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“You are going to a party?” asked Jason amazed.
“What? I do have a social life you know,” stated Tim, glaring at Jason. Without breaking eye contact he stole one of Jason’s grilled cheese sandwiches. Jason didn’t hesitate to steal one of Tim’s right back.
“Don’t tease him. When you were his age you had a book club meeting every week,” said Dick.
Jason raised a brow, considering, “At his age I was dead.”
The remainder of Jason’s death still hurt. Probably always will. These were a hard few years, as were the months right after Jason’s return to the city. Things had just started getting better. Not ideal, but definitely not bad. Probably even better than good, considering Dick would have never thought they would get where they are now. To be honest Dick thought things were good when Jason stopped trying to kill them. On that scale, things were practically fantastic.
“Besides,” Tim said, brushing a few crumbs from Dick’s kitchen table to the floor in a way that would make Alfred have a heart attack, “it’s Adam Campbell’s party. He is an heir to his father’s company and it would be good to make connections. My parents have pushed me to talk with him for some time now.”
“There it is,” grumbled Jason, “of course you wouldn’t go to a party to have fun. No, you are going because your asshole parents want you to. Do you even like the people that are going to be there?”
“God no,” answered Tim right away, “you know what the socialite's kids tend to be like. They aren’t really my type.”
“I always wonder if they get annoyed by others too.” Wondered Dick out loud, absent-mindedly playing with the pit of water that had fallen on the table. “We have our own public personas. They are sometimes quite assholey too.”
“Because we are assholes,” said Jason, and Dick kicked his leg under the table.
“I’m not,” defended Dick himself.
Jason scoffed, “Really, dickhead? You are one of the most assholey persons I have met.”
“Well, yeah, you haven’t met yourself,” quipped Dick right back.
“Anyway,” interrupted Tim before they start drawing graphs, trying to prove which one of them is a bigger asshole, and turned towards Jason “Why I even started this conversation was to ask if you can give me a lift back to Gotham a bit earlier today.”
“Mh? Yeah, sure. Won’t want you to be late to your fancy party. Where is it anyway?” answered Jason, collecting their now empty dishes and dumping them into the sink for Dick to deal with.
“Campbell’s have that super modern house in Bristol when you turn left from where you would usually turn right towards the manor.” Explained Tim while putting on his shoe.
“The house with the weird looking sculpture in the garden? The one that looks like someone had taken a human, crumbled them up, chewed on them and then split up?” asked Jason.
Tim nodded, and kneeled on the floor, looking under the bench for his left shoe.
“Timmy, that Adam doesn’t happen to have a big brother named Steven, does he? I think I went to school with him. Didn’t like the guy that much, he was quite entitled,” remembered Dick.
“That’s the one,” answered Tim, having fished out his shoe and finally standing beside the door, ready to go.
“Huh,” Dick looked thoughtful for a moment, “well then. Have fun. And text when you get home.”
“Oh god, you aren’t my mom,” whined Tim while accepting a hug from Dick.
“Well, your actual mom doesn’t seem too interested in making sure you are safely home so someone has to do it, right?” said Jason from where he was also pulled into a one handed hug from Dick.
Tim rolled his eyes, “shut up already. C’mon. Bye, Dick!”
“Bye, my little birdies,” waved Dick and closed the door behind his brothers. He turned towards the kitchen sink, sighing. Time to start cleaning.
The party hasn’t been that bad so far. A bit too much drunk and loud people for Tim’s liking, but alright. Even when he was pretty sure he saw some drugs being passed around. It wasn’t anything he wasn’t expecting. It being a party of rich kids only meant they had more money for alcohol and drugs and an easier time getting out of trouble.
Tim had completed his mission. He had spent quite some time talking with Adam Campbell until he became too drunk to have a conversation with. Tim has made his rounds around the house. Talking with some other kids he knows his parents would want him to get familiar with.
But soon the party had gone a bit too out of hand. Tim shuffled near the stairs where there were fewer people, when Max Harris, son of a politician, and Murphy Bennett, an heir to a successful importing business had managed to tear down the curtains by drunkenly trying to prove that they could do a cartwheel, no matter how wasted they were. Isabella Harris had gone and tried to help her brother up, but somehow had managed to also get wrapped up in the curtain, turning herself into a weird burrito. Now almost a dozen people were trying to help untangle them, but only making things worse.
Considering there was nothing actually dangerous going on, apart from the risk of alcohol poisoning, Tim didn’t feel the need to go and help them. Huh, maybe Jason was right when he said they were all assholes a little bit.
“They are driving you nuts aren’t they?” said a man behind Tim and he looked back.
Four people were standing by the stairs with Tim now. All of them older than he is, near Dick’s age. Tim recognized two of them. One of them was Steven Campbell, Adam's brother he had talked about earlier with Dick. The second person he recognized was Martin Nelson. Tim had been to a dinner party at his house once. His family was one of the old money ones in Gotham. The two other people, a shorter man and a woman with dirty blond hair were strangers to Tim.
Tim smiled politely, “I´m afraid these sorts of parties aren’t really my thing.”
“Why did you come then?” asked Steven, not unkindly, then realization covered his face and he laughed, “Let me guess. You are here to make connections? My mother pushed me to go to parties for the same reasons, even when I explained there is no point in trying to make connections with drunk people.”
Tim smiled and shrugged, not wanting to say something that might offend someone.
“Want to come upstairs with us? To get away from whatever that is,” Steven pointed back toward the chaos. Somehow the two Harrises and Bennett had managed to get free from the curtain, but now they seemed to attempt putting the curtains back up.
Tim did want to get a rest from the party, he could already feel a headache coming, but he had a bad feeling. His stranger danger senses were going off. Contrary to popular belief he did have them, he just stupidly tends to ignore it when they give alarm. Jason says that he’s surprised no one kidnapped Tim when he was younger. Tim would like to make it known he isn’t that bad.
“Yeah. You can come. We come to just hang out, but someone seemed to have forgotten to tell us his house holds few people more than usual,” the woman glared at Steven, who ashamedly rubbed the back of his neck, “I’ll honestly feel so bad if I leave you here in the wolves den right now.”
Tim considered the offer for a moment. He would use the rest and they did seem friendly enough. Besides he wasn’t going anywhere in the city with them. No secondary locations, just another floor. And they did have a woman with them. He nodded.
“Great!” said the short man with enthusiasm and started going up the stairs, “my name is Ben, this is Martin, that’s Steven and the lady is Grace.”
“What’s your name?” asked Grace, who was going up at the same pace as Tim did.
“Tim, Timothy Drake,” answered Tim.
“Timothy Drake? I think you have been to mine for dinner, Timmy boy,” said Martin cheerfully.
“Yes, last year,” agreed Tim.
“Your parents are archaeologists right?” asked Martin when Steven led them to a room on the second floor. The room didn’t have any windows, but it did have two huge couches, a big TV, and a drum set. Tim sat on one of the couches.
“Yes, it’s sort of their passion and job in one,” nodded Tim.
“They away on a dig right now?” asked Ben, from the couch opposite to Tim. He made the old man groan when sitting down that reminded Tim of Bruce and made him smile, even when the question gave off warning lights in his head again.
“Yeah, they are in Jordan right now. When I last talked to them, they said they have found some really interesting objects from a few hundred years BC,” talked Tim. Grace sat next to him.
