The first time they met, he was quite surprised. Jason would be lying if he said he hadn't been at least a bit startled and caught off guard.
He'd been looking after his old neighborhood for a while already. A few weeks of just hanging around, keeping the scum in their place and away from kids. Nothing new. And he met her. The small curly haired blonde. She was about six years old. Little Debbie.
"I brought you some cookies, I thought you might be hungry," she told him one night.
Jason was on the rooftop of young Debbie's apartment building, he'd been simply hanging around. Her rooftop provided him with an excellent view of the playground just a few blocks away and let him look after the children who still played there after dark, those who's parents didn't have the time to take care of them.
"Oh, hey there," he'd replied. It was a bit of a surprise, Jason was wearing his helmet and this child wasn't the least bit scared of him, "Cookies? You brought me cookies?"
"Yeah, do you like cookies? I heard you ate the heads of your enemies and drank their blood. I wasn't able to get any of that so I brought you store bought cookies instead," the small blonde said as she neared closer.
She wore pink pajamas. A nightgown pajama actually with a teddy bear design right on the front. The tips of her toes visible from underneath the frilly soft edge of her pajama. Debbie held a small bag of cookies in her hands and reached out to give it to the older man.
"Who said I ate my enemies?" Jason asked with a light chuckle. He refused to remove his helmet, although he soon would have to if he wanted to eat the delicious treat the young girl had brought him.
"Tony from across the street. He said you're secretly a vampire who gets rid of bad guys," she answered easily before moving to stand behind Jason who sat on the edge of the building.
Jason then continued to slip off his helmet, he wore his domino mask underneath. His hair stuck up at awkward angles and a slight drip of sweat rolled down his damp forehead. It may have been nearing the end of summer but underneath his helmet Jason was begging for fresh air.
The young girl looked away yet peeked over slightly, wanting to see the older mans face as he set his helmet down beside him.
"You won't be able to see my face, kid," Jason grinned as he pointed to his domino mask, he knew she was eager to see who was underneath the red helmet.
The young man shared his bag of cookies with the blonde as she sat beside him, her feet not being long enough to reach over the ledge of the building. Jason would not have let her fallen either way.
"My name is Debbie. Debbie York," the girl smiled and stretched her hand out to Jason.
Jason swallowed the cookie he had been munching on and took her small hand in his, giving it a light shake, "Red Hood."
Debbie gave an exaggerated sigh, "Well I knew that already!"
And so their small "meetings" would continue. Every week, Jason would look forward to their time together. Tuesdays and Thursdays they would have their late night snack together. Those were the days her mother worked late into the night and Debbie was able to sneak out easily. There were some rare Friday nights that they would stay out until an hour or two before sunrise.
That was his weekly routine. Jason made it his job to take care of the kids around his old neighborhood. It wasn't much but Jason liked helping the kids. Even if the older ones were far more rude. The younger children always adored him for just being around.
Especially Debbie. God help him when it came to Debbie. The small girl would give him a heart attack. Truly she did occupy most of his time out on the streets. But she was a nice child, spoke to Jason as if she knew him all his life.
"How do you even find me, Kid?"
Jason was sitting at a park bench. It was a slow late night and somehow Debbie was able to walk two blocks to where he was. She had a bag of cookies in one hand and a teddy bear in the other. Not at all a surprise. Tonight she had on her ice cream pajamas.
"Dunno," she replied with a yawn before rubbing her eyes.
She sat beside the man. Debbie wasn't scared at all, not even when Jason had on his helmet. This kid was something else. Little Debbie, the one who had seen him with only his domino mask at most. They sat together and ate the oatmeal cookies Debbie had brought.
"Well, come on, kid," Jason smiled at her as he finished his cookie and pulled on his helmet once more. The young man then scooped the small girl in his arms and toward her home they went.
They went in through her window. Debbie lived on the fourth floor of the apartment building. Her room was just like Jason expected. Light purple walls and a pink bed in the corner while the floor was covered in toys and crayons. Obviously a little girls room. The only light in the room came from a sparkly nightlight near the floor beside her bedroom door and the light coming in from her window.
Jason then quickly took her to her bed. He let her get under the covers and then tucked her in underneath her soft pink blankets. He would most likely go home after that, there was no activity in the streets that night after all. No reason to keep on patrol.
