Chapter Text
Red Hood remains an untold myth. A mystery seen in the shadows, a whisper in the smog of the city; only known to the right people (the Bats are not the right people). He keeps running things from underground, gaining allies and smoothly placing his people where he needs them (either in other gangs, police force, the AD office, Arkham, Belle Reve, IRS, hospitals, CPS, etc) or folding them into his circle and making use of them. Subtly. Quietly. Efficiently.
He does take over Crime Alley in a few weeks after months of preparation, but since it was officially unclaimed territory the Bats don't pay that much attention to it, and don’t really notice. The crime rates are down; but Penguin also just decided to make their month a complete clusterfuck, so it’s not a priority. (Crime Alley is never a priority, never was and probably never will be; not for anyone not born on her streets.)
Red Hood is patient, low-key. He gets his need for dramatics fulfilled another way. Instead of demanding a huge meeting with all the gang leaders and a duffle bag full of heads and involving the police; he meets with them one on one, in a single night, to get their ‘cooperation’. By keeping things ‘in house’, the police don’t have anything to report worthy of getting the Bats’ attention.
The severed heads do make their appearances, but he lets them in the hands of the respective bosses. Red Hood is considered like that, their families can now bury them. (There's one exception, a pedophile, whose body is never found, but from the expression full of anguish and terror on the men’s face, that boss would rather never find out what happened to the rest of the bastard).
Black Mask's empire crumbles bit by bit, and he doesn't even really notice until an organized attack costs him more than half of his resources (drugs, guns, money, infrastructure, men, etc) in a single night, while landing him in prison for human trafficking. It's become a federal case, since people all over New Jersey, New York and Chicago are involved, so he can't just bribe or threaten his way out of this one. He's transported by the FBI out of the State, and the Red Hood waves him goodbye on the city limits, along with his reputation.
Sionis begs his lawyer to get him a talk with Batman before his transfer, desperate as he is. By this point, he just wants revenge on the upstart that tanked his empire. He tells Batman and Nightwing all he knows about the Red Hood and his gang, that he is responsible for his losses and his case getting to the Feds. He still begs for their help in his federal case, hoping his intelligence on this new player is enough.
Nightwing laughs at his face, but Bruce is concerned. Any person with the skills to take over such a large territory (the Alley, the Narrows and the Bowery are now also under Red Hood’s jurisdiction) and able to do it this quickly and quietly it's worrying. The fact that the moniker used is one that belonged to him but this new guy has never once claimed the Spotlight or tried to get the attention of any Bat is more so.
The fact that, after exhausting resources they have almost no info on this guy, due to loyalty from the civilians under his watch and not fear of retribution if they talked, takes his threat level way up high. People under his contract laugh at the idea of spilling his secrets to the Bats. Thugs of rival gangs or criminals the Red Hood’s gang stopped are very cautious. They are the only ones genuinely scared for their wellbeing.
The more they search the less they find, and even when they do find something (the constant use of red hoodies or red leather jackets by the people suspected of working for him is their perhaps their only solid lead, honestly; and it's laughable to think of that as evidence, since it can be dismissed as a simple fashion trend) it's unusable or circumstantial at best.
After all, what use does a crime boss have for a few people inside CPS, when it'd be against his M.O. to partake in child trafficking? They’ve checked and double and tripled checked, but there is no business of any kind using the kids or the facilities, so they have to let it go. The nurses and doctors wearing red scrubs confuses them even more, since there are not that many reports of injuries related to gang activity involving the Red Hood’s gang. The beat cops with their red watches and the detectives with their red leather jackets or boots are a bust, also laughing at their faces (whether they laugh at the thought of working for the crime lord or of betraying him is unclear, since their bank accounts are for the most part as they should be, and nothing is ever free in Gotham.)
The orderlies at Arkham that wear red ribbons on their ID's or red nail polish are a few of the best the facility has on staff, and the Board of Directors will not hear about letting them go just for wearing a color . The guards at Belle Reve take to wearing red watches too, and riots have surprisingly gone down, even if lethal force has been applied more than once with no consequences for the guards (in case of self defence or defence of others; the one guard that tried to rape a new inmate but was interrupted and then beat the kid up ended up right alongside the other prisoners real fast. The former guard didn't last very long).
The Red Hood is everywhere , making changes at a very quick pace and yet he's nowhere, no trace of the actual person anywhere.
He’s brilliant. He’s maddening.
He very probably needs to be stopped.
(Meanwhile, Jason is enjoying the fruits of his labor. His people are safe, his gang is doing their work, his kids are thriving and his allies are multiplying. The best thing? The Bats still have no idea who he is, or what’s about to come.
He wonders how much more intense the hunt for him will get, once he decides if he wants to off the crazies in the Asylum by himself or let the slow acting toxin do its intended job.
Should he let his All-Blades decide which person deserves to die? Or does a bullet send a more comprehensive message?
Decisions, decisions…)