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The call for help came in at 1:03am.
Jason was in his safehouse with a double beef Batburger with extra crispy onions in one hand, and a jumbo coke in the other. A storm was raging outside, thunder clapped loudly, lightning lit up the sky, and harsh winds blew Poison Ivy’s latest pollen around like wildfire. Luckily it wasn’t doing much. He couldn’t hear or see much violence while being benched.
So far.
Taking a big bite of his burger, he heard the thunder boom as the call came in. He barely heard it through the static but he heard enough to know that Steph was in trouble.
There was crackling, then he just made out the words: “…help… please…. can’t…. hard…. breath…. hurts…. help….” before it was cut off by another burst of static.
Swallowing his half-chewed bite, he winced as it went down. Grabbing his communicator, he replied instantly.
“Batgirl, it’s Red Hood, where are you? I’m coming. I’ll be there as fast as I can.” Feeling his blood run cold at the fear in her voice, Jason held the communicator a little tighter.
The channel continued to cut in and out, each crackle making the words indistinct. “…hood… ment…. ile… hurts…” There was another, fuzzier noise as it cut off again.
“I’m coming. Hold in there for me, okay?”
Jason’s heart was in his throat as he took a large gulp from his drink and got dressed quicker than he ever had in his life. His ribs were on fire but he wasn’t going to let Steph down. There was no way on Earth, or in the entire universe, he was going to let the woman who had captured his heart think no one was going to save her. Finding the rebreather made for his helmet in case Ivy’s pollen did something, he grabbed his first aid backpack and strapped it to himself before getting his weapons. Stopping to shove an extra rebreather into the backpack, he secured his helmet and grabbed the keys to his car.
If Steph was injured, she would be safer in a car than on the back of his bike. The car was also the safer option in the current weather conditions. The rain was pouring down in bucket loads; large puddles formed on the ground and the roads were already flash flooding.
Unlocking his car, he quickly got inside and shoved the key in the ignition. Starting the engine, he gave it a few revs before turning the headlights on and flicking the indicator on. Pulling onto the road, Jason tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as the windscreen wipers moved back and forth quickly, removing the water from his line of sight – not that it was helping much.
He wasn’t too far from Amusement Mile, his safehouse was only about ten minutes away at best. As he dodged the cars on the road that were randomly pulling off to the side, he couldn’t stop thinking about Steph. He knew that something had happened to her. He knew that she was hurt and needed help but that was all. Steph was tough and for her to be calling in for help and unable to get herself out of the situation, it meant that it was serious. Steph had faced Black Mask and lived to tell the tale.
Jason didn’t know what to expect and as he prepared himself for anything, he crossed himself and prayed to Saint Raphael to help heal Steph and keep her in good health until he could get her to a medical professional, if one was needed.
Watching as lightning lit up the sky before an ear-splitting boom almost deafened him and a bright light filled the area around them. Hearing another crack, Jason hit the brakes and a few seconds later the light was gone and the large tree in the middle of what the city called a park had been split in two. Ivy wasn’t going to be happy about that.
Slowly accelerating again, Jason tried to get a hold of Steph again on comms but she didn’t respond. He tried Babs next and was able to get enough that the entire family was busy and Steph’s tracker went offline near the old mineshafts.
Making it to Amusement Mile, he looked at the abandoned amusement park and remembered the one time he came here as a kid. Shaking the thought from his mind, he hit the accelerator and drove right through the wooden planks barricading the entrance. Steph needed him and he wasn’t going to waste any time on foot.
Slowing down just enough so he wouldn’t hit anything, he made his way to where the old mineshafts were and found Steph’s bike within seconds. Parking the car next to it, he made sure he had everything before jumping out of the car and locking the doors. Grabbing his flashlight and backpack, he turned it on and found a trail of smaller footprints on the ground the rain hadn’t quite managed to completely wash away.
Following them to the furthest mineshaft, Jason pushed back the old cloth covering it and went inside. Cobwebs stuck to his hood as the light from the flashlight bounced off the walls. He could see Steph’s footprints clearer now – there was no one else in here with her that he could see. It was just her.
Analysing them, he could tell something was off. They were close together like she was stumbling forward or was being pushed. She was unsteady on her feet. He couldn’t really tell but he knew it wasn’t anything good. Spotting blonde hair on the ground, Jason ran over to her. His heart hammered in his chest as he dropped to his knees and pressed his fingers to Steph’s neck, trying to feel for a pulse.
Not feeling anything at first, he pressed his fingers a little firmer against her neck. After a moment he could feel the faintest of a beat against his fingertips but when he checked her breathing, he quickly realised she wasn’t breathing. Ripping his mask and rebreather off, he tilted her head back, pinched her nose closed. He took a deep breath in and closed his mouth over hers and gave her a rescue breath followed by another and another.
