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“We can’t just sit here and wait.”
“Sure we can.” Red Hood said, leaning ever further back into the couch. “It’s easy. We just sit here. And wait. See? You’d already be halfway there if you sat your ass down.”
“He’s going to kill her.” Red Robin said. “Like, literally kill her.”
“Oh please. She messed up, but nobody can mess up that bad. Trust me, I’ve tried.”
“Hood, why does the conversation always turn back to you?”
“Because I’m me.” Hood shrugged. “I’m very important.”
“You’re very much an asshole.” Red Robin countered.
“That too.”
As Red Robin continued his pacing, Hood was no less fazed about the fact that Barbara could very well be dead or dying. But then Hood tilted his head, watching Robin for a long moment.
“Kid,” He said.
“If you tell me to relax, I will end you.”
“Yeah yeah, sure, I was just gonna say you should probably sit down. I know your suit already has some red and all, but you’re trying to look more like me at the moment.”
“Red Hood I swear to fuck-“
Robin’s voice trailed off, a hand going to his face. He brushed up against his nose, and it came back red.
“I… What? Oh shit, shit pass me some tissues.”
“Sure.” Red Hood said dryly. “I’ll pass you some tissues, they’re right here in my back pocket.”
Red Robin glared at him while also desperately trying to keep more blood from dripping onto his uniform. With a very long groan as if it was the most difficult thing Jason had ever done, he brought out some tissues from his jacket anyway.
“Now will you sit down?” Hood asked.
Tim glared at him again, but the effect was lessened by the fact that the blood was still coming.
Finally Red Robin sank down next to Hood, not even needing the instruction before he started leaning forward.
“This is ridiculous.” Red Robin said, voice muffled from tissues.
“What’s ridiculous is the fact that you didn’t even notice.”
Red Robin opened his mouth. He closed it again, unable to think of an excuse that wouldn’t just be thrown right back in his face.
They waited until it finally finished, though Jason threatened him with no uncertain terms that if Tim was going to get involved in a fight he didn’t have to for the rest of patrol, Jason would string him up to the top of Wayne Enterprises.
In fact, they waited in that safe house for longer than was even strictly necessary, just in case it was something more than just a little blood nose.
“Tim,” Dick said carefully.
“Fuck off, Dick, I don’t want to hear your ‘I’ve Been In Your Shoes’ speech.”
“Okay,” Dick said. “But what about a ‘You’re Bleeding Everywhere’ speech?”
“What?”
Tim’s hand ghosted against his face.
“Oh shit!”
When Tim scrambled for the box of tissues by the side table Dick got to them first, holding them out.
“I take it you don’t need me to tell you what to do?”
Tim waved him off, already pinching the bridge of his nose and leaning forward.
His hands already felt sticky and gross and while his back shivered from the sensation, and while he knew that the priority would be stopping the blood nose before trying to clean it all up his skin still itched to do just that. He had always hated the feeling, and this one especially was like the Red Sea itself was leaking out of his nose, not that the Red Sea was actually red, it was instead-
“Whoah whoah!” Dick said, gripping onto Tim’s arm. “Easy there Timmy, that was close.”
“Close?” Tim echoed.
He hadn’t even realised that he had been drifting until Dick had grabbed onto him but now he couldn’t help but lean into Dick’s familiar warmth.
“Are you feeling okay?” Dick asked.
“Of course.” Tim whispered, feeling more blood drip down his face.
Dick readjusted, pressing a hand against Tim’s forehead. Tim tried not to be frustrated with the familiar touch, wanting to point out that just because Tim had a blood nose it didn’t mean he had a fever too but then Dick’s lips were in a thin line in the way that only happened when he needed to tell someone bad news.
Tim pulled fully away from him.
He stood, ignoring how his vision greyed out for a moment, and stepping towards the door on tingling legs.
“Tim,”
“No.” Tim said.
“This could be serious.”
“It’s always serious according to you.”
“Yeah, well maybe that’s because I’m your big brother and I worry about you.”
