Finally, the tale's title comes into play. :D It's LONG overdue for a finish, and so is the next chapter right after this...and then this tale comes to a conclusion.
REVIEW WHEN YOU FINISH. :3
Chapter Eleven
Come Into the Deep
It had been a little over a year since the Red Hood vengefully roared through Gotham and earned his own title from the people of Gotham and the media together: the Crimson Avenger.
The title had Jason laughing his ass off; it was so...comic book? But then again, so were "Dark Knight" and "Boy Wonder", as well as "Clown Prince of Crime" and so on. Wonders never ceased.
Crime Alley had been stabilized, so to speak. Victims were saved so that their survival numbers would be much higher than they'd been in years, but the trafficking of drugs and weapons was also at an all-time level. People on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram gave the Red Hood mostly glowing reviews, while the debate on vigilantism continued to fan new flames. The biggest critic of his was none other than Vicki Vale who had to question whether or not Gothamites needed a CRIMINAL to keep them safe.
Surprisingly, Dr. Jonathan Crane was brought on to give his expert opinion, countering the argument. "Miss Vale," he'd said in clipped tones, "it's long overdue that the world is far from being merely black and white in simplistic terms. I'm not saying I condone vigilante activity, nor have I ever, but when things are dire, we all have to make do with what we have. It's an age-old argument that is tiring at this point." No one disagreed with that, and those loudly shitting at his speech had to be bots rather than real people if you ask Jason. "This new Red Hood clearly champions the forgotten people, as it is noted when he strictly enforced zero feet towards children in the trades. You must have read that the people's opinion matters more than what top officials think." He'd smirked.
"The Red Hood doesn't kill unless they are the worst of repeat offenders that get away unscathed time and time again. If only the Joker were here so that I could see it with my own eyes; I am not alone in this. There is not one family who was unaffected by that monster. Aside from this, who am I to play judge, jury, and executioner? My point is that the Red Hood gives every bit of a damn about us just as much as I, and the Batman. You can quote me on this: to hell with the worst scum of Gotham and who wants the Hood gone."
Vicki had been momentarily stunned and didn't interrupt the respected psychologist once until he was done speaking. She sputtered and cleared her throat. "To make sure I understood, Doctor, you are saying that you would be glad to allow another masked vigilante - and one who is clearly working with the Batman - out of vengeance for the wrong done to your family, and the rest of the city supports this?"
She got narrowed eyes from Crane. "We're all vengeful beings by nature, Miss Vale," he answered coolly, "but this is my logical opinion and my human heart speaking together. If you wish for a direct yes or no answer, then it's indeed the former. Anything for what's left of my family to be safe. I am willing to risk trusting a new face who has produced more results for this swamp of a city. I'd rather have more realistic outcomes than ideals which have only resulted in continual deaths of those who never deserved it." Jonathan then gave the camera focused on him with a hard stare, the one where he meant business.
Dick whistled, pausing the video on his phone, which he and Jason had watched together as they made their way toward the grandfather clock. "How about it, Jay?" the elder said cheerfully. "You're killing it!"
"Don't forget yourself, Dickwing. Except the fact people have pieced it together that Batman is more...acrobatic than before." And the fact it took almost three years for it to finally be accepted that the more flexible Dark Knight had to be a new one; some people were either ignorant or plain didn't see the differences.
"Right, but they also say we make a badass team!" His brother beamed, just as he tapped in the code for the clock to open into the tunnel. "And that reminds me. Need your opinion, if you're not too busy, Little Wing." Which was exactly why they were here, and Dick was gonna make it worth his while. He grinned ear to ear as he bounded down the stairs first.
"The long-awaited upgrade!"
Jason couldn't stop the grin and accompanying excitement. For months now, Dick had talked about major changes to the Batsuit, and he was finally going to see them. Red Hood had a new brand, so why shouldn't the new Batman show it off?
He couldn't stop thinking about Kris' old man publicly supporting HIM live to the world, just as he couldn't stop thinking about a certain gift that remained in his room, given to him on the first day of summer vacation.
