dick had been coming around a lot more lately. It wasn’t even a surprise anymore, to walk downstairs and see Nightwing standing there, leaning over Tim’s shoulder at the Batcomputer, chatting away. Having Dick near usually made the ache in his heart lessen, just a little.

Once Bruce hit the cave floor, Dick looked over and smiled wide at Bruce before turning back to whatever Tim was working on.

“Bruce,” Tim exclaimed, not even looking away from the computer, “You won’t believe this information I just intercepted.”

“Uh,” Dick said quickly, but quietly, as if he was trying to speak so only Tim could hear him, “maybe, uh, break it gently.”

Sound carried far too well in the cave.

“Gently,” Tim whispered back, “why gently? This is—”

“He kind of had a thing with—,” Dick whispered back, cutting Tim off.

Before Dick could complete the sentence, Tim cut right back in, exclaiming in a harsh whisper, “They had a thing?!”

And Bruce wasn’t really sure how to respond. Because he had no clue what they were even talking about. Who they were talking about.

“What is it?” Bruce asked tiredly, as he came to stand right behind Tim, behind his other shoulder from Dick, “Whatever it is, just tell me.” Bruce wasn’t sure there was a single piece of news they could share that they needed to break gently, anyway.

“Okay, well,” Tim said slowly, cutting his eyes up at Bruce briefly, “I got wind of a hit put out by Ra’s today.”

Bruce turned his attention to the screen, as Tim pulled up a surveillance camera image, but he had no clue who he was looking at.

The image was very pixelated, and all he could see were three children with an adult on the streets of… New Delhi, he’d guess, if pressed. Tim flipped through a handful of images, but none of them had a good shot of their faces. It was possible the adult was a teenager, based on his build. So it was possibly four kids.

“A hit on these kids?” he asked. He most certainly hadn’t had a thing with any kids.

It absolutely did not surprise Bruce that Ra’s put a hit out on children, though. That was exactly the kind of crap he did. He treated his own daughter like trash, after all.

“Yes,” Tim said, but then paused and amended, “Well no. It sounds like the hit was only on the adults, but the three kids he wants alive. Actually I think this guy here is a teenager, but that’s beside the point. Ra’s wants him dead and…” Tim trailed off and frowned.

“And Talia,” Dick said gently, placing his hand on Bruce’s shoulder as he said it.

Bruce looked down at the hand, then up and Dick, giving him a bewildered look.

Talia was someone he hadn’t thought about in a while. Talia most certainly could handle herself. Bruce was sure she’d had dozens of hits put out on her in the past by a dozen different people. She’d always come out on top.

“It looks like the hit was successful on Talia,” Dick finally said.

“Oh,” was all Bruce could say, his chest tightening as he looked back up at the images Tim was flipping through again.

That.

Well, he knew this lifestyle would lead to her death, one day. It was part of the reason they broke up. He wasn’t one to talk about dangerous lifestyles, but her life was another level beyond his. She did the bidding for a super villain. Her refusal to leave that life, leave the danger of being in the League, leave the oppressive control of her father Bruce knew would be her downfall.

And.

“Ra’s put the hit on her?” Bruce asked, as he replayed the whole conversation over again in his head.

“Yeah,” Tim said, nodding as he pulled up more photos, now in an airport, “Apparently she and these four defected from the league two weeks ago.”

“Defected,” Bruce asked, a little stunned. No wonder Ra’s decided to just kill her, instead of torture her, like he’d done so many times before.

“I never expected that from her,” Dick said, crossing his arms, “She was always so loyal.”

Bruce nodded, because that was absolutely the truth.

What could possibly cause her to defect?

The loyalty she gave Ra’s was completely undeserved, and Bruce had often wondered if there was something he could have done, to convince her to leave.

Was there something he could have done to convince her to leave sooner, now knowing she was willing to leave? Maybe had he tried a little harder, she would have?

What had Ra’s been doing to these kids to make her decide to take them away? And who were the kids to her? Were any of them her children?

She… she’d definitely wanted children, Bruce knew that. They’d almost had a kid…

But.

Bruce’s heart clenched further, and it was starting to feel suffocating. Between thinking of Jason, and now knowing Talia was, and the baby they never got to meet, and—

“I didn’t even know there were any kids in the League,” Tim said, clicking through more blurry security images of the kids, “but here they are. I’ve found them in Afghanistan and New Delhi so far. I haven’t figured out where they’ve gone from there, but on the upside neither has Ra’s.”

Children in the League… that sounded horrible.

Poor kids.

Were they anything like Cassandra? In the video Tim played next, he could see the kids talking. The image was too blurry to catch everything they were saying, but he could tell they were talking. In various languages, actually. So they wouldn’t be exactly like Cassandra. But.

Did they need any help? If the older one really was just a teenager, he probably did need help.

Bruce really wasn’t sure what kind of network Talia had, outside the League. Where they could go to hide. How safe they’d be there, and how easily he’d be able to take care of the kids by himself.

Bruce could help… If they were defected from the league, Bruce would happily help them.

They were just kids.

And if any of them were Talia’s children… he wanted to help.

“Can you find where they are now?” he asked, looking back down at Tim.

Tim bobbed his head up and down, a grin spread across his face as he said, “I’m running facial recognition on them now. Once the computer has a profile of each of their faces, I’ll run it at every major airport in the world until I get more hits. So far I haven’t found a good shot at the teenager’s face, but I haven’t hacked the airport security yet. They take pictures of everyone who goes through security, so I’ll get a good photo of each of them soon.”

This was Tim in his element, Bruce thought. This sort of work was exactly what he was best at.

Not that he wasn’t great at everything else that came along with being Robin, because he was great, but this right here was what he did best. Detective work.

Bruce would wager that, one day, Tim would be the greatest detective in the world, even better than Bruce himself.

He still had a lot to learn, though. He was only thirteen, after all. Still two years younger than Jason had been… though Tim was turning fourteen soon.

Just as Jason would have been turning seventeen soon…

Pushing himself past that thought, Bruce said, “Good work,” patting Tim on the shoulder, “Keep it up. I’m going to get dressed.”

As always, Tim absolutely beamed at the praise, but turned back to his work quickly. Always so eager to please, eager to succeed. More-so than Jason had ever been.

Jason had always been more confident in himself than Tim was. He really wasn’t sure what to do to help Tim in that regard.

As Bruce started his trek to the locker room, Dick ran after him, so Bruce slowed his stride and raised an eyebrow at him when he caught up.

“Are you okay?” Dick asked. Once Bruce stopped at the lockers, Dick leaned up against the lockers before Bruce was able to open the one with his uniform in it.

Basically forcing Bruce to talk.

“I’m fine,” Bruce said, shooing him out of the way so he could open the locker door.

“It’s just, with Talia,” Dick said, not moving.

Bruce sighed deeply, but stepped back and looked his eldest son right in the eyes as he said, “I know, but I’m fine. She and I were a long time ago.” Bruce felt like an entire lifetime had passed, since he last saw her. Since he’d last been with her…

He’d met and adopted Jason since then. And then lost…

With another heavy sigh, Bruce crossed his arms and said, “A lot has happened since then. I think our energy would be better spent finding and helping these kids she cared so deeply about, she left the League. She wouldn’t even do that for…”

Our child, Bruce didn’t say.

He’d never exactly told anyone they’d almost had a child. The miscarriage had been so painful, for both of them, he could never find the voice to share.

Dick set his hand on Bruce’s shoulder again and squeezed as he said, “We’ll find them. We’ve got Tim on the case, and he’s one of the best damn detectives I’ve ever met.”

Bruce clapped a hand over Dick’s, then pulled away. “You’re right,” he said, now gently pushing Dick to the side enough Dick finally side stepped, “Tim will track them down in no time.”

“Those poor kids,” Dick said, “I can’t imagine how scary it is being them, on the run from Ra’s al Ghul himself like that, all by themselves.”

“I know,” Bruce agreed, “We’ll figure it out.”

He needed to pull a plan together for what to do for the kids, once they found them. Would he physically take them in? He’d offered Cassandra a place, and she’d happily accepted, but she didn’t live with him all the time. He more acted as family for her rather than a guardian, a place to land when she needed to rest. He definitely wished she spent more time at the manor, spent more of her time just being a teenager, but she loved the work she was doing with Barbara Gordon, so he would never try to stop her.

These kids were just children. They were going to need protection and an actual home. Not a vigilante mentor.

Did they have living parents somewhere? Could Bruce help them get there? Was this teenager old enough to care for the kids himself? Is that what he wanted to do?

Or could he offer them a home…? He certainly had the space. All four kids could have their own rooms and it’d barely dent the number of spare rooms he had.

But would he be able to offer them the safety they needed?

Jason hadn’t been safe in the end, in his care…

“Good,” Dick said, “They’ll need people on their side.”

Bruce nodded at that. Perhaps that’s what he should offer them to start out. Someone to be on their side, and then let everything else come as it was needed. He’d probably know pretty quickly after meeting them what, exactly, they’d need from him.

That was how it worked out with Jason, after all. He’d started out just offering Jason support and help, and it had become clear that adoption was what he needed.

Bruce…wasn’t sure if he was ready to adopt again. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be ready for that.

But.

If Jason were there, if he’d still been with them, he would have been the first to suggest they help these children. So that was what Bruce would do.

He just hoped he got to the kids before Ra’s did.

Chapter Text

PART II

Jason and the kids took the train down to Metropolis. It was pretty easy for him to book a room on the train right at the Amtrak station in New York, then usher the kids on board when the time came. He was sure to get some cold sandwiches at the station for them to eat later. 

He’d paid extra for the room specifically so they could close the door, then stay there until their stop, completely undisturbed. Jason sat in the single chair on one side of the room, and the three brats sat on the couch, across from him, and their bags were all on the floor next to Jason. It was a little tight, but it worked out.  And, most importantly, they didn’t have to show their faces to the random passengers on the train, potentially exposing themselves before they made it to Metropolis.

The train ride itself was about four hours, which wasn’t too bad. What was bad was the shit he was getting for his choice in cities. 

“No one even knows where Delaware* is,” Damian was complaining, “We can choose anywhere, why would we choose there?” 

“What’s Delaware,” Attie asked, and Jason sighed. 

“Delaware is a state, the city we’re going to is Metropolis. It’s a huge, well known city. We are going there,” Jason said, raising his voice to talk over Damian, as he tried to interrupt, “because Superman lives there, and Superman does not allow the League of Assassins in his city.” 

“Like that stops them,” Mara said, “Grandfather fears no man, not even Superman.” 

“Yes, I am aware, but he definitely has a hard time getting past Superman. Plus,” Jason raised his voice again, when Damian again tried to cut in, “Superman can hear us if we shout for help, so if Ra’s finds us, he will have to fight Superman to get to us. And he’ll lose that fight, no matter how cocky he is. Superman isn’t shy about calling in the entire Justice League, and he will protect a bunch of kids from the League.” 

“Will we be meeting Superman, then,” Damian asked dryly, “Are we going directly to him?” 

“Fuck no,” Jason said, then winced at himself, “I mean, no. Heck no. Not unless we have to. We don’t have to introduce ourselves to him for him to hear us if we shout for him.” 

“He just listens for anyone to call for him?” Mara asked skeptically. 

“Yep,” Jason said, sitting back in his chair and kicking his feet up on the couch, next to Attie, who had chosen to sit nearest the window. Mara was sandwiched in the middle between her and Damian, and she did not look happy about it. 

“How do you call for him?” Attie asked, giving Jason a similarly skeptical look, “how does he hear us?” 

“Superman is an alien who has super hearing, he can hear anyone talking all over the city. All you have to do is shout really loudly ‘Superman’ and he’ll respond and be there in a blink since he has super speed and flying, too.  Just keep shouting it until he appears.” Jason looked at the kids, then gave them a conspiratorial look before asking, “Can I tell you guys a secret?” 

“Of course,” Damian said primly, while the two girls simply nodded.

“His real name is Clark. But no one can know that, okay? So don’t call him that in front of other people, but if you end up having to meet him, you can call him that if you end up alone. It’ll make him realize you’re someone important.” 

“Have you met him before,” Attie asked, smiling slightly. She looked honestly a little excited about the entire idea.

With a shrug, Jason said, “Yeah. Several times. He knows Batman pretty well.” 

“Will he turn us over to Father, once he finds us?” Damian asked.

“Nah,” Jason replied, “he isn’t looking for us, first off. He probably has no clue we’re even someone to be looking for, but if he does end up having to help us out, I doubt he’s gonna realize we’re connected to Batman.” 

“Ah,” Damian said, “So he’s unintelligent. Figures an alien would be.” 

“He won’t recognize you?” Mara asked. 

Jason merely shrugged. “I doubt it. He hasn’t seen me in a while, and I was a lot smaller back then. I look very different now.” 

Besides. Why would anyone just jump to the conclusion that he’d come back to life? Yeah, Bruce was going to recognize him, he was sure, but other people? Doubtful. 

Then again, Slade had recognized him….

But no. Ra’s had probably told Slade he was him. That made far more sense than Slade fucking Wilson actually recognizing him. He’d never met Slade outside of uniform. Obviously Slade knew who he was, but they didn’t know each other. So yeah. Ra’s had to have told him. 

So it would be fine. 

And. If it wasn’t, well. Jason would figure it out. He was always best on his toes, anyway. 

"This is the best place for us," Jason assured the kids, "This is the safest place for us to go." 

"If you say so," Mara said dryly, but didn't comment further. Neither did the other two kids, so Jason was taking the victory where he could.

He just knew he'd be arguing with them over everything forever. 

Hopefully. He'd rather argue with them forever than lose them... 

-

The four of them arrived in Metropolis mid-afternoon, and Jason decided the very first thing they needed to do was secure shelter for the night. 

Or. However long it would take for him to get an apartment. 

Thankfully the kids didn’t fight him as he booked them a hotel, then followed dutifully when he led them to a local store to buy himself a cell phone. 

Because he needed a cell phone. Needed. One, he needed access to the internet in order to look for apartments. And two, he likely needed a phone number to apply for an apartment in the first place. And a job. And, just. Everything. 

Once there, Jason decided to buy two cell phones and set them up on a data plan using the credit card he’d been given. The second cell phone was for the kids to share, mostly just so he’d be able to contact them while he was at work.

Since.

Having a job was going to mean leaving the children home alone. 

It was fine. Everything was fine. 

-

In the end, it took four days to secure them an apartment. It was actually quite difficult to pin one down, since they were all requiring shit like references and pay stubs to even apply. But Jason found one that just said they wanted cash up front, and Jason could do that. So finally, that morning, five nights after they’d arrived in Metropolis, Jason and the kids were standing inside a new apartment, where Jason handed their new landlord the security deposit and first and last month’s rent in cash. 

