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[theknightshift]

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[turdusmigratoriusmortuus]

[He probably should call someone - anyone - else. Getting a face full of some new designer drug wasn't part of the plan, but he was undercover and he felt obligated to go with it or his cover would be blown.

An hour later he's still at this club, and he's feeling like his skin is going to boil off or like he's going to dissolve, or both, and all he wants is Bruce. He can't even figure out why. He's never felt like this, like he's going to absolutely lose his mind if he doesn't get-

-so he makes the call, slipping a hand onto his phone to let Bruce know he needs a pick up and he needs it soon, handing over his coordinates with a press of a button.

When Bruce does show up, Jason is on edge of the dance floor with glitter covering miles of bare skin. He's wearing short shorts, and a shirt that looks painted on, and he's got someone's hands on his hips, but there is a look to him that seems more manic than anything else.]

[theknightshift]

[ If asked, Bruce would say he doesn't stalk anyone in his orbit. He doesn't intrude or interfere or bother them when they're not actively seeking him out (or doing something he strongly disagrees with. But he likes keeping them in his peripherals, so he's never blindsided if they come to him for help. After everything it just felt right knowing that they were okay and thriving and if they ever needed him, he'd know where to go looking.

That's how he knew about Jason's undercover work before he ever sent his pick up request. He mostly stayed out of Jason's investigation, except where there had been some overlap with his own case. They were getting along and Bruce wanted to keep it that way. But even if they hadn't been, Bruce still would have come the second he got that pick up request.

Getting by security is easy enough when you know how and Bruce's been at this long enough that most people won't realize he'd been there until long after he's gone. He spots Jason easily too - the glitter may as well be a spotlight and makes his way over to him. He doesn't look injured. Just high as hell. ]

I've got the car waiting. Let's go.

[turdusmigratoriusmortuus]

[The person who has his hands on his hips looks sharply at Bruce, and says hey man, we're having a good time here but Jason slips out of his grip with a move that makes him look like water, and reaches for Bruce's hand. He could not, in a million years, explain why he does that, except it feels right to take his hand and hold it.

The other guy snorts, and wanders off to look for someone else to dance with.]

You came.

[The pleasure in that statement is real, and there's a little surprise, too. It's not Batman, it's Bruce, and he came for Jason, even though Jason knows he hates him.]

[theknightshift]

[ The look Bruce gives in return is chilling. A warning the guy seems to get as Jay slips out of his grasp and he moves on. ]

You asked me to.

[ his voice is low, softer than it would be if he’d come in the suit ]

We should go. Now.

[turdusmigratoriusmortuus]

[Jason's smile is real, even if he is high, because he likes to hear that sometimes, someone does something he asks just because he asks. He holds onto Bruce's hand and isn't letting go anytime soon.

He nods.]

Did you drive? Is Alfie here?

[He thinks Bruce probably drove himself.]

Is it the BMW? Or the Aston-Martin?

[This is Jason without the rough edge of his personal armor; this is Jason at his most gentle, as if no one has ever hurt him.]

Lead the way.

[theknightshift]

[ If Jason is reaching out to him, the situation is dire. Being high in the middle of an investigation definitely counts as dire. Bruce takes Jason’s hand, tucks it under his arm so he has to stay close. ]

I drove.

[ but it’s an old beater hes not concerned about getting jacked. The security measures installed will keep any would be thieves at bay regardless. He cuts through the crowd with relative ease, shoving aside anyone disinclined to move themselves out of his way to the exit. ]

Stay close. We’re almost out.

[turdusmigratoriusmortuus]

[He does stay close, enjoying the protection of Bruce's body getting them through the crowd. Even if people don't know who it is, Bruce is very large, and one of the rare people who is larger than Jason.

Jason hums a little as they get to the car and he laughs when he sees the car.]

Did you borrow that from Dick?

[Jason slips in, anyway.]

This looks like his kind of thing.

[theknightshift]

[ Bruce doesn't say anything to that. Just gets the passenger door open for Jason to get in. The car itself looks over a decade old on the outside. The interior has been fitted with something distinctly more Batman. Commlinks to the cave, bulletproof windows and doors, high voltage emitters to keep people from poking around.

When he slips into the driver's seat, he glances at Jason and for a minute his eyes drift down to his glittered abs. ]

Where am I taking you?

[turdusmigratoriusmortuus]

Home.

