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“Fucking hell,” Jason groaned as ripped off his damaged helmet and held his side. He stared down at his own fucking face on the person he had just killed. They had literally morphed into him, him, not Red Hood, but actually Jason Todd, despite the fact that he had been wearing his mask. They had to be a metahuman. He got touched by the guy beforehand, so that’s probably how he turned into him.
He probably thought looking like me would make me not want to fight him, Jason thought to himself. Jokes on whoever the hell that was. I wanna punch myself in the face all the time.
“Shit, I’m gonna feel that in the morning…and right now,” Jason said to himself. He winced and grabbed his gun before shooting the guy multiple times. “Eh, one more for good measure.”
He pulled the trigger once more and dropped the gun. His hand hurt more than it should. Whatever, he’d heal. His mask was damaged too from the meta, who had super strength along with shapeshifting powers. Jason limped out of the building and heard a whistling sound. He quickly ran and jumped into the water as the building exploded behind him. Jason stayed under the water for as long as he could. It wasn’t as long as he would have liked, but…fuck, everything hurt and he didn’t need to justify why he couldn’t hold his breath for a long time.
“Fuck,” Jason said after resurfacing and coughing for a few moments. “Ugh, Gotham harbor water. Disgusting. I’d rather get shot than be in this. Or die…again.”
If Dick ever finds out about this I’ll never hear the end of it, Jason thought as he swum away.
——
“Okay, say again…because I’m confused,” Roy Harper said. Jason rubbed his eyes.
“Tell the Flash to keep an eye on his metas or something because I just had to fight myself and, although therapeutic, I didn’t enjoy getting my…butt handed to me,” Jason said. Lian smiled and Jason held out his good hand for her to play with.
“I don’t have the Flash’s number,” Roy said.
“Well have the Green Arrow give him the message. Something. I don’t care,” Jason said before he leaned against the couch. “Batman doesn’t like metas in Gotham. It’s probably just a one off, but…I still didn’t like it. The guy destroyed my mask.”
His head hurt. His arms hurt. His whole body hurt. Thankfully Roy lives a few cities over in this apartment, which thankfully has running water. So he took a very long and hot shower to wash off the Gotham harbor water before getting the chance to decompress for a few minutes.
“A shapeshifting metahuman, huh?” Roy asked.
“Yeah. And he looked like me, not Red Hood,” Jason said seriously. “Once he touched me…” Jason shook his head slightly. “It was me, my face and my suit just without the mask. His clothes changed into my suit. And he stayed like that after I…unalived him. Whatever. The building blew up afterwards. During the fight, I noticed some propane tanks. Those must have been what blew it. It didn’t blow up the whole warehouse though, just enough to do damage.”
Jason pulled out his phone and realized it must have gotten destroyed during the fight. He groaned to himself as he stared at the damaged screen.
“He’s…gone, right?” Roy asked, and before Jason could make a comment Roy kept talking. “Ollie told me a few stories about Barry dealing with metas and they can be tricky.”
“Yes, he’s gone. I…unalived him,” Jason said carefully as Lian giggled and made squeaking noises as she played with his fingers. Jason smiled. “I’m staying here for a few more hours, and then I’ll be gone.”
“Do I have a choice?” Roy asked. Jason smiled innocently and Roy walked away.
“Your dad doesn’t like me that much. Do you like me or him better?” Jason asked Lian, who smiled and reached over to him. “I knew it. I knew you liked me. I’m definitely rubbing that in his face.”
Lian giggled at Jason again.
“You know, I’m gonna teach you so many bad words when you’re older,” Jason said with a smile.
“No, no, absolutely not!” Roy yelled from the other room. Lian laughed and Jason smirked.
He enjoyed torturing Roy.
——
Jason left Roy’s a few hours ago and made his way back to an apartment building he owned. He snuck through the window and grabbed a spare Red Hood mask as he changed his clothes. A group of goons lived in the building and they worked for him, and he never let them see his face. He quickly changed into different clothes and froze when he saw a needle mark on his side.
Jesus Christ, first he got his ass kicked by a shapeshifting super strength meta and now he’s been injected with something that he doesn’t even know what it is, Jason thought before rubbing his eyes. He really was off his game. Maybe the meta messed with him more than he realized.
Jason collapsed on his bed and ignored everything going on. And he promptly fell asleep, with his mask on.
——
“Boss?! Boss?! You alive?!”
“Ugh, go away!” Red Hood yelled as he curled into a ball on his side.
“Boss, you came in here last night,” one of his henchmen said.
“So?” Hood mumbled. He was too tired to care. His head hurt.
“It’s 4 in the afternoon now.”
