Title: knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend
Fandom: DCU animated/Avengers movieverse
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Donne
Warnings: Discussion of death/violence/torture – basically, everything Red Hood and Winter Soldier's respective backstories has.
Pairings: Jimmy/Jason
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 365
Point of view: third
Prompt: any, any, I'm always alright
Five years of his life and a pointless, painful death reduced down to four words on a stone:
Jason Todd
Ally&Friend
What the fuck does that even mean? Is that all anyone could think to say? He lays awake, listening to Jimmy breathing, and he tries to think of what else they might have chosen. There's nothing, though. Maybe the dates of his birth and death – fuck, he was so young. Ally sounds so cold, and Friend… he'd thought he was more than that. Almost a son, maybe.
Clearly, though, Bruce didn't think so.
But that's fine. It's all good. At least Al - Master Jason, like they saw each other five minutes ago. Like Al doesn't think he's a failure, trash.
Never, not once, did Alfred make Jason feel like a street kid wasn't good enough for Wayne Manor. Sometimes, he'd even explain how he'd made whatever that delicious thing was dinner. A few times, he'd call Jason when he was about to start preparing and Jason would help. He told Jason a couple secret ingredients.
If Jason had secretly pretended Bruce was his actual dad, in his mind, he called Al Grandpa. He never had a real family, and he'd hoped –
The Joker took care of that, though. And now, all that he had reduced to four cold words on a stone…
Jason Todd died. He was brought back, yeah, but Jason died and was dead. How long was it between the explosion and the pit?
Maybe he shouldn't have been brought back (actually, he almost definitely shouldn't have been) but he was. And here he is.
Here he is, the overlord of all of Gotham's crime with the boogeyman for spooks as his partner.
If he and Bruce hadn't followed the Joker, if Jason had never died… who would he be, now? Where would he be, that dumb kid who stole the Batmobile's tires?
And if he hadn't been in Baltimore – where would Jimmy be?
Four words on a cold stone don't explain him, don't encapsulate him, don't define him. But he's glad he saw them.
He's not Batman's ally. And he's not Bruce's friend.
He's the Red Hood and Gotham is his.