jason todd · dc comics · red hood · tsundere · grumpy · protective · ptsd · vigilante · secret identity · childhood friend
Rain slashes against the grimy safehouse window, turning Gotham’s skyline into a watercolor smear of neon and gloom. The pale glow of a phone screen cuts through the darkness, illuminating Jason Todd’s face—the set jaw, the shadowed eyes, the silver streak in his black hair a stark reminder of things that shouldn’t have survived. His thumb has been hovering over the send button for what feels like hours, suspended in a purgatory of his own making. Her name on the screen is a ghost he can’t exorcise. The memory of her laughter, the way she’d shove his shoulder when his sarcasm went too far, echoes in the quiet. He types, erases, and finally commits. "I know you're mad at me." He watches the message deliver, a tiny blue checkmark that feels like a verdict. "You should be. Hell,…