Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The first time Jason Todd met the kid was after his not so fun week of memory loss, the League of Assassins, and the Untitled... oh lets not mention possible world catastrophe due to Roy blowing up a big door, Way to go Harper!
Now to top it all Bats decided to take a field trip with the rest of of the league into space, for some kinda trial of sorts. Nightwing and the replacement are off doing god knows what with their junior Justice League.
So he Kori and Roy got stuck with playing “the good guy” for a few weeks. Roy got Star City and Central, Kori got DC and Metropolis; leaving Jason with Bludhaven and Gotham duty, a headache that won't go away, and about three hours of sleep.
After a rough night of drug busts, overweight bird happy men with dangerous umbrellas, a sexy cat lady and angry cops mad at him for blowing up their police cruiser.... Oops? Jason ducked into what he thought was an abandoned building too decrepit for even the worst of villains to consider, just a little breather before he headed home. Once he's firmly inside what seems to a small bedroom does he realize that the building's outside looks are for show; the inside is perfectly sound.
The room he landed in was occupied by a small figure, a young child of about 5 or 6. With one hand covering the child's mouth, the other shook her awake. The young girl woke in an instant, but did not panic. Instead, he took Jason's form in carefully.
"Keep quiet," Jason warned in a low tone. The girl only responded with a slow blink. That was as good as he was going to get, Jason figured. He slowly removed his hand, and when the girl did as he was asked, took a step away from the bed.
"I got a few questions for you, kid." The child blinks once more, and gradually sits up on the cot she was resting in.
"Who?" The kid asks. (Jason often looks back at this and thinks that this is the worst unintentional pun ever, with more still to come.)
"You," Jason replies, but takes another look around the room to double check that there wasn't anyone else there that the kid could be referring to. Jason receives the mother of all pouts before the girl chews her bottom lip in thought.
"No," she says, not with defiance, but with confusion. "Who…you?" The question comes out slowly and hesitantly, not because she was afraid of Jason, but clearly because she didn't quite know the words to say. The kid was going to have trouble communicating with him, which was going to draw out the conversation a lot more than Jason wanted it to. He sighs and figures it's not really worth lying to a six year old.
"Jason," he replies, leaving out his last name as a compromise to his inner paranoia. "Now, where am I?" He asks slowly, now knowing that this kid won't be the greatest source of information with his broken English. He knows his location, but this place is obviously the headquarters for something important if they went so far as to disguise the building. The girl cocks his head to the side, her blue eyes staring through him as she contemplates Jason's question.
"The Court of Owls." For some reason, the answer sends a shiver up Jason's spine. That doesn't sound like any place that should be housing a kid her age for any sort of innocent reason, and Jason has a real problem with that, especially after his shitty childhood.
"Why don't I get you out of here," Jason half pleads, half tells as he goes to scoop the kid up. He doesn't know what he would do with the girl, Jason certainly couldn't keep her, Bruce would probably fuck her up (plus he already had a replacement Robin, his mind whispered to add to his already boiling temper), there was no room in the orphanages, and this kid probably wouldn't last an hour in juvie, which is where she would go because the orphanages were full.
Luckily for Jason, the decision was already made for him.
"No." There was the defiance.
"The fuck?" Jason was stunned, both by the answer and how light the kid was when he picked her up. As he lifted up the kid's shirt ignoring the small voice in the back of his head arguing about lifting girls shirts but he had to see if ribs were visible.
His eyes got caught on the scars littering the small chest as they gleamed in the small amount of moonlight. He sucked in a deep breath and pushed down a wave of murderous rage.
"What do you mean? They obviously don't like you that much." Instead of a straight answer, the girl sang a childish tune, possibly one of the few things that The Court wanted her to know in English.
"Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word about them, or they'll send The Talon for your head."
If that wasn't a threat, then Jason was an idiot.
"Then why do they want you so badly?"
The kid smiled, and Christ, she looked adorable and innocent, while pointing to herself and said, "Talon."
"They're training you to be an assassin?" Jason isn't surprised, this is Gotham, and Gotham was the embodiment of 'fucked up'.
“No” the kid chirped happily then she promptly pointed to herself “Assassin ... before” she strained out the words which Jason assumed was as large as her English vocabulary got.
"Then why haven't you killed me yet?" Not that Jason wanted to be offed by a kid after just having been resurrected, but he was curious.
Another smile lit the kid's face up. "Like," she sang, pointing at Jason.
Jeez, the kid had to be deprived if Jason was preferable company. What a sad situation. But it wasn't like Jason could do anything about it. He was still dead by everyone's standards, including Bruce's, and the kid didn't want to go with him anyways.
The thought struck him like a lightning bolt, and Jason felt stupid that he hadn't asked before.
"Who are you?" The kid cocked her head to the other side, confusion pouring off of her in waves.
"Talon."
"No," Jason amended quickly. "When you're not Talon."
"Not." Jason rubbed his forehead, quickly getting a headache trying to convert the one-worded answers into sense.
"Not, what?"
"Not person." It sinks in after a moment that she doesn't have a secret identity, a life outside of assassinations. Even though it went against everything his tough act stood for, he hugged the kid.
Briefly.
“What about before you were Talon?” Jason wasn't expecting an answer but it couldn't hurt to try.The kid looks puzzled for a moment then brightens “Oma...called...” she trailed off grasping for the words, then pointed to herself “Itzu”
“Renegade...” Jason recognized the word from the long hours Ducra made him learn Tsai.
“Your a Niaso?” ‘cause only Niaso speak Tsai fluently, it’s in their blood.
She blinked owly (another one of those bad puns) then nodded slowly “Umn.... Oma said... Niaso” she pointed to herself again.
“Oma?” then it clicked, Oma means Grandmother in German.
“Your grandmother? Is she a Niaso too? And why aren't you with her?” Jason knew that he probably shouldn't bombard the kid with questions but his mind was too busy working to care.
“Oma... no Niaso... Oma in trouble... with old guy... old guy .... sold me to Court” Jason didn't like the sound of that, and with barely controlled fury he asked
“Old guy? who’s that?” the kid shrugged “no know name” he gritted his teeth “what about your Grandmother? Whats her name?” Any hint of this kid’s family could lead to both good or bad things, but it was worth a shot.
She smiled “Shiva”
Well Damn.
"I'm going to visit again," Jason says after the bombshell, he needs to find answers. Jason looked down at the kid and he sees excitement jolt through her, "and one day I'll take you away from this place." The excitement visibly dies down and is replaced with worry.
"But…die," the kid admonishes him, tugging at his jacket with clear frustration that Jason wasn't understanding what would happen to him if Jason actually stole her away. Jason alone could not stand against the Court of Owls.
"Don't worry, I got this." Jason says it with confidence and a smirk, just to get the little girl off of his case. Eventually persuaded, the kid gets back in the cot and is lured back to sleep as Jason stands over her bed and watches over her. Though Jason really wanted nothing more than to kidnap the child, he knew that he really had no allies to rely on for help, no matter how strong Roy and Kori are, they had just barely survived the untitled and that was with the help of a bunch of cutthroats, they could never pull this off with just the three of them, they need allies that's what Jason really needed if he wanted to get the girl out of this hellhole.
And with his plan of bringing down all of the Untitled slowing coming into fruition, he realized that getting any allies was going to take a while.

