Jason had been out patrolling the city when it happened.
He had been feeling a little under the weather but he was never one to admit to illness.
The coughs and the sweating hadn't been enough to keep him home.
What he hadn't anticipated was a fairly large sneeze that rocked his balance.
It blew him right off the side of a five story building.
And now here he was, dangling off of the side, feeling like a rag doll.
There was a strong hand holding onto his jacket collar.
"You're sick." The person said, hauling Jason's aching body back onto the building.
"Am not." Jason denied, however he sniffled and sounded stuffy.
"If you're going to be sneezing yourself off of buildings, I think I should just take you home."
"You don't need to take me home, Dick. I'm fine." Jason crossed his arms stubbornly.
"I'm not going to let my little brother catch his death by cold out here." Dick sighed.
"I'm not. I have my jacket. I won't die from the cold." Jason stood up and brushed himself off.
"No, you're going to cough and fall down a fire escape or something." Dick snapped.
"I'm not sick, leave me alone." Jason righted his collar.
"Come on. I'm taking you back to the manor so Alfred can take care of you." Dick said, placing his hands on his hips.
"The manor is so far." Jason said, looking at the Gotham skyline.
"Come on. I'll carry you." Dick smirked. Jason shook his head as he climbed onto Dick's back.
"I can't believe I'm letting you do this." Jason said. He had to admit, he wasn't feeling the best. Dick was probably right that he would blow himself off of a building. But he could still be stubborn about it.
"You're really warm, Jason. I think you're running a fever." Dick says, hopping from building to building.
"You're too loud." Jason says, closing his eyes.
"Sorry Jayce. We're almost to my bike." Jason looked over Dick's shoulder to see that they were indeed close to the bike, just a story or two above where it was parked under the street lamp with a security camera.
"Think I can set you down?" Jason just nodded into Dick's back as his feet met the pavement.
"Hop on." Dick said. Jason repositioned himself against Dick's back and felt the hum of the motorcycle as the two of them took off down the street.
Once back into the cave and safely back in Dick's piggy back hold, Jason felt the bounce of the stairs he knew Dick was bounding up.
"Come on, let's get you into some comfortable clothes." Dick set Jason down on the bed he had left behind long ago before going to the lone dresser, also abandoned with old clothes inside.
"Why aren't you going back out?" Jason asked, peeling his jacket off of his shoulders and tossing it on the floor.
"I'm taking care of my little brother." Dick flashed Jason a bright smile.
"Alfred can-"
"It's fine. I want to." Dick said, pulling a red hoodie and a pair of black sweat pants out of the dresser.
"I can get dressed on my own, Dickie bird." Jason said, getting up onto his feet. He swayed for a moment before the room turned sideways and there were arms wrapped around him.
"I think you should let me help, Jayce." Dick smirked.
"I think you should fuck off." Jason grumbled, letting his shoes be pulled from his feet. He carefully pulled his shirt off, the chill of the night air penetrating his skin. He quickly pulled on the hoodie and was suddenly pulled to his feet.
"Go ahead." Dick said, holding Jason in place by his shoulders and looking up at the ceiling.
"We never speak of any of this." Jason grumbled, undoing his pants and letting them fall to his ankles. He stepped out of them and pulled the sweat pants on in their place.
"Ok, you just lay down here. I'll get you some water." Dick said, letting Jason lower himself to the bed before running to the adjoining bathroom to get a glass of water.
"I should be out patrolling. And so should you. This is ridiculous, I'm not sick." Jason shouted.
"You're sick." Dick set the glass of water down on the bedside table, along with two aspirin. "Take these and get some rest."
"But-"
"No buts. Take them. Get some sleep. I'll check on you in a few hours." Dick said sternly.
"Fine, Mom. I'll take them. Damn." Jason said, downing the aspirin and water.
"Goodnight, Kiddo. Love you." Dick said, reaching for the light switch.
"Yeah, yeah, love you too, Dickie." Jason said, pulling the covers over his head as the room went dark.
