Chapter 40: Aftermath

Everything hurt. It felt like I had been hit by a truck. Every time I took a breath it felt like a pressure building in my chest that couldn't find release. My head was pounding, my left wrist felt like it was throbbing, and my right shoulder was on fire. There were people shouting and I could feel I was being moved. I wished they'd shut up. The pounding in my head got stronger.

I was so exhausted, but I wanted to know what was going on, so I forced my eyes open. There were bright florescent lights rushing by overhead. I looked to my right, there was a guy in navy scrubs barking orders at someone on my other side. Towards my feet, I caught a glimpse of someone in a brown leather jacket. Before I could gather who that was, I felt a pinch in my left hand. I tried to move my head to look, but an unbearable heaviness settled over me. The strongest need to sleep hit me and I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.

When I woke up again, it was quieter. And brighter. I squeezed my eyes tighter and groaned. I brought a hand up to my face, but stopped short when it felt heavier than it should've. My eyes snapped open, and I found my left hand and forearm covered in the plastic webbing of a cast. The thing that threw me off the most though, was that it was purple. How did they know?

I took a mental assessment of what else was off. I had the headache of a lifetime that was consistently pulsing and made me want to go back to sleep. My chest had a dull ache that seemed to be in time with my breathing. Broken ribs maybe? I hoped not, a broken arm was bad enough. My shoulder was definitely either re-dislocated, or sent back in the healing process. Either way, it hurt like hell. Someone had put my arm in a sling. I threw back the blanket to check my lower body. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with my legs. I gave my toes a test wiggle just to make sure.

I dropped my hand into my lap and surveyed the room. There was a divider curtain to my left, blocking my view of the door and whoever might be in the next bed over. To my right was a heart monitor beeping quietly and IV drip, along with the window letting in the annoyingly bright sunlight. I had a lovely view of the parking lot. I absently wondered what hospital I was at. At the foot of the bed was a small couch with a folded up blanket on it. Had someone been using it?

I stared listlessly out the window, willing the pulsing in my head to stop, until I heard the door open on the other side of the curtain.

He was looking down at his phone with a frown, typing rapidly, and hadn't noticed me yet.

It's one thing to be told about a person and see them in pictures, but its another thing to see them in person. As physically imposing as he was, all he seemed was tired. His shoulders were slumped, stubble covered his face, and he had bags under his eyes. He looked as tired as I felt.

Finished with whatever he was doing on his phone, he practically fell onto the couch, taking up most of it. It was then that he noticed I was awake.

Our eyes met and I finally understood what everyone had meant by I had his eyes. Yes, we had the same eye color, but that wasn't what surprised me. The anger, grief, and exhaustion I had been seeing in the mirror for months was staring back at me though Jason Todd.

"I knew I was being followed." It was the first thing that came to mind. It broke whatever awkward tension was in the room and he chuckled.

"I told Bruce you would notice, but he always did underestimate us." Jason shrugged, "I suppose you have some questions for me," He sighed.

"Yeah I do, but I think they can wait," I held up my cast, "How did you know purple?"

"It was the color on your suit. Figured it was a safe bet." Well, he wasn't wrong, but that did bring up another question.

"Where is my suit?" I looked down at the hospital gown I was wearing. Where were the clothes I was wearing under the suit? Where was my underwear? I felt awkward all over again for different reasons.

"Hidden safely away. You were still somewhat conscious when I found you. Insisted I arrest Valentina. Then you decided the suit was too stuffy, disappeared for five minutes and reappeared in civvies, somehow, suit in hand."

I remembered none of that. Oh God. Dad was going to kill me. Bruce was going to kill me. Ko was going to violently murder me. She must be losing her shit right now. I panicked and started looking for my phone. The heart rate monitor sped up and my chest hurt even more.

"Calm down Kid. Don't need you in the ICU too," Jason said calmly.

"Where's my phone? I need to make a call," What he said registered in my head, "And what do you mean ICU?"

"Don't worry, I told your friend what happened," He held up my phone, "She wouldn't stop calling, so around two this morning I answered. She told me to tell you she was going to kick your ass."

I couldn't help but laugh a little. I expected nothing less from Ko. I wondered what she told her mom?

"Valentina is in the ICU," he continued, "She didn't have a fancy suit to protect her like you. She's still out cold last I checked," He tossed my phone onto my lap from the couch, "I should probably let someone know you're awake. If they ask, you and Valentina were in a car accident on your way to Valentina's place in Oakland," He stood up and stretched, "Want me to smuggle you something from the cafeteria? You must be starving."

I didn't really feel like eating. Besides, food was the last thing on my mind.

