Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Time passed and Liah, for the first time in a long while, found herself actually enjoying life and not just living it. Jason’s existence in her life was definitely a big part of it, but it was more so the fact that she had a group of people she could rely on. She had grown especially close to Steph, Tim and Cass. The time she spent with them was always filled with laughter and a warm feeling of belonging deep in her chest.

If that wasn’t enough, Mischa was also thriving. She had always been cheerful, but her joyfulness was always tinted with the shadows of her trauma, easily toppled by the smallest trigger. But recently, she seemed to feel safe and comfortable. Liah’s little angel was shining in her confidence.

Then, of course, there was Jason. Sweet, sweet Jason, because that’s what he was. The absolutely sweetest to ever sweet. He made Liah swoon like some lovesick schoolgirl and maybe Liah should have been embarrassed about how fast she had let him worm himself into her heart, but instead she had prepared a living space for him in the same quarter of her heart, in which Mischa lived.

In conclusion, life was good, enjoyable even.

That should have been the first sign. Liah’s life was cursed to be hard, and really, she should have known better than to believe that maybe, maybe she had finally earned herself a break.

It was late evening when the alarm of the security started blaring through her apartment, interrupting Liah’s goodnight story and putting a look of pure fear into Mischa’s face.

They were alone. No Jason or any of his vigilante siblings.

Liah’s brain turned on survival mode and she got off the bed, grabbing Mischa and picking her up. She could hear someone ramming against the front door. She didn’t know who it was or how many they were. There was no way she could fight them and win, especially if they had weapons.

Flight it would be.

Liah ran with Mischa in her arms to the window in the living room and opened it. “Hold on,” she said firmly, her heart racing inside of her chest.

“Liah-“ Mischa started, her fingers tightening around the fabric of Liah’s shirt.

“Shh, it’s going to be okay,” Liah reassured, needing to believe it herself. She climbed out of the window with Mischa and started running down the fire escape, ignoring the pain in her knees.

Don’t trip, don’t trip, don’t trip.

She felt like she was going to choke on her fear.

Just as she reached the ground, she heard someone jump onto the fire escape. She didn’t waste time looking up and instead ran as fast as she could into an alley, hoping she could lose whoever had broken into her apartment.

“Liah! They’re following us!” Mischa exclaims, her voice high-pitched. “They’re following us!”

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Liah couldn’t outrun them. Not with Mischa in her arms, slowing her down. She was already running out of breath.

Liah’s pulse hammered like a drum in her ears. Panic wanted to rip through her, but she couldn’t let that happen. Not now, not with Mischa holding onto her. “We’ll be fine," she muttered, her voice raw with fear, but she tried to lace it with enough confidence to keep Mischa from panicking. Like hell she’d let anything happen to her.

The sound of footsteps behind them was getting closer. Too close. "Shit," she hissed under her breath. They were gaining, and there was no way she could keep up this pace, not while carrying Mischa.

Liah darted around the corner, her eyes scanning the area for anything that could help them. A dumpster. That was it.

She opened it and placed Mischa in it, her hand instantly reaching to the necklace around the little girl’s neck and clicking on the panic button three times to activate it. She does the same for the one around her own neck. Then she grabs Mischa by the shoulders. “Listen, I need you to be quiet, Mischa. You need to hide here. Don’t come out and don’t make a sound. You hear me?” her voice was stern, not allowing any disobedience.

Mischa’s eyes were wide in terror.

Liah gave her a small shake. “You hear me?” she repeated firmly.

Mischa nodded.

“I’ll lead them away from you. You’re going to be okay.” Liah pressed a kiss to her cheek, fighting the tears threatening to spill.

“No! You can’t! Liah, you can’t!” Mischa instantly grabbed for Liah’s arm, her face full of panic, tears running down her chubby cheeks.

It broke Liah to pull Mischa’s little hands off of her arm, but she had to. It was the only way to keep her sister safe. She pushed her down into the dumpster, so she could close the lid. “I love you. I’ll come get you.”

Or Jason will, if I don’t make it, she thought.

She didn’t let that thought linger. She had to lead them away from Mischa, no matter what.

She bolted just as the men came around the corner.

“She’s there!” one of them yelled.

Liah ran into the next alley, the men following her. She looked back. Two of them.

