#no 16

You frown as the phantom touch of Vegapunk and Caesar Clown brushes the back of your head. The weight forces you to sit on the grass and you tug your cross legs close to your form. Even after washing ashore on this island when you escaped years ago, their presence still lingered around.

"I don't know... it might be the needles' contents I was stuffed with," you shrug.

"Oh...sorry." Uta averted her eyes for a moment, though before silenced could join you two, she spoke again. "You know you're the only person it doesn't work on...sometimes it makes me sad because then I can't give you happy dreams."

You half smile, recalling the first time she tried. Gordon was trying to calm you down from your night terror, Uta came in worried and after being told you had a bad dream, she started singing. Gordon falling over in a deep sleep startled you enough to get off your cot and try shaking him awake. Uta was dumbfounded, but you were too worried about the old man to notice.

That didn't stop her from trying to catch you in her realm. She followed you around the island, snuck up behind you, interrupted your studies and your meals, and if she wasn't cute or had a wonderful voice, you would've been irritated by it long ago.

"It's not like you didn't give me good dreams," you said without thinking until it hit you and smacked your face with your palm, you could only pray she didn't hear-

"I do?" Uta turned back to you, the moon highlighting the surprise displayed on her face.

"Well kinda... I hardly have the dreams of the scientists anymore. Gordon thinks it's because I'm finally out of the infirmary area but... I think it's because of your singing."

Uta stared, a faint pink glowing on her cheeks when she pouted, "It's still not because of my power."

"Maybe because you can't make me fall for your charms," you teased.

"What? Of course, I can make you fall for my charms!" Uta protested sitting up. "I made all sorts of boys fall for my charms, Shanks had to keep me away from them all."

"Sure," you laughed. She puffed her cheeks and turned away from you, crossing her arms. Your laughter died down, noticing her back to you. "You wouldn't have to try hard if you really wanted me to fall for you."

"What?" Uta perked up.

"Nothing..." you lied, eyes bouncing around everywhere but on her.

"No, I heard something like I wouldn't have to try hard to get you to fall for me," Uta smirked leaning on you.

"You're just imagining your dreams."

"I actually can't imagine people in my dreams," Uta stated, the teasing tone quickly draining from her voice. "I've tried."

"Really?" You tilted your head.

Uta shook her head. "They can only be in my dreams if I sing to them and put them in the dream realm."

"Oh..." You noticed silence creeping up but stopped it from going any further. "You still have me here." You held her hand to reassure her.

Uta smiled at you and let her head rest on your shoulder.

“So you’re not mad?” Jason asked as he picked up a new inhaler off the table in front of him. 

“Me? Mad? What would I be mad about dear boy?” Jonathan Crane replied as he eyed the inhaler in Jason’s hand with bated breath. “That you went behind my back and started distributing before I- before we were ready?” He laughs, shaking his head, “No, no I think it was a good thing that you did it.” 

Jason nods, then takes a puff from the inhaler. When the effects don’t instantly kick in, he raises an eyebrow and takes a second hit. Dizziness takes over as he begins to feel weak on his feet. “What-what was in that inhaler?” He stumbles forward, only to be caught in Crane’s arms

“Tt, oh my dear boy, this is what happens when you don’t follow orders.” Jason’s head drops, his eyelids grow heavier and heavier until he finds himself fast asleep. 

Jason wakes up, hours later, only semi-aware of what is happening currently. His half-open eyes stare at his wrists, which he notices are bound to the arms of the chair he’s in with duct tape. He forces himself to look up, using all the strength he thinks himself capable of at the moment, to see Crane working at the table in front of him. He turns, as if some second sense told him Jason was awake, and smiles. Crane kneels in front of Jason and holds his chin up, something Jason is grateful for as he doesn’t think he could keep holding it up for much longer. 

“Wh-whadyou give me?” He mummers, fighting to stay conscious. 

