Work Text:
Collections/Challenges: Whumpay, Day 23
Prompt(s): “Please don’t leave me.”
Characters: Jason, Percy, mentioned—Piper, Leo
Rating: Teen
Summary: Following the aftermath of Jason’s defeat by Ma Gasket and her monster mafia, Jason finds himself recovering in the infirmary. He’s injured, delirious, and his head won’t stop pounding.
Enter Percy, a good bro who’s only goal is to make him feel better.
————————————————————
The first time Jason woke up, he was being held; carried bridal style. His leg was screaming at him and his arm was throbbing painfully, but the rest of his body felt numb. It was confusing—he didn’t remember hurting his knee, let alone leaving his cabin. He blearily blinked opened his eyes, trying to take in his surroundings and figure out what was going on.
(Safe to say he was failing miserably.)
Everything was spinning, the light was too harsh on his eyes and every jostle sent sharp pangs through his skull. His breaths came out short and shallow, barely taking in enough oxygen. He could hear someone panting, and the feeling of hands under his knees and his shoulders slowly came into focus. Pretty soon he recognized the potent smell of sea salt and a familiar cologne, his body relaxing once he realized who it was.
Percy.
A small smile made its way onto his face. He couldn’t quite remember why Percy was here, or why he was carrying Jason, but he supposed it didn’t matter. He was safe here, Percy would protect him. With that thought he closed his eyes, letting himself slip back into the welcoming darkness.
The second time, Jason didn’t wake up by himself. Instead he woke up to the worst pain he’s ever felt in his life, the sickening sounds of bones crunching together, and about five sets of hands holding him down. He barely registered the feeling of a bed underneath him, too busy thrashing, trying desperately to get free.
His eyes were wide with horror and confusion, a cacophony of screams leaving his mouth. He didn’t know where he was, he didn’t know why he was held down, and he didn’t know why he was in so much pain. He wanted to get up, he wanted the pain to stop and he wanted the hands to get off of him.
He felt the bones shifting again, a sharp poking under his skin accompanied by a burning sensation. Before he could even register where he was hurt or the voices talking above him, he blacked out.
The third time Jason awoke, it was to the sound of beeping. It filled the room with its consistent, steady pace, grounding him while he fought for consciousness. He could make out two voices above him and he could feel a hand brushing hair out of his face, gently rubbing their thumb over his skin. He could make out the scent of a familiar perfume, the smell of home.
He tried to open his eyes, his eyelids fluttering as he shifted on the bed. The movement sent a bolt of pain up his leg and he let out a small groan. Someone else put a hand on his uninjured leg, grabbing it just above the knee. A voice he couldn’t quite place but sounded familiar told him that he needed to rest, that he needed to heal. He didn’t know what from, but he felt that he could trust this mystery voice.
He stopped moving, letting out a small breath of air while he got comfortable. Jason let his eyes stay closed as he drifted back into the calming darkness.
The last time Jason opened his eyes, he kept them open. They were wide and alert before he registered that he wasn’t asleep, like his body had been up and ready well before his brain turned on. As he squinted at the harsh light above him, rather confused at where he was and why he was staring at a light, his other senses kicked in and his brain finally booted up.
He knew he was in the infirmary, when he turned his head he could see the empty cots lining the walls of the room. He glanced around in confusion, trying to remember why exactly he was in here. The last time had been for a sparring accident, just a small cut on his arm; he had a feeling this was a lot worse.
He pursed his lips, brows furrowing in confusion before it hit him, the memories rushing to the front of his mind like a hurricane. He remembered everything all at once, his body tensing where he laid on the bed, trying to decipher it all.
Ma Gasket. The monster mafia. The fight. Percy—
A sudden realization dawned on him like cold water seeping into his skin, sending chills down his spine. With a shaky hand he pulled back the blanket, looking down at his knee. It was in a cast, he didn’t need to move it to know that it was restricting—that he wouldn’t be able to walk. His breath caught in his throat as he stared at the limp limb, the haunting memories of shattered bones and white hot agony flashing through his mind. He remembered the roaring laughter, the look on Ma’s face as she held the club. He remembered the sickening pain and hearing—feeling—his own bones cracking, breaking, splintering under skin—
He was gonna throw up.
He held a hand over his mouth, throwing his upper body over the side of the bed before he took his hand away. All that came up was bile, burning his throat as he retched painfully. Tears welled up in his eyes and his face burned in shame, he hated throwing up.
He panted harshly, his body trembling with the force of his gags. He felt a sharp pain in the crook of his arm—probably his IV, and he adjusted himself. Distantly he could hear footsteps but he closed his eyes, trying to fight back the throbbing headache that always came with throwing up.
