Archive of Our Own

Jason’s never expected this life.

He’d been born in a hovel, in the lowborn part of a central city. His mother left them and his father wasn’t well enough to hold a steady job. He worked here and there at various taverns and picked the pockets of the wellest off customers. Jason learned stealing early, nothing much, mostly food so they don’t starve and a few trinkets they could sell or trade for trice used clothes or blankets.

His father marries again when he’s five and, for a time, things get better. Not by alot, but they are better. Jason even learns his letters and how to count and what the different coins can buy and how to group them if one isn’t enough.

Willis disappears when Jason’s eight. They have no idea where he went or what happened to him. He just leaves one night for the tavern and then… doesn’t come back. They give up on him after a week and life goes on with just the two of them.

Until it’s just him.

Until Catherine got sick and slowly faded to nothing, hopped up on kratom to help with the pain.

Until he’s left in the little hovel by himself and stuffing a few belongings in a rucksack before the man who runs the shady apothecary comes for the money they owe him and tossed him into debtor’s prison.

He skips town, slipping onto the back of a cart heading elsewhere. It heads north but takes a turn down a smaller path and Jason’s forced to bail. He walks for awhile, following the same well worn road for days until he ends up on the outskirts of a large city where he wanders for awhile. There’s a decent spot that’s not too rundown so the people around aren’t struggling for literal crumbs. He sets up shop there, finding a little cranny to stuff his rucksack into and then, a few days later, a half broken crate to live in. It leaks if it rains too hard, but it’s better than nothing… at least until it snows for the first time.

The sky dumps several inches of slush, so everything’s soaked and frozen. There’s a couple of fire barrels around but there’s hardly ever space at one. The one time he does get a little space, he’s only just managed to get some feeling back in his fingers before he’s shoved away again.

He wanders, going further than he usually does just trying to find a way to get warm. The streets change, getting a little nicer, the storefronts having polished glass windows. The few people walking around have heavy cloaks or coats… and stare at him… It’s both disconcerting yet normal. He’s used to the stares, though maybe not such harsh ones, ones where he’s made to literally feel like a cockroach.

There’s an unmanned carriage in front of one establishment. His first absolutely insane idea is to hop in and hope something that fancy had the rumored feet warmers or something and he could thaw his limbs. The second absolutely insane idea was to steal it. The emblem on the side could be painted over or scratched off and the whole thing could be beaten up a little. It’d sell for less, but it wouldn’t be traced back to him and it’d still be more money than he had now.

Mind made up, he went up to the horse who eyes him. He has nothing on him, but he offers his hand anyway. The horse lowers his nose, snuffling around for apples or whatever. He grabs the bridle and tries to lead the horse away. The large thing snorts and tries to pull away. He hangs on for dear life, shushing the horse and cursing everything else. It backs up, lifting him off the ground as it tosses its head. He’s about decided that this is how he dies when a large arm appears and grabs the horse. Arms wrap around Jason, pulling him away.

“Get off me!”

“Settle down. You’ll get hurt,” a voice says as the arms hurl him away.

A large man, in one of those fancy coats, steadies the horse, calming it with a few pats and a carrot. Once the horse is calm again, he turns, stares at Jason. He opens his mouth before his brows furrow. Jason’s tense, ready to dart away when they raise the alarm for a thief. Instead the man jerks his head and goes for the carriage door. The man holding onto Jason follows and Jason digs his heels in, trying to get away. The old man’s stronger than he looked though and he has no problem hauling Jason closer to the door. Jason fights with everything his half frozen self has-

The second that bit of warm air filters out, he loses it.

Every bit of fight in him is gone.

He glances up at the man who just inclines his head and Jason’s climbing inside.

At least if this is how he dies, he’ll be warm.

The man climbs up after him and the door’s shut. He huddles opposite the man and stares warily at the offered apple. The man nods and Jason slowly takes it, biting into it and almost moaning at the sweetness. Juice drips down his face and, before long, he’s eating down to the seeds.

“What’s your name…?”

“Why.”

A brow quirks, “Because I’d like to know the name of the boy who tried to take my horse. An impressive feat by the way, if he’d been cooperative.” He offers a blanket.

