"Clear the couch!" Dick yelled as he carried Jason's unconscious body through the door of his apartment. Dick knew that the last thing Jason wanted at this point was to carried through the doors of Wayne Manor. To be unconscious, bloody, and vulnerable was bad enough. But to be unconscious, bloody, and vulnerable in front of the "Bat brats"? Jason would die a hundred times before he would let that happen. He didn't need any sympathy or looks from eyes filled with worry and concern. He was Jason Todd. The failed Robin. He didn't need them- not when he still had to prove it to everyone that Jason Todd is not the same weak boy that died.

Charlie quickly threw the clothes and pillows off the couch, just as Dick had ordered. She watched as Dick discarded Jason's bloodied shirt and helmet. Unlike earlier before, when she was overwhelmed by what she had just gotten herself into, Charlie was calm, though still worried a bit. This was not the first time she saw blood being spilled. Her eyes used to see blood almost every day, sometimes even worse than this. Realizing that despite the fact that this was a vigilante in front of her, situations like this was not new to her. She tied her hair up and decided that this will be her way of thanking him.

"Alright, Twinkle Toes," she said. "We're going to have to check if the bullets went through."

Dick hesitated for a moment before checking his brother's body. Just like Charlie, Dick was calm and collected. Being in the crime fighting life before he even hit puberty, Dick had his fair share of dealing with blood. He could easily fix Jason's wounds by himself, but at the same time he was curious to see just how skilled Charlie was. If Jason was in a more critical state then he would have immediately brought him to Alfred, despite Jason's demands. But right now all they are dealing with is three bullet wounds- nothing that Jason couldn't handle. Dick wanted to know who this girl was, and what she is really capable of. She proved herself to be a skilled fighter, and having good aim with a gun. Is she somehow medically gifted too?

"One of the bullets just grazed him on the arm. And I don't see any exit wounds, so that means that there's still two bullets inside of him," Dick reported.

"Fuck. Okay, we have to make sure that none of his organs are damaged. Lay him down on the couch!" Charlie ordered. "He lost a lot of blood. Do you superhero boys happen to carry around bags of blood or something?"

"Believe it or not.. we superhero boys actually do." Dick jumped out of his seat and ran to where Jason must have stored the medical supplies there. Just as he thought- medical supplies in the broken dishwasher, and blood in the refrigerator. After all, that's what he does.

"Vampires," Charlie mumbled under her breath. She put on the gloves that Dick handed her and began to examine Jason's wounds. "Luckily for him, the guard had horrible aim and missed his heart. Give him blood, and make sure that his passage way is clear." She got up from her seat and walked over to the kitchen, searching through the drawers for a knife. It's been a while since she digged for bullets. Let's just hope that I didn't get rusty she thought to herself. After disinfecting it with alcohol, Charlie kneeled next to Jason's head, hesitantly holding onto the knife. What if she can't save him? What if she kills him somehow? He saved her twice already, and she didn't say thank you once. There was no way she was going to let him die without giving him at least one act of gratitude.

"Don't be an ass and die on me, okay?" She stuck the knife into one of the bullet wounds, silently cursing the fact that Jason managed to store his house with bags of blood, but somehow doesn't have any sedatives. Don't wake up. Don't wake up. Don't wake up. The wound missed his heart, and was by his collar bone. Fortunately, the bullet wasn't deep and Charlie was able to knife it out. "Souvenir," she joked as she placed the bullet in Dick's hand. She wiped some sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, and glared at the last wound. It was only on his right lower pec, essentially not a dangerous location. But what bothered Charlie was that the wound looked deep. She could knife the bullet out, but it would only cause Jason to lose more blood. The best option was to leave the bullet inside of him. It wasn't in a life threatening situation, and the body will naturally take care of the bullet's led on it's own.

"I can't take this one out. It's way too deep, and if I try to take it out I'll only cause him to lose more blood."

Dick nodded, understanding that he probably wouldn't even had been able to get the bullet out either. Still, he was amazed. This girl, who they had just met, was able to remove a bullet with ease, and determine how close a bullet was to the human heart. "I understand. Let's just close him up, and let him rest."

He applied two bandages on Jason's chest, while wrapping his arm in another one. For the first time in a long time, Dick felt like an older brother. He always thought of everyone as his family, but he felt more like a friend/partner to Tim, Stephanie, and Cassandra. And with Damian, he was his father figure and mentor. But right now, he felt like a brother- and he liked it. He finished dressing his wounds, and gathered the bloody trash to throw out.

"Listen, I know that I haven't really been the most pleasant person, and that I didn't thank you guys for anything you had done for me. But I really am grateful," Charlie said as she followed Dick to the kitchen. "So.. thanks."

