Chapter Text
Clark Kent, Superboy Prime that is, was enjoying his latest victory the best way he could: with a bottle of Earth Prime Coca-Cola, which he swears tastes different than any other, and a pile of new comic books he’d acquired the previous Wednesday – he had a lot to catch up on. Most important of all was the comic he was currently reading, the last issue of Jason Todd’s own ongoing run, Red Hood: The Red Son. He turned each page with wide eager eyes, devouring the plight of Jason as he unravelled the mystery behind the disappearance of several street kids from Gotham over the past few months.
He’d been anxious to acquire this issue, the previous one had left him on the edge of his seat with Jason identifying a large trafficking ring taking advantage of Gotham’s most vulnerable. Even more anxiety inducing had been the fact Batman had helped Jason with this information, the stakes high and personal. Bruce had set his own issues with Jason aside to help him beat this enemy, to help him right his wrongs.
He read through heartbreaking dialogue, Jason and Bruce sharing their thoughts openly for the first time in… a very long time. He read as Batman took off his cowl, revealing sad glossy eyes that begged Jason to let him help him. Jason in turn had removed his own mask, the current design the one that covered half of his face – Clark liked this one the most, he liked it when Jason’s unruly hair with a white streak was illustrated. The alliance was formed, reconciliation in sight.
The last pages of this most recent issue featured parallel panels showing Batman and Red Hood preparing to take down the ring, all the ways in which they did things the same and the ways they differed drawn with detail. Clark looked at each panel with attention, picking them apart to try and extend the enjoyment of this issue until he noticed something… In the background of the second last panel was the bat-computer: an emergency message on the screen from the Justice League blaring at Batman. The final panel showed Jason’s left foot bare, his boot fallen next to his feet – the lighting in the colouring of the drawing gave it a green-ish hue.
“No.. no… no… hang on!” – Clark shouted sitting up. – “No… no, this can’t be!”
He rushed getting up and skirted towards the cardboard box where his comics lived for now, digging through books and single issues reaching for the one he’d kept after all these years; his original print of Death in the Family. He flipped the pages until he found it, the panel showing Batman carrying Jason’s lifeless body out of the rubble. He focused on Jason’s feet and there it was, the singed and damaged green pixie boot on his right foot, his left foot bare and bloody.
“You motherfuckers… Are you… No this can’t… this can’t be! This is the first time he’s had an ongoing run in years! It’s great writing too! How dare you?!”
Clark grinded his teeth pacing around his empty flat, he’d just moved in this past week.
You see, this is where I found myself at a bit of a cross-roads… I’m pretty damn sure Jason Todd will be killed off iminently by his writer but I don’t actually know for sure and see… Jason Todd? I can’t just fly to Gotham now and find him and warn him cause frankly, I’d sound insane… I’ve never met him! I’ve wanted to… for a while, but I’ve been busy and my previous writers were not so… welcoming of my input… despite there being an entire fandom backing me up… Jason Todd was the Robin I grew up with… he was the Robin I looked up to and saw in the comic book pages and tried to emulate in my daily life and then they had to, they just had to kill him off. To say that was traumatising would be putting it lightly… We were the same age and he was… he was everything I wanted to be and then he was brutally murdered. It’s no surprise really that I undid that the moment I shattered through reality… He and I… we’ve been through a lot lately, and I thought we were both finally on the right track! Redemption! The undoing of years of mischaracterisation and antagonism! How freaking dumb of me… they decide to kill him off before I even get a chance to meet him… Like hell… There was no way I was going to let that happen…
Superboy Prime took flight from the busy streets of Metropolis through the pages of the script until he found himself back home: Earth Prime. He flew to San Francisco, where the author of Red Hood: The Red Son lived – he knew the address, this wasn’t the first time he’d knocked on Jon Rey’s window with great grievances to share, granted, most had been about his own writing.
“Jon?” – He asked stepping inside the messy apartment, the office dark and covered in stacks of paper.
Jon walked in hesitantly wearing a thick robe and no shoes. He stopped the moment he spotted Clark, turning on a lamp.
“Oh… hey Superboy…” – He said reaching for the chair in his desk and sitting down with a loud exhale, rubbing his eyes. He signaled for Clark to sit on a reclining chair by him. – “This is unexpected… I haven’t written you in years…”
“It’s not about me.” – Clark said standing in the middle of the room with his arms folded.
“Then what is it, kid?”
“Jason Todd. You’re going to kill him aren’t you?”
“How- how the hell do you know that?”
“I’m not dense! The trafficking ring - personal stakes; making amends with Batman - good angst, priming the reader; the conclusion? All the ways they are alike and unalike-”
“Dissimilar…”
“Whatever… just as Bruce gets whisked away by the Justice League and Jason is ready to walk out the house with ONE BOOT ONLY!”
