Jp-todd-rp:

jp-todd-rp​:

Trust Grace to put her mark right on the money. Even though she didn’t quite get just how close to the truth she was getting. “She’s too smart for her own good,” he muttered under his breath, but pride laced his tone.

But the faint smile fell, as Leslie continued.

He could see it.

Grace worrying over him, working herself up over him, and what he’d done. Trying to find an explanation. “I – I’ll put her in too much danger if I tell her. That is… if she even wants anything to do with me for lying to her.” Jason shook his head. “I never should have let it get this far between us, I was an idiot.”

“She’s planning on working as a doctor, in Crime Alley, Jason.” Leslie pointed out. “I’ve had this talk with her, when she started - and again after the bombing. She’s not exactly playing it safe as it is.” While a doctor wasn’t the most dangerous profession someone could go for, in a city like Gotham it certainly came with it’s own set of risks. Leslie had the personal experience to attest to it.

“Grace isn’t shying away from the Red Hood either. Even after everything she knows about him - you.” Talking about Jason as if he were two different people was going to give her a headache, but when it came to Grace, the distinction was there. For now, at least. “These are all choices she's making. And after what happened to her the other week, Gotham can be plenty dangerous all on its own. If you hadn’t have given her that alarm...” Her voice trailed slightly, not wanting to think of what might have happened to her if not for Jason.

“She likes you. And judging by how she is around you when the mask is on, she likes more than just whatever civilian front you’ve put up for appearances sake. Don’t even try telling me it’s not the same for you, or you’d never have let it go on for this long. Even the others have noticed." Leslie wasn’t sure if she should mention the curious questions she had received from the others, Bruce especially who was all too keen to know what his son was up to, but it slipped out all the same.

Realising she had long since ventured into lecture territory, Leslie shrugged, pulling back. “I just think she deserves the option of deciding for herself. A real, informed decision. I think your secret would be safe at this point. She only speaks to me about it because she already knows I know The Red Hood.  And who knows? You might be pleasantly surprised at how things turn out.”

nerdybirdboy​:

“Isn’t that why I’m here?” Why else would he be here? Bruce had never made him go to therapy for anything else and he’d seen and been through plenty of stuff. “No, thanks. I’m good.” He wasn’t here to have a snack, this was business. Or at least that was how he saw it. Just like cops had to see a psychologist after firing their gun, he had to see one after the accident to continue to be Robin.

“You know what we do, me and Bruce, so I have that and school, both take their time and once I’m trying to sleep… How should I describe it? I notice a lot of things, details, patterns and so on. It takes time to process it all and I can’t just shut it off and go to sleep. Sometimes I realizes things when falling asleep and need to deal with it before I can sleep. Sometimes I don’t get any sleep for days and that’s when I need help to shut off. That’s all.” Tim knew he was smart and a little different, what he didn’t know was that most people usually didn’t need to process pretty much every detail they had seen that day. “So, yes, that was why I took the pills. I had waited a little too long and lost my ability to properly judge how much I took.” He really hadn’t tried to kill himself.

Tim didn’t like this at all, but he somehow still manged to keep his body language in control and kept himself from fidgeting. This all felt like an invasion of privacy. Even though he knew he decided what to say, which was why he also didn’t mention that nightmares were part of it too.

“Details and patterns.” Leslie repeated thoughtfully, taking a seat in the plush armchair and pulling her notebook into her lap. She was going to need to keep notes for this. Things to circle back to later. Everything he was saying was important, as well as the things he wasn’t saying.

Days without sleep - that was concerning. Realising he had waited too long to take the pills. Misjudging the dosage... He had taken them before. Self-medicating. His sense of responsibility seemed to be beyond that of most fourteen year olds she had met. Not necessarily all of them, given her history of working with Batman, but it was disconcerting all the same.

Tim was sitting so still, looking a little uncomfortable but not so much that Leslie had any inclination he was going to run out on her. So she pressed onwards.

“Details and patterns of what exactly?”

jp-todd-rp​:

“Exactly! Doc, Gotham is – it’s dangerous enough on its own.” And why would no one listen to him, understand him when he told them, warned them…

“But the people who have me on their hit list, both me and the Hood… Leslie, you couldn’t even fucking imagine. I don’t wanna expose her to that. I can’t…”

I can’t risk losing her to that.

It was already too late for that, Jason knew that, but the incident with the traffickers had torn off the sheer naivety of his infatuation, and exposed the perils that lay around.

A shudder travelled up Jason’s spine, and his body tensed up when the pain followed soon after. “Doc…”

“She’s already exposed to it Jason. You’re missing the point.” Leslie quipped. “Right now, she has no idea, but if you’d just-”

His wince of pain had her cutting off mid-sentence. Right. Maybe now wasn’t the best time for this either. There was no doubt in her mind that she had more to say on the subject, but for now, perhaps it could wait.

