Burn the world down for you
Jason Todd x fem! Reader (including the batfam)
Summary: You have superpowers which you cannot control. Reaching your full potential means death to you. During a mission you see your boyfriend and his family, who you love so deeply, get hurt causing you to let loose and let your power handle the villain who dared to hurt the only people you love and deeply care for.
warning: use of y/n, reader has superpowers, gore, fighting, angst/comfort, near death experience, hospital (if I missed any please let me know)
A/N: 4,8 k words I‘m sorry😭 This is not proofread so in case there are any mistakes please don’t mind them. I got the inspo from THE scarlet witch (she‘s my wife btw)
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The debrief room in the Batcave always felt colder before a mission, even with seven bodies in it, screens glowing, steam rising from everyone’s breath like the cave itself exhaled nerves.
Bruce stood at the head of the table, cowl off, jaw tight. A map of the Narrows glowed bright red on the holoscreen behind him. Gotham’s heartbeat. Gotham’s warning.
You sat between Jason and Dick. Jason’s leg pressed against yours, shaking. Maybe out of habit. Maybe out of worry. Definitely out of worry.
Tim, Damian, and Barbara sat across from you, all looking equally tense. They weren’t scared of the villain… they were scared of what Bruce was about to ask.
Bruce cleared his throat.
“Alright” he said. “Let’s begin.”
Everyone leaned in.
Bruce clicked a button. A hologram flickered to life: a tall, armored figure surrounded by faint particles of crackling purple energy.
“His name is Meridian. Former scientist. He’s been building a device that disrupts gravitational fields across Gotham.” Bruce’s voice stayed low, smooth. “If he activates it, the city will collapse in on itself.”
Tim let out a soft whistle. “So… total apocalypse. Cool.”
Dick elbowed him. “This isn’t funny.”
“I wasn’t joking” Tim muttered.
Jason’s hand slid over yours under the table. He wasn’t subtle, he never was, but his thumb tracing across your knuckles was grounding.
Bruce continued. “We have one chance to shut Meridian down. His device is protected by energy barriers none of us can break.” He paused, eyes lifting toward you. “Except for you.”
The room went still.
Jason stiffened beside you. Completely. Utterly. Like someone had frozen his spine.
“No” Jason said immediately. “Absolutely not.”
“Jaso-” Bruce started.
“No” he repeated, louder. He stood up from his seat. “You’re not using her like…like some nuclear weapon, Bruce. What the fuck?? She’s not doing it.”
You swallowed slowly. You knew this was coming. You knew Bruce would eventually ask. And you knew Jason would react exactly like this. Fists clenched, jaw tight, protective instincts firing like alarms.
“I’m asking for her assistance” Bruce said, calm but firm. “Not forcing it.”
“Same thing” Jason snapped.
Dick raised his hands, trying to diffuse things. “Hey, Jay. He‘s not wrong. We need all hands on deck.”
Damian cut in bluntly “If we fail, the city dies.”
You winced. He wasn’t wrong, but subtlety was… not his thing.
Jason glared at him. “If you know anything at all about her powers, you’d know letting her loose is the LAST thing we want.”
Barbara cleared her throat gently. “Jay… she doesn’t have to go full power. This is controlled.”
Jason scoffed. “Controlled? She isn’t even fully in control now.”
Your stomach twisted.
He wasn’t trying to be cruel
he was scared.
Really scared.
And Jason scared was a rare sight.
Bruce turned to you directly. “It’s your choice.”
Everyone stared. Waiting. The air felt thick enough to choke on.
You took a shaky breath. “I’ll help.”
Jason’s head whipped toward you. “Baby. No. You know I‘d never make any decisions for you but this is different.”
“It’s Gotham” you whispered. “We can’t just let it fall.”
“No” he said again, lower this time, like a plea rather than an argument. “You know what happens if you go too far. You know what 100% means.”
Dick’s voice softened. “We won’t let that happen.”
Tim nodded. “We’ll be with her the whole time.”
Jason scoffed bitterly. “That’s what I’m afraid of.
