Charlie gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were swollen and red, and her cheeks strained from tears that gracefully traveled along her freckled skin. She brought her unsteady hand up to wipe away a stray tear. Her body shivered from the cold air in the room attacking her bare skin. She stood in front of the mirror naked: stripped from her clothes, her dignity, her freedom, and her virginity.

She turned fer back towards the mirror- no longer able to look at herself without being disgusted at what she had just done. She walked towards the bed in the room and took a seat, tightening her fist around a few twenty dollar bills, green paper that no longer meant anything to her anymore. The room was empty, only bearing a single bed, mirror, and table. The light was dimmed, and her clothes were scattered around the floor. The only noise she could hear were the moans from the room next to her. Moans that reminded her of what took place just moments ago.

She was only fourteen and she had already lost her virginity to a man more than twice her age. Her virginity was stolen from her, and she doesn't even know the name of the thief. He called her sweet names, with his breath drenched in alcohol. He said that she was beautiful, gorgeous, and a good girl. He said that she was worth every single dollar he paid her- like she was some sort of merchandise.

Charlie felt her throat closing in once again, along with more tears gathering in her eyes. She was fourteen. A normal fourteen year old should be worrying about school, friends, and boys. Charlie's life was no longer normal, not that it ever was. She had to drop out of school, leaving behind all of her friends, and was now being treated as an object to be purchased by not boys- but men.

Charlie couldn't fight the lump in her throat any longer, and let a painful scream escape her lips. She threw the dirty money in her hand into the air, allowing it to scatter on the floor. She brought her knees up to bury her head in, as she sobbed over the realization of what her life now holds for her. She was not a normal fourteen year old girl. She was now a prostitute.

Charlie stared into the mirror in front of her. She was standing in front of the mirror above Jason's dresser, preparing to be escorted back to the hell she had just escaped. Her hands pressed down on her bloodied silky top, the same one she wore when she escaped from Felix. This was all real, this was happening. She was returning to Felix with the slightest hope that she would be able to help take him down. Her eyes leveled onto the makeup circled around her eye, resembling a black eye courtesy to the handiwork of Twinkle Toes. If Felix was to believe that she was held captured for three days, it had to be believable.

The thought of returning back to Felix made Charlie's palms sweat. She felt her head starting to throb and her throat beginning to close. Quickly, she made her way to the bed and reached underneath the pillow, pulling out the two pill bottles that she grabbed the previous night. She laid out three little tablets onto her hand and popped them into her mouth. She threw her head back and swallowed them, hoping that they would ease her anxiety. She held on tightly to the bottles, remembering the second reason as to why she decided to go back. Life with Felix had only scarred her so much, but even when she can be freed from him, would she ever be freed from her addiction?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of faint frustrated grunts. Curious, she quickly stuffed the bottles between the mattress and the headboard, and walked out of the room to investigate the source of the noise. Out in the hallway, the grunts became louder and she traced it to the only other slightly opened door. She always wondered what was behind the mysterious door, but always figured that it was just another closet that stored more guns or liquor. But her interest in the door returned due to the grunts and sounds of.. a punching bag? Charlie slowly took a few more steps towards the door and peeked through the slim opening. She was only able to make out the image of what seemed to be a shelf full of weights, and nothing else. Carefully, she pushed the door more, making sure not to cause any attention towards herself.

With the door now widely open, Charlie was able to have a better look at the room. It was marginally larger than the living the living room, but unlike it's noticeable lack of furniture, this room was furnished thoroughly. Along one side of the wall, there was a shelf full of weights, the same one that Charlie spotted earlier. Next to the weights was a very expensive looking stereo system. One of the walls in the room was fully covered by a mirror, and across from it on the other side of the room laid out a variety of other exercise equipment: an elliptical, a treadmill, and a bench press. In the far off corner of the room was a standing punching bag, the kind that resembled a man, and was currently being bashed on by none other than the Red Hood.

Charlie leaned against the frame of the door and watched as Jason bounced on the balls of his feet. His back was towards Charlie, something that was she was unsatisfactorily too familiar with, and his mind was focused on throwing his next punch. He threw his arm back before punching the side of the dummy's head. In that one punch, Charlie could feel all of the rage that it held. She felt it shiver down her spine, and knew that this was his escape. Normal people would find release in simple activities like listening to music, reading a book, or even just taking a quick nap. But Jason wasn't just an ordinary person. His way of releasing all of his tension was punching it out. He needed to physically feel all of the rage escaping his body. This was his escape. And Charlie didn't want to be the one to shatter it.

