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Jason woke up to his room being hotter than it should. The heat bled into his bedroom from the window. The hair on the back of his neck stood with the weight of someone's gaze on him. He tightened his grip on the gun under his pillow and flicked off the safety. He shifted slightly, keeping his breathing even as he chanced a glance over his shoulder, one eye open just enough to see who or what stood in his window. He sighed at the sight there.
"Could've just knocked," Jason said. He loosened his grip and flicked the safety back on, tucking the gun away. Tim had made himself vaguely comfortable. He wore the Robin outfit, though Jason could tell it'd been put on hastily. The more he watched Tim, the more he realized we wasn't all there. Jason sat up, leaning against his headboard as he studied Tim.
He had one arm gripping the top of the window, the other on the sill. He leaned heavily on both of them. Like he didn't trust himself to not tumble one way or the other. His hair crumpled around his face as he stared at Jason, his domino mask barely straight, and most damning of all, he didn't have his cape. Jason shifted on his bed as he took it all in.
"You're letting out the cold," Jason snapped. Tim startled at the tone and Jason's own tension bled a little. At least he could still hear him. Tim muttered a "Sorry" and clambered into the room, shutting the window behind. When he turned back, Jason could see how pale Tim was.
"You okay, Replacement?" Jason asked. Tim's shoulders hunched at the once-hostile nickname. Jason noted the movement.
"C'mon baby bird. I can't help if I don't know where you are." Jason tried instead. It had the desired effect. Tim's body slumped and he fell more than we walked to Jason. He collapsed on the bed, curling up next to Jason. And… Well, Jason's bed could barely hold one grown man, much less two. Especially when one of them was shivering like he'd taken a polar plunge and not a run through one of Gotham's warmest nights.
"I…" Tim tried. He pulled himself closer to Jason. Jason sighed but allowed it, wrapping an arm around his brother and getting a knee to the gut for his efforts. He grunted at the action but waited until Tim got comfortable. Having a man who weighed as much as him was less than ideal but when he felt how clammy Tim's skin was, he didn't complain in the slightest. Instead, he checked for any injuries Tim might have sustained. The fact that he couldn't find any didn't reassure him in the slightest.
When Tim finally settled, he pressed two fingers against the pulse-point in Jason's neck. One hand gripped the thread-bare shirt like a life-line.
"You were dead," Tim whispered, "Again. I had a nightmare and I…" Jason's chest tightened at the confession. His breathing stuttered for a moment and Tim's grip hardened. Jason kissed the top of Tim's head like Bruce did for Jason after a bad patrol. Even when he'd been "out of line".
Jason deepened his breathing, let Tim feel the rise and fall of his chest as his brother slowly but surely stopped shivering. They stayed like that in silence. Jason knew words of reassurance wouldn't help him. They didn't help Jason when he woke up from a nightmare about Dick or when he knew Tim had a particularly brutal patrol. The only thing that helped him during those nights were tracking down Dick's multiple safe-houses and watching his brother from a rooftop. Making sure Dick didn't need help. Or sneaking into the Batcave (Bruce always knew, as did Alfred; he could never get past them) and watching Tim get patched together from up high. He knew the only thing that would help Tim now was feeling that he was alive.
At some point, Jason fell asleep. When he woke up, Tim had gone. He groaned at the crick in his neck. When he checked the time, he had two notifications.
Replacement - 03:21
thanks
won't happen again
Jason - 09:03
Sure
Use the door next time