You placed your hand on his cheek, gently turning his face toward yours. His eyes were wild, blue and terrified.
“Jay, honey look at me” you murmured, his eyes fixed on you. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”
“You can’t promise that” he said, voice cracking for the briefest second. “When your emotions take over- when your powers take over, you know you can’t control it.”
You didn’t deny it.
You couldn’t.
Bruce cleared his throat. “We have a plan.”
Jason didn’t look away from you.
Bruce continued “Dick and Barbara will infiltrate the north sector. Tim and Damian the south. Jason and I will clear the entry barriers.” He glanced again at you. “You’ll take down the main shield.”
You nodded once. “I can do that.”
Jason muttered under his breath “God, I hate this. Is anyone listening to me? SHE COULD DIE ONCE SHE LOOSES CONTROL!” he angrily states. The whole room gets quiet.
“And we will give our best to not provoke her power to take control“ bruce explained.
“Jay, you know it won’t come so far“ you reassure him.
Jason didn’t stop you.
He knew he couldn’t.
2 hours later…
The sky above Gotham was glowing purple, like someone had cracked open a storm.
The team moved fast.
Silent. Precise.
Years of training making them a single machine.
Jason walked beside you the entire time, guns holstered, tension radiating off him like heat. His hand brushed yours every few steps, checking if you were still there. Constant reassurance.
“Remember” he whispered, “you stay behind us until Bruce says go. No hero crap.”
You smirked faintly. “Ouch Jason. You think I‘m no hero?”
“Not funny. You know that I still don’t feel comfortable putting you in a position that could trigger your powers.” he muttered.
Dick’s voice came through comms: “North sector clear!”
Damian followed “South sector secure.”
Bruce’s voice “Positions.”
Then
“Y/N. Now.”
You stepped forward.
The barrier stood like a shimmering wall of electricity, humming low, vibrating through your bones.
You exhaled.
Red light glowed faintly under your skin, moving like fire beneath your veins.
Jason’s hand caught your wrist. “Stay below fifty. Promise me.”
You whispered “I’ll try.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
But you pulled your hand from his and stepped forward anyway.
You raised your palms.
Red energy crackled between them, threads of magic stitching themselves into the air.
The barrier sizzled, cracked..then shattered like glass.
The team rushed inside.
Jason lingered a second, glancing back at you. His eyes said everything he couldn’t say out loud.
Don’t leave me.
You followed him in.
But it seems like luck wasn’t on your side today.
Meridian was waiting.
He stood at the center of a huge chamber, device humming behind him like a dying star. Energy pulsed with every beat.
“Batman” the villain sneered. “And his little army. How sweet. Batman and his sons, and one of his sons Girlfriend. Red hood‘s girlfriend, right? Taking your daughter in law for a little adventure I assume? Really really cute.”
Then his gaze landed on you.
And something twisted in his smile.
“Ah. The anomaly. Heard a lot about you, about your powers. Man, I wish you were in my team, honestly.”
You stiffened.
Jason stepped in front of you immediately. “Back off.”
Meridian lifted a hand.
A massive wave of force hurled the team like rag dolls.
Jason crashed into a wall, groaning. Dick hit the ground hard. Barbara rolled but didn’t get up immediately. Damian staggered to his feet, limping. Tim clutched his ribs.
Bruce coughed, struggling to rise.
And Jason…
Jason wasn’t moving.
Your blood ran cold.
“Jay?” you whispered. “Jason!”
He groaned faintly, dazed but conscious. “I’m…fine.”
But he wasn’t.
None of them were.
Something snapped inside your chest.
All that fear.
All that love.
All that exhaustion from holding yourself back
you feel yourself slowly breaking.
And you don’t know how to hold control of yourself.
Meridian laughed. “Pathetic.”
Your heartbeat thundered.
“Don’t…” Jason forced out. “Don’t do it.”
“Don’t what?” Meridian mocked. “Lose control? It’s adorable that they think you’re stable.”
The red veins under your skin ignited.
The air crackled.
Your vision turned crimson.
Your fingertips dripped with raw energy.
