The Nowhere Girl

9. Sad Boi ᵗᵐ

[Jason Todd]

Jason grew up on the streets. Before that, it wasn't all bad. Parents, a roof over his head. The four basic food groups. "Spirited" talks around the dinner table every night. His dad worked a lot. It fell to Jason to keep an eye on his mum.

Depression.

Drugs.

She'd check out days at a time.

Wills Todd wasn't the best dad, no. But he found time for Jason. Like Jason helping him up the steps and putting him to bed every night.

Like most fathers he tried to show Jason the ropes. His dad even him working his corner, where he and Jason's mum first met. In a crazy, sick kind of way...? Jason thinks he kind of made him proud. Without a lot of prospects – his dad took whatever work he could get. Even met a few 'celebrities'.

It wasn't all fun and games. Jason remembers the night he took a bullet to the back. Good thing his dad was spineless. A real hospital was out of the question.

If you can believe it... things got worse. On the bright side? Jason never saw him again. He died in prison.

After that Jason became the man of the house. Which mostly meant making sure none of his mother's dealers came around. He managed to protect his mum from everyone... except his mum. When he found her that night, she was already... gone.

Jason went to the streets. He did what he had to do to survive. He's not proud of most of it. And for what it's worth – he never hurt anyone. Physically. Can't say others were as nice to him.

Eventually, during this time, he walked right into the Batmobile and proceeded to steal its tires, but that's history.

All his life, Jason has been alone. It never bothered him. But alone and feeling lonely are two different things. After Gita was stabilised, he didn't want to leave her.  The glitching, her almost biting the bullet. It is weird that she always treated him as Jason and not Red Hood. Most people, when they know what he has done don't treat him the same or stick around.

But she asked Dick to stay, and Jason left, going back on patrol. He felt a twinge in his chest. Not because Dick had a girl curled up in his arms and Jason didn't (though that was definitely part of it), but because Dick isn't alone, and he is.

Three days later, she is still unconscious. After Jason's patrol hours are over, he heads back to the cave and changes into civies. She's no longer in the cave – they must've moved her to a room upstairs. Jason wouldn't have met Gita if he hadn't gone to steal food. But Bats and Golden Boy want him to stick around and help on patrol. There has been more and more Joker sighting since the breakout in Arkham last month. Joker. A shiver runs down his spine and he has to block the oncoming memories.

Jason sits at the bat-computer, swivelling in the chair while waiting for Dick and Bruce to get back, trying not to give into the temptation at his fingertips. But Jason has never been one to follow the rules, and he is not remotely worried. Sighing, he swings the chair to face the computer and types in Gita Kelly.

He finds most of the information Gita and Dick found the week before... and a little more. Public records have listed as deceased three months ago – also she's blonde. I'm from another dimension, I want you to hear it from me, not Bruce. Jason replays her voice in his head. After more digging, he finds a second file Bruce has made on redhead Gita. There's not much in it, apart from a false ID – Bluey Mathews – and additional notes. Seems this Gita knew to keep a low profile.

She looks weathered in her photo, and Jason knows a street kid when he sees one.

Bats and Golden Boy walk in shortly after he finds where Bruce had listed her as an unofficial member of the Suicide Squad. "Jason, I didn't expect to find you here."