Tim quirked a brow, an expression that was very much ruined by the fact that he currently had blood all over his face and shirt. He settled for flipping Dick off instead but it only made his bloody hand feel all weird and tingly.
Maybe something was wrong after all, not that Tim would ever admit as much aloud. No, he was fine, it was literally a blood nose. Nothing more, nothing less.
“Tim,” Dick tried.
“I’m fine.” Tim insisted. “See? It’s already gone.”
Tim pulled back the tissue to prove it only to immediately feel more blood pour down his face.
Dick’s expression twisted as if it was him that was the one covered in blood.
“I’m fine.” Tim said quickly. Then, frustration boiling up. “And I’m sick of all of you being on my back about this, just because I have no spleen it doesn’t mean I’m just going to up and die at any moment. Honestly, you’re being ridiculous, always on my case.”
“Tim.” Dick’s voice was almost pleading.
It was just a manipulation technique, Tim was sure of it.
Dick would pull out those big doe eyes of his and Tim would immediately want to fold and do whatever it was that Dick was asking. But that wouldn’t work on him anymore, he had more important things to do right now than being coddled on a couch surrounded by blankets and by brothers.
No, Tim really didn’t feel like being treated like a sick kid right now, not when he had shit to do.
But Dick was still watching him and everything was getting fuzzy and the blood was still running down his face no matter how hard he tried to stop it.
“I’m fine, okay? Just… Just leave me alone.”
At last Dick stood. He looked older somehow, those baby blues looking darker than Tim had ever seen them.
When Dick came forward, Tim took an answering step back, readjusting the tissue. It was long since soaked through but if he took it away from his face then Dick was for certain going to have a heart attack because Tim could feel just how much blood there was even if it really wasn’t that big of a deal.
Dick stepped closer still, not unlike how he may as well be approaching some wild animal ready to bolt.
Tim ought to punch him right in the face for the insult, give Dick his very own blood nose. He ought to do anything but stand there dumbly but Tim’s legs were refusing to move and everything was getting fuzzier and it was like Tim wasn’t really in his body right now.
“Tim.”
“I’m fine Dick, I’m… I’m fine. I have to be fine.”
“Ten minutes.” Dick said. “If that blood nose doesn’t end in ten minutes, I need to take you in.”
“Seriously? You’re being ridiculous.”
“I’m being generous.” Dick corrected. “You could very well be sick, you already have a fever and it’s obvious that something’s going on with you. You’re irritated.”
“Because you’re being a pain in my ass over a blood nose.”
“A blood nose can be serious.” Dick said. “With your immune system, and yes I know that you don’t like talking about this, but with your immune system any kind of infection or illness can be very dangerous for you. This may be a sign of something much more sinister than just some blood.”
When Tim tried to pull the tissue away again, this time he found that he didn’t feel new blood running down.
Even so, Dick had that annoying look in his eye as if he expected Tim to drop dead.
He went to storm past Dick but Tim’s legs were a million miles away and before he even realised that he had tripped over his own feet, he was already pitching forward. Dick caught him easily, a hand on his elbow.
While first aid protocols would suggest that Dick guide him either to the ground or back to the couch, he was kind enough to instead just let Tim remain on his feet, though he didn’t let go until Tim was completely steady.
“Symptoms, Tim.”
“I’m fine.”
“Symptoms, Babybird, or else I’m gonna take you in anyway.”
“I’m fine, Dick, just leave me… Leave me…”
Tim squeezed his eyes shut.
“Dizziness, then.” Dick said. “Blood nose. Fever. Let me guess, everything feels fuzzy right now.”
“Fuck off Dick.”
“You know I’m right.” Dick said. “And more than that, you know that this is something serious, you’re just being a pain about it because you’re you. Well, I’m me so that means I’m going to do everything in my power to get you feeling better. If that means I need to take you to the hospital, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
“It’s not like they can do anything anyway.” Tim said. “Everything they have there, we have here.”
