Chapter Text
Jason told them something more was going on. They didn’t believe him. He never should have teamed up with them. He should have called Slade to take these fuckers out. The needle in his neck is a testament to that.
…
When Jason wakes it is to long thick nails pierced through his palms holding him to the table. His arms are spread wide open like a butterfly up for display. His ankles are bound together and secured at the bottom of the table. Blood is still pouring freely from wounds on his palm. He goes to check his dexterity only to scream at the pain that is caused by even twitching. He needs to get out. Is the only thing passing through his hand as he curls his hand, attempting to uses his thumb to try and press the ring on his middle finger. He can barley feel his finger past the blinding pain of the nail in his palm. Come on. He thinks trying to connect with ring. When Jason finally presses it he goes slack. Taking shaky breaths through the pain, trying calm down. The beacon went off. Slade will come for him. With that thought black fills his vison and he lets it take him, ready to wait to be saved.
…
Next time he comes too it's through a haze. There are figures hovering over him, speaking. He catches bits and pieces of conversation.
“He’s the one from before. The one that died.”
“I’ve never seen a mortal with so much different magic tied to one soul.”
“He’s perfect. He’ll be the key to the perfect Gotham.”
Jaso feels a hand rest on his head. It makes him shiver. It feels wrong. He tires to shake it off but a face comes close. He can’t make out a face through the haze. “How good is it to see you again Robin. I will so enjoy learning of your second birth.”
Then there are needles in Jason and he screams. It feels like his blood is boiling. It’s like all his bones are breaking at once. Like every cut he’s ever had is reopened. His chest burns like he’s screaming underwater. It’s too much. He welcomes the dark when it comes this time.
…
There are crashing sounds in the distance pulling Jason back to the surface of consciousness. Frantic scrambling.
“Holy shit. Jason!” .
“Tim what happened, is he okay?”
“They crucified him.” A voice says. There are hands in him again. No, not again. Please not again. He doesn’t want them to do it again. Jason whines. When he feels the hands ghost over his body. He wants them to stop touching him. It hurts. “Jason, hey it’s okay. We’re getting you out.” Jason doesn’t believe the voice. He doesn’t want to be awake anymore. Everything hurts. It all hurts. He drifts off again.
...
Jason has the strangest dreams
...
The kid’s losing it…Jason’s going off active duty immediately
His real mother is someone he’s never met
Sounds to me like Sheila Haywood would make a good candidate for a mother
I thought it was best for them to raise you..my work helped me get through it.
You stay and keep an eye of that warehouse
Mom but you said-
I lied.
This is going to hurt you a lot more than it does me.
I’ll… save you.. mom
The joker locked us in here!
BATMAN!
Dig.. dig your way out
Come on Jason get out
...
Jason wakes up with a start. He’s in an oversized shirt in the med bay. He was hooked up to all these machines checking vitals. Flashes from a terrible nightmare were stills playing behind his eyes. He felt numb as he took in the room. A deep set feeling of all wrong settled in his gut. He needs to get to his room. To somewhere safe. There were clothes in a hep on the floor near him and a strange helmet. He doesn’t understand. The cave looks different. There are all these other costumes, weird flat screens everywhere. It’s strange. Your room Jason. You were heading to your room . He sees a glimpse of his suit in a lone case as he moves out of the cave. Even the manor looks and feels off, it makes Jason feel unbalanced.
Jason stumbled through the house. It was empty but filled with trinkets he didn’t recognize. There were pictures of people with Bruce he doesn’t recognize. Pictures he wasn’t in.
He stumbled into walls as he made his way into his room. His fingers burned, feeling they were scraped raw every time he tries to catch himself.
When he finally opens the door he finds his room illuminated by moonlight and it was his room but something about it is off.
It was the same as he left it but fare cleaner. Emptier somehow. It was filled with dust. The air tasted stale. He made his way to his desk to find his diary left open to the last page he wrote. No . Next to it the his fathers phone book. Three women’s name written. No .
No no no.
Please let it be a bad dream.
He stumbles over to the mirror and rips off the shirt. Staring back at him is an autopsy scar. He looks at his hands and finds them covered in blood. Nails and skin torn away. Splinters buried deep in his fingers. Bruises and burns are everywhere. He’s covered in them. Jason begins hyperventilating.
Let it be a bad dream. Please let it be my mind playing tricks on me.
He brings a hand to his chest trying to get himself to breathe. His fingers burn as they touch his chest. He can feel the puckered skin of the scar. It hits him like a tidal wave. It was real. It all really happened. Bruce was too late. He left him. Jason breaks into wet gasping sobs. These terrible kenning noises leave his mouth. He collapses in on himself, wraps a arm around his torso, a hand to his mouth. Desperately trying and failing to keep himself from falling apart.