What? He never sleeps that late. He’ll get a few hours here and there, but…never sleep 12 hours.
“Fuck, go away,” Red Hood complained. “You’re giving me a headache. You’re making my headache worse.”
“Boss, you’re shaking.” Jason stared at his hands and noticed that his hands were in fact shaking.
Red Hood grabbed his pillow and mumbled about ‘wishing Dick Grayson was here.’ He never thought he’d wish for that, but it’s true. Despite the headaches his brother gave him and how much he’d drive him crazy, he’d make sure he was okay and keep him safe. And right now…Red Hood didn’t feel safe at all. He didn’t know why, maybe the drug. It had to be the drug.
Red Hood barely noticed the goons leaving the room and talking about finding Dick Grayson to bring to him. He fell asleep again.
——
Red Hood woke up again and groaned. He stretched and heard a popping sound come from his shoulder. He ignored it as he stood up. Jason was about five seconds away from grabbing a bag of chips from the counter and going back to bed before the door opened. He flinched and saw someone being dragged into his apartment unconscious.
“What the fuck is this?!” Red Hood yelled.
“The Dick Grayson guy you wanted, sir. We got him.” The goons gently put the guy on the floor. Red Hood stared and noticed his brother unconscious and handcuffed with a black hood over his head.
“What?” Red Hood asked. He was so confused and nothing was making sense.
“You told us to get Dick Grayson,” one of them said.
“When did I say that?!” He yelled.
“A few hours ago, boss man. You told us you wanted Dick Grayson.”
“Oh my god. Go away!” Red Hood yelled. The goons quickly left and closed the door behind them. He stared at his brother unconscious on the floor and noticed him breathing. “Fuck. My headache is getting worse. At least you’re breathing, Dick.”
——
Gordon did not want to be doing this, not at all. He really did not want to be doing this, but it had to be done. A building had blown up by the docks early this morning and firefighters handled the fire. The building got damaged and people had died. But when one of the firefighters was on the scene they found Red Hood’s mask next to a body. And now Gordon needed to be the one to tell Batman that someone he cared about was dead.
Gordon turned on the Bat Signal and impatiently waited for Batman to show up. He held the mask in a cardboard box and his hands shook. He didn’t know how Batman would react to this news and…he was scared to find out.
God help any criminal in Gotham right now, Gordon thought nervously.
Eventually Batman swooped down and Gordon flinched. Batman must have noticed because he stilled at the sight.
Gordon didn’t usually flinch when Batman showed up, Bruce thought. He knew something had to be wrong.
“What is it?” Batman asked carefully. He eyed the box. Whatever was in there had to be important. Something was going on. Gordon was tense and…scared?
“I’m sorry,” Gordon said quietly before sighing. “There was a fire at a warehouse downtown, by the docks. It happened this morning. It looks like a makeshift lab or something. The fire is making it difficult to tell. There were…a bunch of bodies were inside, all dead. And…and one of them had a mask right next to them, and was wearing the same clothes…that he wears.”
Gordon opened up the box and showed him Jason’s destroyed helmet. He froze.
No. No. This can’t be…this can’t be happening. Bruce desperately tried to control every inch of his body. He called Jason’s phone, which went straight to voicemail. He tried to call again, and again it went straight to voicemail.
Bruce slowly walked over to where Gordon was standing and gently grabbed the mask. It was practically destroyed.
“Who did this?” Batman asked lowly.
“I don’t know,” Gordon said quickly. “Like I said, it looked like a lab or something. We don’t know much about anything else.”
Batman breathed out slowly and called the Batcave.
“Sir,” Alfred answered. He knew Bruce was going to meet the Commissioner and offered to stay in the Batcave in case he was needed.
“Red Hood is…is…gone…” Batman said quietly. Alfred froze. “Contact Nightwing.”
“R-Right away, sir,” Alfred replied after a moment.
Batman stayed quiet as he stared at the helmet in his hands. Gordon kept his distance. Bruce knew Gordon wasn’t scared of him, he was just scared of how he’d react.
“Sir, I am unable to reach him. I can’t track his phone either. The last ping was…the harbor,” Alfred said nervously.
Bruce froze. Whoever did this…they went after Dick too. He can’t loose another kid today. He can’t. Batman quickly left the rooftop. Whoever was behind this was going to pay.
——
Dick woke up slowly. He felt handcuffs, his arms pinned behind him. He had a hood over his head too, and…he was gagged, or it was the residue of whatever he was drugged with. Dick tried to listen to sounds around him but only heard city noises and pacing. He shifted slightly.
“Jesus, fucking morons,” someone said. Dick immediately recognized that voice and attitude as his brother. He almost laughed.
