I think this kind of story isn't exactly for everyone but this is the most personal thing I've written so I'm gonna go ahead and publish it. There seems to be a lot of overly angsty Jason stories and also a lot of overly cheery ones so this one should be a nice middle ground. I really like exploring how these heroes can help and do good besides just fighting crime in costumes. Anyway, thanks for stopping by and have a good one.
The mean streets of Gotham were always tense. Even during the day when the birds chirped about and the people roamed, you could never be completely at ease in this part of the old city.
"With all due respect, Mr. Todd, you've made an unbelievably foolish choice."
Jason took his eyes off the group of kids playing soccer down the street and looked at the short balding man in a suit.
"It's a lovely neighborhood."
"Those of us at First Gotham have a greatly differing opinion on the meaning of the word 'lovely'. You're taking this place out of our possession so we thank you. We're laughing, but we're thankful."
Jason smiled while his sunglasses hid his inner thoughts.
"I hate banks and bankers. You showed me the run about now go away. I'll fill out the paperwork with you later."
The suit looked indignant but, like most people, he was terrified of Jason, so he muttered a 'yes' and walked away with intent. Jason looked up and about his new building. 20,000 square feet and two stories of potential. He carried a pair of dull red Boxing gloves at his side as he entered through the old metal door. Wide open space with concrete walls, red steel beams and nice overhead natural lighting. The metal staircase to his immediate left led to the office space and some storage areas up above. The place was perfect.
Jason walked to the center of the building, near the wall. There was a large metal piece on the support beam that was used to hang a pneumatic hose or something, but the tied laces of the gloves rested there just fine.
"That'll get this place started."
Jason stepped back and admired the first addition to the place, smiling. He looked around the whole open area and started planning out where everything would go. He had bought a dozen large punching bags, two rings, ten speed bags and six reflex bags to start off. For decorations he had eight posters of some of the all time greats like Salvador Sánchez and Joe Louis along with some collectibles like signed gloves and magazines. The decor may have been predictable, but his whole reason for doing this was to help the kids of Gotham and teach them some useful stuff while providing inspiration.
Boxing was the sport known for having guys start from the bottom. From sharing a worn out blanket with their siblings on a cold, hard floor and eating stolen biscuits just to survive the day, then someday carrying their entire nation on their shoulders and standing as a modern warrior-king after winning the gold in front of millions of fans all over the world. Jason bounced around like the floor was hot and started shadow boxing. His jabs with the right were flashes and his left hand carried a pop that had been knocking out grown men since he was a kid. Every hook sliced through the wind and his uppercuts almost took him off the ground. He had mastered every martial art he'd ever been exposed to in his young life and they all exhilarated him but boxing was just a different beast. As a kid he honestly didn't like watching the fights on TV. He'd seen too much violence in his own life and thought that anyone who would willingly put themselves through such torture was stupid, but that was until he saw the first Morales-Pacquiao fight. The British had much more fondness for the sweet science than Americans did, and Alfred was quintessentially British. He was always an excellent example of the kind of man he wanted to be, and Jason knew to trust anything he stood by, whether it be a habit, a discipline or a passion. That night in the little old theater of the manor, he saw two Gladiators put their hearts on the line. The two men in the ring knew they were going to be hurt, they knew they were going to cause damage, but they did it the right way because they were born for it, because they fought for something much greater than themselves.
He could only hope to make Alfred proud. The gloves he hung up on the wall were worn and well past their day. The dull red color was once much brighter and the 'Cleto Reyes' logo had been partially torn off of one of them at some point, but they still held a little part of Alfred's fighting spirit that would never die. Jason smiled from the memories and hoped to do for some people even just a fraction of what the old British Armed Forces welterweight champion had done for him.
