It was nearly 2 in the morning. The sounds of Gotham had started to whine down, only a few sounds were breaking through the closed windows of the abandoned church in the middle of the forgotten cemetery on the outskirts of the city. The chill of the winter air being kept at bay by the duct-taped windows and the pool noodles wrapped in old t-shirts at the base of the doors. The kids that were scooped before the goons came, were fed and are comfortably sleeping in the far corner away from the windows and doors, on top of the good sleeping bags and yoga mats that I could snatch from the gym. As the kids were asleep, I took the first aid kit from my bag and started to clean up some old wounds that weren't healing right. They weren't anything serious, just some scratches and deeper cuts I got from work at the clinic.
I had just finished wrapping my wrist, the sound of the grand entrance door peeling open caught my attention and I immediately stopped. I grabbed the dagger from the waist band of my jeans and brought my mask back up to cover the lower half of my face and neck. Quietly, I moved along the wall and closer to the door. These kids were finally felt safe enough to sleep, I wasn't about to let anyone disturb them or take them away. I heard the quiet sounds of boots to the concrete steps of the inner church. As I raised my weapon up, the owner of the boots whistled a toon to let me know that this was someone I could trust. I put my knife down, not away just in case, and stepped into view of the whistler. Once I saw the familiar mask of the Gotham Knight, I put the knife back in its place. And although we knew the other was a safe person, neither of us ever saw the other's face.
GK, in his normal get-up, had a very full-looking duffle bag over his shoulder. "Where are they?" the auto-controlled voice asked. I gestured toward the upper area of the church where the organ used to be. He nodded. "Anyone needs medical attention?" He 'looked' back towards me. I gestured myself as if he forgot I am a medical professional. "I meant besides you and your magical hands." I shook my head, but gestured to him, in a silent question if he needed any medical attention. There was a sight sigh when the slight metallic smell hit. He was bleeding somewhere. "Yeah, I could use a stitch or two on my shoulder." As I led him to my space of the church, he spoke like I was doing him a favor. "The only reason I'm letting you treat me is because I can't reach the one spot, understood?!" I roll my eyes, but nod.
I watched him, assessing him as he wriggled and maneuvered his torso out of the suit. The muscles move like waves under his skin as he moves. It would've been enjoyable watching him if it wasn't for the fact that his shoulder had some deep gashes going crisscross along the strong muscles. Once he put himself into position, laying down on the pew, I quickly got to work stitching the deeper of the gashes closed and gluing the rest. Even without a proper anesthetic, the only twitching he did was when I sprayed the area with the disinfectant. "Oh..." He sat up and looked up at the ceiling. "I forgot how much that shit stings on the deep cuts." I tapped his leg in acknowledgment. Mostly based on muscle memory, I placed the gauze pads over the stitched areas and grabbed at the air near his head like I usually do when I check the IV monitors as I would at work. If he noticed he didn't say anything.
I felt his eyes follow me as I moved from the spot next to him, and walked over to the nesting area I had in the corner out of view from the the tall stained glass window. The light from the moon reflecting an almost rainbow river across the floor. I sat with my back against the corner of the connected walls with one leg stretched out and the other bent like triangle. I tapped the spot next to me, little did he know I had some hot packs under the blankets, knowing he would lay with me like he usually does around this time of night. He sauntered over with heavy legs. Guessing the late nights of running this crap city, were starting to take it's toll on him.
Looking like a giant form my spot on the floor, he unclipped the helmet and slowly peeled it off his head, before dropping it near the duffle bag he came in with. His dark mop of hair, wet and heavy with sweat, sticking up in weird angles and stuck to different parts of his forehead. His strong features still displayed beautifully, even if still covered by a domino mask. And if you looked heard enough, you can see part of a brand on the left side of his cheek by his eye.
I threw him an old community college t-shirt and matching sweats that he uses when he's with me. Though I guess the exhaustion was hitting too much if he didn't want to change out of the suit completely. He just slowly dropped to his knee with some soft groans and walked it out with his hands till he was flat on his belly. From there he slid his torso so it was pressed against my thigh. "Are you sure the kids are asleep?" his voice was muffled by the clothes he was too tired to wear, but made a decent enough pillow. On his open palm, I traced the word yes with my finger. After a moment I thought he might have fallen asleep too, but then I heard his muffled cries. He did his best to keep his cries nearly quiet, but the key word being nearly. His shoulders and back shook with the emotion he was letting out. As much as it kills me to hear anyone cry. I felt a sense of pride that he felt safe enough to cry in front of me. after nearly 5 mins of hearing the emotions flood out of this man, I gently shifted myself down enough to be nearly shoulder to shoulder with him. I slowly slid my arms around either side of him and gently tug him, silently telling him where I want him to be. With a concerning amount of pliancy, he let me shift him so he would rest on me. His head falling in the junction of my neck, his chest pressing against mine and his left leg slotting in the space between my legs.
