Neglected & Forgotten (DC Comics)

Neglected & Forgotten (DC Comics)

A/N: Neglected & Forgotten was originally in 9 parts from June of 2018 to February of 2019. Compiling it now into a one-shot for ease of reading, but be warned that it does jump around a little bit between scenes. Hopefully that's not too jarring.

Summary: A look through Jason Todd's life as the forgotten Robin in a series of slightly disconnected scenes/vignettes. Commissioner describes this story as "bitter smut".

Themes: Rough Sex, Impetuous Sex, Bittersweet Smut

-x-X-x-

The location that the deal takes place in is already sleezy. But then, what abandoned warehouse wouldn't be an appropriate hot bed for criminal activity?

"You got the stuff?"

"Yeah, we got it. You got the money?"

"Shiiiit, Andrew, bring out that fucking suitcase already."

A young man does exactly that, rushing over to his boss. He holds up the suitcase and the older man reaches out and unclasps it, opening it up to show the stacks of cash inside. The other man, looking just as thuggish and criminal, nods slowly as his greedy eyes flit across the stacks. Then the briefcase is shut again, and he frowns a little, even as his counterpart grins.

"Now show me the goods."

There's a pause, as if everyone is expecting someone to double cross someone else in this moment. But then the pause passes and the man being addressed gestures to one of HIS people, who walks over and opens up the back of a beaten-up van. Inside are crates, and one such crate is pried open to show off rows of AR-15s within.

"C'mere, check these out. Top of the line shit, we stole it from a shipment meant for the Gotham PD just last week. Fuckers are trying to tech up on us, but now all they're doing is lining my pockets."

"And getting my men guns. Heh, very nice."

As the two men, now much more amicable with each other than they had been moments before, step towards the back of the open van, a shadow suddenly crosses over them, and a scream from elsewhere in the warehouse has everyone reacting at once.

"The fuck was that?"

"Shit, is it the Bat?"

There's a laugh, a young laugh at that, and then a brightly dressed kid, because even at his age there's no other way to describe him, swings through, his foot planting itself in the side of one of the men's heads.

"Even better! You lot have the distinguished pleasure of getting your asses kicked by none other than Robin, Boy Wonder!"

And then he's gone, just like that, disappearing into the shadows of the warehouse despite his red, green, and yellow costume.

"Damn it, it's not the Bat, it's the damn brat! Shoot him you fucks!"

Gunfire rings through the warehouse as goons and thugs alike try to bring down the young vigilante in their midst. He flits in and out of the shadows, but for a moment it looks like they're actually managing to keep him at bay with their suppression fire. That is, until a batarang slams into a thug's head from behind, knocking him out cold. Several more batarangs follow the first and the tables quickly turn against the criminals once again, as they figure out they're up against not one, but two vigilantes.

"Fuck, the Bat's here too! We've gott-urgk!"

The more vocal of the criminals is cut off as he finds himself prone on the ground, his gun spinning away, and a boot pressing down into his back. However, the voice he hears is neither that of a young male or the deep, guttural tone of Batman himself.

"You're right, I am here. Though I imagine you were probably expecting a different bat, weren't you?"

Batgirl grinds her heel into the bad guy's back, grinning viciously all the while. A moment later, a gunshot rings out and a bullet whizzes past her, shocking her into motion as she spins around, only to find Robin already bringing down the gunman who'd taken a shot at her. In point of fact, she realizes that the only reason the goon missed from less then ten feet away was because Robin had diverted the shot at the last second, a batarang in the man's wrist giving proof to that.

A moment later, the last of the criminals is down. A couple have fled, but the main two, the ones trying to deal in stolen Gotham PD guns, are down on the floor, tied up and ready for pick up. With the threat now gone, Robin plants his hands on his waist as he grins up at Batgirl, their small difference in height slightly more noticeable when he steps closer.

"Woo. Close one, eh Batgirl?"

"I... yeah, guess so. Nice save, Boy Wonder."

A cheerful laugh leaves the young vigilante's throat and he shrugs his shoulders before giving Batgirl a saucy wink.

"Anytime. And hey, if you ever reconsider, the top bunk's still available back in my room."

Rather than a cutting remark as was her usual response to his flirting, Batgirl just laughs and lifts her nose into the air... but it's clear that the red head's heart isn't fully in it this time. That gets a blink from Robin, and suddenly the whole moment feels awkward. Coughing, he rubs the back of his head and then gestures at his partner with his other hand.

"You uh, you want to call this in?"

Batgirl's eyes widen, and a moment later she's doing exactly that.

"R-Right."

Robin frowns slightly, watching her for a moment longer. Still, it's not long before they're leaving the warehouse, the goons, and the guns behind as Gotham PD pulls up outside in force. After all, they ARE still vigilantes...

-x-X-x-

Jason can scarcely believe this is happening. They'd gotten away from the warehouse, they'd continued their patrol through the city, he'd kept up his flirting... but he'd not expected anything to come from it. Yet, here they were. Barbara had been acting strangely ever since he'd knocked that gun off course, but this was...

"Mm, mmm!"

At his insistence, the red head pulls back, still dressed in her bat-themed get up. But then, he's still dressed as Robin too. It just... it's hard for Jason to think in terms of their costumed identities when she's practically just kissed the ever-living fuck out of him.

"W-What... what was that, Bar-mmph!"

She cuts him off with another kiss, and then draws back a moment later, shaking her head.

"No names. Don't know who could be listening."

Jason's eyes are wide at that and he glances around the empty rooftop.

"Or watching!"

Here, Barbara, Batgirl, whatever the fuck she wants to call him, just smirks at his hissed words. Her hand slides down her front, and suddenly she's cupping his crotch as she leans in close, staring him right in his big blue eyes.

"Do you want this, Robin? Or not?"

Swallowing thickly, Jason can only give a shaky nod to that. Shit, what fifteen-year-old wouldn't say yes? Barbara's grin is wide, and the next thing he knows, they're kissing again as she runs her gloved hands all over his body. Things only escalate from there, and Jason finds himself touching Barbara right back, even as she starts to move UNDER his costume. He can't help but do the same. Parts of their costume come undone at that point, zippers pulled, and clasps unclasped.

Barbara abruptly falls to a crouch that puts her face to face with his crotch, and Jason has only one moment to question that before she has his cock out in her gloves hands, and his tip in her mouth.

"S-Shit..."

He's at least aware enough not to say her name, but he can't stop the exclamation as she gets to work on his member. His length grows quickly in her mouth, and it's clear she can't take all of it. But then she doesn't need to. Her gloved hands work at the lower half of his shaft, all while she bobs her up and down the top part. It feels... it feels good. It feels fucking amazing, if he's being honest. His own hand, even with lotion, doesn't have anything on this.

"F-Fuck, I'm getting close!"

Immediately, Barbara stops. She even presses one of her gloved fingers against his cockhead as she abruptly stands.

"Nuh-uh. Not yet."

Jason can only stare, wide-eyed, as Barbara gives him a smirk behind her bat cowl. His impending climax slowly abates as they stand there for a few seconds in silence, and then she's guiding him over to a nearby air-conditioning unit by his cock, all but dragging him along with her. Not to say he's not happy to go. He wants so badly to cum... but if she's about to offer what he thinks, then he too doesn't want it to end with just her mouth.

Sure enough, the red head lets go of his cock and turns away from him. Putting one knee up on top of the stout air-conditioning unit, the young woman known to Gotham's night life as Batgirl looks back over her shoulder at him, even as she unzips the crotch of her suit, and exposes her naked, wet pussy. Biting her lower lip, she uses two of her gloved fingers to spread herself open.

"G-Go on, hero... you saved the damsel. Now take your reward."

