Revenge (Batfamily) - Sequel to Brother In Arms

Chapter 4 ~ Reunion

"You should be careful with your shoulder, Master Tim."

"I'm fine Alfred, don't worry," the raven haired teen smiled at the old butler. He was right. The whole area around his chest and his shoulder had healed surprisingly well and quickly. The only thing Tim had left was the few centimeters long jagged white scar. He knew he had been lucky. The bullet had missed his heart from only a few millimeters. However, even if sometimes his injured muscles were hurting him slightly, he hadn't stopped training, on the contrary. The young man was training even harder than before, causing his whole family (even Damian) to worry for his health.

"Master Bruce wanted to know if you were interested by watching a movie tonight," Alfred asked calmly.

Tim's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Of course! What is that for a question?!" He jumped from his bed, ran through the corridor and flew above the stairs to reach the home theater only a few instants later. Alfred shook his head and let out an amused chuckle before he headed downstairs to prepare some popcorn for everyone.

***

As Kyle and Red Hood walked inside the latter's headquarters, a lot of people were surprised to see the young man walking alongside their boss. Kyle had been very discreet about his departure the previous year. Some henchmen simply greeted them while some others looked at him with confusion. That's when the young man noticed how many new recruits had joined the gang's ranks.

Besides this, nothing had really changed. Sentries were guarding the building from the rooftops, some henchmen were resting while others were playing card games. Jason quickly noticed that one of the players was cheating and shook his head lightly, waiting for the other players to notice it as well.

"Where are we going?" Kyle asked all of a sudden.

"I want to show you something," Red Hood replied without looking at him but Kyle heard the smile in his voice.

Hood entered inside one of the two elevators of the building, Kyle just behind him. As the doors opened, Kyle's eyes opened widely. In front of him was a whole new training level. There were dozens of henchmen training. Some were furiously and energetically punching into sandbags, others were lifting weight and one of the two boxing rings was occupied by a woman and three men while a few others were just watching the four persons in the ring.

Kyle stared at the woman on the ring. Her back was turned, but the way she was standing showed that she was a really experienced fighter. Her feet were firmly anchored on the ring's blue canvas. Her fists clenched high in front of her, she waited for one of her opponents to make the first move.

It was a tall and bulky black man who threw himself on her at first. She swiftly dodged his fist and smacked her right foot against his side. The man immediately answered with another punch. The woman, having anticipated his move, grabbed the man's arm, slid under it and squeezed it behind the man's back. With all her strength, the woman kept on squeezing his arm until the man yelped out it in pain. She released him and immediately after, a second henchman tried his luck.

Kyle was fascinated by the speed and the efficiency this woman was putting in her every moves. Each of them were calculated to save as much of her strength as possible. He saw her catapulting her opponent into one of the boxing ring's corners, knocking him out. The young man was totally amazed and under his helmet, Jason was smirking with pride. Before Kyle could get the chance to see the woman's face, her third opponent launched himself in her direction.

The woman ducked his fist, and swiftly turned around. She stood back up and violently kicked the man behind the knee, forcing him to bend over. Quickly, she wrapped her arm around his neck and pushed against his throat as hard as she could until the man tapped on her arm. She released her grip immediately. The man started to cough violently. His throat and his face had turned into a crimson red color under the pressure the woman had been exercising on them.

The woman stretched her shoulders slightly before she turned around, allowing Kyle to finally see her face.

"Jill?"

The woman lifted her eyes in Kyle and Red Hood's direction. As soon as she saw the both of them, a wide smile spread across her lips. She passed under the ring's white ropes and met the two men. To everyone's surprise, she pulled Kyle into a tight hug that the young man returned happily. "Welcome back!" she said cheerily as she broke the hug and put back behind her ear a strand of hair that had escaped the braid she had done before the training session.

"Thank you, it's been a while."

"Yes indeed! How are you doing?" Jill was still smiling broadly, her eyes shining with joy. She grabbed a towel that was hanging on a chair and wiped away the tiny beads of sweat that were dripping from her forehead.

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"I'm amazing," she quickly glanced at the three men who were still on the boxing ring, "those dudes deserved to get their asses kicked. They were becoming way too overconfident."

"Well, you pulled them back into line pretty well," Red Hood laughed.

"Indeed," she chuckled before she looked back at Kyle. "It's good to see you again." The young man gave her a warm smile.

"Jill here made some very impressive progress," Red Hood started, putting his gloved hand on the woman's shoulder. "She has become one of our best fighters."

"Thank you, sir," she said, blushing.

"She knows how to take care of the new recruits," Hood said and Kyle smiled amused.

Jill looked at the gang leader, a strange glint in her eyes. "It's all thanks to you, sir. I wouldn't be here if you hadn't accepted to train me."

"You're a born fighter, Jill. Never doubt this." The brown haired woman nodded quietly, trying to hide her smile but her crimson red cheeks betrayed her. Kyle quietly looked at her with amusement. All of a sudden, someone called her from the other side of the gym. "You should go," Red Hood said and Jill nodded again. She smiled at them both and said goodbye before she joined the person who had called her.

Kyle looked at Jason, smirking.

"What?" the helmeted man replied, walking away to reach the elevator once more, followed by Kyle.

"Oh, nothing."

Jason threw an assassin glance at the young man under his helmet. "Just tell me, will you?"

As the elevator's doors closed, Kyle turned towards his friend. "Has anything happened between you two?"

"What? What the fuck dude? No!"

"Are you sure? Because I saw the way she was looking at you." Kyle was now smiling evilly.

"She's never even seen my face, you moron."

Kyle laughed mockingly. As the elevator's doors opened again to the highest level of the headquarters, Jason headed directly to his large office. He closed the door behind Kyle and removed his helmet. As per usual, he was wearing a red domino mask. He sat on his desk chair and put his feet on his desk. Kyle leaned against a wall, his arms crossed on his chest. The young man was fixing Jason with a smirk.

"What?" the latter sighed.

Kyle couldn't help but move forward and sit on Jason's desk. "Tell me more about you and Jill."

Jason threw his hands in the air and slammed them against the piece of furniture. "Nothing happened for fuck's sake! I just trained her because she asked me, that's all!" When he saw that Kyle was still smiling, Jason let out another exasperated sigh. "Trust me or not, that's the truth. Anyway, where is your suit?"

"My suit?"

"Yes, the one I gave you."

"Oh... Hidden in the Mustang's trunk."

"Good. Go put it on, it's time we announce you are my second-in-command."

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It's finally here! After more than one month, and I'm really sorry about this, a new chapter is up! I'm so so sorry for the wait, I'll try to post more often from now on. Thank you for all your support and for being understanding with me :D

Thank you so much for reading my stories :D