Jason Het Challenge. My Contribution.

[cat_13145]

Title: Crime Alley Nights.
By Cat_13145
Pairings: Jason Todd/OFC
Rating PG13, don't think there's anything too bad, but better to be safe.
Author's Notes: Set in My Renegade Universe, the first meeting of Nightwing and Maria Cavonvelli. I've been trying to write a sequel to this for ages, but the bunnies won't bite. Hopefully this will encourage them
Summary: A Night on the town for Jason.

 

 

The scream reached him. It was what he called a crime alley scream, a cry for help, without any real expectance of it.

Well the woman, who ever she was, just got lucky.

She was sprawled at the end of the alley, three huge thugs approaching her. They were talking to her, Italian, he thought, offering her some form of deal. The girl, her dark curls falling over her face, shook her head.

One of the men levelled a gun at her, and that was when Jason struck.

The first two were taken by surprise, and the hail of bullets hardly made an impact. The third was a bit more tricky, but soon, he too joined his companions on the floor. He moved over, meaning to help the girl to her feet, when she cried out “Behind you.”
There had been a fourth member, a huge obese man, with the strength to rival Solomon Grundy’s.

 Bruce had always said he needed to remember his own personal safety as well as the victims, and as the guy, who he was convinced had to be a meta, was choking the life out of him, Jason agreed. He’d been stupid, and now he was going to pay the price.

BANG!
The bullet whizzed past his ear, catching Tubby in the arm. He released Jason and fell back clutching at his wound.

Bang! Another bullet, this one missed. The man was flaring at her, and it took only a moment for Jason to take him down.

Turning back, he grinned at the woman.

“Thanks.”

She shrugged, still clutching the gun. He held out his hand. “I’ll take that_”

“Not on your life Mister!” the voice was pure Gotham, with a hint of an Italian accent. It wasn’t shaking but the fear was still present in it. “Those goons were only the first wave. There’ll be others.”

“Why were they after you?” Jason asked. The girl shrugged. “Want me dead so they can take over the family business, I expect. My name is Marie Cavonvelli.”

The name was familiar, and now he realised why he thought he knew her from somewhere. Vinnie Cavonvelli had being a Sicilian immigrant, who lived in Jason’s old neighbourhood. He’d been a body guard and enforcer for the Falcones. Or at least had been until Bruce had destroyed the last verges of that family. It had started a war, effectively, among minor factions, in which one of the Victims had been Vinnie’s wife Sophia. Heck, Jason had found her body, spread out on the kitchen floor.

Maria had been his best friend, in spite of the two years between them, one of the few people he had been sure he could count on. He’d often wondered what happened to her after he left. Now he had an answer.

“Thought women weren’t welcome in the mob.”

Marie shrugged. “Needs must when the devil rides. My father is dead, and I am his heir. But not for long if I have anything to say about it.”
The situation was feeling increasingly surreal.

“What?”

The eyes blazed with passion. “I don’t want this. I never have. All I want is to get out and live my life. I’m not a Don, I’m not a killer, I’m just a kid from Crime Alley running around in an expensive suit.” Her eyes rested on him. “Just like you, Jason.”
He snorted, resisting the desire to reach up, remove the mask. “Does everyone know?”
She shrugged. “No idea. I suspect not, as the men were after these.” She bent down and lifted some files from the filthy of the alley. On them the words, Batman, Nightwing and Robin were clearly visible. “Only bit of my inheritance I aint’ giving to Tony Corleone.”

“Why not?” Jason asked, curious more than anything. “It’s worth a lot.”

“It’ll keep him in Gotham.” Marie replied. “And I want him out, mainly I’m the first to admit so I have a chance of staying alive, but you know Gotham needs you guys, and I’m not in any hurry to see my boyfriend killed by some lunatic when we’re on a date or at home or something.”

“Your boyfriend?” Jason repeated, confused. There were no other heroes in Gotham, unless you counted the kid he was training, and he knew enough about Tim to know his interests didn’t run that way.

Marie flushed, ducking her eyes. Even with the dirt on her dress the whole thing was starting to feel like something out a bad romance novel. “I was going to ask you out tomorrow, after I’d handed it all over. A fresh start. Like you got.” The eyes rested, and for a moment he could see those eyes on his fifth birthday, when they’d sat out on the fire escape, sharing a tub of Neapolitan ice cream. It had been the first time he’d tried it, and he’d been hooked in a moment.

He could also see the five year, kneeling in tears in her mother’s blood, the ten year old flinging the door open at the sound of footsteps, looking around for her father, but being equally pleased to see him.

He saw her stabbing Ronald in the leg, as he tried to pull him upstairs, saw her too small, too thin hands over a gun, as James taught them both to shoot, but her still able to match every shot he’d made.

Bruce did this alone. But he wasn’t Bruce.

“Look, if you’ve got a girl- or a guy- or just aren’t interested, it’s no big deal.” Marie was trying desperately to regain her dignity. Ducking her head, she hugged the files to her chest. “All I ask is that you help me stay alive, at least for the next twenty four hours”

He held his hand up. “Come on.” He said, “I don’t usually invite girls home after a first date, but in your case, I’ll make an exception”

“And I,” Marie whispered softly into his ear, as they set off across Gotham’s rooftops, his arm around her waist, her flesh pressing into his. “Don’t usually let a guy take me for a ride this early on.”

He grinned, but at the back of his mind wandering how Bruce was going to react, as they headed towards the cave.