The sight of a small, deteriorating room was not one he had been expecting when he opened his eyes, even though it was the one he remembered from the night before. He'd honestly been hoping the whole, getting shot and waking up in some strange ass place, thing had all be a dream, as cliché as that may seem. Morning light shone through the broken window and made the place look creepier than it had the night before, but Jason didn't mind it much. Though he did make a note to pick up the place some so he didn't stupidly cut himself on broken glass. It was understood within the crime fighting community that no matter the level, if an injury was avoidable, avoid the hell out of it. And if that meant actually putting forth an effort to clean, so be it. That and if Alfred ever figured out he lived in a place this filthy without doing anything to try to rectify it, there'd be hell to pay. Pots and pans lay on the counters from Jason's investigation of the apartment the night before and from where Jason lay across the defeated couch, he could see his weapons still on the ground in front of him. Languidly, Jason sat up. He was practically the embodiment of sore, and he did not appreciate it one bit. Everything that could hurt did. But his stomach and brain pushed him to get up and start moving, so with no end of reluctance, he did.

His first order of business would have to be getting food. It felt like he hadn't eaten in weeks, and while he usually would just ignore his stomach, he didn't know much about where he was and if he went to a diner he could hopefully get some information about wherever the hell he was. Perhaps while he was there he could get a newspaper to check for time travel and other pertinent information. And of course, the most important thing, food. Food was good.

After he had eaten if he still wasn't sure of where he was, he could go to a library and search their computers. Once he knew the essentials of where he was, he planned on rounding up some information from the city's underbelly. It was basic knowledge that if you find yourself in a new city, you find out who's boss and how much power they have. When you know what you're dealing with you can take them out as need be, or go around in the shadier parts of town without worrying about any nasty surprises. If this world had a Joker Jason didn't want to unwittingly fall into his hands. That and if he wanted any respect from the criminals here, he couldn't look like a complete idiot. Idiots were betrayed too readily.
If Bruce was right about one thing, it was that with criminals image is everything. If you had some type of fear factor on your side, and didn't seem to be incompetent, you could go far in the criminal world. If criminals thought they could get away with pulling wool over your eyes, they were going to try. If they think they can't fool you and that you're scary enough to kill 'em, they'll leave you the fuck alone. Jason learned that way before Bats picked him up (he just wasn't quite big enough to implement that tactic).

So diner it was. Jason always kept some cash on him in case of emergency so paying for it wouldn't be a problem, but it wasn't enough to live off of for long. After he figured out where the hell he was, he'd have to look into getting more if it turned out he had to stay here for a prolonged amount of time. Having decided this, Jason started meticulously restocking his jacket. While he couldn't walk in while visibly armed to the teeth, it wasn't a good idea to leave home without some good ol' backup either. In the form of a plethora of weapons of course. He also didn't want to leave any behind just to find them stolen. This wasn't the type of place you just leave valuables lying around after all. So he hid his thigh holsters (and the guns they held), under his clothes, and double-checked to make sure none of his weapons could be noticed. When he was satisfied with this, he left the old building and started scoping out the city for a decent breakfast house, making sure he knew his way back to his temporary home along the way.

Eventually, he found a suitable diner. It was a small building snug in the corner of the plaza squashed between two larger businesses, and it looked like it had been standing there before the rest of this part of the city had even been thought up. It's old timey feel added to it's charm though, and for such a little diner it had a steady flow of customers, leading Jason to believe either the service or the food were better than the surrounding businesses. It reminded Jason of a place a Clark would eat at, honestly, but food was food, and this was a good a place as any to get it.

The diner's door opened with a pleasant 'ding', and Jason was instantly greeted by wonderful smells and cheery hellos from the waitress' and waiters. One broke away from what they were doing and swiftly lead him to an empty booth next to the window, plopping a menu down in front of him before disappearing back to their previous task, assuring him that a waiter would be by shortly. Looking around, Jason saw the inside of the diner had much the same atmosphere as he'd noticed outside: warm, old timey, and quite cozy. Jason spared a glance at his menu before deciding to ask for whatever was good and big cup of coffee with the day's newspaper before turning back to his examinations. The place had plenty of customers, but it didn't make the space feel cramped despite the buildings small size. A splattering of art, old pictures and movie posters hung on the walls and all the tables and booth's were spaced evenly, making sure that there was more than enough space to have a private conversation while still being able to fit all the customers that the diner would have to seat on any given day.

Soon enough a waitress walked over to take his order. The young woman was on the short side, with dull brown hair hung in pigtails that made her look even younger, and vibrant green eyes. She wore the diner's uniform made up of a white button up, a knee-length black skirt, and a dark green apron, along with her own grass green bandanna tying stray hairs back, and a chipper smile on her face that it was much too early in the morning for.

