2014-03-30 - The Awakening - ...Coming Home...

It was before midnight that Batman disappeared off the grid. It isn't likely he told anyone where he was going, but Alfred was worried because of a delivery yesterday. It is now about three in the morning, and Batman has not reported in, nor responded to any attempts to reach him. However, finally, the Batmobile is pulling into the Bat Cave. Its low, quiet hum echoing in the Bat Cave as it pulls into its place.

Damian was suiting up to go out looking for his father when the Batmobile came rolling in. His old suit was gone, dropped down one of the deeper part of the caves after he let Red Hood manipulate him into stabbing Dick (or at least that's how Damian saw it). So, he's forced to improvises throwing Jason Todd's old tunic on over the white and black costume he took from the League. A hooded cloak with a hole in it for his sword completes the outfit. Sure he was grounded, sure he was going to get a talk from Bruce about the sword, but he walks out to meet the car anyhow, armed and ready, showing his father he had been ready to help him.

Red Robin was at the bat computer keeping track of the frequencies of various police bands as well as looking for anything else that might spike the news as out of the ordinary. Her fingers fly over the keyboard searching, seeking, trying to find some thread of what might happen all the while trying to be the voice of reason to the pair who were planning to go out searching.

"Systematic, to narrow things down," she's urging until the all-too-familiar quite roar of the batmobile causes her to still and swivel the chair around toward the sound. Damian was already walking toward it to greet Batman, but that doesn't stop her from striding down the stairs taking them two at a time to join in with concern etched over her face.

Nightwing knows a handful of things: One, stopping Damian when he is on a murderrage with his father missing is impossible, especially with two shoulder wounds courtesy of the little brat. Two. Nightwing is not going to let anything happen to the Batman, so he too is suited up and after popping some pain medication to deal with the healing wounds, walks next to the other two, his sticks on his hips.

The hood raises with a slight hiss and slides back. Though the head that pops up first is not Batman's, it's Jason Todd's. He has black hair with white bangs, and a red domino mask about blue eyes. His face looks...a bit messed up, mostly cause of dust, dirt, and some tears. But he isn't even greeting people, "Get Alfred," the order snapped, worry in his tone. He's reaching in to the Batmobile and with a pained grunt, he lifts Batman up over his shoulder and works to get out of the stupid damn Batmobile without dropping Batman.

Batman's uniform looks burned up pretty bad, like he was in a nasty explosion or fire. Dust from building debris clings to Batman's uniform, especially his back, but also Jason Todd's back. And yes, Jason is as social as ever.

Damian's heart sinks when he sees Todd instead of his Father. /He/ couldn't have won. The disappointment and anger shows plainly on his face and the sword slides easily from its sheath on his back. "Put him down Todd," he snaps in return taking a stance with the sword.

Red Robin tenses when she sees Jason as well pursing her lips tight to bite back her remarks. It's the sight of Batman though that causes her to reach out and place a staying hand on Damian's shoulder once the sword is drawn. "Get him on the med table," she instructs to Jason as she moves aside leaving Damian there slipping from defensive into triage mode without skipping a beat. "One of you get Alfred, too," she agrees. Nightwing scowls as Jason shows up and has the sticks up, wincing as the pain is not entirely nullified, though he soon puts one in front of Damian, "No." The tone is firm, "If he took out Batman he will do the same to you, go get Alfred, and be fast." He turns his glare to Jason, switching a stick for a wingding, "You try anything, and you will regret it."

Jason looks at Damian, and says coldly, "As Dick said, you will regret it." Jason has NEVER spoken to Damian like that before. Something changed dramatically. But he doesn't put Bruce down obviously, instead he struggles. As he gets out of the car he falls a bit, hitting his knee hard with a grunt, but he doesn't drop Batman. He forces himself up and heads over to the medical table, to set Batman down with as much care as he can manage. Jason is obviously injured as well, but he doesn't mention it or ask for help with Bruce's passed out body.

