Tim feels a little bad about using Jason's skin hunger against him but only for a moment. Any concern about that vanishes when he peeks back at Jason as they walk, and observes the color returning to the other man's cheeks. The hand clasped in his own stops shaking the longer they touch.
Tim has never been one to enjoy holding hands—often he's felt uncomfortable or self-conscious, worrying about sweaty fingers or whether the other person might consider it lame—but this doesn't feel like that.
This feels right.
It's actually concerning how right it feels, especially in light of his recent discussion with Steph.
Stop it. This isn't about you. It's about putting Jason at ease.
They return to the containment unit to find Barbara facing down Eros—an impressive feat considering she's in a wheelchair and he's the one looking down on her. Her face is drawn in irritation, and he's gratified to see that Eros seems put-out about something.
"Took you long enough. Cherry here says she's got a bonafide prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi and wouldn't share it until you got back." He eyes their entwined hands and leers. "I take it the domestics are going well?"
"Get bent," Tim snaps in irritation as Jason tugs his hand back so fast he might as well have been burned.
"Only if you do the honors, pretty boy."
Jason growls and makes a move for his gun, but Tim reaches out to stop him.
"Can you not tease him?" he demands of Eros. "Especially when the only reason he's like this is because of you."
"Oh, if only you knew…"
Before Tim can comment on that, Jason interrupts.
"What's the feathered freak talkin' about?" he snaps, radiating tension. "What prophecy?"
"The one Signal was able to recover from the girl that was killed," Barbara says coolly. "He transcribed it and sent it along. Do you want to hear it, or do you want to keep acting like a child?"
This she directs at Eros, who actually does look chastised a beat, before gracing her with a cool smile.
"I guess it is apropos if you do the honors, darlin'," Eros says with a cool smile. "Is it ironic or coincidental if someone who stole the title of oracle interprets a prophecy from the actual Oracle of Delphi?"
"Who cares? This whole situation is making me hate both irony and coincidence," Tim says.
"It's making me wonder if there are any coincidences," Jason mutters, eyes fixed on Eros in intense dislike.
Barbara offers him an identical look, before thumbing the screen of her phone and opening her incoming messages.
Then she begins to read:
"The Unseen darkness cannot keep its captive thrice for mortal masks the divine that seeks its reward in the city where dark nights conceal the greatest of secrets.
"Crossed beneath the stars when the Rager's Moon is full, eternal freedom is neigh upon the eleventh moment of the small sacrifice of the virgin gifts triumph to the prisoner and that which drowned in Lethe's tears is reborn.
"But take heed, for the winged scion of Cythera, willingly blinded by the veil of vengeance revealed by Discord's most cursed boon, awakens the warrior guided by the Physicians heir.
"Fury dooms the fair, heralding the return of magnificent Alexandros and one whose name is painted in blood and stone.
"Greatest of loves, damned by the gleam of a golden barb, torn asunder by jealousy and parted by cruel death, they will stand against Strife.
"Titans will rise and one who Death names hero, betrayed yet shielded by love, will sunder the chains of Aidoneus and avenge the victim of grievance. One will be born anew, the other bound eternally to Stygian Darkness."
There is silence as she puts the phone down, eyebrows drawn together in thought.
"What?" Tim says.
"I see your 'what' and raise you a 'the fuck'," Jason adds. "Does any of that make sense to anyone else? Because it don't make sense to me."
"Blame my uncle," Eros says, apparently annoyed.
"What? Why?" Tim wants to know. "Which one's he?"
"Apollo," Barbara says, still considering the puzzling words on the screen. "Aside from being a sun god, he was also the god of prophecy."
"Talking in riddles is his favorite pastime," Eros agrees. "It's a pain in the ass."
"I'll bet," Tim agrees. "We've got someone like that here in Gotham."
"Yeah, and he's a frequent guest of Arkham, so what's that tell you?" Jason grumbles.
"That people who come up with riddles have too much time on their hands."
"There's a reason the Oracles of Delphi didn't put their predictions into simple words," Barbara points out. "If you give people information about what's coming, how do you know you're not ensuring it will or won't come to pass? It was important for them to be seen as the medium of the message and not an agent.
"By keeping information vague, it would seem like they were allowing a querant the chance to defy fate, while at the same time allowing fate to take its natural course, whatever that might be," Eros agrees. "Ans it was good insurance. Even Oracles needed to cover their asses. You were less likely to get your head lopped off by a visiting king that received news he didn't want to hear. And whatever the outcome, they could still say, 'we told you so'." He considers Barbara. "You know, I don't usually find brainy sexy, but you might just turn me."
