#pred jason

Tim startles, jolting back. He reaches for his bo staff, only to realize it's not at his side. He wasn't expecting anyone to be here, so why would he have it?

“Hello, little chick,” Red Hood says. “You're far from your nest.”

“H-how’d you get in here?” Tim says. “The Tower is closed to intruders.”

“I'm not an intruder if I'm in the system,” Red Hood says. He brings his hands up to his helmet and takes it off. Tim stares at the face of a boy -a man?- he thought was dead. Jason Todd smirks at him. “Surprise, little birdie. I know you weren't expecting me.”

“You're dead,” Tim says.

“Not anymore.”

“What do you want from me?” Tim asks, stepping back.

“I want to show Bruce the dangers of making Robins.”

“Then why not go after him?” Tim says, eyeing the doorway behind him.

“Because you need to learn about it as well, little chick.” In the blink of an eye, Jason's arm dashes out and he grabs Tim by the shoulder. “Come on, lil chick, let’s make this fun.”

“Fun!?” Tim screams. “You want to… Have…” Tim trails off as he realizes that Jason seems much taller than he was before.

Jason grins, his fangs a bright white. “Get running, sweetheart.”

Tim doesn’t want to know what will happen if he doesn’t. He runs off deeper into the tower. Everything gets bigger by the second. Tim skids to a stop next to a door, staring up, up, up at a doorknob several feet above him. He can’t go up the stairs. He’s trapped on this floor with Jason.

Hide, he needs to hide. Where can he hide? Under a couch? The fridge? If Tim can make it to the other room in time, he can wait out this… shrinking that Jason did to him. Tim dashes away towards the kitchen, squirming under the gap between the fridge and the floor. It's terrible, dust and sticky spots covering the ground. But at least he's safe.

Jason walks into the room, looking over the counters and under the cabinets. A predatory gleam shows in his eyes. “Come out, lil chick,” Jason croons. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”

Tim holds his breath, covering his mouth. Jason can't hear him over the fridge, can he?

The man takes a deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. “I know you’re in here,” Jason says. “You can’t hide from me that easily.” Tim slides backwards, shivering. Jason walks out of the room. Tim looks up from under the fridge. He’s not there. A hand appears from the side of the fridge and snatches Tim up. Tim yelps. Jason shifts his grip so he’s holding Tim by his cape. He holds him up to his face, baring his fangs in a grin. Tim claws at his collar, gasping for breath. “I’ve caught you now, little bird.”

Tim bursts into tears. “Don't hurt me!” Tim cries. “I'll be good! I'll do anything!”

Jason snorts and grins sharply. “Anything?”

“Anything!” Tim yells, sobbing.

Jason raises an eyebrow. “Oh? Are you that desperate?”

Tim shudders at thes sound. “Yes.” His tears continue dripping, shaking his body violently. He can live in a cage until Jason lets him go.

Jason licks his lips. “I'm holding you to that.” Jason's stomach growls and the man smiles before opening his mouth.

Tim gasps, scrabbling at the man's fingers. “No!” Tim cries. “Don't eat me! I'll be good!” The drop into the awaiting maw is short. Tim tips forward as Jason lowers his head. Tim breathes heavily, his hands sinking into the plush texture of Jason's tongue. A sob wrenches out of his chest. Tim starts crying. “Please… You can have anything, I'll do anything, don't eat me…”

“You told me you'd do anything so I wouldn't hurt you,” Jason says around him. “I made my choice.”

“Please,” Tim sobs, shaking.

Jason chuckles. “You're cute, lil chick.” He rolls Tim around on his tongue, coating him in shimmering saliva. Tim wriggles the best he can, pushing at Jason's teeth. Jason lets out an amused huff. Then he tips his head back and swallows.

His throat is tight around Tim, pulling him down. Tim’s arms are pinned above him. There's no room for him to struggle. Tim lets out heaving sobs, beyond frightened.

After a few seconds, Tim is deposited in Jason's stomach, splashing to the bottom. Tim presses his hands against the walls, soaking wet.

Jason’s stomach glows a faint neon green. No, it’s not his stomach that’s glowing, it’s his saliva and the small pool of acid that Tim is sitting in. (If Tim was less panicked, he’d notice that he’s not being burnt by it, so it can’t be stomach acid.)

Jason lets out a small burp. “‘Cuse me.” There's a quiet tapping and Tim yelps as hands message him from the outside. “You hit the spot.” Tim struggles underneath them, gasping as the pressure increases. “Don't get any ideas,” Jason says. “You're mine.”

Tim kicks him once more, tears streaming down his face. He curls up, putting his head on his knees. This is it. This is the end of him. Jason hiccups, patting his stomach once more.

It's muggy and damp and far too warm, the feeling causing Tim to feel horrifically tired. If he falls asleep now, he might not ever wake up. But Tim doesn't want to know what being digested would feel like, so he closes his eyes and ignores the movements of Jason walking, the quiet ping of a Zeta Tube, the sound of a motorbike. The swaying rocks Tim to sleep.

