My name is Jason Peter Todd, also known as Red Hood; vigilante and sometimes do-gooder, depending on the circumstances. I operate in the seediest city in the world: Gotham. Specifically I come to target the worst parts of Gotham like Crime Alley. Despite any arguments Batman could give, my methods have been keeping crime down around the area. That was why I was a bit surprised when Oracle hacked into my comms late one night with a message...
Red Hood stepped out onto the edge of the building, his eyes scanning the world below him, the world that felt more like a wild animal enclosure. He was watching the red light district of Gotham now, the sleazy and scummy of Gotham's citizens coming down to this part of Gotham for what one could expect..sex, drugs, to drink away their problems...anything, really. There wasn't much that wasn't for sale around this area.
Red Hood pressed his fingers to the communicator in his ear, the electrical static just a small click on his ear.
"So, what's this about?" he asked, taking a moment to scope out the building he was supposed to be heading into, aptly named the Red Light Bar. Customers were lined up to get inside the club, no doubt to see the "talent" there.
Not that Jason had any disdain for strippers. They were just girls getting by doing work that earned them a lot of money but often put them in dangerous situations. It was a tough life.
"You know how Roman Sionis has gone into hiding after his little run in with you? In my anonymous tip line I got a message stating a dancer at the Red Light Bar has information on his whereabouts but refused to send any information without meeting someone face to face. I've checked out the security footage and there are certain days when the cameras are conveniently turned off, but nothing solidifying a connection to Roman...yet." Oracle explained and Red Hood could hear the clacking of her keyboard through the comms, his jaw clenching slightly in agitation.
This felt like a trap or a wild goose chase. There was no reason for Roman to be at a strip club in downtown Gotham and he almost felt aggravated for being brought here for no reason.
"What makes you think some stripper is going to know about Black Mask?" He asked, not hiding that irritation. He could tell Oracle was biting back her retort when she replied.
"It's the only lead we have since he went underground. It's worth checking out and you're the one who knows the area as well as you do." She said and it sounded like fair reasoning. Red Hood sighed and then rolled his shoulders.
"Fine." He grumbled, taking a step off the edge of the building before catching himself and expertly maneuvering his way to the ground. Now, Jason was not a small man. He was 6'3 and well over 200lbs. When he was coming towards you, you knew. So as he stepped up to the bouncers at the door they gave him a wary look before he stopped in front of them, staring hard for a moment. The intimidation was plain as day, despite the guards being as big or bigger than Red Hood physically, but his reputation and penchant for violence proceeded him.
"...You're in my way." He stated, making his intentions clear. The men made no more efforts to block his way, simply letting him inside. He walked in and looked up at the flashing neon lights and the music permeated the air around him. Around the floor there were plenty of girls walking around half dressed, clacking around in their heels.
Red Hood never faulted a woman (or man, for that matter) for using their bodies to get by. Not everyone was fortunate to be born with a silver spoon in their mouths...or picked up by billionaires around the age of thirteen. Still, he needed a specific stripper so he turned on the comms again.
"Which one was the whistleblower?" He asked, stealing a beer off a table as he passed. He walked up to the bar and unhooked his muzzle style mask to get a drink.
"Her stage name is-" Oracle began but the sound of music was drowning her out. Red Hood sighed and tried to clear the volume but no matter how loud he had it, it wasn't letting her voice through. Agitated, he moved and went to get out his cellphone just to text her instead.
"Looks like we just came up on some good luck, gentlemen!" The DJ spoke into the microphone and the crowd response gave Red Hood a moment of pause. People were getting hype and he admitted the reaction had him wanting to see just what was so special about this dancer coming up. He looked up to see the stage was dim, a shapely silhouette hidden in the shadows that caught his attention.
"We seem to have found ourselves a "Pretty Penny"!"
The lights flashed onto the stage, illuminating the beauty leaning against the pole, long brown hair softly curled around a supple body wrapped in black, diamond studded leather. Red Hood paused, a frown on his face as he felt something clawing at the back of his mind upon seeing her face. His body had a visceral reaction, his heartbeat hardening with a growing feeling of dread at seeing this woman, though he couldn't place why...and maybe that aggravated him more.
