Jail Break
"Roy, you fucking prick," Jason called, his tone light and playful as opposed to venomous and angry. They were currently in one of Jason's old safe houses, one of the ones he had in Uptown Gotham. It wasn't fancy, and painfully ordinary in every way, but Jason was never one for luxury anyway.
Roy walked out of the bathroom, buck naked, completely at ease and drying his hair. He had a cocky grin on his face and gave Jason a wink. Jason just smirked and rolled his eyes, then pointed at the man and shot him a glare.
"Where are my damn cigarettes you asshole," Jason snapped. Roy shrugged and draped the towel around his shoulders before slipping back into the bathroom.
"Those things'll kill ya, Jaybird! And I like having you around! You make the prettiest noises when I fuck you," Roy called. Roy and Jason had a close friendship, since they first met when they were fifteen. Back before Jason died, they even started to...fool around a bit. They shared everything with each other, including secrets; nothing was off limits. They had actually tried dating at one point, but that only lasted a month before they decided they worked better as friends. Jason more or less resumed that 'friends with benefits' friendship they had when he showed up in Star City. After Roy freaked out a bit first, of course.
Jason grunted and pushed himself out of bed and began digging through the drawers for his cigarettes.
"Yeah, well if you wanna keep fucking me, you'll tell me where my damn cigs are you ass. And besides," he called back, digging through the closet where they stored their gear and found his cigarettes stashed inside one of Roy's boots. He grinned widely and lit one up before crossing back to the bed and flopped down with a contented sight, taking a puff of the cigarette "it's not like I smoke a whole lot. I can quit any time. I mean, c'mon, gimme some credit, my last cig was like, a week ago."
Roy sighed deeply as he strode out of the bathroom in naught but a pair of red briefs with a black waistband, and flopped down on the bed beside Jason, snatching the cigarette out of his hand and putting it out, tossing it into the trash can. Jason protested and jabbed Roy in the side. The man retaliated by sticking his tongue out at him.
"Fuckin' dick. I wasn't done with that," Jason muttered, sitting up. Roy laughed and gave a shrug, sitting up beside him and running a hand through the man's hair.
"Doin' you a favor, Jaybird. So tell me," he said smoothly, patting Jason's back "how does it feel to be back in Gotham? I mean really. Don't give me any of that sarcastic shit or I'll beat your ass."
"Maybe I'd like it," Jason replied with a teasing grin, earning a smack upside his head.
"Bitch," Jason jibed.
"Jackass," Roy jabbed back, the two of them grinning like idiots at each other. Roy then flashed him a look ans Jason frowned, flopped back down onto the bed. High sighed, raking a hand through his hair.
"Honestly? I was hoping not to come back here for a while yet. Still not at one-hundred percent, and there are...memories here I'd rather forget," Jason said evenly, heaving a sigh. Roy chuckled and fell back beside him, glancing over at the other man.
"And Dick Grayson," Roy teased. Jason blushed and jabbed Roy in the side, hard. Roy grunted and rolled off the bed and onto his feet.
"Ow," Roy grunted in response, flashing Jason a smirk before he slid back onto the bed "did I poke a sore spot?" he asked. Jason glared at him and lit up another cigarette. He pushed himself up off the bed and retreated out to the balcony, hands on the rail as he looked out over the city below, cigarette in his mouth and a glare on his face. Roy joined him moments later, having pulled on a pair of jeans. Jason glanced over at him, blowing smoke and tossing the cigarette butt over the balcony.
"Dick deserves better than me. Besides, I have you," Jason said casually. Roy was already grinning when he realized what he'd just said.
"Aw, that's sweet, Jaybird! I love you too! You gonna propose next?" Roy teased.
"Don't ever say that again, or I'll shoot you in your fucking face," Jason replied, shooting the man a glare "besides, you know what I meant you prick." Roy laughed and patted Jason on the back, flashing him a grin.
