["Penelopise"- to undo and redo to gain time; to stall; to create work as an excuse to deter suitors]
The next morning, Jason woke up alone on the couch. He looked around, head still fuzzy with sleep.
"Kori?"
No answer. He shrugged, unbothered. Kori was random and often unpredictable, but it had never bothered him. That's just the way she was. Actually, now that he wasn't as wiped out as he'd been last night, a thought occurred to him.
"Wait, how did she know where we were staying?" he wondered aloud, scrunching up his nose in thought. He tried to make sure no one saw their comings and goings, not to mention he had so many safehouses in this city alone it would be almost impossible to track him down if he wanted to disappear. "Well, whatever."
He'd just have to put it down to another one of his teammate's many mysteries. As long as it didn't become a real security risk, he wouldn't ponder it too deeply.
Jason stood up, stretching as he did. He hissed violently when his back ached in pain. Gingerly, Jason rubbed at his shoulder blade, rolling his arm back carefully. Maybe he should consider physical therapy…
No. He didn't have the time for something like that, and even if he found a way to make time- who would take him? Few people knew how to deal with a case like his. Sure, there were people who got into accidents, that were attacked and their wings took the brunt of the damage, but none that had their wings completely torn off. That was almost impossible to survive unless you were a metahuman, or in Jason's case, a zombie. And he didn't even technically survive it, so there.
The reason it was so dangerous had mostly to do with the way wings were connected to the body. There was a series of back muscles that controlled and directed wings, allowing a person to fly if their wingspan was large enough. But since Jason's were completely ripped off of his body, it'd damn near severed his spine.
It'd been a miracle that he could even get up after that, trying so hard to save his mother, to do just one good thing in his life-
Jason jolted himself out of his thoughts, determined not to get into a mood. He was planning on having fun tonight- no family, no criminals, just him and the Outlaws. He was fine. Everything was fine.
Shaking himself out of his funk, he noticed belatedly that Kori had left a note on the table. He picked it up, eyebrow raising in curiosity.
Friend Jason,
I hope you will be feeling better when you read this note! I know that you have not been sleeping well recently, so I thought to offer my assistance. I can not wait until the team reunion! See you soon!
-Love, Koriand'r
Jason huffed a little laugh. On the bottom of the note, she'd made a little doodle of herself giving a peace sign.
"Thanks, Kori," he whispered. He hadn't realized it before, but he really was feeling refreshed. No nightmares, or at least none that he could remember. He had good friends.
"Well, better go get the brat," he mumbled to himself, letting out a big yawn. His back barely even twitched at the movement, and he was pleased to note that most of the pain had gone away. Seems this would be a good day after all.
Jason made his way into the bedroom, passing his own bed to head for Sasha's. He chuckled upon seeing her position. She was sprawled out on her stomach, laying on top of the covers. Evidently, she'd been too tired to even get into the bed last night. Her mouth was wide open, and she was drooling all over her favorite red pillow.
Even if it was adorable, Jason was unmoved. No mercy.
"GOOD MORNING, GOTHAM!"
Sasha shrieked in surprise, tumbling off the bed in surprise from the double assault of Jason shouting and him opening the curtains of the window by her bed.
"Hello, sunshine," he said teasingly, ignoring her scathing glare. "What, are you not happy to see me?"
Sasha groaned, stuffing her pillow over her head.
"Jason," she whined, voice muffled. "Why. Why would you do this to me, haven't I suffered enough? Can't you just let me die in peace?"
"No can do," he said casually. "That goes against my contract. Now, come on kiddo. We got a while before we head over to Roy's, so I figured we could make some breakfast and then head out to talk to some of our buddies in the Narrows. I'm suspicious about that new drug that's been making the rounds, lately. Gotta ask some people about it."
"You think it's connected to all those seizure cases?" she questioned, now sufficiently awake. She was right to come to that assumption- Jason had begun to wonder the same thing last night, at the dinner.
"Not sure," Jason shrugged. "But it's worth checking out at any case. They both only showed up recently, so it's a decent guess."
