Work Text:
To think he would actually find his younger self the minute he stepped out of Fluff’s portal.
Before he could even explain his presence, Robin started to attack him, about to call Batman for backup only to end up muttering a “Second chance”.
He held in a smirk as he heard Robin yell a “what the fuck” when he realized Jason was now in behind him instead of getting elbowed in the groin.
“Robin.” Jason said sternly, tipped off at the fact that he just addressed his younger self.
When Robin held his guard up, Jason couldn't help but be both pleased and hurt. Pleased because that means Robin didn’t let his guard down around anyone, even those who knew Robin. Hurt because, damn. Did he really look unfriendly in a fucking rabbit themed outfit?
Well, not completely rabbit themed. The slightly plunging v neck of a sweater didn’t exactly sell rabbit theme. “Listen, I’m not going to hurt you. I just…I want to chat.”
Oh god, did he really say that right now?
“You say you’re not going to hurt me, but how can I trust you?” Robin asked, a batarang pointed towards him. “I don’t know you.”
“Because I’m you. From the future.”
“You could be lying for all I know.”
“Then ask me something only you would know.”
“How about you tell me something only I would know then. It should be easy for you if you’re from the so-called future.” Robin countered, Jason noticing a smirk threatening to form.
Oh, was that how it was going to be?
“Remember that gala you went with Bruce last month in Paris because he didn’t want you patrolling Gotham without him?”
“Yeah? What about it?” Robin wasn’t going to like this.
“You met a girl over there. What was her name again? Wasn’t it Marinette or something like that?” Jason held in a snort as he saw his younger self stiffen at the sound of Marinette’s name, noticing how his cheeks and the tips of his ears burnt pink.
Damn. Was he this obvious about his crush on her? No wonder Bruce and Alfred liked teasing him about her. Oh. Is that why Dick kept calling him Rosy Cheeks at one point?
“Wh-what about her?”
“Oh nothing…just that you have a crush-”
“She’s just a friend!” Robin shrieked out, throwing the batarang towards Jason who dodged it with ease. “A very good friend at that!”
“Yeah,” Jason found himself agreeing, smiling at the thought. “Mari really is a good friend of ours, isn’t she?”
Robin blinked a few times to make sure he was indeed seeing a soft smile on the man who said was his future self. It looked just like the type of smile Bruce would have whenever he remembered a nice memory or after spending a full day at an amusement park with him.
Robin watched as the man sat down on the roof, patting the place next to him. Robin sat next to him, only then really realizing how big his future self was. He was taller than Bruce and Bruce was tall. Like, tall tall. But what really took the cake was how muscular he looked. He bet his future self could easily throw criminals around like sacks of rice!
“So you really are an older version of me from the future, huh.” Robin asked his older self.
But because he was so close to him, his older self’s choice in clothing caught his attention.
Robin looked at his older self from top to bottom. “What’s with the outfit choice? A shirt like your- wait. It’s not a jacket? I thought it was a jacket.” Robin found himself trying to open up his older self’s ‘jacket,” only then realizing it was a sweater with a plunging v neckline. “Is this an actual part of our vigilante outfit? A plunging v neck? Seriously?” He asked in disgust only to wrinkle up his nose. “Holy shit, did Dick’s Discowling outfit influence us? Oh god, it did, didn’t it?”
“Oh God no squirt.” Jason replied, revolted by Robin’s conclusion. “This outfit is just…temporary. My usual outfit looks way better than this one. And for your information, we’re waaay cooler than Dick.” Jason answered with a smile, Robin’s eyes lighting up upon hearing this. “But you should cut down on the cursing. Pretty sure Bruce already warned you about it, am I right?” Robin grumbled at those words, Jason hearing a ‘so does Alfred’ somewhere in those grumbles.
Damn.
He really was an unfiltered child, wasn’t he? Then again, this was around the same time he was still getting used to living with Bruce and being Robin. Getting used to being just that- a kid.
“So, I know you can’t talk too much about the future because of paradoxes and stuff but-“ Jason watched as his younger self thought about his next words. He looked around as if to make sure no one was listening over them. Or maybe he was hesitating due to the matter of his next sentence. “Are we okay? Are we, you know, happy? What about everyone else?”
