The night was a stormy one in Gotham City. An early autumn Nor-Easter had blown in and had brought high winds, lashing rain and violent thunderstorms. Bruce Wayne had been called away on business with Wayne Tech, but his three oldest sons patrolled the streets this night.
Red Robin, the youngest and most inexperienced of the three, had been assigned a simple, low key reconnaissance mission while Nightwing looked for leads on a new case and Red Hood patrolled the territory of drug traffickers at the docks.
Red Robin made his way silently to one of the oldest abandoned office buildings in the city, so that he could listen in on the business of a crime family who had recently arrived in Gotham and had only just begun to sow their seeds in the devious underworld. Batman was not yet sure what the family's main objective was, but he had been picking up a lot of chatter between the newcomers and Gotham's veteran criminal elite. In addition, several members of the gang had been getting themselves arrested for petty crimes. But why? It was up to Red Robin this night to start surveillance and chip away at the mystery.
Red Robin ran through lashing rain as he leapt from one building to the next, closing in on the old Bank of Gotham tower that loomed ahead of him in Gotham's historical district. He noticed that with each aerial maneuver he had to compensate for the gusts of wind that howled in and around the alleyways and rooftops. A bolt of lightning ripped through the black and purple sky and thunder boomed in quick succession- an indication that the thunderhead was very close. Idly he wondered how Jason was faring in this weather as he knew that first hand that the older man had a strong dislike for thunder. And who could blame him after all he had been through? **
As if on cue, the comm link in his ear chirped.
"Hood to Red," said the mischievous voice of Jason Todd. As usual, it sounded like he had a cigarette in his mouth. He was also barely audible over the sound of the downpour and rumble of thunder from above.
"Go ahead," yelled Red Robin as he launched over an especially wide alleyway and felt the wind take his cape and twist and flip it over his head.
"How's the recon coming?" asked the Red Hood.
Tim smiled, Jason had come such a long way from trying to kill his 'replacement.' The past few months had seen the two heroes become thick as thieves. Which Jason, even though he denied it because he only stole from criminals, actually was. Even so, Tim was grateful for the colorful re-addition to the family. He even felt safer when he knew that the dreaded Red Hood was on the prowl and had his back.
"Not in position yet but I will be in a few minutes. I'm about two clicks out," replied Red Robin firing his grappling gun.
"Sounds," began Jason before taking a huge drag. "Invigorating," he commented dryly and exhaled a plume of smoke.
"Ha… this night would be if Batman trusted me with more important missions while he's out of town," said Red Robin.
"Well," said Jason, his message becoming more distorted. "At least this shitty weather is a good proving ground for you. I can barely hear you! And this rain soaked all my fucking cigarettes."
"It's a sign from above that you should quit," said Tim smirking. "Have you heard from 'Wing?"
"What do you think?" asked Jason sounding annoyed. He pulled a small flask out of his brown leather jacket and took a quick gulp of whiskey.
Tim could hear the sound of him swallowing, a satisfied "Ahhh," and then him screwing the cap back on the bottle.
"Hood… are you drinking on the job again?" asked Tim stopping momentarily to hone in on his target with the NVG lenses on his domino mask.
"Oh don't get your feathers in twist, Red. You know how the saying goes: When the Bat is away, Red Hood gets to drink all his top-shelf good shit," he replied in a sinister mockery of cheer.
"Said no one ever" mumbled Red Robin. He still had to admit to himself that he got a kick out of it. All that booze and Jason Todd still had the steadiest hands in the world with a pair of any firearm.
"Well I'm freezing my balls off," the Red Hood complained. "It's fucking cold! The whiskey helps."
"Buy a warmer jacket," stated Tim blandly. "And by the way, you gotta start cutting 'Wing some slack, bro," he added, almost shouting about the noise of the storm. "He lived and worked alone with Bats for years. He's happy to finally have us to talk to."
"I'll direct his comms to you then," said Jason peeved. "You'd be swigging booze too if he always called you first."
"He's missed you!" reasoned Tim.
"Yeah yeah, I know," admitted Jason grudgingly, disgruntled by the tenderness of the notion.
"Just tell him he can call me! Listen, Hood, I gotta go. I've reached the old Bank of Gotham and, besides, I can barely hear you!" said Red Robin.
"Same here. Careful over there, Red," said Jason.
"Psh. Save your warnings for when I get assigned something perilous," said Tim to his older brother as he scaled the final building standing in his way of the target edifice.
"All in good time, Baby Bird! All in good time!" said Red Hood as a means of signing off.
**This is an allusion to an incredible fic called 'Thunder and Trauma' by the talented R.S. Donovan. If you like Jason and Tim stories, you should check it out! If they aren't your favorite... definitely check it out all the same hehe.
To be continued!