Who. Jason Todd & Molly Hayes When. Christmas-ish. SANTA! Where. The Station's Parking Garage What. Molly steamrolls over a tank. Kinda.
Jason had instinctively put his hands up to catch whoever was running into him, expecting them to bounce right off him and fall over based on size alone.
If asked later, yes, Molly would have admitted that she shouldn’t have been running through the building. But when one was Molly Hayes, there was a level of excitement that simply couldn’t be contained. She was on her way to the Leapfrog because she just had to tell it all about the day she’d had and that she was getting to meet Santa. Okay, yes, she was well aware that kids her age no longer believed but Molly knew better. She knew the truth because she’d seen things with her own eyes and maybe next year she’d have to hide it better.
But today?
Today was about having met Santa. Or one of his helpers, she guessed.
She turned a corner and got one step into putting on the speed when she completely collided with a solid wall. No. That wasn’t right. One, the wall was definitely human and two, walls weren’t meant to move. Break, if she punched through them? Sure. “Ohmygosh,” Molly exclaimed, immediately rushing to the poor person she’d just plowed into. “Are you dead? Please don’t be dead. I almost killed a guy once because I didn’t know he didn’t have super powers and-” Molly Hayes also didn’t quite know when to stop talking.
Jason had instinctively put his hands up to catch whoever was running into him, expecting them to bounce right off him and fall over based on size alone. When he found himself going down, instead, that meant he wasn't prepared enough to catch himself. Hitting the ground knocked the breath out of him, and he struggled to suck one in before he managed a wheeze that would at least let her know that he was still alive.
"Not dead. This time." Jason started to push himself up, bemused by the whole thing. Huh. Okay, superpowers. The tiny girl obviously had superstrength or something. That was something he could adjust to, it wasn't like that was a total unknown in his world. He even knew how to fight against it, better than most people at least.
There wasn't going to be much fighting going on at the moment, at least. He looked her over with notable respect. "You pack a punch, Killer."
Molly wrung her hands in front of her, worried, but Jason had indicated that he wasn't dead. She didn't even stop to consider the this time and watched the man push himself up. When it was clear that she hadn't broken him, Molly breathed a sigh of relief.
And then she grinned. "I'm not a killer but I like that better than Bruiser. My superhero name is Princess Powerful," Molly said, completely disregarding the idea of secret identities. "And I'm Molly Hayes, I'm super strong, and pretty much like nothing can hurt me too bad but then I end up needing to take a nap afterward. I'm a mutant! Like the X-Men. Though I still don't know why they're called the X-Men because there are girls on the team, too, so like did no one ask their opinion?"
She reached up to adjust the kitty-eared hat she wore and beamed up at Jason. "You're new."
"Sure am," he agreed, almost cheerfully. "Jason Todd. No superpowers. And I'm on your side here, pretty sure they could have thought of something cooler and more gender neutral."
He guessed people really did just announce their secret identities around here all the time. He was pretty sure there weren't many like him and Dick around, keeping their extracurriculars quiet instead. He just... couldn't see crossing that line, though. Red Hood worked because most people didn't know the face under the mask, and there was probably some deep psychological shit there that he wasn't going to get into any time soon.
Repress, repress, repress. Right, Bruce?
"Where are you in such a hurry to get to, Princess Powerful? Did someone pull the fire alarm or something?" It was probably just normal teenage enthusiasm about something mundane, but you could never be too careful, and Jason's attention was sharp even as his tone was casual.
Molly grinned. She liked Jason immediately because he didn't have that tone of talking down to her just because she was a kid. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Todd," Molly said, erring on the side of being polite because he was still an adult. And she didn't want to get in trouble because she was being rude after she'd already plowed into him.
"Oh!" she chirped, like she'd already forgotten why she'd been running in the first place. "No, I was going to talk to the Leapfrog and tell him that I met Santa," Molly said, pointing in the direction she'd been heading. "He likes when I tell him about my day and what's going on and I get to tell him all kinds of things and sometimes he plays the... Audible! The book over his speakers so we can listen together while I do homework." It all sounded very rational to her at least. The girl paused and squinted, thinking. "You know, I don't think we've ever had a fire drill here. We do one at least once a year in school. Earthquake drill, too. Because, you know, California."
Okay, Jason needed to take about three steps back. "Just Jason. God, please, just Jason. I've never been Mr. Todd in my life. What's the Leapfrog?"
There was a lot to unpack there, but he was just... trying to figure out what the most important details to pick out of it were. Or at least the ones he needed to keep up with the rest of it. Fire drills and earthquakes he got. Audiobooks, that made sense. The Leapfrog?
Nope. That was the detail he needed.
Molly's grin was immediate and she reached out to grab Jason by the hand, quickly walking to tow him along. "I'll show you!"
Her passenger seemed to be keeping up so at least she hadn't dragged him off his feet. And then there he was, in all his metallic, green glory: the Leapfrog. "See? The Leapfrog." As if on command, because the vehicle's AI had registered Molly's voice, the Leapfrog whirred to life and clearly focused on the girl. And then Jason. Was it possible for a machine to be sizing a person up with suspicion? Surely not.
"Leapfrog? Meet Jason Todd. But just Jason. Jason? Meet the Leapfrog! He's basically my best friend here. Well, and Mayday of course. We go to school together at the middle school and we're the only ones from here and it's gotten better since she started," Molly chattered.
