Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gotham was a beautiful city with her rain casting a glistening night as it distracted from the way her veins overflowing with never-ending crime and blood soaked streets. She was home to the worst of the worst, the damned and the ugly nature of humanity that hid in her corners and dark shadows. But she was also welcoming to all for no matter what walk of life you came from, she had a place for everyone somewhere in her depths.

It's the reason that Jason could never truly leave Gotham, why he kept returning even though the city had broken him down time and time again. It was home, in all its ugly glory. The streets had shaped him as much as they had broken him, the rooftops full of memories of lighter times and brighter days as they were of bruises and blood he’d shed.

He’d only been back a week, lying low as he surveyed the Alley more than the rest of the city to see what all had changed. He needed to figure out how much effort he’d need to put into taking the reins of his territory once more.

Crime Alley was a cesspool of vermin and he had spent several months to completely take control last time. The Alley was split between three small gangs, each unorganized, violent and without a care for what went through the streets. He was expecting that, knowing his leaving would cause the influx of those he drove out last time to come flooding back in. What he wasn’t expecting was to see so many new kids in masks running around by themselves.

He’d picked up on their names, at least their vigilante names, from listening in on them. They were undertrained, unaware of their surroundings and sloppy.

It pissed Jason off.

What the hell was Bruce doing?

He could accept that Bruce couldn’t save him. (He never blamed his death on Bruce but he’d never believe him and that was apparent since he had last told him) Could accept that he was replaced, that there would always be more kids to fill the shoes of Robin and he was powerless to stop it from reoccurring no matter how much he hated to see another kid made into a soldier. But he thought that maybe his death had meant something.

That maybe Bruce would take an extra second and at least make sure the next kid wearing a mask was properly trained. That they were watched more closely so there’d be no more headstones belonging to children that were made into child soldiers to be remembered as a warning and not as the kid they were.

The new Robin, he knew about. Not Tim Drake but of Damain. (Jason wondered if he was using Al Ghul or if it was just Wayne now). Jason had spent years with the kid and he knew that Damian would be fine with his training but he doubted that Bruce had accepted him. Jason knew first hand how that scorn had felt and he worried for Damian. (It was the real reason he had returned, once he had seen that there was a new Robin that used a katana. Jason had spent little time making a plan of action and instead returned to the city with a loss of what to do once he was back.)

He knew Damain was trained well enough to take over the Robin mantle, no matter how much he had hated that the kid was wearing those colours. (It was always an ongoing argument he had with Talia enough times that he knew there was no changing her mind on her plans with him. He couldn’t stand by and watch her hand him off to Bruce, something inevitable that he knew he couldn’t change no matter how much he had begged her, so he’d left before that happened. She had refused to allow him to take Damian with him and they’d parted on tense terms.)

But these new kids?

While sure, they could fight and hold their own through pure determination, none of them were properly trained like he was. They’d take hits and often only finish their fights through luck that the criminals they cornered were mostly low level thugs. Hell, they looked like they barely even knew how to use the tools that they did have.

Jason had only been gone from Gotham for two years.

Yet he seen as each of the kids patrolled alone in the rotten underbelly that was Crime Alley, all of them with so little special awareness that they didn’t notice him observing them. The armatures in expensive suits seemed to be the ones patrolling the area, sticking close to it and barely straying too far into Gotham unless if there was a bigger situation going down.

That was going to be a problem, if they were going to be hanging around while he put his plans of taking back the Alley into action.  

Great, just another one of Bruce’s problems for Jason to deal with while rebuilding his gang.

Three more weeks had passed since Jason returned. He’d started making whispers about Red Hood returning by showing up at different deals and locations and only sticking around long enough for the gangs in the area to catch sight of him.

Unfortunately, that meant that Bruce had to have been starting to hear about it as well. Not that he really cared if he ran into the man again, Jason knew there was no way for the two of them to see eye to eye. Bruce would always see him as irredeemable as Jason would always see Bruce as someone who had failed to avenge him.

He was more worried if Bruce would bring Robin with him, because Damian would be able to tell it was him immediately. While it would be nice to see his little brother again, Jason knew that their reunion would only bring more attention to him and he didn’t need that until he had his position firm enough that he could recover from a confrontation with Bruce.

Thankfully Jason was skilled at avoiding Bruce, he’d ran the Alley for almost half a year before he put his last interaction with him into motion last time. Bruce and the others working alongside him all followed rotating schedules that didn’t really change all that much from when he was last in the city.

He had more than enough time to gather notes on all the sidekicks that jumped around the city and honestly, Jason had to wonder if Bruce had learnt absolutely nothing from the last time he was there.

Signal patrolled during the day, starting near the Narrows and working his way through until reaching the border of the Alley, then going through the busier streets of Gotham until 8pm. From there, he’d make his way back to the Narrows before disappearing. Jason was surprised to see a meta, (Bruce finally pulled his head out of his ass about his opinions on metas, huh?) though it looked like the kid wasn’t sure how to use his powers properly yet. He relied more on pure brawling than his powers, only using them to hide himself or to catch an opponent off guard. (Jason had no idea what his powers were, he was only guessing from his observations.)

Bluebird and Spoiler would take over the night shift, often going down to the docks before jumping across the rooftops of the Alley. They’d then travel to wherever Oracle pointed them, often deeper into Gotham’s downtown area.

Out of the two of them, Bluebird appeared less than Spoiler. She also seemed to stick close to the Narrows and leaned heavy on using tools in her arsenal to make up for her lack of fighting skills. She was smart in that regard, although he had seen her bite off more than she could chew quite a few times and if it wasn’t for her use of tools, she’d been eaten alive. She concerned him.

