The Lazarus Effect

Fourteen

Awolnation- Sail

Ilya: 

Jason is leaning against the kitchen counter with a mug in his hands that reads: I DIED ONCE. JUST SAYING. His dark humor makes me laugh at times but deep inside it makes me want to just hug him. When I held him last night, his entire body tensed up like it physically hurt him to be hugged. 

"Good morning, Alfred," I said. "Hey, Jay. You okay?" 

"No," he groaned. Not a morning person. Noted. 

"Good morning, Miss Ilya. You seem to be in good spirits. Better than others," Alfred said looking at Jason who rolled his eyes as dramatically as he could before grabbing the coffee pot topping his mug off again. He brought the mug up to his face lightly blowing on it before taking a sip. 

"Yeah, I was watching the news this morning. Good job, Jay," he looked at me with a cooky little smirk on his face. His sleepy features are adorable.

"I'd gladly shoot people up for a compliment like that any day," he sneered. 

"I've made you a smoothie. My own personal blend. I hope you li..." he stopped looking down at my shirt. "You're wearing that to school?" 

"What's wrong with it?" I asked. 

"Well, it says, I hate you. I hate this place. I'll see you tomorrow," Jason almost choked on his drink. He had to turn around leaning over the sink so he wouldn't spit what was in his mouth out. 

"Alfred, I'm a nineteen-year-old kid and today is my first day of school. I can't tell people to go screw themselves right off the bat. I have to work my way up to it," 

"Ilya," Bruce scolded from the doorway. "You two are going to drive me insane," 

"Because dressing up as a Bat and kicking as all night is very sane," I retorted sarcastically. Jason just kept laughing. 

"I wanted to talk to you both about last night," he said crossing his arms taking a mug off the counter and filling it with what was left of the coffee. "I'd like to take a look at the helmet you made for Jason," 

"That's up to Jason and Red," I said taking a drink from the smoothie Alfred had handed me. "Zesty orange cream swirl," 

"How did you guess?" Alfred smiled. 

"This was my mom's favorite," I said taking another drink.  "She would have loved that you added vanilla yogurt. Thank you," 

"You're welcome," 

"What do you mean it's up to Jason and Red?" 

"Red is an Ai I programmed to accommodate the Red Hood and only the Red Hood. If you try to tamper with her or feel her up she will retaliate. How did you know anyway?" 

"I don't like that you lied to me," 

"I didn't lie to you. I'm still working on my mask. I just paid a little closer attention to his first," he sighed heavily pinching the bridge of his nose. "Did something happen last night?"

"Red threatened him and told him to buzz off," Jason smiled. "He tried to track me by hacking my GPS system and she caught him," 

"Yeah, I developed Red from one of my high school projects. Strategy chess playing Ai and I modified her to apply those strategies to advanced military combat procedures within civilized grounds. Minimal casualties and destruction operations as well as safety precautions. 

"Red learns the preferences of her host which is Jason. She's bonded with him. The only reason she'd let me use her would be to update or fix whatever damage she might sustain. Even then, Jason would have to be present. Her programming is loyal to him and only him,"