things we carry - two
title: safe at the bottom
series: things we carry
pairing: jason todd/dick grayson
rated: t (for too legit to quit)
i.
Adults had a certain way of speaking to kids after serious incidents or traumas, the kind ones at least. They eased into topics with soft voices, always asking if understanding was taking place-you’re safe now, do you understand? Do you know how lucky you are, son? They liked to play association games and gauge the level of approaching freak out before getting into the real questions. The problem with this approach was that those adults never wanted to give straight answers in return.
The last time he’d been interviewed, Jason had sat in a side office of the Gotham Police Department’s patrol room with a blanket folded over his bare shoulders and a cup of milk-drenched coffee waiting for them to get to the point. The only thing a guy could do in kind-adult situations was wait for the right moment and grab whatever bits of honest information slipped through.
At least with assholes you knew you wouldn’t get nothing except for the back of the hand. Violence you could prepare for. Good intentions? Didn’t help with shit, and after two minutes sitting in front of Mr. Nelson, Jason knew he was knee deep without a shovel. Mr. Nelson at least had decent tea-something Jason had just started to appreciate.
“And then you hit the boundary and saw the elements, correct?”
“Yes sir. I could see elements just on the other side but nothing I did would pull them over. It felt like this huge wall was separating me from them.”
“The boundaries are,’ Mr. Nelson cast around the room. “They’re like this door right here. Solid, sturdy, an entrance but parts of it are sturdier than others. And it’s mostly opace.
Through the office’s glass door, he could see their classroom, long tables cleared and the floors gleaming white. The chalkboards hidden by pull down maps of concentric and intersecting circles representing worlds Jason had never really knew existed. It looked pristine, like nothing happened yesterday, like Jason looked into darkness and watched as it looked back. That’s when Jason knew he had to push. He needed some kind of answer.
He brought his teacup up then paused, eyes purposefully wide. “Wait! I thought the boundary was just metaphysical.”
“And metaphorical,” said Mr. Nelson, leaning back in his chair. He looked at Jason over the gold rim of his glasses, a clear sign Nelson was settling into lecture mode. “The appearance of the boundaries of our mind are merely representation. They are a rationalization we humans need to help make sense of the improbable. It’s not uncommon for the shape of your mind to interpret the power differently as gain experience or age.”
“But you said what happened was a demonstration of power. Is that what happened? Did I do something wrong? Did I, I don’t know. Did I gain access to more of my brain or something?
Please,” he screwed his brows up in earnest confusion when Mr. Nelson hesitated, leveraging all of the innocent charm that used to grease him through the palms of Gotham’s seriously wacked underground. “I just want to know so I can be careful next time.”
“Let me first remind you that the Academy is here to provide you with a safe environment to learn and practice your gift without fear or judgment, Jason, so please, let your fears fall silent. Not that you are scared,” he interrupted Jason’s protests. “As to what I meant, well, it’s hard to be sure, but I believe you may have peeled away part of the circle’s protections with your.” Mr. Nelson flicked his fingers as if flipping through an unseen book. “Magical aptitude. It’s not that you started to use one-hundred percent of your brain or anything so ridiculous. You simply managed to tap into more of that potential of yours. The circles aren’t just to confuse or dilute the power we bring in from the other side. It’s also a channel to create safe entry from one plane to the next.”
It took all of Jason’s will not to stand up and cheer. Finally, Mr. Nelson seemed ready to give him answers.
“I read that chapter,” Jason said, because he had last night slowly reviewing readings he’d skimmed for a clue to what happened in class. “But I’m sure I was uh. You know, drawing the elements through as soon as I saw them.”
“When you imagined yourself knocking on the boundary, you were doing two things. Firstly, you were trying to push into the next realm and grab the spirits. Secondly, you were also focusing that power on the protections themselves which somewhat weakened them. Jason, you could have easily brought something unexpected over.” His gaze was pointed and waiting.
Jason tried not to think of the great blue eyes and the fierce winds scrapping at his skin. “I wasn’t trying to do that. Do you think that’s what happened?” Trying not to hold his breath while Mr. Nelson studied him for several long moments took serious concentration, but Jason managed.
Finally, Mr. Nelson shook his head. “Of course not, Jason. But it is something you should be aware of. One of the many things you need to learn quickly at this school is that pushing boundaries is very dangerous here. Literally.”
