A/N) Just caught up with Red hood and the Outlaws rebirth series and - sheesh, I'm DEPRESSED. I'm not spoiling anything, but yah - if anyone plans to read it - be warned.
Anyway, I have a Tim and Jason story going and a bunch of others - which I hate myself for not continuing at the moment but *sigh* C'est la vie.
I have recently had a tremendous itching for something to do with brother bonding. My Tim and Jason story isn't moving for some reason at the moment - I need to edit - so this thing came out. I've had it for a while and I can't remember why I didn't publish it.
Hope you guys like it. I don't think it's too bad.
Also, Jason curses a bunch in this. He has issues.
Motivation is your Superpower.
"Where the hell is it? " Jason Peter Todd, aka the fearsome Red Hood was currently stomping around one of his safe house slash apartment bare footed, messy haired, and seething in irritation as he looked through all his carefully cleaned and lined up gun collection for his favorite boot. One boot was missing . . . it had the best sole grips and hidden switchback holders.
"It was right here." He grouched to himself, because, aside from the occasional stray cat he let in, there wasn't anyone here to grouch at other than himself. He hated when he misplaced things, it drove him nuts, he liked knowing where everything was and putting everything where it should be, it was part of his personality that made him exercise control, because he sure as hell couldn't control anything else.
"Goddammit!" He hissed as he accidentally stubbed his toe on the gun shelf, this morning was not going so great for him.
Sometimes he had bad days, and sometimes he had bad days. The kind that was worse than stubbing his toe and looking like a shit storm for half the morning,
Today was one of the bad days.
The door bell rang, instantly making it worse.
Jason ignored it as he rummaged through a stack of newspapers he had piled neatly next to his books, they were for that stray cat he sometimes let in.
The doorbell rang louder. How was that even possible?
He didn't even remember having a doorbell.
He growled and tripped over the coffee table, yes, the great, tough, come-back-from-the-dead, Red Hood is capable of tripping over furniture like a normal person. . . despite years of training.
He fell back with a curse and landed on a potted plant he'd gotten from a certain someone for his so called birthday last year.
"Tend to it well Master Jason, it will help ease your tension and give you something to talk to."
That clipped British accent rang in his head as he looked down at the innocent plant that had just been brutally crushed by his butt with furrowed brows. So much for taking care of the thing. . . Alfred was going to be so pissed.
That made him feel even worse.
The doorbell rang and there was a knock accompanying it this time.
"Gah!" Jason growled out and stomped towards his door, ready to pound whoever was interrupting his already crappy morning. If it was that goddamn delivery man again. . .
Freak had the creepiest smile.
"You have five seconds to get out of this building before I blow your fucking face off!" He threatened as he threw open the door, face as terrifying as he could make it with his botched up hair.
"Now that would be a shame Little Wing, besides, we just got here." Dick Grayson smiled at him from the other side with the little Demon spawn muttering obscenities next to him and a knapsack.
And just like that, Jason's day when from bad day, to bad day.
"No! No! Abso-fucking-lutely not!"
Jason's shout could be heard all the way down the street.
Somehow the circus freak had managed to muscle his ugly face in through the door and dragged hissing cat demon child with him, now they were both seated on Jason's old but comfortable couch, Dick looking nothing but smiley.
"But Jay-Jay, it'll only be for a week. I'm needed with the Titans for an alien team mission, and Tim won't answer his phone and I can't seem to find him."
Jason snorted at that.
"Babs is busy with father stuff and is heading to Tokyo, Bruce is out of planet and Alfie neeeeds this vacation, soooooo. . ."
"The freaking brat can take care of himself, Dickhead." Jason sneered as he and Damian started a glaring contest.
"For once I agree with Todd, Grayson. Just let me reside in the manor alone. I can take care of myself. I don't need this dead weight thrust on me." The brat sounded way to imperious for Jason to agree completely. Out loud. Inside he was totally agreeing.
But he glared at Dick in emphasize,"I'll kill him before it's over." He hissed.
Damian rolled his eyes, "as if you could, I'd kill you before you even realize I am."
Dick's eye brow twitched but he remained calm and smiled at them.
"Just because he can take care of himself Jason doesn't mean he has to be by himself. Besides the last time we left him all alone, we found penguins in the bad cave, with the thermostat on below zero. . ." He cast a side long glance at Damian.
The small framed boy refused to acknowledge this as a mistake on his part.
"They deserved their freedom Grayson, I rescued them."
"Yes, but it took a week to melt all that ice out." Dick then turned to Jason who refused to find this conversation amusing.
They were idiots, the entire set.
He needed to get rid of them fast, so he can resume his life mildly unbothered by it.
"Ok great story Dick, now talk your misshapen little prick and get the hell out of my house. Get out. I ain't doin' none of this for you. Of all the Idiot's I tolerate you are the lowest on the scale of toleration." The crime alley accent slid right out of him for a minute, that tended to happen when he was too irritated to think.
