As I lay on my bed reading one of the books I had recently collected from the Gotham city library, I listened to my parents argue through the paper thin walls of our small apartment. They had been fighting more frequently in the past year due to our financial state, Dad had lost his job as a security guard at a nearby warehouse because he could not prevent it from being robbed and he had been unable to find a job since. We had come very close to losing all that we owned until one day Dad came home with all the money we needed to pay the rent, it had seemed like a miracle, until a month later they came knocking. Two-face's men, come to collect the debt we owed but did not have. My mother was terrified and slammed the door in their faces shouting for them to leave, they did but not after saying something that made shivers run up my spine; "Hide while you can, we'll be back to collect the debt whether you have the money or not".

I sighed, trying to not think about the consequences my father's actions, sitting up I tied back my long black hair which was tickling my face. Eventually I gave up on my book and walked into the kitchen in search of a snack, pulling an apple from the fruit basket I munch on it thoughtfully walking in the living room. I'm suddenly surrounded by happier times as the photos on the walls smile at me. I walk over to my particularly favourite one which was taken last year, I had had received my black belt in karate, the grin on my face was wide, glee clear in my midnight blue eyes and my parents stood beside me looking especially proud at my accomplishment. I had always excelled in whatever I set out to do whether it was sports such as soccer or gymnastics or any form of academic fields. This however made it extremely hard to pinpoint what I wanted to do with my life as there were so many options. I shook my head and started to make my way back to my room to do homework when a knock came from the door.

I froze, wondering who would be here at ten at night, had two-face come? No, I was being over paranoid, I crossed living room, my hand hesitating as I turned the door knob, I heard my parents walk into the room as I opened the door. I learnt that day that usually your first gut feeling is correct and you should not ignore it because there in my doorway stood Harvey Dent, surrounded by his many henchmen.

"Ttt I warned you about what happens when you don't pay up" said Two-Face, a cynical smile forming on his face.

"Violet get away from him!" my father shouted at me and I went to run over to my parents but before I could, I was grabbed by one of the henchmen, pressing a knife to my throat, my mother screamed as I struggled against him, only stopping when he pushed the knife into my throat, causing warm blood to slowly flow from the small cut.

"Please, we'll pay, just give us some more time, don't hurt her." My father begged frantically, standing protectively in front of my mother.

Harvey Dent appeared to ponder the plea for a moment before saying;

"I gave you two months to pay up… I think that your time is up and if I can't be paid in money, I'll make you pay in blood." As he spoke his right hand came up aiming the gun at my parents.

I opened my mouth to scream at him to stop, to plead for mercy but nothing came out, the only sounds I heard were two loud bangs which inevitably ended my world as I knew it. My mind exploded in grief and sorrow but I wilfully repressed it, managing to surprise my captor by breaking free, elbowing him in the head, knocking him out. Taking full advantage of their surprise I managed to take down two more men, knocking them too into unconsciousness until they managed to overwhelm me with their numbers, forcing me to the ground, arms brought behind my back.

I looked up to see Two-face grinning at me, the pure glee that came from murdering my parents shining in his eyes. He indicated for the five remaining men that weren't restraining me to enter my apartment, my eyes widened in horror as I saw what they held in their hands; gasoline and matches. They were going to burn my home down; there was still a chance that my parents were alive.

"Please!" I screamed as the men exited the building quickly, fire slowly engulfing the apartment. "Please stop!"

Harvey Dent looked at me, a delighted spark lit in his eyes as he started to walk away.

"You guys can have her, I'm done here." He called back as he descended the staircase.

One of the men flipped me over, holding my wrists to the ground as the rest of the group looked on with malice and a disturbing sense of lust. I spat up at the poorly dressed henchmen and managed to hit my knee into his crotch as hard as I could, causing him to roll off me, groaning in agony. I jumped up, ready to fight my way out of there but my head was slammed against a nearby wall, causing my vision to blur. I dropped to the ground fighting for consciousness.