Jason slowly takes it, wraps it around his shoulders, “Jason… Todd.”

“Where do you live Jason Todd…?”

He shrugs, not really sure what to say. The man offers him another apple. He takes it, holds it… He can’t eat this one… not yet.

“My name is Bruce Wayne. The man driving us is Alfred. He works for me. The horse is named Ace. I’ve had him since I was almost twelve. I’ve lived here, in Gotham, since I was born almost thirty years ago.”

Jason bites his lip, “I’m twelve… not from here… my parents are gone but it’s fine. I take care of myself. Been taking care of myself and I’m doing just fine. If you could let me off…” even as he says it, his insides shrivel. The carriage is warm… or at least warmer than outside. He doesn’t want to go back outside.

“I would but… the sky says it’ll snow again and you look like you’re very near frostbite. Do you know what frostbite is?”

Jason shakes his head.

“Frostbite when you are so cold for so long, your skin turns red, then white then black. If it turns black, the doctor might have to remove those bits. It usually affects things like fingers and toes.”

Jason pales.

Mr. Wayne offers a third apple, “Would you like to come stay with me…?”

Jason stares at the apples, one for each hand, from under his blanket, “What will happen to me if I do…?”

“You get more like that... and no frostbite.”

Jason would like that very much.

Mr. Alfred says nothing when he follows Mr. Wayne out of the carriage, says nothing when he sets a third seat at the table, says nothing but ‘Good night’ when he and Mr. Wayne lead him to a room with a bed and tub of warm water. Jason can’t remember the last time he’s a bath, a real true bath. The water turns dark so fast and he feels guilty for ruining perfectly good drinking water, but Mr. Wayne assures him that it’s ok. It’s also ok to sleep in the bed, tucked under all the blankets, just be careful of the bed warmer as the metal pan was hot.

And Jason stayed the night.

And the next night.

And the next one.

And the ones after that, through the snows and then just… he never left.

Bruce Wayne, as it turns out, is a well known, well to do merchant, not exactly powerful enough to have the ear of the king but it’s a near thing.

The local magistrate certainly listens to him.

Jason doesn’t know what to do with that.

He’s never really been above needing to steal day-old bread.

So to have bread every day, to have more than bread everyday… Hell Bruce’s table has fruit and fruit more than apples-! Jason gets to eat grapes if he wants-! And he has am actual bed-! And a warm fire in his own personal room-! There’s no sharing of personal space. He no longer has to listen to his father snoring or his mother’s pained whimpers. It’s just himself in that room… which feels big… and a little terrifying.

The first storm that makes the house shake, he’s flying out of there and into the library which has become his most favorite room in the house. Bruce finds him there on the way to bed himself. He gently pulls Jason out from under the solid oak table and lets Jason sleep with him in his huge bed for the night while the lightning flashes and thunder deafens.

He learns to read and write his name and then all of the letters. Mr. Wayne teaches him more words until Jason’s reading the easier books and then harder and harder words before he’s given a tutor. He learns math too even though he doesn’t like that as much. History is interesting and he’s aghast at how much more land there is than what he’s seen.

The first day of spring brings a pensiveness to the house. He’s noticed it growing for a couple of days prior, but that one day is especially bad. Bruce holes himself up in the garden by one particular tree despite the chill. Alfred goes into the single consistently locked door in the entire house, the bedroom next to Jason’s. He’s never seen anybody go there in the few months he’s been in the house, but Alfred goes in there that one day for about an hour and then comes back out and locks the doors again, the rims of his eyes suspiciously red. Bruce comes in after the sun’s gone down and nobody says a word about it while he defrosts in front of the fire, his face looking worn, tired, his eyes also suspiciously red.

Though… Jason does wonder.

When the weather gets warm enough for him to venture back outside, his first thoughts go towards the forest. He hadn’t gone in there on account of it being too far from his stomping grounds when he was homeless. Now though… now they were fairly close and something about them piqued his interest.

