Title: Lazarus II

Chapter: 7/7

Author: MrGrayson24

Rating: T+

Disclaimer: Why am I still doing these?

Author's Note: Here it is! The final chapter! Thank you SO SO MUCH to everyone who made it this far, I have such a blast writing these, it's so great that people are enjoying them. Let me know what you think when you're done!

-x-

"Where are we going?"

"I already told you, it's a surprise."

Dick rolled his eyes and pulled his arm from the Court member that accompanied him. When he'd shaken one loose, another grabbed him as they marched down the hall. "I don't like surprises."

They came out an exit Dick had never used before and there were black town cars parked all in a line with their engines running.

"Where are we going?"

Lazarus sighed and gave Dick a look. "This again?"

"Alright, let me rephrase. I'm not going to go anywhere with you."

"Dick, I think you've forgotten the situation you're in." Lazarus snapped his fingers and a Court member withdrew a knife and handed it to him. Dick backed up but froze when Lazarus took the knife to his own arm and dragged it along the skin, a deep red line was etched from wrist to forearm. "Every time you struggle, Jason gets a new scar, is that what you want?"

Dick shook his head. "No… I'll cooperate."

Lazarus smiled. "Good." A member of the Court handed Lazarus a towel and he pressed it to his wound as he opened the car door for Dick and motioned for him to get inside.

-x-

"You put a tracer on all the cars?" Batman asked. Him and Barbara crouched in the bushes as they watched the town cars drive away.

"Yep." She watched a series of red dots drive away on the locator. "Where do you think they're going?"

Batman trudged up the dirt path and climbed onto his motorcycle. "Let's find out." He was about to drive away. Barbara noticed at the last minute, jogged to him and hopped on the back and they zoomed off.

-x-

Lazarus nursed his arm in the car.

"Regretting it?" Dick asked without looking from the window.

"It won't stop hurting." Lazarus declared. "And bleeding…"

"That's what happens when you slice your arm open with a knife."

"I had to make a point." He knotted the towel over the open wound. "You wouldn't listen to me."

The car pulled into a driveway and came to a stop.

"It wasn't very effective if you're the one who ended up on the sharp end of it."

"Hmmm…" Lazarus pondered. "I'll have to remember that for next time."

Dick turned to him. "What do you mean, next time?"

Lazarus smiled. "Well, seeing as how we're almost there, I guess I can give you a hint."

The door to the car opened as the rest of the town cars pulled into the driveway, they were followed by a dozen trucks. The trucks pulled up next to Dick and Lazarus, the driver's eyes glowed green. They gave a small nod to Lazarus, hopped out and headed to the back of the van.

Lazarus followed and pulled Dick with him.

The driver unlocked the latch to the back.

The door was rolled up. Along the walls of the truck were thousands of IV bags, all filled with green liquid. The other trucks followed suite, and soon, the green liquid was being brought out in barrels.

"I'm going to ask one more time." Dick turned to Lazarus. "Where are we going?"

"We're already there." Lazarus pointed behind Dick.

Next to the long driveway was a sign with faded font.

Gotham - Water Treatment Facility

Lazarus wrapped his arms around Dick and rested his head on his shoulder. Dick was too dumbstruck to care. "Wait till you see what I have planned for us." He kissed Dick's cheek. "It'll blow you away."

-x-

"Tim, are you getting all of this?"

"I am." He said into the comm. "I've just about got the blueprints but once you're in there..."

"Just get us inside." Bruce didn't look up from the binoculars.

"I wish I was there with you guys." Tim sat in his bed, with his computer on his lap as Alfred brought him more tea. "Being injured is awful."

Barbara rolled her eyes. "I'm sure Alfred is making it so hard on you."

"Alright, I got it. There's an entrance on the south side that'll take you the main reservoir, best bet is that's where they're headed."

Barbara turned to Bruce. "He's going to pour Lazarus water into the central water line."

-x-

"But why?" Dick asked as they walked across the thin metal bridge that crossed over the top of Gotham's largest water reserve.

"I got the idea from the little one."

"Tim."

"Right, Tim." Lazarus cringed. "You see, with my power back, a physical body still poses a problem. I can already feel Jason's body giving out on me. But, if everyone has been exposed…"

"Then anybody is a potential match." Dick finished for him.

"This isn't just about having a backup plan." Lazarus laughed. "The extent of my power doesn't end at making puppets." He nodded to the Court members. "Once the city has been altered, I'll be connected to them all, I'll feel them all. I can draw power from them without ever needing to see them. They will become an everlasting battery and we can be together forever. There is just one small matter-"

"What's that?"

"I can't trust you on your own, so-"

"I'm not drinking any of that shit."

"I didn't think you would. But you see, the way the waters work is if someone takes a drink, their DNA is altered but they remain seemingly unaffected. But if one is close to death, they are returned to their prime state and can be… reconfigured. You heard about Jason when he first came back. He was ravenous, wasn't he? Primal. It'll hurt me to see you like that but we can rebuild, and you'll love me."

"Are you insane?!" Dick cried. "You are going to throw me in there so I do what you say? How can someone who craves love so much be so clueless about it? I will never love you, get it through your head. You can throw me in there a thousand times, and I promise you, each time I crawl out, I'll come back to kill you."

