Just gonna say, I looked at so many maps of Gotham trying to figure out the layout of the City for this chapter, and none of them really agreed.
Chapter 8: I Won't Lose You
"Hello Batsy!" Joker's voice rang through the coms; he was using Red Robin's connection to talk to them.
"Joker," Batman growled from his end of the line.
"So you've finally noticed that you're little birdy has flown the coop eh?. Took you long enough," Joker cackled.
"Where is he?" Jason growled.
"Oh, is that my favorite Robin?" Joker asked. "How's the new life? Is it a blast?" he asked cruelly.
"Enough Joker," Batman interpreted. "Where's Red Robin?"
"Now now, you know I can't just give him to you. Let's play a little game Batsy! I've put your little birds trackers all over the city! Better find the right one though, or I might just clip his wings." Jokers ear splitting laugh ran through the coms before it cut off with static.
"Joker!" Batman yelled anyway, but the clown was gone.
"Shit," Jason swore, punching the brick wall of the alley he and Phantom were standing in. Batman and Robin were somewhere else in the city, and Nightwing was on his way from Bludhaven. They'd all heard the Joker.
"What do we do?" Oracle asked, trying to rally them.
"We split up," Jason said firmly, he didn't trust Batman to handle this correctly. "Oracle, do you have the signals yet?"
"Yes," she said with forced calm. "They're popping up all over the city."
"Show me," Batman said. Oracle sent all of them the map. It popped up inside Jason's helmet and he studied it. Little red dots littered the city, at least eighty of them, certainly more than Red Robin would have had on him.
"There are too many," Jason said.
"I know," Oracle agreed. "It looks like the Joker cloned the signal. He could make hundreds if he wants."
"We'll have to check all of them," Batman said from his end of the line.
"Like hell we will," Jason argued. "He could keep throwing these signals out forever! Hell, RR might not even be one of these!"
"Is there any way to narrow it down Oracle?" Batman asked.
"I'll try to find cameras near the signals," she said. Jason could hear her typing furiously on her computers. "I might be able to rule out a few. You should check the places that would be easiest to keep a hostage first. The McDonalds on Main Street is unlikely, as are many others."
"Show me," Batman ordered. Dozens of lights turned to X's indicating the ones that were unlikely to be Tim. About 35 remained. Still more than Jason would like, but more manageable.
"We split up," Jason said again.
"No," Batman said. "That's too much of a risk."
"Every second RR is in the Joker's hand is too much of a risk!" Jason argued back. "Nightwing, what's your ETA?" he asked, overriding the Bat's authority. Nightwing, who had been quiet through the whole exchange spoke up.
"Ten minutes to Gotham city limits," he said briefly.
"Nightwing, you take the locations in Downtown," Batman instructed, taking over. "Robin and I will take the Uptown."
"We need to split up!" Jason argued.
"It's not safe for anyone to go alone," Batman said, a warning in his voice. "The Joker will have Red Robin well guarded, we'll need help to fight our way in to rescue him. Red Hood, you and Phantom take the Narrows, Crime Ally, and Midtown. Keep in constant communication. Don't turn your coms off."
"Understood," Nightwing said simply. Jason grumbled but assented.
"I've got Batgirl and Black Bat incoming," Oracle added. "Their ETA is an hour."
"Send them to help Nightwing when they arrive," Batman directed. "You all have your orders," he said, the signal for them to get moving.
"Let's go," Jason said to Phantom, as they rushed toward the first location.
…
"God damn it!" Jason yelled as he crushed another tracker underboot. Each time they found the signal, all that was there was one of these tiny little devices with a blinking light. He crushed each one and left. There weren't even any guards to slow them down. It was all very strange.
"Batman, we've got a problem," Oracle said through the coms, worry in her voice.
"Go ahead Oracle," Batman said. Jason could hear the forced calm in his words.
"More signals are popping up throughout the city," she explained. Jason cursed. He should have known the Joker wasn't going to let them find Red Robin. It was likely that none of these signals were really him.
