Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Target spotted! Moving in to engage.” 

Officer Grayson had been driving around the city as some form of patrol when he had heard Officer Del Rey had called in. A quick check on where he was conducting his own parol confirmed that the two of them weren’t actually that far from each other. So, hypothetically, Officer Grayson could zoom over there without much trouble. Although, they were dealing with “The Target”? Bad idea to go with only two people. He didn’t bother asking who Del Rey was referencing, as there was only ONE criminal that his precinct still called “The Target”. Every other Gotham villain was usually addressed by their name or a weirder nickname that acted as both a mock and a genuine inability to remember at times. Officer Grayson wasn’t sure why that was, but Commission Gordan had assumed that it was because The Target was one of the most dangerous men in the city. Perhaps, that warranted him some special attention. Attention that Del Rey should not be giving alone.  “Wait, what about your backup?” Officer Grayson quickly set about turning his car back down the road (safely, of course) so that he could get to the other officer before anything got bloody. 

After all, the last time that they had confronted The Red Hood , had left at least 15 officers shot and close to death. With an additional three being murdered. What could Officer Grayson say? The Red Hood just didn’t like cops. Probably didn’t help that 95% of their precinct was extremely corrupt, but ya know…

“Officer Del Rey, do NOT engage without backup. Going solo has never gone well when going after Hood.” 

“But he’ll get away! I can’t just let-!” 

“Then trail him, if you must put yourself in that much danger.” Officer Grayson grabbed at his walkie as he spoke and synced his line back to the precinct. He doubted that anyone in the precinct would be the most available with all of the cases that have been dumped on them with the arrival of some new child traffickers. And, on one hand, that was a good thing. Those poor children deserved to be given the full attention of the Gotham City Police Department. They needed to get out and be taken to safe locations! On the other hand, Officer Del Rey had a good point. Letting Red Hood get away when they had a chance at interfering with his business didn’t sound the most appealing. Maybe if one of them could get him talking? It wouldn’t stall for long, but it was better than nothing. Not to mention that he might accidentally slip something about his future plans. Then again, Officer Grayson had a strong feeling that he knew why Red Hood himself was walking around in the open more these days as opposed to relying on his lieutenants or criminals under his command. 

As brutal and cold as Red Hood could appear, Officer Grayson knew for a fact that Red Hood loved children. He protected them like no other. So, maybe the child tracking had been enough of an encouragement to come out even with the threat of police catching him. Officer Grayson could admire that. Anyone who was willing to recognize the preciousness of children (especially when in a city like Gotham) couldn’t possibly be evil. Did that mean he could let Red Hood run around though? Officer Grayson doubted it, the man still killed quite a bit and it probably wouldn’t do to just let someone who was technically a ‘murderer’ run free. 

Red Hood’s…complicated…

After a quick call and some…somber…words from Commission Gordan - almost everyone else was working on a combination of human trafficking cases, new drug cartels entering the city, and corrupt officers that needed to be investigated - Officer Grayson found himself in quite the predicament. He was possibly one of the few people who could and would stand up to the Red Hood in the city. Without backup, this was essentially a suicide mission. But was that uneasiness worth possibly leaving Officer Del Rey to the other man’s mercy? 

Not frankly, no.

“Hold your position. I’m coming.” Officer Grayson was about five minutes away, but that realization didn’t stop him from lightly speeding as he approached the correct street. Now, Gotham was a city full of shadows and nooks or crannies to hide in. The alleyways provided extra coverage between broad daylight and the violent night. As a person, Officer Grayson would probably be effective enough on foot if he needed to catch someone by surprise. With his car? That’d be more difficult. So, in an attempt to keep Red Hood from figuring out that he was now being followed by two cops (though he probably already had a feeling that someone else was with him), Officer Grayson parked his car down another street before making his way to Officer Del Rey’s position. He hadn’t heard from the other officer after Del Rey had expressed his discontent with Officer Grayson’s decision, but he tried to be optimistic by assuming that Officer Del Rey had taken his advice and laid low until backup arrived. He didn’t want to think too much about the possibility that he’d arrive and Del Rey would be dead, shot and left in a pool of his own blood. It wouldn’t be the first time that Red Hood would leave a body in the open and it probably wouldn’t be the last either. 

(Officer Grayson had to be careful as he stalked into the lion’s den. Not for the first time was he grateful that his shift was late into the night. There was a higher chance that he’d run into Red Hood compared to if he had only taken day shifts.)

