Fic: Confrontation, Atonement, and Absolution | DCU | Dick/Jason/Tim | NC-17 | 3/3
Title: Confrontation, Atonement, and Absolution - Part 3
Fandom: DCU
Pairing: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Tim Drake
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 4,967
Prompt: For 50_darkfics - #007: Awakening, For dcu_freeforall - T11; P01: Redemption, and for the DCU Free For All Spring Challenge - T13; P23: Where are my pants?
Summary: Post TT #47. Dick and Tim realize they made a mistake when they attacked Jay, and find a way to start making it up to him. This section: Jay takes his retribution a little too far.
Warning: Borders on non-con, including rough sex
Disclaimer: DC and WB own it all. I own nothing. Darnit.
Author's Note: Originally written for greeneyelove's Starter Sentence Challenge. Sorry it took me so many months to get back to this! And man, this section got long! The porny stuff was supposed to include Tim in a much bigger way, but my Jason muse demanded a different direction, so... here we are. Also! The entire fic ignores Amazons Attack. And no, this is the last part. I don't think I could possibly write this over Countdown. O_o Though, there *will* be plenty more on the horizon for these three. ^_~ I've got a Free For All challenge to finish!
Part 1 | Part 2
Confrontation, Atonement, and Absolution - Part 3
There was absolutely no doubt on the way back out of the bathroom that the tables had turned, with both Dick and Tim on the receiving end of hard shoves, possessive kisses, and rough gropes. Once Jason got his second wind, and the three of them properly cleaned and dried off from the shower, it was all about the hunt. The strike. The kill. He owed Dick big time for the way things had gone before, for assuming the worst about him. And he was gonna get his due, see his brother beg for mercy.
His apartment, it seemed, had other plans, and it was with a barely contained snarl that he shoved all his crap out of the way when they reached the bed, bottles and old Playboys scattering, mess adding to mess on the floor until only the threadbare sheets and stained comforter were left. Lucky for him that Timmy didn't seem too put out. Or rather, it would save Jay the trouble of putting the kid in his place again.
As it was, he wasn't at all sure he'd be up for a third round when he got through with Dickie, he was still so rubber-kneed from Tim's work in the shower. Damn, but the kid was good.
And Dick... Dick seemed entirely too pliant beneath Jay's hands when he slammed him to the bed, mattress springs creaking their protest. “You aren't supposed to enjoy this,” Jay spat as he climbed onto the bed, straddling his older brother and pinning his shoulders.
“Does it really matter?” Dick breathed beneath him, reaching for Tim when he was flung to the bed by an arm.
“Hmph, not really.” And with that, he was on him. Pressed close with a hand moving up to grasp and pull raven hair, wet lips on the hot skin of Dick's throat, so gorgeously exposed, just for him. A tonguing kiss became a persistent suckle, tasting, tasting the sweet musk of sunshine and shadows, until Jay couldn't hold back. Sinking his teeth into the soft flesh, he pulled a slow moan out of his brother, was rewarded with a writhing squirm. He bit harder, digging short nails into one shoulder before moving down to bite at the crook of Dick's neck, lapping at the hollow above his collar bone.
Goddamn, the way Dick tasted! Jason wasn't sure what he'd expected, but this! The essence of Dick seemed to jolt straight to his groin, hardening him quickly and sparking down to curl his toes again.
Beside them, propped on an elbow, Tim seemed content to wait, observe, analyze, Dick's arm around his waist as the youngest trailed fingertips down his side. Freaky little bird. But whatever. Jay felt the intense heat of the kid's eyes on him as he bit and sucked his way down Dick's chest, hands finding good places to grip and bruise. He hoped Tim was getting a good show and cataloguing it all as reasons to never piss off Red Hood.
Dick moaned a little harder when Jay found a nipple, twirled his tongue around it, and bit hard. So his brother was enjoying it, who was Jason to argue?
But Jay had had enough of all this foreplay.
Deliberately ignoring Dick's cock, the middle brother rose up and shoved a knee in between his legs, forcing them apart with a twist. From there, it was all nails and hard squeezes as he dug into the elder Bat's thighs, spreading them wider. A bite above a hipbone, a lick in the bowl of the same hip, and a hand found its way beneath his brother's sac, fingertips pressing along his peritoneum, easing back.
The intermittent whimpering and keening from Dick's throat and the slight jerks of his hips told Jason all he needed to know. “Oh, you're gettin' it, Golden Boy,” he smirked wickedly, licking a hip again and glaring up toward the eldest with fire and retribution in his eyes. Dick's involuntary shiver and his returned gaze from beneath wet hair made Jay's cock twitch with anticipation.
But just as Jason opened his mouth to slick his fingers, another hand appeared in front of his face, fingers curled around a tiny bottle. He glanced up to catch Tim's disapproving look, and snatched the bottle of lube with a grunt and a scowl, coating his fingers and cock liberally. It was only when he tossed it aside that the same hand appeared with a foil-wrapped package.
“Christ, kid, where are you hiding this shit?” he grumbled in complaint at the little bird's seeming ninja skills as he snatched and tore open the foil.
“Hm. Just prepared, that's all,” Tim retorted with narrowed eyes.
Dick grabbed Jay's biceps at the exchange, squeezing tight and raking nails down pale skin. “We're not stupid, Jay Bird. Now are you gonna fuck me, or just snark all night?”
Jason's feral snarl was his only response as he finished rolling on the condom, then went straight for his target, spreading Dick's legs wide. Dick shivered again and groaned deeply as the middle brother's fingers probed him roughly. One fingertip slid in, shoving hard and drawing out a sharp cry. A second, and Jay twisted his hand, pushing his fingers apart, stretching.
Looming over him, then, Jason added a third, and Dick keened, wide eyed, burying his own hands in Jay's hair and gripping hard.
“Gonna fuck you so hard, Dickie, you won't be able to walk for hours,” Jay promised hoarsely, leaned in close to Dick's ear as he propped himself up on an elbow.
Dick looked up at him, mouth agape, and breathed, “Then do it.”
“With pleasure,” Jay growled, tearing his fingers out and replacing them with his cock. A single hard thrust, and he was buried up to his hips in heat, spitting curses as he was overwhelmed with sensation.
Rocking his hips to meet Jason's thrusts as he started to move faster, Dick pulled him down for a hard kiss, whimpering into his brother's mouth when Jay's tongue invaded him. God, but he hadn't been fucked in... too long. And... shit, Jay was good... “Jason...” he moaned as Jay pulled back from the kiss, his hands leaving his brother's hair and raking down his chest and over hard nipples.