Dick had the unbelievable nerve to sigh in exasperation, as if Jason was the one being unfair and difficult. Jackass.
"Only for a week, please."
"No!"
"But I can't leave him alone Jason! Please."
"Are you deaf? I said no fucking way!"
"Pleeease!"
Dick sprang up and put on his most powerful puppy face. Jason balked, No way in hell was that going to work.
"No, get lost jackass."
Dick turned up the nauseating look to eleven.
"Did I mention you're my favorite brother. Cuz you are, please!"
"To hell I am, and I don't want to be. Now-" He grabbed Dick by the shirt and pulled hard towards his door."-Get the fuck out."
"Jaaaaaaasssssooooooonnnnne!"
God, was this freak seriously whining like a three year old?
Jason made the mistake of looking at that second, Dick had on the mostly pathetic baby's face, with tears and everything - and - and. . . how the hell could a grown man even look like that? Like a sad lonely little kid who's lost his parents, his new puppy, and is begging for some kind of affection to compensate. Jason swore this guy had some kind of demonic power that could turn him pathetically childlike in seconds and it usually got him what he wanted.
"He'll be all alone."
"Don't care."
"He'll be sad and lonely."
"Why would I care?!"
"Gotham isn't ready for that!" Dick begged frantically.
Jason caved a little, then glared at the circus clown.
He wasn't going to flake for this. No, no, Jason Todd was a strong, independent, no push over guy, who kills drug dealers and monsters and cursed and punched brick walls and looked bad ass in everything and - and. . .
There was no way in hell he was letting Dick Freaking Grayson win.
Not this time. . .
"Bye Dami, be good, and please don't scare any neighbors!" Dick called cheerily as he headed out the door with a wave, "Thanks again Little wing, have fun!"
Jason threw a heavy boot that just missed Grayson's pretty little prick face as he closed the door.
"This is ridiculous, he is so insufferable." Damian seethed next to him, arms crossed, face pinched in disgust, eyes narrowed at the door Dick just escaped through.
Jason needed to strangle someone.
How the hell did that prick always win? Jason didn't get it. . .
And it made him angrier.
"All right Snot, this it how we're gonna play this, rules. Lots and lots of rules." Funny how he himself wasn't ever much for rules.
But hey, this was his house, so he was allowed to make rules for it, it's not like he lived in Bruce's house when he broke all his rules, no hypocrisy here. No sir.
"Rule one, don't touch any of my shit. Rule two, don't talk or come near me. Rule three, don't do anything unless I say so. And rule four, do not, under any circumstances, give me any of your holier then thou shit. Break any of those rules and you loose your fingers one by one, clear." He finished, glaring at the seething ten year old.
Damian frowned harder, if looks could kill they would both have committed simultaneous murder.
"First, I don't want to touch anything that has your heathen germs on it, and I will talk as I please, not that I want to be anywhere near you or have any semblance of a conversation with you, not like your smart enough to have a conversation, you're not the boss of me and I will behave anyway I see fit. Which in this case is better than you. And your threats don't interests me in the least."
The little shit.
Jason's vein robbed, he was going to kill this son of a dick. . . God. . .
Dick Grayson was so dead. So, so dead.
"And you look like a creature of the undead, sad to say your grooming habits are atrocious. Pennyworth would die of shame if he saw you right now."
That's it!
Jason let out a feral growled and punched the coffee tale, successfully snapping it in half. Damian just raised an arched brow at him, so very unimpressed.
How the hell could such a small kid be filled with so much arrogance?
And it wasn't even like, the cocky cool kind! It was just - a full on snob!
Jason didn't know, he didn't care.
With a fierce huff, he stomped away and grabbed his favorite gun from his collection. He clicked it off safety and narrowed his eyes at the demon spawn.
Damian just glared right the hell back.
It would have impressed Jason if he was any other kid. But the snot was the Batman's son, he wasn't any other kid.
"I'm going out, don't follow me, and stay here. Leave and I ain't lookin' for you, and if you get killed or do something stupid, I'll tell Dick you deserved it." He marched into his bedroom and slammed the door.
Five minutes later he came out, dressed in Kevlar and leather, guns holstered, boots on, not his favorites but they'll have to do, and his helmet underneath his arm.
Damian just watched him with borrowed little eyes.
"Off to kill someone then, you underling."
Jason's brow twitched.
"Better someone else than you don'tchya think." With a tightened fist and glare he headed out the door.
"Don't. Go. Anywhere. Capeesh?" He snapped before slamming the door shut and locking it from the out side.
Like that was going to keep the snot in. . .
Whatever, Jason kind of hope the little prick left and actually got himself abducted or something. Then he could pay back Dick by scaring the crap out of him and getting the irritation off his property.
With another huff he slipped his helmet off and prepared to go break something.
Poor was the sucker that decided to do something tonight. The Red Hood was in no forgiving mood.
He had Satan's spawn staying in his sanctuary.
You bet Hell will break loose.
It was three in the morning when he finally walked back into his apartment, and by walked he really stumbled in and fell right on his couch.
