"The place is called Corvo. It's some kind of speakeasy." Dick told them, getting out of the car. While it only took them an hour to get to Milwaukee, it took them some time to actually track down the man. "Landlord said he bounces the late shift."
"That's too bad." Jason shrugged, sticking his hands in his jacket pockets as Blair shut the passenger door behind her to start walking on the sidewalk. "Bouncers are assholes."
"Clay's not." Dick responded defensively, turning to look at him as they walked down the sidewalk. "And how would you know anyway?"
"Uncle Ray would take me to bars with him all the time when I was little." He started to explain, Blair biting her lip next to him. She had heard all about the life Jason had lived with his uncle before he had ended up on the streets. It was a mess. "Everyone thought it was cute til it wasn't. He was a fun drunk. Then he'd get stupid, then he'd start throwing punches... then the bouncers would kick our asses out."
Blair waited for the inevitable question, looping her arm through Jason's as they continued walking, Dick asking the question, "Where were your folks?"
"Mom was upstate. Dad was downstate." He answered like it wasn't a big deal. Blair knew otherwise. "Uncle Ray was the man until he OD'd when I was 13."
Dick glanced over at Blair for a second before asking the next question, "Where'd you go?"
"Wherever. Foster care, in and out of the system, the streets mostly after that." Jason shrugged nonchalantly. Dick looked over at him, sympathy clouding his eyes while Jason just shook his head. "It's not all bad. I survived. Now look, man, we're living the dream." He glanced over at Blair, "A pretty damn good one too."
Blair rolled her eyes, elbowing him in the side while Dick groaned. They stopped at the corner, all looking over at the building nearby, a small sign notifying them that they had reached their destination.
Blair and Jason stood back as Dick walked up to the door. He knocked, the metal slit in the window immediately sliding open as the bouncer inside waited patiently. She glanced between Dick and the door, watching as his hand slowly inched to the badge in his jacket. "Do it." She whispered loudly. "Take out the badge. You know you want to."
Jason snorted next to her, Dick turning around to flash them a warning look before turning back to the door, raising his badge. Blair bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing while he asked, "Clay Williams working tonight?"
The bouncer nodded, "VIP lounge."
"Okay." The door opened, the bouncer stepping back to let Dick in. Blair and Jason walked forward, Blair handing him her fake ID. The bouncer studied it for a second before handing it back to her, waving her inside. She grinned over at Dick, immediately bouncing over to him to wait for the bouncer to study Jason's ID. He leaned over to her, muttering quietly, "I know you're not twenty-one."
"Yeah, but I will be in a year all I had to do was make a fake ID with the year before I was actually born." She muttered back.
"When did you do that?"
"It was Jules' birthday gift to me." She still remembered how Jules had handed her the ID, an amused grin on her face as Blair read the details. "She thought it was the funniest thing in the world as I literally only have one year to go until then, but looking back at it now, it kind of is."
Jason handed the bouncer his ID, waiting as the bouncer studied it, immediately scoffing. He raised an eyebrow, "There a problem?"
"Robert Plissken?" The bouncer asked, holding the ID up in disbelief. Blair laughed from behind him, shaking her head. "Nice try."
Jason took the ID back, making a face, "Come on man, be cool."
"Not tonight, snake." The bouncer shook his head.
Jason sighed, looking over the bouncer's shoulder at Dick with pleading eyes, "I'm nineteen!"
"Okay, well, stay here." Dick said, holding back an amused smile. "I'll be right back."
Jason shifted his gaze to Blair, immediately pouring and giving her his best puppy dog eyes, trying to convince her to stay with him. She immediately covered her eyes with her hand as she exclaimed loudly, "No! Don't do that!" She turned around, dropping her hand from her eyes as she turned her back on him to see Dick looking between the both of them impatiently, "I'm going with you. Relax."
They started to walk away when she turned to mouth over the bouncer's shoulder right before he closed the door, "Check the side!"
Jason's lips curled up into a grin right as the door closed on him. Blair turned back around, walking through the crowd with Dick by her side, "I know you didn't tell him to go through the side door."
"Well if you know that, then why are you asking me about it?" She smiled up at him sweetly before turning back to scan the crowd. Dick shook his head before doing the same. "Do you see him?"
