Chapter Text
Jason wakes up to the sound of his phone ringing and when he groans and rolls over to find out who the hell is calling him in the middle of the fucking night he’s more than a little surprised to find that the caller I.D. reads Tim. Because the little shit should be fast asleep in the room across the hall from his.
“Tim?” He questions, both very and confused and very sleep deprived.
“Jason,” Tim slurs through the phone. “Can you come pick me up? I wanna come home and I can’t find Kon or anybody.”
Jason almost swears because Tim sounds like he’s drunk off his ass even though he’s only sixteen god-damn years old . And Tim knows better than this, really. What the fuck is he thinking.
“I’m getting Bruce,” Jason informs him, already moving toward the door.
“No!” Tim cries, sounding desperate. “Please, I don’t want him to know. I don’t want anyone to know, please don’t tell him.”
Jason pauses because he doesn’t want to leave Tim drunk and crying on the phone, even if he maybe deserves it for being so stupid. “Tim, you got a little drunk. It’s not that a big a deal.”
“Not- no. I didn’t. I was the designated driver and then everyone was gone and I don’t even know where I am now- Jason, please.”
Jason freezes because Tim would never abandon his friends. “You don’t know where you are?”
“I’m outside,” Tim says, and he sounds like he is crying now. “I ran away and I don’t have my shoes or my keys and Alfred is gonna kill me, Jason, you have to help me.”
“Okay. Okay, Tim. I’m coming to get you, just look around and tell me what you see so I can find you.”
He grabs his keys and sneaks down the stairs while Tim stumbles around an explanation of where he is. Once he thinks he knows what Tim is talking about he puts the phone on speaker and speeds out of the drive-way faster than he ever has in life.
He finds Tim sitting on a park bench- indeed with no shoes or jacket despite it being late October and fucking freezing out.
He pulls on to the side of the road, completely ignoring the no parking sign, and rushes over to check on his little brother. When he gets closer, he can see the bruise on his cheek and the tell-tale dilation of his eyes. Shit. Someone drugged him. Someone drugged Tim and who the hell knows why. (Why do they ever… Shit.)
“Are you hurt?” Jason asks.
Tim shakes his head, and Jason feels the panic that’s been gripping him since he left the house lessen slightly.
“Come on,” He says, pulling Tim up and helping walk back towards the car. He drops him in the passenger seat and walks back around to the other side.
“Where are we going?” Tim asks, blinking slowly.
“To the E.R.” Jason tells him firmly.
“No, I don’t want to go,” Tim replies, struggling to pull his head all the way up to look at him.
He’s clearly out of it and acting on emotion and Jason isn’t going to compromise on Tim’s health.
“You need help, Tim,” Jason says, buckling him in. “I don't know what you’ve got in your system right now, or what affects it has.”
“Bruce will find out,” Tim pleads.
Jason turns his eyes to the road, heading toward the hospital. “I know. You can't hide this from him.”
“But that’s why I called you. I thought I could trust you,” Tim says. He sounds angry and sad.
Jason can’t help him.
He just keeps driving, even when he hears Tim crying quietly next to him.
***
The ER is busy when they walk in, and a nurse directs them to the waiting area with a clipboard full of forms.
Tim is fading in and out of consciousness now, leaning against his shoulder and Jason looks down at the questions on the form and realizes that he has no idea what the answers to any of them are.
(Tim has health problems. He lost his spleen last year and he’s gotten sick because of it. Has to take medications Jason doesn't know the name of. Doesn't know what the consequences are.)
He has to call Bruce. He’s going to find out anyway. Tim needs him, even if he doesn't realize it.
He sighs and dials the familiar number. It only rings for a minute before he hears the click that indicates Bruce has picked up.
“Jason?” Bruce says into the phone, voice groggy. “Where are you?”
“I’m at the ER with Tim,” He says.
He can hear the rustling as Bruce gets out of bed, already ready to head over to meet them.
“What happened? Are you both okay?” Bruce asks urgently.
“I’m fine. Tim snuck out to go to a party tonight and he got drugged by someone. I don't know all the details but he said he ran away and he called me to come pick him up.”
“I’m on my way, keep me updated,” He sounds scared in a way that Jason has never heard Bruce sound.
The phone clicks off and Jason turns back to Tim. His eyes are glassy and far away.
“Tim?” Jason says, concerned.
Tim’s eyes flick toward him.
“I’m dizzy,” He says, and then he passes out.
***
Bruce arrives twenty minutes later, to find Jason sitting in a plastic chair next to Tim’s hospital bed. He steps in and pulls the privacy curtain closed, taking in Tim’s condition.
Jason knows it doesn’t look good. Tim is still unconscious, pale as a ghost, and hooked up to an I.V.
“He passed out,” Jason explains. “The doctor said he’s going to be okay. It could take a couple more hours for the drug to pass through his system. They think it was Rohypnol, but they want to keep him for a day to make sure there aren’t any other effects.”