Jason's breath hitches at that. This was because he'd stopped that one guy from shooting at her? Shit, maybe... fuck, he couldn't really stop himself. Even if it felt slightly wrong, even if it felt a little impetuous... Jason WAS impetuous. He was the perfect age to be as impetuous as he fucking wanted. Moving forward, the young man places one hand on Barbara's costume-clad ass, before guiding his cock to her waiting cunt lips with his other.

The moment that his dickhead touches Barbara's mound, he has to hold himself back all over again. Still, knowing now that his release is the end of their fun together, Jason finds it within himself to hold back. He might be young, he might be impetuous... but he was also Robin. He knew a little something about discipline, even if this particular arena wasn't one he had any true experience in.

But then, neither did Barbara, as he quickly found out. Not realizing he needed to watch out for it, Jason thrusts forward into the admittedly wet hole before him. In the same moment, he ends up taking Barbara's virginity, prompting a cry from the beautiful red head as she arches her back from the sensation. Jason immediately stops, but Barbara quickly looks back, her eyes clearly watering from behind her bat cowl.

"G-Go on... keep going."

Flushing with embarrassment beneath his own mask, Jason does exactly that. It... it feels good, though it's also a little awkward. Neither is entirely sure what they're doing, and Jason finds himself alternating between what he believes is too fast and too slow half the time. Still, he's a quick learner, and he soon finds the right pace to draw delicious, surprising moans from one Barbara Gordon's lips. He's never heard such sounds from the badass Batgirl before... and he absolutely adores them, as he fucks her from behind at a pace that seems to work perfectly for her.

All the while, he holds back what he knows to be his impending release. He wants to, NEEDS to make this special. It's only when Barbara lets out a particularly loud cry, followed by a strange slick feeling inside of her passage as it clings to him all the harder that Jason isn't able to hold back anymore. He cums inside of the red head, only realizing belatedly that he's doing so without protection.

As his seed pumps into her, he isn't thinking about that though. Not until the pleasurable fog clears from his thoughts and he's able to think with his upper head once more. Realizing what he's done, Jason pulls out of Barbara as she comes down from her own pleasure high, blushing and stammering his apology. But the young woman known as Batgirl turns and silences him with a finger on his lips and a smile on hers.

"It's okay Jason... I'm on the pill. I... Batman made sure of it."

For a moment, Jason is confused. Then he realizes just why their mentor would want his female protégé, a young woman who went out and fought against the scum of the earth, to be protected against unwanted pregnancy. Barbara's smile takes on a sad tinge as she sees his understanding, and the moment between the two of them ends with them fixing their costumes. Not another word of what's happened is spoken, even as they return to a patrol that ends soon after.

-x-X-x-

Despite the macabre ending to his first time, Jason can't deny that he enjoyed it. And he's pretty sure Barbara did too. So, when the next night arrives and they're getting ready to patrol together again, he finds himself trying to figure out how to broach the subject with the slightly older girl. In the end, he figures it might be best saved for the end of patrol.

Of course, that results in him never getting the chance.

"Hey Babs, you want to ride with me tonight? Things are getting a bit hectic along my usual route, I could use the back up."

"Really Dick? Sure, I'm game! You don't mind, right Jason?"

"Uh, n-no?"

"Great, talk to you later!"

And just like that, in what feels like a few seconds, Jason finds himself alone in the Batcave as Dick Grayson, also known as Nightwing, rides off with Barbara on the back of his motorcycle. For a moment, Jason stares after them, wondering how he just let that happen. Then, he catches a glimpse of himself in a nearby monitor, looking into his blue-eyed reflection for a moment.

Letting out a low sigh, the young man presses the power button, and his reflection disappears as the monitor turns on, allowing him to get to work.

-x-X-x-

Three years later, Jason Todd was no longer the fifteen-year-old kid that had lost his virginity to Barbara, to Batgirl. Too much had happened since then. He'd died, for one. Laying on the hotel bed, staring up at the ceiling in silence, Jason contemplates life and death and everything in between. The memory of his death still lingers, even now. It hadn't been a good one. Hadn't been an easy one.

To die at the hands of the Joker, to go out as one of that mad man's trophy kills... he would have preferred any other end, if he's being honest. Hell, he would have been happy with pretty much any other rogue in Gotham being the one to do him in. But no, it'd been the Joker, ultimately. The crazy clown had always known Batman best, had always been able to get to the heart of the caped crusader's weakness.

Or had he? It was clear now, with years of hindsight behind him, that the Joker had miscalculated. If the clown had thought Jason's death would push Bruce over some edge, or that Batman would avenge his Robin... he'd been wrong. So had Jason, to be fair. He'd thought he was more than that. He'd thought he meant more to Bruce than that.

But no. He hadn't been avenged. Joker hadn't paid for what he'd done with his life. Bruce had shrugged off Jason's death like it was nothing and gone back to the same damn cycle of catch and release that he'd been engaging in with his rogue's gallery for far too fucking long. It was ridiculous. It was absolutely ludicrous. But most of all, it was heartbreaking that Jason had to be resurrected by Batman's enemies rather than the man himself.

Brought back by the Lazarus Pit, the young man had been sent to train almost immediately in the same hells on earth that Bruce himself had once traveled to. With funding that came from those who gave him a second chance at life, Jason had followed Bruce's path and learned what the pathetic Batman wouldn't. He'd learned to kill. He'd trained in it, in fact, and he now reveled in it, especially when the kill was black of heart.

There were so many men in the world who needed killing. Jason knew that now, he knew that Bruce had been wrong, would always BE wrong. There was no reasoning with the Batman. The caped crusader was too weak to do what needed to be done. But Jason wasn't. And as soon as his contact arrived, he would finally have what he needed to begin.

It was- a knock on the door tears Jason from his thoughts. The muscular eighteen-year-old is up and across the hotel room in half a moment and opening the door in the next. Talia al Ghul pushes past him, tears in her eyes and her lips thinned out as she carries a briefcase into the room. Closing and locking the door behind her, Jason furrows his brow as he watches her for a moment.

"Talia... what is it?"

They weren't overly close, but out of everyone he'd grown to known since returning to life, Talia was who he was closest with. He wouldn't call them friends though. Their relationship was a lot less equal than that, and a lot more complicated. Setting down the briefcase on the bed, Talia turns back to Jason just as he stops a foot away from her. She stares at him for a moment, and then reaches up and runs a palm across his face.

"He's... he's gone, Jason. Ra's al Ghul is no more."

Jason just stands there for a moment, not sure how to respond to that. Talia's eyes are still watery, but the tears never fall as her face twists into something vicious and dark.

"It was the Batman's doing. He brought it about. Punish him, Jason. Show him how flawed his way is, how wrong he's always been. Destroy him. For all of us."

Jason feels a strange sort of emotion well up within him. Before he knows it, he has his hands on Talia's arms and he's looking into her eyes. He measures his words carefully, only speaking when he's found the right ones.

"I'm going to kill the Joker, Talia. I won't let that clown live another moment. And as for the others... I'll be better than the Batman, I promise you. I'll be the justice that Gotham deserves."

Talia pauses for a moment, and then turns back to grab the briefcase off the bed. She hands it to him, while at the same time leaning in ever closer. Her voice is merely a whisper, as he takes hold of what she's brought for him, clutching it so tightly his knuckles go white.

"Make him pay for not avenging you, Jason. He's hid from his failures for far too long."

Then, she does something unexpected. She leans in and kisses him. The mood in the air is right for it, to be fair. Jason hadn't realized it at first, but as she kisses him, he finds himself wanting more all the same. Talia feels surprised as well, especially when he drops the briefcase to the ground and moves his hands onto her hips instead. Did she only intend the one kiss? Did she intend to pull back and walk away after just a moment?

