The week or two that followed when Red Hood had unexpectedly crashed through my window, and utterly wrecking my table and food were odd. Seriously, the money he had just tossed my way made my last few paychecks look like chump change. Then again, they were if I was gonna be honest. But I wasn't an idiot. Sure I wasn't in college or anything like that, but I still was smart about what I was doing with money. In this case? I saved this little miracle as much as I could. I didn't waste it all in one go, no. Just rainy day stuff that I didn't tell a soul about. What was I gonna say? Red Hood gave me money? People would probably think I went criminal, and I didn't need that honestly. Thankfully things calmed down for me. No windows breaking. No worries. Man I should have known something else was gonna happen.
It was another long day for Michael. Another mind numbing, boring and painful day of manual labor. Honestly, he didn't mind it sometimes. It meant that at least he could stay in shape, and keep himself moving when times seemed a bit tough. Lifting heavy things and pushing them around tended to build muscle, at least if you wanted to make it anywhere, and it meant that Michael didn't really have to pay for a gym membership. His pay had come in once more, but Michael didn't have the heart to go out and get a drink. It was honestly one of those very tiring, annoying days. At least he wasn't in the fast food business, where he'd probably get arrested for assaulting some idiot.
He waved to Alex, giving some mumbled form of greetings as he stumbled into the elevator, not because he was buzzed mind you, but because he was just that tired. And hungry. Hungry as well. Thankfully he had taken the surprise money, and only used up some of it to buy himself some actual food. Unfortunately, Michael wasn't sure that he had the willpower, or the patience to cook anything that could actually help his body in any way shape or form. Not now at least, when he spent the better part of four hours dealing with morons who couldn't follow simple instructions. Eyes half shut, he wandered into his apartment absently, looking like a zombie. He didn't notice anything odd, nor did he care about anything of note. This is until he turned around to lock his door behind him, only for his tired brain to realize something important.
He didn't have to unlock the door. Michael had lived in Gotham City his whole life. He knew for a fact that locking his door was important, because someone was gonna be liable to break in if you weren't careful. And as exhausted as he may be, Michael was sure that he had locked the door. He let out a quiet groan, already prepared for the worst. He didn't have much in the way of belongings, but he did have a T.V. And a fridge. Things that could be taken. Turning around, the sight before him was unexpected, to say the least. The voice didn't help in the slightest.
"Suuup?" A sadly familiar man called out. Sitting down on one of his chairs (one of his brand new chairs Michael was very quick to note with a hint of irritation) was the person who had been both a boon and a bane to Michael's mental state for the last few weeks. Just as armed to the teeth as he was last time, Michael could only stare as Red Hood lounged on one of the new, cheap chairs that he had managed to get a hold of. It was a measly thing, one that was not meant for heavy use like the red clad vigilante had been using it for. On the table in question? A literal buffet of food. Plates upon plates, with so many different drinks. Michael wasn't sure if he was dreaming, so just to make sure this wasn't some tired hallucination, he did the only thing he could in this situation. Well it was one of two things he could do.
The first option would have been to throw something at Red Hood, if only to get some small satisfaction from petty revenge. But Michael wasn't exactly looking forward to having his ribs rearranged, and he was tired, not stupid. So he just looked down at one of his arms, and without any hesitation whatsoever he pinched himself. Giving a slight wince at the stinging sensation suddenly waking him up, he let out a short huff.
"So not dreaming then. Okay, that's good. Would have been one hell of a dream." He muttered to himself, shaking his head. Michael was sure this was a dream. Or it should have been, if he was going to be honest with himself. That's when he heard a throat being cleared, and looked up to see Red Hood waving at him.
"So uh, hope you don't mind if I brought food. I felt pretty crappy about wrecking your last meal. Sure the money must've helped out, but it's more of a personal thing for me. Call it uh…" Red Hood paused, gesturing to the free food once more. "You know what? Forget it. Don't call it anything besides free food. Come on, dig in. I feel weird just sitting around here and waiting for you to show up. Well I wasn't here for long really...just like half an hour. Maybe less. I'm just lucky Royal Palace doesn't take too long with their stuff." Red Hood continued, giving a quick shrug as he leaned back in the chair he sat in. Michael gave a wary look at the food, almost worried that it could have been too much. But he was far too awake now, and his stomach was grumbling in protest at the lack of food. Finally, he relented and began to dig in.
Michael was a guy of many faults, that much was very clear. He was also, technically speaking, a kid fresh out of high school who had never had a chance to spend too much money, or to have a lot of good food on his table. So once it finally kicked in that yes, this feast was his to enjoy, he finally let loose, taking a piece of just about everything. It was good, fresh and still warm much to Michael's joy. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw Red Hood taking a small piece of something, but Michael couldn't really be bothered at the moment, just thankful that for the first time in who knows how long, someone had finally done something for him.
