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Jay was crouched low as she listened in to some wanna-be starter gang tryna find a place in an already crowded arena. She didn't exactly care why they decided this was a good idea, all she cared about was the fact that they were talking about trafficking like she wasn't even something that should be accounted for.
The warehouse they decided to hole up in was abandoned, broken, and just outright disgusting in her opinion. There were stains on the floor, the walls all had cracks spiderwebbing to both the roof and the floor, empty boxes were everywhere, some smashed, others still in… ok condition.
It smelled like shit in here, she was glad she had her helmet on, otherwise she would probably throw off her secrecy by gagging or some shit.
She didn't know why they always chose an abandoned, dirty, warehouse that's never been cleaned even when it was still running.
She was on the rafters, she was also kinda surprised they hadn't broken already, with how much they sound like they're going to and all the rust and grime visible from all the way down there.
She focused on listening back in when they started mentioning shit that she had thought all the gangs knew not to do around her turf.
“Then, we hit the alleys to see if there are any girls or kids around”
They didn't even sound like they were from Gotham, and she didn't really care where they did come from when she knew they would all be dead by tonight.
“Why the kids?”
There was a scoff before some other voice said, “No one cares about the street kids Jim! They're the easiest to pick off, no one'll even notice”
The only reason she hadn't killed them all already was ‘cause she could hear the bats getting closer and closer, and she really did want to make these bastardos suffer, but she sadly didn't have the time.
The lights cut off just as she intended for them too, and she could hear panic from down below as she grabbed her guns and made sure all her knives were in their proper places.
“Fuck!”
“Someone check the lights!”
“Shit! What if it's th-”
Everyone down below went silent as a body hit the floor, the sound of bullets hitting targets had them all start up again.
Originally there were about thirty, but now there were only around twenty-eight, as long as they didn't call for backup, she would be fine.
A few of them already had pre-existing injuries, along with bullets that hit but hadn't killed just yet.
She hit the floor with a light sound despite how that shouldn't have been possible, she shot at the arms of two of them, having to dodge and move swiftly to avoid getting shot back with clumsy aim.
“Fuck! It's the red hood!” one of the guys at the back shouted, just barely noticing the red of her helmet, reaching with clumsy hands for his gun. Not all of them were even remotely good when it came to fighting so she really didn't know why they thought they would be good at this.
She ducked behind some boxes, flipping to shoot a few more limbs and hearing shouts of pain and grunts as they tried to locate her in the darkness.
“Just get rid of her already! She's a girl! What's the hold-up!” She paused for just a split second when she heard the probable leader say that, it made sense now why they didn't even take her into account, bastardos sexista, but not the first time she's dealt with hombres like this.
A not really surprisingly large amount of gangs or normal civilians thought that since she was a girl, she would be easy pickings, she always loved proving those bastardos wrong when she met them, plus it was easier to gain the trust of the alley kids when they recognised her accent and when everyone knew she was a girl.
It was nice, having the trust of the alley kids, she used to dream about having someone to trust when she was just a little street kid, of course she knew by now that she couldn't trust any of those that call themselves heroes, the only people she trusted, were fucking assasins or dead.
She was just happy that she could be that trusted someone to other kids that she had always wanted in her life, she was more known as their hermana instead of just a vague figure, she wanted then to have someone to trust and to talk to.
She focused back into the fight when some nobody nearly grazed her with a bullet when they all just started shooting randomly, helping her unintentionally as they shot at each other on accident.
“I thought everyone knew th’ rules” she spoke calmly and with a distorted but clearly feminine voice. “Or… is it jus’ that… yous are all too dense to actually follow ‘em?” She kept moving as she spoke, making them all turn and waste their bullets on each other and random boxes laying around.
“Fuck! Don't shoot me! You stupid mutt!”
“Its not my fault i can't fucking see!”
“Hood!” The voice of the leader spoke up, loud and grating, “When I get my hands on you, all you're gonna be good for is on your knees or back! Where bitches like you belong!”
Jay chuckled, a cold, stony type. She'd been told these things far too much to really tell if what they were saying meant something different or what she thought it meant, she'd also been told that a lot as a kid as well. It's sorta lost its heavy weight now that she knows if anything did go wrong, one sentence, and her helmet and the rest of her head would be blown sky high.
