Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The luxury of laying in bed together for a full night is rare. Nothing between them but skin and scars. No children interrupting, no drug dealers or gangs to take down, no jobs to do. Just Jason and Roy laying against each other in their king sized beds, sheets covering their tangled legs. A pale hand trailed down Jason’s chest, fingernails gently grazing the other's skin.

“What’s on your mind, babe? You’ve been less of an ass tonight. Not that I don’t get plenty of ass with you but-” Roy chuckled as Jason smacked his chest none too lightly at the comment.

“Nothin’. Just- thinking about somethin. A new opportunity I got- not sure if I wanna do it yet.” Jason leaned his head back against the concrete wall with a light thunk, eyes fluttering closed as Roy trails his hand across the Y shaped prominent scar on Jason’s chest.

“New opportunity? Look at you, being a badass making new chances for yourself. Why don’t you talk me through it? Maybe I can help.”

Jason hummed in thought, considering the idea. Considering if it was worth telling Roy. Then again….if he was thinking about it this much, it must classify as important. They had been through so much together, between both of their pasts and their current outlaws work, things had just started to settle down. Was Jason willing to risk changing everything? He was so used to moving, running towards danger or away, sitting still almost felt wrong. But this would both cause him to run away and force him in place for a year, minimum.

“I got an offer. For a scholarship at a college in South Carolina. For Exy. Guess they saw me play at the last game for GU.”

Roy took a moment to think, long enough for Jason to open his eyes again and look up at the other. Roy just looked confused.

“Didn’t realize Exy was big enough to get a scholarship for. And I mean, pulling someone out of Gotham for anything is a risk. But, Jay if you wanna go for it, if you wanna keep playing and get the fuck out of here I say do it. You know I’ll follow you anywhere.”

Jason sighed, moving to run a scarred hand through dark black hair, the white streak in front flopping back down onto his forehead. “It isn’t that easy Roy. I have Hood business here. I don’t even know why they recruited me in the first place, my record is clean for Tayir. The PSU Exy team is known for taking in people with…..issues.”

Tayir Kahled. Jason Todd may be dead, but Jason couldn’t resist the idea of a normal life. Once things calmed down and he got control of his organization, Jason and Roy set up an identity. Tayir Kahled, a Gotham native from the border of Crime Alley. Homeschooled and got his GED, a clean record with only some warnings on in from before the Identity was 18 because no one in Gotham can have a fully clean record without looking suspicious. He enrolled as a full time student at Gotham University majoring in English Literature. The normalcy of it was nice, calming, grounding. Some days he felt more like himself as Tayir than he did as Hood. The personalities were different enough for there to be a line, Jason himself being a somewhat muddled mix of both.

Then Tayir discovered Exy. Exy was a stress reliever, a legal way to let out some of his anger as Tayir. A way to be physical without guns and blood and viscera. It was something Lian could support him in, could watch him do without being afraid. Jason didn’t expect himself to like it so much, didn’t expect Tayir to become more real in his head than Jason himself due to it. But that's exactly what happened. The voices in his head battling for control, making some memories non-existent and some muddled or gray.

Sometimes Tayir was around more than Jason lately. Roy knew that, even if he was never outright told. He knew Jason’s mental health had taken a turn and that the man he loved was adapting to his trauma in the only way his brain knew how. By splitting into different fractals of himself. It had started as soon as the other came back from the Dead, whether Jason wanted to accept it or not. So Roy knew that if Jason was even considering it, it must be something Tayir really wanted to do.

Roy smiled, gesturing with the hand not trapped behind Jason’s back. “Well, I think you qualify for that. They probably saw you get like 3 fuckin penalties and nearly bash a guys teeth in at the end of the last game.” To be fair, the other player had started it. But Jason had honestly forgotten it happened, the green having taken over momentarily as his knuckles crunched through the bone of another player's front teeth. Hood had wanted to go further, to watch blood splatter against the green of the court. Jason didn’t even remember what the player had said to start it.

Jason shrugged. “Maybe. But it doesn’t change the fact that I’ve got too much to do here. Too much keeping me.”

“Love, you hate Gotham. You say the lit department at the college sucks ass, you get panic attacks all the time from all the triggers in the city, you’re constantly paranoid. Leaving doesn’t mean abandoning. Leaving to be you, to make Tayir something more than just a random identity for emergencies and school, that's just self-care. That’s what they told me in rehab anyways. Plus, you barely have to do anything as Red Hood anymore other than delegate. Right?”

Jason nodded, thinking about it in his head. Keeping tabs on everything was all done by others and reported to him. He juggled the finances remotely, delegated most things through his higher up officials. Did jobs to keep his presence up but none that couldn’t be done by others. Most everything was done without having to kill anyone, not anymore anyways.

He could always come back on weekends. Holidays.

What need was there to be physically in Gotham?

“I am not leaving you to run off and play a sport for a college out of state.”

“You wouldn’t leave me. Me and Lian would follow of course. She hasn't even started kindergarten yet so it’s not like she would be leaving any friends. I know you hate her being in Gotham anyways, and I’ve been wanting to take a break from Arsenal, outside of emergencies of course. We have the money now after that last job. Enough for an apartment in South Carolina. You can’t get rid of us that easily, asshole.”

“I would be busy. Between a full class load, practice…..I don’t know how often I would get to see you.”

“Just like now, with less risk of dying again. You’re trying to talk yourself out of it. Look at me and tell me, what does that undead heart want to do?” Roy grabbed the chin of his partner, forcing the other to look up with a rough calloused

Jason’s blue eyes look up meeting green ones. Roy can tell the spark in Jason’s eyes, the emotion in them, what the decision will come to be.

“I want to go.”

“Then we go.”

Chapter Text

Wymack wondered if maybe he should invest in another couch for the lounge before the next school year started. All of the players were sitting on the couch and armchairs, chatting amongst themselves. The twins, Nicky, Kevin, and Neil all managed to take up the long fabric sofa, Neil draping his legs overtop of Andrew’s. Neil and Kevin were talking about the last game as usual while Andrew had his eyes closed and head laid back against the couch in a sign of disinterest. Aaron was texting someone, probably Katelyn. Matt and Dan had one loveseat to themselves, tangled in each other and talking about plans for the weekend while Renee and Allison has the second loveseat talking about something similar.

Yes, David thinks another couch is probably a good idea.

He cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the players in front of him (sans Andrew of course). “We have gotten our first response back from the recruits for next year's team. This one is going to be a Sophomore, a transfer over from the Gotham University Bats. Tayir Khaled Backliner number 13.”

Wymack turned the TV on behind him, playing a clip of the last Gotham game. Gotham had lost, as was usual with their fairly small team and constant villain attacks causing missing players and missed practices. The clip showed number 13 dressed in gray and white powering through an opposing player as they ran from the far court line back to guard the goal. He was quick for his size, crossing the field in no time at all. When rebounding the ball back to the far end of the court his catch was instinctual, barely needing to look and his throw powerful enough for the person who intercepted it to visibly be moved backward from the force of the ball. The next clip that showed was a body check that knocked another player to the ground. The third video was at the end of the game, after the team had lost. Someone from the other team said something that clearly set Tayir off. His gloves were on the ground and his fist in the face of someone double his size. A tooth could clearly be seen flying but the punching didn't stop as the other player went down. It took 4 other players to drag Tayir off the man, still spitting with anger until he was taken all the way off the court.

“Seems strong. Angry though. What’s his damage?” Allison spoke up tactfully as always. She was the only one usually to call out how damaged some of their team members were.

“You know I can’t tell you what qualifies him to be a fox. We all have our problems, his aren’t mine to share.”

“But- he is from Gotham. That alone should say something. The Ravens even refused to touch Gotham.” Kevin was hesitant when he spoke, clear apprehension in his voice. The Ravens wouldn’t play in Gotham, a lot of teams wouldn’t. But the way Kevin said it meant more than just that.

“You mean the Moriyamas don’t touch Gotham. Neither did The Butcher. Gotham has its own crazies, enough to not risk going in.People from Gotham tend to be a whole different breed.” Neil said it without connection, Andrew's hand trailing to the back of Neils neck in support. Andrew’s brown eyes had opened at some point but Neil didn't notice when.

“Means he will fit right in. Look, we did our research. There were no violent crimes on his file, nothing that would be a danger to us that I could see. I know everyone is hesitant after this past year to get new people, but this isn’t me asking, it's me telling. The kid avoids cameras for the most part so I can’t show you an interview, but this is his school photo. So take a look, because this upcoming year Tayir will be our new Backliner.”

The photo Wymack held up was of a man with short dark hair pushed back out of his face with faded sides. A white streak of hair fell and curled over his forehead. He was wearing a black turtleneck and dark rimmed glasses, bright blue eyes focused behind the camera and void of emotion. He wasn’t smiling, clearly not happy with having his photo taken. He has a few studded earrings on each ear but no crazy modifications. He seemed almost normal if not for the eyes showing the truth, showing how much he was hiding away behind a wall of apathy. Something similar to Andrew.

It wasn’t till later when Neil realized where the familiar look was from that he asked Andrew what he thought about the matter. They were on the roof, a cigarette between them. “What do you think of the recruit from Gotham?’

Andrew hummed for a moment, not out of uncertainty but instead out of consideration for his words. “I think that he looks like someone who has seen things they shouldn’t, just like all of us. I don’t care about him, he is unimportant. I do think he looks like you did. A liar. But we can break that out of him.”

“You think you wanna take him to Columbia?”

“I don’t know yet. But the coach said he was showing up before the school year started. So, guess we will have time to figure him out.”

“Just don’t drug him, Gotham people get drugged all the time. It probably wouldn’t work anyways.”

“Foiling my plans Junkie. 200%.”

Chapter Text

Mornings in the Harper/Todd household varied. Some days they were chaotic, a small child running and ripping through the apartment with a flurry of energy. Other days, days like today, the apartment smelled like earl gray tea and the beginnings of waffles. Jason leant against the counter of the kitchen, hot mug of tea between his hands as he made breakfast for Roy and Lian. It was a big day today, the kid needed a good breakfast.

Today they moved out of Gotham. Today they left the chitty apartment that had been home for the last 2 years. Home for Jason anyways, Roy only having moved in a year ago and Lian having previously been staying with the Queens. Jason looked around at the chipped brick walls, the drawings from the fridge taken down and packed safety away, the furniture already loaded into the van. The space was bare of all the memories and personality it once held past the stains of blood they couldn't get out of the hard floor.

It didn’t feel real, leaving Gotham. Leaving his family.

He wasn’t leaving them though, not really. He told his siblings, they all understood his reasoning. Bruce knew, not that he said anything about it. Jason didn’t want to say goodbye to him anyways. Jason didn’t care what Bruce thought about his decision, couldn’t stand the man on a normal day anyways. His siblings supported him and that was all that mattered. His underlings as Red Hood were told he would be leaving town for the foreseeable future but to call at any time for any problems. They were to send daily reports through the secure channel they had set up.

He wasn’t abandoning anyone, wasn’t abandoning Gotham or his family. He was living, just like Roy said. Then why did today make him feel so numb? Like he was moving through a fog dense enough to tighten his chest and hold him in place forever, trapped in his own psyche?

Rough hands wrap gently around his waist. He didn’t notice Roy coming in the room, didn’t see him approach or hear his usual morning grumbling. All he knew was the smell of Tea and the blanket of fog and now the rough hands helping him set down the cooling mug.

Roy wasn’t sure how to help. He never was, but he always tried his best. Got Jason somewhere comfortable, let the man know he was safe from his demons. Made sure Jason didn’t burn the house down. When he walked in and Jason didn’t greet him it wasn’t unusual. In general the man could be quiet in times like this. But when the waffle maker beeped and Jason didn’t move, Roy recognized the haze in his eyes for what it was. He plated the Waffles before they burned, moving to wrap his arms around the other, bare chest meeting a t-shirt covered back. Roy guided the mug to the counter, gently turning Jason to the side so their eyes could meet.

“Jaybird. Hey. You with me?”

When there wasn't a visible reaction, Roy switched tactics. He ran his hands up and down the others bare arms, trailing fingers over scars old and new.

“You are in the apartment with me. It's just you, Lian, and I. Come on out, Jason, Tayir, Red Hood, one of you is in there. You’re safe. We’re all safe. It’s just the stress.”

It takes a few minutes of repetition to bring a reaction. A few blinks, the hardening of blue eyes past the haze. A scarred hand raised to run over his face and scrub away the haze, the other moving to loosely wrap around Roy.

“Fuckin….Ugh. I did it again. Didn’t sleep well, my bad.”

“It’s all good Red. I got everything under control. Lian is gonna be waking up any minute. The moving van is secure downstairs. We’ve got about an hour to move out the last of the stuff. Why don’t you handle packing up the last things while I wake up the gremlin for breakfast. Yeah? I can reheat your tea.” One of Roy’s hands moved to scratch at the back of his partner’s head, running his hands through the other's hair as he did so.

“Mm. Fine. I hate cookin’ anyways.” Jason doesn’t hate cooking, he knows the other actually loves it. But Roy also recognizes that this isn’t Jason he is holding. That at some point Red Hood became a whole different person and Jason doesn’t recognize it. Doesn’t realize that his missing memories and the voices in his head are more than trauma. But Roy knows also that he can’t just outright say anything about it without blowback, not yet, not with all the current stress. So, he continued to help where he could.

Once Red moved away, Roy moved towards breakfast. They had kept a couple things out of the boxes so that they could get ready in the morning. He plated the waffles, started the coffee maker, and poured some juice for the child before moving to find his daughter.

Lian had been very excited to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor last night with Jason and Roy. Since the beds were already packed away she had decided camping indoors was the perfect solution. So, when Roy entered the bare room that used to be the master bedroom, he saw Lian still curled up in her sleeping bag, straight black hair a wild mess of tangles hiding her olive skin from view.

She looked more like Jade every day.

Jason said he could still see Roy in her. In her nose, her laugh, her personality. But on quiet nights like this all Roy saw was Jade.

Crouching down he gently shook the shoulder of the 5 year old, moving to carefully brush some hair out of her face. “Come on love bug, time ta wake up. We got an adventure today, remember?”

At the reminder of today's trip, Lian bounded awake. The girl sometimes seemed to have endless amounts of energy, something that could very clearly be seen in her wide awake eyes despite the hand currently rubbing awake sleep.

“Adventure?? We’re leaving today right??? When do we leave daddy?”

“After breakfast. C'mon. Let's get you fed and dressed so we can help Baba get the stuff in the car, okay?”

Lian was already scrambling up and out of the room. Red expertly dodged the incoming whirlwind of child making a b-line to the kitchen. She stopped halfway, spinning full circle to double back to the bathroom with a call out of “gotta pee gotta pee gotta pee-”

Red scoffed, continuing to pack the last of the items into the box. He may act tough, but he has always had a sweet spot for kids. Especially Lian.

Roy managed to throw some clothes on that he had placed out the night before in the meantime. Just a T-shirt, ripped up work jeans, and his steel toed boots with his every day trucker hat. He rolled up the sleeping bags, giving them over to Red before moving to the kitchen and handing over the plastic plate to the child. It had just the waffle, no syrup.

“Here ya go, gremlin. Eat this, then we can get some clothes on you and do your hair, okay?”

Lian was a great child, really, but the way she ate waffles Roy just didn’t understand. He knew she was on the spectrum, she had flappy hands and organized toys by colors and didn’t always understand the need for social norms like saying please. But she also couldn’t do anything sticky without a melt down, meaning he has to watch his 5 year old every morning grab a waffle with her hands and just stuff it into her face without anything on it. He, personally, was horrified as she left the plate and ran into the living room, waffle half in hand and half stuffed into her mouth.

Roy couldn’t complain as long as she was eating it though, so he moved to drink his coffee and start the dishes. Cleaning up the kitchen was easy, he and Jason didn't usually eat breakfast as it made Jason nauseated and Roy was usually too tired to be bothered so it was just a couple of items. He poured the coffee into his gray travel mug and Jason’s tea into his matching black one.

When Roy came out to the living room his heart melted as he saw his boyfriend, his partner, one of his most cherished people sitting on the floor with a child in his lap. Lian was still chewing on Waffle as Jason, he could see it in the eyes and mannerisms, was brushing the young girl's hair.

“You have a lot of knots, kid. Must have a rat livin in there. You brought a rat to the sleepover last night?”

“Noooooooooo Baba I didn’t bring the rat. The rat lives in the closet silly, he doesn’t live in the bedroom.”

Jason hated that damn rat. But, it was Gotham.

“Maybe the rat went into a box and wanted to move with us. Whadda ya think, kid?”

“Nah. I said hi to the rat this morning! He’s still in the closet. I think he’s mad that we're leaving him. He hissed at me.”

Despite the topic, Roy still couldn’t be anything other than in love as he leaned against the doorway.

“What’s this about a rat hissing at my princess? Good things were leaving then, right Jay? Mr Rat must want his apartment back. Plus, we're going to an actual house. Maybe they will have something other than a rat, like a…. Uh… rabbit?”

“What’s that?”

“Like a Bunny, but wild.”

Lian nodded in agreement, Jason finishing up Lian’s french braid.

“Ok kiddo, up you go. Go to your dad, he's gonna get you dressed while I take this box down to the truck. And finish your waffle, don’t just suck on it.” Jason moved to slip on his own shoes, opting to stay in sweatpants and his t-shirt for the drive. He kissed the side of Roy’s head before lifting the box and heading out of the apartment.

