Disclaimer: All people belong to DCU, and all the plot belongs to me
This is my first story, so please be nice! Review if you find an error, please! And thanks to Cold-Ice-Burns for beta-ing it!
IMPORTANT!
This is two years after Jason came back to life. A year after he did, Nightwing got killed by the Joker as well. Batman had to lock up Jason to stop him from killing the Joker.
"Who are you?"
The question, fired out by Jason, didn't even make a dent in the guy's impassiveness. He just stood still and silent, gazing down at the Red Hood from his two- inch height advantage. Jason couldn't tell because of the man's half-mask, but he seemed to be debating whether to answer the question.
"I'm the Phoenix."
That answer, no matter how small, got the Red Hood's attention. In myths, the phoenix was a bird that rose from the ashes, and was reborn again and again. The fact that this guy took on the name that related to Jason's own experience didn't escape him. However, it did pose some interesting questions. If Dick was still alive…
Inwardly, Jason sighed. Even after a year, Nightwing's death still bothered him. It shouldn't, after all his own death didn't bother him… too much. Even if Nightwing thought otherwise…
Red Hood mentally shook himself. He was here to discover who the new anti-hero was. This guy, the Phoenix, was like a less murderous Red Hood- at least before Dick taught him that killing was wrong- but he still killed people, mainly big mob bosses and multiple-time killers, but they were still people. Red Hood was here to arrest this guy, not to get lost in memories.
"Why are you killing people?"
Yes, it was a pretty silly question, but it was important. If this guy was doing it for self defense, he might get a pass. If he was doing it for fun, he was to be arrested.
"They killed others first."
Jason blinked. That was his motif when he first became the Red Hood- they had done extremely bad things, they should pay. But he had realized that that was wrong, with Dick's help. Now he had to help this man before he got himself killed.
"Don't you think that they should get a trial, they should get justice?"
That was what Dick told him, before he went off the grid. Dick had taught him so much, now he had to keep his ideas alive.
"There's no such thing as justice."
The same words he had said to Nightwing, before he realized that there was something called justice, that justice did exist. This new kid wasn't any different.
"There's always justice, you just don't always see it."
Dick had been so smart. He knew what to say, he knew what everyone needed. His words could convince everyone… except the Phoenix, as he called himself, didn't look convinced.
"Justice is a human term, something made so murderers have a chance to escape, nothing more, nothing less."
Well this was different. Never before had Jason heard of someone refer to justice that way, and he never thought about it in that way either. Justice may have been a human term, but it was used for good people, not bad people… right?
"Justice is used to protect the innocent, not the guilty."
There, just say what Bruce said when Jason, as Robin, questioned the idea of justice.
"Who decides if someone is innocent or guilty?"
That was, to the Red Hood, a silly question.
"Judges, of course."
A simple answer to a simple question. But why did the Phoenix look kind of… smug?
"And who appoints a judge?"
Jason didn't understand why these questions were being asked. Did this guy really not know how the government worked?
"The people choose."
This guy was really looking smug now. Why was he so smug?
"How do you know that the people who choose the judges aren't corrupt?"
Jason realized what he was playing at. It was a true question, one that he asked himself a million times. But how was he supposed to answer that?
"Why do you call yourself Phoenix?"
There, try to catch him off guard, like Nightwing taught him to. He couldn't let this guy get the upper hand.
"… I rose."
The Red Hood was shocked. This guy, like himself, had been brought back to life? Were they that alike?
"Did you know that I also was killed, that I also came back to life? I know what you are going through."
The "I can help you" was unspoken. Jason wasn't sure yet. What would this guy say?
"Exactly."
The figure suddenly turned and jumped off the edge of the roof they were on. Jason ran to the edge and looked over, yet the Phoenix was gone.
Who was the Phoenix?
And why did this guy remind him of himself?