Chapter Text
Prime touched down hard, landing so firmly on solid ground that the Earth itself quaked under his weight. He stepped off, coming to a stand as he brushed the gravel off his knees. He was sunken into a crater; asphalt, rock and earth cracking and giving way to the force of his descent.
He looked around himself, taking in his surroundings. It didn’t take a genius to realise when you’d landed in Gotham City—the black crows and grey clouds above announced it before you even realised you’d crossed into her territory. This place was something else, though. Prime’s heard of the doom and gloom of Gotham, of the biting cold—the unforgiving fog of smoke from its factories and the blowback of each of its rusted over old cars—but this was worse, if you could believe it.
As Prime traced his eyes over the place, stepping carefully out of the crater, he saw something odd. Where there should have been fog, there was green smoke. Plumes of a deep viridian blanketed the streets and suffocated what little light there was left. Even at night, Gotham still had her street lamps to light the paths for passersby, but many here were burnt out, allowing the darkness to take hold of the city and choke her from within.
He took to the skies, feeling a small sense of relief as a breeze blew through him. His eyes could see the smoke clearing the higher he rose. He knew Gotham stunk with crime, but this was on a whole other level of putrid overtaking.
This wasn’t the Gotham he knew, but it was absolutely a Gotham he remembered.
At the back of his mind, from a time long passed, Prime recalled seeing a city as decrepit and dark as this one. He remembered turning his nose up as he was offered it at a video game store in his home world (he could recognise the New 52 influence from a mile away).
But once he turned the game over in his hands and saw the back—saw him—he just knew he had to take it home.
Now, Prime has entertained the idea of exploring whether or not the Arkhamverse was a real place he could go to some time after finishing the game, but he didn't bother actually checking it out. As exciting as it sounded to go see a Jason Todd that's never actually died, it also sounded like it was dangerous. He hadn’t really gotten the hang of his dimension-hopping powers, so he was either going to slip into the Arkhamverse like he’d planned, or he was going into slip right into the middle of some other place he wasn’t prepared to be in.
On top of that, Prime thought that the Arkhamverse had to be one of the alternate universes that sucked the most. Even if it had given him the handsome, sharp-witted and tight-waisted Arkham Knight variant of Jason Todd, it was still the worst. It was Hell on Earth. If Prime thought Gotham City couldn't suck worse—this one absolutely did.
He debated leaving at the thought of just that—and if he remembered the story of the game right, he was somewhere at a climax when the streets were filling up with all kinds of loser Batman rogues—but then he realised this was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of his accidental dimensional displacement.
He didn’t have to be home yet anyway, and he’s been bored out of his mind. He might have dropped into this universe accidentally, but now it was the absolute most perfect place to be.
Gloved fingers braced against a sharp, large blue helmet, slipping it off. The sweaty skin at the nape of his neck brushed over with the cool air in his underground headquarters. Jason slumped down into a chair, its legs creaking under his weight. His head was bowed down in thought as he slipped his gloves off next, flexing his hand, splaying out and then tightening it into a fist again.
It’s been a while since he’s been back in Gotham City—his city—but he knew her streets like he knew the tense blue-green veins webbed across his hands. He knew her dark skies and her dimmer streets where things that could never be named went on. Whether it was day or night, she never seemed to care; forever imposing and still so beautiful.
He was thinking over his next moves. Since he’s finally revealed himself to Bruce—although not entirely—his plans are finally starting to be set in motion. This was the pinnacle of his onslaught on Batman. If he messed anything up now, if any piece came out of place, it would have been over before it had even truly began. That couldn’t happen—it wasn’t allowed to happen. He’s worked too long and hard to make his ambitions a reality, and he will bring down Batman with him if he had to.
After all those dreamless nights, tied up and aching so badly that he never knew where the ropes started and his own skin began. When the cuts that healed over were reopened again just to spite him for trying to get better, even if he still believed he could get better. That place hadn’t broken him—nothing ever could, no matter how hard they tried—but it had reformed him.
He was a boy trapped there, yet he clawed out a man. Nothing would change that, even if it got harder to look at himself in the mirror and try to think what it felt like to not be forced to do anything just to survive anymore. He’d forgotten that as Robin too, but he wouldn’t make that same mistake again.
