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“Stay here and don’t come out till I say so, okay?”
Crouched behind a dumpster, a little boy no older than seven stares up at his big brother with wide green eyes and dirty black hair. Patches of dirt stain his slightly hallowed cheeks and covered the feeble pieces of clothing they had managed to find for him, his brother wasn’t fairing too well either. His own clothes were baggy over his small frame, baby fat cheeks hallowed too, and his curly hair in a matted, dirty mess. But the blue of his eyes were as bright as the street lamps they shied from, hiding for their own protection from those who wished to separate them.
“But I wanna help! I’m strong too!” The little boy protested.
“I know you are,” the older boy shushed him, worried the outburst alerted any one where they were. “But if something goes wrong, I don’t want you to be taken too. I’ll only be down the alley, okay? So just stay here, Percy?”
“Okay.” The older boy smiled and ruffled Percy’s hair, before making his way down the alley.
It was nearing midnight, the inky blue of the sky was hidden behind the smog that belonged to Gotham, but sometimes the boy would imagine what the stars would look like. He’s read about them plenty, mostly the ones in the library, and he’s read them to his little brother multiple times, but it wasn’t enough. Sometimes, he would drag Percy to the roof of a building and they’d pretend that the lights of downtown Gotham were the stars themselves. Connecting the lights of apartments and offices into their own constellations. And a few times they’d catch a glimpse of Batman and Robin, running over rooftops far away, swinging into a battle they couldn’t see.
Speaking of Batman, a grin grew on the boys’ face as he got closer to the car. This was the Batmobile. The most sought after, coolest car, ever. Taking anything off it and selling it would feed the boy and his brother for a good long while. They could even have enough money for a coat come winter, or boots, or a hot meal, maybe they could splurge for their birthdays and spend the night in a motel where they could use the shower! Oh, the kid could see it now. All he had to do, and all he could do, was to take those pretty and shiny tires and wheel them back to where Percy was waiting with the tarp to cover them.
Hell, he didn’t even need the tire, the hubcaps would work too if he sold it to the right people. But if the boy wanted to make sure they had enough for a while, they’d need the whole tire.
He pried off the hubcaps, wincing when it clanked on the ground, before getting to work. And, boy, was it hard work. He was only seventy pounds on a good day and he was sure the tire was at least half his weight, but he was determined to take it off.
“Jay? Almost done?” Percy’s hushed voiced carried from down the alley, one hand cupped around his mouth as he peaked his head around the dumpsters’ corner.
“I just need one more, I told you to hide!” Jay said back, stepping on the tire-iron to loosen the lug-nut. The other three tires lay beside the car, the shiny chrome twinkling in the street lamp light. The kid was impressed with himself but he was also cautious, Batman could come back any time to stop him and then what would happen? Would he take to jail, prison? Maybe he’ll turn him into CPS, have him be relocated to another foster family. That can’t happen, he need to be there for Percy, who’ll take care of him if Batman takes him away?
Jason has to hurry. The longer he takes to remove the tires is another second closer to getting caught.
“What are you doing?”
Shit.
He turned to face the voice. Pointed ears and the vague shape of the Batman sent a shadow over Jason, making the man look bigger than he was. Though, he was already massive compared to the small ten year old anyway. He was intimidating, that’s for sure, and it seemed like that factor was being wasted on a kid. Shouldn’t Batman be kind to kids? Isn’t that his whole thing, mean to the bad guys but nice to the children he saves? Especially since he had Robin with him.
Either way, Jason couldn’t stay here any longer than he needed to. Forget the tires, this wasn’t worth it anymore. Slowly he got up from where he was crouched, the tire iron falling to the ground with a clang. He faced the Batman with his hands open at his side to prove he didn’t have anything else on him.
“Stay back!” Jason barked when Batman stepped forward, his hands were itching to grab the tire iron. It wouldn’t be much help against him, but it’d be something.
“Where are your parents?” Batman asked again, ignoring Jason’s protest. If he continued pestering him like that, then in it was well within the kid’s rights to attack in self defense, right? After all, it was Gotham. It wouldn’t be a surprise if a little brawl happened in a random alley way between a fully grown man and a child, wouldn’t be the first time either. But it would confuse the passer-bys that it was between a little kid and Batman of all people.
“I said stay back, you boob!” Jason dropped down and grabbed the iron, swinging it into Batman’s stomach before running down the alley. He pulled Percy on to his back before disappearing out the other side of the alleyway. He was NOT going to get taken. No sir, no thank you.
But as luck would have it, which isn’t a lot for the Jackson’s, a week later Batman found them again. They were holed up in a wooden crate. The puttering of the rain against the plastic tarp and asphalt would have usually put the two boys to sleep, but sleeping in their threadbare clothes on a cold, rainy night was sure to welcome sickness. They couldn’t afford to be sick. They didn’t have the money for medicine or warm clothes or a dry place to sleep, being sick meant they could die.
The older of the two watched the cars pass in the street up a head, all them old and rusted. Squeaking breaks and coughing motors, each drive threatening to be their last. Some of the people who walked the sidewalk were the same. Dirty, old clothes trying to catch their breaths, hands fisted and held up to their mouth as they wheezed. A few had cigarettes in their hands as they did that, others a bottle of something, but the ache in their chest didn’t deter them from another hit.
“You must be cold.” Jason startled at the familiar voice. Batman was just outside their create, leaning over to catch Jason’s attention. His cape draped over his shoulders and covered his body, his white eyes and jaw were the only thing visible.
“We don’t need anything from you,” Jason snapped and tucked Percy behind him, waking the little boy up a little.
“I could get you both a hot meal and a safer place to rest, if you’d like?” Batman offered, not once flinching at the scared and angry glare from Jason.
“Why? So you can drop us off at CPS later? No thank you, we’re fine,” He answered, holding tight to Percy behind him.
“I won’t if you don’t want to,” Batman answered.
Jason hushed his little brother when he gasped in awe behind him. Of course he’d be impressed, it was Batman. But Jason was old enough to recognize a creep when he saw one. He’s had to…work with a few to scrape by a few times. He couldn’t trust him fully, because even though it was Batman, and Batman didn’t hurt kids, there was still a guy under the mask. There was still a normal (or as normal as one could be dressing like a bat every night) person who went to bed and ate normal food and bled red like he does. And that is what scares Jason.
A normal guy could do so much, they were capable of anything. And while Jason doesn’t really care about what happens to him, he doesn’t want anything happening to Percy. He was only seven. He should be able to somewhat resemble a normal childhood.
“I wont hurt you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Percy slipped out from behind him and Jason was too slow to stop his kid brother. The rain streaked the dirt on his cheeks and made the too big, too thin shirt he wore sag and cling to his little body. The waves in his hair seemed to spring back to life when the water hit him, the glow in his tanned skin a little brighter despite it being night. He walked up to the Batman, little hands fidgeting in nervousness, and he startled back when Batman dropped down to his height.
“You promise you wont hurt us?” Percy stuck his pinkie out, green eyes staring at the whites of his cowl.
It was comical how big Batman’s hands were compared to Percy’s. The gloved finger swallowed Percy’s when he wrapped around his, and Jason had to hold back his shock when Batman gave his brother a smile. “I promise.”