Hello guys! Sorry I haven't updated Batfamily Moments, or True Love, or anything else, really... Haha. My brain's just been really dead. I've got about six or seven chapters for Batfam Moments that are partially written, and I've got half a chapter for True Love. I guess I just really haven't found any inspiration for those two. I hope I will soon though! Sorry for the wait. :)
This story was born from an idea I had while talking to a friend. In the comics, Jason sort of clawed his way out of his coffin after being revived, and I had the thought: What if he got claustrophobia from that? I'm not sure if it's possible to just get claustrophobia like that, I haven't really done a lot of research. I just thought that maybe it would be like a lingering after effect, maybe? I don't know, haha. Anyways, enjoy this!
Disclaimer: I don't own Batman, sadly enough. I do plan on making my own animated Batman series, though, after college (I plan on taking animation/animating and graphics courses... (Along with mechanics, so I can fix up cars and stuff.)). I'll let you all know how that works out if I'm still on FF that long. :D
Jason hated small places.
He was pretty sure that it had begun when he clawed out of his own grave, after the moment he started panicking as he noticed he was buried six feet under.
Literally.
He still remembered feeling his nails and fingers split and bleed as he clawed frantically at the wood, and the earthy last gasp of air before the dirt started raining down on him. Luckily it had been raining, so it wasn't as difficult to dig his way up through the earth.
That feeling of claustrophobia had been with him ever since, and no matter how hard he tried he could never get rid of it. It had been a particular pain on patrol, most often when the missions ended up with him getting shoved into something small.
He had been keeping as good of a lid as he could on it so far, but this... This was the last straw.
He had met up with Bats and his gang to take down Joker, since the clown was going on about another one of his 'rule Gotham' plans. It had been going pretty well, until Harley appeared out of nowhere along with Ivy, and crap started going downhill fast.
Red Robin got a face full of Ivy's pheromones, and became her man slave for as long until the pheromones wore off. (Judging by the fact that they weren't out yet, and he hadn't been tossed in with him and Nightwing, they hadn't.) Robin had stupidly gone after Harley after that happened, and she had kept him occupied while Nightwing and Batman went after Joker.
Jason was left distracting Red Robin and Ivy, trading blows with them. Nightwing had shouted for him to not hurt Red Robin, so he couldn't just knock the replacement out and be done with him lest he incur the wrath of older brother figure Nightwing. His helmet luckily had a filtering system built into it, or he would've been turned into one of Ivy's zombies a while ago with all the pollen she was blowing at him. "Have you not yet realized that it's not affecting me?" Jason snorted, rolling away from one of her vines and cutting another with his knife.
"Oh, it's working alright." She smirked.
A sudden draft of warm air hit his right cheek, and he let out a curse as he quickly pulled his helmet off, tossing it onto the ground. There was a hole in it, and little plants, or bacteria or something were eating away at the metal of the helmet, destroying it.
"Crap!" He shouted, pulling out one of his guns and aiming at Ivy. Screw Bats' 'No guns' rule.
Red Robin dropped in behind him suddenly, and knocked the gun out of his hands, slamming his head down onto the floor. As his vision darkened rapidly, Jason could see purple dress shoes walking towards him, an evil, chilling laughter filling the air.
That was the dramatic build up to where he was now, stuck inside what appeared to be a very small shipping container. It wasn't so small that it was awkward, him and Nightwing pressed up against each other, but they had a little bit of space to sit aside from each other.
It wasn't enough.
He felt like the walls were slowly pressing in on him, squishing him tighter until he was flatter than a pancake. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he leant over and put his head between them, taking deep, slow breaths.
"Red? You okay?"
Jason's head snapped up. Nightwing was staring at him, looking worried. "I'm fine." Jason grunted, trying to stop from panting. He couldn't breath, couldn'tbreathecouldn'tbreathecouldn'tbreatheeverythingwassosmallhewasgoingtovomitohgod-
"Jay, just calm down. It's alright-"
"It is not freaking alright!" Jason snapped, hugging his knees closer to his body. "We're stuck in this stupid shipping container, and there's no way out, and what if Bruce or-or anybody doesn't come? We're stuck."