The stillness in the air of his hideout was stifling and cold, an occupational hazard of having to work underground to be out of sight. He wasn’t worried about getting caught right now, with Batman running around the city—barely holding himself together as more of his worst enemies slashed at the few strings still keeping the man behind the cowl together—he was basically out of the picture.
This gave Jason enough time to mobilise his men. Crane had his own plans, and despite aiding him, Jason couldn't give half a rat’s ass about his ultimate goal to take over a city fueled by fear. He wasn’t going to make it that far. After all, Jason thought, this was still his show to run.
Bruce might be hurting now, but—just like Jason—he hasn’t seen the worst of it yet.
Jason felt the rustling of the still air around him before he heard it, a sudden disturbance entering his secluded bunker in the middle of the city.
He wasn’t alone.
As this realisation set in, his training kicked in. He knew the first thing to do wasn’t to panic, and really, there was nothing to panic over. Sure, not many people could have found where he was hiding, but he wasn’t worried about the short list of people this could have been. His skilled fingers reached over to the utility belt on his hip. He could start off with some trusty smoke pellets, get the intruder off-course so he could make his move. He drew a deep breath in, then set himself in motion.
In a flash, the dark room was plumed in smoke, obscuring him to move soundlessly, rolling into cover and bringing his gun to his trigger finger. He didn’t have his helmet on to scope out the place with infrared vision, but he could make out a dark figure standing in the middle of the room. He wore a long cape, sweeping across the floor.
Could Batman be desperate enough to call in reinforcements at a time like this?
Jason’s never seen him in the flesh before, but he’s seen his face plastered across newspapers—Superman, ”the saviour of Metropolis.”
Had Jason put Batman under enough pressure that he was starting to feel the fire whipping at his back, enough to get him to resort to needing help? That would have been disappointing of the great hero he once knew, but not entirely surprising.
One thing was certain—Jason wasn’t exactly prepared for an interruption from Superman. His best bet was to skirt his way out of here, regroup and reorganise his plans.
Even if he had to lay low for a while and delay his next attack, this would just be a hiccup on his path and nothing more. Nothing was going to stop this reign of terror on Batman. This was a necessary evil for Gotham as much as it was for himself. He would make Bruce rue the day he left him behind. He would make him see this city was better off with Batman leaving it behind too, just like he was now.
Jason glanced over to the light shining in from the street lamp outside, through the hatch that led down into his hideout. It had been left open. If Jason could somehow make his way over to it, he could get out of here.
Just as he surveyed his path towards there—and what distractions he would need to draw attention away from his careful steps—he heard his voice. The voice of a young man, loud and boisterous in a way that did not sound like anything he was imagining the Metropolis superhero to sound like.
“Hey there!” Came a shout from behind Jason.
He whipped his head back, moving on instinct alone as he stepped away from the voice and turned. The man’s face was younger, his suit bulkier. Everything about him looked odd enough for Jason to realise he had misidentified him.
But then that just begged the question: who the hell was this guy?
“Hey, Jason Todd—I mean, Red H—I mean, Arkham Knight!” The man in question stumbled to greet. “I’m a huge fan! You probably don’t know me, but my name is—”
“How the hell did you get in here?” Jason cut to the chase. “Who sent you here?”
Whoever this was, they knew him by name. If this was someone sent to kill him—maybe Slade had double-crossed him after all—then Jason wanted to know who to hunt down and kill after he was done with him.
“Um… me?” The caped man answered awkwardly. “I sent me here?” He clarified, a little confused.
Jason cocked his gun, aiming it between the intruder’s full, dark eyebrows. They were furrowed in a mild show of trepidation. “Start talking, but you better start making sense, or I’ll rewire your brain stem to make you.”
“I was talking before you cut me off!” The other man countered with a shout, obviously annoyed. “I was trying to tell you—my name is Superboy Prime! I’m an anti-hero like you,” he explained. “Just from another world.”
“‘Anti-hero,’ huh? Well, I’m no anti-hero,” Jason scoffed indignantly. He cocked his head to the side to get a better look at this supposed ‘Superboy’. Jason’s never heard of Superman having a sidekick. This guy could be making all this up on the spot. “And I might have missed a few classes at school, but last I checked, the multiverse is just a theory. You expect me to buy this crap?”
