Hey everyone! So I've had this idea bouncing around in my head for a few months, and I finally decided to type up a first chapter so I could get some feedback from all of you guys on what you think of it! This doesn't mean I'm giving up on all my other stories, but this idea I've just really really REALLY wanted to type up for a long time! I just think it's a unique idea, all things considered, and I wanted to share it! I ask that all of you awesome readers, even those of you who don't have a fanfiction account, leave a review to let me know if you like this story and tell me your thoughts on it!

Also, in this story, for the sake of flow, the ages of some of the Batman characters are going to be adjusted! Here's a handy-dandy chart to help you all know and remember the ages of the batbro's and Bruce (the only ones with adjusted ages).

Bruce: 46

Richard: 29

Jason: 28

Tim: 24

Damian: 14

Jack is sixteen, just as in the TFP series!

I also am writing Jason more like the version of him in Arkham Knight, because his backstory in that is simpler for me to remember and understand, and he has a crazy badaft scar on his cheek! XD This does NOT mean that the game Arkham Knight is connected to this story! The story line of that game, in this story, never happened! I'm just using the Jason's physical appearance from that game and his backstory from that game!

On a side note, there is technically no cussing in this story! Any cuss words will be censored (example: D**n) So this story is friendly for younger readers! No reporting me for cussing when it technically isn't being used, just implied!

So...Yup! That's all I can think of that needs to be said!

Disclaimer's on my prof.!

Enjoy and please review!

Jason had to admit that this M.E.C.H group was well organized and secretive. After months of tracking them down, he'd so far only managed to shut down two of their main hideouts, and it was beginning to get on his nerves, how they continued to successfully hide their main operation bases. Every time he reached the main computer server at each base, they would always be wiped clean of any useful data, including base locations.

Of course he could always ask Bruce for help, but that was the absolute last thing Jason wanted to do. This was his mission and his alone.

From what Jason had gathered thus far, M.E.C.H was a large congregation of people with radical ideals who planned to "further humanity" though technology. However, most of this tech happened to be weapons. Big, painful weaponry. Weaponry that Black Mask happened to be buying and using. After seeing someone be all but turned inside-out by one of the overpowered guns that Black Mask had acquired, Jason had taken it upon himself to handle the issue before it got worse.

And that led him to where he was now, staring down at the M.E.C.H agents below from his perch in the rafters, sirens blaring around him. After having fought his way through a good fifteen or so rooms and corridors, Jason had finally found what he was looking for: the main server room.

Taking a quick headcount, and ensuring that he'd counted correctly (twenty-three soldiers, not bad), he rolled his shoulders, and the vigilante dropped down fearlessly.

There was the muted sound of a silencer-enhanced gun going of rapidly, the thuds and grunting that signaled fists connecting with bodies, then silence.

As the last body dropped, Jason strode to the main computer server, glancing across the multiple screens. He cursed under his breath when he saw the data that was scrolling over the screens: they'd already started wiping the server's memory!

Holstering his gun, Jason quickly began trying to recover what data he could. This couldn't be happening again! It took him a whole month just to find this M.E.C.H base!

Jason slammed a fist against the console keyboard as it went blank. D**n! He'd been so close!

Blowing out a frustrated sigh, Jason entered a console command. Best he check the security feed of the building before he set off the detonators he'd placed and blew this place sky high. He didn't want any crates of weaponry getting shipped out before he could destroy them.

The vigilante flicked through the security feeds boredly. Empty room, Empty room, Room with a bunch of dead M.E.C.H soldiers he'd handled earlier, a torture room with a teenager in it, an empty roo-

Wait a second.

Jason quickly switched back to the previous security feed.

The room presented in the feed was dimly light with fluorescent lights, the only entrance being a heavy steel door that was locked with a passcode. Judging by how the M.E.C.H agents in th room seemed relaxed, they hadn't caught wind that someone was invading the base. On a metal table, a boy of sixteen or so was strapped down and looked to be in pretty bad shape, with his clothing shredded and blood stained and his face bruised. The boy cringed as an agent approached with a needle in hand. The security feed had no sound, but it was clear that the teen was being interrogated.

For the barest moment, Jason could see himself in a dimly lit room such as this, with the Joker taunting him and swinging a crowbar at his middle repeatedly, pained cries leaving Jason, oh how he just wanted it to all stop-

Jason shook himself and turned away from the security feed. He couldn't waste his time rescuing a kid, he couldn't risk his mission being ruined. One kid wasn't worth that, right? Right.

