No Turning Back!

*2 Months later*

The two months have been hard for Ben. He felt every time he holds someone important to him, they end up getting hurt. He was well aware that Jason would have been killed by Joker or Barbra would end up paralyzed, whether he was in this universe or not. But he still held himself somewhat responsible for it.

Ben had fully immersed himself in medical studies and healing magic to become skilled enough to heal Barbra. He even started making a foundation to learn one of the most dangerous magic as well, Time magic. The last resort in case nothing works.

As for what happened after he left Gotham, he has only a basic idea which he got from either call from Barbra or the meetings with Dick. Batman had to send Dick to keep tabs on Ben as he did show meta powers. But Ben completely refused to say anything about them. He didn't know the reason Batman didn't tell Barbra about what happened at the circus, and Ben didn't bother worrying her either. She was still recovering from the shock, so he didn't want her involved anymore because of him.

Ben did almost cut ties with Dick because of his relationship with Batman, but after talking for a while, he decided not to. Mainly because Dick convinced him how dangerous the idea of Batman with a gun could be, and Ben couldn't help but agree. Gotham would be dyed in blood if that happened. It still didn't mean he's just gonna forgive Batman. But Ben did drop most of his hard feeling towards him, or at least he thought so. Ben wasn't sure he would remain calm if he saw Batman again.

After the incident, Ben increased his training by several levels but didn't do anything except that. He never had any ambition to play hero, and he still wouldn't. But at the same time, the feeling of guilt was forcing him to do something. Thoughts like, ' If you were there, this wouldn't have happened' kept popping in his mind occasionally.

"You have been spacing out a lot more than usual. What's bothering you?" Ben heard someone ask beside him.

Ben turned his head and looked at Alex who had asked the question, as Kara also looked towards him for an answer. Ben just shook his head and said nothing. This had been the fifth time he wished he was old enough to drink, though he doubts alcohol would have any effect on him except draining his pockets.

Ignoring his depressing thoughts, Ben walked towards the bus stand when he felt a sudden feeling of despair erupt near him. Startled, he enhanced all his senses and tried to find the source of the feeling he felt. It didn't take him long to find the source, and what he found almost made him leak his aura around.

4 men held a woman and a young girl, about 8 years, captive. And they seemed to be blackmailing the women, no doubt the mother of the little girl. Ben was about to call Dick when he felt a shift in the feelings of the 4 men. The initially had a sense of urgency and amusement, but now it seemed lustful and dangerous. Ben didn't have to take a second guess at what was about to happen as one of the men caught the child made her turn towards her mother and the men neared the mother who was extremely scared and fell into more despair.

Unable to bear his anger, Ben towards Alex and Kara and said, "Shit, I forgot something in the locker. You girls go ahead, I'll catch the next bus."

Just as he finished, Ben darted back towards an alley before Alex and Kara had any time to speak. The both stood stunned for a few seconds, then Alex turned towards Kara and asked, "Since when was that alley a shortcut to school?"

Kara shrugged her shoulders, then the both started walking towards the bus stop. But at the moment, Kara's fingers were digging into the straps of her bag and her eyes were slightly red because when Alex darted away, she unconsciously enabled her hearing and heard the men talking trash and the women pleading them to not come close. And it took Kara almost everything to not fly towards the location. But she didn't need to either, as she heard Ben reach the place.

*Pov Switch*

"Look lady, we are asking the last time, where is the proof your husband collected?" A man asked, threatening the woman who was covering her child, as tears flowed through her eyes.

"I-I don't know, I don't know. Please, let us go. We don't know anything." The woman cried and pleaded.

The men were getting more and more pissed on not getting the information their boss wanted. The men frowned as they got nowhere from this when one of the men smiled creepily. He gestured to the other men who understood what he was saying and gained the same smile.

The woman also realized they were going to harm her and tried hiding her daughter when one of the men snatched her away. The girl cried but the man held the kid and turned her head towards her mother who was cornered as well.

"You see, your husband has been a pain in the ass for quite some time and you have wasted our time as well... so we are going to take some compensation for it." The man said and grinned. The woman paled hearing this and pleaded, "No, please No, please. Not in front of my daughter. Don't do this."

"Oh, but where's the fun in that?" The man said and closed the gap with his other two pals behind when suddenly the one holding the girl crashed on some shelves. The men turned back and saw the guy lodged in the bookshelf, grunting in pain.

"What the heck happened?" One of them yelled when another one flew and crashed into the wall.

