Chapter Text
Jason Todd walked with a determined gait, his eyes scanning the dark buildings around him for his destination. Suddenly, from behind Jason came the whine of a police siren. Stifling his panic, Jason leaned against the wall next to him, trying hard to look casual. The police cruiser passed him by, bathing the street in red light.
Jason held the pose for another minute. The cruiser didn’t turn or even slow. He let out a relieved breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Jason returned to his search.
“Uh-kay, now… where was it?” he mumbled to himself, pulling a frayed piece of paper from his pocket. It read:
TEENS: Life
treating you unfair?
Need someone to settle
the score? Contact
“Young Justice,”
1845 Hoyt Street.
Call 555-587-8423
(555-"JUS-TICE")
for appointment.
Jason compared the address on the paper to the number on each building he passed until he eventually found 1845 Hoyt Street.
“This is it! Awright!” he exclaimed. He jogged up to the room buzzer, pressing the button next to the name “YOUNG JUSTICE”.
The intercom buzzed as the staticky reply filtered through “Yeah, c’mon up.”
Jason opened the door and entered the building. The walls were peeling apart, and the entire place reeked of mold. As Jason climbed the stairs, he called out, “Hello? I’m Jason Todd? I had an appointment?” He hated how his voice wavered a bit.
“You don’t sound so sure about that,” said a voice from behind a door labeled “YOUNG JUSTICE”.
“I mean, I…uhm…yeah, I’m Jason Todd,” Jason said.
“So come in already,” The voice demanded.
Jason opened the door and stepped into the room beyond. He took in the three people waiting for him. Sitting behind the desk was a redheaded, very heavyset girl wearing a laurel flower crown and a blue, red, and gold toga. Her legs were propped up on the desk, and she was eating a donut, with another boxful and a bottle of wine sitting next to her on the desk. The plaque on the desk read “WONDER GIRL”.
Sitting on the desk in front of Wonder Girl was another girl, this one dressed in all black, with her face and blond hair mostly hidden by her cowl and short cape. She also wore wristguards adorned with miniature crossbows, and a quiver of arrows—also black—leaned against the desk on the floor next to her. She glared at Jason as she sharpened an arrow with a nail filer.
Behind the two girls loomed a…ghost?...in a sand-colored cloak. Orange mist rose off of him, and he almost seemed translucent. His red eyes, set in stark contrast to his deathly pale face and jet-black hair, seemed to be boring a hole into Jason’s soul. Jason gulped.
“You’re Young Justice,” he finally managed to say.
“That’s what it says on the door,” The arrow girl snarked.
“I’m—” Jason began.
The arrow girl cut him off. “Jason Todd, yeah, we’re with the program. So take a seat and tell us what’s going on with you.”
Jason eyed the trio warily as he moved to the proffered chair and sat. “Okay. Well… this is kind of hard to say, but…” he paused, unsure how to put it now that he was actually here.
“Say it with a donut,” Wonder Girl advised, tossing one to Jason, “Makes it go down better.”
Jason caught it. “Thanks. Okay… so here’s the thing… I think I’m supposed to be dead.”
“No kidding? So am I,” the ghost guy said, his voice dripping with condescension.
“Quiet, Secret,” the arrow girl snapped, “Let him talk.”
Wonder Girl added, “Me, I’ll be more than happy to let him do anything he wants, any time he wants.” She suddenly jumped over the desk, landing in front of Jason. She held out the bottle of wine to Jason.
He accepted it uncertainly. “Uh, thanks.”
Wonder Girl flashed him a smile. “So why do you think you’re supposed to be dead?”
Jason closed his eyes. “My parents run the big ring circus, see. And everything was fine until we did a gig in Gotham City… And after that, everything was different . I think something happened back in Gotham.”
“Like what?” Wonder Girl asked.
“Like they got paid off is what,” Jason answered. “Using the circus for some sort of shady operation… Money laundering, drug sales, I dunno. I was poking around in their office and found accounting books hidden away. I think they’re working for some guy named Killer Croc.”
“Why do you say that?” Wonder Girl’s eyes were eager.
“I found this, too,” Jason said, pulling out a photograph. In it, Jason’s parents were standing, smiling, next to Killer Croc, a huge man with crocodilian skin and razor-sharp teeth. The photograph was even signed: “ TO THE TODDS— YOU’RE THE BEST EMPLOYEES EVER! -KC”
Arrow girl and Wonder Girl gave the photo a critical once-over. “Looks pretty conclusive to me,” the Arrow girl finally said.
Wonder Girl added, “Yeah, I don’t think there’s much chance of “KC” referring to the lead singer of the Sunshine Band.”
“Anyway,” Jason continued, “My parents caught me in their office. They chewed me out good. Two days later… my trapeze broke. Thank God for Annette…”
“So the net caught you…” The arrow girl looked deep in thought.
“No, the net snapped, too. But I landed on An nette, the fat lady,” Jason corrected, “She broke my fall. After that, I ran away.”
“Running away from the circus,” arrow girl mused, “That’s unusu—”
Wonder Girl interrupted angrily, glaring daggers at Jason. “I suppose you thought it was funny. The fat girl as a cushion.”