“Rent’s due the first of the month,” Jason’s new landlord, Chris, said, “in cash or money order. Don’t be late and don’t sell drugs outta here.” 

“No need to worry about that,” Jason said, as he accepted the keys. The kids were all looking around the apartment, while Jason talked. The apartment itself was relatively okay, in a not-terrible area of town. It wasn’t exactly a good area, but it wasn’t the worst either. Compared to Crime Alley, it was almost bougie. 

“Laundry’s in the basement,” Chris added, “I don’t care what you do to the walls. That’s about it. I’ll leave you to it.” 

“Thanks,” Jason said, as he shut the door behind Chris. Turning around, he said loud enough for the brats to hear, “What do you guys think?” 

“It’s too small,” Damian said instantly, stomping back out of the bedroom to scowl at Jason, “this is unacceptable.” 

On the one hand, Damian was right. It was too small. Since this was literally the only apartment he could get, they had to take the one bedroom. It was a large bedroom, so at least there was that, but there was only one. 

The size of the living room and kitchen sort of helped lessen how miserable it would be. Sort of. 

Thankfully it wasn’t going to be forever. Jason didn’t even sign a lease, so as soon as he had everything necessary together for applying to a bigger place, he’d be free to do so. 

“You said I would receive my own quarters once we arrived in the States,” Damian said, giving Jason a withering glare. 

On the other hand, Damian was a brat, so Jason returned the scowl and said, “I never promised that. That would be ideal, yes, but we’re a little stuck with what we can afford, at the moment.” 

“I will not share a bedroom with them,” Damian said, pointing at the two girls, who had come out of the bedroom and were now sitting on the two stools that had come with the kitchen. 

There were actually a few pieces of furniture in the apartment already. Nothing helpful, just a couple mismatched shelving units, two stools, and a random dinning chair, but it was better than nothing. 

He’d have to go place a furniture order later that day for beds and such. 

“Well your option is share a room with the girls or share the living room with me,” Jason said. He turned to the girls and asked, “What about you two? Thoughts?” 

Damian let out a weird growly-shout thing and stomped back into the bedroom to slam the door, but didn’t argue with Jason further.

Mara shifted in her seat and said, “It’s small,” and offered nothing further.

“It’s smaller than mine and Mother’s quarters,” Attie said quietly, “but we’re together, right?” 

“That’s right,” Jason said with a grin, “That’s the spirit.” 

“We are getting furniture, right?” Mara asked, “I do not prefer sleeping on the floor.” 

Attie nodded in agreement as she clutched her kitty closer to her. 

“Yeah, of course. We can do that today, if Damian is done with his temper tantrum soon.” 

“I am not having a tantrum,” Damian shrieked from the other room, and Jason just grinned. 

At least the girls were being decent.

-

They ended up getting three beds, a pull out couch, small dinning table, and television that afternoon. Jason tried his best to get the cheapest things they could find, but he couldn’t help making a dent in the chunk of money they’d been given to start out. Furniture wasn’t something they could just skip. 

Well. He supposed he could have bought three cheap air mattresses. But. That would have been miserable. 

And after measuring out the bedroom, he figured out they could fit three twin beds in there just fine, so each kid got their own bed with some storage underneath, to keep their clothes and whatnot. 

Because that was another thing they went shopping for. 

Clothing, toiletries, kitchen stuff, bedding, food, and any other random necessities they needed. 

In all, Jason ended up dropping nearly five grand that first day, and he frowned hard as he watched his bank account dip. He still had about fifteen grand left in there, which was good. They could live off that for months without him needing to earn more money. 

But. 

The sooner he was able to support the four of them entirely off his paycheck, the better. 

So when the old lady at the bookstore on their block offered Jason a job the next day, Jason accepted in a heartbeat. The pay wasn’t great, but Jason could use any pay at the moment. 

Working at a bookstore was right up his alley, too, so he was a little excited about the job. 

What he was not excited about was leaving the kids home alone. 

Jason’s first day of work was their fifth day in the apartment, third day after getting the last of their furniture delivery. It was nice, not sleeping on the floor anymore, but the sofa ‘bed’ was far from comfortable. 

Especially since Attie ended up in the living room with him every single night. 

It was fine, though. It was just a phase she’d get over, right?

Right? 

Jason had no fucking clue. He wished he had someone he could ask, but it was whatever. He would deal with it. 

All Jason was worried about in the moment was leaving the kids alone. For the first time ever. 

“What do you do if someone knocks on the door,” he asked, as he was slipping his shoes on. 

They’d had breakfast already, and now the kids were all sitting on the couch, staring at the TV like zombies. The TV had been unnecessary, strictly speaking, but it was definitely a great babysitter. They could get plenty of channels over the antenna from Metropolis and Gotham, since Gotham wasn’t that far away, physically, so he’d bought an antenna and let Damian and Mara figure out how to set it up a couple days before. 

It had kept them entertained for hours as they fought over where would be the exact perfect spot to place it in their living room window, to get the max number of channels possible. And it had kept all three of them occupied ever since. 

Which was a major relief to Jason. Because when they weren’t occupied, he got nothing but attitude from Damian and Mara. 

When they actually answered him. 

“Yo brats,” he said “What did I say?” 

“You are not the boss here,” Damian drawled, “stop acting like you are.” He’d said it several times already, and Jason was choosing to ignore it. 

Jason was the boss. End of story. 

Mara rolled her eyes, but said, “If someone knocks, we pretend no one is home and don’t make a noise.” 

With a nod, Jason asked, “And if someone breaks in?” 

“Start shouting for Superman,” Damian said, “Are you done? We are not helpless children.” He cut his eyes over to Attie, who was sat right in the middle of the older two, and amended, “Well. Not all of us are helpless children.” 

“Hey,” Attie protested, but she didn’t do anything more than scowl at Damian, before turning her attention back to whatever dumb cartoon had them so entranced. 

At least Damian wasn’t accusing Mara of being helpless, too. Jason didn’t want to deal with the actual fight that would cause. 

“Look out for each other and no fighting,” Jason said, as he looked through his bag to make sure he had everything he needed for work, “can you do that?” 

“Yes,” Damian exasperated, “now leave.” 

Jason pushed himself up from the dining chair he’d been sitting in, that he’d dragged closer to the couch for extra seating, and slung his bag over his shoulder. “Lunch is sandwiches,” he said, “Don’t touch the stove. Call me if anything happens.” 

“We know,” Damian snapped, “you’ve told us a hundred times. Leave.” 

“Jay,” Attie exclaimed, just as Jason turned to leave the apartment. 

He turned, just in time to kneel down and catch her as she barreled into him. 

“Come back,” she whispered into his ear, as she hugged him tightly. 

Jason squeezed her back just as tightly and said, “Of course. I’ll be back in six hours, after work. You can text me from the cell phone in the meantime and I’ll answer when I can, okay?” 

“Okay,” she whispered, but didn’t let go. 

“It’ll be okay,” he said, as he gently pried her off him, “Damian and Mara will protect you.” 

“I know,” she said, as she took a step back and gave Jason the most pitiful look, “It’s just. I’ll miss you.” 

“I’ll miss you too, but I’ll be back before you know it.” Trying his best to give her a reassuring smile, Jason opened the door and stepped through, locking it behind him, then took a deep breath. 

Six hours wasn’t that long. His shift would be over in a blink, and he’d get back to see the kids still sitting on the couch, staring at the TV like zombies. 

Everything was going to be fine. 

Jason had to keep repeating that to himself all day, and he just knew. It was going to be a long fucking day. Month. Year. 

Hopefully everything would settle more, the longer they were there. The more they fell into a routine. 

In the meantime, he’d just keep sneaking peeks at his phone as he checked for texts from the kids and try to convince himself that no news was good news. 

Chapter Text

Jason’s first day of work went fine, all things considered. He spent most the day simply observing Tracey, the elderly woman who owned the shop, as she showed him how everything worked. The cash register and, well, everything in the shop seemed to be stuck in the 1990s, but on the upside it made everything easy to learn quickly. Tracey also was a chatter. She spent the entire day telling Jason all about her grandkids and he only had to answer two questions about his little siblings.

But finally the end of his shift came, and Jason was able to get back to the apartment. He was extremely antsy to get home, just to make sure all three children were still there and still alive.

No one had texted him while he was at work. He had expected Attie to, but she hadn’t. And Jason wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

Maybe she didn’t know how to text him, he reminded himself. That was possible, right? He’d just bought very basic cheap little smartphones, so they weren’t the most intuitive.

After an agonizingly long five minute walk, Jason found himself climbing the stairs to their apartment. He didn’t hear screaming as he got to their floor and walked down the hall, so that was probably also good.

Unless the quiet was because the kids weren’t there.

But no. Because once Jason reached their door, he could hear scuffling inside. With a sigh, Jason unlocked the door and pushed it open to see Damian and Mara there in the living, sparring.

Because of course they’d just start sparring for no damn reason.

Missing from the room, however, was Athanasia. “Where is Attie,” Jason asked, as he walked inside and shut and locked the door. He dropped his bag by the door and looked over into the kitchen and then down the hall at the bathroom door. It was open, which probably meant she wasn’t in there.

Hopefully she was in the bedroom. Because if she wasn’t, Jason was about to murder two brats.

Two brats who didn’t answer him.

“Yo, brats,” Jason said, a little louder, “Where is your sister.”

“She is not my sister,” Mara said instantly, and Damian simply huffed, as he rolled away from Mara’s kick and hopped back to his feet.

“What on earth are you two doing,” Jason asked. They were being awfully loud, for them being a fifth floor apartment…

“Training,” Damian said, on his feet again as he and Mara circled around each other a few times, “You may want to forsake your training, but we do not.”

Jason stared at them for a long moment, and considered killing them both, but figured that was probably counterproductive from the whole, keeping them safe from the League thing.

The kids were probably going to be annoying for the rest of their fucking lives and Jason was going to go insane, he was sure.

Insane.

Finally, he sighed deeply and said, “No landing blows. Where is Attie?”

Damian dropped out of his stance to shoot Jason a withering look as he exclaimed, “Sparring is useless if we do not—”

Jason cut him right off as he snapped, “Damian. No landing blows. I don’t want you hurting each other and causing bruises and injuries we have to try and explain. Where is Attie?”

Honestly, no one answering that was about to set him over the edge.

Instead of answer, Damian turned back to Mara with a hard look on his face.

Mara, at least, did finally say, “Athanasia is in the bedroom.”

“Crying like a child,” Damian added.

“For how long?” Jason asked, as he finally crossed the room toward the small little hall that had the door to the bedroom, bathroom, and a small coat closet.

Again, no one answered him. He just hoped she hadn’t been crying for the past seven hours.

She was used to being alone, right? Because Talia had to leave her alone all day. So she was used to it, right? Granted, she was not alone in this apartment. Damian and Mara were here, but Jason also wasn’t expecting them to all play nicely all day long.

“Attie?” Jason asked, as he knocked his knuckles lightly against the open bedroom door. He saw Attie curled up in her bed, right in the middle of the room. Her bed was the middle of the three, up against the wall with one of the windows right over her bed.

The little ball of child uncurled slightly, but she didn’t respond to him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, as he crossed the room and sat on the edge of her bed. He had a pretty strong feeling she wanted a hug, and he was proven absolutely right when she immediately sat up and launched herself at him, as she stared crying into his shirt.

“Come on, Attie,” he said, “you gotta talk to me.”

“I just missed you,” she whined, as she hugged him tighter.

Jason returned the hug as he said, “I have to go to work, you know that. I have to earn money to buy you food.”

“I know,” she whispered back, “but what if Grandfather gets you? He gets you and kills you and I never see you again and I’m stuck here with Damian and Mara all by myself. They don’t even like me.”

“They do too like you,” Jason said first. If Damian and Mara didn’t like Athanasia, they wouldn’t have protected her so much. Damian flat up got her dressed when they were fleeing the hotel in Kabul, and had tried to ‘train’ her to help her protect herself better.

Mara… well Jason wasn’t sure if she’d start to settle more or not. He wasn’t even sure if she fully believed they weren’t going to end up with Ra’s again.

And if they ended up with Ra’s, Ra’s was going to make her kill Attie…

Jason wasn’t going to think about that. “They’re just prickly little cacti,” he added.

“No, they don’t like me,” Attie mumbled back.

“Did they say something to you today?” Jason asked. Because if they’d been mean to her, he was going to set them straight.

Somehow.

How was he supposed to, like, make them do things? He was not going to use his fists like his dad had done. He was not.

Bruce had never done that to him, but Jason never really… did anything bad when he lived with Bruce. So he really wasn’t even sure what Bruce did. Made him skip being Robin that night? He didn’t have anything equivalent with these kids…

Thankfully, Attie shook her head against Jason’s chest where she had her face buried and said, “Damian told me I was a child.”

“Well you are a child,” Jason said slowly, “and so is Damian, and that’s not a bad thing.”

“I know,” Attie said.

At least one of them knew that…

One thing they all needed to believe though, Jason thought as he pushed Attie back so he could put his hands on either side of her face and say, “But listen to me. Your grandfather is never going to get me, okay? He won’t get any of us ever again.”

“You don’t know that,” Attie protested, and her little face looked so scared, Jason couldn’t handle it.

“Yes I do, “ he insisted. If it was the last damn thing he did, he was going to make sure these brats didn’t ever see Ra’s dumb face again.

He would go to Batman himself and beg for help if that’s what it took.

Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that…

“We were right under his thumb and we got away, didn’t we?” he said.

“Mama didn’t,”Attie cried.

And.

Jason didn’t have a good response to that.

So he just pulled Attie closer and hugged her tightly. “I know,” he finally said, “and I’m sorry about that. But we got away and now we’re here under Superman’s protection, and Ra’s will never get past Superman.”

“Can I come with you to work?” Attie asked suddenly, “I don’t have to hide anymore, right? So can’t I come with you?”

“That’s right, you don’t have to hide,” Jason said slowly, “but no, you can’t come to work with me.”

On the one hand, Jason would like to be able to keep his eyes on the three brats every moment of every day.

But.

Also he’d probably actually kill them. Like, for real. He would do it. He knew himself enough to know he needed a break from them or he’d absolutely lose his shit.

They probably needed a break from him, too. It was too bad he couldn’t easily give them breaks from each other.

Well. Not until school started.

“In a couple months you’ll get to go to school,” he said, “then you won’t be so bored all day.”

“What’s school?” Attie asked, finally letting go of Jason to sit back again.

He pulled at his shirt and tried to ignore the giant wet spot right where Attie cried a river.

“It’s where you go to a building with a bunch of other children your age and learn things,” Jason said. He’d never actually had to explain to a kid what school was…

Attie had done school, right? She knew how to read, so.

“Talia taught you how to read and stuff, right?”