“I changed my mind. I was still fucked up as-“
“Why are you allowed to curse and I’m not? You’re practically me! Scratch that, you are me!”
Should he let his younger self know he’s technically not this timeline’s Jason? Should he tell him that he was the original Jason and that his younger self is a completely different Jason from a different point in time?
Jason internally sighed.
What kind of question was he asking himself?
“Not exactly.” Jason ended up answering, looking out towards the city skyline, wondering where Bruce was at the moment. Would he recognize him like this? “And to answer your question: we don’t all have happy endings.”
He watched his younger self become serious and if he paid attention, he could see the way his lower lip quivered a bit before calming down.
“Is that why you’re here? Are you here to warn me about something bad that’s going to happen later on in the future?”
“Nope.” Jason threw his hands in the air. “ You said it yourself. It would create a time paradox if I did.”
“You talking to me- shouldn't that have already made one?”
“Nope.”
“How can you be so sure? There are many theories that suggest that even talking with an alternate version of yourself can create paradoxes. Sure, talking might not seem like much, but some scientists agree that even walking past your past self will alternate a future ever-
Oh, that’s how you know…this isn’t your first time, is it?” Robin gasped, surprising Jason at how fast he managed to piece things together.
He was a perceptive little shit, wasn’t he? “We can time travel? How many times did we time travel? Did WE invent the tech to do so? Can we do it freely or is there like, a limit to-”
“Wayne Enterprises has yet to make a tool that would allow us to time travel.” Jason cut Robin off. “That being said, there are people who can time travel at free will.”
Some are even villains he wanted to add but decided to keep it to himself.
“And we’re one of them?”
“Villains? No. Able to time travel freely? Not exactly by choice.”
“Is it related to our vigilante work?”
“Nope.”
“No?” Robin frowned, furrowing his brows as he thought. “So, personal?”
“And you’ll never guess why.” Jason internally smirked as he watched Robin think of an answer.
“For fun?”
“Because of a girl.” Jason laughed as his younger self wrinkled up his nose and started to gag.
“Eww, a girl? We time traveled because of a girl?”
“Remember how I said not everyone has a happy ending? I was traveling to stop something from happening to her…”
“Oh…then she must be someone very important to us then.” Robin concluded, Jason watching as Robin stared off into the distance. “How bad is it? Is she dying?
Is it our fault?” Oh all the things Robin had to say, did he have to say something that hit too close to the truth? “It is, isn’t it?”
“No.” Jason managed to croak out, feeling a lump form in his throat before it went away. He rubbed his eyes a bit to get rid of the stinging in his eyes. “It wasn’t our fault. It wasn’t her fault either. But it was destined to happen anyways.”
“Was that the case in every timeline you went to?”
“They all ended up that way.”
“So there’s nothing we can do to help her?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“I see.” The two sat there in silence until what sounded like a toaster timer rang, Robin watching as his older self took out a pocket watch and sighed.
“Seems like my time is up.” Jason said as he tried to get, feeling a tug on his wrist.
“What else can you tell me about the future?” Robin asked, but Jason knew all too well that look.
Don’t go.
“I can’t say much else lad, but I’ll just tell you one more thing.” He ruffled Robin’s hair. “Don’t act so tough, okay? Bruce, Alfred and Dick are there for a reason. Say what’s on your mind, okay?”
Robin watched as Jason brushed himself off and opened a portal. “And that goes for Mari too, okay?”
Jason waited for Robin’s response, feeling the portal wane behind him. Robin lowered his gaze.
“Alright.” Robin promised, lifting his head back up. “I’ll try to be more honest with her too.”
“And don’t go on solo missions on your own, alright. Because, trust me, getting revived doesn’t look as easy as in video games, okay?”
“Revived? What does- hey! What- wait!” Robin’s voice stopped Jason from going further into the portal. “Why did you really come here?”
Jason looked at his younger self one last time.
Should he tell him the truth?
It’s not like he will see him again.
“I just wanted to see if Bruce was right about me being a little piece of shit.” Jason said with a grin, not waiting for Robin’s response.
Stepping out of the portal, Jason’s foot made contact with his living room floor.
“Counter clockwise.” Jason muttered, but the minute the transformation dropped, he was overcomed by a migraine, Jason having to walk to the nearest chair only to collapse to end up on the floor.
