Chapter Text
It was just another night of patrol. Quieter than many before and Jason was glad for that. While it is nice to have something to let his rage out on sometimes, a head to bash in that truly deserves it and comes with none of the residual guilt of pit madness, he is tired. Gotham rarely gives him time to rest and so he will take this quiet night with gratitude. The night was cool, good weather for spring without the rain that makes patrol so much less pleasant no matter how warm it is. It seems that even the residents of Crime Alley are peaceful this evening. A rare gift for both the residents and the Red Hood. He lets out a contented sigh as he bounds over the rooftops. This is the type of night that makes him happy to be a vigilante; he likes to think this peaceful night is at least partly due to his efforts.
He’s just about to finish up his patrol. It’s only 3am, early for him to be turning in, but like he said it was quiet. Only a few more alleys to check before he can jump back on his bike and collapse in the bed of his nearest safe house. He managed to go the whole night without running into any bats and it looks like that luck will hold through the rest of his patrol. As he rounds the corner to one of the alleys Crime Alley is so aptly named for he spots a flash of yellow diving behind a dumpster. Sighing he walks over, hoping it's nothing, maybe an animal or a kid looking for scraps at worst, but with a sinking feeling his night is about to get much longer.
As soon as he approaches the side of the dumpster where he saw the figure disappear he is attacked. In a flash small legs are quickly wrapping around his throat and squeezing as fists come down hard against his helmet. Jason is taken aback by the attack but not enough to let his assailant gain the upper hand. He’s too well trained for such a messy attack to take him off guard. He quickly pries the legs from around his throat and flips the person onto the ground, torso down and arm twisted behind their body. Once Jason had the attacker incapacitated he finally took a good look at the person…and immediately jumped back in shock letting go of the attacker. A rookie mistake but the shock of what he’s looking at overrides the years of training telling him not to let his attacker go.
The attacker was just a kid; something Jason had guessed from the size of the person’s legs and fists and from the considerably non-adult strength used to try to knock him unconscious. But this wasn’t just any kid. No, this kid was wearing a distinct traffic light colored uniform the likes of which he hadn’t seen in years outside of that damned memorial Bruce keeps in the cave. A distinctly more vintage model than the uniform Damian sports as Robin. But it wasn’t just the uniform that made Jason drop the kid’s arms and let him go. No. This kid looks exactly like Jason. Exactly like Jason looked as Robin. It’s like looking into a mirror from the past and seeing a face he never expected to see again. Jason feels like he’s seen a ghost.
There stands Jason Todd. Robin. No more than fourteen. Jason sees green tinging the edges of his vision and takes a deep breath. This is not the time.
The kid, of course, can’t tell which emotions flicker across Jason’s face with the helmet still obscuring it. That is one of the main reasons Jason had opted for a full helmet instead of the masks and cowls the other bats were so fond of. The kid is staring up at Jason from the defensive position he’s taken crouched on the floor. And even that simple gesture has Jason sucking in breath; the old training Bruce had drilled into him before finally letting him patrol is as familiar as his own face, as foreign as the face staring back at him. He is clearly wary of Jason and looks a little scared. The fear in the kid’s eyes is what finally snaps Jason out of it.
“Who the hell are you and where did you come from?” Jason asks in a semi-growl, though the voice modulator in his helmet makes it more robotic than animalistic.
At this the kid smirks and Jason cringes behind his mask. He recognizes that smirk, remembers it, had seen it so many times on Bruce’s cowl footage all those years ago. He also knows the smug emotions that come with that smirk, the mouthiness that he would launch at rogues just to mess with them and get Batman to chuckle while on a case.
“I’m Robin, duh”, the kid gestures to his outfit pointing to the yellow R adorning his chest. “And uhhh…I don’t really know how I got here. One minute I was on patrol and now I’m here. Where is here, anyway?” The kid seems to have only just realized he has no idea where he is. He looks around trying to get his bearings but the alley is fairly generic and doesn’t offer many clues to a more specific location. That sobers him up again and he’s back to warily studying Jason.
Jason doesn’t want to accept the reality of what, who, is in front of him but the more he watches the kid, Robin, the more it is becoming impossibly obvious who he’s speaking to. Fuck. He does not want to deal with this. He can’t deal with this.
Ignoring the kid’s question Jason says, “Look kid how about we forget this ever happened and go our separate ways? I won’t even hold it against you for attacking me.” Jason hopes the kid will let him leave without further ado. He’s hopefully smart enough to seek Bruce out and then Jason can wash his hands of this completely. If he’s really lucky the kid won’t even mention seeing him to Bruce. But of course hoping this would end simply and neatly is too much to ask.
“Hey no! Stop!” the kid shouts, “How do I know you’re not some rogue up to no good? This is Crime Alley isn’t it? What are you doing out so late in that dumb get up? You’re not going anywhere until I get some answers!”
“Ok first of all kid, you’re calling my outfit a ‘dumb get up’ when you’re dressed as a traffic light with no pants?” Jason says while giving Robin an incredulous look. Robin humphs at the insult to his uniform but doesn’t offer a retort. “And second, what makes you think I’ll tell you anything? If I’m a rogue I’m not exactly going to play nice and if I’m not a rogue then it's none of your business why I’m out here. Get lost before things get messy.” He hopes that's the end of it but Jason knows Robin isn’t going to drop this. He reaches for the grapple he keeps hidden in his jacket, getting ready to make his escape.
He takes it out and sees Robin flinch; poor kid probably expected a gun. He aims at the nearest roof and he’s off, hopefully never to see the kid and all the memories he brought with him again.