“Officer Del Rey, Officer Grayson has arrived at the scene. Over.” Officer Grayson kept himself close to the wall, though he refrained from taking his gun out until he absolutely had to. What could he say, he didn’t like firearms too much? If it were up to him (and it was effective against enemies who did like guns), he’d be relying on his fists, his legs, and his taser. All weapons that were less likely to kill people (as long as he was careful). “Officer?” Officer Grayson eventually stopped short at the entrance to one of the many alleyways that he’s passed. He wasn’t exactly sure why he stopped at this specific place when there had previously been excellent corners for hiding and abandoned buildings (or just buildings that were filled with people who didn’t care about what was going on around them) to duck into. Officer Grayson could try to tell himself it was because he needed to collect himself or was getting frustrated since he hadn’t heard from Officer Del Rey. Nor had he found the other’s car. 

It was likely that Officer Del Rey had taken the same approach that Officer Grayson had when he made the decision to pursue the Red Hood. He hid it so he could act more sneaky. Another possibility could be that he had no choice but to go on foot in his chase. Officer Grayson wouldn’t blame the other even if it was kinda stupid of both of their parts. While the element of surprise could only benefit them, the car could have also acted as a type of shield if they were shot at. Which, knowing Red Hood’s weapons of choice, was likely to happen pretty soon. 

“Officer Del Rey, I’ve arrived at your location.” Or, at least, as close as Officer Grayson could travel before he actually got lost. “Officer Del Rey, please respond! What’s your status?” Look, Officer Grayson knew that speaking during a potential trailing wasn’t the best idea. He knew that Red Hood, if he was nearby, would definitely hear Officer Del Rey speaking - leading him to the officer’s exact location. Yet, despite all of that, Officer Grayson just wanted to try and learn some context here. Starting with the idea that Officer Del Rey just stumbled upon Red Hood during his night shift? Yeah, sure,  that wasn’t exactly as rare of an occurrence for the GCPD. Officer Grayson would give his colleague that. At the same time, Red Hood wasn’t someone who liked drawing the attention of law enforcers unless he was specifically targeting someone in the precinct. Whether it be because they double-crossed him (dirty cops, ok?) or because they pushed themselves into his business (Officer Grayson was mostly the one who did that), he wasn’t afraid to get real close to any cop. 

Knowing all of that, Officer Grayson was starting to get genuinely worried that Officer Del Rey had been killed once he was found out or made up a fake story to get some other officers down here for Red Hood to deal with. Officer Grayson wouldn’t say that Del Rey was necessarily the most corrupt officer that had on the force, but he wasn’t exactly clean either. 

There were too many unknown variables to Officer Dely Rey’s status with the Red Hood. “Officer Del Rey, come in!” Officer Grayson struggled to keep himself from yelling into his walkie-talkie. It was an odd mix between concern and frustration. “This is Officer Grayson. I’ve come to supply back up. Please, respond!” The walkie-talkie didn’t so much as make a single sound after Officer Grayson tried to talk. “Goddamnit.” Officer Grayson pocketed the (mostly) useless walkie-talkie before taking a deep breath and turning. This wasn’t the street or alleyway that Del Rey was likely in, but that worked for Officer Grayson. It just means that he wouldn’t be running into the fire just yet. He could afford to hide and assess the situation. As Officer Grayson continued wandering into the alleyway, he could have sworn that he heard the tell-tale signs of boots making contact with the ground. He opted to duck near a group of dumpsters, fully hidden as those thuds only continued - becoming louder and louder, as the person waking knew that there was someone they were supposed to be looking for. 

That…that was bad…that was so very bad…!

Officer Grayson didn’t even know for sure who was walking toward him, but he had a strong feeling that it wasn’t a random civilian and it definitely wasn’t Officer Del Rey. The guy may have been silent for a while but Officer Grayson liked to think that he’d still let Officer Grayson know if he was wandering around now. It was a safety thing, honestly! They had to both be on edge with the Red Hood around, it wouldn’t KILL to have some communication. That left only one more possible person-

“Whoever you are, it would be in your best interest to retreat.” Gosh darn it! Speaking of the Devil himself. “Cause, guess what, Officer-Whoever-The-Fuck-You-Are? Your buddy was way too cocky for his own good.” So Officer Del Rey had been silent thanks to Red Hood. Not because he was trying to be secretive, but because he had been caught. Dammit! Officer Grayson told Officer Del Rey to wait and then proceed with caution. But nooooo! His suggestions just didn’t HAVE to be taken because he wasn’t at the actual scene. Goddamnit, Del Rey! “It would have been a shame to waste a perfectly good bullet on him.” 

