Brothers Until Time Shatters

8

Jason flipped through three more pages before tossing his pencil aside with a sigh.

Damian, who was laying on the couch in defeat, glanced at him. "Finally give up?"

"I don't understand any of this. I know it's formulas for something that is supposed to be a healing agent like the Lazarus Pit, but the ingredients don't make sense. A half pound of deviled pinecones? A third of a wisp of honeyed nettle? Absolutely none of this makes sense!"

Tim, who had quietly broken into Bruce's mansion to look for recipe books that might hold an answer, swung in through a nearby window and dumped his load of books on the table. "Here's some stuff I found. Looks like he might be using old "witch" slang?" He flipped open a book. "Yes? No? Yes? No."

Jason tapped his chin for a moment. "Knowing Dick, that's where he got the idea from, but he likes to make things his own." He reached out and grabbed one of the books from Tim's haul. "Is this one of the Bat-Inventory books?"

Tim grinned. "Well, yeah. I need to work on some new gear for the three of us, and I figured I could see what we're missing in the inventory list and go from there."

Jason chuckled. "Well you might have just saved yourself another trip to B's. This happens to be the inventory book the Dick compiled himself. Therefore . . ." He thumbed through a couple of pages and whooped. "Yep!" Jason grabbed Tim and vigorously ruffled Tim's hair. "Here it is! Code unraveled."

Damian launched himself up from the couch and peered over Jason's shoulder. "Ok, maybe we have the solution to the code in the notebook, but in case you had not noticed, the key is also in code. In code and also in Romani."

"You're no fun." Jason stuck his tongue out at Damian. "We're going to break this code. And then we'll fix everything and it'll be fine."

Damian sighed and pulled out a notebook from a nonexistent jacket pocket. "All right, then let us start working on it."

********

"That was ridiculous." Damian threw his notebook across the room. "Why does Dick always have to go one step further than anyone else?"

"You do realize he's a show monkey right? He practically coined the term 'drama queen.'" Jason chuckled. "But we figured it out, right? Now all we have to do is gather the ingredients."

Tim glanced at Jason incredulously. "You do realize what we're trying to do, right? We're trying to create a fake Lazarus Pit, for crying out loud. This cannot be good."

Jason opened his mouth to say something, but Damian beat him to the punch. "Maybe so, Drake, but the fact is that we do not have any other options at the moment. If we want to ever get Dick back, then this may be our only option."

Tim sighed and flopped back into his chair. "I know, it's just . . . don't you think we should get another opinion?"

"From whom?" Jason asked with a snort. "Bruce? I don't think that's going to go over well."

Damian rolled his eyes and got to his feet. "No, not Father. But I think I know of someone who could help. Suit up, boys."

*********

Jason's jaw dropped when he saw where they had ended up in the Bat-Jet. "Demon, why on earth are we here of all places?"

Damian, who had donned his Robin uniform before leaving their apartment, simply walked down the gangplank. "You will find out."

Tim, dressed in his Red Robin uniform, shrugged and followed his younger brother. "He gets that from Bruce."

Damian easily navigated the gravel drive, climbed the house's porch steps, and knocked on the pretty white door. Jason, also in uniform, and Tim followed him apprehensively.

The door suddenly whipped open, making Jason reflectively draw his gun. Damian didn't even blink.

"Dami!" A small raven haired boy about Damian's age with blue eyes threw himself at Damian. "I can't believe you're here!"

"Hello, Kent." Damian gently patted the boy's back. "It is . . . not terrible seeing you."

The boy just laughed. "Come on in, Dami! And these must be your brothers Jason and Tim." He glanced at Jason's gun. "Oh, that won't work on me. But you can shoot me if you want!" He stood with his arms spread wide. "Go ahead! Dad won't let me shoot myself, so I haven't actually tried my bullet proofness recently, but I'm assuming it still works the same!"

"No." Damian grabbed the back of the boy's shirt and dragged him through the doorway.

"Jon?" A woman's voice called out. "Who was at the door?" A dark haired woman walked into the front room while Jason and Tim gaped at the home-y environment so different from the one in which they grew up. "Damian!" The woman, whom Tim and Jason now recognized as Lois Lane, enveloped Damian in a hug. Jason and Tim's jaws dropped to the floor at the exact same time when Damian hugged Lois back.

Lois stepped back after a moment and smiled at Damian. "It's been too long since you've been here. I'm so sorry about what happened to Dick. I heard from Clark who heard from Bruce, so I'm not so sure how much of the story is true, but I do know that there's plenty of truth to what Clark told me."

Damian inhaled a sharp breath and gave a sharp nod. The boy, Jon, reached out and placed a comforting hand on Damian's shoulder until he regained his composure. "Thank you, Lane. I appreciate it."

Lois patted his cheek sympathetically before turning to the other boys. "Oh, hello Jason, Tim. I didn't know that you two hung out with Damian much."

Jason rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, we didn't use to, but with Dick . . . incapacitated we don't have much choice."

"That is actually why we are here." Damian seemed to finally remember their purpose. "Dick left clues to create a fake Lazarus Pit that we think could bring him back."

"And you want to talk to Clark about it?" Lois shrugged. "I wish I could help you boys, but he's abroad working on a story and . . ."

"No, I do not wish to speak to Kent senior about this. I want to ask your advice about it."

"Well that makes a lot more sense." Lois brightened visibly. "I love Clark to death, but honestly he is not the one to ask about any of this. He's a little too 'by the book' to do anything illegal. Which I'm assuming this is?"

Tim rocked his hand back and forth. "Give or take. The actual ingredients are not, the process is not, it's just that we may have a few . . . shortcuts to take."

"Mmhmm." Lois looked less than convinced. "What are the consequences of using it? I mean, are we going to end up with another," she motioned to Jason, "him?"

"Hey!" Jason looked mildly affronted. "I resent that!" He paused. "Or rather, I should. Really don't care enough to resent it."

"I like you." Jon grinned and then pointed an accusing finger at Damian. "You said I would hate your siblings!"

Damian shrugged. "I hate them. I know you will grow to hate them as well. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to your barn to check on Bessie and Billy. Please let me know what you decide." He brushed past Jon and Lois with a small flourish of his cape.

"I'll come with you!" Jon gave a little hop and shot into the air. "Did you know that Gertrude the goat is also pregnant?"

Jason watched them go with an open mouth. Unable to speak, he simply pointed after them and turned to Lois.

"Oh, yes, they are odd friends aren't they?" Lois smiled at the two older boys. "But they've become best friends. Jon worked very hard to make it happen. Damian is not the easiest person to get to know. Now, shall we look at this recipe and see what we can figure out?"