Just as carefully as she opened the door, she closed it and retreated back to Jason's bedroom, no longer wanting invading his space.

Jason was so invested into throwing punches at the dummy, that he didn't notice he currently had an audience. He was further distracted by the pounding music that was blasted into his ears from his ear-buds. As far as Jason was concerned, the only ones in the room was himself and the dummy.

As long as he can remember, his fists were always a stress reliever. To him, there was something about putting all of your stress, frustrations, and misery into one punch. Fighting solved all of his problems. From life on the streets, to his short lived time as Robin, and even to now, all he needed was his fists. The guns were an additional bonus, but what he really relied on were his fists.

Currently, Jason's frustrations were rooted to Felix Crow. He spent nearly a majority of his time in Gotham tracking him down. Building leads on him, observing his club, and making a strategy. His plans were twisted once he realized that he was wasting his time. Crow might had been the one marketing Scarlet, but he wasn't the one producing them. Nothing went according to his plan. He didn't plan on the existence of the mysterious "Shop". He didn't plan on dropping his main lead on Crow to focus on the identity of the producer. He didn't plan on meeting Charlie, and he defiantly did not plan on getting involved.

But here she was, right in the middle of it all. Part of it was because of her relationship to Crow, the other was because of her stubbornness. In just three days, he accidentally formed a connection with this young girl, even if he refused to acknowledge it. He was able to relate to her upbringing with a drug addicted mother, and knew of the pain of having them being taken from you. He understood her pain, her fury, and her rage. In just three days, he got to know Charlie more than he would had liked. He remembered how one simple drinking game lead to an unwanted invitation to look beyond the walls she closed herself in. Both of them didn't expect it, and he was sure that both of them really wanted it. But somehow, it happened. She confided in him and he saw a different side of her. He saw the side of her that he knew no one else saw, and part of him regretted seeing it. Because now she wasn't just a random girl that accidentally slipped her way into his mission. Now she was this stubborn, loud mouthed, surprisingly skilled, sensitive girl who slipped her way into his life.

Jason pulled his right arm back once again, ignoring the pain that escalated through his body due to the fact that he still wasn't properly fully healed from the shooting. He pressed all of his anger into that one fist and launched it into the dummy's head.

This girl was now in his life, whether he liked it or not. And now she was going to leave it by going back to Crow.

"I thought I'd find you here."

Dick stepped through the window and took a seat next to Charlie on the fire escape. She just turned her head and gave him a gentle smile. She then brought her legs to her chest, hugged it, and rested her head on top of her knees.

"I needed some fresh air," she responded, "to you know, clear my head." She returned her gaze into the night sky. "I didn't know that you can see this many stars in Gotham. They're usually hiding from all of the lights."

Dick followed her eyes and saw the stars that pained the sky. "This neighborhood is probably the only place in Gotham that you can see this many stars. It's like the 'forgotten' section of Gotham, because it's so old and run down that barely anyone lives here. There's nothing here but empty warehouses and decaying buildings."

"So why does Jaybird stay here? From the amount of guns he has, and who you two are, he could easily afford a nice penthouse in the upper class part of Gotham."

"He likes the isolation," Dick shrugged. "And what exactly did you mean by 'who you two are'?"

Charlie rolled her eyes and turned her head to face her. "Just because I didn't finish high school doesn't mean that I'm stupid. Your alias is Nightwing, but your real name is Richard, or Dick. Everyone in Gotham knows that before the finger stripes, you were the first Robin- the boy wonder. Now, you first became the big ol' bat's sidekick around ten years ago-"

"Thirteen years ago actually- I was only twelve when I started," Dick interrupted with a grin. Half of his cheerful response was because of his pride of fighting crime alongside Batman before reaching the age of puberty. The other half was due to his amusement of watching her being a detective.

"Okay thirteen years then, old man", Charlie teased. "Anyways, back then the only news bigger than Robin was Gotham's finest billionaire adopting an orphan. An orphan who was raised in the circus and is quite the twinkle toes. Am I right, Richard John Grayson?

