This chapter is dedicated to okaygrayson ! Sorry I took so long in uploading this! I hope you enjoy it though!
Asteria
"No," Superman and Dick said almost simultaneously as soon as I finished telling them about my plan. Dick looked at Superman, who gestured for him to go on.
We were currently in the conference room, and all the seats around the mahogany table were occupied. By 'we', I mean Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Zatanna, Doctor Fate, Atom, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and the whole Batfamily, including Dr. Anders. Dick was seated beside me, and I waited patiently for what he had to say. I already had a feeling he wouldn't be liking the idea. "You are not going anywhere near Talia or White Ghost, and you are most definitely not performing any magic while you're carrying our child," he dictated, crossing his arms over his chest. I could feel his glare, even though I couldn't see his eyes under the domino mask he wore.
There were some sounds of surprise, and we turned to see the appalled look on the faces of the other members of the Justice League. Oh right. We hadn't had the chance to tell them yet. Guess the cat's out of the bag now. Dick also seemed to notice and gave them all a half smile. "Yeah, we're expecting our first baby soon," he addressed them before turning back to me. Whoa. Hold up. First baby? So he was expecting more? We definitely needed to discuss this after we go rescue Jason. "We don't know how your magic could affect the baby."
"And we're not even going to consider releasing the Al Ghul siblings back out on the world," Superman added coolly and pierced me with his righteous blue eyes. Man, he was huge. It was really intimidating. He looked like he could crush me with one fist, and he probably could.
"I say we should get back to searching for Jason and storm the place they are keeping him," Wonder Woman suggested. "This meeting is a waste of time. That Jared person will be making contact with us soon."
Wow. Why do I get the feeling she didn't like me very much? "We're not releasing the Al Ghul siblings back on the world," I said with a roll of my eyes. I knew that doing this to Wonder Woman may not have been the best idea. But, hey, she just called my plan a waste of time. And secondly, I was pregnant, and my hormones made me do impulsive things. "That's the whole point of casting the spell. To make sure they can't cause any more trouble or get near any of us."
Wonder Woman glared at me, but I didn't back down. She may have been an Amazon, but I was a very hormonal assassin. She so did not want to mess with me right now. "And how do we know we can trust you? What if this spell is nothing but a fake? You were working for Talia for a long time," she retorted angrily.
"Hey!" Damian reacted, leaning forward in his seat. "Are you calling my sister a liar?" I could only stare in shock, my mouth hanging wide open. It was a bit of a blow that most of them still didn't trust me, even though I was going to be married to Dick in a few months and probably become an official part of this crazy family.
"Let's all just calm down, alright," Dick tried to intervene. "Damian, cool it. And Wonder Woman, I trust my fiancée, okay? She won't betray us." Dick was being polite, but his tone could cut glass. It almost reminded me of Bruce, when he was in full Batman mode. Like father, like son.
Wonder Woman nodded her head in acknowledgment of Dick's words, but she didn't apologize for her earlier statement. Finally, Bruce spoke up. "We'll do the spell," he said quietly, yet everyone heard him and snapped their attention towards him. It was silent for a beat, and then Dick spoke up.
"Have you completely lost your mind?" he asked.
Bruce didn't reply. Everyone waited for him to speak again, but he stood from his seat and glared down on all of us. I somehow knew he was glaring, even through his cowl. You could just feel the Batglare grazing your skin. It was that intense. "I watched Jason die before. I held his lifeless body in my arms. It has taken him years to recover from those events. And it has taken me years to rebuild our relationship. I won't let him die again. We're going with Asteria's plan."
"But-" someone began only to have Bruce stare them into silence.
"I'm aware of the risks, but I will go through with this whether you try to stop me or not," he told each and every member of the Justice League. "And we all know I will win that fight." Oh. My. God. He's willing to wage war, even with the Justice League, just to save Jason. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. "Asteria won't be doing the spell, though. Zatanna and Doctor Fate will handle it. Just give them the necessary information and materials."
Superman also stood from his end of the table, so that he and Bruce we're now facing each other off. I could feel the tension rising, and we all waited with bated breaths to see what would happen. Finally, the Man of Steel broke the thick silence. "I've known you for a long time. And I trust your judgement. But if anything happens because of this, it's in your hands."
Bruce nodded in understanding, but some of the tension left his shoulders. I could tell he was relieved that we were finally putting a plan into action. I just hoped that my plan worked. "Hold up. Aren't we going to put this up for a vote?" Flash asked with a raised hand. He was like a little kid, and he reminded me a lot of Wally. A smile found its way onto my lips at the thought.