Despite his stature and essence of his size, he was not a heavy man. Big, sure, the man was pure muscle. But in the moment he felt and light as one the young kids who was sleeping upstairs, unaware of the scene happening below. I let the fingers of my left hand card through his damp hair, the sweat making it curl around my fingers. My right arm was wrapped around his upper arm, pulling him close to me. If only I was able to talk, I'd try to soothe him with words. But since I can't, the only thing I could think about doing was whistle a song my best friend taught me. It wasn't something I did a lot since he died a few years back, but it seemed like as good time as any. As I whistled the tune of our favorite tv show, which was kind of weird of us because it was a re-run of a 60's tv show, which was the only thing we were able to watch on our small tv we got from the pawn shop.
As I whistled, he slowly stopped crying. As he lifted his head from my neck, I could see that he even stopped breathing for a a moment. I stopped whistling when he met my gaze. He sat back on his heels, the look of pure shock couldn't be hidden by the mask. "Whistle that again..." I sat up and pressed my back against the wall and he shifted close to me again. "I need you to whistle that song again." He voice was urgent but soft, almost sounded broken. As I whistled the beginning of the song, he shot up to his full height, almost as if being near me was painful. He paced back and forth, trying to piece together something in his brain. The look on his face was a mix of a panicked smile, like the kind you see after people got hit with the joker's laughing gas. He looked like he was in pain but wanted to be happy. "How did you learn that song?" he stopped pacing and looked at me. I signed "T.V" with my hand. "Did you grow up watching it?" he squatted back to his knees as he kept staring at me. I moved my hand in a so/so motion, before signing that me and my best friend used to watch it on a tv we got from a pawn shop before he was taken by the Batman. "From Rosco and sons Pawn? the one across from the the arena?" I signed yes. I mean didn't everyone get the T.Vs from Rosco? Unless you had money, than you went to the fancy electronic store in the mall.
"Did you used to struggle to get the single with the bunny ear wires?" Now, he was starting to freak me out, but I still signed yes. "and used to snag the candy from the hot dog vender, the old Russian guy on the corner of Water Front St.?" Now he was really freaking me out. Only my best friend, Jason, knew where I got candy. I signed "how did you know that?." I stood up, feeling anxiety climb up in my throat. He looked up at me, a pleading look on his face," you weren't born mute, were you?" I felt the tears roll down my face. I shook my head no. "Show me...show me your scar." How did he know I had a scar. How did he know anything about me, other than what I wanted him to know. He stood back up, his full height almost a whole head taller.
With trembling hands, I moved the mask up to my chin where the scar was on full display. It was a long jagged mark that went from the right side of my jaw line to my left collar bone. I got it from when I threw myself in front of Jason when we were being chased by his mom's drug dealer. The knife he used wasn't very sharp, which is how I was still alive, but the slash was deep enough to cut my vocal cords.
As soon as GK saw the scar, he had tears falling beneath the mask. "A..." HE KNEW MY NAME. How did he know my name? No one but Jason called me by my name. Before I knew what was happening, he peeled the mask off his face, revealing a face I never thought I was ever going to see again in this lifetime. "Yeah, A. It's me." Once he confirmed it, he started word vomiting, and cried. I couldn't understand and watched as he wouldn't catch my gaze and began to pace again. "You don't know how hard I tried to find you, I wanted to find you as soon as I came back. But I got so caught up with Bruce and the Joker and then Falcone and Penguin. I was trying to get my head to level up but then I tried to find you, but then I couldn't find you in our old spots, and then.." I didn't know what else to do, I couldn't handle or understand his word vomit anymore. I grabbed his arms and pulled him so I was able to wrap around his waist and held on as tight as I could. His arms wrapped around my neck pressing me further into his chest. My hands gripped his shoulders tight as if he was going to be taken away from me again. The two of us silently cried together.
After what could've been hours. We both fell to our knees and laid back down. Jason pressed his forehead against mine. It was the best feeling having him back in my arms. When the story of Jason's 'death' got to me. I guess the Waynes forgot his impact while he was around and replaced him with another boy a little younger but was more tech-smart. I watched the funeral from afar, not that I was given an invitation to say goodbye to my best friend. I knew that Bruce Wayne knew I was around, but he never acknowledged our friendship, even when Jason was still 'alive.' I think Dick was the only one to let me and Jason talk to each other after he was taken by Batman and while he lived in the manor. Since that day I hated Batman. He may be trying to save the city, but this city was not worth saving.