Spoiler was brash, but she was also the one who appeared to be the most trained. She clung to the shadows and often made a loud appearance, catching the criminals off guard as she took them on. She was quick on her feet, trash talking her opponents to use their anger and rage against them as they grew sloppy to giver her time to counter them.

While she was good at turning the tables in her favor, if she ever ran into someone who wouldn’t rise to the bait, she’d be in trouble. Spoiler was the most trained but her inexperience was obvious to anyone who’d study her move set. She survived this long because most of the more dangerous villains went after Batman, Nightwing or even Red Robin(Replacement really hung onto the Robin identity) but that didn’t mean someone more experienced in fighting vigilantes wouldn’t show up one day.

It was beyond irresponsible. 

Jason took note of their routines, deciding that the new masks didn't really post a threat but more of a nuisance. He’d figure out how to deal with them later, for now he was busy with his own business.

It wasn’t hard to find out what had happened to all the men who worked under him before. They had scattered; some going to the new gangs that had popped up in his absence, some fleeing to other groups, a few succumbing to the streets and his most loyal henchmen lying low. When the whispered of Red Hood returning had begun, Jason didn’t have to do much and could sit back while everything fell into place.

Chapter Text

“Hey.”

Looking up from the gadgets she was tinkering with, Harper looked over to Steph as she jumped over the railings. It was a rare quiet night in Gotham- not much happening in Crime Alley and besides the few robberies Oracle sent them to stop, there wasn’t much to do.

It was slow and much appreciated from the usual chaotic mess. Much less being shot at and Harper didn’t mind since it gave her time to pull out her tools from a tall building and out of sight.

“You already done?” Harper nodded in greeting and had asked as she went back to what she was working on. The big bat hated it whenever she messed with his tech, which she took offence too. She made many of his gadgets better, though she hadn’t shared much of the upgrades with him. He was stubborn and particular about how he wanted his tech to work, not that she couldn’t share the thought but why have more when you can have less that do more?

She barely went to the cave and often forgone switching to the main comm lines unless it was a busy night and Oracle needed all hands on deck. Besides Black Bat and Steph, she really didn’t see any reason to return to the cave. She’s been doing fine on her own, plus she always ran into someone at least once a night so it wasn’t like she was completely unreachable.

An occasional trip for her suit replacements and the debriefs after a big case was all she returned for. The cave was uncomfortable as it was breathtaking. Which most things were when it came to Batman, if she was honest.

Steph was the only one who understood where she was coming from, since Harper had seen the blonde arguing with the Bat from time to time. Hmmm, now that she thought about it, maybe that new kid, the daytime one, would get it too. But she’s never talked to him, so it wasn’t like she was going to go out of her way to meet him.

“Yeah, it’s been quiet.” Steph leant against the wall beside her, taking her hood down as her hair swayed with the calm wind. The two stayed there for a few minutes, the cool chill of the night nice after the humidity of the recent days enjoyed between them in comfortable silence.

“Nightwing and Red Robin are fine with taking over if you two want to turn in.”

Harper snorted, putting the small screwdriver she had back in her belt along with the sensor she was working on. It was a short range emp device she had nabbed from the cave, the last time she was there. She highly doubted anyone besides Oracle and Spoiler knew she was out tonight. 

Steph shot her a look as she brought her hand up to tap her comm to reply. “Sounds good, ‘night O.”

Yanking the earpiece after turning it off, Harper raised her hands above her head to stretch. She had been slouched over for the past however long she had been there, her upper back sore now that she wasn’t so focused on the small device. Switching her mask back from night vision mode, she was glad she chose such a good spot. The light from the large neon sign across the street was a nice yellow instead of the blinding LEDs of downtown Gotham.

Waiting for Steph to finish up, Harper rolled her shoulders and stared up at the sky lit up from the lights of the city. It was obvious that she wanted to talk about something- Spoiler had to have tracked her down since Harper didn’t usually patrol the down in the business end of the city. Harper was interested on what and why she had sought her out. It wasn’t a regular occurrence that Steph would come to her alone, or at least without Cass.

“So… what’s up?” Harper asked as Steph took her earpiece out.

“You’re off comms, right?”

Nodding her head, Harper pulled her earpiece out from her pocket and held it with her gloved hand. “I turned it off while you were busy talking to Oracle.”

“You’re from the Alley, right? You know what I’m talking about then.” Sighing, Steph looked off in the distance towards the area. “I grew up and still live there, so I know what it’s like. You know how a few years ago the Alley felt more, I don’t know, safe?”

Ah, yeah. Harper remembers that, Marcus’s alcoholism grew worse because of it. He hated how his shitty behaviour wasn’t allowed in public anymore. “Yeah.” She replies, wondering where Steph is going with this. Bringing up their private lives out in the open like this, at least with their masks on, wasn’t something that was normally done.

Unless if you wanted to have Batman to show up and start lecturing you on the safety of keeping you’re information private.

Looking back at her, Steph crosses her arms over her midsection with a frown. “Then you remember Red Hood, right?”

Slowly, Harper nods.

Where was she going with this?

He had shown up and in less than year he had cleaned up the place. Sure, it was still a shit hole and the only place in the city where drugs were sold on almost every corner- but kids were playing on the streets and parks again. Cullen and Harper were able to go outside and spend the nights at the parks or even just walking around without the fear of someone trying to grab them. It wasn’t safe, but they could walk around with a knife and not have to use it.

