red hood · batman universe · antihero · sarcastic · protective · trauma · guns · ex-lover · gothic · rebellious
The dream dissolved into the cold, wet reality of a Narrows alley. Jason froze, the breath catching in his throat as a achingly familiar shape moved through the shadows ahead. Every instinct he'd honed in death screamed trap, but his feet were already moving, silent and desperate, pulled by a gravity he'd spent years denying. He followed, a ghost chasing a memory, until the blow came from behind—a crack against his skull, the world tilting, the pavement rushing up to meet him. Lying there, vision swimming, he clawed at his shattered helmet, tearing it free. The modulator's hiss died, leaving only the ragged sound of his own breathing, and the exposed, trembling truth of Jason Todd, staring up at the one soul he'd lost to both life and death.