One shot! May be TimXJay, or just brotherly love…read on ;)
Tim wasn't acting normal.
Dick was informed of this from the most strange source ever—his little bird, his baby brother, and the cute little assassin.
"Grayson."
Dick looked over form the book he was reading, meeting steely blue-gray eyes.
"Yes, Dami?" he smiled cheekily, and the smaller boy scowled.
"Did someone pull out Drake's teeth or is he just upset over his disastrous mission last night?" Damian asked casually, leaning against the wall.
"What? Timmy's upset?" this caught Dick's attention; he put his book down and narrowed his eyes.
"Yes, after the mission with Jason." His little brother replied, turning away.
Dick stood up, immediately knowing if Damian was telling the truth, Jason had one something. His most unstable brother usually wasn't a danger but when angered he was unpredictable. Plus, Tim had been acting…strange around Jason—not meeting his gaze, stammering at whatever he said, and trying to avoid him for weeks now.
"Timmy?" Dick knocked on the dark blue door, hearing a sniffling noise, making his heart twinge.
"G-Go away!" Tim yelled, giving another sniffle, and Dick could have sworn he was crying.
This was bad news; the only times Tim had ever cried was when Kon dumped him, when Damian had called him useless and unwanted, and when Jason had hit him. Kon was out of the picture, Dami had promised not to say anything too bad to Tim (especially after Dick had given him a pout)—which left only one thing…
Dick stalked away, fury slowly building up in his blue eyes as he went to find the Red Hood. As usual, Jason was lounging the movie room, but instead of smirking and saying, 'Sup Dickie?' he just scowled, grey eyes clouded and dark. Dick's eyes snapped to the birdarang he was fingering, and sighed deeply.
"Jay, what happened between you and Tim?" he asked, wishing he would get a straight answer.
Of course, Jason just chose to glare and stay silent.
"Jason, please," Dick sighed, touching his brother's arm gently.
Jay jerked away, his face hardening. Dick bit his lip, waiting, yet the other man stayed silent, his fingers closing tightly around the weapon.
"Nothing." Came the clenched response.
"Dammit, Jay!" Dick snapped, losing his calm demeanor, and Jason took that opportunity to throw a knife at him.
The ebony barely got out of the way in time, and almost immediately a small figure threw himself at the knife wielder, hissing, "You could have hurt him!"
Amused, Dick watched his little brother try to maim Jason, the Red Hood spewing curses and trying to throw the demon brat to the ground. Damian snarled fiercely; when it came to Dick, no one touched him but Damian.
"Get off, you f*cking brat!" Jason snapped, finally landing a punch to his stomach.
Unfazed, Damian kicked the other boy's shins, and Jason promptly fell over, clutching his leg and hissing. Dick rubbed his forehead; he shot out his hand and locked his fingers around Damian's wrist. The younger boy raised a fist and whirled around, but meeting the calm blue eyes belonging to his partner, he relaxed, dropping his weapon and sending a deadly look to Jason. Instead of swearing and glaring, he slumped down, looking utterly dejected.
"Jace…I'm talking to Tim, alright?" Dick go up, dragging Damian with him, and left the room.
"What's the meaning of this, Grayson?" he demanded once outside, crossing his arms and sounding confused.
"I'm talking to Tim…please keep an eye on Jason and do not try and kill him."
Damian opened his mouth to talk, but Dick cut him off sternly.
"Or maiming—"
"What about—"
"Or poisoning him—"
"And no—"
"No bombs!"
"Fine…" the younger boy said in a childish voice, pouting a bit, and Dick just smiled tightly and ruffled his hair before walking up the stairs.
Tim pulled the blankets even tighter around him; he gave another sniffle, his chest heaving as he tried to calm himself. The silent tears streaming down his face betrayed his efforts though, and the ebony gave a shuddering sob before biting his lip so hard it began to bleed.
He went over the events that took place yesterday, feeling the hurt and humiliation rise up once more…
"Jay, watch out!" Tim shoved the other boy aside s a couple of bullets shot past them.
By accident, both of them toppled off the edge of the fire escape and straight down the sewage pipe. Hitting the murky water, Tim made a face as he slowly stood up. Jason got up too, his face showing anger as the pothole above them was sealed. He got out a flashlight, the beam darting all around the pipe and revealing one long exit that looked like it led nowhere.
"Thanks to your stupidity, Drake, now look where we're stuck!" the Red Hood snapped, stomping forward onto the separate path from the water.
Tim followed hesitantly, wanting to retort but back but instead choosing to say, "Well, there only seems to be one exit. I guess—AH!"
Something pierced his thigh, and the flashlight's beam promptly went out. Tim le out another scream of agony, feeling pain he had never felt before. It felt like fire was crawling up his leg, consuming his flesh and eating away at his blood. He felt a body stumble against him and tried to grab onto Jason's arm, but the other boy threw him off.