Whatever her original intentions, they scarcely matter because the next thing either of them knows, they're on the bed, their lips smashed together and their hands moving over one another's bodies with a sense of urgency. Jason's only wearing a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, while Talia is dressed in a tank top and some jeans.

But in the end, none of that matters because they're both quite insistent on getting the other naked regardless. There's no words exchanged between the two of them as they strip one another down. Jason doesn't comment on the beautiful supple shape of Talia's breasts as they pop free of her bra and he tosses it off the bed. Talia doesn't say a word about his throbbing, lengthy prick, even as she takes it in her hands, stroking it needily while their tongues dance with one another between their mouths.

There's no need for talking at this point. No need for verbal communication. Theirs is a communication of a different sort, and it always has been. Physical communication usually meant the language of violence for people like them, but violence was just an intimacy of a different sort, at the end of the day. It's not long before Jason ends up on his back and Talia ends up impaled on his cock.

She presses her hands to his pecs as she rides him, and they look at one another, lost in each other's eyes. His fingers dig into her hips painfully, and she hisses as she claws at his chest. She might be older than him, but Jason isn't inclined to sit idle. If there's one thing that being reborn in the Lazarus Pit has done to him, it's give him a sort of frantic energy. He doesn't really consider the anger to be a byproduct of his resurrection because he's been angry all his life. All coming back did was show him why he didn't have to hold back that anger anymore, like Bruce... Batman had always tried to force him to do.

He's not mad at Talia though... he's just very aroused. Thrusting upwards into her from below, he turns the older woman's riding of his cock into her trying to stay onboard as he bucks like a damn bronco. His member fills her insides, reaching untouched places, and she cries out from the passion he's showing her, her head tilting back and her breasts jutting out towards him as they bounce and jiggle just a bit.

She's perfection, as far as Jason's concerned. Not that he ever got to see all of Barbara naked, but Talia is just so much more woman than the red head ever could be. It was probably unfair to even try to compare them, but Jason only had the one previous sexual experience to draw on. He'd been too busy learning other things these last couple years to get his dick wet in any more women.

But this? This felt right. Talia's cunt felt amazing wrapped around his cock, and as she bounced up and down on his length, Jason felt the lust rising in his chest, right alongside the need to take control, the desire to be dominant. A moment later, and it's he who's on top as Talia ends up pinned below him. If she's upset by this, she doesn't show it. Instead, Talia al Ghul takes things in stride, wrapping her limbs around him, holding him close as he thrusts into her clenching, squeezing cunt time and time again.

Her ankles lock together as she wraps her flexible legs around his waist, and her arms go around his neck as she draws him into another deep, passionate, tongue-filled kiss. His chest rubs against her breasts with every thrust, and she moans into his mouth from the pleasure he's giving her. The sex is... phenomenal and Jason has never been more satisfied by the time he finally unloads inside of Talia's cunt, filling her with a nice thick helping of his seed.

He doesn't know how long they go at it for, because the first load is by far not the last. All he knows for sure is that by the time the two of them are done with one another, neither is looking to leave the hotel room that night. Instead, Talia ends up asleep on his chest, and Jason drifts off soon after her with his arm around her feminine form.

And for that moment... everything is perfect.

-x-X-x-

The next morning, Jason wakes up alone. He knows he shouldn't be surprised, but he still is as he realizes that Talia slipped away without him so much as noticing. It only went to show how far apart they still were in skill level, he supposed. Though, he imagined he was stronger than her by this point, even if she was obviously still more skilled at subtlety and stealth.

It didn't matter, in the end. The fact was, she was gone. And ultimately, all she left behind was a note. Jason found it on the nightstand beside the bed, and while it had a few lines of text about this or that thing, as well as a couple quotes from her father to help 'guide Jason's path', it was really only the last line of the note that jumped out at him and grabbed his attention.

Everything I've done, I did for love. Goodbye Jason.

He stares at that final line of the note for probably too long. Eventually though, he manages to set the piece of paper aside, willing his clenched fingers to open and let the note drift down forgotten onto the bed. Then, he stands up and moves with purpose over to the briefcase that had been so easily discarded and forgotten the night before.

Inside was all he would need to do what he had to do in Gotham, or so he'd been told. Lifting the briefcase up, he carries it over to a table and sets it down, undoing the clasps and opening the thing a moment later. For a second, he just stares at what he's been gifted to begin his crusade for justice back in the city he died in. He stares... and then he lets out a soft chuckle as he reaches out and takes hold of the red helmet within the briefcase.

There's no second note here, of course. No nothing, save for the hood. A mask, of course. But hood is a more accurate descriptor for what he's got in his hand now. Slowly, he steps away from the empty open briefcase and sits back down on the bed. He looks at the red hood in his hands for a moment, and then sets about putting it on.

When it's properly over his head, it seals around his neck. Looking up, Jason finds himself staring into a mirror. Every hotel room seemed to have mirrors in their main rooms for some reason. So what, the people using them for their affairs or their whores or their clandestine dealings could stare at themselves and acknowledge what they were doing?

Heh. Jason tended to avoid looking in mirrors since his resurrection. He didn't always like the reminder that he saw there. But now, with his face covered and his shining green eyes hidden behind white lens, it didn't hurt as much. All he saw was red... and that was just fine by his standards. It gave him a name too, a name for this new identity he would be using to bring justice to Gotham.

It's fitting in a way, that this is how he would return to Gotham. His resurrection would bring about the resurrection of another entity at the same time. And given that the last time the Red Hood Gang had been in operation, the Joker was the man beneath the hood... it was even poetic as well. Half the people in Gotham, Batman included, seemed inclined to use their past as a weapon to bludgeon others over the head with.

Jason would have to show them how it was done.

-x-X-x-

"Hehehe~ Batsy, batsy... won't you come out to play? You're being even more broody and mysterious than usual, Bats! Don't ya wanna have your fun with me before Mistah J shows up? He's coming for me, ya know. My snookums will always come for me!"

Watching her from the shadows, Jason has to suppress the anger that rises within him at even a simple mention of the Joker. Of course, beneath the Red Hood, he's already simmering with barely contained rage. He wants to let it loose, he wants to hurt and hurt and hurt until HE doesn't hurt anymore... but Harley Quinn isn't the one to take all of his fury out on. No, she's just the key to it all.

Still, he's left his prey waiting long enough. Harley sits in the middle of the abandoned warehouse, tied to a chair with the warehouse's sole working spotlight shining down on her. Classic interrogation technique, designed to make the perp feel helpless, alone... surrounded by the darkness that the Bat Family made their home. But Harley wasn't any ordinary perp, and Batman's old interrogation lessons were unlikely to be of much help to Jason here.

No... he had to do things his way. And that meant treating Harley Quinn as a criminal first, and a woman second.

"Batman isn't here, Ms. Quinn. He's not going to be here... and the Joker isn't coming."

As he steps out of the shadows, revealing himself to Harley, the female clown's eyes go wide as she stares at him for a moment in absolute shock. But then, the last person to don the Red Hood was...

"Mistah J?"

For a second, it's as if Harley actually believes her 'snookums' might have decided to fuck with her somehow. But Jason just shakes his head no, causing her slight hope at this being some sort of sick roleplay fantasy to die at the root. Her face twists in hatred and anger then as she bares her teeth and snarls at Jason... or more accurately, at the Red Hood.

"That doesn't belong to you! You're messin' with things ya don't undastand! Mistah J will make ya sorry if ya don't-gah!"