“Breathe, come on. Breathe, please…”
Giving Steph another rescue breath, Jason felt the tears burning behind his eyes. He couldn’t lose Steph, not without telling her how much she meant to him. Checking her pulse, it was still beating underneath his fingertips. It was stronger but not by much.
“Please, Steph, come on. I need you to breathe for me. Please.”
Administering another rescue breath, Jason leaned back and got ready to give her another breath.
Seeing and hearing Steph suck a deep breath in; Jason pulled the rebreather out of his backpack and placed it on her. Putting his own back on, he went over her vital signs. Her heart rate was now stronger under his fingertips. She was averaging about seventy-five beats per minute. She was still breathing and she had gotten some more colour back to her face. Feeling around her neck for anything out of place, when he felt nothing, he moved to her extremities.
Gently touching her face, Jason looked for a reaction but got nothing. Trying again with a little more pressure, he pursed his lips together.
“Batgirl, come on. Wake up for me, please.”
Getting nothing as a response, Jason knew he had to get Steph out of here soon and get her back to either the Batcave for Alfred to treat her or to Leslie’s clinic. Knowing the Batcave would be the better option, he gently and carefully picked Steph up and cradled her in his arms as he carried her out of the mineshaft and back to his car.
Pulling the back door open, he laid her over the seat and covered her with the blanket that was there. He knew it was Summer but if she went into shock, keeping her body heat close to her body would help her in the long run. Wiping the rainwater from her face, he moved her hair back and checked her pulse and breathing once more.
Making sure she was safely inside, Jason got into the car and quickly chucked a U-turn and made his way out of Amusement Mile.
The storm was still raging overhead as he called in a medical emergency to the Batcave to warn Alfred he was on his way with Steph. He got a drive safe from the older man and to get her there as soon as possible.
Checking on Steph in the rearview mirror, Jason watched the steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Jason could still feel the panic that had gripped him when he thought Steph could have died there all alone. He couldn’t face that as a reality. He didn’t want to live in a world that didn’t have Stephanie Brown in it. He was so scared, he still was, but as he watched her breathe, he knew that it was a good sign. He knew, deep down, that she would be okay.
Making it across the bridge and to the Batcave in record time, Jason killed the engine and scooped Steph up, carrying her up to the medbay as Alfred joined her.
“Lay her down on the bed, please,” Alfred said, washing and drying his hands before putting on a pair of latex gloves.
“What can I do to help?” Jason asked, pulling off his rebreather and setting it aside. He knew the Batcave had state of the art air filtering systems.
“Remove the rebreather from Miss Stephanie, please.”
Doing as he was asked, Jason took a step back as Alfred took over.
Digging his nails into the palms of his hands as medical devices started beeping, he could see numbers appearing on the screens around the bed.
“Master Jason, I think it would be best if you waited outside. I will let you know how she is as soon as I have some answers.”
“Okay. Please let me know the second you know.”
Making his way out of the medbay and down to the main floor, Jason sat at the Batcomputer and pulled up where everyone currently was. Everyone seemed to be at Robinson Park trying to get a hypnotised Poison Ivy to stop what she was doing with an unknown pollen.
From what he could tell from the open comms and from Babs, Kate was injured, Duke was injured but was healing, and Selina and Harley were trying to get through to Ivy. Steph was meant to be looking for whoever hypnotised Ivy with Tim. Tim was nowhere to be seen when he found Steph. Zooming in on Tim’s location, he was only a block away from the park and had the culprit with him.
Moving away from the Batcomputer, he went to the small kitchenette and made himself a coffee. Leaning against the cabinet, his lower back shot pain and twinged, making him wince. Breathing out slowly as the pain passed, he took a sip of his coffee and changed positions so it wouldn’t hurt his back and ribs as much.
He was still technically benched but there was no way Bruce was going to stop him doing anything he wanted to do, and if he wasn’t tuned into comms tonight, he wouldn’t have heard Steph asking for help. No one else was able to get to her, they were all trying to stop the bullshit going on outside.
Finding one of Alfred’s English biscuits, as he called them, Jason took a bite of it and chewed as he took another sip of coffee. Finishing his biscuit and coffee, he made his way back up to the medbay and sat on the seat outside and waited. He didn’t care how long it took. Just as long as Steph was being seen to and would be okay.
An hour and a half passed before Alfred emerged and came over to him.
“How’s Steph?” Jason asked, already on his feet and meeting Alfred halfway across the room.
“She’s doing well now that she’s here. Miss Stephanie didn’t react well to Miss Poison Ivy’s new pollen strain. As it wasn’t fully developed and was used before it was complete, it caused respiratory depression and a lowered heart rate. From the information Miss Harley sent, it was meant to be a coercion pollen of some kind. In its unfinished form, it’s causing a litany of problems for everyone. You did the correct thing putting rebreathers on both of you. You saved her life, Master Jason.”
