Nightmare || Jason Todd [Titans]

PROLOGUE

{Persephone}

Trust is a two way street; it's implied by the fact that the word 'us' is smack in the middle of it. To trust someone was to give them your faith and in some instances, even your fate. It wasn't something to be taken lightly or give to anyone who asked for it. It was to be earned and appreciated; to be treated as the gift it was.

Persephone knew it in her core. And still she made the mistake of giving it away. But this time... this time was the worst yet. Because this time her misplaced trust got someone else killed.

The blood... there was so much of it, it almost didn't seem real. How could one person have that much of it? And how could it come out that quickly? It was almost as if it wanted to leave his body...

And then there was the sound. She didn't know which was worse; the ringing of the gun shot echoing through her ears or the thud of his body on the desk edge and then the tiled floor. Hell, if it wasn't that she knew it was impossible she would argue that the sound of his blood flowing out of him was the loudest of all.

What she was sure would haunt her most though was the aftermath. She'd never been so involved, so present, when someone was killed by the Attias' but she never imagined that the moments after would be so...calm. It was eery and terrifying to watch them not even bat an eye at the situation. Evander just handed the gun to one of his men, stepped over the body and pool of blood to stand before her, reach out gently and tuck a strand of hair back into her braid. She flinched, but he pretended he didn't notice as his hand came back around to caress her cheek. "That piece has been bothering me all night," he said with a small smile.

Persephone just stood there, cold and frozen to the spot, amazed she kept from keeping her jaw from dropping.

Her loose hair had been bothering him all night but the corpse of someone he once considered a close friend didn't do so much as trigger a tear?

What. The. Fuck.

He'd turned her away from the room after that, guiding her in her haze to their shared bedroom, not once mentioning what had just happened. Even if he had, she didn't know what she would've said if anything at all. She hadn't just witnessed Evander's close friend died, but her only friend.

All because of her.

Evander didn't push her to talk the rest of the night as she prepared for bed, distantly registering his voice at the room door giving orders for disposal as if he were talking about a broken toy rather than a once living being. With every action, she waited for the tears to hit, feeling them weighing behind her eyes. But still they didn't come.

Not until Evander slid into bed next to her, pulling her back flush against the warm skin of his chest and wrapped his arms around her waist. A gesture once meaning of love that felt more like imprisonment now. "Everything is okay now, Sephie love," he breathed calmly into her ear. "We did what we had to do to protect our family; together."

Together.

Evander trailed light kisses down her neck before nuzzling in against the skin. His breathing trailed off into the even rhythm of sleep within minutes.

Our family. Together.

The tears started down her face and she bit down on her tongue hard enough to draw blood, keeping her more focused on the pain than the guilt. The damper the pillow beneath her cheek grew, the harder she bit down. Evander's words continued to echo through her; first her mind and then every nerve ending in her body.

When she moved to Chicago two years ago from Gotham, it was for a fresh start. Admittedly the cities were similar, but even Chicago had its bright days and opportunities. In Gotham, all Persephone would ever be known as was the push over orphan who couldn't hold down a job because people from her orphanage kept stealing on her time. Once she'd aged out of the home, starting new seemed like the most logical next step for her life. She'd gone to the bus depot with her meager belongings and bought the cheapest ticket available for what she'd managed to save. Aside from one friend she'd made in all those years, there was nothing left for her in Gotham.

Unfortunately, that meant there was also nothing else for her in Chicago either.

Outside of the Attias family, she was all alone. No friends, no blood relations. The only other person she was ever close to was now dead, having who knew what done to his body.

And she could never deny that it was her fault.

Her phone buzzed on the bedside table and she flinched, positive the sound would wake Evander. He grunted softly in her ear but otherwise didn't stir. She stretched her arm as far as Evander's hold on her would allow, her fingertips just able to pull the phone into her grasp.

A choking gasp escaped her as she blinked away the tears to make sure she was reading the screen right. In the moment she needed a friend the most, someone had shown mercy and delivered.

Hey Seph been awhile. Guess who just landed in Chicago! Let's catch up soon.

Molly Jensen, her one friend out of Gotham, was now in Chicago. She was the one person she could ever count on, the one she could run to for anything. And now she was in the same city again.

There was no way it was a coincidence.

She didn't hesitate in her response. How about brunch tomorrow at 1. Angela's on the corner of 4th and Elm.

Persephone chewed her lip as she waited what felt like an eternity but was only a couple of minutes. Sounds good see you then :)

She let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Then she looked at the time, the tears springing to her eyes again; it wasn't even midnight yet. If she could bring herself to sleep it wouldn't have been a problem, but right now there was just too much going on inside of her.

And without sleep, she didn't know how she was going to make it through the next 13 hours.

HEY GUYS!!
Sorry it took me forever to post this, but I rewrote it so many times because I didn't know where to start and even this as it is isn't 100% where I wanted it to be. There's so much more pressure to write a Jason fic than there is to write a Dick and I never realized it til now 😂 Here's hoping it gets easier as the story progresses and hopefully I can get the next, better chapter to you soon!

PS— I redid the cover for this and honestly it makes me so hyped to write it again I hope that I can keep that energy for it ☺️

What are you guys hoping to see come from this fic? Honestly, I'm dying to have Maddie crossover and tear Jason a new one 😂😂