no rest for the wicked [jason todd]

forty eight

LEANING FORWARD,
Tye buried her arm in the crook of her elbow, eyelids fluttering as she tried to stay asleep. The baby was an active kicker, that was for sure, and she was thinking Jason had given that trait to her. Yeah, her. They'd gone to the ultrasound and Tye had refused to Jason a million times about finding out the gender, but she got the chance and absolutely crumpled at the appointment, giving in. It was her, their little girl who was gonna be born in a couple of weeks now, and she couldn't keep the excitement at bay.

Jason gave a soft sigh and wrapped an arm around her, burying his face in her shoulder. "Babe," he mumbled quietly, kissing her shoulder now, "go to bed. I'm fuckin' exhausted and you gotta be too."

"She's kicking," Tye told him in reply, sighing herself before she moved a hand away from her stomach. Jason shifted enough to press a hand against her stomach and tilted his chin down, mumbling something to himself before his eyes tore themselves open.

"Give your mom some rest, baby girl," he mumbled tiredly, "you can keep us up when you're born."

Tye laughed softly, taking one of his cheeks in her hand and looking at him. He was pretty much asleep again, eyelashes rested against his cheeks. He definitely needed more sleep than her, he was exaggerating, because she wasn't still out risking her life during the night. He was. He had a bruise the size of her fist on his torso and he could barely keep his eyes open when he was changing out of his suit.

She'd used the word costume before, but it didn't feel like it anymore. Maybe the first time it felt like a child's costume, but any time after that, she thought of it as a uniform. She put that thing on and she was responsible for making sure people didn't die. It wasn't a costume.

She didn't remember falling asleep that night, but she remembered waking up to the smell of breakfast. When she pulled her eyes open, Jason had a tray that he set down for her, sitting back down onto the bed and kissing her forehead. "Hey babe," he murmured, "get up. It's like, ten am now. Roy's on his way over with Lian," he reached out and brushed her hair back. "Sit up, c'mon." 

"You try being pregnant, I dare you," Tye muttered into a pillow, squeezing one eye shut, "I'm exhausted and in pain."

"Pain?" Jason asked softly, tucking some hair behind her ear. "Cramps pain?"

"Mm, kinda like a... Crampy feeling, achey after. Kinda like period cramps, but they're..." She broke off for a moment, shutting her eyes. "They hurt like a bitch, Jay. I want to die in this bed right now."

Jason hummed as he rubbed her shoulder softly with a hand. "How far apart? They could be contractions," he reminded her. At that sentence, Tye opened her eyes wide and looked up to him. "Tye... How far?" He asked with his eyebrows scrunching together, looking suspicious of her now that she'd done that. "How far apart?"

"Did Leslie say to call at five minutes apart?"

Jason closed his eyes and clenched his jaw slightly. "How far?" He asked.

"Mmm, ten minutes? Five?" She offered, sitting up now and nodding toward the breakfast. "Leave it for Roy and Lian, I think we're gonna need to go to the hospital."

"How are you not panicking?" Jason asked suddenly, reaching for her hands to help her stand to her feet. After she was steady and walking, he ran to get the car keys before he heard a knock on the door. "Roy," he said, opening it up for his best friend. "Outta the way, Tye's in labour."

Roy's eyes widened slightly and he stepped aside with Lian as Tye headed out, grabbing Jason's hand. "Breakfast's in the bedroom, you guys are welcome to it," she told them with a bright grin before they headed off.

So, them rushing off on Roy kinda scared him. He ended up calling Dick, who called Bruce, who told everyone else. Somehow even Slade was in the emergency room, and despite the glowering looks from Bruce, he didn't ever make a move to comment on it. It seemed more like he understood, so they were silent. Lian was with Alfred and Tim, bless the guys for taking care of her, and Roy was pacing in the hallways.

They spent the better part of twelve hours in that waiting room and by the end, Barbara was passed out between her father and lying on Dick's shoulder. When the doctor finally came out, he was surprised to see so many people, and he pointed a pen at all of them. "Are you guys all here for..."

"Tye," Dick piped up, softly waking Barbara. "Is she okay?" 

The doctor smiled triumphantly and nodded, pointing his pen to the hall now. "Take it easy, I'd say two or three at a time. All three of them are pretty tired at this point."

They struggled to find out who was going first before they voted on Jim, who was going with Roy. As they both stepped in, Roy headed closer to where Jason was sitting on a comfy chair and Jim rounded the bed to the other side, bending down to greet Tye and the baby. Tye was about half awake and smiled up at Jim slightly before she looked down at the baby, all swaddled up in a blanket.

"Is it..." Jim began, but his voice was so soft it trailed right off.

Jason smiled crookedly. "It's a girl," he told the two of them, "Jamie."

Jim looked a little surprised and turned away, sniffling as he pushed up his glasses to wipe a tear away. "Jim, are you crying? C'mon, it's just a name," Tye said softly, her eyebrows pulling together as she smiled up at him. "You've... Done a lot for me, and I want her to... I want her to have someone to look up to."

"Shoulda named her Roy," Roy told Jason with a little laugh, but the tears were present in his eyes too. "She's so fuckin' tiny, man."

"Yeah," Jason admitted, reaching for the blanket to pull it away from her face. "She sure is, huh?" He turned back to Roy after a moment, adding, "Roianne. Like Roy-anne. That's her middle name, Roytoy. Don't think we went around forgettin' you now."

Roy smiled softly as he looked toward her.

It was Dick and Barbara next before the lot of them went home, and Dick cried so much that Barbara pulled him out, trying to make sure he didn't wake up Jamie.

Slade stood by the door for a moment while Tye was asleep, and yeah, Jason knew he was there. He was quiet because Slade deserved that. He deserved that because, honestly, he'd been trying these last few months. Came around for dinner, bought them some pretty cool shit, and Jason knew he was trying now. 

After a moment, Jason waved him in. "She's got 'er lookers open," he said, gently prying Jamie out of Tye's arms. "C'mere, old man. You can hold her 'til she cries in a little, kid's gonna be hungry again soon."

Slade frowned, pulling his arms closer to his body for a moment before he stepped in, extending his arms to allow Jason to place Jamie in them, the younger one helping him adjust his grip. "Thanks," he said after a moment, looking toward Jason, who only smiled softly. He was still peering at his daughter while Slade held her, and for a moment, he couldn't stop looking down at her.

Then, she cried and he freaked out, looking up toward Jason with alarmed eyes.

Jason laughed slightly and reached to take her back before he sat down next to Tye, humming softly before he nudged her with an elbow. "Princess is hungry," he told her softly.

Tye pried her eyes open and gave a sleepy 'mm' of agreement before she looked toward Slade, smiling at him as he went to leave. "G'night, Dad," she told him, and she knew his eyes were wide when he stopped, she knew he'd heard it. 

"Night, kiddo," he told her softly before he pulled the door shut.