Instead, as soon as he has Bruce on the medical table, he starts to carefully remove bits of the armor before he curses. "I...he upgraded it, I...don't know how to remove all of it." He finally caves in and ask for help, the words bitten out. Anyone that gets close to him to help, would see he is trying to be man enough not to cry. He isn't happy with this ending, not at all. And he's working hard to hide it.

Batman lets out an unconscious groan of pain as he's placed on the table. His skin is bright red and burnt, and soot-smudged where it is exposed; and it is exposed in many places more than it normally would be in rents and tears. His cape hangs in tattered remnants. There a pieces of masonry, rubble, charred wood and slivers of metal stuck into his suit, and in places, /through/ it.

Damian shouts "NO!" and shrugs out of Carrie's grip on his shoulder and steps around Dick before he raises his sword to point at Jason. "No more of his stupid games! He hurt my father are we going just stand here and pretend he's one of us?! He deserves to be locked away with the Joker and the rest of the scum!"

"The Boss is the priority, Damian," Carrie states as she follows to the bedside table keeping close. It was partially to keep Damian from running Hood through, partially because once Jason admits he doesn't know what he's doing she moves his hands aside. "I do. Let me do my job," she orders even as she turns her attention to Bruce beginning to check his vitals with a practiced, delicate touch. Once she's assured that he isn't about to die right this instant she looks toward Jason. "He'll live," she assures him without a hint of lying or falsehood, trying to reassure the estranged Robin of this truth.

Right before she jerks her arm up, throwing an uppercut at his jaw with all the skill that she had along with Wildcat's tutelage.

Whether it hits or not she turns her attention back to Batman. "There's morphine in the drawer behind you. Get one for him. You don't get to use any." This is ordered calmly as she reaches for the latches of the suit to begin taking it off.

Nightwing scowls at Damian, "Kid, right now we are going to help Batman, and this wingding can deal with Todd if need be." When Carrie goes to punch Jason, he is sincerely shocked, but soon has a stick pointed at Damian, "Don't you dare think about it." He does not want to leave Damian, but judging from Carrie's quick response that Batman is alive, Nightwing looks to Todd, "What did you do."

"And what of you?! You stabbed Nightwing, and I guess you never even apologized for it!" Jason is actually yelling it, as if he knows Damian well. "You don't even realize how much we are alike Damian! Why do you think I warned you long ago before you even met Bruce? Do you think I did it for my own good? I didn't...," his voice quieting then from the emotional upheaval. "I did it to spare you the same pain I went through."

Though Jason shuts up when Carrie offers to help and steps aside. He is looking at Bruce, worry in his eyes though at her words, he blinks andPOW! He gets knocked back and goes down. Not because Carrie hit him really that hard considering he has been hit harder and remained standing by larger individual than Carrie's slender frame, but because he is injured. Now that Carrie is close, she may notice blood on the back of his head from where it impacted something. The guy likely has a concussion, but he was still carrying Batman, and yes, she just hit him. Jason doesn't get up immediately; actually, he's working on keeping his lunch down, THEN getting back to his feet. "Thanks, I wasn't sure I was emotionally self-abusing enough, that made me feel so much better," the sarcasm obvious.

At Nightwing's question, "It doesn't matter. Nothing ever does. Batman's always right, and that's just how things are." Jason isn't sure if he feels angry right now or just defeated or what, but he sure as hell feels tired and like he should sleep for a week.

"Like you could stop me Grayson," Damian counters but he puts the sword away and moves towards the stairs. "I'll get Alfred," he says over his shoulder. "Todd better be gone when I get back or I'm going to drop him at Arkham myself."

"No..." Bruce's voice from the table.

The yelling, the fighting... enough to bring him out, just a little bit. "Jason..." His hand lifts from the med table. The morphine-- he'll need it soon. One of the chunks of masonry hit him in his spine, where his back had been previously broken.

Pain. But the physical pain could be ignored. Should be ignored. "Dick. You... watch the family. Saved Jason. Brought him home." His voice is pained, but firm. "I'll be all right."