He cradled his head as the migraine worsened, Jason pushing himself off the floor, shutting his eyes to stop the room from spinning around him.
Once the symptoms cooled down, he was hit by another and this time, it wasn’t from the side effects of time traveling.
This time, it was from his fucking chronic illness.
Immediately, Jason felt his throat swelling up and locked itself, Jason quickly picking himself up and rushing himself to the nearest trash bin. He sat himself beside it, hacking whatever was clogging his throat.
Four minutes passed and nothing, Jason knowing he had to get this out fast, the edges of his vision blurring. He watched as tiny orbs started to appear in his vision, which was not a good sign.
He made a fist and placed it between his rib cage and navel, making sure his thumb was outside his fist. With his other hand, he jabbed his fist into his upper abdominal area, attempting to dislodge whatever was suffocating him.
He did this several times until he felt something loosen up, feeling bile rise up his throat. Jason listened as a heavy load hit the bottom of the can with a thud, Jason coughing up saliva as his vision started to clear up, only then seeing the culprit of his almost second death.
Bloody poppy petals.
Jason wiped off the saliva that dripped from the corner of his mouth, heading to the bathroom to rinse out the bile taste from his mouth.
As he brushed his teeth, a petal accompanied the foamed up toothpaste, Jason staring at the blasted thing. He walked away from the bathroom, deciding it was just best to sleep it off.
Yeah, this should all be behind him by tonight.
That’s when his phone went off.
“ Jason! I’ve been trying to-”
“If this is about the wedding. I’m not go-”
“ You can’t just not come to my wedding Jason! You’re my best friend! I can’t -”
“Mari.” Jason stopped her, feeling something start to form in his throat. Oh. It was happening again. “I…I can’t go. I know what this wedding means to you, but I can’t-”
“If this is about having to watch over Gotham again-“ he heard her let out a heavy sigh. “ -you can’t keep making excuses to not-”
“Marinette. I don’t think you understand. It’s not that I can’t make it because of my job as a vigilante but be-” Jason let out a cough only for it to get worse when he tried to suppress it.
“Jason? Hey, are you alright? Jason? Jason? Oh god. Jason, are you-”
Jason hung up and focused on the situation on hand, coughing as he searched his room for an all familiar red container.
Jason continued to cough as his eyes finally landed on a white cross logo and quickly flung the container open and yanked out a fluorescent white vial. He quickly attached it to a needle and stabbed himself with it, feeling the swelling of his throat subside.
He closed his eyes as he felt his body slowly return to its regular rhythm. He dared to open them when he was no longer heaving for air.
“Jason, listen to me. This is the last serum we were able to successfully make. Last one. And once you use this one…your body will get used to it just as quickly as its previous versions…
Jason, we can’t keep making stronger dosages…they’re going to kill you just as fast as your illness already is.
Jason…you’re suffering far too much for something that can easily be removed with-”
Leslie’s words rang in his mind as dragged himself into bed, the adrenaline in his system starting to wear off, his body catching up on the soreness his vomiting had left behind. He groaned with each breath he took, his diaphragm reminding him the severity of it all.
Not like it was anything new.
If he had been able to survive all these symptoms for the past decade, what’s another one? Oh right…he doesn’t have that time…
His condition had turned for the worse ever since he started wielding Miraculi to help Mari take down Hawkmoth….
He was in his final stages…
Damn…he’s only in his late twenties…
“Jason.” Fluff spoke up, Sass right next to her. “How are you feeling? Should we get Marinette to come and heal-”
“We promised to keep this a secret Fluff.” Sass reminded her, flying up to Jason, placing a paw on his forehead before quickly retracting it. He turned to Fluff with a worried face. “His life force is fading Fluff. Jason, we need to let Marinette-”
“No.” Jason retorted. “She’s busy…making sure everything is perfect…for the wedding…”
“Jason, we can’t let you di-”
“I just need to sleep it off…all that time traveling…made me tired…” Jason let out a weak laugh.
All that sneaking around and bribing the Kwami’s…all that time traveling and for what?
He couldn’t get the ending he wanted.
No matter what decision he made on his end or what event he changed to get his past self to reconnect with Marinette…
It was all for not…
It didn’t help to find out that it was his stubbornness as a kid that caused him to develop a rare condition where one would spit out filaments of blood in the shape of flower petals.