“Just a little something to remind you who’s in charge here.” Crane lets go of Jason’s chin, then stands up to grab something off the table. A needle catches Jason’s eye as Crane kneels in front of him again, rolling up his sleeve. 

“What’s in that?” Panic lines his voice as he tries to pull his arm away, despite it feeling like it’s lined with lead. 

“That is for me to know.” Crane plunges the needle into Jason’s upper arm and when he pulls it out, he ignores the blood pooling at the injection site. A blank look takes over Jason’s face as what Crane injected starts to kick in. His first test run of a mind control serum, and who better to test it on then someone who won’t be missed? “Jason?” 

Jason looks at Crane blankly, “Yes sir?” 

“Good.” Crane smiles and cuts away the tape from around Jason’s wrists. “Now, if my math is correct- which it is- the serum should wear off in about two hours, which gives us plenty of time to test it. I want you to-” An explosion sounds off from across the warehouse, which makes Crane jump. He runs over to the window to see all the Titans march in, before he darts back to Jason. “Change in plans, distract the Titans while I get out of here, then meet me at the Water Treatment Facility, got it?” 

Jason nods, then stands up and heads towards the door, grabbing his guns on the way. Jonathan allows himself to watch the first few minutes of the fight as his mindless soldier works his way through the Titans with more efficacy than usual. Has he been holding back? He can’t help but wonder as he watches him work. A second explosion reminds him that he should be running instead of watching from the sides, so he quickly sets about grabbing all the important documents he thinks he’ll need, then runs out the back door. 

When Jason comes to hours later, the first thing he notices is the blood on his hands. His knuckles are bruised and bloodied, but some part of him suspects most of the blood isn’t his. He then notices his wrists are bound to a chair again. Jason looks around and realizes this isn’t the same warehouse he and Crane were in before. Speak of the devil, where is he- A laugh echoes from across the warehouse as Crane steps into the light. 

“Oh that went wonderfully!” He claps as he gets closer to Jason. “Wouldn’t you say so?” 

“What did you do?” Jason furrows his brows, pulling on his bindings as he does so. 

Jonathan laughs again, “I didn’t do anything, the question you should be asking is, ‘what did Jason Todd do?’” Jason tries to remember anything from the past few hours, but all that is in his head is a blank slate. Nothingness. “Oh! I wish I had it on camera for you! The way you worked through those Titans, I mean wow! Are you sure you weren’t a trained killer in a past life?” Panic flashes across Jason’s face, prompting Crane to laugh again. “Tt, you didn’t kill anyone if that’s what you’re worried about. But you did get some fantastic hits in.” 

Crane turns to the worktable behind him, fidgeting with something Jason can’t see. Then he walks around behind Jason and wheels a stand next to him. His heart drops when he realizes what it is, an IV pole. Crane rushes back to the first table and grabs a bag full of a weird, off-color liquid. 

“What’s in that?” Jason’s heart picks up as Crane begins to set up the stand beside Jason. 

Crane hangs the bag up and attaches a tube to the bottom before he turns to look at Jason again. “Good boys get to go out and fight crime and be the savior of Gotham. You tried to pull the rug out from underneath me and start distributing our products early. I can’t have that.” Crane grabs another rolling tray, with various medical devices on top. “And you’ve been holding out on me.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about-” 

“Uh uh uh.” Crane puts a finger in front of Jason’s mouth, cutting him off. “I saw the way you fought in the warehouse. You’ve been pulling your punches haven’t you?” Jason’s head drops as he internally curses himself. “See, all it took was a little mind control serum and I could tell. Gotham could’ve been ours by now Jason!” Jason flinches, and despite his best efforts he can’t get himself to stop shaking. 

“Why would I pull my punches? Fuck the Titans-” 

Crane slaps him across the face. “DON’T LIE TO ME!” He shouts, getting up in Jason’s face. He leans back and takes a deep breath, smoothing down his shirt. “Sorry. I got carried away. But, regardless of what you have or haven’t been doing, you still disobeyed me. You know what happens to kids who disobey?” 