“What does that mean?” Jason asked, leaning forward on the offensive now that his questions were being answered.
“It means that we have been remiss with your safety simply because your family was not known to have magical affinity.” Now that sounded pretty insulting, and Jason felt a familiar blankness welling up in him.
He leaned back in his seat, crossed his shiny leather shoes like he’d seen other men do in the past. If he had a cigarette, he’d light it now and show Nelson and everyone else what kind of breeding he really had. Okay, he wouldn’t but he wants to flick something. “You mean you guys thought street trash like me don’t have the breeding for magic. Good to know.”
“We faculty don’t have access to all of the student’s records, but I do understand that there were circumstances surrounding your ah. Fostering and subsequent enrollment at the academy are peculiar. It does not mean that I or any other faculty were concerned because of your breeding. There’s just a natural pattern of progression no matter a practitioner’s aptitude. And know that we know how your potential manifests, we can take additional precautions.”
“That’s teacher speak for what? You read the papers and know that the Wayne family took me in?”
There were probably zombies shuffling through the city dumps who knew about Jason’s rescue from the foster system by Bruce Wayne. It had nearly been a year since Bruce announced his son and heir to society. Front page scandal all the way because as far as the world knew, Bruce wasn’t married and never had a girlfriend long enough to settle down with. When he brought Jason into his home speculation on Jason’s paternity went wild. The press hadn’t gotten close enough to ask Jason though, and no one at the school risked angering after that day. It’s not that Jason wouldn’t tell anyone though. He knows exactly who his father was.
Mr. Nelson began rummaging through the stack of papers on his desk. They were balanced on top of each other, fluttering on a mess of books, parchments and scrolls of varying yellow. The chaotic spread of knowledge contrasted with the way Mr. Nelson ordered his classroom, lame jokes aside.
“I do not have to speculate. The Wayne name is just as venerated as the Maxwell-Huerrs and you obviously show such promise. No, I just want you to know that your promise means you must work especially hard to learn the fundamentals now. Here we are.” He pulled out a red book without toppling his paper mountains. The cover had squiggly symbol writing Jason associated with doctors and the occult.
“I want you to start working within this book alongside our classroom primer. Please turn in the chapter assignments with your homework,” he said.
Jason winced. “You want to double my homework. I must have done something really bad if you’re trying to punish me?”
“No, no, you misunderstand. I want you to use this book instead. It’s is the same lessons but additional protections are woven into these circles learned here. Students with tremendous magical aptitude are required to use the red texts.” He held the book out for Jason with a helpful smile. The smile didn’t budge, not even when Jason sat there, brow cocked, because he didn’t want extra work. No one did. And it didn’t move when Mr. Nelson finally dropped the book. Jason lunged out of seat, bent waist, and knees banging the floor to catch it before the ground.
“Man, you can’t just. That.” He tossed his hair out of his eyes and glared. “You can’t treat books like this. Even I know that.”
“It’s fortunate to us both that you have such a great respect for knowledge, if not authority,” Mr. Nelson said, voice mild. “Be at ease, Jason, this book will assist in your language acquisition as well.”
Jason couldn’t stop the groan. “So it’s double the summons homework and Latin homework.”
Now Mr. Nelson’s smile deepened. “Needs must, Jason. Needs must.”
“Yeah? What does that mean?”
Mr. Nelson blinked at his tone. “Well. It means that I’d like for you to complete the exercises on pages three, six, seven, and nine and turn them in for grading by Thursday.”
“Really?” Jason couldn’t fake his confusion this time, the shock and annoyance. All that work on top of his other classes?
“Really, Jason. Needs must.”
“Yeah? Tell me, professor, what does that mean this time?”
The church bells began to toll the hour. Mr. Nelson’s smile became relaxed and pleased.
“It means you are excused and go to your next class.”
ii.
Jason made it to the next corner when his arm was unceremoniously grabbed and yanked into the boy’s bathroom.
“Well? What did he say?” Steph demanded. Tim, her creepy shadow hovered at her elbow alternating between curiosity and slow death by embarrassment.
“What the hell, Brown?” Jason snatched his arm free and glared them both. “You looking to try out the season’s colors?”
She and Tim exchanged a series of shrugs and headshakes, before she says, “I don’t know what that means, Jason?” earnest and prim.