Officer Grayson let out a quiet sigh of relief. When they got back to the precinct, Officer Del Rey was getting chewed out. HARSHLY. But it was nice to know that he was alive in the end. 

“That being said,” Red Hood’s boots were literally within eyesight - not good, “just because he’s not dead yet doesn’t mean he’s not….hm….how do I put this?” Officer Grayson saw Red Hood walk away from his hiding spot, but with no ability to see where the larger man was going, it seemed unwise to try and sneakily duck under some new cover. “He’s not in the best position, I’m afraid. As an officer, I’m sure you can understand the dangers of leaving someone unattended when a good portion of their bones have broken. Why, anyone could stumble on him in these alleyways. And what do you think they’d do?” Officer Grayson’s eyes widened at what Red Hood was implying. He had left Officer Del Rey, alone and injured, in one of the many dangerous places of Gotham. If someone from Hood’s group or just someone who hated police got to Del Rey before Officer Grayson could, then he may lose his life this time. It was a realization that Red Hood took pleasure in rubbing in. “For his sake, maybe you should just come out. I’ll even let you call an ambulance for the guy if you behave REALLY well.” 

…what other choice did Officer Grayson have other than to walk around and expose himself to his enemy?

“Good boy.” 

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“Did you really have to shatter EVERY bone in his body?” Richard made himself more comfortable from where he was straddling Jason’s lap. He still had the black blindfold that Jason had made him wear when taking the smaller male to one of his safehouses, with his wrists restrained behind him with his own set of cuffs. His legs had been left free, thank goodness, but Jason didn’t seem too keen on letting Richard use his legs for the time being. If it wasn’t because Jason was afraid that Richard would kick his ass for this little show, then it was due to Jason’s…preference…of keeping Richard next to him in the most effective way possible. In this case, that translated to limiting Richard’s movement so he couldn’t run or hide. If he had to take a guess, he’d assume that they must have been in one of Jason’s many offices. He could feel Jason leaning against him and hear the sound of typing behind. 

Which, rude. If Jason was gonna go through with a kidnapping scene, he could at least pay SOME attention to the one he had brought here. 

Richard continued to nuzzle into Jason, placing small pecks on any area of skin he could reach. One could call it a harmless bride - a way to convince Jason to tell Richard what was going on without making either of them defensive. It took a while, not gonna lie. And more than once, Jason stopped typing for a second only for the purpose of gently biting Richard’s neck as a warning against further disruptions. Richard didn’t always listen to them (surprise, surprise), so it was only a matter of time before Jason was worn down. “Yes.” He finally sighed, leaning back in his chair and taking Richard with him. With his fingers having left the keyboard, his hands were now free to grab at Richard’s thighs. He treated them both to harsh squeezes and Richard could only assume that he was grinning widely at the smaller male in some sort of satisfaction. Not helped by how Richard started to whine and squirm in response. “Two things, darling. One, he would have escaped if he was able to move too much. How would I be able to kidnap you peacefully if you attracted too much attention our way?” 

Richard let out a fond chuckle. Only Jason would be willing to put a word like ‘peaceful’ in a sentence that talked about permanently crippling someone and kidnapping someone else.  

“Two, I’ve been in a pretty bad mood recently. So, forgive me, but I wasn’t exactly happy when someone not only pointed a gun at me but also threatened me on my own goddamn turf.” 

“The trafficking cases?” Richard just knew it! He knew that Jason had come out of his shadows for the children. There was just no way that he’d let anymore get hurt even if it meant exposing himself. “Have you found out who’s behind them? No one at the precinct has ever been able to collect enough physical evidence to prove someone’s guilt.” 

“I’ve found quite a few, actually.” Jason pressed a gentle kiss to Richard’s cheek, stealing a loving laugh from his lover. With the blindfold still on, the gesture had caught Richard by surprise (not that he was complaining). “The children they were planning to sell off have been returned to one of my bases. It’s safer than putting them back on the street. Who knows how persistent these sick fuckers would be for the sake of a buck?” Richard grimaced. It was nice to hear that a good portion of the children had been returned, don’t get him wrong, but the reminder that the people who endangered them still technically ran free was annoying. It was no fault of Jason, or anything. It was more the precinct’s fault for not keeping better eyes on its younger citizens. Maybe if they had, the children could have been protected before being pulled into the trafficking world. “For the others, I’ve sent scouts around the known meeting places for those human traffickers-”

“Wait, they actually have a meeting place in Gotham?” Honestly, from what Richard had read from the reports, it sounded like Gotham was only one part of the grand scheme. People passed through it or just used it as a hunting ground for their victims. “I thought that they were only using Gotham as some sort of cover?” 

