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WHO: Kate, Jason and Damian
WHERE: New Amsterdam (a bunch of places, probably)
WHEN: Late February
WHAT: The crew has to deal with Maeda. Again (':
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Body horror, loss of limbs.

Kate doesn’t intentionally hide where she’s going from Damian. In fact, she doesn’t even think of it. She’s told him she’s interested in whatever that guy who stabbed him is really involved with, and after that, she just… doesn’t update him. She hasn’t found anything concrete yet, so it doesn’t seem worth giving him a play-by-play of all the dead ends.

So, as usual, she just tells him she’s going out and leaves. She doesn’t have a set destination in mind, really, but eventually her digging leads her to one of the fighting clubs, because of course it does. She’s still not really sure who stabbed Damian—she doesn’t even have a name—but spending so much time here is starting to give her a better sense of who always participates, who always seems to win despite the odds, who seems legit and who doesn’t.

It happens while she’s minding her business. Kate’s watching a fight, untouched drink in hand, when someone sidles up behind her. The place is so packed that she notices it, but dismisses it, and then suddenly there’s a hand covering her mouth, a jab in her shoulder. Apparently these things are so commonplace that no one even blinks when she sags to the ground and is summarily dragged out.

The rest happens in odd snatches—Kate’s aware, vaguely, that the man holding her knows Damian, blames Damian, from bits of his conversations she hears. He isn’t the one holding her for long, though. Eventually, she’s handed over to someone else. All she hears is the scuffle and a body hitting the floor before she’s hauled off again.

When Kate tries to escape, they aren’t particularly gentle in convincing her to stay put, and it doesn’t take long for Kate to decide she’s far outnumbered and just… wait. Surely an opportunity to get the hell out of here will present itself. No guard can pay perfect attention forever, right?

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There's a reason Damian never kept friends. Friends were, as a rule of thumb, a fucking headache and a liability. The amount of work and effort they cost you is never worth the return. It was easier when that way. Everybody else was dead weight, able to be cut off the second they started dragging him down. He was never afraid to be himself, never ashamed to be all teeth and claws.

Now he's not.

Kate doesn't come home when she should. He gives it twenty minutes before he sends a text. Thirty before he sends another, more insistent message demanding she respond. Forty before he allows himself to accept that something is terribly, terribly wrong.

Where the fuck is she?

It's only when he discovers the note posted outside the apartment, the wall is tagged BISHOP TAKES F4 and he turns and spies the taxi idling outside. F4. He doesn't get in - he pulls the driver's side door open and yanks the driver out, demanding to know who he is and what he knows.

When he gets that information (just to take him to another location, he swears, he swears) he sends a message to his brother.

[Bad username or site: jason @ todd]
I need your help.
Something's happened to Kate.

( first jason. then dick. and now loki's babying him, he and damian have had Conversations about it, there's so much other shit to be concerned over that he's still figuring out how to work through except there's also

this.

damian wouldn't ask for help like this, not with a line of something happened unless it was something massive and he was desperate. especially not with everything else happening. before he's even answering he's moving, filling jacket pockets with bullshit from around his apartment as he gets ready to high tail it out and find damian. )

where are you?

[ firing off a gps location. ]

[Bad username or site: hafid @ alghul]
Someone has her. Some wanna-be Riddler knock-off, leaving riddles and clues to find her location.
It's probably a trap.

don't go anywhere
don't chase after her
wait for me

( if kate's already in danger there's no need to put damian in a risky place too just to get a few extra seconds. she's resourceful, she can handle herself for the most part. )

Fine.
Hurry.

( jason doesn't need to be told twice. hell, in this situation? not even the once. he doesn't bother responding because damian already said he wouldn't be running off, and instead focuses on getting there as quick as possible. throws a leg over his bike and speeds off down the road until he gets to the nearest dark alley and parks his bike behind a recycling bin so he can rush to the gps coordinates damian sent over.

he's got his stupid hood on (a stupid move, when he's not supposed to be seen with damian but this isn't the time for that) and an arsenal of knives strapped into his nice, real leather jacket that shoved itself out of his chest a bit ago. ready for war, if that's what this is. )

What've we got?

