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Hood swung down from a building, onto a small street in the Alley. The streetlights here were all broken but the moon was bright enough to illuminate the night anyway. Ivy had been causing trouble near the Alley, which was not her usual stomping grounds and Jason had been stuck doing clean-up for the whole night. He’d already had to rescue three people, who’d gotten infected with Ivy’s pollen, from being molested. It seemed like all the criminals were out tonight, looking to use the pollen as an excuse. So, Hood was out too, ready to break their bones.
Hood kicked a stray vine with irritation and continued his patrol. The bats had finally gotten her down, but it’d taken them too long, the damages were way worse than usual. Crime Alley couldn’t take shit like this, when stuff around here broke, it didn’t get fixed.
There was a soft shuffling sound to his right. Hood stilled. The sound didn’t repeat, but the silence suddenly had a different quality to it, like someone was holding their breath to stay completely silent.
Hood turned to the narrow alley the sound had come from.
“Hello? Who’s there?” He kept his voice non-threatening since this could’ve easily been another victim, who’d crawled into the first hiding place they found. At the same time, his hand crept to the gun on his hip, because it also could’ve been someone looking to ambush him.
As far as hiding places went, this one was pretty good. The alley was completely dark and so narrow that it made Jason feel cramped. If he hadn’t heard the noise, he never would’ve noticed anyone hiding there.
The soft shuffling came again, followed by a loud crash. Jason could make out a small, slumped figure trying to force themselves behind a large garbage bin and fail. Jason let his hand fall away from the gun.
“Hey, kid, it’s all right. I’m here to help.”
Hearing Hood’s words seemed to only make the kid’s panic worse, they really tried to force themselves into the too-tight gap in a way that looked painful.
“It’s okay,” Jason repeated, trying to make his modulated voice come out gentle. “I’m the Red Hood, I don’t hurt kids.”
Usually introducing himself made even the street kids around here relax, Jason had worked very hard to build himself the kind of reputation that kids knew they could trust. He wasn’t a cop, who more often than not were crooked and working for the bad guys. He wasn’t even Batman, who insisted on bringing kids to the proper authorities, no matter whether the authorities could be trusted or not or whether the kids wanted help or not.
But this kid didn’t relax in the slightest, they finally managed to force their shoulders into the gap and were now wriggling with all their might to get in fully. Honestly, Jason was starting to get worried the kid might be seriously hurting themself.
The kid got themself fully behind the garbage bin as Jason carefully approached.
“You alright there? Did you get lost?”
Jason was starting to think this kid might not have been from the Alley, it would explain why they were so scared of him. That or they could’ve been drugged or injured and scared out of their mind. None were good options.
“Go away,” the kid whispered, almost hissed. It was hard to make out their words, but the voice sounded male.
“Sure, kid. I just have to make sure you’re okay, first. I promise I’m not one of the bad guys.”
When Jason got closer he could see the kid had managed to lodge himself as deep into the crevice as he could. He was sideways, head turned to Jason and trying to force himself even deeper but it was clear he couldn’t go any further. It looked like he might’ve been stuck.
It was so dark here, that Jason couldn’t make out the kid’s face at all, he was just a dark blob in a dark shadow.
Jason sighed.
“Alright, look, I’m going to have to pull you out of there. The Alley’s too dangerous to stay in tonight. If you’re hurt or drugged, I know a clinic to take you to, the lady that runs it can be trusted, she won’t rat you out to social services. She won’t let anyone take advantage of you either.”
“I’m fine, just leave me alone,” the kid hissed out the words again, unmistakable fear in his voice.
Jason had to ignore the kid’s pleas, he could’ve been bleeding to death for all Jason knew. “I’m going to pull you out now.”
Jason reached into the dark, very aware the kid might just try to bite his fingers off. Hopefully, his gloves were thick enough to dull the bite. He got a good grip on the kid’s clothes, skintight and stretchy like he was wearing gym clothes or something, he must’ve been freezing his ass off. The kid wriggled furiously but there wasn’t really enough space to struggle properly, there was so little room in fact that Jason had a tough time pulling him forward. The kid would’ve definitely been stuck if Jason had just left him there.
The first thing Jason registered was the colors. Red, green and yellow. Jason blinked.
“What.”
The kid tried to pull back harder but Jason made his grip harsher and yanked the kid forward, into the moonlight. Wide eyes, covered by whiteout lenses stared back at him from a familiar face.