He stood when the music began to play, the crowd going wild with excitement as she began to move and twist her body to the rhythm, money already being tossed on the stage at her feet. The sight made his blood boil and he realized his fists were clenched tightly at his sides. The woman...he's never seen her before...but there was something vaguely familiar about her face. Wide, bright blue eyes and big, poofy lips though painted, still stirred something in his gut. Which was ridiculous. He didn't normally pay attention to crap like that.
He looked down at his phone and saw the message from Barbara who had sent him the name of this informant.
"Pretty Penny" aka Penelope Dates.
He looked up, whispers echoing in his mind, haunting laughter and playful comments. He took a step closer to the stage, watching this woman get down on her knees, back curving downwards in a tantalizing arch as she smiled at the men in front of her, holding up their money as if they were bartering chips to see more of her flesh and that made him...furious.
Two shots rang out, hitting the ceiling and putting everything on halt the second it happened. The music cut out, leaving behind the soft chatter that barely filled the room. Red Hood, remaining ever composed, put his gun back in the holster and walked over to the stage, looking down at this little woman. Curvy...but too skinny. He sneered and reached down, grabbing her arm and hauling her to her feet.
"We have business to discuss and I don't have all night." He said simply, his voice barely keeping back the rage he was feeling. The woman...Penelope...stood and walked with him from the stage and into a private back room. She could hear the music begin again, the usual live and let live mentality rearing it's ugly head in the bar.
Red Hood studied her for a moment, looking over her features as if considering a puzzle. His eyes narrowed with suspicion, his jaw clenched hard.
Penelope fidgeted, not having thought that Oracle would send the Red Hood to the bar. His infamous reputation was both a blessing and a curse around these parts. While he tended to be incredibly helpful to the people of downtown Gotham, he was also a terrifying and deadly force.
Red Hood grit his teeth. "Well?!" He snapped and she jumped, immediately looking down. It only managed to give him a feeling of guilt in his chest that he pushed aside, letting his anger win out.
"Uhm...you're here about the information on Roman Sionis, right? My email to Oracle got through?" She looked up at the man who stood a little over a head taller than her. Red Hood gave a curt nod, still waiting on her information and she nodded.
"I sent the email because Roman Sionis has been coming to this bar." She stated and that gave Red Hood some interest.
"Why would he come here? It's not exactly fancy." Red Hood asked, crossing his arms and Penelope looked down, an expression of shame crossing her face that didn't go unnoticed by the vigilante. It was then that he took a moment to assess her. Makeup covering bruises on her arms and wrists, signs of drug use on her arms that didn't look too carefully done. Someone was being forceful with her.
"...He comes here because of you." He stated, softening only slightly as she nodded in return.
"He comes to see me dance. The least has ever been once a month...sometimes more." She said softly, frowning with a hint of sadness. Red Hood hummed, his thoughts racing. What would Black Mask want with a woman like this? Surely it wasn't just...physical? The very idea made the anger flare in his limbs, tightening his muscles.
"And what? He just watches you dance? Hardly an issue if he pays." He said, watching her reaction which was one of surprise and annoyance. She scoffed and crossed her arms, a sort of heat replacing her nervous demeanor before that made him smirk with amusement.
"No, he doesn't just watch me dance." She muttered, venom on her tongue. "He tries to make me do drugs, he threatens my friends if I try to get away from him, he...he...you wanted to find him, didn't you?" She asked, her voice rising with each word as she spoke out of anger and frustration. Red Hood held up his hands in mock surrender.
"Woah, slow down. I do want to catch that asshole." He said and then thought for a moment as he studied her, his eyes scanning her familiar features again, those haunting itches in the back of his mind whispering to him.
"...Does he hurt you?" He asked, moving his hand to her arm where the traces of makeup were still apparent. She moved to touch the spot he did and frowned, looking down.
