In which Jason makes a contract with a demon named Tim in order to get his revenge on Joker. (this entire fic is only a thing because the sudden image of barefoot Tim wearing a red bomber jacket-unzipped no undershirt-and high waisted jean shorts appeared in my brain randomly and it had big demon energy)
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Joker struts out of the room, leaving his mess behind him, alone in the darkness.
The mess goes by the name Jason Todd. Although he doesn’t feel very much like Jason Todd anymore. He just feels scared and hurt. He’s felt scared and hurt for countless days. There’s not hope in him anymore. He knows he’ll be here until Joker tires of hurting him and finally decides to put a bullet in his skull.
He still wants though. Can’t help but daydream about Batman bursting through the steel door and saving him from his misery. He’ll bring Jason home and say things like,
I’m here,
and
I missed you so much,
and
Let’s get you home, son.
The daydream is the only type of reprieve he gets and normally he just loses himself in his fantasy until Joker comes back. Today he can’t. The want is there, but the day dream never comes to take him away from the chair he’s tied to in the dark warehouse building.
It probably has something to do with the bleeding J on his face from where Joker had ripped the healing scab away from the wound. He couldn’t ignore the sting of open air on the wound or the warm blood long enough to let his mind wander. He still wants though. Wants someone, anyone to come save him.
“Please,” he whispers and is met with only silence.
He slumps forward as far as the ropes binding him to the wooden chair allow. He closes his eyes to try to get some sleep at least and feels the blood start to trail down his cheek. “Please, please, please.”
The blood slides over his lips, wet and warm. He licks his lips without thinking and nearly gags at the coppery taste that fills his mouth. He spits a mixture blood and saliva onto the concrete and hears it sizzle.
His eyes snap open and he finds himself looking straight at a pair of bare feet. The glob of blood sits in between both of their feet.
“Hello,” the owner of the pair feet says.
Jason rises his gaze slowly, taking in the faded high waisted jeans and red bomber jacket-one that doesn’t do much to hide a pale shirtless torso-before he makes it to the face of the person standing in front of him. It’s a boy about Jason’s age. He’s a pretty thing, with pouty lips, midnight hair, and icy blue eyes. He doesn’t blink once while Jason stares at him in disbelief.
The boy cocks his head in response to Jason’s silence. His eyes flicker up and down Jason’s form, then around the warehouse room they’re in. He still never blinks. “You’re a bit of a mess, aren’t you?”
Jason laughs. Or sobs. He’s not really sure which.
“You poor thing,” the boy coos. “You look like you could use a friend.” He crouches down so that they’re at eye level. “I could be your friend, if you’d like.”
The old Jason Todd would have mentioned how much that line sounded like something a child kidnapper would say. The mess that’s in the chair just whimpers out a pathetic, “Please.”
“We have to know each other’s name first, right?” The boy grins wide when Jason nods. “Well how about you call me Tim, okay?”
Jason nods again.
Tim waits patiently with his grin and blinkless stare.
“Oh, I-I’m Jason Todd.”
He then decides he’s definitely gone crazy when he sees Tim’s eyes flash red for a brief moment.
“Jason Peter Todd,” Tim says in a whisper that echoes in the air around them.
The hair of the back of Jason’s neck and he shivers violently. “I didn’t tell you my middle name.”
“Oh you didn’t have to,” Tim says, reaching out to gently pat his knee. “I do need you to tell me what you’d like from me though. It can be anything you’d like.”
“I want to stop hurting and to go home.”
“I can do that. For a price.”
Jason shakes his head helplessly. “How?”
“I’m a demon.” Tim shrugs. “I can do more than you could imagine. If you pay the price.”
Jason opens his mouth to reply but then from a distance he hears Joker’s maniacal laughter. He definitely doesn’t imagine it this time when Tim’s eyes burn red.
“Is that the man who has been hurting you?” Tim cups Jason’s face in his hands and presses his forehead to Jason’s. “Let me help you.”
The sound of metal clanging against metal- surely it’s the Joker’s knife tapping against his crowbar- makes Jason desperate and he foolishly asks, “What’s the price?”
Tim’s fiery gaze nearly burns him with its intensity. “You’ll feed me, give me power, and I’ll protect you always.”
Joker’s voice sounds right outside the door, “Little birdie, are you ready to play some more?”
Jason shudders, leans into Tim’s touch, the first kind touch he’s had in months. It brings a little bit of his old self back. “Feed you with what? I’m not giving my soul to you.”
Tim chuckles darkly. “Lucky for you, I’m not that kind of demon. I’d rather have your blood. I’ve been hunting down it’s delicious scent for weeks ever since I caught wind of it, calling to me from even from the third circle of Hell.” Tim takes a deep breath in. “Since you’re hurt I’ll only take enough to form the bond. Once you’ve recovered enough for me to take more, I’ll feast.”
Jason hears the ominous click of the door behind him unlocking.
“Do it,” he says. “Get me the fuck out of here.”
He’s barely finished speaking when Tim slides a hand back to his hair, yanks his head back, and bites down on his neck, hard.
Initially there’s pain, the sharp puncture of Tim’s fangs followed by his searing hot tongue licking at the fresh bite. He expects that. What he doesn’t expect his the toe curling pleasure that comes when Tim puts his lips over the wound and sucks.
It’s ecstasy. Jason arches as much as he can against the bindings, tilting his head back to let Tim take more, as much as he wants. He never wants it to stop. Tim growls against his neck and Jason feels the vibration all throughout his body. He makes a noise into Tim’s ear, a noise he’s never made before outside of the privacy of his own bedroom.
The door slams open.
Tim vanishes.
And Jason is left alone with the Joker again.