"Ah Jeez, please tell me you at least ate something good with the money I left you. I didn't think you had nothing at all to snack on. Feels kinda awkward watching you eat honestly." Red Hood was quick to say, and Michael couldn't help himself, seeing the vigilante pull out a smartphone and idly tapping on something. Gifts like this were rare in Gotham, that much was very true. But he wasn't about to be sassed for enjoying it. Taking a moment to make sure his mouth was clear.
"Sorry, but when a guy who, for the most part, has barely any money at all to spend suddenly has a lot of money on hand, that's normally not a good sign. I have a good job. I don't wanna lose it cause someone thought I turned criminal." Michael shot back, raising an eyebrow as he looked over at Red Hood. The vigilante had the decency to look sheepish, even if that was hard to tell under the helmet. "Besides, you're gonna talk to me about awkward? You broke into my house! Willingly this time! How's that not awkward?" He asked, and the vigilante raised his finger, only to lower it. Michael took this as a chance to enjoy some soup, clearly waiting to see how Red Hood would respond. Guns weren't drawn, so that was a good sign.
"Fair point. Well for one thing, I was patrolling the area. Ya know, like a good crimefighter does. Sorta. But that's besides the fact. Look, I felt…ah fuck it, no one else is around here. I felt shitty for ruining your stuff. So for once, I tried to be a better person. But if you don't want me here, hell I can leave right now. Keep the stuff for all I care. Sorry about all this." Red Hood said, already standing up. Michael was about to wave him goodbye, but paused. This person, no matter how scary they were, or how dangerous he was, had done him a favor. A big one at that. Food, which could last him a while, was here. On his table. Unfortunately he could already hear his mother reprimanding him for being a poor host, so he tried to do some damage control.
"Wait wait. Don't…you don't have to go." Michael said, holding up a hand. He looked sheepish as Red Hood faced him, slowly sitting back down. "Uh…look I know that I'm probably not the best host right now. And I wasn't exactly the nicest person when you came crashing in." He slowly said, noticing Red Hood perk up, shifting a bit to look over at Michael. "But you really did me a favor here. So just give me a sec." Michael continued, standing up and covering up the plate he had dug into. Glancing over at the cabinets, he couldn't help but sigh internally. He was really going to do this. Shaking his head, Michael quickly walked over, fishing out a small, red colored tupperware. It didn't look like it held much, but it was clear enough that something was in there. He walked over, offering the container to Red Hood.
"Uh….what's this for?" The vigilante couldn't help but ask, confusion clear in his voice. Michael grinned, taking a moment to open up the container to reveal freshly made chocolate chip cookies.
"I'm not the same chef my mom was, but I still have her recipes. I was saving these for a rainy day, but you can have em. I don't mind. Really. Plus with all the money that you gave me that first time you dropped in, I can afford to make a trip and get more." Michael said, that same sheepish grin still adorning his features. "Plus you can also say that this is a thank you for all the good work you and the rest of you vigilantes have been doing for the city. This is coming from a guy who's lived here all his life." He continued, shutting the tupperware and still holding it out to Red Hood. The vigilante didn't do anything for a moment, before letting out a short huff, shaking his head as he took the small container.
"Huh. You're not the first person to thank me, but I gotta say, it's the first time that I've been offered fresh homemade goods. It's actually really thoughtful to be honest. Uh…" Red Hood paused, glancing up at Michael.
"Hey, by all means. Eat em right now if you want. I won't look if you decide to. That's your secret to keep, and I'm going to just keep enjoying this… amazing food. Because holy hell it's been a long time since I've had it fresh, and in such a large amount." Michael admitted, grinning as he opened a bowl of soup, eagerly taking a sip of it. Out of the corner of his eyes, Michael saw Red Hood glance down at the cookies before shrugging, reaching up and taking off his helmet.
"I honestly don't care if you look. I've got something under here for a reason." Red Hood said, this time with no electronic buzz to hide his voice. Michael couldn't help but blink, pausing mid slurp as he looked over at Red Hood, being careful to not spill any of the soup in question as he did so.
Red Hood was interesting to see without the helmet, Michael wasn't going to lie about that. He was pale, that much was obvious. Black hair, ruffled from the helmet was seen, with a streak of white standing out in the middle. His face was covered by a black domino mask with white eyes, something that Robin would have worn. And right now he was munching on some of the cookies with a vigor similar to Michael, when he was eating that food for the first time.
