[Comprehensive British and American] Family Matters

Ubud drives Jason and Damian to Thalia's safehouse.They will stay here for three days. If Thalia has not followed up, then Ubud will get them out of the country with false identities. When Thalia can get away, she will naturally find them.In the worst case, Rashaw kills Thalia in a fit of rage, then Jason and Damian will be sent to Gotham to be protected by their father—if Rashaw is so crazy If that's the case, it would be a better idea for Batman to defeat the Demon Lord directly than to hide the children.

Of course, Ubud didn't give his all about the plan against the two irascible grandparents, especially in the second half.

The cold war between Jason and Damian barely lasted until the two of them lay back to back on the bed after the lights were turned off.

"I feel that smell all over my body." Jason buried his nose in the pillow, his voice sounded muffled, "I can't wash it off after many times."

"That's your psychological effect." Damian replied with his eyes closed without even moving, "You smell like a bathroom cleaner now... citrus."

"I'm serious, I can still smell that smell." Jason moved under the quilt and curled himself up into a ball, "When I close my eyes, I feel like I'm still in the pool, even those voices Can't drive away."

Damian didn't reply right away, just when Jason thought he had really fallen asleep, he heard a voice trying to suppress his emotions: "Is it really that bad?"

"Uh...I won't use 'bad', I suggest 'rotten' is a better description." Jason reached out and pressed his ear, "It's better not to have this hallucination permanently."

"It's not." Damian replied quickly this time, "It will fade after a while, and it's the same with the smell you mentioned."

Jason let out a hum that he didn't know whether it was relaxation or sarcasm, and didn't bring up any more topics about smell or sound.Damian wasn't fooled by Jason's calm breathing, he knew Jason must be refusing to sleep with his eyes open now.It's not that he can sit back and relax, he just tried his best to get the image of his mother and grandfather out of his mind - worrying here won't help, don't think about it.

"What is a father like?" Damian just wanted to find a topic that would be enough to distract the two of them, and this was the first thing he thought of.

Although he accidentally found the Batman cape and hood in his mother's collection, and speculated that the vigilante in Gotham City was his father, but his mother was never willing to say more.He didn't find any information about Batman in the database of the Assassin's League, and only his mother and grandfather had high enough authority to see it.

But Jason knew.He lived with his father, at least for a while.Thinking of this, Damian couldn't help but feel a little jealous, even though he knew that Jason's life was not a peaceful and happy life, and it could even be said that it was far from a happy life.

"He... um... it's okay." Jason stammered, "As long as you can stand him being paranoid about everything, always being paralyzed by paranoia, frequent emotional constipation, and every time something unexpected happens, he will Start 'I should have...' and get stuck in a cycle of self-blame."

Damian felt that the disillusionment about his father was a bit fast: "You said he seems to have serious psychological problems."

"He's always had it." Jason didn't realize that his brother's heart was cracked, and admitted without any pretentiousness, "I mean, why do ordinary people go to a trauma support group after experiencing severe trauma? Or just look for opportunities to kill the enemy. How many people will choose to dress up as a bat and come out in the middle of the night to beat up criminals because of childhood trauma? Let me say, his psychological problems have been going on for decades."

"I thought...father was protecting his...territory." Damian felt that as a son, he had an obligation to defend his father's dignity—even if it was another son who was tearing things apart.

"That's true. You know what the first thing he said to Superman? 'Get out of my city' with an emphasis on 'mine'. That's what Dick told me. Um, he's The first Robin." Jason lowered his voice and imitated Bruce's threat with a hoarse guttural voice.

"I know about the first Robin, my mother said he was my father's favorite disciple." Damian seemed reluctant to admit that Thalia praised Dick, "but that's because my father hasn't met me yet , I will be the most qualified to inherit my father's mantle!"

"Ahem!" Jason coughed twice on purpose, and turned to face Damian's back, "I'm still here, I can hear you."

"Of course I know you're still here, idiot." Damian followed, and the two began to stare. "This still doesn't change the fact that I will be the perfect heir."

"Uh... I'm sorry to break your dream, but I'm older than you from any point of view. So..." Jason pointed to himself, "Heir", and stroked Damian's hair, "little brother .”

Damian didn't wave Jason's hand away, but showed a dangerous smirk, "Do you really want me to list the historical facts of how many younger brothers successfully killed the older brother and finally inherited the family business?"

"Oh, I'm hurt, I'm really hurt, I didn't expect you to be such a brother." Jason wiped his tears pretending to be heartbroken, "I have a fact for your reference, I don't know how he did it, but my dear Dad searched all the way among the stars of the galaxy just to save me, and promised me he would take me home."

