Chapter Two: Home
Disclaimers: Seriously? I mean you really have to ask?
"Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it's all over much too soon."
Woody Allen
Time, that's what it was, there never seemed to be enough time. Before Jason had returned to Gotham life had seemed to drag past at a snail's pace, slower even. There was so much he needed to do once he had realized who he was but so much of it required a seemingly endless amount of waiting. He had nothing but time then but now there was just never enough.
Jason was eighteen, nineteen… somewhere around there anyway. That's right isn't it? Not sure, never sure anymore. That doesn't matter, none of it matters, I don't matter, there's another now, more important, more real… NO! Can't think that way, I'm alive, I'm real, I matter, there is a reason for me… a purpose… there must be… right?
The hotel room was small and dark, not the greatest of places but it suited Jason's needs well enough. He had been living in New York when he had realized who he was, so he was used to small rooms. Small… dirty… smelly… disgusting rooms, this one wasn't too bad as rooms went when he thought of it that way. No he thought to himself not really, and it wasn't really, it had all of his necessities. Sink, toilet, shower, bed, mirror, closet and a desk. All a little worse for the wear but functional. The point was that it was cheap and he was home. All the things that he had needed cost money, a lot of money in some cases. That was okay though; his friend Blue was paying for it all.
Though Jason's memories prior to realizing who he was were fuzzy, he remembered this though: Skyler Blue was a friend. Beyond that a friend with money, or more accurately a friend whose parents had money. Skyler was nineteen and lived by himself in a high rise apartment in Manhattan. All of his wants and needs were taken care of by a trust fund that his parents had set up before… something. He never did say what happened to his parents did he? Jason pondered to himself No, only that they were gone. I wonder if he even knew what happened to them. He did say he'd been alone a long time before we met. Must have been real long, he had some…interesting tendencies. The lone figure in the small hotel room opened his lone piece of luggage as he reminisced. Skyler is the only reason I'm here he thought to himself as he pulled his various garments from the large black duffle bag on the bed, fits I guess since I'm kinda the only reason he's anywhere. Throwing his clothes into loosely organized piles Jason thought back to the night he and Skyler had met.
It was a terrible night, the rain was falling in sheets so heavy that the gutters in the curbs had become like rivers. Jason was in an alley, he'd been there forever standing barefoot and naked in filth. It was dark there, so dark, and dirty and the whole place reeked of piss, shit, puke and cheap whisky. Jason had been wondering why he didn't just leave the alley, when they had come in from the street. Two men entered from around the corner, one was smaller, wearing dark clothes with shaggy black hair and looked to Jason as if he'd want to kill himself even if there hadn't been someone present who was seemingly more than willing to do it for him. The larger man had a gun pressed into the smaller man's chest and was demanding everything he had. Neither had noticed Jason at all. "Your wallet rich boy, give me your wallet!" the large man demanded, shouting nearly at the top of his lungs. The so called rich boy said nothing and made no movement seemingly transfixed by something off in the distance. The large man moved closer now looming over the small, dark young man. "You mother…" Jason had seen enough. Before the mugger could finish his sentence Jason was on him. He hadn't even had time to register Jason's presence before he was struck three swift blows. Stomach, jaw, throat. Jason's attack was meant to hurt the attacker enough in a short period of time that he became dazed and the depressed looking young man could get away. Unfortunately the thug could handle more than Jason thought and the victim was still just standing there. "Shit" was all that Jason had time to say before he was pistol whipped across the face. Another heavy blow landed on the back of his head before his instincts kicked in and he rolled to the side. "Bastard!" He yelled as he again faced his opponent, who had apparently just realized he was fighting a naked teenager in a filthy, rain soaked alley because he looked completely dumbfounded. Jason's fists landed hard against the thug's face, knocking teeth loose and badly splitting the man's lower lip. Jason was furious, furious that he underestimated the man, furious that the victim hadn't run, furious that he had been hit so hard and furious at himself for almost letting a nothing like this beat him. He kept hitting the man and hitting him and hitting him until his face was pulverized and he was bleeding so much that Jason could hardly tell he was looking at a man anymore. He hit him until he blacked out himself and all the while that damned depressed looking bastard just stood there staring at nothing.
Hmph, Jason dropped to sit on the edge of the bed near his bag. Maybe I don't deserve this anymore. He looked at the last object remaining in his bag, what appeared almost to be a large black sheet wrapped around one of the few good things that Jason had now.
Of course you do, he thought to himself Dick thought you did, you made a mistake…okay a lot of mistakes but you can still make everything alright again. If you can just get Bruce to accept you, to forgive you, then it will all be okay and we can be a family. As he reassured himself Jason pulled the sheet out of his bag and began to unwrap it,
there is a reason I'm back, a purpose for my existence here, this has to be it right? I know that there's a new guy but I'm not asking for his spot. Jason's hands began to tremble as he finished unwrapping the deep black cape from his new costume and caught a glimpse of the dark red shirt held within. Jason traced the edge of the R insignia on the upper left side of the shirt before unfolding the one thing that had been packed in his bag with care.
I just want mine back.
