Chapter Text
This was the seventh dead body in the last three weeks.
Marbee Juan. A downtown girl looking to go up in the world by being in beauty pageants. On the surface she was just a girl. A bitch according to anyone who knew her but Tim doubted she deserved a death like this.
The MO was similar but like the others varied in a few ways. This girl had her tongue cut out and eye’s removed antemortem, signs of sexual assault, and had her head smashed in.
Feliciano Bertinelli, a large man belonging to the mob family Bertinelli originally but had since left and joined the Serpientes Cabeza’s. He had been tied to a chair, beaten and stabbed with a rusted pipe 87 times. Tongue cut out postmortem. As far as Helena could tell him he was dating Marbee and she was his runner, though what they were running Huntress wasn’t sure.
Max Hamilton, originally from the UK, small and wirely had his eyes cut out, beaten and stabbed with a
blade of some sort. The weapon had yet to be found. Max was the shipping and handling of the operation
Nancy Thang, a small girl of asian descent was found in the same area as Hamilton with the same wounds. Nancy was a known associate of Max’s and worked with the same shipping lines and boats.
Jan and Josie Argon were the overseas part of the operation. Buying and selling from and to Feliciano. They’d been found together at the docks missing a few limbs as well as their tongues.
Andrew Tone had been an informant and deep undercover for the Commissioner. Gordon hadn’t been happy about it and he could understand why. He’d been the first victim. Eye’s and tongue removed antemortem. They all suspected someone had caught on to him and killed him for it, till the others popped up.
The one thing besides the violence, removal of eye’s or tongue, and gang relation to the Serpientes Cabeza’s was a drug found in their systems. Always given antemortem and always the same drug.
The lab results would be finished in a few hours. Hopefully that would lead him to the supplier.
Tim stood on the roof of an insurance building in fifth, just thinking as he watched the populace below. It was 3:49 am. ‘Jason should be here any minute.’ He had the folder with the files on Jan and Josie Argon in his hand. Last time he’d visited Babs he’d heard her mention Jason was after them and after information on them.
Tim and Jason were on good terms these days. Much like him and Damian were. At some point Damian had just stopped attacking him verbally and physically, though there were still plenty of comments from the brat but none of them harsh or mean. He wasn’t entirely sure what changed the kid’s mind on him but he suspected it was the whole mess over Captain Boomerang. Bruce had exploded over it and Damian was witness to it all. Bruce had said he’d expected more out of Tim. Tim guessed Damian was pissed Bruce hadn’t expected that out of him when he killed Nobody. Whether it was a justified kill or not, Bruce’s rule still stood... for everyone except Damian. Tim guessed the kid saw the double standard and how harsh the others were treated compared to him.
Dick just seemed to be happy they were getting along. Even if Tim wasn’t really talking to Dick much these days. His and Dick’s relationship was almost as strained as his and Bruce’s.
Tim thought about leaving the folder with Babs to give to Jason but she always seemed to be too busy as it was. Cass and Steph weren’t even in the country. They were off taking on Hong Kong and getting their lives together. The last thing he wanted was to interfere with that. So he left them alone and gave them their space.
Which just left him to give the information to Jason. He sighed, Jason wasn’t going to be happy his leads to Santiago were murdered.
Santiago was the leader to the Sangre Fuego gang and rivals with Serpientes Cabeza. Santiago had gone missing about a month ago and the Serpientes Cabeza had started showing up dead on his doorstep. It was a shaky theory and there was no proof, in fact all evidence lead to a third party, but Tim had his doubts.
~~~~
Jason rolled his shoulders, not quite yet used to the new back harness configuration for his spare clips of ammo. It would settle to his new norm, he knew but for the moment it made familiar things like riding his motorcycle down Gotham’s streets feel awkward. His eyes ached in that familiar way that told him he shouldn’t take another pair of his home made “pep up” pills. It was right around that time for some actual sleep before his aim started faltering. Either way, he would empty at least two clips each down his practice range. Maybe more, if he could catch a break on his latest ‘case.’
It was probably a sign of true insanity to try and base a drug and human trafficking ring in GOTHAM of all places. Sure, the gothic, close knit buildings and constant cloud cover made for fantastic ambiance for shady dealings, there was always the threat of the Bat in the night or his little posse. And that was only if they got lucky.
Jason had no qualms about using firearms (though the live ammo had been replaced with rubber bullets), and barring Damian’s earlier career he was the most violent of Gotham’s masked (anti)hero roster. It was the god that lived in those details, and it was a young god yet.