Another alley. And then.

A fucking dead end.

Liah scanned the area once more, searching for anything that could help her. There. A wooden beam leaning against a dumpster. She grabbed it into both hands. She was shaking from a mix of adrenaline and fear, but whatever happened, she wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Liah didn’t give them time to process, as soon as they rounded the corner, she whacked the first one over the head with the wooden beam. He grunted and lost balance, blood pouring from a wound on his temple.

She tried to hit the second one, but he managed to grab the beam before it could make contact, wrenching it out of her hands, twisting her wrist painfully.

“You bitch,” he sneered, throwing the beam behind him and reaching out to grab her.

Liah took a step back, raising her fists in front of her face. Her breath was going fast, and she tried to calm her panic, because all it did was make her moves sloppy and uncoordinated.

The second man started laughing mockingly. “The little girl thinks she could fight us, huh?” He started advancing forward, just as the first one got back on his feet.

She couldn’t let them corner her. She needed to be able to slip past them until Jason could come save her.

“Why don’t you be a good girl and come over here?” The second man continued.

If she could projectile vomit on command, she’d do it in his face.

When he tried to grab for her again, she punched him, hearing the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking under her knuckles. She delivered a second one to his jaw and then took a couple steps back to stay out of their reach.

“Fucking slut,” he yelled full of fury, pressing a hand to his nose that was gushing blood.

Liah’s heart stuttered in her chest at the pure unbridled rage in his expression. Angry  men could be the cruelest and most volatile, Liah knew that all too well. She carried the proof of that on her body.

She tried hard to remain calm, remember the training she had been getting from Cass and compartmentalizing her fear into a box and shoving it far away. Then she kicked out the moment the first man tried to grab her, trying to hit him in the ribs. He caught her leg before she could make contact and she instantly spun out, freeing her leg and then used the momentum to ram her elbow into his face. He staggered back, but her victory was short-lived, as the second man grabbed her hair and yanked her back.

“Enough of your little antics,” he hissed and then slammed her face-first against the wall.

Pain shot through her face, black spots dancing around in her vision. She barely had time to recover before she got slammed a second time, only to she got shoved to the ground, crumbling like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Not so tough now,” he scoffed, kicking her in the side.

Liah let out a small sound of pain, trying to cover herself. She felt dizzy and out of it. Might be a concussion.

“Cut it out. Boss said not to hurt her too much,” the first guy warned.

Boss. Liah wondered if that was Penton, but her mind was foggy, and she couldn’t make sense of it.

The second man kneeled down in front of her and grabbed her jaw, forcing her to look at him. Her face felt raw and swollen as he turned it left and right, examining it. “Pity. You were pretty.” His eyes ran down over her body and Liah felt disgust and nausea at the way he leered at her. Then the hand on her jaw dragged down over her neck towards her breasts and her body went cold as fear made her vision blurry. His hand stopped at the collar of her shirt, and he tilted his head, before he dipped his hand into her collar and pulled out the necklace with the panic button shaped like Red Hood’s helmet. He yanked it off her neck and crushed it under his heel. “Did you spread your legs to get that?” he asked, pushing her thighs open. “What a whore.”

Panic took hold of her and the surge of adrenaline was enough for her to headbutt him as hard as she could, using that moment of distraction to get up on her weak legs and run as hard as she could, slipping past the startled first man.

She made it to the mouth of the alley and hope bloomed inside her. Maybe she could make it out of this.

A shot rang out and she fell to the ground. It took her a moment to register the burning pain in her thigh.

She got shot.

Any hope she had, withered and died.

She hadn‘t even realized they had a gun.

“You massive idiot!” the first man snapped, shoving the other man hard in the shoulder. “Boss said not to fucking hurt her too much and you go and fucking shoot her!”

The second man didn’t spare him much thought, his cruel eyes looking at Liah in sick satisfaction.

Well. She was fucked, but what’s new.

[…]

Jason had just left one of his safehouses to go on patrol, when the alarm connected with Liah’s apartment got off inside his helmet and his phone at the same time. He felt his heart drop and then he was already rushing to Liah’s apartment, his body filled with adrenaline.

“Oracle,” he spoke into the comm as he raced to his bike.

“Hood. How can–“

“Which of the Bats is the closest to Liah’s place?” he interrupted her, his voice filled with urgency.