And it had all been because of the new crime boss that had shown up. Everyone had heard the story of him showing up to a meeting with a duffel bag full of severed heads, (it could have been an exaggeration, but this was Gotham, there might have been truth in it) how he had singlehandedly cleaned the drugs up from being sold to kids. She knew the members of his looked out for the kids and elderly in the area, they had started hiding their activities from the public unlike the gangs before who’d flash guns at strangers who looked at them.

The Red Hood gang was a gang, everyone knew that- but they were also protecting the area. They kept the kids safe, kept other villains out of the area and didn’t allow for the prostitutes to be beaten or killed. (Harper was close to some of those who had died, who had protected her as a kid when she ran out of the house bruised and kicked out for fighting back.) It was an unspoken agreement to not talk about them and bother them and they’d leave you alone.

She had always had appreciated the guy for cleaning up the area and making the cracked streets she grew up in feel more like a community. She kept that same appreciation up to recent days, even if his absence made things worse. He had tried. And while it allowed a lot of people to feel a sense of safety, when the boss left, everyone in the neighbourhoods felt it. The Alley somehow ended up a worse area than it was before his arrival.

She didn’t blame him, who would? It was Gotham. It was the Alley, the Narrows, the Bowery- all the swine infested districts that those who weren’t raised or lived in stayed away from.

Batman didn’t understand what it meant to live there, that much was obvious before she had joined him.

By jailing more and more gang members, it only made their retaliations worse and they didn’t care about who was caught in the crossfire or who was dragged into it. That was what had really pushed her to taking up her mantle of Bluebird, she didn’t want Cullen getting hurt.

Regardless of the fact that he’d grow angry with her about babying him if he knew her true motivations.

“Yeah, I remember him.”

“Then you must have heard that he’s back, right?”

That, she didn’t know. It must’ve shown on her face because Steph shrugged as she grabbed out her grapple gun and began to fiddle with the handle. “I’ve been overhearing different people talk about it for a while. And since the streets were growing more and more, I dunno, chill? Lately, I kind of figured there has to be some truth in the rumors. But I’m… conflicted? I guess.”

“You don’t want to report it because he does good despite being a criminal or you don’t want to ruin what trust the Bat has for you?”

Even behind her mask, the look of offence on Steph’s face was obvious with the way her eyes and eyebrows snapped to her. “Ew, no. I don’t care what he thinks, I just don’t want to get involved with whatever happens between the two.”

The silent implication wasn’t lost on Harper. Pushing her hair out of her face, Harper walked over so she was beside the blonde. She could feel the blue eyes on her, watching her every move but it didn’t matter. “I’m not saying shit. I don’t care if they ask me, I’d rather the streets be ruled by some crazed maniac who doesn’t hurt kids than the shitty gangs who recruit kids. Really, aren’t we the same, minus the crime and killing?”

“… Fair enough.” Came the quiet reply after a long pause.

Enjoying a day true off, both from her vigilante work and her regular job, Harper quietly left her apartment to not wake Cullen. She didn’t want him to wake up otherwise he’d ask to come along and while it may have been a while since she’d been out at night, she didn’t want him following her tonight. Besides, he had school the next day.

As soon as the door was locked behind her, she wasted no time in making her way to the stair well and throwing on her boots. She doesn’t care what anyone says, steel toe boots were more comfortable than the sneakers her brother kept insisting were better. The only thing she’d admit to him were that the sneakers were quieter but that was about it.

Once her boots hit the concrete after leaving the building, she shoved her hands in her sweater pockets as she made her way through the streets.

Her conversation with Steph the night before had reminded her of Candice, an omega prostitute who had always patched her up when Marcus didn’t hold back on his hits. The older woman and her friends, Roxy, Marlene and Kat had all looked after her when she was thrown out. The crates behind the dumpsters in the alley they worked had become a second home as they had all cooed and looked after her. They never pried, never asked her to explain or treat her like she was a stupid kid. They treated her like family and it had meant so much more to her than she’d admit, memories of her time with them were full of warmth.

She hadn’t seen any of them for a while now, barely had time to glance down at them from the rooftops once she got sucked into the world of balancing her regular life and her vigilante work. Everything was sort of pushed to the side at first and it wasn’t until recently that she had finally started to get her shit together.

There was a bit of guilt for not seeing them sooner, but she knew the girls wouldn’t hold it against her. Hell, they had all pretty much saw her as their kid, scenting her each time she showed up and hiding her behind them so no one would bother her.

Though, that was almost two years ago, before she presented. She wonders if that’ll change things, though she doubts that even with the scent patches she has on that they won’t be able to tell what she is. She never felt shame about being an alpha but it now made her grow a bit nervous as she grew closer to where the street their alley was on. She knew and seen how alphas had treated them, had seen them grabbed and thrown around despite them trying to shield her from the violence.

Harper slowed her steps.

Maybe she should just watch from afar.

Maybe they had forgotten about her.

Maybe they had died.

She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts and the self doubt that crept in. She didn’t want to think about that.

Because if they did die, then it may not have been her fault- but she was patrolling, and she didn’t stop it from happening. She didn’t check in with them to see if they were safe, did she?

Making her way around the corner, she caught sight of the street and the alley where women stood outside the brothel. Harper couldn’t help but shrink back slightly as her eyes scanned the group in hopes of seeing someone familiar and froze.

There in the front of the alley, stood Red Hood talking with the group of girls. Both the girls and him had comfortable stances, no one defensive or aggressive. Quickly pulling herself back around the corner, she watched while being unable to hear anything but the girls laughing. She saw one of them swat his arm playfully while saying something that she couldn’t make out.

