The Knowhere Girl

[26] Long Distance Call

[Jason Todd]

One minute, Jason was yelling at Bruce, the next he was bent over clutching at his head and wheezing. His face turned white from the pain.

Fire.

It felt like his whole body was on fire.

His head boiling.

Bruce rushed forward and said something Jason couldn't hear, and all of a sudden, he had his arms around him and was leading him to the nearest bathroom. Jason could almost hear Blue calling for him, the echoes of her screams in the back of his mind. He could feel her terror, too, how it overwhelmed her.

She was in his head.

Lightening flashed behind his eyelids.

He could feel heat closing in around him, just like that time in-

He was almost hyperventilating.

-That time when-

A crowbar, red with his own blood, mocked him from three feet away. One of Gita's arms was around him as she crawled closer, her hand slipping into his and squeezing.

Now he really couldn't breathe.

"JASON!"

Bruce shook him. Jason's head snapped up, ignoring all the voices in his head and pulled himself together even though his skin still burned, looking Bruce dead in the eyes. He hissed through his teeth. "He... he... he's gonna fucking die. That freak is gonna fucking die and rot in hell, if it's the last thing I do."

Whether Bruce knew what was happening in Jason's head or not, he clamped his mouth shut, and for once, didn't argue. "If she's in your head, she not dead."

Jason wished he had Superman's heat vision as he glared at Bruce. "That's doesn't matter! She's going to be dead soon if she's not found. I'm not going to bury my girl, Bruce. I'm not."

"If you go out there without a plan, the others will get hurt. We mightn't know where she is now, but we will find her, Jason." Bruce tried to lay hand on his shoulder, only for it to be slapped away.

Jason stood and stumbled out of the bathroom. Bruce followed.

He could feel it. Not just her physical agony, but the metal slip, too. Blue could talk shit to buy herself time, like he had, back in that Bosnian warehouse. But how long until she ran out of things to say, and the torture wore her down? Bruce had let her go out in the field before he finished the six months of basic training. She wasn't a trained escape artist. She needed him!

"Is that the same strategy you used when you came after me?" Jason spat out.

Bruce's jaw twitched and his entire body slackened. His voice dropped an octave. "You are not going to bury her, Jason, and not going to bury anyone one of my kids. Got it, soldier?"

Bruce pulled him away from the grandfather clock. "The best thing you can do for Gwen is rest and prepare for the fight."

"I'm just going to see Babs." A lie. Clear as day.

Bruce raised an eyebrow. His gaze hardened. "Just going to see Barbara?"

"Yes." Jason folded his arms over his chest and sneered.

Bruce pressed the com in his ear, eyes never leaving Jason's. "Barbara, lock down the cave, Jason's coming to see you."

Jason stormed into the cave and found Barbara waiting for him. Her face looked tired, emphasized by the way she rubbed at the blue bags under her glasses.