Petrichor [J.T.]

Chapter 16 - Troubled Water

A/N: I am so sorry for how late this chapter is lol I was sick and then some personal stuff happened and then I thought I got covid so that was fun lol so I couldn't finish editing this for quite a while. I'm so sorry!! 

Jason is stuck pacing back and forth in the room he's calling a bedroom now. Worry has taken every part of him as his hand grips his phone like a vice. It's been hours. He hasn't heard from Sam or Dick or Gar. He hasn't heard from anyone and he's tried calling Sam seven times. But, her phone is off and her phone is never off. That is the one thing about her, her phone will never be off unless there is a reason for it and being hurt isn't a good reason. Not to Sam. The only time her phone even dies is...never. Jason thinks about it and he doesn't think she's let her phone even reach 20% in the entire time they've known each other. He thinks it's probably so someone can always find her and she can always call for help because she's almost paranoid about it dying. Sam's phone doesn't die.

That leaves Jason thinking the worst of the worst. If her phone is off, that means it has to be dead or she shut it off for some reason but that's uncharacteristic of her. So, he thinks maybe it did die and if it died, that's because she didn't charge it. If she didn't charge her phone, it's because she was physically incapable of charging it. What if something really bad happened? What if she was shot somewhere else? Jason knows Crane wanted Sam taken care of, maybe he shot her twice but she's really good at hiding her pain when she needs to. Adrenaline probably kicked in and shock, she was scared for Tim. Maybe she didn't realize how bad it was. What if there was a complication of some sort and something bad happened?

Jason's mouth starts to water as his eyes burn. His brows pinch together hard as his teeth grind so hard his jaw starts to ache. He was brought back. But, a part of him really hates that he was. Would Sam want to be brought back? If she died, would she want to be brought back like him? Jason comes to a stop, trying to steady his own breathing as his leg aches and burns. The scars on his chest feel like he's being cut open again. What if she doesn't want to be brought back but Jason did anyway? What if Sam did, and he does nothing?

What if Sam did die?

If Sam did die...Gar would call him, right?

Gar would definitely call, Jason assures himself. Gar would call immediately if something were happening. He has the number now and Jason's ringer is on with the vibration set to strong. He has no missed calls but he's certain Gar would call. If not, he would have called Molly and Molly would have found a way to call Jason. If Sam were dead, one of them would call him.

And then Jason swallows his own heartbeat as his phone starts ringing.

Gar.

"Hey." Jason clears his throat, trying to keep himself together as he tries to prepare himself for the worst news he'll ever get.

"Is Sam there?" Gar asks and Jason can hear the worry etched in his voice.

"Uh...no?" Jason questions and he's not sure if he should be relieved or panicked with Gar not knowing where she is. At least he's not calling to tell Jason she's dead but that does not rule out her bleeding out in a ditch somewhere. "I told her to go with you."