“Well… Well, no, actually, it—”
“You haven’t had any wine. Don’t you like it?” Wonder Girl was getting even angrier.
Jason stammered. “It’s… I’m sorry, I—”
Wonder Girl raised the bottle. Jason pushed himself away right as she smashed the wine bottle against his chair, glass and wine flying everywhere as the chair splintered apart. Jason let out a strangled yell.
Wonder Girl brandished the broken bottle at Jason, who was on his back on the floor. “To insult Dionysus is to insult me!” she yelled.
Arrow Girl cut in, exasperated. “Oh, for God’s sake, not this again. Secret!!!”
Secret reached his hands out, and larger hands made of smoke shot forward and grabbed Wonder Girl, pulling her towards him. “You’ve got to knock this behavior off , Cassie. You're costing us clients.”
“But he—!” Wonder Girl sputtered, outraged.
“Go eat something. You’ll feel better.” Secret’s tone left no room for argument. His eyes flashed to something to Jason’s right. “What the—?” Secret said, caught off guard, “Who are you?”
Jason followed Secret’s gaze but saw nobody there. The members of Young Justice were distracted, though, so Jason took his chance and bolted out the door. He tore down the stairs as fast as he could. As soon as he was outside, he started sprinting. He didn’t have any sort of destination in mind—he just needed to get away .
Suddenly, Secret materialized in front of him “Slow down. You’ll live longer.”
Jason screamed and dashed to the side, running into an alleyway. “Just… just stay away from me!” he shouted desperately, “You’re all crazy!”
Secret’s voice came from behind Jason. “”All of humanity’s crazy, Jason. We’re humanity’s children. Insanity runs in the family. What else are we supposed to do?”
Momentarily distracted, Jason tripped and fell against a bunch of trash cans. Secret chuckled. “For a gymnast, you’re rather clumsy.”
Terrified, Jason pulled out his crucifix, hand shaking. “Stay back!!!” he yelled.
Secret scowled. “Jeez, lighten up, Van Helsing! That’s only against vampires.”
“I’ve had enough of this! I’m going to the police!” Jason threatened.
Secret appeared unfazed. “Fine. Fine, you do that. You spin your tale to them, and then they’ll go to your dad who’s going to say you made the whole thing up to get attention, and you know they’ll believe him over you, because that’s what adults do . Stick together.” Secret crossed his arms as he continued, “That’s why we put Young Justice together. To give teens someone who’ll believe them for a change.”
Jason hesitated as he brushed the garbage off his clothes. “I… I don’t know…”
“I do know, believe me,” Secret said with conviction. “There’s a ton of evil in the world, and most of it’s directed at the ones who can’t fight back. Like you. But we can. So cut Wonder Girl some slack, c’mon back to the office, and we’ll take care of you.” He paused, then added, “Nice crucifix, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Jason huffed, “Made it myself, actually. Only one other like it in the world. Gave it to my girlfr—” A searing pain suddenly shot through Jason’s gut, making him double over as he shouted in pain.
Secret moved to keep Jason from falling, eyes wide and concerned. “Jason? Jason, what is it?” When Jason didn’t respond, Secret’s voice became panicked, though Jason felt like he could barely hear the dead boy. “Jason?! Are you ill? What’s happening!? Speak to me!”
A fresh scream tore itself from Jason’s throat as he suddenly felt an incredibly sharp pain in his back, like he had been stabbed.
Vaguely, he could make out Secret shouting, “Jason!!!” Secret discorporated into smoke and flew into Jason's open mouth and nose, yelling, “Hang on, Jason! I’m coming!”
Then Jason screamed even louder as his entire body burst into blue flames. He screamed aloud until his vocal cords burned, and then he continued to scream silently until his vision finally went dark.
And then Jason found himself staring at the ceiling of one of his safehouses in Gotham, drenched in sweat. His skin still tingled from where he felt it burning, and there was a pool of warmth in his lower back where he had felt that stabbing sensation.
For several minutes, all Jason could do was breathe. Then, he forced himself to get up and walk to the bathroom. He stood in the shower for what felt like hours. He couldn’t remember clearly if he had gotten undressed before getting in, nor did he care enough to check.
Once Jason finally felt like his brain was processing the world around him again, he shut off the water. He stepped out of the bathroom and changed out of the clothes that he had indeed forgotten to take off. Jason swapped them for a dry outfit, then psyched himself up enough to make and eat breakfast and coffee.
Again with the horrible nightmares. Again with the violent death.
Why was Jason’s brain doing this to him? He’d already experienced real death before, so why did he keep dreaming about dying in other ways? Each one felt so real , including the pain.
These nightmares had been tormenting Jason for days now. Every night, he woke up with the memory of a blade on his neck, of a hole in his chest, of fire in his veins.
Nothing Jason did helped, not even tranquilizers. So he just suffered through it and hoped the stress wouldn’t get him killed. Again.
With a bone-weary sigh, Jason grabbed his helmet and resigned himself to trying to manage his Red Hood shit on so little sleep, followed by another night of all-too-real nightmares.
Oh, how Jason couldn’t wait for another night of dying.