“Robin,” Hood said and his voice came out inflectionless, almost robotic. The familiar whirl of green-tinted rage swirled inside him. That was Robin, on his turf, wearing his colors, like he thought he had any right to be here. Like he hadn’t been warned to stay off. Like Jason hadn’t told him what would happen if he insisted staying on as Robin.
Robin reached his left arm to try and dislodge Hood’s grip on him, his right arm was still stuck behind him against the wall since the little idiot had shoved himself to a spot where he was completely defenseless.
“Robin,” Jason said again but this time his voice was full of vicious glee.
The whelp must’ve crawled in here after the fight with Ivy, waiting for Batman to come pick him up. It was a miracle he hadn’t been scooped up to safety yet, but for once it seemed luck was on Jason’s side.
Robin flinched at his tone, it seemed to jar an injury because he bit back a pained yelp.
Hood laughed with a cruel tilt. He kept one of his hands on Robin’s shoulder so the kid couldn’t try to wriggle away and started poking him with the other, looking for the obvious injury.
Robin slapped at his hand ineffectually, it was like getting swatted by a declawed kitten. “Stop.”
Jason did not stop. He kept prodding at Robin methodically and cataloged every flinch he managed to draw out.
“Injured baby birds shouldn’t come crawling to Crime Alley. Don’t you know a lot of scary things lurk here?” Jason squeezed Robin’s shoulder, the one he was using to hold the kid down. It was meant as just a menacing gesture, to show the bird how thoroughly trapped he was but Robin yelled out like he’d been stabbed and hunched over in pain.
Well. Found the injury.
Jason prodded at the shoulder, more gently this time. Robin shuddered. The shoulder was definitely dislocated, the Replacement was even more incapacitated than Jason had thought. He could’ve gotten Robin to do almost anything if he manipulated the kid by a dislocated shoulder. Could’ve, if he damned the consequences. He had a tentative ceasefire going with the bats at the moment, they’d stopped actively hunting for him as long as he stayed in his Alley and kept the murdering to a minimum. If he actually caused grievous bodily harm to their precious baby bird, though, all that would go out the window and Jason’s takeover of the Alley was still too fresh to allow for a war with the Bats.
The Replacement hadn’t started screaming his head off yet so he probably knew all this, but judging by how rigidly he was holding himself in Hood’s grip, he wasn’t a hundred percent sure he wasn’t about to get hurt.
Jason tutted down at the boy, leaning in closer to better loom over him. “Did you seriously dislocate your own shoulder cramming yourself in there? I thought you were supposed to be the smart Robin.”
“Don’t touch me,” Robin hissed, with a desperate edge to his words. But he wasn’t trying to wriggle further away anymore, wasn’t even trying to lean away from Jason, even though they were only inches apart. Actually, he’d been sitting completely still for a while now, even when Jason had been holding him by his injured shoulder.
As Jason watched, Robin swayed a little. Towards Jason.
No way. It couldn’t be this easy.
“Okay,” Jason agreed lightly and pulled his hands away dramatically. Robin gasped. As Jason watched Robin drew one shuddering breath after another like he was in pain. His composure shattered in seconds and he started struggling in the gap again, but this time he was trying to move towards Jason. Every tug against the wall clearly aggravated the injured shoulder as the kid kept hissing out in pain. All that and Jason had barely even touched him.
Jason smiled, all sharp teeth.
“That looks uncomfortable, Robin. You sure you don’t want me to help you out?”
“Don’t –“ Tim said sharply but Jason never found out what the Replacement didn’t want him doing because when he raised his fingertips to brush against Robin’s chin, the kid went completely still, breathing hard.
Jason lifted his fingers upwards and the Replacement’s chin followed along with the movement eagerly.
The kid’s face was pale in the moonlight but Jason could see the beginnings of a bruise peeking out from under the mask, undoubtedly there was more hidden by the costume. Robin’s expression was difficult to read under the mask, though, and Jason didn’t like that.
He might never get the Replacement at his mercy like this again and Batman was probably about to come rescue his wayward chicklet any second now, so Jason wanted to enjoy the show while he could.
Jason took off the glove from his right hand and cupped Robin’s cheek with it gently. The Replacement sighed contentedly and then looked outraged about it, his posture never loosened from the stiff way he was holding himself.
Jason leaned closer to the kid until his helmet was almost touching the Replacement’s forehead, one set of blank whiteout lenses staring into another. “You’re drugged off your mind with pollen, aren’t you?”
