Fuck fuck fuck fuck. 

That is the first thing Caelan thinks when she begins to awaken. She can't see, she can't move her arms. They are tied behind her to what feels like a post.

Her feet are tied together as well, forcing her to her knees. Wherever she is, is wet and cold, smelling like rain and dirt. It's not the strange cot she was cuffed to before.

Against her face, the material blocking her sight chafes painfully against her cheeks. Just as she begins to blink hard and inch the cloth down her face, she feels the ropes on her wrists move.

"Caelan. It's alright," she hears a familiar voice before she can panic.

"Ja-...Red Hood?" She replies, realising he's on the other side of the post.

"Are you okay?"

She's been missing for three days.

"I'm fine. Did they hurt you?" 

The girl shakes her head before remembering he can't see her.

"My head stings is all. I was Skyping with Tim when it happened. Sukiyo's assistant; the girl? She got me by surprise. That's all."

Jason relaxes a little. As long as no one hurt his girl's little sister, they could live another day.

Of course, once they get out of here he is going to kill every last one of them. Starting with the two jackasses who jumped him during his fight with Sukiyo.

"They got you?"

"A trap. We were looking for you," he replies, anger in his voice mistakingly directed at her.

"I'm sorry," she says softly. How useless of her to not hang up the video call and go looking for the threat.

"Don't be. Not your fault,"Jason replies shortly. 

Both try to keep their hands still. The more they pull, the more they hurt.

"She'll come now," Caelan says, sounding disappointed. Jason gets the feeling the thought of Venus getting back into the physical fight against crime worries her. "She'll put on the mask."

"Did she ever take it off?" He replies. He hears her laugh.

The two fall into a silence again, thinking of the same person. The person who inadvertently got them into that situation. The person who will be most driven to get them out.

"She has a lot of masks," Caelan hears herself say, before she can stop it. If anyone understands her sister better than herself and her father, it's the man behind her.

This, she believes, is the first time she has been alone with Jason.

"The first time I realised that was at my brother Caeden's funeral. I was seven, Skylar was thirteen. She didn't cry. She didn't even look at anything. Just...stared. A mask."

Jason can understand that. He knows she is good at hiding things.

"Second time. Another brother. Another funeral. Drew. I was twelve and she was eighteen. A different mask. It didn't cover how she felt; it radiated finality. She was done with gang war. So she left. With Hiroshi she always had a mask that told of love. I didn't realise how she looked at him was a mask until I saw how she looked at you."

He closes his eyes, mentally leaving the small cell he and Caelan are in.

Instead he's back beneath the wine-red blankets of Venus' bed. It's morning and it's snowing and she's looking down at him, head propped on her elbow.

Perfect. She's perfect. That is no mask.

"I suppose her masks were their best in the courtroom. When she'd pretend."

Jason smiles, "No. She's not pretending in there. Have you seen her in action?"

His eyes are still closed. He's not there. He's not there. He is with her.

"Only through my powers. And that's like looking through a keyhole," she replies, remembering her sister's stern expression.

"I got to see her once. She was fierce, and beautiful. All she'd have to do is stare and the witness would come undone. She...She's perfect."

The loving tone in his voice brings a smile to Caelan's face. Perhaps her sister really did find the man for her, that she claimed did not exist.

Immediately the atmosphere changes to one of fear, when the heavy-bolt door to the room unlocks and opens. There is no sound of anyone entering, but the two know there is someone there.

Caelan bets Jason is calm, but she is on edge. Her skin is alive with goose-bumps, blood running cold and sweat running down the sides of her head.

"Years of planning," Sukiyo's voice is prominent with her accent and gentle tone. "It has taken me a long time, but I waited. I waited until she fell so in love with someone, so I could take them away."

"Suppose the difference here is I actually love her but Hiroshi never loved you," Jason says bravely. Unlike Caelan he has no blindfold, so when Sukiyo steps in front of him with a furious glare, he sees the hands that swipes across his face, clawing at his cheek.

His head snaps to the side, cheek stinging with the bleeding gashes.

"Bitch," he spits out, looking back up at her.

"He loved me," she says, her eyes showing nothing but resentment and a hint of madness.

"He fucked you," Jason replies, not at all wavered by their current positions. This woman has tried to kill his girl, kidnapped her sister and himself.

Even more rage rises in Sukiyo's dark eyes. She reaches for the sword on her back. Just as her hand brushes the handle, she seems to make a second thought.

Instead of drawing, she shuts her eyes, taking a deep breath and squeezing her fist.

"I will not allow you to put ideas in my head," she says, straightening up.

"Even if they're true?" Caelan suddenly exclaims, making Jason smile. He knew his outburst would give her equal confidence.

"You will not speak," another voice says. Small, young and feminine. The strange witch-like child that has been serving Sukiyo, Jason thinks.

"Do you have a name? Or would you like me to take a look inside and find out all about you?" Caelan presses, daring herself to be strong.