….

D**nit.

With a groan, Jason took off down a side corridor, the one that led to the steel-doored room. He had a feeling he'd probably regret this, but Bruce had raised him to give a s**t about the wellbeing of others.

The room itself was a good ten minute run out without any shortcuts- no wonder they didn't know what was going on, compared to the rest of the rooms in the base, they were isolated. The sound of the sirens in the main building didn't even reach here. There was a man guarding the door, but a shot from Jason's silenced glock took him out easily. Moving to the control panel beside the door, Jason examined it. Advanced tech, but nothing he couldn't handle. Nothing he hadn't been trained for.

The look on the faces of the M.E.C.H interrogators when the door slid open and revealed Red Hood in all his glory was a satisfying sight. Putting a bullet in each of their heads more so.

As Jason approached the teen strapped down on the metal table, the boy flinched, squeezing his eyes shut in preparation for pain. It sent a twinge of anger through Jason (maybe he should've given those M.E.C.H agents a more painful death, he mused).

Pulling a knife from his boot, the vigilante sliced through the thick leather straps at the teen's wrists, ankles and neck. Now free, the boy curled up and coughed roughly, flecks of blood leaving his lips. Jason glanced over the boy, taking stock of his injuries.

Needle marks surrounded by bruises on his bare arms showed he'd been injected with torture drugs multiple times. Cuts littered his body, dried blood staining what remained of his clothes a reddish brown. He looked tired, probably not having slept at all in days, and from how he favored his side, he probably had a few cracked ribs.

The teen, realizing that he wasn't being attacked, peered up at Jason with wary blue-grey eyes.

"Can you walk?" Jason asked gruffly.

The teen glanced down and Jason followed his gaze. The boy's left ankle was bruised and swollen, no doubt badly sprained.

Blowing out a heavy sigh, Jason holstered his weapon and moved forward, going to lift the younger male-

Jason paused when the teen crawled back slightly and glared up at him. Jason crossed his arms.

"Look, kid, if you want to stick around and get blown up with the rest of this place, be my guest. But if you want to get out of here alive? Then you better lose that look and let me carry you."

For a moment longer the raven haired youth examined Jason critically. Finally, he relaxed, and Jason took this as a sign of acceptance. Reaching forward, the vigilante scooped up the boy, somewhat surprised to find that the boy was lighter than expected. Then again, he probably hadn't eaten in days.

Shaking off these thoughts, Jason shifted his grip on the teen and fiddled with the detonator in his pocket, setting it.

"Five minutes should be enough…" He mused, ignoring the alarmed expression from the boy he held.

Finished with the detonator trigger, Jason got a better hold on the teen in his arms, holding him close to his chest. He managed somehow to make it so that he wouldn't disturb the boy's ribs, but he could also use his grapple gun.

"Hold on tight, kid."

A hoarse gasp left the teen as Jason fired the grapple and they were sent soaring into the rafters. As the boy quickly tucked his face into Jason's shoulder, the older male ran across the rafter beams that spread across the wide ceilings of the M.E.C.H base. The assistance of Jason's grapple gun made the process even faster, and they reached the entrance with a minute and a half to spare.

Darting out into the cold streets beyond the heavy, rolling metal doors, Jason managed to swing himself and his tagalong up to the top of an old warehouse across the street. He didn't stop moving until they were a few blocks away, safely perched atop a tall office building where he could admire his handiwork.

Setting down his passenger, Jason moved to the edge of the building, watching the warehouse that disguised the M.E.C.H base in the distance.

The night was lit with fiery colors and the low, rumbling boom of an explosion shook the ground. Car alarms went off, and lights from apartment buildings nearby flickered on.

"Ah, music to my ears!" Jason breathed, grinning beneath his mask.

The sound of someone shifting brought his attention back to the boy behind him. He turned, and Jason found the boy had managed to stand and prop himself against an air conditioning unit and was watching him once more. The fear on the teen's face was expected, but not the guarded wariness like Bruce showed, or the intelligent examination the boy was giving him that reminded him very much of Tim. There was a long moment in which neither of them spoke.

"What, no thank you?"