His tutor is very much upset when he so much as mentions it, talks about the evil thing in there, a powerful being who whisks babies away from their cradles. Bruce’s friends vary in opinion about it. Mr. Queen says it’s great for hunting, that he’s never had any deals with so-called Fae. Mr. Kent prefers the wild open fields and leaves the forest to whatever might be in there. Roy, Mr. Queen’s ward and several years Jason’s senior, doesn’t have a strong opinion either way. He talks of some strange happenings in the forest, but the game is hearty, healthy, so it’s worth going in there for a deer or a couple of rabbits. Tim Drake, the son of some other high society couple, a few years his junior, doesn’t believe in any of it but he’s like ten so his opinion doesn’t matter much.

Bruce doesn’t warn him away like the rest of the townspeople. He’s wary of it, but he doesn’t speak any particular ill of it. He merely instills the rules in dealing with a Fae: don’t give them your name ever. Never go into the fairy ring. They might not let you out of it. Don’t make deals with them. They like to twist words to suit their purposes.

He reads about them in the books. There’s many tales of them, some of them favorable, many not. Alot of them tell of people, maidens who meet a Fae and never return. Some of them talk about the blessings of having a Fae near, how they can influence the animals or the flora to grow beyond what they should, making it plentiful… as long as the Fae is happy. Angering a Fae is a sure way to chase away any favor of the land. They inhabit a circle of mushrooms called ‘fairy rings’ and can’t leave them… for some reason… Something about the mushrooms contains them… but they also trap those who might step into them.

Jason finally gives in to the urge, walking his way through the woods, leaving the footpaths behind. He almost stumbles into the ring without realizing it… nearly walks between a few mushrooms that don’t look like they’re a part of a ring before he spots the rest of it and stops short. It’s a large ring, big enough for him to lie across it if it weren’t for the log in the middle of it. He circles it, staring at the mushrooms themselves for a long moment. When he looks up, he startles at the sigh of the creature sitting on the log and staring at him.

He’s tall, lithe, with shiny black hair that almost looks like it’s not quite obeying the laws of nature… nearly floating. His eyes are the bluest blue he’s ever seen. Everything about him seems just a little… off.

Jason can’t quite put his finger on it, “Who are you?”

He smiles, bright like sunshine, “Oh child… you have no idea do you…?”

“No idea about what…?”

“What is your name?” he asked instead.

“I-it’s-” Jason cuts himself off, the books, Bruce’s warnings coming to him, “I can’t tell you, right…? Because you’re a Fae…? And you could use it against me?”

A brow arches, “Are you not sure, child? Because I can answer that for you if you like…?”

“N-no, I… what is your name…?”

He smirks a little, “Bold of you, child, asking for my name…”

Jason bites the inside of his cheek, “You asked me for mine. It’s only fair, I think…”

The Fae hums, “I like you… You may call me ‘Gray’ if you like.”

“Gray…?”

“Mhm.”

“Like the color?”

“Like the color.”

“Well… Gray… It’s nice to meet you.”

“And you, child… You amuse me… I’ll look forward to meeting you again,” and he’s gone.

Jason’s left alone by the fairy ring, staring at the empty space that had just had the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen in it. He leaves, slowly, almost as though hoping to catch another glimpse of the being. There’s no such luck and he left pondering what meeting the Fae meant.

He decides not to tell Bruce about him meeting ‘Gray’ in the woods.

Something tells him that Bruce would not respond well to knowing about ‘Gray’ being there.

He does go back though, some weeks later.

And sees ‘Gray’ there again.

“Hello Gray. How are you?”

“I’m well and you, Child?”

“I’m not a child,” Jason replies, trying not to sound annoyed.

“You could give me your name then… since I don’t have anything else to call you,” Gray smiles languidly as he lays over the log.

“You can call me Peter.”

The brow arches again, “A false name…? Daring.”

Jason shrugs, “I can’t very well give you my actual name, can I?”

“You could.”

“And what would you do with it?”

Gray doesn’t reply to that, merely asks about the book Jason's holding to his chest.

Jason tells him, ends up sitting in the grass next to the fairy ring. Gray sprawls on the other side of the mushrooms, listening to him talk about flowers and what they mean, offers a few corrections here and there. Jason goes back a few weeks later with a book of poetry and reads to Gray from that. The Fae, in turn, tells him of the forest creatures, how one of the bucks is nearing fourteen years old, unheard of really, but Gray liked that one and kept him hidden from arrows.

