Dick was concerned. His little brother had just spent the last three days with a heart rate above 130 bpm constantly. To further exacerbate issues, it seemed like no one could figure out what triggered him everytime he woke up and took in his surroundings. Hell, they had even asked Cass what she thought he kept seeing when he looked at them. Her response of "fear" was far from helpful, but the look on her face indicated she was just as in the dark as the rest of them.
One good thing out of this whole mess was seeing Rose's softer and human side. The first day she had all but marched in, had the team were concerned that they were going to have to run protection on Bruce. An unappealing idea at the moment to everyone but possibly Damian. But within seconds of her entering the room Jason's heart rate increased again as he looked between Dick, Cass, Rose, and Barbara. It then skyrocketed to a height they didn't know was possible, even with the Lazarus Pit. After that, Jason was sedated and Rose hadn't left his side. No one seemed to notice her doing anything with him. Just sitting in the room, watching TV or reading a book. (Duke was the only one in the group to notice it was Pride and Prejudice and kept that to himself).
Even in his sleep, they couldn't get his heart rate down after that. It was stressful to say the least and Tim's cure couldn't come soon enough. Just a few moments ago Tim had left Jason alone with Rose in the machine room and Dick was beside himself in concern. Five minutes turned to ten and then to fifteen. Suddenly the door opened slightly and Rose poked her head out. Across the room on the couch, Cass had stilled and stiffened with eyes blown wide. Beside her, Steph immediately noticed her best friend's reaction and turned to see what Cass was seeing. Noticing Rose standing against the door looking over toward Dick. Her face was tear stained and her eye was so red you could see it across the room. Steph's jaw fell open. She was aware of Rose's reputation and knew that short of cutting her arm off, she'd never cry in front of them.
"Can we have five of the tablets you have?" Rose asked as if she didn't look like someone ran over her puppy with a lawnmower. Dick's brain reengaged shortly after that.
"Um… ya no problem. But are you ok? Did something happen?" Dick rambled out only to have his brain go back on vacation when Rose, Rose Wilson, smiled a smile so radiant and happy that Dick was concerned Clayface had upped his acting game.
"Everything is fine, we just need to hash out a few things." Rose answered as she grabbed an extra office chair next to the door and pushed it into the room.
Barbara walked by Dick with a stack of the requested tablets. Her face seemingly calm. Dick knew her better though and saw the completely lost expression buried under that serene facade. "Thank you. You all should probably relax, sleep, or do something. He won't leave without checking in. I, however, will probably leave after we get this hashed out." Rose spoke as she took the tablets and closed the door.
Steph lasted all of two micro seconds before spinning on Cass and blurting out, "What was that! I've never heard of her being emotional in front of anyone. What did Jay do?!"
Cass, ever the silent and thoughtful one glanced, down for a few seconds. Her eyes shifting left and right quickly as if reading a book. Her mind seeing the conclusion based off Rose's body language, but struggling to connect the dots to prove out that ending. She knew her brother hid things from the family. Hell, he practically made a sport of it. The amount of times he'd show up in the cave, manage to never answer any of their questions and/or have completed a case that the rest of the family just found out about was staggering. It was down this hole that Cass realized, no one in their family knew any more about him than what they had discovered through their own investigation (stalking) or third-party accounts (Kori when Dick visited the Titans).
"Need to see Jason." Is all Cass said when she finally looked up from her review of the minimal evidence.
"Is it bad? Did he hurt her?" Steph asked with trepidation. She and Jason had really started getting along in the recent years and if she were being honest, he was the big brother she wished she had. Dick was great as a brother and could always comfort her with a hug and a few well meaning words. Jason, was the exact opposite of everything Dick is. He would tell you the truth, no matter if it hurt. He'd tell you exactly how you screwed up and where you probably should have noticed the screw-up. As harsh as it seemed to be so blunt, he would immediately offer solutions, be a willing ear and shoulder to cry on, or offer to take care of it for them. He'd take shots meant for her and the other Robins on patrol because he saw them as kids no matter how close they may be in age. He would grumble about bleeding out on his couch or showing up unannounced, and immediately start stitching them up, preparing a meal, and readying the guest room because, "Blondie, I don't sleep much normally. I definitely won't if I know I sent you out with twelve stitches to run across rooftops."
Jason was a surly, temperamental bastard. But if it came down to throwing himself on the line so she and the "kids" could see tomorrow his only question was where and how to make sure he survived to do it again. She may not know what Jason and Rose's relationship was, but she knew he'd never hit or belittle a woman. Jason was extremely thoughtful, polite, and respectful when it came to women around him. He also saw his father's interactions with his mother and vowed to never live in a world where he became his father. Stephanie wouldn't want to live in that world either. Jason saw her for her and helped her improve when everyone else just criticized without offering help. His training had pushed her leaps and bounds ahead of what Batman's had. He had the worst life out of all the family besides Cass and maybe Damian. Yet he still worked to better the world around him. It may be mostly out of spite for the world at large, but it's hard to not cheer for him everytime he gets knocked down only to come up swinging.
Cass's head snapped to Steph unnaturally fast. Her eyes searing a hole into her head. Cass's expression conveying the disgust and disappointment that Steph would even entertain the idea of Jason hurting Rose, "He'd never hurt her." Cass answered with complete certainty. She may not have all the facts, but she knew THAT without question. Steph looked down toward the floor, hating herself for getting caught up in the moment and blurting out any sort of question of him hurting her after having been around Jason for more than a few years now.
"Is it bad?" She repeated the first part of her question more quietly and lowley.