The apartment wasn’t in the best of areas, but it could be worse. It was at the edge of Crime Alley, in a brick apartment building cracking and crumbling on the outside but decently structurally sound compared to some areas. The rats were a problem and the roaches, but the area was as safe as Crime Alley could get. Especially with his right hand man living in the apartment below as a guard for the house. Danny was the only man Jason trusted with the location of his home, his face and his family. The man had been with him since the beginning and had watched out for him on the streets as a child too. He was important, and was family.

Danny was guarding the moving van outside as he had been all night. The man was a night owl anyways, so he had no problem staying watch.

“Hey boss, you ready for this?” Danny, a shorter man with pale white hair and ghostly green eyes, a large scar running across his face from an accident as a kid, stood outside of the moving van smoking a cigarette. Danny knew Jason like few others and Jason could say the same for Danny. He would be part of Gotham Jason missed.

“You ready to run this place without me?” Danny unlocked the back of the truck, opening it for Jason to put the box in before closing it back up. “Last box. It’s official.”

“As if you won't be running shit from behind the scenes anyways, boss. I’m just your messenger and front man. Make decisions when you can’t. You have it set up so well you barely need to do shit. Ready to live like a normal person for a while?”

Danny handed a cigarette to Jason, Jay taking and lighting it before pulling off a long drag. “I dunno. I expect to have work to do there. After all, I’ll be workin’ with the son of the Butcher after all. I don’t expect him to give me problems, but with all the shit the Butcher was tied up in I don’t expect nothin’, y’know? Did ya get the file on The Butcher and his connections?”

Danny nodded, Handing over a flash drive. “Rumors mostly. The Butcher of course is dead now, his right hand in supermax still. But word on the street from our connections is that supposedly he at some point had dealings with the Moriyamas, that group we've had our eyes on in Japan. ‘Parently Butcher worked for them in the states, don’t know to what degree.”

“But we do know that The Ravens were a front for them. Their number two player is on the team I'm going to and with the Butcher’s son being on it too, I can’t imagine they won't have any involvement. Gotta work careful on this one. They’re way bigger and older than Black Mask ever was. So keep your ears open for anything, but under the radar like we ta;lked about. Just you, no one else.”

Danny nodded, stomping out his cigarette as Roy and Lian exited the building, Lian holding onto her stuffed cat, not dressed in a dark green shirt and jeans, light up tennis shoes on her feet. Roy had her small backpack in one hand, the other holding the two travel mugs.

“Uncle Danny!” Lian bolted at the man, slamming against his legs in a tight hug. He bent down to return it.

“Hey little one. You ready?”

“Are you coming too?”

“No kid, gotta stay and watch over the place. But I'll come visit, and yer pop can call me whenever you wanna talk to me. Kay?” Lian sniffled but held her head high.

“I’ll miss you.”

“Miss you too. But you’re gonna have lotsa fun, ya hear me?” Lian nodded, finally letting go. Roy scooped her up, getting her buckled into the booster seat in the back as Jason gave one last farewell.

“See ya, Red”
“Keep things straight for me, Danny. I trust you, don’t fuck it up.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Danny pulled Jason into a tight hug, letting go a moment later and patting the other man's back. Jason finally moved, climbing into the passenger seat while Roy got into the driver's side and placed their coffee and tea in the respective cup holders.

“Ready Jay?”

“Let's do this shit.”

lian and roy both smiled, breaking out into an obviously preplanned cheer. “ROAD TRIP!!!”

Chapter Text

Allison was a gossip whore, and she wore that title proudly. She was the queen of bets, the master keeper of all knowledge, and will do anything to form and settle a bet.

So of course all members of the foxes current are required to hop on a Discord video call to gossip before the summer freshman training starts. “Required” is a loose term but everyone joins anyways from their various places across the world. Nicky was with Erik in Germany, Dan was with Matt and his mom, Allison and Rennee were in New York, and finally Kevin, Aaron, Neil, and Andrew were at the house in Columbia.

“Okay, now that everyone is here, it's time for the ritual pre-season betting pool. One at a time, one at a time, first off who is adding onto existing bets?”

Multiple people were speaking at the same time and it was nigh impossible to keep track of it all. Luckily, Dan’s commanding voice ended up making some semblance of things.

“I'm adding 50 to someone walking in on Nicky and Erik having phone sex!” Everyone other than Matt (the one who made the exclamation) and Renee (a normal human being) and Andrew made some form of disgusted or insulted noise as Allison put down the bed into the google spreadsheet.

“I bet on Matt almost failing a math class but not failing because he got Neil to help him study at crunch time.” Aaron had a couple of people back him up on this one. Matt was not the best when it came to admitting he needed help and this upcoming math professor was notoriously an Ass. Allison could verify after last year.

“I bed Kevin has an aneurysm over Andrews sugar intake within the first 3 days of summer training.” Kevin was pretty bad about his diets and nutrition, so this one made sense. He always got worse about it the closer to the actual season start it was.

“No human being let alone a Collegiate Athlete should ever even look at that much sugar! It's a crime against humanity and everything that is Exy!”

Kevin, who had stolen the camera from Aaron, is beamed in the head with what looked like Andrew’s shoe. About 30 minutes of varying fights and bets being placed occurs before it becomes the highlight of the hour. Bets on the new freshman.

“We can’t keep calling them the new Freshman. One of them is a Sophomore, remember?” Neil, helpful as always, spoke up from his position on the couch, only visible through a corner of the screen currently held by Aaron.

“Okay. Freshman and one Sophomore. Bets anyone?”

“One of them is either gay or will be by the end of the year!” Nicky, a queer nightmare, luckily gets silenced after by a sweet moment with Erik. Allison adds the bet and includes herself on that one.

“I bet that someone drops out. With Neil and Dan as captains and Kevin? That shit’s gonna be rough.”

“Oh come on Matt, Neil isn’t that bad. Kevin though….”

There are multiple agreements for that one. Kevin doesn’t even offer a defense. He knows who he is and has no shame.

“Not a real bet but I'm excited about the Sophomore. I ran into him at one of the Gala’s last year? Gave me total Andrew vibes but with a smile that could make a crack addict sell his stash if you asked. He is for sure fox material.” Nicky sounds far too excited.

“What about that makes you excited? We do not want another Andrew, let alone one that’s charming.”

“What do you think his damage is? God I hope it's not anything mafia, mob, gang, etc.” Allison was so tired of that shit. She had been handling it better lately, but Seth’s death really had fucked her up for a while. She couldn’t take any more of that this year.

“Well remember, he is from Gotham. Gotham is…insanely bad. He is gonna be fucked up. You think he’s seen the Batman?”

Renee is a very helpful reminder that just because you are from a city does not mean you know every vigilante or villain.

As the conversation winds down, Andrew finally speaks about the oh so interesting new recruit. Andrew doesn’t make bets, but he does make predictions.

“I think the Sophomore is trouble and will fit in more than fine.”

Fuck, Allison thinks, not another monster.

Chapter Text

The drive from New Jersey to Palmetto was long. They made it through, but between stops for food, sightseeing, bathroom breaks, and a motion sick five year old, it ended up taking about 13 hours in total instead of 10. As they pulled through the final stretch into the small college town of Palmetto, South Carolina, Jason couldn’t help but feel a small well of anxiety. This was going to be his new life. His new home for who knew how long. He was never the most social person to begin with and this was a lot for someone with as many mental health problems as he had.

New threats to keep an eye on. New friends to protect.

Shut up.

Roy had taken over the last stretch, Jason’s many former injuries making his pain levels higher than usual after such a long time in a car. Luckily they didn’t have too much farther to go. Outside of the college itself were rows of suburban houses, a few grocery stores and restaurants, some various clothing shops, a Walmart, everything a college town would need. Roy and Jason had gathered a few properties within 30 minutes of the town as a precaution. The one they were staying at for now was a decent one level house with an attached garage. It had 2 bedrooms and one full bath, with enough space in the yard to run around without hitting a building. It was quiet, something they all desperately needed after Gotham while also costing only a fraction of what a house in the city cost.

Jason had never lived in a place like this before. Neither had Roy or Lian, so this would be an experience for all of them.

The small girl bounced up and down in her booster seat, eyes glued to the window and hands leaving sticky prints on the class. “Look! Look! Look at all the houses and the grass! It’s like Grandpa’s house but small!” Oliver Queen’s mansion, while not as large as the Wayne mansion, was still her only experience with a house instead of an apartment. “Do they all have people in them? Will the people like me?”

“The people are gonna love ya, Lian. I’m sure you’ll be able to make tons of friends here.” Roy turned the car off of the main road into a neighborhood, the houses smaller with brick and siding. They were older, some having chain link fences containing backyards with the occasional dog. It was about 10 minutes away from campus when they pulled up to house 228. Roy backed the truck into the driveway, Jason already turning around to look at Lian.

“Ready to see your new home for a while, princess?”

“Yeah!!”

Jason smiled, reaching back to unbuckle her seatbelt once the car had stopped moving. Jason hadn’t been wearing his seatbelt to begin with, then again neither was Roy. As soon as she was unbuckled she was out the door, large eyes staring up at the house full of wonder as Roy and Jason climbed out behind her. Roy stretched, his back popping and shirt riding up to show his stomach.

“I’m never driving that far again.”

Jason nodded in agreement, watching Lian run on the grass to peer up at the house before her.

“Yeah. You sound as tired as I feel. How she has this much energy-”

“My little gremlin child. You ready to go in Jay? Ready to start our new lives?” Roy looked at Jason, taking in the pinch of the others dark black brows, the tension in his posture. When Jason doesn’t respond immediately, Roy extended a hand, fingertips brushing Jason’s own calloused digits.

“Jason?”

New beginnings New Threats New People New Life New Us

I can be in charge, lead us, let us live the life you wanted, we wanted. I can study and earn.

You can push us to the side for your little books and stupid game? What is most important is protecting the people. Our people. Expanding our territory, taking over, researching this mob connection.

We cannot live without taking care of ourselves. You are so focused on others that you never have time to look in. To see what Jason wants.

What Jason wants or what you want?

When did we stop being Jason?

Who are we? Does it matter?

“Babe, look at me?” A gentle but calloused hand touches Jason’s cheek, Roy now in front of Jason as he blinks. “You with me?” Jason can’t respond, his chest tight and his lungs not feeling like his own. Nothing feels like his own. Who is he? Who’s in charge? Why is his head so loud?

Roy doesn’t know what goes on inside his partner’s head, but he knows what depersonalization looks like. Knows that what is in front of him is more shell than human at the moment. Moving, Roy scoops up Lian and places a hand on Jason’s lower back. He guides Jason, moving them all to the front door. He gives Lian the key, letting her do the honors to open the door and get the first glimpse. It was simple inside, tan carpet and off white walls, nothing personal. Not yet. Setting Lian down inside to explore to her heart's content, he moved his partner to the center of the living room. Guiding Jason into a sitting position, Roy joins the man on the soft unblemished carpet.

Eventually they transition from sitting to laying on their backs, hands tangled as they stare at the ceiling. Roy just waits, patiently. Lian runs and explores, eventually finding her way back and flopping down next to them. Together, they lay on the floor of their new house. They ignore Jason’s phone ringing, ignore any need to get items out of the car. For the time, they just exist.

Chapter Text

According to Coach Wymack, only a select few people were still around for summer practice. It wasn’t mandatory for anyone who wasn’t a freshman. Jack, Colby, and Shea were all freshmen arriving within the next two weeks. Jason technically didn’t have to join as he was a transfer from another team instead of a freshman, but he told the coach he would anyway. He wanted to get everything out of the way and meet people one at a time instead of all together. It was easier to assess threats this way, at least for Jason anyways.

His motorcycle had gotten delivered soon after they got to town. Pulling on his black leather jacket overtop his black t-shirt, Jason strapped on his fingerless gloves and grabbed his helmet off the garage bench. He wasn’t excited about the team seeing his scars, specifically the one on his neck, but there was no way he could keep something so visible covered up 24/7. Luckily he wouldn't be the only one on the team with visible scarring. He slipped on his glasses, opting not for contacts today. He usually didn’t bother with them anyways, his vision only barely being qualified as needing glasses, but Tayir wears them.

 Roy had already taken over the garage with inventions and weapons as well as his project car, the room an organized but chaotic mess after only one week living here. The living room was looking a bit less basic, the couch already covered in a few blankets and a heating pad. Lian was coloring at the coffee table while watching an old Justice League cartoon while Roy sat on the couch playing on his phone.

The red head looked up when Jason entered the room, green eyes shining as they looked Jason up and down. “Have I mentioned how hot you look in leather, babe?”

Jason rolled his eyes, moving to the back of the couch so Roy had to crane his neck upwards.

“Kiss goodbye? I promise I’ll be good. Me and Lian won't burn the house down or anything.” Jason scoffed, kissing Roy on the forehead with a soft smile.

“Better not. We just got this place. I’ll try not to kill anyone at practice.”

“Good. No fighting on the first day. Gotta wait till at least the second day. Are you gonna brag about me?” Jason shrugged, leaning over to rest his head on top of Roy’s.

“Probably not. You know I like to keep things separate.” Roy whined, but nodded in understanding. He wasn’t about to push anything in regards to what made Jason comfortable.

“Stay safe, make friends. Okay?” Roy reached a hand up to Jason’s cheek in reassurance. Jason didn’t feel all that nervous. At least part of him didn’t anyways. One voice in his head was freaking out, but that always happened. While they had been busy talking, apparently Lian had noticed and snuck around to barrel her small body into Jason’s leg. Jason chuckled, standing strong despite the child and moved to run a scarred hand over thick black hair.

“Hey kiddo. I gotta head out now. Keep your dad outta trouble, will ya?”

Lian nodded in excitement before releasing her grip, letting Jason free to head to the door. Both Lian and Roy called out a Goodbye as Jason headed out, being sure to triple check the lock behind him. His bike was already out front, a custom Japanese styled bike Roy had made. It was black with red details, sleek and fast. His helmet was a full face dark red helmet. On brand but not his Red Hood mask, he couldn’t exactly just pull that out to ride around. Heading through the streets it only took maybe 5 minutes to get to the Stadium. Parked outside was a black Maserati and an older vehicle. Jason pulled up in a spot slightly away from the two other cars, eying them out of his peripheral. He made sure he wouldn’t be too far away from the entrance to seem unsociable but also far enough that he wasn’t right at the entrence.

Standing out front was an older man in shorts and a wifebeater. His arms had flame styled tattoos from his wrists reaching upwards. He wasn’t smiling, but wasn’t frowning either. David Wymack. Next to him was a woman. The woman was blonde with mid length wavy hair, her skin not nearly as tan as the coaches. She was smiling softly talking to the coach. Abby Winefield. Nurse.

Getting off the bike and taking off his helmet, Jason let himself center. Tayir Khaled. Arabic and hispanic descent, English literature major with a concentration in renaissance and classic literature. Quiet and responsible. Quick to anger but unlikely to act on it unless on the field.

My turn.

Tayir held his helmet under his right arm as he approached the couple. He kept his face neutral, not unhappy but not inviting either. As he got close to the couple they both smiled, meeting him halfway. He could see both eyes flash to the straight scar across his neck, nearly connecting at the ears from a slit throat but both sets of eyes quickly diverted without much fanfare for it.

“Tayir?” The coach's voice was rough from years of smoking, but had a generally kind tone, if a bit apprehensive. He offered a hand to shake, Tayir meeting with his own for a firm handshake.

“Coach Wymack I assume. Good to finally meet you.”

The hands fall, Abby stepping in to offer her own. “Abby Winefield, team nurse. I’m here to make sure everything is good and sign you off to play as well as take care of any general health needs.”

“Ready to see the place?” Tayir nodded, moving to follow behind them. He was taller than both of them at 6 ft and could easily look over Abby’s head. He took note of how they walked. Comfortable despite having him at their back. Wymack plugged a number into the keypad at the door. 33572 

“Code changes every Sunday and will be given out to the players at the end of Saturday practice. I have a key ring in my office to give you, one for the equipment closet, one for the stadium doors, and one for the gate. Make sure to lock up and clean up after yourself.” Tayir nodded as Wymack looked back, opening the doors. The stadium inside was similar to the outside. White with orange details, paw prints and stripes. It was a bit too loud for him, but he could make due. The layout was not too different from Gotham’s stadium, however this was clearly adjusted for only exy instead of multiple sports like the one in Gotham was.

The hallway was long and had a few doors off of it. One was open showing a messy office and a desk covered in paper. It was clearly Wymacks office, the room smelling of cigarettes and coffee. As they went through another set of doors they entered what looked like a common room. There were photos on the wall, a trophy on a stand, a few couches and a TV. Rows of lockers were on one side while the other side seemed to lead to the showers and toilets. 

“This is where we meet. There is a separate press room for after games, but in here we talk strategy, watch game clips when needed, etc. The locker room is co-ed with stalled showers and bathrooms. Lockers are assigned by your number, so you’ll be in locker 13. Your equipment is already here based off the sizes from your last school. All we need is Abby to take a look at ya, clear you for practice, and you can be on the field today.”

Tayir nodded, moving towards the shower/locker room. Seeing his own locker he sets his helmet and jacket inside before moving back to Abby and the coach.

“How many players are here?” He had done research on the members of the team of course, some more extensively than others. He knew the expensive car outside belonged to Andrew Minyard, goalkeeper with a history of violence and psychotic episodes, sexual assault victim and current partner to Neil Josten, son of the Butcher of Baltimore and property of the Moriyama family. Based on research he imagined Kevin Day, Son of Kaleigh Day, one of the founders of Exy and property of the Moriyama family, would also be in attendance.

