Sunday, the Sunday after Red Hood's visit to my apartment. Or, Jason's visit to my apartment as Red Hood. So this is what I knew: they had the exact same laugh. The laugh of Jason's that made me feel light inside, because it was *me* who made him laugh. The laugh that made me so, so happy to hear. That laugh. This is what I didn't quite know, but the coincidence aspect of it was awfully suspicious: Red Hood only showed up on nights I didn't see Jason. Jason only came to one bout. Red did not show up at that bout. Every other bout I'd had since I'd started seeing Jason I got a visit from Red, including the one this (very early) morning at my own goddamn apartment. There were other, little things that were odd – like Jason's odd knowledge of Nightwing's fighting style; and the fact that their body shapes were eerily similar. Like, I would know Jason's ass anywhere. In clothes, out of clothes, anywhere. I got a pretty good look at one spectacular ass of Red Hood last night, and I could swear that was the same ass I grabbed on Thursday when we kissed the first time.

My problem was, I didn't know what to do about it. Any of it. Like, sitting down for breakfast and just opening with "So, where do you keep your Red Hood suit, anyway?" didn't really seem like the way to go here. And like, what about the rest of the Bat Fam? If Jason's Red Hood, does it stand to reason that the REST of his siblings are the rest of them? Like, he has enough siblings to cover it – that's the thing. I really didn't want to go down that particular rabbit hole, because I was positive that would land me either in a world of hurt, or dead.

Speaking of a world of hurt. I had an 'accident' at my dojo today. I'd gone to my dojo to clear my head, and focus on something else for a while. Then I was invited to participate in a sparring match that got…out of hand isn't even the word for it. One of the fellow students, a brown belt, apparently was real bent out of shape that I turned down his offer of a date, and decided to use an illegally augmented staff to beat the shit out of me. In full view of my entire class. I ended up choking him out using my upper thighs, which is also illegal (because we're not a wrestling group) but at that point there was bone sticking out of my right leg, and my right arm was broken. I ended up calling 911 myself because all the other dudes in my class were too flabbergasted to even think about it; then I called my brother (on GCPD SWAT) and my dad (retired GCPD). My dad got there first, and managed to pry the dude away from me, when my brother rolled up in his cruiser with lights going. Then the ambulance arrived. I managed to make it into the ambulance without passing out, but after that, things got hazy. I woke up in a hospital bed, my mom, dad and Ben sitting in the chairs next to me.

"What time is it?" I asked, my voice rough.

"Tuesday, sweetheart," my mom said, quietly. "You were in surgery for a while."

"Shit – I was on today, did anyone tell Garrett (my boss)."

"He's aware," Garrett himself said from the doorway. "I started the paperwork for medical leave already. I got you covered."

"How bad?" I asked him, knowing he wouldn't sugar coat it.

"Your knee was shattered, and we couldn't save it. You've got a couple pins in your lower right leg, several broken ribs, a fractured cheekbone, and a broken arm."

"No major internal damage?"

"No, thank God he didn't hit any vital organs."

"When can I go home?"

"Jesus, T, are you shitting me? If it were up to me, you wouldn't go home for weeks."

"But Garrett, it isn't up to you."

"Do you need someone to stay with you – I'd be happy-"

"That…won't be necessary, Garrett," my mom said, gently. "Her father or I, or one of her brothers or Benny will be able to handle it." What my mom didn't say, but her tone implied was "Go home to your wife, son." Garrett's long standing (loooooong standing) crush on me was a not very well kept secret. Garrett and I had dated once upon a time, when I was still in nursing school, and he was in med school. But that was a long time ago. He also happened to be my eldest brother's best friend, which made family gatherings suuuuper awkward.

I managed to get released, against my doctor's advice, that night. My parents drove me home (my dad and brother had gotten my car back home from the dojo) but I stopped short of having them come up with me. I had a feeling there might be someone waiting for me upstairs, and I didn't want to have to explain any of that nonsense to either of my parents while taking narcotics. Thankfully, my building has an elevator, which I was extremely grateful for at this moment.

