The First Step

"Let's go to Mr. Smoothies!" Ben suggested, they went and had a great time talking and laughing. Jason Todd decided not to tell them about his involvement with Batman, instead he just told them that he was from Gotham City, that he grew up on the streets and that his mother had died of cancer.

They offered their support and Ben even offered him a place in the Plumbers. Jason told him he'd think about it, in truth, he was unsure of what he should do next. He wanted to discover what had become of Batman while he was gone and he wanted to find out if Joker was dead.

Jason had spent months looking for answers. He'd obtained his death certificate and looked up old headlines written shortly after his death. He put it all together.

But what pushed him over the edge was a headline, "Batman Returns Joker to Police Custody."

"You little son of a bitch!" Jason screamed, smashing his fist into the mirror. He wanted to throw something, vent his anger. He grabbed the small television set and hurled it into the wall.

Ben and Gwen rushed into the room; the cousins grabbed his shoulders and tried to calm him down.

"Jason, what's wrong?" Ben asked. "We can help you."

"Jason, talk to us, tell us what's got you so upset." Gwen looked at him.

"I'll kill him! I'll kill Joker, I swear!" Jason snarled. "How could he let him live? Still free to maim and murder. I'll kill him!"

"You're not going to do that," Ben warned sternly. Just calm down Jason."

Gwen saw him begin to cry, she'd never seen him like this before. "Come on outside, we'll talk about it." She led him out of the room.

Ben frowned in confusion. He'd noticed this piece of a newspaper clipping on the floor when he and Gwen had entered the room to find him railing and screaming enraged obscenities.

"Batman Returns Joker to Police Custody," Ben read aloud. "I wonder why he was reading this."

"I'll kill him! I'll kill Joker, I swear!" Ben might have been immature and goofy at times, but he knew a real threat from someone just saying things out of a blind rage. But still, to make a threat against someone as high profile as the Joker, it seemed outlandish.

It seemed that he was going to have to do some digging on Jason, find out if he had some kind of connection to the Joker, maybe the maniac killed his family. It wasn't a too far-fetched idea either. Joker had murdered thousands of people. Still, it could be difficult, he didn't even know Jason's last name.

He looked around and saw a death certificate, unfortunately the top half had been torn off and part of the surname was missing, but the name Jason Peter still remained, maybe it was part of Jason's full name.

He took out his digital camera and photographed the death certificate and newspaper clippings. He'd take them to Cooper, maybe he'd be able to find out something.

Ben got in his car and drove to Cooper Daniels house.

"Cooper, do you think you could help me with something?" Ben asked.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I want you to look at these pictures, find me any information you can about Jason."

"All right," Cooper replied. "I'll get on it right away."

Cooper began reading what Ben had brought him. He decided to investigate, because he too was curious about Jason's past. It might be a challenge, but Cooper didn't mind. He did enjoy challenges.

Gwen was trying her best to comfort Jason. He had stopped crying and was breathing steadily now. She noticed he kept grinding his teeth.

"Don't you want to talk about it?" Gwen asked.

"No, I'm not ready; I don't want to talk about it."

"How do you expect me to help you then?"

"Just don't worry about me," Jason turned away from her. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't just stand by and let that lunatic just run wild, killing and maiming as he pleased could he?

"Let's go, maybe if we go somewhere it'll help you take your mind off of whatever's bothering you," Gwen smiled.

"Where are we going?" Jason queried.

"I have a taekwondo tournament today; do you want to go with me?"

"Yes," Jason smiled, something piqued his interest. He had to wonder just how good she was. "Sounds fun."

"Ben we'll meet us there," Gwen told him. They got into a car and he sat down. They began driving toward the martial arts studio when Jason turned to her.

"So, is this your car?" Jason looked around; it was definitely a high tech toy. Not nearly as fancy as Bruce's Batmobile, but he figured it had some nice toys in it.

"This was my ex-boyfriend's car. Kevin loved this thing. He called it his ride and we always drove it, whether we were on duty or not."

"What happened to him?" Jason asked.

"He went insane three and a half years ago, he tried to kill me. I tried so hard to bring him back to the good person he was, but he didn't listen to me anymore."