Jon sighed and leaned back. – “Was it… was it too heavy handed? Listen I thought it would be a nice parallel that only the biggest fans would get…”
“Am I right? Are you going to kill him?” – Clark’s tone shifted, less angry and more sad.
“Ugh man… I had no idea you read comics like, the comics about the people you now live among… that’s…the people you know… that’s kinda weird, no?”
“Well I don’t know Jason Todd…”
“Was it…” – Jon stopped himself feeling a headache creep in – had he written Prime’s punch bringing Jason back to life and therefore made it so Clark cared about Jason or… or had Clark somehow influenced him… planted the seed of the idea and made it so he could bring Jason Todd back from the dead so he could meet him?
“What?”
“Never mind. Listen, it’s gonna be better for him this way… it’ll be a great heroic death that we can then do something with later on… I won’t spoil it but we need this reset. This character has been going nowhere for ages! We’re giving him a heroe’s departure and then…”
“You won’t spoil it?? Motherfucker this is a real person you’re talking about!”
“No, Clark… He’s not. Maybe to you he is but to us he’s a character, and characters go through trials and challenges and they need conflict to further their… Character! You should know! Comic books wouldn’t be what they are if characters got to live happily ever after at the end of every run! I know you kids hate it when they drop the mantle or break up the relationship but it’s important! It makes for a triumphant return! It pays off, it’s plot!”
“Well maybe… so what, you’ll have me bring him back up again?”
“Well no, this run ends here… with the next issue… there isn’t a follow up for now… There’s a couple offers but first the main line will have to set up and see through the next big event and then we’ll do a reset… there’s more than a few characters falling through the cracks you know?”
“I can’t believe this! You’re killing him and you don’t even know how long he’ll stay dead for…”
“It’s better this way Prime, it’s a good story… you’ll enjoy it…”
“I… no! I can’t allow this! Scrap it!”
“Prime…”
“I finally get a chance, Jon! I finally get a chance to meet him on my own terms now and you kill him?”
“You care about Red Hood that much?”
“Of course I do! Me and thousands! You know you’re gonna get backlash for this!”
“I think I can handle some hate mail…”
“Scrap it, Jon… I’m serious…”
“You’re being unreasonable Prime… Listen, it’s done… it’s written and illustrated and inked… printed… It’s Friday for crying out loud! You can’t stop it…”
“It’s… this is it?” – Clark asked with wide eyes.
“Yes… Hey don’t… Don’t do anything st–” – Superboy Prime flew out of Jon Rey’s apartment back into the pages of his story determined to stop Jon’s plans. – “Oh god… what have I done?” – Jon asked himself rushing to unlock his computer, pulling up the pages of the final issue in fear he’d find a red cape instead of a red hood covering the panels.
Superman flew out of Jon’s apartment and back into the pages of Red Hood: The Red Son hoping he was not out of time.
Okay… it’s Friday… there’s plenty of time till’ Wednesday! Crap… there’s plenty of time till’ Wednesday… this isn’t good… this is bad this is really really bad… If I can keep him alive until publishing day then… then he should be fine, he should be safe… I’m not gonna go on a killing spree, I’m not gonna twist Jon’s neck despite him having earnt it frankly… no no… I will rewrite his story…
Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt the current programme to shake things up a bit! Have you ever wished you favourite character had never been touched by the writer with a seriously debatable backstory and a track record for literal character assassination? I sure as hell know I do… See I’ve kept my distance for a while, I paid my dues, I did my time… I’ve gone through some stuff and now I got myself a new writer who’s got my back for once. For once I can stop pretending I don’t know why Jason Todd was brought back from the dead with a punch… For once I can stop hiding away behind being just an antagonist and a canon plot hole stuffer… No more! I am not going to sit back and watch Jason Todd die again – not when I’ve never even been allowed to meet him. Jason Todd is not dying, not on my watch.
Jason kept checking his phone trying to reach Batman – he hadn’t heard from him all day and he hadn’t shown up at the agreed time and place. Jason shook his head and loaded his gun.
“Can’t rely on anyone… why would I think it would be any different this time? It’s me myself and I at the end of the day isn’t it? Come, let’s burn this house down…”
He snuck into the warehouse knowing exactly how many men and weapons were inside, ready to take down the ring master and save the poorest children of Gotham.
He moved from outside in, taking down man after man with stealth until he reached the center of the room. He checked his guns one final time when one of the fallen thugs was spotted, sending the warehouse into a frenzy – alarms blaring and shouting ensued.
Come on… show yourself… – Jason thought hitting more men on the legs and shoulders, he’d promised Bruce not to kill anyone and he still held out on hope that he’d show up.