Bruce nods, moving closer to Tim’s side. “Do you know how this happened?”
“No,” Jason says. “He called me after he ran out of the party and he was really out of it. The doctor said that there’s a good chance he won't remember, either. There’s some bruising on his jaw, arms, and torso. They look defensive, so it seems like he had it together enough to fight and run away.”
Jason’s phone goes off, and he pauses to look down at the caller I.D.
“It’s Kon,” He tells Bruce.
Bruce motions for the phone, but Jason shakes his head and flips it open himself, ignoring the glare Bruce gives him.
“Hello?”
“Jason- we can’t find Tim. We went to a party and he just disappeared and we don't know what to do,” Kon says desperately.
“Calm down. Tim called me, he’s safe. Someone drugged him, and we’re at the hospital but he’s going to be okay.”
“Oh god,” Kon sounds like he’s panicking. “I should have been looking out for him. Shit. I’m so sorry.”
He can hear Cassie and Bart talking in the background, and he thinks someone might be crying.
“Listen, I’m going to come get you guys. Give me the address and wait outside, okay?” Jason tells him.
“Okay,” Kon says, and lists off the address.
Jason grabs his jacket and Bruce grabs his arm.
“Jason, Tim needs you here,” He says.
Jason knows that Bruce is stressed and worried right now, but sometimes he can’t believe how thick-headed he is. “Tim would want me to make sure his friends get home safe, B. They’re scared out their minds right now.”
Bruce snorts. “And drunk of their asses, probably.”
“They called me when they couldn’t find Tim. They did the responsible thing. Some of the kids I used to be friends with wouldn’t have even bothered to look around for me. Don’t blame this on them, blame this on whatever creep decided to drug Tim.”
Bruce lets go of Jason’s sleeve, but he keeps his eyes on Tim. “Make sure you ask them what they know.”
Jason pauses before pulling back the curtain. “Call Dick. That’s who Tim really needs.”
Jason and Tim are close. But Jason’s brand of comfort is a lot of sarcastic comments and caring from far away. And Jason has a feeling that’s not exactly gonna be what Tim needs when he wakes up with no memory and a whole lot of bruises.
***
Cassie, Kon, and Bart are sitting on the curb a little bit away from the house where the party took place. It’s about a block and a half away from where he picked up Tim.
Kon is crying, and Cassie has an arm wrapped around him. Bart, for once, is sitting as still as a statue.
When he pulls up, Cassie guides Kon into the back seat and Bart climbs into the front.
“Alright, where am I taking you guys?” Jason asks.
“Can we go see Tim?” Bart asks.
Jason pauses. “I’m not sure that’s the best idea right now. Bruce is being a little protective.”
“He’s okay, though, right?” Cassie pipes up.
“He’s gonna be okay. He has some bruises and he probably won’t remember what happened.”
“This never should have happened,” Kon says. “We were supposed to stick together.”
“You guys can't beat yourself up over this. Bad shit happens sometimes and it’s not fair, but it can happen to anyone,” Jason tries to comfort.
They are all silent for a minute and Jason decides to try again. “So, where to?”
“Kon is staying with Clark and Lois now,” Cassie supplies. “I’m going to Diana’s and Bart, you're with Wally now, right?”
“Right.”
“Okay,” Jason says, pulling away from the curb. “So, I know you guys are upset right now, but can you tell me where you last saw Tim?”
Cassie shakes her head. “We went to dance and Tim didn't want to. The next thing we knew he was just gone .”
“I saw him talking to one of the Al Ghul girls,” Bart says cautiously. “Her name is Liliana or Lila or something like that. He looked annoyed.”
The Wayne family and the Al Ghul family do not exactly have the best track record. Bruce and Talia’s nasty custody battle over Damian is definitely proof of that. But Jason still finds it strange that one of them would go after Tim. Even if the whole family is batshit crazy.
***
He manages to get back to the hospital in forty minutes. And to his surprise, Dick is already there and Bruce is nowhere to be found.
“Where did Bruce go?” Are the first words out of his mouth.
“Hello to you too, Jay,” Dick says sarcastically, and Jason rolls his eyes. “Bruce is talking to the police. I guess they found some security footage of what happened.”
Jason nods and collapses into the seat next to Dick.
“How did you get here so fast?” He asks because the last time he checked Dick was still in Blüdhaven, a good 45 minutes from here.
“I was helping Babs put together a new book shelf,” Dick explains.
Jason snorts. “At three in the morning? Sure you were.”
Dick sends him a glare and opens his mouth, probably to issue a retort, but he’s cut off by Tim.
His eyes are open, squinting at the light. “Dick?” He says, confused.
“Hey, Timmy,” Dick replies, moving to hold his hand.
