Chapter Text
Christmas was always a wild time for one Jason Peter Todd. Usually, he was left to his own devices; he spent the majority of the day asleep, and then would wander the empty streets and bask in the peacefulness the holiday brought about the city.
This year? This year was different.
It had happened about a week ago. He had busted a multimillion-dollar drug deal, and the money was just…sitting there, neatly stacked into dozens of duffel bags. Money he knew had come from the hardworking citizens of the Narrows and Crime Alley, who could barely put food on the table or pay the bills. Based on his idle calculations, there was ample time before GCPD would be on the scene, and he knew the Bats were on the other side of the city.
He took the money.
Of course, even if the cops asked no questions, the Bats came knocking; Nightwing demanded to know what had happened to the cash, Barbara threatened to empty his many bank accounts, and Batman made his anger known. It was no secret that he was being shunned, yet again, even with no clear reason to do so. His place with the Bats...it was almost as temperamental as himself.
But…he had a set plan. A goal in mind, and when he had a goal-driven plan there was no stopping him. Especially if Jason was looking to help people, his people. The people he worked so hard to protect, night after night after night.
It took about a week to set up everything, and by that he meant buy the correct things, hire the right people, and deposit the right amounts. By the end of it, all the money he had swiped was gone, along with some of his emergency cash. Hopefully, it would pay off. No…he knew it would pay off. Because deep in his heart, buried under the rubble of shredded hope and agony, were the words Leslie Thompkins once told him.
There is more than one way to save a dying city.
He set out the night of Christmas Eve, armed with nothing more than his trusty revolvers. He was still in uniform, because everyone down here only knew him in his uniform. Jason Todd…Jason Todd was a nobody. It was better this way, he tried to tell himself. Less people got hurt this way. Besides, he wouldn’t want…this to come back and bite him in the ass. Sometimes, even actions with the best intentions were perceived to be a threat. It was just a way of surviving, of fighting to see the next day. He couldn't really blame anyone for it.
His first stop? A little warehouse down on Fourteenth and Larson Avenue.
Kicking his bike to a standstill, he hopped off the seat and headed towards the entrance, reaching inside his jacket and pulling out a stack of envelopes. Throughout the last week, he also had to put in a lot of research, double-checking what he already knew and cross-checking what he didn’t. A lot of it was information he had looked up when he was hiring people, but paranoia had him redoing all that work.
He ducked under the sloping doorway, and took a quick headcount of the men waiting for him. Good; all his men were all accounted for, here on time and no doubt ready for what they thought would be a debriefing. It was an asshole move, he knew, setting a meeting up on Christmas Eve when they all had families, but he didn’t have time to visit them all separately.
Better to do this all in one, fell swoop.
“Men,” he greeted them, strolling over and standing right in the middle of the small circle they had formed. These were his intel guys, and the men he turned to when he needed help overseeing his operations or to look over everything when he was out of town. They were hand-picked, after hours and hours of scrounging through files and old reports from GCPD. These were men who couldn’t get jobs elsewhere, either due to a lack of education or a prior criminal record.
These were men who, if given no other option, would fall in with the wrong crowd. With Jason? They were well-paid and taken care of. Law abiding citizens, if anyone dared to asked, with children at home and mortgages to pay.
“Hey Boss, something urgent pop up?” Langston, one of his best, crossed his arms and as the textbook definition of attentive. He liked Langston; the man worked twice as hard as everyone else, and asked for nothing in return. He was also a good husband, a good father, and took care of as many street kids as possible.
(Langston had known Jason Todd. The man had, multiple times, given the boy scraps of food or clothing all those years ago. Jason would never forget the kindness, the warm smiles, or the bed the man had provided for him whenever he could. So when he had looked into it and found out the man no longer had a job, he was the first one to be hired.
It was a way of repaying him just as much as it was a thank you.)
Jason pressed the correct mechanism underneath his chin, and waited for the helmet to expand before pulling it off. He wore a black domino mask beneath, but the sudden urge to take the helmet off came from a childish need for this to be personal. He wanted them to see his face when he would break the news to them.
For some validation, a small part of him sneered. You want a pat on the head, don’t you?
“Nope,” he replied, giving the man a shark-like grin before the expression transitioned into something warmer, fonder. “My sincerest apologies for pulling you all away from your families tonight, but it would be easier for me—and less time-consuming—if I just called a meeting.”
“Uh, sorry to interrupt, but what, exactly?” Another one of his most trusted men, Axel, cut in, eyebrow raised. He was a single father of three, after his wife had been killed in a mugging gone wrong. Jason had personally dealt with the guilty parties, and Axel had been loyal to him ever since.
“Why, your Christmas presents!”
A murmur of confusion flickered through the assembled group, with Langston scrutinizing the young man in front of him. There was an instant switch, nearly tangible, as everyone relaxed and smiles began to pop up, coupled with looks of affectionate exasperation.
“Boss, ya really didn’t have to—”
“Bit ridiculous, really, we weren’t expecting nothin’…”
“You pay us a helluva lot already, we don’t deserve no gift…”
“Shh!” Jason silenced them all with a sharp wave, the envelopes held high for everyone to see. They were nothing special; just manila-coloured and made out of paper. It would almost seem like he was just giving out cards, or maybe a little extra cash stuffed into each. “Now, I never told anyone, but I had a very specific type when I searched for people to hire. You all fit the bill, which is why you’re here and why I’ve chosen your present based off it.”