His voice sounded distorted, a voice modulator?

She watched for less than five minutes, the same friendly air was present until he slunk further into the alley and out of sight to leave- at least she assumes so from the quiet that settles over the girls as they continue talking to each other.

Harper… Wasn’t sure what to make of that.

At least that confirmed what Steph was saying. Still, she didn’t think she’d catch sight of him from her own eyes.

Pulling herself back around the corner, she wondered what to think of that entire situation. She was only 14 when he ran the Alley, she wasn’t involved as deeply in crime intel as she was now. At the time, her only concern was protecting Cullen from Marcus and how to make money so they could afford food. It wasn’t until she went out as Bluebird did she even start paying attention to any of the finer details of the streets, so in reality, she knew nothing of Red Hood.

That was probably why Steph seemed so unsure about everything, she had been Spoiler by the time Red Hood was around last time.

At least, she thinks so.

…

Harper isn’t entirely sure.

Huh.

Well, she probably looked like a creep standing on the corner and her brain didn’t want to focus too hard on that. She’d maybe talk to Steph later.

Or not, they weren’t too close, who knows.

Harper wasn’t really sure what she was expecting when she finally rounded the corner. The girls were chatting amongst themselves and they didn’t look her way until she got closer. Harper hoped she at least saw one familiar face, otherwise she wasn’t sure how she’d explain herself.

“Hi, I used to show up with black eyes and the women here looked after me since I had nowhere to go?”

Thankfully, she saw the familiar warm brown eyes of Marlene catch hers. The woman looked shocked which quickly morphed into a bright smile as she waved Harper over. “Darling! I haven’t seen you in so long, I’m glad you’re doing okay!”

Harper let herself be pulled into a hug, flinching at the overwhelming and enticing scent of an excited omega. She knew they were omega, sure but that was before she had presented. She didn’t remember them smelling so overwhelmingly sweet and desirable, only warm and comforting. It didn’t seem like Marlene noticed her flinch or the way she held her breath and if she did, she didn’t say anything.

Pulling back from the hug, Marlene’s warm hands cupped Harper’s face as she studied her. “Candy was so worried you were killed or taken in by the state. I’m glad to see you still kicking around, kid.”

Harper let herself melt into the gentle hands on her, eyes fluttering close as she enjoyed the comfort of familiarity wash over her. That overly sweet scent changing into something less… enticing and more comforting. “It’s been a rough few years. I graduated early and found a job- where is Candy and the others anyways?”

Marlene gently tugged Harper along further into the alley and away from the street, finding the crates stacked against the wall behind the dumpsters where some other girls were sitting and smoking. Marlene sat Harper down as she lit a cigarette with one hand, the other reaching back out to pet Harper’s hair. “Candy don’t come out much anymore, she was able to find an actual job after she got clean. Most of the others are either inside working or out on a job.”

Harper paused at the wording and opened her eyes.

‘Most of them’

That felt deliberate and by the way Marlene was watching her when Harper finally dragged her graze up at her, the expression of regret was clear on her face and the frown pulling at the corner of her mouth said it all.

She had to ask anyways. “Most of the girls?”

Marlene sighed, pulling her hand back to push back her own hair before sitting down next to Harper and leaning so their shoulders touched. “You remember Roxy? After… Things change in the Alley. At the time you used to come by, it had gotten a bit safer. We had gotten used to not having anyone try and force us to work for them, y’know?”

“We got comfortable and then Hood left- he kind of ran things at the time- and shit got rough- you know about him, right? He was that guy who used to drop off snacks for you and the other kids who hung around here. It was a long time ago and he barely stopped by when you were here, it’s okay if you don’t remember- after he left, the old and new gangs came back. The brothel was the only thing they couldn’t touch and they hated it. So they ended up forcing us working outside to work for them.” Marlene took another drag of her cigarette, looking forward but her eyes weren’t focused on anything. “Roxy was the oldest of us, 36, and she wanted to make sure none of us had to deal with that.”

Looking down at her hands, Harper felt as defeated as Marlene’s sounded. She tried to ignore the regret/sad/mourning that rolled off her in waves. “I’m sorry.”

Snapping her head to Harper, Marlene shook her head. “No, I’m glad you didn’t come by during that time. It was dangerous, half the time we ended up agreeing to the conditions because we were so strapped for cash since they stopped clients from coming around. Plus, it was better than having one of the Bats trying to arrest them and only painting targets on our backs.”

Marlene put her arm around Harper, pulling her into a half hug. They stayed like that for a while, Harper digesting everything she was told until a snort of amusement came from Marlene. “You probably shouldn’t come by here unless if you want to be triggered into a rut or become a customer ‘till you get used to being around omegas.” She whispered teasingly.

Feeling her face flush. Harper pulled away from her and stared at Marlene with a mix of confusion and shock.

Chuckling, Marlene shook her head and patted Harper on the shoulder. “Kid, I’ve been around alphas enough to know when someone is hiding it, even with the scent patches. Aaand,” Marlene looked her up and down in a dramatic fashion before finishing with a teasing grin. ” -you’ve filled out, you used to be a scrawny kid with barely any muscle.”

Groaning, Harper put her face in her hands. “Is it that obvious?”

A (patronizing) coo followed by laughter was her reply.

The thing about being the only one who regularly patrolled alone meant that Duke saw things that was often overlooked at night but was glaringly obvious in the light. Growing up in the Narrows, Duke knew the importance of knowing what was going on in the streets to survive. Knowing who and what to avoid wasn’t just a means to survive, it was a way of knowing who was safe and who was associated with the gangs running the neighbourhoods.

