Hello! This is my take on the character of Jason Todd (second Robin) in the Young Justice universe. Maybe I'm part of a minority, but I love his character on both Batman: Under the Red Hood and the new Red Hood and the Outlaws (yes, I'm a girl and I don't care if Starfire is a walking sex symbol, she can wear whatever she wants).

I hope you like my story! Enjoy!

Dark Night

Antarctica

February 13, 2015, 01:45

Project Lazarus was officially a failure.

It could have been a true medical miracle. Creating a formula from the water of Ra's al Ghul Lazarus Pit to raise the dead could have been the secret of immortality, but Ra's and Talia weren't interested on bringing average humans back to life. No. They wanted worthy warriors who could serve them, but it all went horribly wrong.

The dead could walk and fight, but their minds and souls were gone. They were no more than mindless zombies who attacked everyone that got in their way, thus they had to be taken down once more. Ra's had been so disgusted that he terminated the Project, but one of the doctors saw an opportunity. What if he could control the zombies somehow? Why bring back their minds if they could be such an amazing weapon with just their bodies?

The doctor disappeared with the formula and Ra's al Ghul ordered the complete destruction of the facilities along with the remaining zombies, corpses and anyone who knew about the project.

Talia al Ghul was overseeing the wipe out herself, ignoring the screams and the blood and focusing on the matter at hand. It was bad enough that one doctor had manged escape with the formula and she wanted to make sure no one else was going to repeat his feat. They would have to deal with Dr. Robb later in the most painful way possible.

Talia watched as her men went down to the twentieth floor of the facility and effectively killed the employees and burned the pods were the zombies were resting. She was about to alert the warriors about a separate pod when she noticed the readings of the zombie's vitals in the computer and frowned. They were... normal. If she didn't know, she would have thought they belonged to a living person.

Silently, Talia walked towards body nº 2620 and gasped when she saw his face. She ran to the computer and quickly read all the data on him.

At first, nº 2620 was just another mindless zombie staring at nothing from his pod until the doctors decided to give him a different dose of the Lazarus formula and wait for the results. His mind was blurry and it was difficult to think, but he started to take notice of his surroundings. However, what made the doctors remove him from the other experiments and consider him a special case was that he could talk. Actually, he jabbered and wasn't able to keep a normal conversation for long. Often, he either asked where he was despite being given an answer or he called for someone named Bruce over and over before breaking into tears.

When nº 2620 woke up with the sound of the shootings, he was too drugged to care. Besides, he was restrained so he couldn't do anything but lift his head and try to understand what was going on. When a dark-haired woman appeared over his face, he frowned. Her face was familiar. He had met her before, fought her…

"Ta… Talia?" the teen asked, watching her shocked face.

"Robin? Robin, is that you?" Talia asked.

Robin. That's right. He was Robin, the Boy Wonder. The second person to wear the black and red costume. He was Batman's sidekick…

"I can believe this…" Talia mumbled. "I can't believe Father actually brought you too…"

"Batman" the boy interrupted. "Where's Batman?"

Talia bit her lower lip and glanced at her men, then she pressed the controls on the computer and the boy's body fell limp against her.

"Commander!" she yelled at a muscular man who immediately came to her. "Tell the men to finish the job and come with me to the surface. We're leaving."

The man looked at the battered body of the boy she was holding. "What about this one? The orders were not to leave anything behind."

"I'll make an exception. He's special" Talia answered bitterly. "My Father will support me on this decision."

Nodding, the Commander took the boy in his arms and the three of them left the facility into the cold of the Antarctic night. The boy was shivering terribly and when someone wrapped a blanket over his body, he felt a rush of panic because he realized he wasn't wearing his costume or his domino mask.

"Calm down, Jason Todd" Talia said, forcing his blurry eyes to look at her. "It's alright. We all know who you are. It doesn't matter anymore."

Even though he was drugged, the boy reacted to his real name. He knew no one was supposed to know his name was Jason Todd. Both Bruce and Dick and told him not to reveal it and never use it on the field.

"Where's… Batman?" he asked again.

Talia lowered her eyes. "Forget about him, Jason."

"Where… is… Batman?" Jason went on, his voice growing more desperate. "Where…?"

Talia grabbed Jason's shoulders. Her touch was almost gentle.

"He's not coming, Jason."

