Ghostwriter

Chapter 27

One moment, Jason is yelling at Bruce, the next he's bent over clutching his soulmark and wheezing. His face turns white from the pain.

Fire.

It feels like it's on fire.

Bruce rushes forward and says something that Jason doesn't hear, and all the sudden he's got his arms around him and those arms are leading him to the nearest bathroom.

An explosion is happening behind his eyelids.

He can feel the heat closing in on him just like that time in---

He's almost hyperventilating.

---That time when—

A crowbar, red, mocks him from three feet away.

Now he really can't breathe.

"JASON!"

Bruce shakes him. Jason snaps out of it and pulls himself together, even as her mark burns to the touch. He hisses. "They... they... they're all gonna die. Every single one of those freaks are going to die and rot in hell."

Bruce clamps his mouth shut, and, for once, doesn't argue. "It's not scarring over. She's not dead."

Doesn't mean those whackjobs get to unleash those moments that he'd rather forget. Doesn't mean they get to burn away his mark. Doesn't mean they get to touch her without paying for it.

Jason glares at him. "She's going to be soon if she's not found. I'm not burying my soulmate, Bruce. I'm not."

"We know, according to the note, where both Antigone, Colton, and your friends will be in a day. We just have to wait. Play our cards right. They aren't expecting all of us and some, just you." Bruce tries to lay a hand on his shoulder, only for it to be slapped away.

"Darn it Bruce! She can't wait! We know where she is!"

He could feel it. Not just the physical agony, but the mental slip. Antigone isn't trained to handle torture. She isn't a trained escape artist. She needs him.

Jason stands up and stumbles out of the bathroom. Bruce follows.

"If you go in early, you could endanger the others' lives. We may know where Antigone is, but we don't know where they are. Think about your son, Jason. Is endangering Colton what Antigone would want?"

"Is that the same strategy you used when you came after me?" Jason spits out.

Bruce's jaw twitches and his entire body slackens. His voice drops an octave. "You're not going to bury your soulmate, and I'm not going to bury my first grandson. Got it, soldier?"

Bruce pulls him away from the Grandfather Clock. "The best thing you can do for Antigone is rest and make sure you're prepared for tomorrow night."

"I'm just... I'm just going to see Oracle." A lie. Clear as day.

Bruce raises his eyebrow. His gaze hardens. "Just going to see Oracle?"

"Yes." Jason crosses his arms and sneers.

Bruce touches the com in his ear, his eyes never wavering from Jason's. "Oracle, lockdown all the cave's exits. Red Hood wants to see you."

Jason storms into the cave. Oracle scowls at the monitor, where everything from Gotham News Network to the Daily Planet is displayed in large print.