"Can you find out if they are being activated remotely?" Nightwing asked. He had made it to Gotham and the girls had joined him. The three of them were busy sweeping Downtown, on the south end of Gotham.
"It doesn't look like it," Oracle explained. "From the pictures you've sent, the devices aren't advanced enough to be activated remotely, someone is turning them on and hiding them. Hang on," she interrupted herself. "I've got video of Joker goons setting them up in Uptown. If I can just run a search on all the security footage for the last few hours, there!" she exclaimed triumphantly. "I've narrowed it down." Dots on Jason's map started to disappear as Oracle removed them. Only a handful remained, three in Downtown, four in Uptown, and one in Midtown, right smack in the middle of the Narrows.
"These are the ones I can't discount as being falsely set," she explained. "If any of these signals are Red Robin, it's one of these eight."
"We're on it," Jason said, and the others affirmed, their spirits higher. Jason threw himself onto his bike, he'd picked it up earlier, and Phantom leapt onto the back, wrapping his arms around Jason's waist. He'd been right by Jason's side all night, keeping out of the bickering on the coms, and doing what he could to speed their search along. He'd blasted open locked doors and slipped intangible into buildings to find the signal devices. Jason hadn't really acknowledged him, or given him the credit he deserved though, he was too distracted by the possible fate of his brother.
Now, as they sped towards the signal in the Narrows, Jason heard the others on the coms give negatives as they found their signals, but not Red Robin. Jason bent low over the handlebars. A heavy feeling settled in his gut.
He skidded the bike to a stop outside an abandoned office building. The bike crashed onto its side on the sidewalk and he didn't bother to right it as he bolted for the boarded up door, Phantom hot on his heels.
The old wood splintered under his boot and they burst inside, right into a hailstorm of bullets. Jason felt several impact his chest before Phantom was in front of him, a green shield blocking the projectiles.
"I can't hold this for long," Phantom ground out. Jason took in the situation as fast as he could. A dozen Joker goons surrounded the clown himself, who was in turn standing over a limp bound body on the floor. Red Robin, his hands tied behind his back, covered in blood. Joker held a crowbar loosely in his hand, also coated in blood. Jason saw green and wanted nothing more than to shoot the Joker's brains out right then and there. But he knew he had to keep his composure so that he didn't hurt anybody on his side. Jason forced himself to reign in his anger.
"Well well well," Joker said after he signaled his goons to stop firing. Phantom dropped his shield and fell to his knees, gasping for air. Jason stepped in front of his partner, his fingers itching to pull the gun from his waistband, the one loaded with real bullets.
"I must admit, I was hoping for Bats," Joker said, sounding displeased.
"Sorry to disappoint," Jason said, a smile in his voice. The coms exploded with noise in his ear, but he ignored it. Phantom had gotten back to his feet behind him, and Jason acted. He pulled the gun from his waistband as the meta lunged for the goons. They fired at him but Phantom just went intangible and kept going, colliding with several of them and bringing them to the ground where he froze them to the floor. Jason chased Joker who'd roughly picked up the unconscious Red Robin, thrown him over his shoulder, and ran for the stairs. Jason sprinted after him, bouncing off of walls as he hurtled up the stairwell.
He caught up to the Joker on the roof, where he was holding the limp Red Robin in front of himself like a shield, right on the edge of the drop.
"What are you going to do little lost bird?" Joker taunted. "You wouldn't kill me?" he asked sweetly. "Daddy Batsy wouldn't like that now would he? Look, there he is now!" Joker looked behind himself over the edge of the roof, where the Batmobile had just pulled up. Jason could see Batman get out and look at them, but he couldn't make out the man's expression.
Jason's mind calmed and focused to a single point. With the gun in his hand, the feel of the small but powerful grip digging into his gloved palm, Jason grinned under his helmet. He raised his gun.
