CHAPTER 5: Siblings

Jason's POV

I jump from roof to roof, it's a slow night, I've taken down a few thugs, I've managed my drug ring and sabotaged a shipment of Black Mask, but that's it. At nights like these, I'm usually extra tired but- I'm pulled out of my thoughts when I hear loud gunshots and shouting "GET 'ER!" A gruff voice said. More gunshots came and I followed the sound, I watch the scene from a rooftop. There's a young girl, maybe about eleven or twelve, with black hair and pale skin running away from the five large men running after her. She's holding onto her arm and she's stumbling from time to time. She's breathless, and she throws down a few trash cans to try and slow down the men. One of the men shot at her but missed, I hate people that shoot at kids, especially street kids. The girl runs down an alley, and ends up in a dead end, the thugs corner her, they grin as they surround her "Finally, we gotcha!" The leader said, the girl grips onto her knife growling unhumanly.

Well, time to be the vigilante/anti-hero I am, I jump right in front of the girl and in front of the thugs. The men back up "The...The Red Hood!" One of the men stagger "Yeah, it's me, and hey guess what; I don't like it when people try to kill kids, much less young girls" I say and they all back up dropping their weapons. "L-look, she-she was" "I don't give a crap, you don't try to kill kids!" I growl, and pull out my two favorite pistols out of their holsters "now, you all go to hell" I point the guns at them and advance.

****Break****

I turn around to the kid still pinned to the wall. I examine her, she's wounded and blood is seeping through her clothes "you're injured" I imply "no duh" she answers back "who are you anyways?" I raise my eyebrow under my helmet "you haven't heard of me? I'm The Red Hood" "ohhh, that guy! Yeah, I've heard about you, I've overheard some guys talking about you, they were all like 'I hope The Red Hood doesn't know what we're doing'" she pauses "you're like some Batman, one that doesn't mind the blood" "I am not-" she cuts me off "I like you more than him, you get the job done. I mean seriously, Arkham and Blackgate have stupid revolving doors! I mean what's up with Batman!?" Both my eyebrows raise at her comment, no one has ever agreed with me before "so...um...thanks by the way, although I can handle myself just fine" I don't know why but something about this girl, the way she looks, the way she talks, it reminds me of someone...I shake myself out of my thoughts "you're injured, you need a hospital" "Oh hell no, I ain't going to some damn hospital" "you wanna bleed to death, kid?" "It's better than smelling antiseptic, and death!" She complains "well, antiseptic and death or not, you need a hospital or a least a clinic" "um...you see the thing is, I'm trying to stay hidden...and I don't think I should walk into a clinic all banged up will keep me hidden" "What do you mean hidden?" "You know what, never mind, It don't matter anyways" "where are your parents? Your home?" I ask, and her eyes drop to the ground "Um...they died...I don't have a home…" "got any other family members?"

"well...there could be one man...but I donyou think I dress up as The Red Hood all day, to kill the bad guys." I say, and she just stares at 't think he'll take me in, I mean, I'm his dead son's sister...I'll probably just bring more pain into his family…" "who is he?" She looks back at me "You're The Red Hood, why do you give a s***?!" Wow, deja vu...I remember telling Bruce that, the first time we met. I take out my helmet and reveal my masked face "Look, I'm human too. I know how it feels to be...alone. Why do my red domino mask "two masks? Paranoid!" "Just tell me, the name of this man." "Fine...his name's Bruce Wayne" My eyes narrow "I'm serious" "I am too!" "Bruce Wayne only has two sons, one dead son and a daughter" "yeah… well, have you heard of Jason Todd?" I freeze "Bruce Wayne's dead son? You know, the street kid that he took in." I try to read her, she's not lying "I'm his sister" my eyes widen "wh-what?" I stagger "you heard me. Jason's birth mom, is my birth mom. We have different dad's though, so technically...we're siblings" a lump starts to form in my throat "why am I telling you all this? I don't even know who you are" she chuckles lightly, I can see her eyes slowly dropping. "I think...it's because of the drugs" she says and she collapses to the wet floor.

I don't even catch her, I'm too frozen. I have a sister?! What!? Sheila...what!? No way! Right? Why don't I ask the girl what she's talking about? I put on my helmet back on and move towards her, I pick her up and carry her. First she needs a clinic, I always have my trusted doctor in that clinic, Eliza May. I bring her to Eliza's clinic, where my friend patches up the girl that claims to be my sister. "She's alright" that's all I need to hear from my old friend, to bring the little girl to my crappy apartment.