"I'm thrilled," she deadpans.
"So what's all this supposed to mean, anyway?" Tim asks, trying to bring the discussion back to the matter at hand.
"It could mean anything. Though to start with, that bit about 'unseen darkness', that's an epithet for the Underworld in old Hellenic documents."
"We called it that in the old days," Eros confirms.
"And then there's the part about someone captive in Hades."
"I thought Hades was a person?" Tim says.
"It is. But it's also a place." Jason tells him.
"It depends on what story and what source you're drawing from," Barbara elaborates. "And what translation."
"What about the next bit? About mortal maskin' the divine?"
"Could that mean whoever's possessing Carrie Cutter?" Tim suggests. "We've already established she's got help from a god, and if they're inhabiting her body even for short amounts of time, it's a pretty effective mask."
"No doubt," Eros agrees. "Not so sure about that part with dark nights, but I guess it's referring to this cesspool you people call a city."
Tim, Jason and Barbara exchange glances, knowing exactly how dark nights and secrets relate to their city.
Maybe Duke misheard. It might not be dark 'nights' so much as dark 'knights'. Which makes sense, considering Bruce and Dick both have that title depending on the day.
"Safe to say it's Gotham," Tim confirms. "So all that begs the question, do you have any idea who's locked in the Underworld trying to get out?"
Eros snorts. "The better question is who isn't locked in the Underworld."
Jason is glaring furiously at Eros, clearly growing tired of his evasive and snarky answers. The way his fists clench, Tim suspects he's close to throwing a punch at the glass in frustration. Not something Tim wants to see, especially given Jason's injuries from their altercation with Carrie Cutter and Dick haven't even been seen to yet.
God, it feels like it was days ago but it was only hours. He probably came right here to confront Eros without even looking after himself.
He has to put that out of his mind for now. Deciphering any clues in the prophecy takes momentary precedence.
"…. A lot of myths end with someone displeasing a god and getting sent to Tartarus, so he has a point," Barbara is saying, her thumbs busily texting something on her phone.
"So that's not going to tell us anything," Tim decides. "What about the 'crossed beneath the stars' part?"
"More of the same in terms of pinpointing when everything is supposed to happen," Eros says.
"Which is when?"
"November twenty-third," Barbara says, frowning at the small screen in her hand.
Jason looks askance. "How d'you know?"
"'Moon' equates to month, and another name for Zeus was the Rager," she replies. "So, Zeus's month. According to the Athenian calendars we still have access to, Zeus's month was Maimakterion—which in modern times would fall somewhere between November and December. And the next full moon—" She holds up her phone, showing a lunar calendar for the month, "—falls on November twenty-third. It's the only full moon that falls during Maimakterion."
Eros nods along in approval. "What she said."
"And the small hour?"
"Midnight."
"So, whatever's supposed to happen is going to happen eleven minutes after midnight…assuming that's what moment means," Tim muses, glancing at his own phone calendar. "That's this Friday."
"Five days from now," Jason agrees, and side-eyes Tim. "We've all had shorter deadlines."
"That's not necessarily referring to your deadline, sweet cheeks," Eros reminds him. "I figure you have about half that."
"No thanks to you."
"You know, the last Jason I knew wasn't this whiny."
"Children," Barbara says sharply. "Let's stay focused, shall we? I'm concerned about this virgin sacrifice part—specifically the part where it ensures success for someone we probably don't want to succeed."
"Cutter did kill that girl," Tim reminds them. "Maybe it was some kind of offering, so she'd be successful at whatever she's trying to do."
"It's a good an explanation as anything else," Eros agrees, examining his nails. "We always did love our human sacrifices. And a virgin does increase the likelihood of something working out to your advantage."
"You're a piece of shit," Jason growls. "That's a kid you're talking about!"
"And as an Oracle of Delphi she's entitled to an eternity of bliss once she enters the Underworld," Eros dismisses. "It's a better end than some people are entitled to."
Jason's eyes blaze as if that's a personal insult. Tim can certainly empathize.
"What about the second part?" he prompts. "What's Lethe?"
"The Lethe was the river the souls drank from to forget their previous lives before being reincarnated," Barbara explains.
"The Ancient Greeks believed in reincarnation? But I thought that was something from the Far East?"
