Chapter Text
The night was cold, as they always were in Gotham, but the hot burgers and fries warmed the children’s bellies, and that warmth spread to the rest of their small bodies. It was Wednesday, which as usual, brought a slow night to Gotham on the crime front, which allowed the Red Hood, infamous crime lord and murderer, the opportunity to bring a book, some junk food, spare cash, blankets, and warm clothes to Crime Alley. It started when he was first adopted by the Batman, reluctant to completely forget his roots, and all the others who suffered. He was not usually a man concerned with tradition, but after his revival, he couldn’t keep himself from returning time and time again to the children. He was fully aware of the fact that he was no longer Robin, and that his new mantle was meant to invoke fear, yet his memories of story nights with the poor youth of crime alley were enough to warm, at least part of, his cold, dead heart. And so, every week, he returned, armed with everything he needed to bring a bit of comfort and relaxation to those kids. Sitting on a blanket on the ground, in the center of a circle of kids, he watched them shovel food into their mouths, quickly following it with their soda, snuggling into each other with their new clothes and blankets wrapped around them, and spoke.
“Alright, you all ready?” He was met with an outcry of cheers and excited shouts, little hands thrown in the air. He chuckled. “Y’all want Pride and Prejudice, or The Lost World?” He preferred to keep the books he read them somewhat lighthearted, not to an obnoxious degree, they all had enough conflict to stay interesting, but he wanted the kids to have a break from worrying about life, and real-world issues, so often times he brought adventure or romance books. The kids shouted out again, the vast majority asking for Conan Doyle, evidently in the mood for adventure. And so, the Red Hood reached into his bag and pulled out the selected book, flipping open to the first page, his voice ringing out loud and clear, but soft and free of hostility. The children all cuddled up again, picking at their food for the next hour, until Hood noticed how sleepy they were getting. A small smile graced his face, invisible beneath his helmet, and ne decided to call it a night. Inserting the bookmark, he closed to book.
“I think that’s a good place to stop for tonight, yeah?” He was, predictably, met with a chorus of disappointed whines. “Don’t worry guys, you know I’ll be back next week, same time, and we’ll pick up where we left off, ‘kay?” They all reluctantly agreed, and stood to pick up their blankets and leave. But not before he called out to them to wait, and handed out a bit of money to all of them. He didn’t have much, but he knew all too well just how much each cent meant to those kids, and so he had no regrets or reservations about giving them his money, then bidding them goodnight as he took their trash and went back home for the night, feeling as though maybe he actually was making a difference.