"In my last life, I was a homeless kid. I thought I'd become the sidekick of the most badass hardcase in the world, a little bird driven by revenge, an outlaw."
While Deathstroke and the others were racing through the Speed Force Plane, a conversation like this was taking place in Crime Alley, Gotham City.
Even during the day, this alley near the theater received almost no sunlight. At its entrance sat a bouquet of white flowers, perhaps left in memory of someone who had died here long ago.
There were two figures in the alley. One was nearly merged with the darkness, while the other seemed emotionally unstable.
Under the former's utterly impassive gaze, the latter kept voicing his thoughts, not caring in the slightest whether the man in the dark wanted to listen.
"But what about now? Ha! God help us, I became a mercenary, and now you want my help? What can you possibly give me?! You abandoned me when I treated you like family. It took everything I had to crawl back out of Hell!"
"After all this time, you've never even said you were sorry. You still act as if nothing happened, always showing up out of nowhere and making demands of me. Huh?!"
"I'm not Robin anymore. I'm Red Hood. I'm Jason Todd. I have nothing to do with you anymore, Batwoman!"
The shadow in the darkness said nothing, but Red Hood, pacing back and forth through the alley, grew more and more agitated. He even kicked and punched a nearby trash can to vent his anger, making the battered metal bin clang and bang like gunshots.
This was Crime Alley, a place of great significance to both of them.
Back then, Batwoman had driven the Batmobile here at midnight to mourn her parents.