"Many ancient cultures had a concept of reincarnation beyond the Hindu and Buddhist mythos," Barbara explains. "Just look at the belief systems of the indigenous peoples of North America and you'll see countless examples. And they didn't have any contact with the civilizations of Asia during the time when those faiths were evolving."
Beside Tim, Jason is as stiff as a board and appears to be having trouble breathing. Automatically, Tim edges closer to him, and though he doesn't outright take his hand—he leans into him, nudging him with his shoulder.
Jason's eyes dart to him for a moment, and he relaxes incrementally.
"How does that relate here though?" Barbara wants to know.
"Maybe the prisoner forgot something," Eros suggests, not sounding very interested.
"Or maybe whoever's tryin' to escape Hades as made to forget something," Jason counters darkly.
"Only mortals can be made to forget by drinking from the Lethe," Barbara says. "The prisoner could have been human. Salmoneus or Tantalus or one of the Dainads."
Tim doesn't even get a chance to question who they are before Eros interrupts. "Actually, it's a little broader than just mortals. More like mortals, demigods that haven't consumed ambrosia, giants, hybrids—"
"So again, we're back to a broad spectrum of people it could be talkin' about," Jason complains. "Great. Is there anyone or anything in this stupid prophecy that isn't doublespeak?"
"Well, the next verse is pretty self-explanatory. Obviously, we're talking about yours truly," Eros says, pointing at himself. "What other 'winged son' do you know from mythology?"
"A case could be made for Pegasus."
"No, it's Eros," Tim says. "Cythera's another name for Aphrodite." Everyone looks at him in surprise.
"How do you know that?" Jason asks, but where the emphasis ought to suggest incredulity, he sounds impressed.
Tim tries not to bask in that.
"My parents used to visit the island of Cythera a lot when they weren't on business trips, especially before I was born. It was their favorite vacation destination. Full of history, not touristy—they didn't like having to socialize with people when they were on vacation."
Tim falls silent then, remembering sitting in his living room with his parents, pouring over their vacation photos of the Mediterranean island while they told stories. They'd always promised to take him one day…
He glances up and notices the others are watching him now—Eros with a sharp, calculating gaze while Jason appears concerned. As for Barbara, she seems to sense his discomfort, because she navigates them past the lull. "Okay, so if it's Eros, what are you wanting revenge for? It's not exactly your M-O."
"I can think of a few people who have it coming," Eros answers. "Starting with my mother."
"What'd she do?" Tim asks.
"Do you have a few centuries worth of couch time?"
"Isn't she the reason your wife died?" Barbara wants to know. "In the myth, she survived, but Tim told me that's not what happened in reality."
Eros expression goes cold.
"That's right," Tim remembers; he and Eros had this conversation a few days ago, didn't they? "Aphrodite is the one who sent Psyche to the underworld."
Eros bares his teeth. "One of her many sins, but not the only one."
"Then couldn't the prophecy maybe be referring to her? Psyche, I mean? Maybe she's the prisoner."
"Are you implying my wife is the one behind your Cupid's actions?" Eros growls. "Because that's impossible."
"How would you know? It could be—"
"Because she died a mortal! Her soul is mortal and wouldn't have the power to escape the Underworld in any capacity! Furthermore, Psyche would never kill or arrange the death of anyone! She was good and pure of soul and that's why I fell in love with her."
"That's not what I read," Barbra says. "Didn't you prick yourself on one of your golden arrows while watching her?"
"I pricked myself because I fell in love with her," he snaps. "I've already told Jason here that the arrows only work to magnify emotions that are already there."
"That makes no sense. You liked her before you made yourself fall in love with her?"
"Look, you know the story: Psyche was beautiful. So much so, that the idiots in her kingdom started treating her like a living goddess, bringing the gifts meant for my mother to this human princess. You can guess how well that went over."
"Right. She sent you to make her fall in love with a horrible beast."
"Yeah, one of Diomedes mares. Gorgeous animals—people would stop and stare at them for hours. Also, vicious, flesh-eating beasts. Just getting to close to one of those and it would have ripped her to shreds—and she would have stood there and let it." Eros' expression becomes soft, eyes faraway at the memory. "If she had been some arrogant, selfish royal I would have let it happen. But I watched her for days while I tried to put her in the path of that thing. And everything she did was just good and kind. I had never seen as pure a soul like hers." He shakes his head. "The idea of a girl like that being sent to her death just because a bunch of idiot humans had the audacity to praise her alongside my mother didn't seem fair."