He had at least, calmed down from his dramatic return to life and gotham in a puddle of bullet casings and blood. There was a lot of blood on his hands, most of it he didn’t regret, beyond the growing wedge it caused between himself and Bruce. Jason executed a reckless hairpin turn, hearing the material of his pants scrape pavement as he leaned into the turn to avoid passing cars.
His relationship with Bruce could be described as a love hate relationship on a good day. On a good day he loved Bruce, understood him, but differed in his schools of thought and hated that he was so totally rebuffed for not falling in line. On bad days Bruce was seventeen kinds of fucking crazy, and an insufferably stubborn idiot besides. On bad days Jason deliberately steered farther than normal away from where the Bat and Brat Wonder were for fear he might beat the man senseless.
It was unclear what kind of day this was so far. Jason was more concerned with the intel he was going to get from Tim. Jason was TIRED of being on the outside looking in and chasing the tails of this damn operation. It made him long for the Bat Cave and the super computer, and then get annoyed at himself for it. It was just so damn difficult getting a lead in. Once he was in he was sure he could topple the whole dirty business easily enough.
Thinking on some of the things these assholes were up to, drugs, torture, slavery, which would be more than enough for Jason not to lose sleep over maiming the top brass in THIS scheme… but all the kids… Jason thought to the live clips in his boots, and it was tempting. If even half of what he feared was true...
~~~~
Santiago was a bad guy if there ever was one and Juan Marquez was just as bad. Juan ran the Serpientes Cabeza out of several countries in South America. Santiago and his Sangre Fuego had been on the rise and were looking to take over. Everyone knew that. He really didn’t put it past Juan to do something about the competition.
It was the third party that was bugging him though. ‘Who are they, what’s in it for them?’
Tim’s thoughts drifted. He was tired. He wondered when he slept last. It wasn’t something he was keeping track of anymore. There were a lot of things he wasn’t keeping track of any more like his friends. Even after Bruce came back he really hadn’t seen or talked to the Titans. Not after Cassie sicked Dick on him for thinking Bruce was still alive. He knew how that’d looked, he’d just expected his ‘friends’ to at least hear him out. He wasn’t angry about it, it just felt hard to talk to them.
His mind wandered from his friends to his surroundings. ‘Ten stories high. It would take 2.5 seconds to reach the ground without a grapple. 80 feet per second. 2.5 seconds... a lot can happen in that time. Would there be a line nearby? 2.5 seconds. hmm. Collision and speed of impact... the force might not be reached. Its survivable possibly. Depending on how one fell... anything but head first is survivable.’ He really hated waiting.
~~~~
Sangre Fuego. Santiago. Hopefully Tim handed him a pretty lead tonight. Jason was getting impatient. He pulled up to the meeting place and knew without being told that Tim was on the roof. It was a Bat thing. He parked his bike, engaged it’s securities and pulled out one of his two fully functional Grappling hooks. The others all needed maintenance of one kind or another. Jason swung himself onto the ninth floor’s fire escape landing and climbed the last floor and ladder as quick and quiet as a church mouse.
Meaning he was making JUST enough noise to tell Tim he’d showed up without stomping up and down the flimsy metal stairway. Church Mice were nothing compared to the silence of a stalking former robin.
~~~~
‘Finally.’ He thought. Tim had been early so it was his own fault for the wait but it was usually best to be early or on time with Jason. Late gave the man time to play. He was thankful Jason damn near announced his presence. He was getting paranoid with all the ninja sneaking around. Ras just didn’t give up.
“Hey.” Tim walked over and held out the file. “Want the rundown or you wanna read it your self?” Tim wasn't trying to be snippy he was just getting used to the ‘hand over whatever you’ve got and go’ treatment he’d been getting from everyone lately.
~~~~
“Someone pee in your cereal babybird?” Jason asked, removing his helmet to reveal a red domino and a raised eyebrow. “Hey. You look to have gotten about as much sleep as I have.” Jason commented neutrally. Why did he have the feeling that he was going to be about the extent of Tim’s weekly quota of small talk this week? “And I’m all for a rundown. As I recall, you keep your reports a shade dryer than even B.”
~~~~
It was a talent of Jason’s to make his eyebrow raise and grin at the same time. He really hadn’t meant to be that snippy and the least he could do is be polite to the one of two people who still talked to him. He huffed a laugh, “Sorry. Its how B liked em, guess I just got used to it. I’ll try to spice it up for you next time.”
Tim looked around surveying the area. “Its Jan and Josie Argon. I heard you were looking for intel on them to get to Santiago. Their bodies were found on the docks missing a few limbs... and their tongues.” He shrugged, he was sure it said something that he was used to that. “They were killed by the same group that killed five others from Serpientes Cabeza. Though one turned out to be an undercover. It’s not any of Santiago’s people. All the evidence points to a third party but I suspect they are somehow connected.”