Jason distinctly remembers Mr. Queen talking about a buck with a large rack who just seemed to… disappear.

This goes on for a few months. He’s visited several times, each time with a book that he shares with Gray. Gray, in turn, tells of the forest, of lands beyond that. He never says much about where he goes when he’s not in this fairy ring. Jason does ask but the answer’s always the same.

Always a little fond smirk and, “I’ll tell you… whatever you want to know… if you tell me your name.”

And it’s always left at that.

The season changes to fall and he’s not really sure what drives it. Maybe it’s the whispers he hears in the market when he goes with Roy. Maybe it’s the weight of keeping something like this from Bruce who’s, while not been the most open being in existence, has seemed to try to never outright deceive him or keep things he should know from him.

“I’ve met someone… in the woods,” he comments over dinner one evening.

“Oh?” Bruce doesn’t seem particularly surprised.

“I don’t know how old he is…. I suspect older than he looks.”

“What makes you think that…?”

Jason bites his cheek, “He’s a Fae… or something like a Fae.”

“Mm…” Bruce hums.

“He said I could call him Gray.”

That gets a reaction.

From both Bruce and Alfred.

“Gray…?”

“Mhm…?” Jason nods and notices the half glance Alfred gives Bruce… who looks both purposefully unaffected and heartbroken… maybe a little intrigued too but it seems to maybe be a morbid curiosity or a fear of hope or something like that. Jason can’t pin down what it is exactly.

Whatever it is, he decides that Gray is not a topic to be brought up again.

With fall comes the harvest and with the harvest is the harvest celebration. He dances because it’s expected and because he enjoys it. Bruce dances a little too, once with Mr. Queen when they’ve had too much to drink and twice with a lady named Selina. Roy dances with a few of the girls and disappears with one, coming back later and looking a little disheveled. Jason’s not entirely sure what he was doing but he has an idea and he’s not a fan.

Another winter comes and goes.

Spring brings Jason back to the forest, back to Gray who’s just as ethereal as Jason remembered. He brings with him some new tales, comments on Jason’s new height even if Jason doesn’t think he’s grown all that much. It feels like a piece has slotted back into place. He still doesn’t dare really touch the mushrooms, but wherever he is, Gray is usually directly opposite him.

Spring leads to summer and the Midsummer festival. Summer leads to fall and the harvest. The Harvest Festival leads to winter and the snows.

Jason’s been with Bruce for two years now.

He’s fourteen.

And then he turns fifteen.

He keeps going to the forest, to see Gray… Gray who’s become… not just ethereal but… something else. Jason dreams about him sometimes… dreams about them… It’s disconcerting to think of him like that, but he can’t help what he dreams about. He thinks maybe some distance would help that so he stays away from the fairy ring for awhile… hangs out alot with Roy.

Roy who’s twenty now… and tall…

Every trace of baby fat is gone, leaving behind features that… well some of them remind Jason of Gray… not that he realizes that until much later…

After he’s kissed Roy during the Harvest.

After Roy kisses him back some days later.

The weather turns cold.

Roy’s in an accident, is found nearly dead. The doctors work tirelessly for days to save him. They dose him with kratom to keep him drowsy so he doesn’t tear or aggravate anything they’ve done. Even when they’ve done all they can, it takes the entire winter for him to recover.

And the pain never fully goes away… or so he says.

Not that Jason has reason to disbelieve him. The kratom the doctors give Roy is of a lesser quality than what they’d originally given him but it’s still fairly potent, usually leaves him feeling a little dazed. He claims it’s worth it though… to not feel the pain for awhile…

It brings back memories of Catherine...

Spring brings with it the need to go see Gray. It’d been growing for awhile, but the snow’s kept him away. He finally chances it when it’s warmer even with a little bit of the snow left.

Gray’s not there… which is disappointing. Jason’s not sure where he could be, hopes his absence hasn’t chased the Fae away entirely. He reaches into the fairy ring, gently leaving the book he’d brought with him on the other side of the mushrooms.

And then he leaves.

When he returns a few weeks later, after a sudden last slush storm, he finds the book right where he left it… which is disappointing… until he reaches for it, starts to flip through it… and finds little bits of pressed plants he doesn’t recognize from books, merely by how Gray would describe them.

