The Dark Knight: Knight of Gotham #2

In less than ten minutes I make back to the cave and as I jump out of the batmobile I see Alfred’s shadow from the medical bay and I immediately shoot my grapple gun towards the medical bay. I have to see this for myself. As I make it up to the med bay platform I see Alfred turn to see me approaching with an excited expression on his face, he’s excited to see Jason waking up as I am. But at the same time I can't help but feel suspicious as to why he's waking up all of a sudden.

 

“How is this happening Alfred? I thought you said he was going to comatose for possibly years? How can he be waking up now?”

 

“Who cares how Master Bruce. Let’s just be happy that it’s happening!”

 

“Has he said anything?”

 

“No he’s still out of it, but I’m about to give him the kick he needs to wake up.”

 

I notice Alfred with a syringe already in his right hand filled with a liquid I couldn’t identify off the top of my head. As he injects Jason with the syringe and pumps the liquid in to his body I remove my cowl. I have to see this with my own eyes.

 

As Alfred finishes the injection Jason squirms for a moment no doubt reacting to his injection as he squirms his left arm flings to the side and nearly hits Alfred. Before Jason can harm himself I pin his arms down until the squirming stops and the cave falls silent. What’s happened? He was waking up just a moment ago. What did you give him Alfred?

 

I begin to panic Jason’s fallen still far too quickly. Somethings happening. Is he going into cardiac arrest? Is he having a stroke? I can’t let this happen! I reach back and grab hold of my cowl and race to put it back on and scan Jason’s readings ignoring the heartbeat monitor already beside him in the heat of the moment. Before I manage to load up the cowls systems though his eyes begin to open…

 

Oh come on please. Let this be real.

 

I put my hands together desperately hoping he’s coming out this coma. Come on. Please. For me. He deserves this and so much more. I close my eyes for a brief moment to make a prayer for him waking up and as it comes to an end I notice his eyes open revealing his eyes for the first time in months. Oh thank you! Thank you so much!

 

Jason takes a minute or two to take in his surroundings clearly unsure of where he is before it clicks to him that he’s still in the cave. Once he regains his senses and bearings he turns to look at Alfred and I seemingly confused as to why he’s in the cave.

 

“How?”

 

“I don’t believe in luck, but what happened to you can only be described as well……luck.”

 

I walk over to the X-rays of Jason’s head and place them on the display so he can see them from his position on the bed as Alfred gives Jason a quick check over to make sure everything is alright.

 

“You severed your corpus callosum, pretty much the only part of your brain that, when damaged, doesn’t permanently damage a specific physical or mental function. That, in combination with the residual Lazarus solution in your body, allowed you to survive the bullet.”

 

Jason signals to Alfred his desire to get out of the bed and Alfred helps him to his feet. He has a brief stumble and I quickly race over to help support him.

 

“Easy…..easy…..”

 

“You still saved me? After everything I did….you still saved me?”

 

After a couple of moments Jason manages to support himself thus Alfred and I release our grip on him.

 

“As I told you Jason. You are one of my sons. You may not be a blood relative but you’re still one of my sons. One of my Robins.”

 

The remark appears to take Jason by surprise much to my own shock. Surely he knows this? I’d have given anything to save him from the clown that night. Rather than answer the question he turns away from me and walks down to the depot clearly confused by how I can still say those words after what he’s done.

 

He stops just in front of the Batmobile clearly remembering when he destroyed it two months ago with his grenade.

 

“I don’t deserve to live Bruce.”

 

“You do. You deserve this and so much more.”

 

Jason shrugs off my remark and walks back up stairs to where the display case for his old costume was. Since he destroyed the display I’ve had all the cases replaced and reinforced against gunfire. The suit of mine that Jason had damaged during our fight is in one of the displays next to his old costume that I painstakingly repaired. There’s a reason I scare the criminals and Alfred does the repairs, it being that we’re both good at those tasks but no the others. Took me two solid weeks to repair that suit.

 

Jason stops in front of his old suit admiring it once more.

