I, I can’t get these memories out of my mind,
And some kind of madness has started to evolve.
And I, I tried so hard to let you go,
But some kind of madness is swallowing me whole, yeah
Fox On the Run | Batgirl and Red Hood | Flashback
“No, Hood, you’re confusing your sports. Baseball is the one with the high socks and PEDs. Football is the one with the tight pants and –”
The kiss took her off guard, just like it always did. Nothing could prepare her for the whirlwind strength of his lips on hers, no matter how often it had happened. It took her breath away, leaving a swell of elation cresting from her chest. Muscles relaxed, tension from the day melting as she eased against him. In contrast, her heart began thumping wildly against her chest, threatening to burst through her ribs and tear out of her skin.
It was strange affection, this clandestine dance they did. Chasing criminals, trading quips, kissing in the moonlight. She would have considered it romantic if romance wasn’t totally and completely lost on her. Years and experiences had left her jaded. But this? This was hope, and she was happier than she’d been in a long time. It was something she couldn’t quite comprehend. So, she couldn’t define it. Didn’t understand it. She’d managed to cull her inner control freak months ago, but she was still learning to let things be. Not everything needed an explanation. Not everything needed a clear cut designation.
Her hands slipped around his shoulders, resting gently at the nape of his neck. She drew him in, closing the last remaining bit of space between them. Each movement of lips and tongue was read – anticipated, and returned as if on instinct. Their lips pressed together hard, demanding and butterflies bloomed in her torso in response. The confident, sure embrace wrapped around her like an ethereal blanket.
Breaking the kiss, her lips parted from his, hovering a few inches from his face. Breath caught in her throat for a beat, dilated eyes staring past Hood’s face toward the night sky. “We should probably stop meeting like this. Right?” Her tone was tentative, holding the slightest trace of sarcasm as a grin ghosted across rosy lips.
He exhaled as she pulled away, struck as always by just how soft she was. Her, the woman who danced through mobs like a windmill of fists and feet, was like putty in his arms.
“Beat me in tag one of these days and we can discuss a new arrangement. Until then, winner sets the rules.”
Then he’s a whisper of breath at her ear, a hint of teeth on her neck. Somewhere, a dog howls at the sky. The city is quiet.
Neither of them notice. They’re wrapped up in each other, like they so often are, letting all the training and caution go so they can enjoy the company of the other. They are at peace, both of them, for the first time in either of their lives.
It’s not until he’d pushed back from her, rolling off and next to her, that he spoke. With his eyes reflecting the brilliant moon, he murmured soft words under his breath.
“You ever wonder who I am in the daylight, Batsie?”
DftD (ToDAtL) | Chat | Jay and Roy
“Yeah. Totally attached. Nerves worked in there and everything.” [Roy quirked a brow, watching Jason continue on like a kid in a candy store. It was… Well. Roy didn’t know what it was, but it wasn’t quite comforting.] “It was Stone.” [He managed to mumble in between his brother’s excitement.] “Uhhh. Yeah. I knew that.” [The red head nodded, knowing Vic had mentioned something about it, probably when he wasn’t really listening, stuck in introspection and self-pity.] “Pretty cool.”
[Jason arched an eyebrow, looking doubtful.] “Come on, Harp. I remember you being a technical wizard before. The fuck is wrong? You realize that you can literally hack into things from your arm. How are you not creaming your pants at that?”
What’s been happenin in your world?
What have you been up to?
I heard that you fell in love
I need to know
I gotta tell you the truth
Snap Out of It | Oner | Flashback
She was gone.
A whirlwind of anger and magic and she was
just
gone.
Gone.
He was left a shell, filling in the holes she left with booze and bullets, the former to the point of poisoning and the latter to the tune of half the criminals in China Basin. He was frightening the locals, almost all of whom had, at one point or another, interacted with the Outlaws before. No one had seen the Red Hood act like this, not even during the Occupation. Then, it had been retributive, retaliating at the mercenaries who set out to destroy the lives and livelihoods of the citizens of Gotham. Now, it was different. It seemed to be without any direction, just senseless violence against those whom, ironically, had done nothing more vicious than breaking and entering.
It was one night in particular that stuck in his mind, the night that he found himself holding a gun to a single father who had, in an act of desperation, left his children in the car while he attempted to break into an ATM machine. The father had pulled a knife on Jason, and in full view of the children, Jason had broken the man’s collarbone, disarmed him, and pressed the cold steel of a .44 against his temple. One of the children screamed in fright, and the reality of what he’d done had hit him in full. He had dropped the man, disappearing in a burst of hazy anger and fury at losing his cool, his sharp edge of retribution falling to bullying the struggling poor of the city’s worst neighborhoods.