[ he doesn't have a scrambler mask so he isn't putting on his nightwing suit, he's just standing stiff-backed and clenched jaw a few blocks away from his apartment. ]

Taxi driver was told to bring me to a place in the wrecked part of town. Probably to find another clue, if not get jumped... [ he's so angry, so angry, and his hard fought self-control is slipping. ] This is a game.

Doubt they're anticipating both of us showing up.

( so it's a trap, a game set up for damian to fall into, but they (hopefully) aren't expecting jason to come along for the ride. )

I've got my bike, we can go take a look without them knowing we're coming.

Then let's hurry up and go.

[ he's not wasting a second. ]

( a hand to damian's shoulder--as comforting as he can be right now--before jason's turning around and running towards his bike. expects damian to follow after and climb on after him too so they can get going as fast as possible. )

[ he’s on his tail, less than a step behind. Jason gets on the bike and Damian gets on right after, all tense lines and fury. ]

( damian gets on, and jason gets the address for him before they're off--definitely breaking a few speeding laws in the process as jason rides for the crappy area of town the taxi driver had been directed towards. damian's tense and jason--isn't any better. shoulders tight, fingers gripping too hard onto the bike but

they don't have the time to be angry either. anger leads to shitty decisions that end in crappy outcomes and with a hostage, that's--just a risk they have to avoid. he's already contacted loki, and when they park a few blocks away from where the taxi was instructed to go, jason's taking exactly two seconds to palm at his collection of hidden weapons before he's jabbing a thumb in the direction of the building, then points left and to himself, then right and to damian.

he'll take this way, damian can take the other way. but before they head off, he pulls a knife out of his jacket and offers it over. figures--damian didn't have time to prepare, one more blade couldn't hurt. )

[ he hadn't. jason's kris is still sitting in a glass case in his apartment. he should've thought to grab it. he takes the knife, feels the weight of it in his hand, then gives his brother a nod.

they'll handle this.

and they do. in relatively short order. the thugs were paid to jump him once he got out of that taxi, but since he didn't they aren't anticipating him. and they aren't anticipating jason either.

he wrings it out of one. knife pressed to his throat, murder clear in his eyes. cave system. he throws the guy down in disgust and tells him point fucking blank that he'll kill him if he ever sees his face again, no questions asked, and regroups with his brother.

caves it is. ]

( jason isn't so gentle. not now. not this time. the first thug gets a knife to an eye, the second a shattered femur. another has approximately twenty minutes to get medical attention before he ends up bleeding out all over the goddamn floor. whatever was holding him back from getting downright murderous before is gone now.

but he meets back up with damian with only mild amounts of blood splattered on his jacket. gives an irritated sound before he's getting back on the bike and heading with damian to the caves. )

[ jesus, jason. he doesn't say a word the whole way there. he's - warmer than he should be, on the verge of lighting up but restraining it with all that self-control he's learned over the past few months. be proud.

they get to the caves. damian thumbs the knife, sets his jaw, and braces himself for anything. ]

[Kate isn't particularly hard to reach. It seems that, beyond her little scavenger hunt, Maeda is just fine with Kate being found. They're set up in a little nook far enough into the cave system to be inconspicuous, but not so far that they take long to spot.

She is heavily guarded, though, and while the guards don't seem to care that she's worked her blindfold off, they're watching closely enough to keep her from trying much else, like working free of the zip ties binding her wrists, or even just getting her hands out in front of her. Which means, of course, that Jason and Damian are going to have a harder time being sneaky about this. Kate looks just about as pleased as they might expect.]

( unfortunately caves means there is no back entrance. there is no tunnel they can sneak through to grab hold of kate. no way of sneaking up on the guards, either. and using his own newish ability in front of them--probably isn't a smart idea. jason didn't have time to put on his vest he padded to try and hide the blue glow, and he has no intention of outing himself to these assholes.

so he pauses. takes a breath. grabs hold of a few more knives and tosses them right for the first two guards' collars. probably not enough to kill them outright but definitely enough to take them out.

see, he's helping. )

[ it's just fight.

thankfully, fighting is damian's favorite way of dealing with things. the first few guards fall and the rest kick into a frenzy, some armed with blades while others are packed to the gills with guns.

and unlike ninety percent of every other minion on the planet, their aim is pretty good. the brothers are free to fell as many grunts as they'd like, but the second they're open, someone's taking a shot with a tranquilizer. ]

[And they're pretty brutal about dealing with it, too. For once, Kate keeps her mouth shut about it. She's so relieved to see both of them that for now, at least, she's willing to forgive a little overenthusiastic knife work.

