Gun Control - Jason Todd x Reader
Hello naughty children it’s angst time.
I’m a terrible person who should never be given free reign. And I’m actually a little sorry.
Tagging: @memento-scribet @cait-writes-stuff
Moonlight streams through the boarded up windows of the abandoned warehouse you and Jason had been sent to investigate. It seemed that there was some suspicious energy emanating from the location, and even though nothing bad had come from it, the two of you had decided to check it out just in case. Besides. It’d been a slow week anyway.
Starting at the edge of the room, you investigate every inch of space for a source of the energy. There aren’t any false walls or trap doors. After cracking open a few crates, you decide there isn’t anything of concern. From the other side of the room you see that Jason has come to the same conclusion. You meet back up in the center to discuss your next course of action.
“I found nothing. How about you?” you put your hands on your hips and look up at Jason’s red helmet.
“I got nothing.” Jason puts his guns back in their holsters. “But something about this is bothering me. I just can’t place my finger on it.”
“Well, we can figure that out when we get back to the cave.” You rub your arms as if fighting off a chill, even though the air is warm. “Let’s go. This place is starting to give me the creeps.”
Jason nods in agreement. You both start walking toward the door. Just before you get to the door, Jason grabs your shoulder and pulls you back.
“Watch out!” He points to a trip line on the floor. You swear the wire wasn’t there when you checked the area earlier.
An echoing laughter bounces off the walls and meets your ears, sending a shiver up your spine.
“Klarion,” Jason mutters in your ear. It certainly explains the energy signatures reading from the area, but why is he here? You can feel Jason’s frustration as he scans the room for the Witch Boy. “What do you want, Klarion?”
“I just want to have a little fun. That’s all,” a bodiless voice speaks from what sounds like everywhere. A wisp of smoke draws your attention to a large stack of crates, and you focus on the form of Klarion and Teekl.
“Well we’re here to cut the fun times short.” Jason takes his guns out and prepares to fight.
“Awww, come on Red Hood. You used to be so fun, but now you’re just so boring.” Klarion floats above the crates and turns upside down as if he’s having a casual conversation with an old friend. “Never was able to predict how you’d react to a situation.”
“I’ve found my reason to fight.” Jason ever so slightly turns his head to you, and the knowledge that he’s referring to you stirs up the butterflies in your stomach.
“Hmmm,” Klarion spins right side up and narrows his eyes at you. “You want to fight? I’ll give you a reason to fight.” He cackles before he starts casting a spell. Jason raises his guns to shoot him before he can do anything, but Klarion is too fast. He sends a cloud of magic directly at you.
You try to move. Really you do. Every fiber of your body is screaming to get out of the way. But your limbs don’t listen. You watch helpless as the spell gets closer and closer.
At the last second Jason shoves you out of the way, absorbing the magic in your place. You stare with wide eyes as he hunches over and trembles, attempting to fight off whatever Klarion threw at you.
“Jay—Red Hood? Are you okay?” you place a hand on his arm and the tremors immediately stop. He stands straight without saying a word.
“Well isn’t this an interesting turn of events?” Klarion giggles.
You would have mouthed off at the Witch Boy were Jason not distracting you. His entire body language is mechanical, and he’s staring directly in front of him as he walks toward you. Ever so slowly, he raises his gun.
“Jason, no!” You yell and shove his hand to redirect his aim away from you. It might have worked better had his reflexes not been so quick. While you managed to knock the gun out of his hand, he took advantage of your momentary contact to grab your wrist.
“What is wrong with you?!” He doesn’t respond. You try to rip your hand away but his grip tightens.
“Say something!” You need to see his face. There’s no way you can fully figure out what’s wrong with him as long as this helmet is on his head. You rip the hood off knowing that he wears a mask underneath for emergency situations. And this definitely qualifies as an emergency situation.
But the sight under the hood makes your blood run cold.
He looks completely normal. Except for the fact that his face is completely blank. There’s no life. No charm. He normally has at least a ghost of a smile when he looks at you. But there’s nothing.
It’s like he’s turned into a mindless zombie.
You stumble backward in shock.
“What have you done to him?!” you ask Klarion, who is floating in the rafters and cackling.