"We need to make this quick or we'll burn along with this building." Said one man who was on my right side.

"I say we just kill her, she's more trouble than she's worth." I looked up recognising the man who I had kneed glaring at me. Murmurs of agreement were heard around me, a feeling of dread filled me and I was roughly yanked up and held against the wall, the stench of the man's breath causing me to turn my head in disgust.

"I'm gunna enjoy this" He said with a smile pulling out a knife and holding it to my neck.

"Fuck you." I say, closing my eyes and waiting for death to come.

But it doesn't.

A loud bang sounds and the man collapses in front of me, the whole room froze, everyone was stunned, the only noise was the crackle of the fire coming from my home. Next thing I knew a figure came crashing through the window on the side of the hall. Taking advantage of the confusion I hit the nearest guy as hard as I could in the temple, knocking him unconscious or even possibly killing him but I didn't care. Loud bangs were heard again and I turned to the figure that had saved my life. He had shot all the remaining henchmen; they lay dead at our feet. He was tall and wore a simple leather jacket over his outfit but what really drew my attention was the red helmet he wore.

"Well shit, you're the red hood aren't you?" I mumble as he slowly turns to me, I feel his eyes penetrate mine beneath that helmet.

"We need to leave now." He grunts, grabbing me roughly and leading me towards the staircase.

"We can't, my parents, they're still in there!" I yell, trying in vain to release myself from his iron grip on my arm.

"They're dead," He growled at me harshly, "and you're alive, come with me if you want to stay that way." I hesitate, staring at the fire that had engulfed my home and took a shuddering breath, accepting his words.

"Okay, let's go." I mutter and let him lead me out of the apartment complex. When we got out into the cold night air, I could hear sirens in the distance and yells from others that lived in the same building as they looked up at the blaze. No-one seemed to notice us amongst the chaos.

The Red Hood released my arm and turned to stare at me, I shuttered, it was impossible to read him through the blood coloured helmet he adorned on his head but then he surprised me asking;

"Nice moves in there, were did you learn that?" He inquired with genuine curiosity.

"I uh… completed my black belt in karate last year… I've also dabbled in other fighting sports over the years… it just comes naturally to me."

The man whistled and stated with a level of surprise; "That's impressive for such a young age, you do realise that you're actions killed a person."

"You're one to talk." I retorted, looking up at my burning home with sadness however I forced the thoughts of my deceased parents out of my mind. Mourning could come later.

The Red Hood snorted and turned to walk away and I grabbed at his arm. He whipped around, yanking his arm from my grasp.

"Hey, no touching okay. I have to go," He growled at me, "The Bat and his little birdy will be here soon and we don't play nice together." And with that he stalked off.

After a moment's hesitation I followed him into the darkness, I was positive that he knew I was following him and as such he did not stop until we reached a dark alley and he turned to face me yet again.

"Don't you have somewhere to be kid?" He asked, exasperated.

"For your information, the last of my family died in that building so I have nowhere to go. There is no place I can go at seventeen years without anyone to support me and who are you calling a kid? How old are you anyway?"

The Hood looked up for a moment before replying, "Twenty-one…I think… now scram, I can't do anything else for you, solve your own problems." He said, making a move towards a nearby fire escape which he seemed determined to climb so he could get to the roof. I stepped in front of him.

"Train me." I blurted out and he froze before laughing in my face.

"Train you? Riiight like that'll happen, listen kid, I don't need a sidekick." He said with a slightly amused tone, pushing past me and walking away.

"I want revenge or vengeance, whatever you call it, I want to kill Two-face for what he did tonight." I growled at the back of the Red Hood, determined for him to hear what I had to say. The tall man froze and tensed, I had obviously said something right… or terribly wrong.