Dick chuckled and opened his mouth to respond, but before he can say anything, he was interrupted.

"Now," Charlie continued, "at first I thought that this was a huge coincidence. But then I started thinking some more. Some time after little Robin sprouted his wings and became Nightwing, the same billionaire, your daddy, adopted a second son, Jason Peter Todd. This is also the same year that Batman got himself a new Robin. So, conclusion? You are Richard Grayson, Jaybird is Jason Todd, you both were Robins to Batman who we can conclude is.."

"Bruce Wayne," Dick answered with a bigger grin. This girl just continued to fascinate him.

Charlie raised a finger and wagged it at him. "Bingo!" she exclaimed. "Now, one of the mysteries is, why does Jaybird choose to live in this shithole? He has a billion dollar daddy, and yet he doesn't even have a working stove."

Dick's grin softened a bit, and he turned to stare into the sky again. "Jason will always think of himself as the failure- the black sheep of the family. Things were.. much worse before. Everything is better now, but.. Jason will always look at himself as the black sheep. He refuses to accept help from any of us, which is why we couldn't bring him back to the manor when he got shot." Dick chuckled a bit. "He calls us the 'Bat brats'."

Charlie continued to look at him, and hugged her legs even tighter. "So where how can he afford all of his guns, motorcycles, and exercise machines?"

"He provides his service to people. If some big shot wants to scare their competitor into backing off, they hire the Red Hood. If someone needs him to rescue something or something for them, they pay him a lot of cash." Suddenly, Dick's voice got slightly lower. "Sometimes, someone needs him to kill someone off."

Charlie mouthed the word "oh". She remembered back to their conversation after their little drinking game the other night. She remembered how nervous she was when she asked him if he killed anyone, and how troubled he looked when he answered it. How he almost looked like he was worried that she would think that he was a monster.. "But they deserved it right?" she whispered.

Dick faced her again and gave her a warming smile. "Jason's not heartless. Every blood that spilled because of him deserved it. It's not the same moral code that I, or even Batman, choose to follow, but they all do deserve it." His reassurance made Charlie feel better, but only temporarily. Because immediately after, Dick asked her to share something that has been haunting her mind ever since she made the connection between Jason and the second Robin. "So what's the other mystery? You said that this was only one of it."

Charlie gulped and returned to look up at the sky. She hesitated a bit, deciding whether or not she should speak. "Jason was Robin.." Her voice was shaky and low. "And Jaybird is.. Jason Todd.."

"Uh huh.." Dick mumbled, trying to see where she was getting at.

"Dick. Jason Todd is dead. Bruce Wayne announced his death a few years after he adopted him. He said something about all illness or something. And at the same time, Batman started going solo. So if Jaybird really is Jason Todd.. I just.. Was his death a lie? Or did he come back as a ghost?"

Dick's eyes dropped to gaze at the floor below. He ignorantly forgot that since Charlie now knows their history as Robin, she would also know about his death. He can clearly see that she was bothered and confused. He didn't want to lie to her, because he could only imagine how many lies she had been told. But yet, he knew that it wasn't his place to tell him Jason's full history.

"It's.. complicated," Dick spoke slowly. He smiled. "He'll tell you one day, when he's ready."

Charlie ran her hand through her hair. She remembered how vulnerable she was when she spilled her heart out to him. More than once did she cry in front of him, something that she tried hard not to ever do. But he had yet did the same. "You sure about that? The dude is a caged bird. He has walls around him as high as the Great Wall of China," she sighed.

Dick couldn't help the cheeky smile that scraped across his face. "Walls aren't built to keep people out, kid. They're built to keep the ones inside safe," he said softly. "And sometimes, they are just meant to be torn down."

Charlie stared at him, her eyes unreadable. "That is really sweet.." she whispered. "Like I think you should write poems, and love letters." Her face broke into a grin, and her voice took a sarcastic tone. "I think that you should quit fighting crime and just become the next Nicholas Sparks. You know, write some romantic books and star in some romantic comedies."

Dick threw his head back and laughed with her, filling the empty streets.

At that moment, Jason just walked through the door of his bedroom, looking for a new shirt to wear. He was distracted by the sound of laughter and turned to see Charlie playfully slapping Dick's shoulder, after he made a snarky remark. The last time he had saw Charlie, she was emotional and was seemed out of it. Now, she was joyful, happy, and laughing. With Dick.