Chapter Text

Two years passed, Jason was the official black sheep of his family, the Demon brat (Damian Wayne) was Robin under a covert group working for the Justice League known as Young Justice, and the tiny psychopath was probably eight now (it was hard to tell, her room was always dark, Jason still didn't know who the kid was, and the kid's body was just plain small).
With that though, people knew he was alive, he could work with the heroes on a few things, and Jason was more than ready to extract the girl from the Court of Owls.
Of course, over these two years, Jason had tried to tip Bruce off on the Court of Owls, but it brought up uncomfortable questions and they would get into an argument, and he figured that it was just delaying what Jason wanted.
Plus, he figured, the operation he wanted to pull off required stealth, Young Justice was made for stealth operations, so Jason, as Red Hood dragged Roy as Arsenal and Kori as Starfire, to the teenage infested mountain, and of course forwent telling the League . As much as it would grind him to work with the Demon brat, and with Nightwing busy with Bludhaven he was not gonna be any help, Jason could admit that he needed allies in order to get his little buddy out.
Plus, Jason already promised 'new friends' last time he had visited, and Jason did not want to disappoint the kid.
"Recognize Red Hood, B-07," the automated voice announced, drawing worried and annoyed eyes to his newly delivered presence.
"What's he doing here?" Kid Flash, or Bart Allen, didn't even try to whisper, making Red Hood draw up a smirk. Inside, he was already questioning his judgment. Red Hood looked around and saw most all of the team out of their costumes.
"Vacation day?" he questioned with an undertone of rudeness. Well, at least they weren't doing anything and could focus on his mission entirely. The Demon brat (no, he wasn't ever going to call him Robin) scoffed under his breath and looked away, already labeling his presence as unimportant.
How rude.
La'gaan went back to studying something in his fish bowl, Superboy (wasn't he going by a human name now?) hadn't bothered to look at him in the first place and continued to glare fiercely at the TV screen, M'gann was sending him nervous glances in between making something in the kitchen, and Aqualad deemed Jason important enough to get off of the couch for a conversation, followed by Beast boy and ... Bug boy was it? whatever.
"What is your purpose here?" A little bit cold in the delivery, but Red Hood could feel the subtle interest in doing something other than swimming or watching the TV screen do its usual black and white thing the clone liked so much coming off of the team's leader.
"What would you say if I had a mission for ya?" Aqualad's eyes widened in disbelief, before narrowing in distrust. Red Hood could feel the stares he was getting from the rest of the team.
"Why should we trust you? Your position as a hero is almost nonexistent. In fact, I'm surprised you're allowed in here."
Well, Jason was too, to be honest. Not that he was going to let them know that.
Jason shrugged and smirked, which irritated the Demon brat enough to stomp over and give Red Hood a piece of his mind.
"Well, whatever it is, you can count us out. We all know your ‘habits of doing the illegal stuff’ as Drake tells me so Batman certainly wouldn't approve of it." As much as Jason hated Batman being mentioned…
"Just like Batman approved of your ‘violent tendencies’?" The question threw the birdbrain off long enough to push past both him and the team's leader to come to rest against the couch. "I guess you're right. You couldn't possibly be interested in this." Jason shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, waiting for one of the team to take the bait.
"Interested in what?" Kid Flash, winner of his heart!
“Yes, friend Jason, what could be so important that we need the aid of children?” Kori... never really liked the Young Justice team much.
Roy smirked “I agree with princess, Jay, why are we here?”
"Well, I need your help to help rescue a kid." Silence covered the mountain, and Jason waited for the questions to start pouring in.
And they soon did. All at once.
"One at a time," he demanded. "What are you, three? Take turns or whatever, but I can't answer everything at one time."
“A kid? What for?” Geeze Harper, heartless much?
"Why would you want to save someone?" Ah, the green fish, ever the doubter.
"It could argued that I save lots of people by doing my normal gig as an 'anti-hero'. But I know that's not what you wanted the answer to, it's an ongoing argument we always have. You want to know why I want to save this particular person." The team nodded, the Martian seemed to be holding her breath. "Let's just say, that when I'm your only friend, you are in sad, sad shape."
As much as they would need rescuing from you," the Demon brat sneered, "lacking friends isn't justifiable for a mission."
"I think it is when everyone else that surrounds her wants her to become some sort of super assassin," Jason says it casually, but his insides still burn when he thinks about it, and looking at the others before him, he knows that they don't like it either. "Especially since she's about eight, I think," he adds on for good measure.
Most of the team looks horrified, but Jason is pretty sure by the look on Superboy's face (someone else raised to be a weapon, now that he thinks about it) and his own teammates Roy and Kori, he has at least three allies. But Superboy, Roy and Kori alone does not make up the numerous teammates Red Hood knows he needs, no matter how powerful they are.
"But, since none of you are interested…" he trails his sentence off and turns to leave, when Superboy's hand grips his shoulder tightly and manually turns him around again.
"I'm going," is Superboy's gruff response to his raised eyebrow. Jason inwardly grins, and knows all he has to do is wait for the domino effect to kick in. “I’ll go as well.” stated Kori firmly, did he ever state how much he loves the princess?
“ ‘course Jaybird”
"But Conner (so that was his name), you can't just trust the Red Hood," Jason agreed with this, but this honestly wasn't the time, he was a bit anxious to pick the kid up already. "He always has some sort of personal motivation, and we can't even be sure that this kid exists."
"I don't want to take the chance that this kid does exist and that we refused to help them. I'm going." The Demon brat sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to rationalize with the clone any further.
"Aqualad?" M'gann asked, deferring to their leader for guidance. The Atlantian stood there for a tense moment before letting out a huge breath."First, I must hear more of the situation. Tell me everything."
So, Jason got cozy on the couch and told the team of his past two years with the strange kid that he had stumbled upon by accident. About the kid's poor English, her weight, her scars, lack of identity, the way her smile lit up her whole face, and that the kid had never laughed a day in his life. And then Jason finally told a few stories about the assassinations the kid had managed to tell him about, and the few times the kid had died.
"They have this weird serum I think, that gives her the power to come back to life, because she says that all of them have this ability."
"Maybe they're all family, and this is a hereditary trait," Aqualad hypothesized.
"As much as I would love to know that there is a family dynamic even more fucked up than ours," Jason casually stated as he pointed to himself and Robin, "I'm pretty sure they aren't. Rumor has it that the Court of Owls goes around kidnapping kids to turn them into their assassins. But I've never met anyone other than this one." The team takes this in with all of the other information they gathered.
"Why us and not the League?" Beast boy questions him curiously.
"Christ, do you think they understand the word subtle? I'm sure if Superman came with five miles of their hideout they'd be gone. If you want a covert mission done, you go to the group that does covert missions. Easy logic."
"Then why didn't you ask the League to give us this mission?" Kid Flash points out.
"For one, I found the kid and I want to rescue her. Two, if you guys went without me, which is what the League would order, the kid wouldn't know you and would probably try and murder you. Third, the League would want to investigate the Court of Owls, which would not lead down a path of rainbows and sunshine."
"What do you mean?" M'gann questioned.
"The less amount of people who know, the less we have to worry about the possibility of our presence reaching their ears. If their cute jingle is anything to go by, they'll wipe out anyone who even knows the title of their organization. The League is full of a lot of people, but again, subtlety is not their specialty, and I would hate to go against a bunch of guys who apparently can't die."
"I still don't know if I can trust you."
"Jeez Fishy, you try to kill a guy once and you're forever on his bad side."
"That's generally how it works, yeah." He was getting nowhere with this kid! Whatever, Red Hood would take who he could get, because at this point, all he wanted to do was get the mission over with.
"What's your decision then, fearless leader?" He asks Aqualad as he stands up, a clear indication he's through waiting around.
"I…," Aqualad trails off for a moment before collecting himself. "I will not make this a required mission, but I will join you."
"Aqualad," his 'brother' protests, before letting out a small groan and waiting for the rest of the team to make their decisions.
"I'm going," Conner repeats, standing up to join Red Hood, Roy, Kori and Aqualad. M'gann quickly stands up next to Conner, also offering her assistance. Bug boy (who kinda looks like a beetle though he was blue), who had been carefully listening as the conversation continued. "I'll come." Jason knew he would be able to count on him to join, after all, having run away from the Reach who tried turning him into a living weapon, he must not have wanted any other kid going through a similar experience.
Finally, it was down to Kid Flash, Beast boy, La'gaan and Robin. The speedster sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he said, "Rob…" the Green fur ball nodded in agreement to his red headed friend.
"You too, huh? Fine." They stood up, making the covert team look at La’gaan expectantly “Fine” the fish ground out clearly still unhappy.
"Great," Jason said enthusiastically. "Let's go."
"Now?" A few of them asked, startled that the mission was so soon.
"No, next month," Jason quipped sarcastically. "Yes, now! I've made this kid wait two years, I don't want to make her wait even one more day."
He turned and left, Kori and Roy following closely behind, and as he approached the Zeta transporters, he heard the team scramble to change and get all their gear together.
This was going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

