Red Knight - Jason Todd x Ariana Wayne (OC)

Chapter 2

All too soon the hero life called. Dick had more missions with his Young Justice team and Ari had some with her Titans. The timing of the missions didn't often leave the couple much time together. Eventually Dick quit being Robin and decided to take some time away to figure things out. However he still kept in contact with Ariana.

At least in the beginning he did. As the weeks carried on the communication between them started to ebb away to almost nothing. Ari filled her time with learning about the new Robin that was showing up around Gotham. She only knew that it wasn't Dick. Wasn't his style.

Sure enough her father had taken in another orphaned boy whose parents had died when he was young. The boy was so unlike Dick. He was a damned good street fighter and built more for strength than the agile way of her boyfriend. And dare she admit that this new kid filled out the uniform pretty nicely. She scolded herself mentally for thinking like that. Though to be fair, she was taken, not dead.

As Shadow Hawk she followed Robin one evening and confronted him inside the Batcave. It was time to find out who this new Boy Wonder was. Without turning around, Robin gave a chuckle. "So, gonna tell me who you are or do I get to beat it out of you? And how the hell did you get past the security?"

"Whoa, calm down bird-boy. One I'd kick your ass, two I have authorization to be here. And thirdly, what's your name?" Ariana crossed her arms and waited for his answers.

Robin turned and smirked at her. "I'd love to see you try to kick my ass and as for who I am, I asked first babe."

Ariana opened her mouth to speak, but realized he had indeed asked first. She brought her hand up and removed her mask, her wings folding against her back. "I'm Ariana Wayne, former Batgirl. I now go by Shadow Hawk." She gestured for him to follow suit.

He let out a wolf whistle as he looked her over before removing his domino mask. "Name's Jason Todd. Bats and Alfred, mostly Alfred, told me about you. Though they failed to mention you were gorgeous."

She blushed at the compliment and was distracted by Jason's beautiful teal eyes. She cleared her throat to regain her composure. "You're not too bad yourself Jaybird. Granted not as fine as my boyfriend, but still easy on the eyes." Was she trying to convince him that she was taken or herself?

The two of them started talking about the night job, how school was. Talked about how lonely it is growing up in the mansion essentially alone. Bruce showed up and Ariana took that as her cue to leave. She gave Jason her number and told him to call if he needed anything. After all Ariana knew exactly how the work with Batman affected a person.

When she returned to the tower, Ariana called Dick to let him know she met the new Robin and that he wasn't too bad of a guy. They discussed a few missions they'd been doing here and there and when they'd be able to have some time together again.

Over the next few weeks Ariana hadn't heard from Dick at all since she told him about Jason. Not that it was by the choice of either of them really. Both of their teams were busy. Ariana, Kori, Raven, and Beast Boy had finished their current mission and were celebrating their victory when Ari got a call. She stepped away from the loud music and cheering so she could hear the person on the other line. She hung up and turned back to the other Titans. "Star, I've got something come up. I should be back before dawn."

"Do you require help?" She asked while Raven and Garfield looked over at the two older girls.

She shook her head with a smile. "No, just helping out the newest Robin. Dick's not around so I'm the next best thing." Ari smiled and walked to the zeta tube and headed to Gotham. Once she arrived, she spread her black wings and took to the sky then flew to the rooftop of Wayne Enterprises where Jason was waiting for her.

Jason needed to vent about the latest crap Bruce was pulling. Taking him off active duty just because he was a little aggressive and impatient. He was being measured up to Dick's reputation and Jason was sick of it. Nothing that Jason did seemed to be good enough and Bruce refused to realize that he wasn't Dick.

"It's not entirely your fault Jaybird. The impatience and aggression you do need to work on, I will agree with my father on that point. However the rest? Totally not your fault and I wouldn't take it too personally. He's been impossible to live with since my mother left over a year ago. Really left him miserable and then when I up and quit then Dick did, I think it messed him up."

"Why did you leave? You're good at the job and I can see you still love your dad." He'd be lying if he said he wasn't envious of the fact that at least Ariana had parents that were still alive.

Ari gave a brief shrug. "I just couldn't handle being treated like little more than a soldier. I'm his daughter for goodness sake and he didn't seem to recognize that fact. But anyways, just remember one thing old man Bats says, 'if you want something, go after it'." Ari smiled and pulled Jason into a big hug and kissed his forehead.

"Thanks for letting me vent to you Ari. I needed it. I may need some company still while on cave duty. I still can't believe Bats pulled me from active duty!" Jason commented as he returned the hug. Ariana said her goodbyes to Jason and waved before flying back to King's Court to zeta back to Titan Tower. If I went after what I wanted, I wouldn't have let you leave just now. Jason couldn't say it out loud, but at least he admitted it to himself, he had a crush on Batman's daughter.