Jason sighed in relief when the text came in. An old apartment building in the Bowery, one scheduled for termination (those things never happen anywhere near the Alley) was where Sionis was hiding at. Well, he hoped that Mask enjoys his last few hours, because he's absolutely toast. It doesn't even take ten minutes for him to get there on his motorcycle.
He carefully climbed up onto a nearby building and set up a small perch. He had a pair of binoculars at the ready and was trying to peak into Mask's supposed hiding place. He saw a few of Mask's men every so often, but he didn't see the man himself. Nor, did he see any kids or teens in the building.
Jason watched for close to twenty minutes, trying to map out a pattern for the guards. He needed to be careful so he could make his move without any possible hostages (IE the rumored kid/teen who was nabbed) getting hurt or worse. Not a single innocent person is going to die if he can help it.
He'd rather get put in the ground again.
Jason is about to start planning his move (Yes Bruce, I do plan for shit) when a quiet sound is just barely audible behind him. In this business, you learn how to be stealthy. How to listen to those that are trying to be stealthy. Jason's not a novice, he's been doing this for a while.
He whips around quickly, guns unlocked (why would you ever want them to be locked?) and loaded. Jason narrows his eyes behind the mask as a familiar face appears. Huh. The guy who beat the shit outta Bane is standing on Jason's rooftop. How dare someone stand on one of Jason's rooftops?
"Alright, who the fuck are you, and what the fuck do you want?" He asks, because he figures that this guy probably wouldn't like that he already knows nearly everything about him from his records overseas. Which, to be fair, wasn't much.
The guy - Nero Consoli - Raises his hands lazily and shrugs. "I'm looking for Black Mask. If you're here then I'm assuming he's nearby?" The man states, and then blinks. "Oh yeah. Name's Nero. I own the orphanage in the Alley." That he does. One of the most successful to ever operate in the Alley.
Well, the only successful one. Still. Accolades and all that. Jason doesn't completely lower his guns, but he does aim for non-vital organs. And he takes his fingers off of the triggers. "Huh. And why is a geriatric young man looking for a crime lord?" Nero snorts at that comment, but his face quickly turns serious.
"Jackass has one of my kids. I'm going to get him back and probably kill the bastard." Well fucking son of a bitch, if this guy isn't after his own heart. He shakes his head and holsters his guns. "I think I like you." Jason says, rather surprised how honest that statement is. Nero chuckles, shaking his head.
"Totally flattered man, but I got a girl already." Yeah his step-sister. Which hey, Jason ain't judging. Whatever the fuck two, consenting adults do behind closed doors is their business. Jason doesn't say any of this however. Instead, he points to the building behind him.
"Mask is in there. Got word that he nabbed a kid or young teenager. Figured I'd let him live more than long enough." Nero clicks his tongue. "Perfect. You go kill Mask and I grab my kid." Jason is ready to argue, but he remembers the footage Dick had shown him. Remembers how easily the guy tossed Bane around.
See here's a funny thing about Bane, not only does he hit harder than you'd think, he's also a lot smarter than you'd think. Ra'salmostmade the guy his successor. Bane is smart, strong and knows how to fight. And yet this guy beat the ever loving shit out of him and Bane didn't get so much as a chance to fart on the man.
Nero Consoli is a mystery. There wasn't much in the way of online records where he lived. It was an island off the coast of Italy. Some shit went down and then he moved over to the mainland for a while, where he was a part of a business called Devil May Cry. The business was also a mystery, with the website being so basic it looked like it came straight out of 1998 and all they could find was that it was basically a fancy engineering/plumbing company.
Bruce didn't buy that for a second. None of them did. But they hadn't been able to find a single other thing about the business. The guy who ran it, a man they could only find as being referred to as 'Dante' was the boss. He had a partner; a blond no one knew the name of, and there was someone else on the payroll who, again, was only referred to as 'Nico'.
Any other digging they did came up empty. Bruce was the only one who hadn't given up yet, and Jason is astonished that the man hasn't already shown up at the orphanage and demanded to know everything about Nero Consoli. Jason's pretty sure the only reason Bruce hasn't done that yet is because the orphanage is firmly in Alley territory.
Bruce is a lot of things, but two things that Jason will give Bruce credit for is that the man respects Jason's line; doesn't cross into the Alley for anything unless Jason says it's fine, and that whenever Jason has really needed Bruce, the man is there.
He ignores the only time that Bruce wasn't there. His death was his fault.
It still hurts though.
Jason knows he should probably say something at this point. "Yeah, sounds good to me. Don't worry about 'lethal force' and all that jazz. I'm not a Bat so you're fine." Nero huffs. "Yeah well I'm not giving the big bad Batman any reason to knock on my front door." He then tilts his head. "You know, Tina is a fan... Maybe I should do something stupid. Then she'd meet him."
Jason just shakes his head. "You are a particular brand of insane. That's a bad idea." Nero laughs - a full body one - "Oh man, if you think that was insane, then stick around. I'm full of bad ideas." Nero points at the building in front of him. "Case in point." Nero takes a running jump, and manages to clear a good thirty foot gap in mid-air, landing perfectly on the roof.
