Jon had never been on reconnaissance before, but he concluded it was the most boring thing ever. He’d been sitting in Jason’s car for almost three hours, with nothing to say for it. He’d already told them Jack wasn’t there, they would have already found him if he was. John had helped direct Jason through the back streets up to the warehouses by pier. Jason didn’t like being there. Neither did Jon.
“Has Bats been inside?”
“Yeah. Him and Robin checked it out. Said it looks clear.”
“I think it's clear then, don’t you?”
“They wanna be sure.”
“And how long’s that gonna take?”
“What, you got a hot date?”
“I could. If I weren’t stuck out here with you.”
Jason scoffed and hit a button on his dashboard. A radio signal popped up on a small screen and Batman’s voice cut through the static.
“Anything on your end?”
“Nothin’. No activity, no movement. Jon says there’s no sign of Joker being here.”
“Robin and I have done a walk-through. Nothing to report. Go on and head home. We’re done here.”
“Oh, thank God.” Jon whispered and stretched his arms out.
He caught his arm around Jason’s headrest, groaning as his back crackled.
“See, if you guys woulda listened to me earlier we coulda already be back home.”
“We had to check. Don’t be such a baby.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault ya’ll’ve kept me out here for three hours. Any longer I would’ve been runnin’ late for work.”
Jason didn’t respond but shoved Jon’s arm out of his way, turning in his seat to see as he reversed the car. He stomped on the brakes suddenly, nearly choking Jon with the seat belt.
“The fuck-“
“We need another way out of here.”
“What? Why?”
“Your brother.”
Jon sat up, twisting around to see Joker’s car, and not even the more covert one, sitting right around the corner. He could see Jack looking at him, a sly smile on his face, eyebrows raised in question. They’d been waiting. Shit. Jon tried to think but there wasn’t any other way out. The warehouse backed right up to a concrete drop off into the bay. He punched the button he’d seen Jason press before and Batman’s voice cut through again.
“Red?”
“Joker’s behind us. He knew we were here.”
“That’s not possible we checked ev-“
“Well tell that to the purple Lambo currently comin’ up our ass.” Jon snapped.
Jason scrambled as Jon undid his seatbelt, making to open the door.
“Whoa, no. What the fuck are you doing?”
“I’m gonna talk to him and convince him to let you guys go.”
“Jon, pal, I know he’s your brother but-“
“He’ll listen to me, just stay here.”
Jason continued protesting as Jon left the car, holding up his hands and waiting for a signal. Joker rolled down his window, leaning an elbow on the door.
“Jonny-boy! Fraternizing with the enemy?”
“Just… trying to do some recon. Keep things safe.”
“Only two people know their way around these parts, Jon. Me. And you.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Harley Quinn was in the passenger seat, her eyes flashing between Jon and the Joker. She leaned over, whispering something, and Joker smiled.
“Tell you what. You get in the car, tell us what we wanna know, and your,” he grimaced, “friend can go free.”
“Promise.”
“Wh-“
“Promise, Jack. Fuckin’ pinky swear me you won’t light him up after I get in the car.”
“If I wanted to light ‘im up-“
“Promise. Me.”
Jason was baffled. A whole psychopathic murder, his psycho girlfriend, and Jon wanted the man to make a pinky promise? No less, wanted him to get out of the car, just to make a pinky promise? Jason was more baffled when Joker actually did get out of the car and sauntered up to Jon. Their resemblance was uncanny, even with the makeup, though Jack stood just a bit taller. Jon stood there, full eye contact and a pinky finger out. Jack sighed dramatically and linked his finger with Jon’s.
“Fine. We won’t kill him.”
“Thank you. Now let him leave first before I get in the car.”
Jack seemed weak to Jon, huffing as he waved Jason on. Jason waited, looking at Jon in the side mirror.
“Go on, it’s okay!”
“Jon-“
“Go, man, it’s alright!” Jon waved him on.
