… What. She did not understand like half of the words that came out of this guy’s mouth. Maybe more. And why was he dressed like that? Not that she could say anything, but… was there a costume party or something?
“Um, who’s Batman? And I don’t know who you are. Pretty sure I’d remember some weirdo in a red Halloween mask.”
Actually, that did sound kinda familiar. She remembered a weird guy in a leather jacket, and here was a weird guy in a leather jacket. But the rest of it was really fuzzy for some reason.
Jason narrowed his eyes. Did she just claim that she had no idea who Batman was? Despite wearing a cowl, the bat on her chest and having an utility belt? He felt a strange kind of deja vu, but he shook it away, thinking for a moment before raising his hands and taking off the helmet to take a better look at her.
“Is this any better?”, he asked with a snort. “Gotham. That’s where he comes from. One would assume that you’re related to him, he dresses up like a stupid bat too.”
“Um, did anyone else wake up in a costume? I mean, I know these scientists are weird… But really, a catsuit? That’s a little too kinky for me, honestly.”
“That bat costume is enough to put anyone off. Why are you dressed like Batman?Let me guess, he send you to get me? Hah.”
Okay, so he could do the witty banter thing too. Big deal. After all, she could totally do witty comebacks to his witty banter. Because she was super witty. Like if being witty was a superpower, she’d definitely have it. But then she wouldn’t be Batgirl, she’d be like Wittygirl or something weird like that and honestly that didn’t sound as good and- Right. Back to the situation at hand.
“I-”
She began, just as he turned around. Finally getting a proper look at him that wasn’t the back of his head, she quickly realized just who this criminal was. It wasn’t an ordinary job where she’d just beat the guy up and drop him off at the jail. No, it wasn’t ordinary at all. Because instead of some faceless stranger who liked leather, she was faced with… him. And honestly, she wasn’t sure what to do.
“… You’re Jason Todd, aren’t you?”
The person in front of her… He was Jason Todd, the second Robin. Or rather in this circumstance, he was Red Hood. Yes, she knew who he was. But she didn’t really know him. After all, they’d never met. What she knew of him was from databases and rumors. Even then, what she knew wasn’t exactly good news. Running into a guy with a sharp object in a dark alley was not good news already for an ordinary person, but running into a guy who was actually sorta crazy and dangerous and probably wasn’t all too fond of the giant bat upon your chest? That was like, the extreme opposite of good news.
A mental sigh of relief passed through her as he released the civilian. At the very least, that was going good for her. But it wasn’t like she could say it was because of her that that man’s life was saved. Rather, she felt more like bait than anything. It wasn’t like she had scared Jason or anything to make him stop. More like… that random guy was probably boring in comparison to her.
“Last time I checked, he doesn’t wear eggplant.”
Despite the fact she was joking, her voice was nothing short of serious. While sometimes she may loosen up even on the job, she wasn’t doing so now. Her stance was steady, and she was prepared in case he was going to make any quick moves against her. She was trying to remain strong, threatening, as if this was a completely ordinary situation, one that she ran into everyday. And in a way it was. Just not… the Jason Todd part.
The young girl seemed to be speechless at first, but then she called out his name. Or rather, asked him straight away if it was him. He couldn’t help but smile under that helmet, his facial expressions remaining a mystery to her for now, not taking off the bright red disguise he wore. Bat-kids carried all kinds of toys and she could have tear gas or anything like that, her utility belt was worn around her waist after all. She could be bluffing, but he didn’t take any risks.
He was known, of course she would know of him, whenever he hid his face or not; he was a legend, whenever he liked or not. Maybe not for the best, it seemed that people knew the basics of what happened to him. Died before Batman could get to him, crawled his way out of a grave, remembering his whole world spinning when he stepped in the Lazarus Pit, then starting to putting an end in the pathetic lives of Gotham’s criminals. There was a good reason why he stayed away from Bruce and he felt like he was going to be questioned about that.
He held his arms open in a theatrical move, like he was presenting himself to her. "It’s always a pleasure to meet a fan”, he chuckled.
Was she supposed to be taken seriously if she was related to Bruce or Dick? She didn’t seem anything like Damian, she seemed to fall in the Tim Drake category in his eyes, and nothing would really stop him if she decided that fighting him was an option for her. Even Roy and Kori by now knew how ruthless he could get, but he wasn’t just an ordinary killer. He attacked Dick and Tim many times, it was true, but for now he kept his calm and used the apparent worry in the girl’s voice to his advantage. Everyone was scared of the Red Hood, right? Or at least were wary of him.
Great, a kid with an attitude, just like he needed. Not that he was allowed to talk, after all he had quite the reputation of being the sarcastic brat, he wasn’t surprised that Bruce got another of those types. She was relieved that he let go of the man who almost had his neck sliced, but he also could tell that she was worried; yes, Jason was always in for the entertainment.
“Last time I checked, Bruce’s Bat-Girl was a red head. Guess she needed replacement, huh?”, he replied to her comment.
He knew where to hit when he was talking to people, especially if it was to wind them up. He did it with everyone, even his friends, no wonder why Roy was so distant in that city. Being dead didn’t exactly help his social skills bloom after all, and when all he did was to threat criminals, he might have gotten a bit rusty when it came to chit chatting. He flipped the dagger, running it between his fingers once he spotted her change in posture; he meant business as well.