"I don't give a fuck," Jason said. He fired. The shot rang out in the night. Jason lunged to get a hold of Red Robin as the Joker's body fell, a shiny red hole through his head. Jason stood on the edge of the roof, his brother in his arms, and watched the dead body of the clown land at Batman's feet. Batman looked down at it, like he didn't know what he was seeing. Jason grinned cruelly under his helmet. He'd done it. Jason felt the rolling anger that had lived in his stomach since his dip in the pit finally settled a little, it's hunger partially sated.
The door to the roof banged open, and Phantom burst through, out of breath and covered in blood. Jason couldn't see any green though, so he knew the blood wasn't his own.
"Joker?" Phantom asked, panting. Jason nodded to the ground. He adjusted his hold on Red Robin and walked past the meta to the stairwell. He saw Phantom looking over the roof as he entered the building.
He walked quickly, but carefully so as not to aggravate his brother's wounds. He hadn't woken up yet with all the jostling which left Jason worried. Nightwing met him halfway down the stairs, but didn't try to take Tim from him. Instead, the older man just followed Jason solemnly down the stairs.
They met Batman and the girls at the bottom. Batman's expression was hard as he looked at Jason, like he wanted to start yelling, but Jason thrust Tim into his arms.
"You need to take care of your son," he said firmly, and Batman took the teen's broken body into his arms. He stood cradling him for a second, his expression sad, before he snapped back to business.
"To the cave!" he ordered. "We need Dr. Thompkins."
"I'll get her," Jason said, and bolted for the door. He heard boots behind him and turned to see Phantom had rejoined him.
Outside, the meta helped him to right his bike. Phantom didn't look good, his skin was pale and Jason knew he'd over extended his powers again. He'd never seen him use that shield trick before. It must have taken a lot out of him.
"Go home Phantom," he ordered as he climbed onto his bike. "You've been a huge help, but we've got it from here." Phantom didn't argue, just nodded and limped off into the nearest shadows. Jason looked after him for a second, before speeding off. He heard the engines of the Batmobile rev as he sped around a corner for Dr. Thompkins apartment.
…
"How is he?" Jason asked Dr. Thompkins as she came out of the medical room. He was sitting on the hood of the Batmobile in the cave. He'd already showered and changed out of his suit. Both he and it had been covered in Tim's blood. The emergency clothes Alfred still kept for him fit very well, even if the crisp light blue jeans and short sleeve white button up shirt weren't his style.
"He'll live," Dr. Thompkins told him as she leaned on the car next to him. They were alone in the cave. Batman and Alfred were still in the medical room watching over Tim and Dick had taken Damian and the girls upstairs to get some food and sleep. "He's broken several ribs and he has a concussion. As long as his wounds don't get infected, he should be in the clear to be on his feet in a month, and back to work in four," she added. Jason hummed to let her know she'd been heard. Four months, the Joker had knocked him off his feet for that long. But now, the Joker was dead. No one had said it yet, but he was dead. Jason had killed him. Jason had finally put an end to that monster.
"It was the Joker," Jason said, because he felt it needed to be said out loud.
"I know," Dr. Thompkins said solemnly.
"I killed him," Jason added. Dr. Thompkins stiffened for a moment before replying.
"Good," she said firmly, startling Jason. He hadn't expected anyone to approve.
"What?" he asked, shocked.
"Good," she confirmed. "He needed to be put down, and we both know Batman wasn't going to do it." Alfred came out of the medical room then and walked over to them.
"Thank you so much for your help Dr. Thompkins," he said politely. "Would you like me to bring you home now?" She pushed off the car and stood.
"Thank's Alfred. And you can call me Leslie," she said as they walked together towards the elevator. Jason sighed and looked longingly at Red Hood's bike. His suit was still being cleaned, so he wasn't going to get to drive it home today. He was going to have to borrow one of Bruce's vehicles. He slid off the hood of the car and onto the ground, heading for the elevator.
…
Jason smelled smoke coming from the kitchen of the manor. He poked his head in to find Dick burning a grilled cheese sandwich. He came up behind his brother and lifted the pan off the stove.
