Who: Jason Todd & Thomas Elliot Where: Gotham City When: Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 Summary: Learning Hush was looking into his personal records, Jason contacts him to figure just what the hell he's doing.
Of all the people Jason knew in his life, it seemed odd that Talia al Ghul was the only one he really trusted. Perhaps it was because she was the only one that really cared about him after his death. That in itself confused Jason given that he had never had a relation with her, but he just wrote it off for what it was - Talia wanted to make amends for her father killing Bruce's Robin. She seemed to have an odd love affair with Bruce that Jason couldn't get his head around, though he couldn't say he was all that interested in trying to.
No matter the reason for her bringing him back, Jason tended to trust Talia. So when she contacted him about a certain person digging into his personal records, he followed the lead almost immediately. It took him a while to track down who this person was, but finally he got a name: Hush. Apparently he was new to the Gotham scene. Now, what he was doing looking into Jason's private records, he wasn't sure, but he wasn't about to let him continue.
So Jason decided to meet up with the newcomer. He managed to send out a message to him through Talia and set up a meeting in the Business district. It was there he stood on one of the alley’s many fire escapes, keeping an eye out for the little snoop.
It was a mixture of curiosity and vanity that brought Tommy to this meeting. The persona was a work in progress, and honestly, he’d thought he had put enough fear into people that it would not spread so quickly. But that was the risk of dealing with the corruptible, and he had had to deal with such types of late. Bruce’s children--he had always known that therein lay a vulnerability to be exploited, but the discovery of the short life of Jason Todd was truly a boon.
He did not yet know what had happened, but he knew enough of Bruce to know that this was a festering wound--one its victim might never recover from. A tactical advantage like that was worth the odd meeting in a dark place. He stared down at his company for the night through red tinted binoculars, and soon enough, the Red Hood was staring back. Curious, curious. What could this man want to speak to him about? He carefully made his way to the fire escape, joining the man in the humid night air.
Jason didn't speak right off, instead letting a brief silence linger between the two. He wanted to keep the man guessing and not immediately jumping into conversation helped a bit. It also gave him another few moments to make sure he stayed collected while discussing his death. He couldn't say he enjoyed having to talk about it outside of tormenting those he once knew.
"Hear you're looking into Bruce Wayne's kid," he finally said. He pondered for a brief moment, remembering that not only was he and Dick considered his sons, but he now had this Damian kid. He then added for clarification, "The dead one. I want to know why."
Tommy was a man well into his thirties, which gave him the appropriate maturity to not retort with 'Why do you want to know why?'--there were better methods than such a petulant approach. He instead continued to stand in the quiet for a moment longer, reassured by the weight of his holstered weapons. "Stories do have a way of circulating in this town...you are in the drug trade, yes? Well, then I have to believe on some level, you and I share a common goal: the ruin of Batman."
It was a good thing Jason was wearing the mask, otherwise Hush would've seen the look of mild shock on his face. So this guy knew that Gotham's playboy was also its Dark Knight. Jason wasn't sure how he had come upon that revelation, but he couldn't say it much matter. What really mattered to him was how this man planned to get at Batman. Obviously he planned to manipulate Batman through Bruce's alter ego, but how? Did he know him somehow? Was he close enough to him to actually make a dent?
"Getting at Batman through Wayne?" This was the part where Jason had to tread carefully. He didn't want to give too much away, but he also knew he'd have to to be able to get the information he needed. "Okay, sure. Let's say he's Batman. What do you plan to do with the information on the kid? Open old wounds to make him sloppy? Emotional? What makes you think it'd do any of those things?"
"I never said Wayne was Batman," Tommy corrected coolly. Yes, there were heavy implications of it, but he wasn’t going to give his quarry up to just anyone. That information had been painstakingly researched out. "From what I can tell the murder was a deep point of failure for both Wayne and Batman--" This was the truth, but worded a little more ambiguously than his previous statements. "--and I have already expressed my plan. Ruin Batman. Ruination isn’t accomplished with fists or in a single fight. It’s a seed of decay that needs to grow. Reintroducing him to one of his moments of great failure...it is the overture to his destruction."
As if it wasn't obvious the he was saying Bruce was Batman. Just because he didn't say it outright didn’t mean that the guy didn't divulge the information to him. But to give him some credit, a criminal that didn’t already know Bruce equalled Batman probably would have accepted it as hypothetical rather than fact. They weren’t the smartest bunch.