Tim frowned and refused to answer, but the minute shaking in his free hand was telling enough. Robin was trying so hard not to grab at him, not to seek out the physical contact that the pollen demanded. Jason patted his cheek and pulled his hand away. The Replacement tried to follow but couldn’t, stuck in place.
“Don’t –“ The Replacement said again but didn’t seem able to finish the sentence even when Jason gave him time. Clearly, he wasn’t going to beg just yet.
Jason took a step back and put his glove back on. “Robin all alone in Crime Alley, injured and drugged up with pollen, without being even able to move an inch. You know, if I just left you here, you’d be in big trouble. Anyone could come snatch you up and I doubt the Bats could ever connect it back to me.”
Even in the moonlight, Jason could see Robin pale even further. “You wouldn’t.”
Jason wouldn’t. He hated the kid, wanted to see him squirm, wanted him to pay for stealing what was his but leaving Robin alone in the Alley like this was a horrible death sentence and Jason didn’t hate the kid quite that much. But Robin didn’t need to know that.
“Wouldn’t I? I’m sure the Bat would come to rescue you before anything too bad happened, right? I’m sure he’s paying attention this time. Want to test it?”
The Replacement’s head jerked like he was hoping to see Batman standing right behind Jason. Jason resisted the urge to turn around, he was sure if the Bat was there, he would’ve put a stop to this already.
“Where is he anyway? It’s very irresponsible of him, letting his chick wander away from the coop.”
The Replacement was squirming, clearly unable to help himself even if every jerked attempt at freeing himself jarred his hurt shoulder more. He had his teeth gritted against the pain. Maybe Jason should take pity on him - but he really didn’t like it when the Replacement didn’t answer his questions. It was rude.
Jason grabbed Tim’s face with both gloved hands. The kid stopped struggling but there was none of that elated relief from earlier, clearly the meager body heat the gloves let out wasn’t enough anymore, not now that he’d gotten a taste of real warmth.
“Answer my question. Where is Batman?”
Tim furrowed his eyebrows, clearly frustrated with the situation but stubbornly refusing to show any real fear. It pissed Jason off. Even in a situation like this, where the Replacement had no way of defending himself, he seemed to just believe he’d be alright. That someone would save him before anything too bad happened.
“Why do you want to know if you’re just going to leave me here anyway?”
Jason traced the edge of Robin’s mask with his fingers, trying to find a spot that wasn’t glued on properly. If Robin was going to be reckless, it was basically Hood’s brotherly duty to scare some sense into him.
“It’s in your best interest to keep me happy, Replacement, I might stick around longer,” Jason said in a low voice. Through the voice modulator, it almost sounded like a purr.
Robin stiffened even further like he was made of stone. It looked uncomfortable.
“You don’t want me to leave, do you?” Jason teased.
The Replacement opened his mouth hesitantly like he was going to answer, but Jason had just found the purchase he’d been looking for and yanked.
The words the Replacement had been about to say turned into a pained squawk as Jason got half of the mask off in one go. Jason hummed in mock displeasure and buried a hand in his hair to keep his head in place.
“You have to stay still now, or this is going to take forever, baby bird.”
Jason could feel the Replacement shivering under his grip, he was pushing his face more tightly against Jason’s fingers, desperate for warmth.
“Good boy,” Jason murmured and ripped the rest of the mask off in a quick tug. This time Robin was more prepared and barely hissed from the sting.
The skin around Robin’s eyes looked rough and irritated from the harsh mask removal but his eyes shone through clear even in the bad lighting. The kid looked pissed.
Jason spent a second just petting the Replacement’s hair gently and the boy leaned up into the touch with a resentful glower. It was much easier to read him now that the mask was gone and the desperation shone through clearly.
It reminded Jason that he still had no idea where Batman was and whether he should be booking it by this point. “You didn’t answer my question earlier, Replacement. That’s rude.”
Robin sucked in a sharp breath, a look of outrage washing over him. But when Jason began to untangle his hand from the boy’s hair, he hurried to answer with clear panic etched on his face.
“I don’t want you to leave!”
Jason was startled into stillness. It took him a second to remember that after he’d asked about Batman’s location he’d mocked Robin by threatening to leave. That’s what he was responding to. Well, wasn’t that unexpected? Robin was getting close to actually begging, just from this. Maybe he did have some fear in him after all.
Jason supposed he should reward good behavior. He drew back a little to take off his gloves, which made the Replacement let out a low whine.
