Death of the Joker
One: Hiding Places Feel like Home
Absence, a bad reputation
All locked up inside a sunglass head
Broken, I feel what you've been makin'
Wakin' up in time to go to bed.
(Hiding Places- Mr. Big)
Cassandra Cain stepped into Arkham with as much ease as possible. She was glad she went back to her old Black Bat costume. Hiding her face so Nightwing could not see her unease. Bruce had finally allowed her on a case since her return from Hong Cong merely a month ago.
Of course that case would be a break out, a break out where the Joker had escaped. Batman and Robin were on the hunt; Red Robin was en route back to Gotham and she and Nightwing glided through the prison.
Nightwing of course did most of the speaking, her language barrier was lessened over time and from usage but she still preferred him to do the talking. And as Dick put it, with her costume she was more of the intimidating one between the two.
'I'm just gonna check with the guards on duty, they just got in, wanna do a quick sweep of his room?' Nightwing said pointing to the direction she needed to go. Cass nodded and did as she was told.
The cells were plain as she figured, the Joker's no different. the single person cot to one side. There were some weird sketches and scrapping in the floor and on the walls and some blood stains.
She noticed nothing unusual and went to head back to Nightwing, she noticed a name on one of the doors as she passed. the occupant was silent but she was intrigued.
They drove back to the cave. Batman and Robin had yet to return.
'Dick.' She asks, cowl and masks off now. Dick glanced her way questioningly, 'Whatever happened to Red Hood?'
Red Hood, either painted as a villain, hero, or just plain crazy. Cass had been told a bit by Bruce and Dick but the mystery man still intrigued her.
'Like recently or in general?' Dick nervously laughed, 'Last I heard he had been picked up and put back behind bars. Though that's probably best for him.' he then gave a frown and glanced at the case that held Jason Todd's former Robin suit.
Cass merely nodded her dark eyes following his gaze. Dick turned back to the computer as there was the rumble of the batmobile coming in.
It was the next few days she had patrol off, since Tim had made it in so she allowed him to take her turn, that Cass ventured out into the night. But she kept her suit on as she snuck her way back to Arkham. It wasn't hard to pass the guards, they assumed she was doing work for Bruce.
She retraced her steps skipping the empty cell that the Joker once was held in. Her neck hairs stood on end as she crept. Four cells down she saw him through the peep hole. Seemingly asleep. She calmly requested to speak to the man in the cell before her and the guard obliged.
'You'll need to remove your weapons.' He said, 'This guy can get tricky.'
Once inside the small visitor room, she assured the guard there was no need to be with her. With the thick glass between them she finally got a look at the young man. He was the same age as her, his hair shaggy and his teal eyes uncaring.
'Black Bat ain't it?' he called out. She nodded and did something she normally would not dare, she slipped off her mask.
'Cass.' She said. His eyes widened slightly then resumed their uncaring form.
'You already know who I am. Why the fuck did bats send you here to talk to his favourite failure?' Jason spat.
'I came on my own.' She admitted. He laughed, 'Oh you're in for a treat when he finds out...and he always does.'
Cass shrugs, 'That is Bruce. But I just wanted to know...' she fumbled not knowing quite why she was there, it was as if she had been drawn there, because she had always been intrigued by Jason Todd.
'My charming good looks obviously.' he snorted. She rolled her eyes.
'You are different from the rest.' she said, 'Even Robin.'
'Yeah the whole killing thing makes me the special kid, I get a special seat on the bus even.' his voice held no emotion as he joked, It startled her. He seemed so calm for supposedly being a mad man.
'I tried ice cream because of you.' She suddenly said. That made a change in his demeanour, 'Did Bruce tell you I like ice cream?' The Red Hood replied, sitting up.
She merely raised and lowered a shoulder before stating, 'It had three kinds.'
Jason smiled bitterly, 'Neapolitan, and damn delicious.'
Cass nodded and continued, now switching topics, 'But you kill without being afraid of the change it makes to you.'
'Remorse you mean? Nah that's for suckers.'
'Do you feel...remorse for yourself?' she asked puzzled.
'I used to when I died, then for not being avenged, now I realize none of it matters, I was brought back for a reason baby bat.' He said evenly, She crinkled her nose at the nick name. Spotting the reaction her grinned wolfishly, 'I think I'll keep that.'
She raised an eyebrow confused, 'Keep what?'
'The nickname...and the memory of your face when I said it.' Jason said smiling, She blushed as the guard came for their time to end.
It was only two nights later word got out: The Red Hood was free, he had escaped somehow with only word of a costumed female aiding him.
A week after his escape Cass was shocked to find Robin, Red Robin, and Nightwing already gone for patrol, but Bruce waited for her.
'You went to see Jason.I saw on the footage.' Bruce growled, 'What did you do?'
'Talked. Just talked.' She said.
'Don't lie to me Cass.' Bruce said, She stood straight, which wasn't much as she was so petite, but she stared at him unafraid, 'I talked, we talked, I told him we ate ice cream once and killing was wrong, that is it.'
