Rating: Teen
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: Batman - All Media Types
Relationship: Tim Drake/Jason Todd
Characters: Tim Drake, Jason Todd
Additional Tags: Stitches, Brainwashing, Angst
Summary: Tim is in a bad way and Jason helps him out.
Notes: The second prompt, Stitches (jaytim), is from Jenetic777 on tumblr. She's also the one whose typo became the name for this series! This was fun to write. I thought it would be fun to bring Joker Jr back; this time with an upgrade. I wanted to do mouth stitches as soon as I'd read the option while I was choosing for my Bad Things Happen Bingo Card.
Tim cackled as he pointed the gun at Jason. His mouth stretched in a wide grin that he could barely feel from all of the pain blockers he was on. The laughter bubbled up within him, high pitched with terror. Tim's hands shook, unable to keep them still enough to pull the trigger and actually hit Jason. The Joker had told Tim to shoot anyone who came through the door. At the time, Tim was confident that he could complete his mission and make Joker proud.
Now that he was face to face with Jason, Tim found it difficult. Tim licked the strings that kept his mouth from opening all the way. Emotions rose within him, fought for dominance. Jason was his childhood crush. He was the man who tried to kill Tim on several occasions. He was the one who snuck into Gotham to have breakfast with Tim once a week. Jason was his dirty little secret and Tim loved him. He didn't want to shoot Jason. He would shoot anyone, anyone else who came through that door but not Jason.
Tim laughed because it was the only noise he could make.
Jason stared at Tim in the Joker's colors, hair bleached and dyed bright green, blue eyes a vivid absinthe green, face pale as chalk except for his cherry red lips. His gaze lingered on the black thread holding Tim's mouth in place. Jason wore a helmet because he wore his emotions on his face. He was terrible at hiding what he felt. Now, Jason's expression was a storm, his pain and fear written so clearly on his face that it should have been shameful. He looked at Tim and made a noise like a wounded animal.
Jason looked so anguished and Tim hadn't even shot him yet. Tim wasn't sure he wanted to see Jason in greater pain. This was Jason and Tim loved Jason. And the Joker hadn't thought to take that love away. They were in a stalemate, looking at each other with Tim's gun between them.
"I bet your mouth doesn't feel so good," Jason's voice was low but it doesn't come out the growl that Tim was expecting.
Tim couldn't feel his mouth. He couldn't physically feel much of anything though, with all the drugs in his system. His tongue darted out to lick the taut strings. He tasted blood. He tried to laugh but t came out an unhappy noise.
Jason advanced a step. Paused to assess then stepped forward again. "I can make you feel good."
After being tortured for an entire month and then being doped up to the gills with numbing agents, all it took was the promise of pleasure for Tim to drop his gun and kick it away. He didn't go to Jason, that was just a bit too much - Jason had to work for it - but he was unarmed at least.
To his credit, Jason didn't hesitate to approach Tim. His movements were slow and nonthreatening but he made them very clear as well. When he touched Tim's cheek, Tim wasn't surprised. He'd seen the action coming in Jason's movements. There was plenty of time to step away. "Let me take you home."
Tim giggled, tone thin and wanting. He tilted his face into Jason's hand, pushing into his palm until he could feel the pressure. He wanted to close his eyes and just trust Jason but it was hard. The Joker told him to kill everyone. The Joker made him into this lookalike. Jason hated the Joker with all the vehemence of a forest fire. He had to hate Tim too, had to hate how Tim looked just like the Joker. Something nagged at the back of his mind but the thought kept slipping away.
"Can I carry you?"
Tim nodded. He could walk out but as much as he wanted to go with Jason, Tim didn't feel like he could truly leave. His feet were lead roots keeping him there on this warehouse floor where his master had told him to stay and destroy everything that came inside.
Jason bent down and ran his hands down Tim's thighs. He slid them around the back and hoisted Tim up. "Wrap your legs around me."
Tim did. His body slotted against Jason's and felt all that hard muscle underneath Jason's uniform. He let out a shaky breath against Jason's neck. It wasn't quite a kiss, only the threads sewing Tim's mouth touched Jason's skin, but it held all of the intimacy.
Goosebumps broke out over Jason's skin but he didn't shy away from the threads on Tim's mouth. Jason carried Tim out of the warehouse with no problems and no hesitation. It was clear by the bodies in the shadows that Jason had already taken care of the Joker's clowns.
Tim felt no sympathy for them. They were nameless, faceless goons. Hired help that was so desperate for a paycheck that they were willing to run with the Joker. At least that was how it started. The Joker had a way of being so charming that he wormed his way under the skin like a disease you didn't want to cure. That wasn't quite how Tim came into his own with the Joker but he watched it happen over and over.
The car that Jason slid into wasn't a Batmobile - and just as well since Tim would have destroyed it on sight - but it was a very nice vehicle. Jason made no attempt to let go of Tim. He followed the traffic laws all the way to his safehouse, bar the one that said riders were to stay in their own seats and not sit on the driver. When they got to his safehouse, Jason threw his jacket over Tim's head and carried him up to the apartment. He unlocked the complicated security system and kicked the door shut after entering. As soon as he walked into the room, fairy lights lit up from their spots near the crown molding. They lit up pretty orange as Jason walked from room to room.
They stopped in the bathroom. Jason gingerly set Tim down on the closed toilet lid. "Just going to get some scissors. Can you handle scissors?"
Tim laughed, sarcastic and sharp. He could handle scissors just fine. Scissors weren't part of the equation. Joker hadn't even cut off the extra string after sewing his lips. It still dangled down from the corner of his mouth.
Jason returned with a delicate pair of scissors that made Jason's large hands look graceful. With his free hand he tilted Tim's face up. He brought the scissors to Tim's lips as gentle as a kiss. The metal was cold against Tim's lips. "Hold perfectly still." One by one Jason snipped the threads through Tim's lips. "Easy. Almost done with this part."
Tim didn't feel anything except the coolness of the scissor blades brushing against his lips like a winter kiss. He held perfectly still for Jason. He was used to following orders and he had learned that disobeying was incredibly dangerous to his health. Tim was a good boy.
Jason set the scissors down out of Tim's reach. He leaned closer to peer at Tim's mouth. His own mouth was set in a frown. "These have been in for a while." He brushed the pads of his fingers along the punctures in Tim's lips. "The skin has grown mback around them." Jason's expression twisted into something sympathetic. "I'm gonna have to pull these out. Think you can handle it?"
Again, Tim nodded. This version of joker toxin was a new batch. He couldn't feel most of his body, his speech was completely gone, he couldn't stop smiling. Every terrible impulse he had he wanted to give in to and it was only his love for Jason that quieted his violent thoughts.
It didn't exactly hurt when Jason started tugging the embedded threads from Tim's skin. There was pressure and a feeling like there ought to be pain but it was just this shy of. Tim knew that everything would hurt after the Joker toxin had worked its way through his system. But that felt like a lifetime away. Right now there was just Tim and Jason in a small bathroom, blood on Tim's lips and Jason's fingertips. And for now that was enough.
