What do you wear on a date? Like, on a date you weren't trying to extract information for a case. A date you really cared about how it went, because the other person is important to you and you really don't want to fuck this up.
Jeans were a safe option. His usual boots danced the line of casual and formal and went with everything, so there's that.
But he had too many jackets and not a date-worthy shirt. He had a decent button down, he was positive he did. At least he remembered some, from that one time he had to blend in the Iceberg Lounge and had to look fancy enough. Maybe it was in another safehouse?
His fingers touched soft fabrics. There it was!
A note fell from the bundle of fabric to the floor. A note?
"Wear this with the brown jacket I saw at the back. Good luck! - Your favorite brother"
When and how did Dickhead find the chance to sneak this into his apartment? He had traps, he had alarms, he had ways to know if someone was here that the others had never encountered in their training.
Unless he had help. His money was on the shortstack, Timmy. Dick had mentioned he was good with tech.
He threw the shirt to his bed, completely set on throwing it out, and went back to searching for the shirt he himself had bought and he totally remembered where it was.
By the time his alarm (the one he set to not be late) rang, he still hadn't found a decent shirt. Could he wear a band tshirt? He found a few that didn't have holes or-
A true warrior knew when to accept defeat and surrender to the enemy. He sighed.
He picked the damn shirt and quickly put it on, anxiety settling in now that he was going to be late. Maybe. He wasn't going to be late, though. Even if he were a bit late, Jazz wouldn't mind, because she's nice like that. He didn't deserve-
Alright, so now that shirt was on, he went back to pick the jacket Dick said in the note. It was fine for the weather, and the touch was nice and velvety, different from his usual leather jackets. He hated admitting that his brother was right, but if he pretended getting cozy with her and stuff, maybe leather wasn't the best idea. Also it looked close enough to the ones we wore with the suit to be funny, and contrary to popular belief, he enjoyed a good joke.
He rushed to the bathroom and tried to comb his hair with his hands, considering doing something more fancy for a hot minute, but he didn't have much time. Also Jazz really liked his hair and he already gave her blanket permission to mess with the curls, so maybe doing nothing to it was the best idea for the date.
Jason rushed out and closed his door, activating the security measures he had installed for when he wasn't home. He took a breath, exhaled, and walked to his neighbor's door, ready to not fuck this up.
Almost as if she had the same idea, or she heard his steps, Jazz opened the door before he had the chance to knock.
She was beautiful. Well, more than usual, in his totally unbiased opinion.
She had dressed up, too, and he wondered if she bought the clothes for this date since they weren't anything like the usual sensible jeans and long sleeve combo she wore for work. He realized he had never seen her in a skirt before - maybe she didn't like skirts? - or the flower pattern blouse, but he really enjoyed the change.
"Hi." She smiled, her lips glossy. Was she wearing makeup?
"Hi." His voice cracked a little. He cleared his throat. "You look nice."
This was the correct thing to say, because her cheeks tinted a bit pink. "You too." As she let her eyes roam his body, Jason noticed she had put on some makeup in her eyes too - mascara and a bit of light blue eyeshadow, making her already pretty eyes more striking.
"Shall we?" He gestured at the elevator at the other end of the hallway.
She quickly locked her door and followed him to the elevator, her hair bouncing with every step and sending the nice smell of her shampoo in his direction. He loved her hair, it was so long and so soft, and always wanted to touch it. He could ask. Yeah. They were dating and asking if he could touch her hair would be normal.
"What are you thinking about?" Her voice cut through the silence. Has he really been this quiet?
"Uh. I'm… nervous? I guess. And you look really pretty."
She giggled. "I wanted to look nice, because I'm also nervous." She did the head tilt, her hair moving with an extra bounce. Had she done something to it, too? "It's silly, we had hung out before, but still I feel like my heart is trying to fly out of my chest."
They reached the ground floor and started walking towards his parked bike.
