Part 2 of the 4 part series
Jason has never heard Damian panic.
He didn't think the kid knew how with him being bred for perfection and all that nonsense.
Jason didn't answer the call at first. Damian never called but he was still a pain in Jason's ass so he's always willing to pay it back whenever possible.
He regrets that now.
Three back to back calls were enough to tell Jason whatever was going on was deathly serious. Even Damian wouldn't do this to get back at him for something.
It was absolute chaos behind him. Jason could hear people shouting in the background and what disturbingly sounded like a siren. Damian himself was clearly distraught. He wasn't able to articulate any of his thoughts. Lots of broken sentences and gasping for breath. Jason knew a panic attack when he heard one and Damian was clearly in the middle of a bad one. Not ideal.
"Damian, I cannot help if I don't know where you are." Jason instructs calmly. "Tell me five things you can see."
It takes Damian a minute to answer. "I s- I see a... a, um, a pair of scissors, and- gauze." he pauses, making an attempt to calm himself more so that he can tell Jason the three other things. "I can see blood, and..."
"C'mon, you're doing so well. Two more things." Jason pushed slightly, even though the scene Damian describes is not great.
"My shoes." Damian spits out. "And- um, needles."
"Where are you?" Jason tries again.
"I am in the back of an ambulance, we are going to Gotham General." His voice is shaky but much calmer and more put together.
"We?" Jason can think of a million reasons why this might be, none of them good.
Damian sucks in a breath. "Richard was shot."
There's a ringing in Jason's ears. Sure it was on the list of possibilities but not that high up. He can feel the panic building. Rising in his throat with bile. He feels sick.
Jason swallows. Panic later, problem now. "Okay. Stay with him, I am on my way. Did you tell Bruce or Alfred?"
Not likely since he's calling Jason in the middle of a panic attack.
"No, Father is in a meeting and won't answer and I have no idea where Pennyworth is but he wasn't answering when I called."
Jason thought that was weird. Alfred always answered the phone, of course the one time it's most urgent he's away in the garden or something.
"Okay, don't worry. I'll take care of it. You just stay with Dick."
"I will." Damian agrees before disconnecting the call .
Jason is pulling on shoes and scanning for his jacket as he called the manor. It rings a grand total of four times, in that time Jason had pulled his shoes on, had his jacket in hand, and was running down the stairs of the apartment. Gotham general was close, he planned on running there. But then decides that was unwise and grabs his bike.
On the fourth ring Alfred picks up. Thankfully.
"Wayne Manor." Alfred greets.
"Alfred, Dick was shot, he's heading to Gotham General with Damian and he can't get a hold of Bruce." Jason mounts his bike as it roars to life.
"When?"
"Not sure, I'm heading there now." Jason shouts over the engine.
"I'll be there shortly."
He hears the receiver click as he takes off.
Jason usually drives recklessly but this was also desperation. He died alone and scared. If Dick dies he needs to be there. He won't let Dick die alone. He won't.
He attempts to maneuver the insanity that was Gotham General's Emergency room. Jason had never seen it not packed. It wasn't the only hospital in Gotham but it was the main county hospital in the most densely populated part of said county. It made it very hard to find Damian in the crowd, if he was even there yet.
Damian was young and therefore short. In this mess Jason could easily miss him if he isn't careful.
Just as Jason was going to ask a nurse about the incoming ambulances he saw Damian.
He paced the hallway, wringing his hands. His clothes and hands are soaked in blood Jason knows it isn't his. His face is almost gray, the look in his eyes is empty.
He approaches slowly, lightly placing his hand on Damian's shoulder. He feels tense under his fingers, Jason can feel the tremors running through him from the adrenaline this whole thing is causing him. He looks as sick as Jason feels.
Damian stops at the feeling, relaxing slightly.
"Are you okay?" Jason asks him after a moment.
"I am uninjured." Damian replies curtley. He looks Jason in the eye before taking stock of his attire. "There's so much of it."
The comment is soft, almost inaudible, but Jason hears it loud and clear.
"I was able to get a hold of Alfred. He'll get Bruce." Jason continues. It's all he can do to keep from screaming. Of all the things to happen to any of them. It had to be this and it had to be Dick.
Damon opts for a nod instead of something verbal.
"Does Tim know?"
He shakes his head as he begins to pace again.
Tim doesn't answer the first time. Not surprising. He's always busy with something. So Jason calls again, and again, and again. Tim was famous for not answering his phone, if he wasn't on it he was pouring himself into his computer doing god knows what. But Jason continues to try. If the roles were reversed Tim would keep trying, or would hack his comm.
Finally Tim answers on the sixth call. Jason lacks the energy to be mad.
"What?" Tim's voice seems to be filled with a few things. Annoyed that he's being interrupted, concerned because consecutive calls are not usually good things, defensive in case Jason starts to yell at him, and exhausted because that was Tim's default.
Jason presses his lips together before speaking, trying to keep his house in order. He can't lose it. Not yet. "You need to get to Gotham General. Now!"
Tim notes Jason's tone. There's at least five seconds of silence. "Who?"
The only question that really matters.
"Dick." Jason answers. "Dick was shot. And it's bad."
Jason doesn't actually know how bad but Damian's behavior coupled with his clothes are very telling.
There's another five seconds of silence before the line disconnects.
