Charlie realized that she didn't know him at all. If her life was normal, he would just be a stranger to her. What did she really know about this Red Hood? She knew his name, who his family is, and what he did for a living. But was this anything special? She didn't know him enough to let him to allow herself to confide everything in him. She didn't know him enough to trust him with the most private, most sensitive, moments of her life. So why did she? Why did she let her guard down for someone that she barely knew? A stranger that she only just met a few weeks ago. She let him see her in her most vulnerable states. Her rage. Her tears. Her sorrow. Her everything. She laid it all out for this man. Jason Peter Todd, AKA the Red Hood. Former ward to the Batman. Brother to Nightwing. Had a threesome at least once.

That was it.

As she stood under the shower in this man's apartment, she realized that she left herself completely defenseless. She suddenly felt herself boil with rage and embarrassment. He knew her life, her upbringing, her secrets and worries. All it took was a few weeks and suddenly Jason knew more about her than anyone has ever been close to. Charlie ran her hands through her long black hair. She didn't know why, but she felt defeated. All her life she taught herself to only look out for herself. She did protect the workers at the club that were unable to protect themselves, but that was it. She never built a bond with them. It was only her against the world. That was how it always was and that was how she always wanted it to be.

But now Jason comes along and she finds herself wanting more. She wanted to have more talks with him and more moments to confine in him. She wanted someone to be her person. Someone to share her worries and dreams, and all of it. And that, that wanting, made Charlie want to throw up. What good would this do for her? Jason wasn't someone that would stay in her life. He wasn't her knight in shining armor. He was just a man who was her path away from Crow. He was the man who she accidentally let in for a moment of two. He was the man who would leave her once this was all over. He was the man who's shower she was in, naked and exposed. He was that man. Not her knight, not her hero, and definitely, absolutely, not her man.

It wasn't anything romantic. What Charlie feared the most wasn't falling in love with him. She feared falling in love with the idea of someone being there for her. The thing that scared her and pissed her off the most was the idea of getting too used to having a friend, only for it to all end. Once Crow was behind bars and everything was settled, they would all leave her. Charlie was to accustomed to people leaving her or neglecting her. The workers in the house never paid her any attention, even when she was little. Crow didn't want anything to do with her. He only wanted her to pay for her mother's debts. And her mother, her own mother, abandoned her. Even before her death, she emotionally abandoned her.

"Don't do this shit," she mumbled to herself as she reached to turn off the water. "Don't fall for this shit of needing someone. It's all going to be over soon, and then life will move on. Don't get too comfortable. Don't."

Jason bounced on the balls of his feet, swinging his left hand and then his right. He punched the bag in front of him in no specific pattern. All he needed was to let off some steam. Charlie was taking too long in the shower, and wasting all his hot water at the same time. He left her a clean shirt and the pair of the smallest sweatpants he has. To keep himself occupied he decided to go a few rounds with the punching bag. It was the same bag that Charlie saw not too long ago, except this time Jason didn't have any ear buds plugged in. So when Charlie tried to tiptoe into the room, Jason automatically took notice. However, instead of catching her in the act, he decided to have a little bit of fun. While punching the bag, he closed his eyes and listened to the soft movements happening behind him. Although he didn't know this girl for too long, he did know for a fact that she would take pleasure in trying to scare him.

When he finally felt her presence close enough to him, he swiftly turned his back and grabbed her arm. He gently pinned it behind her back, and in a low husky voice he whispered into her ear. "Boo."

Charlie's mouth was left open, half because she wasn't expecting him to hear her, and half because his chest was pressing against her. She felt his breath on her neck. Jason also noticed how close they were to each other. Not only can he smell the scent of the shampoo on her hair, but he swore that he could feel the warmth of her cheeks. The two awkwardly stood there for a few more seconds, both in shock. Jason wanted to give a little bit of payback for trying to scare him and wasting his water, but he didn't expect it to feel so.. intimate.

Finally, Jason came back to his senses and released her arm. Charlie turned around to face him, trying her best to say anything to break the tension. "Your uh.. your shower water is nice." She mentally slapped herself.

To her surprise, though, Jason laughed a bit. He was amused that she was actually struggling for words. "Well thanks to you I'm probably going to have to use my next paycheck to pay for my water bill."