“Shit,” Jay spat, grimacing. “Fuck. Fuck you. Dammit,” the steady string of curses continued. “Fuck you till you can't move. Bastard.”
“So... so sorry,” Dick panted at that, sliding his hands around and up Jason's back, holding on for dear life even as he wrapped his legs around Jay's waist and locked his ankles behind him. “So sorry, Jay Bird... Please - aaahh!!” he cut himself off at a hard thrust.
Letting his fury over their fight - the accusations, the hatred, the bitterness of all those intervening years - fuel him, Jay pushed harder, deeper, slamming into Dick with no remorse, cursing all the while and ignoring Dick's pleas and apologies. Golden Boy... damn you... “Fffffuuuccckkk!!” he hissed as all that venom began to coalesce in his belly, sparking up his spine and driving him harder. He wanted... wanted Dick to feel it in his teeth... wipe that smile off his face for good... hurt him like Dick had hurt Jason, like Bruce had hurt him, like Tim had hurt him... like the whole motherfucking world had hurt him... “Fucking bastards...” he ground out, still slamming into his older brother.
“Jason...” Dick managed again, whimpering his name as he took every single jarring thrust, every neuron in his body on fire when Jay crashed into his prostate again and again. “Christ... Jason... so... sorry...” And his vision began to swim with sparkles, white, his breath suddenly lost to him. “Jay...” he sucked in, eyes rolling back in his head as his body shuddered, orgasm roaring through him like a tsunami, his cock never even touched.
Jay didn't even slow down when Dick came all over them, shooting hot and sticky across their bellies. Instead he pushed even harder, growling his rage as it coiled once again, tightening, tensing. He wasn't even aware that Dick's breathless babbling had become pitiful pleading cries, his world narrowed down to every hurt, every betrayal, every jealousy, as it all collapsed into what felt like a black hole, consuming him, filling him, bursting...
And for a moment, there was nothing but pure darkness, everything blackened out. No sight, no sound, no breath, no motion.
But the sound of his own scream caught him and pulled him back, and he was thrusting against the pulses as he filled the condom, crashing into Dick, still hard, not stopping.
Dick...
An arm shot across his chest, trying to pull him back, Tim's voice tight in his ear. “Jason, stop! Stop, already!”
But he couldn't, he wouldn't, as the last shudders swept through him, the last of his rage spilling out, hard, merciless. He held fast.
“Please... little brother... unnhh! Jason!” Dick cried out, his face screwed up in pain.
Pain.
With a sharp exhalation, Jason froze, eyes suddenly wide as the remnants of his arousal fled like the shadows before the sun. Panting shakily, he caught the elder Bat's gaze, eyes the deepest blue beneath knitted brows. He didn't know what to say, had no words.
He'd wanted to hurt him. Wanted his revenge.
But...
The realization struck him harder than a crowbar ever had.
Not like this. Not like this!
The arm across his chest tugged on him, another hand firm and warm on his shoulder. “Jay, let him go. Please!”
“Fuck...” he finally breathed. “Dick... I...” But he still didn't know what to say, what to do. All he could do was stare as he struggled to catch his breath, realizing he'd dug his nails into Dick's shoulders, tiny smears of blood around his fingertips.
The look on his brother's face, pain and... sorrow... “Shit,” Jay muttered.
Easing back and out, he winced at Dick's pained grimace, and slowly, carefully released his shoulders, Tim still holding him gently.
Dick hissed with the shock of it, despite the care of the motion. He wasn't even sure when it had all gone to hell, himself, but somehow pleasure had become searing pain without warning. Pressure had become the burning tear of flesh.
The bittersweet musk of sex and the sharp, metallic tang of blood filled all their nostrils.
Collapsing back on his knees, Jason held his hands out in front of him, acknowledging neither brother as Tim moved to pull a first aid kit from his utility belt. Blood. Blood. He'd... he'd hurt Dick. A lot. He'd...
The image of his hands after fighting his way out of his own coffin flashed over his mind's eye briefly. But... he dropped his gaze, unable to look at his hands anymore, and...
There was... blood... on the condom.
“Fffuuuuck,” he growled, the sound becoming an incomprehensible wail the longer he looked at the blood. “No... Nonononononono!!” he screamed, shutting his eyes against the consequences of his retribution. Balling his hands into tight fists, he dug the heels of his palms into his eyes and started to scramble backwards off the bed. He stumbled back through the piles of garbage, anything to get away from what he'd done. Anything to...
When he hit the kitchen island, he collapsed against it and slid to the floor, finally unable to stop the sobs that were choking off his air. Unable to deny the horrible knowledge of what he'd done. Fighting Dick... he'd never hurt him like this. He'd never hurt anyone like this...
Dammit! Dammit!! This isn't what I wanted!! “Shit... I... I'm sorry, Dick...” he wailed between sobs, for a moment simply unable to control himself as his shock racked through him. He'd... never, never wanted to hurt Dick like that. Didn't know how he'd lost control so easily. All the years of pent-up anger... resentment... hatred... “Swear I didn't... mean to...”
He was still shaking with his sobs and pressing his hands into his eyes when he felt two pairs of arms wrap around him gently. “Jason, look at me,” Dick said from Jay's right, voice uneven, but trying. “Please.”
Slowly catching his breath, the middle brother pulled his hands away and opened his eyes.
Dick caught Jay's chin and turned his face towards his own. “I'm all right.”
“No, you're not,” Jason insisted quietly, still breathing deeply and swallowing around the painful knot in his throat.
A sigh. “Okay, so maybe I'm not. But I will be. And...” He dropped his own gaze. “I deserved it.”
“Like hell!” Jay cried at that. “You-”
Tim's grip around his chest and shoulders tightened. “Enough! Both of you!”
Dick and Jason could only stare at him for his sudden boldness.
“Just. Stop.” His voice began to shake, barely. “Can't we all just... call it even? No more blame? No more hurting each other? No more fighting? I mean, that's what we came here for, isn't it? To make things right? None of us deserved any of this. Not from each other, and sure as hell not from Bruce or the Joker. We don't have to keep going around in circles over it.” Reaching up, he stroked the side of Jay's face gently. “Please.”
“I...” Jay started, eyes wide. His chest ached and he wanted to turn away from them, hide, never be able to hurt them again. But... they came here for him. There was no blame in their eyes, no more accusation. Another sob ripped from his throat, then, “I... yeah. I can do that... if...” he shot a glance at Dick, “if you can... both forgive me.”