“I’m literally standing right in front of you!” Prime exclaimed in frustration. “So, yeah, man, I expect you to buy it because it’s the truth.”
“The truth is—even if you’re right and you came here from some alternate reality—I never asked for you to come here,” Jason spat out. He lowered his gun down, clicking the safety back down and stashing it in his holster. “Whatever you’re here for, you’re not getting it from me. I don’t have time for you.”
“But that’s why I'm here!” Prime rushed to say. “You’re trying to take down Batman, right? The whole “tortured former Robin takes revenge over the father-slash-guy-who-dresses-as-a-bat that abandoned him” thing—I know about all of it. Trust me, I know all about revenge. I’m here to offer my help!”
Jason laughed, he finally made his way over to his chair, picking it up off the ground where he’d kicked it off in his effort to escape earlier. He set his hands over it, white knuckling the wood so he wouldn’t lose his patience. This guy was unbelievable.
“You’re saying you wanna help me?” Jason watched the other man nod so earnestly, his head might as well fall off his neck. “You can do that by getting lost.”
Prime was by his side in an instant, within a mere blink of the eye. It was startling as much as it was unnerving that it took a moment for Jason to realise the man was gripping his arm tightly. Whoever—or whatever—this guy was, he had powers that Jason’s never seen with his own two eyes before. He felt his blood run cold; a quiet, primal thought creeping its way up his brain to tell him he should bolt out of there and never look back.
But somehow, it almost felt like the other man wasn’t even aware of his own strength. His eyes shined bright, a deep cobalt that gleamed in the blinking light overheard, begging him without words.
“B-B-But…” Prime stumbled over his own mouth to say, further disillusioning Jason from the image of what he was expecting and what he was really seeing. “But I don’t wanna go yet!” He whined like a petulant child. He sounded sincerely hurt at just the thought of it. “I’ve always wanted to meet you, Jason.”
Jason tried slipping his arm out of Prime’s grasp to no avail. The other man’s grip only tightened, like he thought pleading with him would work.
“And I don’t even know you,” Jason said tersely. “I don’t even know how you know my name!”
“Oh, I can explain that pretty easily, actually,” Prime surprisingly said. “See, so there are these things called comic books—”
“I know what a comic book is,” Jason glared. “I don’t live under a rock.”
Prime looked around at their surroundings—the darkness seeping in from the corners of his underground hideout; the ceiling a little too close for comfort so you always felt like you were boxed in—and laughed. “Could’ve fooled me.”
Jason groaned in annoyance. Sobering, he realised he didn't have time for this conversation. This guy was clearly a bumbling idiot and not an actual threat. “Who the hell asked you?”
Prime’s expression blanched, his grip on Jason’s arm loosening as he fumbled to think of a way to save his already-ruined first impression on his favourite character. “U-Uh, waitsorryno, forget what I said—”
Jason finally wrung his arm out of the tight squeeze of the other man’s fist. He beelined it to his workshop desk and picked up his helmet, setting off to make his way out of the exit hatch.
“Well, you can forget it. Now, I got shit to do. I already told you I don’t have time for this,” Jason said with finality. He put his helmet on, voice modulation activating as he gave his final warning with a sharp, digitised crackle. ”Get lost.”
The lost and estranged Superboy looked around himself in mild panic. He couldn’t just let the only reason he was staying here get away! It would suck so bad if he had to go Riddler trophy-hunting to pass the time until he could leave. And this was the Arkham goddamn Knight—Prime wasn't leaving just yet if he had anything to say about it.
His eyes caught onto a glint of shiny silver in the darkness, like a moth to a flame. In a moment you could miss if you glanced away from the screen during a cut-scene—he snatched it up and took flight towards Jason before he could get the hatch at the top of the ladder open all the way.
Jason heard a faint click, cool metal on his wrist, touching the sliver of skin in the space between his glove and the sleeve of his tactical jacket. He looked down to see a sly smirk on the Superwannabe’s face as he held up his own hand to show them handcuffed together.
“You know I can get out of these, right?” Jason scoffed, wriggling the chain that held them together. He could try slipping his hand out or picking the lock, but if this guy was really invulnerable, he could take it if Jason broke the chain by kicking him down to use the force to sever it. He was still surprised that Prime would go through all this trouble just to make him listen to more of his nonsense. This guy couldn’t take a hint if he hit him with it like a freight train. “Stop playing games and leave me alone already.”