LINE BREAK
Not every kid made it out of the bad parts of the city. It was even harder for the ones with less than stellar parents to find a way out of the dirty streets and away from the drugs, guns and violence. Stephanie knew she was lucky to have what she had, and she worked hard to keep it. The tedious classwork and exams of her university coupled with the nightly activities she undertook away from the public eye filled up her plate and then some. It was all worth it to be one of the success stories, and it wasn't all work. She still found time to hang out with her normal friends every once in a while, but even normal activities could become a drag.
"What do you think? What's wrong with it?"
Steph laughed and shook her head.
"I know you put gas in a car and it goes vroom. That's about it."
They were supposed to go and have lunch but now the car wouldn't start and, as it turned out, a girl who was raised by a parent who couldn't get the broken fridge door to stay closed and a girl who was raised in the lap of luxury by a filthy rich family didn't have the skills to fix it. It was the little things that could unite people of all backgrounds.
"I guess I'll call my dad. He's probably got a guy for this."
"Yeah, if all else fails, just call daddy."
"Shut up."
She pulled her phone out and after a short call they had a repairman on the way. It was warm and they couldn't get the windows to roll down so they sat on the hood of the blue Lexus and waited, watching videos and gossiping about their classmates. It didn't take more than fifteen minutes for them to see an old, squarish pickup truck pulling into the parking lot. It was red and had what looked like a big tool box on the back.
"You think that's the guy or a serial killer that's going to stuff us into that huge box?"
"Probably both."
They hopped off the car as the truck pulled smoothly into the empty space next to theirs and parked, shutting off the loud engine. Steph was reopening the hood as she heard the door from the truck open and someone get out. She could clearly hear their conversation right behind her. Only five seconds and she was already flirting? That must have been a new record for her. When the man responded, she stopped with her hand still on the now raised hood. That soft, deep voice set her alarm off instantly.
"Steph, move so Jason can see what's wrong. She's Steph and I'm Allison, by the way."
Steph did as she was asked and stepped away from the car, turning to get just the view she was expecting. Jason Todd, in all his chiseled glory with a handsome smile.
"Nice seeing you."
"Yeah. It's been a while."
They'd last seen each other almost three months prior, when Jason had come back to town from some grand adventure. They spoke for a few minutes on some rooftop downtown and he'd kept quiet ever since. Batman hadn't mentioned his estranged son at all recently, and all things considered, that was a good thing.
"You know her?"
She was asking Jason instead of Steph, who rolled her eyes.
"Yeah. She used to go out with my… friend."
"Your brother."
"Adopted, adopted. Anyway, car won't start? How long's it been having this problem?"
Allison grabbed him by the arm and pulled him over to the opened hood. She was as subtle as she was rich.
"This is the first time. It's brand new, I just bought it two months ago."
"Your dad bought it," Steph corrected, to which she shot her a quick grating look.
"Your dad's a nice guy. I replaced his boat's impeller last week and he took me fishing after."
"Oh, that's great! It won't be so awkward when I bring you home."
Steph shook her head while Jason chuckled and fiddled with some cables.
"I've never met a girl's parents before, but I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself."
Allison walked up right next to him and limited his working space, but he didn't seem to mind.
"You're right, we should go out a few times first. When are you free?"
"Right now."
He closed the hood and walked to the driver's door. The keys were still in the ignition for him to try. Steph hadn't noticed what he did, but it worked since the engine started right up like normal.
"The battery terminals were loose."
He stepped out of the car so Allison could sit in and Steph joined her.
"That's it? What the hell. How come we didn't figure that out?"
Steph shrugged at her friend's slight frustration as Jason nodded, clearly amused.
"You should be able to go on now. Don't worry about money."
"I guess we can go to lunch now. What do you want?"
"I was feeling like sushi."
"Steph, I was talking to Jason."
This was going to be fun. Of course, Steph trusted Jason not to do anything crazy right then but she still didn't like her Bat-life mixing in with her normal life, especially not with the estranged trigger happy member of the family. He considered his options but Allison kept up her coercion.
"At least let me do this to pay you back. Please?"