Immediately the Joker starts to speak, likely trying to instill fear in Jason by telling him what he has in store for Jason. Jason can’t focus past past his panicked wheezing breathes or the roaring in his ears to make out what he’s saying.
He left me, Jason despairs, he left me-he left me-he left me-he left me- he left me-he left me-
Hush now, Tim’s voice echoes in Jason’s mind and washes away his fear. I’d never leave you.
Joker stands in front of him now, grinning viciously.
Close your eyes for me, sweetheart. I don’t want you to see this.
Joker lifts the crowbar high in the air, preparing to swing down.
Jason closes his eyes and grins when the sound of Joker’s screams fill the room.
Glaci this is awesome!!!! The new and improved BDE. Also Tim’s bomber jacket/short shorts 80s demon aesthetic is totally my jam ❤ love
This story is so freaking amazing! Hells yes to every part of it!
I did something fluffy and a lil angsty because I feel like I’ve been writing a lot of jaytim cuddles lately, which is always wonderful but I don’t want do bore anyone with too many otp cuddles lol. Thanks for sending this in, I hope you like it!
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He’s not sure what it is that makes him take notice of Tim. It could be all his training as a bat, or it could be that B’s briefing is boring enough to make both his mind and his eyes wander.
It’s all the same stuff anyway.
A criminal escaped Arkham again so Bruce wants to take them down again and Jason is expected not to kill killers again. Lame, boring stuff. He’s too tired to argue, so he lets B’s voice fade into the background.
The batcave takes over his attention first, filling him with bitter nostalgia. It’s not a crushing as the first time he came back, so Jason figures he’s made some sort of progress at least. He remembers nearly trembling with excitement the first time he put on the Robin costume, hiding from Bruce and Alfred just so he could try and surprise them. He remembers polishing up the batmobile, lecturing B to be more careful next time he was in pursuit and wondering why his scolding had made Bruce smile. He remembers climbing on top of the T-Rex’s head to study for college placement exams he’d never get the chance to take.
He turns his attention to the rest of B’s little soldiers then, most of them are seated at the large table with Bruce. Bruce is at the head of course, Damian to his right and Barbara to his left. Next to Damian is Dick, Duke sits next to Barb, Steph and Cass are each three seats from Bruce, across from each other, and Kate sits on the end of the table opposite of Bruce. There are still two seats open in front of Kate. One to her right where Jason should sit, but he’s standing a little ways back from the table, leaning against the computer desk. Tim stands behind the one to her left, keeping it pushed close to the table and crossing his arms over his chest.
An odd thought strikes Jason then. A comparison. Jason’s self-imposed distance successfully separates himself from the family he’s no longer apart of. Tim’s distance almost makes it seem like he wants to be apart of the group and something happened to make him question his place with them.
It causes an odd ache in his chest that lasts throughout the rest of briefing and even after they start breaking off into patrol groups. Bruce and Damian head to old Gotham, Dick and Babs take on the Central Hall district, Steph and Cass cover Robinson Park, and Kate goes off on her own toward the Fashion district on the east side. That leaves Jason and Tim with the west side.
The ache intensifies when Jason slaps a hand on Tim’s shoulder and he tenses. It’s not quite a jump, but the way his muscles don’t relax under Jason’s palm and his wary gaze is somehow worse.
“Looks like we’re together for this one,” Jason says, ignoring Tim’s reaction. “Where should we start?”
Tim shrugs his shoulder out of Jason’s grip and takes a step back. “West side is plenty big. How about you start on the central border and I’ll start at the docks. We’ll meet in the middle when we’re done.”
“Yeah, or we could just stick together.”
A heavy pause, then, “Why?”
“Why not?” Jason frowns. “It’s less boring when you have a crime fighting buddy with you.”
“How would you know?”
“Ever heard of the Outlaws?” Jason scoffs before he continues. “Why does everyone think I don’t have any friends?”
This makes Tim laugh. It’s a quiet thing, almost like he’s scared of it. It makes Jason want to hug him. He resists though, knowing just based on Tim’s reaction to his touch earlier it wouldn’t be welcomed.
“Alright, we can patrol together,” Tim says slowly. “If you want.”
Jason grins. “Sweet.”
So together, they take on the streets of west side Gotham. Kicking ass, taking names, saving civilians, and trading quips. Jason shows Tim he can be trusted to have his back in a fight. He shows Tim that he trusts Tim to watch his back in a fight. They never disappoint each other. He makes a point of not letting silences stretch too long, making Tim laugh at even jokes that would earn Jason nasty looks from the rest of the family, and feeling victorious when Tim’s replies come quicker and his laughs more frequent.
By the end of it, Jason suspects that Tim hasn’t had this good of a time in a long while. He still hasn’t tried to touch Tim again, knowing anything unannounced would be unwelcome, so he tries something else instead.
Crouched on his heels on the head of his favorite gargoyle, Jason raises his right hand up, palm facing toward where Tim is sitting on the gargoyle next to him.
“High five for our first successful patrol together?”
Tim smiles and raises his hand to meet Jason, it’s a quick touch and it’s so gentle that the noise it makes is barely there, but it’s something. “First? Does this mean we’ll be teaming up more often from now on?”
“If you want.”
“I want. And you were right, you know.” Tim dangles his legs over either side of the gargoyle’s head and swings them back at forth. “It is less boring with a crime fighting buddy.”
Day 2: Friends/Enemies to Lovers // Supernatural AU
I have wanted to draw Stay!Tim for a long time, and thanks to the wonderful @glaciya I finally had the motivation to get it done. I always adore collabing with you and I’m super excited for your fic, The Knight’s Stray : D 😀 😀 Please check it out, its perfection ❤
Thank you again for the awesome oppurtunity and inspo! <333
Beautifuldifferences 