Wearing the Red Hood

Chapter 9:

This chapter is dedicated to @MadisonBeard Thank you for all the comments on the first book <3 Especially for Chapter 28! You're absolutely lovely ;)

Alfred

Jason woke up quite early the next day. My eyes landed on him as I brought in breakfast for the family. It was a bit surprising to find him up, since it was just about the crack of dawn. He even beat Damian today. "Is something wrong, Master Jason?" I asked worriedly. Jason never got up early.

For a fleeting moment, something flashed behind his green eyes, but it was gone before I could put my finger on it. "I'm fine Alfred. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you never wake up early, sir," I replied as I placed the eggs and bacon I'd been carrying in a tray onto the table.

"You're right," Jason agreed with a smile, seeming to remember the time he was younger and didn't want to get up for school. "But I'm expecting someone today."

He didn't seem all too happy about the thought as his smile vanished, but before I could ask, Damian also walked into the room. I fought another smile that threatened to come out, knowing they'd be at each other's throats before I got out. Damian had already spotted Jason, and a frown made its way onto his face. Still, it unnerved me how much he looked like his father, when Bruce was around the same age.

"Todd," Damian greeted as I headed for the doors to get the bread and butter from the kitchen. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here you dimwit," was the reply I heard before the doors shut behind me. Ah yes. They were at it already, and it wasn't even five. Humming to myself, I tried to decide which of the two was more like Bruce attitude- wise. They were all so similar it was a wonder they often clashed.

Both of them had so much rage, but I suppose neither hid it as well as Master Bruce had done when he was younger. Bruce had been raised to be a perfect gentleman, and that was how he had acted in front of the world for a time. Even in front of Jim Gordon. But I knew all too well that even then, Bruce was no ordinary boy. Just like the kids he had adopted.

Master Dick was the first one to come into our lives at the tender age of fourteen, and Master Bruce had been so young as well, being only a decade older than the graceful acrobat. It surprised me when he adopted the boy. For some reason, he felt at fault for not being able to save Master Dick's parents. But it wasn't long before the young boy was making the young man smile, a sight I rarely ever saw. It wasn't hard to love Master Dick. He was mostly obedient, and he worked hard. He had so much potential, and he knew it. I suppose what motivated him was ambition- wanting to step out of Master Bruce's shadow, to forge a path different from his mentor. To be better. And I supposed he had succeeded somewhat, since he was now marrying Miss Woods.

Then there was Master Tim. Even as a child, he was quiet and reserved. Always thinking, always calculating. Out of all the four boys I had the liberty of looking after with Bruce, it was easy to see that Master Tim's mind worked just as fast as Bruce, connecting the dots that most people couldn't even see. It made him the best detective out of all his brothers. And he knew it. He was different from both of his predecessors in many ways. While Master Dick loved to joke and tease, Master Tim was shy and serious. And while Master Jason was angry, Master Tim was a sea of calmness... most of the time.

Unless, of course, Damian was thrown into the equation. Master Damian seemed to be good at worming his way through all their defenses and making them lose their temper. Master Tim was no exception. Even Master Dick, at the mature age of twenty-two, had difficulty controlling his temper around the young boy when they first met. Master Damian was not only like his father physically. Damian was also smart, skilled... and angry. But unlike Master Bruce, it wasn't the anger or the need for vengeance that drove him. It was simply his desire to follow in his father's footsteps, quite the opposite of Master Dick. What set him apart from his brothers was his pride. He had a way of looking down on everyone with those green eyes he'd inherited from his mother.