It takes two more steps, now that he's stepped under the light swinging above, to reach Harley and backhand her across the face. Not hard enough to topple over her chair, but hard enough to turn her head and shut her up for a moment.

"The Joker thinks Batman has you. It'll be a while before he realizes that he's been tricked. And until then, you're all mine. You might want to keep that in mind, Harley."

He's keeping his tone measured, forcibly so. Calm... he has to remain calm. But maybe that's not the right tact to take with the mentally unstable woman before him, because the next thing he knows, Harley is giggling again.

"Hee-hee... all yours, you say? Ya got a bit of a bite to ya, Hood. Not as hard as my pudding smacks me, but it'll bruise by morning all the same. Mistah J won't like that. He won't like that one bit. I'll enjoy my punishment... ya think you'll enjoy yours?"

He was playing into her games. It was time to stop that and refocus this conversation.

"You're going to tell me all I want to know about your 'snookums', Harley. You're going to tell me all about Joker's hideouts, his safe houses, his storage facilities. You're going to tell me everything."

"And what makes ya think I'd do a thing like that?"

Gritting his teeth, Jason curls his hands into fists.

"Because if you don't... I'll make you."

That just gets another laugh, but he cuts it off with a punch to her gut that leaves Harley winded and gasping for air. After that, he begins to ask his questions. But unlike at the start, Harley Quinn becomes a lot less talkative when he ignores her goading and focuses instead on his questions. Eventually, she clams up altogether, save for grunts whenever he hits her in a new spot.

He doesn't break bone. He could, certainly... but even if he's supposed to see Harley as a criminal first and a woman second, it's hard to go that far. And something tells Jason that escalating to broken bones won't do him any better than the carefully calculated beating he's given the female clown so far. But that doesn't do much for his simmering rage. The more Harley stays quiet, the louder Jason gets.

He loses his calm, his cool, his façade. He grows angry, even after telling himself he wouldn't. And in the end, as Harley sits there in silence, her head bowed and her breath coming low and even as he stands over her with nothing to show for the interrogation... Jason loses it, just a bit. His hand comes up and tears the Red Hood that Talia gave him off his head. He's still wearing a domino mask beneath it of course, more by habit than anything else, but that doesn't stop Harley's eyes from widening when she glances up at the sudden sound.

"WHY DO YOU DEFEND HIM?! HOW COULD YOU EVER LOVE A CHILD-MURDERING PSYCHOPATH LIKE HIM?!"

Jason's hands close around Harley's throat as spittle lands across her face from his mouth. He doesn't even mean to spit on her, it just comes out as he rages at her shocked visage. Its clear she recognizes him immediately. But then, Jason hasn't changed as much as he might have liked since the last they... saw each other. He's grown up, yeah... but that's about it.

As his thumbs push into her windpipe, threatening to crush it, Harley opens her mouth but can't form the words. She chokes instead, but then of course she does. He's choking her. Realizing his loss of control, a moment later, Jason rips Harley from the chair and tosses her to the floor, dropping her there as he pants heavily, still standing over her now, but all the more unsure. His emotions were in turmoil, complete and utter turmoil. And he didn't know what to do next.

"S-S..."

Harley slowly looks up at him, and Jason finds himself shocked by the pity he sees in the mad woman's eyes. And then she speaks, the words coming out in a croak, and he goes stock still for a moment as he processes them.

"I'm s-sorry... Robin."

She's sorry. And the worst part is, Jason believes her. Maybe that's why he snaps and does what he does next. To have a woman like Harley Quinn apologizing... it's a step too far. With an inhuman snarl, Jason reaches out and grabs Harley by one of her painted pigtails. At the same time, his other hand moves with a frenzied pace as he draws his cock from his boxers and his pants, ultimately shoving it into her face.

Harley cries out from him pulling on her hair, just as Jason knew she would, and the next thing they both know, he's fucking her mouth. More than that, he's fucking her throat as he brutally pistons in and out of her face hole, both of his hands in her hair now, each holding onto a painted pigtail.

"Hulghk! Hulghk! Hulghk!"

Harley chokes on his cock, gagging spectacularly as her eyes almost immediately begin to water from the savage treatment, drool and saliva flowing off of her bright red lower lip. She stares up at him all the while, and even places her hands on the front of his legs... but not to push away. No, if anything, Harley is completely and utterly nonresistant as he face fucks her with all his might.

And that just makes him angrier. He tore her out of her bindings, he's given her an obvious opening to wound him grievously and escape. And she... she's not taking it. No, instead she's taking his cock down her throat at Mach speeds as he rapes her mouth right there in the middle of the warehouse, all rage and intense hatred. But is it hatred at her... or himself?

It doesn't matter. Jason isn't going to stop. If he can't use her to hurt the Joker directly, he'll use her to hurt him indirectly. At least, that's how his frenzied, broken mind rationalizes his actions as involuntary tears run down Harley's face, the greasepaint she uses running more and more from his brutality. But it's not enough. Or maybe he just doesn't want to see Harley's eyes anymore.

Snarling, Jason tears his cock out of the female villain's mouth, and slams her face first into the ground, going down with her as he kneels behind her, pinning her body to the concrete floor of the warehouse.

"R-Robin..."

Harley's voice is even softer, even raspier than it was before, as she once again says that word. That hated word. Gritting his teeth, Jason uses his grip on her hair to grind her face against the concrete.

"Don't... call me that!"

She whimpers, but he's already grabbing the back of her leather black and red pants. His fingers curl into her belt and the waistband of her leggings, and a moment later he tears it all away, revealing her pasty-white behind to his eyes. She really did have a fine ass, but then she had a fine body all around. The Joker didn't deserve a woman like Harleen Quinzel, but then of course he didn't. That was why he'd had to go and make Harley, taking a promising psychiatrist and corrupting her, morphing her into a mad woman.

Getting up and kneeling behind her, the young man has no problem doing what she asks of him. His cock slides into the blonde from behind and she moans as he fills her with his meat. A moment later, she has another request.

"P-Pull... pull my hair..."

Jason pauses briefly... but in the end, he reaches out and takes up a fistful of Stephanie's hair, causing her to gasp and her inner walls to contract as he draws her head back off the bed. She moans throatily and pushes her hips back in the direction of his thrusting cock.

"S-Spank me, Jason. Give it to me, I'm such... such a naughty girl."

He fears for a moment that she thinks he wants this, that she thinks she has to make him happy... but he can FEEL her reaction to her own words. The mere idea is enough to turn her on, to make her squeeze down around his prick all the harder. So, Jason rears back with his free hand and gives Stephanie a relatively light swat across her derriere, even as he continues to fuck her.

"Harder..."

Smack!

"Harder!"

SMACK!

"Y-Yes, just like that. Don't stop!"

He gives her what the blonde teenage MILF wants, he fucks her, and he pulls her hair and he spanks her. Thankfully, she doesn't progress to demanding he call her names or verbally denigrate her, because he doesn't think he could go that far. Still, this? He's engaged in rougher bedroom play before... not by much though. And as he fucks her, Stephanie very clearly enjoys herself. So much so that he can no longer hold back when her next orgasm arrives, her inner walks milking him too efficiently and too fiercely for Jason to do anything but groan and begin to let loose. He cums, his seed pumping into Stephanie before he can truly think about it.

She doesn't complain though, not even as he pulls out of her and flops down on his side of the bed, panting heavily. Rather, instead the blonde simply rolls over and pants with him for a moment, staring up at the ceiling as they lay side by side. Its only a few minutes later that Stephanie crawls out of bed and goes to the bathroom. The shower turns on, but Jason remains where he is, even as it runs. Eventually, she returns to bed and lets him pull her close as they fall asleep in one another's arms.

