Jason was sure to do his research. He was great at tracking down information especially on Gotham scum. But this was a tricky son of a bitch. He believed the uptown job could most possibly be a heist of some kind. Delto seemed to favor heists on big enough corporations, always after the money.
Which brought him to yet another investigation. J.C. Delto. Most notably a young man who continued his fight to the top of the food chain. Very much a young man, a couple of years Jason's senior from the looks of things. Delto had only recently surfaced.
A ruthless man, Jason soon found out. Sacrificing the lives of even his own men if need be. None of his heists in the past ever being brought to justice, no tracks left behind. This guy was good at what he did, Jason would admit. Not as good as himself but still he was no amateur either.
Jason needed a break. Which is how he found himself with Roy back in Star City. Not his favorite place to be but Roy wanted to pay a visit to his former mentor. More like play tricks and games on Ollie but Jason was happy to oblige. They observed Ollie for a night, finding out about a certain gala party for his upcoming birthday. Roy was beyond ecstatic. Something about giving him the best birthday present of all time and bringing along a plasma beam gun on their visit for testing.
The red head had them perched atop a skyscraper some days later, looking down into the gala which Ollie would surely be attending by now. Jason was sure to bring reading material as he settled down and removed his helmet.
"Books rot your brain," Roy said as he fiddled with one of his arrows.
Jason shrugged, "Says the man with a collection of Harry Potter books under his bed."
Roy chuckled and ignored his friends remark. He continued to tinker with his arrows all the while become irritated by his friends constant mumbling under his breath. Jason was aimlessly rambling and it quickly became an annoyance. Roy was sure he wasn't paying any attention to the book he'd brought on their stakeout.
"Red, you're mumbling again," he annoyingly stated with a roll of his eyes.
Jason paid no attention and continued his thinking out loud, "But what else would happen uptown?"
That last detail soon sent shivers down Roy's back. Bad memories for sure. He shook his head in disgust before commenting, "Uptown? UT? Don't tell me it's circulating around Gotham now."
And at last he had obtained Jason's attention. The man gave a look of confusion, tilting is head. Jason sat up, almost dropping the book in his hand as he did so, "What do you mean circulating? It's a heist isn't it?"
Roy stopped his fiddling, putting his arrow back in it's quiver and looking at Jason with the most amused look, shaking his head, "Oh, Jaybird..."
Turns out that his believed heist was a hallucinogen drug. One of which Roy had decent information on. UT, or it's adopted name of Uptown was well known for being sold to the more wealthy people in upper districts hence being donned the name Uptown. Roy had history with the medium and would provide Jason with all information needed, and extra.
"Ollie always wondered what I wasted my money on. It's cheaper now than it was before actually. Should've saved up my money instead and bought a Firebird when I was younger."
Of course Roy had useful information over the substance. His friend was quite a genius although Jason would never admit it out loud.
They carried out their plan in torturing Ollie. Causing trouble just for fun. Ambushing the gala filled with selfish wealthy scum but being sure to not harm anyone. They just wanted some fun, the two weren't monsters. And they wanted to annoy Oliver as a birthday present of sorts.
Roy had finally found out whether his plasma gun worked or not. Miraculously so, and much to the amusement of his former mentor, it worked like a charm.
"Happy birthday, old timer. See ya' next year!"
Some colorful words were exchanged from both parties as soon as they had arrived.
Jason and Roy were once again on their way back home. While driving back to Gotham, the duo had stopped at an old bakery and Jason had picked up the most fun looking packet of cupcakes. Debbie would surely appreciate the treat. Although Roy had pastries of his own, Jasons' simply looked a lot more delicious.
"Touch any of those and you're a dead man, Harper."
It didn't take long to reach Gotham. And a drive with Roy reminded Jason of the old days when they were young idiots. Although, once they returned things had changed a bit for Jason.
The first thing he did when returning to Gotham was take a long deserved nap. Second thing he did was take a hot bath and redress himself in clean clothes. Lastly, he would go find Debbie and give her the gift he had brought home for her.
At first he thought perhaps he was at the wrong school exit but when Debbie hadn't come out of class as usual when he picked her up, Jason thought that perhaps she had stayed home. The young man soon climbed up the fire escape yet was greeted with an empty room. That wasn't right, not at all.
