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Evander has been with Red Hood since he was just starting up.
At first, no one was taking the Hood seriously. He was just another dime a dozen guy trying to crawl his way up the ladder of notoriety.
But Evander saw his vision. Hood didn’t want to destroy. He wanted to rebuild. Grow.
Hood had once told her that you can’t make change in a stagnant environment.
Evander didn’t completely get it at first, but when Hood had taken out the heads (metaphorically and quite literally) of the big bosses in town and took over their operations, Evander really started to see what ‘change’ really meant.
Hood, as vicious and violent as he can be, has always had heart of gold. The killing, the dismembering, it all comes with the best intent.
Because, yes, while he can weed out the bad, he can also see the good where no one else can.
Like Evander.
Almost everyone had given up on Evander before Hood came along.
Evander knows how to handle money. All she’s ever really wanted was to get a nice stable desk job, pushing pencils and calculating dollars all day.
But, of course, life didn’t allow her normality, instead getting her wrapped up in the undertoes of the worst Gotham has to offer, using her knowledge of money to launder, counterfeit, and commit every financial crime in the book.
It didn’t feel good, but it kept her alive, and that’s all she could ask for.
But, when she got trapped in an explosion, her eardrums burst, leaving her completely deaf, suddenly her illegal employer didn’t have the patience for her.
So, now an obvious liability, she was going to be taken out.
Evander accepted her fate, preparing a measly will to allocate her belongings to charity and her organs to hospitals, when suddenly, Hood came bursting through the doors and taking off the head of the head honcho.
Of course, Evander, who had already accepted her impending death, waited for the guns to be turned on her and the others who worked with her.
But, instead, Hood scooped up the head and headed out.
Of course, everyone was on edge after that, but when Hood comes back a couple days later, somewhat tentatively claiming his role as their new boss, they’re not sure what to expect.
Hood goes around, probably talking to people though Evander wouldn’t know because she can’t see the man’s lips hidden behind his helmet, but when fingers start to point in Evander’s direction, her heart drops.
Hood comes up to her and stands tall over her.
It takes Evander a few moments of silent terror to realize that Hood just said something to her.
“I’m sorry,” Evander says. “I’m deaf.”
Hood’s posture shifts, clearly not expecting that response.
His hands start to move quickly and it takes Evander a second to recognize that it’s ASL, the word “sign language” one that she recognizes.
“I don’t know ASL,” Evander admits, slightly embarrassed, slightly terrified. “I only lost my hearing a couple weeks ago.”
Hood pauses again. He mimes writing on his palm and Evander quickly nods. Evander frantically searches her desk for a pad of paper and pen. She hands them to Hood with trembling hands.
Hood, seemingly unthinkingly, signs “thank you.”
Hood squats down so he’s closer to the desk and starts to write on the paper. When he turns it around, it’s in surprisingly beautiful cursive, reading, “You’re in charge of the money?”
Evander gulps. “Yes, that’s right.”
Hood writes again. “You think you could help me out?”
Dread pools in Evander’s gut. “What kind of help?” She cringes, afraid her words sound too insubordinate.
“You any good with spreadsheets?”
It turned out that Hood just needed accounting help.
He had quickly gotten the responsibility of several complex organizations, all with different financial organization systems, properties, workers, and more, and he had no idea what to do with them.
To be completely honest, Evander was frothing at the fucking mouth to get her hands on these numbers.
While Hood spent his nights asserting his new power, instilling fear and respect into those in Crime Alley, he spent those first few days with Evander.
And Evander was able to put together the most glorious financial plan she’s ever created.
She had her own version, the one that’s filled with jargon and shorthand that really only makes sense to her, and then there’s the new user friendly versions she made for Hood.
It turns out Hood is completely clueless to all things accounting.
He admits that he never really learned about this sort of thing past budgeting.
Evander isn’t one to judge. She knows how shit the education system is already, let alone here in Crime Alley. So, she’s eager to teach Hood.
He’s almost sheepish when he asks her questions, but she just answers them patiently, helping him work through what he doesn’t understand.
He’s a quick study and a great student with a surprising lack of temper, and in return, he makes it his goal to help her start to learn some signs.
It’s simple stuff, things that she can use in her everyday but also are imperative for living in a place like Gotham.
At first, she doesn’t know what to do with this kindness, but he just brushes it off, telling her it’s the least he could do.
If anything, it’s the most he could ever do for her and more.
And apparently, he feels the same way about her.
He’s got a lot to keep track of with the many organizations he had become head of and he doesn’t want them and the people in it go to work.
One of the first things he asks is how much people are being paid.
When he realizes that it’s piss poor pay, he makes it his goal to at least give the people who are helping him in his mission a living wage.
“Don’t people with jobs get benefits and stuff?” he asks one day. “Like… dentists?”
“Dental,” she gently corrects. “Yes, many jobs give benefits. Things like health insurance, paid time off, professional development and education benefits, that sort of thing.”
“Can I do all of them?”
She smiles. “I think we can figure something out.”
He does give his workers those benefits, as well as mental health benefits, paid family leave, as well as retirement plan benefits.
