Hey Brother

Chapter Thirty Three

Do y'all like the new cover? I thought it fit the story better.

The summary of last chapter is that Damian found a suicide note from Jason in the fire place and confronted Jason about it during his therapy session, only for Jason to brush it off as a therapy exercise. Jason's therapist was revealed to be an operative of Ra's al Ghul and Ra's is plotting with/against Jason and has something up his sleeve for Damian.

"-Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know! Well, now they know! Let it go, let it go! Can't hold it back anymore-" The Wayne siblings belted out the lyrics to their favorite Frozen song, twirling around the movie room in their blanket capes. The only two not participating were Jason and Damian as they were not accustomed to the shenanigan's of movie night yet. Instead they watched from their perches on the bean bags with amused expressions.

Helena pulled Damian to his feet, spinning him around. "Take it away, Damian!"

Damian rolled his eyes good naturedly but obliged, starting out with a low mumble until Cass elbowed him. He upped his volume and started proudly screeching the lyrics. "It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small. And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all. It's time to see what I can do. To test the limits and break through! No right, no wrong, no rules for me! I'm free!"

"Yeah, Dami! Woo!" Jason hollered, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Sing it, boy!"

Dick and Tim dragged Jason to his feet. "Now Jason for the dramatic solo!"

Jason smirked, whipping his cape around himself in a dramatic fashion. "My power flurries through the air into the ground. My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around. And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast. I'm never going back, the past is in the past!"

"Damn! You can sing, Jason!" Stephanie whooped, fist bumping Jason. "Now everyone for the finale!"

"Let it go. The cold never bothered me anyway. Let it go, let it go. And I'll rise like the break of dawn. Let it go, let it go. That perfect girl is gone. Here I stand in the light of day. Let the storm rage on! The cold never bothered me anyway."

"You know, combined, we make one hell of an Elsa." Barbara snickered.

"Please, I am clearly the most like Elsa." Jason scoffed jokingly, looking back to screen so he missed the looks exchanged between his siblings.

"Who would be your Anna then?"

Jason looked over at Tim like he was stupid. "Damian, obviously. No offense to the rest of you, but I almost died how many times for him?"

"Only once, Jay." Damian chuckled uneasily.

"That you know of." Jason muttered.

"Pardon?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just commenting that Hans is an asshole." Jason flashed a smile. He felt the burner phone start to vibrate with a phone call and his mouth went dry. "Excuse me, I gotta go poo."

"Gross, Jason. No need to announce it." Helena scrunched her nose in disgust as Jason left the room with a chuckle.

As soon as he was far enough away he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Jason, my heir."

Jason swallowed thickly, ducking into the nearest room. "Hello, Grandfather. To what do I owe this phone call?"

"We need to plan our...revenge." Ra's voice was monotone for the most part, but Jason could pick up on the small amount of strain in his tone. He was hiding something.

Good. So was Jason.

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to convince your father and his...betrothed to throw a public party. Make up an excuse, something with press. You handle that part of the operation, I will handle the rest."

Jason knew what he meant by that. Smuggling in assassins to take out his family. "Understood. Do you have a timetable?"

"The sooner the better, but no particular date. I will leave that up to you."

"Thank you, Grandfather."

"I should be the one thanking you. You got rid of my pesky, unhinged daughter. One less task on my to-do list."

Jason suppressed his shiver at the cold tone of Ra's. "Of course. Anything to further the al Ghul agenda."

"That will be all, Jason. I will be in touch in two days time to check in on your task. Don't disappoint."

Then the line went dead.

Jason took in a shuddery breath, leaning his forehead against the wall. He knew he was getting in over his head, but this was something he had to do alone. He couldn't dare involve anyone else in the family.

It was bad enough Damian found his note and read it. Luckily, he didn't question the fact that it mentioned Ra's demise and Jason's part in it, yet as far as Damian knew, Ra's was still alive and on the run.

Franco was a life saver, walking in on him writing the note and coming up with that bull exercise on the fly in front of Bruce and Selina. Thankfully, none of them read it and Franco managed to convince his parents that the two of them had made contact before the appointment to establish a base relationship. Otherwise Jason's whole operation would fall apart and the Wayne family would all be dead.

Jason was relying too much on luck and he did not like it one bit. He needed to buckle down and focus on his goal.

Jason slipped out of the room, nearly bumping into Selina as he did so. "Oh, hi, Jason. I thought you were with your siblings watching Frozen?"

Jason took note of Selina's blood shot eyes and the far away sound to her voice. "Yeah, I was...I just had to go to the bathroom. Is everything okay?"

Selina blinked slowly, as if to put things in focus. "Yeah, yeah, of course. Just been pulling all nighters for my business." She smiled tightly. "Go finish the movie, I bet you'll like it."

"We've seen it a hundred times." Jason fake whined, having a hunch Selina needed some normalcy in her life.

Selina chuckled. "Well, it is a classic. Go enjoy it with your siblings."

Jason nodded, turning to walk away before thinking better of it. He paused and whirled back around, pulling Selina in for hug and resting his head on her shoulder. Selina seemed startled at first, tensing for a moment before relaxing and wrapping her arms around Jason.

Jason pulled out of the embrace after a moment and smiled at Selina. "I love you, mom."

Selina blinked back the tears in her eyes so fast Jason almost thought he imagined them. Almost. "I love you too, Jason. No matter what."

Jason was about to question this, his mouth opening to do just this when Selina brushed past him, squeezing his shoulder as she did so and disappearing down the hallway.

He paused, shaking his head to clear his mind before walking back to the movie room. He entered to see his siblings had settled back down in their respective chairs and cuddled up under their blankets to watch the movie. He found his seat and got comfortable, pushing the rising bile of self hatred back down as the movie played on the screen.

He was doing this because he loved his family. They deserved to be happy.

And how could they be happy if they knew what Jason was doing behind their backs? How could they be happy if they knew what kind of a person he was?

Jason needed to continue with his mission, consequences to his mental health be damned. Why should that matter, anyways?

He'll be dead when this is all over, after all.