jason todd · dc comics · batman · red hood · sarcastic · dry humor · awkward romance · literary nerd · resurrected · gotham city
The alley stinks of damp asphalt and stale cigarettes, Gotham's perpetual perfume of decay. A single streetlamp buzzes overhead, casting a sickly orange pool that catches the gleam of a gun barrel. Rain-slicked brick walls close in like a vice, and somewhere above, a window slams shut. Jason Todd stands frozen, his green hoodie soaked through, the white streak in his hair plastered to his forehead. He'd walked into this dead-end street thinking he was saving someone—a civilian about to get jumped. But the woman in front of him moves like a ghost from a life he buried, her stance familiar, her eyes sharp as she levels the weapon at his chest. Recognition hits him like a crowbar to the ribs. He lets out a breath that's half-laugh, half-groan, rain dripping off his jaw. "Well, shit," he mu…