Chapter Text
Jason groaned as he pulled himself up the fire escape of the rundown apartment building that Dick had been hiding away in ever since he returned from Spyral. Blood dripped onto the rusty metal, its red hue blending in near perfectly in the low light of the half-lit marquis across the street. Man, Dick had picked a shithole of a place to stay. Jason huffed, his annoyance spiking. Did Dick really think that they were going to feel sorry for him? That if they saw how he was living, they would forgive him and welcome him back after the shit that he pulled? Fat chance. Jason wouldn't even be stepping foot inside Dick's place if it weren’t for the stab wound in his gut.
Okay, it was less of a stab, more of a slash, and it missed his vitals, so yes, technically Jason could have toughed it out and made it back to one of his safe houses. But Dick's place was closest, and if Jason got to annoy his brother and bleed a little on his couch, then it was worth dealing with Dick's bullshit for a short spell to get himself patched up. It just made sense. It wasn't as if Jason was looking for a reason to scope out Dick’s place ever since Oracle updated their list of safe houses and Jason saw the absolute worst building listed as Dick's pad.
Jason grunted as he paused beside a broken window of an empty apartment to catch his breath. Why the fuck did Dick have to live on the sixth floor?
Trudging up the last creaking steps of the fire escape, Jason finally reached the window leading into Dick's place. He frowned as he deactivated the frankly sad security measures Dick had set up; Bruce would have torn him a new one if he'd seen the sorry excuse of protection. Sliding the window open, Jason ducked his head down and climbed inside. The apartment was completely dark, but the night vision in his helmet was more than enough to reveal the worn couch that had an honest-to-god spring sticking out of the right cushion, the TV that looked like something out of the eighties, Dick lying on the floor, and the plethora of mugs on the- wait.
Jason's eyes flew back to Dick's still form, his brother lying facedown on the carpet. His injury forgotten, Jason hurried forward, clicking on a light on his way, and finding himself grateful that the electricity actually worked as he stepped over Dick and finally saw his face.
Dick's eyes were wide open, unblinking and distant as he stared at a questionable stain on the scratchy carpet. His lips were quivering, mouthing something that Jason had to lean in close to hear.
“J's a pill, ‘st a pill, just a pill.”
Jason's brow furrowed, and he glanced over to see one of those yellow pill bottles clenched tight in Dick's hand, the white cap on the floor, along with a dozen or so spilled pills.
Now, Jason knew that Dick took medication. He never pried into what kind exactly, but over the years, he'd seen Dick pop a pill or two when he thought no one was looking, so why the flagrant panic?
The unanswered question made Jason worry, just a little. Yes, he was still angry at Dick for fucking off to who knows where, but he had to admit, he was curious about what had happened to Dick in the last year. Jason knew how quickly an undercover mission could go south, and aside from Bruce, Dick hadn't had any backup. So just what the hell had happened to Dick that led to this reaction to the pills?
“Dick?” Jason called, repeating the name louder when Dick didn't react.
Dick's mumbling stopped, his eyes twitching in Jason's direction but not quite making it, not at all present as his lips trembled with each shaky breath.
“Come on, ‘Wing. Throw me a bone here,” Jason said with a sigh, his eyes cataloguing the rest of Dick's appearance. He was wearing sweats that seemed about two sizes too big for him, but upon further consideration, Jason realized something alarming. The sweats were the same Superman-themed ones that Dick had worn since his early days as Nightwing, meaning they should be a bit baggy, but not big on Dick. Which meant they weren't too big; Dick was too small. Yes, looking closely, Jason could tell that his brother had lost weight- a concerning amount of weight. Even his face looked a bit gaunt, and his usual tan complexion was much paler than normal.
What the fuck was going on with Dick?