Chapter Text
He was falling from the sky. No, he was diving off of an exploding ship while the flames burned his back. He was in the ocean. Instead of stinging his wounds, the saltwater soothed them.
He had metal chains on his wrist, though the connecting chain had been snapped. Where had those come from? Where had he? His wrists felt rubbed raw.
He swam. He saw the shore on the horizon, miles away, and he swam towards the city. And he swam. And he swam.
The waves were choppy, but he swam steadily. The shore was close. The water was filthy. The sun was setting.
He got tangled in a net. He started to lose consciousness, the exhaustion of everything catching up to him. The tide and the waves pushed him into shore, depositing him facedown on the beach, the net wrapped around his waist. He wasn’t wearing any clothes.
He woke up, hearing a woman scream then run away through the sand. It sounded like she was scared of him, but why? He wasn’t doing anything, just laying facing down in the wet sand. Then again, maybe he looked like a corpse.
He waited until no one was near and got up carefully. The sun disappeared on the horizon. He realized he wasn’t wearing any clothes, just the net around his waist and the shackles on his wrists. The shackles did not have any fastenings, they looked welded on. He tried to pull his hand out and managed to do so after popping his hand out of place. He repeated with the other hand. His thumbs hurt. He tossed the shackles away into the water. There was a splash and they sank.
He looked around at his surroundings. There was a beach house with a changing stall and one of those outdoor showers for cleaning off the sand. He was covered in sand, so he went to use the shower. He washed the sand off of his front then turned around since his back felt crusty too. He realized his back was crusted with blood instead as he saw it wash down the drain and dissipate. He ran his hands under the water and his thumbs stopped hurting.
He went into the changing stall, realizing he was naked and not wanting to be seen. In the changing stall, he saw clothes. A blue skirt and a black shirt. Glad to find clothes, he put them on. The skirt fit fin, the shirt was small in the shoulders. He realized the shirt was a crop-top, it only just covered his chest, leaving his stomach exposed. He was not cold, the night was warm. He was not wearing any shoes.
There was a cracked mirror in the room. He looked at his appearance in it. He had tan skin and black hair with striking blue-green eyes. His hair went to his shoulders. He noticed a faint streak of grey in his hair and tucked it away to be less visible….he felt like identifying features were probably a bad idea. He had a youthful face and his hair and the clothes gave him an androgynous look. He looked skinny, though he had some muscle, especially in his arms and shoulders. The shirt was tight, he could not move fluidly in it. He hoped he wouldn’t have to fight in it.
Why would he expect to have to fight? He got the sense that fighting was something he did often.
As he looked in the mirror, he realized something. He did not remember anything before today, before the swimming then waking up on the beach. He did not even remember his name. And yet, he felt like it wasn’t the first time he was left without his memory.
He wandered, not knowing where he was going, just letting his feet carry him, letting fate carry him. He walked for a while, taking care of where he stepped since he was not wearing shoes. He walked quietly through the city. He heard loud noises in the distance, he thinks they were gunshots but he wasn’t sure. And yet, he was not afraid; he felt confident he could handle any trouble that came his way.
He ended up in the red light district, not that he knew what that was. He saw people, mostly girls, in skimpy clothes and high heels just kinda standing around. He guessed this was a place where people could just….exist outside at night? He wasn’t sure. He decided to just stand around off to the side for a bit. He was tired of walking anyways.
He looked up, hoping to see the stars. Instead all he saw were clouds. He leaned against the wall behind him, standing at an angle with his legs slightly crossed, mirroring the pose of one of the girls he saw standing around. His blue skirt, which was probably meant to be knee-length, went slightly past mid-thigh. He had one hand on the wall behind him and the other rested gently on his abs.
He noticed some of the girls whispering to eachother about something and shooting looks in his direction. He decided to ignore it for now. As he watched, he noticed some girls going into an ally with guys then returning a few minutes later. He also noticed a girl disappearing into a nearby building with a guy. They all seemed unconcerned, so he figured this was normal.
The girls who had been whispering and looking at him separated and the oldest of the group approached him. She was wearing high heeled black boots with fishnet stockings and a black mini-skirt, with a red shirt that showed off her chest. She slowly approached him and spoke when she got near, “Hiya there sweetheart, you seem a bit young to be out here turning tricks. You can call me Ruby by the way, what’s your name sugar?”
He started blankly for a moment. While he’s sure he’s talked to people before, this is the first he can remember someone talking to him and he’s unsure how to respond. He’s also unsure what she’s talking about. “Um, I’m not….doing any tricks?” he said confused, his voice raspy. He coughed to clear his throat then continued, “I’m just standing around, is there a problem with that?”
