Outlandish Love (Jason Todd x Male OC)

Ch. 23

Jason P.O.V

"I can't believe you roped me into this," I muttered as Dani led the way across some rafters.

"Well, believe it," he whispered back. "Besides, we're doing this for Tim. Not for us."

"Fair enough," I replied, following him to the drop point.

Below us, on the warehouse floor, Harley lounged in a large office chair, playing with a children's toy. A variety of money, plans, and ammo sat on the desk, while some of her henchman wandered around the warehouse.

"What's the move here?" I whispered, facing Dani.

"Drop on three," he said. "Try to express we're not here to fight. See where it goes."

"I love these plans of ours," I said with a small chuckle. "Kick and scream if it doesn't go our way?"

"You know it," he replied. When I turned back to look at the floor, he placed his hand on my arm and turned me back to him.

He seemed to struggle with his words as he fidgeted with the fabric of my sleeve.

"I don't know how this conversation will go," he said, moving his hand to rest on the side of my helmet, as if he were touching my cheek. "But don't let her get to you. We're in charge here. Me and you. Okay?"

"Alright," I said, smiling at him, though he couldn't see it. "I'll try."

He nodded once then turned to face the people beneath us. He began to count down on his fingers.

When he reached zero he got closer to me, as I wrapped my arm around his waist. I used my grapple gun and together we descended into the warehouse, shocking those around us.

Harley shot to her feet and aimed a handgun at us.

"Hey!" She snapped. "How'd you get in here?"

"We're pretty resourceful," Jason said.

"Didn't you two have enough after last time?" She sighed.

"As fun as that was," Dani said. "We're not here for another fight. We just wanna talk."

She eyed the two of us for a few moments, before slowly lowering her gun and sitting back down.

"Color me interested," she said. "But don't try any funny business!"

We held our hands out in peace, exchanging a glance between us.

"No funny business," Dani agreed.

Harley made no motion to continue speaking, causing Dani and exchange another glance, wondering where to begin. Although he couldn't see my eyes, he still understood the unspoken words passing between us. I nodded once in confirmation, causing him to look back to Harley.

"You've got greater connections to the underworld than we do," Dani began. "And we're hoping to gain some information..."

"Information isn't cheap," she mused.

"Have you heard anything interesting lately?" Dani asked, beating around the bush. "Anything...shocking?"

"I've heard a lot of things since I got out of Arkham," she said. "I guess it depends what you're hoping to learn."

Dani sighed and glanced over to me again. I nodded sharply.

"Of the Joker variety," Dani said.

"You watch your mouth," she snapped, rising to her feet. "We don't use that name here."

"Harley," I said, stepping slightly forward. "We don't mean to throw what happened in your face. But...we....well, we think he's back."

"Bullshit," she said, hand tightening around her gun again. "They put his body in the oven. He's gone. I know it."

"Harley," I said. "He kidnapped Red Robin. We don't want to open old wounds, but we really need to know anything you might've heard to help us find him."

"Why would I take the word of two rookie heroes?" She said. "You're more inclined to put a bullet in any crook who pisses you off, and you've left more burst eardrums than good deeds in your wake. I have no reason to trust you or to help you."

"We didn't discover this," Dani said. "Batman did. If you won't trust our judgement, trust his."

Her resolve seemingly broke a little bit as she looked to the ground and the wheels in her head turned. She looked around at her men for a moment, before setting her gun on the desk and relaxing a little. She refused to meet our eyes, however.

"I...we..."

She seemingly didn't know quite how to word her response.

"A few days ago...we heard a rumor that some weapons had been purchased from Penguin. The weapon types, the ammunition, and the amount...they all lined up with those Joker used to use for his men. When we did some digging, Cobblepot told us the order was anonymous. Purchased by a 'J.' I didn't wanna believe it, but if Bats does? Well..."

"Thank you, Harley," Dani said, before turning to exit the warehouse.

"He's done manipulating you, Harley. You broke free from him. You turned your back on his emotional abuse and torture. You got away. Don't write that off like it's nothing."

She finally looked up to meet my eyes and nodded slightly, taking in my words.

"He got to you too, didn't he?" She said. "When you were younger."

I nodded once, confirming.

"Thanks for this, Harley," I said, then turned to follow Dani.

Dani smiled at me meaningfully, silently proud of me. I smiled at him under my mask, my cheeks warming slightly.

"Let's go, babe," I said quietly, leading the way out.

A few days later we had reconvened at the Cave, gathered around Bruce's desk. Dani and I sat on the edge, my arm around him. Dick was leaning against the railing, Barbara sitting next to him. Damian stood next to Bruce, who was in his chair.

"When I interrogated Deadshot, he was hesitant to tell us anything," Dick said. "I tried to give him a deal. Told him I wouldn't hand him over to Ryker's if he came clean. He told me he'd rather go back to prison, than face what would happen to him if he confessed."

Bruce looked over to the direction of the holding cells, wondering if Deadshot had woken up yet.

"Obviously, that fuels the fire," Barbara continued. "There's not many people the Rogues are scared of, other than Joker. They're all scared of him. And Deadshot? Tough as nails."

"Did you discover anything on the net?" Bruce asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Barbara said. "I tried finding anything, but all I heard was the typical chatter. In fact, I thought it was a little...too normal."

Bruce took this information in as well, before turning to Dani and I.

"What did you two discover?"

"We followed a lead on Harley," Dani explained. "We thought if anyone would know something, it would be her. And we weren't wrong. She told us that someone's buying weapons from Cobblepot. A lot of them."

"They're all being bought anonymously," I continued. "Simply under the name 'J,' coincidentally."

Bruce turned his chair around and began to pull up information on the computer.

"We tried to find Scarecrow to interrogate him," Bruce said. "This is what we found."

An image of Scarecrow's bloodied body was projected. He was propped up on a cross, like a real scarecrow.

"It was in an abandoned building downtown," Bruce continued. "Where he had set up a makeshift lab. It seems someone wanted him silenced. And...well. We...we have reason to believe Joker made out with Scarecrow's recipe."