Dick scanned the crowd for a moment longer before nodding, lightly hitting her arm and gesturing to the corner of the bar, "Over there. Come on."
They walked through the crowd, dodging drinks and avoiding crashing into the staff carrying trays of empty glasses off the tables. They stopped in front of Clay, Dick clearing his throat, "Excuse me."
The man turned to look at them, "Yeah?"
"So, uh, how does someone get into the VIP lounge?" Blair looked over at Dick with furrowed brows, almost laughing. Maybe his badge ran out of batteries or something.
"Give me the password." Clay responded, crossing his arms as he waited patiently.
"God, I love speakeasies." Blair grinned. "They're like clubhouses with booze."
Clay looked over at her in amusement before turning back to Dick. Blair swayed on the balls of her feet, sticking her hands in her jacket pockets while Dick studied Clay for a moment, his eyes lighting up as he said, "Haly's Circus."
Blair shifted her gaze back and forth between the two, bouncing on her feet anxiously. Clay looked at Dick for a moment before widening his eyes in realization, "Dickie!" Dick nodded grinning while Clay rushed forward, lifting him off the ground in a giant, bone crushing hug, "Dickie! Oh, Lord I can't believe it's you! Is this you?"
"Yeah, it's me." He wheezed while Blair laughed in delight. "I can't breathe."
"Oh damn." Clay said, setting Dick back down on the ground.
Dick shrugged his shoulders back, letting out a small breathless laugh, "Man."
"What in God's name are you doin' here?" Clay exclaimed, looking him up and down before shifting his gaze to Blair standing next to him. "And who is this lovely girl?"
"Hi, I'm Blair Wilde, it's nice to meet you." She greeted with a bright smile and small wave.
Dick lightly punched her in the arm, "She's my little sister."
"Adoptive, but yeah." She laughed, swatting him away before holding her hand out for Clay to shake.
He grabbed her hand, pulling her in for a tight hug similar to the one he gave Dick, "Any sister of Dickie's is a friend of mine."
Blair felt her feet touch the ground again as she stepped back laughing, "Wow, that was like the best hug ever."
Clay smiled down at her before turning back to Dick expectantly. He let out a small sigh, "Can we talk?"
"Yeah, yeah sure." Clay nodded, waving over one of the other bouncers. "Follow me, I was just about to go on break."
********
Clay led them to a table in the center of the bar after ordering both him and Dick drinks (Blair declined before Dick could say anything), allowing them to observe what was going on around them without being too obvious about it. Blair sat down, glancing over at him with an excited grin, "So, you knew Dick before he went to live with Bruce? You knew him when he was really little and all that?"
The older man looked at her in amusement, "I did, why do you ask?"
"Please, please, please tell me you have pictures." She begged, bouncing in her seat while Dick shook his head.
"As a matter of fact..." Clay reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone to scroll to the top of his photos. He clicked on one of the photos, showing her a picture of Dick when he was around three years old, surrounded by monkeys, wearing nothing but his toddler pull-ups.
Blair covered her mouth, giggling behind her hand. Dick grimaced as Clay started laughing, scrolling through at least a dozen more pictures just as embarrassing. Blair motioned between his phone and hers, "Can I just-" Clay nodded, handing her his phone.
She took it gladly, highlighting all the photos in glee, "I'm just gonna go ahead and send these to myself for amusing family stories."
Clay started laughing loudly while Dick rolled his eyes. Blair handed the man his phone back as hers lit up on the table, the pictures having immediately gone through. She unlocked her phone, scrolling through the photos with a mischievous grin, "I can't wait to show these to Gar and Rachel later."
"Can you not?" Dick all but whined.
Blair giggled, "I probably could, but alas. I do not want."
Dick shook his head while Clay chuckled across from him. He cleared his throat, leaning over to table, "I hate to get serious-"
"Liar." Blair muttered. He threw her an exasperated look, causing her to look up at him sheepishly, "Sorry, continue."
"I'm not just here to catch up." He started, leaning forward. "There's something else."
Blair listened to Dick as he started to explain the reason they had driven down from Chicago, watching as Clay took in the information with a grim expression. He took a drink from his glass as Dick briefly explained the state of the other victims, keeping it in his hand, "Murdered?"
