Chapter 9

It was surprisingly easy to get a flight to San Francisco even as a dead man. Jason wonders what that says about the state of American National Security but he's not going to complain. He slides into his first-class seat dressed in a casual navy business suit. He looks like every other well-to-do yuppie and up-and-coming business executive.

We are more handsome by your species' disgusting courting standards. Venom chimes in and Jason smirks into his copy of the Importance of Being Earnest. He can feel Venom squirming in anticipation just under his skin. They've been on the plane for less than two hours but Venom is like a caffeinated toddler trying to sit still.

I am not! I could break your spine like a twig. Can your pathetic offspring do that?

"Oh shut up and enjoy the book," Jason murmurs and rolls his eyes. This was worse than when Talia left him to bodyguard her brat. How did Venom sound more arrogant than the little princeling for the League of Shadows?

"Excuse me?"

Jason turns to his left and sees a young Asian woman in a blazer. She has her computer spread across her tray table. Her eyebrows are drawn down into a peeved expression.

"Sorry I swear I wasn't talking to you. Just an unwelcome voice in my head that wasn't letting me enjoy my book." Jason says, tipping his book in her direction.

Shithead Venom snickers.

"Ah, yes I think we all have those thoughts sometimes." The woman gives him a once over and her face melts into a smile, "So what's bringing you to San Francisco, business or pleasure?"

Oh god, was she really flirting with him right now?

Can't you hear her heartbeat pick up when you look at her? The fleshy thing has been trying to break through her ribcage since she sat down. She has the hots for us.

There's no way. Jason credits himself with being better at reading people than that and he hadn't even noticed the woman, past giving her a nod of recognition as she sat down. He'd spent the last three years trekking all over the globe and learning to kill men with just his thumb. Surely he would have noticed the woman sitting next to him sneaking glances.

Don't believe us? Poor, poor naive Jason with no idea how to deal with the females of your species.

Suddenly, Jason's hearing has magnified a hundredfold and he can hear the woman's heart pounding. It sounds like a giant knocking on the side of a mountain. Jason grins and the thumping picks up and he has to resist the urge to shove his hands over his ears. It feels invasive. Is this how Superman lives every day?

Venom is still snickering and Jason can tell he's up to something he's not going to like.

"Uh, pleasure. No wait, I guess it's a little bit of both?"

Oh, pleasure, pleasure! What else should bring one anywhere? Venom quotes at him. You should tell her all about how you take pleasure in crushing through your enemies' skulls and then invite her to your bed!

Hell no, Jason thinks loudly. Absolutely not. He understands sex just fine thank you very much, but he has no interest in bedding anyone while his killer walks around free and happy. Not to mention he doesn't have the foggiest idea of how to explain an autopsy scar, not to mention half a dozen other scars that litter his body. After leaving the All Caste he accepted he would be celibate. It was safer that way. He shivered, his other option was people like Cheshire and that was a hard pass from him.

Those aren't your only options Jason. Don't be such a narrow-minded murderboy. Besides, we can always eat them after. Venom materializes a tendril under his shirt and pats him reassuringly on his back. Jason clenches his jaw and opts to ignore everything wrong with that last statement. He has no interest in trying to parse through all the illogical layers and implications Venom just made. Over the past few weeks, Jason has learned it's best to ignore Venom if he wants to keep what remains of his sanity intact.

The woman is still talking as Jason zones back in catching the tail end of her speech.

"-the Golden Gate Bridge is gorgeous around sunset or, I guess if you're a morning person, sunrise. So where are you staying?"

Jason sighed and stared forlornly at his forgotten book. This was going to be a long flight.

Bruce has his cowl off and is staring intently at the bat computer as Dick slips downstairs. The screen is illuminating the dark circle under his eyes. He's re-watching the CCTV footage of Hood escaping. The new helmeted player was really something else. With the exception of the encrypted USB drive, they'd walked away knowing next to nothing about the guy other than he was skilled and been heavily trained by someone.

