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Jason was already up and on his feet before he really registered what it was that had woken him.
Hell, he was already halfway down the hall before he staggered, realising that he had no fucking clue where it was that he was going. Jason’s heart thundered against his chest, his breath coming out as panicked gasps even though he knew that he had nothing to be worried about.
A nightmare.
Surely, just another nightmare, even if Jason couldn’t quite remember what it had been. Jason had had a nightmare and his first instinct was to run away, nothing more, nothing less.
Now that Jason was fully awake, adrenaline still rushing through him, he knew that there would be no way that he would be able to go back to sleep. It was nearly dawn anyway so maybe he could just go out for a walk, clear his head or something.
But while Jason’s head told him to turn away and go get changed into some warmer clothes, his feet stayed exactly where they were.
Jason blinked, scrubbed at his face, then blinked again.
No. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong but Jason couldn’t work out what. This wasn’t a nightmare, this was almost like…
There was a light on in Damian’s room.
“Stupid Kid.” Jason muttered.
He didn’t bother knocking on Damian’s door, strolling right on in.
“What did I say about getting some-”
Damian was on the ground.
“Dick!”
Jason surged forward, crashing to his knees by Damian’s side. Flipping the boy onto his back, finding that Damian’s eyes were closed. His lips were blue, and when Jason pressed two fingers against the pulse point on Damian’s throat, he felt nothing.
Placing one hand on the top of the other, Jason pressed down hard onto Damian’s chest.
“Dick!” Jason shouted again.
Damian wasn’t moving, his chest wasn’t rising and falling except in every compression that Jason did. Once Jason reached thirty, he tilted Damian’s head back. Blocking Damian’s nose, Jason blew a breath into Damian’s lungs, waited a moment, then gave another.
He returned to compressions, ignoring the loud crack of ribs that echoed.
“Come on Kid.” Jason said. “Come on, you gotta breathe for me Babybat…”
While Jason worked as Damian’s heart, he heard footsteps echoing down the hallway. When he stopped compressions just long enough to give a second round of rescue breaths, he felt more so than saw that Dick had finally come.
“What the hell happened?” Dick demanded.
“Don’t know.” Jason grunted back. “Found him unconscious. No pulse.”
“Jason, what-”
Jason glared up at Dick, and Dick fumbled for his phone.
“We need an ambulance.” Dick said quickly. “Wayne Manor, Bristol, possible cardiac arrest. He’s twelve. No, no history, no I don’t know what the fuck happened, I just- Just get someone here alright?”
“Dick,”
Dick fell down to his knees beside them, phone still pressed to his ear.
Jason stopped compressions as Dick pressed two fingers against Damian’s throat and when his expression tightened Jason knew that he needed to keep going.
Pressing consistently onto his baby brothers chest was almost second nature but every time Jason leant down to give Damian a breath in between compressions, the realisation that this was Damian and not just some random civilian hit Jason hard.
“Don’t you fucking do this, you don’t get to fucking do this you little shit.”
Again and again and again Jason pressed hard against Damian’s chest, hoping beyond hope that it was working, that it was keeping Damian here, that it was keeping him alive. He couldn’t die, not like this, not like anything.
Damian wasn’t allowed to die.
Jason was sick of losing people, and there was no way in hell that he was going to lose this brat of a brother too.
“What’s going-“ Tim’s voice echoed from the doorway.
“Defib!” Jason snapped.
In an instant Tim was shooting off back into the hallway.
“Come on Dami,” Dick said, his voice strained as he took Damian’s hand into his own. “Just hold on a little lon- Wait, stop, Jay, stop.”
As much as it felt wrong to do so, Jason stopped, keeping his hands in position to restart at any point. Dick was pressing fingers against Damian’s neck once more, and this time he screwed his eyes tightly as he concentrated hard.
“There!” Dick said, giving off a shaking laugh. “It’s weak, but it’s there.”
Damian’s chest rose and fell, much too shallowly, but at least he was breathing unassisted.
As Dick relayed the change in Damian’s condition over the phone to the dispatch, Tim had finally returned with the defibrillator they kept in the Manor for family and guests alike. Jason moved quickly to open up Damian’s shirt, glad to see that he was still breathing at least for now even if his eyes were still closed.
Tim helped to place the electrode patches onto Damian’s chest, the both of them moving in tandem.
Waiting for the machine to boot up was torture, especially when it at first detected no heart beat. Jason ground his teeth, his own heart beating hard against his chest.