“Except for experienced Doctors who specialise in immunocompromised people with infections. And seeing as you are an immunocompromised person with an infection, they’re exactly the kind of people you need around you right now.”
If Tim didn’t think that it would make his legs collapse beneath him to do so, he might have kicked Dick in the shin.
“I don’t have an infection. I’ve been careful.”
Although Dick went to argue, Tim could barely hear his words. He was only vaguely aware that he was listing to the side, and it took Tim a stupidly long time to notice that Dick was holding onto his elbow again and trying to tug Tim back towards the couch. Tim planted his feet instead but when he realised just how much his head was spinning, he relented.
Tim’s eyes stung.
“I’m sick of this.” Tim said.
Dick’s sigh was deep, his shoulders dipping low.
“I know… I hate this too.” Dick said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that this is just going to be something we have to deal with. We’ll get you some help, get you all cleaned up, then we can come back home and just hang."
“They’ll admit me. Again. I’ll be stuck there. Again.”
“Maybe,” Dick said. “But if that’s what you need Tim, then that’s what you need.”
Exhausted all of a sudden, Tim curled up in a little ball only to feel more blood run down his face.
“Ten minutes?” He croaked.
“Ten minutes.” Dick confirmed.
Dick sank down beside Tim on the couch, letting Tim curl up against him.
Jason’s knee was bouncing and while Dick was doing the very same, he couldn’t help but feel more anxious from the movement.
All at once Jason was up and storming towards the door.
“Jay,” Dick called.
“We can’t just sit here and wait.” Jason snapped back.
“We don’t have a choice.” Dick said.
“Bullshit we don’t have a choice,” Jason said. “You know full well how much he hates being here, we need to be with him.”
“The Doctors need space to work.”
“Okay, that’s a load of bullshit, what the hell has gotten into you Dickie?”
“Nothing.”
“You know, you really oughta become a farmer with how much bullshit you try to sell me.”
“Fine, you want the truth? The truth is that he was covered in his own fucking blood and there was nothing I could have done to protect him. This wasn’t some fight, some case, this was just some stupid illness that could very well make him stuck here for weeks and there was nothing I could have done to stop it. What kind of brother am I if I can’t even keep him safe?”
“You’re here, aren’t you?”
Dick blinked quickly.
“What?” He croaked.
“You’re here.” Jason said. “That’s what Drakeyboy needs more than anything else. But you’re also in here, not in there with him, so honestly I’ll give you 5 out of 10 stars.”
“Jason,”
“Dickface.”
“Jason.” Dick said again, his eyes wide.
Jason stared at him. Then, his hand reached up to his face, coming back red.
“Aw fuck.” He said.
“Fuck.” Dick agreed.
This wasn’t just some illness that had hit Tim out of the blue, there was every chance that he could have been exposed to something, something that Jason too had been hit by. Instead of going to get the doctors, Jason just sat back down on the chair and Dick handed him the entire box of tissues without a word.
They needed to get to work, now, and work out just what the hell was happening.
After Dick confirmed that there was no security devices within the family room, he started grilling Jason about every single patrol or fight that he had done alongside Tim. With Damian being off of patrols because of a broken ankle, Jason had been doing a lot more patrols than he would ordinarily, though he still spent the occasional day by himself as to let himself reset.
It was great to know how he had been reincorporated in the family, it was significantly less great when trying to work out where they might have been exposed to something.
Jason told him of the day where Red Robin had had a blood nose just like the one that he had had today, and while Dick’s body had tensed at the new information he did not grill Jason as to why he had never told anyone about it.
For all Jason had known, it was just a normal nose bleed.
But now that Tim had been on the verge of unconsciousness as his nose just would not stop bleeding, not so much as complaining about Dick having had to carry him into the emergency room, that first nose bleed was all of a sudden more more important to know about.
Jason especially highlighted the fact that he and Tim had fought against Ivy the other day, but they then dismissed her toxins as probable cause as it had been after Tim’s first nose bleed.
