Chapter Text
The Red Hood groaned as loudly as he could, just to be an annoyance. Honestly Replacement, hurry up. He sat in a narrow alleyway, back to a scratchy, hard, cold, concrete wall. All the terrible adjectives. Wuthering Heights style terrible. And the ground was dirty! Jason had standards. Broken glass, open wound, hello, recipe for disaster. Who knew how much bacteria had already gotten in his wound. Which- did he mention- was a stab wound. A stab wound. From a gunfight. Hadn't anyone ever heard of the whole 'Never bring a knife to a gunfight deal'? And now, blood oozing, mixing with afore-mentioned bacteria, and the feared Red Hood, on the ground, left all alone, so miserably alone, oh the pain, the misery-
"Sorry, sorry, so sorry, they had some backup, and then I had to track down the van that their backup took with the pieces. Then Gotham PD took forever to show up... Are you okay?"
He groaned, and flopped to the ground. Red Robin gave an aborted shout, before Jason looked up with a mischievous grin. “Well, my patience died.”
Tim sighed. “You’re a jerk. Move your hand, I need to clean it up and bandage it.”
He pulled out his field medic kit, eyeing the likely bacteria-infested alleyway. The Red Hood hissed as the alcohol burned against the exposed bits of flesh.
“Yep." Tim said. "That’s going to need stitches.”
“Yeah, and you’re gonna need a cane to walk if you don’t HURRY UP AND GET IT WRAPPED.”
“Ok, ok, geez.”
Red Robin ignored his muttered complaints as he wound the strip of cloth tightly around his abdomen. Hood swore that he tied it extra tight just to tick him off.
“There! Right then, what safe house are we going to?”
“What the heck are you talking about?”
“Hood, I’m not letting you drive in this condition. And I’m not leaving you until I’m sure that you’ve got some stitches in that. Funnily enough, I do care about your continued existence.”
Welp. That hit a lot harder than he thought. Stupid Omegas, and their stupid ways with emotions. He couldn’t even smell Tim, ‘cause of the scent blockers.
“The one on 73rd.”
Red Robin hoisted him up onto his tricked out bike- which. Dang, Replacement, that is one nice bike. Maybe he could borrow it sometime. Or, you know, just take it. But that was still borrowing. Just without asking.
He eyed the kid’s back with contempt as the engine fired up. Kid probably drove like a grandma. Slow and steady all the way; cautious defined Red Robin.
Oh how wrong he was.
Red Robin drove fast and crazy, a breath stealing sort of insane that weaved in and out through traffic until Red Hood was less worried about the hole in his side and more worried about surviving this drive. He screamed something, once, at this imposter for his maybe sort of brother, but Red Robin tried to scream back and only succeeded in nearly crashing the two of them.
Hood had not tried to distract him again.
When they finally reached his base, Jason basically fell off the bike and lay on the ground.
“Jay, Jason! You ok?”
“Sweet, sweet ground. Oh, I am so sorry for ever doubting your stability.” He kissed the ground a few times for extra dramatics, then spat out at the taste.
“Dirt not quite to your liking? I thought you would be happy with your brethren. Come on, lean on me.”
Tim helped him up, supporting all of him on his left side. The kid grunted a few times, which Jason couldn’t help but snicker at, the tiny thing the Omega was, and got him up the stairs. He was all but pushed off onto the couch in the tiny apartment they entered. Jason liked to switch places every few months, so it was mostly bare. The obligatory bookshelves lined most surfaces, staples in every place he bought, but the table was cheap and the couch ragged. It didn’t have a feeling of home (unlike the Manor).
“Who did you learn to drive from? The devil? The patron saint of craziness? The Arkham school for driving?”
“Shut up. If you must know, school taught me. At least, the hard bits. Most of it was on my own. Who taught you?”
Jason was quiet for a moment. The memories flooded in, memories of laughing, having a dad. “Bruce did.”
Tim was quiet for a moment too, pulling out a needle and letting the silence persist as he stitched Jason up and rebandaged him.
Then he pulled off his scent blocker.
“What’re you doing?”
“Come on, big guy, we’re going out.”
“Out? Where to?”
“Out. Move it.”
Well now, looks like the Replacement is a man with a plan. Hopefully he’s not taking him to some back alleyway or somethin’. Jason peeled off his own scent blocker, and got changed into some civvies, being careful not to pull at the new stitches. The Omega was out there when he finished, in a hoodie and sweatpants, looking entirely comfortable in his place.
“Alright!” He barked, causing the kid to jump. “Where we goin’?”
Tim gave him a quick grin, a plotting smile and led him outside to the bike. Jason decided to stop that in its tracks. He does enjoy his second life, thank you very much.