~o~
The day wasn't monstrously hot, for once. Thank God for saving graces.
There Kristine was, standing in a leopard-and-peony printed one-piece with a criss-cross neckline, a snowy white sarong with a kaleidoscope of butterflies swishing around her pretty limbs. That, and her fiery ringlets over both shoulders whilst being tucked behind her ears, made her just as beautiful as she still was.
"Speechless, are you, Jason?" Jonathan appeared right behind her, smirking at one corner of his mouth. And he was wearing a plain white t-shirt that would hang off his lean frame. They really had come a long way, hadn't they? "Available for dinner later?"
"You bet," Jason answered, squaring his shoulders and grinning. "Finally, one more year of high school, right, babe?" She grinned at him and leaned up to peck him on the mouth, her old man snorting behind them and shaking his head. She laughed and turned around to give him a hug around his neck.
"We'll see you later, Daddy."
"Indeed. Oh, and Jason? I heard from Alfred that you have received college acceptance letters already."
He nodded. He'd been accepted by Gotham University and smaller community ones alike, though he was aiming for the smaller. He had enough money to pay off student loans afterward, but he chose to be smart about it and stick to a true education rather than bragging rights. Kris was still thinking similarly.
She walked past him with her beach bag in hand, but Jason followed her a tad late because Jonathan snuck him the surprise that he couldn't let his daughter see. When he approached the man with his intentions, waiting for the day to come on graduation day, his spinal nerves were on the fritz with anxiety; the worst that could happen was refusal. "This was my wife's. She would have wanted Kristine to wear this someday," he said in a hushed tone. Nearby, Kristine was adjusting her bag into the cart with her back facing them. Time wasn't gonna be on their side much longer.
"Thank you, Doc," Jason answered. "I don't know how to repay you."
"You're family, and that's enough. Harley would have said so." He smirked at one corner of his mouth. "Pamela is anxious to be the florist for you children. And your father...he would have been proud of you and how far you have come."
Jonathan Crane also thinking of him as his own son, at last, was more than he could have ever asked for. Never in his wildest dreams would Jason Todd have ever imagined this.
Kristine called for him, asking if they were going or what before it got too hot for them. Her father chuckled, wiping a corner of his eye. "I have every father's greatest fear. My little princess is becoming a woman and I know it. I worried she would have a man who wants one thing only, but I'm proud you chose each other."
~o~
Jason could not stop talking to her about the new Batsuit, which she'd seen on TV but didn't know of the explicit logistics until now.
"Still has the Nightwing getup in which it's tailored to fit his acrobatics, but the bat symbol on his chest is outlined in blue, so some people might put two and two together," he was telling her while they were on his motorcycle, "and the cowl is attached to his neck with the best that R&D has to offer so that it doesn't get removed by enemies if he were to be captured - which I've just gotten ordered recently - and can only be removed if you punched in a code that HE solely knows." Jason grinned cheekily. "Freaking brilliant, right, Kris?"
"Badass," she answered, tightening her arms around his torso. "What about the cape and the utility belt?"
"No cape, but the belt is still there, though that means Alfred, Batgirl, and Fox are on standby like Bruce used to need them for. Plus, the Kevlar suit is still flexible for the last Flying Grayson."
When he mentioned Batgirl, he actually meant Barbara doubled as both Batgirl once again and the genius hacker she was. Her being out there, having the system programmed to keep them updated in the field - Alfred also doing his job from the Batcave - and her means to continue hacking into targets' systems didn't change a damn thing between before and now.
Damian was occupied elsewhere. Someone had to do it, and he was too young to be out there fighting. And from what Jason had told all of them, he had been in training to be the ultimate weapon for the League of Assassins. The stories still made Kristine cold as every snowy region around the world; this was a freaking CHILD, for crying out loud! But then again, people of different cultures still did that today, albeit secretive. Damian was the heir to a centuries-old cult of warriors and the son of Batman, so nothing less would have been expected of him.
