Bat Boys in Quarantine

Part 23 - Roy Pushes All The Buttons

Jason's POV:

                Have you ever woken up on the wrong side of the bed? How about the wrong side of the world? That's what it felt like this morning, anyway. Everything in the past month felt so close. Yet the last two days feel like decades ago. For a moment I was back there, in that cramped shack, laying on a blanket while each of my joints voiced their complaints. Roy's hair tickling my chin, Kori's warmth pressed against my side. I hate being so close to people but on the really cold nights I caved and let them cuddle with me. And, okay, maybe it wasn't terrible. 

The work we were doing in Arabia... I almost forgot why we'd even gone up there. The rush of the past few days never even gave me a chance to wonder what we've missed since leaving. When we left we were about four to five days away from busting in. We'd gathered enough evidence to justify our invasion into their base to the authorities, in case we hung around long enough to talk to any law enforcement. The gang we were spying on, the Krokodil of Myriad, had been kidnapping people to use for human trials. I still remember finding the discarded corpses of children. Burned from the inside out by a bad batch of drugs. Left out in the sun for the buzzards.

I roll over and grab my laptop, typing in a couple keywords until I find some Arabian articles written from news outlets outside of the country. That way I can make sure most of the important information hasn't been censored.

I spend a few minutes scanning a couple different news articles until I find one written from a news channel I haven't heard of before. The headline does not disappoint: Krokodil of Myriad members release video footage of failed human experimentation. My knuckles tighten around my sheets as I read through the article. What appears to be a 'concerned' member of the gang ends up being a threat to the government. Giving them an example of what will continue to happen if they don't receive official government funding. Fuck.

I slam my laptop shut and pull on a pair of gym shorts and a tank top. Tim's not awake when I bang on his door. He's barely awake when I shake him and practically pull him out of bed asking where the training room is. He mumbles the directions and I head in that direction. I need something to punch.

We were so close. So fucking close.

"Gah!" My fist slams into the punching bag swinging from the ceiling of the office space turned training room. My chest heaves from pounding my fists into the bag. Something aches inside my rib cage but it's not.. it's not something I can feel by touching.

"Jay?" I turn to see Tim standing in the doorway, holding a tablet. He's in sweatpants and a red shirt, typical college student get-up. Is he still in college?

"Mornin' Timbo." I huff out.

"You alright? You're kinda shaking the foundation with that bag."

"Yeah, it's fine. Just don't wanna get outta shape."

"Jay, you got like a six pack on your six pack. You're a terrible liar. I also saw the article."

"Yeah well, nothin' I can do about it now. You got any cases I can work on while I'm here? I can't deal with whatever bullshit my clients want right now."

"You don't have to brush it off, I know what you were doing was-"

"Tim." I give him a look and he closes his mouth, letting the argument go. For now at least. The kid's persistent, I'll give him that. "Cases. I know you got 'em. I just need something to do, alright?"

"Yeah, I got you Jay. I'll leave some files in your room." I nod a thanks and he ducks out of the room.

          I'm able to get in another boxing round before I'm interrupted by Roy's obnoxious ringtone.

"Yeah?" I huffed out, setting the phone on the ground after I put it on speaker.

"Aw c'mon Jaybird, I've slept with you for the past three weeks and all I get is a 'yeah'?"

"Phrase it like that again and you're not going to be getting anything from me. What's up?" He huffed a sigh before continuing.

"Just taking a break from the interrogation session from Ollie. Did you know he wakes up at 6? Like, every day? The look on his face when I told him that's the time I usually go to bed. Priceless, Jay, priceless. How are things there?" I chuckle thinking about Ollies stupid big eyes and gaping mouth.

"Don't have much of a read on it yet. I'm supposed to be living with Timbers for two weeks upstairs. That might give Damian enough time to boobytrap the whole house for when our quarentines up."

"Aw c'mon. The kid's harmless, a pain in the ass if anything, but harmless."

"Yeah, right. I still have a scar from where he bit me one time. He bit me, Harper."

"Lots of people have bit you, Jason. I'm one of-"

"Hell, you're such a pervert." He snickers on the other end.

"So, I assume you've seen the article." He says, hesitantly. No longer beating around the bush. "So.. what's the plan?"

"There is no plan. We can't do anything from here, hell we might not have even been able to do anything if we were still there. The plan is to let the Arabian government handle it."

"Holy shit." He says, dumbfounded. "Did you.. did my friend, The Jason Todd, just suggest letting the government handle something? Are you feeling okay? Have you seen the government's plan? They'll do whatever it takes to keep the money coming into their pockets." I sigh into my hands, leaning my head back against the wall.

"Fucking hell Roy. Alright alright fine. Here's the plan."