[He says it without thinking. He kind of wants to go back to the manor, and the nature of this drug - stripping away that layer of armor - means that he can say it without worrying about it.]

The manor. Can I come home?

[He asks it with the softness of someone who thinks the answer might be no. He's always thought of it as home, from the first day that he was there and he had a warm bed again to yesterday, when he was in his own apartment, eating leftovers and ignoring his family.]

[theknightshift]

[ Bruce pauses. Home. Jason wants to come home. It’s something Bruce has wanted for ages, feeling like his family is whole again. It’s the tender way he asks. Bruce could forget how fraught their relationship is when Jason is tender like that. ]

Yeah, Jason. You can come home.

[ the car starts and Bruce takes the quickest route back to the cave. He parks the car back in its place alongside the fleet of other vehicles. ]

What did you take?

[turdusmigratoriusmortuus]

[Jason almost glows with pleasure, and he goes quiet as Bruce drives, pressing his forehead against the window of the car and watching the lights change. When they get to the cave, he sits there for a minute.]

I didn't do it because I wanted to get high. You know that, right?

[He looks over at Bruce, and his eyes are huge and blue. Frank Sinatra would be jealous.]

It's the new shit I've been looking into. Unicorn dust, is what they're calling it.

[He reaches for Bruce's hand.]

You won't leave me alone, right?

[theknightshift]

[ He didn't suspect so. Jason was reckless, stubborn, disobedient. But knew how to take things seriously when he was working. It does make Bruce wonder, though, who could have gotten close enough to drug him. He gazes back into Jason's blue eyes, lips parting just enough to show a glimpse of his teeth.

But the moment passes and he gives Jason's hand a squeeze. ]

Come into the cave, let me have a look at you.

[turdusmigratoriusmortuus]

[He comes over with him, following without a fuss, but what he wants is to get into bed.

He probably needs a shower; he's still glittering.]

Alfie's going to be so mad when he sees all this glitter.

[At least he doesn't seem to need any help down the stairs; whatever this drug did, it wasn't anything that made Jason lose his sense of space or his physical awareness.

He sits in the medical bay and holds out his arms.]

Did you really just come without knowing anything about what was going on?

[theknightshift]

[ He's been investigating Unicorn Dust on his own. Several weeks ago a body had been pulled from the harbor with traces of the drug in his system. High enough for an overdose, but it had not been what killed him. Seeing it in action gave him another potential lead to follow.

And, he could make sure what happened to that young man wouldn't happen to this one.

He doesn't say anything at first, while he busies himself around the med bay. When he's close, he checks Jason's arms for puncture wounds. ]

I've been keeping an eye on the club. I saw when you went in there.

[ It's not spying. ]

[turdusmigratoriusmortuus]

[Jason doesn't complain, this time, he just hums and dutifully turns over his arms, for a full examination.]

The dealer's selling...it to the working girls down in the alley. No. That's not right.

[Jason scowls.]

To the pimps, and then the girls get it. If it was just a party drug-

[Jason shrugs. He doesn't care if twentysomethings are doing a drug that makes them feel good at a party, but he does care if it gets to people who don't want to take it, to make them pliable.]

Needed a sample, but the dealers wanted to see me use it, so take the blood for the sample.

[His mouth turns into a moue.]

I'm being good.

[He says it mulishly.]

[theknightshift]

[ Bruce smooths his hands down Jason's arms. Not really necessary. But it made Bruce feel a little bit better, seeing his boy whole and feeling that reassurance the longer his hands linger. Jason's fine, he tells himself. He's been through worse. This would pass. He just needed rest. ]

It isn't just a party drug.

[ He's quiet and efficient as he works, blood sample taken and stored away to examine later. When he comes back to Jason, he touches him again, wipes away some of the glitter with a swipe of his palm over Jason's chest. He's helping. ]

You are being good.

[turdusmigratoriusmortuus]

[Jason looks up, a shiver going down his arms where Bruce touched him. How often does he get touched like that, with a measure of care like that? Almost never, now. He watches the glitter on Bruce's hand, and the touch on his chest makes him shudder a little, just a little ripple of something that feels like -

- he doesn't know what it feels like, but he knows he likes it, it feels good. It feels good that Bruce is right here, that he's treating him like this.]

No.

[He's agreeing; it's not just a party drug.]

