Work Text:
It was the middle of the night, and your phone would not stop ringing. You lifted your head just enough to glare at the phone, buzzing on the nightstand, and the 'UNKNOWN NUMBER' that flashed across the screen. Whatever fucking telemarketer was calling you at two in the morning needed to knock it the hell off.
Your phone finally fell silent. You gave a sigh of relief and flopped face-first into your pillow.
Bzzz bzzz. Bzzz bzzz.
"Oh for fuck's sake," you growled. You propped yourself up on an elbow and snatched your phone off the nightstand, only to frown at the name now showing on the screen.
Call incoming: Jay
What? Jay was calling you now?
"What the fuck." Of course you answered it anyway, even if you were beyond confused. "Jay? What's going on?"
"Oh thank god." That was not Jay's voice.
You pulled back enough to blink at your screen for a moment, then put it back to your ear. "......Nightwing?"
"Hi, yeah, it's me, sorry I didn't think to call you from Jay's phone sooner, I was hoping I'd get the right number, but I wasn't sure because he just has you saved as 'Doc' in his contacts, but I also figured he couldn't really have too many doctors' numbers saved in his phone--"
"Wait, wait, hang on, I just---" You cut off his rambling and fumbled around until you could sit up in bed properly, rubbing at your eyes to wake yourself up. "Were you the unknown number that kept calling me?"
"Yeah, that was also me. Sorry."
"Why?"
"I need your help."
"...what?"
"I need your help. With Jay."
That woke you right the hell up. "Jay? Why, what's wrong? Did he get himself shot again?"
"Uh… no. Honestly that would probably be simpler than the current situation." Nightwing let out a breath. "I need you to come down to Robinson Park as soon as you possibly can."
"To Robi- Robinson Park? The one Poison Ivy regularly hangs out in? What in the world are you doing in there, and how am I supposed to help?"
"I mean, she's not here right now, it should be perfectly fine. Also it's a place that isn't making Jay more paranoid than he usually is, so we're kinda sticking around since it seems to calm him down."
"What?? Nightwing, why the hell do you need to keep Jay calm?"
"He got fear gassed earlier tonight."
Oh for--
You quickly flung back the blanket and shot out of bed, immediately heading down the hall toward the kitchen in search of your work bag, keys, jacket, and shoes. "A word of advice for you-- lead with 'he's been fear gassed' first next time." You found your shoes and yanked them on, jammed your arms into the sleeves of your jacket, grabbed your keys from the dish on the table, slung your bag over your head, and were out the door in record time. "Robinson Park is… ten, maybe fifteen minutes from me," you thought out loud as you hurried down the stairs. You were wearing sweatpants and a loose long-sleeved shirt as your pajamas, so even with the jacket it wouldn't be the warmest walk you'd ever taken, but you'd deal with it. "I'm assuming there's no traffic to worry about at this point, but--"
"Red Robin's already on his way to meet you."
"He's what?"
"It's two am, did you think we were gonna make you walk over here?" You got the impression that saying 'yes' would be the wrong answer, so you just didn't say anything. "He'll be there soon," Nightwing promised. "I gotta go, I need to take care of Hood."
"Good lu--" The line clicked and went dead. "...'kay, bye."
You reached the main floor of the building and hurried out the front door, then paused on the sidewalk. Did you wait for Red Robin to show up? Did you just start walking? You decided to just start walking, but you only got halfway down the block before a headlight beam came around the corner and solved the problem for you.
"Hi. Need a ride?"
"I need Nightwing to work on his communicating priorities," you complained as you stepped up to Red Robin's motorcycle. "Tell me why he rambles about Jay's phone contacts for way too long before thinking to mention that he needs help because he's been fear gassed."
"Yeah, we're working on it," Red Robin said sympathetically. "Love him to death, but he's not always the greatest at getting the important information out first."
"Great, awesome." You settled on the motorcycle behind Red Robin and carefully wrapped your arms around his waist.
"You ready?"
"Yeah."
The bike took off with a jolt, speeding through the streets much faster than the ride with Jay had been after the Arkham breakout, which made you chuckle a little at the irony. It felt like no time at all before Red Robin was turning into the park and whizzing down the walking trails, heading toward the botanical garden in the back corner of the park.
As the bike came to a stop, you could see Jay sitting on a low bench tucked between two giant hedges, his head between his knees, and the helmet laying on the ground. Nightwing was crouched next to the bench, clearly trying to talk to him, but you weren't sure if it was doing any good. Jay looked tense, even from here.
You climbed off the bike to head toward them, but Red Robin gently caught your arm and stopped you. "Just be careful," he suggested quietly. "Jay's… stressed. It was a fight to keep him from tearing across town once the fear gas kicked in, but for some reason this area seems to help. We've given him an antidote we have, but it'll still take a little while for it to start working."
"I'll be okay, I've seen fear gas victims before. I know what I'm dealing with."
"...not for a vigilante, though."
Well. He had a point there.