Gotham City

December 24, 21:34

It had just started to snow when Jason started to jump from roof to roof. No one saw him, not only because he was being extremely careful but also because most people were too busy celebrating Christmas Eve or minding their own business to care.

The teen boy was wearing a dark hood and his face was covered by several bandages and a scarf. He didn't want anyone to see his face, not yet at least. Talia had told him that he would look normal in time, that his hollow eyes and his burned skin were definitely going to heal, but he didn't trust her. It didn't matter that she was been the reason he was alive, she was definitely waiting to use him for her own schemes.

Knowing that he had died was a shock, but learning that he had been brought back from the dead like some Frankenstein monster was a lot of crazy. We would have been permanently retarded if Talia hadn't tossed him into the original Lazarus Pit to heal his brain. After that, he spent months on physical therapy until his body was strong enough to flee.

Jason wanted to go back to Gotham. He wanted to let Bruce know that he was still alive (Dick too, but he would never admit it). He missed the big, cozy Wayne Manor; he missed Alfred and his sarcastic remarks, he missed Bruce brooding nature and, deep down, he kinda missed Dick too.

When Jason saw the Manor, he couldn't wait to see their faces when they realized he was alive and kicking ass. No doubt Bruce and Dick were going to nag him about how reckless he had been and how it got him killed, but he knew he could do better this time around. He was going to be the greatest Robin that ever existed! C'mon! How many heroes came back from the dead?

Talia had tried to trick him with lies to make him take her side. She had told him that he hadn't been avenged and that the Joker had simply been sent into Arkham only escape like nothing had happened and Batman hadn't done anything to make him pay for Jason's death. She had also told him that no one really missed him, that his death had been a release. Batman and his comrades thought of him as too violent, arrogant and brash. He was nothing like Dick and should never have become Robin. Jason had been a failure Robin, a mistake that had already been rectified by a more suitable replacement.

Even knowing what Talia was trying to pull, Jason's heart ached with her words because they hit a sore spot that he made sure no one knew. He knew he wasn't like Dick and that many people had their doubts about Jason being his replacement, but he could show them that he was worthy. He could prove that he was a good Robin, even if he didn't agree on Batman's "no kill" rule all the time. He knew from experience that fear wasn't enough sometimes, there would always be criminals who aren't afraid.

Jason jumped the fence and walked the familiar road to the Wayne Manor with his heart jumping in his chest.

"I'm home" the teen thought. "I'm finally home."

He was almost running when he passed by a window and saw Alfred, composed as ever, setting the dining table. Suddenly feeling awkward, Jason took cover on the bushes and stared at the butler who had babied him so many times. He couldn't just burst into the manor like that. Bruce and the others could think he was a ghost, a clone, an impostor or Clayface. Not to mention that Jason didn't want to give Alfred a heart attack, especially on Christmas Eve. He had to be careful, even if he couldn't wait to just seen them all again.

"Screw it! I'm going in!" the boy thought, ready to leave his hiding place.

That was when Bruce and Dick appeared on the leaving room, happily chatting with each other and greeting a smiling Alfred. They didn't look sad or mourning at all, they actually looked happier than ever.

Jason retreated against the bushes. This… this wasn't what he expected to find. In his mind, he saw Bruce brooding over his death along with Alfred and Dick more than ever because he wasn't there to celebrate Christmas with them. He wanted to believe that they would be thinking of him, but apparently Jason's absence didn't even cross their minds. It was like they didn't even care that he was gone.

Then, the kid appeared. Jason felt his body frozen when he saw a black-haired boy walk towards Bruce and Dick. A boy he had never seen before.

The new boy said something to Bruce and the billionaire chuckled before placing a hand on his shoulder, then the kid went to Dick and the two laughed while Alfred served them tea and cookies.

The boy had the right build and the right look. He looked perfectly in tune with Bruce Wayne and the rest. Jason didn't have to see the R or the costume. He knew that kid was the new Robin and it was like he felt his own heart break into pieces.

The kid didn't bicker with Dick, they seemed to get perfectly along unlike Jason. Just like Talia had said. He had been replaced by a better kid, someone more like Dick, someone who wasn't like Jason at all.

Slowly, the teen boy rose from his hiding place and turned around, his head low and a stream of tears running down his bandaged face. He walked away from the manor and the happy people in it. Slowly, his footsteps were covered by the falling snow and he disappeared into the dark night.

Alright, I hope I got Jason in character. What do you think? Should I continue writing or leave it as it is?

Thanks for reading!