Steven grabbed a half empty pack of water and gave one bottle to Tim, “are you interested in archaeology too?”
Tim took the bottle from Steven and looked down at it, “I’m afraid not. I’m more interested in technology or photography.”
The bottle was full and the lid wasn’t cracked. He also didn’t notice any spots on the bottle so he deemed it safe enough and took a swing from it.
“Photography? My mother loves photography. She tried to feed the flame in me too, but I´m afraid I don’t have the patience. But I do know how to appreciate good pictures. Do you have some on your phone you can show us?” asked Grace, moving closer to Tim.
Tim was pleased to find someone interested in his photography. He took out his phone and unlocked it, thinking about what to show her when his vision got blurry. This, this isn’t right. This is bad. Very, very bad.
He looked up and saw all four looking at him, not at all surprised or concerned. They were waiting.
Oh shit.
Tim stood up, almost falling over. He didn’t feel his legs properly. He locked his knees and tried to hold his balance. Ben stood up too, coming closer to Tim. None of the earlier friendliness was there, only self satisfaction and excitement.
“I, I need to go,” slurred Tim. God, he’s Robin, how did he let them-
“Already?” said Steven with a mocking voice, “but the fun just started.”
Tim took a stumbling step back. Trying to think of a way to get away. Everything was so blurry.
“Help!” he screamed, hoping someone downstairs would hear him.
“No use to yell. This room is soundproof. I practised drums here and mom couldn’t stand that. My devil music hurt her head,” Steven said with a mocking tone, “well, I can’t say I don’t appreciate it. It has made things a lot easier.”
It wasn’t their first time. Fuck.
Tim took one more step backward, falling against the wall. There was a vibration from his phone. Dick had sent something to the group chat with him and Jason. Tim opened the chat, accidentally pushing the wrong button a few times. He started typing “help”.
“Hey, Ben, take the phone from him!” ordered Martin who saw Tim’s efforts.
Ben surged forward, violently grabbing the phone from Tim. On instinct, Tim locked the phone before he got it. He had managed to send the text.
“C’mon, kiddo. No need to make a scene. It’s just a bit of fun. You won’t even remember most of it after,” said Grace, smiling at Tim.
“No, no- I don’t want to-“ he mumbled. It was getting hard to hold his eyes open. He slid down the wall, onto the floor. His eyes closed on their own.
Jason was in his main safehouse. Well, it started as a safehouse, but by now it’s pretty much his normal apartment. Home. He was watching some new film, a musical, when he got a notification and soon there was another one. And then another and another and another-. It was weird, Jason took his phone and saw they were all from his and his brothers´ group chat. He opened it, expecting Dick to be rambling about some new gymnastics routine or the baby bird sending photos he made and was proud enough to share with them.
What he didn’t expect was a wave of panicked messages from Dick, all in response to one text from Tim, “Help”.
Panic went through Jason, as well as confusion. Tim wasn’t supposed to go out tonight. He had gone to that party. Party. He’s at a party and asking for help.
“I’m gonna go check,” texted Jason, already having grabbed one of his guns and a motorcycle helmet.
“I’m driving over too. Be there ASAP. Good luck,” texted Dick back.
Jason didn’t waste any more time. He basically flew down the stairs, ignoring the elevators. Soon he was on his bike and rushing through Gotham traffic. He was so glad he had asked where the party was beforehand. He didn’t want to waste time tracking the birdie down.
The time was late, but it doesn’t really matter in big cities like Gotham. There were still more than enough cars on the streets. Jason drove zig-zag between the cars, avoiding scratching them by mere inches. He might have scratched one or two. He didn’t care at the moment. No one would be able to figure out who the bike belonged to.
He drove to Bristol in one of his record times. He took a sharp turn, almost putting his shoulder down when he turned left as Timmy had instructed.
The front of the house was already full of cars. Jason parked diagonally behind one of them, not even caring. He ran to the door and stepped in. The house looked like a beehive of drunk kids. Most of them were in the living room, sitting on the floor and staring at a curtain lying between them like it held the secrets of the universe. No Timmy there.
Jason started searching through the house. Hoping that Timmy is here somewhere and not on the other side of Gotham. The kid wasn’t on the first floor, but Jason did find Tim’s jacket hanging over one of the chairs in the kitchen. He took it as a sign that Tim was still in the house.
He went upstairs, where he didn’t see any kids, apart from a small circle sitting on the floor below a window and smoking. No Timmy there.
Jason started to go through rooms on the second floor. The second floor seemed to be the family´s private rooms. A few of them were locked and after picking the locks they were revealed to be bedrooms. Still no Tim.
There was a locked door, next to one of the bedrooms. Jason supposed this is going to be a bedroom as well. He picked the lock, taking a few seconds before getting in. He pushed the door open and stopped. Frozen.
Inside were three men and a woman. They were all gathered around one of the couches. One of the men was sitting on a low coffee table, drinking something, most likely alcohol, from a glass and leaned forward, towards the form on the couch. Another one was leaning against the back of the couch, watching with interest and satisfaction. The woman sat on the couch, near the head of the person lying there. Her hand was buried in his hair. And finally, the last man. Sitting by the hip of the kid. His shirt had been pushed upwards, rolled under the armpits, revealing the front of the kid´s torso. His nipples were red. The man was sliding his hands down the kid´s body until being stopped by the, thankfully still there and fully zipped, pants.
There- there was no denying who the kid was. Jason would recognize the kid anywhere. However much he wanted to believe he was mistaken, there is no denying it. It was Timmy. His baby brother. His little, sweet, occasionally manic, but still kind- baby brother.
The man who was sitting on the coffee table looked up when Jason stepped in and closed the door behind him, locking it.
“Hey, man! What are you doing here?” he asked angrily.
Jason saw green.
More vibrant than ever before.
And for once, he welcomes it to take over his body and mind.
They hurt him.
They hurt his little brother.
This isn’t right. Jason has to protect his little brother. No one can hurt him. No one who Jason doesn’t allow can hurt his little Timmy. And he definitely doesn’t allow them to hurt him.
He walks farther inside the room. Taking in all the people there. The man who had sat on the coffee table, the shortest of them, backs up and holds out his hands. His glass was forgotten on the coffee table.
“Wow, man! Calm down! We’re just having a bit of fun, nothing serious.”
A bit of fun he says? Well, maybe it’s time for Jason to have a little bit of fun.
He walks up to the man and grabs him by his raised hand. His eyes go big. Good. He’s scared. Jason likes it when people are scared. It makes him happy. He likes to be happy.
He twists the hand until he hears a pop. The man screams. His screams sound good. Jason wants to hear more of them.
He grabs the man’s wrist in his other hand and pulls. He watched with glee as the muscles and veins in the hand tore. Blood rushed out. Yes, good. But not enough.
By now the man was kneeling in front of Jason. Screaming and crying. He was pleading, but Jason didn’t care enough to listen to what he said. How to make him hurt?
Jason took the man’s head in his hands. The pleading was starting to annoy him. He shouldn’t plead. He hurt Jason’s little brother. He should be sorry. He should plead for forgiveness, not mercy. Jason pushed his fingers into the man’s mouth, ignoring the attempts to bite him. He took hold of the man’s tongue and pulled. And pulled. And pulled. Just like the hand, it tore. The man was screaming himself crazy. Blood started pooling in the man’s throat, suffocating him. Jason didn’t have much time with him anymore.