He went to his drawer and grabbed the first shirt he saw before walking out of the room, back to his gym.

Jason let out a heavy grunt as he lifted a 100 pound barbell above him. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he brought it back down to his chest again, just to lift it back up.

"Only 100, huh?" Dick teased as he walked in on Jason lifting the barbell. "Starting off soft I guess."

Jason rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Dick?"

Dick took a seat on the bench next to his brother. "It's almost time."

"For what?" Jason sneered, trying to concentrate on the weight on his chest.

"To bring Charlie back to Crow," Dick answered.

Jason grunted and lifted the barbell off of him, placing it on the bar above him. He sat up and grabbed a towel to wipe his face. Other than sweat, his face was filled with annoyance. "Well have a nice drive."

Dick handed Jason a water bottle that was laying on the floor. "You're not going to say goodbye or anything?" he frowned.

Jason took a gulp from his water and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Now why would I do that? If she has any information on Crow or the shipment, then I'll have a little chat with her. Until then, I hope you two have a nice ride together."

Now it was Dick's turn to roll his eyes. "And what is that suppose to mean, Jason?"

Jason stood up from the bench and walked over to a hanging punching bag. He opted out of using the boxing gloves, and used his bare hands instead. He bounced back and forth between his feet, and punched his fists into the bag. "I saw.. you two outside.. looking all happy and shit.." he said between each punch. "She obviously.. prefers the.. golden boy Dick Grayson.. to escort her.. to Crow. She's going back.. and she's going to.. get.. information." With one final punch, he turned and faced Dick who was still sitting on the bench.

Dick was looking at the floor, trying to hold in a smile. "Jason.." he called out. "Are you jealous?" He lifted his head and immediately broke out into a fit of laughter, after seeing the expression on Jason's face.

His eyes were beaming out of his face, and his mouth was slightly opened. His mind was racing through embarrassment, annoyance, and confusion. "I.. wha.. what the fuck?!" he stammered. "Jealous of what? Why would I be jealous?"

Dick had to hold his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. "Jason, it's okay to feel left out."

"Left out?!" Jason threw his hands in the air. "Why the fuck would I be jealous of you and that girl? You two can fuck and I wouldn't give a shit! The only thing I care about right now is the mission. I'm not concerned about, or jealous of, what is going on between you and her."

Dick stood up, while running his hands down the creases of his pants. The grin on his face more brighter and wider. "Jason," he said slowly. "I never said anything about being jealous.. romantic-wise."

Jason's mouth dropped to the floor. His face instantly heated up and he felt himself getting red. "I.. you.. well.. uh.. UGH!" He threw his hands up again, as he struggled to speak English. "Well you asked if I was jealous! What else does jealous fucking mean?"

"I meant if you were jealous that she was going to be the one close to Crow!" Dick could feel his cheeks physically hurt by how much he was smiling. He held his hands up in defense, and let out another chuckle. "I know how hard you worked on this case, and I thought that you were jealous that a girl you had just met, is going to be the major asset in our mission. We both know how much you like taking control."

"Well why the fuck did you ask if I felt 'left out'?" He made air quotes with his fingers for emphasis. His face was still red, and his brows were furrowed.

"Well you said that you saw us outside, and how she 'prefers' that I escort her! I thought you were feeling left out of the mission!"

Jason just stared at Dick, flabbergasted. Dick tried to hold in his laugh, but could only do it for so long. His laughter roared throughout the room, and he had to hold on to the wall for balance.

"Fuck you," Jason muttered as he grabbed the sweat towel that was hanging around his neck, and threw it at his brother. It landed on his face, which made him stop laughing to take a breath. "How the hell was I suppose to know that?"

"This.. this is golden," Dick beamed. He brought up his finger to wipe away a tear. He cleared his throat, and looked at Jason straight in the eye. "You care about her."

"It's like you said," he shrugged, "she's a major asset to the mission."

Dick grinned as he threw the towel back at Jason, who caught it with one hand. "She calls you Jaybird."

Jason's brows furrowed at the sound of the nickname. "And she calls you Twinkle Toes. What's your point?"

"You're Jason freaking Todd. You don't do nicknames, unless they're aliases. Now what do you call her?"