“And Ravi,” she mumbled, “mostly Ravi.”

Right. Ravi. Jason really hoped he was doing all right.

Nodding, Jason said, “It’s like that, except with a lot of other kids in the room with you and a teacher teaching you all.”

“Like on TV?”

“Yeah, exactly,” Jason said, “Damian and Mara will go too. But they’ll be in a different grade than you, since they’re older.” And Jason was looking forward to them being the twins.

Little punks were gonna have to learn to love each other.

Somehow, Athanasia’s face shifted to absolutely devastated and Jason felt panicked over it.

What had he done??

But then she cried, “So I’ll be there alone?”

“No, no,” Jason said quickly, holding his hands out to… he wasn’t even sure, “No. You’ll meet all your classmates and make friends and you’ll have so much fun every day. And Damian and Mara will be in the same building, just in a different room.”

“You promise?” Attie asked with her wide, blue eyes. She looked so… hopeful.

Fuck Jason was in over his head.

“I promise,” he said anyway. Because he did promise. School was one of the most important things. That was what kids needed. Food, shelter, adults protecting them, and education.

That was all Jason ever wanted, when he was a kid.

So. He’d figure it the fuck out.

Everything was working out so far, right?

Right?

As if the brats could read his thoughts, he heard Mara exclaim from the other room, “Jason just said—”

While Damian absolutely shouted over her, “That imbecile is not the boss here.”

“And you think you are?” Mara shouted back.

“Why are they so annoying,” Jason asked. He rolled his eyes hard at the shouting that continued, but looked down to see Attie give him a watery smile.

“I am not following you,” Mara shouted next.

Because Damian obviously thought he was the boss.

“What,” Damian snapped derisively, “And you will follow him. What has he done to deserve your loyalty?”

“I didn’t say I was loyal to Jason,” she outright screamed.

Jason needed to shut them up before the neighbors started getting irate.

At least they were screaming at each other in Arabic, so it was unlikely anyone understood them.

“He is not really your brother,” Damian sneered, “He is mine. You are just here because he felt sorry for you.”

“Damian,” Jason shouted, hoping Damian got the message to shut his fucking mouth.

Who just went saying shit like that?

Although Jason was going to hold it over Damian’s head forever that he admitted Jason was his brother.

“He’s kind of an asshole, isn’t he?” Jason whispered to Attie, as he fully freed himself from her and pushed himself to his feet.

Athanasia didn’t answer him, but Jason could tell by the tiny little smirk she agreed.

“He gets that from his father,” Jason whispered.

That made Attie smile wider as she asked, “Father is an asshole?”

“Okay,” Jason said, stopping after only taking a single step toward the bedroom door, “That is a bad word, don't say bad words, forget I said it. But yeah, he’s kind of a jerk.”

“I’m not a jerk,” Attie declared, as she jumped off her bed to follow Jason.

“No you aren’t, I agree,” Jason said. He needed to go talk to Damian, probably. And Mara.

And, like. Do things.

Yeah Jason was so far in over his head.

Jason made his way back out to the living room in half a dozen steps and outright froze.

Because there was only one brat out there.

“Where did she go?” Jason asked, as he frantically looked in the empty bathroom, then into the kitchen, where there was still no Mara.

“She left, finally,” Damian said, from where he was casually sitting on the damn couch.

If Jason wasn’t outright panicking, he would have strangled Damian. “What do you mean she left,” Jason exclaimed. He ran to the door and yanked it open, fully ready to start sprinting after her.

He was so glad he hadn’t taken his shoes off yet.

But when he opened the door, an eight-year-old fell backward slightly, because she’d been sitting on the floor, leaning back against the door. After falling back slightly, she sat forward and wrapped her arms around her knees.

“Mara,” Jason exhaled. His heart was racing, he could feel it in his throat like it was about to beat right out of his chest. “What the fuck, get back in here.”

“Why?” Mara asked flatly.

Jason’s limbs felt shaky, and his thoughts were barely coherent so all he could manage to come up with to reply was, “Because I told you to.”

Mara didn’t budge. Her back was to Jason, and honestly Jason wasn’t dealing with this. He leaned down and grabbed her upper arm, making her squeak when he dragged her inside.

She leaped to her feet and fell into a ready stance, as if she was going to fight him, but by the time she righted herself, Jason had let go and shut and locked their door back.

“We are staying together,” Jason stressed, giving Mara a hard look before he turned it toward Damian, too, “and we are not leaving this apartment without telling someone.” Athanasia was sitting over at the dining table, but Jason assumed she didn’t need to be told this.

“Damian knew,” Mara said, in an almost pout.

“Fine,” Jason said tersely, “I’ll clarify. Do not leave the apartment without telling me and getting my permission.”

“You are not the boss here,” Damian screeched, as he jumped up from the couch.

“Yes I am,” Jason snapped, “so get over it. You are literally eight-years-old, you are not and will not be the boss of anything until you are eighteen.”

“Aren’t you sixteen,” Mara drawled, “Why do you get authority at sixteen?”

Jason… Didn’t have a good response to that.

“That is not the point,” he said, “My passport says I’m eighteen, so that’s my legal age. Your legal and actual age is eight, so you are a child. And children listen to their adults.”

“You are not our ‘adult,’” Damian said derisively.

“Yes I am, I have paperwork to prove it.” It didn’t matter that he wasn’t like, actually an adult. But he was the oldest and the only one capable of working, so.

Everyone was going to have to get on board.

“Forged paperwork,” Damian muttered, then crossed his arms tightly and scowled as he said, “I don’t understand why you won’t turn us over to Father,” he paused, and cut over at Mara before scoffing, “Or, I don’t understand why you won’t turn me over to my father.”

Why the fuck did Damian have to be so damn rude? How had this child had Talia as a mother?

Talia could be scathing, but she was never so mean-spirited. She never said rude shit just to hurt someone’s feelings.

“Damian,” Jason said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He felt so much like Bruce in that moment.

And even more like him when he said, “You know what? Go to your room.” Jason actually was done dealing with Damian in that moment.

Beyond done.

Bruce definitely sent Jason to his room a few times, he remembered that now. When Jason was being too mouthy.

How the fuck was he going to deal with Damian for longer than a damn week?

Of course, Damian didn’t budge. Instead he scowled hard at Jason.

“Now,” Jason demanded, his voice hard.

“Or you’ll what,” Damian challenged.

“Do you really want to find out?” Jason growled back, “Go sit on your bed and stay there. I’m tired of your crap.”

At most, Jason would just physically drag Damian to the bedroom and shut the door himself, but Damian didn’t need to know that.

Jason knew what kind of punishments Damian was used to.

Fuck. That thought was like a bucket of ice on Jason’s temper.

Damian’s scowl faltered, before he turned it into a nasty glare and stomped off as loud as humanly possible to the bedroom. He slammed the door shut, but at least went there.

“Stop making so much noise,” Jason yelled in English, “we have neighbors who don’t need your crap, either.”

“I hate you,” Damian screamed back.

“Yeah, I don’t care,” Jason mumbled to himself. He looked over at Mara, who was looking half angry, half completely confused about everything, then over to Attie, who had her chin resting on her arms on the table.

She at least looked fine.

Jason decided he was going to lay on the couch and take a nap, or something. Or read a book, maybe.

He wasn’t even half way across the room when Mara said, “I am not loyal to you, I did not want to defect from the League, and I will not follow Damian either.”

Flinging himself down on the couch, Jason said, “I would never ask you to follow Damian. He’s a child.”

“You aren’t going to send Damian to Father, right?” Attie asked, sounding a little anxious. Jason couldn’t bring himself to look back toward her.

“No,” he said, as he draped an arm over his face, to block out the light, “He’s staying here with us.” Jason just hoped Damian chilled the fuck out.

Attie apparently wasn’t satisfied, because she asked, “You said Father would turn you over to Grandfather. Would he turn Damian over to Grandfather?”

“Athanasia,” Jason sighed, as he reluctantly sat up to look over at her. She was still sitting at the table, but had her sacred blue eyes on again. After another deep sigh, Jason said, “We don’t need to worry about any of that. I’m not sending Damian to him.”

“And you’re going to keep me too?” Mara asked. She was still standing in the exact same spot near the door. “Even though I’m not your sister?”

“The paperwork says you’re my sister,” Jason said. And since paperwork was all he had tying him to Damian and Athanasia, well.

Mara was as much his sister as the other two were.

Though he had a feeling if he told Damian he was adopted, Damian would flat up leave. If his thoughts on Stuart Little were anything near his true feelings on adoption…

“Look,” he said, rubbing at his face, “Why don’t we watch a movie or something. We can go to the library later and get some books and stuff so you guys won’t be so bored while I’m at work. I think the library has DVDs and stuff, too.”

“Jason said we’re going to school in a couple months,” Attie said, as she hopped up and bounced over to the couch. She landed right next to Jason and grinned brightly when Mara looked over at her.

“School?” she asked, as she hesitantly came to sit on Jason’s other side. She didn’t curl up against Jason like Attie did, but she did sit.

So.

Small victories?

“Yeah, like on TV,” Attie said, “Right Jay?”

“Yep. It’s the law, you guys have to go, actually.”

“In a couple months,” Mara mumbled.

“Mhm,” Jason hummed, as he flipped the TV on and started browsing. “School starts in September I think.” And it couldn’t come soon enough.

Then again… he needed to get the League more out of them before he sent them to public school.

Hopefully time would fix that… because Jason wasn’t sure what to do otherwise.

He was so in over his head.

Chapter Text

Jason took them to the library that evening to pick out a stack of books each. Damian didn’t speak a single word to him, but Jason didn’t care.

He’d cooked some dinner for them, basic spaghetti since Jason didn’t know how to cook much… but he could handle boiling pasta and browning some hamburger meat and mixing it with a jar of pasta sauce, but when Jason went to get Damian for dinner, he found him sitting on his bed, absolutely pouting.

Since he’d apparently actually listened and sat on his bed and stayed there. For like, two hours.

Jason really wasn’t sure what to do with that kind of power.

The kids absolutely shat all over his cooking, though. Jason had a plate of it, obviously, and it was fine. It tasted perfectly good, but each of them looked down at it and then up at Jason as if asking are you seriously making us eat this?

Mara, actually, did say, “What is this?”

“It’s spaghetti. It’s a staple,” Jason said, as he twirled some of the noodles on his fork and took a bite.

“It looks disgusting,” Mara said, but she followed Jason’s lead and twirled the pasta up and took a bite. She made a face, but then ate another bite, so Jason was taking that as victory.

The bat’s brats at least ate their food without commentary. Attie seemed to like it just fine, but Damian was, of course, not talking to Jason.

Jason didn’t care.

Once they were done eating, Jason said, “We’ll walk down to the library after we wash the dishes if you guys want. We can pick up a bunch of books and stuff to keep you occupied while I’m at work.”

Maybe they’d have some, like, activity books or something. Craft books. Jason remembered having books like that as a little kid. He did origami once, from a book he got at the library. His mom had even bought him special colored paper for it. If his mom could afford that, Jason could make it work. Probably.

“We can pick anything?” Attie asked, clearly giddy at the idea.

“Yep,” Jason said as he got up. He had fully intended on the brats helping him with the damned dishes, but that was hoping too much. Clearly. Because all three kids dropped their plates, forks, and cups into the sink and then fucked right off.

“You kids are going to have to do chores eventually,” Jason grumbled, as he washed everything up real quick. He was not going to let them sit until someone else finally gave in. He was not attracting mice into the apartment.

But he also wasn’t going to be their servant. Not even Bruce let Jason live his life without household responsibilities. He had to help unload the dishwasher, or fold laundry, or vacuum the rug in the entryway.

That was another thing he’d have to figure out. He really wasn’t sure if they’d even keep listening to him, once they realized him threatening violence was a bluff…

The walk to the library was a silent fifteen minute. Well, sort of. Damian and Mara chatted the entire way.

In Dari.

Because they were assholes.

Jason was going to pick out a book on Dari at the library so he could learn it and take away their super secret conversation language.

By the time they arrived at the library, there was a little more than an hour left until closing. Which was plenty of time.

Probably.

Damian and Mara both wandered off immediately, without saying a single word to Jason about it. The library was kind of huge, two whole floors, but Jason also wasn’t sure if he’d be able to convince them to stay with him if he yelled at them.

Also he shouldn’t yell at them in public, probably.

Sighing, Jason turned toward the librarian’s desk and asked, “I wanted to get library cards for all of us. Do those two need to be here for me to get them?”

“No,” the lady replied with a wide smile, as she pulled some paperwork, “They seem excited to be here.”

“Yep,” Jason said, trying his best not to sound sarcastic, “couple of bookworms, those two.”

“I love seeing that in children,” the woman said, and all Jason could do was smile as he looked down at the form she set in front of him.

Attie stepped up next to Jason at the desk, and gripped at his shirt.

He looked down at her and asked, “What?” but she just shook her head at him.

Whatever.

Jason went over all the forms with the librarian as he filled out his personal information. She had him get his own library card first, then set up one for each of the kids under his account. Since his account would be responsible for any fines incurred. Which was fine.

She didn’t even ask him if he was their guardian or anything, just let him get them cards when he said they lived in the same household.

Which was good, right? It meant he didn’t seem out of place, watching after the kids?

Athanasia didn’t leave his side the entire time, but after about fifteen minutes of going through the paperwork, and proving his address with a letter from the electric company, Jason was handed four library cards, and Jason immediately put the first initials of each of them on the cards, just to keep them straight.

“Can I hold my card,” Attie asked as they stepped away from the desk, in a whisper before Jason put all four into his wallet.

Jason looked down at her and asked, “Are you going to lose it?”

She shook her head, so Jason reluctantly handed her the card with an A on it, then tucked the other three into his wallet.

The first thing he did was take Attie over to the children’s section, and let her pick out some books while Jason tried to find the activity book section.

In a perfect world, the kids would spend the day together, doing things together, like loving siblings who loved each other.

But Jason wasn’t stupid, and he knew for a fact that was something they’d likely not achieve… anytime soon, at least.

He carded through the two shelves of activity books he found, and ended up picking out an origami book just like the one he’d liked so much as a child, and then a card game book. It basically spelled out a couple dozen cards games for kids using a basic deck of cards, and even if the kids wouldn’t play the games together, maybe Jason could teach them a couple new games. Mara and Attie both seemed to enjoy playing card games, at least.

Attie skipped over to where he was, kneeling down on the ground to look at the ridiculously low-to-the-ground shelves and showed Jason the stack of three books she’d picked out. Each one was brightly colored, but were all chaptered books, so he figured they’d keep her occupied and interested, probably.

Maybe.

He’d never heard of any of them, but that didn’t really matter. As long as she wasn’t crying for seven hours.

“What do you think of these?” Jason asked, as he showed her the books he’d picked out.