Something cold against his lip startles him; he uncurls enough to see what it is. A ring with a gargoyle carved into it. Slade. He needs help. God he should have called him the first time. He doesn’t know how to call for him. He squeezes it in a rhythmic SOS but nothing happens. He keeps on squeezing. No change. Please. Oh god. Please . He prays helplessly as the ring stares back at him unchanged, his tears starting anew. No one is coming again. He wraps his arms around his waist and topples over. Losing himself in his sorrow.
He feels a hand on his shoulder and flinches violently.
“Jason?” It’s Bruce, not the one he knows, this one is much older. Much scarier. He has these deep set lines on his face and colder eyes than Jason’s ever seen. He's not looking at Jason, he's looking at his chest, at his scar. Something bitter fills him. He doesn’t want Bruce. He didn’t believe Jason. He left him. He didn’t get there in time. He led him to this point. He did this to Jason.
“Don’t touch me!” Jason cries out.
“Jay.” Bruce says. He has this odd look on his face between anguish and he just won the lottery. Jason doesn’t trust it. Doesn’t trust him.
“No. No! Fuck you!” Jason scrambles away. He’s still shaking when he hits the desk. Bruce approaches, still ignoring him completely. Jason grabs the letter opener behind him and starts slashing at Bruce manically.
“Get away from me!” Jason threatens. A somber look passes over his face and Bruce disappears, Jason is left with Batman. Next time Jason slashes at him, Batman lunges. He grabs Jason’s hand, he sees white as pain shoots through him. The letter opener is gone. Batman holds him against his chest. Hand digging into the edge of the scar.
Jason struggles against his grip. Fighting and clawing however wherever he can. Batman pins him easily. Jason thrashes. Spewing out curses. Batman shifts behind him.
Jason feels the needle in his neck. Betrayal and hate rack through his body in equal measure. “I’ll never forgive you for this.” He spits. Batman doesn’t even twitch. He taps the ring with his thumb hoping against all hope it actually does something before the world goes black.
Slade is in fucking Germany when Jason’s emergency beacon goes off. Jason is still in Gotham. He moves as fast as he can to get to him but it will still be hours until Slade can reach him. Jason was supposed to be fine. He didn’t mention any concerning cases last time they talked. Slade’s happy he chose to take his jet to get the job he was on. He sets it for as fast as it can. He needs to get to Jason. Slade keeps checking the tracker. It’s unmoving for the first hour but still pinging.
Eventually the tracker moves.He sees that Jason has been taken to Wayne manor which eases some of his worries but Jason hasn’t sent the all clear message. Nor has he turned off the beacon. Slade clenches his jaw, willing the plan to go faster. He’s alive. The upside to the ring is it can get a heartbeat.
The beacon goes off again when he’s about three hours out. His heartbeat has spiked. Jason is still in the manor but it goes off repeatedly. Slade’s heart drops at the sos that comes through. Something has gone terribly wrong. Slade needs to get to him. He can’t walk in and check on Jason. Slade understands this is a rescue mission. He needs to prepare a plan. Suddenly Jason’s heart rate drops. Whatever is going on is bad. He needs to prepare for the worst. He works on hacking into the bat cave through the failsafe Jason sneaked into place. It’s remote and undetectable. It will shut down all technology in and surrounding the manor.
He lands the plan in an empty field on the outskirts of Gotham, far enough away from the manor that it won’t set off any alarms but close enough Slade can get there in a quick drive. Slade takes the bike. It’s faster. More inconspicuous and makes for an easier getaway.
…
When he finally makes it into the cave he sees a body on a table. Dread fills Slade. As he makes his way over something else entirely stops him in his tracks. There, strapped down to the table, is Jason. Fifteen year old Jason. Cheeks stained with tear tracks. A gruesome Y inscistion painting his torso, some burn marks and bloody bandages wrapped around his hands just below where the cuffs are securing him to the table. Slade is disgusted at the sight. He's pinned to the table like an animal for a high school dissection.
First things first, take care of Jason, he searches for clothes. Not trusting the red hood gear he checks it for trackers finding multiple but only taking care of the ones in the jacket. Kid loved the damn thing. He leaves the hood just in case they need a distraction. He then carefully unhooks all the machines before undoing the restraints. Jason starts to stir. His eyes land on Slade and he begins to shake.
“D?”
Slade slides further into his field of vision and brushes a hand through his hair both soothing him and letting him know this is real. Slade puts a finger over his mouth. They can’t tip off the bats. Tears slide down Jason’s face as he weeps quitely. Slade works quickly getting all the restraints off of him before helping him sit up and putting the jacket over his shoulders. Giving him some semblance of dignity. Jason slides his arms through as Slade zips the front for him. Jason starts shaking harder, Slade pulls him into his arms. “I got you Jason. I’m going to get you out of here.” He tells Jason quitely. “Can you walk?” Slade asks and Jason eyes the ground wearily. “Do you want to try? If not, I'm going to carry you.” Slade tells him. Giving him a choice, control. Slade doesn’t think he’s had much since the beacon went off. Jason shakes his head.