You gave him a quick smile that was hopefully reassuring, then headed across the grass toward the bench. Jay raised his head and visibly startled when he saw you coming, which was odd. Nightwing looked up as well, let out a relieved sigh, and then grinned at you.
"Oh good, you made it."
"Your communication skills suck, do you know that?" you told him bluntly. "If you're going to call a nurse or doctor in the middle of the night, start by telling them what the problem is so they know how bad things are and how quickly they need to get their ass in gear." Jay let out a hoarse laugh when Nightwing pulled a face at you, but you noticed that he didn't bother to argue. You crouched down in front of Jay. "Hey. How're you feeling?"
"I wish people'd stop askin' me that," he grumbled. "I'm fine."
"You are definitely not fine." Red Robin had come up behind you, although he kept a little more space between himself and the bench, like he didn't want to crowd Jay too much. "We practically had to tackle you to keep you from literally running across the city."
"Fuckin' tattle-tale."
"Okay, well that's not great," you interrupted before they could start bickering too much. "But honestly, you seem much calmer than I originally thought when Nightwing called me in a panic."
"I wasn't panicking."
"You really were." You weren't completely sure how Nightwing and Red Robin thought you could help, since really the only thing to do for fear gas victims was to give them an antidote and wait for it to clear their system, and apparently they'd already done the antidote part. But talking to Jay seemed to be somewhat helping, so maybe you'd just keep doing that. "So. Poison Ivy's hangout? Wouldn't be my first choice of a calming location," you joked.
Jay gave the other two a quick look, then glanced back at you. Then he nodded his head toward something behind you. "The flowers. They help," he admitted quietly.
The flowers? You half turned to see what he was talking about and paused, your breath catching. You hadn't even noticed when you first got here, but planted in a neat flowerbed in front of one of the hedges was a row of beautiful violets.
"What's so special about violets?" Nightwing asked. Jay didn't immediately answer. You didn't either.
Violets were your favorite flowers, ever since your Aunt Jules took you in and taught you how to garden. So much so that you bought a violet-scented perfume to wear to help you relax after work before going to bed, whether you got home at four in the afternoon or eleven o'clock at night, and you put it on almost daily.
You didn't know Jay had ever noticed that.
"Violets are known for having a calming smell," Red Robin was saying. "They're used a lot in aromatherapy and stuff like that, and they can help people with anxiety or even insomnia."
"Is this your sign that you need to get more sleep, Jay? Or that you're stressed?" Nightwing teased.
"Fuck off."
"I think he's gonna be fine," you told the other two bats, turning to glance at each of them. "He doesn't seem too jittery or agitated - not any more than normal, at least - but I'd like to give him some water, if either of you could manage to find some?"
"Around here? Are you kidd-- ow."
"Yeah, we'll find some." Red Robin glanced at Jay for a moment, then tilted his head like he was thinking. "Might take us a little while. We'll be back as soon as we can."
"What? Where are we--"
"C'mon Nightwing."
"Hey, I can walk on my own, why are you dragging--"
"Come on."
Red Robin hauled Nightwing away, crossing the park on foot rather than heading for the two motorcycles parked nearby. You watched them go with a little bit of confusion and the slightest hint that Red Robin thought he was onto something.
"Fucking meddlers," Jay muttered, but it sounded fondly exasperated.
"It's because they care." You paused for a moment before gesturing toward the bench. "Can I sit? Or would that be too much?"
"...no, it's fine."
You carefully sat next to Jay, noticing how his shoulders tensed a tiny bit before relaxing. Interesting. "Y'know, I get that I'm a nurse and that's probably why Nightwing called me, but honestly? I kinda thought you guys would be more prepared to deal with fear gas than I am. There's nothing I can really do except wait for the antidote to take effect." Jay shrugged. You noticed that he kept tapping the ring finger of his right hand against his palm, either as a nervous tic or an outlet for restlessness. You reached over and gently put your hand over his, just enough pressure to still his movements, but light enough that he could pull away if he wanted. "Hey. Honestly, how're you feeling? Are you okay?"
Jay froze, staring down at your connected hands. Then he let out a breath. "It's… not great. Everything's just a lot right now. Like my senses are in overdrive, and I've got too much energy with no way to get rid of it."
"Red Robin mentioned that you almost ran across Gotham. Is that part of the fear gas? Feeling like something's chasing you?"
"....no." Jay made a strange movement, like his instinct was to look away and he had to force himself to go against it. "I- there… paranoia."
"Paranoia?" Well that wasn't really a surprise, given his job. But the way he was apparently struggling to get his thoughts into words was a little concerning. "About what?"
"You."
You blinked, totally caught off guard. "...me?"
"And Alex."
"What?"
"There- it was like this overwhelming gut instinct that… I had to get to the apartment and make sure you and Alex were okay, otherwise- otherwise something terrible was gonna happen if I wasn't there to stop it."
Oh. "But then how did you get here in the park?"
