Invisible (Jason Todd; Titans)

nine

Ambrose was only able to stare at Bruce, analyzing everything about him with the new realization of who he was. The man who had saved her and her father when she was little.

"Do you remember me?" Ambrose asked, crossing her arms.

"Your father, Seth Carpenter, was a scientist on the Phantom Project."

Jason looked confused, "The what?"

Ambrose glanced at him, "The Phantom Project. Secret military science experiment to make mutagens for soldiers to turn invisible. Went about as you'd expect it to."

"I thought your father had only been low level clearance. I guess I was wrong," Bruce said.

Ambrose crossed her arms tighter, her attitude defensive, "My dad had nothing to do with whatever those other people did wrong. Even if he did, he's already suffered enough to have paid the price a thousand times over."

"Wait, so your powers are the result of some science experiment? Like, human experimentation? That's fucked," Jason commented.

"And I turned out fine," Ambrose insisted, "You saved my life, and my father's. So, evidently, I owe you a 'thank you'. So, thanks, Bruce. How long have you known about me anyways?"

"I didn't think to look into you until I saw how often Jason went to see you. And then I saw him patrolling with you at night. I connected the dots from there," he explained vaguely.

Ambrose didn't look all too impressed, "Ok. Cool. Nice deductive reasoning."

There was just something about Bruce Wayne's attitude that Ambrose didn't like all too much. Maybe it was just the way he treated Jason that had her bothered. She had dealt with the aftermath of his treatment of Jason time after time. And while she didn't entirely blame the man for the state of Jason's mind, he hadn't exactly helped either.

"So, you knew the whole fucking time that we were working together? And you just didn't say anything?" Jason asked.

"Yes. You work well together. She's kept you in check. I didn't think it was necessary to intervene," Bruce said.

"Great, then we'll continue as normal," Ambrose clapped her hands together.

Jason could tell that Ambrose was on edge. Especially after Bruce had mentioned her dad and the Phantom Project. He had never seen her so guarded before. Her expression was set in stone, her eyes cold and body tense. She looked like she was ready to fight or run at any moment.

Jason threw his arm over her shoulder, "Awesome. Yo, Bruce, can I show her the Bat Cave?"

Bruce looked Ambrose up and down, like he wasn't sure he could trust her, "Why don't you give her a few days to settle into this new information?"

Jason just shrugged, "Fine. Wanna see my room, Amber?"

Ambrose, desperate to get away from Bruce's burning gaze, nodded, "Yeah."

Jason tugged her up the stairs, passing Bruce as they made their way through the maze of a house before going into Jason's room. It was big and looked well lived in. Every bit of it screamed 'Jason'. From the dark walls to the posters and the vinyls stacked up in the corner. It was messy, but in a way that seemed to make sense to him.

Ambrose nodded, "I like it. A lot better than my setup."

"Hey, yours is great," Jason said as he put a vinyl into the record player.

"Jay, my room is, like, a quarter of the size of yours. It could be your fucking closet," Ambrose pointed out.

Jason was silent for a moment as the record player began to play music at a low volume, "Why didn't you tell me about the Phantom Project?"

Ambrose chewed on her bottom lip before answering, "I don't know everything about it myself. I was just a little kid when everything went downhill. And, uh, it doesn't exactly hold great memories for me. My mom died because of it."

Jason listened intently, "You can talk to me, Amber."

"I know," Ambrose sat down on the edge of his bed, "I wasn't even born when the project started. My mom didn't even know she was pregnant with me. She was supposed to be the test subject, not me. After I was born, they figured out I had absorbed all the tests. They kept it a secret. Higher ups didn't like that, so they wanted to take me. Mom and Dad wouldn't let them. My mom got killed. My Dad leaked everything. Turns out I wasn't the only unethical thing that happened there. I guess it became a big enough deal to get Batman's attention. By the time he got there, my dad had been hurt and they had nearly taken me away. I don't know if Bruce really didn't know my dad's part, or he couldn't stand the thought of making me an orphan."

Jason stood in front of Ambrose, "That fucking sucks. It's messed up."

"Yeah. But...I got cool superpowers out of it, so I guess that's a plus," Ambrose tried to lighten the mood.

Jason sat down next to her, taking her hand in his, "I had a pretty rough childhood. My parents were kind of shit. Not really around. Got into a lot of bad shit. So, they dumped me on my Uncle. He was cool, but uh, not a real great role model either. He used to take me to bars with him while he got drunk. Got kicked out a lot. Found out my mom overdosed and my dad was killed by Two-Face. Then my Uncle died too, and I was on my own. They put me in the system and it was...man, it was really fucking bad. I kept running away. Then I started trying to do it all on my own. Stole a lot of shit. Sold it for good money. I found Batman's car. Tried to steal the hubcaps, was caught. Bruce took me in. Here we are now."

Ambrose laid her head down on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, Jay. You didn't deserve any of that."

"Neither did you."

"Man...life is always so fucking shitty to the people who don't deserve it."

"I don't know," Jason glanced down at her, "I got to meet you. That's pretty fucking great."

"I am pretty awesome, aren't I?" Ambrose agreed, "I guess you're ok too."

Jason pushed her off him, "Shut the fuck up."

Ambrose began wheezing out laughter as she fell off the bed from his shove. Jason was just looking down at her with a raised brow and an unimpressed scowl.

Ambrose climbed back up, still giggling, "I'm sorry. You were being serious. I know."

"Freak," Jason muttered, pushing her head back.

Ambrose wrapped her arms around him, "Ok, serious. I'm so glad I met you. I mean it. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Jason squeezed her extra tight just to spite her, "Whatever."

Ambrose pressed kisses against his jaw and up his cheek, "Don't be mad. I don't like it when you're mad at me."

At this point, Jason was just fucking with her as he turned away, a grin tugging at his lips. Ambrose followed him, her lips meeting his neck as she practically hovered over him.

Jason finally broke, smiling as he turned his head back to catch her lips against his own and pull her to straddle his lap. He wished that this feeling could last forever. The high that he felt when he was with her. He knew that he would never leave. Not if he could help it. And, for once, he truly felt like someone was on his side.

The universe had never made a happy hero, but who ever said that's what they were meant to be.