"Vengeance you say" He murmured thoughtfully, suddenly he whipped around throwing a punch directly at me, I quickly dodged it and looked up in surprise as he continued to come at me, punches and kicks coming from all directions now as I tried to avoid them all. I back flipped out of his reach but he continued to come at me until I finally took the offensive, aiming a kick at his chest which he easily deflected. We continued brawling for what seemed like ages but he had landed many blows to me whilst I never managed to touch him. Finally his kick pulled my feet out from underneath my and I fell onto my back, winded. I quickly tried to get up but his boot slammed onto my chest preventing me from moving any further.

"Death, are you afraid of death?" He growled harshly at me as I lay glaring at him from the ground.

"No." was my simple reply and it was the truth, in reality I had nothing left to live for, it had been ripped away from me and burnt in that fire.

Slowly the red hood shook his head in wonder before removing his foot and helping me up. "What's your name kid?"

"Violet… my name is Violet Adams." I replied.

"Well Violet, you win, follow me." The Red Hood said and climbed up on to the fire escape, continuing up onto the roof. I looked behind me, in the direction of where my apartment had been located, the sound of sirens still in the air. And then I turned and followed the Red Hood, leaving the life I knew behind, for good.

Half an hour later we both stood in a small run-down apartment located in the infamous Crime Alley, the faint sound of sirens ringing was a constant background noise. I was glad I had not taken off my shoes when I got home because that would have made the journey here extremely difficult. My eyes scanned the room which was fairly clean apart from the few beer cans which littered the lounge chair. I eventually turned to face the Red Hood who to my surprise was removing his helmet. I stared taken aback when he revealed his surprisingly handsome face. His hair was messy and coloured raven black except for one strip of hair which was stark white, his eyes still hidden by a blood red domino mask which he soon removed, revealing piercing blue eyes which seem to stare at me with an intimidating glare. Talk about brooding, I thought to myself.

"You can take the couch" he said tossing me a blanket he had picked up, "you look like you need some sleep" he spoke nonchalantly but I swore I could pick up a hint of sincereness in his tone. I simply nodded, too tired to argue and removed the cans from the couch before collapsing upon it. Weariness coming over me suddenly but after a moment I sat upright looking at the retreating Red Hood.

"What do I call you?… I mean it's cool if you don't want me to know your real name and all but I don't really want to be calling you the Red Hoodall the time it would get kinda weird" I blurted out and he paused, not turning to face me, seemingly pondering what I had just asked. In the end he shrugged and called over his shoulder;

"The name's Jason…Jason Todd." He said before walking into a nearby room which I assumed was his bedroom. I nodded slowly, mostly to myself and lay back down, pulling the blanket up to my shoulders. I crawled into a tight ball, and the horror of the nights events hit me. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, trying to shut out the sight of my parents being gunned down, the fear in my mother's eyes and then the huge blaze which had engulfed them. This sight however wouldn't leave me, I repressed a sob, refusing to let myself break…to mourn. There was plenty of time for that later, when I had completed my revenge.

I stood along Jason on the rooftop of his apartment complex as we overlooked Crime Alley, it had been three months since that awful night that I refused to remember. I had gone through unbelievably difficult training with Jason and now finally he was allowing me to come with him on patrol. He had allowed me to pick my vigilante outfit and I had settled on a similar outfit to him with a few adjustments. I wore a plain black t-shirt with cargo pants and combat boots however in the place of his leather jacket I wore a cape which Jason had called impractical but hey I loved the theatrics. Finally I wore a plain purple domino mask to hide both my midnight blue eyes and identity, from whom I was not sure. As Jason double checked his guns which he had placed in his holsters on his upper thighs, I reached down to check if my twin set of guns were securely placed as well, I would get so much crap from Jason if they fell out.

Tonight we were investigating various murders that Jason's sources believed to be the work of the Joker himself. The victims were always left with a smile carved into their faces by a blade.

"I hope it's really him. I can't stand fucking copy cats" growled Jason before he leapt of the roof across to the next one in the direction of where the next victim was believed to be. I hoped with all my heart that we could get there in time and save the person from the torture they would endure.