“Three, Andrew, Kevin, and Neil. You need a run down on them?”

“No, that's okay. I wouldn’t make it very far here if I didn’t know who those three were.” Wymack scoffed, Abby smiling and moving to gesture back towards the medical offices. 

“Come with me and we can do the physical exam.” Tayir nodded, moving to follow the woman into a door they passed earlier. The room looked like a standard medical office, nothing out of the ordinary if a bit over stocked. Abby locked the door behind Tayir, moving to grab a file out of a locked cabinet.

“Okay. I need to get height, weight, a blood sample, check mobility, and check for track marks as well as a few standard screening questions. Would you like to do the questions or the physical items first.” Tayir felt incredibly uncomfortable with doctors, feeling like this woman would try to read his body like a book and dig into his answers far more than he was comfortable with. He shifted uncomfortably, hand twitching at his side.

“I guess questions?”

She nodded, flipping to a page and sitting down on a rolling stool. “If you want you can sit down. We can make this fairly quick.” Tayir nodded, moving to sit on the edge of the table. He knew his muscles were tight, his body ready to spring into action and his brain ready to retreat, but this is what he wanted. What they signed up for. He wasn’t about to back out on his first day due to one doctor.

“Okay. Do you use any recreational drugs, drink, or smoke?”

“Smoke. A pack a day just about. No drinking or drugs.”

“Are you sexually active?”

Tayir knew there was no reason to lie. He didn’t want people to know who Roy was, but he knew it was impossible to keep his family quiet forever. They did all live together after all and Lian would surely want to explore. “Yes. Two long term partners, regular STD testing, none of us are able to get pregnant.” 

Abby nodded, writing down the information provided on the paper. “Already answered my next questions, perfect. Anything you want me to know medically before we begin?”

He knew Lazarus fluid would not show on a standard screening and he would have nothing to worry about there. He should inform her of his chronic pain issues and mental health struggles. If he was a normal person he would, but with too many things to draw back on and no trust in this woman, Tayir decided to give the bare minimum to explain the scars she would be sure to see.

“I’m sure on my file you can see that I'm from Gotham. I have had some experience with being held by some of the known criminals in Gotham, so I do have a decent amount of scarring that might be concerning. I do have track marks, none of which were of my own doing and none of which are recent.”

She nods, moving to make some notes before standing. “Okay. Please go ahead and stand on the scale so I can get a height and weight.” 

Nodding, Tayir moved to do as instructed. He slipped off his heavy combat boots before stepping on the scale, pointedly not looking at the weight. She didn’t read the numbers out loud, which was appreciated. While none of the other headmates had much issue with eating, Tayir definitely held most of their struggle with food from childhood and his weight was always a sore issue. Stepping off, she moved Tayir through some general tests of his joints before asking to remove his shirt.

The leather jacket came off first, thick muscled arms being relieved past the black t-shirt. The track marks and various scars on his arm were visible, some clearly having been purposeful. He had a few gashes long healed on various spots on his forearms, a few on his wrist in a spot indicative of self harm.

“Do you have a history of self harm?”

Tayir shook his head. He did, but she could think they were from Gotham. She didn’t need to know that. Abby nodded, moving to take a blood sample. Tayir didn’t flinch, Jason holding everything still and together. Flinching was useless. Unnecessary. Jason could hold back the panic, the flashes of run ins with all sorts of crazed doctors and torturous bastards.Once the blood was taken and his blood pressure as well, Jason removed his shirt. The scars on his torso elicited a sharp breath from the doctor but no other comments. The few gunshot scars were nothing compared to the Y shaped autopsy scar stretching across his chest all the way down. 

She didn’t question. Jason didn’t answer.

Soon enough Jason was back in his clothes, Tayir much more relaxed than before now that everything was done and over with. After a few waivers were signed, Abby led Tayir out and through the common room and locker room to the court door. The doors were heavy steel and cold against Tayir’s numb fingertips. He was excited, nervous, but more than anything? He was ready to see the field. 

Stepping out was different to stepping into the stadium at Gotham. Everything in Gotham was smaller, the city not wanting to have to undergo anything crazy the next time it got destroyed. This was all permanent, never damaged by more than its own players. The white and orange theming continued throughout the rows of chairs and the player benches. The dome surrounding the inner court was strong and uncracked with a lack of graffiti. The sound of the Exy ball rebounding off of the wall was loud, echoing throughout the quiet space.

Tayir felt like he could breathe in here as he watched two players, Kevin and Neil, on the court practicing rebound passes. Eyes were felt on the back of his head, Tayir turning to look up at the chairs on the side of the stadium and meeting the cold stare of Andrew Minyard.

Tayir kept eye contact, not one to break the challenge the other was posing. Abby and the Coach didn’t bother interrupting as Andrew finally raised an eyebrow at the newcomer before closing his eyes and resting his head back again. 

Tayir knew who he had to watch out for. 

Red Hood was excited for the challenge.

Jason just hoped this didn’t all go to shit.

Chapter Text

Andrew knew that today would be different. They had been told last week that one of the new recruits would be in town starting today and had agreed to early practice, meaning Kevin and Neil were both absolutely insufferable. Kevin only knew how to talk about Exy anyways, but Neil was just as bad when something big was about to happen.

Andrew had seen the guy play. He was crude, but had enough talent to manage and the raw power to back up difficult plays. He looked like a brick wall and Neil was excited for how it would affect the Backliners. Matt was graduating this year and would surely leave a large hole to fill afterwards, so they needed to start training someone new now.

Andrew dreaded having to deal with new people and the inevitable shit storm it might bring to those under his protection.

Tayir Khaled was from Gotham, a place even Andrew knew better than to underestimate. The villains in the city were some of the worst in the country and Tayir clearly looked like he had seen some of those horrors. He wouldn’t be a fox if he didn’t have some sort of fucked up past. At the same time there was very little information on the man. No news articles about being a victim of a crime. No internet presence on any social media platforms. He was a ghost, like Neil had been.

That made Andrew hesitant.

When the stadium door opened and the voice of Wymack filtered through the air, Andrew opened his eyes from his spot napping on the stands. His eyes quickly connected with a blank new face below. Interesting.

Blue eyes with a lack of concern met brown ones full of apathy. The fact that the guy could meet Andrew’s gaze was something not everyone was able to do. After a moment with a sigh Andrew raised an eyebrow at the challenge the other was presenting. The eye contact was clearly deliberate, showing Andrew that the new backliner wouldn’t back down.Closing his eyes, Andrew went back to what looked like resting. Really he was going through the information in his head about Gotham.

Andrew wasn’t blind. He knew that it would be near impossible to get a scar like that without someone actively trying to slit your throat. Looks like it almost succeeded too. Things just got a whole lot more interesting.

As Neil and Kevin heard the door open, they finished up their set of drills first. Neil was co-captain now and they were both working on making up some new drills for this year with a combination of Raven footwork and some tricks shown to them by the Trojans. After the set was finished, they both moved towards the inner door, speaking to each other as they walked.

“He looks strong. Good for a backliner.”

“He looks hard to control, like Seth was. I wonder if he will cause the same amount of trouble.”

“Lighten up Kevin, he was good in the video. We just need to show him some footwork. It’ll work out. I know you’re scared of Gotham but not everyone from there is a supervillain.”

Kevin huffed, green eyes scanning over the new recruit. His eyes immediately land on the man’s neck.

“Shit Neil look at-”

“Don’t say it. Don’t mention it. You and I of all people can’t judge someone for their damn scars Kevin. You say shit to him you need to say it to me and Andrew too. Got it?” Neil’s voice took a darker turn at that. Kevin knew the shorter man was sensitive about his own scars. It had taken forever for Neil to finally change out in front of the team and some days he still couldn’t do it. It would probably be the same with Tayir too judging off the others' necks. If that’s visible, how many scars aren’t?

Kevin and Neil exit the inner ring. In Front of them stands Tayir Khaled. The man was just taller than Neil, his glasses hiding blank blue eyes. Neil approached first, extending a hand.

“Neil Josten, co-captain and Striker. This is Kevin Day, you probably know him.”

Tayir glanced between the two of them, extending a scarred hand to shake Neil’s. His hand was rough textured and covered in winding scars. It had clearly been broken at some point badly, looking like a more extreme version of Kevin’s hand.

“Tayir Khaled. Glad to be here.”

Tayir’s voice was not too loud, seeming almost hesitant to speak. He didn’t sound angry like Seth, more passive and calm like Renee. That didn’t mean anger didn’t linger underneath though. It had a slight rasp to it, possibly from the damage to his throat, maybe due to the smell of cigarettes that surrounded him. His accent was indistinct, a mix of multiple things more than likely. Neil could hear the lilt of Spanish underneath, possibly mixed with Arabic out of assumption from the name.

The grip against Neil’s hand was tight, a show of power. Something to show Neil that despite how it looks, Tayir can clearly still hold just as tight. Neil was the first to let go.

“Glad to have you. Ready to play?”

Tayir nodded, eyes moving over to Kevin. “More than ready. Full gear or just workouts?”

Kevin eyes Tayir up and down again, eyes flickering to Wymack for a moment. “Full gear. Let’s see what you can do. Neil, see if you can convince Andrew to be in goal.”

Neil rolled his eyes before heading up the bleachers while Kevin moved towards the equipment locker. Showing Tayir where the items were, he moved his way back to the locker room to get out Tayir’s new jersey and gear from the Coaches (always unlocked) office. He took note that Tayir didn’t speak unless spoken to, never bringing up questions or trying to engage in further conversation.

Tayir stepped into the stalls to dress which wasn’t a surprise to Kevin. Once out and in fox colors they were headed back to the court when Kevin saw the first real flash of emotion. A scrunch of the nose and a scowl.

“Colors not your style?”

“.......I feel like a fuckin highlighter.” Kevin snorted, looking over his shoulder at the new player. To him, Tayir sounded a bit different. A bit more inflective, had a bit more of a drawl. He couldn’t tell though, not sure what people from Gotham usually spoke like.

“Yeah. Raven colors were all dark like Gotham’s. It takes a lot of getting used to and a few headaches. At least we aren’t the Trojans. They just exude sunshine.”

“Demasiado sol crea un desierto.” Kevin could hear the mumbled Spanish, but he didn't know the language himself. He assumed it was something related, possibly about the sun or about positivity.  

“You’ll get used to it eventually. You can wear dark and moody colors all day long outside of here.” Getting into the court, Andrew was already set up at the goal with Neil leaning next to him talking. Upon the arrival of Kevin and Tayir, Neil moved away and towards them.

“Andrew will be goalie. Kevin and I will go on goal, with you defending. Don't be afraid to get rough, we want to see what you can do on defense not you holding back because you don't know how we will react to you. Deal?”

Tayir nodded, pulling the helmet over his head. Defending against both Kevin and Neil would be a challenge for anyone, meaning Kevin was ready to be disappointed. Taking their positions, Neil called out the start. As the ball hit Kevin’s net Tayir was already advancing. His racket was up and ready to block if need be. Kevin was fast but Tayir caught up quickly. Just before Tayir could smash Kevin to the side, the ball was passed to Neil. Kevin’s stick was hit seconds later with a force that made his bones feel like they were vibrating.

Neil was faster, Tayir sprinting to catch up. He didn’t go directly for Neil though, running next to the other instead of in front. He wasn’t able to keep up completely, but he was on the tails of Neil as they reached closer to goal. Neil aimed, barely looking at the goal when Tayir unexpectedly dipped to the side, slamming full force into Neil. The ball fell from the racket, Neil dropping and rolling to get back up. The hit had been hard that was for sure and Neil was sure that Tayir was still holding back. Enough that it would hurt and knock the wind out of Neil but not cause damage.

Tayir slung the ball to Andrew, presumably to have Andrew pass back as he started running further down the court once the ball was almost at Andrew. The blonde goalie however decided on a different play.

He stepped to the side and let the ball go right past into the goal.

Tayir stopped, blinking in confusion at the goal.

Andrew had let the ball go in. For no reason. What did he just want to fuck with him?

If he wants to play that game, we should play too.

We shouldn’t get violent on the first day.

They’re foxes. Let them have it. C’mon, Tay. Let me help you.

Tayir could feel his blood boiling, could feel the green in his chest bubbling and coming closer to the surface as Red Hood spoke in the front of his head. The rational side, the one keeping the peace at the moment, was pushed back in favor of Red Hood's need for violence and Tayir’s frustration.

“The fuck was that?! I thought I was supposed to be showing you what I can do, not playing fuckin games. Is this supposed to be a joke? Hit it the fuck back so we can keep going.” His voice was loud, the accident still present from earlier but now dimmed in his anger to something with more of a drawl, letters and words slurring into shortened speech. Something clearly leaning more towards Jersey where Gotham was located. The words were aimed towards Andrew, but it was Kevin who reacted first.

“Andrew does what he wants, controlling him is something only Neil has figured out. He said he would play, but to him this might be what he meant anyways. Just ignore him, your stick has plenty of force but we need to work on your footwork and accuracy. You have a lot to improve on-”

“How would you know if you haven’t even seen what all I can do since your damn goalie just wants to piss me off instead of playing on a damn team?”

Neil stepped closer to Tayir, who hadn’t realized he was advancing down the court towards Andrew, and held his hands up in a sign of peace.

“Tayir. He wants to fuck with you. He wants to see you get angry. Test his boundaries. How far can he go before he sees the real you. You wanna show him or do you wanna learn from what you did wrong?”

Tayir stopped and huffed, feeling the green recede just a little bit. “So he just gets away with not practicing? With just standing in the goal to what, look pretty?” He can still feel Hood’s snarl on his face, but can think a bit clearer now with Jason closer to the front than Red.

“He is good enough to have earned the right to decide what he needs to do. You aren’t yet. But you’re good. Your stance is solid, your hits are brutal even though I know you were holding back, your form is good and sturdy. You just need to learn the actual footwork to turn what you have into great playing. So don’t let Andrew rile you up. He’s testing you, that's just what he does. He is protective, that's all. He wants to make sure you are worth keeping around.”

Neil flashed a glance at Andrew, who looked bored as he leaned on his stick. But behind that bordon, Neil could see that Andrew was studying the situation. Seeing if Tayir had control of himself. It was what Andrew said he would do when Neil asked him to play. Andrew said that he would test Tayir’s patience so Neil could test his ability to listen to reason and Kevin could test his skills.

Tayir’s eyes were firmly on Andrew, who could have sworn the blue had a bit of green around the center.

“If he wants to try me in a game, fine. Whatever. Try me as a person? Leave that off the court. He won’t get me to throw a hit just by being a fucking pussy. If he is too scared to face me on court, fine by me. Face me off it then. Do your little tests, find what you want about me. But good luck because plenty have tried.”

Andrew couldn’t help but smile at the challenge, standing up straighter.

“Try me, bull.”

“Bite me, Chelb.”

Kevin sighs, running a hand over his face. “This is going to be a problem.”

Neil pats Kevin on the shoulder. “If I remember my Arabic right, he just called Andrew a Dog. I think he will fit into our group pretty well.”

Chapter Text

Neil was observant to a fault. He didn’t mean to notice the small things, but that was how he had been raised. Sometimes the small things were what got you killed on the run. It was ingrained into him. Into all of him. When someone new came around, of course he couldn’t help but be hypervigilant surrounding them, specifically.

Tayir avoided contact anywhere other than his hands. It was common enough for a fox to not enjoy physical contact, most foxes having more than enough trauma to account for it. He was never a minute late for his scheduled training, but was never early either. He never stayed later than they had agreed to. When Kevin pushed to keep going, Tayir had no problem ignoring Kevin to walk out the door with a glare and a short reminder that these were optional practices.

Tayir avoided Abby like the plague but seemed to have no issues with Wymack, being respectful and following orders from the older man similarly to a soldier with nothing more than a Yes sir or No sir. Tayir always had an eye on Andrew when in the same room as the man, not seeming threatened or cautious, just observant. He distrusted Andrew. Most people did.

Tayir never took up the invitation for dinner at Abby’s. 

Nicky had been away in Germany visiting Erik and was finally back. He was eager to meet his new teammate, even if Aaron still refused to go to the court during his summer break. That meant the next time Kevin and Neil were planning on practicing, Nicky was right alongside them.

“So, what’s he like? Is he hot? You really haven’t told me much.” Nicky babbled from the back seat of the maserati. Andrew was driving today, Neil in the passenger seat and Kevin in the back with Nicky. Neil turned to look into the back at Nicky, rolling his eyes.

“He’s quiet. Not much to tell yet. A good backliner, a little rough but powerful. He keeps saying no to eating with us at Abby’s or anything outside of practice time, so we don’t know much about him past his name and that he’s from Gotham.”

We know he doesn’t trust older women. 

We know he is punctual, probably has things he’s doing either before or after training. Maybe both.

Not everyone is as antisocial as us. Some people have lives.

Not foxes. 

“He speaks spanish. I think it's Spanish anyway. Heard him say something under his breath the first day. I don’t know what he said though. Dema-something so craya…..dessert? Something like that.” Kevin spoke up, his accent horrific. Nicky looked insulted just by the attempt.

“I have no clue what you could have even attempted to say. Never speak Spanish again, Kevin. You are a disgrace to my heritage. If you weren’t so pretty I would revolt.” Nicky laid a hand on Kevin’s shoulder which was promptly pushed away. “Wait- isn’t his name Tayir? Doesn’t sound hispanic.”

“Nicky, you don’t have to be Hispanic to speak spanish.”