“Oh, don’t worry, Replacement. You’ve earned a reward.”
Jason used one ungloved hand to cup Robin’s cheek and buried the other one back into his hair, drawing little circles with his palm. The Replacement melted in his grip, leaning as far into it as he could, posture finally drawing away from its rigidity.
“Oh, wow, you really would be in trouble if one of the bad guys found you like this,” Jason laughed.
Robin’s eyes shot open and glared at him, proving there was some fight left in him still. “You’re one of the bad guys.”
Jason grinned behind his helmet. Fair enough.
Jason slid both of his hands to Robin’s cheeks and squished them together like he was a little chipmunk, there was just enough baby fat left on them to make it fun still. “Don’t talk back, marshmallow peep. I might get petty and leave.”
Tim’s brows furrowed and Jason had to let go of his cheeks before he burst out laughing. It had the unintended consequence of making Tim gasp from pain as the tiny bit of physical contact left him. Tim shook from the sudden shock of it and Jason could see it was getting difficult for the boy to keep from screaming out loud.
Jason was honestly pretty surprised by how effective of a torture method this was turning out to be. Usually getting hit by pollen was uncomfortable, an itch under the skin that could only be sated by human contact. For Jason, it hurt a little, more the lonelier he felt, typically. If he got hit by the pollen these days it burned like he’d gotten stung by a swarm of bees, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t suffer through by himself. But Tim was acting like someone was pointing a flamethrower at him. Tim, who’d stolen Jason’s family and his place in life, who was surrounded by Jason’s friends and family, had the balls to pretend like he couldn’t take a little bit of itching. Maybe he was so used to being loved that even a second without felt like torture.
Jason suddenly didn’t feel like laughing anymore.
Jason fisted a hand in the Replacement’s hair again, but this time he did it roughly enough to hurt. The kid winced from the new source of pain but stopped struggling in his captivity. Jason tugged at the strands none too gently, forcing Robin completely still in his grip. His other hand went to the kid’s shoulder.
“Wait –“ Panic colored the Replacement’s voice and he started thrashing about again, trying to break free. Jason was done waiting though, the game had gotten drawn out too long and Batman would show up at any second to save his upgraded kid.
Jason shoved Robin against the wall in a way that if the kid tried to move at all, pain would shoot up his shoulder unbearably. Robin hissed in pain and went still once again, Jason could finally see real fear start to form behind his eyes.
“You’re on my turf, Robin. You know you’re not supposed to do that. I’m really letting you off easily this time, so you’ll just have to bear with me.”
Jason tightened his grip on Robin’s shoulder and twisted.
Robin screamed.
His dislocated shoulder popped as it went back to its socket. Robin’s pants mixed with sobs as he slumped against Jason. Jason petted his hair mockingly.
“See, aren’t I nice? Now you can probably wriggle your way out of that hole. Just be careful not to wriggle too hard or you might dislocate that shoulder again. I hear it hurts a lot more on the second time.”
The Replacement reached out a shaking hand, the left, healthy one, and grabbed at Jason’s armor desperately. “No, please don’t let go.”
And now they’d finally gotten to begging. Jason’s work here was done.
Jason kept petting Robin’s hair with one hand and pried his fingers off with the other. Gently, exaggeratedly gently he forced one finger at a time to relinquish their hold on Jason. Robin’s hard breaths sounded like sobs.
Then Jason let go and took a step back. Robin whined, high and pained. Jason took another step back, then another and another. Robin’s pitiful little attempts at freedom turned to full-bodied sobs and the kid fell limply against the wall, even though he probably could’ve just gotten out by twisting himself a little now.
Jason looked down at him, looming at a distance, and waited to feel the satisfaction of having broken the interloper so easily. But no satisfaction was to come and slowly irritation started to leak in. He didn’t like watching this, it didn’t feel like a victory he’d earned, not when the kid was drugged up so badly.
Jason looked around impatiently. Where the hell was Batman anyway? He couldn’t have just left his partner alone for this long, not when he was this vulnerable. But a glance at the shadows showed nothing out of the ordinary, the two of them really were alone out here.
Jason stomped closer to Robin and the kid flinched violently. “Did you run away from home or some shit? Where the hell is Batman?” Robin didn’t seem to hear him, so Jason kicked his foot lightly, just to get his attention. Robin recoiled like he’d been shot.
“Did you hear me? Where is he? You guys took down Ivy ages ago, he should’ve found you by now.”