"Perhaps I could suggest an alternative solution than giving up the siblings," Martian Manhunter murmured in that monotonous and deep voice of his. "And it does not involve any magic at all."
Razel
We were all back on the main deck of the Watchtower, where everyone else had been waiting for our meeting to be over. Talia and Dusan Al Ghul were bound and standing between Superman and Wonder Woman, while Batman waited in front of the huge monitor screen. I couldn't help but let my gaze travel to the lovely woman with the brown hair and green eyes. So that was what Damian's mother looked like. She was absolutely lovely. It was hard to believe she was evil, just as Damian had said. But the fact that Superman didn't want to release them out onto the world meant they were that dangerous.
The monitor flickering to life drew my attention away from the captives. Again, Jared's face filled the screen, but I now knew it wasn't really him. Was the real Jared even still alive? Dick had told us who he really was during the meeting, and I couldn't believe I fell for the whole act. I was disgusted with myself. I'd been dating an assassin, a liar, and a monster for months. It made my skin crawl to think about it. It was a good thing my relationship with Jared had never been too intimate. "I'm so glad you made contact," he said. "I knew you all loved Jason too much to let him die. Hell, I've only known him for a day, and I already love him, too."
"Shrike," a cool and impatient voice cut in. It wasn't long before the Chinese woman from the docks could be seen on the screen as well. Lady Shiva. "Enough games. You've made contact, and we can see you have our masters with you. We will send you the coordinates for you to be able to find us."
"How do we know Jason is still alive?" Bruce cut in just as Shiva was disappearing from view.
Shrike and Shiva glanced at each other for a split second, and my heart hammered in my chest. Finally, Shiva gestured to someone behind her and two ninjas dragged Jason in front of the camera. My hands flew to my mouth when I saw him. His whole torso was covered in cuts and burn marks, and most of the wounds were still bleeding. He was barely conscious, but he raised his head enough to look directly into the camera. His green eyes were as brilliant as ever, but I could see the pain written clearly across his face. "Raze-" he tried to speak before coughing up some blood. I took a step closer to the screen, wishing I could run to him and hold him and treat his injuries. After he finished coughing, he actually managed to grin at us, though his teeth were also bloody. "What the hell is taking all of you so long?" he rasped in a whispery voice. "I've been through shit. This is probably the worst torture in the history of forever, and my torturer isn't even pretty to look at."
He was dragged away again, and Shrike turned his attention back towards us. "Well, I gotta give him credit. I've crushed a lot of his bones, but I definitely haven't crushed his spirit yet."
"You asshole!" I shrieked and ran at the screen. I wasn't sure what good it would do, but I hit it with my fists and screamed at it. I was completely out of control, and I just wanted Jason back. I felt strong arms pull me back, and I looked up through blurry, tear-filled eyes to see it was Batman holding me. I sobbed into his chest. "Please," I whispered. "Please get Jason back."
"Send us those coordinates," Bruce said, looking past my head to the monitor screen.
"We will," Shiva replied, then there was nothing but static.
I felt Bruce push me slightly away, and I felt a pair of different arms go around me. They were smaller and definitely feminine. I wiped at my tears to see Asteria holding me. "Take her to a vacant room and stay with her. We'll be back with Jason soon," Bruce ordered before walking away.
Asteria nodded and led me gently away from the mass of superheroes gathering around Batman for orders. I let her take me away. I knew there was nothing more I could do but wait. And it was probably the worst thing. To not be able to do anything. I kept seeing pictures of Jason in my head. His injuries. The blood. There was so much blood. Him coughing. His lungs were probably ruptured. Oh god. He didn't have that much time left and-
I felt a hand on the side of my neck, a cool and familiar touch. Before I knew it, I was unconscious.
Asteria
I couldn't stand seeing Razel so wound up, so I decided to put her to sleep.
With a nonverbal spell and a single touch, she fell unconscious in my arms. Luckily, Dr. Palmer was passing by me, and I asked for a little assistance. He gave me a curious look as I struggled to hold Razel up. "She must've fainted from the whole ordeal," I lied. "Could you please help me get her to a room?"
"Sure thing," he said with a gentle smile. He easily lifted Razel into his arms. "Poor thing mustn't be used to all of this worrying. I'll take her to a medical room."
"Thanks Dr. Palmer," I replied with a grateful look. "I'll be right with you. I just need to speak with Dick before he leaves.