Someone’s hand was rubbing his shoulders and he relaxed ever so slightly. The hands pulled his body back so he was lying down, looking back up at the ceiling. He let out an involuntary whimper, tightening his hand into a fist. Everything hurt. His throat burned and he could still taste the stomach acid in his mouth, acrid and bitter. His head was pounding, everything was throbbing, his body felt like it was on fire and he might’ve blown his vein.
He laid for a minute, gasping and regrouping. Then he heard a voice—Percy’s voice—telling him to open his eyes (when had he closed them?). He cracked them open and made out a blurry face off to his right, standing next to the bed with a small smile.
“Hey bro,” he said softly, holding up a glass of water. “This might help with the taste.”
Jason closed his eyes again very briefly before he forced himself up, using what little strength he had to push himself into a sitting position. He took the water with a small thank you, sipping it gratefully. He was sure the IV was keeping him hydrated, but a cold glass of water was dam near divine.
“Make sure you don’t chug it,” Percy said. “You might puke again.”
Jason’s nose wrinkled and he brought the glass down to his lap. “Sorry about that,” he said. His voice was raspy and quiet from underuse.
“Don’t apologize, I know from experience that it could’ve been a lot worse.” He chuckled then, gently nudging Jason with his elbow. He cracked one of his signature grins and the blond smiled gratefully, taking another sip of the water.
They sat—and Percy stood—in silence while Jason finished his water. Once he was done Percy took the empty glass and set it somewhere behind him. Jason just stared down at his legs, his fingers twitching, his mind bursting with questions.
“How long was I..?” He started, looking up at the older man. Percy’s smile dropped and his eyes darkened, Jason could see his fingers tapping along his thigh.
“Four days,” he said, avoiding eye contact. Jason felt like someone sucker punched him in the gut. He wasn’t out for four days when he was stabbed, how the hell—
“It was bad.” Percy continued, looking down at Jason’s blanket—conveniently the same knee that was shattered. “When I got there you were almost dead. You lost a lot of blood and you were barely breathing, I managed to heal you a bit with my water bottle, but...”
The air was thick with tension and Jason waited in anticipation. “Your heart stopped on the way here. I had to do CPR in a ditch.” He snorted, but he didn’t seem all that amused. “It stopped a second time once you got here. Will uh.. wasn’t sure you’d make it.”
Jason couldn’t breathe. The realization was cold and sharp, his vision blurring and twisting, his world felt like it was collapsing. His body was going numb and Percy’s voice bounced around his skull, echoing and repeating itself like a broken record. They weren’t sure he’d make it. They weren’t sure he’d make it. They weren’t sure he’d—
“Jason—hey, just breathe. It’s okay.”
Percy.
Jason sucked in a small breath, almost choking on it. He felt a hand grab his own, squeezing it tightly in their grip. It was soothing and the pressure helped ground him, but he still couldn’t—
Percy dragged Jasons hand away from his lap, pressing it instead to his chest. “Come on, follow my breaths.”
Jason choked again but he did his best to do that. Breathing in when Percy did, breathing out when Percy’s chest fell under his hand. He was quietly encouraging him all the while, his voice soothing and calm. If Jason was in his right mind he might be offended at being treated like a child—but right now, he couldn’t care less.
It took a minute before Jason’s breaths evened out and his vision cleared. He didn’t cry—thank gods—but he felt dizzy and his headache still hadn’t gone away.
“There we go,” Percy said triumphantly. “You okay man?”
Jason found himself shaking his head, looking back down at the bed. Percy frowned at that, letting go of his hand. For a second Jason panicked, why would he let go—?
“I’m gonna go get Will.”
He felt his heart skip a beat and he grabbed Percy’s arm before he could turn away. His eyes were wide with pain and panic, his grip was probably bruising. He couldn’t go.
“Please don’t leave me.” He said desperately, voice breaking at the end.
His emotions were on the fritz. He’d just remembered everything from four days ago, threw up and had a panic attack all within the last five minutes. He felt overwhelmed, he needed someone to just be there while he came to terms with everything, especially his almost death.
Percy seemed to understand, sitting down on the edge of the bed with a small smile. “Okay.”
Jason let out a shaky sigh, loosening his grip even though he didn’t let go. He stared across the room, slowly digesting all the information he’d been given. His head was still throbbing to the tune of his heart but that was the least of his worries right now.
The older demigod was a comforting presence next to him, his fingers tapping a beat he didn’t recognize on his thigh. Eventually Jason spoke up again, his voice wasn’t quite as fucked but he was still quiet.
“Does Piper know?”
Percy tensed beside him before relaxing slowly. “Yeah,” he breathed, looking down at Jason’s blanket. “She wouldn’t leave your side for the first two days, but she uh…”
She left. She went home.
