no rest for the wicked [jason todd]

thirteen

JASON TODD STOOD,
waiting for Tye in the pouring rain when he finally ran into the one person he'd been avoiding. Dick Grayson ran past him, skidding to a halt when he finally recognized that someone else was there. He spun on his heels, blue eyes widening further, hair soaked. He looked like a wet puppy dog. "Oh my God," he said, breathless, "Red Hood?"

Jason touched the mask, reminded himself that Dick didn't know for sure he was alive and then nodded. He walked straight past Dick and bent down where he saw the crushed pieces of a phone. "Shit, shit, Tye--" He broke off when Dick looked over.

"You're-- Where's Tye?"

Jason searched the wet sidewalk and then pulled up the only thing he could find, a playing card. He flipped it around in his fingers and his breath caught in his throat. The Joker. "Dick," he said, thrusting the card in his direction.

Dick looked shocked by the use of his name but took the card, scanning it. "Oh God," he said, "you're kidding me." He looked up after a moment, eyebrow raising as he stared at Jason.  "Are you— Jason — is that really you?"

Clearing his throat and putting a fist near his mouth, Jason looked away. "That's not important," he muttered, "can we focus? Tye— Tye could be in trouble, Dick. She could be being tortured and you're more worried about the facts of my identity crisis." He lifted a hand. "So clamp your mouth shut unless you have any clues as to where the hell we're going to find her."

"I don't—... I don't know, okay?" snapped the other man, turning away to take out his phone. He shot off a text to Bruce first, and then to Barbara, and finally, Jim. Whilst he was doing that, Jason seemed to be preparing to step away, lighting up a cigarette as well as trying to keep himself out of the rain.

"Well," Jason offered, exhaling after a moment, "I've gotta run." Without another moment, he offered Dick a wave and started walking. Dick thought about catching up to him, but he had more important issues to deal with. Namely, Tye.

So, he phoned up Bruce, holding his device to his ear as he made his way back to the car. "Bru," he said when the other man answered, deciding the whole Red Hood subject could be chatted about at another time. "Bruce, Tye... The Joker— I— Damn it, I can't..." He couldn't breathe for a long moment before he finally started to speak right. "The Joker has Tye. She's gone, I can't find her anymore—"

"Dick," Bruce cut him off, a heavy sigh leaving his mouth. "Dick, calm down and breathe, okay? You're not making any sense here. The Joker? We haven't seen him in years, not since—"

Sniffling, Dick rubbed the bridge of his nose. "He's alive," he said, "Jason— He's looking for Tye too, I swear, it's him, and I don't know how he knows who she is, but... She's in trouble, Bruce, and we have to find her now. We have to."

"We will," Bruce reassured him, his voice becoming tight. "I'll get Tim and we can leave to help you look, okay?"

—

Later that night, Jason found the only guy he knew that had even met Tye. David. "Fucking David," muttered Jason as he pulled himself through the window of the apartment building. He moved over to the kitchen chair, pulled it back and crossed his boots on the table, holding a large gun.

When the door opened and David flicked on the lights, Jason tilted his head. The helmet covered his head, distorting his voice slightly when he offered, "Davey, come sit down. We need to have a talk."

"Red Hood," David said, setting his keys down as he shut the door. He gently pulled a drawer open but paused, muttering something.

"Looking for this?" Jason offered, swinging a a pistol on his finger. "Were you going to shoot me, Davey? Aw, man, thought we had some sort of mutual trust." He kicked back away from the table and moved to stand up, but David swallowed.

Then he moved toward the table, nodding. "No, let's talk," he offered, leaning on the surface. Jason shook his head.

"Sit down, Davey," he said, voice becoming darker and deeper. When David sat down, he continued, "and this isn't going to be a talk. Shut up and listen to me, because I am not going to repeat myself, and you're going to want to tell the truth now." He shifted his hold on the gun until it was pointed right at David's chest. "Who'd you tell about Sierra?"

"Wait—" David sat up, his eyebrows scrunching together. "Just wait one second here, Red Hood, who the living hell is Sierra?"

Jason clenched his jaw, his finger pressing a little on the trigger. "Answer the question, David. There's a lot more on the line than your own life if you keep lying to my face, got it?"

"You mean the, uh, informant?" David cleared his throat, eyes wide. "Wasn't she working with the police? What's it matter to you who I told about the girl? You weren't gonna let her spill the info anyway, were ya? I told her some pretty incriminating stuff, Hood."

Jason shrugged. "That's on you though, ain't it, Davey?" He offered, his eyes still narrowed. He kept his gun raised, adding, "You still know more than you're telling. Who the hell did you tell?"

"Look, Hood," David managed, his voice becoming a little shakier. "I saw ya with the girl and some guy said he'd make sure my ex-wife ain't taking none of my money in the divorce if I told him where she worked. Some guy, I don't know, he was crazy! Green hair and shit, man, crazy!"

Jason sighed. "You shouldn't have taken deals from strangers," he said, lifting the gun. "Hope your wife has a nice life will all your fortune."

He pulled the trigger and David became limp in his seat, blood dripping from the gunshot in his head. Jason cleared his throat, moved forward and checked David's breast pocket, pulling out a card. "Joker, you're getting dumb," he muttered, "a business card?"

He tucked the card away and nodded a little bit, turning back toward the window. "I'm gonna kill that guy," he muttered, clenching his fist.

—
hey! this is the darkest chapter I've probably written lately, lol.
hope u guys have a safe weekend!