Chapter Text
"Listen up, you fucking bitch..." The cop snarled down at Tim, hands firmly around his throat. He pressed in harder with every word. Tim quickly took stock of his current situation. He was lifted slightly off the ground by the hands on his neck, the cops forearms pressed against chest for leverage. He fought to keep calm as the man kept shouting- ranting- in his face. He couldn't hear it over the rush of blood in his ears and fought the animalistic urge to claw at the hands depriving him from oxygen. Think. Think think think. He forced the focus off his burning lungs and the increasingly floaty feeling in his head. Focus.
Tim's eyes flicked from the rage in the man's eyes down his body to see- there- his badge clipped to his side. Amateur. Slowly, he brought one hand up to clutch at the man's forearm, drawing his focus. "Please." He gasped out, his hand trembling against his arm as his second hand slipped below and relieved the officer of his badge. Oh, he was going to enjoy ruining this man's day.
The feet that had been feebly kicking suddenly found purchase against the wall, driving his knee forward and up into the man's sternum. His formerly shaking hand struck a blow to the man's throat and the man's grip loosened, dropping him to the ground. He watched the man's body go through the motions of breathing only to produce pathetic, airless wheeze.
Tim's chest spasmed as he gulped down air, scrambling back onto his feet and bracing against the cool brick of the wall. Gaining his bearings a bit and finally feeling the burn of his lungs ease, he began taking halting steps towards the light of the main street when a modulated voice made his blood run cold.
"Now that is no way to treat a lady, Officer." Hood announced his presence with the crunch of his boots as he landed in the alley, swinging down from the fire escape and landing between the stunned cop and Tim. Shit. When did he get back to town? Tim felt glued to the spot, watching with wide eyes as Hood kicked the gun the cop was struggling to aim at him with a cheerful 'Ah-ah-ah' that promised pain.
The crunch of the man's hand under Red Hood's boot was enough to jolt Tim out of his momentary panic and he wasted no time sprinting down the alley to the main street. Shit. If he could get some distance, maybe he could get to one of his hidden caches in the area. He took inventory of his current weapons and bit back a groan. Three knives, a taser, and the retractable blades hidden in his heels was going to do nothing if Jason decided to come looking for him to show him just how much he didn't appreciate Tim invading his territory.
He wasn't going to make it to any of his stashes in time. There's no way that cop was gonna put up enough fight to keep Hood off his trail long enough to find anywhere to duck into, and that most likely wouldn't stop Hood anyway.
"Hey, hold on just a second" Hood landed in his path as if on cue. Tim froze and stared at the glowing white lenses, tensing.
"Hey," Hood's voice was...softer, as he held up his hands in the universal gesture of non-aggression. "I'm not going to hurt you." Maybe it was the lack of oxygen to his brain kicking in because he sounded like he was trying to comfort him. Tim. He'd have put money on Killer Croc speaking to him kindly before Jason ever did.
He doesn't recognize me. It dawned on him late enough for him to feel embarrassed. Lack of oxygen. Blame the lack of oxygen. "Oh." Was all he could manage for a moment, his voice soft and hoarse in a way that was gonna be hard to explain if he had to do anything at WE in the next few days.
Hood tilted his head to the side and Tim fought not to squirm under the gaze, wrapping his arms around his midsection and letting himself tremble. He knew how he must look to Jason right now, curling in on himself slightly and moving to lean against a wall. He let his hair fall partially over his face and watched through the cover provided. "I just- give me a second." He had the presence of mind to slip into the slightly lilting southern accent he'd developed for this job.
Hood moved back slowly, purposefully dropping the tension in his body and telegraphing every move to indicate he was not a threat. It was fascinating. Jason never had the body language of somebody not awaiting violence around him. He took a steadying breath, then another. Jason doesn't know. And Tim doesn't have to tell him, not until he's got at least a few more layers of armor on.
"Do you have somewhere safe to stay tonight?" The sheer open concern wasn't able to be filtered out by the modulator and Tim had to dig his fingers into his sides to keep himself from laughing at the surrealism. "Why, you offering?" His tone was sharper than intended. "I usually want to see my date's face before letttin' them take me home. Call me old fashioned." That earned him another helmet tilt. The staredown lasted just long enough for Tim to worry he'd blown his cover by mouthing off before a low chuckle filled the space between them.
"I like you, little spitfire. Listen, I can tell you're new around here and I know you have no reason to trust what I'm saying, but I promise you that there's no ulterior motive here. I just want to make sure you got somewhere safe tonight, 'specially after that." Tim almost startled at the warmth and gentleness in the voice, because it was Jason's voice unfiltered, without any of the defensive wariness he'd thought permanent.
"I'm okay. I'm staying at a youth hostel down the street. 83rd and Creighton." He tugged the sweater he was wearing back up in place so it rested just below his collarbone. Tim touched his neck and winced slightly, eyes darting to Hood. "Guess I better call it a night, fucker made sure I wouldn't make anything tonight anyways." Carefully, he stepped away from the wall and made to leave.