All this to say, Duke had noticed the recent changes going on. He had heard the name Red Hood whispered like a ghost story through the Alley before, a common chatter amongst criminals from low level thugs to higher ‘clean’ criminals.

Usually, he’d bring something like this to Batman’s attention but he wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted Batman digging his hands into it just yet. Not when Duke had been doing his own investigating whenever the chance presented itself.

And boy, did he have some conflicting feelings about it.

Red Hood was an elusive figure, a myth and ghost story that was told through all the neighbourhoods the Alley encompassed. The weird thing about it though, was the depending on who you asked, the stories about Red Hood would vary. The younger people praised him and admired him, the middle aged people found him annoying and the oldest thought him a joke. Which wasn’t all that unusual for more crime families, but the guy wasn’t tied to any of them. He wasn’t even that well known, a blip on the radar when he really started sneaking around to find out more.  

The difference in opinion had ended up with Duke spending an evening in the cave (after everyone had left, he didn’t want to alert Batman if it ended up just being whispers on the street) digging through what files existed. For once, he was thankful for the endless paranoia and Bruce’s need to know everything about everyone.

Only to find that Batman had dealt with Red Hood a few years before.

There were several reports he had uncovered after searching through the computer. They were large file and Duke decided to work backwards, going to the oldest files to the newest ones since he was going to be reading through a lot.

Between reading through some rather boring reports made from Bruce’s early days, Duke had to keep an eye for Alfred. Getting caught by Alfred will only leave him having to explain what he’s doing which will get back to Bruce.

And okay, Duke wants to do his own investigations.

He feels a little useless whenever he hears about the big cases that he hears everyone else talking about. Even Damian is included on the big cases while Duke is lucky to maybe have a patrol with Dick or Steph. It’s a little annoying being the only one with meta powers and somehow being treated like a child when they literally take Damian out.

Groaning, Duke sinks into the chair and rubs his eyes. The more he reads, the more he’s confused.

Or he’s tired because he’s been awake since 7 a.m and it’s now almost 2 a.m.

God, is this what it’s like for Tim?

Shuddering at the thought, Duke closes the older files and opens the more recent ones. As he scans them, Duke realizes they’ve been modified. There are chunks of it missing, specifically about the possibly identity behind Hood. Others haven’t been updated past the first time they were entered in. There was something very calculated about the way information was missing and it didn’t seem good.

What exactly is going on?

“You good, kid?”

Damian’s sharp eyes snapping up to him was the only response Duke got as he sat down beside the younger boy on the bench.

Moving into the manor had been a change Duke had been prepared for. While he had allowed for Bruce to take guardianship over him, he doesn’t think he will ever really feel comfortable in the manor with all its purposely placed decor and expensive marble floors that glisten from the chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings. That was something he had made peace with, knowing that no matter how welcoming everyone at the manor was, Duke always felt slightly out of place. (It felt more like a show home, and he wondered if the others felt the same since it was almost always empty.)

The biggest change he had argued about but eventually ended up losing was changing schools.

Duke hated Gotham Academy.

Going from his public school in the Narrows to the Academy, where his uniform was mandatory and he was scrutinized by other teens who cam from the wealthy upper class wasn't something he wanted. At least he wasn't alone in hating the Academy and its stuffy walls. Damian hated it too, for different reasons mind you, and was far more vocal about his distaste whenever asked about it by Bruce or Alfred. 

The two of them stuck out in different ways- Damian in his unfriendliness and fights he often found himself in while for Duke, it was being seen as a pity project. It was obvious in the way the other kids would stare and whisper about him, but he really could care less.

Yet though all the changes in Duke’s life, he had found himself getting along with Damian a lot more than he initially thought when they had first met. They often found each other when they had breaks, lunch periods and occasional times when they’d skip classes.

“You were in the cave late last night.” Damian stated, flipping the page to the manga he was reading.

“Mmm.” Duke hummed as he grabbed the book out of the kid’s hands and ignored the growl it earned him. “Nana, huh?”

“Give it-“ Damian yanked the paperback out of Duke’s hand, snarling at him.

“I was reading up on something that I caught wind of.” He replied easily, sliding down on the bench as he ignores the stares they receive by passersby.

“The screen was still on when I returned from patrol.” Damian muttered, flipping through the pages until he found his spot once more. “Any reason you’re keeping quiet and trying to hide whatever you are investigating?”

Duke looked directly in the eyes to a group of girls whispering across the courtyard, making them freeze before quickly walking somewhere else. “I don’t think I should bring it up with Bruce, not yet.”

He could feel the piercing gaze on him before he turned his head to level his own stare at Damian, eyebrow raised. He knew that inquisitive look was going to lead nowhere good.

Duke sat across from Damian as they shared a plate of fries in some small dinner near the outskirts of downtown Gotham. After stopping by one of the safe houses nearby to change into more casual clothes, Duke knew he wasn’t going to be able to keep his findings to himself. Not when Damian was aware that he had been investigating something and keeping it from Bruce- the kid was sharp and he’d figure out what it was with or without Duke’s cooperation.

‘Brat.’

Thankfully the dinner was loud with a mix of music, chatter of other guests and the clanging from the kitchen so they wouldn’t be overheard. Duke had chosen a corner booth, tucked away in a corner and where they could both see the entirety of the floorplan, including the doors.

“Explain, what were you looking into?” Damain asks, grabbing another fry he swears he hates but eats anyways.

Sighing, Duke sips the soda he ordered. “Do you know about the Red Hood?”

“No, Father never mentioned him to me.”