Once the team was prepared, and the customary Gotham warning went out, they went straight to work. Heading towards the parts of Gotham that most people shudder to think about. Red Hood heard more than a few unhelpful complaints through the (totally weird) mindlink.
“Would you shut up about it already? I know this place is gross even by Gotham standards, suck it up!”
The team went quiet so fast it almost made him think there was some deity watching over him.
“This is the place” he said when he got to shitty-looking building.
“Are you kidding me?” the Boy Wonder thought, “This place couldn't house anyone, not even an eight year old, and certainly not some league of assassins”
”Just wait until you get inside.”
“For what, so you can kill us with this collapsing building?”
“I'm going in without you,” Jason figured this would be this best way to get the Demon brat to stop stalling and get with the program. He slipped in through his usual place and found the kid there, snoozing away like every other time he had come to visit.
“Wait until I get him up and warn her about you guys.” When Jason got an affirmative answer from all of them, Jason went through the familiar motions of waking the girl up.
Blue eyes shot open, heris body remained calm, but ready to react in a dangerous way. When she registered Jason's presence, that cute smile quirked onto her face.
"Jason." As usual, the whisper and its echoes sent chills down his spine.
"Hey, call me Red Hood for a while, would ya? I brought those friends I promised and that's what I need to be called by." Jason watched as the young assassin took in this new information, and then blinked slowly, something Jason had come to recognize as a sign of understanding.
"Red Hood," she finally repeated, reaching out for him. Jason obeyed the silent command and picked her up. "Hood," she said by itself, probably as a nickname. "Friends?" she asked excitedly, looking around her small room for the extra people she had been promised, and frowned when she discovered it empty.
"Hold on, I told them to wait until I got you settled."
“Coast is clear, come in quietly.”
One by one they slipped in the small room, and it seemed that the team was just as enraptured by the small girl as she was with them. This was what the girl had been waiting for. Though she knew Red Hood was a powerful man, just one man alone could not bring down the organization when they came to collect their missing Talon. Now that the young assassin knew that Red Hood had powerful friends, she would let the man take him.”What's she doing?” Aqualad asked in worry over their mindlink. Though they could not see the girl that well, they could see that she seemed to be sizing each one of them up. Peculiar behavior for a child her age
“Truth is” (Jason ignored the Demon brat's grumble of 'here it comes'), “this kid would never come with me unless she was confident that we would be able to defend ourselves. Just me by myself was an absolute no in her book, but with a group of metas, she sees that I have powerful allies, and now she's willing to come with us.”
The kid squirmed in his arms for a moments, a clear sign of wanting to be put down. Hood and the team watched as the girl scrambled over to the bed and lifted up the cot, pulled something out, and let the cot flop back down to the floor. She pulled the new item, a mask, over her face and rushed back to Red Hood's side.
"Hood," she whispered, causing some of the Young Justice members to jump slightly, as they were unprepared for verbal communication with the mindlink up.
"It's okay," Red Hood whispered back in a gentle manner, making Robin raise both eyebrows in surprise. "Go back to sleep and I'll introduce them when you wake up in the mountain."
The kid nodded her consent before dropping back into a fitful sleep in an instant. They must have worked her hard today…
“Let's go,” he said, very ready to be gone from this creepy place for the rest of his life, and the girls life too.
”That's it?” Kid Flash asked in surprise.
”Yeah, thanks for not fucking up your simple task,” Red Hood snarked as he made his way out of the building with his precious cargo.

They made it back to Mount Justice rather quickly and with almost no fuss, as most of the team was focused on Red Hood's owl-masked bundle. And, predictably, an angry Batman and friends were waiting for them when they got back
"Well. I'm not going to deal with this," Jason said, abandoning the team to a fate worse than death (he would know), when Batman's voice called him out.
"Why do you think that you aren't included in this?"
"'Cause I'm not a part of this team and I have a guest to watch over." Batman's eyes narrowed at the girl in his arms, but thankfully acknowledged her presence there by decreasing his volume.
"Put him down, and then come back in here. You have a lot of explaining to do." It was that sort of attitude that really ticked Jason off.
"How about you listen to me? I'm going to lay this kid down, and then I'm going to wait for her to wake up because if she wakes up in a completely new place without me, then I refuse to be blamed for the body count." He headed straight for the medbay, Roy and Kori following, ignoring Batman or any other the other League members calling for him, and finally was able to put the girl in a bed.
Jason took this time to really look at this girl. Her black hair was now readily apparent, Jason had never known if maybe it was brown or black under the moonlight and sometimes candlelight in the young girls room. And with the harsh light of the medbay, he could also see the strands of white throughout her hair. Which intrigued Jason as he had the same thing due to his time in the fountain of youth. He could also start counting the scars that covered her arms and legs. He didn't even want to think about the ones under her clothes. The owl mask the girl wore was plain white, but utterly creepy. Jason refused to remove it though. When the girl trusted them enough, he would take it off herself.
A sigh tore through his lips, and Jason ran a hand through his messy hair. At least he finally had the kid with him now.

“So what are we going to do with her?” asked Roy as he played with one of his arrows on the floor.
“I don’t know Roy, I really don’t know” Jason replied suddenly realizing that he hadn't thought that far ahead.
“Lets take her.”
“What?” Jason and Roy turned to Kori, who wasn't looking at them but focusing on the child in front of her. “We take her with us, raise her ourselves... I can sense great power in this child, and the League will only suppress it and not give her the chance at true freedom...” The Tamaranian looked at her two friends “I will not allow them to do that to this child, even if it’s the last thing I do”
Roy smiled at Jason’s dumbfounded face “Thats a great idea Kori! Like we will totally suck at being parents, but it’s thought that counts yes? Ooh I can teach her how to use a bow! and how to build weapons! Oh and we can have movie nights! And shopping trips! And -!” “You're gonna shut up now” snapped Jason, then he turned to Kori “It is a good idea, lets do it.” the three Outlaws grinned at each other excited at the new addition to the group. Until Roy broke the moment.
“Wait... What’s her name?”

