ECHO (Jason Todd x reader)

Chapter 4 - Where Loyalties Lie

Jason Todd was sitting at a corner table in the café, sipping on a cup of hot cocoa and watching the world go by, the red hood pulled over his head. That morning, Dick had managed to get under his skin so thoroughly that he felt a pressing need to escape into the mundane rhythms of Gotham. Seeking solace, he had wandered into this random café, hoping to reconnect with a semblance of normalcy, to get away from vigilantism for at least one day.

However, his hopes were crushed the moment he heard "Arkhaven Research Facility."

His attention immediately shifted to the source of the disturbance, where he saw a young woman in her early to mid-20s engaged in conversation with the barista. She was animatedly discussing her new internship and expressing her discomfort about the unsettling nature of the doctor who had hired her.

Malachi Forman, he thought to himself. Definitely him.

He found himself gazing at her intently as she spoke, a fact that didn't escape the notice of the barista, who was watching him closely.

"What's up?"

"That guy is totally checking you out."

At the barista's comment, he quickly averted his gaze, cursing himself under his breath.

"Don't squint your fucking eyes like that! Can you be any more obvious?"

The barista's loud voice drew his attention back to the girl, and this time, she noticed. Their eyes met briefly before he quickly looked away. Jason felt a flush of embarrassment as if he were a schoolboy caught sneaking glances at a classmate, which was far from being the case because this is his job: to get any info he can about anyone who might disturb the 'peace' in Gotham.

"So, Jaybird. Made any new friends today?" Dick asked with a teasing grin as he entered the Batcave.

"No, dick. I didn't," Jason snapped back, his attention focused on scouring the girl's information from the café. He had caught her name a couple of times during her chat with the barista.

"Who's that? Potential girlfriend?" Dick inquired as he watched Jason pulling up the young woman's medical records on the Batcomputer. "It's kinda creepy to look into her medical records. Or maybe you want to check if she's healthy before—"

"Shut up," Jason interrupted, pointing a finger at Dick.

Dick raised his hands in mock surrender and retreated, walking backward. Jason hadn't intended to come here, but it was the quickest way to obtain the information he needed. Or maybe he just missed his adoptive family deep, deep, deep down.

His eyes scanned the file. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, except for the fact that her current occupation was listed as 'unemployed.'

He quirked an eyebrow at the discovery. He clearly heard her talk about her internship at the sketchy research facility.

This was the very reason he started following her.

Each day over the past week, he trailed her. From her apartment to the grocery store, to the research facility, to the café—wherever she went, he was there, watching. He narrowly dodged several close calls when she started sensing someone monitoring her, which only heightened his suspicions. Stealth was second nature to him—Batman had trained him, after all. So, the fact that she somehow noticed him raised red flags in his mind.

After coercing Penguin into handing over the club that had been used for trafficking women, Red Hood unexpectedly spotted her. She walked in alongside the barista. Admiring how objectively beautiful she was was the furthest thing from his mind as he kept a close eye on her. He had never been the type to be swayed by someone's appearance, and he certainly wasn't about to start at that moment.