“Y/N” Jason rasped, voice thin. “Baby. Listen. LISTEN TO ME. You need to stop.”
But you couldn’t hear him anymore. The thought of losing your boyfriend, and your now family is getting to you.
You spent all your life alone, because you were different. Everyone looked at you like you did something horrible. You always felt alone until you met Jason and his family. They took you in and accepted you like their own. They never reduced you to your powers. They looked at you like you mattered. They became your family. And the thought of losing them makes you snap. You wanted to stay in control and don’t risk anything.
Or maybe you just couldn’t care.
Because all you saw was Jason hurt.
All you felt was the Batfam injured, broken, bleeding.
All you tasted was fear and agony.
And all your power, every inch of it, rose to the surface.
You lifted off the ground.
Red lightning laced up your arms.
Your hair lifted like weightless fire.
Your eyes glowed so bright the room dimmed around you.
Dick whispered, terrified “Oh my god.”
Barbara staggered back. “She’s, she’s going full charge!”
Tim yelled “We have to stop her. She’ll die!”
Damian, for once, sounded scared. “We cannot approach her. She’ll obliterate us.”
Bruce stepped forward, voice shaking just slightly. “Y/N. Stop. You’re exceeding safe output.”
But you weren’t listening.
Your body wasn’t yours anymore. You were hiding somewhere in the darkness of your own body. Hoping everything would end soon.
The villain laughed. “Magnificent.”
The glow around you intensified, energy crackling like a storm ready to explode.
Jason pushed himself off the floor, stumbling but determined. He reached toward you.
“Y/N!” he choked out. “Come back to me. You don’t have to do this!”
But you weren’t there.
Not anymore.
And everyone in the room
everyone who loved you knew
If they didn’t stop you now,
you wouldn’t survive the next five minutes.
The chamber shook as if the ground itself feared you.
Red energy ripped outward in pulses, slamming into the walls, shattering metal, bending steel like paper. Every breath you took sent another wave of power trembling through the air.
Meridian staggered back, stunned. “Impossible” he whispered. “This is amazing. AMAZING! YES! BREAK FREE!”
You flicked your hand.
A blast of red magic slammed into him, launching him across the room like a ragdoll. He crashed into his own machine, sparks shooting everywhere.
You didn’t stop.
You couldn’t stop.
Your feet lifted further off the ground. The red cracks glowing through your skin brightened until they looked like molten lava under your flesh, representing years of pain that you never showed anyone.
Dick shielded his face from the wind you were creating. “She’s going to tear the whole place apart!“
Tim shouted “The gravitational stabilizer is shaking. If she hits it again, it’s over!”
Barbara yelled over the sound of the storm around you “She’s not aiming! She’s just.. she’s just firing at anything that moves!”
Jason pushed himself upright, stumbling forward despite the violent gusts. “Y/N!”
The wind slammed him backward. He hit the floor hard, coughing.
But he got back up.
“Y/N!” he screamed, louder. “BABY, LOOK AT ME!”
You didn’t.
Your eyes were pure red, no pupil, no recognition. Just raw, blinding power swallowing everything else.
Meridian rose again, floating with antigrav boots, trying to steady himself. “You think you frighten me? You’re a woman with a match-”
You raised your hand almost lazily.
A red beam shot across the room, carving a burning scar across the floor. Meridian barely dodged it, eyes wide.
“okay” he muttered, panic rising. “Okay, maybe you do. I will absolutely take you as a souvenir woman. This is the power I need in my team.”
He fired a gravitational blast toward you. A spiraling pulse of purple energy hit your magic midair.
The collision exploded.
Light filled the chamber like a miniature sun, blinding the Batfam, shaking the ground, ripping dust and metal from the ceiling.
You absorbed it.
Every drop.
Meridian froze. “That’s… not possible.”
You teleported.
One second you were in the air
the next you were inches from him.
Your fingers wrapped around his throat, lifting him effortlessly.
Red magic crackled down your arms, crawling over his body like living fire.
Jason screamed with agony “STOP! Y/N, STOP!”
His voice cracked.
But you didn’t even turn your head.
