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Jason lost contact with Roy seven hours and forty-three minutes ago.
“I’m in position,” Nightwing says through the comm.
“Ditto,” Red Robin says.
“Confirmed ten hostiles on the first floor,” Oracle crackles in his ear.
“Begin,” says Batman.
Red Hood begins. He breaches the back entrance and takes down the guard there with ironclad efficiency. He leaves his body on the ground and moves on. He picked this entrance when they were planning because he knew it was closest to the basement stairs and he will not be slowing down for anything. The next guard goes down even easier.
“First room clear,” Nightwing says in his ear.
“I’ve reached the security room,” Red Robin says, “Downloading virus now,”
He has the rest of the Bats to be careful for him. He hates asking them for help, it feels like peeling his own skin off, but he can trust them to be good at their jobs at least, the best. He continues on a straight line for the basement stairs. A battering ram, and arrow flown true and straight.
He takes another guard out. He may never wake up the same again and Red Hood couldn’t care less. The only condition for the Bats help was that he didn’t kill anyone, anything else they can cry him a fucking river.
He reaches the basement door. Retinal scan and key code. He takes a step back and fires and fires again. He empties a full clip into the lock in under ten seconds, then he reaches into the hot metal mess of it and tears it free. He has the Bats to be careful for him. He’s been missing Roy for seven hours and forty-seven minutes.
“Hostiles converging on Red Hood’s location, basement door first floor,” Oracle reports.
“Understood,” Batman says, “intercepting now,”
Red Hood opens the door and three guards meet him as he does. They get two shots off, slamming into his kevlar chest piece, before Red Hood leaps down the stairs towards them. He clears the entire first flight to slam into the foremost guard. The force of his landing takes the man to the ground and leaves him there as Red Hood rises. The next guard goes down easy too, the third doesn’t. He blocks Jason’s first blow and jams a taser into the sliver of bare skin at Red Hood’s throat. His muscles seize and his teeth clack together. He comes back to awareness on one knee, with blood in his mouth and green in his eyes. Roy has been missing for seven hours and forty-eight minutes.
There are more guards gathering in the stairwell now. Red Hood turns on them all like a wild animal. He seizes the guard before him by the neck and squeezes. All he needs to be is alive, he doesn’t need to recover. He slams his head into the metal railing and throws his limp body down the stairs to knock into the other charging guards like bowling pins.
“Download complete,” Red Robin says, “Arsenal confirmed in the basement. Room B14,”
“Affirmative,” Batman says, “Holding position at the top of the stairs, Red Hood is progressing downwards,”
One of the guards shoots him in the chest, the shot feels like a bee sting on a lion. It just makes him angrier. Roy has been missing for seven hours and forty-nine minutes. He snatches the woman’s forearm and snaps it. She drops the gun with a scream and Red Hood kicks her into the next guard. There is no satisfaction in it, only anger and more anger building like a bonfire in him. Roy has been missing for seven hours and forty-nine minutes. Seven hours and forty-nine minutes. A guard whips him across the back with an electric baton. His leather jacket eats the shock of it and his kevlar the rest, he slams his elbow back and the man hits the wall with a wet crack and goes limp.
He clears the rest of the guards and exits the stairs into another long hall.
“Second floor clear,” Nightwing says, “Moving to your location, Batman,”
“Electronic locks on the basement floor disabled,” Oracle says, “three guards and two researchers located in or around Arsenal’s cell,”
Three guards. Two researchers. Researchers.
Red Hood and Arsenal had been investigating an experimental drug operation. It had come to their attention through one of the legit government jobs Roy liked to take because he was a good man. The government wasn’t full of good men and women. People were going missing. Political prisoners were dying. Researchers.
Jason hadn’t been there when Roy was addicted or when he was getting clean, he met him in the aftermath of all that, but he knew it well. He remembered his mother, he has seen Roy’s struggle, his strength again and again in the face of it as he resists. Researchers. The thought of them giving Roy something, forcing something on him when he has worked so hard to remain clean. Green. Green and green and green, filling his vision, filling his brain and his heart and his veins.
Red Hood turns the corner and he fires. Three shots, three guards on the ground. All they have to do is live and they will if Batman gets here quick enough.
The door to room B14 opens easily, already unlocked for him. Inside the room is Roy. He is in his Arsenal gear, minus arm guards, gloves, boots and hat. He is tipped forward in a chair, wrists and ankles secured, head limp against his chest. There is an empty syringe sitting on a silver tray beside the chair. Jason can hear Roy’s breathing from here, burdened and wet.