"And you're all about fair, aren't you?" Jason sneers.
Tim has to agree; if Eros cared about fair, he would have been a lot more helpful about curing Jason and wouldn't have demanded they find his diviners beforehand.
"I was young and stupid, and I didn't realize the world didn't work that way," Eros dismisses. "Even for gods. I thought my mother would never want to harm me—and so if I put Psyche under my protection, she couldn't hurt her. And if I could show my mother what a good wife Psyche was, even if she was unable to see me, it would prove the point." He snorts. "It didn't exactly go my way."
"And there's no way her soul could have somehow been corrupted when she died?"
"The Underworld is stagnant. There's no such thing as change or time there. Everything occurs both in one moment and in all moments there."
"So you're saying a soul going in would remain in the same state as it was when it died," Barbara posits.
"Exactly. How else do you expect the judges to judge souls if they kept changing after death? It'd be a headache.
"Then if it's not Psyche, who else can you think of that it might be?"
"It might be more than one person," Tim suggests. "That line about 'greatest of loves'—what if that's why Carrie's been targeting couples? She hears the prophecy—or whoever's riding along inside her hears the prophecy—and thinks there's a couple out there that's going to stand against her. She could be trying to eliminate potential threats to her end goal."
"If so, we need to decipher her criteria for choosing her victims. You already said it didn't seem like they had anything in common."
"We'll have to check again. Maybe now that we've got this prophecy, something new will jump out."
"We skipped a whole verse," Jason points out. "The 'warrior guided by the physician's heir'. Any ideas?"
Eros shrugs. "Since the rest of the prophecy involves me, I'd say it's me."
"How do you figure?"
"The Physician is another name for Apollo."
"So?"
"So, who do you think taught me archery? Next to him, I'm the greatest archer among the Olympians."
"Or it could be Jason," Tim ponders.
Jason seems to go pale, almost panicked. "What?"
"I mean, assuming you're interpreting 'awaken' by activating the way you do with a sleeper agent. You infected him with your blood however accidentally and then pressed him into doing your dirty work."
"I resent your tone, boy," Eros grumbles, but Jason interjects, "And the other bit?"
"The other bit is just really literal," Barbara catches on. "Jason, you were trained by Batman. Who was the heir to an actual physician. The M.D. kind."
Thomas Wayne.
Jason looks like he doesn't know what to do with that information. "Shit."
Eros watches Jason, inscrutable eyes considering; Jason glares back at him as if waiting for him to make a comment.
"But if it's Jason, the next bit wouldn't make sense," Barbara says after a moment. "'Magnificent Alexandros'. The only Alexandros I can think of off the top of my head if Alexander of Macedon. But that doesn't really track with the rest of the verse. He was a historical figure, not mythological."
"That's offensive, you know," Eros drawls. "All those stories you call mythology actually happened."
"Then why don't we have an archaeological record for them?"
"Because screw you, that's why."
"If it is talking about Alexander the Great, Robin will be happy," Tim says with a rueful smirk.
Jason is perplexed. "Why?"
"Apparently he was on the list of the kid's League-approved childhood heroes. Mother-son bonding time seems to have included traveling in his footsteps as preparation for world domination."
Jason looks surprised and amused. "Really?"
"Is it that surprising?"
"No, it's just…" Jason shakes his head. "Never mind." He clears his throat. "So, back to the prophecy. It talks about the Titans—are we talkin' the creatures the Olympian gods overthrew?"
"Well, whenever one of us mention the Titans, it is usually those bottom feeders rotting in Tartarus, yes," Eros says dryly, inscrutable focussed on Jason. "Them going free is never a good thing. Don't believe me, read the Titanomachy. Hesiod got it pretty close to right."
"Could be the goal, could be the result," Tim suggests.
"Which brings us back to possibly being on the lookout for more than one prisoner escaping Hades," Barbara says.
"And all of that leads us to the typical 'one shall live and one shall die' device," Eros concludes.
"Only we don't know who either of those is."
"I can tell you now if it's a prophecy involving me, I have no intention of dying."
"If it's even about you. It's not really an exact science, interpreting this sort of thing," Barbara warns. "Even an Olympian like you can misunderstand—there's evidence of that in the myths. In fact, I'm sure we're missing more than is good for us. It will take some time to decipher it and we need more information."
"At least we have something," Tim maintains. "The exact date when it's going to happen and where. We can begin preparing for that."
"It's a whole hell of a lot to think about," Jason agrees.