"What in the world do you think you're doing?" Jason asked as he set his helmet on his bike in the cave.
"What? I'm coming home from patrol. Just like you." Tim said, tripping over a few electrical cords.
"You didn't go on patrol. I didn't know where the hell you were so I covered your section. You're welcome by the way." Jason crossed his arms as Tim approached him. "So let's try this again. Where were you?" Jason asked. He had assumed Tim had been asleep.
"I was on patrol." Tim said stubbornly.
"Liar. You've been drinking. I can smell it." Jason said, leaning down to Tim's height.
"So Conner and I went out for drinks, sue me." Tim said, trying to push past Jason.
"Hey, I'm not finished with you yet." Jason followed after him.
"I'm not talking about this with you. I'm an adult, I can make my own decisions." Tim began stumbling up the stairs to the mansion.
"You may be an adult, but you can't drink. Do you know how dangerous some of these bars in Gotham are? You could have gotten yourself killed." Jason reprimanded.
"I'm fine. See? Not dead." Tim twirled around to show his wellness. However, his plan backfired as the room continued to spin without him. He braced himself against the wall.
"Come on, let's get you to your room." Jason snaked his arm around his little brother and led him to his room. Before he could get Tim to his bed, Tim took off towards his bathroom. Jason could hear the sounds of his retching.
"How much did you drink?" He asked as he settled in the door way of the bathroom. Tim turned to glare at him, but he turned back to the toilet where he resumed vomiting.
Jason watched his little brother, remembering that he is still just a teenager.
"Here. You'll need this." Jason filled up a glass with water and handed it to Tim. The younger boy took a swig to rinse his mouth out, then drank a few sips.
"You alright now?" Jason asked, leaning against the sink.
"Yeah. Yeah I think so." Tim sat back on the cold tile floor.
"Come on, little Red. Let's get you out of those clothes. You smell like a cheap hooker." Jason helped Tim too his feet and back into the bedroom.
"What does a cheap hooker smell like?" Tim asked, glancing over at Jason.
"Alcohol and shame." Jason let Tim sit himself down on the bed. "Wanna answer a few questions now?" Jason asked, kicking the door closed.
"Fine." Tim sighed, peeling his sweaty shirt off.
"What bar did you go to?" Jason asked, throwing a t-shirt at the bed.
"Guns and Roses." Tim answered, pulling the oversized shirt over his head.
"That was a horrible choice. Who picked there? That place is named for the violent men and the whores that go there."
"Conner wanted to go."
"Stupid. Don't let the Super Boy-Toy pick a bar in Gotham." Jason said angrily. "How did you get in?"
"Fake ID."
"From where?"
"I can make them in the cave, Jason." Tim snapped.
"Fair enough. Now the real question. Why?" Jason asked, turning around. "That's not your shirt."
"How long did it take for you to figure that out?" Tim asked, annoyed.
"Why do you have Kent's shirt?"
"He gave it to me."
"You two are disgusting." Jason rolled his eyes.
"Can you just leave? I'll talk about this with you in the morning, but my head is pounding and I want to get some sleep." Tim said.
"Yeah, fine. But I will be talking with you tomorrow. Just get some rest Baby Bird."
"Thanks, Jayce. And hey, could you not tell Bruce about this? Or Dick?" Tim asked.
"You want it to stay a secret?" Jason asked.
"Yeah. I just, I don't want the third degree from everyone." Tim sighed.
"Yeah. I get that. I won't tell anyone. As long as you promise to never do this again without telling me." Jason said sternly.
"Why? Why do you care?" Tim snapped.
"Because, like it or not, you're my baby brother. I don't want you to get hurt out there. Believe it or not, I love you. So don't do anything stupid and dangerous without letting me know." Jason lectured.
"Fine. I love you too. Just turn off the damn lights and leave me alone." Tim pulled his pillow over his head and rolled over.