Jason couldn't say that he'd ever been introduced to a... vehicle... type thing... before, but hey. First time for everything. "Nice to meet you, Leapfrog."
Really, he wanted to get under the hood and see how it worked, but that wasn't something you asked someone on your first day of meeting them. Maybe later down the line, Molly would let him in on some more about it. Or the Leapfrog itself would, since it could apparently communicate with her. Some kind of AI, maybe?
"Don't let me stop you from filling him in," Jason told her, moseying around to look at the Leapfrog from a slightly different angle, sizing it up as well.
"Oh right!" Molly said as Jason reminded her of why she'd been running out to the Leapfrog in the first place. She dropped down into a cross-legged sit right there in the parking garage and she was probably a little too far out into the potential pathway of cars coming in to park but it was the garage attached to the Station and people weren't careless drivers there. "So, you remember Santa... right?" Molly began.
The Leapfrog was focused on Molly but its sensors still tracked Jason. "Of course. My memory is without fault," the AI replied. "You have given me many stories," the Leapfrog reminded her.
Molly beamed. "Right! So he was here and there weren't any of the elves with the stabby candy canes. Remember them? The whole glitter thing? Anyway, he came to visit again and I got a bike for Christmas from him! A bigger one! I'm going to put streamers on it."
"A wonderful idea, Miss Hayes," the AI said, as though all of it were the most normal thing in the world.
Huh. It talked. Jason stepped in and didn't quite touch, but tilted his head to try to get a look inside and see how the damn thing steered. Somehow, he'd sort of been expecting it to be kind of a sci-fi thing, where the robot just beeped or something and somehow everyone seemed to understand it. "What color?" he asked, still half listening to her even as he inspected the Leapfrog.
Damn. Bruce would have killed for something like that. And they all knew that Bruce didn't kill, it was sort of a major point of contention.
"The streamers, I mean. And I guess the bike." Jason could do this. He could roll with Santa and talking... whatever the fuck you'd call the Leapfrog. He wasn't quite sure there was a name for the type of vehicle it was.
"Pink bike," Molly said, twisting to address Jason. "But I'm thinking purple and silver streamers like the shiny ones. And I can put stickers all over it. Leapfrog says I can't put stickers on him because it might hurt the paint."
The AI whirred, sounding a little affronted. "I said nothing of the sort, Miss Hayes."
Molly rolled her eyes. "Okay, that might'a been Chase who said it. But I can put them on the bike. Do you want to see the inside? It's all shiny and I got like a whole pile of Squishmallows and books and stuff." Clearly she could multitask in the middle of conversations.
"What's a Squishmallow? And yes, of course I do." Jason was already stepping back, light on his feet and ready to move in whatever direction she indicated. "But, uh, yeah, you probably shouldn't put stickers on Leapfrog. Because of the paint. I mean, I guess you could paint on him, though, if you guys decide he needs some racing stripes."
He wasn't expecting Leapfrog to be into that idea, but it was kind of funny to put it in Molly's head anyway. And hey, the AI could speak up for himself, if he cared.
Molly scrambled to her feet with a wide grin and gestured for Jason to follow her as she moved around to the other side of the vehicle where the hatch opened. Her foot was just a little too loud as she jumped inside to land on it, like she was playing her own game of Hopscotch, and Molly launched herself into the small pile of Squishmallow plushes that she'd amassed. If it hurt to land like that, the girl gave no indication.
The interior lit up more, like there had been a dimmer switch, and the AI was clearly paying attention still.
"Welcome aboard, Mister Todd," it said politely. Molly might have been told it was 'just Jasoon' and she had tried to let the AI know the same but there were still some things ingrained in its programming. AI wasn't exactly on a first-name basis with anyone. "Miss Hayes keeps... snacks... stocked. The nutritional value may be questionable, however."
Molly giggled. "Girl Scout cookies are totally nutritional," she argued.
"I mean, not really," Jason had to acknowledge, "but they're pretty delicious, so I think they get a pass this time. Thanks, Leapfrog."
He figured he wasn't going to change the whole Mr. Todd thing unless he got in and fucked around with the programming, and honestly? He wasn't sure he could manage that on something this advanced. That, and he didn't have any reason to go fucking around with things right then. Nothing life or death. And Molly hadn't given him permission.
He did browse around the interior, though, taking note of the controls. He could probably figure out how to operate the damn thing, if he needed to. And it was good to know what tools you had at your disposal, if an emergency came up.
"You want some?" Molly offered, rooting around for a box of Thin Mints before brandishing them with an enticing little shake of the carton. There was a whole sleeve in there and everything.
She watched Jason and her demeanor didn't slide away into something more serious or anxious. "Leapfrog's gotta stay in here because I'm not allowed to drive by myself even though he could totally drive us both. Couldn't you, Leapfrog?"
The AI actually hesitated. "That is not an incorrect statement, however, parameters have been set in regards to parent-or-guardian permissions," the Leapfrog responded. The loophole, of course, was an adult. Molly couldn't just leave with any adult and the vehicle's AI had been adamant about that loophole with her first and second guardian. "I do not need a change in scenery, Miss Hayes. Please do not be concerned on my behalf. Do you have any questions, Mister Todd?"
"Yeah," Jason said. "A few."
If the AI was going to answer them, then he was going to take advantage of it. He shrugged and went to settle by Molly, reaching out a hand for a cookie absently. "So, about your programming..."