Jason took a step back, letting Debbie get comfortable, ready to sleep. He decided to take a cookie from the bag she had left on her nightstand as he began to walk back toward her window. He removed his helmet and stuck the cookie in his mouth as he dodged her toys and crayons on the ground. Debbie would be asleep within seconds surely.
"Red," the young girl began to say, "When I grow up I wanna marry a boy like you."
Jason started coughing, choking on the cookie he was eating, "What?!"
"Yeah, a nice person who's also really brave."
Jason could not believe it. He wasn't sure how to answer that at all. This little girl really would give him a heart attack one day for sure.
"Debs," the young man started, he took a few steps back in her direction, "how about some sleep. Huh, kid, how about that?"
After setting his helmet on her bed, Jason reached her side and tucked her in once again after Debbie had sat up when talking to him. She was one hell of a kid. Probably the only normal friend he had. That must say a lot about the kind of people he knew. Debbie winced just as Jason grazed her wrist as he moved the blankets over her torso.
Jason sighed. "Kid, let me see the hand."
He knew the reason behind her hurting wrist but wished to see just how serious her injury was. Debbie's stepfather had quite the grip. Even more so on an almost seven year old young girl. It wasn't the first time Jason had seen the aftermath of her stepfathers rage.
"Can't you just take him away?" Debbie pleaded as she let the older man look over her now very bruised wrist.
He wished to God he could but Jason wouldn't do such a thing for or to the child. Sure he could rid Debbie of her stepfather but then what? Her own mother couldn't keep them afloat on their own. Even with two jobs worth of money every week.
Jason shook his head, "We had this talk already, princess."
He went into his belt and searched for an ointment and gauze he had swiped from Roy months before. He originally would use it for minor cuts or bruises he would acquire while on patrol but once Jason found out about the injuries the young girl sustained, he made sure to keep it on his person just for her and any other children in need of his help during patrol. Jason made a mental note of keeping some more first aid utilities on him for future use.
The young man bit his lip as he rubbed the ointment into Debbie's skin, "These little "incidents" are becoming more often, Debs."
Debbie kept her head down. There was very little she could do. She had been told by Jason many times before to run away or hide whenever her stepfather was in one of his moods after work.
"I just wish you could just stay with me, Red."
Jason finished up by wrapping Debbie's wrist with a light layer of gauze. He tried to ignore the pain coming from Debbie's voice. He shook away the terrible feeling in his gut and looked back up at the young girl with a smile.
Brushing her unruly blonde hair from her face, Jason tried to sooth the girl, "How about a barter?"
A barter? Debbie arched her brow and tilted her head. What a strange request coming from the masked man. She had nothing to offer him in a barter. But then again, perhaps his own barter would be worth the trouble and she could figure out her end of the bargain after.
Before she could even utter a word, Jason stood up, he was an extremely tall man in Debbie's eyes. Taller than even the tallest of giants. He paced about her room with one of his gloves hands over his chin as he thought out loud.
"I've always been very fond of your drawings," the young man stated as he stood in front of the wall across from Debbie's bed which was filled with various drawings, most of which had both Debbie and Red Hood saving the day from bad guys.
Debbie sat up in her bed, making sure to not injure her wrist any further. Her eyes were now glossy as she fought off the sleep that tugged at her eyelids.
Jason soon brought out a cellphone from one of his pockets. A smile seemed to have been carved on his face permanently as he showed the cellphone to Debbie. The young girl didn't mind it, she loved it whenever her friend smiled especially if his happy mood was directed at her.
"I'll give you this," Jason tossed the phone around in his hand and then pointed at her wall full of art, "for one of your drawings."
It seemed like a fair enough trade. The masked man was quite the barterer. Although Debbie knew there was far more to it, "What's the catch?"
His girl was smart.
Jason chuckled, "There's a phone number already in here. If you ever need to talk-"
"That isn't a fair barter then," Debbie cut him off as she immediately stood up from bed, walking toward her closet filled with toys. She grabbed a small stuffed toy rabbit and dusted him off before going to hand it to Jason. She took the cellphone from his hand and replaced it with her toy rabbit, "Keep Stevie safe for me and I'll stay safe for you both."
Nodding his head, Jason gave his most sincere smile, "Deal."