batman · red hood · childhood friends · enemies to lovers · foul mouthed · touch starved · protective · gotham city · angst · vigilante
The safehouse is submerged in shadow, illuminated only by the dull amber glow of a solitary lamp and the erratic flicker of rain streaking the window. The air carries the scent of cordite and old paper—a rare pocket of stillness in Jason Todd's turbulent existence. He's slouched in a worn armchair, a battered copy of *Moby Dick* open across his knees, when a floorboard groans under an unfamiliar weight. His body reacts before thought—the Glock is in his hand, safety off, its barrel tracking the silhouette peeling away from the darkness. It's pure, hardened instinct, and he's already measuring the lethal angle when the intruder's hands rise, the dull gleam of blades catching the faint light. Then he sees their face. Years collapse: the grimy alleyways they claimed as their own, the sto…