"Using your powers is exactly what we had in mind," Sukiyo says lightly, kneeling down to Jason's level. "You see, Salvore-san, whilst you were asleep, Tori took a look at the secret you and your father are trying to keep from Venus and Jason."

Jason's mind freezes for a second. Secret? 

Caelan tries to keep her neutral expression behind the blindfold.

"Secret?" She presses. No no no. If Jason hears this...

"Caelan, just don't speak. It's okay," Jason assures her. Though her power is confusing, Venus explained it in a way that made it sound like the Fort Knox of mental abilities.

Sukiyo smiles at Jason, reaching out and gently running her fingernail between the gashes on his stubbled cheeks. Jason jars away from the touch.

"Don't worry," she whispers, just loud enough for Caelan to hear. "She doesn't have to speak. She just has to show you." 

He glares at the ex-play doll as she stands up again.

"I'm not showing him anything!" Caelan snaps. Sukiyo tsks as she rounds the post, stopping to stand beside Tori in front of their female captive.

"You will, once you've been convinced." 

The taller woman gives her assistant a sharp nod. Tori kneels before Caelan, reaching out and touching her temples.

"This is your last chance, Salvore-san. Show him."

"Never," Caelan spits. It will ruin everything.

"Fine."

Jason panics in the split second of silence, before his ears are pierced with the pained screamed of Venus' little sister.

~

The first time I put this thing on, I laughed at myself. I remember looking in the mirror and actually giggling like a maniac.

I asked myself why I was doing it and I had no good answer.

This time, there is no laughter. Not when I zip the white jumpsuit up, slip my arms into the jacket, pull my boots on...or place my mask over my eyes.

I tie my hair in a low ponytail as it always had been. It feels right, after that; I am who I'm supposed to be.

The two guns I have always wielded are large, heavy and have a pattern similar to my costume. Gigantic handguns capable of more than that.

Capable of killing more than they have.

"That's where it is?"

The rough voice of the Batman pulls her from her reverie. Sugar Skull looks up from the dashboard of the Batmobile, to the streets of Little Japan in Lightway City.

"That's it. It's the last place to look. That's where she's keeping them," she says, pointing to the old library at the end of the street.

Batman makes a sharp turn into an empty alley way, turning off the motor immediately. The sudden cutoff of vibrations is strange, but the anti-hero ignores is as she climbs out of the car and into the air of the city she grew up in.

On the road, several Salvore Mob cars have stopped, with Anton and his men getting out and preparing their weapons.

Across the street in another alley, Blackbat, Nightwing and Red Robin emerge.

"Rubber bullets, as promised," Anton says to Batman when he reaches him at the helm of their small army. The Russian man lacks his jolliness out of fear for his daughter.

Sugar Skull's bullets are not rubber. They are cold-rolled Russian steel.

Guns loaded, she takes the lead without being asked.

It's time to end it.

~

During two minutes of torture, time seemed to pass slowly. Caelan was not exactly sure what she was feeling. It was just pain, all over

She knows it can be worse. Much worse. So when Tori releases her hold and steps back behind Sukiyo, her fear levels have raised again.

"You have two minutes to make your choice," Sukiyo says calmly. When she turns, her kimono swishes gracefully. Neither look back before the door shuts.

As soon as they are both gone Jason tries in vain to get a look at the teenager. She can hear her sobbing quietly.

"Caelan. You have to tell me. They'll drive you mad with this kind of thing...or worse," he says, seeing no other way out.

"Y-You don't..." she gasps out, voice ragged, "...understand."

"You don't owe Ven or I anything. Do you really think she'd rather your suffer this way?" It's what Venus would want, he knows. She'd want him to do anything to stop her sister's pain. "When they come back in, you tell them you'll do it."

Caelan shakes her head, "It'll ruin her Jason."

Which, is exactly why Sukiyo wants it to happen.

"Caelan. She's strong. Stronger than anyone I know." There's a fault in the plan, somewhere. Sukiyo knows whatever the secret is, it will destroy Venus...so why tell him? 

"But-"

"Dammit Caelan just tell me!" 

The door swings open again and the two women enter. Caelan looks up at them, ice-blue eyes brimming with tears.

There is no way out of this. One way or another, Venus is going to find out who the woman she killed in her dream is.

"Have you made your choice?" Sukiyo asks smugly. She knows she has.

Caelan withholds for a second; just a second. It was for hope. Hope that Sugar Skull and Batman would bust down the door and kill these two bitches.

"I'll show him," she forces herself to say. Her powers ignite in her ice blue eyes as she grips Jason hand, beginning to display the dream. "I'm sorry."

Sukiyo smiles.

~

-Unedited-

All you who know the answer SHUSH. Don't spoil anything you potatoes.

I should be studying for exams, I have one in about 10 hours o.O Maths lol.

THIS STORY HAS 4 CHAPTERS LEFT!! WHAT???

Love you all,

Stay magical!

Be safe.

-Kaido