"I'm leaving. Calm your tits. Night, Baby Bird."
"This is pointless. All we do at these things is stand off to the side to wait for some incoherent morons to come up to us and say how we've grown or how well we must be doing in school to follow in Father's footsteps. Dick goes around like the social butterfly he is and Father is who knows where." Damian complained, trying to cross his arms; however his recent growth required a bigger suit.
"I don't like this any more than you do. I'd rather not be forced to spend the evening with you." Tim said, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the wall.
"The feeling is mutual, Drake." Damian snapped.
Tim scanned the crowd. They were all high society types, and Tim could take the time to try to remember who was a business contact and who was a trophy wife, but he was busy thinking about something else.
There were all kinds of nosy people here, waiting for one of the Wayne boys to dish out something that could be sold to a newspaper.
And there was wife of a CEO of a rival company.
Tim remembered how much she liked to snoop in Bruce's personal matters.
"Hey, you wanna get out of here?" Tim asked, leaning towards Damian.
"What's the plan?" Damian asked, finally finding a conversation he takes an interest in.
Tim watched as Damian walked by Mrs. Knolls, thinking out loud. Tim had no clue what he was saying, but he could see that the woman in the red dress and tall heels took the bait. She began to follow Damian, asking him questions about whatever it was that he had said. Damian locked eyes with Tim and began to pick up his pace.
"Leave me alone!" Damian cried, running full speed at Tim. "Make her leave me alone, Tim." Damian said, his fake blubbering coming off very real.
Tim hoisted his little brother up into his arms and looked at Mrs. Knolls with disgust.
"What did you say to him?" Tim asked, gently rocking Damian back and forth.
"I-I, he was talking and-"
"You made my baby brother cry, you should be ashamed of yourself." Tim cut her off and quietly shushed Damian. He had to force his smile down as he saw a crowd gathering to look at the youngest of the Wayne brothers.
"Tim, Damian, what happened?" Dick asked, running over to the two.
"Mrs. Knolls said something that really upset him." Tim explained.
"I'll go get Bruce-"
"No need, I'll just take him home. I'll send Alfred to pick you guys up in a few hours." Tim said, taking the keys from Dick's jacket pocket.
"I wanna go home, Tim." Damian cried, very convincingly as far as Tim was concerned.
"I know, Kiddo, we're going home." Tim said, carrying Damian out of the room they were in and into the hall.
The two were very careful to keep their act up until they were out in the drive way. Tim set Damian down and the two ran to the car, laughing with a mixture of glee and evil.
"Good plan there, Drake." Damian said, sliding into the passenger seat.
"Nice acting, you were actually crying." Tim said, starting the car.
"I'm a convincing liar." Damian said, pushing the last of the forced tears from his face and smiling.
"Thanks for getting us out of there little brother. I love you for it." Tim said, adjusting the mirrors.
"I suppose the feeling is mutual for coming up with that plan."
"Let's go, I bet by now Dick's called Alfred and there's cookies waiting for us." Tim said, hitting the gas.
"Let's get out of this hell hole!" Damian yelled, throwing his hands up in the air as they sped off down the road.
Damian had just been walking. He was hungry and was walking down the hall past the parlor on his way to the kitchen when he froze.
There was an odd noise coming from the parlor.
He turned his head to see none other than Dick Grayson, headphones popped into his ears and dancing to his heart's content. He was also singing a song that Damian had heard before and despised for its upbeat demeanor.
"Let you put your hands on me in my skin tight jeans, be your teenage dream tonight." Dick sang, but froze when he saw Damian standing in the doorway glaring at him with raised eyebrows.
"Uhh, I can explain." Dick said, ripping the headphones out.
"I'm embarrassed for you." Damian dead-panned.
"Can we never speak of this again?" Dick asked.
"Agreed." Damian nodded.
"Love you, baby brother." Dick smiled before reaching for his headphones again.
"Whatever, Grayson." Damian rolled his eyes and continued on to the kitchen.