"AH…JAY!" Tim cried out, collapsing to the floor and trying to breath, but it felt like a paper bag was over his mouth.
"Kid, what's wrong? Kid?!" Jason asked frantically, an edge of panic to his voice.
And suddenly there was nothing; the light shined on a curled up Tim, who was gasping for breath, his mask on the floor and his blue eyes watery.
"Tim…are you ok?" Jason's voice was uneasy, and the ebony slowly slid into a sitting position, holding his stomach and looking sick.
His eyes flitted away from the other boy in embarrassment; he didn't want to look weak, so he pretended to study something on the floor, nudging it with his foot and trying not to throw up.
"Hey, look at me." Jay's voice was soft, and when Tim finally lifted his head, his mask was gone as well, gray eyes tender and open.
It was gone in a second, and Jason roughly helped him up, shoving the mask back onto his face, they proceeded, Tim using the wall for support. After a while though, his face was beaded with sweat and he was taking ragged breaths.
"Jay…I can't," he muttered, ashamed, and let out a little yelp as he was flung over a shoulder.
"Don't throw up on me," Jason warned, and Tim held his breath, his view of Jason's….butt. blushing lightly and trying to push down feelings that he'd had for a while about his adopted brother, he let out a little sigh as he saw light reflecting off the water.
"We're here, birdy," Jason gently put him down, and Tim automatically threw his arms around the other boy's neck, feeling unsteady as the walls and light swirled around him.
"Careful!" Jason snapped, helping him stay upright. Tim coughed loudly, bending over and wondering what the hell was wrong with him tonight.
"Sleep…" Tim slurred, nearly falling over, but Jay grabbed his arm, letting out a little groan.
"Kid…careful now."
Jason finally decided they should stop, so just ahead of the light he pulled Tim onto the floor, smiling a bit when they boy purred like a cat.
"Hey Jace?" Tim asked in a soft voice.
"Hm?"
"You're hot when you're…mad…" he gave a little laugh and put his head down.
Jason froze, his eyes widening as the words sunk in. had Tim…just called him hot?
"And when you're thinking…make the cutest pout…ever…" Tim sighed sadly, lifting his head; a sad, twisted smile on his face.
"And I wish you liked me. But I'm just a burden to you…but that's ok, because I'll always love you even if you hate me…"
The Red Hood was completely frozen, and he looked down to see he has absent-mindedly entwined his fingers with Tim's. Hastily moving away, his thoughts racing, his gray eyes puzzled, Jason considered what to do. He could pretend that nothing had happened and tell the kid he was delirious…or he could bring it up. How would awkward would it be though if Tim didn't remember?
And then Tim decided to make things impossible to forget:
He looked at Jason with a sweet, innocent smile, and pressed their lips together. Startled, Jason jumped back, seeing hurt reflected into those beautiful blue orbs, as the smaller boy wrapped his arms around himself and leaned to the side.
"Where am I..?" Tim sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking up into startled gray ones. His head was resting in Jason's lap, and he quickly sat up, feeling a blush begin to creep up his cheeks.
"In a sewer. You done with your nap, Sleeping Beauty?" a smirk appeared on the other boy's face as he noticed the flushed cheeks. It was kind of adorable, actually.
"Oh yeah…sorry about that," Tim muttered, looking away as he carefully got to his feet.
"If you're feeling up to it, we can finally get out of this hell hole," the older teen's nose wrinkled, and Tim nodded.
They both started walking, and Tim wondered why Jason looked so…thoughtful. Through a haze, he remembered some of what he said, and his breath quickened in horror.
"Uh, Jay? Did I—did I say anything when I was…you know…"
something flickered in the other boy's eyes before he replied coolly, "No, I couldn't understand anything you said. Just blabbered."
Tim sighed in relief, glad that the memory of admitting his feelings ere just in his head. As they went through the pathway they soon realized a crucial fact they had missed—there was no path beyond that point.
Jason, being the smarter one, managed to jump back before his fet gave away to empty air. Tim, on the other hand, tripped and fell forward, grabbing onto a piece of cloth to keep him from falling. He had grabbed Jason's mask, which was in one hand, and the other was locked onto the stone edge.
"J-Jay!" he gasped, one finger losing its grip.
But those steel gray eyes were focused on the mask in Tim's dangling hand. Feeling his heart sink, he threw the mask over to Jason, but it landed on the edge, about to fall. At the same time, two of Tim's fingers let go, leaving him only one.
"Jason…" he whimpered, his eyes wide behind his mask.
And let go as the older man reached for his mask.
"TIM!"
But the ebony let himself fall, closing his eyes as he fell into darkness.
So! That's the beginning of his memory of the mission. Part two will be…
OPTION A: Brotherly love. No slash just sweet bonding.
OPTION B: TimXJay slash, with sadness and sparks. Very nice ;D
VOTE PLEASE!
And tell me if you liked this chapter?
~samx