"But this feels different," he shrugged. "Not a bad different, though."
"Yeah. It's different," she gripped the strap of her little handbag, sighing. "I just don't want you to have a bad time. Or behave weird."
"I already know you are weird, don't worry about it."
Finally, she laughed and softly hit him on the arm. "Well thank you, babe."
"Babe?" He lifted an eyebrow.
"Too forward?" She winced, stopping in front of the bike.
"I don't mind it," he shrugged, uncovering the bike and chaining the tarp to its spot. Then he picked up the helmets and gave her the extra one. "Um, can you ride with a skirt?"
She looked down at her outfit and smirked. "Not a skirt." Jazz jumped and split her legs enough to show that it was actually short pants that looked like a skirt. "Ha! You got bamboozled!"
He laughed, snaking a hand around her waist to pull her into a quick kiss. He couldn't help it.
"Not that I hate kissing you," her smile was radiant and her cheeks pink as they parted, "but now you have glossy lips as well."
"Do I look good with it, at least?"
"Very handsome," Jazz giggled as she wiped the lipstick off with her thumb. He didn't miss her eyes lingering on his lips longer than necessary, but they needed to get going if they wanted to do this date thing for real.
The ride to the park was uneventful - finally some peace and quiet after the frenzy since the Arkham breakout happened. Today he didn't need to worry about it, though; the majority were back into containment cells, and with Bruce back from the League thingy, Red Hood wasn't needed anymore. Jason also suspected the others had let him get away with today free for the date, but for once he wasn't going to get mad at them. If he got to spend the whole afternoon with his girlfriend without worrying about being called to help, then he wouldn't look at the gift horse in the mouth.
Once at the park, bike parked and everything secure, Jazz lamented for a moment having tried to curl her hair, complaining that it was so thin and soft it didn't hold shape very well, and that the helmet kinda undid any wave she managed to make stay.
He listened attentively as they walked into Robinson Park, at least the part that hadn't been damaged in a fight with Ivy the previous day, nodding in the right places and humming when she explained a cool process of curling straight hair she had seen on the internet but didn't work on her hair at all.
"Can I hold your hand?" She asked after finishing her rambling. He blinked at the non-sequitur.
"Yeah? I mean, I don't mind."
She blushed and looked away, but took his hand, interlacing their fingers. It was better than he had imagined and less awkward than what he expected. It helped that they crossed other couples holding hands, so they didn't stand out at the park.
"I wasn't sure, since you don't like being touched."
He did a double take. "What?"
"Yeah? Or I got it wrong?" She frowned as she looked back up at him.
He squeezed her hand. Because now he could. "I… I don't hate it, actually." His mind went back to all the times she extended a hand only to change course or pull it back. "Do you like being touched?"
She huffed. "Danny always says I'm too touchy feely. 'I don't need to be hugged, I'm an adult, Jazz!'" She rolled her eyes. "Nonsense. There's no age limit for hugs."
Jazz had never hugged him. Did she hold back because she thought he wouldn't like it? How much had he missed because she was stopping herself from doing it?
"I don't mind if it's you," her cheeks got redder at his unintended smooth line. "I mean. I'm just not used to being touched, or hugged. It doesn't usually come with good intentions."
She looked at him for a few seconds, her brow furrowed at his words. But, as usual when he said something slightly disturbing or that would hint at his other life, she let it go.
Jazz squeezed his hand back. "Then I shall hug you. Every day. Every moment. It's a threat."
"Oh? Is this the moment I should start trembling in fear?"
As if he could be scared of her. She was a fighter and a very strong meta, but looking into her eyes he believed she would never hurt him. Not in a million years.
Jazz scrunched her nose at him, narrowing her eyes. Then she hugged him tightly in the middle of the walkway, not caring who might see them. She waited there until he finally put his arms around her, and then she leaned back a little to smile up at him.
"See? It's easy." Her smile could light an entire city. "You'll get used to it."
