I'll be good

Daylight dying

The sun was beginning to turn black. It had been at least ten hours since the invasion began, ten hours had passed and still, nothing had been found to stop it.

Almost every citizen was infected now. Some quicker than others, but it appeared no one was immune like they had previously thought.

Jason could see clear as day, the veins on his arms beginning to turn black. He swallowed thickly as he pulled his sleeve back over his arm, and made his way over to Tim who stood on the other side of the rooftop.

"You good?" Tim asked as Jason came to stand beside him.

"All well and good, little birdie," he replied, keeping his gaze upon the city before him and not on his brother.

Tim chuckled slightly, gaining his brother's attention.

"What?"

"Nothing..." Tim replied, his smile wavering slightly, "you can't call me that anymore; I'm not Robin."

Jason sighed at Tim's comment; he understood the feeling of being replaced, and knew how much Tim loved being Robin, but regardless of what name they called themselves or what colors they wore, they were always going to be Robin.

"You'll always be a little birdie, replacement."

Tim's eyes narrowed behind his mask, but he couldn't help the smile that formed on his lips at the nickname. Tim had always wanted to form a brotherly bond with Jason, the same way he formed one with Dick, but Jason was never around or too stubborn. Perhaps, now wasn't the best time to start bonding with each other, but, now may be the only time, and Tim was going to accept it.

"You know that you were the first replacement, right?" Tim pointed to Jason as he turned to face him completely, his smirk growing on his face.

Jason playfully shoved him, smiling at the light banter the brothers were sharing in a moment of crisis.

"Shut up."

For a split second, Jason forgot what was happening in the world. He forgot who his family were and what they did. For a split second, he wished for none of it, none of the costumes, none of the thrill that came from swinging into battle. He wanted to keep his family, his adoptive father, his brothers, and of course, Alfred. But then he realized, none of them would be here without the crime-filled life they lived. As much as Jason would love to have a normal life, he wouldn't be able to live without his bat-family.

Jason was pulled from his thoughts immediately by the sound of violent coughing. He looked down to see Tim hunched over and in the process of coughing his lungs up. Jason swore he could even see tiny droplets of blood on the ground beneath where Tim was coughing.

Tim stayed hunched over, even after he finished coughing, trying to catch his breath. There was no warning; one second he was completely fine, the next he couldn't breathe, like he was drowning.

"Hey... You okay?"

Jason's voice brought Tim back to reality. Once he caught his breath and he was breathing normally again, he stood up, coming face to face with his concerned older brother. Tim couldn't see Jason's eyes behind his mask, but he could tell he was worried, after all, that coughing fit came from nowhere.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it." He waved it off as being over-worked but Tim knew that wasn't the truth, maybe it was just a cold. Wishful thinking.

"Are you sure? That didn't sound fine."

"I'm fine, Jay. Just... leave it, okay?"

Jason knew he wasn't fine; people don't just cough like that for no reason. Tim turned away from his brother, his lengthening hair blowing away from his neck for a split second, but it was all the time Jason needed to see it.