Dick nodded, "And I'm worried you're next on the list." Clay sighed, setting his glass back down on the table. "You seen anything weird at home? Any people following you?"
Clay shook his head as he thought about it, "Not that I've noticed."
"You still in touch with anyone from the circus?" Dick asked. "Since it shut down?"
"I spoke to Abigail a few years ago after her husband died. I wanted to get in touch with Percy but I could never find him." The older man thought harder, shaking his head again. "After the... we all went our own separate ways."
Dick nodded, "Yeah."
"I understand that." Blair added quietly, thinking about how everything changed after Garth died only four years ago. After there was a death in the family, some families grew stronger and closer while others fell apart. Her and Dick just managed to be a part of the latter, Dick more often than most it seemed.
"I think the last time I saw any of them..." Clay trailed off, thinking again before looking at Dick with sad eyes. "Were at your parents funeral."
Dick shifted in his seat, Blair flashing him a reassuring smile. Clay tapped the table with his finger, "I should've kept in touch. Especially with you."
"Hey, it goes both ways. I'm just glad you're okay." Dick assured him, reaching into his jacket pocket, pulling out his phone. "Give me your number." Clay recited it off the top of his head, Dick inputting the number into his phone and sending a quick text with his name attached to it. "Okay. No excuses now. We stay in touch."
Clay set his phone back down on the table, looking up at Dick with a proud smile, "Can't believe you're a cop."
"Detective, actually." Dick corrected with a smile.
Blair felt someone's eyes on her, looking up to see Jason walking through the crowd, giving her a small wave. She turned back to Clay and Dick, standing up from her seat, "Excuse me for a second, I'm going to go get me some water."
She pushed her way through the crowd, dodging people with glasses full of beer and other substances with alcohol, coming to a stop when she reached Jason. She looked up at him with a bright grin, her arms crossed across her chest, "Wow, I can't believe you actually listened to me for once. Makes sense that it would be on how to sneak into a bar."
He returned her grin, "If you would've waited with me outside, I wouldn't have had to sneak in."
"If I had waited with you outside, I wouldn't have gotten these." She unlocked her phone, clicking on the photo of three year old Dick with the monkeys.
Jason took the phone out of her hand, scrolling through the pictures in the thread, "Are all of these Dick?" Blair giggled, nodding as she looked at the screen with him. Jason laughed, handing it back to her, "Wow, let me guess, blackmail?"
She locked her phone again, shoving it back into her pocket, "Oh absolutely."
"So," Jason raised an eyebrow, smirking at her mischievously. "While we're here, can I buy you a drink?"
Blair studied him with a smile, "You can buy me a water since I'm trying to stay focused and so should you."
"Where's Fun Blair?" Jason whined, pouting at her.
She crossed her arms again, raising an eyebrow, "I don't drink on the job, you know that."
"It was worth a try." He shrugged, flashing her a fun smile.
Blair laughed, grabbing his hand to lead him to the bar. They slid onto the stools, Jason ordering two waters before she turned to look at him with a grin, "You can buy me a drink when we go back home. Better?"
He looked over at her quickly, "Home?"
"Yeah, you know, the place where we live." She explained playfully sarcastic, holding in a laugh. "There's a cranky billionaire that dresses like a bat to fight crime at night and a badass British butler that helps out. You know, home."
Jason kicked her leg lightly, "I know what home is smartass."
"Then why did you sound so shocked?" She laughed, taking the glass of water from the bartender.
"Because I thought you were going to want to stay here." He admitted. They had talked about her returning to Gotham once already, but that was before he met Rachel and Gar. It had only been a few days, but he could tell how much she cared about them. "You know, with Dick and your band of super kids."
"You could always stay with us." She propped her head up on her hand, looking over at him. The idea played around in her head for a second as he raised an eyebrow at her. She sat up straight, her eyes sparkling in delight, "I mean, you could learn more from Dick, get to know my new friends, help with this thing going on. It could be fun!"
Jason blinked in surprise, "You want me to stay?"
"Why wouldn't I want you to stay?" She took a deep breath. Looked like she was going to be saying it sooner rather than later. "You're my best friend and-"
Jason leaned forward, "And what?"