“I think that was the original plan.” One of Jason’s hands released the thigh it was holding and before Richard knew it, his blindfold was slowly being taken off. It gave him plenty of time to blink off any blurriness. Not that the room was the brightest it could be, or anything. Eyes could just be sensitive at times. When the blindfold was completely off, Jason threw it next to his computer before returning his hand to Richard’s thigh. It seemed like Richard would still be stuck in his cuffs, then. “From what I’ve been able to drag out of one of the captured members, they saw Gotham as easy pickings since there are too many orphaned children that wouldn’t be able to go anywhere for help.” 

Now, that was just cowardly. Adults taking advantage of innocent children was one thing, add the whole ‘trafficking’ thing and that was just WAY out of line for what was appropriate for humans. Were they not supposed to be beings of empathy? Sure, not everyone was born the same or could have been horribly shaped by their environment, but still! Talk about messed up. Also, to Jason’s first point, Richard could probably talk to the commissioner about creating a safe haven for these poor children. 

“That’s absolutely disgusting.” Richard looked down, opting to stare at Jason’s stomach so that he wasn’t exposing his unpleasant expression. It didn’t work for more than a few seconds, as Jason had used one of his fingers to raise Richard’s head up again. Once Richard was staring back at Jason, the larger male held him for another few moments. Richard wasn’t sure what Jason was looking for, but he must have found it as their lips connected. It was a soothing kiss rather than a sensual one, with Jason licking and lightly nibbling at Richard’s lips before shoving his tongue between them. The two appendages battled for dominance but, like all past experiences, Jason was more along the lines of humoring Richard by letting his boyfriend believe that they were both on equal footing. Only when Jason started feeling a bit impatient did he deepen the kiss, his hands moving across Richard’s hips and lower back. 

Richard couldn’t keep any of the noises in even if he tried. As Jason practically devoured his lips, Richard began pushing forward and trying to reciprocate. It was considerably more difficult since his hands were still cuffed together in the back. If he had more of a grip, then he could probably do better. Fortunately, Jason didn’t call him out on that. He only hummed into their kiss for a few moments. As he pulled away, Richard tried to follow Jason’s lips. 

“Calm down, darling.” Jason’s smirk had Richard melting, bones turning to liquid and muscles weakening to the point where he may as well have been paralyzed. Jason was possibly the only reason Richard could sit up properly. Without the larger male’s grip on his hips, Richard could have very well fallen backward. “Have some patience.” Jason licked his lips for a few seconds before tilting his head and attaching his lips to Richard’s neck. Normally, they didn’t put any markings on places that could be exposed to open air at any point in time. Jason had his little band of goons that could get the wrong idea if they learned that Jason had a partner in his life that they’ve never met. Meanwhile, Richard would also be heavily questioned - though, if he refused to answer, that could put the spotlight on him for suspicious behavior. As it stood, he already had enough attention from civilians and other cops alike. 

In his specific moment, though, Richard could give less of a crap about the repercussions when he (hesitant, but willingly) returned to work. Or was forcefully taken back, assuming that Officer Del Rey had truly been tended to by proper medical staff quick enough that he was able to recall what had happened. “Ja-Jay…Jay…!” Richard tilted his head back a bit so that Jason had more room to work with. His boyfriend had started off with small, delicate kisses, making sure that no inch of skin had gone unloved. It tickled for the first few minutes, but once Richard had gotten used to it, Jason had already chosen to move on. Now, those delicate kisses turned to playful nibbles, ones that would most likely turn his entire throat pink and red. Richard couldn’t wait until the bruises had settled and darkened in color. “Jason…Jay-”

“Shhhhh.” Jason moved his hands around until they were pressed against Richard’s lower back. He rubbed the area as if he was giving his boyfriend a message. It felt a bit weird for the first few moments though, since Richard still had his police uniform on. The material itself was a bit stiff and not pleasant for rubbing against. Ever. Yet, Jason seemed to take note of that as he leaned back a bit, his lips now traveling across the underside of Richard’s jaw. “Hold on, darling.” Jason’s hands moved to cup Richard’s ass, gently squeezing the mounds of flesh there before standing up. It was instinct for Richard to try and wrap his arms around Jason’s shoulders for support, but the cuffs made that significantly difficult. All he could do was lean forward and hope that Jason had kept his grip tight. 