Jason gritted his teeth and flipped the car around, riding past the other and glaring daggers at Joker. Once he was out of sight, Joker grabbed Jon, pulling him into a smothering hug and laughing.
“Jonny, am I glad to see you! Now, about those questions..”
_____________________
It had been hours, Jon wasn’t sure how many. The sleazy club he found himself in was still booming with music even as people scattered. Joker had just shot someone who looked twice at Harley, and the cops were on the way. Harley had turned to him on the VIP sofa, signaling to the back door of the club.
“Get outta here, Jonny, it’s gonna get ugly.”
And so Jon found himself stumbling through the late night Gotham streets, headed back to his apartment. He sighed at the crisp September air and felt unusually comfortable by himself. His brain was swimming with euphoria and a sense of calmness. Trusting that girl in the bathroom with the belt had turned out great. His elbow kind of hurt, but that was expected after not having used in what, almost three years? Of course, with nothing much else to think about, his thoughts eventually traveled to Jason. Specifically his face when Jon went with Joker at the warehouse. His green eyes were wide behind the hood’s visor. He looked scared, concerned, and then incredibly angry at Joker as he loaded Jon into his own vehicle. Jon thought about that maybe a little too deeply, as he found himself smiling awkwardly at the concept of Jason really caring about him. All these months he assumed he was just there for info, but between Jason sleeping in his bed, jumping to protect him, even cooking for him? Maybe it wasn’t just all professional. He couldn’t get too far into that train of thought, though. It's not like there could be anything underneath that newly recognized friendship. A guy like Jason definitely wasn’t going to be interested in a guy, much less a guy like Jon. He snapped back to reality as he rounded the corner of 12th Street; his apartment was just another block and a half away.
_________________
Crickets filled the air of Jon’s apartment. Jason was pacing through the living room. Batman had offered to track them down, but Jason had objected. If he followed them, Jon might get hurt. If he tried to track down their safehouse, Jon might get hurt. If he tried to stop them, Jon might get hurt. The thought of something happening to him made Jason feel sick. He’d raced back to Jon’s apartment, rummaging through his belongings, trying to find anything that could clue him in on where they were taking him. He was trifling through an old file box when he heard the doorknob jiggle. He quickly replaced his helmet, standing just to the side of the door, readying his gun. He cocked it, focusing hard on the door, ready to obliterate whoever chose to walk through. Jon gave another shove and the door finally opened, the stupid door was getting stuck again. He stumbled through and barely caught himself from careening to the floor.
“Jesus H Christ!” Jason shouted, Jon yelped in response.
Before he could ask why exactly his apartment was torn apart, or why Jason was even there, he was being dragged into an embrace. Jason hugged him tight around his shoulders and leaned back, lifting him off the ground a bit before releasing him.
“For fuck’s sake, Jon, are you okay?”
He started patting Jon down, cupping his face to look for any bruises or bumps and pressing on vital areas.
“Did they hurt you? Did you get cut, shot, stabbed, anything?”
“N-no, I’m fine, I’m okay. What are you doing?”
Jason was holding his face again, this time staring intently at him. Jon felt his cheeks warm significantly, becoming hotter as Jason’s thumbs came to rest under his eyes. Jon looked away, stumbling over his words.
“Jason, I- What are you- um-“
“You’re high.”
Jon felt all heat wash back out of his face and cold took its place. He stood there with his mouth agape like a goldfish, unsure of what to say to defend himself.
“Did they slip you something? Make you take something?”
“No, I-“
“You took it? Willingly? What was it?”
Jon hesitated and started to try and back away. Jason pulled him back closer.
“Jon, what did you take?” He asked so gently Jon felt like a victim.
“I-It was… It was heroin.”
The name came out as a whisper. The intense shame settling into the pit of Jon’s stomach as Jason finally stepped away from him. He pulled his helmet off and set it on the couch behind him before extending a hand, gesturing for Jon’s arm. He handed over his limb, wrist facing towards Jason. Jason pulled the sweatshirt sleeve up and grimaced. Sure enough, amongst the scars crisscrossing his lower arms was an angry red injection mark, close to the crease of his elbow. Jason tugged the sleeve back down.