A ghost of a smile moved over Dick's face as he gripped his brother around the waist and laid a palm over his chest. “Forgiven, Jay Bird.”
Tim pulled close and nuzzled into Jay's neck. “Gladly.”
Exhausted, Jason let himself be held by the two men he realized he'd already more than forgiven in return.
* * * * *
Dawn. Dawn was filtering in around the edges of the sheets come curtains, and Tim would have buried his head beneath the pillow to shut out the gray early morning light if he wasn't wired through his exhaustion. He might even have been able to sleep through the day and on into the next night if so much hadn't happened, but as it was, once he got Dick and Jason cleaned up and had found a spare set of sheets to throw on the bed, he hadn't been able to get to sleep at all, curled as he was around Jay's left side, Dick opposite him. While the two former Robins had slept off their injuries, Tim had watched them, watched them breathe the deep, even breaths of hard sleep. Watched them cling to each other through nightmares, had clung to Jay, himself, and soothed them both through the worst of it.
He wondered again if his own nightmares could have compared to either of theirs if he'd slept. Despite the last year and a half, he doubted it. They'd been through so much more...
He really didn't know how any of them had managed to make it this far, really, fighting all the forces that kept trying to keep them apart, tear them down. They were all only human, after all, and... He'd meant what he said to them. No more blame. They were Robins, dammit. Nothing should keep them apart, he wouldn't let it.
With the events of the early morning looping through his head, displacing the replay of the fight days before, he wondered what must have happened to Jason to make him snap so thoroughly after hurting Dick that way. It was like... like he'd shattered. Like all that bravado he'd been using as a shield had simply crumbled, torn down like so much cardboard.
It was unnerving. But... Tim knew it was at least honest. Whatever had happened in Jay's mind to make him lose it like that, the result had changed things between them all. He didn't know where they would go from here, but it would be infinitely better than it could have been...
His mind still whirling, Tim pressed a light kiss to Jay's temple and slipped out of the bed to make his way to the kitchen, praying Jason was smart enough to have coffee on hand.
* * * * *
Dick awoke with the sun hitting him squarely on the face. Blinking, he saw that the sheets had been drawn back just a little to let in the light, and the sun was high in the sky already. Ten AM, at least, he realized, and there was no sign of the storm from the previous night.
Jay was still next to him, so far gone that his jaw was hanging open and he was drooling on the pillow, snoring lightly as he lay on his belly. Still smokes, Dick noted grimly, tightening an arm around his brother. But it wasn't like the place didn't reek of it; it wasn't news.
Looking past Jay, he saw that Tim was... not in the bed.
A little groggy yet, Dick finally became aware that the youngest was not only already dressed in civvies, but was also moving swiftly and quietly through the room, collecting garbage from the floor into separate bags. There were already three sat next to the door to go out. “Little wing?” he whispered, catching his attention.
Robin looked up from where he was depositing a bottle with other recyclables, and set down his work to sweep over to the bed, a finger to his lips. “Didn't want to wake you guys,” he started, voice so low that Dick almost couldn't hear him. “I went over to your place and picked up some clean clothes and spare uniforms for us both. Grabbed some breakfast items, and a whole lot of cleaning products, too. If you want, there's a fresh pot of coffee on. Oh, and I threw some of Jay's laundry in the wash downstairs. Laundry room's filthy, but at least the machines work.”
Dick nodded silently, marveling at his little brother's tenacity, then slipped out of the bed to get dressed. “Did you get any sleep?” he asked as Tim handed him the duffel with his clothes in it.
“No. I'll sleep tonight, after we follow up on Duela's murder,” he answered, adding at Dick's sideways look, “I already talked to Bruce and Cassie, both. Got the next two days off from regular duty. No worries.”
Shaking his head, Dick slipped on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and was about to head toward the bathroom when he heard from the bed, “The hell? Are you trying to clean my apartment, you freaky little Bat?”
* * * * *
No way Jay could have slept through it. Tim must have been working like the little ninja Jay suspected him of being, up until Dick woke up. All that whispering felt like an elephant trampling through his head.
Not that he was hungover, he'd only had the one beer, but still... He couldn't fathom why his curtains had been pulled; the late morning sun was painful. But the smell of coffee took care of that for the most part.
Realizing he could see his own floor again had woken him the rest of the way, and he couldn't resist asking, startling his brothers from their little pow wow.
Two sets of blue eyes stared back at him for a moment, before Tim answered, “That's the general idea, yes,” moving back to sit on the bed. “Sorry to wake you.”
“Hmph,” Jay grumbled in return.
Dick moved around the other side and bounced as he sat down, Jay rubbing the last of the sleep from his eyes and pushing with one hand to sit up. “You sleep okay?” The eldest ran a tentative hand over Jason's hair, smoothing it back from his forehead, before the middle brother brushed it away, shaking his head.
“Yeah. Why are you guys still here?” he asked, blinking at them both. No point in them staying, he reasoned.
Tim caught his bare shoulder with long, slender fingers and squeezed gently. “Why wouldn't we?”
Jason stared at him for a moment, sure he was reading everything wrong, before Dick caught his attention with a hand on his leg. “We weren't just going to leave you after everything last night.”
“This morning,” Tim corrected.
“This morning,” Dick nodded with a quirk of a smile. “You weren't in any shape to be left alone.”
Jay turned his focus inward, letting his gaze fall to the comforter and the hand resting warmly on his thigh. “Why do you care? Either of you. After what I did?” The admission and the fear tasted bitter and foreign on his tongue. He wasn't used to... admitting it. Wasn't used to them seeing past the hood and the mask.
Robin's hand slid up to trace Jay's jaw. “Didn't anything I said last night sink in? You're one of us, Jay. We're not gonna let anything else get in the way of that.”
A heavy sigh as Jason scrubbed a hand through his hair. “All right,” he conceded, then looked up at his brothers. “Where the fuck are my pants?”
* * * * *
By the time the sun had mostly disappeared from the tall windows to take its place high above, the trio were all cleaned up, dressed, and mostly caffeinated. Tim was glad he'd bought the twelve-count box of pastries from that place just north if Dick's, because they were already almost gone - devoured by three hungry Bats who still couldn't seem to make proper eye contact. At least they'd managed to break down a few walls, as the conversation over the kitchen island counter turned to Tim's cleaning of Jason's apartment.
“You don't have to live like this,” the youngest urged his quite resistant older brother, trying again to catch his eyes as Jay stuffed the last of an apple fritter into his mouth.
