Fic: "Retaliation" by kyrdwyn (PG-13, hints of Jason/Tim)
Title: Retaliation
Author: kyrdwyn
Rating: PG-13
Series: Beloved
Fandom: Batman (comics)
Pairings/Characters: Tim Drake, Slade Wilson, Jason Todd, Talia al Ghul (hints of Jason/Tim)
Summary: Batman finds a way to retaliate.
Warnings: AU. Dark AU.
Beta: me_ya_ri
Previous Parts: Beloved | Confusion | Revelation | Conversation | Dead Man's Memories | Maternal Devotion | Protégé | Exposure
"You ever going to tell us why you insisted on dropping inside information to those Metropolis reporters, kid?" Slade asked as he approached Tim in the war room. Tim kept his attention wholly on one of the monitors, where Clark Kent and Lois Lane, the husband and wife investigative reporting team from the Daily Planet, were interviewing anyone who would talk to them about Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. About the two men being lovers, as well as father and adopted son.
Tim chuckled. "Everything I saw indicted that Lois Lane, like in my world, would not give up. And Kord Industries owns the Daily Planet, and Ted Kord and Bruce Wayne do not get along. So they would be given free reign, unlike the Gotham Gazette reporters, who answer to Bruce Wayne."
"Devious," Slade said approvingly.
It also gave Superman a legitimate reason to be in Gotham that Bruce couldn't counter without having his own secret identity as Batman exposed, Tim thought. And considering the sheer amount of damage control Bruce was engaged in from the "Kiss Heard 'Round the World", he didn't have time to run Clark Kent out of town.
"Talia wants to know what's next on your agenda."
Tim continued to watch Clark and Lois interview Derek Powers, the CEO of Wayne Enterprises. Lucius Fox and his family had moved to Coast City not long after Dick's death in this universe. Lucius was the CFO of Ferris Air, now. Tam was getting her pilot's license along with her college degree. Tim prayed she and her family would stay far away from Gotham. "That all depends."
"On what?"
"On what Talia wants done with the de-- her younger offspring."
"Not a fan of Damian's?"
"Little bitch tried to kill me on more than one occasion." His epithet was deliberate. Damian was a bitch.
"Why do you ask?"
"I want to get Alfred Pennyworth out of Wayne Manor. Loss of his primary father figure will further erode Wayne's emotional stability. It will also put him on defensive as Alfred likely knows all the family secrets. Best place to grab him is when he's picking Damian up from school. It would be infinitely easier to do so before Damian comes out, as threats to the young Wayne scion could be used to keep Alfred in line."
"Harder to threaten when Damian is there, as he is League and Bat trained," Slade said thoughtfully.
"Exactly. Actually, ideally, I'd do a two pronged attack. Take both Alfred and Dr. Leslie Thompkins. She's the Bat's primary physician."
"The father figure and his father's colleague," Talia's said as she entered the room. "It sounds like a good plan. Where would you put them?"
"Not here. Some other safe house, after checking for trackers. Never trust the Bat."
Talia nodded. "See to it. Leave Damian. He will never leave his father, not until there is no more father for him to follow. Or Grayson."
"I have a few ideas," Slade said.
Tim turned to the man. "Let's plan," he said.
"Where's Dragon?" Jason asked, glaring at Z.
Z dropped to his knees. "He was captured, my lord."
"What. Happened." Slade demanded, coming to stand by Jason, fists clenched.
"Pennyworth informed us that the Batman had implanted a subcutaneous tracker on him several years ago. Dr. Thompkins was able to remove it, but the Batman was on his way. Dragon and Owens took the tracker and led the Batman away from where we were escaping from the Batman, Raptor, and the new Robin."
New Robin. It had to be his half-brother, Damian. Batman had put him in the suit already. Jason swore, pulling violently away from the hand Slade put on his shoulder.
"We will get him back, my son," Talia said as she entered the room. "Your Beloved will not be left behind."
Slade's hand on his shoulder stopped Jason from snapping that this wasn't his Beloved. Most of the room thought this Tim was Jason's Tim, Jason's Beloved. They couldn't afford to let the secret out now. Not when they were so close to taking down the Batman.
"The Bat probably took him back to that damn Cave," Slade growled.
"Yes, and he's most likely upgraded its defenses in anticipation of us attacking," Talia said.
Prudence hurried into the room, a manila folder in her hands. "The Batman sent a message. It's been checked," she added, handing it to Talia. No tracking devices or poison powders or anything out of the ordinary had been added to it, standard checks when dealing with his mother's Beloved.
Talia opened the folder and paled at the sight of the contents. Slade moved to look over her shoulder. He'd barely looked before turning and slamming his fist into the wall behind him, leaving a hole.
Jason walked over and looked at the folder's contents, feeling his fists clench in rage. An eight and a half by eleven picture rested inside, a message scrawled on the opposite leaf of the folder.