“Did you take it willingly?”
“Yes.” Another whisper.
“Why?”
“Because they took me to some underground club and everyone was doing it.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “I was nervous. I wanted to take the edge off.”
“You’ve done this before?”
“It’s why I went to Arkham for two years.”
Jon was facing the floor, gripping his elbow defensively and face still paper white. He couldn’t bear to face Jason’s disappointment, even if he deserved it. He’d let him down, just like he let everyone down, all the time. He waited for the yelling, the belittling, and when it didn’t come he finally glanced up to see Jason’s face. He was covering his mouth, eyebrows knitted together. He was thinking of how to respond, but his expression read clearly as deep concern. His hand dropped away to rest on his hips and his mouth opened and closed for a moment before he sighed.
“I don’t know what to say. I didn’t know that you had this… issue.”
“It’s been a long time. But… everyone was doing it.”
“You were surrounded. You had no excuse to not.”
Jon gestured in an affirmative and Jason sighed again before taking Jon by the shoulders.
“It’s alright, Jon. We can get through this. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
He kept one hand on Jon’s shoulder as he pulled his phone from his jacket. He typed out a text to Batman and sighed in relief.
“Um, Jason?”
“Huh?”
“Why’d you tear my apartment up?”
“Oh, uh,” Jason looked sheepish, “I was trying to find something that might hint to where you were. Where they’d taken you.”
“So you tore my stuff up?”
“With good intention…I’ll help you clean up.”
__________________
The boys had just finished putting the apartment back together and Jon’s high was fully worn off. The tenseness in his shoulders had returned and the after-high jitters were setting in. He was seated on the couch, his head feeling heavy. Jason was divvying up some Chinese takeout which left Jon to think to himself. He cleared his throat.
“Hey, Jason?”
“Yeah?”
“Um, were you really looking for me, or just Joker?”
“I was looking for him to find you.” Jason looked offended. “I wanted to ram that fuckin’ Lambo into the bay, Jon. I didn’t wanna leave you.”
Jon’s eyes flickered to the floor before snapping back to Jason as he continued.
“I threw up just thinking about if something happened to you. If the cops showed up and you were collateral, if- if someone else got you or-“ he had to stop himself, swallowing hard and turning away. “Food’s ready.”
Jon was already at his side, taking the plate from his hand and setting it to the side. He carefully extended his arms, motioning for a hug, and raised his brows at Jason. Jason nodded, letting Jon loop his arms under his own, settling his hands on Jason’s shoulder blades. He wrapped his own arms around Jon’s shoulders, one hand resting on the back of his neck and the other on his upper back. Jason couldn’t help but think it was oddly intimate for Jon, someone who leans away from touches and keeps three feet of distance from people. But, the sentiment was there and Jason could appreciate that for what it was worth. The hug ended and Jon quickly took his plate of food to the couch, curling up with it in the corner of the seat. Jason sat on the opposite end of the sofa, giving Jon his space. They sat in silence, not being able to face each other without Jon blushing profusely.
_______________________________
Jason couldn’t sleep. He stayed with Jon, was even invited to sleep under the covers instead of freezing in the poorly heated apartment. He opted for sitting up on the mattress, fiddling around on his phone. It was almost sunrise and he found himself reclined against the pillows, watching Jon’s breathing. It had fluctuated a few times, jumping a bit before evening back out after a few minutes.
“God, I’m a fuckin’ weirdo. Watching him sleep like a stalker.” Jason thought to himself.
Jon stirred again, this time turning onto his back, his arm flopped out beside him, landing just on Jason’s leg and resting there. His mouth was slightly open, his fingers twitching minutely. He looked almost serene, if his hair wasn’t in such disarray. Jason snorted a laugh and reached over, flicking a strand or two of hair off of Jon’s forehead and tugging the covers a bit higher.
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