Chapter One
Hayley's POV
Have you ever looked back and wondered how you got to where you are? Like what events led you to this moment that you're in. And you wonder to yourself, if I knew then what I know now, would I change anything? The answer for me is no. Meeting Jason Peter Todd is honestly the best thing to ever happen to me and I wouldn't change a goddamn thing at all. Now you must be wondering who I am and how I met Jason. Well for that second half of your question, you're going to have to continue reading. For the first half: My name is Hayley Clarke. I'm 22 years old and I recently moved back to Gotham City from Central City.
I can hear you now, why would I move to Gotham from Central City when Central City is obviously the more safer of the two. Well for one, I was born here, which makes me an official Gothamite. The city is a cesspool for crime and insanity, but it's home. I only moved to Central City for college. And yeah, Central City is great. I felt safe there. But my second reason for moving back home is my mother. She was diagnosed with Azheimer's disease and she needs me. So after graduating, I moved back in with my mother in our shit apartment in Crime Alley.I work as a trauma nurse. And that has been my life for the last 6 months. Until I met Jason, and let me tell you, you are not going to believe what happened. It all started when I was walking home from work and all hell broke loose.
I had just gotten off from a 18 hour shift and was finally heading home. I had decided to take a slightly longer route home, just to enjoy the break of the sweltering heat that always plagues Gotham in late June. Mr. Freeze was at it again in New Gotham and only the cool breeze and snow flurries made its way into Lower Gotham. As I was about to walk past Gotham National Bank when the doors exploded, sending me and everyone close enough flying. I land hard on my back, taking the breath from me. It felt like years as I laid there on the sidewalk when the pained screech of a small child pierced the air. I immediately got up and started looking around for the source. I found it in a 5 year old little girl not too far from me.
Her pig tails were disheveled and from where I was standing, I could see a trickle of blood coming from her hairline. I ran over to her, getting on my knees in front of her. "Hey sweetheart, I'm a nurse. My name is Hayley." I murmured as I went into my bag to get some tissues to at least attempt to soak up the blood. "What's your name, baby?" I asked her as I gently started to find the source of her bleeding. "A..Alice." She sniffled. I immediately found the wound and as I was gently dabbing the tissue to her head a large shadow of a man engulfed the two of us. I immediately tense up and I was about to shield my body over Alice when the man moved from behind me and all I could see were combat boots. I trailed my eyes up his body to his face, which was covered by a dark red helmet with bright white eyes.
"Hood." I sighed in relief. Thank every god that was out there it was just the Red Hood. Which to any other Gothamite would be a terrifying thought to be face to face with him. But to the people of the Narrows, he was a watchful protector. A beacon of hope and safety. And if you just so happen to catch him at a diner, he's also a glutton. "Nurse Clarke." He said as he kneeled behind Alice. I frowned and tilted my head "I'm sorry, do I know you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Facial recognition. It immediately gives me all of your information." He grunted as he put his hand up to his ear "Al, I need a med kit dropped on my location. There are many hurt people and children." He said before looking at me again.
"We have to move her. Now." He ordered. "Why?" I asked "Because a two ton med kit is about to land right on top of us." He said as he picked Alice. "Up we get, Ally." He said, his tone softening as he spoke to her. "You know her? Oh wait, facial recognition." The nurse mused as they moved Ally over to one of the benches nearby. "No actually, I bought her lunch two days ago." He corrected me. "At Pauliy's diner" The small girl said "That's right, sweetheart." I had a feeling if he was wearing one of the dynamo masks he would've winked at her. "You ate my fries." The five year old pouted. "You weren't eating 'em." He teased back. "Tell ya what, sweetheart, I'll buy you more fries tomorrow if you let the pretty nurse check your head out." My face flushed just a tad as Alice looked at me before looking back at Hood. "Promise?" She asked, holding her pinky out to him. I could almost feel the smile on the man's face as he took her small pinky into his. "Promise."
After the med kit dropped, I was able to better assess the damage that Alice had received. Before I knew it, all of the wounded were being taken to the hospital. After I had wrapped Alice's head up, I also helped as many people as she could. Thankfully, as far as I knew at least, no one was in critical danger. I had just closed the door on the ambulance that would be taking an elderly man to the hospital when I felt the Red Hood's presence behind me. "You did good work out here." He said as I turned around to face him. "I did my best. I had actually just gotten off of work from the hospital." I said with a smile. "Are you hurt anywhere, Hood?" I asked him as I scanned his heavily armored body. "I'm fine. Don't you worry your pretty little head about me." He said. I raised my eyebrow at him and placed my hands on my hips. "And I don't believe you so I'm going to give you the chance to tell me the truth so I can at least patch you up." Hood sighed and I could hear the eye roll. "I'm fine, just minor cuts and bruises. Cross my black heart." He grunted. "A heart like yours isn't really that black." I said with a smile. "You're a good man, Hood. Terrifying to your enemies and to anyone outside of the Narrows. But I've lived in the Narrows my entire life. I've never been afraid of you." I said, placing my hand over the red bat symbol on his chest. "Well, it's good to know someone isn't afraid of me." He murmured
"Well the way I see it, there are many people who aren't afraid of you." I said "Like Alice, who you owe a lunch date to tomorrow." I teased. "I always come through on my dates." He said I could hear the smirk on his face. I smirked back "Oh really?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. As we bantered back and forth, I couldn't help but feel that this was familiar. Like we've been doing this our entire lives. Before he could say anything back, a black and blue figure dropped from the rooftop beside us. "Hey Little Wing, we're done here." Nightwing said with a grin. "Little wing?" I asked Hood with an amused smile. Hood sighed and looked over at Nightwing "B calling us back to the cave?" He asked "I'll see you around, Hood." I told him before Nightwing could say anything. Hood nodded his head in my direction before he and Nightwing grappled away.