“I know I know- god it’s gonna be so nice if he speaks spanish though. I only have Neil to speak it with and he isn’t fluent yet. Also, still didn’t answer if he’s hot or not. I mean I saw his photo from Wymack and he was pretty hot in that.” Nicky leaned on the car door, looking out dreamily. The car suddenly stops, Nicky having not realized they were here already, causing the tall man to smack his head into the window.

“Owwwww Andrewwwww-”

Everyone else ignored Nicky, moving to get out of the car. They were a couple minutes late, Nicky’s fault, so Tayir’s motorcycle was already parked outside, the man having a cigarette next to the building before heading into the building. Kevin scoffed, heading the pack with Neil right behind him.

“Those are going to kill you. They affect your performance on the court, you need to stop.” Kevin moved to grab the cigarette, as he had done every time he watched Tayir smoke, but is easily dodged. It was basically smoked to the end anyways, Tayir flicking it out of the ground. He was dressed still with his leather jacket, Helmet in his hand, glasses, and combat boots. Today he had underneath a soft looking cream colored sweater and black jeans.

Nicky was quick to interrupt, pushing to the front.

“Hi, I’m Nicky, I'm sure you’ve heard great things. I’m the twin’s cousin, I play backliner.” Nicky took a good look at the man in front of him, eyes clearly hesitating more on the man’s pecs than the large neck scar. “¿Hablas español?”

At that, The appraising and slightly closed off expression of Tayir seemed to lighten, him actually reaching out to shake Nicky’s extended hand.

“El español es mi segunda lengua. Soy Tayir Khaled, nuevo traspasado de Gotham. Es bueno encontrar a alguien aquí que también pueda hablar español. ¿Estás aquí para practicar o simplemente presentarte?”

“Estoy aquí para jugar y desafortunadamente para escuchar a Kevin quejarse todo el tiempo. Puede ser molesto, pero puede ser amable cuando lo haces hablar de algo más que del juego. A veces.”

Tayir scoffed, as close to a laugh as he has revealed, moving to head inside with Nicky at his side. Neil followed behind them, listening in. He could understand most of it or at least get the general gist of the conversation.

“Dudosa, pero tomaré tu palabra. El dirige este lugar como si ni siquiera fuéramos humanos. Lo entiendo con el juego que da y el equipo que sois todos, pero joder, esa mierda me deja dolorido.”

“Oh so you’ll talk more than a few words to Nicky, but not us?” Kevin is always rude, that is nothing new, but the sharp glare from Tayir is. 

“Maybe if you didn’t run training like my old coach where nothing you did is ever good enough I would talk more.” Tayir’s eyes flick to Neil and Andrew before going back to his light hearted talk with Nicky.

Stop posturing. I want to make friends, unlike some of you.

I don’t want friends. We need to protect ourselves. They’re threats.

Does Nicky look like a threat?

He looks like a faggot, in a good way.

Gay.

Yes, and?

They all soon reach the locker room, all of them dividing up to their lockers. Nicky switches to English, making conversation in a language everyone understands.

“So, as you know I’m gonna be a backliner with you. I only started playing in college when Wymack agreed to take me so he could talk Andrew into playing. He’s too good to think he should practice, but we can probably convince him with a bribe.” Nicky had already pulled up his shirt off, throwing it into his locker. Tayir couldn’t help but admire the others' long lean figure, muscles clear under tight tan skin dotted with freckles and the occasional small scar.

“If he doesn’t want to practice, not my problem.” Jason drags the eyes back to the locker as he puts away his jacket and his helmet. 

Not really our type. 

Still hot though.

Neil saw the look but didn’t attribute anything to it. His gay-dar wasn’t exactly great. Andrew, however? He knew what checking someone out looked like, and he knew he did not want someone that dangerous around his cousin. He stood up from his position on the couch, looking at Tayir directly. Tayir could feel the eyes on his back, not acknowledging them.

“Most people are pissed off by it, him not participating a lot. You don’t care?”

“I couldn’t care less. This is just an avenue for a scholarship and some physical activity.” Tayir moved to close the locker, turning around. Andrew was on him before anyone could react, knife slid out of his sheath and up against Tayir’s ribs. Andrew had his arm pressed against the taller’s chest to keep him in place.

Everyone in the room froze, Kevin staring with wide eyes, Nicky watching confused but wary, and Neil stepping forward out of instinct.

Tayir doesn’t seem fazed, Bright blue eyes locked onto hazel brown ones. Now that Andrew was close, he could see the edges of green around the rings of blue. Andrew could see that the man in his hold was cold, unafraid of the violence. If anything he was relaxed. A smirk crossed his face, out of character for the type of person he had seen so far. Quiet but no problems talking back, while still being obedient to authority. Maybe this was the Tayir he saw angry on that tape.

“Oh, finally decided to play? Not everyone is into it rough, y’know.” Tayir’s voice was rough, the Jersey drawl coming out full force.

“Andrew-” Neil was cut off quickly by Andrew, his voice practically a growl.

“You don’t look at him. You don’t speak to him. He is part of mine, do you understand?” Tayir actually laughed, his skin pressing against the blade of the knife that had slid easily through the sweater. His voice is almost taunting, the language now coming out of his mouth setting off alarm bells for Andrew and Neil both. 

“Я знал, что ты защищаешь свою семью, но давай, коротышка. В любом случае, меня больше интересуют травмированные рыжие, но у меня дома есть свои. Не надо воровать свое. На самом деле их два. Я все еще могу восхищаться хорошим телом, когда вижу его, но с твоим не будет никаких действий, если не будет никаких действий с моим. Я слышал, что ты много любишь, это все еще правда?” 

Russian.

Andrew’s eyes are pointed and unflinching, despite the pressure of something sharp now at his right side. A knife, sharp and thin in the hand of his target, directly pointed at his kidney.

“С твоей семьей ничего не случится, если с моей ничего не случится. Для этого мне нужен залог.” 

Tayir, Red Hood, nodded, his free hand swiping the phone from his front pocket, dialing the first number on speed dial. Andrew let him, eyes following the phone as it was raised to Tayir’s ear.

A voice answers quickly, not making it past the third ring. “Hey, what’s up? Aren’t you supposed to be at practice?”

“Everything’s good, no worries. Just want you to introduce yourself. I'm cutting a deal with the midget I told you about. Real name is fine for ya.”

“Red, are you sure about this?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it. Handing you over. Say hi.”

Tayir held the phone out to Andrew, placing it close enough that he could hear the other end without having to drop his knife or his hold on the other.

“Hey, can ya hear me? Names Roy Harper, this idiot's husband. I apologize for whatever he did this time and if he caused any physical harm I am not liable.” A small voice can be heard in the background. “Sorry sweetie one second, daddy’s talkin’ to someone. Here have a juice box-”

Andrew hangs up the phone himself, opting to move the formerly knife holding hand. Tayir sheathed his own at the same time. Andrew took a step back, the cut in Tayir’s sweater matching one on the side of Andrew’s black t-shirt.

“We have a deal?” Tayir is still standing strong, pocketing the phone before holding out a hand. Andrew takes a moment to think before shaking the hand in front of him. 

Nicky breaks the silence. “Okay well that was uh…..Andrew. Anyone wanna fill me in?”

Neil just shrugs, moving to get his gear on alongside Kevin. They knew better than to question, especially when in the company of others.

Tayir changes in the stalls as usual. He takes a moment after the door closes to take a deep breath and center himself, except Red hood wont leave. Tayir won't come to the front, not after that. Meaning it’s all Jason and he isn’t the happiest. Him and Roy had discussed the possibility of Andrew finding out. He was clearly the biggest threat and the most observant. It was a risk, but after recon on Andrew and all the information they had gathered they decided it may provide more benefit for him to find out about Tayir having a family. It would be another eye on the look out for threats of which there are plenty. That doesn’t mean Jason is happy about being exposed.

Fuck this is annoying. He has a fucking headache from thew loud chatter in his head.

Today is going to be long

Chapter Text

Andrew paid more attention during practice than normal. He still never stepped foot on the field of course, but he watched. Specifically he watched Tayir move. His moves were clumsier today. Still accurate enough not to fail at anything, but something about him seemed less into the game almost. Something was different.

Andrew was smart. He was the one who figured out about Neil having Dissociative Identity Disorder after everything that went down the previous year. He noticed the small changes in Neils voice and attitude. The missing memories. Andrew presented the information and Neil, the idiot he is, was shocked to know that it was not in fact normal to have voices in your head. He had them the whole time. He just never thought it was anything to be concerned about.

The way Tayir spoke to Andrew in the locker room and the changes in small mannerisms on the court today leads Andrew to think something similar is going on with their new recruit.

The knowledge of a husband was a surprise. There was no wedding ring. No phone calls. A quick google search of the name pulled up more surprises. The first Roy Harper to pop up online was the adopted son of playboy billionaire Oliver Queen from Star city, known rival of Gotham’s Bruce Wayne. All photos of him were old but he clearly fit the description Tayir gave Andrew of enjoying damaged red heads. Multiple stints in Rehab or jail finally dropping off the face of the Earth and going no-contact with what seemed like both the public and his adoptive family.

There was no social media presence for Harper, and even less of an online presence for Tayir.

To him, Tayir reminded him of Neil at first. A rabbit ready to run from his problems. Someone who went with it and wouldn't fight back unless cornered.

Well he was right, but when cornered it became clear this rabbit hid something much more dangerous than expected. Then again so had Neil.

Unlike Neil when he first arrived, Tayir clearly had something he was willing to fight to protect. There was even a child, which was a bigger surprise than anything else that conversation had revealed.

It wasn’t until later, on the porch of Abby’s house sharing a cigarette, did Andrew bring up his findings. Andrew and Neil had settled down together on the steps. Andrew took the first hit of nicotine before handing it off to Neil for him to inhale the second hand smoke. The grey smoke swirled in the cool night air around them, reflecting in the porch light.

“New backliner has some secrets, it seems.”

“We knew he would. He is a fox after all. So, what do we know? Fluent in Spanish, fluent in Russian, has two partners both red heads, neither of which we have ever seen. I assume he called one of them on the phone?”

The cigarette was handed back to Andrew who took a hit, eyes watching the night sky as he spoke.

“Husband. Roy Harper, adopted son of Star city’s billionaire. An addict who went ghost a few years ago after his last stint in rehab. Another thing, he has a child. I heard her on the phone. She sounded young, probably a toddler. Makes sense now why he doesn’t take anyone up on interacting outside of work.”

Neil ran a scarred hand through his red curls, taking a deep breath. “A kid. Fuck. Think Wymack knows? I mean I know people with bad histories can have kids but…..I hate the idea of a kid being surrounded by people like us.”

Andrew nodded in understanding. He knew what it was like growing up in the system. He knew his thoughts on being a parent and Neil’s thoughts too. That they were both worried the kid would end up just as fucked up and they would end up like the people who raised them. He knew, logically, that this didn’t always happen.

“I noticed something ... .concerning. You probably weren’t paying attention yet. But his accent changed when I cornered him. Sounded closer to the stereotypical New Jersey accent than how he was speaking to us before, which was a more neutral northern accent with a bit of an arabic undertone. But when he spoke Spanish the tone was like he was a native speaker.” Andrew took the cigarette back, holding it between his lips again while Neil contemplated the meaning.

“I mean, I change accents sometimes. Sometimes I sound British like my mom or french…” He trailed off, hands clasped in front of them tracing fingers across healed wounds.

“Neil, you don’t change accents. You change personalities. Yes, usually those personalities try to fake being you, but they each still sound different when you pay attention.”

The silence was almost deafening for a moment.

Neil’s breath caught in his throat.

“You think…?”

Andrew exhaled a cloud of white acrid smoke before nodding.

“At least two. Tayir Khaled, Backliner, student from uptown Gotham. Quiet and Submissive, afraid of women older than him, not comfortable changing out in front of the group, obedient to authority. And…..whoever pulled a knife on me in the locker room. He was not afraid, he was confident, cocky, dangerous, and had enough skill and knowledge to not only aim a knife at me but not flinch when one was held to him. He almost looked like he was having fun. There usually aren't just two personalities, so I’m betting there are more. Either way, I’m thinking whoever I met was a protector and Tayir is probably just a fronter. He could be a fragment since he clearly has his own trauma. I don’t think we’ve met the host yet.”

“Shit. That’s- how are we supposed to predict that? He could be- I mean- we have no idea this guy’s history he could be some crime lord or-” Andrew’s hand went to the back of Neil’s neck, forcing the other out of his spiral.

“Take a breath, Josten. You can’t freak out about every person who joins the team. We are all foxes, we all have our own shit. Not everyone is going to be a member of a gang or the Yakuza. I know you’re paranoid. But we can protect ourselves. Do you trust me?”

Neil nodded, his eyes flicking side to side as he focused on just breathing and not sprinting out of there, the only thought in his head being run

Andrew studies the other for a moment, brown eyes searching blue for what was going on in the other's head.

“Collin. You are safe. No one is after you anymore. There is nothing you need to worry about. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you.

Collin nodded, taking a shaky breath in and out just like Andrew taught him. He only started fronting after Andrew figured out what was going on with Neil, Colin being too afraid and paranoid to pretend to be Neil most of the time. It was a sign of trust in Andrew that he could show up at all, let alone speak out loud.

“Promise?”

“Anyone who tries will have to go through me first.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason had been holding control all through practice. He was skilled, he knew how to play and the muscle memory did a lot, but he didn’t care about the game as much as Tayir did. Red Hood pressing against his back whispering to be more violent, to draw blood, to show the others what would happen if they fucked with them, that made things infinitely more difficult as well.

Tayir didn’t often lose his cool. If he did it was only on the court and not over something as simple as Kevin being an ass.

So Jason made it work. He played as good as he could and managed not to catch anyone's eye. Other than Andrew who’s calculating gaze had not left him once since the conversation in the locker room.

After practice Jason didn’t bother showering, opting instead to quickly change in a stall and leave before anyone could corner him. He knew he could play Tayir perfectly if he wanted to, but today was mentally exhausting enough. The motorcycle ride home was calming, bringing his energy levels back down and relaxing him before home. As usual he did a few laps to loose any followers before actually pulling into the driveway.

The garage door opened to reveal Roy dressed in some black sweatpants and a tank top with no shoes or socks on. Jason pulled in and parked, helmet coming off and being handed to Roy just like every day as Jason slipped off the bike and the garage door closed.

“You with me Jaybird?” Roy’s voice was cautious and full of concern, but Jason for the life of him could not understand why. Yes, today had been stressful, but it was fine. He was fine. Nothing important happened.

“Yeah, I’m good. Lian down for her nap?”

“Yeah. You wanna talk about what happened at practice?”

Jason blinked, confused. Nothing happened at practice out of the ordinary. Nothing Roy would know about anyways. Right? The voice in his head telling him to hurt, to protect his own, had faded away on the ride back home making his head fuzzy, but not enough that he would forget something important enough for Roy to know about it.

Right?

“Nothing happened at practice. I mean, I got a bit freaked out in the locker room for a minute I think? But nothing major. Why?”

Roy moved to guide Jason out of the garage without a word. He only did that when something was up, Jason having a tendency to flip out on occasion and either break something or get himself hurt in a place like the garage that had so many inventions and parts laying around, as well as Roy’s prized custom car. Roy sat Jason on the couch, before crouching down in front of him.

Jason studied Roys concerned face just as much as Roy studied his own confused one.

“In the locker room. Something happened. You called me. Do you remember calling me?”

Jason blinked, thinking back. He remembered meeting Nicky. He remembered finally being able to speak spanish again which was nice. He remembered Nicky getting undressed and….then playing the game. When would he have called Roy?

“No. I called you? For what?

“I don’t know what happened, but you called me and had me introduce myself to Andrew. You also used a word I know you typically wouldn’t to describe him, something you saw a few times when reading about him online that we specifically spoke about how bad it was people still used it as an insult.”

Jason rubbed a hand over his eyes, a headache brewing behind them as he tried to force himself to remember anything. But it was blank, there was nothing until he walked onto the court.

“I wouldn’t- I know we talked about Andrew finding out about you. I know we agreed it was okay. But I wouldn’t have done it by calling you and I wouldn’t have called him anything like that. I hate that shit,m I got called enough slurs as a kid. You know I wouldn’t-”

One of Roy’s hands moved to grab onto Jason’s knee, grounding it.

“I know you wouldn’t. But you did. And I know you don’t want to talk about it, but you’re getting worse. You’re losing’ more and more time since we’ve been here babe. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I think it's time we actually sit down and talk about it.”

“There isn’t anything to talk about. I’m fine. I zoned out maybe or-”

“Jason. You have lived your whole life with separate identities. You are Jason Todd my husband, but you’re also Red Hood the crime lord, Tayir Khaled the college student, Robin the kid vigilante, Jay the street kid standing on the corner with the working girls, Jaylad the boy fostered by a Billionaire who has everything he could have ever wanted except for his mom.”

Jason’s head swims with voices as Roy talks, each one fighting for the one to come out of his mouth. Each voice vies for control, some louder than others. Jason fights with himself to stay present, to not fall into flashbacks and let the other voices talk control.

“Sometimes when you have as much trauma as you do and when you wear that many faces they become their own personalities. I’ve seen it before. You know I wouldn’t lie to you.”

Jason placed his head in both hands, crooked fingers tangling around black curly hair. Roy moved to gently place his own hands over Jason’s.