Jason ultimately had entered Debbie's apartment complex, climbed up the stairs with his batch of cupcakes and would knock on the young girls door. Some may have called him paranoid but worry soon settled in Jason's gut. He knocked and knocked but no one answered.
"His kid is at the hospital," said a rough voice a few feet away from him.
Jason turned his head and across the hall stood an elderly woman with a weary expression on her face wearing a light blanket over her shoulders and shaking a cigarette out of its box, "Hospital?"
The woman nodded her head, her thinning gray hair shaking as she did so, speaking with a hint of attitude in her voice, "If you're looking for Mr. Lawrence, his daughter is in the hospital. She got sick just about two days ago. If a tall drink of water such as yourself is coming 'round here, I'm sure it's for all the wrong reasons."
Turning on his heel, Jason muttered thanks as he once again made his way down the stairs with his pastries, the elderly woman keeping an eye on him the entire time as she lit her cigarette. The young man rolled his eyes as he crept out of sight, "She isn't his kid."
He arrived at the hospital in twenty minutes flat, scaled the stairs and found her room in five. But what exactly was Jason doing there? He was no one as far as anyone was concerned. Hell, even the old lady thought he was acquainted with the bastard stepdad.
Jason lent back on the wall opposite Debbie's door. He still held the batch of cupcakes in his arms, some already had been ruined, the frosting smudged to the box. It was only after a few moments that the young man was able to muster all his courage and enter the young blondes room.
Making sure to open the door as slowly as he could, Jason inched his way in quietly. Butterflies and pink clouds adorned the hospital room. It was the children's ward after all. Debbie lay in her bed sleeping soundly and Jason almost immediately regretted his decision in visiting. Her mother sat at her side, looking up at Jason with concerned eyes.
"Can I help you?"
Debbie had been right. Her mother truly was a kind, beautiful woman even underneath her exhausted demeanor. Debbie had inherited her luminous blue eyes. Although very little else confirmed that this woman was Debbie's mother. But that mattered very little. She held onto her daughters hand but made no attempt to stand up as Jason closed the door behind him.
He quickly came up with a cover story, "I-I'm Jason. I live down the street from you guys. I sometimes walk Debbie home after my shift at work... I brought cupcakes."
Larena dismissed his nervousness and welcomed him as a friend and kind neighbor. She of all people knew a friend at a time like this was more than a good thing. Jason took a seat across from her, on Debbie's right side after setting down his box of frosted treats.
As it turned out, Debbie's mother had taken a break from her waitress job every other day in order to be with Debbie for longer periods of time. Debbie had been in and out of consciousness the last days she was in the hospital. Surprisingly, the mother was quite the talker if given enough time. Yet their conversation was anything but lovely. Jason truly felt terrible for the woman.
"I should have never left her alone, Jason," she confessed.
The young man had been listening to the woman's stories for at least an hour as he kept her company. After having brought up a third cup of coffee for himself and a warm tea for Larena, she had ultimately began into the latest situation in her life. Much the comforter, Jason made sure to listen to every word this woman spoke and give his support to her.
Jason shook his head, "You did the best you could, Ms. Ruiz." Sure, the woman was just a mere year older but Jason felt compelled in having manners and treating her with utter most respect.
"Can't even balance a checkbook," she scoffed, throwing her hands up, "Who am I kidding? I'm no mother of the year."
From what he'd been hearing the past hour, Jason was positive this mother was far better than even the mother of the year. She simply didn't see it. But he was still sure to lend a helping hand in comforting her, a pat on the back or even with just giving some encouraging words to the mother.
Larena soon found herself drifting to sleep, a fact of which Jason had noticed far earlier that night. Jason thought it best to have the mother go home and rest as she would work all day the next day. He helped her with her coat, reassuring the mother that he would look after Debbie and walked her to her car, bidding his farewells just as Larena expressed her thanks.
"You're a life saver, thank you so much, Jason."
Jason took his time walking up the steps to Debbie's bedroom. His head hung low. He still hadn't found out why his kid was in the hospital. Jason refused to intrude and ask her mother as it wouldn't have been any of his business but he couldn't help but worry. But that mattered very little as Debbie would be woken up by the time Jason reached her room.
"Hey, kid," Jason chuckled as he reached her bedside.
Debbie let her eye's adjust in the darkened room, "Red?"