He stuffed the tongue deep into the man’s throat. He put his thumb under the man’s left eye. This time he pushed. He pushed until the eye popped right out of its socket, hanging there, swinging from left to right. Jason took hold of the ripped out eye and pulled it too. He wanted to see how far he could pull it without ripping the cord.
The man can’t scream anymore. There is no sound left in him. He is crying. His tears mixed with the blood flowing from his eye and mouth.
He wonders what it tastes like. Do the tears make the blood´s metallic taste saltier? Jason bowed down and licked a bit of the blood and tears from the man’s cheek. Huh, it does taste saltier. That’s cool.
The man was almost dead. Jason put his finger over the man’s other eye and pushed this time, deforming the eye.
The man died.
Jason let the body fall to the floor. Kicking it once with his foot. He stepped right into a pool of blood flowing from the man’s hand.
He shouldn’t have touched Jason’s little brother.
He looked up. The three other people in the room had pressed themselves against the wall opposite Jason.
On the coffee table were four phones and a pair of keys. One of the phones was propped up. Directed right toward Jason’s baby brother on the couch. This isn’t right. They shouldn’t have videos of Jason’s brother. Jason doesn’t want them to have videos of him. He took the phone from the table and ended the video.
“H-hey,” said one of the men, covering from Jason, “please- please let us go, man. We-we were just joking around. We won’t tell anyone what you did with Ben, we swear. Just let us go.”
Jason didn’t even bother to answer. He pocketed the phone and keys. The other three phones he simply broke in half and let them fall to the floor.
Jason looked to the side. His baby brother was still lying on the couch, he wasn’t opening his eyes or moving. For a second, fear took place in Jason’s heart. His baby brother can’t be dead. It’s not allowed. Jason hasn’t said he can die. Only Jason can decide if he can die or not. And Jason won’t ever let him die. He loves his brother. He was perfect. He smiled and cried and screamed and bleed so nice. And only for Jason.
He walked closer to his brother and kneeled beside his head. He was breathing. That’s good. His pulse was a bit slow, but nothing dangerous. Jason felt stupid for thinking he was dead. Of course he isn’t. Timmy knows Jason hasn’t allowed him to die. Timmy is good and sweet. He won’t die if Jason doesn’t allow him. He cupped his cheek, painting the man’s, Ben or whatever, blood over him. He leaned down and kissed his brother’s forehead. He has the best baby brother ever.
“Is-is it about that kid? You want to have him yourself? Take him! For goddess sake, take him and do whatever you want with him! Just leave us alone!” the man who had tried to plead before was talking again. He should shut up. Jason didn’t like his voice. Jason has to shut him up.
But first. Timmy’s shirt was still pulled up. This isn’t right. They can see his skin. They shouldn’t see him. No, they don’t deserve to see him. He is only for Jason’s eyes and whoever he allows to see him, like his big brother and grandfather and sometimes even his dad. They don’t deserve to see his perfect little brother. They should have their eyes scooped out for seeing him.
Jason gently, gently because his baby brother deserves only the best, raised Timmy’s upper body and pulled his shirt down. Still. They can still see too much. They shouldn’t see him at all. He isn’t for their eyes. Jason shrugged off his leather jacket and laid it over his baby brother, tucking it around him like swaddling a baby. This is good. Now he is wearing Jason’s things. It will show people who he belongs to. If people know he is his, then they won’t touch him, because they know he already belongs to somebody. Yes. That’s good.
Now. Back to where he was. The annoying man should die next. He tried to run when Jason approached him. Coward. He doesn’t even understand that he should pay. He touched what is Jason’s. He was the man who had his hands on Jason’s baby brother when he stepped in. He shouldn’t get to keep his fingers.
Jason grabbed the man and threw him on the floor. He straddled him, not caring at all when he put his whole weight on the man. He tried to push Jason away. It only made his hands easier for Jason to grab. He started with the right one. He took hold of his fingers and pulled them off. One at a time. He hummed a nursery rhyme, that was teached to him when he was little. Even smaller than his baby bird is now. The one that taught the names of each finger. Jason didn’t really like the song.
The man was crying, somehow still conscious when Jason was done. That’s nice. It makes Jason sad when they die too quickly. Jason considered for a moment and took out his knife. The man started pleading again, his words blending into each other. Someone sobbed loudly by the wall.
Jason stepped off the man and stabbed him right in his crotch, down to the knife’s hilt. The man screamed then, higher and louder than Jason had heard today. He curled up his spine, almost sitting up. Pulling his knees up and raising his fingerless hands to his crotch. Then, it seemed like strings had been cut and he fell down. Not screaming, not crying, only gasping for air. Good. Very good. Jason liked that.
For last, he pushed two of his fingers deep into the man’s eye sockets. The grimace made Jason laugh. It looked so funny! He pulled his fingers out and clapped his hand out of pure joy. So the man could be good. He could make Jason happy. Jason patted the man on the head. He whimpered. And he died. Good! Good! Good! He should die!
Now, who to choose for the next one? The choice was made for Jason when the woman pushed away from the wall and ran towards the door. Jason let her. She pulled and pushed the door. Screaming, kicking, clawing. She was hysteric! And Jason hadn’t ever hurt her yet!
He looked back for a second, towards the last man. He had curled up on the floor, looking like a little baby. His head was pushed into his knees and he had both his hands up and covering his ears. He was rocking back and forth. Not a sound came out of him. Shock. That was boring. Jason liked it when they screamed. That man will be the last, Jason will think of something to do to him.
He walked towards the woman and she started screaming in earnest. No words, just primal terrified screams. That was fun.
He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her away from the door, throwing her against the coffee table. She curled up, shielding her head with her hands.
What to do with her? Something fun. His eyes landed on the glass the first man had drank from. Hm, he can do something with that. He leaned over the woman, taking the glass into his hands. She keened and raised her head.
“I’m sorry,” she cried, “I’m sorry for whatever we did. I´m sorry we hurt the kid! Please! Please, I’m sorry!”
“Baby brother,” Jason said, the first words he had said to them.
“What?” the woman asked.
Jason pointed towards Timmy on the couch, “Baby brother.”
Now the woman understood. Her face scrunched up even more. They aren’t getting out of this. Out of all people they had chosen the one with a psychopathic big brother. She was suddenly angry. Boiling with rage. Rage against the man, against herself, against Steven who had chosen their victim. “Easy prey” her ass. There wasn’t really anything to lose.
She lunged at the man, trying to scratch his face up. If he can come and ruin their lives then at least she can ruin his pretty face.
The man grabbed her hands before she could even make contact, turning her around so she was lying with her back against the man’s chest. She screamed and squirmed. Trying to bite the him.
The man grabbed her head. He took the glass and poured what little was left in it into her lap. He smashed the glass against the floor, breaking it, shards flying around them. He took a handful of shards. Not caring that they also cut into his hand, and pushed them into her mouth. She screamed. They cut the inside of her mouth and throat. Her mouth was filling with blood. The man pressed his hand against her mouth, not letting her split the shards up. Soon the blood flowing down her throat made her choke and she swallowed on instinct. The shards went down with the blood. She could feel how they cut up her insides. All the blood made her want to throw up.
She choked on her own blood all the while Jason looked on with curiosity. He hasn’t done this before and he wanted to see how it plays out.