How could anyone do this to her? Jason put a hand on her shoulder. "You tried your best, that's all you could do. What happened to him wasn't your fault."

"Look at me, I'm a mess and I'm crying," Gwen wiped her eyes.

"Hey, you'll be okay," Jason smiled weakly. They arrived at their destination and got out of the car.

Entering the building, Jason took a seat on the bleachers and saw Gwen leave the room to change.

Jason saw Ben Tennyson arrive and the young hero joined him. The sparring rounds began and they both watched as Gwen soundly defeated her opponents.

She's good. Very good, Jason thought admirably. Not nearly as good as I am but she'd give me a run for my money.

Her techniques were flawless and effortless, every move was precisely calculated and she was well aware of her opponent and surroundings. She was a well known hero, not nearly as much as Ben, but it did take a lot to impress him and she'd definitely caught his eye.

He was impressed that she was able to fight for so long, she fought using everything she had and she was very skilled.

During his tenure as Robin, he'd never really had time for girls, being a busy crime fighter didn't give him a lot of free time to go on dates. Now he was free of that lifestyle and had time to actually have a relationship with a girl.

He remembered how Gwen had once told him what she had liked about Kevin, that he was handsome and likable. She also seemed to like men with a good upbringing with good education. Jason secretly smiled, he fit the bill. He had the finest education money could buy, being the adopted son of Bruce Wayne and being trained as Robin, he could make straight As without much effort and he was definitely a stunning young man. He'd noticed all the stares from the girls who were in the building, they'd come up to Gwen and asked where he'd come from.

Jason was strong and athletic, his body built like an Olympic competitor. He'd grown some since he'd come back to life, and stood at six foot tall, and about 225 pounds of muscle and sinew. His body was built like that of an army soldier, and he knew he would have to prepare himself for the war that he would have to return to. He was the very peak of human perfection and one day, he was going to return to the hero business.

Gwen dropped him off at his house, saying she had to do some homework. Jason Todd went into his room and turned on his computer. He'd been spending his time amassing a small fortune so he could acquire the toys he'd need to wage war on the criminals in Bellwood. Sure Gwen and Ben could stop the aliens and monsters, but what about all the common criminals that escaped his knowledge, he decided he'd handle them.

Still, he needed an identity, hmm, that was going to be difficult. He began searching and looking for a symbol that would remind him of the past while being an imposing figure to strike fear into criminals.

He remembered that one of the possible identities of the Joker was that of a mysterious criminal calling himself the Red Hood. He gazed at the old clipping of the figure in the suit and the domed helmet. He decided, he'd found his new purpose in life, if he got revenge along the way he'd be happy with it.

His thoughts turned to Gwen, why was he thinking about her all of a sudden? Jason sighed, he was doing this for her, she deserved to live in a safe city, and she shouldn't have to worry about criminals breaking into her house while she and Ben defeated monsters and aliens.

Yes, he would do all this for her, he didn't feel obsessed with revenge or the urge to kill so much now, he was still trying to deduce how he had come back to life. Although he was very confused by Bruce's decision to spare Joker, he decided that vengeance would be secondary to establishing an identity for himself.

But what would he do? He'd already learned that Bruce had a new Robin; first someone named Tim Drake who had taken up the identity of Red Robin and then apparently, his biological son Damian or something like that. What would his place be in the Bat Family now?

"Come on, let's go," Gwen pulled him to his feet.

"Where to?" Jason asked.

"The shooting range, I'm part of an intergalactic law enforcement organization. I have to keep up my skills."

"The Plumbers, you told me. I really don't think I'm cut out for that kind of work, but I would like to see how good you are," Jason smiled. They took Kevin's ship the Rustbucket up to the Plumbers headquarters. Jason was impressed, not quite as flashy as some of the places he'd seen, but it was very high tech.

They arrived at the shooting range, Jason watched Gwen load her gun and fire it. He was very impressed; she hit the bull's-eye every time.

"My mentor always told me that guns were bad," Jason frowned, holding the gun in his hands.

"Did something happen to him involving guns?"

"Man with a gun killed his parents," Jason replied.

"That's very sad, but a gun's job is what its handler chooses, it can either protect or kill. It all goes back to why you're using it."