Although Jason has been resurrected due to unknown reasons, not to mention that he has already forgiven Bruce for not saving him in time, strictly speaking, Bruce cannot be blamed for that matter, this kind of heart still makes him feel flattered .Not every parent has a list of psychological problems as long as Bruce's, but not every parent will not give up after the death of the child, exhausting all means to bring the child back to life.

"Impossible!" Damian looked more than shocked, it was as if his worldview had been reshaped.

"It's possible, but this story is very long, so I'll tell you next time." Jason reluctantly rubbed Damian's hair twice, and retracted his claws before the kid reacted and went crazy.

With a little anticipation, Damian closed his eyes and let the sleepiness take him away.

But until two days later, Thalia appeared at the door of the safe house with a vicissitudes of life, saying that Jason and Damian would be sent to different places. Jason followed Thalia with a gloomy face, and Damian left. He didn't hear the story of the stars and the sea that he was looking forward to.

The little assassin looked angrily at the news photo that had been stabbed to pieces with a knife, and it could be vaguely seen that it was the Dark Knight of Gotham and his assistant.

——It's all the Red Robin's fault!

Damian secretly decided that if he ran into this stupid impostor, he must do this and that, and let him know that not just anyone can stand by his father's side!

Jason was in a good mood before seeing that photo.Although he didn't sleep soundly, at least when he woke up, he felt that the smell and sound of the pool water seemed to subside a little.This is a good sign, Damian is right, he will probably be able to get rid of the aftereffects of the pool in a few days.

But it's quite boring to stay in the room, especially the original purpose of this room is not for the user to live for a long time, it is not like Nightwing's safe house with all kinds of living facilities.There is only a simple bed, a cabinet, a low table and bathroom equipment, and the space for activities is limited, let alone a duel.

If the two of them really did this, Ubud would cry and faint at the door.

Electronic devices may be hacked, so Damian suggested to get a newspaper to read. His intention at the beginning was to show off his Arabic (didn’t Jason also show off his English skills!), ready to When Jason was at a loss, he showed mercy and translated.

Ubud gave him a suspicious look when he made this request (he had never read a printed newspaper before), but obediently went to get a copy of the day's daily newspaper and came back.The first few pages were quite interesting. Jason used his unproficient Arabic to half-guess, and Damian occasionally corrected his grammar of a few words or sentences. You come and I go gradually become Educational language exchange learning.Until they turned to the international version, in addition to the reports on the activities of the Justice League heroes in various places, the photos of Batman and Red Robin took up a lot of space. Terrorist, how ruthless this terrorist is, how many countries have been harmed by biochemical attacks, and how quickly the new vitality duo captured this person who gave Interpol a headache.

Damian didn't dare to look at Jason's expression.He tried to pretend he didn't find anything, and planned to fold the newspaper and throw it out the window, only to find that Jason had slammed the page on the ground.

"What the hell is this?" Jason stretched out his index finger and poked fiercely at the figure in the red uniform in the photo, "When did Red Robin's business expand from burgers, fries and fried chicken to superheroes, ah ?”

Damian thinks it's best for him not to talk too much at this point.

"Is this 'Don't be afraid, son, Daddy will take you home'? Huh? Go home and watch him find a new Robin to fly around Gotham!" Jason found a small knife from nowhere, Start poking at that photo, "Damn 'Most Efficient Energetic Duo', Damn 'Calm Professional Teenage Hero', should I send a flower basket and write 'To my dear replacement, happy work, Watch out for the clown 'Huh? Really? Is that so?"

"I think, go home and this Red Robin, don't conflict?" Damian saw that Jason had finished poking Red Robin, and started poking Batman, thinking that he should try to comfort Jason, "You can still Go home generously, because you are your father's son, and this is your right, even if someone wears your heroic uniform."

"That's not my uniform. I don't love red so much, okay! My Robin uniform is a classic color scheme of yellow, green and red. Do you understand the classics? Even if it takes 100 or 200 years, it will never go out of fashion. Robin is It should be yellow, green and red!" Jason finally stabbed a certain part that made Damian feel pain just by looking at it, and he didn't want to find out whether Jason did it on purpose or the gravity of the universe made the knife so just right falls there.

"You shouldn't spend your time on such...insignificant people. The point is that father wants you to come home! Right? You said that your father broke through the galaxy to find you, so he will definitely welcome you back." As long as Jason doesn't look so angry, Damian doesn't mind helping him stomp on the "Red Robin".

"No! It's totally relevant! His own words 'I'll take you home' should mean my place in the family was never taken. And I'm Robin and Robin is me. It's not a job , you can put anyone on it, but now I’m replaced by this fast food guy who came out of nowhere.” Jason began to pace back and forth in the small room irritably, and Damian kept his eye contact with Jason and listened attentively to him. The appearance of talking, the hand quickly stretched out and pulled out which knife to hide in the clothes.The last thing he needs right now is a Jason with a Lazarus effect still in his hands and starting to freak out with a weapon.

