Life of the Batfamily

30. Black Hood

"Guys, why is there a wanted posted for Red Hood on the wall?" Dick asks while spotting it on their way to school "I didn't do anything" Jason mumbles, so Barbara rolls her eyes "He couldn't have" Liana mumbles. At school she takes a poster and reads it "Wanted: Black Hood" she says and she folds it before putting it in her bag to show Bruce and Diana later and Dick gets the feeling they're being watched "Hey guys" Artemis says "Can we go-" "Quiet" Jason whispers, but they don't hear anything "Let's get to class and yes, we can see our friends after school" he eventually says. At the mountain Robin and Red Hood instantly check for intruders "M'gann and Connor would still be busy, it's just us five" Batgirl says so Swan calls the watchtower "I need to speak Bats or Wonder Woman" "I'm here" WW says "I'm assuming you saw the posters" she adds so Swans shows hers "Multiple cities have them" Superman says "I had the feeling someone was watching us when we were walking to the school building" Robin says "We all did" Swan says with a sigh "Stay there for tonight" WW says "And be careful". The five decide to watch TV in the living room and Batgirl sighs "So, where is Bats?" "Mission?" "He left for work before us this morning" Robin comments dryly. In the evening Bruce isn't home so Alfred calls Vera if she knows anything "Nothing, sorry" she says, he's not the only one though, when Artemis and Roy arrive asking if they've seen Oliver "Maybe they got held up somewhere" Artemis says "Can't you track him?" Damian asks looking at Liana, who shakes her head "Best we can do is wait" Tim says "I will wake you up tomorrow for breakfast, will you be staying?" Alfred asks "Might be for the best" Roy says "They can stay in my room" Dick says "What about you?" Artemis asks, but he simply points to Liana.

Next morning Damian wakes the others "Where's Al?" Dick asks adjusting his tie "Said he had to go shopping, he's not back yet" Damian says, guess a visit to the commissioner was in order that evening "Did you guys notice Alfred doesn't seem all that concerned about Bruce missing?" Artemis asks during breakfast "I just thought he was sure dad would come home" Damian says with a sigh "Look, we'll report them as missing, but we can't exactly do anything more than that" "I agree with Dami" Liana says "That we should report them missing, we can snoop around though". With Alfred late Roy drives them to school in his less then fancy car, while Damian brings Tim to work "Whatever you do, don't end up alone" "Do you think Alfred was on to something?" Barbara asks earning a shrug. However several days later they're all getting worried and during patrol Robin, Renegade and Black Swan stumble upon the warehouse that seems to be rigged, but they can't be sure "Multiple heat signatures" Renegade says "Should we call backup?" Swan asks "We need to investigate before we jump to conclusions" Robin says, but they hide when someone walks out and Swan peeks over the roof "Joker and Black Hood" she whispers, the figure seemed familiar for her "They're gone for now" she says. The three get on the warehouse roof and are face to face with Black Hood "Red Hood" Renegade says as he lands "Just leave this to me" Hood says so they do just that "It's rigged" Robin says "Three, no four heat signatures in the room below us", luckily Swan uses ice magic, so getting through the floor is easy since it's worn down "Alfred, Bruce, Ollie and Diana" she says carefully jumping down and she sneaks to the nearest one, but she stops when a gun is pointed at her head "I really shouldn't" she says slowly turning around "Lucy Kent" she adds and she figure ditches her hood "You seem to know my name, what's yours?" Black Hood AKA Lucy Kent asks "Do your parents know about this?" Swan asks raising her hands "No, my parents don't care" she says "If you pull that trigger" Swan says "I can guarantee you they will care because you'd be send to prison" "And how would they know that" "You think I left the other two outside?". Renegade, in the meantime, has called for backup and he jumps down "Black Hood, we're leaving!" Joker yells "Coming!". The three know what this means and Red Hood jumps down with Robin "M'gann arrived" he says, they manage to get most people on board, but they hear the blast from below them and Robin tries to grab Red Hood's hand "M'gann leave!" Swan yells "What about you two?!" Robin asks "We'll be fine, right?" Red Hood asks "I can't freeze- what are your doing?!", Jason had taken off his helmet and tosses his adoptive sister up, and Renegade grabs her hand "NO JASON!" she yells, not even bothering to use his alias, but she's held back, the last thing they see is an apologetic smile from the hero.

Renegade takes Robin and Swan back an hour later and they quickly find him "Jay" she says falling on her knees and Robin lands next to her, pulling her into a side hug while checking for a pulse "I-it's not use" she says, sure she was close to most of them, but Jason was the annoying bad ass older brother she never had, who stood up for her and Dick at school if Artemis wasn't available, she's staring blankly at her brother, not even resisting when Renegade hugs her tightly and it doesn't take long before the police, ambulance and firefighters arrive, there were still a few fires to put out "Wake up Jay" she says grabbing his jacket "Please, I can't lose more family, please wake up" she says and Renegade lets her go in favor of talking to the police and while he does so Robin finds the helmet and helps Liana takes off the jacket "I'll see you at the batcave" he whispers and leaves, in front of her is Jason Todd, not Red Hood, but Jason Todd "Come on" Renegade says and he pulls Swan up and the two head off as well. Bruce isn't brought up to speed, but he wonders why Liana is just walking towards the couch where Alfred is cleaning and the butler pulls her into a hug "Hey Al, why does this always happen?" she asks, but Dick answers before the butler can answer "Because life isn't fair, the world isn't fair" he says and Liana clenches her fist, she knew who was responsible and she wouldn't let them get away and Alfred seems to realize what mood she's in "Miss Liana, revenge will do nothing" he says crouching down "Besides, master Jason wouldn't want you to be sad over this, there are other ways to go about this" "You're right" she mumbles "Now if you'll excuse me, let me cry in peace in my garden". It doesn't take a genius to guess the headline for the next days paper and Artemis is surprised the two even show up at school, although they're both more an empty shell than anything. what doesn't help is that they're swarmed by reporters when they leave with Artemis, who instantly opens her mouth "Leave them alone! They lost someone close to them and you think you can just barge over and ask questions that, if they'd even be answered, won't be put in their words in the newspapers!" she says surprising the two, but Liana looks away from the crowd "But it's just a few-" "Piss off!" this time it's Barbara and Dick stares at his feet, the red head had it as bad as Liana and him, so why did she protect them from an onslaught of reporters? "Let's get you home" Artemis says putting an arm around the two. It's quiet in the manor and Alfred isn't even surprised he sees Liana laying on the grass staring at the sky after doing whatever homework she has "Lia" Leana says walking over, but she doesn't get a reply "Jay would think that cloud would look like a gun" the young girl eventually says so Leana lays down next to her "It kinda does, doesn't it?" she asks "And that's be a baseball bat" she says and Liana lays a bit closer.