You hurled Meridian across the room. His armored body carved a deep dent into the wall. He coughed blood, stunned.
Then you were in front of him again
your speed too fast to follow.
Your fist punched into his chestplate, cracking it.
Another blow wrapped around his arm, twisting the metal.
A third sent a shockwave through the concrete.
Barbara shielded her head. “She’s fighting like she’s trying to break the city.”
Dick shook his head. “No, she’s fighting like she’s trying to break everything.”
Damian gritted his teeth, gripping his katana. “We must intervene. WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING!”
Tim grabbed him before he could step forward. “You’ll die if you get close!”
Another explosion rippled outward.
Heat. Wind. Raw magic with hints of your pain.
The Batfam flew backward like leaves in a hurricane.
Except Jason.
He dug his boots into the floor, refusing to be thrown back, even as the red wind whipped around him.
“Y/N!” he roared, pushing forward step by step through the storm. “LISTEN TO ME!”
His voice cut through the chaos and for half a second, your head twitched in his direction.
A flicker of recognition?
Jason’s breath caught. “There you are my sweet girl. ” he whispered. “Come back to me, sweetheart. You did enough. You gave us time. Please return to yourself.”
But Meridian moved again.
He grabbed a broken metal beam and hurled it at Jason.
Jason didn’t see it.
You did.
A roar tore from your lips
not human, not magical
something deeper, something ancient.
You caught the beam mid air with your power, crushed it into dust, and hurled Meridian into the ceiling with enough force to crack it.
He fell to the ground, dazed.
You hovered above him, red light pouring from your palms, gathering into a colossal blast.
The Batfam panicked.
“STOP HER!” Dick yelled.
“We can’t reach her!” Tim cried.
“She’s going to kill him!” Damian shouted.
Bruce, voice grim: “If she uses that blast, she’ll hit 100%.”
Jason didn’t care.
He just pushed forward.
He shoved against the wind, his jacket snapping violently behind him, dust burning his eyes, tears mixing with sweat.
He screamed your name again, voice shredding with panic. “Y/N! Baby, please PLEASE HEAR ME! IF I LOOSE YOU, I LOOSE EVERYTHING!!”
The red aura around you flickered violently. Pain twisted your glowing features.
You were losing yourself.
Fast. Violently. Painfully.
You aimed your blast at Meridian.
Jason lunged.
He reached for you
And the energy threw him back so hard he crashed into the far wall, collapsing with a pained groan.
“JASON!” Barbara yelled.
He coughed, forcing himself to his feet again. Every part of him shaking. Vision blurry. Bruised everywhere.
But he stared at you like you were the only thing in the world.
“Sweetheart…” his voice was raw, barely audible. “I know you’re scared. I know you think you have to do this. But you’re stronger than this power. You’re more than it. Please… come back to me. And I promise you did more than enough. We will handle from here. Without any problems.”
For a split second
Your glowing hand trembled.
Your chin lifted slightly, like you were trying to look at him.
Then pain hit.
Your body spasmed mid air, the red light brightening into something terrifying, cracks crawling up your arms, your neck, your jaw
Bruce’s voice cut in sharply, horrified:
“She’s reaching 95% !”
Tim yelled “Jason, if she hits 100… she’s gone!”
Jason ignored him.
He stumbled forward again, dragging himself across the floor.
“Y/N!” he shouted, voice breaking. “I LOVE YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME? I LOVE YOU! NOW COME BACK! COME BACK HOME! HOME TO ME, HOME TO US, HOME WHERE YOU BELONG!”
The red energy flickered.
The air shifted.
Your breath hitched.
Jason reached his hand out
Just inches from your glowing ankle
And then
You screamed.
A sound so powerful the room shook.
The ceiling cracked.
The earth trembled.
Your eyes flared bright crimson
And you launched the full blast straight at Meridian.
A enormous beam of energy erupted from you, ripping through the chamber with a deafening roar, swallowing the villain in red light
And they all realized,
You weren’t stopping.
And you weren’t coming back.
Not yet.
Not without someone breaking through the storm inside you.
