Chapter Text
-Jason-
I stepped off of the plane, my duffel in one hand and cell phone trapped between my shoulder and ear as I climbed into the taxi.
"Yes Tals, I promise I'll call."
"I trust you will Habibi, but are you sure that you are ready?"
"Talia, I have been gone for six years, seven if you count the previous issue. If I wait much longer I'll have to use a cane."
"TT, stay safe Habibi, I'm sure that Damian will be pleased to see you."
"...About that... I don't think I'm going to tell them I'm in town."
"And why not?" Talia's voice was distinctly unimpressed.
"It's been 2 years since I've seen the kid Tals, besides, I can't have the whole identity thing be an issue with dear old dad." I hear Talia sigh over the line.
"Very well, but when he attacks you for with holding information I will not come to your aid."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll call you if I get into trouble."
"See that you do, Habibi. Stay safe."
With that out of the way, it was now time to get reacquainted with Gotham... Hopefully the shit-hole hasn't forgotten me.
-Three Weeks Later-
-Bruce-
The cool, damp, air, filled with the soft sound of bats, was lost on him as I stared at the screens, frowning. Two weeks ago police responded to an anonymous tip in the Bowery, uncomfortably close to Crime Alley, and found the dead body of the main suspect in a string of serial murders. A day after that another body showed up, though this one was that of a well known dealer with the Falconi family's drug trade. Both were killed in an extremely professional way, and the MO was the exact same for both. After that, the bodies of criminals started piling up all over the Bowery and Park Row areas. All killed in the exact same way, a bullet to the head. (Though it seemed that the rapists and pedophiles got a bullet to the genitals beforehand.)
Whoever this was, they were no amateur, never being caught on camera, and certainly never being seen by police. Add to the fact that street kids or prostitutes that were missing were suddenly popping up found left and right, or being avenged, crime was down.
While it was clear that their methods were getting results, they were also killing people, and they needed to be brought in.
"Any clues on our mystery killer?" Dick's voice queried from behind my chair.
"No."
"Shame, but hey, maybe we'll spot something on patrol tonight."
"Maybe."
"Gosh, that was just the rousing pep talk I needed tonight! Why don't we go find Damian and see if we can make this day of sunshine and sparkles shine!"
"Hrn."
That night, as I suited up, I felt my eyes drawn to the case. Jason's suit hangs empty, as always. Too small for the tears that can still be seen, even though Alfred's stitching was commendable as always. Too small for the blood stains that could never truly be washed clean. Too small for the life that was held within, and certainly too small for the hole that was left behind. The plaque glares at me, daring me to remember the way that day felt, the way the heat of the sun beat down on me even as I rushed towards flames in order to find Jason. I look away.
The truth is, I never enjoyed patrolling in Crime Alley, but especially since Jason died. He had torn into my life like a hurricane, upending everything I knew with a gutsy choice and even gutsier response to being caught. Making me laugh on the night of my parents' murder is near impossible, but he had managed more than once. He glared at everything with defiance, and I had gotten him killed.
I don't know if it was because we had been fighting that he didn't listen to orders or if it was the fact that I left him alone, but I should have seen that he wouldn't stand by while the Joker blackmailed Sheila. His blood is on my hands, and if I can clean some of that off by watching over his home, I will.
As I grappled up to the top of an apartment building, I heard screams. I swung over, Nightwing behind me. I had tried to get him to patrol with Damian, lord knows he shouldn't be left alone with Tim for any length of time, but he had insisted on a patrol with me. I had only agreed because it turns out that Damian had a large project that he had been putting off to continue patrol. That and Tim had a WE meeting early and Alfred simply refused to let him out without rest.
When we reached the site of the screams we found three muggers and a woman with her son. They were dispatched quickly, and the victims were checked over. The routine continued, though as we got further into the territory of the mystery killer we were met with more and more hostility from the victims we saved. It was odd to say the least.
"Yo B. Do you think that maybe they're more scared of us because of the new vigilante in town?"
"I don't know."
"Oof, that sounded painful, do you need to say it again to bleed the poison from this wound?" I grunted as Dick chuckled to himself, though I could tell it was strained. The odd behavior from the victims was disturbing to say the least. True, we didn't patrol hear as often as we likely should, but we still were seen as heroes.
"Hey, Bats!" Nightwing and I turn, mid-swing to find a little girl of around 6 with her arms crossed and her chest puffed out. She stares us down as we land, her intimidating posture completely ruined by the fact that she had her hair in tiny pigtails and was wearing green leap frog pajamas. Her feet were covered in pink rain boots and her put upon scowl was mainly a jutting lower lip.
"What can we do for you young lady?" Nightwing asked with a solemn gaze, clearly trying to keep from laughing.
"Stop tryin' t' hurt Hood!" She exclaimed, stomping her foot, which splashed little bits of water onto the pajamas.
"Why would we hurt him?" Nightwing asked after a moment, clearly shocked by this child's outburst.
"Cause he makes the bad men go away." Her voice trembled slightly.
Hood... Interesting
"Why would we want to hurt him then?"