By this point he didn't care anymore if he had a dopey smile or if his cheeks were red - why care? She was the only one in the world whose opinion mattered, and she was hugging him like she wanted to be there.
"I can't wait to get used to this, then."
This time her cheeks went red at the promise of a future with more hugs with her.
Both jumped when someone in a bicycle whistled at the pair, jumping back to put some distance between them as if they were caught with a hand in the cookie jar. They looked at each other and laughed at the situation.
"Shall we?" She extended her hand for him to take it.
Holding hands, they walked around for a bit with no clear destination in mind, just talking about anything and everything. Sometimes, in the rare moments between topic change, they just stayed quiet and enjoyed the way the trees were changing colors for the season.
Soon they reached the lake in the middle of the park, and apparently all the couples in Gotham had the same idea, because everywhere he looked there were couples cuddling and kissing and having picnics together. Has it always been like this? It's true that Jason didn't usually come to the park unless it was work-related, but he would remember if this place had somehow become smooch central.
He glanced at Jazz, noticing her looking around, her eyes staying on some of the couples chilling under the shade of a tree. Was this something she wanted?
He could just ask. He could just-
"Do you-"
"Yes!"
He bit his lip to contain a chuckle as she tugged on his hand and made her way to one of the secluded shades that miraculously wasn't already occupied by a couple. It had a good view of the lake but was still surrounded by some bushes that gave the illusion of privacy.
She plopped down first, her back to the trunk of the tree, and patted her extended legs, waiting for him to do something.
What did she want?
"Head. Here. C'mon!"
Jason snorted. "Really?"
"What? I always wanted to try it." She patted her lap again as an invitation.
He rolled his eyes but did as she asked, not that he wanted to rest his head on her lap or anything. It took a little bit of adjusting and getting comfortable on the hard and cold floor, but it was totally worth it if only for the way her hands immediately went for his hair, not even asking for permission. He told her she could do that anytime so it was nice to see Jazz getting comfortable around him enough to do whatever she wanted.
As he enjoyed the feel of her fingers playing with his curls, his mind went back to the thought of her holding back for his sake. The fact that she was very physical he got that already - with Jazz it was always a little pat on the shoulder or the back of his hands. Did she want more? He wouldn't mind more.
"You didn't go on dates with your ex-boyfriends?" At her raised eyebrow he realized the question really came out of nowhere. "You said you have never done this, so…"
"I only had two," she said, her hands not stopping their ministrations. "One lasted like, a day," her lips twisted at the memory, "I was a teenager and, well, we are still good friends, but Johnny wasn't exactly good boyfriend material for me."
He wondered what this Johnny person did to her.
"I had a boyfriend for a bit in med school. He wasn't a student, but we frequented the same café. Dating him…" this time she frowned a little. Her hands stopped. "I had a busy schedule and a few weeks in I found out he cheated on me, so," she shrugged, "you could say there weren't a lot of chances to do cute date things."
"He cheated on you?" Jason tried to sit up, but she forced him to stay where he was with a hand on his chest. He didn't mind that much, her lap was comfortable and she smelled good, but still, he was fuming at the declaration.
What the hell? Who would cheat on her? Why? It didn't make any sense to him.
"Don't worry, I took care of it." Her smile hid more secrets. He hoped those secrets meant bodily harm and plenty of ass whooping.
"Well then I don't mind being a test dummy for all the cute shit you want to try out."
He saw her bite her lips, his only warning before she dropped: "Are you going to make all my fantasies come true?"
"Jesus Christ," he facepalmed, if only to hide his red face. "You are a menace." His voice was muffled under his hands, but she heard him and chuckled in response.
They laughed for a bit, but neither added more to the conversation. A breeze passed by, making the leaves in the trees rattle and the treetops bend for a moment. Her hands resumed their work, her nails slightly scratching his scalp, and Jason let his eyes close to bask in the simple sensations of the moment.