Charlie rolled her eyes. She took a look around the room. Punching bags. Weights. Mirror. More weights. A few nun-chucks and other assortments of foreign weapons. "Nice normal people collect key-chains as souvenirs. Not, you know, deadly illegal weapons." She picked up the Chinese dao, weighing it in her hands. She thanked god that she was now completely sober.

"Careful with that Freckles," Jason said. "Tonight is not the night to accidentally cut off an arm."

"Are you scared that I'm going to hurt you Jaybird?" Charlie teased. She placed the weapon back onto the rack.

"More like I'm scared you're going to get carried away with it and hurt yourself," Jason replied. "They're not toys you can just pick up and swing around. You may be able to knock down some guards, but handling actual weapons is not something you just pick up."

Charlie bit her lip and looked around the room again. "Why don't you teach me then?"

Jason scrunched his brows in confusion. "You're kidding right?"

"I'm serious Jason," she said. The use of his actual name convinced Jason that she wasn't joking around. "You don't have to teach me to become some master sensei, and you don't even have to teach me how to.." Her voice trailed off. She looked him straight in the eye. "You don't have to teach me how to kill. I don't want to learn how to kill. But I do want to learn how to defend myself."

Jason took a step closer to her. His blue eyes staring straight into her. "You can defend yourself. You don't need me to teach you." It was the truth. He saw what she can do. She was able to handle herself that night at Crow's, and was even able to shoot with a gun. She didn't need him.

Charlie bit her lip and broke their stare. "That.. that was nothing. The two guards? They were easy targets. And the gun.. That was just luck." Charlie knew how to kick and how to punch, but she didn't know how to properly defend herself. If she had to prepare for a life without Crow, and a life without the luxury of being with guards and living in an isolated mansion, then she had to learn how to actually defend herself. She couldn't rely on easy targets of luck.

Jason raised an eyebrow. He debated it for a moment, but finally gave in. What was the harm of teaching her how to block hits? Like she said, he didn't have to teach her how to kill. He just had to teach her how to survive. "Fine. Come here."

Charlie felt a grin grow on her face. She was hoping that he would say yes, but she wasn't entirely sure that he would. Excited, she quickly walked up to Jason. "So what are we going to do first? Nun-chucks? Machete? Dao? Maybe you got a few ninja daggers lying around?"

He ignored her excitement and turned around, grabbing onto her arm for the second time that night. Before Charlie can even realize it, Jason flipped her over. Her back slammed against the matted floor. Luckily for her, and for Jason, she didn't feel a lot of pain.

"What the hell?" She screamed, laying down in shock.

"Flipping," Jason simply replied. "You're going to learn how to flip someone over your shoulders." He turned around to grab something across the room.

Charlie scrambled to her feet and marched right up to him. She was fuming with anger and embarrassment. It was the second time that night Jason caught her off guard. She jabbed her finger on Jason's chest. "Does the word 'warning' not exist to you? I swear Jaybird, sometimes you can be so damn inconsiderate! What if I landed badly and broke something? Huh? What if you pulled too hard and I went flying across the room? What if-"

Jason cut her off but shoving two small boxing gloves into her face. "Rule number one: no bitching."

Charlie huffed and grabbed the gloves from him. She was about to open her mouth again when Jason raised an eyebrow at her. With that she shut up. "It's like it's fucking fight club or something," she muttered, while putting on the gloves.

Even though they were still small, she had difficulty adjusting them. Noticing how quickly frustrated she was getting, Jason sighed and decided to help her. He grabbed her hands and adjusted the gloves to fit her. He was so concentrated on the gloves, he didn't notice Charlie staring at him. Even with the gloves on, Charlie couldn't help but think that he was holding her hand. She quickly got rid of the idea, mentally slapping herself again for feeling like a love-struck teenager. Jason finally finished putting on her gloves.

"What happened to the flips?" Charlie muttered. She examined the gloves. "Why do you have small boxing gloves anyways? Your hands are at least twice the size of mine."

"I stole them from one of the Batbrats," Jason shrugged. "We'll do flips next, right now let's see how hard you can actually punch."

"So what? Flipping me a few minutes ago was just for your own pure enjoyment?"

