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The darkness was almost like home, as were the screams.
Even the tang of iron on the air was a common enough occurrence that Jason barely so much as twitched his nose at the suddenly very strong very present stench of blood.
He was already up on his feet anyway, hand going towards his holster to take out whatever dumb fuck had decided to mess up his perfectly good day only to realise that not only was there no gun at his side, but there was no holster either.
There might have been a single split second there where his heart seized, though just as quickly his mind latched onto every single detail around him, including the fact that he was currently standing on the wall.
Well, what had been the wall, the glass crunching beneath his boot.
The emergency lights at last flickered on, or at least attempted to, because if Gotham spends money on anything apparently it’s not spent on emergency systems on the damn subway because of course fucking not.
Jason snarled, tugging hard at the hem of his jacket.
Honestly, this whole damn city had gone to the wolves and now he was surrounded by screaming civilians who had somehow become louder now that the lights were back on even though they should have been reassured that at least no maniacal clown or other freak was going to jump out at them through the darkness.
Taking another moment to breathe, not to settle his shaking hands because they had no reason at all to be shaking, Jason turned on his heel.
The whole subway car was on it’s side, and as far as he could see through the carriage ways the other cars had derailed too.
There was a risk of fire, no doubt about it, because Gotham fucking sucks, but there would also be a risk of people trampling over other people in their desperation to get out of the car and in truth it was a miracle that the civvies hadn’t yet orientated themselves enough to realise that their lives were in danger not simply from whatever injuries they had just sustained, but if they were to stay here and wait for help.
Sucking in another deep breath, not that he needed to calm himself, Jason glanced up and down as far as he could see. He took particular interest in the man that had somehow managed to tangle himself up in one of the chairs that were currently not very seat-worthy, half hanging from the mangled metal with only his arm reaching the new ground that had once been the walls of the train.
The man was unconscious, lucky bastard that he was, but that did not mean he was not in dire need of help.
“You.” Jason barked.
The younger man that Jason had chosen was the closest that wasn’t still screaming. It was almost as if the rest thought that this was some kind of ride where you’re meant to scream the whole way down, but he knew that soon enough at least some of them would get their senses back.
“Help me get him down, don’t let his neck move though it might-“
The younger man doubled over and threw up.
“Yep. No.” Jason whirled around, pointing to the closest girl instead. “You. Help. No moving neck, no puking, got it?”
At least this one simply nodded, though she was definitely shaking a little as she reached up towards where his head was hanging limply.
Her breath caught when a drop of blood landed on her but Jason caught her hand before she could turn around and fuck off.
“Easy now,” Jason said. “Just breathe, you’ve got this. We need to get him down first, okay? Then we can talk, how does that sound?”
The girl, probably in her early twenties at the very most, nodded.
“I’m going to shift him, just keep that neck steady for me, that’s it, that’s it, you’re doing great.”
As soon as the man was on the ground, wall, groundwall? Whatever the hell it was now, as soon as he was not in his pitiful attempt at being Dick Grayson on the trapeze Jason checked him over and confirmed that he was simply unconscious and not dead.
At least, not dead yet.
Someone was still screaming, honestly it was probably several someones, but most of the people seemed to finally be getting their bearings.
Unfortunately, it also meant that some of the people were also working out what had happened.
Jason stood, nodding towards the young woman who had helped him.
“What’s your name?”
It seemed to take an eternity for her to answer and it was only then that he noticed the hearing aids that had blended in with her hair. Given all the shouting and the creaking of the carriage itself, he wouldn’t be surprised at all if it was a little difficult to focus on any one thing right now.
Jason tapped her lightly on the shoulder and her gaze was at once on him.
“You sign?” Jason asked, using both English and ASL. “My name is Jason.”
For Jason, he fingerspelled it, though he then added Jericho’s sign name for him on the end of it.
“Rebecca.” She said. “What the hell happened?”
“That’s what I’m going to find out, but first we need to make sure that everyone’s okay. Can you watch our friend over here? If he wakes up or starts vomiting or something, can you either let me know or get someone to let me know?”
Rebecca’s gaze shifted back down to the unconscious man. She considered for a long moment then rocked on her heel, grabbing onto a piece of metal that had once been attached to a chair, and in fact still partly was connected.
“Perfect.” Jason said.