It wasn't surprising when Hood fell into step beside him. "I'll walk you." He suppressed a groan and continued moving, glad his sweater could cover him enough to not show his much his hands were shaking. He didn't know what Jason would offer to do if he hadn't insisted he was okay, but being tucked away into one of the bolthole safehouses he'd had to literally hack his way into even knowing about was not the way he needed to end his evening. The longer he spent near Jason like this the more chance he had of totally blowing his cover, the case, and royally pissing off the man who'd beaten him within and inch of his life on multiple occasions. He'd take the communal hostel setup over fighting for his life in four inch heels anyday. He took a fortifying breath and settled into his character for the remainder of the walk. C'mon Tim, you've got this.
They started down the most straightforward path to the hostel, Hood letting Tim set the pace. There were few enough people around and he knew he looked enough of a wreck that he wasn't concerned about people thinking he was Hood's newest informant. He glanced around and wished yet again that his skirt was long enough to have pockets he could jam his hands into. Between furtive glances at Hood and longer looks at the surrounding area, he started to assess the situation. Even without seeing Jason's face he could tell the man was scanning the area around them for potential threats and making sure that nobody was tailing them. Provided Tim didn't give him any reason to believe he was Tim, he'd make it back to the hostel safely. Hood would make certain. He allowed himself to relax, just a bit. Just long enough for his right hand to register the dull pain of the badge digging into his skin. He forced his hand to relax, tucking the badge into his skirt before folding his arms.
"The last time a gentleman walked me to my door was my Prom night. Can't say I prefer this." That earned him another low chuckle, though the modulator was back on as they headed down a larger street.
"Your streak won't be broken, spitfire. I am no gentleman." Amusement laced his tone and Tim couldn't help the faint smirk his lips pressed into.
"Oh? And what would you call a man who appears from the sky to rescue a damsel and walk her home?" Another sidelong look at Hood and Tim's smirk morphed into a smaller, more earnest smile. "Sounds pretty gentlemanly to me."
"From my vantage point, you did more to save yourself than I did to save you. I came in time to help clean up the mess." Tim didn't miss the deflection even as he wondered what exactly Jason's definition of cleaning up was for this circumstance. He wondered if the badge in his custody was now evidence in a murder. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
Tim fought back the urge to swear. "Self defense classes. My daddy made us all learn." He forced himself to stay collected, tilting his head towards Hood. "What's with the helmet? Face too handsome to strike fear in the hearts of ne'er-do-wells?" He knew Jason would pick up on the subject change, but they were close enough to the hostel that Tim was reasonably sure he'd drop it. Or just kidnap and interrogate him.
The modulator twisted the snort Jason made into a strange growl and Tim had to suppress the urge to grin. "Sure spitfire, my eyes are just too dreamy for crooks to handle. One look at this mug and the Penguin would turn the Iceberg Lounge into a wedding venue."
The idea was just silly enough to have Tim laughing softly, covering his mouth with his hand.
"Sounds like you'd be doing a real service to your community if you batted those pretty lashes , Mr Red Hood." Tim teased, stepping up onto the first step of the hostel doorway and turning back to Hood. He leaned forward and allowed himself a slight smirk. This had been almost fun aside from the attempted murder. "This is me. Thanks for the escort. And I hope it doesn't offend you when I say I sincerely hope our paths don't need to cross again." Feeling daring, Tim reached out a single painted fingertip and lightly poked the mask where Jason's lips would be.
Another growling laugh slipped through the mask as Hood caught the hand before Tim could withdraw. Tim froze briefly, before leveling those glowing white orbs with a distinctly unimpressed frown. The hand released quickly, "Ah shit, sorry spitfire. I hope you never have the misfortune of having to see my not-face again either, but if you find yourself in a bind you can't get yourself out of, here." Hood pulled a slim device, about the size of a credit card from one of his many pockets and slipped it into Tim's hand. "Just push the button three times and help will be there as quickly as possible." Tim stared down at it, trying his best not to let his jaw drop in surprise.
"Thanks," Tim's voice was unsteady as he spoke. His mouth moved over the ghosts of some words as his brain caught back up after the shock of getting a freaking Outlaw Beacon just handed to him. Arsenal was going to kill both of them if he found out Jason had given valuable tech to any of the Bats. "Oh!" Tim chirped, desperate for a distraction from his brain stalling out. He slipped his hand into the waistband of his skirt and yanked the badge from where he'd tucked it into his tights. "Here," it wasn't much of a loss, he told himself as he held the badge out to Hood. He had video he could run facial recognition on. "You could probably make better use of this than me."
Hood reached out slowly and gently lifted the metal from Tim's open palm. "You took his badge?" Tim could practically hear the shit-eating-grin on Jason's lips as he spoke.
"Well yeah, if that fucker was gonna kill me I wanted him to at least get a headache out of it." He shrugged, nonchalant as possible given how visible the angry mottled bruises around his throat must be. "Goodbye, Hood." He turned and pressed the buzzer to be let in.
"You are somethin' else, little spitfire." It was low enough that Tim almost couldn't make out the words. He opened the door as the deadbolt unlatched with a mechanical thunk and stepped through the threshold. He dared a look over his shoulder, unsurprised to see the empty street behind him.