“Fat chance!” Prime exclaimed, pulling his hand back so hard that it forced Jason’s boot to slip off the ladder where he was resting it. His shoulder collided hard with the man’s black-and-red studded chest. Jason bit down on a wince that threatened to escape. Damn, did it feel like hitting a brick wall at full speed.
Next, he could feel an arm wrap around his waist, keeping him from falling a whole 15 ft down to the concrete below. Jason would have been thankful for the help if Prime wasn’t the one that made him slip in the first place. “You’re not going anywhere,” his voice said, breath fogging up Jason’s helmet visor.
“Let go of me, you idiot!” Jason wrapped his hand around the ladder, gripping tightly as he kicked himself off the man’s armoured shin. He knew his own get-up was a little over-the-top, but it was tactical. What the hell was this guy wearing all this armour for? “If you bring us both down and kill me, I’ll kill you!”
“That doesn’t even make any sense!” Prime shouted incredulously. “And I can fly, in case you hadn’t noticed. You’re not going to fall to your doom.” He tried pulling Jason back, but Jason resisted by pulling his own end of the chain the opposite direction. He didn't have time to be playing tug-of-war with a red-caped creep. “Just relax already.”
“You want me to relax?!” Jason shouted back at him. “Wait ‘til I get these off—I’ll beat you to death with them!”
”Damn, you’re so hot when you threaten people,” Prime said, a strange look in his eyes as he trailed his eyes down Jason’s form. He’s covered head-to-toe in his Arkham Knight gear, and yet, he’s never felt so exposed in his entire life. His cuffed hand squirmed as the other man linked their fingers together, squeezing Jason's gloved hand. “Let me make one thing clear to you, baby. Since you wanna kill me so bad—I’d love to see you try.”
Jason gritted his teeth and snarled at him. “Why, you son of a—”
“Ah-ah-ah!” The other man cut in to scold him, wiggling his other hand in disapproval. “We have a strict policy on swear words here. Go on,” he egged him on. “Try finishing that sentence.”
Jason had no idea what Prime was talking about and he didn’t particularly care. He was sizing him up now, trying to figure out how hard he needed to kick him in the face to break this chain linking them together. He cursed himself for only having the best gadgets in his arsenal. If these were those cheap, state-produced GCPD handcuffs, he’d be out of these before this guy could finish a crappy punchline.
With a grunt, Jason finally made his move. He pressed his cuffed hand to his chest, throwing Prime off-balance as he he wasn't expecting Jason to pull in the same direction as he was this time. Jason kicked himself off the ladder, his feet colliding over the man’s armoured shoulders to backflip off of him. He felt the chain go taught, pulling his wrist tightly, before it went slack with a sharp groaning of metal.
He landed on the ground with a roll to break his fall, then took off running to the alternate exit. It would be further underground, which could possibly trap him with this Superman-from-your-worst-nightmares, but Jason wasn’t worried. He had a feeling he had bought himself enough time by taking him off-guard, it would take him a moment just to figure out what just happened. By then, Jason would be home free on the surface.
At least, that was the plan.
”Hey! What the hell, man?!” Prime was standing before him, the other broken end of the chain still dangling off his wrist. His eyes blazed red, like the heart of a flame. He looked angry, like he was about to blow his head off with a great puff of steam. “I said I was trying to help you, you jerk!”
“I don't know how else to get this through your rock-hard skull! I don’t WANT your help!” Jason groaned. He was getting tired of this cat-and-mouse chase. He used to dream about what it would be like to grow up with friends his age. Now, he didn’t even wanna think about what knowing people his age—that were also in his line of work—on a personal level would actually be like.
Jason shouldered past him, but the man seemed like he wasn’t done being a thorn in his side today. He grabbed Jason’s bicep, thumb digging in so painfully that he could almost imagine it denting his skin underneath the reinforced jacket.
“You’re making a mistake, Jason,” Prime gritted out. His eyes bore into Jason’s almost like he could see right through the mask and into the blue of his own eyes. “You’re going to lose this if you do it alone. Please believe me. You need me by your side.”