The important thing is, it gives her time to wiggle her arms in front of her and get to work on those zip ties. Her distraction means she notices the tranquilizer gun a second too late.]

Look out!

( look sometimes you just need to stab a guy to death. or close to it. or take out an eye, whatever. jason takes a fair amount of guys down--but then there's the few that follow in through other tunnels, and while jason's well-trained, so are these assholes. two against their numbers is just. damn near impossible.

and it's not long before he's feeling woozy, unable to discern the source of that feeling (the hell was kate warning them for? he's fine) until he stumbles and just about falls on his face. catches himself for a moment with a curse, before he actually does fall forward and land on his nose.

he's out. )

[ they're out. the brothers bat are many things, but undefeatable is not one of them. these guys have more numbers than they do, more weapons, and without the ability to freely use their powers they're at a disadvantage all around.

the tranq hits him square in the back of the neck. he fights through it, every bit as vicious and brutal as he's ever been -- but damian goes down hard when he finally goes down, hitting the ground hard on his shoulder.

he's out.

and when he comes to again, he's on his back. there's no need for restraints, he couldn't move if he wanted to. it isn't a compliance drug, but it seems to disconnect his body from his ability to move. he can think, and feel, but he can't... move.

there's someone new here. someone -- a woman, or a small man, maybe? -- in a mask, holding something unfamiliar in their hands. their attention isn't on him yet, but as he tries to stir, he sees the masked face turn towards him. ]

[ There's a woman standing above him, holding something shiny. The hired hands are beneath him, lifting him up before forcing him down to his knees. Those hands hold him steady, locking the joints of his shoulders and his elbows. It's not needed, but it's necessary. A finger curls beneath his chin and tips it up until he's looking at warped face of a tiger. ]

Thoughtless.

[ It's a low, amused and deliberately scolding.

The hands drape up him for both Kate and Jason, and the woman lifts the tool in her hand – it's shiny, and it flashes as it catches the light. It turns on with a bright, white heat. One of the men holding Damian's shoulder lifts an arm of his dominant hand. She moves without hesitation. Depending on what he can feel the light connects to the joint of his shoulder, where the bones inside connect. It takes only a minute, or perhaps an hour, but she works the saw through the flesh and the tendons. The saw works with a mind-numbing burn, and the smell of seared flesh follows. She's meticulous about her work, keeping him held down until it's over. There's a circle of burned flesh where a limb should be, and an arm on the floor with a careless thump. It might be hard to connect the two of the consequences together, but the woman is stepping away already, talking.

She turns to the person next to her and says wrap it up in a sharp, low tone that's not her own. One of them begins to wrap up the arm, tucking it in a thick cloth before taking it away.

They work quickly to clean up the site, mere minutes, the woman looming over Damian a moment more before the preparations to leave are complete. There's the low hum of a hover vehicle outside. When everyone begins to withdraw, the woman hangs behind. ]

This is your warning. Keep your business to yourself.

[ And then she's gone, and everything is eerily quiet. ]

[Kate doesn't have time to work the zip tie off. Damian and Jason hit the ground, and then one of the guards yanks her to her feet, holding her tight by the shoulders. The woman starts towards Damian, and Kate tries—and utterly fails—to break free.

For a moment, she can't figure out what the thing in the woman's hands is. Even when it turns on, her mind refuses to make the connection, not until the saw starts to descend. Again, Kate tries to break the man's grip, panic choking her, but he forces her to kneel and shoves a knee into her back, and then she can't move at all.

The rest is nightmarish. The saw cauterizes as it works, and the smell is horrific. Instinctively, Kate tries to look away, only for the guard to yank her head up by her hair, as though he wants her to watch. Within seconds, it doesn't matter anyway. Her vision blurs with tears, and she curls her hands into fists, digging her fingernails into her palms hard enough to break skin. Suddenly, she doesn't care about the knives Jason put through the other guards' throats. Clinging to her anger is the only thing that keeps her from throwing up. Somehow, she manages to keep herself from sobbing, but then Damian finally screams, and she breaks down completely.