As Rebecca gripped onto the end of it, Jason yanked hard from the base. It came loose far quicker than he’d expected and Jason had damn near tumbled into her and the unconscious man but he managed to regain his balance even more quickly, passing the piping fully to her.
She banged it against the closest piece of metal, the sound echoing, and Jason grinned.
“Awesome,” Jason said. “Use that to call me back over if anything changes. Oh, and Rebecca, just before I gather everyone else, are you hurt anywhere? And I’m serious, anything even slightly feels off, I need to know.”
Rebecca considered for a long moment.
She set the pole down beside her where she could easily reach it without anyone tripping over it.
“I’m okay.” Rebecca said. “Just a little sore. Are you okay?”
“Absolutely.” Jason said.
With no one else within the carriage looking like they could be seconds away from dying, Jason made his way to the very end of it, pushing passed an old couple who were bickering as if one of them was the cause of all this shit, as well as a teenager who definitely was meant to be in class right now.
Jason cupped his hands around his mouth.
“Alright! I need everyone to listen up!”
If anything, the noise just got louder, one of the civilians giving off a particularly brutal sob while another just curled up into a ball far too close to broken glass for Jason’s comfort.
“I said shut the fuck up!”
At once, all eyes were on him. He dropped his hands down, resisting the urge to mess with the hem of his jacket.
Before chaos could ensue again, Jason breathed in deeply and raised his hands once more to use ASL alongside his voice.
“I know everyone is scared and some people are hurt, but it’s not safe to stay in here. I’m going to get one of the doors open but first you need to-”
“Who the fuck are you?”
It was a big man who had shouted back, his chest puffing out as if that would protect him from all the possible smoke or fumes that could seep into the train at any moment.
Jason levelled his gaze at him, keeping his voice loud but far more steady.
“My name is Jason Todd. What’s yours?”
The man huffed, turning his chin up at him.
“You know,” Jason said easily. “You look very strong, my man, how about you help me with the doors in a sec?”
It took a long moment for the man to process Jason’s words but then it must have finally clicked because he was puffing out his chest again, this time in unbridled pride.
“Henry.” He said.
“Great to meet you Henry, and it’ll be even greater once we get out of this joint. Now, Henry and I are going to try to pry open one of the doors. Henry is going to boost each of you out of here but once you’re in the tunnel, I need you to go to the closest wall and stay there. I’m not gonna lie, it’s gonna be fucking tough, the moment you get out of here, you’re gonna want to run for your life but I’m gonna need you to fight against that urge hard as you can because it may very well be what gets you killed.”
Sobbing Lady gave her well timed sob but at least the old couple were now holding each other, their attention still on them, argument dropped at least for now.
“So!” Jason said loudly. “Henry and I open doors. Henry boosts you out. You go straight to the wall, got it? Anyone who’s injured and can’t walk, wait for me and I’ll help. If you’re hurt but you can walk, get the hell out with the rest and go to the wall. Remember, fight against the urge to run.”
The teenager raised his fucking hand as if this was some fucking classroom and not an overturned mess of metal and glass.
“Yes?” Jason prompted.
The hand dropped, instead tucking into the pockets of his jeans.
“Shouldn’t we just wait?”
“You’re not from Gotham are you?”
When the teenager sneered, he damn near looked like a Gothamite but there was a trembling in his lip that showed that he’d lived here six months at most.
“These trains are old, Kid,” Jason said. “And our cops are even more shit. We’re gonna get out of here just in case something happens, but the tunnels themselves have air circulation to keep out the worst of the chemicals and shit away from the tracks. It’s safer out there than here, believe me.”
“Why should we believe you?”
“What’s your name, Kid?”
The boy ducked his head.
“So, was it Metropolis or New York? I can call you Superman if you don’t wanna give me your name.”
“Jeremy.”
“Jeremy. I’m Jason. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’m going to need you to do just that, just for a little while, alright?”
“But you’re just a-”
“I’m older than I look.”
And younger at the same time, Jason supposed.
“I was going to say asshole.”
Jason grinned brightly.
“Right on, Jeremy. Okay! Change of plan, Henry, Jeremy, both of you help get the door. Rebecca, how’s our guy doing?”
As Rebecca signed that he was still unconscious, an unfortunately worrying symptom given how long he’s already been out for, the sobbing woman had started sobbing again right on cue.
“Okay,” Jason said to Rebecca. “Just hold tight for now, we’ll get him out last. Let’s move people, slow and orderly, and remember no running when you get out.”