"Nah, I'm good, thanks. Quick question though," He paused at the curtain and looked back at me, "Why do you keep calling her Valentina?" I could see amusement flash in his eyes.

"It pisses her off," a dark look came over him, and I understood why people were actually afraid of the Red Hood, "But after what she did to you, she deserves every annoyance in life, and then some," two seconds later he was gone.

Holy shit. Had I really just met Jason Todd? That was nothing like I had imagined our first meeting would go. Of course I didn't imagine meeting him in a hospital after I had just thrown the most dramatic temper tantrum of my life. God, what was wrong with me?

I put pressure on my temple, and felt gauze around my forehead. No wonder my head was pounding. I fell back against my pillow, my mind racing with a million things. I was so fucking slagged when I got back to Gotham. I hoped Terry wouldn't get in trouble because he gave me the spare suit. I would make it up to him if he was. I owed him that much. Max too.

How was I going to face Dad? Bruce I could handle, but Dad... he had basically begged me not to do this before I left. And I had lied to his face. God. I was the absolute worst.

Jason came back with a nurse before I could continue my self-loathing. The nurse was way too perky for my mood.

"Do you know what your name is, Hon?" the nurse asked me as he checked my vitals.

"My name is Jamie, I'm seventeen, it's March 26th, 2040 and no, I don't have memory loss."

He smiled, "Been through this before, have you?"

"I used to be a gymnast. Hitting my head isn't the strangest injury I've had." Not that any of my injuries had anything to do with gymnastics.

"Well," He chuckled, "I'll let Dr. Ryan know you're up." he disappeared behind the curtain.

Jason was looking at me. "What?" I asked.

"What do you remember?"

"I remember crashing through the window and everything before that. Then there's some fuzzy memory of being moved through the hospital. But how I got here is blank," I shrugged.

"Well you seem better off than Valentina. What was your plan in pushing her off the roof? I only intervened because you hadn't gotten your grapple out in time. Any longer and you might've been a stain on the sidewalk."

"I-" I was interrupted by the door opening and a woman who I assumed was Dr. Ryan appeared.

"Ms. Todd, it's nice to see you awake," Ms. Todd? Ms. TODD? MS. TODD?! I shot a look of confusion at Jason, and he mouthed 'Go with it' at me. Okay, I'd worry about that little detail later.

The Doctor went through my list of injuries, what they did to treat me, how long I would wear the cast. Turns out my shoulder was re-dislocated. Lucky me. She put my arm in a sling so my shoulder would heal properly. Good news was I only broke my wrist, not my arm, and I seemed okay enough that they were going to discharge me in the morning after a night to make sure my concussion wasn't worse than they thought. She left after taking out the IV and ordering me some food.

"Ms. Todd?" I asked as soon as she left.

"Well I wouldn't be allowed to stick around if they knew I wasn't your guardian. Besides, it's not like I lied. I am your father, technically," he shrugged, "I figured this meeting was going to happen sometime, might as well be when none of the other bats can interrupt."

Well that answered at least one question.

While waiting for my food, I looked over missed calls and texts. Ko had called me thirteen times, and left even more texts. The most recent one was saying her and Mrs. T would be visiting the hospital tonight and I better have a good alibi for Mrs. T. And Ko threatening to kick my ass again.

In the middle of replying to a text from Max, Dad called. Being the responsible daughter that I am, I yelped and tossed my phone towards the foot of the bed. Jason looked unimpressed with my reaction.

"You gonna get that?"

"No," I pulled my knees to my chest and hugged them as best I could with one arm, staring at the buzzing phone. To my horror and protest, Jason answered it.

"Hey Dickie!" He sounded way too cheerful. I glared at him, and he stuck his tongue out at me. I rolled my eyes as he listened to Dad.

"No you can't." "Because she's asleep." "Yeah, well that was an hour ago."

A CNA came in with some sad looking excuse for food, while Jason was quiet for a solid two minutes. I could only assume Dad was going on about trying to get to San Francisco and taking me home.

"Listen Dick, there's nothing you can do right now, and coming here isn't going to help." Oh look, I was right, "Your daughter is mostly in one piece and the doctor said she'll be released in the morning. You and Bruce can yell at her when she gets home for her stupid decisions." Jason rolled his eyes. I took a bite of food and decided it was better to ask Jason to raid a vending machine for me. I pushed the tray away. Jason silently laughed at me. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"If I agree to that will you stop pestering me?" "Fine. Yes, I'll tell her when she wakes up. Bye Dick," He hung up and tossed my phone back to me. "You're welcome for postponing getting chewed out. And Dick says he loves you 'Little Bird'?" He looked at me like I had picked the nickname.

"Dad has called me that for forever. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You know he called me 'Little Wing' growing up."

"Of course he did," I shook my head, laughing.

