‘Consumed by hope.’
Chapter one
Jason Todd x Reader
(she/her pronouns, first person, use of y/n.)
Summary: Red Hood banter, Jason meets reader.
Warnings: Mentions of drugs, mentions of underage drug use (not really though), nothing much to worry about <3
Word count: 2,457
PLEASE READ THE PROLOGUE FIRST!!!
•••
I absolutely adored walking around central Gotham in the evening.
There was something so special about the people you saw walking down the streets, questioning what they were going to do when they went home. Or, questioning what they were thinking about at that very moment.
What I would give to be able to read minds.
I had finished work hours ago, but chose not to go home straight away. The cafe was beautiful and all, but I had some nasty customers during the day, and I just needed to clear my mind with some fresh air.
So, Central Park it was, the best piece of nature in the city.
Well, the best piece of nature that I could get in the middle of a gross city that disrespected the climate. The air quality wasn’t great at all, but it never really seemed to bother the government.
Which I thought was outrageous.
Even walking around the park, I noticed that there was an abundance of rubbish everywhere. Cans of alcohol, food wrappers and even syringes were scattered across the pavement.
So, I picked them up. I always had plastic gloves on me in my work bag for the cafe, and I carried around a small rubbish bag to do exactly this.
I liked helping out, it gave me a little bit of purpose.
After a while, my feet were getting more and more sore, which made sense considering I had been standing for more than 12 hours. So I made my way to the public bathrooms in the park, and threw away the rubbish at the dumpster.
Before I could even walk away from the dumpster, a familiar voice froze me into place. The same voice that had echoed through my mind for the past three nights while I was trying to sleep.
It was coming from behind the public toilets, so I did what any good citizen would do.
I hid behind a tree and eavesdropped, which is kind of an invasion of privacy, but they were technically at a public park. I had every right to make sure there was nothing sketchy going on.
My head lightly poked out behind from the tree, desperately trying to see what was going on.
Red Hood was visibly angry at this older looking guy, waving his hands around. There was a kid standing behind Red Hood, looking very guilty. The kid looked only a few years younger than me, and he looked just as exhausted as I was at his age.
I tried to listen harder.
“Selling drugs to kids, What the fuck is wrong with you??”
“Hey man, I had no idea he was a kid!” The older guy put his hands up, pleading with the scary vigilante in front of him.
Huh, Red Hood cares about kids doing drugs. Which, shouldn’t really be a surprise, considering he fights crime.
But, he is an anti-hero after all.
I remember when I first heard about the big and terrifying Red Hood. It was only a few years ago, maybe two, I was just out of high school, and this mysterious man was basically a crime lord. He demanded respect from high drug rings and killed anyone who got in his way.
Violence was never my thing, at all. I stopped listening to the media after a while. There is nothing that disgusted me more than people who choose violence over kindness.
But, the last I had heard was that he was helping out Batman and his gang, to a certain extent. Nightwing trusted him, my encounter with both of them, three nights ago, proved that.
I was too exhausted to be afraid of him then, but did I really have a reason to be scared now?
I blink a few times, realising that I had spaced out in my own thoughts for a moment.
The crime fighting vigilante was gone from my sights, and there was no trace of a busted drug deal. They had completely disappeared from my sights.
I sighed, closing my eyes and leaning against the tree. There was something that really drew my attention towards Red Hood, and I was not enjoying the feeling for even a moment.
By the time I blinked my eyes open, I was ready to go home.
That was until I realised there was a figure standing right in front of me, tilting his head only slightly. The little light I was getting from the sky really made him look more scary up close. I hadn’t had time to take in his helmet when I had my concussion, and I’m glad I didn’t.
His red helmet looked like it had a permanent scowl on it, as if he was always grumpy. Which, would make a lot of sense. I could not imagine the killing machine standing in front of me, being gentle in any aspect.
I blinked once, and then twice. Was I in trouble? Or maybe danger? I mean, he hadn’t hurt me when he walked me into my apartment the other night. He even closed my bedroom window for me when he noticed it was freezing in my home. I hadn’t noticed the act of kindness until the next morning.
But, that doesn’t mean the two pistols in his holsters couldn’t be used against me in this situation.
I could die instantly.
What really drew me out of my trance was him speaking first. His voice was just as I had remembered it.
Soft, deep and all consuming.
“Why are you hiding behind a tree?” Before I could even answer, his head tilted more. “Are you spying on me?”
I could hear the smirk in his voice. My ears were practically ringing at his words, cherishing every syllable and locking it inside my brain for later. His voice was truly so smooth, just like honey.
I shake my head at my silly thoughts, and at his accusation. I really had to get my act together or I was sure he would think I was clinically insane.
“I’m trying to find more damsels in distress, obviously.”
“Is that meant to be a joke?” He barely let me finish my sentence.
I sighed, leaning my head against the tree, “Yeah, I’m joking.”
Silence. Crickets.
Silence was something I was scared of, I hated it more than I’d care to admit. But this silence was different. I didn’t feel the need to fill it with small talk or questions about him. I didn’t even feel that awkward tension like I normally did with silence.
Instead, I was more interested than anything.
I kept glancing down to the red helmet and then the leaves that sat on the ground. His helmet was towards me, but I couldn’t tell if he was making eye contact with me.
I decided to break the silence.
“Are you looking at me right now?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
Silence once again.
I kind of just stood there, rocking back and forth on my feet. He was still looking at me, not making any move to leave. I felt a little insecure about his persistent staring, but I knew if he wanted to hurt me, he would have done it by now.
I cough, and then nod. “Well, have a good night, Mr Red Hood.”
I take a few steps away from the tree, letting my sweater peel off the trunk. I gather my bag that I hadn’t realised I had dropped on the grass, and I make my way to the gates of the park.