"Okay, sure," she nodded, finally getting off the bed and fluffing her wings out a bit. "I'll change and meet you out there. Pancakes?"
"Sounds good to me," Jason smiled, closing the door behind him as he headed for the kitchen.
/=\
After the two of them had eaten, Jason kept his word, heading straight for one of the seedier parts of Gotham. Even in broad daylight, the place wasn't exactly inviting.
Jason didn't mind it though. He'd been born in Crime Alley, not the Narrows, but he'd lived here for a good portion of his life. He knew these streets, he knew the people. Batman could keep his darkened alleyways, this was where the Red Hood thrived.
But he wasn't going as the Red Hood right now. No, he was just going as Jason Todd, a street rat looking to catch up with some old pals.
A man called out to him in Spanish, yelling; "Hey, mocoso! ¿Buscando una nueva puta ya? ¿Qué pasa, la perra pelirroja no hacerlo para usted?"
Jason replied coolly, smirking at the indignant expression he received. He never would've said that around Alfred, for sure. Well, if the guy didn't want to get burned, he shouldn't have been insulting someone way out of his league. He must have been new. Even if not everyone knew Jason Todd, they knew the Red Hood. And no one got away with what that guy was implying, not when he was in charge.
Sasha shook her head at him, though her eyes were amused. She knew a decent amount of Spanish (mainly curses, to be honest) due to all the time she spent with him, but she wasn't fluent.
"Did you say something about a donkey, or a bull? I couldn't tell- you were talking way too fast," she pouted, struggling to bring herself up to speed.
"Eh, don't worry about it," Jason shrugged it off, bringing up a hand to ruffle her hair. "We're almost there, anyways. Isaac's place is right around the corner."
They turned, going towards what looked like an abandoned warehouse. Gotham seemed to have a surplus of those, which was good for vigilantes who needed a place to crash, but also good for criminals who were trying to be sneaky about their illegal activities. Isaac and the gang of miscreants he led fell into the second category.
The two entered the warehouse, casually strolling in through the front door.
"Oi, Isaac!" Jason shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth to make the sound go farther. "I know you're in here you pansy-ass bastard! Come on out, I need to speak with you!"
"Well," a new voice said, sniffing disdainfully. "When you ask so politely, how could I say no?"
Dropping down from the catwalk above them, a short, thin man approached the two vigilantes. He walked like a predator on the prowl, and when he stopped in front of them, huffing slightly in irritation, Jason caught a glimpse of cold metal underneath his jacket.
"What do you want, Todd?" Isaac asked, arms crossed over his head. "I already told you, we're not dealing to kids. Hell, we barely get to deal at all with the Red Hood always coming around to screw with us."
"Good," Jason said bluntly, not even bothering to censor himself. "And I really hope that's true, because there's something new on the market that I don't like."
Isaac narrowed his eyes, though he seemed more thoughtful than angry, "I'm not lying. We've been cutting down a lot- it ain't profitable anymore with all of those capes running around. But none of my crew have told me about a new drug. Mathias is usually right on top of that stuff."
"It's been kept on the down-low," he replied grimly. "Even Matty couldn't have gotten a chance to find out yet. I only know because Red Hood and Scarlet intercepted a shipment last week."
"Right," Isaac nodded, politely pretending that they were both unaware that he knew their secret identities. "What do you wanna know, then? I can't give you anything on whatever this is."
"The seizures," Jason prompted. "One of your boys, Cal, didn't he have one a few weeks ago? Got any idea why?"
Isaac bristled, "No, but it wasn't drugs! Cal's never been into that shit, you know that."
"We know," Sasha said placatingly, holding her arms up in surrender. "But we need to cover all of our bases. Be sure, you know?"
Isaac stared at them for a few moments, before sighing, "Yeah, I got you. Cal said that he used to have attacks as a kid, but he thought that he outgrew them. Look… I'll let you know if I find something. Until then, kindly get the hell out."
"Alright," Jason took the opportunity to retreat, not wanting to anger his reluctant ally any longer. "You have my number, let me know."
