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Jason still didn’t know how he felt about his family.
He had gotten more used to being around them, that much was certain. They didn’t always get along, but Jason could spend time with them all without wanting to kill them.
Everyone knows it took a hell of a lot to get to that point, but he did get to it. That’s what counts.
But Jason wasn’t perfect. No one was. He had moments where his fears and rage took over. Made him reckless, violent, dangerous. That supernatural green haze would swarm his vision, and he would lose control of himself. When he would come back to his body, he wouldn’t really remember what had happened during that time, but was often covered in blood and bruises.
He was getting better though. He would swear up and down. He just knew his family wouldn’t agree very much. He knew they wanted him to give up killing. But this was Jason’s choice. He wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from him. No one from the bat family would stop him.
Or, well, so he thought.
He had a meeting with some of his henchmen that evening in an abandoned house in Crime Alley.
… Okay, ‘meeting’ was the polite way of saying he was going to bash their fucking heads in.
It had been brought to his attention that they had been selling to children, the absolute idiots. Everyone knew Red Hood’s rule.
Never sell to children.
So he was planning on giving them what they had coming to them.
“You fuckers better have a good reason for this.”
They look nervously between each other as Jason spins his pistol on his finger.
“We- uh- you- um-”
Jason turns to idiot number two whilst idiot number one keeps spluttering.
“I’m gonna need to start hearing coherent words that make actual sentences.”
The second guy gives a crooked smile that was inherently disturbing. But Jason wasn’t disturbed.
No, he was pissed.
He didn’t know what shit excuse this man was about to give, but he already knows he wasn’t going to like it. He can already see that hazy green at the edges of his vision.
“You know how street kids can be, Red. They know what they want, and they’re willing to do a lot of things to get it.”
Jason shoots up from where he had been sitting, pointing the gun at the man’s head.
“If you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, I’m going to lodge a bullet right between your fucking eyeballs.”
The man raises his hand in a placating gesture.
“What? Cmon man, you’re telling me you’ve never indulged just a little?”
“Indulged in what. Come on, spell it out.”
The first man had gone into total silence, staring at the interaction, and the man in front of him just raised an eyebrow. Almost everything Jason can see is tinged electric green, the anger boiling in his blood.
“You’ve got until the count of five.”
“Red-”
“Four.”
“Dude, lets just-”
“Three.”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
“Two.”
“Fuck.”
“One-”
Jason would have taken the shot, had the gun not been knocked from his hand. He didn’t bother to look to see what did it. He simply focused on the man in front of him.
No matter, he still has two fists he can throw at the man. He doesn’t need a gun to do it.
He grabs the man by his shoulders and slams him into the ground on his back, effectively winding him, before flipping it over and grabbing one of his arms, pushing it back in such a way he can hear the clean snap of bone ring clear in his ears. The man’s features fade into a lime green silhouette, and Jason keeps swinging. He is unsure where the first man got to, not really caring at the moment, so long as this bastard gets what's coming to him.
But suddenly, something thumps against his back, catching Jason off guard. He whips around, only to see nothing there. He rises to his feet, scanning the room around him. He finds nothing. So, he turns back to the man he was beating to a bloody pulp, only to find he’s vanished.
Jason growls out in fury, throwing a punch at the wall, the brick cracking slightly under the force.
Then he hears a sharp sound.
He twists around to see another lime silhouette in front of him, but much smaller this time.
“Fuck.”
No, no, that's a kid. That has to be a kid. He won’t hurt a kid. He won’t.
Jason squeezes his eyes shut, dropping to his knees, groaning as he clutches his head, trying to will away the pit rage. He focuses on his breathing, the freezing concrete beneath his knees, anything other than the searing rage thrumming through him.
He needs to ground himself, get out of his head. Yet, he knows if he opens his eyes, he will lose control of himself.
“Fuck!”
He can’t. He can’t. He can’t-
A pressure on his torso pushes him to the ground, before resting on top of his side. Jason’s first instinct is to thrash and fight it off, but what if it's the kid he saw? He can’t risk hurting them. He won’t do it. He refuses.
He slowly comes to realise the weight isn’t hurting him, so at least there is that. The weight is helping him stay connected to reality, grounding him in his body rather than in his head. He continues to focus on his breath, on that weight, and he can feel the pit rage slowly release its hold on him. That chartreuse hue that had lingered behind his eyelids starts to fade, and he finally feels safe enough to open his eyes again, he sees Robin - Damian - sat in front of him. He scoffs.
“What do you want, demon brat?”
Damian ignores the moniker.
“Titus chose to assist. It is my responsibility as his owner to wait for him.”
“Titus did what-”
Jason finally looks up to see Titus, who is still on top of his side, applying pressure. He barks in acknowledgement.
“The fuck?”
“You were losing yourself to the leftover rage of the Lazarus pit. Titus saw this and intervened. He is trained to sense when others are in distress and assist with deep pressure therapy.”
Damian sounds fed up, as if he has had to give this explanation quite a few times before. Jason shakes his head.
“Why?”
Damian raises a sharp eyebrow.
“It isn’t exactly hard to tell when it happens.”
Jason rolls his eyes.
“Not that idiot. You definitely didn’t train him to help me, so what set him off?”
Damian shrugs.
“I simply trained him in a variety of tasks. He assisted me initially. But he has picked up on the fact that many of our family need similar assistance, and has naturally taken to the role. He has done this for Batman and Nightwing as well. I barely even need to command him. In fact, I wasn’t going to get involved, but he entered the fray before I could stop him.”
Jason glares at the canine.
“You fucker! That was my favourite gun!”
Titus only barks.
“Respect my companion, or I will teach you respect with my sword.”
Jason only rolls his eyes once more, relaxing and letting his head drop to the floor.
“Is he gonna get off me any time soon?”
“He shall once your nervous system has returned to its baseline.”
“And he knows that?”
“He does.”
“Can you get him off sooner?”
“Titus takes his tasks very seriously. For example; Titus, at ease.”
Titus barks, before pressing his nose into Jason’s neck.
“As you can see, he is refusing because you are not stable yet.”
“Son of a-”
“Respect.”
“... I was going to say dog.”
Damian’s lip twitches in an approximation of a smile, but it is gone as quickly as it arrived.
“I will retrieve your weapon. Do take as long as you require. The enemy has been turned over to police custody.”
Jason huffs.
“Not like you to stop a killing.”
Damian is quiet as he walks over to where Titus knocked Jason’s gun, before returning to Jason’s side, placing his weapon next to him before sitting down once more.
“I will not be like Batman and ask you to stop killing. However, I have decided that such a path is not the one I wish to walk unless there are no other options. So, I will stop killings where I feel it necessary.”
“And these fuckers have another choice?”
“Justice, not vengeance.”
Jason doesn’t reply. Damian doesn’t say anything more. The three sit contently in the silence of the abandoned building until Titus barks again, licking Jason’s helmet before coming to stand, circling back around to Damian, who rises and pets Titus’ head.
“Good job, Titus. Come. Patrol is complete.”
Jason pushes himself to sit up, holstering his gun from where Damian left it for him, coming to a stand himself, watching Damian leave.
“Kid.”
Damian stops, and looks over his shoulder at Jason.
“... Keep making your own choices. Don’t let anyone else make them for you.”
Damian nods, before turning back and leaving. Titus looks back at Jason and barks once more, before chasing after Damian. Jason huffs a laugh, before turning on his heel and heading back to his safehouse.
“Justice, not vengeance, huh.”