My sister asked me to write her a Jason Todd fanfic. I'm not very familiar with Jason. Most of what I know of the DC verse is through the movies and cartoon series. Jason doesn't appear in any of those except for the Red Hood movie. So if he is slightly OOC, I apologize. I do hope to make at least a second chapter for this.
He closes his eyes, listening to the sounds of the city around him. Without opening them, he falls backwards off the rooftop, arms outstretched. He feels like he is flying as the wind rushes over his body. His pain and his worries are forgotten as the ground rushes towards him. He shoots his grappling hook at the last minute. Swinging safely from a bloody death on the pavement. His heart beats fast and he smiles from underneath the red mask that obscures his face. He feels alive. More alive than he has had in months.
The sound of gun fire breaks him from his thoughts. His grin widens and he pauses on top of another rooftop. Ears strain to for more sounds. To determine which direction the fight is. The fingers on his left hand twitch. He is itching to bloody them. To feel the snap of bones breaking between them. He licks his lips as more gun shots are heard. He crouches on the edge, ready to fly off. East, he mentally tells himself.
He moves stealthily around the perimeter of the building. The acrid smell of gun powder thick in the air. He breathes the scent in deeply. Pulling his gun out, he taps it gently against his mask. He supposes this would be the point where he would pray. But he is not a religious person. He lets a smirk fall on his face at the thought of him being a man of faith. He wonders if he would look good in the cloth of a god fearing man(1). His wandering thoughts are soon brought back to reality as more gun shots ring out, this time accompanied by a familiar baritoned voice (2). His breath catches in his throat and his heart skips a beat or two. Tongue darts out, wetting chapped lips as his mind races. That scream definitely came from him. Came from that boy who replaced him. His mind screamed for him to just walk away. To let his replacement bleed out alone-abandoned- dying with the same thoughts he had had.
"Where are you Bruce?"
The memories flood back to him. He fights the need to sink to his knees. The Joker's face. His maniacal laughter. The flash of metal in the low light on the crow bar covered whit his blood. The dull sounds of the crow bar hitting his flesh. The pain coursing through his body. The beeping of the bomb as it ticked away his life. 5...4...3...2...And then nothing. He was nothing. Nothing, forgotten. Replaceable and worthless. His breath was coming in short pants now. His mind was screaming at him to run away. That the boy - his replacement - wasn't worth saving.
"Where are you Bruce?"
His mind demanded, pleaded and begged the Dark Knight to come. To save him from these nightmares. His feet moved. His black boots loud, secrecy forgotten. He wonders if the moisture on his cheeks is tears. He had forgotten how to cry, back then. Back when Bruce had forsaken him. His mind is stuck in the past. Trapped by the memories. Every move is on auto pilot. Every punch, every kick is done by pure muscle memory. He has reverted to the He that Talia had found. (3)
"Where are you Bruce?"
His hand touches the Red Robin' face. It shakes against his replacement's cheek. And for some reason, all he can think is how Bruce will never forgive him, if this boy dies. He laughs bitterly. Why does he care?But his hands find their way to the boy's wounds. Covering them, applying pressure. The robin's blood is warm, washing over his gloved hands. The boy's eyes flicker open.
"Jason?" Jason doesn't answer the replacement. His replacement.One thought is still swirling through his head.
"Where are you Bruce? Have you forsaken another son?"
1. Jason is a priest in the comic Flashpoint
2. I just imagine Tim's voice to be a baritone one, ok?
3. Shortly after Jason is found by Talia, he is seen as very robotic and unresponsive. Every move he makes is due to memory.