"Which you can do back at the Cave. We only came here to see if Eros could shed some light on the prophecy or see the arrows."
"What arrows?"
"Wonder Girl told us that to reverse what's been done to Nightwing is to remove the arrow that Carrie stabbed him with."
"Uh, there is no arrow," Jason says. "Cupid took it with her, remember?"
"I guess that answers that question," Barbara sighs. "You can't see them."
"Of course he can't," Eros says. "I'm the only one that can see the wounds caused by my arrows. Even this pseudo-Cupid wouldn't be able to see them."
"After she stabbed Jason she seemed to be looking for something, so I'm not sure about that," Tim argues.
"She can't see them. Though it may be possible her divine passenger might. I don't know. Never had another god take my diviners before."
"Speaking of being stabbed," Tim goes on, nodding at the bruises coming out on his face. There are likely more hidden by the leather jacket and gear. "You should get those looked at."
"I didn't physically get stabbed, you know. Magic wounds don't need to be looked at."
"You went toe-to-toe with an enhanced fighter and Batman. You could have internal bleeding for all we know."
"If you think a little tussle with that dick is going to do lastin' damage—"
Tim cuts off his indignation. "I don't, but you haven't been eating or sleeping properly, and your system is already compromised, so how do you know what damage was or wasn't done? You didn't stay to get treated at the Cave."
Their eyes meet, remembering exactly why that is, and Tim's cheeks darken. Jason is the first to look away, though.
"It's nothin'. I can patch myself up whenever."
"I can help—"
"I'm good."
"Jason—"
"I'm an adult and I've been treatin' myself without help for years now," Jason interrupts tensely. When Tim can't stop himself from flinching, Jason's eyes flash with dismay. "I mean…" He flounders like he's trying to take it back, and instead changes the subject. "Didn't you say somethin' about a list? Maybe get started on that and I'll do an injury check myself."
It's a clear cop-out, and if they were alone, Tim would be calling him on it.
"I'll ask for help if I need any," he adds, awkwardly, like it's been a long time since anyone actually cared about his injuries being treated.
Barbara glances between the two of them, obviously sensing the undertone, but not commenting on it. Instead, she says, "I don't mind helping Jason. Besides, Red Robin needs to contact the Family and let them know what we know."
"And I need food," Eros says. "I haven't eaten since before you went on your little reconnaissance mission. Can't you see? I'm wasting away."
"If only," Jason mutters.
Tim is torn, wanting to argue that he can help Jason, but at the same time trying to respect the other man's obvious need for distance.
At last, he nods.
"Okay," he says, feeling a little defeated. "Let's take a break. I'll make a food run…you get yourself fixed up."
"Whatever you say, babybird."
⁂
Once Tim vanishes, Barbie indicates with a jerk of her head that Jason should follow her upstairs to the Nest medbay. He knows better than to think it's just her wanting to take a look at his injuries—like him, she's probably looking for some privacy.
They take the elevator up in silence, and Jason wonders vaguely when the last time was, he was this close to Barbara Gordon.
I don't think I have been, actually. We both avoid the manor unless there's no choice. And we both have good reasons for it. And when we are there together, there's usually about six to ten feet of distance between us.
They were never what he would call close before she was paralyzed and he died. Barbie was Dick's girl and Jason's occasional babysitter until the Joker ruined her life. And then she wasn't around at all. Jason wasn't alive to watch her painstakingly drag herself up and pull it together again, so he never got the chance to interact with the Barbara Gordon that became Oracle.
Since returning to Gotham he's kept her at a distance as much as he did the rest of the Family, so it's somewhat surprising to him that she's here now and working to help him.
Probably it's on account of Tim.
Still silent, they enter the surgically pristine room of the Nest's medical wing—and Jason is a little jealous of the supplies here. It makes the kits he has in his safehouses about as sophisticated as a needle and threat.
Barbie watches him, framed in the doorway.
"Well? Spit it out," he grunts, deciding to get whatever reprimands are forthcoming out of the way.
Her look turns sharp before she reaches into her jacket pocket for something; Jason can't help tensing up, even though she knows the likelihood of her pulling a weapon on him are slim to none.
That suspicion is confirmed when she instead draws out a device and turns it on; there's a high-pitched background whir that Jason recognizes as a listening device scrambler.
Clearly we're both aware of what a paranoid freak Timbers can be.
"Okay, Jason, what's going on?" she asks without preamble. "You know Tim only wants to help you."
