Grace!verse - Tumblr Posts
jp-todd-rp:
Not a conversation he was looking forwards too, but Jason appreciated the warning. If Leslie asked… she was neutral ground. More than Alfred was. Alfred’s grief for him would be unbearable to watch, and Leslie?
She’d already seen the absolute worst of what this city had done to him. Hadn’t shied away when she first saw his scars. And hadn’t flinched when he had lashed out to her.
Grace’s name, was enough to lift Jason’s gaze towards Leslie.
He’d pushed her away, made vague promises of contact, he’d been cruel, he’d lied, and still –
“Is she alright? What she say?” And Gods, the sheer hope in his voice had Jason internally wincing. Give it a fucking rest. You’ve played your hand, you fucked up, she’s gone, she doesn’t want – you.
“Her shoulder is much better - thanks to you. Looking after her like you did forced her to rest it. I doubt she would have otherwise...” Leslie began, softening at the hopeful tone Jason’s voice had taken.
Still, honesty was the best way to go. Leslie tried to put it to him gently. “She’s a little hurt. Confused mostly. Which I can’t say I blame her for. Without any context, you have to admit, upping and leaving mid argument doesn’t look good. She’s sent you messages while you’ve been out of it, by the way. Not to mention she’s noticed she hasn't seen Hood since the ordeal at the docks... She’s presuming Hood is just busy for now, but it’s clear she misses him as well.”
Leslie huffed a disbelieving laugh as she recalled their earlier conversation. “Funnily enough, one of her theories isn’t far off the mark. She was wondering if you have PTSD and she accidentally triggered something. Her worry was enough to make me track you down, lets put it that way. A good thing too really.”
“I listened to her for the best part of an hour this morning, twisting herself into knots to give you the benefit of the doubt. She wants to believe that you wouldn’t just walk out on her without a good reason. Which you didn’t.” And wasn’t that the most frustrating thing of all? All the pinning the pair of them were doing and for what?
Leslie pressed her lips together, unable to restrain herself from asking the question. “When are you going to tell her?”
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.”
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:
“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.”
jp-todd-rp:
And if Jason had felt any better, he would have pushed her away. But now, Jason could only be grateful for the support. Her steady hands and gait, led him back to his bedroom, and a trickle of shame curled up in his gut at her seeing the mess he had holed himself up in.
He curled up on his bed, burying his face in the sweat soaked pillow.
He looked a pitiful sight. It made Leslie’s chest ache with a need for action. To do something to make it better. She doubted however, that she could do all that much.
Resisting the urge to push his bangs off his face, Leslie resolved herself to try, knowing despite his closed eyes, he could hear her perfectly. “Okay, so here’s the thing. You need fluids, and if I’ve got anything to do with it, you’re getting them. Dehydration on top of everything else is going to make it worse. So you’ve got a choice. Either you take some small sips of something, or I’ve got an IV with me.” She wasn’t prepared to let him refuse that one outright.
Glancing around his bedroom, Leslie had some other ideas of what she could do to make it a little easier. But that was best left unsaid and should wait until he was asleep.
Thinking on, she continued, already imagining his protests. “I’ve also brought painkillers with me. The top shelf stuff. I know you hate them, but if it might take the edge off...”
jp-todd-rp:
Jason was already shaking his head before Leslie had finished speaking. “They won’t work anyway, don’t you think I’ve tried!?” And that admittance held weight. Because Leslie knew how much he hated painkillers, and taking them. She knew the path it led Jason’s mother on, and the pain it had caused.
The fact that he had resorted to them…
But Jason did relent on offering her his arm. Actively drinking required more energy than he had right now, and he was fully aware that he needed fluids to prevent him from starting to feel even worse. “Do what you gotta, doc. Just no fucking painkillers…”
“Alright, okay.” She soothed, realising she wasn’t going to be able to suggest anything else that would work right now. Leslie hadn’t been sure if he would have tried, given how difficult the idea of taking them was for him, but the confession was telling to how bad the pain truly was. “No painkillers.”
She did, however, make quick work of fetching her bag from the living room and hooking Jason up with some fluids, glad she had the foresight to bring everything she needed. Given the pain he was in and Jason’s particular dislike for needles, she did her best to make it as bearable as she could, touching him as little as possible.
“You should let her in.” Leslie mused as she worked over him, going back to their previous subject partly to distract him but also because she wasn’t content to just drop the subject. “You deserve to be happy, Jason.”
jp-todd-rp:
Jason breathed through the pain as Leslie worked and set up the bag of fluids next to his bed. It’d help him on his feet quicker, afterwards, but that didn’t mean Jason had to like her fussing over him.
And he couldn’t bite down the groan when Leslie mentioned Grace again.
“And she deserves better than being stuck with a guy who can’t make it through the night without a fucking light on. She’s been through enough. I don’t wanna drag my personal shit into her life. Grace deserves… she deserves better.”
“Even if I bought your self-sabotaging bullshit,” Leslie started, not unkindly, but Jason knew her well enough now to see through any sugar-coating she might have added to her words. “Isn’t it also about what Grace wants too? It seems unfair to take that decision away from her.”
Huffing a small laugh to herself she added “That girl is so smitten with you...”
The setup was as good as it was going to get. Leslie took a step back, giving it a final assessment. “How do you go with sleep when it’s this bad?”