Family Isn't Just Blood

(Bat Boys in Quarantine) Part 5 - Reality Hurts, So Do Roy's Zombie Puns

          I wake up twice the next morning. Once when Roy comes in to wake me up, and again, some hours later, when he starts snoring in my ear. I push away from him and sit up. Squinting through the light that streams past my curtains. My room is the same as I left it last night, yesterday's clothes are still in a heap on my floor and there's still crumpled protein bar wrappers on my side table. The only two differences are Roy, who was definitely not in my bed when I went to sleep, and Roy's ratty old backpack which is leaning against my door. Did he seriously pack already? There's no way he woke up early to-

My eyes nearly pop out when I glance at my alarm clock. It's 4 PM?! Holy shit how did I sleep so long!?

"Roy!" I reach over and shake his shoulder. He doesn't wake up.

"Wake up asshole!" I give his leg a kick and he grunts and lifts his head up.

"Mmh what?"

"It's four fucking PM?!"

"I came in to wake you up man. You just pulled me into bed to shut me up and I fell asleep." His morning voice is deep and gravily.

"Fuck, how long do we have to find a place to stay?"

"Until midnight." He says, wiping the drool off his face just to put his head back down on my pillow.

"Shit." I groan, pulling myself out of bed and grabbing my hoodie off the floor.

"You all packed, man?" I ask, eyeing his backpack as I pull my hoodie on. He grunts in response. I kind of hate that after living away from the street for so long he can still fit all his belongings in the same backpack. Just like he used to when we were kids.

"Don't fall asleep in my bed, jerkface." I say closing the door behind me. I can already hear the faint sounds of him snoring. I walk into our open concept living room/kitchen and see Kori floating over one of the barstools we have at our countertop. She's hunched over her sticker covered laptop, clearly zoned out to her surroundings.

"Morning princess." I say, walking over to the kitchen to rifle through our cabinets for some food.

"It is much past morning Jason." She scolds, not looking up from her laptop.

"Yeah, uh.. sorry about that. I guess I was more tired than I thought. Roy came to wake me up but uh.. he wasn't much help as you've probably noticed."

"Yes I did notice. Although I am glad he went back to sleep. He was in a bit of a panic when he woke up."

"Yeah, I saw he got packed already. You all packed too?"

"Yes, I got my things packed last night." She still hasn't looked up at me. Her eyes are glued to her computer screen.

"Hey what are you doing there Kor?" I ask, grabbing a handful of Froot Loops from the bag and shoving them in my mouth.

"I am looking for apartments in Gotham city that we can rent together." I nodded, coming around the side of the counter to stand next to her. She's hunched over her computer so much I'm surprised she hasn't gotten sucked into the actual screen.

"How long have you been looking?" I ask gently, putting my hand on her shoulder. Even though I kind of already know. She finally looks up at me, tears roll down her cheeks from her bloodshot eyes.

"There is nothing Jason! We have nowhere to go! We have until midnight to move out and there.. there's nowhere.." She sniffles and I pull her into a hug and she buries her face in my hoodie and sobs.

"We'll figure something out Kor." My voice quivers and I can feel myself shaking. Maybe in anger, maybe.. maybe in sadness.

"There is nothing we can do Jason!" Her hair bursts into green flames and I feel her form a starbolt in her hand only to let it fizz out into the air around us. I pull away from her, keeping my hands on her arms.

"Kori breath. You're going to burn down the entire building." She inhales through her nose and exhales loudly through her mouth.

"I just.." She trails off.

"I know." I give her arms a squeeze and let go, taking a seat on the stool next to her. We're quiet for a minute. Each of us letting our current situation sink in.

"Can we find a place to stay outside of Gotham?" She asks after a while.

"Not if we want to live together." I say miserably. "I can't leave Gotham now. If the city gets shut down I won't be able to keep Tim and Damian safe."

"Don't you also have a few drug cartels to oversee?" She grins at me.

"Oh shit yeah, those too. That's what I meant." It's good to see a smile on her face again. Even if it is from making fun of me.

"Can't stay in a safehouse either." I add. "I don't own any of them, just rent and all the landlords have the same bullshit reason to kick me out. They claim they want to use the space for their families so they can all live together. It's probably just because they don't want to have to deal with any outbreaks in their complexes."

"This should not be the time when people choose to be selfish." Kori says, wiping her face to compose herself. She rarely lets her emotions so loose like that. I mean hell, if anyones the emotional one in the group, it's probably Roy. He did cry at Frozen 2. Which by the way he wanted to watch, I just.. tagged along.

"I should go wake Roy up. Can't have him miss out on all the 'fun' of getting evicted." Kori frowns at me.

"Joking, I'm joking Kor. I just wanna know if he's got any ideas for us." She nods and I leave her at the stools to head back to my room.

"Wake up shithead!" I grab a pillow off my bed and wack him with it.

"Fuck of dickface." He grumbles into the pillow.

"Wake up man it's like almost 5 pm."

"I'm tired and jet lagged."

"You're not tired, you just don't want to deal with stuff."

"Wow you sound like my sponsor." He says sitting up finally. He's still wearing yesterday's pants and hasn't bothered to put on a shirt. By the looks, and smell, of it he also hasn't bothered to shower. He sits up against the headboard while I start unloading my dresser drawers into a suitcase.

"What's going on man?" I try to sound casual but I'm kinda worried about him. Okay, maybe a little more than kinda worried. He rubs his hands over his face and sighs.

"We're not gonna be able to live together anymore are we?" By the tone of his voice I know he already knows the answer.

"There's no way we're gonna be able to find a good place. Not in eight hours."

"Think we'll be able to find separate places in the same area?"

"Even if we do I doubt we'll be able to see each other. By what Tim said I don't think people are allowed to see each other if they don't live in the same house."

"Well that's fucked." We're both quiet for a minute. I continue folding my clothes and putting them neatly in my suitcase. Each article of clothes is folded and then rolled up so they can all fit. Sometimes I think I might have a slight organizational problem.

"Do you think we're gonna have to move back in with-" Roy's cut off by the obnoxious sound of Zombie Bastards by Weezer. I grab my phone out of my pocket.

"Did you seriously change my ringtone again?! You know I fucking hate this song."

"It's a great song Jason, you just like terrible music!" I roll my eyes and answer the phone, stupidly not checking who the call was from.

"Jason. I know you don't have a place to stay. There's a place for you at the manor." There's a shuffling in the background. "If you want it."

For a moment I'm lost for words. Of all the people to call me.. of all the things to say to me. Fuck, I didn't even think he had my number. I can't even think. I really can't decide whether to be mad or grateful. Grateful seems a bit unlikely. I really.. I really don't have any good response to this. So, like a complete dumbass, I just say the first thing that pops into my head.

"How'd you get this number, Bruce?"