“There’s a lot of that going on today.” Jason raised his fists. “It means I was about to dot your eyes. Don’t go around grabbing me like that, okay?” He gave a quick jab at the wall annoyed at being startled enough for his accent broke through. There was Gotham Elite to Old Town to the Tricorners here, but no one sounded as close to the gutter as Jason.
Steph tossed her hair but managed to look apologetic. “I’m sorry. Everything was so crazy yesterday and then they sent the cleanup crew after class and now you’re meeting with Mr. Nelson.” She paused to take a deep breath. “I just got so worried.”
Jason’s got a pretty good understanding on how the school works, how the people are, where to go and who to avoid, but in two months of the Academy, he’s never heard that term before. “Those guys with the buttons yesterday? What about them?”
“They’re the ones who come to clean up any magical mistakes,” Steph said. “Like. Like, well. There was a rumor that one girl opened a portal to the Forgotten Kingdom and got stuck in it when it started to collapse.”
“That’s a rumor,” Tim said, softly.
“Yeah. But Marguerite Comtois always talks about her sister being in the classroom that day. And there are some twelfth years who swear that they saw her butt and legs kicking out in thin air from the hallway.”
“There’s no record though.”
“What do you think all those eye witnesses are, Tim?”
“Liars?”
“Marguerite’s sister would never lie!”
Jason swung his arm between the two of them. “Back to your corners you two. We’re talking about my possible,” he stressed the word clearly. “Situation. Remember?” He waited until they turned sullen glares to him rather than each other. “Okay then. You think I made some kind of mistake yesterday?”
“They were pretty much running to the classroom so yes, yes I do. Don’t you, Tim?” They turned back to the younger boy who blinked owlishly at them both. “Tim was saying that something pretty spectacular had to happen for the protections to be blown like that.”
Jason stroked his chin thinking quickly. “Mr. Nelson said I was pushing on the protections when I was trying to pull elements through. Like, I was weakening them with my magic or something.”
“That doesn’t sound right,” said Steph. “I mean, the only way you can weaken protections from the inside out is if you’re hurt or if you’re tried or your magic is fading.” She ticked each one off on her fingers
“Or if-” Tim stopped when they’re eyes lit on him again.
“Jesus, kid. Am I that damn intimidating? You didn’t have no problems talk to me yesterday,” Jason groused, arms folding across his chest. “Spit it out.”
“Stephanie is right about weakening protections but those reasons stand true if they are your own protective spells. Jason, you’re very strong, but I don’t think you would be able to match Mr. Nelson’s power. Few in the world can. And.” Tim looked down at the floor, pale cheeks flushing. “And while I do find you are intimidating, I’m not afraid of you. You just. Didn’t seem interested in talking to me, so I decided it best that Steph speak.”
“Well. I wasn’t,” said Jason, gruffly. “But you know a lot more about this than I do right now. Both of you. So, I’ll listen for now,” he added to make sure they understood their friendly information exchange had a time limit. He just wanted a little help understanding what went on in class, his episode especially, not become part of an amateur sleuthing club that met in the boys bathroom.
“Why are we in the bathroom anyway?”
“Oh.” Steph’s cheeks got really red really fast. “I might have followed Tim in. I was talking to him. And then I saw you and now. It’s not like this is planned!” she continued over Jason’s barking laughter. “This place is gross and smells funny.”
Every bathroom Jason had seen on campus looked like this one; a stylish marble trough for hand washing and a small table against the wall that had baskets of clean cotton hand towels, hand lotion, and disposable toothbrushes and tooth paste. It even had those plastic pick things that had floss on one end. The urinals were hidden behind a wall and the door at the end of the room with the words “Gentleman’s Room,” etched into the frosted glass. Yeah, there was the faintest odor of stale piss, but some guys never learned how to aim. Jason had seen much worse and told them so.
“Anyway, you think Mr. Nelson was lying or something?”
Tim’s big eyes widened in disbelief, astonished that Jason could think such a thing let alone say it out loud. “No! No. I just mean. He was next to you when your circle lit up, he didn’t see.”
“Didn’t see what?” Steph grabbed hold of his arm and tugged him close oblivious to the sudden flush to Tim’s pale cheeks. Obviously, the girl has no concept of personal boundaries.
“Jason’s circle from the other day. I know I didn’t imagine it but I couldn’t be sure what happened. I wanted to research it first.”