“Oh, nothing much. I’ve just taken over his mind for a bit. That’s all.” By the tone in Klarion’s voice, it’s apparent that he is having the time of his life. “He’s going to kill you. The last thing you’re going to see before you die is the face of your partner. Your murderer.”
“You bastard!” You shoot at Klarion. You spend the next several minutes trying to think of how to stop Klarion and avoiding Jason’s blows. You don’t have any ranged weapons to hit Klarion with, and if you fight Jason you risk hurting him.
But you were never much of a long term fighter, and your energy is dropping with every blow you counter. Jason catches you in a slow moment and throws his elbow down on your shoulder, sending you to the floor with a yelp of pain. While down you manage to hit your emergency alert. You need backup, and you need it fast.
When you roll over to look at Jason’s painfully blank face, it’s down the barrel of a gun.
“Jay,” you whimper. You don’t even care that Klarion’s still here. The only way you have a chance of getting him back is by calling him by his name. “Jay, baby. Please. Please come back to me. I—I don’t care if you kill me, but do it as yourself.” Tears you didn’t know were there start welling up in your eyes.
“Remember me. Remember your family. Please let me see that beautiful smile one last time. Please, Jay. I love you.”
Jason doesn’t respond. He continues to stare blankly down at you. You expected him to have pulled the trigger by now. He should have if Klarion is controlling him.
That’s when you notice that the gun is trembling in Jason’s usually steady hand.
“NO NO NO!” Klarion whines. “KILL HER!”
You close your eyes to accept your fate.
When the gun goes of you don’t feel anything.
You open your eyes to see Jason’s face twisted in pain, his gun turned back on himself, and a bullet wound bleeding profusely. You hear yourself screaming in terror.
“Not exactly what I had in mind, but I think I’m content for a while. Ta ta!” Klarion giggles before dissolving into thin air.
Jason’s gun falls to the ground as he falls to his knees. You reach him in just enough time to break his fall. “JASON!” You go to caress his face when you realize that blood is coating your hand. His blood.
“Hey, babe,” he says weakly. “I bet you thought I was going to kill you for a second didn’t you.”
“It was you, Y/N. I was awake the whole time but I couldn’t control myself. I kept fighting back, but he was too strong. But you. The thought of losing you was too much to bear.” He coughs a bit and winces at the pain it causes. He leans back into your arms as he breathing grows shallow.
“Jason? No, no, no. Jason! You can’t leave me! Not yet!” You take the mask off his face, and, much to your relief, he looks up at you. Slowly he raises his hand to pull the mask off your face.
“I couldn’t live with myself knowing that I pulled the trigger on your life,” he breathes.
“Jason, please, just hold on. Help is on the way.” You’re crying now, tears dripping down and mixing with the blood on his chest.
“It’s too late for me, Y/N. And you know that.”
“Please, Jay. You can’t leave me. Not again.”
“Y/N, I want you to promise me something.” His breathing is labored. He doesn’t have much time left.
“Promise—promise me that you’ll move on. And promise me you won’t use the Pit. Let me stay dead.”
“Jason don’t talk like that—”
“Find happiness. All I want from my life is for you to be happy.”
“But I can’t do that without you.”
“No, Jay, I can’t. There’s something you need to know.” You’d been meaning to tell him about this for a couple of weeks, but you couldn’t find the words to do it. You take a deep breath to steady your voice. “Jason, I’m pregnant. You’re going to be a father.” Your tears fall harder on the last word.
Jason stares at you for a second, processing your words. Then his face lights up. “A father.” He says and smiles up at you. “You’re going to make a wonderful mother, Y/N.”
“Jason please don’t leave us,” you sob.
“You’re a strong woman. If anyone can do this it’s you.” He reaches up to brush a tear off your cheek. “If one of us had to go, I’m glad it’s me.” His words are growing softer and softer. “I love you, Y/N. I always have, and I always—”
Suddenly his hand drops as the light fades from his eyes.
Somewhere in your mind you hear yourself screaming his name and crying into his chest.
At some point you feel a set of strong arms as Dick carries you out of the warehouse while Bruce takes Jason.
But none of it feels real to you.
How could it when the love of your life and the father of your child is dead.
