Coup De Grace | D. Wayne

[28] Playing Dead

Ember was confused about how she was supposed to react too. Damian had stiffened beside her as if he could see Jason too and the red deepening on his face could only be possible if he had heard the latter remark. 

As Ember turned to look at Jason, it was no wonder the older supposedly dead brother seemed very much alive in the daylight. She had thought ghosts were pale translucent creatures but he was quite vibrant with his tan skin, slightly unnatural bluish-green eyes, and jet-black hair with a white streak up front.

He couldn't be a ghost. He couldn't be alive either, the Waynes had held a funeral for him and the press had kept talking about it for weeks after.

But ghost or not, Jason's presence right then was uncomfortable for both of them. The mischievous spark in his flecked blue eyes could only hint that he was in the mood to cause chaos.

"Oh Ember, you guys are back!" Tim seemed to have sensed the commotion and came out to see them. He too pretended to ignore Jason as he went right past him and took hold of Damian who frowned and tried to get out of his grip. "I'm sorry I might have to borrow Dames for a minute. He totally forgot he had a meeting to attend!"

"What meeting?" Damian asked, racking his brain to remember if he had anything scheduled for the day. But he couldn't recall anything so either Drake was lying or something had come up on short notice.

"Mister Fox called and he said you must meet with the new investors," Tim replied, "I sent you a text too. Didn't you check your phone?"

"He must have been too busy to check his phone and frankly, I don't blame him," Jason smirked but Tim and Damian gave no response to his teasing remark.

Instead, Tim whisked Damian away immediately after and that left Jason and Ember in the hallway.

"Why are you so awkward?" Jason teased, "It's not like we haven't met before."

"You're not a ghost," she remarked firmly, "I don't believe it."

"Why?"

"They can see you too," she replied, referring to Tim and Damian. "Tim is horrible at acting, by the way."

"No, I am not. Who said that?" Tim's hearing seemed to be very keen as he showed up once again, "And why are you talking to thin air?"

Ember raised an eyebrow skeptically, looking at Tim and then at Jason. Jason looked rather amused while Tim was still keeping up the act of being unable to see the six-foot-three menace.

Then she did something they didn't expect her to. Taking hold of Tim's arm, she hurled him toward Jason and the two collided because of course, Jason was neither translucent nor possessed the ability to let things pass through him.

"Ow, what was that for?" Jason steadied Tim who was still adamant on acting as if he wasn't there. But he stepped on his toe and it caused a yelp out of Tim, ruining the act after all.

"See, I knew it." She folded her arms, glaring at the taller brother, "You're no ghost."

"All thanks to your horrible acting, Tim, we got found out," Jason accused.

"You stepped on my toe. I didn't do anything to compromise your so-called brilliantly dumb plan! It was your part to pretend to be a ghost and you couldn't let me pass through you."

Ember cleared her throat, getting their attention, "Will anyone tell me why you were pretending to be a ghost? If you hadn't died, you could have just said so."

"The thing is I had died-" But Jason got interrupted before he could launch into a thorough explanation.

"Shut up," Tim stepped on his toe that once and took the matter in his hands, "he didn't die. He got kidnapped and we thought he died but he had escaped his abductors and returned to torture us with his unbearable presence. Very long story that you shouldn't let him tell you because then he'll bore you for hours. Isn't that right, Jason?"

Jason would have contradicted but then it would be hard to explain how he got resurrected without mentioning the Lazarus Pit which would in turn expose their connection to the League and eventually hint at their identities as Bat vigilantes too. Knowing that Ember was an investigative journalist and could put things together fast, it would be foolish to take that risk.

"Yeah, that's right. I was just messing with you," Jay gave in.

Seeing that it was all a prank, Ember relaxed as well, a slight smile flickering on her face. "But don't you think it was too much?"

"He wanted to play dead again, for a change, so we decided to play along as well," Tim's very eminent glare was threatening Jason to go along with his explanation or suffer the consequences.

"Yes, but Tim's horrible acting gave that away."

She shook her head, her smile widening to see their playful banter.

But they were interrupted as Damian came down the stairs, dressed in a formal attire appropriate for attending a business meeting.

"Yo Dames, you were right. She saw it right through Jason's ghostly idea," Tim remarked, getting his way for Jay's attempts to ridicule his acting skills earlier.

Damian could see that meant Ember was able to guess that Jason wasn't a ghost and the two must have explained the situation to her by then. She looked much more relaxed too than earlier so it could only point to the fact that Jay's cover was blown but she hadn't gotten angry about it.

"Why are you still here, Drake? Are you not coming along?" He asked because he was almost always accompanied by either Bruce or Tim when attending any meetings related to Wayne Enterprises.

"Nope, it's about time you should handle meetings on your own," Tim smiled and enthusiastically waved him off, "all the best."

Damian nodded in affirmation, checking the time on his wristwatch.

He looked dashing in a suit, Ember thought. Unknown to her, that familiar red shade crept over her cheeks as well when Damian's eyes briefly connected with hers.

"I... I'll see you guys later then," Damian remarked and left the Manor.

However, the two brothers exchanged a meaningful glance between them and shook their heads as if laughing silently.

"What now?" Ember asked, noticing the playful glints in their eyes.

"Nothing, he will definitely see you later," Jason winked, "we're off. Enjoy your day!"

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