He almost didn't hear them, but again, he had let his guard down for the date.
Of course the idiots would follow. Of course they would spy on their moment alone, like they have done for all the other dates with the excuse of making sure they were safe.
He considered standing up and jumping over the bushes to give whoever was fool enough to butt into his business a piece of his mind. But he didn't want to move, he was too comfortable where he was.
Jason opened his eyes when he felt something tickle his chin. It was Jazz's incredibly long hair, which she had let over her shoulder, tactically making a barrier between their stalkers and him.
Did she know?
Of course she did. Probably another one of her secrets.
He looked up at her, finding her eyes fixed on something on the bushes, probably one of his siblings. She was ready to pounce, muscles tensed, her body deceptively relaxed.
He lifted a hand so he could touch her cheek, redirecting her attention to him. Maybe it was a reflection of the light, but he saw her eyes go from almost green to the usual teal -
Who was he kidding, there were no tricks of the light. There were no reasonable explanations for the oddities, for the things Jazz did that weren't exactly normal.
He trusted she would tell him when she felt safe enough. He hoped he could make her feel safe and welcomed regardless of what her secret was, the same as she did with him. Jason really wanted to be done with the hiding and the dancing around the truth, on both sides.
"Ignore them."
She blinked and blushed at being caught. "Okay." She didn't comment on how he knew what she had been looking at.
He tugged on her hair a little so she would lean in close enough for him to reach for a kiss. If the fuckers wanted a show they would have a show. She realized what the plan was pretty soon, burying her hand on his curls, blindly following his lead.
They separated for a moment, only so he could sit and be a little more comfortable to keep on kissing her.
He placed one of his hands on the back of her neck, smiling at her little muffled moan in appreciation. Encouraged by her reaction, he ventured a small bite of her lower lip, making sure if she wanted to go further with their kiss.
Turns out, she didn't.
She gasped and jumped back a little, as if shocked by his bite. Her cheeks were red and her eyes apologetic. He knew what she would say before she even opened her mouth.
"I… I don't-"
"Okay." He leaned back to give her enough space, just in case she started to feel crowded. "It's okay."
And really, it was. For whatever reason she wasn't sure about taking this further or not, he would wait.
Jason didn't want to fuck this up, not when she had wormed herself into his life like this. Not when he didn't want to picture a future going back to a quiet apartment without noisy neighbors that blasted Disney music as they do chores. Or cause an oil fire as they try to make pasta. Or knock on his door late at night carrying unconscious vigilantes on their back like it's nothing.
He was patient and he could be understanding. Whatever she needed, how much she needed, be it time, protection, food, shelter or to have someone killed - anything, he would do it.
Jazz laughed, face flushed and one hand covering her mouth, probably feeling awkward at the situation. He laughed too, smiling when she chose to rest her forehead against his, her eyes alight with an emotion he could feel echoing in his chest.
He was starting to believe a thing or two about love.
Jazz was so nervous she wasn't sure if she was going to throw up, pass out or a combination of the two.
It helped that Jason completely lost his cool the moment they found out that the restaurant he wanted to take her to was closed due to collateral damage in a rogue fight and they had to improvise.
Improvise meant, sometimes, ending up in places that weren't exactly that romantic for a first date.
Batburger wasn't that bad. She tried to reassure him over and over again that she didn't mind, that it was more important to her that he was with her, and that there would be more dates to be as fancy as they wanted.
He had that wistful expression again when she said the last thing on that list.
Jazz munched on a 'jokerized' french fry. The damn thing was delicious, despite the distasteful naming.
"I'm so sorry," he said for the fifth time. "I should have made sure that the restaurant was open."
"This is Gotham, darling. You get used to stuff breaking down all the time because of rogue fights."
He scoffed, rolling his eyes as he took a sip of his soda. "You are talking like a real native now."
"Gotham grows on you quickly. Like mold."