“I’m not you’re fucking kid Crane!” Jason scoffs, “Let me go and we’ll settle this like adults. Unless you’re scared to-” 

Crane slaps him again. “They get time out Jason. That’s all you had to say.” He shakes his head as he grabs a pair of medical gloves and slides them on. “But, since you decided to keep back-talking, I’ll have to extend your punishment a little bit, maybe alter it too.” He grabs the needle and pushes it into Jason’s inner arm near his elbow. He then uses it to get the IV running into his arm, flooding Jason’s system with drugs. 

“In the interest of transparency, something you’ve been lacking in, I’ll tell you what’s in this glorious concoction, sound fair? Some fear toxin, sugammadex to keep you from squirming, some water and other various medicines to keep you alive, along with some other various things I managed to steal from a nearby medical facility.” Jason’s head begins to slowly drop as the drugs begin to do their work on his system. Crane reappears in Jason’s field of view with three more blurry items. He quickly gags Jason with one rag, then blindfolds him with the other. He goes to set noise-canceling headphones over his ears, but pauses briefly. “See you in a week.” 

Jason whimpers as the headphones settle in place over his ears, the lack of noise reminding him of when Slade had him. He wants to yell after Crane, tell him that he’s sorry and he’ll do better this time, but his mouth refuses to open. Jason focuses his strength on trying to shake the headphones free but fails to even move his head, let alone get them to budge. He wants to cry, to scream for help, but his eyelids feel so heavy and sleep sounds so nice…

He dreams of falling. He watches as his hand slips from Dick’s grasp. Jason watches the building speed by until he hits the ground. Conner doesn’t catch him, no one miraculously appears to save him. Jason feels every bone in his body break before his heart stops. 

He wakes up in a cold sweat, or at least he thinks he’s awake. The headphones are removed from his head, followed by the blindfold. Dick has come to save him. Jason can’t help but smile when he sees his savior. That smile quickly drops when he realizes that Dick is frowning. 

“Dick! Thank god you’re here…. What’s wrong?” 

“You betrayed us dammit!” Dick yells, slamming his fist into the table next to them. “We trusted you, took you in as one of our own and for what?” 

“N-no Dick you don’t get it!” Jason stutters out, his body shaking, “Crane was manipulating me! I didn’t know what I was doing, I wasn’t in control I swear!” Jason waits for him to answer, but Dick stays silent, his back turned to Jason. “You, you believe me, right?” 

“You killed Hank.” Dick spits out, turning as he says it. “You killed my brother!” Before Jason can even register it, Dick’s hands are around his throat, choking him. 

“I’m sorry Dick!” Jason sobs between gasping for air. “Being brought back from the dead fucked me up! That’s no excuse but please you’ve gotta believe me!” 

“Oh I believe you alright.” Dick growls, “I believe that you’re a liar, and a thief, and a murderer. I bet you killed your own mother, didn’t you?” 

Tears prick at the corner of Jason’s eyes, “You don’t mean that.” 

“Who was next huh? Me? Bruce? You’re nothing without either of us behind you and you know it.” A gun appears in Dick’s hand, “It’s time I finished the job the Joker started, wouldn’t you agree?” 

The gun goes off with a bang, sending Jason spiraling down a black hole, where he falls and falls and falls, unsure of where the bottom is or if he’ll ever hit it. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright team, sources say Red Hood should be in here.” Dick says to the team as they stand in front of the third warehouse this week alone. 

“What if he’s not?” Gar asks, “We got Scarecrow a week ago, who’s to say Jason didn’t just get scared and leave town?” 

“Crane said Jason was still in town.” Dick informs him, trying not to betray any of the anxiety he’s currently feeling in regards to confronting his brother. “He can’t just try to go off the radar and hope we’ll forget about this. He needs to face consequences. Now are we ready?” The Team nods, following Dick’s lead as he kicks the door in. “Don’t let your guard down. Gar, Conner, and Rachel, you guys take the second story, Donna, Kory and I’ll check the ground floor.” 

