#44: The Return, Pt 4 (HoM / Vasquez / Kilburn)

"Batman doesn't kill!" said the Dark Knight, backhanding Hush and sending the masked villain sprawling. "So you can take your lies and shove 'em up your--"

Hush pulled a grenade from his belt and held it high. "Not lying."

"Oh @#$%--" started Jason, as Hush dropped the grenade and leaped over the edge of the building. Jason was dazed, weakened and ill-prepared for this fight. His fights with the Prince of Lies and his minions, and now this? He barely moved before the grenade went off, the concussive blast sending him flying across the sky. "Hhhrrrghhh!" He slammed into a brickwall, and slumped to the ground. Ribs were bruised, not broken, he thought, he'd know if they were done in. "Daaaamn," he slurred, climbing to his feet.

"You would support him," said Hush, climbing up, and levelling his pistol once more. "Boys given a mask and a cape. It killed my son. That bastard--" Hush holstered his weapon, and began to lay into Jason Todd, his fists barreling down into Jason’s ribs. "--Steals lives!"

"Nurgh," spat Todd, as he threw up his forearms to protect himself. "Gerrofff," he kicked up at Hush, and the villain backed off, but didn't relent.

"I don't need my guns to kill you. I'll make a point to murder you with my bare hands!"

"Bite me," replied Jason, punching Hush in the face and breaking his nose. "You ain't going to win this, chump."

"Nnngggh! Bssstard..." Hush rammed his elbow at Jason's collar bone, and the vigilante slid down with the blow, landing hard on the concrete, and driving his foot up between Hush's legs.

"Well, even if you had a kid before, you ain't gonna' have any in the future!"

"This isn't funny!" screamed Hush, blood staining his bandages. "You don't even know, do you?"

"I know that you're going to spend the night, and many nights to come, in Blackgate. In whatever condition is dependent on you... chump."

"Whatever." Hush whipped out a gun, and shot Jason in the head. The vigilante screamed as his mask absorbed the blow, redistributing impact all across his mask. The bulletproof material serving as a shock absorber too-- the bullet fell to the floor with a clink, but Jason was left screaming. "You're not so scary when you're out of the shadows." Hush then grabbed the mask, sparks flying from the collar seam, and yanked hard, dragging it off of Jason's face. His mouth was caked with blood, his nose too. His eye was bloodshot and swelling over, and his forehead was an open wound. "Wait..."

"Guh... guhh..." Jason blinked with his good eye, and groped at his mask, but Hush aimed his pistol at his exposed face, and looked from the mask to Jason's face. "Give..."

"You don't know. You really don't," said Hush, slowly. "I was a special forces operative. Overseas most of my life. When I came back... my wife and I conceived. But I had a duty to this country. I... I..." Jason struggled to his feet, but Hush kicked him back down. "Don't." He dropped the mask, but kept the gun aimed. "I left. She had the child, and when my tour of duty was coming to an end... I was captured. Made a POW. I was saved, but it took years. Nearly a decade. A decade of being trapped in a tiny cell, and just... thinking about my family. About my wife and my son, and knowing that they thought I was dead. When I came back home, my wife had died. And my son... my one and only son, was dead as well. And I investigated it as best I could, but you know what? Everything lead me to the Batman. And his partner. Redwing. Redwing was my son, and Batman killed him."

"No," snapped Jason, "no, that... no. Impossible. No."

"Shut up!" screamed Hush, as he pulled away his bandages, "I'm not lying, and you know why?" Hush revealed his face to Jason-- he was the spitting image of the Dark Knight, but older, flecks of grey in his otherwise dark hair, lines around the eyes and a lifetime worth of hurt lurking beneath them. "Because you're... you... oh, Jesus..."

"No," screamed Jason, “No! NO!”



"Ggghhhhh!" Mickey Fynn jerked up from the bed, and then clutched his chest. "Oh, God. Oh... God."

Lucius Fox smiled, and patted him on the shoulder. "You're doing good, Mickey. You're at Gotham Mercy General, and Commissioner Gordon has got an armed guard at the door. He's not getting in here."