Jason sits on the floor of the hall listening to the sounds of the hospital as Damian continues to pace back and forth in front of him, tightly wringing his hand and muttering things in Arabic that Jason isn't catching.
He wants to ask for details but doesn't think Damian is in a place to provide them. He wants to know what's going on with his brother, he wants to know the damage, he wants to help.
It was not as much of a relief as it maybe should've been when Bruce does show up.
There was clearly panic just under the surface of whatever mask he had on. He walks briskly past Jason and Damian to the nurse at the desk down the hall. His priorities on the most urgent matter at hand. Alfred walked a few paces behind stopping in front of Jason.
He has the same stiff upper lip Jason always saw him with, but his hands were clasped in front of him instead of behind. He was worried too.
Eventually Tim shows up, he looks completely disheveled- like he'd rolled out of bed before getting there- and on the verge of tears. He slides down the wall sitting next to Jason, he wrings his hands together.
When they're told he's alright Bruce is the first to go see him, he's already talking about moving Dick to another hospital once he's stable. Something quieter, more secure. The doctor seemed like he wanted to argue, but you don't argue with Bruce Wayne, not when his son's life is on the line.
After three days Dick is deemed stable enough to be moved to a private hospital outside of the city. It's closer to the Manor and much quieter. The things money can buy when you have enough.
Jason comes as much as he can. He doesn't understand the need. Dick is never alone, if it's not Bruce it's Damian, and if it's not Damian then it's Barbara. But Jason still comes. He listens to the monitors. He watches Dick's chest rise and fall with each breath. He stays in the room when Dick is put under another surgery. He can't bring it in him to leave.
When Jason is home he feels out of control. He's deep cleaned every square inch of his apartment twice. It helps for a little bit. Helps him feel useful and productive. Doesn't change what is though.
Eventually Jason starts staying at the Manor. It's significantly closer than anywhere else and his ritual continues. He combs over every nook and cranny of his childhood room when he finds it. Tucked away behind his other books. An old gift from Dick.
He remembers when Dick gave it to him. Right before he left for Africa. He put it behind the books to ensure it was left alone.
The package was dusty and faded. Jason had completely forgotten about it, he'd told Dick he'd open it when he got back. He knew it was a book. Dick had told him it was for 'Robin Training'. Jason never did ask him what that meant.
Jason gently tore the old paper off revealing a copy of The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. Dick favorite childhood book, he'd given it to Jason. Part of the reason Dick had called himself Robin was because of this book.
He brought it with him the next day, after reading it cover to cover, (he had no idea how kid Dick read this book given what he knows about kid Dick) figuring Dick would enjoy hearing it. If he was hearing anything at all.
"Now," quoth Little John," Jason read aloud. "it doth seem to me that instead of striving to cut one another's throats, it were better for us to be boon companions. What sayst thou, jolly Cook, wilt thou go with me to Sherwood Forest and join with Robin Hood's band? Thou shalt live a merry life within the woodlands, and sevenscore good companions shalt thou have, one of whom is mine own self. Thou shalt have two suits of Lincoln green each year, and forty marks in pay- hey."
Bruce stood awkwardly in the doorway. "Sorry to interrupt. You don't need to stop if you don't-"
"No, it's okay. I don't think he can hear me anyways."
He makes an unhappy noise from the back of his throat before stepping further into the room closing the door behind him. "Robin Hood. One of his favorites."
"Yeah, he gave this to me a while back. Thought, you know, he might like it." Jason let the pleasantries end there. Bruce watched Dick's face, there was more emotion than he was used to. "Umm, any luck?" Jason found himself asking as he closed the book.
Bruce shook his head. "I told Damian to take a break. We're going to have to wait and see if Dick can provide any more details."
"You don't have any leads? What about the footage you guys found?"
"The footage from street cameras didn't get a close enough shot and some of it isn't even available down the route they took. The footage from the store is completely unusable, we've cleaned it up best we can but between the lack of evidence and that these guys weren't anyone special. We're coming up dry."
Jason sighed. "Maybe I can rattle some cages. Get more info."
"Hn."
It wasn't a no grunt, but it wasn't a yes either.
"What? Do you not think I can figure this out?"
"Jason-" Bruce warned but Jason cut him off.
"No, answer me. Do you not think I can find evidence to find the kid who shot Dick?"
"That isn't what I said. You're more than capable. I just don't think there's any more evidence for us to find. Sometimes it pays to be nobody."
Bruce left a little while later asking Jason to stay put until he got back. That, at the very least, was easy for him to agree to. He would stay because he needed to, because Dick needed him too.
"I'm gonna say something to you now when you can't respond so I don't have to listen to you after I say this." Jason tells him when he's confident no one's listening. "I'm not gonna go after them. If Bruce can't find anything and Barbara can't find anything, then obviously I'm not gonna find anything. And I know you wouldn't want me to run myself ragged over this. So... I will let it be. Whoever shot you- I hope they can live with the choice they made."
He isn't positive this is something Dick would want but, he doesn't want to worry about it any longer. Consequences come, whether it be by the law or nature they always come. He'd let karma handle this. If Bruce catches him, may God have mercy on his soul, and if the universe catches up with him then so be it.
I'm sure there's some out there who don't think Jason would just let this go, but my perspective it that Jason wasn't there when this went down so he's going to be more objective about the outcome. Anyway, I debated as to who I should do next and decided that Dick makes the most since. See you all tomorrow!