Bat took.
Pit gave back.
Bat takes again.
Your move.
In the picture, Tim's eyelids were held open with metal instruments. His left eye was rolled up, as if Tim were unconscious. Jason hoped Tim was unconscious. Because the right eye socket was empty, the eye fully removed.
Jason growled low in his throat. That wasn't his Timothy. But Tim, despite how he felt about the Batman in his own world, had been instrumental in getting them this far in taking down the Batman that had killed Jason's grandfather, corrupted his half-brother. It had been bad enough for Tim, dealing with the memories of Jason's Beloved in his head, seeing the memory of someone this Tim trusted removing Timothy's eye at age eleven.
Now he'd lost his own eye at the age of eighteen, to the bastard version of his father.
"I. Want. His. Head."
Talia nodded. "You will have it, my son. We will rescue Timothy and kill the Wayne family. All of them."
Both Jason and Slade started at that. Talia was ordering her younger son's death with that statement.
"He cannot be reformed or brought back to the League. He killed Owens in cold blood, was instrumental in Timothy's capture. Gleeful, even."
Jason nodded, hands still clenched at his side. Slade stepped closer to him, his own eye dark with anger. "We'll get him back. Help him cope." Slade lowered his voice. "Get him back home if he wants."
Jason nodded. "We'll need to distract Batman, Raptor, and Robin long enough to get someone into the Cave to rescue Tim."
The computer monitor in the corner flared to life, the Oracle mask glowing softly. They all turned to see what he/she/it had to say. "Superman is already in Gotham in disguise, at Dragon's urging. He's volunteered to rescue Dragon, with the rest of the Justice League providing a non-lethal diversion."
"Would the Bat leave Timothy unguarded?" Slade asked.
Oracle gave a mechanical chuckle that sent chills down Jason's spine. "They will. The JLA's presence in Gotham is an all hands on deck situation for the Bat. Even the midget Robin would go."
"The League of Assassins will send people to assist in the diversion." People who will kill the Batman, was Talia's unspoken sentiment.
"I'll inform the League. I'll contact you with the time and location when the League has decided. Oracle out."
"I'm going," Jason said, glaring at his mother.
"We're all going," she said. "We all want a shot at the Batman and his 'sons'."
Jason smiled, and several League members backed away. It was a lethal smile that promised vengeance against the Batman and anyone who stood in Jason's way of rescuing Tim.
Including his own half-brother.
Next: Rescue
Author: kyrdwyn
Rating: PG-13
Series: Beloved
Fandom: Batman (comics)
Pairings/Characters: Tim Drake, Slade Wilson, Jason Todd, Talia al Ghul (hints of Jason/Tim)
Summary: Batman finds a way to retaliate.
Warnings: AU. Dark AU.
Beta: me_ya_ri
Previous Parts: Beloved | Confusion | Revelation | Conversation | Dead Man's Memories | Maternal Devotion | Protégé | Exposure
"You ever going to tell us why you insisted on dropping inside information to those Metropolis reporters, kid?" Slade asked as he approached Tim in the war room. Tim kept his attention wholly on one of the monitors, where Clark Kent and Lois Lane, the husband and wife investigative reporting team from the Daily Planet, were interviewing anyone who would talk to them about Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. About the two men being lovers, as well as father and adopted son.
Tim chuckled. "Everything I saw indicted that Lois Lane, like in my world, would not give up. And Kord Industries owns the Daily Planet, and Ted Kord and Bruce Wayne do not get along. So they would be given free reign, unlike the Gotham Gazette reporters, who answer to Bruce Wayne."
"Devious," Slade said approvingly.
It also gave Superman a legitimate reason to be in Gotham that Bruce couldn't counter without having his own secret identity as Batman exposed, Tim thought. And considering the sheer amount of damage control Bruce was engaged in from the "Kiss Heard 'Round the World", he didn't have time to run Clark Kent out of town.
"Talia wants to know what's next on your agenda."
Tim continued to watch Clark and Lois interview Derek Powers, the CEO of Wayne Enterprises. Lucius Fox and his family had moved to Coast City not long after Dick's death in this universe. Lucius was the CFO of Ferris Air, now. Tam was getting her pilot's license along with her college degree. Tim prayed she and her family would stay far away from Gotham. "That all depends."
"On what?"
"On what Talia wants done with the de-- her younger offspring."
"Not a fan of Damian's?"
"Little bitch tried to kill me on more than one occasion." His epithet was deliberate. Damian was a bitch.
"Why do you ask?"
"I want to get Alfred Pennyworth out of Wayne Manor. Loss of his primary father figure will further erode Wayne's emotional stability. It will also put him on defensive as Alfred likely knows all the family secrets. Best place to grab him is when he's picking Damian up from school. It would be infinitely easier to do so before Damian comes out, as threats to the young Wayne scion could be used to keep Alfred in line."
