prodigaljaybird: (Comics - Dazed.)
[personal profile] prodigaljaybird
He lost him.

Didn't he?

Does anyone ever really lose the goddamn Batman?

Pale and shaky, Jason casts another look over his shoulder. There's no one there, but then, that's what Bruce might want him to think. Perhaps he's slunk back into the shadows, perhaps he's watching, waiting for Jason to show his hand.

Well, here it is. He hasn't fucking got one, left his apartment like an idiot in minimal gear so he could meet Allison, a half dozen weapons and his gauntlets all that he has on him - a handful of nothing all that might stand between Jason and a deeper cut.

Lifting a trembling hand, he palms at the scar on his throat, only to rip his hand away again. If Bruce is watching, Jason doesn't mean to let him see him suffer. Darting down the next corner and then another, Jason doubles back, takes a second and third rooftop, then darts down another alley. His route is spinning, and Jason's spinning with it, eyes half to crossing and his cheeks green when he rounds another corner, barking in surprise when he runs into -

"Allison." Fuck. Bruce can't see her, can't know what she means, but she's here and if he's watching there's no escaping it. Jason tries and fails to school his expression into something less nauseated, croaking her name again. "Allison."

Date: 2014-08-21 06:15 pm (UTC)
theresalwayshope: (pale} death toll / i feel so hollow)
From: [personal profile] theresalwayshope
"We run like hell." Allison assured him, voice hard and flat as she dropped down just enough to retrieve her fallen daggers before turning to do just that: run, while supporting Jason's weight as best she can. He seemed to be a little less shaky, though. He could shoot fine, she wasn't bearing the bulk of him...he felt like he could run.

Fortunately, she'd made it a point to know the area around her office as well as she knew her hunting grounds, not wanting to be taken off guard again. Leading Jason down the alley, she took a couple of rights, a left, another right...

...when they emerged onto the main street again, she dragged Jason into foot traffic, keeping his arm around her shoulders as she slowed her pace. She felt winded, shaky...wrong, and Jason looked as bad as she felt, if not worse.

"Is your bike anywhere around here?" she asked, looking up at him. She wanted to stop and just hold him, reassure herself he was okay, but first they had to get somewhere safe. "Otherwise we're walking or bussing it back to my building, and I don't think either one of us are up for it."

Her apartment was safe. Kenzi was never far, she could call for Aramis or Porthos in a pinch, and Dr. Banner could look at Jason if he was in serious, hospital-level trouble...

She had to make sure Jason was safe.

Date: 2014-08-21 08:07 pm (UTC)
theresalwayshope: (kiss} all over / eager)
From: [personal profile] theresalwayshope
Allison thought it would be an effort to split her focus between Jason and the hunt: staying ahead of a dangerous target, finding shelter and safety while trying not to let her emotions cloud her judgment. For her, extremes were where she lived, and that had gotten her intro trouble when she drifted too far from emotion before.

But Jason was doing the same thing...and it made it strangely easy to find balance. To be hard, to forget how much she cared for him, how scared she was for his safety...until he was looking at her, asking after her.

Then she wasn't the hunter or the vigilante anymore. She was the girl, and it was all she could do not to curl into him and come apart.

The only luxury she allowed herself was curling a hand around the back of his neck and pulling him close enough to kiss: hard and slow, solid and warm and reassuring, as much to him as to her: the warmth of his mouth on hers, the sound of his breath, the feel of his pulse as her hand slid away, lingering briefly at the pulse in his throat before she drew away to meet his gaze.

"As long as you can get us there without crashing." she replied quietly, the firm and even words hiding an entirely different sentiment as she waited for him to get on the bike before settling in behind him.

I'm terrified. I'm worried about you. I care too much to lose you, please be all right.

Date: 2014-08-21 09:12 pm (UTC)
theresalwayshope: (drink} have one / buying time)
From: [personal profile] theresalwayshope
Allison accepts the bottle of orange juice, and en route to her apartment, a small wave from Dr. Banner as he exits the elevator just as they're getting on. She sips at her juice until they reach her place...and only then does she feel herself relax, the cold stillness of the hunt slipping away...letting her become Allison again, and not an Argent or the Alpha.

"Comic books." she replied quietly. Setting her juice, her keys, and her purse on the table beside her front door, she wastes no time in finding Jason's arms. He's still leaning back against her front door, but she doesn't care: she slips in close, arms circling his middle, and for a moment, lets her head rest against his chest so she can hear his heart beating.

