Jason struggled with all his might, but the other person made no further move. Instead, he gestured to his chest, then waved his hand, indicating that he meant no harm. Jason did not believe him at all.
In a place like Gotham, you had to be willing to hurt others, but you also could not let down your guard. Someone wearing a mask, sneaking into a room in the dead of night, deserved even more vigilance.
Because Jason was the gang's leader, he had a single room on the outermost edge of the base rather than sleeping with the other children. He struggled desperately to make the other person let go and stop covering his mouth. As long as he could make some noise, one of the children would surely run off to get help.
"Jason Todd, I mean no harm. I came to ask for your help!" the person opposite him said. Jason found the tone somewhat familiar, but he was certain he had never heard that voice before.
If he had to describe it, it sounded like someone with terminal throat cancer and torn vocal cords. If not for the fact that the man had almost no accent and pronounced every word clearly—and Jason had only attended a few grammar lessons—he would not have been able to understand what he was saying at all.
"Mmph! Mmph!" Jason called twice, meaning, "Let me go first."
"I can let you go now, but you absolutely cannot make a sound. Trust me, I'll subdue you before you can cry out." The person opposite him spoke a long string of words, but Jason could only understand half of them.
This weirdo's voice was far too hoarse. Much of it came out as breathy, broken sounds that were hard to make out. Jason