The woman had also touched his baby brother, that means her hands had to go. That was the rule. Jason took her hand and started to break her fingers. He could do that without raising his eyes from the woman’s face, still looking at how her experiment was going. The woman whimpered when he broke her fingers, but it seemed like the pain was nothing compared to the glass. That wouldn’t do. She has to be sorry for touching Jason’s little brother.
He took one of her fingers, the middle one, and pushed it into the woman’s mouth. He braced the top of her head against his chest and took hold of her jaw, not letting her spit the finger up. The position made more shards and blood go down her throat. He didn’t have much time with her anymore. He pushed her jaw up. Making her bite her own finger off. That made her scream. Jason thinks he heard one or two of her teeth break. The blood started to overflow her mouth and come out of the corners. She started to shake violently. She took her last breath and died.
That was interesting.
He has to do it again someday.
Jason let her head fall to the floor. He pushed his fingers into her eyes and pulled them out, one after another. He cut them off and pushed them too into her mouth. She didn’t deserve to have eyes any more than anyone else in the room did.
Now, the last one. He hasn’t moved from his spot on the floor. Jason started to think he had died just from the fear. That would be disappointing.
He walked over to the man and forced him out of his pose. The man’s eyes flew up to Jason’s bloody face and he went even paler than he was before. He was alive. Good.
Now what to do with him? Jason laid him down on the floor. He didn’t even struggle, seemingly completely frozen with fear. Hm. Jason slapped his face a few times. The first and second time the man didn’t seem to react but after the third he flinched. His eyes widened and he pressed himself flat on the floor. Trying to get as far away from Jason as he could. He started shaking his head and mumbling out pleads. That’s better.
Jason took the knife out of the annoying man’s crotch. He used it to cut into the man’s chest. Not far enough to pierce the man’s important organs like his heart or lungs but cutting quite a bit of skin. He skinned his chest, pushing the bloody clothes out of the way. The man was wiggling like a little worm. Or like Jason’s baby brother when he tickles him. Jason looked up from the man and towards his brother. Still unconscious but breathing.
When a considerable chunk of the man’s chest had been skinned he started to cut chunks of meat out. Some of them cutting, some of them tearing. He put them all in a bile next to the man’s head. Now the man screamed. He screamed and screamed and screamed. Music to Jason’s ears.
Jason grabbed hold of the man’s ribs and started breaking them, one after another. He could see his organs moving. The sight was bloody. Jason liked blood. He touched the man’s lungs with his finger. The man made a weird noise. Lungs aren’t meant to be touched like that. The noise was funny so Jason poked his lungs again. It felt weird. The man was starting to get too pale and his eyes were cloudy. He would die soon.
Jason took the knife and stabbed first one and then the other eye. The man’s lungs filled with air for the last time. Jason watched with interest when the man’s heart continued it’s beating for a few beats. Huh, he didn’t know it could do that. He poked the heart. It didn’t do anything. He took hold of it and pulled it out of the man. He held it in his hands, turning it this way and that, squeezing it. Blood squirted out. This is interesting. He usually kept away from hearts because they will kill people quickly. He didn’t like it when people died quickly. It was unfair. Then Jason can’t hear them scream or see them cry.
Jason looked around the room, they were all dead. He has to get rid of them. He wasn’t wearing gloves or his helmet. They had traces of Jason on them. If he doesn’t get rid of them then the police will find out it was him. He would have to leave then. Leaving would mean leaving his brothers behind. He can’t do that. Especially to his baby brother. It was his job to protect him. Timmy was his and people had to know that.
He dragged the bodies into a pile next to the drum set. He also threw their phones into the heap. Looking around he found the bottle of alcohol one of the men was drinking. There were two more. He took the bottles and poured the alcohol over the bodies. The only thing left to do is to light the match, but Jason decided to wait with that. His big brother was coming. He would get here soon. Then they would be all three together and Jason would light the bodies and they would leave and then they would cuddle and his big brother would be proud of how well Jason protected their baby brother.
Talking of the baby of his family. Jason walked back to Timmy. He looked so cute, all small and calm, and wrapped up in Jason’s jacket. Jason sat down on the floor, back against the couch. He took hold of his baby bird and lifted him, putting him down in his lap. He readjusted his jacket. Making Tim sit in his lap sideways, leaning against his chest, head on his shoulder and wrapping the jacket around his back. Putting his baby brother inside a little nice cocoon of Jason. This felt right.
Blood from Jason’s clothes and hands stuck to Timmy. Jason wasn’t against it. Blood was pretty. And the blood on his baby brother looked pretty. It was only right that these ugly people’s blood would be worn as jewelry by his little brother. He raised his hand and painted the blood over Timmy’s other cheek as well.
The only thing missing was Timmy’s blood, but Jason can’t get it right now. Timmy is unconscious and it wouldn’t be nice to get his blood without his consent. Jason usually didn’t care about that, but he cared with Timmy. Timmy will be sad if Jason hurts him without consent. Jason doesn’t like it when Timmy is sad. Bleeding, screaming, in pain- yes. But sad? Jason didn’t want him to be sad. He was Jason’s. Jason was supposed to make him happy, not sad.
He pushed his little brother’s head under his chin. Folding around Timmy. Protecting him and comforting him. Timmy needs to be comforted right now. What these people did to him was bad. Timmy needs to be comforted by Jason to forget the bad. Jason glared towards the pile of bodies.
He pulled his baby brother closer to his body and started to rock him. Like he has seen people do with babies. Timmy is Jason’s baby so it’s only right. What else do people do to comfort babies? Sing? Jason racked his brain for a song that would suit. Finally, he started to hum an old Romani lullaby Dick has hummed to him when Jason wanted to be comforted. It helped him then so it would help his little bird now.
His precious, precious baby bird. His.
Dick had been beyond worried when he received the cryptic text from Tim. The fact that Tim got into dangerous situations regularly didn’t do anything to ease Dick’s worry. If anything it made it only once. You don’t get immune to worrying about your family.
He drove as fast as he dared to get to Gotham. The fact that Jason was rushing to Tim as well calmed him, but when he was almost in Gotham and he hadn’t heard anything from his brothers. No text saying Jason had found Tim or that everything was alright or even that everything was going to shit. The radio silence scared Dick.
He had reached towards his phone to call Bruce multiple times, but hadn’t called him. Bruce was currently on a, this time real, business trip to London. It would take too much time for him to get here anyway. Dick didn’t know what to tell him. Who knows? Maybe Tim had a little bit too much to drink and wanted one of them to come and get him, not thinking in his drunken state about how his message would seem. Or maybe it’s something they could easily take care of themselves. And if- if it’s anything similar to what happened to Jason- Dick wanted to be sure beforehand. He knew where Bruce’s thoughts will jump if Dick called him now. He doesn’t want, can’t, worry him like that right now. Better to see what is actually going on and then inform him.
He reached the described house. Dick had been here once with Steven, but they didn’t really enjoy each other's company.
He entered the house and looked around. He didn’t see anyone on the ground floor. Finally, he spotted them in the backyard. He stood in the living room and looked through a window that had a curtain rod balanced on top of two stools on top of each other and an upturned couch.
The party seemed to have moved to the backyard. They had lit a bonfire near the covered swimming pool and now sat or lay around it. Dick would have been a little worried because they seemed to be quite drunk, but he spotted at least two people who seemed more or less sober and who reined the chaos in. Dick slid his eyes over the kids, but he didn’t spot Tim.