------

Tim wakes up covered in slime.

Tim wakes up?

Tim groggily opens his eyes, looking around. He's still inside Jason's stomach, which looks different at this sideways angle. Slime, the texture unlike the saliva Tim was swallowed down with, coats the entirety of Jason’s stomach. And Tim as well. Tim shudders, wrapping his damp cape around himself. It’s awful. He wants to go home. He wants to live.

Jason’s stomach groans around him and Jason yawns. There’s pressure on Tim’s side as Jason rubs his stomach. Gravity shifts as he presumably sits up. “Are you awake?”

Tim stays silent, scared at the thought of dying.

“I’m asking as a courtesy,” Jason says. “I know you’re awake.”

Tim swallows. “Y-yeah?”

“He speaks! How did you sleep?”

Tim hesitates. It’s frightening in here, but he actually slept fine. “Uh. Okay.”

“Great,” Jason says. “Do you want out?”

“...What?”

“Are you ready for me to let you out?”

Tim presses his hands against the walls, shifting into a sitting position. “You’re going to let me out?” His voice is small.

“I promised I wouldn’t hurt you,” Jason says. His hand rubs against Tim’s side. “I don’t intend on you staying in there forever.”

Tim swallows, queasy. Tears prick at his eyes. “Y-yeah, I want to get out.”

Jason hums in acknowledgment. “Give me a minute.” Tim, the saliva, and the slime rock in Jason’s stomach as the man stands up. Tim would find the swaying back and forth motion relaxing if he wasn’t inside a stomach.

G-d he’s inside a stomach. He still can’t really believe it. A glowing stomach that didn’t even digest him, but a stomach, nonetheless. Tim takes a deep breath, trying to keep the panic at bay. He can hear Jason’s even breathing and his steady heartbeat. Jason’s stomach burbles around him.

Tim can hear Jason doing something, even if he can’t tell what. Then cold water enters through Jason’s throat, swallow after swallow. The water soaks Tim even further, causing him to shiver. “H-hey,” Tim protests weakly.

“I need the water, Cocoa Bean,” Jason says. Cocoa bean? “You’d get stuck. Are you ready?”

“Yes, please…” Tim shudders at the thought of staying in Jason’s stomach any longer.

The muscles around Tim compress, forcing him upwards. He gasps, the compression around him worse on the way back up. He’s deposited in Jason’s mouth, covered in slime and saliva. Jason opens his mouth, spitting Tim into his hands. “There we go. That wasn’t too bad, was it?” Jason smiles slightly.

“You ate me!” Tim yells, which is admittedly a bad thing to do to someone over ten times your size. “I… I thought I was going to die!”

“Ah, I told you I wouldn’t hurt you, though. That was on you.” Jason drops Tim in the sink and pulls the moveable faucet off its stand. Jason turns the water on, testing the heat with his fingers. “Hold still.” Jason sprays Tim with the faucet, washing off the slime and saliva. Tim flinches as the water hits him, slowly relaxing into the heat. “There you go, Cocoa Bean. Nice and clean for your return to Nightwing.” Jason rubs him dry with a dish towel then gently removes him from the sink. Tim shivers at the sudden loss in heat. He doesn’t struggle, afraid of falling if he does. Jason places him on the counter and rubs his hair with a finger.

Tim returns to his normal size at the same speed he shrank. Jason lifts him and tosses him over his shoulder. Tim yelps. With one hand, Jason puts his helmet on. “Let’s go, chick.” He swings his legs out the window and climbs out, shutting it with one hand. Jason jumps over the rooftops, Tim wriggling in his grasp. “Stop struggling, please. I don’t want you to go splat.” Tim does as he’s told.

Tim can see Dick standing on a rooftop just outside Crime Alley, the Nightwing suit a brutal contrast against the rising sun. Jason comes to a stop next to him. “Hello, Nightwing.” Jason shoves Tim into Dick’s hands. “Your birdy has been delivered. Pleasure doing business with you.” Jason turns and goes another way, likely to a different safehouse than the one the two just spent the night in.

Dick sets Tim down, busying himself with fretting. “Are you injured? Did he hurt you? What happened?”

Tim wonders if he should inform Dick that his younger brother is alive and can eat people. What he says instead is, “I’m fine, it was scary but I was safe.” Time to pack this all in a box and never think about it again.

Dick hugs Tim tightly. “I’m glad. I… I couldn’t lose another one.”

Ah. Tim probably made the right decision in not telling him then. Tim lets Dick pull him along, glancing back at Crime Alley. Jason is nowhere to be seen.

Tim lets Dick drag him back to the cave. He’s ready for a bath and some proper sleep. This was the most exhausting thing he’s ever experienced.

Eh, could’ve been worse. He could be dead.