She feels like her legs may give out any second...but the orange juice was helping a little.

"In my world, there are these comic books." she explained as she listened to that reassuring thump of his heart in her ear. "Batman is the main character...his secret identity is Bruce Wayne, he's got a sidekick named Robin...I think his first name is Dick or something." She paused, tipping her head up to meet his gaze, cheek still resting partly against his chest.

"I don't read comic books, but my friend, Stiles, reads...all of them." She shifted, dragging her head up a little more to rest her chin against his chest as she looked up at him. "There were some movies made about them...I saw one a few years ago. It's based on the comic books, but not to the letter."

Date: 2014-08-21 10:35 pm (UTC)
theresalwayshope: (stern} resolute / i stand alone)
From: [personal profile] theresalwayshope
Allison's throat closed around that before she could tell him that comic books were more than that. Maybe not one of her biggest interests, maybe not like Stiles, but even the most out of touch person knew Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman and Captain America. Even the most disconnected soul drew inspiration from those names, found empowerment in those stories...hell, she'd done stints as both Wonder Woman and Batgirl as a little kid.

But when he said Bruce Wayne was his father, Allison couldn't breathe for a second.

Straightening, the shock and confusion showed in her face. If Bruce Wayne was his father...he wasn't just someone from Gotham City, he was more. Maybe Jason wasn't even his name, maybe he was...could he be Robin? Was he really a comic book character? One of those--

Just thinking it, thinking of Jason as fictional tore a reaction from her she couldn't stop. Taking his face between her hands, her grip was painful as she held him there to look her dead in the eye. Something hot and wild and even angry clawed up out of her chest, something buried in carefree motorcycle rides and his hands on her body by a cool, quiet lake, something wrapped inside of shy smiles and combat knives and the intense way he would stare into her face before he kissed her...

"I don't care if the Tooth Fairy is your mother, Jason Todd, the boy I love is real."

He was real, she was touching him...and she had a very strong feeling that, just now, in that alley, he could have died.

Date: 2014-08-22 03:30 am (UTC)
theresalwayshope: (close} hugs / stay with me)
From: [personal profile] theresalwayshope
Allison slid to the floor with him, settling herself between his legs to finally curl against his chest the way she'd been aching to...then elbowed him sharply in the stomach even he told her how replaceable Robins were.

"I'll put a dagger in your gut instead of my elbow if you tell me that again." She grumbled, glaring at him before laying her head on his shoulder.

So Jason had been Robin. And Batman was his father. God, she couldn't even process this...first the monsters in the alley, then this...

...and she loved him. She was starting to, anyway. She was falling for the Boy Wonder. One who used guns, and she was pretty sure Batman didn't...

Her head was spinning with questions and worry and thoughts racing at the speed of light, and her head felt spinny on top of it all...

Thread the needle, Allison. Jason needs you. There's time to talk, but not if he's seriously hurt.

With a shaky sigh, she lifted her head, peering into his face and running her hands over his arms and shoulders.

"You might need a doctor. God knows what that thing did you you." She paused, taking his face between her hands, more gently this time.

"Jason...we can talk later, okay? Or not talk, I don't care." Her hand smoothed over his cheek, then she leaned in to kids his forehead.

"I need to know you're okay. Please, Jace."

Date: 2014-08-22 09:49 pm (UTC)
theresalwayshope: (glassy eyed} near tears / weepy)
From: [personal profile] theresalwayshope
She felt a little better when Jason reached out for her, tangling his fingers in hers, brushing back her hair. Asking about what she saw, though...that sting of longing pierces through her again, and her eyes grow bright with unshed tears she didn't give permission to spring up.

Lowering her gaze for a second, she bites her lip and nods with a shaky sigh.

"I think it was pulling from our memories." she admitted, bringing one of his hands up to kiss his knuckles before she guided their joined hands to rest on her knees, keeping a tight grip on his fingers. "The stuff my dad was saying...we lived in Orange County for a couple months when I was six, and I got lost at the county fair. When I saw him in that alley...he looked exactly the same, he sounded the same."

She paused, not wanting to bring it up again, but needing to if they were going to figure this out. Reflexively, her grip on his hands tightened.