But Tim looks slightly green and very queasy, and Jason grabs for the bucket the nurse had left just in case, and shoves it under Tim’s nose just in time for him to start retching.
“Oh shit,” Dick says.
“It’s okay,” Jason explains. “The doctor said this might happen.”
Tim stops puking and looks back up at them, obviously confused. “What’s going on?”
“You were drugged,” Dick says gently. “It’s still passing through your system.”
“Where…” Tim starts and stops. “Where is Kon and Cassie and Bart? They were drinking. I have to keep my eye on them.”
“They’re safe. I brought them home,” Jason reassures him.
“No,” Tim says. “I was supposed to…” and then he has to stop again to vomit.
Dick rubs his back soothingly, pulling Tim’s too long and sweaty hair out of his face. And Jason… Jason doesn’t want to watch this.
“I’m going to go find Bruce,” He mumbles, slipping out through the privacy curtain.
He heads back toward nurse’s station, hoping that one of them can point him in Bruce’s direction, but it turns out he doesn’t need to look much farther, because Bruce is sitting in the waiting area, looking gloomy.
Jason sits down next to him. “Tim’s awake,” He says. “He’s puking his guts out and still pretty out of it, but he’s awake.”
Bruce nods, continuing to stare into his crappy hospital cup of coffee.
“What did the police say?” Jason prods him.
“They found security footage of him jumping out of a car around where you found him. It looks like that’s where he got most of the bruises from.”
“A moving car?” Jason asks, a little shocked, because he had assumed that Tim had just stumbled out of the party himself.
“Yes. A car registered to Ra’s Al Ghul.”
Damian’s creepy grandfather, who occasionally appears at the house just to fuck shit up for their family. Bruce probably thinks this is some weird attempt at destroying his family, paranoid bastard that he is.
“Bart said that he saw Tim getting harassed by one of Talia’s younger sisters. Lila. She was probably borrowing the car,” Jason says.
Bruce looks up at him then and Jason kind of hates how self-obsessed he can be. Because he knows Bruce is too busy blaming himself for this to actually go comfort his sixteen year old son.
But Jason… Jason left too. Sure, he knew Dick was there to take care of things, but he still left.
“Come on, old man,” Jason says. “Tim needs us, right now.”
***
It takes until after the sun rises for Tim to finally be cognizant. He wakes up with a killer headache, finally feeling all the bruises he got from his tumble, and confused as hell.
He groans and cracks his eyes open. “What happened?”
Tim had periodically asked this question throughout the night, unable to remember or understand the answer they gave him; enough that they had taken turns answering.
This time around it was Jason’s turn. “You went to a party with Kon, Bart, and Cassie, and you got drugged. Do you remember anything?”
The police had said it was important to ask before they told him anything. To see if he could fill in any of the detail himself.
“Cassie and Kon wanted to dance, but I didn't want to. And then Lila kept coming over to talk to me… and then… I don’t know,” Tim says, furrowing his brow in concentration.
Jason nods. “We think that she drugged you, and managed to get you out of the party and into her car. When she got about a block away you jumped out of the car, which is where you got most of the bruises. You called me, and I came and took you to the hospital.”
Honestly, Jason is almost glad that Tim doesn’t remember that part. Doesn't remember how he begged Jason not to take him to the hospital or call Bruce. Jason knows he did the right thing, but it still feels like a betrayal when he thinks about Tim crying in the passenger seat of his car.
“What about my friends? I was supposed to drive them home- are they okay?”
Jason nods. Tim had also spent a lot of the night more concerned about his friends than himself.
“They’re fine. They called me when they couldn't find you, and I picked them and brought them home.”
“Thank you,” Tim says and then pauses. “I’m sorry.”
Jason frowns. “For what?”
“I shouldn’t have let myself get drugged. I- sorry,” Tim stutters out, clearly upset.
“Hey, hey,” Dick jumps in. “You didn’t let anything happen. This isn’t your fault and you have nothing to be sorry for, okay?”
Tim laughs suddenly- loud and manic. “God, if anything had happened Damian could have had a nephew and a cousin!”
“Tim,” Bruce starts. “You did everything right. And nothing happened.”
Tim shakes his head a little, and there are tears brimming at his eyes. “No. I know better. They always say not to accept drinks from strangers and I just- I don’t even know what happened. I can't even remember.”
“Hey,” Jason says and Tim looks at him. “I’ve seen this happen to a lot of other people, Tim. And it wasn't any of their fault, right? You wouldn’t blame Stephanie or Cassie if this happened to them, right?”
Tim nods.
“So why is it any different for you? Tim, the only person to blame for this is Lila Al Ghul. She was the one who decided to violate someone’s boundaries and take away their choice. This is not your fault.”
Tim wipes at the tears falling down his cheeks. “Not my fault,” he repeats. “It’s not my fault."
Like if he says it enough times he will be able to believe it.