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The fire is spreading. Smoke is biting in his eyes but he’s not backing down. The shattered remains of his helmet crunch under his boots, as he takes a step forward, head held high.
The monster before him is roaring, bearing gaping maws filled with nothing but all-encompassing blackness and rows upon rows of dagger sharp teeth.
His hands are steady, fingers holding onto his guns tightly, despite the blood trickling from his arms.
Jason narrows his eyes and takes another step forward, closing in on the creature that will devour everyone and everything he holds dear if he doesn’t stop it, doesn’t at least keep it busy long enough for the big guys to show up.
He tastes copper and bile on his tongue, swallows the fear gnawing at his mind.
He could’ve run, had the chance to get the hell out of dodge way before all of this started. But he couldn’t. As much as he claimed to despise Gotham and everything that had to do with it. As much as he promised Bruce that he would never set foot into this rotten city again when they last met…
He lied.
Jason grits his teeth and stumbles. Forward, always forward. This isn’t the time to back off. No matter how scared shitless he is of this fucking thing.
Maybe this is his chance to do something that matters, a little voice whispers into his ear. For once he can do something useful, something that won’t make Bruce give him that disappointed look that’s always so much worse than his lectures. Maybe he can be more than Batman’s greatest failure for once. More than the former sidekick who died too young and came back angry. He can stop being the one thing the Justice League will always judge the dark knight for.
He yells, shouts at the beast that someone must’ve pulled straight out of his nightmares. It doesn’t matter what he’s saying, whether it’s a string of obscenities or a plea for mercy. As long as he keeps its eyes on him.
His bullets shatter like glass against its impenetrable carapace and before he knows it, his ammo has run dry. The guns click uselessly when he pulls the trigger and he throws them, right at one of the things head-like growths.
They’re swallowed by the void and his heart freezes in his chest.
He doesn’t scream, when the creature’s teeth dig into his shoulder. Pain explodes in his body, tears through his system with the force of a tidal wave.
The beast drags him along, only letting go, when Jason jams his knife into its flesh just between the teeth with all the adrenaline fueled strength he can muster.
It throws him off like a ragdoll, barely leaving his arm attached and his agonised howl is drowned out by the sound of the building crumbling under its massive claws.
Jason’s fingers fumble with his belt, search the hidden pockets for anything that can help him buy Gotham just a little more time.
The explosives.
He doesn’t need to look around to know that there’s no cover anywhere. There’s no adjacent buildings, no chimneys or railings. His grappling hook is lying uselessly beneath the things feet and his trusty knife was broken in two.
Jason’s left arm is dangling at his side uselessly, blood oozing from the deep gashes in his shoulder and colouring the dirty floor under his boots crimson.
Unconsciousness creeps up on him, promises him a warm embrace and a dearly needed release from the pain.
He shakes his head. Not yet. It’s not time just yet.
His right arm snaps forward, throwing the tightly bound bundle with the last shred of energy left in his muscles.
One stumbling step and then another. Backwards this time. He feels the edge of the building under his sole and he knows what he has to do.
His thumb brushes over the button, pushes ever so slightly.
The explosion is blinding, flashes of white and red searing his eyes. The beasts shrieks, whether out of pain or surprise he can’t tell.
He doesn’t wait for the force of the shockwave to push him backwards.
It’s a leap of faith.
For just a moment he’s a child again, a young boy learning to love and trust for the first time in his life. He’s standing on top of a pillar and beneath him Bruce is waiting with open arms, promising him that he wouldn’t be hurt if he jumped.
There’s a flash of red and blue somewhere at the edge of his vision and relief washes through his system.
He made it. He held out long enough for the big guns to show up.
Jason closes his eyes, feeling the cold wind around him.
Falling is so easy after the long fight. He deserves it, deserves the rest.
As though he’s underwater he can hear the beast roar. There’s screams and shouting and he thinks he can hear a familiar voice among them.
Bruce.
He’s there. Standing tall above him. How strange, Jason thinks, he’s not wearing the costume.
Bruce is wearing a suit, tie loose around his neck and his hair is messy in that particular way that betrays he’s been running his hands through it in thought.
“Jay,”
His voice is clear and calm, drowning out all the noise around them.
There’s another one. Another voice. Somewhere far away. It sounds like Bruce, rough and desperate. Sounds like he’s calling out to him.
But why would he listen if his Bruce is right here.
“B.” Jason breathes and he finds that it’s easy to talk. There’s no rasp to his voice, no pain in his throat. “You came for me.”
Bruce smiles, that honest, gentle smile that Jason hasn’t seen in so long and that always makes everything alright.
“Of course, Jay. I’ll never let you fall.”
And this time, Jason knows that it’s true. He knows that Bruce is here only for him.
“I love you, B.” The words that he wanted to say for so long, that had festered and rooted in his heart, they suddenly fall from his lips like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
Bruce holds out a hand and he takes it, feels the other’s warmth spread through his body. Like a healing balm, he can feel the wounds in his shoulder close. The cuts and bruises make way for smooth skin, broken ribs and shattered spine piecing themselves together.
“I know, Jay.”
Strong arms wrap around him, hold him tight and all the tension drains from his muscles. He sinks into the embrace, feeling light as a feather.
“ I love you too.”
He doesn’t hear the faint noise anymore, the fight raging around him. He doesn’t feel the strong hands gripping his shoulders, the agonised cry from the one he had longed to see so dearly.
“It’s time to go home, Jay.”
Jason smiles.
“Yeah. Let’s go home, B.”