Oculus | J. Todd ✔

[16]

When Richard stumbled inside the cave, Alfred was already taking care of Tim's injuries, Barbara was talking to Bruce, telling him about how she had lost connection with Richard and had no idea where he was. He cleared his throat to gain their attention and the four of them turned to look at him.

"Richard, thank God you're here," the slight relief that had spread on Barbara's features vanished soon as she took in his condition, "what did you get yourself into?"

"Assassins," he mumbled, dropping down to a chair. Barbara was beside him in an instant, checking the injuries with a concerned look on her face. "Deathstroke has assembled a whole league of Assassins trained under him," he elaborated, "and by what I saw tonight, they were clearly targeting me only."

"That's suspicious," Barbara mumbled, gently wiping away the blood from his forehead, "come let's get you treated first. Then tell us what happened in full detail."

"How's Tim?" He asked craning his neck to see the boy but soon enough Tim had approached the two. His arm was in a sling but other than that he looked fine; a little caffeine deprived since his eyes were drooping with fatigue but fine nevertheless.

"Dickie, you look awful," he remarked, blue eyes narrowing slightly, "I kinda had a suspicion Deathstroke would send his men after you. The whole Red Robin's abduction was merely a distraction."

Richard seemed confused but before he could ask, Bruce explained, "Tim got himself taken intentionally. He managed to infiltrate Deathstroke's base even before I got there but that doesn't mean I approve of it." His eyes had flashed towards Tim who quite visibly looked shaken, "Deathstroke is aiming to take over the League of Shadows and he is under the impression that we are allied with them hence he targeted us first."

"Yeah and since he was under the impression that we have an alliance with the League, I made my short stay with his team a little useful," Tim elaborated.

"But Master Timothy, that does not mean you would risk your life to get valuable information be it any case you are working alongside Master Bruce," Alfred rebuked him gently, his voice laced with concern.

That time when Tim had been taken, Bruce and Alfred were both reminded of the day Jason had been taken by the Joker. And though the two had managed to keep a calm resilient outlook, deep inside both of them were equally anxious.

They could not let what happened to Jason repeat in Tim's case as well. Because if that happened, Bruce would never be able to recover from the guilt of losing another son as well.

Richard looked at the boy and nodded, "I agree with Alfred. You put yourself in great danger tonight, kiddo. That should not happen again."

"Yeah, Bruce has given me a lecture as long as the whole flight back to Gotham and I understand," Tim gulped recalling the stern words and then shook his head, "anyhow, I'm glad you're alive. I had been freaking out earlier about not being able to get to you in time but then your comm connected with the Batcopter and trust me, that was a big relief."

"Jason's comm," Bruce interjected, steel blue eyes boring into Richard's irises. Even though he hadn't changed the link address of his Batcopter after the time Jay had connected his comm to it as Red Hood, he knew the coordinates very well and had realized immediately that instant that Dick was using Jason's comm when he had communicated with him. 

Richard averted his gaze from him as he spoke, "yeah, he was there at that time. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here either."

Bruce looked at him as if he would say something but then left without doing so. Jason was still a sensitive topic in between them and they hardly ever mentioned him despite the fact that all of them missed him and wanted him to return.