Keep your business to yourself, the woman says, and all Kate can hear is that it's all her fault. The second the guard lets go of her, their task apparently done, Kate is scrambling across the floor to Damian.]

( the moment jason wakes up, he makes to move. doesn't even open his eyes first just--tries to twitch, to stir, to get something under him and he can't.

which is the first sign of many that whatever they got themselves into here, they're fucked. jason's been fucked before, sure. but usually when he gets himself into those situations he's. by himself. not drugged, on the ground in some cave, with two other people. two people he sincerely, never, ever wants to see anything bad happen to.

it's just too fucking bad that this happened then, isn't it.

jason can't move, can't do jack shit and it's. yet another trauma playing on repeat. he can't stop maeda, but he sure as hell can throw every damn curse he can think of at her. promises to kill her in every manner humanly possible, calls her every name in the book. yells until his voice goes hoarse and if it weren't for the mask over his face, the tears would be obvious.

there's not much that can break him anymore, but this? this is definitely on the list. they're streaming down his face, staining cheeks and if jason were thinking straight he'd be grateful that maeda didn't think to take it off.

(she probably already knows, huh. jason's cautious but he studies his enemies well, he's sure she has resources for days. sniffed him out even with him avoiding hanging with damian on the daily during daytime activities)

kate scrambles across for damian and jason's. still frozen on the ground. sees red as he watches the grunts and maeda walk away. imagines shoving more than just knives down each of their throats once he gets his feet under him again.

what's the point of a fucking army if he can't use it to get what he wants? )

[ this isn't his first time being taught a painful lesson. damian is well accustomed to brutes and connivers going after him, the easiest member of the justice league to make bleed. but -

but this is different. he's never been this helpless before. clark has always been there to hear him suffering, to come running, but his clark isn't here right now. the masked figure - maeda, he's certain it's maeda - taunts him, and mocks him, and he can't move. it's all he can do not to give her the satisfaction of screaming.

so he doesn't.

at least until the saw begins to rip through bone, muscle, and tendon and the lack of anesthesia combined with him being oh so very human rips one from his throat. the tears follow shortly thereafter, breath hitching, gagging around the agony he feels. this isn't happening. this isn't happening.

he doesn't realize they're actually gone until kate is there in tears. he still can't move, but now he's certain it's more from the shock than the drugs. ]

Are you... hurt?

[Kate finally manages to work off the zip tie and struggles to get her emotions under control. The second he asks her if she's okay, though, she loses it all over again. She's a little bruised up, but they barely touched her, and here he is, missing an arm and still more worried about her than about himself.

She brushes the hair from his face, hand sliding down to cup his cheek. She doesn't care what kind of overwhelming emotions leak through the empathy bond.]

I'm okay.

[She can't bring herself to look at the space where his arm used to be. Somehow, the fact that there's barely any blood makes her stomach turn more. They have to get him out of here, and Kate, who always prides herself for thinking on her feet, is at a loss. How is she supposed to lift him, let alone Jason, when it seems like neither of them can move?

She hesitates, then gives in and leans down to press her forehead against his, voice trembling.]

I'm so, so sorry, Damian.

( it's a lesson being burned into damian's flesh but it's not one he deserves. pissing off maeda was jason's doing. it was his fight. it was his stupid move that started all of this and now it's--it's not him who is paying for it, but damian. he's fine, physically; a few bruises, nothing that won't heal easy but the ache in his chest only gets stronger, spreads to his gut and it feels like it's going to eat him alive.

(it just might. knowing all of this was his fault, his doing, and here damian is down a goddamn arm because jason todd couldn't clean up his own problems. he almost wishes bruce were here, his bruce. so he could tell him how badly he fucked up until it made bruce angry enough to take it out on him. having the physical pain to back up the mental typhoon going on would feel a lot better)

but life doesn't work that way, does it. the mess he is under the surface can't solve jack shit for everything else. but the mask does it's job of hiding it. jason bites the inside of his cheek until it bleeds, waits until he can start to move and. shoves an unsteady arm under him, then the other. tries to push himself up to his feet and when it fails the first time tries again.

kate has damian, there's nothing else he can do. there's no words he can offer to fix it.

so he tries to get unsteady legs to run him right out to where the assholes responsible are making their getaway instead. )

[ it was a stupid move. he could yell at her, tell her off for putting her nose into things she didn't understand. he could fight her, he could throw her out of his life and cut her off.

instead he brings his remaining hand up to gently clasp the back of her head, pressing their heads together. ]

We need to get out of here... Get Jason.