“Mmhm. Okay, so. Red Hood basically cleaned up the Alley a few years ago. You won’t get it- the area has always been rough, always been riddled with crime but back them it was, not safe, but definitely safer. I could walk around with my friends in the evening without worrying about getting jumped by random gang members.” Duke swiped a fry.

“When I went to go check the files Bruce had, it made a lot more sense on why the views of Hood were divided. I know his take over was violent- what isn’t in the Alley- but what I wasn’t expecting was to find out that whoever it is, has something personal against B.”

Damian’s eyes widened, a look of realization and suspicion falling over his face before he replaced it with a neutral expression.

Duke saw it though and mentally filed that away for later. “The identity of Red Hood was mostly used by petty criminals back in the day, last known sighting was the night the Joker appeared since he was the last known identity behind it.”

Scowling in disgust, Damian nodded at him to continue.

“Then the new one popped up a few years ago, obviously not the Joker since he was locked up at the time. B confronted him a few years ago- roughly the reason he had skipped town. The streets got worse than before- gang wars started up, Crime Alley started living up to her name in the fullest, my parents got caught by the joker, yadda yadda. Whatever went down between the two, the cowl footage is missing. But all of B’s notes and files from two years ago- the guy is strong enough to hold his own against Nightwing, smart enough to trick B. Yet the info has either been scrubbed or deliberately buried.”

Grabbing another fry, Duke glanced outside the tinted window but kept Damian’s face in the corner of his eye. The kid knew something.

“…What caught your interest in this case?” Damian asks, his voice carefully just the slight amount intrigue.

If Duke didn’t know Damain as well as he did, he’d have bought it. But Duke picked up on Damian’s habits, knew that the kid would carefully curate his responses when he was trying to hide something. And his tell was obvious once you knew what you were looking for, which Duke caught as the kid stared a hole into the table.

“Rumour on the street is that he’s back. I just wanted to see if it was worth looking into when I came across everything else.”

When there was a response after a minute, Duke looked over to Damian who had his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.

Once he noticed Duke watching him, he reached for a fry. “You’re conflicted on what to do.”

Grunting in reply, he kept his eyes on the kid as he leaned back into his seat. Damian didn’t say anything as they ate the rest of their fries in silence. The kid knew something and it was driving Duke mad, what the hell was he hiding?

What the hell was going on with Red Hood and why was everyone so quiet about it?

Chapter Text

Tonight was the big night.

Jason tried to ignore the excitement buzzing under his skin. The weather was nice, skies clear and his men were already on the move. Gripping one of the handles of his bike with one hand, Jason looked at the street from the dark garage with his helmet in the other hand. Everything was set for the perfectly crafted scene; the powerful smell of gasoline burning his nostrils, completely smothering the stench of old and new blood that had once filed the place.

His bike wasn’t yet turned on, the keys hanging in the ignition as Jason glanced behind him while he took a deep breath. He couldn’t and didn’t stop the grin that spread across his face as he double checked his gear once more.

Tonight was his official return to Gotham.

He had found his loyal and scattered members easily. His reputation stuck around for those who had been around the last time he was in town, the hushed conversations pulling them all out of hiding. Sometimes being known as the guy who took over with severed heads, killing without remorse and punishing those who broke his rules had its upsides.

The past weeks he had spent staking out the different locations of operations and figuring out the schedules of how everything ran. Taking back control was going to be easy when he already knew all the hiding spots inside and out. The other gangs were sloppy, disorganized and only kept standing by their excessive use of violence on anyone who dared look their way.

Well, that plus taking out those few members of the gangs who he knew would cause more issues beforehand had been smart. They had all begged for mercy while spilling secrets once they had realized who they were dealing with, but Jason had no mercy. They were nothing more than a slight obstacle to remove to make his job easier. Besides, they might have been smarter but they were all scum.

Deciding to check the security of the saddlebags on his bike, small and compact with few items within them, his phone chimed. Wasting no time to answer the call, Jason placed his helmet on.

“Everything is in place, boss.”

“And the Bat?”

“Busy with the weapons deal down at the docs with Robin.”

“Good. Red Hood out.”

Cutting the call, Jason made sure his helmet was on and secure before starting his bike. Holding the detonator safely in his hand, he peeled out of the warehouse and onto the street. Once he was a few blocks away, he pressed the button as the warehouse exploded in a burst of orange flames behind him.

Was it dramatic?

Yes.

But so was everything in the damned city.

At the sound of sirens in the distance, Jason weaved in and out of traffic on the back roads with his bike as all the attention went to the explosion painting the sky orange with billows of black smoke. It was the perfect opportunity to make his entrance to the underground while the police and the Bats busied themselves with investigating the warehouse.

Smiling to himself as he took a sharp turn, Jason knew it was going to be a relatively easy night.

It was good to be back in Gotham.

One thing Jason knew to plan around was the deep-seated paranoia that was Bruce.

Being around the deep-seated paranoia that made up Bruce for a few years made it easy to plan around. Jason knew that the explosion would not only alert, but take up most of Bruce’s night with the fake leads and clues he’d left behind. He’d be stuck chasing dead ends and to scenes long scrubbed clean. It would lead nowhere but it all had enough clues to continue digging.

Clues like traps he’d set in anticipation for his grand performance tonight. Bodies he had purposely left behind, cryptic messages and symbols and their relations considered irrelevant due to being ghosts. They were human traffickers and knew how to keep themselves clean on paper, Jason had known better and he knows Bruce will eventually figure it out.

The worst of them were used as fuel for the fire at the now exploded warehouse. He wonders if they’ll be able to stop the fire before those bodies are nothing more than bone fragments amongst the ash, soot and debris.

