Love Under the Hood - A Jason Todd X OC Story

Chapter 9: What is Love Worth?

Jason's phone hit the wall at full force and smashed into pieces.

Another voicemail. 

He sunk down onto the cold kitchen floor and buried his head in his hands. "Where the hell is she?!" he shouted.

Three days. No calls. No texts. No unexpected visits. Not a single word from Scarlett. Jason was growing restless. It was entirely unlike her. 

Scarlett was sociable and mostly responsible. She could barely make it through an entire day without texting a friend to see if they were alright or to ask how their day was going. She was by far the most caring person Jason had ever known, and the few people she knew in her life were important...too important for her to ignore this long. 

For a brief moment, Jason wondered if Scarlett had finally decided to leave him. The conclusion seemed a little premature even to him, yet he couldn't stop himself from thinking the worst. Everyone else in his life had turned their backs on him. Why would she be any different? He did everything he could to prove how much she meant to him...but was it enough? He saw how disappointed she was when he distanced himself from her. Maybe she realized that his problems ran too deep, and two broken people trying to make a life together would only lead to more pain. 

It didn't take Jason long to realize how ridiculous that idea was. Scarlett was not a vengeful person. She was hurt by the idea of him leaving her, enough that she came to his apartment to convince him otherwise. She even gave him one last chance to make things right. She wouldn't decide to ignore him as retribution. As if that wasn't enough proof, their conversation in the botanical garden brought them closer than ever before. Their shared trauma wasn't the path to an end. It was the thing that kept them together. Scarlett said herself that they could save each other in the ways their parents failed. She wouldn't suddenly disappear after making a promise like that. 

Jason cringed, feeling the fear rising in his throat.  Something had to be wrong...and there was only one explanation. 

He raised himself off the floor and snatched his leather jacket from the hook on the front door.

"Maybe it's time I pay her a visit," he said determinedly. 

...

Jason's Lamborghini screeched to a halt in the center of the parking garage at Scarlett's apartment complex, leaving a dark streak of hot rubber on the pavement. Jason didn't bother to park. If his suspicions were correct, he wouldn't be there long.

He walked the length of the third floor and scanned the endless rows of vehicles. Sure enough, Scarlet's red Volkswagon Beetle was parked in the middle row. He placed the palm of his hand flat against the hood. His years of stealing cars and stripping them for parts as a teenager gave him a wide range of automotive knowledge, something he came to appreciate when he later put on the mask. 

"The engine isn't warm. She hasn't been out recently," Jason examined. He then circled to the side of the vehicle and inspected the tires. The rubber was slightly deflated, sinking under the weight of the car.

"The car has been sitting idle," he observed."She hasn't driven it in a while. She needs it to go to work, and she tries not to walk anywhere alone after what happened with that creep back in March. If something happened to her, it would've been while she was in her apartment."

...