What a strange guy.
It wasn’t until I was a block away from the park, did I realise he was following me. I could hear him on the top of buildings, walking at my pace.
I felt more uncomfortable with the fact that I was weirdly relaxed with a strange man following me home. Maybe it’s because he was following me from a distance, and giving me space.
I tried to ignore him, but it was kind of hard. I could see the glow of his helmet, and the lighter he was playing with.
A pyromaniac, obviously.
I sighed loudly, “You’re following me.”
“What a lovely observation.”
Oh, Red Hood was full of sarcasm and is a pyromaniac, fantastic.
“Why?”
“I’m vengeance.” He replied, in the deepest voice he could. He shook his head a little in what I can only assume was silent laughter.
I couldn’t hold my laugh in either, snorting a little. I quickly covered my mouth and stopped walking.
That was humiliating.
“Did you just snort?” He said, letting the amusement fill his sickly sweet voice. I shook my head quickly at his question.
“No, never.” I continued to walk.
“You totally did!”
“You quoted Batman! It was funny! This is your fault!” I said, walking faster.
He dropped down to be on level ground with me, and walked behind me. “I am pretty funny, aren’t I?”
“Oh, Red Hood is humble!” I rebutted back, letting myself giggle, only slightly.
I was going to comment on how it was strange that he was following me home, but I had to quickly remind myself that this was in fact, Gotham. This was probably the most normal thing that he would do tonight.
That reminds me, “Shouldn’t you be stopping another drug trade right now? Saving people? patrolling the city?”
“I’m patrolling you, aren’t I?”
I didn’t give him an answer.
After ten minutes of comfortable silence, we had made it to my apartment building. I was about to walk in, before I quickly changed my mind. I turned towards him instead.
“You walked me home.”
He just nodded.
“You wanted to make sure I got home safe.”
Silence, but another nod.
I sighed softly. “Thank you, I do appreciate it. Even though I was, kind of, eavesdropping on you doing your job.”
He shrugged, “I would be curious too.”
I nodded, and he mirrored me. “I question everything.” I wasn’t sure why I blurted that out.
“I figured.”
Before we could fall into yet another comfortable silence, I opened the door to the lobby. “Goodnight, Vengeance.”
Before the door closed behind me, I heard a soft “Goodnight, Scholar.”
My heart didn’t stop pounding until I got back into my warm apartment.
•••
The cafe was slow, as it normally was on a Wednesday. We had students in here studying, a few meetings and two interviews happening.
Nothing really out of the ordinary.
What was quite particular, was how my brain kept drifting to a certain vigilante. I was normally so focused on my job, brewing coffee was something I found a lot of pleasure in. But, I had messed up about three coffees already and it was only three hours into my shift.
I was completely and utterly distracted.
I never really liked waitressing, because it didn’t give me enough time to day-dream, but making the coffee gives me all the time in the world. But, there was a difference to focusing on my work while having background thoughts, then having a superhero consume my every thought.
I wanted to swear at whoever was up in the sky, but decided against it when a new patron walked through the door. I just sipped my own personal coffee as I watched him walk towards the register.
He was really pretty.
I shook my head, not needing another reason to be distracted at work. I turned back to the tickets and the coffee machine.
Focus, silly girl!
My manager, Alice, smiled at his approach and welcomed him in. “What can I get for you?”
“Just a coffee, black, thanks.” I could hardly hear over the steaming of the almond milk I was working on.
I blinked wearily at the coffee machine, letting the gentle laugh of Red Hood ring through my mind. It was so strange how different I acted around him, I was confident.
I’m not confident with anyone.
I shook my head, focusing on the almond latte, and perfecting my coffee art.
“Could I grab a name?”
“Jason.”
The ticket for the black coffee popped up in a matter of seconds, and I started working on it immediately.
‘Are you looking at me right now?’
‘Yes.’
I wanted to groan, scream and maybe shoot myself in the leg. The words from last night would not stop repeating in my head, and it was really starting to bug me.
I finished the black coffee, putting the lid on it and sliding it across the counter. “Jason?”
I looked up at the man, noticing his hair first. He had black hair darker than the night sky, with two white streaks at the front, framing his face almost perfectly. My eyes made their way to the faded scar in his left cheek, tracing the jagged lines. My first thought was to ask about it, but I would never.
Then, finally, my eyes made their way to his, only to find that he was already looking at me. His eyes were ocean blue, drawing in every ounce of my attention to drown in them. They captivated me immediately, drawing me in until I couldn’t breathe.
I blinked once, but he didn’t move to collect his coffee.
He was leaning against the wall near the door, just staring at me. I couldn’t help but wonder how long he had been looking at me.
I wish I could say I was uncomfortable under his stare, but I wasn’t, not even a little bit.
“Uh, Jason?” I didn’t break eye contact with him.
He blinked once before getting up from his spot on the wall. I didn’t realise how tall he was until he had reached the counter.
He was at least 6 foot 3, and purely just muscle.
My cheeks flushed at the never ending attention he was giving me with his eyes, and I all but shoved the coffee in his hand. I was honestly surprised it didn’t spill all over his arm.
“Have a good day!” I quickly said, turning around so I didn’t have to watch him leave. Instead choosing to focus on the tickets that had just printed.
I heard the bell ring at his exit, and all the weight off my shoulders came off. I sighed loudly, my body leaning against the counter for only a moment. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest.
Alice patted my back, “You could have asked for his number, you know?”
I nearly choked on my spit, “What??”
“He was fully staring at you the entire time he was in here.” She giggles, checking the register.
I just shook my head lightly, deciding not to encourage her outrageous imagination.
I just tried to focus on work.
It didn’t work.
