Purpose

Zombies

The man behind the first pulls out a gun, defiance on his face, but the first stops him. "No don't!" he says urgently, tone hushed, scolding. "Are you an idiot? He isn't one of those punk heroes. The Red Hood will kill you." The second man lowers his gun tentatively, giving the first a look.

"So you know who I am?" Todd asks. "Then you know what will happen if you shoot that boy." Damian wonders if it's really Jason Todd. His voice is dark, like it always is, but there's something especially menacing about it in this moment. The Red Hood mutters in afterthought, "I've got half a mind to kill you just for thinking about it."

Damian didn't know Todd was so protective of little kids, and he didn't know Todd could sound so angry. The men must be mistaken. This Red Hood must be an imposter, he decides. It can't really be Todd. It doesn't make sense for him to be here.

Damian's attention is pulled back to the man with the gun, as his feet shift on the ground. He steps back nervously, afraid of the threat at the other end of the alley. He bends his shaking knees, gun lowering to the ground, hands raising. "We'll leave," the man says, his voice shaking. He's not the dominant one in this situation anymore. "We'll leave and never bother anyone again."

"Oh will you?" Jason's voice is low, but his tone is mocking. He highly doubts the man's statement to be true. The guy pulled a gun on a boy barely able to stand on his own. When you've stooped that low there's no redemption. Jason barely looks at the boy. He heard the men saying he looked like Wayne, but no way is the kid really out here. At least, not dressed like a bum.

"Yes!" the second says, a little too loudly. It makes the boy jump. Jason wonders why anyone would even bother having a child if they live in the slums. There's no point. This boy won't die tonight, but any other night he's caught like this could be a whole other story. His parents are probably strung out, and don't even know his name.

"Prove it," Jason says. He'd love to watch them high tail it out of here.

The men suddenly take off running, sprinting down the alley. Their limbs flail and their breath wheezes, but only for a moment. Jason puts a bullet in each of their backs, watching the shot blast them forward. They drop onto the concrete like stones. The Red Hood eyes the boy, now swaying on his feet. He stumbles sideways until the wall catches him. He's small, much shorter than Jason, his frame papery thin. He can't be much older than eight or nine.

"I've never heard a kid with such a hankering for death," Jason remarks.

Damian doesn't answer. It doesn't make any sense. This can't be the real Todd. Everything around him is hazy and hot. So incredibly hot, and nothing makes sense. Why didn't the man just shoot me? It would have been over. It was almost over. He died anyways.

Jason watches the boy, shivering in the rain. His knees give out and he sinks to his butt. Jason starts forward to crouch next to the boy, unsure of what to do. He shouldn't be out here alone, and there's no way Jason is going to leave him that way. He could take him to a shelter, let someone else decide what to do. He's only wearing a hoodie and pants, no jacket to protect him from the wind or rain, no boots either, just sneakers that look like they've seen better days.

Jason's eyes flicker back up, and this time the boy is looking back at him. "Damian?" Jason grabs his shoulders and turns his face into the light. It is him, and he's not sporting his famous glare. There's another, unfamiliar one in place. "I thought those idiots were blind. I didn't think it was actually you." He pulls the boy up and steps back. Those guys didn't actually hurt him, right?

It takes a moment for Damian's limbs to solidify, but he leans against the wall for support and faces Todd. He doesn't know if he should prepare for a fight, or prepare to run. He doesn't know what Todd wants, why he's still here, why he hasn't yelled at Damian for intruding in his space. Todd doesn't want him getting in the way. He should have been paying more attention to where he was going anyways. He should have never ended up here.