Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Past Woes ❯ Broken ( Chapter 5 )

The building was going to explode and the Robin that was really Jason Todd was terrified. He was going to die and there was nothing anybody could do to stop it. The bomb was ticking slowly down. He couldn't move. He was too beaten and bloody. He was almost dead. He began to cry. He tried crawling, but could barely get anywhere. Hands suddenly touched him and he broke.

"No more!" he sobbed. "Please, Joker, no more!"

"I'm going to kill that son of a bitch," a voice said. Jason turned over to see…

"Robin," he croaked. "B-bomb."

"I know, Jason. Hush now. I'm going to get you out of here."

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"Nooooo!" Batman screamed as the building exploded, fire and debris raining down from the heavens.

He stood there numbly. His Robin was gone. Worse, his son was gone. He collapsed to his knees and felt his heart sink. This was what he had feared with Dick. Now it had come true with Jason. He slowly got to his feet and linked up to the Bat Cave.

"Batman. Whatever's the matter?" Alfred asked.

Batman could feel the tears in his voice. "He's gone. He's just…gone."

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Jason twisted and turned then slowly opened his eyes. He found himself staring up at what looked like instruments of torture. He gasped and tried desperately to get up, but pain put him back on the bed. He whimpered, knowing he wouldn't be able to take much more torture.

"Calm down, Robin," a soft voice said.

"D-Dick!" he gasped, forcing himself to sit up. "B-but the building! Joker!"

"I got you out before it exploded. Everyone that's outside of the Teen Titans thinks you're dead. Fixit has been working on you. He really is a great doctor, to machines and people. There's only…one thing."

"What?"

"First, tell me your name. I'm Dick Grayson, adopted oldest son of billionaire Bruce Wayne. You are?"

"Jason Todd," the boy said with a hesitant smile. "Second adopted son of Bruce Wayne."

"Good. Now Jason, there's something I need to tell you. Your leg…didn't quite survive the beating. He basically beat your lower right leg off…"

"W-what?!" Jason asked frantically and pulled the blanket off his naked form before Dick could stop him.

Dick grabbed the boy's hand before he could scream. "Calm down Jason. Tamaranians have a diamond infused metal that they've created. We're going to use that for your bones. Starfire and the others have gone to get it. Fixit has taken some skin cells from you and has created a synthetic skin that will melt together perfectly with your own. Nobody outside of the Teen Titans will know you have a fake leg."

"But how will I fight?"

"Once you get used to it, you'll have no trouble fighting. In the meanwhile, you're just stuck in bed or stuck with crutches."

Jason began to cry. Dick sat down on the makeshift bed and hugged the distraught boy. He covered his brother up to preserve his modesty as he took a deep breath and decided to spill his biggest secret to the boy, a secret only two others knew.

"He broke you? And I don't just mean your bones. He broke you?"

Jason looked up at him, his eyes raw and hurt. "Yes," he whispered.

"Welcome to the club," a voice said and Jason turned to see a redheaded boy and a black haired boy.

"Who are they?"

"My superhero's name is Speedy. I was Green Arrow's sidekick once upon a time. Real name's Roy Harper," the redhead said, grinning.

"My name Aqualad. Real name is Garth. Just Garth. I was Aquaman's sidekick many moons ago," the black haired one said.

"Oh, hi," Jason said shyly. "What club?"

"The club of young superheroes who've been broken in one way or another," Roy replied.

"How have you been broken?" Jason asked bitterly.

"Aquaman tried to kill me," Garth replied, a strange smile on his face. "To save his son. His son was killed anyways. He tried to apologize, but I wasn't going to take it."

"And you?" he asked Roy.

"My mentor was always rough. After a close call, he began yelling at me. And yelling. And yelling," Roy murmured, looking up at the boy through blank eyes. "I tried to hide it at first through drugs, but that just made him madder. Dick and Garth helped me kick the habit, but got me into a worse one."

"What was that?"

"Ask Dick. He started it."

Jason looked confused as he turned to Dick. "But that would mean that you're broken too?"

"Yes. In the worst way," Dick admitted calmly, playing with his hands.

"How?"

Dick looked up slowly. "Joker. He…did things to me."

"What?"

Dick sighed. "It was a normal day on the job. Joker had escaped Arkham. I was about your age, I believe, and we had gone to his then-current lair to face him. Bats was knocked out by knock out gas almost as soon as we got there. Joker kept him out for four days. Those four days were the worst of my life. Joker tortured me, which I could handle. What I couldn't handle was the rape."

"He…?" Jason trailed off in horror.

"Multiple times. Bats never found out. I never told anybody except for those in this room. And you won't tell anybody either."

The calm threat scared Jason, but he did feel better knowing that he wasn't the only one that was hurting. He hugged Dick and smiled.

"It's okay, Dick. I won't tell anybody."

"Good boy."

"Now…what is it that you got him into that's worse than drugs?"

Dick gave a funny smile. "You're looking at the double crossers. I'm also known as Circus Freak."

"The teenage villain?" Jason gasped.

"Yep."

"That means that you two…"

"Tidal Wave," Garth said with a bow.

"Music Meister," Roy replied with a happy grin. "My older brother's the one in jail. I'm the one who really first discovered our musical capability."

"You three are notorious for never getting caught," Jason said, looking a little fearful. "So let me get this straight, you three are civvie people who have secret lives who have secret lives?"

"Basically," Roy said with a smirk.

"But it's not really our faults," Dick said quietly. "We were hurt. Badly. So we just take out our insanity on others. We don't kill. We just…cause a little mayhem. If you go through the reports of when we attack, you'll find that no deaths occurred."

"What do you do with the stuff you steal?" Jason asked curiously.

"We sell it on the black market to make a little cash to fund our illicit activities. We buy our materials secretly under false names," Garth replied.

"We don't use any of Bruce's money for fear he would find out what we spent it on," Dick said.

There was silence and Jason snuggled close to Dick as he thought. He finally looked up at his older brother.

"Dick, what would I be called and what can I do?"

"That depends. Play on your strengths," Dick said without skipping a beat.

They went silent again and Jason slowly fell asleep against his brother. As he did, he knew that it would be fun to exercise his brokenness in the guise of insanity. He could most certainly see the appeal. And the best part was that he had a secret to share with a brother. A brother! He smiled and Dick gently wrapped his arms around him. After he was asleep, Dick looked up sadly at his friends.

"Things will never be the same for him," he said miserably. "He will always be broken. And nothing will ever fix what happened."

"We will be with him, though," Roy replied, embracing the distraught teen. "It's all we can be for him."

"I just hope Bruce doesn't discover our insanity. If he does, things would be disastrous."

"He thinks the boy's dead. Let's let him keep thinking that, and then he can be whatever villain he wants to be."

Dick nodded then looked down. "I don't want anybody to discover our insanity, not even the other Titans."

"Bumblebee would have a fit," Roy said and Garth nodded.

"Not to mention Màs y Menos. They would be confused and upset."

"My friends would probably hate me and never trust me again. Especially after the Red X incident," Dick sighed.

"All we can do is hope they never find out. At least until we're dead," Roy said gently.