Live to Rise

Family Issues Part 1

I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EVERYTHING BELONGS TO DC AND KAI MACIEL THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK
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The Watchtower

November 17, 22:08

Barry and Clark arrived at the Watchtower feeling drained and uneasy. As soon as they stepped out of the Zeta-Beam they were surrounded by their teammates, obviously worried because they had asked them not to contact them or Batman until they got there.

"Hey, what's with the secrecy?" Bart asked, staring at Barry with a smile that vanished as soon as he noticed the look on his grandfather's face. "Did something happen?"

Flash and Superman stared at each other in silence.

"Where's Batman?" Nightwing asked, walking towards them.

"Batman is not injured. Don't worry," Clark answered.

"What do you mean? Was there a fight?" Robin asked.

"No. There was no fight," Clark shared another glance with Barry before facing Nightwing, Robin and Batgirl. "Do you guys mind if we talk in private?"

Nightwing's eyes widened but he nodded solemnly before following Superman into another room that was conveniently soundproofed.

"What happened?" Barbara asked as soon as they closed the door. "Where is Batman?"

"He probably went back to the Bat Cave, or maybe the Manor. I'm not sure." Clark told them.

"You're not sure?" Robin asked. "He didn't tell you where he went?"

"He was... upset," Clark saw the shock on the teenagers' faces. They had a reason to be concerned. Batman was rational and detached, he thought with his head at all times. Batman didn't get upset unless there was a very serious reason. "I think you should sit down."

None of them did. Nightwing crossed his arms around his chest. "Please tell us what happened."

Clark stared back at Dick and told them of their journey to Antarctica, the underground facility, the dead bodies and the experiences to bring back the dead. They listened to his words attentively, their expressions changing from neutral to mildly disturbed, but that was nothing compared to what he had to reveal.

"We found a name in the database. Someone we knew."

Tim looked at Dick, whose lips had turned white with tension. "Who?"

"Dick... Maybe you should..."

"No. Please, Mr. Kent. Who did you find?"

Clark took a deep breath. "Jason Todd."

Dick's arms dropped, his body petrified with shock. Tim's mouth dropped, and Barbara covered her face with her hands.

"Jason? They had Jason?" Barbara asked, moving closer to Dick and placing a hand on his stiff shoulder.

Clark nodded.

"Are you sure it was him? It could have been someone else with the same name?" Tim asked.

"We checked. The data was about a Jason who was a former Robin, who was killed by the Joker. His age and... the date of death were also a match," Clark's blue eyes were filled with sadness. "I'm so sorry."

Dick imagined Jason's decayed body being brought back to life and fighting brainlessly like the zombies they had fought. He felt sick.

How could someone do something like this? How could they tarnish the body of someone they loved like he was nothing?

How could he have allowed them to take him in the first place?

"Did... did you find him? Did Bruce bring him back?" Dick finally spoke, his fists shaking no matter how much Barbara tried to sooth him.

"We couldn't find him. All the other bodies were kept in pods, but his was empty. He wasn't in the facility."

"What do you mean? He has to be! You just said they burned all the others!" Dick cried out.

"There's another thing..." Clark went on. "According to the data, Jason's experiments were a lot more successful than with the others. His success rate was 89%."

The kids' eyes widened, but it was Tim who was able to think more clearly and make questions. "What does that mean?"

"I'm saying that according to the data, Jason was successfully resurrected."

Dick's mouth dropped and he walked towards Superman. "Resurrected? Jason is... alive? Is he alive?"

"Dick, I'm not sure. They were trying to bring someone back from the dead in their prime and Jason... according to the data he wasn't perfect. He was damaged."

"Damaged?" Barbara asked. "How damaged?"

"Probably brain-damaged... it said he could barely speak or understand what they told him."

"But he was alive, right?" Dick asked, torn between sadness and joy.

"Dick..."

"It doesn't matter if he's sick. It's still Jason. We can... we can look after him. It doesn't matter."

"Dick, be reasonable. We don't even know if he's still alive," Barbara intervened, worried that in his happiness, Dick would only hurt himself later. "We need to be realistic. They wouldn't want to keep a brain-damaged kid. It's possible that he was killed somewhere else."

Dick closed his fists and faced Batgirl. "It's also possible that they kept him since he was the only one who made it. Mr. Kent just said that his pod was empty."

"That doesn't mean he's alive. And even if he is, you saw what Dr. Robb did to those soldiers today. Jason could be a part of his army. He could be using him."

"Only one way to find out," Dick said, finally leaving the room.
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Well that was a good chapter!

Just a reminder I am away at a rugby camp next week so there will be no update.

Also anyone who is reading have you ever watched Steven Universe? ITS SOO GOOD. I started watching it on Sunday and I'm almost done season one ( there is almost 50 episode in season one). My favourite crystal gem is Garnet.

See you in two weeks!

Amber