Kristine was so happy that Jason and the others agreed together that he'd have a normal, happy childhood and would make his choice to join the life when he was at least eighteen.
The little boy was officially adopted by both Dick and Barbara, but his time was split between them and at Wayne Manor. He was going to have it good, and his mother would be in contact with his progress and well-being. She left her child with them so that he'd have a better chance than the League would have given him. According to Talia, her father - the fearsome and powerful Ra's al Ghul - let it happen without a fight, almost as a way to repent for everything he'd done to them, even if they'd NEVER be on friendly terms. As nice a gesture that is, nothing will change what he's done to innocent lives in the process. Yet, that makes him different from the Joker: he and other enemies of the Bats often have solid goals, but Joker is all chaos for the hell of it.
Aside from all that, Damian would start kindergarten shortly after she and Jay graduated high school.
And it just so happened, one summer evening - on this night, to be specific - that she and her boyfriend went into the diner just for one of their random but well-deserved "us time". The only people there were two off-duty cops - a man and a woman - and one lone man at the counter. None of them had a second glance at the young couple who entered, the young man in a black t-shirt and ripped jeans, wearing the silver chain bracelet and now a matching necklace as a pre-graduation gift from his girlfriend in an olive green dress printed with an exotic tribal embroidery. They approached the counter, Jason helping her up like a gentleman before taking his seat next to her. They were a couple of seats away from the other man who wore a dark brown coat and hat, shielding his eyes and much of his features from them as he hunkered over his cup of coffee.
On the television above their heads, there was the latest on the activities of the Batman and Red Hood duo. According to the reporter, in the past few weeks, they'd stopped a meta-human trafficking ring tied to Stagg Industries, one of the biggest corporations in Gotham City that was renowned for its pharmaceutical research, yet also its controversies.
The news report detailed that the scheme had been known as Project Meta, involving a sample of Clayface and radiation imported from Egypt, with the intent to reconstruct his cellular structure for espionage reasons. Those who hadn't been experimented on were freed, but those who had been were in desperate need of returning to what they were before, though that was a least likely chance. If you asked Kristine, the greedy mother - no, she never used the F-bomb, but there was a first time for everything.
Really, Stagg deserves life-term for his greediness and deaths in the experiments.
The company had begun with the research of curing two diseases, but then the magnate himself made a deal with the devil to save face, delving into black market deals.
Kristine giggled behind her hand at the moment which mentioned Simon Stagg getting a "literal shot in the rear center", and the newswoman couldn't hold back laughter of her own. Said that the Red Hood literally hit the center of the target range.
"Can't imagine nobody laughing at that," Jason told her, just as the waitress came up to ask them what they'd like tonight. They asked for their favorite sodas as a start, then would look over the menu to decide if they wanted their usuals or something new, and it was then that the lone man beside them started talking, taking them aback a little.
"If you had fought alongside him, you'd know that's not Batman. Probably Nightwing, filling in for Bats."
This man, whoever he was, KNEW the previous Batman? Who the hell -?! Jason raised an eyebrow. "You, uh...happened to know Batman?"
A shrug. "Ah, I knew him," he answered, almost wistfully. "But he's gone now, and I know it. I'm a new man. Let's just say, kiddos, that it's just not the same without him. All I know's is the old Boy Wonder knows to keep the bat legend flying, or else Gotham would explode with crime."
"Interesting theory," Kristine said, "but what do you have on this Red Hood character?"
This time, they got a chuckle and a lift of the head so they could see some more of the man's features. "You kids might be too young, but this one's got bad taste. There was a Red Hood from way back in my day, been the one to start the line of them all. Very classy, maître d' fashion -" Like you'd be running the hotel staff and welcoming guests, huh? "- and that used to be enough to have the world at your feet. Nowadays? Huh, it's punks and two-bit imitators. Or, in this case, a redecoration of sorts. Like a new Robin Hood, if you can call it that."