The other two tried taking out their guns but they were hit hard on their knee so hard that they collapsed a second after that and couldn't feel the leg anymore. The light had started to dim in the room and the room looked like it was covered in shadows. The mother by now had gone and hugged her daughter and covered the girl to protect her while looking at the shadows scared.

But the men were facing an entirely different situation. It was as if the feeling of fear was purposely pulled out to the front and they could see a figure in the middle of the room. They couldn't even tell its shape because it seemed to be made of shadows, but they could see two shining blue eyes looking at them as if they were staring into their soul.

The figure loomed over the two men who had flopped down because of knee pain, as they tried sliding back, away from it, whatever it was. "Well, dOn'T YOu enJOy SeEinG OtheR'S In pAin? WHat's tHE MaTTeR?" The bring said in a demonic voice, scaring the shit out of them. The being was about to say more when the men pissed themselves and fainted. The fear became too much for them to handle. The being was actually Ben who used mental illusions to appear like that while staying invisible from the mother and daughter, as his shadow magic wasn't as strong to cover himself in them.

Ben looked at the mother-daughter pair and gave out a tired sigh, 'What the hell was I thinking?'

*Hours Later*

" So,.. nothing?" Ben asked.

"*sigh* yeah, nothing." Richard 'Dick' Grayson said.

After the whole thing, Ben had no idea what to do, so he put the mother and daughter to sleep and secretly contacted Dick and explained the situation. Dick quickly managed things out and the men were apprehended while the two victims were rescued by the police. The lady explained that her husband was an officer as well. Or was, as he was said to have died on duty.

Which he did do, but the complete truth was also a bit complicated, which Dick explained to Ben. The husband was undercover in one of the major gangs in National City and was discovered, which Dick deduced after a while was because of an insider in the cops. The guy did manage to hide the evidence somehow, and the men went to his grieving wife for answers, where they... the less said, the better. Ben had difficulty keeping his anger in check, as he didn't want to kill anyone then as their testimonies would be required by the cops, but it seems less likely.

Because Dick was able to determine the gangster had some people deep in the department and not only will the goons mean nothing, but the mother and daughter might also be in even more trouble. That's why Dick said that the police department could probably get nothing done.

"Look man, I'll try looking into it as well. In fact, I've been trying to do this for a while, but just couldn't find solid proof. Trashing criminals and destroying a mafia gang is completely different." Dick explained. Ben said nothing and nodded.

After talking for a while, Dick went towards his own apartment while Ben stared out of his window and sighed. Ben had a revolt going on inside him. One part still wanted to not get involved in the rabbit hole, while the other screamed at him for doing nothing and he was only gonna let more people die or... worse.

."*sigh*" Ben sighed once again. Today's incident once again threw his efforts to keep his emotions in check after the Gotham incident down the drain.

Ben thought and remembered why he didn't want to be involved in this shit because he had no way to defend himself. This was clearly not the case now, but he still asked himself if really wanted to do this.

He definitely wasn't a follower of the 'With great power comes great responsibility' group, then why should he do it. He wondered and started reminiscing about his past life. The family he still yearned for. He remembered the emotions the little girl felt over the loss of his father, and Ben knew the feeling very well.

Ben kept looking back at his memories when a certain memory crossed him. It was when Ben was given a detention for fighting some kids who were bullying another kid. His parents gave him a lecture at the school but dropped the act altogether when they reached home.

Instead, his father and grandfather were telling him what else he could have done to teach them a lesson. Ben was stunned by the switch when his dad said, "Guess you're still confused eh? We're not really angry, in fact, we're glad you inherited our drive to stop something wrong. You see Ben, the world is a place where most who stand on top are not usually the good kind, may it be politicians with lies, or businessmen thinking about profit. They don't care about others. And to live in this world, you have to show agreement to their ways to some extent, but never do it completely and become like them. Always remember, we are gonna judged based on what we have done at the end, not the money we earned. So if you see someone in need, and if you get no harm in helping them, then do it. Our family isn't one to turn backs to those who need help, even if it costs our life."

Ben looked towards the star-filled sky and remembered the angel-like being because of whom he's here. "You were always right weren't you dad." Ben chuckled and relaxed on the chair. After a few moments, he opened his eyes again, which shined blue, filled with his determination. "Well, no turning back now." He said with a grin. Having seen what the world has to offer, Ben knew very well he can't be always smiling like superman, so he promised to make damn sure those who face him will be haunted in their NIGHTMARES!