Hood completely changes these people’s lives, going from the shittiest jobs in Gotham to some of the most accessible, most beneficial jobs in the city.
And Hood doesn’t realize the impact he’s making on them. To him, these are things jobs should just have. He doesn’t completely understand why, but he knows that they should.
Hood is merciful in a way that you wouldn’t expect from a man with such blood soaked hands.
But he’s kind. He’s a protector. He cares for the kids on the streets, the sex workers, the people who are overlooked or given up on.
And so they don’t overlook or give up on Hood.
Everyone knows that Hood is one of them, an Alley kid who’s taking out the rot from the roots.
Hood makes an effort to allocate responsibility to the people who he trusts and the relationship with the head goes from fear and blind compliance to something actually resembling a healthy, working team.
And with the help of Evander and other managerial members of what they unofficially deemed “Hood Incorporated,” they take these once opposing groups into a well oiled machine.
And the thing about Hood is that he won’t stand to just be a figurehead. He gets his hands dirty (often with blood) but also with the littler things.
He helps with the renovations of the once disgusting and dilapidated warehouses to turn them into something habitable and actually comfortable.
He uses spaces that were used to create weapons of mass destruction and cause harm to those who couldn’t save themselves into something good, turning them into unofficial shelters and living spaces for those who don’t have homes.
The first priority is for his workers and the kids without homes who don’t want to be snatched up by the system but the rest of the beds never go empty.
He also gives those who had to turn to crime opportunities to pursue what they truly want.
Medics who used to patch up criminals after mob shootouts getting to use their skills in open clinics. People who used to be cooking up drugs, instead cooking at soup kitchens. People who had always been smart but had no outlet to get the credibility from higher education become teachers for kids who thought they’d never get the chance to learn.
Anything owned by Hood becomes a safe haven.
Of course, that also makes them a target.
But Hood is smart and prepared and the attacks never last long. He’s got the entire Alley on his side, backing him up and protecting those protected by him.
Hood becomes less feared and more revered.
He doesn’t like to acknowledge that, though. Doesn’t really bask in the adoration that he’s gained. He’s a humble kid who just wants to do good, even if the way he does it is a little misguided.
And yeah. He is a kid.
He’s a tall kid with muscles that rival Batman, but a kid nevertheless.
They make sure that he doesn’t know that they know he’s a kid because they know he would hate to be seen that way.
But they do.
And that just makes them want to protect him back even more.
How old he is, exactly, is still up in the air. There’s things that point to him not even being an adult yet and the gaps in his education (both books and streets) can be attributed to the shithole that Crime Alley had been before him.
But, despite his brutal ways and the scars that haunt and weigh on him, he’s also hopeful. Innocent in the way that he believes things can change as long as you try hard enough. He believes truly in the good hidden in the bad, but also sees the world so black and white against those whose cruelty is irredeemable.
So, while Hood takes care of them, they take care of Hood.
They make sure he’s eating well, resting well. They make sure they check in with him and make sure he’s supported. They make sure that he knows that they appreciate him and that they are there for him however he needs them.
They know he needs it. He needs it, needs them, like they need him.
And, dear God, this kid really needs a good support system.
Because… well…
Something they all learn quickly is that Hood’s got issues with Batman.
At first they figure it’s because of opposing values. They’re both dismantling crime but where Batman takes it from the surface, Hood gets it from the source.
But they quickly realize it’s way more personal than that.
The thing about Hood is that he isn’t quite aware of how much they can all hear.
And, when he and Batman are constantly having very public shouting matches, it’s hard to not pick up at least the basics.
And… look.
There’s only so much “come home”s and “I still love you”s they can hear from Batman and “you failed me”s and “you replaced me”s you can hear before people start to speculate.
There’s about a 25/25/50 debate going on about whatever’s going on with Hood and Batman.
Some people think that Hood is a scorned lover, betrayed by Batman and seeking his revenge in a really roundabout way.
Some people think that Hood was one of Batman’s Robins who turned to a life of crime to get back at Batman.
Some people think Batman is Hood’s dad and they had a big familial falling out fueled by Hood’s clearly pubescent rebellion.
But Evander knows that the rumors only scratch the tip of the iceberg.
So, when one day, Hood starts going out with the Bats, they know something’s shifted.
Hood is happier with the Bats. They’re good for him.
And Evander thinks he’s good for them too.
Because Hood is hope. Hood is goodness. Hood is a beacon of light inspiring change.
Hood doesn’t forget about them when he joins the Bats.
But he does change, just like he changed them.
And the change is for the better.
He spills less blood. The weight that has sat upon his shoulders begins to lift. And he seems more… whole.
Hood Incorporated would persist even without Hood’s constant presence. The power has been spread enough that it can run without a leader. And while they protect Crime Alley, their protector is finally protected by those who can protect not just his body but his heart.
A young man approaches Evander one day.
He’s got teal eyes, a stark white streak in his hair, and a sheepish smile.
“Hi,” he signs with the hand not holding a shiny red folder. “Do you think you could help me with my taxes?”
And Evander smiles back, patting the seat that will always await Hood.
“Anything for you, Boss.”