Chapter Text
Jason's car tabs were well over six-months expired, but his plates read New Jersey and he was somewhere in the panhandle of Texas. Hopefully, this state trooper would be on his way quickly.
The terrible fucking heat baked his car and his check engine light kept the car- and AC- off, so he’d resorted to cranking a window and relishing the occasional passing car. Jason’s shirt sticks to him like a second skin and he wishes that he’d bought that second water bottle at his last stop.
Officer Whoever taps on Jason’s passenger window and Jason unbuckles to lean over and open the door for him. Hopefully he wouldn’t get a ticket for sitting in his off car unbuckled.
“Evenin’ Officer,” Jason cringes at himself, left hand clutching his shaking phone.
“Evening sir, what stops you here on the 40?” the officer asks.
There’s no way this is a trick question, Jason reassures himself, “On my way to a family member’s.” He’s still lying, though. He’s not actually headed anywhere. It’s not like his family wants him anymore.
“What’s got you stopped here?”
“My car stopped working.” His body feels more sweat than human at this point and his heart hasn’t stopped racing for two weeks. “Check engine light came on, I think it might be the transmission.”
The cop nods and Jason has half a find to slam the gas, decapitate the cop… Too bad his car wasn’t working.
“You got anyone coming?”
“No.” Jason had been through his fair share of tows and mechanics, money was short but he’d gotten back in touch with Bruce so that was no object anymore. Man, he really should have gotten that extra water bottle.
The cop nods and puts on a thinking face for a moment. “Say what, I got a guy up at Harper’s Wrecker Service, about 40 miles west of here. You want a number for them? They got a car lot and there’s some places to stay the night up there.”
Jason really doesn’t want to accept this guy's help but there’s no way he'd live walking 40 miles in this heat. “Sure.”
Pressing a button on his radio he requests a woman to look the number up for him and writes it on the back of one of Jason's mechanic receipts. “I’ve got a few hours left on my patrol, I’ll come swing by before I’m off and help get you sorted if you’re still here.”
“I’ll be gone by then.”
The cop nods and walks away, leaving Jason with a piece of paper and 5% left on his phone's battery.
“Harper’s Wrecker Service,” he finds a less than enthusiastic voice answer from the other end of his phone. “What can I do for you?”
“Uh, hey,” Jason’s mind is rolling, completely blank and devoid of anything helpful at this point. Maybe two weeks ago when his gas pedal first stopped communicating with his car he would have had something insightful to say. “My car stopped working.”
There’s a silence on the other end, something like a sigh or an eyeroll happens before, “You need a jump or a tow?”
“Tow.”
This would be upwards of his third that day. Somewhere between that and fifth.
“Got it. What are you driving- or not driving?” The man laughs and Jason chuckles along on instinct, without amusement.
“2005 Toyota corolla. ”
“Color?”
“Dark blue.”
“Where you at?”
Jason’s body shakes, hand gripping the phone pressed against his sweaty head as he searches the flat fields in front of himself for any landmark. He spots a mile marker and thanks whoever designed interstate roads. “Mile 132 on the I-40 west.”
“Before or after 132?”
“Uh…” All Jason can see is the marker ten or twenty feet in front of his car. “Before, I think.”
“Alright, I’ll be up there in less than an hour. Are you in a safe spot for that?”
Jason sees the sun sinking beyond the horizon, pretty colors painting the sky, and hopefully a chill coming soon. “Yes- Yeah, I think so.”
“Sit tight,” the man says before ending the line.
Jason stares down at his phone as the screen flashes with the end of the call. His screen shuts off to black before his own eyes. Maybe if his mind had anything going through it other than pleas for the heat to end, he would have cried. Maybe if this had happened last week, even.
But he’s run out of emotions for now so he sets his dead phone in his passenger seat and stares out his front windshield.
Jason doesn’t know how long it is until a big rig with a giant flatbed rolls up in front of his car, but the sun has since sunk below the horizon. Nobody steps out of the truck so Jason opens his door, and takes a few steps towards the truck before a man’s arm sticks out the window, directing Jason back and into his driver’s seat.
He waits there as the truck backs up a few feet, then a man steps out and down from the truck. He’s about as big as Jason, longer red hair under a blue trucker cap and a tattoo around his sleeveless biceps.
“Can you turn your car on?” The man shouts over his loud as fuck running truck.
“Yeah.”
“Put it in neutral and put your foot on the brake.”
