✧ Old Friends ✧

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"Cayden Oliver?" A robotic voice said from behind them. Cayden rolled her shoulders taking a deep breath before turning around. She was met with a face she'd heard all about. The Red Hood.

"I prefer Belladonna." Cayden said with a smirk. Bruce and Dick had said all kinds of things about Red Hood. How ruthless he was, and how if she ever had to face him, she shouldn't let her guard down.

"Like the porn star?" Red Hood asked, and you could hear a slight bit of amusement in the robotic voice. That at least let Cayden know that he was human, that he could bleed.

"Someone gets the joke." Cayden said before charging not letting the fact that this anti-hero knew what her full name was. It was supposed to be a usual patrol, she was just going to sit on the building with the best view in the city. But then Penguins goons had to make some trouble, and when they had just finished fixing the mess, Red Hood had to show up.

Cayden was a little surprised when instead of charging towards her, or trying to fire his very real gun. Red Hood just deflected her. Cayden ran until they were a little more than an arms length away from him and jumped into the air, attempting to kick him.

Red Hood just took a few steps away from the impending attack making Cayden fall the the ground, rolling to keep themselves from feeling the full impact. She looked back up at him with a confused tilt of their head.

She couldn't see any emotion through the ridiculous helmet. Cayden sighed taking this moment to catch her breath. She wasn't superhuman like some of the other heros, so thankfully Red Hood didn't seem in the attacking mood.

"You know, Bats warned me about you," Cayden said standing up. "'he's ruthless, a cold blooded killer' but looking at you now I see none of that."

"He's just as cold." Red Hood said, the emotion from earlier nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe you're just so scared of my reputation." Cayden continued, ignoring the slander of her closest friends mentor. "I'm pretty powerful."

"That kick didn't seem too powerful." Another voice said. Before Cayden could even turn Red Hood shot his gun over their shoulder. She whipped their head around and saw a goon from earlier on the ground, his gun on the floor a foot away from his body.

Cayden looked up back at Red Hood with wide eyes. He didn't seem to bat an eye at the dead body before them. "Thanks, Hood."

"No problem, Candy." Red Hood said back putting his gun back on his belt.

"Candy?" Cayden asked with an amused smile, taking a few steps towards the man everyone had warned her about.

"Another pornstar name." Red Hood explained with a shrug. Cayden let out an amused breath before shaking her head.

"More stripper, but I appreciate the effort." Cayden said with a few more steps, her defense officially down.

"I like to be creative with my nicknames, unlike some who just pull from the original name." Red Hood teased taking a few steps of his own.

"Maybe my mind was too busy coming up with ways to sneak up on you." Cayden said with a challenging smile.

"Like how that goon just snuck up on you?" Red Hood said the robotic voice still present but Cayden didn't really mind anymore.

"I made it out." Cayden said, the noise around them seeming to disappear. They were officially an arms length apart, both of them noticing that more than anything else.

"Yeah, because I saved your ass." Red Hood said taking one more step so they were barely an inch apart. Cayden was getting ready to respond when a voice came to life in her ear.

"Belladonna? Belladonna?" Alfred's voice asked in a neutral tone. Cayden debated the options in her head before they let a sad smile take over their face.

"Thanks, Red." They said one more time before letting a smoke bomb drop.

And themselves disappear.

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Cayden didn't tell anyone about her interaction with Red Hood. She didn't think it was that important. Cayden still got more stories about him whenever one of the bats interacted with hooded man. It seems the only person who hasn't had a run in with him is Priya, but she had already made up her mind. Which is another reason Cayden hadn't told anyone, because she didn't.. hate the guy. She may even have a little crush on him. So no one knew until a month later, when they ran into him again. This time with company.

Cayden, Priya, and Dick were all placed on a mission. Joker had been spotted, for the first time since he had escaped Arkham, again. The three of them were meant to steak it out, see if the intel was real or a trick.

It turned out to be a little of both. Joker was there, he was just expecting them. It was an ambush, and within 5 minutes all communication with Alfred and Bruce had been lost. Then all three of them were attacked by 5 heavily armed goons.

They had been able to stop three by the time Joker himself got bored and decided to join in. Cayden was very willing to go against Joker. She had been very close friends with Jason Todd when they were younger. So when he died, a little part of Cayden did too. Well the part that was alive to begin with.

"Belladonna, Belladonna, let out your blood." Joker said with a manic laugh at the end. Cayden made the mistake of tensing. He landed a harsh blow to her head, then her chest. She flew into the wall before falling to the floor, trying to blink back at black dots.

It was getting harder to keep her eyes opened, with the black flooding her eyes. She saw Joker walking closer with that dangerous smile. Cayden tried to get up, the taste of blood fresh in her mouth when she heard a gunshot.