"Consider it as a petty revenge for using up all my hot water," Jason answered. "Alright, now punch."

Charlie glared at him before turning her attention towards the bag in front of her. She swung her arm back and punched the bag right in the middle. The bag moved back a bit, but not as much as she thought it would.

"That's it?" Jason teased. "And here I thought the great ol' Freckles had some super strength. Something to match her super mouth."

Charlie stuck her tongue out at him and punched the bag two more times. Each one hitting a bit harder than the former. Still, it wasn't anything special.

"Alright, move your arm up a little bit higher," Jason instructed.

Charlie followed what he said and punched again.

"Better. Try swinging back some more."

She punched the bag again two more times, alternating hands, just for effect.

"No you need to move your arm up higher and swing it back more."

Charlie finally got frustrated from all of the instructions. "That's what I'm doing Jason!"

"If you were doing it, then I wouldn't be telling you to fix it," Jason grunted. "Here, like this."

The next thing Charlie knew, Jason had both of his arms on her. One of them was holding her by the hips, with his chest by her back again. His other hand was on her wrist, lengthening it back. His mouth was next to her ear again, and she felt his breath much more this time. She had to bite her lip from saying anything. She didn't want to yell at him for putting his hands on her this time. For some unknown reason, she felt her face heating up. Jason mumbled something into her ear, but she was too far into her thoughts to hear him.

"What?"

"I said," Jason explained, "this is how you do it. If you're aiming for the face, your arm should be like this."

Charlie couldn't find any words, and just simply nodded.

"When you're punching someone, your knees should be slightly bent. Push off your back foot when you're ready to make that sucker cry."

With that, he let go of her and stood next to the bag. Charlie took a deep breath and followed what he said. She pushed off her left foot and made contact with the bag. There was a loud thud, and the bag was pushed back farther than before.

Charlie couldn't help herself but laugh in amazement. She never punched a punching bag before tonight. And for some reason, watching it move back so much brought her some feeling of accomplishment. It wasn't much, but it felt like everything to her. She felt one step closer to actually defending herself.

Jason whistled his approval. He reached for the punching pads by his feet and strapped them on. "Alright Freckles. Let's see how you are with this. Punch me."

Charlie smirked as she rolled back her shoulders. "Now this is going to be fun."

She bounced on her feet and punched the pads Jason was wearing. Each time she punched, she moved a step forward and he moved a step back. Punch after punch, they kept moving. Charlie had sweat rolling down her forehead while Jason kept moving faster. Suddenly, she stumbled over her feet. She felt something break her fall and opened her eyes to realize it was Jason.

He was on his back, pressed against the floor, and her body laid right on top of him. Her hands were placed on either side of his head, and her face was a mere inches away from his. She tried to steady her breath. She tried telling herself to get up, but her legs just wouldn't move. She couldn't stop looking straight into his eyes.

Jason just continued staring back. It happened in a blink of an eye. First they were training a bit, and the next thing he knew, she was right on top of him. Even with her weight on him, she barely felt like anything. Her hair was cascading down against her cheek. Her green eyes seemed so bright to him. And her lips.. They were so close to his. Jason didn't know what was happening, but he couldn't stop himself from staring at her lips. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even himself, but at that moment he was contemplating the consequences of just lifting his head an inch. Were they as soft as they looked? How would she react? A million questions raced through Jason's head. But ultimately, only one stuck out: Why would he? As far as he had convinced himself, she was just another chatty asset. That was it. That was all it could be. Holy fuck, he thought, what's wrong with me?

He cleared his throat to signal for her to get off him. Charlie quickly jumped back onto her feet and turned her back to him. She couldn't let him see her face. If she thought they were pink before, they were most definitely red now.

"You, uh, need to be more careful with your feet," Jason stuttered. He massaged the back of his neck awkwardly. "I think that might be it for now."

Charlie just nodded in agreement and fiddled with the gloves. After a few moments of struggling, she finally took them off. "Yeah, um, thanks for the lesson."

"It's getting kinda late. We should probably, uh, go get some sleep."

Jason wiped some sweat off of his forehead. "Yeah, yeah we should. I'll take the couch so you can just sleep in my bed."

"What? No," she retorted. "This is your place, and you should sleep in your own bed. I'll take the couch."