"You don't say," Jason said, trying not to sound bored. "What do you have to say about this Robin Hood -" He stopped and laughed. "Wait, no, Red Hood. Actually sounds like the girl in the fairytale, doesn't it?"
Robin Hood, Little Red Riding Hood? Now Kristine could laugh with them. "So, new guy and the likely new Batman together as a new Dynamic Duo, if you can call them that? Belongs solely to him and Robin." Because Robin hadn't been seen around since barely three years ago.
The man snickered, now looking at them, showing warm brown eyes with a slight twinkle to their cores. "Mmm, you're right, little lady. But then again, when a pair like that is dynamite, it's worthy of the name."
"What about...Vengeful Duo?" Jason had to supply with a lift of the brow. "This pair is new - Batman with a new look, Red Hood a new look - and collaborating. Why not give them a new name, if Nightwing is avenging his old partner without killing anyone?" Good one without giving anything away.
The stranger laughed again, deep in his throat. "Good way to put it, son." Then he sighed, reverting to melancholy. "Still, nothing is the same without the old Bat. My life's gone on since then, a little better - at least that's what my therapist assures me, and what I write in my journal."
Whoever this guy was - would Bruce have mentioned knowing him at one point? Would he ever have told Jason, who in turn would have relayed it to her? Well, then again, Bruce didn't always spill everything. And it seemed like he had saved this man's life at some point, right? Someone that Jason never knew about until now? "Talking helps, too," her boyfriend told him with a smile. "My girl here and I are both good listeners."
Kristine grinned, halfway leaning across the counter and putting one hand on her hip. "Maybe we might be friends for just this one night?" she offered, which didn't seem like a bad idea, and the stranger seemed to agree.
"Hmm, sure thing, kids. In fact, kinda reminds me of a joke I once told Bats, if you want to hear it..."
~o~
To his ears, the words sounded like they were hollow, as though coming from anywhere but here.
"See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum, and one night, they decide they don't like living in an asylum any more. They decide they're going to escape. So, they get up onto the roof, and there just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town stretching away in the moonlight, stretching away to freedom."
All the while, with each word and sentence, familiar memories and nightmares flashed before Jason's eyes: the crime photos on the Batcomputer, containing Barbara in all the positions immediately after she'd been shot and stripped, all the blood to go with...
"Now, the first guy - he jumps right across with no problem."
...the phantom strikes of the crowbar against flesh and bone...flesh and innocence ripped apart...
"His friend didn't dare make the leap. You see - you see, he's afraid of falling. So, then the first guy has an idea, says, 'Hey, I have my flashlight with me. Let me shine across the gap between the buildings. You can walk along the beam and join me.'"
And finally, the badly half-burned visage and unseeing eyes of Bruce.
"But the second guy just shakes his head. He says, 'What do you think I am? CRAZY?! You'd just turn it off when I was halfway across!'"
Even the heavy sigh of nostalgia and this innocent statement confirmed just what he was thinking, and maybe Kris. "Ah, crickets," he said of the silence. "It's just not the same joke without Batman here."
Jason just about saw the tempting edge of the ocean water from the shoreline, figuratively, calling him into the deep he'd come so close to sinking into years ago. Because the person next to him and his woman...their appetites lost just as their dinners arrived...
It's him.
The Joker.
Or rather, the Joker with his face painted a normal fleshy palette, hair dyed dark, and all to give him normalcy on the outside.
Immediately, Jason was flooded with all kinds of conflicting emotions and thoughts on what to say or do. All the months and years of therapy and efforts to heal from the tragedy, to get into a healthy relationship with his best friend, and to get ready for his future...it was being threatened with the temptation of telling this guy that he'd "tell the Big Man you said hello" - but then he was snapped to the dark eyes of Kristine, seeing the warning as she hissed into his ear.
"Don't, Jay." As if she had a hint of what he was thinking about.