But this is my job. I'm supposed to do things like this, to help.

[He reaches for Bruce's hand and takes it in his, and puts it over his heart. His heart is beating hard, but not rapidly, hard but not like he's going into cardiac shock.]

I'm supposed to help you.

[theknightshift]

[ He's high, Bruce tells himself. He shouldn't put more weight to Jason's actions than necessary. He's just taking care of his boy. That's all. But he doesn't pull away when Jason grabs his hand. Bruce let's him put it over his heart so Bruce could feel it thundering against his the palm of his hand. It's the drugs.

Just the drugs. ]

You are helping. Help me again by laying down for a little while.

[turdusmigratoriusmortuus]

[It's not the drugs.

Well.

It's not just the drugs, but Jason doesn't say that at the moment. Instead he holds Bruce's hand and keeps it tucked against his heart, but he does lie down, slowly, and holds on like Bruce is a prayer.]

I'll stay if you agree to hold me.

[He says it with a smile, pleased.]

[theknightshift]

[ The med bay bed is barely big enough to hold Jason alone. Bruce wouldn't fit if he didn't press in close and he's not sure why but that didn't bother him like it should (he knew why, he just didn't want to say it or think it. ]

Turn on your side.

[ And when Jason does, Bruce will climb into the bed with him and slipping an arm around him and drawing him close. ]

[turdusmigratoriusmortuus]

[And maybe he sleeps a bit too long, once Bruce is holding him, and maybe he ducks his head against Bruce's shoulder, practically cuddling.

It's been a few hours, and he's not high anymore. He's in Bruce's arms and it's so-

-right. Peaceful. And he has morning wood, so that doesn't help, but Bruce is right there and either asleep or pretending to be. Jason knows that if he moves, Bruce will move too, so he carefully puts a hand around Bruce's hip and-

-Bruce's eyes open and he doesn't pull away-

-he doesn't know how long it's been that he's thought of Bruce as a figure who-

-he doesn't know how long he's wanted to-

-he leans in and kisses him on the mouth, timid, a little, and then a bit more.]

[theknightshift]

[ Bruce doesn't sleep. Not while Jason is cuddled up against him. He just keeps his eyes shut and keeps his breathing steady and even, so he's not getting too comfortable. Even when he feels the hard press of Jason's erection against his thigh.

He doesn't mention it. He tries not to think about it. Until he feels Jason's hand on his hip. And then it's all he can think about. Bruce's eyes open and he stares at Jason.

The kiss isn't a surprise. Bruce leans into it because he's not thinking with his brain. He just wants to marvel in the warm, soft press of Jason's lips against his. He'll come back to himself in a minute. ]

[turdusmigratoriusmortuus]

[Jason's brain, usually so active and wary, has totally checked out this morning. This is pure want, pure instinct. Someone who loves him. Someone who wants to touch him.

When Bruce kisses him back, Jason pulls back a little, just enough for his breath to hitch, and before Bruce can move away in a panic Jason leans in to kiss him again, to press against him like it's all he has ever wanted. More than the Joker's death.]

It's okay.

[He says it before Bruce can think, he hopes.]

[theknightshift]

[ Bruce is already thinking, taking stock, figuring things out. Jason's not high anymore. He doesn't know that for sure without really looking him over, but Bruce knew Jason and there's something deliberate in the way he kisses Bruce and presses his body against him. Something that's distinctly Jason and not just fueled by lowered inhibitions from the Unicorn dust.

He doesn't spend a lot of time thinking about whether it's okay, because if he does, he'll stop doing this and he doesn't really want to stop doing this. He puts a hand on Jason's hip, fingers pressing in for leverage so he can pull him in close and slip his leg between Jason's. ]

Don't talk. Just kiss me.

[turdusmigratoriusmortuus]

[He didn't expect that. He expected Bruce to push him away, to remind him that he's legally Jason's father, or something else, to call him sick, to say he's high.

But he's not doing any of that. Jason kisses him again, then, letting his body take the wheel where his brain is checked out. He didn't overdose or die; his memory isn't even blurry over the night before. He should be embarrassed at how he was acting, but he's not. He's not embarrassed.

He turns his hips a little to loop one leg over Bruce's and opens his mouth to make the kiss deeper, to make it clear that he wants this as badly as Bruce seems to want to give it to him. His hips stutter once, twice. Shit.

He still won't say a word.]