The teen's jaw clenched, and Jason took that as a sign that humor and sarcasm were unwelcome at this moment. With a sigh, the vigilante waved him off.

"Alright, jeez, quit it with the laser eyes, would'ja? Look, I'll drop you off at an emergency room or something and the cops can take you home, alright? Just let me-"

"N-no!"

The exclamation made Jason regard the teen with surprise.

"…What?"

"P-Please." The boy cleared his dry throat in an attempt to rid the crack in his voice. "I can't. I can't let the cops find me."

Jason raised a brow as he turned to fully face the boy.

"Why? You break a law or something? No offense, but you don't look like a felon, more like a pushover."

The boy's frown deepened.

"I'm not a felon." He replied. "But I can't let the government find me. And if I go to a hospital, the cops'll get involved, and when they find out who I am, the government-"

"I don't have time for your life story, kid." Jason scoffed. "I'm kinda on a tight schedule here, and since I don't have a f***kin' clue where those M.E.C.H sickos have their bases, I have to get moving, so your scrawny A** is going to an E.R."

Jason turned to admire the giant fireball he'd created-

"I know where their bases are!"

Jason froze. Had the kid just…?

Slowly, he turned back to the teenager.

"…What did you say?"

The boy licked his lips nervously, but replied all the same.

"I said, I know where their main bases are."

Jason moved forward, pointing at the boy.

"If you're joking-"

"I'm not." The teen insisted. "M.E.C.H agents like to talk, and when they're around a kid they plan to torture for information and then kill? They don't care enough to whisper."

Jason examined the teen intently. Something one learned quickly when living with Bruce was how to tell when someone was lying, and from what Jason could see? This kid wasn't fibbing. He honestly knew…

"Alright, kid." Jason crossed his arms. "What do you want?"

The boy considered this for a long minute, looking up at Jason with a piercing gaze. It was unsettling how the youth seemed to be able to see right into Jason's soul, but the man held firm, waiting.

"Take me with you."

"No."

Jason's reply was immediate. Was this kid nuts?! He'd seen Jason kill several M.E.C.H agents and he wanted to tag along with him?! Like a little duckling or something?!

The boy's eyes narrowed.

"Its that or nothing."

Jason growled under his breath. Son of a…

"You know, I took you outta that fireball, I can put you back in!"

"You won't."

The pure and unwavering certainty in the teen's voice made Jason pause.

It was odd, how eerily similar this boy was to Bruce and Jason's brothers. The boy could see right through Jason's threats, and he showed very little fear by now, despite the fact he was talking to a killer. Jason canted his head.

"Do you even know who I am?"

The teen nodded slowly.

"Yeah. That Red Hood guy from Gotham. I've seen you on the news before."

"So you know I've killed dozens upon dozens of people. What makes you think I wouldn't kill you?"

"I'm not a criminal."

"You're hiding from the government." Jason pointed out. The teen frowned.

"Because I don't want them to lock me away just because I know a secret of theirs. If M.E.C.H was willing to torture me for what I know, I'm betting the government wouldn't have a problem locking me up for the rest of my life in some facility of theirs." The teen straightened up as much as his beaten body would allow, trying to appear braver than he felt most likely. "Look, I won't get in your way, I promise. All I want is for you to bring me with you. I know where M.E.C.H's four main bases are, and I can take you right to them. Just let me tag along until I find a place safe enough to settle down in. I'll tell you one location now, and once you handle the M.E.C.H base there, I'll tell you the next location."

Jason weighed his options carefully. Was it worth it to drag a kid around in exchange for bringing down M.E.C.H? There was a lot to consider. For one thing, it meant a second person to clothe, feed, and at the moment, give medical attention to. Also, Jason wouldn't be able to keep his mask on at all times- it was impractical, not to mention uncomfortable. That meant he'd have to disclose his identity with the teen he'd just rescued.

The teen in question was watching Jason intently, form tense. It was clear he was afraid that Jason would leave him to the wolves, so to speak. Looking over the boy, Jason could see just how scared the teen was of what could happen if the government got him.

Jason's eyes flickered to the boy's leg, which he was favoring, and the reopened wounds that now dripped blood sluggishly.

"…Look, for now, we need to get you patched up, you're bleeding all over the place."

The teen looked hopeful.

"Is that a yes?"

Jason pointed at the teen with a frown.

"It's a maybe."

The boy tried to hide a smile, but didn't succeed.