ɢʜᴏꜱᴛꜱ | ᴅ. ɢʀᴀʏꜱᴏɴ

chapter 31

31. blame pt. 2

•—✽—✽—✽—•

a couple hours later

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" KORY ASKED Paige as soon as she made it back to the Tower.

"I was with Dick, until he completely lost it. I don't know what's going on with him."

"Deathstroke. Ever since I've been back, I could tell the whole thing was setting him off," the red-haired woman explained. Paige nodded in agreement before realizing Kory was told more about the situation when she got there than Paige. The entire time she was there, Dick had refused to explain anything to her. On the other hand, as soon as Kory showed up again, he was spilling his guts without any sort of hesitation.

At the thought, the woman scoffed before walking towards her room with a simple eye roll. The sound of the door slamming shut behind her echoed through the penthouse as she raked her fingers through her hair.

Her stress-filled sigh filled the room before a picture placed on her dresser caught her attention. As soon as her eyes landed on the piece of paper, her mind was filled with horrible memories of her past. "What the fuck is this?"

She ripped the image of her and her ex-boyfriend into shreds before stuffing the pieces into the nearby trash can. "Don't fucking walk away from me," echoed from the kitchen causing Paige to go out and investigate what was happening.

"Jason drew crucifixes all over my mirror," she heard Rachel accuse once she walked into the kitchen.

"Bullshit," the boy defended.

"Jason, it's okay if you're angry—"

Shaking his head, he interrupted Dawn, "I didn't do shit, okay? Don't blame me for her voodoo issues."

Rachel's face scrunched up in disgust at the description as Donna walked in, wondering what all the fuss was about. "Somebody drew crosses on Rachel's mirror and she thinks Jason did it," Dawn explained.

"I know he did it!"

"Cute idea with the bourbon bottle. Not my type though," Hank piped up with his own accusation, "I'm more of a sour mash guy. You ever go in my room and pull that shit again, I'll forget what team you're on."

"I don't know what happened guys, but I didn't do it."

"What about the picture of Ellis?" Dawn asked.

"The orange soda bottle?" Donna added.

"He did it to you guys too?" Rachel asked.

"Fuck this—"

"Hey, we're not done here—"

"Leave him alone, God!" Paige interrupted Hank. "For just one second of his life. Look at yourselves, you're all pointing fingers without even knowing what the hell you're even talking about."

"And you do?" Hank asked.

"I know that I got something too, but I'm not immediately blaming Jason like you all seem to be doing."

"You all think everything's my fault..." the boy scoffed causing Paige to look over at him sympathetically. His eyes were brimmed with tears of frustration.

He was frustrated that he was never trusted with anything.

Suddenly, the sound of the elevator ding caused everyone's attention to be drawn towards the man who walked out. "He's here," Dick whispered, a frantic look on his face as he addressed the group.

Everyone looked between each other sharing the same look that said, what in the ever-loving fuck is this guy talking about right now?

"Deathstroke, here, in the Tower. He took pictures of all of us."

"Dick, talk to me," Hank began, taking in the man's crazed look in his eyes, "What's with the gun?" They watched as he looked around before realizing that somebody was gone.

"Jason..."

✄ ✄ ✄

Jason Todd, the kid who all he wanted to do was be Robin, be Batman's right hand man. The kid that was excited when he got to meet his childhood idol. The kid that looked up to Paige like she was his older sister and he her younger brother. The kid who, because of his own ambition and need to prove himself, was almost killed by Deathstroke.

Jason Todd, the kid who just wanted the pain to go away had stood on the edge of the balcony not too long ago as he looked down at the city below him. He didn't see cars driving by or people rushing to get where they needed to be, he saw an opportunity to be free from the trauma that followed him in his life.

He had survived, but he didn't feel like he was living. Every waking moment since the day he was dropped from a building was a nightmare that followed him around like a disease.

As he sat down in the kitchen listening to Dick address the rest of the team, he recalled what it felt like when he was brought back to the tower.

The floors rapidly passed by in a blur as his eyes shifted up and down watching each visible floor pass him as he approached the ground. Tears brimmed in his eyes as death took over pulling him into a deep darkness that he feared.

In the vast pit of emptiness, he prayed that someone would pull him out of his nightmare. A deep boom echoed around in his brain causing the fear to deeply set in before he realized that the sound was a lot more gentle than he perceived it to be.

The delicate knocking on the door followed by the voice of the woman that truly understood him created a light in the void, lighting the way out of his personal hell.

Relief.

A sigh escaped his lips as his eyes landed on the dark-haired woman. He scanned her face taking in the same saddened expression that matched his face. "Jason..." was all she could manage to say. Was all she needed to say.

For the first time in what felt like forever, the cold feeling that was stuck onto him like glue, melted away. In it's absence, warmth filled the empty void. Her hug brought Jason warmth and comfort as his safety brought her relief.

"Hey, it's okay... it's all gonna be okay. You're safe now, Jay. No one's gonna hurt you anymore," Paige promised as he allowed himself to break down in front of her. Though, she lied. If no one was going to hurt him anymore, then why was he still in so much pain?

He couldn't understand why he was still hurting.

He didn't realize that he was the one hurting himself. Each moment he stood in front of the window watching the floors speed past him, he cut into the wound deeper and deeper making it harder for him to heal.

Making it harder for him to not feel pain.