He waited for the adrenaline and aches to dull away. His eyes closed from the long exertion, just needed a few moments to erase the nights screaming and guns shots and - and it was so nice and quiet here. So nice and. . .
Suddenly all hairs stood on end. Wait, he was forgetting something, he was forgetting. . .
A sharp hiss and crash made him jolt awake.
Holy hell, Demon spawn! He'd forgotten Dick dumped the little freak on him this morning and. . . where the hell was he?
"Good, very good, you are an excellent jumper."
What?
With an entirely freaked out look on his face he followed that voice, it was familiar - but the sheer lack of the usual arrogant tone in it was. . . scaring him.
He tip toed and peeked around the corner of his kitchen.
His jaw dropped.
There, on the floor, was the imperious little demon prince. . . playing with - with the cat Jason fed sometimes.
"Wha-?" He wouldn't have believed it if he wasn't seeing it, even then he didn't believe it. He knew Damian liked animals, maybe more than anything else. . . but the smile on the kids face at the moment, the lack of violence and flames flickering in his eyes, the sharp edges softening out as he watched the little black ball of fur twist into the air elegantly.
Jason doesn't faint. He doesn't freak out. And he most certainly does not mush out. . . but this. . . was. . . horrifyingly cute.
He almost laughed.
Damian was glaring at him now. Everything back to the way it should be, imperious, angry and cold. . . much better.
"What? Have you never witnessed animal training, Todd."
Oh, so that's what he was going to cover with. Jason felt a slightly sadistic smirk stretch across his face. No way was he letting his royal shortness get away with this. "Animals training? Naw, it looks more like you're playing with Shadow there."
Damian scoffed instantly and attempted to not look at the pawing cat again,"you're an idiot, clearly I don't play with animals, I rescue them and train them to serve me and-"
"Call it what you will germling, you're playing." He leaned against the door frame and smirked wider, crossing his arms cockily, just because he knew looking down at the kid like this drove him nuts.
Damian hissed like a cat,"I don't need to take this from you." He reached for the cat, "I am leaving and telling father you tried to shoot this poor creature so I rescued it and-"
Shadow dodged Damian's hands, surprising the kid silent, and pranced towards Jason's feet, instantly rubbing up on his legs with a gentle purr.
The look of betrayal on Damian's face was pure gold. Jason wished he'd taken a picture for later.
He bent down and scratched the friendly feline under his scruffy chin. "Sorry kid, you're gonna have to come up with a new plan. Shadow here is smart enough to know never bit the hand that feeds him. Smart alley cat, kinda like me."
Shadow purred up at him and meowed softly.
Jason lets a real smile, small as it was, tug at his lips.
Damian could not, for the life of him, take his eyes off of the outlaws face. He would never admit it, but he never thought he'd see Jason Todd smile at anything. . . not for real. Not that it mattered, he didn't smile at anything either. . . well, according to Grayson that wasn't true but still, he wouldn't admit that either.
"Speaking of feeding, you eat anything while I was gone?" He was asking because it was his food, not cuz he cared if the kid had food in him or not.
Damian snarled, "as if I'd eat any of that filth in your kitchen. Hot dogs and beef soup? What is wrong with you?"
Jason snickered at that before he remembered to stifle it for sake of keeping his I-don't-like-you attitude. With a stretch that popped his joints he walked in and the kitchen was instantly filled. Shadow followed around his feet and waited to be fed.
Damian stood up and watched with his arms crossed as Jason opened a can of tuna fish and let the furry creature eat it happily.
Jason caught him staring and smirked infuriatingly. "What? You want some?"
Actually, he wouldn't really be surprised if Damian accepted the tuna fish. Personal thoughts led him to believe the kid actually was a demon cat from another world.
Seriously, slap a pair of pointy ears on him and he'd literally be a four foot tall hominoid cat person.
That was kind of funny actually. Maybe he could get a pair of cat ear muffs and sneak it on the kid and-
"You are an idiot. I am going to bed." With that, Damian flounced out as regally as a squirt could appear and slammed the door shut.
Jason let out a long suffering sigh, why the hell did he have to suffer like this? Wasn't dyeing and coming back crazy and going through all that shit to get where he was right now enough punishment for his sins? Someone better be enjoying this, because he sure wasn't.
Wait. . . did that little freak just take his bedroom?!
Dick was a dead man.
This'll probably be like four or five chapters.
Anyway, anyone out there have any good shows about brothers - two brothers to be exact, and I'm not talking about Supernatural, for those that thought that, that show is everywhere - sheesh.
There was this show - I can't remember the name of it or the two brothers in it to save my life, I spent and entire day trying to find it, all I know is it has two brothers, at maybe some kind of farm like place and one had an attitude problem and - that is so vague and I don't now . . . but it's driving me crazy! Maybe one of their names was Keith? I don't think so but - it just came to me . . . help?
Maybe someone has a suggestion or an idea of what I'm talking about.
Hope so.
See ya.