"Listen, I'm going to say this once, since everyone is here," Red Hood said. "I protect what is mine and Wren and Red Robin are mine. We come from an alternate dimension. Different time line, different universe, different lives, different rules. Little Red doesn't kill. Ever. That's what I'm for. Some criminals are too twisted, too fucked up and locking them up and throwing away the key doesn't work. Some of them just need to be killed. I don't like it but sometimes it has to be done. Hell, your death penalty here is just arcane."
He eyed them, not letting the looks of disgust or confusion get to him. Wren had dug her head into Robin's shoulder and was humming at him, the noise going in and out as she struggled to hold onto consciousness. Robin had given him a frightened look at first when she passed out and he had to juggle to wake her. His gun had kept trace on the boy wonder's skull, on the same spot, both of them moving at the same time. Yeah, Batman and Robin were getting Red Hoods measure. It was time to get back on track.
"In a second, I'm going to hand my guns and weapons to Black Sparrow and Green Arrow. I'll want them back before we leave this dimension. Robin, you're going to take Wren and me to see my brother. Since I don't see Doctor Impossible, I assume he's in the infirmity. He'll take a look at Wren under my supervision. She is not to leave my sight. Understood?"
At their affirmative, Red Hood pulled the gun away from Robin's head. He was just turning to the Star City duo when there was a flash of light inside his head. He didn't have time to curse at Martian Manhunter as he felt the mental invasion that caused him to black out. Hours later, he'd wake up in a cell, smirking. Have it their way. He'd play dirty too.
He was doing push-ups about an hour later when Kahldar, or Aqualad, came into his cell room at the head of his group. Robin was eying him with a cold, clinical look that came more from Alfred then Bruce. He couldn't help but give a snort at the entourage. Never pausing in his workout. He was antsy because he'd usually be on patrol, his body didn't like this change of routine. Idly, he thought to switch to one armed push-ups but discarded the thought. There was nothing to impress. It was only pride that would make him do one armed push-ups and he knew he was a bad-ass. But it wasn't pride that was going to fuck with them.
"So how long has my niece been missing?" he asked. His mind supplied her name, Wren, but it never crossed his lips. It was surprising to note how true what he said before, about the two belonging to him were. Which is why he reminded them (and possibly himself) of their connection every chance he got.
Kahldar raised a hand to stop Kid Flash's sputtering. "Almost an hour. Her skull was fractured. It is important that we locate her shortly in case she has fallen asleep or passed out."
Jason didn't pause in his workout. "1. You will let me see my brother. 2. You will allow me to patrol my city. I will be back at dawn. 3. In three days, I will take my niece back to my city. I have to leave my brother in your care but she will be stable enough then. 4. You'll let me cook. Hell, let me teach you how to cook. And order decent take-away," he hopped up to face them.
"No. I can allow the first and the last. Once your niece..."
"Wren"
"... is found, we will have to escort you back to your cell. However, we can put you in a larger one and roll in one of the extra TV's. Wren can join you if you both so wish."
Jason was smiling when he said. "I'll stay in the mountain but I'll do so in the gym. Us Bats get cranky at this time of night indoors." Then he walked through the force field. It flickered, strobed as he passed through. He let that sink in, that he could get out anytime he wanted, as he led them to the infirmity where Red Robin lay.
The Replacement looked like shit. Pale and unmoving under warming blankets. Like all infirmities & hospitals everywhere, the room was freezing. It took him a moment to find an arm, hold the thin, scarred hand in his own. It was bare. It took only a quick assessment to realize most of the rest of the costume was gone. Probably cut away. The mask was still on and when Jason ran his fingers over them, wondering why they left that and only that, he was shocked to realize it was partially melted on.
"Fuck!" about summed it all. The suit had protected the young man from the worst of the blast but heat was still heat and the skin was raw and cooked looking where gauze or ointment didn't cover completely. He could smell the pure oxygen they were pumping into him, a specialized face mask coving nose and mouth. Lungs had probably been crisped as well.
Between Robin and the medical charts & notes, Jason could get a fuller picture. It wasn't good. He was cussing and throwing his weight around, leaning over the bed and yelling at his brother when he felt a small, cool hand around his ankle. It squeezed reassuringly. It calmed him down immediately.
Jason was about to yell at the group that of course the girl would be looking after her father when he noticed that no one in the group had noticed. Not even Robin. Instead he scoffed at them and turned back to the man on the bed.
More hand squeezes, a series that told him what he wanted to know. He responded by flexing his leg muscles under her hand. It didn't take long for them to talk. He had to say this for The Replacement, he trained his little bird well. It wasn't apparent yet if this was a future version from his world or another Red Robin from another dimension but they were both his now. And he took care of what was his.
Red Hood cursed and yelled at the comatose Red Robin for a while, long after Wren drew her hand away. It was time to have fun with the Junior Idiots. As he left he infirmity, he cast one last look at the low bio-bed. Wren flashed him a wicked smile before she drew her hood up and curled back in the darkness. For the next hour and half, Red Hood led them on a merry chase, in and around the mountain. It wasn't as fun as roof top tag but it'd have to do. He lost them easily once he was outside the mountain, in the trees, flying among them. They were out there for another hour before they trundled back in to find him in the kitchen cooking. He'd have to kick their asses for that later. Not the not finding him part but the state they left their kitchen in. Alfred would be applaud if he knew. Half the dishes were ruined and the other half were still dirty, event the stuff put away in the cupboards.
"Come get me in an hour if you haven't found my niece by then. She's good, by the way. Awake, conscious, and I changed some of her bandages earlier." He hadn't but he knew that she had. He wanted them to retrace his steps trying to find her. Robin might figure him out and look elsewhere but it'd keep the other kiddies on their toes. "If you haven't, I'll kick your asses. Some might call it sparing but since you can't even find a hurt little girl, you're more fan-boys then true sidekicks." Jason retired to his cell to read the books he picked out of the library.
An hour later, they hadn't found her. Instead, Jason found Wren unconscious under the bio-bed. She was a very heavy, limp doll of a girl as he pulled her out. It took a while to wake her up.