(The cuffs were something that Richard was sure to whine at Jason for. He wanted to hold onto his lover too, dammit!) 

It was cut short when Jason suddenly started walking. From where Richard’s head was resting on his boyfriend’s shoulder, he had no way of telling where they were headed. Not unless he wanted to try twisting his neck. Which, not gonna happen. Just…no. Richard was flexible, but he wasn’t flexible enough to risk that. So, he just settled into not knowing until they arrived. To Jason’s credit, he wasted no time in carrying Richard into the familiar walls of his room before throwing the smaller male onto the bed. Richard tried not to make a sound as he made contact with Jason’s blankets, afraid that it would only give Jason more fuel for future teasing. He didn’t really fully succeed, but at least it was only a gasp as opposed to a full-on whimper. Or whine. Or groan. Or moan. Or-

“J-Jay…Jay!” Richard tried to squirm a bit as Jason started crawling up his body, ending with his arms caging Richard’s head between them. It wasn’t that Richard wasn’t in the mood for some playtime. Certainly not, Jason always knew how to look at him and how to treat him to get them both into the appropriate mood for the bedroom. However, Richard was more worried about how weird it would look if he showed up back at the precinct all scuffed up. Clothes ruffled, lips swollen from being bitten, bruises all over his neck (and the rest of his body), and a small limp? Yeah, Richard wouldn’t get away with NOT providing an answer. He could probably convince his colleagues that he had obtained some of the marks from fighting against the Red Hood, but that wouldn’t last long - Richard just knew that Commissioner Gordan would order him to see a doctor or something. And once a doctor saw the wounds, he wouldn’t be able to hide much. “Jas-Jason…Jason, wait-!” 

“Don’t want to.” Jason lowered himself so he was trapping Richard’s body into his mattress. “I wanna have some fun with you. We’ve finally gotten some time to ourselves!” It wasn’t crushing him, but the pressure was enough to make Richard feel utterly suffocated. Yet, not necessarily in a bad way. More like…safety…safety provided by Jason’s powerful form. Even nowadays, after three years of dating, Richard still found himself surprised that someone as brutal and physically strong as the Red Hood could treat his body so gently. It was like Jason was afraid that anything too rough (unless Richard explicitly asked for it) would break his lover. 

“Just…” Richard sighed, staring up at Jason as the other continued to hover over him. “Just…be careful, ok? I don’t need anyone at the precinct asking questions, everyone’s already going to be suspicious as to why you kidnapped me at all.” A mischievous grin was all Richard received before Jason was diving down to continue marking up his mouth. He hoped that his larger lover had heard a word he said, though it was a small chance. Jason was already ripping at his uniform, practically tearing it to shreds without much effort. Part of that had to be because he didn’t want to uncuff Richard during the undressing portion, so just tearing the top half off was probably easier. Richard’s pants came next, and because they were easier to take off, Jason decided to show some mercy by carefully removing them. It left Richard in his black boxers. 

“Darling, half of those cops are under my command anyway.” Jason grabbed at Richard’s legs and forced them to wrap around his waist. They curled around unintentionally, muscle memory already putting the pieces together. “And for the rest that aren’t? Well, I doubt they’re gonna have an easy time convincing the commissioner that his favorite little officer was messing around with a criminal.” There was the smallest hint of a growl to Jason’s words, but Richard could tell that it wasn’t because the larger male was angry in any way. If anything, he sounded way too humored at the prospect of someone from Richard’s precinct just waltzing up to the commissioner and telling him that Officer Grayson was being fucked by the Red Hood. Richard would admit, that could make quite the funny sight. 

(Not that he ever wanted to test that.) 

“Just relax for me.” Jason smoothed his hands up Richard’s legs and back towards Richard’s chest. He treated those sensitive nubs to small pinches and gently pulls, knowing how sensitive Richard’s nipples could be when you handled his body right. “I’ll take such good care of you.” 

Richard had every reason not to believe a word that Jason was saying. Not logically, anyway. Even as Jason gently kissed across his body, hands roaming around to find all of Richard’s sensitive spots so he could stimulate them, his reputation as an important crime lord couldn’t go unnoticed. Jason Todd was literally one of Gotham’s most feared humans, earning his reputation young and only building up from there. He’s killed, he’s mutilated, and he’s everything his late mother and his father would have been afraid of. Did Richard care too much about that though?

Not really. 

Despite all of Jason’s crimes, he had done enough to earn Richard’s heart by now. 

“I love you.” 

“I love you too, darling.”