"Don't worry, I always got your back, Jaybird" Roy replied. The two of them stood out on the balcony for a while longer, in silence, just watching the city below. Roy glanced up at Jason then and nudged him, to get his attention. Jason looked over at the man and Roy asked "so...you going to come back to Star City with me when this is all over?" Jason frowned and looked back down to the busy streets below, silently regretting throwing that cigarette away.
"No. Gotham is my home. I'm here now, may as well stick around and try to clean it up. Yeah, that's what I intend to do." Roy gave a shrug of his shoulders and leaned back against the railing.
"Well, then I guess I am too. If you're staying, so am I. I wonder if daddy bats can handle the both of us?" Roy teased with a grin. Jason snorted and retreated back inside.
"He'll probably get in the way, mostly, but whatever," Jason replied. Roy grabbed Jason by the shoulder and turned him around.
"Now, before I forget, you got any plans for this prison break of yours?" Roy asked. Jason grinned like the devil.
"I got a few ideas."
As predicted, Bruce was not pleased to hear that Jason was back in town. He wasn't angry, but he wasn't happy about it either. Specifically because of the knowledge that he was still masquerading as the Red Hood, and apparently, still killing. He was geared up and prepared to go out on patrol while Tim was fast asleep upstairs; school night. So he ended up asking Dick to come with him.
"Bruce, I don't know if this matters to you," Dick began, pressing on his mask as he strode up beside Batman "but I think...I think there's hope for him. For Jason, I mean." Batman glanced at him before hopping into the batmobile, Nightwing jumping in beside him.
"How so?" Batman asked before firing up the batmobile and peeling out of the cave.
"Because he's...well, he's sparing people, Bruce," Nightwing answered, flashing the man a small smile. Batman glanced over at him, and though he tried to hide it, it saw a spark of hope in the man's eyes. So he went on "when I came to that warehouse in the Bowery, some of the thugs were still alive. He's...holding back a bit, I think." Bruce glanced at him once more before turning his attention forward, considering the new information in silence.
As they sped down the road, Oracle began contacting them via the batmobile's computer.
"Batman, Nightwing, I don't know if this is important, but it seemed suspicious enough to pass along," Oracle began. They could hear the sounds of clacking keys before she continued "several members of the Arkham Knights had their sentences commuted to Arkham Asylum, and they're being moved there as we speak." Nightwing and Batman exchanged glances.
"Jason is probably going to break them out," Nightwing suggested. Batman nodded in agreement.
"Thanks Oracle. Give us the current location and trajectory of the prisoner truck and we'll check it out."
Twenty Arkham Knights were led out of Blackgate in chains and escorted out to a bus to Arkham Asylum. They seemed as confused as the guards escorting them, because this transfer was so sudden. Once they were all on the bus, they hit the freeway, but they didn't get far. The rev of a motorcycle could be heard alongside the bus and the Knights looked out to see, to their surprise, their lost leader.
The Red Hood looked back to Arsenal and gave a nod. Arsenal nocked an arrow and aimed for the engine and fired. Energy crackled from the arrow and the bus began to decelerate and the motorcycle squealed to a stop in front of the bus. Hood and Arsenal hopped off of the bike, weapons at the ready. Arsenal patted Hood on the shoulder.
"Remember-" Arsenal began, but Hood brushed his hand off.
"I know, non-lethal. You don't have to tell me. They're prison guards just doing their jobs," Hood replied. Right on cue, three guards came out of the bus and began firing at them. The two of them dived out of the way, Arsenal dodge rolling to the side and firing off a foam arrow, trapping the guards without injuring them. Hood strode over to the and snatched up the keys and got on the bus.
"See, what'd I tell ya? If bribery doesn't work, threats get the job done, every time," Hood said with an amused smirk, playfully punching Arsenal's arm. Arsenal flashed a grin at the man and shrugged.
"Sir, you came back for us!" one of the men called. Hood pulled off his helmet, wearing a black domino mask underneath. He grinned at them and began undoing their chains.
"Of course I did. Nobody gets left behind. Where are the rest of them?" Hood asked, undoing the last of their chains. The men rubbed their wrists and grinned at each other, then saluted their commander.
"Sir, most of them fled Gotham," one said, then another continued on.
