.10

Jason stares at the closed door for several long seconds. He runs his hand over his still masked face, reminds himself to take a breath and count to ten. It doesn't help the quill his anger. His siblings also haven't just magically disappeared in that time either. "Roy, go make sure Car doesn't hurt herself or someone else." The first thing he manages to say. Turning his attention to Arsenal and away from the quartette of bats.

"You going to be okay by yourself?" Roy question picking up his discarded bow and heading towards the door. Jason shakes his head.

"I'm fine. I won't be if something happens to her though." He doesn't wait for Roy's rebottle instead he turns to look back at his siblings. All watching him carefully, waiting to see what he'll do. Shooting one of them was beginning to sound like a nice idea. The door clicks softly this time behind Roy as he heads out to find their girl.

"Does she know that you're playing her?" His replacement asks, and Jason has to raise his brow. What the fuck was he talking about? The question must have been easy to see by his expression because Tim feels the need to clarify.

"I saw you two at Rosa's." Ah, so his little brother had seen him out in the daytime. How had he missed that?

"Rosa's has good coffee. Car likes the breakfast quiche." He says instead, ignoring the questioning looks and raised brows he's getting from the four of them. Jason limps around the couch and takes a seat across from his older brother who hadn't moved from his spot sitting on the coffee table. Nose set but bruising. Dick grimaces at him.

Roy nailed him good. He should have felt something more, maybe upset, but Dick had deserved it. So he doesn't. "Does she know about you? Or does she think the person she's dating in daylight is a different man than the one she is stitching up before dawn?" Red Robin's tone is impatient then, nervous even. Jason lets him sit on it.

This wasn't how he wanted them to find out. Honestly if he had his way they never would have met. Carlisle was already too good for him, he really didn't want her to meet his family. Alfred had been enough and that had come about by pure chance. "I can't seem to remember, I think I hit my head really hard earlier when I took that bullet for the demon spawn." One of three he'd taken that night. Each by pushing one of his stupid ass brothers out of the line of fire. Idiots.

"Tt, you didn't hit the ground that hard Todd." He gave the boy a shit eating grin then, laughing silently at the perplexed look he got in return from the current Robin.

"How long has this-" Nightwing makes a motion to the apartment living room and then to Jason. "-been going on?" His tone level, if not a bit nasally from the break. Jason shrugs with his good shoulder.

"I pretty sure she asked you to leave." He mutters, still not answering their questions, still giving them the run around. Dick sighs. They aren't going to get any answers from him tonight.

"This isn't over Jason." The oldest says, an underlying warning in his tone. When Bruce finds out. Even if he doesn't say it, Jason can hear it. He waves them off and watches as they leave the way they came. Jason would burn that bridge when he got there.

Now, to check in with Roy. He needed to make sure Carlisle was alright. She'd been livid.

He gets a hold of Roy on the second ring. The archer assures him that Carlisle is in fact fine, he'll be heading back with her soon and then hangs up. Once assured of the brunette's safety Jason lays his head back on the couch. Closing his eyes for a moment. His head pounding from the dying adrenalin and pain.

..

Roy carried Carlisle back to the apartment. He found her sitting on a park bench a few blocks from her building crying. Now he and Jason had been friends for a long while, and while he was angry she was seemed to be devastated by the whole situation. Which he didn't really understand. Jason hadn't told her the identities of the others so she had no way to know they were technically adopted siblings, of course that didn't stop her from making educated guesses.

Carlisle always seemed to win when they played guessing games.

She had her head rested on his shoulder then, his arms under her legs carrying her on his back. They gave her hell all the time for her small stature but in situations like this carrying her was a breeze. Carlisle weighed maybe a hundred and twenty pounds. If he was being giving.

"They hurt him. I hate seeing him in pain." She whispers. Roy understood that feeling.

"He's hurt them too Car. It's not a one a way street." He wished he didn't have to play the devil's advocate here. But he needed to make sure she understood. Roy didn't think Jason would appreciate it if she tried to get into anymore arguments with his siblings again.

Don't get him wrong. He was angry at Dick, angry at the rest of them for not trusting Jason's judgement for not giving him a chance. But he understood where they were coming from. Jason wasn't always trust worthy, he didn't play by the rules, and while they got on great now because of these things they hadn't always.

"Doesn't matter how complicated it is Artie, at the end of it their still family. A bat family maybe, but family none the less." Her nickname for his alter ego slips off her tongue and he has to remember there still out in the open. He can't risk saying anymore now. Roy shakes his head but he doesn't say anything else.

No use fighting with someone who'd already made their mind up. Carlisle's building comes into view. He sets her down, they walk side by side in silence. At the front door to the building he leaves her.

"Goodnight Car."

"Night Artie, tell Star hello for me." He nods, taking out his bow and shoot at one of the building. Carlisle watches as the grapple pulls him away. Dramatic idiot.

She wasn't stupid, she knew he had a point and was in fact right. Forgiveness was a two way street. But these people were just so stunted in the emotions department that the only thing she could do was watch them continue to hurt Jason.

Carlisle didn't like seeing him in pain.

Slowly she pushes the door open to her apartment. Praying that everyone except Jason has left. She couldn't handle it if they were all still there. While relatively calm now, she still didn't trust herself to not do something stupid. Ignorance got under her skin more than anything else, along with intolerance.

Instead to her great relief she is met by the sound of Jason's loud snoring. She shuts the door quietly behind her. Walking over to the couch carefully, she sits in the small space left by his waist. He'd removed the sling she noticed. Jason opens one eye, wrapping his good arm around her pulling her down to his chest. "You shouldn't have run."

Carlisle protest. But only because the couch was too small for them both to be laying on. They should move to the bed, there was a lot more room on the queen sized mattress than on her couch. Instead Jason makes room for her to lay next him. It's an uncomfortable fit but it almost works.

"I didn't think you'd appreciate me shooting one of them. 'Sides how was I going to explain that one to the GCPD?" She responds reaching up to touch his cheek.

His mask was still in place. Sweat still on his brow, hair sticking to his forehead. "Or to B. I can't believe you threatened to call him." Jason laughs, it's not a good choice as it causes him to groan from the pain. There was a hole in his shoulder, nothing broken luckily, his upper arm had been grazed, and there was a hole in his thigh. Not to mention those had all happened at different times and just general beatings taken on patrol.

Of course he was sore. Would be for a few days.

"Don't laugh, you'll hurt yourself. Your siblings were being ridiculous. I used to threaten to call my parents whenever they weren't home and my brothers and sister were being brats to me. It worked didn't it." She sits up so she can look down at his face. Jason smirks at her.

"Would you have called him if it hadn't?" He wonders. Carlisle grins at him.

"I don't know, would you have let me?" Jason bites his lip, chewing on it. Would he have stopped her? She shakes her head at him.

"You need to get out of these clothes. Do you have any other injuries I should know about?" Jason sits up then which as causes him to push Carlisle who slides off the couch lading on the mosaic carpet with a slight glare. This was what she was talking about.

"Aw Car you should just be honest when you want to get me naked. You know I'm always down." He teases, her glare intensifies and her cheeks light up. She smacks his good arm.

"Ass."

"A damn fine one too."

XOXOX

Please forgive me if I have made Carlisle to mary-sueish I will try to fix it. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and the last one. There is one more part to this part. I'll try to get it posted quickly.

Thank you all for reading!

Sincerely, La'Rae