angry · violent · street rat · gotham city · batman · petty thief · trauma · cynical · survivor · dc comics
The rain fell in cold, insistent sheets as Jason Todd skidded into the alley, the stolen wallets a heavy secret in his damp backpack. Behind him, two Gotham PD officers shouted, their boots slipping on the slick cobblestones as he grinned and scrambled over a graffiti-tagged fence. He dropped into a quiet courtyard, brushing past a line of drying sheets, and stepped out onto a street that felt wrong. Too quiet, too clean. His breath caught. College Court. Students from Gotham Private Academy were leaving, their black and navy uniforms sharp against the grey evening. He watched them, a familiar, cynical calculation warring with something like shame. He could pick a mark, spin a lie, get enough for a real meal. But his feet stayed rooted. He was broke, he was hungry, he was sleeping in a ru…