Grumbling around the pastry, Jason shook his head. After he swallowed dramatically, he turned his gaze up and into a patented Bat glare. “It's my place. I can live how I want to.”
“Nobody's saying you can't, Jay Bird,” Dick added. “Just that... you can do better than this. You don't have to have rats rooting around in your garbage.”
Shooting the eldest a look, Jason remembered his thoughts from the night before. This was his scum and rats and filth. But... he couldn't begrudge Dick his point. He might not have an Alfred to take care of things, but that didn't mean he had to let the city's scum become his own. Right?
It was a harrowing thought, that left him gazing inward again. His whole world felt upended, and he began to wonder if he'd wake up from this freaky dream.
“Why don't you come out on patrol with me tonight, Jay?” Dick asked, seemingly out of the blue.
Tim and Jason seemed almost equally shocked, Jay pulling out of his reverie with a jerk. “Say what?”
“Patrol,” Dick repeated, his eyes boring into Jay's when the middle brother finally admitted the contact. “Tonight. You and me. Like... like you wanted. Remember?”
The memory - still so damn fresh that Jason wondered what had changed in only a few months to take him from mostly crazed to half-way normal - hurt like hell. The things he'd done in Dick's name, all only to get closer to his brother - as he understood it now - were unforgivable...
“You...” But really, he didn't know how to respond. Trust like Dick was showing him... never came easy, or without a cost. Shaking his head in disbelief, he reached for a pack of cigarettes on the counter. “I need some fresh air,” he blurted out, before whirling and heading out to the fire escape.
As soon as he was out the window, Dick leaned on the counter heavily, head in his hands. “What the hell are we doing, Tim?”
The youngest only shook his head. “You're asking me? All I know is that we have to fix this. The way Bruce shut all his friends out after the thing with Zatanna? Not happening here. We can't let it.”
A sigh. “I hear ya'. Just... let me go talk to him for a minute.”
* * * * *
Leaning on the rickety metal railing, Jay sucked in as much nicotine as he could get, starting to feel like Alice in Wonderland. Maybe the smoke would clear out his hallucinations. 'Cuz, patrol with Dick? Helping them on a murder investigation, when less than twenty-four hours ago, he was the prime suspect? Not having the shit kicked out of him for last night? What the hell? None of it made any sense.
But...
He couldn't deny that it was a good change. Even with what he'd done. And he would hate himself for a long time over that, remembering damn well what he'd let happen to that rapist, all those years ago. Bastards like that didn't deserve to live.
Caught up in his self-loathing, he didn't hear the window open behind him until one of his brothers stepped out onto the fire escape with him. Turning, he found Dick sliding up behind him, laying a hand on his back.
Jay tried not to tense at the touch. The hell is is with them being all touchy-feely, anyway? Not that he was complaining, it was just... odd, unfamiliar, and would take a while to get used to, assuming...
“You okay?” Dick asked, his hair getting tousled by the light breeze.
“Me?” Jay shook his head in disbelief, flicking his ashes into the alley. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. Jay...” the elder brother clenched his jaw for a moment. “You freaked out pretty hard last night. We're worried about you.”
Relaxing into the touch at that, Jason took another drag off his cigarette, then flicked the ashes again, nervously. “I really don't get it,” he admitted. “A few days ago, I was enemy number one, now...” A sigh. “Now I'm waking up in bed with you guys and wondering-”
At the pause, Dick prompted, “Wondering what?”
Jay looked at him with haunted eyes. “Wondering how the fuck you could be all right with me practically raping you,” he snapped.
“What-? No! Jay! You didn't do anything of the sort. Is that why you-? Shit!” Shaking his head hard, Dick pulled his brother into a hard hug, Jay losing the cigarette into the alley below. “That is not what happened, Jason,” he insisted.
Shame bit hard through Jay's gut as he reluctantly gave himself over to the hug, fighting the sting of tears that tried to well up in his eyes. “I didn't mean to...”
“Shh, already!” Dick scolded him. “You didn't do anything wrong, okay? I'm fine,” he insisted.
After a long moment, the two of them just holding on, Dick drew back. “Now, you gonna help us find Duela's killer or not?”
“I... yeah,” Jay breathed, nodding.
“And patrol?”
Jason still couldn't quite believe it, but... “Yeah.”
Dick's grin was a damn good match for the summer sunshine. “All right then.” Carding a hand through his brother's hair, he leaned back in for a firm kiss, then grinned again. “Let's go show 'em what real teamwork looks like.”
* * * * *
Tim looked up from cleaning the kitchen when Dick and Jason climbed back in the window and locked it behind them. The pair seemed a lot more relaxed than they had before, and he couldn't help but wonder what had been said to make such a change.
But then Jay came around the kitchen island, looking a bit predatory, and Tim found himself backing up instinctively, thinking maybe the change wasn't as good as he'd hoped. Pinned against the refrigerator with Jason's hands on either side of him, the youngest eyed his brother. “If you want me to stop cleaning, I will,” he tried, pressing lightly against Jay's chest with his palms. “No need to-”
“No,” Jason whispered, cutting him off. “You... you're right.” He looked like he had a bad taste in his mouth. “And I'm... sorry about last night.”
“You already apologized for that.”
Shaking his head, Jay blinked hard. “No, I mean... I wasn't exactly fair to you. After... what you did for me.”
A slow smirk spread over Tim's face as he remembered the feel of Jason, pliant beneath his hands and wordlessly voicing his pleasure, the taste of him in his mouth. “You can always make it up to me later.”
Jay barked out a laugh. “You are one freaky kid, you know that?”
Tim's hands snaked around his brother's waist as he pressed forward to hug him. “I'm not even three years younger than you, so the 'kid' argument is moot.”
“You're not arguing the 'freaky' part, though.”
They both laughed at that, while behind them, Dick's cell phone chirped insistently. Turning back to see him pull the phone out of his pocket and flip it open, they couldn't help but chuckle at his greeting. “City morgue, you whack 'em, we stack 'em!”
But the grin fell from Dick's face in a heartbeat. Something was wrong.
“What? Shit... All right. Yeah. We'll be there in thirty minutes. Huh? Yeah, we've got Jason... No, no, it's all good now... Okay. See you soon. Bye.”
Tim felt a cold shiver run down his spine as Dick flipped his phone closed. “What happened?”
“That was Donna. She was attacked. Her description of the guy matched yours, Jay. She said he was a Monitor.”
“The hell?” Jay gaped.
Dick shook his head. “We'll figure it out once we hook up with Donna.”
