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It had been a pretty quiet night for Jason when it suddenly took a turn for the strange and inexplicable, because of course it did. The universe didn’t seem to believe in peace and quiet. Not for him, at least.
As he was resting at one of his favorite lookouts, a distinct red and blue figure in the sky entered his peripheral vision. At first, he assumed it was Superman crossing over Gotham for one reason or another, but when the figure turned toward him, his body tensed. What did Clark want with him? Had something happened?
But as man got closer, Jason realized it wasn’t Superman at all. His body had tensed even further, ready for a fight. The man stopped a few feet from the lookout's ledge hovering at eye-level over the busy street below them.
“Hey there, Red!” he called with a wave, as if Jason was supposed to know him.
“Who the hell are you?”
The stranger barked a laugh. “Yeah, that’s fair, actually. I’m Superboy! The dimension-traveling one, not one of your usuals. You may have heard of me from that time I went evil for while. I mean, you know how it gets when you’re presumed dead and stuck in between dimensions for a couple decades, but I’m better now! So I’m here to help Superman while he’s out of commission. I just wanted to come by and introduce myself.”
Jason only has a hundred more questions after that introduction, but he’s nothing if not the cat curiosity loves to kill.
“And why would you want to meet me, specifically? You don't want to talk to Batman or something?”
“No, he's- well, I wanted to talk to you because I know you’re just like me! You quote-unquote died for a bit—“
“Nothing quote-unquote about it, Superboy—“
“—came back angry and did some questionable stuff, but now you’re trying to be good, too! I think. I've heard it can depend on the writer.”
“—And hold on, how the fuck did you even know that? And what do you mean the writer?” Jason couldn’t keep the sheer bewilderment out of his voice. He had a fleeting thought that he should be angrier that this stranger seemed to know so much about him, but the overwhelming confusion made it so no other feeling could stick.
“Well, uh.” The smile slipped off the other man’s face, and he looked away. “I mean, I guess you wouldn’t know about all that stuff…” He trailed off and started mumbling to himself, like he forgot Jason was there. “Why’s this fic author letting me say all this, anyway? I’m trying to make a good first impression!”
“What the hell is going on?” Jason demanded.
Superboy’s eyes snapped back to Jason, visibly uncomfortable. “Maybe I can tell you about all of that another time. That would be, like, a lot of information to dump on you when, like I said, I’m trying to make a good first impression.”
“This is seriously you trying to make a good first impression?”
His wolfish grin falls right back into place. “Of course! I think we’ll be fast friends, anyway.”
“Yeah, sure, man.”
“You’ll see! I swear!”
But as Jason prepared to demand more answers, a familiar look came over Superboy’s face, like he was hearing something meant for him from far away.
“I have to go now, but I’m glad to finally meet you, Red Hood,” he said, making air quotes with his fingers around Jason’s codename.
You know what, Jason thinks, Sure. Whatever the fuck that means.
“Uh-huh. Well fancy meetin’ ya, Superboy.” He’s sure to exaggerate the air quotes around the man’s codename, too. “If I see you again, I’ll be needing some answers to my other questions.”
“Oh, you’ll be seeing me, Red, answers and all.”
And in a blur and pleasant breeze, Superboy was gone.
The next night, Jason looked up from the scope of his rifle just as Superboy came to hover in the same spot he did before.
“You got those answers for me?”
“It’s good to see you again, too,” he smirked. “Which ones first?”
Jason put away his rifle. It seemed his target would live for another night. He stood, folding his arms over his chest.
“So, you can travel dimensions?”
“In a way!” he answered cheerfully.
“All right, then. And I assume you’re not from this one?”
“Nope!”
“Then where are you from?”
“I’m from a different Earth where there are- were no superheroes, but we had comics. So many comics. I read a lot of them as a kid, so when I got my powers and ended up in your world, I was already up to speed on a lot of what had happened here.”
And that gave Jason pause, to say the least. He pieced together what Superboy had implied quick enough, but a truth that surreal required confirmation. “You mean… Are you saying your world’s comics are about our world? And they’re accurate?”
“As far as I’ve been able to tell. My world is… gone now, so no more comics!” He laughed, but Jason could hear something terrible hiding beneath it. “After I almost died trying to save this world, I watched everything from a place in between realities, so I saw the rest of it for myself, anyway.”
“Jesus. That sounds like a whole lot, man.”
“Yeah, I guess." He shrugged. "I think that's why I came back evil.”
Jason barked a laugh. “Well, that's something I can understand, at least. Did you also try to kill a younger brother or something?”
“Believe it or not, yes,” Superboy said, his hand falling anxiously on the back of his neck. “Even if now I wish I hadn’t.”
“I get it. Coming back to life fucks with your head.”
“It really, really does.”
Their eyes met, and the silence that came over them was oddly comfortable. It didn’t take Jason long to find his next question.
“Well, I’m not getting anything else done tonight. Wanna go somewhere to talk? Reminisce about the great beyond? Shit talk the universe for failing us?”
Superboy smiled, and it was softer than before. “I think I’d like that.”