Jason grit his teeth as he leaned heavily against the alley wall. He just needed a few more minutes of rest... then he'd go meet Dick for patrol like he promised.
When Jason finally opened his eyes again they felt like they were burning. His face burned with heat while his body shook slightly. 'I'm fine,' he told himself. He'd patrolled while sick many times before, and he could do it again.
Besides, he'd never cancel a patrol with Dick Grayson.
A few minutes Jason was back to semi-realistically pretending to be fine, so he took to the roofs.
Dick was able to find Jason rather quickly, greeting his boyfriend with a hug.
"Hey," Jason said, smiling despite the pounding of his head.
"Hey," Dick echoed, raising up onto his tiptoes to give Jason a kiss on his helmet. "You ready to patrol?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Jason replied, closing his eyes and taking a deep measured breath.
—
Jason was glad when they settled onto a tall roof for surveillance. He'd managed to keep up so far, but he knew he wouldn't be able to go on ignoring his lightheadedness.
"You alright?" Dick asked, gently pulling Jason's helmet off so he could see his face.
Jason sat up from where he'd been leaning against Dick's shoulder and wiped the sweat from his brow, mustering a small smile. "I'm fine... helmet's just a little stuffy," he said, hoping he didn't look too sickly.
"You sure?" Dick asked, brushing Jason's sweaty hair from his forehead. "You've been kinda sluggish all night."
Jason sighed, leaning into the older's gentle touch. "I can handle the rest of patrol," he said.
"Jay," Dick said, cupping his boyfriend's face in his hands. He rubbed a gloved thumb over Jason's cheek. "Please tell me if you're sick. I don't want you getting hurt."
Jason closed his eyes. "I... I probably should go home..." he mumbled, suddenly feeling out of breath.
Dick smiled softly at him. "Let's get you home then," he said.
Sudden gunfire from the street drew Dick's attention, and he glanced from Jason to the street below and back a few times. "Stay here Jay," he said, jumping to his feet and leaping off the building to the fire escape.
It took Jason's foggy mind a while to realize that Dick had left, and to recognize that the gunshots meant there was something going down on the street below.
Jason shoved his helmet back on before following Dick down to the street, admittedly much more slowly.
Dick seemed to have things pretty much covered, so Jason simply went to work punching at thugs, not trusting his aim with a gun in his current state.
Once the last thug had fallen Jason looked around in confusion. He was suddenly tired. Very tired... too tired to keep his eyes open.
Dick called out to Jason when he saw him starting to sway, immediately running to his side and catching him as he started to fall. "Jay," Dick grunted, staggering under Jason's weight. "Why are you so heavy?" He mumbled as he lowered his boyfriend to the ground.