Grabbing his helmet and jacket from the counter, Jay was a blur of motion. “Come on, we've got a fucking killer to catch.”
* * * * *
Fandom: DCU
Pairing: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Tim Drake
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 4,967
Prompt: For 50_darkfics - #007: Awakening, For dcu_freeforall - T11; P01: Redemption, and for the DCU Free For All Spring Challenge - T13; P23: Where are my pants?
Summary: Post TT #47. Dick and Tim realize they made a mistake when they attacked Jay, and find a way to start making it up to him. This section: Jay takes his retribution a little too far.
Warning: Borders on non-con, including rough sex
Disclaimer: DC and WB own it all. I own nothing. Darnit.
Author's Note: Originally written for greeneyelove's Starter Sentence Challenge. Sorry it took me so many months to get back to this! And man, this section got long! The porny stuff was supposed to include Tim in a much bigger way, but my Jason muse demanded a different direction, so... here we are. Also! The entire fic ignores Amazons Attack. And no, this is the last part. I don't think I could possibly write this over Countdown. O_o Though, there *will* be plenty more on the horizon for these three. ^_~ I've got a Free For All challenge to finish!
Part 1 | Part 2
Confrontation, Atonement, and Absolution - Part 3
There was absolutely no doubt on the way back out of the bathroom that the tables had turned, with both Dick and Tim on the receiving end of hard shoves, possessive kisses, and rough gropes. Once Jason got his second wind, and the three of them properly cleaned and dried off from the shower, it was all about the hunt. The strike. The kill. He owed Dick big time for the way things had gone before, for assuming the worst about him. And he was gonna get his due, see his brother beg for mercy.
His apartment, it seemed, had other plans, and it was with a barely contained snarl that he shoved all his crap out of the way when they reached the bed, bottles and old Playboys scattering, mess adding to mess on the floor until only the threadbare sheets and stained comforter were left. Lucky for him that Timmy didn't seem too put out. Or rather, it would save Jay the trouble of putting the kid in his place again.
As it was, he wasn't at all sure he'd be up for a third round when he got through with Dickie, he was still so rubber-kneed from Tim's work in the shower. Damn, but the kid was good.
And Dick... Dick seemed entirely too pliant beneath Jay's hands when he slammed him to the bed, mattress springs creaking their protest. “You aren't supposed to enjoy this,” Jay spat as he climbed onto the bed, straddling his older brother and pinning his shoulders.
“Does it really matter?” Dick breathed beneath him, reaching for Tim when he was flung to the bed by an arm.
“Hmph, not really.” And with that, he was on him. Pressed close with a hand moving up to grasp and pull raven hair, wet lips on the hot skin of Dick's throat, so gorgeously exposed, just for him. A tonguing kiss became a persistent suckle, tasting, tasting the sweet musk of sunshine and shadows, until Jay couldn't hold back. Sinking his teeth into the soft flesh, he pulled a slow moan out of his brother, was rewarded with a writhing squirm. He bit harder, digging short nails into one shoulder before moving down to bite at the crook of Dick's neck, lapping at the hollow above his collar bone.
Goddamn, the way Dick tasted! Jason wasn't sure what he'd expected, but this! The essence of Dick seemed to jolt straight to his groin, hardening him quickly and sparking down to curl his toes again.
Beside them, propped on an elbow, Tim seemed content to wait, observe, analyze, Dick's arm around his waist as the youngest trailed fingertips down his side. Freaky little bird. But whatever. Jay felt the intense heat of the kid's eyes on him as he bit and sucked his way down Dick's chest, hands finding good places to grip and bruise. He hoped Tim was getting a good show and cataloguing it all as reasons to never piss off Red Hood.
Dick moaned a little harder when Jay found a nipple, twirled his tongue around it, and bit hard. So his brother was enjoying it, who was Jason to argue?
But Jay had had enough of all this foreplay.
Deliberately ignoring Dick's cock, the middle brother rose up and shoved a knee in between his legs, forcing them apart with a twist. From there, it was all nails and hard squeezes as he dug into the elder Bat's thighs, spreading them wider. A bite above a hipbone, a lick in the bowl of the same hip, and a hand found its way beneath his brother's sac, fingertips pressing along his peritoneum, easing back.
The intermittent whimpering and keening from Dick's throat and the slight jerks of his hips told Jason all he needed to know. “Oh, you're gettin' it, Golden Boy,” he smirked wickedly, licking a hip again and glaring up toward the eldest with fire and retribution in his eyes. Dick's involuntary shiver and his returned gaze from beneath wet hair made Jay's cock twitch with anticipation.
But just as Jason opened his mouth to slick his fingers, another hand appeared in front of his face, fingers curled around a tiny bottle. He glanced up to catch Tim's disapproving look, and snatched the bottle of lube with a grunt and a scowl, coating his fingers and cock liberally. It was only when he tossed it aside that the same hand appeared with a foil-wrapped package.
“Christ, kid, where are you hiding this shit?” he grumbled in complaint at the little bird's seeming ninja skills as he snatched and tore open the foil.
“Hm. Just prepared, that's all,” Tim retorted with narrowed eyes.
Dick grabbed Jay's biceps at the exchange, squeezing tight and raking nails down pale skin. “We're not stupid, Jay Bird. Now are you gonna fuck me, or just snark all night?”
Jason's feral snarl was his only response as he finished rolling on the condom, then went straight for his target, spreading Dick's legs wide. Dick shivered again and groaned deeply as the middle brother's fingers probed him roughly. One fingertip slid in, shoving hard and drawing out a sharp cry. A second, and Jay twisted his hand, pushing his fingers apart, stretching.
Looming over him, then, Jason added a third, and Dick keened, wide eyed, burying his own hands in Jay's hair and gripping hard.
“Gonna fuck you so hard, Dickie, you won't be able to walk for hours,” Jay promised hoarsely, leaned in close to Dick's ear as he propped himself up on an elbow.
Dick looked up at him, mouth agape, and breathed, “Then do it.”
“With pleasure,” Jay growled, tearing his fingers out and replacing them with his cock. A single hard thrust, and he was buried up to his hips in heat, spitting curses as he was overwhelmed with sensation.
Rocking his hips to meet Jason's thrusts as he started to move faster, Dick pulled him down for a hard kiss, whimpering into his brother's mouth when Jay's tongue invaded him. God, but he hadn't been fucked in... too long. And... shit, Jay was good... “Jason...” he moaned as Jay pulled back from the kiss, his hands leaving his brother's hair and raking down his chest and over hard nipples.
