The Great Birthday Surprise
— Mid August 2006—
Jason’s birthday is right around the corner and for a few days he feels like he might not be getting a gift, it stirs a bit of bubble in his stomach at the thought. He doesn’t want it just to have a gift but to have something to remember her by. The thought makes him feel a bit worse about expecting one especially with his mom being so sick.
He knows that she’s had to quit her other jobs because of how sick she’s gotten. Jason also knows that the only reason that they’re not out on the street now is because her newer job has been kind enough to accommodate her. Jason knows that the job is long and a bit hard but he hopes that it’ll make them enough money so that she could continue treatment with the clinic.
He also knows that the medicine she's been given has started leaving her feeling more sick and less relieved. He can't help the feeling that she's gonna take a turn for the worst.
-
His birthday happens a week after the clinic declines treatment for her and transfers her to another clinic on the opposite side of town. He only has one wish when he blows out the candle on his cupcake. For Catherine to live.
At first getting treatment was easy, with the clinic being a 25 minute bus ride and the fare only being 2.50 for the both of them. Now it takes 3 buses and a 15 minute walk to a seedier branch of the organization.
They don't get very much out of the first visit. Though Jason has hope that it was just because it was a check up. It doesn't seem to deter his mom though. She does seem happy to go back, to familiarize herself with her new doctors.
She does have one problem.
She no longer wants Jason to come on the trips, saying that it was too dangerous for him and that the people at the clinic didn't need the interruption of a child.
So every Monday and Friday afternoon Jason spends his time at home reading the book she got him for his birthday and watches the door waiting for his mom to get back.
He only has a week left before school and stresses what he could to help his mom while he was away from her.
— Mid September 2006—
Jason can't help but notice the effect that everything was having on his mom. She no longer had her thinning brown hair, instead it'd started to tear off in patches every time he'd brush her hair.
He's started skipping class, leaving earlier, even trying to avoid it as a whole. He was doing whatever he could to get home earlier, to make money faster. He'd gone to several pantries, churches, salvation charities and had been declined or banned from them on the spot. He hadn't know but the look on the people's faces when they saw him was enough to deter him from trying again.
None of it made sense. The medicine was supposed to help his mom not make her worse. The people were supposed to take in others and not drive them away.
His mom loved him and he loved her but it never seemed to be enough.
— Early November 2006—
It’s two months later and Catherine isn’t able to get out of bed, Jason has to take care of most of her needs now even at her insistence that she can do it herself. He stopped going to school a while back because it was harder to try and go when he had to make money and help his mom while being away for 7 hours of the day.
He guiltily knew he could be doing something more productive.
She eventually had to stop taking medicine for her sickness as it only made her worse. And they were only able to pay for a month of treatment after the generous quota ran out. Another doctor, one that seemed less reliable than the clinic but more trustworthy than the clinic was a first offered a cure all for the family.
It seemed so sketchy but the man had her files and the clinic did say that other doctors were available to help. pills Jason was offer had give her a different treatment plan.
She had just started taking the medicine for the pain and was wrecked with side effects. They rattled her cold bones and gave bouts of nausea so painful she couldn’t get out of bed. And that was on the days she was coherent enough to get up and move.
The doctor had said that it would take time for her body to get used to them and that when it did the progress would be seen in exponential rate. Except it hadn't. Jason didn't know what to do. Mrs. Parez moved out a while ago and she probably would've had a better idea of everything.
Jason is missing her more and more. He wishes that she'd stayed. If only to help him take of his mother.
She was barely able to get enough pain medication to get by and now it seems like pain is the only thing keeping her here, consuming her from the inside to rot her outsides.
Jason sobs as he walks back to his small shared apartment, the cold ac bites into his bones but he needs to bring the herbal tea he got for his mom to her. She hadn’t gotten better and his mother had started to fade, he hopes that some of it will help to comfort her.
Catherine's body seems to be brittle and broken. He can’t lift her without it being painful, but he can’t let her stay laying in bed so long or she’ll get sores. He struggles to feed her and help her gain the meager amount of weight she lost back.
It seems her only solace was the pain medication she was able to get to ease her suffering. He could only do so much. It never seemed to end, her pain and him waiting, unable to do anything to help his mother but wait for the doctor's medicine to work.
Jason turned 10 three months ago. He's gained one more year in this miserable city but at least it was with his mom. He’ll turn 11 in about nine months and he just wants to be able to celebrate his birthday with his mom, it’s his one wish. He hopes she’ll make it till then.
Tonight he figures that he could get one more unsuspecting person to slip by
As he walks back home from pickpocketing randoms from the street a dressy man starts walking towards Jason. The man’s decked in all black with his hair slicked back accentuating his receding hairline. The man is using a skull cane to help his slight limp and walk down the street faster than Jason expects.
“Jason Todd” he hears the man shout. His voice is like gravel and a strange smell seems to permeate the air.
Jason doesn’t know the man, never seen him before and he’s seen what people do in the alleys. Everyone knows that dressy people in crime alley are never there for good. He keeps walking hoping to skate past him and make it back home as safe as he could be.