Not without someone reaching the girl beneath the magic.
Not without Jason.
Meridian collapsed before your feet, unconscious, armor melted and sparking. Fully covered in his own blood, barely recognizable.
The chamber was a crater of destruction, steel twisted, floor cracked, heat waves still shimmering in the air.
But the danger wasn’t gone.
It was inside you.
Your breathing hitched. Then it stuttered.
Your magic began spiraling wildly, flaring in unpredictable waves.
Jason saw it first.
“She’s about to blow. MOVE!”
A massive red pulse burst out from your body.
The Batfam was thrown back again. Even Bruce, even Damian, even Dick… all sent tumbling across the scorched floor.
But then
You lifted your shaking hands.
Red strings whipped around you, forming a huge sphere, solid energy curving into a shimmering dome.
A bubble.
And suddenly your unconscious self remembers: You used to create this bubble to hide from everyone. When the bullying in high school got too much, you locked yourself in that bubble. When you felt rage, you created that bubble, when you first almost lost yourself in your powers, you created that bubble. To protect you. To protect everyone.
And now you‘re doing it again. But this time, to protect the ones you love deeply.
You locked yourself inside it.
Dick gasped, “She, she’s containing herself.”
Tim’s eyes widened. “She’s trying to protect us.”
Jason staggered toward the dome, palms slamming against it. “Y/N! OPEN IT! OPEN IT NOW!”
But you didn’t even look at him.
Inside the bubble, you collapsed to your knees.
Red cracks glowed under your skin like fractured glass.
Your eyes flashed
bright red, then normal then red again.
Your mouth opened in a scream you couldn’t control and a burst of red light poured out.
The sound was inhuman.
Barbara covered her mouth. “Oh god..she’s in pain…”
Damian’s face twisted, horrified. “She’s losing her body.”
Bruce’s voice came over the comms, heavy and grim:
“She’s at 99%. I-” everyone knew what Bruce wanted to say but couldn’t. The thought of you being long gone and now just watching you die made everyone‘s heart stop. The chance you might break free from your own curse is low, but not zero.
Jason’s blood went cold.
“99?” he whispered. “She’s- she’s right at the line?”
Bruce nodded slowly. “She’s fighting unconsciousness. If she passes out at this level… her power will push itself to one hundred on its own.”
“And then what?” Tim asked, even though he already knew.
Bruce didn’t say it.
But they all heard the answer anyway.
She’ll die.
Inside the bubble, you writhed on the ground, glowing so brightly that the whole dome pulsed with your heartbeat.
You screamed again
But this time the scream shifted mid sound.
Half of it was normal.
The other half that other voice, the one that belonged to your emotions, your magic, your curse, your breaking point shrieked like a storm.
Jason slammed his fists into the dome, chest heaving.
“Y/N! LOOK AT ME! PLEASE!“
Your body arched violently. Your fingers clawed at the floor.
Your normal voice broke through, tiny, desperate:
“Jason… help… it hurts. Jason—”
Jason’s knees buckled.
He pressed his forehead against the dome.
“I’m right here, sweetheart. I’m RIGHT HERE, okay? I‘m not leaving you. I‘m always here for you my sweet angel.”
The other voice took over again immediately:
“LEAVE. LEAVE ME. LET ME GO.”
Your normal voice cried:
“Don’t let me, don’t let me”
Another scream tore out of you.
Red light shot from your mouth again, illuminating the entire bubble.
Everyone flinched.
Dick whispered “That’s not her talking. It’s the curse.”
Damian nodded tightly. “She’s split in two.”
Tim stared at the readouts on his gauntlet. “She’s fighting herself.”
Jason hammered on the dome. “Y/N, LISTEN TO ME! SWEETHEART, STAY WITH ME!”
Your glowing eyes flickered
Then rolled back.
Your body convulsed, violently.
You curled into yourself, shaking so hard it rattled the bubble. Your whole body was hurting. It felt like someone putting hot lava all over your body and stabbing you over and over and over again.
Bruce yelled “She’s seconds from crossing the threshold!”