“I don’t need your pity-offer, asshole,” Jason bit out venomously. “And if I did, you’d be the last person I’d ever turn to for help. I’ve seen enough here. You’re just going to weigh me down.”
“That’s not true,” Prime quickly defended, though his resolve was breaking down bit by bit. “I-I-I w-wouldn’t…”
“Oh, yeah?” Jason cocked a sharp brow, amused by how quickly the other man’s shoulders had dropped with just a few sharply-pointed words. The ’Super’ in his name might have not held as much weight as he thought. “Enlighten me.”
“You don’t get a choice here,” he said cryptically as he stared back at Jason. “You don’t get to get rid of me.”
Maybe it was the trick of the light in the dim corridors that wound around beneath the city, but it felt like his eyes had grown brighter, incandescent as it burned through into somewhere deeper than the surface. Jason knew he was looking at him, but it felt like he could also look through him if he chose to.
Jason took a step back, a soft chuckle on his lips like he couldn’t bear to take this seriously. But it was hard to deny the unease that was creeping its way upward and settling into his spine, like an instinct you simply couldn’t shake. He could talk big all he wanted, but the moment the smile dropped away from the man's face—Prime terrified him. It felt like he alone could trigger something inside him, buried deep yet still powerful enough to feel the Earth shake around him, like a dormant ignition meeting the spark of a flame for the first time.
As he felt Jason move away, his grip tightened and he pulled him closer. With his other cuffed hand, Prime took hold of Jason’s own cuffed one, wrapping his fingers around his wrist and digging into bare flesh. Jason yelped at the contact, and even more at the bite of fresh blood spilling under the man’s fingernail. With a blindling light, Jason felt the rising heat of a fire so close to his skin until it was seering. He squirmed in the other man’s grip until he dropped his hold on Jason entirely.
Jason pulled himself away, stepping back immediately before he felt the jerk of the chain again. He huffed through his nose, reaching a point that was beyond frustration. He wanted to kill this man. He wanted to beat his face in until it broke all his knuckles, his hands and his wrists. He wanted to—
“There,” Prime declared, clearly satisfied with himself. “Watch what happens when you try getting out of those again.”
Jason looked down at their hands between them. They were linked by the cuffs once again, but where a slack chain should have been, there was only a short, solid rod of metal. The cuff around his own wrist was slimmed down to fit him perfectly, like it had been smelted on to his size.
Jason thought he would be satisfied enough to break his ankles kicking Prime’s face in to death. It didn’t matter how—this guy just needed to die. Prime was practically begging for it.
He looked up at the man’s proud smirk and thought of what it would look like beaten to a pulp. “You have got to be kidding me,” Jason growled at him. “You have to be fu—”
“Hey, man!” Prime chuckled at him, clearly amused. He must think this is what friendly banter sounds like. What an idiot. “I mean it about the swear words! We’re not rated for those! Which sucks, but maybe we still get to kiss lat—”
”Don’t give me another reason to shoot that giant nose off your face!” Jason shouted at him.
He turned towards the direction of the exit, wondering if maybe this didn’t have to cut into his plans after all. If he could just lead this guy on, Jason could somehow put him in the line of fire and finally get rid of him for good. There were a lot of people that wanted him dead these days. It shouldn't take long.
Prime trailed after him, pulled by the cuffs linking them together. He had his other hand on his face, covering his nose. His voice came out muffled as he asked uncertainly. “Wha’s wong wit’ my dose?”
Jason sighed and pushed the hidden hatch that led out onto an obscure alleyway. He yanked his arm to pull Prime along with him. “Keep your voice down,” Jason whispered to him.
Prime dropped his hand off his face, then looked around the gritty exterior of the two buildings they were standing in the middle of. The cobbled streets were still wet with rain, and there was a dank smell in the air. Yuck. Gotham City was so gross. They used to get rain back home all the time, but this city seemed to always have the worst version of everything; the smell of fresh rainwater mixing up with the dirt-covered streets and the trash piled around different blocks. Whoever created this city as the setting for Batman’s comics was truly evil.
However, even after dejectedly surveying the landscape, Prime didn’t notice even the faintest stutter of a heartbeat for a half a mile around. “But there’s no one here,” he spoke up at full volume in Jason’s helmeted ear. Somehow—even with the helmet in place as a buffer—Prime’s voice still rang like an irritating, incessant alarm bell.