A shot rings out. Another bullet punches into the kevlar of Jason’s armor. There’s a crack, probably a rib finally giving way under the assault. He can’t feel it, he can’t feel anything. Just green and green and green.
He shoots the first researcher in the gut and she crumples immediately, gasping softly, then wailing as she writhes on the floor. All these scientist types are the same; they can dish out the pain, but they can never fucking take it. He kicks her in the head as he comes into the room, dropping her into unconsciousness. The second researcher he wings in the shoulder. His gun clatters to the ground and Jason is on him heaving him hard into the wall before he can fall too.
“What did you give him,” Jason growls, near unintelligible through the modulator in his helmet.
“I-I-” he sobs, “Our work is confidential,” he says. Jason digs his fingers into the man’s shoulder and blood pulses out with his scream.
“What did you fucking give him before I break your fucking leg,” Jason snarls, “Three. Two-”
“A truth serum,” the man sobs, “It’s the purpose of our research, it’s not fully effective,”
“Not effective how?”
“The subjects cannot lie, but the compulsion is still too weak. He was able to withstand it for hours,”
“What will happen to him?” Jason says.
“Wha-what-”
“Side effects,” Jason shouts, shoving him harder into the wall, “Withdrawal symptoms,” Jason’s heart is beating out of his chest, his palms sweating, his head buzzing. Roy was missing for seven hours and fifty-four minutes and it might have been too long. He wants to say more he wants to know, needs to know, but the man has already passed out. Useless. Useless, useless, useless.
Jason drops him and stumbles to Roy’s chair.
“Secure all information on the truth serum,” He says into his comm biting the glove off one hand to feel for Roy’s pulse, “Arsenal has been dosed, I’m moving him out,”
“Affirmative,” Oracle answers.
“Roger,” Red Robin echoes her.
“Arsenal,” Jason whispers, “Arsenal, can you hear me?” His pulse is rapid and thin against Jason’s fingers. He tips his head up, hands cupped around his cheeks and jaw, “Arsenal?”
His face is tacky with blood, dripping hot from his nose and ears, and thin trails from the corners of his eyes. His pupils are blown wide and his eyes glassy in his head. His skin is feverish and sweaty.
“Ja-Hood,” he says, his voice hoarse, “Hood,” he says again and it is halfway to a sob.
“I’m here,” Jason says, “I’m here,” he takes off his helmet and Roy seems to calm infinitesimally at the sight of his face. Jason moves forward to tuck the unresisting weight of Roy’s head against the side of his neck to hold it up so he can have his hands for Roy’s restraints.
“Hood,” Roy sobs, “I didn’t,” he says, “I promise I didn’t. I didn’t,”
“Didn’t what, Arsenal?” he says working the first buckle on Roy’s right wrist.
“I didn’t tell them anything,” Roy answers, slurred, his chest hitching against Jason’s. Jason’s heart seizes and his hands freeze, “I promise. I promise,” Roy says, his hands straining against the restraints trying to reach for Jason, “Please,” he sobs, “Please, please, please don’t leave me,”
“I won’t leave you,” Jason says, throat tight, “I won’t leave you,” He tries to work the buckles, but it’s too slow. He snatches his knife and slits the leather, four easy strokes and Roy is free, he tips forward into Jason’s arms and Jason gathers him up, “Can you walk, baby?” Jason asks, face pressed into Roy’s hair as he heaves them upright.
“I don’t know, Ja-Hood, Hood,” he corrects quickly, fearfully.
“It’s alright, it’s alright now,” Jason reassures hurriedly, “It’s just us. You’re safe now. Everything is fine. I’m here now and I’ll handle everything,”
“Jason,” Roy slurs, pressing himself close, “Jason,”
“Yeah, I’m here. I’m here. Let’s go home now,” Jason decides not to test whether or not Roy can walk and just slings him bodily into his arms.
Roy gasps wetly against his chest as Jason settles him. He closes his eyes and presses his mouth into a thin line.
“Arsenal secured leaving now,” Jason says into the comms, “Arsenal is compromised-”
“No,” Roy says sharply, writhing in Jason’s arms, “I didn’t,” he whines, “I didn’t, I didn’t, Jay, I promise-”
“Arsenal is not in a state to be with company. I’m taking him to safehouse B. I’m going to start him on an IV and someone needs to come collect a blood sample for analysis,”
“I’ll do it,” Nightwing jumps in.