Ko and Mrs. T showed up a little before dinner and it would be an understatement to say Ko was pissed. She was absolutely livid. She put the bat-glare to shame with the way she shooting daggers at me. Jason had made an excuse to check on Victoria so I wouldn't have to explain who he was to Ko's mom. Small mercies.

I stayed somewhat close to the truth. I told Mrs. T that I had found out who my mother was, and had planned to meet her. We got in a car accident on our way to get coffee and talk. She wasn't too pleased with me, but she at least seemed to buy my story.

Seeing that I was conscious seemed to be enough for her, and she left me and Ko alone.

"You complete dumbass!" Ko smacked my head, disregarding the fact I had a concussion.

"OW! What the hell Ko?! I'm already injured enough!"

"You deserve it, you twip. Are you trying to kill yourself?" She slumped on the bed, "Jamie, you know you're all I have left here. It killed me not knowing what happened."

"Ko, I-"

"Don't give me your weak ass excuses. We're too much alike for you to be able to bullshit me."

"What do you want me to say Ko? That I'm sorry for scaring you? I am, really," I said softly, "I'm sorry you ever got involved. Sorry that I pulled anyone into my mess. You, Terry and Max, especially," I stared at my hand in my lap.

"Jamie? What actually happened?"

"I-I- oh god! What have I done?" I could feel the sting of tears as I cradled my head in my hands. I couldn't stop the trembling even if I had wanted to. The room was silent, besides the heart monitor betraying my distress.

"It's okay," I felt a gentle hand on my leg. I took a deep, shaky breath, and looked up at her, still trembling.

"I-I pushed her off a roof. And then- then I tried to pull her off of me so she-so she would hit the ground," I couldn't stop the tears anymore, so I looked down so I didn't have to see her reaction, "I didn't care at all if she died. I didn't- I didn't care if I died," I barely whispered, "Ko, I hate her. I hate her so much. I hate her!" I sobbed. Ko was hugging me in an instant. I cried into her shoulder for what felt like forever.

This was the first time I had really thought about what I had done. I was just as bad as Victoria. I was a monster. Probably worse than her.

At some point, Jason came back in and Ko decided she should go find her mom. She gave me one last hug.

"I hate her too." She whispered in my ear. She gave me a sympathetic smile as I just stared at her, and then she was gone.

Jason ignored the obvious fact I had been crying and tossed me a bag of chips. I opened it while he gave me an update on Victoria.

"She woke up not to long ago. They said she has fractured skull, but nothing too serious, four broken ribs and her collar bone, plus a fractured wrist. She took a hard hit to the head, probably from hitting a wall or the window. They want to run some tests to see how bad her head injuries are," Jason shrugged. How could he be so casual about this?

I stared at the wall, not paying attention to much of anything. A hand on my good shoulder made me jump.

"You still with me Kid?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. Sorry." I shut my eyes for a second, "I've basically killed her. My own mother." I whispered.

"Don't say that," he looked annoyed, "She's still alive. You're not a killer. And she wasn't much of a mother."

"She got lucky," I looked him dead in the eyes, "I would have killed her. I knew what I was doing when I pushed her off that roof top. I had every intention of letting us hit the pavement. If you hadn't been there, we..." I didn't need to finish that sentence.

"You have every right to feel that way. She killed your best friend. You shouldn't be sorry for wanting revenge."

"Then why do I feel so much regret when I think about it?" I asked.

"Because you care. Even after what she did, she's your mother and you still care, for whatever reason." Jason mumbled. "It's a disadvantage to being a Todd." He sighed.

"I hate her. I hate her so much for what she did. Not what happened to me, I couldn't care less about that. But what she did to Anni, and those prisoners. I don't think I'll ever forgive that. But at the same time, it feels wrong to hate her." I scowled at my lap.

"You're human Jamie." I looked up at my name. It felt odd, but right to hear him say it. He was looking out the window, "You're allowed to feel the way you do. It's something I had to learn after I died. It's sometimes hard to remember that after living with Bruce."

He was right, but I felt like living with Bruce had supercharged my emotions as opposed to ignoring them. At least my anger. Maybe that was just Bruce though.

"I need to go take care of some things, but if you need me, my number is in your phone. And if Dick calls again, answer. He's really worried about you."

"Alright. I will."

"And Kid," He looked directly at me, "She won't get away with it. One way or another, she'll get what she deserves."

Wow this was a long one! I think its the longest in the entire story.

So Jamie finally got to meet Jason. Not ideal circumstances, but hey, at least he's not killing her friends.

Fun Fact: Jamie is constantly doodling robotic ideas. If she has a writing utensil, any surface is fair game. She has more than once come home from school with arms covered in doodles.