“No. NO!” Jason’s voice cracked, raw and desperate. “Baby, no, DON’T DO THIS! YOU DON‘T HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE ME BELIEVE IN LOVE AGAIN AND THEN JUST LEAVE ME HERE! you understand? You don’t get to do this!”
He hit the bubble again. And again. And again.
His knuckles split. He didn’t care.
Inside, your two voices kept overlapping:
“Jason”
“LET GO.”
“It hurts”
“SET ME FREE, Y/N. THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD”
“Please let me have peace”
“LET. ME. DIE.” both the curse and your normal voice scream out loud.
Jason let out a broken sound. “STOP SAYING THAT! YOU DON’T MEAN IT!“
Your body jerked.
Then…
You stopped moving altogether.
Jason screamed.
“NO! Y/N!”
Barbara covered her mouth. Damian looked away. Tim swallowed hard, shaking.
But then…
Your fingers twitched.
A small, weak sound escaped you.
Your real voice.
“…Jay?”
Jason froze.
Then he pressed both hands against the bubble, shaking.
“Yeah. YES. I’m here. I’m right here, baby.”
Your voice cracked with agony, words trembling:
“Tell me… something…”
Jason didn’t hesitate.
He shut his eyes.
And he started talking.
“Remember that night on the rooftop?” he said, voice shaking. “When you fell asleep on my chest because you said the skyline made you calm?”
The red in your body dimmed a little.
Jason kept going.
“And remember when you used your powers to light up the whole alley because I said it reminded me of stars? That was the first time we kissed.”
Your fingers curled weakly.
“And the morning Alfred caught us eating cold pizza on the Batmobile? You laughed so hard you fell off the hood.”
Dick muttered “Oh my god, I remember that.“
Barbara whispered “Keep going, Jason. It’s working.”
Jason pressed harder against the bubble.
“Remember when you told me you loved me for the first time?“
His voice broke.
“You were so scared you almost teleported out of the room. You healed me. You showed me the good part of life. You showed me that life isn’t so bad.”
The glow in your veins flickered.
Your lips parted, whispering:
“Jason…”
He started crying.
Actual tears.
“Please come back to me,” he whispered. “I can’t lose you. I can’t PLEASE, sweetheart”
Then it happened.
The bubble you created for protectioncracked.
Tim gasped. “She’s dropping output!”
“She’s at 97!” Bruce confirmed.
Your body shook, the red light flickering violently
Then you whispered:
“…Jay… I’m tired…”
Jason slammed the dome again.
“I know. I KNOW, baby. Just hold on. Just a little more.“
Your eyes rolled back.
The power flared
Then shut off like a dying star.
The red bubble shattered around you, dissolving into glittering dust as your body collapsed limply to the floor.
Jason caught you before you hit the ground.
“Y/N!” he cried, lifting you into his arms. “Baby. HEYHEY STAY WITH ME!”
Your head fell to his chest.
Unconscious.
Your body was still glowing faintly, too warm, like your cells were burning out.
Tim checked his scanner, voice shaking.
“She dropped to twenty percent. It… it shut itself down.”
Bruce exhaled. “She pushed past the unconscious trigger. She stopped herself at 99,5.”
Barbara whispered “She saved herself.”
“But she’s not okay” Dick said, kneeling beside Jason. “Her body can’t handle that level of energy.”
Jason looked down at your drained face, tears dripping onto your cheeks.
He whispered, voice breaking completely:
“Baby, please… don’t go. Please don’t leave me.”
Bruce’s voice lowered.
“We need to get her to the med bay. Now.”
Jason didn’t let go of you.
Not once.
You were alive.
But deeply unconscious.
A coma.
The doctors tried everything.
Your collapse wasn’t gentle.
It was like your body simply gave out once the power let you go. You were carried out on a stretcher, monitors screaming, red sparks still twitching off your fingers like static.
Jason didn’t let go of your hand even when they pushed him away.
He fought everyone.
Tim, Dick even Bruce.
“Get your hands off me! That’s my girl. She needs me”
But they had to operate.
Your organs were shutting down from the overload.