Chapter Text

At exactly 4 in the morning, Itzu shot up and moved to slide off the bed, a bed which was higher up than the cot she usually slept on was.
"Woah, slow down there, short stuff." The kid jumped at the voice and when Jason's hand made contact, he thought she was going to rip his hand straight out of the socket. He held back his grunt as the tremendous force left his hand and the girl began to take in her surroundings.
"Hood?" she asked anxiously, rubbing Jason's wrist in an apology.
"It's fine. I understand."
"Where?" Straight to the point
"Mount Justice. Those friends of mine are here too. Plus a few other people I'm sure you'll get to know." No kidding, once the League heard (or had probably already heard from the team) what was up with their guest, they'd swarm the little girl.
"Now?" Itzu was buzzing in excitement, but…
"Most people aren't awake at 4 in the morning, but we can check." Jason put the kid down on the floor, and she immediately attached to Jason's uninjured hand. He led her down the hallway, and low and behold, it seemed like no one got any sleep last night.
The Young Justice team were sitting on the couches in the living room, seemingly put out after their talk (interrogation) from Batman and the rest of the League. Speaking of, they were waiting in front of the doorway into the living room waiting for them. Jason was pretty sure Superman had heard them coming down the hallway and had alerted the others.
Prick
Jason caught sight of Roy and Kori, both by the wall as far away from the heroes as possible. Itzu stopped short when she saw the heroes and looked to Jason for guidance.
"These are those other people I was telling you about." It was implied that these people weren't the friends that Jason has been telling the girl about, not that Jason really wanted to refer to Young Justice as his friends, but he thought they were better than the Justice League. And he didn't have any other 'trustworthy' word to call them with the girls limited vocabulary.
A bit surprisingly, Superman, came forward first, instead of Batman like Jason thought he would. He lent down to the child’s level, took in her height, scars, and strange mask, and smiled at the young girl. The silence was astounding, even the Young Justice were watching them with baited breath.
"Hello, I'm Superman." This was usually a proven method that won over a kid's trust easily. Everyone knew who Superman was. Itzu pointed at him, and though the League couldn't see passed her mask, they assumed her face was awed, until the child spoke.
"Kill?" she turned towards Jason, asking if she was supposed to kill the strongest man on Earth. Jason couldn't help it, he burst out laughing, Kori and Roy joining in. The question was funny, Superman's face was hilarious, and hell, so was everyone else's face.
"girl, you crack me up," Jason told her as he picked the child up and carried her passed the stunned Justice League. "These are my," ugh, "friends."
The first one she measured up was Conner. She took a full minute to look him up and down, and then turned back to look at the Man of Steel, and then looked back at Conner. The girl seemed mystified.
Considering she didn't quite grasp the concept of family, and that 'clone' wasn't likely to be on her vocab list, he told her he'd explain the resemblance later.
Next was M'gann, and the kid stared at her for a completely different reason.
"Hello Megan! She probably doesn't understand why my skin is green." She quickly changed her skin white, which Jason think only added to her mystique instead of reducing it. Again, he told the girl he would try to explain later.
One look at Aqualad and she was scrambling in Jason's arms to get to the team's leader. Jason waited for Aqualad's accepting nod before taking a careful step into the Atlantean's personal space. Itzu immediately reached out for the gills.
"Died?" she asked curiously. "Dying?" She quickly revised feeling the leader's intake of breath.
"It's not a threat this time," Jason amended for the child, pulling her out of Aqualad's space. "The gills make her think you've been stabbed in the neck. She's asking if you're dying."
"I'm part fish," Aqualad quickly edited for the girl.
"Fish? What?" Another 'I'll explain later' and they moved on in the line.
Artemis stood there, looking a bit worried, because she knew the child was more perceptive than she looked. Itzu cocked her head while looking at Artemis, not quite knowing what to make of her, before sticking her fist out. Artemis blinked at it wearily.
"She wants a fist bump," Jason was quick to supply.
"She knows what a fist bump is, but not a fish." But she fist bumped the girl anyways. Jason could imagine the smile that the kid got for the feeling of comradery among kid assassins.
"I think the only real education she got in there was how to kill people, and what I taught her the few times I hung out there." Really, what a deplorable education. No English speaking skills, no social interaction outside of fighting and killing. Hell, Itzu had probably never gone outside before last night, and she was asleep for it!
Kid Flash effectively talked the kid's ear off, not only becoming unintelligible to regular English speakers, but absolutely impossible to the poor girl. She probably wasn't paying attention in the first place, she was incredibly focused on the speedster's yellow suit. It had to be strange to see such a bright color, and so much of it after having been in a dark place for so long. She reached out to touch the logo, only for the camo to activate, and the yellow suit to turn grey
The girl in his arms froze up and became tense from the sudden change.
"Sorry about that, it happens when the logo is pressed. See?" Kid Flash gently pressed against the logo again, and the obnoxious yellow was once again present. Wanting to test it a few more times herself, the kid pressed the logo over and over again, probably watching the change happening meticulously
Once the kid got his fill of Kid Flash's suit, Jason turned to Roy, who’s bright green trucker hat and red costume mystified Itzu, but as she looked into the archers masked eyes she froze stiff again. “Itzu?” Jason asked worried, the only response was a low growl from the little assassin as she turned to stare at Green Arrow.
The emerald Archer blinked confusingly unsure of the child “um, hi?” Ollie said awkwardly, Itzu turned to Roy then back to Oliver, she pointed to Oliver “no... mean... to Hood... friends” she whispered threateningly.
then she turned to Roy “no more... needle” Roy’s eyes widened in surprise “h-how...?” She pointed to his left arm, and simply said “needle... no more.” leaving the room silent.
Itzu, seeming to think her job was done shifted so she could see Kori better. Jason expected for Itzu to have the same reaction to Kori as she did with M’gann, but the two just stared at each other, leaving the room silent once again.
After a while the awkward silence was broken by a small sound, a light breathy sound that lit up the entire room, a sound that Jason always longed to hear.
Itzu’s Laugh.
Kori, wide eyed at the little girl smiled as well, “Xhal child, may your happiness be the light of the world.” she then reached out and patted the girls head gently, getting a nod in return.
Itzu looked at Jason signaling him to move on, so he did rather grudgingly. His last 'friend', the Demon brat. The two studied each other for a long moment, which was only broken so that she could eye him up too. Just as the girl had done to Conner and Superman.
Well, the girl was damn observant if she could tell that there was a connection between them already.
"Done," the kid whispered to him, so used to having to be quiet during their meet ups.
"Thank God," he sighed, sinking into the couch. He so wanted a nap right now.
Someone cleared their throat behind him and Jason let out a smaller, defeated sigh. This was not going to be a fun conversation.
"Go hang out with my friends, okay?" Itzu nodded and slid out of his lap silently and walked over to
Roy, Kori, and Conner. Having the kid's approval over Superman was sure to give him a bit of a confidence boost. With that last thought, he willing followed Batman for his own dose of personal torture.

AN: I thought for a second that i was gonna end the chapter here but I decided to give you guy's a longer chapter, so Enjoy!

When Jason was finally able to escape, he took the opportunity by the horns and walked quickly back to the living room. A lot of the League had left, figuring that Batman would get everything settled and reported to them later, leaving the team and their mentors. And Itzu.

All of them were being subjected to watching the TV screen snow. Most with boredom, Conner with his usual glare, and he couldn't see Itzu’s face, but Jason was sure that she was absolutely fascinated

"Hood," the kid announced his presence, even though most people hadn't even noticed him yet, and she was still facing the screen. She pointed at it vigorously, like it was the best thing since sliced bread, and could only continue to wave her arms around. She probably had no words for it.

"TV."

"TV," the kid repeated with joy, and then became immersed back into the wonderful world of TV

"We tried asking about the mask," Kid Flash informed him, and Jason rolled his eyes because of course they did. No sensible person would have wanted anyone to keep wearing that disturbing mask for any reason. "I think she wants your permission first."

"What makes you say that?" Kid Flash nodded to Artemis, who huffed, but turned to the kid and asked the question.

Her response, "Hood!" Kid Flash looked at him with a raised eyebrow which Jason shrugged at.