"Mommy says he's bad and that she wants you to catch 'im, but he saved Daddy so you can't"
"What did he save your daddy from?"
"A bad man was coming by and telling daddy that he owed 'im money or somethin' so we could be safe. When Hood found out he made 'im stop, but mommy was yellin' at 'im to stay away from me, cause he gave me a sticker and told me I'd been brave." She gestured at a Wonder Woman sticker that was stuck to the side of her boot.
"Did he ask you for anything?"
"No... 'Cept if you count me stayin' safe? He's real nice Mister Nightwing, you can't hurt 'im."
"See, we just want to talk to him, do you know where he is?" She stared at Nightwing for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, he gave daddy some sorta alarm thingy... I could ask 'im for it so you can talk to 'im."
"That would be great, but isn't it getting a little late for a young lady like you to be awake?" This earned Nightwing a petulant glare and I wanted to chuckle at the slight panic it clearly caused my eldest son.
"I'm 7. I ain't no baby! 'Sides you need my help. I'll be right back." She scrambled into an apartment building that looked like it had seen better days, but this was Park Row, it was to be expected.
"So we have a vigilante named Hood." Nightwing was looking at me oddly as he said it.
"Apparently."
"Do you think it could be connected to... well..." The rest went unsaid, but I knew what he meant. If the Joker was behind this we would need to make it a priority.
"We'll see." As I said it the little girl bolted out the door and began to cling to Nightwing.
"Let's go!"
"Go where?" She stared at us like we had grown horns, it was Gotham, so it wasn't outside the realm of possibility, but I doubted it enough not to check.
"To the roof ya dumbie!"
"Of course, so sorry princess." We reached the roof with a squeal from the little girl.
"That was so much more fun than the stairs." She giggled delightedly. She then took out a small button. She pressed it for ten seconds then started to do cartwheels on the roof in some sort of way to pass time. She was good at them.
"Oh no, I know that look. You're not adopting this one." Nightwing teased as he glanced around us, looking for this 'Hood'. I sighed as stood there awkwardly, hoping that this 'Hood's' intentions were not to hurt the girl. He was likely very new at this, but if he was the killer he also had some level of skill to have evaded pictures for so long.
Suddenly a mechanized voice sounded from behind us.
"Cindy, you're lucky that I was around, do you need help with these pesky bats?" I turned to see a man with a bright red helmet, a brown leather jacket, and grey body armor. He was equipped with guns at his thighs and a pair of swords at his hips.
"Nah, they just said they wanted to talk to you."
"I see... Well I think they might want this to be private. 'Sides I know for a fact that you're not supposed to be out past ten." That got a pout and a foot stamp.
"No! Mom's not home anyways."
"What about your dad he home?"
"...Maybe?" Hood laughed and crossed over to Cindy.
"Sorry squirt, let's get you to bed, hopefully you'll even stay there."
"Asshole. You're an asshole Hood."
"Yeah, yeah." He picked her up, balancing her on his hip as he swung her into the building, leaving Nightwing and I to try to sort through everything there.
Hood returned after about three minutes, his body language still relaxed, but in the sense that he was ready to fight.
"So you asked a little kid to call an unknown vigilante to an unknown roof and just assume that she wasn't going to get hurt?"
"Hey, we're not the ones who gave her an emergency button that only works from the roof?"
"She told you that? Huh... no it works from the street too... Anyways, is there a specific reason you called me here? Cause if not I have work to do."
"What do you call yourself?"
"The Red Hood at your service." He gave a mock bow for emphasis.
"Are you the one leaving the bodies for the police to find?" Nightwing asked, subtle as ever.
"Yes, but I don't think that you can pin any of that on me, cause I don't think that your cowl cameras prove much." I with held a growl with some effort, he knew about the cameras, as well as the fact that legally they couldn't present them in court because it was captured illegally.
"So you admit it!"
"I just did, yes."
"Why? They were people! With families."
"Families move on. They were criminals and people weren't safe because of them."
"That's not for you to decide." My voice was a growl, one that I didn't even have to try to maintain.
"Maybe, but is it yours?"
"We don't kill people!" Nightwing exclaimed.
"No, you don't, but I do. So you can try to take me in I guess, but I'd rather you not... Anyways it's been fun, but I have places to be, people to piss off so... Bye."
He leapt off of the ledge, we pursued, naturally, but he was good. Really good.
Every jump he made was calculated to the nines and he never missed a shot or stumbled. He swung through the alleys, keeping low enough to dodge quickly, keeping his flips to a minimum. Added to the fact that he was clearly used to running for long distances at high speeds, he was almost impossible to keep up with. He finally lost us, using the rats' nest that is Park Row, utilizing a clear mastery of the area.
"He's good..."
"I saw."
"No, but he's really good! Like... Like."
"I saw Nightwing. He's likely a local."
"I don't see how he could be, but I guess we had better get back to patrol..." We did, but the entire time I was thinking.
Who is he? He's clearly been trained, but he knows the Crime Alley area like the back of his hand... He's using the Joker's old alias, could he be connected to him?
I would need to continue my investigation of him.
But the question remains:
Who is he, where does he come from, and what does he want?