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Red Robin was sitting on a ledge, staring pensively down at the rainy Gotham streets.
Jason frowned, then made his way over to his Replacement. ‟Hey, what’s up?”
Surprisingly, Red Robin didn’t immediately run off the way he usually did. He just looked at Jason all sad and resigned. ‟Me.”
That startled a laugh out of Jason. ‟I can see that. You sound like you don’t want to be?”
‟Would you want to be sitting on this ledge in the rain?”
Just to be contrary, Jason took off his helmet and sat down right next to Red Robin, close enough for their thighs to touch. Drake shivered. ‟You cold?”
‟No, just… Uh. No.”
Afraid of Jason, then. Awesome. Jason felt the nonsensical urge to hug the smaller Robin. He was sure that wouldn’t get the reception he’d like, though, and kept his hands to himself. ‟Okay.”
They sat staring down at the city together in a silence that would have been companionable were it not for Red Robin’s frequent head twitches, like he had to check every five seconds whether Jason had drawn a gun or a knife yet. It was annoying, and maybe a little insulting, too.
‟If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead. You might as well stop it with this ridiculous paranoia.”
This time, it was Red Robin who was startled into a laugh. ‟Self-confident much?”
‟Just being realistic,” Jason countered smugly, then changed the subject back to his original query. ‟So, why are you up here if you don’t like it?”
Red Robin was silent long enough that Jason turned his face entirely toward him. The man looked pensive and a little undecided. ‟I’m stuck,” he finally admitted.
Jason had expected something along those lines, but it didn’t really match what he knew about Red Robin. Even if someone had taken the vigilante’s grapple (and his backup), there was no way Batman would have allowed an earth-bound shifter to become Robin. Witness Dick coining the name ‟Robin”, Jason’s own form which used to be a Bluejay… and while he hadn’t seen it yet, Jason was sure Batman’s cave-grown little demon spawn was a bat just like daddy.
Of course, it would be pretty awkward if someone witnessed their shift in both identities. Hence why they were only supposed to use their shifts in dire circumstances. But shouldn’t this count?
Unless…
‟Is this a prank?” Red Robin was friends with the likes of Spoiler. Anything could happen.
The smaller man flinched. ‟I swear I’m not trying to –”
‟Not what I meant,” Jason cut him off before this could get even more depressing. ‟Is someone pranking you?”
‟Oh.” Red Robin went quiet again. ‟I mean… kind of? Dick thinks he’s helping.”
‟Dick?!”
‟Yeah. He took my grapple because he thinks it’s unhealthy that I haven’t shifted since I came back.”
‟So you are a bird.”
Red Robin looked startled. ‟Have you met Batman?”
Jason snorted. ‟Okay, stupid question. Though you could have been a bat.”
‟Uh-hun. And chosen ‘Red Robin’ for my next vigilante moniker. That tracks.”
‟Red, huh?” Jason scanned through his mental bird catalog. Every bird shifter had them, he was sure. Gotta know who’s a predator and who’s prey.
It had been a pain having to reorganize his predators.
Drake started chewing his lip. ‟You’re not going away, are you?”
Jason stretched his arms above his head and yawned obnoxiously. He got some of the drizzle in his mouth for his trouble but managed to play it cool. ‟I like it here. So unless Dickie-Bird gets tired of his – what, attempt at confrontation therapy? – within the next hour or two and comes to save you, you may as well fess up.”
Red Robin didn’t look best pleased at the prospect, but surprisingly he relented. ‟Dick thinks it’s trauma. It’s not. Or at least, not only.” Then he shifted.
A tiny, brightly scarlet bird with a black mask looked up at Jason.
Jason’s eyes widened in admiration for a moment. Pretty awesome. Then he laughed, delighted. ‟ ‘Red Robin’, indeed. Could you have been any more obvious?”
He shut up abruptly. Cocked his head like his own bird form. There was something off about…
‟Shit.”
The cardinal chirped at him, its throat bulging with the effort. The motion made the little bird stagger and for a moment, Jason was afraid it would topple over. Its balance was severely disturbed.
...Because it was lacking all of its tail feathers.
‟Shit!”
The cardinal chirped again. It sounded angry.
Jason was feeling pretty angry himself. ‟Who did this to you?”
The growl in his voice startled Red Robin enough that he changed back and scooted away from Jason.
Aw, no.
‟Not angry at you, baby bird. But at whoever did this.”
‟Thanks. I didn’t know you cared.” Red Robin’s voice was stiff. Jason could almost taste the suspicion, it was so thick.
‟I didn’t used to,” he admitted easily. ‟But holy shit, Red, that’s some seriously messed-up stuff.” He didn’t mention the threads of juvenile brown in Red Robin’s plumage. Who had dared mutilate a chick like that!
‟They are growing back,” Drake offered in a tiny voice.
‟They better!” Jason was outraged at the idea this could have been permanent. His vision briefly went green before he got it under control. ‟Now tell me. Who?”
Drake huffed out a hollow corpse of a laugh. ‟Who else? Ra’s. The guy was obsessed with me even before he saw my shift. Then he just had to have one of my tail feathers for a fancy writing quill – and the rest as backup.”
‟Good thing you’re not bitter about that.”
That startled another laugh out of Drake. Jason mentally patted himself on the shoulder.
They sat for some time in a silence that sounded much more companionable.
‟You didn’t tell anyone?”
‟Didn’t seem like a smart choice. They’ll grow back. But until then, B would have grounded me.”
‟As well he should. A major impairment like that, it’s got to be impacting even your human form.”
Red Robin pulled up his legs and hugged his knees. ‟It’s not so bad. I can run across the rooftops and swing from a grapple just fine. It’s only standing close to the edge that gives me a bit of vertigo.”
