Title: knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend

Fandom: DCU/Avengers movieverse

Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Donne

Warnings: pre-Under the Red Hood film; post-Cap2 by a couple of months. Discussion of death/violence/torture – basically, everything Red Hood and Winter Soldier's respective backstories has.

Pairings: none

Rating: PG
Wordcount: 965

Point of view: third

Prompt: Any, any, Karma


In LA, their usual approach won't work. Too many eyes everywhere, and while Jason's face is still unknown (and legally dead), Jimmy's – isn't. From what Jimmy has said, and what Jason inferred, very few of the goons knew what the asset was. But the bosses? Yeah, they all knew. And there are special handlers with codes that'll knock Jimmy right out, turn him into little more than a robot.

Jason's going to take great pleasure in putting a bullet into each of their eyes.

In LA, there are two targets: one research facility and one recalibration chamber. (The last recalibration chamber in North America, in fact. There were three, Jimmy told him, in that small voice. One in Monroe, one in Los Angeles, and one in Washington DC. Captain America found the one in DC and it doesn't need to be worried about anymore.)

(What, exactly, is going on between Captain America and Jimmy? Jason has no idea. But some of the Hydra goons keep chattering about Captain America tearing his way through the old bases in Europe and he's apparently fucking pissed as hell about something.)

Watching Jimmy fight – he's pretty sure Jimmy could beat Bruce with ease and then go on to Dickie. He'd beat anyone in the League. Sometimes, their missions are just letting Jimmy rage his way through a location and Jason watches his back, picking off the ones how try to escape. And rage is the wrong word – Jimmy's emotionless the whole time. Jason calls it "mission mode." It's utterly terrifying and merciless.

(And hot, so very hot, but he promised not to try anything and Jimmy's in no way ready.)

And to think of Jimmy helping him in Gotham, with the Joker and Bruce –

"Jason?" Jimmy asks as the Greyhound pulls into the station.

"Yeah, let's go," Jason says.

.

"Okay, so, I think we'll have to split up," Jason says as they hunch over the schematics of the two targets. "If we don't, whichever one we don't hit is gonna batten down the hatches, if they don't scatter. But a coordinated attack…" He shrugs.

Jimmy nods. How assertive he is seems to depend on the day, and Jason still hasn't figured out all the triggers.

"I'll take the recalibration chamber," Jason says, because there's no fucking way he's letting Jimmy anywhere near it.

.

They spend a week on recon, making sure all the intel is accurate, planning things down to the smallest detail. They have to strike at exactly the same time because the two locations are in constant contact.

"Ready?" he asks before they separate.

"Yes," Jimmy says, smiling before wiping all expression from his face.

"See you on the other side," Jason tells him, sliding his helmet into place.

Red Hood's getting quite the workout before heading home. He wonders if Bruce has caught wind yet.

.

They're ready for him.

.

He first becomes aware of the explosions when the room shakes around him. It takes him a minute to realize it's not in his head. Everything hurts and they've stripped him completely down, taking everything.

He wonders where the Joker is, if Bruce is coming for him –

No, no, that was years ago. Jimmy's coming for him.

Unless they got Jimmy, too.

No. Things are exploding. That's Jimmy. But everything hurts, and he hears the tick tick tick, and –

The door is torn open and Jimmy, covered in blood, is staring down at him, that arm glinting in the light where his shirt was torn by something.

Everything hurts but the relief is so sharp as Jason lets himself sag down.

"Can you walk?" Jimmy asks.

Jason can't even string the words together to answer.

Jimmy vanishes from sight; a scream and three gunshots later, he's back, with pants and a shirt. "You're a fuckin' moron," he informs Jason as he pulls Jason's limbs into the clothes. "Goddamned idiot, thinkin' you're all invincible now. What would'ya do without me, huh?" He stands and pulls Jason to his feet, and then swings him across his shoulders.

"We've got 58 seconds till the place goes up," Jimmy says. And Jason's in and out, knowing he's getting things wrong – Bruce isn't waiting for them, they're not running from Joker, he's not a kid anymore…

Right?

There are bodies everywhere. Some of them are still moaning or crying. Some of them are in pieces. Jason decides he's too tired to be awake anymore.

.

When Jason wakes up, there's a trembling doctor stitching him up. Jimmy is looming from the corner, one knife plain on the small table next to him and a gun in his hand.

The doctor is saying, "He's going to be fine, it'll just take a few days for the drugs to work out of his system. Please don't kill me, I won't tell anyone ever, I have two kids, please don't kill me."

"No loose ends," Jimmy says, and this is mission mode, full stop.

The doctor sobs once and cuts the thread.

This guy is a civilian. Jason – if Jason hadn't been such a dumbass, he wouldn't even be involved. And when Jimmy slips out of mission mode and remembers this…

"If you tell anyone, we'll find you," he says. He raises his voice to add, "Let him go."

Jimmy nods once. The doctor sobs again but packs up his kit and flees.

"The missions were successful," Jimmy reports without moving. "All known locations and agents of Hydra have been eliminated." There is the slightest thread of satisfaction in the words, which means Jimmy's coming out of it.

"That's good," Jason says. He's feeling floaty. And still tired. "We should… should go somewhere else," he mumbles.

"Go back to sleep," Jimmy tells him. "I'll take care of everything."

"'kay," Jason mutters, eyelids fluttering before staying closed.