Ch 5

[Will Pov]

Things were different for Will now, and he felt exposed in Wayne manor. After the first night he woke up in a cold sweat with Tim standing over him looking concerned, he began gagging himself so when he screamed, he wouldn't wake anybody else up.

Tim had asked him about it, but Will merely stated, "They just apply pressure to me in my dreams, think nothing of it." Tim and Dick seemed concerned for him as the week progressed. However, Damian didn't really ask questions. Will liked Damian; he kept it real, plus the little shit was smart too.

When Will was awake he could often be found doing homework or chilling with Tim and Damian. He didn't know how he felt about Dick yet, but their relationship wasn't bad. Barbara and Stephanie mostly came around annoying him like concerned citizens because Tim had said something to them.

Things were peaceful this first week, which was pretty uncomfortable to him. He didn't really know what to do with himself since he couldn't work, train, or fight. He could tell they were starting to notice something was up. Then finally on Friday, Alfred came in and placed a brown box on the coffee table.

"A gift for you, master William."

Will opened the box and his eyes lit up. "My blades, oh my gosh I thought you'd be gone forever, I'll never lose you again." he said as he picked them up and kissed them.

Will: "Alfred I can't thank you enough for this."

Alfred: "Don't thank me, thank Master Wayne. He's the one who got them for you."

Will: "I will sir, I can't wait to get out there and kick ass for Mr. Bruce. I will not let you down sir and I swear I will become a better man."

Alfred smiled "Of course Master William."

Will took one of the blades into his hand with a serious expression on his face and decided to immediately cut the cast off his left arm and right leg with a practiced ease. The sharp promethium blades easily sliced through the material, when the casts fell off he again was assaulted with a huge wave of BO.

"Ugh, thank you Jesus." Will exclaimed

Alfred just pinched his nose and said "You might want to go wash up Master William."

This weekend Tim, Damian, and Dick were all going to be doing some bullshit with the sidekick squad. Bruce was doing some world saving shit with the Justice League, Will didn't know what, so it would just be him and Barbara this weekend.

He wasn't really supposed to be out on patrol yet, but Bruce surprisingly gave him permission to help out Barbara to which he felt greatly relieved. He needed to get out of the house. He was going crazy sitting within himself. He was starting to not be able to function, he needed to distract himself somehow.

While Will went up to shower, Barbara arrived at the Manor. Will finished up and threw on some baggy sweatpants and a black T-shirt. He was usually in his Gotham Academy uniform which had long sleeves, so the scars on his arms were usually not visible. However today they were on full display, painting a striking picture on his sturdy arms. He walked downstairs and saw Barbara speaking with Alfred about something. Will walked up, "Hey Barb, I'm so ready for tonight I've been itching for some action you know."

Barbara looked him up and down, "Alright, but you have to follow my lead this weekend. No funny business."

Will smiled, "Come on you know I got your back girl. Let's boogie."

Barbara let out a melodious laugh then placed her hand on his arm and asked, "Are you feeling better, Tim has me worried about you."

Will just shrugged and said, "What's there to be worried about, I've always been this way and I'm fine. I most likely will be fine now that we can work towards something Barb."

Barbara just said, "You know if you need to talk about anything I'm always here you know."

Will rolled his eyes, "What's there to talk about? Plus I have my secrets. I don't know if I'm ready to let you know Barb."

Barbara looked saddened by that

"Anyways speaking of secrets there's something in my apartment we need to go get, I can't lose it. It's the last thing my filthy fucking father ever left me and I need to keep it close." Will felt a wave of disgust rise up at the thought of the man.

"Huh, wait, I thought you were raised by Deathstroke?"

Said Barbara looking slightly confused.

"No, Slade took a liking to me only after my family was butchered." Will said seriously

Barbara reached in to give him a hug, and Will flinched and his face turned bright red. But he let her come in and wrap her arms around him. He felt warm for the first time in a while, and it was incredibly uncomfortable. So he just stood there stunned like a piece of wood as Barbara pressed into him.

Will coughed and Barbara took that as the signal for her to let go.

"Here, I think we should find me a suit down there for now, one that fits that I can use tonight. Until we can get me my own. Maybe Dick has an old robin suit I can use for this weekend. If not, I'll just throw a black hoodie on and wrap a bandana around my face." He said

She pursed her lips together. "Yeah… sure."

They both walked down to the elevator and entered the massive Batcave. Barbara led the way and Will followed behind her. They walked up to where all the old suits are stored.

Barbara: "Will how tall are you anyways."

"Ah about 5'9" nothing special really." Will said

Barbara looked thoughtful for a moment. Mmmm let's try this one for now. Barbara walked up and pointed to one of Dick's old suits. It looked to be about the right size.

Will popped off his shirt revealing his incredibly toned and robust body covered in scars. His olive skin looked quite striking in the eerie light of the batcave. Barbara just stared at him, and noticed he had a Tattoo on his chest. On it were the Roman numerals for the number 7; VII.