He practice for awhile, she told him he was improving. They began to spend time together, he enjoyed learning from her. Jason offered to help her with her homework, having had the best education Bruce Wayne's money can buy, and learning multiple languages, he could easily help her with studies in that area.

Should he tell her about his time as Robin? Jason didn't know. He wanted to share with her, to talk to her about all these emotions he felt. She was the most understanding person he'd ever met.

Jason paced back and forth, deep in thought. He made a decision, he'd tell her everything.

"How do I do it though?" Jason asked himself. "Do I just flat out tell her or…I should have a newspaper clipping of me somewhere."

He scoured the internet and he finally found it, a picture of him as Robin when he rescued Mayor Hill. It would be enough proof.

He tucked the clipping into the pocket of his trenchcoat. He walked out the door. He picked up Gwen from her school and drove her out to the fishing hole.

"So Jason, what did you want to tell me?" Gwen stared at him.

"Yes, uh well, I don't know exactly how to say this…but there's something I want to show you." He handed her the photograph. "Take a good look."

Gwen gazed at the photo. "That's you isn't it? Robin the Boy Wonder? No way!"

"I was Robin for awhile."

"What happened? You retired? Batman fired you?" Gwen asked. This was far beyond extraordinary. She'd always admired the Dynamic Duo, but to actually meet one of them, it was astonishing.

"Joker murdered me," Jason explained. "In Sarajevo, Bosnia, Batman and I went after him but they got the jump on Batman and Joker got me."

He told her the truth, told her everything. His desire to kill the joker, the conflict he had between what he knew was right and what he wanted. She sat and listened, and didn't say a word until he was finished.

"That's a lot to take in Jason. What can I do to help?" Gwen put her hand on his shoulder.

"You've done more than enough Gwen. It was always so hard to talk to Batman; it's always his way or the highway, y'know? No snap judgments, no putting me on probation because he doesn't think I'd do well out in the field."

"I'm sure he doesn't understand that being Robin was helping you deal with your problems, he tried to make you do things without taking the time to actually listen to what you wanted to say." Gwen looked at him. "Do you think killing the Joker would change anything? Is it still so important to you?"

Jason was thoughtful. "No, I realize now, even if I tried to kill Joker, Batman would stop me, or your or someone else. It's enough that I came back, right?"

"If you let Joker's death define what you're going to be now, you'll never move forward."

"Thank you Gwen," he leaned in, brushed his mouth against hers. He kissed her softly, pulling her close to him. "I will admit, starting over is scary as hell."

Gwen sighed, it'd been so long since she'd felt close to a boy. Jason was a good kid; he only needed friends to keep him accountable. He was misunderstood, and his circumstances would drive anyone over the edge if there wasn't anyone there to truly listen to him. She wanted him to live up to all the potential he had, to make the world better in his own way, and without making mistakes that he would regret later.

He pulled away, "Sorry Gwen, I'm impulsive."

"Don't worry, I didn't mind. It's been a long time since I've had a boyfriend."

Jason hugged her. "You keep me sane, you know that?"

"No Jason, you keep yourself sane, what you do with your life is up to you."

He dropped her off at her house. He headed back to the Levin house. He'd been busy, He would begin his new life here in Bellwood.

He opened up a hidden panel in the floor of his room and pulled out his arsenal. Put on the utility belt, armor and gray pants.

"Can I come in?" Gwen asked. He looked up.

"I thought you were at your house." He smiled at her.

"If you're gonna do this superhero vigilante gig, you shouldn't change in your own house," she teased him.

"And here you said you didn't agree with taking the law into your own hands," Jason laughed.

"This is different, Jaybird, this is completely different."

"Don't call me Jaybird, sweetheart," Jason grumbled. "Never liked that nickname."

"It's not that bad," Gwen leaned over and kissed him sweetly. "You deserve to be teased."

"Is that the only reason you're here?"

"No, I have something for you, since you told me you were going back into this war on crime."

"This is the second gift you've given me, what is it?" Gwen handed him the box.

He opened it, inside was a knife, beautifully designed and curved, elegant and deadly.

"My father brought it back for me, as a present from an overseas trip. It's called a Kris; he said it gave the user good luck. It's just been hanging on the wall in my room. Good luck Jason."

Gwen kissed him again. "Make me proud."