3 Time to Read

Jason sat on his bed while admiring his upgraded arm. Using the money he got from Black Mask a few days ago, Jason spent half on getting a room inside of an apartment with a very sympathetic woman to the 'orphan kid' bit.

The other half of his cash was spent on the upgrades to his arm.

Magnetic Hands to prevent the common disarmament in fights: 60 eddies

Taser Grip for when Jason would take someone by surprise or needed to take someone down non-lethally: 180 eddies

Grenade Launcher for when the two stolen guns he had would not be able to take out his target: 500 eddies

Armor reinforced his arm to protect him from heavier caliber bullets: 200 eddies

Real Skin so it was hard to tell he had a metallic arm: 200 eddies

3x 25 MM HEP Launch Grenades for the grenade launcher: 90 eddies

Installation: 246 eddies

Total: 1,476 eddies and insurance that anyone that got reckless with Jason would regret it.

Jason decided to upgrade his arm as much as he could instead of diversifying the cyberware he had in his body for two reasons.

The first was that getting other cyberware was fucking expensive. Getting more cyberware limbs would cost Jason an arm and a leg while upgrading any other part of his body was also way out of Jason's budget. The problem with most cyberware is the initial piece while the upgrades are just like buying better parts for a PC.

The second reason Jason decided to focus on his arm was that it was smarter to get his arm fully kitted out. It would allow him to deal with more situations than if he simply bought new parts. If wanted to get better jobs, it was better to specialize earlier than later.

Jason enjoyed the look of his new arm for a few more minutes until he decided that he wanted to get out. He grabbed his favorite (only) jacket before heading out of the apartment. Jason made his way down the building and took a 5-minute walk to get to the Gotham City Public Library.

Whether it was the original Jason or the other Jason that fused with him, both were lovers of books which is something that their new personalities carried with them. The best place for a street kid like him to get as many books as he could find was the public library.

Jason walked into the large building and smiled as brightly as when he saw his cyberarm for the first time. This place had been his home away from home for many years.

"Jason. Haven't seen you in a while. What have you been getting up to?"

Jason turned to see a redhead smiling brightly at him. Jason returned the smile. This was his favorite person when he was just the old Jason. Now that he had 'memories' of the future, it further cemented his liking for her.

Barbara Gordon was the head librarian at the library and had become very close to Jason during his many trips to the library. She was also Batgirl and would have become Jason's future partner, close friend, and sister if had become Robin and followed the original story.

Even if Jason wouldn't live his old life, he wouldn't forget the close relationship he saw the two form in the comics. Unlike the others who had a rough or rocky relationship with Jason, Barbara's was pretty consistent. The two had similar personalities and traumas so they understood each other. Even when Jason was at his worst, Barbara still saw the good in him. And kicked the shit out of him when she needed to.

"Hey, Babs. Been looking for work and a new place to live. I just found both so now that I have a chance to relax, I figured I should come here."

Barbara smiled when she heard Jason's words. She knew how much he was struggling with his home life. She had offered to help him before but Jason was stubborn and rejected her. All she could do was hope that he would come to her when he was ready.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, Jay. My lunch break is soon. You wanna grab a book and eat with me?"

"Sure. Meet you at the spot in 10 minutes?"

"Sounds good to me."

Jason walked over to the romance section and went to the A section of it. Without much trouble, he found Pride and Prejudice. Jason flipped through the book until he was on a page that had one of his favorite quotes.

Jason made his way up into the world history section on the third floor before walking up the spiraling staircase. At the top of the stairs was a small room that was decorated to look like a night sky. The many stars acted as small lights while the main light in the room was the moon above.

Sitting at the table, Barbara was waiting for Jason with a small lunch box that had two sandwiches and some fruits in it as well as two cups of hot chocolate.

Barbara smiled at Jason before looking at the book in his hands and laughing.

"From the very beginning—from the first moment, I may almost say—of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of the disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world on whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry."

Jason blushed at the quote directed at him. Whenever he picked up this book, Barbara would quote one of the many jabs in it at him. Jason sat next to Barbara and gave a quote of his own.

"I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! — When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library."

The pair shared a laugh before sharing lunch with one another. They each had a book in their hands and were focused on reading, neither talking much. Even in the silence between them, they were comfortable. They were at peace.

Time passed by far too quickly for the pair. Before they knew it, 30 minutes had already gone by and Barbara's phone alarm was going off. The pair sat down their books before packing up the remainder of their lunch: an empty lunch box and two cups.

When Jason stood up, Barbara grabbed onto his hand forcing the former to turn and look at her.

"I know that you don't rely on others. Hell, I can respect that. But I don't like the idea of you living on your own like you are. I start my doctorate program next month and am planning to move out from living with my dad. I would love some company in the new place though and could use a roommate."

Jason was surprised by her offer and wanted to reject it at first but then he remembered something important that happens in the future. During the Killing Joke, Joker would shoot Barbara and paralyze her.

In the original timeline, she was still living at home with her father when it happened so if Jason rejected her, she might not move out and still end up getting shot.

Or worse.

If she does move out, then that means it would take someone even longer to find her after the Joker's attack and she might even die.

Thinking about that possibility, Jason wanted to go after the Joker then and there but he knew he couldn't afford to do that. Not only was the Joker a dangerous opponent but he would also be putting a target on his own back.

If he was able to kill the Joker, many other major villains may think he was either a vigilante that didn't follow the rules and would target him or that he was an arrogant upstart who needed to be put in his place. Either way was not a good option.

'And then there is Batman who has a hard-on for Joker. If I kill him, I will most likely replace Joker as Batman's eternal rival.

But I can't just join up with her either. I'm planning to do a lot of illegal shit and she's a vigilante. I can't risk getting exposed so early. I'll just have to keep an eye out for the Joker.'

Thinking about all these possibilities, Jason had no choice but to reject Barbara's proposal and hope that he could prevent the Killing Joke from happening as well as keep his activities secret from her.

"Sorry, Barbara. I know that you're looking out for me but that's not really my thing. I'll be sure to keep in touch and let you know if I need any help. Promise."

Barbara looked peeved before giving up and patting Jason's head. She started walking down the stairs while thinking about how she could change Jason's mind in the future.

Jason could tell that Barbara was plotting against him so he made a mental note to be more careful. When he left the library, Jason returned home and sat on his bed. He went into the system and purchased a Maelstrom Gas Mask with his remaining cash. With that and his hood covering his facial features, it would be hard to tell who Jason was while he was walking through the night.