Jason's stunned. Meta abilities, or something else? He doesn't know, but with the fact that Nero got here not long after Jason had, the former Robin would be willing to bet that, if the man is a Meta, he can do more than just jump. Jason snaps out of his thoughts as he watches the man sneakily open a window and climb inside the building.
Well... It's a good thing Jason always has a plan B.
...
The half-devil was grateful that the Red Hood cared enough to try to save Grant, but not only is Grant his responsibility, Nero also has a better chance of getting him out safely. Though Nero is extremely glad that the man is here regardless; now if he does slip up and kill someone, Red Hood will most likely take the blame for it.
He hopes at least. Nero knows Red Hood isn't on the Batman's 'team' but he does know that they are at least somewhat amicable towards each other. He hopes Red Hood will keep his own presence here a secret, but Nero's never been so lucky. It doesn't matter that much though. Saving Grant is the top priority now.
Nero sticks to the shadows as he stalks down the hallways. The building is definitely an apartment complex - or at least used to be one - and it's really worn down. His feet squeak on the floorboards every so often, but he's fast and light enough on his feet that he doesn't get spotted. He knocks a few guards out, not bothering to hide their bodies.
They'll be up in less than a few minutes anyways, so there's no need. Unless he hit them a littletoohard, in which case, he doesn't need to worry about them at all. Grant's smell gets stronger and stronger as he heads to the second floor. The guards get less frequent and it's far easier to sneak when no one's around to catch you. He starts to hear gunfire coming from above.
Maybe the guards are all going after the Hood? Nero's not sure, but at least he can get to Grant easier now.
He finally gets to a door with a guy standing in front of it. Nero wonders about what to do for all of five seconds. The young devil walks up to the man, nodding his head. "Sup?" The guard doesn't even get a chance to reach in his pocket, before he's down on the ground.
Nero's 75% sure he's still alive... Maybe 70%.
The half devil rips the door off of it's hinges, and relaxes as he sees Grant tucked into a corner. He's tied up and shaken, but otherwise fine. Nero walks quickly over to the young teen. "Hey, hey I'm here man. You're gonna be fine." Grant raises his head up quickly. "Ne-Nero?" He asks. The man nods. "Yeah kid, I'm here. Come on, let's get you to-" Grant shakes his head wildly.
"No, no fucking hell we're all screwed." Grant says, his eyes wide. Nero grabs his shoulder tightly. "No, we're not. I'm taking you back to the orphanage-" Grant practically growls. "You can't! It'll put everyone in danger, Sionis won't stop until I'm dead!" Nero huffs.
"Well good thing he's upstairs getting merked by the Red Hood." Grant blinks in confusion, before Nero hears him gulp. "Then he's dead. Red Hood is dead." Nero tilts his head, staring at Grant. "What do you mean he's dead? I'm pretty sure Mask isn't that dangerous." Grant laughs. It's hollow.
"You don't... You don't understand." Grant says, looking back down at the ground. "Mask has a robot on his side. It's called Amazo."
...
Jason whistled loudly as he walked down into the fifth floor. It alerted a guard, who he proceeded to shoot in the neck (calm down Bruce, he's saving the real bullets for Mask) the man went down fast, and two more goons, or targets, as Jason likes to call them, bust through a random apartment number.
Jason shoots them too. He's more than happy to play the bait while the white haired miracle worker of Crime Alley saves a kid. Maybe the guy doesn't need the help pulling the guards away, but Jason likes to think he's helping.
And hey, even if he's not, he will be helping once he puts Mask six feet under.
Using his infrared, he finds a few more goons on the floor. Pretty much the same thing he'd seen from afar earlier, but it never hurt to check twice. Or three times. He finds Mask huddled up on the fourth floor, while he sees Nero - he thinks at least - heading down into the second floor. Good thing the kid isn't near Mask.
Means Jason doesn't have to worry about a stray shot hitting anyone.
Jason kicks open the stairwell door and heads downstairs, whistling as he does. Three more goons try to jump him, and he's got three less rubber bullets by the time he knocks on the apartment number Mask is hiding behind.
"Delivery for a Mr. Roman Sinus?" He drawls, and waits for Mask to get pissed about his name. Instead, nothing. "Ah, Red Hood, come in. Make yourself at home." Jason freezes. Mask is never this - He immediately goes on high alert, turning his infrared back on. There's nothing in the building left on this floor. He looks back downstairs and can faintly see Nero with a smaller figure.
Ok, so the kid is safe. Maybe Mask thinks he's got a card to play here, then. Guess Jason will have to give him the bad news. The Red Hood kicks the door down with his foot, drawing his handgun with live rounds. He points it at Mask, who is sitting on a dirty sofa. His posture relaxed.
Jason steps forward.
"Sorry about your hostage Roman. Kid's safe and sound now. Unlike you." Mask shakes his head. "You know, I am a business man Hood. And I'm willing to let you walk out of here alive if we can make a deal." Jason laughs.
"You have somenerveto come in to the Alley - MY Alley and demand a deal." Jason shakes his head, and points his gun at the man. "No deal." Mask laughs. "I was hoping you'd say that... Kill 'em."
Jason doesn't even feel the attack coming, before darkness overtakes him.