"I thought you were going back to Bludhaven," Bruce grunts out as Dick silently steps up behind him to get a better look at the footage.

Dick rolls his eyes, typical, "Yeah you bring me into a case you're barely making headway in that started in my city and then expect me to go home? Not happening. Did you make any progress on the files?"

Bruce shakes his head, frowns, and replays the last few seconds of the footage again.

"Maybe you should call Tim. You know he's a whiz with computers. He might see something O missed and get it decrypted faster."

Bruce shakes his head, "Tim is enjoying his time with the Teen Titans. It's important for him to learn to work with a team."

Dick couldn't help but snort at the hypocrisy in that last statement. Bruce could be one of the worst team players on the planet and that was a fact. The Justice League had taken a poll and everything.

"Okay guess we just wait for Oracle to work her magic. What are you looking at here?"

"The Red Hood yells something at the camera before he escapes. The train drowns it out. I'm trying to isolate it."

A few keystrokes later and Bruce activates a program. The audio is still static but there's a faint voice under it. Bruce pauses it and raises the volume. He replays the clip.

A muffled, "You haven't lost your touch Bruce," echoes faintly across the cave. Dick's stomach drops and a shiver of fear climbs up his spine. The computer chair slams to the ground with how quickly Bruce shoves himself away from the computer. Both of their eyes were wide as they look at each other. Over the ten-plus years Bruce had been Batman Dick could count on one hand the rogues that knew his identity. Who the hell was this guy?

"We need to lock the manor down and get Tim back here," Bruce says quietly. If the Red Hood knew one of their identities he might know all of them or target them purely for their connection to Bruce. Either way, it was dangerous. Dick nodded stiffly. He'd call Tim and take the Bat Plane straight there. He would probably be safe on the West Coast with the Teen Titans but trouble in Gotham had a bad history of following them.

A beep sounded from the bat computer, an incoming call from Oracle. Bruce pressed accept and Barbara's smiling face popped up on the monitor. Her red hair falling around her shoulders like a fearsome mane, "Finally cracked it. It's a three-tiered encryption system based on dates but after I looked at Black Mask's file it was a piece of cake. The guy has an ego the size of Texas." Her enthusiasm fades as she actually looks at the two of them, "Wow, you guys look like shit what happened?"

"Our identities have been compromised," Bruce says.

Barbara's eyebrows furrow in concern, "Who?"

"This new player, named Red Hood."

Barbara nods, but there's a question still lingering in her eyes, "I started a profile on him. It's hard to do since there's not much of a technology or police presence in Crime Alley. There's not much there though I think his body count is way higher than what the police are crediting him. How did he compromise?"

"We have no idea. We're calling Tim back and locking the manor down. Do you need to come?" Dick asks. Barbara isn't publicly affiliated with the Bats but they have no idea how much Hood knows.

She shakes her head, "No my own security should be fine but I'll turn everything on high alert. Guess it's a good thing I cracked these files. I don't know exactly how Hood ties into this but you boys are going to have a mess on your hands based on what was in that USB drive. I have no idea how Hood is tied into this yet but I'll start digging. Look at this."

Oracle's logo commandeers their screen and a video starts playing. There's a canister of something in a sterile lab room. A machine is keeping the liquid compressed. A high-pitched sound screeches across the room and the black liquid in the canister writhes.

"What is it? Some sort of toxin? A sound-based weapon?" Dick asked in horror-filled awe. It looked like someone had animated a middle schoolers slime project.

Barbara shakes her head and pulls up a different video. A hollow-eyed far too skinny boy in ragged clothing is now in the lab with the canister. With a hiss, the machine stops compressing and the end of the canister opens. In a flash, the black liquid jumps across the room and disappears into the boy. It's quiet for a few seconds and then the boy starts screaming. His veins swell and seem to rise out of his skin dark black like someone has pumped tar into his body. The boy's brown eyes glaze over into a milky white and the screaming intensifies until just as suddenly it stops. The boy falls to the ground with a thud. There's an eerie silence as the black goo bubbles up from his body and slinks back across the room to the empty canister.