He turned around and went to the second floor. The entire floor seemed to be deserted. The only sign that someone even had been there was the smell of cigarette smoke. He started going through rooms. He didn’t find anything until he came upon a locked door. He picked the lock, really hoping he finds his brothers and not some teenagers having sex.
He got the lock open and pushed the door. He smelled it before he saw it. The unpleasant, but unfortunately familiar stench of blood and other bodily fluids. When his brain processed what he was seeing he quickly stepped inside and closed the door behind him, locking it.
It- it was a massacre. The room was covered in blood. There were multiple bigger pools of blood that each had a drag mark coming from and ending at the pile of bodies. The bodies showed how violent the crime had been. How their limbs had been torn off or how they had been carved into.
And in the middle of all that sat his brothers. Dick would like to deny it, but the sight terrified him. His little wing was sitting on the floor, completely covered in blood. It almost looked like Jason had wanted as much blood on himself as possible.
His eyes were greener than Dick had seen for a long time. It brought Dick right back to the time when Jason first returned to Gotham. But there wasn’t any of that anger. The one that sometimes reminded Dick of a toddler's tantrum. Just blind rage and no control over his emotions.
His face looked so calm, and innocent. How could he look so innocent after what he must have done? All this blood and he somehow made himself look completely harmless. Like a little child sitting on the living room carpet and peacefully playing with their favorite doll.
Dick cringed at the analogy and looked at what Jason was holding. For a second it felt like his heart had stopped. No, no, no. Jason wouldn’t. Well, he almost had, but not anymore. Not anymore.
Moving. Tim’s chest was moving. Dick let out a breath. Tim was alive.
He didn’t seem to be conscious, being held up only by Jason’s arms. Tim had blood on him too, but it didn’t seem to be his. It looked like someone had intentionally painted the blood on. Dick looked up at Jason and saw how he ran his blood covered hand through Tim’s hair, coating his hair with blood.
Jason was rocking Tim as if he were his baby doll. And he was humming. Dick recognized the lullaby immediately. It was one of the ones his mother had sung to him when he was little. It had always sounded so comforting and kind. Now- now it sounded sinister. It felt like Dick had walked straight into a horror film.
Jason hadn’t reacted when Dick stepped in besides looking up for a second. He went right back to petting and rocking Timmy. Looking at him as if he was the cutest puppy in the world. Dick was surprised by the gentleness and fondness in Jason. He didn’t think he was able to feel things like that when under the pit’s control, however wrong they seemed to be right now.
Dick took a few steps closer to his brothers. Making sure to walk slowly and to hold his hands away from any potential weapons. Jason didn’t seem to care. Dick crouched down a little bit away from them, getting a better look at Tim and making sure he was unhurt.
“Isn’t he adorable?”
Dick flinched when Jason talked. The voice didn’t seem quite right. A bit higher than his normal one, a bit slower. And sweet, so so sweet. Too sweet. Jason never sounded like that. Even his kind, soft voice when trying to calm someone wasn’t so sugary sweet. It also didn’t sound mocking. Dick would have worried less if it had.
“What?” asked Dick carefully. He wanted Jason to say something again so he could hear his voice a bit more.
“He’s so cute. The cutest. Our baby brother is the cutest thing in the universe. And he is mine. All mine. How can I have something so perfect?” said Jason with the same sweet fond voice.
It was really creeping Dick out. His metaphor with a child and their favorite doll seemed to be too much on the nose.
Dick swallowed, carefully reaching a hand out until it touched Tim’s hand, controlling his pulse, “he is very cute.”
Jason didn’t protest Dick touching Tim. He seemed to be pleased when Dick agreed with him and buried his face into Tim’s hair and took a huge breath. Dick doesn’t know how he didn’t gag at the strong smell of blood.
“Jason,” he asked warily, moving his hand from Tim’s to Jason’s head.
Jason leaned into his hand like some kind of a cat. He seemed like he would start purring if he could.
“Jason,” said Dick again, running his hand through Jason’s hair once. It was sticky. “Can you please tell me what happened?”
Jason didn’t like that question. He squeezed Tim harder in his arms and glared towards the pile that Dick tried very hard to ignore.
“They touched him,” answered Jason. Finally he sounded like Dick would have expected. Dangerous, angry, a second away from bouncing and tearing you limb from limb. Well, it seemed like Jason had done that already.
Dick didn’t like the implication of what Jason said. However smart it would have been to leave the topic he had to know, “What do you mean they touched him?”
Jason looked over at Dick and pouted, “they drugged him. They had touched his body. They wanted to fuck him.”
Hearing the word “fuck” from Jason’s childish, because that’s was what it was, voice felt surreal. It was the last of Dick’s worries.
“How did they touch him? Did- did they?” Dick didn’t want to say it out loud. Luckily he didn’t need to.
Jason shook his head, “not yet. But they were going to. They even filmed it. That’s why they had to die.”
“Filmed it?” asked Dick. Grabbing into that part of the sentence first after the relief.
Jason took a phone out of his pocket and give it to Dick. He had a bandage wrapped around his hand that he didn’t have in the morning.
Dick unlocked the phone and went to the gallery. He looked through the video. Skipping through most of it. At least he can be sure it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It was a weak comfort. He could see the exact moment Jason had entered the room. How they looked annoyed, not ashamed, or even panicked. Like they had no worries they would get out of this without any consequences.
Dick understood why Jason had killed them. He didn’t exactly approve, but he understood. But the way they had been killed…
Dick looked back at his brothers. Jason was sliding his finger over Tim’s face. Feeling his features. Dragging blood over them.
“So you killed them?” asked Dick quietly. Watching his little brothers and feeling a shiver run through his spine.
“Yeah,” Jason said absentmindedly, then he became more serious again, “why did they touch him? He’s mine. They shouldn’t touch what’s mine. Not if I don’t allow it and I don’t. It’s unfair when people touch my things.”
God. He sounded like a kid asking him why someone took his toy in the sandpit. Dick really wanted his Jason back. Jason kept looking at Dick, waiting for his older brother’s wisdom.
“I don’t know why they touched him,” whispered Dick.
It was starting to become too much. He didn’t know what to do. How to deal with this situation. What should he do? His priority is to keep his brothers safe, that means getting them away from here. Jason didn’t look like he was letting go of Tim anytime soon.
“We should leave. Can we go to your apartment?” Dick decided against offering to go to the manor, even with it being closer. Jason was still unpredictable in the manor and around Bruce when under the pit’s influence.
God, Bruce. He has to call him. What the hell is he going to say?
“Burn them first,” said Jason.
“Excuse me?”
Jason gestured towards the bodies with his head, “We should burn them first. Get rid of the evidence. I already poured alcohol on them. Wanted to wait for you before I lit the fire.”
Dick took a deep breath. Destroying the evidence. God. What sort of life does he live? Still, he- he has to protect his brothers. Everything else came second, even- even his morals it seemed. He nodded.
Jason stood up, not letting go of Tim. He held Tim against his body, in a princess carry.
“Can you adjust the jacket?” asked Jason, “it’s cold out. And people can see him. I don’t want people to see him right now.”
Dick stepped closer, carefully avoiding the blood on the floor and did as Jason asked. Jason took a step away when Tim was suitably covered.