"Hey!" Dick complained. The acrobat was the same height as Jason, but much leaner.
"Go sit your ass down," Jason scolded as he threw the ruined sandwich in the trash. "Let me do it." Dick grumbled but went to sit at the counter while Jason pulled out two fresh slices of bread. He buttered the outsides and layered cheese between. After turning down the heat of the burner he set the sandwich, butter side down, in the pan and enjoyed the happy sizzle.
"You killed the Joker," Dick said softly and Jason stiffened.
"Yeah. So what?" he asked flatly, not turning around.
"It's just, I killed him once too," Dick said solemnly. Jason whirled around to look at him.
"You what?" Jason asked, breathless.
"I killed the Joker," Dick repeated, looking at Jason with sad eyes. "After you died, well, the Joker got out again after Batman locked him up. I was still so mad about your death, that I beat the Joker to death. They restarted his heart, but I still did it." Dick stopped, like he wasn't sure what else to say.
"You killed the Joker, for me?" Jason whispered. He hadn't known that, hadn't known anyone had done the one thing he'd wanted Batman to do for him, the thing he wanted his father to do for him. And Dick had done it. He'd killed the Joker for Jason. Jason didn't know what to say. He turned back to the grilled cheese to hide the tear in his eye from his brother.
"Thank you," Jason whispered.
"You're welcome," Dick whispered back.
The quiet moment was broken when Jason's phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. It was Danny. Jason also caught the time, 7am. Danny was probably wondering where he was.
"Hey, sorry, something came up," Jason started to explain to Danny.
"Jason," Danny rasped weakly and Jason stopped talking. Something was wrong.
"Danny?" Jason asked, worry lasing his words and thoughts. "What's wrong?"
Danny chuckled, a horrible jagged noise, like it pained him. "I've got to tell you something," Danny said and Jason's heart dropped. "And I think you know what it is," he added.
"We work together, don't we?" Jason asked. He heard Dick's chair move as his brother got up to stand next to him, worry creasing his brow.
"Yeah," Danny laughed. "We work together."
"Phantom?" Jason asked, and Danny coughed wetly.
"Yeah Jay, it's me," he said. "Jay, I really need your help," he said with desperation lacing his words. Jason's heart dropped further and he knew he needed to get to him right now.
…
Jason was out of the house in an instant, not even stopping to explain to Dick or let him catch up as he hurled himself into the nearest car in the manor garage and sped out the barley opened garage door.
"Stay with me Danny," Jason ordered through the phone that he'd shoved between his shoulder and ear.
"Okay," Danny said weakly.
"Where are you?" Jason asked as he broke every speed law and nearly crashed into a tree down the forested road.
"My apartment," Danny said, he sounded like he was drifting away.
"What happened?" Jason asked, but Danny didn't answer right away. "Danny!" he yelled into the phone.
"What?" his boyfriend asked sleepily.
"What happened?" Jason repeated.
"I got shot," Danny said, slurring his words. Jason cursed under his breath.
"How many times?" Jason asked, trying to keep his voice steady.
"Huh?" Danny slurred.
"How many times were you shot Danny?" he clarified.
"Oh. Three, I think," Danny said, his voice getting hard to hear like he was holding the phone away from his mouth.
"I need you to put pressure on the wounds Danny," Jason said, but Danny didn't respond. "Danny?" he tried again, but still got no answer.
"Shit," Jason swore, disconnecting the call and shoving the phone into his pocket. He focused more intently on driving, hoping he'd get there in time.
…
Danny's door was unlocked as Jason burst in. He followed the trail of blood to the bathroom where Danny was sitting slumped against the tub, unconscious. He was wearing jeans, boots, and a blood soaked t-shirt, not what Jason was expecting. He'd figured Danny would still be in his Phantom gear. How'd he'd managed to change eluded Jason, unless he'd gotten shot as Danny and not Phantom. But none of that mattered now.
Jason dropped to his knees next to his boyfriend and shook him.