He didn’t linger long behind a crate, moving around acrobatically and shooting to slow the men down until he felt someone tug at him. He was halfway through countering whoever had dared come close enough when he felt high speed winds blow behind him: his back suddenly unsupported and cleared, there was no one there anymore. He carried on seeing blue flashes in his vision, the men slowly being removed like obstacles clearing out his path.
He was finally face to face with the ring leader when an unaccounted automatic machine gun fired at him. He barely had time to react, his dodge being intercepted by a body stepping in front of him, shielding him almost entirely. He’d begun the movement before he’d been shielded, his side exposed and hit by a bullet. He grunted and gritted his teeth leaning his hand on the back of the man shielding him. Clark widened his eyes feeling Jason’s hand on his back unexpectedly – it felt large and warm against his skin and he found himself tensing at the touch.
“Hang on!” – Clark shouted over the final shots fired, police sirens replacing the loud sound of the machine gun.
He turned around to find Jason straightening himself up, aiming his gun at the ring leader with one hand while the other clutched his side – bloody. He shot at the man hitting his leg making him unable to run away.
“Superman?” – He asked panting.
“Sorta… let me get you–”
“I’m fine… don’t let him get away…” – Jason said through gritted teeth.
Clark looked at his injury with his x-ray vision, the bullet went deep but had missed any vital organs.
“You’ll bleed out… stand still…” – He said before zooming away, tying up the ring leader and setting him up for police to find.
By the time he returned Red Hood was gone, a puddle of blood left where he’d been standing.
Jason drove his bike swerving like he usually did, except this time it was not on purpose. He managed to get home just as his hearing became muffled, the honking not bothering him anymore. He made it up the stairs step by slow step, leaving bloody handprints on the railing and almost tripping over himself. Whoever that Superman was he’d been right…
Goddammit Bruce… I can’t die like this… where are you?
Jason could feel himself bleeding out and running out of time. He almost fell over the last step and made it to his door, hunched and clutching his side. He was in pain, a hell of a lot of pain and he gritted his teeth through it while he shook uncontrollably.
I… I don’t wanna die again… come on Jason… just a little more… just open the door… just get home… please, I don’t wanna die…
He managed to unlock the door after a few failed attempts, falling over as the threshold and crashing on the ground. His vision turned black, Jason was out.
Clark found Jason collapsed on the floor not long after he’d lost consciousness. The door wide open, his identity at risk, his life on the line. Clark picked him up and closed the door with a kick, rushing Jason to his kitchen table. He shoved a collection of guns and munition to the floor and placed Jason’s lifeless body on the table before scanning the room for anything he could use to get the bullet out. He found a first aid kit in the kitchen, some surgical pliers in it that had picked out many a bullet from his body before.
“Okay man… sorry bout this but I can’t cauterise you before I get the bullet out…” – He said coming closer to Jason and ripping his shirt off.
He paused seeing the wound, a small entry hole bleeding profusely on the left side of Jason’s abdomen. He touched his skin, feeling his muscles hard and defined under his fingers and widened the hole, piercing the pliers inside and going straight for the bullet – his x-ray vision making sure he could be as surgical as possible. He grabbed the bullet and was pulling it out when Jason woke up, screaming from the pain and grabbing Clark by the neck.
“Easy… Jason… easy…” – Clark said keeping steady despite Jason’s deep breathing.
Jason groaned and grimaced in pain, looking down and seeing the metal poking out his belly. He loosened his fingers and dropped his arm and in one fast movement Clark ripped the bullet out.
“Sorry bout that… hum…” – Clark said looking down at Jason, his white streak messy and curlier than on the pages, his eyes hauntingly green and his face… he’d been done dirty by most illustrators out there, Jason looked like a god to Prime’s eyes. His jawline was squared and lips poutty, he had a scar splitting his eyebrow and his eyes were hooded and deep set, his gaze intense even now while he struggled staying awake.
“What?” – Jason asked struggling to keep his head from rolling to the sides.
“I can cauterize you… with my hum… with my heat vision but that’s… I don’t know how to do stitches… I’ve never had to…”
“No… pass… no burning…” – Jason said pulling himself up to his elbows. – “Help me uhm… help me get to a chair…”
Clark obeyed, dragging Jason down to a chair where he slumped, his ass on the edge of the seat and his feet twisted, he was clearly losing sensation on his extremities.
That was the moment I realised I was acting like a comic book character instead of like someone who’d been human once… I can’t stitch him up, I have no clue how to do this but I can fly, I could get him to Gotham General in under a minute!
“Hang on Jason… I think… Maybe I should take you to a hospital instead.” – Clark said still holding onto Jason, one hand on his side and the other on his shoulder.
“You hum… you look younger than Clark, you don’t sound like him either… – Jason said looking down at the wound and inspecting it.