Research? Jason held back a snort because of course Tim wanted to verify his observations or whatever. It was like Tim was truly a grown up trapped in a child’s body. The near opposite of what Jason had become used to living in Wayne Manor. “Tim, man. Could you finish a sentence please because all this cryptic bullshit ain’t working for me.”
“The magic circle we made the other day. Before it exploded, I saw something inside of it. It was like a line moving through circle.” Tim’s voice softened. “All the books say that sometimes, a searching spell can find their way through the protective maze. I think. I think something was looking for you, Jason. And the only things in the void who can do that, who want to find the root of a summons are demons.”
Steph gasp knocked Jason from his reverie. He swept a glance over them, frowning when he noticed how they all three seemed to have stepped closer to each other. He was practically shoulder to shoulder with Brown and Tim’s bright eyes focused worriedly on him but also searching for a reaction.
He stepped back and forced a shrug. “Don’t be so dramatic, kid. It won’t help you in the long run.”
“You don’t think Tim is lying do you?”
Steph whirled on him, hair fanning in a clean circle, and placed one hand on his hip in a pose Jason had come to think of as battle ready. “He doesn’t do that and you know he’s one of the smartest kids in this place. Mr. Nelson said there was a power overload and Tim thinks maybe something was trying to find its way in through the protections.” Steph jabbed her finger at each point. “It’s not like they can’t be related. All kinds of things live in the void just waiting to come through. And that would explain why the cleanup crew were called.”
“I never called Tim a liar. Just told him to be so dramatic.”
“Well, then what do you think happened? You had to have seen something.”
“You don’t think something was trying to find its way through your protections?” Tim chimed in.
They seemed like good kids, really wanting to understand and help, and that’s exactly why Jason let the amused grin unfurl. “I’m just saying whatever Tim thinks is lurking out there might not have been looking for me specifically, jeez.” Jason pushed back his sleeves and looked at the sweet time piece on his wrist. “We’re gonna be late to class. Think we can adjourn this meeting, gang?” Neither Steph nor Tim laughed at the golly-gee he pitched into his voice.
“Fine,” said Steph. “Just. Be careful, Jason. They don’t send the cleanup crew for nothing.”
“Be careful. Huh?” Jason flashed a sharp grin. “Never heard that one before. I’ll give it a try this time. See if something different happens.”
series: things we carry
pairing: jason todd/dick grayson
rated: t (for too legit to quit)
i.
Adults had a certain way of speaking to kids after serious incidents or traumas, the kind ones at least. They eased into topics with soft voices, always asking if understanding was taking place-you’re safe now, do you understand? Do you know how lucky you are, son? They liked to play association games and gauge the level of approaching freak out before getting into the real questions. The problem with this approach was that those adults never wanted to give straight answers in return.
The last time he’d been interviewed, Jason had sat in a side office of the Gotham Police Department’s patrol room with a blanket folded over his bare shoulders and a cup of milk-drenched coffee waiting for them to get to the point. The only thing a guy could do in kind-adult situations was wait for the right moment and grab whatever bits of honest information slipped through.
At least with assholes you knew you wouldn’t get nothing except for the back of the hand. Violence you could prepare for. Good intentions? Didn’t help with shit, and after two minutes sitting in front of Mr. Nelson, Jason knew he was knee deep without a shovel. Mr. Nelson at least had decent tea-something Jason had just started to appreciate.
“And then you hit the boundary and saw the elements, correct?”
“Yes sir. I could see elements just on the other side but nothing I did would pull them over. It felt like this huge wall was separating me from them.”
“The boundaries are,’ Mr. Nelson cast around the room. “They’re like this door right here. Solid, sturdy, an entrance but parts of it are sturdier than others. And it’s mostly opace.
Through the office’s glass door, he could see their classroom, long tables cleared and the floors gleaming white. The chalkboards hidden by pull down maps of concentric and intersecting circles representing worlds Jason had never really knew existed. It looked pristine, like nothing happened yesterday, like Jason looked into darkness and watched as it looked back. That’s when Jason knew he had to push. He needed some kind of answer.
He brought his teacup up then paused, eyes purposefully wide. “Wait! I thought the boundary was just metaphysical.”
“And metaphorical,” said Mr. Nelson, leaning back in his chair. He looked at Jason over the gold rim of his glasses, a clear sign Nelson was settling into lecture mode. “The appearance of the boundaries of our mind are merely representation. They are a rationalization we humans need to help make sense of the improbable. It’s not uncommon for the shape of your mind to interpret the power differently as gain experience or age.”
