There is Just no Stopping this Thing Called Love

3: The Beginning

A/N: In this AU, canon says that Dick, Jason, and Tim were all living together on the streets before Bruce found and adopted them. In my AU here, Jason did die and went through the majority of his canon experiences, but he was closer to his family when he came back to Gotham.
Batman and Red Hood are still on the outs because they disagree on the use of lethal force, but they've been working on overcoming it. RH has been active for just under a year, and is already working on reconciling with the Bats.

Steph looked up from her toilette, startled, as a man jumped into her room through the window and pulled the drapes, peering out past a small gap at the city night.

"Er, excuse me, sir-"

He turned to look at her and she caught her breath. The infamous Red Hood had just broken into her room.

He raised his hands placatingly. "Sorry for dropping in on you like this. Terribly ungentlemanly of me and not my usual actions, I assure you."

She pushed her stool away from her vanity and stood, assessing him. In this line of work, it paid to read men's body language.

"What do you need, Mr. Hood?" she switched into her work persona, Effie. Her voice and lashes lowered alluringly as she approached him carefully, adding a little more sway to her strut. "I'm sure you had a good reason to come this way...perhaps you night heroes want some secrecy?"

"No-I-" he glanced out the window again. "I was being followed and this was the quickest way to throw him off my scent. I didn't realize this was your private room; I apologize."

The Red Hood was well spoken-of by her friends deeper in Crime Alley, who were now under Hood's protection, and the months since his brutal takeover appeared to be producing better and better results. Steph decided to trust her gut and let some of her guard down around Hood.

"Oh, detective work, how fascinating," she flirted, though she truly did find it interesting. "Can I help throw someone off your trail?"

There was a knock on her door and Crystal poked her head in, missing Hood's remarkably quick duck behind the bed. "Steph, Bella said the Ripper got another one and the Batman is out hunting him. Be careful."

"Oh no! Was it anyone we know?!" Steph gasped. Jack the Ripper, as the police were calling him, was on a spree of killing lower-class women, specifically targeting girls like her.

She idly wondered if that's what Hood was out doing, tracking down the murderer.

"No, I don't think so. Are you almost ready for your number?" Crystal changed the subject.

"I already have a guest tonight, Mama. There was a last-minute change of plans."

Crystal eyed her suspiciously but nodded and closed the door.

Steph stepped around the end of the bed and put her hands on her hips. "Care to explain anything now, Mr. Hood?"

"I was being followed by the murderer," he groaned, extricating himself from the uncomfortably squished position he'd been in. "I was checking on the street-walkers, gonna offer some protection and ask them to spread the news, but I got there too late. I left the scene when Batman showed up a moment later, and then I found someone following me. I'm pretty sure he's the killer."

She grasped his hand and yanked, jerking him to a stance. "I didn't ask for your life story," she tsked. "Ain't it a bit dangerous to go blabbing Hood business to random girls? I know ya hire some of us for information we get from our clients."

Hood dusted himself off and pushed his deep red cape back from his face and wow , he was unfairly good-looking, even with a domino mask covering half his face. Why couldn't her clients look more like Hood, she sighed inwardly.