Robin shook his head, trembling all over. “He’s not here. He’s out of town. Please.” The Replacement covered his face with his healthy hand like he was trying to keep himself from begging any further.
Jason had trouble believing his ears. “Out of town? Fucking seriously? What about Nightwing?”
“Blüdhaven,” Robin gasped out.
Jason groaned and suddenly torturing the kid started to seem a lot less like fair game. “Are you kidding me? Who took out Ivy then?”
“I did. I did it alone. Please. Please.” Robin’s composure seemed to crumble and both his hands tried to reach out at Jason, despite how much it must’ve hurt to move the dislocated arm.
“Fuck,” Jason cursed, with feeling. Of course, Robin had done that alone, it explained the injuries and the heavy dose of pollen. Never mind that Ivy was the sort of threat no one, especially a teenager, should have fought alone. Robin must’ve crawled to this alley just as the first symptoms were starting to show and then he didn’t have time to get anywhere else, not if the pollen affected him this badly.
“Is there someone I can call to come get you? Isn’t there a whole fucking gaggle of you bat-people?”
Robin shook his head again and it was clear the pain was getting much worse, he was almost convulsing in place. “There’s no one,” his voice came out so defeated, so lonely, that it resonated with something in Jason’s heart.
Jason had a hand fisted in Robin’s outfit before he even realized what he was doing. “Okay, I’m going to pull you out now. Try to keep your shoulder steady.”
Robin clearly wasn’t listening, grabbing at Jason’s arm with shaking hands, like it was the only thing keeping him alive.
Robin came out with a single tug now that he was all limp and not trying to fight it. Jason pulled him to his chest and encompassed him in a hug. Robin’s shaking only got worse but Jason didn’t know what he could do about that. It must’ve sucked to hug the enemy that’d just been torturing him, but the alternative seemed to be worse.
“I don’t know what to do here, Robin, you’re going to have to help me out. Do you want me to take you somewhere, a friend or a hospital or something?”
Robin gasped and clung to Jason harder, trying to grab at the smooth armor as best he could. “No. Don’t leave me. Please, don’t leave me.” He sounded delirious, Jason really wasn’t sure he knew what was happening anymore.
Jason hugged him harder, feeling like the worst person on the planet.
I promise I’m not one of the bad guys, he’d said when he’d still thought Robin was a regular kid hiding in the shadows. That had obviously been a lie.
“Okay, kid, I won’t leave. I’m sorry for doing this. I’m really sorry.”
Jason hugged Tim tighter but the kid’s shakes weren’t relenting, there was too much armor in the way, the only bit of bare skin on Jason was his ungloved hands. He was even still wearing the helmet. They needed to get to a safehouse if Jason wanted to actually help the kid. Afterward, when Tim regained some of his senses, he could tell Jason where he wanted to be dropped off.
But if Jason wanted to increase skin contact, he’d need both of his hands for a second. Jason took his hands off Robin and the kid screamed.
“Shh, it’s okay, you’re okay.” Jason wrapped the kid’s hand around himself firmly and tried to be quick. First, he took off the helmet and clipped it to his belt, then he rolled up his sleeves. That was the most skin he could bare right now without starting to take off clothes.
Jason put an arm under Robin’s knees and the other behind his back and lifted the kid up. He made sure to rest his cheek against Robin’s hair and hoped it helped some. Robin just wrapped his arms around Jason’s neck and cried.
Jason had to get them out of the street quickly, so he headed to the safehouse nearest to them. It was awkward walking around carrying a fourteen-year-old. Tim was small for his age and weighed barely anything but he was still a teenager. It was a good thing the streets were practically abandoned because of Ivy’s attack, Tim definitely wouldn’t have wanted anyone to see a crying Robin being carried around Crime Alley.
Getting into his safehouse and engaging the alarms and traps was a challenge, any time Jason tried to get even one of his hands away from Robin, the kid started sobbing harder, heart-wrenching and lonely, and Jason’s heart really couldn’t take more wrenching right now.
In the end, Jason ended up standing in the middle of his empty living room with no idea what to do next. He should’ve checked the kid for injuries, Tim definitely needed medical attention but it was also clear that if he tried that, he’d just cause Tim more distress, which also wasn’t good. Jason decided on a sort of compromise where he patted the kid down, looking for anything serious that absolutely couldn’t wait until morning. But Jason couldn’t feel anything out of place and his hands didn’t come back bloody, so this was probably the best he was going to get.
