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Jason was panicking. Not that he would ever say that, but he couldn’t deny that clutching a bleeding teenager in his arms, who happened to be his younger brother, was acutely terrifying. He simultaneously wanted to run and never let Tim go. Tim, for his part, was shivering and Jason was frantically trying to assess whether it was shock or Ivy’s cuddle pollen.
“Red.” He whispered, the hood modulating his voice. He hoped it came off stronger and less fearful than it sounded to him. Tim hissed, more a whimper than actual recognition.
“H-hood.” He gasped. “Please.”
Please what? Jason couldn’t breathe. Please make the pain stop? Please hold him tighter to wipe away the frozen feeling that Ivy’s pollen creates? Please let him go and leave? Please go get Dick or Bruce? Please, please please, please. He would have done any of these things if he could just understand what Tim was asking. His brain was working too fast and too slow all at once. He clutched Tim tighter hoping to at least help with the pain. Tim moaned softly, releasing a shallow gasp that turned into more steady breathing as Jason tightened his hold. Still hurting obviously but less so, hopefully. After a moment, Tim sagged into Jasons arms, limp and weak.
“Red, I- I need to look you over.” Jason said after anther moment, hoping to give Tim even one more second of relief, guilt pooling in his chest. It felt like he was growing in it. “I’m going to check your arms and legs first, and then I’m going to push you off me—“ Tim made a small noise, fingers fumbling to clutch Jason’s leather jacket as tightly as he could manage. “—and look you over as quick as I can, okay?”
Tim nodded despite his obvious reservations. Jason gently took one of Tim’s hands into his own. He carefully pulled it away from himself, still keeping a tight grip on his hand through their interlaced fingers. Tim shivered, but accepted the change in position with nothing more than curling into Jason just a little more tightly. His grip was almost painful, but Jason would have let this kid break his fingers if it would ease any of his discomfort. Nothing other than some surface level bruising and scratches. Jason brought the hand back and grabbed the other, noting the same extent of injuries. Tim’s legs looked the same.
“Ok Red, I’m going to pull you away, just for a minute to make sure everything is ok. Try not to squirm, and I’ll be as fast as I can.” Tim closed his eyes, fingers loosening against Jason’s jacket, though Jason imagined that it would have been quite a herculean task to do so. Jason pulled back, staying as close as possible. Tim’s face scrunched in silent agony, but he remained as still as he could. Jason tried to ignore the shivering.
“Crap, Tim.” Jason hissed as his fingers traced Tim’s side, Tim leaned slightly into the touch though he was obviously trying not to. “What did she do?”
Tim gasped as Jason tenderly prodded at the skin around his side where Ivy hand implanted a vine. It was both pleasure and pain with the pollen begging for the warmth of Jason’s fingers and the flare of sharp pinpricks that shot through him at Jason’s incessant pokes. He was freezing now that Jason had pulled away, the only warmth came from the fact he was still seated in Jason’s lap and his searing touch as he tugged at the vine. He wanted the pain back, if it would make him warm.
Searing arms pulled him close again and it was like being an ice cube dropped into a tub of boiling water. He wanted to simultaneous scream and curl closer. Jason was cradling his head and his thumb was brushing away tears that Tim hadn’t realized were slipping through his domino. The ice melting out of his body as heat spiderwebbed up him in agonizing pleasure.
“Shh Babybird. It’s okay. We’re going to figure this out.” Lies. Jason was lying through his teeth and he knew it.He yanked off a helmet to try to catch his breath. “We need- we need to take these vines out. They’re spreading and their getting thicker. We need to pull them out now.”
Tim winced at the undisguised panic in Jason's tone, nodding before the idea had even fully caught up to him. “She called them vampire plants. You can’t- You have to remove it while it’s still attached to its root. If you leave a piece in, or kill it, It’s going to get worse.”
“Sh*t.” Jason murmured. “Okay. I’m sorry Tim, we can’t wait for the Bat.” He pulled out a knife and Tim thought that he should have gone cold at that, but he was wrapped in Jason's arms and warmer than he had been in months and months. “I’m going to make a little incision and pull it out from there.” Jason’s hand was steady, but his eyes were shaken. Tim felt Jason carefully shift him so he was somewhat laying down. He didn't care because Jason was careful to keep the vast majority of Tim pressed into his side.
The tip of the knife was cold as it split his skin. Pain flared up Tim’s entire side, a freezing fire that consumed him. He couldn’t flinch away, because that would mean leaving Jason’s warmth and accepting the barren emptiness in his soul. No, he did the only thing left that he could, pressing closer to Jason, pushing the knife deeper into his skin. It hurt, but at least the knife went from icy pain to a regular throbbing. He just couldn't be cold any longer, couldn't bring himself to feel the ice shards in his entire being, stabbing straight into his soul.
