Chapter 4
The coffee and conversation were enough to quell Jason's desire to go back to sleep, but it wasn't enough for Helena.
He had made her breakfast to thank her for restocking the fridge and pantry but found her dozing off over the eggs and toast.
"Oh, sorry," she murmured, stumbling over to the living room. "I'll take the couch."
"Nah," Jason insisted, "You take the bed. Might be making noise out here." He scooped her up from the couch and carried her to the bedroom.
Helena squeaked in surprise but didn't fight him. Instead, she clung to him and said, "Mm, you're warm."
Jason knew why. He was blushing from how she held onto him. Her robe had slipped open, too, not helping. When he dropped her off in bed, she burrowed under the covers and was asleep in seconds.
He left and closed the bedroom door softly despite wanting to crawl in with her. He immediately picked up his phone and made a call.
It rang only once.
"I'm so sorry, Jason," Barbara blurted.
"How come you didn't warn me she was here? You knew I was coming."
"Well, Mr. Outlaw, you are notoriously hard to track down, even for me. Why was your phone off? I tried calling you before you left Metropolis."
Jason groaned in exasperation. "My teammates were getting on my ass for bailing on them. Had to tune out the noise, so I put my phone in airplane mode."
"Fair enough," Barbara said. "And for the record, I did tell her to leave, but she went rogue on me. She also put her phone in airplane mode, before I could tell her why. Of like minds, you two."
"Couldn't you just hack our phones and call us anyway?"
She hesitated. "Yeah," Barbara groaned, "but Dinah made me promise not to hack allied devices without consent. Civil liberties and all that. Gotta draw the line somewhere. So did you convince her to leave?"
"She's stubborn."
"Gee, I wonder where she gets it?" Barbara sounded amused.
"Whatever. Is my shipment going to arrive on time?"
"Yeah, soon. It's about..." Jason heard the clacking of Barbara's keyboard. "10 stops away."
"Thanks, Babs. For everything."
"No problem. Just... give Helena some space. She kinda needs it right now."
That bothered him. What was Helena running from? Why did she have bruises on her arms and legs?
But instead, all he asked was, "Do you know why she needs an incognito vacation?"
"All I can say is she's working through some shit. Girl stuff she doesn't want Bruce to butt his head in on."
"And you're willing to risk pissing him off helping her play hooky like this?"
Barbara laughed. "I'm not afraid of him, Jason. I didn't need Bruce or my dad's permission to become Batgirl; I just fucking did it. I'm more worried about the consequences if Helena doesn't take this time off."
That worried Jason. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You're already doing a lot by letting her stay at your place. Just give her space and privacy."
"Easy, cuz I need it, too. I'll be in touch. Bye."
"Over and out."
Now, Jason's immediate thought was that Helena was running away from a break-up with some abusive boy at college. It would account for the bruises on her arms. All clues told him she had already dealt with it. Still, the thought of someone hurting her made his temper flare.
So he dropped to the floor and started doing push-ups.
He worked through his morning exercise routine: calisthenics and yoga poses. Even if he was on vacation, he needed to do this. Otherwise, his body would lock and stiffen up, thanks to countless injuries he had sustained.
Today, a bonus was that it cleared his head of intrusive thoughts.
Of Bruce. Of death. Of time lost.
Of Helena.
The fucking Wayne Family. Sometimes he still couldn't believe how he got entangled in that family's mess.
After washing up, Jason dressed, wearing jeans, a work shirt, some beat-up boots, and his favorite baseball cap—the one Roy gave him. He took the stairs from the loft to the garage's first floor.
The safe house was on a large lot near the airport's cargo terminal. Its supposed purpose was to repair the airlines' fleet of non-flying vehicles like trucks, carts, buses, and train cars. Jason deduced Barbara and Bruce chose the location because it was inconspicuous and near a highway. If any of the Bat Family flew in from out of town, they would be covered. They could immediately get set up, kitted out, and rolling on whatever mission Batman or the JLA tasked them with.
The only problem was that Blüdhaven was right across the bay from Gotham, so none of the Bat Family ever had to actually "fly in" the civilian way. It was perfect for Jason, who was seldom in Gotham and would have to fly that way. The four-bay garage gave him space to tinker with vehicles with enough space left to train and work out. Roy joined him sometimes.
Helena's motorcycle was parked in the fourth bay, away from the stairs. It was familiar to him. He had seen it in the Waynes' garage, but never took the time to focus on it because it wasn't his style back then. It was an older BMW R nineT with a midnight purple finish. Now that he was more experienced, Jason appreciated good motorcycle design, so he approached the vehicle for a closer inspection.
It had seen better days. Judging by the pattern of scratches on the tank cover, engine, pegs and exhaust pipes, on both sides of the bike, Helena had fallen off it more than once. However, Jason knew Helena could ride well because he had taught her himself when they were teenagers, against her father's permission. She probably just needed more practice riding a high-end crotch rocket like this. He had taught her to ride on a little cafe racer.
He looked closer to see what he could repair or improve but was surprised to see aftermarket customizations already installed. The motorcycle had a premium heavy-duty suspension, steel-reinforced run-flat tires, a touch screen console instead of gauges, and ...
Wait a second.
... a hybrid-electric engine.
He inspected the handlebars and saw a whole kit of complex levers and thumb buttons.
This wasn't just a high-end motorcycle.
It was a Batcycle.
Notes
I finally got to introduce a new member of the Bat Family to this story! In my headcanon, I like to think that Jason is on relatively good terms with almost every member of the family, except Bruce. Everyone's got issues with Bruce, so why wouldn't the other members relate with him about it?