And not just in one timeline, oh no…in every. single. one…
A condition with no treatment besides a risky surgery to remove blood vessels that grew over the heart and greatly resemble plant roots. A surgery where the most common side effect was memory lost. More specifically the loss of memories of the person you loved most…
“-not good Sass. We need to get Marinette, and now!”
“Jason…hang on just a bit longer, okay? We’re going to get Mari, okay?”
“Hmm,” was all Jason was able to say as he felt the soreness in his body become tiredness, feeling his eyelids grow heavy. Maybe…maybe he should just rest his eyes for a bit…
Yeah… for just a bit…
Maybe he wouldn’t feel this tired if he had just listened to the Kwami in the first place. They had already warned him that it was impossible to change the fates already written in the stars…
That he wasn’t destined to be with Marinette…
And now he knew he didn’t…
He saw the fate that awaited her in all the timelines where he thought he succeeded in being with her: death.
Death caused a tragic accident, a power struggle over the Miraculous or from the same illness that was killing him now…
Maybe that’s why he was okay with his fate now.
He couldn’t bear to think of causing Marinette any harm when all she had ever been to him was kind.
Feeling himself drift further into slumber, Jason thought of his younger self, glad to be able to see his younger self before returning home.
At least he was able to take one more thing off his bucket list before he had to return Fluff and Sass back…
Fluff…Sass… he forgot to thank them for going with his selfish decisions…
He should’ve apologized for taking advantage of their own love for Marinette.
Marinette…
He found himself smiling as he remembered what she looked like in her wedding dress she picked out just a few weeks ago.
At least she will be happy after he’s gone.
Jason!
Oh. Someone was calling him.
Jason!
Jason tried to open his eyes, but his tiredness wouldn’t let him. They’ll probably stick around. Or if it’s Dick, he usually would.
He’ll just see him in the morning.
With that, Jason let his mind go quiet, the beating of his heart slowly drifting into the silence that succumbed to him.
“Jason!” Marinette screamed, stepping out of Kaalki’s portal, rushing to Jason’s pale body. “Jason, wake up!”
One minute she was panicking over Jason’s sudden coughing followed by him hanging up. The next, Fluff and Sass flew right up to her, holding in tears as they gave her the news of Jason’s condition.
He was dying.
She quickly ordered Kaalki to open a portal, needing to see it for herself.
She saw him just a few weeks ago.
He was fine! He was up and about, healthy as a horse!
He helped her choose her dress, the bridesmaid’s dresses, his suit for the wedding! He was standing on his two feet perfectly fine…why, how was he on the verge of death?
Marinette didn’t expect to see him passed out on his bed, his face as pale as a ghost.
“Jason?” She had called out and when she didn’t get a response, didn’t see the rising and sinking of his chest, she became worried.
It wasn’t until she got closer to him and tried to wake him up that she knew he was leaving her. His soul was fading fast.
“Jason!” She yelled, trying to shake him awake, trying to ignore the way he felt cold to the touch. “Jason, you need…you need to wake up!”
She decided to look for a pulse. “Jason, don’t go! I still need you!” She found nothing.
Who was going to remind her to take a breather? Who was going to be there at 3 am, helping her calm down after a nightmare from her heroine days? Who was going to tell her that everything was going to be alright? “Jason.”
He was gone.
Her best friend…
Marinette let out a wail, collapsing to her knees as she began to cry her heart out.
He promised to be there! He said he’d be there! He pro-
Marinette began to cough, wondering if maybe her throat was sore from all the crying, irritated from all the scream. It wasn’t until she realized that this coughing felt off.
Something was stuck in her throat.
Marinette continued to cough until she decided to take matters into her own hands.
Reaching for a trash bin nearby, she forced herself to gag, when she felt bile rise to her mouth, disgusted by its sour taste.
She let herself catch her breath and when she did, she was embarrassed at knowing she was choking on her own spit. Really? Spit? Wait…what was that swimming in her saliva?
Curious, Marinette reached for it, watching as her saliva dripped off of it as she brought it closer to herself. Without a doubt, Marinette knew what it was…but how was it possible?
How did she cough up a poppy petal?
And…what did it mean?