Chapter Two

February 29th, 2012

"Do you know why you're here, Mister Todd?"

Jason tugged awkwardly at the suit, pulling the collar away from his neck and trying to loosen the dark red tie ever so slightly. He clasped his lips shut, unwilling to answer the man's question. Everything seemed nice enough. The man, Mister Fox, treated Jason with enough respect, and the large, sprawling office had enough amenities occupied and happy. But, he still didn't trust any of it. He looked past Mister Fox's head and out the large, picture window, down on the city. The Wayne Enterprises building was one of the tallest structures in Gotham and allowed a sweeping view on nearly the entire city. Massive skyscrapers blended together, arching up and down through the sky like a mountain range speckled with lights. It occurred to him that he had never been up this high before.

"Mister Todd," Fox leaned forward, clasping his hands together neatly, his glasses lowering down the bridge of his nose.

"No," Jason whispered, avoiding eye contact. He knew what Mia had said. Eye contact is important. You need to show respect and you need to show that you're confident. But he wasn't sure about respect yet, and he was sure he wasn't confident.

Mister Fox smiled, his mouth carving a warm and inviting grin across his face. "You have been accepted for a scholarship at Gotham's Solomon Wayne Academic Academy. Mister Wayne is a board member. He has personally seen to your acceptance."

Jason raised his brow and contorted his face into a questioning glare. "What do you mean? How…"

"Every year, Mister Wayne personally looks through local school reports and listings to find-"

"What? The worst students?"

"To find someone with potential."

"Look," Jason grinned, although it felt like it was born more from annoyance than humor. "I don't mean to disrespect you or your boss or any of this, but that is the single dumbest thing I think I've ever heard anybody say. I have a lot of things, but potential isn't one of 'em."

"I understand what you are saying, Mister Todd," Mister Fox's fingers rubbed at his gilded cufflinks. "But Mister Wayne wants to pull students from poverty in an attempt to shape the future of Gotham. One day, you could be a city leader or a respected businessman. Attending the Solomon Wayne Academy will help you reach that or any other goal you may have, Mister Todd."

"I don't deserve this."

"Mister Wayne seems to think you do."

"Mister Wayne doesn't know a damn thing about me."

Despite the acid in Jason's words, Mister Fox smiled lightly, his deep brown eyes glowing with something that resembled pride. "Mister Todd," he said, his words cool and crisp, smooth like glass. "I have known Mister Wayne for nearly his entire life. I was hardly more than a boy myself when his father first brought him here, to Wayne Enterprises. And ever since then, he had proved time and again that he is a man of only pure intentions. The media and the tabloids may try to paint him in a different light, but there is no one I respect more than Bruce Wayne. And if says that this will help Gotham, that this will help you, then I have no choice but to believe him. In the end though, it is not my decision to take the scholarship. It is yours. So what do you choose, Mister Todd?"

For the first time he could remember, Jason was speechless. He sat there in a stunned silence and, while his mind grappled with what Mister Fox had just told him, he found the only thing he could focus on was that face. The Batman's face. It had been a week since Jason had tried to steal the wheels from the Batmobile, and yet, he never seemed to overcome the sheer shock that he had gone through.

"I asked you a question," Batman spoke with a calm anger, every body movement portraying this as well. "What are you doing?"

"Well," Jason had stumbled back, into the snow, pure fright more powerful than the chill of the snow. "I was just… the bolts were loose and… and the security system…"

Batman towered over him as Jason scrambled backwards, ice cutting at his hands. He remembered feeling blood trickle down one of his fingers, but there was hardly any pain at all. His whole body was numb. "You were trying to steal the wheels."

"I… I just needed a little extra money," it was the first lie that had come to Jason's mind. Admittedly, it wasn't a very good one, but Batman seemed to buy it. "And I saw-"

"You saw that you could take them easily," Batman's face was still like stone, never wavering, never changing.

"Yeah. That's it."

And then, something Jason would have never expected happened. A small, tearse smile carved its way across the Batman's face. "Impressive," he said, a new light in his voice.

"Really?"

"Just don't think you can get away with it again," the stone-face was back, but his brow was no longer furrowed in anger, and his muscles seemed to ease. "Now leave. And try to do something with your life other than stealing tires from cars."

"Mister Todd," Mister Fox's cool voice jerked Jason back to the present. "Your answer?"

Batman's words rang through his mind like a bell. He needed to do something with his life. But it just didn't feel right. He didn't deserve this. He didn't care about school or his future. Mia was the one that had plans and goals for herself. Jason was just willing to do what he needed to to survive. And going to some fancy school for spoiled rich kids certainly didn't seem necessary to survive.

