no rest for the wicked [jason todd]

six

THE GRITTY 

streets of Gotham were something that Tye remembered like a house. They weren't warm and inviting, but they were a shelter to let the night pass. They were a house, she reminded herself, but they weren't a home. 

The gritty feeling got so much worse outside that club after it had closed. Dick was helping her wipe off the makeup. "This part's important," he said, and Tye, she was a little shocked by that. The club was closed and she was just about to change, but he stopped her. "You're gonna go outside. There's a guy -- it's okay, we hired him, he's gonna try and be handsy with you, okay? He works for us, so he won't do anything bad, but the guy we're looking for," he paused, "big habit of saving girls from assholes." 

"A gentleman?" Tye questioned, a teasing lull to her voice that caused Dick to chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"I'll be there, okay? I will be. If stuff goes straight down the drain, I will be right there. Nothing's going to happen to you," Dick reassured her quickly, moving to the back door to push it open. "Gonna step out. Put on the shorts and the shirt right there, an' maybe the jacket -- don't tie it up though. Then you're gonna walk to your left."

"Got it," giving a two-fingered salute, Tye watched the door close behind. She pulled on the shirt and the pair of shorts -- both that didn't seem like they covered anymore skin that what she was wearing under it. Then, she snatched up the jacket and pulled it on, heading toward the door. When she pushed it open, she stepped out. Left, she remembered he said, and turned toward the side, beginning to head that way. 

She heard footsteps behind her and swallowed, turning around. There was a guy heading behind her, and she kept calm. She was good at that. Her heartbeat was a little up, but maybe from the added adrenaline. "Wait up, pretty lady!" The man slurred, and she paused slightly, turning around. "How much do you want?" He purred when he got up, putting a hand on her shoulder. "How much for you?"

She was pretty sure Dick said try to get handsy, but this was beginning to feel all too real. She pushed her hands up against his chest, eyes wide, and said, "Hey, hey now, get away!" 

She didn't know if he was meaning to overpower her, if this was part of the plan now, and he grabbed her hands. Pressing them against the wall above her head, his lips close to her ear, and he whispered, "Struggle, yell, we're trying to make this look real,"

"Get off of me!" She yelled, and he pressed her wrists further against the wall, causing her to yelp. "Help!"

"Watch out!" A voice said suddenly, and the man was knocked to the side. A shot rang out, and Tye, she was so scared someone was dead right in front of her again, so scared that Dick's operative had been killed. However, standing in front of her was the Red Hood, and he wasn't holding a normal gun. There was a needle-like syringe in the guys neck, and she immediately let her breathing resume to panicked.

Panicked because she heard Dick yelling her name and telling her to watch out, panicked that the man in front of her was starting to scan her face. "Appreciate it," he said, "I didn't kill him." 

"Wait!" She said, reaching out for his sleeve. "Please," she tried to make her voice stop shaking, "please don't leave me here." 

The man glanced from one side to the other. "That guy yelling, he's going for you?" He asked. "Guessing some unwanted attention?" Before she could say anything, he grabbed her waist and yanked her around a corner. After a moment, a figure darted past them. Dick.

Tye was really going to have to apologize a lot over this. 

"Sorry," she heard him say, and she felt a needle in her neck.

She tried to stay awake as she glanced at him, but she couldn't. She slumped against the wall, consciousness torn away from her.

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a/n: hey! trying to work on this. xx