The shame and regret had taken him to The Looper again, where he’d first met her months ago. It, of course, would propel him deeper into depression and despair, but that was better anyway. Less dangerous for the people around him. After a few bottles of vodka, he’d wind up at a safehouse, passing out fully clothed on top of sheets that still smelled like her.
Weeks went by. He didn’t get better. Kory, Roy, Henri, Dick-all of them reached out, but only the kid got a response. His training was harsh, made even harder by the now nonexistent humor that Dick had previously been able to elicit from Jason. It was all business, and it was taking its toll. Tensions were high, and the Outlaws suffered because of it. Kory and Roy took solace-relief-in each other, something which only further annoyed Jason. Their not-so-secretive romance was the lowlight of his days, especially when he came home to find a Kory-shaped burn against his bedroom door. Fucking cretins.
Batgirl was the one good thing he still had going. While they’d been cautious allies at first, their shared patrols over the summer had grown a bond unlike one he had with the Outlaws. They didn’t trust each other implicitly-after all, they still held their civilian identities close to the chest-but they became a remarkable team, each so different from the other, but stronger for it. She was a goddamn wizard at on the go tactical decisions; standoffs and hostage situations that had Jason resorting to extremes got peeled apart with finesse when she was present. On the flip side, he was a hammer to her scalpel. A battering ram, really. Where she tiptoed around property damage and injuries, he’d come full force down on those who opposed him. They suited each other. Yin and Yang, or some shit.
So it was a surprise when he found a stirring inside of him, one that he hadn’t considered since his heart had been ripped out of his chest and cut to ribbons, a feeling like maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t cursed to this freakish life, alive, dead, alive again. Maybe she was the answer. Who the hell knows.
He started warming back up to life after that. Even one sided, realizing he could still care about someone like that…it changed things. He was able to tolerate Kory’s post-coital glow, and ignore Roy’s sheepish looks when the three of them hung out. Dick noticed he had his laugh back, and training doubled in speed. Jason had some semblance of normality back, and everyone was the better for it.
Even so, the nighttime patrols with Batgirl became sacred. Secret. An escape from where he was expected to be one way, and allowing him to truly be himself. Witty humor, both appropriate and not. Dark and brooding, occasionally. Coarse, always. He never hid himself from her, not like he had from the rest for so long. She, oddly, incredulously, knew him better than most. This girl, whose name he didn’t know, who he spent most nights with. Talking. Working out. Kicking ass. He was a Gotham Knights fan; she a Gotham Griffins fan. Hours had been spent arguing the finer points of a designated hitter versus letting the pitcher hit (with no conclusion, naturally). She loved computers and had an encyclopedic knowledge of books. He could (and would) talk as long as she’d let him about weapons and their strengths/weaknesses, as well as the new tech that he acquired, almost always sharing his toys.
They worked.
And so, that night they finally kissed, it was like a lock had dropped from around his ribcage at last. The weight and humiliation, plus internalized blame for the breakup, finally lifted away from Jason, and he was happy. The next weeks were spent stealing kisses in alleyways, sharing them above a pile of groaning and neutralized criminals. Like goddamn teenagers, they shared a reckless abandon for the other, daring the world to catch them, to stop them. It wasn’t love, not to them. Neither believed in it, anyway. But that’s the special thing about falling in love. You never think you’re headed that direction until you’re stuck, confused, angry, elated, and scared, alone with the one who took you there.
Ready to face the big bad world hand in hand.
Fox On the Run | Batgirl and Red Hood | Flashback
She was regretting the five mile run she had squeezed in between work and patrol. Absolutely regretting it. Lungs burned with every sharp inhale, muscles cried out, but she pushed through. Fiercely competitive, she was not about to let him win. Again.
He had the distinct advantage of a good six inches in height on her but what she lacked in height she made up in lithe, skilled strength and speed. Easily losing him on a tight corner, Barbara rounded 14th and Elm, grabbing hold of a fire escape on a derelict building and climbing skyward. Point: Batgirl. Pace increased as she effortlessly glided from roof to roof, jumping over the crevice between crowded structures, landing a handspring into a forward roll. Now she was just showing off.
Ego got the best of her, however, as reality began to rush in. Total amateur blunder. She’d been so busy making herself look good she hadn’t seen the side of the large skyscraper coming up to greet her. Fumbling around her belt, she grabbed for her grapple, computing in her head how to maneuver around the current obstacle.
She didn’t even have time to double check her calculation.
The take down knocked the wind out of her as she tumbled, wincing when she landed. “Illegal contact! Unnecessary roughness! Where is the penalty flag?” Barbara barked out false wails, stifling a laugh. She hoisted herself up into a seated position, hands splayed against the ground, gloved fingers pulling at loose roof tar. “I’m going to need an instant replay. I think you cheated.”
