Under the Red Hood

Ben and Gwen were in hot pursuit of the Red Hood, having found out there was a large shipment of heroin coming in, Ben knew he would try to kill the criminals. They had arrived and stopped the criminals just as the murderous vigilante got there. They had wanted to go after the Joker straight away, but Kevin insisted they rest up from their last encounter with him. They had to delay their attack one day.

"I'm not surprised you two showed up, I best be going! It's a nice night for a run!"

"I can catch him with Fasttrack!" Ben began to slap the Ultimatrix but realized it had timed out.

"Just save it until we can catch up to him and let it recharge!" Gwen told him.

Red hood made his way up onto a roof top and jumped clear across the street to the construction scaffolding below him, crashing through one of the higher scaffolds, he got to his feet and slammed his shoulder into a nearby board, causing it to fall like a ramp that he ran down. Gwen and Ben followed as Gwen created Manna platforms for them to run on, they ran down the makeshift ramp and continued pursuing their target.

Gwen formed a shuriken with her Manna and aimed for his legs; Red Hood turned to the left and ran into the construction area. He shoved his shoulder into loose wooden beams and grabbed a canister filed with flammable liquid. He took it and jumped out of the opening; he turned around and tossed it up, shooting it.

Gwen and Ben managed to stop as she shielded them from the explosion.

Red Hood leapt out onto another building, somersaulting to keep his momentum going. Ben and Gwen followed, without the fancy acrobatics. He jumped up and vaulted over a security gate fence; he jumped over onto another rooftop and began climbing up a ladder.

Gwen formed her Manna into a whip and grabbed his leg. Red Hood suddenly turned around and used his Kris to slice the energy off his leg. Where did he learn to do that?

But Gwen's mind wasn't really thinking about what was going on right in front of her, she was dwelling on a nightmare that wouldn't go away.

The dream that she had earlier that night had disturbed her. She was with Kevin. Suddenly the Red Hood appeared.

"What are you doing here?" Kevin asked.

"I'm here to kill you because you're a criminal," the Red Hood replied.

"I haven't been a criminal for a long time; you don't need to come after me."

"You and the girl deserve to die, she's your accomplice."

"Gwen had nothing to do with any of my activities, you stay away from her!" Kevin prepared to fight.

Red Hood suddenly whipped out a crowbar and began beating Kevin with it. Kevin was pretty tough, but he couldn't remained focused long enough to absorb matter to protect himself.

The vigilante kept punching him and kicking him, kneeing Kevin in the stomach and pistol whipping him in the face. Kevin collapsed onto the

"Up Levin, this is the part where you try to stop me and I beat the hell out of you!" Red Hood struck Kevin with the crowbar, over and over, Kevin tried to fight back, but he couldn't absorb the matter fast enough to shield himself from the attack.

Gwen rush to his side, punching and kicking the Red Hood, but she could never keep up with his brutal attack, he even kicked her in the groin which was incredibly painful. He was simultaneously punching and kicking both of them, overpowering them as they tried to counterattack.

"Red Hood, please stop!" Gwen begged; the tears in her eyes. "Don't kill him! He's not a criminal anymore, please!"

"Like I care if this scum dies!" Red Hood sneered and shot Kevin in the head.

Gwen tried desperately to turn into her full Anodite form, but she didn't have any strength. In a rage, she shouted at him, "I won't let you get away with this!"

she was about to attack him when she found she couldn't move.

"That's really not up to you," Red Hood told her.

"I'm full of surprises!" Gwen snapped.

"You're not the only one…I'm not sure if it's my speed or the sharpness of the blade…but most don't even feel it go in."

Gwen saw to her horror that he had pinned her to the wall with the knife he carried, she tried to pull it out, but it wasn't moving and the pain was too much for her to bear.

"That blade's not coming out of that wall, not at the angle you're at. Choice time. I can pull that out and you can run away as fast as you can. Or I can pull that blade down all the way from your shoulder to your hip. It'll hurt like fire for fifteen minutes, then you'll be dead from blood loss."

Red Hood removed the blade from her shoulder and held it up against her throat.

"You don't have to be sad about this, at least you'll get to be with your precious Kevin again." She felt the searing pain of the knife slicing the skin on her neck and felt the blood oozing out. She was dying, she was dying and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She was completely innocent and this monster was murdering her for no reason—

Gwen awoke with a start, the terror on her face as she clutched at her neck.

She made her way to Kevin's garage and walked in. Kevin noticed how upset she was and immediately dropped what he was doing.

"Gwen, what's wrong?"

"I had a horrible nightmare, Kevin. The Red Hood murdered us."

"That's not going to happen, I promise you!" Kevin moved and held her in his arms. "I'd never let him do that to you."

He'd never use his alter ego to hurt her, she was terrified of him, he knew he should tell her the truth, but he knew she was upset now; she wasn't ready to hear it.

"Shhh, shhh," he soothed, "Everything will be all right, it was just a dream."