“Shit,” Jay spat, grimacing. “Fuck. Fuck you. Dammit,” the steady string of curses continued. “Fuck you till you can't move. Bastard.”
“So... so sorry,” Dick panted at that, sliding his hands around and up Jason's back, holding on for dear life even as he wrapped his legs around Jay's waist and locked his ankles behind him. “So sorry, Jay Bird... Please - aaahh!!” he cut himself off at a hard thrust.
Letting his fury over their fight - the accusations, the hatred, the bitterness of all those intervening years - fuel him, Jay pushed harder, deeper, slamming into Dick with no remorse, cursing all the while and ignoring Dick's pleas and apologies. Golden Boy... damn you... “Fffffuuuccckkk!!” he hissed as all that venom began to coalesce in his belly, sparking up his spine and driving him harder. He wanted... wanted Dick to feel it in his teeth... wipe that smile off his face for good... hurt him like Dick had hurt Jason, like Bruce had hurt him, like Tim had hurt him... like the whole motherfucking world had hurt him... “Fucking bastards...” he ground out, still slamming into his older brother.
“Jason...” Dick managed again, whimpering his name as he took every single jarring thrust, every neuron in his body on fire when Jay crashed into his prostate again and again. “Christ... Jason... so... sorry...” And his vision began to swim with sparkles, white, his breath suddenly lost to him. “Jay...” he sucked in, eyes rolling back in his head as his body shuddered, orgasm roaring through him like a tsunami, his cock never even touched.
Jay didn't even slow down when Dick came all over them, shooting hot and sticky across their bellies. Instead he pushed even harder, growling his rage as it coiled once again, tightening, tensing. He wasn't even aware that Dick's breathless babbling had become pitiful pleading cries, his world narrowed down to every hurt, every betrayal, every jealousy, as it all collapsed into what felt like a black hole, consuming him, filling him, bursting...
And for a moment, there was nothing but pure darkness, everything blackened out. No sight, no sound, no breath, no motion.
But the sound of his own scream caught him and pulled him back, and he was thrusting against the pulses as he filled the condom, crashing into Dick, still hard, not stopping.
Dick...
An arm shot across his chest, trying to pull him back, Tim's voice tight in his ear. “Jason, stop! Stop, already!”
But he couldn't, he wouldn't, as the last shudders swept through him, the last of his rage spilling out, hard, merciless. He held fast.
“Please... little brother... unnhh! Jason!” Dick cried out, his face screwed up in pain.
Pain.
With a sharp exhalation, Jason froze, eyes suddenly wide as the remnants of his arousal fled like the shadows before the sun. Panting shakily, he caught the elder Bat's gaze, eyes the deepest blue beneath knitted brows. He didn't know what to say, had no words.
He'd wanted to hurt him. Wanted his revenge.
But...
The realization struck him harder than a crowbar ever had.
Not like this. Not like this!
The arm across his chest tugged on him, another hand firm and warm on his shoulder. “Jay, let him go. Please!”
“Fuck...” he finally breathed. “Dick... I...” But he still didn't know what to say, what to do. All he could do was stare as he struggled to catch his breath, realizing he'd dug his nails into Dick's shoulders, tiny smears of blood around his fingertips.
The look on his brother's face, pain and... sorrow... “Shit,” Jay muttered.
Easing back and out, he winced at Dick's pained grimace, and slowly, carefully released his shoulders, Tim still holding him gently.
Dick hissed with the shock of it, despite the care of the motion. He wasn't even sure when it had all gone to hell, himself, but somehow pleasure had become searing pain without warning. Pressure had become the burning tear of flesh.
The bittersweet musk of sex and the sharp, metallic tang of blood filled all their nostrils.
Collapsing back on his knees, Jason held his hands out in front of him, acknowledging neither brother as Tim moved to pull a first aid kit from his utility belt. Blood. Blood. He'd... he'd hurt Dick. A lot. He'd...
The image of his hands after fighting his way out of his own coffin flashed over his mind's eye briefly. But... he dropped his gaze, unable to look at his hands anymore, and...
There was... blood... on the condom.
“Fffuuuuck,” he growled, the sound becoming an incomprehensible wail the longer he looked at the blood. “No... Nonononononono!!” he screamed, shutting his eyes against the consequences of his retribution. Balling his hands into tight fists, he dug the heels of his palms into his eyes and started to scramble backwards off the bed. He stumbled back through the piles of garbage, anything to get away from what he'd done. Anything to...
When he hit the kitchen island, he collapsed against it and slid to the floor, finally unable to stop the sobs that were choking off his air. Unable to deny the horrible knowledge of what he'd done. Fighting Dick... he'd never hurt him like this. He'd never hurt anyone like this...
Dammit! Dammit!! This isn't what I wanted!! “Shit... I... I'm sorry, Dick...” he wailed between sobs, for a moment simply unable to control himself as his shock racked through him. He'd... never, never wanted to hurt Dick like that. Didn't know how he'd lost control so easily. All the years of pent-up anger... resentment... hatred... “Swear I didn't... mean to...”
He was still shaking with his sobs and pressing his hands into his eyes when he felt two pairs of arms wrap around him gently. “Jason, look at me,” Dick said from Jay's right, voice uneven, but trying. “Please.”
Slowly catching his breath, the middle brother pulled his hands away and opened his eyes.
Dick caught Jay's chin and turned his face towards his own. “I'm all right.”
“No, you're not,” Jason insisted quietly, still breathing deeply and swallowing around the painful knot in his throat.
A sigh. “Okay, so maybe I'm not. But I will be. And...” He dropped his own gaze. “I deserved it.”
“Like hell!” Jay cried at that. “You-”
Tim's grip around his chest and shoulders tightened. “Enough! Both of you!”
Dick and Jason could only stare at him for his sudden boldness.
“Just. Stop.” His voice began to shake, barely. “Can't we all just... call it even? No more blame? No more hurting each other? No more fighting? I mean, that's what we came here for, isn't it? To make things right? None of us deserved any of this. Not from each other, and sure as hell not from Bruce or the Joker. We don't have to keep going around in circles over it.” Reaching up, he stroked the side of Jay's face gently. “Please.”
“I...” Jay started, eyes wide. His chest ached and he wanted to turn away from them, hide, never be able to hurt them again. But... they came here for him. There was no blame in their eyes, no more accusation. Another sob ripped from his throat, then, “I... yeah. I can do that... if...” he shot a glance at Dick, “if you can... both forgive me.”
A ghost of a smile moved over Dick's face as he gripped his brother around the waist and laid a palm over his chest. “Forgiven, Jay Bird.”