It took far longer to pry open the doors than Jason had been hoping, even with the supposedly emergency release buttons.
Just for some extra spice, the emergency lights had begun to flicker again because Gotham was a fucking nightmare, though a hard bang on what had once been the roof had them stabilising again.
Once the doors were fully open Jeremy, smart lad that he was, positioned himself on the outside of the train, offering a hand up to whoever Henry helped boost up.
It was impossible to see if each person that got out did indeed go to the wall just like Jason had instructed but given that he didn’t hear any half crazed screaming he hoped that they’d each calmed enough to follow the one simple instruction.
After making sure that the remaining passengers weren’t immediately bleeding to death, though there were absolutely a dozen bruises and cuts and a dislocated shoulder, Jason rifled through all the bags that had been left behind.
Of course, he’d damn near got a kick to the nuts when he dared touch a bag of someone still in the train but Jason stepped out of the way just in time.
“Hey hey!” Jason said. “I’m just seeing what kinda shit we have, yeah?”
The woman’s eyes widened.
“You… You think we will be trapped in here.”
“I’m just looking at all our options.”
“It’s my food, they can’t have it.”
“We haven’t come to that,” Jason said firmly. “But like I said, we need to look at what we might have just in case we do need to wait a little while.”
Before she could argue more, Henry came on over and told her in no short words that it was her time to go.
She clutched her bag close to her chest, whatever hidden food she had in there a problem for later Jason, then awkwardly climbed up onto Henry’s knee, almost not accepting Jeremy’s hand in her desperation to keep her bag safe.
Soon enough all that was left was Henry, the unconscious man and Rebecca, and Jason himself.
“Alright Big Guy,” Jason said to Henry. “I really don’t wanna move this guy without spinal support but I think I smell gas so we’re gonna have to go. The Kid up there’s going to be too small to take his weight, so boost me up and I’ll take him from you, sound good?”
Once Henry nodded, Jason turned to Rebecca.
“How are you holding up?” He asked.
“I’m okay.”
“Fantastic, ready to get out of here?”
It was far easier getting Rebecca up than the unconscious man, not only on account of her smaller size but the fact that she had full control over her limbs and was not on a warpath to make Jason’s bad day so much worse.
Impossibly, the managed to get the man up after all, though Jason waited with him on the top of the carriage until Henry was able to come up behind him.
Jeremy, none too impressed when he realised that Jason didn’t trust him with the man’s weight, was still pouting.
Jason met his eye.
“Damn Kid, you’re doing great.” He said. “Now how’re ‘bout you go on down there, check in with everyone, can you do that for me?”
With another task to do, Jeremy’s focus was back. He slid down the side of the train, going straight towards what was not only their carriage worth of people by the far wall but what looked to be other carriages too.
Jason eyed the strangers warily, wondering if they had simply followed what his lot had been doing of if they’d gotten the very same instructions as he’d given out.
Two carriages away, there was someone with their back turned towards Jason as they helped what was hopefully the last person out of that particular section.
Henry at last was coming up himself and Jason readied the unconscious man’s body, carefully walking Henry through every step to get him down the side of the train hopefully without aggregating any of his injuries.
“Thanks Man,” Jason said.
He knew that like Jeremy, Henry would need a new task to keep him focused, but the idea of a big guy like Jeremy politely asking everyone to hand over any food, water or medical supplies they had did not seem like the best idea just yet.
Instead, Jason just asked Henry to take the man on over to the others and lay him down carefully.
The tunnel itself was dark, far darker than the train, but there was just enough emergency lights that they should be able to do a stocktake of all the injuries of the passengers, though Jason couldn’t yet see anyone who looked like they could be a worker from the subway.
Of course, there was someone in a Subway uniform, but Jason bravely resisted the urge to call out to them and ask if they have any sandwiches tucked away in their bag.
Instead, Jason beelined for the other carriage that had what did turn out to be the last of their people getting out.
The figure that Jason had seen on the top of the carriage had already come down, back still towards Jason. There was a kid perched on their hip, probably no older than seven or so, head burrowed into their rescuers neck.
As Jason approached, the figure tilted their head, handed over the young kid to someone else, at last turning to Jason.
“What the fuck are you doing upright with that broken leg, Replacement?”
Tim met his gaze easily.
“What are you doing upright with your internal bleeding, Jason?”