Cass had lessened her stare and answered, "Depends". Which had Dick and Barbara staring at the two of them wondering, much like Steph, what that meant. Cass noticed the stares and decided to clarify, "Depends on Jason and depends on how you feel about Rose."
"Well I don't mind Jason, but I haven't talked with Rose yet." Answered Duke as he rounded the corner into the main living space with Damian in tow. He had just caught the tail end of the conversation but was curious as to what had happened to prompt any sort of discussion of Rose and Jason.
"How has Todd disgraced his and our names now? He has only been awake for twenty minutes." Damian ground out beside Duke. Tim brought up the rear of the group as he had left to make sure Duke and Damian would be present for when Jason made his appearance.
Cass's eyes swivelled to Damian and regained the glare she had sent at Steph earlier. "You will be polite to her." Damian merely raised an eyebrow in response.
"Rose had asked for five tablets, but she looked like someone just shot her puppy and then threw it into a wood chipper. The strange part was she was smiling like….. I've never seen her smile like that." Dick responded, with the last part trailing off like he had stumbled his way onto a path for the answer.
Damian, being nonplussed by these events simply stated, "So, she's had a mental break. Dealing with Todd can lead to these things."
"Damian!" Dick, Cass, Steph, Barbara, and Tim all shouted in unison. Duke was too lost in thought to even entertain the idea of listening to the conversation at this point. He and Jason had a pretty good relationship. Jason appreciated that Duke saw vigilante work as a job and worked in the safer daylight hours. But as Duke thought back he noticed that Jason seemed to have mellowed out over the course of the previous year. Duke had originally thought it was because of Roy Harper's death, and was a symptom of possible depression. He had told Bruce what he thought and immediately learned that lesson of never telling Bruce anything about Jason… ever. Even more so in light of recent events.
Duke had tuned back into the conversation to catch the closing remarks of Damian and Dick's argument. "Todd is at the best of times unstable and unpredictable. While father's method of rectifying this issue was…. immoral. It had to be done." Damian spouted.
Duke could feel the temperature of the room drop. He didn't even know how they had gotten to this point, but that was just… wow. "I am so disappointed in you." Dick responded, the disgust evident on his face.
Duke took a quick glance around the room and saw that Barbara had retreated to the computer again and Cass was standing with a look of…. maybe he should move in the next twenty seconds. Steph was also standing now and had her hands on Cass's shoulders in a placating manner, while shooting glares of her own at Damian.
"I think you need to go cool down and think about what you just said." Tim said as he grabbed Damian's left arm and dragged him away from the common room. Cass sat back down, eyes boring a hole in the wall where Damian just was.
Duke walked over toward the couch, grabbing Steph's shoulder on the way across. "Why don't you take Dick and help Babs with whatever she's working on or go and get some coffee and food for everyone? I think we need a breather." Steph nodded in response and headed off toward the duo. A plan forming to extort some free food from the couple. But not before sharing a mournful glance with Cass that was met with hardened steel and disappointment. Duke crouched in front of Cass, a smirk on his face that confused Cass as there wasn't anything funny going on at the moment.
"I knew the favorite had a favorite. I just didn't think it would be Jason." Duke answered the unspoken question. Cass blinked and then a smile started to form on her lips.
"Not about favorite. About…" Cass paused trying to find the right word. "Rose was happy. Like…." Cass continued but was cut off by Duke, understanding that metaphors weren't easy to Cass.
"Like someone just promised the world to her for the first time in her life?" Cass went wide eyed again and shook her head yes. "I think she and Jason just got very serious." Duke said with a small smile on his face. Cass cocked her head to the side at him in silent question. "It means that their relationship just went from either friends to dating, dating to committed, or committed to marriage." Duke answered, his own mind trying to draw on the minimal facts he had to form a picture.
It was at this moment that the door opened again and Rose was seen giving a bright smile back into the room by Cass and Duke. By the time she turned and realized she had an audience, the smile had collapsed into her usual smirk. Rose started toward the hallway Duke had just come from, throwing a wave over her shoulder, "I'll see you all later, I have some work to get started on."
"Rose!" Dick had called from across the room. Rose paused and glanced back at Dick who was finishing throwing on a jacket. Duke predicted food in his immediate future. "Please don't go after Batman. We will handle it." Dick requested, a pleading look in his eyes.
"Of course not Dick. That will be entirely your team's problem." Rose responded as she continued her path out of the room.
Before Rose had reached the hall, a hand had reached out and gripped her right wrist. Rose immediately tensed as her eye snapped to Shiva's daughter on the couch. "Thank you, and I'm happy for you both." Cass supplied with the most sincere look on her face.
Rose leaned down so they had privacy. "You don't have to thank me. He and I take care of each other…. We always will." Rose said as she stood back up and made her way down the hallway.
A few minutes later Jason stepped out of the room. A bundle of four tablets held under his left arm and the fifth out in front him as he re-read a document. Snapping his head up, he surveyed the room as he made is way over to the meeting table. "Blondie and Dick, could you go and get some coffee and food. We have some discussions we need to have, documents to sign, and logistics to iron out." Jason spoke as he laid the tablets on the table and turned to the clock on the wall. "Let's meet at 10:00. Its about an hour from now and will let you two get some donuts before they run out for the day. I'm going to shower and change. Tell the rest of the horde the plan." Jason called over his shoulder as he stalked out of the common room.
The rest of the room barely processed what he said. They have never, in all their years of knowing him, seen him that relaxed. With small little smirk that might as well have been a maniac grin.