"If you don't mind showing your face, or at least what's not covered by a mask, here. I don't mind, and you got me enough that I'll be able to have lunch for a few days." Michael said, holding out a plate of unopened food. It was only fair to share after all. He honestly didn't like to waste food, and seeing as how Red Hood had bought it, it made sense to share.
"You are…far too caring for the guy who screwed up your home and food." Red Hood said, a surprised look on his face. Michael didn't blame him one bit, but he was undeterred, still holding out the food, clearly not taking no for an answer.
"My mom taught me well. Share if you can, help if possible. That's how she lived, so it's only right that I follow it." Michael shot back, grinning at Red Hood. The vigilante looked back at Michael for a moment, before smirking and taking the plate from his hands.
"Well if you insist. I'll happily take the food I paid for." Red Hood told him, closing the tupperware full of cookies and putting it somewhere inside his coat. Michael chuckled, probably the first honest laugh out of him for a while.
He wasn't sure just how long that he and Red Hood sat there, eating and just relaxing. But it wasn't much longer than half an hour. By the time Michael had realized it, the exhaustion from the day had finally been kicking in, and he had only finished a few of the various plates that were on his table. He yawned, rubbing his eyes for a moment.
"Well, you're probably busy. I'm gonna head to bed, you can just...see yourself out. Through the window. If you can just open it, that'd be nice." Michael said, standing up. He was quick to put away both the opened and unopened plates of food, along with all the other things that Red Hood had somehow managed to move in a short time.
"Eh. It wasn't exactly a busy night. Trust me, you would have known. I'd have been out of the window in an instant, so you got lucky here." Red Hood said, having put his helmet on while Michael was storing his newly given dinner away. Turning around, Michael could see the vigilante was already halfway out the window, thankfully having opened it this time around. Red Hood turned around to give Michael a quick wave. "Take it easy kid, and thanks for the cookies. Wow, I never thought I'd say that out loud. Welp, see ya!" With that said, Red Hood disappeared into the night of Gotham City, just as quickly as he probably arrived. Michael barely had time to wave back, grinning as he moved over to close the window.
"Huh. He was actually a pretty cool guy." Michael quietly said, shutting the window and locking it, quickly moving over to his door and doing the same. Even if Red Hood had come into his apartment twice, and even if he was definitely exhausted by this point, Michael was still going to be careful. With all that said and done, he collapsed onto his bed with a relived sigh, passing out quickly. And he was happy, for the first time in a while. Even if it was a bit weird that Red Hood had broken into his apartment.
Deciding to stay behind to make sure Michael had actually locked up, Jason Todd was proud to say that he had managed to fix a very large mess he had accidentally created. In fact, it was clear that he had changed that horrible first impression into something great! To top it all off, besides getting a nice dinner from an honestly alright restaurant, he managed to get homemade cookies out of the whole ordeal at the end of it, with nothing major happening to boot. Did it stroke his ego to hear someone say that he was a 'cool guy' and cause him to grin like an idiot? Maybe, but he was wearing a helmet so no one would see it at all, and it was going to stay that way.
"Heh. Not bad me. Kid likes you after all." Jason muttered, shaking his head. Just as he was about to grapple to another rooftop, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He quickly turned around, blinking under his helmet upon seeing who had gotten the drop on him. "Black Bat? Didn't know you were coming around this area." Jason said, hoping that he hadn't missed a call in. But Cass didn't look very concerned, and instead looked rather amused at Jason leaping up like he had done. She shrugged in response to his question, giving a short gesture to the apartment that she had seen him exiting from.
"What? Oh that? I was just repaying something I messed up, that's all. Why?" Jason asked, crossing his arms. Cass didn't look convinced, pointing to Jason's jacket, where a small tupperware box could be seen sticking out. He groaned, but relented, showing off the contents of the box. "Okay, I kinda broke into this guy's apartment the other night by accident and ruined his dinner. I came back to repay that, but he was too nice and offered up some cookies. Here, have one. Just don't tell anyone about this, I got a reputation to uphold ya know?" He said, waiting to see what Cass would do. She simply grinned, snatching one of the cookies up and giving Jason a quick wave, heading off to resume her own patrol. "Man I soooo hope she doesn't ask about the kid after this." Jason muttered, closing his box of goods and quickly heading off into the night.
AN: And that's a wrap! Yes, Michael might seem a bit too nice, but he was raised by a decent person, and even if he's angry it only lasts a short time. I'm sorry if the Cass cameo was short, rest assured she's probably going to show up in the next chapter. I'm doing my best to find my groove with these, so I'd appreciate if you amazing readers could review this. I don't mind, really!
Like I mentioned before, I'm gonna be posting these chapters weekly, at least until they eventually match the story's place on AO3. Other than that, we'll see how things pan out. Until next time at least, take care!