“But you said what happened was a demonstration of power. Is that what happened? Did I do something wrong? Did I, I don’t know. Did I gain access to more of my brain or something?
Please,” he screwed his brows up in earnest confusion when Mr. Nelson hesitated, leveraging all of the innocent charm that used to grease him through the palms of Gotham’s seriously wacked underground. “I just want to know so I can be careful next time.”
“Let me first remind you that the Academy is here to provide you with a safe environment to learn and practice your gift without fear or judgment, Jason, so please, let your fears fall silent. Not that you are scared,” he interrupted Jason’s protests. “As to what I meant, well, it’s hard to be sure, but I believe you may have peeled away part of the circle’s protections with your.” Mr. Nelson flicked his fingers as if flipping through an unseen book. “Magical aptitude. It’s not that you started to use one-hundred percent of your brain or anything so ridiculous. You simply managed to tap into more of that potential of yours. The circles aren’t just to confuse or dilute the power we bring in from the other side. It’s also a channel to create safe entry from one plane to the next.”
It took all of Jason’s will not to stand up and cheer. Finally, Mr. Nelson seemed ready to give him answers.
“I read that chapter,” Jason said, because he had last night slowly reviewing readings he’d skimmed for a clue to what happened in class. “But I’m sure I was uh. You know, drawing the elements through as soon as I saw them.”
“When you imagined yourself knocking on the boundary, you were doing two things. Firstly, you were trying to push into the next realm and grab the spirits. Secondly, you were also focusing that power on the protections themselves which somewhat weakened them. Jason, you could have easily brought something unexpected over.” His gaze was pointed and waiting.
Jason tried not to think of the great blue eyes and the fierce winds scrapping at his skin. “I wasn’t trying to do that. Do you think that’s what happened?” Trying not to hold his breath while Mr. Nelson studied him for several long moments took serious concentration, but Jason managed.
Finally, Mr. Nelson shook his head. “Of course not, Jason. But it is something you should be aware of. One of the many things you need to learn quickly at this school is that pushing boundaries is very dangerous here. Literally.”
“What does that mean?” Jason asked, leaning forward on the offensive now that his questions were being answered.
“It means that we have been remiss with your safety simply because your family was not known to have magical affinity.” Now that sounded pretty insulting, and Jason felt a familiar blankness welling up in him.
He leaned back in his seat, crossed his shiny leather shoes like he’d seen other men do in the past. If he had a cigarette, he’d light it now and show Nelson and everyone else what kind of breeding he really had. Okay, he wouldn’t but he wants to flick something. “You mean you guys thought street trash like me don’t have the breeding for magic. Good to know.”
“We faculty don’t have access to all of the student’s records, but I do understand that there were circumstances surrounding your ah. Fostering and subsequent enrollment at the academy are peculiar. It does not mean that I or any other faculty were concerned because of your breeding. There’s just a natural pattern of progression no matter a practitioner’s aptitude. And know that we know how your potential manifests, we can take additional precautions.”
“That’s teacher speak for what? You read the papers and know that the Wayne family took me in?”
There were probably zombies shuffling through the city dumps who knew about Jason’s rescue from the foster system by Bruce Wayne. It had nearly been a year since Bruce announced his son and heir to society. Front page scandal all the way because as far as the world knew, Bruce wasn’t married and never had a girlfriend long enough to settle down with. When he brought Jason into his home speculation on Jason’s paternity went wild. The press hadn’t gotten close enough to ask Jason though, and no one at the school risked angering after that day. It’s not that Jason wouldn’t tell anyone though. He knows exactly who his father was.
Mr. Nelson began rummaging through the stack of papers on his desk. They were balanced on top of each other, fluttering on a mess of books, parchments and scrolls of varying yellow. The chaotic spread of knowledge contrasted with the way Mr. Nelson ordered his classroom, lame jokes aside.
“I do not have to speculate. The Wayne name is just as venerated as the Maxwell-Huerrs and you obviously show such promise. No, I just want you to know that your promise means you must work especially hard to learn the fundamentals now. Here we are.” He pulled out a red book without toppling his paper mountains. The cover had squiggly symbol writing Jason associated with doctors and the occult.
“I want you to start working within this book alongside our classroom primer. Please turn in the chapter assignments with your homework,” he said.
