Little Bird's Vengeance Chapter 49 Times A'Changing

Jason was abruptly pulled back to wakefulness by a slight whimper close by. As usual, it took nearly a quarter of a second to remember where he was, sharing a king sized bed with Tim, and a further half second to realize the younger teen was deep in the throes of a nightmare.

Tim kept twisting and moaning for a moment, and Jason contemplated waking him, when his eyes shot open of his own accord "Br-" he started to yell, before Jason slapped a hand over his mouth. He winced as Tim bit down on the restraining fingers and drew blood, but Tim quickly mastered himself and backed off.

"S-Sorry," he gasped. "I-I'm so sorry."

"Just- Just gimme a minute," Jason requested. He slid off the bed, retrieved the medkit, and headed into the bathroom to clean and patch up his finger. It was hard not to blame Tim for the wound, even though it hadn't been a conscious action. But he knew he should forgive him. Partly because it was strangely gratifying to learn that Tim was comfortable enough to allow his subconscious to take control – Jason had been sleeping too lightly to allow dreaming ever since he'd been interdimensionally marooned – and partly because if their positions had been reversed, a hard bite would have been the least of his actions.

Re-entering the bedroom, he found Tim sitting on the edge of the bed, head in his hands and his shoulders shaking. "Wanna talk about it?" Jason asked.

Tim looked up, eyes red and tear tracks on his cheeks. "Not really," he answered hoarsely. "Sorry about the bite."

"It's no big deal," Jason brushed off. They sat in silence for a while. Jason felt seriously worn out; he'd have to get some more sleep, but he wanted to make sure Tim was okay first. It wouldn't do to be woken up again, would it?

"He thought we were dead," Tim said abruptly. Jason didn't have to ask who 'he' was; even if the name that had almost slipped out earlier hadn't given it away, it was still fairly obvious. "He was grieving, in so much pain," Tim continued. "Not just for me; you too. He'd still wanted you to come home, and he had to give up on us. He was hurting, and it made him so reckless. It was like after Kenya all over again…"

Tim trailed off, and Jason contemplated his words. "We'll get home," he declared. "We'll get back to him, both of us, and it'll all be fine."

"I guess," Tim shrugged. He stood up, and grabbed a spare set of clothing before heading off to shower the sweat of the nightmare from his form.

Peter was surprised to notice quite a huddle of people, mostly boys, by the gate as he left school at the end of the day. "What do you think that's about?" he asked Gwen, his girlfriend.

"I don't know," she said. "Shall we have a look?"

"Why not?" he shrugged.

As they made their way over to the group, they noticed more than one girl walk up, join for a moment, the go away. "Boys only?" Gwen muttered.

"No, it's not flat, it's punctured," Peter heard a familiar voice say from the centre of the group.

"Need help getting a new one?" someone, Flash Thompson maybe, offered.

"Nah, I gave my brother a call and he's bringing me a spare," the first person replied, and Peter caught on.

"I don't believe it," he sighed.

"What?" Gwen asked.

Peter pulled her up short and put her arms around her. "That's Red Robin, the guy our age who hangs with the Avengers," he murmured, nuzzling her ear as though whispering sweet nothings. "He knows this is my school, but I don't know why he's here now."

"Puncture, by the sound of it," Gwen answered, pulling away. "Shall we take a look?"

Peter let her lead him over to the commotion, and as he'd expected, found the black and red clad teen leaning against a motorbike with a wheel removed. At least he was in normal clothing, even if he did look a little odd wearing sunglasses in February.

"What's up?" Peter asked casually. "Cool bike there."

"Just waiting for a new tyre," Red grinned. "But other than that, yeah, it's pretty cool."

"What's the max speed?" someone asked.

Gwen rolled her eyes as Red started fielding questions about his vehicle. "What is it about boys and bikes?" she asked rhetorically. "I can see why the girls weren't sticking around."

"I just hope the interest dies down," Peter murmured.

Peter and Gwen stayed there for some time while the crowd slowly dispersed. After about fifteen minutes, there were only about twelve people left, and the roar of an approaching motorbike became audible. Red looked up and towards the sound. Another red bike with a similarly black and red rider shot towards them, did a sort of wheelie, and halted by the stricken motorist.

"You took your time," Red said.

"Sorry," the other rider, Red Hood, replied, dismounting and removing his helmet – a standard bike helmet rather than his suit's headpiece. "Got your tyre." He pulled the rubber circle off the back of his bike and knelt next to Red's loose wheel.

"Let me help," Peter said quickly, bending down to give them a hand holding up the bike while they swapped tyres and reattached the wheel.

"Thanks," Red said appreciatively. He tilted his head to look at Peter over his sunglasses, and their eyes connected. Peter felt a tingle of spider-sense that confirmed that this was indeed Red Robin, and Red gave a small nod, indicating he also recognized the other. "Tell you what, can I give you a ride somewhere?"

"Uh, well," Peter stuttered, while the other boys let out groans of envy. "I was just going to by girlfriend's house, and, uh-" He glanced over at Gwen.

"I don't mind giving you a ride, gorgeous," Hood offered quickly, winking at Gwen.

Gwen caught Peter's eye, and they both nodded. "Sure, but just remember, I'm taken," she answered.

"Sure, but just remember, I'm not," Hood smirked.

"Behave, you," Red said lightly.

AN: I've been reading through this, and through the ANs, and...who thinks Red's gonna turn Spidey into a hamster?

Kudos if you know what I'm on about...

Also this week: a different pair of Bats in Flashback, and more Marvel in Death's Avenger. Next week, more Flashback, more LBV, and the next installment of Rise of Harry Potter.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: I have updated my profile to include a new opportunity for all my readers to get in contact with me via social media. Please check it out.

Finally, please review!

Katara