"Take a deep breath. Tell me five things you can see, right now."
Jason shook his head slowly, lifting it so he could look around the small container. "U-uh... You. Your costume, my hands... The walls." His breathing picked up again, and Nightwing moved so his eyes were locked on Jason's. "Ignore the walls. You've got one more thing."
"Light. From that... The hole in the roof."
"Good. Now, four things you can hear." Nightwing ordered.
"Cars. I can hear the wind," His breathing was beginning to slow down, the tight feeling in his chest loosening. "Us... There's someone walking around outside."
Nightwing froze, and as they fell into silence he nodded. "Just ignore them, they're probably one of Joker's men." Lowering his voice, he moved slightly closer to Jason, making sure he wasn't crowding the other. "Three things you can reach out and touch."
Putting his hand out in the dim light, Jason let his hand drop and brush against the floor. "The ground. Your... Knee. My mask."
"You're doing good, Jason. Can you tell me two things you can smell right now, or two things that you like the smell of?"
Jason looked up, his heart rate quickening as he clenched his fists. "I need to get out. Please." His voice sounded small, frightened. "Batman will be here soon." Nightwing assured him, reaching out and patting his gloved hand. "Two things you like the smell of, Jason."
"I like... The smell of gas, and oil. Cars, I guess. And... tulips."
He could feel his face flush, and he buried it in his knees again. "It's okay, I like roses and lilacs." Nightwing chuckled. "Do you still feel claustrophobic?"
Jason nodded slowly. It was better than it had been before, but his heart was still racing, and the feeling of panic still lingered. "Just breath in and out slowly, and focus on your breathing. In, and out, in, and out..."
"For christ's sake Nightwing, I'm not a pregnant woman." Jason growled. A loud clank sounded to the right, and they both turned their heads to look as the door was pulled open, Robin looking inside. "Finally. Couldn't you imbeciles make more noise next time, so we don't have to look through every single bin?" He grumbled, opening the door wider and stepping backwards as they climbed out.
"11th rule of Batmanism: Never make lots of noise when kidnapped or trapped. Unless, of course, instructed to do so previously." Nightwing said cheerfully, poking Robin on the nose. "Don't do that." Robin growled, stalking away. "Batman is waiting."
Shaking out his hands, Jason took a deep breath. His face flushed, and he turned his back to Nightwing, and started walking away. "Thanks." He muttered gruffly, stopping when Nightwing put a hand on his shoulder. "You doing okay now?"
Jason nodded, looking away. It was embarrassing, to start panicking like that in front of Nightwing. He hadn't really lost his cool like that in front of anyone, not in a long while. And until now, he hadn't ever had had a panic attack in front of any one he really knew. "I'll be fine." He mumbled. "Sorry... For panicking. And stuff."
"It's okay, you don't need to apologize." Nightwing smiled at him, clapping him on the shoulder. "Hey, if you wanted... Agent A was setting up a family dinner, and he wanted me to ask you to come. You don't have too, if you don't wanna... I just thought that you might like to visit the manor again."
The 'And work things out with Bruce' was silent, but Jason could read the unspoken question on Nightwing's face. Jason hesitated, before nodding slightly. "Yeah, I'll be there. Um... Should I bring anything?"
He really was glad Nightwing wasn't obsessing over his claustrophobia. It made it a little easier to not be embarrassed, because he was treating it like it had been nothing. "Nah, I don't think so. A's already cooking up a storm... He's got like, this hug tub of potato salad jammed into the fridge." Nightwing laughed.
"Grayson! Father is requesting you." Robin shouted, hands on his hips. "Alright, I'm coming!" Nightwing shouted back, before turing to Jason. "See you tomorrow? Come to the manor around five-ish, 'kay?"
Jason nodded. "See you then."
Review, maybe? It would make my day, seriously! :)