He laughed loudly, attracting the attention of other patrons for a moment.
"Also, I've never been to this place before."
"Never?"
She looked away, sipping her own soda, pondering her words. "There is this place in my hometown that has the best burgers in the world, at least according to my brother."
Memories of Danny begging her to take him to the Nasty Burger when they were little assaulted her mind. Later on, when he could walk there on his own after school, and he didn't need her anymore, he still checked with her that he was eating with his friends and if she wanted him to bring some home for her.
"Were they good?" Jason prompted when she didn't continue.
"I've never been one for fast food or burgers in general," she shrugged, looking down at her 'Two-face sandwich', "but it was Danny's thing and I loved it because he loves it. Without him it just didn't make sense to come here."
"You really love your brother." Jason's eyes shined with many emotions. At first she didn't know why when the topic of Danny was on the table he looked away sometimes, but now she did.
Dick Grayson, her kind gymnastics teacher, was her boyfriend's older brother.
How did she find out, you say?
Well, after a weird session that morning where the man was looking at her all the time with a tiny smile that was bordering creepy, he waved her goodbye with a "good luck with your date!" and then she flipped on him and demanded answers.
He looked honestly hurt that Jason didn't tell her they were siblings, he even had the same lingering sadness in his eyes as they talked about him.
There was obvious history between them, probably something bad, going by the way Dick talked about Jason like he didn't know him anymore.
Jazz could feel the mystery unraveling, a sensation at the back of her head as her mind tried to connect the dots. Jason's death overseas, the animosity between brothers, how Red Hood came to be. She felt like if she dug a little deeper, if she looked again at her research, she could find out what really happened to make things so complicated.
But she had a date to get ready for, and research could wait. Who knows, maybe at the end of the evening he would tell her himself. And she could tell him-
"Danny and I have been through thick and thin," she explained, trying to tell him without revealing too much information she shouldn't talk about. "For the longest time, we only had each other."
He nodded in understanding, although she didn't know exactly what he could understand.
"Any plans on visiting him back home? Or him coming here."
"Why? Wanna meet my brother?"
His cheeks turned a bit pink and he busied himself with his Batburger Deluxe. "You talk so much about him. I just want to see if it's all big talk or not."
Jason wanted to meet her brother. He had identified how much Danny meant to her and wanted his approval as a good boyfriend for her. She didn't blame him, though, given what she told him about past partners in her life.
She was pretty sure that Danny would like him enough because of the whole Red Hood 'coolness' factor, so his worries were unfounded.
"I can tell him to come visit soon. You could take him to a Batburger, then. He's such a big fan of the Gotham heroes I'm convinced he'd buy the kid menu just for the figurines."
Jason looked conflicted. "Really?"
Jazz smiled, placing her arm on the table and leaning into her open palm. "Red Hood is his favorite," she bit back a smile when he jumped, "I hope there's a figurine of him."
"There isn't." He wasn't pouting, but it was a close thing. "He's not a hero."
"I've heard stories that say otherwise."
He frowned. "What kind of stories?"
"You know… stories." Jazz shrugged for extra vagueness, enjoying seeing him squirm.
She knew his mind was going to the legends about Red Hood, a suspected demon, the man without a clear moral code that could kill you if you look at him wrong. She knew how it was with legends, by the time it reached her whatever had actually happened could have been twisted beyond recognition.
Still, it was funny seeing the "fearless demon of Crime Alley" pout and tear apart his burger because he can't look her in the eye.
"Do you believe them?"
"Of course not." She chuckled. "Myths and legends work because the mouth to mouth makes the heroes and villains bigger than they are, forgetting they are just actual people in the process."
While she had been talking about him and the other bats and birds in Gotham, her mind went to her brother.