Jason chucked off his jacket and armor, which was a slow and difficult process because he couldn’t coax Tim to loosen his grip on Jason even a little. The kid apparently had superb gripping strength.
Finally done with it, Jason slumped onto the couch and gave Tim a second to settle himself more comfortably. Instead of doing that, the kid just kept his grip tight in the same uncomfortable position he’d been holding since Jason first picked him up.
“C’mon Tim,” Jason said gently and tried to adjust the kid more comfortably.
Jason had been doing his best not to listen to the sad sounds Tim had been making to keep a hold of his sanity but now in the quiet apartment, there really wasn’t anything else to focus on.
“I’m sorry, Dad,” Tim whimpered, clearly out of his mind. Jason was pretty sure he had no idea where he currently was. “Please don’t leave. Please, Mom.”
Jason went cold. Tim shook.
“I’m not leaving anywhere, Tim. I promise,” Jason said quietly and wrapped his arms around the teenager. As a final touch, he rested his cheek on the top of Tim’s head again and told himself he was doing it for medical reasons.
Tim clung to him tightly, trying to cover every inch of skin Jason was showing. Slowly, his crying started to subside but the shaking wouldn’t stop. Jason rubbed circles on the kid’s back.
“I’m really sorry,” Jason said, even though Tim was in no shape to hear him. His voice broke in the middle of the sentence. “I’m really, really sorry.”
It wasn’t enough. Not by a long shot.
Jason listened to Tim’s hitched breaths mix with his own ragged breathing in the otherwise quiet apartment. He’d fucked this up so badly.
Tim woke up with the feeling of danger. It took his muddled brain a second to figure out why.
The first thing he noticed was that his throat and eyes burned like he’d been crying for hours. The second thing he noticed was that his whole body ached. The third was that the warm thing he was lying on definitely wasn’t a mattress.
Tim sprung up and out of the loose grip holding him down in someone’s lap, panic was helping him wake up real quick. He barely managed to stumble out of the hold when pain washed over him and he fell to the ground, literally floored by the yawning emptiness burning his soul.
“Oh shit, are you okay?” A young male voice asked, full of concern. The man bent down to pick him up again and as soon as his hands touched Tim, the pain started to recede.
Tim took a big gulp of air, only now realizing he hadn’t been breathing. Tim looked up to find Red Hood staring down at him.
Tim flinched back and Hood froze but didn’t let go, his hands still gripping onto Tim’s forearms, ready to pick him up.
No. Tim amended. Not Hood, Jason was mostly out of the costume, he was still wearing the lower half of it but from the waist up he only had a thin undershirt on. He wasn’t even wearing the domino mask, that seemed to be thrown aside to the couch and his eyes were red-rimmed, like he’d been crying too.
“What’s going on?” Tim asked. He was impressed by how even his voice came out, considering how hard he was freaking out internally.
“Uh, you got hit by Ivy’s pollen yesterday. Do you remember?” Jason asked hesitantly and Tim honestly wasn’t sure if this was the same Jason that had hated his guts ever since he came back from the dead. Could this be a clone situation? Was time travel involved?
Tim dug around for what he could remember of last night. Bruce had forbidden him from patrolling while he and Alfred were out of Gotham and Tim had intended to obey but then he’d gotten an alert that Ivy was out of Arkham and wreaking havoc downtown. Right. Tim had chased after her as she’d kept moving through the city and Tim hadn’t even realized how close to Crime Alley they were until the fight was over and he was already covered in pollen.
He knew from experience the pollen worked fast on him and he didn’t have any backup coming. His first priority had been to find a good hiding place and hope Ivy’s rampage would keep people inside their homes. He’d been hiding when he heard footsteps and someone had talked to him. Someone –
Hood had found him. Alone and trapped. In the Alley.
Memories came back to him, bits and pieces.
Tim fought the urge to scramble back from Jason, fully aware that he was still incapacitated enough that he’d suffer horribly if he broke skin contact. It terrified him to think about how much power Jason currently had over him.
“Where are we?” Tim asked, still levelly like he was trying to talk down a hostage situation.
“At one of my safe houses. Look, can I just pick you back up? This isn’t the most comfortable position.”
Jason was doubled over, sitting on the couch, his upper half bent over Tim.
Tim didn’t really want to get any closer to the villain but he could see he didn’t have a choice. The cold was already starting to get worse and if he didn’t get more skin contact soon, he’d be back to being a crying, whining mess. Tim hated pollen so much. He didn’t understand why it had to affect him so much worse than any of the others.