“I’m driving.” His tone brooked no argument.
Tim directed him from the back seat down some suspiciously familiar streets, until they finally stopped in front of a place he knows very, very well.
“44 drive in? How the heck do you know about this place?”
“I used to stalk you and Bruce, remember?” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I know everything .”
“Ok, gonna ignore how incredibly creepy that is, why are we here?”
“‘Cause you look like you need some incredibly unhealthy diner food, and I’m in the mood for a greasy burger. “
“Fair enough.”
They found a ratty booth, torn up from years and years of use, in the corner, where they could see everyone but few could see them. Bat training never really leaves you. The diner is full of nostalgia. Back in the day, he and Bruce used to come here after patrol, get milkshakes and burgers. It was… nice. Peaceful. Untouched by any of the bad things that came afterwards.
Jason had absolutely no idea what his brother the kid was trying to do here.
He’s not going to refuse a free milkshake though.
Jason lasted maybe 5 minutes.
“Ok, what’s this all about? What are you trying to do? Butter me up with diner food so you can get a favor?”
“No? I just want to eat a burger.”
“That’s not it and we both know it.”
“No Jason, that’s all there is to it. I honestly don’t want anything but a burger. I don’t care what you do, besides to sit here and not kill me.”
“Geez, setting the bar low.”
And that’s nice. That the bar is so low. It’s not Bruce, ragging on about him for his something or another and ending up shouting at him, and it’s not Dick, dragging him around to do things. Oddly enough, it’s liberating not to have any expectations forced on him.
“So… what do you do for fun?”
Tim raises an eyebrow. “5 points to Gryffindor for the most awkward conversation starter.”
“Hey! I’m a Ravenclaw!”
“You- actually I can see that. Closet nerd, super good at school, secretly an introvert, actually went and got a GED, unlike some of us.”
Jason nearly spit out his milkshake. “What do you mean, some of us? Goldie finished high school. He was in college for a little while, too. And you’re still in high school, ‘cause you’re like 17, 18, so you haven’t had a chance to finish.”
“Actually, I dropped out. I’m a CEO, remember?”
What? This did not compute. How the heck did Bruce let Babybir- Replacement get away with this? He remembered Bruce pushing him hard about his grades. Well, at least caring. He didn’t need to push because Jason loved school. Still did.
He opened his mouth to say something, but Tim stood up.
“I gotta go to the bathroom, be right back.”
He walked off. Jason stretched for a second, then pulled out his phone to play a game. Tim wasn’t ditching him. Nope. He wouldn’t do that, would he?
Either way, Jason wasn’t continuing that line of conversation. Tim hadn’t talked to him about anything regarding B, and he wasn’t going to either. That always seemed to blow up in his face. Besides, the Replacement wasn’t Goldie. Maybe they didn’t have to have heart to hearts to be brothers friends. It would be nice to be on better terms with one of the Bats. They worked together a lot these days anyways. Wouldn’t hurt to do something outside of work with him. Being close to his the Wayne’s Pack Omega would certainly improve relations with the Bats all around too.
He sighed, took the last sip of his milkshake, judged Tim was taking too long, and reached to steal one of the kid’s fries. At least, that was what he was going to do. Instead, his hand hovered in front of a rose arranged on his plate.
Jason glanced around. Had someone dropped it there? He hadn’t seen anyone pass by. Actually, if he hadn’t seen anybody, they must’ve snuck past. Getting past the hypervigilant net Bruce had drilled in him was a feat.
Suddenly the rose seemed ominous.
Poison Ivy? Didn’t seem like her M.O.
He pulled out his phone again and, against his better judgement, took a picture. Even as the shutter sounded, footsteps came from the general direction of the back of the business.
“Hey, ‘Placement, you got a present.”
He gestured towards the flower, and almost missed the scowl that flitted across the other’s face. Before he could get a lock down on his emotions, too, Jason sniffed the air and took in the way his scent rapidly soured, disgust and a tiny bit of fear in there. But then his face smoothed over, scent returned to the normal Tim smell, and the Omega plucked the rose and threw it in the trash.
Jason raised an eyebrow. “What was that?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m done, you?”
“Yeah, yeah, you need a ride back? ‘Cause I’m not letting you drive back.”
“Actually…. Could I stay the night with you?”
What. What the Mr. Wickham. For those who are just joining us right here on Jason’s Brain space, what was this kid thinking?
“Never mind, it’s just you were making pasta the other day, and I wanted to try some, actually I don’t know why I said that, but my apartment’s air conditioning broke down, and it’s super hot in there, and I don’t really feel like heading back there, ‘cause I’m not going to get any sleep, not like I ever do, but-”
“Woah, hold up. You could have led with the fact that your air conditioning broke. Why aren’t you staying at the Manor?”