“It’s okay, Jaybird. I promise, it’s okay. I’ve got you. Let go of your hair before you hurt yourself. It will be alright. We just need to take it one step at a time. You with me still?”

Jason leaned into the touch, despite his will the world fading black around him.
Red Hood blinked his eyes open and lifted his head out of the hands surrounding it.

“We wouldn’ wanna hurt ourselves unless it was for pleasure, right?”

Jason’s shaking hands were now still, his eyes clear instead of cloudy and confused. His Jersey accent was out in full force, straight from the dark depths of Gotham with its own specific twang.

Roy removed his hands, bringing them back to himself.

“Red. Y’know, I assumed you would’ve taken control a while ago. He remembers Tayir but not you, so I assume you called me?”

Red Hood scoffed, leaning back on the couch and crossing his arms over his chest. “Midget pulled a knife on me. On me of all fuckin people? So I pulled one back and made a deal with the brat. But the deal required proof. Nothin’ ‘appens to his people and nothin’ ‘appens to mine. I handled it.”

“You know Jason hates words like that. It's a slur, remember? I know you remember his conversations.”

“People called me that, why can’t I call people it? Bullshit.” Red Hood rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed with the conversation already.

“Just try. For me?” Red’s eyes flickered to Roy’s bright green ones as he sighed dramatically.

“Fuck you. This is bullshit. You don’t make the rules here.” Red moved to crack his neck. “I didn’ stop you talkin to him because him not knowin shit is startin to cause problems. Problems are what we don’t need. He needs to know, it's about damn time he gets his head outta his ass.”

Roy studied the other for a moment before moving to stand up and reaching a hand out for Red to take.

“Come help me wake Lian from her nap?”

Red Hood glares for a moment before standing up without the assistance from Roy. He does come along though. Roy leads the way into Lian’s bedroom decked out in space and dinosaurs and anything else the girl could want with a whole solar system painted on the ceiling. Roy sat on the edge of the bed, moving to brush some black hair out of the sleeping girls face.

“Wake-up time, princess. Baba is here. “ Lian grumbled, waking up slowly as she rubbed her eyes. Red stayed back at the doorway, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.

Once Lian gained enough consciousness, just like every day, she bounded up and slammed herself into Red’s strong legs.

Jason came back to Lian squeezing the life out of his legs.

Maybe he was fucked in the head.

He didn’t think about it, couldn’t right now with a migraine pounding behind his eyes and a toddler on his leg.

“Woah there sweetie. Gonna knock me over, have you gotten stronger?”

The girl giggles, quickly moving off to play with some toys after her hug quota was filled. Jason remembered this time, remembered, in a foggy way, Red Hood taking the lead. Roy came up and placed a gentle hand on Jason’s cheek, Jason closing his eyes at the touch.

“You okay Jason?”

“Head’s killin’ me. Might lay down for a bit.”

Roy pressed a gentle kiss to Jason’s forehead.

“Okay. Get some rest. Remember the freshmen show up tomorrow.”

Jason groaned softly. He was not looking forward to dealing with the freshman. Red meanwhile wanted to have some fun.

Chapter Text

Tayir had no interest in the freshmen and he made that very clear. He didn’t plan on making friends with them. With any of the team really, as was apparent by the previous fox interactions. But something about the new striker player…..bothered him.

There were three new freshmen, each with their own damage. Shea Ramirez seemed a nice enough girl. She was clearly in the beginning of her transition, introduced herself with no amount of confidence, and looked like she was about to be eaten alive by all the boys. However, she was tall and strong, and made a good goalkeeper. Her blue striped long dirty blonde tied into a messy bun, something she clearly didn’t know how to properly do, her skin a sun damaged tan. Instantly she hit it off with Nicky, her own family also from Mexico. At least Jason wouldn’t have to step in and teach the young girl how to be herself, Nicky could manage that.

Colby Jameson, the new defensive dealer, seemed angry, but in control about it. His words were sharp with an accent closer to Red Hoods, clearly being from big city slums. He was on the medium side of black, his dark hair going from a high fade into a vibrant red afro on top. He was slightly taller than Neil, his posture full of fake confidence that clearly kept him alive before, if the mangled mess of his left ear meant anything. He always stood with his left to the wall, probably hearing impaired from whatever messed up the ear if Jason was guessing. He didn’t stay near anyone, keeping to himself. Tayir planned on keeping an eye on him, making sure he had no problems understanding the team. But that wouldn’t be too much work.

Jack Saunders, the new striker, was all spitfire, rage, pointed words and empty threats. He had confidence in his skills and was not afraid to push people down to get it. He was skinny, possibly half asian but more white presenting, with a southern accent and near black hair. He fit the description of a fox just by presence alone. None of that was what bothered Red Hood.

He wasn’t sure what it was. Something just felt off about the kid. After so many years of being a vigilante, years of being a kid hero, All parts of Jason learned to trust their gut instincts.

Meaning during introductions when Jack asked Nicky if he was the token Fag to be passed around the team, Red Hood took over before Andrew could even process the comment.

Jack’s sentence was cut off by the slamming of a fist against his jaw. The hit wouldn’t be hard enough to break the jaw, but enough to give a concussion depending on the person just by the sheer way Jack's head bounced against the laminated floor. Blood from somewhere inside Jack's mouth was spit onto the ground and coated the knuckles on Red Hood’s scarred left hand. The team moved quickly, Wymack, Kevin, and Neil moving to push Tayir off, except it wasn’t Tayir standing over Jack’s downed body, it was Red Hood. And Red Hood didn’t move if he didn’t want to.

“What the fuck man?!” Jack yelled, holding a hand against his jaw. Abby kneeled next to the downed boy to check the damages, not caring if she was in the way of his attacker. Red Hood growled, standing above them like a statue while Wymack, Kevin, and Neil all tried to push him back without luck.

“I hear one more thing like that outta your fuckin’ mouth, and you’ll understand what they do ta fucker’s like you in Gotham. Y’understand?” Red Hood’s voice was dark. His city accent is strong, his blue eyes almost looking Green in his rage. Andrew leaned against the wall next to Nicky, who was in shock at the spectacle.

Jack nodded, eyes carefully gliding over Red Hood’s body. Assessing how hard he would be to take down. Clearly the answer was too difficult if the way Jack’s hand was shaking was enough to go off. Determining his point to be made, Red Hood finally let Wymack and the others push him back to the far wall, hands raising in surrender.

The room was dead silent before Wymack broke it.

“One day. I just want one fucking day without an issue. Tayir- go take a walk. Andrew and Neil, go with him. Make sure he doesn't knock anyone else out and cause problems. I shouldn’t have to say this but hitting teammates isn’t something we allow around here. Then again you aren’t the first one. Jack, don’t say that shit again or you will lose being on this team and in this college so fast your head will spin faster than Tayir hits. Nicky, you okay?”

Nicky blinks, coming back to himself. He was in shock still from the action, especially considering it was from someone he barely even knew.

“Yeah. Yeah I’m okay.”

Red Hood was smiling, dark and menacing, his eyes never leaving Jack’s. Never blinking away from the challenge, even as he was guided out of the room by Neil. Once eye contact was broken, Red huffed, hands sliding into his pants pockets as the manic smile fell off his face, dropping it into a bored expression with dead green/blue eyes.

No one spoke until they were all outside, walking down the street in a random direction. It was Neil who broke the silence.

“You defended Nicky. Why?”

Red Hood did not contemplate the question long, shrugging in response as he moved to pull out his cigarettes. “Where I’m from, if you say that aroun’ the wrong crowd you end up missing part of your dick. I’m the wrong crowd. He got off lucky. Not about it bein’ Nicky. It’s ‘bout it bein’ anyone.”

He took an inhale of the cigarette, a long drag leading to a cloud of smoke being blown away by the breeze. His knuckles still had blood on them.

Neil and Andrew made eye contact, a silent conversation happening between the couple.

“What’s your name?” Andrew was the one to ask, Red Hood barking out into a laugh.

“You caught on in less than a month what people have been missing for years. Then again, Tay was never the best at bein’ in control and actually holdin’ it. You can call me Red, that’s all you gettin. Gotham is enough to make anyone a bit fucked in the head.”

He says it so calmly, like the fact doesn't bother him. That Gotham is rated the worst city in the whole country. That more deaths happen every day in Gotham than some cities get in a year.

No one responded. Neither Andrew nor Neil had an argument for that. So, Red broke the silence again.

“No one messes with Gotham. The Butcher wouldn’t even set foot in there, yeah yeah Neil don’t look so fuckin’ suprised. I knew and hated that old fucker too. The Hatfords are okay, they try not to mess with this side of the water anyways. The Moriyama’s couldn’t lay foot in Gotham without shittin their pants.”

Neil was gone in the blink of an eye, Nathaniel ripping the cigarette out of Red’s mouth and snarling. He was shorter, bright blue eyes staring up into blue/green with hatred and anxiety. Andrew knew Neil could handle himself, but he still stepped between the two.

“Who the fuck are you and why are you here? What do you want and who do you fuckin work for?” Nathanial was spitting the words like acid. All of Neil’s fears about new foxes being connected to his former world were all crashing down on his head.

Andrew stayed quiet but blocked any physical contact, his knife slipping from his wrist down to his hand in warning. Red just smiled lazily, slightly sharpened canines peaking through a crooked grin.

“Questions questions. We have a whole rogue based on questions. You don’t need to worry, I’m not here for you. Gotham has its own gangs, we don’t need to worry about yours. We have no hate on the Hatfords, no hate on you, an unfortunate little piece of a much bigger fuckin puzzle. We have no hate on Kevin or his own. Well, we have hate on the Moriyama’s but that isn’t of concern now. All you need to know is I'm just here for a god damn break. The host was fucking shattering in Gotham from the birds and the bats and rogues and everything in between. So, I’m not here for anything but to live a fuckin life for once. I’ve never had that before. Are you ready to deny me?“

Nathaniel was still seething, but Andrew was calm as he studied the eyes of the man in front of him. A man who clearly can and has caused incredible violence. Someone who could be a major player in a war should one break out. Question is, is it a big enough reward to risk having him on their side?

“If you want us to believe that, then what gang are you in?” Andrew knew if the gang supposedly had contact with the Hatfords, Neil could always ask Stuart. If it was a bad enough gang, Neil may already know of them, or someone in that head of his anyways. Kevin may know. Renee would know.

Red Hood contemplated for a second, Jason and Tayir in his head both listing out billions of pros and cons. Issue is no one, not even Jason, is strong enough to stop the Red Hood.

“Ask about The Hood. That should get you what you need. Now, are we done with this little walk of monsters or can we go back? If Roy see’s my phone GPS away from the building you’ll have to deal with him. You don’t wanna do that.”

It takes more than a moment for Neil to wrestle back at least some control.

Hood hood hood. Where had he heard of hood?

Andrew knew where Neil heard of it.

“You work for The Red Hood.”

Red smiled cockily, shrugging. “Guilty as charged. You know anything real or just what the news reported?”

“I know the Red Hood left severed heads in a duffel bag, taking out most of Gotham’s drug scene in one swoop as he took over instead. I know outlets report that while his kill count is high and he is currently the leading gang leader in Gotham, he has strict rules that the public in his territory admire.”

Andrew remembered reading articles during a late night binge into Gotham news sometime after getting word about their new teammate being from the area. The police station had The Red Hood listed as a wanted felon, but then again technically the other vigilantes in the city were too. Articles often talked about how The Red Hood worked in areas often abandoned by traditional vigilantes. The slums, Park Row or as it is called by citizens “Crime Alley”. Some articles criticised him for his heavy use of violence to control the city while other articles praised him for keeping working girls safe, for helping with community outreach programs, providing foods and shelters, and for refusing to involve kids in the operation. He is suspected to have taken out multiple trafficking operations as well as large scale drugs operations and is working his way down the east coast.

“That's right. He has rules, and I follow em. Dont fuck with kids. Dont fuck with the workin girls. Dont lace your drugs with shit. Those are the known ones, but he doesn’t tolerate that shit the freshman was pulling. Homophobia? Transphobia? Xenophobia? Racism? That shits punishable by worse than death sometimes. He doesn’t fuck with that and neither do I. Not just if it happens to me or mine, if it happens to anyone. I don’t care. I'd sooner cut out someone's tongue than let them spout that shit. I have sooner cut out someone’s tongue.”

Neil gulps, the memory of where he saw the name popping back into existence. He remembers a contact in his moms binder encoded like the rest. A contact for last ditch emergency help. He remembers the label. It was the last one she added. She was always changing them up until the time of her death, that one only having been added a few months prior to them getting caught.

Neil swallowed thickly as Red turned to walk back towards the stadium.

Andrew pressed a hand against the back of Neil’s neck in an attempt to ground him as his mind floated places it shouldn’t be.

“Fuck.”

Training was different today. Tayir, back in control, was grouped with Nicky working on drills designed for the backliners. Everyone else was focused on the freshmen, meaning the two had some alone time. The conversation over the drills was all in Spanish, although no one was close enough to hear anyways. (author’s note: Because this is a long conversation I did not put it in spanish because that would be so many translations and they take forever to do.)

“You didn’t have to do that. Thank you.” Nickly didn’t make eye contact as he spoke, focused more on the drills in front of him. Or maybe it was out of embarrassment of having to say thank you for getting defended like that.

“I don’t like when people talk like that. He had it coming.”

“It wasn’t against you though. I’ve had worse, I can take it.” The urge to protect from Red came swallowing up Tayir’s throat like bile. Nicky was not one of his, was not part of his people, was not someone in his streets, but still something about the way the comment was said and the resignation in the taller man’s voice made it swell up anyways.

Tayir stopped for a moment, looking at Nicky directly in an attempt to convey his seriousness about the situation. “But you shouldn’t have to. No one should. I may be an asshole sometimes, but honestly? I think my husband would kill me if I let that slide in front of me. Gotham is a bad place but it's also pretty gay. Hell we have open lesbian villains. Multiple open queer vigilantes. Our police chief was a lesbian for a while. One of the kids of the richest guy in the city is gay. Trust me, the kid got off easy. That hit was nothing compared to what would have happened if he said that on the streets of Gotham.”

Nicky buffered, eyes widening and smile growing as he nearly fell on his face.

“Wait- Husband? Oh my god is that why you don’t come hang out with us?? You should bring him! I knew something was up with you-” Nicky’s excited ramblings in Spanish got louder, Tayir silencing him with a quick look.

“First, not gay. Pan, and Poly. I actually have two long term partners, one of which is gone most of the time for work and the other being my Husband, Roy. He is who I called on the phone for Andrew. Andrew threatened me because I was checking you out.”

Nicky laughed incredulously, hands going to cover his mouth.

“Oh my god so you WERE checking me out. This is amazing. Tell me about him. Tell me about you two. I need the details.”

Tayir rolled his eyes. He didn’t want to give up too much, but at the same time….he had no one to talk to about his relationship. He wasn’t talking to Dick, his relationship with the other siblings was shaky at best, Artemis was out of the country, Danny was all the way back in Gotham. So honestly? Despite a warning from Jason in his head Tayir said fuck it.

“Me and him have been together for…..two years? But we were off and on since we were teens.”

Nicky squealed quietly like a small animal. “That’s so cute!!! Ohmygod that's adorable. Tell me more, tell me more.” Kevin shouted from somewhere, the two backliners rolling their eyes and moving back into drills while still talking.

“He has a daughter with someone else and the bio-mom isn't really in the picture so we’re raising her. We wanted somewhere better for her than Gotham. His family situation is complicated, just like mine, so we both just kinda….ditched everyone. Packed our bags and took the opportunity.”

Tayir could feel himself blushing, Nickky so excited as he talked. How he could be this excited and still complete the drills without falling Tayir would never know.

“A kid??? No wonder you don’t hang out with us after practice. What are you gonna do for the dorms come start of the season? I know you have a house nearby so they aren’t making you stay with the freshman now that the dorms are opening, but what about when classes start?”

Luckily, Jason had thought about this before even contemplating joining the team. “It was in my contract that due to my circumstances I could live at home for the most part as long as I stay with the team the night before games and the two nights after for safety sake due to I guess some issues you all had last year. Wymack said on those nights I can couch surf in a dorm or at his or Abby’s place and it would count.”

“Good good. I know raising Andrew and Aaron, even though they were already teens and didn’t really need much raising, was already a lot. I can only imagine what it would be like raising a smaller kid.”

Jason knew about the legal situation of guardianship between the twins and Nicky, but he wasn’t supposed to. So it was better just to play along as if the information was brand new.

“Wait, you and the Twins are- you’re their guardian?”

Nicky nodded proudly. “Yep! Technically we're cousins. Their uncle was my dad and he took a girl from mexico to save her in the name of catholicism and well here I am! After Andrew and Arron’s mom died I took custody, cause like hell was I letting my parents take custody. They were not happy about the whole thing.” The way Nicky talked about his parents seemed sad, longing, like there was much more of a story there.

“I’m glad you took them in. I know that catholic guilt, shit i’m probably one of the worst catholic’s around, but someone like Andrew I don’t think would react well to forced religion.”

“You’re catholic?” Religion and Tayir was…. Complicated to say the least. While yes, Jason was raised Catholic, he himself did not believe in God. He believed Gods existed, but not that any should be worshiped. Too many bad things had happened in his life for him to worship anything other than the sweet kiss of death. Red Hood aligned himself primarily with the All Caste and their teachings. While they did not directly worship a god, they were extremely spiritual people and Red held them in high regards, still practicing parts of their way of life himself. Tayir meanwhile was Catholic through and through. A bad one, but Catholic none the less. He had his mother’s rosary, one of the only thing they had of their mother, tucked safely next to the gun in their bedside drawer. He believed other Gods existed of course, but only worshiped one despite constantly finding himself in battle with their teachings.