Tim pulled close and nuzzled into Jay's neck. “Gladly.”
Exhausted, Jason let himself be held by the two men he realized he'd already more than forgiven in return.
* * * * *
Dawn. Dawn was filtering in around the edges of the sheets come curtains, and Tim would have buried his head beneath the pillow to shut out the gray early morning light if he wasn't wired through his exhaustion. He might even have been able to sleep through the day and on into the next night if so much hadn't happened, but as it was, once he got Dick and Jason cleaned up and had found a spare set of sheets to throw on the bed, he hadn't been able to get to sleep at all, curled as he was around Jay's left side, Dick opposite him. While the two former Robins had slept off their injuries, Tim had watched them, watched them breathe the deep, even breaths of hard sleep. Watched them cling to each other through nightmares, had clung to Jay, himself, and soothed them both through the worst of it.
He wondered again if his own nightmares could have compared to either of theirs if he'd slept. Despite the last year and a half, he doubted it. They'd been through so much more...
He really didn't know how any of them had managed to make it this far, really, fighting all the forces that kept trying to keep them apart, tear them down. They were all only human, after all, and... He'd meant what he said to them. No more blame. They were Robins, dammit. Nothing should keep them apart, he wouldn't let it.
With the events of the early morning looping through his head, displacing the replay of the fight days before, he wondered what must have happened to Jason to make him snap so thoroughly after hurting Dick that way. It was like... like he'd shattered. Like all that bravado he'd been using as a shield had simply crumbled, torn down like so much cardboard.
It was unnerving. But... Tim knew it was at least honest. Whatever had happened in Jay's mind to make him lose it like that, the result had changed things between them all. He didn't know where they would go from here, but it would be infinitely better than it could have been...
His mind still whirling, Tim pressed a light kiss to Jay's temple and slipped out of the bed to make his way to the kitchen, praying Jason was smart enough to have coffee on hand.
* * * * *
Dick awoke with the sun hitting him squarely on the face. Blinking, he saw that the sheets had been drawn back just a little to let in the light, and the sun was high in the sky already. Ten AM, at least, he realized, and there was no sign of the storm from the previous night.
Jay was still next to him, so far gone that his jaw was hanging open and he was drooling on the pillow, snoring lightly as he lay on his belly. Still smokes, Dick noted grimly, tightening an arm around his brother. But it wasn't like the place didn't reek of it; it wasn't news.
Looking past Jay, he saw that Tim was... not in the bed.
A little groggy yet, Dick finally became aware that the youngest was not only already dressed in civvies, but was also moving swiftly and quietly through the room, collecting garbage from the floor into separate bags. There were already three sat next to the door to go out. “Little wing?” he whispered, catching his attention.
Robin looked up from where he was depositing a bottle with other recyclables, and set down his work to sweep over to the bed, a finger to his lips. “Didn't want to wake you guys,” he started, voice so low that Dick almost couldn't hear him. “I went over to your place and picked up some clean clothes and spare uniforms for us both. Grabbed some breakfast items, and a whole lot of cleaning products, too. If you want, there's a fresh pot of coffee on. Oh, and I threw some of Jay's laundry in the wash downstairs. Laundry room's filthy, but at least the machines work.”
Dick nodded silently, marveling at his little brother's tenacity, then slipped out of the bed to get dressed. “Did you get any sleep?” he asked as Tim handed him the duffel with his clothes in it.
“No. I'll sleep tonight, after we follow up on Duela's murder,” he answered, adding at Dick's sideways look, “I already talked to Bruce and Cassie, both. Got the next two days off from regular duty. No worries.”
Shaking his head, Dick slipped on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and was about to head toward the bathroom when he heard from the bed, “The hell? Are you trying to clean my apartment, you freaky little Bat?”
* * * * *
No way Jay could have slept through it. Tim must have been working like the little ninja Jay suspected him of being, up until Dick woke up. All that whispering felt like an elephant trampling through his head.
Not that he was hungover, he'd only had the one beer, but still... He couldn't fathom why his curtains had been pulled; the late morning sun was painful. But the smell of coffee took care of that for the most part.
Realizing he could see his own floor again had woken him the rest of the way, and he couldn't resist asking, startling his brothers from their little pow wow.
Two sets of blue eyes stared back at him for a moment, before Tim answered, “That's the general idea, yes,” moving back to sit on the bed. “Sorry to wake you.”
“Hmph,” Jay grumbled in return.
Dick moved around the other side and bounced as he sat down, Jay rubbing the last of the sleep from his eyes and pushing with one hand to sit up. “You sleep okay?” The eldest ran a tentative hand over Jason's hair, smoothing it back from his forehead, before the middle brother brushed it away, shaking his head.
“Yeah. Why are you guys still here?” he asked, blinking at them both. No point in them staying, he reasoned.
Tim caught his bare shoulder with long, slender fingers and squeezed gently. “Why wouldn't we?”
Jason stared at him for a moment, sure he was reading everything wrong, before Dick caught his attention with a hand on his leg. “We weren't just going to leave you after everything last night.”
“This morning,” Tim corrected.
“This morning,” Dick nodded with a quirk of a smile. “You weren't in any shape to be left alone.”
Jay turned his focus inward, letting his gaze fall to the comforter and the hand resting warmly on his thigh. “Why do you care? Either of you. After what I did?” The admission and the fear tasted bitter and foreign on his tongue. He wasn't used to... admitting it. Wasn't used to them seeing past the hood and the mask.
Robin's hand slid up to trace Jay's jaw. “Didn't anything I said last night sink in? You're one of us, Jay. We're not gonna let anything else get in the way of that.”
A heavy sigh as Jason scrubbed a hand through his hair. “All right,” he conceded, then looked up at his brothers. “Where the fuck are my pants?”
* * * * *
By the time the sun had mostly disappeared from the tall windows to take its place high above, the trio were all cleaned up, dressed, and mostly caffeinated. Tim was glad he'd bought the twelve-count box of pastries from that place just north if Dick's, because they were already almost gone - devoured by three hungry Bats who still couldn't seem to make proper eye contact. At least they'd managed to break down a few walls, as the conversation over the kitchen island counter turned to Tim's cleaning of Jason's apartment.
“You don't have to live like this,” the youngest urged his quite resistant older brother, trying again to catch his eyes as Jay stuffed the last of an apple fritter into his mouth.
Grumbling around the pastry, Jason shook his head. After he swallowed dramatically, he turned his gaze up and into a patented Bat glare. “It's my place. I can live how I want to.”