They all patiently waited for him to continue, and Jason took a small moment to collect himself before shooting them a small smile.
“You’re all fathers. Now, I know I pay you a lot. I pay you so you can go home and pay the bills, and have some money to spare. But I also know…quite a few of you have brats that should be going off to college next year. Should, but can’t because money’s still tight.”
A few men looked down, ashamed despite not having any reason to be. Langston and Axel were two of them. Jason knew they were trying, that they wanted nothing more than to send their kids away from this godforsaken city. Which is why he approached them first, and handed them each an envelope with their names on it.
“Make sure they apply to each and every university they want to go to. There’s enough on each of those cheques for any and every school in and out of the country.”
He made sure to calculate it, and allocated money as appropriate. It might have been the most painstaking part of the plan, because it hit him how much he wouldn’t experience. The least he could do was let others enjoy it, help others enjoy it.
Axel’s head snapped up, eyes dangerously bright. “Boss—”
“There’s double the amount on your cheque for the twins,” Jason cut him off, voice quiet.
“Fuck, Hood, that’s a lot of money, I can’t—”
“You can and you will. It’s my present. To all of you, who try hard to be the parents your kids deserve. Go home and rest easy, knowing I got you covered.”
The hugs didn’t surprise him, as the logical part of him had expected some form of PDA. The sobs and the repeatedly murmured ‘thank you’? Not so much. He pushed aside his discomfort at the tightly enclosed space, keeping a carefree grin on his face as his men swiped at their tears and tried to contain their sobs.
A warmth had started to spread, from deep within him. It felt…good, seeing them all like this. Seeing them cry over the hope he just bestowed upon them, over the future he just opened up for them and their kids…he felt his own eyes begin to burn. They deserved this, for working as hard as they did in the conditions the city gave them. It made Batman's ire feel like nothing more than a forgotten breeze.
But the night had just begun, and there were more men to address.
“And to the rest of you,” he turned back to the others, who were watching the proceedings with happy smiles and even clapping. Good men, he hired good men. “I set up a trust fund for each of your kids. I did for their younger ones, too, but they’ll learn that when they open their envelopes.”
Quiet gasps echoed through the remaining men as he distributed the last of the envelopes, accepting the watery words of gratefulness and the tight hugs once more. Finally, he was done, and turned to face the collective group.
“Your kids…they depend on you. Don’t ever let them down, and don’t ever give me a reason to believe you have or will let them down.”
Fierce and vehement nods met his statement, and he could almost feel the resolve in the room. His heart expanded, the childish part of him ecstatic over having given these men so much courage again. Another part of him ached over how much these men were willing to give up for their kids, when Batman...
No. He would not go there tonight.
“Go back home, and spend some time with the kids. You have tonight and tomorrow off, but I expect you back here on time on Boxing Day!”
“Yes sir!”
The shout reverberated through the warehouse, and he watched the crowd dissipate, pairs and groups heading towards different exits with the same destination in mind: home.
“You’re practically a kid, you know.”
Jason turned, and came face to face with Langston. He blinked; well, yeah, he looked young…but somehow, he knew that’s not what the man was referring to.
“Got into the game early,” he ended up shrugging, faking nonchalance. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for change.”
“Were you one of the Bat’s?”
Silence.
Fuck.
His shock was apparently all Langston needed, for the man shook his head in disbelief. “Christ. I always figured there was more than one Robin…why aren’t you with him anymore?”
“It doesn’t matter. Drop it.”
“It does if one of his brood is out here, faking bravado and tackling on the world without the support he needs.”
Where the hell was this coming from? Jason surveyed the man intensely, taking into account the sudden rage in Langston’s eyes. “I fell from the nest, and now I do things my way. If there’s something you’d like to say, Langston, do it now.”
“There’ll always be a place at my dinner table for you, Jason,” Langston told him, voice firm and eyes full of hidden meaning. Jason’s breath got stuck in his throat, painful and incurable. He knew. He knew. “Always. For whenever the night’s too long and you just want some company, alright?”
"You...how did you..."
"How did I know?" Langston's eyes twinkled, but they held a certain sadness to them that could be attributed to where Jason ended up. "I'll never forget that mischievous look, kiddo. You used it whenever your mom was getting high and you didn't want me to know, and now you use it whenever you're deflecting. I'm just...I'm just glad you're not dead, squirt."
For fuck's sake, Jason was really going to start crying.
"Nobody's ever said that to me before," Jason admitted quietly, pressing his fingernails into the soft flesh of his palms. The pain kept him grounded, even as his vision blurred. "I never...I never got to say thank you for everything you did for me."
"Consider us more than even," Langston chuckled, waving the envelope around with a smile. "Just...remember the offer, alright, kid? It'll always be open to you, just like before."
“I…yeah. Yeah. Thanks, man. Take it easy and get home safe.”
Langston nodded sagely, and with one last pat on the shoulder, the man was gone. Jason pinched the bridge of his nose, shook his head, and finally headed out to his motorcycle. He didn't even want to think of the implications of what Langston knew.
Despite knowing the possible consequences, he was more stuck on the eternal dinner invitation. To invite a known murderer to the same table his children sat at…Langston had a lot more faith in him than he ever had for himself. It was astonishing, really. Still, he didn't have time to dwell on his thoughts; he had many more people to go see, and not much time to do it.
Jason’s turn at being the hero was far from over.