Jason Todd

His body was sore with exhaustion, his mouth still occasionally swelling with blood and his bindings chafed with every breath he took. Still, despite the pain he felt and the torture he'd endured, it wasn't worse than his near death from Deathstroke. Maybe it was because he knew that no matter how much he wanted to, Hurricane wouldn't actually kill him until he got an answer he liked. Maybe he thought he wouldn't kill him at all, in favor of staying off Madalyn's bad side. Or maybe he'd just reached the point where he didn't care anymore; whichever the reason he was sure this wouldn't be as scarring to him.

The room they were keeping him in was dark and bare but for the chair he was strapped in. Without windows and the only real light coming when Hurricane decided to gift him with his presence, Jason didn't know where he was or how long he'd been there. Before being knocked awake in the room, the last thing he remembered was helping some of the civilians out of the club before a blistering pain went through his skull.

Even without a way to tell the time, Jason got the sense that not much had passed between Hurricane's first visit and the unexpected stranger that followed.

The door had opened a lot calmer than when Hurricane was behind it, which had tipped Jason off that there was something odd. Then a tall, unfamiliar guy with dark hair walked in, looking at him as though he knew every one of his secrets. "Huh, so Danny hasn't killed you yet," he'd said by way of greeting. "I was almost positive that he would. He's not exactly skilled in self control." Jason didn't respond. "I'd tell you you were better off just giving him what he wants, but I think we both know that's be a lie."

"Who the fuck are you?" Jason blurted, impatience getting the best of him.

The stranger's mouth quirked in amusement. "A friend of Hurricane's and Emmy's-- though uou know her as Madalyn, I've heard."

"Great," Jason groaned sarcastically. "Another unrequited love from her past. Because Hurricane Douche wasn't enough."

The guy actually flinched in disgust, intriguing Jason. "Unrequited love? Don't be ridiculous. I'm her twin brother, Roman."

"Twin brother?" Jason repeated skeptically. trying to find any resemblance between the two.

"Fraternal twins," Roman added with irritation. "And unlike Daniel, I don't care about any of her love affairs since the last time I saw her."

"Great, because I've got nothing to tell you about 'em. So you can't let me go, I'll consider not kicking anyone's ass on my way out and--"

Roman cut off his words, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "You may not be worth anything there, but you do still serve a purpose to me. And as long as that's true, you won't be going anywhere."

Jason glared. "And what purpose is that exactly?"

"Bringing my sister home," he answered nonchalantly. "I'd rather that she would've come home more willingly and on her own, but circumstances haven't allowed for that. She's already been gonefor nearly seven years and i would prefer not to lose another second more with her."

This time Jason laughed, earning his own glare. "You're fucking kidding me, right? That's why I'm here? You think Maddie is going to come running because uou took me hostage? We've barely known each other a week, i think you're seriously over- expecting on this one." Though he'd spoken the words, Jason couldn't fully bring himself to believe them. Since they'd met, he and Maddie had clicked, having each others back without words. Whether from a mutual feeling of kinship or personal relationships that bound them, Jason had the feeling Madalyn would come for him.

She was a lot like Dick when it came to feelings of obligation to others.

"You know, like my sister, I have my own abilities," Roman said with a smirk. "Mine are greatly centered on the mental. For example, i can tell that you're lying."

"So you're a walking, broken, lie detector? Congratulations," Jason scoffed.

Roman pushed off the wall, closing the space between them until he was towering over Jason. The look on his face was one of arrogance. "I can see into an unconscious mind," he said calmly. "If I look hard enough, I can see your most recent memories, feel what you felt. Like that bond you seemed to have with my sister. The same one that she felt and that wil bring her here, to save you. That's how I know that you're lying."

Jason blinked in silence for a moment. "So...you're a walking mood ring."

Something in Roman snapped. He gritted his teeth angrily bending so that his face was inches fro Jason's. A sharp, stabbing headache suddenly went through Jason's skull, blood beginning to strea down from his nose. The harder Roman stared at him, the more painful the headache grew. Jason began gritting his own teeth to bite back the scream trying to escape him. "That hell in your head right now? Yeah, that's me too. If i really wanted to, I could give you a brain aneurysm right now and you'd end up dead before witnessing my sister proving me right. So why don't you stop being a dick long enough to have some self preservation," he barked.

"Not...really...my thing," Jason gasped out between the pain. He didn't get to say another word before Roman backhanded him and he fell unconscious.

Since then, Hurricane had been to see him twice, demanding to know about Dick. Roman never returned and no one else appeared. He'd begun to believe it was just the two of them. If he could get a few seconds of the upperhand, he was sure he could get himself free.

Until D'amato walked in, adding at least ten men to Jason's mental tally. It wouldn't make his escape impossible, but he had to admit it complicated things for him in his current state.

"You're awake," he said, sounding pleased as he closed the door behind himself. "Perfect, saves me the unnecessary effort of rousing you. You might've missed something otherwise and it would've been a pity really. Given our encounters thus far, I'm willing to bet the girl will be very entertaining.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jason said with a roll of his eyes.

"You're friend, with the exceptional abilities who I heard you continuously insisted wouldn't come to your rescue. Which personally, I'm glad you were wrong about," D'amato answered. "Having her on my side will ensure no one will ever challenge me again Even better, I'll have Lex Luthor's strongest experiments--"

"Before you continue with your proud little evil plan or whatever, I have to know something," Jason interrupted. "Is there some kind of villainy course or something you all have to take that tells you to give your motives away in a monologue? Because, damn, you bitches talk way too much."

