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Another day, another job. Jason sighed as his communicator went off on the table. Something had been up in the community recently, there were far too many metas coming out, and most of them decided to exercise their new found strength, agility, vocabulary, whatever in the life of crime. It was kind of all hands on deck, at least for the last week it had been. Jason wished he could pull a Kory and just go back to Tamaran when Earth got dicey. Damn alien privilege.
He couldn't complain too much though, because his work had brought him to Bludhaven. Normally these would be Nightwing's stomping grounds, but with the increase in crime, the BPD called Dick back in for reinforcement. So The Red Hood was assigned his boyfriend's city, which was definitely one of the more positive things to come out of the surge in crime. And neither Dick nor Jason was complaining about their time together.
Jason sat up, rubbing at his eyes and grasping blindly at the comms unit. "Hood." He answered as he stood and tossed the duvet over still sleeping Dick, splayed everywhere. Honestly, how did he take up the entire bed?
"Oh, good you're up." Jason grumbled at Oracle's chipper tone. " There's a hostage situation, at least four metas, maybe more. Downtown, 4th and Broad."
"Man, crime never does sleep, does it?" He muttered as he pulled on the kevlar vest. Where'd he put his helmet, it had been on the table, but after last night's less desirable activities... maybe it was in the bathroom...
Oracle snorted on her end. "Nope. And neither do we." And with that she switched to another channel, relaying more info to some other supes somewhere.
Poor Babs, she probably was at her wits end with all the activity going on lately. Maybe he should send some flowers or something. Actually, coffee would probably be a better alternative.
With a final tug of his helmet, check of the safety on the guns (really shouldn't bound across alleys with a loaded gun), and a quick kiss to his boyfriend's temple, Red Hood was out the window and already on his way 4th and Broad.
He hadn't even yet made it there yet, when he came across cries for help. Deciding quickly to get two birds with one stone (the boys in blue probably had it covered anyway, and it wasn't like he could ignore a lady in need), Red Hood dropped into the alley way. Nothing too out of the ordinary, just a few quick blows and ducking a monkey wrench, the Red Hood had all assailants Zip Tied and waiting for authorities.
Took maybe five minutes to save the girl ("Really, ma'am, please don't walk downtown after midnight, you're inviting the wrong attention."), and he was on his way again, leaping and enjoying the fresh air- which Gotham never seemed to have. He also tried not to be bitter about leaving a warm bed and Dick.
By the time he made it to the corner, at least three cop cars had traffic (at 1 am?) cut off, and a fourth cruiser pulled up. Normally, when cops saw vigilantes, they tended not to seek their aid, but given the current situation, they wanted all the help they could get. So the Red Hood dropped down from the roof, seeking a senior officer or whoever looked important.
"So, copper, what's the situation?" He asked Lieutenant Greenfield. The older man didn't even look up (but he did get two of the rookies to flinch) as he filled him in.
"Four armed suspects were following an armored car to the bank, when they began transferring cash, the suspects got the drop and are now holding five hostages inside the bank and the money, requesting a getaway and a talk with Superman." Behind his helmet, Red Hood lifted an eyebrow.
"Superman? Well, I do love to disappoint. What's the plan?"
The lieutenant shrugged. "We were waiting on you. And our meta expert." He nodded to the fourth cruiser that had just pulled up, and Officer Dick Grayson was getting out of the car. "And you're both here."
Noting the sly stupid grin on Dick's face, Jason rolled his eyes, unsure whether to be annoyed at how quickly his boyfriend had responded, or enjoying the joke that was about to happen.
"Red Hood, I do believe you have met Officer Grayson, here. He's our resident expert in this type of thing." Greensfield dipped his head, looking at the blueprint of the building.
Dick put on his gleaming smile, enjoying every bit of this. "Red Hood, haven't seen you in a while. Glad you could be here to take care of our little problem for us."
Red Hood scoffed. "Well since Nightwing is taking an extended holiday at the moment, I'm your man."
"Oh, I bet you are." Dick's smile curled further. "I'm glad you're able to back me up in this."
Stupid asshole wasn't even going to try for subtlety.
"Actually, I think you're the back up, Officer Grayson-" Red Hood commented.