“Nobody's saying you can't, Jay Bird,” Dick added. “Just that... you can do better than this. You don't have to have rats rooting around in your garbage.”
Shooting the eldest a look, Jason remembered his thoughts from the night before. This was his scum and rats and filth. But... he couldn't begrudge Dick his point. He might not have an Alfred to take care of things, but that didn't mean he had to let the city's scum become his own. Right?
It was a harrowing thought, that left him gazing inward again. His whole world felt upended, and he began to wonder if he'd wake up from this freaky dream.
“Why don't you come out on patrol with me tonight, Jay?” Dick asked, seemingly out of the blue.
Tim and Jason seemed almost equally shocked, Jay pulling out of his reverie with a jerk. “Say what?”
“Patrol,” Dick repeated, his eyes boring into Jay's when the middle brother finally admitted the contact. “Tonight. You and me. Like... like you wanted. Remember?”
The memory - still so damn fresh that Jason wondered what had changed in only a few months to take him from mostly crazed to half-way normal - hurt like hell. The things he'd done in Dick's name, all only to get closer to his brother - as he understood it now - were unforgivable...
“You...” But really, he didn't know how to respond. Trust like Dick was showing him... never came easy, or without a cost. Shaking his head in disbelief, he reached for a pack of cigarettes on the counter. “I need some fresh air,” he blurted out, before whirling and heading out to the fire escape.
As soon as he was out the window, Dick leaned on the counter heavily, head in his hands. “What the hell are we doing, Tim?”
The youngest only shook his head. “You're asking me? All I know is that we have to fix this. The way Bruce shut all his friends out after the thing with Zatanna? Not happening here. We can't let it.”
A sigh. “I hear ya'. Just... let me go talk to him for a minute.”
* * * * *
Leaning on the rickety metal railing, Jay sucked in as much nicotine as he could get, starting to feel like Alice in Wonderland. Maybe the smoke would clear out his hallucinations. 'Cuz, patrol with Dick? Helping them on a murder investigation, when less than twenty-four hours ago, he was the prime suspect? Not having the shit kicked out of him for last night? What the hell? None of it made any sense.
But...
He couldn't deny that it was a good change. Even with what he'd done. And he would hate himself for a long time over that, remembering damn well what he'd let happen to that rapist, all those years ago. Bastards like that didn't deserve to live.
Caught up in his self-loathing, he didn't hear the window open behind him until one of his brothers stepped out onto the fire escape with him. Turning, he found Dick sliding up behind him, laying a hand on his back.
Jay tried not to tense at the touch. The hell is is with them being all touchy-feely, anyway? Not that he was complaining, it was just... odd, unfamiliar, and would take a while to get used to, assuming...
“You okay?” Dick asked, his hair getting tousled by the light breeze.
“Me?” Jay shook his head in disbelief, flicking his ashes into the alley. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. Jay...” the elder brother clenched his jaw for a moment. “You freaked out pretty hard last night. We're worried about you.”
Relaxing into the touch at that, Jason took another drag off his cigarette, then flicked the ashes again, nervously. “I really don't get it,” he admitted. “A few days ago, I was enemy number one, now...” A sigh. “Now I'm waking up in bed with you guys and wondering-”
At the pause, Dick prompted, “Wondering what?”
Jay looked at him with haunted eyes. “Wondering how the fuck you could be all right with me practically raping you,” he snapped.
“What-? No! Jay! You didn't do anything of the sort. Is that why you-? Shit!” Shaking his head hard, Dick pulled his brother into a hard hug, Jay losing the cigarette into the alley below. “That is not what happened, Jason,” he insisted.
Shame bit hard through Jay's gut as he reluctantly gave himself over to the hug, fighting the sting of tears that tried to well up in his eyes. “I didn't mean to...”
“Shh, already!” Dick scolded him. “You didn't do anything wrong, okay? I'm fine,” he insisted.
After a long moment, the two of them just holding on, Dick drew back. “Now, you gonna help us find Duela's killer or not?”
“I... yeah,” Jay breathed, nodding.
“And patrol?”
Jason still couldn't quite believe it, but... “Yeah.”
Dick's grin was a damn good match for the summer sunshine. “All right then.” Carding a hand through his brother's hair, he leaned back in for a firm kiss, then grinned again. “Let's go show 'em what real teamwork looks like.”
* * * * *
Tim looked up from cleaning the kitchen when Dick and Jason climbed back in the window and locked it behind them. The pair seemed a lot more relaxed than they had before, and he couldn't help but wonder what had been said to make such a change.
But then Jay came around the kitchen island, looking a bit predatory, and Tim found himself backing up instinctively, thinking maybe the change wasn't as good as he'd hoped. Pinned against the refrigerator with Jason's hands on either side of him, the youngest eyed his brother. “If you want me to stop cleaning, I will,” he tried, pressing lightly against Jay's chest with his palms. “No need to-”
“No,” Jason whispered, cutting him off. “You... you're right.” He looked like he had a bad taste in his mouth. “And I'm... sorry about last night.”
“You already apologized for that.”
Shaking his head, Jay blinked hard. “No, I mean... I wasn't exactly fair to you. After... what you did for me.”
A slow smirk spread over Tim's face as he remembered the feel of Jason, pliant beneath his hands and wordlessly voicing his pleasure, the taste of him in his mouth. “You can always make it up to me later.”
Jay barked out a laugh. “You are one freaky kid, you know that?”
Tim's hands snaked around his brother's waist as he pressed forward to hug him. “I'm not even three years younger than you, so the 'kid' argument is moot.”
“You're not arguing the 'freaky' part, though.”
They both laughed at that, while behind them, Dick's cell phone chirped insistently. Turning back to see him pull the phone out of his pocket and flip it open, they couldn't help but chuckle at his greeting. “City morgue, you whack 'em, we stack 'em!”
But the grin fell from Dick's face in a heartbeat. Something was wrong.
“What? Shit... All right. Yeah. We'll be there in thirty minutes. Huh? Yeah, we've got Jason... No, no, it's all good now... Okay. See you soon. Bye.”
Tim felt a cold shiver run down his spine as Dick flipped his phone closed. “What happened?”
“That was Donna. She was attacked. Her description of the guy matched yours, Jay. She said he was a Monitor.”
“The hell?” Jay gaped.
Dick shook his head. “We'll figure it out once we hook up with Donna.”
Grabbing his helmet and jacket from the counter, Jay was a blur of motion. “Come on, we've got a fucking killer to catch.”
* * * * *