“I dunno, I ain't really inta your type, too scrawny and dumb f’ me” she knew she probably shouldn't be teasin’ these pendejos, but it calmed the spiked nerves she always gets when she hears shit like this.
Before the leader could say anything, she put a bullet through his skull as she elbowed the throat of one of the goons, she used her leg to send some dude straight into a pile of boxes before she shot directly at his heart.
And after that, she tuned out all the chatter and just focused on killing everyone here.
—
She sat on the roof of one of her guys' apartments. It was a day off for them, Sunday, and she didn't want to separate them from their families, and if they didn't have one, she wanted them to relax for the day.
She had a smoke in her right hand that she lit up just a bit ago. She brought it up to her mouth and took a puff, before blowing it back out. She didn't know why she still smoked, only really knowing the burn and smell and smoke in her lungs gave her some type of control back, like she could forget what that burn and smell and smoke in her lungs felt like before now that she could blow out the smoke, and breathe in the fresh Gotham air, like she could stop tasting the burn, but she willingly chooses not to, like the smell she could just compare it to the free air she could now smell then from before, were all she could smell was smoke.
Sometimes she would even put the smoke out on her skin, just to compare it to the now free air that sailed across the burn instead of more fire, smoke and rubble.
She only did that when she knew she was alone though, and she could feel eyes on the back of her neck, not to mention one of the street kids she now sees as su nueva familia might see her out in the open.
So, she waited for the bats to get the courage to face her and wait for the inevitable disappointment on both sides.
In the meantime, she blew in, and out.
In, out.
In, out.
“I thought you quit smoking?”
She's not really surprised Dickie would be the first to come and chat with her.
She turns her head to study him, she looks him over, (not exactly hiding that fact) before she chooses to respond and turns her head back to the open sky, “Eh, thought t’ give it anotha’ go th’ second time ‘round, y'know?”
She doesn't really mention her death with other people, but these people? There's just something that makes it worth it.
There's a sharp inhale that makes her lips curl in a mean smirk.
“Jay-”
“Oh, don't ev’n try givin’ me that li'l talk o’ yours, it ain't even ya business ‘n why ‘m smokin’, an’ stop pretendin’ t’ care,” (inhale, and out) “shit gets old real fast”
She stood up and stomped on her smoke, turning and folding her arms while keeping a relaxed position on, looking at them all with a glare, “What's th’ real reason yous came lookin’ f’ me? Jus’ spit it out already, would'ya”
She could see Robin giving her a glare that was probably meant to look intimidating when Nightwing deflated, she knows those two are close.
All the bats are visible now, and they're all looking at her like she's something to be cautious of, good, let them be scared.
“Hood” her eyes move to Batmans stupid fucking cowl, he still talks in that gravelly and painful sounding way he always has, except now… its colder, “I thought i told you-”
She throws her hands in the air, keeping them spread out as she interrupts, “Oh, give me a break! Not ev’n a ‘hello, how are you doing’ just straight into it, huh?”
Bruce grunts that displeased way he does when he's annoyed, “Yes, we are, because I told you what would happen if this kept up”
She chuckles slightly as eyes turn to him, she's guessing he hasn't told any of the others about his plans, it looks like she really is the odd one out, huh?
“You know I'd jus’ find a way out, right?” Despite her being on the shorter side, her tone and body language make it seem like she's the one in charge here, “plus, how do you think you'd ev'n be able t’ catch me, in th’ first place?”
They stare at each other for a moment, before Red Robin steps in, her pretender, “B, What's she talking about?” She doesn't feel even remotely bad about the tower incident, he chose his role, and she knows that everyone knows she could've killed him if she had wanted to.
Spoiler moved slightly closer, just behind Nightwing now, waving slightly, “Hi! Uhhh… by th’ way, i jus’ wanted to say that i fuckin’ love all th’ work ya do, and its a real cool thing to finally meet th’ second Robin” behind her, Signal starts nodding as well, waving a little too.
She stares at them for a moment, surprised by the honest and actually sweet words, before a small real smile makes its way on her face.