“Yeah, I’m Catholic. Or- I try to be. Growing up one of the only safe places was the church. It was the only place family was actually family and when everything went to shit it was the only place that cared to help. It isn’t perfect, and a lot of my life I have broken the rules and done things no Catholic should, but it’s still part of me. Y’know? I can be Catholic and still be queer. There is a whole article I can send you about how theology itself IS queer. Its good shit.” Tayir had read the article at one of his low moments, the moments where the guilt of how he was raised, of Willis who he loved but also despites queer people, reared its ugly head and meant to strangle him. The article itself brought a whole new definition into his mind and a new way of looking at it.

Nicky smiled, this time softer. “I….would like that. Maybe after practice we can trade numbers? I was raised Catholic and while I don’t have a good relationship with my parents…”

“You don’t want to dispose of your beliefs just because they are tainted by them. Trust me, I get it. We can trade numbers and talk about it in depth. I really don’t mind. Roy is an atheist so I don’t really have anyone to talk about it with. I mean I can talk with him about it, but its hard without seeing it from the same perspective.”

Nicky moved to lay a hand on Tayir’s shoulder. It was friendly, and for once Tayir didn’t flinch away. “I would like that, Tayir.”

Maybe he could make friends. Maybe he could be himself here.

Jack nursed his bruised face with Ice in the common area for thirty minutes after practice started, Abby wanting to be sure about there being no signs of concussion. Grumbling, Jack pulled a phone out of his duffel bag, typing in a familiarized number and waiting for any answer.

His tone was sharp as he spoke to whoever answered.

“転校生は問題になりそうだ。彼についてできるだけ調べなさい。”

Chapter Text

A week of working with the Freshmen made even Tayir want to pull the hair out of his skull. Shea and Colby were both not too horrible. Colby had an attitude issue but always backed down when called out on it. Tayir was able to confirm the kid knew sign language after a quick conversation with him in the locker room. Shea was slowly coming into herself in the team and as a group, becoming more confident as each day passed but still being generally timid and a general pushover.

Jack was a piece of work. He was everything a fox is meant to be, but that didn’t make it easier to deal with. He cut it out on the homophobic comments and didn’t attempt anything transphobic, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a complete asshole in general. He clearly came from a traditional background despite his hard looks because when faced with anyone actually over him he shut up quicker than a muzzle flash. Any corrections had to be made from Kevin or Neil, otherwise he would throw a bitch fit. It seemed like he was there just to make everyone's lives difficult.

He kept trying to bring himself closer to Neil’s group, but Tayir’s growing friendship with Nicky blocked that pretty easily. Jack stayed far away from Tayir, avoiding being near the backliner all together after that first meeting.

Nicky was becoming more friendly in the meantime, seeming to have formed an actual connection with Tayir. Red wasn’t exactly happy about the situation, but Tayir could feel no regret for sharing his life with Nicky. At least part of it anyways. Being able to talk to someone else who was queer and catholic without fear of judgment was almost refreshing. Jason at least was happy they got to use Spanish more often.

Nicky had finally managed to pressure Tayir into getting his phone number and they now texted semi-regularly about nothing and anything. Usually stupid sexual gay jokes and meaningless flirting (approved by both Roy, Kori, and Erik of course.) This of course led to Roy harassing him about Nicky and looking up photos online at the dinner table.

“Oh my god Babe, did you see this boy’s Abs?? Someone caught some shots at him at some gay club dancing-”

“Roy I swear to god you are such a fuckin Simp. Stop simping over my teammate.” Jason rolled his eyes. He was in a black muscle shirt with a few splotches of white paint from when they painted the bathroom, the bottom seemingly fraying from wear over the years. It used to be loose on his frame but as he filled out over the years it turned into a proper muscle shirt. He was making stir fry tonight, standing over the stove as the smells of peppers, onions, and beef filtered through the air.
“I just want to meet your friends, is that too much to ask? Or at least that one anyways. You said that they invited you out to Ice cream and that club, we should go! We can have one of your people watch Lian for one night. Plus, they’re extremely attractive.” Roy looked over at Lian, the black haired child sitting at her own small table playing with playdoh. Jason couldn’t help but feel soft whenever looking at Roy, but especially when Roy got that proud look on his face from looking at his daughter. He loved her with his whole heart. Jason felt lucky to be part of that, to be a part of this family.

So when Roy turned that look on him? He couldn’t really help but give in.

Maybe he was the Simp, not Roy.

Roy’s big green eyes looked at him from under his trucker hat, red hair tied behind his head, the edges hitting a pale hickey and freckle covered neck.

“Come on Jaybird. You have worked so hard at this team thing. I see the way you light up about it, and now you’re making friends in it too! Let me meet him, we can go get Ice Cream with them and maybe go to that club? You know how hard I’ve worked, I can handle a club without going off the deep end. We deserve a break.”

Jason sighed, shoulders slumping into a relaxed position as he looked up and cursed his brain for falling for someone so cute.

“Only Nicky. No one else.”

“I thought you said Nicky didn’t have a car?”

“We can drive. No exceptions, I don’t trust any of them yet. Nicky is…..” Jason couldn’t find the word with the voices in his head scrambling to say so many at once. He couldn’t tell who said what. ‘ Hot. Safe. Comfortable. Loving. Curious.’

“Different. I get it, babe. Some people are just….more trustworthy. If you want only him there, then that’s what we do. No problem. We can use my car, pick him up and drive there. I’ll be sober so I can drive us back.”

Jason hummed, stirring the pan as he thought about this. He really didn’t want Roy tempted. Didn’t want to risk all the progress they had made by going into a club full of alcohol and drugs.

“I won’t drink either. Two of us staying sober is easier than just you.” Not that Jason liked alcohol that much anyways. Red liked it well enough, Jason tolerated it, and Tayir hated the taste. But the body had a fast enough metabolism after the pits to make it very difficult to get drunk either way.

“You and I both know Red will take over in the club and you will have at least a couple of drinks. It’s okay. Really. I can’t remember you ever getting drunk after everything anyways. I trust you, and I trust myself to know to leave if it gets to be too much. I won’t slip. If I feel like I might, I’ll just go to you. We just gotta tell Nicky to keep it light too, looks like he is a real party animal. Plus in researching that Ice Cream places you and I both know what they do under the counter.” Roy draped himself over the table, staring lovingly up at his husband. Studying how much thought Jason was putting into all of this just for his protection.

It made the red head’s heart swell.

“Cracker dust. It’s a legit organization though, they don’t cut it with anything so should be safe. Doesn’t work on me though and even if its non-addictive you still probably shouldn’t do it.”

“Agreed. So does this really mean we get to go? You’ll set it up?”

“.....I’ll set it up. He’s gonna ask if it’s a date.”

“I wouldn’t mind if it was, have you seen that boy? You know he fits my type, strong, athletic, tan, capable. Do you want it to be a date?”

“I feel like Andrew would try to kill me.”

“And?” Roy raised an eyebrow, leaning his elbow on the table.

“......Fine. Now grab the plates.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tayir and Nicky usually warmed up together, meaning asking him was pretty easy. Their conversation was in Spanish, as usual.

“Roy and I decided to join you in columbia. If you’ll have us. But only you, not Andrew or Neil or Kevin. I’m not exactly wanting my personal life to mix with the team. Plus ... .Roy want’s it to be a date, and…I might too. If you want that. I know you and Erik are open but-”

Nicky gasped, not stopping his warm up but still smiling brighter than the damn sun.

“Really??? Yes! Yes, of course. We can do it this Friday, I know the others weren’t planning on going this weekend. I would just need a ride, Andrew wouldn’t let me take the car there without him.”

“Roy can drive our car, no problem about that. But I need to give you a heads up. He is an addict, so if he needs to leave the club we gotta leave no matter how much fun we're having. His sobriety means more than staying and having fun. If you don’t wanna do that and keep it chill, we won't go.”

A flash of recognition runs through Nicky’s dark brown eyes, something screaming familiarity. He knew how to deal with addicts. Jason could read on his face that he understood and wouldn’t cause a problem.

“Yeah, of course. Anything specific we want to avoid?”

“No, he has really good control. You can still do whatever you want, I just want to make sure we don’t go too overboard. It’s hard to get me drunk, but you seem like a light weight.”

Nicky makes a mock look of offense. “Why I- I will have you know I am not a lightweight!”

The look on his face says otherwise.

“Friday at 5, we can pick you up at Abby’s.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nicky was excited. He was practically vibrating with how much energy he had.

Kevin was tired of it already and it had only been an hour of Nicky getting dressed.

“Seriously, did someone give Nicky an energy drink?” Kevin groaned from his spot on the couch. He had been playing on his phone while watching Andrew and Aaron play video games from the beanbag chairs, Neil reading on the other side of the couch from Kevin. Wymack and Abby could be heard from the kitchen where dinner was being made.

Neil looked over at Nicky, who was using the hall mirror to look at himself again. Nicky had a white crop top on with red block letters across his chest spelling out the word BABY. Underneath that was a thin mesh long sleeve. His skinny jeans were dark and ripped, shoes being the combat boots Erik had bought him last year. Nicky had opted for Eyeliner and Mascara today with a light amount of foundation, his tan cheeks glittering with some sort of highlighter.

“I told you Kevin, I have a date! An Erik approved date. Me and them are going to Sweeties and then Columbia, then hopefully staying the night in Columbia. Sue me if I’m excited.”

“Does the date know its a date?” Kevin spoke as he continued to look at his phone. Everyone was well aware of Nicky’s antics and that sometimes there ended up being a lack of communication, often leading to disaster when it came to romance.

“Yep! Both of them know its a date, and one has even spoken to Erik on video chat!”

Neil furrowed his brow. “Both of them?”

Nicky excitedly turned around, a bright smile on his face.

“Both of them. I’m going on a date with a guy and his husband.” Nicky buffered for a moment. He had almost said their names, but Tayir had been pretty clear with wanting this not advertised to the team. So, Nicky improvised. “Harper and Khal. They’re both local and I’ve been talking to Khal for weeks. I promise, this isn’t like last time.”

“Last time when Andrew had to drive and pick you up after they left you on the highway?”

Neil’s blood boiled at just the memory. The guy had ended up with slashed tiredness and sugar in his engine the next night.

“Not like last time. Promise.”

Nicky’s phone dinged, pulling Nicky away from the conversation. “That’s them, they’re outside. I gotta go! See you guys!”

Nicky rushed out the door and to the waiting car before he could be followed. He could feel the eyes of Neil from the window though. The car was an older red muscle car and clearly was customized, not being of any recognizable brand. The inside wasn’t visible from the house, but as Nicky got closer he could see his dates.

Roy was in the driver’s seat, red hair pulled behind his head to show off his freckled face. He wore no hat tonight, his jeans a grey denim riding low on his hips showing the waistband of his boxers, a tight olive colored muscle shirt fitting to his muscular form. He wore a couple of pieces of gold jewelry, a bracelet and some earrings, as well as a shining silver wedding band.

Tayir was in the Passenger, looking far more comfortable than he ever did around the others as he watched Roy lovingly. He himself wore a loose black muscle shirt with a dark red rectangle on the front. A large silver necklace hung from his neck with swirling designs, a large flat piece hanging from the bottom. Above that rested a simple but large silver chain. His fingers all had shining silver rings, his wrists decorated with multiple bracelets on one side and a watch on the other. Ear ear held multiple earrings from loops to spikes to studs in all different places. His eyes were lined with dark black eyeliner, faded into a nice shadow.

Nicky felt like he might swoon.

Roy got out of the car, holding the door open for Nicky after moving the seat forward to allow Nicky into the back. Roy flashed a charming smile at Nicky, Green eyes meeting dark brown.

“You must be Nicky! Climb on in, There’s plenty of room in back.” Niicky climbed in with a smile, internally sure that he would be uncomfortable due to the lack of leg room, however the back was surprisingly spacious. It had clearly been modified too, the leather sleek black with white stitching. Tayir turned to Nicky, flashing a toothy smile as Roy got back in the car.

“Ready for a good night, Nicky?”

Chapter Text

Neil looked out the window as Nicky was greeted by a redhead outside of the sleek car. It took a minute for Neil to actually understand what he was watching before his jaw dropped.

“Andrew, What did you say that guy looked like? The one you mentioned the other day from Star city?” Neil didn’t mention the context. Kevin and Aaron didn’t know about the conversation after all and clearly Tayir valued his privacy. He knew Andrew would understand what he was talking about.

Andrew hummed, his vehicle driving over the finish line in Mario Kart, beating Aaron’s by 2 places. “Red hair, as far as I could tell he was well built. Freckles. Strong Jawline. Green tattoo on his bicep. Why?”

“Because I think he just picked up Nicky for a date.”

Andrew paused the game, looking over with dead eyes.

“No.”

“Yes. Think about it. Nicky said the guy’s names were Harper and Khal. Remind you of anyone?”

“.....I’m gonna fuckin kill him. Nicky and his dates. Get your jacket, were going to fucking Columbia.”

Kevin and Aaron both looked at Andrew, confusion passing between both of their faces. Kevin spoke up first. “We’re going to Columbia?”

“No. Me and Neil are. We’re going to kill someone, not have fun.”

The car peeled away from the house, making its way to Columbia with Nicky’s back seat instruction. Once on the interstate, the conversation really started.

“Ok, I have heard so much about you Roy but seeing you in person? Wow Tay, you did not do him justice.” Nicky batter his eyelashes, leaning up so he could slot himself in between everyone. No one else had their seatbelts on, so he didn’t either. From this advantage Nick could see the red blooming on Roy’s pale cheeks as Tayir looked over with half lidded eyes clearly appreciating both of them.

“Say’s the one who looks like an Aztec God. I saw some of your photos online and told Tay I could not physically wait to get you out with us any longer. He acts all tough and scary but he is such a softie.” Roy looked over to Tay with a half smile, Tayir taking his turn to blush and rub the back of his neck shyly. Nicky nearly melted inside with the two looking at each other, but also at the compliment to himself.

“That one freshman is so scared of him, but personally? I don’t think Tayir could harm a fly. Unless the fly, like, hurt someone he loved, then it would be decimated.” Nicky remembered how unfairly attractive it was to see Tayir defend him like that. To watch Tayir throw that punch in his honor. “I can’t wait to see him in action at a real game though. How hot is it gonna be watching Tayir run someone over like a bulldozer?”

“Trust me, it’s hot. It’s even hotter to be run through yourself.” Tayir’s face turns bright red despite the tan, smacking Roy harshly on the arm. He couldn’t hold back the bashful smile though as Nicky laughed.

“Ow babe don’t hit the driver. Onto safer topics that wont get me beat up, tell me about yourself Nicky. I’m from just outside Star city, but spent most of my life there before running off, traveling the world. I enjoy mechanical engineering and programming. I may not have finished highschool but put me in front of a computer or any machine and I am usually the smartest person in the room. I like long walks on the beach, cheesy action movies, and spending time with my daughter and this dumbass.”

While Roy speaks, Tayir moves to turn on some rock music, keeping it low in the background so as not to overshadow the conversation. Nicky leans his elbows on the console, bending over to do so. This gives Tayir a great moment to take a peak at Nicky’s toned back.

“I’m actually from Columbia. I have a house up there that we stay at on weekends when going anywhere up here. I met my soon to be husband in Germany on a school trip. He was the son of my host family. I lived over there before getting called back to take care of Andrew and Aaron. I am majoring in Business and Marketing, although honestly I couldn’t care less about it. I like cheesy movies, celebrity gossip, and horror games. I’ve worked a billion places, including both places we're going to tonight.”

Roy nodded along, paying close attention to every word.

“Tay and I don’t get to play games nearly as often as we want to. Tayir is majoring in English literature, if I went it would probably be engineering. How did you like Germany? We've both been a few times and absolutely love it.”

The car ride continued as Roy and Nicky chatted about anything and everything from Germany to computers and even celebrities on their lists. Meanwhile Tay stayed to himself mostly, watching the two interact. It was nice. He didn’t feel excluded, they pulled him in for his opinion more than a few times. Watching Roy and Nicky talk enthusiastically just made his heart swell with adoration for the people he cared about.

It seemed like Nicky was quickly becoming one of those people.

Andrew was seething. Neil was still in shock as they sped down the road after Nicky and his partners in crime.

Neil was the first one to break the tense silence after his phone, which was charged for once, buzzed.

“Stuart just got back to me. I asked him about how my mom was in contact with The Red Hood and if he could look into Tayir for me. He just sent back a message saying that there is some sort of agreement in place and if I don't mess with them, they won't mess with us. But when I asked about Tayir he just said "confirmed.””

“Nothing else? Just the word confirmed?”

“Yep. Meaning he is probably pretty high up if Staurt doesn’t feel comfortable saying anything.”

Silence fell again in the car, the only noise being the engine and the couple's own breathing.

“I will kill him, high up gang member or not.”

The first stop of the date was Sweety’s. The Ice cream shop had a retro feel and was clearly a local favorite spot. Despite how busy it was, They got in with no problems and sat in a booth by one of the windows. Nicky opted not to grab any crackers from the conveniently placed container, which Tayir silently appreciated. They all settled in, Nicky across from Tayir and Roy, Tay being on the outside by the walkway.

“So, now that we're not driving, tell me about your kid! Tayir has told me very little and I need to know everything.”

