csi_sanders1129 | Fic: Worth The Wait

Title: Worth The Wait
Chapters: Chapter 6
Author:

csi_sanders1129
Genre: AU. Drama. Romance.
Ratings: T
Word Count: ~2,300
Pairings/Characters: Jason/Spinelli.
Synopsis: Spinelli’s parent’s show up in the middle of the night and some of Damian’s secrets are inadvertently exposed, leaving Jason in a difficult situation.
Comments: AU in that I entirely distort the timeline of events as it is known to have occurred. Not so much actual events, but moreso the details of people involved in them. Which reminds me. I suppose I have to warn for mentions of underage involvement. Nothing graphic or messy, I promise. Partially co written with

cynical_sweater and with lots and lots of aid courtesy of

Oakfield Memorial Hospital is a surprisingly busy place for a town that's on the small side. But the ambulance gets them there quickly and that's all Jason is really concerned with.

Jason insists that he needs no treatment of his own, even though he knows he probably does. It's only once they've taken Spinelli away from him, into the depths of the hospital, citing family-only rules that Jason can't fight anymore, that he relents.

One Dr. Gage lures him into a curtained off area to check out his injuries, and instantly declares that his arm is probably fractured and sends him off for a series of x-rays – his wrist, his chest (for smoke inhalation) and his head (for signs of concussion, since he was idiotic enough to mention that he'd bumped that in his fall).

These proceedings take far longer than he would like them to, over all, especially amongst doctors who are not familiar with his medical history and who do not appreciate his personal wishes with regard to his own medical well-being.

All in all, he ends up with his right wrist casted due to a fracture of the ulna, an ice-pack for his not-concussed head, and even thought the chest x-ray came up clean, he allows himself to sit on oxygen for about twenty minutes before he gets annoyed and pulls the mask off. Five minutes later, he's signs the Against-Medical-Advice paperwork and considers himself officially discharged.

He's just storming out to demand answers regarding Spinelli when Daniel and Lisa arrive. They look quite distraught, but as far as Jason knows, they don't know anything, so he figures that's why. At least that's what he hopes because the alternative is that they know something he doesn't.

Lisa approaches him, Daniel glowers from a distance. "Do you know what happened?"

"The guys who took him trapped him in a fire. We… fell through the floor to the basement trying to get out. I know he at least has a broken leg, but…They won't tell me how he is since they don't count me as family." He explains, hoping that maybe they'll at least assure him that Spinelli's alright once they get the information.

Daniel approaches then, still not Jason's biggest fan in the world. "Well, in all fairness, you are not family."

Jason glares back. He's not sure he has the self-control to deal with this at the moment. "I'm aware of your opinion." He says, and then returns his attention to Spinelli's mother. "Did the police find my car outside of the house? Or any of the guys who did it?"

She shakes her head. "I don't know about your car, but no one was arrested."

Then Weston and his goons had gotten away. Which means that Spinelli is still in danger because of him. He'll worry about that if he ever finds out if Spinelli's okay.

"Don't- Of course. This was your fault, wasn't it?" Daniel continues to attack him, and he probably deserves it. "They took him because you're in the mob and some enemy of yours did all of this to get to you."

Jason stays silent, wishes it weren't true.

"Damn it, you owe us an answer. You got our son kidnapped!"

He's saved from having to when the doctor who'd treated him approaches their group. "Mr. and Mrs. Spinelli, I presume?" Dr. Gage inquires, letting her gaze shift between the two strangers and her less than cooperative patient. "If you'll come with me, I'll be glad to take you to your son."

"Not you." Daniel shoots back at him as they walk away. Jason is left in the waiting room.

***

Spinelli isn't quite sure how he got to the hospital. It's all a little fuzzy and, well, a lot smoky. He remembers the events leading up to it. Being tailed after dropping the girl off at her house, being sick, being tied up and left alone to die in the house fire. He remembers Jason saving him, remembers falling and Jason saving him again. Not much else after that.

His parents are hovering nearby, which is further unnerving. The first conscious thought he has upon really returning to consciousness is "Where's Stone Cold?" However, it comes out a garbled mess that sounds nothing like that and for a moment he fears that he's still back with the kidnappers, that he's still gagged and tied to a chair.

As it turns out, there's an oxygen mask on his face. He lifts an arm to pull it away.

"Where's…" He doesn't get far before he starts coughing, so he puts the mask back on.

His mother's at his side, holding his hand, but she missed the point of his attempted question. "Are you alright, Damian, honey?" She asks, thumbs moving in circles over the back of his hand.

His eyes dart to the door, half expecting Jason to come in any moment now, but he doesn't. He tries to pull the mask off again. "…Stone Cold?" He gets out, barely fighting off another round of painful coughing.

"Didn't we make it clear that you weren't to contact have any contact with him when we brought you home?" Daniel asks, still quite peeved over being lied to on the issue. "You're not to see him anymore. And I don't know why you'd want to since this mess is all because of his involvement with you."

If it were not for the fact that he likely wouldn't make it past the first sentence, Spinelli would have been in full Jackal-rant mode over how that wasn't really an accurate statement. He had been safe under Jason's protection back home, at least safer than he is in Oakfield. Sure, there was danger there, but his proximity to the situation allowed for more immediate reactions to imminent threats against him. As it stands, he can't say much of anything in either Jason's or his own defense. "'Tis the furthest thing from the truth." He manages, and then descends into yet another obnoxious coughing fit.

"Daniel, this isn't the time or place to be having this conversation." Lisa warns, then smiles warmly at her son. "Please, put the oxygen mask back on before you hurt yourself."

His father exhales a massive sigh, throws his hands up, and leaves the room. Clearly he's the only one still sane in his family.

