"So one man has and another has not

How can you love what it is you have got

When you took it all from the weak hands of the poor?

Liars and thieves you know not what is in store" - 'Dust Bowl Dance' by Mumford and Sons

The night was sweltering with humidity in the crime filled Gotham. Even if it was normal occurance for that time of year in this part of the country, it just felt unnatural all the same. While he was used to the South's high temperatures and heavyweight humidity that occurred daily, Gotham when both hot and humid was almost like an oppressive force trying to activity kill you just for existing. But even with that type of weather bearing down on Jean-Luc, he had more pressing matters than keeping cool.

As he went down the maze of alleyways that the city had, turning every corner kept showing how unkempt the city was with their dumpsters and buildings. The amount of grime that covered the walls along with the trash that spilled out of the dumpsters almost made the amount of piss stains from drunks seem harmless. It didn't surprise him that the city was kept like this from what he heard from some of the thieves that lived here. But all the same it reminded him of where he was and it made him slightly sad to.

As he passed by the uncleanliness of the alleys, Jean-Luc also noticed the poor population that lived in the poor buildings. You could always recognize these people when visiting large cities as they were the ones unlucky enough to get caught in the cycle of poverty. Many of the adults and older children had this haunted look in their eyes that spoke of all the hardships that would never be told and it broke his heart to see their suffering as they resorted to stealing food and other items to survive.

But he also learned that the people of Gotham were much harder than the average citizen and didn't like being pitied by outsiders. Possibly toughened up by the daily criminal attacks and expected to keep on the lookout for anything that could lead to a disaster, they had something in them that other city citizens just didn't have in them.

Passing another building that looked like it was starting to rot from the inside out, he spotted a young boy outside up on the fire escape. He was just sitting there, reading a book that looked to be thicker than anything he'd seen his Remy read at that age. But still he walked on by, his destination more important than trying to see how everyone lived in Gotham.

As he took a few more turns and was close to his destination, he finally noticed a presence behind him. While they had taken time to keep their steps quiet for this long, their impatience started to get the better of them with the slight echo he heard when he continued to walk. Jean-Luc let them creep up on him as he slowed down slightly to light a cigarette. As he took the first inhale, he felt a small hand reach into his coat pocket and try to lift his wallet. Just as it was about to slip out of the pocket, he grabbed their wrist.

Even with how hard they tried to get out of his grip, he had experience with catching thieves outside the guild and training his son to not let anyone go. Taking a look at them, he saw it was the boy from the fire escape. His black hair was slightly long, starting to grow past his ears and looked like it wasn't brushed all that much. Along with that he could see clothing that looked like it could do with a few more washes than it probably got.

But it was the lovely shade of green that the thieving boy that truly captured Jean-Luc's attention.

As the young boy tried another tactic to get away from him, Jean-Luc dropped the cigarette from his hand and gently gripped his chin and made him look up at him. Even if the eyes were beautiful, what mattered was the attitude. If they were going to be someone he wanted for the guild when they were older than he would need to know how they acted. As he looked down, he couldn't help the smile that came to his face.

"And what do you think you're trying to do?" He asked, his accent no doubt confusing the boy a bit. People this far up north didn't know how to place a Cajun accent if they've never heard it in person before.

"Trying to get some cash. You left yourself wide open for me to take your wallet." Came the boy's reply. He didn't look the least bit phased by Jean-Luc's actions nor his accent as he stared up with defiance. It reminded him of Remy a few years ago when he also tried to pickpocket him as well.

He let go of the boy's chin and continued to smile at him. "I'm afraid you've read me wrong. You need to practice a bit more on that if you ever want to pickpocket the leader of the Thieves Guild."

Then with that bit of information left out in the open, Jean-Luc let go of the wrist and started to walk away. As he was about to reach the secret door to where he was supposed to be going, he heard the sound of footsteps quickly moving behind him. And then he felt his coat being tugged slightly. Looking back, he saw the confusion and the interest in those lovely green eyes.

"What do you want from me young man?"

"Can you teach me how to do that? Even if you only stay for a few hours before leaving, I want you to teach me." As the confusion left his face, the determination was enough alone to convince Jean-Luc to train the boy a set of skills he would need to survive in this part of Gotham.

With a smile and handing a card to the boy with the info of when his meeting would be done, he asked "What is your name mon chère?"

"It's Jason Todd sir."

As he exited the building, he was met with the sight of Jason sitting close to the door. He must have gone back to the fire escape as Jean-Luc saw the same book from earlier. The amount of pages that the boy had left to read was so little that he had to wonder how often Jason read.

Even if he wasn't staying long in the city, he might be able to provide some comfort to the boy if he allowed it. If doing that meant providing books that would widen his mind as he grew older than Jean-Luc would do that.

With that thought on his mind, he saw the way Jason's eyes trained on a few other members of the meeting left the building. It was the same distrust he often saw here in the streets of Gotham and he leaned down a bit to be near the boy. "Don't worry about them. They aren't any of the criminals that deal with the illegal substances and I make sure that none of them try to do that."

"You sure that they don't try to do it behind your back?" Jason asked as he closed his book. There was still the distrust in his eyes.

"If they were to try anything that wasn't within the thieves code then they would be banned. Whatever they do after that is their own decisions and not the Guild's." Jean-Luc said. He held a hand out for the boy and watched as Jason carefully took it. Pulling him up, he started to herd him away from the building. Even if he was going to train the boy that didn't mean he didn't need to know the location of one of the Guild's meeting places.

Batman had the bad habit of looking into things when he shouldn't be, especially if the locals start to talk about it.

Jason followed along, but clearly wanted to know more about the Guild from the way he kept looking behind him towards the building. A small smile formed on Jean-Luc's face. Somehow he kept on finding these boys that had more curiosity than they knew what to do with. Certainly if Jason wasn't snatched up by someone in this city the next time he visited, than Jean-Luc would have to do that himself.

Remy could do with a sibling that could challenge him after all.

He took Jason to a rooftop where they could practice any of the skills that the boy would want to know. For a few moments he stared out into Gotham, taking in the sight of a city that made many curse her for their misfortune. Even with the smog that started to make its way towards the streets of the city, made pretty by the sun that was starting, he continued to look out on the city.

Gotham was city that should have been torn down long ago. But either by spite or something stronger that he couldn't comprehend, the city continued to stand, letting people like within her. Still that came at a price as well. Gotham was a city that would ground up the bones those who were too weak to survive her streets. Made those who were considered strong to tremble in her presence. Only those who were able to survive everything she threw at them were considered the toughest of the tough.

And Jean-Luc had a boy standing beside him who had everything in him to become one of those legendary people who could handle Gotham throwing everything at them.

Then turning away from the city and towards Jason and holding up a hand, all he said was "Let's see what you know. Then from there I will teach you everything a thief should know."

Finally I finish the first chapter for this idea I had towards the end of the summer. And I'm liking where it's gonna go.

Anyway, I had fun writing from Jean-Luc's pov, even if I don't know much about him in canon. (Which tell me if there's anything wrong with how I wrote him. Don't want to skew his personality up too much.) Also I liked writing Jason before Bruce took him off the street. It's just something I haven't taken a chance to do yet despite having a lot of love for the character.

Hopefully it was a first good chapter! :D