Jason didn’t doubt that Barbara knew about Liah, despite never having met her. But unlike the other Bats, Barbara was more respectful of Jason and his boundaries, so she hadn’t meddled in his business.

“Black Bat. She is roughly twenty minutes away,” Oracle answered.

He got on his bike. He could make it in fifteen. “Can you access any CCTV footage and let me know what’s going on?”

“On it.”

Jason revved the engine and then he was weaving through the traffic. All he could think about was Liah and Mischa and the sharp fear that he wasn’t going to make it, that he was going to be too late.

He wondered, if this was how Bruce felt all those years ago when he was racing towards that warehouse Jason died in.

“Oracle, give me something,” he demanded.

“Got visuals. She escaped with Mischa in her arms. Two men followed her.” Her tone was grim, mirroring the dread he was feeling.

The panic buttons turned on one after the other, sending a location with an SOS to him and every other Bat. He could see the location inside his helmet, two red dots.

“I lost sight of them,” Oracle said, “They moved out of camera. I’m assuming the panic signal is from them?”

Jason cursed. “Yes.”

Trepidation coiled in his stomach. It was so much harder to stay rational when it was personal, when the person in danger wasn’t some civilian, but someone Jason held dear.

“Black Bat is on her way. ETA seventeen minutes. I intercepted the signal to the others.”

One of the dots disappeared and Jason felt his blood go cold. His mind leapt to the worst conclusions, as he leant further into the bike, pushing it past its limits. He couldn’t think, his brain filled with static. Images of Liah and Mischa hurt and bleeding out – or worse, dead – clouded his vision.

“Oracle,” he barked, his voice laced with sharp desperation, “Find me a visual of the location where we lost the signal.”

“Negative. There are no cameras there,” she responded after a moment, sounding sorry.

Twelve minutes later he arrived where that one unmoving dot was. He got off of his bike and located the signal’s origin from the dumpster in the alley.

What if you’re too late?

He swallowed down the fear he felt at the thought, of what he could find in that dumpster.

Jason opened the dumpster and found Mischa sitting with her legs pressed to her chest and her head tucked against her knees.

She was alive. Relief flooded him, but it was short-lived, because there was no sign of Liah.

Mischa looked up in fear, tears streaming down her cheeks. The moment she recognized him, she was up on her feet, scurrying to climb out of the dumpster.

“JayJay,” she whimpered.

Jason’s heart broke and he instantly reached out to lift her out. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her body trembling. He held her tightly to his chest, rubbing her back. “I got you. You’re okay.”

“Liah,” she said in a broken voice, looking around with wide eyes. “Where’s Liah?”

Jason gritted his teeth, feeling like he had failed both Mischa and Liah. “I’ll find her.”

Mischa shook her head, her breath coming in short gasps. “Liah. I want Liah,” she hiccupped.

He felt his throat constrict, a heavy weight settling on his shoulders.

“Shhh, I’ll find her. I promise. I’ll find her and bring her back to you,” he assured the little girl as she burrowed her face into his neck, silent sobs shaking her shoulders.

He felt someone land behind him and turned around to find Black Bat standing in front of him, holding out a broken panic button.

“There’s blood where I found this. They want her alive,” Black Bat signed and then stepped closer to place a hand on Mischa’s head, running it down to her back.

Mischa lifted her head to look at Black Bat. “Liah,” she whimpered again.

“Liah is strong. She will be okay,” Black Bat said, sounding convinced of her words.

Jason needed to believe those words, otherwise he would drown in fear and guilt.

“Hood,” Red Robin’s voice came through Jason’s comm.

He had an inkling what Red Robin was going to tell him.

“Did Penton escape?” he asked, regretting not having put a bullet through the bastard’s head when he had the chance.

“He’s dead,” Red Robin answered bluntly, “Someone killed him in his cell.”

Jason’s brain stuttered.

“Come to the Cave. We’ll find her together,” Tim said gently.

[…]

Jason drove into the Cave, stopping his bike next to Nightwing’s. Mischa was clinging on to him, refusing to let go of him, so he one-handedly took off his helmet and placed it on the bike and then walked further into the Cave. Black Bat arrived a moment later.

He found every single one of his siblings assembled, each one of them wearing the same serious expression on their face.