[ he's pretty sure he's going to pass out. the wound might be cauterized, but that doesn't mean this place is clean enough for it to be open and exposed in. and, beyond that, the sheer amount of trauma his body just went through cannot be good for it.

what the fuck is he going to do?

at least talia had ensured he was raised to be ambidextrous. ]

[He's right. She doesn't have time for guilt or panic or grief, even though all those things are threatening to choke her right now. There's no way she can ever apologize enough or make this up to him, but Jason is probably about to do something stupid, and the only thing that matters right now is that Damian needs help. Get it together, Bishop.

She straightens, sucks in a shaky breath, and wipes the tears from her cheeks.]

Jason.

[Thankfully, her voice comes out stern and no nonsense, not the trembling mess she was expecting.]

I can't carry him alone. We need to get him to a doctor.

( he's almost out the entrance. almost able to get his legs steady under him. soon he'll chase those assholes down, show them what it feels like to lose part of themselves but--kate says his name, and it's enough to grab his attention. jason pauses in place, takes a deep breath in.

turns himself right back around and walks over to damian and kate. gets down on his knees in front of damian and leans forward to slide his arms under his shoulders and knees to carefully pick him up.

doesn't say a goddamn word, because those aren't going to help him right now. )

[ he grits his teeth, hissing through his teeth as he's moved and the missing part of him feels it. his remaining arm circles around his brother's neck for stability, breath coming out in a pained huff.

he's going to kill her. he's going to kill her. he's not wearing a domino mask to cover his face, there was no point in that, there's nothing to hide the sharp widening of his eyes. ]

[Kate should have expected Jason to just lift Damian like he's nothing, but somehow she didn't, and she's left scrambling to her feet to follow. Her implant tells her there are a few hospitals nearby, but suddenly she's realizing how out of the loop she is on this entire situation, and she doesn't know if where they go matters.]

Where do you want to go? Is there anywhere we should avoid?

[At least she can lose herself in the logistics and keep the breakdown at bay.]

( jason--has no idea what the fuck is going on either. maeda had been quiet for so long, he doesn't know what started this again but he's--not going to ask. instead, he carefully adjusts damian into what he hopes is a semi-comfortable position, can't--even look at where his arm used to be.

instead he's standing himself up and turning around towards the exit. pausing to make sure his footing's stable before he takes a step (soft, soft as he can) towards the entrance.

tries to get his voice steady before he speaks, but it's still hoarse and broken. )

My bike's outside. If you can grab it and the hood and stash them, I'll--get him to a hospital and send you the room number.

[ for once he doesn't offer up an argument. there's no stubborn assurances of being fine or not needing to do that, just damian gritting his teeth and trying not to focus on how stupid he feels for being this helpless. he could probably walk now, get himself there, but that feels like wasted effort. ]

We... [ pause. steadying his voice. ]</small Need a cover story.

[Kate's steps slow for the barest second. The selfish part of her wants to tell Jason he's nuts if he thinks she's leaving Damian, but she knows he's right. They can't just leave the bike out, and she can't carry Damian. Still, despite her best attempts, some of that reluctance leaks into her voice.]

Are you two going to be okay?

No, we won't be.

( they're not even all in one piece, but they're not dead either. jason--gets what kate is asking, but he really can't offer any reassurances when the only reason he isn't either falling apart or breaking under anger is because damian is literally missing an arm. jason sends over the keycode to his bike though, then slouches forward enough that kate can yank the helmet off of his head.

taking an id scrambler into the hospital is a shit idea. revealing himself around maeda is also a shit idea, but he's not dropping damian off and leaving him. )

But I'll give you the room number soon as I've got it. ( so he can take off and take his anger out on something that isn't close to damian. )

[ speak for yourself, jason. he grits his teeth. vic stone managed to survive despite being essentially half a head and chunks of spare parts. there's no way in hell he's going to roll over and die from this. ]

Go. We'll be fine.

[ he's awake, speaking through grit teeth. this shit hurts even if jason is being feather light and careful. ]

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CW Loss of limb, body horror.

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cw child abuse mentions

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