-x-X-x-

Blinking awake, Jason watches through bleary eyes as Stephanie hops around on one foot, getting her legs into her pants and clearly getting dressed. When she realizes he's looking at her, she stops and gives him a quick smile for all of a moment before continuing to get ready.

"Hey, sorry... have to head out quick. I've got class in less than an hour."

College, of course... but even still, Jason isn't sure he believes her. Still, he's not about to call her out on it. Rather, after the fun they'd had at the pancake place and then afterwards as well...

"Yeah, no problem. Hey, um... do you think you might want to do last night again sometimes? Like maybe a date? More official?"

Its just a thought. He's been alone, and she was just saying she felt lonely, so maybe they could be less alone together. Not like Jason could have any semblance of a normal relationship with someone who DIDN'T know he went out and beat up criminals while wearing a mask. Why not shoot his shot, right? Unfortunately, he gets a reason why a moment later when Stephanie, having paused at hearing his words, gives him an apologetic look.

"... Sorry, I'm just... I'm not looking for anything serious right now. I didn't mean to give you the wrong impression last night or anything. I just... we h-had fun, right?"

Huh. He's not used to that spike of pain that just went through his heart. Still, he hides his true reaction behind a half-grimace, half-smile as he nods.

"Yeah... uh, forget I said anything, sorry."

Stephanie just shakes her head as she finishes fixing herself up and gives him a smile.

"No biggie!"

She heads for the door but turns back right as she grabs the knob.

"Hey... please don't tell Tim or... anyone else about last night, alright? Promise?"

Jason just stares for a moment, until he realizes her face is growing more and more concerned. In the end, he smiles and nods from where he's still laid out on the bed.

"Yeah... promise."

She flashes another quick smile, and then the blonde girl is gone, the door to his apartment closing behind her. Jason doesn't get up to lock it immediately though. Instead, he just lets out the long, drawn-out sigh that's been building within him and stares up at the ceiling, all alone in a very bare, very sparse bedroom.

-x-X-x-

If you'd told Jason he'd ever be part of a team called the Outlaws again, after what had happened to end the first group, he very well might have socked you in the face. Now, if you'd told him that one of his new teammates would be a Bizarro, one of the many incomplete Superman clones that Luthor had tried to make once upon a time... he likely would have laughed in your face, and then asked what the hell you were smoking.

But that was what happened, and it'd really hit home just what kind of fucking mess Jason's life was. Things had just gone topsy-turvy again somewhere along the way, and before Jason really knew it, he was forming up the Outlaws again, alongside Artemis of Bana-Mighdall and Bizarro. Together, they'd beaten Bizarro's 'master', Black Mask, and then together, they'd also taken down Artemis' ex-bestie and lover, Akila.

Sending that bitch's soul to rest had been real nice, and now here he was in the middle of a big fucking celebration put on by the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall. Jason could admit this much, they knew how to treat their heroes, and they knew how to throw a party. He'd had more than a little to drink at this point and was feeling pretty damn light about the whole affair.

Light enough to really give a good long look at the third member of their new team, the female of the group. If Bizarro was the oddball that Jason couldn't have foreseen teaming up with in a million years, Artemis of Bana-Mighdall was... well, just his speed. A beefy warrior woman with killer moves and a quick wit, she was basically everything that Jason had been falling for over and over again over the years.

Shit, she even had red hair, something that reminded him of both Barbs AND Koriandr at this point. Though it wasn't entirely fair to compare her to either of those women. She was her own person and had her own value in her own right. That was the problem though. If Jason could have fit Artemis into a damn box, maybe she wouldn't have intrigued him so much. But she continued to amaze him, again and again. Every time he thought he had her pegged...

"Jason! Dance with me!"

Cutting through his thoughts, a hand reaches down and takes his own hand, dragging him away from where he'd been instinctively crouched in the shadows. That doesn't seem to bother Artemis none though, and it certainly doesn't stop the grinning red head from extracting him from his not-so-hidden hiding place. With a grunt, the young man finds himself pulled out into the open, barely having time to put down his cup before he's being very physically engaged with by his new female teammate.

Except, she's not so new anymore, is she? It hasn't been long at all, not in terms of weeks or months, but at the same time, it feels like they've lived a lifetime together. And as Artemis, who is very clearly already pretty drunk, bumps and grinds against him, moving her toned body sharply to the music, Jason finds it easy to fall into the beat as well, and react to both it and her in all the proper ways.

They engage in some rather heavy flirting without ever needing to truly say a single word. Their part of the 'dance floor', which in truth is just a large open clearing where the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall are holding this massive party, becomes their own little private fiefdom, and the rest of the world falls away as the two focus on one another. Artemis will be looking into his eyes one moment, and the next she'll be rubbing up against him with her shapely ass and slender back, her hands on his shoulders as she shimmies up and down.

Her physicality is part of what Jason likes best about the red-haired Amazonian, if he's being honest. She's just so... primal. And when she wants something, she'll stop at nothing to get it. It becomes increasingly obvious that she wants him. The way she touches him, the way she allows him to touch her back. It's as if their dance is more about asking for permission to go further than anything else.

Artemis is waiting for him to make a move, funny that, given how impulsive she's been in the short time he's known her. One would expect her to act first, especially with what he's seen so far of the Bana-Mighdall Amazons as well, but perhaps she's trying to be respectful of his culture or something odd like that. Kind of sweet, if that is the case.

Eventually, Jason takes the plunge. With his hands on Artemis' hips and said hips swaying back and forth as she grinds her ass against his crotch in time with the music's beat, Jason abruptly spins the red head around... and kisses her right then and there. He watches as her green eyes go wide for a moment in surprise, but he also feels as she melts into him, pressing herself up against his chest and running her hands down to his sides in turn as they both just hold each other for a moment, their lips pressed together and their tongues intertwining.

Then, Artemis leaps up and wraps her limbs around Jason's neck and waist, only his sturdiness and general reaction time keeping him from falling on his back. If she's disappointed that she's not currently mounting him in the middle of everyone however, the smile on her face doesn't show it when she pulls back and gives him a heated, lustful look.

"Take me to bed, Jason."

For a moment, he is a little self-conscious. A quick glance around shows that there are other Amazons watching them. Seeing this, Artemis grabs him by his chiseled chin and turns his gaze back to face her.

"Don't pay them any mind. They're just jealous... after all, it's not as if Bizarro is exactly one-night stand material, not even for ladies like us."

That brings rather... awful imagery to Jason's mind, and his nose actively scrunches up in disgust. Artemis just laughs and wiggles her toned buttocks against his crotch, smirking as he refocuses on her in a hurry. She doesn't have to say another word. The two leave the area like that, her in his arms and him taking her to the room he'd been given for his part in assisting the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall.

As soon as they're inside the bedroom, Artemis untwines her legs and pushes Jason back towards the bed. He falls atop it, and she's atop HIM a moment later, straddling his waist as she kisses him heatedly. That's not a problem though, and it wouldn't be even if he wasn't drunk. Artemis is hot... smoking even, and she's exactly his type. They've bonded through hardship and through strife at this point. Honestly, it was more a question of why they hadn't done it sooner rather than why they were doing it now. And the answer to that was simple. They'd never had the time before.

They do now, but even with time, Artemis is as impatient as ever. The red head can't wait for them to get out of their clothes, so she doesn't. Instead, she extracts his cock from his pants and flips up her skirt to pull aside her undergarments in one smooth motion. The next thing Jason knows, he's slotted into a hot, wet cunt that's gripping his length HARD as Artemis slides down his shaft moaning.