“Fine,” Jason answers, “Red Hood signing off,” then he clicks off the comm with no intention of turning it back on.
“Roy,” Jason says, jostling him gently, ducking his head to catch Roy’s glazed, frantic eyes., “Roy, I believe you. I believe you, and even if you had that wouldn’t matter at all,”
“Jason,” Roy says, uncomprehending, his cheek is hot against Jason’s neck.
“Let’s just go home okay?”
“Okay,” Roy whispers.
Jason jogs them out of the facility, only having the presence of mind to stop and message Batman about the 5 GSWs in the basement, not wanting to bring Roy near anyone whom he could unintentionally reveal anything to. Roy plays up the shameless act a lot, but Jason knows that there are a lot of things he hides, that he wears as many masks as the rest of them.
Jason straps Roy to his front to get them to the safehouse on his motorcycle and by the time they get there he seems a little more cognizant, he can hold his own head up at least. Jason hauls him up the stairs with Roy doing his best to help, putting one foot in front of the other.
“I’ll be right back,” Jason says after he’s deposited Roy on the couch, “I just need the IV and the first aid kit. I wanna get some fluids in you to try and flush out the drug, okay?”
“No,” Roy says, then slaps his hand over his mouth.
“What’s not okay about it?” Jason asks.
“I don’t want you to go,” Roy says then presses the heel of his hand into one of his eyes, “I’m sorry, I’m being stupid,”
“No, you’re not,” Jason says, “Turning our toaster into a deathbot? That was stupid,”
“It was cool,” Roy defends, choking on a wet laugh.
“It couldn’t make toast,” Jason replies, “I need to get the supplies for you, Roy, would it be okay if I talked to you the whole time that way you could hear me?”
“Okay,” Roy says after a moment.
“Okay,” Jason says and presses a passing kiss to Roy’s brow as he straightens.
“I like it when you do that,” Roy blurts.
“Hm,” Jason says, smiling and does it again, “Dick will be coming by to pick up some blood for a tox screening in a bit, and Barbie and the kid will be sending us the drug details before too long,” he says as he gathers the IV pole and a bag of saline from the supplies along with a small first aid kit and a wet rag, “What symptoms do you have.
“Slight fever,” Roy answers, “elevated pulse, headache, and disorientation, but those only get real bad if I try not to talk,”
“That’s good,” Jason says, returning to the room. He kneels in front of Roy on the floor and takes his chin gently between his fingers and starts to wipe the blood away with the rag.
“You’re so good to me,” Roy says, everything about him gentled and hazy, by trust, and by the drug in his system. Jason feels his cheeks heat slightly, feels warmth gather in his chest, “I’ll be sad when you leave,” the warmth blinks out in a cold rush.
“I’m not leaving you, Roy,” Jason says seriously, “I’m not ever going to leave you,”
“You left before,” Roy says, and it strikes Jason through the chest. Roy’s face instantly flashes with regret, “Sorry,” he says, “Sorry, I-”
Jason kisses him, as gentle as he knows how to be, “Don’t be sorry. Don’t ever be sorry to me for my fuck ups. I was being a stupid, self-martyring fuckhead. I’m never gonna do that again, Roy,”
“You will,” Roy says and Jason can see him pressing his hands into his own mouth, trying to stop the words, and Jason doesn’t know what to do, “There’s something wrong in me. Something that makes people leave. Everyone does it,” he says and he can’t stop, Jason can see the fear in his eyes as Roy keeps talking, unstoppable, “My parents, and Brave Bow, and Ollie-” he’s sobbing now, the tears spilling over and over.
“I won’t,” Jason says over him drowning out his words, “I left you cause there was something wrong with me. I came back because I know how good you are Roy Harper. How good and smart and capable and loyal. I’m never gonna leave you again, cause I’m too greedy to let anyone else ever have you. I love you,” he holds Roy’s still bloody face in his hands, meets his cornflower eyes, “I love you. Can you believe that? I love you, Roy Harper.”
“Yes,” Roy says, “Yes,”
“Good,” Jason says and kisses him soundly, “I’ll prove the rest of it to you tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and the day after that, and after that, and on and on as long as you’ll have me,”
“Forever,” Roy says.
“Forever then,” Jason says, and presses his smiling mouth to Roy’s.