the red hood

the league

Dick stood in the bat cave, staring at the floor. The memories of killing batman and being killed by jason were still fresh in his mind. "Jason... " It suddenly hit him, he still didn't know how it happened, how he got to the joker in the first place. 

The sudden echo of Bruce's footsteps walking away from the haunting, blood coated robin suit on display broke him away from his thoughts. 

"So..." Bruce's voice was cold and emotionally drained, the memory of being too late still following him like his parents death. It was a surprise to everyone that he didn't throw away his no killing rule. "Theres a new crime lord in Gotham. I need you to hunt them down" 

Dick swallowed, the ever present guilt he carried on his shoulders feeling more heavier than usual. "Before we get into that, I have an important question that i need you to answer." He inhaled nervously "why... why was Jason with the joker?" Dick had spent an entire month watching that tape, analysing its footage and he still couldn't find any information. 

"His birth mother... she sold him out. Apparently she was in debt to the joker and jason... he wanted to help her. God, he didn't know. He was angry and confused and he finally found her and..." bruce trailed off as a look of confusion washed over the youngers face. "What do you mean? I thought Catherine died of an overdose."

Bruce rubbed his face. "Catherine wasn't his biological mother. His actual mother was a woman named sheila heywood. She was a charity worker in Ethiopia."

An uncomfortable tension suddenly filled the room. Dick knew bruce was withholding information but the strange sense of clarity he got with the info Bruce had given him controlled him.

"Anyway. What's the plan, B?" Bruce lead dick to the batcomputer. Upon the screen was the red hoods file. "As you can see here, they fight like an assassin yet don't act like one. My theory is that they're a member the league of shadows that went rou-" suddenly the calm, collected yet somewhat tense and slightly panicked voice of Oracle came from the computer. 

"Hey bruce, I finished the analysis on all the footage we have on the red hood. Theres more to all of this mystery than just fighting techniques and even then that's kinda strange." Bruce sighed, exhausted with this case already "are there any clues to who they are?" "yes but they dont exactly reveal anything. Their technique seems to be a mix of the league, some basic form of street fighting and most surprisingly you. If I knew any better I'd say they've been analysing your style since jason was alive but the dates dont line up" "what dates?" "Their technique includes styles the league created over the last 3 to 13 month so they obviously weren't in Gotham until very recently." "Is there anything you can confirm about them?" "Yes. They're about the same age as dicks trainees, maybe slightly older." 

Dicks breath hitched at the mention of the youngest titans. "Great. Thank you Oracle" 

The call finally ended, leaving the father and son in awkward silence.