Hell's Sniper | J. Todd

IX - Vampire

I should have known it was strange,
You only come out at night
- Olivia Rodrigo

After a long shift- and before it, helping my brother move in to his new apartment- I thought I could finally relax at home with my dogs and watch dumb TV shows while eating takeaway before clocking out for the day. Then I would wake up and Jason would be there, just like it had been for the past week. Tomorrow I had to pick up Maxine from the airport. Lucien is ecstatic to be seeing his younger sister.

And as planned, I lay on the couch with my feet propped up on the coffee table, the Dobermans settling in their respective places, and turn on the TV. Chief rests his head in my lap and tries to eat the pizza slices in the box, but to no avail.

The window slides open, and seven heads turn to the sound. The Red Hood climbs into my apartment, Black Bat and Red Robin soon after him. "Hi!"

"Hi?" I reply, the Dobermans hopping off the couch to greet the two strangers. After a few moments, I deter that Red Robin is Tim Drake and Black Bat is Cassandra Cain.

"Um, so, like-" the Red Hood pauses, scratching the back of his neck. "Did you guys really have to be here?"

"Yup. Damian said her dogs were friendly. I had to check," Cassandra says. She already has Ruby cradled in her arms like a baby.

"There are so many of them," Tim whispers in awe.

Jason huffs under his helmet, strong arms crossed over his chest. I eat another slice, eyebrow raised. Getting the message, he says, "I forgot to bring this up earlier, but Bruce is hosting a gala tomorrow night starting at eight and I was wondering if you might want to be my date?"

"Tomorrow night?" I receive an awkward nod. "I don't even own a dress. And I finish my shift an hour before it starts. And I have to pick up Maxine from the airport tomorrow at ten."

Even Cass and Tim glance at Jason expectantly.

"I'll drive you to the airport?" he offers.

"Deal." 

"You have a car!" he protests, like he was disappointed his argument convinced me.

I gesture broadly to my dogs. "I'd rather you be responsible for us ending up in a pit."

"We grew up in a bottomless pit," Petrova adds. "I hated it. So many dead people. Dead people are THE WORST. They COMPLAIN about always being DEAD. Can't they understand that they are DEAD PEOPLE and that DEAD PEOPLE are DEAD?"

Huh?

"Petrova," Chief snaps. He bares his teeth and Petrova responds by charging at him.

The other two vigilantes step back in alarm as yet another six-way playfight (maybe not 'play' anymore) ensues. "Mauvais!"

The dogs separate themselves with angry grunts and glares. Used to it now, Jason waits for them to settle down and says, "We'll go at eight thirty, that means we've got one and half hours to get you a dress. Okay?"

"Fine."

"Great, thank you."

"Your dogs are cute," Tim calls as the vigilantes climb out the window one by one into the dark night of Gotham, Jason closing it behind him and dividing the realms of safety and danger, leaving me behind. The dogs sit back down on the couch, still snapping, but they relax once TV show resumes.

***

"Morning."

My eyes slowly flutter open to see Jason's warm smile. He's shirtless, again, as if he can't bear to have a shirt on while sleeping. "Good morning. What's the time?"

"It is eight. I have been way too patient in letting you wake up by yourself but on the other hand I love watching you sleep. Not in like a stalker kind of way- in a 'we're dating and I like looking at your face so it's not weird because we're dating-'" he pauses. "We're not dating though."

I roll my eyes as we get out of bed. He puts on a shirt and I say good morning to my dogs. The hungry ass bitches jump at me for food so I comply. 

"Do you want to be dating?" he asks, beginning to make breakfast for the both of us. I shrug.

"Sure, I guess."

"Then I guess we're dating," the dobermans look more confused than the both of us combined. Once they've been fed, they start another playfight around the table as we eat.

"Do you know what kind of dress you want?" he asked.

"Nope," I say as Chief and Simo fight. "I wasn't really the dress type. I enlisted right after high school basically."

"Right. We'll just see what you like, yeah?"

"Sounds like a shitty plan. I'm in."

"It's not a shitty plan!" he defends.

"Sure it's not. We'd better get going or we're not going to be able to pick up Max on time."

"It's not a shitty plan." he whispers to himself before we leave.

500 reads y'all wtf I was gone for a week

A WEEK

Also, three of Ruth's dogs are named after (in)famous snipers. Simo after the sniper with the most kills ever, Simo Häyhä. Petrova is named after Nina Petrova, a female Russian sniper with 122 confirmed kills. Finally, Natayla is named after Natayla Kovshova, another female Russian sniper with 167 confirmed kills.