Barbara just stared at him and walked around him, she saw what looked like whip and blade marks all over his back and the only other tattoo on his body. Written in a language she had never seen before, it looked almost like Arabic but it was different and it ran along his spine down to his waist. She walked up behind him and touched his back, again he flinched but allowed her to run her hand along his spine. She looked at him sadly, "what happened to you for your body to have so many scars Will."

Will turned around and grabbed her hand and looked down into her eyes and said, "My father happened."

"What did he do to you?" She asked

"That's my business Barbara. I don't want to speak of it." He replied sternly, not letting go and not looking away from her.

She pulled his hand from his grasp and touched the Roman numeral tattoo that resided over his heart. It looked fresh, but there were several scars running through it causing it to look slightly distorted.

"Did he make you get those too? What do they mean?" She asked

"Yes, he did. The first one he placed on me when I was very young. In my family, you have to earn the right to have a name. So, until then you are simply called the number of your birth or just boy or something. I was the seventh son and youngest son, so that's what I was called until I earned the name William."

"Is that why you said you didn't earn your last name?"

She asked curiously, her hand still resting on his chest. Will nodded his head, and reached up to caress her soft hands in his, savoring the moment, then he pulled her off of him. It didn't feel right, it made him uncomfortable. Him and Ravager never did anything intimate like that, they just had violent sex and fought each other. Will was beginning to look at Barbara in a different light, and Barbara was beginning to look at him differently as well.

"What does the one on your back say?" She asked curiously.

Will looked ashamed, "Demon."

"That's awful, Why does it say that?" Barbara asked

"Because it represents what I'm meant to become." He replied darkly

"There is no one in this world who I fear more than my fourth brother, he's the only one other than me who was strong enough to survive. The rest either died early on, or were killed by my elder brother. The markings on his back say, BEAST and that's exactly what he became once he completed the final step." Will said

Barbara looked down, "Will you are not a demon and I know you have a good heart. You are different from your brother and father. Otherwise you wouldn't be here, would you."

She reached in to hug him and this time he wrapped her up tightly and pressed his face into her red hair. She smelled like strawberries.

"Barbara he said into her ear, my brother was different before he completed the transformation. It corrupted him, his mind, his soul, and his body. He was never the same after that. He's powerful, far more powerful than me. If you ever meet him, run for your life, he can and will kill you if you give him the chance. I'm afraid if I ran into him without completing the transformation myself, I would never be able to match him. I'm scared Barb. I'm so scared of him." Will nearly broke down as hundreds of memories of that time burst through his head. The room of an old temple, that reeked of the coppery smell of blood and had several people and their body parts strewn about as if an animal ripped them apart with their bare hands flashed through his mind. Barbara merely pressed into him harder and the two just stood there in each other's arms for a moment.

Then Will broke the hug and tilted her head up so he could stare deeply into her beautiful green eyes.

Then, he smirked and said with slightly watery eyes, "as fun as it is being hugged by my celebrity crush, I think we should get to work, no?"

Barbara's face flushed red and she sputtered out, "Right, uh yeah let's do that."

They separated and Will popped off his sweatpants before putting on Dick's old Robin outfit.

The suit was the right length, but Will was much stronger and filled it out more than Dick did when he wore it. So it was a little tight, but he didn't care, it barely fit. That's all that mattered.

Will Struck a pose, "How do I look."

Barbara laughed, "like the suit is a few sizes too small."

"Really? I think it makes me look totally Jacked." Will retorted.

"Riiiiiight." She rolled her eyes at him

Next thing he knew Barbara had changed into her Batgirl outfit and we were ready to go out on patrol.

She showed him how to talk to each other through the equipment, and what button to press if he found himself in trouble. Then the two set out for the night.

[Tim Pov]

Meanwhile in Jump City Tim and Dick were sitting around chatting in costume.

"Be honest with me Dick what do you think of Will?" Tim asked

"I can't trust him, and Bruce feels the same. The boy is a killer Tim, and he worked for Slade. He all but practically admitted it, I don't care how genuine he seems. You shouldn't trust him either. The only reason Bruce even invited him is because he's too dangerous to be left in the hands of the Penguin." Dick said.

"So what? Damian's a killer." Tim said

"That's different, and you know it, he's family." Dick replied

"Well Barbara seems to trust him, and I don't think he's so bad." Tim said

"Well, Barbara doesn't exactly think rationally when it comes to him. Tim, we don't kill under any circumstances, I think taking him in was a mistake. We should just throw his ass in Arkham and be done with it."

"Trust me, Tim, I've seen a million people like him, he talks big game but will never change. He will always have blood on his hands." Replied Dick

"That's depressing man, he seems like he has a good heart. Anyways, how are things between you and Starfire?" Tim smirked

"Truthfully not great recently, I don't know how I feel anymore I'm just going to play it by ear." Dick said dejectedly."