"He has a short temper and he doesn't like it when I tell him no." She admitted, that shame appearing on her face again. She winced when Red Hood touched a bruise since it was the freshest one she had, the color a dark purple around her wrist. It made him sick to think of Roman Sionis manhandling anyone, let alone this woman as thin as she was.
"He makes you take drugs?" Red Hood continued, moving a thumb over the track marks on her arm, some new, some very old. She pulled away but found he had a strong grip on her. She sighed and nodded once again.
"Yes, he's been bringing some along when he comes to visit me. Sometimes I can steer the conversation away, distract him, but..." She shook her head and frowned and Red Hood could see the frustration in the way she spoke, how hard this must be for her to navigate. Red Hood could tell these were the classic maneuvers of a narcissist to isolate and get her depended on him.
"Yeah, if you need your fix you can't run away." He said quietly, pondering just how hard he was going to curb stomp this mother fu-
"I need help." She broke across his thoughts and he looked up at her, watching her lower lip trembled. He schooled his reaction, not wanting to give away how that made him feel bad to see.
"He already broke Kevin's legs when he tried to ban him. This bar is usually a common ground for gangs. No one really fights here. But now..." She sniffed and wiped her eye, sighing as she tried to keep herself together.
"Now it's a shit show...and I was trying to leave." She laughed, pinching her nose for a moment before he nodded and moved his hand to awkwardly put it on her shoulder, hovering it above her skin before he pulled away.
"I'll make sure he doesn't bother you. I promise." Jason looked at her, not normally one to make such a promise...there were too many variables, too many things that could go wrong but he knew one thing and that was that he was going to keep her away from Black Mask.
He stood there awkwardly for a second and she seemed to sense that he was trying to figure out how to escape from the moment so she cleared her throat.
"I should...get back to work." She said softly, "Let me know if I can help you. Roman usually comes once a month, at the least." She looked up at him, taking a moment to get a good look at the vigilante since it might be the last time she saw him. It was no secret he was known as the "big one" of the vigilantes around Gotham and she was definitely aware of how attractive he was. She tried not to dwell, though and left the room, leaving him be to figure out what to do about Roman Sionis.
As Jason met back with Barbara at the clock tower she turned to face him, nodding in acknowledgment to his presence before he swung over and took a seat on the sofa, laying back and kicking his boots up.
"Don't get mud on my furniture." Barbara grumbled and Jason only responded with the usual grunt. She tapped away for a second before she began to talk again.
"How was meeting with the dancer? Did she give you any information?" She asked. Jason nodded, his mind drifting back to "Pretty Penny".
"Yeah, she says Roman is there because of her. He apparently decided he likes her, wants her and is threatening her and her friends if she doesn't take drugs and dance for him." He frowned, moving to bite his fingernails as he thought about what that woman must be going through when Roman was around. He was a volatile, disgusting freak...and she was just trying to get by.
"So this is a classic hostage situation of sorts." Barbara sighed and nodded. "I've been doing some looking and the CCTV footage across the street where the liquor store is catches a glimpse of a black sedan. I ran the license plate and it is definitely Roman's personal car. Even in hiding he refuses to be inconspicuous." She rolled her eyes and then sighed.
"As for our dancer friend, I've done a background check on her, she's been in and out of juvie her whole childhood." Jason perked a bit, interested at the thought of the little dancer being a juvenile deliquent.
"Really?" He almost seemed to chuckle and Barbara nodded.
"Get this...for stealing car tires, money and conning." She chuckled and showed Jason the screen. He sat up a bit and looked over to see her juvie mugshot. A little, skinny child with tired blue eyes and lips too big for her face holding up a sign that read "Penelope Margaret Dates". The image of the girl in the photo gave him pause. She looked dirty, tired and sick. She reminded him of himself at that age, struggling to get by, barely making it each day.
"...Where was she? Like around Gotham?" He asked, getting up to walk closer. Barbara hummed and skimmed the files, her eyes moving over each word quickly.