Jason refused to look at Bruce. He didn’t want to see the expression on his face. The small part of Jason that still desperately clung to his memories as Robin was scared to see the disappointment on his father’s face. He didn’t think he could handle it. Not right now.

Alfred stepped forward, “Master Jason, I shall take care of Miss Mischa, while you figure out where Miss Liah is.”

Jason’s arms instinctively tightened around Mischa. He trusted Alfred, of course he did, but he was still rattled and felt the need to keep Mischa close, to make sure she was safe. Except, Alfred was right, he couldn’t find Liah, while also looking after Mischa. So, he reluctantly tried to pass her off. Emphasis on tried, because the moment Mischa lifted her head to take in what was happening, she started screaming.

“No! JayJay!” Her little hands clung to his leather jacket, her voice high-pitched. “I don’t want to! Please!” She started crying again.

Jason felt nauseous and he instantly pulled her back against his chest, burying his face into her small shoulder. Mischa’s body trembled with the force of her sobs.

Fuck, he was going to cry.

Cass laid a hand on his shoulder, resting her head against his arm.

Jason clenched his jaw, fighting against the wave of emotion that threatened to overtake him. His chest tightened with the overwhelming feeling of helplessness. The pressure to keep it together felt like a physical weight pressing down on him. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to think clearly and then, finally, he got his grip on his emotions back.

He lifted his head and looked at Mischa, gently brushing his fingers through her hair. “Mischa, this is Alfred. He is my grandfather. Remember? I told you about how we used to bake cookies together.” He hoped, he could get her to feel safe enough to go with Alfred. “Maybe you can help him bake some cookies for when Liah gets back, hm?”

Mischa lifted her head from where she had forced it against his neck and looked at him with the most heartbreaking expression he had ever seen. “I don’t want to bake cookies,” she hiccupped, “I want Liah.”

“I know, kiddo,” Jason said softly, feeling his heart shatter, “I want her too. That’s why I need you to be so strong right now. I need you to help me by staying safe with Alfred. You’re helping Liah by doing that, you understand?”

Mischa sniffed, looking up at him with big, watery eyes. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“Do you want Damian to be with you?” Jason asked her gently, wiping her never-ending tears.

She nodded.

Damian shot Jason a withering glare. “I can help in finding Al Zaidi,” he interjected.

“No. I need you to stay with Mischa. This is where you’re needed,” Jason retorted harshly. There was no room for argument, his tone leaving no doubt that he wasn’t asking.

Damian opened his mouth, ready to protest, but one look at the little girl clutching Jason, and he seemed to reconsider, “Tt, very well.”

“Alfred and Damian will bring you up into the manor, yeah?” Jason spoke to Mischa, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“You promise, you’ll bring Liah back?” Mischa asked in a small, uncertain voice.

Jason’s throat tightened, and he swallowed hard, forcing down the ache in his chest as he nodded, meeting her gaze with steady conviction. “I promise, Mischa. I’m bringing her back. Whatever it takes.”

Mischa’s lip trembled, but she gave a small nod, her fingers finally loosening from his jacket. Jason gently passed her over to Alfred, who took her carefully into his arms. The old butler carried her out of the Cave, Damian following him.

As soon as Mischa was out of sight, Jason’s composure shattered. He turned away from the group, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. His shoulders trembled, and the sound of his ragged breathing filled the Cave. Jason wasn’t one for breaking down, but this—this was too much. The weight of guilt, fear, and rage bore down on him like a crushing tide. He slammed his fist into the nearest wall, the impact echoing like a gunshot.

“Damn it!” he roared, his voice thick with emotion. He stood there for a moment, his head bowed, knuckles pressed against the cold stone, as if trying to will the storm inside him into silence.

Dick approached cautiously, his hands out in a placating gesture. “Jason—”

“Don’t,” Jason snapped, turning to glare at him. His eyes were wild, his face a mask of anguish. “Don’t tell me it’s going to be okay. Don’t tell me you understand. You don’t.”

“I’m not going to,” Dick said softly, his calm tone a stark contrast to Jason’s fury. “But you’re not doing this alone.”

“We’ll get her back,” Steph chimed in, jumping off from where she was sitting on the nearby workbench. She walked up to Jason and punched him in the shoulder, her eyes glassy and filled with fury. “Get your shit together. You’re not the only one, who cares about her.”