“I’m fine.” Jason barked.
Tim hummed, rocking on his heels. How the hell he was doing that when he had clearly fucked his left tib, Jason didn’t even want to know.
It would be different if Tim was in his gear, not just because the protective layer would have hopefully done a better job of protecting him than some ripped jeans and a hoodie had done, but because their uniforms helped them to get through much more significant pain just by virtue of the magic it gave them.
Well, it felt like magic, in truth they were all just messed up enough to push away shit until they got to the safety of the Cave before all that pain would come rushing back all at once.
Jason tugged hard at the hem of his jacket, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the sudden emptiness he felt as he was reminded that he himself was without his helmet.
“So,” Tim said. “We can either beat each other up enough that one of us really does sit down and wait for paramedics to whisk us away alongside all these other civilians.”
“Or,” Jason said lowly. “We can just get on with the shit we need to do and when the Old Man gets pissed, we say we didn’t know the other was here to begin with.”
“Exactly.” Tim smiled a little too brightly.
“But I do want you off that leg.” Jason said.
The smile dropped, replaced instead with a glint in Tim’s eye that made the hair on the back of Jason’s neck stick up.
“I’m fine, Jason. We have bigger priorities.”
“You told your civvie's to go over to the wall?”
“I managed to clear four carriages,” Tim said. “I have a count of seventy two, a couple broken bones, two head injuries, the rest are mostly okay. I wasn’t able to get to the driver, but I doubt they’re doing too good.”
Jason opened his mouth. He closed it again. Crossing his arms tightly, he finally managed to get his words in order.
“I cleared one carriage, don’t give me that look you shit, one unconscious since the crash, broken bones too and one dislocated shoulder that I haven’t had a chance to reduce yet.”
“Okay.” Tim said.
“Okay.” Jason returned. “Time to work out exactly what we’re working with. You treat the injured, I’ll-”
A loud shout, one that Jason recognised was Henry.
“Go deal with that,” Tim said quickly. “You know your people, I’ll check for emergency supplies.”
It took a while for Jason to fully stabilise the unconscious man, at least the best he could stabilise him while seemingly trapped in a fucking tunnel with barely any lighting.
Tim was taking an eternity to return and while Jason’s skin itched at the thought of something being wrong, he was quickly distracted with needing to act as mediator between the once again arguing couple.
Finally things mostly settled down and Jason gave the kid Jeremy the task of politely asking each passenger about what supplies they might have with the towering Henry right there beside him in case the teenager’s nerves got the best of him while dealing with clearly scared people.
Jason instead trailed along the train, making sure there weren’t any victims that were missed or had drifted away from the larger group.
There was a slight curve in the tunnel, one that Jason followed until he found Tim braced up against a wall, all of his weight on his right leg.
Jason surged towards him but Tim was already waving him away.
“I found a med kit,” Tim said. “But it’s ancient and-”
Tim’s left leg trembled.
“Kid.” Jason warned.
“It’s fine.” Tim said.
He stood straight but before he even fully managed it, Jason was already gripping onto his elbow, ready for when his leg buckled beneath the sudden weight.
Tim shoved him hard but Jason barely felt it, digging his nails into Tim’s arm in another warning.
“You’ve done enough.” Jason said. “Now sit on your ass and let me do the rest.”
“The tunnel’s fully blocked off to the west.” Tim said. “I still need to check to the east but given that the train was eastbound, I have a suspicion that the original cause for the derailment would have blocked it off.”
“Tim.”
“I’m fine, Jason, I am.”
But Tim’s voice had wavered with those last two words, his colour draining.
“Jase.”
“Got you.” Jason said.
Tim dipped his head a little then as if his strings had been cut, all of him went down.
Jason guided him the whole way, keeping him from hitting his head on the wall he had been braced against.
Almost immediately Tim was stirring again, the damn idiot trying to stand up just as quickly but all it took to keep him down was a single finger on Tim’s shoulder.
“I’m fine.” Tim said.
Jason didn’t bother humouring him, instead taking Tim’s pulse. Of course, the moment Jason pressed two fingers against Tim’s wrist, he found that the pulse was completely normal.
“Timothy.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Timothy Jackson Drake. Stop controlling it, I need an actual reading.”
“I can’t help it.” Tim scowled. “Actually, how would you know that it’s not an accurate count anyway? Maybe my heart rate is completely in normal range.”
