Years ago, in a condemned manufacturing facility off the docks in Jump City…

 

“Excellent work, Jason Todd. You make an impressive thief. Congratulations, you’re worthy of your new name. Your new title, Red X. The suit looks good on you. Now, put your mask back on. It’s time for your next assignment. The Titans.”

 

“I did what you asked of me, Deathstroke. I want this tracker out of my arm.”

 

“Don’t let your new suit go to your head. I can’t have you running off. Now that you belong to me, I need to know where you are at all times. I need to keep track of my new apprentice.”

 

“I’m not for that. I want out.”

 

“You want out? Is that what I heard?”

 

“Did I stutter? I’m over it.”

 

SMACK. Deathstroke strikes him across the face.

 

“How dare you speak to me so disrespectfully. After everything I’ve done for you.”

 

Shaken, yet heating up, Jason speaks defiantly once more.

 

“You have me on a leash. You won’t let me go out, I can’t see the sun when I want to, I can’t eat or sleep when I need to-“

 

“Grow a pair, Red X. You’re enduring the same treatment as your average soldier.”

 

“Soldiers have each other. You won’t let me talk to anybody but you. You’re watching my every move. You’re isolating me and I don’t like it.”

 

“Silence!” 

 

“Stop telling me what to do, Slade!”

 

“I’m your Master!” 

 

Deathstroke grabs a wadded up bundle of clothing from a nearby table and throws it at Jason. He catches it. It’s Robin’s ruined uniform. 

 

“Never forget what I saved you from. I saved you from this pathetic Little Robin who couldn’t save himself! Would you prefer I left you to die in Arkham Asylum at the hands of the Joker, the way Batman did?”

 

“I’ve given it a lot of thought.”

 

“That’s your problem. You don’t get to have your own thoughts anymore. I’m in charge of you now.”

 

“You saved me, but you also kidnapped me.”

 

“I freed you.”

 

“I don’t think you really did. Not in the long run. I don’t wanna do this anymore.”

 

“Sounds like you need to be disciplined. I’ll beat you much harder than Joker ever did. But I’m a merciful father figure. You have ten seconds to get on your knees and call me your Master before I show you what a real beating feels like.”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

“DAAAHHH!” Deathstroke lunges at him!

 

With nothing left to lose, Jason grabs a nearby loose wire, connects it to a battery on the suit and risks getting electrocuted so he can shock his opponent. Deathstroke, certain he’s bluffing, grabs him by the throat. 

 

“You’re not suicidal are you? That’d be a waste.”

 

ZAP! The electricity runs through the suit, spares it’s wearer, and courses through Deathstroke’s body instead.

 

“GRAH!” he cries out, collapsing. “Uggghhhh… that was… foolish.”

 

Jason throws four sticky red Xs over the mercenary’s hands and feet, pinning him to the wall with a SLAM!

 

“Thanks for saving me from the Joker. Really. But you’re the foolish one, letting me out all so you could make me into your little project. You’re no different than Batman.”

 

“Ungrateful! Ugh, you belong to me. I’m the reason you’re still alive!”

 

“I belong to no one. I’ll do what’s best for me now that I’m free.”

 

He goes to a shadowy corner where he knows his mentor’s been storing armor and weapons. There, he finds his mask, puts it on, then starts strapping different gadgets to his suit.

 

“Mine.”

 

“I’m gonna break both of your legs, apprentice!”

 

“I’m not afraid of you, Slade Wilson.”

 

“You should be! I’ll make your life a living hell, Red X!”

 

“Red X. It does have a nice ring to it. I have to agree with you, the suit looks better on a dead Robin than it ever did on Boy Wonder. Something’s snapped in me. I hope that’s obvious.”

 

“Your trauma will kill you. You need structure.”

 

“My trauma is mine. My life is mine. If I wanna end it, that’s my choice. I submit to no one but myself. You got that?!”

 

“When I get my hands on you, I’m gonna beat you so hard-“

 

“Thanks for the lead on the suit and thanks for the weapons and the armor. Oh and about the tracker. I’ll use this knife you got here to get it out. I’m not like the other Robin. I like a little bit of PAIN. Say goodnight!”

