A/N: Happy Holidays everybody! I'm a bit late for Christmas, but I still have a gift for all of y'all, so here you go! Enjoy!

Chapter 12: That Could've Been Worse

When Jason got a call from the kids he'd only just asked to trust him a few days ago he, well. Panicked. He was loading up with enough weapons to make an army general jealous, and, hell, enough to take down a full fucking battalion, tanks and everything, if need be, before the third ring of the phone because if his phone was ringing—the phone of a man who didn't exist in this whole fucking universe—then it could only be those kids and the only reason he could think of for them to call him was if something very, very, bad had happened. So yes, there was a bit of panic involved when he answered that phone call. And so you could see how it was very much unexpected when they told him Tony fucking Stark was looking for him and wanted to talk.

Like, what? How did that happen? Sure, he took down a few crime bosses here and there, as well as a couple gangs, more than a couple drug dealers, and he'd stopped a few dozen of petty crimes on his now nightly patrols, (what else did he have to do? Every door that might lead to a way home was a dead end so really nightly patrols were way to alleviate boredom as much as everything else), but really, even the local police force hadn't been kicking up that big a fuss about him. They had a warrant out for his arrest, sure, but that happened to every vigilante. He was pretty sure even Superman had had a warrant out at some point, and everyone and their dog was in love with the man. So really, this was totally uncalled for.

Plus, Jason really didn't care to meet any of this world's heroes, besides cussing them out for focusing purely on the bigger picture and not helping the people in their own city, he didn't even want to speak a word to them. He in no way wanted to be sucked into any of their bullshit, which he knew for a fact would happen if they met. Every superhero or super group he'd ever known did it. They were possessive as hell to things they had no claim to, like Batman to 'his' city, and if they thought you were interfering they would get involved. And there was always at least five feet of bullshit to wade through every single damn time that happened. So yeah, he could very happily do without that.

But, it was the kids calling, and if they'd gone to fucking kids to get at him for whatever infraction their egos thought he'd made, well. That would need to be dealt with.

So instead of just ignoring that one of the Avengers wanted to meet up, he told the kids he'd meet with the Iron Moron in one of the emptier parts of town in two days. He didn't want any civilians getting hurt if the new Narcissist (the man had built a monument to himself, if that wasn't exactly in character with Echo's unrequited love Jason didn't know what was,) got uppity with him.

Waiting for the meeting wouldn't be fun, Jason always favored getting things like this out of the way, but time to prepare could go a long way. Mapping out escape routes if things went to shit for example, or double-checking the kids were safe given this new turn of events, etc. etc. Extra time to plan would be welcomed, even if Jason was hoping for the best with this little meet-and-greet.

~x~

The two days passed both as slowly as a slothful snail and as quickly as a speedster who just drank a full pack of Monster's. So either way not very pleasant. But as it was, Jason now stood in an open warehouse, leaning arms crossed against one of the building's metal walls counting and tracing out his various escape routes mentally as he waited for the other man to arrive. Honestly, it was a bit too much like counting sheep; Jason was about to pull out a couple of his knives and begin some juggling tricks Dick had taught him once upon a time if he had to wait here any longer, that would certainly spice things up a little.

Fortunately, just as he was about to unstrap his favorites, Black Sabbath filled his ears and Iron Man flew in through the warehouses open doors directly in front of Jason and landed with a loud thud. Finally, the wait was over.

"Took ya long enough, Tin Can. For someone who called this meeting you sure took your sweet ass time." Jason grumbled, and then took a second to study the man in front of him. It was obvious for all Stark's arrogance and talk the man was truly a genius. The suit was a technical marvel, though Jason had seen similar tech in his own world, (Red Tornado for one, though he was a android rather than a man, had similarities to this tech), Stark was the first in this world to create tech like this and that deserved some credit. "So you're Iron Man,"

"So you got rid of the old accent. Picked up a new one, nice. I never figured you for a Jersey* kind of guy. It does make you sound less evil, so good choice on that one at least. I see you still kept your pretty face though." The mechanical voice issued from the armor that distinctly reminded Jason of extremely reckless Gryffindors, for whatever reason. Maybe it was just the bright fucking red and gold.

