Wearing the Red Hood

Chapter 6:

As soon as the clock struck six, Bruce was rising from the table. Looking longingly at the blueberry muffins Alfred had brought in, I decided to have it on the go. I grabbed one and followed after Bruce, who couldn't even say we were leaving. Even after all these years, he hadn't changed one bit. I remembered when I still did patrols with him as Robin. He could never once say 'Get in the car.' Nope. Batman was a man of few words.

When I saw Damian and Bart walking behind us, I groaned. "Please don't tell me you drive the brats to school," I muttered as Bruce pushed the front doors open.

Raising an amused eyebrow, he actually cracked a smile. "Of course I do. Their school is on the way to the office."

"I told him I could drive," Damian interjected, having heard our exchange.

"No," Bruce simply said while I added, "No one was talking to you."

Damian simply crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. That kid had issues. And Bart? He was talking a mile a minute on his phone, probably with his best friend, Jaime. I bet Jaime was as annoyed with him as I was with Roy. Trust me, I didn't choose him to be my best friend. He chose me. He's crazy that way.

As soon as we reached Bruce's car, Damian, Bart and I stared at each other before turning to Bruce and shouting, "I'm riding shotgun!"

Bruce shook his head and simply got into the driver's seat. While the two boys argued beside me, I made a run for it and got in the passenger's seat. I made sure to lock the door and securely click the seatbelt in place. Grinning, I rolled down the window to see the two idiots finally noticed what I did and stared at me with mouths agape. "Suckers!" I shouted before sticking out my tongue. Satisfied that I'd rubbed my victory in their faces, I closed the window and happily ate my muffin.

"Real mature, Jason," Bruce commented from beside me.

"You're the one who wouldn't choose between the three of us," I retorted glumly. "Then again, I should be used to it by now."

I felt Bruce tense. He knew that I was talking about the time he wouldn't choose between me and the Joker. The stoic mask disappeared from his face, and in its place was an expression of pain. "Jason-"

"I'm going to get you back for this, Todd," Damian threatened as he got in the backseat with a sober looking Bart. "Why are you even coming along?"

"Because I want to squirt," I replied easily as Bruce remained quiet and started the car. I ignored him and focused on my delicious muffin instead. "And your threat sounds about as scary as a three- year old baby."

Of course, this is the time Bart decided to open his mouth again. "But a three- year old baby isn't scary," he argued. I could practically hear the wheels turning in his head as he tried to figure it out. Maybe time travel caused some damage to his brain.

I snorted while Damian groaned. "Yes, well, thank you for that nice piece of information Bart," I said with as much sarcasm as I could muster

"Jason," Bruce began again.

"Hold that thought," I interrupted him a second time. I pulled out my phone from my jacket pocket, the earphones dangling from it. With a grin at Bruce I plugged it into my ears and turned the music up really loud. Yup. Listening to AC/DC was way better than dealing with my family, when I hadn't even had any sleep.

The rest of the drive was pretty peaceful, considering I couldn't hear what the three other guys in the car were saying. Even when I knew they were talking to me, I ignored them. Unfortunately, my muffin couldn't last the whole drive. I made a mental note to ask Alfred for some more when I got home instead. Finally, we reached Wayne Towers. I followed Bruce out after he parked in the basement.