Chapter Text
Robin jumped from rooftop to rooftop. It was such a freeing thing to do. There was nothing quite like the rush of free falling, even if it wasn’t a very large jump. There was nothing like the feeling of air rushing through his hair.
It was special. He understood why the Robin before him thought Robin was magic. Because this was incredibly fun. And the things that Robin did to help was so important.
A scream got the fifteen-year-old out of his thoughts. He grappled over and jumped down. Robin snuck over to investigate. He found that two men were mugging a woman wearing a long, beige coat. Red flags waved in Robin’s head, but he ignored them as he easily took down the two muggers.
Which, he added mentally, were both twice his size. Batman was going to be so proud of him once he found out. If he wasn’t angry at Robin for sneaking out after he benched him for no good reason.
Batman did that a lot. He would very often bench Robin over very minor things. Robin wasn’t dumb. He knew Batman didn’t actually want him. But Batman needed him, so he stuck around regardless. No matter how much it stung to be constantly rejected by someone so important to him.
Robin stood over the men for a second before he bent down to check to see if they were knocked out. The woman behind him took out a comically large hammer from under her jacket and swung it. It was with such force that it made Robin fly and her spin around and her wig flew off to reveal that it was Harley Quinn herself. Robin hit the ground pretty hard and groaned. He stared up at her for a brief moment before passing out.
When Robin woke up, he found himself tied down to a metal table. Robin immediately started struggling. He froze when he heard Joker laughing. He turned his head towards the source of the laughter.
Joker stepped out of the shadows as he laughed. “Good morning, Junior.”
He stared at Joker with wide eyes. “Who’s Junior?”
“You are.”
“That’s not my name.”
“It was your name.” Joker grabbed his face. His grip was far too tight. “Everything you knew before is a lie. You were kidnapped and your memories altered. Your mommy and I are going to help you get your memories back in order.”
“What? That’s bullshit.” Robin tried to get his face free. But Joker’s grip was so tight, he couldn’t get it free.
“I had a feeling you’d say that, son.” Joker turned his head. “Dear, can you grab a syringe for me?”
“Of course, puddin’!” Harley grabbed a syringe and handed it to Joker. She leaned against his shoulder with a grin.
“Thank you.” Joker jabbed it into Robin’s arm after making sure it would go into a vein.
Robin held in a scream. He managed not to squirm. Robin knew if he knew squirmed, the needle could break and it would get stuck in his arm. Which was something he didn’t want.
The chemicals inside the syringe burned as they flowed through his blood system. Tears stung at Robin’s eyes. It was uncomfortable with his mask on, but it was a feeling that Robin was used to.
Jason collapsed on a couch. He had found an abandoned apartment that didn’t have anyone there. Jason had staked it out for a week before he went in and no one ever came in or went out, so he knew it was abandoned.
He was exhausted and hungry. He could deal with his hunger later, but right now, Jason wanted to lay down on his stomach and relax. He was looking for a job, but getting a job was very hard when you were legally dead. Jason probably should come up with a new identity, but he didn’t want to.
Everything was a lot right now. Even thinking about building a new identity was just a bit too much.
Just over a week ago, Jason had escaped from the League of Assassins. He had decided to go back to Gotham. Jason needed to confirm for him if Talia was telling the truth Bruce about how replaced him with someone or if Ra’s was telling the truth on how the Joker was still alive.
Both were true.
And Jason was pissed about both of them. Jason wanted to do things to the Joker, make him suffer like he had. He wanted to do things to the replacement to make him regret taking his place. But Jason needed to establish a life first.
So, Jason had gotten himself a place in Crime Alley. He also decided to become his own kind of vigilante; one that doesn’t abide by Bruce’s no killing rule and actually clean up Crime Alley like Bruce kept promising he would do. Jason decided to pick the name Red Hood; take the name from Joker and reclaim it as his own.
Now all he needed to do was make a costume then Jason would be ready to make his debut. He had weapons all set.
Another benefit was that he could use guns. Bruce trained him how to properly use guns— Bruce knew how to use them in case he truly needed them and taught Jason for that exact same reason— but Jason never truly started using them until the League of Assassins. And Jason found that he enjoyed using them. They were effective and he had a large range.
Jason understood why Roy used a bow. Jason much preferred a gun over a bow, but the benefit of the range was the same.
There was one thing about Jason’s escape that did regret.
Leaving a little boy behind. Jason knew that that environment wasn’t a good one, and that little boy wasn’t safe. But Jason didn’t think he was capable of taking care of him. Especially since he didn’t have an established life anymore.
And Jason was sure as hell not leaving him with Bruce. He knew that he’d want to be Robin, and there didn’t need to be a new Robin.
There shouldn’t even be a Robin in the first place.
Jason grabbed the remote on the TV and turned on the news. This place was fully furnished, like the last owner had completely vanished without a trace. An unfortunately very common thing in Gotham. He turned on the news for some background noise since Jason couldn’t sleep silence.
“…missing again,” the reporter said. A picture of Robin was on the screen between the two reporters.
Immediately, Jason was wide awake. He stared at the screen.
“Witnesses say that they saw Harley Quinn running with him slung over her shoulders. When asked, Commissioner Gordon gave very little information. He said there’s no leads on Robin’s location or the motivations, but that he won’t be giving any more information. We…”
He turned the TV off, panting. Jason couldn’t believe that another Robin had been taken by the Joker. He couldn’t believe that Bruce had allowed the media to get their hands on it. He knew for a fact that the media had no idea what happened to him. He did a lot of research on it, and found that there were a lot of theories, but Bruce had never gone to the media to announce that Robin was missing.
So…
Bruce clearly liked this Robin much more than he liked Jason.