"What did you make this look like? This is when your baby was abducted. Before you lost contact, you told him: 'Don't worry, baby, I will definitely save you!' After saying that, you gave birth to a litter with your wife, okay? It’s easy for your baby to escape from birth and come home safely. You greet him: "Baby, come and see, these are your younger brothers and sisters!" The paralyzed child grows out of the soil? Plant a seed in spring, and fall Harvest the son of a land?"

Pacing couldn't reduce Jason's full of resentment, and the Crime Alley accent that he hadn't seen for a long time sneaked out again when he was excited.He remembered that there was a small desk lamp on the table, so he wanted to reach out to take the lamp and smash it to vent his anger, but he only got a handful of air.

Damian is holding the desk lamp he is going to smash and studying the base carefully: "Well, the design of this line is simple and stylish, and the curved surface of the lampshade eases the glare of the light bulb. What a distraction... Well, this light is not bad, it is worthy of the light of the safe house of O. Gu's house."

Jason knew which trick Damian was playing, it was nothing more than to prevent him from smashing things so as not to hurt himself, the problem was the comment on this scene plus the lamp in his hand... This little ghost has a lot of tricks to play. It's like that!Even he unconsciously looked up at that lamp!

"Damian, that's a table lamp from IKEA, and it costs nine dollars and ninety-nine cents a piece."

Even so, Damian can continue his tricks safely.He steadily put the lamp back to its original place, raised his head slightly with his hands behind his back, and shook his head at Jason with a look that "only an artist like me can understand": "How can the value of money measure the value of a real work of art to the soul?" The comfort it brings."

Jason and Groot faced Damian together with blank expressions and slightly open mouths.

"I'm Groot." (Although I can't understand it, it seems very powerful.)

"You really are a Wayne." Jason sat down on the bed, shaking his head feeling tired, "You are exactly the same as Bruce, I'm not talking about looks, but the ability to talk nonsense with your mouth, it's strange, They are obviously the same parents, why don't I have such a magical brain hole?"

Damian decided it would be better if he didn't answer the question.

The strange atmosphere in the safe room was suppressed until Thalia appeared at the door in full beard and tail, took Jason away in a hurry, and ordered Ubud to take Damian to the next agreed place to wait for her instructions.

After packing the last luggage, Damian hesitated for a few seconds, and carefully picked up the miserable photo that seemed to be used as a curse material.It took Jason two days to make him fully realize how important Robin is to him, and how the appearance of this "fast food kid" represented the tragic fact that Robin was taken away from Jason .Of course, Damian is not one to be led by one-sided rhetoric.Let him face to face with this red Robin, and Damian will personally accept this guy as Robin who is not qualified to succeed Jason - with a knife he just sharpened.

Ubud, who was driving ahead, looked at Xiaozu's gloomy expression in the rear mirror from time to time.Looking at the messy photo in his hand again, no matter who the red-clothed boy is, Ubud only hopes that he won't die too badly.

***

Thalia said nothing about what Reshaw had done after they fled, and Jason didn't bother to ask.But he will definitely write this down, and one day in the future he will ask Lei Xiao to get it back.

"Where are we going?" Jason looked from the helicopter and saw only a snow-covered ridge. "Is it really necessary to go all the way to the Himalayas?"

"Trust me, Jason. It's absolutely necessary." Thalia gestured to the driver, and the helicopter wobbled under the strong mountain wind and landed in a valley where there were no villages in the front and no shops in the back.

Jason shivered and tightened his coat, hoping to reduce the cold wind from the cuffs and neckline.Thalia took out a scarf from her own luggage, wrapped it around Jason's neck twice to cover his mouth and nose, and stuffed both ends into the neckline of his jacket, sealing the gap tightly.He took out the fur hat and earmuffs again, ignoring Jason's blushing protest, and put them on his head forcefully.

"Okay, it won't be cold this way, and we still have to walk for a while." Thalia looked at Jason's attire from left to right, nodded in satisfaction and led the way, "Remember, you have to behave nicely when you meet someone. Be tactful, Dakla was a great teacher."

"Dakla? Oh, you mean to teach you to 'clean your heart' and then boo-bang! It's kind of like a magic move?" Jason made the fist and push palm again in the back, and Thalia Turned back in surprise, and then gave him a big smile, "Uh, yes... I actually remember what you said to me before I... woke up, not all of them, but... Daquela, I Impressed."