He smiles.

Keeps smiling every time he looks through it.

“Stuff like that is why they think you’re going to be taken next,” Roy comments one afternoon.

“Who?”

“The town’s people…” Roy stretches out, rubbing his aching legs, “They know you like the woods and that’s where Barbara and Wally disappeared.”

“Wally’s gone?”

“Yea? You didn’t hear? His uncle’s been talking about it for several weeks now.”

“No I… I haven’t been in town in awhile.”

“Probably best anyway,” Roy shrugs, “They think you might bring some of that Fae magic, curse them or something… Hell, they think that’s why I got hurt.”

Jason’s heart sinks, “No-! I…! Who could…!”

Roy just smiles a little, kisses him on the temple, “I think it’s all abit silly… It was just an accident. You had nothing to do with it,” he smirks, “Even if a Fae does carry you off.”

Except that it is Roy who goes missing next just a couple of months later, not Jason.

Mr. Queen is beside himself, saying how he’d found out Roy was still taking kratom, had a stash of the doctors-strength variety hidden away. There had been a fight and Roy had been tossed out. He’d been seen around for a week or so and then… nothing. Jason searched everywhere, even going to the kratom dens where people went to smoke or drink and forget. Some of the proprietors had seen him in the few days after he’d been tossed out, but not since. Every step feels like he’s just missed him.

He finally trudges to the fairy ring, deeply upset. He’s not even sure why he goes there, except that maybe… Roy never believed in it though. That doesn’t stop the slight hope that maybe… maybe he’s still where Jason can get to him, find him, help him.

Gray’s there, soaking in the sunlight the fallen leaves have let through. His brows furrowed when he spots Jason, “What is it, Child…?”

Jason bites his lip, wondering if it’s all silly, “Have you… my friend is missing… He’s tall… with red hair… green eyes… Have you seen someone like that…?”

Gray’s eyes soften, “I have,” and stands, coming closer, “He came a few days ago.”

Jason nods to himself, “I see… Did you take him…?”

“I did.”

He feels tears, “Why?”

“Because he gave me his name and the Wilds decided his fate.”

“Oh…” he’s not sure what to do with that, “Can I… see him?”

“No, Child…” Gray looks about as sad a Fae can, “When some give their name, it’s because they don't wish to be found again.”

“Why.”

“Because they suffer… and they wish the suffering to end. The Fae Wilds are rumored to be a place of no suffering and some seek that.”

“Did… was Roy suffering…?”

“He was… terribly. He could barely walk.”

Jason sighs… sinks into the dirt, picks at the grass. He trails the tip of a finger over a mushroom, “Is he… ok now?”

“He will be. The Wilds cures all… given enough time and strength of the heart.”

Jason nods, “I miss him.”

“And he misses you…” Gray sits opposite him, “You could see him, you know… if you gave me your name…?” his hand hovers over the ring, the tip of a finger brushing over Jason’s.

He felt his heart jump, like a startled bird, “Would I be able to come back?”

“That is not for me to decide, child. The Wilds decide who comes and who stays…”

“I cannot then,” he pulls away just a little, thinks of the first day of spring… “Father suffers too much. I couldn’t leave.”

“I see… No worries,” Gray doesn't pull away. His hand stays where it is, on the very edge of the ring. Jason reaches, touching him with a couple tips of his fingers. It feels forbidden, touching him… like he’s bending a rule of nature, like he’s being allowed to bend a rule of nature…

The town hums with rumors and theories about what happened to Roy. Apparently somebody found his boots in the woods so the growing suspicion was blaming the Fae, how it’d taken Roy like it’d taken Barbara and Wally. Some of them gave Jason looks and wide berths as though he was the one who did it. Tim tells him the whole thing is silly, that the fairy ring is nothing but a growth and there’s nothing living there… certainly nothing mystical. He’s been there himself so he should know if something was there, but nothing ever comes. The fact that the townspeople believe in something like Fae is preposterous.

“Roy just wandered off in a drugged haze and probably fell into a ditch or something.”

Jason really really wants to tell him otherwise.

But telling Tim would just lead to the boy scoffing at him and, should it get out, and it would, the townspeople turning on him for ‘conspiring with the Fae’ or something.

