If anyone hurted you, I don't know what I would do--

[atrumcanis]

Who: atrumcanis + cowboy_newsie
When: forwarded dated to the 17th of December, after Jack's rescue
Where: Skye Hospital
Summary: Jack, newly rescued by Batman, is in the hospital following his stint in Black Mask's basement. There's no way in hell he's just going to lay there without company.

Comments

[cowboy_newsie]

He's lain in the hospital a few hours, all of which seem a blur. There was Daedalus giving him new clothes, and nurses checking his basics, though he told them again and again he was perfectly healthy. There were promises of his therapist in the morning, along with his NV, because they took that away too-- but rest for now, he was told, just sleep and rest, you're exhausted, sleep until the morning and then we'll get everyone you want.

He doesn't fight them too much. Somewhat because he's exhausted and sick, but mostly because he knows he doesn't have to call Sirius. He had begged Batman to text Sirius, at least, to let him know; the man wouldn't have denied him that. So Sirius knows where he is, and Sirius will come.

That sounds familiar, doesn't it? something nasty whispers in the back of his head, and Jack scowls, forcing it away. The door clicks open a few seconds later, as if his best friend had been summoned by that thought, and Jack sits up

[atrumcanis]

Jack has never looked small before. They're nearly the same age--Jack is shorter, but not as short as he once was, not since Sirius changed him. In this hospital bed, he looks small, his skin as white as the sheets.

He should smile back at Jack, or make some sort of gesture--say something--but his throat feels closed in again. His vision blurs a moment, but he blinks furiously, trying to keep Jack in perspective. If he loses him now, he will lose him for good.

"Not much of a date," he offers eventually. His voice cracks just at the end of it; he swallows, hard. "And a shit view. I'll-- do better, next time." That means more than he means it to, I'll do better, he will, so much better that there won't be a next time.

Good for nothing. You'll always betray your friends.

"Jack," he murmurs again, and it's closer to breaking this time.

[cowboy_newsie]

He should say something-- some stupid one-liner, something to keep the joke going-- but he can't think of a damn thing. He's too tired despite the bed, too hungry despite the IV in his arm, to think of anything much other than thank God he's here.

He can hear Sirius' voice shaking, can picture the way he keeps squeezing his eyes shut to push back the tears. Jack's grateful he hasn't broken yet; he doesn't think he can hold back his own flood of emotion if Sirius breaks down, and he's not quite ready for that yet. Better this icy state of numb shock than the rush of guilt and hate and fear and blame that threatens to topple over every time he thinks about the past two (three? four?) weeks.

"Just come here, will you?" he mumbles, staring tiredly over at his best friend. "Please. Just-- here." He scoots over, making room for Sirius on his bed. He sinks down a little as he does, shivering.

[atrumcanis]

Sirius shoves away from the door at that invitation, moving in a rush. There's tubes and wires and he pushes past it all, climbing over the stupid bars that they put on the sides of hospital beds. His boots are muddy, but he only thinks of that, distantly, as if Jack will care, as if they're in the firehouse and Jack is going to complain about something so mundane, mostly to be an idiot, hardly meaning a word of it.

They should be at the firehouse, right now, but they aren't, and for a moment Sirius considers just Apparating there, taking Jack with him. Only someone will notice--and he doesn't care about that, but he does--

But all of that is distant, a wash of white noise. It's Jack that he's looking at, Jack, beside him, something that should be impossible. He smells like a hospital--and a great deal else beneath that, blood and sweat and stale something, things that Sirius hardly wants to consider right now. Later, that will come later; he grits his teeth

[cowboy_newsie]

The sudden move scares him, but only a little, because he was expecting something like that. They've always been very physical-- wrestling and punching and hugging and fighting and really, it makes sense that the first thing Sirius does is yank him into a hug. But the move still scares him a little, and so for a few seconds Jack simply lays there, frozen in fear, his PTSD kicking back in full-force once again.

But that only lasts for as long as it takes Sirius' scent to hit him. Warm and too familiar, of the firehouse and Yorick and cheap soap and bacon-- it's the most wonderful scent in the world, second only to perhaps Alice's. It means home, it means safe, it means things are finally back to normal, and when he inhales that he finds the strength to move again