With a wide smile, she bounced and asked, “What are they?”

“This one is different card games you and the others can play,” Jason said, showing her that book. He put the other book on top and said, “And this is a type of art where you fold up paper to make things.”

“That’s so cool,” Attie said excitedly, as she took the book from him to flip through.

“I’ll get some paper for you tomorrow on my way home,” Jason promised, as he stood up.

Jason ended up taking her books from her and carried them and the card game book, while Attie flipped through the Origami book as they walked. He was antsy to find the older two, but since he hadn’t heard screaming coming from anywhere, he trusted they were probably fine.

Mara was the first brat they found, and she was exactly where Jason was expecting her to be.

In the history section. Because she was a nerd.

“Find something?” Jason asked, as he and Attie got down to the end of the row Mara was in. She was looking up at the top shelf, and already had two books in her hands.

“Yes,” Mara said simply. She continued looking down the row of books up top, but didn’t say anything further.

“Did you want something from up there,” Jason asked. She was a little short…

But Mara looked over at him and gave him a flat look, before she climbed up a shelf and pulled a book off the top shelf. “I do not need assistance,” she said primly.

“Don’t do that again,” Jason said, returning the dull stare right back at her, “You’ll get us kicked out and banned.”

“Then how am I meant to get—” she started, but Jason held a hand up to stop her.

“By using a step stool or asking for help. I’m tall, if you haven’t noticed.”

Mara rolled her eyes, but put her newly acquired book into her stack and said, “I’m finished.”

“Wanna see what I got,” Attie asked, holding the origami book out. Mara looked over at her and cut her eyes over at Jason.

Jason wasn’t really sure what she was checking him for, but Mara reluctantly looked down at Attie and said, “I guess.”

Attie spent several minutes flipping through the book, showing Mara her favorite projects, while Jason had them both walk and follow him as he hunted down Damian.

As he was looking past the fiction section, Jason got slightly distracted by the science fiction books, so he detoured inside to pick out a few ‘for himself.’ Mara was too busy listening to Attie, so she didn’t look up at what Jason picked out, but he knew she’d probably like them, too. If she liked Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as much as Jason thought she did.

He’d read these books himself, of course, but he’d also leave them sitting on the table in the living room, so she could read them too. Just in case she wanted to…

History books had to be boring.

After that, they finally went to find Damian, who was in the freaking philosophy section. Which he definitely hadn’t been in when Jason found Mara. But whatever. With the brat finally located, Jason took in the stack of six books in his arms and asked, “Do you need help carrying those?”

Damian didn’t answer him, but instead scowled fiercely at him.

“Yeah, fine, whatever,” Jason said, “We need to check out and leave.”

He did not care about this brat being pissed at him. Maybe Damian shouldn’t be such an asshole and Jason wouldn’t yell at him.

“Damian,” Athanasia exclaimed, “Come look at what me and Mara are going to do.”

“I didn’t say I would do one,” Mara exclaimed.

“A children’s book?” Damian scoffed.

“Guys,” Jason said, since all three of them were now standing in a damn circle, not moving toward the front, “They close soon. We have to go.”

It took prodding them twice more, but Jason finally got the kids to the front and all of them checked out, and while Damian still didn’t talk to Jason, Mara and Attie kept talking to each other, so…

More small victories.

Jason would take it.

- - -

The rest of the week went okay, all things considered.

None of them had another major fight. Damian didn’t scream stupid shit at him, or at either of the girls, again.

Granted, he still wasn’t talking to Jason. Not really, but close enough. Jason figured they were at least out of the you’re not the boss phase.

The origami book was a hit, too. Damian didn’t do any of them, but both Attie and Mara did a few of the little projects.

Mara swore up and down to both Jason and Damian that she only did it so Attie would be quiet and stop annoying them so much, but Jason knew better.

He wouldn’t call her on it.

It did give him an idea, though.

Games. Like, actual board games. Activities was probably a better word. That all three kids could enjoy together.

Or. At the very least, Mara and Attie could enjoy together, while Damian pouted on the couch like he always did.

So that weekend, Jason dragged the kids across town to a Barnes and Noble to get some board games or something. Jason had been working on a budget, and he was starting to realize they did not have much money…

But.

There was some money in a savings account, and Jason was willing to use a very small amount of it on this. If they’d agree to it…

“I am not a child and I refuse to pick out toys,” Damian protested, when Jason led them to the game section.

“You are literally eight-years-old,” Jason said, for the fifteen thousandth time, “besides, this is a game section, not a toy section, with games for everyone of all ages. Some of these have age suggestions older than me, if you haven’t noticed.”

“I sill won’t do it,” Damian said, and Jason just rolled his eyes.

“Fine, suit yourself,” Jason said, “You just won’t get a say in the games we play together.”

“I also won’t play games with you.”

“Shut up, Damian,” Jason said, as he turned to the girls, “Pick a game out thats less than 25 dollars that all four of us could play together.”

Athanasia, of course, bounced right over to the games and picked something out almost instantly. Dragon Slips and Ladders, was what it was called. Jason was starting to get the picture that she liked dragons… And the game looked just like chutes and ladders, but whatever. That game felt a little young for them but? He didn’t actually know. Attie ran over to Damian, where he was pouting off to the side, and Jason completely ignored them as Attie tried showing Damian the new game.

Mara, on the other hand, stared at the shelves looking incredibly lost.

“Need help or something,” Jason asked.

“I don’t know what I’m looking at,” she admitted, “what is the point of these?”

“Well,” Jason said slowly, “These are board games. Do you know what those are?” When Mara shook her head, Jason went on, “They’re like… games I don’t know. Like the card games we play, right, except…” he paused, and tried to think, but he didn’t actually know all the words in Arabic, the language they usually all spoke while out in public.

It was nice to have a secret language no one around them knew. Just as long as they didn’t run into League folks… Jason looked up and around them, but only saw Attie still talking up a storm to Damian, and no one else anywhere near them.

Jason should definitely learn Dari and teach Attie it, so they could speak that instead.

Swapping to English, Jason explained, “They’re just games that have a board and little pieces and rules you have to follow. Some of these are cooperative, which means everyone at the table works together toward a goal, and some are competitive, which means one person wins. They’re just a fun thing for us to do together.”

“But why,” Mara asked, “What is the purpose?”

“To have fun?” Jason asked, “I don’t know. To, like, spend time together doing something enjoyable.” How was he supposed to explain having fun to a child?

Also. Why was he having to explain that?

Mara gave him a skeptical look, but she did turn toward the games and started inspecting every single box. So. That was good.

Probably.

Damian, because he was a brat, said loudly to Attie, “I cannot believe you would be excited about something so ridiculous.”

“Don’t like her game,” Jason asked, as he walked over to them. Damian scowled at him, but didn’t respond, so Jason added, “If you want a game that you like, maybe you should pick one out.”

It took a few seconds, but Damian finally stormed off and started looking at the games.

So.

Yeah. Jason wasn’t doing too bad at this, probably. Maybe.

“I don’t think my game is ridiculous,” Attie said, and Jason just looked up at the ceiling.

Maybe not, actually.

“I don’t either,” Jason said, “It looks like Chutes and Ladders, which is a game I liked a lot when I was little.”

“Really?” Attie asked, “Did Father play games with you when you were little? Mama played games with me.”

“Well, no,” Jason admitted, as he turned so he was standing right next to Attie, facing where the other two were still looking around. “Not him. My mom played games with me, though.”

Neither Jason’s actual dad nor Bruce ever really… played with him. Bruce definitely played, like, chess with Jason sometimes. But for the most part if they spent time together, it was Batman and Robin. But Jason wasn’t little little when he was with Bruce.

Then again, Bruce had played video games with him sometimes…

“Oh,” Athanasia said thoughtfully, “Is it because Father is an asshole?”

Jason nearly choked, but managed to scold, “Attie,” at her. Holy fuck he needed to stop cussing. Frick. Ugh.

She couldn’t just say that aloud. In public. She was seven.

Attie had the nerve to smile sweetly at him, before saying, “I meant jerk.”

“No,” Jason sighed, “It’s because. Well, he didn’t know me when I was little. I met him when I was twelve, and he played with me sometimes then.”

“Your mama kept you secret, too,” Attie asked, sounding absolutely awed.

Jason looked down at her wide eyed, and stammered, “Well, uh. It’s just, Bru—Dad. Dad didn’t know about me yet, that’s it.” He didn’t know how to explain it without telling her he was adopted. If he told her, she’d tell Damian, and there was no way Jason was letting that cat out of the bag yet.

Athanasia stared at him for a long moment, but then smiled and said, “Oh, okay.”

So. Jason was off the hook. Probably.

Eventually Damian reported back with Scrabble in his hands, and Jason refrained from telling him that Scrabble had been his favorite board game, when he was younger. A minute later, Mara came over with a version of Clue in her hands called Master Detective, and she held it up for Jason’s approval.

“That’s a fun game,” Jason said, “I’ve never played that version.”

Jason looked at each of the price tags and added up the total in his head, and decided they could afford a couple cheap classics, too. So he grabbed Life, Monopoly, and Uno.

Hopefully they wouldn’t kill each other over Monopoly…

After that, he tried to herd the brats toward the checkout, but on the way Athanasia absolutely gasped and nearly exclaimed, “Puzzles! Jay can we get a puzzle?”

“What’s a puzzle,” Mara asked, and all Jason could do was sigh.

Before Jason could figure out how to answer, Attie started excitedly telling Mara all about all the puzzles she’d ever done in her life.

Because apparently Talia bought her puzzles all the time. Which. Made sense, in a way. Since puzzles were a very quiet activity that could be done alone. And.

Athanasia had spent a lot of time like that…

But how could Mara know so little? Honestly, it was starting to really concern Jason. Because. She knew so little. Damian knew a lot more than her, had a lot more life experiences.

And.

Jason wasn’t really sure why. Other than the obvious that Damian was favored over Mara… And Damian had had Talia.

Had Mara had parents? Where were her parents? Jason wanted to ask, but she was still so prickly, he didn’t think she’d answer him if he asked.

She also clearly had never been… cared for. Her hair was horribly matted, and Jason wasn’t even sure how to deal with that. He knew he’d need to solve that problem before school started, because it was probably, like, against the dress code. And would likely get them referred to CPS…

Plus, when he’d been a kid, his hair got matted when he was homeless, and it was so uncomfortable. Alfred had helped him fix it, when he moved in with Bruce. It had been a long, arduous process, but they’d gotten it all combed out and trimmed up.

Mara had a lot more hair than Jason had had, and it looked so much worse. Where would he even start? And Jason wasn’t sure if he even had the patience to comb it out… it would take literal days, he was sure. But it was either that or cut her hair completely off, and Jason didn’t want to do that to her.

How could a child as sweet as Mara have no one care enough about her to even brush her hair…? She was eight.

She was eight and no one had ever played with her or brushed her hair or, or.

Jason didn’t even want to think about it.

“They’re my favorite,” Attie said, after she had explained in painful detail how great puzzles were.

“That sounds enjoyable,” Mara replied slowly, looking between Attie and Jason, and Jason just sighed harder.

They couldn’t not get a puzzle, could they? He’d only wanted to spend a hundred dollars, but he technically could spend more.

It’s just. They couldn’t make it a habit.

Because his budget was actually kind of a major problem.

“You guys can pick one out that’s under fifteen dollars,” he finally said. Attie grinned wide and started showing Mara different options.

The girls squabbled over it for several long minutes, while Damian stood next to Jason with his arms crossed as he just scowled straight again.

Because he was angry again, or something. Whatever. Jason didn’t care.

Eventually the girls did settle on a weird map thing where all the continents were flowers… and it was 1000 pieces. It looked ridiculous, actually, but hopefully it would keep them entertained for, like, five days. Or more.

And finally, right at the register, Jason picked out three sketchbooks for the kids. Those were thankfully only a couple dollars each, and really he just wanted to get Damian one. But Damian would probably throw another fit, or refuse to use it, or something, if he thought Jason was singling him out. Or something.

Jason actually didn’t know, and didn’t want to risk it. So each of them got a sketchbook. He’d buy them cheap colored pencils later, somewhere not Barnes and Noble, but in the meantime they had markers already.

When they got home, Jason taught the girls how to play Uno, while of course Damian retreated to the bedroom to spend the entire afternoon pouting. But Jason didn’t miss how Damian took the sketchbook with him.

So.

Yeah. At least he was entertained, too.

It was fine. Everything was fine.

At least the girls were doing okay. Kind of.

Chapter Text

Jason kind of had a major problem.

His pay? Yeah. It wasn’t near enough money. Like. No where near enough. He could cover rent with his paycheck…and that was it, basically. Just the rent. An entire month’s worth of work, rent.

He knew that the very first thing to come out of a paycheck was rent. That was the first thing, beyond every other need, because he was not going to become homeless. Having a roof over their head was priority numero uno.

But.

He could go hungry. He could figure it out for himself, if all he could afford was rent. He’d always been resourceful.

But he was not going to make these children go hungry. For one, they’d revolt against him and run away if he did that. But second, he was not going to starve children.

Hand to God, Jason would go crawling to Bruce on hands and knees asking for help before he made the kids go without food. And he really, really did not want to go to Bruce. But he knew what it was like to feel hungry, and no kid he knew would know what that felt like as long as he was there.

So. He needed to put together a plan. A shopping list and a meal plan of foods that were dirt cheap, first off. That was what he worked on late one night, later that week, after the kids had all gone to bed. He sat up in the main room, at the table, and started scratching down a rudimentary list.

They could get their protein from beans and eggs, and eat a lot of noodles and rice for good calories and starches and stuff. Carbs. Carbs were important. Bread and peanut butter were another good, cheap, staple. Round it all off with some milk and cheese, and he could probably make a lot of meals from those things.

Yeah.

Jason looked down at his list and realized there were no vegetables in sight and sighed.

Canned veggies, then. Maybe frozen was cheaper… he’d have to look. Frozen veggies with rice and beans was a good meal, right? Google probably had some good ideas. Potatoes were cheap, right? Was fruit a necessity?

With a heavy sigh, Jason pulled his phone out. What would make life actually easier was him making more money… because their savings were going to drop fast if he didn’t figure that out.

So. A second job was probably the solution. Or even a better job than the one he had, if he could manage to find one like that.

It’s easier to find a job when you have a job, he’d always heard. So. Maybe that was true.

He moved over to the couch and kicked his feet up on the cushion to scroll through various job boards for Metropolis. After filtering down to jobs he was qualified for… which meant filtering out most jobs, Jason wasn’t super happy with what he was finding.

Jobs he could fit around his current schedule were even harder to find…

“Jay,” Attie said, from about three feet behind him where she’d snuck up on him.

