As he crouched on the roof of the warehouse he could feel the crisp night air licking around him. His skin was so sensitive, it was like he could feel every molecule touching him. The dilaudid had made good work of the aching in his collarbone and chest, but the fentanyl was keeping him sharp. He didn't like saying he was 'high', but damn, the night didn't seem so horrible as it usually was.
Roy bounded over to him, spring in his step. "I forgot how active Gotham is at night. It's no wonder your entire family patrols and never runs into each other."
"Good," Jason stood up, still watching the dark alley below. "I don't like having to make small talk."
Roy paused, pressing his lips together into a thin hard line. "Have you talked to them at all?"
"Not since they figured out who I am. They are still figuring out how to get me in Arkham, I figure I have a good few weeks before they catch up with me." Jason said. He wasn't being totally honest. He had stopped killing for a while after he last saw them. But since he was a hired killer lately, it seemed like the Bats would be hot on his trail again soon. He didn't like thinking about it, and the drugs were making good work letting him forget his past.
"Have you…y'know," Roy paused as Jason rolled his eyes, knowing what to expect. "Talked to…Tim?"
"Don't plan to," Jason started walking to the side of the rooftop before jumping down to the fire escape, leaving Roy on the roof.
"You know, if you want to be broody and not talk you can just tell me."
Jason smiled at that, jumping down to the escape two floors down. He flipped a few more times, totally not showing off for Roy's benefit, before landing on the cold cement in the alley.
"I'm sure he's not a horrible kid," Roy said, jumping down beside Jason.
"Mhm," Jason said, rounding the back of the warehouse, really not wanting to have this conversation right now.
"I'm just saying, he probably idolized y-" Jason put his hand up, cutting Roy off as he crouched down. He pointed to a large window next to them, and a door beyond that. Dim light was pouring onto the sidewalk from the open window.
"Why would anyone be down here?" Roy whispered, suddenly feeling very underprepared for this.
"Good question," Jason said quietly, crouching under the window. "I know Maroni's people like to make deals down here."
He could feel the adrenaline pulsing through his veins, pounding in his ears. He unholstered his gun from his waist before turning and peaking a glance through the window.
"Are we on a stakeout and you didn't even tell me?" Roy whispered angrily as Jason stood up.
"Clearly not, looks like we are late," Jason paused, light washing over him from inside the warehouse.
"Late?" Roy didn't make a move. He knew he didn't want to look, but he had to.
"Too late," Jason blinked, pulling his game face up.
Roy put his hands on his knees and pushed down, hoisting himself to look in the window.
"Oh," Roy paused, looking inside, frozen, "That's a lot of blood."
Jason started walking, opening the large iron door next to the window. He was in full Batman mode now. To him, Batman mode wasn't a particular way of fighting, or a specific subset of skills Bruce had honed. It referred to the horror Batman saw on a daily basis. It was a specific way Batman tuned all of the feelings out, to find what mattered. Batman was never traumatized by what he saw, at least, he never showed it. He was calm and collected and never let the job break him.
Roy followed Jason inside, noting clues along the way. A large fluorescent tube of light lit up the floor, casting a yellow artificial light on everything it touched. There was a single chair lying haphazardly under the light, surrounded by liters of blood.
Jason pulled his phone from his back pocket, and started quickly snapping pictures of the scene. He noticed small indents on the chair, from where rope was used. It looked like the person was tied up, but squirming quite a lot, leaving rope marks on the wooden chair. Roy crouched down, looking at the entire pool of blood.
"I'm going to go ahead and say we are looking for a body," Roy noted.
"They were fighting back," Jason noted, taking a picture of a few blood droplets farther away. "This looks like torture."
Roy paused, standing up again. He took a few steps, looking at the surrounding items. There wasn't anything of real value. A large table stood in the shadows, covered in small pools of blood. There was a ring of blood from some sort of cup, Roy assumed. He felt the urge to pull his backpack open and indulge. He wasn't nearly prepared to deal with this. He believed that the Bat-family was way too accustomed to this carnage.
"So who was doing the torturing," Roy asked, watching Jason. "And who was being tortured?"
"And what were they looking for?" Jason asked, taking pictures of a trail of footprints by the door on the opposite end of the warehouse. "I'm guessing, about four people. One child."
"A child?" Roy asked, "This much blood couldn't have come from a kid."
"Which makes this more interesting."