“Yeah I’m younger… time stuff is… whatever… I’m still Clark just… a Clark from another Earth…”
“You know my name… You know another Jason from another Earth?” – He asked pointing to the first aid kid while letting his head hang back. Clark struggled focusing seeing Jason’s neck veins and his adam’s apple bulge out.
“Not exactly… I just know of you…”
“I can’t see the hole… Can you… can you help me clean it up a bit? I need to apply some lidocaine on it…” – He picked up the small tube of cream and held it between his fingers while he closed his eyes.
“Hey stay with me… why am I listening to you?” – He asked himself patting Jason’s stomach dry with some gauze, causing him to hold back a groan. – “I need to take you to a hospital.”
“I will kill you if you do.” – Jason said with a serious tone, Prime looked up at him to find his stare intense and unbreaking. – ”Let me do this, help me out and let me do this super…”
“Fine…” – Clark continued cleaning and pressed the wound to slow the bleeding. – “Wait hang on… are you just gonna… are you gonna stitch yourself up with some topical lidocaine? Are you kidding me, what the fuck is this?”
“Shh don’t wake the neighbours…” – Jason said holding back laughter. – “I don’t like needles…”
“You’re about to stitch yourself up with barely any analgesic, what are you talking about?”
“That needle is fine, it’s the other type I don’t like…”
“Oh… yeah right…” – Of course he has to have a fear of injectables… goddamn it this man can’t catch a break…
Clark pulled the gauze out and pulled up a chair and sat across from Jason as he began stitching himself up.
“Mhhmmpgghmm… Clark… Should I call you Clark?”
“Yeah, it’s my name…”
“Can you hum… can you hold the wound closed? It’s kinda hard to do this one handed…”
Clark nodded and helped Jason pinch the skin, helping him stitch himself up. Clark watched without taking a breath while Jason gritted his teeth and stitched himself up fast and efficiently. His body was insanely muscular and defined, his abs having slowed the bullet from penetrating deeper. He lost himself watching Jason, so much he barely realised he was almost done, and staring back at Clark.
“You’re flinching…” – Jason said watching Clark’s lips tensed.
“You’re stitching yourself with no anesthesia, of course I’m flinching…”
“Not like you know how it feels…”
“No, I do actually… every stitch I’ve ever gotten was completely numbed and even the sting was…” – He vibrated for a moment and shook his head.
“Huh…” – Jason said frowning at Clark’s words.
Their fingers touched each other’s as Jason tied the final stitch, dropping the needle on the table beside him and pressing gauze onto the wound. He exhaled loudly breaking Clark’s daydream and grunted.
“We look like two idiots…”
“Huh?” – Clark asked looking at Jason with question marks on his eyes.
“There’s a shirt between your holes…” – He said laughing while frowning. Clark laughed in response, a laugh that sounded nothing like the one Jason had heard from Superman before. – “Did you rip mine?”
“Yes…”
“Damn… was a nice shirt…” – Jason smiled while he blinked long and hard. He kept his eyes shut and his expression relaxed some.
“Jason? Jason are you okay?”
“I’m fine… just lost an unreasonable amount of blood… not my first time… Listen… who the hell are you? Appreciate the shield and all but… you’re not Superman so come on, fess up.”
Clark sat back and crossed his arms shaking his head.
“I’m a Clark Kent from another Earth. I was born and raised human for most of my life, I was not always Superman. I come from an Earth where you, Jason Todd, are a comic book character, that’s how I know who you are.”
“A comic book character?” – Jason asked opening his eyes and staring at Clark, at his defined forearms pressed against his chest, his shoulders rounded and wide.
“I know how it sounds but it’s… yeah… It’s why I showed up… I was… I was reading your comic and I caught on that you were in danger…”
Jason pulled himself up, sitting up slightly and watched Clark follow his movement with hawk eyes.
“Well… thanks I guess…”
“Yeah… of course…”
“So… you were reading what was going on in my life…”
“Yeah…”
“Pft… that’s stupid… why would anybody read that?”
“Well… for you… You’re Red Hood, Jason Todd… you’re-” – Clark tuned in to a sound distant and loud, a booming coming from the city he’d sworn to protect in Clark’s absence. – “Shit! I almost forgot! Lois is gonna kill me!”
He stood up wiping blood off his hands.
“Sorry I gotta go, I’m filling in for Superman and something just went off in Metropolis!”
He disappeared from Jason’s sight like a flash and returned only a moment later wearing his Superman suit. Jason saw him move like a blur and found himself falling into his bed a moment later, carried over a fraction of a second and finally alone.
“Clark?!” – He asked as his head hit the pillow, still holding the gauze against his stomach and feeling that same wind blow his unruly hair away from his face.