“Awww, I knew at least two o’ ya had some manners, no wonda’ I've always preferred those two outta all o’ ya”
She's surprised Spoiler isn't more pissed off at her for the tower thing considering they were dating before, but she didn't really care much for relationship drama that involved people that didn't really interfere with her plans that much.
She knows Spoiler was the fourth Robin, but she also knows how shitty of a time that most likely was since she knows how Bruce sees girls or anyone not raised with silver spoons in their mouth.
Black Bat watched silently as Robin tsk'd at her, “what are we even doing here? Clearly, the Hood has eliminated the current threat, I don't understand why we're still talking about it”
He was right, she had gotten rid of their probable mission, and she really wished she didn't know why they were still here.
Batman's body language softened slightly as he turned to the young Robin, “she may have gotten rid of the gang we were researching on, but she ended all their lives, we can't allow that here, it's not our job to decide who lives and who dies”
Jay clenched her jaw as she heard him talk, her hands turning to fists. She hated listening to that soft tone he seemed to possess for everyone but her, hated seeing how he softened before hardening once he turned to her again, she hated how the only other one who seemed to know anything was another kid raised in poverty, how he only seemed to care when it suited him.
Duke has only been Signal for just a jew weeks,only staying at the Manor every now and then, he knows there's something different in the way him and Steph are treated, she can tell by the way his head turns slightly, by the way his visible features change just a bit, maybe he hasn't figured it out just yet, but she knows he's already weary with Bruce by his stance.
Robin nodded as they both turned back to her, Batman hardening up like she knew he would. Nightwing speaks up slightly, “Hood… why do you have to be so difficult?” He pinches the bridge of his nose as her hackles raise.
Her lips curled in a snarl as she glared at him after he said that, “Excuse me” Her eyes were fierce behind her domino, her glare obvious, and the threat in her tone clear.
Nightwing sighed as she straightened up, moving her stance to a more defensive position.
Black Bat put her hand on Nightwing’s shoulder, as if to comfort him.
She hated seeing them comfort each other too, acting like she was the one in the wrong. Seeing them acting like family when all Dick and Bruce did with her was growl, yell or occasionally give a backhanded compliment, not to mention their classist and hypocritical views.
She glared at them all as she tried not to scream at them.
“Come on, Hood, why can't you just accept that you're being unreasonable?”
Her eyes widened before she broke, “Me! Bein’ unreasonable!? Are you ev’n listenin’ t’ yourself!?” She all but shouted.
Red Robin looked shocked that she had yelled at him, but he still held his ground, “yes!, There's no reason for you to be so upset still” she clenched her fists tight, her teeth grounding together. “You know why we can't kill the joker!”
The roof they were all on went silent after what Tim said. She was frozen for a moment, just trying to comprehend the puta mierda he's spewing.
Before she could say anything, Dick cut in, “I mean… he's not wrong, Hood. Plus, it's not like we can't see that you're still mad at B for it” he shrugged after saying that, acting like he has any idea what happened.
“This isn't ‘bout that hijo de puta, me killin’ these bastardos have no connection whatsoever. Me siento cabreado por varias cosas, i kill them ‘cause you Imbécil's won't!”
She moved forward and gestured harshly, "I'm not doin’ all this f’ attention or revenge, an’ don't act like either o’ you know me!” She gestures Nightwing’s way “you were barely ‘round before, an’ th’ only times ya were, you'd find somethin’ t’ yell at me ‘bout!” She points to Batman now “an’ don't act like you're any betta’, i remember all that classist shit you used t’ say an’ ‘prolly still do now!”
When she was finished with her rant, she took a deep breath in, and let it out.
She stepped back to the edge of the roof, looking at them all standing just looking at her, “an’ don't think i forgot ‘bout mentionin’ th’ li'l partin’ present ya let me keep” she had a mean smile that showed off her fangs on as she pulled her uniform down to show off the mean looking scar right on her neck.
After letting them see it, and proving she wasn't lying to them, she let it go and the scar was hidden once again.
“My problems with you two have nothing to do with how I think certain criminals should be dealt with!” and she meant that too.
She flipped off the roof after she was done, disappearing before they could do anything.