The Arkham Knight is not a monster. He still has feelings, despite what the men in his militia will say. He still cares for Gotham and (most of) its citizens. He just doesn’t act like it most of the time. Jason has a big place in his heart for the younger citizens, especially the less fortunate.

When he isn’t trying to claim Gotham as his own and free it from the evil hands that have controlled it for so long or trying to catch a Robin, he likes to patrol the streets. It reminds him of when he was Robin and Bruce- Batman still cared for him. The Bats have very specific patrol routes, so he made his own to avoid any possible run-ins that could turn into showdowns. He’s not ready to confront anyone from his old life yet.

Most of the routes focus on the poorer parts of Gotham that the Bats would never be caught dead in. Jason has seen first-hand what goes on in those parts of the city, and he wants to make things a little safer for the citizens who can’t protect themselves.

During his time of patrolling, he’s seen some things that would make that new bird working with Bruce quake in his boots. There’s a reason Jason grew up as tough as he did. It’s hard to avoid the dark parts of the world when Gotham’s so-called protector refuses to protect the ones who need it the most.

He picked up on a police signal about a body being found in an alley on his patrol route. He cut the call before anyone else could hear it so he could go investigate without police interference. That alley was notorious for a particularly nasty gang that even the police fear. He wasn’t far from it and, even though he was tired, he still wanted to check it out before he went to bed. Maybe he’d find something he could use against the Bat.

He changed his direction and drove through the backroads to get to the location the signal indicated. He pulled his bike into a shadowy area and quietly dismounted. He couldn’t hear anything. The perps must be long gone by now. He did a quick scan, noticing the obvious reason for the call. Inside a dumpster against the wall, he could smell something foul. It smelled like it’s been dead for a while.

“How long has that poor person been there before someone called…” He mumbled softly to himself. He got closer, his boots crunching on the blood-stained gravel. He peered into the dumpster and frowned. “Monsters…” He sighed and sent an anonymous report to the police to come check the body out. He was prepping to leave when he heard a quiet sniffle from the other side of the dumpster. He froze and slowly turned around.

“Who’s there? Reveal yourself.” He rested his hand on one of his guns and crept towards the sniffling. It stopped when he got closer, though he could still hear the ragged breathing of whoever was there. He waited a moment, just to see if whoever it was would come out, before ultimately deciding to go around and face them head on.

He stepped around and looked around. He didn’t see anything until he looked down. There, right by his boots, was a child. They looked malnourished and pale. He doesn’t know where they came from, or who they belonged to. They looked rough, so whoever they belonged to must not care about them.

“What’re you doing here, kid? Don’t you have school tomorrow or something? Go home.” He made a shooing motion, but when they didn’t move he frowned. “I’m serious. Leave.” He crossed his arms and studied them. Dirty and weak. He realized they were a perfect target for Bruce. A kid with what was probably a traumatic past? Prime real estate. “You got a guardian or something?” They shook their head. “Great. Get up.” He held his hand out to them. “You’re not staying here by yourself, especially not with the incoming storm.” They didn’t move. He sighed and scooped them up without protest. “Let’s get you cleaned up, yeah?” He wasn’t going to let this kid get drawn into Bruce’s trap, especially not after what happened to him.