It was tiring, leaping off rooftops but Jason repetitively told me that the only other choices were public transport or walking and I wasn't too fond of those ideas. However I was surprisingly enjoying it, the surge of adrenaline that coursed through me as only air was beneath my feet was incredible. I couldn't help but let out a yell of glee as I managed to mickey flip over one of the gaps, in front of me I heard Jason mutter;

"Oh grow up" but I just smiled and in spite of myself stuck my tongue out at him which led to him snorting, slightly amused at my immaturity. In the few months that I had lived with Jason, I had learnt that he lacked the ability to show his true emotions and as a result he came off as a brooding young man. I did not doubt, however, that his past dealt with some dark secrets. He had hinted at some stage that the rumours were true and he had in fact been a Robin at one stage but he refused to go into detail.

The night air in Gotham was exhilarating to me, I was looking forward to my first piece of action which didn't entail a sparring session with the Red Hood himself. I had been itching to go on patrol since my first week of training began but Jason had bluntly refused, saying bad things happen to those who are unprepared. Finally after I had managed to best him in one of my matches did he agree to me tagging along. I felt like a side-kick but that was good enough for me.

Jason stopped suddenly and I ran to stand beside him, he pointed at the balcony of a huge apartment building, the door was open and the curtain was billowing in the wind.

"Fuck, we're probably too late." Growled Jason and he motioned for me to grab onto his as he pulled out his grappling hook, seeming to double check it.

"You're not worried it's broken or something are you" I inquired, not in the mood to fall to my death tonight. Jason shook his head.

"Nah, it's just one time I mistook my gun for this and the result was…embarrassing." I giggled at his remark as I grabbed his waist tightly and he shot the hook and glided us up onto the balcony where we silently entered, drawing our weapons. The room was dark except for the flickering of the fridge light which had been left open. Jason motioned for me to check the bedrooms as he moved towards the living room. I walked cautiously into the first bedroom and squinted, my eyes adjusting to the dark. When I finally saw the body which was tied to the bed, a fresh smile carved into their face I gasped and fell backwards, causing a loud crashing noise. Jason was there in a heartbeat, searching the room for danger but when he found none except for the body, he grimaced and gave me a hand to help me up.

"We're too late." I whispered, looking closer at the body for any clues that the murderer had left behind. Jason kicked the wall in his anger.

"I can fucking see that!" he snapped at me but I ignored him, determined on the task at hand. My foot hit a metal object on the ground and I curiously bent to pick it up and grinned triumphantly at Jason, shoving the can in his line of sight.

"At least we can guarantee that it's definitely the Joker, he left his can of smilex here." I said, glad that our trip to the apartment was not a complete waste of time. Jason took the can from me and placed it in his pocket.

"Okay I hate to cut this short but we better go before they arrive." He said abruptly and I automatically knew he meant Batman and Robin. I nodded and we hurriedly exited the apartment and made our way over to the nearby building rooftop. I looked back at the building, the curtains flowed ominously in the wind as if to warn others away. I realised that I had crossed a line into a place where there was no turning back, I was now a masked vigilante who would tread where others feared to go. I shook my head, trying to clear it and turned back to Jason who seemed impatient. As we began to move a huge shadow appeared in front of us blocking our path and it of course to the worst of our luck was Batman himself.

"Speak of the devil" I muttered and spun around when I heard a noise behind me and there stood Robin, the boy wonder. We glared at each other, the tension building but before anyone else could speak I couldn't help myself, I simply said; "Woah…dude you're short."

Robin seemed taken aback and growled; "Shut up you have no room to talk, criminal." Ouch. Okay I had to admit I was a bit below average in height but not to his ridiculous standards. Robin moved around to take his place at Batman's side.

"Move…now." Growled Jason, his voice extremely menacing. I had to give Batman credit; he didn't even react in the slightest to the Red Hood's threatening tone.