D'amato's neck reddened with anger but he kept the amused smirk in place. "Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I personally like when things come together, bringing so much joy, you just have to share that with someone. Who better than the hostage that made it all happen?"

"I don't know what you think is going to happen, but I'm for damn sure it's not going to be Madalyn joining you. For one thing, she doesn't really seem like the team player type. For another, you and your guys have tried to kill her several times."

"I heard we even succeeded once," D'amato said with a laugh. "What an interesting little trick her resurrection was. Care to share the finer details of it?"

"Guess that depends," Jason retorted. "Would you care to eat shit?" He flashed a wide, mocking smile that tugged at the bruises on his face, his lip splitting once more.

Rather than grant Jason his silent wish of further annoyance, D'amato smiled as though at a business meeting. One arm moved from it's place behind him, revealing a tablet in his hand. Jason watched the screen light up as the finger's of D'amato's other hand worked across it. "While you may not be very eager to share any information, perhaps Madalyn will feel otherwise. Let's see what happens, shall we?"

He turned the table for Jason to see, the screen filled with the image of an empty warehouse space. The camera was set at an angle a few feet above, but Jason didn't need to see their faces to know he was staring at the back of HUrricane and Roman in the middle of the room. Roman stood still as a statue, no movement at all to give away his thoughts. HUrricane seemed to hold true to his namesake, blowing around the space with agitation.

The sound of a door opening echoed in the space and through the tablet speakers, a sliver of brighter light crossing from the far left corner of the screen and room. The first to emerge from the light was a shadow then, a tumbling body clearly just thrown through. Hurricane stopped his pacing, his attention drawn to the action as Roman took a single step forward. Jason's eyes narrowed as he focused on the motionless form, barely making out the hair splayed around the head. For a moment, he felt as though someone had punched him in the gut, sure he was looking at an unconscious Madalyn; if not already dead. But before his shadow emerged from the doorway spotlight, disappearing as the door closed behind them and they physically came into frame.

If he hadn't heard her voice just then, he would've believed Black Canary had somehow stumbled across them from the outfit she wore. "I agreed to show up without any problems. I didn't need an escort inside, let alone a handsy one. I would say you should reconsider the company you keep, buthonestly this one seemed to line up with you pretty well." From the rigid stanze of her body and the way she crossed her arms over her chest, Jason could tell she was pissed.

Somehow, Hurricane didn't seem to get that memo. "Nice outfit," he called out to her appreciatively. Though he couldn't see it, Jason was sure his icy gaze was roving up and down her form. "New, is it?"

"Very much so," Madalyn replied in a tone he could only think to describe as chipper. Jason felt himself begin to smile, knowing that her follow up words wouldn't be meant the same. "So I would really prefer not to get blood on it so soon. Don't get me wrong, I will if I have to, without so much as a flinch. But I would very much appreciate if I didn't. It's been a long week and really I just want some rest, so if you could just give me Jason--"

"Is he dead?" Roman interrupted, gesturing with one hand at the motionless person between them.

There was a pause, followed by Madalyn's sigh. "Will my answer effect Jason's current status in any way?"

"No."

"Awesome," she declared. "Then yes, this guy's dead. Or he will be soon enough. We have a little bet going that he can't hold his breath long enough for me to realize I want him. He seemed very confident he could."

"Why would he..." Hurricane began before trailing off.

"I can be very persuasive," Madalyn said impatiently, all humor leaving her voice. "Now where's Jason?"

"Around," Roman answered calmly. "Before we deal with that though, we have some things to discuss."

"Oh yeah, like what? How CADMUS can afford to experiment on me and cover it up and make super- clones, but they can't afford a decent hideout?" Madalyn gestured to the dreary space around them as she continued. "Or the fact that this looks nothing like I was made to believe? Great way to earn my trust by the way. Especially now that you won't let me see Jason and expect me to believe--"

Her words cut off, her body stiffening and Jason grew tense in his seat. He didn't know what was going on which made him want to breakfree even more. The problem was, he hadn't quite figured out how yet.

After a brief pause, her stanze shifted, her hands balling into fists at her sides. "How do I know that's real?" she demanded earning a nonchalant shrug from Roman.

"You'll just have to trust me."

"Care to wager how long you can hold your breath til that happens?"

"If I've learned anything from the lack of permanece of your deaths, it's that you aren't someone I want to bet against," Roman answered. "But if you really insist on doubting me, then maybe you'll believe your friends."

"What are you talking about?"

"No use in playing stupid, Emmy," Roman said. "I can hear everything in this building and when you arrived, so did four additional, distinctive heartbeats. You didn't come here alone, like you promised. You're just down here to distract us."

From the corner of his eye, Jason saw D'amato straighten, the tablet shifting slightly in his grasp as though he somehow didn't see this outcome coming. Jason felt the corner of his mouth twitch up into a smirk a second before gunfire was heard in the hall, followed by the roar of a tiger. His gaze and and attention averted towards the door, he could still hear Maddie's words come from the tablet.

"Fair enough, but I don't know what you want me to say. Except that...Titans are back, bitch."