Jaybird

The Yellow Clock

Jason couldn't tell if he was still dreaming or not at first. He knew his eyes were open but all he could see were flashes of dark and light.

He figured it out when the pain hit. His lip burned and he could feel dried blood cracking on his chin when he tried to speak.

"Shut up, tough guy!" A voice grated in his ears.

Jason immediately shut his mouth and began to collect his thoughts. 'How the f**k did I get here?'

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Jason Todd prided himself on his collection of guns.

He had a glass cabinet full of antique firearms displayed in his small apartments' living room that he dusted every day.

He kept his newer, and in his opinion, more fun guns in a large safe in his closet. They hung alongside his Red Hood suit, so they could always be accessible in case of emergency.

In Gotham's East End, emergencies seemed like a weekly thing.

That particular night, Jason was washing dishes, making sure everything was put back in its rightful place in his kitchen. He had just finished placing the last dish in one of his cabinets when he heard a commotion outside.

He listened for a moment, making sure it wasn't something he needed to put a stop to.

After the initial scuffle, there was silence.

Jason was too tired to deal with domestic spats so he didn't feel the need to look into it any further.

That might have been his mistake.

As soon as he sat down in front of his Buddha statue in the living room, the door burst open, shards of the wooden door frame spraying everywhere.

He leapt up and reached for the gun he usually had strapped to his leg, realizing too late that he wasn't wearing his suit.

He wasn't out on the streets. He was being attacked in his own home.

Five figures in all black poured through his now broken front door and rushed towards him.

Jason punched the first figure square in the jaw, knocking them into another figure. They fell to the ground but a third took their place.

The vigilante threw another punch, missing the third figures throat by less than an inch. He felt the butt of a gun slam against his mouth, splitting his lip and making him see spots. He stumbled backwards, knocking over the statue of Buddha.

The statues head cracked against his hardwood floor and disconnected from the rest of the stone body.

He kicked his attacker in the chest, knocking them to their knees. But he realized too late that with the statue behind him knocked over, the last two intruders had moved behind him.

Before Jason could turn all the way around he heard the unmistakable sound of taser cables.

A fiery shock went through his body and he dropped to his knees before falling and hitting his head on the floor.

As his vision began to fade he faintly caught the smell of paint.

He could hear the ticking sound of his clock on the wall slowing down. That clock was a gift from his brother. It was an ugly shade of yellow but he put it up on the wall because he wanted Dick to shut up about it.

'I wonder what he's up to right now?'

The last thing he saw was the sole of a boot rushing towards his face.