Bloody Brothers

◇□ Chapter Nine □◇

The boys slid as they turned, Jason glanced behind his shoudlers, he saw the flames racing after them as if they were alive, they climbed on to the ceiling, they reminded him of waves. Firefly growled after them, his flame thrower in hand.

"Okay, this guy seems really pissed off, let's just give him the drive." Jason panicked trying to swipe the drive from his brothers hand. Dick quickly pulled his hand away giving him a stern look.

"You're no fun." He mumbled, "Quick make a right." He shoved Dick into another stairwell locking the door behind him. They breathed heavily as they took a second to catch their breaths, Jason rested his hands on his knees, "Okay..." he panted, "I'm starting to have regrets." His eyes widened as the fist of Firefly came through the door inches away from his face. He was frozen in fear, Dick grabbed ahold of his wrist pulling him down the stairs as Firefly broke down the door.

Jason face palmed himself as they ran, "Aww Shit." Dick looked back confused, What?

"We have that stupid charity event tonight, that's if we don't die." He groaned, they were forced to throw themselves backwards as a beam from the ceiling came crashing down, it laid at their feet. "And right now I'm not liking our odds." Jason mumbled as they stared at the fiery beam that had almost killed them.

"No where left to run, what are you going to do now boys? I'm sure your rich daddy is going to pay for a very nice funeral." He hissed as he approached through the flames. "Give me the drive kid."

"What do you- want with it?" Jason coughed as smoke was starting to fill his lungs.

"What does it matter, just know that I want it. Now hand it over, and I'll let you boys walk free." He offered. Dick glanced at Jason, who seemed to be thinking it over. He stood to his feet, Dick stood too not sure of the plan Jason had in mind, or even if he had one.

"Nah."

Jason took off sprinting taking Dick with him, going right through the glass. Dick could barely hear Firefly yell after them, the wind was so loud as it whistled past their ears. Dick saw the ground beneath him, it was getting closer and closer. He cursed Jason in his head, great, I knew this idiot was going to get me killed. He clutched his eyes shut, putting his arms over his face, bracing for the impact of the fall. But it never came, there was a heavy tug on his leg, he jerked forward a bit as the momentum was too fast and strong. Jason yelped at first clearly not expecting the sudden movement. Dick opened one eye first, then the other, he relaxed his face as they twirled around slowly as they hung upside down. He gave Jason a confused look, who just shrugged in response. Dick looked down, they were dangling a few feet from the sidewalk. The sudden sound of boots implanting into the sidewalk made them both jump. They looked up to see The Dark Knight in all his glory.

"Hey..... dad... what's hanging?" Jason shot him with finger guns awkwardly. Batman hardened his glare at them both.

"You boys have alot of explaining to do." He turned on his heel as he strutted away.

"Wait are you just going to leave us here?!" Jason called after him. Batman swiftly threw a bat-a-rang cutting the ropes they hung from. They hit the ground with a hard thud.
"Thanks." Jason moaned rubbing his head. He glanced over at Dick punching him hard in the arm, "That's for getting us into this mess." Dick rubbed the swore spot as he stood back to his feet. He wasn't expecting Jason to pull him into a tight hug, almost suffocating him. "That's for being my brother." He whispered into Dick's ear, it took him plenty by surprise. Jason pushed away, playfully draping his arm over his brothers shoulders as they walked to the batmobile.

"You think there's gonna be hot chicks at this shindig?" Jason asked, Dick shrugged silently laughing. "I sure as hell hope so." He muttered as they were approaching their father who still wasn't taking it easy on the bat glare.

◇□◇□◇

Jason was beginning to get flustered with his tie as he kept failing to get a perfect knot. "Ugh.... come on..." he tugged it a little more, pulling it through, tightening it. He groaned in anger as he pulled at his tie, trying to rip it off. Dick was fixing his cuffs as he was walking down the hall of the manor, he peaked into Jason's room seeing him fight with his tie in the mirror again. He rolled his eyes entering in, he swatted Jason's hands away as he started to take over. Jason rolled his eyes crossing his arms with a huff.

"I don't see why we have to wear the stupid things anyway." He complained like a toddler. Dick patted his tie down, tucking it into his suit jacket. "Thanks." Jason mumbled as he checked it over, they made him feel like he was suffocating, and almost dying in a fire just an hour before wasn't really helping the feeling. "This is stupid, what are we supposed to do at a charity event." He continued to complain, Dick rolled his eyes not in the mood to argue with him. "I mean, were sixteen years old, what are we-"

"Were supposed to make an appearance. And behave. Not all of Gotham is aware of our existence, that will soon change." Tim interrupted him as he walked smoothly down the stairs.

"Well you don't sound all that jazzed about it." Jason added as he reached the bottom, Tim stood at his chin.

"I'm not. We're supposed to be the sons of a billionaire. We're supposed to know how to act. And news flash, we don't. If anything goes wrong, the press will have a field day, Bruce would be ruined." He explained, he sighed wiping the sweat off his brow. "I need a drink." He walked off.

"Do you ever think, he should be the oldest? He acts like he's thirty." Dick shrugged agreeing with him.

They could hear the laughter coming from behind the doors, their shoes as they twirled and danced upon the floor. They both sighed as they entered, people they had never even seen before and will most likely never see again met their faces. They were reporters, business associates, nextdoor neighbors, they bombarded them with questions. Dick was quick to get out of it, and Jason just used him as an excuse, which worked out okay. They hurried away to an empty table, quickly throwing themselves in the chair.

"Jeez, these people have no since of boundaries." Jason huffed piling his plate up with the food that was so graciously offered. Dick smiled, shifting his eyes to the floor before him. He noticed a bit of fiery red walk across the room. His heart stopped beating when he saw her. He held his breath, as his eyes followed her every movement. He hadn't even realized that he had gotten up, and walked half way to her. Before he realized it was too late, he was standing right at her feet.

"Hey Dick." Barbara smiled.

"Hey." He waved. He took a deep breath. "You look beautiful tonight." Words had never felt so natural to leave his mouth before.

Barbara blushed, averting her gaze. "Thank you, you look very handsome as well." Dick smiled sheepishly, glancing at his feet.

"Would you like to dance?" Dick held out his hand, he was terrified to be faced with her rejection, but given the fact that he almost died an hour ago, he decided he was going to live dangerously.

"Yes, I would love to dance with you." She sat her glass of champagne down on the table, placing her hand in his. They twirled around the floor. Dick had to be careful not to get lost in her eyes, it was incredibly tempting.

"So, you have a beautiful home. Your dad really knows how to throw a party." She smiled attempting to make small talk. Dick scoffed, nodding in agreement. Her smile softened into a straight line, her eyes locked with his. "Dick, there's something I have to tell you." Dick could feel his nerves expanding throughout his body. "Max and I broke up, because I have feelings for someone else. And I have for awhile I just have been too afraid to act on them. So, what I'm trying to say is-" she laughed nervously, her cheeks turning bright red. Dick could feel his stomach drop, he tried to swallow the lump in his throat but failed.

"I uh-"

"Hey guys!" They both jumped to see Jason standing right beside them. Dick had never wanted to stab him more than he did in this moment. Barbara took a step back, her hands releasing from around Dicks neck. "Can I uh- can I borrow Dickie real quick? I'll give him right back." He smiled. Barbara nodded, giving Dick a soft smile as she returned to her table.

Dick waited until she was gone to snap at Jason. He jerked around, "What?!"

"You need to see this."