Chapter 3: Into the Shadows
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"Until the day of his death, no man can be sure of his courage."—Jean Anouilh
When he came too he found himself in a hospital bed. He could see the cops outside the doorway. They were waiting for him to give them some answers.
Jason didn't have any answers. He didn't know anything more than his past. He just opened up the hospital window and crawled out.
There are some things in life that you never forget. For Jason Todd robbing a store was one of those things. It was easy to break through the back window and steal. He bypassed all of the alarms as if they just toys.
Jason hadn't been born a thief. It was something he had been forced to learn when his life got rough. Childhood was supposed to be a time of innocence. Parents were supposed to care for their children. Jason Todd had been alone for two years before Bruce Wayne took him in.
He dressed quickly putting on the white t-shirt, black leather jacket, and black jeans. He left his hospital gown in a trash can less than a mile from the place he cased. Jason wasn't a fool. The cops had most likely run his fingerprints and found no matches. He would need to be careful before they started searching for him.
The world was the same as it had always been. The streets of the Gotham were unchanging if anything. The city was the same as if he had never died. He didn't know what he had expected.
Perhaps he had expected something to change. Maybe then his death might have meant something. No change for better or worse just meant that he was insignificant. Another unimportant person who's existence was no more important than a speck of dust.
Jason has always been a realist. Life was a game that was meant to be manipulated. He had lost the game and had earned death at age sixteen. His life had been worthless and nothing had come from his death. Maybe he was back to make a difference?
The shock of being dead hadn't settled over him. Waking up in the hospital was bad enough. His wounds had healed but he had been through shock. He looked down at his bandaged hands, nothing made sense anymore.
How could Bruce just let him die? Did anyone try to save him? Had he meant anything?
He didn't question his return from the grave. It wasn't that he didn't care. It was just for Jason Todd being alive was more important right now.
It was weird to die a sixteen year and wake-up in a nineteen year old body. He had grown taller, a lot taller than he would've thought. He had even filled out a bit which strange in and of itself.
He was slightly freaked out and he wanted a cigarette to make his head stop spinning. He felt like someone had hit him with a crowbar very recently. His head and his body ached. Why the hell couldn't he just stay dead?
He stalked the familiar streets of Gotham. Even after three years everything was so familiar. He could probably navigate these streets and rooftops blindfolded.
There were still dark alleyways where children slept. Jason grimaced as he walked by a boy sleeping next to the dumpster trying to keep warm. This was how Jason had been at that same age. He never imagined his luck to be caught trying to steal the tires off of the batmobile.
It had been the best screw-up of his life. If he had gotten away with stealing the tires he would've been a legend. Instead he had been caught and then he had been gagged and tied up by Bruce who then locked him in a shed. He still remembered the look on old Alfred's face.
"And do you intend to keep him?"
He smirked. He had become Robin not to long after that. He doubted that Bruce would replace him. Bruce had loved Jason like a son it was doubtful that anyone would ever take that spot.
It was then that he first saw him. His blood boiled as he continued to watch. A boy no older than Jason had been was fighting off criminals. The black mask firmly on his face and the robin suit tailored to fit him.
"Why does this one get to have pants instead of the damn shorts and spandex?" Jason though bitterly.
Both he and Dick had been cursed with the tight green shorts and the tights. This kid actually had pants for a uniform. Then again Jason had escaped the horrid pixie boots.
This replacement Robin ducked the blow his opponent sent at him.
The kid, Jason grudgingly admitted, was keeping his opponents at bay. It was just a routine scuffle with a few thugs nothing too extraordinary. It was all too familiar to Jason who had been in these types of fights before. Let's see what the kid does.
Tim's blood pounded hard as he fought. Nothing about this job was ever the same. Every fight was different. Of course these thugs had been shot up on coke but that didn't mean anything. They were slower but the drug hadn't hit the low point yet.
Tim swerved as leader of the group lunged at him.
Out of the shadows came a streak of blue and black. Dick Grayson had been tailing these thugs all night. Babs was of the opinion that they were part of a smuggling operation. Dick hadn't seen any evidence proving her theory but he wasn't ready to dismiss it yet.
He sent the man lunging at Tim sprawling backwards with a swift kick. It took the pair no time to tie up the group.
"I didn't need help," Tim said calmly. "I was doing fine."
Jason smirked bitterly in the shadows. How often had he berated Dick for stepping in for him? He may not like the kid but at least the pretender stood up for himself.
"I know. I just thought I could help besides I've been tailing them all night," Dick replied.
The pair began to chat about everything. It was familiar activity, a conversation between two brothers.
Jason felt his jealousy rise as he watched the two of them. It was as if he had been replaced. The kid was his replacement, another bird for the bat to have at his side, another brother for Nightwing to bond with. It was like he was nonexistent.
It was bad enough the kid was the new Robin. He could deal with their being a new Robin. He could live with the kid taking the uniform.
Yet as he watched the two of them realized that there was a new son in the family. A son who wasn't like Jason the screw up. A son who was the good son. The son that Bruce had always wanted had arrived. This was the kid who should have been Robin not Jason.
Bitterness and rage coursed through him. He had been replaced not just as Robin but as a member of the family. Who the hell was this kid?
"You better go report to Bruce. He's probably freaking out," Dick said.
"I guess I'll see you around," the kid replied.
"I'm planning on leaving the area for a while but I'll give you a call. Maybe we can hang out. Just be careful while I'm gone Tim."
"Yeah, you too Dick."
Jason watched them disappear into the night from his spot in the shadows. His anger was running through is veins in heated patches. Replacement. Replacement. Forgotten. Unimportant.
He would make them remember him even if he had to spill blood. He would them regret not remembering. Maybe just maybe, they hadn't forgotten him but he had to make sure.
"Just wait until we meet Timmy. I promise it will be a blast," Jason said as he disappeared further into the shadows.
To be continued….