Jason does as instructed and the man presses a button on the bed of the truck, holding it as it lowers, making a ramp for Jason’s shitty little Toyota. He picks up a rope with a hook from the truck bed and pulls it, body flexing against his red shirt as he pulls. The man produces a flashlight from his pants and holds it between his teeth, dropping down to the ground under Jason’s front bumper with the hook.
He pops back up, pointing the flashlight at the rope now holding onto Jason’s car and presses another button on the truck bed, pulling the rope back towards the truck. Once his car catches the man shouts, “Take your foot off the brake!”
Jason does so. His car is pulled forwards onto the ramp and then over onto the truck bed. The sound of the truck working drills into Jason’s skull, so loud he can’t even think about the line of blood that trails down the man’s arm. Presumably from a cut he got somewhere between dropping to the ground and standing back up. He acts like it’s not even there.
Once his car is safely secured on the truck bed, he turns his car off, grabs his phone, and opens the door.
“Here,” the man says, rushing to where Jason stands uneasy atop the truck bed, “let me help you down.” He offers a hand to Jason, and he takes it without a thought, dropping down onto the concrete side of the interstate.
“Thank you,” he shouts over the roaring truck.
“No problem, go ahead and hop in!”
He moves, walking around the truck and feeling like his body is made of something other than meat. He hops into the truck easily, relishing the cool air of it. It’s only marginally cooler than the still scorching heat of the night, but it’s something.
“I’m Roy,” the man says with a smile. From up this close, Jason can see Roy is covered in freckles with green eyes.
Jason’s brain is so fried by this point, he doesn’t even register that maybe he should tell this man his name too.
“What’s happened to your car?”
Many answers swing around Jason’s head, the boot has more holes in it than swiss cheese, the transmission has been going for a few years now, hell maybe he put the wrong gas into it two states back and ruined his engine. “No clue,” is what he decides to settle on.
“That’s a shame,” the man shakes his head in the dim light, eyes pointed forward at the interstate. They’re alone on the road. “You know what your plan is tonight?”
“Uh…” Truthfully, he’d been so caught up in getting out of the heat that he hadn’t really thought beyond that. “My phone’s dead, so I need to charge that.”
Roy nods, “You got anyone coming to pick you up?”
“No.” Maybe he should start lying about that.
“There’s some motels and such up here by the office. You could get a bed for the night, probably.” The man motions with his hand, off at the buildings in the distance.
“It’s fourth of july weekend, do you know if any of them are open this late?”
“Better be,” Roy laughs, “I’m getting a room too.”
Jason’s not sure why but he’s happy about that. “Why’s that?”
Roy glances at Jason before answering, “Too late to bother driving home tonight, my kid’s got someone taking care of her tonight anyway.”
“How far do you live from here?”
“Far enough. Say, what did you want done with your car tomorrow, like where are you headed?”
Nowhere. “Further than here.” Jason looks out the back of the cab at his car, as if staring it down will help him solve any of his current issues. “Can I keep it at your car lot for the night?”
“Yep. I could also park it outside your hotel, if you wanted.” After a minute of silence, Roy speaks up again, “How do you plan on getting your car to your destination?”
Jason doesn’t even have a destination. “I’ll probably need a tow.”
“Well, and now I don’t know if you know this, but I happen to have a tow truck available.” Roy cracks himself up, laughing a few times and Jason’s nearly delirious because he finds himself laughing as well.
“Once I figure out where I’m going I’ll give you a call then,” Jason mutters.
Roy side-eyes Jason but stays quiet after that. They arrive at what looks like a red barn in a junkyard, it sits at an intersection between three different hotels.
“I’ve got an outlet inside. I can ring you up for this tow and let you charge your phone before you decide where you’re going for the night.” Roy shuts the truck off and heads for a door leading into the red wooden building.
Jason’s quick to follow after him. He pays the nearly hundred dollar bill, and sits on the sawdust-covered floor as his phone slowly sucks power from the wall. Roy walks back and forth across the building, washing his car grease-covered hands and patching his new scrape up with electrical tape.
His phone lights back up to life and he’s almost surprised that it still works.
He calls the hotel directly behind the building he’s currently in first. They’re packed full for the weekend. So he calls the next hotel. Same deal.
Hoping against everything, he calls the motel across the street.
“Relax Inn, how can I help you?” a woman greets through the phone.
“Do you happen to have any rooms tonight?” Jason just wants a bed and a hot shower. Honestly, at this point, he’d settle for just one of those.
