Jason sighed, dragging his fork through the remaining spaghetti on his plate, scraping the metal against the porcelain.
Alfred glanced over at him disapprovingly before continuing with the dishes and to-do list for the next day.
Bruce had been off in his own mind…again, and had insisted he patrol alone tonight. I was about 12 and Tim and Damian had slowly meandered down in preparation of the Bat's return.
"Master Jason, how are your classes?" Alfred asked, finally turning to face him fully. Jason didn't bother looking up, "Fine, Alf" he bit out. At Alfred's and the replacement's insistence, he had taken on 2 classes at Gotham Community College while staying in town more often. Alfred had sat Jason down and drilled into him the importance of his public and social life, emphasizing that just because RedHood was doing well in the guns and drugs world did not mean Jason Todd was thriving in the real world.
"It's fiiiiiine Alfred" Jason had bitten out. God, everyone just loved to harp on him, and his lack of motivation. With Golden Boy gone for good, somehow Dick's passing made people think of and view him in an even better light. Unbelievable! He would forever be the one who didn't live up to Robin-level standards, was always too mean, not social enough, and didn't like to comfort the gross crying lady every single night….ugh.
"No Master Jason, it is not alright, how do you expect to live your life hmmm?"Alfred persisted. "Do you expect to be RedHood at age 70? With bad knees and a handgun? No, I think not, you need to start building a life and options for Jason Todd, RedHood will be fine as he is temporary, Jason Todd is not"
Jason had grumbled and cursed but shut up after that emotional dialogue. Leave it to Alfred to fill in the logical emotional blanks Bruce had left wide open for his little orphans.
Damian entered the kitchen and approached Alfred, ignoring Jason altogether. "Pennyworth I am in need of a 5x5 cardboard divider, for educational purposes"
" Is this for the science fair brochures we received last week Master Damian?" Asked Alfred. "Yes" Damian nodded.
"Alright, well-" Alfred was cut off as his watch started to vibrate. He started slightly before looking down, clicking a small button before turning to Jason, "It appears, one of the manor ground's sensors has been disturbed enough to go off"
"I'll handle it" Damian declared. "With Batman away at the moment, I am the most capable and alert for reconnaissance"
"Hah, sure brat" Jason sneered at him. Damian tsked at him before turning sharply and storming off.
"Master Jason, please do check with him, you are aware Master Damian struggles with expressing his need for support" Alfred admonished.
Jason rolled his eyes, "It's fine Alfred, it's just one sensor and it's at the grounds by the edge of the forest, it's just a deer or something"
Tim entered with a frown, "Why is Damian going into the backyard with a bowstaff and no uniform?" "He's gonna go fight a deer" Jason waved him off before staring at his plate again. He could not get last night out of his head. He felt stupid for the anticlimactic ending of the chase and his inability to keep up with some flexible freak. Bruce probably thought the same which is why he had patrolled alone tonight. Asshole, Jason thought.
In his peripheral, he was aware that Alfred was telling Tim where Damian had gone and was asking Tim to go with Damian. "Ughhhhh" Tim complained.
"Enough sulking and moping over a stranger who might not be of any consequence," Alfred said sternly. "Both of you, go check on your brother, he probably went out without a flashlight to begin with" Before shooing Jason and Tim out the door.
They started walking in silence, Jason grumbling and Tim frowning when Tim stopped, his frown deepening. "Didn't Bruce update the sensor recently?" he said. "I think so, I dunno, I don't keep track of his spending, replacement"
Tim frowned, "That's not what I do. Didn't the old ones pick up birds and animals too frequently to be efficient?" Jason shrugged, before continuing on toward the outer edges of the grounds. The moon was clouded by Gotham smog and clouds tonight, leaving them with their phones as their guiding light.
"Jason" Tim snapped. "What" he grumbled back. "Don't the new sensors avoid animal movement and look for additional heat sensor activity?"
"Yea, a shit ton of stuff", Jason said. "They pick up sounds, ultraviolet waves, heat waves, act as metal detecto-" he stopped before whirling to look at Tim's already wide eyes.
"Shitfuck" he spit out before they both started sprinting to the edge of the forest on Wayne grounds. Within a couple of minutes, they were able to spot the sensor and its camera on the ground, dented and bent at the base of a tree. Tim sucked in a breath before texting Alfred 911, knowing Alfred would lock down the manor and call Bruce back asap.
Jason shifted slightly, aware of how loud their steps were on the forest floor of sleave and crunch pine needles. Without looking, he grabbed Tim's arm alerting him to a figure about 30 feet away, his face glinting strangely as he pushed his arms against a pine tree.
They started to back away and circle around so they could approach from behind but Tim's heel kicked the camera into the base of the tree, making a loud thumping noise. Jason swore as the figure looked right at them and cocked his head. He dropped his arms and suddenly Damian fell to the ground against the tree coughing and spluttering, he grabbed his throat and inhaled shakily. Jason held up his hands "Hey buddy, we just wanna talk, maybe show you where the front door is so you don't walk through a whole forest next time you wanna pop by" The figure stilled and said nothing, just watching them.