That caught Bruce off, her anger seethed but he merely nodded. She slipped her mask on as he did the same with his cowl. As she passed him she merely said, 'He called it Neapolitan.'
'You really are an idiot.' Sacha said. She was sitting on his bed, watching as Jason packed the last few things in his duffle bag.
'Yeah but you love me.' he joked back. She smiled softly, like big brother and mentor all in one he was to her. The two of them had been the perfect team of crazy.
'Well you didn't have to rescue me back there.' Jason grumbled grabbing a boot. He and Sacha had only be reunited for a few weeks now, after she busted him out of Arkham. Now they were a few miles out of Gotham, catching up and hoping to lose any trails of bat family members coming after them.
Sacha clicked her teeth, 'Again, with the idiot. YOU don't have to go back to Gotham.' At that Jason frowned, he knew when he left sometime after Bruce's return, it wouldn't last. Somewhere in his twisted heart it thirst for Gotham.
'You can come too you know.' He said thickly. She eyed his sudden change in emotion and merely played with the frayed end of the blanket upon the bed she sat on.
'Probably, but probably not.' She said finally. His second boot was on and he stood. Sacha followed him, passing him his jacket as he opened the door to the tiny bachelor apartment he had been staying at.
'I fixed the holes.' She told him. He took the jacket and smiled. as he slipped it on.
'Thanks.'
'You do know it's August.' She piped up smiling, she hardly smiled outside of those she trusted (which wasn't many) due to the permanent scars on her face. He merely gave her the finger. She easily slapped him with the nearest pillow. He dodged and laughed.
'Gotham's only a few miles south.' he told her.
'I know.' She said. And that was it, no goodbye nor a hug, he merely nodded and with a grunt shut the door behind him and left. He left, leaving Sacha his tiny apartment.
She merely stood there with an air of unease, she turned to her laptop and powered it on, plopping herself back on the bed she turned onto a site with news feed she had hacked into. During her away time from Jason, she honed not only her fighting skills but hacking capabilities. She was quite proud to show it off to Jason.
'-In other news, still no sign of the Joker and another break out this time of his usual accomplice Harley Quinn. Police are on high alert.'
She easily tapped the keys and brought up a tracking program she had hacked from some Teen Titan loser. She pinpointed his location, smirking at his reaction when he realized she had sewn a tiny tracking device into the liner of his jacket. She followed his movement while she made up a snack. Yawning she flicked the screen to a different site and decided to relax. It would take him a bit to get to Gotham still.
Meanwhile Jason continued en route to Gotham, his mind reeling as the wind swept his hair. He really should have gotten a trim before he left.
It'll be blood splattered soon anyway, he shook his head, those sort of thoughts he needed to be rid of. It's why he left, hanging by a thread mentally, just nothing but uncertainty.
And why was he going back?
When he finally reached Gotham, his motorcycle slowed down, the last thing he needed was to be caught. Not by the police, they were a joke, but Bruce had everything feeding into him, cameras at every intersections, all the high end stores, and government places. And Jason was trying to make his entry discreet. For once.
He parked his bike outside a moderately okay kept building filled with mostly flats rented to a few here and there. But because it was close to Crime Alley, although not too close. Still it wasn't hard to get a unit. The owner had dealt with him on the phone and he walked into the main lobby to face them in person. Jason knew Bruce would expect him to be staying in a dingier hole in the wall.
'Leslie!' he said stopping short. The woman was older, with her grey hair pulled back in a bun now. Her eyes sparkled blue and were wide in surprise herself. Leslie Thompkins seemed to never aged past his first memory of her as Robin . She wore a basic suit in a pale lilac. Her lab coat gone but her medical bag held beside her.
'Jason?' She gasped. She quickly pulled him into a hug, she was fairly tall for a woman but he still towered over her easily. He embraced her back as well.
'You set up shop again, and deal in retail?' he joked.
She smiled, 'My clinic is a part time clinic so this you could say, is a side project. But let's chat up in the unit.' She said. He nodded and she led the way to a small but rather quaint one bedroom.
'You only have one person to worry about in this building right now. All the breakouts have people scared running.' She said smiling.
Jason raised an eyebrow, he easily handed her the first month rent.
'Not blood money?' She eyed him, he gave a shaky laugh and replied, 'So what if it is?'
She chuckled, 'Not to fret, it's all the same in the end.' she paused, 'Does he know you're back?'
'Probably.' Jason shrugged trying not to show his unease, he wished he had on his helmet.
Leslie seemed to sense it and patted his arm, 'No worries, I hardly see him myself, my clinic is just down the road and I know he keeps an eye, but he's got bigger fishes to fry right now.' she said softly and almost knowingly.
'You know I am the Red Hood.' he said cautiously, she nodded, 'And you know my clinic holds no bars against who we take are of. Bruce never understood that the practice of medicine has no bias, and no grudges.' she said ending on almost a bitter note.
Jason nodded, she gave him the address for her clinic and her cell number, 'In case of anything, Do not hesitate to call.' She said and took her leave.
Leaving Jason standing in the apartment, the feeling of dread suddenly crawling up his throat.
'Home.' he said to only himself, and the darkness.