"You've never met me before Buckethead, how would you know?" Jason had to ask, incredulous at the man's implications.

"You've met Cap, and he tells some pretty good stories, Calamari." Stark replied accusingly, though that just confused Jason all the more. Calamari? Cap? What the hell was going on here?

"I've never met any of ya, C3PO. What are you on about?"

"Oh so you're denying it then? What's your story this time Red? Oh I'll save a few people, earn the public's trust, and then fuck them over? I know who you've killed. You can't fool me."

"My story?! I'm just trying to protect the city, YOUR city might I add, that you have been, and still are, neglecting for the glory of the 'bigger picture'! Not once have I seen you, or any of your group, do anything more than throw money at the problems the people of this city suffer through from your high tower. You've done nothing to stop organized crime in this city, nothing to stop thieves, rapists, drug dealers, or abusers. At best you've thrown a few televised fundraisers to help the homeless, maybe some cancer patients, and rebuild from your alien invasion, but never done in a way that wasn't for publicity! I don't know what you think you know about me, or where you got your information, but I am not going to turn my back to these people like you have! So fuck off!"

"Oh, so now I'm the villain here?! You're the psycho Nazi who tried to bomb this very city and hundreds more, and now you're on about this self-righteous crap!?" Jason jerked back, at the unexpected accusation.

"What the fuck?! No! I've never done that! Who the fuck do you think I am? I've never done anything even close to that!"

Iron man started to snap back, but then paused before he finished his first word, almost like he was listening to something.

"You're either a really good liar or you truly believe you aren't Red Skull." Red Skull? Jason tried to search his memory of the name. It wasn't really familiar, but that was to be expected, this wasn't his world-there was no way he was going to know all of its history. It did however sound like something Jason had read recently… Maybe in SHIELD's files then? Jason would have to look up the name later.

"Red Skull? Yeah, no. I'm not him. I go by Red Hood."

"Hood? Are you saying the red is removable then? Why don't you prove it. I'm not entirely convinced you aren't a really good actor." Stark dared, his voice coming out a flat disbelieving tone, only enhanced by the suits mechanized speakers.

See, things like this were why Jason wore a domino mask beneath his helmet. The helmet was good for protection, intimidation, and cultivating a identity in the superhero world, but sometimes he needed to be a bit more personable. Whether for comforting a victim, getting them calm and willing to trust someone by seeing a human face under the hood, or just communicating with allies without compromising his real identity. Either way, Jason was glad he was able to just whip off the helmet. The lack of protection while it was off was worth it for not having a entire super group after him because of a moronically mistaken identity.

"See, completely normal human, I'm not whoever this Red Skull guy is, you got it wrong."

"Aren't you a little young to be doing this?" A new, feminine voice suddenly said, melting out of the shadows of the warehouse. Her red hair flashed in the light streaming through the open warehouse doors as she walked over to stand at Stark's side, and it was easy to make the connection to the picture Jason had seen in the SHIELD files. This was the infamous Black Widow.

Now Jason wasn't too surprised by this. Tony Stark was a certifiable genius, but it was pretty clear he wasn't the best with people. It didn't make tactical sense to send him in alone to evaluate a newcomer, so sending in someone like Black Widow to watch from the shadows while Stark distracts said newcomer with his flashiness and arrogance just was to be expected. Her stealth however, was somewhat surprising. Jason knew she was considered one of the best in this world, but then the whole damn world also seemed to know who she was, which had to be one of the biggest failings Jason had ever heard of when it came to someone who was a spy. Assassin. Whatever she was. It was usually a given that someone on her career path should not have anyone who knows who they truly are or what exactly they've done, much less the whole damn world. How that could not be the case in this world as well seemed unfathomable. Still, if Jason wasn't a Bat, who not only had training from the big man himself, but also directly from the League of Assassins, then he would never have known she, nor her archer partner, (who was still hiding, though he was clearly not as good as Widow,) were even there.

"I've been doing this for seven years, so. No." Jason replied.

