The Jacksons are Friends | DC & PJO

Very Suspicious

When the man had woken up, he saw a ceiling. He went home, he should be at home. But he never reached his bed. He reached the window. A now broken window. Where was he now? The man tried to get up but felt a pull. The familiar pull of stitches. Finally, he remembered his helmet. Raising his hand, he panickedly touched the cheek of his helmet. Relief washed over him, seeing as it was still on. But then realized he was tied with a bedsheet. Looking to his right, he saw a small figure sleeping on the floor, there wasn't even a blanket. He was in her room, a single bed, where he was currently. I stole her bed, he thought. This girl was probably the one that helped him. Nina, his neighbor.

Taking off the bedsheet from his hands, he tried quietly getting up, only to be stopped by a voice not far from where he was, "Stay down, you're hurt." She didn't seem surprised the binds she put on him were gone.

"Where am I?" He just needed to show her he didn't know her.

"My room. You landed on my fire escape. Crashed into the window as well. It's broken, pay for it." Nina answered, opening the door to point at the window where she found him.

He was with Nina; he did not need to project fear in her like he did to criminals. "Sorry," the man apologized gently.

"So, which one are you?" Nina asks. The man doesn't answer. Also, his expression was unreadable, with the helmet covering his face. His body, however, did talk. She then elaborates, "Which vigilante are you? You're the first one I've encountered."

"Oh," the man said in surprise. "I'm Red Hood," he answered. "Thank you for your help."

"You know it's a helmet and not a hood." The girl deadpanned. "I'm Nina."

"Not the first time I've heard that." Red Hood felt drowsy, he had to leave now. "Take me to the door. I'm leaving."

"No," the girl flat-out rejected his request. "You're injured badly. If you get up now, you'll ruin everything that took me hours to fix."

"You stitched me up?" Red Hood asked as he felt tugging from his skin. His response came in the form of a nod. "I need to leave now. My friend will pick me up."

"Then ask them to come here to my place. I'm not leaving you out there in this shape."

Red Hood looked into the girl's eyes. She wasn't backing down. She was as stubborn.

"...Jason," the faint name left Red Hood's mouth before he could understand what he said.

"What?" Nina asked, not from not hearing it but confused about why his name would be mentioned.

Shit, he dug his grave again. Might as well roll with it, she heard it clearly from her reaction, "Jason. The one guy next door is a friend of mine, I aimed at his window. I don't know how I landed in here.

Nina looked at Red Hood up and down, contemplating for some time. "I see. That makes sense."

Red Hood sighed in relief; this girl believed a little too fast. It worked in his favor, but it would be dangerous. "Kid, you can't just believe what people tell you here or anywhere. Not everyone is nice and truthful."

"But you are, aren't you?" Her question wasn't exactly a question but a statement questioning him if he did believe that statement.

"How can you be so sure?" He asked, his heart full of doubt. He thought back to all those times, even when he was Robin, the violent tendencies Batman tried to control, the violent tendencies that led to many criminals close to their deaths, and the violent tendencies that caused The Accident. Sucking in a breath, he continued with his reasons as to why he wasn't good. "I have a reputation for killing and being dangerous. Kid, I'm not good."

Nina could only laugh a little. "Nobody bad is going to say they are bad. Dangerous, yes, killer, sure, but all of that being synonyms of bad? Not really."

Red Hood shut up for a while, Nina just stared at him, waiting for him to start the conversation. She had seen that she hit the spot. Red Hood returned to the original topic, wanting to abandon the previous short conversation. "Can you take me to next door now?"

"He's not home," Nina responded, not minding the topic change again.

"Why do you think so." Red Hood had to be careful and not say 'know.'

"I heard him leave this morning but never returned until late," Nina explained. I'm pretty sure he's hooking up with people, but hey, it's not my business. "I can take you to his door, but I can't do anything else after that."

"It's fine, he gave me his spare keys." Red Hood reassured her. Keys... aren't giving the keys to one's place a big step in a relationship?

"Alright then," Nina at last agreed. She stood up from the floor with a stiff back and stretched herself. "C'mon," she says as she stretches a hand for Red Hood to take and stabilize.

"There's no need," he says, swatting Nina's hand away as he tries to get up. It was a struggle as there was still an injury to his leg and torso. Nina looked back at him with her hand stretched out and a smug look on her face. Red Hood, very reluctantly, took her hand and was supported by her to Jason's door.

Red Hood reached into his pockets and took out a spare key. "Huh, you really had the keys," Nina commented. Damn.

"You thought I was lying?" Red Hood retorted with a smile underneath his helmet.

"I would have dragged you back if you were." Nina responds before asking about Jason, "Is he in there? Was I wrong?"

Red Hood peered inside while thinking of an excuse, "No. I think he left to look for me. I've been out for some time already."

"Oh, alright." Nina completely believed his lie. Do they live together? How come I never heard him? Entering or leaving the place? "I hope you get better." She wished the stranger health.

"Bye," that was the dismissal of Red Hood as he entered the apartment. He quickly closed the door to prevent the girl from peaking inside. He finally let out a huge sigh of relief after the unexpected encounter.

Holy fucking shit, they may actually be dating. Nina panicked as she grabbed onto her hair. Oh my god, what if Jason's legit cheating? He wouldn't. I mean, he's a nice guy, he seems like a nice guy. What if he was lying and was there to assassinate Jason? Was Jason that important? Would Red Hood kill Jason? Jason is strong. Oh, please be alive tomorrow.