As soon as he gets close to the roof he hears a yelp from the kid below. Jason looks down hoping that the kid isn’t getting attacked already but what he sees has him stopping mid swing. The kid is floating, flailing around on his back as some seemingly invisible string holds him up by the waist. Jason scans the area, looking for any sign of a meta or any other kind of threat that could be causing this, but he sees nothing. He and the kid are decidedly alone in the alley.
Jason doesn’t really know what to do. He has no idea how Robin is floating, clearly against his will, or what is causing it. Jason looks at the kid, though he’s not sure if Robin even knows that with the helmet in the way. Robin looks helpless dangling there by his waist, like a trapeze artist stuck in a rig. And helpless though he is Robin is seething. Jason can see the set of the kid’s jaw, can see the cold determination in his eyes as he tries to free himself, and finally when the kid looks back at Jason he sees the accusation leveled at him. Those looks always got Jason into trouble. This version clearly hasn’t learned that hard lesson yet.
Oh hell no! Robin is not blaming Jason for this. He does not need the twerp running off to the Bat to tattle on him for this! So he slowly lowers himself to the ground again. And to his surprise Robin lowers with him. The kid notices this too and looks all the angrier with the confirmation that Jason is somehow the reason for his being unceremoniously yanked into the air.
The kid hits the ground first and immediately scrambles to stand up, once again taking a defensive stance as he watches Jason make his way to the ground. Jason puts his hands up in a placating manner.
“Listen kid, I have no idea what that was about. I’m not a meta and I didn’t want to drag you with me. Obviously I was trying to leave.”
“And why should I believe anything you say? You’re the Red Hood aren’t you? You’re a rogue!”
“Whoa whoa whoa. Slow down there. I’m not the Red Hood you know. Not the Joker,” Jason practically spits the name and for a brief moment his vision is flooded a bright angry green, “or one of his lackeys. But you’re right you don’t know me so why don’t you go? Go find Batman. He’ll know how to handle this.”
At the mention of Batman, Robin perks up. “Fine. I’ll go but just know when I find Batman we’ll be back to hunt you down.”
Jason can’t help but to smirk behind his mask at that. Yeah kid, if only you knew he thinks. Robin gives him another once over before he cautiously backs away from Jason, never turning around or taking his eyes off him. Jason just stands there and watches the slow retreat. But as soon as Robin is about ten feet away from him Jason feels a tug around his waist and Robin jerks as if he hit a wall. The sudden stop made Robin lose his footing as he tried to scramble back and away from Jason again, clearly starting to panic a little at his inability to get away.
No matter how much he struggled he couldn’t get any further from Jason.
“What the fuck,” Jason mutters.
“How are you doing this?” Robin asks, panic lacing his high childlike voice, “Let me go!”
“I’m not doing this!” Jason shouts back. He rubs his hand down his helmet-covered face. This was getting weirder and weirder. He takes a step towards Robin. Robin takes a step back, tries to take another, falls as he is jerked back one step toward Jason.
Jason closes his eyes. He needs a minute to breathe, to take stock of the situation. Clearly he and the kid are stuck together somehow. The ten feet between them seems to be the limit of how far apart they can be. He’s not doing this and clearly the kid isn’t either so this connection is coming from something or someone else. And as was seen when Jason tried to grapple away there doesn’t seem to be an exception for moving in any direction. He sighs. His night just couldn’t be easy could it? He sighs again. He knows what he has to do. He’s not happy about it but he’s running out of options.
The entire time Jason has been thinking things through Robin has been silently panicking. He has no idea who this man is. He has no idea where he is or how he got here. He wants Batman. He wants Bruce. He wants his dad. His breathing starts to pick up.
Jason sees the kid starting to hyperventilate. He quickly says, “Kid, I’m going to take you to Batman. Okay? I need you to stop freaking out and come over here to my bike. I promise not to hurt you. I’ll take you right to the Bat okay? Then you never have to see me again.” Jason says all of this as calmly and comfortingly as his voice modulator will allow. But even so Robin looks wary. Jason can’t blame him.
“You know Batman?” Robin asks cautiously.
“Yeah kid, I know Batman,” Robin can’t help but notice that Red Hood sounds sad saying this. “Now come on. You don’t want to stay in this alley forever do you?” Robin seems to contemplate this and seeing no other option gives a shrug of defeat, following the Hood down the alley.
Jason and Robin make the short walk back to where Jason had stored his bike. He doesn’t have an extra helmet for the kid but that's the least of his worries right now. He points to the bike and Robin climbs on behind Jason. The kid is so small that he can barely wrap his arms around Jason. It makes Jason feel a little sick. He never realized how small he used to be.
Before he starts driving Jason puts his hand to his comm, calling Oracle. “O, who’s in the cave right now?”
Jason hears the comm crackle to life as Oracle responds, “Rare to hear from you Hood. What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” Jason replies gruffly. “Who’s in the cave?”
Jason hears Barbara sigh. She won’t get anything out of him when he’s like this. “Just Nightwing. Batman and Robin are on patrol and Red Robin is still out of commission with his broken foot. He’s at the manor though. Spoiler is with her mom.”
Jason only grunts in response. Great. Hopefully he’ll only have to deal with Dick before getting rid of the kid.
Robin of course couldn’t hear anything Oracle had said but Red Hood’s mention of the cave has his ears prickling. Who is this man he thinks. But there’s not much he can do about it now, not when they are seemingly stuck together. He’ll just have to trust him if he wants to get back to Bruce.
The ride is silent. Robin is nervous and Jason is brooding so both keep their mouths shut. That is until Jason leaves the city and makes the turn headed toward the manor. Robin stiffens in front of him.
“How do you know about this place,” Robin asks, almost too lowly to be heard over the noise of the bike and air whipping around them.
Jason snorts. “Like I said kid, I know Batman.”
The kid doesn’t respond. Jason sighs behind his helmet. This is going to be a very long night.