~~~~
Jason flipped through the leaflet, he got to the autopsy records and stopped. “The tox screen.” He trailed off, flipping from Mr. Argon to Mrs. The same. “Firebloods’ have been running this crap all over Gotham.” ‘And worse, but don’t go spreading that until you confirm the rumors Todd.’ Jason thinks to himself. “Will scum never learn to stay outta our town?” He flipped the leaflet closed. “Damn, so much for my lead to Santiago, this shit is ridiculous.”
~~~~
“Wait... Are you SURE it’s them? That Santiago’s supplying the drug?” Tim’s sleep deprived brain was running a million miles a minute trying to piece it together. “The Argon’s are only two of seven dead bodies I have pumped with this drug. All of them working for Serpientes Cabeza.” Tim bit his lip and started pacing the roof. He needed to think. He needed a redbull or some caffeine pills. His brain wasn’t working like he wanted it to.
“If Santiago is supplying the drug we might be able to follow the shipments.” He mumbled trying to think out loud, sometimes it was easier that way. “Find one shipment and we can trace it back to the origin point and nail Santiago for it, follow it forward and we could find this third party. But we need a shipment, where would we find a shipment? We’d have to find the dock Santiago was using. Maybe the south side... I don’t cover the south side...Jason covers the south side...”
~~~~
“Who… happens to be standing four feet away from you, listening to every word you say.” Jason said slowly. “Forget I was here already, Babybird?” ‘Wouldn’t be the first bat to do that to me.’ Jason inwardly winced at his internalized bitterness. “So what are the names? Maybe I have some of the same names.” Failed leads that coalesce into one viable possible lead? Still time well spent. “And if they’re bringing in the drugs I don’t know if it’s through the docks. Firebloods have gone to ground. I’ve been turning to their Rivals to try and get leads on them, and the ones that I try to get to talk to me find a way to get dead.”
Sorta how Tim was looking under the Domino. Jason stared hard at Tim. Tim might need sleep more than Jason did at the moment. Zombies looked more lively than Tim did right at the moment. Jason would know, he’d fought and killed the stuff before. He maintained the majority of his attention on Tim and the other boy’s body language.
~~~~
“What? uh sorry.” He quickly listed the names, dates of death, locations found, and list of wounds and missing parts. He read it straight from the report in his head. Having an eidetic memory could be helpful a lot of the time though it did have its awful downside of perfectly detailed nightmares and haunting memories.
At some point he’d stopped pacing simply because he was just too tired to keep it up. “All victims were found to have that drug in their system.”
~~~~
Three. Aside from the Argons, THREE of his names were names Tim rattled off as being killed in his murder spree. Andrew Tone… Jason hadn’t sought him out as a contact, he stank of cop to Jason and he’d left well enough alone on that one. The Gotham PD were still looking to catch him and he didn’t need some deep cover cop giving them unnecessary information on him. “Who the heck is Marbee Juan?” Jason asked, noting that Tim seemed to quickly run out of pacing steam, and was ever so slightly swaying. Jason waited until he he would hear what he needed to know about Marbee. He had a theory he needed to test.
~~~~
“Feliciano Bertinelli’s running partner and girlfriend.” he stated matter of factly. “She’s got quite the rep for being a ‘cold hearted evil bitch’. That’s a direct quote by th-”
~~~~
Jason, having heard enough about Marbee, suddenly shifted to a defensive pose while looking off to a point past Tim’s right shoulder, his hand drifting to the gun at his hip.
~~~~
“-e way, from her cousin.” Tims attention snapped behind him at Jason’s shift and readied himself for an attack from behind him.
~~~~
Jason grabbed Tim’s face and blew a raspberry into the other’s cheek. After the gulp of air he’d sucked in was expended he used more air he didn’t have to chuckle some. “We need some serious sleep, you and I.”
~~~~
“What the hell...?” Tim stared at the crazy man holding his face in complete confusion. ‘Who the hell, besides Dick, does that?’ It then occurred to him that Jason basically grew up with the acrobat and did share more than a few of his lighthearted qualities.
~~~~
Jason chuckled, releasing Tim. “Yeah, that was a dumb idea, but it just goes to show you how much -I- Need sleep. But let’s talk about you, who’s so damn tired you let me get away with it.” Jason grinned. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll sleep if you sleep, sound good?” The ache behind his eyes rejoiced, though it’s glee fell on deaf ears. Jason was all too used to ignoring himself in the interim.
