Chapter Text
Dick was here.
Again, he really fuckin’ sucked at taking care of his car. His car sputtered as he drove into Jason’s garage and he hopped out of the car with all the disgusting cheeriness as always. “You know I’m pretty sure you break my car every time I come just to see me more often.” Dick winked and Jason rolled his eyes. He got up from the parts he had been working on to walk over to Dick, throwing a dirty towel over his shoulder. “It might just be because you’re shit at mechanics. When’s the last time you changed your oil anyways? You’ve been coming to the shop for like three years and you’ve never asked me to change it.”
Dick blinked at him for several seconds, with what Jason thought looked like a very, very empty head. “When’s the last time I what-ed my what now?”
What the fuck does that mean? “Dick. Dickie. Richard. Buddy, tell me, for the love of God, that you have been changing your oil.” There was just more blinking, then he cocked his head. “Like… like for the car?” Holy shit he’s serious. “Okay pretty boy, why don’t you go sit down and do your makeup or whatever it is you think about… assuming you do that.”
Dick scoffed but went to throw himself onto the couch. “Yeah well at least I’m not a dropout, and don’t act like you didn’t make me fix your computer last week.” Jason jacked up the car and slid under. He started to take off the oil pan. “So we both have our strengths whatever, no excuse to treat your poor car like this. Honestly I’m just confused how it still works at all.” Dick started to chitter about whatever the latest girl he’d been with was. Jason half listened, catching words like ‘Barbara’, ‘Date’ and ‘Library’. Mostly because how could Jason have thought when His oil looks like fucking jello.
Jason slid out from under the car to make eye contact, just for the extra emotional damage. “I worry, so incredibly deeply for your girlfriends, if this is how you take care of a car.” The wrench came hurling at him and he slid back under the car. “Asshole!” Jason laughed. “Fuck you too! But seriously start changing your oil. With how much you drive you should be able to get away with every seven or eight months.” Annoying blue eyes popped into his vision as Dick looked under the car. “Awww you just want to see me more often don’t you Jay?
He kicked out and landed on what was probably a forehead judging by the sound of disgust. “I see you too much already.” Dick hummed. “I mean it’s not that much timewise but I guess, three times a week when you bring Lian to the gym, and then every time my car breaks.” The oil finished draining and Jason slid back out to clean the pan. “Yeah, oh and speaking of, Roy is going to pick her up this weekend.” Dick threw a towel at him. “Dude you always drop her off, like I have seen you come in with a concussion kind of always–yes I noticed stop looking at me like that– so you better not be dying.”
Well it isn’t exactly safe but he can’t say ‘yeah I have a meeting with a local drug lord where I’m going to shoot him for getting into human trafficking’ so he settled for something vague. “It’s just a business meeting.” Dick had climbed onto one of the tire racks to perch on it. “How do you stay open anyways? I've never seen anyone else in here?” That was a much harder question to answer. “You come in on Sundays most of the time, and at like four, so it’s pretty slow.” Lying to him felt shitty, but he couldn’t bring civilians into this, especially not people he loved especially not his friends, especially not Dick.
The guilt was choking him so he changed topics. “The winter olympics have started, are you still coming over Friday to watch with me?” Dick flipped off the rack and Jason had to hold one of the tires on. “Hell yeah! We haven’t done this three years in a row for nothing. I get the alcohol, you get the snacks?” It was a relief to be off the topic, Jason almost sighed, and smiled. “Same as always.”
~ ⋅⋆ ☼ ☆ •𖤓• ☆ ☼ ⋆⋅ ~
Dick was here.
Jason didn’t really know much else than that.
The list of things he was still aware of was painfully short.
For one he’d been shot, by somebody who had liked the trafficker he’d killed– for some reason –and he hadn’t seen them till after the bullet– bullets? Whatever, he hadn’t seen them until it was too late. He had managed to down the man before any of his goons had gotten hurt and they had gotten the guy in revenge of their boss. Redhood gives healthcare after all, dental even, all under the table of course. That made his people quite loyal.
The second thing was that he was bleeding. A lot. Like he was trailing enough blood that a Gcpd intern with cataracts could have trailed him. Jason had seen an actual Gotham cop miss the drag marks from a body in the dirt so that was for saying– a lot of blood. It made him dizzy, and sticky, the sticky was deeply unpleasant.
The third thing was that the latter two things were fading from his consciousness quite quickly. Pain and blood loss were blurring everything till he didn’t quite know where he was. Trying to grab street names or even what had just happened was getting increasingly difficult. It was like trying to grab at the moss slick rocks of the coastline while the current dragged you under over and over again.
The fourth and final thing he knew was that the next time the world came into focus it was from the street Dick lived on. His body had brought him to the closest place that had any chance of being safe. He shot his grapple to the window.
Dick might not be home.
He pressed the button to sling him up.
Dick might not help a crime lord.
He barely held on as he was brought up.
If he found out who Jason was it could put him in danger. More selfishly it could make him leave.
He landed on the ledge.
If Dick wasn’t home Jason would bleed out on his floor.
Jason almost keeled back into the street but he managed to crash through the window.
He really didn’t want Dick to find him dead.
He pushed himself against the wall and managed to get his shirt off over the helmet, panting desperately while the oxygen ran from him.
Nobody deserved to find their loved ones dead, not like that. Not left with the mask and what was under it, with only questions and a body left.
He started to get bandages from his belt. Shadows moved through the hall.
A different kind of shadow danced in his eyes before it washed over everything.
A thud came from behind him. Weird. Was the last full word in his head. Followed only by the formless worry for how Dick might find him.