Work Text:
“hey, perfect timing. i was just thinking about y-”
jason’s agitated voice, distorted slightly by the phone, cut you off. “baby, baby- shh, stop talking. where are you? home?”
his words were surrounded by heavy breathing, crashes, and shouting, a cacophony unsettling enough to distract you from how rude ‘stop talking’ was. “yeah?”
“thank god,” he muttered, before grunting in effort and raising his voice over a clattering noise in the background. “i need you to stay there, okay?”
“is everything okay?”
“no, everything’s shit- robin! your six!- and i need you to stay put.” he paused for a moment, and you could hear a slam in the background. “please.”
“okay,” you mumbled, trying to swallow your rising nerves. “are you…”
“i’ll play it smart,” he answered the unspoken question. another crash. “i’ll be careful.”
“you’d better.”
“i’ve got to go.”
“be safe,” you added, worry fully audible.
“see you soon.”
and the call ended.
the night passed slowly. slower than usual.
you did you best to keep occupied, answering emails and scrubbing dishes and watching videos of a lady playing the spoons, but your mind kept revisiting the short conversation with jason.
the sour feeling in your stomach never faded, replaying the genuine concern in his voice. he wasn’t easily rattled- you hadn’t heard that tone in a very long time. it was hard to imagine what could have caused it, much less drove him to call you and ask you not to go out. once you had run out of chores and musical entertainment, you begrudgingly gave in, flopped into bed, and turned on the news.
“-left the scene, taking the now-infamous harvey dent into custody once again.”
you swore quietly, watching as the camera zoomed in on a trampled black-and-white cookie directly behind the reporter.
“witnesses state that several vigilantes were involved in his re-capture, including batman, robin, and batgirl. as per usual, they have taken off into the night before they could be questioned on the situation.”
“thanks, maria. the chilling events of this evening seem to be resolved, thanks to speedy response time by-”
you muted the tv and dropped the remote onto the bed beside you, staring disinterestedly at the man speaking. text scrolled across the bottom of the screen, blandly describing a forked approach to crime- two face had, appropriately, split his attention two ways. one half of his attack had been a bomb threat surrounding a political rally downtown; the other half had been his goons randomly selecting hostages from the streets.
highlighting corruption and random luck simultaneously. it was impressively planned, you could admit that much.
but now, knowing now what had happened, you wondered where jason was.
the red hood’s involvement in the festivities going unmentioned wasn’t surprising- it was a good sign, really, meaning he was well enough to avoid onlookers and nosy cameras.
but you wondered.
you didn’t wonder long, soon hearing the window slide open and shut again.
“honey?”
“here!” you hopped out of bed, following his voice to meet him in the hall.
he had already shed his helmet, concern and exhaustion visible on his handsome face as he breathed your name. “you okay?”
“yeah, i’m okay. i stayed put.”
“thank you,” he mumbled, letting the tension melt from his shoulders. he pulled you in, holding you to his chest with an one arm around your waist and the other over your shoulders. “thank you.”
returning the hug was the easiest thing you’d done all day, melting into his hold and rubbing your hands over his back. “thank you for coming back in one piece. are you okay?”
“i’m fine. i just needed to know you were safe.” his thumb traveled across the back of your neck, the seam of his glove catching on the collar of your shirt.
“you were the one out there, jason. you had me worried.”
he let out a carefully neutral hum- jason for 'i know’ and 'i’m sorry’. “we’re okay,” he said quietly, kissing your head. “we’re okay.”
you nodded, pulling back to meet his weary eyes. “we’re okay,” you confirmed, watching some of the tension leave his brow.
to say you had a lot of questions was an understatement. the news had shown you an incomplete picture of what had happened, and the fact that he was so clearly shaken up told you that there was a very big picture to see.
'you had me worried’ barely scratched the surface.
but he was home.
everything else could wait for the morning, so instead of asking 'how bad was it’ or 'are you okay’ or 'why did you seem surprised to see me home, right where i promised i would be’, you brought your hands up to cup his face. he immediately nuzzled into your hold, bringing a small smile to your lips. “c'mon, handsome. let’s get you out of that suit, okay?”
you slid back, ready to turn and head back into the bedroom and set out clean pajamas, but you were stopped in your tracks by him grabbing at your waist. “wait- wait. can we just…” his fingers bunched in your shirt, gently pulling you back to him before finishing his sentence in a whisper. “be here for a minute?”
your questions came back with a vengeance, but he looked shaken enough already, so you just slipped back into your place against his chest and held close.
it could wait for the morning.