Children Of The Bat

Chapter 25: Not the Same

Mary's P.O.V
21:00 EST, Dec. 14th, Gotham City

The past two weeks went by slowly. I hadn't seen Red Hood since he tried to shoot me, but I had seen Jason Todd around Gotham. I could tell he was avoiding me, a few times I fought the urge to tackle him into an alley and demand an explanation.

On the last few days I had seen him, there was something off. He would sway and stumbled as he walked, he bumped into people and scowled strangly.

I sat on the edge of a lower building staring at the bullet shell in my hand.

"What is wrong with him...?" I asked myself.

Besides the fact that RH tried shooting me, I still wanted to see Jason. I wanted to know why he did it and what's going on with him.

I sighed, tucked the shell into my belt, and stood up.

I pulled out a grappler and shot it across the street.

"This is just a huge death wish..." I sighed swinging to the next building.

******
Mary'sP.O.V
22:00 EST
Jason's Apartment

I was dressed as Mary Grayson, I had a dark red t-shirt and black skinny jeans. I walked casually down the hall of the dank building.

I stopped outside my uncle's apartment and my stomach began churning in panic.

"He's your uncle..." I said to myself.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door, emediatly I heard the loud intimidating barking of a dog. I jumped not expecting it, but soon calmed down when I realized it was Uncle Jay's German Shepherd.

I knocked again and the barking picked up.

"Shut up!" I heard someone yell from another apartment.

I sighed and looked around. I bent down to look at the keyhole in the handle. I pulled a lock picking kit out of my pocket; Uncle T, had given it to me on my eighth birthday and him and Jay taught me how to use it; another fond memory.

I unhooked the lock pins and returned the picks to the kit pouch. I tucked it into my pocket and straightened up.

The dog barked like it was ready to kill someone.

I turned the knob and opened the door. The German Shepherd exploded out of the door and jumped onto me, knocking me to the floor.

I laughed as the dog licked my face with his flat, slobbery tongue.

"Good to see you too, AK," I said sitting up and whipping my head away when the dog kept going for a little lick to my cheek.

I wrapped my arms around AK's neck and kissed him on the side of his muzzle. "How's my boy," I asked rhetorically into his fur.

I could hear him growling, but not angrily.

"What's wrong, AK?" I asked in a soft tone. I looked up and my heart picked up in fear, before I realized that the smoke wasn't a fire.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust as the smell of stale cigarette smoke and alcohol wafted out of Uncle Jay's apartment.

I swallowed a gag and stood up. AK followed me into the apartment as I walked into the room holding my shirt over my nose.

"Jason?" I called.

No answer.

I walked around taking in the familiar surroundings. I hadn't been in the apartment since I was four. Pops stopped letting me come here when Jason was having trouble keeping the place clean.