~~~~
“Yeah sure ok.” He shook his head. He was learning a lot about Jason in recent times. Them working together was usually nice when Jason felt like being sociable or simply wasn’t in a violent mood. He wasn’t trying to shrug off the request, he’d get sleep... eventually, he just had a lot on his mind and a lot to do. Patrol wasn’t even over yet.
‘I wonder what Santiago’s ground transport is, I need to figure that out. Trains are an option. Maybe trucks. I’ll have to find an in. I could head to south side and stake it out for a bit. There might be a lead or something, someone to get ahold of for answers.’
~~~~
Jason blinked, recognizing when he’d been dismissed quite easily after years of Bruce brushing him off like so much dust. It pissed him off how much like the old asshole Tim was starting to turn out. Tim was BETTER than Bruce. Could be better than all of them. Lately though Jason was starting to see the fundamental difference between Tim Drake and Bruce Wayne was that Tim didn’t force himself to be alone. He was seeing it in all the little ways that Tim was previously different from Bruce, and slowly becoming the same.
“You know, I feel like I owe you money, cause I’ve never been blown off so completely that fast before.” Jason said, eyes narrowing. “Only, I don’t carry money in uniform.”
~~~~
It took a second for Jason’s comment to register but when it did it was like dropping in to the freezing waters of Gotham Bay, it hurt. The cold sinking feeling of guilt woke him up pretty quick and his mind struggle to think of how to fix what he did.
This would be easier if he was less socially awkward. “I-I’m sorry!” He shook his head discarding every comment coming to mind and giving up just to offer what he could and accept the fallout. “I didn’t- I didn’t mean that...”
~~~~
“Didn’t mean to basically disregard my health and yours.” Jason said flatly, thinking of Bruce and triple and quadruple all nighters where it was amazing to Jason how the man didn’t fall over dead without goons fucking shooting at him… And he was all too able to see Tim pulling the drunken master weave through gunfire. It scared him. “I swear you’re picking up on his worst habits. I have a safehouse. The Serenity on Elm. Room 1708. If you’re not there by sunrise so we can ensure we both get sleep, I will find you and I will drop you wherever you are. So help me.”
~~~~
Mouth twitching into a small almost not there smile he nodded seriously. He knew Jason meant his threats a good 75% of the time. Besides the last thing he wanted to do was piss off one of the few people still in his life that was still talking to and caring about him.
“Serenity on Elm, 1708. Got it.” He wanted to say he was sorry again, maybe reach out in someway, but he squashed it down. The last thing he needed was to make this worse somehow in that magically ‘fuck shit up’ way he had. ‘Touch it and you’ll destroy it, Tim.’
~~~~
Jason nodded, his ever bubbling anger quickly cooling off once again in the presence of someone he couldn’t actually stay mad at. “Stop giving me ammo to tell you off, Babybird. You’ve always been better at this Robin thing than I have. It’s just weird when I have to be the mentor.” Jason ruffled Tim’s hair and turned to leave the roof. “We’ll talk more about our cases after we wake up, deal?” Jason looked over his shoulder.
~~~~
“I’ll do my best. You are older than me, not by much, but older.” Tim felt a bit of the weight lifting at the hair ruffle, felt nice to know Jason wasn’t going to hold this against him. For a moment he imagined that this might have been what it might have been like if Jason hadn’t died and he’d become Robin. Would they be close? Would they joke around and smile? It was a strange thought.
“Deal.” He watched Jason walk away. He always watched the man walk away, usually till he couldn’t see him anymore.
~~~~
“With age comes wisdom isn’t a universal constant, trust me on this one.” Jason said gauging the heights of the surrounding buildings and calculating the angles he had to work with. “You either got it and work constantly to build on it, or you got it and think it’s enough which just proves you wrong, or you don’t got it and pretend you do.”
~~~~
“Pffft, Thank you Obi Wan. Is that your tip for the night?” Tim grins watching Jason work.
~~~~
Jason gave Tim one last grin before putting his helmet back on, “Hardly! This is.” With that Jason leaned over the side of the building, essentially tipping himself over, and pushed off between the two close buildings, executing eight of his favorite airborne flips that Dick had taught him before landing in a roll in front of his bike, dusting himself off, and straddling his bike and taking off into the night. He’d left the file with Tim, on purpose of course, because Tim would have one more reason to stop by his safe house before sunrise.
~~~~
Folding and stuffing the file back into a pocket compartment he backflipped off the roof, half just for the fun of it and half in echo of Jason and shot a line. He had a group of drug runners he’d been watching and hopefully he’d get lucky and get what he needed quickly tonight.