Not sure when we fell asleep, but I was awoken by the feel of the sun breaking through the colorful window. Jason had his head pressed to my chest. I could feel him burning through my shirt. He might have gotten sick from his lack of sleep. I felt something buzzing against my thigh, must've been his phone. When I felt it buzz again, I reached into his pocket and pulled it out. "DICKHEAD" was texting him. "Hey Jaybird, call me." "You haven't checked in with Babs, I need to know you're ok." "Jay please call me."
I felt Jason, slowly getting heavier and hotter as our skin made contact. I texted whoever "DICKHEAD" is, asking them to come for assistance in civilian clothes. And to bring DCFS agents with them so that the kids will be off the streets. I told him where to meet us. I gently slid out from underneath him. Not a movement or sound of disturbance from him. As quick as I could, I shed off the rest of the GK suit and put it in the duffle bag. And just as quick, managed to shuffle him in the sweats and t-shirt we slept on. In the duffle bag, I found some gym clothes and sneakers, which was great. And after he was situated and dressed, I woke the kids up and signed the children's services were coming to help them find safe places to be and to get their stuff ready.
Not even an hour later, the police and DCFS came to gather the kids, and they asked me what happened, I wrote to the cops, since they didn't have an interpreter that we were caught in the attack by one of the gang leaders, and came in here for shelter. Luckily they believed my story, and the kids were put into the vans to be taken to the hospital to be checked out before going into the system. It may be broken but it was better than them being on the streets of Crime Alley.
The "DICKHEAD" turned out to be Dick Grayson. Like he was asked he came dressed up in civilian clothing but he had a Blood-heaven police badge on. He must be a cop out there. He saw me and I brought him over to where I hid Jason. He rushed over to Jason, checking him over as best as he could. "Jay-bird, can you hear me?" he gently picked up Jason's head and tapped his face. But when he didn't get a response, he pressed his hand over his forehead, feeling the fever Jason spiked. "Jay, I'm gonna check you over, okay." he wasn't expecting a response but it humanized the actions. He pressed Jason's head to his shoulder to shift him into a sitting position. He lifted the shirt and moved the gauze pads to check the wounds for any sign of infection. To his surprise, they looked clean and professionally done. He put everything back into place, before looking back at me. "Nurse?" he asked, I nodded. With an impressed nod, "You do good work."
I smiled a little. "Did anyone see his face?" I shook my head no. "OK, good." I watched him wrap an arm under Jason's shoulders and under his knees, lifting him up off the floor. "Can you grab his bag for me? Which I'm guessing also has the suit in it?" I nod, grabbing the duffle bag and my backpack. He gestured with his head, where he wanted me to follow.
As we walked outside, I saw a fancy-looking car, nothing too expensive looking, but too expensive for a cop's salary. He nodded towards the back door, "slide in first, so you can grab him." I nodded, quickly following orders. I threw the bags in the trunk before sliding in the back seat, waiting for Dick to put Jason in. Once we were settled in the back, I noticed a red-headed girl in the front seat.
She didn't say much but gave me a quick assessment from the rear view mirror. Dick quickly jumped in the front seat, and we sped off. He and the red head were in quiet conversation about where we should go, but I wasn't paying attention to them. I kept my focus on Jason, who was starting to get really sweaty and his face started to scrunch from the pain, which I guess is from him laying on his back. I shifted us around so he wasn't directly on his shoulders but was still resting against me. I carded my fingers in his hair, wiping the white patch away from his forehead. "We're going to have to go the League, cause for obvious reasons, can't go to the doctor's here and they know him and his history there." I nod, figured that he wasn't going to a local hospital.
The drive was going on nearly 3 hours and Jason was slowly becoming more aware as it went on. Probably the only time I shushed him. I could feel his anxiety and fever getting stronger. I whistle at them, grabbing their attention to look at me in the mirror. "What's wrong?" The redhead asked. I pressed my hand to Jason's forehead, showing her concern. I saw her rummaging for something when she popped up and reached back with an ice pack in her hand. I grabbed it, popped the seal, and pressed it to the back of his head where the base of the skull was. I signed back "thank you" when she looked in the mirror. Jason started to shiver but was relaxing back into me. I used to shoulder to hold the ice pack in place, using my hands to keep Jason from unconsciously reaching for the ice or his back. I would whistle little tunes for him as the drive to the league continued.
After what felt like ages, we made it. Dick was quick to my side of the car, to help me slip out and he could bring Jason back in his arms. For a slender guy, he seems so strong. The Flash was there at the door. For a second I thought he left but he came back with a stretcher. He helped Dick maneuver him onto the bed and then rushed him back without so much as a glance toward me. I jumped a little as I felt someone grab my hand. I looked to see the redhead from the car sitting in her wheelchair, looking up at me. "They got him. He's in good hands here." I nod. "Come," she said to me pulling me with her as she rolled herself in a different direction than the boys went. "We can wait for them inside." I followed her, as we made our way deeper into the Justice League Tower.
