Little Grayson |Titans|

|Chapter XVI: Born of the Dead|

"You must have been fucking nearly dead tired." Jason's eyes jolted wide open at the voice and he was surprised to see that Liliana was awake and was reading a book.

"You're awake." Jason said and Liliana scoffed, as she flipped to the next page of the book and Jason realized how stupid it was to point out the obvious. "How long have you been awake for then?" He asked and Liliana shrugged her shoulders.

"I've been up for hours. You must have really needed the sleep." Liliana said and shut the book quickly, tossing it weakly over to the desk and it hit the floor before it got even near to the desk and she grumbled. "I feel like shit." She muttered.

"You look like it too." Jason replied and Liliana's eyes briefly flashed with annoyance, as she grumbled under her breath and she took off her headphones and unplugged her phone from them. "How long was I out? What time is it?" He asked and Liliana looked at her watch.

"1pm." Liliana stated and Jason grunted as Liliana swung her legs out of the bed and she looked around at her surroundings quickly, mentally preparing herself for any possible hazards and she was shaking her head. Liliana carefully set her feet on the floor and she stood up, before almost immediately crashing to the floor. "Fuck, that hurt." Her words came out muffled from where her face was currently in the floor.

"Well, you have made a complete fool out of us all." Jason helped up Liliana, as Bruce opened the door and walked into the room without bothering to knock and Liliana was shaking her head at him defiantly.

"At least I did something. You were at a fucking party, Bruce! I was in fucking Arkham, cleaning up a mess that was meant for Batman, again!" Bruce flinched at her savage words. "I got myself into trouble, again, because of you! I think that I finally understand why my brother left, because when we needed you, you were never around!" Liliana shouted in a fury and when she was done her rant, she looked exhausted and Bruce looked at her in silence.

"Do you intend to blame me for everything wrong that has ever happened in your life? Because I don't believe that I am the source of the problem, Liliana Grayson. I have my own opinion on the matter." Bruce, his voice was eerily cold and calm especially considering what she had just accused him of and Liliana looked angry.

"What is your opinion, Bruce?" Liliana asked and rather than defiant and angry like she had been just moments before, the girl looked exhausted and her voice was tired as well, as if to respond to her looking like total shit.

"Those who are born of the dead, are the real curses," Liliana's face changed noticeably at Bruce's words and her fists were clenching at her sides, as Jason watched the scenario. "You were born of the dead and when you were born, you gave your brother terrible luck. Then, your bad luck continued when your brother started to keep secrets from you, then when you got bullied, then when he finally left because he was so sick of taking care of you," her eyes were welling up with tears now and Bruce still wasn't done. "He was sick of being under my thumb, but he was even more glad to get away from you. Think about that, before you blame everything on someone else. You are the cursed one, not me." Bruce was unprepared for her barreling past him with tears falling down her face.

"Well done Bruce." Victoria had heard the commotion from her room and she was shaking her head at Bruce, who was silent and Victoria's eyes met Jason's from across the hallway. "Let's go Jason, we have to find her before she makes the mistake of leaving on her own." She suggested quietly and Jason retrieved his jacket, before he caught up to her as she was moving at a normal human speed.

"Where do you think she is going?" Jason asked and Victoria Dawson, she just silently led the way through the winding halls of Wayne Manor and she wound the clock up quickly and within a moment, they were walking down the hallway and they heard someone shouting. "How did you know?" Jason asked and Victoria smiled sadly at the question, as they came to the edge of the hallway and they saw that Liliana was destroying punching bags and dummies, using hand to hand combat and also her bo-staff, as she was screaming out her fury and every emotion that she had. "How did you know?" He questioned again and Victoria shook her head and there was tears in her eyes, which she could see shocked Jason.

"Because I was the one who taught her that the best way to unleash negative emotions and anything that was upsetting her... back out into the world by fighting or training. Training as a group or on your own, it doesn't matter because-- because it is something that does not ever stop, Jason Todd." Victoria murmured and she walked over to Liliana, who looked over at her and Victoria was shaking her head. "None of that was true, you know that, right?"

Liliana nodded slightly and Victoria moved her arms around Liliana, who returned the hug and Victoria looked over at Jason, who awkwardly stood on the sidelines of the hug, still not quite sure where exactly it was that he belonged in this rich guy's and vigilante's world.