Jason watched as Venus walked away, her hips swaying slightly as she pushed her way through the crowd. A smile lingered on his lips as he glanced at Barbara. "It's good to be back."
"I'm sure it is," She responded, tapping her fingers lightly on the table. "You know, usually when somebody dies, they stay dead. But of course, you just had to go above and beyond."
"Your girlfriend is lovely," Barbara added. She shimmied to the side, scooting closer to the window. He hates it. He hates how the man who permanently fucking paralyzed her is still alive, the man who killed him, the man who brought Gotham to her knees countless times. And she's fine with it. Bruce is fine with it. How could they sleep, knowing he's still alive?
"I know," Jason grinned, pulling himself together. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately--pulling himself together. And it gets harder every time. Each time he's submerged, drowning in his mind, his anger, it takes his whole fucking being to reel himself back in. He's always been a naturally violent boy, but dying seemed to make everything a whole lot worse.
"How were you doing in...wherever you were?" He asked, clearing his throat. He played with the loose threads on his sleeve absentmindedly, struggling to keep his mind silent.
Barbara shrugged good-naturally. "I went to Chicago, Central City, stayed in Metropolis for a while. I was in Bludhaven last week; I was never too far. Despite everything that happened, Gotham is still my home, you know?"
"I guess..." He trailed off, furrowing his brows at the thought. Jason never really thought about leaving. He used to think he had a future here, fighting crime alongside Batman. But even now, after everything, he still couldn't imagine leaving. He holds no particular love for Gotham, yet leaving is out of the question. Perhaps it's because he spent his whole life in the crime-ridden city, or maybe it's because of his lingering attachment to Bruce. For whatever reason, Jason simply cannot see himself ever leaving; the city has him in a chokehold.
"Anyways," She spoke suddenly, tone bright. "Tell me more about Venus."
Jason raised a brow and glanced behind him at Venus in the front of the room, her hands on her hips. "Well, I don't know. She wouldn't like me talking behind her back."
Barbara glared at him, and he decided it was best he start talking. "You can't ask her yourself? She's...great. You know, I kinda hated her at first for trying to kill Roy, but I got over it. Hell, if she tried again, I'd probably help her," Jason chuckled, reminiscing the good old days before everything went to shit.
"You guys are quite the...deadly duo, aren't you" She commented, pursing her lips.
He shrugged, smiling fondly. Jason was back in his good place, and hopefully wouldn't be murdering anyone anytime soon. "We do make a pretty good team. Once, we were scouting and chased down this guy who just robbed a jewelry store. He had a shit ton of jewelry. It was tricky, though, because he would shoot anyone who got in his way, and we sure as hell didn't want to get shot." Barbara nodded, her intense gaze never leaving his face.
"Anyways, I chased him with this huge like metal trashcan lid or something?" Jason spoke animatedly, his hands moving wildly. "I couldn't get close without getting shot, but I distracted him enough for Vea to jump in front of him and knock him out. And get this; we figured he deserved something a little extra special from killing all those people, so she used my graphing hook to hang him from one of those flagpoles on the side of those buildings."
"By the ankles, of course," Jason quickly added, seeing Barbara's lips thin. He liked to keep her on her toes. "He was dangling above traffic and I swear he pissed his pants. Funniest thing ever. They had to call the fire department to get him down." Chuckling to himself, Jason glanced behind him again in search of Venus. He purposely left out the bit when they were considering cutting him loose and letting him tumble to his death. It's not like they enjoyed that stuff; the dude shot at least eight random people while he was making his escape. He had it coming. But, Venus had brought up the point that traumatizing a poor family with a mauled body on their car wasn't worth the trouble, or the insurance.
