no rest for the wicked [jason todd]

thirty three

THERE WAS A GENTLE HUM OF VIOLIN MUSIC

in the background of the Wayne Gala Christmas Eve party. Atmospheric lighting and the soft floating voices of socialites distracted Tye from the music, but she tried her hardest to pay attention. She was sipping on the last bits of red wine in her glass, waiting for Jason to come back from grabbing some desserts. It wasn't somewhere she wanted to be but her boyfriend was attempting to reconcile with Bruce, so this happened to be a part of it.

She was briefly eyeing where Dick was on the dancefloor, spinning Barbara too many times to the point she seemed near ill.

Tim was manoeuvring around, ducking under peoples arms to make his way over to her. She didn't notice him until his fingers barely skimmed her jacket. "Tye?" He asked, patting her arm when she had, in fact, noticed him, "I was just wondering, uh, have you seen Jay? He's been gone for a while, hasn't he?"

"Oh," Tye looked around at the mention, wondering exactly why it had taken her boyfriend at least half an hour to find desserts. "You know what? I have no idea."

"I'm gonna go check the library," he told her, pushing some of his black hair away from his face now. "I mean, I know I ended up somewhere with books my first time at one of these parties, but I was super young. Not that it's his first, but it's been a while, I think! I mean... Actually, how're you doing? You're not really used to this either, are you?"

She shook her head. "I could use a break," she admitted, "even if he's not in the library, I'd be glad to hole up in there with some books. It's a little too much of everyone asking how I'm doing, who I am, why I'm here. Someone thought I was dating Dick of all people." A grimace made its way onto her face when she said his name, not particularly because she disliked him, but more because she couldn't think of him as anything other than a good friend.

When they got to the library doors, Tim paused. "I can check," he told her.

She didn't listen to him and pushed the doors open. She had assumed Tim was nervous Jason would be in a compromising situation, but instead, he almost seemed uncomfortable with the other person in the room.

A tall man, not as tall as him, with shaggy orange hair and a baseball cap on. "Hi," he said to the two when they entered. "Can we help you? We're just trying to discuss something. It's important, really. We'll be done in a little while if you need the room for something, uh," he broke off to cough, "personal."

"Roy," Jason said sharply, his voice like a knife to the air, "don't talk to my girlfriend like that. She's just as involved in anything I do as I am. The other kid's my replacement ."
Roy, apparently, raised his eyebrows and folded his arms over his chest. "Look," he said, "Jaybird, I need you for this one thing. One fucking thing and then I won't bother you for a while. That's what best friends do. It's been a long and shitty year since we've spoken but I want to... I need to ask you this favour. Please."

Tim slipped out of the room and let the door shut behind him, leaving her standing in the door. "Jason," she began as she stepped over. He slipped an arm around her waist and gently leaned over, pressing a kiss to her jaw. "Jason, don't distract me from this. What's happening? What does he need you to do? Who is he? Why is this happening at Christmas? C'mon, Jay, babe..."

"Roy Harper," the man said, extending out a hand, "It's nice to meet you. What's your name?"

She was silent for a moment. "Tye Melrose," she told him, shaking his hand hesitantly. She pulled her hand away and turned toward Jason briefly. "Hardly answers any questions to know your name though. Knowing your title doesn't exactly tell me who you are."

Laughing slightly, Roy turned away. "We're good friends," he told her, "used to be best friends. I'm just trying to ask him to help me handle a job in town, and it's... It's urgent, sort of. It can wait a couple of days, but I need him. He's the only guy that can do it right. He's got a knack for these sorts of things. He's got some talents."

"A very particular set of skills," she began, "skills he's acquired over a very long career, skills that make him a nightmare for people like you."

Her boyfriend's fingers flexed on her side before curling into a fist. "Wow, this is exactly why I love you," he told her softly, trying to hide his wide smile, "you and your movie references, Tye, I swear."

The other man, Roy, he was smiling too. "Anyway," he said, "I'll let you guys talk. You've got my number if you decide to accept, Jay." He moved to step past, patting Jason's arm before he moved closer toward the door. He stopped briefly as if to say one more thing, but seemed to redecide and pulled the door open to leave.

"Wait," Tye said to stop him, "let's get lunch on boxing day. We can all talk then."

Roy thanked her and left to wherever he was going that night. Once the door had closed shut behind him, Tye turned toward Jason and leaned in briefly to press her lips to his. "Think we can sneak out early?" She whispered. "You look amazing in that suit."

Jason tried not to laugh, telling her, "you totally forgot we were staying until breakfast tomorrow, didn't you?"

She leaned forward into his suit jacket to muffle a tired groan, running a hand up his chest. "Take me to the room," she complained then, reaching for his hand and pressing a kiss to his jacket, "I'm exhausted, Jay. I'm gonna die if I don't crawl into bed in the next ten minutes. My legs aren't gonna work anymore."

"Who says they need to?" He asked her, lifting her up in his arms and pushing the door open. He headed in the opposite direction of the party. She had her eyes closed, but when he set her down, she finally opened them.

It was a room, decorated slightly, some frames and loose papers, a book sitting on the nightstand. "Was this your room before— Everything?"

"Yeah," Jason said, reaching for the bags on the floor he'd set in there earlier. He pulled out some of his clothes and tossed a nightshirt at her, motioning toward the connected bathroom. "I'm gonna get ready in here and then we can talk. Unless you fall asleep, I guess. I mean, don't know how you'd sleep in heels but..."

Tye gave him a little shrug and worked on taking off her heels while he was in the bathroom. She changed fully and then laid on top of the covers, muffling a yawn into her arm. When Jason finally came out, he smiled softly.

"Might wanna get under the covers," he told her.

She sighed and shifted until she could pull all the blankets on top of her, snuggling into Jason's side. "Better?" She questioned him.

"Better."