His hands go to her hips, and he holds her there as she adjusts to his length. Her own hands are palm down on his chest, and Jason stares up into the red head's gorgeous green eyes as her bangs hang over much of her face. But he can always see her eyes, peeking through, gazing down at him, hooded with lust. Then, she bunches up her hands into fists in his shirt and leans in again, smashing her lips against his own as she begins to ride him with wild abandon, fucking herself on his cock even faster and harder than Jason would with a girl he'd never been with before.

But Artemis of Bana-Mighdall is no simple 'girl'. She's not even really comparable to some of the street level female fighters he's worked with in the past. She's more comparable to Koriandr than anything else. The Amazons of Bana-Mighdall weren't QUITE as hidden or secluded as those of Themyscira perhaps, but that didn't mean they weren't particularly alien in relation to Jason's experiences.

Still, he knows how to handle aggressive, needy women. And Jason himself is not weak in any way, shape, or form. Built like a truck, the young man grips Artemis' hips tightly as she bounces herself up and down on his cock, their tongues intertwining all the while. And then he starts to thrust upward, making sure to time it so that his thrusts take place right alongside her pushes down onto his member.

Artemis' green eyes go wide from between her bangs the first time this happens, and she moans into his mouth before shaking and spasming her way through a surprise orgasm. Jason just grins a little as they continue to heatedly and passionately makeout, continuing to slam up into Artemis, giving her as good as he gets.

There's something distinctly primal about their fucking, something rough and brutal. But it's not one of them doing it to the other, it's both of them deciding to escalate things until they're biting at each other's flesh, clawing at each other's skin. Eventually, Jason rolls them both and snags Artemis by the wrists, holding her hands over her head and fucking into her with deep, powerful thrusts as she snarls and spasms like a wildcat. She wants control, and eventually she wraps her legs around him and takes it back, but there's an understanding that they have to share it, that she doesn't get to be in charge all the time.

They're both drunk and stupid, but they're also having the time of their lives, and by the point Jason cums inside of the fiery redhead, she's climaxed again and again around his cock, and is positively mewling from the sensation of his seed spilling into her womb. Collapsing to the side of her, Jason is both surprised and not surprised when she curls into his side almost affectionately a moment later.

Wrapping his arm around her, he drifts off with a smile on his face matched only by the one on hers.

-x-X-x-

The next morning, for the first time in a long time, Jason wakes up with a woman in his arms. They were both a little hungover, and in the end, they basically both wake up at the same time, groaning and cursing the light as it filters into the room and across their faces. Artemis stiffens in his grasp for a moment when she finally realizes he's holding her, but then she relaxes.

Soon enough, they're both sitting up in the bed, pondering what they've just done and what happens next. This wasn't really like Jason's relationship with the old Outlaws. That had been a three-way relationship based on some serious free love, and while Jason and Roy's bromance was entirely platonic, they'd gone to town on Koriandr more than once, giving it to that tight-assed orange sex kitten together more than once.

But this new Outlaws... well, Jason was never going to share Artemis with fucking Bizarro, that was for damn sure. And Artemis... Artemis wasn't Starfire.

"That was... good. Last night was enjoyable, Jason. I had a good time. But we really don't know each other that well, do we?"

Jason looks down into his hands for a moment, before glancing over at the red head.

"I guess we don't... but I'd like to get to know you more, if you'll have me."

Cocking her head to the side, her green eyes peering at him, Artemis purses her lips together. Eventually though, she gets this small, interested smile on her face. A single sharp nod is all he gets as she lets out a sigh.

"... Sure. I'd like that. Still, don't expect anything from me, alright? I'm not ready for another big relationship yet, you know? But... yeah, let's see where things go."

Impulsively, Jason reaches out and laces his fingers in Artemis', taking hold of her hand where it lies between them. The beautiful Amazonian freezes at the sensation, glancing first down at their intertwined hands and then up at his face. When she doesn't pull away, he smiles and squeezes her hand. Seeing that, Artemis smiles too, and squeezes his hand right back.

-x-X-x-

Things hadn't worked out. He was finally in a state of mind where he could acknowledge that without flying into a murderous rage or spiraling into self-destructive depression. It was just... it was so hard keeping it together. Why did nothing ever go right for him? Why was Jason the world's butt-monkey?

He was back on the tropical island, the original Outlaw's island getaway, though more accurately, it'd been Starfire's place before she'd invited them over. Staring out at the ocean, Jason would have loved to get drunk. He would have loved to get smashed, and maybe make some bad decisions without having to really worry about the consequences until he sobered up later.

But no... no. Roy had been the one who got rid of all the alcohol, and after everything that had happened, Jason couldn't bring himself to break the prohibition. It wouldn't be fair to... to Roy's memory. God DAMN IT! The young man opens his mouth and lets out a ragged scream, just throwing his voice, his pain and anguish, out towards the all too calm ocean.

They'd been doing so fucking well, too! The new Outlaws. Artemis, Bizarro, and him. They'd been handling business! They'd even picked up the slack and had been cleaning up Gotham's streets in a nonlethal way, in between dealing with the bigger threats that having a powerhouse like Bizarro or an Amazon like Artemis tended to attract.

But then it'd all turned to piss. Bizarro's degradation had finally fucking caught up to him, and in the rampage that had followed, their floating fortress was gone in a flash, dragging Jason's home, his friend, and his lover into a fucking black hole. Jason himself had been helpless to stop it, thrown clear of the implosion by Artemis a moment before she was gone... probably forever.

Needless to say, Jason had gone on a drunken rampage. It'd been a bender of epic proportions, and... he wasn't proud of some of the things he'd done in the time that had followed. He wasn't proud at all. Eventually, Roy had found him, and he'd saved him from himself. They were both in bad places, and maybe that was what helped Roy pull Jason back from the brink.

Roy had gotten him clean. Roy had gotten his head back on straight. And then Roy had offered him a ride to this new place they'd apparently set up, a place called Sanctuary, some sort of superhero mental hospital. Jason had been understandably leery of the idea, so in the end, while he'd thanked Roy for the offer, he'd ultimately passed.

He wished he hadn't, because the next thing he knew, Sanctuary was all over the news, and everyone involved was dead, including Roy. Maybe if Jason had been there, he could have stopped it. Maybe he could have saved his friend. Or maybe not, because some of the people that died in that attack were far fucking stronger than Jason was. Metahumans with abilities that rivaled those sitting at the top of the Justice League had been killed like dogs. If Jason had gone with Roy, perhaps he'd be dead too.

Jason wanted nothing more than to find out who'd done it though. He would make them pay, he would avenge Roy's death... but no. There were rumors, but Jason didn't have the connections to figure out what the fuck was actually going on. On top of that, what he HAD heard was that Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman were on the case. Literally the Justice League's triumvirate was out there hunting down whoever had done it. That would probably have to be enough for Jason. He wasn't going to get anything better than that.

He was sober right now. Disturbingly so. He was clean of drugs and alcohol in general, and that was thanks to Roy. He couldn't... he couldn't betray his friend's memory, not so easily. So even though every fiber of his being left Jason with the desire to just find and hurt bad people, if he couldn't have the people who'd killed Roy, he was... he was staying here. Because he couldn't trust himself, he couldn't trust his own self-control.

It was better this way. It was-

"Jason..."

The view of the ocean and the sunlight glancing off of the crystal blue water is suddenly blocked as a familiar Tamarian floats into view. Starfire... no, Koriandr, hovers there, her face one of concern, even as she gets closer.

"Jason, I... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He manages to swallow the impulse to laugh, instead shaking his head and gesturing at his side. He's not even bothered with the beach chairs this time, just laying a nice large blanket across the sand as he slowly roasts in the midday sun. Koriandr floats down to the earth and settles onto the blanket with him, looking at him as he tries to look anywhere but her.