"Harder to threaten when Damian is there, as he is League and Bat trained," Slade said thoughtfully.
"Exactly. Actually, ideally, I'd do a two pronged attack. Take both Alfred and Dr. Leslie Thompkins. She's the Bat's primary physician."
"The father figure and his father's colleague," Talia's said as she entered the room. "It sounds like a good plan. Where would you put them?"
"Not here. Some other safe house, after checking for trackers. Never trust the Bat."
Talia nodded. "See to it. Leave Damian. He will never leave his father, not until there is no more father for him to follow. Or Grayson."
"I have a few ideas," Slade said.
Tim turned to the man. "Let's plan," he said.
"Where's Dragon?" Jason asked, glaring at Z.
Z dropped to his knees. "He was captured, my lord."
"What. Happened." Slade demanded, coming to stand by Jason, fists clenched.
"Pennyworth informed us that the Batman had implanted a subcutaneous tracker on him several years ago. Dr. Thompkins was able to remove it, but the Batman was on his way. Dragon and Owens took the tracker and led the Batman away from where we were escaping from the Batman, Raptor, and the new Robin."
New Robin. It had to be his half-brother, Damian. Batman had put him in the suit already. Jason swore, pulling violently away from the hand Slade put on his shoulder.
"We will get him back, my son," Talia said as she entered the room. "Your Beloved will not be left behind."
Slade's hand on his shoulder stopped Jason from snapping that this wasn't his Beloved. Most of the room thought this Tim was Jason's Tim, Jason's Beloved. They couldn't afford to let the secret out now. Not when they were so close to taking down the Batman.
"The Bat probably took him back to that damn Cave," Slade growled.
"Yes, and he's most likely upgraded its defenses in anticipation of us attacking," Talia said.
Prudence hurried into the room, a manila folder in her hands. "The Batman sent a message. It's been checked," she added, handing it to Talia. No tracking devices or poison powders or anything out of the ordinary had been added to it, standard checks when dealing with his mother's Beloved.
Talia opened the folder and paled at the sight of the contents. Slade moved to look over her shoulder. He'd barely looked before turning and slamming his fist into the wall behind him, leaving a hole.
Jason walked over and looked at the folder's contents, feeling his fists clench in rage. An eight and a half by eleven picture rested inside, a message scrawled on the opposite leaf of the folder.
Bat took.
Pit gave back.
Bat takes again.
Your move.
In the picture, Tim's eyelids were held open with metal instruments. His left eye was rolled up, as if Tim were unconscious. Jason hoped Tim was unconscious. Because the right eye socket was empty, the eye fully removed.
Jason growled low in his throat. That wasn't his Timothy. But Tim, despite how he felt about the Batman in his own world, had been instrumental in getting them this far in taking down the Batman that had killed Jason's grandfather, corrupted his half-brother. It had been bad enough for Tim, dealing with the memories of Jason's Beloved in his head, seeing the memory of someone this Tim trusted removing Timothy's eye at age eleven.
Now he'd lost his own eye at the age of eighteen, to the bastard version of his father.
"I. Want. His. Head."
Talia nodded. "You will have it, my son. We will rescue Timothy and kill the Wayne family. All of them."
Both Jason and Slade started at that. Talia was ordering her younger son's death with that statement.
"He cannot be reformed or brought back to the League. He killed Owens in cold blood, was instrumental in Timothy's capture. Gleeful, even."
Jason nodded, hands still clenched at his side. Slade stepped closer to him, his own eye dark with anger. "We'll get him back. Help him cope." Slade lowered his voice. "Get him back home if he wants."
Jason nodded. "We'll need to distract Batman, Raptor, and Robin long enough to get someone into the Cave to rescue Tim."
The computer monitor in the corner flared to life, the Oracle mask glowing softly. They all turned to see what he/she/it had to say. "Superman is already in Gotham in disguise, at Dragon's urging. He's volunteered to rescue Dragon, with the rest of the Justice League providing a non-lethal diversion."
"Would the Bat leave Timothy unguarded?" Slade asked.
Oracle gave a mechanical chuckle that sent chills down Jason's spine. "They will. The JLA's presence in Gotham is an all hands on deck situation for the Bat. Even the midget Robin would go."
"The League of Assassins will send people to assist in the diversion." People who will kill the Batman, was Talia's unspoken sentiment.
"I'll inform the League. I'll contact you with the time and location when the League has decided. Oracle out."
"I'm going," Jason said, glaring at his mother.
"We're all going," she said. "We all want a shot at the Batman and his 'sons'."
Jason smiled, and several League members backed away. It was a lethal smile that promised vengeance against the Batman and anyone who stood in Jason's way of rescuing Tim.
Including his own half-brother.
Next: Rescue