Roy pulled out his phone, pulling up his photo album as the waitress sauntered up to the table. Her hair was piled high on her head, eyes lined with dark makeup and lips a cherry red.

“Hey Nicky, where’s the boys?”

“Hey Charlotte. Just me and my dates tonight. Can I get the regular? No crackers tonight.” Nicky said it casually, his slight southern drawl coming out more around people with similar accents.

“I’ll order a chocolate monster sunday. How about you, love?” Roy looked over at Tayir with green sparkling eyes. Tayir had been oogling too much honestly to pay attention to the menu. Fuck. He could feel the momentary anxiety quickly smothered by Jason, ever the sweet tooth, shoving himself forward with a jolt that moves him physically.

Fuck. God damn him and his fucking sweet tooth. It always shoves him into control, now that he realizes that's what's happening anyways. He should've known this would happen when they decided on Ice Cream. He can feel Roys grip on his thigh grounding him in the slight delay.

He tries his best to mimic Tayir. Nicky only knows Tayir and Jason was not about to reveal his and Roy’s whole lives. The accent is harder for Jason to do though since it wasn't anything distinct and more a mix of everything, so he is almost certain it doesn't sound right and Roy and Tayir immediately know. Jason can do accents in their original languages, but mixing them is Tayir’s focus. Red is Jersey through and through and shouldn’t try anything else.

“Strawberry milkshake with extra strawberry sauce. Give me diabetes.”

Roy can't help but laugh, hand coming to cover his mouth as the waitress winks. Jason isn’t sure if Roy is laughing at the order or the bad accent that made even Jason cringe. He shouldn’t have even tried. Nicky looked so confused and yet was also giggling. The waitress winks at Jason after writing down the order. “No problem, sugar. Be back in a minute.”

As soon as the waitress is gone Jason thinks his forehead on the table, Roy’s laughter continuing.

“Babe oh my god did you have a stroke??? You asked her for diabetes???”

Jason just hits his head on the table again as Roy finally calms his laughter, Nicky now looking at them with stars in his eyes but also gentle confusion.Roy moves to run his hand through Jason’s dark curls despite the gel preventing all the strands from moving out of the way. Roy leans down, closer to Jason’s ear to speak in a low voice. Nicky could still hear if he really tried.

“You okay Jaybird?”

Jason hesitates a moment before answering. Tayir had panicked enough that the only voice in his head was Red and another sounding childishly similar. Both of them just want the ice cream already.

“Tay panicked. I can’t do him that well.”

Roy nodded, whispering a soft “I’ll handle it” before lifting his eyes to meet Nicky’s. Dark green met chocolate brown, one full of protectiveness and love and one slightly confused and amused with a hint of concern.

“Gotham is a fucked up place. Tayir isn’t always…Tayir. If ya get my drift. He has a lot of trauma, a lot of shit goin through his head most the time. He sometimes acts or behaves differently, can't remember things, shit like that. Answers to a different name, has different opinions on things. If you understand what I mean.” Roy leans on the table, eyes appraising Nicky whose expression has shifted from curious to concerned and now to seemingly understanding. Despite no sense of hesitation, Roy is careful with his next words. “He would like this fact to stay between us. Tayir goes to school, plays Exy, has friends. He is the one who is generally more level headed, the one with anxiety who just wants to live his life. Other parts of my husband aren’t so nice. If you aren’t okay with being on the date still, we can drive you home. Or call a cab. Whatever you want. If you plan on telling others we can have a different conversation.”

The ice cream is being set on the table before Nicky can respond. Nicky had a large caramel nightmare of a dessert in front of him with crunchy chocolate bits, syrup covering the ice cream entirely, and even bits of waffle cone stuck in it. In front of Roy a similarly monstrous chocolate ice cream is set, and in front of the still head down Jason a large dark pink strawberry shake is placed, inside floating with pits of strawberry and sprinkles, some deep dark red with syrup. On top is a pile of whipped cream and strawberries with even more syrup.

As soon as the waitress was gone, Nicky looked back at Roy with determined eyes.

“A friend of mine has DID. Only the friend group knows, outside of the coach and the doctor. I get it. You have nothing to worry about from me.” Nicky grabbed his spoon, taking a large scoop of ice cream and eating it before directing his next comment to Jason.

“So, have we met before? I would love to know the name of my date.”

Nicky gave a reassuring smile, Jason finally raising his head from the table and looking at Nicky apprehensive. His face was guarded, less open. He blinked, blue green eyes watching Nicky for any signs of a problem.

His voice was rougher, the drawl of a proper accent clearer. It was more jersey with the undertones of Spanish instead of the neutral mix of Tayir.

“Jason. Jay if ya want. We’ve met a few times, not for long though.” Jason straightened up, moving to pull the milkshake closer while Roy began to dig into his own ice cream.

“You sound closer to the person who helped me out in the locker room. Not quite though. I’m guessing that was someone else?”

Jason nodded, sipping at his milkshake as he leaned slightly against Roy.

“That would be Red. You don’t usually get to see him. I’m the uh…host? I guess is the word? I’m still not the best at all the terms ‘nd shit. I’m here most the time, but Tayir is in control the other half.”

“He sounds like he's from nowhere, but you’re clearly from Gotham. You’re who I met at the Banquet last year!” Nicky gave a smile so sweet Jason himself couldn’t help but give one back, even if it was only half of one. Nicky wouldn’t ruin him for this. Nicky wouldn’t take him down for knowing who he was.

“Yep. That’s me. Tayir isn’t really comfortable at that kinda place. I mean, I’m not either but more than he is.”

Nicky snorted. “I like parties as much as the next guy, but stuff like that is too fancy for me. Plus my team has a history of bad shit going down there, although I'm sure youve heard about that.”

“Of course I heard. Meanwhile I was sneaking off and talking to Roy on call. It really wasn’t his scene so he didn't come, also had to watch Lian.”

“Yeah those functions are no fun. I much prefer clubs. Sex drugs and plenty of alcohol for me. Shit- sorry. Wasn’;t thinking.”

Roy relaxed against the back of the booth, hand holding a spoon of ice cream as he gestured.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I can handle myself. If that's who you are then that's who you are. I struggled with my sobriety for a long time, ever since me and Jason’s older brother first met. I was a wreck. But through a few tries at rehab and some good help from friends and having my daughter in my life, I got clean. I'm at a point where I can be around alcohol and drugs generally without problems. I can talk about them for the most part.”

“Well, I won’t be doing anything crazy tonight. Normally I have some cracker dust, maybe some ecstasy or acid, but that's about it. I’ve never tried anything else except weed, the harder stuff and anything you have to inject was never for me. I’ve seen what addiction can do to people, I mean I am a fox after all.”

“Heroin was my choice, but man I’ve done everything under the sun.”

Jason hopped in, leaning on the table with his elbows. “I smoke cigs but that's about it. I like a drink now and again. Red has done harder stuff but he doesn’t anymore for Roy’s sake. Most of the stuff I have done has been non-consensual. Gotham air alone is toxic, don’t even think about what’s in the tap water. Where I’m from, you drink bottled water and carry a gas mask or you’re a dead man walkin.”

Ice cream was steadily eaten as Jason slowly opened up, each sharing bits of their own pasts. Sometimes it was dark, sometimes funny. Slow mentions of family from all three sides and no sensitive topics pushed to being uncomfortable or being pried for more information.

Jason almost understood now what Tayir felt like. It really was nice to just be able to talk and be himself.

As Jason and Roy lead the way out of sweeties, one arm wrapped around each of his date’s waist, he saw a familiar car in the parking lot.

Throwing a wink at the driver, he held the door open for his partners of the night to climb in.

After the door was closed and engine started, Jason spoke up. “Nicky, you know Andrew followed you right?”

Chapter Text

Nicky settled for a moment in the back of the car before the words actually hit him and his big brown eyes nearly popped out of his head. He moved to look out the window as Roy pulled away, leather squeaking under his hands as he pivoted.

“Ohmygod I am so sorry He is fuckin- crazy overprotective. Especially after the whole hate crime thing that one time he is incredibly protective over me, even if he doesn't show it most of the time.” Nicky felt so embarrassed, his tan face turning nearly as red as Roy’s hair.

Jason chuckled, rolling the window down a bit to smoke.

“It’s okay. I think I would kill for any of my siblings, even the little devil kid. Roy is an only child, well, was raised one anyways.”

“You’ve mentioned brothers before, but nothing about them. How many siblings do you have?” Nicky leaned back into the seat, watching the front. Roy kept his eyes on the road but reached over to put a hand on Jason’s thigh. A sign to Jason it was okay to talk about it, but he didn’t have to. He had already opted to trust Nicky with his name. It would feel worse to keep it all bottled up, but knowing the names of his siblings was a risk Jason was hesitant to take.

“Uh…fuck. A bunch. One older brother. Two- no three younger brothers. Two younger sisters. All adopted, well one sister isn’t technically adopted but she's still a sister. My relationships with all of them and our…well their dad. B. All of us are pretty strained right now.” Jason can feel the slight squeeze of his knee and releases a bit of tension. Nicky wasn’t from Gotham. He wasn’t a killer hiding in disguise. Wasn’t out to get them. No matter what, the paranoia still swirled through his head ominously like a heavy cloud looming on the horizon.

Nicky nodded in understanding though. “I was an only kid, ended up raising Andrew and Aaron for a bit and they're the closest I have. I've mentioned to Tayir about how me and my parents are- well they disowned me. Worth it to be with Erik though.”

Roy hummed at that one, eyes glancing into the rearview. “Don’t worry- technically all three of us have been disowned in one way or another. You for being gay, me for being an addict, Jason for- well for bullshit in my opinion but I never liked B to begin with. Oliver tries every now again but being away from him is better for my mental health.”

The mention of Oliver led into a slew of Star city gossip, of which Nicky seemed to know quite a bit about. He probably would recognize the name of Bruce Wayne if it was said, but subconsciously everyone seems to be avoiding the topic of Gotham at this point. Soon enough they were pulling into the parking lot of Edens, the car park full of vehicles and people milling around and smoking, a line wrapping around the building.

Once parked, all three hop out of the car. Jason’s eyes flick to the vehicle that was following them as it is forced to park further into the car park. “C’mon. If we go in now, we can loose the tails.”

Nicky stepped forward, a cocky smile on his face showing off a flash of bright teeth as he winked. “Don’t worry. Ex-employee privileges.” Nicky led the group to the door, flashing the bouncer a smile larger than life as he leaned up and kissed the cheek of the towering man. The bouncer chuckled in a gravelly voice, opening the door for all three to pass. Inside was loud, music thumping like thunder from walls lined with speakers.

Roy and Jason looked around the entryway, the doors from outside opening into a low platform with stairs wrapping around either side down onto the dancefloor. They could see the bar to one side, the DJ up front on a lofted platform blasting pop music. The air was smokey and glittery, people of all types in the large crowd dressed in leather, sequins, and BDSM gear of all types. The air was hot and thick with people and energy as they descended the stairs, Roy’s hand wrapped securely around both of his dates' waists.

First approaching the bar, Nick waved at the tall, very handsome bartender. “Nicky! Hey , what's goin on? The others here or just you?” Roland grinned from behind the bar, his voice loud to carry over the music as his hands worked to start on Nicky’s usual first drink.

“Andrew followed us, probably with Neil, but I’m on a date so I’m tryin to avoid those two tonight. Roland, these are my dates.” Nicky moved to lean up against the bar and gesture to Jason and Roy. Jason was silently glad he did so, definitely not wanting to give real names in a place like this to a random bartender with a connection to the team.

“Peter. This is Will.” Jason extended a hand to the bartender with a personable smile. He was good with people, unlike Tayir and Red, and thus thrived in the hum of the club. Roy gave a little half wave, eyes trailing the long shelves of expensive alcohol and colorful signs reflecting on the mirrored wall.

“Well Petey and Will, What’s your poison? I can make basically anything. Nicky always starts with a skittles shot and a cherry lime marg.” Roland moved to put down the skittles shot in front of Nicky who easily tossed it back like it was nothing.

“New York sour for me, Old fashioned after. Water for Will.” Jason’s blue-green eyes connected with Roland's for a split second before he was on the move. His hands were fast, not fast enough for Jason to miss the slip though. Jason had been on the streets since he could walk, he was an expert at sleight of hand. He clearly knew what he was doing. Based on the research he had dug up, Roland dealt in a multitude of drugs but no human trafficking. Meaning this was for something other than that, you don't just roofie people for nothing.

Thoughts were already ticking in his head as he moved to lean against the bar while Roland made the Drinks, Nicky happily chatting behind him to Roy over the loud Music while Nicky sipped his marg.

“I saw that. Why don’t ya get me a bottle of water for my date, hm? You can put his dose in mine, I can handle enough for us both.” The grin that slid over Jason’s face was a little less controlled, a little more chaotic, making the lines at the edge of his mouth stretch imperceptibly, almost as if he had a Glasgow smile etched into his tan skin. He did have one, a very small one, but it wasn’t easy to see since it was so minute.

Roland curled an eyebrow, moving to get the bottle but not confirming his trick. “Dunno what you’re talkin’ bout, but if he prefers bottled fine by me. Want yours strong I assume? You look like you can take it.”

“Oh baby I’m from Gotham. I can take anything and not bat an eye. Hit me, I dare ya.” The Jersey drawl was heavier now, eyes in the light more green than blue. Roland added another dose before handing over the drinks.. Bottle with cap sealed, Whiskey sour, and old fashioned. Jason took the shot without problem. To be fair, it was a damn good drink. He wasn’t a huge fan of the aftertaste of cracker dust but it mixed well with the alcohol. Red wasn’t an idiot though, and as soon as the alcohol touched their tongue Red was out and ready to have some fun.

“Wanna take that water back and try one you didn’t use a syringe on? I ain’t stupid. Do it again and your supplier, Donny, or should I say Donald Bartrow, will have you cut off quicker than you can call for security. What do you say, Roland Theodore Morris? I ain’t a cop but I can make you wish I was. You know what goes on in Gotham, dont’cha pretty boy?” Roland gulped visibly, moving to grab a bottle out of a different cooler, telegraphing his movements clearly as he hands it over untouched. Red smiles, sharp canines poking out from past his lips. “Thanks doll. Let's keep it like this, hm?”

Red turns to where Roy and Nicky were, handing Roy his water while Red took a sip of his own drink. He leaned on the bar against Nicky, eyes dragging up and down the other.

“Hey! Saw you and Roland talking, what’d you say to scare him? He looks like he’s seen a ghost.” Nicky spoke loud to overcome the volume of the place, tilting his head curiously.

“Oh nothin, y’know, Jus a little teasin. What’d say we all dance, hm?” The drawl of his voice was clear as day now, his eyes hungry and hard. Both of Red’s dates instantly realized who they were talking to.

Nicky responded flirtatiously, moving to drag a hand down Red’s chest. “A dance for my knight in shining armour? Seems a small price to pay.” Roy came up behind Nicky, Hand sliding onto the other’s side and lightly grabbing Nicky’s hip.

“Mind if I join?”

Red made the next move, pushing all parties with his large intimidating frame into the thrush of bodies. The dance floor was hot with sweat and bodies, the air humid and thick with lust and enjoyment. Red downed his drink, setting it somewhere amongst the tables they passed on the way onto the floor. Their bodies quickly were pressed together by the crowd, Nicky in the middle surrounded by Red and Roy on both sides. Red kept Nicky in his grasp, letting Nicky grind and move against his body in time to the music while Roy did the same from behind. Roy was the first one to make a proper move, lips pressing against the nape of Nicky’s neck as they danced. One of Red’s hands moved to cup just under Nicky’s chin and around the taller's neck. Red’s eyes were green in the light of the club, bright and lustful making Nicky practically melt.

“Want to have some real fun, Cariño?”

Nicky nodded, moving to break them off the dancefloor and lead the two in a hurry towards the backroom. He pulled a key out of his packet on a keychain and unlocked what looked to be an older, lesser used office space for employees. It had a desk, a chair, some stock items, and most importantly a lock on the door.

Andrew and Neal entered the club, eyes scanning the crowd for their teammates or Roy. They couldn’t see anyone immediately, the night being busy and bodies mixing in a sea of colors, leather, and skin. They approached the bar, Andrew instantly knowing something was off. Roland looked like shit, his skin pale and clammy, hands shaking slightly as he made a drink as he nervously chewed on a straw.

Andrew put his hands on the counter harshly, startling Roland who looked up with wide eyes.

“What did he do, and where did he go?”

Roland gulped. He clearly didn't want to piss off Andrew by not responding, but also was obviously afraid of repercussions from Red.

“He knows my fucking name Andrew. My supplier’s name. Full government names. I ain’t fucking with that. He took three doses without even a flinch just to prevent his boy from getting any.”

Andrew watched Roland’s eyes as they flickered from Andrew to the back hallway. Bingo.

Dragging Neil behind him, Andrew moved around the bar to the hallway of employee only doors. These rooms stored alcohol, cleaning supplies, basically anything the establishment needed. It also served as a place Roland and Andrew used to frequent on breaks. Andrew hoped he wasn’t too late, but on hearing the moaning and grunting coming from behind the door to the office that hope was quickly squashed.

“Are they-”

“Fucking? Yes Neil. They’re fucking. We’re too late and I need a god damn smoke.”

Zipping up his fly, Red grinned at Roy and Nicky in a manic, wild smile.

“We should do that more often, ah?”

Nicky was in fucked out bliss, his mind all but not present as he slowly came down from the high. He leaned against the desk still, Roy already dressed again and moving to clean off any evidence both from Nicky and the desk.