So he keeps quiet as they lay Roy ‘to rest’ and move on with life.

Something shifts. He’s not sure what, but life is… It’s become something of a struggle. He misses Roy… and, in turn, he misses Gray.

He visits again and feels something soothe him as soon as he sees the Fae watching him approach.

They talk for a long time that afternoon, a little about everything. He’s come to realize how he thinks of Gray, how he can’t help it… how it won’t change no matter if he’d want to feel differently. He doesn't tell Grey, doesn't know if Fae can feel that way and doesn't know what he'd do if they can't. He has a feeling Gray might know but doesn't ask.

Tim’s parents leave for the capital and never come back. Bruce moves Tim into the house. Jason’s not sure how to feel about that especially since Tim wouldn’t understand about Gray. He sneaks around more, feeling guilty about sneaking around. It means fewer visits to the fairy ring. Gray is, at least, understanding when Jason explains.

That’s the first time they hold hands… over the mushrooms.

Jason turns eighteen, has grown into a large young man. The regular good meals for six years have let him bulk up, beef out. He looks, at first glance, like Bruce’s actual son. He’s told he’s imposing even if the girls in town often titter around him, stare at him from across the street. He spends that winter considering what he wants to do with his life. Well he has been since he was sixteen, but he’s of the age now that he needs to do something. Bruce’s business is interesting but he’s not sure he wants to do that for the next fifty or whatever years. Still he gives it a shot, going to a couple of different cities to propose trading agreements or shipping alliances once the spring thaw hits.

Of course that all means nothing when he’s kidnapped on the way home from one.

It was Midsummer's Eve.

He'd hoped to be home in time for the festival.

Instead he wakes up in a dilapidated barn, tied to a chair, his mouth gagged.

The man who comes in, or rather the guy who seems to be in charge because there’s five of them total, is a rather frightening figure. Jason might have pegged him for a ghoul… if ghouls existed although Fae do so maybe ghouls do too… He’s never read about them though… or rather never read about them in a book that wasn’t obviously based on myth.

He doesn’t know anymore.

What he does know is that he’s in pain.

He’s in pain and the ghoul is cackling about how much ransom money he’s going to get for Jason. One of the guys makes a comment about if the other guy they sent with the random message would actually get to Bruce or if he’d come back. Ghoul doesn’t seem to care. He just runs a rough hand through Jason’s hair while bouncing a bar of metal in his other hand, bringing it dangerously close to Jason’s ribs a few times.

“He’s gonna bleed so pretty…”

The girl giggles like a loon.

“Why not just kill him now?” one of the others asks.

“Because I want him warm when they find him. I want them to know how close they were to bringing him home…”

Jason can’t quite stifle the violent chill down his spine.

He gets nothing on who they are beyond the girl calling the ghoul ‘Mr. J’ while the ghoul taunts him a little more but that doesn’t mean anything to Jason.

They leave. He’s pretty sure he hears the ghoul talking to the girl, hears the girl moan as he fucks her just outside the door. Jason wishes he was deaf. Instead he works on his restraints. They’re not very good and he manages to get out of them with only a little trouble.

Of course getting out of the barn was another matter.

He doesn’t move much, doesn’t want to potentially make a noise that would alert them. There is a window but he’s not sure he’d fit. Still better than nothing. If he dies here halfway out a window too small then at least he tried right?

The chair’s lighter than he’d expected so it was easy to silently move it over the window so he could climb on it. Getting out goes about as well as he'd expected… His shoulders don’t quite fit and he rips his shirt trying to force himself out. He gets though and he’s grabbing onto something above his head as he gets one leg through. The other catches on the chair, sending it clattering to the floor.

“Shit-!”

He gets out and drops, blindly taking off. It’s dark out and he has no idea where he is, but anywhere’s better than there. Moonlight shows a line of trees so he heads there. Shouts echo behind him, the ghoul particularly loud and shrill. He bolts, going faster, and hits the trees. More shouts behind him… closer than he’d thought they’d be. He keeps running and stumbles and he's falling-

Falling…

Tumbling over downed trees and large rocks.

Down…

Down…

When he comes to an- abrupt stop, it's to searing pain.