Soon Dick noticed the problem. Jason has no free hand to start the fire if he’s holding Tim. That means Dick has to do it. It means he won’t just be turning a blind eye, but he would be the one to actively destroy any evidence there might be.
For his brothers.
He took a lighter from one of his pockets and threw it into the pile. The alcohol catches fire instantly. Soon, the smell of burning meat found its way to Dick’s nose.
For his brothers.
Jason was standing by the door, not caring at all about the bodies burning in the same room as him. He was doing the baby bounce to Timmy and honest-to-god cooing at him. Whispering something too quiet for Dick to hear. He had a sappy look on his face. It didn’t look right with all the blood.
“Let’s go,” said Dick and took Jason by the elbow, taking a used water bottle from the floor, it was most likely the way they had drugged Timmy. Jason was surprisingly docile, despite how oblivious it was the pit was still who was in charge.
The room they were in didn’t have any windows, which meant they had to go through the house. A quick look showed that the kids were still in the backyard. They seemed to be playing limbo, Dick winced when one of them fell on their back.
Jason wasn’t letting go of Tim and Dick didn’t dare to leave the two of them on their own. Jason might seem more or less calm right now, but the pit was unpredictable at the best of times. He has never seen it behave like this and that put him on edge. This was not a familiar devil.
It meant there wasn’t any way they could take Jason’s bike with them. Dick took the risk and after shoving Jason and Tim in his car he quickly took Jason’s bike a few streets away and parked it in a grocery store’s parking lot.
Everything was still silent when he got back, but it shouldn’t be long before the fire was detected. They had to be gone before that, Jason and Tim looked like they had stepped out of a “Saw” movie.
Dick sat behind the wheel and a quick look to the backseat showed that neither Jason nor Tim were in any worse state than they were when Dick left. Jason was still holding Tim in his arms. Dick wanted to comment on how Tim should wear a seatbelt, but he didn’t dare right now. It’s unclear how Jason would react to a suggestion to let Tim go.
He seemed to be almost obsessively possessive of him. He has been tolerant towards Dick so far, even pleased to see him, but he didn’t want Jason to think he wants to separate him and Timmy. And honestly, he wanted to do just that, it was starting to get a little bit too disturbing. Jason might more likely than not react aggressively and Tim was between all that, unconscious and vulnerable.
Dick started the drive towards Jason’s apartment. He fished his phone out of his pocket and wrote a quick text to Barbara, asking her to delete the surveillance camera footage. There was still the problem of Tim mysteriously disappearing from the party, but that can be dealt with later.
Dick took a deep calming breath. Time to call Bruce. He cast a look into the rearview mirror and saw Jason running his fingers through Tim’s hair again. He really hoped this wasn’t going to break their slowly healing family again.
He chose Bruce’s number and waited for him to pick up. It should be early morning in London so hopefully Bruce will answer. Dick really wanted him to pick up. Despite the anxiety, he just wanted to be young again and let Bruce take care of everything. Bruce answered on the third ring.
“Dick? Everything okay?” he asked with a tired voice.
“Hi,” Dick answered after a pause, unsure of how to describe the situation. God, he should be used to situations that came right out of the uncanny valley.
Bruce took a quick breath in and sounded more urgent, “Hi, Dick. Is something wrong? You sound like something is wrong.”
Dick looked at the mirror again, Jason had pulled Tim higher up and now his head was pressed between Jason’s shoulder and cheek. He was humming again and rocking Tim.
“We are safe,” was the first thing Dick said, “but- something happened.”
“What happened, chum?” asked Bruce, trying to make his voice sound calm. He has learned that when he sounds too worried, his kids are going to worry, even if they haven’t before.
Dick took a deep breath and started talking, like giving a report, “Tim was at a party tonight. Around an hour ago he sent a text only saying the word “help”. Both me and Jason made our way to the location of the party while being unable to get in any more contact with Tim. I arrived around 15 minutes ago and found Jason, deep under the pit’s influence, holding Tim. Both they and the room were bloody and there were four corpses, Jason’s work. Tim was unconscious but Jason hadn’t hurt him. The passed had drugged Tim and- and they had the intention to rape him. They also filmed it. They had touched his upper body but hadn’t touched his- his private parts, yet. I got both Jason and Tim away and we’re on our way to Jay’s apartment. He- Jason is still deep under the pit’s influence but- but he isn’t violent towards me or Tim. But he is acting incredibly possessive and obsessive towards Tim. He has refused to let him go.”
God, telling his dad that one of his sons had almost been gang raped and the other one had violently killed the offenders was one of the hardest things he has had to tell him. And he has had to tell him a lot of painful things.
Bruce was silent, taking it all in, “and you are all safe now?”
“Yeah,” sighed Dick, thankful Bruce hadn’t reacted to the killings rashly.
“And- and the bodies?” Bruce asked carefully.
Dick swallowed hard. A quick look at the backseat showed Jason and Tim were still in the same position. Jason didn’t seem to care about the phone call. Tim still hadn’t woken up which worried Dick a bit.
“The killings were violent. Now they’re- they are burning. We- I- we lighted them on fire, along with the evidence. I took a water bottle which I theorise was the way they administered the drugs and the phone with the video on it.” Dick didn’t really dare to breathe. Please, he needed Bruce’s support right now.
The silence was getting long and Dick was sure Bruce reacted badly.
Finally, “Alright. Anything I can do?”
God. Oh, god. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bruce was learning. He was reacting better than the last time. Thank god.
Dick brushed away a tear that had slid down his cheek. This had been a long night and it wasn’t going to get easier, but at least they had Bruce on their side. Jason made a questioning noise at Dick’s tear and watched the phone suspiciously. He calmed after a bit when Dick signaled him everything was alright. He went back to showering Tim with affection.
“Jason and Tim are physically safe right now. The evidence of Jason and Tim in the room has been destroyed and Barbara has deleted any video evidence. The only problem is Tim’s suspicious disappearance from the party around the time the murders took place. Can you please deal with that?” Dick asked, they were going to get to Jason´s apartment soon.
“Yes, yes I can. Don’t you worry about that. I’ll be home by afternoon, okay? Can you please tell me more about Jason’s state? You- you said he acted weird? Even for the pit? Is he okay?” asked Bruce, concern for once clear in his voice.
Dick thought for a bit how to explain Jason’s current state, “he hasn’t been aggressive towards me or Tim. He actually hands Tim very gently and seemed pleased to see me. The state of the bodies shows clear signs of the pit’s sadism and he seems to be intentionally covering Tim with their blood. I don’t think he is actively dangerous, but the strange behavior worries me. As does the fact he doesn’t show any signs of the pit losing its influence on him.”
They had arrived at Jason’s apartment on the edge of Crime Alley. Dick stopped the car but didn’t make a move to leave yet.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea for you to be in his apartment? Not in the manor or the cave?” asked Bruce.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to go to the manor right now,” said Dick, leaning his head back on the headrest, “he is already acting unpredictably and we don’t know how he will react. Probably not well. I hope the familiar apartment would help calm him.”
“Alright, if you think so,” soothed Bruce. They sat in silence for a while.
“I should go. We got to Jason’s and we should get out of the streets and clean before someone calls the police on us. I’ll text if something changes.”
“Okay,” said Bruce, “and, Dick? Thank you for taking care of your brothers so well. Just keep doing what you do and don’t worry about anything else, okay? I- I will take care of- well, you know what.”