Jason winced. “You want to double my homework. I must have done something really bad if you’re trying to punish me?”
“No, no, you misunderstand. I want you to use this book instead. It’s is the same lessons but additional protections are woven into these circles learned here. Students with tremendous magical aptitude are required to use the red texts.” He held the book out for Jason with a helpful smile. The smile didn’t budge, not even when Jason sat there, brow cocked, because he didn’t want extra work. No one did. And it didn’t move when Mr. Nelson finally dropped the book. Jason lunged out of seat, bent waist, and knees banging the floor to catch it before the ground.
“Man, you can’t just. That.” He tossed his hair out of his eyes and glared. “You can’t treat books like this. Even I know that.”
“It’s fortunate to us both that you have such a great respect for knowledge, if not authority,” Mr. Nelson said, voice mild. “Be at ease, Jason, this book will assist in your language acquisition as well.”
Jason couldn’t stop the groan. “So it’s double the summons homework and Latin homework.”
Now Mr. Nelson’s smile deepened. “Needs must, Jason. Needs must.”
“Yeah? What does that mean?”
Mr. Nelson blinked at his tone. “Well. It means that I’d like for you to complete the exercises on pages three, six, seven, and nine and turn them in for grading by Thursday.”
“Really?” Jason couldn’t fake his confusion this time, the shock and annoyance. All that work on top of his other classes?
“Really, Jason. Needs must.”
“Yeah? Tell me, professor, what does that mean this time?”
The church bells began to toll the hour. Mr. Nelson’s smile became relaxed and pleased.
“It means you are excused and go to your next class.”
ii.
Jason made it to the next corner when his arm was unceremoniously grabbed and yanked into the boy’s bathroom.
“Well? What did he say?” Steph demanded. Tim, her creepy shadow hovered at her elbow alternating between curiosity and slow death by embarrassment.
“What the hell, Brown?” Jason snatched his arm free and glared them both. “You looking to try out the season’s colors?”
She and Tim exchanged a series of shrugs and headshakes, before she says, “I don’t know what that means, Jason?” earnest and prim.
“There’s a lot of that going on today.” Jason raised his fists. “It means I was about to dot your eyes. Don’t go around grabbing me like that, okay?” He gave a quick jab at the wall annoyed at being startled enough for his accent broke through. There was Gotham Elite to Old Town to the Tricorners here, but no one sounded as close to the gutter as Jason.
Steph tossed her hair but managed to look apologetic. “I’m sorry. Everything was so crazy yesterday and then they sent the cleanup crew after class and now you’re meeting with Mr. Nelson.” She paused to take a deep breath. “I just got so worried.”
Jason’s got a pretty good understanding on how the school works, how the people are, where to go and who to avoid, but in two months of the Academy, he’s never heard that term before. “Those guys with the buttons yesterday? What about them?”
“They’re the ones who come to clean up any magical mistakes,” Steph said. “Like. Like, well. There was a rumor that one girl opened a portal to the Forgotten Kingdom and got stuck in it when it started to collapse.”
“That’s a rumor,” Tim said, softly.
“Yeah. But Marguerite Comtois always talks about her sister being in the classroom that day. And there are some twelfth years who swear that they saw her butt and legs kicking out in thin air from the hallway.”
“There’s no record though.”
“What do you think all those eye witnesses are, Tim?”
“Liars?”
“Marguerite’s sister would never lie!”
Jason swung his arm between the two of them. “Back to your corners you two. We’re talking about my possible,” he stressed the word clearly. “Situation. Remember?” He waited until they turned sullen glares to him rather than each other. “Okay then. You think I made some kind of mistake yesterday?”
“They were pretty much running to the classroom so yes, yes I do. Don’t you, Tim?” They turned back to the younger boy who blinked owlishly at them both. “Tim was saying that something pretty spectacular had to happen for the protections to be blown like that.”
Jason stroked his chin thinking quickly. “Mr. Nelson said I was pushing on the protections when I was trying to pull elements through. Like, I was weakening them with my magic or something.”
“That doesn’t sound right,” said Steph. “I mean, the only way you can weaken protections from the inside out is if you’re hurt or if you’re tried or your magic is fading.” She ticked each one off on her fingers
“Or if-” Tim stopped when they’re eyes lit on him again.
“Jesus, kid. Am I that damn intimidating? You didn’t have no problems talk to me yesterday,” Jason groused, arms folding across his chest. “Spit it out.”
