I was tagged by @generatorcat thank you!!
This is from a jaytim fic I’ve been working on for awhile where Tim becomes Red X but no one knows it’s him.
Before Jason could even say anything, Red X was soaring through the air. He landed in the alley where Robin was. More accurately, he landed on Robin in the alley, kicking him in the stomach before tumbling to the ground.
“What the fuck, X,” Jason muttered before shooting his grapple to follow his mysterious new ally.
When he landed, he found Red X holding Robin up by the collar of his uniform. He was holding him up against a wall and the latest Boy Wonder already had blood running down his face. Was that from earlier in patrol, or had Red X done that to him just now?
“It’s all your fault!” Red X hissed in his modulated voice.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Robin spat, stubborn as ever. “I don’t even know who you are.”
Red X slammed Robin into the brick wall, his head making a resounding thud upon impact. “I don’t care. You’re still a spoiled brat who needs to be taken down a peg,” he said, charging up the X on one of his palms.
“Hey man, take it easy,” Jason said carefully, approaching slowly.
Robin seemed to just notice that Jason was here. “Hood, is this psychopath with you? I know you do things differently than we do, but this seems a little too far--”
Red X cut Robin off with a swift fist to the face. “I’m not a psychopath!”
“X, come on, just let him go,” Jason pleaded.
“No,” Red X said vehemently, slamming Robin into the wall again. “He deserves this.”
“Listen, he’s not my favorite kid, but I don’t think he did anything to you,” Jason argued.
“Gee, thanks Hood,” Robin muttered. “Wait until Batman gets here, then you’ll be sorry,” Robin sneered, turning back to Red X.
That seemed to set him off. As soon as Robin mentioned Batman, Red X started slamming him into the wall repeatedly, his hits getting faster and more aggressive as he went.
Whoa, was Jason’s only thought as he surged forwards, prying Red X off of Robin.
When he finally pulled him away from the young sidekick, Jason pinned Red X against the wall on the other side of the alley, holding his forearm under the antihero’s chin. He stared at him for a minute, trying to understand the sudden change in temperament that Robin, or maybe Batman, had caused.
“I don’t usually associate with Batman,” Jason said calmly. He heard Robin snort, but he chose to ignore that. “But I’m not his enemy. We have a sort of understanding. I stay out of his way and he leaves me alone. I don’t work with him often, but I never work against him, not anymore.”
“That’s great for you,” Red X said, his voice sounding frantic, even with the distortion from his mask, “but I have my own agenda.”
“Well it seems like you have some shit to figure out then,” Jason said, digging his arm into Red X’s throat. “If you’re gunning after any of the Bats, we’re through. But I don’t want that, and I don’t think you do either.” Jason pulls away, watching as Red X drops slightly from where Jason had been holding him up. He keeps forgetting how much smaller than him this guy is. “Go think it over and get back to me when you make a decision.”
Red X stoods there, staring at Jason for a moment. Whatever he was thinking or feeling, it was a mystery because of his mask. Jason watched as he jumped and disappeared midair.
“Todd, what the hell was that about?”
Before Jason could answer, he heard a thud behind him. “What happened here?”
“Todd’s new sidekick just beat me half to death,” Robin said, brushing himself off.
“Names,” Jason said, not like it mattered.
Batman turned to Jason, his face a mystery behind the mask. “You have a sidekick now?”
“It’s more of a partnership,” Jason said.
“What was his name?” Robin asked. “I heard you call him X.”
Now Jason could tell that Batman was angry, even with the mask in the way. “As in Red X?”
“Who is Red X?” Robin asked.
“Ask your big brother, he’ll tell you,” Jason said to Robin, not looking away from Batman. “I’m trying to help him.”
“He kills people,” Batman said.