Bright Side - JayDickWeek2017 - Day 2

JayDick - Bright Side - JayDickWeek2017

A/N Okay, so today was absolutely crazy because I had to drive my brother to work and then it was raining so hard on the highway that I couldn't even see the lines on the road. A couple near-accidents, almost three hours on the road, and two pints of sweet tea later, I finally managed to get home and write this oneshot in about an hour. I did my best to grammar check it, but if I missed anything, please let me know. Enjoy!

Jason had no idea what the hell was happening. And whatever was happening most definitely was not his fault.

Okay, maybe it was a little his fault.

He had been working a case regarding some drug dealer that had, somehow, led to Bludhaven and intersected with one of Dick's cases. For efficiency's sake, they decided to work together. Dick and Jason didn't always work the best together, but it didn't usually go this bad.

There they were, hiding behind crates in a warehouse filled with bad guys, most of which were armed with guns. The warehouse was dark, and the thugs were looking for them with flashlights, but the odds were still overwhelmingly against them. If the two of them had been at their peak, then it would have been no trouble to take out the couple dozen idiots that stood in their way, but they had both been up for over 36 hours, hadn't eaten much in the last two days, and were already suffering from several wounds. Jason had a wound on his leg from where a bullet grazed him, along with a few cuts from various knives, and his body was still sore from where he'd gotten hit with a taser a few hours prior. Dick had a stab wound in his side and his ankle was messed up from a bad fall. Neither was at the top of their game, and they were both low on ammo - Jason only had one clip left for his gun and Dick was out of batarangs. Jason had lost his helmet at some point, and Dick's Escrima sticks were in bad shape.

Jason had no idea how they were going to get out of this.

Apparently, Dick felt the same way. The older man let out a sigh of resignation and leaned back against the crate the two of them were hiding behind. "This is a great way to go, don't you think?"

Jason gave him a dubious look. "I thought you were supposed to be Mr. Optimism."

Dick snorted. "Not even I can keep that up 24/7, Jay." Dick rested his head on the crate and closed his eyes. He looked almost at peace. "Besides, being optimistic is just looking on the bright side. Doesn't mean I can't acknowledge when shit hits the fan; just means I have to figure out which parts of the situation aren't quite as bad as the rest."

Jason shook his head. "I don't see how any part of this situation is any better than the rest of it."

Dick smiled, though it wasn't his usual cheery grin. Jason missed that grin. "I guess that means you can't be Mr. Optimism. I'll just have to keep it up a little while longer."

"So then what's the bright side?" Jason wondered if Dick would actually be able to come up with a good answer or if it would be something really stupid like, 'At least my shoes are tied.' As ridiculously far-fetched as it sounded, Dick had used that one before, and Jason wouldn't put it past him to use it again.

Dick gave him a measured look before shrugging as if he had thought to himself, 'Screw it.' "Well, I suppose the bright side for me is that I just might get to die first."

Jason's eyes went wide, unable to wrap his mind around that answer. "What?"

Dick swallowed, as if there was a lump in his throat. "Well, the only thing I can think of that would be worse than dying is having to watch you die. If I die first, then I won't have to go through that again." He glanced at Jason before shutting his eyes again. "I know that doesn't help you much, but it's optimism from my point of view. Sorry about that."