I lay the light girl on my couch, she stirs, and I stare at her. I can see the resemblance...she reminds me of...me. The girl opens her eyes revealing teal greens much like mine. "S***!" She yells, and jumps up. She swiftly locks me in a choke hold "WHERE AM I?!" She yells, I grunt before I grab her arms and flip her over, her back hits the couch. She gets up and gets into a fighting stance "you!" She says.

I hold my hands up in a sign of peace "listen, I ain't gonna to hurt you" "yeah, I've heard that before, they all ended up trying to hurt me...and eventually, dead" "I want answers" "so do I!" "just listen" "you're the Red Hood, it's not like you listen to anyone!" "true…" I mutter "I took you here to ask questions, I'm not going to hurt you" I try my most gentle voice. She looks at me, like the way I looked at Christine yesterday. She looks at me, right through my red helmet and my red domino mask and into my eyes right into my soul, as if she can see right through all my barriers. Her hands drops and her shoulders relax "alright, but can you at least not wear the helmet?" "fine, fine" I agree and remove my helmet just showing my mask.

"what do you need to know? Is this about a drug ring or something? Because I can tell you everything I know." "No...this is much more...personal" she furrows her eyebrows "first things first...you got a name?" She nods "Autumn" "last name?" She grimaces "um...I can't pick…" "what do you mean?" "well...there's Cross, Haywood, and Todd...no not Wayne, I don't like that guy" she mutters "I'm Autumn Cross" she decides and stares intensely at me "how old are you?" "I'm twelve" "okay...earlier, you said that your brother-blood brother was a boy named Jason Todd" "uhu" she nods "tell me about him" "well...based on my research" she starts "he was a street kid" that's right "his parents were Catherine and Willis Todd" that's also right "he was adopted by Bruce Wayne, some people say that he was Mister Wayne's charity case or whatever" that is true, maybe she's really...no, I still need proof "this isn't really based on my research, it's just a guess...but I think he never knew that his real mother was a woman named Sheila Haywood, he might have went after her. I think she was in trouble with The Joker" she growled that mad man's name "that psychopath killed both of them" she held the necklace that's placed around her neck. "I HATE THAT GUY, why can't Batman just put him away...FOR GOOD!?" She mutters

"the guess is correct...except for the theory, that's only half right" I whisper to myself and her eyes shoot towards me "what do you mean that's correct?" She questions. I look at her, then down at the coffee table where two separate printed pictures sit. I pick up the two pictures "are these the people you're talking about?" I show the pictures to her, she looks down at the pics and nods. She stares at me "why do you have pictures of them, are you a stalker or something?" No, the stalker's my replacement, Tim. "No...but I know who that woman is…I met her..." I pull out my mask revealing my own teal green eyes

"Sheila Haywood is my mother...I'm...Jason Todd" I tell her and she takes a step back "I thought you were dead" she says dead seriously "um...I survived" I lie. She shakes her head "no...Joker threw you and Sheila in a warehouse and blew up the place, you're deceased. You're lying to me, I can see it in your eyes." She says calmly "How did you-" "I hacked into the Bat Computer using those computers at the computer shop yesterday...even Batman says your deceased, it said that he held your body and buried it himself, your coffin's still in the cemetery, I know, I checked, they didn't bury an empty coffin. I did my research on you for the past few weeks and used the money I stole for research instead of food, don't worry, I erased all data but as far as I'm concerned...you're dead" looks like Bruce hasn't updated his computer, or maybe he just...can't bring himself to. My mouth drops open and I'm stuck thinking of a good lie, but instead I suddenly blurt out the truth "I died, it's a long story" "we've got time" she crosses her arms "you might not understand" "just get on with it!" I sigh "fine fine fine fine" I start "I did die, at the hands of that mad man...he killed me and Sheila, blew us up in a warehouse in Ethiopia, all because Sheila sold me out to The Joker. I died but...I came back, I don't know how, but I crawled out of my own grave, and just kept walking, I was brain dead. Until a woman...named Talia found me and shoved me into one of these things called a Lazarus pit, it cleared my mind...and here I am now, trying to kill Batman and ruling over the East side of Gotham" she hums and uncrosses her arms "Talia shoved you in the Lazarus pits? She is nice, I knew it! She wasn't all that cold, she totally cares!" I raise an eyebrow, I don't think I can expect that kind of reaction from anyone "so you died and came back, that's your story? Oh okay, I thought you're some weirdo or whatever." "Are you kidding me?" "Sorry, I'm not all that sane" she chuckles "you know Talia?" She sighs "good times...good times. Sorry, I don't know why I'm acting like this, whenever I meet someone knew I'm usually quiet or angry...maybe cause the insanity's catching up with me or whatever...or maybe I'm just overwhelmed that I found a new big brother" She shrugs "you had Talia as a mentor?" "Yeah, I had dozens of mentors...one in Japan, Korea, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong...and I can't remember the other places. OH! And also in Hundreds Of Acres, yeah…" "let me guess...Ducra?" "Yup, Ducra" "I think she's dead by the way" great her attitude's catching up with me. Her face drops "I didn't know that." "I guess I spent too much time fighting the war" she mutters "war?" "Forget I said anything, that's classified or something" I raise my hands up still holding my mask.

