Red Hood and the Outlaws

Chapter Five

Jason rubbed his forehead as he dialled the number he hadn't called in over a year.

"Kory?" he asked shakily as he heard the soft voice of the tamaranean.

"What do you want, Jason?" she replied angrily.

"Do you know where Damian is? And Dick for that matter?" he inquired.

"I don't know. I am actually looking for Dick at the moment." she sighed.

"Can I help? Please?" he pleaded.

"Fine. I am over the Gotham Bank at the moment." she told him.

"Thank you." he smiled weakly to himself as he hung up. He pulled on his jacket and helmet, before leaping out of the window and grappling onto another building.

Eventually, he arrived at the Gotham bank and met Starfire there.

"What made you think they were here?" Red Hood asked quietly.

"Dick's tracking beacon is here. There must be a secret base or something like that." Starfire explained.

"Okay," Red Hood opened the window and dropped in, dropping a smoke pellet just in case there were any lasers. There was not any. "Come in!" he called. 

Starfire flew down and landed on the floor, lighting a hand with a star last to create light. The searched around for any secret passages, but there wasn't any.

Red Hood signalled to Starfire, and she nodded in response and flew up, shooting a star last at the floor. There was a room underneath them which didn't hold Dick or Damian, but was filled with weapons. Not guns or anything, put swords and daggers. Paintings decorated the walls, showing men and women with owl masks in positions of power. And one with a man in a black costume with golden highlights.

"Shit." Red Hood said under his breath.

"You know of these?" Starfire questioned.

"The Court of Owls." he answered shakily. "They know we're here." Just then, a man in black just like the one in the paintings jumped through the gap in the floor and threw a knife at Red Hood. Starfire flew up and shot three star lasts at him, hitting him but not effecting him at all.

"It's not doing anything!" she yelled, worried.

"Run!" Red Hood shouted.

"But-" she was cut off.

"Go!" Red Hood  screamed. Starfire gave him an apologetic look, before flying through the ceiling. 

Red Hood punched and kicked at the Talon, but he practically shrugged them off and continued wailing on his target. Red Hood got up and whipped out his pistols, shooting at him. The Talon dodged them effortlessly, slashing Red Hood across the chest. Red Hood kicked him away, before throwing some shurikens at him and leaping out of the hole. The Talon leapt after him, getting out some daggers and throwing them at Red Hood, getting him in the gut and stabbing his hand, recieving a scream from him.

"Go to Hell." Red Hood growled, ready to die. Suddenly, a red arrow shot through the Talon's head, the assassin thudding to the ground. Roy Harper stepped out from behind him and picked up the unconscious Red Hood.

---

Jason woke up in a bed, clutching his gut in pain. 

"You're finally awake." Roy smiled at Jason, putting some coffee for him next to him.

"Thought you were against killing?" Jason questioned.

"Those guys are basically zombies anyway," Roy shrugged.

"Thank you." Jason said, taking a sip. "Where's Kory?"

"Just outside." Roy grinned, opening the door and letting her in. "I'll, uh, leave you two alone." Roy finished, closing he door as he left the room.

"Look, Kory." Jason sighed. "I'm sorry for everything I did before, it was...wrong."

"It's okay." Kory smiled. "I forgave and forgot a week after it happened.

"Then why were you still annoyed at me at Titans Tower?" Jason asked.

"I was having a bad day. I had an argument with Dick and...we fell out" she sighed, holding back tears. "Something about his new girlfriend."

"Oh," Jason shad, eyes wide. "I'm sorry,"

"It's okay." Kory forced a smile. "It's not your fault." The pair were silent for a few minutes, looking around the room before Jason finally said something.

"Guess all three of us have to work together again." Jason said.

"Yes." Kory responded. "Where do the Court of Owls operate?"

"A labyrinth underneath Gotham." he replied.

"Specifically?" Kory asked.

"Ugh, it's in a specific manhole by Wayne Tower." Jason sighed. "It'll be hard to find."

"Well, you should recover before we go looking for anything." Kory advised.

"I wasn't planning on going yet." Jaosn smirked. "You're distracting me." He finished as he leaned in and kissed Kory. She was slightly surprised at first, but after a couple of seconds stareted kissing Jason back. 

Just then, the door opened and Roy entered.

"Oh, am I disturbing something?" he joked.

"Knock!" Jason yelled.

"It's my apartment!" Roy snapped back. "And I've made dinner. But you two are obviously too busy to have it."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Jason retaliated.

"I mean you two were always so close all those years back! No-one thinks about me! Ever! When I quit the Titans, I guarantee you no-one even wondered what had happened to me!" Roy screamed, tears streaming down his face.

"Roy, we all wanted you back." Kory said softly.

"Oh really? You're a shit liar, Kory." Roy growled. Kory was silent as she exited the room. Jason rolled his eyes frustratedly and got out of bed, standing up.

"You just want it to be you." he muttered.

"Yeah, no shit!" Roy shouted. "I would do anything to have want you have! You have three brothers, four sisters, a father, a grandfather, and Kory as your fucking girlfriend, all of which, may I add, actually care about you! Well, what do I have?! Ollie; who attacked me when Hal told him I was a junkie. Cheshire; who I had a kid with and took her away when I became a junkie, but when I recovered she still didn't let me see her. And my parents; who didn't care enough to even raise me past the age of five, Ollie had to do it for them! So yeah, I do want a girlfriend and people who care about me, but I can't fucking have that, can I?!"

"You skipped the Titans." Jason said.

"That's because it would take five hours to get through what they all did to me!" Roy cried, sliding down the doorway and curling into a ball and crying. Jason looked at his friend and walked away, leaving him there.

---

Late at night, Roy snuck out of the apartment and stole Jason's bike, driving all the way to Titans Tower. He looked at it and scowled, before driving towards it. Before he could reach it, however, he was knocked off his bike by an unknown force.

"What?" he stammered.

"Roy Harper. The ring has chosen you."