 

“I don’t know why I’m still, but…”

 

“I do.”

 

I can’t stand to see Jason beating himself up like this. He needs to focus his mind on something other than what he did that night so I reach to the desk beside the display cases and reveal Jason’s Red Hood mask to him. For a moment he appears shocked at the sight of it, no doubt from the memory of all the horrors he committed under the alias of the Red Hood. One of the many alter egos the clown used during his first few months in Gotham. I suspect it was following this encounter with his alias of the Red Hood that the clown stained his face permanently white.

 

“What’s that doing here?”

 

"Alfred and I remade it. We took some of the shards and combined them with some Kevlar and other useful protective compounds. With these modifications you’ll be able to breath and see easier than before.”

 

I hand the mask to Jason and he takes hold of it examining the changes to his original helmet.

 

"What do you want me to do?”

 

It’s clear Jason knows that I have something in mind for him. They always seem to know when I have something planned for them. Must be something that they all learn during their tenure as Robin.

 

“First you need to figure out why you’re still alive. I need you to reconnect with some old friends of yours as well.”

 

As I say those last few words I notice Jason’s face light up with joy.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Tim found a member of your old gang at the Asylum and he got some names. Together we tracked down your old friends. Blake, Landon, Lucas and Scarlet."

 

That last name seems to please him immensely. I guess Jason had more than just a friendly interest in the one known as Scarlet.

 

“They’re all alive? My gang? Your new Robin?”

 

I nod at him with a smile on my face and his face mimics by lighting up with joy at the news that his gang are all perfectly safe and relief that Tim is unharmed.

 

“They’re all alive and well. Your gang have moved on though. It’s been two months since you disappeared, but I believe with the right tools you can round them all up.”

 

“Why do you want me to find them?”

 

“Because I believe you can do to them, what I tried and failed to do for you. And I believe once you’ve brought them onto the right path you will all be able to do great things together. They’re a bunch of outlaws at the moment, but I think with your guidance they can be much more. “

 

Jason’s pleased by this news and as he inspects his helmet I remember an inscription on the inside of his helmet. I couldn’t piece together the importance behind it but I’m keen to know.

 

“Thank you Bruce. You really didn’t need to do this.”

 

“I think I did. You deserve this and so much more.”

 

I turn to walk away and leave Jason to his thoughts but he stops me.

 

“What’s on your mind?”

 

“On the inside of your mask, you had a word carved. Rojo. It's Spanish for red. I can’t help but wonder why?”

 

“It reminds me of where I came from. It reminds me of my father.”

 

Jason lets out a single tear at the mention of his father. I know how sensitive he is about talking about his father given how close they were, it reminds me of how close I was to my father all those years aog. I attempt to comfort him but he steps back.

 

“And now it will remind me of what I’m fighting for.”

 

“And what's that?”

 

“To honor him, and everyone else that’s passed. I think it’s officially time for change Bruce.”

 

“How so?”

 

“The mantle of Red Hood has always been associated with that of a monster. Whether it’s been the clown or I. But now I think it’s time it became something else.”

 

“Such as?”

 

“Instead of becoming a monster, I think it’s time the Red Hood became a force for good. A hero of sorts like you and Clark.”

 

“I’m no hero Jason.”

 

“You are Bruce. Whether you want to admit it or not.”

 

I feel a bit unnerved by that remark. After all that I’ve done and how horribly I failed him that night. He still thinks I’m a hero just as he did that first night I met him.

 

“I’m not a hero Jason. That’s what good people like you are.”

 

“After all I’ve done Bruce I’m anything but a good person let alone a hero.”

 

“But that’s what you can be with the right attitude. What better way to get your revenge on the clown than to destroy all the fear and intimidation he built up for himself under the alias of the Red Hood?”

 

 

“Perhaps. But I can’t just do this out of vengeance Bruce. I want to do this to make up for the horrors I committed. Not to piss off the clown.”

 

 

Now that sounds like the Jason I know…

 

Done