Dick took a glance at Charlie and noticed that she wasn't holding any eye contact. It was like she wasn't comfortable or used to showing gratitude. He chuckled a bit because it reminded him as someone else. "Don't thank me. He's the one you should be thanking."

Charlie followed his gaze to the shirtless man on the couch, still unconscious. "Jason, right?" she snickered, remembering how Dick screamed his name. "Do I get the privilege of learning your name, or should I just stick to Twinkle Toes?"

"My name's Richard.. but everyone calls me Dick." He prepared himself for the routine teasing and laughs that always follow suit whenever he tells someone his name. Unsurprisingly, Charlie bursted out in a fit of giggles.

"Dick? Are you sure that you don't want to just stick with Twinkle Toes?" she asked, trying to hold back her giggles to avoid waking up Jason.

Dick rolled his eyes and continued to put away the first aid kit. It could be worse, he thought, my name could be something dumb like Wally.

Charlie leaned against the kitchen counter, drowning down a bottle of beer she found in Jason's fridge. Dick just left, saying that he had stuff to take care of and he'll be back the next day. He said that until they can figure out what to do, it would be best for her to stay in Jason's apartment- under the radar. Felix did believe that she was kidnapped anyways. Jason was still resting on the couch, and the sun was coming up. For the first time since she got there, Charlie finally took a look around the apartment. She noticed that everything about the apartment was simple. There wasn't a television set, a computer, or even a dining room table. All there was to sit on was the couch, and a few stools by the kitchen's island. The walls were a neutral shade of grayish bluish, something that she noticed was chipping away. In fact, it was as if the whole apartment looked like it was about fall apart. The floors creaked with every step, the windows were cracked, she was pretty sure that his stove didn't work, and her shivers made her conclude that his heater was broken too. The most expensive items she spotted were the guns that she saw scattered around. She had yet to see what the upstairs held. Still, this wasn't anything that made her too uncomfortable. Before Felix became a factor in her life, her and her mother would live in apartments like this-sometimes even worse.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Jason shift on the couch. She walked over to him, but was disappointed to find out that he was still asleep. She wasn't exactly fond of him, even though she did try to save his life earlier, but right now she would kill for some company. She was dying from boredom, and Jason didn't have a TV or computer for her to entertain herself with. All she did for the past few hours was stare at the wall, and snoop through his stuff. She would have went to see what was upstairs, but she wanted to stay by his side. She convinced herself that she wasn't really worried about whether or not he'll live, because his injuries weren't that major, but wanted to stay close just in case. The last thing she wanted was for him to die while she was silently criticizing his apartment upstairs. If he died, then who's going to take down Felix for good?

She sat by the coffee table in front of the couch, and placed her chin on her hands. Without the pressure of digging a bullet out of him, Charlie finally took a good look at the shirtless man laying down on the couch. His face seemed so content, and wasn't scowling like he always was. Even behind the helmet, Charlie can still feel his brows furrowing with displeasure. Her eyes trailed down to the bandages on his chest, one of which was already bloody. She reached behind her and grabbed a clean new one. She slowly ripped off the old bandage, and threw it in the garbage bag next to her. After applying the fresh new one, Charlie's fingers accidentally trailed along a scar. She held in a gasp as she noticed that this was one of numerous scars that painted his chest. He had more scars on his chest alone, than she did on her whole body. Her fingers automatically went to trace down another jagged scar, but she didn't notice that it trailed down his abs. She felt his hard abs underneath her finger tips, and couldn't help but blush a little. This wasn't the first time that her hands roamed down a man's chest, but it was the first time that she felt a body at it's physical peak. It was also the first time that she saw so many scars on one body part. She wondered how many other scars he had on his body. She was curious about how he got every single one of them, which she later concluded was a stupid thought. He was a vigilante after all. What she experienced that night, he goes through every day.

The young brunette shook her head as she realized that her hands were trailing a bit too south. She snatched her hand and was just about to stand up when she heard a voice pierce through her ears.

"Don't stop on my account."

Body like a God. Mouth like an ass. Charlie rolled her eyes and focused her attention on the little smirk on Jason's face. "Oh look, you're not dead."

"Sorry to disappoint, but it's going to take a lot more than a few bullets for me to die." Jason struggled to sit up and face Charlie, who was still trying to hide her blush. He wanted to snicker at the expression on her face, but before he can, he felt the pain shoot through him. "How bad is it?"

"One bullet just grazed your arm, and I managed to take another one out. But the last one was too deep in," she informed him. "So congratulations, you're now a proud owner of a bullet in your chest."

"Wait. You took the bullet out?" Jason didn't know whether or not to be impressed or worried. One one hand, this girl proved to be a complete badass. On another hand, he might die from an infection.

