Fallen Angel

Jason POV-
I silently sat in my room, curled in a ball in my bed, facing the wall.

Dinner was in a few minutes, but I wasn't hungry. I hadn't left my room for 2 days straight now, despite my brothers and sisters's efforts to get me to come out, even my niece, Dad, and grandpa.

I stared at the photo in my hand. It was me, Sabine Cheng, my mother figure, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng, my baby sister, all smiling and laughing. Pixie Pop was on in my arms upside down, and I was carrying her from a huge leaf pile with leaves all over us and in our hair and clothes, and love, happy, and mischievous grin on my face, my eyes glittering with joy and content. Mari's face was glowing with a huge grin that spelled out joy and love, and she was laughing. Sabine, who had the picture in selfie mode and was taking the photo, had a motherly and amused smile on her face and was playfully rolling her eyes at us. All of us had bruises: me a black eye and bruised arms, MJ with a bruised slap mark on her cheek, and Sabine with a bruised throat, and we had several bandages on us, but we were still having a good time.

No, Pixie Pop and I weren't biologically related, but Sabine had taken me in on my 8th birthday, when I was living on the streets. My father, Willis Todd, had been in jail (and still currently was) at the time, and my stepmom, Catherine Todd, had overdosed on drugs, thanks to my abusive and always drunk father, so I was forced to go to the streets at 6 years old and fend for myself.

I loved the Dupain-Chengs with all my heart and more, but I HATED Tom Dupain with every damn fiber in my body and everything in me. He was just like my father: always drunk and extremely abusive. MJ had quickly grown attached to me, as I had with her. She was the little sister I have always wanted, the little Angel that I needed.

When Mari was 6 and me 9, Tom had murdered Sabine, the woman I had adored and called my mother, in front of Mari and I, and even though I fought to protect my beloved little sister with everything I had, Tom had beaten me until I had fallen unconscious. The last thing I had said to her was "Always fight back, my little princess. Never back down or forget who you really are. Don't let Tom or anyone bring you down, and remember what I taught you. I love you, Marinette Jakayla.". And both MJ and Tom were gone by the time I had woken up.

I've looked all over the damn world for Marinette, literally: all 50 states, Canada, Brazil, Spain, Madagascar, Iran, New Zealand, Iraq, the Bahamas, Russia, Germany, France, Afghanistan, Rome, Greece, China, Africa, North and South Korea, italy, the United Kingdom, Romania, Iceland, Greenland, and India. I just got back from Japan 2 days ago, all with no luck in finding my missing little sister, who was my best friend.

"Damn it, Pixie Pop, where the fucking hell are you?" I quietly sighed, letting my tears stream down my face as I silently cried. My new family had no idea why I was always traveling. They didn't know about Marinette, Sabine, and Tom, because I wasn't ready to tell them yet, even after 10 years of living with them. Shit, I even made it where Bruce would never be able to find my adoption papers from when Sabine adopted me. That's how dead set on keeping my past hidden from the Wayne's, or anyone for that matter, even my only friend Roy Harper. I wasn't going to let them in, even if it killed me again.

It wasn't going to happen. Never in a million years.

I didn't allow them to call me JayJay, Jay, jase, or Jaybird. Those were the nicknames that Mari and Sabine had given me, and no one else was allowed to call me by them. It was too painful to have it come off of anyone else's lips but theirs. Last week Dick called me Jay, and since I was already in a bad mood, I had dislocated his shoulder and broke his nose, and told him to never call me that again in a tone that made him pale. I was sensitive about my past.

When Bruce had adopted me after taking the wheels of the batmobile off, I only told him a small piece: my dad was in jail, and my mom was dead. I had been taking about Willis and Catherine, not the Dupain-Chengs. Other than those two short sentences, no one knew anything about my past. Not. A. Thing.

I was snapped out of my thoughts and crying by the sound of someone knocking on my locked bedroom door. "Leave me alone," I called in an annoyed voice, cursing when it cracked from my crying. I needed to be alone. I couldn't let anyone see that I was crying.

"But Uncle Jay, it's time for dinner!" The voice of Mar'i, my 7 year old nice and Golden Boys daughter, said in protest. Okay, fine. I let her call me Jay, but that was because I couldn't stop her. I didn't like her name. It was my sisters nickname, and it reminded me of MJ every time I heard it. I never called her by her name. Instead, I settled with calling her zahra, which was Arabic for Flower. It hurt me too much to ever say her name. I couldn't bring myself to do it.