“Sure.” Jason said. “You just passed out after spending the last two hours on a broken leg, but yeah, your pulse will totally be normal.”
Tim’s head twitched the slightest amount.
“You little shit.” Jason said.
“What?”
“You twitched when I said two hours.”
“No I didn’t.”
“You fucking did you goddamned idiot.”
“You’re imagining things, Jason, probably has something to do with your internal bleeding.”
“How long?”
Tim blinked slowly, summoning his best attempt at doe eyes which honestly just made Jason want to punch him all the more.
Jason twisted Tim’s arm and it was only when he got to as far as his shoulder joint could comfortably go that Tim’s innocent act dropped.
“I’m handling it.” Tim said firmly.
“Bullshit.”
“There are bigger priorities, there’s limited rations, possibly even limited air if the tunnel’s cycling system had been damaged in the derailment as I suspect it has been. I have no signal, and if I’m not getting through than no one is getting through. We’re on our own, Jason, and that means you’re going to need all the help you can get.”
“Tim,”
It was Tim’s own free hand that touched Jason’s arm then, waiting until Jason met his eyes fully before he spoke.
“I’m okay. And I will continue to be okay until this is all over.”
“And then what?” Jason demanded.
“And then we will handle whatever happens next. So, will you let go of my arm or do I have to kick you in the balls or something?”
Just because he could, Jason ruffled Tim’s hair much to Tim’s irritation.
Grabbing the med kit that Tim had dropped, Jason hoisted it up.
“I want that leg of yours splinted.” Jason said.
“I need my mobility.”
“Bullshit, you need to accept that your leg is fucked even if no one else can see it.”
“We deal with the other breaks first,” Tim insisted.
“Tim,”
“Jason. We deal with the other breaks. I’m far more used to this than anyone on that train would be, I know my body’s limits.”
Jason glared at him but he couldn’t hold it, not when Tim’s face was still so pale amongst the emergency lights.
He coaxed Tim up to his feet instead, taking on as much of Tim’s weight as Tim would allow.
The unconscious man stopped breathing three hours after the derailment.
Jason did CPR for an extra twenty minutes after, Tim right there by his side to help swap in with him, but when he pulled away and met Tim’s eye, all Jason could do was shake his head.
Tim had swallowed roughly, took a single moment to close his eyes, then he stood up and checked in on all the others.
By the fourth hour the elderly couple had stopped their squabbling fully, instead resting in each other’s arms.
The young boy that Tim had brought out from the train had started crying uncontrollably, even the poor kid’s mother unable to soothe them after so long trapped in the relative darkness.
Tim had taken the kid instead, talking to them softly about nothing and everything, until eventually the exhausted kid was sleeping soundly against Tim’s chest, Tim’s hand running slowly up and down their back.
At least Tim was off his feet, Jason thought, though he didn’t need to place a hand against Tim’s forehead to know that it would be clammy.
Even if an infection hadn’t yet set in through the broken bone, Tim had been in too much pain for too long and no matter how much Jason had insisted they bind his leg to help manage some of the pain, there had only been enough splints for the other passengers.
Taking full advantage of the sleeping kid trapping Tim exactly where he was, Jason brought over some metal from the chairs inside the miraculously not yet on fire train, using the last of their bandages to splint Tim’s lower leg.
Tim had taken it like a champ, though of course not without a withering glare pointed directly at Jason entire time, but at least it made Tim stop trembling so much.
Eight hours in, the train’s emergency lights flickered, then turned off fully, plunging the tunnel into a deeper darkness.
They did not turn back on.
The sobbing woman sobbed a little louder, though her tears had long since dried up.
Jeremy, the boy who had not grown up in Gotham, had come here six months ago to the day.
He’d been on the train hoping to see his dad, though in truth he’d never even been told anything about the man except for that he lived in Gotham. Instead of going to school, he’d skipped, and his Mom was going to kill him when she found out.
The boy was scared, beyond scared, but Jason just let him talk everything out because right now that was all he could do to help.
“Jason? Jason, open your eyes, come on, you need to open your-”
There was a figure looming above him, his very own personal sleep paralysis demon, and there absolutely was no thrill of panic that ran through him and Jason’s hand absolutely did not reach for a gun that wasn’t there.
“Thank God.” Tim breathed out, his head hanging low. “I thought you were, uh, fine. I thought you were fine. Absolutely fine.”