"I… I think I just need some time to think about it," Jason said, pushing out his chair and forcing his wobbling legs to hold him upright. "How… how long do I have?"

"I'm afraid not very much time. The spring semester starts the second week of March. You must accept before then."

"Okay," the word creaked out of his throat and past his tongue, unsure if it wanted to enter the world. He shook Mister Fox's hand and thanked him for his time. He made sure that his suit was still finely pressed, even if it was ill fitting and just a little too big for his shoulders. He left the office, pushing the heavy oak doors open and emerging into the hallway, his feet brushing against the regal looking crimson carpeting the stretched all the way down, stopping at the walls which were adorned with maps of Gotham throughout nearly all of its history. Golden lights lined the ceiling, casting a heavenly glow down upon the floor and gilded decorations that clung to the walls, and yet nothing there looked garish or flamboyant. Instead, there was a humbleness hiding, unseen but definitely felt.

"How did it go?" Mia shot up from the chair she had been waiting in, her cherry red dress fluttering behind her and her hair, meticulously rolled into light and bouncy curls, bounced with each step as she practically ran over to him. "I was so worried for you. I've had to pee since we got here, but I didn't want to leave you, so-"

"It was fine," Jason shrugged.

"What was it about, though?" Mia's face lit up in an emphatic grin, filled with more energy than Jason could ever hope to muster. "Didn't you hear me? I've been waiting here ignoring the need to pee for like an hour. I think I deserve a little bit more of an answer than that."

"Some stupid scholarship," Jason sighed as they walked down the hall towards the elevator. "I don't…"

"Wait. A scholarship?"

"Yeah. Solomon Wayne something academy."

For a second, nothing more but also nothing less, Mia's face sank, the light in her eyes darkening ever so slightly. But, then her lips perked back up, curling into a smile once more as she wrapped her arms around Jason's waist. "I'm so happy for you. Do… do you know what this means? You can get out of the Narrows now. You can do something with yourself and… and…"

"I don't think I'm going to take it."

"What?" Mia stopped dead in her tracks. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You… you have to take it!"

"I don't deserve it. This… this whole thing is bullshit. I… what the hell have I ever done, anyway. You deserve this. You've got… you've got plans, Mia. You've got all these ideas and goals. You're good at science and archery and… you have skills that are actually beneficial to the world. Me… what am I supposed to do for anybody?"

"I'm calling BS," Mia pulled him closer, pressing her lips gently against his. "You have some much to offer. And…"

"I don't want to leave you. Not… not down in the Narrows."

"I can take care of myself," Mia gnawed at her lip. "I love you, Jason. But I don't need you there protecting me at all times."

"But, Mia. The Narrows are dangerous. Terrifying. I leave you to go to this school I… I could be leaving you to die!"

"You think I don't know that?" Mia scoffed. "I know the hell that Gotham can be. We both know that. But… I've also seen the good that can come from it. And… it would be selfish of me if I tried to keep you back. You deserve to get out there, Jason. I'll… I'll figure things out on my own. But it's better that one of us gets out than neither of us. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Good," Mia managed a smirk. "Now c'mon. Let's try to find a bathroom before I loose the deposit on this thing. And Jason…?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"Yeah," Jason nodded as he jabbed his finger at the button to open the elevator door. "Uh… right."

"What were you thinking, kid?"

"I was thinking we could make a little more money," Jason huffed, setting the meager grocery bag on the counter as he held his phone between his shoulder and his jaw. The house was much warmer than the blustering winter outside, almost stifling so in the suit that he had forgotten to take off when he had stopped back with Mia and before running to Mister Arthur's store. "We get the Bat-"

"Well," Jason could practically hear Dekker gritting his teeth on the other end, "now the Bat knows your face. You can't do shit for us anymore, man."

"You promised I was done after this, anyway," Jason threw his coat to the ground and undid the tie, slumping it down with the coat. "So what does it matter?"

"Joker's pissed."

"He's in jail," Jason shrugged, adjusting his hold on the phone. "Besides, he's the Joker. How long can he really hold a grudge. Isn't everything supposed to be, you know, a joke to him?"

"Yeah," Dekker said. "Yeah, everything is a joke to him. Including murder. Painful, merciless murder. The kind they wouldn't even wanna put on HBO."

"What's he so mad about, anyway? I did what he wanted."

"Batman's gonna be suspicious now."