With a sneer, she roughed up a patch of hair at his crown. “Get off me you scruffy looking nerf herder.”
“There’s no crying in baseball, Batsie. Hush.”
He was still out of breath, still heaving as she twitched underneath him. Then her fingers were in his hair-fuck, she knows what that does to me-and he was bending over her chest, lips searching hers out.
They met in a crush of passion, as these games served more as a warmup to making out like teenagers than they did for any real tactical training. Sure, he’d given her pointers; for example, she was now deadly proficient in knife fighting, as well as a dynamite marksman with a blade. She, in turn, had taken him under her wings-heh, slip of the tongue-and showed him exactly how she had outsmarted him all those times they’d patrolled together. She had a knack for tactics, and had saved his ass more than a few times when he’d underestimated the enemy. They were a damn good team, and he made more and more of an effort to spend time with her, even if it was only once or twice a week, always on patrol.
The Outlaws didn’t patrol every night, anyway. Roy was always working on projects in the Complex, usually without noticing he’d been awake for 37 hours straight. Kory was more content with Dick or Henri, and spent her off time at the Gardens, or keeping up with her more charitable hobbies.
Jason, on the flip side, had no extracurricular activities outside of patrol, save for the ongoing training with the kid. Dick was a quick learner, but even so, he’d been impressed with how fast he picked up new skills. He was almost ready for solo testing, which meant that every minute Red Hood could spend with Batgirl was precious.
Back to Batgirl. Her lips tasted like cherry and honey, soft even though they were chapped and bitten. She had a bad habit, all vigilantes did. Jason didn’t mind. It gave her lips character. His own were no better, after all. Years of smoking and hard living had taken its toll on him, as well.
But that didn’t matter in these moments, the sneaked sessions away from teammates and stigmas and all the politics that being a Bat entailed. These were theirs to own, and Jason planned on owning this particular moment, right here on the rooftop, for as long as the night allowed.
Fireside | Jason and Kory | Blackout
She couldn’t help the small chuckled that passed her lips as he mentioned metahumans — the fact that he was sitting next to one of the people deemed crazy was comedic to her. And perhaps not far off. Then again, no one running around Gotham at night in a costume could be totally sane.
The chuckle was short, replaced with guilt as her gaze fell once more. Kori had let Jason down, leaving him on his own. What happened with Roy hadn’t been fair to any of them, of course it hadn’t, but Kori hadn’t realised what she was doing would impact everyone else so severely.
Her face contorted as their eyes met, and Kori pursed her lips in an effort to regain control over her features. She could feel the tears beginning to form and blinked them back quickly. The princess felt horrible — how could she ever forget those who needed her just because she needed her space?
“I’m so sorry, Jason,” she said, still holding back tears. It wasn’t often people saw Jason Todd on the verge of tears, and it was much more effective than Kori wanted to admit. Another long moment passed before Kori gained her composure and began to speak again.
“If you ever need me and I’m not working, just shoot me a text and I’ll come by. We can go on patrol together. I mean, I’ll need to start training again — I had assumed tonight was a one-time thing, but…” She offered him a small smile. “One thing at a time, though. Let’s just go find Dick, yes?”
He cleared his throat, swallowing the lump there. Reaching over, he grasped her hand, holding it tightly.
“I love you, Kory. I always have.”
Those words held truth, in ways both deeper and shallower than the surface. They’d had a chance to be a power couple, reshaping the city as they’d desired. Gods know there was enough chemistry. But they’d spent their chance on saving Roy from the hell he’d found them in, and quickly, he had realized that this team needed an unbiased leader. Yeah, right.
But he did love her-all of her. The flaws she hid well, and the ones on the surface. From the supermodel body to the shrewd, proud mind so often overlooked by the world, to wounds in her psyche that would never heal, he loved her. He knew her.
He didn’t let her hand go until the Dragon came to a halt, several hundred feet above and outside the cells where Dick was being held. From the scans, it looked like a full blown riot had set in. Blackgate was loose, at least partially, and the inflow of prisoners colliding with the County lockup had caused trouble that GCPD would have had a nightmare with in the best of circumstances. At night, with no power and chaos reigning? There was no chance. They’d have to get to Dick the hard way.
The Outlaw way.
Racking a load into the twin Sig Sauer’s he carried, he shoved them into the shoulder holsters. The Mossberg 12-gauge was loaded to capacity and slung over one shoulder; the compact MP5 went over the other. Two sets of bandoliers and a belt full of ammunition followed suit. Finally, he hefted the hammer he’d stolen off of…well, Mister Hammer’s dead body. He grinned, winking once at Kory before tugging the helmet down and sealing it.
“Ready to bring hell back to Gotham?”
and all of this will never be the same again 