3Jason woke up a little groggy. His mouth was dry and he wasn't too certain where he was. There was a doctor in the room, an older woman who was looking at him with recognition.
"So, you're finally awake," said the doctor in a clipped tone.
"Why am I in the hospital?" Jason asked as he looked at the doctor uncertainly. He didn't recognize her. But all he remembered about himself was his own name.
"This is my clinic," she told him and tilted her head. "You do know who I am, correct?"
Jason rubbed his eyes slowly and using his elbows, sat up. He looked at her coat and saw her name and then he looked at the clipboard hoping he could sneak a peek. The doctor cleared her throat and moved in a little closer, she set down the clipboard and Jason noticed that she'd marked him down as John Doe. He smiled widely at her.
"Of course, Leslie," he said hoping it wouldn't piss her off that he used her first name.
"What's the last thing you remember?" she asked him.
Jason closed his eyes and thought hard. He took in a deep breath and a rush of memories hit him. He started to breathe a little faster and the doctor began to tell him something but he couldn't make sense of her words.
He remembered everything. Waking up in the coffin. The Lazarus Pit. Talia. His training. His mission. The Black Mask. All the controlled chaos he brought to Gotham to fix it. Taking over the drug trade. The beheadings. The theft. The explosions. Killing the scum that didn't deserve to live. The fucking Joker. Batman. The choice he gave him. The explosion.
"Look at me, Jason," she told him and he snapped his eyes towards her. "Breathe with me. Deep breath in and hold."
Jason mimicked her and then she released her breath he did as well. Before he knew it, he was calmer and breathing better.
"Okay, do you think you can tell me anything about why you're here?" Leslie told him gently as she sat at the edge of his bed. "You don't have to be specific."
How had he gotten to the clinic? And why did his memories feel like they belonged to someone else? Had he really done everything he remembered? Was he really so fucked in the head that he believed what he was doing was making a difference? But it was, wasn't it? Crime was down. Drugs were no longer being sold to children. And there were fewer criminals, drugs, and weapons on the street. But the fucking Joker was still alive. He needed to get out of Gotham. He didn't want to confront Batman again. He was done with him and his warped sense of morality. He'd done what he could and now it was time for Gotham to do what it did best, cower under the Batman. Because it hadn't before. Not with the Black Mask in charge of everything. He wasn't afraid of Batman. But the Red Hood forced him into a corner and now Roman Sionis was off the Gotham map. It was only a matter of time before he returned. And Jason as the Red Hood would be ready when he did. But for the time being, he had to lay low.
"There was an explosion," Jason told her and then he rubbed his temples. "Did he...is he okay, Leslie? Did he survive?"
"Yes," she said, knowing full well that Jason was referring to Bruce. "He was looking for you but gave up when he realized you got away."
"You didn't tell him—"
"No," she said sternly.
"Thank you," he said and began moving to the other side of the bed so that he could get up.
"I do not recommend you leave just yet," she told him but Jason didn't want to stay longer.
"He'll find me," Jason said and moved a little faster. "I have to go. Where are my things?"
"You came here in this," Leslie held up a plastic bag that she had pulled from under the bed. It only contained jeans, a pair of boxers, some no brand sneakers, and a red hoodie. "Someone brought you. I don't know who. But it was obvious they were tending to you until they thought they could bring you here without raising suspicion."
"How long have I been here?"
"You've been here for a few days," Leslie told him and he took a relieved breath. "But it's been a month since the explosion."
Jason closed his eyes. Just his luck. Where had he been before? Leslie had said someone was tending to him, but who? But Jason had a nagging suspicion that it had to have been Talia who was keeping him in hiding. Fuck. He thought he'd already cut ties with her. He needed to go but he felt weak. He let himself fall back on the bed.
"I think I need to rest here for a little bit," Jason told her already feeling out of breath.
"Give me two days to get your strength up and then you can go," she told him. "No one knows you're here. And Batman is out of town at the moment."
"Okay," he said and he felt his stomach growl. And Leslie had heard it. He wrapped a hand around his middle.
"I'll bring you some food. But eat slow," Leslie told him and he nodded.
He closed his eyes and suddenly the memories from before his death were there too. He'd been Robin. He had been homeless. He'd cared for Catherine until she died. His dad was just gone one day. Bruce had turned his life around until the Joker… Fuck! Jason didn't want to remember. And he was feeling really confused. Why had he been so angry? Why had he wanted to kill Bruce? That didn't make any sense. The crime-fighting and killing of thugs did make sense but Batman, where did he fit in? And Jason had kidnapped the Joker? What the fuck had he done? He thought he was doing the right thing, didn't he? But, if he'd just killed that sick fuck instead of trying to make a point. And Batman, why the fuck did he have to be such a righteous prick all the time? He couldn't even throw his son a fucking bone to at least bring him back to sanity by letting him kill the Joker? Had all that training prior to returning to Gotham and all those killings of thugs warp his mind? Or had it been Talia all along? Maybe it hadn't been Talia who found him after the explosion, but then who had? And why was he thinking clearer now? Because he was certain that he hadn't been before. Or otherwise, his memories wouldn't feel so disjointed as if it was someone else who'd been the Red Hood. Had he been having an out of body experience the entire time? What the fuck? He had been out of his fucking mind. Completely certifiable. Mother fucker!
"Here, eat up and then get some more rest. I'll wake you for your next meal and then have you take a short walk to loosen your muscles," Leslie told him.
Jason swallowed hard and then sat up. "Okay."