"It's nice of you to offer Freckles, but I barely even sleep in my own bed now. The last time I even sat on it was when we were playing that stupid drinking game."

Charlie smiled at the memory of their "Never Have I Ever" game. "Still, I can just take the couch. It's the least I can do. After all, I did waste all of your nice warm water."

Jason opened his mouth to protest some more, but then decided that she was right. It would be nice to sleep on his bed for a change. Lately, he's been either opting for his couch or not sleeping at all. He could use a good night's rest.

"Fine," he finally said. "You win."

Charlie stuck her tongue out and giggled. There was nothing she enjoyed more than hearing those words. "Sweet dreams Jaybird." She was about to head out the door, when Jason called out.

"What are you going to do?" he asked. She froze in her place, unable to register anything. "I mean when this all goes down, Charlie. What are you going to do?

She slowly turned around to face him. It was the same question that has been haunting her.

"I'm not sure," she whispered. "I guess just do what I always do."

"And what's that?" he questioned.

"Survive."

Jason took a few steps towards her. He didn't know what it was about her looking vulnerable, but he felt something pulling him towards her. He felt like he needed to do something or say something to make her feel better.

"You're going to survive." Before he knew what he was doing, he placed his two hands on her shoulders. "You are Charlie Sage and..," he took a deep breath. "If you can't do it all on your own, it'll be okay."

Charlie looked up at him. "It will?"

He gave a reassuring smile. "Yeah. It will be. 'Cause you got me."

Charlie quietly gasped. She was not expecting him to say that. Jason didn't even realize what he said until it was out in the open.

"And, you know, Dick. You got him too," he quickly added. He didn't know what overcome him. He didn't usually get this flustered. "You, uh, got both of us. Dick and me. We're both going to help you through it."

Charlie looked deep into his blue eyes, biting her lip. Her conscience was telling her to say goodnight and leave, before something happened. She wasn't sure what that something was, but she didn't think she was ready to stay and find out. But even with her conscience screaming at her, something else told her to stay. Before she can help it, Charlie wrapped her arms around his body. She buried her face into his chest, as he awkwardly stood there. They stood like that for a few moments before she finally whispered something.

"Thank you, Jason.. Thank you for everything."

With that, Jason finally locked his arms around her. He wasn't a hugger. He never was. He wasn't an intimate person and he never cared for it. But at this moment, it felt right. Having her safely in his arms just seemed so right to him. He still wasn't sure why. But he just continued to hold her. As long as she needed him. Because like he said, he was there for her.

The two stayed like that for only a few seconds more until Charlie came back to her senses. Fuck she thought. What am I doing? This is exactly what I didn't want to happen. I can't count on him for being there for me.. I just can't.

Charlie quickly untangled herself from his arms. She awkwardly avoided his eyes. "Goodnight," she said as she left.

Jason stood in the room alone and confused. "Goodnight," he mumbled to himself.

He wasn't quite sure what just happened, but he refused to think too much about it. After a long cold shower, he finally settled himself in his bed. When he checked the hallway after his shower, he noticed that all of the lights downstairs were turned off. He figured that Charlie was already fast asleep. He didn't know why, but he found himself to be a bit disappointed. He wouldn't admit it, but he was kind of hoping that she would stay up with him. He knew that tomorrow, she would have to go back to Crow's. At least here she was safe. She was with him.

Jason laid down with his arms behind his head. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't go to sleep. A certain raven haired girl wouldn't get out of his mind. He kept thinking about how intimate of a night it was for them. There was nothing romantic, but it was still so intimate to him. He remembered how warm her touch was, and how it felt to have her in his arms. Jason couldn't figure out why that was. What's wrong with you, Jason? he wondered. She is just part of the mission..

And yet he couldn't stop thinking about those green eyes, or the simple way she bit her lips. He couldn't even stop thinking about the way she rambled when she got flustered or emotional. It was all he could think about. This girl. Charlie Sage.

This wasn't happening to him. This never happened before. He never got attached, and he wasn't going to start groaned as he shifted onto his side. He reached underneath his pillow and to his surprise, he felt something. He pulled it out and looked at it.

Jason clutched it hard in his hands, before throwing it across the room.

Two empty vials.

From his cabinet.