Blair opened her mouth to respond, ready to finally say the words when someone cut in, standing in between them. She flicked her eyes up to look at the guy that interrupted as he asked cockily, "Hey, can I buy you a drink?"
"Actually, no. You can't." She snapped, glaring up at him in contempt. "And you're interrupting my conversation, so if you'll excuse me."
Blair slid off her stool, reaching around him to grab Jason's hand, pulling him off his stool as he glared at the guy behind her. She grabbed his face gently, directing his gaze towards her, "Hey, look at me. Don't start a fight, we're going."
"Aw come on, why don't you stay and hang out a while?" The guy whined behind her, leaning against the counter.
She turned around, rolling her eyes, "If I wanted to hang out with a wannabe playboy, there's a whole line of people in front of you gladly waiting for a call. So thanks, but no thanks. I'm good with who I'm with."
She tugged on Jason's arm, turning to lead him over to where Clay and Dick sat, still catching up from the lost years. She thought they made it clear until a hand clamped around her wrist roughly, the guy flashing what he probably thought of as a charming smile, "Don't be like that."
Before she could do anything, Jason stepped in, shoving the guy off of her, "She's not interested. Take the fucking hint."
Blair stepped in between them, putting her hand on Jason's chest to calm him down, "Jason, it's fine I can handle this."
He looked down at her, backing up slowly, taking deep breaths. She turned around to look at the other guy when he stood back up, glaring at Jason, "You wanna go pal? Let's go."
He barreled over at him, shoving Blair out of the way. A couple nearby caught her before she fell as the crowd hissed around them. The girls helped settle her on her feet, letting go of her as she stepped forward to handle the fight about to break out. Before she get near, Jason shoved the guy roughly across the bar into the wall.
The guy stood back up, just as Dick and Clay stepped in, Dick pushing Jason back while Clay shoved the other guy towards another bouncer. Jason fought against Dick's arm, "Back the fuck off! I got this."
"Jason!" Dick warned, keeping him in his spot. Before he could say anything else, an explosion rocked the bar, glass shattering all around them.
Jason dove at Blair at the same time as Dick, tackling her to the ground, shielding her from the glass. When everything died down, Dick jumped off the ground, yelling over his shoulder above the screaming and alarms outside, "Clay! Call 911!"
Jason helped Blair off the ground, checking her for any injuries as she looked around at the chaos around them, searching for the source of the explosion. He grabbed her face with his hands, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She nodded as he kissed her on the forehead.
Dick turned around, grabbing both of them, Jason by the jacket and Blair by the hand, leading them out of the bar, away from the chaos. They made it halfway through the bar when Blair saw one of the girls that had caught her fall to the ground, the crowd shoving her away. She pulled her hand out of Dick's, "Wait!"
"Blair, what are you doing?" He called after her as she pushed through the crowd.
She stopped in front of the girl, bending down to help her to her feet, "You okay?"
"I'm fine thanks." The girl nodded, dusting off her jeans. "Just got carried away in the crowd."
Blair nodded, glancing over her shoulder at Dick and Jason directing the crowd out of the bar. Jason looked up, meeting her eyes from across the destroyed bar. Blair guided the girl to the door, Jason stepping forward to help.
Dick turned around to look for them, watching as they helped the girl to her girlfriend nearby. The girls smiled up at Blair, pulling her in for a hug while Jason walked away, looking over his shoulder at her. When she pulled away, she was smiling, even through the smoke and debris, Dick could see it.
She looked up at Jason, running over to him, absentmindedly taking his hand in hers as they walked over to him. In a way, it was nice to see his little sister in love for the first time, but he was also worried, after all, she was in love with another vigilante. But what bugged him most of all was that she had fallen in love and he wasn't there to see it happen, to help her out, even if it looked like she didn't need it anyway. He didn't think they even realized that were already together, not even having said the words. They just were.
********
Blair and Jason followed Dick outside after helping the girls, immediately seeing the source of the explosion. A car right outside the bar was engulfed in flames, completely destroyed. She studied it closely, finding that, out of pure luck, no one was inside when it went up in flames.
Dick released Jason's arm, walking around the scene, trying to find the cause of the explosion. Jason adjusted his jacket, looking angrily over his shoulder, "That asshole got lucky. I swear, I would have killed him."