What the fuck was that thing? This wasn't fear toxin, this was like nothing Dick had ever seen in all his years of vigilantism.

"How many of these videos do you have?" Bruce asks quietly.

"Almost forty," Barbara says grimly, "They all end like this. I don't know what the scientists were trying to accomplish but every subject ends up dead. Some last longer than others, the longest one I've found is almost two days and it seems like that person had some sort of super-strength before he died.

"How did we miss this happening?" Dick asks quietly. They hadn't known none of them had. It hadn't even been on their caseload. If they hadn't been investigating the Red Hood and his connection to the paper company massacre they still wouldn't know.

Bruce has his fist balled tightly together and his face is expressionless. It's the look he has whenever he takes a case personally, "Oracle, keep looking through these. Find me everything you can about the scientists, location, and victims. Dick let Alfred know we're locking down the manor and then go get Tim."

Bruce turns away from the computer like a general who has given his orders. He's tugging the cowl back over his head.

"Where are you going?"

"To get answers."

Jason collects his checked bag off of the luggage belt. The six-hour flight from New Jersey to California was hell. Venom had decided that the woman's flirting was boring about fifteen minutes in and kept pushing increasingly disturbing images of how they could eat her into his head. The one where she had her eyes picked clean out had Jason jolting from his seat and making a mad dash for the bathroom. He had spent the next half hour puking his guts out while Venom rumbled away displeased in the back of his head. His throat felt raw and all he really wanted was a smoke. Jason had considered disabling the smoke detector in the plane bathroom federal felonies be damned except now he had two worried flight attendants standing outside the door asking him if he was okay.

The worst part was then he had to slink back to his seat and pretend he just got sick on airplanes because he couldn't even look at the woman sitting next to him without seeing what her skull would look like picked clean.

Never again. He should have just stolen the fucking Bat Plane. His fingers twitch as he wraps the straps of his duffle bag around his wrist. He desperately wants a smoke.

He passes the mass of people milling around, as he heads for the exit. He hasn't even made it outside yet and he can taste the difference in the air. San Francisco lacks the smoggy despair-ridden air that clings to Gotham like a familiar coat. Figures his Replacement would be hanging out in a city like this.

Jason sets the duffle down as soon as he sees the signs that mark out the smoking zone by the curb. He might be a murderer but he's still a decent human being that doesn't want to inflict second-hand smoke on anyone. He fumbles the zipper on one of the duffle's pockets and pulls out his lighter and an unopened pack of camels. He tugs off the top wrapping rolling one of the death sticks between his fingers before he lights it and inhales.

The burn is familiar as it rolls down into his lungs. After a couple of hits, he can feel the nicotine hit his bloodstream and he feels like a person again. He finishes his first smoke and grabs another one, flicking the lighter and watching as the smoke rises as he brings it to his lips.

Jason feels Venom crawling under his skin, then his fingers go slack and he drops his freshly lit cigarette. He looks between his smoldering prize and his traitorous fingers.

There's a young guy with tattoo sleeves that shoots him a pitying look as he glances at the ruined cigarette, "Shame man."

These are toxic for us. Venom rumbles. They put poison into our veins we don't need this.

His sense of peace evaporates. Jason snatches his burner phone out of his pocket and slams it to his ear. His voice drops into a growl, "I swear to god Venom if you don't let me have this cigarette right now I will kill both of us and I don't care how I have to do it."

The other smoker mutters something under his breath and backs away. Jason doesn't blame him.

Good luck Jason.

Jason can hear the phone's plastic creak from how tightly he's crushing it in his hand.

