Chapter 10: Enter Red Bird.

Jason entered his apartment and smiled at the new work out station to the immediate right of his front door. Bruce had sat this up for him before he came back from Gotham. He had stayed for nearly a week making sure Barbra was ok. The medicine had returned her fiery spark and she was slowly becoming the Barbra of old.

Jason placed his bag onto the couch and threw his shoes off into the corner. He stretched his arms over his head as he walked up the stairs to his small over hanging bedroom. Jason looked at his bed with half closed eyes.

"Hello beautiful," Jason said as he flopped down on the mattress, "Miss me?"

"Oh of course Puddin." Jason's eyes flung open and stared straight before him at Harley Quinn with a gun pointing towards his face. "Miss me?"

"Not really." Jason slowly backed off of the bed and flipped the small table lamb on beside the bed. Harley was wearing black slacks and a white blouse that hugged her curves tight. Her hair was straight down and was all black now, except for the red tips. Her clown make up was gone but she wore purple lipstick and eye shadow. "Mind explaining why you're here Harley?"

"Honestly," Harley smiled and moved to where she was standing in front of Jason, "Just came to see you." Harley moved her hand and held the gun up innocently. "Been checking the past few days but you werent here, so I said screw it and broke in early today. Been waiting around."

"Mind telling me why?" Jason moved ever so slightly as he grabbed the hunting knife from under his bed.

"To thank you." Harley said tossing the gun onto Jason's bed. "That's yours by the way Puddin."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Jason asked confused. He let the knife go and stood up fully.

"Because," Harley skipped the last few feet between them and wrapped her arms around Jason's neck, "I love puddin."

"Oh no," Jason pushed Harley away and stepped back, "Is this because of what I said to you in the warehouse? I was just telling you to go back to your old life."

"And end up in Arkham?" Harley laughed. "No I dont think so." She stepped back up to Jason and looked up into his baby blue eyes. "Besides, you were right. Mistah J was an asshole. I want a," Harley ran her finger tips over Jason's chest, "Real man."

Jason pushed Harley's hand away and shook his head. He looked over the clock and then back at Harley. Harley rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Not like I'm asking you to marry me there shit for brains." Harley's accent making every word like a razor. "I'm asking you to have a little fun before I head back to Gotham. I'm asking you to fuck me silly."

"Is that all?" Jason laughed and crossed his arms looking over Harley. He inhaled and exhaled deeply before rolling his eyes. "Oh what the hell?" Jason grabbed Harley by the hips and pushed her back onto his bed. "I dont wanna hear any complaints afterwards though!"

"Better do it right then there stud." Harley winked.


Crimson back stepped as the thug lunged at him with a knife. The vigilante ducked under the attacking thug and ran past him to his partner who was fighting with the keys to the get a way car. Crimson slid to a stop right by the second thug and smashed his palm into the man's wrist causing him to drop the keys and yelp in pain.

The first thug ran forward and sliced at Crimson who dodged back and grabbed the man's wrist. The second thug threw a punch towards Crimson and the vigilante pulled the first thug in the way. The punch connected with the first thug square across his nose and between his eyes. Crimson flipped the two entangled thugs over his shoulder and caused them to crash into their car.

"You two are fucking idiots." Crimson laughed as he dragged both unconsience men away and cuffed their hands together around a street lamp. "I mean you rob a jewelry store and then wear the stolen stuff out of said store, leaving through the broken glass window you made." Crimson laughed. "Dumbasses!"

Crimson grapneled his way to the rooftop of the closest building and flips over the balcony. Crimson looks up to see a man wearing a black sleeveless armor plated vest and pants with red lining. His right arm was covered in a mess of scar tissue and bullet holes while his left arm was covered in belts that had ammunition in them. Across his back he wore two ak-47s each decked out in modifications that no doubt made them even deadlier.

The man was massive. Crimson nearly gawked behind his nearly torn up cloth cowl. The man before him was twice his mass and nearly two feet taller then Crimson himself. The top half of the man's face was hidden behind a half head black helmet, with red gashes going across the sides of it, that seemed to be bolted to his scalp right behind his ears. The lower half of the man's face was bearded and a faint scar ran from under the bottom of his mask through his mouth to his chin.

"You Red Man yes?" The man's voice was deep and heavy with a German accent.

"I'm Crimson yes." The vigilante tensed as the massive man laughed.

"I am Red Bullet." He bowed his head slightly. "I kill you now." Red Bullet pulled a sawed off shotgun that came from his armored leg and fired at Crimson.

Crimson leapt behind a nearby vent cover as Red Bullet reloaded his weapon. Crimson peered around the vent only to have a massive palm grab his face and lift him from his hiding spot. Red Bullet yelled as he picked Crimson up over his head and then slammed him to the ground never letting go of his face.