"I thought I told you to stay out of this case Hood." Batman said in a tone that threatened to outdo Jason.

"Since when do you tell me what to do Bats? Now get out of our way." Jason said stiffly through clenched teeth, his parents nearing an end. I stood silently, in a defensive position, ready to attack at a moment's notice; it was then that Batman first seemed to register my presence. I felt his eyes beneath that cowl analysing me and I felt exposed.

"Who are you?" He asked simply, his voice gravely as he tried to hide it. Wait. Why would he be trying to hide his voice. Thoughts ran through my head as I thought about this and finally I smirked at him.

"The bigger question is who are you. It's simple enough, the only person rich enough to afford all this equipment and famous enough to need to hide his real voice is of course Bruce Wayne. Added clues that make this all too painfully obvious is the fact that your first Robin appeared only a short time after you adopted Richard Grayson, that circus boy." I said, amusement clear in my tone. "It's a wonder that no-one else has figured it out." I rolled my eyes at Batman, hoping to hell that I was correct or I had just made an utter and complete fool out of myself. The long silence, filled with only a bark of laughter from Jason that followed confirmed this.

Finally Batman repeated; "Who are you?" in a more forceful and menacing tone which left me a little frightened as hard as it was to admit. I looked at Jason, willing him to answer as we hadn't exactly figured out an alias for me. He looked at me quickly and then turned to Batman and said;

"Not that it's any of your business but she's called Midnight." I blinked, that could work I thought, there were a million worse names I could have thought of, at least it wasn't purple mask. Batman's glare moved over to Jason.

"So you're endangering someone else's life along with yours, this is stupid, even for you." Wow what a douche bag I thought.

"I gave her the choice, I trained her properly and she knows the risks." He growled and then after a pause added, "more clearly than I did." There was hurt clear in Jason's voice now no matter how much he tried to hide it. It could had been a trick of the light but I swore that I saw the Bat's glare falter for a moment.

"Jason." Batman said, taking a step towards us.

"Too late." Said Jason bluntly and with that he grabbed my wrist and pulled me away in the night, when I had the chance I tossed a glance back to see if Batman and Robin were pursuing us but they weren't. They were gone, lost in the night. If I had gotten anything out of this encounter it was that I was now sure that Jason had once, long ago, fought under Batman.

"That was…intense" I said as we climbed through the window of our apartment, it was 4am and we had managed to take down a drug lab and a few small gangs around the city. I carried some bruises from the fights but was otherwise fine. I pulled off my cape and tossed my mask onto the counter as Jason removed his helmet silently. "Hungry?" I questioned, pulling a bag of chips from the pantry. He nodded and I opened them, sitting down on the couch, turning the television on as Jason came to join me.

"You did well tonight" Jason said finally after a lengthy silence as we watched the early morning news.

"Don't sound so surprised! I was trained well." I replied with a smile creeping on my face and he turned to look at me, amusement dancing in his piercing blue eyes.

"The Bat's face was priceless when you revealed his identity, it made my night." He smiled, thinking back on the memory. "It's not often you get to surprise him like that."

"Oh thank god I was right… I was fairly sure he was Bruce but I wouldn't have been able to live it down if I had gotten that wrong" Jason just laughed at me.

"And that demon brat looked ready to jump you right then and there, I think patrols will be a lot more fun with you around."

I felt astonished and happy at the same time; Jason had never really shown this warmth towards me before, it was strangely comforting.

"Thanks" I replied simply as exhaustion swept over me, I put my head on Jason's shoulder watching the news whilst I fought to stay awake a little while longer. I felt Jason tense at my touch but after a while he slowly relaxed. And slowly I fell into the welcoming arms of sleep.

"Are you sure you want to come tonight, you look like you're still tired from last night" Jason said as he put his blood red mask over his eyes. I rolled my eyes at him as I swung my cape around my shoulders, tying it securely.