“Can I go and see her?” Jason asked as Alfred reached out and squeezed his shoulder.
“Only briefly. Miss Stephanie is still sleeping and she requires her rest.”
“Thank you.”
Entering the medbay, Jason pulled up a seat up to Steph’s bedside and sat next to her. The steady beeping of the monitors let him know she was stable. She had a nasal cannula giving her oxygen and she had been changed into a gown.
Reaching for her hand, Jason held it in his own and felt the warmth of her skin against his own.
“You’re gonna be okay, Steph. I promise. I’ll be here for whatever you may need. I know you can’t hear me, or you can, I don’t know, but I’m really glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done if you died. You make everything brighter and a world without you in it isn’t a world I want to live in. Alfred said I don’t have long so I’ll come see you in the morning.”
Giving Steph’s hand a squeeze, Jason stood up and took one look at her and felt his heart clench. Pushing his feelings aside to deal with later, he pulled her blanket up a little higher and left the medbay.
Making his way through the Batcave, he went back to the Batcomputer and kept an eye on the situation and helped Babs out where he could until everyone was home and in bed sleeping.
Waking early the next morning, Jason was down in the medbay as the sun was rising outside.
“Master Jason. It’s quite unusual to see you awake this early.”
“I couldn’t sleep well. How’s Steph?”
“She’s doing very well. She’s currently awake.”
“Can I go and see her? Please, Alfred.”
“I will give you two some privacy.”
Entering the room where the beds were, when Jason’s eyes landed on Steph, he couldn’t help but smile at her. She was alive, she was breathing, and most of all, she was awake and smiling back at him.
“I hear I have you to thank for saving me. Thank you, Jason, really.”
“You’re more than welcome. I’d do it any time you call.”
“That’s probably the sweetest thing a guy has said to me in a while.”
“Damn.” Sitting down by her bedside on the chair from yesterday, he looked at her and could tell she still wasn’t one hundred percent yet. “How’re you really feeling?”
“Like shit to be honest. I almost stopped breathing. There were probably a few minutes there my brain and body were barely getting enough oxygen to stay alive. I know my muscles are feeling it, they’re a little tighter than usual. I’m also what Harper likes to call spoonless. That pollen fucked me up and not in the good way.”
“The day Ivy creates a relaxation pollen will be the day we all get a day off,” Jason grinned, his blue eyes meeting Steph’s. Damn, it was good to see her smile, even if it was only a little.
“If that day ever comes, you’ll find me by the pool reading a book between swims.”
“I feel that. I have a TBR pile taller than Damian.”
“I have one that’s about as tall as you,” Steph winked, laughing a little.
“Okay, you win there.”
Falling into a comfortable silence, Jason pulled out his phone and opened his Goodreads app. Getting a link to his profile, he sent it to Steph in a message with a little note of ‘just in case you want to be friends there too.’
“Hey, Jason. Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure. Of course. Shoot.”
“Last night, I was kind of awake. Did you mean what you said?” Steph asked, choosing her words carefully.
“I did. I meant every word I said. You make this world better, Steph. With you here, the world is full of wonder and whimsy, and if it were to lose you. If I were to lose you, my world would be a grainy black and white tv show from the seventies.”
“Do you like me, Jason?” Steph asked, playing with the corner of her blanket and not looking at him.
Gently placing a finger under Steph’s chin, Jason waited until she made eye contact with him. “Steph, I really like you. Some days the thought of getting to see your smile is one of the only things that gets me out of bed.”
“I like you too, Jason. Like, a lot.”
“Best news of my life,” Jason smiled, getting Steph to grin and shake her head. “When you’re feeling better, I’d like to take you on a date. We can decide on when and where when you’re feeling better. But for now, I’m happy to do whatever I can to help you.”
“Well, you could come here and give me a kiss,” Steph cheekily said, pulling Jason closer to her as the heart rate monitor behind her started to beep a little faster.
Pressing his lips to Steph’s in a soft kiss he felt her kiss him back. His eyes closed on their own as he deepened the kiss and cupped her face.
The heart rate monitor in the background was beeping loudly at them but they tried to ignore it.
“I think that’s enough for now, you two,” Alfred interrupted them, quietening the machine.
“Will you come and see me later?” Steph asked, holding onto his hand.
“I’ll come see you the second I can. I promise.” Pressing a kiss to Steph’s forehead, Jason pressed another to the back of her hand as he watched her relax back into the bed to get some more much-needed rest.
Jason would do anything she asked for as long as they both lived. Exiting the medbay, he went back to his room and curled up with his book and counted down the minutes until he could go visit her again.