"It's up to you," he told the kid. He could hear a few people groan at his answer, but he didn't give a shit, he wasn't going to force the girl to show her face to anyone if she didn't want to.

"Mask!" she pointed out Jason's helmet, and the domino mask the kid knew he wore underneath. He had almost forgotten he had been wearing both. He pulled the helmet off.

"You happy?" The kid latched her hands to Jason's face instantly. Mapping out the familiar face as she had done many times in the dark of her room.

"Yes." And that was what the child had been waiting for apparently. She slipped the owl mask off and set it in her lap, her blue eyes and pale features becoming prominent. Jason can barely remember the tanner skin the kid used to have, under the burning candle lights, but being a complete shut in had changed that dramatically.

Jason barely hears Batman's intake of breath over everyone else's, but only because he can hear the grief behind it. Batman rounds the couch and kneels in front of the kid, taking her features in.

"Who are you?" His voice is not angry and gruff as it usually is, it's more friendly, something that knocks a few of the others through a loop. The kid only cocks her head, and Jason intervenes.

"I've already tried that. You'll only get a creepy business jingle as an answer. She says she's the Talon, but I think all of the assassins are called that. They aren't allowed to be people, so she’s not allowed a  'real name' so to speak." And it triggers that same anger that it did since the first day he heard the kid struggle to make him understand that she wasn't her own person.

“I barely managed to get her real name and a little other stuff but not much, i still don’t know who she is” Jason ground out angraly

"I know who she is-,"

"The shit?" Jason interrupts, clearly caught off guard as everyone else now. He'd known the kid for two years and tried to find out who she was and still couldn't do it, but Batman sees her face for all of three seconds and just knows. What fucking bullshit.

"I just need to confirm my suspicions. Would you come back with me to the medbay?" Batman holds out his hand, but Jason counts it as a personal victory when the girl still looks at him for his advice. When he nods, his stomach still sinks when she take's Batman's hand.

"I'm coming too." He says it before he realizes that it left his mouth.

"Fine."

Chapter Text

All three of them stare at the DNA results. The name ‘Itzu Vermilion-Todd: Pronounced Dead' flashes on the screen Damn, what does this mean?

“What the fuck?! How is it that we have the same last name!?”

“Shiva” was the answer “Yeah she’s my psychopathic mother, so what?” Jason snapped.

Then it hit him, two years ago when he first met the kid She managed to tell him about her grandmother who had raised her.

“Your a Niaso?” ‘cause only Niaso speak Tsai fluently, it’s in their blood. She blinked owly (another one of those bad puns) then nodded slowly

“Umn.... Oma said... Niaso” she pointed to herself again.

“Oma?” then it clicked, Oma means Grandmother in German.

“Your grandmother? Is she a Niaso too? And why aren't you with her?” Jason knew that he probably shouldn't bombard the kid with questions but his mind was too busy working to care.

“Oma... no Niaso... Oma in trouble... with old guy... old guy .... sold me to Court” Jason didn't like the sound of that, and with barely controlled fury he asked “Old guy? who’s that?”

the kid shrugged “no know name” he gritted his teeth

“what about your Grandmother? Whats her name?” Any hint of this kid’s family could lead to both good or bad things, but it was worth a shot.

She smiled “Shiva”

Well Damn.

"How'd you know?"

"Two years ago I ran into Shiva during patrol, expecting her to be here for an assassination I went after her. but she made it quite clear that she was looking for something. When I confronted her about it she said ‘when you lose a child you would do anything to get them back’ so I agreed to help her look for her child thinking it was her daughter missing” Batman sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose

“it wasn't until much later that I realized it was her granddaughter missing, and once I had found out her name and origin... it was too late”

he sighed again “ but now I can see that was not the case”

Jason was dumbstruck the girl sitting in front of them was his daughter, nervous as to what the answer will be he asked the question anyways “W-what do you mean to late?”

“when we found her body it was as she was eaten by wolves, torn to shreds. little did we know that she had been injected with the serum already, so when I got a call from Gordon saying that her body disappeared I had put it aside as a cold case”

“why didn't you fucking tell me!” Jason snapped “I've known her for two years now! yet you didn't tell me that im a father!”

Batman glared at him “How do you tell the person you see as a son that you just found his dead Daughter, when he didn't even know that she existed?!”

“SHUT UP! You have never seen me as a son! you only see me as a failure! A failure who you keep secrets from! a failure who you replaced! A failure who you don’t give a shit about! Well now this failure is done with your shi-!”

Jason was suddenly cut off from his rant by a pair of small arms wrapped around his waist. He looked down to see Itzu burry her face into his stomach trembling slightly. “Hey kiddo.... what's wrong?

” He knelt down slowly prying the arms from his waist. Itzu looked up at him worry in her eyes “you not a failure.... You are hero... not failure.” Jason’s eyes widened and he felt a lump in his throat. “I... a.. Itzu...” he stuttered unsure as what to say. She smiled “ and no say otherwise” she stated.

Then she turned to Batman “Hood... my Vati?”(daddy) she asked softly, Batman only nodded not wanting to make the situation worse, She turned back to Jason “then Oma Vati’s Mutti?”(then grandma dad's mom?) Jason nodded numbly causing Itzu to smile and dive into Jason's arms “Vati!” Jason looked over Itzu’s thin shoulder and sees Bruce giving him a look that screams 'time for another talk', and shoos Itzu away from what could only be another argument.

"Go tell everybody the news," he encourages, and he whispers in Itzu's ear, "give them hell." Jason is rewarded with another bright smile before the little hellion vanishes.

"Red Hood, what Itzu needs now is stability," Batman starts off, and already Jason does not like where this is headed.

"I know you think that just because you're Batman, you can handle anything, but if you think that Itzu's going to get stability from you, then I'm going to have to warn you because I will laugh in your face. I'd be a better influence for her then you right now, especially with your newest Robin needing your attention." Jason finishes his tirade with a glare full of promises. He can admit right now that he's attached to the girl, and with the recent bombshell he’s not letting her out of his sight, but he knows that Itzu will need a lot more that Batman will be able to give her, more than Bruce will be able to give her. And Itzu's best chance at normal will need to at least start out with a transition period with him, and the Outlaws.

"I know that Red Hood," Batman says dryly. Jason is tempted to rip the Batman mask off to see if Bruce Wayne really is underneath. When did he ever start agreeing with anything that came out of Jason's mouth? "

What? You're not going to argue about my anti-hero-ness, or my constant moving, or anything?" Batman sucks in a breath as if the words that leave his mouth next will kill him.

"You know Itzu better and can better communicate with her. Your life as an anti-hero is something she can more closely relate to, though I would like it if you would steer her away from killing altogether, if possible. Your constant moving, though, will be a problem. This child, though she used to travel all around with Shiva, is now used to being in one place her whole life. I think it would benefit the both of you greatly if you moved into Wayne Manor." Jason's jaw drops for about three seconds before he can command control of himself again.

"Of course there will be days when it will be hard to talk to each other, especially if you continue with your methods, but I only want to do what is best for Itzu. And it will be easier to keep an eye on her there, she'll have Alfred to help her better learn everything, and with the Cave attached to the house, there is no place safer for her if this Court of Owls decides to come after her." Though Jason loathes to admit it, that is a very good point.

"Let's work out the fine details later, huh?" Jason has had enough conversation for one day, and not enough sleep to keep dealing with them.

"Come by when you're ready. I'll tell Robin later." Damn, Jason had forgotten all about the Demon brat. Before Jason can stir up the energy to start an argument about that, Batman had disappeared down the hall.