Dick felt so grateful for Bruce at that moment. Heh, look at that, you can teach old dog new tricks.
“Okay. Thank you. See you,” said Dick, feeling just a little bit lighter.
“See you.”
And Bruce was gone. But their family was still together. It isn’t gonna be easy, problems will arise sooner or later, but it’s better than last time.
He turned around in his seat and looked at his brothers, “Let’s go up. We should get you two cleaned up and in clean clothes, alright?”
Jason seemed pleased with Dick asking for his opinion. He did make a sour face when Dick said they should clean up, like he wanted the blood to just stay there, but it was starting to smell and get uncomfortable, so he nodded.
They used the backdoor to get in and took the stairs. It was still risky, but the time was late and nobody saw them.
“What if you leave Tim with me so you can go get yourself cleaned up first and then we can clean Tim together?” suggested Dick when they were safely inside Jason’s apartment.
Jason swirled towards Dick and snarled, holding Tim tight against his body, “No. Tim stays with me. Only I can hold Tim right now.”
It was the first time tonight Jason had been aggressive towards Dick. That wasn’t good. Dick raised his hands calmingly and tried to make his body language as nonthreatening as he could. He didn’t want to fight his brother, especially with Timmy unconscious and between them.
“Okay, okay,” he soothed, “but you still need to get cleaned. Wouldn’t it be nicer to cuddle Tim when you are both clean and don’t stick or smell? Tim would be more comfortable when he wakes up if he doesn’t have blood on him. What if I and Tim come to the bathroom with you? You can see Tim the whole time. I won’t touch him if you don’t want me to.”
Jason seemed to think for a moment, his shoulders relaxing.
“Alright, I will allow it. But you need to hold him. He can’t get cold. He doesn’t like to be cold.”
Dick nodded, smiling at Jason.
They took a brief moment to get clothes from Jason’s room. Some for Dick too, because if he has to hold Tim then he will also get blood on himself.
Dick settled with Tim on the floor, back against the counter. Jason didn’t take his eyes off them and washed the blood off as quickly as possible. He didn’t bother to dry his hair, leaving his curls tripping water on his clean shirt and on the bathroom floor.
Dick eyed his hand that Jason was now rebandaging, sitting right next to Dick so Tim’s legs were on top of his, “what happened with your hand?”
“I forced glass shards down the woman’s throat, cut myself,” he said with an aloof voice.
Dick felt like he’s gonna be sick. The phone and bottle on the countertop reminded him of what these people did, and more importantly what they were going to do, but still. What Jason did was pure torture. Sadistic torture. And now here he was. Happily sitting next to Dick and humming some tv show’s theme song. And Dick wasn’t doing anything to take down the murderer. He missed the times before Jason’s death, when everything was still more or less right in the world and his biggest worry was some long forgotten argument with Bruce.
“Can I have him now?” asked Jason when he had finished with his hand. He cocked his head to the side and asked it with an excitement of a little kid asking if they can hold the new puppy.
Dick smiled gently at Jason and talked with a soft voice, “If I give him to you right now then you will get dirty again. What if I keep holding him for now and you fill the bath? Then you can help me with Tim.”
Jason didn’t look happy, but he must have seen the logic and got up to complete his task.
Dick and Jason together pried off the blood soaked clothes that had stuck to Tim’s body and laid him down in the half full bath. The water turned light pink.
Dick felt weird washing Tim after what had happened earlier. He hoped that Tim wouldn’t wake up before they were done.
Jason was in charge of washing Tim’s hair. He took great care in getting every little speck of blood out of his hair. Almost as great as he took in making sure the blood got in his hair in the first place.
Dick looked at Jason every few seconds. He was scared that Jason would do something under the pit’s influence. He enjoyed torturing people while under the pit’s influence. What if he thought it would be fun to shove Tim’s head under the water?
Dick didn’t think he would kill him. Jason cared about Tim too much for that, even considering his current state. But he might try to dunk his head underwater for a few seconds and pull him up before he drowned. Dick didn’t want to believe Jason would do that, but the situation was starting to take its toll on Dick and make him anxious. And was it even an unfound fear?
“I love him,” said Jason suddenly and pulled Dick out of his thoughts.
He had finished cleaning Tim’s hair and was now simply holding his head above water. It would be so simple for him to try and drown him. Dick got up to get a towel.
“You do?” asked Dick lightly. He knew normal Jason loved his brother. But the pit Jason? He doubted it.
“Yes,” whispered Jason, with the awe of a toddler seeing their baby sibling for the first time and falling in love right away, “he’s so good. And he’s smart. And he loves me so much. Don’t you love him?”
“Of course I love him,” answered Dick.
They lifted Tim out of the bath and quickly toweled him off.
“He’s gonna be sad when he wakes up,” said Jason, while pulling one of his sweatshirts over Tim’s head.
“Yes, he is,” answered Dick sadly, pulling one of Jason’s t-shirts over his own head.
“I don’t like it when he is sad,” said Jason.
Dick packed the bloody clothes in a plastic bag and tied a tight knot on it.
“I don’t like it either,” answered Dick truthfully.
He helped Jason up from the floor, Tim tightly held in his arms. They went to Jason’s room and laid down on his bed, Tim between them and Dick closest to the door.
Jason seemed to ponder over something for a while, before he looked up at Dick with a sincere expression, “Would he like to hurt me?”
“What?” croaked Dick out. Taken aback by the question and the way it had been asked.
“Would he like to hurt me? I like to hurt people, it makes me happy. It might make Timmy happy too. I would let him hurt me. I love him.” Jason still looked at Dick with sincerity and Dick started to cry. God, the pit was just a child.
Jason looked alarmed when Dick started to cry, “Dick? Are you sad too? I will let you hurt me too. I love you like I love Timmy.”
“Oh god,” whispered Dick and pulled Jason in his arms, hugging him tightly, leaving Tim squished between them, “no, Jay. Jaybird. No, I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t like it when you are hurt. It makes me sad. And it makes Timmy sad too.”
“I don’t understand,” said Jason with genuine confusion. It was just the pit talking. It was just the pit’s weird understanding of the world. But pit Jason was still his little brother. One version of his little brother thinks Dick would enjoy to hurt him. Dick kissed his forehead.
“Why aren’t you hurting me or Timmy right now? Don’t you want to?” asked Dick.
“Timmy is unconscious and can’t give me permission. You haven’t given me one either. Plus, you are already sad. I don’t want to hurt you when you are already sad. Being hurt is bad. You will be even sadder then,” explained Jason.
Dick kissed his forehead again and then Tim’s, so he won’t feel left out, even when he’s unconscious, “see, you said it yourself. Being hurt is bad. And I don’t want you to feel bad. I want you to feel good.”
Jason was silent for a few minutes.
“But I want to hurt you,” he whispered, “does- does that mean I am bad?”
Dick’s heart broke at the question. What was he supposed to say? Jason was bad when he was under the pit’s influence. He was beyond bad. But how can he say this to his little brother? His little wing?
“You- you aren’t bad, Jason,” he forced himself to say, “you don’t have any say in what you are feeling. Important is how you don’t act on your wishes. Hurting us will make you feel good, but you know it will make us feel bad. You are putting our feelings over your own. That shows you aren’t bad.”