"I prefer Dick."
"I bet you do."
Greensfield coughed, cutting Dick's undoubtedly sultry reply off. Right, they were in company.
"Look, I'm not saying I don't have any interest in fraternizing with handsome strangers, but there are hostages-" Honestly, Dick, you think now is a good time to flirt?
"Of course." And easily as that, he slid back into Officer Grayson, smooth and professional. "The ventilation has been cut off, and they've taken refuge in the basement. There are two stairways with access to the basement, but if they're in the vault, then there is only one way in."
Red Hood nodded. "More likely, it's more secure and has thicker walls. Can't shoot through those."
"Maybe," Officer Grayson allowed. "But they're also newly formed metahumans. So they're going to be hard to predict without knowing what enhancements they have. If they have x-ray vision, then they probably don't want to be trapped in a lead box."
Hmm. Fair point, Dickie. Red Hood sighed. " There's no way to form a plan without knowing what they have in their arsenal."
Grayson nodded solemnly, eyes intently scanning the plans. He seemed to catch something, and the vigilante moved closer to take a look. "Wait, this vault has a pneumatic tube system-"
Red Hood nodded "We use that-"
"To send down a smoke grenade!" They finished at the same time, earning a look of curiosity from the Lieutenant.
Grayson looked triumphant, "Smoke em out."
"My, you two certainly make a great team." Something was in his voice though, a certain edge and a look in his eye.
Jason and Dick shared a look before laughing.
"Yessir, we certainly do." Officer Grayson answered easily.
"Okay, keep the vents closed, and I'll go in after, securing the building." Red Hood straightened, checking to make sure he had his gear and locating the smoke grenade.
A hand was on his arm then, stopping him. "Hood, wait. These are metas. We don't know who they are or what they have. They could be immune to this stuff for all we know." His voice came of as flat and professional, but Jason knew Dick well enough to hear the fear and concern in his words.
Red Hood stared at the hand until Grayson let it fall. "I appreciate your thoughts, but that's a risk I have to take. It's part of the job."
"Nightwing wouldn't do it." Dick's eyes were hard and his voice lowered.
"Nightwing isn't here."
"You could get shot, or worse." He tried again.
Red Hood started walking towards the building. "Been there, died that, I'll be fine," he called back over his shoulder. He felt Officer Grayson's glare at his back until he was safely inside with the criminals.
He would definitely be hearing about this later.
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"I fucking told you not to go in alone." Dick ranted emphatically, pressing tape to one of Jason's broken ribs. "But no, you had to be all like 'nightwing's not here'. What the hell was that Jay??"
Jason tried not to chuckle as his boyfriend cleaned up his wounds. It was always entertaining to hear Dick go mother-hen on anyone. He was a fusser that way. "I didn't think you-"
"Yeah, you're goddamned right you didn't think." Dick fumed, flicking one of the blossoming bruises. Jason winced. "Two metas with super strength. You're lucky you didn't get beaten into a pulp!"
Low-hanging fruit be damned, Jason did not need to bring up the Joker now. Especially not when the reason Dick was so upset was because he could only stand by and watch. "Sorry."
Dick's hand's slowed, a look coming across his face. He sighed, wrapping his arms tenderly around Jason. "You're too reckless."
Jason only hummed. "On the plus side though, I'm fairly sure your boss thinks you're sleeping with Red Hood."
"What?" came Dicks' response.
The younger rolled his eyes. "Oh please, you weren't even trying to hide it. A serious case of the bedroom eyes, you being worried about me, running when you found me-"
"You were unconscious what was I supposed to-" Jason hushed him with a finger to his lips.
"Look I'm not saying you're wrong. You're just not subtle."
Dick pouted. "I am too! I'm plenty subtle!"
Jason raised an eyebrow. "I prefer dick?"
At the mention, the elder blushed. "That was-"
"Adorable." Jason provided.
Dick sighed and kissed him, leaning against his boyfriend. His voice was soft when he spoke. "Look I know it's our job and stuff to do this... but I don't want you being reckless. I couldn't lose you... not again."
Jason wrapped his arms tightly around Dick's waist, pulling him closer.
"I love you too."