Jason listened as Hush continued, his physical appearance remaining stoic. His mind, however, was working quickly. It seemed Hush had the same goals as he did. Though he was less interested in the complete ruin of Bruce than he was in messing with his head. Still, he could use this.
"If that’s what you want," he started, adjusting one of his gloves. "I'm your way in."
"Oh?" Hush asked, trying to keep a smile off of his face. Well, well, this had been a fortuitous meeting. Still, it wasn’t time to celebrate just yet. "Now, why exactly are you the way in?" He needed to know that he had somewhere to hide in this, and to do that, he needed to know just what kind of devil he was making a deal with tonight.
Jason cocked an eyebrow. As much as Hush was resisting the urge to keep a smile off his face, he could tell the man was pleased with this turn of events. There seemed to be some kind of... glee resonating from him. This man really wanted to get at Bruce.
"You need a greatest failure. I happen to be one." Jason didn't give away much more than that, but he was sure the man could put the pieces together. If not, well, that was his problem.
Tommy was no fool. The meeting, the interrogation tonight--it all lead back to one person. "Jason Todd, then?" He could no longer suppress his smile. "This is a truly outstanding meeting of the minds. You’re looking remarkably spry for someone who is dead on paper...and that proves a point to me. Hit Bruce at his core emotions--hit him hard enough--and he’ll fall. He'll get sloppy and drag himself down."
His mind was racing, seeing the steps laid out in front of him. "What do you say to a little father-son reunion?” He cocked his head, observing the man’s outfit. "No--you can’t just walk right up to him. Not after you've gone through so much trouble to take on the Red Hood...I don't necessarily need Bruce to know you're alive. I just want to place the bad ghosts in front of him and give them a voice." He relaxed his stance a bit, leaning on the fire escape's railing. "We just need a way to make a living person into a ghost...one that Bruce will believe in."
Yes, Hush was definitely no fool. He determined Jason's identity as well as his motive for taking on the Red Hood mantle pretty quickly. This was slightly worrying. If this stranger could figure it out, Bruce definitely could. There was one thing the man had over Bruce though. He seemed to believe his being alive was plausible. Bruce's disbelief that one could come back from death would keep him from realizing it really was Jason under the hood.
"Pretty relaxed for standing face to face with a dead man," he replied, confirming Hush's suspicions. There was no need to hide it anymore.
"A doppelganger?" Jason suggested, leaning against the fire escape's railing as well. "Confront him, then swap with someone else."
"Said the dead man to the man who does not exist," Hush replied with a wry grin, raising a finger to his lips in a hushing motion. He refused to be like the others that plagued Batman’s nightmares, full of schemes and gimmicks. He did not want Bruce to see him coming, so that the man’s last terrible moments would be marked with the terrible truth of who had broken him so completely.
"I like your thinking, but...are you certain you want to go through with this? Of course, I know it's no favor to me, but I’m positive a man so savagely failed by Bruce has his own plans for vengeance," Tommy murmured, fairly certain he knew how the Red Hood would reply. He was offering the young man a chance at a meaningful confrontation with few strings attached. Was it the most beneficial course of action for Jason Todd to take? Tactically, no. However, Tommy was sure that the boy's emotions would compel him to act on the opportunity. "I can make the arrangements...will we meet again to discuss the details?"
While Jason had become a bit of an intellectual mastermind, it was his emotions that really drove him. It was his disappointment and anger that prompted him to slowly pick away at Bruce and his associates. It was his strong sense of justice that drove him to take over crime and administer the death penalty to those who deserved it. So it was no surprise that he would accept Hush's offer despite the fact it wouldn't be tactically beneficial to do so. He wanted to hurt Bruce, but most of all, he wanted to see how he would react without having to reveal himself. He needed to know if he regretted what he had not done.
"Give me a time and I'll see if I can make it."
"Friday," Tommy replied, knowing he would have ample time to make the right preparations before then. "We can meet at the Gleason Paper Factory." Because if Hush was executing the plans, then he would dictating the meeting place. He would not let Todd have all the control.
"Fine by me," Jason replied, climbing onto the railing and resting there in a crouched position. "Better keep up your end. The man who never existed is easily found."
With that, Jason lept backwards and landed squarely onto the pavement below. A few quick steps towards the shadows and he was out of sight.