Tim got back to his feet uncertainly, unwilling to be picked up like a child. He kept his movements slow and broadcasted every move carefully, so as to not spook Jason. Jason in turn kept his grip on Tim steady. It all felt too tense like they were both waiting to see what the other would do.
Tim sat on the couch next to Jason and Jason wrapped an arm around his shoulders. The cold immediately started receding but not enough, never enough to make him feel warm. Tim crossed his arms and gritted his teeth in annoyance. Neither of them said anything and the silence felt oppressively awkward.
“Look, I can drop you off somewhere if you’d like,“ Jason offered finally.
“What?”
Tim was confused. He was fairly sure this was some kind of a kidnapping. Jason had made it very clear he hated Tim and what he remembered of last night definitely confirmed that idea. Tim didn’t get the end game here but there had to be one, the Red Hood did not help Tim. So why was Jason offering to drop him off somewhere, presumably in one piece?
Jason cringed. “Okay, so clearly you don’t remember everything about last night. Figures. Well, you’re here because I didn’t know where to drop you off. So, name the place and I’ll take you there, as long as you’re well enough to stay on the bike.”
Tim narrowed his eyes. “Okay. Arkham.”
Jason scoffed and shot a glare Tim’s way. It was so much more familiar a look on the boy that Tim actually relaxed a little. “Try again.”
Tim considered his options. Bruce and Alfred were out of town, Dick was in Blüd and his parents were somewhere in Egypt last he checked. Barbara was probably in Gotham but she was taking a little time off from the bats and Tim didn’t want to intrude. Tim had some classmates he was friendly with, but not so friendly that he could drop by unannounced and in costume.
Tim stifled a sigh and resigned himself to an afternoon of suffering alone. “Just take me home.”
Jason stiffened, enough that Tim could feel it through just his arm. “Not that either. Pick again.”
“What?” Tim asked outraged. So this was a kidnapping?
Jason waggled his phone in his hand like a piece of incriminating evidence. “I googled your parents and found out they’re taking part in a conference today in Copenhagen.” Wait, what had happened to Egypt? Was that before or after Copenhagen? “I’m not taking you to an empty house. Sort of defeats the point of playing nursemaid all night.”
“You weren’t playing nursemaid, you were sleeping,” Tim bristled. “And it’s none of your business where I go, you think you can torture me and then pretend like you’re worried about my well-being?”
Jason frowned and Tim braced for him pulling his arm off Tim. Oh, shit, he thought. He’d wanted to avoid breaking down in front of Jason again.
But Jason kept his arm where it was, even as he frowned harder. “I’m sorry.”
Tim blinked.
“What I did last night – and what I did in Titans tower – that was fucked up. I’m sorry,” the words came out stiffly, almost robotically, but they didn’t sound insincere.
Oddly enough, Tim felt himself getting angry at the apology.
“You’re sorry? I don’t remember everything from yesterday but I do remember how much fun you were having humiliating and berating me. Right from the start you’ve found ways to ambush and corner me and then act all high and mighty about it. For fuck’s sake, the pollen wasn’t even your doing, you must’ve been so thrilled to find I’d fallen right into your lap.” Tim’s treacherous body seemed to know he was annoying his only source of warmth and he had to ball his hands into fists to prevent them from clamping tight around Jason. He wasn’t fucking finished yet. “Oh, wait, I remember that much, you were definitely thrilled, right?”
Jason didn’t say anything. Tim risked a glance at his face, furious enough that he didn’t care what kind of hell he was bringing down on himself.
Jason was staring down at his own lap, eyes glassy and expression somewhere far away.
“I’m sorry,” Jason almost whispered. “I didn’t – I thought Batman was going to come save you.”
That punched the breath out of Tim’s lungs. Tim had never thought he’d hear Jason say that.
“I thought that’s why you seemed so confident and fearless because you knew Batman was just seconds away from swooping in and saving you. But the whole time you knew he wasn’t even in Gotham.”
“I wasn’t confident and fearless, I was terrified the whole goddamn time,” Tim admitted bitterly.
Jason flinched and hunched his head down further. “I’m sorry.”
Tim leaned back on the couch and the void inside him hummed happily at the increased skin contact. There was something depressing in realizing that Hood didn’t hate him personally, just what he represented to him. Tim would’ve felt a little better if Jason hated him for him and not just because Jason saw himself in Robin.