"Deathstroke pay good money for your head!" Red Bullet laughed. "I deliver then get paid." The German assassin laughed. "Die now Red Man yes?" Red Bullet gripped Crimson's face harder squeezing.

'AAAAAAH FUCKER!' Crimson thought as his lungs were straining from lack of oxygen. Crimson brought his feet up under Red Bullet and pushed. Red Bullet used his free hand to punch Crimson hard in the side causing Crimson's legs to flinch and drop from pain.

"Go night night Red Man!" Crimson could see Red Bullet's eyes from between his thick fingers cover his face. The man's eyes were a dark black color and had no emotions. Crimson grabbed a hold of the assassin's arm and started shaking under him. Red Bullet looked confused as Crimson closed his eyes and brought his hands down from the assassin's arm and covered his ears. "What you doing?"

Beep beep.

Red Bullet looked at his arm and saw two small disk attached to both sides of his arm. "What this tri..." The small boosters fired sending Red Bullet flying from Crimson arm first, flying off into the night sky.

Crimson inhaled loudly and lifted up. His vision was blurry and his body was straining as his brain and lungs accepted the oxygen. Crimson stood and reached for his cowl to find nothing. He looked down and couldnt find it.

"Of fucking course." Crimson touched his domino mask still covering his eyes and laid back against the vent cover. "My only cowl now gone. How fucking lucky can I get?"

Crimson worked his way to his feet and touched the armor feather like plates of his small cape that came from his shoulders, and swore as he popped his shoulder back into place.

"Good trick kid." Crimson looked over his shoulder and stared over a tall muscular woman. She had long blonde curls that came from behind her blue and white half face armored mask. "Red Bullet is my partner and you just blasted him away."

"Well you know," Crimson cracked his neck, "He was trying to kill me and shit."

"Ugh you Americans." Crimson looked over the woman and the silver armor that was a near duplicate of Red Bullets. Where Red Bullets was black with red linings, this woman's was a silver (near white) color with blue linings. Her armor vest had sharp edged plates on the shoulders that came down to her massive biceps. Her skin was flawless and pale white that made her almost painful to stare at with out shading your eyes. "Always so crude."

"That's pretty good." Crimson smiled. "For a Russian you've got one hell of a grasp of the English language unlike your boyfriend."

"I went to school in England boy." The woman pulled a pistol from her back and pointed it at Crimson. "I speak 10 different languages."

"Good for you." Crimson smiled as he dropped low and threw three shurikens forward.

The woman dropped to one knee and pressed a button on her vest causing the sharp edged plate to extend over her arm and block the shurikens. Crimson grabbed the bare arm under the armor to the woman's surprise and turn, swinging the Russian assassin around and made her crash into the vent where he had just stood.

The woman rolled to her side and started firing at Crimson. The red clad vigilante ducked and dodged each bullet as he ran towards the still grounded assassin. The woman pulled her trigger one last time only to hear the familiar sound of the empty clip. Crimson lept into the air and pulled out three dull shurikens and took aim as he readied to throw the weapons.

"No go kleiner mann!" Red Bullet lept from the side of the building and speared Crimson mid air. Crimson rolled away from Red Bullet as the second assassin ran forward and stood by her partner. "You ok Ironess?"

Crimson looked past the two assassins at a small red figure flying through the air and jumping from roof top to roof top towards them. He smiled and got to his feet holding onto his throbbing shoulder.

"Ironess huh?" Crimson smirked as Red Bullet held up the sawed off shotgun and Ironess held up her pistol. "You speak German by any chance?"

"Excuse me?" Ironess asked laughing. "Of course I do!"

"Well then I should tell you both," Crimson smiled big as the red figure became clear to be a small child wearing a similar outfit to his but with a red half cloth mask with black lining, "Zwei mit der falshen Verbechensbekampfer gefickt." (You two fucked with the wrong crime fighter.)

The red clad youth leapt into the air and slammed both assassin's face first into the ground rolling to a stop right before Crimson. He stood with legs lightly spread and his arms folded over his chest. His cape was not half like Crimson's but full length and had a black underside.

"Hello Todd." Damien Wayne spoke from under the mask. "You didnt say good bye this last time."


"You are going to get me killed!" Jason yelled as Damien stood in his apartment. They were wearing their leotards with their armors put away in Jason's hidden room inside of his closet. "Not by criminals mind you but by fucking Bruce! You're father is going to kick my ass so bad it'll make fucking Joker jealous!"

"Tt." Damien kept his arms crossed and turned his head up at Jason. "Father is far to busy to be worried about me right now."

"Meaning what exactly?" Jason asked crossing his arms as well.