"Says here she lived around the Park Row area with her mother, Priscilla Dates who was arrested once for possession of narcotics. She was bailed by her boyfriend." She muttered, her brow pinching in annoyance. When she went back to Park Row, she looked at Jason.
"That's where you grew up, right? You ever see her around?" She asked. Jason paused, thinking back. The memories were hazy after a long stretch of time anyways, that wasn't to account for trauma and all the other shit he's done in his life. Besides, he didn't like to think about back then, before Bruce.
"I don't think so." He said thoughtfully, taking another good look at the mugshot of Penelope. The freckles across her cheeks, the four beauty marks, two under the left eye, two on the right side of the nose...they screamed familiar...but he was sure he'd never seen her around.
"Maybe we fought over territory once?" He said, shaking his head as it felt wrong to say but he just couldn't place her.
Barbara hummed and then went back to the screen to click the blueprints for the Red Light Bar.
"So what's your plan for getting Roman?" She asked, deciding to focus on the task at hand. Jason shifted and nodded, moving to point.
"I'll stalk the place out for a month. Penelope says he comes once a month at minimum so I'll make it part of my patrol. If Roman shows up he'll want it to take a while, to get his money's worth." He felt the twitch in his upper lip before he ignored it and stayed focused.
"Okay. You think you can handle Roman alone?" Barbara asked and Jason was almost insulted before he realized she was asking if he would be able to bring Roman in and not send him six feet under. He scoffed, feeling a flare of annoyance before he sucked on his cheek, trying not to be short with Barbara. All things considered, he had a bit of a soft spot for her.
"Yes. I can handle bringing in Roman Sionis." He said grumpily, trying not to feel like a child scolded. Barbara didn't push it, nodding as she went back to the screen.
"I'll keep some of the others on standby so if you need back up I can send them in-"
"No." Jason said quickly, feeling a small ounce of something unfamiliar. He wanted to do this himself, as odd as it was. Something was telling him that he needed to handle this alone.
"I can handle Roman. He's comfortable at the bar, thinks no one is coming for him so I can just take out his body guards and get to him easy. In and out, no issues." He looked at the blueprints for the bar and the map of Gotham, already thinking about where to set up a few spots to see when and if Roman decided to come around.
For the next few nights Jason was stalking the area, swinging by and keeping to the rooftops to watch the traffic coming in and out of the bar. No black sedan, no Roman...not yet. He often came back around when it was closing time. 2:30 am. He saw Penelope walk out of the bar with her friends and then make her way towards the bus stop. He was half tempted to follow her, to see where she would be heading off to. Home, a second job... boyfriend's house??
But he was too busy. He had more important things to do than follow some woman around. Well, actually...now that he was thinking about it, Roman could be waiting for her at any other spot. So it would be helping her in the long run to make sure she made it to her next destination safely, at the very least. For her safety, of course. With that in mind, he thought about the bus she was on and where the stops were a long the way.
Cutting across rooftops saved quite a bit of time so he found the bus with no problem. Sure enough, she was there, looking out the window with her headphones on. She rode the bus for a few stops, getting out near the hospital. She had changed her clothes and she was in scrubs so he assumed she was heading in for another job. Poor thing looked dead tired and he was curious about how she was keeping up with this running around.
He saw her pause at the doors to the hospital, down a bottle of water, two bottles of five hour energy and then tie her hair back in a quick and efficient braid. Her fingers working and the way her nose scrunched in concentration had him smirking, the scene causing a stir in his chest. When he realized this he frowned and sighed, aggravated with himself for the way he felt. Nothing was special about this girl yet something was fascinating him with the scrunch of her nose, the furrow of her brow and then way she smiled at people as they passed by.
He watched her go inside the building, humming softly as his fingers drummed over his knees. He knew this feeling but he had no reason to feel it. He didn't know this woman. His first time seeing her was at the bar. Yet the feeling persisted anyhow...
Please be gentle with me. I haven't written a fanfiction in YEARS.
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