He didn’t mention the countless people whose wishes he hadn’t put before his own. Four of them were maybe still burning right at this moment.
“But it’s good when I hurt bad people, right? Like the ones who hurt Timmy today. They didn’t care they were going to hurt Tim. They were going to do bad, very bad, things to him. They deserved to pay for that. They deserved to pay for wanting to hurt something that is mine, right?” Jason looked at him with so trusting eyes. As if he was certain his big brother had all the wisdom in the world and would tell him what was right and what wrong.
Dick couldn’t tell him that. He looked down towards Tim in hopes he could find something to distract Jason with. He straightened when he saw Timmy’s eyes twitch.
“Jason,” he said in a low voice,” I think Timmy is waking up.”
Jason forgot his search for answers in a second and all his attention was on his baby brother. He pushed Tim’s damp locks away from his eyes and whispered to him gently.
“That’s good. That’s good, baby bird. Come on, come on. Wake up for me. I want you to wake up. Please. Timmy.”
Tim cracked one of his eyes open and looked around confused. He didn’t seem to really be with them. It wasn’t surprising, considering the drugs still in his system. It took him a minute to recognize where he was, but luckily he didn’t panic. Dick was expecting him to remember what previously happened and tense up any second now, but it didn’t seem to come.
“What’s the time?” asked Tim, his voice low from sleepiness.
Jason looked at his watch, “almost half past two.”
“Day?”
“Night.”
“Hm,” Tim seemed to think for a second and turned to his side then, burrowing his head into Jason’s pillow and grabbing his arm, holding it like a teddy bear, “too early to wake up. Sleep.”
He was out like a light. Part of Dick was relieved, Tim had a little bit more before he had to learn how to live with what happened.
Jason looks at Tim with amusement and love. Now Dick believed it can be real, even if a little bit, or a lot, to the left.
“You heard what he said. Sleep.” Smiled Dick reassuringly.
Jason didn’t have to be told twice. He curled up around his little brother and was out almost as fast as Timmy.
Dick sent a quick update to Bruce.
Then he turned back towards his brothers and got to sleep himself.
Tomorrow was going to be a hard day. He only hoped that he would have his Jason back by then. He really missed him.
Jason woke up to whispering voices when his teddy bear suddenly turned into stone. He blinked his eyes open. The action made a burst of pain go through his head.
He looked at what had happened to his teddy bear. Wait. Teddy bear? And saw the baby bird looking back at him with big sad eyes.
It took a second before the previous night came back to Jason.
Oh god.
Oh god. What had he done? He didn’t remember everything perfectly. He remembers getting the text and feeling worried, then he remembers finding Tim and feeling angry and then- then he was angry and satisfied and happy and angry again and then he held Tim and- and then came Dick. He felt happy then, and safe. They came here. Mad, happy, sad, happy, sad, sad, sad.
God, he had tortured these people. And he wasn’t even really sorry. But he was so deep under the pit. It hasn’t been so bad for months. He was getting better. He thought he was getting better. But now it came out he wasn’t better. What if Dick and Tim and Bruce, oh god Bruce, thought he wasn’t working towards getting better? What if they left him? No, no, no. Everything was falling apart.
And how selfish is he being right now? How can he panic when Tim was the one who lived through something traumatic? Oh god. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish. He is a selfish monster. A fucking monster. No. no. no. Please. Please, Dad.
He can’t breathe. There was no air. He was suffocating. Was he being strangled? It felt like he was being strangled. Or maybe he was drowning. He would like to be drowned more. No mark on his neck. Jason already had too many scars from the last time-
Hand in his hand. A small, tiny hand. Jason knew this hand. Or more accurately, he knew only one person who had such small hands and who would dare to take his hand.
Tim. Timmy. Baby bird.
Timmy went through something traumatic yesterday. Today? Jason has to get himself together or Tim will worry. God, he would worry about Jason even when he should be the one worried after. Because Tim was selfless like that. And Jason was so selfish. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish.
The hand squeezed his. Tim. Jason had to get himself together for Timmy. He had to be a good brother for Timmy. He has to take care of and protect Timmy. Because Timmy is his. What? No! No! Timmy isn’t his. If anything then Jason is Timmy’s. He is Timmy’s. And Tim needs him to be strong right now.
After a while, his breathing started to slow and he could finally take in what was going on around him again. God, how did he lose his awareness like that? What if someone had attacked them right now? Jason would have been useless.
The baby bird was watching him with concern while shaking himself. Jason squeezed his hand. He was there. Dick was on the other side of Tim. He was slowly and gently running his hand through Jason’s hair while talking in a soft voice.
Dick smiled at him, “Hi, Jason. Glad you are back.”
Jason blinked at Dick and turned his eyes on Tim. There was a tear running down his cheek. Jason raised his hand, it was shaking so badly, and gently brushed the tear away, “Oh, baby bird. I’m so sorry.”
There were more tears, but there was also a weak smile, “Thank you.”
“Of course. I’ll always help you. That’s what I’m for, isn’t it? Protecting the baby bird? And bullying him,” Jason poked Tim on his nose.
He let out a wet laugh. Snot ran from his nose.
Jason looked up at Dick who was looking at them like he wanted to gather them in his arms and ran away to some small island, far away from everyone and everything. Knowing him, that was exactly what he wanted to do. Disgusting sap.
“Does-,” Jason paused, “does B know?”
If he knows and reacts badly again- Jason can’t deal with that right now. He wanted his dad, goddamn. And Tim needed him. And Jason didn’t want to leave Tim. If Bruce doesn’t want Jason around him anymore, or god forbid he doesn’t allow Jason around Tim anymore, then he doesn’t know what he’ll do. Things were just starting to get better. They could finally talk without shouting and Jason would feel himself light and safe again. Of course it wouldn’t last. Maybe if he never finds out-
“He knows,” said Dick.
That’s it then. Jason pulled the baby bird closer to him again. If this was going to be the last time he got to hold him-
“He made sure no one would connect the murders to you or Timmy.”
What? No. That was impossible. That would make Bruce an accomplice in murder. Bruce. It’s already a miracle he hadn’t packed Jason in a jail cell. But this? Actively help? That was too much.
“No, he didn’t. He wouldn’t. It was murder. A massacre,” denied Jason.
Dick smiled a sad smile and shrugged, “he did. I’m not saying there isn’t gonna be tension, but it won’t be like the last time. I promise. He is better this time. And even if he tries to start something then I wouldn’t let him. I now have experience in covering up crimes, after all,” he joked.
“I would stop him too,” came a tiny voice from Jason’s chest.
He pulled back a little and looked right at Tim, “Buddy, you definitely shouldn’t worry about me right now. I should worry about you.”
Tim looked at him fiercely and Jason was oh so happy he still had it in him.
“I would like to inform you that if you think only you can worry about me and I can’t do the same for you then you are sorely mistaken,” he said with his posh upperclass accent.
“Alright then,” agreed Jason, “how are you feeling?”
Tim’s expression was unreadable for a second before he answered, “Like I really wanna cry right now, but I’m holding it in.”
Dick frowned from behind him and put his hand on Tim’s shoulder, “You can let it out you know. You don’t have to hold it all in. I promise.”
The dam was broken. Tim’s face scrunched up and soon the first ugly sob got out. Then there come more and more and more.
And Jason held him.
And Dick held them both.
They held Dick back.