Chapter Text
He couldn’t stop crying. He was all alone in Gotham, with no idea of how he got there. He hadn’t been in Gotham since Mom and Dad died, and the looming shadows were scaring him. He kept expecting some bad guy with a gun to leap at him out of nowhere. It was night time now, and he didn’t have any way to get home on his own.
Wiping at his eyes, He shuffled into the corner of an alleyway, trying to make himself as small and unnoticeable as possible. If he acted like he didn’t exist, maybe everyone would leave him alone, and he’d be able to find a way home in the morning.
When he heard footsteps coming down the alley, he covered his mouth, trying to avoid being noticed. He must not have done a very good job, because he was found.
The man who found him was absolutely huge . He must have been a giant or something. He was wearing a red helmet that covered his whole face and a big jacket with lots of pockets. There was a gun attached to the holster around his leg.
“Are you a bad guy? Are you here to kill me?” The boy was trying to seem confident - like a big boy - but his voice was trembling.
“I don’t kill kids,” the man said. “Don’t you know who I am?”
The boy hesitated. “I don't think so? Am I supposed to?”
The man shrugged. “I thought everyone from these parts knew about me.”
“I’m not from here,” the boy whispered. “I’m lost… I think?”
He kept trying to think of home, but his head was too fuzzy. He couldn’t remember anything.
The man gave him a funny look before holding out a hand. “You can crash with me tonight. I’ll try to get you home tomorrow.”
The boy knew he wasn’t supposed to trust strangers, but he really didn’t want to have to sleep outside. It was winter ! It was gonna get cold . And the man said he wouldn’t do anything bad, so… it would probably be okay?
“What’s your name?” he asked, taking the hand offered out to him.
“Red Hood. You?”
The boy hesitated. All his memories were muddled up and confusing. The only name he vaguely remembered was…
“I’m Thomas.”
Red Hood nodded. “Nice to meet you Thomas.”
Jason was usually more careful with who he let into his safe houses, but he was gonna ditch this one soon, so it didn’t really matter. Besides, he couldn’t leave some kid to sleep in the cold when he had a perfectly fine couch for them to use instead.
Thomas was… an odd kid. He was dressed pretty nice for this part of town, so he was probably far from home. He said he was lost, so that made sense. Jason had tried to figure out where he lived, but Thomas kept saying he didn’t remember anything. Maybe he had amnesia? Traumatic brain injury, maybe?
Maybe he didn’t want to go home.
Once the thought implanted itself in Jason’s head, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. After serving up some chilli for himself and Thomas, Jason sat down on the couch next to the boy. He took his mask off, since there wasn’t any chance of Thomas recognising him anyways. It wasn’t like a kid this young would remember all those news stories about Jason Todd.
“Hey, Thomas?”
Thomas looked up, his spoon already halfway to his mouth. “Yes?”
“Are your parents…” Jason couldn’t figure out how to say it. “You didn’t run away, did you? Your parents are good to you, yeah?”
Thomas went quiet. “They died.”
“Oh… I’m sorry.”
Thomas shrugged. “Not your fault. A bad man killed them because they made him angry. My daddy’s friend is looking after me, I think.”
“A family friend? Do you remember his name?”
Thomas shook his head. “I remember he was nice. He and Daddy were best friends for a really long time. He cried a lot at their funeral.”
Jason awkwardly put an arm around Thomas’ shoulder. “I know how it feels. It really sucks. It gets easier, though. You just gotta give it time.”
Thomas sniffled, hiding his face against Jason’s side. “They wouldn’t want me to be sad…”
“They’d get it,” Jason said, patting Thomas on the back. “I bet they miss you too.”
Thomas cried until he was too exhausted to cry anymore, falling asleep curled up in Jason’s arms. Jason stood up carefully, so he wouldn’t jostle Thomas awake, grabbing a blanket, so he wouldn’t be cold while he slept.
The next day, when Thomas woke up, Red Hood was standing in the kitchen, his mask on the counter next to him, while he stirred a pot of oatmeal. Thomas was pretty sure Red Hood thought he was scary, especially when he took his mask off, but Thomas didn’t think he was scary. He had a lot of scars, but lots of Daddy’s army friends had scars. That didn’t make them scary, and it didn’t make Red Hood scary either.
Thomas wondered how Red Hood got all those scars, though. It must have really hurt. Did Red Hood cry? Thomas would have cried.
“What are you looking at, kid?”
“Did it hurt?”
“What?”
“Those scars. They look like they hurt…”
Red Hood slammed a bowl of oatmeal down in front of Thomas. “Yeah, they fucking hurt.”
Thomas gasped. “That’s not a nice word!”
“Yeah? Well, getting these wasn’t nice either.” Red Hood started poking his food around his bowl. “Eat your oatmeal, Thomas.”
“You’re not eating,” Thomas pointed out.
Red Hood scowled and took a few bites. “Fucking kids…”
“You said you were taking me home,” Thomas said through a mouthful of oatmeal. “Do you know where I live, Mr. Red Hood?”
Red Hood hesitated. “Do you really not remember where you live?”
Thomas shrugged. “I dunno… I don’t think I’m from Gotham? It’s familiar, but it’s not home. I don’t know…”
Red Hood drummed his fingers against the table. “That makes this harder…”
Thomas hunched over, sniffing back tears. “Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Red Hood said. “You have amnesia, right?”
“Amnesia?”
“You can’t remember anything. Like your parents' names, or where you came from.”
Thomas nodded. It was like all that stuff was hidden behind fog. When he tried to think of it, his brain got stuck, and he couldn’t remember any of it.
“We can’t really do much about getting you home until we figure out where home is,” Red Hood explained. “Until we jog your memory, it looks like you’re staying with me.”
Thomas thought that over for a moment, nodding. “If we’re gonna live together… am I allowed to know your real name?”
Red Hood paused. “You know what? Sure. I’m Jason.”
Jason… why was that name so familiar? Thomas really tried to figure out where he knew that name from, but he started getting a headache when he thought hard about it. Maybe Red Hood - maybe Jason - was right. He must have amnesia.
But Jason seemed like he knew how to help him.
It would be fine.
Probably?