 

He dashes to him and slams into him with an elbow to the neck. The blow is so forceful that it stuns the irate mercenary. But unconsciousness grabs Red X as well, carrying him to another plain, another day, another time. Somewhere much more peaceful, and gritty in a way that’s far more quaint.

 

An abandoned cathedral. 

 

He opens his eyes.

 

He’s lying in recovery position on a dilapidated pew in the front row. Before him, chillin’ on the steps to the pulpit, Dante wipes one of his guns with a blood-stained doily. A ceremonial handkerchief that he’s repurposed for the sake of cleaning his weapons. His motions are tranquil, his physique reminds Robin of Grayson.

 

“Dick?”

 

“No thanks. You awake for real?”

 

“Arg, yes.” Robin sits up with a groan and holds his head, his eyes blurring. He tries to focus on the sunlight filtering through the stained glass. It grazes Dante in a strange way, revealing to the young hero that the demon killer’s shadow has a set of feathered wings.

 

“Didja have a nightmare?” he asks.

 

“Yeah,” Robin nods, then shakes his head. “No I mean, no. Just dreaming about the past.”

 

“Have some water.” 

 

He tosses him a bottle of water. Still weak, Robin fumbles, almost missing it. But once he’s opened it, he downs it in one go, droplets trailing under his chin with each slobbery gulp.

 

“Oh man, thanks.”

 

“There’s more under the second row."

 

“Cool. Ugh, jeez. So, you live in a church?” he says, wiping his face with his forearm. “This pew is pretty comfortable, oddly enough.”

 

“I like to lie down on the pews when I need to recuperate. They’re pretty sturdy.”

 

“That makes sense. I’ve never met an angel before.” He hears himself sniffle, then rubs his bloodshot eyes. “Ugh, was I crying? Ugh, that’s embarrassing.”

 

“I’m only half angel,” Dante clarifies, lighting up a cigarette, somehow without a match or a lighter.

 

“Oh-hoho, only half angel? Is that why they gave you the fixer-upper?”

 

“You probably need to eat something,” Dante exhales, the smoke made pretty by rays of green and pink coming from the window’s leaded glass.

 

“Does this building have a shower?” Robin asks, giving his armpits a whiff.

 

“It has a tub. It’s a shithole, this church, but it’s my shithole. I have some extra clothes you can wear. Dunno if they’ll fit but come on, I’ll show you.”

 

He gets up, Robin follows, asking, “You’re not a sex trafficker are you?”

 

Up the platform and to a cabinet behind the pulpit, they go. Dante finds a fresh bar of soap, unwraps it, and passes it to him.

 

“Actually I am. Half angel, half sex trafficker. Clean towels and clothes are in the wardrobe. More toiletries and first aid are in the cabinet. I gave you meds earlier, so you should be good for a while.”

 

“Where’s the tub?”

 

Dante points to an empty dunking station.

 

“Right here.”

 

“That looks like a baptismal tub, man.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Isn’t that kinda sacrilege?”

 

Dante shrugs, asking sincerely…

 

“You wanna bathe outside with the hose instead?”

 

“Not really.”

 

“Fill it up with the pump then drain the water when you’re done. I gotta head out for a little while.”

 

He turns to leave him but Robin reaches for his arm.

 

“Hey no, wait until I’m done so I can come too.”

 

“The only food I have in here, is a bunch of stale bubblegum, in a candy dish, in the narthex. Gonna need to leave now to fix that. See you in an hour!”

 

Robin watches him exit the sanctuary, then exit the church. 

 

He’s got the whole place to himself now. With plenty of privacy, the idea of a warm bath is more than appealing.

 

After three hours…

 

Dante calls out upon returning with a satchel.

 

“Where you at, kid?” 

 

Robin emerges wearing Dante’s Neo outfit. Red and black, it fits him well. 

 

“Yo.”

 

“Yo!” Dante sup nods him with a grin. “You look like you could be my little brother."

 

He pulls a bag of fried chicken out from the satchel, and tosses it to him. Robin catches it, no problem this time.

 

“Oh sweet!” he exclaims, his mouth watering from the smell. “Is this all for me?”