My eye twitched. "I'm not hungry, Zahra." I said, staring at the photo once more, looking at Marinettes face. God, I missed her. I would kill to have her in my arms again, alive and unharmed. "You don't have to eat, Uncle Jay. Just come and be with us!" She tried again. I flopped onto my back and put my gaze on the door. 'This child is WAY too much like Dick,' I thought bitterly with a glare. He had to have put her up to this.

"I want to be alone right now, kiddo. Go eat your food before it gets cold. I'll be down in a little while," I said, putting the photo on my nightstand and trying not to get mad. What I did not expect was what happened next.

As I was curling into myself and facing the wall, I heard a sniffle on the other side of my door. I froze, eyes wide, and slowly turned my head to look at my door once again. "P-please, Uncle Jay? F-for me at least?" She cried.

Oh no.

I made my niece cry.

God damn this damn house and this damned family.

I got up and went over to my closet, pulled on a black short sleeve, blue jeans, and my combat boots, put my guns on the back of my jeans and wallet in my back pocket, and I went over to my door, unlocking it and ripping it open. Mar'i looked up at me with sad, pleading eyes that were filled with tears.

Sometimes, I wished I lived on the streets still.

I sighed in defeat and picked her up, putting her on my hip. "Fine, I'll come downstairs, Kiddo." I said, wiping her tears away and going down the long halls and staircases until I silently reached the dining room, where my second adoptive family was waiting. Mar'I went to sit by Dick with a smile on her face, and I silently sat in my chair between Replacement and Stephanie, not looking at anyone or touching my food. God, I didn't want to be here. I should be out looking for my sister, not sitting on my ass eating food.

Ughhhh.

The room was awkwardly silent, until Dick broke it. "So...Jason, where was your last trip to?" He innocently asked.

"Japan." I calmly replied, not looking up as I slowly forced myself to eat my food. I suddenly got a huge feeling that something was dreadfully wrong, but I didn't know what it was.

Bruce spoke next after a moment of silence. "Just curious, Jason, but where have you been to so far? You are always traveling in your free time." He said. My eye twitched in annoyance, and I forced my face to stay emotionless as I answered him. "all 50 states, Canada, Brazil, Spain, Madagascar, Iran, New Zealand, Iraq, the Bahamas, Russia, Germany, France, Afghanistan, Rome, Greece, China, Africa, North and South Korea, italy, the United Kingdom, Romania, Iceland, Greenland, and India. I'm leaving for England tomorrow morning, and I have to go to Britain still." Before I restarted the list again, I silently added, narrowing my eyes a little bit, trying to figure out what they were up to.

Babs snorted. "Honestly, you travel so much and so often, I'm starting to think you are looking for something or someone, Jason," She teased. I froze, my body growing unnaturally tense and my face paling to the point that there was no color to it, my heart freezing and not beating for several seconds. My hazel blue eyes widened and glittered in alarm and panic.

'No. No, there was no way that Barbra found out about MJ. No one knows about her, not even Alfred. Did she find out somehow? If so, how the fuck did she find out?! I haven't told a soul about my past, NO ONE. What do I do? There's no way you can lie your way out of this if she knows, Jason. You must not have been careful enough. Maybe you were talking in your sleep in your nightmares, and she heard you say Pixie Pop's name and she looked it up. No, she wouldn't have found anything. I've already tried that several times with no luck, so how would she be able to find anything? Oh my fucking God, I'm screwed. I fucked up somehow, somewhere. Jesus, I hate living here. I'm going back to the damned streets, since they'll know where all of my safehouses are. I don't think I could fight my way out of this. There is too many of them. I can't just walk off, either. Shit. What to do, what to do, what to fucking do-'

"-son... JASON!" A voice shouted, breaking me from my thoughts in the middle of my panic attack. Startled, I yelped and violently flinched away from the direction of the voice, instinctively thinking it was Tom or Willis, which ended up with me falling back in my chair and hitting the floor with a loud crash and breaking the wood chair. My head smacked the floor, and I lay there dazed for a couple of minutes, groaning in pain and irritation.

Sigh. I REALLY needed to get out of this damn mansion and back to where I was more comfortable and familiar with. I knew these dark streets like the back of my hand, better than anyone in Gotham, apart from MJ, at least if she was alive and remembered.

I blinked the stars out of my eyes and slowly got up, swaying and leaning on the wall to stop myself from losing balance and falling to the floor again. Once I got my head back to normal, I glared at Barbra. "You. Follow me." I growled, stalking out of the room. 'I have to find out if she knows. It's risky, but I need to know. I can't have anyone know about Marinette, Sabine, and Tom. Not until I find MJ and tom, at least.' I thought.

