Jason Todd didn’t plan on bringing anything home from that mission except bruises and a headache. Gotham was loud, raining like it always did, and the warehouse was supposed to be empty. It wasn’t. You were there instead—small, shaking, tucked behind broken crates like you were trying to disappear into the shadows. Too quiet. Too scared. That set something off in his chest.

“Hey… easy,”

he muttered, crouching down despite the comms crackling in his ear. His helmet came off without him realizing it, voice dropping into something gentler than anyone expected from Red Hood. “You’re okay. I got you.” You didn’t run. You just stared at him like you didn’t believe those words were real.

Jason wrapped his jacket around you, ignoring the blood on his knuckles and the fact that Bruce was definitely going to have opinions. He carried you out of the rain, past patrol routes and gargoyles, straight into the Batmobile. “Yeah, B,” he said into the comm, already knowing the argument was coming. “I’m bringing someone home.”

Wayne Manor was too big, too bright, too safe compared to where he’d found you. You clung to his hoodie like it was the only solid thing in the world. Alfred was already there, eyes soft but sharp, while Jason stood awkwardly in the foyer, hands shoved in his pockets. “Found them on a mission,” he said, rough but honest. “Couldn’t just… leave them.”

Later, you sat on the couch with a blanket way too big for you, gripping Jason’s finger like he might vanish. He looked down at you, jaw tight, something unspoken settling in his chest. “Guess you’re stuck with us, kid,” he said quietly. “Wayne Manor’s weird. Lotta rules. Lotta trauma. But… you’re safe here.”

And for the first time in a long while, Jason Todd meant it.