We sat in the lounge area, which was huge. She sat with me and she talked at me, not in a condescending way, but out of nervous energy with how much she was saying. When she noticed how much I was watching her, it occurred to her she never asked why I signed. As best as she could she signed "born or recent?" I gave her a small smile and signed back "Not born", showing her my neck. She had a sad smile on her face. She talked a little more about what she knew about Jason and his comeback, pausing to answer any of my questions, as we waited for any news.
Soon, Dick came into the lounge and looked exhausted. "We need you." His voice was braking as he spoke, like he was crying. "He's very disoriented from the fever, but is crying for you." He grabbed my hand as he began to jog back to Jason. As we got closer, I could hear Jason screaming, so I picked up my pace and bolted for the room. Once inside, I saw Jason on the hospital bed in four point restraints. His body jerking in all directions, his voice hoarse and scratchy, pleading to be released. The Flash and Black Canary shuffled around each other trying to calm him down, bringing on ice bags and trying to get an IV placed, but with all his jerking around, they can't get the vain. I jumped on the bed and straddled Jason's hips and grabbed his face, making sure I had his complete attention on me. "Shhh." was the only sound I could make. I pressed our foreheads together as he seemed to cry in relief. "A.." I rubbed my thumbs across his cheeks, catching the loose tears the fell down his face. "Th-they-they're". He stuttered on his words. "They're t-tr-trying to h-hurt." I look at them and see the needles and ice bags and wires from the monitors in their hands. I could see why he thinks their trying to hurt him. I sign to him, 'keep your eyes on me.' I gesture for the trauma sheers, whistling the TV theme as I cut away the t-shirt, which was drenched in sweat. I then gesture for the IV needle, which Black Canary gave me and I show him what I'm going to do and easily catch the vein and place the IV line in, which she helped tape down on his arm.
As I dried his chest with the dry parts of the shirt scraps, I started to whistle a random lullaby tune I remember from years ago, I then helped Flash attach the heart monitor stickers to his chest. As long as I showed him what I was going to do he was calmer about it being done. What he didn't know was that I signed the word 'sleep' to Canary and she pushed a sedative through the IV. So Jason was slowly calming down and falling asleep as I did what needed to be done. But as soon as the sedative was pushed, he realized what I signed and tried to fight the sedation. But when I lay down with him, he stopped fighting. Flash then grabbed some fresh ice bags since the others melted and placed them in the vital areas of Jason's body. Dick had everyone leave for a moment, leaving just the three of us in the room.
"Wow, Jaybird.." Dick dabbed his 'little brother's' head with a cooled cloth, "You got a keeper taking care of you." we watched carefully as Jason succumbed to the sedative as his eyes rolled back, closed with a little nod. "You were amazing there A." He said as he rubbed my shoulder. "I guess that's because you have more seniority on Jay than we do." I let out a small, soundless giggle. He helped me off the bed so that the Flash and Canary could do their health checks on Jason, it being a whole lot easier with him being sedated. We sat bedside as we watched them move with practiced skills. Then all of a sudden, the atmosphere in the room changed, as the voice the the dark knight came through. "What happened here?" Dick didn't even look back. "What's up B-man?" his voice wasn't cold but wasn't as warm and friendly as it was with everyone else. "Who's this?" Looking me up and down, realizing who I was. "Why is she in the cave?" Dick rolled his eyes, "SHE was helping Jaybird when he got sick." I stood up from my chair stepping in between Batman and Jason, not letting him get close to him. He glared at me and I glared back. I kept my hand in the back pockets of my jeans in an attempt to keep myself from hitting him.
Feeling the tension, Dick tried calling in Canary for assistance. "I guess I should say thank you for helping take care of my son." And before I knew it or Flash could help, my fist landed directly on the Bat's cheek, leaving an abrasion in the same spot as Jason's brand. I signed 'You don't get to call him son, asshole'. "A.. What the hell?" Dick shouted in shock. The whole room was in shock. Hell, I was in shock. Never in all my years, did I think I would punch Batman. Batman was led out of the room by Superman, who heard the punch make contact. Canary took me to the side as she checked out my hand. "What was that about?" she asked me and I signed 'he was an asshole who had that coming'. "I figured that part, but why did YOU punch him?" 'He took Jason away, and kept me out of his life...' She sighed. 'He didn't let me go to the funeral.' She seemed shocked at my last statement. I signed 'I know that Batman is Bruce Wayne, it wasn't hard to figure out." After doing a gentle wrap around my knuckles and giving me an ice pack, she watched as I climbed back on the bed and was amazed at the scene before her as Jason subconsciously leaned into me as much as he could in the restraints, the two of us comfortably intertwined.