"Seven years?! Come on, that's a lie and you know it. You can't be over twenty!" Widow's partner spoke up as he sat perched on one of the warehouse's roof supports. This was Hawkeye then, this universes version of Green Arrow.

"How many members of your team did you bring to this little meeting Tin Can? Should I expect Big Green as well? Or perhaps the walking L'Oreal commercial? Or maybe the propaganda piece to end all propaganda pieces himself? Mr. American way?"

"It's just us. No one else. But really, how old are you? Cause Hawkeye's right you can't be too old, and there's no way you've been doing this for seven years if you have a natural human age cycle, and I'm betting you are human. If you were Asgardian you wouldn't sound Jersey. That would mean you were what, eleven, twelve when you started? Yeah, no. That's bullshit." Stark said, lifting the faceplate of his suit now that he knew Jason was really who he said he was.

"Does it really matter? I've been doing this for seven years. That's all you need to know." Jason said, putting his helmet back on now that he'd made his point. He didn't care for being stared at. He had enough of it as Bruce's ward.

"It could matter. No one here supports child soldiers, if you started that young there could be others who need help. Need out. You don't start that young without someone introducing you to it." Widow said, and something about how she said it, or maybe how she was standing, made it feel as if that sentence had some deeper meaning for her. Which would make sense if she went through something like League training; the League started young, and violently.

"There's no one else on this Earth." And that was the truth, even if it wasn't the whole story. Widow narrowed her eyes at him for that one, but stayed quiet.

"And is that why you found those kids? To drag them into your vigilantism?"

"Hell no! The only reason I'm in any sort of contact with the kids is because they were in trouble, which if you did your job, you already would've dealt with!"

"You really don't like us, do you kid?" Hawkeye observed, like it was anything new.

"You're not exactly on my good list, no." Hawkeye shrugged at that.

"You can't win 'em all."

"Well," Stark interrupted, "as nice it is that we've affirmed you're not an evil psycho Nazi determined to take over the world, we still can't condone what you're doing."

"What, helping make New York safer?"

"Vigilantism is illegal for a reason kid. You're going to get yourself into trouble at best and killed at worst. We can't let you keep doing this."

"Yeah, been there, done that, I have the scars to show for it. I already beat the reaper once. I can personally tell you waking up six feet under when you should really be dead is very unpleasant. That is really not going to stop me." Hawkeye rocked back on the rafter where he was sitting at that pronouncement, Widow's face grew stormier than ever, and Gryffindork's eyebrows shot up with shock. Well that seemed to take them all back a little.

"For a dead guy you're looking remarkably healthy." Widow deadpanned.

"What can I say, I'm the hottest zombie you'll ever meet." Jason snarked right back, though he was more tensed for fight or flight than ever. He wasn't looking for a fight here, (and with three against one if a fight started Jason was pretty sure he would lose,) but if they chose to try to apprehend him he wasn't going to just stand around and let them.

"Look, let's not make this more difficult than it has to be," The Tin Can said after a strained moment of silence. "Just come in with us. If you're still stuck on this vigilante thing, then you can look into joining the police, or becoming a SHIELD agent, or something."

"Like they're much better. Have you actually looked at some of the crap SHIELD's done? The organization that, I don't know, you fucking work for? Because it is shady as shit! If you 'can't condone' what I'm doing, then how can you stand working for them?!"

"I don't think you know what you're talking about kid."

"Like hell I don't. Have you actually looked at all their files? Project Insight for example? Because if you haven't found that one, be aware they are fucked the hell up, and that project should never have been conceived."

"And how do you know about this project exactly?" Widow asked with faked nonchalant.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Yes, that's kind of why she asked, kid." Stark snapped in reply.

"You're a perfectly intelligent group, you can figure it out, I'm sure. Now! If we're done here, I'll just take my leave!" Jason said, and with that, he bolted. Flipping up on top of the cargo boxes lining the warehouses walls, and he ran and leapt across them to the window he'd purposely left open for this exact purpose, dodging Hawkeye's arrows and Widow's bullets the whole way, while the sound of Stark's repulsors echoed in his ears. Reaching the window, Hood leapt through, firing his grappling hook as he cleared its frame.

Now for the ultimate game of keep away.