That hope, as it turned out, was misplaced. It didn't take him long to learn that Red Hood's territory was a part of the city that the locals called crime alley, which in hindsight, really should have been the third and final strike against Gotham. But Neil had never liked baseball and had always been too stubborn for his own good. So he stayed, he learned which shelters wouldn't report him to CPS and which were used for trafficking.
Honestly, with everything he had seen so far, Neil thought he was doing pretty good for himself. He had mostly been able to stay out of trouble for the last 3 months he'd been in the city. Of course, living on the streets will never be âsafe,â but he avoided any injuries that would require medical attention and, more importantly, he's avoided the attention of both the cops and the bats.
He really should have known that this was too good to last, that eventually, his luck would run out. He didn't even have anyone else to blame. It was entirely his fault. He broke one of the most important rules for surviving in Gothamâmind your own business If you don't want to get hurt. He knew his mother would beat him black and blue if she knew that he had put himself at risk to help someone else, but these last months in Gotham had taught him that he wasn't quite as cold-hearted as his mother had tried to make him. There is still a part of him that wants to rebel when he sees abuse, that wants to stand up for the other street kids the way he wished somebody had for him.Â
So, yes, ultimately, Neil had to blame himself for his current predicamentâbeing backed into a corner by some drunk with a knife, who hadn't appreciated Neil's interference when he had seen the man threatening to cut up some kid.Â
Normally, Neil would just run knowing that most people can't keep up with him, but right now he can't get around the man in front of him. He's confident he'll be able to disarm the man before he can do too much damage with the knife, but that still leaves room for a beating and Neil knows it's going to hurt.
As the man takes a wild swing with his knife, Neil grabs at his wrist and twists until the drunk drops the weapon. Neil scrambles to try and get it off the ground when the man grabs his arm and punches him hard in the chest. Neil gasps for breath as the man pins him to the wall by his throat.
"I'm going to enjoy making you suffer for this you little bitch," the man snarls in Neil's face.
Neil knows it's stupid to antagonize the man, but he doesn't want to die without at least trying to fight back. So he knees the man in the groin and tries to run when he collapses to his knees. The man grabs Neil's ankle, tripping him and pins him to the ground. As the man is lifting Neil's head to bash into the ground again, someone shouts out, "Let the kid go or else I shoot."
The man on top of Neil looks up and when he sees who spoke his face pales and suddenly he's scrambling to get up and takes off. Not wanting to deal with whoever scared the man off Niel rolls to his feet and tries again to run, but he's still dizzy and disoriented from the fight and can only stumble a couple of steps before someone grabs his shoulder to help steady him.
"Whoa, there, take it easy kid. You could have a concussion," says an oddly distorted and mechanical voice.
Neil shakes his head--and wow, that was a mistake--tells the voice "I'll be fine, thanks"
"Seriously kid, it looks like you hit your head pretty hard. Just wait a minute Before you try to run off"
Neil wants to argue more, but the world still hasn't stopped spinning, so he thinks the voice might have a point. As he finally makes himself look at the person helping him he's surprised, perhaps more than he should be, to find himself looking at a red helmet rather than a face.
"You're Red Hood", Neil says dumbly, before being hit with a wave of dizziness and unbearable nausea. "I think I need to sit down now," Neil mutters before promptly vomiting on Red Hood's boots.
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