Your brain waves crashing dangerously close to flatlining.
So Jason waited outside the surgery room, helmet on the ground beside him, fingers shaking, heart breaking with every minute that passed.
When the red light above the doors stayed on for hours, he stopped pretending he wasn’t crying. The first thing anyone remembers is the sound of the machines.
That steady, annoying beep… beep… beep in the medical wing of the Watchtower.
You laying there still, pale, barely recognizable after everything your body was forced to do.
And Jason?
Jason never left.
Not for food.
Not for rest.
Not even when his vision blurred from exhaustion.
He sat beside you, elbows on his knees, eyes locked on your face like he could will you awake by his stubbornness.
Bruce stood behind him, once… maybe twice a day. And every time Jason spoke to him it was the same:
“You did this.”
Sharp. Quiet. Heavy.
Bruce never argued. Alfred stepped in when things got too heated, but even then Jason barely backed down.
Six Months of Hell
You lived, barely.
Your body stabilized.
But you didn’t wake up.
And Jason spiraled.
He yelled at Bruce constantly.
“You knew she wasn’t stable. Why the hell would you ask her to do that?”
“We needed her-“
“YOU NEEDED HER? Or you needed a humanized weapon?”
Sometimes Bruce took it.
Sometimes he tried to defend himself.
Every time it ended with Jason storming out and slamming a door hard enough to crack the frame.
The rest of the family tiptoed around him.
Dick brought food. Jason didn’t eat.
Tim tried explaining medical stuff. Jason didn’t care.
Damian sat quietly in the corner sometimes, pretending he wasn’t worried.
Even Alfred struggled with him.
But Jason stayed.
Every day.
Talking to you even when he knew you couldn’t hear.
“Hey… baby… it’s me. I don’t care how long this takes. I’m not going anywhere.”
Sometimes he whispered.
Sometimes he rambled.
Sometimes he just laid his head on your stomach and cried until he fell asleep.
He told you about missions.
About stupid stuff the boys did.
About how the apartment felt empty.
About how he felt empty without having you next to him.
He held your hand so much the nurses eventually stopped trying to move him.
He hated the world, but he never hated you.
Day 197
It was morning.
Quiet.
The team was out on patrol except Jason, who refused… again.
He sat beside you, rubbing gentle circles on the back of your limp hand, eyes half closed from exhaustion.
“Six months, babe…” he muttered, voice cracking.
“Six months and I’m still right here. See? You’re stuck with me. Forever. So you better wake up soon and yell at me for something stupid.”
Silence.
Then…
Your finger twitched.
Jason froze.
He didn’t breathe.
“…sweetheart?”
Your eyelids fluttered.
Your lips parted for a weak, shaky inhale.
And then… the softest voice, barely there:
“J-Jason?”
Jason shot to his feet so fast his chair fell over.
“HEY! SHE’S AWAKE! ALFRED? BRUCE? ANYONE?”
But he looked back at you instantly, terrified you’d slip away again.
You blinked at him, confused but alive.
He cupped your face like you were glass.
“Hi,” he whispered, voice already breaking.
“God, hi… you’re here… you’re actually…you’re here”
You tried to smile, though you were exhausted.
“Why’re you crying…?”
He laughed, then immediately cried harder.
Everyone else rushed in. Bruce, Dick, Tim, Damian and staring like they’d seen a ghost.
You spoke first.
Weak, quiet, but steady.
“It’s… nobody’s fault. Okay? I did what I had to do. I chose it.”
Jason shook his head, forehead pressed to yours.
“I can’t lose you. Ever again. Don’t you dare scare me like that.”
Dick let out the breath he’d been holding.
Tim wiped his eyes.
Damian muttered something about “finally.”
Bruce looked like he aged backward twenty years in relief.
And Alfred, sweet Alfred, placed a hand on your shoulder.
“Welcome back, my dear.”
You squeezed Jason’s hand. Your voice still hoarse. “Told you… I’d always come back to you.” And for the first time in six long, painful months Jason smiled.
A real one. Because you were alive. And you weren’t going anywhere.