"Jason? Are you alright?" My older half adopted sister asked in concern. I barely but back a sarcastic retort, but I managed. "I'm fine, Babs." I said, sighing. "Do you know anything about Sabine Marie Cheng, Marinette Jakayla Dupain-Cheng, and Tom Dupain? Do not lie to me." I said flatly.

Barbra blinked in clear confusion. "My dad had mentioned that a Sabine Cheng had been murdered a few years ago, and that the killer was never caught. Apart from that, no. Why?" She asked.

Bitterness surged in my heart. 'Because I considered Sabine as my mother! Shit, she WAS my mother! Mari is my little sister! Because I'm trying to hunt down Tom so I can murder him for taking my mom and sister away from me! Because Sabine deserves the justice the GCPD didn't give her! BECAUSE I NEED MY SISTER!!!' I wanted to scream, but I stayed silent. "Tell everyone that I'm not hungry. I'm-there's someone I need to-" I was cut off by a frantic banging on the front door. Babs frowned as I snapped my gun out and went to the door, my 2nd adoptive family coming into the room.

"So, I take it that no one is expecting anyone?" I sarcastically drawled, then ripped the door open with my gun pointed at the outsiders. "Names." I ordered at the 5 teens on the porch. The blonde was so frantic that she looked ready to pass out.

"There's no time for that! My friend- our friend- little sister, Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Her fake dad took her somewhere, and he's going to kill her! Please, you have to help us! You're the only ones who can!" She said.

I felt my heart stop beating and my world came to a sharp halt, my blood running cold and my eyes glowing a bright toxic green from the Lazarus Pit with shock, panic, and too many more emotions all at once, my face loosing its color once again. Then my shock melted into murderous enrage and promised murder, my hazel blue eyes a dark storm of protection, murder, enrage, dominance, hostility, authority, and panicked desperation. I knew exactly where they were, and I had to get there as fast as possible. "No... no, no, no, no, NO! I know where they are. Give me the keys to that truck, NOW!!" I yelled, snatching them from the boy next to the blonde and tearing out of the door. Blonde and Headphones ran after me, but I was too distressed to bother stopping them.

I didn't care that I dropped my gun on the floor at the door, something I would never do. I didn't care that the Wayne's were confused as hell about the entire situation, that I shoved some of the teens out of my way to get to the truck, or that I just abandoned the Wayne family at the manor to go rescue my sister without saying a word to them as I flew into the truck. The two teens with me got in as I heard Dicks voice ring through the air. "Jason, where are you GOING?!" He shouted, but I ignored him as I slammed my door shut, roared the trucks engine as load as it could go, and floored the gas pedal and sped down the driveway and off into the night, forcing the pedal into the floorboard.

My old home, the Dupain-Cheng hell house, was clear on the other side of the city, and it was going to take a while to get there, even with all of the shortcuts.

I prayed I would make it in time to save my little girl.

I had to. I couldn't loose her for a second time. Not again, not ever. I wasn't going to let that happen. I would die again before I even considered letting that happen.

"Okay Blondie. You gonna tell me y'all's names, or do I call you Blondie and Headphones?" I asked emotionlessly, drifting into the city and running a red light. My phone was blowing up with texts and calls, but I put it on silent and do not disturb, but left the location on, knowing that either Tim or Bruce was probably trying to hack into my phone to find out what was going on. Not like they were going to find anything.

The blonde jumped a little. "Uh, Ch-Chloe Bourgeois. This is Nino Lahiffe." She-Chloe said. Nino was studying me through the rear view mirror, a calculated look in his brown eyes. "You must be Jason, or as Mari calls you, JayJay, huh? None of the other Wayne's reacted when Chloe said Marinette." He calmly said. I only nodded. "Pixie Pop is my baby sister. She was taken from me by Tom 10 years ago. I've looked all over the damn globe for her. I just got back from Japan 2 days ago and was leaving for England in the morning. You two caught me just in time. Now where the bloody fuck has Tom Dupain been keeping my little girl?" I growled.

I kept swerving, drifting, and cutting people in traffic off as I sped down Main Street and a lot of back alleys, the layout of how to get to my old house burning in my brain by instinct. Thank Jesus that the gas was full in the truck. I'd be screwed if it were even half full.