The Titans all nod, before splitting up and heading towards their assigned areas. Dick motions for Donna to take the left side and Kory take the right while he works through the middle. He pulls his two escrima sticks off his back as he slowly makes his way through the vast warehouse. He reaches the middle, a wide-open lab space and almost drops his weapons when he notices the hostage sitting in the middle of the lab. 

“Fuck.” He whispers to himself. Dick briefly considers alerting the team, but upon remembering Red Hood could be in the warehouse, he decides against it. Best to avoid conflict when dealing with hostages. 

He takes in the nearly empty IV bag, coupled with an empty one sitting discarded on a nearby table. Green liquid runs from the bag into the hostage’s arm, filling them with some nasty concoction of the Red Hood’s making. They are bound to the chair by their wrists and ankles and are gagged, blindfolded and have what looks to be noise-canceling headphones tightly fitted over their ears. First things first, get those headphone’s off so they don’t freak out when I touch them, Dick thinks to himself as he cautiously approaches the hostage, mentally preparing for any booby traps. He carefully slides the headphones off, causing the hostage to flinch, probably from the sudden touch. 

“Hey,” Dick whispers, knowing that depending on how long the headphones were on, they could not be used to the noise. They shake as they hear his voice, “I’m one of the good guys. You’re safe now.” Dick frowns when he realizes this does nothing to quell the shaking. “I’m going to leave the blindfold on, I don’t want to hurt your eyes, but I can take the gag out so we can talk okay?” They don’t do anything to let Dick know they’ve heard him, so he takes the gag out anyways. 

“J-just shoot me already,” His hoarse voice spits out, “I know how this goes.” 

“Woah!” Dick jumps back in shock, “I don’t know what the hell happened to you but that’s not how things go here, like I said, I’m one of the good guys. I’m not gonna shoot you-” Realization dawns across Dick as he recognizes the voice. “Holy shit. Jason?” 

“N-no need to pretend.” Jason shakes out, “I know how this scenario ends.” His head drops, “Can you please- please just get it over with.” 

“Scenario? I don’t know what you’re talking about-” Dick’s eyes fall upon the IV again, “Do you know what’s in the IV?” 

Jason hoarsley laughs, “That’s a new one.” 

“Jason, this is real. I’m real.” Dick grabs his arm gently, ignoring the flinch from Jason. 

“You know what’s in here.” Jason’s voice chokes as tears well up in his eyes. “Fear toxin, some other shit-stuff. Can you just shoot me so I can go back to sleep? Please?” 

Dick shakes his head, even though he knows Jason can’t see it. “You can sleep now.” He waits a few seconds, and when Jason doesn’t respond, he continues to work on freeing him. Dick gently pulls the IV out of his arm, cursing himself silently when he realizes there are no bandages present. As he’s cutting the bindings off of Jason with a batarang, Donna and Kory appear behind him, making him jump. 

“Holy shit.” Kory exclaims, looking at the man before them. “Red Hood’s taking hostages again?” 

Dick shakes his head and turns back at Kory and Donna briefly. “Scarecrow did this. It’s Jason, we gotta get him out of here.” 

“What the fuck do you mean ‘it’s Jason’?” Donna asks as she continues to watch Dick cut the restraints off of him. 

“I mean Scarecrow left Jason here to die.” The last piece of duct tape snaps free, resulting in Jason tumbling forward into Dick’s arms. “I don’t know how long he’s been blindfolded, so I don’t want to remove it and hurt his eyes.” Dick scoops Jason into his arms and carefully stands up. “God he weighs nothing.” He begins to walk towards the main door, only for Kory and Donna to step in his way. 

“Dick this could be a trap.” Kory points out, crossing her arms. “How do you know he wasn’t planted here? They could’ve known we were coming!” 

“He asked me to shoot him, Kory.” Dick looks down at his brother in his arms. “I don’t think this was planned. I don’t want to fight you guys, but he’s hurt and needs help.”