Garth shuffled over, nudging Wally until he shifted as far left as possible. He nodded to the food and patted the space beside him. A set of bowls and forks were already waiting for them. Roy's stomach growled, making a choice before his brain could catch up. He grabbed Jason by the wrist, pulling him a few steps into the room, dropping down next to Garth, dragging the younger man down with him.
Roy ignored the flash drive burning in his pocket; instead, he let the feeling of familiarity ground him for just a moment.
Garth dished some food out, passing the bowl to Roy, who handed it off to Jason.
Jason felt awkward. He has been friends with Roy for ages and can confidently categorize Donna in the gray space between acquaintance and friend. At some point, they stopped being just Dick's friends, but the same couldn't be said for the other Titans.
Wally had always been labeled as Dick's best friend. Jason couldn't even think of a moment seen Wally - civilian or in costume - without Dick somehow involved. It takes him even longer to realize he doesn't remember ever meeting any version of Garth.
Roy brought him back with an elbow to the ribs and a look of concern.Jason blinked at him, then down at his primarily empty bowl. His stomach growled, giving Jason an excuse to look for seconds instead of answering.
From the other side of the fort, Garth and Wally argue about said leftovers. They banter in a way that sounds easy and playful. It wasn't practiced or for show but more of a routine. The Atlantean was holding the dish out of reach from a pouting speedster.
Jason waved away Roy's insistent gaze, shoveling the last few bites of food into his mouth. Jason figured if Roy wanted to use these two as a reason to stall, then he had the same right. Jason learned over the older man, taking the last scoop of Mac and Cheese for himself. Instantly the two stopped struggling; all three older men watched Jason in various degrees of shock.
Jason, for his part, ignored them all, even as Roy's look melted into a smirk and Garth's a small smile. Wally huffed, grumbling something about "all bats being the same," and slumped in defeat.
They pretend to watch the rest of the episode in an attempt at silence. Wally was growing impatient, trapped on the end. Even from the other end of the fort, Jason could see the streak of gray as he wiggled the fork between his fingers until it was an impossible blur.
Netflix cut past the credits and right into the next episode. Jason turned to Roy, an excuse ready on his tongue to get him alone and make a plan. The redhead was already looking away in a silent conversation with Garth. Jason missed everything but a raised eyebrow from the Atlantean and what seemed to be a reluctant nod from Roy.
The two stood. Roy caught Jason by the shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze before leading Garth into the kitchen with the dishes. Jason got the message; he was to wait here.
A wave of acid-like anger flashed under his skin; the impulse to attack Roy was strong. Move into a dive, use the force from the kick to break West's neck. Take fishboy from behind, sulfur pellets for dehydration he kept on hand for Ivy. Roy would be easy, kick to the knee, twist his bad shoulder, and elbow around the neck until the man passed out. Then the drive would be there for the taking. Jason could figure this all out and clear Alfred from any implications of wrongdoing, figure out if it was Bruce or Goldie being dramatic, and everything could go back to normal.
Roy and Garth disappeared from view. Jason let out a shaky breath. The green vanished from around the edges of his vision just as fast it appeared. He pushed away from the thoughts. It wasn't about dramatics, not to Roy or Donna, and probably not to the other two Titans either. The question was how far did Bruce go this time.
Something bumped against his should, pulling Jason from the endless recesses of his mind. Wally had moved closer, now a respectful half afoot. He was messing with the remote, pulling up some competition show about forging weapons (which fair play, Jason never got into the show, friends, but he can watch people make knives from a pinball machine).
They make it through the first round in silence before Jason finds himself breaking it, "You are the draw the short straw?" Jason asked.
Wally turns to look at him and cocks an eyebrow in question. Jason briefly wonders if these guys picked up habits from Dick or the other way around. "To babysit me." He clarified, "otherwise, you'd be in there talking to Roy."
"Nah," Wally shot him a playful smirk, "More like I drew the long straw to harass Roy first, and now it's Garth's turn. Plus, he wanted to apologize for getting Roy and you involved."
"What the fuck does that supposed to mean?" Jason interrupted, yelling over the speedster. From the kitchen, there was the sound of rushing, then Roy, followed by Garth, burst out.
Wally, for his part, doesn't seem phased. He waved the duo back and turned his focus back to Jason. "Roy wasn't supposed to get the message." Wally raised a hand before Jason could argue and contained, "If you are calling for backup on a kidnapping case, who would you call: someone you know would drop everything to save your life or someone who is known for missing those calls and now won't even show up for brunch. It's not a slight against - well it is - but it's not personally against Roy." Wally turned back to the TV and shrugged helplessly. "It's not like we exclude him. He's part of the meet-up chat. We would come running if he asked. It's just at some point we stopped expecting the same."
An awkward pause stretched between them. On TV, the judges explained the parameters for the home forge round.
Jason cleared his throat, "You guys crashed the place because Fish Boy wanted to have a heart to heart? Was the fort part of it?"
Wally bit back a snort, "Kind of, the fort part definitely was, same with the mac and cheese. Roy never could say no to Garth's recipe. It's the only surface food he has successfully learned to cook by scratch." Wally shared, and Jason could see the man making bowl after bowl of pasta until he got it right.
Wally continued, "But really, Donna told us you guys were doing some digging right now, and we kind of need a place to crash, at least for tonight. Typically we would stay at Dick's, but it's currently considered a crime scene. Mines out because of distance, plus the wife is having a girls' week. Garth's main residence is underwater. And, only Dick is allowed at Donna's place unsupervised anymore, especially after last time."
Jason stared, stuck on the part about Dick's place, "Crime scene?"
"Yeah, Ames. Uh," Wally scratched his chin, "Dicks old partner and current chief of police is handling the case. He wasn't Nightwing at the time, making it a missing person's situation. Apparently, Ames was already on the case when we showed up; he was supposed to up for dinner at her place a few days ago. She opened the missing person case once it hit the 24-hour mark. We could speed up the search significantly and found Dick, though he was in a rough way. Apparently, Dickie had a restraining order against her already. Donna and Ames knew more than we did; they were ready to murder her. We got him out, and now we're here."
"You don't know what she did?"
"I know three things about that woman. One, her name is Cata-something. Two, she knows Dick is Nightwing. Three, she has hurt Dick in some terrible ways." On TV, the judges announced a winner, not that either of them was paying attention.
"You don't want to know what happened?"Jason demanded, chasing his curiosity.
Wally thought for a moment, "I won't say I'm not curious." He admitted, "But no, because I've known Dick for the most of my life. I've seen what it takes to push him to a breaking point. It only took her three days almost to destroy him when I've seen him be tortured for weeks with not even a drop of comparison." The speedster looked helpless, staring down at his hands, "I can make an educated guess. But knowing the trauma doesn't make everything magically better."
Jason nodded in agreement, letting Wally trail off. They drifted in their own silence until the others returned. On-screen, the host pulled the tarp from a treasure overflowing with coins, chains, and other sea-based bits of metal.