Chloe answered more confidently. "Paris." She said, and my right hand tightened on the wheel until my knuckles were white and the bones showed. "No way. There's no fucking way. I was there last week, and I went through every building. She wasn't there, and neither was Tom. There wasn't a trace of them, like they didn't exist... I even looked in the damn sewers. How the fuck... it's like he knew I was coming ahead of time... there's no fucking way he knew...." I said, trailing off as I tried to fit things together in my mind. 'There's no way he could have known, right? Unless he's been keeping tabs on me somehow... he wouldn't do that... what the fuck, am I being watched or something? Shit... I need to fucking kill him. Bruce can't know about this. He already knows I'm hiding things from him, thanks to these two showing up at the door. But it's a good thing they did. At least I'm not back at the manor right now. Jesus bloody Christ, I already live my life on edge and am paranoid about a lot of things. I really don't need this added to my plate. All of this damn stress is going to be the reason I die for a second time, I swear to God... just keep the Wayne's out of this as much as possible, Jason, and you'll figure this out and keep them safe.' I thought, leaning forward and looking up out of the windshield, quickly scanning the rooftops and glancing behind me to see if I was being followed.

I really fucking hated my life sometimes.

Why can't I just live a normal life, like a normal civilian with a normal, happy family does? Why the fuck can't I be like everyone else?

Now that I know I was being watched, that meant I had to move out of the manor and stay away from the Wayne's if I wanted to keep them safe and out of this entire situation. The less they knew, the better chances they had on surviving, being the Batfamily or not.

"Alright, y'all are going to tell me everything later, since MJ apparently trusts y'all enough, despite her trust issues, to have you as her friends. For now, who can drive and who does medical stuff?" I asked, my face hardening. I was going to be pissed if they didn't know anything. Let's hope Mari picked out decent friends.

Nino spoke. "We both have our licenses, but I have the med experience. I'm Dudettes personal doctor, literally. I'm always bandaging her up, giving her stitches, relocating dislocated bones, and too much more." He said darkly as I drifted into another alley, almost crashing into a building. I nodded and put a plan together in my head, taking mental note on what he just said. I was so going to make them tell me everything.

As I pictured how my plan would end up, I spotted my old house up ahead. "Okay, here's what I need you two to do. You HAVE to follow my orders, or you'll get killed and not by me. You two are to get Pixie Pop out of this house and to the hospital as fast as you can. Do NOT let them turn you away. Have them do whatever they need to, except amputation, to save her. Tell them to put it on Jason Todd's bill. I'll also pay any damages, tickets, bail, whatever. Just get my sister out of here at all costs, alright? Please, I am trusting you with this, and I don't trust people, but MJ trusts you, and I trust her. Please, just get her to the hospital, get her away from here." I said, my voice breaking as I drifted to a stop in front of the old Dupain-Cheng (Todd) house. They both nodded as we got out of the truck. I left my phone in it and the keys in the ignition with it running, and I cocked my second and now only gun, my other still at the manor.

Then Chloe got in front of me. "Wait, what about you? We can't just leave you here to deal with Tom on your own, Jason. He'll kill you!" She said.

I twirled my knife in my hand and walked past her, my face dark. " I have to hold Tom back so that you can get Mars Bar out of here, Blondie. Besides: I've already died once; what do I care if I die a second time? At least I can finally kill Tom for murdering my mother. I have waited 10 long years for this chance. I'm not letting it go to waste. All that matters is that MJ is safe. If I die, then at least I know that Bruce and my brothers will protect her for me if I don't get resurrected again. And if I don't, then I'll protect her as a ghost or guardian Angel or something." I darkly joked. "Don't worry, I'm the best fighter in my family. I'll be fine, probably. Just get Marinette out of here!" I snapped, then kicked the door open. The old wood crashed to the floor, off its hinges and the frame breaking, with a loud bang.

We ran in, and Tom was pacing the room, drinking a beer. My poor little sister was strapped to the kitchen island, unconscious and in a huge pool of blood that was streaming to the floor, and she was covered on bruises, blood, gashes, broken bones, and life threatening wounds, her clothes ruined. Bloody tools and broken glass bottle pieces were everywhere, as was a lot of blood spatter on the wall, floor, and counters nearby. Engage courses through me as I lunges forward, flying at Tom and pinning him to the floor. "MARIBUG!" Chloe screeched, running to my sisters side with Nino. "GEt MJ out of here! NOW!! Get the fuck out of here and don't come back, no matter what. Don't let anyone come back here, Nino. Now get the bloody fuck out!! GO!!!" I roared at the two as they cut the ropes and got Marinette out at top speed as Tom fought against me.

Once I heard the truck speed off, I saw my world go black and I let my demons take over.