I managed to maneuver myself out of the elevator without too much trouble, and took a second before I opened my door.

Jason was waiting for me in the doorway, and he looked furious.

"Jesus Christ, Thea, where the hell have you bee-" Then he stopped, and stared at me. He opened and closed his mouth a couple times before speaking again. "Oh my God, Thea, WHAT HAPPENED?" He rushed over to me, and did the nervous mother hen clucking around all my various casted and non-casted parts without actually touching me, and the more and more he surveyed, the more his whole being radiated 'fear'.

"Thea, WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL ME?"

"Jason, I don't have your phone number. We never exchanged numbers, you just always showed up." That stopped Jason cold. His eyes widened in shock, and he opened and closed his mouth. He looked like something just occurred to him.

"No wonder you –" he started, but stopped, then shook his head. "Why didn't you ask me for it?"

"I didn't think you wanted to give it to me, to be honest. I thought you wanted to be left alone." I paused. "Hey, can you help me to the couch? The crutches are digging into my armpits and it hurts."

"THAT'S what hurts?" He asked, giving me major side eye. He pursed his lips. "Do you think it would hurt if I picked you up?"

I shrugged, as much as one can while on crutches. "Guess we won't know until we try. A bunch of my ribs are broken, so keep that in mind."

"Extra careful, got it." He walked over to me, took the crutches from under my arms, making sure I could lean on him with my left side so I wouldn't fall over. He picked me up gently, bridal style, and walked us over to the couch. He sat down in the middle, and set me down so my ass was on his right side, and my legs were over him. He did it this way so my casts were all on the outside, and not trapped between my body and his, or stuck behind the couch.

"Can you…slide down?" I asked, hesitantly.

"Sure, which way?"

"Toward the window."

"You bet." He very, very gently picked me up again, moving me so I was mostly on the other side of him, and my head was in his lap.

"I couldn't touch enough of you that way." I saw him smile a very small smile of what looked like contentment.

"You tell me where it's safe to touch you, and I won't let go."

I sighed. "Most of the damage was to the right side. Ribs are broken on both sides, but everything else was right side only."

"Ninjago – WHAT HAPPENED? Were you in a car accident?"

"No, this happened at my dojo."

"Wait, someone at your DOJO did this to you? Like, another human person, at the studio where you both pay to practice your art SAFELY?"

"Yes."

"This dude still alive? I'm assuming whomever did this to you was a man."

"Sadly, yes you are correct on both counts."

"How did this HAPPEN?" It looked to me like Jason couldn't mentally wrap his mind around physical assault at a supposed neutral place of peace and learning.

"I was sparring with some dude who asked me out a little while ago, who I turned down, and he got bent out of shape about it."

"Out of curiosity, why'd you turn him down?"

"He seemed to me like kind of an asshole. Nothing he did two days ago disproves this theory."

"How were you sparring?"

"Bo Staves"

"Thea. Unless this dude had Superman's strength, there is NO way a bo staff could do any of that."

"Well, handsome – ding-dong, you're wrong, however this dude isn't good enough to use a regular bo staff to do that kind of damage."

"What do you mean 'regular'?

"His was too heavy. I think his was reinforced with metal inside. He shattered my staff in half with one blow, and he's not that good. GCPD got it, well, my brother got it, so it's in good hands now."

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME." Jason roared.

I couldn't help it. My eyes got wide and I shrank back a little.

"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I yelled; I wasn't yelling at you." He took my left (good) hand in his, and kissed me on my forehead.

"Ok, so tell me the total damage report."

"He snapped my right leg in half, shattered my right knee, snapped my right arm, broke ribs on both sides and fractured my right cheekbone."

Jason sighed, deeply. "Jesus fucking Christ. Were you shielding with your right side, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah. Once he broke the staff, there was really only so much I could do until I could get him on the floor. Once he was on the floor, I choked him out. I'm pretty sure I broke a few of his bones, I know I got at least one of his wrists. It was very tempting to blind him. Very, very tempting."

"And NO ONE in your dojo thought to stop him?"

"No, and isn't that just bananas? Like, I was the ONLY woman there, Jason, everyone else was a man, but even my SENSEI just…froze."

