Jason woke violently, gasping for breath and pulling a gun out quickly, eyes wild like an untamed animal. Roy fell backwards from his crouching position in front of Jason when the gun's muzzle found its home right between his eyes. Jason held the gun with only one hand, as his other shoulder was dislocated. He felt blood trailing down the side of head. "Am I dreaming?" he gasped out, the pain in his shoulder and skull making it hard to concentrate. Roy blinked, stunned into silence. The gun was still pointed at his. "Am I dreaming!" Jason yelled.
"No! Man, calm down!" Roy sounded truthful, but then again. . .
"That's what the last you said!" Jason's face started quivering; he looked like he was about to cry. The gun turned on himself. "Wake up," he whispered harshly. "Wake up!"
"Okay, okay. Listen to me: what you are doing is insane. Jaybird, put the gun down before you hurt yourself." Roy was talking quickly, just as scared as the very confused and distraught Red Hood in front of him.
"Hurt myself. . .?" Jason trailed off, thinking it over in a mind that was only half working.
"Hey, Jay, I liked it a lot better when the gun was pointed at me. Let's go back to that, okay?" Roy knew the Kevlar in his uniform would protect him, unless Jason had armor piercing rounds. Then he would be screwed. But still, bullet to the torso would be far more survivable than bullet to the brain.
"My head hurts," Jason said. "I'm not dreaming. I'm not-" the gun dropped from his hand and he lay back fully on the ground. Both he and Roy sighed in relief.
So, Jason had passed out and handed Starfire to Arsenal. That much was true. The fight with Deathstroke had taken place, it was everything after that had been a lie. He swallowed his fear. "Kori?" he asked.
Roy moved over and helped Jason up. His left arm was dangling uselessly at his side. Roy leaned his team leader on himself heavily and Jason barely tried to stop him. "She's fine, dude. I came over to wake you up and you pointed a gun in my face like a crazy person! Seriously, you need to stop sleeping with those."
"Yeah, sure. Anyway, pop it back in." Jason braced himself and gestured towards his shoulder.
"Okay, okay. But then you're sitting down and we're checking out your head wound. Ready?"
Jason grunted in response. He felt the pop and crumpled into Roy's arms.
"Didn't know you were a cuddler, Jaybird." Roy moved him to the couch; the closest bed was occupied by Kori sleeping off her own wounds.
"Shut up, Harper." Roy touched the side of Jason's head tenderly. The bleeding had stopped, but there was a lot of caked blood and there was no doubt in Roy's mind Jason had a concussion. "Hey," Jason said, and Roy stopped working. "Call Nighting. Tell him we have Deathstroke problems."
"Why didn't you call me when you first ran into this problem?"
"I was a little busy getting my head smashed into a wall repeatedly," Jason grumbled.
"Yeah, you're lucky you were wearing that bucket," Roy laughed.
"Just call. Tell him we have Deathstroke problems."
"You said that already. Before we call, you're getting your head checked by someone who has actual experience. This is no bueno, man."
Jason sighed, exasperated and tired. "Then call Batman, too. He can fix me up and help us fight."
Roy stopped. "Call Batman? You just asked me to call Batman?"
"Dick will do it anyway. Plus, the big man will want in on someone going after his favorite."
"I am so worried for your brain cells right now," Roy said, but pulled out his phone and called Dick.
"Don't tell him you were part of the decision-making process of keeping Starfire here. You two are actually friends and he'll be pissed." Jason closed his eyes and leaned back.
Roy flicked his nose and grinned when Jason's eyes snapped open. "No sleeping. That's like rule number one."
"No, rule number one is touch me and I keep the hand." Jason glared as hard as possible, but to no avail as Roy dialed, smirking. He tried making out the conversation, but the edges of his vision blurred into blackness and it wasn't long before he was slumped sideways unconscious.