As it was, Tim was too bruised and tired to hold onto the anger, especially since Jason clearly wasn’t looking to fight.
“If you won’t take me home, what are our options here? I stick around until the pollen wears off?” Tim asked sarcastically. No way would Jason tolerate him for several more hours without it coming to blows.
“If you’ve got nowhere else to go, that’d be the best call. But I can call Dick to come pick you up if you prefer.”
Tim looked at Jason again, eyebrows creeping up his forehead in surprise. Jason hated Dick, hated all of the bats, Tim couldn’t believe he was volunteering to call one of them. But then again, he couldn’t believe Jason was cuddling him right now, either.
Jason huffed out an exasperated breath. “Look, I know I messed up last night. You don’t want to be here, that’s fair. So, I can tolerate the Dickbag for a couple of minutes in return.”
Tim didn’t say anything, just stared at Jason’s face, looking for any signs of deceit or hidden plots that Jason might be hatching. But Jason honestly just looked so uncomfortable by the idea of calling Dick that Tim couldn’t help but believe him.
I think he might be serious.
And if Jason actually meant it, if he was actually sorry for tormenting Tim… Then this was the best chance Tim would ever get to bring him back to his family.
Tim was pretty sure this was a bad idea, but Bruce and Dick missed Jason, they missed him so hard it was obvious even when they tried their best to hide it. Tim had become Robin to save Batman, and he wasn’t saved yet. Not until he had his son back.
Besides, once upon a time, Jason had been one of the good guys.
“I think I’d rather stay here,” Tim said with a careless shrug.
“What?” Jason asked, sounding completely blindsided.
“You said I could.”
“Yeah, but…” The I didn’t think you’d take me up on it was left unsaid, hovering in the air above them both.
Tim fiddled with his clothes awkwardly. “So, I can’t stay?” He felt embarrassed, of course, that had been taking it too far, they were practically enemies.
“No, you – you can stay,” Jason hastened to say. “I just didn’t think you’d want to. I’m not going anywhere.”
Something warm bloomed in Tim’s chest at hearing that. He had a vague memory, like maybe Jason had told him that last night too. That he wasn’t going anywhere.
Tim finally let himself relax and leaned against Jason’s side, wrapping his arms around the older boy. The cold went away completely and Tim sighed in relief. Jason’s hand rubbed up and down on Tim’s back to help him warm up. Tim let his head tip on Jason’s chest, his heartbeat in his ears.
It was calm.
“You should come back to the manor with me.”
Jason stiffened. “Robin.”
“It’s Tim when I’m not wearing the mask, which you took off me, so…” Tim reminded Jason, keeping his voice teasing instead of mean.
“Tim,” Jason corrected tersely. “I’m not going back to the manor.”
“Well, how am I supposed to get there then?”
“You made it here by yourself just fine.”
“Yeah, but now my shoulder hurts. How am I supposed to grapple with a recently dislocated shoulder?”
Jason poked at his arm accusingly. “Are you seriously going to be this petty?”
Tim shrugged and his shoulder gave a mild twinge of pain. “You have your ways to take revenge, I have mine. I’ll consider us even if you drop me off at the manor when Alfred and Bruce come back.”
Jason didn’t say anything but he’d stopped rubbing Tim’s back and Tim sort of missed the extra warmth.
“I’m not welcome there,” he said finally.
Tim pulled away a little bit so he could look Jason in the eye. “Seriously? If you could hear the way they talk about you, you wouldn't say that. I mean, the whole reason they’ve left you alone for this long is because they want to give you space in the hopes that you’ll come back by yourself.” Tim shook his head, frustrated. “Do you honestly think they’d have just let you take over the Alley otherwise?”
Jason stared back at him, disbelief written all over his face. But Tim was pretty sure if Jason had been annoyed by this talk, he would’ve told Tim to shut it by now.
So, Tim decided to give Jason the excuse he needed. “You owe me. If you want to repay me, you’ll have to drop me off at the manor.”
Jason’s face shuttered over to a sullen, aloof mask but he couldn’t hide the spark of naked longing in his eyes. “Okay, Tim. If that’s how you want to waste my debt, I’ll come over. But I’m not promising you anything, I’m just dropping you off and then booking it.”
Tim leaned on Jason again to hide the fact he was rolling his eyes at the melodramatics. And the smile, he was hiding that too.
Jason went back to rubbing circles on his arm.
Tim felt safe and warm.