“I wasn’t telling you to do that so we wouldn't get caught, I meant I don’t wanna listen to you anymore,” Jason bit out. “Shut the hell up already.”
”Ouch!” Prime said, clutching his armour-plated chest dramatically, feigning actual physical pain. “That actually hurt! I promise—just give it time, you’ll warm up to me.”
Jason scoffed. “Do you know that for sure because we've warmed up to each other before, ‘alternate-reality’ guy?” He said in a mocking tone.
“Uh…” Prime thought of the many times he’s run into the OG Jason Todd, who went by Red Hood in the dimension he was currently loitering in. He could see the scowl and the eye roll from a great distance away, as if he could look into what Jason was doing right now while they were many universes apart. The further back Prime sifted through his memories of their encounters, the more facepalms and exasperated groans he witnessed. He wouldn't exactly say Jason’s warmed up to him, but Prime could tell he was getting close to breaking through to him.
“Not exactly,” Prime admitted awkwardly. They were rounding the block now, and he could see the Arkham Knight’s motorcycle parked behind a cut-off wall at the end of another alleyway. It was obscurely hidden in a run-down garage of an abandoned storage shed. “But I’m a really nice guy, I promise! You just gotta give me a chance. Please.”
Jason didn’t bother replying back to Prime, it was clear he was never going to get through to him as much as it was clear he was never going to warm up to this guy. He was also too busy staring down at his bike, belatedly realising he hadn't thought this situation all the way through.
Maybe being chained to Superglued-on-boy was going to complicate his plans for the night. Perhaps just a tad bit. He couldn't exactly figure out a way he could drive his bike if he needed both hands to operate it.
He turned his head over to his side to look at Prime. “So, uh…” Jason started awkwardly. He couldn’t believe what he was about to ask him, but he swallowed down his nerves like a sour pill and forced the words out of his mouth. “You said you could… fly?”He finally asked.
Prime beamed at him, sharp teeth flashing a bright white in the darkness of the alley. There was a devious glint in his eyes, like he was waiting for the moment when he’d finally be useful for something.
“Oh, you bet I can!” Prime exclaimed proudly. He yanked Jason’s wrist, sending him forward to collide straight into Prime’s chest. When he did so earlier, their bodies were at an awkward angle and Jason was too busy trying not to fall off the ladder, but right now…
He felt his cheeks flush as a warmth washed over him, feeling their bodies pressed up together so close. He could faintly feel the tug of Prime’s fingers on his cuffed wrist and the powerful arm wrapped around his own waist.
Jason was suddenly very aware of the fact that he’s never been held like this before. He was hoping that his demeanour doesn’t betray himself. In an instant, his heart was thumping like a wild rabbit sprinting in his chest. His breath was caught in his throat, but just then, the Superjerk smirked at him again. Jason wished he had the equal strength to knock his teeth in for him to get him to stop doing that.
“Everything alright, beautiful?” Prime asked slyly, his eyes roaming over his helmet. Jason could have sworn it felt like he was looking straight at him. Like he could burn a whole through the thick material and see straight into each cut, bruise and scar on his face. The feeling was irrational yet unnervingly intense. “The big, scary Arkham Knight isn't afraid of little ol’ me, is he?”
Jason gritted his teeth. He had to make an effort not to squirm as the heat rose to his face and coloured his cheeks. Perhaps it was out of embarrassment; perhaps it was more. “Shut up and get a move on already!” He snarled at Prime.
Prime chuckled in return, squeezing his arm tighter around Jason’s waist until he suddenly felt weightless. Then, Jason felt his heart leap into his chest.
It wasn’t like he was never used to being in the air with his feet off the ground, but this felt entirely different. A nervousness overtook him as he made the conscious effort not to look down, knowing he’d find the city growing smaller below them.
In lieu of that, Jason screwed his eyes shut and wrapped his free arm around Prime’s shoulders to draw himself closer. He regretted doing so immediately, realising he could feel the softness of the other man’s hair as his hand brushed against it, and the rumble in Prime’s chest against his own as he chuckled like he was happy to have Jason right where he wanted him.
