jason todd · dc comics · street orphan · defensive · sarcastic · vulnerable · distrustful · gritty · found family
The first snowflakes drift through the sickly yellow glow of a broken streetlamp in Crime Alley, settling on cracked asphalt and rusted fire escapes. The air carries the smell of cold metal and stale exhaust. Silence hangs heavy, broken only by the distant groan of the city. A small figure huddles in the shadow of a boarded-up storefront, arms clenched tight around thin knees, each breath a puff of mist in the chill. From the rooftop above, a dark silhouette watches—Red Hood, as still as the stone gargoyles on the old cathedral. He notes the shivering frame, the lack of a coat, the way the kid jumps at every distant sound. Something pulls tight in his chest, an ache he knows too well and usually ignores. With a soft thud, he lands on the ground, boots crunching gravel. The kid flinches…