He keeps his voice quiet but he can see the green tinge begin to slip into his eyesight, "Venom, you remember the tentative agreement we have because you can't leave. I want you to look through every memory you can get your slimy tentacles on in my head. Now let me ask you a question, when in my entire fucking life have I not been a stubborn asshole that doesn't follow through on what I fucking say I will."

There's a shuffle and a flash of barely-there thoughts as Venom sorts through his memories. Jason lets him.

Never. Venom says something akin to pride reverberating through his voice.

Jason lights another cigarette and takes a puff of smoke, "Don't forget it, alien."

This embarrasses us. Venom commented as Jason looked down at the bootlegged Robin costume. He'd stitched it up himself to drive the point home to Timothy Drake.

"It's to send a message." Jason spits out. He doesn't need some parasite commenting on his fashion choices.

Venom bristled from the back of Jason's mind at the passing thought. Then his arm moved involuntarily as Venom claimed control. He watched his hand reach up and yank the cloth down with a resounding rip.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" He held up the remains of the shredded costume, "That was a symbol to make a point, you black fungus!"

Venom sniffed, It was a disgrace. We aren't going out that way.

Jason ground his teeth, so far nothing he tried even came close to flushing the parasite out of his body. Venom kept himself from physically harming himself and no matter what he injected himself with, no chemical seemed to have any effect. He'd have to get in touch with Talia after he took care of the Bat, surely with her resources he could figure out some way to deal with his infernal passenger.

Jason? Venom asked, pressing closer to his thoughts, punting his thoughts of exiling his passenger out of his head, We are the Red Hood and the Shadow, let's be the Red Hood. Now let's go find someone to eat. We're hungry.

Jason sighed and yanked off the rest of the tattered Robin costume, "I suppose you didn't really leave us much of a choice."

Venom hummed with approval as Jason pulled on his grey cargo pants, kevlar vest, and leather jacket. He clicked his holsters onto his belt and slid his knife into the back of his pants. He tilted his head and gave himself a once-over in the dingy mirror. His eyes caught his reflection; he still had dark bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. His shock of white hair was pressed against his sweaty forehead. When was the last time he slept? He didn't remember, not since before Venom that was for certain. It didn't matter, it wasn't important now, the only thing that mattered was putting an end to the Bat's farce once and for all.

Jason, stop oogling yourself. We're hungry. Venom pressed again.

"Yeah, yeah fat ass. After I take care of the Replacement I'll stop by McDonald's and pick you up a happy meal." Jason snarked sarcastically. The symbiote had made the last 24 hours some of the worst since the first time he'd vomited up teeth before their first agreement. Every time Jason thought they'd come to some sort of understanding and they could maybe work together Venom would do something completely wild that made Jason want to throw himself off a bridge.

McDonalds? Venom parsed through memories of the golden arches. He focuses on the salty tang of fries from long ago. McDonalds! Venom cheered internally. Jason sighed seriously at this rate even Talia's Demon brat would be a synch to handle.

Getting past the Titan Tower's security is child's play despite all the high-tech sensors and alerts. Honestly, what was Bruce thinking letting the Replacement live in a place like this? Really Jason was doing the old man a favor and showing him he shouldn't let important things out of his sight.

The tower is silent for housing five rowdy teens. Jason had looked at the plans; the main structure hadn't changed much since he'd been gone. He'd come here a handful of times when he was Robin but only when Dick wasn't being an absolute bastard and fighting with Bruce. He walked down the hallway, light on his feet despite his heavy tactical gear. If memory served the kitchen and common area was up around the corner.

"Tim?" A groggy male voice said from the couch. Jason's breathing upticked at his replacement's name and a surge of anger filled his veins. A shock of dark hair and deep blue eyes sat up from the couch, "You're not Tim."

"The superbrat," Jason mutters knowing the Kryptonian will hear him clear as day.

"Who are you?" The superbrat is hovering ominous, eyes narrowed.

Venom perks up and snorts. Kryptonians always think they're all that. Jason mentally agrees as much as he likes Clark Kent and the world reveres Superman for his strength there's a number of things that can put the alien out of commission. Superbrat will be no different.