Roy chuckled, gently moving some hair out of Nicky’s face.

“Maybe every once in a while. Don’t want to wear him out too much, you two still have to play after all.”

Nicky couldn’t help but lean into the touch, moving finally to stand upright with a wince. “It’s a worthy sacrifice. Who needs to walk? Pretty sure either of you could carry me.”

Roy snorts as Red moves to unlock the door. “Why don’ we head out and make this a bit more fun than just a dusty ass office? Not that I don’ love breakin’ rules and fuckin’ in public spaces, but you did mention you had a place nearby.”

Nicky nodded, leading the way out of the back room. “One more drink, then we can head to the house. I need one if were gonna go again.” Nicky approached Roland ordering a double shot while Red got the same and Roy got another, clean, water. Roland didn’t dare try anything this time, still pale from the previous actions and his interaction with a very pissed off Andrew.

Roland doesn’t warn them of Andrew and Neil being outside. He was sure they already knew.

One more drink became two, then three, the night passing by as they danced amongst the crowd. Nicky was wasted at this point, too wasted for Red or Roy to even consider another round of sex. Red was even feeling a bit of it himself, his head nicely buzzing as they all walked out of the club, Nicky propped up in between Red and Roy while singing Pink Pony Club.

Right next to their car however is the next challenge. Andrew and Neil stood next to it, Andrew smoking a cigarette while leaning against the vehicle. Roy gave a friendly wave with his free hand.

“Hey, you guys must be Andrew and Neil. Tayir told me about you guys.” Roy unlocked the car, Red moving to open the door and shift the seat forward for Nicky to scramble in the back.

Andrew glared at Red, Neil keeping his focus on Roy in the meantime. The door was closed, locking Nicky inside the car before the hovering silence was broken.

“What did I say about staying away from my people?” Andrew stood straight and tossed the end of his smoke on the ground. Red stood tall, eyes green in the night as he smirked.

“Look, I get it. You’re protective over your family an’ I'm an unknown threat. I understand that. But surely you’ve checked by now and found out my affiliation is legit. You know I ain’t riskin a gang war just to fuck with you guys.”

Andrew practically growled, stalking up to Red and getting chest to chest. He wasn’t intimidated by the height difference as he glared up at Red.

“We had a deal.”

“I never broke the deal. Nothing bad ‘appened to anyone of yours. Nicky wanted to fuck. I had full consent and nothin is planned now other than takin him to whatever house he has and putin him to bed. He is far too drunk to be doin anything with.” Andrew’s brown eyes scanned the others face to find the lie. To find the betrayal that was almost always waiting.

He found nothing but confidence.

“If you hurt him-”

“He won’t. You have my word on that.” Roy placed a hand on Red’s shoulder, looking at Andrew with truthful green eyes. “Red, just back down a bit yeah? We talked about this. We don’t want a fight, remember? Why don’t you let someone else take a turn and cool off.”

Red scoffed, eyes moving to look at Roy and filled suddenly with so much love that Andrew could barely handle it. When Red looked back at Andrew it clearly wasn’t Red anymore. His posture had started to slump a little, his eyes softer and more closed off, full of caution but hazy and confused.

“I- we won't hurt your people. That’s what this is about, right?” He looks at Roy, Roy's face softening in concern.

“Yeah baby. Andrew and Neil weren’t really a fan of you taking Nicky out. You with me?”

The man nods, rubbing a scarred hand over his face. “Yeah, yeah I remember everything. Just gets a bit fuzzy at the end. I’m good, Roy. Really.” Andrew noticed the man looked more tired in the eyes than the others. While Red was manic and annoyed, Tayir was snarky but quiet and obedient, the man in front of Andrew now seemed hesitant, cautious, but had a spark like he could be just as dangerous as Red if need be. It was the eyes of someone who had seen some shit and was working past it, slowly but surely.

“You’re the host.”

Neil watches everything carefully, being sure to keep his eyes mostly on Roy while Andrew deals with their teammate. Nathaniel is in his head speaking about threats and danger while Collin says to run from this unknown. Neil stays in place.

“I guess thats what it’s called.” Jason sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He clearly didn’t want to be dealing with this. “Look, I appreciate your concern for your cousin. If I was you and it was a sibling I would do the same shit. I promise, I’m not trying to play games with him or anything like that. You don’t trust me, which is valid, but I came here for an escape not to be up to my old shit.”

Jason and Andrew make eye contact for a moment before Andrew backs down a bit, shoulders settling slightly from their tensed position.

“You can follow me to the Columbia house. Nicky will get you lost like this.”

With that Andrew turned around and moved towards his car. Neil moved to follow, but had words spilling out before he could think about it.

“What’s your name?”

There’s a beat before Jason answers.

“....Jason.”

It takes a moment but everyone finally disperses to their cars. Jason got into the passenger seat, closing the door behind him with a groan before his fingers moved to rub against the bridge of his nose. Roy closed the door behind him, buckling himself in.

“You okay love?”

“Headache. I'm good. Nicky, are you alive back there?” Jason turned to look behind him at Nicky who just giggled. “Yeah he’s drunk.”

Roy chuckled as he pulled out of the parking lot and behind Andrews' car. Soon enough they were on the highway, a peaceful silence holding over the car other than the soft snores of a now dozing Nicky.

Roy hummed softly to a tune no one else could hear, eyes on the road as they traveled. It wasn’t a far drive, they should be there soon.

Roy flinched at the same time Jason sat up, eyes peeled for a danger they couldn’t see yet but only feel. Something had changed, the air tension or a vibe of some kind, but Jason and Roy were never wrong after these many years of being vigilantes.

“Pull over.” Roy was already getting into the right lane when Jason spoke. Pressing on the brake pedal though had his foot sinking down to the base. The breaks weren’t engaging. Roy moved quickly to engage the emergency break which moved loosely and without connection.

“Fuck- Jason the breaks-” Jason and Roy both looked ahead of them at the road, a curve coming up they they surely couldn’t make at this speed. Jason quickly turned to look behind them at Nicky, who was blearily looking at Jason and Roy. At least he was buckled in.

Jason looked back at the road, Roy already turning the wheel to try and drift the corner. It wouldn’t be the first time he had done it, but it was still a longshot. As the car began to turn, the curve coming up on the vehicle with alarming speed, Nicky finally started to realize something was wrong.

“Guys what-”

The car hit the guard rail, the sound of metal scratching and tearing through the side of the vehicle at it tipped over the edge. Roy held a hand against Jason’s chest as the car flung over the side, rolling down the edge of the hill with a sickening crunch and Nicky’s loud frantic scream.

As the car landed at the bottom, Andrew having seen from his rearview mirror and immediately turned around to park and hop out of the car, all that could be heard was the silence of night.

Chapter Text

Jason remembered smoke.

The burning embers of a warehouse as the bomb went off, the rubble crushing the life out of him, his last breaths squeezing out through hole filled lungs as his body, shattered and broken, became one with the other side-

He wasn’t dead though, so why was there smoke?

His eyes flash open, neon green as the Lazarus pit activates in his veins advancing his healing.

The world was upside down, vision only showing a shattered windshield, smoke, and blood. Blood?

He moved his hand, arm popping painfully as it relocated itself, to touch his face. Ah, head wound. The cut against his temple was deep but already slowing in the bleeding.

Roy and Nicky

Shit

Jason’s head spins cautiously to the side as he looks over at his husband, the man’s red hair matted to his forehead with the heat of the car. His right arm was twisted at the elbow, possibly broken or out of place. His airbag had deployed, now deflated and covered in shards of glass. They were upside down, the car had flipped. Roy was hanging from his seatbelt, the world having not come back to him yet.

The rearview mirror was gone, lost somewhere in the tumble and crushing of metal. The windshield was shattered and missing in one part, a stump or tree or rock having more than likely gone through it. All of the side windows had spider-like cracks around them. Turning to see Nicky was a pain, his back and neck protesting severely. He had it worse though and pushed through the black spots to lay eyes on Nicky.

Nicky was half conscious, his brain having been rattled, but other than a cut on his cheek and some scrapes from debris seemed relatively unharmed. The vehicle was luckily sturdy enough not to have fully collapsed in on itself.

Jason tried to reach his pocket knife from the center console but the lid had popped open, spilling all of the various contents across the ceiling of the vehicle. He couldn't reach, hand not even coming close. Fuck.

He could hear noise outside the vehicle, bodies sliding down the hillside. He couldn’t reach his knife but he could reach the pistol attached to the side of his chair. Pulling it he aimed out his window in the direction of the sounds, finger on the trigger and safety off. He didn’t know who had caused this but Jason was sure it wasn’t Roy’s mechanic skills.

Andrew was the one who’s face showed up in the window, his normally apathetic face showing hints of panic for his cousin. The goalkeeper’s brown eyes latched onto the gun immediately, hands going into a raised position like when dealing with a cornered animal.

Jason sighed, moving to lower the gun and take his finger off the trigger.

“Don’t fuckin’ come up like that.” Jason growled, gun still out just in case. Whoever did this was probably watching. He moved with one hand to hit the button on the door to unlock the car, hoping the mechanism wasn’t broken from the crash. Luckily Andrew was able to pull the door open with only a bit of force despite how mangled it looked on the outside.

Andrew’s eyes instantly went to Nicky as he assessed the situation. Neil looked over Andrew’s shoulder, eyes calculating and full of worry. Before Jason could be questioned, he let a report spill through his lips as if he was debriefing Batman all over again.

“Main and emergency brakes were cut. The area is not secured. In the back only minor lacerations, possible whiplash or concussion. Driver broken or dislocated elbow, head wound, lacerations. Self-report concussion, lacerations already healing, dislocated arm already reset, back and neck pain muscular not skeletal.”

Andrew took in the information passively, eyes not leaving Nicky in the back. Neil spoke up, voice strong despite clear trauma flashing in his eyes that Jason did not have time to unpack.

“Ambulance is on the way.”

Jason’s eyes flicked to the tree line behind the two men.

“Wake up Roy. This wasn’t an accident and someone is going to try to finish the job. You two need to wake him up and get out of here before they show up.”

Andrew knew there was no chance of getting Nicky out without getting at least Jason out first. There didn't seem to be much time to think about it. Neil ran to the other side of the car, opening the door and shaking the red haired man. Roy groaned, eyes fluttering open slowly before shooting open in panic.

Meanwhile Andrew produced a knife from his sleeve, slipping it underneath Jason’s seatbelt. He waited until Jason gave a nod of acknowledgment before cutting the safety device. Jason was hurt, but he wasn’t hurt enough to not be able to control his descent from the chair. Quickly he moved to get Roy out of the seatbelt in a similar manner.

Roy locked eyes with his husband, with Jason, Green eyes meeting a brighter neon green. After years of working together they had become able to communicate fairly efficiently in silence. Neil moved out of the way, Roy stumbling out and Jason quickly following behind as Andrew and Neil worked on getting out a very confused Nicky. Jason’s gun was trained on the woods behind them as Roy grabbed a hidden compound bow from the compartment he built in the center console. The bow unfolded, undamaged thanks to its secured location. Out came with it multiple arrows, one quickly being loaded in as Roy moved to the other side of the car. His elbow was clearly broken, but Roy was able to move past the pain. He had enough practice after all. He held the bow in that hand, pulling back with the other to put the least amount of strain on the injured arm.

Roy broke the silence first. “We need to get Nicky and you two up top into the streetlights. Easier to avoid an attack. Red, have you got a plan yet?”

Red nodded, eyes still bright green in the darkness. “You and Andrew go up first just in case of enemies. Neil follows after the all clear with Nicky. I’ll head up the rear behind them.”

Andrew’s eyes locked on Roy as he assessed the situation. As he assessed the bow in Roy’s hands. He remembered reading about the Star City billionaire washout addict. He didn’t remember reading about combat training. Despite that, Roy clearly looked like this was not his first time in a situation like this. Trusting his gut, Andrew nodded to Neil who held a quickly sobering Nicky upright. Instead of Neil looking back at him, Nathaniel did with hard eyes and a  calculating gaze. He had come to the same conclusion.

“Give me a knife.”

Nathaniel's voice was strong and unwavering, the british lilt to it old and faded with time. He held a hand out to Andrew who produced a second knife, handing it over without question.

Nathaniel and Red made eye contact. It wasn’t the first time they had done so, but it was the first with Tayir’s eyes glowing eerie green. A green that Nathaniel knew instantly like a stab in the heart.

“Lazarus green. You really are full of surprises, huh Red?”

Red smirked, eyes never leaving the wood line.

“Nate nate nate. You and I both know I have plenty more where that came from. Did you tell Stuart I said hi? He still owes me a favor for that last job I helped him out on.”

Andrew watched, dots clicking in his head. Dots he didn't have time to study or figure out right now as the snap of a branch could be heard. His gun spun around to the sound, eyes trained and hands unwavering as Roy and Andrew moved to start ascending the slippery side of the hill. Red stayed up front, Neil moving to slide Nicky’s arm around Neil’s shoulder for support. Nicky was clearly still drunk and concussed, his coordination not the best but manageable with Neil’s assistance. With Nathaniels.

As Andrew and Roy rose past the mangled metal guardrail, Roy’s bow scanned the area. Seeing two black vehicles coming down the highway, Roy shoved Andrew’s head back down as he took aim. The closer the vehicles got, the clearer it was that they were here for business, not to help. Roy was about to shoot when the sound of an ambulance could be heard echoing off the miles of silent forest. The sound was a relief, most attackers going after someone in an area like this would avoid stopping if paramedics were already nearby in an effort  not to be seen.

Roy’s intuition was correct, the cars speeding up and moving fast past the accident. Grabbing a tracker arrow from the small bundle he quickly shot it at the back of the second vehicle, the tracker sticking as the arrow stem fell off. After waiting to be sure they were gone, both men climbed up before Andrew shouted down the all clear.

As Neil and Nicky began their ascent Red stepped towards the forest. Something was watching them, he could feel it in his bones. Someone was there, multiple people if he was correct about his assumption.

A shadow flicked and the glint of something metallic caught Red’s trained eyes.

He took the shot, the echo of the pistol reverberating between the trees as a body fell amongst the leaf litter with a wet smack. Nathaniel kept moving, trusting his back to Red as Andrew watched down the hill. He heard the gunshot, of course he did, but Roy didn’t seem disturbed. He was actually grinning, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings as he waited for a fight.

“He knows what he’s doing. Don’t worry, he and I have been in situations much worse than this.”

Andrew turned to study Roy’s face. The trained eyes. The bow. The experience. His relations to Gotham. Known associates of the Red Hood.

“I would assume so, considering you’re Arsenal and he is Red Hood.”

Roy didn't freeze like Andrew expected. Instead, he laughed. “Wow you are as smart as Tayir said. Next thing you’ll know all the other vigilantes secrets. You remind me of a few birds I know. Careful with that knowledge. You know what he is capable of, what I’m capable of. Imagine what would happen to you and your rabbit if you messed with his family.”

Nathaniel and Nicky arrived at the guardrail, Andrew moving to help pull both of them up as more shots fired from down below. Roy collapsed his bow as he heard the ambulance right around the corner. One last shot was heard before Red began to climb with a shout of all clear. He was up the hill quickly since he didn’t have to wait on another person, smelling faintly of gunpowder as he moved towards the Maz.

“Andrew!”

Getting the blondes attention, Red waved his pistol in the air. Andrew sighed, unlocking the car as Roy threw his bow and quiver to Red, who quickly stashed them behind his back as the ambulance pulled around. As the paramedics stopped, Red fading into Jason stashed the weapons under the passenger seat.

Roy waved at the paramedics with his good arm as Red  Jason approached the group to stand by Roy’s side. Andrew migrated to Nathaniel as the paramedics began to assess the damage. Deeming all three people in need of treatment they strapped Nicky to the gurney, lifting him into the ambulance with Roy and Jason sitting at the side. Andrew and Neil climbed into the Mazeratti as police pulled up, being debriefed by the lead paramedic.

Neil blinked back into focus, eyes looking at Andrew’s tight face.

“Who’s gonna call Wymack?”

“Neil, do you remember anything that just happened?”

“Vaguely. I think Nathaniel was handling it. They’re just going to the hospital after the crash, right?”

Andrew shook his head as he turned the car on. “Someone cut the breaks. Tayir, Jason, is much deeper ingrained into The Red Hood gang as we thought.”

Neil blinked for a moment, thinking through things for a moment before his jaw dropped.

“No. Don’t tell me. Drew you can’t be serious. Is he-”

“Yep. And Roy is a vigilante from Star. And that means their whole circle of friends, if we ever see any, are all probably vigilante’s too.”

Neil slammed his head against the leather seat of the car. “Fuck me. Fuck this.”

Andrew lit a cigarette as the ambulance began to pull away, Andrew following after them. Andrew pulled out his phone, the bluetooth routing it through the car as Wymack’s phone rang. The man picked up after three rings, his voice grouchy and clearly half asleep.

“Fuck Minyard this better be good.”

“Nicky was out with Tayir and his husband. Car wreck, they're headed to Columbia Memorial. It seemed like Tayir’s husband got the worst of it.”

There was silence on the other side before Wymack groaned, clearly sitting up from bed. “I’ll be there within an hour. I’ll grab Abby on my way. Don’t kill any hospital staff in the meantime. And don't let Tayir kill any either.” The phone line went dead, soon replaced by Andrew’s spotify. Run boy Run by Woodkid was playing. Andrew couldn't help but think how appropriate it was.