She was able to keep her head up for only a second longer before she gave up and let the darkness take her. The last thing she saw was Red Hood, his gun pointed at the Joker.

But his eyes on her.

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Cayden woke with a start, she was in the batcave with Tim and Dick next to her. Alfred talking to Bruce, and Priya on the phone with someone. It could range from Gordon to Wally. No one seemed to notice her wake up until Priya got off the phone, throwing it at the wall in front of her.

"Nothing, absolutely fucking, nothing." Priya said out loud with rage very present in her voice. She turned around and made eye contact with Cayden. "Cayden!"

A lot of worrying and lectures followed after that. She was made to promise them she wouldn't take him on alone again. She also got to hear what happened after she passed out. Red Hood got a few hits on Joker but he also suffered some more serious damage.

Joker left after, and Priya quotes 'all the fun was over', Red Hood following soon after, before Priya could and she quotes again 'kick his ass'. Because deep down, Priya may agree with his methods, but he had attacked Bruce and Dick. Alfred let Cayden know what damage was, and that it would heal in a few days with rest. He emphasized rest. But Cayden never was good at listening.

She didn't really intend to patrol, she just wanted to get out of that mansion. She honestly felt bad sometimes for the bat kids, as she called them, and how empty of a house they lived in. When she was growing up it was a simple two bedroom with plenty of mess to make it feel lived in. The most lived in place at the mansion was the bat cave, no wonder that's where they spent most of their time.

When she got to that same place she was the night she met Red Hood, she saw him again. He was sitting right next to her usual spot, he didn't look as wounded as Priya told her, but Cayden knows better than anyone how easy it is to hide wounds.

"Your name is Belladonna because you control plants, right?" Red Hood asked as Cayden sat down next to him.

"Also because I'm deadly." Cayden said with a half-assed smile. They were both too tired, too tired to fully joke.

"Why are you out here? You didn't look too good last time I saw you." Red Hood asked looking her up and down, his eyes focused on only her.

"From what I heard, you didn't look to good either." Cayden said dodging the question.

"I've been through worse." Red Hood said deflecting. Something they seemed to have in common.

"So have I." Cayden said before laying back on the dusty roof. "Is there any chance I might get to know who you are, I mean, you know my full name. I think it's only fair."

"You're not ready." Red Hood said back.

Cayden looked back over at him but found nothing.

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This is how she was going to die. Trying to stop The Joker. Just like her best friend. The boy she thought she was going to marry. Now she was going to have the same fate. She had found Joker again.

It was a genuine accident this time. It was almost like he had found her. She wasn't even in her costume. Cayden was walking alone, dumb mistake already, in an empty part of town, mistake number two, and she had let her guard down, final mistake.

She had been knocked to the ground first, kicked second, finally she was able to crawl away. When she got up he had a gun pointed at her. Said that he was going to kill another one of Batsy's little pet projects.

He shot her shoulder once, then her leg twice. She let herself fall to the ground, expecting a final blow until a large thud made her look up. Red Hood was standing over Jokers body. His breathing was heavy and his fists were clenched.

"Red?" Cayden asked, her voice barely working. This is the second time he's saved her, while she's never had the chance to help him. Some hero she is.

"Cayden." Red Hood said faintly, quickly walking over to her. He crouched down and grabbed her shoulders, yet she was only faced with his stupid red helmet.

Cayden's eyes darted to behind Red Hood and found Joker standing up and raising his gun again. She moved her hand to the ground and focused. She hadn't used her powers in years. When she looked back at Joker his body was covered in grapevines, strong enough that he couldn't move.

Red Hood looked between them, Jokers angry face and Caydens drained one. He stood up and walked over to Joker and grabbed his gun pointing it at his face. "I wanted to hurt you as much as you hurt me, but this will have to do."

He turned the safety off, but before he could do anything an apple tree cracked through the pavement, knocking Red Hood down, and his helmet off.

Caydens whole body hurt, she let her eyes drift to Red Hood. His head looking down, trying to keep his identity a secret.

"Why did you stop me?" Red Hood asked with barely contained rage.

"Because death would be too easy a way out for him." Cayden answered her voice wavering slightly.

"Not in my book." Red Hood said with a snarl.

"Who says you get to decide." Cayden said letting anger consume her. "I lost my soulmate because of him."

Red Hood was quiet for a few moments, as though what Cayden said had stunned him. Then he started to lift his head while continuing to speak. "I lost my life because of him."

When he fully showed his face, she held her breath. Cayden knew that face. She knew those green eyes and that black hair. She knew that jawline, even if it was a little sharper then she remembered. She saw that face in her dreams and in her nightmares. It was her best friend.

"Jason?"

I might have a whole story for her and for my Dick love interest.......

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