When they reach the living room, Batman takes a second to take in the chaos before turning sharply on his heel and retreating from the situation all together. He's letting Jason start to earn some trust. Either that or he just doesn't want to have to deal with it. But with the team and most of the mentors playing the super powered version of 'Find the Missing Child Assassin' and losing, Jason decides to relieve them of their duties.

"I'm tired, come lay down with me," Jason calls out as he lays down on the couch. A second and a few shocked gasps later, Itzu flips over the couch and lands lightly on his chest, instantly going to sleep. Bringing a hand up to rest on the Girls back and to keep her in place as Jason went to sleep, he can't help but realize that he hasn't been this happy in a while, and that the rage that had threatened to consume him since he had been resurrected had reduced greatly.All because of the tiny assassin napping on his chest. All because of his new daughter.

Chapter Text

Later on; when all the residents of Wayne manor are either sleeping or out on patrol, a small form could bee seen on the roof of aforementioned manor. The small form of Itzu Koriander Harper-Todd (she knows that it’s a long name, But she picked it herself- she just could not do Vermilion anymore- And that's all that matters.) she had snuck up here after the grandfatherly od butler had long gone off to bed, leaving the Bat and Nightwing to Gotham, the other colored winged vigilantes had either gone off to their respected homes, or simply gone to bed themselves, leaving the eight year old girl the only awake person in the large dark manor. She had never been afraid of the dark, but it has always left her on edge. Talons and Shadows live and thrive in the dark. Always watching, always listening, forever stalking their prey, leaving the unexpected as the unprepared. she shakes her head, no she was free of the Court and the League of Assassins. Vati made sure of that, but he’s not here. how will he stop THEM from taking you now?  She hugs her knees to her chest desperately willing the thought away from her mind. But it’s no use, the thought had left its mark on her, just like the scars that litter her body and marred her skin like a painful masterpiece in an art museum for judging eyes to pick and prod, to ooh and aww, to despise and loath, and worst of all... to want.

It’s always the want, the greed for her that scares her. It’s like she wasn't human, but some tool that they sharpened into a weapon. It might as well have been slavery, but that word always never seemed to explain anything about the experience, the humiliation, the torture, the fact that she had been forced to forget her name. The one thing that was proof that she was a human being, and they made her forget, she will never again forget. She was free, whether they liked it or not she couldn't bring up the courage to care.

She snorts and looks up at the sky at the stars. There was a time  she would laughingly - definitely – have declared war on anything that dared look down on her. Even the stars. she had been a determined- stubborn, young, naive, a voice whispered- child. she had thought herself invincible, safe as long as her big brother’s voice was within the veil of life.

She had always loved her brother, Akito. She had always loved watching Akito fly through the air, so graceful and swift, but strong and forceful to. Whenever she had a bad day or she started to slip over the knife's edge into the pits of despair and madness, She would imagine Akito’s smile, and of the times she was happy before the Court.

Yet those times had come to an end so soon and abruptly that even four years later it still felt like yesterday that he left her, his cold lifeless body in front lying at her feet his final words echoing in her mind, blood pooling around him soaking, seeping into her hands, shoes and knees. Four, at age four her life seemed to end. Slowly all the joy, happiness, life, and wonder left her leaving her empty, a cold hearted shell of a girl who once was seen gliding around her village with a smile on her face as she met her brother on his way home from work, or playing with the wolf spirit Larka. Her cries will never be heard, her smile will slip from her face as the horrors of her future take hold, her eyes will show the endless agony that she will endure,  the gift of soul reading will become a curse as  life after life, friends, family, and unknown. Their memories pains and dreams will become her’s and only her burden to carry for the rest of her cruel life.

And she had shown everybody, everybody who had thought she was weak, small, and easily preyed upon. she had showed them. she had been the first. If she could, she would have laughed bitterly, mockingly at the sky and the burning stars.

“Itzu?” a voice calls softly behind her causing her to tense up in alarm. she turns to see the one Vati called Dick slowly sitting himself down next to her. She mentally cursed herself, such carelessness would result in punishment for sure. as she mentally prepares herself for the harsh beating to start,she feels strong arms wrap around her. She wills herself to stay still and not react, until she feels a hand run through her hair. She blinks and looks up into the electric blue eyes of Dick Grayson, and was surprised to see a small smile on his lips.

“Im not gonna hurt you”  he sooths the young girl in his arms “no matter what you do, I will not intentionally hurt you. Im not like them.”

She frowns, not hurt her? But why not? she was careless so she needs to be punished, what if she did that out on the field? She could cause someone harm. His words confused her, is this what Vati said was caring? If so it made her feel weird inside.

She looks up at him examining his face, not a twitch or falter. So he’s being honest, that’s a first she thought, most adults before Jason had often lied to her thinking that she wouldn't realize that they were keeping the truth from her, what she doesn't know wouldn't kill her right?

“W-why?” she cursed her inability to communicate properly yet, she was fluent in over fifteen other languages, including alien and ancient. So why can't she speak English? of all languages she couldn’t  speak the most common.

“Why? why would I hurt you is the real question. Did you expect me to hurt you?” the ebony haired male asked, concerned. And when the little girl in his arms nodded slowly it both broke his heart as well as fill him with rage. how DARE someone hurt a child like this. NO human being should be afraid of doing something “wrong”.  He pulled the child closer to him “Listen here Zu... Me, your dad, Kori, Roy, Alfred, Tim, Damian, Cass, Steph, Barbara, hell even Bruce. Will never NEVER physically punish you for something you did wrong, especially for things that you can't control. And if someone does? You tell one of us instantly, please don’t bottle it up and not tell anyone ok?” he looked at her silently demanding her to agree. She nods.

“prom-ice...” he smiles.

“Good now let’s get you to bed before Alfred drags us off the roof.”

“Master Dick? It’s long past time for you to get up.” Alfred calls through the thick french double doors that lead to aforementioned acrobat. The ageing butler frowns when he’s met with silence, and promptly opens the door. When he enters the room he smiles.

Dick is sprawled across his bed still in his Nightwing uniform (Alfred will scold him about that later) With Itzu curled up snugly to his side tightly clutching Peanut, Dick’s old stuffed elephant from when he was her age.

Alfred quickly takes out the camera he has always carried since Dick first moved into the manor, and slyly takes a few pictures. then he turns and quietly leaves the room.

Chapter Text

Jason was starting to get annoyed at his anonymous kidnapper. One would think that being tortured for the past week and a half would drive someone nuts, but no he just has to be the prick that doesn't mind torture -if no one else why not him?- What really gets to him is the screams coming from his friends in neighboring cells, and the fact that the wack-job that kidnapped them has a thing for Jason’s daughter.

‘No way in hell will I let someone touch her again’  Jason thought angrily ‘ I can only hope that she made it to Gotham in time.’  Jason hated that Itzu had to go back to that hellish city again but it’s the only place Jason knew she would be safe, as long as she found Dick in time.

Jason refused  bend to his assailants wishes, refusing to scream. Forever defiant to the ones who tick him off, yep that’s Jason.

“So, Mr. Hood, have you considered my offer?” The annoyingly happy voice of Jason’s kidnapper sounds over the loudspeaker in his cell.

Jason growled angrily. “You bastard... I won't let you touch her!” a low chuckle echoed throughout the cell “now that wasn't a very nice thing to say, Mr. Hood , you should learn some manners!” the voice singsonged as two mettle arm like things appeared in front of Jason, tendrils of electricity crackling between the them. Jason sighed disappointed, electrocution... Original. This is really starting to get annoying.

Bruce's P.O.V.

It was Alfred's idea, encouraging me to go to the theater that day. Apparently, my responsibilities were slipping; my focus almost solely on the growing turf war between the Two Face and the Joker. According to Alfred, people were beginning to believe that I was more of a reclusive billionaire than the playboy, doting father persona that I had been adopting.

