Happy or Sad? | Jason Todd

09. CONFESSIONS

Jason. 🃏

Seeing Bruce standing in her door way pissed me off so much. Just as me and her were about to make up, he shows up.

I saw the same look of anger on his face, which only made me angrier. If anyone had the right to be angry, it was me. After everything he did to me, he should at least let me have this.

"Zoë," he told her but his eyes were still on me, "Can I talk to you outside?"

"No." I spoke up before Zoë could say anything. I wasn't going to let him do that and try to win her over, just to spite me. He didn't even love her, why couldn't he just leave her alone?

"I was talking to Zoë." He turned away from me and tried to hold her hand, which she refused by pulling away. "Can we just talk outside?"

"Bruce, you've came a billion times this week and the answer is always the same. No."

He came by when I was gone? Fuck, I knew I shouldn't have been gone for so long.

I could see him trying to stay calm, "So has the answer always been no because you've been with Jason this whole time?" He was staring her down, trying to intimidate her. But it didn't work.

"The answers always been no because you're an asshole who cheated on me."

I wanted to go over to her to keep her safe, but I didn't want to make her nervous. I know Bruce would never hit a woman, but I didn't want to take any chances.

"Do you even know who Jason is? The real him?" What the fuck? If he's trying to make me tell her about Joker, I won't.

"Of course I do." She seemed less certain this time and looked over at me. "I do, right?"

I nodded, I didn't want to worry her even more and make her leave me.

"Exactly." She said to Bruce. "Now leave." He did so, probably just to not make her angrier.

When he was gone, I could feel almost all the tension leave the atmosphere. But it was still a little tense between us, especially after Bruce's last comment about me.

Zoë was still standing by the doorway when she looked over at me and asked, "What did he mean by the real you?"

"I-"

Before I could even finish, she interrupted me with another question. "And how do you two even know each other?"

"Zoë, just let me explain." She didn't seem convinced, "Please?" Letting out a small sigh, she came and sat next to me.

"Are you keeping things from me?" I couldn't tell if she was upset or mad, but it was probably both considering the situation.

"No, I just," my words kept getting jumbled up. I didn't want to have to retell what happened but I didn't want to keep it from her and hear it from Bruce. "Zoë, just let me explain."

She nodded and sat with her legs crossed, "Go on."

"Before I became Red Hood, I was Robin and I worked with Batman." Her eyes widened a bit as she took that information in.

"You knew Batman?" She asked excitedly. "I'm kind of jealous." She jokingly pouted and I almost burst out laughing. If only she knew.

"Then one night," I continued. I took in a deep breath to prepare myself. Her eyes were focused on me since she was intently listening. "I did something stupid. See, I always ended up doing things before thinking and nothing bad happened. But this night was different."

I didn't want to look at her when I told her, I didn't want to see her reaction. I put my head down and stared at my hands.

"The Joker kidnapped me and he hurt me really bad." My body shivered a bit as I remembered how all the hits from that damned crow bar felt. "He kept hitting me with that stupid crowbar and he wouldn't fucking stop. I was tied up and I couldn't do anything."

"Jason." I heard Zoë whisper. "I'm so sorry."

"The whole time I was just waiting for Batman to come help, but he never did. He left me there; Helpless and on the brink of death."

"He never came?"

I shook my head, "Never." I laughed even though that betrayal still hurt. "I died that night."

"But-"

"I was revived in the Lazarus pit and now, I'm Red Hood." Finally, I looked up to see her reaction. There was a mixture of sadness and confusion on her face, the anger was gone.

"Jason." She reached over and took me in her arms. "I'm glad you told me. None of that made me love you any less."

I gripped onto her tightly, trying to hold back tears. God, I hated retelling that story, especially now after having those nightmares.