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Jason Todd walked through the rain trying find a specific diner. He was going to meet someone that, according to his adopted bro Dick Grayson, had quite a few things in common. To be completely honest, Jason didn't know why he even decided to listen to Dick. Maybe the walk to the diner would clear his head. Everything's been so hazy.
A while back, before all this, Jason Todd had a life most boys probably dreamed about. Batman, yes the Batman, took him off the streets, gave him a home, and trained him to become the second Robin, Grayson being the first but then became Nightwing. But as Jason grew older his views on how to deal with criminals began to change. Most of these lowlives didn't deserve a second or third or fourth chance. Every time they got out of prison or Arkham or wherever in the world they came from they went back to hurting people, destroying families, and filling graveyards. One man, no, monster, Jason hated most of all. That was the Joker.
Joker did a lot of crazy, dangerous, and heinous crimes in his life, but there was one crime that Jason claimed to be the worst: taking him, Jason Todd, Robin the Boy Wonder away from Batman, Bruce Wayne, his adoptive father and mentor. Joker was the one who beat Jason to a bloody pulp with a crowbar then rigged a bomb to explode before Bats could even rescue him. Ra's al Ghul took Jason to heal up but left a fake body to be buried. So Jason would seem to have died. To never be heard from again. To be forgotten.
Jason ran away from Ra's and Ra's' daughter Talia as soon as he regained consciousness. He spent some time on the streets after that. He became stronger and worked harder to get rid of the crime and scum plaguing Gotham. He was no longer Robin the Boy Wonder. He was the Red Hood now. Of course Batman would figure out who he was (World's Greatest Detective, duh). Of course Bats and Nightwing would want him to come home, but there were things he needed to take care of first. Years passed since his so-called 'funeral'. Things changed. He changed. He needed time to find out the truth about himself and what really happened. And he knew they'd keep an eye out for him. They were his only family at the time.
When Jason finally went home to Wayne Manor he was greeted by Dick's open arms and Alfred's grandfatherly-butler-ness. What he didn't expect was after Bruce's welcome back. The Welcome from his two "younger brothers" Tim Drake, the third Robin and who is currently Red Robin, and Damian, the current Robin and Bruce's bloodson. Jason had a feeling he'd get along with Damian since both could be troublemakers, but he wasn't sure how he'd get along with Tim. Tim was basically the nerdy, sweet-but-could-be-sour baby brother. Jason wasn't sure how he could be the Robin that 'replaced him' and became a bit jealous until he found out how quickly Tim was able to rebound from Joker trying to turn him into Joker Jr. After that was found out Jason had a bit more of respect for Tim and became a bit protective of him. Sure, he was a bit protective of all his family, but he hated the thought of what Tim went through brought by the Joker's hand. Jason didn't want anyone else to be hurt the way Joker hurt him those years ago.
Jason had problems. He knew he did. Everyone in the Wayne family had their share of problems and then some. But they tried to help each other. That's why Dick told him to meet this other guy at the diner he was currently arriving at.
There wasn't a lot of people at the diner so that made it a teensy bit easier for Jason to find who he was looking for, whoever he was. A young waitress with long dark brown hair and red glasses walked up to him. "Excuse me," she said. "Are you Jason Todd?"
"Uh, yeah?" he answered. The waitress smiled at his confused face.
"A mutual friend told me what you look like and why you're here." Jason could only guess who this 'friend' was as she led him to a table where another person was sitting with a mug of hot chocolate. Jason sat across from him. "I'll be back to take your order." The waitress said, serving him a cup of hot chocolate. "Don't worry." she said as he tried to refuse the drink. "It's on his friend." she whispered as she went back to the kitchen.
Jason wondered if Dick was the other guy's friend or not. He wondered who this guy is.
This 'other guy' had brown hair that framed his face, a bit of scruff on his face, and green-blue eyes that told of past regrets and things he wished never happened. Even though this person's eyes were nearly covered by the baseball cap he was wearing, Jason saw enough to understand what he was going through. The exact same look appears in Jason's own eyes when he reflected on the past. This other person was hurt, had something taken away from him, and was still healing.
"So, you're James?" Jason asked, taking a sip of his hot chocolate, being thankful it wasn't too hot. Th stranger gave a small snort.
"That's who they say I am. But they also call me 'Bucky' more than they do "James"."
Jason nodded. "Jason." he said, sticking his hand out. As they shook hands he wondered where he heard the names "Bucky" and "James" together before. It became clear when Bucky wrapped his hands around his mug. One hand was silver. Shiny. A finely made metal prosthetic hand connected to a matching arm hidden under a black hoodie.
Bruce always kept an eye on suspicious or out of the ordinary occurrences. Tim did too, but he was also a nerd who had his own reasons for doing some things. Tim was also a Captain America fanboy who practically dragged the whole Wayne family/Batfamily to the Smithsonian Museum during a trip to D.C. for a Wayne Corp. deal. The kid was fanboying so bad it boarderlined fangirling. The other fans there didn't help. What Jason learned at the museum plus what was on the news plus what intel Bruce was able to get equaled Jason realizing the man he was meeting was James "Bucky" Barnes, aka, the Winter Soldier.
Bucky saw Jason staring at his hand. "Guess you figured it out." he said as he brought his hand back to his side. "Steve said you and your brothers were good at finding things out, but Richard doesn't really strike me as a detective."
"Yeah, Dick's like that." Jason said, taking a long drink of his hot chocolate.
"Reminds me of how Steve can get." said Bucky.
"We're all in the same boat here, buddy." Jason gave a chuckle while saying this. Bucky's eyes narrowed at him.
"What do you know about being the same as me?" he asked, staring Jason right in the eyes.
"Because, according to the facts, we've been in pretty similar situations." Jason said after looking around for a minute then leaning forward. The other people in the diner left before the rain got too hard. The only person in sight was the waitress and she was on a handheld game while wiping the front counter. She was out of earshot and wouldn't cause any harm.
"You see, Bucky, we're pretty similar. Only where you became the Winter Soldier, I became someone else." Jason said in a low voice. "I'm the Red Hood."
Bucky looked taken aback. He heard who the Red Hood was and what he's done. He just didn't expect to meet him in this way. Jason didn't expect to meet the Winter Soldier this way either. Guess their friends and family thought it was best for them to meet and work their problems out together.
The rest of the evening was spent telling stories about themselves and their lives, questions asked and answered, and a friendship was started. The waitress came by occasionally to take orders and give refills (Jason got a real kick when he found out Tony Stark was footing the bill). When both men left they felt better.
They weren't alone. They weren't forgotten. Maybe, just maybe, the haze was lifting to something better.
Fin.