She was definitely Bruce Wayne’s child, because Jason jumped sky high and almost dropped his phone, the exact same way he always reacted to Bruce sneaking up on him, when he was younger.

“What?” he asked, after he took a second to calm down. He turned around to see her standing there in her PJs, her hair a mess and her kitty clutched to her chest.

He already knew what she was going to say.

Because she said it every single fucking night.

“I can’t sleep. I want to sleep with you.”

“You need to sleep in your own bed,” Jason said, turning back to his phone to keep scrolling through options, “Why do you have a bed if you don’t use it?”

“I can’t,” she whined, her tiny little voice almost grating on him. He really hated whining. “I don’t like to sleep alone.”

Jason protested, “You aren’t alone. Damian and Mara are both in there.” No one could ever be alone in this apartment.

“No, it’s not the same!” she cried, as she rounded the couch to stand right in front of Jason.

He tried his hardest not to show annoyance on his face as he said, “Attie. I’m not even going to bed yet.” And when he did go to bed, he wanted it to be alone. The pullout was already so uncomfortable by itself, with her using him as a pillow it was so much worse. Because he couldn’t move around when he started aching.

“Why not?” Attie whined. She put a heavy pout on her face, and Jason could see right the fuck through it.

This child knew how to act.

“I’m working on something,” he said, looking back at his phone, “Can you please go try a little harder? I’ll come check on you in a little while.”

Attie pulled her cat up to her face and said in the most heartbreaking tone ever, “Mama always slept with me.”

Jason dropped his phone to his chest and looked straight ahead, toward the windows they had covered with nice, thick curtains. Light still spilled in from outside, but at least no one could see inside.

There was no way he was winning this battle.

He was never going to win this battle, maybe.

“Athanasia,” he finally said, turning his head toward her.

And, of course, she was standing there, crying into her stuffed cat.

“Come here,” he said, reaching out to her and wrapping his arm around her to pull her toward him. She came easily, and let him pull her up onto the couch, so she was practically laying on top of him on their tiny couch. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but he’d get up in a minute and pull the bed out to let her lay down for real.

Then he’d go back to the job board.

“How’s this,” he said, when he was pretty sure she’d quit crying. Since, of course, she got her damned way and Jason gave in and let her cuddle with him. Attie turned her face up toward his before Jason continued, “You can fall asleep in here with me, but then I’m going to carry you back to your bed to sleep the rest of the night.”

“No,” she whined, her face crumpling again, as if she was going to start crying again.

Jason tightened his arm around her, but said, “Yes. You’ll be asleep, you won’t even notice. If you wake up you can come back out here, but you need to learn to sleep by yourself in your own bed.”

“I don’t want to,” she whined, burying her face back into his shirt.

“I know,” Jason said solemnly, readjusting so he could give her a better hug. Without thinking, he gave her a kiss on the top of her head, then just froze right there.

Because.

Since when had he done shit like that?

But. Also.

Attie… Attie was his little sister. Valid paperwork or not. And. Yeah. So.

“You’ll be okay,” he eventually said, once he shook the freeze away, “You’ll wake up in the morning perfectly safe and well rested.”

“I just miss my mother,” she cried, “I wish she came with us.”

Jason leaned his head forward so it was resting on top of Attie’s as he said, “I know. I do, too,” he paused for a moment, before continuing, “She loved you very much and she wanted you to be happy and safe, so that’s what I’m going to make sure happens, okay? You will be just fine in your own bed, because I’m right out here and I’m going to make sure you’re safe and sound.”

Athanasia didn’t budge, or even acknowledge Jason had said anything, so Jason frowned.

“You aren’t a secret anymore,” he said, “you can have your own bed now with your own things for everyone to see. This is what Talia wanted for you, too.”

Finally, Attie turned so her face wasn’t hidden anymore. She pushed her hair out of her eyes, then fisted her hand into her kitty’s fur.

And then didn’t say anything at all related to anything.

“Can we play slips and ladders tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Jason said, huffing a short laugh, “We can do that. Here, get up, let me pull the bed out.”

After Attie climbed off him to stand, Jason got up and made quick work of pulling the couch from the wall and laying the back down, so it was a bed. He grabbed his sheets and blanket from where he kept it in a neatly folded pile inside the TV stand and made the bed up, then motioned for Attie to climb up first.

Maybe if he got a mattress pad, it would make it more comfortable?

He needed to make more money, if he wanted to go buying nice things like mattress pads…

How the fuck was he going to get more money? That’s all he could think about, as he lay down next to Attie and just stared up at the ceiling as she got herself comfortable next to him, all tangled up in his blanket.

If he couldn’t find another job, he really wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He couldn’t resort to stealing, he was too old to be jacking tires, and like hell was he going to go get a job with one of the mobs.

For one, they were in Metropolis. It wasn’t quite as easy there was it was in Gotham to just get a mob job.

And two. No.

When he was ten years old, he’d sword to himself he would not end up like his father.

He wouldn’t.

Even though… he understood now why his father did it.

Jason had kind of always understood, in the grand scheme of things, why his own father had resorted to crime when Jason was little. Opportunities in Crime Alley were so scarce, and Willis had to feed Jason.

As a small child, Jason had had his own taste for that when he needed to make money to help his mother with rent, and then later to feed himself. Running drugs or lifting wallets was the only thing he could do and it sucked.

At least when he was a child, if he got caught, he never got into much trouble with the law. And that one time it got him adopted by a billionaire…

If Jason did it now, as an adult?

He’d end up just exactly like his father. Dead in jail, completely useless to the people he was trying to support in the first place. And Jason had never really forgiven Willis for doing that to him. For doing that to Jason and his mother.

Bruce… Bruce would help, before it came to that. He might not let Jason stay, and he might be a major asshole and not be the best for the kids, but. He’d feed them, and send them to school, and. Stuff.

Probably.

At the very least he’d do that for Damian and Athanasia, Jason was fairly certain. That would just leave Mara for Jason to figure out.

No, no. Bruce wouldn’t kick Mara out. He wasn’t that big of an asshole.

He was pretty sure…

Mara was just a little girl, and Bruce’s heart would break for her, too. Just like it had done for Jason, when Jason was little and homeless and pitiful looking. And Jason could try his best to make sure Bruce didn’t put them in capes. If nothing else, he could go find Dick Grayson and convince him to make sure Bruce didn’t do that.

That wasn’t something Jason needed to worry about. He wasn’t going to Bruce, because he was going to figure this money thing out himself. He was resourceful.

Once Attie was soundly asleep, a good half hour later, Jason slowly got up and gathered her into his arms. He was pleased when she didn’t even stir a little, despite how he had to jostle her slightly. On silent feet, Jason walked her back into the bedroom, and quietly pushed the door open from where she’d never latched it back, when she came out to bother him.

Damian was still awake, Jason noticed immediately. Because of course he was. It was one in the morning, and the brat was still awake.

Jason had sent them to bed, like, four hours ago.

At least Mara was sound asleep.

“Go to sleep,” Jason whispered, as quietly as he could when Damian looked up at glared at him.

Damian rolled his eyes and looked back down at his sketchbook, which he had balanced on his thighs as he colored. “You can’t tell me what to do,” Damian whispered back, his voice so quiet Jason had to strain to hear.

With a sigh, Jason stepped over to Attie’s bed and carefully laid her down, then pulled her blanket up and over her, tucking her in nicely. He put her kitty right up next to her face, like she usually slept with it.

After she looked comfortable enough, and Jason was sure she wasn’t going to stir, he looked over at Damian. The way he was sitting in his bed let Jason actually see his drawings, and honestly? Jason was kind of impressed.

It was dark in the room, of course, but there was enough ambient light Jason could make out the various sketches, and Damian’s art was far from bad. It was extremely impressive, actually.

Most of the sketches on the page were of animals. A couple birds, a dog, and a cow? But right in the middle was a large sketch of what was clearly Athanasia’s stuffed cat.

Somehow with the cheap Crayola pencils Jason had bought him, Damian had made a drawing life-like enough that Jason recognized it as Attie’s stuffed animal.

“Your art is really good,” Jason whispered.

Damian instantly flattened his book to his chest, so Jason couldn’t see it anymore, and scowled up at him fiercely.

Which was basically all Jason ever got from him anymore.

Jason held both hands up and backed away. “I mean it,” he whispered, “but I’ll leave you alone. Good night.”

He didn’t respond, but Damian’s scowl shifted, a little. It softened, as he watched Jason fully leave the room and shut the door behind him.

Prickly little cactus, Jason reminded himself.

And it was proof Damian cared about people other than himself, in how he was being quiet and kept the lights off while the girls slept, right?

Of course Damian cared about the girls. Jason never really doubted that. It was Jason he hated.

Which was fine. Jason didn’t care. Damian could hate him as much as he wanted, just as long as he stayed with them and didn’t make life too hard.

Back in the main room, Jason climbed under his blankets to finally go to sleep, but his mind kept going back to money.

Freaking money.

So he found himself looking at another job board on his phone, and this time he saw a listing he hadn’t seen elsewhere.

The Daily Planet was hiring truck loaders…

Stupid early hours, 1-5am, which would suck ass, but he could do it. He didn’t start work at the bookstore until 9am, so there was even time for a short nap. And the torture would be worth it, because it paid nearly double what his current job paid.

Double.

Athanasia would have to learn to sleep by herself real quick, because this meant he’d have to leave the kids while they were asleep, but.

Honestly there weren’t any better options popping up.

Jason re-read the listing then shut his eyes to run the math. Four hours a night, five nights a week was 20 hours, and that plus the 30 hours he was getting at the bookstore would get him enough money for them to live.

He… would be exhausted. But. What else was new? He was used to being exhausted.

With the extra money, he might even be able to get them a bigger apartment, sometime down the road. Where he could have a room, too.

Plus he might be able to work his way into a better job at the Planet. Or at some other warehouse somewhere in town, to get a better schedule. If he could pick up just a few more hours at the Daily Planet job, he’d be able to dump the bookstore all together.

So. Fifty hours a week might not even be a long term thing.

Jason nodded to himself as he followed the link to the online application. It didn’t ask for much information from him, which was good. Because he didn’t have much to offer. Jason took some time whipping up a resume using his falsified backstory, but it was a short one page document. He’d absolutely put down his current boss as a reference, if needed, but it didn’t even ask for references.

Hopefully that was a good sign. If they were desperate for help, they’d be far more likely to hire him. Right?

It was nearing 3am when Jason finally clicked his phone off, but he was feeling pretty hopeful about it all. Hopefully someone would call him soon, and that would solve the biggest problem he had presently.

Chapter Text

Jason got the job. He got a call later that next day, and was asked to come in for ‘an interview’ that ended up just being a tour of the warehouse and a quick confirmation that he could lift boxes. Then they took his photo for his ID card and did a background check on him, and hired him pending the clean background check.

Obviously, his ‘background’ was clean. So he was hired on pretty quickly.

His schedule did not line up perfectly with the bookstore job, the bookstore was Monday-Friday while this one was Wednesday-Sunday. Which was fine. It meant only three days a week would he have to do both jobs. So that was probably actually better than doing both five days a week, right?

After his first three shifts at the planet, where everyone seemed fine with him, Jason felt a little more relaxed about the whole money problem. Leaving the kids at home at night was nerve wracking, but Damian had said there was no need to be concerned about them, because he was there.

It wasn’t as comforting as Jason assumed Damian was trying to be? Since Damian was literally eight-years-old, but all three kids agreed yet again that they’d call for Superman if anything happened. And it was kind of sweet of Damian to suggest he’d protect the girls.

So, anyway. That problem was solved.

Next problem he needed to solve: Mara.

Mara’s hair needed attention. Jason had ignored it so far, since they were sort of running for their lives, but now that they’d been in Metropolis for a couple weeks and everything felt calm for the moment, he couldn’t ignore it any longer.

There was no way her hair didn’t hurt her. Plus, Mara al Ghul deserved someone to pay the fuck attention to her, for once. Since it was clear no one had ever done that before, case in point: her hair.

Jason googled ‘fixing matted hair’ and read every guide he could find on the topic. He even found a handful of videos on youtube to watch. It looked like it was going to be a task, but at least he didn’t feel fully helpless.

On his way home from work at the Planet, Jason swung by a store to pick up the things one of the guides suggested: a spray bottle, some conditioner stuff, and a comb with a pointy end. Thankfully, Jason was able to match the bottle of the conditioner stuff up exactly, so he wasn’t stuck trying to figure out what the fuck he needed.

All he needed after that was Mara, but when Jason got home just before six in the morning, he found her and Damian both in the living room, meditating or something, Jason didn’t know.

“Brats,” he greeted, as he shut the door behind him and shed himself of his boots and bag.

Neither brat responded, of course. He’d yelled at them the day before for ‘training’ before 6am, since he did not want their downstairs neighbors coming at them for that nonsense. Now they weren’t allowed to jump around until 10am, and Damian had acted like it was the most ridiculous rule Jason had ever conjured up.

Jokes on him, though, because the little punk was obeying. Jason was not going to point that little thing out. It wouldn’t surprise Jason if Damian immediately broke the rule just to spite him.

“Mara,” Jason said, as he set his shopping bag on the kitchen counter and started unpacking it.

Said child peeked over at him through one open eye, but she didn’t say anything.

Jason took it as her listening anyway, and said, “I was thinking today we could try and brush your hair out.” It was Saturday, so he didn’t have to work at the bookstore. He could dedicate the entire day to this, and hopefully get it done.

“Why?” Mara asked, “What do you mean?” She opened both her eyes and looked right at Jason.

Damian, amusingly, peeked over at Jason, but immediately shut his eyes back when Jason caught his eye.

Brat.

“It’s all tangled up,” he said to Mara, “we need to get it untangled before school starts.”

“Why?” Mara repeated.

“Because,” Jason started, but he didn’t actually have a good answer. Obviously they needed to fix matted hair? Hair shouldn’t be matted? “I don’t know, It looks unkempt. The school won’t like it.”

Mara scowled and said, “This is just how my hair is.”

“Right, but it doesn’t need to be,” Jason said with a nod.

All Mara did was stare blankly at Jason. She didn’t say a single extra word, so Jason was taking that as him winning.

Maybe.

He was going to make her do it anyway.

“Okay,” he said, as he picked up the conditioner to read the instructions. It just said to massage it into the scalp and hair, so. He could do that. “So I did some research and it says we need to wet your hair well then put this conditioner stuff in it and let it sit for a while before, so let’s do that then we can have breakfast and I’ll start on it after breakfast.”

Jason looked over at Mara, to see her still sitting criss cross on the ground, so he lifted an eyebrow and she jumped to her feet. With a tilt of his head, he directed her to the kitchen so she quickly followed, but clearly she was uncertain about everything.