Isaac scoffed, going back into the depths of his gang's base, "Sure thing, Red."
/=\
Jason took off his helmet, staring at the cheery blue paint that decorated Roy's front door. He hadn't gotten too much out of his reconnaissance, but Isaac would tell him if something came up. The man hated Red Hood, but he hated people who messed with his gang even more.
So now, Jason was officially off-duty. Time to just relax, and have some fun with his pals.
Yeah, right.
It'd only taken him twenty minutes into the ride to feel his anxiety creep up on him. All those lectures everyone had been giving him- were they worth anything? Should he actually try and discuss his… emotions, and with Roy of all people?
But more than that, he was scared that Roy already knew. The archer understood him better than anyone else- who's to say he hadn't already picked up on it and was simply too nice to say anything?
Gah, he was gonna give himself another migraine with all this worrying. Not to mention, he didn't really have the time to be doing it.
Sasha had already gone up to the front door, knocking and calling out, "Hey, guys! Guess who's here?"
"SASHA!" came the high-pitched squeal, Lian throwing the door open to leap into the teen's arms. "Oh my gosh, I'm so excited! We're gonna hang out and make cookies and play dress-up and watch a movie and-"
"Woah!" Sasha laughed, easily hoisting the little girl up onto her shoulders. "Take a second to breathe, Speedy! But it sure sounds like we've got a full night ahead of us, huh?"
"Yeah!" Lian cheered. Her little golden wings, a near copy of her father's, fluttered in excitement. They were still all fluff, no where near capable of flight, but he could already see the beauty coming in. Unlike Roy, who had wings that seemed to be made of solid gold, her's darkened the further down they got, looking like a sunset come to life.
Jason snickered, coming forward and making himself known, "What, no hug for me?"
Lian gasped, immediately squirming to be let down so that she could rectify this horrid mistake. She raced over to him, and Jason swooped Lian up into a twirl, listening to her giggles with such much love it felt like his heart could burst.
"Uncle Jay!" she said happily, linking her arms around his neck. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too," Jason replied, snuggling close to her.
Coming through the doorway, Roy let out a soft chuckle, "Hey, she wasn't the only one. Any chance I could get a hug, Jaybird?"
"Group hug!" Lian demanded, making grabby hands at her father and Sasha. They complied, coming forward for a nice family moment.
Unfortunately, that made Jason suddenly remember just how much he wanted to be a part of this family. And how gay he was for Roy.
"Okay, that's enough," he said, gently separating and ignoring Lian's whine. "We should get going soon, right? Or are we waiting for Kori?"
"Nah, she's gonna be waiting for us at the place," Roy said, and he still hadn't taken his eyes off of Jason's face. It was very distracting.
"Where are we going, anyway?" Jason forced himself to ask, lest he do something completely idiotic in front of Sasha and Lian, like making out with his teammate.
"It's a secret!" Roy sung teasingly, pinching Jason's cheek when he automatically scowled. "Don't worry, you'll like it."
"Right," Jason said numbly, trying not to react to Roy touching him. "Uh, let's go then."
"Sure!" Roy said cheerfully. He knelt down, speaking to Lian eye-to-eye. "Alright, you be nice to Sasha, okay? And remember, if someone tries to break in-"
"Go for the crotch!" Lian recited. Roy beamed proudly.
"That's my girl!" he stood up, turning to look at Jason. "Ready?"
"Always," Jason said, and then immediately wanted to smack himself for it. Luckily, Roy didn't see anything out of the ordinary in it.
"Cool! And, we're off!"
/=\
Behind them, Lian and Sasha watched the two males leave.
"So, what do you wanna do?" Sasha said, crouching down so she could speak clearly to her young companion. "Have an awesome party and completely wreck the place?"
"Sasha," Lian scolded, though the effect was somewhat diminished by how much she was giggling.
"Alright, I get it. No wild party times for us. You said something about a movie, right?"
"Yeah! We should watch the new Young Titans movie!"
"Sure, that works for me!"