Without Hope

Jason Comes Home

Jason dreaded this. His stomach dropped as he stood on top of the roof. His throat began to dry as he slid down the large shingles. His legs were weak as he stared at the door. His head started hurting, and he could feel the single drop of sweat that slowly ran down his face. His heart was pounding. Why was this so hard?!

"HEY JASON CAN YOU HEAR ME? I'LL JUST RING THE DOORBELL, SINCE YOU'RE TAKING SO LONG." Roy Harper yelled in his ears, somehow breaking Jason free of his nervousness. He looked to his side, and saw the red head slowly pointing one finger at the little button inside of the stone gargoyle's mouth.

Jason felt the whole world slow down as the finger got even closer . . Before he knew it, Roy was on the ground, cradling his now almost-broken finger.

"WHAT THE BLEEP JASON! WHAT WAS THAT FOR! YOU WERE THE ONE THAT DIDN'T RING, I WAS JUST HELPING!" Roy was practically howling on the ground, still clutching his finger.

"WELL IT WAS YOUR FAULT! ANYWAYS, SHUT UP BEFORE THEY HEAR-" Jason was stopped in the middle of stomping Roy's face when the great grand doors of the Wayne Manor opened.

"My god, Master Jason, Master Roy, oh, and Master Kori; I didn't see you there. Come inside." The weathered face of Alfred Pennyworth opened the door, and for a second, Jason thought he was seeing things. Simply put, Alfred looked like crap. When Jason had been Robin, and he had lived in the manor, Alfred had his youth, his snarky comments, and his lively eyes. Now, he looked like he hadn't slept or shaved in days.

Without putting up a fight, Jason walked inside. He could never deny the great Alfred Pennyworth, who had a certain power of making other people do what he said. The little group passed the large painting of Bruce's parents in the living room. It had always reminded Jason of his own parents, his abusive father, and his druggie mother.

They passed the fireplace, where another large painting was hung. It was a picture of Dick and his parents, back when they were the Flying Grayson's. Alfred stopped, for a second, stared at the painting, and continued to walk. The act did not get unnoticed by any of the occupants in the room.

"So, we goin' to the Batcave?" Jason asked, trying to look casual, but totally failing.

"Master Jason, I believe it is: 'are we going'." Alfred stopped at the grandfather clock in the middle of the dining room. Roy and Kori stared, and Jason had a sudden urge to rush them out of the house. The Batcave was only something privileged people could see, and Jason wanted to honor that code. He quickly banished the thought just as it came to him, he was the Red Hood, and he was supposed to hate all Bats! He was only here for Dick, the only person left in the Batclan that still had hope for him.

Alfred twisted the hands of the clock to nine o'clock, and the great grandfather clock started moving to upwards. Roy and Kori knew the Bruce was Batman, but they had never seen the cave. Their faces lit up in a childish curiosity, and without thinking, Jason blurted out, "Don't touch anything."

Alfred smirked, and Jason could see the old man's usual twinkle in his eyes slowly start coming back. Maybe coming over to the Wayne estate wasn't so bad after all?

While they started walking down the long winding stairs, the faint voice of the Flash could be heard.

"Ummm, is Wally supposed to be here?" Roy asked, swatting at a bat that was trying to make a nest in his gelled hair. Kori giggled as baby bats gathered around her flowing orange hair.

"Yes, I called Master Wally here. I thought that perhaps he would help find Master Richard faster, but Master Bruce denied his help." Jason's eyes widened. Alfred had denied Bruce?! That was new…

As they neared the middle caverns of the darkened Batcave, Jason stopped. A few meters ahead of him stood the one sole man that he could not face. Nope. This whole trip had been a whole mistake. Maybe Dickie-bird didn't even need his help. Jason swiftly turned, ignoring the looks of confusement on Kori and Roy's faces.

He started walking, away from the tarnishes in his life, away from his failed dreams and hopes. His ears burned a bright red. No, he was never ever come back here again.

Suddenly, something heavy was on his shoulder.

"Jason. I need you." The gruff voice of Batman, someone that had taken the role of his father, reached his ears, and Jason almost fainted in disbelief. Never before had those words been said out of Bruce's mouth. Never, not as he was Robin, not even when he had just been a lost kid that was adopted by the billionaire.

Jason could feel the betraying acts of his own body, salty tears yet to be spilled, clouding his vision; slumping shoulders that caved in for that heavy hand on his shoulder, a light heat on his face that made his sweat turn cold.

And with that, he turned, he turned and accepted the fact that Bruce needed him-no Dick needed him.

"I'm in."

And they got to work. Bruce had explained everything, how he suspected that a mysterious organization called 'The Court of Owls' had kidnapped Dick. Wally had been included in the mission debrief, his job was to run throughout Gotham, checking for any possible places that The Court of Owls could use as a lair.

The Bats were assigned on monitor duty, with the exception of Batman, whom was riding around in the Batmobile and looking for information. Jason and Damian were working along on reading the file 'William Cobb, The Unsolved Mystery'.

Stephanie and Tim were searching the vast network of security footage from all of Gotham, not just Eastern Gotham.

Kori was scanning the sky view of Gotham, while Roy was doing… who knew? He had disappeared halfway throughout the debriefing.

Jason sipped his coffee, his red eyes staring at the screen. On his side, Damian was unusually quiet.

Suddenly, there was a loud bleep on the Batcomputer, and all the monitors connected to the great pc changed into the Flash's face.

"GUYS! A LITTLE HELP HERE?! I FOUND DICK, BUT HE'S ATTACKING ME!"

Everyone stood up in his or her seats, Jason spilling his coffee by doing so. He didn't care about the stains; Wally had found Dick!

"This is the Oracle. I've tracked down the Flash's signal. It's coming from inside the old Gotham Museum's underground systems, you know, where they used to hold the fishes!" Barbara's voice quickly ensued, and the chaos started.