"Yeah, at his own expense," he retorts sourly.
Barbies raises an eyebrow as if waiting for him to continue, and when he doesn't, she presses, "You're being cagey. And it's more than just worrying about losing control around Tim, I can tell."
"Oh you can, can you?" he challenges.
"I've known you since you were still desperately trying to live up to Dick while pretending like you didn't care. I know when you're hiding something," she folds her arms. "Believe it or not, Jason, you're a terrible liar when it comes to things that matter."
It's reflex to want to say something caustic to that, but he stops himself in time. He needs Barbara's help and pissing her off isn't going to make his life any easier.
"I need a favor," he admits after a beat.
"Another one?" she repeats, sounding like she doesn't believe him. "You're going to owe me a lot."
"Yeah, well, now would be the time to collect on those debts while I still can."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means everyone else is tiptoein' around the subject, but at some point, I'm gonna need to be put under," he says, erring on the side of just enough truth to keep her from questioning him further. "We both know what I'm talkin' about here."
As expected, Barbara only just keeps herself from visibly recoiling; she's already ready with an argument. "You don't know we won't find something before that happens."
"I'm already feelin' like I'm livin' in someone else's skin—" Literally, in a way. "—I'm not gonna get any better than I am right now. We've already seen what it looks like when I dip toward worse. So while I'm still lucid, let me make my decisions. And my decision is, I'd rather go under while I'm still me instead of violent, mindless…reaver."
Barbara does a minor double-take. "Did you just make a Firefly reference?"
"It's the last series I was watching before I died," Jason says, a little defensive.
"I'm not judging, just surprised. Dick and Tim are usually the ones making pop-culture references to deflect. I'm not used to it from you."
"And I'm not used to you stallin'," he counters. "You're different from the other Bats, O. You know how to cut your losses, and you know how to make decisions when no one else wants to think about it. You get makin' the hard calls. So, I'm gonna ask you: when it comes down to a choice between me and Tim—and I mean when, not if—who do you save?"
Something like pain passes over her face, and then resolve hardens her face. "Tim."
"Exactly," he approves. "Because unlike me, he's good. And smart."
"You're both of those things, even if you pretend like you're not," she protests.
"And he hasn't committed multiple murders," Jason continues, acting like he didn't hear her. "Not that what I've done wasn't justified. It wasn't good, but I don't regret it because I will go to my grave believin' sometimes that line needs to be crossed. Again. But it's still a line Tim's been lucky enough not to have to cross."
She doesn't argue with him, instead inclines her head.
"More people will miss him if he were gone then they would me," Jason concludes. "I'm not supposed to be here anyway."
There's a long beat of measuring silence. Then, Barbara sighs. "What is it you need, Jason?"
He tilts his chin in gratitude.
"I didn't just come here to yell at Eros," he admits. "If Wonder Woman doesn't show up, he's the only one I know who has access to the stuff I need."
"The Stygian Sleep."
"Yeah. But it's probably in GCPD lock-up." He gives her a quick run-down of events, minus anything about Eros' intentional plan to infect him. Babs listens, jaw set and eyes narrowed; given what she just said about him, she likely knows he's not being completely truthful, but his explanation clearly holds enough water that she doesn't call him on it.
"I'll get someone to look into it," she decides at last.
Which, even though he's relieved about, he's also suspicious.
"And by 'look into' you mean grab hold of and perform a million tests on it before handin' it over," he posits.
"Just because you're hellbent on using something that's effectively going to kill you doesn't mean I don't want to know everything about it first," she says, unapologetic. "Like the prophecy, it might have clues about how to circumvent it."
"Yeah, because we're having so much luck with that."
"Also, when Bruce comes to me later in a righteous fury for letting his son die a second time, I'll be able to assure him we knew everything we did about it before making an informed decision."
Jason doesn't pretend to believe that's the end of it. Barbara might be willing to humor Jason a little more than Bruce, or even Dick when he's not compromised—she might even be a little more objective in considering things, but she's not going to trust Jason's plan to be the only plan. She'll have her own contingencies, the same as any Bat.
The only difference with Babs is that once it's over and done with, and it becomes clear there's no saving him, she'll have an easier time getting over it than Bruce will. And she won't let it compromise her work.
Tim's told Jason what Bruce and Dick were like after he died the first time, and if it happens again, Gotham needs someone competent in keeping things in check.
And Tim…
Jason's heart thuds with guilt.