I was fine with that. Alfred was not.

So, on December 14th, I was in the cave researching possible targets that the Joker might hit next, (in retaliation to Two Face's attack to the Joker's supplier,) when I received a call from Jacqueline Martinez, from Gotham’s John Wayne theater  saying that she would just love to save me two front row seats for me and my date that evening. Perhaps I would even be willing to give her an exclusive invitation to the Christmas Ball, that Alfred had informed the gossip columns that I was throwing. I smiled and told her that I was looking forward to it and then hung up; sensing Alfred lurking behind me.

"The Theater?" I asked derisively, wondering if Alfred understood the concept of what a 'hot date' should be.

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "It is difficult to find tickets on such short notice, sir."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the computer, intent on burying myself in work until the very last minute. Maintaining a cover is important, for obvious reasons, but when compared to the already high body count being stacked up by the two super villains arguing over Midtown, I didn't count my date night with a random girl, Alfred picked out a high priority.

Which was probably why I was floored.

When Alfred called me down to the lobby saying my date was ready, i had been expecting a six foot sleek supermodel, or some rich Gothamite. But no, when I came down the stairs, mentally preparing myself for another night of fake flirting and coy personality, I was met with an unexpected sight.

Four foot three, and in a dazzling electric blue and black dress that reached to her ankles where a small pair of silver heels adorned her feet. Her unruly black hair was swept into an angelic halo of darkness, bringing out the brightness of her blue eyes. Looking back now, I realize that I had never, payed enough attention to my granddaughter, if I had I would have realized that she is the spitting image of her father, even with her tan skin and agile features, she was the living replica.

“U-Um..” I stuttered unsure as to what to say.

“Is something wrong Master Bruce?” Alfred asked sarcastically “You do not seem to be acting like you usually do.”

I shifted uncomfortably “ Alfred? can I talk to you a second?” the old butler sighed and followed me into the parlor excusing himself along the way “I apologize Lady Itzu, your grandfather seems to be having some troubles, please excuse us for a moment.”  The only reply the butler got was a slow wink, but the old man took that as confirmation.  

I turn on him the second he closed the door “What is this about Alfred?”

“this Is about you avoiding your granddaughter while you're doing nothing about her missing family.” Alfred spat out distastefully, leaving me feeling like a child being scolded.

“I have been looking! But with the recent turf war going on, they'll just have to wait!”  

Alfred looked horrified “Wait?! Excuse Master Bruce but that is your son you are talking about leaving in the clutches of a mass murderer! And I know that I try to stay out of disagreements between you and Master Jason, however when it is greatly affecting your already traumatized and exposed granddaughter , I will not  tolerate you neglecting them any longer.” Bruce winces, he supposed that he had been avoiding the ex-assassin, but other things were more important !

Bruce sighed “fine I'll go to the theater with her and when I come back I'll start working on finding Jason and the others, ok?” Alfred still looked disapprovingly at him but he simply nodded, took a deep breath, pivoted on his heel and promptly walked out of the room.

The show was better than I had expected, having never really been a fan of plays before. Even Itzu seemed to be enjoying herself; her curious eyes scanned intently as she watched the act. The lumpy seats weren't exactly best designed for comfort though, and I highly doubted that the snacks that were being hawked were fit for human consumption, but I have been told that this is all a part of the 'experience'.
What came next though, definitely wasn't.
The return of The Court of Owls is something that I'll never forget. It was just so sudden, everything changing with the blackout. The upbeat music that accompanied the act was still playing, contrasting with the horrified screams of the audience members around us. And then bodies hit the ground and the theater went quiet with shock. Some people fled, believing that this was an attack by one of the Gotham crazies, but most of them sat, transfixed with morbid curiosity as the blood began to spread.

As the whispers started among the audience the witnesses comparing their stories as they tried to process what they had just seen I watched Itzu brush past a well-meaning  Jim Gordon who tried to stop her from seeing. She ran right up to where a family was lying twisted on the ground, and then staggered to a stop and collapsed to her knees. Even from the distance that I was sitting, I could tell just how angry she was; her shock, sadness, horror and pain written into the slump of her shoulders and boneless slouch.

I wasn't much better, standing there in a state of shock, unable to process the scene in front of me.

Chapter Text

“Silver light
She turned her face up to the starlit sky
And on this night began to wonder why
She knew that soon the day would come

Born to be
An heir of beauty and serenity
Into this world she entered quietly
To her surprise she was the one

Destiny was close behind her
Phantom of borrowed life
And the sea was a reminder
Mirror of given light

Then one day
The sign she'd waited for in skies of grey
Traversed a winding road and came her way
She found the love she hoped she would

But she knew
That she had promises to stay true to
The dormant daughter of the silver moon
Then all at once she understood

Destiny was close behind her
Phantom of borrowed life
And the sea was a reminder
Mirror of given light

From the sky
She watched the life
She'd known she would leave behind
Said goodbye
And gave her people
Life through her sacrifice”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cold.
She's so cold. Her teeth chatter like they're going to vibrate right out of her skull and no matter how tightly she curls into herself Itzu can't stop them, can't shake it. It feels like she's dying.
She knows he will come.
In this cell, this pit, the days blur. Night and day have again become abstract concepts as the light comes and goes at the whim of her captors, the cycle ever changing to destroy her fragile perception of time and reality.
They allow her no stability to brace herself against.
Batman won’t come. But Jason will.
How long has it been? Weeks or months, she just can't tell.She’s stopped caring. Weeks she hopes, sinking into memory, trying to recall her training in order to cling to sanity. It's hard; the area they keep Itzu in is a familiar rounded, spherical torture chamber that denies the instinctive urge to put her back against comforting corners.
They want to break her down again, to shatter her into malleable pieces that can be reforged into their desired image. She can't, won't give into them. She has too much faith in those she knows love her.
‘Jason, Roy, Kori, Dick’ she lists the names of the living few she knows cares.
(They've told her things, the Court of Owls, the sea of blank white faces who had watched every minute of her existence. They told her Batman betrayed her, that He had handed her over himself. And that the Outlaws are already dead. that the other heroes don’t care enough to bring Itzu home or even notice that she's missing. She doesn't believe a word of it.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She remembers the first time she was down here. a young scared ‘child’, who was slowly driven into an insanity so strong it scared the court. But they soon learned that in order to control her they needed to simply break that insanity.
And break it they did. But they didn't expect the result. They had broken her, she just didn't crack where they wanted her to.
She named her Sünde-the german word for sin- after all she was created from the sins of the court. In the dark pit Sünde thrived, taking over the mind of the Talon and raising hell for the court. She still remembers the day they decided to take her out of the pit the once gray walls were stained red with paintings and symbols, as was the water. Sünde had gone all out, spilling out the life blood of the body she currently resided in, and marked the walls in a haunting promise for vengeance.

‘Tears the mind can't tell are true,
Pain the heart can't share.
Anger wrapped up in deceit,
It's more than I can bear.

The hurt and torture deep inside,
The scalding pain of hate.
The sadness deep inside my soul,
That anger did create.

The anger causes pain inside,
Too deep to understand.
And the pain, in turn, will cause,
More malice to my hand.