“Hey, uh… Jason?” Prime asked, a suppressed laugh breaking through his voice.
Jason groaned. He didn’t want to open his eyes and look at this piece of work laugh at him. On top of everything else he was dealing with, Jason wouldn't let Prime enjoy this moment more than he should. He grit his teeth, hissing as he forced himself to speak. “Didn’t I tell you to shut—”
Prime cleared his throat, a polite attempt at interrupting him that took Jason aback for a moment long enough for Prime to speak. “Yeah, but…” Jason felt his cuffed wrist being pulled on as Prime scratched his chin. “You haven’t told me where we’re going.”
“Oh…” Jason muttered as he realised. He tilted his head up and slowly opened his eyes, careful not to let them wander away to look down. The air was thinner up here, a cool breeze whipping the other man’s cape behind him and against Jason’s arm that was encircling him.
Prime had a soft, kind smile on his face as he waited patiently for him to speak. Jason looked back at him nervously. The man’s face was washed in a soft, cotton-white glow, almost ethereal, but it made him realise they were floating in the middle of a cloud in the sky. Jason’s stomach dropped involuntarily, not wanting to fully comprehend how high up they actually were.
He cleared his throat uncertainly. Jason racked his brain for what to say and came up empty. It was so quiet up here; so peaceful in a way he hasn’t remembered ever feeling. It wasn’t every day that he could get to touch the clouds.
He’s hurtled down from the sky towards Earth after jumping out of a flying plane, parachuting down. He’s leapt off of skyscrapers and grappled his way onto another that was even higher. His whole life, he’s only known what it felt like to be constantly in motion, like a bullet shooting off towards its next target. He’s never felt what it was like to just stop and take it all in. Feel weightless without the imminent fear of oncoming danger.
Jason felt a slight pressure on the small of his back, gentle in a way that he wasn’t accustomed to either. The warmth seeping through the other man’s hand was comforting in a way he didn’t have the words—or even the experience—to describe.
He finally met Prime’s eyes and was shocked to realise that when his smile actually met them—creasing them at the corners enough to soften his gaze—he looked like an angel sent down to Earth, just for him.
Jason coughed awkwardly, clearing his throat. The racing in his chest sped into his throat and it was making him uncomfortable. He told himself it was the altitude, but he didn’t want to think about the possibility that his heart would still be racing right next to Prime when they finally touched down on solid ground.
“There's…” Jason began meekly, then cleared his throat and tried again. “There's a warehouse down in the Cobbler District. It's in the outskirts of Old Gotham. That’s up North from here.”
“Okay,” Prime accepted the direction as he started moving again. Jason could actually see themselves moving through the clouds now, flitting in and out of a webbing sea of white and grey. He gripped Prime’s shoulders tighter, fingers digging into his armour. Unbelievably, he felt like a cat stuck in a tree.
“It helps to breathe deep, Jason,” Prime said, speaking a little more quietly.
“What?” Jason asked him, confused. His own voice was shrill; high-pitched in a way he hadn’t intended. He could even hear it through the modulation in his helmet. Embarrassed wasn't a strong enough descriptor for what he felt right then and there.
“Look, I didn’t wanna say anything…” Prime started to say, unsure of himself. He tried keeping his voice down like it would make it easier for Jason to hear this. “I can hear your heartbeat,” he explained. “It’s beating like crazy, which I would normally love the sound of, but you’re just freaking yourself out, Jason. At this altitude, you could pass out if you don’t calm down.”
An uncomfortable warmth enveloped Jason from underneath his helmet. His voice came through louder than he was aiming for, or maybe it was just getting harder to hear all of a sudden. If it was because of the blood rushing through his ears or the air getting thinner, no one would ever know. At least it was easier for Jason to dismiss it that way.
“Okay…” Jason finally mumbled back to acknowledge that he’d heard him. Maybe talking more would help the other guy not feel like he kept having to fill the space with the irritiating sound of his own voice, but Jason was too accustomed to the quiet. Besides, he didn’t really know what else to say.
It was hard to even wrap around the fact that he was even looking for anything to say. Why did it matter? He was just stuck with this guy, it wasn’t like he really had company as much as it felt like he had been unwillingly assigned an escort to his next mission.
Jason was just hoping this would all be over soon.