“You got me?” Jason rasps out. Voice barely a whisper.
“I got you shrimp.” Slade confirms. Jason grabs on to Slade and he picks Jason up. He’s trembling in Slade’s arms. The move through the cave and out to the exit quickly. Slade is relieved Jason chose to be carried because he knows they don’t have much longer before the bats figure out what happened.
…
He had a quick moment of debate of whether Jason is strong enough to ride on the back of the bike. They don’t really have much of a choice.
“You think you can hold on?” Slade asks putting the helmet on Jason. Jason gives a determined nod and take off. They fly down the road to the jet. Jason buries his face between Slade’s shoulders and his grip digs into him. Slade is sure of Jason wasn’t in a helmet he would feel a wet patch on his back.
…
When they get to the jet, Slade touches Jason’s wrist, trying to avoid and damage on his hands, to signal they have arrived. Jason’s grip loosens as Slade gets off the bike. He makes sure Jason always has a hand on him before moving to pick him up again.
Slade gets them settled in the jet. Placing Jason carefully in to a chair. He detaches from Jason at which he wines but Slade has to get the plane in the air. He eventually does and sets course before going back to check on Jason. He is starting at the wall of the jet with empty eyes when Slade returns.
“Jace? Kiddo?” Slade tries to call out to him. Jason turns to him with blank eyes. Slade is careful not to touch Jason until Jason initiates contact first despite wanting it before. Slade knows Jason finds touch can be more overwhelming than grounding at times and Slade doesn’t want to trigger him. “Is there anything I can do for the pain?”
“Something cold.”
“I can do that.”
He gets Jason a ice pack as well as a cool cloth. Jason grabs the cloth and puts his face in it as he takes some deep breaths. Slade watches as he uses it to ground himself.
When he finally emerges from behind the cloth he looks a bit more present. Slade hesitates to push for information but Slade need to know what they’re dealing with. Slade isn’t sure what Jason he’s even talking to right now.
“Kiddo, Can you tell me what you remember?”
“I died.” Jason answers blankly. But there’s something a bit unsure in his expression.
“Yes.” Slade confirms. Jason closes his eyes and lets out a slow breath before stealing himself
“How long?” He asks.
“For you, I’m not sure.” The thing is. It’s true. He doesn’t know how long he was dead between the explosion and Talia finding him. He doesn’t know if this Jason is his Jason.
“The world is all wrong.” Jason whispers. And yeah, it is but Slade won’t let him dwell on that.
“It does that sometimes. What else do you remember? Maybe we can figure out why it’s wrong.” Slade ventures. Jason nods to himself and takes a deep breath before answering.
“I remember you. Smoking on The rooftop. Batman. Being Robin. Going to find my mother. The joker. The grave. The last thing I remember is trying to claw myself out of the grave.” He says with a shaky breath. Hands wringing the cloth.
“You got out kiddo. “ Slade comforts. And fuck. The Jason in front of him really just experienced the worst parts of his life for the first time.
“What happened to me? What’s going on?” Slade doesn't know but the kid need to not be in the dark. He needs to told the truth.
“I don’t know but we’ll figure it out. Jason the last time I saw you, you were twenty-three. I gave you that ring when you were eighteen.” He explains.
“I’m in the wrong time? What the fuck”
“Maybe. Shit luck whatever it is.” Slade can’t help but say. A ghost of a smile graces Jason’s face at the comment though. “We'll deal with it later. What is important now is making sure you are okay.” Slade stresses. Jason nods as he rubs at his face.
“Where are we going?”
“Kentucky. I have a house there. It’s somewhere you will be safe.” Slade reassures him. It doesn’t land the way it should and Slade knows that it’s because this version of Jason hasn’t been to Kentucky yet. It’s not home to this Jason. It makes Slade ache a bit. “You can rest, I'll be here.” Slade says and Jason nods and his hand twitches like he wants to reach out. Slade moves, sitting in the seat next to him. Brushing a hand through his hair. Jason leaned against him as soon as he’s seated. Once Jason feels Slade is real, Slade feels him relax against him. Jason curls into Slade’s side. Slade wraps an arm around him. Jason drifts off as Slade is left with his thoughts. He’s in so much pain, Slade isn’t sure he can fix this. What he does know is that Jason needs him and that he is going to kill the bats if they so much as come near Jason again. It because of them Jason is this way. Scared, broken and fifteen again
God what’s happened to his son?