"You trained with the All Caste too?" She asks me and I nod "yeah" I run my hand through my hair, I like my new sister already, she's a little crazy and weird though "cool…" "so you had dozens of mentors?" "Yeah...although I think most of them are dead now, not counting Talia" "Oh, what happened to your mentors?" I don't know why I just asked that "I killed them" I take a step back, shocked at her answer "oh don't worry, they were gross people...so I killed them" she says enthusiastically "oh...good for you then"

"so…who was your dad?" She looks down "his name was Ryan Cross, he trained me from birth...he was killed by the same mad man that destroyed your life and killed our mother" "oh…I used to have a family you know…" WHY DO I KEEP ON BLURTING OUT THESE THINGS? "Bruce used to be my family, I used to have a home...but then I found out he didn't avenge me so now...I'm angry at him" I sit down on my couch and Autumn sits right beside me "my dad told me to always be perfect, that no matter what I did it was just never enough, I tried to make him proud of me...I don't think he wanted me or cared for me, when he told me he was sending me away to train, I thought he just wanted an excuse to get rid of me...then...he died, he was burned, he tried to save me, that's when I found out that he did care...I found another family you know...a woman named Teresa with a son named Nico, the woman told me to call her mom, and so I did. Mom cared about me, she loved me...but...then The Joker killed Nico...he killed my little brother, and my mom just...broke...to pieces...and I tried to save but I couldn't save ehr from herself...she ended up...killing herself." She's starting to hold the necklace again "I fought, I fought hard...I survived...by killing, by taking away other's lives...I learned that those that hurt the innocent didn't deserve to live...I started killing criminals when I was about four...I'm a murderer, a killer…" I stared at her "I guess us Haywood kids are just meant to be killers" she looks back at me "yeah...I guess so" she looks down "what now? I can't go to social services because I was declared legally dead" "why?" "I...um...I can't say" "hey, you can trust me" she stares into my soul again "really?" Her voice is becoming small "even after only a few minutes?" She asks "I promise...you CAN trust me, don't worry" "cross your heart?" She whispers, "cross my heart" I draw and X over my chest with my finger "I...I'm a meta...there was a meta war, that I joined for about a year. We won, but they thought I died. For a year, I was a soldier...great...now I broke my word...you just can't tell anyone what I just told you" "why not, you just said the war's over" "yeah...but...just don't tell anyone what I told you okay?" "...okay" Silence "so...my sister's a meta, cool" "sister?" She stands up, and I stand up and put my arm around her "yeah...sister. So let's sum this up, my sister's a meta-human, a crazy killer, a soldier and a kid that figured out the Bat's identity" "actually, I figured out the entire JLA's identities when I was like what? Eight, seven?" "stop...just stop" a smile tugs at both our lips "I guess that is cool, I have a crazy fromer Robin, a dead guy, and a killer for a brother" I chuckle "Well...this is gonna be fun."

****Break****

"Ughhh...five more minutes, sun" the sun's shining in my eyes, and I sit up "Ugh fine!" I get up and walked to the bathroom to wash my face. I look like shit every morning. I walk out of my bedroom and to the tiny kitchen, I pass by the couch where Autumn is sleeping peacefully. I open the fridge and pull out a carton of milk and try and pour it in my glass, but nothing comes out. I look up the carton of milk and hold it above my head "what?" I had milk just yesterday "GAAAAH!" Autumn yells, and suddenly curdled milk drops on my face. "GROSS!" I run to wash my face in the sink, as I wipe my face with the face towel I shudder "grosssss" then I put the towel down and turn to the couch to see Autumn sitting up rubbing her eyes. "Nightmare?" I ask casually, she shakes her head and gets off the couch "nah, when I get a nightmare, I don't scream, I live with it" "well, good for you then" "I yell whenever I get an idea" "what?" "You know, when you open your eyes an idea suddenly pops into your head?" "Yeah, I have no idea what you're talking about." She hums in response as she shakes the empty carton to check "haha you almost drank curdle" I shudder "it smells gross" she opens the fridge "fridge isn't working...your power's out" "hey, I'm not rich okay. Can't always pay for the electricity bill." she raises her hands in defense "never asked for you to be rich" she says and I hum "which brings me to the idea I was talking about...wait, do you have a laptop?" "Yeah, it's over there" I point to the coffee table where my laptop's sitting "can I use it?" She asks slowly "yeah okay" "awesome" she rushes towards the laptop, and starts rapidly typing.