This time, Tim won't just be sweeping in to pick up the broken pieces of Batman and Nightwing as he did as a kid. He won't be watching it from the sidelines.
The memory hits him then. To his surprise, it's not from Achilleus or Alexandros.
Jason hates Wayne Charity galas.
People are always staring at him, murmuring through pasted-on smiles that even if he couldn't read lips, he would be able to hear the judgment dripping from their words. These people are so achingly dry and genteel, their teeth don't even unclench around their vowels.
Bruce doesn't make him come to all that many of these shindigs, thankfully; only the ones involving children's advocacy and the like. Jason doesn't mind those too much, considering their purpose. He just hates that even at those—like the one tonight—he's the only kid that has to parade around in the straitjacket Alfred calls a tux.
He gets it, of course; he's the poster-boy, the success story, a means of showing the rich snobs how well a dirty Crime Alley orphan can clean up so that they'll open their checkbooks.
It doesn't mean he has to like it.
Except for tonight, for the first time, he noticed another kid that's been dragged along. A tiny boy whose meticulously fitted tux still manages to look too big for him.
A man and woman who must be his parents are chatting with another couple, seemingly oblivious to the way their son is staring into the distance, a neutrally polite expression fixed on his face. He might as well be sleeping standing up, and Jason has the odd suspicion that's by design.
That makes his mouth twitch; maybe rich kids get bored with this kind of thing too.
Jason keeps staring across the manor ballroom until the strange kid senses his gaze and looks up. He grins when the boy's eyes widen—their color is startling, even from across the room, and they take up practically his whole face—and wonders at the sudden flood of color in his cheeks.
He's about to motion the boy over to the edge of the reception area—hanging out with another kid, even a little one, will definitely break up the monotony of the evening—when Bruce's hand falls hard on his shoulder.
"Time to make an exit, son," he says, voice quiet and intense and incongruent with the false smile he's still beaming at everyone within a ten-foot radius. From the distracted note in his words, Jason doesn't even need to look out the window to see the signal lighting up the sky.
They meet Felipe Garzonas that night, and he doesn't think of the boy again.
Jason shudders as the technicolor recollection fades out, his stomach twisting angrily.
He's never made the connection between Tim and the boy at the fundraiser before. It occurs to him how stupid that was—at the same time it occurs to him that if not for that case that night, he might not have been on the outs with Bruce. He might have endured more Wayne event galas instead of limiting whatever time he was with Bruce to being Robin by night. He might have gotten to know Tim in this life, instead of dying.
He might not be in this damned predicament right now.
"Jason?"
He looks up, realizes that Barbie is watching him with concern. He is quick to revisit their conversation and mutters, "Yeah, fine. Just make sure the stuff actually makes it to me before my brain dribbles out of my head, okay?"
"Stop being so dramatic," she replies, reaching out to turn off the scrambler device, though she continues to exude suspicion.
"All Bats are dramatic, or have you forgotten?" he quips back, offering an irreverent smirk to cover up.
"Hard to forget something you live with every day," she returns dryly. "Now get over here and let me check you over."
"You don't need to," he points out. "I've had worse than this, you know."
"Yes, yes, we're all aware you've died and come back, who hasn't these days?" she returns. "Now, shirt off, or I'm telling Tim you didn't do what you said you would."
Jason glares. "This is going to become a thing, isn't it? You people using Tim to make me do things."
"Things that are for your own good, yes. Now strip, Todd."
"Yes, mother…"
"You wish your mother was as cool as me."
Which Jason can't argue with, because she's right; he's had a total of three mother figures in his life (two of which he's not sure even qualify because of how messed up they were), and none of them have been as capable or decent as Barbara Gordon.
Once he's shrugged his top half out of the body armor and leather, she reaches for him.
Jason experiences a nauseous swoop in his stomach at the idea of anyone but Tim putting hands on him. Instantly, his hand snaps up and knocks hers back.
"Don't touch me!" he snarls.
Barbara pulls away, watching him with a raised eyebrow and instantly Jason is overwhelmed with shame.
"Sorry," he bites out. "I didn't mean…"
"We can wait for Tim to get back," she suggests, instantly understanding.
Alarms blare in his head at the thought; he shakes his head. "No. No, I'm…I'm good. Now that I'm expectin' it."
She considers him several beats longer and then makes the next attempt to check his injuries. This time he concentrates on forcing the sick feeling away and tries to ignore how it feels like someone is rubbing sandpaper across his skin.