Jason was about to say something again when Damian shouted and tackled the figure by his legs from the side, they went sprawling and Jason and Tim took their cue to engage and sprinted over. By the time, they got there the figure had thrown off Damian and had pulled out 2 hand knives from sheathes in his thigh. Jason barely had time to notice Damian's bo staff in 3 pieces on the ground before the figure sliced a hand up a Jason. He cursed and jumped back, arching his back towards Tim behind him and barely missing the knife's edge. Without hesitating, the figure threw his other hand forward in a perfect arch and his other knife went spinning in Tim's direction. Tim sucked in a breath and dropped to the ground in time for the knife to wedge into the tree behind; wobbling for the force behind the throw.
Damian had picked up one piece of his bo staff and inched his way back towards Jason and Tim. "So it's not a deer afterall" Tim stated out loud.
"Where is the Gray Son" The figure said, Jason cringed at the sound. His voice was so scratchy and gurgly that he sounded like a smoker victim who had gotten a hole in his throat and then caught cancer at stage 4.
Now that they were face to face, Jason could see his clothing was all black and gold. He had gold goggles and a black uniform with very little padding and gold gloves, he had multiple pouches and sheathes across his chest thigh, and hips for knives and materials but his build made him seem strangely unassuming. He was average height, maybe only Tim's height, and clearly lacked muscle. He looked like some skinny office dweeb playing dress up.
"Whose son?" Tim asked the figure.
The figure seemed to tense and clenched his fists, that's when Jason realized that this guy had the same long claws as last night's perp. They were gloves with claws coming out the top?! Was this a Catwoman fan gone wrong?
The figure growled, or maybe gurgled. "Where is the Gray Son! The Chosen child!".
Jason frowned, "Uhhhhh, ok freak, obviously not at Wayne manor, so why don't you-"
"Do you mean Grayson? Richard Grayson?" Damian asked solemnly. Jason's breath caught in his throat before looking at Damian for a second and looking back at the figure. The figure turned toward Damian and stilled as if that alone was confirmation. "Well!" Damian demanded, his voice rising with emotion.
"Where is he, give him to us" the thing demanded quietly. "He's dead you sick fuck" Jason spat.
"Do not lie" the thing spat back before trying to clear its throat. "We aren't lying" Tim said, staring down the figure without blinking. "He died at Gotham harbor 5 years ago, what do you want with him? Who is 'we'?"
The stranger did not answer at first, straining up and flexing his fingers taunt. "If you refuse, we will find him, and drag him back" Tim opened his mouth to respond when Jason cut in, "Ok, you know what shithead? Time's up, and pulled the bo staff from Damian's limp fingers. He twirled in twice, all while holding eye contact.
The figure cocked his head before charging, he jumped before slashing down towards Jason, Jason threw up the bo staff and stumbled back suddenly before looking down at his hands. The bo staff was not in 2 pieces. "Well, now I know what happened", he said looking at Damian. The figure took a running leap before kicking out, Jason rolled to the side and watched as Tim jumped and turned mid-air, and kicked the figure in the kidney with his heel. The figure's back hit a tree but before he could find balance, Damian punched him across the face and kicked the backs of his legs, forcing him to bend forward. The figure went with the momentum and fell into a full crouch before springing back up and attacking Jason's middle, taking them both down. Jason rolled just enough to feel the figure beneath him before he put his heel and dug into the earth to slow them down. He pushed up before falling down suddenly and kneeing the figure in the groin.
The figure wheezed before curling inward and swiping at Jason, he reeled backwards and got to his feet breathing hard. He really wished Bruce and Alfred let him carry his guns around the house for events like this. Damian and Tim had picked up the remaining bo-staff pieces as well and all 3 circled the figure in synchrony. If Dick were here, it would've felt just like a training exercise, Jason thought suddenly, all 4 of them trying to take the Bat down.
He shook his head to re-cement himself in the moment, the figure lunged at Damian but Tim jumped to his left and smashed the bo staff down on his back shoulders, probably spraining something at least. The figure's growl turned into a snarl and Jason had a flashback to last night when Vegas man had bent over and growled at them on the roof. Maybe these guys were some sort of escaped experiment from Bane's drug labs, maybe he was working with Cheetah or someone else now. The figure turned to lunge at Tim when Jason lept forward and wrapped both his hands around the bo staff bringing it down on the back of the man's neck. The figure collapsed instantly and crumpled with his head bent back slightly at a not-so-nice angle.
"Jason!" Tim exclaimed, "He's probably dead!" "Bruce will be pissed!"
"Fuck Bruce," Jason said, staring down at the figure. He wouldn't admit that, the figure spewing crazy shit about Dick and dragging him somewhere hellish had snapped his already thin patience. "He's probably like that crazy meta from last night, and we don't know how dangerous he is"
Damian tsked before crouching down to examine the figure, he pulled off the goggles but nothing miraculous happened. "You have a pathetic amount of self-control, Todd" Damian stated.
"You're one to talk about self-control and killing, demon brat" Jason glared.
Tim looked up from his phone, "Alfred said Bruce is almost back, we should go meet him"
"Welp, I'm not taking 2 trips", Jason said. He bent down and grabbed the figure's gauntleted forearms before hefting him into a fireman's carry over his shoulders.
"Let's get this over with" Jason muttered before all 3 of them made the trip back to the manor, "Damian get the sensor and camera"