“Oh.”
Jason didn’t blame her. She had a life halfway across the country, Piper couldn’t afford to sit next to her comatose boyfriend for an unknown amount of time. After all, Leo’s death was still fresh in their minds—this was probably hell for her. Jason couldn’t imagine grieving for his best friend just to be called a week later, informed that his girlfriend was seriously injured and might not make it. Fuck—they had to tell her he might not make it.
He couldn’t imagine how hard this was for her.
But.. it still hurt.
Part of him was bitter—he wouldn’t have left her side. He would barely sleep. He would lash out if people tried to separate them. He would never willingly leave Piper’s side if she was like this. But that was him—Piper was her own person, who dealt with things her own way. She was probably trying to protect herself from the grief. He understood that.
That still didn’t stop it from hurting.
Percy had stuck around for him but his own girlfriend left. Percy stuck around, and they weren’t even close friends—
..Why did he stick around?
Shouldn’t he have gone home to Annabeth? His mom? Jason put him in a pretty shitty situation, having to rescue him from a group of Cyclopses while he was useless and bleeding out. Percy had to carry his dying body back to camp. Percy had to give him cpr in a fucking ditch. I mean, what the fuck? He did his part by getting him here, so why did he stick around?
“Why are you still here?” Jason asked, looking up at the shorter man. He wasn’t accusing, just curious.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Percy asked. His voice was confused, like the mere thought of leaving had never crossed his mind.
“I dunno,” Jason hummed, picking at a loose thread. “Piper left. Why didn’t you?”
Percy didn’t have an answer for that, opening his mouth before he closed it, falling silent. Jason waited for a response he wasn’t going to get before he pressed on.
“She’s my girlfriend,” he said quietly. “She never left my side on the Argo, but now… and—well, we’re friends but we’re not close. You have no obligation to be here. You saved my life, that’s good enough, isn’t it?”
He looked into Percy’s eyes, but there was no challenge in his tone, just confusion. Percy only sighed, looking back at him before he responded.
“You don’t consider us close?”
Jason was quiet at that because he realized that he didn’t. They were rivals, barely friends, always trying to one up each other. They went on a quest to save the world together, sure, but if they hadn’t they would probably hate each other. Even though Jason knew when and if it came down to it they would kill for each other without hesitation, he didn’t.. well, did that really make them close?
They were barely more than friends.
“I would,” Percy continued, “I’d trust you with my life—and I have. Don’t you remember Kympodeia?”
Jason snorted. “That hardly counts, we’re demigods. We have to have each others backs.”
Next to him Percy tilted his head. “No, we don’t.”
Jason blinked. “Um, yeah we do.”
Percy shook his head now, smiling like he’d figured it all out. “No, seriously. You know how many demigods I’ve met with an ‘every man for himself’ mentality?” Jason stayed silent and Percy snorted. “A lot.”
He rolled his eyes before he kept going, and Jason looked at him like he was seeing him for the first time. “Look, bro, we may be competitive but that doesn’t mean we aren’t close. I trust you with my life, and you trust me with yours. I trust you to be there for me, no matter what. Isn’t that what close friends do?”
Jason just blinked. “I guess.”
Percy laughed at that, a small giggle that had Jason smiling. “You guess?”
Jason shrugged where he was. “In my defence, I haven’t had many friends—let alone best friends.”
The older man just stared blankly. “That’s kind of sad and kind of funny at the same time.” He shook his head again, snorting. “And people say I’m the oblivious one.”
Jason swatted him on the arm, his mouth dropping open in offence. “Hey—“
Percy swatted him right back. “Don’t you ‘hey’ me, you may be injured, but that won’t stop me from kicking your ass bro.”
Jason chuckled, leaning himself back onto his pillows. They were friends.. close friends. That was nice. He hadn’t had many friends. Of course he had Leo, but now he was dead. Nico was more like the introvert he forcefully adopted and he still wasn’t sure if their friendship was a two way street or not.
“That’s ableist,” Jason snorted. “Hurting someone who can’t walk—how rude of you.”
Percy brought a hand up to his chest, gasping dramatically. “You dare—“
“You said it first,” Jason teased. “Your words, not mine.”
Percy stared at him with a small grin, shaking his head. “You sir, are a little shit.”
Jason brought his hands up, tucking them behind his head. The banter made him feel light, the pain fading into the back of his mind the longer they spoke. “I know.”
Percy let out a small huff before he stood up, giving Jason a small swat. This time, Jason didn’t panic. Instead he gave the other a lopsided smirk, arching an eyebrow in confusion. “I’m gonna go get Will, sit tight Superman.”
This time, Jason let him go.