"You're such a fighter." Lazarus sighed as he stroked the side of Dick's face. "I hope you don't lose that in the transition."

"Yeah, well good luck. Besides, if somebody has to be near death, I-"

There was a sudden sharp pain. Dick's looked down to see a knife buried in his stomach.

"This hurts me more than it hurts you." Lazarus said softly.

-x-

"We need to move, now." Barbara and Bruce hung in the rafters as Lazarus plunged his knife into Dick.

The Court dumped large containers filled with green liquid into the vortex of water.

"Get to Dick." Bruce had already jumped down. "I'll handle the rest."

They landed on opposite ends of the bridge. The Court Members seemed surprised, but Batman took them down before they even had a chance to drop their barrels when more appeared.

Dick had fallen to all fours and clutched his stomach. Lazarus turned to face Barbara. "Hello again."

"Ooohhh, I've been waiting for this." Barbara said with a smile as she leapt at Lazarus with her firsts held high.

"Barbara…" Dick groaned.

"I'm coming, Dick." Barbara grunted as Lazarus landed a blow square to her face.

"Dick doesn't need you anymore." Lazarus sneered as Barbara rebounded. "He has me."

"Then he should've stuck to red heads." She jumped at him.

Dick's head was in a fog. He could hear the commotion around him but it started to fade.

The waters will return you to your original state.

He heard Lazarus's words in his head, and he knew what he had to do.

Lazarus's fingers curled around Barbara's neck and he pulled her up from the ground.

"Wait!" Dick yelled. "I'll do it. Just, don't hurt her."

Lazarus looked between Dick and Barbara, and then he dropped her. She crumbled to the floor and gasped for air.

"That's all I needed to hear." He smiled.

Dick struggled to his feet. Lazarus approached to steady him. "I'll go in, under one condition." Dick grasped Lazarus's sleeve. "You're going in with me."

Lazarus tried to pull back. "That's not part of the deal."

"It's you and me, right Lazarus?" Dick tried to keep a firm grip as Lazarus struggled.

"If you think this will bring Jason back, you're wrong." His eyes were wild with fury and green light. "You'll kill us both."

Dick hesitated, he was right. He couldn't risk Jason. Then, Lazarus froze. And when Dick looked up at him, the green light was gone.

"Do it." Jason said with a reassuring smile. He grasped Dick's wrist in a firm grip and before Dick could stop himself, he pulled Jason into a passionate kiss.

"I missed you." Dick said quietly.

"I never left." Jason responded and embraced Dick.

Dick looked over the rail just as the green light returned to Jason's eyes and he tried to pull away again.

But it was too late, they were already on a descent into the watery abyss.

-x-

"They've been under there for a really long time." Barbara looked down into the murky water. Her and Bruce stood at the reservoir's edge with unconscious court members all around them.

"I'm going in." Bruce pronounced.

"Wait!"

Dick and Jason shot out of the water, gasping for breath. Bruce and Barbara helped them over the edge and they collapsed onto the ground.

"Oh, please don't be crazy, please don't be crazy." Barbara chanted as she turned Dick onto his back. Bruce checked Jason's pulse when Dick shot up with a loud gasp.

"What happened?" He looked around, wildly.

"You pulled Lazarus into the water with you." She stroked his hair and noticed his wound was completely healed.

"And Jason? Where's Jason?!"

"Here…" Jason coughed up water. "Damn…" He looked over at Dick. "You look really good wet."

Dick heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank god."

-x-

"Ow!" Jason pulled his arm back from Dick. "Will you stop pinching me?!"

Dick scanned Jason's eyes for any signs of green. "Just… checking…" He pinched him again.

"Alright, that's the last time!"

Dick narrowed his eyes at him as he picked up tray of lemonade and started out to the veranda with Jason, Bruce, Dick and Tim behind him.

"Do you think you might have overdone it on the cake?" Tim asked Barbara as he looked out from behind the five layer behemoth.

"It's a celebration!" She chimed as they filtered through the glass doors to the outside.

"Uh… Bruce?" Jason stopped. "Can you hang back for a second?"

Bruce nodded Barbara, Tim and Dick ahead. "What's on your mind?"

"About what Lazarus said… about how I feel. I'm sorry… I don't know-"

"Stop." Bruce rested a hand on his shoulder. "I know we have our fair share of issues." He smiled. "But I don't know a father and son that don't."

Jason let out a sigh of relief and Bruce pulled him into a hug. "I'm glad you're okay."

-x-

Prologue

"So, how does it feel to be back in your own skin?" Barbara poured the lemonade and passed it to each of the boys.

"Amazing." Jason took a piece of cake from Tim, who was cutting them into perfectly symmetrical pieces. "I can go back to doing whatever I want to my body. Tim knows what I'm talking about." He winked and made a jerking gesture in the air.

Tim rolled his eyes as he cut another piece.

"What about the infected water?"

"Luckily, the reservoir hadn't been released into the main waterway. We tagged it as toxic, so it'll go through a very, very long decontamination process." Bruce grabbed his piece.

"And… you think he's gone?" Barbara looked between them.

"I do." Dick grabbed Jason's hand under the table. "While we were down there, there was this… burst of energy. He's finally back in the water."

"Well…" Tim started. Dick looked up just as Tim threw the frosting covered knife into Bruce's chest. His eyes were bright, neon green. "I wouldn't say that."