She pleaded with him to not snap, even though he could feel the tremor of her fingers enclosed around the back of his hand. She grounded him from doing something in this diner - with those two cops behind them - that would never be taken back if he so much as picked up the knife before him.
"Son?" Joker, whatever he was going by now, furrowed his brows when he noticed they both fell silent and then jerked their attention to him.
"Sorry," Jason mumbled, Kristine loosening her hold but keeping her palm on his skin, gently massaging with her thumb as comfort. "Lost in thought. Sorry the joke wasn't understood." Not that it was ever funny in the first place unless you meant that as a means to compare yourself to Bruce. One trying to be funny, the other not falling for it or getting the damned joke.
Joker shrugged. "Eh, was worth it. But it means nothing without the old Bat. I suppose things get better with time. Nothing to do about the past at the end of the day."
Slowly, Jason's anger began to subside towards the back. His empathy detected the trace of remorse in the man's demeanor and tone; how could he even ask him if he regretted killing his one-time nemesis without giving himself away? There was no use in asking him why he did the things he had to a teenage boy before rigging a warehouse to blow with him inside because all that mattered was it happened. At least he admitted there was nothing to help them go back in time. And now everyone else would know he'd been off the radar this entire time and was no longer causing trouble. He was nothing without Batman and knew the new one wouldn't be worth his time.
Jason took a breath and let it out, repeating it until the rates slowed. His stomach rumbled with hunger now, at the same time Joker downed the last of his coffee before there was the sound of a device beeping. "Ah, gotta go. The old lady needs me, wondering why I'm running late." He laughed with mirth. "Nice knowing you two just tonight, but I'm afraid I never got your names." He frowned again slightly, leaving the bill and tip at the same time.
He - he has a girlfriend?! Damn, he must have really turned over a new leaf if he's with someone.
"I'm Kris," his girl answered nicely, "with a K. And this is Jay."
He tipped his hat to the side like a showman. "Jack to you both. Perhaps we might run into each other again in the future. Night, kids." And with that, he was gone out the door in moments, the bell ringing for a bit before going silent.
"So...that was him," was all Kristine could say as she picked up her fork and began to poke at the shrimp and broccoli fettuccine in front of her. Jason grunted.
"So it was."
"But what are we gonna do?"
It was a simple test, and he knew the implication without having to stress about it. Not just being what Bruce would have wanted, or what the others wanted, but for himself.
"...don't end him as he did to me - and for what he's done to you. I understand the pain and the anger that drives you, but killing him won't end it. Protecting Gotham, its people...healed me. Do it for your sake, and your family..."
Jason found himself smiling as though the weight that threatened to come back swam away back to the recesses of the deep, where it belonged. He looked at Kristine again, away from his burger. "No need for me to do anything, babe. Everything is all right." He lowered his voice in case the police officers nearby heard.
"No need to kill anyone, just keep the firepower to where it hurts most only in our imaginations."
On YouTube, forgot who wrote this and which video, but this helped me define my Jason in this story as well as "A Lifetime and Beyond" and other stories for him: "In the earlier comics he's shown to be extremely intelligent. As Robin, he was at the top of his class and a huge book nerd. As Red Hood (pre-crisis) he showed great tactical skill and was able to outwit and out plan his opponents. In New 52 he was the mastermind of the Outlaws' plan. But now, in Rebirth, they make him look a bit like a duntz. But if you look past the obvious story, you can still see his cunning and ability to quickly read his opponents, being one step ahead of them. He's not computer smart like Tim, but to be able to infiltrate Gotham Underworld and take over, you can't be a dummy."
When Jason kills Joker in the diner, there's the news on the TV that Batman (Dick) helped shut down a meta-human trafficking ring orchestrated by Stagg Enterprises, so I used info on the Arkham Wiki to expand a little.
I never intended to have a loud confrontation with Jason and the Joker, because why should I? Sometimes when confronting your tormentor, brings no closure. I'm not an experienced therapist, but I understand that much. It was for the best that he and Kris encountered their enemy just this once and then maybe never again.