"You're not going back."

"No, I'm not going back."

"No, that wasn't a question. You're not going back, period. I know I said I'm not the boss of you. But that place is obviously dangerous, so you can't go back. End of story."

I smiled at his protectiveness. "On that we are agreed. I don't think that's really going to be a problem, though. Gabe knows a couple people, and I think licenses are going to get pulled. My mom's looking for a lawyer."

"Done."

"What's done?"

"You've got a lawyer."

"Are…you a lawyer?"

"No, but we have one on retainer. I'll make a call."

I shook my head again, smiling ruefully, because it had slipped my mind once more that he was, indeed, a Wayne.

"I love how it continues to surprise you. Really. Because that means you forget what family I belong to, because it isn't that important to you."

"Well, I mean, it's important to me that you belong to a family, because your family is important to you," I said, wanting to make sure he understood what I meant.

Jason leaned down, kissed me on the head and told me to hush. I felt him rummaging through a pocket, and he pulled out his phone and held it up to his ear. "Hey, Alfred, it's Jay. I'm good – how're you? How're the girls? And the Demon? Hey, can you give me the number of the lawyer Bruce uses for family stuff? No, it's not for me, I promise. It's for a…friend. Text it to me? Cool. Thank you, Alfred. I'll stop by this week. I promise. Bye."

He looked down at me in his lap. "I'll call tomorrow, ok?"

"Ok? Thank you, Jason. You really don't have to do this-"

"Thea, I want to. If I can use my 'rich adopted white kid' status for anything good, please let it be this."

I smiled. "Ok, Jason. Can you stay tonight?"

"What, and leave you alone to fend for yourself? Of course I'm staying, nutjob. Are you hungry? Have you eaten?"

I pouted. "Ugggh, food. I don't feel like eating. Blergh."

"Gotta eat, Thea. Seriously. Want me to make you something?"

"Yes, but I do not want you to move. At all."

"Hmm. A conundrum, for sure."

"Call Tim." I said, chuckling. Jason laughed out loud, but pulled his phone back out and called his brother. He put it on speaker.

"Hey Jay, what's up?"

"You home, or around? You're on speaker, by the way. I'm at Thea's."

"Hey, she get home safe?"

"Yes, and no," I said.

"Uh," Tim said.

"Thea was in an accident. Like, the entire right side of her body is broken kind of accident."

"Oh shit! What do you need?"

"I don't want Jason to get up, we're on the couch. Would you be willing to bring food over? Jason says I need to eat."

"You need to eat, Thea. You're a goddamn nurse!" I could hear him rolling his eyes. "What do you guys want?"

"Comfort food, Tim. Calories." Jason said.

"Understood. I'll run out and get something and be over in a jiffy."

"Thanks, man. I appreciate it." Jason said, hanging up.

Ten minutes later, Tim walked in with a couple food bags, which he put on the coffee table.

"Hooooly shit, you were not kidding. What the hell HAPPENED, Thea?" he asked, sounding horrified.

"A dude at my dojo beat the shit out of me."

"Wait, what?"

"Some guy Thea'd turned down for a date took it badly and they sparred on Sunday, and Thea said he used an augmented bo staff, and beat the shit out of her. I think the only things that didn't get broken on her right hand side are her hand and her foot. And shoulder."

"Jesus Christ. This dude still alive?" Tim asked me.

"Unfortunately. I didn't have enough torque to cut off his airflow enough because I was using my leg that was broken as the fulcrum. I managed to get him to pass out. That's all."

"You sound disappointed."

"If it were up to me, I'd flay him alive then light him on fire. But as my dad and brother reminded me, we have this thing called the 'justice system'."

"Ok, food. What've we got?" Jason asked.

"I brought mac and cheese, fried chicken and green beans. I'll go get plates and forks."

"Thank you, Tim." I said. "While you're up, I think I dropped my goodie bag of meds on the counter, could you please bring it over?"

"You due for something?" Jason asked, holding his hand over his head for Tim to hand him the bag.