"He's always suspicious. How else do you think he survives out there. You don't have guys like Cobblepot and Dent gunnin' for you without being suspicious of everything. He'll probably check me out, see that I don't have any major crimes on my record and go on his way. There's nothin' to take him to you or the Hellhounds or even the Joker. We're all good, man."

"We better be," Dekker grumbled. "'Cause I'm tellin' ya, when Joker gets outta Arkham, he'll be comin' straight for ya."

Jason hung up just as Mia came in, her hair still wet from the shower. She wore an old, ratty white Gotham Knights football shirt and spandex blue cut-off shorts. "What was that about?" she asked, leaning against the wall. Her perfectly plush lips curved into a warm, inviting smile as her hands slid down her side. She was pale and thin, her face gaunt and her ribs practically poking through her flesh. That was what happened out on the streets, especially the streets of Gotham. But that didn't stop her from being the most beautiful girl- no, girl wasn't right- the most beautiful woman that Jason had ever seen.

"Nothing," Jason sighed, walking over and putting a hand on her shoulder. It shifted down her back as they kissed, sharing the same space as one being for a single, blissful second.

"You got back from the store fast," Mia smiled.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No," Mia chuckled. "I'm… I'm glad. I was almost worried your dad would show up while I was still in there. That would've been-"

"He's not gonna show up," Jason said. "Trust me. We have the whole place to ourselves." He reached his hand down to her waist, clutching a crease in the shirt. He could see the look in her eyes. They were ready for this, at least in some small part.

"You know we can't do this, Jason."

"I don't care about any of that, Mia. I'll be careful, I promise. But-"

"I tested positive, Jason," the room filled with a sullen silence for a moment as Mia's eyes dropped down, stuck in remembering her past all of the burdens that had been placed on her suddenly bearing down heavily on her shoulders. "It's… it's too risky. I love you. But… I don't want to hurt you with… this. You know otherwise..."

"Fine," Jason sighed. They had gone through this before, always with the same ending. "Let's just… go watch TV then. I'm sure there's a movie or something on."

"Yeah," light returned to her face. "That… that sounds good."

With light, airy steps, she continued to the living room, her wrist flicking towards the table as she scooped up the remote. The TV crackled to life as she turned it on, the news playing through the speakers, Vicki Vale's voice coming over the intro music.

"...but with no one willing to testify against Mister Cobblepot in court," Vale went on, "it seems that DA Rachel Dawes will have no choice but to let the so called 'Penguin' go free once more. In other news, reports are coming in of a Batman sighting near the Eastern Narrows, by the now abandoned-" Mia muted it.

"What should we watch?" she said, fingers dancing rapidly across the buttons. "Oh! Titanic is on."

"I don't know," Jason plopped down next to her, letting her head rest across his lap. "I'm not really one for all the lovey stuff."

"Yeah," Mia chuckled to herself. "No kidding."

"What's that supposed to me?"

"Nothing. Now c'mon. Have you ever even seen it?"

"No," Jason shrugged. "But I mean, do I need to? The ship sinks. It's not like it's a big surprise."

"It's more than just the surprise at the end," Mia said. "It's about how you get there. Enjoying the story that leads to the end. And you know, sometimes knowing the ending can make the rest of the story all the more precious or terrifying or… well, anything, I guess."

"Terminator is on one channel over. Wouldn't you rather watch that?"

"Tempting," Mia bit her lip slyly. "And while that's still my favorite Cameron movie, at this point I kinda need to pick Titanic just based on principle."

"Fine," Jason sighed as Mia flipped it on, turning the volume back up. Luckily, his phone rang just in time. "I've uh, I gotta take this," he said, standing up and fishing the phone from his pocket.

"Yeah, yeah," Mia smiled, flipping her hair past her shoulder and to her back so that it flowed down like a sloppy stream of gold. "Whatever. Just hurry up. My favorite part is coming on right now."

"Hey," Jason answered once he was in the kitchen for any needed privacy. "Look, if this is some sort of telemarketer thing-"

"No, no," the voice on the other end creaked like the floorboards of a haunted house, sending shivers creeping down Jason's spine. "Nothing like that. Those telemarketers… now they are the true evil in this world."

"Then, do you mind if I ask who you are exactly?"

"Guess who, Jay-bird." That laugh. He had never heard it in person, never even heard it over the television, and yet he recognized it right away. There was only one possibility, given the way it sent shivers crawling precariously down his spine, sending each and every hair standing on end as if they were soldiers ready to defend him from an invading army.

"Joker."