That's a new symptom. Great. Because it wasn't enough that I've been trying to claw my skin of myself, now other people get to do it too…
Barbara checks him over with quiet efficiency, evaluating the shallow slash between his arm and shoulder which his armor didn't cover, as well the bruising along his hips, elbows and lower back.
"It could be worse," she decides eventually, considering the mottled purpling across his chest. "Ribs are bruised, not broken."
"I could've told you that…"
"And were you going to tell me about that?" she points at his shoulder and the spiderweb of gold leeching out around the long-healed-over bullet wound. From the way he's been itching at it this past day, he doesn't need a mirror to know it's beginning to creep up his neck as well. "How long has it been growing like that?"
"Pretty much since I got it," he replies.
She reaches up, brow furrowed and reaches toward one of the raised lines winding toward his chest. Again, he braces himself for the pain of the touch his body doesn't want.
Thankfully, she barely grazes that. "You haven't been keeping better track, have you? It might give us a more specific idea of how much time you have."
"How so?"
"The same as any poison, I would guess. The closer it gets to your heart, the less time you have."
He frowns. "At this point, I don't think it even matters."
Movement outside of the med bay window draws his attention, and he across the floor to see Tim climbing the stairs from the ground floor.
Jason is quick to grab his shirt and tug it on; it's not something he wants to discuss with Tim just yet.
Barbara watches him, lips pursed in worry and disapproval, but he could care less about the latter. She knows his thoughts on this, and she'll respect them.
Tim strides in and then slows like he's wondering if he's supposed to knock or not.
"How are you doing?" he asks, hesitant like he's afraid expressing concern will set Jason off like a bomb.
Guilt hits him at that, but he forces himself to remain calm and blank-faced. "Fine."
"I have to go," Barbie announces, maneuvering her chair toward the door. "I need to go back to the Cave and check on Dick's condition. I don't know how long it will be before he tries to escape or pull something to keep from going nuts."
"Also, it'd be nice if this month was one of the ones where Alfred doesn't get knocked out," Tim suggests with false levity.
"Or lose a hand," Jason mutters darkly.
"Exactly. And whether he knows it or not, Feathers downstairs gave me some ideas about how to remove the arrow," Barbie says as they leave the med bay.
"I should come with you."
"No." Both Barbara and Tim speak at the same time, but she's the one that keeps talking. "You should stay here."
"Not sure that's the best idea."
"I think it is," Tim counters. "It will keep us out of everyone's hair and they'll know where we are." His tone is reasonable—too reasonable; clearly Timmy has some ulterior motives.
Whether those motives are to circumvent Bruce or Jason's plans, he doesn't care. But one thing is for sure. "They can know where we are if we're at the manor."
And isn't that a reversal—Jason being the one to insist on that?
I need to have people around because I don't trust myself right now.
The mutinous expression is back on Tim's face, before he visibly switches tactics.
"Okay, how about this," he suggests, tone only a shade off exasperated. "Why don't you go lie down somewhere and try to catch a few hours' sleep? If you're sleeping, you're not doing anything else, right? And then we'll either go back to the Cave or see if anyone can be spared to chaperone here."
"There's no need for that," a voice says, and they all look up to see Damian stride in still in full Robin-gear.
Tim scowls. "How did you get in here?"
"It was fairly simple," the kid snorts. "A fish tank, Drake? Really?"
Tim looks like he wants to protest, but Jason chuckles. "It was kind of obvious, babybird."
"You can barely take care of yourself, and you expect someone with a brain to believe you have the patience to care for fish?" the boy continues. "Exactly who do you think has been feeding them when you forget?"
Tim gapes. "You…break into my apartment…to feed my fish?"
Jason can't help the loud guffaw that escapes at that, earning two equally unimpressed glares in return. He doesn't care—that might be the funniest thing he's heard in days.
"I'll leave you to it then," Barbara says and wheels out of the room. "Try not to kill each other, boys. Alfred would be unhappy about it."
"Luckily, we are standing in a well-stocked room with several methods for resuscitating a dead body," Damian replies easily.
"Don't you have school?" Tim grumbles.
"It's Sunday, Drake."
"Still doesn't explain why you're here."
"I have been sent to babysit you two and put Todd down with extreme prejudice should he try anything.
Which Tim gapes and, while Jason is…kind of relieved about.
"Aw, Dami, I knew you cared," he teases.
"Don't address me with that infantile drivel!"
Tim sighs.
"Just don't set anything on fire while you're here…"
⁂⁂⁂
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