She seemed skeptical of him, not believing what he said. “Ya don’t look older than 16, and I reckon you don’t care what the cops think, hell knows I don’t, but Hood has been very clear he doesn’t want anyone under 18 out here working the streets, and ya sure don’t wanna get on his bad side.”
“I could be 18, you don’t know,” He said churlishly. “And I’m not working, I’m just standing. And who’s this hood fella you’re talking about? I’ve never heard of him,” He said, figuring it was best to gather more info.
Ruby gave him a searching look and said, “Hood, the Red Hood. He’s pretty new but he owns the alley now. He’s…..violent, but he cares, he protects us, but he’s pretty strict with his rules though. Like I said, you don’t wanna get on his bad side. And he was clear no one under 18 can be working in this business, and he ain’t gonna buy it if you lie about your age.”
“And what is this business you keep referring to? Like I said, I ain’t working,” he replied.
“You stupid or something? Or worse, are you a cop?” Ruby said.
“Or something sounds about right. Not a cop though,” he said. He’s pretty sure his past experiences with cops have been firmly negative.
She stared at him, still trying to figure out if he was full of shit. He tensed up a moment before a dude in a red helmet jumped down from the roof. “Is there a problem here?” the new figure asked menacingly.
He was unafraid. This new guy though, he seemed interesting, really interesting. Something about him seemed to almost shine. He was built like a tank, with a broad chest and thick thighs. In addition to the red helmet, he wore a red leather jacket over some body armor. He was clearly a fighter, clearly dangerous considering the weapons he had strapped on.
Ruby took a deep breath to calm her nerves, “Kid here says they aren’t trying to turn tricks but lookin’ at how they’re dressed, I don’t really believe them. I told them about your rules about not workin’ here underage.”
The Red Hood nodded, “Thanks Ruby, I’ll take it from here,” he said dismissing her. She looked at them uncertainly before leaving. The Red Hood gave him an assessing look.
“Why aren’t you wearing any shoes?” the Red Hood asked.
“Don’t have any,” he replied, feeling like being honest. Red Hood tilted his head questioningly as if expecting him to continue so he did, “I found the clothes, that’s why I’m dressed like this. Don’t get what the big deal is, it’s just clothes, and I’m just standing around.”
“Huh,” mused the Red Hood, giving him a searching look. “What’s your name, kid?” Red extended one arm up to rest on the wall above their heads, getting in his personal space to be menacing; he was kinda into it.
“Don’t know,” he replied honestly, “Seems like everyone goes by a color around here, Red. If you need something to call me, guess you can call me ‘Blue’.” He replied looking up at him.
“You….don’t know your name? Seriously?” the Red Hood asked, somewhat disbelieving.
“Yeah, well, I don’t remember shit about anything, kinda just woke up like this. You got a problem with that?” He replied defensively.
“You’ve got amnesia,” Red Hood said in realization.
“Yeah, guess that’s the word for it,” Blue sighed, crossing his arms.
“Huh,” Red Hood said, continuing to stare at him.
The Red Hood stared at the kid, at Blue. He remembered what it was like, to have amnesia, to be alone in a world that made no sense. And the kid looked pitiful dressed like that, they weren’t even wearing shoes! Kid definitely didn’t have a safe place to sleep tonight.
He could change that, he thought. He has a spare safehouse not far from here, a shitty one he didn’t mind having to burn afterwards. He could give them a safe place to sleep for the night and then…direct them to Leslie’s in the morning? He wasn’t sure, he could figure that out later. Thinking about it, if this kid is a fresh amnesiac, do they have a concussion? They don’t look injured, but maybe it was hidden by their hair. Plan to do a concussion check later, then.
During his silence, Blue had just stared back at him, just as searchingly. Red Hood sighed, “Guessing you don’t have anywhere safe to sleep tonight? I’ve got a safehouse you can stay at if you want.”
Blue looked surprised at the offer, but quickly agreed, “That sounds great, I don’t really know what I’m doing.”
Red Hood led them to a different alley where a red motorcycle was parked. He didn’t have a spare helmet, but they weren’t traveling far. “By the way, what are your pronouns?”
“My what?” Blue asked quizzically.
“Would you like to be referred to as He, She, or They?” Red Hood asked.
“Um, ‘He’ works I guess, that sounds familiar,” he replied.
“Cool,” Red Hood said, somewhat awkwardly, “Anyways, hop on behind me and hold on tight.” Blue followed his directions, climbing on the motorcycle behind him and they rode off to the safehouse. When they climbed off the motorcycle, Red Hood noticed Blue was blushing pretty hard and decided to ignore it.