Jason watched in shock as Bruce put on his coat and swung open the balcony door.
By the time Jason rushed towards the balcony, Bruce had already jumped directly onto the neighboring balcony and was leaping down the railings to the balcony below.
All of these actions were completed within ten seconds. Jason didn't know who lived downstairs, but he knew he was probably about to be in serious trouble.
Jason hesitated to follow, but he ran into a problem - Bruce moved too quickly. His skill at walking silently was not as proficient as Batman's. If he tried to follow Batman's route, he would be detected by the time he reached the first balcony.
Jason quickly closed the curtains, bolted out of the door; the agents on guard outside the room were immediately on alert - Bruce Wayne hadn't told them about anyone else in the hotel room.
"Don't shoot, you idiots." Jason gritted his teeth and asked, "Where is your boss?"
The agents ignored him, guns raised, feet scuttling like crabs. Jason took a deep breath, and with agility and speed that seemed impossible for his size, he sprinted to the end of the corridor and knocked out the nearest agent.
The other agents advanced on him with their guns, but none dared to fire. Jason seized the chance to slip into the staircase of the emergency exit, sprinting downstream as quickly as possible.
Jason and Batman had quarreled many times, but there were benefits to those disputes. Some things were only clear after arguing. At their worst, Batman spent his entire week's quota of talking arguing with Jason, which also meant they had more communication than anyone else, and their understanding of each other's expressions and words was profound.
So Jason knew just how furious Batman was now.
Jason had heard what Amanda said. In fact, he didn't care about his identity being exposed because he didn't have any identity to expose.
He was just an orphan from the lower strata of Gotham, a good-for-nothing ruffian, and, of course, now a poor little kid who had been kidnapped and imprisoned by a super-criminal for a year.
Perhaps he was thinking about Dick's future, Jason thought. After all, Dick wanted to inherit the Grayson family's will and become the best trapeze artist in the world. If people misunderstood his relation to Bruce Wayne, he wouldn't be able to get by at Brude Haven.
Running down flight after flight of stairs, Jason estimated his position. He remembered that Bruce had dashed into a room on this floor, but he didn't hear any movement in the corridor.
This was not a good sign. He'd rather have Bruce fighting with someone, than have no noise at all. The latter might mean that Batman's target could be subdued in one trick.
Bruce wasn't in his Batman suit, and even if he put it on now, everyone now knew he was Bruce Wayne.
Batman could storm into any big shot's room and threaten and intimidate them, but if Bruce Wayne did the same, he'd make an enemy of everyone.
You could be strong and righteous, or wealthy and cunning, but you couldn't be strong, righteous, wealthy, and cunning.
There were many in the world who knew that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Most of the people in this hotel were among them. Even those who didn't know could guess after some careful thought.
Wearing a peculiar tight-fitting suit and messing around with some super-criminals in his own territory is one thing, but to blatantly use physical force in a place meant for civilized negotiations is another.
If Bruce Wayne were to make the first move, others would have every reason to attack him.
This realization made Jason anxious. He peeked at the agents in the corridor. Their number was three times that of his floor.
Bad news - this was probably the room of the FBI boss. Worse news - none of these numerous agents had been sent on a mission, and the boss of the FBI was very likely not here anymore.
Jason decided to take a detour. He went down another floor, planning to climb up from a window. But as he turned the corner of the staircase, he saw a figure climbing through a window in the corridor.
This was the fifteenth floor, and the corridor windows didn't have a balcony.
The burly man with glasses turned around and noticed Jason standing at the staircase entrance.
Good, he's definitely not an agent, Jason decided, since this man seemed completely off guard. No agent would be so clueless as to stand there, even still with one leg on the window sill, after seeing a person of Jason's size.
Jason's gaze then settled on the bag on the handsome man with glasses. That bag wasn't a regular briefcase. It was bulging out, and from the shape of it, it looked like a... camera?
The man finally pulled in his other leg and stood still. He rested one hand on the strap of his bag, and used the other to adjust his glasses by the outer edge, sizing up Jason and saying.
"Jason Todd? Hmm... you look bulkier than you do in photos."
Jason was taken aback. He didn't understand what photos this man was talking about. Suddenly, he remembered Amanda had shown Batman a photo that had triggered him.
The photo must have been of a Batman Family gathering where none of them had worn masks. But how would this strange man who appeared out of nowhere know about the photo?
Jason once again examined the man in front of him from head to toe. In truth, it didn't require any detective skills, everything about him, from his outfit and manner to the message in his eyes, loudly proclaimed that he was a reporter.