"League business." Damien shrugged.

"Does Alfred know where you are?" Jason sat down on his couch and held his temples.

"No." Damien admitted never looking at Jason.

"Why are you here you Demon Spawn?" Jason asked. Damien smiled at the nickname and turned around and sat on the opposite end of the wrap around couch.

"Me and father see things differently," Damien leaned back on the pleather couch, "I know he's right that its Justice not Vengeance but I cant seem to make him happy. I dont think," Damien turned his head, "Tt. Forget it."

"You dont feel like you should be Robin." Jason leaned back as well and propped his feet up on his coffee table. "We all felt that way Damien. Even me. I had the biggest shadow of all of you." Jason smiled and shook his head. "The Golden Boy himself. Dickybird. Grayson was not just the first Robin but the pentacle that Bruce holds the rest of us too. I was right after that. I was having to deal with the everyday struggle of living up to Dick's standards."

"I have the great Detective's shadow." Damien snorted. "Timothy Drake, boy genius. He was everything father wanted. Drake makes his own gadgets, fights with ease and confidence, and can solve nearly any puzzle you put in front of him."

"Tim's the luckiest of us all." Jason laughed. "He had to deal with my shadow. I didnt leave that big of one trust me."

"What of the shadow I will leave behind?" Damien asked.

"That's up to you kiddo." Jason stood up and opened his fridge. He pulled out two water bottles and tossed one to Damien. "How is Baby Bird?"

"Tt," Damien opened the water bottle and took a gulp of the cold liquid, "Drooling over that blonde bimbo you sent to us."

"Tim and Steph?" Jason laughed. "What happened to Cassie?"

"She took off." Damien snorted. "She was heart broken. Seems to be a family trait." Damien looked over Jason as the once Robin stood in the kitchen.

"That's below the belt." Jason never turned around. "She'll be back. She just needs to clear her head. You ever been heart broken?"

"I'm ten." Damien snorted. "Well technically I'm..."

"We'll stick with ten!" Jason rolled his eyes. "Gotta admit Demon Spawn, you have good timing."

"Me and father have been tracking Red Bullet and Ironess' movements for the past few months." Damien admitted. "Ever since Stephanie moved in with us we've been keeping tabs on all of Deathstroke's main assassins. Those two are very dangerous when they catch you by surprise, as you now know well."

"Fick dich du kleiner sheiber." (Fuck you you little shit.) Jason shot back in German.

"Tt. Du bist ein kindisher halben gehirn Todd." (You're a childish half brain Todd.) Damien fired back quickly.

"Well you need to rest." Jason walked over to the closet. "I'll call Alfie and let him know you're safe here with me."

"You have two blood thirsty assassins after you," Damien snickered, "I hardly consider that safe Todd."

Jason threw a blanket over Damien's face shutting him up.


Jason sat at his desk with the files of Red Bullet and Ironess opened on his desktop.

"Heimen VonShult." Jason read aloud. "Born 1961 to poor German farmers. Joined the German Army in 1975 by lying about his age. Worked his way up and by 1980 was assigned into the KSK Kommando Spezialkrafte. 31 successful missions with them, high marks. On his 32 mission he ordered an air strike on a village to kill only two men, whipping out the village. In 1983 was discharged for excessive violence, and assaulting a superior officer, killing him." Jason whistled. "Was sent to prison in 1985. Burnt right side of his body after assaulting fellow inmates and they dumped frying greese on him. 1995 Vonshult escaped and vanished. Became an assassin after that."

Jason closed the tab and rubbed his eyes. "A German Special Forces commando? Really?" Jason cracked his fingers and closed the file. Moving Ironess's folder across the screen to read it.

"Illanda Ruslotov." Jason read again aloud. "Born 1986 in Soviet Russia. Moved to London in 1990 and got accepted into country's most exclusive prepatory school. In 1995 she graduated High school and had been accepted into Oxford University." Jason moaned. "Vanished in 1996 after five of her fellow students died of blunt force trauma to their skulls. Reappeared in 2004 along side Heimen VonShult taking credit for over three dozen assassinations over the past two years. Figures." Jason closed the file and rubbed his hands over his face.

"You need help." Damien's voice came from behind him. "These two fight better together. You're just one man Todd."

"You're going back to Gotham!" Jason said as he turned in his chair. "I dont need a sidekick."

"You need help." Damien said, this time more sternly.

Jason's computer began to beep loudly causing both of them to stare at it. Suddenly the screen fritz-ed and Barbra Gordon appeared on the screen. Her hair was in a bun and she was wearing a Pinkie Pie t-shirt with her wire framed glasses perched on the tip of her nose.