"With you gone...moral kind of sunk. We thought you were dead."
"Some of us did. And so most of us fled Gotham. Penguin pulled a few strings and hired a handful of the us on as bodyguards," another said.
"And we're the ones who stayed behind and...got caught." Hood gave a nod, clapping one of the men on the back.
"It's okay. You're free now, so get out of here before you get caught again," Hood said evenly. The Knights just stood around, exchanging glances. Then one of them, a blonde man, average build with green eyes, stepped up and shook his head.
"With all do respect, sir, you're our commander. If you're staying, we are too," the man said. Hood sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Davis, I'm not a commander anymore as you can clearly see," Hood replied, gesturing to himself. The men looked at each other a again, and then shrugged.
"Doesn't matter. You saved each of us. We're loyal to you," the man, Davis, replied. Hood gave a smirk, then clapped his hands together.
"Well then. Get to a safe house then. Take care of yourselves. I have a new mission for you," Hood said. He glanced back at Arsenal, who seemed somewhat amused by all of this.
"I can't lead you anymore. But you can take care of Gotham on your own. Report to me if anything big is going down. Act as my ears and eyes, and my fists if I'm not around." The men looked at each other and then saluted him once more.
"You got it, sir."
"It's Jason. But keep that to yourselves," Jason said with a smirk, patting Davis' shoulder. Davis grinned at Jason and patted his arm.
"Secret's safe with us. C'mon, let's get our asses outta here before more cops show up," Davis called to the other men. Hood watched as they left then turned back to Arsenal and shrugged.
"I know you didn't enjoy that, neither did I, but-"
"Don't worry about it pal. It was cool to see how loyal they are to you. How'd you do it?" Arsenal asked. Jason pulled his helmet on and gave a shrug.
"I saved each of them, gave them a purpose. Most of them had been betrayed or abandoned," Hood said smoothly, glancing over at Arsenal as he hopped onto his bike "and I know how that feels." Arsenal hopped onto the bike behind him and Hood revved the engine before taking off down the street.
"So what's next?" Arsenal called over the roar of the engine. Hood glanced back at him before speeding up.
"Clean up Gotham."
Batman and Nightwing arrived on the scene and found Commissioner Gordon and the GCPD already on the scene, freeing the prison guards from the foam. Nightwing and Batman exchanged glances because they knew immediately who was responsible. Gordon caught sight of them out of the corner of his eye and approached them.
"Seems the Red Hood is back in town. And he's got a side kick now," Gordon said immediately, gesturing to the guards trapped in foam. Batman and Nightwing glanced over at them then back to Gordon.
"So it would seem. We got a tip that this bus was going to be hit, but obviously-"
"We're a little late to the party," Nightwing said with a shrug and a grin. Gordon snorted and turned back to the scene, gesturing for them to follow. He pointed toward an arrow sticking out of the front of the bus.
"This was an inside job. They had all the tools to pull it off, the knew exactly where the bus was headed, I'd even wager they arranged it somehow," Gordon said smoothly. Another glance exchanged between Nightwing and Batman.
"Look, I don't need to tell you how bad Gotham has gotten since the Red Hood disappeared, but with him back now...well, this shit's probably going to get worse before it gets better," Gordon said flatly. Batman patted the man on the shoulder and gave a nod and a knowing look.
"We're looking into it. The GCPD won't be dealing with this alone," Batman said smoothly. Gordon pulled out a cigarette and lit it up, taking a few puffs. Nightwing nodded toward him.
"Thought you quit?" Gordon quirked an eyebrow at him and shrugged.
"Stress. Can you blame me, kid?" he asked in an amused tone. Nightwing smirked and shrugged.
"Guess not." Batman and Nightwing returned to the Batmobile and sped off into the night, keeping their ears and eyes peeled for any sightings of the Red Hood. Batman glanced over at Nightwing.
"Gordon's right. Regardless of whether or not Jason is showing restraint, his presence here is going to escalate things," Batman said. Nightwing sighed and gave a nod; he didn't really want to admit it, but Batman was right.
"Yeah, I know."