Jason made a choking noise as he felt Tim curl into him, pressing the knife further into Tim's skin. This kid had zero survival instinct. Zero. He wanted nothing more than to give Robin the comfort he so desperately needed instead, he focused on his work, steadying his hands as best he could while pulling the Tim’s suit away from his bleeding wound hoping he could see the vine's head. Tim made a high whine as Jason swore and expanded the incision to get at the growing plant. Blood was smudging over everything and Jason wanted to wipe it away, but it would never disappear and he could feel it between his fingers as he grabbed the vine and started to pull on it.
Tim’s breathing fluttered and Jason’s heart nearly gave out. Tim had been tense throughout the entire procedure thus far, locked into fetal position to make himself as small as possible and to try to preserve any amount of heat he could. It was a useless task, true heat would do nothing for Ivy's pollen. Tim could set himself on fire and still feel frostbitten. Now though, Tim's body was loosening, coming unwound in a way that spoke less of comfort and more of exhausted muscles and a brain that was trying to put itself out of it's misery and pass out. Jason wanted to let it, let Tim just drift away and put a brief end to the torment. He couldn't.
“Babybird, you have to stay with me. Stay awake.” Tim’s fingers wound into Jason’s jacket with a minuscule tug, but Jason could see that Tim was struggling. His face was pale and sweaty, his entire body shuddering with every movement as Jason pried the vines out of him, every so often being forced to delicately carve further into his flesh. Jason hated that Tim kept leaning into the knife, desperate even as he was moments away from unconsciousness to be close.
Jason cursed Ivy with everything he had as Tim jerked after a particularly imbedded root forcse Jason to make another incision deep into Tim's skin. It was leave a gnarly looking scar unless Alfred could work his magic on it. Tim whimpered, breaths muffled by the cloth he had crammed into his mouth to silent the screams that threatened to escape. Jason could feel a spreading dampness that he didn't think had anything to do with the blood on his suit. He was going to kill Ivy, painfully if he had any say in the matter.
“I’m sorry Babybird.” Jason whispered as he slowly pulled out the vine. Tim was gasping through the pain, struggling to keep from thrashing. Jason shifted Tim so hat he could use his free hand to press down on Tim's torso as hard as he could. Tim went unerringly compliant at the sudden warmth that overwhelmed him. He screamed however, muffled and shrill, as Jason continued to pull at the vine, quiet apologies siting in the air. Jason could finally see the end and yanked it out with a vicious tug that left Tim a shaking and semi-hysterical mess, especially because Jason had to pull away to throw the vine as far from the padr as was humanly possible. Jason wasted no time pressing a clean cloth against the wound to stop the bleeding. Tim groaned as he pushed the wound harder into Jason's palm, still seeking out the warmth despite the pain.
“It’s out Tim. It’s done.” Jason kept one hand pressed tightly to Tim’s gaping wound but the other hand ran through Tim’s hair, leaving little streaks of blood through it. The motion seemed to help sooth Tim however, bringing his sobs down to ragged, heaving breaths. Jason himself wanted to cry seeing the blood on his gloves and Tim's tearstained cheeks shining in the moonlight.
Tim shivered in his arms, still cold. Jason leaned over him, encompassing him in the most tight and encompassing embrace that he possibly could. Cold fled like shadows in light and Tim wanted to sob in sheer relief. Maybe he already was... his cheeks were suspiciously tight and damp. He didn’t say anything, but Jason could feel him leaning closer, curling into him like a kitten. His hands were still clutching Jason as tightly as he possibly could.
“Th-thank you.” Tim whispered, voice gravelly from screaming his throat raw.
Jason kissed the top of his head softly, continuing to brush his fingers through Tim’s damp hair and pushing it out of his domino. This freaking kid was going to be the death of him. “Always, Timmy.”
Tim sighed into Jason’s warmth, practically melting into Jason’s side as Jason continued to hold him close, sealing his wounds. Tim faded in and out of consciousness and Jason let him for the most part just drift. A shadow appeared silently behind him, almost unnoticeable to anyone who hadn’t been Batman’s Robin.
“Hood.”
“B." Jason didn't bother to hide the relief in his voice. "Ivy got him… pollen and an experimental plant. Had to perform emergency surgery to pull it out. He’s going to need stitches and a lot of antiseptic, cause I tried, but this environment isn’t exactly sterile and- “
“Hood—“ Batman repeated, coming to kneel beside both his children. “He’s going to be fine.”
Jason didn’t acknowledge him for a moment, domino mask eerily blank. “I was turning him into ribbons and—” he choked on his words as they caught in his mouth. “—he didn’t even try to get away.”
"he knew he didn't need too."
Bruce carefully reached out to wrap his cape around both Tim and Jason. It immediately soothed both boys, a Robin’s comfort. Jason leaned into Bruce, taking Tim with him. They just sat for a minute like that, curled around each other, Bruce’s protective presence over them.