Which was fine. She could be uncertain. Jason remembered Alfred doing this for him, so he knew it wasn’t going to be painful for her. Just annoying to be sitting still all day long.

“Lemme get a towel,” Jason said, as he set the conditioner on the counter, next to where he’d gotten Mara to climb up and sit. He ran quickly to their bathroom and grabbed a spare clean towel, then went back and wrapped it around Mara’s shoulders. So her wet hair wouldn’t soak her shirt.

“Tell me if it hurts at all,” Jason said, after he’d filled the spray bottle with warm water and was really just stalling. Mara didn’t respond, but she sat obediently still, so Jason got to it.

First he sprayed her hair down with the water until it was damp, then he opened the conditioner up. “What do you think of that smell,” he asked, as he shoved it right under Mara’s nose.

She scowled, but finally said, “It’s fine.”

“It’s kind of strong,” Jason mumbled, but the smell wasn’t that bad, he supposed. What was bad was the texture of it. He couldn’t help his cringe when he got some on his hands, to start putting in her hair. “This stuff is awful.”

But, alas, the internet said he needed to use it, so Jason ended up using almost half the bottle coating her hair really well.

“Okay,” he said, once he felt like he was done, “Uh. We’re supposed to leave it like that for half an hour. Do you brats want breakfast now?”

“Yes,” Damian said, from where he was still meditating or whatever in the living room. At least he’d left them alone. “Fried eggs and fruit.”

“I don’t know how to make those and we don’t have any fruit,” Jason said, “How about oatmeal?” It wasn’t really a question, since Jason pulled the box of instant oatmeal out and was going to make that whether Damian liked it or not.

He should probably learn how to make fried eggs. The League served those a lot, and he’d really come to love them. The kids also deserved foods they grew up on…

That would be a problem for another day. He was capable of scrambling eggs, and had made those several times already.

“Why do we not have fruit,” Damian grumbled.

Jason shrugged. The real reason was because Jason had bought some oranges last week and the kids had eaten them all in a day. So. “We can go grocery shopping tomorrow, okay? We need to make a list this time, though. We need to get on our budget.” He wanted to limit their spending to $100 a week. That was probably a good amount for food and whatever other things they needed, like toilet paper, each week.

“Ridiculous,” Damian muttered, but he came over to the table and sat down while Jason went about fixing each of them the oatmeal. He’d at least got a variety pack, so it wasn’t like it was plain oatmeal. It had, like, stuff added.

He really needed to buy bananas. Those would go well with oatmeal.

Thankfully neither kid actually complained, once he put the bowls down in front of them. As far as he could tell, they both liked oatmeal. Which was good, because oatmeal was cheap so he’d bought a big box of it and intended on making it a breakfast staple. He’d just need to find other things to serve with it…

Athanasia was still asleep, which honestly was perfectly fine with Jason. He’d started a new routine with her, where he went to bed early, obviously. Since he needed sleep before work. So he was falling asleep in her bed while Damian and Mara stayed up however late they wanted. He then woke up at midnight to a silent alarm from his phone in his pocket, and extracted himself from her. So far, she hadn’t seemed to wake up while he was at work, so it was working maybe?

His hope was eventually she’d just fall asleep on her own in her bed without him. Although she was sleeping quite late… so maybe she was? And just wasn’t telling Jason?

Whatever. Jason wasn’t going to question what seemed to be working.

After breakfast, Damian announced that he was going to take a shower. Honestly, Jason was glad he didn’t have to pay for water, because Damian took long showers. Like, olympic length showers.

Which was fine, because it meant Jason got a break from Damian. And Damian got a break from all of them.

Turning to Mara, who was still sitting at the table, her hair honestly so ridiculous looking with all the stuff in it, Jason said, “How about we sit on the floor over there to work.” He motioned toward the living room as he grabbed all the tools, including the hairbrush he had bought Mara when he got all four of them that sort of stuff.

It didn’t look used at all. Which wasn’t shocking.

Mara walked over to the living area obediently and sat down right where Jason pointed, criss cross, and placed her hands on her knees and looked incredibly stiff and uncomfortable.

Jason sat down behind her and said, “Relax.” He reached over to the couch and grabbed the remote, then held it out in front of Mara and added, “Here. Pick something to watch or something.” Maybe that would keep her from getting too bored.

She took the remote and turned the TV on while Jason took a good look at her hair. He honestly had no clue where to start. So. He should probably just start.

Scooting to Mara’s side, he pulled a chunk of her very front hair as best he could. “Okay,” he said, “Tell me if I start pulling too hard. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Mara didn’t answer him, so Jason leaned over so he was right in her face.

“Acknowledge what I just said, Mara.”

“I heard you,” Mara said, scowling at him.

“And you’ll tell me if I’m hurting you?”

With a roll of her eyes, Mara said, “Pulling my hair won’t hurt me.”

Jason sat back and sighed loudly, but decided this was not worth fighting. Instead he’d just be extra super careful.

The guides said to use his fingers mostly to just pull the hair apart. Basically going strand by strand, slowly and carefully, so Jason did just that. He started with one side of the first chunk and slowly pulled, and when he felt too much resistance, he went to a different piece and kept trying.

And.

Not even five minutes in he could tell this was going to take literally forever.

Also Mara had chosen the news and it was already grating on Jason’s nerves. Because the news anchors were doing some dumb fluff piece about a cooking show or something, and Jason didn’t care.

Did Mara actually like that kind of shit? Or was it just the only thing on at six in the morning?

Probably the only thing on. But Jason wouldn’t actually know, because he didn’t really know Mara.

He’d not, like, talked to her. They’d played cards a few times, and she’d joined him and Attie with a few board games, but she never talked during those. She mostly sat there and observed, and only spoke if the game required it.

On that note, Jason hadn’t spoken to Damian much, either. Other than to yell at him, of course. Because he was being a brat.

Damian likely wouldn’t sit in front of Jason for an entire day, though. So.

“I feel like I don’t know much about you,” Jason said casually, after he’d been working on her hair for fifteen minutes. So far he’d only gotten a very small little lock of hair free. Like. Thirty strands total, maybe.

He was going to die.

“What do you need to know?” Mara asked, still sitting stiffly and still.

Jason didn’t know how to get her to relax.

“It’s not that I need to know,” he said, “you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to tell me.” He wanted Mara to trust him fair and square, not because she was scared or whatever.

She didn’t respond though, so Jason focused on her hair, and not her as he said, “I just, you know, want to know more about you. We live together, right?”

“Correct,” Mara said slowly.

“And that’s not changing anytime soon.”

Mara nodded minutely, but was still quiet.

“I just feel like we should know more about each other,” Jason said casually, “You can ask me stuff you want to know about me, too.”

Still, Mara was quiet, so Jason decided to just push forward.

“You’re Damian’s cousin, right?” he asked.

Obviously he knew that, but maybe she’d start talking if he asked questions?

“Yes,” Mara said simply. Short and simple, devoid of all emotion. Almost like she was giving a report to Jason, just as Jason was required to answer questions during his training…

Oi vey.

“So…” he said slowly, “Talia’s sibling’s kid?”

“My father was her brother,” Mara reported. At least she’d picked up on the implied question…

“Did you know him?” Jason asked, still trying for casual. He did remember her saying her father was a traitor. She’d been so mad at Jason for making her defect, because she’d spent her life trying to convince Ra’s she wasn’t like her father.

Maybe Jason shouldn’t be prying, actually.

But Mara shook her head and eventually said, “No. He died when I was young.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jason said, as he picked up the pointy comb to try and comb out a knot, “What about your mother?”

“I don’t know anything about her,” Mara said.

Yep yep yep. Jason shouldn’t be prying. But he was already this deep, so he asked, “So Ra’s raised you?”

“Yes.”

Ra’s al Ghul being the only family, the only adult she had was kind of the worst thing Jason could imagine. Ra’s was a total bastard. And it was clear he didn’t actually care about her.

How else could he possibly suggest Mara and Athanasia should fight it out to determine which was worthy of being his granddaughter?

“Well,” he said, after they’d lapsed into silence for a few moments, “I’m glad we took you with us, then.” Ra’s didn’t deserve any grandchildren, and Jason was glad they’d stolen all of them from him.

He hoped that asshole died sad and alone, with no one around him far, far away from a Lazarus Pit.

Mara turned her head and gave him a look he couldn’t even begin to interpret. It looked perplexed, maybe. All Jason did was gently put a hand on top of her head and turn it back, so he could keep working.

“I may ask a question?” she asked a moment later. She’d diverted her attention down to her hands, and was just picking at her pant-leg.

Jason nodded and tried to sound as nice as humanly possible as he said, “Yeah, shoot. Ask as many as you want.”

“Why are you doing this?” Mara asked, still staring down at her hand. She pulled at the seam on her pants, and Jason could see the anxiety there.

So he ignored it and said lightly, “Fixing your hair? It needs to be done.”

“No,” Mara said, “This. Here, with us.”

“Oh,” Jason said dumbly. He’d thought they kind of already knew that?

Like. The League of Assassins sucks. And Ra’s was a monster, and the kids were being treated horribly. If they thought pain was normal and something to ignore, and were terrified of what Jason would do to them, since he was exercising authority over them. And were used to Ra’s telling them he could kill them whenever, so they needed to shape up and listen to him.

Actually, Jason wasn’t going to think about that. Because he could feel his blood pressure rise, and he wasn’t going to be mad while literally pulling knots apart on Mara’s scalp.

“I guess,” he finally said, after he’d taken a few breaths and re-leveled himself, “It’s because no kid deserves a life of pain, and. That’s all the League was offering you guys.”

Mara spent a good minute just mulling over his answer. At least, Jason assumed that was what she was doing. But finally she looked back up at the TV and said, “You make no sense.”

“You’ve told me that before.”

“Because it’s a fact,” Mara scoffed.

Jason hoped he started making sense to her. Because. Normal humans acted like him, he was pretty sure. Monsters acted like Ra’s and the various trainers in the League.

Some time passed in comfortable silence. Well. Kind of. The stupid news was still being annoying, and Jason was getting frustrated at a knot that was not relenting. He’d even started stabbing at it with the pointy end of the comb, just like one of the guides had said to try. And it was not working. Honestly? Jason was kind of exhausted already. And it had been, like, twenty minutes.

He had so much appreciation for Alfred, now. Because Alfred stood over him all day as he did this to Jason when he was a kid. Jason had just read a book, and hadn’t fully understood how much painstaking work Alfred was doing for him. He hadn’t even talked much to Alfred.

Wow he was such an asshole.

Or. He was twelve. And nervous about his surroundings.

Same thing.

“You know,” he said, once he finally got the knot to let up a little, “when I was little, my hair got like this and Alfred fixed it for me.”

“Alfred?” Mara asked, her voice uncertain again, “Your father’s caregiver?”

“Yep. Practically my grandfather.” Alfred definitely acted more like their grandpa than he admitted. Bruce probably wouldn’t even call Alfred their grandpa.

Then again, Bruce had told Jason he wasn’t Jason’s father. So. How can Bruce’s adopted dad be Jason’s grandpa if Bruce wasn’t Jason’s dad?

Fuck Bruce, honestly.

Mara nodded slightly, just enough Jason saw it, but not enough to actually pull at her hair in Jason’s hands. Then she said, “But he is not related by blood?”

“Blood has almost nothing to do with family,” Jason said simply. Even if Bruce had yelled at that Jason, snapped at him I’m not your father, he couldn’t change the fact that he had adopted Jason.

And. Jason was most definitely seen Bruce as his dad. Jason swallowed thickly just thinking about that. The Waynes had been the best family he ever had… And he’d only had them for a few years before he lost them, and learned it had been fake anyway.

Nope. That was another thing Jason was not thinking about.

“Yeah, anyway,” Jason said, shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, “I was homeless for a few years when I was little, and I wasn’t able to take care of myself very well, so my hair got matted just like this. It took Alfred a long time to fix it, but he did it even though he hadn’t known me a week then.”

Alfred was literally a saint. Would Alfred want to see Jason, now? Bruce probably didn’t but would Alfred?

“What does homeless mean?” Mara asked.

“It means I didn’t have a home or adults caring for me.”

Not that Mara knew what that last thing was, either.

“Why not?” Mara asked. Her tone was more curious than anything else.

“Well,” Jason said slowly, “When I was nine, my mom died right? And the state of New Jersey assumed custody of me, that’s how it works in the United States. Kids have to have adults taking care of them until they’re adults, but the adults the state gave me to mistreated me, so I ran away to take care of myself. But nine-year-olds can’t rent apartments, so I lived on the street.”

Mara glanced over at him, but asked, “Mistreated you? How?”

Jason tried not to sigh as he said, “Well. They hit me a lot, didn’t feed me much, and tried to make me run drugs and stuff for them. Commit crimes for them.”

Which sounded a lot like the League of fucking Assassins. But Damian and Mara hadn’t even known running away was an option. Or that how they were being treated was wrong.

“So you left?” Mara asked, a touch incredulous.

Because, yep. That wasn’t an option in her book.

“Yep,” Jason said lightly, “I’m no one’s puppet and I’m not a punching bag.” Even when he was with the League, he wasn’t a puppet for them. He only did what he wanted to. But Talia knew that about him, and never forced him to do shit he didn’t want to.

Although Jason couldn’t really think of much that she’d even suggest he do, that he didn’t want to.

Other than possibly taking the kids to Bruce. But obviously he hadn’t done that.

“I could take care of myself and I am eight,” Mara said, almost haughtily.

But Jason actually believed her. To an extent.

“I know,” he said, “but it’s okay to have an adult taking care of you, you know? For things like this.” He held her hair a little more forward, so she could see what he was doing for a second. “And, you’re just a kid. You shouldn’t have to worry about finding a safe place to sleep or good food to eat everyday. Adults should be worrying about that for you, so you can play games and stuff with Damian and Attie.”

Mara completely ignored him, of course, and instead asked, “Why weren’t you with your father?”

Which.

Good fucking question, considering the kids thought he was Bruce’s by blood…

He should have thought harder about this question, after Attie had asked it, too. But he hadn’t. Because he was dumb.

“He… hadn’t met me yet,” Jason said.

“Why not?”

Jason shrugged and said, “He just hadn’t. He didn’t know I existed. Once he found out I existed, he invited me to live with him, so I did. Then I met Alfred and Alfred saw my hair and insisted on fixing it.”

Which wasn’t even a lie. The best lies were the truth.

“How old were you then?” Mara asked.

“Twelve.”

Mara looked down at her hands again, but stayed silent. Jason adjusted where her hair was, so he wasn’t pulling on it too hard as she moved around. He could tell she wanted to keep asking questions, but she was getting anxious about it. Why? He had no clue.

Sometimes she seemed perfectly fine just rapid fire asking him dumb questions, and then other times she did this.

“What else?” Jason asked, “I can tell you want to ask more.”