"That's her, she is the leader of the big caste, they are an isolated stealth warrior who has been protecting humans from the darkness for thousands of years. So Jason—" Thalia said in front of a mountain wall He stopped and took off his winter wool hat, then turned around and took off Jason's hat, earmuffs and scarf and put them away, and helped him smooth out the wrinkles of his clothes, "Be good, I mean real."

Jason curled his lips noncommittally, followed Talia to the mountain wall, passed through a passage similar to an interstellar jump point, and entered the country of the "big caste".

"Hey!" Jason whistled, and began to explore on his own not too far from Thalia, "This place is completely different from the outside, is it similar to a pocket dimension? Interesting!"

"Keep close, Jason, so you don't anger the guards." Thalia looked around Jason, and she was about to wander to an unknown corner, so she quickly called him to stop, but it was too late step.

More than a dozen monks with spears poured out from all directions, and their weapons pointed at Jason from every corner, forcing him to approach Talia step by step.Thalia looked as if she had expected this situation a long time ago, she still stood respectfully by the side of the road, and did not protest the actions of the monks.

But Jason didn't like this situation.To be precise, he didn't like being pointed at by weapons.If he has to behave a little better in other people's territory, then he can just say: "So you are planning to be together... Mmm!"

Thalia covered Jason's mouth, put on a straight face and gave him a warning "shh" before slowly letting go.Jason felt as if he had returned to the days of Robin, and he shrank back to the corner sleepily after being glared at by Batman.

An old lady slowly came out from behind the monk.She is really old, and her face is full of folds like dried bark.Wearing robes similar to those of the monks, leaning on crutches and hunched over, he staggered in front of Thalia and Jason.

"Yo! Where is this little bastard!" The old lady stood still in front of Jason, looking at the young man in front of her with a provocative expression, and interrupted Jason's self-introduction by hitting the ground with her cane. Bow before your elders, boy."

Thalia had already bent down deeply, but she didn't expect that Jason didn't imitate her posture as she thought. Instead, he half-kneeled and looked at the hunchbacked old lady at the same level, and then reached out to touch the other's silver hair. Si: "Grandma, I'm sorry, bowing is not my style."

As soon as the word "Grandma" came out, Thalia felt that her eyes were dark and she wanted to pass out.Jason has been an autistic child for so long that she has forgotten how annoying this kid was when he was Robin.

"Jason! I told you to be good!" She was about to reprimand Jason before Da Ke pulled his hand, hoping to appease the anger of the leader of the big caste, but only saw Jason being thrown to the ground Passed out, "Ah... just pretend I didn't say anything."

Thalia is still convinced of Da Kela, a nagging woman.She believes that Jason will benefit a lot from her 3000 years of life experience, as well as the training of the big caste on fighting inner darkness.

Otherwise... she would never forgive herself for letting that pool of water stain the child.

***

Gotham Wayne House: A few days later.

After studying various ancient rituals and magic, Bruce finally chose the one he judged to be the most effective and has the least side effects, and also synthesized the secret methods of various religions as an aid. He could not directly consult the mages in the alliance. He knew what they would say.Even though the progress was slow, Bruce still chose to dry it himself, and today he will actually try it.

Ceremony venue: Confirm.

Ritual props: Confirm.

Ceremonial Materials Group A: Confirmation.

Ritual Mantra: Confirmation.

Ritual Materials Group B: Confirmation.

With everything in place, he can start—Bruce stood at the perfect place he had calculated several times, the entrance hall of Wayne’s house, holding up his homemade ancient sacrificial staff, which he bought with a lot of money, deeply He took a deep breath and prepared to start reciting the mantra that he had memorized countless times silently.

Tim lit four incense burners beside him, running around and fanning diligently to make the incense spread faster.

"Master Bruce, there is a guest at the door. I think you'd better go and meet him first." Afu looked helplessly at his unrecognizable hall, and decided to interrupt Bruce's ceremony first.

"Not now, Fu. This is the first time I have tried this kind of ritual, and this attempt is very important!" Bruce rejected Fu without looking back, and repositioned himself.

It was at this time that the door was pushed open by uninvited guests.

"Who! You are breaking into a private house!" Bruce turned his head angrily, but was stunned when he saw the appearance of the visitor and his standard Assassin's League attire.

The guest proudly puffed out his chest, carrying a bright knife on his shoulder, looking down at the world, as if he was unaware of the fact that he had just rushed into a black magic ceremony.

"Father." He stood still in front of Bruce, looked at the ceremonial staff in his left hand and the strange props in his right hand...and finally stopped on Bruce's expressionless face, "I thought you would... Uh... um."

Ah Fu covered his face, completely unwilling to know what the guest did not say.

Ah, the image of the Wayne family!