Dick made a mumbling sound and squirmed. Did his brother really kidnap him? He wouldn’t put it past him actually. Jason took off the hood and the gag before he started pacing back and forth across the room again. Dick stared awkwardly.
“Uh…Jason, wanna unlock these cuffs?” Dick asked awkwardly as he sat up. He leaned against the wall. “Jason?”
“Somethings wrong. Somethings wrong,” Jason mumbled to himself before twitching violently.
“Jason?” Dick asked gently.
“Shhh! Don’t you hear that?” Jason asked. Dick stayed quiet to try and listen. He didn’t hear anything, other than regular Gotham sounds.
“What am I supposed to be hearing?” Dick whispered. Jason quickly covered his mouth with his hand and Dick went to mumble something but decided against it.
“Everything. I hear everything,” Jason whispered before he moved his hand.
“That’s how ears work,” Dick said slowly. “Are you…okay?”
“Somethings wrong. Ever since that metahuman shapeshifted into me and nearly killed me and then I apparently got drugged and now I’m hearing colors!” Jason yelled before curling into a ball near the couch. Dick froze and stared at his brother. Oh my god, if this wasn’t so serious he’d burst out laughing. “Have you ever heard colors before?”
“No, no…I haven’t…” Dick said carefully. Dick squirmed and tried to find something to pick the handcuffs with. He didn’t have anything in his pockets or his sleeves. “Hey, where’s my jacket? I like that jacket.”
Dick looked around and sighed in relief when he saw his jacket on the edge of the couch.
“Lian likes me better than Roy,” Jason said to the floor. “And my head hurts.”
“Lian…Roy’s kid…” Dick said to himself. “Right.”
“I’m losing my mind,” Jason whispered as his eyes widened. “And the dumbass goons said that I said that I wished you were here and you’re so sunshiny bullshit but you help and you help calm down all the pent up anxiety in me.”
Dick froze. Jason would have never admitted that. Ever. He was seriously on some crazy drugs. What the hell was he injected with?
“Hey, why don’t you unlock these cuffs, yeah?” Dick suggested with a gentle smile.
“No, no, you’re gonna hurt me,” Jason said before scrambling away from Dick.
“No I’m not. I’m not gonna hurt you. Promise. You know I never break my promises, Jay,” Dick said calmly. He sighed, this was going to take a while.
Dick went to say something but heard gunshots downstairs. Jason quickly went into the bedroom and slammed the door closed. Dick stared in disbelief as he squirmed against the handcuffs. He fell over and groaned.
Dick flinched when the door opened and Batman walked in. He sighed in relief.
“Oh thank god,” Dick said with a smile.
“Are you hurt?” Batman asked as scanned the room before he came over.
“No,” Dick said as the bedroom door opened. Batman whipped his head around and froze at the sight of Jason standing there.
“Why is there a giant bat in the living room?!” Jason shrieked before slamming the door closed. Batman froze.
“He went to a warehouse and some metahuman shapeshifted into him and also drugged him and now he’s hearing colors,” Dick summed up before sighing. “Can you unlock these handcuffs now, please?”
“He’s alive,” Batman said, still half frozen.
“Yeah…” Dick said awkwardly. “Unless I kill him out of annoyance-“
Dick stopped talking when Jason came out of the bedroom and stared throwing pillows at Batman and screaming about a bat.
——
“Are you alright, Master Bruce?” Alfred asked calmly.
“Long day,” Bruce said quietly. He looked over at the couch where Dick was trying to get Jason to drink some water and Jason was telling him to go away. “At least Jason’s okay. Dick too.”
“We had quite the scare today, didn’t we?” Alfred said. Bruce nodded. “But he is alright now. Master Dick is alright as well. Your children are safe.”
“Everyone’s safe and alive,” Bruce said quietly.
“And that’s all that matters,” Alfred said.
Bruce nodded.
“I figured out what happened. The warehouse was a lab, testing drugs on kids after kidnapping them. The metahuman used his powers to turn into another kid so they’d trust him. And then they would test out the drugs. Hallucinations, anxiety, headaches. It was supposed to have different effects but they couldn’t get the formula right. Red Hood got dosed during the fight, and the metahuman turned into Jason. After Jason killed him, he stayed as Jason and didn’t turn back to himself.”
Alfred nodded.
“Go away,” Jason complained as Dick kept on hugging him. “Oh my god. Someone help!”
Bruce smiled and ignored them. He smiled at the memory of Jason throwing pillows at him and shrieking about a giant bat in the living room.
“Don’t die,” Dick said.
“I won’t!” Jason yelled before making an incoherent noise. “Just get off of me!”
“Children, if you are going to yell, do it somewhere else,” Alfred said calmly. Bruce snorted.