Title: knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend
Fandom: DCU animated/Avengers movieverse
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Donne
Warnings: Discussion of death/violence/torture – basically, everything Red Hood and Winter Soldier's respective backstories has.
Pairings: Jimmy/Jason
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 990
Point of view: third
Prompt: any; any; not evil, just misunderstood
As they're going their separate ways, Dick says, "Babs wants you to have her number," and he rattles off the digits. "Call her."
Jason stares after him as Dick saunters down the block.
.
Back before, Dick was always off being busy somewhere, and even though Jason knew if he called needing help, Dick would've been there, he never called. Dick was the favorite child he could never live up to.
Barbara, though, she was cool. Sometimes, in the middle, he'd go out with Batgirl on patrol instead of Batman, usually because Batman was needed somewhere he didn't want to bring Robin. If Dick was the unattainable older brother, Barbara was the awesome friend that Jason might've had a slight crush on.
And then the Joker shot her on his way to Sarajevo. As Jason began his recon on Gotham, he figured out pretty quick who Oracle was. Barbara had always been good at the tech stuff.
He heads back to the loft, where Jimmy is babysitting Joy, gently dancing around the den with her. Jason watches with a grin for a few minutes before asking, "What're your plans for tonight?"
"Tim was unavailable this morning so his lesson has been moved to this evening," Jimmy says. "Debra will be back for Joy around 3."
"Okay, cool. I'm…" He sighs. "I'm gonna call Barbara at some point today. May get dinner with her. Or something. I don't know yet."
Jimmy turns to face him, though he still rocks side to side for Joy's benefit. "Do you need me?"
Jason shakes his head. "I want you there, but I gotta do this on my own." He pushes off the wall, saying, "Gonna go shower." He doesn't look back as he goes to the bathroom.
.
He waits until after Jimmy's gone to dial the number Dick gave him. After the call picks up, there is a long silence while Jason listens to her breathe. He finally says, "Hi, Barbara."
She says back, "Hi, Jason."
.
Talking on the phone is awkward, so about a minute into it, Barbara tells him her address and hangs up. It's the middle of the afternoon so he goes as Jay Smith instead of Red Hood and doesn't drag his feet on purpose – it just sort of happens. He pushes the buzzer and the lock clicks and he takes his time going up eight flights of stairs.
When he knocks on the door, she shouts, "It's open!" so he goes in, locking it behind him.
"That's dangerous," he calls, winding his way through the hall. "Never know what freaks might pop in."
"I've been tracking your progress across town," she calls back. "I knew it was you."
He turns a corner and there she is, waiting in the doorway to what looks like a room full of computers. He was too overwhelmed to really notice that night at dinner, but her hair is still as vibrant, her eyes as sharp. Her body doesn't look weak at all in the high-tech chair he's pretty sure she designed and built herself. For all that the world praises Tony Stark, Jason would bet on Barbara any day.
"Oh, Jason," she says, pulling off her glasses to wipe at her eyes.
"Hey, Babs," he says. "Wanna hear how the Joker died?"
"Yeah," she says. "C'mon, I've prepared some snacks." She rolls toward him and he steps to the side, following her through another doorway into a kitchen smaller than the loft's but still pretty good-sized. There's a plate with crackers, lunchmeat, and cheese sitting on the table and Barbara tells him, "Pick a spot."
He sits and starts assembling a sandwich, deciding to let Barbara restart the conversation, which she does after a few minutes by asking, "So, the Joker?"
Jason will never forget a single thing Jimmy told him about that night, and he repeats it all for Barbara.
.
He stays till after sundown, helps her make dinner, and their conversation ranges from the places Jason's been to the technology classes at Gotham's community college Barbara's teaching to how crazy the past few years have been, what with all the alien invasions and Hydra.
"Jason," she says while he's getting seconds, "I know what I've pieced together, and I know what Bruce has told me. But I'd like to hear it from you, if you don't mind. What are you doing in Gotham?"
"At first, it was about revenge, punish Joker and Bruce, both." She nods because that is terribly obvious. "But now, it's about making Gotham safe enough to call home." She smiles a little at that.
"And what about Bucky Barnes?" she asks. "That is who Jimmy really is, right? The dead World War II hero?"
Jason shakes his head. "Not my story to tell, Babs. But I trust him more than I do anyone else."
"You more than trust him, Jason," she says, her smile widening. "You love him."
"Well, yeah." He shrugs. "Anyway, what about you and Dickie-boy?"
They stay away from hard topics after that, and Jason gives her shit for not making an honest man of Dick yet, and it's - good. Feels like what family might.
As he's about to leave, Barbara pulls him down to kiss his cheek and says, "My door is always open for you, Jason. And bring Jimmy by sometime – I'd love to hear that story."
"Yeah," he says softly. "And if you ever need help, well, you have my number now."
He takes the long way home, checking in on his town. There are still idiot muggers, but most everything else is quiet. There's a drug shipment coming in tonight that Batman may or may not be trying to stop, and a forgery ring that's going to replace one of the paintings at Gotham's premier art museum.
There will also be an execution of a city councilman that Jason needs to get ready for, so he speeds up his pace.