With a soft sigh, Leslie leaned forward slightly into the space. There were a few things she could suggest, but as Jason had said himself, he had been dealing with this for some time. She would defer to him this time. “What do you need? Let me help.”

jp-todd-rp​:

Act normal.

Act polite.

Jason managed a smile as the therapist - doctor, Bruce said she was an actual doctor - let him in her office. She looked friendly enough, not as old as Jason thought she was going to be. Dark hair, an easy smile, despite the sterner set of her brow. She fit her office, Jason noted.

Warm colors, modern, but not skimped on comfort.

Functional. To the point.

No other exit.

No way out.

Jason shook her hand, fairly certain that his quick glance around could be taken for mere interest. “Good morning, doc,” he replied, hiding the fact that his stomach was in knots. “Nice to meet you too, hope all is well.”

“I’m very well, thank you.” Polite. Well spoken. All in all, a good first impression.

Spotting the curious look around the room, Leslie gestured to the soft, comfortable looking armchair towards the back of the room, facing the door. “Would you like to take a seat?”

Most people were nervous for a first session. Outwardly, the boy didn’t seem all that fussed but Leslie busied herself anyway, opening a drawer on the side so he could make the decision whether to sit or not without her directly watching. “I’ve always got a mixture of drinks and snacks in here, is there anything you’d like?”

nerdybirdboy​:

“Likewise, Dr Thompkins,” Tim replied, a pleasant smile on his lips. Ok, Timmy, you can do this. Give her enough to be happy, but not enough to let her know any of your true thoughts and feelings, then it risks going straight back to Bruce and then he’ll definitely not let you be Robin anymore.

Sitting down, he was very conscious about keeping a fairly open body language, hiding the fact that he didn’t want to be there at all. “How does this work?” Tim’s voice was calm and steady, all of it through iron will. Which was also the only reason he wasn’t fidgeting. “If you want me to talk about the accident, I’ll do that, but it really was an accident. I wanted to sleep and in my sleep deprived state I took a couple of pills too much. That’s it, there’s nothing more to tell.”

What had happened was that Tim having not been able to sleep more than a couple of hours for quite some time and when Bruce and Alfred were going to be gone for the weekend, Tim had seen it as his chance to get some good sleep. He hadn’t really thought about what he was doing and had just taken some of the pills, which had been more than a person his size should take. Not dangerously much, but not good either. Okay, maybe a little dangerous, but the risk of him dying had been very low. Thankfully, Alfred had felt something was wrong and Bruce knew to never doubt Alfred’s senses and they had turned back. Instead of going away, they had spent the weekend monitoring Tim. Once he was awake and conscious enough to speak and drink, Bruce had been very very angry. Just as angry as when he’d run off to handle those thugs that first time before he became Robin. Alfred believed Tim when he said it had been an accident, Bruce hadn’t been sure.

It was true though. It had really been an accident, however, accident or not, Tim shouldn’t have had sleeping pills or benzo, but he had (not anymore though). Black market medicine, so he hadn’t stolen them from Alfred or anything. Tim didn’t think he’d done anything wrong besides worrying Bruce and Alfred.

Oh he was going straight into it? Okay, she could meet him there. But Leslie really ought to slow him down first. Get him comfortable. Or more comfortable at least. 

Closing the door, Leslie went about rummaging through the mini-fridge she had built into the cabinet against the wall. “Sure, we can talk about what happened if you want to Tim - do you want a drink? Snacks? I’ve got a stash of them here, you’re welcome to them anytime.”

Tim had clearly rationalised what had happened down to its finest points. Frankly, Leslie was fairly certain he was telling the truth, but even so, it was a symptom of what she feared was a much larger problem.

“So, you wanted to sleep? Okay, can I ask why you were sleep deprived in the first place? It sounds like you had a hard time getting sleep despite that - I presume that’s why you took the pills, but feel free to correct me.”

jp-todd-rp​:

“Nothing helps,” Jason gritted out. He was already pushing himself up, eager for his bed, where he could wallow in peace. And quiet, hopefully. “I’ve tried – nothing helps. Not even Talia knows what to do about this, doc, so lemme just… Lemme just ride it out. Okay? I’ll – a few days. It’s all I need.”

Jason’s knees nearly buckled out from under him when he rose up, and he clutched the table sudden enough to topple over the glass of water Leslie had put down for him. “Fuck!”

Leslie sprung up from her chair, hand hovering just over Jason’s side in an attempt to catch him. Thankfully, he seemed steady enough before she made contact. She was sure he wouldn’t thank him for it if she had. 

“I’ll get it.” She said hurriedly, moving the glass so that it was back to it’s upright position before it could roll off the table. It was only water, thankfully. Easily cleaned up. A job that could wait a moment.

He could hardly stand, never mind anything else. Leslie’s mind raced through options, possibilities. Ways she could help. But first thing first.

She turned, offering out her arm to Jason with a half-hearted grumble. "You’re far too stubborn for your own good. Lean on me, it’s alright. We’ll get you back into bed.”