Gwen's mind snapped out of her reverie and she continued to run after the Red Hood, Kevin was across town, tracking down the exact location of the Joker's chemicals. He said he would send them the location and meet them There.

Red Hood ran toward another building and ran straight down the wall and crashed through the glass of the building below.

"Where are we?" Ben asked.

"How did you brats find me here?" the Joker shouted as he stepped into view.

"You led us into a trap!" Ben shouted at Red Hood, who stepped forward, facing the Joker.

"No, I led you guys to his location," Red Hood smirked.

Ben attacked him, transforming into Humungousaur as the Joker sprayed him with Joker Venom straight in the face, he got a good lungful of it, Gwen was trying to pull her cousin away, but being rather large, he was nearly impossible to move, she inhaled a green gas, she already knew what it was, she had to get them away.

Ben transformed back into normal and collapsed as they both began to laugh.

The pain was so bad Gwen wanted to scream, but her body was unable to, all she could do was laugh and laugh, it was a nightmare. This was how she and Ben were going to die, painfully, laughing hysterically, unable to escape, breathing their last in excruciating agony.

She had to wonder how long it would take for her to die.

She saw the Red Hood running toward her. The Joker cackled.

"Listen Hoodie, you can stop me or save them, take your pick!" the maniac took off running. Red Hood didn't hesitate to scoop her up in his arms as he summoned a car to his location, she thought it was Kevin's car, but she must be seeing things. He put Ben in the back, and made her sit in front of him as they drove as fast as he could.

"Don't die on me! Please don't die on me!" Red Hood told the two of them as he pulled into an abandoned warehouse. He carried them inside and placed them on medical beds, he quickly grabbed two syringes and found their veins, injecting them with an antidote. He had been making some to give the both of them, he just hadn't been able to slip it to them without being noticed.

Gwen passed out from exhaustion and Ben soon followed her.

After what seemed like hours, Ben woke up. He looked around and saw the Red Hood sitting by his bed.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You were given Joker Venom, I gave you an antidote, you should be grateful I saved your lives."

"Why did you save us?" Ben demanded. "We've done nothing but try to catch you. And yet, here we are in your secret base, and we're not dead from Joker Venom. Why would you do that?"

"Because you are my friends," Red Hood told him. He pushed a button and slowly removed his mask. "I would do anything, even kill, to protect the both of you. If he murders the two of you, I would never come back from that."

Ben stared at the man with a mixture of both awe and horror. The face that stared back at him was the face of Kevin Levin.

Gwen wasn't in the same room with him. She was asleep elsewhere.

"Kevin, how could you? How could you kill criminals like that?" Ben demanded. "You slit a guy's throat in front of us!"

"Now Tennyson, don't try to act all self righteous when you did try to kill me when I went crazy. That would be hypocritical."

Kevin crossed his arms. "I'm doing this to protect both of you. Despite what you keep saying about being able to kill your enemies, I know you can't. So I will, you've got the whole world watching you, if you did something like that they'd never let you forget it. I'll cross those lines so you won't have to."

"But why?" Ben asked.

"Because the Joker murdered me, Tennyson, he killed me in cold blood and when I came back from the dead I tried to kill him, but Batman stopped me."

But how is that possible?" Ben asked. "When I met you again you seemed just fine to me, and why would you hide something like this from me, your best friend?"

"Because my past is something that I don't like to talk about," Kevin looked at Ben. "Before we were reunited I lived in Gotham City, boosting tires to earn money. One day, I hit the jackpot; I knew that if I boosted these tires I'd be set for a long time."

"Why would tires be important?" Ben asked.

"Because they were Batman's," Kevin looked at his friend's disbelief.

He told Ben everything, becoming Robin, his work, trying to be a hero, saving people, he told him about Deacon Blackfire and Felipe Garzonas. He told him about his brutal murder and that he had come back to life, and of his quest for vengeance. When he was finished, Ben looked at him.

"You have to tell Gwen," Ben met his gaze harshly. "You can't hide this from her. It's bad enough what you've done, but hiding this from her is something I can't allow."

"I know," Kevin sighed. "Go get some sleep Tennyson; you need it so that the anti venom can kick in."

"But what about the Joker?" Ben asked, worried.

"Don't worry about him, this was never about you, it's about me," Kevin looked at him. "He'll only make his move when he wants to."

"Kevin, you know sometimes I make threats—"

"Yeah, but you're not a killer. It's a lot harder when you see someone kill a guy than when you say it's something you're going to do. It may be morally wrong, but sometimes you have to do a great wrong in order to do a great right, and that's something a lot of you don't understand."

Kevin got to his feet and walked away. He picked up his mask and put it back on. He saw Gwen sitting on the bed; she looked up as he entered the room.

"Where am I?" Gwen demanded.

"My safe house, you were dosed with Joker Venom, I gave you an antidote, you need to rest, you'll be fine now."

