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The night was cool, yet heavy as Jason Todd slipped through the window of the second-story apartment. His breaths were labored as his boots landed on the carpeted floor. Jason sighed from exhaustion, and as he turned around to close the window which had served as his entryway, he shook as the corners of his vision started to fade to black.
Latching the window with one hand, Jason used his free arm to grasp at the blood-soaked material of his t-shirt. And, to be fair, he has a very high pain tolerance, so Jason can confidently say that he did not wince with pain when he touched his wound. Rather, it was more a wince of annoyance feeling the sharp tip of an arrow resting itself on the back of his neck.
“What do you think you’re doing, sport?”
Jason sighed and put his hands up, not facing the voice, “Bleeding mostly.”
“I’m sorry, what?” the voice said, Jason felt the tip of the arrow leave his neck and he turned to see the man reach for Jason’s shoulder and grab it in an attempt to turn him around.
“Fuck!” Jason shouted, his vision whiting out for what felt like a minute as pain shot like lightning from his shoulder.
“Oh holy shit man, sorry.” The voice, no man, said now visible and panicked.
Roy Harper had honestly been having a decent day. Despite traffic doing its best to hinder his efforts, he had dropped Lian off at school at the correct time. He had gotten a good amount of grocery shopping in and had cleaned most of the house by the time he needed to pick his daughter up. They then had a nice dinner together before Lian went to bed. Patrol was light with the only big thing to happen to be a bank robbery. Roy had gotten back to his house and collapsed on his couch falling asleep instantly.
Roy supposed that it could likely remain a good day seeing as he heard the telltale creak of his windowsill around three in the morning. The stranger seemed experienced, at least. He made no sound as he entered the apartment. If it were not for the general, as the landlord put it, antique, nature of the apartment, Roy would’ve likely not noticed the man enter. Confronting him had turned out to be more trouble than it was worth as now he had a hand covered in blood and an over six-foot-tall adult man on the ground bleeding out from his shoulder onto Roy’s carpet. Although Roy had pointed an arrow at the back of this guy’s neck just a minute ago and, assumedly, caused him a great deal of pain, Roy had to admit that he was impressed by the complete lack of fear on the guy’s face.
What a face too, the man who had just broken into his house looked hot even while bleeding out. He had a darker, tanned look about him. His olive skin glimmered with sweat under the full moon, his thick brows creasing, drawn up in pain. He had strong cheekbones, yet a rounded jaw, and his eyes. Oh, his eyes fluctuated between an emerald green and a light honey brown, and Roy didn’t even know how that was possible. How he was possible. How the man in his living room could look so good with the slightly annoyed look on his face.
Jason was pissed. He was bleeding out on his best friend’s carpet and his so-called friend, upon looking at him, injured, just sized him up like a piece of meat. Given, that Jason didn’t plan on telling the man his civilian identity, so he guessed he would just play along with whatever this was. Their relationship as Arsenal and the Red Hood was too precious to put in jeopardy with civilian issues, so Jason opted to keep his secret. Of course, he knew who Roy was. Even if he didn’t have bat resources, the man’s disguise is a pair of sunglasses. It wouldn’t be that hard to figure out. It helped too that Roy had told Jason himself.
Roy, seemingly becoming aware of the situation for a second time, spoke, “Wait, why the hell are you in my apartment?”
“It was close,” Jason grunted out.
“Did you get shot on my roof?” The man whisper-shouted.
Jason, remembering the fact that a nine-year-old was in the other room, brought his voice down as well, “You can put it that way, yeah.”
“Wha- who- who did this?” Roy said, his browns knitting together in confusion, and shit, Jason had to admit that the confused look on Roy’s face was adorable. Jason sunk to the floor, his vision once again dimming in the corners.
“Wait no, don’t pass out!” Roy said, his voice becoming panicked, “I need you to tell me what happened.”
Jason’s head felt like it was spinning at a million miles an hour, he couldn't even think straight. He just muttered out, “Red Hood.”
“Red Hood did this?” That was all Jason heard before he blacked out.
Roy honestly didn’t know what to do. He didn't even know that Red Hood was in town, let alone had some vendetta against a random, super hot, dreamy guy. Eventually, he decided that the only logical action was to go out looking for the guy. Of course, he transferred the super-hot dude to the couch, and okay, maybe he should have gotten his name. However, Roy felt he was preoccupied with the breaking and entering situation.
Once he was on the couch, Roy occupied himself by cleaning the man’s wounds. Of course, this required removing the man’s shirt and holy shit was he ripped. For a minute the abs clouded Roy’s vision and he didn’t even notice the sheer number of scars that the man had. Looking at him fully, he could see what were likely fifty scars across the man’s stomach, ribs and chest. Amongst the littering of cuts and past bullet wounds, two stood out. A long deep cut on the side of the neck and what looked to be an autopsy scar. By this point, Roy’s number of questions about the man had doubled, and the man’s general nonchalant attitude about his bullet wound made more sense.
Speaking of the bullet wound, Roy realized that he was actively ignoring the man’s injury in favor of staring at his bare chest, which had to go against some sort of medical practice laws or something. Roy cleaned and bandaged the wound with his first aid kit and a wet washcloth. Luckily the bullet had gone clean through and hadn’t gotten lodged in anything. Roy tossed the man’s shirt seeing as it was bloodsoaked beyond repair and layed out one of his own beside the man before exiting his apartment, out the window, of course, in search of his friend The Red Hood.