"Garrett threw a bunch of shit in there, I'm not all sure what it is. He didn't actually prescribe half of it."

"Wait. Were you released without his authorization? Was he the overseeing physician?"

"He was, and he released me against his orders."

"How many more days should you have stayed in the hospital, Thea?" Jason asked, concerned.

"Meh. What can the hospital give me that I can't just get here?"

"ACTUAL MEDICAL CARE YOU ABSOLUTE NUTJOB." Jason said, glaring at me.

"Dude, I'm a nurse."

"You have no medical equipment here, Thea! I have half a mind to just take you back to the hospital!"

"Don't you DARE." I told him, seriously. "I want to be HERE. I will sleep better HERE. You're HERE. I'll be fine."

The look Jason gave me could not have said more clearly "I highly doubt that", but he kept his mouth shut. He looked in the bag, and his eyes got real big.

"Maaaan, Garrett hooked you up with some serious stuff. You've got antibiotics in here, a nausea med, a bunch of fucking painkillers, some I think that shouldn't have actually left the hospital."

"Antibiotic and a not-illegal painkiller for the moment. I'll take the illegal shit before I go to sleep tonight."

Jason leaned his head back over the back of the couch. "Hey Tim, can you grab us three bottles of water from the fridge, please?"

"You bet."

Jason handed me two pills, and a water bottle. When Tim came to sit, Jason made sure to feed me first; he actually fed me. He cut up the chicken into bite sized pieces, did small forkfuls of mac and cheese at a time, and was careful with the veggies.

"Scale of 1-10, 10 being "Jason take me back to the hospital" – how's your pain?"

"Higher than that scale goes – but you are not allowed to take me back to the hospital."

I saw Jason give Tim a meaningful look, and Tim nodded. I would have said something about it, but I was too uncomfortable to ask.

"I need to pee – Jason, can you get me my crutches?"

"Would you rather I carried you?"

"Maaaybe? It would be awkward either way around, you're going to end up seeing me naked eventually, it may as well be sooner rather than later."

"Wait, you two haven't-"

"No." Jason and I said in unison.

"Tim, I may as well say my goodnights now, I don't think I'm long for the plane of consciousness at this point."

Tim shook his head, looking sadly sympathetic. "Oh, Thea. I'll come check on you tomorrow if Jason has to leave for anything, ok?"

"Ok."

"Sweet dreams, Thea."

"Thanks, Tim."

Then Jason picked me up again, and we went to the bathroom in my bedroom.

"How can I help?" he asked, genuinely.

"I think I'd rather sleep naked tonight, getting clothes on and off over these casts is going to be a nightmare."

"Want me to sleep on the couch?"

"No, no I do not. But if you'd rather, I understand."

"No, no I do not. I promise I'll keep my hands to myself to ensure I don't break you any further," he said and laughed. "Ok. So. Getting you naked. Man, I always thought saying something like that to you would be under far sexier circumstances."

"Yeah."

We managed to get all my clothes off without much hassle or pain, on my part. Jason said nothing as he helped me pee, without falling over (I don't have grip bars in my bathroom). He was so sweet about everything. I cleaned up quickly as best I could under the circumstances, and he carried me to the bed, resting my crutches next to the bed so they'd be easy to access if I needed them. I asked for a glass of water, one of the pre-filled syringes with the narcotics that technically should not have left the hospital, my phone, and the bottle of Oxycodone. While he went to fetch those things, I gently maneuvered myself into a comfortable sleeping position.

Jason came back, placing my phone, the water, and the bottle of pills on my nightstand. He asked if I wanted him to do the injection, but I said no. He uncapped it, handed it to me, and with my left hand jabbed it into my hip. It would have been more effective in a saline drip in an IV, but, what's done is done.

"I'll be in in a little bit, I want to catch up with Tim some. Holler if you need me, ok? And wake me up tonight if you need to use the bathroom, or need anything. Ok? Thea? Do you promise you will, instead of trying to do it yourself?"

"I promise," I said, starting to fade out.

Jason helped lean me back, and kissed me gently on my lips, murmuring "Sleep well, my beautiful one."