“Get outta my face, Kid.”
Tim made absolutely no attempt to do just that, if anything crowding in closer.
“Tim.” Jason said, his voice like gravel even to his own ears. “I will give you three milliseconds to get the fuck out of my space or I’ll shove my boot so far up your-”
Apparently nonplussed by the whole thing, Tim held up a granola bar.
“You have it.” Jason said. “That flavour’s shit.”
“I already ate.”
“Liar.”
“I did,” Tim said easily. “You don’t have to have the full thing now, but you should eat at least some of it to keep up your strength.”
As if Tim himself wasn’t fighting against the tremor in his whole damn body.
“I’m all good, Timbo, if you really don’t want it then give it to that damn kid who’s been attached to your hip.”
“They’re sleeping, still.” Tim said, unmistakeable pride in his voice. “Just take it?”
Jason scowled at him, swiping the bar all the same.
“Jason.”
“Still here, Kid.” Jason said.
Tim hummed.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Tim said. “Just… Wanted to check.”
Jason shifted, the gravel moving with him as he tried and failed to rise to his feet. His arm wrapped around his abdomen instead, every breath a little harder than the last.
He’d lost track of just how many hours it had been, though he had been trying to keep up his checks on the civilians.
Rebecca had been inconsolable when she realised the man she’d been tasked with watching over had died but once she had mostly settled she’d helped make sure that everyone had a little bit to drink from their dwindling supply.
Henry had been a great asset too, while his physical strength wasn’t really required at the moment it turned out that he was a great guy to just talk to, as some of the more anxious passengers had found out.
Jeremy had fallen asleep at some point, curled around his backpack, no doubt wanting to go back to his Mom after all if it meant not being here.
The air in the tunnel had started to thin a little, all emergency exits fully blocked off. By some miracle the train hadn’t caught fire at all, but Jason still thought it was the right call to bring everyone out here.
He knew that panic would set in soon, not in himself but in the civilians once they realised that their growing tiredness was because of the dwindling air in here.
They would need to be prepared, need to make sure violence doesn’t break out in the desperation to survive, but for now everyone had mostly settled in for the night.
Tim’s breath hitched a little.
“C’mere.” Jason said.
This time it was Tim that moved and the fact that he was unable to hold back a hiss as his leg moved wrong told Jason everything he needed to know.
“Oh Kid.” Jason sighed.
Tim really didn’t stop himself from whimpering then and while in the darkness he couldn’t see any tears on his little brother’s face, he didn’t need to see them to know that they were falling.
A particularly bad movement had Tim outright gasping but by then he was close enough for Jason to reach out and knock against his shoulder.
“I’ve got you.” Jason said.
Pulling Tim closer, Jason hated the sob he’d forced out of the boy, wondering if he should have even moved Tim at all. Tim didn’t complain though, simply burying his head into Jason’s chest as Jason wrapped his arms around him.
Pain ripped through him as Tim’s weight pressed against his ribs but he didn’t so much as let his breath hitch, not wanting to worry Tim over something Tim couldn’t fix.
“I’ve got you.” Jason said again, more softly. “Rest, but don’t sleep.”
“Jase?”
“I’m here, Drakeyboy.”
“It’s not that I’m scared, I’m not, I just…”
Tim’s breath was shuddering then, his whole body trembling.
“I’m sorry.” Tim said. “It’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid to be scared shitless, Kid.” Jason said. “But, if it helps, I think you did good. You kept them all calm, yeah? Especially that little twerp. You did well, Timmy, better than anyone could have expected of you. Rest.”
“But don’t sleep.” Tim said, his voice faint.
“Yeah.” Jason murmured. “Yeah, Kid.”
Within moments, Tim’s breathing evened out completely, and it was mere moments after that that Jason let go too.
The darkness was almost like home, the screams long since passed.
It was warm, warmer than Jason remembered from when he was a boy. His life had been nothing except violence and hurt and pain and blood except that wasn’t quite true.
He’d known joy also, he’d known a Father who loved him and cherished him, he’d known Brother’s that were as annoying as they were endearing. He had known hope, in a world that had been without it for so long that he’d never thought he’d ever be able to conjure.
And, like now, he had known warmth.
Instead of the tang of iron on the air, there was something else far worse.
Oh fuck no.
Jason launched up to his feet except he hadn’t even so much as sat up before his body decided that it couldn’t be fucked listening to him, slamming him right back down onto the too hard bed.