 

Dante takes a seat in the pews. 

 

“Yup. Sorry for making you wait so long. I needed to check up on someone on the other side of town.” 

 

Robin joins him, pigging out, wide-eyed and fascinated by him. After a few seconds of munching, he asks…

 

“Sooooo I’m dead, right?”

 

“What makes you say that?”

 

“Well cause, when I was in the bath, I saw my life flash before my eyes, in my reflection, in the water. And I’m in a church with you. So, I’m dead, right?”

 

“Dead people don’t get hungry."

 

“How do you know? Do dead people get thirsty?” 

 

He gets up and helps himself to the water stash under the pews.

 

“I don’t think so.”

 

Robin sits next to him and shrugs.

 

“Oh. So, am I dead or not?”

 

“No. God, no. Do you wanna be?”

 

“Ha! You’re funny.”

 

“I’m being serious. Not about killing you, about saving you. Did you not want me to? Because you weren’t exactly able to defend yourself when I found you.”

 

“Oh no, bro, I love that you saved me.”

 

“Okay good.”

 

“I’m glad I’m alive.”

 

“Very good. Question.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“What’s with the letter, J, on your face? Did Joker do that to you?”

 

“Oh,” he becomes sober. “Right, that. Yeah, Joker did that to me.”

 

“If you don’t want it there anymore, I got something that’ll remove it. Same stuff I put on that black eye you had.”

 

“You got something that’ll remove a scar?”

 

“Yeah, the only reason I didn’t do it before was cause I thought maybe you wanted it there.”

 

“Hell no!”

 

“Okay, wait right there.”

 

He gets up and leaves the sanctuary. Robin follows him to the bathroom, where Dante shuts the door on him.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Sorry, butcha gotta wait out there.”

 

“If you say so.”

 

He thoroughly washes his hands in the sink. Then, he summons his sword and intentionally cuts his palm. After that, he sheathes his blade behind his back and opens the medicine cabinet. 

 

There, he locates a plastic container, opens it, and pours white starch into the blood. With his fingertips, he rubs both substances together, until his cut heals and the cream turns pink. His sword disappears as he opens the door. Robin catches sight of this but doesn’t think much of it.

 

“Alright, it’s ready. This should be enough.”

 

His unsuspecting guest lets him rub this bodily concoction onto his scar, where it heals his cheek in real time, rapidly and completely. 

 

“Smells like, I dunno, clouds or something,” says Robin.

 

“Take a look in the mirror.” 

 

Robin does so, his eyes widening with joy. He examines his face, stroking his smooth skin.

 

“No way. The J, it’s gone. Oh my God, what was that stuff? Where’d you get it?”

 

“From my mother. Let me know if you want more.”

 

“You don’t wanna use it on your own scars?”

 

“Doesn’t work the same way on me.”

 

“My face, it looks… normal. It’s, it’s funny. My real name is Jason.”

 

“It’s not Robin?”

 

“No, it’s Jason. Jason Todd. When Joker cut me there I thought, I can live with this, my name starts with a J too, but it kinda made me feel like Joker was a part of me in a way.”

 

“I’m gonna give you the mattress.”

 

“The mattress?”

 

Dante tilts his head, motioning Robin to follow him into an office. There, he points to a twin bed. The only one the church has to offer. Tucked in the corner, there’s no pillow and the blanket’s pretty small.

 

“You gonna tell me you’re not tired?”

 

“I am.”

 

“Rest, go to sleep for the night if you want.”

 

“Sounds good. Oh, wait!”

 

He sprints back into the sanctuary, grabs the bag of fried chicken and some more water, then sprints back.

 

“Cool if I eat in the bed?”

 

“Do what you want.” He glances out the window. It’s starting to snow. “Shit.”

 

“What?”

 

“When it snows in the Wood of Suicides, it gets frigid inside the church. It’s no big deal for me but for a human, this is gonna be a problem.” 

 

He pauses, quietly coming up with a solution.

 

“What are we gonna do?”

 

“Hmm… I think I know. Okay, I got this. Need to piss or brush your teeth? Go use the bathroom now because it’s about to get really cold in here.”