"No reason to be sorry, Kori. He was your friend too. We both have reason to mourn."

God, his voice sounds so dead to the world. He wishes he could muster something more for the orange-skinned woman at his side, but its just not coming right now.

"You're right, we do. Perhaps... perhaps we should talk about it."

His instinct is to say no. Why the fuck would he want to talk about it? But... but its Kori. And she's looking at him, and he's never been able to say no to her, not easily. So, with some false starts, they begin to talk about it. They discuss their losses with one another, and though it's not really anything new, and its very halting and stilted in some places, it does help a little.

Jason talks about losing his dad when he was just a kid, and his mom just a few years after that. He talks about dying as a teen. But the tears don't really fall until he acknowledges the simple fact that three of the only four people in the world, he gives a damn about have been lost in the span of a month. It's just Kori left now, and he's not really sure what he's going to do next.

Meanwhile, Koriandr's life hasn't been any better. Even before coming to Earth, she was enslaved and abused by her own sister. She had to get away from that, had to free herself of her bonds and find self-worth in her time on Earth. But something Jason didn't know was her insecurities, the issues she found herself dealing with constantly. The fact that... that she thought she'd been abandoned by the majority of her teammates as they moved onto better things.

That struck home for Jason, and he couldn't help but speak up there.

"I didn't leave for better things, Kori. I left because I didn't want you and Roy to be dragged down to my level, to the fucked-up way my life always goes."

He stares into her eyes, trying to get across the earnestness of his words. In response, Koriandr reaches out and laces her fingers through his own.

"Jason... you were one of the best things that ever happened to me."

Her words strike him like a hammer, right in the chest. And though he's already crying, the tears fall even further, and Kori is crying now too, and finally, finally Jason finds the words that he's never been willing to say to anyone else.

"What... what's the point? Why are we still here, Kori? Is it just to suffer? Is that all life is?"

Staring down at where their hands are joined together, Jason doesn't know what else to say. But luckily, Kori does. Her other hand comes up and orange skin contrasts with tanned human flesh as she palms his face. Jason looks up into the Tamarian's eyes, and when she leans forward to kiss him, he doesn't stop her. If anything, he reciprocates quite easily, and before either of them know it, his arms are around her and Kori is laying atop him as they begin to makeout right there on the beach.

There's a desperation to it that has never been there before, at least not between the two of them. They're... they've been through so much, both together, and apart. But this? Jason can understand this, and if it's what Kori needs, he's happy to give it to her. Maybe it's what he needs too...

Their clothing is either torn off or pulled away and tossed to the side, and soon its just their bodies, their flesh, pressing up against one another, hands roaming over each other as they continue to kiss urgently, heatedly, passionately. Kori's breasts press up against his chest, and one of her hands slides down between his legs to stroke his already hardening cock the rest of the way to full mast. Then, she slides him up inside of her, kneeling on either side of him and impaling herself on his shaft.

As her inner walls clench and cling to him, Jason groans into the Tamarian woman's mouth, and holds her as close as he can. He needs this right now, he needs this... well, 'human' contact might not be the right word, but it's what he means. He needs Kori, and she needs him, and maybe, just maybe, they have each other.

The sex is frenzied, and life-affirming, and more necessary than pleasurable as they fuck one another. Kori rides him roughly and Jason thrusts up into her even as she cries out against his mouth, until finally, their tongues intertwined, they both reach that sweet release together, an explosion of bittersweet pleasure as Jason's seed fills Kori, and Kori's juices flow down the length of his pulsating, throbbing member.

It takes them both a moment to come down from the rush of this, and when they stare into each other's eyes, they find the exact same thing waiting for them there. A ravenous desire for more, a need for validation in one another's eyes, a hope that they can be there for each other, while leaning on the other's shoulder for support.

It's no wonder then, that the two of them spend the rest of the late afternoon in one another's arms, before falling asleep on the beach, curled up close to each other for body heat. Perhaps it's not the safest or most sanitary way to spend the night, but such things are practically meaningless to the two in that moment. Neither is thinking about them, not when they can just lose themselves in each other instead.

-x-X-x-

The next morning comes, and with the sun rising over the horizon, Jason wakes up to find Kori already has her eyes open, her fingers gliding across his muscular chest as she watches him sleep. Her smile is soft and gentle once he makes eye contact with her, but there's something as solid as steel behind it. Leaning forward, Kori plants her lips on Jason's forehead, and then splays out her fingers to keep him pinned down when she pulls back. Holding him in place, the Tamarian stares into Jason's ice-blue eyes.

"I will not give up on you, Jason. And... I won't let you run away anymore. You don't get to decide that your absence is best for me. Only I get to decide that sort of thing. Do you understand me?"

Jason presses his lips together for a moment, not because he disagrees or wants to argue with her, but because Kori's words strike a deep cord, and he's wondering if... eventually, he nods, and the Tamarian lets him up.

"I understand. And I promise, I won't leave unless you ask me to leave."

Kori lets out a sigh at that, and nods back, even as she crosses her arms over her chest. Jason, meanwhile, walks over to his discarded clothing, and more importantly, the red helmet nestled amongst them. As he picks it up, he can practically FEEL Kori's tension ratcheting up behind him, and to be fair, it's probably well-founded. But he doesn't put it on or anything like that. Instead, taking a couple steps towards the ocean, Jason puts all of his strength into tossing the Red Hood out into the sea.

As it flies through the air, Jason brings up the other thing he grabbed from his clothes, and shooting from the hip, Jason presses the button on the small remote in his hand, watching with a sense of finality as the metal helmet explodes a safe distance away. Turning back to a wide-eyed Kori, Jason adopts something of a smile.

"No more bombs around my neck, no more tactical advantages, no more suicidal risks. I promise, I'll try to keep on living. For you... and for Roy."

Koriandr's smile is bright enough to light the sun, or so Jason thinks even as the Tamarian zips forward to hug him. Laughing, Jason hugs her back, letting the now useless remote fall from his fingers as he does so. They're not... they're not together. This isn't romantic love. But maybe that's the problem. Maybe Jason has been chasing 'the one' for so long that he's messed up everything in the process.

Maybe all he really needs is a friend. Kori wants to be that for him, and Jason figures he'll let her. Together, they'll be unstoppable. But he's done being a leader. He'll follow her lead for the foreseeable future, and just maybe he'd see where that took him...

-x-X-x-

The last few months had been... not that bad, admittedly. After reconciling with Koriandr, Jason found himself acting as Starfire's partner, both around the world and even a few times in space. Perhaps one could even call him her sidekick. Honestly? Jason wouldn't have necessarily minded the label. It was nice to take the weight of the world off his shoulders for once and leave things like Gotham to the Bat Family while he helped Starfire save what they could, where they could.

Their relationship continued of course as well during this time, but it never went beyond friends-with-benefits, and that suited both of them just perfectly fine. Neither of them were looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend, and especially not a husband or wife. They were friends, very close friends indeed, and that was enough.

By Starfire's side, Jason felt like he'd been doing some real good. The Tamarian Princess had a bit of a hard-on for slavers and thus human traffickers, and that tended to be what she focused on finding and ending, where ever she could. Jason was happy to help her, and though it led them both into some very dark places, the deepest depths of human depravity that even Jason had ever seen, they always came out the other side, thanks to each other. And they always came out with as many freed men and women as they could.

Stopping slavers was one thing. Saving people, giving them their freedom and their lives back, that was a whole new level of satisfying. Even still, Starfire couldn't always take him along. While they had been off-world together a couple times in the past few months, that was usually more by accident than anything else. Starfire preferred to handle the space missions on her own, telling Jason that he wasn't meant to leave Earth, that it was his home.