"The... the Wrath... won't stop," mumbled Mickey, as his head fell back down on the pillow. "Oh, I'm dead. Dead. No no..."



"Stay back--!" Dick Grayson pulled his cape close to his body, and searched the darkness-- only to find that the once shadowed caverns of the Cave had receeded-- and in the centre, past the giant pennies and robotic dinosaurs... was a spotlight, burning red.

Talia looked to him, and he simply nodded at her to back away, and she did so.

"I thought this Cave was yours, Batman," she cried out, a mocking undertone to her words, "did you not know of the intimidating spotlight that was installed amongst the stalactites?"

"I'd appreciate your sarcasm being kept under wraps, Talia," replied Dick, as he saw what the spotlight was revealing-- a stairwell leading down into the darkness. "What the heck is this?"

Talia watched as Dick looked once more around the Cave, and began to walk down the stairs. The cave fell silent-- the roaring sound of rock parting to reveal this mystery subsiding as only Dick's footsteps remained. "Batman?" she called out, watching the darkness morph and shift, "Batman," this time a whisper, until, minutes later... Dick Grayson appeared from the hole in the Cave, a wry smile on his face. "Richard... what was that?"

"Nothing," he said with a smile, "a surprise Bruce left me." He flexed his fingers, and then looked back up to the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul. "Let's get back to work..."

Talia said nothing.



"Enough," snarled Drakon, "is enough."

Robin threw another batarang, and Drakon caught it. "Uh-oh," whispered Tim Drake, as he narrowly dodged the projective being hurtled back toward him.

Before he could straighten back up, Drakon grabbed him by the throat, and the Boy Wonder choked. "You. Are trouble. You sought to have me captured again. You and your boss. How will he react when I gut you, little boy? Will he shed some tears for little boy lost?"

Bang!

Drakon dropped Robin, and turned. His arm was a bloody mess, and Gordon's shaking hands held his service weapon. "You... should have... killed me..."

"'Fraid you've knocked me around quite a bit, you sonofabitch... I was aiming for your head."

Robin didn't hesitate, and quickly scurried to Gordon's side within a second. "Thanks, Commish."

"Get out of here," replied Gordon, not taking his eye of the diminiutive assassin standing before him. "Get out of here right now. You're a kid, and--" Drakon threw a dagger at Gordon's weapon, and the blade lodged itself in the barrel with ease. "--sonofa--!" Gordon knew he couldn't risk firing his weapon, and discarded it. "Fine. Fine, you want me dead, then come and do it, you bastard. But you better finish the job, because if you don't, I'm going to crawl back out of whatever grave you put me in, and choke you to death with my bare hands--!"

"I like you, Commissioner," replied Drakon, moving slowly toward Gordon and Robin. "Spunky."

THROOM!

Dust and brick exploded at Drakon's feet. "Back away from the Commissioner," was all that was said, as the majority of the GCPD stood ready for Drakon, their weapons all drawn. Sarah Essen emerged from the crowd with a shotgun in her hand. "You sonofabitch, Constantine Drakon-- you're under arrest." She said passing the shotgun to Gordon.

The Commissioner cocked it with a smile. "I suggest you put your hands up, punk. Or we'll blow you away."

[/b]

"Now, I've fought some crazy sonsofguns in Vegas," said Batwoman, as she peered down at the men and women who were fighting below. Jokerz clashed with inappropriately dressed gang-members, wearing leather and other BDSM gear. "And I wouldn't be surprised if I've arrested these chumps before. I recognise a few of them-- Black Mask's old crew. Who's running that show now? Roman hasn't been sighted for a good long while."

Alfred's voice whispered into her ear-piece. "I'm sorry I cannot assist you with your query, B. We've got our hands full over here, do you require assistance?"

"No worries, A, I'll handle this with style." Batwoman plummeted down between the Jokerz and the garrishly clad members of the Flesh-Monger's gang. "Alright. Who wants to surrender first?"