"I was running through here, found the flowers, and just… stopped. Red and Nightwing practically crashed into me because it was so abrupt. And it's just… I dunno, it made something in my brain shut up for the first time since I got gassed. Like it was this thing that just screamed familiarity. Fuck, that sounds stupid." Jay pulled his hand away, pressing his knuckles against his temples.
There was so much to unpack in that statement, that you didn't really know where to begin.
Actually, you did. You started by turning more towards Jay and gently pulling his hand down, wrapping both of yours around it. "Jay, that's not stupid," you assured him. "It's your brain trying to tell you that you're okay and there's nothing to worry about. It's good that you found something that does that, especially through the fear gas."
"Yeah, but… I don't know, that's- if you- I don't- it-"
"I think it's sweet," you said gently, hoping that you were guessing correctly at what he was struggling to get out.
"...you do?"
"Yeah. And… maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like this was something kind of important to you?" Jay just shrugged, not fully looking at you, focusing on your hands instead. You took a deep breath and then continued, "You're important to me too, Jay."
Jay finally looked up, the white lenses of his domino mask meeting your gaze. "What?"
You gave a tiny shrug. "I like you. A lot. I… kinda have for a while now." You felt a self-conscious flush start creeping up into your cheeks. But you told yourself that you didn't get to chicken out of the conversation. "I… really look forward to it when you come over to the apartment. You're good with Alex, and you're smart, and funny, even when you're being a smartass. I think your protectiveness is really sweet too, even if sometimes it gets a little overbearing, but I know it's because you mean well. And I know you're loyal, to your own moral code and to the other people you work with. I think you're one of the best people I've ever known," you said, repeating what you'd told Batman the one time he'd ambushed the apartment. "How could I not fall for you?"
Jay just stared at you. For a long time. It was long enough that you started to worry that you'd fucked up everything, and there was no way he felt the same way he did, except you could practically see the wheels turning in his brain. He was very obviously trying to process… all of that, in order to come up with a reply. Which you supposed was better than nothing? It was definitely better than him outright telling you no--
Jay suddenly pulled his hand out of yours, reached up to cup the back the back of your neck, yanked you closer, and then--
He was kissing you.
Holy fuck, Jay was kissing you.
But then he stopped just as quickly as he started. "Shit. Sorry, I shouldn't've just--"
"Shut up," you interrupted, and grabbed the lapels of his jacket to pull him back into another kiss.
If you were being honest with yourself, when you'd caught yourself daydreaming about kissing Jay - which definitely hadn't happened more than a few times, thank you very much - for some reason you'd half expected him to be hesitant. You really should've known better. It did take him a second to react, but once he realized that you weren't pushing him away, he started to reciprocate. He kissed you back firmly, but it wasn't forceful or controlling. More like he was just trying to take advantage of the moment to explore what you liked. And you liked… anything he was doing, honestly. You were just trying not to spontaneously combust about the fact that this was happening.
Was this how you'd thought a first kiss with Jay would happen? No, of course not.
Were you upset about the end result? Not in the fucking slightest.
The material of his gloves was a tiny bit scratchy against your neck, but you couldn't even find the mental capacity to be bothered by it. You honestly couldn't find the energy to be bothered by anything right now.
Eventually you did have to pull away for air though, but Jay didn't let you go far. One hand stayed gently cupping the nape of your neck, and he leaned forward just enough to press his forehead against yours. You felt like you'd just run a mile or more, your breath coming out in heavy pants, while Jay seemed like he was actually relaxing a bit more; his shoulders had dropped and he was leaning into you more than he had been when the kissing started, like he wasn't holding himself with as much tension anymore.
You couldn't help the grin that spread across your face, and you let out a quiet little laugh. "So. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you feel… maybe not the same way, but at least similar?"
You felt more than saw Jay grin back. "Yeah, sweetheart, I feel the same way. You're really fucking important to me. Both you and Alex."
That probably shouldn't make your stomach flip as much as it really did. It had honestly been way too long since somebody had seen you as a priority, let alone you and Alex together, and the fact that your feelings were reciprocated? Nothing in the world could ruin this night for you.
"I should get you home," Jay said out of nowhere.
"What? Why?"
"Because Red and Nightwing have the worst timing in the fucking world, and I… don't really want them to interrupt this. Because they definitely would, and I don't want to hear any bullshit from either of them."
You couldn't help but laugh. "Okay. But it's gonna be a decent walk back to my apartment in the cold, hate to break it to you."
"Don't worry, my bike's only a few blocks away. I… may have ditched it in an alley. After I got dosed." Of course he had. But, honestly, you didn't have the heart to really tease him about it. "I'll take you home, then go lay low in a safehouse until this wears off," he continued.
"Okay. Can I do something to help before you leave?"
"Not really, but I appreciate it." Jay hesitated, then pressed a light kiss to your forehead, and you felt your stomach flip again. Then he got to his feet and pulled you up as well. "C'mon. We gotta go before the Meddling Duo gets back."
You lightly swatted his arm. "Don't be mean about it. I'm sure they mean well."
"Hm. If you say so."