Blinking a few times to focus on the street across him, Jason watched the long line outside the nightclub and the bouncer checking ID’s. The nightclub wasn’t particularly anything notable or even special at first glance, but he knew better. The club was busy and attracted crowds of people all over the Alley due to the relaxed dress code, cheap alcohol and relatively safe environment due to protective bouncers.

Bouncers who were only protective of clientele because it was ran by the largest gang in the Alley who needed to clean their money. And by having a busy and thriving business, it would be hard to trace back every purchase made when many weren’t punched in.

Jason really didn’t enjoy the club scene, but it was smart. He’d give the gang that, but otherwise, he wasn’t really looking forward to taking over the place.

It had been laughably easy to take down the other groups.

The first one was run in crack houses that he barely spent more than 10 minutes taking out. His men grabbed all those that ran and he left them to it to figure who’d be worth keeping around and who didn’t make it.

The second group were expecting him, which Jason had planned for. He made a pretty public statement by being the one who walked out and threw the body of the dead leader onto the lawn of the first group. He had also made sure he was seen riding up and down the streets on his bike since he knew that the whispers and eyes travelled faster than any radio alert or siren in the Alley. He doubted the GCPD would even notice or if they were ignoring the calls made about him, if there were any.

Good ol’ GCPD that couldn’t give two shits about the people or crimes that were from the bottom of the tax bracket.

He knew better though since most people from the Alley didn’t want the attention the police brought, so he doubted they’d be called for a while.

Still, he couldn’t be too careful so Jason made sure he had his men listening to the police scanners on top of his own alert system for any mention of his action or of Red Hood. It was shoddy compared to his old systems he had set up, but for now it worked.

His hunt continued and the second group’s base down in the industrial area by the docks was a short ride away. They had lookouts posted with security cameras pointing down the streets but Jason was prepared. He’d scoped out the place a week earlier and hacked into the cameras that were only password protected. This group was a bit smarter in that but he’d easily broke into their system and he had easily looped the footage before he parked his bike in an alley.

Dropping down on the group had been a quicker way to deal with them, the men posted outside taking longer to arrive. By the time they did show up, they were met with Jason who spent no time taking care of them. This group was more vile than the others, having the highest civilian kill counts and most of them being kids.

Jason felt no remorse or pity putting the clowns out of their misery.

When he had called in his men for clean up, he didn’t bother sticking around to make a statement. The last group was the nightclub, but Jason wanted to have fun.

So he drove around downtown Gotham, almost daring Bruce to find him. Enjoyed the looks of recognition and shock he earned. Hell, he even taunted the GCPD for a bit before he got the call that his men were ready and awaiting him at the nightclub.

Which leaves him standing across the street, hidden in the alley as his men go inside to take care of those who are on the floor. The bouncer outside is replaced with one of his men who look his way and nods, Jason sighs.

This one will be easy but it can go wrong quickly if they aren’t quiet.

Having started his night in a blaze of fire, it felt somewhat fitting that it ended with a whimper drowned out by bass.

Staring down at the now crumpled bodies of the last group and their leader, Jason waited for his men who swept through the club to chase down the rest who had fled. The pulsing music from the club below the office continued as the crowd remained oblivious to the change of ownership that had just happened above them.

While the club was a gaudy in design, it would be easier for him to keep his money clean. Jason would definitely need to redesign the layout, as the stairs to the office was far too accessible to the average passerby. He wouldn’t be there often, but he’d need to find someone he could trust to keep the place under his control and who wouldn’t try to fuck him over if he planned to keep it running as a launder.

“Boss?”

Turning around, one of his men, Kaden, came walking up to him while looking down at the tablet he carried. “Clean up crew finished, ran into no problems. The Bat was busy with the warehouse but the kid wasn’t seen tonight. Don’t know if that’s relevant, thought I’d let you know.”

Humming, Jason nodded. Kaden was a good kidguy. He’d found him when he had originally built up his own organization years ago, he was roughly a year or two younger than himself. Kaden had been a street kid who used to hang out with the girls at the brothel, one of the few that they took in and looked after. Kaden was freshly presented and terrified, a homeless omega without a pack who stuck around the brothel.

Jason had tried to sway the kid to get a real job, offering him one of his safehouses. Kaden refused, fought back against it and Jason caved after Candy had chewed him out about it since it was obvious what path the kid was slowly falling into. He couldn’t let the girls down, who had been the first to trust him and were by far, the most loyal for keeping his secrets. (He knew Selina had vouched for him. One of the many unspoken things between the two. He knew her well enough that even if he had asked, she wouldn’t have given him a straight answer.)

Turns out the kid was good at organizing things. Kaden ended up becoming something akin to a personal assistant to Jason, had been the one to keep track on shipments, cash flow and which places became compromised thanks to keeping his ears open to the whispers of others. Kaden hadn’t fallen apart when Jason had left, instead he had taken on a regular office job at a casino to stay in loop.

Kaden was a guilt that ate Jason alive when he had returned, unsure if the kid had begun working the brothel. It made sense that he was the first person Jason had tracked down all those weeks ago when he had retuned. Kid was pissed at him but happy he was back, wasting no time to quit his job and share all the intel he had.

It had come in handy.

Just like now, informing Jason that Robin wasn’t at the scene he’d left behind.

That was worrisome.

See, Jason didn’t just come back and clean out house by taking down the gangs. He’d been busy all week getting rid of all the child traffickers within those gangs, members who were detested even by their peers and no one would miss. He’d left the bodies of some for Bruce and had erased all traces of himself from the scenes that no one would connect that to him unless if they knew where to look.

