Contrasting

Chapter 18

Prom Part. I

Garfield found that after Raven or Rachel, had fallen asleep after crying on his shoulder. They arrived at the airport, but the girl was still sound asleep. Jason kept insisting that she wake up or Slade would send more men to airport knowing they would try to escape. Instead of listening to Jason, Gar lifted Raven and put a tiny pillow under her shirt near her stomach area, and gave her a piggy back ride into the airport.

He noticed that many people were looking at the four wondering what the odd bunch were up at two in the morning. Gar simply put on a hat and smiled to the strangers telling them his pregnant wife fell asleep in the car ride from the resort they stayed at. Apparently, they had boarded the wrong airplane in their attempt to escape.

The four arrived in Gotham City, ( much to Jason's dislike,) the night before Prom. Jason gritted his teeth before telling his company that they would have to make a stop before they got to Jump City. His hands turned pale as he gripped his phone and dialed a phone number he always avoided.  "Master Todd?" An astonished British accent asked. "It's me Alfred. I'm gonna need a car, can you pick me and three friends from the airport?" Alfred stopped and took the keys to the limo that hung on a hook. "Of course Jason, I'll be there right away."

"Master Wayne, Master Todd has returned and has brought guests." Alfred said while walking towards the kitchen to prepare the guests a snack. Bruce Wayne made himself present as he walked down the stairs adjusting his sleeves and watch. He looked to Jason and to Toni then grunted before saying, "Jason, come to the study. Now." 

Jason gulped. What Bruce really meant to say was; You little shit get over here now so I can pummel you to a pulp in private.

"Coming my loving, forgiving dad!" Jason ran around the fountain to the room on the left. Translation; You can't hurt me dad even if you tried!

Jason shut the doors to the study putting his hands in front of him breathing heavily. He shuffled backwards, slowly and quietly. The boy stopped when he bumped into something.

Something tall and lean. He turned around and gasped when he saw his brother glaring at him. "You have some explaining to do Jay-bird." Jason cringed at the nick name his older brother gave him. Richard pulled his ear and dragged him onto the couch where he released his now red ear.

"Nice to see you too big bro," Jason said sheepishly, "How's the rest of you guys? I know you're there Lil' D, you can come out now." Damian Wayne jumped from the balcony glaring at the boy in front of him. At the age of just two, Damian could understand that his brother put too much stress on his father. Bruce had gone looking for him, leaving Damian at the manor for months at a time.

Damian slowly walked over to the boy on the couch. He stopped in front of him and socked him in the stomach, Richard simply looked over at the young boy just fanning through the magazine he picked up. Damian took a fighting stance and furrowed his brows, "Get up you coward. I'm angry at you for abandoning our family."

Jason chuckled and stood up, spreading his arms out. "Take your stance, don't patronize me or I'll break your face." With that said, Jason took his stance and Damian charged. He punched him in the jaw and climbed onto the older boys shoulders and tried to shift his weight so they would fall, but Jason wasn't having that. Jason took the boy by the tiny fists and flipped him so Damian would fall, instead he landed in a crouch but when he was about to charge a hand pulled him up by the collar announcing the entrance of Bruce Wayne.

"Release me at once Father, I shall punish Todd for worrying us and Grayson and making Drake go away!" Damian said struggling to get out of his dad's grip, throwing punches and kicks that didn't land.

"It is not up to you to punish your brother, it is up to me and Dick to decide what happens to Jason. Now go to your room, we have guests." Damian landed on the floor, huffed and slammed the doors to the study on his way out.

The silence in the room was killing Jason. They just had to come to the Wayne Manor, Alfred just had to take him back. Bruce was on his computer typing away, What was he planning? To send him off to boarding school? Military camp? "Hehe, how's it going Daddy-O?" Jason nervously asked while fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

"Don't try and patronize me or I'll break your face." Funny, father and son were more alike than they thought. "We thought you were dead, you didn't make any effort to contact us. Bruce gave up on trying to look for you but Tim is still out there," Richard said concern filling the air. The door opened again and Jason sighed, "Not again Dami, I don't feel like playi-" He stopped mid sentence when he saw an angry Tim Drake holding the door open. His steps echoed as he waded across the room, Tim stopped in front of Jason and pulled him up by the collar, "You bastard! I took off a year of school to look for you and you just show up out of the blue!"

Bruce stood up and aligned the papers against the table. "Enough of the warm welcomes, you need to tell us everything."

Alfred came into the living room to see Damian glaring at Jason's lady friend. "Master Damian, do you have a problem with Ms. Monetti?" He asked offering everyone a tea cup. Damian merely sniffed and crossed his arms still glaring at the Aussie. "Where did you meet him? Were you the  wench he decided to leave us for?"

"Damian!" Damian flinched at Alfred's booming voice, " You will treat our guests with respect or I will send you to your room without supper." Damian turned his head opposite of Toni and -tt-ed.

"I apologize Miss Toni, Master Damian is just upset after loosing all his brothers," Damian scoffed and said a snarky comment under his breath but Alfred ignored him and continued anyway. " I do hope you enjoy your stay here, how long do you plan to stay here?" Raven looked toward Gar and he piped up, "Actually, we were planning to get back to Jump City tonight with Richard and Jason. Trigon and Slade have planned something for our Prom night and we're not sure what will happen."

Alfred whistled before commenting, " Mr. Wayne has had not so friendly meetings with those men, you can ask him to assist you if you wish." Raven shook her head her eyes focused on her feet, "That won't be necessary, but I thank you for the offer." The room fell silent and the only sounds in the room were the suspicious yelling coming from the study.

"So you mean to tell me that you pretended to be dead, to track down Slade?" Dick yelled at Jason who was casually picking at his nails. "I had to go undercover, I am sorry for the lost time but it's not like you or anyone else could go! You need to finish school, Tim was another story, Dami can't exactly go anywhere, and Bruce has to take care of Wayne enterprises and Gotham," Jason ticked off all the reasons why his family members weren't eligible for the mission.

"What about you and your studies?!" Richard shot. "Bruce allowed me independent study before I went on my mission," Jason fired back.

The two glared at each other, none showing any sign of backing down. "So you went to Australia to follow Slade, what did you find?" Tim broke their competition. "I found that Slade and his partner are involved with human trafficking, abduction, and tax evasion." Bruce checked the papers that he received from Jason. "And that they plan to abduct many students of Jump City High at the Prom, tomorrow. They offered the Prom to be held at some high end resort so no one could notice the students get kidnapped and no one could suspect anything." After Jason told the plan Slade had for the following night Richard put two and two together.

"Who's his partner?" Tim asked trying to read Bruce's face. Everyone's face turned grim once they realized who it was, even though they knew who it was there was a glimmer of hope that maybe, maybe just maybe it would be someone else.

"Trigon."