“Stephanie is right about weakening protections but those reasons stand true if they are your own protective spells. Jason, you’re very strong, but I don’t think you would be able to match Mr. Nelson’s power. Few in the world can. And.” Tim looked down at the floor, pale cheeks flushing. “And while I do find you are intimidating, I’m not afraid of you. You just. Didn’t seem interested in talking to me, so I decided it best that Steph speak.”
“Well. I wasn’t,” said Jason, gruffly. “But you know a lot more about this than I do right now. Both of you. So, I’ll listen for now,” he added to make sure they understood their friendly information exchange had a time limit. He just wanted a little help understanding what went on in class, his episode especially, not become part of an amateur sleuthing club that met in the boys bathroom.
“Why are we in the bathroom anyway?”
“Oh.” Steph’s cheeks got really red really fast. “I might have followed Tim in. I was talking to him. And then I saw you and now. It’s not like this is planned!” she continued over Jason’s barking laughter. “This place is gross and smells funny.”
Every bathroom Jason had seen on campus looked like this one; a stylish marble trough for hand washing and a small table against the wall that had baskets of clean cotton hand towels, hand lotion, and disposable toothbrushes and tooth paste. It even had those plastic pick things that had floss on one end. The urinals were hidden behind a wall and the door at the end of the room with the words “Gentleman’s Room,” etched into the frosted glass. Yeah, there was the faintest odor of stale piss, but some guys never learned how to aim. Jason had seen much worse and told them so.
“Anyway, you think Mr. Nelson was lying or something?”
Tim’s big eyes widened in disbelief, astonished that Jason could think such a thing let alone say it out loud. “No! No. I just mean. He was next to you when your circle lit up, he didn’t see.”
“Didn’t see what?” Steph grabbed hold of his arm and tugged him close oblivious to the sudden flush to Tim’s pale cheeks. Obviously, the girl has no concept of personal boundaries.
“Jason’s circle from the other day. I know I didn’t imagine it but I couldn’t be sure what happened. I wanted to research it first.”
Research? Jason held back a snort because of course Tim wanted to verify his observations or whatever. It was like Tim was truly a grown up trapped in a child’s body. The near opposite of what Jason had become used to living in Wayne Manor. “Tim, man. Could you finish a sentence please because all this cryptic bullshit ain’t working for me.”
“The magic circle we made the other day. Before it exploded, I saw something inside of it. It was like a line moving through circle.” Tim’s voice softened. “All the books say that sometimes, a searching spell can find their way through the protective maze. I think. I think something was looking for you, Jason. And the only things in the void who can do that, who want to find the root of a summons are demons.”
Steph gasp knocked Jason from his reverie. He swept a glance over them, frowning when he noticed how they all three seemed to have stepped closer to each other. He was practically shoulder to shoulder with Brown and Tim’s bright eyes focused worriedly on him but also searching for a reaction.
He stepped back and forced a shrug. “Don’t be so dramatic, kid. It won’t help you in the long run.”
“You don’t think Tim is lying do you?”
Steph whirled on him, hair fanning in a clean circle, and placed one hand on his hip in a pose Jason had come to think of as battle ready. “He doesn’t do that and you know he’s one of the smartest kids in this place. Mr. Nelson said there was a power overload and Tim thinks maybe something was trying to find its way in through the protections.” Steph jabbed her finger at each point. “It’s not like they can’t be related. All kinds of things live in the void just waiting to come through. And that would explain why the cleanup crew were called.”
“I never called Tim a liar. Just told him to be so dramatic.”
“Well, then what do you think happened? You had to have seen something.”
“You don’t think something was trying to find its way through your protections?” Tim chimed in.
They seemed like good kids, really wanting to understand and help, and that’s exactly why Jason let the amused grin unfurl. “I’m just saying whatever Tim thinks is lurking out there might not have been looking for me specifically, jeez.” Jason pushed back his sleeves and looked at the sweet time piece on his wrist. “We’re gonna be late to class. Think we can adjourn this meeting, gang?” Neither Steph nor Tim laughed at the golly-gee he pitched into his voice.
“Fine,” said Steph. “Just. Be careful, Jason. They don’t send the cleanup crew for nothing.”
“Be careful. Huh?” Jason flashed a sharp grin. “Never heard that one before. I’ll give it a try this time. See if something different happens.”