“Only one left, actually,” the woman’s voice is cheery and Jason looks up over at Roy, who's currently sitting somewhere behind a wall in his office.
“Thanks, I’ll be right over.” He’s not sure if he should tell Roy that there’s only one room left. It’s not like he wants to tell the man he’ll have to drive back home to wherever the fuck he’s from.
“All good?” Roy asks when he sees Jason standing in his office doorway.
“All good. Relax Inn is the only place left open, do you think you could give me a lift over there?”
“I’m headed that way too,” Roy laughs. He lifts his hat from his head to run a hand through his hair. “I’ll be in my truck out front, you grab whatever you need from your car and we’ll be on our way.”
Jason nods and heads back into the heat of the night.
Somehow, Jason’s shocked when he finds himself standing in the lobby of the motel, being told that there is only one room left between himself and Roy.
“You’re sure?” Roy asks the woman behind the desk, as if somehow the answer would change.
“Just one queen left,” she repeats.
Jason takes a deep breath and rakes his hands through his hair. He stretches his back out and takes another deep breath. “Just the one bed?” he asks.
“Just the one.”
Roy glances at a watch on his wrist, then a clock on the wall and looks between the woman, Jason, and his truck outside.
“We can share that,” Jason finds himself blurting.
“What?” Roy asks, confusing drawing on his face.
Maybe he’s suffering from heatstroke, but Jason continues, “I don’t feel like bartering over who has to sleep in a car, I just want a shower. You can take the bed and I can sleep on the floor or something. It’s fine.”
Roy gives Jason a look, and then turns back to the woman. “Yeah, sure.”
The motel room is… quaint.
Red walls, tan carpet. There’s the single queen bed in the center of the room, and a table with a single chair. At the end of the room is a sink and a door, presumably leading to a toilet and shower.
Jason tosses his backpack onto the table and wastes no time in rushing towards the shower. There’s no soap but at least he’s less sweaty. Once he’s remarkably more comfortable in his own human skin, he exits the bathroom wearing a clean shirt and boxers.
“You know, I never did catch your name,” Roy says from where he’s reading a book on the bed.
Jason runs a hand through his still damp hair, shaking it out. “Oh- uh, sorry . I’m Jason.”
Roy nods his head and sets the book aside. “Nice to meet you, Jason.”
He nods and moves towards the table for his phone. Plenty of missed texts from Dick dating back to a few months ago. They’d ramped up significantly after Jason had told him that his car broke down in Florida. He almost turns his phone back off, but decides instead to sit at the table and read everything his brother had to say.
It’s mostly just him begging Jason to let him know that he’s okay. “Do you mind if I call someone?” Jason asks suddenly.
“Not at all,” Roy shakes his head and picks his book back up.
Jason dials Dick’s number, waiting as it rings. As late as it is here, it must be even later in Gotham. He’d be lucky if Dick was awake at this-
“Jason?” Dick’s voice almost gasps into the receiver.
“Hey Dick. I’m at a… hotel… right now.”
“You’re doing good?”
He’s not sure how genuine the concern is, but he hadn’t eaten in two days at this point. Not that he’d really chosen to do that, more that being on the road meant meals were harder and when your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere it gets even harder.
“Yeah, I’m alright. Talked to Bruce a bit ago.” Honestly, he should probably call Bruce again after he’s done with Dick.
“I’m sorry, Jason.” Dick’s quiet for a moment and Jason worries that his emotions will come back to him then. “He’s been super worried. I think he regrets the way things went.”
“Yeah, well, I do too,” his voice comes out venomous and he knows Roy probably thinks he’s being an asshole. “I’m sure he’s all torn up about my bad fucking luck.”
Dick lets out a sigh and Jason half-regrets venting his frustrations. “He just wants you to be safe, Littlewing.”
Jason wants to tell him not to call him that anymore, but he can’t bring himself to do that. “Do you think he’d want me to call him tonight?”
“I think so, yeah.”
“Okay…” Jason takes a deep breath. “Have you been okay?”
“Better than you.”
“Ha-ha.” Something inside himself pangs at this soft banter. He’s missed talking to his brother, he’s missed all of his siblings. “How is… everyone?”
Dick sucks air in through his teeth before he answers, “They’re okay. Cass and Tim haven’t really left their rooms as much lately. Damian keeps getting in more and more trouble.”