Charlie crossed her arms and glared at him, no longer feeling a bit of pity for him. "Don't sound so surprised asshole. I'm more than just a pretty face."

"Yeah, I'll say," he muttered underneath his breath. Charlie failed to pick up on what he said. "Where's.." His voice trailed off, not knowing what to say. He knows that, much to his displeasure, Charlie now knows his name. But does she also know Dick's?

"Dick? He left a while ago, saying that he had something to take care of," Charlie finished for him. Jason groaned, annoyed at the fact that they were all now on a first name basis.

He looked down at his wounds, and noticed that they weren't as bad as he thought. Still, he made a mental note to invest in more bullet proof armor. Jason then noticed that Charlie was still in her matching silk pajama set. Her shorts were dirty and looked tattered, possibly from jumping into the pool earlier. And her shirt was covered in blood- his blood. He sighed, knowing that as much as she irritated him, he couldn't leave her like this. Plus, seeing that Dick decided to leave the pair alone, he would have to take responsibility of her. He was the one that brought her along after all.

"Follow me," he sighed. He got up from his seat, holding in the pain, and slowly made his way to the stairs. He looked back and noticed that Charlie was still sitting on the coffee table, not moving an inch. Why is this girl so difficult?, he wondered. "You can trust me, okay?"

She turned her head to face him, shocked by what he said. Trust? She hadn't trusted someone in a long time. She stood up and trailed behind him, walking up the stairs.

Charlie noticed that just like the floors, the stairs also creaked with every moment. At the top of the staircase was a short hallway with only two doors. Jason walked to the end of the hallway and opened the door, revealing a moderate sized room. Paralleling the downstairs, the room also had the same dull wall color, and only had the necessities. There was a bed, a dresser, a desk, and a chair. She noticed that there was a laptop on top of the desk, along with another collection of guns. There was a door in the room, leading to a private bathroom. While she was examining the room, Jason walked to his drawer and pulled out an old shirt.

"Here," he said, handing over the shirt to Charlie. "I'd give you some pants too, but they probably wouldn't fit."

Charlie took the shirt, and studied it with a questionable look on her face. It was a big black shirt, with the number 00 written on it. She then looked down and noticed the blood stains on her shirt. And here she thought that Jason was just another selfish bastard. "Thanks," she said in a low voice. "Thank you.. for everything." She gave him a genuine smile before disappearing into the bathroom to change. When she walked by, she could have sworn to see a shocked expression on his face.

Once he heard the door close, Jason slowly smirked, feeling accomplish over the fact that he finally got a thank you out of her. Now, he wanted to celebrate with a few bottles of beer.

Jason walked towards his fridge to grab a beer, when he noticed an open one on his kitchen counter. Jason frowned, already knowing who it belonged to. He didn't enjoy having his beer stolen from him, and he was pretty sure that she wasn't even legal to drink. Then again, he started drinking before he learned how to drive. He reached into his fridge and pulled out two cold bottles of beer, determined to see just how much this girl can drink. As he was digging inside his drawers for some pain killers, he heard the stairs creak and the sound of Charlie clearing her throat behind him.

"Either one of them is for me, or you have an alcohol problem."

Jason turned his head to tell her to shut up and accept the drink, when he suddenly felt himself unable to form any words. In front of him, Charlie was wearing the shirt that he gave her moments before. It was a little big on him, so it made sense that it was just as big on her too. He noticed that she was no longer wearing her shorts. The shirt he gave her was big enough to cover her butt, however it was still short enough to only stop there. Her legs looked long and lean. She left her hair down, so that it was in front of her shoulders in a messy manner. She looked absolutely gorgeous- and in his shirt too.

"Hellooo? Jaybird?"

He snapped out of the trance that she somehow put him in. "Jaybird?" He didn't even bother to hide the look of disgust on his face.

Charlie walked up to him and grabbed a bottle of beer off the counter and took a sip of it. "Yeah, Jaybird."

"Let's stick to Jason."

"I prefer Jaybird," Charlie teased as she made herself comfortable on top of the kitchen counter. "It sounds better than Jason."

"We're sticking to Jason," he argued as he tried to not notice how the way she was sitting raised up her shirt, making her legs more exposed.

"Whatever," she muttered as she took another sip.

"Legally, you shouldn't even be drinking. You're only like what, eighteen?"

"Nineteen," she corrected him. "And legally you shouldn't be running around wearing a helmet, and playing with guns."

"At least I get more shit done that the lazy ass cops," he retorted. He popped some pain killers into his mouth, and drained them down with the beer.

"How old are you anyways?" Charlie asked, curious to learn a thing or two more about him. From the looks of it, they're going to be stuck with each other until Dick comes back the next day. They might as well try to be civil with each other.