"Hello!" She said as she bounced over. "Welcome to Sophia's Breakfast and Diner! My name is Iris and I'll be your server today~! Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Um, yeah," Jason paused, a bit overwhelmed by the girl's buoyant energy, " I'd like a cup of coffee, and whatever food item's your favorite. Oh, and can I get a newspaper?"

The girl, Iris, blinked at him, but didn't question it*.

"Uh, sure-, I'll get that right out for ya." She replied with a warm, if a bit confused, smile, which he returned politely. After a few minutes Iris came back with a newspaper.

"You know, you don't strike me as the type to read the papers, what with that punk look you got going on. I do take it that red isn't your natural color?" She joked lightly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Jason had honestly forgotten about his hair until that moment in all the mayhem that had been the past few days for him. "No, it's not. Blame my prankster of an older brother."

She just laughed and left him to it, and as soon as she did, Jason began reading the paper.

Heroes or Villains?
By: Lester Verde

Heroes or villains, this is the question on all our minds with the recent invasion of aliens, now known as the Chitauri. The Avengers, made up of Captain America (also known as Steve Rogers, and celebrated as one of the first superheroes), Iron Man (better known as Tony Stark), Thor Odinson, The Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, fended off the alien aggressors and their leader, Loki Laufeyson of Asgard. Because of this, the group of mainly super powered beings appears to be the heroes of this story. But with the expenses for damages their defense of New York caused mounting, some citizens are questioning things, especially with the rumored connection between Loki and Thor, and the mysterious identities of Black Widow, Hawkeye and the Hulk remaining unknown. Some of our local politicians argue that the Avengers should be paying for the damages they have caused, while others argue that it is us that owe them a debt for saving our city, and by extension, the world, from Loki's nefarious plans.
With the government agency known as SHIELD, or Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division, and Stark's own company, Stark Industries, recently stepping forward to help pay for damages many of these complaints have slowly halted, but there still remains the questionable relation between our heroes and Loki. If the rumors are true and Thor and Loki are brothers, could it be possible that our 'heroes' planned the whole invasion?

The article went on like that for quite awhile before the paper turned to other topics, but Jason kept thinking about the first article. He was obviously in a different dimension. He'd been correct about this being New York, but this was definitely a different New York than the one he was familiar with. He didn't recognize any of the names of New York's 'heroes', and he couldn't have been sent anywhere in time because the date on the paper was still right. So he was more stuck than he'd originally thought, (or rather hoped,) he was. This being a different dimension, there was no one he knew here, no strings he could pull, no debts he could call in, nothing. But he wasn't Red Hood for nothing; he'd find a way… If there was a way to be found.

Still, he'd have to do his research. He would need to become familiar with this world's heroes if he wanted to avoid them and their most probable idiocy. His world's heroes were idiots anyway, and so it seemed likely these heroes would be as well. He would also have to find out the extent of this world's resources to see if they had the level of technology that it would take to get him home. That would all take a computer though, and since, unlike Dick, he didn't have a wrist computer, he'd have to visit a library and use one of theirs. It was after this thought went through his mind that his food arrived.

"Here you go! Best dish in the house! Was there anything else you needed?" Iris tweeted happily, and a dimension away or not, Jason swore this girl could be related to Dick just for their shared attribute of endless peppiness.

"No, thank you." Was Jason's only reply, though it was followed by a small smile when she beamed back at him before practically skipping away.

"Enjoy your meal!" She sang back at him from over her shoulder. Jason shook his head of his thoughts and quickly ate his food.

After Jason finished his food he got directions to the Library from Iris. The library was a grand, white building, with columns that held up the overhanging roof that stood over it's doors, and two matching stone lions guarding the pathway up to it. The inside of the building was just as grand. Rows of tables sat in the middle of the building and shelves upon shelves of books surrounded them. People were scattered throughout the space, some sitting at the tables, some scouring the shelves, some simply wandering around. Near the doors though, was an information desk, just the place Jason needed. Jason strode up to it and asked the elderly librarian if he could borrow a computer for a school project, (he knew he could pass as a college student). She gave him a polite smile and pointed him over to them. Time to get some answers.

Author's Notes:

Sorry guys this took me waaaaaaay to long to get done, but I've had a lot of school stuff lately and have been going slightly insane. Not that I wasn't insane already... I probably am... Eh, oh well. ANYWAY! I hope you enjoyed this! And if you did please review, and if you didn't, well please review anyway and tell what you think could be better. X) Thank you guys