"Will you boys stop fighting!" Her voice came from the speakers. "Jason I just spoke to Bruce."

"Hey Barbie." Jason rolled back to the desk with Damien right behind him. "You look in on me often through this thing?" Jason thought back to a few weeks ago with his rendezvous with Harley Quinn.

"Not all the time." Barbra admitted. Jason exhaled smiling. "You should clear your browsing data though. Kinky boy." Barbra winked making Jason blush and Damien roll his eyes.

"What is it Oracle?" Damien asked as stern as usual.

"Who?" Jason asked.

"Oracle." Barbra and Damien said at same time.

"That's your name now?" Jason smiled and saw for the first time the back of Barbra's decked out motorized wheel chair. "It fits."

"Which is why I took it." Barbra said smiling. "Anyways, I talked to Bruce."

"And?" Jason asked uninterested at this point.

"Damien stays with you."

"WHAT?!" Jason and Damien said at the same time.


Jason stared at the phone and breathed heavily.

"Stop breathing at the phone Jason." Bruce's voice echoed from the receiver.

"He's not staying here." Jason said sternly.

"Jason," Bruce started.

"No Bruce!" The ginger young man kicked his chair out from under him standing up as if Bruce could see him. "He's NOT staying here! I dont need the distraction of protecting him while dealing with assassins!"

Bruce was silent on the other end of the call. Jason knew he was about to lose this argument with Bruce saying as little as possible. He always did.

"Damien stays." Bruce's voice was stern yet pained. "I can not teach him what he needs to know. He needs to learn from someone who is like him."

"You think its me?" Jason nearly laughed.

"It IS you." Bruce's voice was no longer pained, and bordered on the Batman voice of how he spoke to criminals. "Look at your past. A father who wasnt a father to you. A mother who set you up to die at the hands of a mad man! I wasnt in Damien's life the way he needed me. And Talia has still got eyes on Damien, waiting for him to either kill and join back with her and the League, or to stab him in the back and watch him die." Jason looked away from his phone as he remembered his mother accepting the suit case of cash from Joker, right before the sadistic clown blew her brains out.

Damien was asleep on the couch in Jason's living room below his bedroom. Jason looked down at the young boy and sighed deeply.

"Fine Bruce." Jason said softly. "You need to know he wont be wearing the Robin suit anymore though."

"I noticed." Jason could hear a tapping of glass. "He took the newest Robin outfit and a smaller cowl of one I was making for you."

"Wait," Jason said sitting down at his desk again, "You were making me a new cowl? How do you know I lost my other one?" Jason thought about his question then rolled his eyes. "Never fucking mind stupid question."

"The new cowl is being delivered by one of my drones to your apartment right now." Bruce stated. Jason could hear the taps of a keyboard, Bruce must have moved back to the Batputer. "Is your bedroom window open?"

Jason rolled to his window and opened it. "It is now." Jason said as the drone flew into the room and landed perfectly. It was jet black with a white bat symbol over its wings and a package connected to its underside. Jason unstrapped the package and moved out of the drone's way staring at the small machine. "Does it want a fucking tip or something?" Jason asked as the drone didnt move.

"It has to recharge." Bruce said annoyed. "Alfred was in such a hurry to send it out he didnt recharge it fully."

"So what now?" Jason asked as he picked up the machine, which was surprisingly light. "I plug it into my wall?"

"No." Bruce said sternly. "Just place it in direct sunlight. Its solar powered." Jason looked out the window and laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Bruce." Jason laughed again. "I'm in Gorge City. This place makes Gotham look like The Sahara Desert! We have worse smog and clouds then ya'll do!"

"Just do what you can Jason." Bruce said hanging up the phone.

"Nice fucking talking to you too." Jason rolled his eyes and opened up the package. A shiny red dome stared back up at him. Jason picked it up and noticed the cut out of eyes that had a dark yellow screen over them. The helmet would have been full face except for it looked as though the mouth was cut away. Jason pressed a small button by where his ear would be and a plate closed where the cut away mouth hole was and sealed the helmet. Across the back of the helmet's neck was feather like armored that will blend in with his half cape of his Crimson suit. "And very nice cowl Bruce." Jason pulled the helmet over his face and watched as the scene took a slight yellowish tint and he smiled.


A.N.: Hope everyone enjoyed the new chapter. Gonna go back to one chapter a week probably around Sundays or late Friday night/early Saturday mornings.

Still wanting some fan art if anyone is interested in sending me any. This will be Jason's permanent Crimson costume and I hope everyone liked Harley coming back for the small little boink and leave. As of now I dont have any more plans for her but I didnt want to leave her just tied up in a warehouse rotting. Had to give her a good ending. Also YES Red Bird's costume is just straight from the comics.