"Twenty two," Jason answered, "not like it's any of your business."

Charlie scrunched up her face with annoyance. Here she was trying to have a decent conversation with him, and all he has to offer her is attitude. "Don't be so grumpy. All I did was save your ass."

Jason rolled his eyes, something that he found himself doing a lot around her. "Don't praise yourself too much. I wasn't in a life threatening situation. Plus, you didn't even get one out."

Charlie jumped off the counter and marched over to Jason, placing a finger lightly on his bandage. She picked up her head, so that she was only a few centimeters away from his face. "And now you have a little token to add to your badass high ego. You're welcome." With her face so close to his, Charlie can now see just how blue his eyes were. And yet, they were still cold. They were icy, and pale- something that intrigued her. She continued to stare at his eyes, finding herself getting lost in it. The color of his eyes reminded her of the ocean, of the sky, of a baby blue jay.

Jason stared down at her, noticing that he was only merely one dip of his head away from her lips. Her body was also extremely close to him. She was still only in his shirt, and he was completely without one. But as gorgeous as she was, and as tempting it was, this was not something Jason wanted to get himself into right now. Especially with her.

"You can take your finger off me now," he growled.

Charlie quickly brought herself back from reality and removed her finger from his chest. She turned around and walked towards the couch, grabbing her beer on the way. Damn him for having a body like a gift from God, but an attitude that made him the devil. She can't ignore the fact that if she had just seen him strolling down the streets, she would had probably cat called him. But knowing just who he is and how irritating he is? If Dick didn't come back soon, she would have to swear off all men just because of him.

"I'm curious though, how does someone.." he hesitated, "like you.. know how to remove a bullet?"

She shot him a glare, and decided right then that she will forever live by the motto "never judge a book by it's cover". Because even though the book has the face that just screams sex, it's personality will be the biggest turn off ever.

"Someone like me? What, does the word prostitute scare you? Are you repulsed by prostitutes?" Charlie was beginning to wish that he would had just stayed asleep. At least then she wouldn't have to hear another person judging her because of her life choices. She had to do what she had to do. It wasn't like she had a choice.

"No," he snarled. "But are you?"

Her eyes immediately changed from flaming anger to paralyzing shock. But does it scare you? Of course not. She takes pride in what she does, even if she doesn't like it. She didn't take pride in actually sleeping with people for money. But she did take pride in surviving through it. It's not like she grew up as an aspiring prostitute. She wasn't ashamed, because she stood up and took control of her life. And she was not about to let some Batman wannabe that she had just met criticize her.

"Fuck you," she sneered. "You have no idea what I have been through, or how I had ended up in this position!" She jumped out of her seat on the couch, and instinctively clutched one her hands into a fist, while the other hand was basically strangling the bottle. "You want to know how I know how to remove a bullet?! Because it isn't the first fucking time that I did it. It's not the first, or the second, or third, or even the fucking fifth time! Five years! Five fucking years I have been doing this! Five years I had been playing nurse and fixing everyone- other prostitutes, me, my mother. And I will not let some motherfucker come into my life and ask me if I am scared or repulsed! So fuck you!"

The room was suddenly consumed with an eerie of absolute silence. Both Charlie and Jason just continued to glare at each other. Without saying a single word, Jason gulped down the remains of his beer, and walked right past her. He marched up the stairs and straight into his bedroom, slamming it behind him. He understood everything that she was going to, even if he wasn't in the same position. But he has been in the same rage- he's still in the same rage.

Charlie fought hard to hold back her tears. The last thing that she wanted was for him to see her in a vulnerable position. She was Charlie fucking Sage. She was not a pathetic little girl that would cry every single time she got her feelings hurt. She would suck it up and punch that bastard hard in the gut. Because she wasn't a victim. She was a survivor.

And Jason can see that. He could see the rage in her eyes, in her stance, and in her heart. He recognizes that rage, because he saw it everyday- in himself. He knows what if feels like for people to not understand what you've been through. He knows that immediate fury that takes over once someone tries to understand. Because they don't understand. They never will. He shares the deep pride that refuses to let themselves be looked at with sympathetic eyes, or judging eyes. The pride that gets them through each and every day, because they are not something to pity. They are an example that they don't need to be rescued- because they are their own heroes.

A/N: Hi, everyone! I'm not a huge fan of author notes, but I just want to say that I am honestly so grateful for all the reviews! Thank you so much for them, and keep them coming!

I'm also really happy that you guys like Charlie. I really wanted to make her someone that was the complete opposite of a Mary Sue, and someone that can stand up to Jason. Most importantly, I want her to be a major bad ass.

Again, thank you so, so, so much for the reviews!