“Jason, I know you can hear me. Look at me” The man sounds agitated.
“Yes” Jason can’t ignore the man any more. He can only hope the man isn’t trying to hurt him.
“What do you want” he asks warily.
“I appreciate the craft, thievery is not often done as well as you do. And watching it is much more entertaining than others” the man says. Walking closer with his cane. “Maybe you could steal for me one day”
“Look man I don’t know what you’re talking about, I ain’t stole shit” he says.
“And I suppose those 3 wallets in your pockets are just for the massive salary you have as a 4th grader. Or would you be a 5th grader by now” the man walks closer to Jason as he scuffles back. “What’s wrong Jason? Worried about your mother”
“Don’t talk about my mother” Jason shouts. He can’t keep the snarl from his face as the man inches closer.
“Are you sure” the man asks. “I hear you’re in need of a cure, something for your mother.
“Wouldn’t you want her healed”
“What do you know about that” he asks.
“Your mother hasn’t left the apartment in months and the last time she was seen, even a blind man could tell she was sick” the man steps closer, leaving the boy with only two feet of space left.
“The thing about cancer is the time it takes, you won’t have much time left with her. The tolls it will take on her to live and you to survive taking care of her will be great. And after she’s gone you feel the way your life alters”
Jason can’t look away from the man. A drizzle starts to Pringle on Jason’s skin making him pull his hood to keep his hair from getting wet.
“Plans will have to be changed, your mother could become your rock instead of needing your care” The man leans back for a second.
Jason doesn’t know where the man came from, he had stopped asking around after the clinic declined to treat her for the third time. This man couldn’t have been here to help him, a miracle this late couldn’t happen for Jason, for what’s left of his family.
“What if I could help your mom” he asks. The question rings in Jason’s brain. A cure.
“Yea? How” Jason questions.
“The how is less important. What if I could make her better? Give her back her health? Would you be willing to make a deal” the man’s silhouette is darkened by the lightning strike behind him.
“I don’t want nothing from ya” he says. Walking in an arc away from the man. He doesn’t have time for the snake oils the vultures of Gotham had to offer.
“Not even if it could get rid of the cancer and make her healthy as a horse” He questions with a cocky tone.
Jason knows that there are some people that would try to fool him, to promise him whatever he’d wanted only to snatch the rug from under him. He’d seen it happen to others, to Henry up the street and Mina who he’d played with at the park.
“I know you think I am a suspicious man but I only want to help those who need it” the man states with a smile as if he’d read Jason’s brain.
He reaches out with a gloved hand. “My name is Manny, how about we talk about this over with a burger from around the corner” he asked.
Jason pauses, his hands are stuffed in his pocket, clenching and unclenching.He doesn’t know what to do, he knows his dad would know what to do. But his dad would also be aiming for a beer and some food in his stomach right about now.
Jason needs food, he hasn’t eaten in a day and the last of the leftovers he gave to his mom in hopes of her gaining some strength.
“Okay” he stutters out, shaking the man’s hand.
Jason walks alongside him closer to the edge of the sidewalk. He peeks at him from the corner of his eye and man hums to a tune in rhythm with his cane as he smirks to himself.
They walk further down the street and into the small burger shop that’s open 24 hours.
“I hope as shit that ya’re paying cus’ I ain’t using my keep” Jason says.
The boy has to pay rent and get groceries and get more medicine for his mom and so many other things that the to-do list in his brain overflows constantly.
He needs to do a lot of things without spending all the money he has. Getting some free food and hopefully some leftovers would ease his spending for the next few days.
They stand at the front of the restaurant before the man walks away from Jason. He points to a sign off to the side.
‘Free seating grab one wherever you’d like’
“Alright kid let’s grab a seat” he says as he directs Jason to a booth in the back while flagging down a waiter.
“Would you be willing to make a deal, for a price” the man smiles again and Jason shudders in his seat, the warm temperature in the building doing nothing to stop his goosebumps.
“What type of price are you talking about” Jason looks down at the table, he won’t be able to do anything drastic. He can’t help his mother if he’s selling his organs or working shops all day. He needs this to be something small.
“Oh” Manny exclaims, he seems almost happily surprised that Jason even asked.
Thunder cracks in the background. And the old man looks around, Jason follows his eyes but he can’t seem to see anything.
“Your soul” is all that Jason hears before his heart starts beating fast. He looks up but there’s a ring in his ears and he can't help but clench the pants covering his thighs.
The man Manny is still talking as if he didn’t just offer Jason the toughest decision of his life. He can’t tell if this is real or not, he wants to laugh in his face but all Jason can do is stare at him.
The man is still talking to him and Jason can’t hear him over the rush of air in his ears.
His mother was a catholic and raised him just as her mother had, at least before she got kicked out.
Catherine would never be able to look at Jason again if she knew he even thought about agreeing. He would be considered dirty, he knows how this would stain him.
He knows that his mom would be able to look at him anyway if she was dead. Jason could keep a secret, Jason would make sure his mother would live.