"Where is Kevin?" Gwen asked. "Why wasn't he here with me? When I need him most, he disappears."

"I'm right here Gwen, I'm right here. I've been with you the entire time," Kevin removed the mask and her eyes widened as she saw his eyes covered by a red domino mask.

"You've been taking the law into your own hands! You've been killing criminals!" Gwen was horrified.

"I'm doing it because I don't have any other choice," he told her.

"But you know what it's like to die! When Charmcaster murdered us, you know what it's like to have the life leave your eyes, how could you do that to other people?"

'Because they deserve it," Kevin looked at her. "Yes, it's true; I know what it's like to die. I've died twice now and death means nothing to me, all it did was slow me down a little."

"So you really were murdered by someone," Gwen's gaze was unfaltering.

"You found Talia's letter she wrote me," Kevin gestured with his hands.

"Who is she? I met her, she said she knew you."

"She does, do your best to stay away from her."

"Do Lazarus Pits exist?"

"Yes."

"And Talia used one on you."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"She wanted to give me back to my father."

"Your birth father is dead."

"Not my real father. My adopted father is Batman."

"Batman. Really? Can you prove that?"

"My DNA does not exist on this planet, I am not registered anywhere and no one knows that I died, my death has been hidden from anyone who tries to look into it and I know where Batman gets his money and gadgets an d I know how he works and who he is. I can speak multiple languages fluently and I am a master martial artist and acrobat. I also know the identities of many famous heroes from the Teen Titans to Green Arrow and Superman, as well as Batman."

"Why would you know all that?"

"Because I was Robin for a year. I know all his secrets. Do you take that at face value or would you like to fight me and find out?" Kevin asked.

"I fought you already," Gwen reminded him. "You were better than me. I believe you."

"I know. What else do you want to know?"

"Who murdered you?" Gwen needed the answers.

"The Joker," Kevin met her gaze with a look that she couldn't describe. Her hand flew up to her mouth in horror.

"Beat me real bad with a crowbar, left me to die in a warehouse in Ethiopia. I went there looking for the woman I thought was my birth mother. She betrayed me to the Joker. Then I came back to life and I was little more than a vegetable. Talia found me living on the street and she took me in."

"Her father thought I was useless and decided to send me away, but Talia cared about me, and loved me, and she took me and threw me into the Lazarus Pit and gave me back my mind."

She told me, "You remain unavenged", so I set out to learn what I could, how to use weapons, make bombs, I was taught to kill, and I did so without one shred of remorse. I confronted Batman as Robin and tried to see if he had killed the Joker, I wanted to see some regret, I didn't. So I became a crime lord, I took over the drug business in Gotham and killed criminals and captured the Joker so I could kill him, but Batman stopped me. And he gave me this, in my final fight with him," Kevin showed her the large scar on his neck. "Defeated, I left Gotham City, and came back to Bellwood."

"Just how many people have you killed?" Gwen's voice was filled with terror.

"That I can remember, 60 give or take," Kevin told her in a very matter-of-fact voice.

"How do I know you won't snap and murder me?" Gwen asked. The nightmares she had about the Red Hood seemed to terrify her now that she knew Kevin was the one behind the mask.

"Gwen, you thought I'd kill you?" he asked. He moved closer to her, cupping her face in his gloved hand. "I'd never do that."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her against him. "I did all this to protect you. Those dreams you had are just dreams, I'm not a heartless monster!"

He pressed kisses to her lips. "I'm not going to hurt you; I told you that I wouldn't. You don't have anything to be afraid of, I promise."

"I just feel like I don't know you anymore Kevin, I don't know what to think," Gwen clutched him, trying to feel reassured that this was the Kevin Levin she'd know for two years, and not someone else that was masquerading as the young man she loved.

"I've always been who I am, what you see is what you get, Gwen. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I wanted to wait until this was over."

Kevin felt he should give her a better explanation of what he meant.

"I used to think that life was a game; that it was all just a big competition, but I don't think like that, not anymore."

"So you are like Ben, but your way of thinking is much different than his. Red Hood has only been active for a few weeks, if not a month; if I leave out all the things I heard you did in Gotham City. Why did you stop killing?"

"Because of the two of you. After Ben stopped me, and we became friends, I put aside the costumes and the gadgets, because I enjoy my life with you and Ben."

"And suppressing your skills you learned from Batman?" Gwen asked.

"Part of not getting noticed, honestly, I would have been happy if you both had never found out about this."

He paused for a moment.

"Now that I've told you everything, does it change the way you feel about me?" Kevin asked; his eyes never left hers.

"No, but I'm struggling to understand it all, the moral gray area is something that I find very hard to deal with, especially when it comes to what you're doing."

"Get some rest Gwen; you need to sleep so the antidote will have enough time to work."

Gwen tried to sleep, but it wouldn't come. There was too much on her mind, and she still wanted more answers from Kevin, and she wouldn't rest until she got them.