With Red Hood’s helmet, most things were filtered before they actually got to him which then made Dick question him about every time that he had been with Tim as Tim, not just as Red Robin.
By the time that Dick started running out of lines of questioning, with Jason being the one to bring up more and more information that was more than likely innocuous, Jason was able to take away the tissues.
He scowled, declaring that he hated the feeling of drying blood, but Dick was barely listening.
“What?” Jason demanded.
“It wasn’t on patrol.” Dick said. “Or when you went out for ice cream.”
“Oh yeah? How do you figure that?”
“I’ve been busy in Blüdhaven for the last two months. Today was the first time I was at the Manor.”
“So?”
Jason watched a single line of red traced down from Dick’s nose.
“Shit.” Jason breathed. “Wait, if you’ve been hit by it too then it could be much more serious than just something from patrol. Other people could have been affected. Some kind of irritant in the air itself, or in the water. You have had water today right?”
Dick glared at him amongst the tissues.
“Hey,” Jason said. “It was a genuine question, not a judgment on just how much boba you drink. Then again, you probably should be a bit more-“
“Jay.” Dick said lowly.
“Right, right,” Jason said. “Focusing, I get it, I’m going to call Big Brother and see if there are other cases with similar symptoms. You just make sure you don’t get your blood all over the very nice carpet.”
Ignoring Dick’s strengthened glare, Jason pulled out his phone and called Barbara.
“Is this about the blood noses?” Barbara asked in greeting.
“Fuck it’s a whole thing, isn’t it?”
Jason put the phone onto loud speaker, setting it on the side of the couch.
“Hey Babs.” Dick said, voice muffled. “How are you going?”
“I’m fine Boy Blood,” Barbara said. “But there are already cases in Gotham, Blüdhaven and there’s just been the first hospital admission in Metropolis.” She said. “I’ve been trying to backtrack to see where it might have started but given that most people don’t go to the hospital for a blood nose, it’s a little hard to trace every case.”
“Any deaths?”
“Not yet.” Barbara said. “Most of the admissions so far are just those of people on health protocols. Bleeding disorders, immunocompromised people, chemo and dialysis patients. The good news is that it seems to end on its own for the most part. The running theory at the moment is pollen.”
“Ivy’s pollen?” Dick asked.
“No.” She said. “So far all blood tests have come back clear of any toxins. It’s literally just a weird pollen that’s been spread on the wind. Like I said, it clears up for most people. Bruce is already working on it too, he’s synthesising a treatment through Wayne Tech under the guise of humanitarian aide. It’ll make sure that vulnerable people who have been hit won’t get really sick from it, but the average person should be fine to just ride it out.”
“Pollen.” Jason said.
“Pollen.” Barbara confirmed. “It’s a very fine type that has been able to enter ventilation systems.”
“Timbo’s gonna be all good.”
“If it’s what we’re thinking,” She said. “Then once Tim gets the antidote, he should be able to recover quickly.”
Relief hit both Jason and Dick as one. They shared a rough laugh, and when Dick carefully took away the tissue from his face, he found that his blood nose at least had ended.
“Thanks Babs.” Dick said. “I didn’t even know you were already working on this.”
“I’m working on everything all the time.” She said. “Though some cookies on your way back once Tim’s released won’t go amiss.”
“Cookies it is then.” Dick said. “But it’s going to be a long few days getting the treatment to everyone that needs it.”
“Hospitals are already ready for rollout as soon as we’re ready.” Barbara said.
“Easy.” Dick grinned. “Thanks again Babs.”
When Jason hung up, Jason and Dick looked to each other.
“Fucking pollen? Seriously?”
Dick shrugged, though his lips were twitching up in a barely contained smile.
“Pollen.” Dick said. “And here I thought he was like, sick sick.”
“Thank fuck he’s not.” Jason said. “The little shit is a pain enough without needing more treatment than just a single antidote.”
“So what now?” Dick asked.
Jason sank down onto the couch, stretching his legs out and crossing his arms.
“I guess we just have to sit here and wait.”