"Danny, I need you to wake up!" he yelled, but Danny only groaned, and didn't rouse.
"Shit, shit, shit," Jason swore. He lifted Danny's bloody shirt and found a folded blood soaked towel pressed to his side. He lifted the corner of the makeshift bandage and blood oozed from the wound, so he pressed it back. Jason used both hands to put pressure on the wound and Danny gasped, his eyes fluttering open for a second.
"Jay?" he slurred.
"I'm here," Jason confirmed, keeping pressure on the wound. "Don't you dare leave me," he ordered.
"Sorry," Danny mumbled as his eyes slid closed. Jason swore again and ran through his options. Dr. Thompkins would likely be asleep now, and even if she wasn't, she was too worn out from fixing Tim to be of any help. The Bat's were exhausted and too far away too, which only left…
"Siri, call 911," Jason ordered, pulling his phone from his pocket and pressing it between his ear and shoulder so he could keep pressure on the wounds. The AI did as she was told.
"This is 911, what's your emergency?" a calm female voice asked.
"My boyfriend has been shot," Jason said, the words scrambling to get out of his throat. "Our address is 368 Barrow street, fourth floor apartment," Jason finished in a rush. There was a second of silence that dragged on forever in Jason's mind. Finally the woman's voice returned.
"I've sent an ambulance to your location. I need you to stay on the line and tell me everything you can," she encouraged.
"He's been shot multiple times in the abdomen," Jason explained. "I'm keeping pressure on the wound but he's bleeding a lot."
"Good, just keep pressure on it," the woman said. "The ambulance will be there in a few minutes. Is your boyfriend conscious?"
"No," Jason said and heard his voice break.
"They're almost there," the woman said, encouragingly.
The next several minutes dragged long in the quiet that was interrupted only by Danny's uneven breathing.
"You better not die on me," Jason muttered. "I swear to god if you die on me," he was interrupted when he heard people enter the apartment. He hung up the call as the EMT'S came into the bathroom and moved him away from Danny. He let them, his mind and body going numb. He'd been shoved out into the living room, so he walked backwards, keeping his eyes on where Danny was, until he bumped into the back of the couch. His legs gave out and he sat on the floor with his back against the couch while people flooded the bathroom, trying to get his boyfriend stable enough to move. A woman with kind eyes knelt in front of him.
"Are you okay son?" she asked. He didn't understand her question. Why wouldn't he be fine? Danny was the one who was hurt. Then he looked at himself and realized he was covered in Danny's blood. That was the second time in 24 hours he'd been covered in the blood of someone he loved.
"It's not mine," he told the EMT. She looked back at the mass of bodies in the bathroom.
"What's your name honey?" she asked, turning back to him.
"Jason Peters," he said.
"Are you coming with us?" she asked and he nodded dumbly. "Do you have someone you can call honey? Someone who can meet you at the hospital?" Jason reached for his phone and found not only his in his pocket, but two other objects. He pulled them out and found Danny's phone and wallet, both streaked with blood. He must have grabbed them when they moved him away from Danny, but he couldn't remember doing it. He stuck Danny's things back in his pocket and unlocked his phone.
His first instinct was to call Tim, but he couldn't do that now. Tim was probably still unconscious. He called Barbara. She answered on the first ring.
"Jason?" she asked, worry clear in her voice.
"Yeah," Jason said.
"Oh thank god, we've been worried sick," she explained. "Dick said you just ran from the manor. What's going on?" Jason started to answer when the EMT lady from before helped him to his feet and he followed the stretcher with Danny down the stairs, the elevator was broken.
"Danny got shot," Jason said, belatedly answering her question.
"Oh my god," Barbara gasped. "Is he okay?"
"No," Jason said numbly as they sat him in the ambulance where he would be out of the way. "We're in an ambulance," he said.
"Where are they taking you?" Barbara asked gently. "I'll be there as fast as I can."
"Where are we going?" Jason asked the driver.
"Gotham General," the driver told him as the vehicle took off.
