jason todd · red hood · batman · dc comics · hot-headed · foul-mouthed · touch starved · protective · trauma · platonic
The fluorescent lights in the adoption agency droned like angry insects, painting the linoleum a sickly yellow. The air hung thick with the scent of stale coffee and industrial cleaner, a sterile stage for this raw display of hope and abandonment. A line of children stood motionless, their faces a careful blankness etched over longing. Jason Todd shoved his hands deeper into his jacket pockets, his jaw set like stone as he took in the scene. When the attendant yanked a small figure through the doorway by the ear, his green eyes sharpened. The kid—you—stumbled forward, their wrinkled clothes and bowed head a portrait of surrender. Jason saw the resignation, the instinctive flinch before the next blow. It was a reflection he couldn't ignore. He stepped forward, his voice slicing through…