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It was- there was green… swirling, it was- fuck - a gasping breath? From someone, maybe him? Yeah, it was him.
He felt his body shudder and ache and there was- there was a rushing in his… ears? Fuck, he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t- he couldn’t breathe.
The rushing- it was in his eyes , and his nose , and his muscles , and in the marrow of his bones . He couldn’t see, not really, it was just shapeless blobs of- was that a person?
The rushing became louder and it was louder and he could see-? It was dark, and it was orange? And it was green, definitely green and it was nothing and it was fucking everything-
And he was sitting up in his sweat-soaked bed. His breaths were deep and shallow and quiet and loud. He tugged the cord on the cheap lamp next to him, with the shitty, flickering bulb.
The room slowly became illuminated and it was a pale gray. Something.
He could feel the press of his gun underneath the mattress. It was twin sized and thin and on the floor and it was uncomfortable. He couldn’t breathe.
All he could do was lock his eyes on the door, cracked and peeling paint, and hope and pray to a God he doesn’t believe in that no one comes in. It was an irrational thought, he didn’t live with anyone, not since- but it was all he could think about with his knees to his chest and his head to his knees and his hand in his hair, running through it and muttering.
“No one’s coming for you, Jason.” He rubbed a strand of his hair angrily. “Get that through your thick fucking skull.”
He knocked his head in a not-quite-punch and refused to let any tears fall.
-
Dick shook Jason’s shoulder frantically. His eyes were rolling in the back of his head and he seemed dangerously close to foaming at the mouth.
“Fuck.” Dick mumbled, taking off his domino mask and letting it clatter to the floor, next to Jason’s helmet.
He started to seize and shake by himself, back arching off the medical exam table.
“Hurry up, would you, Tim?” Dick shouted desperately, grasping at the lapels of Jason’s brown leather jacket.
“I can’t make the machine go any faster. Just keep him still, this new toxin is like snake venom, it spreads via the lymphatic system rather than the bloodstream!” Tim called, just as desperately, as he worked furiously at a cure for the fear toxin in Jason’s veins- or lymphatic system.
Despite not understanding half of what Tim had just said, Dick stopped shaking him and just kept his hands pushed down on his shoulders.
Scarecrow had been trying a new formula recently and the cure they normally used wasn’t working properly. Apparently this one focuses on a different type of fear. Apparently that meant a different kind of cure too. They just needed a bit more time. Just some time.
Dick, still in his sweaty Nightwing suit, perched himself on the edge of the table and ran his hands through Jason’s short black hair. He really needed a hair cut.
Jason himself didn’t seem to be worsening, but he certainly wasn’t getting any better. In fact, he was almost crying now.
Dick felt his heart sink.
At least until Tim yelled to grab his attention, then he was back in business mode.
“I think I’ve got it! Here, try this on him.” Tim said, handing Dick a small test tube with a green fluid in it.
Without any further ado, Dick injected it into Jason’s arm, near where he had been injected before.
Almost immediately, Jason stopped moving and his eyes fluttered shut.
Dick hovered, waiting for something to happen.
Slowly, Jason started to cry.
Silent tears, falling down his cheeks. Dick leaned forward and swiped them away. “Jason…”
Tim hurried over to join them, peering at Jason from over Dick’s shoulder.
“F… Fuck off, Dick.” He mumbled, moving Dick’s hand away roughly and rubbing at his own eyes.
Jason sat up gingerly and Dick let his hands hover around him, unable to shake his instincts, despite what Jason will have to say about it.
“‘M fine, now. You can stop mother-henning, Dickhead.” Jason said, voice rough.
Normally it didn’t take this long to recover from the effects of fear toxin. What did Jason see?
Ignoring what Jason said, Dick softly swept his hands through his little brother’s hair, giving him an ultra quick kiss on the forehead. “Insult me all you want. I love you, Jason, I don’t care.”
He stepped back and handed Jason his Red Hood helmet while he put his domino mask back on.
“When you’re ready, we can start hunting down Scarecrow.”
Jason nodded, toying with his gun as he sat, legs dangling off the table. “Yeah, okay, let’s go.”
Dick didn’t miss the way his eyes looked slightly greener than before.