The Great One. The One Who Can't Die. The Savior of the Infinite Realms. Danny tried to not let the titles and silly names get to him, but the pressure was on the moment he put on that crown and the damn ring. It didn't matter that they kept trying to keep a low profile, tales of their battles in this damn war to protect the throne from people that wanted it have reached every corner of the Ghost Zone. When they heard the stories back, the damage of hyping up what really happened was already done.
"My brother doesn't believe legends either," she continued with a little smile, "he knows how important it is to seek the source for this kind of thing."
He hummed in agreement, but didn't add anything else, choosing to take a bite of his burger.
Jazz felt like this could be a good moment to segway into her truth and finally come clean - just tell him enough about ghosts and about a whole dimension to explain her oddities. Explain everything one bit at a time, just to not overwhelm him with everything at once.
The words were at the tip of her tongue. Just say it. Say "I'm not human" and go from there. Jason already suspected - how could he not, he was smart and very observant. Also she wasn't that subtle-
"Speaking of brothers."
He looked back at her, eyebrows raised. C'mon, just say it. Say that your brother is not human and-
"When were you going to tell me that your brother is my gymnastics teacher?"
Damn it.
Jason choked on his soda for a moment, but he got it under control, narrowing his eyes at her with suspicion.
"How did you-"
"Dick wished me good luck with the date this morning." Jazz tried to project understanding and that she wasn't accusing him of lying. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because," he looked away, shoulders tense, and she looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"You were jealous?" Bingo, he got even tenser. "Why?"
He shrugged. "Everything you said about him were cute and fun and nice things." He shrugged again, but she wasn't buying it. He was jealous, and this knowledge didn't sit that well in her stomach.
"But I'm not dating him," she tilted her head, thinking well her words. "You are the one that I want."
He chuckled. "Are you going to break into song, now?"
"I don't look like Olivia Newton-John, and don't change the topic." She leaned in. "You are the one I wanted to date, the one I said yes to." It was important to her that he understood that.
The incident when Red Robin was in her apartment came back to the front of her mind - if he had a problem with her interacting with other people, other men, even his own brother, she needed to cut that shit as soon as possible.
He finally looked at her. "If he had asked you out would you have said yes?"
"I think that's an unfair question. What if I hadn't moved next to your apartment? What if I never moved to Gotham? Things don't happen just because - they do after a series of choices and a little bit of luck. I feel lucky to have met you and I chose to say yes because you asked." She crossed her arms. "It is unfair to ask me something like that, as if it were a 1:1 comparison."
He pondered her words for a moment, his shoulders still tense, but his eyes were a bit less clouded.
"Are you mad at me?"
She blinked slowly. Was that what he was most worried about? "No. I just want it to be clear that I do like you and I want to be with you," his crooked smile at her words almost made her lose her train of thought, "but it would really bother me if you don't do or say anything if you start doubting me and my loyalty."
"But I don't really think you'd cheat on me."
"Thanks?"
He pressed on, taking one of her hands. "I just-" he sighed, "even if consciously I know it's not like that, I can't help but feel like it's an actual possibility."
There was more to it, Jazz was sure. Jason hid a lot of things from her, not only the vigilante things, but things about himself he considered "ugly". They were still knowing each other and they still had time to learn about the ugly parts of each other, so she wasn't worried about it.
If she had to bet, Jason had a lot of insecurities piled onto each other and wrapped with a bad boy personality. In the time they talked and hung out, Jason got excited about a topic only to stop and redirect the conversation towards her when he realized what he was doing, as if he expected her to get bored by his rants.
If he thought himself lacking or like he wasn't interesting enough, it wasn't surprising that jealousy came close behind.
"How about this," she squeezed his hand, "if I feel like we need to reevaluate our relationship, I promise I will let you know as soon as it happens."
"As long as you don't start with a 'we need to talk'," his smile was sad, resigned. "Would hate to be dumped with something so cliché."
There it was - closing in on himself, accepting the worst case scenario before it happened, removing his agency in the situation and trying to mask it all with humor.