“Jason, Jason calm yourself and think” Manny says as he takes Jason’s hand.
“By the next crescent moon your mother will be healthy as a horse and you will have your whole life ahead of you” he says while digging in his coat. He whispers a bit to himself and Jason can’t hear what he’s saying.
“What’d you say” he asks, leaning across the table.
The boy can't help but stare into the man's eyes. They seem to swirl and move in a calming action. It's distracting enough that the boy doesn't realize that the man had grabbed his hand and had been holding it long enough that it grew warmer.
"Get offa me" he snarls.
“It’s your choice Jason, all you have to do is sign” Manny says as he leans back with a sigh.
He finishes rummaging in his coat to pull out a long and black leather decorated scroll. It looks medieval and it feels heavy as he hands it to Jason. It looks as rough and cracked as the dried human skin the boy had seen in history books. Jason feels a sort of fur covering it, prickling his skin.
He drops it almost immediately after the man lets go and his eyes go wide as darts up to look at Manny.
He laughs with his chest. “Kid that thing is about as old as me and it’s in great shape, one drop isn’t going to break it”
Jason hesitates, He shoos Jason with his hand and makes an unravel motion with his wrists. “Go on ahead and open it up”
Jason undoes the contraption holding it together and pulls the scroll open. The writing seems to be in some type of old language, maybe Latin or something similar. He can’t really read any of it except for where it says to sign his name.
“I can’t read this, it ain’t in a language I know” he tilts the scroll back for the man to see only to nick his finger down to his third knuckle. His calluses on his palm stops the scroll from splitting his skin deeper on the sharp edges around the paper.
“Ah shit” he gasps as blood starts to fall from his cut. Jason drops the scroll and raises the nicked finger to his mouth hoping to stem the blood flowing from the cut. He wasn't fast enough to stop the blood from hitting the paper in a splatter.
The man's eyes widen and he smirks when droplets hit the paper on the dotted line. “Ah no need to sign it anymore, this is great” he drags the paper across the table and examines it. “Come Thursday your mother will be healed and everything will be alright, just in time for her appointment. I’ll even give you some reassurance for our deal because I know she's not at that clinic still”
He finishes rolling the scroll up and slides it back into his coat jacket. He pulls a smaller bag out of his out of his jacket and slides across the table. "This has your mother's records to confirm her condition, some money to hold you over and a doctor at Gotham U's hospital for you to contact"
Jason opens the bag and stares as his mouth grows wider and wider. He can see at least a grand in twenties rolled next to a flash drive and a business card on top of a cellphone.
He can feel warmth build in his sinuses as tears gather in his eyes.
"There's no time for that, you need to get home. Your mother is waiting very patiently at home" Manny says at the sight of the boy's welling emotions.
“Here, I’ll even order you enough takeout to last you to the end of the week” He offers with a smile.
The boy looks up from the bag and sees Manny wave their waitress over.
“Was there something else that you–’ She asks only pausing to look over at the younger man who seemed to be upset. “Are you okay” she questions, intent on finding out just what made the boy upset.
Manny interrupts the two before Jason has the chance to speak up and fumble out a lie that would be so unconvincing that it’d raise suspicions.
“Well we were just talking and it turns out he had some bad news to tell me. I wanted to get him some cake, you know something to cheer him up and I also wanted to order six to-go meals” He states.
It takes a second for the young woman to wrench her eyes off of the boy and nod so that the man can give her his order. She leaves shortly after collecting their plates and finishing the man’s order.
“Now once she gets back I want those tears dried up and your drink finished. I’ve already taken a lot of time out of my schedule for this.” He says with a scoff.
Jason nods and looks into the man’s eyes before seeing a peek of something abominable. The sight sends a shiver down his spine and his hands go back to his thighs in a flash.
“I need to go” The boy states, he doesn’t want to spend anymore time in the booth with the man.
Manny raises an eyebrow and shrugs when Jason waits for the man’s permission to leave. “Fine” he says in an exasperated voice.
Jason takes a second and Manny waves his hand at the boy so he’d get a move on. The boy flees from the restaurant with the bag clutched to his chest and Manny mocksthe boy’s reluctance and eagerness with a sneer.
He spots their waitress walk over and collects himself before snapping his fingers and wiping the restaurant away to it’s true form.
“Boss” the waitress says as she walks up right next to him. “I did well didn’t I”
“Yes, you did well, Loatheon. Almost too well in fact” he replies.
“I did what you wanted right, all the nice things I could think of on top of a nice squishy flesh suit” The waitress replies as she begins to wrest the illusion off of her.
“Did I tell you to excise your flesh form” Manny questions rhetorically. “No. Get back out there and leave the boy some leftovers on his place mat. Do it quickly and before he gets home”
Loathen sighs and stitches its form back up before spiriting away to fetch the boy some food.
Manny whispers in the air an incantation and ends up back in his Gotham high rise an hour away.
“I intend to keep my deals, all of them for all of you” he says to the city at the top of the building before returning to the underside of it.