He knew how important home was to the Tamarian woman, especially after having hers all but barred from her by her own sister. Starfire could never go home, and it was clear she didn't want that for Jason, didn't even want to so much as risk losing him in space. Seeing that, he was able to give her what she needed, and stay behind at times when she found a cause that required her attention off of Earth.

Even still, Jason could readily admit that the times when Starfire was away from the planet were the hardest. Oh sure, he had others he could turn to... but he didn't like doing that. He didn't enjoy burdening people with his shit, and what he and Starfire had was a mutual sort of shit-burdening that worked real well for him.

Perhaps that's what found him at Roy's grave one day, while Starfire was off-world. Standing there, looking down at his buddy's tombstone, Jason lets out a sigh, smiling half-heartedly.

"Miss you bud."

But he knows he can't spend all day here, and he's already been standing there for at least an hour. So, the young man turns to leave, only to stop dead in his tracks at finding a familiar, equally surprised face staring back at him. A moment later, Donna Troy is blushing, clearly embarrassed at getting caught out. How long she was standing there a few feet away, Jason doesn't know, but he's sure it wasn't too long...

"S-Sorry, I just... I didn't expect anyone else to be here, I guess."

Jason can't help but smile slightly, the corner of his mouth quirking up. He's face to face with one of his oldest crushes, and it's a little embarrassing, but truth be told, he's in a good place right now. Maybe it's awkward for her, but he's... he's alright.

"It's good to see you, Jason. You look like you're doing well."

"You too and yeah, I guess I am. I..."

"Roy talked about you all the time, you know. You were his best friend. And... and his inspiration, whenever he was having a hard go of it. You meant the world to him, and I think he'd be glad to know you were still okay."

And just like that, Jason is no longer alright. It takes a moment for Donna's words to truly hit him, but when they do, they hit like a fucking truck. He tries to keep it together, he really does, but in the end, he simply can't. Breaking down into tears in front of a girl he'd crushed on since he was a lot younger probably wasn't the manliest thing to do, but Jason couldn't bring himself to care.

Of course, he wasn't expecting Donna's arms to close around him a moment later, or the woman to pull him in close, embracing him and letting him cry into her shoulder for who knew how long. But then, she'd always been a little bit unexpected.

-x-X-x-

Time passed, after that fateful meeting, as it was wont to do. Starfire came back from her mission, and Jason went back to helping her out, but from that moment on, weekly visits to Roy's grave had come with weekly meetings with Donna Troy, until eventually, she'd taken the initiative of asking Jason if she wanted to get some coffee.

It had been a little hard, at first. He didn't want to tarnish Roy's memory, and part of him felt like he was betraying Starfire at the same time if he showed interest in another woman. It took the Tamarian woman herself to get his head out of his ass and remind him that they weren't a thing, and on top of that, that Roy would have wanted all of his friends to be happy, especially if he played some part in it.

So even if they'd bonded over their grief for the death of a friend, Jason eventually gave it a shot. Him and Donna started having a date every week, and honestly? It was kind of nice, taking things slow. There were no expectations. They would meet up at Roy's grave, spend a little bit of time cleaning it up and leaving fresh flowers, and then they'd head over to a nearby diner for some food.

They could talk for hours really, if nothing interrupted them. Of course, given who they both were, something almost always inevitably did. If it wasn't aliens attacking Earth, it was mole men breaching the surface, or even some new upstart in the ocean trying to attack the land dwellers. Sometimes Jason had to go, sometimes Donna did, but they always knew, without even having to say it, that they would both be back, same time next week.

And then there came a time when it was surprisingly quiet in their neck of the woods. Be that Earth or otherwise, there was an entire week where they found themselves NOT getting called away to duty, found themselves NOT having to go save some part of the world from some new (or old) megalomaniac. It meant they spent hours more just talking to one another, just spending time in each other's company, but it made the goodbyes all the more awkward for it.

Until one day, one date, Donna finally grabbed him by the wrist as they were in the midst of one of those goodbyes and when Jason looked back at her, he found the dark-haired carbon copy of a younger Wonder Woman biting her lower lip.

"Hey... wanna continue this back at my place?"

Blinking, Jason considers that for a moment. Too long of a moment, because Donna starts to look hurt, and like she felt she'd made a mistake. Before she can pull away however, Jason smiles, knowing the decision he needed to make.

"Sure. I'd love to."

Within a couple minutes, they were in her apartment, and three feet from the door, they were kissing. It was... surprisingly slow and tender, but Jason supposed it shouldn't have been THAT surprising, based on how their entire relationship up to this point had been. Regardless as Donna pushes him up against the counter, their lips smashed together and their tongues pushing into each other's mouths, he realizes he's happy. Well and truly happy.

And... and so long as he makes her happy as well, Jason is fine with this. Things progress as things do, and soon enough, they're moving towards the bedroom, pulling off each other's clothes, kicking off their own pants, getting naked for what's to come. As soon as Jason is out of his boxers, he finds himself unceremoniously tossed onto Donna's bed. The powerful young woman follows shortly after, and as she straddles him, she bites her lower lip again, looking unsure, as if worried that he won't find her forwardness or her aggression attractive.

Nothing to be worried about there. Jason isn't sure there's a damn thing about Donna Troy that he DOESN'T find attractive at this point. Reaching out, he grabs her by her hips and squeezes reassuringly, knowing that he couldn't apply nearly enough strength to hurt her... but then, that's not the point. She gasps at the squeeze, and instinctively grinds her naked cunt against his cock, and a moment later, they're doing the deed.

Donna lifts herself up, and drops herself down on his cock, impaling herself on the thick, meaty member as Jason, already most definitely erect, groans at how tight her insides are, how they feel clinging around his member. Donna, meanwhile, is moaning in her own time, tossing her head back, gasping and mewling for breath as she starts to ride him, rolling her hips this way and that, undulating and gyrating across his length.

She felt so good, wrapped around his cock, and from the expression of pure ecstasy that soon crossed her face, Jason liked to think that he felt pretty good buried inside of her cunt as well. She was certainly acting that way, and in no time at all, an orgasm takes her, causing her body to spasm and her pussy juices to slicken the passage of his cock up into her, her inner walls growing all the wetter and her insides loosening a bit more.

Their crotches are connected now, joined together as every last inch of his cock ends up buried in her hot, velvety depths. Falling over him, her hair acting as a halo around their faces, Donna takes Jason's face in both hands and kisses him all the more hurriedly, all the more desperately. In the end, she's just as hurt as he is, perhaps even as broken. Coming up off the bed, Jason wraps his arms around the young woman's back, holding her close in a lover's embrace and bouncing her up and down on his cock, even as she continues to gyrate and ride him, moaning into his lips and then his ear once their kiss breaks apart again.

Her own arms eventually go around his neck, their bodies molding against one another, melding together. He's... honestly never felt this close to anyone before. It's a wild sensation, one that Jason can say is wholly unmatched by any he's experienced before it. In this moment, he's truly happy, and as Donna cries out, orgasming again, Jason doesn't hold back, he feels his release coming and he lets it go. His seed flows into her womb, and she takes it with a shuddering moan into his ear, their cheeks rubbing against one another as they hold each other close.

Then, it's over. They remain embraced like that for a moment as they each come down from their respective endorphin highs, but once that's done, Donna slips out of Jason's lap and flops to the bed beside him. Then, she grabs him by the wrist and drags him down to her, holding him close and using him like a big teddy bear as she curls up into his chest.

Jason instinctively wraps his arm around her as she finds her preferred place at his side, staring down at her in a bit of abject wonder. Was this... was this what love felt like? He didn't want it to end. He never wanted it to end.

-x-X-x-

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