Jazz huffed and softly slapped his wrist. "First of all, assuming I am going to dump you is stupid. You could be the one that needs to 'talk', and that's fine. I really would like you to communicate if you ever feel like this is not working for you for whatever reason.
"Second, who said anything about dumping anybody?" She smiled a little, tugging on his hand and trying to lighten the mood. "'Reevaluating a relationship' means so many things - from talks about boundaries to even opening up a relationship to more people. The magic of being in a relationship with someone, be it romantic or friendship or platonic, is that they change when people change. And that's fine." Her grip on his hand became stronger. "As long as all the parties involved talk about these changes."
He huffed, but squeezed her hand back, his eyes searching hers for a moment.
"It's always 'talk about your feelings' with you, huh?" He joked, but was listening.
"You'll find that being honest and having open communication does wonders." She wanted to be funny, but the moment the words left her mouth she realized that maybe that was the wrong thing to say.
They looked at each other, the air heavy once again. Charged.
She knew his secrets and he knew she knew.
He knew she was hiding something - and the time to act like he didn't know was coming to an end.
"About that…"
"Hmm?" He lifted his eyebrows, withdrawing his hand and interlacing his fingers. His little smile wasn't mocking, but the little curve at the ends betrayed he was thinking something along those lines. "I'm all ears. Open communication and all that."
She was tempted to stick her tongue at him. "Har har."
It was her turn to look everywhere but him, her hands finding her cold sandwich and fiddling with the crust. She could feel her cheeks burn and hear her heart beating fast behind her ears, the words stuck on her throat.
How could she explain? Where to start? There was so much to say and so many things she needed to wait until Danny said it was okay to tell, or came by to show himself. Beyond her scars, fangs and superhuman abilities, Jazz didn't have proof about ghosts, other dimensions and the ongoing war. She didn't have a magical girl transformation into a ghost form.
But maybe she could just start small. And go from there.
"I'm not exactly… I mean, I was born human. I think." She frowned. She had this working theory about Maddie not following lab safety protocols while pregnant. "But I became something else."
She ventured a look at him, finding his little knowing smile growing at the admission. "I know."
She rolled her eyes. "Of course."
"Darling, you are not subtle."
He didn't say anything else, waiting for her to continue.
"My family… my parents…" She stopped, realizing that maybe she should have practiced this in the mirror. "Danny and I- Well, it was at first mostly Danny, I joined him later." She sighed. This was going nowhere. Maybe she should start from the beginning. "Do you believe in ghosts?"
This he wasn't expecting. He barely showed it, though. Good facial control.
"Ghosts." He parroted. "Like, 'white sheet' ghosts, or 'screaming women' and 'british orphan children' ghosts, or-"
"I mean dead souls. The afterlife. Among other things. Did you know that not everyone over there is actually the soul of a dead person?" She was starting to ramble, her voice shaking with nervousness.
"I didn't-" He stopped, looking out of the window with narrowed eyes.
She felt it before it happened - the blast from the explosion reached the Batburger faster than what people needed to duck under the tables. Jazz covered her face with her hands, barely feeling the shards of the shattered glass cut her skin.
On cue, Jason's phone started ringing. It wasn't difficult to guess who it could be.
Jazz's mind worked in overdrive as she picked her purse and accepted the man's hand to run out of the place and towards his nearby parked bike, the food completely forgotten.
"I know." He was talking on the phone, eyes sharp and looking down the street where the explosion had been. "Can be ready in ten." He glanced at her. "She's fine."
Despite knowing that the vigilante on the other end of the phone wouldn't see her, Jazz did a thumbs up. She was fine. The cuts were already healed.
Soon, they reached the bike. The sky had darkened with the smoke and now that there was no sunlight to warm her up, she was feeling a bit cold in her outfit. Still, she stayed quiet as he finished his call with a few hmms and ok's, rubbing her hands on her arms trying to make friction and warm her a little.