“Come on, come on…”
At last the machine started talking to them, reporting that there was a shockable rhythm.
“Clear.” Jason snapped.
Dick let Damian’s hand drop, shuffling back to prove that he wasn’t in contact with the boy. With Tim’s hands raised too, Jason reached towards the defibrillator. Biting his lip hard enough to draw blood, Jason pressed the button.
Damian’s body arched unnaturally as a shock ran through him.
As soon as it was safe, Jason started up compressions again. Another rib broke but Jason didn’t give a fuck, not when they were so close to getting Damian back.
Damian made a wretched sound. In an instant Jason was shifting Damian onto his side, just in time for Damian to vomit. He shuddered hard, a bead of sweat rolling down his face, glazed eyes cracking open.
“Hey hey,” Dick cooed, cupping Damian’s cheek.
Damian’s only response was another gag.
“You’re good, Dames, everything’s good,” Jason said. “Breathe, just breathe for me Kid.”
Damian shuddered ever more strongly.
“Easy, Damian,” Tim said. “Easy.”
A shaking breath. Then another. Then Damian was scrambling to stand up.
He never even made it to his feet, his hand clutching onto his chest instead. Tears were instantly falling down Damian’s face but Dick easily brushed them away even as Dick’s own eyes glistened.
“Don’t…” Damian wheezed. “I’ll…Kill… I…”
Damian coughed hard, unable to hold back a sob as the movement aggravated his broken ribs. Jason took Damian into his arms, holding him close with Dick and Tim right there too, each placing their own hands onto him as if to confirm that he was okay, that the CPR and defibrillator worked.
That Damian Wayne was alive, that their little brother was alive.
“Easy Babybird,” Dick said. “Just breathe, Bud, we’re right here, everything’s okay.”
“I…” Damian tried again. “What?”
He pushed a little away from Jason but his movements were weak, absolutely exhausted. He let himself fall back down instead, hand reaching back and curling into Tim’s sleeve while Dick rubbed circles into his back.
“We’ll work it all out,” Jason promised. “Just rest, we’ve got you.”
“What happened? I… I don’t know what happened.”
While at the best of times not knowing what was happening and what to expect made Damian anxious, even if he would never admit it outside of these walls, he seemed particularly scared right now and honestly Jason couldn’t blame him.
“You took a quick nap.” Dick said.
Damian summoned what little energy he had to glare at Dick.
“Todd.” Damian croaked.
“Your heart stopped.” Jason said. “You probably feel like absolute hell right now.”
“Heart…” Damian echoed. “Oh…”
Every blink Damian made was harder to come back from. Jason coaxed him to lay fully against his chest once more and Damian didn’t even bother to fight the contact. His eyes closed fully, his breathing evening out, his heart beat remaining stable.
Tim was watching the defibrillator carefully, no doubt remembering every single peak and trough.
“I don’t understand.” Tim said. “What just happened?”
“The ambulance is on its way,” Dick said. “The hospital will work out what happened.”
“And make sure it never ever happens again.” Jason said firmly. “This was way too fucking close.”
Tim shifted his attention to Jason.
“How did you know?” Tim asked.
Jason ignored him. Damian was still breathing, his heart was still beating too, that was what mattered now more so than anything else.
“Jason.” Tim said. “How did you know that something was wrong?”
“I don’t know.” Jason grunted. “Instinct, I guess.”
“Your instinct most likely just saved Damian’s life.” Tim pointed out.
It certainly felt too early to be celebrating, with Damian’s small body still cradled in Jason’s arms, but at least Damian was safe surrounded by his brothers.
“Who’s gonna tell the Old Man?” Jason asked.
“Not me.” Tim said quickly.
“Hell no,” Dick said, his own voice still shaking. “I’m not telling B. Jay?”
“Yeah absolutely not.” Jason said. “I’m already in his bad books for the thing I pulled the other day, there’s no way in hell I’m gonna tell him that his kid had a heart attack.”
“We don’t know that’s what happened.” Tim said.
“His heart stopped, Drakeyboy.”
“Sure,” Tim shrugged. “But a ‘heart attack’ is not the only thing that can cause a heart to stop beating.”
“You’re an ass.” Jason said.
“You already knew that.” Tim shrugged again.
Damian gave off a little sigh, burying closer into Jason’s chest. Jason pecked him on the head, holding him a little tighter and focusing hard on the feel of Damian’s heart beat.
Alive.
He was alive.
Jason swallowed roughly, suddenly more exhausted than he had ever felt before.