"You really want to see him?" Lisa asks quietly, once Daniel is gone, and Spinelli nods enthusiastically. "Alright."

***

It about kills Jason that he has to go to the Pediatric Unit to see Spinelli, but he's not going to complain because he's lucky he gets to see him at all.

The nurse's station in the middle of the unit is piled with toys and stuffed animals. He decides that they should have a separate area for teenagers. If they were at General Hospital, none of it would have mattered. He would have been Spinelli's medical proxy and he would have had his Jackal put in a private room that wasn't decked out in teddy bears.

He's about to ask the nurse at the stuffed animal covered desk where the room is when he sees Lisa waving him over. "Thanks for letting me see him." He says, because he is entirely aware that she could have refused, too.

"I'm hoping it will calm him down. He's getting a little worked up over everything."

He nods, and steps into the room. Spinelli's green - if a bit red rimmed from the smoke - eyes light up when they land on him. "Hey," He greets, pulls up the chair beside the bed. Spinelli catches his hand before he can do anything to negate the move, but he doesn't mind. "You alright?"

Spinelli smiles at him through the oxygen mask. They have matching casts. Jason's on his arm, Spinelli's on his leg. There are twin bandages on both of the younger's wrist from the zip-ties, making it look like he tried and failed at attempting suicide or something. By now, someone has provided him a writing pad and a pen, which he is most grateful for. 'Who did it?' Is his first scrawled out question, because he still has no idea.

"Weston. The guy who shot me, the one I told you about." He explains. "I don't know who his goons were, but I'll find them, don't worry."

'Regan?' Is his next inquiry.

Jason sighs, let's his finger's entwine with Spinelli's like they have so many times before. "Weston's niece. I have a feeling she was wired during your date." He speaks quietly, because Lisa is lurking by the door supervising or whatever she would like to call it, doesn't want to make her mad and lose his chance to visit by making it sound like it was her fault – through the blind dates – that Spinelli had been taken.

Spinelli's writing again, a more long-winded message this time. 'Don't go after them. Let the police take care of them, your Jackal insists.'

He closes his eyes because he'd been afraid of that. "I have to, Spinelli. I have to keep you safe, have to know you're safe." If he lets the police arrest Weston and his goons, there's no guarantee that they'll be convicted and no guarantee that they'll stay locked up.

Spinelli takes several long, deep breaths into the oxygen mask. It sends Jason into a slight panic, thinking that he can't breathe or that it's stopped working or something, and he's just moving to get up to sound some sort of alarm on the issue when Spinelli reaches up and tugs the mask away from his face. "I implore you not to go exacting revenge upon those resp… responsible." He stops to cough, and Jason's hand holds tighter to his. "Stone Cold, for you're not in optimum condition yourself." He glances at Jason's plaster covered arm and the back at the similarly red-rimmed, but otherwise blue eyes he's seen so many times. "Your Jackal does not wish to see you harmed in a needless act of vengeance committed on his behalf."

The younger's voice is hoarse, and he should probably stop talking, Jason knows, so he takes it upon himself to settle the mask against Spinelli's face again. "If that's what you want." He agrees, because in the end, what Spinelli wants, he typically gets.

He nods in approval – that's what he wants. Then it's back to writing again. 'I still can't come home, can I?'

Jason shakes his head, tries to figure out a way he can tell Spinelli of his promise to his parents – since he imagines they'll try to make him keep it. "No, you can't come home yet." He pauses, takes a deep breath of his own, to make what's coming next a little bit easier to say. "Listen, Spinelli, I…"

"Jason."

He turns to Lisa in surprise at the abrupt interruption, who's motioning him back to the door. "I have to go?"

"No, I just need to speak with you for a moment." She explains, and with a promise of a quick return for Spinelli, the two step into the hallway.

"What do we have to talk about?" He questions, unsure as to where she stands overall on the span of things she could throw at him.

She crosses her arms, glances back toward the room, where they can both just see Spinelli. "You were going to tell him about the deal we made, yes? That you'd leave if we helped you?"

He frowns. Was she trying to hurry him into breaking the news or something? "I… I was getting there."

"Don't." Lisa tells him, which only confuses him more. "Don't tell him, I mean. Forget the deal. I don't… condone your… job. And I don't approve of your relationship with my son while he's still a minor - I'm still getting used to the idea that he's, shall we say, otherwise inclined? - But… once he is eighteen, I know I won't get a say in what he does or who he does it with, and I would really rather prefer to at least be a part of his life once that happens. I know, I realize that you're protecting him. Everything you've done, even giving him up, was protecting him." She's not as eloquent as the speeches from his Spinelli usually are, but its meaning is certainly not lost on him. "So, if you mean what you put in the ring you gave him, that you'll wait for him, then… well, I suppose I approve."

Relief washes over him with her words. Having one of them on his side is a vast improvement over the previous state of things, and now he doesn't have to find a way to essentially break Spinelli's heart. "I… don't really know what to say. Other than thank you." He pauses, grins, looks back to Spinelli, who seems to be able to see that nothing is terribly amiss in their conversation. "And that I meant it. I'll wait as long as it takes."

She nods in full endorsement and then motions him back to the room. "I'll work on bringing Daniel around."

"Thank you. Again." He says, as he reclaims his spot by Spinelli's bedside.

'What happened?' Spinelli writes, looking quite befuddled by the entire situation. Last time he'd checked, Jason and his parents had been all but declared enemies.

Jason grins, lets his fingers curl around Spinelli's again. "Nothing much. Your mom just reminded me that I need to get your ring out of evidence. For now, through," He says, sliding his own from its place on his neck. "Hold onto mine for me, will you?"