Streaks of dawn had begun to lighten the horizon, and Roy still had not found his partner. He had information, at least, that he had been in a fight. Bullets were exchanged and then the man had vanished. The trail had gone cold for a while until Roy had found a stashed backpack behind a dumpster a few blocks down from where the gunfight was rumored to have happened. Surprisingly, the backpack did not contain drugs. It did, instead, contain Red Hood’s costume and helmet. Roy took the aptly red-colored Jansport and headed back to his apartment. There was no way he could find his friend in his civilian identity, so might as well have him come to Roy.
By the time Roy got back to his apartment, it was six in the morning. Far later than he wanted to be out. He slipped into the window desperately hoping no one saw him and set the backpack on the ground. The apartment smelled good, very good and Roy was suddenly aware of two facts at once. One, the man who was supposed to be bleeding on his couch right now was gone. And two, the smell of bacon and eggs were coming from his kitchen along with the sounds of casual laughter and conversation.
“So why are you here again?” Lian asked.
“I broke into your house,” the man answered nonchalantly.
“Oh okay, that makes sense.”
Roy entered the kitchen to see the man standing by the stove cooking breakfast while his daughter sat at the table eating bacon and scrambled eggs. He was sure he looked as baffled as he felt seeing as when the bandage man looked over at him, he laughed. Lian looked as well and waved.
“Morning Daddy!”
“Good morning pumpkin,” Roy said cautiously.
“Good morning, Roy!”
Roy looked over to the man by the stove and sighed, “Did she tell you my name?”
“Nope,” the man popped his p, “She was very adamant about not sharing your names.”
“He knows them anyway though,” Lian said.
“Great, okay. Home intruder, may I see you in the other room please.”
“Yeah let me finish the eggs though,” Jason answered.
“You know what? Okay. Fine.”
Roy left the kitchen and sat in his living room, flicking on the tv. The news station was running some story about the Waynes and how one of their missing kids had appeared alive again or something. Roy didn’t care, but he let it run and fidgeted on his phone until the man re-entered his living room.
“Interesting choice in shows,” The man said, sitting down on the couch.
“I wasn’t watching it, just letting it run.”
“Yeah, no I figured,” The man laughed and Roy had no idea what was so funny.
“Okay, yeah no. Fun is over. What do you know about Red Hood’s disappearance?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean,” Roy held up the backpack that the man’s eyes had been lingering on the whole conversation, “You said ‘Red Hood’ before you passed out. Now I come to find out he was involved in a shootout. Here you are, shot. What happened,” Roy questioned, his voice firm.
Jason sighed to himself, “I fucking said ‘Red Hood’ are you kidding me. Dumbest shit I’ve ever done I swear to god.”
Roy raised an eyebrow, “Are you gonna talk, or do we have to do this the hard way?”
“Hilarious, no,” Jason said, “I think I was trying to say that Red Hood sent me here.”
“You think?”
“Yeah well I was bleeding, and believable lies are hard to come up with when you’re blacking out. Try it sometime.”
“Will do. So you do know what happened to Red Hood,” Roy stated, annoyed with the stranger’s meandering.
“I know what happened to Red Hood, Roy.”
“And that’s another thing! How do you know my name?”
“You told me yourself, dumbass. And even if you didn't, you wear sunglasses and call it a disguise.”
“I’m sorry do I know you,” Roy questioned sarcastically, “Let’s say I did tell you my name.”
“You did.”
“Shut up. Let’s say I did tell you my name, why not make it even. What’s your name, mystery man?”
“Damn. You really weren’t watching that show.”
“Meaning?”
“My name is Jason Todd, idiot.”
“The fucking Wayne kid?” Roy yelped.
“The dead one? Yeah. Blah, blah, blah, Ollie hates us, who gives a shit.”
“Oh Dick is gonna kill me,” Roy said, burying his head in his hands.
“Yeah probably, if not for the lackluster medical care then probably for taking so long to figure this shit out.”
What do you mean figuring shit out?”
Jason smirked, “Are you kidding me? Really?”
Roy just stared at him as his sleep-deprived brain struggled to start like an old car engine. Jason continued to look at his friend with thinly veiled amusement as Roy’s eyes widened comically and the older man looked up at him.
“You’re fucking me.”
“I wish.”
“You’re Red Hood.”
“Ding ding ding. He got it, Lian!”
Lian poked her head out from the kitchen, “Took him long enough! Good job, Daddy!”
“Yeah, good job, Daddy.”
Roy flushed a deep crimson color at both the name and the fact that his eight-year-old figured it out before him, “Jay, please shut up.”
“Will do,” the man said, snatching up the red backpack from the floor before exiting the apartment, this time out the door.
“Wait! I need that shirt ba-,” but his friend, maybe more, was already gone.
“Can Jayjay come over more often?” Lian asked, now sitting beside her father.
“I hope so, baby,” Roy answered, “I would like that.”
Epilogue:
“No, Dick I don’t think it was over dramatic,” Jason grumbled, taking a sip of his latte.
“Really,” Dick responded, “You definitely don’t think it’s over dramatic. I’ll categorize that alongside statements such as ‘No, Dick. I don’t have a crush on Roy Harper', and ‘I’ll Venmo you for this.’”
Jason groaned and put his head down on the table. He knew that telling Dick about him and Roy’s encounter would be a mistake. His brother was already convinced, correctly, that he had a crush on his longtime partner, and he had no intention of adding fuel to that fire. Which is why he didn’t tell him. Meaning that someone else did.
“Speak of the devil,” Jason said in an annoyed singsong tone as his phone buzzed on the table, Roy’s contact popping up.
“Why is there a heart by his name, baby bird,” Dick smirked at his younger brother.
“You’re a Dick.”
“In what sense?”
“Shut up. Yeah, hey Roy! I would love to.”
Dick smiled as Jason excused himself and exited the coffee shop, smiling and laughing along with the voice on the other end of the phone.
“Called it.”