"And the Batman I saw, it was from a movie, like I said." Meeting his gaze, she shifted closer, kissing him quickly, as if she could soften the discomfort of talking about his father with the gesture, with her nearness...will away the pain just by holding on tight enough, or being near enough to wrap him up and never let him go.

"The actor who played him in the movie had a little bit of a lisp...does your dad have one?"

Date: 2014-08-22 10:15 pm (UTC)
theresalwayshope: (happy} cuddles / close to you)
From: [personal profile] theresalwayshope
Allison kissed him back with a soft smile, then with a sigh, finally moved back into her previous place. This time, however, she twisted around so she could sit between his legs, laying back against his chest with her head pillowed against his shoulder while his back lay against her front door.

Yes, it was a weird place to snuggle up, but nothing about them was normal. It was just...right.

"In the movies, he's a good man." she admitted. "Damaged...hard-headed, occasionally he's a dick, but it's superficial. He cares a lot about the people he loves, but everyone's sort of at a distance. He makes it that way, he thinks he has to be alone."

She paused, tipping her head back to look up at him for a moment, then tilted her head a little further so she could kiss his jaw. "And he doesn't have a Robin, but the movies are supposed to be a trilogy. So far, only two have been released for me back home, I think maybe we'll see him in the third movie. At least I hope so: I don't think there's ever been an incarnation of Batman that didn't have a Robin. I mean...he's not the Dark Knight without the Boy Wonder."

She paused, a smile touching her face. "So...you were really Robin? Is that where you learned all the weapons stuff?"

Date: 2014-08-22 10:37 pm (UTC)
theresalwayshope: (grin} joyful / free)
From: [personal profile] theresalwayshope
"Oh my God, you stole the wheels off the Batmobile?" she gaped, giggling as she twisted around just enough to look at him. "Okay, I knew you were a badass, but I didn't know you stole the wheels off the Batmobile! That's..."

She trailed off, jaw hanging open and still smiling in amazement. A few hours ago, he'd still been so much of an enigma to her, full of secrets and things he didn't think he could share...scars and shadows and every line of him a knife's edge...

And now she could see so much more of him. Maybe she didn't know everything, but she could imagine with some certainty where those dark parts of him were born.

"...you are the most amazing person I've ever known." she finished, reaching out to run her fingers back through his hair, the scar along his scalp no longer so mysterious. A battle wound, earned on the streets of Gotham...just a kid, Robin was always a little kid...

He was so much braver and stronger and...better than she would ever be, and she loved it. She loved him, she loved him so much right that second she ached with it.

Date: 2014-08-22 11:05 pm (UTC)
theresalwayshope: (smile} soft / sweet)
From: [personal profile] theresalwayshope
"You told me that once before...it's okay." she assured him softly, smiling as she regarded him with open affection. She was curious...she had so many questions, but that much hadn't changed: he'd tell her when he was ready.

She wouldn't go digging for the skeletons resting in his graveyard.

"And if he ever does come here," she added, remembering how Jason had reacted, "he won't get a welcome reception from me." Shaking her head a little, she held his gaze. "Not after what I saw today...you don't have to tell me why, just...understand that I'm with you. You and I...we're pack. You know what that means to me...stronger together than apart, your enemies are mine, and your beefs with your dad? I'm on your side, no matter what."

Date: 2014-08-24 05:29 am (UTC)
theresalwayshope: (kiss} desperate / stay)
From: [personal profile] theresalwayshope
Allison looked into his eyes as he said it...saw it shining out of him and heard it in his voice, and she couldn't breathe around it. It was a feeling she'd experienced before, but not like this...not love for the sharp edges and the dark places inside her. Not the awe for the blood she drew and the reverence for the shard of ice in her heart.

Scott loved her, the bad with the good...but Jason loved both. All the same, all equal, all as beautiful and precious and lovable. She didn't have to protect him from herself, he was in love with the danger.

He was in love with her...even the parts she never let Scott see long enough to hate or fear.

Burrowing her hands in his hair, she drew him closer, pressing her forehead against his, drinking in that look as he said it, memorizing the way it filled his face...giddy, drowning in the way it made her feel, so familiar and so different and so humbling...

"I'm in love with you, too." She whispered with a smile, small at first, then bigger until it was splitting her face nearly in two. She pulled him closer for a kiss, then another, still grinning and repeating it between kisses.

"I love you...I'm in love...with you...I love you, Jace..."

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Jason Todd

April 2021

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