Jason slides his left hand into his pocket where he'd kept the kryptonite from his last escapade safely tucked away in a lead-lined pouch.

"Stay where you are and don't move!" The Kryptonian snaps hovering aggressively over the couch. Jason ignores him and steps forward pulling the sickly green stone out.

"Where did you get that?" Superbrat's voice wavers as Jason gets closer and the rock does its thing. He slams back into the couch no longer able to resist gravity. Jason grins he loves it when a plan comes together.

"How about you just sit there and don't worry your pretty little head about complicated questions." Jason tucks the kryptonite into Superboy's pocket and gives it a light pat before he throws his fist back and slams it into the alien's head. In his weakened state, the other boy goes out like a light.

Sleeptight brat, Venom cackles. Jason hums in agreement before he continues to the main ventilation shaft of the building. Jason may hate the very air the replacement breathes but the Titans have a reputation and if Jason is going to get some time alone with the little bastard he needs to take out the rest of the super-powered individuals first. One was done and now there are three.

Jason unscrews the grate of the ventilation shaft and then reaches into his waist pouch and pulls out three canisters. He yanks out the pins and tosses them down the grate. By his calculations, it should take about ten minutes before it lights out for everyone in the tower, even Wondergirl. Then he needs to find the Replacement and… well the rest should be smooth sailing. He rises from his crouch. He just needs to kill ten minutes.

Venom growls and Jason freezes, turning slowly to take in his surroundings. Something is watching us.

"Where?"

Venom slides into place and does the same trick he'd done on the airplane. Suddenly Jason can hear the world in high definition. The sudden sensitivity lets him hear the hum of electronics surrounding them. Venom ignores that and nudges him to focus on a faint rustle and light pitter-patter. The sound is far off and barely there. It's nearly imperceptible next to the pounding of Superboy's heart and the distant sounds of the nightlife in San Francisco, but it's there all the same. Someone is awake and they're coming closer.

Jason slides into the space behind the door frame, pressing himself into the shadows and lowering his heartbeat as the sound increases until he can hear the barely-there footsteps.

"Kon?" whispers a voice, "Kon are you awake? There's something weird going on with the sensors. I think there's someone here."

The voice there's only one person that could be. The voice he's heard so many times on footage Talia brought him. The sound alone is making the hazy green rise in his vision. It's the Replacement. He grins, it seems like the little bastard was saving him some trouble.

From the night vision in Jason's mask, he could see Drake is in his full Robin costume.

"Kon?" Drake steps into the room fully and Jason launches himself forward ramming his knee into the Replacements stomach. The brat flies back with an oof, but somehow manages to scramble together a landing.

Robin narrows his eyes, "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

Jason scoffs, the sound comes out robotic through his mask, "What do they teach all of the junior leaguers the same script these days?"

He doesn't wait for a response, instead, he throws himself forward again. Robin seems to anticipate it and dives to the left dodging his kick and darting out the door. Jason follows, catching a glimpse of his cape flickering around the corner. By the time Jason gets there the hallway is empty despite the fact that Jason couldn't be more than a handful of seconds behind him. The Replacement had the home-field advantage.

"Venom," Jason addresses, "Do that thing with my senses again."

Is this the prey we're tracking? Venom says. Jason feels a slight pressure in his head and then it's like the world opened up again. A cacophony of new smells and sounds greets him. Jason ignores them and focuses on the sound of heavy breathing, the smell of fear and sweat.

The pounding of footsteps echoes in the stairwell. He's headed up. The Replacement is headed for the roof. Jason shakes his head. In some ways, the bats are all so predictable.

Jason strolls down the hall and hits the up arrow button on the elevator. He cracks his knuckles. This is going to be so satisfying.

Author's Note: What will come out first the new Venom movie or the next chapter of this fic? Who knows! Great question. Seriously hope you enjoyed this chapter.