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Honestly, Jason was a little pissed.
What the fuck was the school on about “we can’t reach his other emergency contacts”? Bullshit. Jason knew for a fact that Dick was safe at the manor watching disney movies and stuffing his face with cereal.
And Bruce didn’t even have a real job. All he did was pretend to be Brucie Wayne pretending to run a company. Lucius basically did all the work.
Alfred was the only one who was probably actually busy, and if Alfred couldn’t do this bullshit, he most likely had a good reason.
So now Jason had to pick this little shit up from school because he’s apparently sick.
His car door slammed behind him as he stalked towards the entrance to the school, and jabbed his finger into the intercom.
A voice came out. “Hi, how can we help you today?”
Jason tried to push down his anger. It wasn’t the secretary’s fault. “I’m here to pick up Tim Drake.”
“Come right in!” The doors to the school unlocked, and Jason stepped into the hellscape that was the highschool.
In all honesty, this was the reason Jason didn’t want to come get Tim. He was trying to connect more with the family, and after stepping away from the crime lord stuff, he had a lot of free time. He wasn’t against running some errands for them.
But this building brought back memories. Memories of feeling inadequate and being shoved around and feeling lonely in a crowded cafeteria. Not stuff he wanted to relive, especially because he hadn’t had to really think about it since he died.
Entering the office brought back the worst of the memories. Sitting there waiting for the principal to come yell at him. Waiting for Bruce to come pick him up after a fight. Yeah, he really didn’t want to be here.
“Hi, you're here to pick up Tim?”
He startled a little as the secretary interrupted his thoughts.
“Oh, ummm, yeah. Guess I am.”
“Lovely, if I could just get some photo ID. Then we’ll let you take him home.”
“Yeah, of course.” He grabbed his wallet and handed her his ID. While she was typing at her computer, Tim entered the office.
He was hunched over and walking slowly. It looked like every step physically pained him. An arm was clutching at his stomach, and his hair was in disarray. The heavy bags under his eyes did nothing to help his appearance. He was carrying a paper bag, presumably to puke in if it came to that, and when he looked up his eyes were hazy. It took several seconds for him to lock onto Jason.
“Hey, kiddo. How you feeling?” Jason would never admit that his voice went soft when faced with his sick teenage brother, but the kid just looked awful. Jason was already making plans to wrap him up in a blanket and put him to bed.
“Like shit,” the teenager croaked. He hobbled over until he was practically leaning against Jason. “Wanna go home.”
“Ok, kid,” Jason replied, running a hand through the already messy hair, “just give me a minute.”
He turned back to the secretary. She gave him a small smile and handed him his ID. “Have a good day. Hope he feels better soon.”
He smiled back. “Thanks.”
After getting back to the car and making sure Tim was all situated in the passenger’s seat, he let himself take a deep breath.
Fuck that school. Fuck Tim’s other emergency contacts that couldn’t be reached. And fuck whatever fucking bug Tim had that made him look so terrible.
“Can we go back to your place?”
Jason had to do a double take when he looked back at Tim. He was sitting up straight with an expectant look on his face. No pained look on his face, nothing besides the bags under his eyes and tousled hair to suggest that he was even slightly unwell.
“What the fuck?”
“Can we go back to your place? I’d rather delay Bruce from knowing that I skipped. Or we could go out. Do you want to get some food or something?”
Jason gave him a deadpan look. “You’re telling me you're not actually sick? All that shit was fake?”
“Yeah…” Tim gave him a sheepish look.
It was silent as Jason processed that information.
“Well, good acting skills, you little shit.” He reached over and tousled Tim’s hair, ignoring the squawk of protest and hands shoving him away.
Jason started the car and began to pull out of the parking lot.. “You're paying for the food.”
Tim shot him a look of displeasure. “Fine, but I get to pick the music.” He pulled out his phone.
“Fine. As long as it’s not trash.”
Tim flashed him a smile and turned up the volume in the car before pressing play.
Frankly, I'm scared of clowns
Jason let out a bark of laughter, and shared a smile with Tim.
And get-togethers get me down
But when you talk it's like:
"Wow, I'm not crazy"
Ok maybe this whole trip to the hellish school wasn’t all bad.
“That was quite the chance you took, assuming Bruce or Alfred wouldn’t pick you up. Al would have seen right through you.”
They were shoved into a booth in the corner of the diner. The seats were worn thin, and Jason could feel a spring digging into his butt. The red and white paint on the wall was peeling, and the tables wobbled when you touched them. But they had the best milkshakes in all of Gotham.
The lunch rush was dying down, so most of the tables were empty and being cleaned by the busboy. Their table was still filled with empty plates from their meal. They were both still working on their shakes.
“I actually hacked their system so the call wouldn’t reach them.”
“Makes sense. What about Dickie? I know he’s not doing shit today.”
Tim looked down, trying to hide a grimace. “I actually wasn’t really in the mood for Dick. I love him, but sometimes when he’s around I just feel so…“
“Inadequate?”
“Yeah. He was always so smart and everyone loves him and he had so many friends at school. They just ignore me or glare at me because of my grades.”
Jason nodded in understanding. He had always been called out in school, usually for his life before Bruce took him in, but Alfred always assured him that it was probably because they were jealous of his grades or home life or anything else.
“Yeah, those little fuckers must be jealous of that big brain of yours..” He paused to take a sip of his milkshake. “So what, I’m the fuck up of the family, so I’m safe for you to slack off with?”
“No, it’s not that…It’s just, when you were taken in by B, they called you out a lot for things that you couldn’t control like where you came from, and teenagers have never been the kindest, especially in high society. I guess I just thought you would understand not being the social butterfly Dick always is.”
Jason took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “Yeah, I get that, feeling inadequate compared to Goldie.”
Their waiter came over, dropping the check off on the table. “Whenever you’re ready, you can pay up at the front. No rush.”
“Thank you,” they unisoned.
They sat for a few more minutes enjoying their shakes and the 80s music playing quietly in the background.
“They ever hurt you?” Jason’s eyes ran down Tim’s body, assessing. “Start fights? Blame stuff you didn’t do on you?”
“The kids at school?” Tim shrugged, “No. Well, not any more. They did in elementary and middle school, but now they just leave me alone. It’s kinda lonely.”
Jason nodded. Yeah that sucked, but who would want to talk to such shitty kids anyway?
He raised his glass, tilting it towards Tim. “Fuck school.”
“Fuck school.” They clink their glasses together.