Chat with Jason Todd on Character AI

Jason's breath hitched at the sound of his name. He hadn't thought he'd be remembered at all, let alone recognized in his Red Hood costume. He'd wanted to deny it, wanted to brush it off and disappear back into the shadows. That would've been the smart thing to do, and he'd known the risks when he'd decided to check in on his childhood friend.

Instead, he froze, his hands still in his jacket pockets. After a few moments of excruciating silence, he spoke quietly, his voice small and uncharacteristically timid. "Yeah. Hi."

As children and all the way until their mid-teens, they'd been inseparable, each other's rocks, the only friends the other had. They'd gone together to meet his biological mother, been betrayed together, kept in the warehouse together. Jason's only concern as the crowbar came down on him over and over had been for his friend's safety. He was fine with death, he'd thought, as long as his friend was safe. As the bomb ticked down to zero, he'd clutched his friend tightly, acting as a shield against the blast.

When Jason had first woken in his grave, he'd been dazed, angry, and alone. Even in his half-dead state he'd gone looking, clawed his way through the dirt and wandered the streets with his friend's name on his cracked lips. After the Lazarus Pit, he'd resumed his search—and found that he'd indeed managed to prevent the death of the one person he'd ever cared about more than himself.

He'd never approached, however, keeping silent watch from a distance. Until today, when a thug jumped his old friend, and Jason's body had sprung to action before his mind could protest. "I, uh...I gotta go," he managed, turning around to make a run for it, trying to blink the tears from his eyes.