Don't Fear the Reaper

24) Fighting Your Grandfather: a Great Idea

A/N: I was gonna take the night off cause I was hungover and tired, but I had some free time so... HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

Jason took a deep breath as he stood in the bay on the batjet, readying himself to go back there.

"You okay?" Tim asked stepping up next to him.

Jason nodded, his hands holding his helmet tightly in front of him. "I haven't been back in... a while."

Tim hummed in understanding. "We have your back."

"I know," Jason said, forcing his breathing to even out.

Dick and Damian left the cockpit.

"We're on the ground," Dick said, securing his weapons to his back. "You guys ready?"

Jason put his helmet on as he nodded, knowing that there was no way out of it, so he might as well go for it.

Dick pressed a button and the bay doors opened revealing around a hundred armed assassins at the ready, but that wasn't was drew his attention.

At the top of the stairs of the building stood Ra's, Talia, and, standing a few paces behind, Nico.

The teen looked like shit. His face was pale— well, paler than usual— and his eye bags looked concave. He was wearing the outfit he used on patrol, but Jason could tell there were bandages covering his body underneath by the way it clung to his frame.

Jason shared a glance with his brothers, immediately knowing they were seeing the same thing, before they all moved off the jet together. They walked through the small clearing in the center of the hoard of assassins until they finally stood a few feet away from the Demon's Head.

"Welcome to Nanda Parbat," Ra's said, a glint in his eye that Jason didn't like. "Or I guest I should say, welcome back."

Jason clenched his jaw, but didn't move a muscle as the man looked directly at him.

"Why did you ask us here," Dick said, his voice more demanding than asking.

Ra's just smirked and stepped aside, Talia and Nico moving as well, as he gestured for them to enter.

Jason didn't like this at all. He didn't like the way Ra's was smiling or how Talia was silent, and he really didn't like how Nico had not looked at them once.

Dick moved first, walking into the building as if it were a coffee shop and not the head corders for an international assassin group. The others followed him without hesitation.

They followed the hallway until they saw a wall of assassins blocking their path. Jason was about to reach for his weapon, assuming this was about to be an ambush, but then one of them stepped forward and opened a door, gesturing them inside.

Dick glanced at Ra's for a second before leading them into the room, though he froze as soon as he entered. Jason stepped in, expecting to see a trap, but instead, it was a hospital bed.

"Father," Damian said, pushing past the other brothers as they stood frozen in surprise. "You're alive."

Bruce laid unconscious on the bed, covered in bandages with a myriad of tubes and wires connected to him.

"I wish I could take the credit, but it was my asset, Reaper, who hunted him down," Ra's said, a sneaky smile. "Even died a few times during the attempt."

Jason stiffened at that, turning to look at Nico. The teen didn't meet his eyes, he just kept looking at the ground.

"What's the catch?" Tim asked, his tone even and posture unwavering, though Jason could see the small twitch below his eye that meant he was worried.

"There is no catch," Ra's said. "Take him."

Damian eyed his grandfather, though his face was a mask of neutrality. "Why?"

Ra's raised an eyebrow at his grandson. "You wanted him back, didn't you?"

None of them dignified his question with a response.

"He is of no use to me," Ra's said simply. "Reaper retrieved him upon our orders, but it was only because of who was holding the Detective captive."

Talia finally stepped forward. "Our enemies have been crippled due to Reaper's attacks, so, for the time bring, my son is safe. You may all return to your home with my Beloved."

"And Reaper?" Dick asked.

Ra's narrowed his eyes at Dick. "I give you back your father, and you still wish for more?"

Dick opened his mouth to respond, but Damian spoke first.

"Until my father is fully healed, it would be smarter for Reaper to remain in Gotham. Even if our enemies are weakened, it does not mean they are gone and until Batman is able to put on the cowl, we are weakened as well."

Ra's and Damian seemed to have a stare down until the older man snapped once. Nico, without hesitation, left the room.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Ra's stepped forward so that he was towering over his grandson.

"Your time with your father seems to not only have weakened you, but made you petulant," he said, distaste clear in his voice. "I assure you, that my asset-"

"He is not an asset," Damian bit back. "I believe we are both aware of what he is."

Ra's narrowed his eyes at the teen. "What he is and what he is to me are two very different things."

"You cannot control him," Damian said. "We know what you have on him."

Ra's moved as if he was going to strike Damian, only resisting the urge when the other brothers all moved forward, ready and very  willing to defend.

"If you wish to keep your peaceful life in Gotham as it is, then you will not trifle with Reaper or myself," Ra's warned.

Damian didn't back down. "If you wish to maintain your hold on Reaper, then you will allow him to return to Gotham with us until my father is healed."

"A bold threat from someone who is easily replaced. "

"We are both aware of how your other attempts turned out," Damian said, unwavering in the face of his grandfather's threat. 

Ra's glared down at Damian for a long moment, apparently taking his sweet time deciding what he would do, before he straightened his back and turned to the door, sliding it open.

Nico re-entered the room and went back to standing motionless by the door.

Ra's nodded to Talia who turned to face the Italian.

"Reaper, you are to return to Gotham until my Beloved is fully healed, understood?" The woman said, a dangerous look in her eyes.

Nico just tapped his foot twice.

Jason smiled beneath his helmet because even though this had not gone anything like he had thought it would, Nico was coming home. 

A/N: tea

Vote. Comment. Tell me what you are doing for the holidays (I am currently across the country and the time change is throwing me for a loop).