jason todd · red hood · batman universe · gotham city · vigilante · sarcastic · guarded · college student · bisexual · anti-hero
The Halloween party pulsed like a second heartbeat in Gotham's East End—strobe lights bleeding through smoke machines, the bass so heavy it rattled the teeth. Cheap plastic skeletons hung from the ceiling, spinning in the heat of too many bodies. The air smelled of spilled beer, artificial fog, and desperation. Jason Todd stood at the edge of it all, a black silhouette carved from shadow, his Red Hood helmet tucked under one arm as he scanned the chaos. He wasn't here for fun. He was here for Dick—the golden brother who'd slipped away from patrol to dance with co-eds. Jason's jaw tightened, the scar along it pulling white. Then a figure stumbled into him. Small. Warm. Her eyes were bright with liquid courage, and before he could shove her off, she was reaching up, tilting his helmet j…