"Gotham General," Jason repeated.
"I'll meet you there okay Jason?" she said. "I'll meet you there," she reaffirmed before she hung up.
Jason didn't really register that she'd hung up, the only thing he could focus on was Danny.
…
Jason didn't really remember the ride to the hospital, and instead found himself dumped outside a waiting room. He was about to go in when a male nurse stopped him.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, gently.
"It's my boyfriend's blood," Jason said, still numb. The nurses expression softened even more.
"Well you can't go in there like that," he said, gesturing to the blood staining Jason's arms, shirt, and jeans. "You'll scare everyone. Come with me." The nurse led Jason to a bathroom with a shower where he told him to strip and wash. Jason did, and when he was done, he found a pair of gray sweats and a light blue t-shirt with the hospital's name on the front. His boots looked like they'd been wiped down, and a pair of white socks in a plastic wrapping were sitting on the counter.
The nurse was waiting for him in the hall when he came out.
"Sorry, your clothes were ruined," he explained. "I had to throw them away. I saved your boots though."
"Thanks," Jason said numbly. The nurse led him back to the waiting room where he abandoned him and Jason sat down and put his head in his hands. He was so tired, but he couldn't sleep here. It wasn't safe here. There were too many people, and Danny was hurt, and Jason didn't know if he was going to be okay.
He pulled Danny's wallet out of his pocket and ignored the blood. Opening it he found a few hundred dollars in cash, probably the money Red Hood had been paying Phantom, a Game Stop membership card, and an ID. Jason looked at this carefully and saw it was a fake, and not a very good one. It said that Danny was 21, and that his last name was Davis. There was no way it would hold up to any scrutiny. It was barely good enough to get alcohol. Jason slid the ID back into the wallet, and searched for a real ID, but he didn't find one. Finally he put the wallet back in his pocket.
Jason didn't know how long he sat there before someone touched his knee. He looked up and found Barbara smiling gently at him. He looked up higher and found Dick behind her, pushing her chair.
"Are you okay Jason?" Barbara asked softly.
"Yeah," Jason said automatically. He coughed, his throat was dry. Barbara moved herself so she was on Jason's left, he'd sat himself on the end of a row. Dick sat down on his right. Barbara took Jason's hand in hers.
"Is Danny alright?" she asked.
"I don't know," he croaked. "They haven't told me yet." Jason paused before he added. "Danny is Phantom." They sat in silence for a few minutes before Jason broke out coughing again, his throat was so dry.
"Dick, go get him a bottle of water," Barbara said over him, and Dick stood up and left.
"Jason Peter?" a female nurse asked and Jason raised his head.
"Over here!" Barbara said. The nurse came over and Jason started to stand up.
"No that's okay," she said, gesturing for him to stay seated and took a seat across from him. "I just need to ask you some questions." Jason nodded. "You came in with the boy with the gunshots to the abdomen, correct?"
"Yeah," Jason croaked.
"How is he?" Barbara interrupted.
"He's in surgery," the nurse said. "But we didn't find any ID on him. Do you happen to have it with you?" Jason didn't know what to say. He didn't have Danny's ID, and he didn't even know his last name. Why didn't he know his boyfriend's last name? What kind of a boyfriend didn't know that kind of thing? He couldn't give the fake ID to the nurse, she would realize it was fake and ask where the real one was and Jason didn't know.
"Uhh," Jason spluttered, searching for a convincing lie.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Barbara cut in. "You see, Danny had his identity stolen recently and we're in the process of getting it back. If you give me a little bit, I'll get you some information." Barbara pulled a laptop out of her bag and started doing something on it.
"You're his boyfriend?" the nurse asked Jason, and Jason nodded. "Can you tell me how old Danny is?"
"Nineteen," Jason said, relieved to have an answer for something. The nurse nodded and wrote something down on her clipboard.
"Do you know if he has any major heart surgeries?" the nurse asked.
"What?" Jason asked, not sure where the question was coming from.