Cutting her eyes up at him, then right back toward her hands, Mara said, “I do not wish to anger you.”

Which was probably prudent, since Jason was literally pulling on her hair presently.

As lightly as he could, Jason said, “Okay. I swear I won’t get mad at whatever you’re about to ask, then.”

Mara looked over again, and somehow looked even more anxious in how her face twisted, but she did ask, “Why does your father hate you?”

Jason took a deep breath. Turnabout was fair play, he reminded himself. And Mara deserved to know more about him.

“He…” Jason said slowly, trying to gather his thoughts, “I don’t know if hate is the right word. He just, well. Before I left, I got into this fight with a bad guy. I used to fight along side Batman as Robin, right? So I would fight bad guys with him. And this bad guy died.”

Hate definitely wasn’t the right word. He doubted Bruce hated him. Just didn’t like him much. And most certainly didn’t love him. Bruce was probably angry at him, and would be angry if he ever found out Jason had joined the League of Assassins, but Jason honestly couldn’t see Bruce hating him.

Right?

Joker had fucking murdered Jason and Bruce didn’t even hate him. So.

Although maybe Bruce didn’t hate Joker because he’d finally rid him of his Jason-problem.

It was hard to un-adopt a child when you were a literal billionaire celebrity.

“You killed him?” Mara asked, after she nodded absently for a minute.

“I actually didn’t,” Jason said, “but he thought I did. And that’s unforgivable to him, I guess, I don’t know.”

“So you left and joined the League of Assassins,” Mara asked incredulously.

“That’s the short of it, yes.”

Granted. Jason hadn’t, like, purposely sought out the League. He’d kind of just woken up there. In the Lazarus Pit. With Talia standing over him.

But that didn’t matter. He hadn’t run off, after then. And obviously Jason had been capable of running off whenever he wanted.

Okay… maybe not. Because Talia had had to pull a lot of strings for them to get away…

So had Jason been there voluntarily….?

Nope. He wasn’t thinking about that, either.

“Would your father really give you back to my Grandfather,” Mara asked. And Jason really wished he understood why they all thought this.

He was fairly certain he’d never said that?

“No,” Jason said, “He wouldn’t give me to Ra’s directly. But, if he kicked me out, I think it would be easier for Ra’s to catch me.” That was all he’d ever said, right?

Mara nodded once, then asked, “Do you think Grandfather will find us here?”

“Yeah,” Jason said instantly. It was impossible for Ra’s to not find them. “If he doesn’t know we’re here already, he will eventually figure it out. He can’t get to us here, though. Not with Superman nearby. That’s the important part.”

Would Clark continue to keep Ra’s away, if he found out it was Jason?

Probably. Clark was so anti-others choosing someone’s fate. Jason could absolutely suck up to Clark if needed, too. Even if Bruce tried to poison Clark against Jason.

Clark had taken Dick’s side against Bruce, way back when Dick and Bruce were fighting, too. And Bruce and Clark were supposedly best friends.

Mara simply nodded, but she did seem confident in her nod. So hopefully she agreed with Jason? Or at least trusted he was trying to protect them?

“Are you still mad at me for making you defect?” he ventured.

With a one shoulder shrug, Mara said quietly, “There is no going back.”

Jason tried not to smile too much, at that response.

“For the record,” he said, “I’m not sorry. I’m glad you’re here with us and not still there, being treated so badly.” He pulled one last time at the knot he’d been working at, and a handful of hair came out when he did.

Which was gross, but he was getting used to it. Since the hair was already dead and loose, and it was the problem causing all the knots. He put it in the small pile he was creating of it.

Mara sat for a long minute, and didn’t say a single word. But then the bathroom door unlocked, and Mara stiffened. She swiped at her face quickly, and Jason resisted the urge to look and see if she was crying.

It kind of killed him that she thought she couldn’t cry in front of Damian.

Who was essentially her brother. If they’d grown up seeing each other every single day, under the same Grandfather raising them, they were more siblings than cousins.

But.

Jason wasn’t going to tell them that thought quite yet.

Damian walked into the living room, his entire walk basically announcing his presence. He was the exact opposite from Athanasia, in that regard. Her gait was silent, and his was loud and demanding of attention.

“How long will this take,” Damian demanded, as he stopped right in front of Mara and Jason.

“Likely all day, at the very least,” Jason said. Consider how little progress he’d made in 45 minutes, he was expecting days, not one day of work.

Damian scoffed and said, “We have to train.”

“Sorry squirt,” Jason said, not at all masking his grin, “Mara’s busy today. Maybe see if Athanasia will play with you after she wakes up.”

“It’s not playing,” Damian snapped. But then he paused and looked thoughtful for a moment before he said, “We do need to work on her skills. Mother neglected much in her training.”

“Uh huh,” Jason mumbled. He furrowed his brow as he worked at another really, really stuck knot. He didn’t want to break it. All the guides said resist the urge to break it.

By the time Athanasia woke up, over an hour after he’d started, Jason felt like he got nothing done on Mara’s hair. He had, of course. He’d freed some hair from the massive rat’s nest, and was starting to identify what was her live hair, and was was not.

It was still very, very gross.

Mara just had a lot of hair. Very, very thick hair. So it was a massive task.

But Jason took a break and got Attie a bowl of oatmeal, then sat back down with Mara.

Damian sat at the table with Attie, and was going over his lesson plan for her, and Athanasia was absolutely not listening to him. Which was hysterical, because Damian didn’t seem to even notice.

Once Athanasia was finished, Damian deposited her bowl into the sink, then went into the bedroom to get something, he had no clue what, to help with her ‘training,’ and Attie immediately grabbed the deck of Uno cards and skipped over to where Mara and Jason were sitting.

“Want to play Uno with me?” she asked, holding the deck up and shaking it almost right in front of Mara’s face.

Mara frowned, but glanced up at Jason before she looked back toward Attie and said, “I guess.”

Jason watched the two of them play for a couple minutes, before Damian finally came back out of the bedroom and announced, “Athanasia. It is time to continue your training.”

“I don’t want to,” Attie said flippantly, as she took her sweet-ass time looking over her cards and choosing another to put down in the pile.

“You do not have a choice,” Damian said, as he stalked over to where all of them were sitting.

“Yes she does,” Jason cut in, before anyone could say anything else, “She has to agree to play with you, Damian.”

“It’s not playing,” Damian nearly screeched. But yes it was.

They were definitely just playing. In their own weird baby-assassin ways.

“I want to play Uno right now,” Attie said, not even looking up from her game, “Want to play too?”

“Uno is for children,” Damian scoffed.

Jason rolled his eyes and said, “No it’s not. Uno is a classic game that adults play at parties all the time.”

“I like it,” Mara admitted quietly, and she sounded downright anxious again.

Damian scoffed loudly and said, “I expected more from you, cousin,” before he spun on his heels and stormed off to the bedroom. Jason heard the bedroom door shut, but at least he didn’t slam it.

“He’ll come around,” Jason said, hoping Mara didn’t take it to heart, too much. One day, they were going to get Damian to play something with them.

Maybe Jason should introduce them to the game of Pictionary.

“Mama played games with him,” Attie said, as she legit dropped her arms so her cards were fully visible. “She played cards with him whenever she got to be with him without Grandfather.”

“Really?” Jason asked. That kind of made his heart hurt, actually. But also explained why he knew what Go Fish was…

“Yeah. She said Grandfather didn’t like her being with Damian, though. That’s why she had to keep me secret. Grandfather wouldn’t let her see me, either if he knew about me.”

That made his heart hurt, more. Obviously. He couldn’t think on it too long, though, or he’d get mad. And he couldn’t get mad while literally holding Mara’s hair. He didn’t want to hurt her.

“I am so glad we’re away from that monster,” Jason mumbled half to himself, half for the girls to hear, “You kids didn’t deserve him.”

No one responded to him, but after another moment, Attie sat back up and put down a card from her hand, and Mara followed it up by changing to the color Attie didn’t have in her hand, and then they were off.

And Jason just enjoyed the quiet morning with both of them, while he did his best to keep his frustration in check while he worked.

It took four hours, but eventually Jason got the first full chunk of Mara’s hair untangled. He ran a comb through it and felt his nerves unravel a little, themselves, as he said, “See that? That’s how all your hair will be.”

Mara and Attie had long since quit playing Uno, but now they were watching cartoons together while Athanasia laid on the floor next to them, coloring in one of the coloring books. Damian was still in the bedroom, but Jason didn’t care. He knew the brat would venture back out, once he got hungry for lunch.

Attie looked up and said, “It looks so pretty. I like the red. I wish I had red hair.”

Mara reached up for the hair to touch it, and ran her fingers through it before saying, “It’s never been like this.”

“Soon enough, all your hair will be like this,” Jason said. He picked up the spray bottle and wet down the next chunk again, and started at that.

Jason might have imagined it, but he could swear Mara smiled a ghost of a smile, before turning her attention back to the cartoon playing.

He couldn’t wait to see her smile for real. That alone would make all the frustration worth it.

Was that how Alfred had felt…?

Chapter Text

Jason kept working on Mara’s hair late into the evening, and bemoaned himself when he only got a two hour nap before he had to work again. He hadn’t even napped after work that day like he should have. Mara’s hair was that annoying. And he hadn’t even finished. He’d had to rinse the rest of the conditioner out, then braid the already combed out hair, so he wouldn’t have to redo any of his work. Athanasia was surprisingly knowledgable on braiding hair, so she’d showed Jason how to do it. Because he did it very badly his first try…

The next morning, Jason was exhausted when he got back from work, so he took a three hour nap on the couch while Damian and Mara did whatever-the-fuck they were doing for training. Whatever it was did not involve jumping around, so Jason absolutely ignored them. When he finally got up, and they all had breakfast, Jason got right back to work on Mara’s hair.

It took him almost the rest of the day, right up until dinner time, but Jason finally got all her hair untangled. He kind of felt like crying when he ran the comb through all her hair, at the very end. The amount of dead hair he freed from it was insane, and the hair she had left was so uneven, but it was done.

Jason wasn’t really sure what to do next, since the hair didn’t exactly look great, but he did carefully take a pair of scissors to it. Just because there were some pieces that were like a full foot longer than others. So he cut it all to partway down her back, as straight as he could make it. It didn’t look great, so Jason wouldn’t be starting a career as a hair stylist anytime soon, but it looked better.

After that, Jason taught Mara how to properly wash her hair, since she hadn’t even been doing that very well, by washing her hair himself in the kitchen sink. He even put the conditioner in the hair like the bottle said to do, then rinsed it out after a few minutes. And already Mara’s hair was looking much better. It was even starting to curl up a little.

As far as Jason could tell, she didn’t have curly curly hair, but maybe wavy hair? Was that what it was called? Hair that wasn’t completely straight, at the very least. And, like. A lot of it. Voluminous. He’d definitely bring her to an actual hair dresser soon, to get her a real cut done and maybe get some expert advice on how Mara should care for her hair. Jason had always had curly hair as a child, which had been a beast to deal with, but now his hair was straight and it was basically a cakewalk to keep healthy. Athanasia and Damian also had straight hair, and it was a piece of cake to run a brush through Attie’s hair wet or dry to keep it neat. She could do it just fine all by herself, actually.

Did the other two need hair cuts, too? Obviously they’d need them, like, eventually. But did they need them now?

Regardless. After he got Mara’s hair squared away, Jason fixed the four of them dinner by using up the rest of their sandwich meats and bread, and then got the kids all ready to go grocery shopping. It was later than he wanted to go out, but they did need groceries. And Jason didn’t have work that night, so he’d be able to sleep through the entire night before work later the next morning. So. It would be fine.

The grocery store was only a few blocks away, so they were able to walk. And this time, Jason had a list and a plan. He’d put it together during dinner, and even let the kids have somewhat of a say in the meals they ate that next week.

To an extent.

Jason was not finding lamb somewhere, sorry Damian. That sounded expensive. And also gross. Lamb was gross.

He did let each of them pick a fruit out. So he felt he was nice in that way, right? Yeah. That was being nice. And if they ate all the fruit in literally one day, well then they’d just not have fruit for the rest of the week. Tough shit.

Toenails.

Tough toenails.

At the grocery store, Jason did a fairly good job sticking to their list, too. The only thing he let the kids talk him into was hummus and pita. Really, it was Damian who did the talking, but Damian had seen a display of the two things in the produce section and Jason hadn’t had the heart to tell him no when he seemed so excited about it.

It cost, like, five dollars. And Jason swapped their ground beef out for ground turkey, so the overall cost of the trip didn’t change. So, win-win.

Carrying the groceries back was annoying. Jason bought some of those reusable bags, just to have something sturdier for the hike, but even then they had four bags of stuff. Plus the two gallons of milk. Jason carried two of the bags and one of the milks, and had the older two each get a bag, and Attie carry the other milk.

And then walk. Several blocks, back to their apartment.

None of the kids struggled with it. They could carry their loads fine, but that didn’t stop them from dragging behind. Jason figured none of them wanted to walk ever again after all their walking in the desert and through the streets of Europe and Asia. If Jason never had to spend the day walking again, it would be too soon.

But they lived in a major city. So. Walking was inevitable.

Damian and Mara walked next to each other, as they always did, but insisted on being behind Jason. As they talked to each other in Dari. Because they were still assholes.

Athanasia was tired, but at least she walked next to Jason. The sun was just starting to set, so it wasn’t super late, but it was getting closer to bed time for the four of them. Jason for sure. He was tired.

Maybe that was why Jason didn’t even notice until it was too late.

A blur of a person ran across the street and grabbed Damian from where was half a dozen steps behind Jason, and Jason just caught it out of the corner of his eye.

Damian grunted and Mara shouted “Jason,” all at the same time Jason dropped everything he was holding directly onto the sidewalk and sprinted after them.

The assassin holding Damian ducked into an alley, and Jason was hot on his heels as he rounded the corner, already drawing his knife out of his waistband ready to stab the moron directly in the eye.

Just as Jason caught up, Damian managed to slip the assassin’s hold, so Jason took the man’s momentary distraction to deck him right in the face, knocking him right out with the one punch.

He didn’t have even a split second to breathe before five more assassins dropped down on them, from the roof above.

Chaos ensued.

Jason did a quick sweep of the alley with his eyes, and saw the girls standing back at the entry.

Mara had her arm up, pushing Athanasia backward, away from everything going on, and the assassins weren’t paying any attention to them at all.

He ducked a sword one of the men had pulled, and kneed the man right in the junk. Damian was a few feet away and had his own knife pulled, swinging it around, slashing at another guy.

Ducking another sword, Jason jumped up and kicked the guy in the head, then pushed off the head to leap onto one who was about to grab Damian.