He bites back half a scream, the other half escaping… and then stares, in confusion, at the sharp stick, practically a stake, sticking through his belly. Another one pokes through one of his legs. There's a moment where… he doesn't really feel present… like he's floating and all of this isn't actually him.

And then he hears yelling, from the ridge above him.

He can't see well looking up, but he knows they've figured out that he's gone, that they're looking for him.

He needs to move.

Looking down again, he knows his gut is fucked. His leg is pierced in what looks like a meaty, non-fatal spot. He rips a piece of his shirt and stuffs it in his mouth, bites down hard as he slowly pulls his leg up and off the stick. The world spins and he lays there for a brief moment to gather himself before holding onto the stake and tries to break it off to keep it in him.

It won't budge.

Tears leak down his cheek as he then decides to just get up. The gush of warm is not comforting. He knows he doesn't have long… but dying in a ditch is better than whatever they have in mind.

So he moves.

He stumbles over trees and rocks, guided by the moon. The shouts get closer as he hears somebody make their way down the embankment… finds the blood trail. His eyes blur as the world spins and he shivers. He keeps going.

Keeps going.

His legs stumble and fail. He tries to get up, but they won't hold so he just drags himself along in the leaves and undergrowth. Thorns snag his clothes, cut his face.

He keeps going.

Spots a clearing, full of moonlight.

There’s a ring-!

It’s not Gray’s ring but maybe… just maybe…

He crawls, slowly inching towards it. His limbs slow, not wanting to work as he bleeds into the grass, “Gray… Graay-!”

His arms give out and, try as he might, he can't get them to move, can't get them to drag him close enough. "Gray… please." He loses consciousness for a moment. When he wakes up, Gray’s ethereal blue eyes stare wide at him, warm hands stroking his cheeks.

“Todd-!”

“Jason… My name is Jason…” he closes his eyes again, cracking them open when he feels a warm hand on his.

“Jason.”

His spine lights up.

“Would you like to come with me…?”

There’s something genuinely magical about how he says it…

“Yes…” He feels himself be pulled, picked up…

When he wakes up again, he can feel an odd tingling all over. The meadows changed, now in colors that don't… look natural… a little too saturated, bright... and there's a glimmer to everything. Even though they seem to be under a tree, it's of a sort he's never seen before. The trunk is a grayish purple and the leaves in various shades of red and pink.

He’s wrapped up, all warm, against a body. There’s a hand on his face, a thumb stroking his cheek. He slowly moves, tilts his head… “Gray…?”

The Fae smiles down at him, “Dick… my name is Dick.”

Jason stares at him, sees him in a different light. It must be the Wild’s magic, floating around Dick who looks positively ethereal. He’d been dulled back at the fairy ring and Jason could only now see how much the Veil or whatever truly hid.

“You’re beautiful…”

Dick smiles, “Thank you… Jason. I think you’re beautiful too.”

Jason flushes a little, “...Am I going to be ok?”

“You will be. The Wilds will see to it in its own time.”

Jason nods to himself and sinks back into Dick’s arms, content to lay there for as long as the Fae would let him.

------------

Bruce finds himself walking a familiar path.

He hasn’t been down here in a long time… too scared to…

He comes across the log and the fairy ring, going as strong as ever. The creature inside of it looks like he’s been expecting Bruce. He stumbles inside of the ring, drops to his knees. The Fae kneels in front of him.

“Jason’s… gone missing.”

“Yes,” there’s a sad smile, “We have him.”

Bruce nods, feeling tears well up, “How is- he…?”

“It will take some time, but his will is strong.”

“Can I… talk to him, tell him I’m sorry.”

“You know you can’t.”

Bruce nods again, “Then um… can you tell him that I’m…” the tears fall, “The river flooded the bridge out… It took the horse. I couldn’t-”

“I will tell him… but… know this: He does not blame you.”

Bruce can not see how that’s possible. The Fae is toying with him, trying to ease his guilt in the way of the Fae… trying to make him desperate to hear from Jason himself because it’s too good to be true.

Because it is.

He nods, staring at Dick for a moment, noting the familiar face… some of the changes in said face, “Goodbye, Dick.”

The Fae smiles a little, looking a little sad… if Fae could be sad, “Goodbye Bruce.”