"hehe you keep tabs on your drug ring, and on Black Mask" "yeah" I answer as I look for the box of cereal. I open the cabinet and pull out the box of Lucky Charms, I open it and I pour it on my mouth from the box. I chew and walk over to Autumn still holding the box of cereal "want some?" I offer "nah" "you haven't eaten since last night" "no worries, I learned how to not eat for forty days" I whistle "really?" "Yeah, I'm street kid anyways" " so...watcha doin' there?" "You see, when I was nine, or was I ten? Can't remember. My dad and I were hiding because he murdered a guy and became a suspect, so he had a house for both of us built. He called it the 'safe house,' it's under his fake name, David Chain, so it's perfect for hiding, and it can be a good home for both of us" "where is this place?" "Not too far, but it's better than your crappy apartment. I just checked if it still belongs to David Chain, and guess what, it still does!" "Don't the neighbors wonder why the lights are always off and why no one comes out of the house?" She shrugs "nah, since when did anybody in Gotham care about their neighbor, right?" I nod "true…" "so what do you think? Wanna move there or stay here?" "Won't it just be the same, I don't have any cash" She smiles "I'll take care of that problem."

****Break****

"when you said safe house, I thought you meant a warehouse or something" I say as we walk in. It's just a simple one story house. I walk in through the door and immediately see the living room. In the middle of the living room is large marble table, with five arm chairs facing the table, in front of the large marble table is a shiny wooden piano waiting to be played, there's a dresser with two drawers and a mirror by the two steps. We climb up the steps and we're met by a long white couch, the couch is facing a large flat screen TV with an Xbox, and a Wii, and a video player and two large speakers connected to the flat screen TV. To the right of the TV is a glass door (the door DOES NOT hit the TV) where there's a view of the rectangular swimming pool and beside the glass door is a desk that has pictures standing on it.

The kitchen is modern, with all the cooking materials we could need, an oven and a microwave and a toaster, and there's another door connected to the where the swimming pool is, and another door connected to the laundry room. The fridge is huge although it's empty but at least it doesn't smell right? We walk to the hallway to the right of the kitchen door just after the white couch, at the end is a door when we enter there's a giant training hall with all the training gear we could possibly need, after the training room is like a "work room" as Autumn calls it. It's full of high tech computers, and lab materials, the entire room seems like it has the tech that the Justice League has "How?" I ask and she shrugs "dad was a rich smart ass, slash playboy, and part serious soldier" "sounds like Bruce" "except Bruce never f*cked a woman to have you ." She walks out the room and I follow her out. "How is everything not dusty? At all?" "Don't know with my dad, he was some sort of genius or something, I think there are microbot cleaners, idk."

She suddenly pulls out two duffle bags from behind a painting by the couch, and throws them on the floor. I take a step back and she rolls her eyes "relax Jason, it ain't a pile of bloody heads" and she opens one of the bags. I whistle "where'd you get all that cash?" "dad's emergency cash" I raise an eyebrow "emergency cash?" "Yup."

"Let me show you something!" She drags me outside to the gigantic garage, the door opens, and it reveals six shiny cars. A red Ferrari, a black Bugatti Veyron, a light blue Audi R8, a silver Pagani Huarya, a white Lamborghini Aventator, and a black Jaguar XJ220 "S***!" I run to the shiny fast cars like a kid "woah…" "Yeah...my dad loved to collect cars...pick one" I stare at her "The ferrari duh" she throws me the keys "we've got to buy food" "if I scratch it?" "one, those cars can't be scratched my dad did something to them, and two I'll fix them myself even if they do get scratched" "I love fast cars" "I haven't noticed" she says sarcastically and hopping into the Ferrari.

****Break****

The cool wind ruffles my hair aa we drive on the roofless Ferrari "Oh hell yeah, f*** you bitches!" I yell at nobody. Who knew having a little sister was actually a good thing? I was right when I said "this is gonna be fun."