Little Bird's Vengeance Chapter 50 The Others

Steve was running. He'd been running around New York most mornings since moving into the Tower, and had been trying out what was now called parkour, but he'd always known as free-running. Aside from being a wonderful way to get to know a place, the Reds had recommended it as a good way to get a drop on unsuspecting criminals. It was almost like urban warfare, not too dissimilar to some of the ops the Commandoes did.

He reached Central Park, returning to street level. He'd been trying to beat his personal best for five laps for about three months, but hadn't got within ten minutes of it. He must have just been really on fire that day.

As usual, he passed a black man doing his own morning jog, and nodded to him. The black man nodded back and grinned, the dog tags on his chest jingling as he went.

Steve still wasn't quite sure how to act around black people. All his life, blacks had been considered lower creatures, and everything had been strictly segregated. Personally, he'd never thought there was anything wrong with black people, they just weren't as advanced, the poor things. Seventy years ago, that would have been a noticeably liberal viewpoint. Now, it was just shy of absolute racist. It didn't help that the only black people Steve was personally acquainted with were Director Fury and Colonel Rhodes.

He lapped the other soldier, as he did most days.

Tony downed his scotch and eyed Rhodey, who was still nursing his beer. They were sitting at the bar looking out on the launch pad, the morning sun filtering in. "So what d'you think of the kid now you've got to know him?" Tony asked.

"Red? I'm honestly not sure," Rhodey answered. "I mean, I liked him, but that was before the Titans, and Hood."

"Yeah, that was a bit surprising," Tony agreed. "I can kinda see Red's point of view, though."

"Supporting a murderer? Defending him from the authorities? That man's vicious. Why would the kid do so much for him?" Rhodey asked.

Tony shrugged. "Didn't you hear the same things from your superiors about me? And you defended me."

"That's different. They don't know you, and I do. I'm your friend; of course I stood up for you."

"And Red calls Hood 'brother'," Tony countered. "Red's just defending someone close to him from those who don't know him."

"Are you saying you see yourself in Hood?" Rhodey asked doubtfully.

"Me? In Hood? Oooh no. Nooo way." Tony refilled his glass and took a sip. "I see you in Red."

Rhodey sighed. "Well, I don't see it."

"Remember how you got your suit?" Tony asked. "You were trying to protect me from myself, and when that didn't work, you took my place. Sound familiar?"

"I never fought for you," Rhodey said shortly, evidently thinking of the failed night raid on the Reds' bedroom.

"The Hammer drones don't count? Whatever; you never had to," Tony shrugged. "Did you know that Thor kept asking Loki to surrender, even after the invasion started, just because they're brothers? I mean, Loki didn't take him up on it, but the intention's still there."

"Yeah, but Loki's adopted," Rhodey pointed out.

"Yeah, so?" came a voice. Tony turned to see Superboy leaning against the doorframe. "Rob's adopted. So's Hood. By the same guy; that's why they're brothers."

"Have you been listening to us the whole time?" Tony asked, indignant.

"Nah." Kon blurred, and reappeared with his elbows on the bar counter, leaning forwards. "Just since you started talking about Hood."

"Why?" Rhodey asked suspiciously.

"Rob asked us to keep eyes and ears open on his behalf," Kon shrugged.

Tony stared at the burly teen. "You don't like Hood," he pointed out. The Titans hadn't exactly kept it a secret that there was something of a turbulent history there. "So why? D'you owe Red or something?"

Kon sighed. "I guess there's two reasons. Rob asked us, and not only do we respect his judgement, but we're close enough that there's not a lot we wouldn't do for each other. We've been good friends for years, and watching each other's' backs in battle does that to you. The second reason's more complicated. It's because of who Hood is, and what he means to certain people. Rob's people; Batman, and Nightwing, and the other Bats. Hood's one of them, no matter how much he tries to fight it. We don't always get on with the Bats, but we can't just refuse to look out for one of them. If anything happens to Hood, then forget reprisals; I'm not about to break their hearts like that."

He fell silent, and grabbed a stray can of Coca Cola. Cracking it open, he took a long draught, then stopped. He peeled the top off, tearing the aluminium easily. He fished out a plastic bag of white powder and dropped it on the counter. "What did you leave that there for, Rob?" he muttered to himself.

"I'd been wondering where I got that six-pack from," Tony said mildly. "So you want us to lay off Red Hood?"

"Kind of," Kon shrugged. "I agree with most of what you've been saying about him, but please keep him safe."

"As long as he doesn't give us a reason not to," Rhodey quickly stipulated, and Tony raised his eyebrows at the sudden eagerness to compromise.

"Guess that's fair enough," Kon replied.

AN: Please don't kill me for making Cap a bit racist. He was brought up in a racist culture, and it's taking time for him to overcome his conditioning. I don't really understand how racism happens, though; I'm a Brit, and we're not as diverse. Skin colour just isn't an issue in the same way.

This chapter takes place between the two section of the previous chapter. I'm kind of doing a tour around everyone to see how they're getting along before returning to Tim's plotting.

Also this week: Flashback, Rise of Harry Potter.

Next week: Jason and the Argonauts, Black and Red, Time, Space, Magic.

Please review!

Katara