no rest for the wicked [jason todd]

forty

WHEN SHE SHOWED UP TO BABYSIT,

Tye was surprised to see that Lian was in her pyjamas. She was clutching a pillow, a sleeping bag and all but pulled Tye into the living room. Somewhere distantly, she heard Roy laughing and Jason saying something in the other room. Now though, Lian dropped the pillow, the sleeping bag and turned to her. "You're gonna sleep on the couch for our sleepover 'cause Daddy said you've got a baby in your tummy!"

"Oh, did he?" Tye laughed and leaned down, pushing some of Lian's hair away from her face. "Your dad's spilling all the secrets now. He's got a big mouth."

Lian pressed her finger to her lips and made a 'shhh' sound to Tye, holding her hair back with one hand. "Daddy says Uncle Dick is really bad at keeping secrets," she whispered, "it's okay, I'm good at keepin' things. When Uncle Dickie gives me cookies, I don't even tell my dad until Uncle Dick's gone."

Trying not to laugh even harder, Tye reached for Lian's hands and sat down, squeezing gently. "Turn around," she prompted, "I'm gonna braid your hair so we can watch a movie, okay? You're not gonna be able to see with all that hair in your face, honey." Lian nodded and Tye hummed as she brushed her fingers through the girl's hair, turning up when she heard footsteps.

"There's some extra pizza in the fridge but she's eaten dinner already," Roy offered, "and don't give her too much ice cream, she won't sleep." He bent down and Tye let go of Lian's hair, allowing the little girl to run into her father's arms. They hugged — it was absolutely adorable — and Roy pulled away. "I forewarned Dick," he said after Lian pulled away, "he'll come over if you need help. Jason told me you've never babysat."

"Not officially," Tye agreed, "took care of some neighbourhood kids when the parents yelled, but I wasn't in charge officially."

Roy smiled softly, green eyes practically sparkling. "Goodluck," he told her, and moments later, Jason poked his head in.

"Love you, be safe," he offered, but then smirked, "and you too, Tye."

"Mean," Tye said flatly, brushing through Lian's hair as the girl sat in front of her again. "Very, very mean, Jay." She went to glance up at them moments later but the door had shut. She paused but continued braiding Lian's hair, only pulling her hands away next when she'd finished. "Okay, turn around! Let me see how I did!"

Lian stood up and spun on her heels, extending her hands. "Am I pretty?" She asked brightly.

"You look adorable," Tye praised, swooping the girl up into her arms and setting her onto the couch. "Lemme grab some juice and make some popcorn before we put on a movie, yeah? You decide on one and I'll put the DVD in when I come back."

"Uh-huh," Lian agreed, twiddling her thumbs now, "I'll wait for ya, Tye!"

Stepping into the kitchen, Tye paused, feeling her phone vibrate. She turned to look down and her eyebrows raised up in surprise. "Oh, huh," she uttered, "Mom?" Her eyebrows pulled together and she read over the text several times, wondering if she was seeing correctly at this point.

from: Amelia
Tye, we need to talk about what happened to your father. Your little boyfriend has been keeping it from you.

Her breathing stuttered a little bit in her throat and she nearly dropped her phone, wondering how in the hell Jason knew a thing about her father. Her mother had to be the liar, he did — Jason's only memories of the Jacobis had supposedly been through rumours. He would have told her if he recognized the name, wouldn't he?

Part of her suspected him killing the guy but Jason had explained enough of his life to her. He was too old to have been the cause of the man's death, and anyway, her father had passed from a heart attack and not murder. She would know. She'd spent years looking over the small file, wishing, wishing it could have been something she could have solved. She didn't live in a dramatic crime movie though, she lived in real life.

She debated sending him a text but shook it off, sliding her phone back into her pocket. She poured two glasses of juice, made a bowl of popcorn and headed back into the living room where Lian was. "Hey, you pick a movie?" She asked her.

Lian paused, biting her tongue slightly. "Uh-huh," she agreed moments later, holding one up from a line of — most likely — her top three favourites, "this one."

Tye smiled softly and she put the movie in, returning to sit next to the girl on the couch, wrapping the two of them in a fuzzy blanket laid out on the back of the couch. She could have even fallen asleep with how warm the blanket was, but she was too focused on both the TV and Lian.

About halfway through, after the dark haired little girl had shoved enough popcorn into her mouth and finished her juice, it didn't take her long to pass out. She was snuggled into Tye's side, her shoulders rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm. Tye gently pulled an arm around her and kept watching the movie until it was finished, only then picking Lian up to tuck her into her bed. She flicked on a little nightlight that lit up with stars on the ceiling and then headed to the door. Just as she pulled it to close it mostly, she turned back to check on her. Lian was sleeping so peacefully.

Her chest nearly ached with how scared she was about doing this herself. Maybe Jason was on the right track with his parenting book, maybe they were more than totally unprepared for this. They were practically orphans and they were supposed to end up in charge of a child.

They weren't ready to be parents yet.