She turned to look at him, crossing her arms, "I could've handled it, you know."
"I know." He shrugged. "But he was asking for it."
Dick walked back over to them, eyes still scanning the crowd as his phone started to ring in his pocket. He looked down at the name, immediately answering, "Clay, you okay?"
He walked away from the crowd to hear better, Blair and Jason following closely behind as they heard him reply gravely, "Who are you?"
Blair turned around, her eyes scanning the crowd. It was hard to pinpoint who could have been on the phone with Dick seeing as almost everyone was on the phone, calling everyone they knew to tell them about the explosion outside their favorite bar.
"It's not possible." She stopped trying to scan the crowd, looking over at Dick, trying to see his face. She stopped when she heard his next words, "Because you're dead."
Jason looked over at her at that, seeing her eyes grow wide. She knew more than she was letting on, he could tell. She stopped being able to keep secrets from him a long time ago. He turned back to face Dick as he asked, "Where's Clay?"
Apparently whoever was on the other end of the line didn't feel like answering. Dick lowered the phone from his ear, keeping his back towards them as Jason stepped forward to ask, "Who was that?"
"The Melting Man." Dick responded after a moment. "His name is Nick Zucco."
Blair sucked in a deep breath, everything finally coming together to make sense as she walked forward in concern, "Dick-"
"I killed his father." He spoke lowly, not turning around as he started to walk down the sidewalk.
"The guy who murdered your parents?" Jason asked, looking between both Blair and Dick in confusion. He noticed that she didn't look all that surprised when Dick said the words out loud. She already knew. "That's a win either way you look at it. One less scum bag on the face of the planet. Man, that must've felt awesome."
Blair grabbed his arm, shaking her head at him quickly and talking softly, "It's not. Trust me, it had consequences."
"Yeah, that's the problem." Dick whirled around, not hearing what Blair had said. He fixed his gaze on Jason, "Hey, you want my advice? Don't be Robin. All those years Bruce was helping me? He was turning me into a weapon, his weapon. He may have you convinced that you can get everything you ever wanted, but you can't unlearn what he teaches you and you can't control it."
Jason looked glanced at the girl next to him, turning back to Dick, "Blair does."
"Blair's different." Dick admitted, much to her surprise. "She's better than the both of us, better than that city. She could probably change the world on her own if she wanted to. But you are not her."
"She is right here and would love it if the both of you would remember that and stop talking about her like she's not." Blair interrupted, glancing between the both of them before continuing. "Why are you being like this? We're just trying to help."
Dick shook his head, "The price of this life is too high. The sooner you two understand that, the better off you'll be."
Blair opened her mouth to argue when Dick's phone chimed in his pocket. She waited as he took it out and replied to whoever texted him. He turned back to them, his phone still in his hand, "I gotta go."
"Where?" Jason asked, stepping forward, ready to help.
Dick stepped in front of him, holding his hand out to stop both of them from moving any further, "I gotta take care of this by myself."
"What?" Blair exclaimed in indignation. "No, you don't. I want to help!"
"It's not your problem, Blair." He argued, walking over to the parked car.
"Your problems are my problems! When are you going to get that through your head!" She argued back, watching as he took his case out of the trunk. She hated this. "I want to help you, let me!"
"No. Take the car and go back to the apartment." He ordered, tossing her the keys that she caught easily in her hands. "I mean it Blair. Stay out of this."
Jason stepped forward, lacing his fingers through hers as they watched Dick disappear down the sidewalk, "We're not going back to the apartment are we?"
"No." She squeezed his hand, staring at Dick's retreating back in determination. "We're not."
Jason nodded, "Well, how are we supposed to find him if he took out his tracker?"
"I put it back in his case when he wasn't paying attention." Blair smirked, remembering how Dick has handed her his case to put in the trunk with hers. He had gotten in the car and she slipped the tracker into one of his boots.
"That's my girl." Jason grinned. "Always thinking ahead."
Blair pulled on his hand, waking to the car, "Come on, we've got work to do."
A/N: Turns out, online classes are going a lot smoother than I thought they would be, so maybe I will be updating more than I thought. However, the next chapter is a lot longer than I thought it would be so it might be a few days until it's out, but I can promise you, it'll be worth it.