"Are you sure you're okay? You're not usually this agreeable," Leslie said as Jason began to eat. "You never were. Not even before…"
The rest of the statement just sat between them as a dark secret no one should utter. Before he had died. He hadn't said it but he thought it. And she was right. He was just a little out of it. And fuck, he needed to get his strength back and get the fuck out of Dodge.
"You said two days. I'm giving you two days. And I will do everything you say in order to make that happen," he told her solemnly.
"Then I'll leave you to your meal," she said but before she walked away Jason asked her the paper from the day he'd arrived at the clinic. Leslie nodded and told him she'd get him whatever he needed. She seemed like she was in a hurry. Probably had to tend other patients that were outside the little room he was in.
Jason shook his head. It didn't matter what she had to do. She had two days and then he'd bolt.
Just as Leslie had told him, he was up and about in two days time. The day he had been taken to the clinic there had been an interesting development. A man by the name of Phil Hagen who had been laundering money for Mario Falcone was killed on route to the courthouse where he was supposed to testify. His place of business, a pizza shop he ran with the help of his foster son, and his apartment were burned down. The foster son was nowhere to be found for comment. Jason had a very good idea where he might find the kid. He'd been watching all the heavy hitters not just Black Mask before he went to war against them. And he knew where Mario's underlings took their hostages. He figured out that the man who turned against Mario didn't care about his foster son who had just turned eighteen a few weeks back. The boy on his own for the first time turned up missing. And Mario's thugs thought they could use him as leverage. Whether or not it panned out, it didn't matter. The foster dad was dead and Jason was willing to bet that the kid was too. He just needed to be certain before he assumed his identity.
Keeping a low profile, Jason went around Gotham in early morning hours when he knew Batman was heading back to the manor to sleep. He kept the red hoodie and decided not to try to hit any of his safe houses just in case. He snuck into an old bakery that had once been used as a speakeasy and found the cell where the kid had most likely been kept. And just as he thought, the boy was dead. Jason felt queasy when he saw the body. This boy was only one year older than him. And since he had been in the foster system, no one had cared about him to even report him as a missing person. He had no money and from the day he turned eighteen, no home. But his name, Jason was not going to use it. All he needed was his social security number and the paper file that was his life so that Jason could go about and create a new identity for himself.
But before he left the building he found out through one of Mario's men who had killed the kid. A low-level punk by the name of Mark Spiers. Who happened to die in an unfortunate accident that morning. No one else seemed to know much about the kid or even cared to remember his name, but Jason gave the kid, John Davis, the justice he deserved.
After that Jason went to the boy's home where John had grown up and the public school he attended. He found the pictures of the boy. A blond kid with green eyes with nondescript features. He was so plain looking that Jason was certain he could easily pass as a grownup him. John opted out of going to public High School and was homeschooled once he was taken in by his foster parent. So there were no public pictures of him past the age of twelve. And even if there had been any in his foster parent's house, they were burned to crips. And if his caseworker would've kept up with visits, he'd know what John looked like now but once he was placed in foster care the system all but forgot about him.
Jason had gotten lucky. All he needed to do now was swap his public DNA, fingerprint, and dental records with those of John Davis. He easily found them online and swapped out the names. Then he found the hard copies at Leslie's clinic because she just so happened to be the doctor for them both and successfully swapped the name on those as well with Leslie's permission once she found out what had happened to John. Jason Peter Todd was already dead and John Davis would have a change of name to protect his identity from the mob. Not that they'd look for him. They had already killed him.
Changing John's name was easy. It was only a matter of going on a date with a very pretty and naive Legal Secretary then using her computer to draw up the change of name request. After which he placed the legal forms in front of a drunk judge who signed them and viola, name change on file at the courthouse once Jason used the paperwork to order a new social security card and Birth Certificate under his new name, Jayson Tod Peters.
That was an alias he'd used before but now it wasn't just a name and fake ID but an entire history, a real social security number, and orphans birth certificate. An orphan whose foster parent had been killed by the mob and had good reasons to change his name. The only people who would think to question his new identity couldn't do it legally without sounding like they were insane because Jason Peter Todd was legally dead. Not to mention if his fingerprints or DNA were looked into, they would match his new identity. John Davis had no ties, no family, no friends, and no one who could say that Jason now Jayson was not him. Batman had trained and given Jason the tools he needed to hide in plain sight.
Jason died his hair a dirty blond to match John's younger pictures. His blue eyes didn't need to be hidden since John's green eyes could easily be mistaken for blue in those early pictures. In time, Jason would go back to his dark hair. But for the time being, having a different hair color would work in his favor. He just had to sit back and wait for his new identification that would be sent to a new PO BOX he'd acquired with a fake ID he'd swiped from some kid who was buying alcohol at a convenience store before he went out to apply for a drivers license. He was lucky that John had finished High School. Now all he needed to do was think of a new career that he could take on that didn't need him to go to college. Not only that but he needed to find a way to break into one of his stash houses.
Jason needed money, preferably cash. Then again, he could always just skim some off a bookie or three. Not enough to be noticed but enough to get him enough pocket change so that he could get around until his new identity arrived. Jason pickpocketed some random man who obviously had more than he needed and checked into a hotel under the name Mike Jones. And then checked into another room under the name Samantha Hutchings and stayed in that one. The rooms were across from one another. And he knew that if Batman was still looking for him, he'd check Mike's room first. Just because he'd been out of town while he was at Leslie's clinic didn't mean he still was. To his surprise, however, no one came looking for him that first night and in the early morning hours, he set out to rob some bookies. He needed enough money that would get him through two weeks and then he'd high tail it out of Gotham.
A/N: This story is being posted on AO3 and my blog. Next update will be in about eight days.