"Heart surgery," the nurse repeated. "He has a scar on his chest that appears to be from a major surgery. Do you know if it was heart surgery?" Jason shook his head, dumbly. He'd never seen Danny shirtless. Danny didn't want to be seen shirtless.
"I haven't," Jason tried, and stopped. He didn't know what to say. The nurse took this as an answer though and wrote something down. She turned to Barbara.
"Do you have the documentation for me?" she asked. Barbara shook her head.
"I'm sorry. It's going to take a bit," she apologized. Dick came back and sat down next to Jason. He handed him a water bottle that Jason opened and drank in several huge gulps.
"What's going on?" Dick asked.
"I'll come back in a little bit," the nurse said sympathetically, as she stood and left, leaving the three of them in a tense silence.
…
Jason didn't know how she did it, but Barbara managed to make a new identity for Danny in half an hour on her dinky little laptop hooked up to the hospital's shitty wifi. It passed the nurses careful scrutiny and they were left alone again.
Jason felt numb and neither Barbara nor Dick tried to talk to him much, just asked if he was hungry, which he wasn't, and if he was okay. He wasn't sure he was okay, but he told them he was. He wasn't the one they should be worried about anyway.
They sat in the waiting room for a long time. Jason blankly watched the people go in and out, before he heard his name called again. A male nurse came over and said, "Danny is out of surgery now. He is expected to make a full recovery. He's resting but you can go see him now."
Jason stood up too fast and swayed on his feet. The nurse steadied him. Then, he led Jason and the others out of the waiting room and down the hall to an elevator. Jason froze. He didn't do well in small spaces.
"Jay?" Dick asked from behind him and Jason took a step back.
"Can I take the stairs?" he asked weakly.
"We're going to the 15th floor," the nurse said, confused.
"I'll take the stairs," Jason said, undeterred.
"I'll go with him," Dick said. "You take the elevator," he told Barbara. She looked at them worriedly, but nodded. Jason turned for the stairwell and started walking. Dick followed him.
"So, not a fan of elevators?" Dick asked as they climbed. "You know they're one of the safest forms of transport in the world," he joked.
"Not a fan of tight spaces," Jason muttered. "Guess waking up in a coffin made me claustrophobic."
"Oh," Dick said flatly, and didn't say anything for the rest of the climb.
...
They found Barbara waiting for them at the top when they emerged from the stairwell out of breath. The nurse had left.
"Danny is this way," she said and guided them down the hall. She gestured Jason to a door and he opened it. Danny lay on the bed, tubes hooked up to him. A heart monitor beeped a steady rhythm. He looked pale, his eyes sunken. A bag of blood hung from an IV stand and slowly fed into the crook of his arm.
Jason sat heavily in the chair next to the bed. He carefully wrapped his fingers around Danny's limp hand.
"I don't know what I would have done if you died on me," he said softly.
"Jay," Barbara said gently and he looked up at them. "Do you want us to stay?" He shook his head.
"You guys can go. Thanks for everything, but you should sleep," he told them, his mind finally clearing with the confirmation that Danny hadn't died. They nodded at him and Barbara rolled over to him to press a kiss on his cheek.
"We'll be back in a few hours, okay? Try to get some sleep," she said gently. He nodded. Dick came over to his side, put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and squeezed, giving him any kind of comfort he could. After that they both left.
Jason ran his thumb gently across the back of Danny's hand. He couldn't see the damage the bullets had caused under the thick bandages, blankets and hospital gown. He didn't want to see it. All that mattered was that Danny wasn't dead.
Jason pressed his mouth to Danny's ear and whispered, "I love you." Even if Danny couldn't hear him, he needed to say it. He'd say it again when he woke up, because it was true. It was truer than anything else Jason had ever felt. He loved Danny, and he wasn't going to lose him, no matter the cost.
Dun Dun! Let me know what you think, I've had parts of this planned out since the beginning so I'd love to hear from you. Also this fic is officially over 100 pages in my document.