Dr. Palmer nodded and made his way down the hall, turning a right towards the medical wing. I retraced my footsteps and found my way back onto the main deck. I could see that everyone had broken off into small clusters and teams. I spotted Artemis and Jade also saying their goodbyes. They were also sitting this one out, just like me. The downside of being pregnant superheroes. I scanned over the faces 'til my eyes landed on a familiar costume of black and blue. As if feeling my eyes on him, Dick glanced up. He excused himself from his team, which was composed of Blue Beetle and Wonder Girl.
"Hey," he greeted with a soft smile as soon as he reached me.
"Hey," I said right back, not knowing what to do.
We just stared at each other for a few moments, and I realized that this was the first time he would be going on a mission without me. The first time I would have to sit and wait helplessly and pray that he came back to me in one piece. Finally, I flung my arms around him, wishing I didn't have to let him go. His arms automatically encircled my waste, and he breathed in deeply, as if he was trying to inhale all of me. "I love you. Come home safe, okay?"
"I love you too," he murmured into my hair. "And I'll see you in a few hours. We still have a wedding to plan and a nursery to design."
I could feel tears pricking at my eyes, but I tried not to cry as I pulled away from our hug and looked at him. "You've got that right, mister. And we still have to come up with baby names and all of that. So come back to me. Come back to us."
Dick smiled down at me and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "I always do, babe. I always come back to you."
I closed my eyes as he leaned his forehead against me. My arms were still around his neck, and it took a great effort to withdraw them. I opened my eyes and looked into his domino mask, wishing I could see the blue of his eyes before he left. "You better go," I whispered. "The longer you stay here, the harder it is to say goodbye."
"This isn't goodbye," he replied with a tinge of amusement. "This is, 'I'll see you later'."
A small, sad smile found its ways onto my lips as Dick walked away and went back to join his team. I suddenly felt very alone standing there and watching him. This is what it would feel like if he didn't return. Forlorn. Bleak. Devastating. He needed to come back. Jade and Artemis soon joined me, and they both threw their arms around me for comfort. "They'll be back," Artemis reassured me, though I knew she was also reassuring herself. It must've been harder for her, having already felt like she lost Wally once.
"They better," Jade said in a warning voice. "Otherwise, I'm castrating whoever the hell came up with this plan."
Somehow, me and Artemis managed to laugh at her threat.
Jason
Everything was painful at first.
But the longer I felt the pain, the more accustomed to it I became. I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that I was so quick to adapt. I was practically numb after they dragged me away from the camera. But I saw her. I saw Razel on the other side of the screen. She was as beautiful as ever. My sunshine. But she looked so sad. I didn't want her to be sad. I just wanted to hold her and make her happy again. And I would do that when I came home. I would hold her and kiss her and make her laugh and never let her go.
I knew they were coming for me. I just knew. Bruce wouldn't let me down. Not again. I believed in him.
I tried to stay awake, hoping that at any moment they'd come for me. But I was getting dizzier and dizzier. There was a fire inside of me, right below my lungs. It hurt like hell. I was beginning to feel drowsy. And the smell of the room they kept me in didn't help either. It smelled like urine and other nasty, toxic stuff. Why did bad guys also choose the ugly ass hideouts? Why couldn't they do it in style like White Ghost or Ra's Al Ghul, with the castle and everything? I heard the sound of faint dripping, so I pressed my hands harder onto my abdomen, but there were so many wounds. So much blood.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
It was the sound of my life slipping away from me. The sound of me dying. For the second time. God. Did death love me that much? And did the universe hate me that much? I couldn't live to be old, even after I was brought back to life?
I couldn't fight it anymore. I closed my eyes, even though I didn't know if I'd have the strength to open them again. I'm sorry Razel, I thought before I lost consciousness and began dreaming of brown hair and soulful brown eyes.
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I don't know if any of you guys have guessed the plans. but if you have formulated any theories after reading this, then you'll find out in the next chapter.
I wanted to finish this book last week, but it's been a slow writing process. :(( I'm sorry for that you guys. It's very exhausting nowadays to come up with a lot of chapters, because I constantly have to stay in front of the computer screen. I will do another upload within the day, though. So we'll get Jason back soon enough!!!
I miss all of you guys and giving you daily updates. Summer can't come fast enough.
On to writing the next chapter!
Love always,
Angel
P.S. Sofie Black D'elia as Jade. What do you guys think? Her pic is above ;)