Work Text:
Jay was dead.
Tim opens the door to his hotel room. The wallpaper is an old dingey yellow peeling off of the edges of the walls. At one point the room he was in could have been called nice but that would have been years ago. The room was too worn down to ever be considered nice again. Tim closes his door before collapsing into his bed,
As shitty as the mattress was he was tired. With an exhausted groan, Tim mechanically forced his muscles to relax. He was angry but he was too tired of feeling this way to do much about it. Now that jay was gone what else did he have?
What was with jay anyways, always getting himself into shit? Leaking information that wasn’t his letting everyone know what he was doing? He was reckless, Tim sat up his hands fidgeting and shaking too much for him to relax.
Might as well go outside and smoke. Tim let out a sign, smoking would get him nowhere but at least it would calm his nerves.
Maybe his life could finally be normal again. Maybe he could step outside, smoke, sleep, and then have a normal day for once in his fucked up life. Was that too much to ask for? Who knows but Tim could hope.
…..
Jay wakes up head pounding, the last thing he remembered was the sound of a gunshot and then static. Ear-piercing static that cut through all of his senses rendering him helpless. He looked around franticly trying to figure out where he was. Somewhere in Rosswood but not anyplace he could recognize from any previous entry.
He looked down at himself, blood on his shirt but no bullet hole. And his throat, his throat was incredibly dry almost like he hadn’t drank anything in days- no weeks. He didn’t really know how long he had been here all he knew was that his head was spinning and he felt like he was going to puke up his own guts.
Jay’s eyes go wide with realization as he fishes his hand through his jacket pocket. His phone! He had a phone, he could call Tim, or 911 or something. He would be safe. Jay froze, his phone had to be fucked up, There’s no way the date could be right. If he had been in the woods for a year he would have remembered it wouldn’t he?
Five percent battery. Jay let out a sigh, he had five percent battery left on his phone to call someone to help him. The police couldn’t do much to help him so 911 was off the table. That left Tim, who knows if he would even pick up but it was worth a shot. Jay calls Tim watching as the phone rings.
…..
Tim lets out a groan before shielding his eyes, who the hell could be calling him this late at night? It was 3 AM, whatever it was must be important, maybe work, after all, he had been at his current job for the past 6 months. He had been called in for extra shifts it wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary.
Tims’s face pales as he reads the caller I.D. that couldn’t be right. Jay Merrick had been dead for a year. This had to be some prank call or… or… someone else could have Jay’s number now. Tim be reasonable, Jay’s dead he cant call you.
Tim put the phone to his ear with a sigh his voice clearly tired yet still strained. “Tim speaking.”
“T-Tim, thank god its you- I I woke up here and I don’t know-”
Tim ends the call throwing his phone to the ground. This couldn’t be happening, he had to be going crazy. He saw jay die, he killed Alex. His life should be normal. Sure he missed Jay but that didn’t change the fact that he was dead. He was dead right? The body was gone when I went back for it…
Tim picks up his phone before mashing in Jay’s phone number, “T-Tim?”
“Yea.” it was a statement, not a question.
‘A-are you…” Jay trails off, “ ok....?”
“I Was ok… but you decided to call me…”
“Oh-”
“Where are you?”
“The woods, Rosswood I think…”
Tim lets out a distruggled sigh uncertainty in his voice, “ill uh- ill pick you up. Find a road or something alright?”
“Alright.”
…..
Jay wondered if Tim would ever pick him up, it was cold out, and the more he sat there looking like a homeless hitchhiker the colder he felt. At this point, his legs felt numb, but sure enough, he spotted Tims’s car and began to wave at him from the side of the road. Jay stumbled his way to the truck only stopping before opening the door. Tim was glaring at him, and he wasn’t sure if it was the anger, distrust, or guilt he saw on TIms face that made him feel worse.
In reality, it was probably all three. “Get in.” Tim barked. Jay gets into the car looking out the window as Tim begins to drive. “So…” Tim clears his throat, “what happened?”
Jay shrugs refusing to look at Tim focusing out the window, “it started raining…”
“Can you just answer me?” Tim looks over to jay, “just once answer me, I don’t want to jump through hoops for an answer.”
Jay shakes his head, “i-i just woke up in the woods today… there’s not much of an answer to give...”
Tim nods shooting jay a distrustful glance before looking back to the road, “this stuff never really made sense, to begin with, not then, not with that thing… I guess it wouldn’t start now.”
Jay turns to Tim, “I’m sorry tim, i-i shouldn’t have called you…”
Tim stops the car, “cut the bullshit Jay, I’m here to help you not watch you feel sorry for yourself.”
Jay tries to open the car door but it’s locked. “Just let me out.”
“No.”
“Tim.”
“I said no, all you ever do is get yourself into shit jay.”
“Tim I promise I won’t do anything stupid-”
“Bullshit!” Tim growls hitting his hand against the dash, “I’ve already let you get hurt ONCE and I’m not going to do that to you again!” The car falls silent Tim looking at Jay with wide eyes. Tim quickly looks away from Jay before he starts driving again, his voice is barely over a whisper, “i-im sorry jay-”
“It’s-” jay is quickly cut off.
“It’s not ok jay…”.
“I was going to say it’s not your fault…” jay’s voice chokes up as he looks down avoiding eye-contact with Tim.
“Sure as shit feel’s like it.” Tim refuses to look up, all jay can manage to do is shake his head in disapproval, the rest of the car ride is silent.