“Easy, easy,”
While Jason should probably curse out Dick for all he was worth given just how long Tim had spent hurt in that damn tunnel, the moment he heard his big brother’s voice all Jason did was burst into tears.
“Hey, Jay, it’s okay, you’re okay.”
Dick was crowding closer to him now, almost on top of the hospital bed itself as he ran a hand up and down Jason’s arm.
“Just breathe, Jason, you’re okay.”
Jason scrubbed at his face only to find that there were half a dozen wires and tubes on his arms and hands but the moment he went to rip them out Dick was holding onto his hands instead.
“Easy, easy.”
If Dick said that one more time Jason was going to punch him square in the jaw except he was already sobbing harder because he was alive, fuck, he was alive and he hadn’t thought that he would ever wake up again but now Dick was here and that meant everything was okay, everything was going to be okay.
“I know, I know,” Dick said. “But I’m right here, I’ve got you, it’s okay.”
“Tim, he-” Jason rasped.
“He’s okay too.”
Relief crashed into him all over again and Jason really did rock forward with an unrestrained sob because he was alive, Tim was alive, everything was okay now, everything was going to be okay now.
Jason threw himself at Dick but Dick did not hesitate to wrap warm familiar arms around him, holding Jason so tightly that some faraway part of him wanted to ask if Dick himself was doing okay.
Dick readjusted, keeping most of Jason’s in his arms while awkwardly shuffling onto the bed itself.
Though it was absolutely ridiculous and stupid and childish, all Jason could do was cry into Dick’s chest. Dick hushed him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head while one of Dick’s hands ran up and down Jason’s spine.
Jason hadn’t meant to full asleep but when he woke up again, the guilt was quick to slam into him all the same.
He hadn’t seen Tim for himself, made sure that Tim really was okay, but he hadn’t asked about the other passengers either.
To Jason’s crushing relief, he was able to sit up mostly without pain, though the mostly was very debatable, and his gaze locked instantly on the bed across from him.
Tim must have been in surgery earlier, Jason realised, not remembering him being in the same room the last time he’d opened his eyes.
The bed as always looked too big for Tim alone, the brat so slight for his age despite his well above average strength, and while Tim’s eyes were closed Jason knew in a single instant that he was awake.
Dick was still too, though he was resting on the couch by the window, so instead of pulling out the IV in his arm as much as Jason wanted to, he tugged the whole thing with him as he beelined for Tim’s bed.
“They said I nearly lost it.” Tim mumbled, eyes still closed. “My leg.”
Jason breathed evenly, his gaze locked on the horizon if only to not see the mess of metal and bandages around Tim’s left leg.
“I, uh,” Tim swallowed roughly. “Guess it was a little worse than I let on. But I’m not sorry.”
“Wouldn’t expect you to be, Kid.”
“You know, it’s kind of like you.” Tim said.
At last Tim’s eyes opened, still a little sunken in from dehydration and exhaustion.
“The bruising was bad, wasn’t it?” Tim asked. “Blunt force trauma from the crash.”
“Nearly became like you, damn spleenless bastard.” Jason shrugged. “Then I decided I’m too cool for that.”
Tim’s snort was forced but Jason didn’t mention it.
“Shove over.” Jason said.
“I’m injured.” Tim said. “Nearly lost my leg and all that jazz.”
“Yeah yeah, whatever, just shove over would you.”
Tim shifted a little, unable to hide his wince as his leg moved just a little too much.
Jason climbed up, absolutely not gingerly because he was fucking fine compared to this mess he calls a brother, getting comfortable.
For a long time, they simply lay there, breathing, slowly accepting that they’d really made it out of that tunnel.
“So.” Tim said eventually. “I’m starting to think that public transport hates you.”
Jason’s laugh was rough and sudden and maybe just the tiniest bit hysterical.
“Well,” He said. “I’m starting to think the whole damn world hates you, so get fucked.”
Tim hummed contently then, settling in. Jason waited for his breathing to even out fully but it didn’t and while Jason didn’t turn to face him he had the distinct feeling that Tim’s eyes were still open.
“Jason?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. It was easier, knowing you were there too.”
“We kicked that train’s ass, Drakeyboy.”
Tim hummed once more, though this time it turned into a yawn.
“Yeah.” He mumbled. “Yeah, we did.”