"Listen, Jason, don't get rash." The man across him seemed to notice the sudden aggressiveness in Jason. He put out a hand to stall Jason and said, "I'm Clark Kent, a reporter for The Daily Planet."
Jason just cautiously nodded, not responding to the hand extended by the man named Clark.
"What are you doing here? More importantly, how did you get in?" Jason's attitude can't be described as good. To be precise, it just sounds like he's interrogating a criminal.
"Well, I'm here looking for Bruce Wayne." Clark nodded to the side, acting a bit uncomfortable.
Jason narrowed his eyes, clearly sensing that the man before him was hiding many things. Just as he was about to step forward, the symbiote warned him in his mind.
"No, don't go over, Jason. You wouldn't want to get yourself in trouble."
"You sound like a poor excuse for a mob boss. Have you been bought by him?"
"No, but I did learn that line from a movie. I thought it was cool when I heard it. But I'm telling the truth. My Spider-sense, which I inherited from my previous host, told me it would be dangerous the moment you thought about throwing a punch. Don't do that."
If it was anyone else's advice, Jason might not have taken it so seriously. He might even be tempted to try it. However, during his stay in the hotel room, he could distinctly feel his muscular strength gradually increasing.
This indicated that the strange parasitic lifeform was even more magical and powerful than he had imagined. Yet even after his muscular strength had increased, he still decided not to confront the man directly, indicating that something was off about him.
"Is he with you?" Clark asked.
"We were together just now, but he's gone out."
"That's good then." Clark rubbed his own hand and looked at Jason, "Can you spare me a few minutes to chat?"
"What do you want to talk about?"
"About what the outside world is speculating about you and others in the photo, specifically, your relationship with Bruce Wayne."
"Are you implying that I'm one of Bruce Wayne's weird fetishes?" Jason sneered and asked, "Or do you want me to reveal even more sensational details, so that you can have a front-page story on tomorrow's paper, using this vulgar garbage to earn enough toilet paper to wash your editor-in-chief's whore's ass clean?"
To Jason's surprise, his words apparently didn't manage to anger the man across from him. Instead, the reporter adjusted his glasses, showing a stern expression and said.
"No, Jason. The reason I came here so quickly is to find the truth."
"What truth do you want?"
Just then, Clark suddenly moved. He looked at the staircase Jason had just emerged from and swiftly pulled Jason into a nearby meeting room at a speed so fast that Jason couldn't even keep up.
It was not until they were in the room that Jason realized he didn't have a clue how he had been pulled in.
Under normal circumstances, such physical contact would have been perceived as an attack. The only reason he hadn't defended himself or retaliated was the overwhelming strength used to yank his arm; he simply couldn't resist.
Jason was about to ask a question when he heard hurried footsteps and muffled yelling.
"You, go over there, you two, come down with me, don't let that damn kid getaway."
Jason immediately held his breath and focused, making sure not to alert the agents chasing him that there were two others present. It wasn't until the voices and footsteps grew fainter that he turned his attention back to Clark.
Clark, holding his camera bag, went to sit on a single sofa nearby and looked at Jason. It was clear that he wanted to have a chat with Jason there and then.
"That's not a good idea, Mr. Reporter." Jason turned to him and said, "There are too many eyes here, and those guys could show up at any moment."
"I assure you, they won't find out we're here, and the contents of our conversation definitely won't leak out either."
"That's what all journalists assure."
"No, Mr. Todd." Clark sighed, adjusted his glasses and said, "I can assure you that I'm different. I came in search of justice and fairness, and for you."
Jason furrowed his eyebrows, hesitated for a moment before deciding to sit down across from Clark.
Dealing with journalists is always troublesome. Jason didn't want this so-called reporter from The Daily Planet to get to Bruce Wayne, because they are good at twisting facts. And Bruce Wayne's current mental state might just give them the opportunity they needed to score a scoop.
"I've heard of Batman." Clark started to talk on his own, "People call him the last hope of Gotham, the Dark Knight who guards the night. Actually, I've always been fascinated by him, but I know he never gives interviews..."
Jason narrowed his eyes. He could tell that the man before him knew far more about Batman than just what he'd heard.
"So, you want to meet your idol? Or do you want to destroy him with your report?"
"Neither, Jason. Like I said, I'm here for you." Clark leaned forward, lifted his head to look into Jason's eyes and asked, "Now, I hope you will answer truthfully."
"Mr. Jason Todd, has Batman, or rather, Bruce Wayne, ever abused you in any way or by any means?"