He slumps back onto the table, his hand dropping.

Red Robin reaches out to grab Bruce's hand before it falls all the way. Gently she rests it beside him. "We're all here, Boss, and we're all family. Even if we don't always get along. The boys'll behave or they'll deal with me and Alfred," she assures with the faintest hint of a smile though it was forced. The words weren't just for him though--It was for Jason, and Damian, and Dick to hear. "Now get me that morphine. Start making things right, Jason," she adds with a look at him that was part scowl, part... was she crying?

Nightwing glares at Jason, but turns his attention to Damian, "Even with these nasty gashes in my back, I could still take you." But Batman's response causes his first protege to approach and listen, "Will do, now get some rest, and yes, you will be all right." He frowns and returns the wingding and stick to his belt and looks to Jason, "What happened to him?"

A snort comes from Jason, "As soon as I know Bruce is fine, I'm gone." Though he feels guilty saying that when Bruce said 'Come Home', more than once, like a damn broken record. That guilt is in his eyes for those that stuck around. He stays OUT of Carrie's range this time however - luckily she has a shorter range than him - on the other side of the medical table once he regained his feet.

Though then Bruce speaks, and Jason seems to crumble a bit. He doesn't say anything further; he just goes to go get the morphine, understanding how to do something like this. He doesn't grab anything for his pain or concussion, only the morphine for Bruce. He carefully measures it out and injects Bruce, before putting the drugs back away. His gloved hands are shaking very slightly.

"Do you even really want to know Dick?" Jason's jaw tightens at that. It's something he did when he was younger and getting stubborn, but the white bangs and older face makes him look so very different. More world weary than even before.

"You're all pathetic! He's the /enemy/ and my father is injured he's not speaking sense," Damian rages from the foot of the stairs before he heads up them three at a time. He does summon Alfred, but he doesn't come back down again.

"Kid, for such a jaded person, you really have trouble seeing shades of gray," Dick says bluntly to Damian, but instead looks at Jason, "I do want to know, we can't haul him to a hospital, but we need what information we can get."

"Judging by the dilation of his eyes, apparent disorientation and nausea, he's got a concussion." A glance is flicked toward Jason before looking back down to Batman. "He's not getting far right now one way or another, Damian." Carrie was upset. Of course she was upset, but... There were other things to deal with and burns were not something to joke about. Reaching up she swings an overhead light near flicking it on to regard him as he lays on the table assessing the damage and doing what she can to stop any immediate bleeding, then working on ... The burns. The crushing. None of that was good.

Jason doesn't comment at Damian's parting words, he just wants Alfred down here, NOW! He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Explosion, roof caved in and floor fell down from under us. He took the brunt of it." He doesn't explain how. "In the East End, GCPD...I don't know, I didn't see Joker, if he got blasted or not. I hope he did," the last bitten off.

"Wait, the Joker? What was he doing there?" Nightwing scowls and moves to put himself between the exit and Jason, "And you aren't leaving, not after what happened with the rest of us and tonight. You came back for a reason, now sit down and rest for a moment." He turns to Carrie, "Anything I can do to help?"

Red Robin sucks in a slow, deep breath at mention of the Joker. That was a topic that all of them had been touched by in one way or another. When Dick asks to help though she gives a nod. "He's burned. I need... I need to cut off the dead skin. He may thrash. I'll need you both to help hold him down."

"I'll help. Dick has injured shoulders." Hood's back is injured and he has a concussion, but at least he doesn't have holes in his back. "I helped cause this anyway." Least he's stepping up for his actions, it's progress.

Alfred is coming down the stairs, moving as quickly as he can. He already has some additional supplies with him as he comes down. His expression is one of seriousness and control, he keeps things together well. "Miss Carrie," he says respectfully, "Master Dick," then at looks at Jason. "Master Jason." He then goes to help Carrie, working without needing words due to his efficiency.