"Hee," giggled one Joker, as he ran toward the heroine-- she kicked him in the chest and he flew back, and he fell unconscious on impact with the floor.

"Then bring it, you creeps, I need a good work out," replied Barbara, as she threw herself into the fight. "Make my day!"



"I don't believe you," said the Dark Knight, maskless, bloodied and beaten, but still defiant. "You're insane."

"Am I?" asked Hush, his face revealed. "You... you're him, aren't you? Redwing? Jason? Jason, it's your pa, I'm here now, I... oh, God, you don't believe me..."

"My father is dead," Jason managed to say, blood bubbling from between his lips.

Hush cocked his head to a side. "You don't believe me. That's fine," he whispered, "then I guess my son is still dead too." Hush brought his pistols up again, and Jason leaped forward, moving between the man's defenses, and punching him in the face. "Hhhhgghh!"

The Dark Knight grabbed his mask, and pulled it back on, kicking Hush whilst he was down. He then grabbed the bloodied bandages that Hush had removed, and sprinted off the edge of the building, leaving the villain alone on the rooftop.

"My boy," managed Hush, as he watched the Dark Knight go. "My boy!"



Dick Grayson swung through the streets, his cape billowing behind him. His friends fought across the city, Barbara battling gangmembers in her impeccable style-- he wished for a moment that he could watch her, the way she moved, the way every action was weighted and measured and so powerful-- and Robin was supporting the GCPD members on patrol. The gangs were mobilising on every corner, but he wasn't scared, he wasn't afraid.

"No," he whispered, as he somersaulted down at a group of Boss Synth’s cronies, dressed in Black trench coats and glasses, wielding high-tech guns that were apparently designed by their genius leader. "How are we doing today, children?" He landed in the middle of them, and went to work. "I don't care who you are, or why you're dressed like some Matrix rejects, but I'm afraid you're going to have to spend the rest of the night in lock up-- or the rest of the year in traction--!"

The rolled over through the streets, Batman punching and kicking anything that threw him a malevolent look of violent intent. The fight suddenly faltered, as Dick saw where he had ended up-- Batwoman looked across the street to him, and he could have sworn, even with the road between them, she winked, and then they went to work. Snyth’s people started to clash with the Flesh Monger's people, and the Jokers continued to irritate everyone in between. Within minutes, the fight was over, and Batman breathed in deeply, and turned to his partner-in-crime.

"More of them off the street. And more to interrogate. Looks like the GCPD Rogue Profilers will have a field day working up a brief on the new scum in town."

"Completely," replied Batwoman. "I..."

"Yeah, I... and..." Batman took a moment. "Head back to the Cave. You need a break. I'll take it from here."

"You sure?"

"Completely," nodded Dick, as he shot a line off into the sky as police cars came into view.



"I know he's lying," Jason Todd whispered to himself, as the little girl in the red hood looked over his shoulder. "And this'll prove it. Proof. Yes."

'You're sure?' she whispered into his ear. He could almost feel her blood fleck his cheek.

"Yes! I am sure! Of course I'm sure." He began to run the DNA comparrsion inside the satellite cave, and then he began to remove his uniform. He was covered in black and purple welts, and he knew that half his ribs needed strapping up. Bones were broken, damage was done, and this... would just be the icing on the cake. "...Dammit."



Batman landed above the city, and breathed in sharply. The shadows across the building shifted and moved, but he didn't care-- the city played foul tricks on people not knowing of it's dirty secrets, and he knew them all. Everything was going to be ok.

"'Batman'," whispered the voice, and the Caped Crusader span around, batarangs held high, ready to be unleashed. "Such an easy name to take upon one's self, is it not? Have you not just done that yourself, 'Child'? Desecrated the corpse of the great Detective for a title and held it high, like it was your own?"

Dick Grayson's blood ran cold. The shadows shifted and became men-- all clad in black, all wielding weapons that could slice through stone. And he recognized the man who mocked him from amongst the hordes. The League of Assassins split down the middle, and one man emerged from the assassins.

Batman said one word through gritted teeth. The name of a man he had thought dead... "…Ra’s."