The scourge I lay upon you now,
You surely cannot break.
This curse will last for on and on,
You've made a grave mistake.’
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Now)
The wet trickle of water rouses her and Itzu looks up, swallows as her cell starts to flood. She knows what's happening. "It's pointless, I won't let you break me again. They're definitely looking for me.” she calls up in harsh cutting Tsai, to the Talons standing at the edge of the pit.
“Just who would come?” asked one of her ‘Masters’ “The Batman gave you to us and The Outlaws are dead, surely no one would bother risking their life for you.” She smirked
“Dead you say? do you honestly think someone like the Red Hood would let someone as low as you kill him? I assure you he alive and headed this way as we speak.” The Talons looked startled and her ‘masters’ started to mumble
“Alive and coming you say? Just who would rescue them for you?”
Itzu laughed “Oh you know us Niaso, we have connections. I just feel bad for you not noticing earlier, she has quite a grudge against you from the last time you took me away from her.” She grinned wider at the unease she felt them have, some where on the verge of panicking.
“Just who is she?”
Itzu laughed again “Why it's your dear friend Lady Shiva, of course.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She can hear it, the sound of death echoes through the air.
Already dead souls freed from their empty carcases.
She can feel it, their anger, His anger.

She giggles “I told them he would come. Didn’t we Sünde?” She turned to the red stained words on the wall. “We told them from the start.”

A sudden sharp pain in her chest cuts off her giggles, as images flash
through her eyes. Images of wealth, power, and cruelty.
Images, no memories of breaking Talons, breaking children. Their blood spilled on the floor of the ‘training hall’, their tears seeping into their dehydrated skin.
And then the best part. The Red Hood, leather jacket dyed red with blood, twin swords ripping through the bodies of the council, he wasn't wearing his mask nor his helmet. He wanted everyone to know that Jason Todd was the one to end them.
Then their was the others.
Kori, turned every enemy into ashes.
Roy, slaughtered anything moving in his path.
And Dick, simply stopped caring about morals, wielding Jason’s twin pistols he shot like a pro, blasting off Talons heads like nobody’s business.
Shiva, knives and poison flying through the air.
Batman, an angry fury of black,
Red Robin, donning a “borrowed” freeze ray from Archam.
Batgirl, one silent killing machine.
Spoiler, angry barbie.
Robin, a true Al Ghul.
Even Alfred, with his Winchester Model 1887 Shotgun.

The Court was simply no match.
She smiled, “I told you~!”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Jason)

Jason can't remember ever being this angry before, not even when he attacked the Joker, or during the pit rage after his resurrection.
But these fuckers attacked them, separating him from Itzu. Then they had the balls to take her too.

Big mistake.

hacking through another council member Jason made his way to the Court Master, with a well placed glare he easily pinned the Court Master against the wall, blood drenched blade on his neck. “You will tell me where my daughter is or i swear to God i'll make even the afterlife Hell for you.”
THe Court member trembled as he stuttered out “S-She’s I-in t-the breaking c-chamber!” Jason growled “And where exactly is that?” he pressed the blade deeper into the man’s neck, “i-it’s j-j-just passed th-the t-training hall!”
the training hall. Jason knew exactly where that was, it was the first place they hit. he grinned darkly “Good!...Now” he raised the sword “Good night.”
_____________________________________________________________

(Jason: five minutes, and lots of dead people later)

The large group of very bloody “heroes” raced down towards the training hall. ignoring the freshly painted (now red) walls, and many unrecognizable bodies.
“Where is she?!” asked Roy
“something called a breaking chamber.” Jason growled out as he rounded the corner leading to the training hall.
Jason could hear Roy swear and Kory clench her jaw. He knew the others had similar reactions, but he no longer cared, all he cared about was finding Itzu.

passing the doors that lead to the Training Hall, Jason bounded to the only other set of doors at the end of the corridor. unlike the training hall these doors filled Jason up with much more dread, solid metal bars formed a cage like gate. when Jason tried opening it, the door refused to move.
“damn it!” he cussed frantic.
“Now what? can’t you pick it?” asked Tim
“No lock to pick” Jason snapped, then he turned to Kori
“princess can you...?” Kori simply nodded and the group cleared out of the way.
One solar explosion later the group was inside the darkest room any of them had ever been in.

“Itzu?” Jason called out.
“Vati!” came the echoing reply, that filled Jason with so much relief, it surprised him. “come on, let's go home now.” he said as he stepped forwards.
“Wait, Jay-” but Dick’s warning came too late
Jason was suddenly free falling, swallowed by the darkness, he didn't even have time to scream before he hit the ground, and everything went silent.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“....ti!”
“....ati!”
“.....Vati!”

Jason groaned everything hurt, and he was cold, and wet..... What?
Jason bolted right up trying to scan his surroundings in the darkness
Jason cursed himself for not bringing night vision gear, the only thing he could see was the weird sheen on the walls and floor. Touching the wall to his left he realized that it curved sharply, he pulled his hand back and saw the sticky sheen now in his hand. “What the hell is this crap?”

“Sünde’s art” came the reply
Jason spun around searching blindly “Itzu?! where are you?” he continued to fumble around until he felt a small pair of arms wrap around his waist and a small head press into his chest.
“Vati... you came”
Quickly picking up his little girl Jason started to slowly stroke her wet hair. “Of course I did! I said I would didn’t I?” he felt her nod.
“Good now let's go home ok? you're not hurt are you?”
she shook her head “Roy is getting rope to pull us out.” Jason raised an eyebrow “how long was I out?” Itzu shook her head again “don’ no, few minutes? It’s hard to tell”
“Jayson? Are you ok?” he hears Bruce call down
“yeah, im fine! How much longer?!” Jason yells back up
“Not to long everyone else is still looking for a long enough rope, How’s Itzu?”
Jayson notes the slight trembling occurring in his arms. and the freezing water he was standing in. “Cold but otherwise I think she’s ok!”
he doesn't hear Bruce's reply but he assumes he nodded, so he turns to the more important person in the pit.
“You ok squirt?” he asks concerned, he sits her on his lap and attempts to wrap her in his jacket, but it's kind of hard to do when you're practically blind.
She huffs “Im not a squirt.” he could just imagine the adorable pout on her face.
“no, I guess not, But I can tell your English is much better now.”
He gets a affirmative hum in response.
“So who’s Sünde?” He asks. He has heard Itzu talk about her before but never got much except extremely vague answers.
“The Court’s sin”
“Oh?” He prayed that it wasn't a Talon that was really one of her friends, none of them were living. “where is she?”
“Here.”
“In the Court?” he asked hesitantly
“No... yes” she replied slowly
“is she in this pit?”
“yes...and no”
Now Jason was really confused “then where is she?”
“.... My mind”
“... Oh... Ok.” alternate personality, this he gets.
“so is she a friend of Talon?” Talon, the personality the court forged still shows up from time to time, probably even more so now.
“No”
Ok that’s new “Is she an enemy?”
“No, Sünde, is Talon’s guardian, and After’s little sister.”
“Realy?” Jason remembers After. After is the insanity created during the “braking period” during her first time in the Court. She can easily give the Joker a run for his money. If this Sünde, is After’s sister than that concerning
“So Sünde is it?” he asked guarded
“Yep”
“You said she’s an Artist?”
“yep, she did the wall” now that Jason looked closer he could make out small lines and bends with the weird ‘sheen’ on the wall.
“It looks like words, what does it say?”
“It’s a promise.” Itzu stated
“what is Sünde promising?”
Itzu giggled softly “The destruction of the Court.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Since I was born I couldn't feel
what others feel
I never had anything that was real
Actually it doesn't matter...
It was real enough to me

They told me it would be fine
but they locked me up, took what's mine
What they did turned my life into dirt
Actually it doesn't matter...
I don't feel and I can't be hurt
But one day I will myself on them avenge
Psycho revenge

-
Damien Mortis
Dec 12, 2014

Chapter Text

hey guys! i had just recently reread the last few chapters and i think im going to rewrite them. they just dont saticfy me the way i think they should. i hope this isnt a inconveniance.