Steph had to look away as her friend made the face that was only ever used on her father when she had gotten in trouble or wanted something big. The hard negotiator gave in.
"I haven't had sushi in a while."
LINE BREAK
Steph considered walking out and going home, but the free food and lack of transportation made it difficult. She'd seen Allison fall for a guy plenty of times before but she was taking it to a new level with Jason. Sure, he was hot, Steph could never deny that. He was also a listener, smart, tall, interesting and a murdering gun obsessed crime boss. On top of that, he was also part of the family/team/costume party she was deeply involved with. He was shunned and avoided, but he was still a bat. That was something none of them could ever leave behind. She had to suck it up. The food was coming soon, all she had to do was sit and keep third wheeling. Jason would understand when she'd tell him to stay away from her friend.
"Business is the most common major but my dad just said I had to get a degree before he'd give me a job. To make the nepotism look less bad, I guess. How about you? How'd you end up doing what you do?"
She noticed Allison had her chair right up by Jason's but he didn't seem to care. He sure was easy going. Maybe he wasn't the stone cold loner she'd been led to believe.
"I've just always been good with my hands. Even as a kid I always messed around with cars."
He glanced at Steph and she grinned, catching his joke. The way he'd met Batman was one of the few happy stories she'd ever heard about him.
"Honest work is a good experience, and I just do what I can to pay the bills. I'll have a lot more coming in soon."
"What are you getting yourself into?" Steph asked, trying to contribute to the conversation.
Not that he was sad before, but he perked up and leaned a bit towards her side of the table.
"I've been doing some thinking on how I could help people. A more direct way. When I was a kid, you know, I had a tough time with guidance. I had no one. Then you know what happened, but a big part of what helped me was everything Alfred did for me, everything he taught me himself. He was the one that made the family a family, he was the heart of that giant manor. I'm opening a boxing gym to help kids get off the streets and teach them how to be good. To teach them the lessons Alfred taught me."
Steph was surprised. He was starting a legitimate business for once, but it was something pretty crude.
"You want to teach kids how to fight? Won't that just make them want to fight all the time? They'll get hurt, too."
"You know, I was a lot less angry and violent after I started training with Alfred. It was a more important deal to me than… than when I met Bruce. The discipline and compassion are what I remember about learning it. When I realized somebody cared about me and wanted to teach me about something they loved, it was the turning point of my life. I really was somebody worth saving. I'm thinking I could do the same for others now, and I won't convince anyone to fight. I'll teach them how to do it, how to protect themselves, but no one's gonna be forced to compete or even spar. I'll have a bunch of other stuff too, like weights and machines for lifting and equipment for other stuff, so they won't even have to do boxing itself. I don't know how it's all gonna work out yet but I'm excited, Steph."
She hadn't seen him like this ever before. He always seemed stern, even rude around the others, even around her. She'd written him off a long time ago and only remained courteous to him so things wouldn't get too awkward when they had to interact. Maybe he was more of a black sheep than a lone wolf.
"You didn't mention anything about this ever before."
He leaned back into his chair and seemed to be calming himself. Allison was remaining silent as they conversed, understanding that they needed to have a moment.
"It's a recent thing. How about you? What have you been up to?"
He probably thought she had shot him down and didn't believe in his idea and now she felt guilty. Jason deserved much more credit than anyone seemed to give him.
"I'm still in college. I guess you knew that. I really want to help kids too. We both grew up kind of the same, remember? I get what you mean, and I think you've got a great idea. I want to help by working for the city or a charity and making sure kids have food and a safe place to sleep at night. Nothing really changed since we were kids since the city is still a trap for the poor. You're doing great, Jason."
She smiled, genuinely. For all that she had hated the times when people compared her to him, she could now see the comparison as a compliment. Jason was considerate, a better person than everyone thought he was and a good man. He smiled back, happy she understood him. Then the food came and Allison went back to her usual ways.