Jason glared at Dick, wishing that he can just leave the room already. He was still trying to get over the slight humiliation that he experienced just earlier. "Freckles," he mumbled under his breath.

Dick raised his eyebrows and smiled in surprise. "Yup," he said, popping the 'p'. "You care about her."

Jason threw his middle finger up and turned to walk towards the door. His tolerance for Dick's nonsense is only so high. If Dick won't leave the room so that he can punch a bag in silence, then he can at least leave to take a shower. "Shut the fuck up," he called over his shoulder.

"When we meet up at the club later, I'll give you a prepaid phone to contact us with. I can't give it to you now because-"

"I don't have any pockets," Charlie interrupted, stating the obvious.

They were sitting in Dick's car, half a mile away from Crow's house. It was around midnight, and there barely any street lights.

"It's not too late to back out of this," Dick said softly. "You don't have to do this."

Charlie rubbed her arm and gazed out of the window. "I know. But I want to." She turned to face Dick, and forced herself to give him a soothing smile. "I need to."

Dick returned her smile and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Stay safe."

Charlie just nodded before turning to exit the car. She took a quick glance at Jason, who was in the back, and gave him a nod too, which he responded with his own nod. She managed to walk three feet away from the car, before she felt her legs tremble. This was feeling all too real right now. Her heart started beating faster, and the trees in front of her were starting to become blurry. She wasn't sure if this was another withdrawal, or if she was literally having a panic attack. She stood still, unable to move her feet.

"What the fuck is she doing?" Jason muttered from his seat.

Dick looked out the front windshield and noticed that Charlie was standing stiff. "She's scared," he observed.

Jason stared at her for a couple of more seconds, but she still didn't move. "Fuck," he cursed as he unbuckled his seat belt. He got out of the car and walked over to where Charlie was standing. "So, are you going to move any time soon or do we have to carry you there?"

He expected witty comeback from her, but nothing came out. By the time he reached her, she was still unresponsive. He placed a hand on her. "Hey you nee-" His voice trailed off when Charlie turned to face him, and he could see, with the little light the street lamps provided, the tears that streamed down her face. She looked terrified.

"I need to do this.." She whispered. "I need to.. but I don't know if I can."

Jason's eyes softened and instead of taking his hand off of her shoulder, he placed another hand on her other shoulder. He lowered his head so that he was directly in her face, and he can see her at eye level. "Hey, don't chicken out now, got it? What happened to that girl who kept claiming that she can take care of herself? Where is she? You can do this, Charlie. Think of everything that Crow did to you. Think of what he has done to others, the ones that you said can't fight back."

"Jaybird," she sniffed. She hated the fact that she was yet again crying in front of him, but she couldn't help it. She was going back to Felix, when she had just managed to leave him. Charlie felt nauseous, and swore that she was going to throw up. "What if I fuck everything up? What if this whole thing gets messed up because I screwed up somehow? I do that a lot, you know? I screw up almost everything, and I do not want to screw this up for you. What if I don't make it out?"

Jason tightened his hold on her shoulders a bit, not enough to actually harm her, but enough to stop her from rambling on. "You're not going to fuck this up, alright? And if some shit goes wrong, then you run. Fuck the mission, you get yourself the hell out of there. But I know that you are capable of handling this. You proved that the moment you stole that guard's gun, and used it to shoot that fucker that shot me. I know that this is hard, and that it's fucking scary, but you can do it. I know you can."

Charlie bit her lip and looked into Jason's ice blue eyes. "You do?"

He nodded and gave her a smirk. He stood up straight and peered down at her. "Yeah, I do. You're a fucking badass Charlie. A bit too much sass, but you are a badass."

Charlie giggled and lightly slapped Jason's chest. "You love my sass, Jaybird," she beamed.

The two stood there for a few seconds in silence. Jason smirked at her, and she had a grin on her face. "Thanks," she whispered. "I think I just needed to be reassured of my 'badass' status."

"Anything to help that ego," Jason teased.

Charlie smiled at him, and turned to finally walk back to Felix. She walked a few steps before she heard Jason calling out out to her.

"Hey!"

She turned her head to look over her shoulder, and saw that he still standing at the same spot, with a smirk still on his face.

"Don't let them underestimate you, Freckles."