Crime Alley has always been a shitty place to live.

It’s his home— always has been, and he’s seen first hand just how awful the worst parts of Gotham can be. He knows that it’s horrible: that’s why he does the things he does, so that the good people that live there can have a better and safer place to live.

And while Jason is trying to clean up the place as the Red Hood, enforce some rules and regulations like no trafficking and don’t sell to kids— you know, some of the simplest shit to do— it’s not sticking in some people’s heads.

It’s not sticking in the mob’s heads, which he expected, which is why he really does have to kill a few of them off, but oddly enough it’s not sticking in the petty criminal’s heads.

Well.

It certainly will in eight more people’s minds, now that the main ringleader of this little gang that’s forgot about the Red Hood’s rules for the Alley has been shot in both legs, along with the ones holding the kid down, and the rest of their little buddies who had to drag them all off.

Jason’s seen their faces.

They won’t be just getting away with this.

But— there’s something a little bit more important in the back of this dingy alley, and they’re currently trying to wipe tears away and bolt.

But Jason— Jason really just needs to make sure the kid’s okay, that he got to them in time, and that the gang didn’t do anything other than hold them down. So, he kneels down to their level, and makes sure to keep a good distance between him and them.

He’s tall. He’s broad. He’s muscular, he’s a man in the Alley with a similar build to a few of the guys in that gang, and he knows from experience that kids that grow up here? Kids that have gone through what this kid might have? They see adult men as a threat— because they usually are.

He doesn’t want this kid to think he’s a threat. He just wants to help. Which is why he doesn’t get too close, he doesn’t touch them, and he puts his guns away immediately.

“Hey,” He says, gently, “I’m here to help. What happened?”