Chapter Text
The trail guided them to yet another warehouse. It wouldn’t be Gotham if there wasn’t at least one warehouse deal. They arrived right as the shooting started. Gunfire welcomed their arrival and the shouts of protest from a woman in a suit.
Red hood had an arm wrapped around her neck, a gun pressed to her forehead. This faltered the men who seemed unsure of what to do.
“Shoot him you idiots!” She screamed and the men started to fire. Red Hood shoved her away, towards the path of gunfire and vaulted backwards.
He did a back handspring, body twisting and hands pushing him off the ground, to find safety behind a few crates.
“Impressive.” Jason commented from the rafters next to Batman.
Batman grunted and replied, “nothing we haven’t seen before. It is just a simple handspring.”
“In the middle of a gunfight. We knew this guy was good but he’s clearly got practice and experience. He knew the best path to not be touched by the bullets and took it. If I had soldiers half that good I would have taken Gotham in a few hours.” Jason said casually.
Every time Jason mentioned his activities in Gotham, it grew only to concern Bruce. Why would he even need to occupy the entirety of Gotham? It would be effective but completely unnecessary and only provide opportunity for avoidable causalities.
Not to mention the fact that teenagers shouldn’t be leading entire armies. He should have been dating, getting into trouble at school and going to parties. Although his Jason would probably have started a reading club and getting straight A’s. The Jason crouched next to him, he wasn’t sure he’d ever even kissed anyone and there was no doubt he’d never finished school. Battle strategy and weaponry training was by no means a substitute for an education.
“It seems he’s skilled and practiced. We should end this now. A man as dangerous as him should be behind bars.” Batman said, watching Red Hood reach for his guns. The guns which weren’t secured and lying on the ground nearby.
“Or we could just let the guns do the job for us.” Jason said with a shrug.
Batman glared at him before Jason finally sighed and undoubtedly rolled his eyes behind the mask.
“Okay fine. We’ll go help him I guess.” Jason muttered. Batman threw down a smoke grenade, white smoke enveloping the area.
Red hood laughed and leapt from his position, snatching up the guns.
“Finally come to join the fight, old man? I’ve been waiting for you!” He yelled, still laughing. A shot was fired into the rafters, figure moving through the smoke.
Arkham Knight leapt down behind him, firing rubber bullets at the man.
“Sorry rookie, I’m waiting for the big man.” Red hood said, before cracking Jason’s helmet, a shot ricocheting off the side.
But all Batman could see through the smoke was the bright flash of a gun, and Jason reeling backwards, hitting the ground.
“No! What have you done?!” He roared, leaping at Red Hood and grabbing the gun. He snapped the man’s wrist back, throwing a punch at his throat.
Red Hood dodged, twisting out of his grip and throwing a knee towards Batman’s stomach. He caught the kick and Red Hood used that momentum to swing back, doing a backflip and landing on his feet.
“Well well well, look who’s finally here. Sorry Batman, but I’m not ready for a fight just yet. I’ll let you know when all the pieces are in place. For now, I give you a gift. Ms. Li. You’ll find plenty of evidence tying her to black mask.” Red hood said, gesturing towards one of the bodies on the ground.
She appeared to still be alive, breathing shallow and blood pooling beneath her.
“Better hurry up. She won’t last much longer. Ta ta for now!” Hood said and bowed before using a grapple line to repel out of the warehouse.
A line far too similar to Batman’s for his liking. But he had other concerns right now. Jason and Ms. Li for example.
Jason was staggering to his feet, shaking his head.
“I’m good. Don’t worry about me.” He said as he leant against one of the crates. Bruce absolutely would worry about him, but later. He had to get Ms. Li stable first.
Then he could worry about Jason and the Red Hood. Whatever these pieces were and the final plan he had, he was certain it would spell nothing but trouble for him and his family. Arkham Knight in particular. The crime lord seemed to have a particular obsession with him. One he suspected he knew why, but couldn’t confirm. It was nothing but a slight niggling at the back of his brain.
Far too many similarities to the main suspect he had in mind for this to be fully ruled out. Even if that suspect was meant to be dead. But the dead didn’t always stay dead, he knew that better than most.