So sitting on this ledge right now must be incredibly uncomfortable. Yikes.
‟Dick is an idiot.”
‟He doesn’t know any better.”
‟Yeah, but did he give you a choice?”
Red Robin was silent.
‟Hey. Want me to get you down from here?”
Drake was still wearing his domino, but the surprise on his face was obvious regardless. ‟Why would you do that?”
Jason was abruptly glad for the darkness and the rain, because he had a feeling he might be blushing. He forced it down and made his voice gentle. ‟I feel very… protective of you.”
Drake stared at him, aghast. ‟Did you just quote Twilight at me?”
‟The fact that you recognize it says you have no ledge to stand on.” Jason snickered.
‟Stephanie made me. What’s your excuse, you creep? ...Wait, shouldn’t that be ‘no leg’?” Drake hastily scooted away from Jason.
‟ ‘Creep’ he calls me! Between the two of us, which one’s the stalker?” Then Jason grew serious again. ‟I won’t push you, don’t worry. Unlike Dick, I do have all the facts. Or at least, most of them.” He chose his next words carefully. ‟You know, I could carry you down if that’s what you want. But... you do have all your wing feathers, don’t you? Shouldn’t you at least still be able to glide?”
‟Tried it. Failed.”
Jason had to struggle not to grind his teeth into dust. The bloodless way Drake disclosed this fact said all that needed to be said about exactly how terribly that experiment had gone.
Trauma for the win. Fuck everything.
‟Okay. Forget that I suggested –”
‟I failed because I tried alone.”
Jason didn’t imagine the hope in Red’s voice, did he?
‟I could support you,” Jason ventured.
‟You’re a blue jay, right?”
‟How do you…?!” Jason huffed. ‟No, don’t tell me. Creepy little stalker.” He settled his elbows on his knees and looked down at the street. It was easily far enough to yield a wide margin of error. ‟You’re right, I used to be a blue jay. But the Pit changed everything about me, and I got a new form.”
Drake’s mouth fell open. ‟That’s incredibly rare!”
‟And a bitch to get used to, I can tell you that,” Jason nodded. ‟My new body is bigger and deadlier, just like my human body. I can easily support you.”
‟...Deadlier?” Red Robin sounded understandably doubtful.
‟Birds aren’t on the menu,” Jason said courtly. ‟Killer Crock, however, looks like great prey.” He smiled a bloodthirsty smile.
‟No bird is that big.”
‟Nope. But my bird form likes lizards, so I figure…”
Drake laughed. It sounded a lot less hollow than earlier tonight. Jason wanted to preen. Or to…
Oh. Huh. That’s new.
Actually, crazy as the idea might have seemed five minutes ago, now Jason had the impression Drake not mind too much.
Won’t know it until you try.
He leaned sideways and placed a gentle kiss on Drake’s cheek. ‟Trust me?”
Drake made a small ‘eeep’ sound. His lower lip wobbled the slightest bit before becoming a determined, straight line. Drake gave him a firm nod. Then he changed into his Northern Cardinal form and looked expectantly up at Jason.
Jason picked his helmet back up and put it on. When he shifted, he knew Red Robin’s twittering was laughter. ‟Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Jason wanted to screech at him, except cardinals and falcons didn’t actually share a language. He had to admit, though, that his black and white feathers and the red mask were a bit on the nose. The caracara really had no room to give Red Robin shit for his obvious form.
His adorable, almost-still-juvenile cardinal form.
Aw.
Jason hopped over and gently nudged the chi – the other bird.
Red Robin warbled at him, then leaned over a little to peer down at the street. His head twitched several times and he shuffled left and right in agitation.
Then he took the plunge.
Brave little bird. In full flight, the missing tail feathers were glaringly obvious. Jason’s respect for Drake rose abruptly with that extreme trust fall.
At first, it looked like Red might make it. His wings unfolded beautifully and he immediately went into a controlled glide. But then his stubby, tiny tail feathers twitched like he wanted to bank and his balance was shot to hell.
Jason took flight. Like a shot, he was beneath the little cardinal, carefully adjusting his own speed to the other’s uncontrolled descent before they made contact. When the cardinal impacted his back, Jason barely felt it. And even in his panic, Drake was too considerate to dig in his claws. Instead, Jason felt the little bird spreading out on his back and trying to cling on with his wings as though they were human arms. It kind of worked.
Jason screeched in triumph at the successful maneuver.
Of course, flying with a cardinal stuck limply to his back wasn’t exactly easy. It was a fun challenge, though. And if Jason enjoyed the close contact a bit more than he’d expected, nobody needed to know.
Jason took course for the middle of a much lower roof, one with a fire escape. He didn’t alight gently, but neither of them got hurt so he counted it as a win.
Both of them immediately changed back.
Jason panted. ‟That was…”
‟Wicked!”
Jason stared. Drake’s face was flushed, his hair wind-tousled and there was a smile on his face. ‟I had no idea it could be so much fun to ride another bird.”
Jason abruptly felt his cheeks heat again. Good thing he was wearing the mask. ‟You… uh. You alright, then?”
‟I am. Thank you!”
‟Okay, cool. Let me just… Uh. Would you come here for a moment?” Jason abruptly returned to his bird form.
Drake regarded him curiously, then changed as well.
Jason hopped over until they were side by side. He nuzzled at his little cardinal, preening a few feathers and making sure he was uninjured. Then he extended one large wing… and folded Red Robin under it.
The cardinal warbled a brief question.
Jason nudged him closer to his own body and nestled down.
Red Robin squirmed a bit, then hesitantly leaned into Jason’s side. Jason tightened his enfolding wing.
Warm and dry together under Jason’s protective plumage, they watched the rain continue to pour down on Gotham.