Steady On Forward

Chapter 7

A/N:

Since it's referenced in this chapter, the comic pages containing Talia coercing Jay into having sex with her in Red Hood: The Lost Days (Vol. 1) #6 are linked under 'External Link' at the bottom of the chapter (desktop users only, unfortunately) for those who didn't read/don't remember and want a refresher on what exactly happened.

—

Tim sat at his kitchen counter, staring down into his sixth cup of coffee of the morning.

He hadn't slept. Although his laptop was sitting on the counter in front of him, he'd never actually done anything beyond opening it. Mostly he'd just stared.

Stared at the wall, the counter. It didn't matter. He couldn't stop hearing the way Dick's voice had shaken when he'd still thought it was Jason ⁠— the way he'd asked what he'd done, like it might have been his fault; the way he'd apologized to the man. Couldn't stop hearing the things Dick had screamed at the man while he'd beaten him to the brink of death a few hours ago.

Well, it had probably been more than a few hours ago by now ⁠— the sun was well up into the sky.

Tim mopped a hand over his face, and took a gulp of his (nearly cold) coffee. Damn. He didn't know how long it'd been sitting there.

He heard one of his living room windows slide open and his safeguards being deactivated, and looked up to see Cass climbing inside.

"Hey," he greeted quietly.

She walked straight up next to him, and held her arms out partway, clearly asking if he wanted a hug.

He nodded and laid his head on her shoulder. They gripped each other tightly.

"You didn't sleep either?" she asked.

"Did anyone?"

She shrugged.

Neither of them seemed to want to relinquish their hold on each other, so they stayed, even when several minutes later the front door quietly opened behind them.

"Hey guys," Stephanie said, shoving her keys back into her pocket, and closing the door. She sounded more subdued than usual, and her eyes were red and puffy. "Mind if I join in?"

"Yeah, come on," Tim said, and she wrapped her arms around both of them.

"Think Duke's doing okay?" Stephanie asked, after a bit.

Tim shrugged. "I doubt any of us really are. Should we call him?"

They finally all let go of each other, and Stephanie pulled out her phone, scrolling through the contacts. "Probably a good idea."

"I'm worried about Dami," Tim admitted, biting his lip.

Cass shook her head.

"I can't imagine any scenario where he didn't go straight to Dick and Jay's," Stephanie said. "He's probably fine. Or, as fine as possible, in any case."

She pressed call, and put the phone on speaker as it started ringing.

"Hey Steph, everything okay?" Duke picked up.

"Yeah," she said. "Just wanted to check in ⁠- how are you holding up?"

"I'm okay," he said slowly. "Didn't sleep. I can't stop thinking about it."

"I couldn't sleep either... If you don't want to be alone right now, me and Cass are at Tim's main place downtown."

Duke was quiet for so long that Stephanie asked, "Duke?"