Jason Todd belongs to DC, but they killed him so I think we oughta give him to Kaylee. Anyway, this incarnation of Jason Todd--Draco--is KJ's. This is a world where he survived and became Draco and more stories about him can be found at Dracoverse.
I wrote this story, though. KJ said I should post it. :::beams::: Feedback to me. Or I'll tell Draco on you. :D

My friends, they laugh. They say I'm stupid to believe, because it's not real. It's just a myth.

But I'm not stupid. I may only be thirteen, but I live in the Corner. You don't live in the Corner and be stupid, because you'll get yourself killed.

Besides, I've seen Mickey the Crackhead under the streetlamp. I've seen him go inside at night, glancing over his shoulder. Frightened.

I've seen McCousky drop all his dope, or shove it into someone else's hands at the merest hint of a shadow overhead.

I've seen Wanda duck into a doorway, or step out into the street depending on whether or not she thinks she might be in trouble.

I've seen Mad Jack run.

Mad Jack doesn't run from the cops. But he bolts at overhead shadows.

My friends, they say that dragons are dumb. They say there's no such thing. They say that all of Gotham--including the Corner--is protected by Batman, but I don't believe in Batman. I think he's an urban myth. I've sure as hell never seen him.

There are dragons out tonight.

There are dragons out every night.

If you listen closely enough, you can hear the rumors in the streets about them.

"He's coming. Tonight--the switch has been leaked. Don't show!"

"Shit--is that him? Was that him? Fuck--get inside!"

I hear those.

I live on Mason Circle, where it loops around and almost touches Melpolly Avenue. On really quiet nights you can hear the Wilfrey Railroad, where all the immigrants go to get out when they realize the Corner's too awful for anyone. If the wind is strong and carrying, sometimes I can smell the P.O.I. Fish Processing Plant--but not very often. A buncha blocks down there's a dojo, and someday I'm going to learn how to fight there.

Right now, though, I live on Mason Circle. We have to watch where we step, because there are needles in the gutters. I'm not allowed to go outside the apartment without shoes on. I didn't used to be allowed to go outside the apartment at all, because of Doresy, who lived across the hall.

It was rumored that he made porn. My mom didn't want me anywhere near there. My dad agreed.

Sometimes I would see people coming out of there. Once there was a little Mexican kid. Once it was a black kid, like me.

One time I saw Doresy looking at me in that way--that sort of slimy, considering way that lizards have. I went back inside, and from then on I wouldn't even walk down the hall to meet the school bus by myself. Doresy scared me.

But then I had to go out once. See, my parents were at work still, and my cat got out . . . my cat, she's the only thing I have, you know. She eats the mice in the apartment, and keeps the roaches down, so my parents let me keep her. She escaped down the hall, and I went after her. Doresy was out there, and he started walking toward me.

I don't know what he was going to do. There was a sound in his apartment--a creak, like the floor bending. He turned around and went racing back in. There were noises--quick, staccato, something broke. Then silence.

I picked up Jaya and walked back down the hall, toward my apartment--and Doresy's apartment across the hall. I got a quick look in.

Doresy was all tied up, and there was a man carrying him. He wore green. And he had a cape, just like Superman. Everyone knows Superman is good, and . . . I thought maybe this guy was good, too.

So I asked, "Where are you taking him?"

He looked back at me. His eyes glowed green. It made me shiver, and I held Jaya tighter to myself, until she meowed to make me let her go. I jumped, and dropped her.

The man in green still hadn't said anything. I could only see the lower half of his face. I was scared, but Jaya wasn't. She strode right up to him, all haughty like cats are, and rubbed against his leg.

Then he was gone. Just like that. Between one blink and the next he wasn't there anymore.

We found out later that Doresy was taken to jail, and he had big fines and bad stuff happen. I hope. I don't really know for sure. All I know is he didn't come back, which was what mattered to me.

Now the Erikson's live across the hall, and they're pretty nice.

After I'd seen the green man, I started listening. And all over, I heard rumors of dragons. Draco. Before, I always thought they'd been talking about the movie. You know, with Sean Connery? Guess not.

I started watching for Draco. And I saw him again. And again.

He comes by about once a week. I try and stay up to watch for him, but I'm not always successful. Once, I drew a picture of him. I don't let my friends see it, but I keep it under my pillow to remind myself he's watching over me. Sometimes he sits on the building across from me. Other times he perches for just an instant on the balcony of the neighboring building.

At first, I was afraid of him. But he only gets the bad guys. He still sorta scares me--you'd be scared, too, if you met a real-life dragon--but I don't think he'd hurt me. Maybe he's looking out for me.

That's what I tell myself, late at night when I can't sleep because of sirens. That Draco is out there, and he's protecting me. He's like my guardian angel, only better. He's stronger. You know what they say about dragons? That they're wise, and so smart. I think they're also protective, and fierce, and that they defend girls.

I got myself a dragon charm. Two, actually. One is pewter. I found it in the street--I think it's an omen that Draco is watching out for me. I put it on a string and I wear it around my neck under my clothes, and I think that if I'm ever in trouble Draco will sense it and come help me. The other dragon charm I made out of crayons and cardboard, and I taped it to my window so that everyone bad knows I'm protected by Draco. That way, nothing will get me.

My friends say I'm stupid for believing in dragons.

But then, they haven't seen Draco.

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