“Think about it.”
Damian.
“Sure. Geez, next time figure out what you’re saying. I was a bit concerned ya thought this was all a date for a second.”
Tim looks absolutely horrified at the thought, which makes this whole idea completely worth it.
“So, what house are you anyway?”
“Slytherin.”
“Why am I not surprised.”
______________________________
Jason awoke with a gasp, heart pounding, breath coming in and out like he’d just run a marathon, flashes of green tinging the edges of his vision, there wasn’t enough air-
“Woah, Jay, calm down. Shhhhhh. You’re alright.”
Joker was there, he was going to beat him again, but not with a crowbar this time, this time it was going to be with his own two guns , no place was safe-
A warm body leapt onto the bed, jostling it from side to side, and slid in next to Jason. He thrashed a bit in response, but the arms encircling him only got tighter. There was something…. Relaxing about his scent? It filtered in through the green, pouring into his pores, until his breath came a little easier. His body unwound, tension falling away, until all he could feel was those two (skinny) arms around him.
“Tim?” He croaked.
“Shhhh. I gotcha. You’re ok.”
“What-?”
“You had a nightmare.”
“Oh.” Then Jason’s sleepy brain caught up a bit, “ Oh.”
He lay there for a moment, processing. Had Tim heard what was going, seen, smelled his distress, and thought nothing more than to jump right in? What. What was going on in his life anymore. He didn’t. He didn’t think anyone would do that (for him).
His silence must’ve suggested something else, because Tim hesitantly said “I can. I can go? If you want? It’s just that you looked kind of terrified, and I didn’t want you to be alone, but- yeah. I’ll just leave.” The arms fell off and the small body started to slip away.
“No.” His voice was still gruff with sleep, and he was 99% sure that embarrassment would be the main emotion in the morning, but he knew what he wanted. “C’mere babybird.” He wrapped an arm around the Omega and reeled him in tight, right next to his side.
“Ok? I thought-”
“You’re my little brother, I don’t care what you think.”
The little laugh that Tim gave vibrated against his chest.
Then Jason added: “We both know I didn’t wake you up. You weren’t asleep in the first place.”
“You caught me.”
“Yeah, well, you’re a stupid little brother.” And Jason was going to regret this in the morning. He was going to regret this so, so much. “But you’re my little brother.” He pulled up the small body to where he could kiss him on the forehead. The noise Tim made in response was hard to place but- Purring. His little brother was purring. It vibrated through every part of him, like a weird massage, but it was perfect and wonderful and every one of his Alpha instincts was screaming safe, you’re safe, there’s no one safer, pack is here .
Well, who was he to argue with biology?
“Don’t go.” The plea slipped out of him before he could stop it,
“I won’t.” Tim promised.
He was definitely going to regret this in the morning.
The purring continued on, sounding like his mother, long ago. Pressed up against him, the body was small, but warm. He’d always thought that Tim’s scent was a lonely one standing out in the rain, earthy and wet and petrichor (because once upon a time Jason had been a nerd and had a good vocabulary). Now though, it felt less alone and more at one with the world. It was soaking in the beauty of life and nature, not staring at the inevitability of it all.
He let the waves of sleep, smelling strangely like earth after rain, pull him in.
______________________
Tim tuned out Jason’s voice in favor of staring out the window. Was that- Shoot. Shoot. He knew how Jason felt about that sort of stuff. He’d freak out. (For some reason, Jason had always been a little more violent to these offenders) Probably grab his gun and shoot someone. He tuned back in, catching the tail end of what he Jason had been saying
“-you’re like 17, 18, so you haven’t had a chance to finish.”
“Actually, I dropped out. I’m a CEO, remember?”
Jason looked uncharacteristically concerned about that statement, but he needed to go fix this before it got worse.
“I gotta go to the bathroom, be right back.”
He walked over to the bathroom, but slipped into the kitchen (where the workers greeted him, he’d paid them off long ago, they thought he was just trying to escape paparazzi- which was true sometimes) and out to the back. There, against the alley wall, an older man in a stained ratty gray tank top loomed over a teenage girl. He was pressed up close, whispering something in her ear. Every muscle and tendon was clearly tense, but the girl was stuck, pinned against the wall. Quickly, he pulled out a small, compact tranq gun he’d made exactly for this situation, and shot the older man.
He ducked out of sight just as the man fell over, and waited to make sure the girl had run off before going back to the restaurant.
Jason was already struggling with the Pit, he didn’t need another episode.
It was the Omega’s job to protect the emotions of the Pack.