Jason’s rationality fought with his emotions. She was right. He knew that they had all gotten close to Liah. They all cared about her, but it was different for him. He didn’t just care about her, she meant everything to him. He was supposed to make sure both her and Mischa would be safe, and he had failed them.

“You’re not the ones who let her get fucking taken,” he snapped, his voice quiet, but seething.

Steph glared right back, undeterred. “No, but we’re the ones who are going to help you fix it. So, stop acting like this is all on you.”

Jason was about to argue that it was very much on him, but then Dick placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezing.

“Get your emotions under control. You’re not going to be useful to anyone like this,” Dick tried to reason with Jason.

He was right. Jason needed to get his fucking shit together. Jason took a deep breath, his body trembling as he forced himself to stand straighter. The raw edges of his emotions still burned, but he shoved them aside, locking them down like he’d done so many times before. The fury, the guilt—they’d have their time, but not now. Now, Liah needed him to be in control of himself.

“You’re right,” Jason agreed, feeling more clear-headed now.

Dick nodded. “Good.”

“You guys done with fighting?” Tim spoke up from behind his laptop, his expression as grim as his tone. “We’ve got a message from Black Mask.”

[…]

Liah’s head was pounding. She found herself tied to a chair, harsh lighting blinding her, as she tried to make sense of her environment.

She was in a warehouse, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been here before, but her mind felt too foggy to help her figure out if that was true. It was mostly dark, except for the light being shone into her face.

Blood was sluggishly running out of the bullet wound on her thigh. Everything was hurting and making her feel weak and lethargic.

Liah lifted her heavy head to look at the man circling her. He stopped a few feet away from her. She had to squint her eyes to be able to see him standing next of the light source.

The moment she recognized the black skull-like mask, her heart started to race even faster than it already was from the blood loss.

“I wonder what it is about you that managed to catch Red Hood’s attention,” Black Mask said in a monotone voice, tilting his head left and right, examining her as if she was an interesting looking bug.

“I don’t… know… Red Hood,” Liah’s tongue didn’t want to cooperate, and it took her quite a bit to get the words out.

Black Mask stepped closer, looking down at her. Then he pressed a finger into the bullet wound in her thigh.

A pained scream ripped from Liah’s throat, her body going hot and cold, as she tried to breathe through the pain. Her heart was pounding into her ears.

“Tsk. Tsk. I don’t like liars,” Black Mask’s voice dripped in mockery. “Why don’t we try that again, hm?”

Liah’s eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away. She wouldn’t give this scum the pleasure of seeing her cry.

“Want to know why you’re here?” he asked, grabbing her jaw and forcing her to look at him.

When Liah didn’t respond, he backhanded her, before taking hold of her face again. “I don’t like being ignored, so let me ask again. Do you want to know why you’re here?”

“Yes,” Liah answered, her voice coming out all choked up.

“It’s not personal. Not towards you at least.” He let go of her and started circling her again.

It would have been funny to her if she hadn’t been in so much pain.

“You see, Red Hood has always been a persistent thorn in my side,” the man continued, his voice a venomous drawl. “But you, sweetheart... you’re his Achilles' heel. He doesn’t care about much—cynical bastard that he is—but you? Oh, you’ve got his heart all wrapped up, don’t you?”

Liah blinked back the sting of tears, her jaw throbbing where his hand had struck her. She tried not to show fear, tried not to give him the satisfaction, but she was terrified.

He crouched in front of her, close enough that she could see the scratches on his mask. “The plan is simple. You scream, he comes running. And when he does…” He gestured with his hand like a gun, clicking his tongue as he mimed pulling the trigger.

Liah’s stomach dropped. The thought of Jason walking into a trap because of her made her blood run cold. “He’s not… coming,” she said, trying to sound convincing, though the panic clawing at her chest made it hard to breathe.

“Oh, he’ll come.” Black Mask stood, straightening the jacket of his suit. “I just need to give him a little incentive.”

He stepped to the side, revealing a small camera aimed squarely at her, she hadn't noticed before.

“No,” Liah whispered, shaking her head.

“Yes,” he replied with a grin. “Smile for the camera, sweetheart.”