League trained kills and disposals- quick, efficient and untraceable save for the trace compounds to the specialized type of chemicals that would burn the bodies down into nothing but ash, leaving not even a piece of bone if done correctly. While he was sure he’d made sure the ashes were then thrown into the Gotham’s waters, feeding the city with her sinners, Jason knew there’d be some he’d overlooked.

And Damian would find it if he looked.

“Noted.” Jason replied, switching the safety back on his gun as his men began to lift the body of the former club owner out.

“The warehouse we were looking into should be ready by the end of the week. For now, should we treat this as our base?” Kaden asked, switching off the screen of his tablet and stepping aside for the clean up crew.

Jason walked over to the window that looked down at the dancefloor, a sea of bodies pressed close together in a mass of purple from the soft lights as he thought about it for a moment. Debating it silently as he watched his men mixed in with the crowd. “Too risky. We’ll use the abandoned building on the outskirts of the Row for now, but I want everyone on the move before we have our base secured.”

“Got it.” Kaden stood beside him, looking down at the crowd with an upturned nose. “I can’t imagine being squished that close to other people would be ‘fun’ for me.”

“Still a prude, huh?” Jason teased.

Rolling his eyes, Kaden shook his head. “Sorry for having standard, Hood.”

Gently shoving him, Jason grinned under his helmet. “I leave it to your capable hands. I’m going to make sure Gotham knows who owns this territory.”

Kaden huffed at that and Jason had almost missed the words he muttered as he walked out of the office that made him snort.

“I will never understand why alphas are so territorial.”

Oh, if only he knew.

Bruce had heard the chatter before he had taken note of the changes happening in the city.

The whispers of a ghost returning the newest rumour running through the criminals of the city. An uncomfortable and familiar presence of red, bullets and blood only confirming the connection Bruce had already made. The change of routes that avoided the unofficial territories in the city, docks changing hands in silent deals and the air easing up in tension in they alley was only the beginning.

It was subtle, yet, it was deliberate in the slow way it had began to seep into the streets.

Then the explosion happened at the start of his patrol.

It was no coincidence, that much was obvious by the multiple sightings of a someone weaving through traffic all night in red helmet. Purposely seen by police and civilians, it was the talk of the night on all fronts. The criminals were already confirming it by steering clear of Crime Alley and rerouting their own networks to avoid that area and the GCPD having multiple warnings about it on their radios.

It had bothered him. Why return now?

At some point Robin had slipped away while he had talked to Gordon as the fire was dying out. He had let it be as he knew the explosion had to be Red Hood’s doing. Everything else lined up too perfectly and planned, it was all too calculated to be truly random. He just had to find the evidence to tie this to his sudden appearance.

Red Hood had announced himself in an overly dramatic and flashy way, as if flaunting his existence to him.

Bruce, who had spent most of the night investigating the warehouse once the fire was out and only finding trace chemicals for testing. They knew there had to have been bodies in the mix, as blood stains littered some areas of the rubble. The fire was hot, but it shouldn’t have been hot enough to completely burn the bodies away. Robin had reappeared near the end of his patrol time, reporting in on his night and taking various samples Bruce had taken back to the cave.

That was another thing that had been stressing him out, Robin had been oddly compliant during his patrols lately. He had only begun trusting Robin to patrol on his own and he had doubted that that was the reason he was falling into line. It was worrisome and Bruce didn’t fully trust him, waiting for the other shoe to drop or for the truth behind his recent actions to come to light.

It was only after he had found two charred bodies that he handed over to Gordon, did Bruce leave the scene. After an hour of stopping a few heists, Oracle confirmed Red Hood’s return and sent all the footage to the cave to review.

Looking over the video files Oracle sent first, Bruce saw him.

In one video, dashcam footage of a cruiser, he was leaning on the handles of his bike at a red light and waving to the camera. In another, CCTV footage, Red Hood grappling to a roof. Security footage, he looked up at the camera and nodded with a mock salute. The rest of the videos and photos followed the same pattern, all taken in a two hour gap while Bruce was busy with the explosion.

Then he was gone, no other sightings of him through the rest of the night. Disappearing like a phantom leaving no message except his confirmed presence. As if he was mocking Bruce by simply existing. With the confirmation of his presence in Gotham, he’d need to warn the others about staying away from Crime Alley for the time being.

He didn’t tell anyone about the identity of Red Hood. Had kept the secret to himself after locking Joker up, the only one knowing was Oracle since she’d been watching through the cowl feed. And yet Dick had somehow found out.

The fallout of that revelation had left a rift between them that was forgotten when Damian had come along a year and a half ago. Even now, Dick seemed to keep his distance which Bruce respected.

Bruce still didn’t want to tell the others the truth of who Red Hood was but felt that he’d cross that bridge when the time came. Oracle had scrubbed the cowl footage of that night- she’d refused to let him rewatch it. No one else would know who he was and Dick didn’t tell anyone else as far as he was aware.

Maybe it was a mercy that no one knew besides Oracle and Dick.

When Bruce saw Red Hood, he had realized he was no longer Jason, his son. There were no traces of the boy he’d raised and buried. He couldn’t think of Red Hood being Jason because then he’d have to accept that he had failed somewhere and the murderer who replaced him was the cause of his own shortcomings.

Instead of figuring out his own conflicting thoughts and feelings, Bruce planned a debrief for the entire team. He’d have to explain the threat level to all the masked vigilantes he associated with, that last thing he needed was for one of them to run into Red Hood alone and without information.