This here gem has some humor in it, courtesy of Dick. And kind of Jason. Of course, there's still Tim being his sad, sad self, but yay Dick for giving all of us comic relief and happiness. Can't be sad all the time. Unless you're Tim. ENJOY. THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEW SO FAR. I LOVE YOU.
Jason finds himself staring at the ceiling after waking up to a slamming door. God, how long had he been asleep? It doesn't feel like it was very long, but he has a crick in his neck from sleeping in the chair in his room, so it had to have been more than an hour. Shit, he was still so tired.
Tired enough to sleep through Tim leaving the room next door.
Tired enough to forget what day it is.
Fuck.
Words are being exchanged down the hallway. He can hear Tim's voice, high pitched and irritated. Something must have happened.
At least I didn't kiss him. He can't have that damage hovering over his head.
But that didn't mean he hadn't wanted to kiss him. He had desperately wanted to. But Tim isn't better yet. Jason cannot and will not take advantage of Tim in his current state of mind. Never. Jason Todd is better than that (though he is sure he has his critics).
Jason sits up, rubbing his neck and moves out into the hallway. Tim is down at the end with the doctor, Dick, and Damian. Alfred is nowhere to be seen. However, Tim has tear tracks on both cheeks, his voice is shaky, and his fists are clenched. Jason gets down the hallway before he realized he even moved. (He must be more tired than he thought.)
"Just stop talking!" Tim says, looking frantically from Dr. Wilson to Dick. "Neither of you get it. I just killed one of my best friends. I killed him! I did it! I shoved him out of existence because—" His voice is choked off my some indefinable sound. "God, I killed him," he repeats, much softer.
Dick tries to move forward and Jason does the same. "Do not touch me." He shoves past them all and practically leaps down the stairs. Tim grabs a jacket from the closet near the front door and forcefully pulls it on. His legs are trembling.
"Where are you going?" Dick asks. Dr. Wilson stays silent.
"Out." He pulls the hood up on the green jacket and zips it up. "I'll be back later." His eyes land on Jason and there is such an intense longing in them that Jason wants to go and stop him and give him the kiss Jason had been about to give him last night. But the moment comes and goes and Tim slams the heavy wooden door behind him.
"He's going to break all the doors in the house," Damian says. Jason thinks he has just made a joke.
Dick smirks. Then he looks at Jason and the half-smile is gone. "Well, aren't you going to go after him? Your boyfriend needs you!"
"He's not my—" Well. Maybe he is. Jason and Tim hadn't exactly worked out what they were to each other. But they had both said I love you so... what did that mean? "Or, rather, he is, but... fuck. We need to talk about this."
"Yes. Yes you do. Now go fetch Timmy if you would. He's just lost Bart."
"What?"
"He's making progress," Dr. Wilson supplies. "He set one of his friends free, if you would. He has one less mental stressor." He looks away, as if ashamed. "However, it has caused an expected depression and unexpected anger. Has something happened?" He looks at Jason.
Why would he look at him like that? Jason had done the right thing, the respectable thing. He had avoided kissing and emotionally compromised younger man. Why was Dr. Wilson treating him like the bad guy? And why had Tim looked at him so miserably?
"Doctor, I think Jason's a tease."
"A what?" Damian and Jason demand at the same time.
"A tease. Tim had that look that said 'you were about to kiss me but didn't.'" Jason's jaw is slack. "What? I've done that to Babs before. And Kory. And Wally. More than once actually. It pissed them off. But Wally has actually come to find it quite endearing—"
"I'm—I'm not a tease—!"
"...the stutter says you're lying."
"Fuck. Fuck." Jason massages his temples.
"Go. Go fix it. Comfort your beloved. We can all wait here, we promise. Go kiss and make up. And, by the way, kissing isn't necessarily a waiting thing, it's more the tongue you should wait—"
"Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up!" Jason clamps his hands over his ears at the same time that Damian says, "keep your disgusting advice to yourself!"
Jason pushes past Dick and heads for the front door.
But when he opens it to see the Wayne front yard, Tim is already long gone.