Jason grunted loudly when a knife got him in the side, just then. He used his entire weight to slam the guy he was hanging off of to the ground, then spun around to take care of the man who stabbed him. There were two men left standing, one had a sword, the other a knife, and both were aiming for Jason.

Then more assassins dropped from the roof, and Jason saw in his peripheral as he tussled with the two men, two more get their hands on Damian. Each one was holding one of his arms, pulling him slightly apart, and Damian was struggling to get free.

Panting, Jason jumped over a low swing of the sword, then rolled under the other assassin’s knife and used his momentum to sweep the sword guy’s feet out from under him. Bouncing back to his feet, Jason threw his knife at one of the men holding Damian, hitting him right in the stomach and making him drop Damian, and Damian immediately stabbed the other guy in the arm, freeing himself completely.

But Jason couldn’t even catch his breath, because there were like ten more assassins somehow, and his side was burning, and he could hear Damian panting, too.

Then Athanasia, still back at the entrance of the alley, absolutely screamed, “SUPERMAN!”

Jason’s heart was racing.

Two assassins were running toward the girls, and Jason’s heart was racing.

He looked over and saw Damian had been grabbed from behind, and they had a cloth over his face as he struggled against everything. Jason glanced over at the girls, and saw Mara pushing Athanasia further back, before he launched himself forward to grab the guy’s arm that was holding the rag to Damian’s face and break his fucking arm.

The sick crack was somehow satisfying to Jason, when Damian dropped to the ground on his hands and knees, breathing noisily. Jason slammed the other assassin backward, before anyone could touch Damian again.

Then, finally, time felt like it paused when he heard the whoosh of Superman appearing behind him.

“They’re League of Assassins,” Jason panted, not even turning to look at Clark, “We’ve defected and we’re not going back,” before he pushed himself forward again, aiming at one who was reaching for Damian.

Before Jason reached him, the man vanished, and Jason absolutely stumbled.

Jason looked around and saw all the assassins subdued, with Clark currently tying them all up together. The girls were both still standing a dozen feet away, completely untouched, Attie still behind Mara.

Damian was in front of Jason, still bent over, his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

Frantically, Jason dropped to his knees in front of Damian and pushed him up so Jason could see his face.

“Where are you hurt?” Jason demanded. He looked directly into Damian’s eyes, and they looked just as sharp as ever, so Jason looked Damian up and down.

There was blood all over him.

“I’m fine,” Damian said, almost breathless, because he was still breathing so heavily.

And he was covered in blood.

“Tell me where you’re hurt,” Jason said again, absolutely failing at masking his panic. He pulled at Damian’s shirt, pulling it taut and tried to find any knife holes.

There weren’t any. But Damian still wasn’t standing straight, either. He looked hurt.

“I’m fine,” Damian insisted, “I’m not hurt.”

“You aren’t hurt,” Jason repeated, absolutely disbelieving. He put both hands on either side of Damian’s face and forced eye contact as he demanded, “You swear it?”

“I swear,” Damian said back, his sharp green eyes a little wide, but not betraying a hint of lie there. “The blood is not mine.”

“Fuck,” Jason exhaled, as he dropped a hand from Damian’s face to loop around his shoulder. He pulled Damian into his side and just focused on breathing for a second.

“Get off me,” Damian protested, but he didn’t put any force into the little push he made against Jason’s chest, so Jason absolutely did not let go.

“Just. Give me a minute,” he said, trying to calm down. His heart was going, like, 200 miles per hour, and he felt like he was shaking so hard he’d be able to phase through the ground just like Flash. “That was terrifying.”

“You needn’t worry about me,” Damian grumbled, as he stiffened up in Jason’s arm.

“They tried to kidnap you,” Jason exclaimed. He was most definitely going to worry about him.

And had Superman not showed up, they would have succeeded.

Fuck.

Damian squirmed and said, “I’m fine, brother. I am much too trained to be hurt by those amateurs.”

Jason squeezed, but finally let Damian go. He’d been so stiff in Jason’s arm, but at least he didn’t stab Jason.

Unlike the assassin who got him good in the side.

Did Damian just call him brother???

“Did they hurt you two?” Jason asked the girls, who had inched closer. Superman was no where to be seen, but all the assassins were also gone, so Jason figured he was probably off dealing with that. Honestly, Jason was perfectly glad to not have to face Clark.

Even if he would be forever grateful for this save.

Both girls shook their heads, but Mara frowned deeply and said, “You’re bleeding.”

Looking down at his side to finally assess the damage, he couldn’t help but wince as the stain starting.

The knife definitely got him good.

“You are hurt?” Damian exclaimed, but he froze in his quick approach to Jason because Superman reappeared in the alley, several feet in front of Jason.

In a blink, Clark was at Jason’s side, his hands on Jason’s arm as he helped Jason backward to sit on a stack of crates up against the brick wall behind him.

“I’m fine,” he protested, “I’m fine.” It wasn’t that serious.

But Clark completely ignored him as he lifted Jason’s shirt and got a good look at the cut.

Which is all it was. A cut. A nice, long, jagged cut, right across his bottom rib, but still just a cut.

Jason felt a rush of air against his face, and suddenly Clark had a first aid kit in his hands, and he started cleaning the cut at his side.

Athanasia inched her way to Jason’s side and nearly whined, “Jay,” at him, practically demanding Jason wrap an arm around her shoulders. So obviously he did, tucking her face into his shoulder and resting his chin on top of her head while Mara and Damian both hovered behind Clark, just watching as Clark worked.

“I think it needs stitches,” Clark finally said, once he had the blood cleaned from around the wound, and was now just pressing some gauze against the cut.

“Fuck me,” Jason grumbled, “I can’t go to the hospital with a knife wound.”

What would he even say? Yeah, some assassins tried to kidnap my little brother so I took a knife to the side while fighting them off. He honestly couldn’t think of a single story that wouldn’t result in social services checking up on the kids.

Also. Hospital visits cost money. And they had a nice little chunk of money in savings, but Jason was not going to blow through it on a simple little knife wound.

“I know how to do sutures,” Damian said, from right behind Clark.

Both Jason and Clark looked over at him, but Clark frowned deeply before turning back to Jason. “Son,” he said, “I think you’d be better off—” and then he absolutely trailed off.

Because he was looking right at Jason’s face, and Jason saw the exact second recognition sparked in his eyes.

Because his entire face went white.

“Jason Todd,” Clark nearly exclaimed, his voice the most shocked Jason had ever heard from Superman.

“Seriously?” Jason groaned. How had Clark even recognized him.

Why had Clark recognized him??

Clark looked between Jason’s face and his wound he was still apply pressure to, and looked absolutely conflicted on what to deal with first.

“Let the kid sew me up,” Jason said. Damian probably had been forced to sew his own wounds up in the past, if his training was anything like Jason’s.

And Jason didn’t want to sew himself up. That was never fun.

“This is not a good spot to do sutures,” Clark shot back, “You need to be in a sterile environment.”

Athanasia shifted in Jason’s arm, so he squeezed her tighter and said, “It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

“Jason,” Clark admonished, and Jason was absolutely, 100%, not about to listen to a Clark Kent Lecture.

No thank you.

“Look. I can’t go to the hospital, and I’m sure Damian knows what he’s doing. What if, uh,” Jason paused, and wracked his brain for a plan. “What if you brought us all to our apartment, and he did it there? It’s clean there.”

And it was. Because Jason did a damned good job keeping his shit clean.

Bringing Clark to their apartment was almost the last thing on Earth he wanted to do. But.

Now that Clark knew to be looking, they wouldn’t be able to hide from him, either. All Clark had to do was single out their voices and he’d know exactly where they were. So. It was pointless trying to keep their apartment secret.

So. Yeah.

Plus they had the stuff for stitches in their apartment. With as much as the kids played with knives, Jason had just bought a full on first aid kit during their first shopping trip. He knew they’d get some use out of it eventually. And Jason didn’t want to bring the kids to the hospital for knife wounds, either. That would be the best speedrun technique for getting social services on their ass. Show up at the hospital with a knife wound in an eight-year-old.

Clark looked like he was going to protest, so Jason spoke up before he could.

“Please, Clark,” he said, “I’ll answer any questions there, while Damian is fixing me up. But I’ll fight you if you try to take me to a hospital. You know I can take you.”

With a deep sigh, Clark sat back and gave Jason a long, hard look before he finally relented and said, “Fine. But we are talking there and you are explaining why you’re fighting off the League of Assassins in Metropolis today.”

“Yeah,” Jason sighed. He allowed himself one second to breathe, then rattled off their address before he turned to the kids and said, “Let Superman carry you guys to our apartment, and don’t forget our groceries.”

All three kids nodded at him seriously, so he squeezed Attie then let go.

And the next thing he knew, he was sitting on a chair at their table, and a blink later, Damian was next to him.

Damian immediately hopped to it, running straight into the kitchen to get the first aid kit, and Jason just sat there, watching both girls appear, then all their groceries on the kitchen counter.

He couldn’t help the dread fill in him, when Clark stopped right in the middle of the room, and gave Jason a bewildered look.

All the time in the world wouldn’t have been enough to prepare for this.

How was he going to keep Clark from calling in Bruce?

Chapter Text

Damian started by washing his hands and putting gloves on. Then he came back over, the first aid kit already open on the table, and shooed Jason’s hands away from the knife wound, where he’d been keeping pressure on it. Damian started cleaning it up with alcohol wipes, and Jason had to take a few deep breaths.

The girls were standing about ten feet away from him, and both had twin expressions somewhere between scared and shocked.

Because.

Well.

Superman had just zipped them and everything into the apartment, and was now unpacking their groceries onto the kitchen counter.

“Your eggs are broken,” Clark said, as he held the 18 count container up, and showed Jason how it was dripping everywhere.

Jason sighed, and grumbled, “of course,” but couldn’t do much more. He was stuck sitting in that chair, and was trying his best not to react too much to how badly the alcohol wipes were stinging.

“The milk was, too,” Clark said, after he wiped the smashed egg up from where it had leaked everywhere, “but all the milk spilled out so I just tossed the containers.”

That was like, ten dollars worth of groceries ruined already. And he absolutely would not be shocked if there was more ruined, just from how suddenly he’d dropped everything.

Athanasia finally moved, and walked right over toward the table. She dragged a chair to be right next to Jason, to his left so Damian could continue working on his right, and climbed up to sit right next to him.

But then didn’t say anything. Just looked at him expectantly.

“What is it?” he asked, as he put his arm up on the back of her chair, and rested his right hand onto his left shoulder, leaning away from Damian to give him better access to the wound.

“Did I do the right thing?” Attie whispered into his ear, “I yelled really loud.”

“Yes, you did great,” Jason said instantly, trying to match her quiet tone. He leaned a little further and gave Attie a kiss on the side of her face, which made her absolutely relax from how anxiously she’d been holding herself. “I’m so proud of you.”

Jason flinched then, when he was suddenly stabbed in the side.

“Hold still,” Damian chastised, as Jason looked over to see Damian was now sewing him up.

Without any sort of numbing agent.

“Sorry,” Jason mumbled, as he clenched his fist tightly and tried to breathe through it. Obviously he could handle some simple stitches. Obviously.

“Jason, I don’t understand,” Clark finally said, as he was simply organizing their unpacked groceries on the counter. He’d made a pile of what Jason assumed was the ruined stuff, and it sucked how half their fruit was in the pile.

Clark looked up and made eye contact as he said, “Bruce thinks you’re dead.”

“I was,” Jason said reluctantly. This wasn’t a discussion he wanted to have in front of the kids. Or at all. But. It was inevitable. With a sigh, he continued, “It’s a long story. The League of Assassins found me and brought me back.”

He knew, of course, they didn’t revive him, but they did fix him. And he wasn’t even sure how he was revived.

So.

“You were put in the pit?” Mara asked incredulously, from where she hadn’t moved.

Damian snapped his attention up to Jason and said, “Grandfather does not allow anyone to use the pit but himself.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jason shot back, “Why do you think he hates me so much? Talia was the one who did it, and she convinced Ra’s I could be useful,” Jason paused, and smiled wryly, “I bet he regrets that.”

Since Jason hadn’t been useful. And had stolen all his grandchildren.

Bastard deserved it.

“Does Bruce know?” Clark asked.

“No,” Jason snapped, shooting Clark a withering glare, “and don’t tell him. If I wanted him to know, I would have gone straight to him.”

But he hadn’t, now had he? And Jason didn’t need Clark Kent meddling.

“Don’t tell him?” Clark echoed, sounding scandalized, “Jason. He thinks you’re dead.”

“He’s probably happy about it, too,” Jason grumbled. He looked down at the work Damian was doing, but then averted his attention to Athanasia, who was still sitting right up next to him. He still had his arm back on her chair back. He squeezed his fist tighter as the individual needle pokes and pull of the thread came to the front of his attention.

Fuck. Ow.

Focus on your breathing, Todd, he told himself.

“What?” Clark exclaimed, looking mad now, “He most definitely is not happy you’re dead.”

Jason rolled his eyes.

Like Clark would even know.

“Bruce mourned you,” Clark said, “He’s still mourning you.”

That made Jason roll his eyes even harder. He was sure Bruce put on a perfectly good show for his funeral, or whatever. Showed everyone the picture of a mourning father they expected to see.

But Jason knew how he really felt.

“Jason,” Clark said, “What happened, why are you fighting off the League of Assassins in Metropolis, and who are these kids?”

He cut his attention back up at Clark and said, “They’re Ra’s al Ghul’s grandkids and I will die before I let him have them back.” And he’d sooner die than let Clark go and tell people who may or may not send the kids away.

How difficult would it be to get his hands on some kryptonite? 

Clark just stood there for a long moment, looking between Jason and the kids and honestly just looked so defeated.

Finally, he said flatly, “You stole Ra’s al Ghul’s grandkids?”

“Yes,” Jason said, “I wouldn’t wish being his grandchild on my worst enemy, Clark. I am going to make sure they get to grow up away from his influence if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Jason, then go to Bruce,” Clark exasperated, “He will gladly help you with—”

“No,” Jason cut in, nearly growling, “you don’t know him like I do.” And Bruce fucking Wayne was the absolute last place he wanted to go.

“What could he possibly have done to make you think he’s happy you’re dead and won’t be overjoyed to find out you’re alive?”

“Can we not talk about him right in front of the kids,” Jason asked, scowling hard. He didn’t want to get into the nitty gritty of why Bruce sucked right in front of his young children.

It wasn’t fair to them.

Also they didn't need to know.

Clark’s eyes darted over to Damian, then back to Jason as he said, “Don’t think I can’t see what the connection is there,” but he thankfully dropped it there. Pinching the bride of his nose, Clark seemed to think for a minute before he opened his eyes again and said, “Jason. It’s true, you know him better than I do. You’re his son and I’m just his friend. But—”