Tag: red hood

Catherine Winick was barely 17 when Jason was conceived. Willis Todd, the father, was a high school dropout with a chest tattoo and a motorcycle, and Catherine fell in love instantly. She had come from wealth, but was cut off as soon as her parents got the call about her pregnancy. To manage, she started waiting tables at a strip club, while Willis dealt speed out of the back room. 
Soon enough, Jason was born, and Catherine moved up the ladder, getting the gig as the lounge singer at the club. Music is one of the things Jason remembers most vividly about her; she was always singing. From The Doors to Elton John to Rolling Stones, The Germs to Fleetwood Mac, she knew it all. 
Willis was busy making his way up the gang ladder, and so the task of caring for Jason was split between Catherine and the dancers and bartenders at the club. When Jason was two, Willis was arrested; Catherine was left alone then. She started dancing to pay the bills, and heroin to forget. She stopped singing then.
Years later, and Jason has only brief memories of those years. Pulsing lights. A bass line that made his teeth rattle. Soft lullabies, cooed into his ears. The ladies that were so nice, the ones in robes and swimsuits. His first record, Dire Strait’s Brothers in Arms. He remembers being on center stage, long after any patrons remained. Sitting on the thick plexiglass, feet sprawled out, back against the chrome pole. He was happy, even though logic tells him it wasn’t right.
After his return to Gotham, he bought the club, long since shut down. He demolished it, and put in a shelter for women and children facing drug and alcohol addiction. Called St. Catherine’s, it sees over 10,000 visitors a year.

For some time after Jay left Rome, he was lost, unsure of his direction. Using his talents as a mercenary, he started a small business out of the warehouse Talia had gifted him, going by word of mouth. He racked up a few dozen hits in Gotham, and attracted the attention of Thomas Elliot, M.D. Tommy, or as he introduced himself to Jason, Hush, came to the warehouse, asking for a simple answer.
Is Batman’s identity really Bruce Wayne?
Of course, Jason was able to answer that with ease, and did so. He saw in Tommy the same hatred, the same pain, the same rage that Jason felt. Hush had his direction; ruin Bruce’s life.
They worked out a deal. Fifteen million, cash, for proof. 
The deal was completed within a week, and Jason shut down his warehouse killer-for-hire operation soon after. He poured the money into construction a new company, Redstone Security. It focused on building a network of ex-soldiers, analysts, scientists, and developers, all working towards advances in technology, security, and weaponry. Simply put, he created a private army for hire, contracting with the government and foreign entities. The Research and Development department focused on engineering gear for his new persona-the Red Hood. His new direction of saving Gotham, one bullet at a time, was starting. With profits from Redstone, he purchased the Complex, cementing his presence in Gotham.
He didn’t see Tommy again for many years, but that’s a story for another time.