“What’s up with Damian?” Jason knows the answer to his, he knows why Damian’s upset.
“He stole Bruce’s car the other night, he crashed into a tree and Bruce had to pay some people to take Damian home after that.”
“That…” makes sense. “I’m sorry, Dick.”
Dick’s silent for a moment, as if he’s trying to decide what to say. “Don’t be. Not your fault. I think Bruce fucked up, big time.”
“That doesn’t really matter anymore.”
“You’re right, it doesn’t.”
Jason feels stupid for calling Dick now. There’s nothing left to say, but he’s dreading calling Bruce. “Okay. I’ll let you know when there’s more updates, I’m going to call Bruce, I think.”
“Good luck, Jason. Just remember that we all support you, no matter what he says. ”
If he weren’t so dehydrated and exhausted, he might have cried from that. “Thank you, Dick.” He hangs up and just holds his head for a moment. There’s a lot left unsaid, but that’s how his family has always been.
“Everything okay?” Roy asks from the bed.
Jason feels himself smile despite everything, “Yeah, just a broken car.” And a bit of a broken family. He doesn’t want to risk being asked anything personal so he calls Bruce.
He picks up on the second ring. He doesn’t say anything, just waits for Jason.
“Hey.” Should he add Dad onto that? Does Bruce even still deserve to be called that?
“Is everything alright?”
“Honestly I’m getting a little sick of people asking that.”
Maybe that’s not the answer Bruce wanted because he doesn’t say anything after that.
“Car broke down again. Got towed again.”
“Where are you now?”
Jason’s a little shocked that Bruce doesn’t have a GPS on him. Though, maybe he’s just playing dumb. Bruce is really good at that game. “Motel off the I-40 in Texas.”
“Motel?”
He laughs, of course Bruce is judging that. “Sorry, your majesty , all the money in the world couldn’t get me in a suite if there’s none here.” Not to mention his own room even.
“So you’re safe then?”
It’s funny that now Bruce cares about that. “Mhm.” He’s only sharing a motel room in the middle of nowhere with a man he’d known for less than two hours. A stranger who knows Jason has no-one coming to get him, and no-one waiting for him.
“What’s your plan?”
What’s with him and plans? “Sleep.”
“After that, Jason.”
Jason rubs the bridge of his nose, unable to make himself care enough to give Bruce a lie. “I don’t fucking know, Bruce. Whatever I’m able to do. Get towed somewhere, find a mechanic, throw myself into the ocean. Who fucking knows.”
“If you need any money-”
“Yeah, I know. ” Jason tightens his grip on his phone. “Listen, Bruce , I’ve got everything under control.” He doesn’t.
“You don’t.”
“You don’t know shit about me, okay? Thank you for your help but I’d kind of like to get some fucking sleep now.”
“Jason-”
He hangs up.
If Roy weren’t sitting behind him, pretending to read, Jason would have started sobbing. That was the first time he’d heard Bruce’s voice in months. He ignores the empty gnawing feeling of his body and just holds his head in both hands.
“If you’re looking for a mechanic, I might be able to look at your car for you,” Roy says.
Jason takes a moment before he turns in the chair, looking over at Roy who has his book set out on his lap, looking patiently. “You’re a mechanic?”
“Uh… Not technically, but I know my way around a car. It’s a holiday weekend so not many places are open as of right now, and- you said you didn’t really have a destination, right?” Roy talks with his hands and if Jason weren’t so tired he might not have found it so mesmerizing.
“Yeah.”
“I can take a look for you.”
“Thank you.”
Roy smiles at him and Jason leans his head down on the table.
“You’re not… sleeping over there, are you?” Roy asks after Jason has already started drifting off.
“Beats the floor,” Jason grumbles, “but only marginally.” The carpet was hard and very old. At least the table was pretty cool.
“You can share the bed with me, dude,” Roy laughs.
Jason’s shoulders tense at that. He’s either accidentally walked himself into his own worst nightmare, or he’s currently living a fantasy of his. “Am I awake right now?” Jason wonders aloud.
“Yeah, pretty sure at least,” Roy laughs. “I mean, at least I hope so. It would kind of suck if this was how I found out I was just a side character.”
Jason laughs at that and doesn’t even think about it as he moves to the bed. The sleep is instant. It’s not even a particularly comfortable bed, but once he’s under the blankets with Roy he can’t fight sleep off any longer.
Which sucks, because he was actually starting to like talking to Roy.