My Ghost

twelve

jason's point of view

"Sionis!" I greet, the phone pressed to my ear. I do my best to sound cheery, but I struggle to keep the façade.

"Who the hell is this?" I hear the angry mobster snap into the receiver.

"A man with a shit ton of kryptonite," I taunt him, hoping to hold his attention. I check the laptop in front of me and watch the computer begin to trace the call.

"The Red Hood," he growls into the phone.

"The one an only! And you have something I want."

"So do you."

I chuckle, shaking my head despite his inability to see me. "You're not getting your shipments back."

"Then there's no reason for this discussion," Black Mask states.

"Trust me, there is."

"Well then get to the point before I get bored," he snaps.

"You have the mayor's daughter."

Silence falls over the phone before I hear Roman burst into laughter on the other end of the call.

"The dead girl? What would I want with her?" he questions through his laughter.

"She isn't dead and you know it," I growl at him. "You sent her to the charity ball that night so you could rob it while everyone's attention was elsewhere. I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed you got the girl to do whatever you asked."

"I heard she came back," Roman says simply. "But you really think I'd rob city hall? You're more delusional than I thought, Hood."

"You're more desperate than you'd like us to realize, Sionis," I tell him, carefully planning my next few words. "That girl has more influence over the city than maybe even Batman."

"Too bad I don't have her," he fires back, his temper rising. "What exactly do you want with her?"

"The same thing you do," I growl, trying my hardest to contain my anger. "I want the influence she has. I want in with the mayor. You're trying to get yourself a shiny key to the city and I see right through you."

"You better stop accusing me of things, Red," Roman begins to threaten me. "I have one thing that can take you down that you do not want to be messing with."

"And what would that be?"

"You'll see when it comes to kill you. I'll see you in Hell, Red Hood." The phone hangs up and I smirk to myself, dropping the phone and crushing it beneath my boot. I check the screen and smirk to myself, of course he was staying in tonight, on the top floor of his own building.

Roman thought he was so smart, but he had just confirmed everything I needed to know. No one knew me better than Ray, if he had something to kill me it would be her.

Was she actually going to try to kill me? I knew she was upset with me before she... died? But not mad enough to kill me. At least, I don't think so...

Should I tell Bruce? Probably, but I don't plan to. He didn't want to take me seriously it seemed, and if I tell him I might have to align with his new Robin too.

In all honesty, Tim isn't a bad kid. He reminds me a lot of myself when I first started as Robin. He's a little cocky, but then again, who wouldn't be? But I can't bring myself to like the kid. No matter how hard I try I just resent him and everything he's stolen from me.

Stolen? This was my fault. I chased the Joker when I shouldn't have. I didn't follow Bruce's orders.

But maybe I would have if they weren't all bullshit. He wanted to let the Joker run that night. He would've let the maniac go on to kill again and again and again. His tactics, his code, his "morals", they all suck; and if he ever truly cared for the son he lost he wouldn't have immediately found himself a new kid to run around in the Robin tights at night.

I shake my head as I grab my helmet off of her gravestone, taking one last look. Wilted roses sit before the stone and new snow lightly coats them.

"Look at us," I mumble, grabbing my rocket launcher off the ground and slinging it over my shoulder. "Just a pair of vigilantes with empty coffins."

I run my hand lightly over the marble one last time, brushing any new snow off of it. "Out of the two of us, you were never supposed to end up here," I tell her.

I force myself to turn around and walk away, leaving the desolate grave alone. It was time to hunt Roman down and get Ray back, and prove to Bruce that I was always right.

To prove to Bruce he made a mistake in replacing me.