InsaneJournal

WHO: RED HOOD VS NIGHTWING
WHAT: Ex-Robin showdown.
WHEN: Evening.
WHERE: Lawrence, Kansas.
RATING: High!



Actions speak louder than words. The saying was one of the few that Jason believed in. Watching the Joker murder hundreds – himself included – confirmed that the man was an absolute psychopath who could never be contained, nor could he be reasoned with. He kept escaping. He kept killing. He kept hurting. Those actions made it very clear that the Joker could no longer live; doing so would only bring more pain into the world, and so he had to die. Simple. The Red Hood had hacked off the heads of dozens of thugs deep down in the grit and grime of the Gotham underworld, wrapped them all nicely into a burlap sack, and had dropped those heads at the feet of all the crooks that he had wanted to manipulate to bring the crime rate down. One look at how many bodies must have been attached to those bloody grapefruits was all that it had taken for them to understand that he was in charge. Again: simple. Bruce Wayne, through a series of actions, had easily confirmed that he did not care for the man who had, once upon a time, been the young boy that he had taken under his wing. The cherry on top of that cake had been stacked real high a couple nights ago, leaving Jason Todd to battle with a series of emotions that he had not touched on since he had fallen through Lawrence's magic seal and had settled into his life in the world without a real Batman.

Jason had only been able to stifle his hurt and rage for so long. He had hoped to shrug it off – going after Bruce, logically, would only turn people against him more than they already were. Jason had enough enemies; adding more to the list wouldn't make his life any easier. Then there was that knowledge that, deep down, he had been hoping to find some way to move on. Before Bruce had showed, before everything had gone to hell, Jason had been doing all right. He'd kept his head down, he had focused on small crime, and he had even contributed to the big fight every now and again when the moment had been right.

Jason wanted to play a part in this war. He wanted to help, in his own twisted way.

Then Bruce decided to drop in. At first, Jason believed that he could handle it. He'd stay out of the way. Do the adult thing. Pretend that it didn't hurt as bad as it did.

But then Jason realized that ignoring the problem wasn't him handling it. Bruce wouldn't listen to him. He had plainly said that he didn't want to. Well. Jason was just gonna have to make him listen, wasn't he? Back in Gotham, before Jason had been blasted to high hell and through that seal, they had been on the verge of...of something. If Jason had a little longer with Bruce, if he had just enough time to convince him...

They had unfinished business. Jason was going to find Bruce. But first, he needed something important. It wasn't the Joker, though it damn well should have been. No, instead Jason found himself staring down a bottom of the barrel thug who had been working at building his own new branch of drug trade just outside of Lawrence. He had been making his way into the city to do some of his dirty work, but Jason had made it in point so that he was politely intercepted on his way home.

And by politely, Jason meant that he had jumped out of a dark alley and dragged him back and out of sight with his favorite jagged knife at his throat. With his knife cutting into the side of the mans neck, Jason began to calculate his way back to a truck he had 'borrowed' and parked at the end of the alleyway.

He'd bring the man – by the name of Jones - to Bruce. Tell him all about the research he'd done on him. The jail time that he had done for murder. The drug trade he was working on now. The dozens of other crimes the man had probably gotten away with under the noses of all those cops that were supposed to be dealing with scum like this on the regular. Jason would make Bruce look this man in the eyes. He would make the man confess his crimes, then he would put a gun into Bruce's hands, just like he had done before, and he would make him shoot Jones dead.

Jones wasn't personal like Joker had been. But he was still dirty and, right now, that was good enough for Jason. If it had been any other night, Jason might've taken a moment to conclude that he was being a little more crazy than usual. Usually Jason thought things through down to the last detail. But this? This was a last ditch effort. Actions spoke louder than words and, right now, Jason's actions were practically screaming that he was desperate.

He couldn't deal with Bruce Wayne being back in his life without finishing what he had started. Not anymore.

“Move,” Red Hood grunted from beneath his mask. He shoved Jones around, pushing him toward the back of the truck. He'd tie him down. Drag him to Bruce.

He would fix everything. Bruce would admit that he was right. He'd prove that he cared. That Jason was right. He would.