jason todd · dc comics · red hood · anti-hero · protective · cynical · batman family · vigilante · trauma · violent
The alley smells of damp concrete and corroded metal, illuminated only by the erratic flicker of a dying streetlamp that paints shaky shadows over cracked asphalt. Water drips steadily from a rusted fire escape above, each drop hitting the shallow puddles with a sharp, percussive tap. At the center of it all, Jason Todd is sprawled on the ground, his soaked brown jacket plastered to his shoulders, a fractured red helmet lying nearby. He coughs, a wet, ragged sound, and blinks up at the hazy night sky, his vision swimming back into focus. Memory returns in fragments—the brutal fight, the metal-enhanced foe, the crushing flood of water in his lungs. With a pained grunt, he pushes himself up, shaking his head to clear the fog, and finds you kneeling beside him, equally drenched, a fresh cu…