She looked at the place the explosion had happened, only now a big column of smoke hid whatever was going on from her sight. She smelled fire. They had to act fast.
He. Jason had to act fast. This wasn't a ghost fight and she was ill equipped anyway.
Something warm was dropped on her shoulders, instantly taking care of the chill.
Her smile was sincere when Jazz turned back to look at him, her hands gripping his jacket like a lifesaver. "How chivalrous."
"I've been dying to do that the whole afternoon."
Both chuckled at the pun for a second, but they had to keep moving. Jazz quickly sneaked her hands into the sleeves, securing the jacket around her - it smelled like him and somehow she knew she would need this once he was gone - and then put the helmet on her head.
The ride back to the apartment was tense, but quick; half because of the seriousness of the situation settling in as screaming and running civilians passed by then; half because Jason disregarded every speed limit with an expertise that spoke of years doing this.
Once at the building, the ride up the elevator was tense as well. They held hands the whole trip, but didn't say anything. Jazz was lowkey surprised that he hadn't parkoured up the firescape or something faster.
He left her at her door, not wasting time with pleasantries and kissing her softly on the lips as a goodbye.
She couldn't help it. She grabbed his shirt to pull him towards her, and hugged him tightly, trying not to think how this felt like a goodbye hug of the more permanent kind. It was silly. He had faced worse than this before. But it's been long since she last doubted her instincts.
"Be careful, okay?"
"Always am." He whispered, hugging her back just as hard. Did he have a bad feeling too?
With a last quick kiss, she opened her door and walked in, hearing him run towards his door. Soon, she heard him walk around the apartment, getting ready for the upcoming fight. Jazz wondered who it was this time.
Jason opened a window. She rushed towards her living room window, barely catching Red Hood grappling into the next building's roof and running into the sunset, back to where their date had been interrupted.
She sighed, walking back into her dark apartment and sitting down on a kitchen chair. She didn't even bother turning on the lights, she could see just fine.
Looking out of the window as the sun continued setting, Jazz wondered how long this would take or if there was a way for her to keep tabs of the fight. She didn't have a TV, so she couldn't watch the news-
But she had a phone. And Twitter. And Gothamites had one thing in common with Amityparkers: the need to document their experiences watching a fight.
Pulling out her phone, she quickly saw that the hashtags #Gotham and #Batman were trending in her area. Photos, videos and on-site accounts of what was happening started flooding her screen. She could later worry about the safety of these people, for now, she was going to play "Where's Waldo?" with the blurry photos, trying to check if her boyfriend was fine.
He was running.
And bleeding. Like. A lot.
But he had to keep moving, despite how much it hurt to keep moving.
He knew he was still conscious out of sheer spite, willpower and determination; because the amount of blood he had seen escape from his body was worryingly large.
Maybe he should have thought this through.
It's just-
He had to. You know?
Dying didn't scare him, it wasn't his first rodeo. This time around at least he wasn't going to die choking on his own blood and breathing smoke, feeling his body hurting everywhere from the burns.
This time, a fucking building collapsed on him and a beam pierced his leg and another hit his side, stabbing through some organs he was pretty sure he needed to stay alive. Of course he did some emergency patching, he had bandages in his belt for this same reason - but he had lost so much blood and the organs needed a surgery he couldn't get and he didn't have much time anyway-
He had to see her.
The world was getting darker by the time he climbed on her firescape, his arm barely having strength to knock on the glass.
He blinked and she was there. Still wearing her date clothes, sans the jacket.
Beautiful.
He had to say it.
He didn't want to die without saying it, without her knowing it.
I love you. He tried to speak, but his tongue felt heavy. I love you, he tried again, watching her eyes sparkle with tears. Did she understand his words? He hoped she did, because he didn't have it in him to try saying it again.
The dark edges of his vision grew, overtaking his world, her worried face. She was saying something, but he didn't hear.
Everything went black.