"I'm not a child Jay I can handle a late night or two." I saw him cringe at the nickname, clearly not fond of it.

"It's Jason" he growled and I shrugged at him. Five minutes later we were on our way to another apartment as Jason's ever helpful contacts had another lead on a victim. Jason didn't waste any time at all, as soon as we got to the rooftop he was off, sprinting towards our destination. I struggled to keep up but didn't complain, it was clear that he was worried we would miss our chance to save this person.

To my utter despair as we ran, rain began to pour; soaking us both and causing the rooftops to be slippery but even then Jason didn't slow down. We were just about to jump to another roof when I slipped a little, leaving me unable to gather the momentum I needed to land on the next roof. I gave a cry as I only just managed to grasp the ledge with one hand to prevent me from falling but the rain prevented my grip from staying strong, I screamed as I slipped from the gutter. But just as soon as I had fallen, I felt a hand grab my wrist and I looked up to see the Red Hood standing above me. Jason quickly pulled me up with a tug and I stood there, catching my breathe. I looked up at Jason who was standing next to me, a questioning look on his face.

"I'm fine, let's go." I growled, trying to hide my embarrassment at my own clumsiness. He nodded and continued across the buildings, now occasionally tossing a glace back, to check on me which made me extremely self-conscious. After what felt like hours, we finally reached the apartment we were searching for. Contrary to the past place, there was no sign of forced entry that could be seen from our place on a nearby rooftop. Jason took out a pair of binoculars, getting a better view of the place, I waited patiently as he assessed the situation. Finally he sighed and turned to me.

"Well we might be early for once." He said in a disbelieving tone as he reached and brought out his grappling hook.

"Or it's a trap" I said as I grabbed his waist, bracing myself. Jason laughed gruffly and said;"Or there's that."

We landed lightly on the balcony of the expensive looking apartment and I reached for the doorknob, twisting it, finding it to be locked. I looked at Jason, raising an eyebrow;

"Plan B?" I asked. Jason grinned and pulled out what looked like a bobby pin, sticking it into the lock, after a few seconds there was a satisfying click and the door opened. I just shook my head in disbelief, "I thought that only worked in movies." I muttered to myself.

"After you." Said Jason, gesturing for me to walk inside.

"You're too kind." I said jokingly. I tried to ignore the tight knot in my stomach that told me something wasn't right. I looked around the house, everything was still and it was unsettling.

"I hate to sound cliché, but it's too quiet, something's wrong." As I said these words a felt my foot pull against something and I looked down to see a tripwire. I turned to give a warning to Jason but the room had already filled up with smoke. I heard Jason curse softly as I fell to my knees, the light fading from my eyes as I tried to fight to stay conscious but to no avail. I fell to the ground, lying there as darkness quickly consumed my world and the unforgettable chilling laughter surrounding I lost consciousness.

JASON TODD'S POV

Pain throbbed in my skull as I awoke. I sat up quickly as my memories came back to me and found myself surprisingly unbound and in the apartment where I had lost consciousness.

"Vio-" I stopped myself from yelling her real name and then tried again. "Midnight! Where are you?" I looked around frantically for her and my panic increased as I realised she was not there. I felt dread rush through me as I saw a note lying next to me. It was written with a sickening green pen, It red;

Well Hoody looks like you've found yourself a new pet. I tell you what, why don't we play a game. If you can find her in twenty-four hours then you might get her back in one piece, if not she'll be in pieces. Good luck, you better hurry if you don't want her to meet the same fate you did!

-Joker

I felt rage rise in me and I kicked a nearby wall in my fit of anger, leaving a huge whole there.

"Fuck!" I yelled, this was all my fault, I should have been more careful. For once I was at a loss at what to do, grief and fury clouding my thoughts, I did the one thing I swore I would never do. Pulling out my mobile I dialled the number and put the phone to my ear. After a few rings a familiar voice answered; "Hello?"

"Bruce, it's Jason, I fucked up, I need your help."